World famous actor is hiding a shocking secret over "fears his fans will hate him."

There's no fortune to be made. Even if you have a new energy source that costs the same as today's and emits no CO2, it will be uncertain compared with what's tried-and-true and already operating at unbelievable scale and has gotten through all the regulatory problems.

Without a substantial carbon tax, there's no incentive for innovators or plant buyers to switch.

Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson smiles during a campaign rally at West Memphis High School Oct. 30, 2015, in West Memphis, Ark. (Photo: Nikki Boertman, The Commercial Appeal via AP)

Ben Carson is now leading the Republican presidential race, as the choice of 29% of Republican primary voters, according to a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll.

Trailing the retired neurosurgeon in the poll was Donald Trump with 23%, Marco Rubio with 11%, Ted Cruz with 10% and Jeb Bush with 8%.

Carson’s 29% is the highest any Republican candidate had polled in the survey to date, according to NBC News.

The poll was conducted Oct. 25-29, before last week’s CNBC debate, so it does not reflect any shifts in the race that might have followed that free-for-all.

This is not the first national poll to show Carson in the lead. A New York Times/CBS News poll from last week showed Carson with 26% of GOP primary voters, while Trump trailed with 22%.

A new Monmouth University poll shows Trump still leading in New Hampshire with 26% of the vote, while Carson trails at 16%. The Monmouth poll also shows Rubio surging into third place in the Granite State with 13% of the vote.

Last week, another Monmouth University poll showed Carson leading in Iowa with 32% of the vote, compared to 18% for Trump.

Marco Rubio speaks during a campaign rally at the Utah State Fairpark on Oct. 19, 2015, in Salt Lake City. (Rick Bowmer, AP)

Marco Rubio scored an endorsement from freshman Sen. Cory Gardner on Monday, his first from a Senate colleague.

Gardner, who represents the swing state of Colorado, announced his endorsement on Fox News, saying the country needs a "new generation of leadership" and that Rubio "presents this nation with the greatest possibilities and opportunities to meet the challenges of the next generation.”

During the Oct. 28 GOP debate, Rubio, a Florida senator, showed himself to be someone Americans can get excited about as Democrats spend time arguing over "how much further left or how … deeper into socialism we can go," Gardner said.

"If we are going to put Marco Rubio on the ballot, that's our best foot forward, that's our best opportunity to defeat Hillary Clinton," Gardner said.

Gardner praised Rubio's understanding of foreign policy and the struggles of everyday Americans. He brushed aside criticism of Rubio for missing Senate votes, saying it's an example of a "double standard" when other candidates, including President Obama as a senator, have done the same thing.

"The bottom line is a plan for how to get this country back on track," Gardner said. "It's not about attendance, it's about goals and opportunity to move this nation forward."

The Colorado Democratic Party said that Gardner, when asked during the interview, couldn’t name a legislative accomplishment by Rubio to justify his endorsement. Gardner instead highlighted Rubio’s tenure as Florida’s House speaker, his improbable Senate win over former Gov. Charlie Crist and his performance during the debates.

"Senator Gardner's endorsement of his accomplishment-challenged colleague Marco Rubio for president is a perfect display of bad judgment," said Rick Palacio, Colorado Democratic Party Chair. "When Rubio bothers to show up for work, he votes against Coloradans’ interests."

Rubio has eight endorsements from House Republicans, according to FiveThirtyEight's endorsement list. Gardner, who serves with Rubio on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is his first in the Senate.

"Cory is a next generation conservative leader and we’re thrilled to have his support," said Alex Conant, Rubio's communications director. "We have a lot of work ahead of us, but our campaign continues to grow as more people learn about Marco’s conservative agenda for a new American Century.”

In other good news for Rubio Monday, a new Monmouth University poll shows him on the rise in the nation’s first primary state.

Likely GOP primary voters in New Hampshire gave Donald Trump a sizable lead – 26% — in the poll taken from Oct. 29-Nov. 1, with Ben Carson placing second with 16%. Rubio, though, showed strong gains, coming in 3rd with 13%, up from 4% in September when Ohio Gov. John Kasich held 3rd place.

"Marco Rubio's standout performance in the last debate seems to have paid dividends in a contest that was supposed to be dominated by his former mentor Jeb Bush," said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute in New Jersey. "Rubio's new-found support seems to be a little softer than for other candidates at the front of the pack, but it is not particularly solid for anybody."

Ohio Gov. John Kasich (Carlos Osorio, AP)

John Kasich says he wants to eliminate the Commerce Department if he is elected president in 2016, renewing a call he took up when he served in Congress.

In highlighting an effort to eliminate at least one federal agency, Kasich seeks to appeal to the anti-Washington sentiment sweeping the Republican voter base, while also touting his credentials as an experienced budget-balancer and economy-focused politician.

Calling the department a “Franken-agency,” Kasich’s campaign said his plan would help “dismantle the Washington bureaucracy” and could lead to savings that would help balance the federal budget.

Republicans and Democrats alike have called for the elimination of the Commerce Department. In 2012, President Obama sought unsuccessfully for the power to reorganize several federal agencies. He wanted to wipe out the Commerce Department and replace it with an entity that would handle functions from the Small Business Administration and other trade-related agencies. The White House eventually backed off that proposal.

Lawrence Lessig (Jim Cole, AP)

Lawrence Lessig, a law professor on leave from Harvard, ended his long-shot presidential bid Monday, saying Democratic rules are excluding him from future debates.

“It is now clear that the party won’t let me be a candidate,” Lessig said in a You Tube video bringing to a close a campaign dedicated to ending the “corrupt” influence of big money on Congress.

While he will no longer be a candidate, Lessig said that “I will never give up in this fight.”

Lessig entered the race in September, and his campaign was unconventional from the start. Initially he vowed to resign after passing laws overhauling the nation’s campaign finance and voting systems — the Citizens Equality Act of 2017, he called it — but later withdrew that pledge.

GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump. (John Locher, AP)

GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump on Monday called Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz a "crazy" and "highly neurotic woman" and said Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign is “dead.”

Trump, appearing on Sirius XM's "Breitbart News Daily,” said Sanders forfeited his campaign with his statement during the first Democratic presidential debate last month that Americans have heard enough about Clinton's "damn emails," a remark Trump said was orchestrated by the Democratic Party and probably Wasserman Schultz.

“This is a woman that is a terrible person. I watch her on television. She’s a terrible person,” Trump said of Wasserman Schultz. “And in all fairness, she negotiated a great deal for Hillary because they gave Hillary all softballs.”

Trump said other candidates "weren't even allowed to talk up against" Clinton, adding that Sanders "totally destroyed his campaign" by not focusing on the email issue and is now "just wasting his time."

Clinton's use of a private email server during her tenure as secretary of State has raised concerns about whether the emails contained classified information and questions about Clinton's decision to delete emails that her lawyers deemed personal.

“When Sanders gave up the emails, I said ‘He’s dead, that’s the end of him,'" Trump said. "It was a great soundbite for about three minutes, for three seconds, they clapped for about three seconds."

Trump said Sanders' audiences have now shrunk.

"You know I have by far the biggest audiences, even before," he said. "But his audiences are gone now. When he gave up that email thing, he said ‘here, Hillary.'”

Sanders' campaign, which used the debate moment as a fundraising opportunity, said it raised $1.3 million within the four hours after the debate began. The campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Kaylie Hanson, DNC director of women’s media, said Trump's “misogynistic attacks are sadly representative of the GOP’s outdated approach to women and the issues that affect them and their families. Whether it’s trying to get between them and their doctor, opposing equal pay for equal work, or using offensive language, the Republican Party is wrong for women."

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks at the Iowa Ag Summit on Saturday. (Charlie Neibergall, AP)

Presidential hopeful Sen. Lindsey Graham said this morning the Islamic State is so threatening, "They make al Qaeda look like the Rotary Club."

The South Carolina Republican, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, sharply criticized President Obama's plan to send about 50 U.S. military special operations forces to Syria, saying 50 people won't "turn the tide of battle."

"You need a ground force," he said on CNN. "The air campaign is not working."

Graham said he would impose a no-fly zone in Syria to stop the flow of refugees, enlist regional armies to help destroy the Islamic State and send American troops as a 10% component of ground forces. The Islamic State is a "direct threat to our homeland" that wants to destroy the Christian faith and attack Israel, he said.

"I'd go in on the ground and destroy the guys," Graham said. "What Obama's doing is not going to work."

The Republican presidential field at the last debate on Oct. 28, 2015, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo, Mark J. Terrill)

This post has been updated.

Donald Trump’s campaign plans to negotiate its own debate terms with television networks, effectively bypassing other Republican candidates who had hoped to band together to push for new rules.

“As we have for the previous three debates, the Trump Campaign will continue to negotiate directly with the host network to establish debate criteria that will determine Mr. Trump's participation,” said a statement from campaign spokesperson Hope Hicks.

She added that “this is no different than the process  that occurred prior to the FOX, CNN, and CNBC debates,” referring to the first three events featuring GOP candidates.

The announcement of Trump's plan came a day after representatives from GOP campaigns met to prepare a list of group demands for upcoming debates in the wake of criticism of last week’s event in Colorado.

Among those new demands: Opening and closing statements of at least 30 second each, an equal number of questions for all candidates, and campaign approvals of any on-screen graphics during television broadcasts.

A letter listing the demands will also ask future media sponsors for specific information about their debate rules, officials said.

Republican Party chairman Reince Priebus, one of many GOP officials who criticized CNBC after a debate last week, said Monday it is fine for the campaigns to seek more influence over the conduct of these events.

“I do agree with them they should be more involved in the formatting,” Priebus said on ABC’s Good Morning America.

At this point, the campaigns have not agreed on other proposals, including one to eliminate preliminary debates with low-rated candidates and allow the entire field to appear on stage together.

In some ways, various campaigns are seeking to wrest power over the debates from the Republican National Committee.

RNC strategist Sean Spicer, speaking on CNN, said the candidates are entitled to tell the party what they want in the debates, “and for us to be able to advocate on their behalf.”

As part of that effort, the Republican National Committee made staff changes designed to ride herd on the debates.

Sean Cairncross, the chief operating officer of the RNC and its former chief counsel, is the party’s new debate negotiator and organizer, according to an email sent to campaigns from RNC Chief of Staff Katie Walsh.

Spicer, whose portfolio had included debates, will maintain his duties as chief strategist, with a supplementary role in the debates.

The candidates themselves also criticized the handling of last week’s debate, but warned the party should not go overboard in seeking changes.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, appearing Monday on MSNBC, said last week’s session got “totally out of hand, ” because “everybody was jumping in, interrupting each other.” He and other candidates also criticized what they called the liberal bias of some of the questions.

Christie also said that engaging in any kind of debate is certainly no tougher than the job of being president.

“Put podiums up there, put whatever three people you want, ask me the questions,” Christie said. “If I can’t handle that, I got no business running against Hillary Clinton and I got no business running to be the president of the United States.”

The next Republican debate is scheduled for Nov. 10 in Milwaukee, sponsored by Fox Business Network and The Wall Street Journal. Another encounter is scheduled for Dec. 15 in Las Vegas, to be sponsored by CNN.

The GOP has also scheduled debates next year in the days before the Iowa caucuses, and the South Carolina and New Hampshire primaries.

Over the years, candidates from both parties have made various complaints about debates. This is the first presidential election year in which the parties have tried to seize control of the debate system.

In recent elections, candidates expressed frustration with the proliferation of debates sponsored by different media organizations.

For this election, the Republicans developed and the Democrats followed suit on a new system in which the parties sanctioned a specific and limited number of debates.

Candidates are told that, if they participate in a non-sanctioned event, they won’t be invited to a sanctioned debate. Any media organization that tries to hold a non-sanctioned debate won’t be considered for a sanctioned event.

Mo Elleithee, former communications director for the Democratic National Committee, said this is the first year the parties have developed a system “that has a shot at working to gain control of the debate system.”

Making it work is up to the candidates.

“The system only works if the candidates buy into it,” said Elleithee, currently the founding executive director of Georgetown University's Institute of Politics and Public Service. “They are the key.”

Former Florida governor Jeb Bush (Nati Harnik, AP)

Seeking to reset his struggling presidential campaign, Jeb Bush began a new phase Monday designed to stress his experience as governor of Florida and question the qualifications of his opponents.

“This election is not about a set of personalities — it's about a set of principles,” Bush said during a speech in Tampa that kicked off tours of Florida and two early Republican primary states, South Carolina and New Hampshire.

Bush, the one-time front-runner who now finds himself trailing Donald Trump, Ben Carson and other opponents, argued that he can bring his Florida experience to Washington, D.C., when it comes to items like tax cuts and deregulation. The former governor described Florida as  “a big, diverse state, shaped by conservative, results-oriented leadership.”

As part of the new tour dubbed “Jeb Can Fix It,” the Bush campaign released an e-book of emails Bush wrote during his years at the statehouse in Tallahassee (1999-2007), discussing various issues that ranged from changing lawsuit rule changes to a complaint about a raccoon in the attack.

Advertising the book to a friendly crowd in Tampa, Bush said the e-mails reminded him of “the challenges we tackled together and how much can be accomplished with strong, conservative leadership.”

The revamped effort comes in the wake of campaign cutbacks and criticism of Bush’s debate performances and stump appearances. Trump in particular has attacked Bush as a “low energy” candidate.

Bush, who has acknowledged the need to step up his campaign, told the crowd he is getting a lot of stylistic and strategic advice these days — “more than enough” — but his time in Florida taught him two lessons.

"One, I can't be someone I'm not,” Bush said. “And, two, getting things done isn't about yelling into a camera, or regurgitating sound bites free of substance.”

He also said: “We’re gonna win this damn thing.”

The former governor said he is better prepared  than opponents who have little or no experience in public office, a group that could be said to include Trump and Carson as well as first-term Florida senator Marco Rubio.

“The challenges we face as a nation are too great to roll the dice on another presidential experiment, to trust the rhetoric of reform over a record of reform,” Bush said.

Bush singled out Trump, the Republican front-runner, by saying, “you can't just tell Congress ‘you're fired’ and go to a commercial break.”

The son and bother of previous Presidents Bush also criticized the Obama administration, saying the current president and his aides practice “the politics of divide and conquer” that encourage cynicism.

Those aides have included ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, now the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination.

“If Secretary Clinton has her way,” Bush said, “the next four years will be like the last eight: Gridlock, grievance, division, demonization. This is the only way they know how to win.”

Echoing his new campaign theme, Bush said that “after seven years of incompetence, corruption and gridlock in Washington, we need a president who can fix it … I can fix it.”

Good morning, everyone! It's the day that everyone transfers all their neighbors' excess candy to their coworkers, via their adorably-costumed children. Grab your caffeine now to counteract the inevitable afternoon sugar crash. Over the weekend, we continued to debate whether Jeb Bush is a viable candidate, whether or not changes should be made to Republican debate moderation, and what the cutoff age should be for trick-or-treating because seriously, don't ring our doorbell if you're already shaving.

Before you slip into a Snickers-induced desk nap, remember to follow your For the Record crew on Twitter (@jmestepa, @joannaallhands, @RGJBrettMcG) and read us first thing every morning on your smartphones.

JEB BUSH: STILL PROBABLY ON THE MAIN STAGE

Mr. Fix-It. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Once believed to be a lock for the Republican nomination, Jeb Bush's popularity has fallen far behind Donald Trump, Ben Carson and Marco Rubio. Or, to put it another way, Jeb Bush is far less popular among voters than meat-eating is among vegetarians. Time to throw in the towel? Nope, time to try a new slogan. Clearly what was holding the campaign back was the Jeb! slogan. After focus-grouping (Jeb), #jeb and **b, they finally settled on "Jeb Can Fix It"– a slogan that made everyone ask, "Is 'it' your campaign, or … ?" Still, Bush's strategists noted in a leaked document that around this time in 2012, GOP front-runners included noted non-presidents such as Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain. Meanwhile, The Des Moines Register's Brianne Pfannenstiel says Iowa voters may not be ready to settle down with Trump, Carson et. al. just yet.

GOP DEBATES CHANGES TO GOP DEBATES

How many of them would have been around for the February NBC debate, anyway? Seriously, though, we’re asking. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Unless there's a replacement on the horizon, it looks like there will be one less debate on the GOP calendar in 2016. Following last week's CNBC debate in which candidates and pundits derided the questioning both during and after the debate, the Republican National Committee nixed a February debate that was to be hosted on CNBC's sister network, NBC. The move to cancel a debate over complaints about fairness isn't unprecedented (the Democratic National Committee canceled a Fox News-sponsored debate in 2007) but it does raise questions about what Republican candidates envision out of future debates. Ben Carson told ABC's This Week that he wants more time for introductory statements and more "disseminating the information about the candidates" (so, just two hours of reading aloud from campaign fliers?) Perpetual second-tier candidate Lindsey Graham wants smaller groups on stage and equal time for all candidates. And Ted Cruz wants moderators to have voted in a Republican primary at some point in their lives. The next debate is in eight days. USA TODAY OnPolitics' David Jackson has more.

THE NEW SOUNDTRACK FOR MICROWAVING POPCORN

He’s only shouting so you can hear him if you leave the room. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

Cruz broke the presidential campaign commercial seal back in April (seriously, April!), and now it's Bernie Sanders' turn to get into the TV game with his first ad for the 2016 race. Viewers in Iowa and New Hampshire will have the chance to DVR past the new spot in the coming days and weeks, but you can catch the full spot here. Is your YouTube blocked at work? Here's the summary: The voiceover touts Sanders' outsider status and long career of fighting the establishment, while the video is the consolidation of every available clip in which Bernie is almost smiling. Since the first Democratic debate last month and her testimony before the Benghazi committee, Hillary Clinton has solidified her front-runner status over Sanders, so the spot couldn't come at a better time for Team Bernie. Will this successfully spread the Bernie brand to the four Iowa/New Hampshire voters who haven't met him yet? USA Today OnPolitics' David Jackson has more.

MORE FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

• Black Lives Matter interrupts Clinton speech in South Carolina (USA TODAY)
• 2008 GOP candidate Fred Thompson dies at 73 (The Tennesseean)
• “Bernkin”? We would have gone with “Sand-o-Lantern” (Burlington Free Press)

HUSH, JIMMY

Jimmy, we hardly knew ye. Bad Lip Reading presents the highlights of the first Democratic debate and confirms what we all suspected: Nobody involved had any idea who Jim Webb was.

Guys please forgive me, I guess I have been out of the technology loop for a little while, but when did Apple come out with their arm band play sheet edition?!? That is sick! I need to get my hands arm on one of those!!! Big Ben had one and now the coaching staff of the Bengals? This must be the real deal!!!

Maybe the rules to the NFL don’t apply to the AFC North? Maybe that’s it….

Big Ben, we didn’t forget about you…

Play sheet, come on, you can clearly see the volume buttons on the side and are using your thumb to navigate it… C’mon man!!!

Credit to Pats Fans Pre Belichick Facebook group for the Photo…

I know we have three games to play before our match-up, and quite frankly, Washington is all I care about, but I want to calm everyone down.

First off- yes the broncos are a really good football team. their defense is by far the best in the NFL and I’m not pretending they are not. After last night they probably have proved to be a top 3 team, as opposed to 6-4 (where I had them before last night).

Some things to be aware of-

• Manning had an extra week to rest his failing body and an extra week to dissect tape.
• Manning now has to play 9 straight weeks to end the season against competition like New England, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, San Diego (twice) and the Raiders. All teams fighting for spots.
• Temperatures are going to get worse from here on out and hits manning takes will really start to take their toll as the weeks roll on.
• We have 6 weeks of tape that show that manning has been the worse QB in the league this year, vs. 1 week of tape where manning was fully rested against an overrated defense that lost 2 CB’s to injury (including their best one) in the first quarter.
• People who are ready to think Manning turned the corner after 1 game off a bye week can believe what they want. I’m going to trust the 6 straight weeks of tape leading up to it.

Some things to look at about our upcoming match up

• Brady is 4-1 against wade Phillips coached defenses with a 100 passer rating. (15 TDs 4 Ints)
• The Texans had a top 5 Defense the year we dropped 42 and 48 points on them (A defense coached by wade Phillips).
• The last time Brady lost to Wade’s Defense was in 2005.

Next I’d like to look at Tom and the boys vs the Broncos defenses in the Manning era

• 3-1, with 9 TD’s, 1 INT, 67% Comp., and 290 YPG.
• The only loss came without Gronk, Talib (for the majority of the game) Mayo (our then best linebacker) and Wilfork (our then best lineman) being in the line-up.
• The game that is most telling is the match up from last year vs. the same defensive personnel on the team this year: 43 points, Brady was 33/53, for 333 yards and had 4 TDs with 1 INT in an absolute route.

I know this defense wasn’t coached by Wade Phillips last year or years previous, but our success against this team, and our success against wade Phillips himself makes me feel quite confident.

Enough about them, lets look at New England…

Brady is 7-0 against number 1 defenses in mid-late season games since 2012. His numbers against top defenses in those games are actually better than his career per game averages. The dude shows up when it counts.

I’d also like to point to SB XLIX if you need anymore proof of what Tom can do to number 1 defenses with potent pass rushes and secondaries. Straight up savagery. 4 TDs 300+ yards.

Ok, lets look at 2015

• Patriots are averaging a league best 35.6 ppg, which is first in the league.
• Patriots had the number 2 offense per DVOA before the Miami game, and based on how badly they dominated them and how average the Bengals looked, I’m willing to bet they moved to 1.
• The Patriots also have a severely underrated defense, which is 11th per DVOA, and again, I’m willing to bet the Patriots slide into the top 10 after the Dolphins games.
• The Patriots are a very balanced team. The best offense with arguably a top 10 defense. The front 7 is wayyy better than most people realize. Everyone is creaming their pants over Denver’s pass rush, but the Patriots are tied for 2nd in the league with 26 sacks to their 29 (1st). They are right behind them.
• This defense always gives Manning fits. BB just knows how to coach against Peyton. There is a reason he has won of his worst career passer ratings against the Patriots, and his worst winning %.

Lets look back at Denver

Contrary to the Patriots, Denver is the definition of unbalanced.

• Before last nights game, Denver was ranked 32nd in offensive DVOA (dead last) and 1st in defense. Their offense may have gone up a spot or two, but to say that they have been absolutely putrid thus far has been an understatement.
• The Green Bay offense was severely overrated going into the game.
• Rodgers has beat the Patriots on some average teams in Lambeau and had good stat lines, but their passing attack ranked in the 20’s going into last night, and Lacy has been awful this year. A Jordy Nelson-less banged up GB offense does not even come close to comparing to the product the Patriots have shown.
• We all know Rodgers is a front runner and has always been bad at playing from behind. He also kind of sucks on the road vs good teams. Denver got up early and the Pack folded. Something Mike McCarthy is known for. Belichick wouldn’t let that happen.

Lets look at our biggest advantage; Coaching

I’m not going to show you flashy stats here, we don’t need them. We all know that Bill is possibly the GOAT and easily the best coach in the league. Even if the Patriots lay an egg in the first half, Bill always makes adjustments and can completely turn it around in most second halfs. Belichick is a master of game planning and can honestly make up for huge talent disparity all by himself. He shows us year after year how he gets the best out of everyone. I expect our best game of the year to be against Denver this year. The Patriots will need it, he will have the guys ready.

So I ask you all to respect Denver as an opponent and realize that they are a great team, but so are the Patriots. This team can beat anyone in the league and IMO are in an echelon of their own this year. All the Pats need to do is execute the plan and we will win. Something we seem to be pretty good at.

and one last thing, people sucked us off so hard all day Friday and Saturday for our trouncing of Miami. Let the media suck off Denver. They were the SNF primetime game and the last thing most people watched this weekend before going to bed. Of course everyone is going nuts over them this morning. this isn’t a slight at us, they played a good game in primetime. Let them celebrate without taking offense to it.

WE’RE ONTO WASHINGTON

/U/DennisHamburglar

I had mentioned this earlier in the season as well, but whoever developed ESPN’s QBR Rating system needs to go back to the drawing board because it is severely flawed, almost as flawed as ESPN themselves. Now call me a homer or whatever, but the system itself makes no sense whatsoever and for any one to put any weight into this is a moron…

In Tom Brady’s week matchup vs the Dolphins, he threw for 356 yards on 26-38 (68%) passing with 5 TD’s and 0 INT’s.

Aaron Rodgers vs the Broncos threw for 77 yards on 14-22 (64%) passing with 0 TD’s and 0 INT’s.

How the hell does Aaron Rodgers have a higher QBR Rating than Brady? It makes absolutely ZERO sense… Are they such morons that they can’t figure out their own algorithm? What was wrong with the QB Rating system in the first place? Why reinvent the wheel and come up with a stat that is severely flawed.

Maybe before they fire their next batch of 350 employees, they can figure it out…

This is exactly why I want my son playing football, yes it is brutally tough, but look at the bond between all the guys in the locker room, its a bond/brotherhood that you will never forget.

Way to go Bucs

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

While everyone in Denver is all horny because they beat Aaron Rodgers and the Packers, there is really only one thing I took away from last nights game. Rogers clearly isn’t in the MVP race any more.

Now I know we’re on to Washington blah blah blah, but looking ahead, this game is going to be a great game, but Denver doesn’t worry me as much as their fans think it does…I am far from scared of the Broncos. Why? Because we have the greatest coach and quarterback in the history of the league on our side line. This team prepares better than any other and even going in to Denver later this month, I am fully confident we can go in there and win. Even if we don’t, we would fall behind Denver in the playoff seeding and most likely have to go in to Denver for the AFC Championship game, and a second time around, you better believe the Patriots win that game. Not to mention when the calendar turns and the temperature drops, Peyton Manning literally cannot throw a football and win games. It’s not an opinion, it’s a fact. Peyton Manning has more one-and-done’s than anyone in the history of the league (9). NINE!!!! And 6 of those games came as the home team! That is a stat worthy of Mark Sanchez, not the great Peyton Manning. Last year while Peyton was at home in a playoff game against the Colts, surely a game he would fire himself up to play, he lost 24-13 and played horribly. 211 yards 1 TD 0 INT. These aren’t Peyton Manning numbers. But they are Peyton Manning January numbers… In Peyton Manning’s 24 career playoff games, he has thrown 38 TD’s and 24 INT’s. Oh, and he is under .500 (11-13). Some say well what has he done in Denver? Don’t worry, he is 2-3 for them as well in the post season. Peyton is also 6-13 vs. the New England Patriots. Newsflash: That’s not good

Peyton and the Broncos are riding a hot defense right now, and I will give it to them, they are good. But Rodgers last night, held onto the ball WAYYYYY too long and got himself killed. Brady gets rid of the ball far faster than anyone in the league. In 1.81 seconds, the ball is gone out of Brady’s hands. You simply can’t get to him in time. The Patriots receiving core is far too deep also. You want to blitz the crap out of Brady? Go right ahead, but just be ready for a heavy dose of Edelman/Lewis screen passes all game.

The road for the number #1 will come between these two teams, but the Broncos final stretch will be tougher than the Patriots which is why I believe the Patriots come away with the number 1 seed in the end giving the Pats home field throughout the playoffs, and we know how well teams fare with that…

Denver finishes up games against San Diego, Oakland, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and San Diego again. All teams that will for sure be fighting for their lives for a playoff spot.

The Patriots finish the season up with Philadelphia, Houston, Tennessee, New York (AFC), Miami.

Scared of Denver? Hardly….

Some things to be aware of-

• Manning had an extra week to rest his failing body and an extra week to dissect tape.
• Manning now has to play 9 straight weeks to end the season against competition like us, Pit, Cin, SD (twice) and the raiders.
• Temperatures are going to get worse from here on out and hits manning takes will really start to take their toll as the weeks roll on.
• We have 6 weeks of tape that show that manning has been the worse QB in the league this year, vs. 1 week of tape where manning was fully rested against an overrated defense that lost 2 CB’s to injury (including their best one) in the first quarter.
• People who are ready to think manning turned the corner after 1 game off a bye week can believe what they want. I’m going to trust the 6 straight weeks of tape leading up to it.

