JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER. 1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)
DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast (EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADING BLOCKS-10 WORLD REGIONS/TRADE BLOCS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings(10 NATIONS-10 WORLD DIVISION WORLD GOVERNMENT) that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(THE EU (EUROPEAN UNION) TAKES OVER IRAQ WHICH HAS SPLIT INTO 3-SUNNI-KURD-SHIA PARTS-AND THE REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE IS BROUGHT BACK TOGETHER-THE TWO LEGS OF DANIEL WESTERN LEG AND THE ISLAMIC LEG COMBINED AS 1)
LUKE 2:1-3
1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
EU leaders haggle over key UK issues in final push for deal By Eszter Zalan-FEB 17,16-EUOBSERVER
BRUSSELS, Today, 17:26-EU leaders are preparing for a final push in the negotiations on the UK's renegotiation of its EU membership as fine tuning on cutting benefits for EU workers and eurozone governance remain the main sticking points.EU leaders will gather on Thursday (17 February) afternoon in Brussels to kick off the meeting from which British prime minister David Cameron hopes to produce a deal for the UK that would enable him to put the UK's EU membership to a referendum by June."The intention of [EU Council president] Tusk is clear: he believes this week is the best timing to reach a new settlement for the UK and the EU," a senior EU official said.However, Donald Tusk in a letter to EU leaders on Wednesday warned that "there is still no guarantee that we will reach an agreement" and urged them to remain constructive.Highlighting the importance of the next 48 hours, he added: "There will not be a better time for a compromise."Curbing benefits-Leaders at the summit will be armed with a "war room of lawyers", as one EU source put it, to tackle the remaining political and legal issues in the draft deal.Several sticking points remain, with curbing in-work benefits and the indexation of child benefit for EU workers in Britain still raising serious political concerns among eastern European member states."We see it as a UK-specific problem, that should not create possibilities for other member states to restrict access to free movement," a source said.Eastern diplomats want to "ring-fence indirectly" the so-called safeguard mechanism that would allow Britain to curb benefits, by making it specific to the British public service system, in order to make sure other member states will not try to imitate the UK's restrictions."We would need a document that makes this clear. It's going to be in the text in some shape or form," said another diplomat, quipping it should be possible as "we have all night" on Thursday night to discuss it.Eastern Europeans would also like to see guarantees that restricting in-work benefits would only be applicable to newcomers and not to workers already in Britain.They are also keen on making sure that the indexation of child benefit - lowering benefits in cases where the children do not live in Britain, though the parent does - will not apply to other benefits, such as pensions and unemployment support, and will also only be applicable to newcomers."I don't have a feeling the UK has a problem with that," a source said.The UK argues the proposals are aimed at tackling the abuse of Britain's generous welfare system.Leaders will also have to decide how long the UK can use the mechanism to curb benefits, an issue so sensitive it was not even touched upon by diplomats and lawyers who prepared the draft texts for the negotiations.-Eurozone safeguards-Another issue to be dealt with at the two-day summit is eurozone governance, on which the UK has asked for safeguards, in particular, the opportunity to bring discussions on proposed decisions by the 19-member group to EU summits if they endanger the economic interests of those countries outside of the single currency union.On this point, the French lead the countries concerned that the UK might be able to delay or even veto crucial economic and financial decisions in the euro area."We have to ensure integrity of the internal market and avoid that non-euro countries can block further integration, have a veto. The question of how many non-euro countries can raise specific issues to a higher level still needs to be discussed," a source said.The UK on the other hand argues that the safeguard is not a veto, not a holding brake, and not a change in the legislative procedures of the eurozone.-'Ever closer union'-The UK's request to be left out of what the EU treaty defines as "ever closer union" is another issue to be discussed by leaders, where different interpretations of deeper EU integration might clash."For some it does mean deeper integration, for others it does not, we have to find a common position," an EU official said.Some countries, like Belgium, are concerned negotiations will open the door for an 'a la carte' union, and that European integration might be stalled.Others - less concerned about future integration, in some cases simply because in their original language the phrase means more of an alliance than a close political union - don't see the phrase as a problem.-Treaty change-Incorporating the UK's requests into the EU treaty is also a tricky point. While the deal with the UK will be legally binding and carved in international law, Cameron wants to make sure some elements are incorporated into the EU treaties at a later point, as he has promised British voters."All four issues are addressed and must be addressed in respect of the current treaty. We modify nothing in the treaties and we do not start any treaty revision procedure," said a source, reluctant to take Cameron's wish on board.-Good will-On Thursday afternoon leaders, along with European Parliament president Martin Schulz, will hold a first discussion on the UK's requests based on the draft deal put together by Tusk's team.Then they are expected to discuss migration over dinner, while Tusk and his negotiators hold bilateral meetings and hammer out a new draft.Leaders will then come back to the 'Brexit' issue to discuss it overnight, and again on Friday morning for what an EU official called "English breakfast that can turn into brunch."Many are unhappy that Cameron is risking the UK's EU membership, that he is requesting more special treatment for the UK and that he is using the politically charged term "migrants" for EU citizens."It's the first time we use treaties to solve the problems in one political party in one member state," a diplomat said. "It's a miracle we could come all this way, when we see the different positions."But the official said "there is good will" among EU officials and diplomats to make sure Cameron gets a legally binding deal he can campaign with successfully."What we can do is to have a fair deal, which would allow Cameron to campaign. And he will get it. It will be up to him now how he can translate it to British voters," another source said.He added: "The aim is that he [Cameron] can go home from Brussels with a deal that would be sellable to voters."Tusk issued a warning in his letter: "It is our unity that gives us strength and we must not lose this. It would be a defeat both for the UK and the European Union, but a geopolitical victory for those who seek to divide us."
