The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) just said NBC News "misrepresented facts and confused the public" in regard to Russian interference in the US election system.
The post DHS Just Admitted Mainstream Media Has ‘Misrepresented Facts’ on Russian Interference appeared first on The Free Thought Project.
The revolution will not be televised. Or, at least, it will be the revolution that is supposed to happen according to the CIA.
The post It’s Official: News Will Now Come ‘Directly from the CIA’ as Fmr-Director Hired by NBC appeared first on The Free Thought Project.
While most conservative Americans are aware of the fact that both Hollywood and the mainstream media outright hate them, NBC has taken it to a whole new level with a recent episode of their highly popular police procedural Law & Order: SVU depicting the violent rape of a conservative journalist whose attacker is eventually let go.
In what is essentially a liberal rape fantasy, the show follows conservative personality Martha Cobb who is seen delivering a speech to a crowd of Trump supporters, depicted as racists of course, that rips liberal snowflakes and their politically correct views.
Cobb’s speech is cut short when a gang of Antifa protesters shows up and begins to clash with the mob of white supremacists. As the violence amps up, Cobb disappears only to reappear in a later scene unconscious in an alley after being beaten and raped by one of the hard-left protesters.
Shockingly, the show then depicts the NYPD detectives tasked with investigating the horrific crime debating Cobb’s political views as if they somehow mattered in deciding whether or not Cobb deserved the attack and whether her attacker should be brought to justice.
The detectives “argue” whether or not Cobb’s opposition to Planned Parenthood and her position on so-called Dreamers led to the attack.
The openly liberal detectives eventually catch the Antifa member responsible for the sexual assault who used a protest sign to “mutilate” Cobb. Cobb not only points out the attacker in a police lineup, his DNA is also found under her fingernails.
Cased closed? Not in the sick world that is liberal Hollywood as the show wouldn’t be complete without a fake white supremacist leader being blamed for the entire thing.
Sadly, in this brave new world that is liberal identity politics, the hate for conservatives runs so deep that NBC felt the need to insert a fake alt-right leader into the show which somehow confuses the case to the point that Cobb’s OWN LAWYER literally gives up and calls for her attacker to be let free.
Interestingly, the fictional female conservative journalist seems to strongly resemble at least two different actual conservative women who have both been highly critical of Antifa while being viciously attacked in the mainstream media.
In an article about the episode, Infowars points to multiple clues that seem to indicate that the sexual assault victim in the show is based on their own reporter, Millie Weaver. Keep in mind that the title of the episode is literally the name of the website that Weaver works for.
NBC’s Law & Order: SVU aired an episode titled “Info Wars” that slanders Trump supporters and depicts the rape of a conservative journalist by an Antifa protester.
The episode, released on Jan. 31, begins at the fictional Hudson University where conservative activist Martha Cobb, who is a direct knockoff of Infowars’ Millie Weaver, is speaking to a MAGA hat-wearing crowd holding Pepe and “CNN is ISIS” signs when a mob of Antifa demonstraters attacks her, cutting the speech short.
[…]
From titling the show “Info Wars,” to placing signs reading “CNN is ISIS,” (an Infowars slogan) to mimicking Infowars reporter Millie Weaver, there is little doubt that NBC is demonizing the nation’s leading independent media outlet.
For their part, Breitbart News seems to believe that the female conservative portrayed in the show is actually based on pundit Ann Coulter, a claim that was seemingly backed up by the shows own writer.
NBC police procedural Law & Order: SVU depicted the gruesome rape of a fictional conservative pundit, who eerily resembles author Ann Coulter, in Wednesday’s politically charged episode titled Info Wars.
[…]
On Wednesday, SVU writer Robert B. Cohen responded to a tweet by Ann Coulter. “Timely. #InfoWars,” Cohen wrote in response to Coulter’s tweet about a California city government’s vote to remove a Christopher Columbus statue from city hall.
Timely. #InfoWars https://t.co/swXH6xnEfO
— (((Robert B Cohen))) (@RobertBCohen) January 31, 2018
That’s right, a writer for the show, Robert Cohen, actually CONFIRMED that the episode was about Coulter while claiming that it was “timely” because Coulter is protesting illegal immigration just as the episode came out.
Or, in other words, Cohen just publicly admitted that the episode is based on a sick fantasy that involves conservative women being sexual assaulted for their political beliefs. (Cohen himself is a hardcore anti-Trump propagandist)
To top it off, other actresses who worked on the episode are actually applauding the show for publishing a liberal rape fantasy targeting conservatives.
“Below is an example of Infowars reporter Millie Weaver covering a violent Antifa protest.”
"Tick tock."
In a mysterious tweet yesterday evening to his 3.19 million followers, Fox News" Sean Hannity offered a preview of what is to come from his show next week, warning that he "will expose" CNN and NBC News for what he calls a "#EpicFail."
He followed up last night"s tweet...
One week from tonight i will expose @CNN and @NBCNews news for #EpicFail. Happy New Year to all irredeemable deplorables. 2018, cling to God Faith Bibles religion.
— Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) December 27, 2017
With another tonight, highlighting the "fake news" being spewed forth from various media entities...
So @CNN fake news, HRC’s campaign PAID for the RUSSIAN lies in the dossier. That sounds like COLLUSION!! Lies paid for, to RIG an election. https://t.co/b9G6k41LMT
— Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) December 27, 2017
We will just have to be patient to discover what he has in store for CNN and NBC, but as The Hill notes, Hannity has focused on what he calls "the destroy Trump fake news media" on most nights during his Fox News prime-time opinion program, particularly during his opening monologues that invariably include clips of CNN and MSNBC hosts and pundits going after the president in hyperbolic fashion.
Like many cable news hosts this week, Hannity is on vacation the week between Christmas and New Year"s Day. He will return to the airwaves on Jan. 2.
The past year has been a good one for the 55-year-old staunch conservative, with his candidate of choice in Trump taking office, his move from 10 p.m. to the more-watched time slot of 9 p.m. and his finish on top of the cable news ratings race following the move, averaging 3.2 million viewers.
