Why The IRS Is Probing The Clinton Foundation | Zero Hedge

Why The IRS Is Probing The Clinton Foundation | Zero Hedge

Whistleblower's Stunning Claim: "NSA Has All Of Hillary's Deleted Emails, It May Be The Leak"

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-07-31/whistleblowers-stunning-claim-nsa-has-all-hillarys-deleted-emails-it-may-be-leak

Expert report: Evidence proves election fraud and Bernie WON the Democratic nomination. Had enough .01% rogue state crimes to demand arrests, or need more lies, looting, wars?

Posted on July 31, 2016 by Carl Herman

“The difference between the reported totals, and our best estimate of the actual vote, varies considerably from state to state. However these differences are significant—sometimes more than 10%—and could change the outcome of the election.”  ~ Fritz Scheuren, professor of statistics at George Washington University, President of the American Statistical Association (ASA)

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2016/07/expert-report-evidence-proves-election-fraud-bernie-won-democratic-nomination-enough-01-rogue-state-crimes-demand-arrests-need-lies-looting-wars.html

Zika infections increasing rapidly in Puerto Rico

Widespread Zika infections warrant urgent action to protect pregnant women

Language:

Press Release

Embargoed Until: Friday, July 29, 2016 11:00 a.m. EDT
Contact: Media Relations
(404) 639-3286

As of July 7, Zika has been diagnosed in 5,582* people, including 672 pregnant women, in Puerto Rico according to a new report published today in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). Positive tests for people with suspected Zika virus infection have increased from 14 percent in February to 64 percent in June. Positive tests through blood supply screening also increased, reaching 1.8 percent during the latest week of reporting starting July 3.                                                                    
“Puerto Rico is in the midst of a Zika epidemic. The virus is silently and rapidly spreading in Puerto Rico,” said Lyle R. Petersen, M.D., M.P.H, Incident Manager for CDC’s Zika Response and Director, Division of Vector-Borne Diseases. “This could lead to hundreds of infants being born with microcephaly or other birth defects in the coming year. We must do all we can to protect pregnant women from Zika and to prepare to care for infants born with microcephaly.”
Many of the 5,582 people who tested positive for Zika virus infections were tested because they had symptoms of Zika. Because Zika infection during pregnancy can harm the developing fetus, pregnant women in Puerto Rico and other areas where Zika is spreading should be routinely tested during prenatal care whether or not they got sick. Of the 672 pregnant women, 441 (66 percent) experienced symptoms of Zika and 231 (34 percent) had no symptoms. Because approximately 80 percent of people infected with Zika do not have symptoms, the 672 pregnant women with evidence of Zika infection likely represent only a fraction of those who may be infected to date.
In addition, 21 people with confirmed or suspected Guillain-Barré syndrome in Puerto Rico had evidence of Zika virus infection or recent unspecified flavivirus infection, and one person died after developing severe thrombocytopenia (low blood platelet count).
Since local transmission of Zika virus was first reported in Puerto Rico in December 2015, it has become widespread on the island. People in 77 of 78 municipalities have tested positive for Zika virus infection. Large urban areas are most severely affected, with the largest numbers of diagnosed residents in the San Juan metropolitan area followed by the Ponce and Caguas metropolitan areas.
Outbreaks of mosquito-borne viruses tend to peak in the late summer and fall in Puerto Rico—hotter months with higher rainfall—raising concern that Zika will continue to spread and increase in the coming months. At the current trend, hundreds to thousands more pregnant women in Puerto Rico could become infected with Zika by the end of the year. There is also risk for more Guillain-Barré syndrome cases associated with Zika virus infection.

The situation in Puerto Rico warrants urgent, comprehensive action to protect pregnant women:

• The government of Puerto Rico and its municipalities can promote an integrated mosquito management program that includes reducing places with water where mosquitoes lay eggs, keeping mosquitoes out of houses with screens on windows and doors, and reducing the number of mosquitoes by using EPA-approved products. Everyone can follow these steps to help reduce the number of mosquitoes in and around homes.
• People who live in or travel to Puerto Rico should avoid mosquito bites by using EPA-registered insect repellents, wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants, and staying indoors in places with screens and air conditioning to the greatest extent possible.
• Pregnant women and their partners should use condoms and other barriers to prevent sexual transmission of Zika virus, or not have sex throughout the pregnancy.
• Couples who want to prevent or delay pregnancy should talk to their healthcare provider about safe and effective contraceptive methods. 
• Clinicians who suspect Zika in patients who live in or have recently returned from areas with Zika, such as Puerto Rico, should report cases to public health officials.

