>>2461290

Trump at a precarious moment in his presidency: Privately brooding and publicly roaring

Philip Rucker, Robert Costa and Ashley Parker, The Washington Post Published 2:52 pm CDT, Saturday, August 4, 2018

WASHINGTON - In private, President Donald Trump spent much of the past week brooding, like he often does. He has been anxious about the Russia investigation's widening fallout, with his former campaign chairman now standing trial. And he has fretted that he is failing to accrue enough political credit for what he claims as triumphs.

At rare moments of introspection for the famously self-centered president, Trump has also expressed to confidants lingering unease about how some in his orbit - including his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr. - are ensnared in the Russia probe, in his assessment simply because of their connection to him.

Yet in public, Trump is a man roaring. The president, more than ever, is channeling his internal frustration and fear into a ravenous maw of grievance and invective. He is churning out false statements with greater frequency and attacking his perceived enemies with intensifying fury. A fresh broadside came on Twitter at 11:37 p.m. Friday, mocking basketball superstar LeBron James and calling CNN's Don Lemon "the dumbest man on television."

https://www.chron.com/news/article/Trump-at-a-precarious-moment-in-his-presidency-13132201.php

Anarchy Breaks Out in Portland, With the Mayor’s Blessing

A vicious mob targeted the ICE office and even a food cart. The police followed orders to do nothing.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/anarchy-breaks-out-in-portland-with-the-mayors-blessing-1533331454

Trump passes on opportunity to criticize James at Ohio rally

BRIDGEWATER, N.J. (AP) — President Donald Trump insulted NBA star LeBron James from afar but passed up an opportunity to criticize him on his own turf, sticking to Democrats, the news media and other familiar targets during a campaign rally Saturday night in James’ home state of Ohio.

When Trump took the stage in a sweltering high school gymnasium north of Columbus, his late-night tweet deriding James’ intellect had already generated hours of online buzz in defense of the all-star from Akron who had just opened a school for at-risk children in his hometown.

Even first lady Melania Trump provided an assist to James, her spokeswoman saying it appeared to the president’s wife that James was “working to do good things on behalf of our next generation” and that Mrs. Trump would be open to visiting his “I Promise” school. The statement didn’t criticize Trump.

CNN’s Don Lemon spoke to James at the school and the interview included a negative assessment of the president, whom James said has “kind of used sports to kind of divide us.”

Just before midnight Friday, Trump tweeted: “Lebron James was just interviewed by the dumbest man on television, Don Lemon. He made Lebron look smart, which isn’t easy to do. I like Mike!”

Among the current and former professional athletes jumping to James’ support in support of James on Saturday was “Mike,” also known as NBA legend Michael Jordan, who said in a statement: “I support LeBron James. He’s doing an amazing job for his community.”

James’ publicist declined to respond to Trump’s tweet, but early Saturday afternoon, James retweeted a post from the “I Promise” school and said: “Let’s get it kids!! Love you guys.”

Trump rarely allows a slight to pass unanswered, but James appeared off limits by the time the president crossed the Ohio border to campaign for state Sen. Troy Balderson, the Republican in a special U.S. House election on Tuesday. His opponent, Democrat Danny O’Connor, tweeted, “I don’t have to tell (asterisk) anyone (asterisk) what LeBron James means to Ohio.”

https://apnews.com/1db1ce9abe1647458a3c333d79f66cb1/Trump-passes-on-opportunity-to-criticize-James-at-Ohio-rally

>>2461467

Whatever is here is local. Any good physicist will confirm.

Even the Bible confirms

North Korea, U.S. spar over nuclear deal at Singapore forum

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - North Korea and the United States on Saturday sparred over an agreement reached at a landmark summit in June for the Asian country to end its nuclear program, as Washington called for maintaining sanctions pressure against Pyongyang, which in turn said it was alarmed by U.S. intentions.

The discord at a regional forum in Singapore was the latest reminder of the difficulties that have long impaired efforts to negotiate an end to North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, despite commitments made at an unprecedented summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the city state less than two months ago.