A day after Amtrak Train 501 derailed yesterday during its first trip on a new high-speed rail line, authorities are releasing more information about what Amtrak and the NTSB can do to prevent future accidents.
Last night, authorities revealed that – contrary to initial reports that an object on the tracks might’ve caused the accident – Train 501 had been traveling 80 mph around a bend where the recommended speed was 30 mph. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating whether the engineer was distracted by another employee.
The excess speed is shown in this animated simulation released by ABC...
Animation of how the #Amtrak train derailed near DuPont yesterday, from @ABC #LiveOnK2 pic.twitter.com/arHZAKg0No
— KATU News (@KATUNews) December 19, 2017
And, in another eerie clip, an NBC reporter covering the launch of the new high-speed train line has published footage recorded inside the train on the day of the accident. The reporter and his cameraman were spared when they got off at a stop just 10 minutes before the train tumbled onto Interstate I-5.
NEW: I shot this video on board the #Amtrak501 in the 6 o clock hour this morning. We got off after shooting the video. This specific car on the train derailed minutes after we shot this video. pic.twitter.com/3g25PvMAMe
— Alex Rozier (@AlexRozierK5) December 18, 2017
The reporter later tweeted that he interviewed the same passenger both on the train and later in the hospital, where he was being treated for a broken back.
Just last month, the NTSB reported that Amtrak had a “weak safety culture,” according to the New York Times. That conclusion stemmed from the fatal accident outside Philadelphia in 2016 that killed eight people and seriously injured dozens more.
During a Tuesday news conference held by the NTSB, a member of the board said that a newer safety system was not in place during the deadly train crash near Seattle because of a Congressional extension.
Bella Dinh-Zarr spoke during a Tuesday news conference about the Monday derailment that killed at least three people, saying that Positive Train Control technology, which was mandated by a 2008 law and is supposed to prevent train-to-train collisions as well as slow and stop trains, was not yet installed on the train line.
There were plans to install the PTC system for the train, which had another safety system in place, but Congress extended a 2015 deadline to be met by the end of 2018, she said.
Sound Transit said Tuesday that the company was on track to have the system installed ahead of a December 2018 federal deadline, according to the local NBC affiliate.
To be sure, it clearly wasn’t installed quickly enough. What’s worse, the circumstances of the crash mirror those of the 2016 crash. In that instance, the train was traveling at 100 mph when it entered a bend in the track, and quickly derailed.
WWE owner Vince McMahon is considering bringing back his ill-fated football league, the XFL, amid sagging NFL viewership and a racially charged kneeling epidemic of players who won"t stand for the National Anthem which began during the summer 2016 pre-season. In a recent "30 for 30" documentary about the XFL, McMahon and his partner in the 2001 endeavor - former NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol, pondered the possibility of relaunching the league once promoted as having fewer rules and rougher play than other leagues.
Vince McMahon
“I don’t know what it would be,” McMahon told Ebersol, adding “I don’t know if it’s gonna be another XFL or what it may be or how different I would make it. It seems like in some way it would tie in either with the NFL itself or the owners.”
Then, on Friday, journalist and pro wrestling fan Brad Shepard tweeted "EXCLUSIVE: Vince McMahon is looking to bring back the XFL and may announce it on January 25th, 2018." Then on Saturday, Shepard said that McMahon pointed to the "30 for 30" interview
EXCLUSIVE: Vince McMahon is looking to bring back the XFL and may announce it on January 25th, 2018.
— Brad Shepard ???????? (@TheBradShepard) December 16, 2017
EXCLUSIVE: Vince McMahon told people in WWE that he developed the desire to bring back the XFL when he was doing the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary on it.
WWE employees have been told internally to “get ready” because it is coming.
— Brad Shepard ???????? (@TheBradShepard) December 16, 2017
Without much else to go on, Deadspin"s David Bixenspan approached the WWE - which neither confirmed nor denied the rumor, but did state that McMahon is "personally funding a separate entity from WWE, Alpha Entertainment, to explore investment opportunities across the sports and entertainment landscapes, including professional football," followed by another tweet stating that WWE has filed for two new XFL trademarks this year.
A WWE spokesperson issued the attached statement to me & @Deadspin in response to my inquiry about tonight"s rumors of a soon to be announced XFL revival. They declined further comment. Whatever Vince McMahon"s "Alpha Entertainment" is, it"s self-funded & separate from WWE. pic.twitter.com/oT0Oxyi2fV
— David Bixenspan (@davidbix) December 16, 2017
In what I’m sure is a complete coincidence, WWE filed for two new XFL trademarks this year, both long after the 30 for 30 premiered.
— David Bixenspan (@davidbix) December 16, 2017
And while the NFL has recently instituted a concussion protocol to address the league"s growing brain injury epidemic, perhaps a rougher, more violent version of the NFL is exactly what America needs right now.
As Mike Florio of PFT writes,
Arguably, the time may be right for the XFL or something like it. A November 2016 Sports Illustrated article regarding the current state of football in America created the distinct impression that fans want old-school football, with all the big hits and none of the obsessions over safety.
“Those attitudes from fans coupled with the messages that invariably will be sent by the incoming Commander-in-Chief,” we wrote on November 16, 2016, “suggest that the time may be right for someone to roll the dice with $250 million or so in the hopes of launching a football league that would essentially operate like a modern-day XFL — loud, proud, violent, brutal, bloody, and everything that the NFL was before political, legal, and social sensitivities forced the league to change.”
Is Vince McMahon going to make football great again?
Authored by Ron Paul via The Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity,
Do we need a third major political party?
I often joke that I’d be happy if we actually had a second party, as when it comes to the big issues – war, monetary policy, civil liberties – the Republicans and Democrats are more alike than different.
Perhaps that’s why a recent NBC News poll has found that nearly two-thirds of young people surveyed do not believe either the Republicans or Democrats are doing a good job and that a third major political party is needed.