CDC is working with Puerto Rico to provide services to protect pregnant women from Zika, support pregnant women who have been infected with Zika, increase lab testing, improve mosquito control, and provide access to contraception for women who choose to delay or avoid pregnancy. CDC is also currently sponsoring the public education campaign in Puerto Rico Stop Zika to raise awareness of Zika virus and personal protective actions residents can take.
* CDC only publishes data on our website that has been provided through ArboNET. Although Puerto Rico reports data to ArboNET, the Puerto Rico Department of Health reports cases from its own surveillance system, not ArboNET data.  Differences in reporting between these surveillance systems contributes to different numbers being reported.

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AN

Jane Sanders: Why Bernie Voters Shouldn't Get Over It - Rolling Stone

Jane Sanders: Why Bernie Voters Shouldn't Get Over It - Rolling Stone

Is the Elite Media Failing to Reach Trump Voters?

And in their rush to condemn Trump, are journalists betraying their values? Glenn Greenwald says yes to both.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/interrogation/2016/07/glenn_greenwald_on_donald_trump_the_dnc_hack_and_a_new_mccarthyism.html

Trump’s Trade Deficits Six ways Washington handicaps U.S. exporters

Trump’s Trade Deficits

Six ways Washington handicaps U.S. exporters

By Jon Basil Utley

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/trumps-trade-deficits/

U.S: Bankers No Longer Too Big to Jail?

U.S. politicians in surprising agreement to end impunity for bankers.

By Frank Vogl, July 29, 2016 | http://www.theglobalist.com/us-bankers-no-longer-too-big-to-jail/

Takeaways

• Investigations against major global banks may end the impunity that top bankers have so long enjoyed.
• If Dems & Republicans press ahead with reform, the lobbying power of Wall Street firms could decline.
• To date, why hasn't a single top banking executive faced a single day in criminal court?

Some of the world’s biggest banks have overplayed their hand. They have strived at every turn to exert extraordinary political influence in order to get away with criminal violations of the law.
To date, not a single top banking executive has faced a single day in criminal court. http://www.theglobalist.com/us-bankers-no-longer-too-big-to-jail/

Trump and the Return of American Economic Nationalism

How the nineteenth-century battle between free trade and protectionism shaped the global economic order.

By Marc-William Palen, July 30, 2016 | http://www.theglobalist.com/trump-and-the-return-of-american-economic-nationalism/

Credit: The 'Conspiracy' of Free Trade: The Anglo-American Struggle over Empire and Economic Globalisation, 1846-1896 by Marc-William Palen (Cambridge University Press, Feb 9, 2016)

Takeaways

• Protectionism, the political economic choice throughout the world history, is again in fashion.
• A protectionist shift is no radical departure for the United States. It’s a return to the status quo.
• The international turn to trade liberalization since the WWII represents the exception to protectionist rule.
• Republicans of yesteryear, like Trump now, sought to protect industries from foreign competition.
• Old GOP leaders said free-traders were agents of a vast British conspiracy to undermine America.

Why Trump Supporters Think He'll Win

How the election looks to backers of the Republican nominee

• David Frum
• Jul 29, 2016 | http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/07/backing-donald-trump/493619/

Perhaps the hardest thing to do in contemporary American politics is to imagine how the world looks from the other side. I’ve made no secret of why, as a Republican, I oppose Donald Trump and what he stands for. But I’ve also been talking to his supporters and advisors, trying to understand how they see and hear the same things that I do, and draw such very different conclusions. What follows isn’t a transcription—it’s a synthesis of the conversations I’ve had, and the insights I’ve gleaned, presented in the voice of an imagined Trump supporter.

Of the Democratic Convention, a destroyed educational system, and a nominated non-entity

http://non-intervention.com/2274/of-the-democratic-convention-a-destroyed-educational-system-and-a-nominated-non-entity/

This Palestinian Served Out His 14.5-year Sentence. Why Is He Still in Israeli Jail?

 This Palestinian Served Out His 14.5-year Sentence. Why Is He Still in Israeli Jail?

Bilal Kayed was within hours of reuniting with his family last month when he was cruelly slapped with an administrative detention order. No charges, no explanations. Now he's on hunger strike, cuffed to his hospital bed.
read more: http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.733885

http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.733885

The Paradox at the Heart of the South China Sea Ruling

What looked like a huge defeat for China may actually play into Beijing's hands.

