Turkey Categorically Denies Letting U.S. Use Their Air base Against ISIS

WASHINGTON — Turkish leaders on Monday denied they had struck an agreement with the United States over using their bases to bomb ISIS militants in Syria — an embarrassing diplomatic setback a day after US leaders touted the deal.
On Sunday, US defense officials said Turkey would allow the use of its bases — including the key southern one of Incirlik 100 miles from Syria’s border — in operations against the jihadists.
National Security Adviser Susan Rice also hailed an agreement to train moderate Syrian forces at Turkish facilities. “That’s a new commitment, and one that we very much welcome,” she said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
But Monday, Turkish officials rejected the US claims.
“There is no new agreement with the United States,” a Turkish official said. “Negotiations are continuing.”

Hillary Clinton touts affordable higher education at $225G Las Vegas speech

Hillary Clinton called for businesses to collaborate with universities to make higher education more affordable at a $225,000 speech Monday night at the annual University of Nevada Las Vegas Foundation dinner. 
"Higher education shouldn’t be a privilege for those able to afford it," Clinton told a crowd of approximately 900 people. "It should be an opportunity widely available for anybody with the talent, determination and ambition."
The former Secretary of State said that many students are affected by student loan debt "that can feel like an anchor dragging them down," and praised President Obama for increasing federal Pell grants by $1,000. 
Clinton first made headlines in June for the address when it was revealed UNLV is paying Clinton the steep rate to speak at the foundation's ritzy dinner at the Bellagio hotel and casino. 
UNLV students protested her visit, insisting the university instead spend the money on scholarships -- as tuition at the school will increase by 17 percent over the next four years. 
“You could give scholarships to thousands of students, benefit research on campus, give more students grants for research and studying,” Daniel Waqar, student relations director for the UNLV Student Government, told Nevada political journalist Jon Ralston in June. 
The top donor tables at the event cost between $3,000 and $20,000 each. The university says that the UNLV Foundation raised over $350,000 from those donors alone, while an additional $235,000 was raised from a pledge drive held during the dinner, more than recouping the cost of Clinton's speech. 
The speaking fee is expected to go toward the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation. 
Monday's event was just the latest of many high-priced talks the Clintons routinely have given -- which clashed with Hillary Clinton's claim during her recent book tour that she and her husband were "dead broke" when they left the White House in 2001. 
Before appearing at the Bellagio, Clinton made a stop in Denver to campaign for Colorado Sen. Mark Udall and later appeared at a Nevada Democratic Party fundraiser in Las Vegas with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. The Las Vegas Sun reported that VIP tickets to the fundraiser at the Aria resort cost $10,000 each.
This was Clinton’s third official visit to Sin City since March. Most recently, she spoke at the Clean Energy Summit in September.

Greg Abbott shrugs off Wendy Davis 'wheelchair' ad, says it's 'her prerogative'

