Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

More information comes out on Manafort, Page, Flynn connections with Russia
Salon | Matthew Rozsa | 05/25/17/span>

After the infamous Steele dossier came out, Paul Manafort reached out to Team Trump

Roughly a week before Trump was inaugurated, former campaign manager Paul Manafort contacted Trump's chief of staff Reince Priebus in order to cast aspersions on a controversial dossier compiled by former MI6 officer Christopher Steele, according to a report by Politico. Although he had kept in touch with the Trump team in the five months since he resigned due to reports of his connections with the Putin-associated politicians in Eastern Europe, and is reported to have talked to Trump himself at least twice during that period, those conversations had been either political or personal in nature.

... In related news, The New York Times reported that American spies learned last summer that senior Russian intelligence and political officials were trying to figure out how to shape Trump's views on Russia using Manafort and Michael Flynn, who was at that time an adviser to Trump and would serve as his national security adviser before resigning in disgrace in February. ... Read more

US On Track To Kill More Syrian Civilians Than Russia For 5th Straight Month
ZeroHEdge | author | 05/26/17

Coalition-led airstrikes in Syria killed a total of 225 civilians between April 23 and May 23, the highest 30-day death toll for U.S.-led forces since the campaign began, Agence France-Presse reported. That's nearly double the number of intended targets... Read more

Six to One Against Trump on Climate in 'Honest' Exchange at G-7
Bloomberg | Arne Delfs | 05/26/17

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Donald Trump was isolated on climate change at the Group of Seven, as the president said he's in no rush to decide whether to scrap U.S. involvement in the Paris Agreement.

A closed-door session on the first day of the G-7 summit in Sicily found unity on stepping up efforts to combat terrorism, but entered stormier waters on trade and on climate, Merkel said. At that stage it was six against one as leaders pressed Trump to hold to U.S. agreements made under the landmark Paris climate accord.

"We made it clear that we want the U.S. to stick to its commitments," Merkel told reporters after the meeting on Friday. "There were very different arguments from us all urging the president to hold to the climate accord." She said the discussion was conducted in a very "honest" atmosphere, leading to a "very intense exchange." ... Read more

As Markets Hit Record Highs, Stock Ownership Is Down (Except For Old & Rich People)
ZeroHEdge | author | 05/26/17

While mainstream media crows of the daily record highs in US equity market, overall stock ownership among US adults remains about 10 percentage points below its pre-crisis level. However, there are two demographic subgroups where ownership has held firm: Adults aged 65 and older and those with an annual household income of $100,000 or more. ... Read more

John Boehner Says Trump's Presidency Has Been Mostly A 'Disaster'
HP | Sam Levine | 05/26/17

Speaking at an energy conference in Houston on Wednesday, Boehner did praise Trump on foreign affairs and said he had stepped up the fight against the Islamic State militant group. But he generally gave a grim assessment of the president's first few months in office, according to energy publication Rigzone.

"Everything else he's done [in office] has been a complete disaster," Boehner said. "He's still learning how to be president." Boehner, who backed the businessman during the presidential campaign, criticized the Trump's late-night tweets and said he hadn't imagined him becoming commander-in-chief. ... Read more

More Than One in Three Black Students in the South Attend an Intensely Segregated School
MotherJones | Edwin Rios | 05/26/17

More than 60 years after Brown v. Board of Education, the progress made toward dismantling segregated schools in the South, once the most integrated region in the country, seems to be steadily falling apart.

A report released this week by UCLA's Civil Rights Project and Penn State University's Center for Education and Civil Rights finds that in 2014, more than one in three black students attended a school in the South that was intensely racially segregated, meaning a school where 90 percent of students were racial minorities--a 56 percent rise from 1980. The report also finds that the number of Latino students enrolled in public schools in the South surpassed black enrollment for the first time ever, making up 27 percent of the student body. That's significant, as the percentage of Latino students in the South attending an intensely racially segregated school is also on the rise--42 percent in 2014, up from 37 percent in 1980. ... Read more

Betsy DeVos Testifies About Trump's Education Budget at Congressional Hearing (FULL) | FNN | 05/24/17 | 1:59:56