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Thursday, January 28, 2016

Sweden to deport 80,000 asylum seekers





Like the terminology the Swedes use. In an attempt to be politically correct they refer to the invaders as  "asylum seekers", "immigrants", "refugees", when everybody knows they're Muslims who lied to get into the country. This is what you get going in half-cocked and now realizing the enormity of your mistake and the resulting cost.  

Another example...again with nothing to indicate he's a Muslim. 

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Sweden is to reject up to 80,000 people who applied for asylum in the country last year, as many as half of whom will be forced to leave against their will, according to official estimates.

The interior ministry has called on police and migration authorities to prepare for a sharp increase in deportations, and to arrange charter flights to expel refused asylum seekers to their country of origin. Sweden is also approaching other EU countries, including Germany, to discuss cooperation to increase efficiency and make sure flights are filled to capacity, it said.

The country received more than 160,000 asylum applications last year – by far the biggest influx in the EU as a proportion of the population. Between 60,000 and 80,000 of them will be rejected, the interior minister, Anders Ygeman, told Swedish media on Thursday.

The revelation that a large proportion of asylum seekers will be turned down, and as many as half of failed applications will be forcibly ejected, sends another signal to refugees that Sweden is no longer extending the warm welcome it offered to them just a few months ago.

"Of course it is a way of saying that if you come here and don't have a case for asylum, then you won't be able to stay," said Victor Harju, spokesperson for Ygeman. "You can seek asylum in Europe but there are a lot of safe countries where you won't be troubled by war and persecution, so you don't necessarily have to end up in Sweden."

Other Scandinavian countries are stepping up their attempts to broadcast to the war-torn regions of the world that they are no longer an attractive destination for refugees. Norway last week began deporting asylum seekers to Russia through the Arctic, while Denmark's new law enabling police to confiscate cash and valuables from refugees has drawn sharp international criticism. 

Sweden started to introduce border controls in November to stem the number of asylum seekers arriving there, which was running at 10,000 each week. In January it made it impossible for refugees to cross the bridge linking Sweden with Denmark unless they could show a passport or driving licence, since when the numbers are down to about 800 a week.

"If it stays at these levels we expect 45,000 applications in 2016 – still a very high number, but manageable," Harju said.

Last year Sweden turned down some 20,000 asylum applicants, or 45% of those who had previously arrived and made claims. About 3,000 were deported with a further 7,000 who were handed over to police disappearing from the immigration system and avoiding expulsion.

The remaining 10,000 people whose applications were rejected left the country of their own accord, the justice ministry said.

The overall approval rate may increase in 2016, the immigration ministry said, as the record 160,000 who put in asylum requests in 2015 included more citizens of Afghanistan and Syria, for whom it is easier to obtain refugee status than for other groups.

Syrians used to receive an automatic right to permanent residency, but this was removed late last year, to be replaced by temporary residence of up to three years. However, it does not affect the way asylum applications are treated, according to the ministry.

The backlog of asylum applications in the system means it will take up to two years for all the cases to be decided among 2015 applicants, the ministry said. The migration board is still dealing with applications from 2014, with the average processing time at more than eight months.

The border police said it was "vigorously expanding" its activities and aiming to double police numbers in the next few years to cope with the task of returning refused asylum seekers, and to deal with the "significant risk" of people going underground to escape deportation. 

"What the government has done is acknowledge that the issue of returning nationals to their country of origin is going to be a big task because of the high numbers," according to Jonatan Holst, a spokesperson for the immigration ministry.

Sanna Vestin, chair of FARR, the Swedish Network of Refugee Support Groups, said: "We are very concerned that in this situation the government will play down proper procedure and rights just to get rid of them. We have already had a suggestion to end the right to appeal – the courts uphold the appeals in around 10% of cases."

She added: "It would be better if the government saw refugees as an investment in society's future, rather than a burden. We have a very good economy, in part because of having many immigrants."






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Ad against GOP candidate Kasich funded by mystery donors









Even though Kasich is down in the polls I've been feeling for a while now he may be the "dark horse" in the GOP field. Evidently his enemies in the article below feel the same way. Kasich has his downside. Not as conservative as I would like. But to me, he comes across as likable, honest, and most importantly sincere. He certainly turned Ohio around. Speaking of Ohio, no Republican has ever won without taking Ohio. So having him one or two on the ticket should make Ohio a lock.

The piece below is trying to pin this on a Republican. Would they be investing  big money to destroy an opponent who is behind them in the polls? What's the upside in that? Starting to wonder if Bill made another million dollar withdraw from the Clinton Foundation. 

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WASHINGTON — “Who is he?” a new attack advertisement ominously wonders about Republican presidential candidate John Kasich, before trashing him as “an Obama Republican.”

But the commercial raises another question: Who’s asking?

A group called the American Future Fund is paying $1 million to air the anti-Kasich ad in New Hampshire, where the Ohio governor is trying for a strong finish in the Feb. 9 primary that could propel him into the top tier of the dozen GOP presidential contenders.

The 30-second commercial shows Kasich smiling at an appearance with President Barack Obama, noting that the Ohio governor welcomed the expansion of Medicaid, something many Republicans bitterly oppose. The ad calls Kasich “Not a conservative. Not even a moderate.”

As a nonprofit, the conservative policy group does not have to disclose its donors. That sets it apart from the usual advertisers — candidates and super political action committees — which must regularly make public the names of their donors.

Kasich campaign spokesman Rob Nichols accused the ad’s producers of “shadowy, desperate, misleading attacks.”

“This is a perfect example of dark-money political spending,” said Paul S. Ryan, deputy executive director of the Campaign Legal Center, which advocates for more campaign finance disclosure. “It’s an ad vetted by clever lawyers who know what they’re doing.”

That means that even though Kasich allies have complained to the Federal Election Commission about the “shady donors with concealed identities,” they’re likely to remain secret.

Nick Ryan, an Iowa-based GOP strategist who founded American Future Fund in 2007, said he never reveals his contributors. The Kasich spot is the group’s first of the 2016 presidential race, and he said he deployed the ad because “until now, John Kasich has pretty much gotten a free pass.”

With no information, something of a parlor game developed as to who might be behind the ads — and whether it could be another candidate.

Kasich’s campaign is pointing to recent endorsement by almost all of New Hampshire’s daily newspapers, as well as one of the country’s largest — the Boston Globe — as evidence of growing momentum in support of the Ohio governor.

Kasich, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush and Chris Christie are trying to gain steam as the favorite candidate among traditional Republican Party voters, potentially enabling them to compete with frequent poll leaders Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.

Matt David, a Kasich supporter, said on Twitter that “multiple sources” said the ad is linked to Right to Rise, a super PAC backing Bush. Right to Rise leader Mike Murphy responded on Twitter: “Nope. Not us. I think it is somebody else who likes dark money ads and needs more votes in NH fast.”

Murphy appeared to be pointing toward Marco Rubio, who has benefited from $11.6 million in supportive commercials paid for by the advocacy group Conservative Solutions Project — which, like American Future Fund, does not disclose its donors.

Jeff Sadosky, a spokesman for Conservative Solutions Project, said his group had nothing to do with the American Future Fund ad.

One reason to suspect a Bush tie is that American Future Fund and Right to Rise have a common ad maker, Larry McCarthy. The Bush super PAC also has recently begun using similar messages about Kasich in mailings to New Hampshire voters.

“I’m happy to see that we have other allies in the effort to educate voters about Kasich, but this wasn’t us,” McCarthy said about the American Future Fund ad. He said he has not done any work this year with American Future Fund.

American Future Fund overlaps with yet another presidential candidate: Mike Huckabee.

Nick Ryan leads a super PAC helping the former Arkansas governor, who has staked his candidacy on the Iowa caucuses next week and has done almost no politicking in New Hampshire. Ryan also works with several Iowa nonprofits that oppose Ted Cruz over his desire to end federal ethanol subsidies — an economy driver in the farming-heavy state.

Ryan said no candidate allies approached him about doing the ad.







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The 50 most dangerous cities in the world - by homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in 2015




So what can we derive from this? 



