4487-ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? | View Thread

PUTIN: RUSSIA WOULD RETALIATE IF HIT BY A NUCLEAR ATTACK, EVEN IF IT LED TO 'GLOBAL CATASTROPHE'

ON 3/7/18 AT 11:22 AM

President Vladimir Putin has warned that he would not hesitate to strike back if Russia was hit by a nuclear adversary, even if it led to a “global catastrophe.”

The Russian leader spoke to one of his country’s most infamous pro-Kremlin TV show hosts, in a tough-talking interview broadcast on national airwaves before Russians go to the polls later this month.

Although no major rivals are permitted on the ballot and Putin is likely to be re-elected, recent votes in Russia have slumped to record low turnouts. The leader has recently made several headline-grabbing statements to present himself as the bulwark against foreign attacks, as he campaigns on the platform of being a “strong president” who will ensure a “strong Russia.”

Asked about nuclear conflict, Putin said he would trigger a launch if Russia’s own defense systems indicated that an enemy had fired nuclear-tipped missiles.

President Vladimir Putin attends a rally to support his candidature in the upcoming presidential election at the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow on March 3. Russians will go to the polls on March 18.KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

“This is called reciprocal strike,” he told host Vladimir Solovyov, in the nearly two-hour TV film World Order 2018, which the media personality posted on his VK social media account Wednesday. “If there is this decision to destroy Russia then we have a legal right to respond.”

Quipping about the aftermath of global devastation, Putin mused: “Yes, this would be a global catastrophe for humanity but I, as a citizen of Russia and the head of the Russian state would like to ask you this—what do we need a world for if there is no Russia in it?”

The film, narrated by Solovyov, aims to show what an arduous job Putin’s presidency is, but broadly revolves around interview segments with the politician himself, along with footage of foreign officials criticizing sanctions on Russia or highlighting the need for Russia to participate in the resolution of global problems. The talking points and Putin’s comments largely overlap with previous glossy documentaries about the president, such as director Oliver Stone’s largely panned series of interviews with the man.

Putin is standing for re-election on March 18 for a record fourth time, meaning if he were to win and remain in place until the end of the six-year term, he will be Russia’s longest-serving leader since Soviet autocrat Joseph Stalin.

Absent a new set of policies after 18 years in charge, Putin has held a stadium rally to stoke public adulation and moved his formal address in front of parliament last week to a modern venue, where he played clips of next-generation Russian arms.

(newsweek)

Israel Now Arming 7 Terrorist Groups In Syria, Report

MARCH 6, 2018

By Brandon Turbeville

Israel has long been known to provide support to terrorists operating in Syria ever since the crisis began in 2011. From providing medical support to terrorist fighters as well as training and intelligence and even some amount of weaponry and logistics, the Israelis have openly supported the so-called rebels in their efforts to overthrow the secular government of Bashar al-Assad. Indeed, Israeli airstrikes on Syrian military and/or allied military positions in support of terrorist factions are the most obvious means of support with Israel having struck Syria around one hundred times since the beginning of the war.

However, while all this information is well known, more evidence has emerged that Israel is now providing terrorists with even more direct support and weaponry that it had done previously.

In an article by Elizabeth Tsurkov, “Israel’s Deepening Involvement With Syria’s Rebels,” posted onWar On The Rocks on February 14, 2018, Tsurkov reveals that Israel is becoming even more active in arming terrorists on Syria’s border (in reality, Syria’s own territory) that will be then used in Syria itself. She writes,

Another major shift in Israeli policy occurred during this time as well, according to Syrian activists and rebels I have interviewed, as well as pro-regime and opposition media reporting. Rebels from Quneitra and western Daraa, as well as media activists in those regions with ties to the rebels, told me that Israel began providing more military support to a greater number of rebel groups affiliated with the Free Syrian Army. This support came in the form of weapons, ammunition and money to purchase weapons on the black market. All of my sources confirmed the identity of at least seven factions receiving Israeli support, on the condition that the groups would not be named. However, two of these groups have been publicly identified before: Liwaa’ Fursan al-Jolan and Firqat Ahrar Nawa. Israeli officials have vehemently denied support to jihadist groups, leaving open the possibility that the government supports these non-jihadist groups.
Some of the groups that started getting Israeli support in late 2017 were previously supported by the Military Operations Command, a CIA-directed center in Amman. Until January 2018, this center paid the salaries for tens of thousands of Free Syrian Army “Southern Front” fighters and provided them with materiel and ammunition. The Trump administration’s decision to shut down the center left rebel factions in southern Syria in desperate need for alternative sponsors.
. . . . .
Israel previously provided assistance to the besieged Beit Jann pocket in western Damascus,transferring medicine, medical equipment, food and diapers. Israel also provided cash to Iyad Moro, a former rebel commander and Israel’s contact person in Beit Jann, for the purchase of weapons on the black market, according to a rebel whose faction was operating in the area. As the Assad regimeintensified its assault on the besieged area,Israel permitted several dozen rebels from Daraa and Quneitra to cross through the occupied Golan to Beit Jann in December 2017. This crossing wasreported in the pro-Hizballah daily al-Akhbar and confirmed to me by four rebels in southern Syria.
Following the surrender of the Beit Jann pocket, some of these fighters were evacuated back to their homes in southern Syria through regime territory, while other rebels left for rebel-held Idlib. A third group, the largest, “reconciled” with the Assad regime and remained in their homes. Israel’s apparent involvement in the “reconciliation” negotiations ensured that these fighters will now serve as a regime-approved militia under Moro’s command, tasked with keeping both rebels and Iranian proxies away from the border fence. This agreement could possibly serve as a blueprint for future deals in southern Syria, which would aim to secure regime and Israeli interests, at the expense of both Iran and the rebels.