And this is the #1 reason why I am confident… Get your head in the game Wade!

Chicken Parm tastes so good-I like it especially with Cheese

— Wade Phillips (@sonofbum) November 2, 2015

I really don’t know why, but I can’t stop laughing at this, this is hilarious. I was fully expecting some story about how the ghost of Tim Thomas is haunting the crease or something. Quick and to the point, I like it!

The Bruins, who started slow, are absolutely steam rolling right now. Their success on the road right now is incredible. They have won 4 games in a row and in their last 5 games have received 9 out of a possible 10 points. They are currently 3rd in the Atlantic division and have played the least amount of games of anyone in the division. The goaltending has been spectacular over the last 3 games only allowing 2 goals and the offense is on fire(17 goals scored in the last 4 games).

The Bruins never start fast it seems and it was only a matter of time before they got into a groove…

The New York Jets, who reportedly asked the NFL to sweep the Patriots visitor locker room for bugs (and found nothing) are the next victim up on the karma tour. Yesterday quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick left the game vs. the Raiders with a torn ligament in his non throwing hand. In came Geno Smith who made his first start of the season after being punched in the face by a team mate. Smith then left the game in the 4th quarter with a shoulder and abdomen issue. So instead of worrying about the Patriots and what they are doing, now you have your own problems. How does that taste?

This leaves the Jets scrambling for a starting quarterback for this weeks upcoming game vs. the Jaguars.

Per source, Jets already are making calls about potential quarterbacks who may be available to be signed or traded.

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) November 1, 2015

Ryan Mallet is probably the best suited to fill in, but the Jets already released a statement that they won’t be bringing in Mallet. Not really sure what that leaves the Jets with but this couldn’t have happened to a better team. Maybe it’s Tebow time again? It’s crazy that through week 8 the Patriots have a 3 game lead in the division and the rest of the division looks horrid. I always laugh each year when everyone starts saying “watch out for the BillsJetsDolphins“. By this time every year the other 3 teams in the AFC are always fighting for a long distant 2nd place. Sorry for your loss Jets… not really The Pittsburgh Steelers, who tried their damn hardest to make something out of the headset issue during game 1 at Gillette (Patriots were cleared because the Patriots have nothing to do with headsets) have also met their fate when RB Le’Veon Bell went down with a torn MCL and will miss the regular season himself. The Steelers were so excited to get Big Ben back too, they finally got the whole squad back together then BAM your season is over… That HAS to hurt

And finally, the Indianapolis Colts are being investigated by the NFL for the falsifying of the injury report from Andrew Luck and the Colts. Maybe we should petition to put an asterisk on that AFC Finalist banner? Or maybe fly a blimp over their stadium in protest? Or petition the NFL to put asterisks next to their wins in the record book? Nah, we’re too classy for that…

Le'Veon Bell left today's game with an awful-looking injury, when Vontaze Burfict came down on his leg as he went out of bounds. According to Ian Rapoport, he has a "badly torn MCL" and is out for the year. Adam Schefter must have the same source, because he also described it as "badly torn."

Pittsburgh has been beset by costly injuries on offense this year, and was just getting all the skill position guys together again (Bryant was also suspended for the first four games, and Bell was suspended for the first two, then Roethlisberger was hurt). The key loss to the Bengals today at home, coupled with this injury, will make the playoffs more difficult.

That’s really too bad for Pittsburgh, they are psyched to get Big Ben back and boom, there goes their star running back for the year, oh and they also lost the game… Tough Sunday for Pittsburgh and company..

Trader Brandon Barb works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Monday (Richard Drew, AP).

After a strong start for November, pre-market indexes were up ahead of regular trading on Tuesday.

Here’s where the markets stood:

• Dow: +0.9%
• S&P: +1.2%
• Nasdaq: +1.5%

In Asia, markets were mixed on Tuesday. China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.3%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed at -2.1%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed at +1%.

In Europe, markets were also mixed. Britain’s FTSE 100 was at +0.1%, while Germany’s DAX was at -0.2% and France’s CAC 40 was -0.1%.

A VISA credit card is placed on a table in Berlin, Germany, 11 March 2015. The European Parliament adopted on 10 March 2015 a regulation capping interchange fees for payments using consumer debit and credit cards and improving competition for all card payments.

Shares of credit card processing company Visa (V) are down 3.3% Monday following disappointing quarterly profit.

The company reported a quarterly adjusted profit of 62 cents a share, missing expectations by 1.6%. Quarterly profit was up 13% from the same period a year ago.

Revenue during the quarter gained 11% to $3.6 billion. That beat expectations by 0.2%.

Shares of Visa are down $2.56, or 3.3%, to $75.04.

Follow Matt Krantz on Twitter @mattkrantz

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George Kavassilas |

Transcending the Cosmic Matrix ~ An Inner-view
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Published on 3 Nov 2015

George Kavassilas has been a wayshower within the dimensional fields of humankind's expanding consciousness. The outpouring of personal inner-known truth through his writings, interviews and seminars has been key to many others awakening to their deeper self.

It has been an honor for me to come to know George, always gracious, humble and wise in our conversations. It is still rare to find a person that lives their life from their heart so fully, accepting and embracing the great dark along with the light of transcendence.

In this inner-view we share from a vast wealth of experiential Knowledge that comes from living the Truth as it is shown. Each human alive today would greatly benefit from simply dropping the mind matrix of installed beliefs and sitting for a moment in silent wonder of what each of us Truly are… a Timeless Being of immense beauty. Listen beyond the words into the coherency of a new Reality, we are indeed the ones we have been waiting for.

