Saturday, January 4, 2020

Aaron Paul filmography

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Aaron Paul filmography

Acekard: Page created, notable enough for separate filmography page. Content copied from Aaron Paul article.


[[File:Aaron Paul Berlinale 2014 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|Paul in February 2014]]
[[Aaron Paul]] is an American actor. The following are his roles in film, television series, video games and music videos.

==Filmography==

===Film===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable"|Notes
|-
|rowspan=2|2000
| ''[[Whatever It Takes (2000 film)|Whatever It Takes]]''
| Floyd
|
|-
| ''[[Help! I'm a Fish]]''
| Chuck (voice)
|
|-
| 2001
| ''[[K-PAX (film)|K-PAX]]''
| Michael Powell
|
|-
| 2002
| ''[[Van Wilder|National Lampoon's Van Wilder]]''
| Wasted Guy
|
|-
| 2004
| ''Perfect Opposites''
| Monty Brandt
|
|-
|rowspan=2|2005
| ''Candy Paint''
| Brad Miller
| Short film
|-
| ''[[Bad Girls from Valley High]]''
| Jonathon Wharton
|
|-
|rowspan=2|2006
| ''[[Choking Man]]''
| Jerry
|
|-
| ''[[Mission: Impossible III]]''
| Rick Meade
|
|-
|rowspan=2|2007
| ''Daydreamer''
| Clinton Roark
|
|-
| ''Leo''
| Hustler
| Short film
|-
| 2008
| ''Say Goodnight''
| Victor
|
|-
| 2009
| ''[[The Last House on the Left (2009 film)|The Last House on the Left]]''
| Francis
|
|-
|rowspan=2|2010
| ''Wreckage''
| Rick
|
|-
| ''Weird: the Al Yankovic Story''
| [["Weird Al" Yankovic]]
| Short film
|-
| 2011
| ''Quirky Girl''
| Joseph
| Short film
|-
| 2012
| ''[[Smashed (film)|Smashed]]''
| Charlie Hannah
|
|-
| 2013
| ''[[Decoding Annie Parker]]''
| Paul
| [[Milan Film Festival|Milano International Film Festival Award for Best Supporting Actor]]
|-
|rowspan=4|2014
| ''[[Need for Speed (film)|Need for Speed]]''
| Tobey Marshall
|
|-
| ''[[A Long Way Down (film)|A Long Way Down]]''
| J.J. Maguire
|
|-
| ''[[Hellion (film)|Hellion]]''
| Hollis Wilson
| Also co-executive producer <br /> [[Dallas International Film Festival|Grand Jury Prize Award for Narrative Feature Competition]]
|-
| ''[[Exodus: Gods and Kings]]''
| [[Joshua]]
|
|-
|rowspan=3|2015
| ''[[Unity (film)|Unity]]''<ref></ref>
| Narrator
| Documentary (voice)
|-
| ''[[Eye in the Sky (2015 film)|Eye in the Sky]]''
| Steve Watts
|
|-
| ''[[Fathers and Daughters]]''
| Cameron
|
|-
|rowspan=5|2016
| ''[[Triple 9]]''
| Gabe Welch
|
|-
| ''[[Central Intelligence]]''
| Phil Stanton
|
|-
| ''[[Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV]]''
| [[Characters of Final Fantasy XV#Nyx Ulric|Nyx Ulric]] (voice)<ref></ref>
|
|-
| ''[[The 9th Life of Louis Drax]]''
| Peter
|
|-
| ''[[Come and Find Me]]''
| David
|
|-
|rowspan=2|2018
| ''[[American Woman (2018 film)|American Woman]]''
| Chris
|
|-
| ''[[Welcome Home (2018 film)|Welcome Home]]''
| Bryan
|
|-
|rowspan=2|2019
| ''[[The Parts You Lose]]''
| Fugitive Criminal
|
|-
| ''[[El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie]]''
| [[Jesse Pinkman]]
| Also producer
|}

===Television===
{| class="wikitable"
|+Key
| style="background:#FFFFCC;"|
| Denotes series that have not yet been released
|}

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable"|Notes
|-
| 1999
| ''[[Beverly Hills, 90210]]''
| Chad
| Episode: "Fortune Cookie"
|-
| 1999
| ''[[Melrose Place]]''
| Frat Boy
| Episode: "The Daughterboy"
|-
| 1999
| ''[[Suddenly Susan]]''
| Zipper
| Episode: "A Day in the Life"
|-
| 1999
| ''[[3rd Rock from the Sun]]''
| Student
| Episode: "Dick's Big Giant Headache: Part II"
|-
| 2000
| ''[[The Price Is Right (American game show)|The Price Is Right]]''
| Himself
| Contestant
|-
| 2000
| ''[[Get Real (American TV series)|Get Real]]''
| Derek
| Episode: "History Lessons"
|-
| 2001
| ''[[100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd]]''
| Ethan
| Episode: "Eddie Loves Tori"
|-
| 2001
| ''[[The Division]]''
| Tyler Petersen
| Episode: "Hero"
|-
| 2001
| ''[[Nikki (TV series)|Nikki]]''
| Scott
| Episode: "Family Lies"
|-
| 2001
| ''[[The Guardian (TV series)|The Guardian]]''
| Ethan Ritter
| Episode: "The Men from the Boys"
|-
| 2001
| ''[[The X-Files]]''
| David "Winky" Winkle
| Episode: "[[Lord of the Flies (The X-Files)|Lord of the Flies]]"
|-
| 2001–2002
| ''[[Judging Amy]]''
| "X-Ray" Conklin
| 2 episodes
|-
| 2002
| ''[[NYPD Blue]]''
| Marcus Denton
| Episode: "Oh, Mama!"
|-
| 2002
| ''[[CSI: Crime Scene Investigation]]''
| Peter Hutchins, Jr.
| Episode: "Felonious Monk"
|-
| 2002
| ''[[Birds of Prey (TV series)|Birds of Prey]]''
| Jerry
| Episode: "Pilot"
|-
| 2002
| ''Wasted''
| Owen Turner
| Television film
|-
| 2003
| ''[[ER (TV series)|ER]]''
| Doug
| Episode: "A Saint in the City"
|-
| 2003
| ''[[Kingpin (TV series)|Kingpin]]''
| Stoner
| Episode: "El Velorio"
|-
| 2003
| ''[[CSI: Miami]]''
| Ben Gordon
| Episode: "Grave Young Men"
|-
| 2003
| ''[[Guiding Light]]''
| Adrian Pascal
| 1 episode
|-
| 2003
| ''[[Threat Matrix]]''
| Shane
| Episode: "Natural Borne Killers"
|-
| 2004
| ''[[Line of Fire (2003 TV series)|Line of Fire]]''
| Drew Parkman
| Episode: "Mother & Child Reunion"
|-
| 2005
| ''[[Veronica Mars]]''
| Eddie Laroche
| Episode: "[[Silence of the Lamb (Veronica Mars)|Silence of the Lamb]]"
|-
| 2005
| ''[[Joan of Arcadia]]''
| Denunzio
| Episode: "Secret Service"
|-
| 2005
| ''[[Point Pleasant (TV series)|Point Pleasant]]''
| Mark Owens
| 3 episodes
|-
| 2005
| ''[[Criminal Minds]]''
| Michael Zizzo
| Episode: "The Popular Kids"
|-
| 2005
| ''[[Sleeper Cell (TV series)|Sleeper Cell]]''
| Teen
| Episode: "Al-Faitha"
|-
| 2006
| ''[[Bones (TV series)|Bones]]''
| Stew Ellis
| Episode: "The Superhero in the Alley"
|-
| 2006
| ''[[Ghost Whisperer]]''
| Link
| Episode: "Fury"
|-
| 2007–2011
| ''[[Big Love]]''
| Scott Quittman
| 14 episodes
|-
| 2008–2013
| ''[[Breaking Bad]]''
| [[Jesse Pinkman]]
| 62 episodes
|-
| 2012
| ''[[Robot Chicken]]''
| Glenn (voice)
| Episode: "[[Robot Chicken DC Comics Special]]"
|-
| 2012–2013
| ''[[Tron: Uprising]]''
| Cyrus (voice)
| 3 episodes
|-
| 2013
| ''[[The Simpsons]]''
| Jesse Pinkman
| Episode: "[[What Animated Women Want]]"
|-
| 2013
| ''[[Saturday Night Live]]''
| Meth Nephew
| Episode: "[[Tina Fey]]/[[Arcade Fire]]"
|-
| 2014–present
| ''[[BoJack Horseman]]''
| [[Todd Chavez]] (voice)
| 61 episodes; also executive producer<ref></ref>
|-
| 2016–2018
| ''[[The Path (TV series)|The Path]]''
| Eddie Lane
| 36 episodes; also producer<ref></ref>
|-
| 2017
| ''[[Black Mirror]]''
| Gamer691 (voice)
| Episode: "[[USS Callister|USS ''Callister'']]"
|-
|2019
|''[[Truth Be Told (2019 TV series)|Truth be told]]''
|Warren Cave
|5 episodes
|-
| 2020
| style="background:#FFFFCC;"| ''[[Westworld (TV series)|Westworld]]''
| Caleb
| ''Filming''
|}

===Video games===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable"|Notes
|-
| 2019
| ''[[Breaking Bad: Criminal Elements]]''
| Jesse Pinkman
| Character design
|}

===Music videos===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Song
! Artist
! Role
|-
| 2002
| "[[Thoughtless]]"
| [[Korn]]
| Floyd Louis Cifer
|-
| 2002
| "[[Screaming Infidelities]]"
| [[Dashboard Confessional]]
| Ex-Boyfriend
|-
| 2003
| "[[White Trash Beautiful]]"
| [[Everlast (musician)|Everlast]]
| Boyfriend
|}

==References==


[[Category:American filmographies]]
[[Category:Male actor filmographies]]

January 05, 2020 at 09:34AM

Uber, Postmates Sue to Challenge California Labor Law 

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Uber, Postmates Sue to Challenge California Labor Law 

Ride-share company Uber and on-demand meal delivery service Postmates have sued to block a broad new California law aimed at giving wage and benefit protections to people who work as independent contractors. 
 
