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22,100 | SENATOR REVEALS Shocking FBI Corruption in “Watered Down” Exoneration of Hillary Clinton [Video] | The interview below is pretty much what we all knew but now it s out in the open. Notice how Senator Johnson calls on the DOJ to act:Senator Ron Johnson told Tucker Carlson tonight that the corruption in the intel agencies is much worse that we thought. He believes that the entire investigation into Hillary s emails was a sham used to protect her and not investigate her. He says the same cast of characters is being used to investigate Trump scary stuff!Fox News reports:WASHINGTON Newly released documents obtained by Fox News reveal that then-FBI Director James Comey s draft statement on the Hillary Clinton email probe was edited numerous times before his public announcement, in ways that seemed to water down the bureau s findings considerably.Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, sent a letter to the FBI on Thursday that shows the multiple edits to Comey s highly scrutinized statement.In an early draft, Comey said it was reasonably likely that hostile actors gained access to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton s private email account. That was changed later to say the scenario was merely possible. Another edit showed language was changed to describe the actions of Clinton and her colleagues as extremely careless as opposed to grossly negligent. This is a key legal distinction.Johnson, writing about his concerns in a letter Thursday to FBI Director Christopher Wray, said the original could be read as a finding of criminality in Secretary Clinton s handling of classified material. | 0 |
22,101 | Trump's early moves spark alarm, resistance within the government | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - At the U.S. State Department, the dissent began building soon after President Donald Trump signed an executive order late on Friday to limit immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries. Opposition mounted through the weekend as a draft memo criticizing Trump’s policy was written up in Washington and circulated by email to U.S. diplomatic posts around the world, according to multiple officials involved in the effort. By Monday, two of the officials said they considered withdrawing their names from the document, fearing a backlash. On Tuesday, just 12 days into Trump’s presidency, the memo with some 900 signatures was delivered to the State Department policy planning office and from there to other top officials, said one source familiar with the document. Sources said this was an unprecedented number of names on a memo sent through the department’s formal “dissent channel.” The memo is just one example of the alarm and, in some cases, resistance spreading within the federal bureaucracy as Trump’s administration makes sharp policy turns while ignoring some of the agencies charged with implementation, according to interviews with more than 20 current and former U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity and in some cases asked that their departments not be identified. Still fearful of recriminations, one official said some diplomats discussed whether they could qualify for professional liability insurance, which would cover legal costs in the case of disciplinary action, through the American Foreign Service Association union. The White House did not respond to an email requesting comment. Earlier, when the existence of the memo surfaced, White House spokesman Sean Spicer warned that anyone at the State Department who questioned Trump’s immigration policies “should either get with the program, or they can go.” Elsewhere in the federal bureaucracy, officials have hastily saved scientific research and public information on climate change and other issues, fearing the new administration would strip it from their websites. Officials have also set up alternative Twitter accounts to criticize the administration. Reuters could not verify the owners of the roughly 50 “rogue” accounts. Other officials have begun debating whether to quit.Most of those whom Reuters interviewed said that, while the administration’s policies concerned them, they are more worried that Trump might try to ignore legal and legislative restraints on presidential power. Trump upset many by signing his controversial executive order on immigration without consulting key agencies and members of Congress. “When they try to ram through things that have foreign policy and national security implications, it demands consultation,” said a career official who worked in a part of the government charged with implementing the immigration order. “But there was no meaningful consultation, despite what they said.” A career civil servant at the Federal Communications Commission said he was considering quitting, citing a fear widespread at the agency “of being cut out of the decision-making processes.” Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a Republican like Trump, said he learned about the immigration order only after the president had signed it. Corker said he talked with White House representatives on Sunday and believed they had gotten the message on the need for inter-agency coordination. “I would find it hard to believe that they on Tuesday don’t understand that what they did on Friday could have been done in a much better way,” he said. Most new presidents, particularly Republicans, who favor limited government, have tussles with the federal bureaucracy. President Ronald Reagan fired 11,000 air traffic controllers, all federal employees, in 1981, early in his tenure, after they ignored his order to return to work. But Philip Wallach, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution think tank, said Trump’s apparent hostility to those who must implement his policies was in a different league. “There certainly is something about Trump’s chip-on-the-shoulder attitude that makes it seem like he’s itching for a potential long-term fight with the bureaucracy, rather than something he works to develop a smooth relationship with,” he said. To succeed with his economic reform agenda, Trump will need federal agencies, Wallach said. “That’s going to require a lot of affirmative government work, not just smashing things up.” Several government managers said they have advised their employees not to react so early in Trump’s presidency. “Some of the things Trump is doing are foolish and make no sense from a management perspective,” said a career State Department official who supervises scores of civil servants. “But I’ve told my folks to be professional and stay calm – don’t panic,” the official said. “What else can I tell them? Someone needs to be an adult. Otherwise, we’d have chaos.” In a farewell speech to about 100 State Department officials on Tuesday, Thomas Countryman, the acting undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, called on colleagues to stay despite their concerns. “We still have a duty - you have a duty - to stay and give your best professional guidance, with loyalty, to the new administration,” he said. “Because a foreign policy without professionals is - by definition - an amateur foreign policy. You will help to frame and make the choices.” | 1 |
22,102 | White House: Obama would veto bill allowing 9/11 families to sue Saudis | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Friday reiterated that President Barack Obama would veto a bill that would allow the families of the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks to sue Saudi Arabia’s government for damages. The House of Representatives was expected to vote on the bill on Friday. The Senate passed it unanimously in May. “We are in the same place we were the last time,” the White House official said on Friday. Both Obama and a White House spokesman said in April the president would veto the bill. | 1 |
