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FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER, AUTHOR, SENIOR FELLOW AT STANFORD, GEN. H.R. MCMASTER:

In this episode ofIntelligence Matters, host Michael Morell interviews General H.R. McMaster. A Senior Fellow at both Stanford Universitys Hoover Institution and its Graduate School of Business. A career U.S. Army officer and National Security Adviser to President Trump, he is also the author of his newly released book titled Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World. General McMaster passes along advice on how the next president should handle relations with North Koreas Kim Jong-un, gives his insights on the effectiveness of our handling of Russia, and shares his passion for helping those in Venezuela.

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INTELLIGENCE MATTERS: GUEST GEN. H.R. MCMASTER

Ray Kachatorian

PRODUCER: ARIANA FREEMAN

MICHAEL MORRELL: General McMaster, welcome to Intelligence Matters. It is an honor to have you on the show.

GEN. MCMASTER: Hey Michael, the honors mine is great to be with you.

MICHAEL MORRELL: Let me start with a couple of points for our listeners. First, I want to congratulate you on your new book, Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World. Ive read it. Its terrific. I think its a must read for anyone interested in national security. And I actually see it as a reference book for understanding the key issues. And I see myself pulling it down off the shelf from time to time. When Im thinking about something, I want to have to talk about something, when Im writing something. I think its a very important contribution to the literature on the threats and challenges we face as a nation. So thank you. Thank you very much for writing it.

GEN. MCMASTER: Well, Michael, thanks so much. I mean it, somebody with your background, experience and knowledge to to endorse it like that. That means a lot to me that you judge it to have been worthwhile. Thank you.

MICHAEL MORRELL: Second, having you with us to talk about your book is a perfect way for us to kick off what is for us, going to be a new series on the key national security issues facing the United States. The series, which were going to work very hard to be nonpartisan, will run between the election and the inauguration. And finally, I should mention to my listeners that this episode is going to run the day after the election, but that you and I are taping it the Friday before the election. So you and I have no idea whats going to happen on Election Day. So people should just know that as theyre as theyre listening to our conversation. And I think thats actually a good thing for our conversation, because what I want to do at the end of the day is get your sense of what is going to face the president who is sworn in on January 20th, no matter who that person happens to be.

MICHAEL MORRELL: H.R. before we get to the individual issues that I want to walk through with you, Id love to ask you why you decided to write the book that you did. You obviously could have written a very different kind of book. And Im sure that there were publishers who were encouraging you to do that. But you chose not to do that. You chose to write a very serious look at the threats and challenges that face us as a nation. Why did you take the route that you did?

GEN. MCMASTER: Well, Michael, thank you. I served in the Army for thirty four years. So as I transitioned to what is my only second career in my adult life, I made out probably quite predictably, a mission statement for myself. And that was in my second career to try to deepen our understanding of the most crucial challenges we face as a way to better inform the American people about foreign policy and national security issues, and with the hope that if we learn more about these challenges that we face, we can demand better. Demand a better foreign policy from our elected leaders. But then also, I hope that the book and the work that Im doing around the book will help bring Americans back together. Right. Because I dont think any of these issues should be partisan in nature. What Im hoping for is that a deeper understanding of these challenges we face. And I think what should be our common commitment to try to build a better future for generations to come will help bring our country back together, at least around foreign policy and national security issues.

MICHAEL MORRELL: H.R., what are the main themes of the book? What do you want readers to walk away remembering?

GEN. MCMASTER: Well, what are the themes that runs through the book is this idea of strategic narcissism. I think this is one of the reasons why our competence, our ability to compete, at least in the post-Cold War period, has been significantly diminished. And by strategic narcissism, I mean, our tendency to define the world only in relation to us and then to assume that what we decide to do or decide not to do is decisive to achieving a favorable outcome. And of course, you know, Michael, with your long experience with intelligence, this is flawed because its self-referential and it doesnt acknowledge, you know, the degree to which others have agency and influence and authorship over the future. So the book is then an argument, an argument for cultivating with my friend and great historian Zachary Shore has termed strategic empathy. And this is an effort, an effort to understand better what drives and constrains the other. Especially adversaries, rivals and enemies and what drives and constrains the other often times is ideology and emotion and aspirations. So the theme in the book that also is important is an effort to understand how the recent past produced the present as the first step in making a projection into the future. So the book is an argument for the understanding of history and appreciation for the complex causality of events and a focus on understanding these crucial challenges were facing from the perspective from the perspective of others.

MICHAEL MORRELL: You know, thats one of the thats one of the main jobs of the intelligence community. Right? Is to is to give our decision makers the point of view of the other guy. The guy sitting across the table from you, the guy sitting across the battlefield from you. But whats the other guy thinking? What are his constraints? What are his interests? And thats extraordinarily important. Right?

GEN. MCMASTER: Of course, its not a new idea. It goes back to Sun Tzu, but I think its we started to neglect the importance of this, especially in the post-Cold War period, a period that I describe as a period of over optimism. Over optimism that led to complacency and a bit of hubris. And this over optimism was in large measure a set up, I think a set of for significant disappointments in the two thousands disappointments, of course, associated with the mass murder attacks of September 11th, 2001, but also the unanticipated length and difficulty of wars in Afghanistan and in Iraq and, of course, followed by a financial crisis. And so I think it was in the two thousands that this emotional impetus behind our foreign policy shifted from overoptimism to pessimism and from maybe a tendency to under appreciate the risks and costs of action, to a tendency to underappreciate the risks and costs of inaction. And I think that strategic narcissism is the cause, really, in both cases.

MICHAEL MORRELL: You know, the other thing that strikes me when you talk about the importance of history is I always thought sitting in deputies meetings that it would have been incredibly valuable to actually take a few minutes and every deputies meetings or principals meetings to talk about the history of the issue, just to review how you got from point A to point B, and we never did that in multiple administrations in which I served, but I always thought that that would have been really valuable.

GEN. MCMASTER: Well, Michael, youre absolutely right about that. Ill tell you, one of the one of the great gifts I had, I think before earlier my career was the opportunity to read things, study and write history. And the first book I wrote was Dereliction of Duty, which is a story about how and why Vietnam became an American war.

And one of the lessons I learned from the study of that history was that it was important to understand problems and challenges holistically before leaping into action. When I came in as national security adviser, I did my best to at least avoid making the same mistakes and we put in place a principle small group framing session. I know thats a mouthful, but as we developed these strategies for the most crucial challenges we were facing, we began with this framing session that was organized around a five page paper that included only really the description of the challenge. How we got to where we are, a bit of the history of it, and then an inventory of our vital interests that were at stake, view of that challenge through the lens of those vital interests and draft overarching goals and more specific objectives, followed by assumptions.

Assumptions about the degree to which we and like-minded partners have agency or influence over this challenge. Then an inventory of obstacles to progress and opportunities that we could exploit. And thats it. Then we had a discussion about the nature of the challenge. First, the policy coordinating committee, which, you know, are the real workers who are going to work on this project. Theyre listening in. So theyre getting, theyre hearing at the cabinet level, a discussion about the nature of the problem and then a refinement of it. Once that part of the meeting was done, then we shifted to a discussion of what are your ideas? How do we integrate the elements of national power and efforts of like-minded partners to overcome these obstacles and exploit these opportunities? Then they got to hear the Treasury secretary say what we have. We have economic and financial tools available. But those ought to be combined with diplomacy and maybe law enforcement efforts. And then you get this rich discussion that then the policy coordinating committee can really run with. So I think that, I hope thats a process that will be sustained. I dont think my successor hung onto it. It will have to be resurrected at some point if it is deemed as useful by a future national security adviser.

MICHAEL MORRELL: Im Michael Morrell today, we have with us H.R. McMaster, a Senior Fellow at both Stanford Universitys Hoover Institution and its Graduate School of Business. A career U.S. Army officer and national security adviser to President Trump. OK, so what Id love to do is go through the individual issues. And what Id like to do is just throw one out, get you to frame it. Whats the threat or challenge that we face? Whats the history? How did we get here? Whats our interest thats at stake? And how do you think we as a nation need to go about dealing with it? Lets start with the big one. Lets start with the big enchilada, China.

GEN. MCMASTER: I think China is a great example of strategic narcissism at work, and especially this assumption that we clung to for too long, that China, having been welcomed into the international order, would play by the rules, would liberalize its economy, and as it prospered, it would liberalize its form of government. Of course, thats not true. Thats not true because we undervalue the degree to which emotions and ideology drive and constrain the Chinese Communist Party. And what I would argue in battlegrounds is that the party is driven mainly by fear, fear of losing its exclusive grip on power and an associated ambition. The ambition to achieve national rejuvenation for China to take center stage in the world again after the tragedy, as they portrayed as the century of humiliation. It is that combination of fear and aspiration that is driving the partys effort to extend and tighten its exclusive grip on power internally.

This is why there are over a million people in concentration camps in Xinjiang and theres a campaign of cultural genocide ongoing.

This is why the party is extending their repressive arm to Hong Kong and perfecting their technologically enabled Orwellian surveillance police state. This is what were seeing and then what is even more troubling, I think, is the parties now effort to export its authoritarian mercantilist model.