The lawsuit filed Monday in federal court in Los Angeles argues that the law set to take effect Wednesday violates federal and state constitutional guarantees of equal protection and due process. 
 
Uber said it would try to link the lawsuit to another legal challenge filed in mid-December by associations representing freelance writers and photographers. 
 
The California Trucking Association filed the first challenge to the law in November on behalf of independent truckers. 
 
The law creates the nation's strictest test by which workers must be considered employees and it could set a precedent for other states. 

Worker statements

The latest challenge includes two independent workers who wrote about their concerns with the new law. 
 
"This has thrown my life and the lives of more than a hundred thousand drivers into uncertainty," ride-share driver Lydia Olson wrote in a Facebook post cited by Uber. 
 
Postmates driver Miguel Perez called on-demand work "a blessing" in a letter distributed by Uber. He said he used to drive a truck for 14 hours at a time, often overnight. 
 
"Sometimes, when I was behind the wheel, with an endless shift stretching out ahead of me like the open road, I daydreamed about a different kind of job — a job where I could choose when, where and how much I worked and still make enough money to feed my family," he wrote. 
 
The lawsuit contends that the law exempts some industries but includes ride-share and delivery companies without a rational basis for distinguishing between them. It alleges that the law also infringes on workers' rights to choose how they make a living and could void their existing contracts. 
 
Democratic Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez of San Diego countered that she wrote the law to extend employee rights to more than a million California workers who lack benefits, including a minimum wage, mileage reimbursements, paid sick leave, medical coverage and disability pay for on-the-job injuries. 

Previous Uber efforts
 
She noted that Uber had previously sought an exemption when lawmakers were crafting the law, then said it would defend its existing labor model from legal challenges. It joined Lyft and DoorDash in a vow to each spend $30 million to overturn the law at the ballot box in 2020 if they didn't win concessions from lawmakers next year. 
 
"The one clear thing we know about Uber is they will do anything to try to exempt themselves from state regulations that make us all safer and their driver employees self-sufficient," Gonzalez said in a statement. "In the meantime, Uber chief executives will continue to become billionaires while too many of their drivers are forced to sleep in their cars." 
 
The new law was a response to a legal ruling last year by the California Supreme Court regarding workers at the delivery company Dynamex. 


January 05, 2020 at 08:55AM

Dan Gainor: Media criticize killing of Iranian terrorist Soleimani and glorify him

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Dan Gainor: Media criticize killing of Iranian terrorist Soleimani and glorify him The U.S. drone strike this week that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani – a terrorist murderer responsible for thousands of deaths – resulted in extensive news coverage that criticized President Trump for ordering his killing and falsely portrayed Soleimani in a positive light.
January 05, 2020 at 07:55AM

Texas man accused of killing fiancee days after New Year's Eve proposal, family says

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Texas man accused of killing fiancee days after New Year's Eve proposal, family says A Houston man was being questioned after the fatal shooting Saturday of a woman he proposed to on New Year's Eve, according to reports.
January 05, 2020 at 07:03AM

NBA coach faces backlash after accusing Mike Pence of lying about Soleimani's involvement in 9/11

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NBA coach faces backlash after accusing Mike Pence of lying about Soleimani's involvement in 9/11 Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr criticized Vice President Mike Pence on Friday, accusing him of lying about Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani's involvement with the attacks on Sept. 11.
January 05, 2020 at 06:57AM

Elmar Budde

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Elmar Budde

LouisAlain: ←Created page with ''''Elmar Budde''' (born 13 June 1935) is a German musicologist. He studied at the Universität der Künste Berlin. == Training and career == Born in B...'


'''Elmar Budde''' (born 13 June 1935) is a German [[musicologist]]. He studied at the [[Universität der Künste Berlin]].

== Training and career ==
Born in [[Bochum]], Budde studied piano and school music at the [[Hochschule für Musik Freiburg]] where he passed his state examination in 1961. After subsequent studies in musicology and [[German studies|Germanistic]] at the [[Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg]], he received his [[doctorate]] in 1967 with a thesis on the early [[Anton Webern]].

In 1972 he was appointed Professor of musicology at the State University of Music and Performing Arts in Berlin (today: [[Berlin University of the Arts]]).

His areas of research include the history of [[musical composition]] from the Middle Ages to the present; the music of the 19th and 20th centuries, the history of performance practice and interpretation and questions and problems of the interdisciplinary (music - painting - architecture) and finally the music of [[Franz Schubert]].

== Honour ==
* [[Elisabeth Schmierer]], S. Fontaine, [[Werner Grünzweig]] and [[Matthias Brzoska]] (editors): Töne – Farben – Formen. Über Musik und die Bildenden Künste, Festschrift für Elmar Budde zum 60. Geburtstag, Laaber 1995, 2nd edition 1998

== Bibliography ==
* ''Anton Weberns Lieder op. 3''.<ref>[https://ift.tt/36pYiyT ''Anton Weberns Lieder op. 3''] on GoogleBooks</ref>
* ''Schuberts Liederzyklen: ein musikalischer Werkführer''.<ref>[https://ift.tt/35qUxYE ''Schuberts Liederzyklen: ein musikalischer Werkführer''] on GoogleBooks</ref>

== External links ==
* [https://ift.tt/2MTLf0Q Elmar Budde in WorldCat]
*

== References ==







[[Category:German musicologists]]
[[Category:20th-century musicologists]]
[[Category:Schubert scholarship]]
[[Category:Berlin University of the Arts faculty]]
[[Category:1935 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Bochum]]

January 05, 2020 at 06:48AM

Thousands in Shelters as Indonesia Flood Death Toll Hits 60 

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Thousands in Shelters as Indonesia Flood Death Toll Hits 60 

Indonesian rescue teams flew helicopters stuffed with food to remote flood-hit communities Saturday as the death toll from the disaster jumped to 60 and fears grew about the possibility of more torrential rain. 
 
Tens of thousands in Jakarta were still unable to return to their waterlogged homes after some of the deadliest flooding in years hit the enormous capital region, home to about 30 million. 
 
In neighboring Lebak, where half a dozen people died, police and military personnel dropped boxes of instant noodles and other supplies into remote communities inaccessible by road after bridges were destroyed. 
 
"It's tough to get supplies in there ... and there are about a dozen places hit by landslides," Tomsi Tohir, the police chief of Banten province, where Lebak is located, told AFP. "That is why we're using helicopters although there aren't any landing spots." 
 
Local health center chief Suripto, who goes by one name, said injured residents were flowing into his clinic. 
 
"Some of them were wounded after they were swept away by floods and hit with wood and rocks," he said. 

People queue up to receive food at an aid distribution point for those affected by the floods in Jakarta, Indonesia, Saturday,…
People queue up to receive food at an aid distribution point for those affected by the floods in Jakarta, Indonesia, Jan. 4, 2020.

Around Jakarta, more than 170,000 people took refuge in shelters across the massive urban conglomeration after whole neighborhoods were submerged. 
 
Torrential rains that started on New Year's Eve unleashed flash floods and landslides. 
 
Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency said Saturday that two people were also killed after flash floods and landslides hit a village in North Sulawesi on Friday. 
 
The agency said Saturday that the total death toll had climbed to 60 with two people still missing. 
 
"We've discovered more dead bodies," said National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Agus Wibowo. 

'Trauma healing' 

Jakarta shelters filled up with refugees, including infants, resting on thin mats as food and drinking water ran low. Some had been reduced to using floodwater for cleaning. 
 
"We're cleaning ourselves in a nearby church but the time has been limited since it uses an electric generator for power," said Trima Kanti, 39, from one refuge in Jakarta's western edges. 

Rescuers search for missing people at a village affected by a landslide in Cigudeg, West Java, Indonesia, Saturday, Jan. 4,…
Rescuers search for missing people at a village affected by a landslide in Cigudeg, West Java, Indonesia, Jan. 4, 2020.

In hard-hit Bekasi, on the eastern outskirts of Jakarta, swamped streets were littered with debris and crushed cars lying on top of each other — with waterline marks reaching as high as the second floors of buildings. 
 
On Friday, the government said it would start cloud seeding to the west of the capital — inducing rain using chemicals sprayed from planes — in the hope of preventing more rain from reaching the city region. 
 
Water has receded in many areas and power was being restored in hundreds of districts. 
 
The health ministry has said it deployed 11,000 health workers and soldiers to distribute medicine, hygiene kits and food in a bid to stave off outbreaks of hepatitis A, mosquito-borne Dengue fever and other illnesses, including infections linked to contact with dead animals. 
 
Visiting hard-hit Lebak, Muhadjir Effendy, coordinating minister for human development and cultural affairs, said the government would help rebuild destroyed schools and construct temporary bridges, while offering assistance to victims. 
 
"We're also asking for [nongovernmental organizations] to help with trauma healing," Muhadjir told reporters Saturday. 