1. Sealing the border will be a top priority for the next president.


 2. Keep your guns and your bibles.


3. No surprise St Louis, Baltimore, Detroit, and New Orleans is on the list... kind of a letdown Chiraq didn't make the grade. 
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1. Caracas, Venezuela – 119.87


2. San Pedro Sula, Honduras – 111.03


3. San Salvador, El Salvador – 108.54


4. Acapulco, Mexico – 104.73


5. Maturin, Venezuela – 86.45


6. Distrito Central, Honduras – 73.51


7. Valencia, Venezuela – 72.31


8. Palmira, Colombia – 70.88


9. Cape Town, South Africa – 65.53


10. Cali, Colombia – 64.27


11. Cuidad Guayana, Venezuela – 62.33


12. Fortaleza, Brazil – 60.77


13. Natal, Brazil – 60.66


14. Salvador, Brazil – 60.63


15. St Louis, Missouri, U.S. – 59.23


16. Joao Pessoa, Brazil – 58.40


17. Culiacan, Mexico – 56.09


18. Maceio, Brazil – 55.63


19. Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. – 54.98


20. Barquisimeto, Venezuela – 54.96


21. Sao Luis, Brazil – 53.05


22. Cuiaba, Brazil – 48.52


23. Manaus, Brazil – 47.87


24. Cumana, Venezuela – 47.77


25. Guatemala City, Guatemala – 47.17


26. Belem, Brazil – 45.83


27. Feira de Santana, Brazil – 45.5


28. Detroit, Michigan, U.S. – 43.89


29. Goiania, Brazil – 43.38


30. Teresina, Brazil – 42.64


31. Vitoria, Brazil – 41.99


32. New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. – 41.44


33. Kingston, Jamaica – 41.14


34. Gran Barcelona, Venezuela – 40.08


35. Tijuana, Mexico – 39.09


36. Vitoria da Conquista, Brazil – 38.46


37. Recife, Brazil – 38.12


38. Aracaju. Brazil – 37.7


39. Campos dos Goytacazes, Brazil – 36.16


40. Campina Grande, Brazil – 36.04


41. Durban, South Africa – 35.93


42. Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa – 35.85


43. Porto Alegre, Brazil – 34.73


44. Curitiba, Brazil – 34.71


45. Pereira, Colombia – 32.58


46. Victoria, Mexico – 30.50


47. Johannesburg, South Africa – 30.31


48. Macapa, Brazil – 30.25


49. Maracaibo, Venezuela – 28.85


50. Obregon, Mexico – 28.29












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Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Brian Williams Will Return to MSNBC Primetime for Iowa Caucuses







Former NBC "Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams will return to the primetime news anchor seat, co-anchoring MSNBC's coverage of the Iowa caucuses with Rachel Maddow on Monday.




Williams and Maddow will anchor from New York, while "Hardball" host Chris Matthews, Andrea Mitchell and Chuck Todd will be stationed in Des Moines.

Williams returned to television last September after a six-month suspension for exaggerating details from various situations throughout his career. The scandal broke when Williams claimed a chopper he was riding in got hit by an RPG during his coverage in the early days of the Iraq War.

"I told stories that were not true. Over the years, looking back, it is very clear. I never intended to. It got mixed up. It got turned around," Williams told NBC's Matt Lauer last June on NBC's "Today."

Williams has been a breaking-news and continuing coverage anchor for MSNBC since returning from his suspension.

"Nightly News" has seen continued success with Williams' replacement anchor, Lester Holt.

MSNBC personalities Chris Hayes, Kasie Hunt, Hallie Jackson, Chris Jansing, Katy Tur, and Kristen Welker will report live from campaign headquarters and caucus sites across Iowa.





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Trump campaign says candidate won’t participate in Fox News/Google debate




This is a first. The Republican in the top spot for POTUS is a no show for a debate. When it comes to the media he needs all the friends he could get so I would imagine alienating FOX is not a good move. 



I have my qualms about Trump in a lot of ways. But I guess if he could shoot someone on 5th Ave. and not lose voters skipping a debate is nothing. Interesting to see if his poll numbers drop after the debate. I suspect not. 

This is really lame.



A spokesperson for Fox News mocked Donald Trump's use of Twitter polls joking that as president The Donald would 'replace the cabinet with his Twitter followers to see if he should even go to those meetings'.


Gets worse. 



Video 213


To be fair, she came down on him like a ton of bricks in the first debate. Had to rub my eyes... thought I was watching Rachel Maddow. 


Think it was a mistake for him to pull out. I can hear the rest of his contenders  now…’if he can’t handle a moderator how’s he going to handle the country’? Knowing him though he’ll probably come out unscathed. 
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Donald Trump’s campaign said Tuesday night that the Republican primary front-runner does not plan to participate in the upcoming Fox News/Google debate, shortly after the debate lineup was announced. 

Trump’s campaign confirmed the decision to Fox News. 

The Republican presidential candidate already had said he probably would not be going, accusing Fox News of “playing games” with him. Trump has cited concerns with one of the debate moderators, Megyn Kelly – but apparently made his decision not to attend following press statements from Fox News. 