• By Feng Zhang
• July 28, 2016 | http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/07/28/can-china-actually-be-benefiting-from-south-china-sea-ruling-paradox-hague-philippines/

On July 12, an arbitration tribunal at The Hague delivered what is widely regarded as a landmark ruling on the maritime territorial dispute between the Philippines and China. Among many breathtaking findings, the tribunal declared China’s so-called “nine-dash line” invalid. It also concluded that none of the Spratly Islands — not even Itu Aba (Taiping Island), the largest naturally formed feature — are capable of generating an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and continental shelf of their own.
On their face, these decisions, which rejected every argument that China made, drastically reduce China’s maritime rights in the Spratly chain of the South China Sea; international observers have almost unanimously described the ruling as an overwhelming victory for Manila, a heavy defeat for Beijing, and a game changer for Asian maritime disputes. But so far, the award hasn’t changed the underlying dynamics of regional politics in the South China Sea, and ASEAN, a powerful southeast Asian body, refrained from commenting on the award following a meeting, a move widely seen as the result of arm-twisting from Beijing. In fact, it is becoming clear that the tribunal’s finding was so sweeping that it is paradoxically less likely to have any real-world impact.http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/07/28/can-china-actually-be-benefiting-from-south-china-sea-ruling-paradox-hague-philippines/

http://lobelog.com/trump-v-clinton-whats-a-good-neocon-to-do/#more-35263

Trump v. Clinton: What’s a Good Neocon to Do?

by Jim Lobe
There have been some reports—most recently, in The Intercept—that neoconservatives, most of whom have indeed expressed a strong dislike for Donald Trump, are now moving to support Hillary Clinton. This assessment is based primarily (and exclusively in the case of the above-cited article) on Bob Kagan’s speech at a fundraiser for Clinton earlier this month. Of course, for some time now Kagan has made little secret of his support for her—and of his comfort in being called a “liberal internationalist.”
In my opinion, the notion that neoconservatives are moving en masse into the Hillary camp is premature. True, Kagan supports Hillary. But the co-founder with Bill Kristol of the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) and its successor, the Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI), has been an outlier, if not a renegade, in the movement in recent years. The Intercept’s author could also have added a couple of influential younger neocons to the list, including the Wall Street Journal’s “Global View” columnist Bret Stephens and FPI fellow Jamie Kirchick, although their backing for Hillary is driven virtually entirely by their unvarnished loathing of Trump. Stephens actually titled his endorsement “Hillary: The Conservative Hope,” while Kirchick laid out the case in his opening sentence: “It’s come to this: Hillary Clinton is the one person standing between America and the abyss.” http://lobelog.com/trump-v-clinton-whats-a-good-neocon-to-do/#more-35263

Donald Trump's Radical Foreign Policy

The real question, it seems to me, is to what extent Trump's skeptical stance and questions represent current public opinion in the United States -- or resonate with it.  Perhaps the public has moved on from "policies that have had bipartisan support for decades.".

Donald Trump's Radical Foreign Policy

The Republican nominee doesn’t just disagree with Democrats—his ideas represent a break with a long list of policies that have won bipartisan support for decades.

• David A. Graham
• July 29, 2016 | The Atlantic | http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/07/how-trump-turned-the-us-foreign-policy-consensus-upside-down/493439/

To understand the ways in which Trump’s candidacy represents a break from decades of U.S. foreign-policy consensus—including in most, though not all cases, Republican orthodoxy—it’s more useful to follow the old axiom of show-don’t-tell with an inventory of the policy proposals Trump has suggested, juxtaposing them with the old, agreed-upon approach. Here’s a cheat sheet on the GOP nominee’s divergences from the established path.http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/07/how-trump-turned-the-us-foreign-policy-consensus-upside-down/493439/

From the archive: Clinton’s running mate, Tim Kaine, offers his views on military intervention

In a candid address to the IISS Manama Dialogue in 2013, Hillary Clinton’s running mate, Tim Kaine, identified four key elements that must be addressed if policymakers are to convince a sceptical public of the need for military engagement. The speech offers a fascinating insight into his personal views on military intervention, and how he would seek to win over his public if elected to office.