I think this is an encouraging sign. I suspect the NBC News poll result reflects the fact that young people are not as easily hoodwinked by the mainstream media and by the two-party duopoly charade in Washington. This generation has grown up with the Internet and the abundance of alternative media that challenges what really is a one-party system in the United States. They have been exposed to many new ideas, including good ones like libertarianism and non-interventionism.
Currently, mainstream politics in the US is all about power – how to get it and how to keep it – and not at all about philosophy or ideology. It is about selling out principles at every turn in order to chalk up another point in the “win” column. On issues like war and spending, it’s incredible how easily the two major parties are able to “compromise.”
A serious effort to create a new political party could be very exciting, but only if that new party is based on real ideas rather than simply the desire for power. Creating a viable third party will not be easy. While there is plenty written in the media about foreign collusion in US elections, the real collusion is between the Republican and Democratic Parties to prevent new parties from joining them on the national stage and the ballot.
Unfortunately the Libertarian Party has failed to live up to what should have been its role as an ideological alternative to Washington’s one-party system. As was quite obvious in the 2016 presidential election, the Libertarians yielded to prevailing attitudes on war, welfare, the Federal Reserve, and more. In believing that winning was more important than standing for something, they ended up achieving neither.
I would still like to have some hope for the Libertarian Party, but to really fill its role as a challenger to our two party system (that is actually a one party system) it would need a major overhaul. It would need to actually embrace the core libertarian principles of non-aggression and non-intervention in the affairs of others.
At the end of my 2008 presidential campaign, I brought together the candidates of the “minor” political parties and proposed that we agree on some basic principles regardless of whether we are libertarians, conservatives, progressives, or greens. Among those was the idea that we should never go to war unless we were directly attacked or threatened, that the Federal Reserve should not be allowed to benefit the rich by creating money out of thin air, and that we should not endorse deficit spending.
If a new party could come together and agree on these basic principles while agreeing to disagree on other, less important priorities, we could begin a formidable movement toward peace and prosperity.
Let us hope that this NBC News survey provides the inspiration to a real pro-peace, pro-prosperity movement in the United States. I have much confidence in the youth of our country!
As the U.S. media and Washington D.C. legislators continue to lose their collective minds over the Michael Flynn charges, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov took to the podium earlier today to dismiss the notion that Flynn"s comments to former ambassador Sergey Ivanovich had any impact on Putin"s ultimate decision to retaliate against U.S. sanctions as "completely absurd." Per the RT:
“Flynn was in no position to request anything of Sergey Ivanovich [Kislyak, Russia’s former US ambassador] let alone to expect any requests to be relayed to Vladimir Putin – the whole thing is completely absurd,” said the Russian President’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov during a media briefing in Moscow.
In the end Russia did postpone its response, but Peskov says that “the decision was taken by Putin alone, and cannot be attributed to any requests or recommendations.”
“What information Putin receives from his ambassadors is of no concern to anyone else,” said Peskov. “The Russian president makes all decisions independently on the basis, as he has said many times, of Russia’s national interest.”
For those who may have just returned from a remote island and missed the "shocking" revelations of the past three days, as we"ve detailed numerous times, former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn plead guilty last Friday to lying under oath by denying to the FBI that he urged the Russian ambassador to delay a decision on retaliating against U.S. sanctions and attempted to influence a U.N. vote. Of course, the conversations in question happened after the election, during the transition period, and wouldn"t have been an issue but for Flynn"s seemingly inexplicable decision to lie about them. Here"s more from NBC:
A two-page charging document filed last week listed two false statements Flynn made about his interactions with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak in late December 2016. It said Flynn falsely claimed that he had not asked Kislyak "to refrain from escalating the situation in response to sanctions that the U.S. had imposed against Russia," and that he didn"t recall Kislyak telling him Russia had decided to moderate its response as a result of his request.
Prior to the Dec. 29 call with Kislyak, Flynn called a senior official with the presidential transition team who was with other members of the team at Trump"s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida to discuss what to say to the Russian ambassador regarding sanctions, according to the statement of offense.
Court documents also said Flynn falsely claimed that he didn"t ask Kislyak on Dec. 22 to "delay a vote on or defeat" a U.N. Security Council resolution, and then falsely denied that Kislyak had described Russia"s response to the request. Before that call, a "very senior member" of the transition team directed Flynn to contact foreign officials, including those from Russia, to learn where they stood and influence the vote, according to the statement of offense. The "very senior member" was Jared Kushner, three people familiar with the matter told NBC News.
According to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s charge, Flynn made the false statements to the FBI on Jan. 24, two days after he was sworn in as national security adviser.
Of course, the real question from here is what Flynn"s plea deal means for the White House. Not surprisingly, the Left has celebrated the development as an indication Flynn could potentially implicate President Trump in the "Russian collusion" investigation while Trump supporters have argued that the decision to pursue Flynn over false statements clearly indicates that they have nothing else of substance. Per the Wall Street Journal:
To Mr. Trump’s supporters, the charge against Mike Flynn for making false statements was evidence that investigators were nowhere near proving collusion with Russians to interfere in the 2016 president election, the matter at the heart of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigative mandate.
But Mr. Trump’s detractors viewed the plea deal as a milestone—the first senior aide to Mr. Trump to turn on his former boss—in an investigation that continues to escalate.
Both versions make assumptions about what information Mr. Flynn has to offer, a mystery that will reveal itself over time. For now, Mr. Flynn’s deal with the special counsel and his team suggests at the very least that Mr. Mueller believes Mr. Flynn has something valuable to share and that his investigation is unlikely to end soon, said former federal prosecutors.
“A guilty plea at this stage really could mean a whole lot of different things, and folks are in a hurry to have the plea meet their predetermined narratives,” said Stephen Vladeck, an expert in national-security law and law professor at the University of Texas.
So what say you...is the "Russian collusion" investigation weaving its way into the Oval Office or are escalating suggestions of the President"s downfall just another "nothing burger?"
A police detective in Illinois has faced disciplinary action this week, after he was recorded on video telling a teenager he was being detained because he’s white.
Footage of the controversial encounter surfaced on Facebook on Monday, and has since gone viral with more than 85,000 views.
Dezi Baczek,18, who recorded the video, was among a group of teens who went to the local pawnshop in Lake Villa, a suburb of Chicago, to sell an ‘item’ so the group could buy her brother a book that he wanted to read…How thoughtful…
When the group of millennials exited the shop, they found Detective Gomez waiting out in the parking lot for them. Immediately, the group of teens were ordered to sit down or face being arrested.
Baczek told NBC 5, “I was yelled at to sit down”.
When asked ‘what for?.. That is when she started filming.
Police said the detective was conducting a theft investigation at the time and was questioning the group of teens. One unseen teen in the video questions why he’s being detained— he asked Gomez, “Is it because I’m a teenager? Because I have baggy pants on?”
Detective Gomez was seen storming off, then spun around and yelled back, ”because you’re white."
In response to the incident, Lake Villa Police Chief Craig Somerville said such behavior will not be tolerated, said the Daily Herald.
“We are a professional department with high standards and we value our relationship with the public, particularly our youth,” Somerville said in a statement.
“Our relationships are built upon mutual understanding and trust and this type of behavior contradicts that.”
Somerville said Gomez became suspicious of the group when they were accompanied by the suspect of a theft investigation at the pawn shop and another member gave officers a fake name. That person was charged with obstructing police.
The chief did not directly acknowledge what was said in the video, but he did note it as inappropriate and unprofessional.
Somerville said in a statement, “Gomez admitted his words were poorly chosen and insensitive and he immediately regretted what he had said. The Lake Villa Police Department does not condone this type of behavior of its officers.Gomez has been disciplined for behavior unbecoming an officer. He will be assisting me with speaking to the parents and teens involved in this incident.”
Submitted by iBankCoin
This whole charade with former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn reeks of desperation and makes clear that Mueller"s team has an empty hand. To summarize the plea agreement from the FBI Special Counsel’s “Statement of the Offense”:
ABC news takes it a step further, reporting from an anonymous source that “Donald Trump directed him to make contact with the Russians, initially as a way to work together to fight ISIS in Syria.” - though NBC News reports it was Trump"s son-in-law and advisor Jared Kushner.
Observation and takeaways
Grand irony: the underlying action that Flynn now admits he lied to the FBI about was urging de-escalation with a nuclear power, which is now no longer permissible pic.twitter.com/Vh4Nxz0nWK
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) December 1, 2017
As Andrew McCarthy of the National Review points out;
“when a prosecutor has a cooperator who was an accomplice in a major criminal scheme, the cooperator is made to plead guilty to the scheme. This is critical because it proves the existence of the scheme. In his guilty-plea allocution (the part of a plea proceeding in which the defendant admits what he did that makes him guilty), the accomplice explains the scheme and the actions taken by himself and his co-conspirators to carry it out. This goes a long way toward proving the case against all of the subjects of the investigation. That is not happening in Flynn’s situation. Instead, like Papadopoulos, he is being permitted to plead guilty to a mere process crime.
So why lie?
Why would Flynn lie about his contact with the Russians in late January, five days after the Inauguration? Was it because the nation had been whipped into an anti-Russia frenzy? Or, as some have suggested, does the rabbit hole go much deeper and there are aspects of the Trump-Russia story that haven’t been made public yet? Again, if that were known, Flynn would be pleading guilty to a much more serious crime.
That said, Flynn is facing a whopping six months in prison and a fine of up to $9,500 for lying to the Special Counsel.
Who’s next?
President Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor, Jared Kushner, told the Senate Intelligence Committee that he asked Russia’s Ambassador whether the Trump transition team could use Russia’s embassy to communicate with Moscow about Syria.
The meeting with the ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, “occurred in Trump Tower, where we had our transition office, and lasted twenty [to] thirty minutes,” Kushner wrote in an 11-page statement detailing his contacts with Russian nationals during the election and transition period.
“Lt. General Michael Flynn (Ret.), who became the President’s National Security Advisor, also attended … I stated our desire for a fresh start in relations.”
Kushner said Kislyak, whose tenure in the US ended this past weekend, asked whether there was “a secure line in the transition office to conduct a conversation” about the US’s Syria policy.
“General Flynn or I explained that there were no such lines,” Kushner wrote. But he said he went on to ask whether the Russian Embassy “had an existing communications channel … we could use where they would be comfortable transmitting the information they wanted to relay to General Flynn.” –Business Insider
And now it emerges that Kushner allegedly asked Flynn to contact the Russian Ambassador…
BREAKING: Jared Kushner is the “very senior member of the Presidential Transition Team” mentioned in the statement of offense against Michael Flynn, two people familiar with the matter tell @NBCNews https://t.co/4ZLASVAX9b
— NBC News (@NBCNews) December 1, 2017
So – unless there’s more than meets the eye, it appears that the coverup is far greater than the crime in regards to Flynn’s decision to lie to the FBI. And whatever the outcome, the hard bounce in the S&P 500 would seem to suggest this is perhaps another nothingburger and not quite the end of Drumpf.
The end of Drumpf? ???????? pic.twitter.com/rxoqWyfFTv
— ZeroPointNow (@ZeroPointNow) December 1, 2017
We have to admit we didn’t know anything about Mark Zuckerberg’s sister, Randi, before she created a media storm by complaining about a sexual harassment incident she suffered while travelling on Alaska Air.
Feeling disgusted & degraded after an @AlaskaAir flight where the passenger next to me made repeated lewd sexual remarks. The flight attendants told me he was a frequent flier, brushed off his behavior & kept giving him drinks. I guess his $ means more than our safety? My letter: pic.twitter.com/xOkDpb0dYU
— Randi Zuckerberg (@randizuckerberg) November 30, 2017
Randi Zuckerberg worked at advertising giant, Ogilvy & Mather, before joining her brother at Facebook for ten years from 2004-14. These days she has various media interests, including founding Zuckerberg Media.