“The DPRK stands firm in its determination and commitment for implementing the DPRK-U.S. Joint Statement in a responsible and good-faith manner,” North Korea’s Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho told the ASEAN Regional Forum, using his country’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

“What is alarming however is the insistent moves manifested within the U.S. to go back to the old, far from its leader’s intention,” he said.

Ri made the statement after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had left the Singapore conference center for Indonesia having pressed Southeast Asian nations to maintain sanctions on North Korea until it gives up a nuclear weapons program that now threatens the United States.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-asean-singapore-northkorea-usa/north-korea-u-s-spar-over-nuclear-deal-at-singapore-forum-idUSKBN1KP042

And Then There's This

There Will Be No American-Russian Alliance Against China

The main question today is whether the grinding to a halt of a quest so foolish and destructive can peacefully devolve into a tripolar entente among the US, Russia, and China – or whether the entrenched Washington establishment will, Sampson-like, crash everything down in a desperate but futile attempt to hang on to its power and privileges. We appear to be approaching the cusp at which that question will be resolved one way or the other. What the Trump Administration does next with respect to Iran will be a key, perhaps decisive, indicator.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-08-04/there-will-be-no-american-russian-alliance-against-china

Parents of three transgender teens sue Warren County judge to allow name change

Judge cited Caitlyn Jenner in refusing request

LEBANON, Ohio – A federal lawsuit claims a Warren County judge suggested a transgender teen was influenced by Caitlyn Jenner and wasn't sincere about his gender identity when the teen's parents requested to legally change their minor's name.

The parents of that 15-year-old teen and two other transgender teens are suing Probate and Juvenile Court Judge Joseph W. Kirby to allow their children to change their legal names from female to male. The parents claim Kirby discriminates against transgender minors in refusing to allow them to select a name that reflects their gender identity.

The plaintiffs in the suit include the parents of one transgender teen Kirby has already ruled against, parents of another teen whose hearing is scheduled for Aug. 14, and a single parent who plans to file a petition for a name change for her transgender teen.

READ the lawsuit (with names redacted) here or below.

The judge cited the 15-year-old's age as the reason for refusing the legal name change, but the suit also claims "Kirby suggested that [teen's] expression of his gender identity was not sincere, but instead was the result of exposure of media coverage of the transition by Caitlyn Jenner."

The suit cites the judge's comments about Jenner during exchanges with the teen's parents and the teen.

Judge to parents: "Well, explain to me the process. When did …. [child's name] come to you and tell you that she associates herself as a boy?

Father: "It was actually last August."

Judge: "Kind of when he [Jenner] made the papers and everybody was doing it kind of thing?"

Mother: "No, I don't believe so."

Judge: "Was it about the time that it kind of made headlines about a year ago and a half ago? … Everybody was talking about all the transgender transformations were coming out in the paper?"

Judge to teen: "… How long have you known?

Teen: " There's always been a feeling of distress about it as long as far back as I can remember really … But then around when I learned that you can be transgender, I kind of clicked, and you know, that's what I was upset about - that I wanted to be a boy but I couldn't."

Judge: That's what I was referring to a couple of years ago when it hit the papers, and people were starting, they were identifying themselves or associating themselves with it. Uh, because it was not something that people were talking about."

Teen: "I guess that never struck me because I've known transgender people since I was a kid …"

Judge: "But weren't they known as cross-dressers back then or did they actually go through the physical? … I just look at Bruce Jenner set the stage nationally for it, maybe even all of the world."

“The judge failed to consider the evidence presented by the families and doctors that the name change is in the best interest of the teenager and, instead, substituted his own skeptical views,” said attorney Joshua Engel, who filed the suit along with attorney Joshua Langdon.

RELATED: Judge says 'not yet' to changing transgender teen's name

Kirby's ruling in refusing the 15-year-old's petition said the change "was not reasonable and proper and in the child's best interest at this time."

The judge also said the family could not apply again until the minor becomes an adult, according to the suit.

"The court is sympathetic to the parents of the child and their desire to assuage their child," Kirby said. "In essence, the court isn’t saying ‘no’ to the name change. The court is simply saying ‘not yet.' Age. Develop. Mature.”

Langdon said denying transgender children the ability to legally change their names until age 18 "can lead to significant and irreparable harm, and increases their risk of being outed and bullied, having violence perpetrated against them, having depressive symptoms, and attempting suicide.”