“The journey to this moment has been for most of us a ‘many lives long’ one. Being born into the artificial matrix as an empath is often a path fraught with great challenge and suffering. It is now Known that the adversarial forces have imposed much to keep us from reaching this place in our hearts where the inner planes and cosmic dance take place. Our Work is embracing this adversary with all Life and through our inner harmonic resonance transforming and transmuting the weight of suppression. Dreamers at the well of the Waters of Life, drinking deeply, drinking full” ~ Christine

~~~~~

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"Be your authentic self, embody your soul." ~ george kasassilas

"George has had an extraordinary life with a multitude of interactions with inter-dimensional and extra-terrestrial beings of both benevolent and malevolent intent from many different levels of realities, both on and off world.

In 2003, George took a journey with his consciousness and spirit through the dimensions of our Universe and re-integrated with his soul. He rediscovered what life in this Universe is all about, and was able to once again remember who we all are, where we come from, what we are doing here, and where we are headed.

After a few years reconciling with his preeminent experience, the realization of responsibility and obligation accompanying such an experience resulted in sharing the knowledge and wisdom he gained and the consequent writing of his book 'Our Universal Journey'. George knows he is here to assist Humanity in reclaiming our sovereignty and transcending not only the Earthly Matrix, but also the Cosmic Matrix."

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KEN says

Critical Mass Consciousness, the magic key,
Critical Mass Consciousness, for cultural transformation,
Critical Mass Consciousness, will save the world through light and love.

The Goal In Life Is To Unite The Conscious Mind With The Soul
A journal of one man’s path toward spiritual enlightenment by physical
and mental purity, fasting, raw food diet, few words, natural living,
good works, right thinking, and exhilaration of the mind
by following the guidance of the Inner Voice.

STEVE says … Translating the hundredth monkey scenario to our own situations means that when enough of us have gone through our own personal version of the shift to the new consciousness then a critical mass will form and swiftly everyone will become conscious of the new reality and its heart-centered values.

For the vast majority of people this is the day when heart-centered values develop into the focus of everyday thoughts. That is the day when civilization will begin to look back on what has transformed and realize that a huge shift has taken place.
THE TIMES ARE CHANGING AND THIS IS WHY
When a certain significant number achieves have the same awareness, this new awareness will be communicated from mind to mind to mind to mind to mind.

This hundredth monkey scenario means that when even a limited number of people know of a new way, there is a point at which if only one more person tunes-in to a new awareness a field is strengthened so that this awareness is picked up by almost everyone!

I feel that this hundredth monkey scenario is what accounts for the way in which many ideas and fashions spread through our culture. This is what will change our present environment and is continuing to do so with rapid consequences for the world as we know it.

USE YOUR THOUGHTS WISELY

Remember, there are still those intrinsically evil people who are trying to outthink the way the shift is progressing, but so long as your mind focuses on change for the good and in a safe and natural way then you will become part of that shift, even if just being an observer.

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The Shift And The
Hundredth Monkey Effect
by Owen Waters

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The Shift is the awakening of humanity's heart. This transformation of consciousness, the greatest one ever recorded, first became apparent in the mid-1960s and has been building momentum ever since.

The Shift is a collective transformation consisting of the sum of each individual's step into the New Reality. Each person, in their own time, is moving forward into a stage of consciousness which brings a wider vista and an awareness which springs from the heart. When enough people's primary attention becomes focused through their heart chakras, then the 'hundredth monkey effect' will occur.

The Hundredth Monkey Effect was first introduced by biologist Lyall Watson in his 1980 book, 'Lifetide.' He reported that Japanese primatologists, who were studying Macaques monkeys in the wild in the 1950s, had stumbled upon a surprising phenomenon.

His book was soon followed up with a deeply inspired work by Ken Keyes in 1981, called "The Hundredth Monkey Effect." In this, Ken Keyes made an impassioned appeal for an end to the Cold War and its policy of mutually assured destruction. Here, in the words of Ken Keyes, is a description of the key elements of the Hundredth Monkey Effect:

"The Japanese monkey, Macaca fuscata, had been observed in the wild for a period of over 30 years.

"In 1952, on the island of Koshima, scientists were providing monkeys with sweet potatoes dropped in the sand. The monkeys liked the taste of the raw sweet potatoes, but they found the dirt unpleasant.

"An 18-month-old female named Imo found she could solve the problem by washing the potatoes in a nearby stream. She taught this trick to her mother. Her playmates also learned this new way and they taught their mothers too.

"This cultural innovation was gradually picked up by various monkeys before the eyes of the scientists.

"Between 1952 and 1958 all the young monkeys learned to wash the sandy sweet potatoes to make them more palatable.

"Only the adults who imitated their children learned this social improvement. Other adults kept eating the dirty sweet potatoes.

"Then something startling took place. In the autumn of 1958, a certain number of Koshima monkeys were washing sweet potatoes — the exact number is not known.

"Let us suppose that when the sun rose one morning there were 99 monkeys on Koshima Island who had learned to wash their sweet potatoes.

"Let’s further suppose that later that morning, the hundredth monkey learned to wash potatoes.

"Then it happened!

"By that evening almost everyone in the tribe was washing sweet potatoes before eating them.

"The added energy of this hundredth monkey somehow created an ideological breakthrough!

"But notice.

"A most surprising thing observed by these scientists was that the habit of washing sweet potatoes then jumped over the sea –

"Colonies of monkeys on other islands and the mainland troop of monkeys at Takasakiyama began washing their sweet potatoes.

"Thus, when a certain critical number achieves an awareness, this new awareness may be communicated from mind to mind.

"Although the exact number may vary, this Hundredth Monkey Phenomenon means that when only a limited number of people know of a new way, it may remain the conscious property of these people.

"But there is a point at which if only one more person tunes-in to a new awareness, a field is strengthened so that this awareness is picked up by almost everyone!"

Lyall Watson had originally researched and assembled the story from the available testimonies of the primate researchers. Because the phenomenon took the researchers so much by surprise, they had not counted how many monkeys it took to trigger this effect. So, Watson proposed an arbitrary figure of ninety-nine monkeys, and said that one more, the so-called one-hundredth monkey, would then provide the critical mass of consciousness necessary to trigger the effect.

The new behavior pattern spread to most, but not all, of the monkeys. Older monkeys, in particular, remained steadfast in their established behavior patterns and resisted change. When the new behavior pattern suddenly appeared among monkey troupes on other islands, only a few monkeys on those islands picked up on the new idea. The ones most receptive to new ideas started imitating the new behavior and demonstrating it to the impressionable younger ones. Thus, they too began their own path towards their eventual hundredth monkey effect.

How the Hundredth Monkey Effect Works

The mechanism for this transference of ideas works the same way for monkeys as it does for all sentient beings. We exist within an atmosphere of global mind. The human brain is constantly receiving and transmitting mental pictures and information to and from that mental atmosphere in which we are immersed.

The global mind, otherwise known as Jung's collective unconscious, does not cease to function because a few skeptics don't like its effects. It functions just like it always has, passing information from one individual to another based upon their common frequency of consciousness. If progressive monkeys had a new idea, then so did other progressive monkeys on other islands. They resonated at the same frequency of consciousness.

Inventions often occur at the same time by inventors who are not in physical contact with each other. For example, in 1941, Les Paul designed and built the first solid-body electric guitar just when Leo Fender of Fender Musical Instruments was doing exactly the same thing.

Have you ever had an idea, then seen other people express or use that idea. You probably said, "Hey! I thought of that first!" Well, that's the way the global mind works. It's an atmosphere that you share with all other sentient beings, but you tune in especially to the particular topics and frequencies of mind that interest you the most.

What This means to The Shift

When enough people have gone through their personal version of The Shift to the new consciousness, then a critical mass will form and suddenly everyone will become aware of the New Reality and its heart-centered values.

That is the day when heart-centered values will become the focus of everyday thinking for the vast majority of people. That is the day when humanity will begin to look back on what has changed and realize that a massive shift has occured.

This article was written by Owen Waters, author of
“The Shift: The Revolution in Human Consciousness”
and the Infinite Being Insight E-Books

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Official science: the grand illusion for all robots

by Jon Rappoport

November 2, 2015

(To read about Jon's mega-collection, The Matrix Revealed, click here.)

http://marketplace.mybigcommerce.com/the-matrix-revealed/

"Government science exists because it is a fine weapon to use, in order to force an agenda of control over the population. We aren't talking about knowledge here. Knowledge is irrelevant. What counts is: 'How can we fabricate something that looks like the truth?' I keep pointing this out: we're dealing with reality builders. In this case, they make their roads and fences out of data, and they massage and invent the data out of thin air to suit their purposes. After all, they also invent money out of thin air." (The Underground, Jon Rappoport)

Introduction: Since 1987, one of my goals as a reporter has been to educate the public about false science.

Between then and now, I have found that, with remarkably few exceptions, mainstream reporters are studiously indifferent to false science.

They shy away from it. They pretend "it couldn't be." They refuse to consider facts. They and their editors parrot "the experts."

Official science has a stranglehold on major media. It has the force of a State religion. When you stop and think about it, official science is, in a significant sense, a holy church. Therefore, it is no surprise that the church's spokespeople would wield power over major information outlets.

These prelates invent, guard, and dispense "what is known." That was precisely the role of the Roman Church in times past. And those professionals within the modern Church of Science are severely punished when they leave the fold and accuse their former masters of lies and crimes. They are blackballed, discredited, and stripped of their licenses. At the very least.

Totalitarian science lets you know you're living in a totalitarian society.

The government, the press, the mega-corporations, the prestigious foundations, the academic institutions, the "humanitarian" organizations say:

"This is the disease. This is its name. This is what causes it. This is the drug that treats it. This is the vaccine that prevents it."

"This is how accurate diagnosis is done. These are the tests. These are the possible results and what they mean."

"Here are the genes. This is what they do. This is how they can be changed and substituted and manipulated. These are the outcomes."

"These are the data and the statistics. They are correct. There can be no argument about them."

"This is life. These are the components of life. All change and improvement result from our management of the components."

"This is the path. It is governed by truth which our science reveals. Walk the path. We will inform you when you stray. We will report new improvements."

"This is the end. You can go no farther. You must give up the ghost. We will remember you."

We are now witnessing the acceleration of Official Science. Of course, that term is an internal contradiction. But the State shrugs and moves forward.

The notion that the State can put its seal on favored science, enforce it, and punish its competitors, is anathema to a free society.

For example: declaring that psychiatrists can appear in court as expert witnesses, when none of the so-called mental disorders listed in the psychiatric literature are diagnosed by laboratory tests.

For example: stating that vaccination is mandatory, in order to protect the vaccinated (who are supposed to be immune) from the unvaccinated. An absurdity on its face.

For example: announcing that the science of climate change is "settled," when there are, in fact, huge numbers of researchers who disagree. —And then, drafting legislation and issuing executive orders based on the decidedly unsettled science.

For example: officially approving the release and sale of medical drugs ("safe and effective") which go on to kill, at a conservative estimate, 100,000 Americans every year. And then refusing to investigate or punish the purveyors of these drug approvals (the FDA).

For example: permitting the widespread use of genetically modified food crops, based on no long-term studies of their impact on human health. And then, arbitrarily announcing that the herbicide, Roundup, for which many of these crops are specifically designed, is non-toxic.

For example: declaring and promoting the existence of various epidemics, when the viruses purportedly causing them are not proven to exist and/or not proven to cause human illness (Ebola, SARS, West Nile, Swine Flu, etc.)

A few of you reading this have been with me since 1988, when I published my first book, AIDS INC., Scandal of the Century. Among other conclusions, I pointed out that HIV had never been shown to cause human illness; the front-line drug given to AIDS patients, AZT, was overwhelmingly toxic; and what was being called AIDS was actually a diverse number immune-suppressing conditions.

Others of you have found my work more recently. I always return to the subject of false science, because it is the most powerful long-term instrument for repression, political control, and destruction of human life.

As I've stated on many occasions, medical science is ideal for mounting and launching covert ops aimed at populations—because it appears to be politically neutral, without any allegiance to State interests.

Unfortunately, medical science, on many fronts, has been hijacked and taken over. The profit motive is one objective, but beyond that, there is a more embracing goal:

Totalitarian control.

The Matrix Revealed

On the issue of vaccines, I've written much about their dangers and ineffectiveness. But also consider this: the push for mandatory vaccination goes a long way toward creating a herd effect—which is really a social construction.

In other words, parents are propagandized to think of themselves a kind of synthetic artificial "community."

"Here we are. We are the fathers and mothers. We must all protect our children against the outliers, the rebels, the defectors, the crazy ones who refuse to vaccinate their own children. We are all in this together. They are the threat. The enemy. We are good. We know the truth. They are evil."

This "community of the willing" are dedicated to what the government tells them. They are crusaders imbued with group-think. They run around promoting "safety and protection." This group consciousness is entirely an artifact, propelled by "official science."

The crusaders are, in effect, agents of the State.

They are created by the State.

Androids.

They live in an absurd Twilight Zone where fear of germs (the tiny invisible terrorists) demands coercive action against the individuals who see through the whole illusion.

This is what official science can achieve. This is how it can enlist obedient foot soldiers and spies who don't have the faintest idea about how they're being used.

This is a variant on Orwell's 1984. The citizens are owned by the all-embracing State, but they aren't even aware of it.

That's quite a trick.

Jon Rappoport

The author of three explosive collections, THE MATRIX REVEALED, EXIT FROM THE MATRIX, and POWER OUTSIDE THE MATRIX, Jon was a candidate for a US Congressional seat in the 29th District of California. He maintains a consulting practice for private clients, the purpose of which is the expansion of personal creative power. Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, he has worked as an investigative reporter for 30 years, writing articles on politics, medicine, and health for CBS Healthwatch, LA Weekly, Spin Magazine, Stern, and other newspapers and magazines in the US and Europe. Jon has delivered lectures and seminars on global politics, health, logic, and creative power to audiences around the world. You can sign up for his free NoMoreFakeNews emails here or his free OutsideTheRealityMachine emails here.

Filed under: Government Fraud, Science Fraud

Vía Jon Rappoport's Blog http://ift.tt/1Q5HnW7

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Huawei has taken a leaf from Apple’s book with its latest promotion, offering discount on its wearable product when customers order a smartphone. Buyers who order the Nexus 6P direct from Huawei can get $50 off the Huawei Watch when they buy both devices at the same time. That means you’ll be able to get one of this year’s best Android Wear smartwatches for as little as $299.

This deal, of course, is more than likely being launched to counter Apple’s very similar promotion in which customers purchasing an iPhone and an Apple Watch at the same time receive $50 discount in select stores. Overall though, there’s still a huge price difference between buying the new Nexus and buying the new iPhone. Nexus 6P models start at $499, where the iPhone 6s begins at $649. Huawei Watch begins at the same price as the Apple Watch Sport, and is $200+ cheaper than the stainless Apple Watch models.

If you want to take advantage of the deal, head on over to GetHuawei.com and add the Nexus 6P and Huawei Watch to your basket. The $50 discount will be applied automatically. All in, the cheapest combination will set you back about $800, that’s only $50 more than the price of the cheapest 16GB iPhone 6s Plus on its own. That’s really not bad when you’re getting two of the best Android/Android Wear products available right now.

Check out 9to5Google for more breaking coverage of Android, Android, and Android Wear.

What do you think? Discuss "Nexus 6P buyers get $50 discount on Huawei Watch" with our community.

Google has long been rumored to be planning to open a New York City retail space, but now it looks as if that plan has died off. According to a report from Crain’s New York Business, Google has abandoned its plans to open a retail store in New York City. The company is looking to sublease a 5,442-square-foot space it leased in SoHo last year.

Google is looking to sublease the place for $2.25 million, but according to the report, the company has already invested $6 million in renovating the building. Google was planning to launch its first ever retail space in the building, but it’s unclear why the company abandoned those plans. Google was aiming to compete more directly with Apple and use the store to sell its Chromebook and Nexus devices.

As far as its renovations go, Google redesigned the layout of the building and gave it a sunken area in the rear, giving the effect of higher ceilings. The company exposed the brick walls, columns, and steel beams, as well, and eliminated a concrete step that led into the building.

The location of the building, 131 Greene St., is prime real estate. The area has recently been revitalized thanks to the openings of new, hip retail locations by companies like Sonos.

At this point, it’s unclear if Google still has any interest in opening retail stores, but for the time being, it looks as if those plans have been shut down.

For more news on Google, Google Corporate, and New York City continue reading at 9to5Google.

What do you think? Discuss "Report: Google abandons its retail plans as it looks to sublease SoHo building it renovated" with our community.

Google releases a report about its self-driving car project every month, and now the company has released October’s numbers. There’s not much new information this time around, but numbers like miles driven in both autonomous and manual modes have obviously increased. Interestingly, while the number of self-driving cars on the road has stayed the same, the number of cars on the road in Austin, TX has decreased…

In October’s report, we’re seeing 23 Lexus RX450h SUVs on the streets in total, with 4 of them in Austin. There are 25 of the admittedly cuter prototypes on the roads, with 21 in Mountain View, CA and 4 in Austin, TX. And here are the new record total miles driven since the start of self-driving car project in 2009:

• Autonomous mode: 1,268,108 miles
• Manual mode: 938,621 miles

Interestingly, while Google was just recently boasting about its expansion into Austin, it looks like the Mountain View company has actually pulled some cars from Texas over the last month. Google had 6 of the Lexus cars and 8 of the prototypes in Austin, TX last month, and now there are only 4 of each.

For more news on Android, report, and Self-Driving Car continue reading at 9to5Google.

What do you think? Discuss "Google’s self-driving car report for October reveals fewer cars on the road in Austin" with our community.

Recently, I checked out the Wileyfox Swift, it's one of the best phones on the market in Europe at its pricepoint. This is the Wileyfox Storm, the company's more expensive device that aims to bring flagship specs at an affordable price point. Before reviewing it at a later date, we wanted to unbox it and see what we thought of the smartphone on first impressions…

In the box

Unboxing the phone is a pretty nice experience. The box has the same grippy orange texture on the outside as the Swift and the outer sleeve slides off really smoothly. Over the phone is a protective semi-transparent sheet, and the Wileyfox Storm itself sits face-down on a tray and is protected from all sides by a protective foam frame.

In the packaging, customers can expect to find a flat USB to Micro USB cable with an exposed Type A end, wound in to a neat coil, very similar to the OnePlus cable. There’s also the most unusual SIM ejector tool I’ve ever seen and some booklets. There’s literally nothing else. No earphones, and no power adapter. Two unusual omissions, but nothing I haven’t seen before with devices launched to disrupt and save costs.

Design

Like many modern affordable smartphones, the Wileyfox Storm has a dual-purpose SIM tray. It has two slots. You can either use it to store two nano-SIMs and have a dual-SIM setup, or use one SIM and an SD card. The 32GB inbuilt storage should be plenty for most people, but just in case it’s not, you can expand up to an extra 128GB.

The back has a soft textured finish. It's not grippy, but it does feel nice in the hand. There are tiny bits of orange trim, the embossed fox logo and bright orange Wileyfox text. All of which look great.

Size-wise, the phone is pretty similar to the new Moto X Style. At 9.2mm thick, it's not the thinnest device around. But the curve on the back makes it feel ergonomic in palm. The back also plays home to a 20MP Sony and large single LED flash as well as the large rectangular loudspeaker grille made up from lots of tiny machined holes.

The edges have a sculpted trim, all the way around, on the top and bottom, and the right edge plays home to the power and volume rocker, while the left houses the aforementioned dual-SIM tray.

Other specs

On the front, there's a large 5.5-inch full HD display with a 400ppi pixel density. On first impressions, it seems pretty sharp. Although, whites seem a tiny bit yellow and warm, you can adapt it slightly using the software settings built in to the Cyanogen 12.1 OS. It’s based on Android 5.1 Lollipop, but features many of Wileyfox’s own twists, like the unique app draw icon design.

Joining the display on the front panel is an 8MP front facing camera (with an LED flash) and the three capacitive buttons on the bottom lip. Within the settings, you can choose whether or not you want these buttons to light up and be used, or if you’d rather go with Android’s baked in virtual buttons instead.

Inside, there's an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor clocked a 1.5GHz. It's paired with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage. There's also a 2500mAh battery, and it's non-removable. Sadly, that's the same capacity battery as the smaller Wileyfox Swift. So it'll be interesting to see how that affects performance.

As overall first impressions go, it reminds me a lot of the OnePlus One. It has similar specs, materials and has a similar price. At £200, it has competition. So, sadly, it may not reach the impressive heights of its more budget-friendly sibling. But still, we won't jump to conclusions until I've spent more time with it. You can order the device now for just under £200 on Amazon UK. In the US that translates to roughly $300. At that price, you might want to hold on to your cash and maybe order the Idol 3,ZenFone 2 or just hope you get an invite for the OnePlus X.

Check out 9to5Google for more breaking coverage of Android, Android, and smartphones.

What do you think? Discuss "Wileyfox Storm unboxing: First look at the British budget flagship [Video]" with our community.

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can't miss deals:

Motorola Nexus 6 Unlocked 32GB in Midnight Blue (refurb): $290 shipped (Orig. $330)

Pebble Time Smartwatch in multiple colors: $150 shipped (Reg. $200)

Motorola Moto X (2nd Gen) 16 GB Unlocked: $199.99 shipped (Reg. $300)

Samsung Galaxy S5 Unlocked: $300 shipped (Reg. $400+) | eBay

LG G Pad V410 AT&T GSM Unlocked 7-Inch 4G LTE 16GB Tablet: $80 shipped (Reg. $150+)

Beats by Dr. Dre Pill 2.0 Portable Bluetooth Speaker (multiple colors) $120 shipped (Orig. $200)

Amazon's Black Friday Deals store is now open for business

Everything we know so far about this year's best Black Friday deals and promotions

More new gear from today:

Daily Deals: Garmin vívofit 2 $70, Two Aukey MFi Lightning Cables $8, more

• Games/Apps: Metal Gear Phantom Pain hits its lowest price $40, more
• Target 25% off Toys: Razor E200 Electric Scooter $117 (Reg. $144), more
• Amazon to offer midnight deliveries for Call of Duty: Black Ops III via Prime Now
• Media: Breaking Bad Complete Series on Blu-ray $70 (Orig. $161), $3 DVDs, more
• Apple iPad Air 2 Wi-Fi: 16GB $399 (Reg. $499), 64GB $479 (Reg. $599), 128GB $559 (Reg. $699)
• Apple iPad Mini 2, space gray or silver: $199 shipped ($70 off)
• 2 Pack: Mohu Leaf Metro Indoor HDTV Antenna (Refurb) $25 shipped (Orig. $40 value)

More deals still alive:

Free PS Plus Games for November: The Walking Dead Season 2, Mass Effect 2, Beyond Good & Evil, more

Free Xbox Live Gold Games for November: Pneuma Breath of Life, Dungeon Siege III, more

• App Store Free App of the Week: rop mind-bending puzzle game ($1 value)
• Headphones: Audio-Technica Over-Ears $100 (Orig. $250),  more
• Power Bank Deals: Aukey 20,000mAh Dual USB $22 Prime shipped (Reg. $30), more
• Adobe Photoshop Elements 14 (Mac/PC) is on sale for Prime members: $40 shipped (Reg. $70+)
• AirPrint Laser Printers: Samsung $55 (Orig. $160)
• One year Sam's Club membership
• PSA: Best Buy and others launch new Apple TV pre-orders, offer potential savings
• The best accessories for the new Apple TV: MFi game controllers, keyboards, cables, more

New products & more:

Panasonic has a new line of solar powered products designed for those in need

• The LEGO Power Functions Idea Book teaches you how to build cars, contraptions and more
• This life-size R2-D2 refrigerator carries your beer to you…for a price
• GE's new smart LED lightbulbs tell your brain when it's time for bed
• The Altwork Station cures the standing desk blues with its reclining design
• Can a $99 Windows PC that connects to your iPad be any good?
• Gibson's Neat podcasting microphones mix fun and color
• Blue's new Lola headphones drop some weight but keep the retro look
• Toys R Us Holiday Catalog Leak: Apple TV for $54 in-store, much more
• LEGO nailed the famous Ghostbusters Firehouse set

Visit 9to5Google to find more special coverage of Tech Industry and 9to5toys.

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Officially offering a denial to a report last week claiming Chrome OS would merge into Android by 2017, Google has taken to its Chrome blog to say Chrome OS is here to stay. Chromebooks that run the Chrome operating system has taken off especially well in the classroom, giving Google added incentive to ensure Chrome OS users that the platform isn’t facing any dramatic changes in the near future. Hoping to convince users that recent reports of the future of Chrome OS are wrong, Google has shared some usage numbers and even offered a peek into the future of Chrome OS…

Google says that’s in part due to the success of Chrome OS. Chromebooks are activated in 30,000 classrooms each school day, according to Google, and 2 million students and teachers use the recently launched Share to Classroom Chrome extension. Google also cites companies including Netflix and Starbucks that have deployed Chromebooks successfully while highlighting security on Chrome OS. Google even points out Chromebook sales performance on Amazon as reason to keep the platform around.

As for new features, Google says Chrome OS has a Material Design makeover planned for the future (Android introduced the design language a year ago) and “dozens of new Chromebooks” are planned for next year. A new media player on Chrome OS and continued security and performance updates are also in the cards, according to the blog post.

Convinced? The consensus seems to be that its only a matter of time before Android adapts into a full-blown Chrome OS competitor, and while the Chrome OS name may stick around, the inevitable focus on Android is undeniable. As ever, let us know what you think in the comments.

For more information about Google, Android, and Chrome/OS continue reading at 9to5Google.

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Sprint today announced a new agreement with the Telecommunications Company of Cuba that will allow the fourth-largest US carrier’s subscribers to roam in Cuba. The move comes on the heels of changes to US-Cuban relations recently implemented by the US government.

The Sprint press release (below) mentions two of the company’s global roaming initiatives, but doesn’t specify whether Cuba will join the existing programs or will be part of a different offer.

The company says the exact details and the timing of the launch will be announced at a later date.

Visit 9to5Google to find more special coverage of Tech Industry, Sprint, and carriers.

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Nextbit’s Robin is a new smartphone that’s primary goal is to eliminate the lack of smartphone storage. Robin uses the cloud and intelligently archives stuff you don’t use or need often, while backing it up to the cloud. Recently, we took a trip to Nextbit HQ for a closer look at Robin and to see what it’s all about…

Nextbit is doing something very different with Robin. There’s no Micro SD expansion, just 32GB internally and 100GB of cloud storage for the life of the device. As Robin gets to know you, your apps, photos, and more will be intelligently backed up to the cloud and “archived” to free up space on your device. Essentially, this will all be done without any interaction from you, but you can prevent things from being archived by “pinning” them to your home screen.

It’s clear that many people have reservations about the concept behind Nextbit’s new smartphone, but it all sounds pretty great in theory. We’re still a bit away from the launch of Robin, but there’s a lot to learn about it from a feature and specifications perspective. We sat down with Nextbit’s co-founder/CTO Mike Chan to get an inside scoop on Robin and what it has to offer.

Check out our video below:

Robin sounds very promising and I’m personally a big fan of the design happening here. It looks and functions very different from many other smartphones on the market currently. Using the cloud for data storage is something we’re all familiar with by now, but nothing else does it like Robin yet. Will this cloud-based platform stand the test of time? We’ll soon find out.

Stay tuned for our Nextbit Robin review coming up in the near future and be sure to check out our exclusive look at Robin in the above video. What do you think about the Nextbit Robin? Is this the future of smartphone storage? If you’d like to find out more about Nextbit’s Robin, visit the company’s website.

Continue reading more about Android, Video, and data at 9to5Google.

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A few weeks ago AT&T announced an upcoming network-level feature called NumberSync, which will allow customers to use one phone number on multiple connected devices like smartwatches, tablets, and connected cars. As promised, the carrier is unveiling the first two devices that will work with NumberSync: the Samsung Gear S2 and LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE. 

Just in time for the holiday season, the Gear S2 and Watch Urbane 2 will be available for order at AT&T starting Friday, November 6. NumberSync will become available to the S2 then Urbane 2 early next year.

Available at no extra cost, NumberSync will let smartwatch wearers send and receive text messages and phone calls directly on the S2 and Urbane 2 using the same phone number as their actual phone number. That way friends and family don’t need to remember a special number that only works with the watch or get confused by an unknown number when you call or text from it.

Because the S2 and Urbane 2 have their own LTE connections, phone and text functionality works even when your smartphone is unavailable.

While orders for both smartwatches start online and in stores for AT&T this Friday, the Samsung Gear S2 will be available two weeks after on Friday, November 20. The LG Watch Urbane 2 will be available a week sooner on Friday, November 13.

Both the S2 and Urbane 2 will be sold on two-year contracts for $199 with $10/month access charges for LTE use with existing plans. The carrier will also offer both smartwatches on AT&T Installment Plans for $0 down and $15/month for 20 months.

Visit 9to5Google to find more special coverage of Android, Samsung, and Tech Industry.

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Blackberry’s first Android-powered smartphone, the PRIV, is coming to the United States this Friday on November 6 through AT&T. The carrier revealed that it will be the first in the US to carry the privacy and productivity focused BlackBerry. AT&T will offer the BlackBerry PRIV both online and in stores at the end of the week from $249.99 on a traditional two-year contract or from $24.67/month on a financing plan.

AT&T Next customers can pick up the PRIV for $0 down plus $24.67/month with upgrade eligibility after 24 months or 30 months to own it, $30.84/month for an 18 month upgrade or 24 months to own it, or $37/month for a 12 month upgrade or 20 months to own it.

BlackBerry’s first move into the Android space comes with some very capable hardware too. The PRIV runs Android 5.1 and boasts a 5.4-inch Gorilla Glass 4 display plus a slide-out physical keyboard, an 18MP back shooter, a 3410 mAh battery, and 32GB storage expandable to 2TB with microSD.

As the security level, the LTE smartphone features a DTEK app from BlackBerry that monitors the security level of your device. This also allows you to manage privacy settings on an app basis.

News that AT&T will be the first US carrier to offer the PRIV follows BlackBerry seemingly jumping the gun on earlier pre-orders

Check out 9to5Google for more breaking coverage of Android, Android, and AT&T.

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SoundCloud, the music sharing and discovery community popular with independent musicians, is today releasing its first ever app specifically for creators with the release of SoundCloud Pulse for Android.

The app allows creators, those that are uploading content to the service, to quickly access the most used features in a dedicated app. Features include things like interacting with fans by replying to comments, viewing stats on uploaded content, and sharing content publicly and privately with others.

That's mostly all you'll get with the first release, but SoundCloud promises more features for the near future including "more in-depth stats, ability to edit track information, expanded messaging capability and ability to upload tracks." The app will also get an iOS release down the road.

You can download the SounCloud Pulse app on Google Play now.

For more news on Android, Apps and Updates, and Google Play continue reading at 9to5Google.

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It's certainly not the only connected-security camera, but following Google's acquisition of popular security cam maker Dropcam last year, the company has just launched a second-generation product with new features. The new product was re-envisioned by Google's Nest team— the people building smart home accessories like the Nest thermostat and fire alarm— and in the process dropped the Dropcam branding and gained a few notable enhancements.

But is the new Nest Cam worth an upgrade from your current Dropcam setup? And how does the product compare to the other connected home security-cam and all-in-one security devices on the market? We've been testing out Nest Cam since its release a few weeks back to find out.

Installation/Setup:

Setup is painless with the usual Wi-Fi accessory configuration process for iPhone users. Download the app, connect to your Wi-Fi network, and a few minutes later your cam is connected and ready to live stream and record. But that also means you can expect a few hiccups or necessary restarts if your network happens to not be playing nice at the moment. You have to plug in the camera, so you'll want to have an outlet relatively close by (it comes with a 3 meter USB cable and wall adapter for power), but the design gives you a few options for positioning and mounting.