Alaska Airlines has launched an investigation into the incident after Zuckerberg complained in a letter that the man to her right....
“began making explicit, lewd, and highly offensive sexual comments to me, immediately upon boarding the aircraft. He started talking to me about touching himself, kept asking me if I fantasized about the female business colleague I was travelling with, rated and commented on the women’s bodies boarding the aircraft as they walked by us, and many more equally horrifying and offensive comments.”
It seems that the Alaskan Air cabin crew didn’t exactly ride to the rescue of this damsel in distress, who got caught up in this “silent epidemic. According to Bloomberg...
Mark Zuckerberg’s sister isn’t the first to complain about sexual misconduct on jetliners -- a problem a prominent flight attendants’ union called a “silent epidemic” that airlines have failed to solve. Randi Zuckerberg, a media executive, said this week that a male passenger on an Alaska Air Group Inc. flight made repeated harassing comments to her and airline employees did nothing about it. In a letter to the carrier posted on social media, the sister of the Facebook Inc. founder said the crew members continued to serve the abusive customer alcoholic drinks and told her not to “take it personally.”
Zuckerberg’s description of the incident on a trip from Los Angeles to Mazatlan, Mexico, drew widespread media attention and Alaska Airlines temporarily revoked the passenger’s travel privileges, pending an investigation.
The flight attendants union is asking the airlines to address the harassment issues, using a zero tolerance approach. Bloomberg continues...
Still, airlines must take stronger action to crack down on in-flight sexual harassment and assault, said Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA.
“Let’s be clear that this is not an Alaska problem,” Nelson said in a statement Thursday. “It is an issue at the forefront of national awareness and it is a critical time for the airline industry to examine the steps necessary to take this on.”
Nelson said she is seeking a zero tolerance policy and specific regulations to address the issue. “For too long unacceptable sexual innuendo, harassment advances, and assault have been a silent epidemic in our society and certainly on our planes,” she wrote.
Showing a degree of foresight, the flight attendants union conducted a survey in 2016 as to whether its members had any knowledge of how to deal with the type of problem Zuckerberg found herself in. Very few, as Bloomberg explains.
Such incidents across all industries are under heightened scrutiny as more women go public with allegations against powerful men, from film producer Harvey Weinstein and actor Kevin Spacey to U.S. Representative John Conyers and U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore. NBC fired “Today” show host Matt Lauer this week after allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced.
The AFA conducted a member survey last year that showed the majority of flight attendants had no knowledge of written guidance or training on this specific issue available through their airline, Nelson said. Sexual harassment training is only mandatory in California, Connecticut and Maine, although most large companies have training for at least some of their employees.
The survey of about 2,000 attendants also found that 20 percent of crew members had experienced a report of a mid-flight sexual assault by a passenger against another passenger, and in those cases law enforcement was contacted or met the plane only about 40 percent of the time.
Zuckerberg pointed out the irony that the passenger who harassed her remarked on the recent flurry of cases in the media and how “these Millennial women just aren’t willing to give some booty to get a job anymore”. While clearly a very reprehensible character, it was also obvious from Zuckerberg letter what contributed to his lewd tirade as she noted that at one point he was drinking “three alcoholic beverages”. Another airline passenger who was assaulted last year confirmed how poorly the cabin crew dealt with her incident, which is still being investigated.
Allison Dvaladze said she was assaulted while flying to Amsterdam in April of last year. The incident, which is still under investigation, prompted her to start the Facebook page, “Protect airline passengers from sexual assault.” She also worked with U.S. Senator Robert Casey, from Pennsylvania, to introduce the “Stopping Assault while Flying Enforcement Act of 2017,” which was referred to committee in July, she said. The law would require crew training and better data collection on assault in the air.
“I travel a lot, I had never heard of this before it happened to me,” said Dvaladze, who flies as part of her work to bring cancer screening to under-represented groups. “It was a real shock to me when it happened. But what was more of a shock to me was that it wasn’t a surprise to the crew, yet at the same time they had no idea what to do. If the crew isn’t armed with the right tools, they can’t handle it.”
Meanwhile, Alaska Air is, unsurprisingly in full-on damage limitation mode, and the industry in general is stirring into action.
In a Thursday blog post on Alaska Airlines’ website, Vice President of People Andrea Schneider addressed a case of sexual harassment on an Alaska flight from Los Angeles to Mazatlan. Schneider called the report “very disturbing” without identifying the accuser.
"The safety and well-being of our guests and employees is our number one priority,” Schneider wrote. “As a company, we have zero tolerance for any type of misconduct that creates an unsafe environment for our guests and our employees.”
Carriers take the issue seriously, said Vaughn Jennings, spokesman for trade group Airlines for America. “Employees receive extensive customer-service training to ensure the safety and well-being of all our passengers,” he said in a statement.
Bloomberg notes that Zuckerberg’s disclosure on Twitter and (of course) Facebook prompted “thousands of comments and shares, many from women who said they had been harassed on flights and ignored by flight crews and the airlines”.
While Zuckerberg said on Facebook that she wasn’t going to identify the passenger because she didn’t want to make it a “personal vendetta”, she did note he was sitting in “seat 4C”.
The question is how long will it take the media to “out” him.
A scathing video of sexual harassment by Matt Lauer shows NBC knew about his tendencies long before allowing him to interview victims of sexual abuse.
Content originally published at iBankCoin.com
In light of today"s news that Matt Lauer sexually harassed multiple people at NBC, I think it"s interesting to see how Lauer handled the O"Reilly interview, following his leave from Fox for similar charges. I strongly suggest that Bill now reach out to Matt and switch roles, this time Bill taking the high sanctimonious role, chastising Matt for being a perverted and evil man.
BONUS: Lauer"s NBC Today show hosts get emotional over the charges, expressing their love and deepest sorrow for Mr. Lauer.
The latest - and biggest - casualty from the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment scandal was revealed moments ago, when NBC announced it fired its leading morning news anchor Matt Lauer over sexual harassment allegations, the network’s president for news said in a memo to staff on Wednesday.
"Today" star Matt Lauer, the highest paid personality in TV news, was fired following "a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace," NBC News Chairman Andy Lack said in an email to NBC News staff. Lauer, 59, was named a co-anchor of "Today" in January 1997 after three years as the newsreader.
The full email is below:
Dear Colleagues,
On Monday night, we received a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by Matt Lauer. It represented, after serious review, a clear violation of our company"s standards. As a result, we"ve decided to terminate his employment. While it is the first complaint about his behavior in the over twenty years he"s been at NBC News, we were also presented with reason to believe this may not have been an isolated incident.
Our highest priority is to create a workplace environment where everyone feels safe and protected, and to ensure that any actions that run counter to our core values are met with consequences, no matter who the offender.
We are deeply saddened by this turn of events. But we will face it together as a news organization – and do it in as transparent a manner as we can. To that end, Noah and I will be meeting with as many of you as possible throughout the day today to answer your questions.
CNN said that reporters for The New York Times had been investigating Lauer for several weeks, according to sources who had been contacted by the Times. The firing removes one of the most recognizable personalities on television, and at aa time when morning news programs are increasingly important to network news divisions.
The NY Post reports that Lauer allegedly sexually assaulted a female NBC staffer during the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014.
An NBC insider said Lauer’s alleged victim complained to HR on Monday: “This happened so quickly. She didn’t go to the media, she made a complaint to NBC’s human resources, and her evidence was so compelling that Matt was fired on Tuesday night. The victim says she has evidence that this has also happened to other women, but so far we don’t have evidence of that.”
Another source told Page Six that the decision to fire Lauer was made late Tuesday night by NBC News chairman Andy Lack.
* * *
The memo announcing the termination of Lauer was read on air during the Today show this morning. Lauer’s co-host, Savannah Guthrie, announced the news on live TV. Appearing on the verge of tears, Guthrie said,
"This is a sad morning at "Today" and NBC News," she said. "As I"m sure you can understand, we are devastated. All we can say is we are heartbroken; I’m heartbroken for Matt. He is my dear, dear colleague."
She described Lauer as “a dear, dear friend,” and said she was “heartbroken for the brave colleague who came forward to tell her story." Calling Lauer’s termination part of a national reckoning, she asked “How do you reconcile your love for someone with the revelation that they have behaved badly?”
Hoda Kotb, on the set with Guthrie, said she has known Lauer for years and "loved him as a friend and a colleague." "It"s hard to reconcile the man who walks in every day" with the person who was identified in the complaint, she said.
Matt Lauer has been terminated from NBC News. On Monday night, we received a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by Matt Lauer. As a result, we’ve decided to terminate his employment. pic.twitter.com/1A3UAZpvPb
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) November 29, 2017
Ironically, it was none other than Matt Lauer grilling Bill O"Reilly over sexual harassment:
This didn"t age well. Matt Lauer grills Bill O"reilly over sexual harassment pic.twitter.com/jWMHt2LORe
— The_Real_Fly (@The_Real_Fly) November 29, 2017
Moments after the news, a gloating President Trump seized on Lauer"s termination, going on to ask in a tweet when executives at NBC and Comcast, the network’s parent company, would “be fired for putting out so much fake news.”
"Wow, Matt Lauer was just fired from NBC for “inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace.” But when will the top executives at NBC & Comcast be fired for putting out so much Fake News. Check out Andy Lack’s past!"
Wow, Matt Lauer was just fired from NBC for “inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace.” But when will the top executives at NBC & Comcast be fired for putting out so much Fake News. Check out Andy Lack’s past!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 29, 2017
He then followed up with the following: "So now that Matt Lauer is gone when will the Fake News practitioners at NBC be terminating the contract of Phil Griffin? And will they terminate low ratings Joe Scarborough based on the “unsolved mystery” that took place in Florida years ago? Investigate!"
So now that Matt Lauer is gone when will the Fake News practitioners at NBC be terminating the contract of Phil Griffin? And will they terminate low ratings Joe Scarborough based on the “unsolved mystery” that took place in Florida years ago? Investigate!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 29, 2017
We expected widespread outrage after Trump"s latest Pocahontas comment, and we didn"t have long to wait.
Senator Elizabeth Warren tore into President Trump for using a "racial slur" after he cracked his latest "Pocahontas" joke during a Monday event with Navajo "code talker" veterans. She fired back at Trump, saying the event was meant to honor the sacrifice of those in attendance.
"It is deeply unfortunate that the president of the United States cannot even make it through a ceremony honoring these heroes without having to throw out a racial slur," Warren said during an MSNBC interview referring to the earlier comment.
"Donald Trump does this over and over thinking somehow he is gonna shut me up with this. It hadn"t worked in the past, it is not gonna work in the future." Watch @SenWarren"s response to Trump calling her Pocahontas. pic.twitter.com/C3ulPzlsw7
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) November 27, 2017
She added that the code talkers “saved the lives of countless Americans and our allies" and said that "this was supposed to be an event to honor heroes, people who put it all on the line for our country."
Previously, Trump has repeatedly used the derisive nickname to refer to Warren, poking fun at her claim of Native American heritage: "You were here long before any of us were here, although we have a representative in Congress who they say was here a long time ago," Trump said. "They call her Pocahontas, but you know what, I like you because you are special."
Warren in her response said Trump"s joke will not stop her from continuing to criticize him. “Look, Donald Trump does this over and over thinking somehow he’s going to shut me up with it," she said. "It hasn’t worked in the past. It is not going to work in the future.”
Earlier on Monday, the White House press secretary defended Trump"s decision to call Sen. Elizabeth Warren "Pocahontas", claiming it was not a racial slur.
“I think what most people find offensive is Sen. Warren lying about her heritage to advance her career," Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters.
Sarah Sanders says she doesn"t think it"s a racial slur for President Trump to refer to Sen. Warren as "Pocahontas" https://t.co/Sex6dDisuA
— CNN (@CNN) November 27, 2017
Sanders" denial rang hollow to some: according to The Hill, a leader of an organization representing Native American tribes said Monday that President Trump calling Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) “Pocahontas” during an event honoring Native American Code Talkers “smacks of racism."
“The reference is using a historic American-Indian figure as a derogatory insult and that’s an insult to all American-Indians,” John Norwood, general secretary of the Alliance of Colonial Era Tribes, told NBC News.
In a separate statement obtained by ABC News, the president of Navajo Nation, Russell Begaye, said that "in this day and age, all tribal nations still battle insensitive references to our people." "The prejudice that Native American people face is an unfortunate historical legacy," Begaye said. But he added that "the Navajo Nation does not want to engage in this dialogue between Sen. Warren and President Trump."
Norwood said Trump should “stop using our historical people of significance as a racial slur against one of his opponents."
Also in response to Trump"s comment, the top Democrat on the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs slammed President Trump calling his remarks a "racist joke" and questioning his "moral authority."
"Donald Trump"s racist joke during Native American Heritage Month no less demeaned the contributions that the Code Talkers and countless other Native American patriots and citizens have made to our great country," New Mexico Sen. Tom Udall said in a statement on Monday.
"The days when the President of the United States was held as a moral authority around the world were over 11 months ago, but at what should have been a solemn ceremony to honor Native veterans, Donald Trump took low even lower," he added.
Udall said the president"s remark about Warren in the Oval Office will not take away from the Code Talker"s WWII accomplishments: "This moment in history won"t overshadow the contribution the Code Talkers made and continue to make to our nation," he added, slamming the comments for being especially in "poor taste against the backdrop of Andrew Jackson"s portrait."
* * *
Meanwhile, others such as conservative radio host Stefan Molyneux had a different take: "If Senator Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) wants to get to the bottom of this once and for all, I’ll gladly pay for a @23andMe test to verify her Native American heritage."
If Senator Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) wants to get to the bottom of this once and for all, I’ll gladly pay for a @23andMe test to verify her Native American heritage.
— Stefan Molyneux (@StefanMolyneux) November 27, 2017
Fulfilling a promise he made in December 2016, NBC News reports that President Trump is in the process of dissolving his charitable foundation, which admitted last year that it violated federal rules on "self-dealing."
As we noted in December, the foundation, which has been the subject of several controversies and investigations, was originally set up to give away the proceeds from Trump"s bestselling book, "The Art of the Deal." As The Hill writes, the book"s co-writer, Tony Schwartz, told CBS News he has received $1.6 million in royalties, per a 50-50 split agreement with Trump. A Washington Post investigation in June found that Trump had personally given his foundation $2.8 million of the book"s proceeds over the past 15 years, and nothing since 2009.
The foundation itself has given more than $13 million to charity since it was founded, but only $4.9 million has come from Trump himself, according to the CBS report.
"I am very proud of the money that has been raised for many organizations in need, and I am also very proud of the fact that the Foundation has operated at essentially no cost for decades, with 100% of the money going to charity," Trump said Saturday.
"But because I will be devoting so much time and energy to the Presidency and solving the many problems facing our country and the world, I don’t want to allow good work to be associated with a possible conflict of interest," he added.
"The Foundation has done enormous good works over the years in contributing millions of dollars to countless worthy groups, including supporting veterans, law enforcement officers and children," Trump said in a statement.
"However, to avoid even the appearance of any conflict with my role as President I have decided to continue to pursue my strong interest in philanthropy in other ways," he added.
NBC News reports that at the end of 2016, the foundation had assets of about $970,000, and in its previous tax filing in 2015, the foundation acknowledged violating a legal prohibition against a "self-dealing" rule barring nonprofit leaders from funneling their charity"s money to themselves, their businesses or their families.
New York"s attorney general ordered the foundation to stop soliciting contributions in October 2016.
And now, NBC News reports that according to newly filed documents, the foundation is is in the process of dissolving... just as President Trump had said he would.
Over the past several months, Democrats have jumped on every opportunity possible to blame the Trump administration for yet another year of staggering Obamacare premium increases. Ironically, despite arguments from the Left that Trump"s defunding of Obamacare"s marketing budget would cause 2018 signups to plunge, as Politico recently noted, they"re actually up in 2018...which begs the question: was the Obama administration just wasting $100 million a year in taxpayer money for nothing? Shocking thought, we know.
Meanwhile a fresh barrage of outcries from Democrats, most notably Ms. Nancy Pelosi, came after Trump"s decision to cut federal subsidies, an action which the CBO insisted could result in devastating premium increases of up to 20%.
Of course, if Trump is responsible for 20% of Obamacare"s premium hikes in 2018, then perhaps Nancy Pelosi should explain to the Dixon family in Charlottesville, VA precisely who is responsible for the other portion of the 235% premium hike they just received.
As the Washington Post points out this morning, the Dixons, a family of 4 in Virginia, were shocked earlier this month to find that their Obamacare premiums were going to surge from roughly $900 per month in 2017 to over $3,000 per month in 2018.
Ian Dixon, who left his full-time job in 2016 to pursue an app-development business, did so because the ACA guaranteed that he could still have quality coverage for his young family, he said.
But when the 38-year-old Charlottesville husband and father of a 3- and a 1-year-old went to re-enroll this month, his only choice for coverage would cost him more than $3,000 a month for his family of four, which amounted to an increase of more than 300 percent over the $900 he paid the year before. And this is for the second-cheapest option, with a deductible of $9,200.
“Helpless is definitely a good word for it,” Dixon said. “Rage is also a good word for it.”
Of course, Democrats and the MSM also applauded Obamacare"s "great success" earlier this year when several counties that were previously feared to be left with no coverage options in 2018, suddenly picked up a carrier. That said, perhaps Bloomberg, Reuters, NBC, etc. should reconsider just how meaningful these Obamacare monopolies are if the premiums charged are so high that no one can afford them anyway...
Earlier this year, Aetna and Anthem pulled out of the Albemarle market, citing too much unpredictability and risk. A smaller carrier, Optima, came in to fill the void. Consumers in the area went from having 19 plans offered in the options from Aetna and Anthem to only five coverage options with Optima.
Several factors led to Optima’s offering such high-priced plans, said Michael Dudley, the president of Optima.
First, small communities like Charlottesville tend to be pricier to cover because there is a small patient pool to balance out risks. So Optima took a cue from the carriers who had already ditched the market when actuaries predicted it was a place where the insurance companies might be paying out more to cover claims than it receives in premiums.
It is also a more expensive coverage area because the primary provider is University of Virginia Health System, an academic medical center that charges higher rates for its care than a community hospital. Optima will include UVA Health System in-network, unlike many carriers who have dropped the big medical centers as a cost-saving measure.
...perhaps local business owner Shawn Cossette can provide the Obamacare cheerleaders within the media some helpful insights...
Among them was Shawn Marie Cossette, 55, who runs her own event and floral design business in Charlottesville. Last year, she purchased an Anthem silver plan for $550 a month for herself. This year, under Optima, a silver plan would cost her $1,859 monthly.
“It’s a huge percentage of my income,” she said. “I really believed in the ACA. I really feel everyone deserves the right to health insurance, but who can afford those prices if you don’t qualify for subsidies?”
While all eyes (from the left and the establishment right) remain on Trump (daring to shake Putin"s hand this weekend), the mainstream media appears to be missing the news that the lobbying firm founded by longtime Democratic operative Tony Podesta is reportedly on the verge of shuttering after being swept up in special counsel Robert Mueller"s Russia probe.
Just three weeks after we reported that special counsel Mueller was targeting lobbying firm Podesta Group. and just two weeks after Tony Podesta resigned from his position at the firm he founded, The Hill reports that Kimberley Fritts, the Podesta Group"s chief executive, told employees on Thursday that the firm would not exist at the end of the year and that they would likely not be paid through the end of November, sources told CNN.
Fritts announced her resignation from the top Washington lobbying group after Podesta left the company amid ties to indictments filed in the Russia investigation. Fritts is beginning work on launching a new firm. Her last day at the company Friday created new uncertainty for the Podesta Group after the departure of Podesta on Oct. 30.
Multiple employees who spoke to The Hill said the mood at the firm was mostly optimistic, though they said many of the firm"s dozens of employees could be in limbo as Fritts sets up the new firm and brings Podesta Group talent and clients with her.
As a reminder, Mueller is now investigating whether the Podesta Group properly identified to U.S. authorities its foreign work on behalf of a Ukrainian advocacy group in Europe, CNN reported.
An NBC report found that the Podesta Group was one of several firms working on Paul Manafort"s public relations campaign for European Centre for a Modern Ukraine, which the Podesta Group claims it thought was a nonpartisan think tank, something which this site reported first last August.
And here is one reason why we suspect more than a few on the left are now concerned...
It goes without saying, that Podesta"s brother, John, is arguably one of the top figure in Democratic politics, serving most recently as chief of staff in the Bill Clinton White House and also as the chairman of Hillary Clinton"s 2016 presidential campaign.
What happens next to Tony (and perhaps his brother John) is to be determined, but one thing is clear: both sides of the swamp should probably control themselves in any premature celebrations as this appears to be far from over.
Baltimore’s second attempt at a 72-hour ‘cease-fire’ was cut short for the second time this year after an off-duty Washington police officer was killed and a women wounded on Saturday.
According to The Baltimore Sun homicide data base, Sgt. Tony Mason Jr.,40, was shot and killed on the upper west side at 2800 Elgin Avenue. Reports from NBC News, indicate Mason was struck by a fatal bullet inside a parked vehicle, where he was later transported by ambulance to a nearby hospital and died...
We regret to inform that @DCPoliceUnion member Sgt Tony Mason was shot and killed early this morning in West Baltimore. EOW 11-4-17. pic.twitter.com/KFDo2ZAojX
— Gregg Pemberton (@G_Pem) November 4, 2017
Unfortunately, Saturday’s shooting occurred just 26-hours into the 72-hour ‘Nobody Kill Anybody Baltimore Cease-Fire’ campaign empowered by community activist who seek change in Baltimore after 50-years of democratic controlled leadership and de-industrialization compounded with an opioid crisis has left the city in an utter mess. The last ‘cease-fire’ in August failed about 40-hours in, as two killings thwarted efforts by community activist. It appears that ‘cease’fire’ events will become more prevalent as the community attempts to raise awareness. The problem with Baltimore and many other cities across the United States is that democratic controlled leadership did not allow media to cover the complete mess in their inner cities. As consciousness increases across America, Americans are figuring out their empire is dying. People are now demanding change.
On Thursday, just one day before the ‘cease-fire’ started, 3 homicides pushed Baltimore’s murder count above 300 making it the third year in a row. Ever since the Ferguson effect in 2014, death and destruction has taken over the city. Sadly enough, The Economist is forecasting a record year for homicides with their models pointing to over 400.
Visualizing the Ferguson effect in Baltimore shows an increase in gun violence after events in Ferguson, Missouri (2014), Freddie Gray (2015), and Baltimore Riots (2015). These events have contributed to Baltimore’s demise, as the city is spiraling out of control plagued in gun violence and an opioid crisis. Yet, it goes unnoticed, despite Baltimore’s homicide rate is doubled of Chicago’s.
As of November 5th, Baltimore’s homicides for 2017 crested over 300. Notice how the homicides are not limited to a certain area of the city, but are wide spread. Oddly enough, homicides are contained with-in the I-95 corridor.
Last week, we warned “the idea of the second ceasefire failing is a very real possibility”, and as of Saturday morning it has.
The blackmarkets of Baltimore or specifically the opioid trade are simply not going to stop for a community led ‘cease-fire’. Listen to leaders of the ‘cease-fire’ back in August calling-out Baltimore and comparing it to a “warzone“.
Remaining events for Baltimore CeaseFire for Sunday:
