Mosul Iraq & national security issues of the week with Barry Jacobsen.....Listen in now at https://t.co/i5wnKd83Yr. #BlogTalkRadio— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) October 25, 2016
Chile, Venezuela, El Chapo in Mexico & US elections.....Listen in now at https://t.co/FioCC5tRCs. #BlogTalkRadio— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) October 27, 2016
Making a bit of history, the United States on Wednesday abstained for the first time in an annual General Assembly condemnation of the half-century-old American trade embargo against Cuba.The abstention — a break from the “no” vote the United States delegation has always cast — was another important signal by the Obama administration of its intention to fully repair relations with Cuba, including an end to the embargo.The reconciliation began two years ago when President Obama abandoned the policy of his predecessors to isolate the Castro government in Cuba and moved to restore diplomatic ties with the island nation of 11 million.The United States and Cuba formally re-established embassies in each other’s capitals in July 2015, ending more than more than five decades of Cold War-era enmity.But the embargo, which can only be rescinded by Congress, remains in force.
Following the events of 1961–62, economic and diplomatic isolation became the major prongs of U.S. policy toward Cuba.
This continued even after the Soviet Union’s collapse.Washington strengthened the embargo with the 1992 Cuba Democracy Act and 1996 Helms-Burton Act (PDF), which state that the embargo may not be lifted until Cuba holds free and fair elections and transitions to a democratic government that excludes the Castros. (Raúl has said he will leave office in 2018.)
Hispanics and the 2016 vote with Michael Bargo, author.......Listen in now at https://t.co/4Ewqb2EqBJ. #BlogTalkRadio— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) October 24, 2016
Attorneys wondered out loud in questions passed along in a 2015 bombshell email to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign why Clinton inexplicably sent secure documents on a private email server and then further deleted documents without consulting anyone, as such a move “smacks of acting above the law.”The email, leaked by WikiLeaks as part of its release of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s correspondence, dates back to June 21, 2015, and discusses in unusually frank detail the scandalous nature of Clinton’s use of a private email server.The email contains several questions from other lawyers passed along from Erika Rottenberg, a lawyer with extensive experience in the policy and tech world with ties to the Clinton campaign.
In another email, Mr. Band wrote that Mr. Clinton had even received gifts from some donors.The tensions came to a head when Chelsea Clinton helped enlist an outside law firm to audit the Clinton Foundation’s practices. Some interviewees told the audit team that the donors “may have an expectation of quid pro quo benefits in return for gift.” The audit suggested the foundation “ensure that all donors are properly vetted and that no inappropriate quid pro quos are offered to donors in return for contributions.”The advice proved prescient as Mrs. Clinton faced intense scrutiny about whether donors to the Clinton Foundation had received special access to her State Department or other rewards. In August, the foundation said it would no longer accept foreign donations should Mrs. Clinton win the White House.
Voted Monday.......I voted to protect the unborn.....— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) October 27, 2016
NO TO THE SECOND CLINTON SHOW.... pic.twitter.com/o8z6dcgaoB
Hillary self proclaimed champion of women became RICH taking $$ from countries that treat women like dirt...NO TO THE SECOND CLINTON SHOW.. pic.twitter.com/5GYgC4NTAM— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) October 27, 2016
The forces here — US and Iraqi — are now preparing for the next stage of the offensive that will bring Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces to the gates of Mosul on three sides of the densely packed city, where as many as 1.2 million civilians still live under ISIS control.Al Jobouri slips out of the operations room for a quick cigarette; it’s difficult to find a commander — Iraqi or Peshmerga — that doesn’t smoke.He thinks the offensive is going well but worries about the next stage — saying that as it retreats, ISIS is driving civilians back into Mosul from outlying villages, and using them as cover.The general is well aware that ISIS is a resourceful enemy capable of hitting back.He suddenly yells into his cellphone: “You guys need to get them out of there!” They have been flanked by 15 Daesh and I don’t want to hear bad news.”