Electrocution, drowning 

Around Jakarta, a family that included a 4- and a 9-year-old died of suspected gas poisoning from a portable power generator, while an 8-year-old boy was killed in a landslide. 
 
Others died from drowning or hypothermia, while one 16-year-old boy was electrocuted by a power line. 

A man navigates an inflatable boat at a flooded neighborhood in Jakarta, Indonesia, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2020. Monsoon rains and…
A man navigates an inflatable boat at a flooded neighborhood in Jakarta, Indonesia, Jan. 4, 2020.

Jakarta is regularly hit by floods during the rainy season, which started in late November. But this week marked Jakarta's deadliest flooding since 2013 when dozens were killed after the city was inundated by monsoon rains. 
 
Urban planning experts said the disaster was partly due to record rainfall. But Jakarta's myriad infrastructure problems, including poor drainage and rampant overdevelopment, have worsened the situation, they said. 
 
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has announced a plan to move the country's capital to Borneo island to take pressure off Jakarta, which suffers from some of the world's worst traffic jams and is fast sinking because of excessive groundwater extraction. 


January 05, 2020 at 05:23AM

「マリオカート ツアー」、任天堂にとって大きな収益源に

「マリオカート ツアー」、任天堂にとって大きな収益源に


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2019年9月に公開となった「マリオカート ツアー」ですが、リリースから98日間のアプリのダウンロード数が、これまでの任天堂のゲームの中でトップとなったことが ...
January 04, 2020 at 11:48PM

Australia Experiencing An Exceptional Wildfire Season

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Australia Experiencing An Exceptional Wildfire Season

Wildfires are burning out of control in southeastern Australia.

Thousands of people have already fled their homes but some have waited too long.

The New South Wales Rural Fire Service has advised those who have not evacuated areas at risk that, "It is too late to leave.  Seek shelter as the fire approaches."

Late Saturday evening, Victoria had 14 fires rated at emergency or evacuation warning levels, while New South Wales, home to more than 100  fires, had 11 emergency fires.

CNN reported that fire officials said Saturday three fires combined overnight in Victoria and are now larger than Manhattan in New York City.

Army reservists have been called in to assist the firefighters. Defense Minister Linda Reynolds said this is the first time the reservists have been called up to help combat fires "in living memory and, in fact, I believe for the first time in our nation's history."

Andy Gillham, the incident controller in the Victorian town of Bairnsdale, told Reuters that this has been an exceptional fire season.  

"In a normal year, we would start to see the fire season kick off in a big way around early January and we're already up towards a million hectares of burnt country. This is a marathon event and we expect to be busy managing these fires for at least the next eight weeks," he said.


January 04, 2020 at 09:45PM

Joshua Rogers: If your in-laws make you uncomfortable, do what my wife did

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Joshua Rogers: If your in-laws make you uncomfortable, do what my wife did A lot of people don't know how to love their in-laws
January 04, 2020 at 06:00PM

Tammy Bruce blasts media's 'knee-jerk reaction' to Soleimani death strike: 'They are so engaged in this delusion'

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Tammy Bruce blasts media's 'knee-jerk reaction' to Soleimani death strike: 'They are so engaged in this delusion' Fox News contributor Tammy Bruce took issue Friday with the mainstream media's reaction to Thursday's U.S. airstrike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani and their criticism of President Trump for ordering the move.
January 04, 2020 at 02:35PM

Mixed Media Coverage in Mideast on Soleimani's Death

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Mixed Media Coverage in Mideast on Soleimani's Death

The death of Iran's powerful military Gen. Qassem Soleimani in a U.S. airstrike early Friday in Baghdad has prompted mixed media coverage in the Middle East and elsewhere.

Soleimani, commander of Iran's elite Quds Force, was killed along with several other Iranian-backed Iraqi militia leaders in a U.S. drone-launched missile that targeted his convoy in the Iraqi capital.

'Martyr'

Mainstream news organizations in Iran shifted most of their focus to the Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who vowed a crushing revenge for the death of Soleimani.

State-run TV channels decorated their screens with black-ribbon symbols while covering street marches of mourning people who called Soleimani a "martyr."

Most Iranian news outlets also covered the visit of Khamenei to the family of Soleimani, while a few moderate outlets highlighted a message delivered by the Swiss Embassy, which represents the interests of the United States in Iran, to the Iranian Foreign Ministry. The content of the message was not revealed.

News outlets affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) profiled Soleimani's successor, Ismail Qaani, stating that Soleimani's path would continue and the system should survive after his "martyrdom."

Qassem Soleimani: From Construction Worker to Architect of Iran's Middle East Expansion video player.
Embed

Regime vs. opposition

Syrian government-run news outlets described the death of Soleimani as "martyrdom" and solely reported statements made by pro-Iranian regional leaders regarding the U.S. attack. Since the eruption of Syria's civil war, Iran has been a staunch supporter of President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

The official SANA news agency published two letters sent by Assad to Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani and Khamenei.

In both letters, Assad said, "This criminal act committed by the U.S. administration reaffirms its approach of supporting terrorism, destabilizing the region and spreading chaos and law of the jungle, in the service of Zionist projects and colonialism in the region and the world as a whole."

In the meantime, several pro-opposition news outlets in Syria expressed content with the death of Soleimani. Syrian opposition groups have long accused Soleimani and the Quds Force of killing Syrian civilians during the civil war.

"Since the beginning of the Syrian revolution in 2011, Soleimani began traveling periodically to Damascus, and he was managing the battle himself, according to U.S. intelligence reports," Syrian opposition news channel Orient News wrote Friday.

"According to U.S. officials, Soleimani was running the battle from Damascus to keep Assad in power. He was surrounded by multinational leaders who were running the war, including the leaders of the Assad militia, the Lebanese Hezbollah militia, and representatives of the Shiite militias in Iraq, followed by thousands of Shiite fighters, who, together with Russian support, managed to control most Syrian cities and provinces that had been controlled by the opposition for years," Orient News added.

Along sectarian lines

In Iraq, the coverage of the U.S. airstrike on Soleimani's convoy was divided along sectarian lines.

Shortly after the U.S. strike early Friday, Iraqi state TV announced that Soleimani and Popular Mobilization Forces leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis were "martyred" during an attack near Baghdad's airport.

Iraq's President Barham Salih speaks to the media during a joint news conference with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in Ankara, Turkey, Jan. 3, 2019.

The confirmation was followed later in the day by strong condemnation statements from the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government, which accused the U.S. of violating Iraq's sovereignty. Both President Barham Salih and Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi praised Soleimani and al-Muhandis for their role in the Iraqi fight against the Islamic State. The two leaders urged restraint from all sides, warning that further escalation could drag Iraq deeper into the conflict between the U.S. and Iran.

While less formal media outlets close to Shiite Popular Mobilization Forces called for the Iraqi parliament and government to order the removal of U.S. forces in Iraq, pro-Sunni media aired footage of Iraqi civilians allegedly celebrating the death of Soleimani and al-Muhandis. The two Shiite leaders, the Sunni media claimed, were behind the deaths of hundreds of Iraqi protesters killed in recent violent demonstrations.

A more ambiguous tone came from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in the north, which has blamed Soleimani in the past for leading an effort to foil a Kurdish referendum on independence in September 2017. Officials at the KRG have yet to express their position.

Regional archrival

Media outlets in Saudi Arabia, Iran's main rival in the Middle East, dedicated most of their coverage to the regional implications of Soleimani's death.

The pan-Arab Saudi news channel Al-Arabiya ran a feature story on Soleimani's role in expanding Iran's agenda in the Middle East, describing him as "a key driver behind Iran's hard-power approach, consolidating Iran's influence over its Shia associates in the region and creating vast proxy networks from Lebanon to Syria to Iraq to Yemen."

The story added that "Soleimani's support for Lebanese Hezbollah and the Palestinian group Hamas has become an enduring feature of Iran's foreign policy, which has provided financial support and training to the groups."

The Okaz newspaper in Riyadh, known for its anti-Iranian stances, editorialized its coverage of Soleimani's death, calling it a "painful blow" to Iran's expansionist ambitions in the region.

"The certain thing is that the killing of the general of blood and destruction Qassem Soleimani at the hands of the Americans in Iraq is a huge event in every sense of the word," the Saudi newspaper said in its Friday editorial.

"The long arm of the [Iranian] mullahs' terrorism is the architect of the expansion project in the region from Lebanon to Iraq, passing through Syria, and not ending in Yemen," it added.

Hezbollah media

Media outlets affiliated with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah provided extensive coverage of Soleimani's death, reflecting the Shiite group's pro-Iranian position. Hezbollah has been a major nonstate ally of Iran in the latter's quest for dominance in the Middle East.

While it has been reported that Naim Qassem, the deputy chief of Hezbollah, was among those killed in the U.S. airstrike in Baghdad, the media office of the Shiite group denied his death.

FILE - Hezbollah scouts raise their fists and cheer as they listen to a speech of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, via video link, during a rally in southern Beirut, Lebanon, April 22, 2019.

Hezbollah's television channel al-Manar published statements by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and other senior officials, vowing to retaliate against the U.S.

Escalating tensions

Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency reported that Turkey's foreign ministry had voiced concerns over "escalating tensions in the region between the U.S. and Iran" and advised Turkish citizens to refrain from traveling to Iraq unless it was necessary.

The Hurriyet newspaper published a story about Soleimani's death on its website with the headline, "The world is waiting for the response with dismay. War bells are ringing."

Kemal Can, a columnist for the online newspaper Gazete Duvar, connected the Baghdad attack to U.S. domestic politics.  

Can argued, "The intertwining of domestic and international politics, as we have been experiencing in Turkey in recent years, is related to the spirit of our time spreading around the world." 

Kadri Gursel, a writer for the online newspaper Diken, referred to Soleimani as "the queen in Iranian geopolitical chess." Gursel added that "Trump took out Iran's queen."

Yemen

In Yemen, where Iran has been supporting Houthi rebels fighting government forces, pro-government media reacted to the news by posting several analysis and opinion pieces indicating that the situation would be more intense in the region.

Most of them concluded with two scenarios regarding Soleimani's death and its consequences for the Yemeni conflict: Houthis might receive less support from Iran or they would start acting more aggressively in light of the new developments.

Pro-Houthi news outlets called Soleimani "the great Mujahid" and published statements by Houthi commanders expressing sympathy and vowing to revenge for his death.

Pakistani Shiite Muslims demonstrate Jan. 3, 2020 in Karachi, Pakistan, over the U.S. airstrike in Iraq that killed Iranian Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

Afghanistan and Pakistan

In Afghanistan, Iran's neighbor to the east, the death of the Iranian general received much coverage, notably by independent media outlets. The coverage, however, has so far been conveying official statements from the Afghan government.

But Payam Aftab News, a seemingly pro-Iranian network, called Soleimani a "martyr" and "mujahid" in several stories.

In Pakistan, where the majority of media outlets are allegedly monitored by intelligence agencies, most coverage reflected the official position of the Pakistani government.

Instead of leaning toward Iran or the U.S., Pakistani media emphasized the need to maintain peace in the region.

VOA's Mohammad Habibzada contributed to this story from Washington.


January 04, 2020 at 01:15PM

A Look at Key Figures Killed With Qassem Soleimani in US Strike 

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A Look at Key Figures Killed With Qassem Soleimani in US Strike 

The U.S. military confirmed killing the leader of Iran's elite Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani, in an airstrike early Friday that had been ordered by President Donald Trump.

Iranian and Iraqi officials have so far confirmed the U.S. attack killed eight other people who were accompanying Soleimani at Iraqi's Baghdad airport.

Here is what you need to know about them:

(FILES) This file photo taken on December 31, 2019 shows Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a commander in the Popular Mobilization Forces,…
FILE - Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a commander in the Popular Mobilization Forces, attends the funeral procession of Hashed al-Shaabi fighters in Baghdad, Dec. 31, 2019.

Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis

Born in 1954, Jamal Jaafar Ibrahimi, more commonly known by his nom de guerre, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, was the head of Iraq's powerful anti-American Shiite group, Kataeb Hezbollah, and the deputy commander of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces. 

The United States has labeled al-Muhandis an adviser to Soleimani and a key Shiite militia leader targeting the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq and U.S. allies in the Middle East. He reportedly participated in the bombing of Western embassies in Kuwait and the attempted assassination of the emir of Kuwait in the early 1980s.

The U.S. State Department designated al-Muhandis and his group as a terrorist organization in July 2009. 

Officials in Washington blamed al-Muhandis' paramilitary group for an assault December 27 on a military base in Iraq's Kirkuk province that killed an American contractor and wounded several U.S. and Iraqi military personnel. The attack prompted U.S. airstrikes on five Kataeb Hezbollah facilities in Iraq and Syria that killed at least 25 members of his militiamen Sunday.

Before his death in the U.S. airstrike, al-Muhandis earlier this week was seen leading hundreds of Shiite protesters and militiamen who attacked the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad. 

Burning debris are seen on a road near Baghdad International Airport, which according to Iraqi paramilitary groups were caused…
Burning debris is seen on a road near Baghdad International Airport that Iraqi paramilitary groups say was caused by three rockets hitting the airport, Jan. 3, 2020.(Photo Iraqi Security Cell/Reuters)

Hossein Pourjafari 

Major General Hossein Pourjafari, also referred to as Jafari Nia in Iran, was known as the right-hand man of Soleimani since the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s and was his most trusted assistant afterward, traveling with him occasionally.

Pourjafari was born in 1955 in Goblaf city, Kerman province, near the Afghan border in southeast Iran. As a respected veteran commander who was injured in the battlefield during the Iran-Iraq War, he played a critical role in the formation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) intelligence wing. IRGC was designated a terror group by the Trump administration in April 2018 for its destabilizing efforts in the Middle East.

Iranian military officials described Pourjafari as a genius leader in designing IRGC's asymmetrical wars in the Middle East.

Shahroud Mozaffari Nia

Shahroud Mozaffari Nia served as a colonel in the IRGC. Another Iran-Iraq War veteran, he spent his last years as a member of IRGC's intelligence unit. He reportedly worked with pro-Iranian militias in Lebanon and Syria under the pseudonym of Abu Ahmad. 

WATCH: Qassem Soleimani: From Construction Worker to Architect of Iran's Middle East Expansion 

Qassem Soleimani: From Construction Worker to Architect of Iran's Middle East Expansion video player.
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Hadi Taremi

Hadi Taremi, an IRGC lieutenant, was born in 1980 in Ghamach-abad village in Abhar in Zanjan province. His brother Javad was killed during IRGC clashes with anti-government militants in 1990. 

Taremi was a member of the IRGC security bureau for almost 10 years before his promotion to IRGC's Quds Force unit.

He was known to be one of the closest people in Soleimani's inner circle and his No. 1 bodyguard. He accompanied Soleimani in most of his official visits inside Iran.

Vahid Zamanian

Another IRGC lieutenant, Vahid Zamanian was born in 1992 in the city of Rey in the suburbs of Tehran. Before joining the IRGC, he worked 10 years as a member of Basij Mostazafin, a volunteer paramilitary group in charge of Iran's international security. 

He was reportedly one of the rotating bodyguards of Soleimani and accompanied him in some unofficial international visits. Additionally, he reportedly was involved in the IRGC-Quds Force's Fatemiyoun Brigade, an all-Afghan militia formed in 2014 and sent to Syria to help the government of Bashar al-Assad in the fight against Sunni rebels. 

Muhammad Radha al-Jabri

Muhammad Radha al-Jabri was in charge of airport protocol for the Iraqi Shiite militia known as the Popular Mobilization Forces. Not much is known about al-Jabri's background, but according to Iraqi media, he was a graduate of Imam Hossein University in Tehran.

Hassan Abdu al-Hadi, Muhammad al-Shaybani and Haider Ali

The three bodyguards who were members of the Popular Mobilization Forces were also among those killed in the attack, according to Iraq's Shiite media. More information on their profiles was not immediately available. 

Naim Qassem

While it has been reported that the deputy chief of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah was among those killed in the U.S. strike in Baghdad, the media office of the Shiite group has denied his death.

"Some media outlets and social media [pages] circulate rumors about the fall of Lebanese martyrs in the U.S. aggressive raid on Iraq. The [office of] media relations in Hezbollah confirms that all rumors circulating in this regard are totally incorrect," it said in a statement Friday. 

Naim Qassem, born in 1953 in southern Lebanon, is the deputy chief of Hezbollah. 

He had a central role in the founding of Hezbollah in 1982. He became the second most important figure in the Shiite group in 1991 and has held the position since. 

While the group's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, largely has focused on Hezbollah's military activity, Qassem reportedly has been the main figure in charge of empowering the group's presence in Lebanese politics. 

Qassem enjoyed direct support from Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran. Hezbollah has been a major nonstate ally of Iran in the latter's quest for dominance in the Middle East. 

In May 2018, the United States and several allied Persian Gulf countries imposed sanctions on Qassem and other Hezbollah leaders. 

"By targeting Hezbollah's Shura Council, our nations collectively rejected the false distinction between a so-called political wing and Hezbollah's global terrorist plotting," U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said at the time. 

Hezbollah was designated by the State Department as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in October 1997.

VOA's Sirwan Kajjo contributed to this report from Washington.


January 04, 2020 at 11:34AM

Friday, January 3, 2020

Chas Smith (journalist)

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Chas Smith (journalist)

Discospinster: AFC draft (via script)



'''Chas Smith''' is a journalist and former war reporter.



==Bibliography==
''Welcome to Paradise, Now Go to Hell,'' (2014, It Books)


January 04, 2020 at 11:03AM

Trump Portrays Himself as Defender of Faith for Evangelicals

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Trump Portrays Himself as Defender of Faith for Evangelicals

Highlighting his record on religious liberty, President Donald Trump on Friday worked to energize a group of evangelical supporters who make up an influential piece of his political base that could prove vital in battleground states. 

Trump spoke to more than 5,000 Christians, including a large group of Latinos, at a Miami megachurch, just days after he was the subject of a scathing editorial in Christianity Today magazine that called for his removal from office. Thousands of the faithful lifted their hands and prayed over Trump as he began speaking and portrayed himself as a defender of faith. 

``We're defending religion itself. A society without religion cannot prosper. A nation without faith can not endure,`` said Trump, who also tried to paint his Democratic rivals for the 2020 election as threats to religious liberty. ``We can't let one of our radical left friends come in here because everything we've done will be gone in short order.'' 

``The day I was sworn in, the federal government war's on religion came to an abrupt end,'' Trump declared. He later added: ``We can smile because we're winning by so much.'' 

Points of emphasis

Although some of his address resembled his standard campaign speech, Trump cited his support for Israel, installation of federal judges, prison reform and a push to put prayer in public school. Those are issues his Republican re-election campaign believes could further jolt evangelical turnout that could help them secure wins in states like Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia. 