Date: 24 July 2016 | http://www.iiss.org/en/iiss%20voices/blogsections/iiss-voices-2016-9143/july-f42d/tim-kaine-on-military-intervention-491c?_cldee=Y3dmcmVzaWRlbmNlQGdtYWlsLmNvbQ%3d%3d&urlid=1

In an address to the IISS Manama Dialogue in December 2013, Tim Kaine, United States Senator for Virginia, and Hillary Clinton’s running mate, gave a candid exposition of his views on military intervention. http://www.iiss.org/en/iiss%20voices/blogsections/iiss-voices-2016-9143/july-f42d/tim-kaine-on-military-intervention-491c?_cldee=Y3dmcmVzaWRlbmNlQGdtYWlsLmNvbQ%3d%3d&urlid=1

https://www.thecipherbrief.com/article/asia/grand-tpp-illusion-1094

The Grand TPP Illusion

July 15, 2016 | Clyde Prestowitz

 

For America’s foreign policy establishment, the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a grand “twofer.” It will improve U.S. national security by countering China’s growing economic, political, and military power in the Asia-Pacific region. At the same time, it will stimulate U.S. exports and thereby reduce the chronic U.S. trade deficit and create millions of American jobs. Unfortunately, this is a grand illusion based on fundamentally false premises about national security as well as trade and globalization.
The first problem lies in the notion that the United States can buy stronger allies. By fostering more open markets between America and certain countries and by making investment and production in those countries more secure for American and global investors and producers, the countries will become stronger allies on geo-political issues, especially with regard to China. While this sounds logical, especially to those who desperately hope for it, experience demonstrates that the world often doesn’t work that way.
Before World War I, Great Britain and Germany were each other’s biggest trading partners. Germany and France were also major trading partners. Cross investment by industry among these three countries was also substantial. But that did not prevent them from going to war. Before World War II, the United States was Japan’s largest trading partner. But that did not prevent the outbreak of war at Pearl Harbor. Today, China and the United States are among each other’s top three trading partners while U.S. industry is heavily invested in China, and China is the second largest holder of U.S. Treasury bonds. None of that has prevented rising security tension between the two countries. Indeed, as the trade has grown and China has become a richer, more powerful country, the tension has increased, contrary to the forecasts of the foreign policy elite. https://www.thecipherbrief.com/article/asia/grand-tpp-illusion-1094

The DNC Is One Big Corporate Bribe

Drink up—it's on us! Then go protest the TPP to your heart’s content.

https://newrepublic.com/article/135564/dnc-one-big-corporate-bribe

How to Understand the Beheading of a French Priest by Robert Fisk

How to Understand the Beheading of a French Priest

Faced with the murder and beheading of seven of his monks by Islamists 20 years ago, the Archbishop of Algiers went one better than the Archbishop of Rouen this week. He didn’t talk about the slaughter of an elderly priest as the “unnameable”.  He saw the road of Calvary. In fear of his own life amid a ferocious conflict, Monseigneur Henri Teissier, 67 years old and a French professor of Arabic, responded by celebrating mass for six nuns and monks all those years ago by reading from St Matthews, Chapter 25, verse 13: “Watch, therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh.”

by Robert Fisk

http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/07/29/how-to-understand-the-beheading-of-a-french-priest/

Night of the Hollow Men: Notes From the Democratic Convention

http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/07/28/night-of-the-hollow-men-notes-from-the-democratic-convention/

The Myth of Lone-Wolf Terrorism

The Attacks in Europe and Digital Extremism

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/western-europe/2016-07-26/myth-lone-wolf-terrorism?cid=nlc-twofa-20160728&sp_mid=51937637&sp_rid=bWljaGVsZXRrZWFybmV5QGdtYWlsLmNvbQS2&spMailingID=51937637&spUserID=MjEwNDg3NjAxODc2S0&spJobID=964120253&spReportId=OTY0MTIwMjUzS0

Hillary Clinton and Her Hawks

Hillary Clinton and Her Hawks

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/37033-hillary-clinton-and-her-hawks

Israeli soldiers’ Shabbat host: Hebron’s monster-in-chief

http://www.larryderfner.com/2016/07/29/israeli-soldiers-shabbat-host-hebrons-monster-in-chief/

WPR Articles July 22 — July 29

Expect Big Changes in Russia Policy if Trump Becomes U.S. President

By: Frida Ghitis | Column

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump shocked the U.S. foreign policy establishment last week when he declared he might not defend NATO members from a Russian invasion if they hadn’t paid their dues. But when it comes to the Atlantic alliance, Trump’s misgivings go beyond dollars and cents.

What the Three Main Narratives About the South China Sea Ruling Ignore

By: Fabio Scarpello | Briefing

An international tribunal’s ruling earlier this month in favor of the Philippines in its dispute with China over islands in the South China Sea has spurred a wealth of commentary, forecasts and questions. Three main narratives have emerged about China and the liberal order, but they don’t explain everything.

Europe’s Crises Force Reluctant Germany to Accept Its Leadership Role

By: Maria Savel | Trend Lines

Since the eurozone crisis began in 2009, the European Union has faced a nonstop string of crises. Throughout each one, Germany has found itself leading the bloc to a response. But its leadership hasn’t always been welcome, and Germany’s own relationship with its role in Europe is complicated.