Tsurkov also mentions “humanitarian aid” coming from Israel, a country never known for its concern for human rights. This “humanitarian aid” was photographed in a number of terrorist locales after having been liberated by the Syrian military. She writes,

The aid from Israel, which was once concealed or provided through the United Nations and other agencies, began appearing in the original packaging in Hebrew in 2016. Last year, Israel publicized for the first time the extent of the aid it has transferred into Syria, amounting to over 360 tons of food, 90 tons of clothes, and other much-needed items such as generators. Israel also began admitting women and children for day treatments in Israeli hospitals and continues to admit injured and sick Syrians, while Jordan largely sealed off its border. Thus, during the February 2017 rebel offensive on the Manshiye neighborhood in Daraa, Jordan did not allow injured rebels to enter for treatment (a policy Jordan has employed to deter unwanted rebel offensives on the regime), while Israel accepted them in large numbers, according to rebels and activists.
According to dozens of interlocutors in southern Syria, after initial opposition, Israeli aid is being warily accepted by a desperate population that feels abandoned by everyone else. Thousands of Syrians, particularly those residing in camps for the displaced along the border fence, are able to survive thanks to this aid. Syrians who return from medical treatment in Israel tell their friends and relatives about the high quality of the care and describe Israel as a beautiful and highly advanced country.

It is also worth pointing out that Tsurkov attempts to paint Israel as opening its medical facilities to “injured Syrians.” In reality, Israel has opened its hospitals only to terrorists with the exception of perhaps the occasional propaganda necessity.

With all of this in mind, any claims of victimhood by Israel should immediately be discarded. Indeed, this portrayal of self-defense and endangerment should especially be discarded when one considers the history of the state itself.

Israel has made its own enemies by virtue of its colonial nature, its foreign and domestic policy, and even by direct organization and funding. It is thus wholly accurate to say that Israel’s enemies are literally those of its own making.

(activistpost.com)

Say what you will about Little Rocket Man. North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un is the chief thief of a family-run kleptocracy. Like his father and grandfather, he’ll starve his own people to get what he wants. Torture and murder are preferred tools of statecraft.

But he ain’t stupid.

With the announcement of a summit between North and South Korean leaders as a possible prelude to talks with the Trump administration, Kim has maneuvered within view of a victory his forefathers only dreamed of: membership in the world community, on North Korea’s terms. Many things can still go wrong. But his path forward seems pretty clear.

Step one is his rapidly advancing rapprochement with South Korea. The collapse last year of the conservative government in Seoul produced a new South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, who favors better relations with North Korea. Kim responded by rushing to complete testing of his intercontinental ballistic missile in time for an ostentatious peace overture tied to the Winter Olympics near the demilitarized zone.

That led, in turn, to a rare visit by emissaries of the South Korean president to Pyongyang. They returned to Seoul on Tuesday with plans for the late-April meeting — and what appears to be Kim’s next gambit. According to Moon’s national security director, the North Koreans offered a moratorium on further nuclear and missile tests in exchange for “heart-to-heart” talks with the United States. The Kim regime also dangled the idea of giving up its nukes entirely if North Korea’s safety and sovereignty are guaranteed.

At an annual dinner with journalists at the Gridiron Club on March 3, President Trump suggested the United States will meet with North Korea.(Reuters)

“We will see what happens,” President Trump tweeted, with commendable caution. As he weighs his options, he’s sure to hear from critics of new talks between Washington and Pyongyang. Many of them will cite the example of Lucy van Pelt and Charlie Brown’s football. The Kim family has a long track record of promising changes, then snatching them away.

But it’s hard to see that Trump has much choice. The alternative to dangling carrots of safety and sovereignty is to wield the military stick, but this particular stick is in South Korea. Swinging it requires help from our allies on the front lines. Yet Seoul is not on board.

Kim appears to understand that the United States can hardly expose South Korea to a potentially apocalyptic war without support from Moon. To do so would court disaster diplomatically, economically and militarily.

Thus Kim’s thaw with South Korea will likely lead to new talks eventually. When that happens, at least three important facts will be materially different from the last time Lucy got the ball.

First, North Korea’s nukes are an accomplished reality, no longer a possibility to be averted. As appalling as it is to acknowledge this, Kim’s negotiating position is much stronger now. He can aim for a lasting settlement rather than temporary breathing room.

Second, Kim has in neighboring China a model for his own future. His family has always believed that modernization threatens their grip on power, so they sealed it out, making theirs a Hermit Kingdom. But Xi Jinping, the Chinese premier, is attempting to prove that economic liberalization can coexist with political dictatorship. Kim may conclude that he can maintain power without utterly isolating his country.