Friday's kickoff of ``Evangelicals for Trump'' will be followed in the weeks ahead by the launches of ``Catholics for Trump'' and ``Jewish Voices for Trump.`` It also came days after Trump and his wife went to an evangelical Christmas Eve service in West Palm Beach rather than the liberal Episcopalian church in which they were married and often attend holiday services. 

Advisers believe that emphasizing religious issues may also provide inroads with Latino voters, who have largely steered clear of supporting the president over issues like immigration. Deep into his speech, Trump touched on the issue by praising his border wall. His aides believe even a slight uptick with faith-focused Latinos could help Trump carry Florida again and provide some needed breathing room in states like Texas. 

The president made no mention of the editorial, which ran in a magazine founded by the late Reverend Billy Graham. 

MIAMI, FLORIDA - JANUARY 03: People pray together during the 'Evangelicals for Trump' campaign event held at the King Jesus…
People pray together during the "Evangelicals for Trump" campaign event held at the King Jesus International Ministry as they await the arrival of President Donald Trump, Jan. 3, 2020 in Miami.

'Remember who you are'

``Remember who you are and whom you serve,'' the editorial states. ``Consider how your justification of Mr. Trump influences your witness to your Lord and Savior. Consider what an unbelieving world will say if you continue to brush off Mr. Trump's immoral words and behavior in the cause of political expediency.'' 

Campaign officials said the Miami event was in the works well before the op-ed, and they trotted out several high-profile evangelical pastors to defend the president. 

``I think his record in the past three years is rock-solid in things that the faith community cares about him,`` said Jentezen Franklin, a pastor to a megachurch in Georgia. ``We used to see politicians once every four years, but this one is totally different in constantly reaching out to the faith community, and we even get a chance to tell him when we disagree.`` 

The event came on the heels of a new poll showing that white evangelical Protestants stand noticeably apart from other religious people on how the government should act on two of the most politically divisive issues at play in the 2020 presidential election. 

Asked about significant restrictions on abortion — making it illegal except in cases of rape, incest or to threats to a mother's life — 37% of all Americans responded in support, according to the poll conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Those abortion limits drew 39% support from white mainline Protestants, 33% support from nonwhite Protestants and 45% support from Catholics, but 67% support from white evangelical Protestants. 

LGBTQ protections

A similar divide emerged over whether the government should bar discrimination against people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender in workplaces, housing or schools. About 6 in 10 Catholics, white mainline Protestants and nonwhite Protestants supported those protections, compared with about a third of white evangelical Protestants. 

White evangelicals were also more likely than members of other faiths to say religion should have at least some influence on policymaking. 

But Democrats have shown strong interest in connecting with voters of faith, even evangelicals whom Trump is often assumed to have locked down. And some religious leaders believe people of faith may be turned off by Trump's personal conduct or record. 

``Friday's rally is Trump's desperate response to the realization that he is losing his primary voting bloc — faith voters. He knows he needs every last vote if he wants a shot at reelection, as losing just 5% of the faith voters ends his chances,'' said the Reverend Doug Pagitt, the executive director of Vote Common Good. ``In addition, he is trying to use this part of his base to give cover for his broken promises and immoral policies.'' 


January 04, 2020 at 10:23AM

Michael Moore hits Trump over Qassem Solemani killing: American's haven't even heard of him!

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Michael Moore hits Trump over Qassem Solemani killing: American's haven't even heard of him! Liberal filmmaker Michael Moore slammed President Trump for his airstrike that led to the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassim Solemani, suggesting that Americans have "never heard of him."
January 04, 2020 at 08:07AM

Biden now denies he told Obama not to launch Bin Laden raid in 2011

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Biden now denies he told Obama not to launch Bin Laden raid in 2011 Joe Biden is the only 2020 presidential candidate who was in the White House Situation Room as Navy Seals descended on Usama bin Laden's Pakistan compound.
January 04, 2020 at 08:43AM

Methodist Leaders Propose Plan for Amicable Separation 

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Methodist Leaders Propose Plan for Amicable Separation 

United Methodist Church leaders from around the world and across ideological divides unveiled a plan Friday for a new conservative denomination that would split from the rest of the church to try to resolve a yearslong dispute over gay marriage and gay clergy. 

Members of the 13 million-person denomination have been at odds for years over the issue, with members in the United States leading the call for full inclusion for LGBTQ people. 

At a specially called meeting last Feburary in St. Louis, delegates voted 438-384 for a proposal called the Traditional Plan, which affirmed bans on LGBTQ-inclusive practices. A majority of U.S.-based delegates opposed the plan, but they were outvoted by U.S. conservatives teamed with most of the delegates from Methodist strongholds in Africa and the Philippines. 

Battle to continue

Methodists in favor of allowing gay clergy and gay marriage vowed to continue fighting. Meanwhile, the Wesleyan Covenant Association, representing traditional Methodist practice, had already been preparing for a possible separation. 

The Reverend Keith Boyette, president of the Wesleyan Covenant Association and one of 16 people on the mediation team that developed and signed the separation proposal, said he was ``very hopeful'' the plan would be approved at the denomination's General Conference this year. 

FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2019, file photo, Ed Rowe, left, Rebecca Wilson, Robin Hager and Jill Zundel, react to the defeat of a…
FILE - Participants react to the defeat of a proposal that would have allowed LGBT clergy and same-sex marriage within the United Methodist Church at the denomination's 2019 general conference in St. Louis, Feb. 26, 2019.

This is the first time that ``respected leaders of groups from every constituency`` have come together to form a plan, he said. ``And this is the first time that bishops of the church have signed on to an agreement like this.'' 

Boyette stressed that while the churches remaining in the United Methodist Church would keep the denomination's name, both the new church and the post-separation Methodist Church would be different from the current Methodist Church. 

'Not a leaving'

``This is not a leaving, but a restructuring of the United Methodist Church through separation,'' he said. 

The proposal, called ``A Protocol of Reconciliation & Grace Through Separation,'' envisions an amicable separation in which conservative churches forming a new denomination would retain their assets. The new denomination also would receive $25 million. 

``The undersigned, in recognition of the regional contexts and divergent points of view within the global United Methodist Church, propose separation as a faithful step with the possibility of continued cooperation around matters of shared interest, enabling each of us to authentically live out our faith,'' the proposal states. 


January 04, 2020 at 08:02AM

Oil Prices Surge, Stocks Slip After Death of Iranian General 

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Oil Prices Surge, Stocks Slip After Death of Iranian General 

Stocks fell broadly on Wall Street and oil prices surged Friday after a U.S military strike killed a top Iranian general in Iraq. 

The killing rattled global markets and knocked U.S. stock indexes off their recent all-time highs. The selling also put the benchmark S&P 500 index on track to snap a five-week winning streak. 

Financial stocks were among the biggest decliners as investors bought up U.S. government bonds, sending their yields lower. Technology stocks, health care companies and airlines also took heavy losses. 

Several energy stocks rose as the price of U.S. oil headed higher. Defense contractors also notched gains. 

Benchmark U.S. crude climbed $1.87, or 3.1%, to settle at $63.05 per barrel. It had been up 3.6% earlier in the day. Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose $2.35, or 3.5%, to close at $68.60 per barrel. 

The selling followed a broad decline in markets overseas following news that General Qassem Soleimani, head of Iran's elite Quds Force, was killed in an air attack at Baghdad International Airport early Friday. 

President Donald Trump said the attack was ordered because Soleimani was plotting to kill many Americans. The strike marked a major escalation in the conflict between Washington and Iran, as Iran vowed ``harsh retaliation`` for the killing of the senior military leader. 

Gold on the rise

The price of gold, which investors buy in times of uncertainty as a safe haven of value, rose $24.70, or 1.6%, to $1,549.20 per ounce. 

The S&P 500 was down 0.6% at midafternoon. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 222 points, or 0.8%, to 28,645. The index briefly dropped 368 points. 

The Nasdaq dropped 0.7% and the Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks gave up 0.4%. 

Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 1.79% from 1.88% late Thursday, a big move. Lower bond yields bring down the interest rates that banks charge for mortgages and other consumer loans, making them less profitable. That prompted a sell-off in bank shares. JPMorgan slid 1.1%, Bank of America dropped 2% and Citigroup lost 1.6%. 

Airlines slumped as oil prices rose. American Airlines Group dropped 4.5%, United Airlines Holdings slid 1.9% and Delta Air Lines lost 1.8%. 

Heightened tensions with Iran helped lift the stocks of defense contractors. Northrop Grumman climbed 5.4% Raytheon rose 1.6% and Lockheed Martin gained 3.5%. 

Energy companies made gains as oil prices surged over concerns that a U.S.-Iran conflict could disrupt global supplies. Occidental Petroleum rose 2.2% and Hess gained 2.6%. 


January 04, 2020 at 07:47AM

Cameron Diaz and Benji Madden announce birth of baby girl

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Cameron Diaz and Benji Madden announce birth of baby girl Cameron Diaz and husband Benji Madden are officially parents!
January 04, 2020 at 05:32AM

Rue du Brexit

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Rue du Brexit

The C of E:


'''Rue du Brexit''' ([[English language|English]]: '''Brexit Street''')<ref name=local /> is a 325 metre long circuitous road in [[Beaucaire, Gard|Beaucaire]], [[Occitanie]], [[France]].<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> It was named as such in 2016 by the town's mayor as a tribute to the United Kingdom following their vote to leave the [[European Union]] (a move know colloquially as [[Brexit]]) in the [[2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum]].<ref name=bbc />

== History ==
The road that would become Rue du Brexit in Beaucaire was previously un-named. It is a circuitous road on an industrial estate that led between Rue du [[Robert Schumann]] and Avenue de [[Jean Monnet]], both founders of the [[European Union|European Community]] (which would become the European Union).<ref name=bbc>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref><ref name=g>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> In 2016, following the United Kingdom's vote to leave the European Union the [[National Rally (France)|Front National]] mayor of Beaucaire [[Julien Sanchez]], decided to name the road Rue du Brexit as a "homage to the decision of the sovereign British people".<ref name=g /> The motion for the naming was approved by Beaucaire council by 29-9 votes.<ref name=local>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref>

== Reaction ==
Reaction to the new street name was mixed worldwide. [[Leave.EU]] which campaigned for the UK to leave during the referendum called it "A fine choice!".<ref name=wp>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> Sanchez revealed to French radio that he had received several messages of support from the UK, some of which he claimed were from [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Members of Parliament]].<ref name=local /> However, criticism was leveled at it for the location and direction with the American ''[[Washington Post]]'' calling it "an ugly, dead-end road".<ref name=wp /> Some of the local residents of Beaucaire also criticised Sanchez for using an English word for a French street.<ref name=g /> Some newspapers also alleged it was done as a political reminder to French voters to hold a French referendum on European Union membership if the Front National leader [[Marine Le Pen]] won the [[2017 French presidential election]].<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref>

== References ==


[[Category:Streets in France]]
[[Category:Brexit]]
[[Category:2016 establishments in France]]

January 04, 2020 at 03:20AM

Weirdos Wanted: Top Adviser to UK's Boris Johnson Seeks Help

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Weirdos Wanted: Top Adviser to UK's Boris Johnson Seeks Help

Britain is looking for a few good weirdos.

That's the word from one of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's top advisers, who in a lengthy blog post Friday appealed for a wide range of applicants for government positions.

Dominic Cummings said one of his goals is to attract "super-talented weirdos" to government posts.

"We need some true wild cards, artists, people who never went to university and fought their way out of an appalling hell hole, weirdos," said Cummings, who has been a lightning rod for controversy during his tenure at 10 Downing Street.

He is a former director of the campaign to lead Britain out of the European Union who has helped shape many of Johnson's policies. Cummings' blog post is something of a screed against Britain's elites, even though Johnson was educated at Britain's uppermost educational institutions.

FILE - Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves Downing Street for the State Opening of Parliament by Queen Elizabeth II, in the House of Lords at the Palace of Westminster in London, Dec. 19, 2019.
FILE - Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves Downing Street for the State Opening of Parliament by Queen Elizabeth II, in the House of Lords at the Palace of Westminster in London, Dec. 19, 2019.

"If you want to figure out what characters around Putin might do, or how international criminal gangs might exploit holes in our border security, you don't want more Oxbridge English graduates," he blogged.

He said change is needed because there are "some profound problems at the core of how the British state makes decisions."

Cummings' strategy helped Johnson win an impressive victory in the Dec. 12 election. He said in the blog that the government's strength in Parliament means it can concentrate on vital matters.

He described it as "a new government with a significant majority and little need to worry about short-term unpopularity while trying to make rapid progress with long-term problems" and urged people to apply for positions.

 


January 04, 2020 at 02:03AM

Feudal barony of Stafford

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Feudal barony of Stafford

Lobsterthermidor: added Category:Stafford using HotCat


[[File:Stafford Castle Winter 2916.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Stafford Castle]], seat of the feudal barony of Stafford]]
The '''feudal barony of Stafford''' was a [[English feudal barony|feudal barony]] the ''[[caput]]'' of which was at [[Stafford Castle]] in [[Staffordshire]].

==Descent==
[[File:Stafford arms.svg|thumb|Arms of the Stafford family, adopted at the start of the age of [[heraldry]] (c.1200-1215): ''Or, a chevron gules'']]
The descent of the feudal barons of Stafford was as follows:
*[[Robert de Stafford]] (c.1039–c.1100) (''alias'' '''Robert de Tosny/Toeni''', etc.)<ref>Sanders, I.J. English Baronies: A Study of their Origin and Descent 1086-1327, Oxford, 1960, p.81</ref> an Anglo-Norman nobleman who arrived in England during or shortly after the [[Norman Conquest]] of 1066 and was awarded by King [[William the Conqueror]] 131 manors in his newly conquered kingdom, predominantly in the county of Staffordshire.<ref>[https://ift.tt/2QBV9VW Saxon owner or governors, – Leofric, Algar; – notices in Domesday Book, – Edwin and Morcar's revolt. – Robert De Stafford and his property]</ref> He built [[Stafford Castle]] as his seat. His 131 landholdings are listed in the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086. By his wife, believed to have been Avice de Clare, he left a son and heir:
*Nicholas I de Stafford (d.circa 1138),<ref>Sanders</ref><ref>https://ift.tt/2Qmhs3i Stafford]</ref> eldest son and heir, 2nd feudal baron of Stafford, the descent from whom was as follows (all successive feudal barons of Stafford):<ref>Sanders, p.81</ref>
*Robert II de Stafford (d.1177/85), son and heir;
*Robert III de Stafford (d.1193/4), son and heir, died without issue.
*Millicent de Stafford, sister and heiress, wife of Harvey I Bagot (d.1214). Harvey "had to pay so heavy a fine to Coeur de Lion for permission to marry this heiress, and obtain livery of her lands, that he was forced to sell Drayton — one of her manors — to the canons of St. Thomas".<ref>Cleveland, Battle Abbey Roll</ref> Her younger son was William Stafford of "Broomshull" ([[Bramshall]] near [[Uttoxeter]], Staffordshire, a Bagot possession<ref>Wars of the Roses A Gazetteer- 2
By Michael Ryan Jones[https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=GNPEAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA235&lpg=PA235&dq=bagot+Bramshall,+Stafford&source=bl&ots=5K168DC6p9&sig=ACfU3U2VDJSPOYrrvtITjD-Z1C3-aUBwvw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi29P_s4-XmAhVNPcAKHf1NBQg4ChDoATAHegQIChAB#v=onepage&q=bagot%20Bramshall%2C%20Stafford&f=false]</ref><ref>''Branselle'' (Bramshall) is listed in the Domesday Book as a possession of Robert of Stafford (as tenant-in-chief) whose own tenant was "Bagot" (https://ift.tt/2QKH48O seems to have remained in another branch of the Bagot family as the estate of Sir John Bagot (c.1358-c.1437), MP, of Blithfield and Bagots Bromley, Staffs., centred upon Blymhill, Bramshall and Bagots Bromley ([[History of Parliament]] biog[http://www.histparl.ac.uk/volume/1386-1421/member/bagot-sir-john-1358-1437]</ref><ref>"The Erdeswyks had for many years been mesne tenants of Stafford family property in Bramshall" (biog. ERDESWYK, Hugh (c.1386-1451), of Sandon, Staffs.
Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1386-1421, ed. J.S. Roskell, L. Clark, C. Rawcliffe., 1993[https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1386-1421/member/erdeswyk-hugh-1386-1451])</ref>), ancestor of several prominent Stafford lines, most notably Stafford of [[Hooke Court|Hooke]] in Dorset, Stafford of [[Southwick, Wiltshire|Southwick]] in the parish of [[North Bradley]], Wiltshire and Stafford of [[Grafton, Worcestershire|Grafton]] in the parish of [[Bromsgrove]], Worcestershire.
[[File:Stafford arms.svg|thumb|Arms of Stafford, adopted at the start of the age of heraldry (c.1200-1215), probably by Harvey II de Stafford (d.1237) (son of Harvey I Bagot (d.1214) by his wife the heiress Millicent de Stafford), said to be the founder of the Stafford family<ref>Cleveland, Battle Abbey Roll</ref>: ''Or, a chevron gules'']]
*Henry/Harvey II de Stafford (d.1237), son and heir of his mother, who adopted his maternal surname in lieu of his patronymic and married Pernel, daughter of [[William de Ferrers, 3rd Earl of Derby]] (d.1190). He is said to be the founder of the Stafford family "one of the loftiest of our English houses, which rose to the highest point of splendour only to fall to the other extreme of reverse."<ref>Cleveland, Battle Abbey Roll</ref>
*Harvey III de Stafford (d.1241), son and heir, who died without issue.
*Robert IV de Stafford (d.1261), brother and heir;
*Nicholas II de Stafford (1255-1282), son and heir.
*[[Edmund de Stafford, 1st Baron Stafford]] (1272/3-1308), son and heir, summoned to parliament by writ on 6 February 1299 by [[Edward 1|King Edward I]], by which he is deemed to have become the 1st [[Baron Stafford]]. He married Margaret Basset, daughter of [[Ralph Basset, 1st Lord Basset of Drayton]] (d.1299) of [[Drayton Bassett]] in [[Staffordshire]]. His younger son was Richard Stafford, ancestor of the Staffords of Clifton, barons by writ in 1371, which family expired early in the following century.<ref>Cleveland, Battle Abbey Roll</ref>
*[[Ralph de Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford|Ralph de Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford, 2nd Baron Stafford]] (1301–1372), KG, son and heir, created [[Earl of Stafford]] in 1351, one of the Founder Knights of the Garter, who married Margaret de Audley, daughter and heiress of [[Hugh de Audley, 1st Earl of Gloucester]] (d. 1347).<ref>Sanders, p.81</ref> Ancestor of [[Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham|Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham, 6th Earl of Stafford]] (1402-1460), of Stafford Castle.
*Alan de Stafford<ref>Cawley, Charles, England, Earls 1207-97, Medieval Lands database, Foundation for Medieval Genealogy[http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/ENGLISH%20NOBILITY%20MEDIEVAL2.htm]</ref>
*Roger de Stafford<ref>Cawley</ref>
*Jordan de Stafford<ref>Cawley</ref>
*Nigel de Stafford<ref>tudorplace</ref>
*Robert de Stafford<ref>tudorplace</ref>>

==Landholdings==
The first feudal baron held 131 manors as listed in the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086, a high proportion lying in [[Staffordshire]].<ref>[https://ift.tt/2QBV9VW Saxon owner or governors, – Leofric, Algar; – notices in Domesday Book, – Edwin and Morcar's revolt. – Robert De Stafford and his property]</ref> They included [[Barlaston]]<ref>[https://ift.tt/2sJcbcX Barlaston Yesterday] Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> and [[Bradley, Staffordshire|Bradley]]<ref>[https://ift.tt/2FjsO1C Stafford Borough Council – History of Stafford] Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> in Staffordshire and part of [[Duns Tew]] in [[Oxfordshire]].<ref></ref>

==End of the Stafford family==
The feudal barony descended with the ownership of [[Stafford Castle]], which eventually passed out of the Stafford family.
The peak of the Stafford family was reached by [[Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham]] (1477–1521), who was executed for treason in 1521, on whose death "the princely House of Stafford fell to rise no more".<ref>Cleveland</ref> [[Wilhelmina Powlett, Duchess of Cleveland|Cleveland]] relates the descent of his progeny into obscurity and poverty as follows:</br>
:''His only son, stripped alike of lands and dignities, received back a small fraction of its splendid possessions, with a seat and voice in parliament as a baron, and this title was borne by several generations. Edward, fourth Lord Stafford, "basely married to his mother's chambermaid," was succeeded by his grandson Henry, with whom the direct line terminated in 1637; and the claim of the last remaining heir, Roger, was rejected by the House of Lords on account of his poverty. This unfortunate man, the great-grandson of the last Duke, was then sixty-five, and had sunk into so abject a condition that he felt ashamed of bearing his own name, and long passed as Fludd, or Floyde, having, it is supposed, assumed the patronymic of one of his uncle's servants, who had reared and sheltered him in early life. He was compelled to surrender his barony to Charles I, and died unmarried in 1640; leaving an only sister, Jane, who in spite of her Plantagenet blood married a joiner, and had a son gaining a poor livelihood as a cobbler in 1637 at Newport in Shropshire".

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:English feudal baronies]]
[[Category:Stafford]]

January 04, 2020 at 12:57AM

Carnival cruise ship accidentally discharges 'grey water' at port in Florida

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Carnival cruise ship accidentally discharges 'grey water' at port in Florida The cruise line said a valve failure was to cause of Thursday morning's accident.
January 04, 2020 at 12:32AM

Australia's bushfire crisis seen from space

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Australia's bushfire crisis seen from space The raging bushfires that have destroyed millions of acres of Australian land, killed "thousands of koalas" and perhaps as many as 500 million animals are so devastating they can be seen from space.
January 04, 2020 at 12:08AM

Gaius Scribonius Curio (praetor 48 BC)

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Gaius Scribonius Curio (praetor 48 BC)

LuciusHistoricus: Made an article for Gaius Scribonius Curio the younger from material from the Gaius Scribonius Curio article (which is about the father and the son). Both deserve their own pages.


'''Gaius Scribonius Curio''' (d. 49 BC) was the son of Gaius Scribonius Curio Burbulieus. He was a friend to [[Pompey]], [[Julius Caesar]], [[Mark Antony]], [[Publius Clodius Pulcher|Clodius]] and [[Cicero]]. Like his father he was a distinguished orator. Curio's character was very conspicuous and profligate.<ref>F. Abbott, ''The Common People of Ancient Rome'' (1965) p. 235</ref> Despite his faults, Cicero assisted him in every way and evidently wrote several letters to him.

There was a rumor that Curio and [[Marcus Antonius|Mark Anthony]] had an affair when they were young. When the two men had been banned from seeing each other by Curio's father, Curio had smuggled Mark Anthony in through his father's roof.<ref>Tom Holland, ''Rubicon'', pp 235-236 and 251.</ref>

In the year of Caesar's consulship (59) Curio is noted for his defiance of Caesar. This led him to be seen as a patriot and brought him much prestige.<ref>Tom Holland, ''Rubicon'', p. 236.</ref>

In the same year Curio was apparently asked to join an assassination attempt on Pompey. The notorious professional spy Lucius Vettius had been hired by several junior and senior senators to set up the assassination. His father informed Pompey and the plot fell through. Cicero refused to believe in the existence of the plot and dismissed the whole episode as an attempt by Caesar to cast suspicion on young Curio and several other senatores. Before a full judicial enquiry could be set up Vettius was found strangled in prison.<ref>John Leach, ''Pompey the Great'', p. 127; McDermott, ''The Vettius Affair'', 1949.</ref>

Curio built Rome's first permanent [[amphitheatre]], in his father's memory and celebrated funeral games there with seating built on a pivot that could move the entire audience.<ref>Tom Holland, ''Rubicon'', p. 295; cf. Plin. nat. hist. 36, 117.</ref>

In about 52 BC, he married [[Fulvia]], the widow of [[Publius Clodius Pulcher|Publius Clodius]] and a granddaughter of [[Gaius Gracchus]]. Through her he got a stepdaughter, [[Claudia Pulchra (wife of Augustus)|Clodia Pulchra]], a stepson, Publius Clodius Pulcher (junior), and the support of Clodius' gangs. She would also give him a son.<ref>C.L. Babcock, [https://ift.tt/36jqu6I ''The Early Career of Fulvia''], American Journal of Philology 86 (1965), pp.&nbsp;1–32.</ref>

He began in politics as a supporter of [[Publius Clodius Pulcher|Clodius]], but shortly after came out as a Conservative in fierce opposition to [[Caesar]].<ref>F. Abbott, ''The Common People of Ancient Rome'' (1965) p. 244-6</ref> Known universally as unpredictable, by standing for the Tribuneship in 51 he placed himself (as Cicero told him) in a pivotal position at the Republic's crisis point,<ref>D. R. Shackleton Bailey trans., ''Cicero's Letters to his Friends'' (Atlanta 1988) p. 154-5 and p. 204</ref> when at the end of 51 BC Curio got himself elected as a [[tribune of the Plebs]] for 50 BC. As Tribune he suddenly did a ''volte-face'' and became a supporter of Caesar (probably because in return for his support, Caesar paid off his debts).<ref>Tom Holland, ''Rubicon'', p. 301; Cicero, ''To Friends'', 8.7.</ref> According to [[Tacitus]], Caesar bribed him for his oratory. Curio vetoed every effort by Caesar's opponents to prise his provinces from him.<ref>Tom Holland, ''Rubicon'', p. 302.</ref> Before the Civil War, Curio was one of the last politicians to call on Pompey and Caesar to make peace.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> At the end of his year as tribune Curio travelled to Ravenna to inform Caesar about developments in Rome.<ref name=THJL>Tom Holland, ''Rubicon'', p. 305; John Leach, ''Pompey the Great'', p. 170.</ref> Caesar gave Curio instructions and sent him back to Rome with an ultimatum.<ref name=THJL/>

On 1 January of 49 BC Mark Antony entered office as one of the tribunes of the Plebs, he took over from Curio, he summoned a meeting of the Senate and read out Caesar's letter.<ref name=THJL/> The meeting ended with the consul [[Lucius Cornelius Lentulus Crus]] expelling Antony from the Senate building by force. Antony fled Rome, fearing for his life, and returned to Caesar's camp on the banks of the [[Rubicon|Rubicon River]]. On his flight Anthony was accompanied by [[Marcus Caelius Rufus|Marcus Caelius]] and Curio.<ref>Tom Holland, ''Rubicon'', p. 305.</ref>

Caesar made Curio a [[praetor]] and sent him with four legions and a 1,000 Gallic cavalry to Sicily and Africa to take both provinces and secure the grain supply.<ref name=Rice95>T.R.E. Holmes, ''The Roman Republic and the Founder of the Empire'', Vol III, p. 95.</ref> Curiu drove [[Marcus Porcius Cato the Younger|Cato]] from Sicily and secured the island for Caesar.<ref name=Rice95/> After receiving word that Caesar had defeated the Pompeians in Spain he embarked with two of his legions and half the cavalry and sailed to Africa.<ref name=Rice95/> In Africa he faced [[Publius Attius Varus|Attius Varus]] and King [[Juba I of Numidia]] (a supporter of Pompey). Although he won the [[Battle of Utica (49 BC)]], he was eventually defeated by Juba at the [[Battle of the Bagradas River (49 BC)|Second Battle of the Bagradas River]] and fought to his death, along with his army, rather than attempting to flee to his camp.<ref>Gardner (translator), Jane F (1967). Julius Caesar – The Civil War. Penguin Books. p. 104.</ref>

Under the Empire, both [[Lucan]] and [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]] would be inspired to write of his character and about his varying roles.<ref>F. Abbott, ''The Common People of Ancient Rome'' (1965) p. 235</ref>

January 03, 2020 at 10:15PM

Vivo S1 Pro price in India

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January 03, 2020 at 05:00PM

First Deaf and Blind Harvard Law Graduate Says Accessibility Isn’t Charity

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First Deaf and Blind Harvard Law Graduate Says Accessibility Isn't Charity

Haben Girma, a lawyer born deaf and blind, has advocated for accessibility from her hometown of Oakland, California, all the way to the White House. Now, she has written a book about her journey.

