Monday, October 31, 2016

What is important in life besides Survival?

Compassion towards oneself and all others is what is also important.

The reason for this is it appears we are all one being somehow in the past, present and future. So, as we help ourselves and each other through being compassionate to ourselves and to others all benefit from this in the past, present and future.

Can I explain why this is true?

I can explain it enough for myself to get it but that may or may not be true for you.

One's connection to life is strong and to the Creator is strong but there are always others who try to wrest control of our lives away from each of us.

Why do People do this?

In order to enslave us to be their biological robots so we work while they don't.

Whether these are people running churches or whether these are salesmen trying to sell us something or whether these are politicians trying to enslave us matters little.

The point is learning how to keep yourself free from all these types of beings is one way to move towards enlightenment so one can be "Master of one's own ship and the forger of one's own destiny" without becoming someone else's full time slave of one form or another.

Only by having your own free will and discernment can you become enlightened and learn compassion for yourself and all other beings.

This is the essence of all civilizations on earth in the end. IT is also the essence of what it really is to be a human being on earth as we move out into the galaxy and to other galaxies in the future of the human race.

Two movies good for the whole family on Halloween: Funny Scary movies

  1. Hocus Pocus (1993) - IMDb

    www.imdb.com/title/tt0107120/
    Comedy · After three centuries, three witch sisters are resurrected in Salem, Massachusetts on ... Hocus Pocus (1993). PG | 1h 36min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy | 16 July 1993 (USA) · Hocus Pocus Poster. Trailer. 0:31 | Trailer. 4 VIDEOS | 52 IMAGES ...
  2. Hocus Pocus (1993 film) - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hocus_Pocus_(1993_film)
    Hocus Pocus is a 1993 American halloween film directed by Kenny Ortega, starring Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker; written by Neil ...
  3. I was going to watch Hocus Pocus last night in the Hotel room in San Francisco but my wife made me save it for Halloween together tonight so we are watching it now at home on the coast.

    There is also a movie we have watched every year since we first got together in December 1994 which is called "High Spirits" the first time we watched this together was on Halloween 1995. It became something we did every year on Halloween. However, I told my wife I just cannot watch "High Spirits" this year because I have now seen it at least 20 times since 1995. 

    So, I have likely seen Hocus Pocus about 5 or 10 times so it is still relatively fresh in this sense.


    But, either movie is a good one that is funny scary enough so you don't get so creeped out for the night you aren't going to sleep. This is my thought on both these movies.

    1. High Spirits (1988) - IMDb

      www.imdb.com/title/tt0095304
      With Peter O'Toole, Donal McCann, Mary Coughlan, Liz Smith. When Peter Plunkett's Irish castle turned hotel is about to be repossesed, he decides to spice up the ...
    2. High Spirits Flutes are wood, handcrafted, easy-to-play, musician quality, native-style flutes that have been proudly made in the USA by Odell Borg since 1990.
      • High Spirits (1988)
        youtube.com
      • High Spirits:High Spirits
        amazon.com
      • High Spirits Trailer
        imdb.com
      • High Spirits (1988) (Full Movie)
        youtube.com
    3. High Spirits (film) - Wikipedia

      en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Spirits_(film)
      High Spirits is a 1988 fantasy comedy film directed by Neil Jordan and starring Steve Guttenberg, Daryl Hannah, Beverly D'Angelo, Liam Neeson and Peter O'Toole.


70 million people on average are dying of Air pollution every 10 years

Which is a really amazing thought because now you are talking about how many people likely died in World War II (up to 100 million) and in the Cold War (up to 100 million from 1945 until 1990).

So, it is now obvious to anyone looking at the facts that a war on Air pollution is actually about 10 times more important than the war on ISIS if you are looking just at how many people are dying from this single cause: Air pollution! every year.