Why Territorial Losses Don’t Weaken Somalia’s Al-Shabab

By: Peter Dörrie | Briefing

Despite a loss of territorial control since 2011, the militant group al-Shabab is the main obstacle to Somalia’s political transition and a terrorism threat to its neighbors. In fact, al-Shabab’s capability to mount conventional military operations and high-casualty terrorist attacks has arguably increased.

Energy Policy Is Key to Kuczynski’s Economic Plans in Peru

By: Jeremy Martin | Briefing

After a rollicking election, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski took office as Peru’s new president yesterday. To fulfill his broad economic pledges—mainly, to maintain market-friendly policies while reducing poverty—his administration will need to move quickly on several issues, especially the energy sector.

Canada Sees an Opportunity to Boost Its Trade Ties With Latin America

By: The Editors | Trend Lines

In late June, the Canadian government announced the lifting of visa requirements for Mexican visitors, one of several measures aimed to improve ties with Mexico. In an interview, Laura Macdonald, a professor at Carleton University, discussed Canada’s ties with Latin America.

How America’s Political and Media ‘Fear Industry’ Helps the Islamic State

By: Steven Metz | Column

Despite a historically unprecedented degree of national security, many Americans are worried about defeat at the hands of violent extremists, particularly the so-called Islamic State. This climate of fear is the product of an influential “fear industry” that plays into the hands of terrorists.

Race for Commission Chair Exposes Regional Rifts Within the African Union

By: Alex Thurston | Briefing

The African Union held its 27th summit in Kigali, Rwanda, earlier this week, where it had planned to elect a new chairperson of the African Union Commission, the executive office of the AU. But in Kigali, all three candidates fell far short of the two-thirds majority needed to secure the position.

What Venezuela’s Ongoing Crisis Means for the Region

By: The Editors | Trend Lines

In this week’s Trend Lines podcast, WPR’s editor-in-chief, Judah Grunstein, and host Peter Dörrie discuss the attempted coup in Turkey and political turmoil in Zimbabwe. For the Report, David Smilde discusses Venezuela’s ongoing crisis and its potential effect on the Colombia-FARC peace process.

Why a Joint U.S.-Russia Plan to Strike the Nusra Front in Syria Could Backfire

By: Frederick Deknatel | Trend Lines

While the world focuses on ISIS, the Nusra Front, the other main jihadi group in Syria—and the one still affiliated with al-Qaida—has been biding its time and extending its footprint. In response, the Obama administration is now moving to work more closely with Russia to attack it.

Big Power Politics Threaten to Upset U.N. Secretary-General Race

By: Richard Gowan | Column

The race to replace Ban Ki-moon as U.N. secretary-general was jolted into life last Thursday by a Security Council straw poll on current candidates. The results are open to multiple interpretations. A likely but depressing one is that the U.S. and Russia are headed toward a showdown over the outcome.

China’s Aggressive Space Program Is Forced to Go it Alone

By: The Editors | Trend Lines

Last month, China successfully recovered an experimental probe that had been launched from a next-generation rocket. The launch keeps China on target to put its second space station into orbit later this year. In an email interview, Vincent Sabathier discusses China’s space program.

The Real Risk of Unintended U.S.-Russia Conflict

By: Matthew Rojansky | Briefing

A war between Russia and the U.S. is more likely today than at any time since the worst years of the Cold War. This may sound implausible. Yet increasing deployments by both sides, coupled with severely constrained direct dialogue, mean that dangerous incidents will become more likely and will be harder to defuse.

How the Next President Can Right-Size U.S. Goals in Afghanistan

By: Ellen Laipson | Column

The next U.S. president will have a chance to revalidate or reposition America’s engagement in Afghanistan. The larger challenge is to shift the debate about the U.S. commitment to longer-term goals, building on the gradual achievements of state-building rather than the enduring security challenges.

Modi’s Kashmir Conundrum: Promising Development as Violence Intensifies

By: Michael Kugelman | Briefing

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi sees development as the solution for afflictions in restive, Muslim-majority Kashmir. But as recent violence, the deadliest in years, makes clear, that remedy remains elusive. New Delhi needs to address some delicate yet critical questions about its Kashmir policy.

Western Sahara Complicates Morocco’s Bid to Rejoin the African Union

By: Karina Piser | Trend Lines

Morocco recently requested to rejoin the African Union, more than three decades after it withdrew over its controversial claims to Western Sahara. But while Rabat has made some progress in generating support for its position, the conflict in Western Sahara remains a stumbling block to its ambitions.

Will Syria Be Hezbollah’s Proving Ground, or Its Undoing?

By: Bilal Y. Saab, Nicholas Blanford | Feature

Hezbollah is facing its toughest challenge since its inception. While it remains the world’s most powerful substate militant actor, its involvement in Syria’s conflict has cost it significant manpower and vilified its image among Sunnis, with real risks for its domestic and regional standing.

How Germany Is Fulfilling Its Commitments to the Paris Climate Deal

By: The Editors | Trend Lines

Earlier this month, the U.N.’s special envoy on climate change accused Germany of going against the Paris climate agreement by subsidizing the fossil fuel industry. In an email interview, Daniel Klingenfeld of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research discusses Germany’s climate change policy.

Misogyny Persists in South Korea, Despite Progress on Women’s Rights

By: David Volodzko | Briefing

South Korea has made enormous strides in women’s rights, from education to politics, yet misogyny remains widespread, as a few recent cases have made clear. While progress at the top is key, everyday social attitudes and perceptions cannot be legislated and remain woefully retrograde.

The Fear-Monger’s Handbook: The Danger of a Little Bit of Truth

By: Michael A. Cohen | Column

Newt Gingrich’s speech at the Republican national convention illustrates how fear-mongers use an exaggerated threat of terrorism as an effective political tool. The key is to take a kernel of truth and add it to terrifying “black swan” scenarios to make threats seem greater than they really are.

Can the U.S. Counter Terrorism’s Shift to Decentralized and Random Violence?

By: Steven Metz | Column

Though barely half over, 2016 has already turned into a bloody year of terrorism. What is concerning is not simply the extent of this violence but the ongoing mutation of terrorism into new forms. Attacks that are inspired but not directly controlled by terrorist networks are today’s growth industry.

Indonesia Sets Ambitious Emissions Targets to Fight Climate Change

By: The Editors | Trend Lines

Earlier this year, Indonesia called on the palm oil sector to play a larger role in the fight against climate change, including by stopping its slash-and-burn deforestation practices. In an email interview, T. Nirarta Samadhi of the World Resources Institute discusses Indonesia’s response to climate change.

Is a U.S. Move to Accept More Central American Refugees Too Little, Too Late?

By: Frederick Deknatel | Trend Lines

On Tuesday, the Obama administration announced the expansion of a program to admit refugees from Central America into the United States. Observers had criticized it as inadequate amid an exodus of people, many of them children, fleeing violence and poverty in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

Will the Syria Conflict Leave Hezbollah Stronger for ‘Inevitable’ Next War With Israel?

By: The Editors | Trend Lines

In this week’s Trend Lines podcast, WPR’s editor-in-chief, Judah Grunstein, and host Peter Dörrie discuss the potential for conflict between the U.S and Russia, al-Shabab’s resilience, and unrest in Kashmir. For the Report, Nicholas Blanford talks about the effect of the Syria conflict on Hezbollah.

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Friday, July 29, 2016

Friday, July 29, 2016

Declaring a no-first-use nuclear policy would be exceedingly risky   Gordon G. Chang   Various defense and disarmament experts have suggested the President Obama may soon declare a no-first-use stance on nuclear weapons. Risky?     The peace boat Golden Rule sails into a new era of nuclear activism   Dawn Stover A piece of history is sailing around the Pacific Northwest to raise awareness of the continuing threat of nuclear weapons. But the very idea of peace is history to many.     Can the bioweapons convention survive Crispr?   Daniel M. Gerstein   The Review Conference of the Biological Weapons Convention gathers for the eighth time in November. This year the Conference faces one of the most unique challenges in its history: CRISPR gene editing.   How to respond to science-denial trolls   John Cook The subject of climate change always attracts online attacks. But for someone who researches misinformation and attacks on science, trolls provide data!     25 years of START   See a special collection of articles about the year the Doomsday Clock moved to 17 minutes to midnight.     What We’re Reading: A cyber vocabulary for understanding the DNC hack   Our What We’re Reading blog features short posts by our staff about articles you’ll want to see. This week we look at whether the record-breaking heat in much of the US and Middle East is related to climate change; the long-term dangers of government preferences for renewables over the main source of carbon-free electricity: nuclear power; the BBC’s plans in case of nuclear war, and understanding the language of cyber hacking.   We’re looking for a Chicago-based Development Director    With the announced retirement of our Development Director, the Bulletin is seeking a seasoned development officer with experience in development strategy and planning. Come work with us!     The Bulletin partners with the Stimson Center for the UNSCR 1540 International Student Essay Contest     We depend on your generosity to sustain a powerful network of editors, authors, advisors, and specialists to bridge the gap between science and policy. Please make a gift today through our new secure portal and amplify the voices of reason about issues that threaten our safety.   About the Bulletin   For more than 70 years the Bulletin has engaged science leaders, policy makers and the interested public on topics of nuclear weapons and disarmament, the changing energy landscape, climate change and emerging technologies.

Visiting Auschwitz, Pope Francis Asks God To Forgive ‘So Much Cruelty’

Philip Pullella
http://forward.com/news/breaking-news/346392/visiting-auschwitz-pope-francis-asks-god-to-forgive-so-much-cruelty/

How Will the Failed Coup in Turkey Affect Syria?

How Will the Failed Coup in Turkey Affect Syria?

Posted by: Aron Lund

Thursday, July 28, 2016 | http://carnegieendowment.org/syriaincrisis/?fa=64206&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTTJZNU5qQTNPV1k1TVdJdyIsInQiOiIyWGV0RVBlRmptUnByYmxWOWo4VUJTSzA1SFp2a2VZVVlnK21VQVRpUUlRdHVTdWk0SkZXXC81XC84Z2NnXC9pb0FnSlwvMTZEd3diWHhZWmEwWnBGQmJwVEt0c1JrSTFDVWlTb1dsZElabHZmQWc9In0%3D

As the dust slowly settles following the July 15 coup attempt in Turkey, which killed around 300 people and left more than 2,000 wounded, it is clear that Turkish politics will remain in flux for some time to come. July 15 may come to be seen as a defining moment in Turkey’s contemporary history—but could it also be so for Syria?
At first glance, there does not seem to be an immediate connection between the two issues. But the effects of the failed coup could play out in many different and contradictory ways for Syria, where Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government has long been one of the most hawkish supporters of an Islamist-led Sunni insurgency against President Bashar al-Assad’s authoritarian government. Even a slight shift in Ankara’s Syria policy could have significant consequences for the war—and if Erdogan had been toppled, it could easily have been a game-changing moment in the conflict. When news of the coup first broke, celebratory gunfire erupted in Damascus and several other cities, though that turned out to be a waste of both cheers and bullets. http://carnegieendowment.org/syriaincrisis/?fa=64206&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTTJZNU5qQTNPV1k1TVdJdyIsInQiOiIyWGV0RVBlRmptUnByYmxWOWo4VUJTSzA1SFp2a2VZVVlnK21VQVRpUUlRdHVTdWk0SkZXXC81XC84Z2NnXC9pb0FnSlwvMTZEd3diWHhZWmEwWnBGQmJwVEt0c1JrSTFDVWlTb1dsZElabHZmQWc9In0%3D

The Saudi bombardment of Yemen Worse than the Russians

 

The Saudi bombardment of Yemen

Worse than the Russians

The West is abetting vast loss of life

http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21702782-west-abetting-vast-loss-life-worse-russians

WYD Krakow 2016: An Experience of Mercy

The Great Adventure

WYD Krakow 2016: An Experience of Mercy

by Fr. Peter Mitchell

“When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to myself” (John 12:32)

I am here in Krakow, Poland, for World Youth Day 2016, serving as a priest-volunteer assisting the Sisters of Divine Mercy in welcoming the thousands of young people coming on pilgrimage to their convent chapel, better known as the Sanctuary of Divine Mercy.
Thus far I have only been here for two days but have already led prayer, song, and spiritual teaching with tens of thousands of young people from every continent. The wait in line to enter the chapel for a few moments praying before the relics of Saint Faustina and the original Divine Mercy image has been over an hour for most of the pilgrims throughout the day. Standing before the doors of the chapel where Sister Faustina Kowalska wrote the Diary of Divine Mercy, directly underneath the window of the convent cell where she died on the night of October 5, 1938, it seems I am witnessing the literal fulfillment of the prophecy of St. John in the book of Revelation:

I saw before me a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue (Revelation 7:9).

And, like St. John, as I am standing here praying and singing, giving explanations and directions to pilgrims, I find myself constantly asking, “Who are all these people, and where did they come from?” (Revelation 7:13).
To begin to answer that question, it is helpful to recall a bit of the history of the city of Krakow. Eighty years ago Krakow had one of the largest Jewish populations of any city in the world, destined to be slaughtered a few miles west of here at Auschwitz in the horror of the Holocaust. The fact that this city ran with blood, Jewish blood, during the Nazi occupation is a mystery I am constantly drawn to ponder. As a great spiritual darkness fell upon Europe and the whole world in 1939, it gradually came to be revealed that Jesus had kindled a tiny light here in this convent that was destined to be revealed as a message of spiritual import for the whole world.