In a phone interview with VOA, Girma read questions on a braille keyboard after they were typed out by an interpreter. She said her parents, immigrants from Ethiopia and Eritrea, refused to listen to those who said she could not do certain things.

"One of the biggest challenges is people's attitudes. People would say to my parents, oh, poor thing, she'll never go to school, she'll never get a job. And that was really hard for my parents to hear. It's hard for me to hear, too," she said. "Kids with disabilities want to hear that they'll be successful. But society often tells us, from very young, that we won't do anything."

Girma said she was fortunate to grow up in California's Bay Area, where disability rights are well-established and numerous resources exist. She went to public schools where braille books, typewriters, assistive software and a special resource room were available. Still, she encountered challenges. In middle school, she discovered she was failing a class because she could not hear assignments the teacher was making from the back of the classroom. Later, at Lewis Clark College in Portland, Oregon, she could not read the menu at the school cafeteria because there was no braille version available.

The challenges made her want to make a difference for others. In 2013, Girma became the first deaf and blind student to graduate from Harvard Law School.

"There's a lot of discrimination against people with disabilities. And I wanted to help change that," she said. "Getting a law degree, building up your advocacy skills is a great way to build up the tools to help other people."

Taking Scribd to court

In 2014, Girma put her legal skills to use when she sued Scribd, an online publishing platform and book subscription service, for discrimination because they weren't making texts accessible to the blind. Girma argued the service wasn't complying with the law under the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination against those with disabilities. The company claimed that because it operates online and doesn't provide services in a physical space, the ADA laws didn't apply.

Ultimately, a U.S. district court ruled that the ADA applies to digital services and online businesses must make their services accessible to all.

"That was a really exciting victory to help blind people get access to more books. I love reading. Books are a powerful way to learn more about our world," she told VOA. "I want to help make sure more people had books, and also for me, because when we remove barriers that also helps those of us with disabilities who are also advocates."

The following year Girma was invited to the White House by then-President Barack Obama to celebrate the ADA's 25th anniversary.

 

The cover of Haben Girma's book, Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law

She has traveled the world, meeting with local disability advocates and sharing her story. This included a trip to Ethiopia in 2015 where she met people pushing for more access to schooling and to improve the portrayal of deaf and blind people on television and radio. She said she tells organizations and businesses to stop looking at disability access as a charity and start looking at it as an opportunity.

"When you do disability accessibility you're not doing charity. You're giving powerful work that helps your organization grow. It helps you reach more customers and it drives revenue," she said. "So I want all organizations including organizations in Africa to stop treating disability as a charity and treat it as an important part of your organization."

She hopes her book, Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law, helps readers identify what she calls "ableism," the assumption that disabled people are inferior.

"We are not inferior. But society often sends this message. Through the stories in the book, funny stories, moving stories, I teach people to identify ableism to spot it when it's happening and then to take steps to remove ableism," she said.

She also hopes to inspire young people who may become the next generation of disability advocates and boundary breakers.

"I wanted kids to have more role models. You can be different. You can have something considered a severe disability and still succeed," she said.


January 03, 2020 at 09:51PM

Klobuchar posts her best fundraising quarter to date

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Klobuchar posts her best fundraising quarter to date Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar raised $11.4 million over the past three months, the best fundraising quarter to date for the senator from Minnesota.
January 03, 2020 at 08:27PM

US Kills Commander of Iran’s Elite Quds Force

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US Kills Commander of Iran's Elite Quds Force

The United States struck a significant and potentially risky blow against Iran, killing the leader of the nation's elite Quds Force in an airstrike in Iraq.

The Pentagon confirmed the death of Quds Force Commander General Qassem Soleimani in a statement late Thursday, saying the strike was launched, "at the direction" of U.S. President Donald Trump.

It further described the strike as a "decisive defensive action to protect U.S. personnel abroad."

"General Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region," the statement said.

"This strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans," it said. "The United States will continue to take all necessary action to protect our people and our interests wherever they are around the world."

Map of Baghdad airport
Baghdad airport

The Defense Department statement shared few details of the strike itself, but Iraqi officials said a rocket struck a convoy traveling near Baghdad International Airport early Friday local time.

Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of Iranian-backed Iraqi militias, known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, also died in the strike, Iraqi officials said, adding other top officials may have been killed, as well.

Even before the U.S. Defense Department confirmed the strike on Soleimani, photos claiming to show the Iranian general's lifeless body were circulating on social media.

(COMBO) This combination of file photos shows a handout picture provided by the office of the Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on…
FILE – These photos show Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, left, in Tehran; and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, right, a commander in the Popular Mobilization Force.

Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, as well as Iran's Revolutionary Guards, also quickly confirmed the deaths of Soleimani and al-Muhandis, blaming the United States.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif called the U.S. strike an "act of terrorism," tweeting it was an "extremely dangerous & a foolish escalation."

Iran Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called for three days of national mourning and warned, "All Enemies should know that the jihad of resistance will continue with a doubled motivation, and a definite victory awaits the fighters in the holy war."

President Trump did not immediately comment but tweeted a picture of the U.S. flag late Thursday.

Just days earlier, Trump warned Iran he was holding its leaders accountable for a series of repeated attacks by members of Iranian-backed militias on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

"They will pay a very big price. This is not a warning. It is a threat," he tweeted. But he told reporters Tuesday that he did not foresee the U.S. going to war with Iran.

"I don't think Iran would want that to happen. It would go very quickly," he said.

U.S. Army paratroopers of an immediate reaction force from the 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade…
U.S. Army paratroopers of an immediate reaction force from the 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, board their C-17 aircraft at Fort Bragg, N.C., Jan. 1, 2020.

Paradigm shifts

The U.S. has already deployed 750 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division to Kuwait to help bolster the defense of U.S. bases and personnel in the region. Defense officials said Thursday more troops would be sent as needed.

Among analysts and onlookers, though, there is a sense that whatever happens next, the paradigm between the United States and Iran has changed.

"The strike was a clear signal from the U.S. that the parameters of our confrontation with Iran have shifted fundamentally," said Ilan Berman, senior vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council, in a message to VOA Persian. "Quite simply, the U.S. has demonstrated that it is no longer prepared to exercise restraint in the face of repeated Iranian provocation, the way it has in the past."

"There is significant risk here," Bill Roggio, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, told VOA, calling the strike that killed Soleimani, "the most significant" since the U.S. killed al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden.

"Soleimani and Muhandis were revered by the Iraqi Shia militias. They will want blood," he said. "It is unclear if the Iraqi security forces are able or even willing to do anything to prevent it."

Troops in the region

The United States has about 5,000 troops in Iraq and about 55,000 more across the Middle East, all of whom could potentially be targeted by Iran.

"The key question is whether this will ultimately lead to sustained military confrontation — even war — between the U.S. and Iran and Iran and Israel," former State Department Middle East analyst and negotiator, Aaron David Miller, tweeted. "Matters will get worse before they get worse."

U.S. officials have repeatedly voiced concern about Iran's military reach, warning Tehran's forces are capable of targeting personnel and assets throughout the Middle East.

Some of that concern has focused on Iran's ballistic missile technology and on Iran's naval prowess. This past July, Iran also disrupted naval traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, seizing several oil tankers.

But there is also concern that Iran's proxy forces, like the militias it supports in Iraq and Syria, are capable of inflicting considerable damage.

"When you're dealing with groups like this, they are a hell of a lot more threatening and a hell of a lot more organized than anything we've seen out of many Sunni jihadist groups," said Phillip Smyth, an analyst with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

"It doesn't operate the same way you might think of, let's say, the Islamic State," he said. "You're dealing with a far more organized apparatus."

Despite the risk, some key Republican lawmakers praised the U.S. strike against Soleimani.

"President Trump has been clear all along — the United States will not tolerate Iran spilling American blood, and tonight he followed his words with action," Republican James Inhofe, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said in a statement late Thursday.

"The President made the brave and right call, and Americans should be proud," Republican Senator Benn Sasse, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said. "General Soleimani is dead because he was an evil bastard who murdered Americans."

Former U.S. Vice President and current presidential candidate for the Democratic Party Joseph Biden was more cautious. While admitting Soleimani "deserved to be brought to justice for his crimes against American troops and thousands of innocents throughout the region," Biden in a written statement said President Trump owes the American people an explanation of the strategy and plan to keep American servicemen and diplomats and allies safe at home and abroad.

"I hope the administration has thought through the second- and third-order consequences of the path they have chosen. But I fear this administration has not demonstrated at any turn the discipline or long-term vision necessary — and the stakes could not be higher," he said.

Although Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps [IRGC] and Quds Force are part of the Iranian military, the U.S. State Department designated them as Foreign Terrorist Organizations this past April because of their ties with Middle Eastern terror groups like Hezbollah and Hamas.

The U.S. also blames the IRGC and Quds Force for the death of more than 600 U.S. service members in Iraq between 2003 and 2011.

Earlier Thursday, top U.S. defense officials said Iran's targeting of Americans had resumed.

"There's been a sustained campaign at least since October," General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters.

"We know the intent of this last attack [on a base in Kirkuk, Iraq] was, in fact, to kill American soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines," he added. "Thirty-one rockets aren't designed as a warning shot."

Speaking alongside Milley, Defense Secretary Mark Esper warned the United States was also ready to take "preemptive action" against Iran.

"The game has changed. We're prepared to do what is necessary," he said.

VOA Persian Service and White House Senior Correspondent Steve Herman contributed to this report.


January 03, 2020 at 04:14PM

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