The suit claims Kirby “has a pattern of treating name change requests from transgender adolescents differently than other name requests.”

It also claims that Kirby “has instructed that all name change applications from transgender persons be assigned to his docket … Typically, name change application hearings are conducted by a magistrate judge. Judge Kirby has not conducted any name change hearings for non-transgender individuals.”https:// www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/warren-county/parents-of-three-transgender-teens-sue-warren-county-judge-to-allow-name-change

British state needs complete online media control and wants to decide which news sites are ‘reliable’ – report

By VOICE OF EUROPE 4 August 2018

Demanding news websites be ranked on ‘perceived reliability’ by a state-sanctioned body and controlled by ‘impartiality’ rules, as well as suggesting social media firms fund education for citizens on what news to trust, are recommendations included in a parliamentary enquiry interim report.

The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, made up of anti-Brexit MPs, believe that satire and parody should be included in the definition of ‘Fake News’.

View image on Twitter

View image on Twitter

Andrew Doyle

@andrewdoyle_com

Satire and parody is officially "fake news", according to a government committee report calling for tougher regulation of social media.

This is bound to end well…

Other calls for all political ads to be registered, significant increases in fines for perceived wrongs during campaigns, including holding social media platforms responsible for ‘fake news’ on their platforms, are also in the report.

The remain MPs report also wants all political advertising to be declared in a public register with all ads to come with an imprint so it is clear where they originated.

They have demanded “accuracy and impartiality” rules for television and radio be extended to “online content”. What this means for online news sites is that they would be forced to operate like the BBC, claiming impartiality rather than sharing their political leanings.

They criticised what in their perception is the “relentless targeting of hyper-partisan views, which play to the fears and prejudices of people, in order to influence their voting plans”.

The British government is clearly not satisfied with merely limiting our free speech, as is the case with what they’ve done to Tommy Robinson, they are now attempting to control what information we have access to in the hopes to control what we think and believe, thereby ‘influencing our voting plans’ with their propaganda.

https:// voiceofeurope.com/2018/08/british-state-needs-complete-online-media-control-and-wants-to-decide-which-news-sites-are-reliable-report/

Germany needs 250 policemen to transfer a handful of migrants to another shelter

By VOICE OF EUROPE 5 August 2018

Around 250 policemen, together with riot police, dog handlers and ambulances were sent to a migrant centre in the city of Donauwörth on Friday, newspaper Die Welt reports.

The complete division moved out because five male immigrants, who were involved in conflicts in recent weeks had to be transferred to other refugee shelters.

Four of the five Gambian nationals were found and transferred to other facilities. There was evidence some of the residents had dangerous items in their rooms.

The first event, the inspection of the accommodation in the morning, was followed by a second large-scale operation in the evening of the same day.

Around 7 pm, about 20 police vehicles with blue lights and sirens moved into the refugee centre. According to the police “Due to an emphatic approach and a transparent explanation no physical force had to be applied”.

They also assisted the security service in transferring thirty Gambian immigrants within the accommodation. The relocation was necessary to allow families to use larger rooms and to make the occupancy altogether more conflict-free in the future.

https:// voiceofeurope.com/2018/08/germany-needs-250-policemen-to-transfer-a-handful-of-migrants-to-another-shelter/

Another ‘Soros organisation’ tries to interfere in Hungarian media – Ruling party

By HUNGARY JOURNAL 5 August 2018

Another “Soros organisation” has attempted to interfere in Hungary’s media affairs, the parliamentary group of ruling party Fidesz said on Saturday, in reaction to a recent statement by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

Under the statement posted on its website on Friday, RSF condemned Hungarian news channel Hir TV’s acquisition by “a friend of Prime Minister Viktor Orban”.

The organisation qualified the move as the “latest step in a takeover of the country’s media by Orban and his ruling national-conservative Fidesz party”.

“The authorities are increasingly curbing the independence of the press and its ability to fulfil its role as democracy’s watchdog,” RSF said.

In response, Fidesz said that RSF had made no secret of being financed by US billionaire George Soros and acting as part of the “pro-migration Soros network”.