WASHINGTON –  Texas Attorney General and GOP gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott shrugged off a campaign ad by Democrat Wendy Davis invoking the accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down and left him relying on the use of a wheelchair.
"If she wants to attack a guy in a wheelchair, that's her prerogative," Abbott told Fox News' Sean Hannity Monday evening. "As for me, I'm running a different type of campaign ... I will focus on the future of Texas while my opponent continues to attack me."
Davis dug in Monday in the face of heavy criticism, claiming at a Fort Worth news conference that the ad was designed to portray Abbott as someone who worked against the disabled. During her remarks, Davis was flanked by disability rights activists, including two people in wheelchairs. 
Asked by a reporter if the ad exploits Abbott’s disability, Davis said, “This ad is about one thing. And one thing only. It’s about Greg Abbott’s hypocrisy.”
Abbott disagreed, telling Hannity, "It shows that her campaign is focused on one thing, and that is attacking me ... I don't think it's going to sell real well, so I'm going to stay focused on the future." The candidate then linked Davis' campaign to President Obama, saying, "Most of what I'm running on is trying to solve the problems he has created, even here in Texas. My opponent is having to run from Barack Obama, and all she can do is attack me."
The ad from Davis has faced bipartisan criticism since its release late last week. Seizing on this, Abbott’s camp on Monday released a compilation of sound bites from political roundtables and panel discussions criticizing Davis’ ad and likening it to a “Hail Mary” pass. The Abbott campaign website likewise is filled with clips of criticism of the ad. The head of the Texas GOP called it "despicable." 
The 30-second Davis ad released Friday goes where no campaign ad of hers has gone before. It opens with an image of a wheelchair, and then criticizes Abbott for allegedly not doing enough to help other victims, despite himself receiving a large monetary settlement after a falling branch paralyzed him. It criticizes Abbott, currently the Texas attorney general, for supporting legislation that limits awards on legal settlements and other positions. 
The narrator in the ad says, “A tree fell on Greg Abbott. He sued and got millions. Since then, he’s spent his career working against other victims.” 
Texas GOP Chairman Steve Munisteri swiftly called on Davis to apologize to the disabled community. 
"I expect in campaigns that candidates will run negative and misleading ads; however, I never expected a candidate to use another candidate's physical disability as a prop in an ad or to their advantage," Munisteri said in a statement. "The Wendy Davis ad is easily the most offensive and despicable ad I have seen in my 42 years in politics. ... Using a wheelchair as a prop for political advantage is an affront to all disabled people." 
Davis, though, defended the ad.
“In 1984, Greg Abbott sought out and received justice following a horrible injury, rightly so … receiving millions of dollars. And I’m glad, he deserved justice for the terrible tragedy that he endured,” Davis said during the press conference. “But then he turned around and built his career working to deny the very same justice that he received to his fellow Texans rightly seeking it for themselves.” 
Davis’ ad is the first by an Abbott opponent to make an issue of his use of a wheelchair, though Abbott’s own ads have drawn attention to his disability.
“Some politicians talk about having a spine of steel. I actually have one,” Abbott said in 2013 when he launched his gubernatorial campaign.
Davis spokesman Zac Patkanas also defended the ad to The Associated Press, calling it "incredibly powerful" and a fair critique of Abbott as a hypocrite when it comes to his personal health versus public policy.

Oregon gov's fiancee reportedly helped buy land for marijuana grow in 1997

Cylvia Hayes, the fiancee of Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, jointly bought land intended to be used for an illegal marijuana growing operation in 1997, according to a published report. 
KOIN-TV reported late Monday that Hayes bought the $245,000 property in Washington state with another man using a $15,000 down payment in November of that year. The man who sold the couple the land told the station that they soon stopped making payments and records showed that Hayes gave up her interest in the property in April 1998. She moved to Oregon three months later. 
Hayes issued a statement saying that she was "not proud of that brief period of time" and claimed that "I was involved in an abusive relationship with a dangerous man." KION reports that the ex-boyfriend, whose name has not been released, has a history of domestic violence convictions.
Last week, Hayes admitted that she was paid to enter a fraudulent marriage to help an Ethiopian immigrant remain in the United States, also in 1997. She's also under fire for earning money from organizations seeking to influence state policy.
The man who sold Hayes and her then-boyfriend the land, a real estate broker named Patrick Siemion, told KOIN, "There was somewhat of a leader-follower [dynamic] there, and she was leading and the gentleman was following."
"She did all the talking, all the negotiating," Siemion told The Oregonian. "I remember her saying, `Oh this is just the perfect place, we're so happy to have it.'"
Hayes said she was never financially involved in the marijuana grow, and shortly after moving there "began to make plans to get away. 
"I did not pay any part of the down payment or mortgage payments," she said. "I had no money. The money I had received in July 1997 for entering a fraudulent marriage was used as I have previously stated -- to purchase a laptop and pay school expenses."
Siemion told The Oregonian that he found marijuana trimmings in an upstairs bedroom after the property went into foreclosure. He said he did not see marijuana plants but found fertilizer and irrigation tubing that he considered evidence of a grow.
Hayes got engaged over the summer to Kitzhaber, the Democratic governor who is seeking a fourth term in next month's election.
Kitzhaber's Republican rival, state Rep. Dennis Richardson, has tried to keep the focus on Hayes' consulting work, arguing that Hayes' outside work is part of a pattern of missteps that show Kitzhaber's administration is "inept and unethical."
Kitzhaber on Monday asked a state commission for a formal opinion on whether Hayes is subject to state ethics laws and, if so, whether she's broken them.
Kitzhaber says his office has taken care to make sure that Hayes' consulting work doesn't pose a conflict of interest, including proactively reviewing her contracts before she agreed to work. But all three contracts made public by the governor's office were reviewed only after they went into effect.
A decision by the Oregon Government Ethics Commission is unlikely to come before the election. The commission can take up to 120 days to respond, and there are no scheduled meetings before the Nov. 4 election.
Before Kitzhaber was elected governor, Hayes ran a consulting business, 3E Strategies, that worked on renewable energy issues. As first lady, she's taken a public and active role, advising the governor on energy policy while advocating programs that reduce hunger and poverty. She's uncompensated and has continued her outside consulting.
The governor's office has released copies of three contracts from 2013 worth nearly $86,000, along with draft and final conflict disclosure forms. The drafts, dated in July 2013, suggest Hayes couldn't use her first lady title in her consulting work or any state facilities, including Mahonia Hall, the governor's official residence.
But the final versions of the documents include exceptions, allowing Hayes to call herself first lady in "a biographical profile" and use Mahonia Hall for meetings on contracts already obtained.
Rachel Wray, a spokeswoman for Kitzhaber's office, said the documents were changed after Hayes "asked for clarification."

