Presumptuous Politics : Dec 30, 2016

Mayor De Blasio Cartoons

NYPD to allow Sikh officers to wear turbans and beards while on duty

In a gesture of goodwill to the city’s burgeoning Sikh population, the New York City Police Department will soon allow officers who are members of the religion to wear blue turbans and beards while on duty.
The announcement was made by NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill on Wednesday shortly after the police academy’s graduation ceremony at Madison Square Garden.
"We're making this change to make sure that we allow everybody in New York City that wants to apply and have the opportunity to work for the greatest police department in the nation," O’Neill told the media as he was flanked by NYPD officers wearing blue turbans with badges on them.
Sikh officers will now be permitted to wear turbans in place of the traditional police cap and grow beards up to a half-inch long for religious reasons, provided that they first get approval from a commanding officer. The turbans also must be navy blue and have the NYPD insignia attached.
Before, Sikh officers had to fit their turbans under their department issued cap. Beards were forbidden because they interfered with wearing gas masks.
"I thought it was about time that we did that," O’Neill told DNA Info. "Hopefully, with this change in policy, we're going to be able to get more people to apply."
O’Neill added that there are about 160 Sikhs serving in the police department.
If the NYPD officially enacts the policy, it will join a small group of law enforcement agencies that permit their ranks to wear a beard and turban, which includes police departments in Washington D.C. and Riverside, California as well as the United States Army. Since the 1990s, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have permitted beards and turbans and earlier this year allowed Muslim “Mounties” to wear a hijab.
Members of the Sikh Coalition – a group that aims to protect Sikh’s religious freedoms in the U.S. – said that until a written policy is implemented it’s difficult to weigh in on the merits of the change and the impact it will have on the community. The group did, however, say that O’Neill’s words sent “a powerful message” to the rest of the country.
"The NYPD's refusal to hire turbaned and bearded Sikhs allows other employers to justify refusing to hire Sikhs,” Harsimran Kaur, the Sikh Coalition’s Legal Director, said in a statement sent to FoxNews.com. “If the NYPD's new policy indeed allows for Sikhs to maintain unshorn beards and turbans, that sends a powerful message to the rest of America that Sikhs are an important part of our nation's fabric."
Sikhism is a monotheistic religion that originated in the 15^th century in the Punjab region of India and Pakistan. Male observant Sikhs often cover their heads with turbans — which are considered sacred — and refrain from shaving their beards.
While the majority of the world's 30 million Sikhs live in India, the Sikh Coalition estimates that there are between 500,000 and 1 million members of the religious group living in the U.S., with the majority residing in the tri-state area around New York City.
"This has been a careful process that we've been working with the Sikh officers to try to make sure we get this done," O'Neill said of the NYPD’s new policy. "We want to make the NYPD as diverse as possible and I think this is going to go a long way to help us with that."
The NYPD will offer an entrance exam to the police academy in January – the first time the nation’s largest police force has done so in about a year and a half.

Conway says Trump will have a 'much stronger relationship with Israel'

President-elect Donald Trump's incoming counselor said Thursday that Trump “does believe it’s time to move on and look forward to the next administration.”
In an interview on Fox News' "Hannity," Kellyanne Conway discussed the US sanctions imposed on Russia. Russia has responded to the sanctions by threatening to retaliate and has said the move was done to hurt the incoming administration.
“We have complicated relations with Russia. We have for decades as the United States,” Conway said. “President-elect has made it clear that he is willing to work with countries who want to work on big solutions together.”
Conway also discussed the relationship between the US and Israel saying, “You will see President Trump having much stronger relationship with Israel.”
Conway said Israel is America’s greatest friend and that “we want our friends in Israel to know that help is on the way.”
“You see this flurry of activity by a tough President Obama as he exits the office,” Conway said. “You can’t put daylight between the US and Israel.”
“We do wonder about the rush to do all these things the next couple of weeks by the Obama administration,” Conway added.
“January 20th will be here quickly and it’s very important to all of us,” Conway said of the Trump administration taking office. “I think it’s important to America that you see that peaceful transition of power from administration to administration. “

Trump responds to sanctions against Russia, says it's time to 'move on'