22,103 | Saudi Arabia agrees to buy Russian S-400 air defense system: Arabiya TV | RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has agreed to buy Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile systems, Saudi-owned al-Arabiya television reported on Thursday. The report came during a visit by Saudi King Salman to Moscow. The countries also signed a memorandum of understanding to help the kingdom in its efforts to develop its own military industries, a statement from state-owned Saudi Arabian Military Industries said. SAMI said the MoU with Russian state-owned arms exporter Rosoboronexport came in the context of contracts signed to procure the S-400, the Kornet-EM system, the TOS-1A, the AGS-30 and the Kalashnikov AK-103. It not specify the number of each system or the value of the procurement deal. It said the procurement was based on the assurance of the Russian party to transfer the technology and localize the manufacturing and sustainment of these armament systems in the Kingdom , but provided no timeframe. A number of deals have been signed during this week s trip by King Salman to Russia, the first by a Saudi monarch. | 1 |
22,104 | UK customs ready for 'no deal' Brexit, finance minister says | LONDON (Reuters) - British customs authorities will be able to cope even if the government is unable to reach a deal with the European Union to smooth Britain s departure from the bloc, finance minister Philip Hammond said on Tuesday. (Customs agency) HMRC is preparing for all eventualities, including for a no-deal scenario, Hammond told the economic affairs committee of Britain s upper legislative chamber. We recognize that the timescales are very challenging, and in a no-deal scenario, not everything we would want to put in place will be in place on day one. But we will have a working system in place on day one, I have that assurance from HMRC. Hammond said the government was seeking the smoothest possible customs arrangements as part of a negotiated exit from the EU, which is due to take place in March 2019. | 1 |
22,105 | Democratic Party says special counsel needs full control of Russia probe: statement | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The special counsel appointed to lead a probe into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election should be granted full control of the investigation independent of Justice Department officials, the Democratic National Committee said on Friday. The DNC, in a statement, said Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who has authority over special counsel Robert Mueller, needs to recuse himself from the Russia probe and control of the investigation should not be given to another Trump appointee. | 1 |
22,106 | Court Smacks Down Utah’s Attempt To Defund Planned Parenthood | An attempt by Utah s governor to defund Planned Parenthood has been smacked down by a federal appeals court who decided that the order was most likely a political move to punish the organization and ordered the state to continue funding the organization.The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver also decided on Tuesday that it is highly probable that the governor s order violated the constitutional rights of the group.Following the release of the now debunked baby parts video, Republican Gov. Gary Herbert cut off funding to Planned Parenthood, stripping vital financial support away from sexually transmitted disease and sex education programs.The head of the Planned Parenthood Association of Utah praised the ruling as a victory for the patients who depend on the services provided by the organization: Our doors are open today and they will be tomorrow no matter what, said CEO Karrie Galloway. A spokesman for the governor said he was disappointed by the ruling and believes that contract decisions should be left up to the state. Planned Parenthood s lawsuit challenging Herbert s defunding order will now go back to a lower court. The state has not decided what legal action they will take next, but one option would be to ask the full 10th Circuit to reconsider the panel s decision.Herbert had no comment on the finding by two appeals court judges that he most likely used the controversy as an opportunity to attack the group politically because they provide abortion services.Attorneys for the Utah branch of Planned parenthood argued that they have never participated in fetal donation programs. They also provided emails from state health officials expressing their concern that defunding the group would negatively impact the thousands of teenagers and low-income people who depend on the organization s services.Lawyers for the state argue that the governor legally has every right to right to end contracts and adds that Planned Parenthood was still embroiled in suspicion when Herbert issued his order blocking the organization s funding.Several states have tried to defund Planned Parenthood in the wake of the fake baby parts videos. In states such as Arkansas, Alabama, and Louisiana, the organization has resorted to fighting these attempts to strip away their funding in court.Most states have sided with Planned Parenthood and ruled that the money must keep flowing, but U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups in Utah allowed Herbert to defund the group because he said the state has an interest in avoiding the perception of corruption. Waddoups conceded that the organization has not broken any laws, but said they had associated with other Planned Parenthood entities accused of selling baby parts. Utah s branch of Planned Parenthood has an $8 million budget and the contracts blocked by Governor Herbert were worth $275,000.Planned Parenthood has been cleared of any wrongdoing in multiple investigations by congress and several states. The organization was also cleared by a Texas grand jury who chose to indict two of the makers of the heavily doctored videos instead.Featured image via The Hill | 0 |
22,107 | BREAKING: Benghazi-Obsessed GOP Congressman Jason Chaffetz Too Scared To Run For Re-election (DETAILS) | Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) has been a thorn in the side of Democrats ever since Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State. He blamed her for many things that clearly were beyond her control, most notably the attacks on the compound in Benghazi, Libya, that wound up taking the lives of multiple America diplomats. After that attack, Chaffetz, who chairs the House Oversight Committee, spent more than two years and millions in taxpayer money to keep investigating Hillary each time coming up empty because she did nothing wrong. He even said he had investigations lined up in the event that Hillary took the White House. Well, now that Trump is president and there are no more Clinton investigations to keep his base salivating, Chaffetz has announced that there will be no 2018 Congressional race for him.Chaffetz took to Facebook Wednesday morning to announce his decision, and, of course, he insists that it was not a politically motivated move: After long consultation with my family and prayerful consideration, I have decided I will not be a candidate for any office in 2018. For those that would speculate otherwise, let me be clear that I have no ulterior motives. I am healthy. I am confident I would continue to be re-elected by large margins. I have the full support of Speaker Ryan to continue as Chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. That said, I have made a personal decision to return to the private sector. Here is the embed of the full Facebook post:Despite what Chaffetz is saying regarding his reasons for not running again, it s likely a pack of lies. After all, he made it his mission to destroy Hillary Clinton, and made it clear that he would continue to try and get her on something, anything were she to be elected president. However, now that we have Trump as president instead of Hillary, Chaffetz is choosing to turn a blind eye to all of Trump s scandals. He refuses to look into Trump s conflicts of interest, is mum on the Russia investigation for the most part, and has nothing to say on Trump s lies and obvious character flaws and deficiencies. In short as long as the president is a Republican, he can trample the law into pieces all he wants.This stance would have likely been problematic for Chaffetz in the 2018 Congressional race, to say the least. His state largely loathed Trump, and the alternative conservative candidate and #NeverTrump media star Evan McMullin got a good chunk of the vote. In short Chaffetz would have been primaried, and would have likely suffered a crushing defeat there. Instead of risking that, he is choosing to bow out early, and use lame excuses to do so.All I can say is good riddance, you nasty little tool. We won t be missing you.Featured image via Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | 0 |
22,108 | presstvus admits afghan strike likely caused civilian deaths | indian princess watches over rare paleontological remains thu oct am news bulletin this picture taken on september shows dinosaur princess aaliya sultana babi holding a fossilised dinosaur egg at her palace in balasinor afp
a member of an indian royal family is leading excavations in an area nicknamed indias jurassic park aaliya sultana babi is a princess by birth she has been dubbed the dinosaur princess because of her love for archeology
babis passion started when she accepted to decide a group of foreign geologists to a site in balasinor which was formerly a princely state the site is now a dinosaur park and welcomes a large number of visitors every year
aaliya is pushing the authorities towards better preservation of the thousands of eggs and bones buried in the area she believes with more coordination between government departments she can win the unesco geo park status for the site
tourists can enjoy a luxurious stay at aaliyas familys palace and see her personal collection when visiting the park loading | 1 |
22,109 | Ireland says ongoing failure of Northern Ireland talks 'deeply concerning' | DUBLIN (Reuters) - The continuing failure of Irish nationalists and pro-British Unionists to form a government in Northern Ireland is deeply concerning, Ireland s Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said after Britain moved to directly set a budget for the region. Britain s minister for Northern Ireland James Brokenshire on Wednesday said he had no choice but to begin the process of setting a budget directly for the first time in a decade due to the failure of talks to form a devolved executive. [L8N1N73RN] Both Governments share the view that it is regrettable and deeply concerning that, eight months after the last Assembly election, a power-sharing Executive is not in place, Coveney said in a statement. The non-functioning of the devolved institutions is not something which the Irish Government wants to contemplate. | 1 |
22,110 | GOTCHA! CNN PANELIST Called Out For Lying About Terror Attacks In The US [Video] | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISm-p8e-D7I | 0 |
22,111 | Yemeni airline says not resumed commercial flights after blockade | ADEN (Reuters) - Yemen s national airline said on Sunday it still lacks the security permits needed to resume commercial flights, a day after the transport minister said some flights would be allowed as a nationwide blockade is eased. The Saudi-led military coalition fighting against Yemen s Houthi movement said last week that it had closed all air, land and sea ports in Yemen to stem the alleged flow of arms to the Houthis from Iran. The move came after Saudi Arabia intercepted a missile fired towards Riyadh, which it blamed on Tehran. Transport Minister Mourad al-Halimi had said Yemenia flights to the pro-Saudi government-held cities of Aden and Seiyun would resume on Sunday, but the national carrier said in a statement that it didn t acquire the necessary permits to fly. The United Nations had warned the total blockade could cause famine in the impoverished country where war has killed at least 10,000 people in the last 2-1/2 years and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) expressed more concerns on Sunday. It urged in a statement that humanitarian aid be allowed to enter the country immediately, as Yemen has registered one of the highest rates in postpartum deaths. The government-held southern Yemeni port of Aden was reopened on Wednesday, but ports in Houthi-held areas are still shut. The coalition reopened the al Wadea border crossing linking Saudi Arabia with territory in eastern Yemen on Thursday. | 1 |
22,112 | PARENTS JAILED AND KIDS TAKEN AWAY FOR 90 MINUTE DELAY IN GETTING HOME TO 11-YEAR OLD | This is so over the top it s not funny. I m a huge advocate of parents being there for the kids but a felony charge? Held overnight in jail? Does anyone out there have anything new to add to this or is it a case of our ever overreaching government getting into our business?If this doesn t convince lawmakers that they had better start revising the child neglect laws and convince politicians that supporting Free-Range legislation would be a great, vote-getting platform I m not sure what will. I got this letter a week ago and was waiting for the mom s permission to run it. Got it. Boldface mine:My children are not free range children. The younger one has always had a baby sitter. The older one who just turned 11 a couple of weeks ago always had a baby sitter as well. This school year that changed. The eleven year old comes home and is met by his dad who lets him in the house. In the event dad isn t here on time, his instructions are to wait in the backyard until I come home about 20 minutes later.On this particular day, a little more than a month ago, both dad and I were both running late due bad traffic and rain. We were about and hour and a half late. When we arrived the police had been anonymously called and we were arrested for child neglect.We still do not have our children, we are fighting for our own freedom and due to the nature of my employment I am no longer employed. My son was in his own yard playing basketball, not in the street or at the park. The authorities claim he had no access to water or shelter. We have an open shed in the back yard and 2 working sinks and 2 hoses. They said he had no food. He ate his snacks already. He had no bathroom, but the responding officer found our yard good enough to relieve himself in while our son sat in a police car alone. In his own yard, in a state, Florida, that has no minimum age for children to be alone. If you have any advice for what I should do I will accept it.The advice I gave was to contact The National Association of Parents, which fights for the rights of parents (including the Meitivs) to raise their kids without government interference, except in cases of clear and convincing evidence of actual or imminent harm. That threshhold is a far cry from whatever horrors are visited upon tweens playing basketball while waiting for their parents to get home. (To support the Association of Parents with a donation, go here.)Then on Friday, the mom wrote back:I just wanted to give you an update. Our sons were returned to us on Tuesday/Wednesday in the children s court/DCF with adjudication withheld. However the criminal prosecutor is not dropping the charges as of today. We have to appear in the criminal court on June 11th to put in our plea. I would love to speak to someone however due to my job (which is still on the line) I don t know if it will make it better or worse. I am a state and county employee with the school system and I was made to sign a paper stating I would not speak with teachers parents or students regarding the matter.That being said, it is possible this mom will never talk publicly about this case. Even so, WE should talk about it. It is time to rein in the power of the state to turn parents into criminals simply because they are imperfect.Perfection is impossible in this world, and if the government is allowed to hound a family whose plans got mildly screwed up, it can hound every single one of us.Via: Free Range Kids | 0 |
22,113 | Russia tell U.S. to step back from dispute over military observation flights | MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday told the United States to step back from a confrontation over military observation flights before the two countries became embroiled in another round of tit-for-tat retaliatory measures. The United States has accused Russia of flouting the so-called Open Skies Treaty, an agreement designed to build confidence between the two countries militaries, and said it plans to take measures against Moscow. The Wall Street Journal newspaper reported on Tuesday that would include restricting Russian military flights over American territory in response to what it said was Moscow preventing U.S. observation flights over its heavily militarised Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing on Thursday that Moscow would respond to any new U.S. restrictions. Nobody has canceled the principle of reciprocity in international relations, said Zakharova. | 1 |
22,114 | Egyptian president to meet Trump at White House on April 3 | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at the White House on April 3, the White House said on Tuesday. They will discuss how to defeat Islamic State militants and efforts to pursue peace and stability in the region, the White House said in a statement. | 1 |