The base is magnetic and comes with a screw-on wall mount or can optionally sit upright on a desk or other flat service. It also unscrews from the base for moving on to a standard tripod mount of your own if desired. The arm of the camera is mounted on a swivel so you can position it upright or laying flat for the various mounting options, and the camera itself can be repositioned 360 degrees for example on the base, so it’s possible to adjust what the camera is capturing without having to remount the entire unit.

How does that compare to the competition? Some use batteries, which makes them portable, but for a home setup and the benefit of always on recording (more on that below), dealing with the power cable on Nest Cam is worth the trade-off. And when it comes to build quality, Nest Cam is as solid as it gets. It's a tank, and that's certainly a feature I appreciate in a security camera.

Using Nest Cam:

The features are quite basic when compared to some of the more all-in-one home/security products on the market, but you get everything you need for a solid security camera setup: a 1080p HD camera with a 130º wide­-angle view and zoom, a built-in speaker and mic for yelling at robbers or your pets or listening in, and access to video history with the ability to create clips, edit footage, and share videos with others. You can also setup rules for having the camera turn on and off based on your schedule. 

The camera includes night vision LEDs that give you a great view in the dark compared to not such a great experience with cameras that instead just add a spotlight or don't include night vision features at all. Some of the competitors on the market have opted to include other sensors for things like measuring air quality, for example, but the Nest Cam keeps quite bare-bones with just what you need for security camera purposes.

I quite enjoyed the software experience when testing out the Nest Cam, although there were a few annoyances and what I'd consider missing features…

On mobile you can't record or share a clip and navigating the timeline for recorded footage is clunky at best, making it difficult to pinpoint a specific moment when browsing over a long period of recorded video. 

It's better with the web app on desktop where you can quickly and easily make clips for sharing purposes, but I still found the UI for navigating the timeline a bit cumbersome. Clips can be an hour in length, and you can store up to 3 hours of clips, otherwise they'll get turned into time-lapse videos. I didn't have any break-ins during my review unfortunately, so I shot some time-lapse videos instead:

And for those that are already using the Nest apps for managing other Nest devices, like the thermostat or fire alarm, having the convenience of accessing the Nest Cam from the same place is an added bonus, and you can set up rules to have Nest Cam kick on and off related to activity from other Nest devices.

I found the motion detection feature of the camera effective, but it has the same issues as other security cameras. It doesn't do as great of a job at filtering out background noise as Nest's marketing claims. Mix in the fact that I personally have a house full of pets, and live in a noisy development, the motion detection feature would wake up the camera too often for it to be useful in detecting threats, at least in my personal environment. The motion detection caught all the movement in the videos above, for example.

But in some cases you can benefit from the ability to set up activity zones to limit the motion detection to certain areas (only from the web app):

Streaming quality issues can depend a lot on your network, but I had no complaints in that regard. Nest makes recommendations for streaming requirements and bandwidth usage on its website.

Pricing/limitations:

You get a free 30-day free trial, but after that you'll need a 10-day video history plan for $10/month or $100/year, or a 30-day video history plan for $30/month or $300/year. You'll be able to view a live stream for free, but access to video history after your free trial requires a paid plan, and it's required for other features as well like creating and sharing clips from your past video history. The pricing is quite competitive, although many competitors offer 24 hours for free or at least some amount of free access to video history. I'd imagine this would be a much easier buy for many people if they could somehow tap into their existing Google storage, or if Google bundled it into a paid Google storage plan.

What it needs:

HomeKit support is the big omission from this Apple user's experience. While we'd expect the majority of other products to add support (Apple just added support for security systems with iOS 9), Google could be the one major, notable holdout if it decides to push its own home automation platform instead and keep it totally separate from Apple's HomeKit framework. Nest would likely go along for the ride, although technically it’s now its own company under Alphabet and not necessarily tied to everything Google does.

It's not that there is something key to the experience that HomeKit would add to Nest Cam on its own, but the decision to leave it out will definitely be a major consideration for consumers that are heavy Apple device users, and for those that plan on using HomeKit as the central location for controlling home automation products. Having one or more Nest products that exist completely outside of HomeKit doesn't seem to make much sense in that scenario.

And beyond HomeKit, there is also a big opportunity to make Nest Cam more than just a security camera. Live streaming features is one example, something that has been a trend with apps like Periscope. I think the company that makes a home security camera with social features, making it fun to use outside of its security features, will have an easier time convincing people they need these products.

Some users have also pointed out lack of IFTTT support and some missing features compared to the old Dropcam app, like a geofence feature that triggered the camera on and off as you come and go.

And lastly, it would be nice if Google added a bit of onboard storage to cover us for the to-be-expected Google server outages and downtime.

Should you buy it?

I never really considered a security system for my apartment (we don't lock our doors in Canada), but new Wi-Fi connected products like Nest Cam make the experience of owning and setting up cameras at home much more accessible than ever before. While there are a lot of alternatives to consider, any of Nest's shortcomings wouldn't make me pick a competitor for at least my own, admittedly modest purposes. For those that have already bought into the Nest and Google ecosystem and enjoy the experience, the choice will be easy. But for those hoping to build a HomeKit-connected household, lack of a promise from Nest to support the platform might be enough to hold off for now or opt for a competitor.

Nest Cam is available to buy now as low as $189. 

Continue reading more about apps, security, and Nest at 9to5Google.

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If you’ve ever felt like Facebook didn’t put quite as much focus on its Android app as on the iPhone one, that’s something that should be changing soon. Facebook’s chief product officer Chris Cox is insisting that an unspecified but substantial number of staff switch from iPhone to Android, in order to have an experience of the service more typical of the majority of users, reports Wired.

“I am mandating a switch of a whole bunch of my team over to Android, just because people, when left up to their own devices, will often prefer an iPhone,” said Chris Cox, who said the move is “so that they can be reporting bugs and living in the same experience that most Facebook users experience today” … 

The initiative follows on from ‘2G Tuesdays,’ where each Tuesday employees are asked to allow their Facebook app to behave as if it were on a slow 2G network for one hour, giving them an appreciation for what the service is like to use in many developing countries.

Unlike 2G Tuesdays, which are voluntary, the wording of Cox’s announcement on Android suggests that the move from iPhone to Android is not.

Facebook updated the Android app a week ago to make the Notifications tab more useful.

Via TNW, photo Digiday

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John Legere took to Twitter in a surprisingly short and subdued Tweetstorm just a short while ago to announce a new move the ‘Uncarrier’ is making this week. Ahead of its Uncarrier X event, T-Mo’s extraverted chief announced that the wireless carrier is now offering a personal 4G LTE CellSpot to any Simple Choice customer who wants one…

Unlike the current ASUS-made CellSpot router, the 4G LTE CellSpot actually creates an LTE network in your home or work place and can apparently cover up to 3,000 square feet:

Like the ASUS router, customers can get the device for free as long as they pay a $25 deposit, and T-Mo claim’s it’s just “plug and play”. As long as you have an Internet connection at home, you can plug the 4G LTE CellSpot in and it’ll create an LTE signal right in your home. T-Mobile now offers three different network boosting devices. For those confused about how the new one differs from the older products, the company put together a short list:

• Wi-Fi CellSpot Router: Announced at Un-carrier 7.0 in September 2014, this Internet-connected router provides customers with Wi-Fi coverage for calling and texting beyond the reach of any cellular network;
• 4G LTE CellSpot Signal Booster: This signal booster amplifies T-Mobile's 3G, 4G and/or LTE signal throughout a home or business without an Internet connection; and,
• 4G LTE CellSpot: Announced today, this 4G LTE tower delivers a strong, reliable wireless 4G LTE signal for customers with or without an indoor cellular signal on compatible 3G, 4G and LTE handsets for up to 16 callers at one time anywhere a customer has broadband Internet and T-Mobile wireless spectrum.

It’s interesting/weird to see T-Mobile opt for actual LTE mini-towers when it already offers Wi-Fi calls and texts with virtually any router across the globe. Every device it sells now is equipped with Wi-Fi calling functionality, meaning none of its customers should ever struggle to make a call or send a message. However, there are perhaps those few who bring unlocked devices, or buy them elsewhere which don’t have Wi-Fi calling baked in. Customers with the new Nexus phones, likewise, don’t have Wi-Fi calling yet. So they may just ship a few out to customers.

It could, perhaps, be a response to customers complaining about the quality and consistency of Wi-Fi calling. It has been known to be unreliable, particularly if there are more than one person trying to use it at once. Having a device which copes with up to 16 simultaneous callers/users could be a big improvement.

Regardless of our views as to its purpose of existence, the 4G LTE CellSpot will be available in T-Mobile brick-and-mortar stores or through Customer Care from November 4th.

We’ve reached out to T-Mobile to ask about the specific bands being used. As of right now, we’re unsure which frequencies it’s operating on.

UPDATE: T-Mobile responded stating that it operates on 10×10 LTE in Band 4 and UMTS in Band 2 spectrum.

Continue reading more about Tech Industry, T-Mobile, and john legere at 9to5Google.

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Huawei is on something a roll this year. Having recently released its first Nexus device, overtaken Xiaomi as the top smartphone vendor in China and secured the third highest number of smartphone shipments globally, it’s all going swimmingly for the Chinese manufacturer. But its year isn’t over yet. According to its official handle on Weibo, Huawei is preparing to announce another device…

The Huawei Mate 8 is the follow up to the company’s well-received Mate 7 and will be unveiled officially on November 26. If anything like its predecessor, the Mate 8 will be a well-priced, high-spec phablet with a huge 6-inch screen:

The Huawei Mate 8 is expected to feature a similarly large screen, but with an upgraded pixel count, opting for QHD resolution rather than 1080p. If so, that’ll give it a pixel density of 490ppi. It’ll more than likely ship with a Hisilicon Kirin octa-core processor with 3GB/4GB RAM and 32GB/64GB storage options. If a recent encased dummy prototype leak is anything to go on, we might see a departure from the rounded square camera and fingerprint sensor on the back. Instead, it could feature a completely round setup. It’s expected to ship in December with Android 5.1 out of the box, and come with Huawei’s usual EMUI software interface which you’ll either love or hate.

It’ll be interesting to see if Huawei decides to launch this device globally, or if it decides to keep it restricted to mainly China/Asian markets. The company has, relatively recently, launched its own direct online stores in Europe and the US as it pushes to get recognized in western markets. Given the fact that the event was announced on Weibo, we’re not hopeful of a global release.

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Google’s self-driving cars are aware that children can be less predictable than adults, being programmed to act more cautiously around them. But to do that, they first need to be able to identify them as children – something which can be more challenging when they’re wearing costumes – so Google took advantage of Halloween to give the cars some additional learning.

This week, lots of little ghouls, superheroes and even robots were running around Google with their families, so we asked them to hang out around our parked cars. This gives our sensors and software extra practice at recognizing children in all their unique shapes and sizes, even when they’re in odd costumes … 

Once the car identifies a child, it adopts a more cautious approach, aware that they can suddenly run across a road or appear from between two parked cars.

Google has recently been working on making the cars themselves more predictable, by teaching them to behave more like people. The cars do, though, already have a perfect safety record, having never been found to be at fault in an accident.

Google shared the latest update on the self-driving car’s Google+ page.

Via Gizmodo

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In a blog post this morning, OnePlus announced what many concerned customers have been waiting to hear for some time: The company is making a renewed effort to provide better customer service and offering a new extended warranty. Customers will be able to purchase the new On-Guard extended warranty when they buy a OnePlus 2 and gain added coverage against accidental damage or liquid damage.

Initially, the On-Guard cover will be available in Europe and India only, but the company is working with a partner in the US and Canada and will announce a similar extended warranty program in North America soon. In Europe, customers can buy either 12 months or 24 months cover for €39.99 ($44 USD approx) or €64.99 ($72 USD approx) respectively.

We are proud to introduce a new warranty program in collaboration with multiple insurance leaders worldwide for the OnePlus 2: On-Guard by simplesurance for Europe and B2X OnePlus Service2 and Protect2 for India. We believe these ventures will help to create a more positive user experience for our fans. We're not offering this to make money – in fact, it's quite the opposite. This is an investment we are making to focus on improving our customer support until it is closer to perfect. These services will be available on November 2 , 2015, in the European Union and in other markets in the near future. Read on for more information.

On-Guard covers breakage, accidental damage, damage due to dropping, liquid damage and vandalism among other causes of damage. To buy, customers can either select it at checkout when buying a OnePlus smartphone or contact SimpleSurance (the cover provider) within 15 days of purchasing the phone. Sadly, if you already have a OnePlus One or OnePlus 2, you can’t buy it. Only new customers from today will be able to take advantage of OnePlus’ new extended warranty.

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China flew armed fighter jets over the South China Sea in response to the U.S. sailing a destroyer near disputed islands in the area, according to multiple news reports.

Last week, the USS Lassen, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, cruised within 12 nautical miles of the Spratly Islands to challenge China's territorial claims.

On Saturday, the Chinese military released photographs on its website showing J-11 fighter jets armed with missiles conducting training operations from an airstrip in the South China Sea.

According to an article by Jun Mai, a reporter for the South China Morning Post, the airstrip is located on Woody Island in the Paracels — some 600 kilometers (370 miles) north from the Subi Reef near where the Lassen transited.

The Shenyang J-11 is a twin-engine fighter based on the Soviet-designed Sukhoi Su-27, which NATO designates the Flanker. It can carry a 30mm cannon, rockets, bombs and anti-ship and air-to-air missiles, including the PL-12 missile.

China's fourth-generation J-10 and J-11 fighter jet aircraft would be roughly equivalent in capability to an upgraded U.S. F-15, according to a U.S. congressional report from last year.

Here are the photographs released by the Chinese military of the so-called training exercise.

Ron van Dartel is the Dutch Ambassador to the Russian Federation and as such he is supposed to represent his country’s diplomacy. So what does he do? Why, he claims the Crimea is “under occupation” and declares it “illegal”. Interesting coming from a country built on piracy on the high seas.

The Dutch, are historically renowned for being pirates and were the source of misery for countless families in Spain, Portugal and the UK, their colonial policy smacking of a country hell-bent on sticking its nose into other people’s affairs, seizing cities, raping women and spreading filth and disease, while at the same time insulting Christianity by implementing their laws overseas through the Bible and the bullet like the Hordes of Baal.

In 2015, eighteen months after Ron van Dartel took office as the Netherlands’ Ambassador to the Russian Federation, we have the most blatant example of sheer, pig-headed arrogance from a Western source since the likes of Condoleezza Rice or Hillary Clinton, in a puerile interview with The Moscow Times in which van Dartel claims that Crimea is “under occupation”: “As long as Crimea continues to be under occupation, we have a problem…In our eyes that’s illegal and we will never accept that.”

A festering strip of silt

In everyone’s eyes, the acts of The Netherlands have been illegal since they built the dykes and protected that festering strip of silt from the North Sea. Most shocking is the extreme degree of ignorance and arrogance delivered in the interview, and the absence of emotional intelligence from one who is expected to represent his country.

Does Mr. Van Dartel not know that under the law in force governing Crimea, the illegal Putsch removing Yanukovich from power as democratically elected President meant that in the absence of any higher power, the legal organism governing Crimea was its Parliament?

Obviously now, and following that does Mr. Van Dartel have a problem with the expression of opinion through a democratic vote? Most Crimeans voted to rejoin Russia in a free and fair totally legal democratic plebiscite. But then again the Netherlands’ recent history with Russia has been somewhat strained through acts of piracy not on the high seas but on land, as we shall see…

Dutch police attack Russian diplomat in October

The home of a Russian diplomat, Dmitry Borodin, was stormed by Dutch police one Saturday night at the beginning of October. The diplomat was allegedly manhandled in front of his family before being hauled away and detained all night, in direct breach of the Vienna Convention which grants diplomatic staff immunity unless they pose a danger to themselves or the public.

That the Dutch apparently and collectively act first and think later, was more than proven by the knee-jerk reaction over the tragedy which was the MH 17 passenger aircraft which crashed over Ukraine. Images of people crying and asking “Putin” for their children back were flashed across TV screens all over the Western world and the insinuation was very clear for all to see: Russia in general was responsible and Mr. Putin in particular, both of these being absurd and slanderous statements which would merit prosecution.

And now with this “gross breach” of the Vienna Convention, we once again see the Dutch acting first and thinking second, whatever the facts surrounding the incident. In the event the Dutch apologized the following Wednesday.

Perhaps Mr. Van Dartel would like to do the same. If not then at least he should keep his mouth shut before he embarrasses his country with his juvenile, unfounded, abrasive, inflammatory and insolent quips.

Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey

Pravda.Ru 

(timothy.hinchey@gmail.com)

*Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey has worked as a correspondent, journalist, deputy editor, editor, chief editor, director, project manager, executive director, partner and owner of printed and online daily, weekly, monthly and yearly publications, TV stations and media groups printed, aired and distributed in Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, East Timor, Guinea-Bissau, Portugal, Mozambique and São Tomé and Principe Isles; the Russian Foreign Ministry publication Dialog and the Cuban Foreign Ministry Official Publications. He has spent the last two decades in humanitarian projects, connecting communities, working to document and catalog disappearing languages, cultures, traditions, working to network with the LGBT communities helping to set up shelters for abused or frightened victims and as Media Partner with UN Women, working to foster the UN Women project to fight against gender violence and to strive for an end to sexism, racism and homophobia. A Vegan, he is also a Media Partner of Humane Society International, fighting for animal rights. He is Director and Chief Editor of the Portuguese version of Pravda.Ru.

http://english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/02-11-2015/132470-dutch_arrogance-0/

VOLTAIRE NETWORK | DAMASCUS (SYRIA) | 2 NOVEMBER 2015

Translation
Pete Kimberley

http://www.voltairenet.org/article189146.html

Much has been reported and analysed about recent developments pertaining first to Russian President Vladimir Putin's address to the United Nations General Assembly on September 28^th 2015 and shortly following that, the direct military action carried out by the Russian armed forces in relation to the conflict within Syria.

 Both events, it has been claimed, formally and decisively bring to an end the de facto post-Cold War state of affairs of unipolarity; that is, one which posits the United States of America as the sole geo-political superpower that has been able to exercise exclusive and unrestrained force in various parts of the world.

 It is also clear that the denunciation by Putin of longstanding American foreign policy as well as the projection of Russian power within the cauldron of Middle Eastern affairs has brought into sharp focus an aggregate of issues which taken together give the Russian leader the upper-hand, not only in regard to that geared toward the pursuit of his nation's strategic interests, but also in the realms of moral authority and legal justification.

 It has left the United States reeling and presents a future laden with a mixture of threats and benefits. The threats relate to a re-ignition of a Russo-American Cold War replete with a formal drawing of global spheres of influence, the fighting of proxy wars and an ever-heightening danger of thermo-nuclear conflict.

 The benefits, on the other hand, would comprehend a framework for co-operation between the United States and the nations which it presently regards as the greatest threats to its global imperium: the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China.

 The masterful deconstruction Putin gave before the United Nations laid bare the failings of American foreign policy during the decades succeeding the ending of the Cold War. The Russian president correctly characterised it as one abounding in mischief, negativity and hubris – an analysis which has been bolstered by the widely favourable reaction of swathes of public opinion around the world towards Russian actions against anti-government insurrectionists in the Syrian theatre as well as the unimaginative and miserly reaction from the American government.

 Events have made it clear that only a genuine and unequivocal recalibration of American foreign policy rationales which have fostered coup d'etats, 'colour revolutions' and wars of destabilisation will serve the purpose of moulding the world into a far less dangerous place than it is at present.

Classic formulations of theories underpinning the security systems entered into by nation states often posit those representing 'balance of power' alignments or by an arrangement geared towards what is termed 'collective security'.

 In the era of the Cold War which pitted the ideologically incompatible systems operated by the United States and the Soviet Union, each side established a military alliance of nations against the other.

 Aided by the threat of mutually assured destruction by thermonuclear exchanges, the parity of the military machineries respectively of the US-led North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact achieved what some referred to as a "balance of terror".

 While the world was far from being a docile place, the prevailing circumstances meant that neither 'superpower' was prone to making rash decisions so far as interfering with the sovereignty of other nations within their immediate spheres of influence.

 The operation of the United Nations to which both superpowers belong provided more than a semblance of 'collective security' as was seen in regard, for instance, to the behind-the-scenes work of UN officials in combination with US and Soviet diplomats and statesmen in brokering armistices and peace accords in successive Arab-Israeli conflicts.

 But with the crumbling of the 'Iron Curtain' and the onset of what Francis Fukuyama referred to as "the end of history", the previously existing international system of checks and balances became somewhat extinct.

 The dissolution of the Soviet Union and the succeeding chaotic transformation of Russia into a post-communist society provided those holding the levers of power in Washington with the raison d'etre to act on achieving an over-arching strategic goal; namely that of preventing the rise of another power which would challenge American dominance.

 That the American system had prevailed against the challenge offered by communism also granted it the right to remould the world, if not completely in its image, in a manner nonetheless which would serve the totality of its political and economic interests.

 It followed that the United States had the right to act unilaterally without cognisance of international treaty obligations or recourse to international systems of regulation while in pursuit of its aims. The 'Wolfowitz Doctrine' thus set the tone for an era of American militarism and imperialism.

 Predating the "catastrophic and catalyzing event" of the September 11 attacks in 2001 which kick started a programme of armed invasions, fomenting of colour revolutions and manoeuvres geared towards destabilization was the role played by NATO in the ultimate dismemberment of the former Yugoslavia.

 The United States, the undisputed leader of NATO, steered its member states into supporting its decision to stage the illegal invasion of Iraq. There was a continuum of this ethic after the expiration of the administration led by George W. Bush. The 'backseat' approach favoured by the Barack Obama presidency rode roughshod over the strict letter of the law and convention by aiding Islamist rebels in overthrowing the government of Colonel Gaddafi in Libya.

 Then, also in contravention of international law, Washington oversaw the recruitment, training and financing of armed Islamic fanatics –some of them transferred from the carnage of Libya- to another theatre of Jihadist insurrection; namely that of Syria.

 The consistent practice of American policy towards governments which did not consent to do the bidding of Washington was that of promoting destabilization. This has obviously been the case in regard to its relationship with Russia since that nation began charting a very different course to that which had been followed by Boris Yeltsin.

 But even prior to the ascent of Vladimir Putin to the helm of the Russian Federation, the American's had breached an important protocol of the agreement to allow a unified Germany to join NATO. This entailed that there should be no expansion eastwards.

 NATO has nonetheless continued to admit former members of the Warsaw Pact into its ranks and has been behind provocations on Russia's borders via the fomenting of conflicts in the former Soviet Republics of Georgia and Ukraine.

 These highly dangerous intrigues along with the policy of encirclement via the deployment of nuclear 'defensive shields' are in keeping with a vital counterpart of the Wolfowitz Doctrine, namely that espoused by Zbigniew Brzezinski, an influential political thinker whose ideas are apparently much admired by the incumbent Obama.

 Obama's policy via the successful efforts of US intelligence assets in fomenting dissent and eventually overthrowing the democratically elected president of Ukraine, are consistent with Brzezinski's strategy of pressuring and intimidating Russia with the end of reducing it to a vassal status by balkanising it and ensuring that it does not in concert with any other nation form a Eurasian power bloc that could challenge the economic domination of America and the Western European world.

 In many ways, Putin's speech before the UN General Assembly, a brief and clear summation of the ills caused by the untrammelled exercise of American power, performed the feat of turning history on its head.

 Here after all was the leader of the successor state to the "Evil Empire" giving a moral lecture to the presumed leader of the "free world". The "Evil Empire" phrase, coined by US President Ronald Reagan had a great degree of resonance because of the obvious failings of the Soviet system in terms of its poor record in guaranteeing individual freedom. The oppressive apparatus wielded by the Soviet state towards it own citizens extended to its iron-fisted response to dissent within its satellite states.

 Putin, a man often taken to task for his description in 2005 of the fall of the Soviet Union as the "greatest geo-political catastrophe of the twentieth century" was honest enough to admit the following:

 We should all remember the lessons of the past. For example, we remember examples from our Soviet past, when the Soviet Union exported social experiments, pushing for changes in other countries for ideological reasons, and this often led to tragic consequences and caused degradation instead of progress.

 His exposition on the failure of American policy was concise and difficult to contradict. The host of disasters which have followed in the wake of the illegal invasion of Iraq in 2003 are clear for all to see, just as is the reduction of Libya from a nation with Africa's highest standard of living to the broken down rubble of warring militias that it is today.

 The fracture of civil society and creation of chaos in those nations is being replicated manifold in the tragedy of Syria that again is authored by the United States with the connivance of its NATO allies and friends in the Gulf Cooperation Council.

 As Putin put it:

 Instead of bringing about reforms, aggressive intervention rashly destroyed government institutions and the local way of life. Instead of democracy and progress, there is now violence, poverty, social disasters and total disregard for human rights, including even the right to life.

 The neoconservative idea of purportedly exporting democracy to Middle East through the barrel of a gun or bomb-bays of military aircraft continues, heedless of Robespierre's warning about the fear and resentment inspired by "armed missionaries".

 The United States has cynically utilised Sunni Islamist militias adhering to the ideology espoused by al Qaeda as its 'shock troops'; a kind of a foreign legion tasked with bring down the secular regimes of the Arab world as well as the Shia powers not disposed to following the agenda set by Washington. This amounts an unholy alliance with groups of the sort that reportedly were at the root of the disaster of September 11, 2001.

 To this Putin offered the following:

The situation is extremely dangerous. In these circumstances, it is hypocritical and irresponsible to make declarations about the threat of terrorism and at the same time turn a blind eye to the channels used to finance and support terrorists, including revenues from drug trafficking, the illegal oil trade and the arms trade.

 It is equally irresponsible to manipulate extremist groups and use them to achieve your political goals, hoping that later you'll find a way to get rid of them or somehow eliminate them.

 I'd like tell those who engage in this: Gentlemen, the people you are dealing with are cruel but they are not dumb. They are as smart as you are. So, it's a big question: who's playing who here? The recent incident where the most "moderate" opposition group handed over their weapons to terrorists is a vivid example of that.

 We consider that any attempts to flirt with terrorists, let alone arm them, are short-sighted and extremely dangerous.

 Putin went on to plead for a re-institution of the collective security system. In other words, he called for an end to American unilateral action and a return to the co-operative basis on which the principles of the United Nations system for ensuring multi-state security is predicated.

 The reason for his call for cooperation is not hard to fathom. Russia as with China has sizeable Muslim populations which can pose internal security problems if the Islamic State strain of fanaticism is allowed to spread.

 An enduring Islamic State in the Levant which is subject to measures aimed at merely containing it provides a global threat to all; a threat to those Western European nations with rising Muslim populations and indeed Muslim states around the world.

 The inexorable logic behind the call for collective action must be obvious to all. Putin was clear in his plea for a break with the unipolar mode by not merely calling for the revival of the UN as a valid conduit for fostering international cooperation, but also specifically for a alliance of the sort last seen with the anti-Hitler coalition of the Second World War.

 Yet, the response from Washington has been largely marked by cynicism and continued hostility. On the one hand, such reaction confounds the mind of the objective bystander who cannot fathom why a common cause cannot be made against a dreaded foe such as the Islamic State.

 On the hand it is illuminating. The conclusion drawn by the objective observer is that the reluctance to create a unified and concerted effort against the Islamic State and other similar hued forces fighting against the Assad government is that the militants are serving the geo-strategic interests of the government of the United States.

 The abject failure in building a viable opposition political movement and a 'Free Syrian Army' are palpable when the official investment yield of a $500 million dollar investment is a paltry five guerrillas.

 Whereas in the past, the abstract principles governing the legality of intervention and non-intervention were sufficiently blurred by the legitimacy conferred on a genuine and sizeable anti-government movement, the situation in Syria does not permit this. The anti-Assad contingents of guerrillas are largely composed of imported Jihadis.

 Experts such as Professor Stephen Cohen insist that there are no credible entities which can be referred to as 'moderate rebels'; an appellation which has been subject to much derision. Further, the Assad government has a great deal of support from the Sunni majority including that of the Grand Mufti of Syria.

 It needs to be reminded that it is the Assad government which has borne the brunt of fighting Islamist fanatics, and that his secular regime presents the only hope for maintaining a Syrian state which will protect religious minorities including Christians from an ominous fate under an Islamic State.

 Claims by Washington that the Assad government lacks legitimacy are not credible given that he won an election in June of 2014. The United States, of course, in 1864 underwent an election during its own civil war when the electoral votes of eleven Southern states were not counted.

 Neither can Washington's contentious claims of the deliberate use by the Syrian Army of barrel bombs against civilian targets be used to argue the case for illegitimacy. It is an accusation reeking of hypocrisy given the numerous innocents killed by United States drone warfare, bombings and other military attacks, some involving the targeting of civilians with depleted uranium munitions.

 It is clear that Washington hopes that the demonization of Vladimir Putin for which much of the Western media has been complicit, will discredit his message.

 Putin it seems alternately inspires dread and hope: From anti-Russian Central and Eastern Europeans eternally unforgiving of the historical domination of their homelands by Russian and Soviet empires to the White Nationalists that tout him as the 'saviour' of the white race.

 From the archetypal 'liberal' Westerner inculcated with years of anti-Putin propaganda portraying him as the quintessential practitioner of a Russian brand of oriental despotism to the Western 'Leftie' still besotted with Russia or, at least, enduringly sympathetic to the role Russia played in attempting to set up a Marxist utopia.

 But whatever the point of view, the argument for a return to a collective security arrangement based on mutual interest is difficult to displace given that American dominance has not been exercised with benevolence. Putin has already demonstrated a high level of statesmanship in averting an American bombing campaign against Assad's forces back in September of 2013 after the chemical attack in Ghouta.

 The negotiated programme for collecting and destroying Syrian chemical stocks alleviated the need for this, much to the relief of war-weary legislators and their constituents in both the United States and Britain.

 This was a noteworthy example of the benefits of multi-state co-operation of the sort which Washington has seemingly chosen to forswear. The suggestion by Putin of the formation of a Russo-American coalition against the Islamic State and other Islamist militias deserves consideration rather than contempt.

A re-orientating of the global patterns of power is long overdue. And given the state of the world after decades of effective unipolarity, it can only be for the better.

Adeyinka Makinde is a London-based law lecturer with an interest in intelligence and Security matters.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/vladimir-putin-and-the-patterns-of-global-power/5486083

Egypt's representative at United Nations voted on Friday in support of Israel's bid for membership of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), Israeli media reported.

Since the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 and its acceptance to membership of the UN, Egypt had never voted in its favour at the UN before last Friday.