Defence spending may soon be classed as 'development aid' By Aleksandra Eriksson-FEB 17,16-EUOBSERVER
BRUSSELS, Today, 09:29-The world's major donors of development aid are considering a proposal to include some security and defence spending in their formal definition of aid.In recent months, the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) has held heated debates on what should count as development aid.The committee's definition of official development assistance (ODA) – also used by the EU, UN and the World Bank – could be altered at the DAC high-level meeting on Thursday and Friday in Paris.Anti-poverty campaigners fear that the wider definition could allow rich countries to hit global targets on aid spending even if they use the money for other purposes.The committee's current definition of ODA includes development and humanitarian aid, but not aid for military use.DAC chairman Erik Solheim said the consequences of changing the definition would be limited in scope.“We are talking about minor alterations, which would make aid more effective in a crisis situation and strengthen governance and security,” he told EUobserver.Solheim, a former minister for development in Norway, said it would allow for training military staff in human rights and gender theory, as well as improving logistical solutions in emergency situations.“For instance, the UK could have used military helicopters for delivering aid during the ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone,” he said.This would have allowed the UK to “act faster, saving lives and money”, he said, but could not have been financed through the development budget under the current ODA definition.Sara Tesorieri, from the anti-poverty campaign group Oxfam EU, fears that development aid will lose its focus if the definition is widened.“Development aid is supposed to be about progress, not prevention,” she told Euobserver.“We are all for preventing violent extremism, increasing transparency and training military personnel to avoid human rights abuses. We only oppose that these activities are financed through development aid budgets, whose essential goal is to lift people out of poverty."These other activities are important and can help enable development, but they aren't about eradicating poverty, and so should be financed through other budgets.”Solheim said the changes would not take up more than “one or two percent” of the aid budgets. He promised personally to make sure that aid goals would not be endangered by the change.'Principled stand'-Almost all DAC members back the idea to include some security and defence costs in the ODA definition.An EU Commission source said there did not appear to be a problem with the proposal, but stressed it was up to the majority of members to decide on the definition.Tesorieri, however, urged the EU to reject the plan.“I would hope the commission takes a principled stand against the further expansion of eligibility of security costs, as it already finances peace and security operations,” she said.She said the proposed changes could lead to severe consequences in the future.-Refugees and aid-Development assistance is currently under double pressure, as several European countries spend large amounts of their ODA in their own countries on refugee services.In 2015, the Netherlands spent 27 percent of its ODA on refugees and Sweden spent 30 percent, making the Swedish Migration Agency its largest beneficiary of funds.The current definition allows for development aid to cover housing, health services and education during the first 12 months of a refugee’s stay.“It can appear that a country is spending a large amount of its gross national income on development, even reaching the [internationally agreed] 0.7 percent target, but if a good proportion of that money actually stays in Europe, it will still not lift people out of poverty,” said Tesorieri."EU governments feel under pressure, perceiving migration as a crisis and struggling to respond to the situation.“But re-routing development aid to refugee reception in Europe is counterproductive as this does nothing to address the situations that people are fleeing from.”Erik Solheim shares her concerns.“The rules allow for it, but until 2014 countries used to use this possibility only sparsely,” he said."I am happy that big donors such as Germany and [the] UK don’t use ODA for their refugee reception. The money is very much needed in Africa.”Misuse of ODA funds will not be on the DAC’s agenda this time.“But we will look into rules in the future, with the goal of making them stricter rather than wider,” he said.Meanwhile, over 113,000 people have signed Global Citizen, ONE and Oxfam’s petition that asks EU leaders to help the refugees “without doing so at the expense of the world's poorest”.
EU seeks oversight powers on energy security By Andrew Rettman-FEB 17,16-EUOBSERVER
BRUSSELS, Today, 09:30-The European Commission wants to vet all major new gas deals with non-EU suppliers under extra powers unveiled on Tuesday (16 February) to prevent the type of supply crises seen in 2009.Under the proposal, member states would be obliged to share details of forthcoming accords with non-EU countries on issues such as prices, maximum daily volumes and conditions for suspending deliveries.EU officials would then issue “recommendations” that the member state would have to follow, or risk ending up in the EU court in Luxembourg.The commission called for a similar regime on contracts between private companies, which are normally subject to commercial secrecy, if those contracts gave a non-EU supplier 40 percent of more of a single country’s market share.It also said EU states should be obliged to share gas with their neighbours in the event of a supply crunch to cover essential services such as hospitals and schools, which would take priority over domestic industrial users.Supply crunchesIntroducing the measures, which must be approved by member states and by the European Parliament before they become law, EU energy commissioner Miguel Arias Canete said: “To prevent gas supplies' crises, national policies are not enough.”Alluding to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine - an attack by the EU’s main gas supplier on its main transit state - he said: “With political tensions on our borders still on a knife edge, this is a sharp reminder that this problem is not just going to go away.”He added that previous energy security upgrades still left the EU “vulnerable” to major disruptions.He also noted that up to one third of member states’ 124 intergovernmental energy supply pacts currently fall foul of EU law.The first gas crunch in recent times came when Russia cut the supply to Belarus, a minor transit route, in a commercial dispute in 2004.It did it again via Ukraine in 2006, and again also via Ukraine in 2009. The 2009 crisis led to blackouts in Russia-dependent states such as Bulgaria at the height of winter.But Russian gas kept flowing in the Cold War and its main supplier, Gazprom, has kept it flowing despite the Ukraine war, which began in 2014.But the EU itself, back in 2014, proposed potential economic sanctions on Russia that would stop oil and gas imports in the event of a serious escalation of the Ukraine conflict.-Nord Stream controversy-Russia is also in talks to double the capacity of its Nord Stream pipeline to Germany, despite the Ukraine crisis, with construction of the new leg dubbed Nord Stream II to start in April.Canete noted the Nord Stream II project had become “highly political” after eastern and southerly EU states accused Germany of breaking EU solidarity.He said the commission is still assessing whether the project conforms with EU law on third-party pipeline access and on decoupling production and distribution assets.He added that if Germany went ahead, the new deal would also be subject to the 40 percent or more oversight clause."If it goes over the threshold, all contracts with the supplier have to be notified," Canete said.
Eastern EU states want migration 'plan B' By Eszter Zalan-EUOBSERVER
BRUSSELS, 16. Feb, 09:21-Eastern EU countries want to see an alternative plan on Europe’s migration policy by mid-March, their leaders have said.However, during a conference in Prague on Monday (15 February), Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic held off on plans to help Macedonia and Bulgaria seal their borders with Greece to stem the flow of migrants.But the leaders of the so-called Visegrad Group said they were ready to help Bulgaria and Macedonia to strengthen the protection of their borders if other measures failed.The prime ministers, who met their Macedonian and Bulgarian counterparts in Prague, called for the swift establishment of the common European Border and Coast Guard and credible results from a deal with Turkey on stemming the influx of migrants.The leaders also warned that if Europe's migration policy continued to fail by the time of the March EU summit, an alternative would have to be put in place.“At the same time, an alternative back up plan ready for implementation should be developed in case the progress in border protection and cooperation with Turkey falls short of expectations,” they said in a joint statement.“The March European Council should then decide on the next steps.”-Work with Greece-The Visegrad group, founded 25 years ago to further the nations' European integration, has been revitalised by its unified opposition to accepting large numbers of migrants.Their attitudes are a stark contrast to German chancellor Angela Merkel’s welcoming policy towards migrants, a divide to be highlighted when EU leaders gather in Brussels for a summit on Thursday and Friday.Referring to Merkel's promise last summer to welcome asylum seekers from Syria, Slovak PM Rober Fico said: “It wasn’t us who invited migrants to our territory and it wasn’t us who destabilised the countries from which these people come.“Certain European politicians made big mistakes in the migrant crisis.”The Visegrad leaders, while emphasising the need for common solutions, also criticised the EU’s migration policy.“Hungary’s position is that what Europe has done so far is a failure, has led to trouble, terrorism, violence and fear,” Hungary’s PM Viktor Orban said.Hungary has already sent personnel to Macedonia to assist border guards. Slovakia offered 300 policemen.Orban has long criticised Greece for failing to protect the EU’s external borders in the south and argued that a “second line of defence” needed to be established at the Macedonian and Bulgarian side of the border, practically cutting off Greece from the 26-member passport free Schengen area.That idea has been gaining ground among European policy makers, as the EU last Friday gave notice to Athens that its failure to control hundreds of thousands of refugees arriving via Turkey over the past year would see a long-term suspension of some passport-free travel."We don't think that closing borders is the response. We prefer managing borders," a commission spokesman said on Monday.“The European response to the refugee crisis will be done with Greece, not against Greece.”However Polish PM Beata Szydlo insisted "the alternate plan is not aimed against any EU partner".Czech prime minister Bohuslav Sobotka is expected to present the V4 position to Tusk in Prague on Tuesday.