22,115 | U.S. intelligence chief Clapper says spoke with Trump about media leaks | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said he spoke with President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday evening to discuss media leaks of a classified intelligence briefing on Russian hacking that Trump received last Friday. Clapper said in a statement that he does not believe the U.S. intelligence community leaked a private security document alleging Russian intelligence operatives have compromising information on Trump. “I emphasized that this document is not a U.S. Intelligence Community product and that I do not believe the leaks came from within the IC,” Clapper said. | 1 |
22,116 | WATCH: Van Jones Scorches Insane Republican Who Think’s Trump’s Chaos Helps His Agenda | Donald Trump is an extreme narcissist who always demands unwavering loyalty from his cable news surrogates. No matter how outrageous his words or deeds, Therefore, it comes as no surprise that during an appearance on ABC s This Week, Matt Schlapp, Chairman of the American Conservative Union actually suggested that Trump s chaotic excuse for governing the nation is actually helping move the GOP legislative agenda alone.First, former conservative radio host and #NeverTrump Republican Charlie Sykes was able to weigh in, saying: The role that the president is playing, rather than showing leadership of any kind, he is sowing chaos, confusion and destruction. Schlapp said in response: I get the fact that there s an opinion on Donald Trump that a lot of people don t like Donald Trump. The president does want to get it done but he wants to get it done within the context of the other aspects of these polices. So Dreamers are going to have to be accompanied with border security. And [Obamacare] CSR payments are going to have to be accompanied by other health care reforms. That s where the very outspoken Van Jones chimed in: You just described probably the most complicated set of negotiations in the history of the republic, that this guy is ramming through. Schlapp tried to cut Jones off, but Jones wasn t having it, and plowed on: I m not finished yet, I m not done. The problem you are having is what you are describing is something that would require real leadership, real finesse. On BOTH sides! Schlapp desperately pouted.Jones calmly continued: I ll say on both sides. But your guy, who you are going to love and defend I understand it s your job you have to admit he s his own worst enemy. In order to do what you just described, you would need discipline and focus. That s when Jones really let the bomb drop: That this isn t normal, and Senator Bob Corker started openly questioning Trump s stability and fitness to serve. Jones said: We are so into the crazy now, when something significant happens, we don t notice. [Corker] is not a bomb thrower. And when someone of his stature and his temperament says World War III, that should be a all-cars-stop-on-the-interstate moment. What is going on? Van Jones is correct. This is a very dangerous situation, and Trump s cable news lackeys are enabling this playing of Russian Roulette with our lives and the future of the nation. If we land in a nuclear war, you know who to blame it s the Matt Schlapp s of the world, not the Van Joneses.Watch the incredible conversation below. | 0 |
22,117 | Ninety percent of Raqqa retaken from Islamic State - U.S. military | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Tuesday that it could only confirm that about 90 percent of the Syrian city of Raqqa had been retaken from Islamic State militants, even as U.S.-backed forces declared victory there. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias, said the fighting was over and it was clearing Raqqa s stadium of mines and any remaining militants. A formal declaration of victory in Raqqa, Islamic State s de facto capital in Syria, will soon be made once the city has been cleared of mines and any possible Islamic State sleeper cells, said SDF spokesman Talal Selo. The fall of Raqqa, where Islamic State staged euphoric parades after its string of lightning victories in 2014, is a potent symbol of the jihadist movement s collapsing fortunes. Colonel Ryan Dillon, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State, said that about 100 fighters still remained in Raqqa and he expected the SDF to face resistance from remnants of militant group. We are aware of the reports that ISIS has been defeated in Raqqa, Dillon said, using an acronym for Islamic State. However, clearance operations continue and we expect our Syrian Democratic Force partners to hit pockets of resistance as the final parts of the city is cleared, Dillon said. He said that in the past few days, about 1,300 civilians had been assisted to safety by the SDF and about 350 Islamic State fighters had surrendered in Raqqa. Even as the SDF made gains in Raqqa, Dillon said Islamic State fighters still remained in the middle Euphrates River valley. Islamic State has lost much of its territory in Syria and Iraq this year, including its most prized possession, Mosul. In Syria, it has been forced back into a strip of the Euphrates valley and surrounding desert. | 1 |
22,118 | BRETT BAIER’S Dinner At Mar-a-Lago Over Thanksgiving Weekend Has The Left In Full Meltdown | Fox News anchor Bret Baier was a surprise visitor at Mar-a-Lago on Thanksgiving weekend. Speculation swirled that Baier s attendance was a sign of media bias or collusion between President Trump and Fox News. Why else would Baier have dinner at the president s exclusive club?It was actually a coincidence Baier and his wife were spending the weekend with Jack Nicklaus who is a member of Mar-a-Lago. Fox News clarified the chance meeting with a tweet:Fox News statement on this photo: "Bret Baier and his wife attended a dinner at Mar-a-Lago as a guest of Jack Nicklaus, whose home they were staying at for the weekend. He was asked to take a photo with Nicklaus and the President and obliged." pic.twitter.com/4poD1otcwu Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) November 26, 2017The left went nuts with slams against Baier, Fox News and golf legend Jack Nicklaus Jack Nicklaus was attacked by numerous liberals on twitter for hanging out with the Fox News host and the POTUS. These people are relentless and brutal in their judgement of others. We thought the left considered themselves to be a tolerant group We re guessing their tolerance is extended to everyone BUT conservatives. | 0 |
22,119 | Man Who Tried To Dictate What Women Can Wear Gets ROYALLY OWNED In His Own House | Very little is more infuriating for women than to have our appearances policed. Yet, police us people do, usually by criticizing what s in fashion and calling it too immodest, and crying that men can t stop staring and thus are sinning in their hearts, or saying that women over a certain age should not wear this or that. One of the latest incidents comes from Alan Sorrentino, of Rhode Island, who wrote a letter to editor for EastBayRI saying women over 20 should not be wearing yoga pants in public.Yoga pants draw a lot of ire from the supposedly pious and the supposedly weak-willed. Sorrentino s specific targeting of women in yoga pants earned him a yoga pants parade through the street in front of his house. Hundreds of people men and women participated while wearing yoga pants.Yes, there were men wearing yoga pants to stand in solidarity with women who are tired of being told what they can and cannot wear, and paraded with women in front of Sorrentino s house. Sorrentino got more than an eyeful of the struggles with physicality that he doesn t want to see anymore: To all yoga pant wearers, I struggle with my own physicality as I age. I don t want to struggle with yours. Thanks. His problem is that, as women age, we lose our beauty and our bodies, which, to people like him, necessarily restrict what we can wear. It s like he thinks that if we re not young and beautiful, we should hide ourselves in some way (oh wait, that s exactly what he thinks): Like the mini-skirt, yoga pants can be adorable on children and young women who have the benefit of nature s blessing of youth. However, on mature, adult women there is something bizarre and disturbing about the appearance they make in public. Maybe it s the unforgiving perspective they provide, inappropriate