Third, Kim has on the horizon a prospect for greater security than ever before. It looks like this: Vladimir Putin is champing at the bit to build a natural gas pipeline through North Korea to supply the energy-hungry dynamo to the south. America’s fracking revolution has put tremendous pressure on Russia’s state-owned Gazprom to find new customers for piped gas, which is cheaper than U.S. gas that must be liquefied for oceanic shipping. South Korea is an especially tantalizing market.

Putin was sidetracked by Kim’s decision to weaponize his nuclear capability, and the international sanctions that followed. But if talks with the United States clear away the most severe restrictions, Putin’s pipeline project will surely be resurrected. And if completed, the pipeline will constitute a major strategic Russian asset running right through the middle of North Korea — enough insurance against a U.S. attack that Kim could afford to mothball his own nukes to shelter under the Russian umbrella.

These facts point to a possible solution of the nuclear standoff. Further provocation gains Kim nothing. But his past outrages have put him in a new position, potentially able to turn the page.

On the other hand, the prospect of a normalized North Korea underlines the longer-term challenge for the United States. Would de-escalation erode the rationale for American bases in the south?

China and Russia would certainly be happy to see us leave. And happiest of all would be Kim Jong Un — reckless, dangerous, ruthless Kim — the madman who just might be crazy like a fox.

(The Washington Post)

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 3/8/2018 9:14:46 AM
	PUTIN: RUSSIA WOULD RETALIATE IF HIT BY A NUCLEAR ATTACK, EVEN IF IT LED TO 'GLOBAL CATASTROPHE' BY DAMIEN SHARKOV ON 3/7/18 AT 11:22 AM President Vladimir Putin has warned that he would not hesitate to strike back if Russia was hit by a nuclear adversary, even if it led to a “global catastrophe.” The Russian leader spoke to one of his country’s most infamous pro-Kremlin TV show hosts, in a tough-talking interview broadcast on national airwaves before Russians go to the polls later this month. Although no major rivals are permitted on the ballot and Putin is likely to be re-elected, recent votes in Russia have slumped to record low turnouts. The leader has recently made several headline-grabbing statements to present himself as the bulwark against foreign attacks, as he campaigns on the platform of being a “strong president” who will ensure a “strong Russia.” Asked about nuclear conflict, Putin said he would trigger a launch if Russia’s own defense systems indicated that an enemy had fired nuclear-tipped missiles. President Vladimir Putin attends a rally to support his candidature in the upcoming presidential election at the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow on March 3. Russians will go to the polls on March 18.KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP/GETTY IMAGES “This is called reciprocal strike,” he told host Vladimir Solovyov, in the nearly two-hour TV film World Order 2018, which the media personality posted on his VK social media account Wednesday. “If there is this decision to destroy Russia then we have a legal right to respond.” Quipping about the aftermath of global devastation, Putin mused: “Yes, this would be a global catastrophe for humanity but I, as a citizen of Russia and the head of the Russian state would like to ask you this—what do we need a world for if there is no Russia in it?” The film, narrated by Solovyov, aims to show what an arduous job Putin’s presidency is, but broadly revolves around interview segments with the politician himself, along with footage of foreign officials criticizing sanctions on Russia or highlighting the need for Russia to participate in the resolution of global problems. The talking points and Putin’s comments largely overlap with previous glossy documentaries about the president, such as director Oliver Stone’s largely panned series of interviews with the man. Putin is standing for re-election on March 18 for a record fourth time, meaning if he were to win and remain in place until the end of the six-year term, he will be Russia’s longest-serving leader since Soviet autocrat Joseph Stalin. Absent a new set of policies after 18 years in charge, Putin has held a stadium rally to stoke public adulation and moved his formal address in front of parliament last week to a modern venue, where he played clips of next-generation Russian arms. (newsweek)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+2

