Democrat Senator Bill ‘Skeletor‘ Nelson has conceded the U.S. Senate race to Florida Governor Rick Scott following a closely watched recount battle.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Florida’s Republican Gov. Rick Scott says incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson called him to concede defeat in their extremely tight race.
Scott issued a statement Sunday saying Nelson “graciously conceded” their Senate race shortly after the state’s recount ended. The final results show Scott defeated Nelson by just over 10,000 votes out of 8 million cast. Nelson is scheduled to release a videotaped statement later Sunday.
Nelson’s concession capped tumultuous days of recounting and political tension in the perennial presidential swing state. It also will likely end the long-running political career of the 76-year-old Nelson. He was first elected to Congress nearly 40 years ago and then to the Senate in 2000. (read more)
COMMENT: Mr. Armstrong, I have to say that Bitcoin has crashed again because the IMF says each country should create its own cryptocurrency. That would kill all the cryptocurrencies and you were right again. Governments will never surrender their power to Bitcoin.
Thank you for your realistic perspective
DT
REPLY: I really do not get these people. They are dreamers. Of course, governments will not surrender. Their own pensions are at stake. The majority of transactions are already electronic. You just take a picture of your check and deposit it electronically without having to go to the bank. Separate the technology from power
President Donald J. Trump delivers remarks earlier today in a White House event calling on Congress to take action and support the bipartisan prison reform legislation, the FIRST STEP Act.
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[Transcript] Roosevelt Room – 4:38 P.M. EST – THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody. Thank you very much for being here. Appreciate it. And thank you very much, everybody. I’m grateful to be here today with members of the House and Senate who have poured their time — and they really have — their heart, and energy into the crucial issue of prison reform.
A very respected man — Chairman Chuck Grassley — and my friend. Where’s Chuck? Chuck? Thank you, Chuck, very much. You’ve worked hard on this. And Bob Goodlatte. I saw Bob here. Thank you, Bob. Great job. Senators Lindsey Graham, Mike Lee, Tim Scott, Rand Paul, and Doug Collins — fantastic people who’ve worked so hard and we appreciate very much what you’ve done. We really do. Thank you all very much.
Working together with my administration over the last two years, these members have reached a bipartisan agreement. Did I heard the word “bipartisan”? Did I hear — did I hear that word? (Laughter and applause.) That’s a nice word. Bipartisan agreement on prison reform legislation known as the FIRST STEP. And that’s what it is; it’s the first step. But it’s a very big first step.
Today, I’m thrilled to announce my support for this bipartisan bill that will make our communities safer and give former inmates a second chance at life after they have served their time. So important.
And I have to tell you, I was called, when I announced and when we all announced together this news conference, by some of the toughest, strongest law enforcement people — including politicians, by the way — who are so in favor of it. And I was actually surprised by some. Like, as an example, Mike Lee — (laughter) — and Rand Paul, and others. No, it’s got tremendous support at every level. It’s really great.
And we’re all better off when former inmates can receive and reenter society as law-abiding, productive citizens. And thanks to our booming economy, they now have a chance at more opportunities than they’ve ever had before. It is true. Our economy is so strong, that when people are getting out of jail, they’re actually able to find jobs.
And I have three instances of companies that hired people coming out of prison, and they are so thrilled by the performance of these people. And now they’re doing it more and more and more. And a lot of people are seeing this. It’s great.
They wouldn’t have had the opportunity, frankly, except for the fact that the economy is so strong. And our job market is the lowest and best it’s been in over 50 years, and seems to be getting even better.
Our pledge to hire American includes those leaving prison and looking for a very fresh start — new job, new life. The legislation I’m supporting today contains many significant reforms, including the following:
First, it will provide new incentives for low-risk inmates to learn the skills they need to find employment, avoid old habits, and follow the law when they are released from prison. These incentives will encourage them to participate in vocational training, educational coursework, and faith-based programs — and I want to thank Paula White, very much, because I know you very much wanted that — thank you, Paula — that reduce their chances of recidivism, and, in other words, reduce their chances of going back to prison substantially.
Second, this legislation will allow federal inmates to be placed closer to their home communities in order to help facilitate family visitation — so important — because we know that maintaining family and community ties is key to successful reentry into our society.
Third, the bill includes reasonable sentencing reforms while keeping dangerous and violent criminals off our streets. In many respects, we’re getting very much tougher on the truly bad criminals — of which, unfortunately, there are many. But we’re treating people differently for different crimes. Some people got caught up in situations that were very bad.