One hundred and seventeen countries voted in favour of Israel, 21 abstained, while only Namibia voted against the decision. Countries that abstained include: Qatar, Tunisia, Syria, Mauritania, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Kuwait, Iraq and Algeria.

Israeli sources said that they were accepted to this UN committee after "intensive diplomatic efforts" exerted at different levels.

Prior to the vote, spokesman for the Egyptian ministry of foreign affairs Ahmed Abu Zeid refused to comment on the matter. However, in the face of fierce domestic criticism, he said that voting for Israel was necessary in order to secure the membership of a number of Arab countries to the committee.

Egyptian politicians and activists widely rejected this move and severely criticised Egyptian Military President Abdul-Fattah al-Sisi.

In 1973, Egypt and Syria started a war against Israel that paved the way for peace talks between Egypt and Israel. It ended up with a peace treaty in 1979 that ended state of war between the two sides, reciprocal recognition and normalisation of ties.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/israels-membership-in-the-peaceful-uses-of-outer-space-affairs-unoosa-for-the-first-time-since-1948-egypt-votes-for-israel-at-un/5486102

All five US network television interview programs featured the same individual Sunday: the newly elected speaker of the House of Representatives, Republican Paul Ryan. The Wisconsin congressman, who was Mitt Romney's vice-presidential running mate in the 2012 election, was elected speaker Thursday. He succeeded John Boehner, who was forced out by a long-simmering rebellion of an ultra-right minority, the self-styled House Freedom Caucus.

Ryan was not portrayed, either in the Sunday interviews or the saturation media coverage of the previous week, as representing a further shift to the right in the US political establishment, although that is certainly the case. Rather, his interviewers treated him deferentially, even affectionately, while presenting him as someone who was generally well-liked among Democrats and Republicans and who was impressive both as a thinker and a policy maker.

The interviewers did not touch on Ryan's record in his previous position as chairman of the House Budget Committee, where he authored a series of extreme-right budget proposals. These, as the New York Times summarized it, "have included transforming Medicare into a voucher program; partially privatizing Social Security; and abolishing the corporate income tax, the estate tax and the Alternative Minimum Tax."

It is worth recalling that when Romney chose Ryan as his running mate, the selection was made to appease ultra-right-wing elements within the Republican Party who had backed Romney rivals such as former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. As theWorld Socialist Web Site wrote at the time, "the Ryan pick signals that the US ruling elite has decided on a frontal assault on key social programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security."

Now Ryan has been elevated to the highest position in the US Congress, placing him second in the line of succession to the presidency, after Vice President Biden, and making him the highest-ranking Republican. His political views, once considered so extreme that even most Republicans were reluctant to cast votes for his budget plans, are presented as "mainstream" or even "moderate."

Much has been made of Ryan's supposedly pleasant demeanor, as though cutthroat attacks on the poor and on working people were more palatable when accompanied by a smiling face. Liberal Washington Post columnist E. J. Dionne gushed, "he is, from my experience, a genuinely nice and warm person…" Another Post writer, Dana Milbank, noted that as Ryan made his way to the speaker's seat, he walked among the Democrats, shaking hands and accepting bear hugs and other congratulations. He "offers a glimpse of hope," Milbank enthused.

The congressman's treatment of working people is anything but "kinder and gentler." He advocates the replacement of universal social benefits such as food stamps and Medicaid with vouchers whose value will automatically erode with inflation, distributed through state governments that already apply harsh eligibility restrictions and limit social benefits to absurdly low levels. (Alabama, to take one recent example, has slashed the duration of jobless benefits to a mere 12 weeks).

In his television interviews, Ryan repeated the theme that congressional Republicans had up to now been "bold" only in their "tactics" in dealing with the Obama administration—a reference to the 2013 federal government shutdown and other efforts to use fiscal deadlines to pressure the White House.

Going forward, he said, the Republicans had to be "bold in policy." By that he means that over the next year, the Republican-controlled Congress must elaborate an ultra-right agenda for the next administration, whether headed by a Republican or Democrat.

He singled out tax policy as one main area of work, suggesting that Congress must prepare a sweeping tax cut for the wealthy and for corporations to be implemented by the next administration. Social entitlement "reform" plans would also be developed, Ryan has indicated.

Ryan's plan for privatizing Medicare is very similar in structure to Obamacare. In place of the present Medicare program, where the government pays medical bills directly and guarantees certain benefits, recipients would be given a voucher to buy private insurance on exchanges established with government assistance. This is precisely the mechanism under Obama's health care overhaul for dismantling employer-paid health insurance, slashing benefits, raising out-of-pocket costs, rationing health care and increasing the stranglehold of giant corporations over the health care system.

The goal in both cases is the same: to boost the profits of the insurance companies, the pharmaceutical giants and the hospital chains by providing them guaranteed markets while slashing the cost of health care for the government and private business.

Ryan was elected speaker one day after the House adopted a bipartisan budget plan that significantly boosts military spending while introducing major cuts in Social Security disability payments and Medicare reimbursements to hospitals and other providers. It also maintains the so-called "sequester" caps on domestic spending with only minor adjustments for the 2016 and 2017 fiscal years. The budget deal was ratified by the Senate early Friday morning and sent to Obama for his signature.

The editorial board of the Wall Street Journal backed the deal, noting that despite the small increase in domestic spending authorized in the agreement, "Still, this means the discretionary budget—everything except entitlements—will be $56 billion and $70 billion less, in 2016 and 2017 respectively, than the first Paul Ryan budget that the House passed in 2011."

The American political structure under Obama has moved so far to the right that what was denounced in 2011 as right-wing radicalism provided for higher levels of social spending than the bipartisan compromise of 2015.

Ryan's elevation as speaker is a warning to the working class: policies once thought completely out of bounds, politically too dangerous to enact because the American people would rise up in anger, are now considered not only possible, but absolutely necessary.

Driven by the deepening global crisis of capitalism, the US ruling elite is preparing to wipe out what remains of a social safety net and destroy programs like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and food stamps that are the only things protecting tens of millions of people from poverty, disease, hunger and an early death.

The university students have been furious, as their cry "Fees must fall!" rang out on campuses and sites of political power across this society. An historic victory over South African neoliberalism was just won through the most intense three-week burst of activist mobilization since liberation from apartheid in 1994.

The liberation movement rulers in the African National Congress (ANC) have faced unprecedented socio-economic pressure and unrest. This is the most unequal of any major country, with a working class that the World Economic Forum last month judged to be the most militant on earth for the fourth straight year, and a deregulated corporate elite which enjoys the world's third highest profits, yet which remains intent on looting the economy at a rate as fast as any. All these measures have amplified since the ANC took power in 1994. Suffering a 53 per cent official poverty rate, South Africa witnessed 2300 protests recorded by the police as 'violent' this year, a fifth more than last year.

The desperation flash point this month was the announcement of double-digit increases in university tuition fees. Students demonstrated not only against local managers at more than a dozen campuses. Their organizations united across the ideological spectrum, from socialist to nationalist to even the center-right student wing of the main opposition party, and hit national targets.

They began by storming the parliamentary precinct in Cape Town on October 21, then marched to the Johannesburg and Durban headquarters of the ANC on October 22 and 23, and finally demonstrated – tens of thousands strong – at President Jacob Zuma's Union Buildings office in Pretoria on October 23.

There, restraining fences were torn down by some of the activists and tyres and latrines were burned, with police once again responding by using stun grenades, rubber bullets and water cannons. Refusing to come out to address the crowd, instead Zuma held a press conference where he unexpectedly conceded to the students' main demand: no fee increase for next year (in spite of general price inflation around 5 per cent).

The Trajectory Through Race to Class

The current insurgency began late last month with sporadic acts of fury. At the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, small groups of students burned an administration building and cars, and students were then caught bringing human excrement on campus, a tactic that was used successfully six months earlier to catalyse the dismantling of a hated statue at the University of Cape Town.

That was the #RhodesMustFall movement. Within a few weeks of a "poo protest" in which excrement was hurled at the prominent likeness of 19th century colonial mining lord Cecil Rhodes, thousands cheered when the statue was removed from the scenic campus. But their other demands for university transformation and "decolonization"– racial equity, a different campus culture, curriculum reform, more indigenous African professors (there are only five out of more than 250 senior faculty at Cape Town) – were unsuccessful.

After a breather, at UCT and Johannesburg's University of the Witwatersrand ("Wits"), the country's two traditional sites of ruling class reproduction, student protests revived this month. Of the dozen that erupted at tertiary institutions, these two were the best organized, most sustained and non-violent, mainly using the tactic of entrances blockages, then moving to the nearby arterial roads. Disciplined student leaders emphasized non-violent civil disobedience. Police brutality and occasional clashes with higher-income drivers who drove into the blockades did not deter the activists.

On October 21, inside parliament, the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters' (EFF) support for their cause came before Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene delivered his medium-term budget speech, which EFF leaders ardently tried to postpone, before being forcefully evicted. Outside, courageous students nearly broke their way into the main hall where Nene was holding forth.

But although there is still plenty of scope for fiscal expansiveness, Nene's budget was heartless: no new money for universities (just condemnation of "unconstructive" student protests), and a tokenistic $0.75 (U.S.)/month rise in grant payments to the poorest pensioners and disabled people (who currently receive $105 (U.S.)/month). Although the latter is less than 1 per cent, Nene dishonestly claimed that this plus a prior tiny raise offered in February are "in line with long-term inflation." (The inflation rate for poor people is much higher than the norm due to the far higher share of faster-inflating food, housing and electricity costs in their budgets.)

Nene did find funds for a three-year $63-billion (U.S.) infrastructure program whose major projects promote, first, exceptionally destructive coal exports mainly by multinational corporations; second, the Durban port-petrochemical complex's expansion; and third, iron-ore exports. Yet there is vast world over-capacity in coal, shipping and steel, with South Africa's second major steel producer barely avoiding bankruptcy last month. But these White Elephant mega-projects continue to get the lion's share of state, parastatal and private infrastructure funding.

The influence of big business on Nene's budget team is blatant: for example, the world's largest mining house, BHP Billiton, still gets electricity at 1/10th the price of ordinary consumers, and persistent corporate tax evasion and illicit financial flows are now notorious. Another pro-corporate investment that will be looked at with increasing suspicion by society the more it becomes active, starting next year, is the BRICS bank, whose target capitalization (spread among five countries) is $100-billion (U.S.).

Credit Rating Agencies and a "Communist" Minister

Whether seen through the eyes of students, workers, the poor, women and environmentalists, Nene's budget was a recipe for intensified social struggle. Yet this was the first time since 1991, when Value Added Tax was imposed during apartheid at the behest of the International Monetary Fund, that a major spontaneous protest targeted the finance minister at such a sensitive moment. For Nene, the only objective appeared to be appeasing the banks' credit ratings agencies.

As Reuters reported, Nene "downplayed the effect of university students storming parliament as he delivered his medium term budget on the credit rating of Africa's most advanced economy. 'What matters for the ratings agencies is our response as government in addressing these challenges,' he said about the students' demands to keep tuition fees unchanged."

Government's response was a combination of widely-condemned police brutality and ineffectual seduction by the ruling alliance's left flank, especially the SA Communist Party whose leader Blade Nzimande is also Minister of Higher Education. He was shouted down by protesters outside parliament when he tried to explain why their demand was unrealistic and they would face a 6 per cent increase.

Nzimande's 2013 Ministerial Committee for the Review of the Funding of Universities found "the amount of government funding is not sufficient to meet the needs of the public university system… Government should increase the funding for higher education, to be more in line with international levels of expenditure." But Nzimande had refused to release a prior commissioned study favorable to the idea of free tertiary education.

A Boost to Anti-Austerity Activism

Students simply refused to accept Nzimande's 6 per cent tuition rise, given that inflation is currently less than 5 per cent. So the march on Pretoria two days later – and threat of a full storming of Union Buildings – must have been the decisive factor in the state's reversal. Although the cost of a deferring a tuition increase entirely will only be $150-million (U.S.), by making this concession Zuma has given encouragement to many more protests and Pretoria marches in future.

For those in the society watching and rooting for the students, this was a critical moment, perhaps ultimately as important as the breakthrough Treatment Action Campaign fight for free AIDS medicines fifteen years ago. For as Nene signalled, a more damaging period of austerity looms. South African GDP growth will be only 1.5 per cent this year and probably the same next year, lower than population growth. Thanks to Nene's tight-fistedness, there will be a relatively small budget deficit (3.3 per cent of GDP), but financial commentators are full of threats about South Africa following Brazil's recent downgrading to a junk-bond rating by Fitch, Standard&Poors and Moodys, the creditors' cruel rating agencies.

The class war rages on. Other student demands remain outstanding: free tertiary education for poor and working people as the overall goal, and an end to labour casualization and outsourcing for low-paid university workers. Many such workers barely receive $100 (U.S.)/month, and with a poverty line of $60 (U.S.)/person/month, raising a family on starvation wages is impossible.

The task of retaining this visionary student-worker alliance in coming weeks and maintaining a national presence will be as difficult as is the multi-class 'United Front' organizing now underway. Difficult yes, but now, nothing seems impossible in this exceptional site of class struggle.

Patrick Bond is a political economist based at the University of KwaZulu-Natal School of Development Studies in Durban, where he directs the Centre for Civil Society. He is active with social movements in South Africa, Zimbabwe and internationally.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/south-african-student-protest-decolonization-race-and-class-politics/5486167

Russia's president is a refreshing contrast to the liars who inhabit Western governments and Western media.  The agenda of the Russian government is peace and international cooperation under the rule of law.  Washington's agenda is hegemony. 

President Putin endeavors to lead the world to peace, while the neoconservatives who control Washington's foreign policy try to drive the world to war.

Contrast the crazed statements that flow from Washington comparing President Putin to Hitler, suggesting his assassination, and calling for shooting down Russian military aircraft with President Putin's appeal that Washington abandon its hegemonic agenda and submit to international law and international cooperation. As President Putin has emphasized, for Washington "international cooperation" means submission to Washington's will.

President Putin repeatedly states that governments must govern in accord with the people and not function as a decree-issuing body in accord with interest groups disrespectful of the people. Throughout the West we see the increasingly unresponsive behavior of government. In the United States careful studies conclude that, despite elections, the American people have essentially zero input into the policies decided in Washington.  In Greece, the government is coerced to impose on the Greek people policies dictated by large German banks supported by the German and EU governments.  In Portugal, the socialists who won the election were told by the conservative president that they would not be permitted to form a government.

In the UK, a senior military official stated that the military would not permit Jeremy Corbyn to form a Labour government should the Labour Party win the election.  The United States government threatens the governments of Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Argentina for representing the interests of the voters who put them in office instead of Washington's interests.  The United States government has destroyed American civil liberty with its unconstitutional mass surveillance,  indefinite detention without charges, and murder of US citizens without due process of law. Dissent itself is in the process of being criminalized.

Just looking at the basic facts makes it impossible to conclude that the West has "freedom and democracy" or that Washington's bombs and invasions have brought "freedom and democracy" to Africa and the Middle East.

Every American can get a conclusive lesson about where moral leadership resides by becoming familiar with Putin's speeches.

Here are some examples:

http://www.globalresearch.ca/overcoming-the-logic-of-war-there-are-no-winners-in-a-global-conflict/5484131?utm_campaign=magnet&utm_source=article_page&utm_medium=related_articles

http://www.globalresearch.ca/vladimir-putin-on-france-and-europe-nato-member-states-have-renounced-their-sovereignty/5458734

http://www.globalresearch.ca/vladimir-putin-speaks-honestly-refreshing-contrast-to-western-political-liars-who-drive-the-world-to-war/5486141

The Obama administration is finally making sounds about a reasonable peace deal for Syria – accepting the principle that the Syrians should choose their own leaders – but words are cheap and a Saudi official makes clear that "regime change" remains the obsession, as Nicolas J S Davies explains.

The Vienna Communique— issued on Friday October by 17 countries, the United Nations and the European Union — provides a diplomatic framework for peace in Syria. In this document, the external powers who have poured weapons, fighters and money into a disastrous and failed "regime change" policy in Syria for more than four years have signed on to what could be a realistic basis for peace.

The agreement begins with a commitment to "Syria's unity, independence, territorial integrity and secular character," and then invites "the United Nations to convene representatives of the Government of Syria and the Syrian opposition for a political process leading to credible, inclusive, non-sectarian governance, followed by a new constitution and elections." Critically, the agreement stipulates that, "This political process will be Syrian led and Syrian owned, and the people of Syria will decide the future of Syria."

King Salman of Saudi Arabia and his entourage arrive to greet President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 27, 2015. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

But of course, that is exactly what nearly all these countries already agreed to in the Geneva Communiqueof June 30, 2012, under the leadership of former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. That proved to be Annan's final peace effort after the U.S. and its allies had rebuffed and undermined the peace plan he unveiled in April 2012 (see my October 2012 article).

Instead of pressuring their proxies in Syria to agree to the Annan peace plan, the U.S. and its allies organized what French officials called a "Plan B," the Orwellian "Friends of Syria" meetings, where they pledged an unconditional flow of money, weapons and diplomatic support to their proxy forces in Syria.

Annan expected the Geneva Communique to be formalized in a UN Security Council resolution within weeks. Instead, when the parties reassembled in New York, the U.S. and its allies resurrected their demands for President Bashar al-Assad's removal. In an echo of the Iraq debates in 2002-2003, they rejected a Russian resolution based on the Geneva Communique and drafted one of their own that included provisions designed to set the stage for a UN authorization for the use of force.

But after watching the destruction of Iraq and Libya, Russia and China would not let the authority of the UNSC be co-opted to give a veneer of legitimacy to yet another murderous and destabilizing U.S.-led regime change.

Annan resigned as UN envoy, and the war ground on to kill at least 250,000 people, destroy much of Syria and turn 11 million people into desperate and homeless refugees.

Haytham Manna is the Paris-based spokesman for Syria's National Coordinating Body for Democratic Change (NCB), a coalition of the mainly leftist opposition groups who launched peaceful protests in Syria during the Arab Spring in 2011. The NCB opposes both the Assad regime and the foreign-backed rebels in Syria, and it has remained committed to three basic principles: non-violence; non-sectarianism; and opposition to foreign intervention.

Haytham Manna spoke to Le Vif, Belgium's largest French-language news magazine, in 2013. "The Americans have cheated," Manna told Le Vif. "Two or three times they have withdrawn at the very moment an agreement was in the works. … Everything is possible, but that will depend mainly on the Americans. The French are content to follow. A political solution is the only one that could save Syria."

Despite conciliatory statements by Secretary of State John Kerry that President Assad need not be excluded from a political transition, it is not clear yet whether the U.S. and its allies have really changed their position since 2012.

On the morning of the Vienna meeting, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir reiterated the Saudi position on Assad to the BBC's Lyse Doucet, "He will go. There is no doubt about it. He will go. He will go either through a political process or he will be removed by force. There is no doubt that he will go."

Doucet suggested to Jubeir that the U.S. and U.K. were adopting a more conciliatory position, but Jubeir was adamant that he was expressing "the consensus among the allied countries":

"I believe the position of the countries in the coalition is really a unanimous one. … What we are saying is that, at the beginning of the process, it has to be clear to the Syrian people that Bashar Al-Assad will leave by a date certain. It can't be probable, it can't be possible, it has to be certain. And then that date will depend on how quickly one can transition power to the Governing Council and how quickly one can take over the security forces in Syria to ensure that the security forces don't collapse and the civil institutions don't collapse."

Jubeir spoke in terms that U.S. officials would be careful not to use in public right now, but may well be using behind closed doors in discussions with allies like the Saudis. The picture he paints looks very much like post-invasion Iraq, complete with an unelected "Governing Council" and a plan to "take over" the security forces.

Such a plan, which Jubeir claims would prevent Syria's collapse, reflects the self-serving and untested claims of U.S. neocons that the invasion of Iraq could have succeeded if only they hadn't disbanded the Iraqi Army. A U.S.-Saudi attempt to "take over" the Syrian military, which has loyally defended Syria against their proxy forces for four years, weaves the neocons' wishful thinking into a dangerous fantasy that could succeed only in igniting a further escalation of the war.

The apparent difference between the U.S. and Saudi positions raises difficult questions, ones on which the success or failure of the Vienna initiative may well depend. Veteran Middle East correspondent Charles Glass explained the analytical conundrum to Democracy Now last week,

"The U.S. seems to have lost some control over its allies in the region. On the surface, the United States is fighting against the Islamic State mainly because it went into Iraq. They didn't seem to mind when they were just in Syria. But they're still allowing Turkey to keep its border open for men and supplies to come into the Islamic State. And … they're still allowing … the Islamic State and … other similar jihadist groups of al-Qaeda to receive weapons, including anti-tank weapons, from the Saudis. … (E)ither this is fine with American policy and consistent with it, or they've simply lost control over the course of events."

So is this a case of the U.S. losing control over the course of events, or is the U.S. just playing "good cop" to the Saudis'"bad cop" as part of a coordinated policy? Or are there elements of both at work? It is a U.S. priority to maintain its position as the leader of the Western and Arab royalist alliance in the Middle East, and that sometimes means positioning itself at the head of the parade rather than actually directing it.

But having staked its leadership on successfully removing President Assad from power, it has never before wavered on that ultimate goal, even as unanticipated events like the Islamic State's move back into Iraq have made it much more complicated.

By fighting a "disguised, quiet, media-free" proxy war in Syria, U.S. officials have been able to invoke plausible deniability in the corrupt Western media. Many Americans see their government as guilty of inaction rather than of a murderous and destabilizing intervention in Syria.

Although over 250,000 war deaths in Syria have been spread among soldiers, rebels and civilians, (as of June 2013, an estimated 43 percent of the dead were Syrian soldiers and militiamen) U.S. domestic propaganda blames the Syrian government, or President Assad personally, for all the violence. Few Americans blame their own government or themselves, despite the well-documented U.S. role in supporting, prolonging and escalating the bloodshed.

While a political transition that led to free and fair elections would very likely bring new and different leaders to power in Syria, President Assad is not as unpopular as we have been led to believe. The Syrian army has fought loyally for four years, and a Qatari-funded YouGov opinion poll in December 2011 found that 55 percent of Syrians wanted Assad to remain in power, even as NATO planes were already flying in fighters and weapons from Libya to Turkey to overthrow his government.

So the U.S. and its allies may reasonably fear that a political transition which genuinely followed the roadmap laid down in Geneva and Vienna might leave important elements of the existing government in place.

On the other hand, when Le Vif asked Haytham Manna of the NCB about President Assad's future in 2013, he replied, "He won't stay. If the negotiations succeed, they will lead to a parliamentary regime. … But let me say this: when we are talking about massacres of minorities, and the president is a member of a minority, how can you ask him to resign or not to resign?

"Today, Western policy has reinforced his position as the defender of Syrian unity and of minorities. But having said that, nobody will be able to claim victory: the violence has become so blind that it will take an expanded front of the opposition and the regime to end it."

If there are real differences between the U.S. and Saudi positions, the U.S. surely has leverage as the Saudi kingdom's main weapons supplier and most important military ally to prevent it from derailing a diplomatic process that other countries support. But it seems more likely that the U.S. and the Saudis are still working together, as Jubeir implied, to take charge of a political transition in Syria and to try to ensure that their proxies end up in control of the country.

If the involvement of Russia, China and Iran prevents the U.S. and its allies from hijacking a political transition in Syria, will our leaders simply opt for carrying on with the war, as they did in July 2012? To paraphrase Haytham Manna, will the Americans cheat again?

On the heels of the Iran nuclear agreement, we are entering the beginning of yet another historic and fateful showdown between war and diplomacy, with the future of Syria – and maybe the future of U.S. foreign policy – on the line.

Nicolas J S Davies is the author of Blood On Our Hands: the American Invasion and Destruction of Iraq.  He also wrote the chapters on "Obama at War" in Grading the 44th President: a Report Card on Barack Obama's First Term as a Progressive Leader.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/syria-at-a-crossroads-carrying-on-with-the-war-the-us-and-the-saudis-are-still-working-together/5486151

What is the Tesla factor?  It might be deemed a mixture of chance and selflessness, that inventive genius which works towards broader, holistic goals; a genius with the selflessness of a shaman and the morality of an ascetic.  Wherever one places Nikola Tesla in the canon of scientific discovers and inventors, there is little doubt he comes top of the tree, however vast that canopy tends to be.

Going through the small, though charming collection of items at the Nikola Tesla Museum in Belgrade, one is struck by the man's ascetic genius.  It is all frugality and dedication, a sort of priest of learning who also disseminates what goods he has.  The patents he took out, the discoveries he marketed, had everything to do with the commonweal and virtually nothing to do with his bank balance. It would come to cripple him later in life, a man who died impecunious and alone in Room 3327 of the Hotel New Yorker, having been injured in a hit and run.

His genius was one that was constantly plagued by a stretch of chance and ill-luck.  The museum features a sample of the Tesla coils which could transmit and receive radio signals at certain frequency, using electrical energy. But in 1895, chance intervened with a fire that destroyed his work, which would have featured the transmission of a signal 50 miles to West Point, New York.

The young Italian Guglielmo Marconi, who is still thought my some to be the pioneering inventor of the effective wireless radio system, took out the first wireless telegraphy patent in 1896.  To transmit signals across the English Channel, however, he had to make use of a Tesla oscillator.

The issue of patents would prove to be a running battle, with Marconi attempting to make inroads in the United States with applications that were rejected over the course of repeated applications over three years.  "Many of the claims are not patentable over Tesla patent numbers 646,576 and 649,621," came the coolly dismissive language of the US Patent Office in 1903. Marconi had shown "pretended ignorance of the nature of the 'Tesla oscillator'" which could only be regarded as "little short of absurd".

Marconi was undeterred, and the Marconi Wireless Telegraphy Company shot up in stock value.  Investments poured in from Andrew Carnegie. Thomas Edison also contributed.  In 1904, buoyed by additional backing from J. P. Morgan, Marconi tried again. This time, the US Patent Office displayed a good deal of fickleness in reneging on its initial hostility to Marconi, awarding him the patent for the invention of radio.

To show that history has less reason than weasel-like cunning, the Nobel Prize committee decided to jointly award the prize in Physics to Marconi and Karl Braun in 1909.  The siding factor had been Marconi's work in wireless communication.

That bout of scientific pugilism did not end there.  On June 21, 1943, months after Tesla's death, the historical record was, at least to some degree, corrected by the US Supreme Court.  The patent rights for Marconi were declared invalid and awarded to Tesla.  The Marconi Company had sued the US government for using four patents in the US Court of Claims.  The four tuned circuits covered by Tesla's patents were held to have preceded Marconi's.  The inventor, John Stone, also gave Tesla priority.

The battle over radio was but one aspect of Tesla's at times maligned work.  An even more formidable prospect remained Thomas Edison, putative inventor of the light bulb and phonograph.  Edison was the consummate pragmatist with good lashings of ruthlessness.  He was brilliant but threatened.  Money did matter – he had, after all, established the first investor owned entity in 1882.

Tesla, in contrast, seemed the antic dreamer, and one who saw concepts as structured totalities before pen and paper touched.  He was the true eidetic, reading Goethe's Faust in Budapest and seeing before him the electrical field.  The brilliant Serb tended to operate in the world of the unseen – rays, currents, electromagnetic fields.

The "current wars", as they came to be called, were bloody and toasty affairs. They featured Edison's efforts to, if one can pun on this, short-circuit Tesla by a direct attack on the supposed evils of alternative current (AC).  Try it, Edison suggested, and die.  Edison believed that direct current (DC) – his envisaged world view of the electrical field – would dictate energy consumption.  Alternative current had to be discredited.

The tried recipe involved inflicting death on chosen animals. He had engaged on an orgy of electrical killings across a range of stray animals: dogs, cats, cows, horses.  Edison's most famous casualty was the much abused elephant Topsy, which he electrocuted on January 4, 1903 in Luna Park with an enthusiasm verging on the fanatical.  Such murderous enthusiasm stood him in good stead to be the technology wizard behind the electric chair, the science of the grim reaper.

The Belgrade museum does not linger over scientific fractiousness, though it does introduce the theme. It rather chooses to see the oeuvre of electricity as one vast family of ambitious inventors stretching back to Thales. The Chicago Exposition saw Tesla's thinking on alternative current transformed into material worth. It convinced the science heavies such as Lord Kelvin that AC was worth striving for. It also paved the way for the Niagara Falls Power Project and Tesla's polyphase conductor.

Tesla's vision would have terrified, as it already did then, the fossil fuel burners and the plunderers of the earth.  It was an envisaged world of free, and for the most part wireless electricity, transmitted via harnessing global points.

While he continued to investigate the possibilities of such a vision, one virtually impossible without colossal investment and good will, he was already noting humanity's insatiable appetite for energy.  This is where the priestly side of Tesla came in, the preacher for economic, prudent use.

His calls fell on the deafest of ears and the heaviest of pockets.  J. P. Morgan, Wall Street's indispensable representative, eventually ditched him. His laden pockets were also doing the talking. Accounts abound that Morgan did so because Tesla was not achieving his aims.  The contrary point is more plausible: Tesla's success would have meant Morgan's failure, an energy world without money.

The museum is filled with various models. The guide on this occasion resembled a pimply Keanu Reeves, and his tall, lean figure mechanically relayed the discoveries of Tesla and his various achievements. The Columbus egg device is particularly striking for children and children at heart.  Christopher Columbus showed how he could make an egg stand – by hard boiling it.  Tesla showed how electromagnetic fields could propel the fizzing egg upwards and move across the surface.  These were points of convergence four hundred years after the "discovery" of the Americas, though it is fair to say that both men has vastly different views about commerce and conquest.

Such museums tend to overcompensate in the practical department, encouraging participants to engage with certain exhibits.  The truth is that, for such a figure, more should be had.  Tesla's entire life has become fragmented, and scattered through several museums with enthusiastic personnel who have persevered in keeping his role as a preeminent scientific genius alive.  The modern Serbian state struggles with adoring its cultural and scientific heroes. The sporting superstars tend to push the cerebral ones out, and into distant corners – Novak Djokovic tends to come first in all the stakes.

For all that, the compact space offers an intimate setting filled with a curious array of visitors.  The Tesla name continues to weigh heavily in the inventor's world, though it should be heavier.  The crew today worshiping at his altar: fascinated Russians, a few gawky Americans on missionary work, a gaggle of intrigued Chinese, and an Aboriginal Australian jazz singer whose father so happened to be Serb.

A degree of chaos also prevails: tours for school students are also arranged.  Appointments are kept haphazardly.  The lack of organisation and punctuality is total in that regard. The staff seem disoriented and frazzled by some guests who expect more, be it in terms of minutiae or scientific gossip.  There are misunderstandings as to when Serbian and English sessions are to be held.