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 3/8/2018 9:28:30 AM
	Israel Now Arming 7 Terrorist Groups In Syria, Report MARCH 6, 2018 By Brandon Turbeville Israel has long been known to provide support to terrorists operating in Syria ever since the crisis began in 2011. From providing medical support to terrorist fighters as well as training and intelligence and even some amount of weaponry and logistics, the Israelis have openly supported the so-called rebels in their efforts to overthrow the secular government of Bashar al-Assad. Indeed, Israeli airstrikes on Syrian military and/or allied military positions in support of terrorist factions are the most obvious means of support with Israel having struck Syria around one hundred times since the beginning of the war. However, while all this information is well known, more evidence has emerged that Israel is now providing terrorists with even more direct support and weaponry that it had done previously. In an article by Elizabeth Tsurkov, “Israel’s Deepening Involvement With Syria’s Rebels,” posted onWar On The Rocks on February 14, 2018, Tsurkov reveals that Israel is becoming even more active in arming terrorists on Syria’s border (in reality, Syria’s own territory) that will be then used in Syria itself. She writes, Another major shift in Israeli policy occurred during this time as well, according to Syrian activists and rebels I have interviewed, as well as pro-regime and opposition media reporting. Rebels from Quneitra and western Daraa, as well as media activists in those regions with ties to the rebels, told me that Israel began providing more military support to a greater number of rebel groups affiliated with the Free Syrian Army. This support came in the form of weapons, ammunition and money to purchase weapons on the black market. All of my sources confirmed the identity of at least seven factions receiving Israeli support, on the condition that the groups would not be named. However, two of these groups have been publicly identified before: Liwaa’ Fursan al-Jolan and Firqat Ahrar Nawa. Israeli officials have vehemently denied support to jihadist groups, leaving open the possibility that the government supports these non-jihadist groups. Some of the groups that started getting Israeli support in late 2017 were previously supported by the Military Operations Command, a CIA-directed center in Amman. Until January 2018, this center paid the salaries for tens of thousands of Free Syrian Army “Southern Front” fighters and provided them with materiel and ammunition. The Trump administration’s decision to shut down the center left rebel factions in southern Syria in desperate need for alternative sponsors. . . . . . Israel previously provided assistance to the besieged Beit Jann pocket in western Damascus,transferring medicine, medical equipment, food and diapers. Israel also provided cash to Iyad Moro, a former rebel commander and Israel’s contact person in Beit Jann, for the purchase of weapons on the black market, according to a rebel whose faction was operating in the area. As the Assad regimeintensified its assault on the besieged area,Israel permitted several dozen rebels from Daraa and Quneitra to cross through the occupied Golan to Beit Jann in December 2017. This crossing wasreported in the pro-Hizballah daily al-Akhbar and confirmed to me by four rebels in southern Syria. Following the surrender of the Beit Jann pocket, some of these fighters were evacuated back to their homes in southern Syria through regime territory, while other rebels left for rebel-held Idlib. A third group, the largest, “reconciled” with the Assad regime and remained in their homes. Israel’s apparent involvement in the “reconciliation” negotiations ensured that these fighters will now serve as a regime-approved militia under Moro’s command, tasked with keeping both rebels and Iranian proxies away from the border fence. This agreement could possibly serve as a blueprint for future deals in southern Syria, which would aim to secure regime and Israeli interests, at the expense of both Iran and the rebels. Tsurkov also mentions “humanitarian aid” coming from Israel, a country never known for its concern for human rights. This “humanitarian aid” was photographed in a number of terrorist locales after having been liberated by the Syrian military. She writes, The aid from Israel, which was once concealed or provided through the United Nations and other agencies, began appearing in the original packaging in Hebrew in 2016. Last year, Israel publicized for the first time the extent of the aid it has transferred into Syria, amounting to over 360 tons of food, 90 tons of clothes, and other much-needed items such as generators. Israel also began admitting women and children for day treatments in Israeli hospitals and continues to admit injured and sick Syrians, while Jordan largely sealed off its border. Thus, during the February 2017 rebel offensive on the Manshiye neighborhood in Daraa, Jordan did not allow injured rebels to enter for treatment (a policy Jordan has employed to deter unwanted rebel offensives on the regime), while Israel accepted them in large numbers, according to rebels and activists. According to dozens of interlocutors in southern Syria, after initial opposition, Israeli aid is being warily accepted by a desperate population that feels abandoned by everyone else. Thousands of Syrians, particularly those residing in camps for the displaced along the border fence, are able to survive thanks to this aid. Syrians who return from medical treatment in Israel tell their friends and relatives about the high quality of the care and describe Israel as a beautiful and highly advanced country. It is also worth pointing out that Tsurkov attempts to paint Israel as opening its medical facilities to “injured Syrians.” In reality, Israel has opened its hospitals only to terrorists with the exception of perhaps the occasional propaganda necessity. With all of this in mind, any claims of victimhood by Israel should immediately be discarded. Indeed, this portrayal of self-defense and endangerment should especially be discarded when one considers the history of the state itself. Israel has made its own enemies by virtue of its colonial nature, its foreign and domestic policy, and even by direct organization and funding. It is thus wholly accurate to say that Israel’s enemies are literally those of its own making. (activistpost.com)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+2