Kidnapped Nigerian Girls Get Unexpectedly Hostile Homecoming-By Liz Dwyer | Takepart.com-FEB 17,16-YAHOONEWS
It was the hashtag that turned the spotlight on the crisis of Nigerian girls and women being abducted by Boko Haram: #BringBackOurGirls. But now that government and humanitarian efforts are resulting in some women being rescued from the Islamic militant group and returned to their homes, it seems not all Nigerians are welcoming them with open arms.According to a joint report released Tuesday by UNICEF and human rights group International Alert, many women and teen girls who were once held by Boko Haram are being rejected by their families and communities. People treat the former captives with mistrust over fears the women have become radicalized supporters of the extremists. But the suspicious behavior of family members tends to become explicit persecution if the former captives bore children after being sexually assaulted by members of Boko Haram.The babies may be innocent, but they are seen by locals as being infected with “bad blood” from their rapist Boko Haram fathers, according to the report. “There is a belief that, like their fathers, the children will inevitably do what hyenas do and ‘eat’ the innocent dogs around them,” wrote the report’s authors.Rejected by their families and neighbors, many of the women and their children are being pushed into poverty. To avoid homelessness and to provide for their babies, some are turning to prostitution to earn money. As a result, the children themselves are “at risk of rejection, abandonment, discrimination, and potential violence,” wrote the report’s authors.“These findings show a pressing need to do more to reintegrate those returning from captivity by Boko Haram,” Kimairis Toogood, International Alert’s peace-building adviser in Nigeria, said in a statement. “Many of these girls already face lasting trauma of sexual violence and being separated from their families, so we must ensure they get all the support they need when they finally return.”Approximately 2,000 women and girls have been abducted since 2012, but international awareness was only raised in late April 2014 after Boko Haram snatched nearly 300 girls from a school in the town of Chibok, in northeastern Nigeria. The hashtag stems from the Bring Back Our Girls movement, which was created that spring at a rally by Obiageli Ezekwesili, the former Federal Minister of Education of Nigeria.Nigerians subsequently shared the hashtag on social media, and it was picked up around the world—including by celebs such as Rihanna, first lady Michelle Obama, and girls education activist Malala Yousafzai. Yousafzai went to Nigeria in July 2014 and demanded that the nation’s president Goodluck Jonathan mobilize the government and take action. Despite the success of the hashtag campaign in raising awareness, those nearly 300 abducted schoolgirls still haven’t been returned home.As for those girls and women who have been rescued, only to face a hostile homecoming, International Alert and UNICEF said more humanitarian assistance for them is needed. “There is a fear that if the needs of these survivors and returning populations are not met, these factors could add another dimension to an already complex conflict situation in northeast Nigeria,” said Toogood.
CAMPAIGN 2016-Dem race dead heat in Nevada, Trump holds big lead ahead of caucuses-Dylan Stableford-Senior editor-February 17, 2016-YAHOONEWS
Just days before the Nevada caucuses, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are locked in a tight race while Donald Trump remains poised to run away with an easy win, recent polls show.On the Democratic side, Planned Parenthood is launching an advertising campaign in hopes of boosting Hillary Clinton, who has fallen into a virtual tie with Bernie Sanders in the latest poll of Democratic caucusgoers there.Beginning Wednesday, the group — which formally endorsed Clinton last month — is expected to air three 15-second television spots featuring women talking about why they support the former secretary of state’s presidential bid.“Remember, there’s a lot at stake in this election,” Reyna, a Mexican-American single mother, says in one of the ads. “Hillary Clinton is a champion for women’s health care. That’s why Planned Parenthood Action Fund has endorsed her.”The ads do not mention Sanders by name.According to the results of a new CNN/ORC survey released Wednesday, the Vermont senator has pulled to within one percentage point of Clinton in Nevada, with the Democratic frontrunner leading the self-described democratic socialist 48 percent to 47 percent. (The same poll conducted in October showed Clinton with a comfortable 16-point lead on Sanders — 50 percent to 34 percent — in Nevada.)-Factoring in the poll’s sampling error (plus or minus 6 percentage points), the candidates sit in a statistical tie just three days before the caucuses.A different poll conducted earlier this month found Clinton and Sanders in a flat-footed tie (45 percent each) among likely Democratic caucusgoers.The poll results, though, come with a large caveat: Nevada is a notoriously difficult state to poll.Not surprisingly, Team Clinton appears to be taking no chances. According to Jon Ralston’s Ralston Reports, the former secretary of state’s campaign is now outspending Sanders on TV ads in Nevada, including $1.5 million for ads this week compared with $1 million for Sanders. (Each campaign has spent a total of roughly $4 million on TV ads there this cycle.)-That doesn’t include the free advertising Clinton has been getting from an unlikely ally: the sex workers at the Moonlite Bunny Ranch, who have been campaigning as “Hookers for Hillary” — even drafting a four-point platform to explain their endorsement.On the Republican side, Donald Trump (45 percent) has a commanding 26-point lead over Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (19 percent) among likely GOP caucusgoers, with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (17 percent) in third place, and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson (7 percent) a distant fourth.That hasn’t stopped the brash billionaire from spending $400,000 on TV ads in Nevada ahead of Tuesday’s Republican caucuses.The anti-Trump PAC Make America Awesome has countered with several TV ads, including this one, titled, “Not For Us.”Trump also maintains a double-digit lead in South Carolina, which will hold its Republican primary on Saturday. The real estate mogul — who will participate in an MSNBC town hall moderated by “Morning Joe” hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski in Charleston later Wednesday — holds a 16-point advantage (38 percent to 22 percent) over Cruz in the Palmetto State, the CNN/ORC survey found.And the results of new Quinnipiac national poll, released Wednesday, show Trump with 39 percent support among GOP voters — a high-water mark for the poll-obsessed businessman — followed by Rubio at 19 percent, Cruz at 18 percent and Ohio Gov. John Kasich at 6 percent.“Reports of Donald Trump’s imminent demise as a candidate are clearly and greatly exaggerated,” Quinnipiac pollster Tim Malloy said in a statement accompanying the survey’s release. “Like a freight train barreling through signals with his horn on full blast, Trump heads down the track towards a possible nomination.”President Obama, though, doesn’t buy the Trump hype.“I continue to believe Mr. Trump will not be president,” Obama said on Tuesday. “And the reason is that I have a lot of faith in the American people, and I think they recognize that being president is a serious job.”