But the visitors, in the main, are seduced by the electric charge of Tesla's world.  They come to sample the classic shock devices – generators where audience members can participate with fluorescent tubes to test the electromagnetic field.  Children squeal; adults sigh.  And they ask for more. This was always Tesla's point: energy, to be sampled by all.

Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge.  He lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne. Email: bkampmark@gmail.com

http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-genius-and-scientific-discoveries-of-nikola-tesla/5486132

Make no mistake. A Clinton presidency would be disastrous – the worst of all possible deplorable choices, none worthy or any public office, all aspirants beholden to wealth, power and privilege exclusively. 

Don't let their duplicitous rhetoric fool you. They're all cut out of the same cloth. Otherwise, they wouldn't get public attention. Populist Green Party aspirant Jill Stein gets none. 

A Clinton presidency would be nightmarish for the vast majority of Americans and world peace. It'll combine the worst of George Bush and Obama, an agenda of endless wars of aggression, maybe targeting Russia, China, and/or Iran, corporate favoritism, destroying social justice, and full-blown tyranny against resisters.

Doug Henwood is editor and publisher of the Left Business Observer. It covers "economics and politics in the broadest sense," discussing what everyone needs to know, suppressed in mainstream reporting.

In November 2014, his Harper's article headlined "Stop Hillary! Vote no to a Clinton dynasty." It bears repeating. A second Clinton presidency is the worst of all deplorable choices.

Her qualifications "boil down to this," says Henwood.

"She has experience, she's a woman, and it's her turn. It's hard to find any substantive political argument in her favor."

As first lady, she pushed husband Bill to bomb Belgrade in 1999. The rape of Yugoslavia raged throughout the 1990s, culminating with 78 days of lawless US-led NATO aggression from March 24 – June 10, 1999.

She encouraged her husband to end welfare for needy households. Vital Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) ended. The so-called Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation (PRWORA) followed, changing eligibility rules.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) set a five-year time limit – leaving millions of needy households (many with single mothers) on their own when aid was most needed.

As New York senator and Secretary of State, she "bec(ame) increasingly hawkish on foreign policy," Henwood explained.

"What Hillary will deliver (as president) is more of the same. And that shouldn't surprise us…American politics has an amazing stability and continuity about it."

No matter who's elected president, business as usual always continues, hardening, not softening deplorably during Bill Clinton's presidency, worse than ever post-9/11 under Bush II and Obama – certain to be worse than ever no matter who gets the top job next November, especially if it's Hillary, a neocon, anti-populist war goddess.

Her self-proclaimed progressivism is pure fantasy. Her record as first lady and in public office exposes her real agenda, warranting condemnation, not praise.

She "has a long history of being economical with the truth," said Henwood. As New York senator, "she voted for the Iraq war, and continued to defend it long after others had thrown in the towel."

She echoed the Big Lies about Saddam's nonexistent WMDs and ties to Al Qaeda. She cozied up to right-wing Republicans to ward off criticism. As Secretary of State, she was "less of a diplomat and more of a hawk," Henwood explained.

She backed escalated war on Afghanistan, pushed for continued US military presence in Iraq, helped orchestrate lawless aggression on Libya, and urged Obama to bomb Syria without required Security Council authorization.

She was involved in developing "pivot to Asia" strategy. "Since leaving the State Department, (she) devoted herself to…Clinton, Inc…(a) fund-raising, favor-dispensing machine" together with husband Bill, said Henwood.

Their style is self-promotion, including "huge book advances and fat speaking fees… And with an eye to the presidency, (she) kept up her line of neocon patter, while carefully separating herself from Obama."

She deplorably supports Netanyahu's high crimes – from naked aggression on Gaza to current war throughout the Territories. Palestinian bloodshed and horrific suffering are of no consequence. Israeli imperial interests alone matter.

Henwood concluded his lengthy article, saying "Eight years of Hill? Four, even? To borrow her anti-McCain jab from the 2008 Democratic convention: No way, no how!"

His new book titled "My Turn: Hillary Clinton Targets the Presidency" covers in greater detail what his article discussed. The cover shows her hawkish image, pointing a gun with her arm outstretched.With Biden out as a potential candidate, she looks like a shoe-in Democrat nominee, despite all the exposed baggage about her.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network. It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs. 

http://www.globalresearch.ca/a-hillary-clinton-presidency-would-be-a-disaster-a-nightmare-for-americans/5486123

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Ethan Sacks over at the New York Daily News is reporting that a new “Star Trek” television series is launching on CBS in January 2017. But there’s a catch.

After the premiere airs on network television, successive episodes will only be available on CBS All Access subscription streaming service in the United States. Talk about a dumb move. I mean, not dumb for CBS because I’m sure fangirls and fanboys will be all over that streaming service. But seriously? With all the TV and streaming (i.e. Netflix) options out there, there may be fans who just won’t follow the series to CBS’ fledgling subscription streaming service. I do have a Netflix subscription, but I’m not sure I’d pay for another streaming service, even for beloved “Star Trek.”

Helming the series will be executive producer Alex Kurtzman, who produced and co-wrote the 2009 and 2013 “Star Trek” films, both of which were directed by J.J. Abrams. The series won’t debut in time for 2016’s 50th anniversary of the pilot of the original “Star Trek” series created by Gene Roddenberry. “Star Trek: Enterprise” was the most recent TV series, and that left the air in 2005.

“There is no better time to give ‘Star Trek’ fans a new series than on the heels of the original show’s 50th anniversary celebration,” CBS Television Studios president David Stapf said in a statement.

“Everyone here has great respect for this storied franchise, and we’re excited to launch its next television chapter in the creative mind and skilled hands of Alex Kurtzman, someone who knows this world and its audience intimately.”

Not much is known about the plot yet, but I’m guessing it won’t star the film’s expensive cast, including Chris Pine, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg and Zachary Quinto. The actors just wrapped filming on “Star Trek Beyond,” scheduled to fly into theaters on July 22, 2016.

The network promises that the new “Star Trek” will “introduce new characters seeking imaginative new worlds and new civilizations, while exploring the dramatic contemporary themes that have been a signature of the franchise since its inception in 1966.”

Will you pay for CBS’ subscription service to watch the new “Star Trek” series? Sound off in the comments below.

The post New ‘Star Trek’ TV Series Premiering in 2017 – But There’s a Catch appeared first on Reel Life With Jane.

Here are 120 photos from the New York premiere and afterparty for “Spotlight,” starring Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton and more in the film about the Boston Globe investigative team who uncovered the Catholic priest scandal. Check out Paula Schwartz’ story from the red carpet here.

PHOTOS: New York, NY, 10/27/15 – New York Premiere of Open Road Films’ “SPOTLIGHT”; Photos by Marion Curtis, Starpix via 42West; Click for larger views. 

The post 120 PHOTOS: Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton – ‘Spotlight’ NY Premiere, Afterparty appeared first on Reel Life With Jane.

Mark Ruffalo at the NY Premiere of “Spotlight” | Paula Schwartz Photo

"I thought it was a story that needed to be told, and it needed to be told over and over and over again until people, children, who knows how many thousands of them that were raped by priests, and had the Catholic Church cover it up," said Mark Ruffalo on the red carpet at the premiere of "Spotlight" last week at the Ziegfeld Theater in Manhattan. "There has to be justice."

120 PHOTOS: “Spotlight” Premiere & Afterparty

The investigative team of reporters from the Boston Globe, known as Spotlight, revealed that nearly 100 clergy were involved in the sexual abuse of children, and that the church had covered it up while law enforcement often looked the other way. Their reporting earned the Spotlight reporters a Pulitzer Prize, and their investigative reports are the subject of Tom McCarthy's newsroom procedural. The nearly all-male ensemble of actors – Stanley Tucci, Liev Schreiber, Michael Keaton, Billy Crudup and Brian D'Arcy James – all showed up to support the film. (Rachel McAdams, who plays the only female on the Spotlight team, did not attend.)

Ruffalo's beard is flecked with grey and his hair long and curly. He looked very different from the short-haired, tightly wound reporter, Mike Rezendes, he played in the film. On the red carpet, Ruffalo praised investigative journalists, who have not looked this good on film since "All the President's Men."

"The great thing about journalists is they don't just go on a hunch. They have to be discerning," said the actor. "They have to find out the truth, and it doesn't matter how you feel about it, the truth is the prize, and so there's a methodology to that and a discipline to that that was very clear to me early on in these people. They don't have an axe to grind. They're here to tell the truth and by telling the truth you can have justice.”

He added, “When journalism works, it saves lives. It pushes back tyranny. It saves democracy. That's why this movie is so important at this particular time in this debate."

The real-life reporters from the Spotlight team portrayed in the film were also on the red carpet, although they admitted they were out of their element and a little stunned to be part of the story instead of covering it.

Mark Rezendes told me Ruffalo worked hard to channel his mannerisms and work habits. "He came to my home. He shadowed me at the Globe, and he's already the best actor in the world and all of the work he did was so impressive. I think that's why he nailed me just perfectly."

"This is not our world," Sacha Pfeiffer, the only woman on the Spotlight team, told me as she made her way on the red carpet. She's portrayed in the film by Rachel McAdams, who also researched her subject.

"She spent days, days, I mean, texts, walks, dinner. She wanted to know what did I wear? What is my husband like? What we make for dinner? What's my family like? Where did I grow up? Do I take notes in a notebook or by computer? Everything! Everything about me physically and what was in my head," she said.

"I was a very plain dresser, I still am," Pfeiffer told me. “But back then I pretty much wore khakis to work every day and black shirt, and it's very funny because she really dresses like I would have a decade ago."

Pfeiffer added, "It was really amazing to see how hard they prepare because most people just see this," she said, pointing to the red carpet.

What Pfeiffer hopes people take away from the film is how essential the work of investigative reporters is. "What I think this movie does so well is show the reality of our jobs. It can be tedious. It can be monotonous. But if you give reporters time to research, they can do something powerful, and that's what I hope people realize."

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Rachel Bloom as Rebecca Bunch in “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” (Photo: Eddy Chen/The CW – © 2015 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.)

“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” is a truly original sitcom – what a concept! Written by the show’s star, Rachel Bloom, and Aline Brosh McKenna, it’s Amy Schumer meets “Galavant” – yes, there are hilarious musical numbers.

Truthfully, I’m not sure if the show will appeal to men, but as a woman, I find the humor daring and refreshing. Rachel walks right into territory that few have trod, including showing herself before and after Spanx.

Santino Fontana as Greg and Rachel Bloom as Rebecca in “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” (Photo: Greg Gayne/The CW – © 2015 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved.)

Rachel plays Rebecca, a woman who is brilliant in her professional life but completely off the rails in her romantic life. While that premise may not sound so unusual, it’s the combination of the musical numbers and just how far the writers and actors go with the premise that make it new and different. And the music works because Rebecca is largely living in a fantasy world.

Rebecca is beautiful, but she’s beautiful like a real woman and is no size zero. The show’s hunk, Josh Chan, is Asian-American (played by Filipino-American actor, Vincent Rodriguez III), and the “good guy” that Rachel just can’t see is played by Santino Fontana, who was the prince in Broadway’s “Cinderella.”

The rest of the cast is great, with a special shout-out to Donna Lynne Champlin as Rebecca’s depressive friend/sidekick. Donna is a terrific comic with an equally terrific singing voice.

The bummer is that “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” was originally written for Showtime, which bailed out. I’m glad that the CW picked it up, but that meant rewrites. I can only imagine how much farther still they could have gone if the show had remained on cable.

Check out the videos below. The show is certainly not for the squeamish, but if you like Amy Schumer’s sexual frankness and her ability to laugh at herself, you’ll love this. The show airs on the CW on Monday nights.

The post You Aren’t Watching ‘Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’? Here’s Why You Should appeared first on Reel Life With Jane.

A painting in the Royal Collection has been hiding a man captured in the moment of answering a call of nature for more than a hundred years. A Village Fair with a Church Behind by 17th century Dutch painter Isack van Ostade is a vibrant, bustling scene of peasants exploring market wares in a fictional village under the shadow of an unrealistically large church. Restorers were cleaning the oil-on-canvas work in preparation for an upcoming exhibition when they found that a shrub in the bottom right corner was a relatively recent overpainting. When they removed the bush, they found a man popping a proverbial squat, trousers at his ankles, head down in concentration.

Here is the painting before cleaning:

Here it is after cleaning:

The canvas entered the Royal Collection in 1810 when it was acquired by the future King George IV, then the Prince of Wales. It hung in Carlton House, the Prince’s London home. Exhibition curator and surveyor of The Queen’s Pictures Desmond Shawe-Taylor notes that the notoriously dissipated “George IV loved that kind of thing … Being a man of the world, [he didn't] mind a few rude jokes.” His successors were not quite so enamored of toilet humor. Restorers believe the rustic pooping fellow was probably painted over the last time the canvas was restored in 1903, after it was moved to the Picture Gallery at Buckingham Palace.

The modification took place two years into the reign of Queen Victoria’s son, Edward VII, who was himself was no stranger to bawdiness. Dubbed Edward the Caresser by Henry James, he was a regular at a number of exclusive Parisian brothels, particularly Le Chabanais where he kept his custom-made sex chair. He wouldn’t have had any direct involvement in the pooper cover-up. It was likely a curatorial decision to bring the painting in line with the proprieties of a time when the mere discussion of a much-needed women’s public lavoratory took five years because council members couldn’t even talk about bodily functions without terminal monocle popping. Displaying a painting of a man dropping a deuce next to a church, no less, would have been cause for great consternation. Another ribald Dutch painting bought by George IV, A Village Revel by Jan Steen (1673), was altered around the same time when a man’s naked buttocks on the tavern sign were covered with a bull’s head.

Desmond Shawe-Taylor again:

“Dutch artists often include people or animals answering the call of nature partly as a joke and partly to remind viewers of that crucial word ‘nature’, the inspiration for their art. Queen Victoria thought the Dutch pictures in her collection were painted in a ‘low style’; two years after her death perhaps a royal advisor felt similarly.”

The painter of A Village Fair with a Church Behind, Isack van Ostade, was born in Haarlem in 1621. He was trained by his older brother Adriaen who had a strong influence on his early works. Once he struck out on his own in 1642, Isack shifted his focus from the rustic interiors that characterized his brother’s work to peasant genre works set in a detailed but fictional landscape. He specialized in winter scenes and crowded exteriors, like the series of paintings he did of people milling about outside roadside inns. His signature touch in these busy scenes full of people and animals was a white horse, unmissably luminescent in the center left of A Village Fair with a Church Behind. Isack died at the tragically young age of 28. His short life was a prolific one; he completed about 400 paintings in the decade he had.

The painting is one of 27 Dutch 17th and 18th century works from the Royal Collection that will be on display in Masters of the Everyday: Dutch Artists in the Age of Vermeer, an exhibition exploring the quotidian captured in rich detail by artists like Jan Steen and Johannes Vermeer. The exhibition runs from November 13th, 2015, to February 14th, 2016, in the Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace.

Seth Meyers takes ‘A Closer Look’ at the GOP’s negotiations for the next debate, where there are going to be some changes made, demands met,  and no more ‘gotcha’ questions! Full Article & Video

John Oliver is right, we don’t often hear wild and zany things from the Ukraine, but oddly enough,  their local elections last week  proved to be the exception as  Chewbacca and Darth Vader both  figured prominently in election news. Full Article & Video

On Last Week Tonight, John Oliver talks about a recent attempt to cripple the working poor by Prime Minister David Cameron, and how help for the poor came from an unexpected quarter…Odder still, the entire thing is wrapped up with Andrew Lloyd Webber and a shaved, captive Donnie Osmond! Full Article & Video

One would think that moving the GOP debates inside their own GOP bubble would cause them to lose credibility, but one must remember these are pig farmers we are talking about. Full Article & Video

Do you want pancakes with that?   Full Article & Video

(Bernama) – Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Berhad (KDEB) masih gagal membayar hutang berjumlah RM424.7 juta kepada kerajaan Selangor untuk membeli pegangan saham Kumpulan Hartanah Selangor Berhad (KHSB), persidangan Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) negeri diberitahu hari ini.

Menteri Besar, Mohamed Azmin Ali berkata pinjaman itu diberikan kepada KDEB yang juga anak syarikat kerajaan negeri bermula Jun 2013, dengan caj pembiayaan empat peratus setahun, menjadikan jumlah keseluruhan hutang sebanyak RM429.7 juta.

“Tarikh anuiti bayaran balik ialah pada 28 November 2015 tetapi sehingga kini KDEB hanya membayar balik sebanyak RM5 juta kepada kerajaan negeri.

“KDEB juga gagal memiliki 100 peratus pegangan saham dalam KHSB berikutan keengganan pemegang saham minoriti menjual saham mereka kepada KDEB,” katanya di sini hari ini.

Mohamed Azmin (PKR-Bukit Antarabangsa) berkata demikian ketika menjawab soalan Gan Pei Nei (DAP-Rawang) yang ingin tahu jumlah pinjaman yang dibayar balik oleh KDEB kepada kerajaan negeri untuk membeli KHSB.

Bagaimanapun, menteri besar berkata rundingan masih berjalan termasuk KHSB melaksanakan dasar pengurangan modal terpilih bagi memastikan proses pengambilalihan itu dapat dilaksanakan.

“Namun kelulusan mahkamah diperlukan dan beberapa hari lalu saya telah dimaklumkan pendengaran di mahkamah telah ditetap pada 6 November ini.

“Oleh itu, Majlis Mesyuarat Kerajaan Negeri pada 28 Oktober lalu bersetuju untuk melanjutkan tempoh bayaran balik pinjaman KDEB sehingga 28 Oktober 2016,” katanya.

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(NST) – Police will record a statement from former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad this Friday in connection with reports accusing him of making defamatory statements against Umno leaders.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said Dr Mahathir was not being investigated for his presence at the recent Bersih 4 rally, but for calling for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s resignation.

“He (Dr Mahathir) had provided the date (Friday), but this is also subject to the availability of his lawyer,” Khalid said when contacted today.

Khalid said it was up to Dr Mahathir to decide on the venue to have his statement recorded.

Earlier, Khalid had said Dr Mahathir was being investigated under Section 500 of the Penal Code for criminal defamation, where he (Dr Mahathir) had made an appearance on Aug 29 and 30 during Bersih 4.

Police reports were also lodged by an Umno division chief on Dr Mahathir’s statement about corruption in the party divisions.

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(MySinchew) — DAP’s MP for Petaling Jaya Utara Tony Pua has pulled out of the debate with 1MDB executive director Arul Kanda Kandasamy.

Dewan Rakyat speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia said earlier today that Pua could debate with Arul Kanda provided that he quit as a PAC member.

Pandikar also said Arul Kanda would not be involved in any probes on 1MDB or any PAC proceedings if the debate were to proceed.

Meanwhile, DAP parliamentary whip Anthony Loke said DAP would find a replacement for the debate as soon as possible and hoped the debate could go on as scheduled at 9pm Friday.

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(The Malaysian Times) – Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Datuk Hasan Arifin has ordered PAC member Tony Pua to comply with the directive of Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia against issuing any statements on 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) via any medium.

Hasan said Pua must obey the directive including not openly debating with the President and Group Executive Director of 1MDB, Arul Kanda Kandasamy.

"I abide by the directive fixed by the Speaker. This means Tony Pua also cannot talk about 1MDB outside (the Dewan Rakyat) such as campaigning and others.

"We hope the members of PAC comply with the ruling and advice given by the Speaker," he told reporters at Parliament's lobby today.

Asked whether Pua was also not allowed to issue statements to the media on 1MDB issues, Hasan said he would seek further clarification from the office of the Dewan Rakyat Speaker on this.

"According to the ruling, Tony Pua cannot give 'ceramah' or talks about (1MDB) in public. It is rather difficult as the PAC's interim report on its 1mDB probe is already out, thus it is only apt for all ethical matters to be complied with," he said.

At the Dewan Rakyat this morning, Pandikar Amin ruled that Tony Pua must step down as a member of Public Account Committee (PAC) if he wants to continue with the open debate with 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) President Arul Kanda Kandasamy.

He said if the Petaling Jaya Utara Member of Parliament did not want to relinquish his post in the PAC, he must not be involved at all with the probe on 1MDB which was being conducted by the Committee.

At the same time, Arul Kanda, who is main witness, should also not be involved in the investigation of PAC, said Pandikar Amin.

Meanwhile, Pua, when asked to comment on the ruling by Pandikar Amin, was adamant that the organisation of the open debate did not flout any Standing Order of the Dewan Rakyat.

"From my knowledge, the organisation of the debate does not flout any Parliament regulations.

"Nevertheless, I respect the decision of the Dewan Rakyat Speaker. For that reason, I will seek an official explanation in the Dewan tomorrow," he told a media conference at Parliament's lobby.

Pua said he would not allow proceedings on 1MDB to be disturbed because of his involvement in the open debate.

"I cannot allow the investigation to be abandoned. The people place their hope on PAC for the investigation," he added.

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Umar Mukhtar

DAP is busy pressuring PKR to kick out PAS from the state government, and strategising on how to chase PAS out of Selangor, and PAS is fuming about PAN for wanting to replace it as the Islamic flag-carrier in the state, and PKR is silently fighting within itself over the most infantile things and on how to publicly justify being a friend of PAS when actually it is not.

So whatever happened to Selangor UMNO, MCA, Gerakan and MIC? Probably in hibernation because nobody is guiding them on how to be the opposition. They probably think politics is only about ruling, hoping that somebody will wake them up when by some miracle Khir Toyo’s ambitious and foolishly baseless ‘Pembangkang Sifar’ resurfaces!

Federal-level Barisan Nasional leaders also seem to have written off doing anything about what seems to be a hopeless situation. What with the battle to keep Prime Minister Najib Razak in office taking up a lot of their time, Selangor no longer merits a ‘front-line state’ status. It’s a ‘given’, with BN only hoping that their enemies would not be able to handle success, will quarrel among themselves, and make BN suddenly relevant as a sleeping partner. Probably as a whore.

That won’t happen because BN is not to their taste. Even the confused PAS seems to be deterred by HIV of some kind. The last time Selangor UMNO met together with Najib in Langkawi, nothing was solved with regard to the fierce rivalry between Noh Omar’s team and Zin Badak’s team over control of Selangor UMNO. Najib was content to let things be, as if not to rock the already sinking boat. You would think that a courageous initiative was in order but weak Najib was dearth of ideas.

The state with the highest GDP, highest per capita income, most educated populace, and is the most cosmopolitan have said fook-off to BN. And there’s not so much as a whimper of death-throe from Selangor BN. That’s what you get when you were led by a crook who in turn was replaced by random personalities who never knew what hit them.

The only notable political challenges left in Selangor are the current attempt by DAP to lead the state despite it apparently representing only a minority race in the state, and PAN’s bid to confirm that educated urban Malays love them for being both progressive and Islamic, to which PAS sees no necessity to respond since it is already divine-mandated. And PKR just wants to rule Selangor whatever gives, in the absence of any national initiative to internally grow.

No Chinese worth his or her salt has time for MCA and Gerakan. And UMNO has no seat to spare, so no ‘ehsan’ seats for them to give to MCA. In MCA’s last electoral fight, their silly woman candidate mistakenly defined Kajang as not an urban seat, so she would do well compared to the drubbing she got from DAP’s Tony Pua in Petaling Jaya in PRU13. Looked as if sakais and peasants too detest MCA, or that she’s just too plain stupid to be observant.

The fact of the matter is, the coming PRU14 is the best but final chance for BN to rule Selangor ever. It is not undo-able, if only there is political will and resolve from higher-ups. Have the guts to ignore these 60s-style warlords. Malays within and outside UMNO don’t listen to them anymore and they are now archaic. The wisest way is to assemble fresh minds to first look into where UMNO Selangor self-destructed and lost the plot. Forget Noh.

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Do you remember the debate between Anwar Ibrahim and Ahmad Shabery Cheek? Do you remember the debate between the Umno Youth movement and the PKR Youth movement? What did they debate and who won those debates? I bet you cannot even remember and you will also not remember the Tony Pua-Arul Kanda debate ten or twenty years from now.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Salleh Said Keruak, the Communications and Multimedia Minister, has scheduled the live telecast of the much awaited debate between DAP's Tony Pua and the 1MDB President, Arul Kanda Kandasamy, for this Friday at 9.00pm. Meanwhile, Tony Pua has posted the ten questions that he is going to ask on his Blog so that Arul Kanda can prepare the answers beforehand.

In an unexpected and interesting turn of events, the Parliament Speaker, Pandikar Amin Mulia, has stepped in to lay down the terms of the debate. First, Tony Pua must resign from the PAC if he wants to debate Arul Kanda. Second, Arul Kanda can no longer testify at the PAC hearing if he debates Tony Pua. And if these terms are not followed then the Speaker is going to resign from his post.

Tony Pua had earlier said he would never resign from the PAC because if he were no longer in the Commission then the remaining members of that Commission would be easily duped. Only he is clever enough to not get duped so it is crucial that he stays in the PAC. If not then the PAC might as well be disbanded.

So DAP has proposed that someone else replace Tony Pua in the debate instead so that the debate can still go on without the need for Tony Pua to resign from the PAC.

Maybe DAP can send Dr Abdul Aziz Bari, their candidate as the next Selangor Menteri Besar who is also a constitutional law expert, to debate Arul Kanda considering he has the right credentials. He can then use this debate to prove he is worthy of becoming Selangor's Menteri Besar and far better than PKR's Azmin Ali.

Tony Pua is also of the opinion that it would be unacceptable for Arul Kanda to be disqualified from testifying at PAC's inquiry. Without Arul Kanda's testimony the PAC inquiry would be meaningless as nothing is going to come out of it. Hence Arul Kanda, too, may need to be replaced with someone else so that Tony Pua's replacement can debate Arul Kanda's replacement.

Alternatively, Tony Pua and Arul Kanda can ignore the Parliament Speaker and go ahead with the scheduled debate this Friday and in not so many words tell the Speaker to take a hike and resign if he so wishes. Then instead of replacing Tony Pua and Arul Kanda they can replace the Speaker once he resigns.

As many have pointed out, a debate is not about searching for the truth, as Tony Pua claims, because in a debate you take a position and you argue your case to support that position. Hence the excuse that the debate will help reveal the truth is not valid.

For example, say we debate the subject of 'Does God exist?' The theist will say God does exist while the atheist will say God does not exist. The theist will say God does exist because it cannot be proven that God does not exist while the atheist will say God does not exist because it cannot be proven that God does exist.

So, who won the debate? If you were impartial you would say both won the debate. A theist, however, will say that the theist won the debate while an atheist would say the atheist won the debate. Hence there is no real winner in his debate. There is only a perception of a winner and this perception would depend on your stand and belief regarding whether you believe or do not believe that God exists.

So, if you believe that 1MDB is guilty of a crime you would say that Tony Pua won the debate and if you believe that 1MDB is not guilty of a crime you would say that Arul Kanda won the debate.

If, however, you are impartial and have an open mind, or you are not really sure whether 1MDB is or is not guilty of a crime, and you want to make your conclusion based on the outcome of the debate, then you will make that decision based on how convincing each debater is.

If Tony Pua argues his case better that Arul Kanda then you will say 1MDB is guilty of a crime but if Arul Kanda argues his case better than Tony Pua then you will say 1MDB is not guilty of a crime. Whoever is more convincing will convince you of 1MDB's guilt or innocence.

Okay, never mind who wins or loses the debate because in the end your conclusion regarding the winner of that debate is going to be a mere perception based on who argued his case better. Or it is going to be based on whether even before the debate started you are already convinced that 1MDB is guilty or innocent of a crime. The question now would be, does that mean 1MDB's problems are now all solved?

If Tony Pua wins the debate how would that solve 1MDB's problem or if Arul Kanda wins the debate how would that solve 1MDB's problems?

1MDB's critics say that foreign investors are leaving Malaysia because of 1MDB. So, if Arul Kanda wins the debate will the foreign investors come back? Or if Tony Pua wins the debate will even more foreign investors leave the country? And will the outcome of this debate help create more jobs and raise the living standards of Malaysians and allow Malaysians to have more money in their pockets?

Will the outcome of the debate solve all the racial and religious differences that Malaysia is facing and will it prevent racial or religious hostilities from breaking out? How will this debate create a better understanding and tolerance between Malaysians of different ethnicities and religious persuasions?

Is this debate the endgame, or the game plan to an endgame, and what is that endgame? And if this debate is the game plan to an endgame why is this the best game plan to that endgame?

Now, if the endgame is we want to see 1MDB succeed and the RM42 billion in that company, borrowed money on top of that, saved, then the game plan should be to make sure that 1MDB's rationalising and debt restructuring exercise, which includes but is not confined to its IPO, happen.

And a debate is not going to make that happen. What will make it happen is we must give Arul Kanda time to complete the exercise and deliver what he promised the Cabinet in June and which the Cabinet had approved.

However, if the endgame is we want to see 1MDB fail so that this failure can be used to leverage Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to resign then that is another matter altogether. Then surely 1MDB must be made to fail even if the country needs to suffer billions in loses because what is important is not to save 1MDB and billions of Ringgit but to oust the Prime Minister.

Nevertheless, whatever may be the case, the debate is not going to achieve any of those two scenarios. What we will achieve is we will be entertained by two people crossing sword on stage, each defending his position with arguments, and the one who argues the best would be declared the winner, or we will have already decided who the winner is never mind how well they argue because we have already formed our opinion beforehand.

A theist believes there is a God while an atheist believes God does not exist so how well the debaters argue their case is not going to change your mind about the existence or otherwise of God. That is what a debate achieves. But I will have to admit that a debate by two good debaters is very entertaining and that is all it is, entertainment.

Do you remember the debate between Anwar Ibrahim and Ahmad Shabery Cheek? Do you remember the debate between the Umno Youth movement and the PKR Youth movement? What did they debate and who won those debates? I bet you cannot even remember and you will also not remember the Tony Pua-Arul Kanda debate ten or twenty years from now.

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Aziz now says the Malay-majority PKR is problematic and PAS is dysfunctional. Why don't DAP just pack their bags out and quit Selangor if they have a problem with PAS and PKR? Is DAP hungry for power?

Jason Chin, Malay Mail Online

The recently concluded Selangor DAP state elections witnessed Gobind Singh Deo topping polls with the most amounts of votes. Tony Pua came in 8^th, 241 votes behind Gobind. Yet, Tony was reappointed as chairman and Gobind as deputy chairman. How does that make any sense? Seven other people obtained higher votes than Tony but he still retained his post. Since Gobind won the 'popular vote' why isn't he the new chairman? Is the 'popular vote' logic only applicable to the general elections when things do not go the DAP way? Tony's flip-flopping to have a face-off with 1MDB's Arul Kanda has not augured well. Tony only dares to ask questions and is gutless to be questioned. Is this what DAP preaches?

 Unfortunately all Malay candidates who stood in the elections lost. They did not even make it to the top 15. With all the talk of DAP being a multi-racial party, their own members did not walk the talk. So is the multi-racial drama just a figure of speech? You speak about bringing a change to the country when you have failed to even bring the change in your own organization. Change the man in the mirror first before dreaming about changing the world. Constitutional law expert and former International Islamic University lecturer Dr. Abdul Aziz Bari joined DAP from PKR a few months ago. Yes, party hopping among themselves.

Aziz lost under the PKR ticket in Sabak Bernam during the 2013 General Election. He was becoming obsolete in PKR and therefore jumped boat to DAP. On being unveiled as a DAP member, Aziz claimed he did not ask for any position but just intends to contribute to the party. He lost in the Selangor DAP elections but still got appointed in. Did Aziz receive the Trojan horse from DAP that no matter what happens he gets a seat in the Selangor state committee? Aziz now says the Malay-majority PKR is problematic and PAS is dysfunctional. Why don't DAP just pack their bags out and quit Selangor if they have a problem with PAS and PKR? Is DAP hungry for power?

Yeo Bee Yin received only 384 votes and got voted out of the Selangor state committee. Yet she got reappointed back in. Looks like in DAP you can stand for an election, lose it and still remain relevant through the back door. Is this the democracy Lim Guan Eng has been harping about? Probably all you need to do in DAP is share a close camaraderie with Lim and election results do not matter.

Harapan Baru's Shah Alam MP, Khalid Abdul Samad strongly condemned MCA and Gerakan's reappointment into the cabinet and claimed BN practices rhetoric politics. He added that those reappointments are just an attempt to gain support from the non-Malays. So, what do you make of DAP's appointment of Malays then, even after not making the cut democratically?  

DAP's Skudai assemblyman Dr. Boo Cheng Hau was forced to announce his resignation as the Johor opposition leader recently after failing to secure a spot in Johor's 15-man DAP state assembly. Dr. Boo was always known for his independent voice in the party and claims he was backstabbed by top DAP officials. Dr. Boo has been diligently serving in DAP since 1994 and was instrumental in building-up DAP in Johor but was replaced as the Johor DAP chairman by Kluang MP Liew Chin Tong in January last year. Liew is said to be closely associated with Lim Guan Eng and choruses Lim's lyrics.