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 3/8/2018 10:02:34 AM
	Exodus from Puerto Rico grows as island struggles to rebound from Hurricane Maria By Arelis R. Hernández March 6 at 4:25 PM A neighborhood in Cayey, Puerto Rico, remains without power five months after Hurricane Maria. About half of the town is still in the dark, one of several factors that has led Puerto Rican residents to flee to the mainland United States. (Erika P. Rodriguez/For The Washington Post) SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — There have been three muses in Ramoncito “El Andino” Rodríguez’s life: love, lament and la isla, Puerto Rico. The founder of one of the oldest musical acts here, Rodríguez croons boleros and lyrical anthems that at times quicken the heart and at others create a daydreamy lull. Many of them are homages to his motherland, love songs to this Caribbean island. It was a place he never wanted to leave. But leave, he did. Rodríguez reluctantly abandoned Puerto Rico after several feet of floodwater spilled into his home during Hurricane Maria in September, destroying his instruments, albums and handwritten compositions. The 78-year-old joined hundreds of thousands of other islanders who boarded flights in the past five months, creating a growing diaspora that, as time passes, is increasingly unlikely to return. Rodríguez and his wife, like so many others, picked Florida, and their stateside sojourn was supposed to be temporary. They didn’t expect stability back home to be so elusive for so long. “I’m still here,” Rodríguez said with a sigh from his niece’s house in Homestead, Fla., in mid-February. If the past decade of Puerto Rican history is any indication, his stay could become permanent. “Destiny will decide what happens next.” How Puerto Rican artists are channeling grief and loss to restore joy around San JuanVIEW GRAPHIC Even before Maria strafed the region, a record number of Puerto Ricans were realizing that the declining island might be where their heart is but cannot be where their feet stay. Nearly 500,000 people left Puerto Rico for the mainland during the past decade, according to the Pew Research Center, pushing the stateside Puerto Rican population past the number living on the island last year — an estimated 3.3 million. The government of Puerto Rico’s guess is that by the end of 2018, 200,000 more residents will have left the U.S. territory for good, moving to places such as Florida, New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New England. It would mean another drop of more than 5 percent in the island’s population. Experts say the storm and its widespread devastation undoubtedly have sped up the pace of migration as residents have dealt with extended power outages, communication lapses, infrastructure failures and, in some cases, isolation. What already was the largest exodus in the island’s history now includes people fleeing in droves simply to achieve some sense of normalcy. Just this week, a power outage put nearly 900,000 residents in and around the capital city of San Juan in the dark and without water — again. Tens of thousands in Puerto Rico have had no electricity since the hurricane struck five months ago, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimates that 1 in 10 customers still won’t have it as of the end of March. The island’s bankrupt public utility has struggled to restore power amid contracting scandals, materiel shortages and intermittent blackouts, and the biggest restoration contractor, Fluor Corp., confirmed that it is pulling out of Puerto Rico in the next several weeks after reaching the funding limit of its $746 million contract. The governor announced plans last month to privatize the electric utility, sparking standoffs with unionized workers and arousing suspicions from residents. Some municipalities such as San Sebastian, a town in the island’s northwest corner, didn’t wait and formed their own volunteer brigades to string up power lines and return electricity to thousands of residents. A home damaged by Hurricane Maria in Comerio, Puerto Rico. The town, in the mountainous area of the island, is still mostly without power, according to Mayor Josian Santiago. (Erika P. Rodriguez/For The Washington Post) Nearly 58,000 homes here have roofs made of blue tarps while they await federal assistance; more than 437,000 residents — about 2 of every 5 who applied so far — have received money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for home repairs. For many, the future feels ominous. Victor Dominguez set a June deadline for his island. If Puerto Rico doesn’t get the lights back on and move the economy, the mortgage banker will take his family elsewhere. “I am very attached to my island, and my preference is to stay here, but I have to think what’s best for my son,” the 39-year-old said. “I’m in a moment in which I have to be very observant about what’s happening and be flexible.” Parts of Puerto Rico are still in the dark after Hurricane Maria VIEW GRAPHIC Immediately after the storm, Dominguez sent his family to the States for two weeks while he continued working and taking care of their home. When schools in Florida announced that they would take in Puerto Rican students, he and his wife considered enrolling their 10-year-old. But as long as he had a job on the island, the family decided to work and wait it out. Many of his colleagues and neighbors did not. “Combined with this economic crisis, this was a perfect storm for the country to just empty,” he said. “There’s still a lot of people, but I hear about people who are leaving on a weekly basis. I’ve spoken to people who have this hope of coming back to Puerto Rico, but I’ve also heard from people who are happy to have permanent stability.” José Luis Rodríguez, 53, at his home in Comerio, Puerto Rico. (Erika P. Rodriguez/For The Washington Post) José Luis Rodríguez, 53, spends his nights in a wind-damaged wooden home pressed against a steep hillside in Comerio, in central Puerto Rico. The mosquitoes are relentless, but the loneliness is what stings; he lives by himself in a barrio where most of the residents rely on government assistance, and half of the homes are now vacant because of the hurricane. The La Plata river that runs through the town swelled by more than 60 feet, inundating hundreds of homes, including that of Rodríguez’s daughter, 24. Having lost everything, she joined her twin sister on the mainland, leaving behind their father, who is struggling. “They are the only thing I have,” Rodríguez said. “If I could, I would be there. My daughter said she would come back, but she doesn’t have a place to live.” A photo of the La Plata River in Comerio, Puerto Rico. (Erika P. Rodriguez/For The Washington Post) 'Pretty tough here' Puerto Ricans have moved back and forth between the island and the mainland for more than a century, after they received U.S. citizenship in 1917. The circular migration is a fundamental part of the Puerto Rican experience, immortalized in the island’s art and music, because moving from the territory is as easy as moving between states. The difference between the past decade’s migration and that of previous generations is the character, size and speed with which it threatens to change Puerto Rico’s economic and social future. Migrants are looking for the things they can’t find on the island: jobs and stability. Puerto Rico’s teens and young adults don’t know what kinds of opportunities will be available to them as the economic depression deepens. Hector Camacho, 24, has tried to secure a job as a high school literature teacher for more than a year since graduating from the University of Puerto Rico. He now sends résumés to places such as Wyoming and Washington, D.C., hoping for an answer. “Will I have a roof tomorrow? That’s the worry I have,” said Camacho, who is waiting tables here at a newly opened restaurant and arcade. “I also have loans to pay. It’s been pretty tough here.” Sin Luz: Life without power in the longest blackout in U.S. history VIEW GRAPHIC Camacho and his friend, Christopher Rosario — who left the island a year ago and joined the U.S. Army — were talking outside a laundromat near the university campus in San Juan last week when the power went out for the second time in 24 hours. Both grew up in Utuado, in the central mountains and one of the hardest-hit regions of the island, and what they saw there killed any lingering hope. “You try to see the bright side, but it’s too dim to see anything good,” Camacho said. “I’m done. Once I get a chance, I’m out.” Puerto Rico’s government fears Camacho is not alone. The administration of Gov. Ricardo Rosselló (PNP of Puerto Rico) published projections that put the island’s population well below 3 million within a decade, a possible 10 percent decline in line with what researchers expect to see in war zones or what happened during the Irish potato famine in the mid-1800s. “What we are observing is a major depopulation event that is not extremely common in modern history,” said Lyman Stone, an independent migration researcher and economist at the Agriculture Department who provided models to Puerto Rico. “People kind of treated me like a crazy person when I put it out there.” 