geek tragedy
geek tragedy's JournalSanders praises Trump for nixing TPP, delighted to work with him on pro-worker policies
Source: Washington Post
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt), who campaigned hard against the Trans-Pacific Partnership in last year’s Democratic presidential primaries, praised President Trump for an executive order to officially pull the United States out of the deal.
“I am glad the Trans-Pacific Partnership is dead and gone,” Sanders said. “For the last 30 years, we have had a series of trade deals – including the North American Free Trade Agreement, permanent normal trade relations with China and others – which have cost us millions of decent-paying jobs and caused a ‘race to the bottom’ which has lowered wages for American workers. Now is the time to develop a new trade policy that helps working families, not just multinational corporations. If President Trump is serious about a new policy to help American workers, then I would be delighted to work with him.”
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/01/23/sanders-praises-trump-for-nixing-tpp-delighted-to-work-with-him-on-pro-worker-policies/?utm_term=.616c4af34cee
Rule number 1 when in the minority in DC: Don't praise the majority. EVER.
America, You Look Like an Arab Country Right Now. Welcome to the club.
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/01/america-you-look-like-an-arab-country-right-now-214678
We have been watching the drama of your presidential elections with much interest and curiosity for some time now. It’s hard not to notice the many similarities between our own countries and yours. From fiery inauguration protests and bitter disputes about crowd size, to the intelligence service’s forays into politics and the rise of right-wing extremists, it appears that you are traveling very much in our direction—and at the same time, like us, becoming a curiosity for foreign correspondents trying to explain what’s happening in your region to the world. You might be distraught about where you are headed, but we aren’t! Perhaps this will be an opportunity to put our differences aside and recognize how similar we are.
Let’s start at the beginning. During the campaign we were surprised to learn of the influence that the head of the American mukhabarat (state security, i.e. your FBI) can wield over the election process, simply by choosing to pursue a certain line of investigation. As you may know, this has been a constant feature of our politics since independence. Our surprise turned to astonishment when we started to witness the blossoming feud between the then-president-elect and the American mukhabarat, another important feature of Arab politics.
On top of that, we started to hear reports of foreign meddling in your elections, which some say may have influenced the result. Of course, we are quite familiar with that situation, too, not least because of the efforts of your own administrations over the decades. Yet it came as a surprise to hear talk of “foreign hands” and “secret agendas” in a country like America. We sympathize.
On the bright side, this was also the moment that the conspiracy theories started to spread. You know us; we’re quite fond of conspiracy theories—particularly when they involve plots by external powers—and consider ourselves connoisseurs of the genre. Your plots are a bit rough around the edges, we have to admit, but top marks for creativity. Was the election of Trump a Russian conspiracy? Was talk of the Russian conspiracy a liberal conspiracy to undermine Trump? Did the mukhabarat leak information to help Trump? Did the mukhabarat leak information to hurt Trump? Was media coverage of Trump’s mukhabarat conspiracy theories part of a liberal conspiracy theory to bring him down? They’re all so deliciously complex and open-ended, much like our own.
Things started to get even more interesting when your liberals started to rally around the heroic CIA branch of the mukhabarat in order to fend off the threat of extremists in power and external meddling from Russia. You will recall that we have had similar experiences in recent years in Egypt, Tunisia and Syria, and we were disappointed when the world didn’t understand our position. Nonetheless, it was moving to see these public displays of affinity for state security, the enlightened guardians of the nation.
Painful precisely because it's on point.
Trumps Health Plan Would Convert Medicaid to Block Grants, Aide Says
Source: NY Times
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s plan to replace the Affordable Care Act will propose giving each state a fixed amount of federal money in the form of a block grant to provide health care to low-income people on Medicaid, a top adviser to Mr. Trump said in an interview broadcast on Sunday.
The adviser, Kellyanne Conway, who is Mr. Trump’s White House counselor, said that converting Medicaid to a block grant would ensure that “those who are closest to the people in need will be administering” the program.