“It shows that yet another pro-migration Soros organisation tries to interfere in Hungary’s media affairs and domestic politics,” Fidesz said.

https:// voiceofeurope.com/2018/08/another-soros-organisation-tries-to-interfere-in-hungarian-media-ruling-party/

“Spain is becoming the Third World,” American tourist almost killed by migrants speaks up

By ABDELHAMID KADDOUR 5 August 2018

Voice of Europe reported on the 45-year-old American tourist who was almost killed by african migrants in the streets of Barcelona. He’s now speaking up against the Spanish elites, El Periodico reports.

José Bravo, 45 year old, is an American living in Miami, who decided to spend his holidays with his family in Barcelona.

Last Wednesday, a group of african migrants were “surrounding a woman and hitting her”, he explained to the media today. When he saw that nobody was defending her, he tried to save her and was almost killed; he suffered from internal bleeding in the head.

He said that they tried to “kill him”. “Now, I have a bad image of Spain, this country is becoming the Third World and that’s the politician’s faults, they are putting the tourists and their people in danger” he explained.

https:// voiceofeurope.com/2018/08/spain-is-becoming-the-third-world-american-tourist-almost-killed-by-migrants-speaks-up/

Was a camera team in Greece filming “fake migrant drownings” for use on TV?

By ENOCH 4 August 2018

Is it the production of a movie or is it the production of fake news? We tried to verify it, but our Greek reporter couldn’t find the video crew or the people involved. But we do want to show you the footage, to combat fake news, (if that was the intention of the footage).

A Czech tourist in Crete noticed a television camera team were shooting a scene of “drowning refugees”, and luckily recorded the event on his mobile.

The tourist comments sarcastically about the way this fake news will be presented as a real event on television soon. The video became extremely popular on the Czech internet, but so far has been ignored by the mainstream media.

This follows a history of supposed migrant drownings filmed by television crews which are then broadcast by the mainstream media. Pictures and clips of migrants have been shared widely to manipulate public opinion and generate sympathy. This is one of the first times such a piece of fake footage has been captured by a member of the public as it was happening.

The question that arises therefore is how much we should trust the narrative from the mainstream media when it seems they are willing to distribute fake news stories such as these.

https:// voiceofeurope.com/2018/08/was-a-camera-team-in-greece-filming-fake-migrant-drownings-for-use-on-tv/

>>2461806

Chinese workers live at their manufacturing plants for 3 to 6 months out of the year. They sleep on cots and eat the same food. They don't leave the premises.

They don't own cars … only the elites. There is hardly any traffic on the main expressways.

It's a dog and pony show. Place is forever grey skys and dingy.

No lights in office buildings during the day. No heat for the most part. American's are served up an illusion from our media.

>>2461845

Major city's are filled with tall pill boxes we call skyscrapers. No fire suppression systems. One went up in flames and over 175 people trapped died in it.

Newer buildings are crap. Death traps.

>>2461855

The parts of China you see are dog and pony shows. Look closer. Visit. You'll understand. Look at the ceilings there lighting, there heating. Look at the people living in the hovels and basements next to the buildings. Look at their cloths, look at all their cloths.

New Mexico sheriff: Compound searched, 11 kids removed

TAOS, N.M. (AP) — Law enforcement officers searching a rural northern New Mexico compound for a missing 3-year-old boy didn’t locate him but found 11 other children in filthy conditions and hardly any food, a sheriff said Saturday.

The children ranging in age from 1 to 15 were removed from the compound in the small community of Amalia, New Mexico, and turned over to state child-welfare workers, Taos County Sheriff Jerry Hogrefe said.

Two men were arrested during the search while two women at the compound were initially detained before being released pending further investigation, Hogrefe said.

One of the men, 39-year-old Siraj Wahhaj, was jailed on a Georgia warrant alleging child abduction while the other man, identified only as Lucas Morten, was arrested on suspicion of harboring a fugitive, Hogrefe said.

Online court records checked Saturday didn’t list defense attorneys who could comment on behalf of the men.

The search stemmed from an investigation involving the Taos County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI and Clayton County, Georgia, authorities, Hogrefe said in a statement.