for general consumption, TMI, or the spector [sic] of someone coping poorly with their weight or advancing age that makes yoga pants so weird in public.A nice pair of tailored slacks, jeans, or anything else would be better than those stinky, tacky, ridiculous looking yoga pants. They do nothing to compliment a women over 20 years old. In fact, the look is bad. Do yourself a favor, grow up and stop wearing them in public. [emphasis mine]How disgusting. If someone is dressed or presenting an appearance we don t want to see, we can, you know, just look somewhere else. Or better yet, we can accept that there are things in this world that we personally would rather not see. Truly mature people, one of whom Sorrentino clearly isn t, recognize that it s not our place to tell other people what they can and cannot wear based on our personal comfort.Sorrentino is now claiming he wrote the letter as a joke, and the paper is defending its decision to publish it by explaining that they publish all opinions as long as they aren t attacking a person or a group: In this case, Mr. Sorrentino is not attacking any individual nor specific group. It s safe to assume that his comments target a large portion of America s female population, and that group obviously has ample firepower to respond to Mr. Sorrentino and his opinions. Telling women over 20 how they can and cannot dress isn t attacking women? Okay then. That s systemic sexism, though. Here s hoping the yoga pants parade got Sorrentino s attention, and he rethinks his position. Joke or not, it was inappropriate at best.Here s a short video from the parade:The #YogaPantsParade is underway @ABC6 pic.twitter.com/VItosLSLaA Bianca Buono (@BBuonoABC6) October 23, 2016Featured image via screen capture from embedded video | 0 |
22,120 | colorado cannabis industry contributes more to economy than all other industries report | by amanda froelich it should be evident if youre following news concerning the standing rock protests in north dakota that tension continues to escalate between | 0 |
22,121 | HILLARY CLINTON FLEECED UCLA With This Outrageous “Special” Fee For A Speech Not To Mention The Other Demands | Wow! Aren t FOIA requests great? You get to read about what really happened or what these politicians are REALLY like. In the case of Hillary, she s gonna fleece a public university AND then ask for special stuff like special food. She s such a grifter!Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton charged $300,000 to speak to students and faculty at University of California Los Angeles in March, even after school officials tried to negotiate the deal.According to new documents obtained by the Washington Post under the Freedom of Information Act, the school asked for a reduced rate for public universities, but Mrs. Clinton s representatives said that $300,000 was the special university rate. The documents show that planning for Mrs. Clinton s appearances took over a year, and that representatives managed everything from the size of pillows on armchairs used on stage to the multiple teleprompters requested for the lecture hall. She uses a lavalier [microphone] and will both speak from the audience and walk around stage, TED talk style. We need a teleprompter and 2-3 downstage scrolling monitors [for] her to read from, UCLA administrator Patricia Lippert told The Washington Post.E-mails show that Mrs. Clinton s team rejected the podium selected for her use at the UCLA event, sending school officials scrambling to find a more suitable podium and rent a new university seal to match.Mrs. Clinton s representatives requested Coffee, tea, room temp sparkling and still water, diet ginger ale, crudit , hummus and sliced fruit for the green room, according to The Washington Post.Read more: WT | 0 |
22,122 | David Icke on The Hillary, Donald & Bernie Show | 21st Century Wire says Author David Icke breaks down the US electoral dog and pony show, staring Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. There s no business like show business. | 0 |
22,123 | Russia warns of serious consequences from U.S. strike in Syria | UNITED NATIONS/MOSCOW/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Russia warned on Friday that U.S. cruise missile strikes on a Syrian air base could have “extremely serious” consequences, as President Donald Trump’s first major foray into a foreign conflict opened up a rift between Moscow and Washington. The warships USS Porter and USS Ross in the Mediterranean Sea launched dozens of Tomahawk missiles at the Shayrat air base, which the Pentagon says was involved in a chemical weapons attack this week. (Graphic locator map on attack - tmsnrt.rs/2nm68H0) It was Trump’s biggest foreign policy decision since taking office in January and the kind of direct intervention in Syria’s six-year-old civil war his predecessor Barack Obama avoided. The strikes were in reaction to what Washington says was a poison gas attack by the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that killed at least 70 people in rebel-held territory. Syria denies it carried out the attack. They catapulted Washington into confrontation with Russia, which has advisers on the ground aiding its close ally Assad. “We strongly condemn the illegitimate actions by the U.S. The consequences of this for regional and international stability could be extremely serious,” Russia’s deputy U.N. envoy, Vladimir Safronkov, told a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Friday. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev charged that the U.S. strikes were one step away from clashing with Russia’s military. U.S. officials informed Russian forces ahead of the missile strikes and avoided hitting Russian personnel. (Graphic explaining kind of missile used in attack - tmsnrt.rs/2nkJYWa) Satellite imagery suggests the base houses Russian special forces and helicopters, part of the Kremlin’s effort to help Assad fight Islamic State and other militant groups. Trump has frequently urged improved relations with Russia, strained under Obama over Syria, Ukraine and other issues, was hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Thursday night when the attack occurred. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, in Florida with Trump, said on Friday the United States would announce additional sanctions on Syria in the near future but offered no specifics. Russia’s Defense Ministry responded to the attack by calling in the U.S. military attache in Moscow to say that at midnight Moscow time (5 p.m. EDT) it would close down a communications line used to avoid accidental clashes between Russian and U.S. forces in Syria, Interfax new agency said. U.S. warplanes frequently attack Islamic State militants in Syria and come close to Russian forces. U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Friday the Trump administration was ready to take further steps if needed. “We are prepared to do more, but we hope that will not be necessary,” she told the U.N. Security Council. “The United States will not stand by when chemical weapons are used. It is in our vital national security interest to prevent the spread and use of chemical weapons.” Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who also was in Florida with Trump and is scheduled to go to Moscow next week, said he was disappointed but not surprised by the Russian reaction because it showed continued support for Assad. Iran, which supports Assad and has been criticized by Trump, condemned the strike, with President Hassan Rouhani saying it would bring “only destruction and danger to the region and the globe.” U.S. officials called the intervention a “one-off” intended to deter future chemical weapons attacks and not an expansion of the U.S. role in the Syrian war. U.S. allies from Asia, Europe and the Middle East expressed support for the attack, if sometimes cautiously. The action is likely to be interpreted as a signal to Russia, and countries such as North Korea, China and Iran where Trump has faced foreign policy tests early in his presidency, of his willingness to use force. The United States is now likely to be more aggressive in pursuing intelligence about Syria’s suspected chemical weapons program. The Pentagon has also signaled interest in determining any Russian complicity. “At a minimum, the Russians failed to rein in the Syrian regime activity,” a senior U.S. military official told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity. The official also said the United States had been unable to determine if a Russian or Syrian aircraft bombed a hospital that was treating victims of the chemical attack. Russia joined the war on Assad’s behalf in 2015, turning the momentum in his favor. Although Moscow supports opposing sides in the war between Assad and rebels, the United States and Russia say they share a single main enemy, Islamic State. Tillerson said the strike took out about 20 percent of the seventh wing of the Syrian air force and hit a fueling facility. The base’s runway was still in use. Assad’s office said Syria would strike its enemies harder. Damascus and Moscow denied Syrian forces were behind the gas attack but Western countries dismissed their explanation that chemicals leaked from a rebel weapons depot after an air strike. The Syrian army said the U.S. attack killed six people and called it “blatant aggression” that made the United States a partner of “terrorist groups” including Islamic State. There was no independent confirmation of civilian casualties. U.S. lawmakers from both parties on Friday backed Trump’s action but demanded he spell out a broader strategy for dealing with the conflict and consult with Congress on any further action. The U.N. Security Council had been negotiating a resolution, proposed by the United States, France and Britain on Tuesday, to condemn the gas attack and push the Syrian government to cooperate with international investigators. Russia said the text was unacceptable and diplomats said it was unlikely to be put to a vote. Russia expects Tillerson to explain Washington’s stance when he visits Moscow next week, Interfax news agency cited a Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman as saying. Washington has long backed rebels fighting Assad in a multi-sided civil war that has killed more than 400,000 people and driven half of Syrians from their homes since 2011. The United States has conducted air strikes against Islamic State, which controls territory in eastern and northern Syria, and a small number of U.S. troops are helping rebel militias. Asked whether the strikes set back any efforts to work with Russia to defeat Islamic State, sometimes known as ISIS, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said: “There can be a shared commitment to defeat ISIS and also agree that you can’t gas your own people.” Tuesday's attack was the first time since 2013 that Syria was accused of using sarin, a banned nerve agent it was meant to have given up under a Russian-brokered, U.N.-enforced deal that persuaded Obama to call off air strikes four years ago. (Chart of cumulated reported deaths from chemical gases in Syria - tmsnrt.rs/2o5Xbz6) Video depicted limp bodies and children choking while rescuers tried to wash off the poison gas. Russian state television blamed rebels and did not show footage of victims. The U.S. strikes cheered Assad’s enemies, after months when Western powers appeared to grow increasingly resigned to his staying in power. But opposition figures said an isolated assault was far from the decisive intervention they seek. Neither the Trump administration nor its predecessor has laid out a policy aimed at ending the Syrian conflict. | 1 |
22,124 | Donald Trump Makes Another Truly Pathetic Attempt At Making Hispanics Like Him (VIDEO) | Donald Trump just can t accept that he has completely demolished any and all chances of winning over the Hispanic vote.Refusing to be discouraged by the fact that he s offended the Hispanic community since day one of his disgraceful presidential campaign and continuously pummeled the minority group throughout the election cycle, the presumptive Republican nominee is trying to reach out to the very community that he said was made up of rapists and drug dealers. Trump gave his first direct message to Hispanic conservatives over the phone, while sitting alone on a private plane. It s truly bizarre and uncomfortable to watch, but then again so is everything else The Donald does. During his 2-minute message, which was aired at the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference in California, Trump promised to do away with minority unemployment and stop illegal drug cartels. While Trump rattled off a few more talking points, the business mogul s main message to Hispanics could be summed up in these few sentences: National. Hispanic. Christian. Three great words. We re going to take care of you. We re going to work with you. You re going to be very happy. You re gonna like President Trump. You can watch Trump s awkward message below:The idea of Trump sincerely trying to portray himself as a great candidate for Hispanic voter is, quite frankly, hilarious. As much as Trump loves his polls, he must be absolutely oblivious or in severe denial it s been widely reported that Trump is still struggling big time to get support from the Hispanic community, and that s probably not going to change anytime soon.Many Hispanic voters have pledged their support to Trump s rival, Democratic front runner Hillary Clinton, with only 23% of them stating that they would vote for Trump in November. In fact, many Hispanics registered for the first time this year for the sole purpose of voting AGAINST Trump. No matter how hard Trump tries to undo the damage he did in the beginning of his campaign, his attempts will likely fall short. The Hispanic community will not forget his offensive, hateful rhetoric, and neither should the rest of us.Featured image via Scott Olson / Getty Images | 0 |
22,125 | Justice Department opens criminal probe into black Louisiana man's death | BATON ROUGE, La. (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into the fatal police shooting of a black man in Louisiana’s capital, the state’s governor said on Thursday, as two deadly encounters between law enforcement and black men triggered protests in the United States. The probe comes as community leaders in Baton Rouge urged authorities to conduct a full-scale criminal probe of two white police officers over the slaying of Alton Sterling, 37, on Tuesday. “I want you to know that a criminal investigation is under way. It is being led by the U.S. Department of Justice,” Louisiana Governor Jon Bel Edwards told hundreds of people at Living Faith Cathedral in Baton Rouge on Thursday evening. “We are going to come out of this tragedy stronger and more united than ever,” he added. Sterling was pinned to the ground and fatally shot in the chest outside a convenience store after the officers responded to what police said was a call about a black man reported to have made threats with a gun. The Justice Department said on Wednesday it would conduct a civil rights investigation into Sterling’s death. The city’s mayor and police chief welcomed the move, but community leaders said they worried the probe would be too limited and urged authorities to consider all possible federal and state criminal charges against officers Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake. “We don’t want this to be a narrow investigation,” Edgar Cage, a spokesman for the community organization Together Baton Rouge, said at a church earlier on Thursday. “We plan to use this tragic event as a tool, a stimulant to change the culture.” President Barack Obama said in a statement he had full confidence in the Justice Department’s ability to conduct a “thoughtful, thorough and fair inquiry” into Sterling’s death. Citing an unnamed law enforcement official, CNN reported on Thursday that a homeless man placed the 911 call after seeking money from Sterling, who was selling CDs outside the store. The 300-pound (135-kg) Sterling showed the man his gun and said to leave him alone, the official told CNN. Reuters could not independently confirm that account with Baton Rouge police, who did not respond to a request for comment. Sterling, a father of five, had several criminal convictions since the mid-1990s for battery, resisting arrest, burglary and other crimes. He was a registered sex offender after spending nearly four years in prison on a charge he had sex with a 14-year-old girl when he was 20. COMMUNITY-POLICE CHASM Sterling’s death was the first of two fatal police shootings of black men in two days. Philando Castile was shot and killed by a police officer during a traffic stop on Wednesday near Minneapolis. The shootings and videos showing their bloody aftermath have sparked protests, including an overnight rally in Baton Rouge that drew about 300 people who stood in a peaceful vigil near the Triple S Food Mart where Sterling was killed. Obama said that “all Americans should be deeply troubled” by the two deaths, which he said were indicative of wider problems in the U.S. criminal justice system. At the Baton Rouge church on Thursday, Edwards said there would be a new focus on training and retraining in the police department, and stressed the need to introduce people to the police at an early age. His words appeared to address concerns voiced by many community leaders in recent days about a chasm between the black community and the police. Video recorded by a bystander’s cellphone showed an officer confronting Sterling and ordering him to the ground. The two officers then tackled him to the pavement, with one pulling a gun from his holster and pointing it at Sterling’s chest. One officer shot Sterling five times at close range, and the other took something from his pants pocket as he was dying, another video recorded by Abdullah Muflahi, owner of the store where Sterling was killed in the parking lot, showed. Police said Sterling was armed. Muflahi said in an interview that police took a gun out of Sterling’s pocket after shooting him. Officers Lake and Salamoni have been put on administrative leave, police said. In Lake’s three years and Salamoni’s four years on the force, both have been cleared by the police department after prior complaints against them regarding use of force, the Advocate newspaper reported, citing records. The deaths of Sterling and Castile were the latest in a string of incidents in recent years involving police treatment of black men and boys in cities including Baltimore, Chicago, New York and Cleveland. | 1 |
22,126 | (Video) Breaking: Hillary Clinton Is Facing A Possible Criminal Probe | Potentially classified e-mails? | 0 |
22,127 | WATCH: Conservative Radio Host NAILS Just How Dumb Trump Is For Relying On Twitter | Donald Trump just got BURNED for using Twitter so much.During an appearance on MSNBC with Lawrence O Donnell, conservative radio host Charlie Sykes was very blunt about what he thinks about Trump s intellect.O Donnell said that Trump s tweets don t mean anything but mentioned that his tweets are causing concern because a single tweet about Boeing caused its stock price to drop.Trump s use of Twitter is causing anxiety among millions of Americans, including conservatives, especially after he picked a fight with China and sucked up to Russia while declaring his intention to expand America s nuclear weapons stockpile in what he terms a new arms race. You just don t know, Sykes replied. I mean, when does this jump the shark? I mean also, this is going to encapsulate, and this is really going to symbolize the quality of this man s thought. I mean, there was a time when we had presidents who read books. Now we have presidents who write in one hundred and forty character messages. You know we once had presidents who were eloquent, who could rally the nation. But, you know, here is a president who does feel comfortable on Twitter because I do think that that is the perfect venue for the quality of his thinking. And I think that that is going to be something that s going to be a defining element in his presidency. Here s the video via MSNBC:In other words, Trump is not smart enough to get his message across to the American people in more conventional ways. He would rather lazily use Twitter and the 140 character limit, which allows Trump to avoid providing details or evidence of his claims.We all know that Trump gets crushed whenever he has to debate someone in person or gets interviewed by a journalist who does their damn job.But on Twitter, Trump presents his opinions as facts and attacks anyone who criticizes him, unleashing his deplorable supporters upon the people he targets.But Twitter is not a forum for critical thinking, and Trump has demonstrated over and over again that he is not a critical thinker. He speaks before he thinks and often lashes out over the smallest slights or any other thing Fox News bitches about in the morning.Americans are sick and tired of Trump s reliance on Twitter. They want real answers and they want details, not a meaningless blurb devoid of evidence and civility.Featured Image: Mark Wilson/Getty Images | 0 |
22,128 | BOMBSHELL: Israeli Spies Reveal Trump’s Pee Party Is Just The Tip Of A Fast-Melting Iceberg | Donald Trump may be decrying the documents dumped by Buzzfeed as fake news, but it seems to be fake news everyone can believe in. Ever since the memos compiled by former MI6 officer Christopher Steele were released to the public, The Donald has not exactly had an easy time of things, with every press conference and attempt to tweet quickly devolving into a screaming mess in which Trump throws himself into a panic screaming of all-caps typing the words FAKE NEWS. But while Trump is taking the nothing to see here approach with the reports, at least four sources now back the information according to a report from BBC s Paul Wood earlier this week: The former MI6 agent is not the only source for the claim about Russian kompromat on the president-elect. Back in August, a retired spy told me he had been informed of its existence by the head of an East European intelligence agency, Wood says, explaining that he used an intermediary to check into things. A U.S. intelligence contact told him that there was more than one tape, and that video and audio of Trump s exploits in Moscow and St. Petersberg do exist.According to Israeli news publication Yedioth Ahronoth, their country s spies have been warned by the United States against sharing information with the Trump administration until they can determine whether he has been compromised by Putin:These fears, which began upon Trump s election, grew stronger following a meeting held recently between Israeli and American intelligence officials (the date of the meeting is not mentioned to protect the sources of the report). During the meeting, according to the Israelis who participated in it, their American colleagues voiced despair over Trump s election, as he often lashes out at the American intelligence community. The American officials also told the Israelis that the National Security Agency (NSA) had highly credible information that Russia s intelligence agencies, the FSB and GRU, were responsible for hacking the Democratic Party (DNC) servers during the elections and leaking sensitive information to WikiLeaks, which hurt Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.The American officials further added that they believed Russia President Vladimir Putin had leverages of pressure over Trump but did not elaborate. They were apparently referring to what was published Wednesday about embarrassing information collected by the Russian intelligence in a bid to blackmail the president-elect.The Americans implied that their Israeli colleagues should be careful as of January 20, Trump s inauguration date, when transferring intelligence information to the White House and to the National Security Council (NSC), which is subject to the president. According to the Israelis who were present in the meeting, the Americans recommended that until it is made clear that Trump is not inappropriately connected to Russia and is not being extorted Israel should avoid revealing sensitive sources to administration officials for fear the information would reach the Iranians.If Israel s secrets are indeed not kept confidential, this is a serious danger to the state s national security: Since the early 2000s, the cooperation between the Israel and US intelligence communities has been intensified. It was led by the head of the Israeli Military Intelligence Directorate (AMAN) at the time, Aharon Ze evi Farkash (who even received a citation from the NSA Chief General Michael Hayden), late Mossad chief Meir Dagan and his successor, Tamir Pardo, who served earlier as the commander of one of the secret operational units that cooperated with the Americans. The Israelis who attended the meeting said that the Americans advised them not to expose any sensitive sources to members of the Trump administration, lest that information reach Iranian hands, until it becomes clear that Trump does not have a compromised relationship with Russia and is not vulnerable to extortion, the report states.At this point, we have no choice but to assume that the level of concern shown by intelligence agencies worldwide is a strong indicator that we should be concerned too. Donald Trump is sworn into office on Friday. May one of the gods help us all.featured image via Getty Images (Chip Somodevilla) | 0 |