I give an example of Mrs. Alice Johnson, who served 21 years. And she had, I think, another 25 or so to go. So she would have been in there for close to 50 years for something that other people go in and they get slapped on the wrist — which is also wrong, by the way. Which is also wrong. But I’ll never forget the scene of her coming out of prison after 21 years and greeting her family and everybody was crying. Her sons, her grandsons — everybody was crying and hugging and holding each other. It was a beautiful thing to see. It was a very much tough situation.
Among other changes, it rolls back some of the provisions of the Clinton crime law that disproportionately harmed the African American community. And you all saw that and you all know that; everybody in this room knows that. It was very disproportionate and very unfair.
Throughout this process, my administration has worked closely with law enforcement. Their backing has ensured that this legislation remains tough on crime — it’s got to remain very tough on crime — and supports the tremendous work of our police and the tremendous job that law enforcement does throughout our country, our communities. They do an incredible job. We have great respect for law enforcement.
We’re honored that seven of the major police organizations, including the Fraternal Order of Police and the International Association of Police Chiefs, have fully endorsed this bill.
We could not have gotten here without the support and feedback of law enforcement, and its leaders are here today — two of them — especially Chuck Canterbury of FOP and Chief Paul Cell of IACP. Thank you very much. (Applause.) Thank you very much. I appreciate that very much. And these are two tough cookies. (Laughter.) They want what’s right. They want what’s right.
And interesting — if you look at Texas, if you look at Georgia, if you look at Mississippi and Kentucky and some other states that are known as being very tough — these are big supporters of what we’re doing. And some of it has been modeled after what they’ve done. They’ve done a tremendous job.
My administration will always support the incredible men and women of law enforcement, and we will continue to pursue policies that help the heroes who keep us safe. They are truly heroes.
We also thank the more than 2,000 leaders in the faith community who have signed a letter of support. We have tremendous support within the faith community. Unbelievable support.
Americans from across the political spectrum can unite around prison reform legislation that will reduce crime while giving our fellow citizens a chance at redemption. So if something happens and they make a mistake, they get a second chance at life.
Today’s announcement shows that true bipartisanship is possible. And maybe it’ll be thriving, if we’re going to get something done. When Republicans and Democrats talk, debate, and seek common ground, we can achieve breakthroughs that move our country forward and deliver for our citizens. And that’s what we’re doing today. And I have great respect for the people standing alongside of me.
I urge lawmakers in both the House and Senate to work hard and to act quickly and send a final bill to my desk. And I look very much forward to signing it. This is a big breakthrough for a lot of people. They’ve been talking about this for many, many years.
I want to thank Jared Kushner for working so hard on the bill. Thank you, Jared. (Applause.) He worked very hard. He really did. He worked very hard. He feels very deeply about it.
And it’s my honor to be involved and it’ll be an even greater honor to sign.
So good luck, Chuck and Mike and Rand and everybody — Lindsey, everybody back here. Go out and see if you can get that done. And if you can, I’m waiting. I’ll be waiting with a pen. And we will have done something — (laughter) — we will have done something that hasn’t been done in many, many years. And it’s the right thing to do. It’s the right thing to do.
Thank you all very much. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
Last night there were several reports that Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen might be replaced. Those reports evolved today toward “exit likely but timing uncertain.” The issue with removing Nielsen is her attachment to current Chief-of-Staff John Kelly; if Trump removes Nielsen, he would likely also have to replace General Kelly because they are essentially a professional pairing and have been for several years.
However, there’s a fantastic report now swirling that former ICE Director Tom Homan might be the lead candidate for Homeland Security Secretary. That would be an excellent spot for Homan; with all of the current border issues now weighing on the larger national security dynamic. Hopefully, this ends up being the switch-out.
If it is correct that Nielsen and Kelly are inseparable (most say yes), the issue would then become who would/could replace John Kelly as Chief of Staff. My own irrelevant recommendation would be toward either current SBA Director Linda McMahon, or perhaps even bring back former Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert.
While we are still waiting for the final election results to determine if we elected a Bearish Reversal in the Senate for the Democrats, the dust is beginning to settle and people in the political realm are beginning to review the results closer. While many of the press try to claim Trump’s calling the election a victory is false, in fact, they are dead wrong. It is now clearly established that Donald Trump’s election was by no means an accident or some one-time fluke. His victory in the Senate clearly established for the first time that a populist can retain power for more than a single election.
Now Trump still has a hold on the Senate and the rest of the Republicans will begin to take him more seriously. That means his nominations for various posts can be expected to push through and the Democrats will be powerless to stop that position. The Democratic victory in the House is really like Don Quijote fighting windmills. Yes, they will now have subpoena power to go after Trump. But the House can bring an impeachment against the President and need 258 votes to do so, but the trial must take place in the Senate. The Democratic party will hold anywhere between 46 and 48 seats in the US Senate and that means it was a NET LOSS and there is NO CHANCE they will be able to take the Senate before 2024. The Democratic party currently holds 49 seats and if they come in at 46, that will be a MAJOR sell signal for the Democrats moving forward. They will do their best to obstruct Trump for the next two years in a desperate hope of winning the White House in 2020. Yet they may appear so obstructive, it could easily come back to push them down significantly if they end up with less than 47 seats in the Senate.
Former President Obama slams President Trump, breaking a covenant of civility observed by former White House occupants for years. Bill Whittle explains why he must, and what his future holds.
QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong; You mentioned that the environment was the primary cause of the Greek Dark age between the Heroic and Hellenistic periods. Can you elaborate on that at all?
Thank you. They do not seem to connect the dots as you say in school
MG
ANSWER: What is most interesting is the fact that they do not connect the dots which are so glaring for that period of time. The Bronze Age Collapse was a Dark-Age in the Near East, Asia Minor, Aegean region, North Africa, Caucasus, Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean. This encapsulated the transition from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age, which was violent, sudden, and a major setback for civilization as a whole. We seem to focus on the fall of Rome, but not the catastrophic collapse of the Bronze Age.
The political economy of city-states that dominated the Aegean region and Anatolia region (Modern Turkey), simply disintegrated much like Rome whereby people abandoned cities and formed small isolated village during the Greek Dark Age. This takes place about 51.6 years following the cultural collapse of the Mycenaean kingdoms, of the Kassite dynasty of Babylonia, of the Hittite Empire in Anatolia and the Levant, and of the Egyptian Empire. We also see the political-economic destruction of Ugarit and the Amorite states in the Levant. Over in the Luwian states of western Asia Minor, we also see a collapse in civilization. There was also a period of tremendous political-economic chaos in Canaan (Israel). This wholesale collapse of all of these city-states resulted in the collapse of trade routes as we saw with the collapse of Rome. This also manifests in the reduction of literacy in much of the known world.
Hattusa became the capital of the Hittite Empire in the 17th century BC. The city was destroyed, together with the Hittite state itself, around 1200 BC, as part of the Bronze Age collapse. The site was subsequently abandoned. Modern estimates put the population of the city between 40,000 and 50,000 at it’s the peak. The dwelling houses which were built with timber and mud bricks have vanished from the site, leaving only the ruins of the stone built temples and palaces. The lost city was rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century in central Turkey by a German archeological team. One of the most important discoveries at the site has been clay tablets, consisting of legal codes, procedures, and literature of the ancient Near East.
In the first phase of this fascinating period, we witness the complete violent destruction, and abandonment of cities such as Hattusa, Mycenae, and Ugarit. This all takes place within just one 51.6 year wave of the Economic Confidence Model at the end of the 13th century and the beginning of the 12th century BC. Civilization seems to collapse on a grand wholesale basis with almost every significant city in the eastern Mediterranean world is then destroyed, many of which were never again to ever be occupied again.
Assyria and Elam appear to survive the Bronze Age Collapse and then even Elam is nearly completely destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar I who revived Babylonian Empire briefly before he in turn suffered a series of defeats by the Assyrians. After the death of their leader, Ashur-bel-kala in 1056 BC, then we see Assyria began an economic decline for about 112 years. – but by the end of the 12th century BC as it really fell back to just a city-state but it did survive the Bronze Age Collapse just greatly reduced by around 1000BC.
By the end of the ensuing Dark Age that engulfed the entire region, the former Hittite Empire appears to be broken apart in separatist movements and what eventually emerges is independent city-states in Cilicia and the Levant (Syria). This period seems to be great migrations as people began to move south due to climate change. Bu the mid-10th century BC, we see Aramaeans moving into the Levant and the Philistines then settle in southern Canaan where the Canaanite-speaking Semites. From 935 BC after the worst of the collapse in sunspot activity, Assyria began to reorganize and once more expand outwards reestablishing the Neo-Assyrian Empire (911-605 BC), which the Egyptians even feared. Phrygians, Cimmerians, and Lydians arrived in Asia Minor, who were Greek in origin. The Colchians (Georgians) also emerge at this time. The various people of this region appear to reform civilization with the warming becoming the Iranian peoples such as the Persians, Medes, Parthians, and Sargatians. These groups all appear in Ancient Iran soon after the Sunspot low. In the Aegean, this is the reappearance of the Classical Greece Era.