Through a number of strategies that aim to create servile relationships with countries and then ultimately through economic means, as well as the growth in the Peoples Liberation Armys capabilities to establish areas of privacy across the new Pacific region that exclude the United States and then it challenged the United States in the free world globally. If China succeeds, I mean, our world will be less free, less prosperous and less safe. So the stakes are high and its past time for us to recognize the need to compete effectively against this this very integrated and pernicious form of aggression that the parties engaged in.

MICHAEL MORRELL: What would an effective China strategy look like to you?

GEN. MCMASTER: Well, I think the Trump administration, if it gets credit for anything, should get credit for a fundamental shift in our policy toward China. One that was long overdue and one that I think is fundamentally sound and this is the idea that we have to compete. And it was under the strategy of of cooperation and engagement that the Chinese Communist Party was emboldened. Competition doesnt need to lead to confrontation. In fact, quite the opposite. And I think we have returned to arenas of competition involving countering more effectively Chinas campaign of sustained industrial espionage against us, countering a range of Chinas unfair trade and economic practices, doing so in large measure through effective international cooperation, for example, establishing better standards for infrastructure investment internationally, the law enforcement actions and investigations that have gone on against APT10.

The main hacking arm of the Chinese Communist Party, I think have been very effective as well, combined with sanctions and other actions against the aggressive arms of the party. But really, I think the most important thing for us to do, and I argue this in a chapter battlegrounds entitled Turning Weakness into Strength is to take what the Chinese Communist Party sees as sources of weakness potentially for them and turn those into our greatest strengths. What does the party fear? The party fears that the people, the Chinese people, might want to have a say in how theyre governed so we should strengthen our democratic processes. The party fears rule of law. We should strengthen rule of law in the United States and with countries that are working to strengthen rule of law in their countries, the party fears freedom of press, freedom of the expression. We need to strengthen our authoritative sources of information and recognize that investigative journalism is a great counter to some of these pernicious strategies that the parties are pursuing. So I think that part of it is defensive, but part of it is more introspective and trying to maintain our competitive advantages.

MICHAEL MORRELL: This is Intelligence Matters. Im Michael Morrell. Were talking with former national security adviser H.R. McMaster. So Russia, how do you think about Russia?

GEN. MCMASTER: Well, Russia is a significant threat to us because Putin again, is examining the assumptions of previous policies. Putin is not going to become like the Grinch on Christmas Eve. Right, his heart is not going to get too big as the size gets bigger and hes not going to decide, OK, well maybe the future of Russia does lie more with the West and treat the United States and Europe and others differently. Putin is driven by a sense of honor lost after the breakup of the Soviet Union. He is also driven by this associated desire to restore Russia to national greatness. Hes also cognizant, though, of the fact that he cannot compete with this on our own terms. And so what his theory of victory is, is to drag us all down and then to be the last man standing and the means that hes using to do this. I describe the Chinese approach of cooption, coercion and concealment. And I use alliteration in the Russian chapters as well.

It is a campaign of disruption, disinformation and denial to try to disrupt us, to disrupt our effective governance, to disrupt us economically and to use economic coercion when he can, such as he has done in Europe effectively from time to time and with energy dependence. Then to deny even his most egregious acts, especially the sustained campaign of cyber enabled information warfare against us, which is designed to polarize us, to pit us against each other, to reduce our confidence in who we are as a people and in our democratic institutions and principles and processes. Russia is a dangerous threat for for these reasons. And the best way to counter the first step is to pull the curtain back on this activity, to educate ourselves about it, to be less susceptible to Russian information, to not be our own worst enemies, as I think both political parties in many instances have because they compromise and they compromised our principles to score some partisan political points and in doing so, make themselves vulnerable to Russian disinformation and propaganda.

MICHAEL MORRELL: Then what about raising the cost to him of doing this? Is that an option here in terms of deterring him?

GEN. MCMASTER: Absolutely. This is what I advocated for in battlegrounds is that we have to impose costs on the Kremlin, on Putin, that exceed those that he factors in at the beginning of his decision making process. It was my last day really in an Oval Office meeting, it was the day that President Trump decided to impose significant costs on Russia in response to the attempted poisoning, murder of Sergei Skripal and his daughter with with a banned military grade nerve agent and an act that put thousands of UK citizens at risk. And it was at that on that occasion that we expelled you over 60 undeclared intelligence agents that hits Putin where it matters. Because these are agents that were critical to his sustained campaign of subversion against us. And we impose significant costs, additional costs on Russia through sanctions and other actions, the closing of the San Francisco consulate, as you know, Michael, was a major intelligence collection platform for the Russians here in Silicon Valley and the Bay Area. So, that was significant and I think that sent a strong message. Now, after Navalnys poisoning, Id like to see us do the same thing, you know, and as hes infiltrating more little green men now into Belarus and as he continues to enable the serial episodes of mass homicide, that is the Syrian civil war, to support Hawthornes way perpetuating violence in Libya.

MICHAEL MORRELL: Im Michael Morell. Were talking with H.R. McMaster, Former National Security Adviser to President Trump and author of the just published book Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World. By the way, if you missed any of todays show, you can listen to it as a podcast. Just search Intelligence Matters wherever you get your podcasts. Lets talk about North Korea. Give us your sense on North Korea?

GEN. MCMASTER: Well, thanks, Michael. Of course, its important for us to recognize going in right that North Korea is the only communist hereditary dictatorship in the world. And it is the nature of the Kim family regime that we have to take into account when were considering the danger that the regime poses to the world if it does possess the most destructive weapons on Earth. The Kim family regime is driven mainly by this drive to remain in power. It is, of course, known as the hermit kingdom. It is a gulag state that fears any kind of opening to the world. And it is a regime that across now three generations of dictators has been committed to unifying the Korean peninsula under the so-called red banner. And I think as we look at North Koreas pursuit of the most destructive weapons on Earth, we have to be at least open to the possibility that it wants those weapons to coerce the United States off the peninsula as the first step in the forcible reunification of the peninsula. And, of course, that would that would be the form of a destructive war.

GEN. MCMASTER: Its also important, I think, for us to recognize that it is highly unlikely that North Korea wants nuclear weapons just to deter us. North Korea already had a very significant deterrence capability with its conventional weapons. And the fact that its so many thousands of artillery pieces are within the range of of Seoul, South Korea. And then also, I think its important to recognize that every act of aggression on the Korean peninsula since the North invaded the South in June of 1950 has been initiated by the north. The other aspect of this problem, Michael, that is very important to consider is that if North Korea gets the weapon is recognized as a as a nuclear power, like who doesnt get one after that? Right. This Japan starts to have conversation with South Korea. By the way, North Korea never met a weapon it didnt try to sell to somebody excluding its nuclear program until the Israeli Defense Force bombed that facility in 2007. So its very dangerous. I think its dangerous as well because of the ideology that drives this regime. Its a warped ideology. This is the Zushi ideology which has turned deprivation into a sign of virtue and racial superiority. And the North Korean people have gone through generations of brainwashing. So this is a big problem, Michael. I think that the approach that is in place now, the strategy of maximum pressure, its the best course of action. I think we have to test the thesis that maximum pressure can convince Kim Jong un that he is safer without the weapons than he is with them. I think it will be important for whoever is sworn in on January 20th that they recognize that we should not repeat the failed pattern of previous efforts, not allow North Korea to draw us into negotiations with an act of aggression and with the demands of big payoff up front just for the privilege of talking with them. To not again, engage in long, drawn out negotiations that delivers a weak agreement that he immediately breaks again.

MICHAEL MORRELL: Youve said something here that I think is really important, because I think the conventional wisdom is that he wants these weapons for deterrence. Right. That hes worried about us attacking him. But youre arguing that its more than that. That this gets to the heart of what North Korea has always wanted, which is to reunify the peninsula, which I think is a really important point here that changes how you think about how you have to deal with him?

GEN. MCMASTER: This is an argument, Michael, for strategic empathy. Right? To view these complex challenges from the perspective of the other and unless you do that, youre susceptible to mirror imaging. And, of course, my research for the book, Dereliction of Duty, you know that sensitized me to this. It was in the run up to the Vietnam War where some of those who were planning the Vietnam strategy development, the strategy actually referred to the reasonable man theory of English common law and assumed that Ho Chi Minh would respond as the theoretical reasonable man. Would respond without taking into consideration the role that culture and ideology played in driving and constraining the North Vietnamese leadership.

MICHAEL MORRELL: Do you think at the end of the day its possible to convince him that he would be better off, that he would be more secure without these weapons?

GEN. MCMASTER: I do think its possible, and the reason I think its possible because weve never really put maximum pressure on the north. And so we have this opportunity now thanks really to the tremendous work by Ambassador Nikki Haley when she was at the U.N. As you know, Michael, these U.N. Security Council sanctions on North Korea are unprecedented and reach. The key now, though, is to enforce them. Of course, the key country that needs to enforce them is China. And I think if China doesnt enforce them, if China continues to be complicit with illicit financial flows into and out of the country, to continue to provide energy and other materials to the north that are limited by these sanctions. Then I think its time for us to consider secondary sanctions and maybe on Chinese financial institutions.