Fool of the Week: Gwyneth Paltrow

Well, what a week. It's tough to narrow it down to one fool this week
There the Nebraska school district that wants children to be addressed as "purple penguins" so as to NOT offend  Lesbian, Gay, bisexual or transgendered students. 
Or the Harvard student body who think America is a "greater threat to world peace than ISIS."
And maybe the Seattle City Counsel who renamed Columbus Day..."Indiginous People's Day."
But by overwhelming margin, actress Gwyneth Paltrow wins for her trifecta of idiocy:
1. President Obama is so handsome you can't speak when you're around him 
2. You relate to working women.
3.And you just don't understand why President Obama isn't given all the power he wants and needs.
For these... Gwyneth. You have earned yourself the "Fool of the Week" title.

Do Obama’s low approval numbers matter? Why Paul Krugman says no

It’s become a staple of political coverage: “President Obama’s approval rating has sunk to a new low, signaling a growing lack of confidence”…you know the drill.
But what if those numbers aren’t as important as we’ve all been conditioned to believe?
What if low approval ​is the new normal for occupants of 1600 Pennsylvania?
I’m not sold on this argument, but it’s emerged as a line of defense for the embattled incumbent, whose average approval rating in recent surveys is 42 percent, according to Real Clear Politics.
The Beltway is buzzing over this hypothesis, advanced by Paul Krugman in Rolling Stone.
Now it’s hardly surprising that the liberal New York Times columnist and Nobel-winning economist would come to Obama’s defense. In fact, the bulk of his piece is about how the president has done a far better job than is generally believed.
Krugman sees three types of Obama-bashing. One is “the onslaught from the right, which has never stopped portraying him as an Islamic atheist Marxist Kenyan.”
Another comes from the left, “where you now find a significant number of critics decrying Obama as, to quote Cornel West, someone who ‘posed as a progressive and turned out to be counterfeit.’”
And finally, what gets under Krugman’s skin is “the constant belittling of Obama from mainstream pundits and talking heads. Turn on cable news (although I wouldn't advise it) and you'll hear endless talk about a rudderless, stalled administration, maybe even about a failed presidency. Such talk is often buttressed by polls showing that Obama does, indeed, have an approval rating that is very low by historical standards.”
Well, things haven’t been going real well for this president, especially over the last year. But let’s now look at the approval-rating question.
“There are a number of reasons to believe that presidential approval doesn't mean the same thing that it used to: There is much more party-sorting (in which Republicans never, ever have a good word for a Democratic president, and vice versa), the public is negative on politicians in general, and so on. Obviously the midterm election hasn't happened yet, but in a year when Republicans have a huge structural advantage – Democrats are defending a disproportionate number of Senate seats in deep-red states – most analyses suggest that control of the Senate is in doubt, with Democrats doing considerably better than they were supposed to. This isn't what you'd expect to see if a failing president were dragging his party down.”
That last part is not very persuasive. If Democrats are hanging on in the Senate shootout, it’s in spite of Obama, not because of him. Alison Lundergan Grimes, who is challenging Mitch McConnell, embarrassed herself by refusing to tell the Louisville Courier-Journal whether she even voted for Barack Obama. Krugman’s own paper, the Times, front-paged a story on how the Democratic Party has benched Obama in the midterms, with few candidates this side of Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn wanting him to come in and campaign.
But it’s not hard to believe that deep divisions in the country have made sky-high presidential popularity a relic of an earlier era.
Washington Post columnist Chris Cillizza picks up the argument:
“As our tendency to see everything through which partisan glasses we wear has both increased and distanced us from people with whom we disagree, the way in which presidents are perceived has followed suit. Every year, Gallup gathers its data to compare the relative views of presidents by party.  Of the 12 most polarized years -- defined as the years with the largest gaps between how the two parties see the president -- in Gallup's history, 10 of them have come during the tenures of George W. Bush and Barack Obama…
“Sixty percent-plus approval ratings -- unless they come at the very start of a presidency or in the wake of a national disaster or tragedy -- are things of the past for as long as the current partisanship gripping the country holds on. Given how vast the gap is between how the two parties view the right next steps for the country -- not to mention how negatively they view the other side -- it's impossible to imagine a president enjoying any sort of broad (or even narrow) bipartisan support for any extended period of his or her presidency.
“Increasingly, there are two political countries in the U.S.. One, a liberal one, is governed by Barack Obama. The other lacks a clear leader but views itself as at war with Obama's America.  And, there's no reason to think that if, say, Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio gets elected president in 2016, things will be any different. Rubio will be president of a conservative America. The liberal America will see itself in diametric opposition to that America.”
I’m still not convinced that a future president can’t put better numbers on the board. If the economy wasn’t still having an anemic recovery six years into Obama’s tenure, his approval would be higher. If he had moved earlier to beat back the ISIS terrorists, his approval would be higher. If he hadn’t botched the ObamaCare rollout, his approval would be higher.
But it’s also true that journalists are way too addicted to fleeting polls as a measure of presidential health—and that greatly colors the coverage. If the nation’s leader takes on difficult challenges, his approval goes down as he alienates a swath of the country. If he steers a middle course, his approval may languish because he has disappointed his most fervent supporters. Fleeting controversies that barely register in history’s verdict may cause a temporary depression in poll numbers.
By any yardstick, Obama is not terribly popular right now. But we in the press need to find some broader measures of how a president is faring.​