2:16 Deciding whether or not to leave home: One Puerto Rican family's struggle The Riveras have run a successful business for decades in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico but after Hurricane Maria keeping it going without power is a new challenge. (Whitney Leaming/The Washington Post) Demographers and economists say Stone’s projections appear to be on the high end, but they caution that the Puerto Rican exodus will cut deeply. The Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College in New York estimates that between 114,000 and 213,000 people will leave the island in 2018, with the vast majority headed for Florida. Most projections are based in part on volatile airline passenger data tracking the number of people boarding flights leaving the island. Three Florida airports reported 371,000 people traveling commercially from Puerto Rico since October. But so far, fewer than 40,000 people have visited the state’s multiagency service centers set up to assist migrants, and far fewer — about 4,500 — have been issued state driver’s licenses. The center’s director, Edwin Meléndez, is using school enrollment data from six states receiving Puerto Rican children to more accurately pinpoint migration. Since the hurricane, more than 22,000 students from the island have enrolled in stateside schools. More than half of those — 10,324 students — enrolled in school districts in Florida. Pennsylvania State University demographer Alexis R. Santos said it is difficult to measure the magnitude of the outflow without also considering people like Rodríguez, the musician, who expect to return. “It’s all speculative,” Santos said. “We have to be really careful with the numbers.” A more accurate migration head count won’t be available for months from the Census Bureau, and even then it probably won’t capture the entire picture of Puerto Rico’s population fluctuations since the storm. “Even before Maria, our ability to measure net migration in Puerto Rico wasn’t very good,” said Mario Marazzi, director of the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics, an independent agency. Josian Santiago, mayor of Comerio, a town that has struggled to recover after the hurricane. (Erika P. Rodriguez/For The Washington Post) Economic predictions depend on good population statistics, said Puerto Rican economist José Joaquín Villamil. The island’s economy had all but sputtered to a halt before the Category 5 hurricane hit, and there already was severe turmoil and job losses. The central government had tried to borrow its way out of strife to the point of bankruptcy. Bondholders demanded payment, and Congress appointed a fiscal oversight board in 2016 that imposed austerity measures. Nearly half of the island’s population lives in poverty, and household income is about $18,000 a year, less than half that of Mississippi, the country’s poorest state. The scarcity of jobs, along with low wages and a rising cost of living, has caused young, working-age Puerto Ricans to head for the mainland, Villamil said. He estimates that nearly half of migrants are younger than 24. Falling birthrates led to a deeper population decline, and Puerto Rico has been left with a rapidly aging populace. Genesis Muñoz, 19, a student at the University of Puerto Rico, wants to believe she can finish her bachelor’s degree in art and painting. But money has gotten tighter since the storm. She doesn’t eat well, her family home in Humacao was severely damaged, and attending classes 40 miles away is becoming too expensive. “Everything is going badly,” Muñoz said. “It bothers me that there are people who live in their bubble of privilege saying everything is okay. It’s not, and I can’t judge those who leave because in the long term I know that I will also have to leave for my career.” Population decline is one of several factors Rossello’s administration weighs in a fiscal plan that was revised this month, detailing how the government views its economic future and how it will find its way out of the red. Critics have said that plan depends heavily on billions in hoped-for federal spending. “With a less-productive population, you are heading toward serious problems,” Villamil said. Carla Lopez works at her office in the Santurce Pop retail incubator on March 2. The space, in San Juan, brings together local designers and artists to set up small shops. After Hurricane Maria, the 33-year-old left with her two young children for Florida but decided to return. (Erika P. Rodriguez/For The Washington Post) ‘Puerto Rico Pa’Lante’ Despite the outlook, some Puerto Ricans who left immediately after the hurricane have returned to their homes and businesses, trying to salvage the lives they had here. Carla Lopez was almost certain she would have to relocate her pop-up retail incubator, Santurce Pop, to central Florida in the days after the hurricane. She and her husband own a building in San Juan that provides affordable space to local entrepreneurs to build their small businesses, most of which specialize in locally sourced products and services. Lopez, 33, took her two young children to Orlando and began making arrangements with the local Chamber of Commerce to move her business there. But while she was shopping at a farmers market, she realized her heart was still in Puerto Rico. “What am I doing here?” she said. “I felt bad being there knowing what was happening back home.” She and her husband decided to return to San Juan and give the business six months to see if they could rebound. Although they lost about half of their clients, the couple reasoned that there was an opportunity to find new customers because many entrepreneurs lost their storefronts or are unable to pay high rent. Since the storm, they have opened a second location in metro San Juan. “We have a social responsibility to provide this space,” Lopez said. “This is ours, this is our baby, and if we don’t fight for it, who will?” That’s a decision over which, Rodríguez, the musician, agonized. He, too, chose to return to the island, arriving Thursday to his waterlogged home, carrying his blue binder of crinkled compositions. Among them is a new song he wrote during his time in Florida. “It’s called ‘Puerto Rico Pa’Lante,’ ” said the crooner, smiling beneath the brim of his Panama hat, explaining that the title means that the commonwealth is moving forward. “The island beckoned me back.” Ramoncito “El Andino” Rodríguez, 78, in his home in Levittown, Puerto Rico, on March 2, the day after he returned with his family after months in Florida. The musician and his wife had to be evacuated the night of the storm and lost almost all of their possessions. (Erika P. Rodriguez/For The Washington Post) Arelis Hernández covers Prince George’s County as part of The Washington Post's local staff and regularly helps cover national breaking news. She has contributed reporting to the Pulse nightclub shooting and the visit of Pope Francis, chased hurricanes, and traveled to Puerto Rico to document the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. Follow @arelisrhdz (The Washington Post)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+2