GEN. MCMASTER: I think as we see the smuggling of coal and the transshipment of coal and oil and fuel, I think that under Article two, I think the president could use Article two authority to interdict those ships. As you know, Michael, this is something we cant really talk about. There are other means of putting pressure on the north. I think that we havent done it yet. I think we have to at least test the thesis because the alternatives are so bleak of either accepting North Korea as a nuclear power and coping with that threat or a war. Right. That would be very costly, I think its worth pursuing.

MICHAEL MORRELL: We still have more to discuss with General McMaster and well be right back with our final segment.

MICHAEL MORRELL: Were back with more intelligence matters, Im Michael Morrell. Our guest is H.R. McMaster, Senior Fellow at both Stanford Universitys Hoover Institution and its Graduate School of Business. So, sir, let me ask you about another tough one, Iran.

GEN. MCMASTER: On Iran, what I tell the story of in Battlegrounds, Michael, is we have to view the problem of Iran with two fundamental considerations foremost in our minds. The first is the ideology of the revolution and how that drives Iranian leadership and the Iranian leadership is the Supreme Leader and the Guardian Council and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. We have this fantasy I think that the reformers, the Republicans, within Iraq are going to prevail. They lost, the revolutionaries are in charge. The hardliners are in charge. And whenever they put this forward, the shop window of Minister Zarif, their Foreign Minister or President Rouhani, thats all youre getting is the shop window. That ideology is it drives the Iranian regime to continue its four decade long proxy war against the Great Satan, the United States, the little Satan, Israel, the Arab monarchies and the West broadly. And so we have to consider the ideology of the regime and and this 40 year long proxy war.

GEN. MCMASTER: What I argue for in the book is to force the Iranian regime to make a choice. You can either be treated like a normal nation or you can continue to wage this proxy war, to support terrorist organizations and keep the Middle East enmeshed in this perpetual state of sectarian civil war. The choice is yours, and to impose that choice, I think what we should not do is lift the arms embargo to the regime. What we should not do is lift any of the sanctions. In fact, we should impose the costs on the regime to constrain the resources they have available to continue their proxy wars against us, but then also ultimately maybe to convince the Iranian people. That they ought to have a government in place and Im not talking about like a 2003 regime change, but a government in place that shifts away from its permanent hostility to the United States, Israel and the West. I think thats the only path that I see forward. I think our policies ought to aim to effect that change in the regimes permanent hostility. And until it does any agreement with them, it cant be trusted and any agreement with them that allows them to escape. Making that choice like the Iran nuclear deal did, I think is to our disadvantage.

MICHAEL MORRELL: So you dont see the regime changing policy on its own. Do you think that has to be forced internally by the Iranian people? Is that fair?

GEN. MCMASTER: Well, Michael, I think on Iran, its important to keep two considerations in mind in crafting a strategy toward Iran. First of all, that its the ideology of the regime that drives their hostile behavior toward us. And we have to recognize that its the Supreme Leader, its the Guardian Council, its Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, who are in charge. Right. There was a struggle, you know, across the history of Iran since the revolution in 1979 between the Republicans and the revolutionaries. Hey, the revolutionaries won. And and we have to recognize that the second consideration is that this regime has waged a four decade long proxy war against the Great Satan, us, the little Satan, Israel, the Arab monarchies and the West generally. We have to craft our strategy in recognition of this regimes permanent hostility to us. Of course, I think the best way to approach it in the title of the chapter in Battlegrounds is forcing a choice, forcing the regime to make a choice of either being a responsible nation and then being treated as such or suffering the consequences. And this is why I think its very important to keep the arms embargo in place. I think its very important to keep the sanctions in place on the regime to, in the short term, reduce the resources it has available to wage this proxy war and in the long term, hopefully convince the Iranian people to demand a change in the nature of the government such that it ceases as permanent hostility.

MICHAEL MORRELL: Okay, Islamic extremism, its waned a bit in the threat, but its still there. From West Africa, to the Middle East, to South Asia, to Southeast Asia. How do you think about that problem long term?

GEN. MCMASTER: I think the reason that we havent had another attack on the scale of the most devastating terrorist attack in history of September 11th, 2001, is our tremendous intelligence professionals, our diplomats, our military whos been engaged against this threat from jihadist terrorist organizations since 9/11. What Im concerned about, Michael, is that these groups, I think are more dangerous today than they were maybe even on September 10th, 2001. And thats because, of course, those who committed the mass murder attacks against us on 9/11 were the mujahideen alumni of the resistance to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Well, now the al-Qaida alumni, the ISIS alumni, the Lashkar-e-Taiba alumni are orders of magnitude greater and they have access to more and more destructive capabilities. And the reason weve been safe is because weve been engaged and now we have this narrative of ending endless wars and disengaging. Well, I think what Americans need to know is that we are engaged so we can enable others to bear the brunt of this fight. I mean, this disengagement from Afghanistan, I think is a tragedy. The way that weve gone about this, I think we should recognize the sacrifices of our longest war and in particular that 10 of our courageous servicemen, soldiers, gave their lives for our country, our security this year. But we have to also recognize that 30 Afghan soldiers and police a day die defending the freedoms that theyve enjoyed since the defeat of the Taliban in 2001 a removal of the Taliban from power. So I think that we need to make a sustained argument to the American people for engagement with this problem of jihadist terrorism. Because if we dont, Michael, well go back to 1998. Remember when we after the embassy bombings, we fired a few cruise missiles and called it a day. Right, that didnt work out.

MICHAEL MORRELL: The last issue I want to ask you about is Venezuela, which I know you care about. My understanding is that when you arrived at the White House, you were going over the issues and you kind of stumbled on Venezuela and said, hey, you know whats going on there? That doesnt look like were paying attention to this, talk about Venezuela and why its important?

GEN. MCMASTER: Well, its immensely important because this is a humanitarian catastrophe in Venezuela. Its a humanitarian catastrophe thats brought on by an authoritarian regime that is denying the Venezuelan people a say in how theyre governed. When we looked at the problem and the nature of the Maduro regime and the Chavista movement, we concluded that this was, again, a corrupt government that is using criminalized patronage networks to effect control of its people. It uses these motorcycle gangs and militias to overwhelm any kind of opposition. It ended the Constitution. So we said whats should our goal be? Our goal should be to work with others, to work with like-minded countries, to effect a restoration of constitutional rule in Venezuela. And to do that, we felt as if we had to pursue three objectives. One of those objectives would be to try to strengthen the opposition. Right. To help the opposition come together. I think you saw that with the rise of Bolsonaro. You know, who was really from the people. You know, hes not a member of the Caracas Polo Club, for example. I think hes somebody who can gain some traction with those who have been disadvantaged now so significantly under Chvez, and now Maduro.

GEN. MCMASTER: The second objective would be for the people to be able to attribute their grievances back to the government, not to blame the Yankees, you know, for example. And the third related to that would be to try to galvanize really popular support for restoration of constitutional government. I think the measures we put in place were sound. Of course, they have proven inadequate. And I think we thought that economic sanctions would maybe have a significant effect. But the reason they havent had a bigger effect is theres a huge black market, illicit economy thats run by Maduro. He uses that to sustain this criminalized patronage network and these gangs of thugs who really prevent any real opposition from gaining traction. But I think Im proud of what we did in this period of time. We worked very closely with partners, especially in the Western Hemisphere, Mexico, under the foreign minister of the great Luis Videgaray, who was a wonderful partner, took a leading role in much of the work that we did. We tryd to get the Organization of American States and others to do more. But it was really the community of like-minded nations Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Panama, Argentina. We worked very closely together on this problem and I think remain committed to trying to effect a restoration of constitutional government in Venezuela.

MICHAEL MORRELL: Youve been fantastic with your time. I just want to ask you two more questions, we have a couple of minutes left, so well need to be quick here.

MICHAEL MORRELL: The first is that in order to deal with all of these problems that youve talked about, you know, we need a healthy national security toolkit. Healthy diplomacy, healthy intelligence capabilities, healthy military capabilities. Whats your assessment sort of overall of where we are with our national security toolkit?

GEN. MCMASTER: I think were in good shape thanks to the extremely dedicated civil servants and military professionals, intelligence professionals who we have across our government. But I think what is needed more than anything is a higher degree of what I argue in Battlegrounds is, strategic competence, and thats the ability to integrate the elements of national power so that theyre applied in a way that are synergistic. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts. I think at times we get it right, but most often we get it wrong. And our approach to these complex problems is fragmented. Its inconsistent. Its as I mentioned, you know, based on flawed assumptions about the nature of the problem. I think what I would like to see as well these days is even more of a concerted effort to foster multinational cooperation as I write in Battlegrounds. I mean, none of these problems are solvable by any one country. So its very important for us to create the right venues for us to come together. Not only to work on a discrete issue or event together, but really to think about these complex challenges. To frame them together and then to apply our competitive advantages between our like minded countries. So that we do have a synergistic effect and and so that we can build a better future for generations to come.

MICHAEL MORRELL: The last question, I think anybody whos listened to the podcast up to this point is going to think, wow, that is a hard, tough list. I wonder at the end of the day, if youre optimistic or if you are pessimistic that were going to get this right going forward.

GEN. MCMASTER: Michael, Im optimistic about it. Im optimistic about it even as we emerge from this triple crisis. Of the pandemic, the recession associated with it and the divides in our society, laid bare by George Floyds murder and the protests and civil unrest that followed it. I think whats great about our democracy is we are self-correcting. The American people have a say in how theyre governed. They can demand better. And the reason I wrote Battlegrounds is I think if the American people understand these challenges, they will demand a better foreign policy from from our elected leaders. You know, our founders knew that our democracy was going to require continuous nurturing. Its still true today. And I believe that we do have significant problems at home. But we also have to confront these challenges abroad because we know from the COVID-19 pandemic that problems that develop abroad can only be dealt with at an exorbitant price once they reach our shores. So the argument of battlegrounds is an argument for sustained engagement with the world.

MICHAEL MORRELL: The book is Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World. The author is H.R. McMaster. General, thank you very much for joining us today.

GEN. MCMASTER: Michael, thank you for the privilege of being with you. And thanks for your service.

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HR McMaster weighs in on North Korea, Russia - WSGW

Former Vice President Joe Biden wrapped up his campaign swing through the Midwest with a socially distant speech in front of just a few dozen people in an airport hanger in Milwaukee, a few hours after President Donald Trump stopped in the battleground state.Biden remarked on the rising number of COVID-19 cases nationally and in Wisconsin specifically, which is facing one of the fastest-growing outbreaks of COVID-19 in the country, and repeated many familiar criticisms of Trump's handling of the pandemic throughout his remarks.

"I know it's hard. More than 225,000 people, I think it's 229[,000] as I speak, have already lost their lives to COVID-19. Two thousand here in Wisconsin. Six hundred here in Milwaukee County. This week, Wisconsin, like other states, set a new record for daily cases. Hospitals are running short on beds. Just had to open a field hospital. That's what we're facing," he said.

"Donald Trump waved the white flag, surrendered to the virus," he continued. "But the American people don't give up. We don't give in. Unlike Donald Trump, we're not gonna surrender to this virus. We are simply not going to surrender."

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden gives a fist bump to Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wis., as he arrives to speak at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport on Oct. 30, 2020, in Milwaukee.

Biden also went after Trump on trade, calling his policy "a disaster" that "decimated" the Wisconsin dairy industry.The candidate said his campaign is taking a different approach to Wisconsin than Hillary Clinton did in 2016.

"For a whole lot of reasons, not all of which were her fault, we ended up not taking it too seriously. We thought it was different," Biden said, adding, "I've been here a lot."

This marks Biden's third trip to Wisconsin since the Democratic National Convention, making it his fourth-most-visited state, behind Pennsylvania, Michigan and Florida.

Unlike Biden's drive-in rallies on Friday, his remarks in Wisconsin were given in an open-air airport hangar. The event was held at least partially outdoors on a near-freezing Wisconsin evening.

"I'll tell you what, they told me it's gonna be indoors. You're a hardy bunch in Milwaukee," Biden said.

-ABC News' John Verhovek, Beatrice Peterson and Molly Nagle

Continued here:
Election 2020 updates: Trump ends long day rushing through final rally in Minnesota - ABC News

West Norfolk officials have expressed their frustration over the governments plans to introduce a second national lockdown this week.

The proposed new national restrictions will be debated and voted on by MPs on Wednesday.

If approved, the country will be asked to stay at home from Thursday to help reduce the spread of the coronavirus amid rising national cases.

North West Norfolk MP James Wild supported the introduction of the local Covid alert tiered system as the best alternative to a national lockdown.

He said he will be reviewing the evidence and reflecting on constituents views on both sides of the debate ahead of the vote.

Mr Wild said: While it protected the NHS and saved lives, I know how painful and costly the first lockdown was for peoples wellbeing and our economy.

The prime minster and the cabinet have now been advised that due to increasing transmission rates across the country there is a serious risk the NHS will be overwhelmed within weeks.

I am very conscious of the incredible sacrifices people and businesses across North West Norfolk have made to try and control this virus.

Leader of West Norfolk Council Brian Long said he would have liked to see the local tier measures make a difference before a national lockdown was introduced.

I am frustrated we have gone to a national lockdown but I appreciate it has to happen, Mr Long said.

West Norfolk has been doing pretty well but with numbers starting to increase the additional measures reiterate the governments message to get the numbers down.

The council leader emphasised the bottom line behind the lockdown is protecting people from the virus.

And he is confident local businesses will continue to receive the support they need to survive through the governments rescue package.

Boris Johnson announced on Saturday that the furlough scheme will be reintroduced as part of the lockdown measures in which employees will receive 80 per cent of their regular wages.

West Norfolks infection rate as of October 29 stood at 87.9 cases per 100,000 people, after the number of new cases rose from 70 to 133 in the space of a week.

And two new cases were confirmed at Springwood High School today, increasing the total number of cases recorded at the Queensway site since the start of the new academic year to five.

Labour councillor Jo Rust believes the lockdown should have been implemented earlier due to the increase in the transmission rate and number of deaths.

Sir Keir Starmer asked for a circuit breaker weeks ago. It could have been combined with half term which would have taken the pressure off for families, Mrs Rust said.

As it is, we are facing a hard winter of lockdown with no certainty itll actually end on December 2nd.

Mrs Rust believes schools should be shut down with improved IT equipment for home schooling.

The latest lockdown will be less stringent than in March as schools and universities would be able to stay open.

Mrs Rust added: Im glad that the 80 per cent furlough scheme has been retained. However, 80 per cent of a low wage when rents, mortgages and all other costs remain the same is going to push many more families to breaking point.

We saw how many families were struggling to feed their children over half term. As a matter or urgency the government needs to increase its support provision for local councils like our own so we can provide the additional assistance our community will need.

Were facing challenges with how well safely accommodate our rough sleepers, theres an increase in food bank use and the eviction moratorium is over. The government must act now.

West Norfolk councillor Sandra Squire, leader of the Independents at the county council, echoed these sentiments and stated many businesses will not be able to survive the winter months.

She added: I think its a situation where youre damned if you do and damned if you dont. For areas with low infection rates it must seem that theyre almost being punished for what goes on elsewhere.

It concerns me that the last lockdown took weeks to have an affect and that was when schools were closed.

Vulnerable people are being told to limit contact with other people and not go to work if they cant work from home, but they should still send their children to school. There are no easy answers really.

All non-essential retail, entertainment venues and personal care facilities will be forced to close.

Having recently been supported through the governments Culture Recovery Fund, Hunstantons Princess Theatre now faces another setback like many others.

Proprietor Brian Hallard said: We are going to have to worry about it on December 2 because there is nothing we can do right now.

There have been mixed messages. Michael Gove is saying something, then someone else is saying something else.

I will be getting on with maintenance work because there is not a lot else we can do right now.

Swaffham landlord Rob Bartram of the Red Lion pub welcomed the furlough scheme being extended but said there was miscommunication over pub takeaways.

The Market Place site will continue to offer its rooms out to key workers and lorry drivers as they did during the previous lockdown.

Mr Bartram said: Our last electric bills were 6,500. How are we going to survive? I do not know but I personally think we will be alright. I am seeing that some wet-let pubs are giving it up.

Both Mr Bartram and Neal Durose of the White Hart in Lynn believe the decision to allow students to return to schools and universities proved costly.

Mr Bartram said: People are going to be naive and pathetic if they think this will be over by December. The figures are going through the roof through youngsters all over the country.

I am prepared for no family Christmas this year.

Mr Durose added: If Im completely honest, it hasnt come as much of a surprise. It was always going to be obvious that no matter what measure were put in place, the spike in cases was inevitable once the schools and colleges went back.

I know some people will disagree with me but the statistics dont lie. The pubs reopen on July 4: no spike in cases. Eat Out to Help Out throughout August: not many cases. September, the education sector resumes and cases rose exponentially.

You were always going to be safer in the pub than the supermarket but you cant change whats been placed on us.

We are determined to survive and come out the other side stronger and ready to welcome everyone back with open arms.

The Duck Inn at Stanhoe has pledged to offer its services for free throughout November to anyone who needs support.

And the White Hart in Swaffham will also continue to support the vulnerable through its Hart to Homes meal delivery service.

A social media post by the pub said: "From Wednesday night we will close our doors, until then we are very much open for business

"We will miss you all and give our heartfelt thanks for the support you have given us since we reopened."

Elsewhere, it will be business as usual on the pitch for Kings Lynn Town FC as elite sport, including the National League, will be able to continue.

Golf clubs have been lobbying to remain open for members to be able to play during lockdown as they believe it can be done safely as a form of exercise.

Graham Cocker, secretary of Fakenham Golf Club, said: If you can exercise in a park with one person, you can do it on a golf course because you are not going to come up against anyone else through 10 minute intervals.

He said it would be a shame for members not to be able to play having already paid their annual fees. Greenkeepers will continue to maintain the golf course regardless of cost.

Alive West Norfolk has announced its sites will close from the end of the day on Wednesday until further notice in line with government guidance.

A statement says Alive West Norfolk has collected November membership and courses fees already and will also collect payments from those who usually pay their direct debit on the 15th.

December direct debit payments will then not be collected when the sites reopen.

Alive swimming pools will not be closing in December as it stands according to the statement as would normally be the case in normal circumstances for annual maintenance.

The Alive statement added: "We understand it is extremely frustrating that leisure venues are having to close again but the safety and welfare of our customers and staff is paramount. We would like to thank you all for adhering to our Covid processes so well since we returned in July which has kept our sites extremely safe."

Meanwhile, national papers reported this weekend that Prince William had coronavirus while staying in April with the Duchess of Cambridge and his three young children at Anmer Hall, on the Sandringham Estate.

It was reported that he did not want publicity onthe matter as it came shortly after his father, Prince Charles, and PM Boris Johnson had announced they had it and feared he would be stoking public fears of the virus.

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Mixed emotions over national lockdown as local businesses offer help - Lynn News

Many ancient Eastern philosophies have gone mainstream with more and more people interested in them. One such practice is Feng Shui. This ancient pseudoscientific practice has moved from the archives into modern life. It aims to use energy forces to help individuals harmonize with their surroundings. In other words, it channels your energy to bring peace and good vibes in your life and the environment. It deals with the relationship between a human being and their environment. In addition to this, it helps improve mental health. Also Read - Toxic Positivity: Why is it OK not to be Ok?

The idea behind Feng Shui is to have a place that helps your inner self harmonize with your surroundings. A harmonious space will not only be pleasing to the eyes but to the soul as well. And this can help bring inner harmony and reduce stress, anxiety and much more. Here are some ways to incorporate Feng Shui in your home to improve your cognitive health. Also Read - Kundalini Meditation: For total mind, body, soul rejuvenation

Raise your hand if you have a habit of picking things from the market when your home is at full capacity. Youre not alone! While you might want to grab a wall art the moment you see it, but what you dont know is that it can have a negative impact on your mental health. Overcrowding your house with stuff can trigger stress and anxiety. The less clutter around you, the better you will feel. It will bring a sense of balance and help you regain inner peace. Also Read - Signs you're in a toxic workplace and its affecting your health

According to feng shui, the bed should be placed against a solid wall and should not face any doors or mirrors. It is better to choose the bedroom situated on the backside of the house to avoid outside noise. It will bring positive energy and promote better sleep. And several studies over the years have proved that a good nights sleep works wonders for an individuals mental health.

Ever experienced the noise of bustling streets fading away as you take pleasant walks through nature? The ancient principle of Tao refers to the connection of a human being to nature. Inhaling fresh air brings a sense of peace and quiet like no other. Healthy and lush houseplants is a great option to add to your house if you want to follow this lifestyle.

Even studies have shown that indoor plants in the house improves productivity, alleviates stress, improve energy levels and generate happiness. So, let nature help you to decrease anxiety levels and ward off negative feelings.

The teachings of Feng Shui are based on five elements, including fire, wood, earth, water and metal. Using these elements to create your own palette based on the philosophy is believed to do wonders for a person. Using the right colour in your surroundings can enhance mood and can do wonders for your emotions. Therefore, improve your overall mental health.

Try lightening your home by incorporating bright paint, colourful accents and bright lights. Brightening your surroundings acts as a mood enhancer and enlivens your home. This, in turn, lightens the mood and have a positive effect on your mental health.

Published : November 3, 2020 6:48 pm | Updated:November 4, 2020 8:44 am

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5 Ways to incorporate Feng Shui in your home to improve mental health - TheHealthSite

By Claudia Jacobs| For the Times Herald-Record

Boo! Did I scare you? Maybenotbut you may be tense, stressed and overwhelmed for reasons like the pandemic, election and change in the weather.Addour own personal stuff and it is the making of a bone chilling spooky movie. Here are some Halloween tricks and treats.

Seasonal affective disorder startswith colder, shorter days causing winter blues.Fresh air, sunlight, Vitamin D improves our mood.Let the light in.

Routines and rituals help keep us grounded. Make time for self-care. Mindfulness activities can help destress.Tap into your creative sidewithart, music, writing or cooking.

Be in the moment focusingon what you are doing. Multi-tasking isunhealthy and can be dangerous. I am on blood thinnerscausing easybruising and bleeding.After slicing veggies andmyfingerI had to runto an urgent care to stop the bleeding.Ive learned to stay in the momentbyslowingdown. Prepping foodis now aZen experience.

Feng Shui

Feng Shui means wind and water(think flow). It is the Chinese practice of arranging a living space in order to create balance, energy and harmony.Afunctioningspace allowingyou to live your best life is good Feng Shui.

The home has taken on more jobs this year.Reviewyour housenoticingred flags. Examples:The room no one sits in.Not wanting to havecompany.Cant sleep,focus or work.Blockedwindows and doorways.Uninviting spaces due to poor furniture placement.Overstuffedareas.Poor or nonexistent personal or professional relationships.

What to do?Addressthe issue. Take action stepsto create change. Unblock, declutter, clean, organize, rearrangekeeping theintentionin mind. I have so many success stories of how simple changes in a room can generate positive changes in life.

Relationship success story:Aclientgave me a tourof her house.Herbed was shoved into the corner allowing only one person to access the bed. I asked her if she wanted to be in a relationship. She answered yes. I recommendedmovingthe bed out of the cornerand add a secondnightstand. This is sending the universe a clear message: I am creating space to allow someone into my life. Happy to report she is in a loving, fun, successful long-term relationship.

Energy Clearing

Energy is an intangibleforce that is characterized as either positive or negative. It is a vibe or feeling from a person or place. Some people, like myself, are sensitive to energy.Divorce, death, family tension and stressaffectenergy. Sometimes the energy is so heavy, its stifling. A house holds the energy of every personlivingin it, visits or who you come in contact with.Smudging clears the energy.

How to smudge

Be clear about setting your intention.Loose pieces of sage or sage bundle, a bowl to catch embers and something to light it is all you need.Keep a window open.Start by the front door and work clockwise.Goroomtoroom, corner to corner, opening closetsallowingthe smoketo doits work.End by opening the front doorallowingthe negative energy to leave.

Changes

Your home is the center of your universe.If a chapter of your life is ending and a new one is beginning, whether a new job,relationshipor moving,smudgingisan energetic jump-start.

Claudia Jacobs is a professional home stager, decorator and owner of Claudia Jacobs Designs in Newburgh. Visit claudiajacobsdesigns.com or call 845-294-8993. Send questions and photos to ClaudiaJacobsDesigns@gmail.com.

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Claudia's Corner Halloween tricks and treats to improve your home and life - Times Herald-Record

PK Jaiswar

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, November 4

Nothing goes waste from the garden in the sprawling house of Manjit Singh Anand, an income tax lawyer, residing in Basant Avenue area here. Even the wooden logs cut from huge trees were moulded into creating beautiful boundaries.

Anands lawn is filled with decorative plants and ferns, aesthetically placed after a lot of thought process. A number of artifacts like a wooden boat was made at home, lucky charms of feng shui (a famous Chinese art used for striking a subtle balance of living spaces with nature) and some other items from Mcleodganj, two statues of deer from Ludhiana, wooden shoes from Amsterdam, an animal skull wall-hanging imported from Bali and more grace his garden.

Though he had a love for plants from childhood, it only welled up when he shifted to Basant Avenue in 1990. He also was fond of collecting artifacts thus, items from Mcleodganj, Bali and several other parts of the country. The lockdown gave me a lot of time to work on my lawn. It was a difficult timebut my plants helped keeping my mind healthy, Anand says.

He has also created a wooden hut surrounded by bamboo and other trees. This is my refreshing space. It houses a mini library and a small bar specially created from a big wooden log, he reveals.

The three pine trees and a beautiful wooden work on the edgings right at the residences entrance give it a unique look. A hanging rare variety of double-shaded banyan tree with an idol of Ganesha placed in is only garnishing the surroundings of the entryway. While majority of people would prefer floral plants to ferns and shrubs, Anand has gone for the latter. Floral plants are seasonal. They need a lot of maintenance and care and require to be replaced with new ones. I prefer these decorative plants which fills the gap and also enhances the beauty of my little garden, the income tax lawyer remarks.

Anand has also arranged for colour lightings focusing on different corners of his garden. A cactus corner has been set up on a wooden trolley, tucked away at a corner and is still in harmony with his varied yard. Cactuses are usually not welcomed at the homes. My family also has some reservations about it but I have created a little corner of cactus which adds variety to my lawn, he shares.

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The lawn where everything is considered of immense value - The Tribune India

The Dyson model is thought to make top-of-the-line vacuums due to its highly effective suction, progressive filter, and high quality design. The one draw back to the favored model might be the value, which is why we have put collectively a listing of the most affordable Dyson gross sales and offers which might be presently out there.

We have rounded up the most well-liked Dyson vacuums that embody a number of totally different fashions and kinds with a wide range of options. All Dyson vacuums are constructed with highly effective motors and have a patented cyclone know-how for a singular filtration system. The principle variations in fashions are if the vacuum is cordless or not, and totally different options embody attachments, suction energy, bin measurement, and extra.

So how do you identify what Dyson vacuum is finest for you? That can rely in your cleansing wants, preferences, and the way a lot you wish to spend. That can assist you resolve we have listed the cordless fashions first, adopted by the upright corded vacuums. Well let you understand the most effective options for every vacuum, specs, and most significantly the most effective on-line costs.