California's health insurance exchange awards $184 million in no-bid contracts

LOS ANGELES –  California's health insurance exchange has awarded $184 million in contracts without the competitive bidding and oversight that is standard practice across state government, including deals that sent millions of dollars to a firm whose employees have long-standing ties to the agency's executive director.
Covered California's no-bid contracts were for a variety of services, ranging from public relations to paying for ergonomic adjustments to work stations, according to an Associated Press review of contracting records obtained through the state Public Records Act.
Several of those contracts worth a total of $4.2 million went to a consulting firm, The Tori Group, whose founder has strong professional ties to agency Executive Director Peter Lee, while others were awarded to a subsidiary of a health care company he once headed.
Awarding no-bid contracts is unusual in state government, where rules promote "open and fair competition" to give taxpayers the best deal and avoid ethical conflicts. The practice is generally reserved for emergencies or when no known competition exists.
Covered California was created in 2010 and given broad authority to award no-bid contracts as a way to meet tight federal deadlines for getting the new health insurance marketplace operational by last year. The same law also exempted it from sections of the state's public records law, a loophole lawmakers closed last year after it was disclosed by the AP.
The agency confirmed some no-bid contracts were awarded to people with previous professional ties to Lee, but emphasized Covered California was under pressure to move fast and needed specialized skills.
The fledgling exchange "needed experienced individuals who could go toe-to-toe with health plans and bring to our consumers the best possible insurance value. Contractors like The Tori Group possess unique and deep health care experience to help make that happen and get the job done on a tight deadline," Lee said in a statement.
"As this organization matures," he added, "we will rely less on private contractors."
With so much taxpayer money in play, a government watchdog group said more oversight is essential.
Kathay Feng, executive director of California Common Cause, said she recognized the need to free Covered California from cumbersome contracting rules that could have hampered its ability to meet Affordable Care Act deadlines.
But with tens of millions of taxpayer dollars at issue, "some accountability and transparency is needed, whether through audits or an alternative oversight body," she said, adding, "To spend $4.2 million on anything, let alone a contract to a friend and former colleague, raises serious questions."
The no-bid contracts represent nearly $2 of every $10 awarded to outside companies by the agency and were among roughly $1 billion in agreements disclosed to AP that the exchange executed from late 2010 through July, according to the records.
Through its first year of operation, Covered California was funded almost entirely by federal grant money.
The founder of The Tori Group, Leesa Tori, worked under Lee when she was a senior executive at Pacific Health Advantage, a small business insurance exchange that failed in 2006. Lee was a longtime chief executive of Pacific Business Group on Health, which managed Pacific Health Advantage, and Tori also worked with him at the parent company.
Long before it opened its doors to the public last fall, Covered California awarded a small contract to Tori for her advice on designing a program to sell insurance to small companies. The $4,900 agreement in late 2011 was executed without rival bids.
The deal would mark the beginning of a lucrative and far-reaching partnership between the agency and the company Tori formed about two years ago, just as national health care reform took root across the U.S. An initial $150,000 contract with The Tori Group in March 2013 was executed by Lee, but later amendments that increased its value to $4.2 million were approved by Covered California's board, an agency statement indicated.
Nearly three years after her first, small contract went into effect, she and employees at her firm hold senior-level positions and work on issues ranging from enrollment to health plan design at Covered California.
At least five other people who are contracted to work at Covered California have ties to the now-defunct Pacific Health Advantage, four of them at The Tori Group, whose employees are paid through the consulting contracts. In all, nine people listed on the group's website, in addition to Tori, work at the exchange.
Yolanda Richardson, Covered California's chief deputy executive director who reports directly to Lee, was a vice president at Pacific Health Advantage. Before she was hired on staff, she received a 10-month, $176,500 no-bid consulting contract from the agency in 2011, about a month before Lee came on board, according to the records.
Tori, the former director of plan management, is now a consultant on plan management. The Tori Group's chief financial officer, Kathleen Solorio, is Covered California's operations adviser. Another principal at the firm, Corky Goodwin, the former interim director of the small-business insurance program, is a consultant on small-business insurance.
Tori said professional credentials qualified her company for the contracts -- working in an exchange gave her team experience rare in the industry.
The Pacific Business Group on Health Negotiating Alliance, a subsidiary of the company Lee previously led, received two no-bid contracts worth a total of $525,000. Spokeswoman Emma Hoo said the work covers "unique and in-depth assessment of plan operations."
John Vigna, spokesman for former Assembly Speaker John Perez, who spearheaded legislation that established the exchange, said Perez was confident that enough checks and balances remained in effect, including oversight by the federal government and a state law that outlines rules for avoiding conflicts of interest.

