Amid Russia Airstrikes, a Putin Craze Takes Hold in Mideast

/0 Comments/in , /by

By Zeina Karamvivian Salama. Amid the ornate walls of Damascus’ famed Omayyad Mosque, preacher Maamoun Rahmeh stood before worshippers last week, declaring Russian President Vladimir Putin a “giant and beloved leader” who has “destroyed the myth of the self-aggrandizing America.”

Posters of Putin are popping up on cars and billboards elsewhere in parts of Syria and Iraq, praising the Russian military intervention in Syria as one that will redress the balance of power in the region.

The Russian leader is winning accolades from many in Iraq and Syria, who see Russian airstrikes in Syria as a turning point after more than a year of largely ineffectual efforts by the U.S.-led coalition to dislodge the Islamic State militants who have occupied significant parts of the two countries. (Read more from “Amid Russia Airstrikes, a Putin Craze Takes Hold in Mideast” HERE)

_______________________________

Putin Says Russia’s Campaign in Syria More Effective Than U.S.

By Jake Rudnitsky and Stepan Kravchenko. Russian President Vladimir Putin defended his air and cruise-missile strikes on terror targets in Syria as two Saudi Arabian officials softened their government’s position on the fate of Bashar al-Assad.

Putin discussed his Syria campaign on Sunday with Saudi Arabia’s Defense Minister Mohammed Bin Salman, who signaled a willingness to let al-Assad remain in power longer, while the foreign ministers of both nations also met to consider the situation in Syria.

Putin’s bombing campaign to support his ally Assad took the U.S. and NATO by surprise and overshadowed a flurry of diplomacy over how to tackle the conflict. As Russia builds up its military presence in Assad’s stronghold on the eastern Mediterranean Sea, U.S. President Barack Obama dismissed any notion that his leadership on the world stage was being challenged.

Now Russia is leading the diplomatic charge, with Putin in bilateral meetings with Abu Dhabi crown prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Saudi Arabia’s Prince Mohammed, who were in Sochi in southern Russia, site of a Formula 1 auto race. Putin again called for a political resolution emanating from Assad’s government. (Read more from this story HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Politicians Exploit School Shooting, Silent About Obama’s Bombing Victims

/3 Comments/in , /by

Following the recent Oregon school shooting, many politicians rushed to the microphones to call for new gun control laws. President Obama even called on gun control supporters to “politicize” the shooting, while some members of Congress worked to establish a special commission on gun violence.

The reaction to the shooting stands in stark contrast to the reaction to the U.S. military’s bombing of an Afghanistan hospital run by the international humanitarian (and Nobel Peace Prize winning) group Doctors Without Borders.

Our Nobel Peace Prize winning president did apologize to his fellow Nobel laureate for the bombing. However, President Obama has not “politicized” this tragedy by using it to justify ending military involvement in Afghanistan. No one in Congress is pushing for a special commission to examine the human costs of U.S. militarism, and the mainstream media has largely ignored Doctors Without Borders’ accusation that the bombing constitutes a war crime.

The reason for the different reactions to these two events is that politicians prefer to focus on events they can “politicize” to increase government power. In contrast, politicians ignore incidents that raise uncomfortable questions about U.S. foreign policy.

If the political and media elites were really interested in preventing future mass shootings, they would repeal the federal “gun-free” schools law, for example. By letting shooters know that their intended victims are defenseless, the gun-free schools law turns schoolchildren into easy targets. (Read more from “Politicians Exploit School Shooting, Silent About Obama’s Bombing Victims” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

This Is What Obama Is Blaming the Outcry From Hillary Clinton’s Email ‘Mistake’ on

/1 Comment/in , /by

President Obama said Sunday that Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server to conduct her correspondence while secretary of state was a “mistake,” but denied that U.S. national security had been jeopardized as a result.

“She made a mistake. She has acknowledged it. I do think that the way it’s been ginned up is in part because of politics,” Obama said in an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes.” “I think she’d be the first to acknowledge that maybe she could have handled the original decision better and the disclosures more quickly.”

Obama added that he was not initially aware that Clinton was using the private server, which was kept at her home in Chappaqua, N.Y., as opposed to a professional data center. When CBS’ Steve Kroft pointed out that the Obama administration has prosecuted people for having classified material on their private computers, the president said he didn’t get the impression there was an intent to “hide something or to squirrel away information.”