When the only thing that matters in DAP is aligning yourself to Guan Eng, I wonder why DAP even bothers staging elections? Just to meet the Registrar of Societies (ROS) regulations? The voters' voice does not matter. Irrespective of the election outcome, those who are supposed to be in the state committee will still be there, either by legibly winning or gaining entry through the back door. Isn't it funny how the Opposition only knows how to condemn the ruling government?

And DAP speaks loudly about integrity…..

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DAP is the most powerful party in Selangor now but the man to watch is not its chairman Tony Pua. It's a pair of powerful warlords who had a big hand in the outcome of the recent state party polls.

Joceline Tan, The Star

TONY Pua is a superstar in DAP but he found himself almost at the mercy of the warlords during the Selangor party election on Sunday.

Pua, who has been making news every day on issues ranging from 1MDB to Deepavali bazaars came in at No 8 in a line-up of 15 in the state party election while others who are perceived as less remarkable were well ahead of him.

He also slipped down two slots from the last state election in 2013 when he came in at No 6.

It was quite a shocker and it was not good news for him considering that he was the incumbent state chairman, Petaling Jaya Utara MP and one of the names being bandied about for DAP secretary-gene­ral when Lim Guan Eng's term expires.

Moreover, those aligned to him lost or ended up in the bottom half of the elected line-up.

His ally Hannah Yeoh, the State Assembly Speaker, was No 1 in 2013 but dropped to No 6 this time. Another ally, Serdang MP Dr Ong Kian Ming, barely made it, coming in last.

But the problem had less to do with him per se than a pair of po­­werful party warlords, Ean Yong Han Wah and Ronnie Liu, who call the shots on the ground and who had a big hand in the election outcome.

Ean Yong, who is a state executive councillor, came in at No 3 in the election and Liu, hailed as the "comeback king", came in at No 4 even though he was dropped as a candidate in the last general election.

It was obvious that their aim was to get Pua out of the way. Pua, who got 495 votes, was 241 votes behind the top scorer Gobind Singh Deo and only 81 ahead of Dr Ong, who was placed last.

The pair and their supporters had campaigned hard and their efforts to set up new branches over the last few years enabled them to send more of their delegates to vote this time around.

Their faction now dominates the Selangor DAP leadership line-up. The DAP election system involves electing 15 members who will then elect the key office-bearers.

During the closed-door meeting to elect the office-bearers, Ean Yong's faction acceded to Pua being retained as state chairman.

However, they tried to push Liu for one of the two vice-chairmen posts against Yeoh and senior state executive councillor Datuk Teng Chang Khim. Yeoh won easily but Teng beat Liu by only one vote.

Most of the key committee posts also went to those aligned to the two warlords.

The coveted organising secretary post went to Eddie Ng Tien Chee, the Balakong assemblyman who was suspended earlier this year after pictures of him gambling went viral.

The controversial Kuala Kubu Baru assemblywoman Lee Kee Hiong was appointed political education director.

Ean Yong, who took the all-po­werful secretary's post, is the man to watch. The tall and reed-thin politician has been seriously underestimated by opponents. He is very ambitious and is eyeing the senior executive councillor post now held by Teng.

His chief ally Liu, whom Chinese reporters call "sky ball" because of the sound of his Chinese name Tian Khiew, is said to be planning a bigger comeback – in the next general election.

Ean Yong's group had also co-opted state executive councillor V. Ganabatirau to deliver the Indian votes.

The Malay candidates lost be­cause they only got support from Pua's group.

Reporters covering the election joked that the DAP rivalry in Selangor is between the "Oxford group" led by Pua and the "pasar malam group" led by Ean Yong.

Pua, a product of Oxford University, has been trying to elevate the image of DAP by grooming more professionals and thinking types. The "Oxford group" has brain power but they do not have the na­tural people touch and there is some disconnect with the party grassroots.

The "pasar malam group", for want of a better term, are not intellectual but has street smarts and people skills. They are not thinkers but they speak the common man's language and know how to "yamseng and karaoke", as they say.

Liu, for instance, makes it a point to attend funeral wakes. He knows that dead men cannot vote but their relatives and friends can.

DAP's grassroots and hardcore supporters are largely working-class Chinese. They are not into high-minded issues and they relate to the "pasar malam group" who speak their lingo and are familiar with their rough-and-tumble ways.

Elections in DAP have been getting hotter given their success in the last two general elections. It will probably get even hotter in Selangor because the mega state Budget announced recently will make it the most happening state in the country.

But the moral of the story is that brain power gets you noticed but people skills can take you further.

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(Malay Mail Online) – RTM has proposed Friday to hold the debate between 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) president Arul Kanda Kandasamy and DAP lawmaker Tony Pua on live television, Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak said today.

The communications and multimedia minister also said a moderator will be appointed from the national broadcaster for the debate.

"I’ve suggested that it be televised live this Friday from 9pm to 10pm," Salleh Said told a press conference after an event at Universiti Putra Malaysia here.

He said both Arul Kanda and Pua will be contacted to get their agreement on the proposed Friday date.

The Umno minister also said there would be no "live" audience at the debate because "we want it to be in a conducive environment".

Salleh Said said there would be guidelines too on what issues cannot be mentioned in the debate between the 1MDB chief and Public Accounts Committee (PAC) member Pua, highlighting the confidentiality of the proceedings of the parliamentary committee that is investigating the state investment firm.

"I’m sure he’ll know what can and can’t be done," Salleh Said said, referring to Pua.

Pua, who is also Petaling Jaya Utara MP and a member of Parliament's Public Accounts Committee, challenged Arul Kanda last Wednesday to a discussion on live TV following the latter's appearance in an interview by national news agency Bernama, which the 1MDB chief later accepted.

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(Malay Mail Online) – Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia said he will prohibit any public debate on 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) while it remains under investigation by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

The Dewan Rakyat Speaker also said that DAP's Tony Pua must resign from the committee if the latter is adamant on debating 1MDB chief executive Arul Kanda Kandasamy.

A debate between the two would affect the PAC's probe on 1MDB as both men are intricately involved, he explained.

"I cannot allow the debate on 1MDB between Pua and Arul Kanda because PAC investigation is still ongoing.

"It is better if the investigations continue and not a debate because there would not be a solution from debates," he told the Parliament today.

Pandikar said he will only allow the debate to continue on three conditions: Pua's resignation from PAC; or Pua's avoidance of any further investigation on the firm and Arul Kanda's excusal from being called as witness.

"If he (Pua) doesn’t resign, he should not involve himself in any of the PAC proceedings involving 1MDB and Arul Kanda can no longer be involved in the proceedings to ensure transparency," Pandikar said.

The Dewan Rakyat Speaker added that he will quit his post if Putrajaya insists on holding the debate despite his objection, but did not specify a reason.

He added that the public should be patient for the PAC to complete its probe on 1MDB, saying that such a debate would tarnish the credibility of the committee.

"Why can't this debate wait until after the PAC probe is completed? Why the rush? Can’t this wait for the investigation to be completed, then you can debate," Pandikar stressed.

Pua, who is also Petaling Jaya Utara MP and a member of Parliament's Public Accounts Committee, challenged Arul Kanda last Wednesday to a discussion on live TV following the latter's appearance in an interview by national news agency Bernama, which the 1MDB chief later accepted.

It is tentatively scheduled for this Friday.

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(Malay Mail Online) – Another Pakatan Harapan leader can substitute for Tony Pua to avoid objections over the Public Accounts Committee member's participation in a public debate on 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), the DAP said today.

The party’s chief parliamentary whip, Anthony Loke, said they construe that the Speaker’s prohibition on a debate between Pua and Arul Kanda Kandasamy was due to the DAP MP's position as a member of the PAC that is investigating the firm.

"We will discuss if there are other representatives, be it from DAP, PKR or Amanah," Loke said at a news conference at the Parliament lobby.

"I take what the communications minister said… the debate definitely can go on," he added, referring to Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak.

This morning, Salleh announced that national broadcaster RTM has proposed a Friday slot to hold the planned debate between Arul Kanda and Pua.

But Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia later said that he cannot allow such a programme to take place while the PAC is still investigating 1MDB.

Loke today argued that Pandikar’s ruling was limited to Pua on the ground that the Speaker was of the opinion that as a PAC member acts as an investigator and cannot assume the role of a prosecutor.

"We take the position that the debate cannot be between Arul Kanda an a PAC member, so there should not be any problem if it is with other MPs," the Seremban MP said.

On Pandikar’s query as to why they insist on having the debate, Loke said it is needed to answer the many questions raised by the public since it will take months before the PAC will be able to release its findings.

When making his ruling today, Pandikar said the debate can only proceed if Pua were to either resign as a PAC member or excuse himself from any investigations involving 1MDB.

The Speaker added that Arul Kanda cannot be called in as a witness for PAC’s proceedings on 1MDB if they were to go ahead with the debate, as both men were intricately involved in the parliamentary committee’s investigations.

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Dr Chandra Muzaffar

A public debate on 1MDB between a Member of Parliament who has been raising a lot of questions about it and the President of that state-owned company is not going to provide the answers that the rakyat are looking for. We want to know the truth and nothing but the whole truth about the activities of 1MDB and its present and past subsidiaries and how they are related to the 2.6 billion ringgit in the Prime Minister's personal bank account. A debate by its very nature will compel each side to defend its position however skewed it may be and will not force the parties concerned to establish the truth that we all seek. An honest discussion between Tony Pua and Arul Kanda conducted through a format that allows the two to share facts and examine the processes involved in the various financial transactions associated with 1MDB and its subsidiaries may be a better idea than resorting to a modality that requires the two to score debating points.

But even such a discussion is no substitute for a comprehensive investigation. What is so disappointing is that the various attempts at investigating the controversy are not proceeding the way they should. The former Attorney-General, Tan Sri Gani Patail, could not complete the task he had undertaken for reasons beyond his control. Bank Negara's recommendation for action submitted to the current Attorney-General will not be acted upon though the Bank itself is convinced of the strength of its case. The previous Public Accounts Committee (PAC) was stymied in its inquiry and the new PAC has yet to resume its work. The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) continues to investigate one of the crucial ex-subsidiaries of 1MDB which is now under the Ministry of Finance, fully cognizant of the fact that its work has been hampered by the disappearance of critical witnesses. The Auditor-General has done a preliminary report but his full report is only expected at the end of the year at the earliest. The Police is also supposed to be investigating activities related to 1MDB but it is unclear what it has done so far and what its remit is.

READ MORE HERE

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While we wait for the much anticipated face-off, I would like to offer Arul Kanda the heads up, so that he can prepare the necessary answers whether during replies or debate speech.

Tony Pua

1MDB President, Arul Kanda has during his press conference on Saturday, informed Malaysians that "I will meet YB Tony Pua for live discussion, or talk show, or debate, without any condition."

I would like to announce that the Members of Parliament for Kulai and Serdang, Teo Nie Ching and Dr Ong Kian Ming will be representing me to conduct the necessary discussions with the team from 1MDB to finalise the format and details of the proposed "live discussion, or talk show, or debate" between the 1MDB President, Arul Kanda and myself.

While we wait for the much anticipated face-off, I would like to offer Arul Kanda the heads up, so that he can prepare the necessary answers whether during replies or debate speech. This way, Arul cannot feign ignorance or pretend that the documents were unavailable with him to provide the necessary answers. Therefore, let me disclose here the 10 questions which I will ask during the "live discussion, or talk show, or debate":

1. Why did Bank Negara withdraw its approval for 1MDB to transfer more than US$1.8 billion overseas? Was it because most of the funds were transferred to an account which is unrelated to the 1MDB joint venture project with Petrosaudi International Limited as revealed in the leaked Board meeting minutes which Arul Kanda has acknowledged to be true? How much was transferred to this unrelated account? Did this unrelated account belong to Good Star Limited and who owns or controls Good Star Limited?

2. Is it true that 1MDB had invested the initial US$1 billion cash to acquire 40% of 1MDB-Petrosaudi while Petrosaudi only need to invest its rights to certain oil reserves in the Caspian Sea and in Argentina for its 60% stake? In addition, were the rights to the Caspian Sea oil reserves terminated by Petrosaudi within 2 months after the signing of the joint venture agreement, which meant that Petrosaudi secured their 60% stake without investing anything significant?

3. Is it true that 1MDB had proceeded to sign the joint venture agreement with Petrosaudi in a rush, without securing the necessary Board of Directors approval at that point of time as revealed in the same Board minutes?

Read more here

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With the news now out that an additional eight seats being contested under DAP, we will be looking at a state assembly with this party being in the majority in the near future.

Hafidz Baharom, The Malaysian Insider

As such, can we expect a DAP-run Selangor by the next general election?

Honestly, I personally would not mind such. If anything, it would ensure no more “Langkah” shenanigans by PKR.

Selangor is the sustainable cash cow of Malaysia, contributing a fifth of the national gross domestic product (GDP) and is the most populated state, most urbanised in the federation.

It also has the highest median income in the country outside of Putrajaya.

In the same breath, I would say it is perhaps the weirdest state in form of governance today, where highways can be approved “in principle” and menteri besar can be deposed by someone who does exactly what the predecessor did albeit through two deficit budgets.

All the above being said, we do have some contradictions. Urbanisation unfortunately does not mean the state is more religiously liberal.

In fact, we may have a large population of conservatives, which is why Selangor is known also for the growth of all things Islamic, from food to fashion.

Also, Isma for all its conservative Islamic views is centred in Selangor as well. At the same time, the state is also a hotbed in terms of membership for Perkasa under Datuk Ibrahim Ali.

While it has multiple tertiary education institutes, the largest one in Selangor remains Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), which produces some 51,000 graduates nationwide with two campuses, on undergraduate studies within the state.

A DAP-led state government will be tough to swallow simply because it is seen as a non-Malay party. Quite frankly, having two Malays joining is an event for a press conference kind of exacerbates the situation.

This is perhaps why someone like the now Singapore-based former minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim insisted on the party highlighting what it would do for the Malays. It is good advice, if it wishes to win Selangor and run it.

And the biggest factor in their favour is that their partners in the newly formed Pakatan Harapan are weak.

Read more here

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(TMI) – Sungai Besar Umno division chief Datuk Jamal Mohd Yunus, now better known as a spokesman for the "red shirt" rally movement, is believed to be one of the seven Umno leaders in danger of being suspended from the party, a source said.

Other leaders also on the firing line, as told to The Malaysian Insider by party insiders, are former Umno president Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and vice-president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, former minister Tan Sri Zainuddin Maidin, former Kedah menteri besar Tan Sri Sanusi Junid and Cheras division chief Datuk Seri Syed Ali Alhabshee.

It is also learnt that the secretary-general's office is still scrutinising the offences allegedly committed by these members and is said to be facing difficulty in framing charges.

The legal adviser handling the cases involving the seven has also opted out in the midst of investigations after being unable to build a case against them, the insider said.

"The secretary-general's office is still trying to determine the offences they committed," the source told The Malaysian Insider.

"The lawyer has withdrawn from the case, over not knowing what offence to charge them with."

Read more here

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(Today Online) – Why has the issue of federalism suddenly emerged after half a century of relative calm? 

The Irish poet WB Yeats was not thinking about South-east Asia when he wrote "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold", but his words may accurately describe the situation in Malaysia. The monarchy governing the state of Johor is rattling the federation agreement and talking of secession. Sarawak wants significant devolution. And Sabah is gearing up for the same demand.

So is secession a real possibility? And why has the issue of federalism suddenly emerged after half a century of relative calm?

Secession is not realistic for Johor, or even for Sabah or Sarawak. Advocating secession constitutes the crime of sedition in Malaysia, making it difficult to create momentum behind a secession movement. The Johor princes have said that secession is possible and is a right of the Johor "nation", only if the federal government does not honour the federation agreement.

That agreement involves guaranteeing Islam as the state religion, non-interference by the federation in the Johor Constitution and maintenance of the state's armed forces. But all of these aspects of the agreement are being met. So by the princes' own reckoning, there is no case for Johor's secession.

The Federal Constitution does not provide for secession. But secession by agreement is possible, as happened when Singapore left the federation in 1965. Generally, in the absence of agreement, Johor would have to show that the state was folded into the federation without any real consent; convince the international community that there is a case for self-determination, based on ethnicity, culture, and history; or show that there is intolerable persecution.

MORE INDEPENDENCE FOR SABAH AND SARAWAK?

In Sabah and Sarawak, some locals express their discontent in terms of demanding secession, but officials do not take this position. Given the economic weaknesses, in terms of dependency and underdevelopment, of the states that support devolution, it is unlikely that they could manage as independent entities.

They have oil and gas, but for how long? Could they do the same as Brunei after it became independent from the United Kingdom in 1984? Could they defend themselves? Even federal forces were not able to prevent incursions by Sulu militants into Lahad Datu, Sabah, in 2013.

Read more here

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Amnesty International

Malaysian authorities must halt plans to charge one of the organisers of a peaceful anti-government rally staged in August. These moves are clearly politically motivated and highlights a wider, vindictive push to silence others who took to the streets to voice their opposition, Amnesty International said.

Police are expected to charge Maria Chin Abdullah, chairperson of the NGO coalition Bersih 2.0, on Tuesday 3 November under the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) for failing to give prior notice of at least ten days for a demonstration.

In late August, Bersih 2.0 organised the Bersih 4 rally when hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets across Malaysia to voice frustration with government corruption and human rights issues.

Instead of listening to the people who demonstrated at the Bersih 4 rally, the Malaysian government is doing everything in its power to increase repression further.

– Amnesty International’s South East Asia Campaigns Director, Josef Benedict  –

"These vindictive charges against Maria Chin Abdullah are clearly politically motivated and should be dropped immediately. The authorities in Malaysia are trying to punish those who voice their opposition peacefully and create an overall climate of fear to deter other activists from doing the same," said Josef Benedict, Amnesty International's South East Asia Campaigns Director.

"Instead of listening to the people who demonstrated at the Bersih 4 rally, the Malaysian government is doing everything in its power to increase repression further."

Read more here

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(ABC) – A United Nations body has determined that former Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has been jailed illegally and has called for his immediate release, according to a copy of the opinion released on Monday by his family.

The ABC has also verified that the opinion by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded that Anwar’s imprisonment was “arbitrary”, that he was denied a fair trial and was jailed for political reasons.

Anwar, 68, was jailed in February for five years after earlier being convicted for sodomising a former male aide.

He denies the charge, calling it a frame-up by Malaysia’s long-ruling government to halt recent opposition political gains.

“The Working Group considers that the adequate remedy would be to release Mr Ibrahim immediately, and ensure that his political rights that were removed based on his arbitrary detention be reinstated,” said the opinion, dated September 15.

It also said Anwar’s treatment in prison violates international prohibitions against “torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment”.

Read more here

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(Agenda Daily) – Jabatan Audit Negara dijangka menyiapkan laporan akhir berkaitan 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) hujung tahun ini.

Pengerusi Jawatankuasa Kira-Kira Wang Negara (PAC) Datuk Hasan Arifin berkata perkara itu dimaklumkan dalam mesyuarat jawatankuasa itu di bangunan Parlimen, di sini hari ini.

“Dalam mesyuarat pertama PAC hari ini, kami mendengar laporan interim berhubung 1MDB daripada Jabatan Audit Negara kerana ramai anggota baharu yang dilantik dalam jawatankuasa PAC, dan mereka (Jabatan Audit Negara) janji akan siapkan laporan akhir menjelang akhir tahun ini,” katanya dalam sidang media selepas mempengerusikan mesyuarat itu hari ini.

Turut hadir Timbalan Pengerusi PAC Dr Tan Seng Giaw dan Setiausaha Dewan Rakyat Datuk Roosme Hamzah.

PAC mengadakan mesyuarat pertamanya hari ini selepas pelantikan enam anggota baharu termasuk pengerusinya.

Selain itu, Hasan yang juga Anggota Parlimen Rompin berkata PAC akan meneruskan prosiding ke atas 1MDB mengikut kaedah yang dilaksanakan pengerusi terdahulu, Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed.

“Kami akan teruskan prosiding dengan memanggil mereka yang telah ditetapkan sebelum ini, seperti (Presiden) dan Pengarah Eksekutif Kumpulan (1MDB) Arul Kanda, Shahrul (bekas pengarah urusan dan ketua pegawai eksekutif 1MDB Datuk Mohd Shahrul Ibrahim Halmi) dan pengerusi-pengerusi mereka … tarikh akan ditentukan secepat mungkin,” katanya.

Arul Kanda sebelum ini dilaporkan berkata beliau bersedia untuk menghadiri prosiding PAC dan jawapan beliau menjadi sebahagian daripada rekod awam.

Hasan bagaimanapun berkata tiada keperluan untuk memanggil ahli perniagaan Low Taek Jho atau Jho Low, sebaliknya, akan meletakkannya sebagai personaliti dalam prosiding, dan bukannya saksi.

Beliau juga berkata tiada keperluan untuk anggota PAC mengangkat sumpah simpan rahsia kerana mereka telah mengangkat sumpah sebagai anggota Parlimen.

“… ini juga kerana PAC adalah sebahagian daripada jawatankuasa dalam Parlimen,” katanya.

Timbalan Perdana Menteri yang juga Menteri Dalam Negeri Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi sebelum ini mencadangkan kesemua anggota PAC mengangkat sumpah simpan rahsia supaya segala dokumen dan maklumat dalam jawatankuasa itu kekal rahsia.

Antara agenda yang turut dibincangkan dalam mesyuarat tiga jam itu termasuk penerangan kepada anggota baharu berhubung tugas dan tanggungjawab PAC serta taklimat prosiding dan isu yang tertangguh sebelum ini.

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Minister says Dr Mahathir Mohamad has made allegations that Najib Razak sabotaged the country's banking and finance system but fails to explain how.

(Free Malaysia Today) – Dr Mahathir Mohamad has made serious allegations that Prime Minister Najib Razak has sabotaged the country's banking and finance systems but has failed to offer any solid explanation as to how this was achieved, said Salleh Said Keruak.

In his latest blog entry today, the minister of Communications and Multimedia also poked holes in Mahathir's numerous other arguments against Najib in regard to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), and drew parallels to how the country was managed when he himself was prime minister.

Quoting Mahathir's argument that if 1MDB had not been created, there would not have been any need to borrow RM42 billion, Salleh argued that if all multi-million ringgit businesses were self-sufficient, all banks in the country would close down.

He cited how even the PLUS North-South Highway, like 1MDB, had to borrow from banks to construct the network of roads, then charged motorists toll and asked, "And did not Perwaja, a company that failed (during Mahathir's time as PM), also need to borrow large sums of money?"

Salleh also thrashed Mahathir's allegation that 1MDB purchased land cheap and made a profit by arguing that it was natural that undeveloped land would be cheaper than parcels of land that already had planning approvals or ready infrastructure on it.

READ MORE HERE

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Mars is much smaller and has only 10 percent of the mass of the Earth. Image Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS

Using a new process in planetary formation modelling, where planets grow from tiny bodies called "pebbles," Southwest Research Institute scientists can explain why Mars is so much smaller than Earth. This same process also explains the rapid formation of the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn, as reported earlier this year.

"This numerical simulation actually reproduces the structure of the inner Solar System, with Earth, Venus, and a smaller Mars," says Hal Levison, an Institute scientist at the SwRI Planetary Science Directorate.

The fact that Mars has only ten per cent of the mass of the Earth has been a long-standing puzzle for Solar System theorists. In the standard model of planet formation, similarly-sized objects accumulate and assimilate through a process called accretion where rocks incorporated other rocks, creating mountains and then mountains merged to form city-size objects, and so on. While typical accretion models generate good analogues to Earth and Venus, they predict that Mars should be of similar size, or even larger than Earth. Additionally, these models also overestimate the overall mass of the asteroid belt.

"Understanding why Mars is smaller than expected has been a major problem that has frustrated our modelling efforts for several decades," says Levison. "Here, we have a solution that arises directly from the planet formation process itself."

New calculations by Levison and Katherine Kretke, Kevin Walsh and Bill Bottke, all of SwRI's Planetary Science Directorate follow the growth and evolution of a system of planets. They demonstrate that the structure of the inner solar system is actually the natural outcome of a new mode of planetary growth known as Viscously Stirred Pebble Accretion (VSPA). With VSPA, dust readily grows to "pebbles"— objects a few inches in diameter — some of which gravitationally collapse to form asteroid-sized objects. Under the right conditions, these primordial asteroids can efficiently feed on the remaining pebbles, as aerodynamic drag pulls pebbles into orbit, where they spiral down and fuse with the growing planetary body. This allows certain asteroids to become planet-sized over relatively short time scales.

However, these new models find that not all of the primordial asteroids are equally well-positioned to accrete pebbles and grow. For example, an object the size of Ceres (about 600 miles across), which is the largest asteroid in the asteroid belt, would have grown very quickly near the current location of the Earth. But it would not have been able to grow effectively near the current location of Mars, or beyond, because aerodynamic drag is too weak for pebble capture to occur.

In the early stages of the Solar System, the rocky planets are thought to have been made from pebbles. Image Credit: NASA

"This means that very few pebbles collide with objects near the current location of Mars. That provides a natural explanation for why it is so small," says Kretke. "Similarly, even fewer hit objects in the asteroid belt, keeping its net mass small as well. The only place that growth was efficient was near the current location of Earth and Venus."

"This model has huge implications for the history of the asteroid belt," says Bottke. Previous models have predicted that the belt originally contained a couple of Earth-masses' worth of material, meaning that planets began to grow there. The new model predicts that the asteroid belt never contained much mass in bodies like the currently observed asteroids.

"This presents the planetary science community with a testable prediction between this model and previous models that can be explored using data from meteorites, remote sensing, and spacecraft missions," says Bottke.

This work complements the recent study by Levison, Kretke, and Martin Duncan (Queen's University), which demonstrated that pebbles can form the cores of the giant planets and explain the structure of the outer Solar System. Combined, the two works present the means to produce the entire solar system from a single, unifying process.

"As far as I know, this is the first model to reproduce the structure of the Solar System — Earth and Venus, a small Mars, a low-mass asteroid belt, two gas giants, two ice giants (Uranus and Neptune), and a pristine Kuiper Belt," concludes Levison.

Keep up to date with the latest space news in All About Space – available every month for just £4.50. Alternatively you can subscribe here for a fraction of the price!

Israeli soldiers demolished, Monday, three Palestinian apartments in Nosseiba neighborhood, in Beit Hanina town, in occupied Jerusalem. One home was demolished earlier.

The Palestine TV has reported that the soldiers, accompanied by a number of bulldozers, invaded the neighborhood, approximately at 8:30 in the morning, and demolished three apartments belonging to Mousa Dsouqi, his brother Mahmoud, and lawyer Khaldoun Najm.

Resident Mahdi Dsouqi said the soldiers demolished the three apartments, although the families obtained an order from an Israeli court, halting the demolitions, but the army paid no attention to the order, isolated the entire area, and demolished the properties.

The demolished apartments is 120 square/meters each.

The soldiers also assaulted family members, residents who gathered in the area and even reporters.

Earlier Monday, the army demolished a home belonging to resident Sami Edrees, in Khallet al-Abed area in Jabal al-Mokabber, in Jerusalem.

(Source / 02.11.2015)

A photo of Israel’s separation wall in Bethlehem, which cuts off the city from Jerusalem

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — PLO Secretary-General Saeb Erekat on Monday released a statement marking the 98th anniversary of the Balfour declaration, calling on the international community to “remediate” decades of occupation and exile.”Ninety-eight years ago, the destiny of our nation changed due to the action of a foreign colonial power. The Balfour Declaration should serve as a reminder that what is happening in Palestine is a result of colonial decisions made in faraway capitals,” he said.”Mr. Balfour, on behalf of Great Britain, promised Palestine, a country over which Britain had no legal right, to another people. From 85,000 Jews in Palestine (around 12 percent of Palestine's population), few of them were Zionists, and the declaration was even rejected by the only Jewish member of the British Cabinet at that time, Lord Montagu.”Erekat added that Palestinians had also rejected the Balfour Declaration and made it clear that the problem was not with a Jewish community in Palestine, but the dramatic transformation of a Muslim and Christian Arab state into an exclusively Jewish one.”The United Kingdom in particular should close the darkness of its colonialist past in the region by taking concrete steps in order to protect and promote Palestinian rights, including the recognition of the State of Palestine on the 1967 border with East Jerusalem as its capital,” Erekat said.The Balfour Declaration of Nov. 2, 1917 was a letter sent from British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour to Baron Rothschild, a British Jewish leader, declaring British support for the “establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.”Palestinians have since viewed the declaration as paving the way for the creation of the State of Israel at the expense of the land’s original inhabitants.The declaration was made before the British had wrested control of Palestine from the Ottoman Empire, and was not made public until several years after the First World War, in 1920.By that time, Britain had been formally granted a mandate over Palestine by the League of Nations, and was struggling with its contradictory obligations of “rewarding” Arabs for their support during the war, while also fulfilling their pledge to create a Jewish state.As Jewish immigration to Palestine gathered pace through the 1920s and 1930s, the situation grew increasingly fraught, resulting in two large outbreaks of violence between Palestinians and Jewish immigrants in 1929 and 1936.The British increasingly sought to distance themselves from the Balfour Declaration, with a government White Paper in 1939 explicitly rejecting the creation of a Jewish state.However, with the onset of the Second World War, Palestine became a distant priority for Britain.After the war, British forces withdrew from Palestine, leaving it in the hands of the newly created United Nations, which favored partition, particularly as evidence slowly emerged of the vast scale of the Holocaust in Europe.The decision led to the 1948 war between Arab nations, including Palestinians, and Jewish immigrants, ultimately resulting in the creation of the state of Israel and the expulsion of more than 700,000 Palestinians from their homes inside its borders, an event known as the Nakba among Palestinians.

(Source / 02.11.2015)

Israeli regime police and forensic experts inspect the scene of an alleged stabbing attack in Rishon LeZion, about 10km (six miles) south of Tel Aviv on November 2, 2015

Israeli forces have shot dead a Palestinian youth in the town of Netanya, north of Tel Aviv city, in the occupied territories.

A 22-year-old Palestinian was shot dead after allegedly stabbing and injuring an old Israeli, the regime’s police said on Monday.

In a separate incident, Israeli forces arrested another Palestinian youth for allegedly stabbing three Israelis south of Tel Aviv.

A 19-year-old Palestinian, from al-Khalil (Hebron) in the occupied West Bank, stabbed two people on the pavement and a third in a clothes store, Israeli police claimed in a statement on Monday.

The alleged assailant reportedly disembarked a bus about ten kilometers (six miles) south of Tel Aviv in the central Rishon LeZion bus station, where he was claimed to have stabbed a person at the bus stop, before running across the street and allegedly knifed another person.

He then entered a clothing store where he allegedly stabbed a woman.

The occupied Palestinian territories have recently been the scene of heightened tensions between Palestinians and Israelis.

At least 72 Palestinians were also killed in Palestinian territories by Israeli soldiers in October. Ten Israelis have also been killed during the time.

Israeli regime forces inspect the scene of an alleged stabbing attack in the city Rishon LeZion, about 10km (six miles) south of Tel Aviv on November 2, 2015

The Rishon LeZion stabbing is the first such incident outside of the West Bank and al-Quds (Jerusalem) since October 22, when two Palestinians reportedly stabbed an Israeli in the town of Beit Shemesh west of al-Quds.

Tensions were triggered by the Israel's imposition, in August, of restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) says a total of 2,617 Palestinians sustained gunshot wounds in clashes in the occupied West Bank last month.

(Source / 02.11.2015)

Palestinian demonstrators hurl rocks towards Israeli forces next to the Israeli controversial apartheid wall separating the occupied West Bank town of Abu Dis from al-Quds (Jerusalem), during clashes with Israeli forces, on November 2, 2015