ISIS magazine claims group has enslaved and sold Yazidi women and kids

A magazine purportedly published by the Islamic State group says that militants have captured, enslaved and sold Yazidi women and children, confirming allegations that have been made against the group for months.
The claim came as Human Rights Watch said Sunday that hundreds of Yazidi men, women and children from Iraq are being held in makeshift detention facilities in Iraq and Syria by the group, commonly known as ISIS. 
Tens of thousands of Yazidis fled into the Sinjar Mountains, many getting stranded there for weeks, after the militant onslaught on Sinjar in August, part of the Islamic State group's lightning advance across northern and western Iraq. Hundreds were killed in the attack, and tens of thousands fled for their lives, most to the Kurdish-held parts of northern Iraq.
Iraq's Human Rights Ministry said at the time that hundreds of women were abducted by the militants, who consider the Yazidis, a centuries-old religious minority, a heretical sect. Some also alleged the Islamic State group enslaved and sold Yazidi women and children, though the group itself did not comment on it.
The issue of Dabiq magazine released Sunday stated that "the enslaved Yazidi families are now sold by the Islamic State soldiers." It added that "the Yazidi women and children were then divided according to the Shariah amongst the fighters of the Islamic State who participated in the Sinjar operations."
Most of the Yazidis are now displaced in northern Iraq, many having lost loved ones in their flight to safety. Some say that their women and girls were snatched during the militant raid.
In one section of the magazine, a statement attributed to Mohammed al-Adnani, the spokesman for the Islamic State group, read: "We will conquer your Rome, break your crosses, and enslave your women," addressing those who do not subscribe to its hard-line interpretation of Islam.
The release of the magazine came as New York-based Human Rights Watch said Yazidi men, women and children remain held by the group. Its report noted that the group "separated young women and teenage girls from their families and has forced some of them to marry its fighters."
One woman told Human Rights Watch that she saw Islamic State fighters buying girls, and a teenage girl said a fighter bought her for $1,000, the report said. The Associated Press independently has interviewed a number of Yazidi women and girls who escaped captivity and several claimed that they were sold to Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria.