Thursday, March 31, 2016

TRUNEWS 03/31/16 James Rickards, Terry Sacka | Days Are Numbered - from TRUNEWS

Global economist and insider James Rickards joins Rick Wiles for Thursday’s edition of TRUNEWS. James and Rick discuss the central banks 10 year master scheme — which began in 2010 — to dethrone the US dollar’s world reserve currency status and herald in its replacement, the IMF-printed SDR. In Part 2, special guest Terry Sacka and Edward Szall will join Rick in studio to decipher through the power intel shared in that interview.






James Rickards | The James Rickards Project
Terry Sacka | Cornerstone Asset Metals
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Syrian President Assad says ‘Erdogan’s army of terrorists’ fighting in Syria - from TRUNEWS

Turkey’s direct support for terrorists fighting in Syria makes them President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s own army, Syrian President Bashar Assad said in an exclusive interview with Sputnik, adding that his country is ready to counter the aggression.

Turkey, as well as Saudi Arabia, have crossed all possible red lines, possibly from the first weeks of the Syrian war, Assad said.

“Today, the war against Erdogan and against Saudi Arabia is a war against terrorists. The Turkish army, which is not even Turkish, is Erdogan’s army that is fighting today in Syria,” he added.

Everything that Ankara and Riyadh “have done from the very beginning can be considered aggression. Aggression in a political sense or in a military sense – providing terrorists with arms – or direct aggression with the use of artillery, and other military violations,” he stressed.

Erdogan is directly supporting the terrorists as he allows them to move into Turkish territory, to carry out maneuvers with tanks,” the Syrian president said.

“This concerns not only individuals, he finances them [terrorists] through Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and through Turkey itself, of course,”he said.

According to Assad, his Turkish counterpart “trades oil that has been stolen by IS (Islamic State, Daesh), at the same time carrying out artillery attacks against the Syrian army – when it moves close – in order to help the terrorists.”

According to the President, countermeasures to Turkey’s aggressive actions must first of all take place within Syrian territory.

Successful strikes against terrorists in the country will lead to the failure of policies pursued by Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he added.

 

Turkish President Erdogan makes a speech during the opening ceremony of Vakif Participation Bank in Istanbul

Turkish President Erdogan makes a speech during the opening ceremony of Vakif Participation Bank in Istanbul

 

“They are terrorists and when we attack these terrorists in Syria, this leads to Erdogan’s direct defeat,” Assad said.

However, Assad stressed that there was no dispute between the peoples of Syria and Turkey.

The relations between the two countries will be “good if Erdogan stops interfering in Syrian affairs, he explained.

During the interview, Assad also expressed readiness to call an early presidential election in Syria if the people desire one.

“This depends on the Syrian people’s stance, on whether there is a popular will to hold early presidential elections. If there is such a will, this is not a problem for me. It is natural to respond to the will of the people and not to that of certain opposition forces,” he said.

“The president cannot work without the people’s support,” the Syrian leader added.

If the election takes place, every Syrian citizen, including those who left because of war, should be able to take part in the voting, he said.

“This issue concerns every Syrian citizen because every citizen votes for the president,” Assad stressed.

Assad also recalled his surprise visit to Moscow last autumn, which came less than two weeks after Russia began its bombing campaign against the terrorists in Syria on September 30, 2015.

“That visit was made under special circumstances,” he said, adding that no documents were signed during his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The talks in the Russian capital mainly revolved around two issues: “Firstly, the military operation, which had begun at the time, and as a consequence, the need to strike a blow at terrorism. Secondly, we focused on how we could use the military operation to support the political process,” the Syrian president told Sputnik.

This story was published by RT.

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As clinics close, abortion through the mail may become new trend - from TRUNEWS

(TRUNEWS) There is a new push to make abortion easier to obtain – by sending pills through the mail.

A pilot program is being studied in Hawaii, Oregon, Washington and New York which will involve sending women abortion drugs so they don’t have to go to a clinic. The move is in response to abortion centers continuing to close down, as reported by The Guardian.

Esther Priegue, director of counseling at Choices Women’s Medical Center in Queens, New York claimed the idea is the where the pro-abortion movement is headed. She believes women should “never have to step into the clinic for even a moment”.

 

cute-baby-surprised

 

Currently, the FDA only allows the abortion drug mifepristone to be given out in a clinic.  Under the program test, four clinics will be allowed to ship it.   A video conference will be offered to advise women on how to take the drug.

It will be available to women who are nine weeks pregnant or less and live in the same state as the clinic.  They must also have a blood test to confirm they are carrying a baby.

Americans United for Life points out that 14 women have died from the drug.

“It is entirely reckless to hand out the drugs without supervision because of the deaths that have occurred,” said Kristi Hamrick, a spokesperson for the group, according to The Guardian.

Mifepristone blocks the progesterone hormone, which causes the uterus to break down and end the pregnancy. Hemorrhaging can occur.

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North Korea builds 200 new observation posts along DMZ - from TRUNEWS

(TRUNEWS) North Korea has built approximately 200 new observation posts along the heavily-fortified Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) bordering South Korea.

“Since the end of last year, the North Korean military has been spotted briskly building up observation posts along the DMZ that separates the two sides,” an anonymous South Korean military official told Yonhap.

The official added, ”We have closely been following the developments on the assumption that the increase of observation posts along the DMZ could have many different purposes.”

The Korean DMZ was established in the 1953 Armistice Agreement which signified the end —or, at least, paused — armed confrontation in the Korean War. Built along the Military Demarcation Line (MDL), or more popularly known as the 38th parallel north, the DMZ is the most heavily militarized border in the world — spanning roughly 160 miles wide and 2.5 miles deep.

On the North Korean side, concrete structures built to hold two man sentry teams serve as military observation posts, and though South Korea mans similar outposts, the North maintains more than twice as many border forces as the South.

The anonymous officials said the recent military buildup at the border could be a sign of more aggressive military operations to come, but also could be aimed at keeping watch on North Korean soldiers attempting to defect their communist enclave.

Since the beginning of 2016, North Korea has heavily escalated both their rhetoric and physical military preparations for a potential conflict with the west. According to Rodong Sinmun newspaper, Kim Jung Un’s regime has allocated 15.9% of their estimated $11-15 billion 2016 state budget to defense spending.

Between their multiple threats, just this past week to nuke the United States, and their multiple ballistic missile tests throughout January, February, and March, every aspect of North Korea’s military deployments are being heavily scrutinized, including their border security forces.

North Korean soldiers keep watch as U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter and his South Korean counterpart Han Min-Koo (both not pictured) visit the truce village of Panmunjom, in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, South Korea, November 1, 2015. REUTERS/Korea Pool/Yonhap

North Korean soldiers keep watch as U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter and his South Korean counterpart Han Min-Koo (both not pictured) visit the truce village of Panmunjom, in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, South Korea, November 1, 2015. REUTERS/Korea Pool/Yonhap

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Russia moves advanced tactical missile system to Syria - from TRUNEWS

(TRUNEWS) Two weeks ago, Russia pulled its warplanes and bombers out of Syria, but they have quickly moved in an advanced tactical missile system.

The Iskander-M can carry a nuclear warhead, according to DEBKAfile.

On March 15, the Russians said the S-400 ground-to-air missiles would remain in Syria.  Now the Iskander-M is there, which can carry two missiles, and is easy to prepare for launch.

Other features include the ability of the missile to lock on the target without being shot down and its targets can be set by satellites.

In 2015, the Iskander was set in Kaliningrad in the Baltic Sea, which caused concern for NATO countries, due to the Ukraine crisis.

The missile system could change the stakes in the five-year Syrian war as it could give Russia the upper hand.  The range covers northern Israel, most of Syria, a large portion of Turkey and parts of the eastern Mediterranean.

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin looks at Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu as they attend a meeting dealing with the commissioning of military products at the National defence control centre in Moscow, Russia, in this March 11, 2016 file photo. REUTERS/Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik/Kremlin/Files

Russian President Vladimir Putin looks at Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu as they attend a meeting dealing with the commissioning of military products at the National defence control centre in Moscow, Russia, in this March 11, 2016 file photo. REUTERS/Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik/Kremlin/Files

 

There are also reports that while Russia was removing some equipment out, they were also moving in more supplies. Reuters has reported supply ships have gone back and forth between the Black sea port of Novorossiysk and Russia’s naval port at Tartus, Syria.

Analysts for Reuters believe Russia has also stepped up its naval force and seems to have more warships near the Syrian coast now.

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US college caves to transgender activists amid NC showdown - from TRUNEWS

(TRUNEWS) New York-based Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art has converted all their public restrooms into transgender friendly facilities.

Men’s bathrooms will now have a placard reading “restroom with urinal and stalls” and women’s will read “restroom with only stalls.”

The change came after students campaigning for “equal rights for transgenders” vandalized the bathrooms of one of the buildings on the Manhattan campus last year, tearing down the traditional gender signs while the building was under renovation.

Deciding neither to punish the students nor replace the signs, the liberal administrators of the 157-year-old college decided to cave to the neutral gender activists and removed the rest of the gender identifying signs throughout the campus.

The decision to enable students, faculty and visitors to forgo their God designated gender when deciding which bathroom to use has been heralded as a victory by the radical leftist activists.

One of the student campaigners, Rio Sofia, told The Guardian in an interview that she believes “a public facility shouldn’t have to ask if you’re a man or a woman. It should just ask, do you need to pee or poop?”


TRANSGENDER BATHROOM LAW

Last week North Carolina’s Republican governor Pat McCrory signed the “The Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act” into law, as reported by The Telegraph, formalizing a statewide policy which prohibits individuals from using public bathrooms that do not correspond to their biological gender.

HB2 was passed and signed during a special session called to prevent Charlotte city officials from implementing a local ordnance on April 1, which would have mirrored Cooper Union’s transgender bathroom policy.

Activists campaigning for “equal rights for transgenders” in North Carolina have filed a lawsuit against the state through the American Civil Liberties Union, which argues that the legislation violates the US constitution and breaks federal anti-sex discrimination laws.

Large corporations such as American Airlines, IBM, Apple, Lowes, Cisco, and the NBA and the NFL have exerted similar pressure through harsh criticism and threats of business sanctions.

Governor of North Carolina Pat McCrory introduces candidate for U.S. Senate Thom Tillis (R-NC) at a campaign stop in Raleigh, North Carolina October 29, 2014. REUTERS/Chris Keane

Governor of North Carolina Pat McCrory introduces candidate for U.S. Senate Thom Tillis (R-NC) at a campaign stop in Raleigh, North Carolina October 29, 2014. REUTERS/Chris Keane

CHRISTIAN RESPONSE

The Christian Post reported that North Carolina’s Lt. Governor Dan Forest called the executive in charge at one of the protesting companies, and asked him if he or any of his staff had actually read the bill. The CEO admitted they had not, and simply adopted the mainstream narrative calling the law discriminatory.

In an OP-ED for The Christian Post titled “6 Truths About Transgender Bathroom Bills”, Frank Turek, the President of CrossExamined.org, wrote about this accepted ignorance surrounding the transgender bathroom issue.

Turk wrote that the company which Lt. Governor Dan Forest called, is in truth, very similar to the other companies protesting the transgender law.

They “haven’t bothered to read the bill” and “are simply taking their marching orders from the misnamed ‘Human Rights Campaign,’ who have the audacity to claim that men have a human right to have access to women and girls in public bathrooms, and that any acknowledgement of the biological differences between men and women is somehow discrimination against people who prefer same-sex relationships,” he wrote.

In the OP-ED, Turek laid out six points which pointedly dismantle the radical progressive lefts movement to “diversify” public restrooms and eliminate biblically defined gender separations.


1. All good laws discriminate against behaviors not people.

No one is being discriminated against with HB2, which prohibits the behavior of a man using the women’s restroom. If any law is wrongly discriminatory it is the bad law passed by the Charlotte City council to create this controversy. It actually discriminates against women and children by making public restrooms unsafe for them. (The ACLU has already filed a lawsuit alleging HB2 does not provide “equal protection” to some folks. Ironically, it’s only because of HB2 that women and children get “equal protection” from predators in public bathrooms).

2. People are equal, but their behaviors are not.

Good laws treat all people equally, but not all of their behaviors equally. In fact, the very reason laws exist at all is because all behaviors are not equal and must be treated differently for the benefit of individuals and society. HB2 discriminates against no one who identifies as LGBT. The law merely sets a safe public bathroom use (behavior) for everyone, and keeps employment law consistent across the state..

3. Your identity is not in your feelings but your biology.

I can’t believe there is actually a need to say this, but many on the Left are living in their own invented realty and they are demanding that others live in it too. The reason there have been separate bathrooms is because of biological sexual differences, not because of feelings or “gender identity.” HB2 simply says that people will use public bathrooms that align with their biological sex as found on their birth certificate.

How could this possibly be controversial? Are we to risk the safety of millions of women and children in public restrooms because an extremely small number of people are experiencing a mismatch between their psychology and their biology?

Good public policy does not risk the physical safety of women and children so an extreme few have a preference for a different bathroom.

Moreover, HB2 actually accommodates people who have had so-called “sex change” operations. They can use the bathroom of their choice provided they’ve had their birth certificate changed. It also affects only public restrooms.

Companies and other private organizations can adopt any policy they want for their workplace.

Does the NBA and the NFL allow men in women’s bathrooms? Does Apple? Cisco? Marriott? Lowes?

Then why are they insisting the government force everyone to do so? Why do they think North Carolina is wrongly discriminating when they are doing exactly the same thing in their businesses?

And why aren’t these holier-than-thou folks threatening to pull their business from Iran and Saudi Arabia who are actually murdering homosexuals?

Their moral outrage is not only misdirected, it shows that they’re willing to put women and children at risk by kowtowing to a deceptive special interest group, but they’ll sacrifice nothing to save the people they say they care about by confronting real evil abroad.

4. The danger is real from sexual predators in women’s restrooms.

If you don’t think so, then watch this video. Just the first six minutes are chilling enough.

5.  Race and LGBT are not the same.

Race is not a behavior and race has no impact on someone’s behavior. But homosexuality is a behavior and LGBT political goals are all about imposing certain leftist behaviors on others, from forcing people to participate in same-sex marriage ceremonies to allowing men in women’s restrooms.

The Human Rights Campaign also wants to use the strong arm of government to force companies to give employment preference to a long list of sexual orientations. This would mean that someone who claimed a homosexual orientation — or someone who exhibited the behavior of cross-dressing at work for example — would have more job security than John or Jane Doe. How so?

Because if a company has to downsize, who are they going to let go — one of the helpless Does, or the person who can bring a costly lawsuit alleging “discrimination”?

6.  Opposition to harmful behavior is not bigotry.

It is wise. Unfortunately, some on the Left and in business falsely equate opposition to a behavior as prejudice toward people who engage in that behavior.

That’s the central fallacy in virtually every argument the Human Rights Campaign puts out — if you don’t agree with every aspect of LGBT behavior or their political goals, you are somehow bigoted against people who identify that way.

If political opposition is bigotry, then the activists at the Human Rights Campaign are bigots for opposing conservatives. The truth is conservatives and Christians have good reasons based in public health and safety for not wanting to advocate same-sex marriage or men in women’s bathrooms. But it’s much easier for the Human Rights Campaign to ignore those arguments and call people names.

Frank Turek ended his power response by noting: “The truth is just too dangerous.”


An Occupy Wall Street protester chants slogans along 47th Street in New York September 17, 2013. REUTERS/Joshua Lott

An Occupy Wall Street protester chants slogans along 47th Street in New York September 17, 2013. REUTERS/Joshua Lott

CONCLUSION

The radical left want nothing more than to change the nation they despise. Rick Wiles of TRUNEWS has said in the past that movements like Democracy Spring and Black Lives Matter are nothing more than Soros funded NGO’s, with the goal to bully and intimidate communist mob rule on the rest of the country.

As the war and revolution cycle described in William Strauss and Neil Howe’s book “The Fourth Turning” converge this year, America and much of the globe will experience various populist uprisings as well as a steady push toward world war.

In America, social movements which strive to confuse and distort gender norms and shatter biblical culture will be the vanguard of the

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Ten wounded after blast hits police vehicle in Turkey’s Diyarbakir - from TRUNEWS

Ten people were wounded when an explosion hit a passing police vehicle in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir on Thursday, a security source said.

Broadcaster Haberturk TV said the blast hit near a bus station in the city, the largest in the mainly Kurdish southeast. Ambulances rushed to the scene, Haberturk said.

The southeast has been scorched by waves of violence since a ceasefire between the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the government collapsed last July.

PKK fighters participate in an intensive security deployment against Islamic State militants in Makhmur

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Pentagon confirms North Korea may soon have dangerous missile - from TRUNEWS

(TRUNEWS) The Pentagon has confirmed North Korea may be close to building missiles that can reach the U.S. mainland with nuclear warheads.

The new KN-14 has a longer range than the KN-08 road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile, according to Washington Free Beacon.

“It’s a KN-08 on steroids,” said one official of the new KN-14.

U.S. intelligence sources obtained the information in recent weeks. The KN-14 was displayed at the annual military parade in Pyongyang last October.  Russia believes it could have a range of 5,000 to 6,200 miles, which means it could possibly hit Chicago.

North Korea has also designed a re-entry vehicle for the KN-08 and a nuclear warhead, as reported by Yonhap.

This news comes as North Korea continues its aggressive rhetoric.  TRUNEWS has reported on  Pyongyang’s threats to the U.S. mainland and South Korea.  President Obama, South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Shinzo Abe, Japan’s Prime Minister will discuss the matter at a Washington summit this week.

 

U.S. President Barack Obama (L) and South Korea's President Park Geun-hye talk during the gala dinner of the 27th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, November 21, 2015. REUTERS/Olivia Harris

U.S. President Barack Obama (L) and South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye talk during the gala dinner of the 27th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, November 21, 2015. REUTERS/Olivia Harris

 

On Monday, North Korea posted a video to YouTube titled “Last Chance” that showed a potential missile attack on Washington, D.C.  They also threatened “ruthless” retaliation against the U.S. on Thursday, as reported by Yonhap.

It is believed North Korea has 10-20 nuclear warheads, but experts are not sure about long-range missile capabilities. In January, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un claimed his country had hydrogen bombs capable of wiping out the U.S. “all at once”.

 

 

 

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Mixed reports on U.S. and Russia agreeing on Assad’s future - from TRUNEWS

(TRUNEWS) There are mixed reports about Russia and the U.S.agreeing that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should leave Syria.

It has been a point of contention between the two countries, as the U.S. and its coalition have wanted Assad to go, but Russia and Iran argued that he should stay.

Al-Hayat, a London-based publication claimed Secretary of State John Kerry  informed several Arab countries about the agreement to move Assad to another country,  but a date was not set.

The Kremlin has denied the report.

“Al-Hayat published information which does not correspond to reality,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a conference call with journalists, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Meanwhile, Assad has stated he is ready to hold snap elections, according to Sputnik.

“This depends on the Syrian people’s stance, on whether there is a popular will to hold early presidential elections. If there is such a will, this is not a problem for me,” Assad said.

 

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad heads a meeting of his new cabinet in Damascus August 31, 2014 in this picture released by Syria's national news agency SANA. REUTERS/SANA/Handout via Reuters

Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad heads a meeting of his new cabinet in Damascus August 31, 2014 in this picture released by Syria’s national news agency SANA. REUTERS/SANA/Handout via Reuters

 

He also emphasized that snap elections are not part of the current process. Details on how the elections would take place have not yet been discussed in Syria.

Last month, Assad called for parliamentary elections to be held April 13.

He said a new constitution could be ready in a few weeks which would include the opposition, independents, and loyalists in government.  But the opposition claims Assad must not be involved in any new government.

 

 

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ISIS may be on brink of using nuclear weapons - from TRUNEWS

A top researcher has warned ISIS could be on the brink of using nuclear weapons against Western targets.

Harvard’s Matthew Bunn claims the group is evolving and may already have nuclear weapons, according to The Express.

In his report, Bunn claimed there are three potential types of nuclear terrorism which include detonating a bomb, sabotaging a nuclear facility or using a dirty bomb to spread radioactive material.

Even if a bomb didn’t immediately kill scores of people the economic and clean-up costs could become a huge problem.

Bunn’s report makes suggestions on how to tighten security at nuclear and industrial sites.  Hospitals may also be targeted because they contain materials that could be used for weapons.

The recent attacks in Brussels highlight the need to address this threat. TRUNEWS reported the bombers had considered kidnapping a nuclear official.

U.S. President Barack Obama (L) and South Korea's President Park Geun-hye talk during the gala dinner of the 27th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, November 21, 2015. REUTERS/Olivia Harris

U.S. President Barack Obama (L) and South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye talk during the gala dinner of the 27th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, November 21, 2015. REUTERS/Olivia Harris

Bunn’s report comes as President Obama hosts the Nuclear Security Summit Thursday in Washington.  The 50 leaders in attendance will discuss whether terror groups could obtain nuclear devices.   In a side meeting, Obama will talk with South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to discuss the nuclear threat North Korea poses.  North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has threatened to strike the U.S. mainland and has tested several weapons this year.

 

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Feds failed to detail illegal, now he’s on ‘Most Wanted’ list - from TRUNEWS

A federal immigration enforcement agency is admitting — in not so many words — that it failed miserably last month when it refused to detain an illegal alien charged with vehicular homicide who is now on the lam.

On Wednesday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) named 19-year-old Edwin Mejia to its “Most Wanted” list.

“ICE will work tirelessly to ensure justice is done in this matter…including to further publicize this case by posting Mejia on ICE Most Wanted List,” ICE director Sarah Saldana said in a statement.

Mejia, a Honduran national who entered the U.S. illegally in 2013, was arrested in Omaha, Nebraska, on Jan. 31 and charged with felony vehicular homicide in the death of 21-year-old Sarah Root. Mejia was street racing with a blood-alcohol level of .241 when he rammed into the back of Root’s SUV.

Mejia, who also used the alias “Eswin,” has been on the run since posting bond to leave jail on Feb. 5. But he likely would not have the status of fugitive if ICE had honored the Omaha police department request for an immigration hold.

ICE’s decision to place Mejia on its “Most Wanted” list is incongruent with its initial response to the case, Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse noted.

“This important development underscores the seriousness of the situation, something ICE should have recognized immediately,” the Republican said in a statement on Wednesday. “Mr. Mejia should not need to be on this list — he should be in jail.”

In a statement issued last month, the agency said it did not fulfill the Omaha police department’s detainer request because Mejia was not an “enforcement priority” because he “had no prior significant misdemeanor or felony conviction record.”

In Nov. 2014, President Obama de-prioritized some criminal aliens for removal. Those with drunk driving convictions or minor assault convictions were deemed a lower deportation priority than aliens with more serious criminal records. ICE field officers are also allowed to exercise discretion in determining which illegal aliens to detain.

 

Immigration Overload

 

ICE’s fumbling of the Mejia case was put on full display during a Senate Homeland Security hearing held earlier this month

During the session, ICE director Sarah Saldana made several demonstrably false statements about the case, including that ICE had only a “matter of hours” to respond to the Omaha police department’s detainer request. She also falsely claimed that Root was not dead when Mejia was released from jail.

In fact, Root had been dead for several days when a relative of Mejia’s paid the $5,000 needed to bail him out. A judge had set Mejia’s bond at $50,000 — an amount which Root’s father criticized since Mejia was a flight risk.

A timeline of events released by the Omaha police department highlights Saldana’s false statements.

The timeline, which was provided to The Daily Caller, shows that a police accident investigator called ICE at 8 a.m. on the morning of Feb. 5 in an attempt to get a detainer on Mejia.

ICE did not answer, so the investigator left a message. When the message was not returned, she called again at around 10:30 a.m.

“Her request is denied by ICE,” reads the timeline.

The investigator then gave ICE’s number to a police lieutenant. The official called twice, at 11 a.m. and at 1:30 p.m., according to the Omaha police department. Neither call was returned.

At around 5 p.m. that day, a relative of Mejia’s posted his bail. He was released from jail shortly before 9 p.m.

But in a line of questioning from Sasse during the Senate hearing earlier this month, Saldana asserted that ICE merely did not have enough time to respond to the detainer request.

“We tried to act,” Saldana told Sasse. “But I believe there was a matter of hours between the time that we were contacted and the actual release.”

“It is very hard for us to get to every inquiry that is made by law enforcement,” she added.

Sasse pointed out that Root was dead, and asked: “What if someone kills a U.S. citizen? That doesn’t meet the threshold?”

That’s when Saldana responded with an inaccurate answer.

“That was after the fact, sir,” she said.

“I understand that that person was injured and had not, when that four hour period of time, seriously injured, but had not passed away until later.”

In fact, Root, who had graduated from college hours before Mejia rammed into her car, was declared dead days before Mejia was released from jail. ICE was also given 12 hours to respond to the detainer request, not the four hours that Saldana appeared to claim.

Asked for comment on Wednesday, an ICE spokesman told TheDC that ICE officers decided not to issue a detainer for Mejia last month “based on the totality of circumstances involved” in Mejia’s case.

“All decisions made by ICE officers — regarding apprehension, detention, bond or release — are made on a case-by-case basis,” the spokesman said.

The spokesman also said that ICE’s guidance on detainers and immigration enforcement priorities “provides ICE with flexibility in its immigration enforcement activities, including for cases where a senior field manager determines that the removal of an alien, who does not fit within an enumerated priority category, would serve an important federal interest.”

“Further review of the case may have resulted in the conclusion that, because of the seriousness of the vehicle crash, Mr. Mejia’s case rose to the level of an important federal interest,” the spokesman added.

Senior ICE officials have brought the case to the attention of ICE field leaders to “reaffirm that appropriate consideration must be given to all cases which may meet an important federal interest.”

Saldana has also failed to meet a pledge she made under oath during that Senate hearing to respond to Sasse’s questions by last Friday.

“I think we will get your reply within a couple of weeks if that’s satisfactory. And if you need it sooner, I’ll certainly work to try to get that,” Saldana said.

“Can we have it by the end of next week?” asked Sasse, a Republican.

“Yes, you can,” she said.

Sasse’s office has yet to receive the document.

 

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Porn, Prostitution And Bribes: The DOJ Let Bureaucrats Off The Hook - from TRUNEWS

Federal watchdogs refer scores of criminal misconduct cases to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for prosecution each year, but many of the alleged perpetrators never see the inside of a courtroom.

Prosecution of public corruption reached a historic low under President Barack Obama as of 2014, with 16 percent fewer federal employee corruption cases in an average year during his presidency than under former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

Prosecutions of government misconduct reached a 20-year low in 2015, according to new data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University.

Cases involving child pornography and solicitation for prostitution were among the most perplexing recent government employee criminal investigations the DOJ declined to prosecute, according to a Daily Caller News Foundation analysis.

Lynch

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch testifies before a House Appropriations subcommittee on the Justice’s Department budget in Washington February 24, 2016. REUTERS/Gary Cameron

A DOJ spokesman declined to comment on how the department decides whether to prosecute or drop criminal cases. DOJ policy says officials consider the projected benefit to the federal government, law enforcement priorities, strength of the available evidence, the seriousness of the offense, and the deterrent value of a conviction before making a decision.

Here are some of the government officials found responsible for criminal behavior but escaped the halls of justice.
The Assistant U.S. Attorney with child pornography on his computer

An Assistant U.S. Attorney stored adult and child pornography on a government computer, but the DOJ declined to prosecute him, according to 2011 findings by the DOJ IG. The lack of prosecution was so outrageous to Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley that he demanded then-Attorney General Eric Holder investigate why the DOJ never pressed charges.

Fish & Wildlife manager lobbied Congress

An unnamed U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services’ (FWS) refuge manager violated anti-lobbying laws by writing a letter to Congress opposing legislation, according to a Department of Interior (DOI) Office of Inspector General investigation. The IG referred the case to the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina — both declined to prosecute.

The anonymous refuge manager helped a private entity write a letter to Congress opposing the “Corolla Wild Horses Protection Act,” a bill introduced in 2012, but never enacted, according to the IG. The FWS manager admitting to drafting the letter in violation of anti-lobbying laws, but FWS only required him to take ethics training.

Top education bureaucrat dodged taxes, used employees in his private business

Danny Harris, the Department of Education’s (DOE) top technology official, admitted using agency employees for his side business, failing to disclose outside income and failing to pay taxes on that income for multiple years, according to his admission and an investigation by the department’s IG. But the DOJ wasn’t interested in prosecuting him, telling the department to take administrative action instead.

Senior Secret Service employee gave a shady promotion

A senior U.S. Secret Service employee signed off on a promotion for a subordinate with whom he was financially connected, a clear conflict of interest, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General. But the U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute, instead there was administrative action.

Former DHS executive broke post-government employment laws

A former DHS assistant secretary violated federal law by trying to influence a department where he previously worked while at DHS, according to the DHS IG. The U.S. Attorney’s Office chose not to prosecute.

Department of Veterans Affairs officials in the wait-time scandal

The DOJ declined to pursue dozens of cases referred by the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General over the VA’s cover up of long patient waiting lists, according to a Washington Examiner report. The FBI opened one criminal investigation into the Phoenix VA facilities where at least 40 veterans died waiting for care.

Parks Service employees groped female colleagues

National Park Service (NPS) employees perpetuated a culture of sexual harassment at the Grand Canyon River District over 15 years, allegedly grabbing a female coworker’s crotch, taking a picture under another’s dress, and groping yet another woman, according to a DOI IG report. The DOI IG referred the sexual misconduct cases to the DOJ, which declined to prosecute anyone.

Treasury officials solicited prostitutes, took bribes from bankers

Department of Treasury officials solicited prostitutes, broke conflict-of-interest rules and accepted gifts from private sector executives, according to the department’s IG. One Office of Thrift Supervision employee “misused” government resources to solicit prostitutes from Craigslist in 2010, according to the IG.

Another Treasury staffer in the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency accepted golf fees and meals from bank executives. Other Treasury officials had conflicts of interest over contract bids and accepted improper gifts, the IG found. The U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Southern District of Georgia and the District of Columbia prosecuted no one.

 

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‘Trump Has Finally Inspired Me To Leave Islam’ — Fan Ditches Her Religion - from TRUNEWS

A Reddit user wrote a lengthy post to “The_Donald” subreddit on Wednesday detailing how she has “been secretly watching Trump and his speeches for the last few months and agreeing with what he says about Islam.”

“Until yesterday, I had not once removed my Hajib in my life while outside,” the author, a 19-year-old girl whose parents are Muslim immigrants, explained. “I tried to do it once when I was 10 years old, and my parents grounded me for a week.”

The author states, in her view, the idea of “moderate Muslims… is b*******.”

“There are no ‘assimilated Muslims.’ Throughout my life, I have been to three different mosques regularly,” she added. “Everyone there had some kind of animosity to America. Either they support jihadist actions outright or they refuse to condemn them, or they victim blame Christians and the west. Every time theres a terrorist attack, all over the media there are reports of Muslims who speak out against jihad or protest terrorists.”

ExMuslimMaga then explained how, after the Brussels terror attacks, “not a single” member of her mosque condemned the actions of the ISIS-inspired bombers.

 

 

 

mosque_2716605b

“This religion is ******* garbage. You want to know what people at my mosque say to me when I ask them about Trump or about terrorists crossing the border? ‘Don’t speak woman.’”

Finally, the author expressed outrage at the “liberals on campus apologizing for Muslims” and noted that “the Bernie girls going around wearing Hajibs ‘in solidarity’ … are officially a conquered people of the caliphate.”