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 3/8/2018 10:47:01 AM
	‘Barbarism’: Texas judge ordered electric shocks to silence man on trial. Conviction thrown out. By Meagan Flynn March 7 at 6:17 AM Judge George Gallagher listens during a criminal trial in Fort Worth in 2014. (Fort Worth Star-Telegram/AP) In Tarrant County, Tex., defendants are sometimes strapped with a stun belt around their legs. The devices are used to deliver a shock in the event the person gets violent or attempts to escape. But in the case of Terry Lee Morris, the device was used as punishment for refusing to answer a judge’s questions properly during his 2016 trial on charges of soliciting sexual performance from a 15-year-old girl, according to an appeals court. In fact, the judge shocked Morris three times, sending thousands of volts coursing through his body. It scared him so much that Morris never returned for the remainder of his trial and almost all of his sentencing hearing. The action stunned the Texas Eighth Court of Appeals in El Paso, too. It has now thrown out Morris’s conviction on the grounds that the shocks ordered by district judge George Gallagher, and Morris’s subsequent removal from the courtroom, violated his constitutional rights. Since he was too scared to come back to the courtroom, the court held that the shocks effectively barred him from attending his own trial, in violation of the Constitution’s Sixth Amendment, which guarantees a defendant’s right to be present and confront witnesses during a trial. The ruling, handed down Feb. 28, was reported Tuesday in the Texas Lawyer. Judges are not allowed to shock defendants in their courtrooms just because they won’t answer questions, the court said, or because they fail to follow the court’s rules of decorum. “While the trial court’s frustration with an obstreperous defendant is understandable, the judge’s disproportionate response is not. We do not believe that trial judges can use stun belts to enforce decorum,” Justice Yvonne T. Rodriguez said of Gallagher’s actions in the court’s opinion. “A stun belt is a device meant to ensure physical safety; it is not an operant conditioning collar meant to punish a defendant until he obeys a judge’s whim. This Court cannot sit idly by and say nothing when a judge turns a court of law into a Skinner Box, electrocuting a defendant until he provides the judge with behavior he likes.” The stun belt works in some ways like a shock collar used to train dogs. Activated by a button on a remote control, the stun belt delivers an eight-second, 50,000-volt shock to the person wearing it, which immobilizes him so that bailiffs can swiftly neutralize any security threats. When activated, the stun belt can cause the person to seize, suffer heart irregularities, urinate or defecate and suffer possibly crippling anxiety as a result of fear of the shocks. The stun belt can also be very painful. When Montgomery County, Md., purchased three of the devices in 1998, a sheriff’s sergeant who was jolted as part of his training described the feeling to The Washington Post like this: “If you had nine-inch nails and you tried to rip my sides out and then you put a heat lamp on me.” Most courts have found that the stun belts are constitutional as long as they are used on defendants posing legitimate security threats — but the Texas justices said there was no evidence of that here. The discord between Morris and Gallagher arose after Gallagher asked Morris how he would plead: guilty or not guilty? “Sir, before I say that, I have the right to make a defense,” Morris responded. He had recently filed a federal lawsuit against his defense attorney and against Gallagher, whom he wanted recused from the case. As Morris continued talking, Gallagher warned him to stop making “outbursts.” “Mr. Morris, I am giving you one warning,” Gallagher said outside the presence of the jury, according to the appeals court. “You will not make any additional outbursts like that, because two things will happen. No. 1, I will either remove you from the courtroom or I will use the shock belt on you.” “All right, sir,” Morris said. The judge continued: “Now, are you going to follow the rules?” “Sir, I’ve asked you to recuse yourself,” said Morris. Gallagher asked again: “Are you going to follow the rules?” “I have a lawsuit pending against you,” responded Morris. “Hit him,” Gallagher said to the bailiff. The bailiff pressed the button that shocks Morris, and then Gallagher asked him again whether he is going to behave. Morris told Gallagher he had a history of mental illness. “Hit him again,” the judge ordered. Morris protested that he was being “tortured” just for seeking the recusal. Gallagher asked the bailiff, “Would you hit him again?” Morris’s trial defense attorney, Bill Ray, told Texas Lawyer he didn’t object to use of stun belt during trial because his client was acting “like a loaded cannon ready to go off.” He also claimed he did not believe Morris was really being shocked. As the Texas justices note, case law on the use of stun belts on defendants in court is slim, if only because outrageous uses of stun belts in courts are rare. In the several cases cited in the ruling, the stun belts’ damaging effects on a person as well as their controversial history are well recognized. The stun belts were introduced in the early 1990s as a way to “control” prisoners. According to testimony in a stun belt case from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, the devices “acted more as a deterrent rather than a means of actual punishment because of the tremendous amount of anxiety that results from wearing a belt that packs a 50,000-volt to 70,000-volt punch.” “Never before have we seen any behavior like this, nor do we hope to ever see such behavior again,” Rodriguez wrote of Gallagher’s actions. “As the circumstances of this case perfectly illustrate, the potential for abuse in the absence of an explicit prohibition on nonsecurity use of stun belts exists and must be deterred. We must speak out against it, lest we allow practices like these to affront the very dignity of the proceedings we seek to protect and lead our courts to drift from justice into barbarism.” The judge, contacted by The Post, declined to comment, citing judicial ethics. (The Washington Post)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+2