600,000 children die each year under 5 from Air pollution worldwide: So 7 million adults and children die each year from this

Just from what I've seen in my lifetime in 1985 and 1986 in India and more recently what I've seen in South Korea of the air blowing over from Beijing it is not surprising that 600,000 children under 5 are dying from what is in the air various places around the world. What is surprising to me is that even more aren't dying than this from what I've seen so far here on earth.

Also, as a child in Los Angeles in the suburb of Glendale I remember how sulfurous the air was in the smog of the 1950s with leaded gas which caused brain damage to many inner city children near big thoroughfares from the lead in the gas fumes at that time. Also, the air then was so bad in summers that you often couldn't see 1 block the air was so brown and if you went in a public swimming pool or private swimming pool as a child in heavy smog it felt like a knife in your lungs stabbing you every time. If you started crying from the sulphur in the air from too much smog you couldn't stop crying until you went indoors somewhere where the smog hadn't got to then. And this was the 1950s.

Now, with no lead in gasoline (except for really old engines) (before 1970?) the air in Los Angeles looks clearer most of the time. However, scientists say now it is actually much worse for your health if you live there than before because of the strange combinations of chemicals in the air created by catalytic converters in the upper atmosphere. So, I am happy not living there full time since 1969. Mostly I have lived in San Diego, Hawaii, Mt. Shasta and the San Francisco Bay area which tends to have more winds coming off the ocean to blow whatever smog arises away into the San Joaquin and Sacramento Valleys. Now I live within 1 mile of the ocean where the sea breeze keeps the air clear year around except during fire season when smoke sometimes blows this way. So, mostly since 1969 I have had the clear air of the Pacific Ocean keeping the air I breathe cleaner than most places on earth. So, if you have the freedom to live where air is clean likely you might live longer and have a happier life and not die as young.

The thought that more children are now dying from air pollution than from traffic accidents is sort of beyond belief but also might be true.

 

 Begin quote from:

Nearly 600,000 Children Die From Breathing Toxic Air Every Year

WPTV West Palm Beach12 hours ago
Nearly 600,000 children under the age of 5 die every year from diseases caused by air pollution. And millions more live in places where ... 

Breathing Toxic Air Every Year

Nearly 600,000 children under the age of 5 die every year from diseases caused by air pollution.
ADVERTISING
And millions more live in places where they could easily meet the same fate.
According to a new report published by the United Nations Children's Fund, about 300 million kids around the world are breathing highly toxic air. The report cites numbers from 2012.
The majority of these children live in South Asia, where air pollution has reached levels at least six times higher than what the World Health Organization has deemed safe.
Because young kids' lungs and brains are still developing, toxic air can cause serious health problems.
SEE MORE: Air Pollution Is Letting Teeny, Tiny, Toxic Particles Into Your Brain
Tiny particles found in air pollution can enter the bloodstream and increase the risk for cardiac disease, stroke, heart failure, asthma and pneumonia, among other issues.
It even affects children who haven't been born yet. The report says pollutants can harm a developing baby's lungs and brain and even cause miscarriages and low birth weights.
UNICEF's report was released just days before the U.N. Climate Change Conference is set to begin in Morocco. The organization is urging world leaders to start taking steps to reduce air pollution in their countries.
According to CNN, UNICEF is asking lawmakers to reduce fossil fuel combustion, invest in energy efficiency, give more children access to the health care they need and keep schools away from factories and other sources of pollution.
About 7 million people around the world die from air pollution-related causes each year

If you travel to 3rd world countries you may breathe Toxic Air too

I can remember even being in Bodh Gaya, India in Bihar State in 1985 and early 1986 there with the Dalai Lama receiving the Kalachakra Tantra with 500,000 others at the time. However, it might also be important to know that often the air was brown with the smell of burning plastic mixed with the smell of burning Cow poop mostly from Water Buffaloes and Yaks and Dzos which are common work animals in the region then in 1985 and 1986. You could smell the burning plastic and cow poop in the air that people were using for cooking food because it was too hot to need to heat their homes. It was just used for cooking.

Most of these people living in this area were too poor to worry about whether burning plastic was carcinogenic or not, and most didn't worry whether burning cow poop that was dried affected the taste or the safety of their food when they ate it either. And Giardia was and likely still is endemic throughout parts of ASIA including India still from the water which becomes infected from cattle feces often as well even if it is being pumped out of deeper wells. So, this is one reason people are mostly skinny  because they have this in their system all the time (giardia).

I also got giardia along with 4 out of the 5 members of my family while traveling in India, Nepal, Thailand and Japan from December 1985 until April 1986.

I am still dealing with things like being Hypothyroid which I can trace back to this as well through my nurse practitioner of Aryuvedic Medicine here in the U.S.

But, Toxic air is something you are likely to see much more commonly in 3rd world nations.

Why is this?

Because most 3rd world nations do not have compulsory public education. I'm not even sure India has this yet.

When I was there in 1985 and 1986 between 40% to 60% of the people had not even been to 1st grade because they didn't have the clean clothes required and suits required for this in India.

If you were not cleanly suited up and dressed you could not go to school at all then everywhere I knew about.

So, if you cannot even go to school because you are too poor how can you be taught that burning plastic is carcinogenic and might give your kids cancer by breathing the air from burning plastic from the smoke from the plastic?

If you have been to 3rd to 5th grade your teacher likely has already told you about this. But, what if you never went to school a day in your life like 40% to 60% of the people I saw in India in 1985 and 1986?

2 Billion Children Breathe Toxic Air Worldwide

  1. begin quote from:

    2 Billion Children Breathe Toxic Air Worldwide,...

    www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/10/30/world/asia/ap-as-india-a...
    3 hours ago ... New Delhi's air pollution, among the world's worst, spikes every winter ... Even days before the city erupted in annual fireworks celebrations for the Hindu ... Of the 2 billion children worldwide breathing unhealthy air, the report ... 2016 The New York Times Company · Home · Search; Accessibility concerns? 
    NEW DELHI — As Indians wake Monday to smoke-filled skies from a weekend of festival fireworks, New Delhi's worst season for air pollution begins — with dire consequences.
    A new report from UNICEF says about a third of the 2 billion children in the world who are breathing toxic air live in northern India and neighboring countries, risking serious health effects including damage to their lungs, brains and other organs. Of that global total, 300 million kids are exposed to pollution levels more than six times higher than standards set by the World Health Organization, including 220 million in South Asia.
    For the Indian capital, the alarming numbers are hardly a surprise. New Delhi's air pollution, among the world's worst, spikes every winter because of the season's weak winds and countless garbage fires set alight to help people stay warm.
    Even days before the city erupted in annual fireworks celebrations for the Hindu holiday of Diwali, recorded levels of tiny, lung-clogging particulate matter known as PM 2.5 were considered dangerous Friday at well above 300 micrograms per cubic meter. By Monday morning, the city was recording PM 2.5 levels above 900 mcg per cubic meter — more than 90 times higher than the WHO recommendation of no more than 10 mcg per cubic meter.
    New Delhi residents were advised to stay indoors, with health warnings issued for the young, elderly and those with respiratory or heart conditions. Officials said the high pollution levels were made worse by the ongoing burning of spent crops in agricultural fields in the neighboring states of Punjab and Haryana.
    Children face much higher health risks from air pollution than adults. Children breathe twice as quickly, taking in more air in relation to their body weight, while their brains and immune systems are still developing and vulnerable.
    "The impact is commensurately shocking," with 600,000 children younger than 5 across the world dying every year from air pollution-related diseases, UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake said in the report released Monday. "Millions more suffer from respiratory diseases that diminish their resilience and affect their physical and cognitive development.
    Of the 2 billion children worldwide breathing unhealthy air, the report puts 620 million of them in South Asia — mostly northern India. Another 520 million children are breathing toxic air in Africa, and 450 million in East Asia, mainly China, according to the report, which combined satellite images of pollution and ground data with demographic patterns to determine which populations fell into the highest risk areas.
    Since being identified as one of the world's most polluted cities in recent years, New Delhi has tried to clean its air. It has barred cargo trucks from city streets, required drivers to buy newer cars that meet higher emissions standards and carried out several weeks of experimental traffic control, limiting the number of cars on the road. But other pollution sources, including construction dust and cooking fires fueled by wood or kerosene, continue unabated.
    Last week, the city launched a smartphone application called "Change the Air" inviting residents to send photos and complaints about illegal pollution sources, from the burning of leaves and garbage in public parks to construction crews working without dust control measures.
    Continue reading the main story

Sunday, October 30, 2016

Newly Discovered Emails Unlikely to Change FBI Decision Not to Charge Clinton, Experts Say


Newly Discovered Emails Unlikely to Change FBI Decision Not to Charge Clinton, Experts Say
 
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When FBI Director James Comey told Congress that the FBI intends to review newly …

Newly Discovered Emails Unlikely to Change FBI Decision Not to Charge Clinton, Experts Say

Image: Hillary Clinton in Florida
Hillary Clinton at a campaign event Sunday in Wilton Manors, Fla. Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
When FBI Director James Comey told Congress that the FBI intends to review newly discovered emails in the investigation of Hillary Clinton, some observers speculated that the evidence could lead to federal charges against Clinton. According to former prosecutors and legal experts across the political spectrum, however, that is unlikely.
While experts caution that it is hard to weigh the impact of largely unknown evidence, they say both the history of the FBI inquiry and the nature of the new emails make it unlikely that federal authorities would reverse course to charge Clinton.

Old Email, New Email

"Given the fact that they reviewed 30,000 emails, most of which were from Hillary Clinton, it's hard to imagine there could be new emails that are from Hillary Clinton that could result in the prosecution of her," said Paul Butler, a former Justice Department attorney who has prosecuted politicians and federal officials for corruption.
Clinton Manager Says Clinton Aide 'Cooperated Completely' 2:17
Comey did not name the source of the new emails in his letter to Congress on Friday, but federal sources say the emails are linked to Clinton aide Huma Abedin, the estranged wife of Anthony Weiner, who is under investigation for allegedly messaging a minor.
Related: FBI Obtains Warrant for Newly Discovered Emails in Clinton Probe
It is possible that those emails could reveal new information about Clinton's conduct, but former investigators say that given the broad review the FBI completed, it is far more likely that the emails would provide information about Abedin.
In its original inquiry, the FBI said it reviewed Clinton's 30,000 work emails, as well as "several thousand" other emails. It said it interviewed Clinton, her aides, her information technology staff and "those involved" in turning over her emails.
"This seems to be more about Huma than Hillary," a former Republican federal prosecutor said.
"It doesn't seem that this is so inculpatory towards Hillary Clinton," the prosecutor said, proposing that even if Abedin's emails "show she's lying, OK — what's that got to do with Hillary Clinton?"
Should the FBI Reveal More Info on Emails? 8:08
Because the FBI has already reviewed Abedin's work emails through other sources, some former investigators said the emails are unlikely to change the case."There's probably not a high likelihood that these are new," said Peter Zeidenberg, a former federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C.
Zeidenberg estimated that there is a "significant chance" that any new emails would not have classified information. But if they did, he said, that fact would be unlikely to change the FBI's publicly stated legal analysis in the case.
The FBI determined that even careless handling of classified information did not make Clinton guilty of a crime.
"Suppose there was 'Top Secret' information — I think it would be hugely embarrassing, politically damaging, but I still don't think it would change the analysis of what is being done intentionally," said Zeidenberg, who served in the Justice Department unit that prosecutes elected officials.
"I don't see how it will change the analysis about whether she's going to be charged with a criminal offense," Zeidenberg said. "I think there is about zero percent likelihood of that."
Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump agree: Both sides want more details released about FBI email review 3:18

A High Burden of Proof

When the FBI inquiry ended, Comey said the legal standard required clear proof that Clinton either "intentionally" mishandled classified information or that she knowingly took classified information out of the appropriate government systems. The inquiry did not find such proof, he said.
Instead, Comey said the evidence did not meet the legal standard in past cases in which mishandling of classified material was prosecuted.
Those cases, Comey said, had one of three other types of misconduct: "clearly intentional and willful mishandling of classified information" (an intention to break the law), "indications of disloyalty to the United States" (such as leaking to enemies) or "efforts to obstruct justice" (such as lying to the FBI).
While experts say Abedin's email is unlikely to generate that kind of "smoking gun" evidence about Clinton, as a matter of process, it is prudent to look at any evidence that might be new.
Trump Attacks Clinton Over Emails 6:25
"You would never want to forgo the opportunity to see if there is evidence that is potentially relevant and could change the outcome of the investigation," said Andy Devooght, a former federal prosecutor in Illinois.
Devooght also echoed the stringent legal test for charges.
Any new emails would face a high bar for supporting charges against Clinton — specifically, clear proof that she intentionally sought to mishandle classified information.
"The bottom line is that this new information would have to prove what they didn't have before — which is sufficient evidence to establish that she knew, beyond a reasonable doubt, that she was sending classified information," said Devooght, a former clerk to the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist.
Former FBI officials also say any routine effort to look at new evidence does not imply a "do-over" of the entire case.
When new information arises, "the FBI re-evaluates the new information," said Shawn Henry, a former assistant director of the FBI and expert on cybercrime.
"You don't go back and look at the entire investigation, but you evaluate the new information on its merit to see if it changes your conclusions," said Henry, who ran the FBI's Washington Field Office.
The FBI's current approach to the Clinton review, however, is anything but routine.
Timing of Emails Could Leave Damaging Effect 4:41

New Emails or Duplicate Emails?

Apart from the unusually public nature of the FBI's review, no one at the bureau apparently knows whether the emails are actually new evidence.
Comey's letter Friday stated that emails from the Weiner investigation "appear to be pertinent" and merit review to "assess their importance."
Federal officials also told Yahoo News, however, that the FBI has not reviewed any of the emails. The FBI only just obtained a warrant to look further into the emails late Sunday, according to law-enforcement sources.
That is significant, because it raises the possibility that there is no new evidence at all if the emails are copies of what the FBI already reviewed.
"They could all be duplicates of what they've already looked at," said Nick Akerman, who was an assistant special prosecutor in the Watergate investigation.
In that case, the evidence would essentially be old, and the only development would be that previously reviewed emails existed on another device.
That could be negative for Abedin, experts said, but the location of the emails alone would not change the legal analysis of Clinton's conduct.
Image: Hillary Clinton in Florida
Hillary Clinton at a campaign event Sunday in Wilton Manors, Fla. Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
"There's going to be a lot of innuendo out of nothing," said Akerman, adding, "There is no crime here."
Other legal experts said that Comey's letter was premature and that a public announcement that an investigation is continuing should occur only if, first, the FBI has actually reviewed the new evidence and, second, it has deemed it important.
This "does not happen without substantial, credible evidence that the prior decision may have been in error," said Robert Cattanach, a former federal prosecutor and former counsel to the secretary of the Navy.
"Second looks themselves are not unheard of, but those typically occur without fanfare or even acknowledgement," Cattanach said, "unless and until real substance to contradict the bureau's earlier decision comes to light."
While the FBI says it is not reopening the case, Cattanach said Comey's letter essentially does that, but in "veiled terms."
For all the scrutiny of Comey's process, it is the outcome of the inquiry that interests most observers.
According to legal experts, new emails from a cooperating witness are, absent a very unusual development, unlikely to change the outcome that the FBI did not find the kind of criminal intent required to charge Clinton with mishandling classified information.

Is the end of ISIS in Mosul and Raqqa a good thing for Saudi Arabia?

It is a good thing for the government of Saudi Arabia in that the government will be less worried about being overthrown or undermined by ISIS.

However, Since ISIS doctrine is Wahabi Sunni Muslim ideas from Saudi Arabia the people of Saudi Arabia (many of them) might be upset about what is happening to ISIS in Iraq and Syria. But, the government of Saudi Arabia will breathe a sigh of relief that at least they have less chance of being overthrown one day by ISIS because ISIS wishes to overthrow ALL governments in the Middle East and replace them with a Sunni Caliphate. So, ISIS is a threat to all governments on earth in this sense which is why their Army is being wiped out by most governments on earth one way or another.

One of the reasons Saddam Hussein and Iran hated the U.S.

From my point of view, the U.S. seen as the "Great Satan" came from Iran's dealings with the U.S. before, during and After the Shah of Iran was deposed around 1979 I believe. When Iran kidnapped
  1. Iran hostage crisis - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_hostage_crisis
    The Iran hostage crisis was a diplomatic crisis between Iran and the United States. .... Kraus was injured in the attack, kidnapped by the militants, tortured, tried, and ... The next attempt to seize the American Embassy was planned for September ... 

    the Embassy personnel in Tehran then to the United States Iran became the Great Satan of the Middle East. It has sort of stayed this way every since around 1980 when they kidnapped the U.S. Embassy personnel. 

    However, after putting Saddam Hussein up to starting a war with Iran, the United States then gave weapons to whatever side (both Iran and Iraq) was losing because the U.S. had great worries about either side winning and taking over the whole middle East. By doing this the U.S. and Europe kept the war going until 1988 when no one won but thousands had died.

    Then when Saddam Hussein took over Kuwait with his troops the U.S. saw it was right to worry about Saddam Hussein. Even though some people think Bush 2 going into Iraq wasn't a good thing it is debatable because most people know Saddam Hussein was as dangerous as Iran still is.

    Because both Iran and Saddam Hussein were hell bent on obtaining nuclear weapons. Now, with Saddam Hussein gone only Iran is (and maybe Saudi Arabia) both of which could buy one or already have from North Korea because North Korea is known to sell nuclear weapons to the highest bidder which is why the world is very worried about North Korea right now. And also about Iran and Saudi Arabia having obtained already or in the future obtaining nuclear weapons. 

    From my point of view Iran and Saudi Arabia already have nuclear weapons. If they didn't they would be fighting each other directly with their armies instead of having proxy wars in Yemen, Syria and Iraq.

    This type of warfare (proxy wars) was demonstrated to the world through the Cold War how nations with  nuclear weapons and  power ONLY fight through proxy wars because otherwise all life on earth and possibly the earth itself would end.

Erdogan has become another Saddam Hussein: Democracy is dead in Turkey:Turkey is still a member of NATO?

  1. Erdogan has now killed Democracy in Turkey. I think he sees himself as the newest Saddam Hussein ready to do battle with Iran and Syria and the Kurdish People. I sort of expect Iran and Turkey to go to war within less than 10 years the way this presently is going. And Turkey is a member of NATO? Will Turkey drag NATO into a War with Iran? If you are interested study the war between Saddam Hussein in Iraq with Iran during the 1980s.

    It lasted from 1980 to 1988:

    1. Iran–Iraq War - Wikipedia

      en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93Iraq_War
      The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq lasting from September 1980 to ..... Clarification: People's Mujahedin of Iran started to take the side of Saddam in 1984 or 1986 (mid 1980s). In 1986, Rajavi moved from Paris to ...

    Begin quote from:

    Turkey sacks 10,000 more civil servants, shuts...

    www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-security-dismissals-idUSKB...
    7 hours ago ... Turkey said it had dismissed a further 10000 civil servants and closed 15 more media outlets over suspected links with terrorist organizations ... 

    Turkey sacks 10,000 more civil servants, shuts media in latest crackdown


    A man waves Turkey's national flag during the Democracy and Martyrs Rally, organized by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and supported by ruling AK Party (AKP), oppositions Republican People's Party (CHP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), to protest against last month's failed military coup attempt, in Istanbul, Turkey, August 7, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas




    By Humeyra Pamuk | ISTANBUL
    Turkey said it had dismissed a further 10,000 civil servants and closed 15 more media outlets over suspected links with terrorist organizations and U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, blamed by Ankara for orchestrating a failed coup in July.More than 100,000 people had already been sacked or suspended and 37,000 arrested since the abortive putsch in an unprecedented crackdown President Tayyip Erdogan says is crucial for wiping out the network of Gulen from the state apparatus.
    Thousands more academics, teachers, health workers, prison guards and forensics experts were among the latest to be removed from their posts through two new executive decrees published on the Official Gazette late on Saturday.
    Opposition parties described the move as a coup in itself. The continued crackdown has also raised concerns over the functioning of the state.
    "What the government and Erdogan are doing right now is a direct coup against the rule of law and democracy," Sezgin Tanrikulu, an MP from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), said in a Periscope broadcast posted on Twitter.
    A Turkish court on Sunday formally arrested Gultan Kisanak and Firat Anli, co-mayors of the largely Kurdish southeastern city of Diyarbakir on charges of membership of a terrorist organization after five days in detention, sources said.
    Earlier police used rubber pellets to break up several hundred protesters marching against their arrests. The internet has been largely down in the city for several days, witnesses said.
    Turkey's southeast has been rocked by the worst violence in decades since the collapse last year of a ceasefire between the state and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
    The local prosecutor had said Kisanak, a lawmaker before becoming Diyarbakir's first female mayor in 2014, and Anli had given speeches sympathetic to the PKK, called for greater political autonomy for Turkey's estimated 16 million Kurds and incited violent protests in 2014.
    MISUSE
    The extent of the crackdown has worried rights groups and many of Turkey's Western allies, who fear Erdogan is using the emergency rule to eradicate dissent. The government says the actions are justified given the threat to the state posed by the coup attempt, in which more than 240 people died.
    The executive decrees have ordered the closure of 15 more newspapers, wires and magazines, which report from the largely Kurdish southeast, bringing the total number of media outlets and publishers closed since July to nearly 160.
    Universities have also been stripped of their ability to elect their own rectors according to the decrees. Erdogan will from now on directly appoint the rectors from the candidates nominated by the High Educational Board (YOK).
    Lale Karabiyik, another CHP lawmaker, said the move was a clear misuse of the emergency rule decrees and described it as a coup d'etat on higher education. Pro-Kurdish opposition said the decrees were used as tools to establish a 'one-man regime'.
    The government extended the state of emergency imposed after the coup attempt for three months until mid-January. Erdogan said the authorities needed more time to wipe out the threat posed by Gulen's network as well as Kurdish militants who have waged a 32-year insurgency.
    Ankara wants the United States to detain and extradite Gulen so that he can be prosecuted in Turkey on a charge that he masterminded the attempt to overthrow the government. Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, denies any involvement.
    Speaking to reporters at a reception marking Republic Day on Saturday, Erdogan said the nation wanted the reinstatement of the death penalty, a debate which has emerged following the coup attempt, and added that delaying it would not be right.
    "I believe this issue will come to the parliament," he said, and repeated that he would approve it, a move that would sink Turkey's hopes of European Union membership. Erdogan shrugged off such concerns, saying that much of the world had capital punishment.
    (Additional reporting by Seyhmus Cakan in Diyarbakir; Editing by Clelia Oziel and Alexandra Hudson)

100 former Federal Prosecutors and DOJ officials sign letter expressing concern of Comey's (Violation?)

 
Prosecutors, Justice officials sign letter criticizing Comey decision
begin quote from:
FBI Director James Comey during testimony before the Oversight Committee on, …

Prosecutors, Justice officials sign letter criticizing Comey decision

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A bipartisan group of nearly 100 former federal prosecutors and senior Department of Justice officials, including Attorney General Eric Holder, have signed a letter expressing concerns over FBI Director James Comey’s decision to inform Congress of new emails that may or may not be relevant to Hillary Clinton’s private email server.
“Many of us have worked with Director Comey; all of us respect him,” said the letter, which was released Sunday night by the Clinton campaign. “But his unprecedented decision to publicly comment on evidence in what may be an ongoing inquiry just eleven days before a presidential election leaves us both astonished and perplexed,” said the signatories.
“We cannot recall a prior instance where a senior Justice Department official — Republican or Democrat — has, on the eve of a major election, issued a public statement where the mere disclosure of information may impact the election’s outcome, yet the official acknowledges the information to be examined may not be significant or new.”
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The letter comes after Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, the top Democrat, sent a separate letter Sunday to Comey saying he may have violated a federal law that bars federal officials from using their authority to influence an election.
Here is the full letter:
As former federal prosecutors and high-ranking officials of the U.S. Department of Justice, we know that the impartiality and nonpartisanship of the United States justice system makes it exceptional throughout the world.  To maintain fairness and neutrality, federal law enforcement officials must exercise discipline whenever they make public statements in connection with an ongoing investigation.  Often, evidence uncovered during the course of an investigative inquiry is incomplete, misleading or even incorrect, and releasing such information before all of the facts are known and tested in a court of law can unfairly prejudice individuals and undermine the public’s faith in the integrity of our legal process.

For this reason, Justice Department officials are instructed to refrain from commenting publicly on the existence, let alone the substance, of pending investigative matters, except in exceptional circumstances and with explicit approval from the Department of Justice officials responsible for ultimate supervision of the matter.  They are also instructed to exercise heightened restraint near the time of a primary or general election because, as official guidance from the Department instructs, public comment on a pending investigative matter may affect the electoral process and create the appearance of political interference in the fair administration of justice.

It is out of our respect for such settled tenets of the United States Department of Justice that we are moved to express our concern with the recent letter issued by FBI Director James Comey to eight Congressional Committees.  Many of us have worked with Director Comey; all of us respect him.  But his unprecedented decision to publicly comment on evidence in what may be an ongoing inquiry just eleven days before a presidential election leaves us both astonished and perplexed. We cannot recall a prior instance where a senior Justice Department official—Republican or Democrat—has, on the eve of a major election, issued a public statement where the mere disclosure of information may impact the election’s outcome, yet the official acknowledges the information to be examined may not be significant or new.

Director Comey's letter is inconsistent with prevailing Department policy, and it breaks with longstanding practices followed by officials of both parties during past elections.  Moreover, setting aside whether Director Comey's original statements in July were warranted, by failing to responsibly supplement the public record with any substantive, explanatory information, his letter begs the question that further commentary was necessary.  For example, the letter provides no details regarding the content, source or recipient of the material; whether the newly-discovered evidence contains any classified or confidential information; whether the information duplicates material previously reviewed by the FBI; or even “whether or not [the] material may be significant.”

Perhaps most troubling to us is the precedent set by this departure from the Department’s widely-respected, non-partisan traditions.  The admonitions that warn officials against making public statements during election periods have helped to maintain the independence and integrity of both the Department’s important work and public confidence in the hardworking men and women who conduct themselves in a nonpartisan manner.

We believe that adherence to longstanding Justice Department guidelines is the best practice when considering public statements on investigative matters.  We do not question Director Comey’s motives. However, the fact remains that the Director’s disclosure has invited considerable, uninformed public speculation about the significance of newly-discovered material just days before a national election.  For this reason, we believe the American people deserve all the facts, and fairness dictates releasing information that provides a full and complete picture regarding the material at issue.