Report: Hate groups, domestic extremists grew significantly in 2015-By Caitlin Dickson-FEB 17,16-Yahoo News
According to a new report from the Southern Poverty Law Center, 2015 may have been the most volatile year the United States has seen since 1968."Last year was an incredibly dramatic year, marked by very high levels of political violence, genuine growth of hate groups and a level of hate speech in mainstream politics that we have not seen in decades," Mark Potok, senior fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center, told Yahoo News Wednesday ahead of the release of the SPLC's latest report on hate and extremism in the U.S. According to the new report, the number of hate groups in the U.S. jumped 14 percent last year, from 784 in 2014 to 892 in 2015. (PDF)-The Alabama-based civil rights nonprofit tracks hate groups and extremists in the U.S., updating its tally of these organizations annually. Potok, who authored the latest report, told Yahoo News that the SPLC defines hate groups as organizations “that demonize and malign entire groups of human beings based on their class characteristics.”“All white people are blue-eyed devils, all black people are criminals, that kind of thing,” he said.Potok explained that the SPLC’s classification of hate groups is “not based on criminality or violence,” but on platform statements, usually displayed on a group’s website, or articulated in speeches or writings by a group’s leaders.SPLC staffers spend the year checking up on existing groups and investigating new ones. Beyond meeting the qualifications of a hate group, an organization must also be deemed active in order to be included on the list."It has to have some activity beyond merely existing as a Web page," Potok said. "That can be criminal activity, holding a rally, selling materials."While neo-Nazis, white nationalists, skinheads and other factions of the white supremacy movement actually saw a slight decline last year, the SPLC found that anti-government "patriot" groups, black separatist organizations and Ku Klux Klan chapters all multiplied in conjunction with some of the years biggest news stories.Between 2014 and 2015, the number of active Klan chapters in the U.S. grew from 72 to 190, a movement that, Potok writes in the report, was “invigorated by the 364 pro-Confederate battle flag rallies that took place after South Carolina took down the battle flag from its Capitol grounds following the June massacre of nine black churchgoers by a white supremacist flag enthusiast in Charleston, S.C.”Anti-government “patriot” groups also grew over the last year, from 874 to 998. Potok credits the 2014 armed standoff at Cliven Bundy’s Nevada ranch, in which federal agents were sent to seize Bundy’s cattle over his failure to pay grazing fees, and were met by an armed militia of Bundy supporters before retreating at gunpoint.“So emboldened were activists by the failure of the federal government to arrest anyone following their ‘victory’ at the Bundy ranch that armed men, led by Bundy’s son, began occupying a wildlife refuge in Oregon in January 2016 as a protest against federal land ownership in the West.”Nearly a month into the occupation in eastern Oregon, Bundy's two sons, Ryan and Ammon, were arrested along with three other senior members of their self-described militia after a confrontation with federal officers that left one dead.These numbers likely underestimate the actual number of people in the U.S. who identify with the radical right, as participation in these movements largely takes place online. “The major hate forum Stormfront now has more than 300,000 members, and the site has been adding about 25,000 registered users annually for several years — the size of a small city.”Potok points to Dylann Roof — the 21-year-old charged with the fatal shooting of nine people at a church in South Carolina last June — as “the perfect example” of how the Internet has become a breeding ground for “lone wolves.” Roof’s radicalization, Potok writes, began with “absorbing propaganda about black-on-white crime from the website of the Council of Conservative Citizens, a hate group that enjoyed the attention of Republican lawmakers in the 1990s, and ended with the June massacre in Charleston. Like increasing numbers in white supremacist circles, Roof was convinced after drinking radical-right Kool-Aid on the Internet claiming that white people worldwide were the targets of genocide.”Last year was also marked by a significant rise in the number of black separatist hate groups, from 113 in 2014 to 180 in 2015.Potok is careful to clarify that these groups — such as the Black Hebrew Israelites, the New Black Panther Party and the Israelite Church of God in Jesus Christ — are “very definitely not Black Lives Matter or the old Black Panther Party.”While the growth of these groups “was fueled largely by the explosion of anger fostered by highly publicized incidents of police shootings of black men,” Potok elaborates in the report, “unlike activists for racial justice such as those in the Black Lives Matter movement, the black separatist groups did not stop at demands for police reforms and an end to structural racism. Instead, they typically demonized all whites, gays, and, in particular, Jews.”Not only was 2015 a banner year for "patriots" and hate groups, according to the SPLC report, the U.S. also experienced a significant amount of “domestic political violence from both the American radical right and American jihadists."“According to a year-end report from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), ‘domestic extremist killers’ slew more people in 2015 than in any year since 1995, when the Oklahoma City bombing left 168 men, women and children dead,” reads the SPLC report. “Counting both political and other violence from extremists, the ADL said ‘a minimum of 52 people in the United States were killed by adherents of domestic extremist movement[s] in the past 12 months.’”Another statistic, from the New American Foundation — which does not include nonpolitical violence — “found that by year’s end, 45 people in America had been killed in ‘violent jihadist attacks’ since the Al Qaeda massacre of Sept. 11, 2001, just short of the 48 people killed in the same 14-year period in ‘far right wing attacks.’"The report concludes that hate, violence and fear are clearly on the rise and tries to explain why, exactly, Americans are so angry.“The bulk of that anger is coming from beleaguered working-class and, to a lesser extent, middle-class white people, especially the less educated — the very same groups that most vociferously support Trump,” Potok writes. “They are angry over the coming loss of a white majority (predicted for 2043 by the Census Bureau), the falling fortunes of the white working class, worsening income inequality, the rise of left-wing movements like Black Lives Matter, major advances for LGBT people, growing numbers of refugees and undocumented workers, terrorism, and more.”“Their anger, above all, is directed at the government,” he adds, referencing a November poll by the Pew Research Center, which found that public trust in the federal government has plummeted since the late 1950s, when 77 percent of Americans said they almost always trusted the government. By contrast, 17 percent of Americans reported that level of trust in the November poll.A number of the Republican presidential candidates have further fanned the flames of this frustration.“Trump, of course, has attacked Muslims, Mexicans and black people (he retweeted a neo-Nazi’s statistics falsely claiming that blacks are overwhelmingly responsible for the murder of whites)” — but he’s not the only one.“Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush and others have made inflammatory comments about Muslims, Carly Fiorina has told false stories that demonize abortion providers, and Ben Carson and others have attacked LGBT activists and the Supreme Court over legalizing same-sex marriage,” Potok writes. “The U.S. House of Representatives took up a bill to end the resettlement of refugees, riding a wave of fear after the San Bernardino attacks.”Potok warned that such boiling frustrations and distrust are not to be taken lightly, especially as the next 30 years marks the period in which Americans are poised to lose their majority for the first time in U.S. history.“We’re going through a transition that is really unparalleled in world history,” Potok said. “We face a very real and serious problem of increasing social distrust that accompanies increasing diversity.”Still, there is hope. In the report, Potok references Harvard scholar Robert Putnam, who argues that while a rise in diversity is accompanied by a decrease in trust between ethnic groups, “that does not mean that multiculturalism is a failure but rather that inter-communal bridge building is important as diversity increases.”“In other words,” Potok explains, “the road ahead will not be an easy one, and Americans of all races and creeds will need to work to rebuild a true national community.”