“Only Trump is standing up to these animals. We don’t want a single one in our country. If Trump doesn’t win, I will happily die the last woman not covering her head. Liberals have no idea what Islam really is.”

Moderators on the subreddit claim to have independently verified the post’s authenticity.

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Major questions still not answered regarding Clinton emails - from TRUNEWS

It has been two months since the State Department announced that it was withholding in full 22 Hillary Clinton emails that contained “Top Secret” information, but one crucial question remains: was the information in those emails classified when they were originally written?

A State Department official tells The Daily Caller that the agency is still not prepared to provide an answer to that question. It’s unclear if the State Department has made the determination and is waiting to announce it or if the mater is still being reviewed.

On Jan. 29, State Department spokesman John Kirby announced the State Department was concurring with the intelligence community’s inspector general that the 22 emails — which spanned 37 pages — contained “Top Secret” information. Some of the information involved extremely sensitive “special access programs.”

DEM_2016_Clinton_Emails.JPEG-0e1b0_c0-108-3500-2148_s561x327
The announcement came as a surprise because it was the first time that the State Department had acknowledged that “Top Secret” information was contained on Clinton’s private email server, which is currently at the center of an FBI investigation.
At the time of the announcement — and in press briefings shortly after — Kirby declined to say whether the information in those emails was classified when they landed on Clinton’s server. Little has changed in the two months since.

A determination that the information was classified when sent would be a massive blow to Clinton, the odds-on favorite to win the Democratic presidential nomination.

The intelligence community’s inspector general has determined that one Clinton email contained “Top Secret” information when created. But Clinton — and more importantly, the State Department — have disputed that assessment. Clinton’s campaign has even gone as far as accusing the inspector general, I. Charles McCullough III, of being politically biased against Clinton. That despite McCullough III being an Obama appointee.

The State Department has classified more than 2,000 of Clinton’s 30,000-plus emails that Clinton gave the agency in Dec. 2014. But those classifications have all been retroactive. The State Department says that the information was not classified when it was sent to or from Clinton.

State has not relented in its position on the retroactive classifications, even though many have questioned it. Many of the Clinton emails contain foreign government information, a type of information that is “born classified.”

But as long as State stands by that assessment, Clinton will be able to use it as cover to argue that she did nothing wrong by using a personal email account hosted on a private email server.

She has said that none of the emails she sent or received were “marked” classified when they were sent or received. The talking point has proved convenient even though Clinton did sign a classified information nondisclosure agreement when she started working at the State Department that stated that there is no distinction between classified information that is “marked” or “unmarked.”

The State Department did not say when it expects to announce a decision on the classification status of the 22 emails. According to several recent reports, the FBI is wrapping up its investigation and will soon interview several Clinton aides who sent her classified information. Investigators will also soon begin seeking a time to interview Clinton, according to those reports.

 

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Obama could decide on greater troop presence in Iraq soon - from TRUNEWS

President Barack Obama will have the chance to decide on whether to increase the number of U.S. forces in Iraq in the “coming weeks,” the top U.S. general said on Wednesday.

The extra troops would bolster the capabilities of Iraqi forces preparing for a major offensive against the Islamic State militant group in Mosul, U.S. Marine General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a news briefing.

U.S. and Iraqi military officials have been discussing a plan to retake Mosul, which fell to Islamic State in June 2014, and how U.S. forces could support their efforts, Dunford said.

“Those recommendations are being made and the president will have an opportunity to make some decisions here in the coming weeks,” Dunford said. “I brought it to the secretary (Defense Secretary Ash Carter). The secretary will engage with the president.”

Dunford said last week he expected an increase in the level of U.S. forces in Iraq from the current 3,800, but that those decisions had not been finalized.

U.S. officials have said they hope to capitalize on recent battlefield successes against Islamic State, such as the retaking of Ramadi by Iraqi forces late last year.

“The timing really now is focused on the next phase of the campaign, which is towards Mosul, and maintaining the kind of momentum that we had in Ramadi,” Dunford said.

U.S. President Barack Obama returns via Marine One helicopter, after a day trip to Atlanta, at the White House in Washington March 29, 2016. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

U.S. President Barack Obama returns via Marine One helicopter, after a day trip to Atlanta, at the White House in Washington March 29, 2016. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

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Nuclear terrorism fears loom over Obama’s final atomic summit - from TRUNEWS

Just as fears of nuclear terrorism are rising, U.S. President Barack Obama’s drive to lock down vulnerable atomic materials worldwide seems to have lost momentum and could slow further.

With less than 10 months left in office to follow through on one of his signature foreign policy initiatives, Obama will convene leaders from more than 50 countries in Washington this week for his fourth and final Nuclear Security Summit, a high-level diplomatic process that started and will end on his watch.

A boycott by Russian President Vladimir Putin, apparently unwilling to join in a U.S.-dominated gathering at a time of increased tensions between Washington and Moscow, adds to doubts that the meeting will yield major results.

Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a state awarding ceremony at the Kremlin in Moscow

Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a state awarding ceremony at the Kremlin in Moscow

The recent deadly militant attacks in Brussels have fueled concern that Islamic State could eventually target nuclear plants and develop radioactive “dirty bombs,” a topic that may well be uppermost in leaders’ minds as they meet.

Despite significant progress by Obama in persuading dozens of countries to rid themselves of bomb-making materials or reduce and safeguard stockpiles, much of the world’s plutonium and enriched uranium remains vulnerable to theft.

FROM RUSSIA, NO LOVE

The absence of Russia, one of the biggest atomic powers, could detract from decisions reached in Washington this week.

Obama, in an opinion piece in The Washington Post, said, “Our massive Cold War nuclear arsenal is poorly suited to today’s threats. The United States and Russia – which together hold more than 90 percent of the world’s nuclear weapons – should negotiate to reduce our stockpiles further.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday Russia was skipping the summit because of a ”shortage of mutual cooperation” in working out the agenda.

While noting that Moscow had continued joint work on nuclear security, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Russia was going to “miss out on an opportunity” and that its no-show illustrated the “degree to which Russia is isolated.” Russia has chafed over U.S.-led sanctions over the Ukraine conflict.

Efforts to make the world safer have also been complicated by North Korea’s nuclear weapons advance and Pakistan’s move toward smaller, tactical nuclear weapons, which Washington fears may further destabilize an already volatile region.

All of this weighs on Obama’s agenda as he prepares to host world leaders on Thursday and Friday. He inaugurated the event nearly six years ago, after using a landmark speech in Prague in 2009 to lay out the goal of ridding the world of nuclear weapons as a central theme of his presidency.

There is no guarantee that once Obama, the driving force behind the initiative, leaves office in January his successor will keep the issue a high priority.

WHITE HOUSE TOUTS ACHIEVEMENTS BUT PROGRESS SLOWER

The White House previewed the summit by touting a list of achievements in the U.S.-led effort to tie down loose bomb-grade materials, and arms control advocates commend Obama for galvanizing an international response to the problem.

However, many say progress has slowed since the last summit in 2014 and countries such as Japan, India and Pakistan are preparing activities that could increase stockpiles of nuclear materials.

“The Nuclear Security Summits have had a positive effect, but the strategic goal of developing an effective global nuclear security system remains unachieved,” the Nuclear Threat Initiative, an anti-proliferation watchdog, said in a report this month.

According to the group’s Nuclear Security Index, which tracks the safety of weapons-usable nuclear materials, the past two years have brought no improvement in a range of measures, including on-site physical protection, security during transport and the ability to recover lost radioactive materials.

The report also said many countries’ nuclear reactors were vulnerable to online attacks. Seven of 24 countries with weapons-grade material, including China and Belgium, received the lowest possible score for their facilities’ cyber security.

Other critics point to a lack of an agreed-upon set of international standards for nuclear security or a mechanism for keeping tabs on common sources of radioactive material often found in hospitals and medical labs.

However, Laura Holgate, Obama’s adviser on weapons of mass destruction, cited commitments from 30 countries at the 2014 summit to secure their most dangerous material.