President-elect Donald Trump said Thursday “it’s time for our country to move on to bigger and better things” after the Obama administration issued sanctions against Russia for its alleged 2016 election hacking.
“It's time for our country to move on to bigger and better things,” Trump said in a written response released four hours after the announcement. “Nevertheless, in the interest of our country and its great people, I will meet with leaders of the intelligence community next week in order to be updated on the facts of this situation."
The Obama administration announced sanctions against Russia’s intelligence services, while ejecting dozens of intelligence operatives from the U.S. as part of a response to what it says are efforts by Moscow to influence the election.
Using an executive order, President Obama sanctioned the GRU and the FSB -- two of Russia's intelligence services as well as other entities and individuals associated with the GRU. The cybersecurity firm hired by the Democratic National Committee to investigate the hack of its emails earlier this year concluded the hacking came from the Fancy Bear group, believed to be affiliated with the GRU, Russia's military intelligence agency.
In addition to the sanctions, the State Department has declared 35 Russian intelligence operatives "persona non grata" in the U.S., giving them 72 hours to leave, and is shutting down two Russian compounds in Maryland and New York.
The Maryland property is a 45-acre property at Pioneer Point, and was purchased by the Soviet government in 1972.
The New York property is on Long Island and is 14 acres and was purchased by the Soviet government in 1954.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman said in response to the announcement that Moscow will consider retaliatory measures.
"We think that such steps by a U.S. administration that has three weeks left to work are aimed at two things: to further harm Russian-American ties, which are at a low point as it is, as well as, obviously, to deal a blow to the foreign policy plans of the incoming administration of the president-elect," Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow.
The Russian Embassy in the UK took a different approach, tweeting out a picture of a lame duck and blasting what it called "Cold War deja vu."
The Treasury Secretary meanwhile has named two individuals -- Evgeniy Mikhailovich Bogachev and Aleksey Alekseyevich Belan -- it says were involved in "malicious cyber-enabled activities."
"These actions follow repeated private and public warnings that we have issued to the Russian government, and are a necessary and appropriate response to efforts to harm U.S. interests in violation of established international norms of behavior," Obama said in a statement.
Obama also announced that the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI will release declassified information on Russian cyberactivity to help "identify, detect and Russia's global campaign of malicious cyber activities."
Obama also said that the administration will be providing a report to Congress "in the coming days" about Russian attempts to interfere in the election, as well as previous election cycles.
The president also hinted that his administration intends to do more to hold Russia accountable.
"These actions are not the sum total of our response to Russia's aggressive activities," Obama said. "We will continue to take a variety of actions at a time and place of our choosing, some of which will not be publicized."
U.S. intelligence services have concluded that the Russians interfered in the election to try and help President-elect Donald Trump win. Trump has dismissed the conclusions.
However, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis. welcomed the move in a statement.
"Russia does not share America's interests. In fact, it has consistently sought to undermine them, sowing dangerous instability around the world. While today's action by the administration is overdue, it is an appropriate way to end eight years of failed policy with Russia," Ryan said.
Incoming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY., also praised the move in a statement late Thursday.
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-TX., called Obama's actions "long overdue," while House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes said he's been "urging" Obama for years to take action and that this "indecision and delay" explains why "American's influence has collapsed."

Putin spokesman says Russia weighs retaliation after sanctions

The spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday Moscow will consider retaliatory measures following the new round of U.S. sanctions put in place by President Obama.
Russia also continued to deny accusations by the U.S. that it hacked and stole emails in order to aide in Trump’s win. Trump commented on the matter saying the U.S. should move on. Trump is planning on meeting with U.S. intelligence leaders next week to learn more.

Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow that the measures signal Obama’s “unpredictable” and “aggressive foreign policy.”
The spokesman added that Putin would order “appropriate” retaliation for the sanctions.
"We think that such steps by a U.S. administration that has three weeks left to work are aimed at two things: to further harm Russian-American ties, which are at a low point as it is, as well as, obviously, to deal a blow to the foreign policy plans of the incoming administration of the president-elect," Peskov said.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev took to Twitter to call out the new round of U.S. sanctions against his country, saying the Obama administration is “ending its term in an anti-Russia agony.”
The Obama administration announced sanctions against Russia’s intelligence services, while ejecting dozens of intelligence operatives from the U.S., as part of a response to what it says are efforts by Moscow to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Friday, December 30, 2016

Mayor De Blasio Cartoons

NYPD to allow Sikh officers to wear turbans and beards while on duty

Conway says Trump will have a 'much stronger relationship with Israel'

Trump responds to sanctions against Russia, says it's time to 'move on'

Putin spokesman says Russia weighs retaliation after sanctions

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