rawstory--2020-01-11--Here are 10 ways Trump’s actions against Iran hurt Americans and the region

The U.S. assassination of General Qassem Soleimani has not yet plunged us into a full-scale war with Iran thanks to the Iranian government ’ s measured response , which demonstrated its capabilities without actually harming U.S. troops or escalating the conflict .
But the danger of a full-blown war still exists , and Donald Trump ’ s actions are already wreaking havoc .
The tragic crash of the Ukrainian passenger jet that left 176 dead may well be the first example of this , if indeed it was shot down by a jittery Iranian anti-aircraft crew who mistook the airliner @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s actions make the region , and the American people , less safe in at least 10 important ways .
1 .
The first result of Trump ’ s blunders may be an increase in U.S. war deaths across the greater Middle East .
While this was avoided in Iran ’ s initial retaliation , Iraqi militias and Hezbollah in Lebanon have already vowed to seek revenge for the deaths of Soleimani and the Iraqi militia .
U.S. military bases , warships and nearly 80,000 U.S. troops in the region are sitting ducks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and any other group that is angered by U.S. actions or simply decides to exploit this U.S.-manufactured crisis .
The first U.S. war deaths after the U.S. airstrikes and assassinations in Iraq were three Americans killed in by Al-Shabab in Kenya on January 5 .
Further escalation by the U.S. in response to Iranian and other attacks on Americans will only exacerbate this cycle of violence .
2 .
U.S. acts of war in Iraq have injected even more volatility and instability into an already war-torn and explosive region .
The U.S. ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is seeing its efforts to solve its conflicts with Qatar and Kuwait thrown into jeopardy , and it will now be harder to find a diplomatic solution to the catastrophic war in Yemen—where the Saudis and Iranians are on different sides of the conflict .
Soleimani ’ s murder is also likely to sabotage the peace process with the Taliban in Afghanistan .
Shiite Iran has historically opposed the Sunni Taliban , and Soleimani even worked with the United States in the aftermath of the U.S. overthrow of the Taliban in 2001 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ as the United States has been engaging in peace talks with the Taliban , so has Iran .
The Iranians are now more apt to ally with the Taliban against the United States .
The complicated situation in Afghanistan is likely to draw in Pakistan , another important player in the region with a large Shiite population .
Both the Afghan and Pakistani governments have already expressed their fears that the U.S.-Iran conflict could unleash uncontrollable violence on their soil .
Like other short-sighted and destructive U.S. interventions in the Middle East , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unintended consequences in places most Americans have not yet even heard of , spawning a new string of U.S. foreign policy crises .
3 .
Trump ’ s attacks on Iran may actually embolden a common enemy , the Islamic State , which can take advantage of the chaos created in Iraq .
Thanks to the leadership of Iran ’ s General Soleimani , Iran played a significant role in the fight against ISIS , which was almost entirely crushed in 2018 after a four-year war .
Soleimani ’ s murder may be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stoking anger among Iraqis against the group ’ s nemesis , the Americans , and creating new divisions among the forces—including Iran and the United States—that have been fighting ISIS .
In addition , the U.S.-led coalition that has been pursuing ISIS has “ paused ” its campaign against the Islamic State in order to get prepared for potential Iranian attacks on the Iraqi bases that host coalition troops , giving another strategic opening to the Islamic State .
4 .
Iran has announced it is withdrawing from all the restrictions on enriching @ @ @ @ @ @ @ JCPOA nuclear agreement .
Iran has not formally withdrawn from the JCPOA , nor rejected international supervision of its nuclear program , but this is one more step in the unraveling of the nuclear agreement that the world community supported .
Trump was determined to undermine the JCPOA by pulling the U.S. out in 2018 , and each U.S. escalation of sanctions , threats and uses of force against Iran further weakens the JCPOA and makes its complete collapse more likely .
5 .
Trump ’ s blunders have destroyed what little influence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
This is clear from the recent Parliamentary vote to expel the U.S. military .
While the U.S. military is unlikely to leave without long , drawn-out negotiations , the 170-0 votes ( the Sunnis and Kurds didn ’ t show up ) , along with the huge crowds that came out for Soleimani ’ s funeral procession , show how the general ’ s assassination has rekindled enormous anti-American sentiment in Iraq .
The assassination has also eclipsed Iraq ’ s burgeoning democracy movement .
Despite savage repression that killed more than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2019 to demand a new government free of corruption and of manipulation by foreign powers .
They succeeded in forcing the resignation of Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi , but they want to fully reclaim Iraqi sovereignty from the corrupt U.S. and Iranian puppets who have ruled Iraq since 2003 .
Now their task is complicated by U.S. actions that have only strengthened pro-Iranian politicians and parties .
6 .
Another inevitable consequence of Trump ’ s failed Iran policy is that it strengthens conservative , hard-line factions in Iran .
Like the U.S. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ own internal politics , with distinct points of view .
President Rouhani and Foreign Minister Zarif , who negotiated the JCPOA , are from the reform wing of Iranian politics that believes Iran can and should reach out diplomatically to the rest of the world and try to resolve its long-standing differences with the U.S .
But there is also a powerful conservative wing that believes the U.S. is committed to destroying Iran and will therefore never fulfill any commitments it makes .
Guess which side Trump is validating and strengthening by his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ threats ?
Even if the next U.S. president is genuinely committed to peace with Iran , he or she may end up sitting across the table from conservative Iranian leaders who , with good reason , will not trust anything U.S. leaders commit to .
The killing of Soleimani has also stopped the popular mass demonstrations against the Iranian government that began in November 2019 and were brutally repressed .
Instead , people now express their opposition toward the U.S. 7 .
Trump ’ s blunders may be the last straw for U.S. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the U.S. through 20 years of inflammatory and destructive U.S. foreign policy .
European allies have disagreed with Trump ’ s withdrawal from the nuclear deal and have tried , albeit weakly , to save it .
When Trump tried to assemble an international naval task force to protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz in 2019 , only the UK , Australia and some Persian Gulf states wanted any part of it , and now 10 European and other countries are joining an alternative operation led by France .
At a January @ @ @ @ @ @ @ NATO to play a greater role in the Middle East , but Trump has been blowing hot and cold on NATO—at times calling it obsolete and threatening to withdraw .
After Trump ’ s assassination of Iran ’ s top general , NATO allies began withdrawing forces from Iraq , signaling that they do not want to be caught in the crossfire of Trump ’ s war on Iran .
With the economic rise of China , and Russia ’ s renewed international diplomacy , the tides of history are shifting and a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more of the world , especially in the Global South , sees U.S. militarism as the gambit of a fading great power to try to preserve its dominant position in the world .
How many chances does the U.S. have to finally get this right and find a legitimate place for itself in a new world that it has tried and failed to smother at birth ?
8 .
U.S. actions in Iraq violate international , domestic and Iraqi law , setting the stage for a world of ever greater lawlessness .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) has drafted a statement explaining why the U.S. attacks and assassinations in Iraq do not qualify as acts of self-defense and are in fact crimes of aggression that violate the UN Charter .
Trump also tweeted that the U.S. was ready to hit 52 sites in Iran , including cultural targets , which would also violate international law .
Members of Congress are incensed that Trump ’ s military attacks violated the U.S. Constitution , since Article I requires congressional approval for such military actions .
Congressional leaders were not even made @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it occurred , let alone asked to authorize it .
Members of Congress are now trying to restrain Trump from going to war with Iran .
Trump ’ s actions in Iraq also violated the Iraqi constitution , which the U.S. helped to write and which forbids using the country ’ s territory to harm its neighbors .
9 .
Trump ’ s aggressive moves strengthen the weapons makers .
One U.S. interest group has a bipartisan blank check to raid the U.S. Treasury at will and profits from every U.S. war and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ President Eisenhower warned Americans against in 1960 .
Far from heeding his warning , we have allowed this behemoth to steadily increase its power and control over U.S. policy .
The stock prices of U.S. weapons companies have already risen since the U.S. assassinations and airstrikes in Iraq and the CEOs of the weapons companies have already become significantly richer .
U.S. corporate media have been trotting out the usual line-up of weapons company lobbyists and board members to beat the war drums and praise Trump ’ s warmongering—while keeping quiet about how @ @ @ @ @ @ @ If we let the military-industrial complex get its war on Iran , it will drain billions , maybe trillions , more from the resources we so desperately need for health care , education and public services , and only to make the world an even more dangerous place .
10 .
Any further escalation between the U.S. and Iran could be catastrophic for the world economy , which is already riding a roller coaster due to Trump ’ s trade wars .
Asia is especially vulnerable to any disruption in Iraqi oil exports @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on as Iraq ’ s production has risen .
The larger Persian Gulf region is home to the greatest concentration of oil and gas wells , refineries and tankers in the world .
One attack already shut down half of Saudi Arabia ’ s oil production in September , and that was only a small taste of what we should expect if the U.S. keeps escalating its war on Iran .
Trump ’ s blunders have placed us back on the path to a truly catastrophic war , with barricades of lies blocking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Iraq and Afghanistan Wars have cost millions of lives , left the U.S. ’ s international moral authority in the gutter and exposed it as a warlike and dangerous imperial power in the eyes of much of the world .
If we fail to haul our deluded leaders back from the brink , an American war on Iran may mark the ignominious end of our country ’ s imperial moment and seal our country ’ s place among the ranks of failed aggressors whom the world remembers primarily as the villains of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the American people , can rise up to overcome the power of the military-industrial complex and take charge of our country ’ s destiny .
The anti-war demonstrations that are taking place around the country are a positive manifestation of public sentiment .
This is a critical moment for the people of this nation to rise up in a very visible , bold and determined groundswell to stop the madman in the White House and demand , in one loud voice : NO .
MORE .
WAR .
Medea Benjamin , co-founder of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of several books , including Inside Iran : The Real History and Politics of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Kingdom of the Unjust : Behind the U.S.-Saudi Connection .
Nicolas J. S. Davies is an independent journalist , a researcher for CODEPINK , and the author of Blood on Our Hands : The American Invasion and Destruction of Iraq .
This article was produced by Local Peace Economy , a project of the Independent Media Institute .