This is the period of the Great Migration South as I call it. They are known as the Sea People who invaded Northern Africa which corresponds to the colder climate up north. The Sea Peoples remain unidentified and have remained a source of much speculation. In the archaeological record, the Philistines first appear in the early 12th century BC with the Bronze Age Collapse. Their arrival is signaled by artifacts that belong to what is clearly an extraordinarily different culture from other local populations at the time. Their pottery closely parallels to the ancient Greek world. They also use Aegean rather than a Semitic script. They also eat pork as well as the occasional dog. Several passages in the Hebrew Bible describe the interlopers as coming from the “Land of Caphtor,” or modern-day Crete. Keep in mind that Crete fell to Mycenae who also conquered Troy after Thera erupted and destroyed much of the Minoan economy. I believe the Sea People were of Mycenae in origin.
There is a lack of contemporary historical explanation documenting this period. However, correlating it with the weather, it appears that we are dealing with a Climate Change where the Earth entered into a very cold period and crops failed forcing a migration south.
It is really mindblowing how politicians simply refuse to admit a mistake with the refugees and reverse course. Merkel has dug in her heels in over this issue and it is just not going to get better. From the outset, I warned that in an economic decline, the last thing you do is accept immigrants. This is not my opinion – it is just patterns from the past. That similar event of immigrants coming in during an economic decline led to street battles in the USA when it was just the Irish during the 1840 Great Depression and Sovereign Debt Crisis. History repeats for the same stupid decisions time and again. Merkel has set the stage for violence in Europe and political discontent that threatens to undermine the entire EU projected.
In a further erosion of Germany’s political mainstream is clearly underway. The Bavarian conservative party, the CSU, has lost its absolute majority. Meanwhile, the Greens have become the second-largest political force in southern Germany. Additionally, the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis continues to brew. European officials are back in the spotlight recently as the debt crisis in Italy has cast Europe directly in the eye of the storm. The loss of the CSU in Germany is undermining the survivability of Merkel. With her demise, we will also see the collapse of the Euro.
COMMENT: The view of John McCain from outside the United States is completely opposite of how the American press portrays him. I even heard like Hillary, he too had a foundation that people had to donate to for him to sponsor certain bills.
HJ
REPLY: Oh yes, there is no question that the press outside the USA never portrayed McCain in some glowing light. He was always protected by the American press. It is just hard to say why or what was going on behind the curtain in this matter (see South China Morning Post). As far as the McCain Institute, he started it with $8 million in cash from political contributions he did not spend and they get to keep, which nobody ever talks about. The McCain Institute has accepted money also from George Soros and from Teneo, which was the company of Doug Band, the former President Bill Clinton’s “bag man.” Teneo has long helped enrich Clinton through lucrative speaking and business deals. It has even been alleged that the Clinton’s told him how to do it. Hillary even defends McCain. McCain Institute has refused to disclose how much money big donors have contributed to John McCain’s Institute. McCain was against Trump because one of the things Trump has targeted to “Drain the Swamp” is set up like the Clinton Foundation and McCain Institutes that allow people to bribe politicians. USA Today back in 2014 reported that people with actions before the Senate were donating to McCain.
One rumor is that Bill Browder allegedly donated to McCain Institute and in return, he sponsored the Magnitsky Act. No politicians should be allowed to have any such parallel “foundation” or “institute” that is really part of the Swamp.
QUESTION: I was told that Michael the Arc Angel was fashioned after Victory. Is that true?
ANSWER: Well it is hard to say that he specifically was fashioned after the ancient image of Victory, which goes back to Greek times – pre-Roman. There is the Greek statue in the Louvre of Victory or Nike standing on the prow of a ship. You obviously see the wings after which Christians at least adopted the image of an angel.
The personification of military Victory is, at least on the coins, one of the most enduring of Roman depictions. The direct counterpart to the Greeks‘ Nike, Victoria figures prominently not only as one of the most generic coin types but is also heavily rendered in Roman friezes, statuary, and jewelry from one end of the empire to the other.
It would be difficult to find an emperor who did not strike a VICTORIA AVG issue whether the reign was beset by wars or enjoyed prolonged peace. So pervasive is the iconography of this martial protector that even the most ardent Christians were unable to dislodge her primacy in the populace.
To avoid the potentially disastrous conflicts that might have stemmed from prohibiting her imagery and adulation it was decided to simply Christianize her along with her inseparable attributes of wreath and palm.
By the fifth century, with old school paganism fast on the wane, her memory had been fully co-opted into Christian lore so that the representation would now be interpreted as the depiction of an angel or, if not too redundant, a guardian angel whose presence will ensure continued victory against infidels.
As far as Michael is concerned, it would be the only speculation if Victory was transformed into him directly. The only thing that can be supported is that angels were then pictured as the image of Nike and the Roman Victory. It is just imagery
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This is a library of News Events not reported by the Main Stream Media documenting & connecting the dots on How the Obama Marxist Liberal agenda is destroying America
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Florida’s Republican Gov. Rick Scott says incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson called him to concede defeat in their extremely tight race.
Centinel2012 