Amalia is 145 miles (233 kilometers) northeast of Albuquerque and in an isolated high-desert area near the New Mexico-Colorado border.

Hogrefe said authorities had conducted surveillance of the compound while looking for the missing boy before he decided Thursday to get a search warrant immediately after a Georgia investigator forwarded a message in which someone at the compound reportedly told another person that people at the compound were starving and needed water.

Hogrefe said the search did not turn up the missing boy, identified by the sheriff as AG Wahhaj, but that investigators had reason to believe the boy had been at the compound fairly recently.

It’s not clear whether the boy and Siraj Wahhaj are related.

There were no injuries during the search, the sheriff said. But Wahhaj and Morten initially refused to follow commands and Wahhaj was armed with a rifle and four handguns, Hogrefe said.

There was little food in the compound, which consisted of a small travel trailer buried in the ground and covered by plastic with no water, plumbing and electricity, he said.

“The only food we saw were a few potatoes and a box of rice in the filthy trailer,” the sheriff said.

The adults and children appeared like “refugees not only with no food or fresh water, but with no shoes, personal hygiene and basically dirty rags for clothing,” the sheriff said. “We all gave the kids our water and what snacks we had - it was the saddest living conditions and poverty I have seen.”

https:// apnews.com/264a1a8733064ac7ac7e8f5c50a85828/New-Mexico-sheriff:-Compound-searched,-11-kids-removed

Delaware primary shows looming battle among Democrats over ‘Medicare for All’

Robert King

5 hours ago

Nearly 20-year incumbent Delaware senator Tom Carper is fervently working to fend off a progressive primary challenger making Carper’s reluctance to sign on to single-payer a pivotal issue.

Nearly 20-year incumbent Delaware senator Tom Carper is fervently working to fend off a progressive primary challenger making Carper’s reluctance to sign on to single-payer a pivotal issue.

Carper’s challenger in the Democratic primary is Kerri Harris, a community organizer and Air Force veteran who is running her first statewide campaign. Harris has attacked Carper from his left flank, and believes that her support for a single-payer “Medicare for All” system is a major advantage for her campaign.

“I think it is a defining issue,” she recently told the Washington Examiner on the race for the Democratic nomination. “It speaks across demographic lines as well as party lines. It is a unifying issue.”

Read More: https:// www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/healthcare/delaware-primary-shows-looming-battle-among-democrats-over-medicare-for-all

Trump inches closer to Mueller interview. Here's what he could be asked

by Gabby Morrongiello

| August 05, 2018 12:00 AM

The possibility of President Trump sitting for an interview with special counsel Robert Mueller moved one step closer toward becoming a reality this week, after his lawyer Rudy Giuliani said a decision would be made by Aug. 12 and that the president had been pushing for a sit-down.

Giuliani revealed the self-imposed deadline for a decision as soon as Trump’s legal team reportedly received word from Mueller that he would be open to reducing the number of questions related to obstruction of justice charges, in addition to allowing the president to respond to some queries in written form. Attorneys for the president have long criticized the scope of Mueller’s investigation, arguing that Trump should not be asked questions about his financial history or anything unrelated to Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign.

“We’re in the process of responding to their proposal,” Giuliani told reporters this week, noting that negotiations over a presidential interview remain ongoing.

He added: “[Trump] has always been interested in testifying. It’s us, meaning the team of lawyers, including me, that have the most reservations about that.”

Such concerns stem, in part, from the president’s tendency to speak freely in a way that could lead to missteps and contradictions, or otherwise place him in further legal jeopardy. Giuliani has previously said innocuous questions on topics like the lead-up to a June 9 Trump Tower meeting between the president’s eldest son and a Russian lawyer, or the timing of FBI Director James Comey’s firing, must be left off the table in any conversation between Mueller and Trump.

Should the president choose to speak with federal investigators, a source close to the White House said the interview would likely take place before the end of the month. Here are three key topics Mueller would likely ask of Trump in such a setting:

Michael Flynn

Two of the president’s attorneys claimed in a letter to Mueller’s team earlier this year that Trump could not have intended to disrupt a criminal investigation into former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn because he and his aides did not know Flynn was still being probed by the FBI when he allegedly told Comey to go easy on him.

“The White House Counsel and Chief of Staff, as well as others surrounding the President, had every reason to believe at that time that the FBI was not investigating Lt. Gen. Flynn, especially in light of the fact that Lt. Gen. Flynn was allowed to keep his active security clearance,” lawyers John Down, who no longer works for Trump, and Jay Sekulow wrote in a letter to Mueller on Jan. 29.

If Trump did know Flynn was still being investigated by the FBI, a topic Mueller nearly guaranteed to ask the president about should he grant an interview, questions about the president’s motivation and intent for allegedly urging Comey to clear his national security adviser of wrongdoing would almost surely follow.

READ MORE: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/white-house/trump-inches-closer-to-mueller-interview-heres-what-he-could-be-asked

>>2461952

What is Ofcom?

Ofcom is the communications regulator in the UK. We regulate the TV, radio and video-on-demand sectors, fixed-line telecoms (phones), mobiles and postal services, plus the airwaves over which wireless devices operate.

We make sure that people in the UK get the best from their communications services and are protected from scams and sharp practices, while ensuring that competition can thrive.

We operate under a number of Acts of Parliament, including in particular the Communications Act 2003. We must act within the powers and duties set for it by Parliament in legislation.

The Communications Act says that Ofcom’s principal duty is to further the interests of citizens and of consumers, where appropriate by promoting competition. Meeting this duty is at the heart of everything we do.

Accountable to Parliament, we set and enforce regulatory rules for the sectors for which we have responsibility. We also have powers to enforce competition law in those sectors, alongside the Competition and Markets Authority.

Ofcom is funded by fees from industry for regulating broadcasting and communications networks, and grant-in-aid from the Government.

International work

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Ofcom's activities and those of the companies it regulates are increasingly influenced by international developments.

The communications sector is becoming global in nature. In the light of this, we work closely with European institutions, other national communications regulators, international partners and multilateral organisations. Ofcom represents the UK on radio spectrum issues in key international groups, and participates in international fora on both telecoms and broadcasting matters.

We also seek to learn and share regulatory experiences and best practice with fellow regulatory counterparts. This proactive engagement includes regulatory and inter-governmental bilaterals, participating in multilateral debates and speaking at international events to share insights and experiences and to stay up-to-date with key developments.

Responses to international consultations

We publish our responses to international consultations.

Stakeholder engagement

We strive to be open and transparent with UK stakeholders and consumer groups about our international activities and aim to regularly communicate with them, both through publishing agendas and slides of previous meetings, ad-hoc meetings, and briefing and coordination sessions covering all areas of work and electronic forums.

We host an International Stakeholders Forum (ISF) every four months. This is the primary means through which we aim to update UK stakeholders on our international activities. We also use these as an opportunity to share information, as well as impressions, on international policy developments.

You can out more about the ISF and access meeting materials in International stakeholder engagement.

As well as this forum, we hold dedicated spectrum briefing sessions.

Contact the International Team

For further information, if you want to be added to the circulation list or you would like to request a visit, please email ofcom.international@ofcom.org.uk

>>2461956

Nope Enoch predates Enki

TRUMP BOASTS HIS APPROVAL RATING IS ‘ABOVE OBAMA’ BASED ON POLL THAT CONSISTENTLY FAVORS HIM

BY JESSICA KWONG ON 5/5/18 AT 4:07 PM

resident Donald Trump took the opportunity during a tax reform roundtable in Cleveland, Ohio, on Saturday to say he was “above Obama,” citing his approval rating from a conservative-leaning poll.

“We just had a poll, 51 or 52, which came out, you know, very nicely,” Trump said, referring to a Rasmussen Reports poll on Friday that showed 51 percent of likely U.S. voters approve of his job performance while 49 percent disapprove.

“Then I turn on like, you know, one of the networks and I see, ‘Donald Trump, who’s not very popular…’ I’m saying, ‘What are you talking about?’” Trump continued. “In fact, you saw the poll came out that I’m above Obama.”

“I’m above Obama,” Trump reiterated, drawing claps from the audience.

https:// www.newsweek.com/trump-approval-rating-above-obama-popular-more-based-poll-consistently-favors-912076