Spectacular efficiency and run time

Weight: 10lb | Cost time: four.5hrs | Run time: : 60 minutes | Bin Quantity: zero.75L | Handheld mode: Sure

Screens efficiency in real-time

Three totally different cleansing modes

As much as 60 minutes of run time

Costly

The most recent addition to the Dyson vacuum lineup is the Dyson V11 Torque Drive. The V11 stands aside from the V10 by together with new options like a built-in LCD display screen that reveals present efficiency together with energy mode, run time, filter upkeep reminders and blockage stories. The V11 additionally contains a torque cleaner head that may detect the variations in ground floor and can robotically modify motor speeds, maximizing battery time and suction.

The Dyson V11 is powered by 7-cell lithium-ion batteries and contains 5 totally different handy attachments.This vacuum is Dysons most superior cord-free system but, and its price ticket displays that presently retailing for $699.

Picture credit score: Dyson

Deep cleans on a number of surfaces

Weight: 6.68lb | Cost time: four.5hrs | Run time: : As much as 60 minutes | Bin Quantity: zero.75L | Handheld mode: Sure

Nice for pet hair

Multi-surface cleansing

Long term time

Costly

The Dyson V11 Animal contains the identical options because the V11 Torque Drive however is barely shorter and contains 4 attachments as a substitute of 5. It is also considerably decrease in worth, presently retailing for $599. The cordless Animal options the identical excessive torque cleaner head that adjusts to surfaces and contains the LED display screen that shows mode and machine upkeep alerts.

Excellent for pets, the excessive torque cleaner head is fabricated from stiff nylon bristles that drive deep into flooring to take away floor dust and hair. The V11 Animal delivers a long-lasting battery of as much as 60 minutes and contains an improved hygienic bin that makes it simpler to empty.

Picture credit score: Dyson

Highly effective suction at a lowered worth

Weight: 5.88lb | Cost time: three.5hrs | Run time: : 60 minutes | Bin Quantity: zero.76L | Handheld mode: Sure | Suction energy: As much as 150AW

Unimaginable suction

Nice on carpets and arduous flooring

Costly

Till the V11 got here alongside, Dyson claimed the V10 supplied probably the most highly effective suction of any cord-free vacuum. The V10 Absolute is powered by the Dyson digital motor V10 and contains a torque drive cleaner head that removes 25% extra mud than the Dyson V8. Regardless of its small measurement, the V10 additionally options a big bin measurement and an extended battery life.

The V10 Absolute can shortly remodel to a handheld vacuum and effectively cleans hardwood flooring and carpets with a smooth curler cleaner head and direct drive cleaner head. The Absolute additionally comes with a choice of quick-release gadgets like a crevice device, mini smooth dusting brush, and mini-motorized device. As a result of the V10 was launched final 12 months, you may usually discover discounted costs on the cordless vacuum.

Picture credit score: Dyson

Weight: 5.86lb | Cost time: three.5hrs | Run time: : 60 minutes | Bin Quantity: zero.76L | Handheld mode: Sure | Suction energy: As much as 150AW

Nice at selecting up pet hair

Cheaper than the opposite V10 fashions

Handheld modes helpful for fast cleans

For those whore in search of a less expensive different to the V10 Absolute, the Animal is a unbelievable possibility.The Dyson V10 Animal is just like the Absolute as a result of it options the highly effective Dyson digital motor V10 and features a substantial bin. The Animal (therefore the title) is designed particularly to suck up pet hairs out of your carpets and furnishings. The Animal contains a torque drive cleaner head that dives deep to drive dust and hair from carpets.

Whereas the Dyson Animal lacks a smooth curler brush, it does provide three energy modes to select from for various duties on hardwood or carpet flooring. The Dyson Animal additionally features a mixture device, crevice device, mini motorized device, and a smooth dusting brush.

Picture credit score: Dyson

Highly effective suction at a terrific worth

Weight: 5.75lb | Cost time: 4hrs | Run time: : 40 minutes | Bin Quantity: zero.54L | Handheld mode: Sure | Suction energy: 28AW / 115AW (on Max mode)

Usually discounted now

Nonetheless pretty highly effective

Multi-surface

The Dyson V8 Absolute is an earlier model of the V10 with a barely smaller bin measurement and fewer energy. The cord-free V8 contains a direct-drive cleaner head and an extra smooth curler cleaner head so you may effectively clear each carpet and hardwood flooring. The V8 vacuum can shortly remodel right into a handheld and comes with attachments that embody a mixture and crevice device and a mini motorized device. As a result of the V8 is an older model, you may sometimes discover discounted costs at on-line retailers.

The most cost effective cord-free Dyson

Weight: 5.64lb | Cost time: 4hrs | Run time: : 40 minutes | Bin Quantity: zero.54L | Handheld mode: Sure | Suction energy: 28AW / 115AW (on Max mode)

Picks up pet hair with ease

Nice for normal use too

Removable for handheld use

Just like the V8 Absolute above, you may sometimes discover the Dyson V8 Animal on sale for as little as $300. That is the lowest worth we have seen for a cord-free Dyson Vacuum. The V8 Animal has the identical energy and battery lifetime of absolutely the however lacks a smooth curler cleaner head. The smooth curler head is made for arduous surfaces, so in case you simply want a vacuum for carpeted flooring, then the Animal is a unbelievable possibility.

The cordless V8 is designed to deep clear properties with pets that includes a filtration system that captures allergens and expels contemporary air. The V8 Animal is powered by the Dyson digital motor V8 and might remodel right into a handheld vac.

Picture credit score: Dyson

Weight: three.77lb | Cost time: three.5hrs | Run time: : 30 minutes | Bin Quantity: zero.54L | Handheld mode: Sure | Suction energy: 21AW / 100AW (on Max mode)

Cheaper than common cordless Dysons

Simple to retailer

Restricted use on carpets

For those whore fascinated with a handheld possibility for automobiles and arduous to succeed in areas, Dyson has come out with the V7 Set off. The hand held Dyson supplies as much as 30 minutes of fade-free suction and is powered by the digital V7 motor that options 100 Air Watts of suction. The cord-free Dyson is light-weight and simple to retailer and contains three totally different attachment instruments.

Highly effective suction at an inexpensive worth

Weight: 15.6 lbs | Twine size: 31ft | Most Attain: 40ft | Handheld mode: No | Suction energy: 250 AW

Excessive suction energy

Simple to maneuver

Works throughout carpets and arduous flooring

Not cordless

The Dyson Ball Multi Ground 2 is one in every of Dysons strongest vacuums, offering excessive suction on any ground floor. The upright vacuum options a powerful suction energy of 250AW and claims to seize extra microscopic mud than every others cyclone.

The Multi Ground 2 can be straightforward to maneuver due to the ball base design that enables the vacuum to navigate furnishings and corners with a easy flip of the wrist. The Dyson contains a self-adjusting cleaner head that seals in suction throughout carpets and arduous flooring so you may by no means have to modify modes or vacuum heads. The Multi Ground 2 features a wand and long-reach hose so you may clear stairs and arduous to succeed in areas. As a result of this Dyson mannequin is not cord-free, you may discover it at a extra inexpensive worth than the above cordless choices.

Light-weight and simple to maneuver

Weight: 12lb | Energy provide: Corded | Twine size: 9.4m | Bin capability: zero.9L | Suction energy: 86AW

Conventional upright design

Giant bin capability

Simple to retailer

For those whore in search of a light-weight vacuum that also gives highly effective suction, then the Dyson Small Ball is for you. The Dyson weighs simply 12 kilos however nonetheless supplies 150W of highly effective suction. The compact vacuum claims to avoid wasting as much as 50% extra space for storing than a conventional full-size upright. The Small Ball contains a self-adjusting cleaner head that robotically adjusts from carpets to arduous flooring, and the ball know-how permits for straightforward maneuvering round troublesome locations. Due to its small measurement, you may discover the Small Ball priced decrease when in comparison with different Dyson upright vacuums.

Robust, highly effective suction with no filters

Weight: 19.18lb | Energy provide: Corded | Twine size: 10.8m | Bin capability: 2.18L | Suction energy: 250AW

Very highly effective

The biggest capability

Made for properties with pets

Very costly

For those whore in search of high of the road energy, then the Dyson Cinetic Massive Ball is the vacuum for you. The upright vacuum is made for pet homeowners and options 120AW of suction energy and spectacular 2.18-liter bin. Because of the Dyson Cinetic science, the Dyson Massive Ball is totally, so it by no means loses suction, and you do not have to fret about washing or changing the filter. The Dyson vacuum gives ball know-how and contains six extra instruments for environment friendly and handy cleansing.

Spherical up of right nows finest offers

Dyson V11 Torque Drive

Dyson V11 Animal Cordless

Dyson Cyclone V10 Absolute

Dyson Cyclone V10 Animal

Dyson V8 Absolute (Yellow)

Dyson V8 Animal Twine-Free

Dyson V7 Set off Cordless

Dyson Upright Vacuum Cleaner,

Dyson Cinetic Massive Ball Multi

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The best cheap Dyson Vacuum sales and deals for November 2020 - Best gaming pro

A right-wing protester rests his hand on a pistol on October 30, 2020 in Vancouver, Washington.Photo: Nathan Howard (Getty Images)

America is not a civilized country.