A block grant would be a radical change. Since its creation in 1965, Medicaid has been an open-ended entitlement. If more people become eligible because of a recession, or if costs go up because of the use of expensive new medicines, states receive more federal money.
If Congress decides to create block grants for Medicaid, lawmakers will face thorny questions with huge political and financial implications: How much money will each state receive? How will the initial allotments be adjusted — for population changes, for general inflation, for increases in medical prices, for the discovery of new drugs and treatments? Will the federal government require states to cover certain populations and services? Will states receive extra money if they have not expanded Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act, but decide to do so in the future?
Read more: https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/01/22/us/politics/donald-trump-health-plan-medicaid.html
He is a typical Republican who wants poor people to die of preventable causes.
In video praising Trump, Jerusalem mayor says Obama surrendered to radical Islam
At least they're now being honest about who they are ...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/01/19/in-video-praising-trump-jerusalem-mayor-says-obama-surrendered-to-radical-islam/?utm_term=.68e204845842
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat released a video that disparages Obama and welcomes President-elect Donald Trump.
...
Barkat’s video pitch begins (in Hebrew, with subtitles):
“My fellow citizens, during the last eight years, the Obama administration has pushed for a settlement-building freeze, has surrendered to the Iranians and radical Islam and abandoned Israel to a hostile U.N. resolution.”
...
The video continues, with Barkat saying: “This week President Donald Trump enters the White House. Let’s all welcome him together as our friend.”
Then the viewer hears some rousing music, sees Trump mount a stage, watches a crowd cheering wildly and cuts to Trump addressing the American Israel Public Affairs Committee lobby in Washington, vowing, “We will move the American embassy to the eternal capital of the Jewish people, Jerusalem …”
Barkat follows: “ … Thereby conveying a clear message to the world: Jerusalem is Israel’s undivided capital. Join me in signing a letter supporting President Trump’s decision to move the embassy to Jerusalem and his decisions supporting Israel. Let’s make the U.S. and Israel relationship great again!”
Trump is indeed the strongest supporter of Israel to ever serve as US President, and is the most ideologically aligned with that country's ruling majority.
In final remarks, Obama says chance for two-state solution passing by
http://www.timesofisrael.com/in-final-remarks-obama-says-chance-for-two-state-solution-passing-by/...
“I don’t see how this issue gets resolved in a way that maintains Israel as both Jewish and a democracy, because if you cannot have two states, then in some form or fashion you are extending an occupation,” he said.
“Functionally, you end up having one state in which millions of people are disenfranchised and operate as second-class occupants, or residents. You can’t even call them citizens necessarily.”
...
“Israeli voters and Palestinians need to understand that this moment may be passing,” Obama said. “And hopefully that then creates a debate inside both Israeli and Palestinian communities that won’t resolve immediately in peace but at least will lead to a more sober assessment of what the alternatives are.”
I'm sure Bibi and Ivanka Trump's husband are up to the challenge....
74% Republicans, 33% Democrats back Israel over Palestinians poll
It's almost as if supporting Israel is a rightwing position...
http://www.timesofisrael.com/74-republicans-33-democrats-back-israel-over-palestinians-poll/
While 74 percent of Republicans sympathize more with Israel than the Palestinians, the number is 33 percent for Democrats, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted Jan. 4-9 and published Thursday.
Eleven percent of Republicans sympathize with the Palestinians over Israel, and 15 percent sympathize with neither, both sides or did not express a view. Among Democrats, those numbers were 31 percent and 35 percent, respectively.
The findings represent the first time in surveys conducted by Pew that Democrats were about as likely to sympathize with the Palestinians as with Israel. Among “liberal Democrats,” 38 percent of respondents sympathized more with the Palestinians while 26 percent sympathized more with Israel.
Israel +63 amongst Republicans, + 2 amongst Democrats
Trump will be crushed when he learns Wikileaks
promotes the free flow of documents rather than ...
