Saturday, February 18, 2017

Russian Coverage On Trump Being Reduced

Putin said the details about the new U.S. president are no longer of high interest to Russians, according to a Thursday report by Bloomberg. (Yuri Kochetkov/Pool Photo via AP)

Putin said the details about the new U.S. president are no longer of high interest to Russians, according to a Thursday report by Bloomberg. (Yuri Kochetkov/Pool Photo via AP)

Putin tells Russian media to scale back Trump coverage


Russian President Vladimir Putin told state media to spend
 less time covering President Trump, according to a report.
Putin said the details about the new U.S. president are no
 longer of high interest to Russians, according to a Thursday
 report by Bloomberg.
Citing anonymous sources "familiar with the matter," however, Bloomberg said the real reason for the Kremlin's directive is
 that Russia is now anticipating the new administration will
 be "less friendly than first thought."
The report said that "wall-to-wall coverage" of Trump "went
 too far for the Kremlin's liking. In January, Trump received
 more mentions in the media than Putin, relegating the
Russian leader to the No. 2 spot for the first time since he
 returned to the Kremlin in 2012 after four years as premier,
according to Interfax data."


Bloomberg's report comes as the White House is facing
intense scrutiny over its ties to the Russian government.
Trump has said he doesn't know Putin and has no business
 deals with Russia, but recent reports say that Trump
associates were in touch with Russian officials during the
campaign.
On Thursday, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told NATO
ministers in Brussels that the U.S. is not yet prepared to
cooperate militarily with Russia in Syria, something Trump
 has said he's wanted.

The New Way That Millennials Get Together




Matt Walsh: Millennials, ‘casual’ sex is not casual. It’s immature and selfish.

 




Matt Walsh: Millennials, ‘casual’ sex is not casual. It’s immature and selfish.
(KatarzynaBialasiewicz/GettyImages)






The title of a recent article in USA Today says it all: “Survey: Sleeping together before a first date is a-OK, but cracked phones are a put off.” The story focuses primarily on the attitudes of my fellow millennials towards dating and relationships.
Read and behold the death of western civilization:
Millennials are 48% more likely to have sex before a first date than all other generations of singles… Helen Fisher, a biological anthropologist and chief scientific adviser to Match, [says]… “Sex before the first date could be a sex interview, where they want to know if they want to spend time with this person… In many ways sex has become a less intimate part of dating… We used to think of sex as you crossed the line now you are in an intimate zone, but now sex is almost a given and it’s not the intimate part…”
But don’t get the impression that we millennials have no standards. We do demand that our partners treat their phones with respect, if not their bodies and souls:
“Singles don’t like people who have a cracked phone, or an old phone or those who use a clicking sound when typing,” she says, citing the survey. 
Ah yes, I’ll never forget when I first laid eyes on my wife’s immaculate phone and thought to myself, “I want to spend the rest of my life with this woman. At least until her phone breaks.”
Of course, the article doesn’t tell the rest of the story. The part where these same people complain incessantly to their friends about how it’s so difficult to find a man or woman who isn’t a shallow, self-interested jerk. The part where they quickly grow bored with each new partner. The part where they conduct these “sex interviews” but somehow keep hiring the wrong candidates. Everyone is lying on their resumes, they conclude.
They tread water like this for years, deathly afraid of marriage, stuck in an endless string of casual sexual encounters and relationships so superficial and ridiculous that they won’t even call them relationships. We’re just “hanging out,” say the grown adults as they rapidly approach middle age.
They tell themselves that this is just how relationships are, this is how people are, this is how it has to be. They never stop to consider that it isn’t some inherent flaw in human nature preventing them from discovering a deeper and more mature bond with another human being. Rather, it’s their own flaws. Curable flaws, thankfully. But if they are to cure them, if they are to change the parts of them which lead constantly into these cheap and unfulfilling hook ups, they have to drastically adjust their attitude towards sex.
There are a great many problems with viewing sex as “casual” or a “given” — something that isn’t intimate, a mere interview strategy or recreational activity — but we’ll focus on just a few:

1. “Casual” sex is impossible.

A high five is casual. Waving hello is casual. Small talk is casual. Treating sex like a casual greeting doesn’t make it casual. It just makes you immature and selfish.
Life offers some clues as to whether a particular activity is casual or not. Here’s a good rule of thumb, though it may not work in every case: If you dress up to do something, such as attend an Easter service or a fancy dinner, it’s probably not casual. Likewise, if you completely undress to do something, such as have sex, it’s probably not casual. Casual things are things that you can do in any attire, anywhere, with anyone, in front of anyone. You may have a casual conversation with an acquaintance at the park in the middle of the day. But if you have sex with an acquaintance at the park in the middle of the day, you’ll find yourself in jail. Why is that? Because sex is intimate and private. People who actually would have sex in the same places and in the same contexts that they’d have a conversation are called sex offenders.
It’s not just the location that provides clues as to the extremely non-casual nature of sex, however. Our hearts and souls give an even stronger indication. Now, it’s hard to talk about this aspect of the issue because everyone lies about it. They lie to themselves and to each other. Those who frequently have casual sex will claim that they can do it without growing attached to the other person. And this may be true, after a while, if they’ve done it so often, and are so numb inside, that they’ve developed the same attitude towards sex as a prostitute.
Fortunately, most people aren’t quite that dead inside. Most people experience a whirl of strange and intense emotions before, during, and after the act. They may suppress or ignore these natural feelings, but that leads to depression and anxiety. Having a casual discussion with someone doesn’t result in this sort of internal strife. Treating sex as if it were a casual discussion does.
I haven’t even gotten to the most obvious indication that sex is not casual. Here it is: sex creates people. Yes, we may go to great lengths to prevent such “unintended” consequences, but that doesn’t change the fact that sex, by its nature, is a reproductive act. Only disease, old age, or surgery can absolutely remove the life-giving potentiality of sex. Outside of that, anytime you have sex, there is a chance you may make a person.
Can an architect casually design a high rise building? Can an aerospace engineer casually build a rocket ship? I don’t know about you, but I can’t even casually poach an egg. Simply making a meal requires a certain commitment and seriousness of purpose. Are we really prepared to say that the process by which we create a breakfast dish ought to be treated with greater respect and caution than the process by which we create humans?
Casual interactions can only have significant consequences by accident. If a fist bump has some Earth-shattering, life-altering result, it was an aberration. Sex, on the other hand, has a significant consequence by its nature. If you “accidentally” make a person through sex, you have experienced the same result as billions of other people. You might say that sex is not casual, it’s causal (sorry, I couldn’t help myself).

2. You devalue yourself and your partner.

It’s technically possible that a relationship that began with a superficial sexual encounter may lead to something lasting, committed, and fruitful. But if it does go that direction, which it probably won’t, it will be in spite of how it began.
Casual sex is fundamentally selfish and degrading. Both partners agree to use and be used by the other. The message they send to each other, quite explicitly, is this: “I’m using you for your body, which I value only as a masturbatory object. You are a sex toy with a brain, but I don’t care about your brain and would rather you not use it right now.”
Ironically, the very people who defend this approach to sex are the ones who usually shout the loudest about feeling “used” and “objectified” by our culture. It is they who allow themselves to be used. They make objects of themselves and pretend that it’s acceptable, in their case, because they’re getting something in return, as if it’s only a problem to objectify a human being when both parties don’t profit from it.
Our culture can’t even get it right on the very few moral principles it still defends. I want to agree with those who demand that a woman not have her dignity stripped of her, but then I realize that they mean it in a mercenary way. She ought not have her dignity taken for nothing, they mean. But if she gets something out of it — financially or carnally — it’s OK. Don’t use people unless they can use you too. I find this mantra extremely uninspiring and inadequate.
And this is the exact opposite of how healthy, successful relationships work. In marriage, we give ourselves to the other, lifting them and ourselves up in the process. This is why sex ought to wait for marriage, because only after that lifelong oath has been sworn can we hope to use sex in a way that’s truly sacrificial and self-giving. Sex should be enjoyable, but it should also be an expression of love and devotion. If we take the love and devotion out of sex, we’ve turned it into an act of mutual objectification. And eventually, without the love and devotion, we won’t even have the enjoyment anymore.

3. You set yourself up for heartache and betrayal down the line.

Let’s say some of these sexually enlightened millennials actually manage to find spouses through this rigorous sex interview process. They’ve already made it clear that sex is no big deal, it’s casual, it’s recreational, it need not involve emotions or commitment or any of that icky stuff. Well, if they stick to this outlook, they’ve put themselves on the path to the divorce attorney before they even walk down the aisle. I’ll explain why.
First of all, this numb, emotionless, “casual” sex is utterly boring. They’ve deprived themselves of the full experience of sex and replaced it with this stale version. Quickly they’ll find their sex life unsatisfying, not because it necessarily has to be, but because they don’t see any real difference between this sex and the sex they’ve already had with dozens of other people. It’s like watching a movie for the 50th time. Die Hard is still great no matter how many times you see it, but it can never be as fun to watch as it was the first time. When having sex is like the 50th viewing of Die Hard, the next step is predictable: One or both partners will go off and watch another movie.
And what happens then? Let’s say the husband decides to search for sexual fulfillment with some lady he met at the gym. On what grounds can the wife even complain? Sex is casual, is it not? It’s just recreation. It’s like playing checkers or ping pong, except naked. Would she get very upset if she caught her husband playing ping pong with another woman? Why should sex be any different? Isn’t that what she and her husband already established? Their relationship was founded on this idea.
Someone may respond that cheating is wrong simply because it breaks an agreement. That it does, but how serious was the agreement? If you and your spouse are binge watching a show together, and you watch a couple of episodes when the other isn’t around, you’ve broken an agreement. If you have sex with the secretary, you’ve also broken an agreement. The latter infraction can only be considered more severe if sex is considered vastly more intimate and morally consequential than watching TV. But we have an entire generation who’ve been raised on the notion that watching TV and having sex really aren’t different at all. The wife, according to her own philosophy, can only be as upset about an affair as she’d be about her husband watching episode 5 of Luke Cage without her.
Yet, in this moment, her liberal ideas about sex suddenly melt away and she’s left with the horrible fact that her husband did something private and serious with another woman. Her husband gave something away that belongs to her. Her husband, through this act that she so often described as “casual” and “no big deal,” betrayed her. Now, when he offers the very defenses of his “casual encounter” that she had been giving for years — it’s only sex, it’s just physical, it doesn’t mean anything  — she sees them for the pitiful, childish excuses that they are. Progressive ideology gives way to reality, and the reality crushes her.
Better, I say, to confront the reality of sex before it asserts itself so painfully. If we do that, a lot of my generation’s relationship troubles will begin to magically disappear.

Seventh Floor Of The State Department Has Some New Vacancies



Rex Tillerson cleans house at State Department

 



Rex Tillerson cleans house at State Department
BONN, GERMANY - FEBRUARY 16: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson attends the opening session at the World Conference Center Bonn (WCCB) on February 16, 2017 in Bonn, Germany. The G20 foreign ministers meet to prepare the upcoming G20 summit in July in Hamburg. (Photo by Friedemann Vogel/Pool/Getty Images)




New Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is leading what some outlets have referred to as a “bloodbath” at the State Department, showing the door Thursday to staff employees in the offices of deputy secretary of state for management and resources as well as counselor, reports CBS News.
Tillerson himself was out of the country attending the G20 meeting in Bonn, Germany, when the layoffs — mostly focusing on executives from the 7th floor — went through. The move, according to CNN, unsettled the agency as a whole because many of those let go had not yet finished their assignments and found replacements. Additionally, the employees sent packing are traditionally a part of the team that would help the incoming secretary — in this case a government novice — navigate his new position.
“As part of the transition from one administration to the next, we continue to build out our team. The State Department is supported by a very talented group of individuals, both Republicans and Democrats,” State Department spokesman RC Hammond told CBS.
“We are appreciative to any American who dedicates their talents to public,” he said.
The layoffs on the 7th floor may be particularly appealing to those passionately opposed to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In October of 2016, CNBC reported that as part of the FBI probe of Clinton’s emails, the bureau’s reports referenced a “shadow government” within the State Department. Those employees were housed on the 7th floor and their role was reportedly to protect Clinton from Freedom of Information Requests and congressional inquiries.
“There was a powerful group of very high-ranking STATE officials that some referred to as ‘The 7th Floor Group’ or ‘The Shadow Government.’ This group met every Wednesday afternoon to discuss the FOIA process, Congressional records, and everything CLINTON-related to FOIA/Congressional inquiries,” the FBI’s interview summary said.
That group, according to the summary, argued for a Clinton document release to be conducted all at once “for coordination purposes” instead of on a rolling basis as would normally be the case. But the “Shadow Government” did not get its way, and the agency in charge decided for a rolling release, the FBI summary said.
This marks the second time since Trump entered the Oval Office that there have been layoffs at the State Department. Four top officials were asked to leave at the end of January.

Sheriff Clarke Is A Special Guy!



Sheriff Clarke mocks Michelle Obama with the Trumpiest selfie ever tweeted

 



Sheriff Clarke mocks Michelle Obama with the Trumpiest selfie ever tweeted
David Clarke, Sheriff of Milwaukee County, Wis., speaks during the opening day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Monday, July 18, 2016. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)





Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke does not hide the fact that he’s a great supporter of President Trump, in fact he vehemently and exuberantly defends him and his policies whenever he can all over your television dial.
But he put other Trump supporters to shame Friday with what is quite possibly the Trumpiest selfie ever tweeted.




Michelle Obama said she was never proud of her country til they elected her husband POTUS. I've never been prouder since we got rid of him.

The tweet reads, “Michelle Obama said she was never proud of her country til they elected her husband POTUS [president of the United States]. I’ve never been prouder since we got rid of him.”
Clarke is making reference to a controversial statement the former first lady made in March of 2008 during the primary election. “For the first time in my adult life, I am really proud of my country because it feels like hope is finally making a comeback,” she said, making people wonder if this was an expression of hostility towards America.
He followed that one up with this post:




Lady came up, told me I should take this hat off. Told her she should go get her money back for her ugly haircut. That ended THAT! Mic drop!

So many people shared Sheriff Clarke’s sentiment that the tweet has been re-tweeted 8,466 times and “Favorited” 23,501 times, at the time of publication.

Is It A Shot Across Trump's Bow Or Worse?

INTEL WAR: FBI Suddenly Releases Trump File With Shocking Contents… Outrageous

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In a stunning move that seemed to come from nowhere, the Federal Bureau of Investigation decided to release files from four decades ago involving an investigation into possible housing discrimination by President Donald Trump’s father.
According to The Daily Caller, the files date from between 1972 and 1974, when Fred Trump’s Trump Management Company allegedly discriminated against potential tenants based on the basis of race.
The case was settled in 1975, with Fred Trump agreeing to admit more minority applicants while denying any wrongdoing. In spite of the fact that Donald Trump had absolutely nothing to do with the investigation, the lawsuit was frequently reported by Democrats over the course of the campaign as proof that Trump was racist.

The FBI Records Vault announced the release on Twitter on Thursday.
This isn’t the first time that the FBI has dumped records about Fred Trump at a dubiously opportunistic moment. Just before the election, the same records vault Twitter account published, after a year of inactivity, other files related to Fred Trump. A few days later, it published files relating to Bill Clinton’s controversial pardoning of billionaire financier Marc Rich on his way out of office in 2001.
Guess which one Democrats complained about?
That’s Brian Fallon, a Hillary spokesman. As it turns out, the files mention nothing about Donald Trump, meaning he was entirely un-implicated in the 43-year-old investigation.

Yet, check out the headlines from this:
That’s right, Spin — a music publication more accustomed to publishing Chuck Klosterman’s overambitious screeds about cocaine and “advancement theory” — is clutching its pearls over an FBI document dump involving Donald Trump’s dad, who died almost 20 years ago.
At least Spin didn’t put Donald Trump’s name first in the headline like the other two sources did, even though the president had absolutely no connection to the allegations made by the investigation.
Sadly, this is hardly a surprise. CNN reports that Republicans have called for an investigation into government leaks specifically designed to make the president look bad. This is mostly over the investigation of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, which saw intercepted calls leaked to the press, possibly by insiders connected to the former administration.
The timing of this is beyond suspicious. It is as if Obama partisans seem bent on doing as much damage as possible to the president before Trump is able to shut off the leaky faucet. And how do they do it? By going after his dead dad. Nice work.
Please like and share on Facebook and Twitter with your thoughts on this FBI document dump.
What are your thoughts on what the FBI did?