Medea Benjamin, Nicolas J. S. Davies, Independent Media Institute

The U.S. assassination of General Qassem Soleimani has not yet plunged us into a full-scale war with Iran thanks to the Iranian government’s measured response, which demonstrated its capabilities without actually harming U.S. troops or escalating the conflict. But the danger of a full-blown war still exists, and Donald Trump’s actions are already wreaking havoc.
The tragic crash of the Ukrainian passenger jet that left 176 dead may well be the first example of this, if indeed it was shot down by a jittery Iranian anti-aircraft crew who mistook the airliner for a U.S. warplane.
Trump’s actions make the region, and the American people, less safe in at least 10 important ways.
1. The first result of Trump’s blunders may be an increase in U.S. war deaths across the greater Middle East. While this was avoided in Iran’s initial retaliation, Iraqi militias and Hezbollah in Lebanon have already vowed to seek revenge for the deaths of Soleimani and the Iraqi militia. U.S. military bases, warships and nearly 80,000 U.S. troops in the region are sitting ducks for retaliation by Iran, its allies and any other group that is angered by U.S. actions or simply decides to exploit this U.S.-manufactured crisis.
The first U.S. war deaths after the U.S. airstrikes and assassinations in Iraq were three Americans killed in by Al-Shabab in Kenya on January 5.
Further escalation by the U.S. in response to Iranian and other attacks on Americans will only exacerbate this cycle of violence.
2. U.S. acts of war in Iraq have injected even more volatility and instability into an already war-torn and explosive region. The U.S.’s close ally, Saudi Arabia, is seeing its efforts to solve its conflicts with Qatar and Kuwait thrown into jeopardy, and it will now be harder to find a diplomatic solution to the catastrophic war in Yemen—where the Saudis and Iranians are on different sides of the conflict.
Soleimani’s murder is also likely to sabotage the peace process with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Shiite Iran has historically opposed the Sunni Taliban, and Soleimani even worked with the United States in the aftermath of the U.S. overthrow of the Taliban in 2001. Now the terrain has shifted. Just as the United States has been engaging in peace talks with the Taliban, so has Iran. The Iranians are now more apt to ally with the Taliban against the United States. The complicated situation in Afghanistan is likely to draw in Pakistan, another important player in the region with a large Shiite population. Both the Afghan and Pakistani governments have already expressed their fears that the U.S.-Iran conflict could unleash uncontrollable violence on their soil.
Like other short-sighted and destructive U.S. interventions in the Middle East, Trump’s blunders may have explosive unintended consequences in places most Americans have not yet even heard of, spawning a new string of U.S. foreign policy crises.
3. Trump’s attacks on Iran may actually embolden a common enemy, the Islamic State, which can take advantage of the chaos created in Iraq. Thanks to the leadership of Iran’s General Soleimani, Iran played a significant role in the fight against ISIS, which was almost entirely crushed in 2018 after a four-year war.
Soleimani’s murder may be a boon to the ISIS remnants by stoking anger among Iraqis against the group’s nemesis, the Americans, and creating new divisions among the forces—including Iran and the United States—that have been fighting ISIS. In addition, the U.S.-led coalition that has been pursuing ISIS has “paused” its campaign against the Islamic State in order to get prepared for potential Iranian attacks on the Iraqi bases that host coalition troops, giving another strategic opening to the Islamic State.
4. Iran has announced it is withdrawing from all the restrictions on enriching uranium that were part of the 2015 JCPOA nuclear agreement. Iran has not formally withdrawn from the JCPOA, nor rejected international supervision of its nuclear program, but this is one more step in the unraveling of the nuclear agreement that the world community supported. Trump was determined to undermine the JCPOA by pulling the U.S. out in 2018, and each U.S. escalation of sanctions, threats and uses of force against Iran further weakens the JCPOA and makes its complete collapse more likely.
5. Trump’s blunders have destroyed what little influence the U.S. had with the Iraqi government. This is clear from the recent Parliamentary vote to expel the U.S. military. While the U.S. military is unlikely to leave without long, drawn-out negotiations, the 170-0 votes (the Sunnis and Kurds didn’t show up), along with the huge crowds that came out for Soleimani’s funeral procession, show how the general’s assassination has rekindled enormous anti-American sentiment in Iraq.
The assassination has also eclipsed Iraq’s burgeoning democracy movement. Despite savage repression that killed more than 400 protesters, young Iraqis mobilized in 2019 to demand a new government free of corruption and of manipulation by foreign powers. They succeeded in forcing the resignation of Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi, but they want to fully reclaim Iraqi sovereignty from the corrupt U.S. and Iranian puppets who have ruled Iraq since 2003. Now their task is complicated by U.S. actions that have only strengthened pro-Iranian politicians and parties.
6. Another inevitable consequence of Trump’s failed Iran policy is that it strengthens conservative, hard-line factions in Iran. Like the U.S. and other countries, Iran has its own internal politics, with distinct points of view. President Rouhani and Foreign Minister Zarif, who negotiated the JCPOA, are from the reform wing of Iranian politics that believes Iran can and should reach out diplomatically to the rest of the world and try to resolve its long-standing differences with the U.S. But there is also a powerful conservative wing that believes the U.S. is committed to destroying Iran and will therefore never fulfill any commitments it makes. Guess which side Trump is validating and strengthening by his brutal policy of assassinations, sanctions and threats?
Even if the next U.S. president is genuinely committed to peace with Iran, he or she may end up sitting across the table from conservative Iranian leaders who, with good reason, will not trust anything U.S. leaders commit to.
The killing of Soleimani has also stopped the popular mass demonstrations against the Iranian government that began in November 2019 and were brutally repressed. Instead, people now express their opposition toward the U.S.
7. Trump’s blunders may be the last straw for U.S. friends and allies who have stuck with the U.S. through 20 years of inflammatory and destructive U.S. foreign policy. European allies have disagreed with Trump’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal and have tried, albeit weakly, to save it. When Trump tried to assemble an international naval task force to protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz in 2019, only the UK, Australia and some Persian Gulf states wanted any part of it, and now 10 European and other countries are joining an alternative operation led by France.
At a January 8 press conference, Trump called on NATO to play a greater role in the Middle East, but Trump has been blowing hot and cold on NATO—at times calling it obsolete and threatening to withdraw. After Trump’s assassination of Iran’s top general, NATO allies began withdrawing forces from Iraq, signaling that they do not want to be caught in the crossfire of Trump’s war on Iran.
With the economic rise of China, and Russia’s renewed international diplomacy, the tides of history are shifting and a multipolar world is emerging. More and more of the world, especially in the Global South, sees U.S. militarism as the gambit of a fading great power to try to preserve its dominant position in the world. How many chances does the U.S. have to finally get this right and find a legitimate place for itself in a new world that it has tried and failed to smother at birth?
8. U.S. actions in Iraq violate international, domestic and Iraqi law, setting the stage for a world of ever greater lawlessness. The International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) has drafted a statement explaining why the U.S. attacks and assassinations in Iraq do not qualify as acts of self-defense and are in fact crimes of aggression that violate the UN Charter. Trump also tweeted that the U.S. was ready to hit 52 sites in Iran, including cultural targets, which would also violate international law.
Members of Congress are incensed that Trump’s military attacks violated the U.S. Constitution, since Article I requires congressional approval for such military actions. Congressional leaders were not even made aware of the strike on Soleimani before it occurred, let alone asked to authorize it. Members of Congress are now trying to restrain Trump from going to war with Iran.
Trump’s actions in Iraq also violated the Iraqi constitution, which the U.S. helped to write and which forbids using the country’s territory to harm its neighbors.
9. Trump’s aggressive moves strengthen the weapons makers. One U.S. interest group has a bipartisan blank check to raid the U.S. Treasury at will and profits from every U.S. war and military expansion: the military-industrial complex that President Eisenhower warned Americans against in 1960. Far from heeding his warning, we have allowed this behemoth to steadily increase its power and control over U.S. policy.
The stock prices of U.S. weapons companies have already risen since the U.S. assassinations and airstrikes in Iraq and the CEOs of the weapons companies have already become significantly richer. U.S. corporate media have been trotting out the usual line-up of weapons company lobbyists and board members to beat the war drums and praise Trump’s warmongering—while keeping quiet about how they are personally profiting from it.
If we let the military-industrial complex get its war on Iran, it will drain billions, maybe trillions, more from the resources we so desperately need for health care, education and public services, and only to make the world an even more dangerous place.
10. Any further escalation between the U.S. and Iran could be catastrophic for the world economy, which is already riding a roller coaster due to Trump’s trade wars. Asia is especially vulnerable to any disruption in Iraqi oil exports, which it has come to depend on as Iraq’s production has risen. The larger Persian Gulf region is home to the greatest concentration of oil and gas wells, refineries and tankers in the world. One attack already shut down half of Saudi Arabia’s oil production in September, and that was only a small taste of what we should expect if the U.S. keeps escalating its war on Iran.
Conclusion
Trump’s blunders have placed us back on the path to a truly catastrophic war, with barricades of lies blocking every off-ramp. The Korean, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan Wars have cost millions of lives, left the U.S.’s international moral authority in the gutter and exposed it as a warlike and dangerous imperial power in the eyes of much of the world. If we fail to haul our deluded leaders back from the brink, an American war on Iran may mark the ignominious end of our country’s imperial moment and seal our country’s place among the ranks of failed aggressors whom the world remembers primarily as the villains of human history.
Alternatively, we, the American people, can rise up to overcome the power of the military-industrial complex and take charge of our country’s destiny. The anti-war demonstrations that are taking place around the country are a positive manifestation of public sentiment. This is a critical moment for the people of this nation to rise up in a very visible, bold and determined groundswell to stop the madman in the White House and demand, in one loud voice: NO. MORE. WAR.
Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CODEPINK for Peace, is the author of several books, including Inside Iran: The Real History and Politics of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Kingdom of the Unjust: Behind the U.S.-Saudi Connection.
Nicolas J. S. Davies is an independent journalist, a researcher for CODEPINK, and the author of Blood on Our Hands: The American Invasion and Destruction of Iraq.
This article was produced by Local Peace Economy, a project of the Independent Media Institute.


rawstory--2020-01-11--Iran admits ‘unintentionally’ shooting down Ukrainian jetliner — ‘human error’ blamed for 176 deaths

Iranian state television reports that the country is admitting to accidentally shooting down Ukrainain jetliner amidst high tensions with the @ @ @ @ @ Press reported Friday night .
“ Iran announced Saturday that its military ‘ unintentionally ’ @ @ @ @ @ , killing all 176 aboard , ” the AP reported .
“ The statement came @ @ @ @ @ human error ’ for the shootdown.
” Iran had previously denied that the plane had @ @ @ @ @ .