While, compared to most countries, we have an abundance of toilets, street lights and wifi hotspots, the so-called United States also boasts more intentional homicides, gun violence and is more politically unstable than most of the developed world (or as one slightly jaundiced geopolitical expert calls them the shithole countries).

The prospect of civil unrest and violence over the 2020 election is real. And, according to the Justice Department, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security Independent studies and state and local law enforcement agencies, the violence is likely to come from far-right extremist groups. Militia groups have said as much. We have already seen it happening.

And then theres history.

White Americans suppressing, terrorizing, threatening and killing non-white people because of their votes is more commonplace in America than free and fair elections (To be fair, Black people are still waiting for the first free and fair American election.) But because our social studies curriculum teaches us about cherry tree-chopping, states rights and other forms of American exceptionalism, we are left with an inability to contextualize this current political climate.

No, my friends, America is not better than this.

Here is an incomplete history of white Americas historical responses to the threat of Black people participating in democracy.

G/O Media may get a commission

October 1, 1742: In a not-so-rare incidence of white-on-white violence, city and county officials in Philadelphia beg residents not to bring weapons to the polls on Election Day. But during a dispute over who will serve as voting inspectors, sailors with clubs and sticks attack the local crowd and Anglican vs. Quaker violence ensues.

No oatmeal was harmed in Philadelphias Bloody Election Riot of 1742.

June 14, 1788: Americas first presidential election almost didnt happen because America almost didnt happen. Concerned that free Black Americans would join the new federal army and instigate a national slave revolt, Virginias powerful elite refuses to ratify James Madisons proposed Constitution unless he addresses their concerns. Madison concedes to the slaveowners demands by amending the Constitution with one sentence that will serve as gasoline for future sparks for centuries to come:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

July 11, 1804: Alexander Hamilton breaks the 1800 Electoral College deadlock, making Thomas Jefferson the third president of the United States and angering first runner-up Aaron Burr in the process. Convinced that Jefferson would drop him from the ticket in 1804, Burr runs for governor of New York instead. When Hamilton campaigns against Burr for the second time, the two decide to take their dispute to the streets. Burr kills Hamilton in the ensuing duel.

Someone should write a movie about this. Or at least a musical.

November 1854-1860: To sway a referendum on whether Kansas would become a free state or a slave state, thousands of pro-slavery Border Ruffians invade the Kansas territory, inciting a series of armed attacks that would last until the Civil War. During the six-year debate over slavery, pro-slavery Congressman Preston Brooks takes a cane and beats anti-slavery Sen. Charles Sumner to a bloody pulp on the Senate floor.

July 20, 1866: Shortly after they win the right to vote, Black Louisianans attend their states Republican convention. Of course, Black people in New Orleans cant just walk anywhere. They parade to the meeting at the Mechanics Institute with bands, music and dancing. New Orleans white ex-Confederates witness this display of unbridled Black joy and...

You know what? Ill just let historian Rob Chernow describe the New Orleans Massacre as he did in his book, Grant:

The whites stomped, kicked, and clubbed the black marchers mercilessly. Policemen smashed the institutes windows and fired into it indiscriminately until the floor grew slick with blood. They emptied their revolvers on the convention delegates, who desperately sought to escape. Some leaped from windows and were shot dead when they landed. Those lying wounded on the ground were stabbed repeatedly, their skulls bashed in with brickbats. The sadism was so wanton that men who kneeled and prayed for mercy were killed instantly, while dead bodies were stabbed and mutilated.

September 19, 1868: Georgias Black voters elect three Black state senators and 30 state representatives, called the Original 33. White supremacists flock to Georgia, expel the Black elected officials and engaged in a brutal campaign to kill them. During a peaceful protest, whites ambush the Black marchers in Camilla, Ga., and open fire. The incident was so egregious that Georgias admission to the Union was revoked, making Georgia the first and only state to be kicked out of America twice for being too racist.

One-quarter of the Original 33 were killed by racial violence.

September 28, 1868: The White Knights of the Camelia (not related to the previous racists) slaughter at least 200 Black people in St. Landry Parish, La., for trying to join a political party in a neighboring town. The Opelousas Massacre lasted for a month and Klan members traveled from across the country to join in on the nigger hunt.

No one was ever convicted.

December 1870: When Black North Carolinians joined white Republicans to elect William Woods Holden governor in 1870, the Ku Klux Klan raised a militia with the express purpose of overthrowing the Democratically elected governor. The white supremacists arrest Holden, take over the government and install their own governor.

The Kirk-Holden War will not be the last time white supremacists overthrew a state government.

October 25, 1870: In Eutaw, Ala.s 1868 election, Black citizens overwhelmingly support Republican candidate Ulysses Grant, catapulting him to a 2,000 vote margin in the county. Days before the 1870 midterm election, Klansmen opened fire at a rally of 2,800 Black people, killing many and causing hundreds to stay home on Election Day.

The Republican governor wins the county by 43 votes.

April 13, 1873: Black people in Colfax, La., knew that white racists would kill them to keep them from voting so they literally occupied the courthouse. On Easter Sunday, Knights of the White Camelia, Klansmen and Confederate sympathizers surround the courthouse force the African American occupiers to surrender. Still not satisfied, the white supremacists open fire, burn the victims bodies and throw the corpses in a nearby river.

The bloodiest single instance of racial carnage in the Reconstruction era, the Colfax massacre taught many lessons, writes historian Eric Foner. Including the lengths to which some opponents of Reconstruction would go to regain their accustomed authority.

September 14, 1874: 5,000 or so members of the Crescent City White League, a white supremacist organization in New Orleans, successfully organizes a coup detat of the local government. They installed John McEnery and Dafute Penn as governor and lt. governor, murdering dozens of Black citizens in the process. The Battle of Liberty place was commemorated with a monument that reads:

McEnery and Penn having been elected governor and lieutenant-governor by the white people, were duly installed by this overthrow of carpetbag government, ousting the usurpers, Governor Kellogg (white) and Lieutenant-Governor Antoine (colored). United States troops took over the state government and reinstated the usurpers but the national election of November 1876 recognized white supremacy in the South and gave us our state.

December 7, 1874: Mississippis White League demands the resignation of Peter Crosby, Vicksburg, Miss.s first Black sheriff. When even the governor cant quell the white rioters, Black people stream into Vicksburg to protect the county. Whites travel to Mississippi from nearby states and attack the Black towns defenders. Unable to stop themselves, the whites eventually massacre about 300 Black people in the area.

Compromise of 1877: States rights advocates refuse to count Black votes in the 1876 election while other states simply appoint electors who will go along with the will of the white citizens. To settle the disputed presidential election, 14 white men agree to hand the presidency to Rutherford B. Hayes in exchange for allowing Southern states to do whatever they want to their Black citizens.

Whatever they want becomes known as the Jim Crow era.

February 22, 1898: William McKinley keeps one of his campaign promises after the 1896 election by appointing Black postal workers, including Lake City, S.C.s Frazier B. Baker. Soon after he took his post, a white mob burns Bakers house to the ground. Fraziers wife Lavinia and four of their children escape with gunshot wounds.

Frazier Baker and his infant daughter are burned and shot to death.

November 8, 1898: White men attack Thomas Tolbert as he collects affidavits from disenfranchised Black citizens in Greenwood, S.C., who want to vote. Then they attacked the Black voters. Then they just attacked Black people in general.

No one is ever charged with a crime.

November 10, 1898: Poor white farmers band with African-American residents to form the Fusion Party in majority-Black Wilmington, N.C. After a yearlong political campaign literally called the White Supremacy Campaign, racist Red Shirts lose and the Fusion Party remains in power. Angered by the loss, Congressmen William Kitchin declares: Before we allow the Negroes to control this state as they do now, we will kill enough of them that there will not be enough left to bury them.

Whites form an armed mob and run the Black people out of town, turning Wilmington N.C., into a majority-white city forever.

Kitchin eventually becomes governor.

May 12, 1906: 1,000 citizens of Omaha, Neb., surround the courthouse and demand that two Democratic City Councilmen be seated. The Democratic councilmembers had won fair-and-square...

After they threw out all of the Black votes.

July 1919: To prevent a large population of Black voters from swaying the election, Alabama redraws the city limits of Oxford, Ala., to exclude the Black part of town. Years later, the all-Black town is incorporated as Hobson, Ala., but when Hobson elects Newman Oneal, a Black man, as mayor, Oneal receives an anonymous letter from the white supremacist Black Hand threatening his life. After numerous assaults, Oneal leaves town and spends the rest of his life in exile.

The acting mayor receives the same letter

November 2, 1920: The day after the presidential election, a white mob in Ocoee, Fla., killed a man who they thought was housing Mose Norman, a Black man who had tried to vote. They hung his body from a light post and the police helped the mob kill 50-60 more Black people just to make their point.

Mose Norman and every single Black resident flee the city, transforming Ocoee into an all-white town for the next 50 years.