“The international community has made it harder than ever for terrorists to acquire nuclear weapons, and that has made us all more secure,” she told reporters before the summit.

“DIRTY BOMB” FEARS

Two of the Brussels suicide bombers secretly filmed the daily routine of the head of Belgium’s nuclear research and development program and considered an attack on a nuclear site in the country, according to Belgian media.

U.S. experts are less concerned about militants obtaining nuclear weapon components than about thefts of ingredients for a low-tech dirty bomb that would use conventional explosives to disperse radioactive material and sow panic.

U.S. officials said they had no doubt that Islamic State, which controls swaths of Syria and Iraq, was interested in obtaining such materials, but Holgate said U.S. authorities had no “explicit indications” that the group had tried to do so.

More commitments from world leaders to enhance nuclear security are expected at the summit but anti-proliferation groups worry that without further meetings at the highest levels, interest could wane and improvements could backslide.

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Roller-coaster quarter ends with stocks, oil under pressure - from TRUNEWS

World stocks fell for the first time in four days on Thursday as a roller-coaster quarter drew to a close after hammering the dollar and the pound but boosting gold and bonds.

European markets opened with shares FTEU3 down 1 percent, the dollar hovering near a seven-week low versus the euro EUR= and oil LCOc1 almost back where it started after a wild V-shaped ride.

Analysts were cautious to draw too many conclusions, but there was a sense the underlying currents of the past few months were still running strong.

An investor walks past an electronic screen showing the stock information at a brokerage house in Nanajing, Jiangsu Province, China, March 1, 2016. REUTERS/China Daily

An investor walks past an electronic screen showing the stock information at a brokerage house in Nanajing, Jiangsu Province, China, March 1, 2016. REUTERS/China Daily

Oil slipped to $39 a barrel on record U.S. stockpiles, China was put on a downgrade warning by S&P and new data showed euro zone inflation remains non-existent despite the European Central Bank’s redoubling its stimulus efforts.

That’s a large part of reason German government bonds are set for their best quarter since the height of the euro zone crisis in late 2011.

Bund yields DE10YT=TWEB were down another couple of ticks in early trading on Thursday. They have shed nearly 50 basis points since the start of the year, within touching distance of zero again.

This quarter “has all been about the three C’s. Commodities, China and central banks,” said Aberdeen Asset Management investment committee member Kevin Daly.

The currency market saw a resumptions of this week’s latest sell-off in the dollar, after cautious comments on Tuesday from the head of the Federal Reserve about the global outlook.

The dollar index .DXY dropped for a fourth day as the euro inched up to $1.1325 EUR=, putting the index on track for its biggest monthly decline since April 2015 and largest quarterly drop in five years.

“Obviously, Tuesday was very interesting from Janet Yellen and it had the desired effect.” said Charles Schwab managing director Kully Samra.

Sterling was steady in early deals, but it has suffered as concern grows that Britain will leave the European Union – its quarterly drop was the biggest in more than six years against the euro EURGBP=R and on a trade-weighted basis. March has been its best month in almost a year against the dollar, though GBP=D4.

The greenback’s recent weakness has also been a boon to the Australian and New Zealand dollars, both of which soared to nine-month highs.

GOLD SHINES BRIGHTEST

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS closed up 0.4 percent overnight, at its highest since early December. It eked out a gain of 1 percent this quarter, which saw equities rocked earlier by global growth worries, and particularly for the Chinese economy.

Japan’s Nikkei .N225 dropped 0.7 percent and saw an 11 percent loss for the quarter as the yen climbed against the dollar.

Shanghai shares .SSEC have been an even bigger loser, dropping about 15 percent since the start of the year, notwithstanding a gradual rebound since mid-January.

The big winner of 2016 so far has been safe-haven gold XAU=. It ticked up to $1,232 an ounce in early European trading and has jumped 16 percent this quarter, its best run in nearly 30 years. [GOL/]

“It is difficult to get bearish on gold at this stage given that the Fed has made it quite clear that it is reluctant to raise rates,” said INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir.

“As a result, the dollar is not rallying on constructive macro releases, and we have to suspect that its weaker tone will limit any substantial declines in gold for the time being.”

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Trump clarifies abortion stance, gets criticized by rivals - from TRUNEWS

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump said on Wednesday that women who end pregnancies should face punishment if the United States bans abortion, triggering a torrent of criticism from both sides of the abortion debate, including from his White House rivals.

After MSNBC broadcast a clip of an interview with Trump, the billionaire businessman rowed back his remarks, first saying that the abortion issue should be handled by states and later that doctors who performed abortions should be the ones held responsible.

“The doctor or any other person performing this illegal act upon a woman would be held legally responsible, not the woman,” Trump said in his last statement. “The woman is a victim in this case as is the life in her womb.”

Trump’s earlier statements drew heavy fire from abortion rights supporters and opponents alike.

Abortion has long been a divisive issue in American politics, even though the procedure was legalized in a Supreme Court ruling more than 40 years ago. Opposition to abortion has become a central plank in the platform of most conservative politicians.

Trump has won support from Republican voters for selling himself as a Washington outsider. But the New York real estate tycoon, who once supported abortion access, has come under pressure from conservatives to prove he is truly one of them. At the same time, he has drawn criticism for comments that offended women and minority groups.

“Of course, women shouldn’t be punished,” rival Republican candidate John Kasich said on Wednesday, saying he opposed abortion except in specific cases such as rape.

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, the third candidate for the Republican nomination for the Nov. 8 election, said Trump had not thought through the issue. “What’s far too often neglected is that being pro-life is not simply about the unborn child, it’s also about the mother,” he said in a statement.

DISCORD AMONG THE REPUBLICANS

Abortion rights supporters were equally incensed.

“What Donald Trump said was outrageous and dangerous. I’m constantly taken aback at the kinds of things that he advocates for,” Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton told MSNBC. “Once again, he has showed us who he is.”

Dawn Laguens of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the political arm of the women’s health group, called Trump “flat-out dangerous” in a statement.

Abortion was legalized in the United States in 1973, when the Supreme Court declared that a woman’s constitutional right to privacy protected her decision to end a pregnancy.

In the decades since, there have not been enough votes on the Supreme Court to reverse the ruling, but numerous states have passed laws aimed at restricting abortion.

In the MSNBC interview, which is to air in full later on Wednesday, Trump said if the United States banned abortion, some women would seek to end pregnancies illegally.

“There has to be some form of punishment,” he said. Asked what form he would advocate, Trump said: “That I don’t know.”

Anti-abortion groups said Trump’s comments were at odds with their own stance. “In all the positions the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has taken around the issue of abortion, they have not called for punishment of women who’ve had abortions,” said Don Clemmer, a spokesman for the group.

After the backlash started, Trump’s campaign sought to moderate his view. “This issue is unclear and should be put back into the states for determination,” Trump said in a statement provided to Reuters by email.

Later, Trump walked back his comments further to say doctors, not women, should be responsible.

 

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in De Pere, Wisconsin, United States, March 30, 2016. REUTERS/Jim Young

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in De Pere, Wisconsin, United States, March 30, 2016. REUTERS/Jim Young

 

The dust-up was evidence of further discord among Republicans over Trump’s candidacy. On Tuesday, both Trump and Kasich, the Ohio governor, abandoned pledges to support the party’s eventual nominee. Cruz did not explicitly abandon the pledge but said Trump would not be the nominee.

Trump had already outraged many women after he said Fox News’ Megyn Kelly had “blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever” when she asked tough questions in a televised debate, which many saw as a reference to menstruation.

According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll in March, 66 percent of all likely women voters said they had an “unfavorable” view of Trump. But among the 460 Republican women who responded to the poll, 62 percent had a “favorable” view of him, while 38 percent did not.

In other remarks that have set off furious reactions, Trump has called illegal immigrants from Mexico criminals and rapists and has pushed for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States.

In Wednesday’s MSNBC interview, Trump said he would not rule out the possibility of using nuclear weapons to combat Islamic State militants. “I would never take any of my cards off the table,” he said.