The World Youth Day of Divine Mercy

The words of the Merciful Jesus recorded by St. Faustina in her diary, Divine Mercy in My Soul, have now been translated into over twenty languages. The prayer known as the Chaplet of Divine Mercy did not exist until an obscure uneducated nun wrote it down here in her prayer book in 1931. Just this afternoon I heard the Chaplet being prayed in Polish, Italian, French, Spanish, English, Portuguese, Chinese, Swedish, Dutch, German, Russian, Ukrainian, and Arabic. How is that even possible? What does it all mean? I have no simple or easy answer. But I am inviting you to ponder and pray and contemplate that there is an unprecedented anointing of the Holy Spirit being poured out upon Krakow and given to the whole world this week.
Jesus told Sister Faustina, “The flames of mercy are burning Me. I desire to pour them out upon human souls. Oh, what pain they cause Me when they do not want to accept them! Tell aching mankind to snuggle close to My merciful Heart, and I will fill it with peace” (Diary of Divine Mercy, 1074). “Mankind will not have peace until it turns with Trust to My mercy” (DDM, 300).
In his desire that all mankind come to know the great love contained within his Heart, Jesus chose a heart humble like his own. He told Faustina that although she and her work would encounter great opposition and difficulty, he would give her humility through her trials, and as a result she would have all the strength and grace she would need to accomplish his will, although never without the Cross.
Very early in her call, he told her, “I desire that this image be venerated, first in your chapel, and then throughout the world” (DDM, 47), and then a bit later, “I want it to be venerated publicly so that every soul may know about it … I will be granting many graces to souls, so let every soul have access to it” ( DDM, 341, 570).
It seems to me that this week of World Youth Day could very well be a week when more souls will venerate the Divine Mercy image in person than any other week in history. God made the motherhouse convent in Lagiewniki-Krakow holy by drawing St. Faustina close to his heart here, and now through her sainthood he is drawing the whole world to himself. The image of grace pouring out of his open heart, the heart lifted up on the Cross and pierced for our offenses, draws every person close to the wounds of Christ so that each person may know how loved they are by God, how totally they are forgiven, how completely Jesus wants to heal the wounds of sin in their lives. The Merciful Heart of Jesus transforms revenge, hatred, and fear into abundant graces of forgiveness, love, and trust.

Poland’s Most Famous Son

Of course, there is one other important link in the great chain of events that has brought the whole world to St. Faustina’s shrine here in Krakow. The astonishing election of Karol Wojtyla to the papacy in 1978 brought his fearless proclamation of the person of Jesus Christ as the redeemer of mankind to the world stage. Krakow is, in an unparalleled way, the city of Poland’s most famous son (even the airport here is named after John Paul II!). The streets are filled with banners carrying his image this week, and a generation of teenagers who only remember him as an old and physically feeble man are having an encounter with the Holy Spirit whom John Paul II vigorously called down upon his beloved Poland, upon the universal Church, and upon the whole world.

As the youth wait in line to enter the chapel for a few moments of prayer, the sisters of St. Faustina lead prayer and reflection with them, constantly reminding them that Pope John Paul II himself came here often to this chapel to pray as a young man: “Like him, may you listen to Jesus here in this holy place … and then do not be afraid to do whatever Jesus asks of you!” The contagious enthusiasm which is filling the streets of Krakow, a city transformed from a place of fear of the Gestapo to one of joyful witnessing to the gospel. This astonishing transformation of a city is one of the trademarks of each World Youth Day and an ongoing personal gift of Pope John Paul II to the youth of the twenty-first century.
God has set a limit to the power of evil, a power which at times seems to overwhelm us, and the name of that limit is Divine Mercy. The “aching mankind” of which Jesus spoke is in many ways embodied in the young generation of today, painfully aware of the presence of evil in the world and in human hearts, yet holding a desire for healing and wholeness which can never fully be extinguished. This week I am witnessing Jesus pressing an aching generation close to his Merciful Heart. The youth of the world are here in this holy city crying out to God with a prayer of longing, of hope, of joyful trust, of constant intercession for Mercy. They are tasting, many for the first time, the peace and love for which the human heart has been made by God.
May the fruits of World Youth Day 2016 in Krakow be a blessing for the entire human race for many years to come.
O blood and water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fountain of Mercy for us, I trust in you! St. Faustina, pray for us. St. John Paul II, pray for us. Mary, Mother of Mercy, pray for us.http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=2438f5b8906cc79e7c55f3c68&id=e2e4369c63&e=2bb902f84a