Haim Saban, the American-Israeli media mogul, has told the Los-Angeles based entertainment and website The Wrap that the United States should intensify its scrutiny of Muslims following last Friday's deadly wave of terrorist attacks in Paris.

 "I'm not suggesting we put Muslims through some kind of torture room to get them to admit they are or they're not terrorists," he is quoted as telling The Wrap in a story posted Wednesday, "but I am saying we should have more scrutiny." Suggesting that some civil liberties may need to be suspended in the face of security threats, he asked rhetorically: "You want to be free and dead? I'd rather be not free and alive."

DES MOINES – Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate is pleased to announce that 16 presidential candidates have responded to his request that they send video messages to Iowa high school students for the “Caucus 101” curriculum. The curriculum was developed by Secretary Pate to engage and educate students about civics, the Iowa Caucuses and Iowa’s unique role as the first-in-the-nation state in the presidential selection process.

The videos can also be used at the bipartisan Iowa Youth Caucus events, most of which will be taking place Thursday, Nov. 19, in 22 counties across the state. The presidential candidates and campaigns have been invited to participate in the Iowa Youth Caucus events. If they do not have a speaker for their candidate, the video can be played instead, at each county organizers’ discretion.

The videos are a great resource for all Iowans as their gauge the candidates bidding to win the Iowa Caucus on Feb. 1. The full video playlist can also be found on the Iowa Secretary of State’s YouTube page.

“I would like to thank each of the 16 presidential candidates and their campaigns for taking the time to produce and send these video messages to Iowa students,” Secretary Pate said. “Making this curriculum fun and easily accessible for students, teachers and the general public was a high priority when we started this project. Letting Iowa’s young people hear messages geared toward them, directly from the candidates, is a valuable tool for engaging them in the Iowa Caucuses.”

In a closely watched speech at the Council on Foreign Relations, the Democratic frontrunner called for sending more U.S. special forces to Syria, imposing a no-fly zone in northern Syria and possibly arming Sunnis and Kurds in Iraq.
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Clinton’s vote in favor of the Iraq War divided her and Obama in the 2008 election and was a decisive reason she lost the nomination. She has said repeatedly the vote was a mistake, but her reputation as being more aggressive on foreign policy issues than the president has not changed. In her time as Secretary of State, she called for more action to arm moderate Syrian rebels, and was a voice for more intervention in Libya.

Their differences may be amplified by their current positions too. Nearing the end of his second term and facing no more elections, Obama has grown increasingly impatient with the political side of his job, while Clinton is already looking ahead to a general election where she expects to square off against a Republican candidate who will use similarly tough rhetoric on foreign policy.

During a Q&A in Turkey Monday, Obama said he wasn’t going to take action against ISIS simply because it would “make America look tough, or make me look tough,” and compared critics to people who “want to pop off” on the issue.

By contrast, Clinton struck a more assertive tone in her speech.
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FAREED ZAKARIA, QUESTION: Donald Trump says that if you look back, you see that every time — I get a laugh just saying it…

(LAUGHTER)

… Donald Trump says that every time we deposed or encouraged the removal of a dictator in the Middle East, what has followed has been political chaos and a worse humanitarian situation than existed before. And if you look at Iraq, if you look at Libya, if you look Yemen, you look at the fragility of the Assad regime and what it has produced, isn’t he right?

HILLARY CLINTON: Well, he has a very short-term view of history, because it is not at all clear what the final outcome will be in the places that you named. As I mentioned in the speech, I spoke about the foundations of the region sinking into the sand just as the Arab Spring was breaking. And I did so not knowing about the Arab Spring coming to full bloom, but because it was so clear that what was being done by dictatorships, by the denial of opportunity, by the repression, by the sectarian divide just could not stand. It was going to explode at some point or another.

And with the developments in Libya, for example, the Libyan people have voted twice in free and fair elections for the kind of leadership they want. They have not been able to figure out how to prevent the disruptions that they are confronted with because of internal divides and because of some of the external pressures that are coming from terrorist groups and others. So it’s — I think it’s too soon to tell and I think it’s something that we have to be, you know, looking at very closely.

FDA approves GMO salmon, a first for food supply. Shouldn’t it be labeled?

The genetically engineered salmon — a lightning rod in the debate about biotechnology in our food supply — is a go. The Food and Drug Administration announced today that it has approved the salmon, making it the first genetically engineered animal cleared for consumption in the United States. Although “genetically engineered” is the term the FDA uses, the salmon, modified for fast growth with genes from other two edible fish, is commonly referred to as a genetically modified organism (GMO).

-snip-

The fish’s lengthy approval process — the salmon’s developer, AquaBounty Technologies, first approached the FDA 20 years ago — is an indication of the many political and scientific obstacles. And then there’s the labeling issue. The U.S., unlike many other countries, has no requirement to label genetically modified food, and the salmon is no exception. AquaBounty CEO Ron Stotish says that when the fish is introduced some two years down the road, it will probably not be identified as genetically engineered — a decision I think is unfortunate (but more on that later). “When you’re the first and only, labeling is a dangerous decision,” he says. “We’d like to label it as a premium product, but we’ll probably introduce it as ‘Atlantic salmon.’ ”

Current and former Walmart workers protested at the Brooklyn headquarters of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign Wednesday, calling on Clinton to address Walmart’s pay and labor practices and noting her “long-standing ties” to the company, where she served as a board member from 1986 to 1992.

The protest came a day after the Service Employees International Union, a powerhouse in the labor movement and backer of the Fight For $15 minimum wage campaign, officially endorsed Clinton for president. While Clinton has spoken in support of a $12 minimum federal hourly wage, she has stopped short of calling for the $15 minimum that is becoming a widespread demand among labor activists.
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Walmart protesters who attempted to deliver a letter to Hillary Clinton’s Brooklyn headquarters were turned away by security on Wednesday. The protesters – some current and some former Walmart employees – were hoping the former secretary of state and Democratic candidate for president would take up their cause and come out in support of $15-an-hour wages.

“I am going to Hillary Clinton’s office to demand that she speak up for me, for my daughter and for the tens of thousands of Walmart workers across this country working and living in poverty,” said Tyfani Faulkner, a former Walmart customer service manager from Sacramento, California. “One of the things I remember most from working at Walmart was my friends and I emptying our pockets to scrape together one meal we all could share for lunch. This should not be happening in America. We need a champion in the White House and we’re going to Hillary’s office to demand that she take up our cause.”
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Faulkner was let go from Walmart for alleged activism. During the two weeks leading up to Black Friday, she is fasting to “try and improve the working conditions and wages for all of my friends still working at the store”. About 100 Walmart associates are participating in the fast, also known as Fast for 15.

Faulkner and the other protesters, all wearing bright green scarves the color of the current and former employee-led Our Walmart campaign, were barred from reaching the Clinton headquarters by the building security. The protesters delivered their letter to the campaign’s labor liaison outside the building.

Clinton’s campaign did not respond to Guardian’s request for comment.