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Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Trump under siege: Baltimore thugs add to death threats in viral video - from TRUNEWS

(TRUNEWS) In a video posted to YouTube Monday, a group of Baltimore teens threatened to kill Donald Trump with hollow-point bullets from an AK-47.

Titled “CIT4DT” for “Choppa in the trunk, for Donald Trump” the various performers threatened to hit Trump in the head with a shovel, use a “Choppa” — slang for an AK-47 — to unload a 100 round drum of hollow point bullets on the Presidential frontrunner, and outright kill him if he visits Baltimore.

In an interview with the Baltimore Sun, one of the main “performers” Abdel Ibrahim, 19, AKA Dooley, said the video was made as a joke.

“We dropped that video for fun. It blew up like crazy, and everyone was like, ‘Make the song for real!’” Ibrahim, who lives in Essex, said Tuesday.

Ibrahim contested that the overtly threatening death threats, such as telling Donald Trump not to come to Baltimore “unless you want to die”, were not literal or serious.

“We didn’t mean no harm by it. We don’t got no **** chopper! My religion says don’t even kill. I wouldn’t kill an innocent fly,” Ibrahim said.

Other commentators in the video — who have yet to be identified aside from their Twitter handles Tlow and LorRoger — made mention of the attempt by an activist in Ohio to pull Trump offstage, and also referenced the violent Chicago riots which shutdown one of his rallies.

The East Baltimore teen with North Sudanese heritage claims to be a Muslim on his Twitter account description, as well as writing “All praise be to Allah.”

When Wesley Case from the Baltimore Sun asked Ibrahim who he would like to see as the next president, Ibrahim said Bernie Sanders was “cool” but added, “To be honest, I just want a good person, I don’t really pay attention to it. I just be hearing all of the stuff Trump be saying.”

Ibrahim said in the interview that he was partly inspired to create the song because of Trump’s November 2015 comments — on wanting to monitor mosques due to the rise in homegrown Islamic terrorism.

Black Lives Matter

Danny Givens Jr. of St. Paul, Minnesota speaks to a gathering crowd of the group Black Lives Matter before they march to city hall during a protest in Minneapolis, November 24, 2015. REUTERS/Craig Lassig

DEATH THREAT GOES VIRAL

On WorldStarHipHop, the video has over 309k views, Youtube has 63k views, Instagram account The Shade Room shows 38.1k likes, and there are 4.6k plays on Soundcloud.

On one Instagram account, which hosted the video, the commentator DJ Akademiks described the death threat, “Political protestors make a diss song condemning #donaldtrump for his dangerous rhetoric and divisive tactics on the campaign trail.”

The song even inspired a follow on titled “**** Donald Trump” released Wednesday from rappers Nipsey Hussle and YG, who started the track with audio of a Black Lives Matter protestor who was kicked out of Trump’s Valdosta State University rally for being disorderly.

In the song, which already has 73.1k listens on Soundcloud, Hussle and YG say Donald Trump’s comments have inspired violence, and make the performers want to enact “Black Panther” style violence and retribution.

Valdosta State University has become home to a large student-led Black Lives Matter movement, and the group routinely hosts American flag desecration events on the campus.

Tommy DiMassimo, the activist who attempted to rush the stage at Trump’s rally in Ohio, led a similar Black Lives Matter flag burning event at Wright State University. He is also a confirmed Bernie Sanders supporter.

Photographer Christopher Morris is removed by security officials as Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event in Radford, Virginia February 29, 2016. REUTERS/Chris Keane

Photographer Christopher Morris is removed by security officials as Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event in Radford, Virginia February 29, 2016. REUTERS/Chris Keane

DEATH THREAT TREND

Since Nov. 11, 2015, Trump has been assigned permanent Secret Service protection due to threats he has received while on the campaign trail.

The threats began to gain steam and severity starting in July 2015. Below, TRUNEWS took a list started by Douglas Ernst of WND and finished it with other relevant examples:

July 12th – Mexican drug kingpin El Chapo threatens to kill Trump on twitter

December – Mass calls were made on social media for Trump’s assassination.

December – Walmart discontinued its sales of Rick Ross’ “Black Market” album after it was discovered the musician had called for Trump’s execution in the lyrics.

March 3 – Emadeldin Elsayed visa is revoked and is jailed in Orange, CA after threatening online to kill Trump.

March 3 – Rapper Chris Brown made a call on Instagram (now deleted) for 50 member black mobs to provoke Trump supporters at his rallies.

March 4 – Mormon talk radio host Glenn Beck threatens to stab Trump to death live on air.

March 11 – Thousands of Soros-funded Black Lives Matter supporters flood the streets of Chicago and force Trump to cancel his rally as the riot becomes violent. Ambulances were blocked, police were assaulted, and protestors fired guns into the air in celebration.

March 12 – Tommy DiMassimo attempts to charge the stage at a Trump rally in Dayton, Ohio before he is stopped by FBI agents and subsequently charged with disorderly conduct and inducing a panic.

March 15 – Hacking group Anonymous threatens through a YouTube video to wage a digital war against Trump.

March 19 – Demonstrators in Salt Lake City strung up and beheaded an effigy of Trump.

March 25 – Two Georgia teens were arrested for making death threats to Trump on social media.

March 27 – An effigy of Trump is burned in Mexico city during Easter celebrations.

March 28 – A tombstone with Trump’s name on it was discovered in New York City’s Central Park.

CONCLUSION

Rick Wiles of TRUNEWS has said before that a communist movement is rising in the United States, and has threatened to shut down Washington D.C. in April under the banner of “Democracy Spring”.  Leftist groups planning to attend the protests such as Black Lives Matter have already proven they are willing and able to use violence and intimidation to achieve their goals.

Aside from the wind-up protestors Soros-funded groups such as MoveOn.org and DemocracyNow have emboldened, political analysts also fear establishment elite may attempt to assassinate Donald Trump.

The publisher of Armstrong Economics, Martin Armstrong, warned Monday in his article “When Will Trump Be Assassinated?” that the “establishment” —referring to New World Order — “does not appear willing to accept Trump under any conditions”. He  believes that they will either rig the convention or create an accident as part of their “standard operating procedure.”

The organized coup to rig the Republican nomination have been well documented by TRUNEWS previously, to include the GOP attempting to run a third party candidate and the organization  of secret meetings for bipartisan scheming against Trump.

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U.S. says it will not recognize South China Sea exclusion zone - from TRUNEWS

The United States has told China it will not recognize an exclusion zone in the South China Sea and would view such a move as “destabilizing,” U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work said on Wednesday.

U.S. officials have expressed concern that an international court ruling expected in the coming weeks in a case brought by the Philippines against China over its South China Sea claims could prompt Beijing to declare an air defense identification zone, or ADIZ, in the region, as it did in the East China Sea in 2013.

Work told an event hosted by the Washington Post that the United States would not recognize such an exclusion zone in the South China Sea, just as it did not recognize the one China established in the East China Sea.

China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion in global trade passes every year.

“We don’t believe they have a basis in international law, and we’ve said over and over (that) we will fly, sail and go wherever international law allows,” Work said.

“We have spoken quite plainly to our Chinese counterparts and said that we think an ADIZ would be destabilizing. We would prefer that all of the claims in the South China Sea be handled through mediation and not force or coercion,” he said.

Work spoke as Chinese President Xi Jinping prepared to visit Washington for a nuclear security summit this week.

 

Chinese President Xi Jinping, center, leaves after his bilateral meeting with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sideline of the Asian African Summit in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, April 22, 2015. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, center, leaves after his bilateral meeting with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sideline of the Asian African Summit in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, April 22, 2015. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

 

The United States has accused China of raising tensions in the South China Sea by its apparent deployment of surface-to-air missiles on a disputed island, a move China has neither confirmed nor denied.

China, for its part, has repeatedly accused the United States of militarizing the South China Sea through its freedom of navigation patrols in the region and the expansion of military alliances with countries such as the Philippines.

In February, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said his country’s South China Sea military deployments were no different from U.S. deployments on Hawaii.