June 21, 1964: Neshoba County law enforcement officers, the Ku Klux Klan, the White Citizens Council and Mississippis State Sovereignty Commission conspire to murder activists James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner for registering Black Mississippians to vote. Klan organizer Edgar Ray Killen was eventually convicted for the three deaths...

Forty-one years later.

February 18, 1965: Perry County, Ala., officers arrest James Shackdaddy Orange on charges of contributing to the delinquency of minors by organizing them for voter registration drives and having them sing freedom songs. Convinced that he will be lynched, civil rights volunteers march to the jail to visit Orange when the street lights suddenly go dark. As state troopers open fire, 23-year-old Jimmie Lee Jackson drapes himself over his mother and grandfather to protect them and is shot and killed by Corporal James Bonard Fowler

Three weeks later, residents plan to march from Selma to Montgomery and confront segregationist governor George Wallace to ask if he ordered the street lights turned out but Alabama state troopers show up again as the marchers cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

The event becomes known as Bloody Sunday.

August 5, 1965: After becoming one of the first Black women to pass Kentuckys bar exam, Alberta Odell Jones begins renting voting machines to teach Black Kentuckians how to vote. Shortly after a newly elected district attorney appoints her Jefferson Countys first female prosecutor, she is beaten to death with a brick and her body is thrown into the Ohio River.

Her murder remains unsolved.

November 10, 1966: Dallas County Sheriff Jim Clarkwho was curiously on the scene for Jimmie Lee Jacksons death (even though it was out of his jurisdiction) and ordered his officers to attack protesters on Bloody Sundayshows up to the polls to intimidate voters at the first election after the passage of the Voting Rights Act. After he loses, Clark manages to get 1,600 votes thrown out due to irregularities.

A court order restores the votes, ousting Clark from law enforcement forever.

1968: After riots erupted in American cities over the death of Martin Luther King Jr., former Vice President Richard Nixon invokes law and order for his 1968 presidential campaign while third-party candidate George Wallace invokes outright racism. Meanwhile, a pandemic some called the Hong Kong flu killed 100,000 Americans. The Democratic convention is marred by violence from the Youth International Party, a counterculture movement that resembles todays antifascist movement in many ways.

August 3, 1980: Republican presidential nominee Ronald Reagan becomes the first national political candidate to speak at the Neshoba County State Fair. His speech is filled with dog-whistles on states rights, government interference and local sovereignty.

Most political experts believe it was no coincidence that Reagans choice of location is just a stones throw from the Philadelphia, Miss., site where James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner were murdered in cold blood for registering Black Mississippians to vote.

November 1, 1982: The Republican National Committee agrees to stop deploying intimidating poll watchers after the party launched the Ballot Security Task Force in 1981. The Republican Party paid armed, off-duty police law enforcement officers who challenged and questioned voters at the polls and blocked the way of some prospective voters in Black and Hispanic neighborhoods.

In 2018, the RNC convinced a federal judge to let the consent decree expire, making the 2020 election the first presidential race since 1980 that the GOP will be allowed to again conduct poll security activities.

April 29, 1983: Chicago elects Harold Washington, the citys first Black mayor. Chicagos white residents protest, declaring they want a new mayor. Hate crimes surge in Chicagos whitest neighborhoods and rapidly diversifying Marquette Park becomes a regular site for violent Klan rallies.

November 6, 1990: Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) wins a fourth term by defeating Charlottes Black mayor, Harvey Gantt. Two years later, Helms signs a consent decree with the Department of Justice acknowledging that his 1990 campaign sent 125,000 official postcards telling voters that they would be thrown in jail if they voted. 97 percent of the fliers were sent to Black voters. Thomas Farr, the lawyer who spearheaded the racist campaign, would spend decades targeting Black voters with what a federal court called surgical precision.

Donald Trump has unsuccessfully nominated Thomas Farr for a federal judgeship twice.

November 22, 2000: Rep. John E. Sweeney (R-N.Y.) and hundreds of paid Republican operatives attack election officials and law enforcement officers in an effort to delay, obstruct and eventually stop Miami-Dade County, Fla., election officials from counting votes in the 2000 presidential election before a court-imposed deadline.

They were successful.

November 2008-March 2009: After the election and inauguration of Barack Obama, Nevada lawyer Stewart Rhodes forms the Oath Keepers. The paramilitary militia organization encourages members of the military and law enforcement to pledge not to follow certain hypothetical orders from the federal government, including directives to put American citizens in detention camps and disarm citizens. Meanwhile, right-wing extremist Mike Vanderboegh organizes the III Percenters.

When Obama announced his candidacy, there were 50 militia groups in the U.S. By the end of Obamas first year in office, there were 200, reports the ADL.

February 27, 2009: Conservatives and libertarians organize the first of many anti-Obama demonstrations. The movement would eventually become known as the Tea Party and would be marked by spitting, sporadic violence, racial slurs and hanging Obama in effigy.

November 9, 2009: Attorney General Eric Holders Department of Justice voids Shelby County, Ala.s elections after one town gerrymanders away its only majority Black district. In the do-over, the city of Calera re-elects Ernest Montgomery as its only Black city council member, instigating a legal fight that would eventually gut the Voting Rights Act and become known as Shelby v. Holder.

November 22, 2015: Activist Mercutio Southhall Jr. is kicked and punched after yelling Black Lives Matter at a rally for Donald Trump in Birmingham, Ala. The incident would become the template for dozens of violent occurrences at Trump rallies during the 2016 election season.

January 20, 2017: Donald J. Trump becomes the 45th president of the United States.

November 3, 2020: Militia groups, the Proud Boys, Bill Barr, the Republican Party, the Department of Justice, and America prepares to stand down and stand by.

We ready.

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An Incomplete History of White Election Violence - The Root

By Staff | on October 30, 2020

Many people are starting to work from home these days. It is convenient and most can get more work done in the comfort of their own homes. Think of the commute time you can save. Studies show that up to 30% of the workforce will be working from home, at least part-time, within the next year. Resulting in a spike of home office remodels. When thinking about adding a home office there are a few avenues you can take. Some, already have a room that could be upgraded to suit an office. Others may want to add an additional space to their home to fit their needs. Whatever the case, Ability Remodeling is here to help you create your dream home office space.

Upgrading a room already in your home is the most cost-effective way of adding a home office. This may seem like an easy upgrade. However, there are a few things we believe you should consider when upgrading a spare room to a workspace. You will want this space to be warm and welcoming. A place you enjoy walking into every morning to get your best work done. First off, are there enough windows in the space for natural light? This may seem like a small detail however studies show that natural light can improve work efficiency. Next, are there enough outlets for all your gadgets? Again, if not, some electrical work should be done prior to moving in. The needs for an office are different than a bedroom, making the right adjustments, in the beginning, is key to a successful office space.

Adding an addition to your home is no small project. Yet, this means you can make your new home office exactly what you want. With an addition, you add square footage to your home. In return, this adds value to your house. A home addition is a great solution for a homeowner who is going to be working from home full time and has nowhere to set up shop. Working from the kitchen table is not ideal long term. When adding a home office via an addition you get everything you need. The size of the room, how many windows needed for that natural light, is an attached bathroom something you want? Ability Remodeling specializes in home additions and can create that ideal workspace you need.

Regardless of whether you updated an existing room or had an addition added to your house, the next step is what gets put into this new space. Ability is a Prescott cabinet contractor that offers Wellborn cabinets. Cabinets are not just for the kitchen and bathroom these days, take a look at this clip for office desk ideas. Through Prescott Cabinets, we can create a built-in workspace for you in your home office that fits all your individual needs. With open shelving and countless door styles, we together can design a custom desk that will be beautiful and functional. Making this space a place you want to spend your time.

Whether turning an existing space into an office or looking to add on, Ability Remodeling is here to handle everything from beginning to end. To learn more about Ability Remodeling visit abilityprescott.com/.

Articles in Ideal Living are made possible by Ability Remodeling of Prescott, AZ.

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Working From Home is on the rise - Signals AZ

Brandon Davis|Kinston/Jones Free Press (kfp)

He wouldn't say it officially, but Jay's 108 owner Jay Shin said his burger and sushi restaurant will possibly open this Friday in downtown Kinston.

Shin hopes to open the doors at 4 p.m. for dinner inside the old Boiler Room Oyster Bar, and he has already scheduled someone to perform live music on Friday, October 30, in the alleyway at 108B W. North St.

Rumors about a new restaurant started around May when Boiler Room owner Vivian Howard decided to close the oyster bar. People began hearing this summer that Jay's Restaurant Group would open an eatery in the old alleyway, but questions lingered in regards to the actual opening.

"My name is on the restaurant, so I had to make it right," Shin said. "One of the hardest parts about this construction wasthere was a Boiler Room here. Remodeling a restaurant is always harder."

Shin said Jay's 108 will open from 4 to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 4 to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday for the first two weeks. He did not specify Sunday's hours, but he said he will provide lunchafter the first two weeks and open on Sundays for brunch.

Tyler Davis from Goldsboro will perform Friday night, according to Shin, and the Jay's 108 owner cannot wait to see his customers.

"I want to thank people for their patience," Shin said. "I try to make it right, so pleaseeat at my restaurant."

See the article here:
Jay's 108 hopes to open Friday for dinner with live music - Kinston Free Press