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 3/8/2018 4:30:08 PM
	Kim Jong Un is suddenly talking about peace. Here’s why. A South Korean envoy said March 6 that North Korea is willing to hold talks with the U.S. on denuclearization after a delegation met with leader Kim Jong Un. (Reuters) By David Von Drehle Columnist March 6 at 7:39 PM Say what you will about Little Rocket Man. North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un is the chief thief of a family-run kleptocracy. Like his father and grandfather, he’ll starve his own people to get what he wants. Torture and murder are preferred tools of statecraft. But he ain’t stupid. With the announcement of a summit between North and South Korean leaders as a possible prelude to talks with the Trump administration, Kim has maneuvered within view of a victory his forefathers only dreamed of: membership in the world community, on North Korea’s terms. Many things can still go wrong. But his path forward seems pretty clear. Step one is his rapidly advancing rapprochement with South Korea. The collapse last year of the conservative government in Seoul produced a new South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, who favors better relations with North Korea. Kim responded by rushing to complete testing of his intercontinental ballistic missile in time for an ostentatious peace overture tied to the Winter Olympics near the demilitarized zone. That led, in turn, to a rare visit by emissaries of the South Korean president to Pyongyang. They returned to Seoul on Tuesday with plans for the late-April meeting — and what appears to be Kim’s next gambit. According to Moon’s national security director, the North Koreans offered a moratorium on further nuclear and missile tests in exchange for “heart-to-heart” talks with the United States. The Kim regime also dangled the idea of giving up its nukes entirely if North Korea’s safety and sovereignty are guaranteed. At an annual dinner with journalists at the Gridiron Club on March 3, President Trump suggested the United States will meet with North Korea.(Reuters) “We will see what happens,” President Trump tweeted, with commendable caution. As he weighs his options, he’s sure to hear from critics of new talks between Washington and Pyongyang. Many of them will cite the example of Lucy van Pelt and Charlie Brown’s football. The Kim family has a long track record of promising changes, then snatching them away. But it’s hard to see that Trump has much choice. The alternative to dangling carrots of safety and sovereignty is to wield the military stick, but this particular stick is in South Korea. Swinging it requires help from our allies on the front lines. Yet Seoul is not on board. Kim appears to understand that the United States can hardly expose South Korea to a potentially apocalyptic war without support from Moon. To do so would court disaster diplomatically, economically and militarily. Thus Kim’s thaw with South Korea will likely lead to new talks eventually. When that happens, at least three important facts will be materially different from the last time Lucy got the ball. First, North Korea’s nukes are an accomplished reality, no longer a possibility to be averted. As appalling as it is to acknowledge this, Kim’s negotiating position is much stronger now. He can aim for a lasting settlement rather than temporary breathing room. Second, Kim has in neighboring China a model for his own future. His family has always believed that modernization threatens their grip on power, so they sealed it out, making theirs a Hermit Kingdom. But Xi Jinping, the Chinese premier, is attempting to prove that economic liberalization can coexist with political dictatorship. Kim may conclude that he can maintain power without utterly isolating his country. Third, Kim has on the horizon a prospect for greater security than ever before. It looks like this: Vladimir Putin is champing at the bit to build a natural gas pipeline through North Korea to supply the energy-hungry dynamo to the south. America’s fracking revolution has put tremendous pressure on Russia’s state-owned Gazprom to find new customers for piped gas, which is cheaper than U.S. gas that must be liquefied for oceanic shipping. South Korea is an especially tantalizing market. Putin was sidetracked by Kim’s decision to weaponize his nuclear capability, and the international sanctions that followed. But if talks with the United States clear away the most severe restrictions, Putin’s pipeline project will surely be resurrected. And if completed, the pipeline will constitute a major strategic Russian asset running right through the middle of North Korea — enough insurance against a U.S. attack that Kim could afford to mothball his own nukes to shelter under the Russian umbrella. These facts point to a possible solution of the nuclear standoff. Further provocation gains Kim nothing. But his past outrages have put him in a new position, potentially able to turn the page. On the other hand, the prospect of a normalized North Korea underlines the longer-term challenge for the United States. Would de-escalation erode the rationale for American bases in the south? China and Russia would certainly be happy to see us leave. And happiest of all would be Kim Jong Un — reckless, dangerous, ruthless Kim — the madman who just might be crazy like a fox. (The Washington Post)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+2

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