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast (EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADING BLOCKS-10 WORLD REGIONS/TRADE BLOCS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings(10 NATIONS-10 WORLD DIVISION WORLD GOVERNMENT) that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(THE EU (EUROPEAN UNION) TAKES OVER IRAQ WHICH HAS SPLIT INTO 3-SUNNI-KURD-SHIA PARTS-AND THE REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE IS BROUGHT BACK TOGETHER-THE TWO LEGS OF DANIEL WESTERN LEG AND THE ISLAMIC LEG COMBINED AS 1)
LUKE 2:1-3
1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
EU leaders haggle over key UK issues in final push for deal By Eszter Zalan-FEB 17,16-EUOBSERVER
BRUSSELS, Today, 17:26-EU leaders are preparing for a final push in the negotiations on the UK's renegotiation of its EU membership as fine tuning on cutting benefits for EU workers and eurozone governance remain the main sticking points.EU leaders will gather on Thursday (17 February) afternoon in Brussels to kick off the meeting from which British prime minister David Cameron hopes to produce a deal for the UK that would enable him to put the UK's EU membership to a referendum by June."The intention of [EU Council president] Tusk is clear: he believes this week is the best timing to reach a new settlement for the UK and the EU," a senior EU official said.However, Donald Tusk in a letter to EU leaders on Wednesday warned that "there is still no guarantee that we will reach an agreement" and urged them to remain constructive.Highlighting the importance of the next 48 hours, he added: "There will not be a better time for a compromise."Curbing benefits-Leaders at the summit will be armed with a "war room of lawyers", as one EU source put it, to tackle the remaining political and legal issues in the draft deal.Several sticking points remain, with curbing in-work benefits and the indexation of child benefit for EU workers in Britain still raising serious political concerns among eastern European member states."We see it as a UK-specific problem, that should not create possibilities for other member states to restrict access to free movement," a source said.Eastern diplomats want to "ring-fence indirectly" the so-called safeguard mechanism that would allow Britain to curb benefits, by making it specific to the British public service system, in order to make sure other member states will not try to imitate the UK's restrictions."We would need a document that makes this clear. It's going to be in the text in some shape or form," said another diplomat, quipping it should be possible as "we have all night" on Thursday night to discuss it.Eastern Europeans would also like to see guarantees that restricting in-work benefits would only be applicable to newcomers and not to workers already in Britain.They are also keen on making sure that the indexation of child benefit - lowering benefits in cases where the children do not live in Britain, though the parent does - will not apply to other benefits, such as pensions and unemployment support, and will also only be applicable to newcomers."I don't have a feeling the UK has a problem with that," a source said.The UK argues the proposals are aimed at tackling the abuse of Britain's generous welfare system.Leaders will also have to decide how long the UK can use the mechanism to curb benefits, an issue so sensitive it was not even touched upon by diplomats and lawyers who prepared the draft texts for the negotiations.-Eurozone safeguards-Another issue to be dealt with at the two-day summit is eurozone governance, on which the UK has asked for safeguards, in particular, the opportunity to bring discussions on proposed decisions by the 19-member group to EU summits if they endanger the economic interests of those countries outside of the single currency union.On this point, the French lead the countries concerned that the UK might be able to delay or even veto crucial economic and financial decisions in the euro area."We have to ensure integrity of the internal market and avoid that non-euro countries can block further integration, have a veto. The question of how many non-euro countries can raise specific issues to a higher level still needs to be discussed," a source said.The UK on the other hand argues that the safeguard is not a veto, not a holding brake, and not a change in the legislative procedures of the eurozone.-'Ever closer union'-The UK's request to be left out of what the EU treaty defines as "ever closer union" is another issue to be discussed by leaders, where different interpretations of deeper EU integration might clash."For some it does mean deeper integration, for others it does not, we have to find a common position," an EU official said.Some countries, like Belgium, are concerned negotiations will open the door for an 'a la carte' union, and that European integration might be stalled.Others - less concerned about future integration, in some cases simply because in their original language the phrase means more of an alliance than a close political union - don't see the phrase as a problem.-Treaty change-Incorporating the UK's requests into the EU treaty is also a tricky point. While the deal with the UK will be legally binding and carved in international law, Cameron wants to make sure some elements are incorporated into the EU treaties at a later point, as he has promised British voters."All four issues are addressed and must be addressed in respect of the current treaty. We modify nothing in the treaties and we do not start any treaty revision procedure," said a source, reluctant to take Cameron's wish on board.-Good will-On Thursday afternoon leaders, along with European Parliament president Martin Schulz, will hold a first discussion on the UK's requests based on the draft deal put together by Tusk's team.Then they are expected to discuss migration over dinner, while Tusk and his negotiators hold bilateral meetings and hammer out a new draft.Leaders will then come back to the 'Brexit' issue to discuss it overnight, and again on Friday morning for what an EU official called "English breakfast that can turn into brunch."Many are unhappy that Cameron is risking the UK's EU membership, that he is requesting more special treatment for the UK and that he is using the politically charged term "migrants" for EU citizens."It's the first time we use treaties to solve the problems in one political party in one member state," a diplomat said. "It's a miracle we could come all this way, when we see the different positions."But the official said "there is good will" among EU officials and diplomats to make sure Cameron gets a legally binding deal he can campaign with successfully."What we can do is to have a fair deal, which would allow Cameron to campaign. And he will get it. It will be up to him now how he can translate it to British voters," another source said.He added: "The aim is that he [Cameron] can go home from Brussels with a deal that would be sellable to voters."Tusk issued a warning in his letter: "It is our unity that gives us strength and we must not lose this. It would be a defeat both for the UK and the European Union, but a geopolitical victory for those who seek to divide us."