Trump, though, took heat for his decision not to attend from his closest rival in the polls, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who accused Trump of being "afraid of Megyn Kelly." 

“If Donald is afraid to defend his record, it speaks volumes,” Cruz said in a radio interview with Mark Levin, challenging Trump to a one-on-one debate. 

The Fox News/Google debate is set for this Thursday in Des Moines, Iowa. It would mark the first GOP presidential primary debate that Trump has not attended. 

His campaign put out a statement Tuesday night confirming the candidate “will not be participating in the FOX News debate and will instead host an event in Iowa to raise money for the Veterans and Wounded Warriors.” 

Addressing the matter on “The Kelly File,” Kelly later said: “I’ll be there. … The debate will go on with or without Mr. Trump.”

Despite his complaints, he had easily qualified as one of the eight candidates in the prime-time event. 

Fox News announced the candidate lineup for that debate earlier Tuesday evening, and the qualifying participants were: 

Trump; Texas Sen. Ted Cruz; Florida Sen. Marco Rubio; retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson; former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush; New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie; Ohio Gov. John Kasich; and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul.

The participants qualifying for the earlier, 7 p.m. ET debate were:

Former HP CEO Carly Fiorina; former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee; former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum; and former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore.

The lineup reflects a polling boost for Paul, who did not qualify for the most recent Fox Business Network prime-time debate earlier this month, and declined to participate in that program’s evening event. 

This time, Paul suggested he’ll attend, saying the campaign is “very excited” about qualifying for the main stage. 

Meanwhile, Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes has defended Megyn Kelly amid the criticism from Trump. He issued a statement earlier to The Washington Post saying, “Megyn Kelly is an excellent journalist, and the entire network stands behind her. She will absolutely be on the debate stage on Thursday night." 

Kelly has withstood Trump’s attacks since the August debate, when he accused her of purposely attacking him. As part of Trump’s explanation for not participating in Thursday’s debate he called the "Kelly File" host a "lightweight" and "third-rate reporter."

Trump’s campaign manager Corey Lewandowski even threatened to ramp up the verbal attacks Trump has repeated since the first August debate.

“In a call on Saturday with a FOX News executive, Lewandowski stated that Megyn had a ‘rough couple of days after that last debate’ and he ‘would hate to have her go through that again,’” a Fox News statement said late Tuesday.

“Lewandowski was warned not to level any more threats, but he continued to do so. We can’t give in to terrorizations toward any of our employees,” the statement added.


Trump, speaking earlier in Iowa, said he’d probably raise money for veterans instead of doing the event. And speaking with Fox News’ Bret Baier, Trump said he “didn’t like the press releases Fox put out.” 

The Fox News/Google debate in Des Moines this Thursday will be the candidates’ last before next week’s Iowa caucuses – which kicks off the Republican presidential nominating process.

In the run-up, the candidates are ramping up their ad spending and shoe-leather campaigning, while going after each other in the process. 

After clashing at the most recent GOP debate, Iowa front-runners Trump and Cruz have only turned up their attacks in recent days – particularly as Trump regains his Iowa lead over Cruz in most polls. The race, though, remains close. The latest Quinnipiac University poll showed Trump leading Cruz just 31-29 percent in Iowa.

Cruz said Tuesday that “no state is a must-win for us.” But the reality is his campaign is fighting hard for an Iowa victory, as Trump maintains a huge polling lead in the next contest: the New Hampshire primary.

One new ad from a Cruz-supporting super PAC is accusing Trump of being aligned with Democrats on “government-run health care.” Another from the Cruz campaign returns to the well of criticizing Trump’s “New York values,” while playing a clip of him saying, “How stupid are the people of Iowa?”

Trump, meanwhile, called Cruz a “liar” in an MSNBC interview Tuesday.

“Nobody likes him,” Trump said, attempting to draw a contrast with his own business experience by saying Cruz can’t make a deal with anybody.

The debate on Thursday will be moderated by Fox News anchors Bret Baier, Megyn Kelly, and Chris Wallace.

The candidate lineup was decided based on the results of national, New Hampshire and Iowa polling – released before 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

To qualify for the prime-time debate, a candidate had to place in the top six in an average of recent national polls, or in the top five in an average of recent Iowa or New Hampshire polls. ‎The evening debate features other candidates who received a minimum 1 percent in at least one recent national poll.







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