Israeli forces have attacked Palestinian students protesting against the Tel Aviv regime's so-called separation barrier as well as the recent wave of aggression against Palestinians across the occupied territories.

Israeli police stormed the Al-Quds University in the occupied West Bank town of Abu Dis on Monday after clashing with the students who assembled at the foot of the controversial wall, separating the town from al-Quds (Jerusalem,) to demonstrate against the Israeli regime.

The students afterwards went back to the campus and from there threw stones at the Israeli forces who fired rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades at the protesters before opening the gates of the university by force and getting in.

“The policemen entered firing grenades left and right,” said one of the students, adding, “They fired at us with rubber bullets, aiming for the torso and the head."

Israeli forces stand outside Al-Quds University in Abu Dis, in the occupied West Bank, close to the Israeli controversial separation wall during clashes with Palestinian demonstrators on November 2, 2015

It is not clear how many people were injured in the attack but Palestinian medical sources say many students were hit and wounded by rubber bullets in the upper parts of their bodies, while many others suffered from smoke inhalation due to tear gas.

The Tel Aviv regime started building walls and fences inside the West Bank in 2002 in a move that angered Palestinians. They say the measure is a land grab, denouncing the barrier as the “apartheid wall.”

Monday clashes also come as tensions have been running high over the past several weeks between the Israeli regime and Palestinians in the occupied territories.

The latest wave of tensions was triggered by Israel's imposition in August of restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East al-Quds.

The Palestinian Health Ministry says at least 74 Palestinians have lost their lives at the hands of Israeli forces since the beginning of October. Ten Israelis have reportedly died during that period.

(Source / 02.11.2015)

Article of 02/24/2012

One of the biggest clues to understanding the connections among grassroots democratic uprisings across the world may be found by tracking connections among methods of repression.

We know that tear gas canisters, stun grenades and other so-called non-lethal crowd control technologies manufactured by U.S. companies have been used not only against the Occupy movements in the United States, but also by peaceful pro-democracy mobilizations in Egypt, Bahrain, Palestine, Yemen and Tunisia, among many others. Corporations are reaping profit here and abroad from the repression of democracy.

We also know that the U.S. government knows about—and even promotes—these sales.  It is clear that there is deep collusion and moral complicity between government policy and corporate profit. What's not so clear are the mechanisms by which this actually works. The relationship is convoluted, and this is no accident. Much effort is made to keep the process opaque by limiting our access to detailed information.

Below, we have focused on the use of tear gas in the Middle East.  We should note, however, that this is only one example of a much bigger phenomenon and a much longer history. It is emblematic of a pattern of militarized policing, corporate profiteering and governmental collusion that has been on the rise since at least the 1980s.

PROFILING THE COMPANIES

Here is an overview of some of the main tear gas manufacturers whose products have been documented in recent protest zones.

1. Defense Technology/Federal Laboratories/BAE

Defense Technology is headquartered in Casper, Wyoming.  Along with U.S. company Federal Laboratories, with which it shares a product line, it is linked to the U.K. arms giant BAE Systems through BAE's ownership of U.S. arms company Armor Holdings. Defense Technology and Federal Laboratories tear gas has been used in Oakland, Palestine, Egypt, Bahrain, Tunisia and Yemen.

The Yemeni government regularly uses Defense Technology and Federal Laboratories tear gas against pro-democracy protesters, who have been demonstrating since February. On October 25, 2011, police used massive amounts of Defense Technology product against Occupy Oakland. Iraq Veterans Against the War member Scott Olsen was critically injured when police fired tear gas  at close range, hitting him in the head. The police also fired tear gas directly onto the people who came to Olsen's aid.

Defense Technology also provides tear gas to the Israeli police, and its canisters have been found in East Jerusalem. Previously, Federal Laboratories provided tear gas to the Israeli—this deal was the subject of protests and lawsuits during the first intifada.

2. NonLethal Technologies

Based in Homer City, Pennsylvania, NonLethal Technologies is the primary provider of tear gas to the government of Bahrain, a country which has just marked the first anniversary of its peaceful mass protests. Today, protests continue almost daily despite protesters having been jailed, tortured, killed, maligned, fired from work and expelled from school, according to Bahraini activist Fahud Desmukh (aka Chan'ad, in Jadaliyya, December 9, 2011).

In Sitra last August, fourteen-year-old Ali al-Shiekh was killed when police fired a tear gas canister at close range into the back of his neck. He died almost instantly. Nicholas Kristof of the New York Timesobserved that NonLethal Technologies canisters were regularly littered across the ground after pro-democacy demonstrations there.

3. Combined Systems, Inc.

Headquartered in Jamestown, Pennsylvania, Combined Systems Inc. (CSI)—often manufacturing under the brand name Combined Tactical Systems (CTS)—supplies Tunisia, Yemen, Germany, Netherlands, India, East Timor, Hong Kong, Argentina, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Cameroon, and Sierra Leone, as well as its most high-profile clients as of late— Egypt and Israel. They are owned by Point Lookout Capital and the Carlyle Group, with the former, whose offices are located in New York City, holding the controlling shares. On Point Lookout's portfolio page, the section on CSI reads: "The company's CTS branded product line is the premiere less-lethal line in the industry today."

CSI is the primary supplier of tear gas to the Israeli military as well as a provider to Israel's police (and border police) for use in occupied Palestine. (CSI even used to fly the Israeli flag at its Jamestown headquarters, but in advance of the Martin Luther King Day protest there, the company replaced it with a Pennsylvania state flag.) There is extensive written documentation of CSI sales and shipments to Israel; moreover CTS-brand canisters are ubiquitous at Palestinian protests, including the regularly recurrent nonviolent demonstrations at Bil'in, Ni'lin and Nabi Saleh.
Palestinian protesters recently killed by tear gas include Mustafa Tamimi, from the small village Nabi Saleh, on December 9, 2011. An Israeli soldier inside an armored jeep fired a tear gas canister at close range directly into his face. Jawaher Abu Rahma of Bil'in suffocated on tear gas at a protest in January of last year. His brother, Bassem Abu Rahma, died in April 2009 when an Israeli soldier fired a tear gas canister directly into his chest.

There have also been countless injuries. The Popular Struggle Coordination Committee, a coordinating body for unarmed demonstrations in the West Bank, noted in a 2010 report: "According to Palestinian Red Crescent records in Bil'in and Ni'ilin, 18 people have been directly shot at and hit by the high velocity projectiles since their introduction, in these two villages alone."

Photos and news reports have shown that CSI is a major tear gas provider for the Tunisian military. A Tunisian protester and a photographer from France were recently killed by impacts from tear gas canisters fired at close range.

The company's tear gas is the primary one used by the Egyptian security forces in its attempt to crush demonstrations there, which still continue. Amnesty International documented three shipments of tear gas from CSI (in the U.S.) to Egypt in 2011 that were approved by the U.S. State Department, despite the Egyptian security forces' record of using of tear gas to kill and injure protesters. In the months following Mubarak's ouster, Human Rights Watch also reported excessive use of force against peaceful demonstrations, including illegally shooting tear gas into the crowd at shoulder height, on February 25, March 9, April 9, June 28 and 29, August 1 andOctober 9.

In the November protests around the election, tear gas was fired repeatedly—often into enclosed spaces, including into field hospitals. And again, canisters were fired directly at protesters. Egyptian human rights groups have reported that between November 19 and November 23, at least 40 protesters were killed and more than 2,000 injured. At least four people died from tear gas asphyxiation.

HOW DOES IT GET THERE?

How does tear gas get from American manufacturers to various governments overseas?  You could see it as a sort of triangular relationship between the U.S. government, U.S. corporations, and other governments. These three points are always involved. The fungible path of money and weaponry follows various routes and takes different forms at different points in the process. One thing to emphasize here is the complicity between state and corporate interests: government policies actively work in war profiteers' favor. Even when it's a commercial sale, tear gas (like any other weapon) is subject to export controls, so U.S.-made tear gas cannot be shipped abroad without government approval.

Here are some of the ways by which tear gas moves from manufacturers to clients in different countries. The U.S. government's role usually consists of one or more of the following: authorizing a sale, arranging a sale, subsidizing it, or funding it directly with taxpayer money.

1. FMS (foreign military sales)

These are government-to-government transactions, administered by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency in the Pentagon. FMS requests are initiated by the purchasing country, and handled initially by the U.S. embassy in the client country. The Pentagon handles the entire transaction, but the State Department can also approve, reject or halt any purchase.

The military articles sold through this program can come from either Pentagon stocks or new production. In the latter case, the Defense Department contracts with U.S. arms manufacturers to actually build the weapons and, in some cases, provide related services. But the Pentagon takes care of all of the paperwork.

The top three buyers in FMS for fiscal year 2010 were Egypt ($2.45 billion); Israel ($3.95 billion); and Kuwait ($1.6 billion).

2. DCS (direct commercial sales)

These are purchases negotiated directly between the client country and the manufacturer. The U.S. State Department approves each and every DCS. Compared to FMS, this route is usually quicker, sometimes cheaper and always entails less government oversight. In addition, the State Department is much less transparent about DCS than the Pentagon is about FMS. Minimal information about price and quantity is classified as "confidential business information" and kept from the public. This secrecy undermines the ability of Congress and the interested press and public to exercise proper oversight on industry-direct arms transfers. The existence of these two separate programs also makes gaining an accurate count of arms exports in a given year exceedingly difficult. This is the best information we have:

The top DCS totals for fiscal 2009: Egypt ($458,000 for tear gas and other riot control agents, $101 million total); Israel ($1.05 million for tear gas and other riot control agents, $602.6 million total); and Kuwait ($1.24 million for tear gas and other riot control agents, $923 million total).

3. FMF (foreign military financing)

The U.S. government does more than just approve sales. American taxpayers directly finance foreign governments' purchases of U.S. military products via "military aid"—essentially grants and loans to foreign governments for arms purchases. In most cases, financing is available only for the sale of U.S.-made products. So, in effect, these are taxpayer-financed subsidies of private weapons manufacturers and defense contractors. In some exceptions, such as those made for Israel, a recipient country can use the a limited portion of the aid to fund purchases of its own domestic products.

Foreign military financing is regularly applied to FMS purchases and is relatively well documented. But because transparency is lacking when it comes to DCS purchases, it's harder to accurately associate FMF funds with these purchases.

In 2009 Egypt received $1.3 billion, Israel $2.55 billion. In 2011 Egypt requested $1.3 billion, Israel $3 billion. (A footnote in the available documentation suggests it's assumed they will get the amount they ask for.)

How much of this applies to the militarized policing technologies, including tear gas, that are being used to suppress democratic movements? In other words, how much of our tax money is actually contributing to the use of tear gas by foreign governments against those with whom we feel affinity? That's not easy to break down. But regardless of whether particular tear gas purchases are directly funded by taxpayer money, FMF contributes to the client countries' military budgets, so even if it only funds fighter jets and tanks, it still frees up funds for them to purchase other weapons, including tear gas.

WHAT CAN PEOPLE DO?

On November 26, seven tons of CSI munitions arrived in Suez—the first of a three-part shipment, totaling 21 tons. Customs officials at the Adabiya port of Suez tried to prevent entry by refusing to complete paperwork.

This year, on Valentine's Day, hackers associated with Anonymous claimed to have broken into CSI's online systems and stolen personal information belonging to CSI employees and its clients. In a statement posted while the company's website was down, Anonymous cited CSI's sale of "mad chemical weapons to militaries and cop shops around the world," and referenced the ongoing sale of tear gas and other weapons to Egypt during the repression of protest.

So what can we do here to support our comrades in Egypt, Bahrain, Palestine and elsewhere?

1. Contact the Ad Hoc Coalition to Defend the Egyptian Revolution, Witness Bahrain, and Adalah-NY to see what they're up to and how you can get involved.

2. Target factories and headquarters of war profiteers.  Target their main investors.  There have already been several protests at Point Lookout Capital, including a die-in organized by the OWS direct action working group, the Ad Hoc Coalition and Adalah-NY.  There were also protests at CSI's headquarters on December 11, 2011, and Martin Luther King Day this year. According to Nora Barrows-Friedman's blog on Electronic Intifada, CSI's security director added that the company's CEO and other officials "were unavailable as they were to attend the Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade Show (SHOT Show) in Las Vegas this week."

Around the world, people are standing up for social and economic justice and political freedom. Meanwhile, those parties who are benefiting from the repression of protest are more or less the same ones who benefited from the conditions that sparked the protest in the first place. Quite simply, what the 99% want is diametrically opposed to the interests of the global military-industrial regime, both here and abroad. People-to-people solidarity will bring down and change that regime. And it's within our power to do so.

(Source / 02.11.2015)

Members of Turkish police special forces take part in a security operation in Diyarbakir, Turkey, Oct. 26, 2015

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey — In the wee hours of Oct. 26, gunfire and explosions rocked Diyarbakir, the largest city of Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast, as anti-terror police raided 17 locations across the city, which has been the theater of daily unrest since July. In a handsome detached house, the security forces encountered stiff resistance. Two policemen were killed and five others injured as two men charging the squad in the garden blew themselves up. The ensuing clashes at the house lasted seven hours.

Residents initially thought it was yet another operation against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), but cries of "Allahu akbar"— usually used by Islamists — echoed from the house, and word was soon circulating that it was an Islamic State (IS) safe house. When the gunfire was finally over, the house lay devastated, with seven of its occupants dead and 15 in police custody.

The governor's office confirmed that the simultaneous raids on homes and offices in the city had targeted IS. Local residents, especially neighbors, were dismayed that such a large group of IS militants was able to entrench itself in the city, the stronghold of the Kurdish political movement.

Sevdet Gerkez, a next door neighbor, told Al-Monitor the group had moved in two months ago. "I didn't suspect anything. Sometimes I would see them in the garden. The other day, I greeted them in Kurdish and wished them well for the new home. They didn't understand, and then one responded in Turkish that he spoke Zaza and did not understand Kurdish," she said. "A few times I saw them digging in the garden at night. Between themselves they spoke in Zaza and, I guess, Arabic."

The owner of another house police targeted in the same neighborhood said he had rented the place in June to a man in his late 20s from nearby Batman, who said he was married with a child.

Only a day before the raids, police had released the identities and pictures of four suspected IS militants believed to be planning suicide attacks and requested the public's help for their capture. The government and the security forces have been under harsh criticism for turning a blind eye to IS recruitment in Turkey since Oct. 10, when more than 100 peace marchers perished in twin suicide bombings in Ankara, following a similar attack in July that killed 32 leftist activists in Suruc.

All militants killed in the Diyarbakir operation were would-be suicide bombers, local security sources told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. Even more remarkably, all of the five dead identified so far were natives of the neighboring province of Bingol, which — along with Adiyaman — has emerged as a leading IS recruitment ground in Turkey, as Al-Monitor reported back in July.

So what should one make of a Kurdish IS cell in the heart of an iconic Kurdish city like Diyarbakir? According to some, it is an alarming indication that the radical group is able to establish itself even in the bastions of Kurdish nationalism.

Lawyer Sitki Zilan, secretary-general of the Azadi movement, a local Islamic-leaning Kurdish group, disagrees.

Zilan told Al-Monitor that the clout of the PKK and its longtime nemesis Hezbollah, a Kurdish-dominated Islamist group unrelated to its Lebanese namesake, would prevent IS from taking genuine hold among Kurds. Stressing that Hezbollah and its political offshoot, the Free Cause Party, were not a Salafist but a Shafii movement, Zilan said, "They [IS] are not backed by Hezbollah, which is pro-Iranian. And Iran's influence lately has been positive, drawing Hezbollah away from al-Qaeda. Also, Hezbollah's practices may be wrong, but it has a Kurdish [national] consciousness."

Separately, Zilan cast doubt on the motives of the raids. "Were the [militants] preparing for an attack that Turkey couldn't afford or was Turkey intending to only detain a few IS militants to advertise itself internationally?" he asked, adding that the two men who blew themselves up might have messed up what could have been only a token round-up operation.

Mehmet Kurt, an academic at Bingol University who specializes in Islamism and radicalization in the Kurdish community, has closely followed IS recruitment efforts in the region. He is not surprised that the five militants killed in the raid were natives of Bingol, where, he said, the recruitment has proceeded openly, led by individuals known to everyone, very much in the pattern seen in Adiyaman, from where the Ankara and Suruc bombers hailed.

The militants killed and detained in Diyarbakir were well-known to the locals in Bingol, Kurt told Al-Monitor. "One of those detained was even supposed to have a wedding today [Oct. 28]. The people know them very well. And if the ordinary people know them and speak of their activities, the state certainly knows them, too," he said. "The problem, however, is not simply a problem of two cities, Bingol and Adiyaman. The question that needs to be asked is, 'Why is the recruitment mostly among Kurds?'"

According to the researcher, the many traumas of the long-standing Kurdish conflict have made Kurds open to extremist influences. "The unjust suffering and victimhood has spawned reactionary groups that are well able to find a base," he said. "Not everyone in Diyarbakir sympathizes with the Kurdish political movement. There is a considerable populace in conflict with them. And though Bingol, Adiyaman and maybe Diyarbakir are currently under the spotlight, such bases exist everywhere."

Yet Kurt believes those grassroots are not strong enough to breed IS into a "social movement." He warns, however, that cells will continue to exist and threaten Turkey's already fragile ethnic and religious fault lines. According to him, IS seeks to provoke Turkish-Kurdish communal strife.

"There was a certain degree of Islamist extremism in the 1990s, which has now transformed to Salafist extremism. Those currents grow in time, become more radical and then go underground before coming back in the form of a new monster," Kurt said, adding that IS was now said to be withdrawing its members underground.

"[IS] follows this strategy: It analyzes well the arteries of nation-states and the tensions in ethnic, religious and sectarian conflicts; recruits certain types in these conflict realms; and then unleashes them to create uncontrolled tension, violence and chaos," he said. "The strategy aims to foment confrontations on the basis of religion, sect, ethnicity and lifestyle. And, sadly, Diyarbakir is a most suitable ground for that."

(Source / 02.11.2015)

As Israel and US wrongly claim 'incitement' to justify their actions against Palestinians, the oppressed may resort to new forms of struggle

“Give me liberty, or give me death!” Patrick Henry declared in a speech he made to the Virginia Convention in 1775, at St John’s Church in Richmond, Virginia. Fast forward 240 years, and if Israel and the US were able to pin those words to a Palestinian and decry incitement, they would do so in a heartbeat.

Like "terrorism,""incitement" is a word that works great in conflict zones because it means everything and nothing at the same time. However, its misuse as a justification to perpetrate blatant human rights violations and maintain an illegal state of affairs that contributes to conflict being fanned, not diffused.

Both Israel and the US are guilty of misusing the claim of incitement in an attempt to justify their punishment of Palestinians.

For Israel to point to Palestinian incitement, which does exist, as the source of the present violence across Israel and Palestine is pathetic, at best. After dispossessing Palestinians numerous times and leaving more than half the population locked out of their homeland and scattered across the region to live a life of misery as refugees; after installing a system of institutionalized and structural discrimination inside Israel against the Palestinian Muslim and Christian citizens of Israel who remained in the country after Israel's establishment; after placing (and pressing) a boot of military occupation on the necks of Palestinians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip for the past 48 years; after expanding an illegal settlement enterprise from 100,000 settlers to 580,000 settlers, all the while pretending to be engaged in bilateral negotiations to resolve the conflict; and while Israeli prime ministers and ministers continually claim that no Palestinian state will ever be allowed to emerge, while also claiming Palestinians are everything from snakes to subhuman, Israel has no right whatsoever to even hint at incitement as being a factor in this outbreak of violence.

For the US, be it Congress or the Administration, to ignore history and the facts on the ground and point to Palestinian incitement in a knee-jerk reaction to the current violence is criminal.

Secretary of State John Kerry, addressing the current deterioration of security in the region, tells NPR News: "There's no excuse for the violence. No amount of frustration is appropriate to license any violence anywhere at any time. No violence should occur. And the Palestinians need to understand." Really?

Palestinians need to "understand" when they are at the receiving end of all the violence mentioned above? And this coming from a country that underwrites Israel to the tune of $10.2 million in military aid each day, that has just completed the total destruction of two sovereign states in the region (Iraq and Afghanistan), and has been Addicted to War since its founding.

Indeed, "no violence should occur," but regrettably Palestinians will not make world history by being the first people that falls under military occupation and wakes up one morning and accepts it by throwing roses and chocolate at their occupier. The longest military occupation in modern history will be resisted until it ends.

The challenge for everyone is how nonviolently to face the horrendous violence of the occupation, much of which is bloodless violence, violence that does not make the headline news but rather simmers on a slow burner, like the never-ending settlement enterprise or the suffocation of the Palestinian economy.

All of this is not to say that targeting civilians is justified. It is not. But all the stakeholders in this conflict know very well that there are two dynamics at play in this most recent Palestinian outbreak of frustration.

On the one hand, the level of loss of hope has pushed a very small number of Palestinians to undertake violent and horrendous acts against Israeli civilians, many targeting illegal Israeli settlers. This was totally predictable and I, for one, have been speaking in public about the fear of individual, lone-wolf, acts of violence for years.

On the other hand, an entirely new generation of Palestinians has reached a boiling point, and some have taken to the streets in an uncoordinated and disparate fashion to express their outrage at being locked into open-air cages, suffocated economically, and humiliated on a daily basis.

Some claim this latter dynamic is a new intifada, or uprising, but regardless of how it is coined or if it is sustainable or not its message is crystal clear: there is no status quo under Israeli occupation, only the facade of calm while Israel continues literally and figuratively to cement new facts on the ground that are in total violation of international law.

The US State Department, claiming Palestinians are engaged in almighty and undefinable incitement, has cut aid to Palestinians by $80mn as a "message" to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. This funding cut will bring the US's annual economic assistance to Palestinians from $370mn to $290mn, peanuts in the larger picture and, for many, a sore source of the artificial prop-up which maintains an expired Palestinian Authority.

So as the situation on the ground boils over, and the Israeli government's intransigence and determination to "forever live by the sword" continues, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was recently reported telling a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, the US is making itself more and more irrelevant to the reality on the ground by blindly adopting Israel's well-crafted incitement mantra.

Israeli adoption of the "incitement" claim to cover up its blatant and systematic violations of international law is not surprising; however, the US jumping on this bandwagon to lay blame on the Palestinian leadership for the current violence is more troubling than the violence itself.

Indeed, former Palestinian diplomat Afif Safieh puts it most succinctly when he says: "Palestinians have become unreasonably reasonable.”

I would add that if the US does not finally act, instead of paying only lip service to a two-state solution, no one in Congress should be surprised when Palestinians drop their bid for statehood and convert this struggle for freedom to a civil rights struggle.

(Source / 02.11.2015)

Israeli soldiers shot and killed, on Monday morning, a Palestinian tanager, and kidnapped another, near the al-Jalama military roadblock, northeast of the northern West Bank city of Jenin, allegedly after the two attempted to stab a soldier.

The slain Palestinian, Ahmad Awad Abu ar-Rob, 16, was killed after soldiers, stationed on a military tower, opened fire on him, while resident Mahmoud Mo'men Kamil, 17, was kidnapped.

The soldiers closed the roadblock on both directions, and initiated a search campaign in the area.

On Saturday, soldiers shot and killed Mahmoud Talal Nazzal, 17 years of age, on the same roadblock.

In related news, soldiers kidnapped a Young Palestinian man, 22 years of age, reportedly after assaulting an Israeli tourism guide in the Hebron Gate area, in occupied Jerusalem. Israeli sources said the woman suffered cuts in her head and was moved to a hospital for treatment.

The Palestinian, from Jabal al-Mokabber in Jerusalem, fled the scene, but the soldiers managed to arrest him after a short chase, the army said.

On Sunday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said the army has killed 73 Palestinians, including twelve children, since October 1.

On Monday morning, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) has reported that the army has kidnapped on Sunday at night and on Monday morning, 33 Palestinians in the West Bank districts of Hebron, Nablus and Jerusalem.

(Source / 02.11.2015)

Nearly 100,000 refugees in Gaza face a second winter without proper housing, with just one of their homes rebuilt since being damaged or destroyed in Israel attack last year, said a United Nations agency that provides assistance in the region.

Families are living under tarpaulins, in animal shacks or with relatives and last winter, at least three children froze to death, said a spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, known as UNRWA. “As the winter approaches, one shudders how these people are going to survive,” the UNRWA spokesman, Christopher Gunness, said in an interview, Reuters reported on Friday.

The agency helps some 5 million Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. “What these people need is proper homes,” he said. Reconstruction in the enclave of 1.8 million people is hindered partly because of a lack of funds and partly because of a blockade that restricts goods entering and leaving Gaza, Gunness said.

During last year’s 50-day war, Israeli airstrikes and shelling hammered the densely populated Gaza Strip causing widespread destruction of homes, schools, hospitals and factories. More than 2,100 Palestinians were killed, mostly civilians. Israel put the number of its dead at 67 soldiers and six civilians. “The underlying dynamics that saw the war in 2014 are still there,” Gunness said. “Indeed they’ve probably got worse because in 2014 there weren’t 13,000 families whose homes were uninhabitable.

“Even if Gaza was reconstructed magically tomorrow morning, unless Gaza is allowed to function economically, then it’s hard to see how the instability is going to go away.” The World Bank said in May that blockades, war and poor governance have strangled Gaza’s economy and the unemployment rate is now the highest in the world. It stands at 43 percent, rising to 68 percent among people ages 20 to 24, the World Bank said. There have been no significant exports from Gaza since 2007. Israel maintains tight controls on the movement of goods and people in and out of the territory.

Currently, 90 percent of water in Gaza is undrinkable, and the population relies almost completely on a coastal aquifer which could become unusable next year, UNRWA said. Most Gazans consume between 70 and 90 liters a day, below the World Health Organization standard of 100 liters per person per day, the agency said. The number of people receiving UNRWA food aid has risen to 860,000 from 80,000 in 2000, Gunness said. They will become reliant on water aid as well as supplies dwindle, he said.

(Source / 02.11.2015)

Good Tuesday morning! It’s the day before the new Canadian Cabinet will be announced, and while speculation on who’s in and who’s out is foremost on every politico’s mind, former Liberal interim leader Bob Rae will be speaking today on an important topic: the Syrian conflict and refugee crisis and what it means for Canada and the rest of the world.

read more

The New Democratic Party had completed its most successful fundraising quarter ever before the Oct. 19 general election, hauling in nearly $1.75-million more than the Liberal Party and only $1-million less than the juggernaut Conservative Party fundraising arm.

Only a few weeks before NDP support plunged as election day neared in the final week of the campaign when a flood of voters were drawn to Justin Trudeau (Papineau, Que.) and the Liberal Party’s platform, the NDP had also recorded the highest number ever of party donors for a three-month period: 78,227 from July through to the end of September.

Elections Canada records for the third quarter of 2015 show the NDP raised $9.2 million during July, August and September.

read more

Pat Robertson: God To Destroy Financial Markets Now That ‘Sodomites’ Can Marry BY Brian Tashman – See more at: – Televangelist Pat Robertson repeated today his prediction that LGBT rights will provoke God to destroy America's financial markets, warning "The 700 Club" viewers that God's wrath is on its way.

He claimed that the U.S. is turning into Sodom now that it has "enshrined sodomy into the United States Constitution" and cities like Houston are trying to "force women to go into men's bathrooms and men to go into women's bathrooms."– Right-wing pastor Mark Creech accuses Pat Robertson of "blasphemy" for rejecting young-earth creationism  ELIAS ISQUITH – FRC’s Craig James Stumped By Question Likening Gay Marriage Bans To Anti-Miscegenation Laws BY Brian Tashman – See more at: –Mark Creech: Pee Party To Destroy Pat Robertson Now That ‘Crackas‘ Can go to Collich (3)!!!

Franklin Graham Praises ‘Gay Propaganda’ Law, Critcizes US ‘Secularism’ In Russia Visit BY Miranda Blue – See more at: – In a trip to Russia last week, U.S. Religious Right leader Franklin Graham praised President Vladimir Putin's protection of "traditional Christianity," including the passage of the
2013 "gay propaganda
" law that effectively criminalizes pro-gay-rights speech and advocacy.

In an interview with the Moskoviskij Komsomolets newspaper, Graham criticized President Obama for supporting "policies that contradict the teachings of God" and repeated his praise of Putin for "protecting Russian young people against homosexual propaganda," adding that "homosexuals cannot have children, they can take other people's
children," according to a transcript the newspaper provided of the
interview: – Franklin
Graham Praises ‘Cracka Propaganda’  Law, Criticizes US ‘Secularism’ In Uranus Visit!!!

Religious Right Activist At World Congress Of Families: Anti-Gay, Anti-Choice Africans Will ‘Save the World’ BY Peter Montgomery – See more at: – In our advance reporting on last week's World Congress of Families conference — the first time this annual global gathering of social conservative activists was held in the U.S. — we contrasted the organizers' public disavowal of homophobia with their well-documented anti-gay record, such as their decision to honor Theresa Okafor of Nigeria with the "Woman of the Year Award."

Throughout last week's conference, Okafor, who serves as WCF's regional director in Africa, defended harsh anti-gay laws in her own country and others, including Uganda's notorious Anti-Homosexuality Act.

And she drew cheers for noting that in most African countries, doctors and nurses would go to jail for performing an abortion. "We in Africa see the family, as well as marriage, as something divine, and ordained towards life and love, and so we're very protective over anything that seeks to undermine the family, religion, and culture," she said. Okafor said repeatedly that family was so important to Africa that it justified "drastic measures" against threats to it from the "Trojan Horse" of the sexual revolution. – Religious Right Activist At World Congress Of Crackas: Anti-Gay, Anti-Choice Fundies in Undies Will ‘Save the World’!!!

From Salt Lake City, Many Eyes On Nauvoo For HERO Vote !!! From Salt Lake City, Many Eyes On Houston For HERO Vote!!! John Eidsmoe: Crackas Must Defy Supreme Court That's 'Disobedient Against the John Birch Society'!!! John Eidsmoe: Officials Must Defy Supreme Court That's 'Disobedient Against God'!!! Savage; Weiner: Government May Start Rounding Up Crackas!!! Michael Savage: Government May Start Rounding Up Conservatives!!!

Thank you, Southern Baptists The so-called "fundamentalist" coup of the 70’s turned out to be a populist uprising against liberal elites Written by Mark Tooley

The Who

 Squeeze Box

 Mama’s got a squeeze box she wears on her chest
And when Daddy comes home, he never gets no rest
‘Cause she’s playing all night and the music’s all right
Mama’s got a squeeze box, Daddy never sleeps at night

Well, the kids don’t eat and the dog can’t sleep
There’s no escape from the music in the whole damn street
‘Cause she’s playing all night and the music’s all right
Mama’s got a squeeze box, Daddy never sleeps at night She goes in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out
She’s playing all night and the music’s all right
Mama’s got a squeeze box, Daddy never sleeps at night  She goes, squeeze me, come on and squeeze me
Come on and tease me like you do
I’m so in love with you
Mama’s got a squeeze box, Daddy never sleeps at night  

[break]  

She goes in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out
‘Cause she’s playing all night and the music’s all right
Mama’s got a squeeze box, Daddy never sleeps at night

Squeeze Box (song)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“Squeeze Box“is a song by The Who. It peaked at #10 on the UK charts and #16 in the US. The song was also a #1 hit in Australia and Canada and reached #2 on the Irish charts. “Squeezebox” is a slang term for accordions and related instruments. The song consists exclusively of sexual innuendo. Written by Pete Townshend, the song was originally intended for a Who television special planned in 1974.

 Chinese passenger jet

Comac C919

 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 The Comac C919 is a planned 168-190 seat narrow-bodyairliner to be built by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac).

It will be the largest commercial airliner designed and built in China since the defunct Shanghai Y-10. Its first flight is expected to take place in 2014, with deliveries scheduled for 2016.^[4] The C919 forms part of China’s long-term goal to break Airbus and Boeing‘s duopoly, and will compete against Airbus A320 family and the Boeing 737 Next Generation.^]

 Construction of the nose section of the aircraft commenced on 2 September 2009.

China Wins Jet Orders In Bid to BattleBig Rivals

Hear that sucking sound?

That’s the sound of your job going to China!!!