Defence spending may soon be classed as 'development aid' By Aleksandra Eriksson-FEB 17,16-EUOBSERVER
BRUSSELS, Today, 09:29-The world's major donors of development aid are considering a proposal to include some security and defence spending in their formal definition of aid.In recent months, the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) has held heated debates on what should count as development aid.The committee's definition of official development assistance (ODA) – also used by the EU, UN and the World Bank – could be altered at the DAC high-level meeting on Thursday and Friday in Paris.Anti-poverty campaigners fear that the wider definition could allow rich countries to hit global targets on aid spending even if they use the money for other purposes.The committee's current definition of ODA includes development and humanitarian aid, but not aid for military use.DAC chairman Erik Solheim said the consequences of changing the definition would be limited in scope.“We are talking about minor alterations, which would make aid more effective in a crisis situation and strengthen governance and security,” he told EUobserver.Solheim, a former minister for development in Norway, said it would allow for training military staff in human rights and gender theory, as well as improving logistical solutions in emergency situations.“For instance, the UK could have used military helicopters for delivering aid during the ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone,” he said.This would have allowed the UK to “act faster, saving lives and money”, he said, but could not have been financed through the development budget under the current ODA definition.Sara Tesorieri, from the anti-poverty campaign group Oxfam EU, fears that development aid will lose its focus if the definition is widened.“Development aid is supposed to be about progress, not prevention,” she told Euobserver.“We are all for preventing violent extremism, increasing transparency and training military personnel to avoid human rights abuses. We only oppose that these activities are financed through development aid budgets, whose essential goal is to lift people out of poverty."These other activities are important and can help enable development, but they aren't about eradicating poverty, and so should be financed through other budgets.”Solheim said the changes would not take up more than “one or two percent” of the aid budgets. He promised personally to make sure that aid goals would not be endangered by the change.'Principled stand'-Almost all DAC members back the idea to include some security and defence costs in the ODA definition.An EU Commission source said there did not appear to be a problem with the proposal, but stressed it was up to the majority of members to decide on the definition.Tesorieri, however, urged the EU to reject the plan.“I would hope the commission takes a principled stand against the further expansion of eligibility of security costs, as it already finances peace and security operations,” she said.She said the proposed changes could lead to severe consequences in the future.-Refugees and aid-Development assistance is currently under double pressure, as several European countries spend large amounts of their ODA in their own countries on refugee services.In 2015, the Netherlands spent 27 percent of its ODA on refugees and Sweden spent 30 percent, making the Swedish Migration Agency its largest beneficiary of funds.The current definition allows for development aid to cover housing, health services and education during the first 12 months of a refugee’s stay.“It can appear that a country is spending a large amount of its gross national income on development, even reaching the [internationally agreed] 0.7 percent target, but if a good proportion of that money actually stays in Europe, it will still not lift people out of poverty,” said Tesorieri."EU governments feel under pressure, perceiving migration as a crisis and struggling to respond to the situation.“But re-routing development aid to refugee reception in Europe is counterproductive as this does nothing to address the situations that people are fleeing from.”Erik Solheim shares her concerns.“The rules allow for it, but until 2014 countries used to use this possibility only sparsely,” he said."I am happy that big donors such as Germany and [the] UK don’t use ODA for their refugee reception. The money is very much needed in Africa.”Misuse of ODA funds will not be on the DAC’s agenda this time.“But we will look into rules in the future, with the goal of making them stricter rather than wider,” he said.Meanwhile, over 113,000 people have signed Global Citizen, ONE and Oxfam’s petition that asks EU leaders to help the refugees “without doing so at the expense of the world's poorest”.
EU seeks oversight powers on energy security By Andrew Rettman-FEB 17,16-EUOBSERVER
BRUSSELS, Today, 09:30-The European Commission wants to vet all major new gas deals with non-EU suppliers under extra powers unveiled on Tuesday (16 February) to prevent the type of supply crises seen in 2009.Under the proposal, member states would be obliged to share details of forthcoming accords with non-EU countries on issues such as prices, maximum daily volumes and conditions for suspending deliveries.EU officials would then issue “recommendations” that the member state would have to follow, or risk ending up in the EU court in Luxembourg.The commission called for a similar regime on contracts between private companies, which are normally subject to commercial secrecy, if those contracts gave a non-EU supplier 40 percent of more of a single country’s market share.It also said EU states should be obliged to share gas with their neighbours in the event of a supply crunch to cover essential services such as hospitals and schools, which would take priority over domestic industrial users.Supply crunchesIntroducing the measures, which must be approved by member states and by the European Parliament before they become law, EU energy commissioner Miguel Arias Canete said: “To prevent gas supplies' crises, national policies are not enough.”Alluding to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine - an attack by the EU’s main gas supplier on its main transit state - he said: “With political tensions on our borders still on a knife edge, this is a sharp reminder that this problem is not just going to go away.”He added that previous energy security upgrades still left the EU “vulnerable” to major disruptions.He also noted that up to one third of member states’ 124 intergovernmental energy supply pacts currently fall foul of EU law.The first gas crunch in recent times came when Russia cut the supply to Belarus, a minor transit route, in a commercial dispute in 2004.It did it again via Ukraine in 2006, and again also via Ukraine in 2009. The 2009 crisis led to blackouts in Russia-dependent states such as Bulgaria at the height of winter.But Russian gas kept flowing in the Cold War and its main supplier, Gazprom, has kept it flowing despite the Ukraine war, which began in 2014.But the EU itself, back in 2014, proposed potential economic sanctions on Russia that would stop oil and gas imports in the event of a serious escalation of the Ukraine conflict.-Nord Stream controversy-Russia is also in talks to double the capacity of its Nord Stream pipeline to Germany, despite the Ukraine crisis, with construction of the new leg dubbed Nord Stream II to start in April.Canete noted the Nord Stream II project had become “highly political” after eastern and southerly EU states accused Germany of breaking EU solidarity.He said the commission is still assessing whether the project conforms with EU law on third-party pipeline access and on decoupling production and distribution assets.He added that if Germany went ahead, the new deal would also be subject to the 40 percent or more oversight clause."If it goes over the threshold, all contracts with the supplier have to be notified," Canete said.
Eastern EU states want migration 'plan B' By Eszter Zalan-EUOBSERVER
BRUSSELS, 16. Feb, 09:21-Eastern EU countries want to see an alternative plan on Europe’s migration policy by mid-March, their leaders have said.However, during a conference in Prague on Monday (15 February), Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic held off on plans to help Macedonia and Bulgaria seal their borders with Greece to stem the flow of migrants.But the leaders of the so-called Visegrad Group said they were ready to help Bulgaria and Macedonia to strengthen the protection of their borders if other measures failed.The prime ministers, who met their Macedonian and Bulgarian counterparts in Prague, called for the swift establishment of the common European Border and Coast Guard and credible results from a deal with Turkey on stemming the influx of migrants.The leaders also warned that if Europe's migration policy continued to fail by the time of the March EU summit, an alternative would have to be put in place.“At the same time, an alternative back up plan ready for implementation should be developed in case the progress in border protection and cooperation with Turkey falls short of expectations,” they said in a joint statement.“The March European Council should then decide on the next steps.”-Work with Greece-The Visegrad group, founded 25 years ago to further the nations' European integration, has been revitalised by its unified opposition to accepting large numbers of migrants.Their attitudes are a stark contrast to German chancellor Angela Merkel’s welcoming policy towards migrants, a divide to be highlighted when EU leaders gather in Brussels for a summit on Thursday and Friday.Referring to Merkel's promise last summer to welcome asylum seekers from Syria, Slovak PM Rober Fico said: “It wasn’t us who invited migrants to our territory and it wasn’t us who destabilised the countries from which these people come.“Certain European politicians made big mistakes in the migrant crisis.”The Visegrad leaders, while emphasising the need for common solutions, also criticised the EU’s migration policy.“Hungary’s position is that what Europe has done so far is a failure, has led to trouble, terrorism, violence and fear,” Hungary’s PM Viktor Orban said.Hungary has already sent personnel to Macedonia to assist border guards. Slovakia offered 300 policemen.Orban has long criticised Greece for failing to protect the EU’s external borders in the south and argued that a “second line of defence” needed to be established at the Macedonian and Bulgarian side of the border, practically cutting off Greece from the 26-member passport free Schengen area.That idea has been gaining ground among European policy makers, as the EU last Friday gave notice to Athens that its failure to control hundreds of thousands of refugees arriving via Turkey over the past year would see a long-term suspension of some passport-free travel."We don't think that closing borders is the response. We prefer managing borders," a commission spokesman said on Monday.“The European response to the refugee crisis will be done with Greece, not against Greece.”However Polish PM Beata Szydlo insisted "the alternate plan is not aimed against any EU partner".Czech prime minister Bohuslav Sobotka is expected to present the V4 position to Tusk in Prague on Tuesday.