"If Donald Trump shows up, I think the biggest flex would be to turn himself in, you know, to surrender himself and then go to the debate," Lewis said. "I think Donald Trump shows, look, I can walk and chew gum at the same time, and so I think if you add that in and just his compulsive need for attention, I think he shows."
POLL: Should Trump be allowed to run for office?
Scarborough, however, disagreed, saying the former president would likely worry that Chris Christie would go into the debate looking to take him down.
"I do think he's scared of Chris Christie," Scarborough said. "He saw what Chris Christie did to Marco Rubio when Chris Christie went into a debate with one thing in mind. He knows Chris Christie put Jared Kushner's father in jail for a very long time. He knows he's a prosecutor who's ruthless and knows how to push his case, and he also knows that his secret sauce in 2016 was being the disrupter, right, shaking Hillary Clinton up on the debate stage, shaking everybody else up on the debate stage. That gig is like eight years old, right? That's Elvis in '77 now, and I think Chris Christie's got his number, and he knows, hey, Donald Trump has a gut instinct, his political gut instinct is second to none, like, he sees it coming."
"I think he's scared to death of Chris Christie and will not have the guts to go or the nerve to go on stage with Chris Christie anywhere," Scarborough added.
Watch the video below or at this link.


rawstory--2020-01-11--Iran denies that Ukrainian airliner was shot down by a missile

Iran ’ s civil aviation chief denied Friday that a missile downed a Ukrainian airliner which crashed killing all 176 people on board , rejecting Western claims of a catastrophic mistake by Tehran ’ s air defences .
The cause of the crash is to be announced Saturday after an investigating committee meeting in the presence of foreign and local parties involved , Iran ’ s Fars news agency said , quoting an “ informed source ” .
The report came as Ukraine said its experts had been granted access to the black box flight recorders and as US Secretary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ likely ” an Iranian missile had downed the plane .
Tehran has been facing mounting international pressure to allow a “ credible ” investigation into the crash , which several Western governments have blamed on an accidental missile strike .
“ One thing is for certain , this airplane was not hit by a missile , ” Iran ’ s civil aviation chief Ali Abedzadeh said , after Tehran invited the United States , Ukraine , Canada and others to join the investigation .
The Boeing 737 crashed on Wednesday shortly after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Iraq in response to the killing of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in a US drone strike in Baghdad .
It was Iran ’ s worst civil aviation disaster since 1988 when the US military said it shot down an Iran Air plane over the Gulf by mistake , killing all 290 people on board .
The majority of passengers on Ukraine International Airlines ( UIA ) Flight PS752 were dual national Iranian-Canadians but also included Ukrainians , Afghans , Britons and Swedes .
Vadym Prystaiko , the foreign minister of Ukraine which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to take part in the Iran-led inquiry , said Friday : “ Our team has now access to the black boxes ” .
The experts , he said , also had access to the radio exchanges between the UIA pilots and Tehran air traffic control and were receiving “ full cooperation ” from Iran .
The Ukraine team , granted access to plane fragments and the crash site , will start analysing the contents of the black boxes , he added .
Pompeo , echoing several world leaders , said “ we do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was shot down by an Iranian missile ” , adding a final determination would be made after a probe is conducted .
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said intelligence sources indicated an Iranian surface-to-air missile downed the aircraft after it took off from Tehran .
“ We know this may have been unintentional .
Canadians have questions , and they deserve answers , ” he said .
Abedzadeh rejected the claim .
“ Any remarks made before the data is extracted ( from the plane ’ s black box flight recorders ) … @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he said .
Video footage , which the New York Times said it had verified , emerged and appeared to show the moment the airliner was hit .
A fast-moving object is seen rising at an angle into the sky before a bright flash appears , which dims and then continues moving forward .
Several seconds later , an explosion is heard and the sky lights up .
Iran said a 10-member Canadian delegation was on its way to help with the probe , although the two countries cut diplomatic relations in 2012 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ investigators had been granted visas to travel to Iran .
Canada ’ s foreign minister Francois-Philippe Champagne also lowered the toll of Canadians killed in the crash from 63 to 57 , citing new information on people ’ s travel documents .
The Islamic republic also invited US plane maker Boeing to “ participate ” in the investigation .
Canada and the US National Transportation Safety Board said they received the invitations and would join the probe .
Abedzadeh said Tehran had invited “ Americans , Canadians , the French , Ukrainians and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the investigation .
European Union foreign ministers on Friday urged Iran to be transparent .
“ The important thing now is that everything is completely investigated .
Nothing must be swept under the table , ” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said .
US President Donald Trump has indicated that Washington officials believed the Kiev-bound Boeing 737 was struck by an Iranian missile .
Unidentified officials told US media that satellite , radar and electronic data indicated Tehran ’ s air defence units downed the aircraft .
But Iran ’ s aviation authority @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be “ scientifically correct ” because it was not possible for an airliner to be hit and “ continue flying for 60 to 70 seconds ” .
“ The debris collected has been in a very limited area .
If there was an explosion in the wings it should have been much more scattered , ” Abedzadeh said .
The airliner went down in the dark just minutes after takeoff , with no radio message from the pilot to indicate distress , Iranian aviation authorities said .
The pilot did not call the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trying to save the airplane before anything else ” , Abedzadeh said .
German carrier Lufthansa said Friday it was cancelling all flights to and from Tehran until January 20 “ due to the unclear security situation for the airspace around Tehran airport ” .
Sweden said it was stopping Iran Air flights between the two countries because of safety concerns , and Australian Airlines also scrapped its flights to Tehran .
Several other airlines also announced they would avoid Iranian and Iraqi airspace .
Investigators are pursuing several possibilities , including engine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ act of terror .
As speculation about the cause grew , Hesamodin Ashena , a senior advisor to President Hassan Rouhani , warned Iranians working for Farsi-language media abroad to “ not participate in the psychological warfare ” against Iran over the plane crash .

Iran's civil aviation chief denied Friday that a missile downed a Ukrainian airliner which crashed killing all 176 people on board, rejecting Western claims of a catastrophic mistake by Tehran's air defences.
The cause of the crash is to be announced Saturday after an investigating committee meeting in the presence of foreign and local parties involved, Iran's Fars news agency said, quoting an "informed source".
The report came as Ukraine said its experts had been granted access to the black box flight recorders and as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo repeated it was "likely" an Iranian missile had downed the plane.
Tehran has been facing mounting international pressure to allow a "credible" investigation into the crash, which several Western governments have blamed on an accidental missile strike.
"One thing is for certain, this airplane was not hit by a missile," Iran's civil aviation chief Ali Abedzadeh said, after Tehran invited the United States, Ukraine, Canada and others to join the investigation.
The Boeing 737 crashed on Wednesday shortly after Iran launched missiles at US forces in Iraq in response to the killing of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in a US drone strike in Baghdad.
It was Iran's worst civil aviation disaster since 1988 when the US military said it shot down an Iran Air plane over the Gulf by mistake, killing all 290 people on board.
The majority of passengers on Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) Flight PS752 were dual national Iranian-Canadians but also included Ukrainians, Afghans, Britons and Swedes.
Vadym Prystaiko, the foreign minister of Ukraine which has sent around 50 experts to Tehran to take part in the Iran-led inquiry, said Friday: "Our team has now access to the black boxes".
The experts, he said, also had access to the radio exchanges between the UIA pilots and Tehran air traffic control and were receiving "full cooperation" from Iran.
The Ukraine team, granted access to plane fragments and the crash site, will start analysing the contents of the black boxes, he added.
Pompeo, echoing several world leaders, said "we do believe it's likely the plane was shot down by an Iranian missile", adding a final determination would be made after a probe is conducted.
Canada demands answers
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said intelligence sources indicated an Iranian surface-to-air missile downed the aircraft after it took off from Tehran.
"We know this may have been unintentional. Canadians have questions, and they deserve answers," he said.
Abedzadeh rejected the claim. "Any remarks made before the data is extracted (from the plane's black box flight recorders) ... is not an expert opinion," he said.
Video footage, which the New York Times said it had verified, emerged and appeared to show the moment the airliner was hit.
A fast-moving object is seen rising at an angle into the sky before a bright flash appears, which dims and then continues moving forward. Several seconds later, an explosion is heard and the sky lights up.
Iran said a 10-member Canadian delegation was on its way to help with the probe, although the two countries cut diplomatic relations in 2012.
But Ottawa said only two Canadian investigators had been granted visas to travel to Iran.
Canada's foreign minister Francois-Philippe Champagne also lowered the toll of Canadians killed in the crash from 63 to 57, citing new information on people's travel documents.
The Islamic republic also invited US plane maker Boeing to "participate" in the investigation.
Canada and the US National Transportation Safety Board said they received the invitations and would join the probe.
Abedzadeh said Tehran had invited "Americans, Canadians, the French, Ukrainians and the Swedish" to be present during the investigation.
European Union foreign ministers on Friday urged Iran to be transparent.
"The important thing now is that everything is completely investigated. Nothing must be swept under the table," German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said.
US President Donald Trump has indicated that Washington officials believed the Kiev-bound Boeing 737 was struck by an Iranian missile.
Radio silence
Unidentified officials told US media that satellite, radar and electronic data indicated Tehran's air defence units downed the aircraft.
But Iran's aviation authority chief said the missile theory could not be "scientifically correct" because it was not possible for an airliner to be hit and "continue flying for 60 to 70 seconds".
"The debris collected has been in a very limited area. If there was an explosion in the wings it should have been much more scattered," Abedzadeh said.
The airliner went down in the dark just minutes after takeoff, with no radio message from the pilot to indicate distress, Iranian aviation authorities said.
The pilot did not call the tower because "he must have been trying to save the airplane before anything else", Abedzadeh said.
German carrier Lufthansa said Friday it was cancelling all flights to and from Tehran until January 20 "due to the unclear security situation for the airspace around Tehran airport".
Sweden said it was stopping Iran Air flights between the two countries because of safety concerns, and Australian Airlines also scrapped its flights to Tehran.
Several other airlines also announced they would avoid Iranian and Iraqi airspace.
Investigators are pursuing several possibilities, including engine failure, a missile strike or an act of terror.
As speculation about the cause grew, Hesamodin Ashena, a senior advisor to President Hassan Rouhani, warned Iranians working for Farsi-language media abroad to "not participate in the psychological warfare" against Iran over the plane crash.


rawstory--2020-01-11--Mike Pompeo says Trump administration will not even ‘discuss troop withdrawal’ after Iraqi parliamen

Mike Pompeo says Trump administration will not even ‘discuss troop withdrawal’ after Iraqi parliament vote

The United States on Friday rejected a request by Iraq to start talks on pulling out its 5,200 troops , notching up the discord after Washington killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad .
Angry at an attack seen as violating Iraqi sovereignty and enmeshing the country again in war , Iraq ’ s caretaker prime minister asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo late Thursday to send a delegation to begin withdrawal arrangements .
The State Department said it was ready for “ a conversation ” — but not about removing troops .
“ At this time , any delegation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ discussing how to best recommit to our strategic partnership — not to discuss troop withdrawal , but our right , appropriate force posture in the Middle East , ” State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement .
Calling the United States “ a force for good , ” she said : “ We want to be a friend and partner to a sovereign , prosperous and stable Iraq.
” President Donald Trump has described the 2003 US invasion of Iraq as a mistake and in the past criticized US troop deployments @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wasteful .
Nonetheless , he has responded angrily to Iraqi efforts to expel US troops , even threatening sanctions on a country promoted as a US partner .
Pompeo , speaking to reporters , said that US troops ’ mission in Iraq was “ very clear ” — training local forces and fighting the Islamic State extremist group .
“ As times change and we get to a place where we can deliver up on what I believe , and the president believes , is our right structure , with fewer resources dedicated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so , ” he said .
Iraqi leaders were infuriated by the US drone strike at Baghdad ’ s airport that killed Iran ’ s most prominent general , Qasem Soleimani , on January 3 and parliament voted on Sunday to rescind an invitation to foreign troops .
Caretaker prime minister Adel Abdel Mahdi , in his call to Pompeo , “ requested that delegates be sent to Iraq to set the mechanisms to implement parliament ’ s decision for the secure withdrawal of ( foreign ) forces from Iraq , ” Abdel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ statement .
But Abdel Mahdi is in a weak position , staying in power in an acting capacity more than a month after resigning in the face of massive demonstrations .
Protests resumed Friday across the country , with protesters denouncing the influence both of the United States and Iran .
“ Screw Iran !
Screw America !
” protesters cried out in the capital ’ s iconic Tahrir Square , still lined with tents and stalls set up three months ago .
Fearing their movement would be eclipsed by war , Iraqi @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recent days for the mass protest on Friday , which marked the inverse date , 10/1 , of the first rallies on October 1 , or 1/10 .
Protesters in the Shiite holy city of Karbala clashed overnight with security forces and others were arrested in Basra on Friday .
“ By relaunching the protests , we ’ re showing our commitment to the demands of the October revolution : that our leaders stop monopolizing our country ’ s resources , ” said Haydar Kazem , protesting in Nasiriyah .
The US invasion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bloodshed across the country and allowed growing influence of Saddam ’ s nemesis Iran which , like Iraq , has a Shiite Muslim majority .
Former president Barack Obama ordered a withdrawal from Iraq but US troops were invited back in 2014 to fight the surge of the extremist Islamic State group .
But under Trump , Iraq has increasingly become a proxy battleground between the United States and Iran , which has also battled the Islamic State group .
Iranian-backed Iraqi Shiite militias have fired rockets at US forces as Trump tries @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which the administration again bolstered on Friday .
Seeking to boost international support of his actions against Iran , Trump has called for NATO — the alliance of Western nations which he has often described as free-riders — to play a greater role in the Middle East .
The request baffled many observers , who wondered what Trump had in mind .
He has been seeking to wind down the nearly two-decade US deployment , led by NATO , in Afghanistan .
Pompeo , without further details , said a NATO delegation was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ burden-sharing in the region .
”

The United States on Friday rejected a request by Iraq to start talks on pulling out its 5,200 troops, notching up the discord after Washington killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad.
Angry at an attack seen as violating Iraqi sovereignty and enmeshing the country again in war, Iraq's caretaker prime minister asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo late Thursday to send a delegation to begin withdrawal arrangements.
The State Department said it was ready for "a conversation" -- but not about removing troops.
"At this time, any delegation sent to Iraq would be dedicated to discussing how to best recommit to our strategic partnership -- not to discuss troop withdrawal, but our right, appropriate force posture in the Middle East," State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.
Calling the United States "a force for good," she said: "We want to be a friend and partner to a sovereign, prosperous and stable Iraq."
President Donald Trump has described the 2003 US invasion of Iraq as a mistake and in the past criticized US troop deployments, in Iraq and elsewhere, as wasteful.
Nonetheless, he has responded angrily to Iraqi efforts to expel US troops, even threatening sanctions on a country promoted as a US partner.
Pompeo, speaking to reporters, said that US troops' mission in Iraq was "very clear" -- training local forces and fighting the Islamic State extremist group.
"As times change and we get to a place where we can deliver up on what I believe, and the president believes, is our right structure, with fewer resources dedicated to that mission, we will do so," he said.
Iraqis take to streets
Iraqi leaders were infuriated by the US drone strike at Baghdad's airport that killed Iran's most prominent general, Qasem Soleimani, on January 3 and parliament voted on Sunday to rescind an invitation to foreign troops.
Caretaker prime minister Adel Abdel Mahdi, in his call to Pompeo, "requested that delegates be sent to Iraq to set the mechanisms to implement parliament's decision for the secure withdrawal of (foreign) forces from Iraq," Abdel Mahdi's office said in a statement.
But Abdel Mahdi is in a weak position, staying in power in an acting capacity more than a month after resigning in the face of massive demonstrations.
Protests resumed Friday across the country, with protesters denouncing the influence both of the United States and Iran.
"Screw Iran! Screw America!" protesters cried out in the capital's iconic Tahrir Square, still lined with tents and stalls set up three months ago.
Fearing their movement would be eclipsed by war, Iraqi activists posted calls on social media in recent days for the mass protest on Friday, which marked the inverse date, 10/1, of the first rallies on October 1, or 1/10.
Protesters in the Shiite holy city of Karbala clashed overnight with security forces and others were arrested in Basra on Friday.
"By relaunching the protests, we're showing our commitment to the demands of the October revolution: that our leaders stop monopolizing our country's resources," said Haydar Kazem, protesting in Nasiriyah.
Proxy battleground
The US invasion that overthrew dictator Saddam Hussein set off bloodshed across the country and allowed growing influence of Saddam's nemesis Iran which, like Iraq, has a Shiite Muslim majority.
Former president Barack Obama ordered a withdrawal from Iraq but US troops were invited back in 2014 to fight the surge of the extremist Islamic State group.
But under Trump, Iraq has increasingly become a proxy battleground between the United States and Iran, which has also battled the Islamic State group.
Iranian-backed Iraqi Shiite militias have fired rockets at US forces as Trump tries to strangle Iran through sweeping sanctions, which the administration again bolstered on Friday.
Seeking to boost international support of his actions against Iran, Trump has called for NATO -- the alliance of Western nations which he has often described as free-riders -- to play a greater role in the Middle East.
The request baffled many observers, who wondered what Trump had in mind. He has been seeking to wind down the nearly two-decade US deployment, led by NATO, in Afghanistan.
Pompeo, without further details, said a NATO delegation was holding talks on Friday in Washington on "burden-sharing in the region."


rawstory--2020-01-11--Trump ‘fiercely complained’ about Republican Matt Gaetz as Iran expands ‘rare fissures’ in the GOP:

Trump ‘fiercely complained’ about Republican Matt Gaetz as Iran expands ‘rare fissures’ in the GOP: Washington Post

President Donald Trump may have lost some of his grip as his stranglehold on the Republican Party seems to have weakened in the first days of 2020 .
On Friday , Sen. Susan Collins ( R-ME ) revealed that there she is working with a “ small group ” within her caucus seeking to allow witnesses in Trump ’ s Senate trial .
That came one day after staunch Trump defender Rep. Matt Gaetz ( R-FL ) broke with the White House and voted to force the administration to seek congressional approval for war with Iran .
“ It was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and showed rare fissures in a Republican Party that Trump has firmly controlled , ” the newspaper reported .
“ Trump fiercely complained about Gaetz after aides informed Trump that his office had sent the email backing the resolution , which was pushed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ( D-Calif. ) .
Trump ’ s team lobbied heavily against the nonbinding resolution , ” the paper added .
Eric Ueland , the White House ’ s head of legislative affairs , admitted they had been saddened by how Gaetz voted .
“ The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s vote and is hopeful that as the president ’ s foreign policy continues to unfold , he will reconsider his points of view , ” Ueland said .
The newspaper noted Gaetz features quotes on his campaign website describing the Florida Republican as “ the Trumpiest Congressman in Trump ’ s Washington , ” “ Trump ’ s Best Buddy , ” “ Trump ’ s Ultimate Defender , ” and “ Rising star of the Trumpian right.
” Gaetz , “ spent much of the day Friday defending his vote @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was about principles and not the president and citing friends of his in the military who were killed overseas , ” The Post reported .

President Donald Trump may have lost some of his grip as his stranglehold on the Republican Party seems to have weakened in the first days of 2020.
On Friday, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) revealed that there she is working with a "small group" within her caucus seeking to allow witnesses in Trump's Senate trial.
That came one day after staunch Trump defender Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) broke with the White House and voted to force the administration to seek congressional approval for war with Iran.
Friday night, The Washington Postreported on Trump's reaction.
"It was a risky move that surprised the president and showed rare fissures in a Republican Party that Trump has firmly controlled," the newspaper reported.
"Trump fiercely complained about Gaetz after aides informed Trump that his office had sent the email backing the resolution, which was pushed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Trump’s team lobbied heavily against the nonbinding resolution," the paper added.
Eric Ueland, the White House's head of legislative affairs, admitted they had been saddened by how Gaetz voted.
“The Trump administration was disappointed in the congressman’s vote and is hopeful that as the president’s foreign policy continues to unfold, he will reconsider his points of view,” Ueland said.
The newspaper noted Gaetz features quotes on his campaign website describing the Florida Republican as “the Trumpiest Congressman in Trump’s Washington,” “Trump’s Best Buddy,” “Trump’s Ultimate Defender,” and “Rising star of the Trumpian right.”
Gaetz, "spent much of the day Friday defending his vote and praising Trump, saying his vote was about principles and not the president and citing friends of his in the military who were killed overseas," The Post reported.


rawstory--2020-01-11--US job creation slowed under Trump in 2019 to the lowest growth in 8 years

America ’ s solid job creation continued in December but gains in for 2019 were the lowest in eight years , according to the closely-watched government report released Friday .
After a decade of rising employment , hiring last year slowed notably from the brisk pace seen in 2018 : With 2.1 million jobs created , that made 2019 the weakest year since 2011 , according to the Labor Department data .
The economy added an average of 175,000 new positions a month last year , a sharp drop from the 225,000 monthly average in the prior year .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ such a long stretch of brisk hiring — still could tarnish President Donald Trump ’ s economic record as he battles to win re-election in November .
In the final month of the year , the US jobs engine added another 145,000 new positions , the slowest pace in seven months and a bit short of economists ’ expectations .
The unemployment rate held steady at 3.5 percent , remaining at a 50-year low , according to the report .
The ailing manufacturing sector , driven into recession by Trump ’ s multi-front @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , shed workers for third time in 2019 .
But retailers , hotels , bars , restaurants , education , construction and health care led hiring last month , showing the resilience of America ’ s dominant service sector .
Worker pay was a disappointment , rising only 2.9 percent compared to December 2018 — the first time that measure has fallen below three percent since July 2018 .
That still put wage gains well above consumer inflation for the period , leaving workers with more cash to spend .
As US growth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has been a mainstay of the world ’ s largest economy , but economists say it could weaken if the labor market begins to falter .
The total labor force — the sum of those people working or actively looking for work — grew a touch more quickly than job creation in December , something that could cause unemployment to begin to rise if it becomes a trend .
“ The labor market performance continues to provide a solid foundation for the main pillar of growth : consumer spending , ” Oxford Economics @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ However , as we look into 2020 , lingering global headwinds , policy uncertainty and cautious businesses are likely to restrain labor demand amid an increasingly tight labor market.
” The solid hiring seems unlikely to change the Federal Reserve ’ s assessment that the economy does not need additional stimulus for now .
Fed policymakers have repeatedly said interest rates at the moment are in a “ good place ” after three cuts in a row during the latter half of 2019 , and they would only reconsider if something materially @ @ @ @ @ @ @ economist Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics sees the potential for interest rate increases by the Fed , since businesses “ appear to have overestimated the real impact of the trade war ” on hiring .
“ If we ’ re right , the unemployment rate will keep falling , heading towards 3 % by the end of the year , ” he said , adding that “ we ’ d expect to see the Fed talking about higher rates , not easing.
” Several sectors had an obvious slowdown in 2019 : after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ transportation and warehousing industry took in just 57,000 during all of last year .
Hiring in professional and business services and manufacturing also tumbled last year .
The figures released Friday also showed women may now be in the slight majority among American workers , holding a fraction more than 50 percent of all jobs .
Wall Street was briefly lifted by the numbers but sank later in the day , driven lower in part by crisis-stricken Boeing , closing the day in the red .

America's solid job creation continued in December but gains in for 2019 were the lowest in eight years, according to the closely-watched government report released Friday.
After a decade of rising employment, hiring last year slowed notably from the brisk pace seen in 2018: With 2.1 million jobs created, that made 2019 the weakest year since 2011, according to the Labor Department data.
The economy added an average of 175,000 new positions a month last year, a sharp drop from the 225,000 monthly average in the prior year.
The decline -- which is not unusual after such a long stretch of brisk hiring -- still could tarnish President Donald Trump's economic record as he battles to win re-election in November.
In the final month of the year, the US jobs engine added another 145,000 new positions, the slowest pace in seven months and a bit short of economists' expectations.
The unemployment rate held steady at 3.5 percent, remaining at a 50-year low, according to the report.
The ailing manufacturing sector, driven into recession by Trump's multi-front trade wars and a sluggish global economy, shed workers for third time in 2019.
But retailers, hotels, bars, restaurants, education, construction and health care led hiring last month, showing the resilience of America's dominant service sector.
Worker pay was a disappointment, rising only 2.9 percent compared to December 2018 -- the first time that measure has fallen below three percent since July 2018.
That still put wage gains well above consumer inflation for the period, leaving workers with more cash to spend.
Will unemployment keep falling?
As US growth slowed in 2019, persistent consumer spending has been a mainstay of the world's largest economy, but economists say it could weaken if the labor market begins to falter.
The total labor force -- the sum of those people working or actively looking for work -- grew a touch more quickly than job creation in December, something that could cause unemployment to begin to rise if it becomes a trend.
"The labor market performance continues to provide a solid foundation for the main pillar of growth: consumer spending," Oxford Economics' analysts said in a commentary.
"However, as we look into 2020, lingering global headwinds, policy uncertainty and cautious businesses are likely to restrain labor demand amid an increasingly tight labor market."
The solid hiring seems unlikely to change the Federal Reserve's assessment that the economy does not need additional stimulus for now.
Fed policymakers have repeatedly said interest rates at the moment are in a "good place" after three cuts in a row during the latter half of 2019, and they would only reconsider if something materially changes the economic outlook.
However, economist Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics sees the potential for interest rate increases by the Fed, since businesses "appear to have overestimated the real impact of the trade war" on hiring.
"If we're right, the unemployment rate will keep falling, heading towards 3% by the end of the year," he said, adding that "we'd expect to see the Fed talking about higher rates, not easing."
Several sectors had an obvious slowdown in 2019: after adding 216,000 workers in 2018, the transportation and warehousing industry took in just 57,000 during all of last year.
Hiring in professional and business services and manufacturing also tumbled last year.
The figures released Friday also showed women may now be in the slight majority among American workers, holding a fraction more than 50 percent of all jobs.
Wall Street was briefly lifted by the numbers but sank later in the day, driven lower in part by crisis-stricken Boeing, closing the day in the red.


rawstory--2020-01-11--Trump allies seeking to buy far-right One America News Network — because Fox News is too critical: W

Trump allies seeking to buy far-right One America News Network — because Fox News is too critical: WSJ

The cable network which recently paid for Rudy Giuliani to investigate conspiracy theories in Ukraine is again that the center of attention after a bombshell Wall Street Journal story published on Friday evening .
“ Allies of President Trump are pursuing an effort to acquire right-leaning news channel One America News Network , according to people familiar with the matter , in a bid to shake up a conservative media market that has been dominated by Fox News , ” the newspaper reported .
“ The investment firm Hicks Equity Partners is looking to acquire the channel and is pitching @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bid of roughly $ 250 million for the channel ’ s parent company , the people said .
The firm is owned by the family of Thomas Hicks Jr. , co-chairman of the Republican National Committee and a close friend of Donald Trump Jr. ” The Journal added .
The network was blasted by MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow for reportedly sharing staff with the Kremlin , but in December , Trump himself urged his supporters to sign-up to pay the network $ 4.99 per month to watch One America News on Facebook .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ has repeatedly rebuked Fox News for being too critical—despite its opinion-show hosts ’ general support of his administration—and has praised One America News Network .
The channel ’ s opinion programming is known among its cable-news peers for its praise of Donald Trump and its advocacy for conservative causes , ” The Journal reported .
Fox News has been criticized for acting like state television during the Trump administration .
“ One America News Network draws a fraction of the viewers of the cable news industry ’ s titans—including ratings leader Fox News @ @ @ @ @ @ @ widely distributed to American households , ” the newspaper noted .
“ The Hicks firm would bring in new management , upgrade production values and offer coverage that caters to viewers whose political outlook is in the center and right-of-center , segments it views as underserved , the people familiar with the matter said.
” Doug Deason , a Dallas investor who has donated to the Trump campaign , said in an interview that he is planning to join the bid , ” The Journal reported .
“ The Hicks firm also plans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ finance chairman , according to a person familiar with the matter .
”

In new allegations revealed Wednesday, Texas House investigators accused suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton of engaging in a complex cover-up to hide his relationship with real estate investor Nate Paul as senior aides grew increasingly concerned about Paxton’s willingness to use his office to benefit Paul.
The subterfuge allegedly included Paxton and Paul creating an Uber account under an alias so they could meet each other and so the attorney general could visit the woman with whom he was having an extramarital affair.
And once Paxton learned several high-ranking officials in his office reported his behavior to the FBI, the House impeachment managers alleged, he took immediate steps to cover up his relationship with Paul, including wiring a $122,000 payment to a Paul-affiliated company in an effort to hide home renovations that Paul had provided for free.
POLL: Should Trump be allowed to run for office?
The allegations, outlined in a series of filings with the Texas Senate’s court of impeachment, shed new light on the relationship between Paul and Paxton that is at the core of his impeachment proceedings.
Among the new claims: Top deputies in the attorney general’s office persistently warned Paxton that Paul was a “crook” and that there was no merit to his claims that he had been unfairly treated by law enforcement, and that the two met at least 20 times in spring and summer 2020, sometimes discussing the FBI investigation into Paul’s faltering real estate empire.
Paxton “blindly accepted Paul’s conspiracy,” impeachment managers alleged. “Senior Staff urged Paxton to stay away. But when it came to Paul, Paxton was immune to reason.”
Paul was arrested in June on federal felony charges of lying to financial institutions to secure business loans.
Responding to Paxton’s pretrial motions that seek to dismiss all 20 articles of impeachment, including four that will not be included in the Sept. 5 impeachment trial, House managers also detailed multiple actions in which Paxton allegedly sought to use his office to benefit Paul.
They alleged that Paxton conducted a “sham criminal investigation” into Paul’s “adversaries,” routinely overriding concerns from agency staff who told him that Paul was a “criminal” and that Paxton needed to “get away.”
Instead, House managers alleged, Paxton became increasingly “entangled in Paul’s web of deceit” and “went to great lengths” to hide his relationship with Paul — using a burner phone and secret email accounts, ditching his security detail and using the fake Uber name to be “ferried to his lover’s or Paul’s properties more than a dozen times.”
In response to Paul’s favors — including allegedly employing the woman and paying to remodel Paxton’s home — Paxton “continually abused the power of his office to advance Paul’s aims,” House managers alleged.
In one instance, Paxton allegedly told agency staff that he did not want the office to assist law enforcement “in any way” with an investigation into Paul, who Paxton claimed was being “railroaded” and needed “unprecedented” access to sensitive information about his case.
After meeting with “alarmed” senior staff, Paxton allegedly demanded files about Paul’s criminal case that included an unredacted FBI letter that identified individuals involved in a 2019 raid on Paul’s home and businesses.
“Paxton held onto the file for more than a week,” House managers wrote. “Ultimately, OAG did not disclose the information to Paul. But Paxton did.”
In another instance, Paxton was accused of issuing a legal opinion that staved off a pending foreclosure sale of Paul’s businesses at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. House investigators cited two agency employees who said they were forced to work through the night to produce the opinion while Paxton frequently called them.
Paxton “sounded like someone was holding him hostage,” one of the staffers told investigators.
The opinion, which Paxton allegedly edited himself, was published at 1 a.m. Aug. 2, 2020, and said foreclosure proceedings posed a public health threat — despite the state’s “open for business” mantra throughout the pandemic, managers said.
The next day, managers alleged, Paul cited the opinion to successfully delay the foreclosures.
“It is hard to imagine a more blatant abuse of Paxton’s office,” House managers wrote.
Paxton’s legal team had filed more than a dozen motions to dismiss all articles of impeachment, often arguing that the underlying allegations were baseless or fell under the legitimate duties of the attorney general’s office.
His attorneys also accused the Texas House of trying to “overturn the will of voters” who reelected Paxton to a third term last year despite various public scandals dating to 2015. One argument stressed that Paxton cannot be impeached for alleged misconduct that predated his most recent election under the so-called “prior-term doctrine.” And they downplayed some of the allegations he faces, saying that, even if true, they are not severe enough to warrant his removal from office.
Paxton’s lawyers also attacked two bribery-related impeachment articles, saying there was no evidence of a “quid pro quo” and that Paxton’s ties to Paul were nothing more than “a personal relationship with a constituent and that the constituent found something the Attorney General did to be agreeable in some way.”
Under rules adopted by the Senate, any pretrial motion to dismiss or quash an article of impeachment must be voted on by senators. A majority — 16 senators — can approve dismissal of an article, placing an early test on the determination of the chamber’s 19 Republicans to allow a trial on the allegations. Those votes are set to be taken shortly after the trial begins in September.
In a written response, filed with the Senate on Tuesday and made public Wednesday, the impeachment team challenged other pretrial assertions from Paxton’s lawyers, who claimed the articles of impeachment were deficient because they failed to list specific laws that Paxton allegedly broke.
“Impeachable offenses need not be indictable crimes,” the House team argued. “Impeachment in Texas seeks to protect against conduct that undermines the integrity of the office, disregards constitutional duties and oaths of office, abuses government process and power, and adversely impacts the system of government.”
What’s more, the team argued, many of the articles listed particular crimes, and several detailed “how Paxton abused his office for his own personal benefit or that of Nate Paul and business entities controlled by Paul.”
More broadly, the managers emphasized that the impeachment trial is not a criminal or civil proceeding, as Paxton’s side has implied. In one new filing, the managers wrote that an impeachment trial is “a unique, if not mostly Political, with a capital ‘P’, proceeding — i.e., an action by the representatives of the people challenging official actions that are contrary to the public interest.”
That view aligns with the view that Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who leads the Senate and is acting as judge in the impeachment trial, offered in a TV interview Tuesday.
“It’s not a criminal trial. It’s not a civil trial. It’s a political trial,” Patrick told the Fox affiliate in Houston.
The House managers also asked the Senate to dismiss Paxton’s motion to quash the articles or return them to the House to add more detail to the allegations. The managers said the demand shows a “fundamental misunderstanding” of how impeachment works, arguing that the Texas Constitution does not require the level of detail common in a civil or criminal proceeding.
“A person can be impeached without an indictment, therefore Paxton does not have any right to demand more details,” the managers said.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.


rawstory--2020-01-11--‘Lindsey Graham epitomizes why people hate politics’: Democrat Jaime Harrison rips the GOP senator o

‘Lindsey Graham epitomizes why people hate politics’: Democrat Jaime Harrison rips the GOP senator on MSNBC

Controversial Sen. Lindsey Graham ( R-SC ) was blasted on MSNBC on Friday for a credibility crisis with voters after seeming to now claim the exact opposite views on impeachment as he held when it was a Democrat being tried .
MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews played conflicting clips of the South Carolina Republican , noting that “ Graham has flipped on a number of topics.
” However , the difference is that Graham had a safe seat in Congress during Bill Clinton ’ s impeachment , which let him safely play the role of Republican bomb-thrower .
But now that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Graham is facing a tough 2020 re-election challenge from Jaime Harrison .
Harrison worked for House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn ( D-SC ) and went on to work as the executive director of the chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party .
In the final three months of 2019 , Harrison ’ s campaign raised $ 3.5 million , which was described as “ another record haul ” by The State .
“ His campaign said the average contribution during the quarter was $ 27 from 67,000 individual donors , and 112,000 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ county in the state , ” the newspaper reported , noting he had more than $ 4.6 million on hand .
“ This fourth quarter haul tops his contributions from earlier in 2019 .
The third quarter he brought in $ 2.2 million .
The second quarter of the year he brought in $ 1.5 million , ” The State noted .
With his fundraising success , Harrison has been receiving national media attention .
“ What is it that you can tell us about Lindsey Graham that we haven ’ t seen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ every side of both issues , whatever , the kiss-butt performance of him over the last several months with this president — is that as bad as it gets , which is pretty bad ?
” Matthews asked .
Harrison said , “ I have quickly come to realize that Lindsey Graham epitomizes why people hate politics .
He will say and do anything.
” if you had to come up with the theme of that article , it is , you can ’ t trust lindsey graham .
h “ He has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ everybody else be damned , ” Harrison explained .
“ And so , it ’ s just sad , it ’ s very sad.
” “ The people of South Carolina are hungry for somebody who will fight for them , who will put them up above themselves and right now , we don ’ t get that in Lindsey Graham , ” he added .

Controversial Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) was blasted on MSNBC on Friday for a credibility crisis with voters after seeming to now claim the exact opposite views on impeachment as he held when it was a Democrat being tried.
MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews played conflicting clips of the South Carolina Republican, noting that "Graham has flipped on a number of topics."
However, the difference is that Graham had a safe seat in Congress during Bill Clinton's impeachment, which let him safely play the role of Republican bomb-thrower. But now that he's in the U.S. Senate, Graham is facing a tough 2020 re-election challenge from Jaime Harrison.
Harrison worked for House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC) and went on to work as the executive director of the chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party.
In the final three months of 2019, Harrison's campaign raised $3.5 million, which was described as "another record haul" by The State.
"His campaign said the average contribution during the quarter was $27 from 67,000 individual donors, and 112,000 different contributions, including contributions from every county in the state," the newspaper reported, noting he had more than $4.6 million on hand.
"This fourth quarter haul tops his contributions from earlier in 2019. The third quarter he brought in $2.2 million. The second quarter of the year he brought in $1.5 million," The State noted.
With his fundraising success, Harrison has been receiving national media attention.
"What is it that you can tell us about Lindsey Graham that we haven't seen in his jumping back and forth on every side of both issues, whatever, the kiss-butt performance of him over the last several months with this president -- is that as bad as it gets, which is pretty bad?" Matthews asked.
Harrison said, "I have quickly come to realize that Lindsey Graham epitomizes why people hate politics. He will say and do anything."
if you had to come up with the theme of that article, it is, you can't trust Lindsey Graham.
"He has his own best interests at hand and everybody else be damned," Harrison explained. "And so, it's just sad, it's very sad."
"The people of South Carolina are hungry for somebody who will fight for them, who will put them up above themselves and right now, we don't get that in Lindsey Graham," he added.
"It's about character, it's about integrity," Harrison added.
Watch:


rawstory--2020-01-11--WATCH: Chris Hayes breaks down the evidence the ‘Wag the Dog’ theory of Trump’s Iran war makes sense

The host broke down the “ Wag the Dog ” theory that President Donald Trump ordered the assassination of Iranian @ @ @ @ @ up his domestic political standing as he prepares for his Senate impeachment trial and campaigns @ @ @ @ @ derives from the hit 1997 movie starring Dustin Hoffman , Robert De Niro , Anne @ @ @ @ @ and legendary musician Willie Nelson .
In the film , the fictional president creates a @ @ @ @ @ a political scandal .
Hayes said the assassination was “ most drastic and reckless military @ @ @ @ @ so far ” and that the Trump administration appeared to be “ straight-up lying ” @ @ @ @ @ the hostilities with Iran.
” He even examined video evidence showing Trump embracing the “ @ @ @ @ @ .
Hayes also noticed multiple outlets are reporting that Trump ordered the attack to shore @ @ @ @ @ senators who will be jurors in his impeachment trial .

MSNBC anchor Chris Hayes presented a special "All In" before a live studio audience on Friday.
The host broke down the "Wag the Dog" theory that President Donald Trump ordered the assassination of Iranian General Qassim Suleimani to shore up his domestic political standing as he prepares for his Senate impeachment trial and campaigns for re-election.
The theory derives from the hit 1997 movie starring Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro, Anne Heche, Denis Leary, and legendary musician Willie Nelson. In the film, the fictional president creates a fake war to distract from a political scandal.
Hayes said the assassination was "most drastic and reckless military operation this president has ordered so far" and that the Trump administration appeared to be "straight-up lying" in their shifting rationalizations for the hostilities with Iran."
He even examined video evidence showing Trump embracing the "Wag the Dog" theory.
Hayes also noticed multiple outlets are reporting that Trump ordered the attack to shore up his position with Republican senators who will be jurors in his impeachment trial.
"What a damning admission by the man himself," Hayes noted.
Watch:


rawstory--2020-01-11--John Bolton will be ‘a traitor and a villain’ if he withholds ‘blockbuster evidence’ to sell his boo

John Bolton will be ‘a traitor and a villain’ if he withholds ‘blockbuster evidence’ to sell his book: ex-prosecutor

Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner offered a harsh analysis of how history will remember Ambassador John Bolton if he does not testify at Donald Trump ’ s impeachment trial and instead does not reveal what he knows until he publishes it in a tell-all book .
Kirschner was interviewed on MSNBC by Chris Matthews .
“ Let ’ s talk about human behavior , ” Matthews said .
“ Could it be — I don ’ t know Bolton personally , I know his politics , his ideology — but could it be that he says , I thought for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the goodies for my book , because people like to do that , people like to write the big story with the big news , but if history comes down that I sat on this stuff for a year while we didn ’ t have a real trial , I ’ m guilty of really withholding my citizenship here.
” “ If he had blockbuster evidence — and he doesn ’ t testify — and then he puts in a book information that could have changed the course of a Senate impeachment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ history as a traitor and a villain , ” he charged .

Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner offered a harsh analysis of how history will remember Ambassador John Bolton if he does not testify at Donald Trump's impeachment trial and instead does not reveal what he knows until he publishes it in a tell-all book.
Kirschner was interviewed on MSNBC by Chris Matthews.
"Let's talk about human behavior," Matthews said. "Could it be -- I don't know Bolton personally, I know his politics, his ideology -- but could it be that he says, I thought for a while I wanted to save some of the goodies for my book, because people like to do that, people like to write the big story with the big news, but if history comes down that I sat on this stuff for a year while we didn't have a real trial, I'm guilty of really withholding my citizenship here."
"Exactly," Kirschner replied.
"If he had blockbuster evidence -- and he doesn't testify -- and then he puts in a book information that could have changed the course of a Senate impeachment trial, he will go down in history as a traitor and a villain," he charged.
Watch:


rawstory--2020-01-12--Lev Parnas attorney tells judge there are ‘essential’ documents Congress needs for impeachment

The attorney representing Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas is requesting permission from a federal judge to turn over more materials @ @ @ @ @ of President Donald Trump .
Attorney Joseph Bondy wrote to Judge J. Paul Oetken requesting @ @ @ @ @ order governing the use of evidence collected as part of the criminal prosecution of Parnas @ @ @ @ @ digital copy of all the information on two iPhones and a Samsun phone be turned @ @ @ @ @ Select Committee on Intelligence .
“ Review of these materials is essential to the Committee @ @ @ @ @ the strength of Mr. Parnas ’ s potential testimony , ” the letter read .
@ @ @ @ @ prosecutors do not object to the request .
Bondy posted the letter to Twitter , @ @ @ @ @ Lev Speak ” and “ Lev Remembers .
”

The video begins with a close up of the turtle’s head, its dark green, pebbled skin out of place against the stark-white boat deck. Robinson’s hands approach, moving the pliers toward the turtle’s nostril. The tool clamps down on the edge of something — A barnacle? A worm? — barely visible within the dark tunnel. The creature squirms and dribbles blood as the pulling begins. A long, thin object begins to emerge, inch by excruciating inch.
It was August 10, 2015, and marine conservation biologist Christine Figgener was collecting data for her Ph.D. a few miles off the coast of Guanacaste, Costa Rica. She and a colleague, Nathan Robinson, were researching olive ridley sea turtles when they noticed a male had something encrusted in its nose. The pair decided to try to extract the object. Robinson flipped open his Swiss army knife’s pliers and Figgener grabbed her phone and began to film.
“We had no idea what we were frigging looking at,” Figgener said in a newer, annotated version of the video. It wasn’t until one of the researchers cut off a piece of the object that they realized what it was: a four-inch piece of plastic straw.
“We couldn’t believe that such a mundane object that we really use on a daily basis … that we found it in the turtle’s nose,” she said — “that a tiny object caused so much suffering.”
A volunteer holds plastic straws picked during the World Clean-Up day activity in Kendari, Indonesia. Andry Denisah / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images A volunteer holds plastic straws picked during the World Clean-Up day activity in Kendari, Indonesia.
When Figgener uploaded the turtle straw video to her YouTube account eight years ago, it went viral. For a few years, plastic straws were the trendy rallying cry for sustainability. In many ways, the campaign was a success story — one that elevated our awareness of single-use plastics to the point where it resulted in actual policy change. But upon reflection, not all the solutions that spun out of the anti-straw movement actually held water. In recent years, many environmental pundits have focused on the movement’s shortcomings.
To many environmentalists fighting plastic pollution, anti-straw advocacy now feels passé — out of touch with the broader need to address all forms of single-use plastic. But the movement’s rise and fall still holds lessons for the activists of today.
From soda bottles to yogurt containers, there is a lot of plastic pollution out there. So how did we end up so obsessed with straws?
The anti-plastic straw movement didn’t actually originate with Figgener’s turtle video. Back in 2011, a 9-year-old named Milo Cress found it odd that the restaurants he would go to with his mom in Burlington, Vermont, would automatically serve drinks with a straw, whether or not their customer wanted one. He approached the owner of Leunig’s Bistro and Café in Burlington, and eventually, Leunig’s became one of the first establishments in the country to ask customers whether they wanted a straw or not.
Milo Cress, founder of the Be Straw Free campaign, photographed in Niwot, Colorado on August 7, 2012. Mark Leffingwell / MediaNews Group / Boulder Daily Camera via Getty Images Milo Cress, founder of the Be Straw Free campaign, photographed in Niwot, Colorado on August 7, 2012.
Eventually, Cress and his mom made some calls to straw manufacturers and estimated that 500 million straws are used and discarded by people in the U.S. every day. The environmental advocacy group Eco-Cycle published Cress’s findings, which in the years since have been cited by nearly every major news media outlet that has covered the plastic straw beat, including CNN, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. (The credibility of that figure has since been questioned, with market research firms determining the figure to be between 170 million and 390 million a day.)
But the turtle video added just the right amount of injury to plastic insult. Figgener’s viral footage helped stir single-use plastic outrage into a frenzy. Celebrities called on their followers to #stopsucking, a social media campaign that aimed to “turn the plastic straw into environment enemy number one.”
Thousands of restaurants joined the pledge and the idea took off, reaching the rare environmental threshold of actual policy change. In 2018, Seattle became the first big city in the United States to ban plastic straws. It was followed shortly by other major municipalities in California, New Jersey, Florida, and other states. That same year, companies including Starbucks and American Airlines jumped on the anti-straw bandwagon, the former announcing it would launch a new “sippy” lid for its cold beverages starting in 2020, allegedly diverting more than 1 billion straws per year.
A flat, plastic lid that does not need a straw is shown on a cup of Starbucks iced tea on July 9, 2018 in Sausalito, California. Justin Sullivan / Getty Images A flat, plastic lid that does not need a straw is shown on a cup of Starbucks iced tea on July 9, 2018 in Sausalito, California.
But for all its success in getting people riled up about plastic pollution, much of that outrage seemed limited to, well, straws, which only make up a small part of the single-use problem. National Geographic calculated that of the 8 million tons of plastic deposited into the world’s oceans each year, only 0.025 percent is comprised of plastic straws.
Some anti-plastic advocates began denouncing the straw bans as “slacktivism,” a type of activism characterized by a lack of commitment or effort. They said the bans gave people an overblown sense that they were making a difference in combating the plastics crisis. For example, anti-straw pledges didn’t seem as concerned with other types of plastic waste or the fossil fuels associated with every part of their life cycle. Even the anti-straw Starbucks sippy lids were actually made from polypropylene, a type of plastic that has a 3 percent recycling rate in the U.S. (The company claimed it was still an improvement, as the new lids could potentially be recycled. Plastic straws are too lightweight and thin to make it through the mechanical recycling sorting process.)
The anti-plastic straw movement also started getting pushback from disability advocates, who pointed out that some people need flexible straws to be able to drink liquids. Paper straws get soggy and fall apart more quickly, reusable straws made of metal are not easy to bend, and silicone straws are difficult to clean.
For the average consumer, functionality is often more important than sustainability, said Leslie Davenport, a climate psychology educator and consultant. “Our brains favor habits because they conserve energy. So if we are going against the current — a BYO straw for example — it’s hard for most people to do so unless highly motivated.”
San Francisco’s Boba Guys tests alternatives to plastic straws made of metal, bamboo, and reusable plastic ahead of a 2018 vote that would ban plastic straws in the city. Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images San Francisco’s Boba Guys tests alternatives to plastic straws made of metal, bamboo, and reusable plastic ahead of a 2018 vote that would ban plastic straws in the city.
For restaurants that chose to continue to provide disposable straws, there were options beyond paper or plastic. Straws made with natural materials such as sugarcane and wheat are 100 percent biodegradable, but are inflexible and cost more to manufacture. As a result, many businesses looked to straws made from bioplastics — allegedly compostable plastics made from corn, sugarcane, agave, and other nonpetroleum sources. But according to Brandon Leeds, co-founder of SOFi Paper Products, bioplastics require specific disposal and processing methods, many of which aren’t always followed or clearly outlined, in order for them to decompose effectively.
“Many businesses desire to adopt sustainable practices, and when they encounter these plastic-like alternatives, they may mistakenly believe that they can be environmentally conscious without truly moving away from the plastic aesthetic,” Leeds said. “The absence of stricter governmental regulations allows companies to take advantage of greenwashing tactics, making it difficult to differentiate genuinely sustainable options from those that are not.”
Buying into greenwashing, a term that refers to environmental “solutions” whose appeal is based on appearing environmentally friendly rather than actually being so, “can be an unconscious psychological defense in individuals to shield them from the fear and overwhelming [feeling] of climate change,” Davenport said. “There can be an unexamined story of ‘I’m doing my part’ because it is more soothing than feeling out of control with the harmful and terrifying trajectory we are on with climate change.”
A plastic straw and lid is among the trash washed up on a beach in Santa Monica, California. Citizen of the Planet / Education Images / Universal Images Group via Getty Images A plastic straw and lid is among the trash washed up on a beach in Santa Monica, California.
Plastic straw bans are alive and well today, with new proposals still cropping up at the state and city levels. But eliminating plastic straws is no longer the go-to goal of the anti-plastic movement. Part of that is the result of the existing bans’ success: For many consumers, the absence of plastic straws has become normal, even mundane. Now, anti-plastic advocates hope to harness in new ways the outrage they once inspired.
According to Jackie Nuñez, the Plastic Pollution Coalition’s advocacy and engagement manager and the founder of The Last Plastic Straw, the anti-plastic straw movement helped advance awareness and understanding of other single-use products. California, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New York, Oregon, and Vermont have all placed some form of ban on plastic bags. The U.S. Interior Department stated that single-use plastic products will be phased out of national parks and around 480 million acres of federal land by 2032. In 2022, the Canadian federal government implemented a single-use plastics ban that included bags, cutlery, food service ware, and stir sticks.
It’s not really the item, it’s the material that’s the problem, Nuñez said. “All plastic is pollution by design.”
Some activists have attempted to call attention to the scourge of single-use plastics by staging ‘plastic attacks,’ in which protesters head to the grocery store and proceed to remove the plastic wrapping from the food in their carts and return the waste to the store.
Shoppers leave excess packaging at the entrance to a Brussels supermarket as part of a “plastic attack” designed to to emphasize the over-usage of plastic in supermarkets. NICOLAS MAETERLINCK / AFP via Getty Images Shoppers leave excess packaging at the entrance to a Brussels supermarket as part of a “plastic attack” designed to to emphasize the over-usage of plastic in supermarkets.
Since they began in 2018, the strategy has gone global. Plastic attacks have been reported in places including in Hong Kong, South Korea, Canada, Peru, and the United States. Some of the biggest demonstrations have drawn hundreds of participants.
The anti-plastic straw movement “triggered a lightbulb moment for a lot of people,” Nuñez said. “It ended up becoming a thing I call a gateway issue.”
Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future.


rawstory--2020-01-11--Blackwater founder Erik Prince pushed Trump allies to assassinate Gen. Suleimani: Mueller documents

New details continue to emerge about Donald Trump ordering the assassination of Iranian Gen. Qassim Suleimani .
“ Erik Prince , the Blackwater-founder-turned-unofficial-2016-Trump-campaign-adviser , advocated to the campaign years ago for the killing of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani , according to a recently disclosed memo that reveals some of the earliest thinking circulated within Donald Trump ’ s team regarding his approach to Iran , ” CNN reported Saturday .
Prince is the brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos .
“ Prince made the pitch in a memo emailed to Steve Bannon , then running the conservative website Breitbart , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Corey Lewandowski , ” CNN explained .
“ It ’ s not clear whether the message reached Trump , but Prince ’ s outreach on foreign policy later got him audiences with future national security adviser Michael Flynn and Donald Trump Jr. ” Prince referred to the Iranian general as “ the Heinrich Himmler of the Iranian State ” and said it was a “ national disgrace ” he was not already dead .
However , the assassination may have been just what Suleimani wanted .
Also on Saturday , The New York @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon .
Nasrallah has said he warned Suleimani that his photo was being shown in the news in America , telling him it represented the “ media and political preparation for his assassination.
” “ But as he recalled , General Suleimani laughed , and said that , in fact , he hoped to die a martyr and asked Mr. Nasrallah to pray that he would , ” The Times reported .

New details continue to emerge about Donald Trump ordering the assassination of Iranian Gen. Qassim Suleimani.
"Erik Prince, the Blackwater-founder-turned-unofficial-2016-Trump-campaign-adviser, advocated to the campaign years ago for the killing of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, according to a recently disclosed memo that reveals some of the earliest thinking circulated within Donald Trump's team regarding his approach to Iran," CNN reported Saturday.
Prince is the brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.
"Prince made the pitch in a memo emailed to Steve Bannon, then running the conservative website Breitbart, who forwarded the memo to then-campaign manager Corey Lewandowski," CNN explained. "It's not clear whether the message reached Trump, but Prince's outreach on foreign policy later got him audiences with future national security adviser Michael Flynn and Donald Trump Jr."
Prince referred to the Iranian general as "the Heinrich Himmler of the Iranian State" and said it was a "national disgrace" he was not already dead.
However, the assassination may have been just what Suleimani wanted.
Also on Saturday, The New York Timesreported on a meeting Suleimani had with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon.
Nasrallah has said he warned Suleimani that his photo was being shown in the news in America, telling him it represented the "media and political preparation for his assassination."
"But as he recalled, General Suleimani laughed, and said that, in fact, he hoped to die a martyr and asked Mr. Nasrallah to pray that he would," The Timesreported.


rawstory--2020-01-11--Prince Harry scheduled for royal intervention to address #Megxit — Duchess Meghan may phone in

Buckingham Palace is organizing a royal family meeting to discuss Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan ( Markle ) stepping back as senior members of the royal family , Harper ’ s Bazaar reported Saturday .
“ Now , on day three of conversations between the royal households and government officials , a Buckingham Palace source tells BAZAAR.com that Prince Harry will join a family meeting on Monday afternoon with Queen Elizabeth , Prince Charles , and Prince William at Sandringham ‘ to talk things through , ' ” the magazine reported .
Duchess Meghan returned to Canada on Friday , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ foreseeable future.
” “ The face-to-face summit , which Meghan is likely to join by phone from Canada , follows a series of consultations and will see ‘ a range of possibilities ’ brought to the table .
These options , says the source , will ‘ take into account the thinking of the Sussexes outlined earlier in the week .
Making a change to the working life and role in the monarchy for the duke and duchess requires complex and thoughtful discussions , ' ” the magazine noted .
The situation has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” a portmanteau of “ Meghan ” and “ Brexit .
”

"Chaos agent," said Vance simply. "He is an agent of chaos, and I think his whole career is kind of going from one disaster to another, and distracting attention from the last disaster, moving to another, but being happy that he's in attention. Right now, politically, he's completely consumed all the airtime on the Republican nomination for president even while he's being indicted."
POLL: Should Trump be allowed to run for office?
"How does that play out in a courtroom, or in a legal battle with him?" Cooper pressed him.
"Well, I think what it means, first and foremost for the judges in this case is, how do you manage a man like Donald Trump as a defendant?" said Vance. "An average defendant who has said what he said, who has done what he's done, under indictment, would be hauled back into court and threatened with contempt, incarceration, or a huge fine. None of those things necessarily are dissuading factors for Donald Trump. Again, I'm speculating, but were he to be put in jail on contempt for doing something as stupid as his picture with him and a bat and D.A. [Alvin] Bragg's picture right next to him — clearly intimidating, but were he to be put in Rikers Island, I honestly think he'd probably use it as a mechanism to, you know, to excite his crowd."
"No judge has really — and this is unprecedented. So there is no judge who has experience with a character like this," said Cooper.
"No, I don't think ever with a character like this," Vance agreed. "But clearly, the judges that are involved are experienced, and I think they all, bottom line, are going to really need to control their courtroom. They need to be the manager, to set expectations of decorum and what is responsible behavior and what is irresponsible behavior. And they need to hold the former president to account ... ultimately I think these judges are going to make it work."
Watch the video below or at the link.


rawstory--2020-01-11--Trump addresses the people of Iran: ‘I’ve stood with you since the beginning of my presidency’

President Donald Trump on Saturday addressed the people of Iran on via his Twitter account .
“ To the brave @ @ @ @ @ : I ’ ve stood with you since the beginning of my Presidency , and @ @ @ @ @ stand with you , ” Trump claimed , despite imposing sanctions after ending the nuclear @ @ @ @ @ for the people of Iran .
“ We are following your protests closely , and @ @ @ @ @ , ” Trump said , take a far different tone than he uses for protesters @ @ @ @ @ In addition to posting his message in English , he also posted it in Persian @