Obama: Netanyahu talks of two-state solution but his actions undermine it
It appears he's acknowledged that the Rubicon has been crossed.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/obama-unfettering-settlement-support-will-create-worsening-situation/
“If the notion is that unfettered support for Israel — or, more specifically, support for the Netanyahu government’s policies, no matter what they are, no matter how inimical they may be to the prospects for peace — if that what’s qualifies as a good friend, then I think that we will see a worsening situation over time,” Obama said. “Because the truth is that this won’t get solved unless the Israeli people and the Palestinians want to solve it.”
...
He warned that the “prospects for peace are fading away… in small increments,” in part because of the West Banks settlements eroding the possibility of a viable future Palestinian state alongside a Jewish one.
...
Asked if Netanyahu could look forward to having a friend in the White House when Trump comes to power, Obama said: “He had a good friend, just Bibi did not always recognize it.”
“He had a good friend in the last eight years,” Obama added.
Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon responded to the Obama interview by saying that “Despite the close cooperation between Israel and the United States during the years of the Obama administration, it is unfortunate that this presidency will be remembered for the disturbing sight of the Security Council members applauding as the anti-Israel resolution was adopted.
“The fact that Israel was left on its own in the Security Council by President Obama cannot be changed.”
Israel will get the enabler it always wanted in Trump, as the friend it rejected leaves office in 10 days.. Be careful what you wish for.
Barely a fifth of Jewish Israelis think Obama was friendly to Israel, poll shows
Obama viewed as more anti-Israel than Putin, an ally of Assad and Iran.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/barely-a-fifth-of-jewish-israelis-think-obama-was-friendly-to-israel-poll-shows/
Fifty-seven percent of Jewish Israelis said Obama has been “moderately unfriendly” or “not friendly at all,” with only 11% or Arab Israelis sharing that belief. Conversely, 22% of the Jewish public said the outgoing president had been friendly while 64% or Arab Israelis said the same.
...
Asked, “In the wake of the Security Council’s resolution, in your opinion, should or should not Israel cease construction in the territories?” some 62% of the Jewish public replied that building should continue and 71% of Jewish respondents said that under the Trump administration Israel will be able to keep building in the settlements. In the Arab public that rate was even higher, at 81%.
The latest poll of 600 respondents — 500 Jewish and 100 Arab — also looked into the public’s position on the attitude toward Israel of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The prevailing opinion (41%) is that his attitude to Israel is neutral, with 26% of respondents saying his attitude toward Israel is unfriendly and 19% describing it as friendly. Among the Arab Israeli respondents, however, 55% said they regard Putin as a friend of Israel.
The settlements and Israel are one and the same now. Israelis have made it pretty clear--if you oppose the settlements and expanding them, you're no friend of Israel.
The Obama approach to Israel has proven to be a political as well as a policy failure. If one wants credit for supporting Israel, one has to sound like Trump from now on. If one isn't willing to be like Trump, then they're going to be considered anti-Israel.
Vladimir Putin is more popular inside Israel than is Barack Obama. Think about that, American liberals.
NYPD captain not 'too worried' about spikes in rapes because they weren't 'true stranger rape'
Source: Raw Story
Captain Peter Rose, head of the 94th Precinct which covers Greenpoint, said he wishes the department could do more to help victims, but he added it really becomes a balancing act for the investigators.
"Some of them were Tinder, some of them were hookup sites, some of them were actually coworkers," he said before insisting the department is relatively unconcerned about the dramatic increase in rape and attempted rape in the neighborhood.
"It's not a trend that we're too worried about because out of 13 [sex attacks], only two were true stranger rapes," Rose said. At a Community Council meeting Wednesday night, Rose expanded on what types of rape he believes "are the troubling ones," concluding that people who participate in stranger rapes as opposed to acquaintance rape have "like, no moral standards."
"[The reported rapes are] not total abomination rapes where strangers are being dragged off the streets," Rose told the meeting, according to DNAinfo. "If theres a true stranger rape, a random guy picks up a stranger off the street, those are the troubling ones. That person has, like, no moral standards."
Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/2017/01/nypd-captain-not-too-worried-about-spikes-in-rapes-because-they-werent-true-stranger-rape/
The spirit of Todd Akin lives on.
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