Kidnapped Nigerian Girls Get Unexpectedly Hostile Homecoming-By Liz Dwyer | Takepart.com-FEB 17,16-YAHOONEWS
It was the hashtag that turned the spotlight on the crisis of Nigerian girls and women being abducted by Boko Haram: #BringBackOurGirls. But now that government and humanitarian efforts are resulting in some women being rescued from the Islamic militant group and returned to their homes, it seems not all Nigerians are welcoming them with open arms.According to a joint report released Tuesday by UNICEF and human rights group International Alert, many women and teen girls who were once held by Boko Haram are being rejected by their families and communities. People treat the former captives with mistrust over fears the women have become radicalized supporters of the extremists. But the suspicious behavior of family members tends to become explicit persecution if the former captives bore children after being sexually assaulted by members of Boko Haram.The babies may be innocent, but they are seen by locals as being infected with “bad blood” from their rapist Boko Haram fathers, according to the report. “There is a belief that, like their fathers, the children will inevitably do what hyenas do and ‘eat’ the innocent dogs around them,” wrote the report’s authors.Rejected by their families and neighbors, many of the women and their children are being pushed into poverty. To avoid homelessness and to provide for their babies, some are turning to prostitution to earn money. As a result, the children themselves are “at risk of rejection, abandonment, discrimination, and potential violence,” wrote the report’s authors.“These findings show a pressing need to do more to reintegrate those returning from captivity by Boko Haram,” Kimairis Toogood, International Alert’s peace-building adviser in Nigeria, said in a statement. “Many of these girls already face lasting trauma of sexual violence and being separated from their families, so we must ensure they get all the support they need when they finally return.”Approximately 2,000 women and girls have been abducted since 2012, but international awareness was only raised in late April 2014 after Boko Haram snatched nearly 300 girls from a school in the town of Chibok, in northeastern Nigeria. The hashtag stems from the Bring Back Our Girls movement, which was created that spring at a rally by Obiageli Ezekwesili, the former Federal Minister of Education of Nigeria.Nigerians subsequently shared the hashtag on social media, and it was picked up around the world—including by celebs such as Rihanna, first lady Michelle Obama, and girls education activist Malala Yousafzai. Yousafzai went to Nigeria in July 2014 and demanded that the nation’s president Goodluck Jonathan mobilize the government and take action. Despite the success of the hashtag campaign in raising awareness, those nearly 300 abducted schoolgirls still haven’t been returned home.As for those girls and women who have been rescued, only to face a hostile homecoming, International Alert and UNICEF said more humanitarian assistance for them is needed. “There is a fear that if the needs of these survivors and returning populations are not met, these factors could add another dimension to an already complex conflict situation in northeast Nigeria,” said Toogood.
CAMPAIGN 2016-Dem race dead heat in Nevada, Trump holds big lead ahead of caucuses-Dylan Stableford-Senior editor-February 17, 2016-YAHOONEWS
Just days before the Nevada caucuses, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are locked in a tight race while Donald Trump remains poised to run away with an easy win, recent polls show.On the Democratic side, Planned Parenthood is launching an advertising campaign in hopes of boosting Hillary Clinton, who has fallen into a virtual tie with Bernie Sanders in the latest poll of Democratic caucusgoers there.Beginning Wednesday, the group — which formally endorsed Clinton last month — is expected to air three 15-second television spots featuring women talking about why they support the former secretary of state’s presidential bid.“Remember, there’s a lot at stake in this election,” Reyna, a Mexican-American single mother, says in one of the ads. “Hillary Clinton is a champion for women’s health care. That’s why Planned Parenthood Action Fund has endorsed her.”The ads do not mention Sanders by name.According to the results of a new CNN/ORC survey released Wednesday, the Vermont senator has pulled to within one percentage point of Clinton in Nevada, with the Democratic frontrunner leading the self-described democratic socialist 48 percent to 47 percent. (The same poll conducted in October showed Clinton with a comfortable 16-point lead on Sanders — 50 percent to 34 percent — in Nevada.)-Factoring in the poll’s sampling error (plus or minus 6 percentage points), the candidates sit in a statistical tie just three days before the caucuses.A different poll conducted earlier this month found Clinton and Sanders in a flat-footed tie (45 percent each) among likely Democratic caucusgoers.The poll results, though, come with a large caveat: Nevada is a notoriously difficult state to poll.Not surprisingly, Team Clinton appears to be taking no chances. According to Jon Ralston’s Ralston Reports, the former secretary of state’s campaign is now outspending Sanders on TV ads in Nevada, including $1.5 million for ads this week compared with $1 million for Sanders. (Each campaign has spent a total of roughly $4 million on TV ads there this cycle.)-That doesn’t include the free advertising Clinton has been getting from an unlikely ally: the sex workers at the Moonlite Bunny Ranch, who have been campaigning as “Hookers for Hillary” — even drafting a four-point platform to explain their endorsement.On the Republican side, Donald Trump (45 percent) has a commanding 26-point lead over Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (19 percent) among likely GOP caucusgoers, with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (17 percent) in third place, and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson (7 percent) a distant fourth.That hasn’t stopped the brash billionaire from spending $400,000 on TV ads in Nevada ahead of Tuesday’s Republican caucuses.The anti-Trump PAC Make America Awesome has countered with several TV ads, including this one, titled, “Not For Us.”Trump also maintains a double-digit lead in South Carolina, which will hold its Republican primary on Saturday. The real estate mogul — who will participate in an MSNBC town hall moderated by “Morning Joe” hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski in Charleston later Wednesday — holds a 16-point advantage (38 percent to 22 percent) over Cruz in the Palmetto State, the CNN/ORC survey found.And the results of new Quinnipiac national poll, released Wednesday, show Trump with 39 percent support among GOP voters — a high-water mark for the poll-obsessed businessman — followed by Rubio at 19 percent, Cruz at 18 percent and Ohio Gov. John Kasich at 6 percent.“Reports of Donald Trump’s imminent demise as a candidate are clearly and greatly exaggerated,” Quinnipiac pollster Tim Malloy said in a statement accompanying the survey’s release. “Like a freight train barreling through signals with his horn on full blast, Trump heads down the track towards a possible nomination.”President Obama, though, doesn’t buy the Trump hype.“I continue to believe Mr. Trump will not be president,” Obama said on Tuesday. “And the reason is that I have a lot of faith in the American people, and I think they recognize that being president is a serious job.”