The FBI is currently investigating whether classified information that passed through Clinton’s server was mishandled. Last week, the bureau extended its investigation to obtaining data from a second tech company, which had been hired by another firm in 2013 to back up data on Clinton’s server. (Read more from “This Is What Obama Is Blaming the Outcry From Hillary Clinton’s Email ‘Mistake’ on” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Leaked Letter Adds Intrigue, Confusion to Vatican Bishops Meeting

/0 Comments/in , /by

By Philip Pullella. A gathering of world Roman Catholic bishops was thrown into confusion on Monday with the leak of a letter from conservative cardinals to Pope Francis bitterly complaining that the meeting was stacked against them.

It was published by the same Italian journalist whose press credentials were stripped by the Holy See last June after he ran a leaked copy of the pope’s major encyclical on the environment.

The gathering, or synod, of more than 300 bishops, delegates and observers, including some married couples, is discussing how the 1.2 billion-member Church can confront challenges facing the modern family.

The bishops are debating ways to defend the traditional family and make life-long marriage more appealing to young people, and at the same time reach out to disaffected Catholics such as homosexuals, co-habiting couples and the divorced.

L’Espresso newsweekly, which published the English-language letter in full, said 13 cardinals signed the letter and one of them hand-delivered it to the pope last week. (Read more from “Leaked Letter Adds Intrigue, Confusion to Vatican Bishops Meeting” HERE)

________________________________

Rebel Cardinals Accuse Pope of Stacking Synod Cards

By Agence France-Presse. Conservative cardinals have accused Pope Francis of stacking the cards against them in an ongoing battle over issues including the Church’s approach to gays and to divorced and remarried believers, it emerged Monday.

In a letter sent to the pontiff on October 5, the opening day of a Church synod on the family, a group of cardinals described procedures for three weeks of discussions as “designed to facilitate predetermined results on important disputed questions.”

The ostensibly private (but quickly leaked) letter was delivered to the pope by Australian Cardinal George Pell and reportedly signed by peers including the archbishops of Toronto and New York, Thomas Collins and Timothy Dolan, and arch-Vatican conservative Carlo Caffarra, the archbishop of Bologna.

A day later, without making any reference to the letter, Francis made an unscheduled intervention in the synod discussions to warn participants not to be taken in by “spiritually unhelpful” conspiracy theories.

And in comments that now look like a slapdown of a challenge to his authority, he also pointedly stressed that he had personally approved the methodology for three weeks of talks intended to reshape Catholic teaching on a broad range of questions related to family life. (Read more from this story HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Watch: Chelsea Clinton Asked If Bill Preys on Young Girls, This Is Her Response

/5 Comments/in , /by

Conservative activist Robert Morrow attended Chelsea Clinton’s book signing in Austin, Texas Friday with camera in hand.

“Has your mother ever told you that you’re the daughter of Webb Hubbell, and not Bill Clinton,” he said while Chelsea was looking down, signing a copy of “It’s Your World: Get Informed, Get Inspired & Get Going.”

The question was in reference to a long-time rumor alleging Chelsea was the result of an affair between the Clinton lawyer and Hillary . . .

Referring to Clinton’s book being geared towards kids, Morrow asked, “Would you say Bill Clinton also targets teenage girls, except for sexual reasons?”

“I would say my book is really resonating with kids,” Clinton responded. “I was at the Ann Richards School earlier today and I’m so grateful that it’s resonating to the young girls and the young boys that I’ve been talking to across the country.” (Read more from “Watch: Chelsea Clinton Asked If Bill Preys on Young Girls, This Is Her Response” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Trump Says People Will Turn off Today’s Democratic Primary Debate Because He’s Not in It – You’ll Never Guess Who Agrees

/4 Comments/in , /by

Tuesday’s first Democratic presidential primary debate will be a low-ratings snoozefest, according to Donald Trump – because he won’t be on the stage in Las Vegas.

And a CNN executive is hinting that he might be completely right.

‘I think people are going to turn it on for a couple of minutes and then fall asleep,’ The Donald said Monday morning on ‘Fox and Friends’ . . .

‘I don’t want to say this in a braggadocious way, but a person at CNN and a couple of other people said, ‘We have to put Donald Trump in this debate. We’re going to die with it’,’ Trump claimed.

‘Let’s see,’ he said. ‘I don’t think they’ll do badly, because there is a curiosity factor. I don’t think they’re going to do great, and I think a lot of people will turn off after a little while.’ (Read more from “Trump Says People Will Turn off Today’s Democratic Primary Debate Because He’s Not in It – You’ll Never Guess Who Agrees” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Twin Daughters of Air Force Vet Barred From Wearing Jackets With Logo to School

/4 Comments/in , /by

By J.D. Miles. From the flag outside their Providence Village home to the photos inside, the Rolens are a proud military family.

Eleven-year-old twins Kaidence and Abigail were even born on an Air Force base.

So the new fall jackets they bought to wear to Aubrey Middle School shouldn’t be a surprise.

But the girls didn’t expect the reaction they got from teachers once they stepped into their classrooms.

“She yelled at me and said that’s out of the dress code and that she would get me in trouble if I wore something out of dress code,” says Kaidence. (Read more from “Twin Daughters of Air Force Vet Barred From Wearing Jackets With Logo to School” HERE)

_____________________________________

School Says Air Force Logo Violates Dress Code

By Todd Starnes. A Texas school district threatened to punish two patriotic sisters who refused to remove hoodie-style jackets emblazoned with the U.S. Air Force logo . . .

[These] twin daughters were told that the Air Force logo violated the dress code policy of the Aubrey Independent School District. The 11-year-old girls were told they could face disciplinary action if they wore the jackets on school property.

“These girls were born on an Air Force base so you can imagine my reaction,” Mr. Rolen told me. “It’s absurd” . . .

In a statement to the NBC television affiliate in Dallas the school district defended itself against accusations they were being unpatriotic.

“Aubrey ISD has a student dress code to follow, just as our military personnel are expected to wear uniforms,” Superintendent Debby Sanders said in the statement. “The dress code, which has been in place for over a decade, instills pride, discipline and levels the playing field for students to allow them to focus on learning.” (Read more from this story HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Deleting Genes Could Boost Lifespan by 60 per Cent, Say Scientists

/0 Comments/in , /by

The secret of extending life by decades may lie in switching off certain genes, scientists believe, after showing that small genetic tweaks can make organisms live 60 per cent longer.

Ten years of research by the Buck Institute for Research on Ageing and the University of Washington has identified 238 genes that, when silenced, increase the lifespan of yeast cells.

Many of the genes are present in mammals, including humans, suggesting that switching them off could dramatically increase lifespan.

“This study looks at aging in the context of the whole genome and gives us a more complete picture of what aging is,” said lead author Dr Brian Kennedy.

“Almost half of the genes we found that affect aging are conserved in mammals. (Read more from “Deleting Genes Could Boost Lifespan by 60 per Cent, Say Scientists” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Hillary Clinton: ‘I’m Really Not Even a Human Being’

/8 Comments/in , /by

Hillary Clinton declared in a new interview that she is a robot, implying that humanity should despair and bend to her superior A.I. will by voting for her in the 2016 election.

The shocking admission came during an interview with the BuzzFeed podcast Another Round, in which an astute interviewer noted that the Democrat presidential candidate did not sweat during the interview. Other reporters and Clinton associates have remarked upon Clinton’s remarkable ability to not sweat, even when working the rope line on a hot Iowa day. “I don’t mean sweat because you’re nervous,” said host Tracy Clayton. “I just mean physically. I’m genuinely curious what your deodorant is.”

After some banter over the thermostat and the traditional One Weird Fact about Clinton (“The weirdest thing about me is that I don’t sweat”), BuzzFeed foolishly suggested that Clinton was a robot . . .

HILLARY CLINTON: You guys are the first to realize that I’m really not even a human being. I was constructed in a garage in Palo Alto a very long time ago. People think that, you know, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, they created it. Oh no. I mean, a man whose name shall remain nameless created me in his garage.

ANOTHER ROUND: Are there more of you?

(Read more from “Hillary Clinton: ‘I’m Really Not Even a Human Being'” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Freaky: Aspiring Vampires Enjoy a Blade-Themed ‘Blood Rave’

/8,421 Comments/in , /by

Terminal 5 was beset with hundreds of would-be vampires Friday night for a classic Blood Rave—inspired by Wesley Snipes’ 1998 film Blade.

Put on by BBQ Films and tied to the weekend-long ruckus that is NYC Comic Con, the Blood Rave featured a live action performance of scenes from the film, with ticket-buyers encouraged to dress the part of hemoglobin-craving vampires. Also adding to the ambiance was electronic music legends The Crystal Method, who headlined the evening.

But the star attractions were Blade… and all the (fake) blood. Just before midnight, a squadron of technicians suited up with body-mounted sprayers surrounded the crowd and, on cue, soaked the writhing masses with synthetic blood. No leather corset or bare tattooed back was spared as the ravers seethed with fanged glee beneath the crimson rain. For a few hours, it was truly weird and wonderful to see a sea of giddy daywalkers living out fantasy bloodlust.

When asked what it was he loved about Blade so much, one happy raver screamed “He fears nothing!” Numerous faux-gore-soaked attendees told Gothamist that they had seen the film and its sequels over a hundred times. (Read more from “Freaky: Aspiring Vampires Enjoy a Blade-Themed ‘Blood Rave'” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.