Premiums will go up sharply next year under President Obama’s healthcare law, and many consumers will be down to just one insurer, the administration confirmed Monday. That will stoke another Obamacare controversy days before a presidential election.Before taxpayer-provided subsidies, premiums for a midlevel benchmark plan will increase an average of 25% across the 39 states served by the federally run online market, according to a report from the Department of Health and Human Services. Some states will see much bigger jumps, others less.
The vast majority of the more than 10 million customers who purchase through HealthCare.gov and its state-run counterparts do receive generous financial assistance. “Enrollment is concentrated among very low-income individuals who receive significant government subsidies to reduce premiums and cost-sharing,” said Caroline Pearson of the consulting firm Avalere HealthBut an estimated 5 million to 7 million people are either not eligible for the income-based assistance or they buy individual policies outside of the health law’s markets, where the subsidies are not available. The administration is urging the latter group to check out HealthCare.gov. The spike in premiums generally does not affect the employer-provided plans that most workers and their families rely on.
North Texas voters appeared eager to cast ballots Monday, the first day of a two-week early voting period.Dallas County shattered first-day early voting records. Nearly 58,350 people voted, county officials said on Facebook. That's compared with 32,512 voters in 2012 and 34,415 voters in 2008.Toni Pippins-Poole, county election administrator, said she wants to watch the trend as early voting continues. "Usually the first couple days are real busy, people are really anxious to get their vote cast," she said. "Typically we know the last three days of early voting really will be a record turnout if we are looking at early voting already 10,000 votes past 2012."
After another unsuccessful run in 1994, Batlle finally won election in 1999 and took office in 2000.
In 2001, Uruguay was hit by an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease that forced the country to suspend all exports of meat, a backbone of the economy. Shortly after that, Uruguay was dragged down by an economic crisis in its neighbor and major trading partner, Argentina.
By 2002, Uruguay's foreign reserves had dived and unemployment reached 20 percent.
Batlle used his good relation with U.S. President George W. Bush to help obtain $1.5 billion in credit to stave off default.
Battle broke diplomatic relations with communist-led Cuba in 2002 after a war of words with Fidel Castro following Uruguay's decision to condemn Cuba's human rights record in an annual U.N. vote in Geneva. Relations were restored in 2005.
Chile’s right snatched dozens of mayoralties on Sunday from the governing center-left coalition, in a boost to former leader Sebastian Pinera, the front-runner to lead the conservative coalition in next year’s presidential election.With over 99 percent of results counted on Sunday night in local elections, the right-leaning Chile Vamos pact emerged as the big winner. It won slightly more votes than President Michelle Bachelet’s left-leaning Nueva Mayoria coalition, despite the left going into the vote with a massive incumbent advantage.Conservative candidates won the majority of key swing cities, including central Santiago, a municipality inside the capital that is considered an electoral bellwether.“This reflects that residents are tired of incomplete promises,” the conservative mayor-elect of central Santiago, Felipe Alessandri, told Reuters. “Citizens have made their annoyance at the old practices of politicians clear, and they have made clear that they expect to be listened to.”
For many voters, Bachelet has gone too far in her attempts to reform the free-market economic model imposed under Pinochet, as the economy posts the slowest sustained growth in more than 30 years.For another group, she hasn’t gone far enough, while many others were disenchanted after a series of financing scandals tarnished the reputation of parties across the political spectrum.
In sum, the “Contract with the American Voter” is nothing short of spectacular under the increasingly ominous circumstances of 2016 and a worthy sequel to the “Contract with America” (perhaps Newt Gingrich had a hand).We can only hope that the American people get a chance to review it — that it won’t be overwhelmed by the media’s self-serving fixation on scandal and Trump’s (sigh) frustrating cooperation with them — because if the people do, I am certain the vast majority will approve of Trump’s sensible proposals and elect him president.Substance or scandal? That is the dilemma our country faces at the end of October 2016.