Tensions between China and its neighbors Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan over sovereignty in the South China Sea have risen after Beijing embarked on significant reclamations on disputed islands and reefs in the area.

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U.S. to deploy armored brigade combat teams to Europe, blames Russia - from TRUNEWS

The U.S. military said on Wednesday that it would deploy rotations of U.S.-based armored brigade combat teams to Europe, part of a wider effort to counter what the United States sees as Russian aggression on the continent.

The teams will be on nine-month rotations starting in February 2017, and will conduct military exercises across Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary, according to a statement from U.S. European Command.

Their presence in Europe will be continuous and bring the total U.S. Army presence on the continent to three fully manned brigades, the military said.

Each unit rotating in will bring equipment that is more modern and up-to-date and will ultimately replace the current training equipment in Europe. A typical U.S. Army armored brigade has about 4,500 soldiers.

The decision means U.S. allies will “see a more frequent presence of an armored brigade with more modernized equipment in their countries,” said General Philip Breedlove, commander of U.S. European Command.

The United States has budgeted to sharply boost military training and exercises aimed at reassuring European countries concerned about Russia, which seized Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in 2014 and has worried NATO allies with its strategic bomber flights.

Russian military jets take off from the country's air base in Hmeymin, Syria to head back to Russia, part of a partial withdrawal ordered by President Vladimir Putin, in this still image taken from video March 15, 2016. REUTERS/Russian Ministry of Defence via REUTERS TV

Russian military jets take off from the country’s air base in Hmeymin, Syria to head back to Russia, part of a partial withdrawal ordered by President Vladimir Putin, in this still image taken from video March 15, 2016. REUTERS/Russian Ministry of Defence via REUTERS TV

Current equipment used in Europe will be upgraded and stored in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany, and will allow for “additional combat power, if and when needed,” the military said.

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Former Bush official calls war a ‘racket’ - from TRUNEWS

A former Bush administration official is speaking about war and how it’s helping corporate interests.

Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, who worked under the George W. Bush administration told Salon that war is a “racket”.

In 1961, President Eisenhower warned about the military-industrial complex, but Wilkerson said those predictions weren’t strong enough because today’s war machine “is more pernicious than Eisenhower ever thought it would be”, as reported by Salon.

He accused President Clinton of expanding NATO to help companies like Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Boeing increase their weapons sales.

 

Bill Clinton2_660_AP

 

Members of Congress go along with this because of the money they get from defense contractors and political PACS. He blamed both Democrats and Republicans.

In 2011, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton claimed, “It’s time for the United States to start thinking of Iraq as a business opportunity.”

Wilkerson said contractors and corporations have done more harm to U.S. international relations than anything else with fraud, corruption and waste.

The U.S. government protects the contractors despite the problems, according to the Huffington Post, because war makes money.

Contractors are also inadvertently helping insurgents because they are paying them for protection.  Extortion is a major source of funding for these groups, according to Financial Times.

 

 

 

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West criticized for lack of response to ISIS removal from Palmyra - from TRUNEWS

The West is being criticized by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad after Russian and Syrian forces helped remove ISIS from Palmyra.

Assad told Sputnik the recent victory was one of the biggest since the war began, but that Russia’s help was the main contributor to ISIS being pushed back.  He blamed the U.S.-led coalition for a “lack of seriousness”.

The U.S. and its allies want Assad removed from power while claiming the goal in Syria is to remove ISIS. President Obama promised the coalition would “degrade and destroy” the group, as reported by RT.  British Prime Minister David Cameron echoed the same sentiments.  Neither has spoken out about the importance of Palmyra.

“We are not so much surprised and disappointed by the position of Western colleagues as puzzled by their true intentions in regard to peaceful settlement in Syria,” said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, according to Russia Beyond the Headlines.

Spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova attends a news briefing in Moscow, Russia, October 6, 2015. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

Spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova attends a news briefing in Moscow, Russia, October 6, 2015. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

The Syrian president believes fighting terrorism is the key to ending the country’s crisis.

“There are no other ways to protect Syria than by fighting terrorism. Of course, there’s a political process too, but the fight against terrorism is key,” he told Sputnik.

Palmyra was seized by ISIS last year. It is an important cultural area, but many of the ruins were destroyed. It is a border city between Syria and Iraq.

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Land of the not-so free: IRS threatens to revoke passports - from TRUNEWS

(TRUNEWS) As tax season approaches a new law could cause Americans to have their passports confiscated by the U.S. State Department, as reported by Bloomberg.

In the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act signed by President Obama in December, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury gained permission to authorize the U.S. State Department to pursue or deny delinquent taxpayers their passport privileges. Under the provisions, those owing more than $50,000 to the IRS would receive written notice of the revocation, but only after the IRS has filed a lien against them.

Now $50,000 in delinquent taxes may seem like an outlandish and long accumulated bill, but under the IRS’s new rules a few small mistakes could easily create penalties in that amount.

IRS FINES

For example, the roughly 8 million Americans living overseas can be fined up to $10,000 for each violation — which may include not properly reporting a bank account, additional foreign income, or capital gain. This is currently being enforced on expats, but can easily be shifted to those living in the United States.

OBAMACARE FINES

This year, the Individual Mandate Penalty built into the Affordable Healthcare Act will be $695 per uninsured adult and $347.50 per uninsured child. This fine will increase annually based on consumer inflation, which could be between 2.37% (official) and 8% (real). This leaves the fine for 2017 anywhere from $711.47 (adult) / $355.74 (child) by official government numbers to $750.60 (adult) / $375.30 (child) by real numbers.

sgs-cpi

DEBT FINES

On top of current tax burdens, most middle-class Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. Many hold large amounts of individual debt, from upside down mortgages, to unpaid student and personal loans. Could these delinquent debts ever become criminalized, and could liens against an individuals IRS tax burden?

In February 2016, seven deputy U.S. Marshals arrested Paul Aker in Houston, Texas over a $1,500 outstanding student loan he took out 29 years ago. The Marshals arrived in full combat gear, carrying automatic weapons, as part of an ongoing plan to serve up to 1,500 warrants on people also delinquent on their loans, as reported by TRUNEWS.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the average student loan debt for a 2015 graduate was approximate $35,000. In total, a report by Nerd Wallet, Inc. found that the average America holds $15,762 in credit card debt, $168,614 in unpaid mortgages, $27,141 in auto loans, $48,172 in student loans, and $130,922 in miscellaneous debt.

So whether it be a direct fine from the IRS, an imposed fine from violating the provisions of the Affordable Healthcare Act, or a delinquent school loan, the government has solidified a way to trap people inside the United States and limit free movement.

Reverend Al Sharpton speaks during a news conference held to address local media reports regarding his relationship with the FBI during the 1980s in New York April 8, 2014. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

Reverend Al Sharpton speaks during a news conference held to address local media reports regarding his relationship with the FBI during the 1980s in New York April 8, 2014. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

RULES FOR SOME

As of 2015, the IRS says 8.7% of the general population is delinquent on their taxes. Ironically there are government employees and politicians well above that average which are seemingly being left un-harassed by the IRS.

The National Council on Disability had 11.54% of their employees delinquent on taxes while the Committee for Purchase from People Who Are Blind had 10% and the Civil Rights Commission 9.52%.

Also, among the delinquent list were career politicians Al Sharpton and Newt Gingrich, who have hidden behind the legislation they personally lobbied for, which protected individuals from debts and fines incurred by election committees during presidential runs.

A tattered U.S. flag flies over the foundation of a home destroyed by the storm surge of superstorm Sandy in the Staten Island borough neighborhood of Oakwood in New York in this November 28, 2012 file photo. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/Files

(REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/Files)

CONCLUSION

With rules like these being enforced on Americans — who only get rampant government overspending in return — is it any shock that since last year, the amount of Americans renouncing their citizenship has risen 25 percent to a record 4,279?

With 9,280 full-time employees hired by the IRS just this last year to keep up with the caseload of Obamacare and other new tax laws, America is quickly becoming the land of the not-so-free.

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