Report: Hate groups, domestic extremists grew significantly in 2015-By Caitlin Dickson-FEB 17,16-Yahoo News
According to a new report from the Southern Poverty Law Center, 2015 may have been the most volatile year the United States has seen since 1968."Last year was an incredibly dramatic year, marked by very high levels of political violence, genuine growth of hate groups and a level of hate speech in mainstream politics that we have not seen in decades," Mark Potok, senior fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center, told Yahoo News Wednesday ahead of the release of the SPLC's latest report on hate and extremism in the U.S. According to the new report, the number of hate groups in the U.S. jumped 14 percent last year, from 784 in 2014 to 892 in 2015. (PDF)-The Alabama-based civil rights nonprofit tracks hate groups and extremists in the U.S., updating its tally of these organizations annually. Potok, who authored the latest report, told Yahoo News that the SPLC defines hate groups as organizations “that demonize and malign entire groups of human beings based on their class characteristics.”“All white people are blue-eyed devils, all black people are criminals, that kind of thing,” he said.Potok explained that the SPLC’s classification of hate groups is “not based on criminality or violence,” but on platform statements, usually displayed on a group’s website, or articulated in speeches or writings by a group’s leaders.SPLC staffers spend the year checking up on existing groups and investigating new ones. Beyond meeting the qualifications of a hate group, an organization must also be deemed active in order to be included on the list."It has to have some activity beyond merely existing as a Web page," Potok said. "That can be criminal activity, holding a rally, selling materials."While neo-Nazis, white nationalists, skinheads and other factions of the white supremacy movement actually saw a slight decline last year, the SPLC found that anti-government "patriot" groups, black separatist organizations and Ku Klux Klan chapters all multiplied in conjunction with some of the years biggest news stories.Between 2014 and 2015, the number of active Klan chapters in the U.S. grew from 72 to 190, a movement that, Potok writes in the report, was “invigorated by the 364 pro-Confederate battle flag rallies that took place after South Carolina took down the battle flag from its Capitol grounds following the June massacre of nine black churchgoers by a white supremacist flag enthusiast in Charleston, S.C.”Anti-government “patriot” groups also grew over the last year, from 874 to 998. Potok credits the 2014 armed standoff at Cliven Bundy’s Nevada ranch, in which federal agents were sent to seize Bundy’s cattle over his failure to pay grazing fees, and were met by an armed militia of Bundy supporters before retreating at gunpoint.“So emboldened were activists by the failure of the federal government to arrest anyone following their ‘victory’ at the Bundy ranch that armed men, led by Bundy’s son, began occupying a wildlife refuge in Oregon in January 2016 as a protest against federal land ownership in the West.”Nearly a month into the occupation in eastern Oregon, Bundy's two sons, Ryan and Ammon, were arrested along with three other senior members of their self-described militia after a confrontation with federal officers that left one dead.These numbers likely underestimate the actual number of people in the U.S. who identify with the radical right, as participation in these movements largely takes place online. “The major hate forum Stormfront now has more than 300,000 members, and the site has been adding about 25,000 registered users annually for several years — the size of a small city.”Potok points to Dylann Roof — the 21-year-old charged with the fatal shooting of nine people at a church in South Carolina last June — as “the perfect example” of how the Internet has become a breeding ground for “lone wolves.” Roof’s radicalization, Potok writes, began with “absorbing propaganda about black-on-white crime from the website of the Council of Conservative Citizens, a hate group that enjoyed the attention of Republican lawmakers in the 1990s, and ended with the June massacre in Charleston. Like increasing numbers in white supremacist circles, Roof was convinced after drinking radical-right Kool-Aid on the Internet claiming that white people worldwide were the targets of genocide.”Last year was also marked by a significant rise in the number of black separatist hate groups, from 113 in 2014 to 180 in 2015.Potok is careful to clarify that these groups — such as the Black Hebrew Israelites, the New Black Panther Party and the Israelite Church of God in Jesus Christ — are “very definitely not Black Lives Matter or the old Black Panther Party.”While the growth of these groups “was fueled largely by the explosion of anger fostered by highly publicized incidents of police shootings of black men,” Potok elaborates in the report, “unlike activists for racial justice such as those in the Black Lives Matter movement, the black separatist groups did not stop at demands for police reforms and an end to structural racism. Instead, they typically demonized all whites, gays, and, in particular, Jews.”Not only was 2015 a banner year for "patriots" and hate groups, according to the SPLC report, the U.S. also experienced a significant amount of “domestic political violence from both the American radical right and American jihadists."“According to a year-end report from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), ‘domestic extremist killers’ slew more people in 2015 than in any year since 1995, when the Oklahoma City bombing left 168 men, women and children dead,” reads the SPLC report. “Counting both political and other violence from extremists, the ADL said ‘a minimum of 52 people in the United States were killed by adherents of domestic extremist movement[s] in the past 12 months.’”Another statistic, from the New American Foundation — which does not include nonpolitical violence — “found that by year’s end, 45 people in America had been killed in ‘violent jihadist attacks’ since the Al Qaeda massacre of Sept. 11, 2001, just short of the 48 people killed in the same 14-year period in ‘far right wing attacks.’"The report concludes that hate, violence and fear are clearly on the rise and tries to explain why, exactly, Americans are so angry.“The bulk of that anger is coming from beleaguered working-class and, to a lesser extent, middle-class white people, especially the less educated — the very same groups that most vociferously support Trump,” Potok writes. “They are angry over the coming loss of a white majority (predicted for 2043 by the Census Bureau), the falling fortunes of the white working class, worsening income inequality, the rise of left-wing movements like Black Lives Matter, major advances for LGBT people, growing numbers of refugees and undocumented workers, terrorism, and more.”“Their anger, above all, is directed at the government,” he adds, referencing a November poll by the Pew Research Center, which found that public trust in the federal government has plummeted since the late 1950s, when 77 percent of Americans said they almost always trusted the government. By contrast, 17 percent of Americans reported that level of trust in the November poll.A number of the Republican presidential candidates have further fanned the flames of this frustration.“Trump, of course, has attacked Muslims, Mexicans and black people (he retweeted a neo-Nazi’s statistics falsely claiming that blacks are overwhelmingly responsible for the murder of whites)” — but he’s not the only one.“Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush and others have made inflammatory comments about Muslims, Carly Fiorina has told false stories that demonize abortion providers, and Ben Carson and others have attacked LGBT activists and the Supreme Court over legalizing same-sex marriage,” Potok writes. “The U.S. House of Representatives took up a bill to end the resettlement of refugees, riding a wave of fear after the San Bernardino attacks.”Potok warned that such boiling frustrations and distrust are not to be taken lightly, especially as the next 30 years marks the period in which Americans are poised to lose their majority for the first time in U.S. history.“We’re going through a transition that is really unparalleled in world history,” Potok said. “We face a very real and serious problem of increasing social distrust that accompanies increasing diversity.”Still, there is hope. In the report, Potok references Harvard scholar Robert Putnam, who argues that while a rise in diversity is accompanied by a decrease in trust between ethnic groups, “that does not mean that multiculturalism is a failure but rather that inter-communal bridge building is important as diversity increases.”“In other words,” Potok explains, “the road ahead will not be an easy one, and Americans of all races and creeds will need to work to rebuild a true national community.”
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