22,129 | Czech lawmakers vote to force PM candidate Babis to face fraud charges | PRAGUE (Reuters) - The Czech parliament s lower house voted on Wednesday to allow police to bring charges against Andrej Babis, the leading candidate to become prime minister after an election next month, in a case involving suspected abuse of European Union subsidies. Babis, a billionaire businessman and founder of the ANO movement, denies any wrongdoing. He has repeatedly called the police actions against him a political ploy meant to hurt him in the Oct. 20-21 election. | 1 |
22,130 | Taiwan the most important issue in Sino-U.S. ties, China's Xi tells Trump | BEIJING (Reuters) - Taiwan is the most important and sensitive issue in Sino-U.S. ties, Chinese President Xi Jinping told visiting U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday, ahead of the one-year anniversary of Trump taking a precedent-breaking call from Taiwan’s president. China considers democratic Taiwan to be a wayward province and integral part of its territory, ineligible for state-to-state relations, and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control. The United States has no formal ties with Taiwan but is bound by law to help it defend itself and is the island’s main source of arms. Trump upset China last December by taking a telephone call from Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, shortly after he won election, the first call between U.S. and Taiwan leaders since President Jimmy Carter switched diplomatic recognition to China from Taiwan in 1979. While there was no public mention of Taiwan in comments Xi and Trump made in front of reporters, the official Chinese foreign ministry statement about their talks did not mince its words. “The Taiwan issue is the most important, most sensitive core issue in China-U.S. relations, and concerns the political basis of the China-U.S. relationship,” the ministry paraphrased Xi as telling Trump. China “hopes that the U.S. side continues to scrupulously abide by the ‘one China’ principle, and prevents disturbances to the broader picture of China-U.S. ties”, Xi added. Trump told Xi that the United States government upheld and stuck to the “one China” policy, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported. In Taipei, Chiu Chui-cheng, deputy minister of Taiwan’s China policy-making Mainland Affairs Council, said China should respect Taiwan’s people. “We think China should deeply understand and respect Taiwan people’s opinions on the growth of relations across the Taiwan Strait,” Chiu told reporters. “We are also willing to work with the other side to find a new, positive model in cross-straits ties that would use dialogue to resolve differences, and to create a proper path for harmonious relations.” China suspects Tsai wants to push for the formal independence of Taiwan, a red line for Beijing. Tsai says she wants to maintain peace with China but will defend Taiwan’s democracy and security. China has pressured Taiwan since Tsai took office last year, suspending a regular dialogue mechanism and slowly peeling away its few remaining diplomatic allies. China is deeply suspicious of U.S. intentions toward Taiwan, and was upset when the United States recently allowed Tsai to transit through Hawaii and Guam on her way to and from diplomatic allies of Taiwan’s in the Pacific. Defeated Nationalist forces fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with the Communists. | 1 |
22,131 | U.S. seeks meeting soon to revive Asia-Pacific 'Quad' security forum | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States wants a meeting soon aimed at reviving a four-way dialogue between itself, Japan, India and Australia to deepen security cooperation and coordinate alternatives for regional infrastructure financing to that offered by China, a senior U.S. official said on Friday. The so-called “Quad” to discuss and cooperate on security emerged briefly as an initiative a decade ago - much to the annoyance of China, which saw as an attempt by regional democracies to contain its advances. In an interview with Japan’s Nikkei newspaper on Wednesday, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono proposed reviving the forum, which he said he had discussed with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop on the sidelines of a regional meeting in Manila in August. According to the Nikkei, the purpose would be to secure a peaceful maritime zone from Asia to Africa. It said Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would officially propose the dialogue partnership to U.S. President Donald Trump on Nov. 6, when the U.S. leader visits Japan as part of an Asian tour that will also take him to China. Alice Wells, Washington’s acting assistant secretary of state for South Asia, told reporters after accompanying Tillerson on a visit to India that Washington was “looking at a working level quadrilateral meeting in the near term.” “The quadrilateral the Japanese foreign minister discussed would be building on a very productive trilateral we have with India and Japan,” she said. Wells said the idea was to bring together countries that share the same values “to reinforce those values in the global architecture.” “As we explore ways to deepen and try to inculcate some of the values - freedom of navigation, maritime security, humanitarian assistance, disaster response, transparency, obviously Australia would be a natural partner in that effort.” Wells rejected the idea the forum would be aimed at containing China, which has alarmed Asia-Pacific countries through its pursuit of territory in the South China Sea and has launched major initiatives to develop regional infrastructure. She said it would seek to coordinate alternatives for nations seeking investment in infrastructure and economic development, “that don’t include predatory financing or unsustainable debt.” “It’s hard to see a meeting of diplomats from four countries as a plan to contain China,” she said. “It’s a natural progression and convergence of interests between democratic countries in the Indo-Pacific region.” Tillerson said before visiting India that Washington saw room to invite others, including Australia, to join U.S.-India-Japan security cooperation and to create alternatives to Chinese financing that was saddling countries with “enormous” debts and failing to create jobs. | 1 |
22,132 | Top Senate Republican, White House, aim for tax bill by year-end | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. Senate Republican and the White House budget director said on Sunday they hoped for action on a Republican tax reform package by the end of the year, while keeping their options open on how to pay for sweeping tax cuts. President Donald Trump’s plan promises up to $6 trillion in tax cuts but would increase the federal deficit by $1.5 trillion over the next decade. Democrats have criticized the package as a giveaway to the rich and corporations that would balloon the deficit. Republicans, who control both the Senate and House of Representatives, have yet to produce a bill as their self-imposed deadline to overhaul the U.S. tax code by the end of 2017 approaches. The party’s lawmakers differ widely on what cuts to make and how to pay for them. Trump participated in a conference call with House Republican lawmakers on Sunday where tax reform was discussed, a White House official said. The president was also expected to travel to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to participate in Senate Republicans’ weekly policy lunch, with the tax package high on the agenda. The White House is not counting on Congress enacting enough spending reductions to offset the impact on revenue from tax cuts, said Trump’s budget director, Mick Mulvaney. “We hit off $54 billion worth of discretionary cuts in our budget back in March. Only about 4 or 5 billion (dollars) have survived so far on the Hill,” Mulvaney said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “We’re not going to be able to cut our way to balance.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said estimated growth for the overall economy in the Republican plan would offset the tax cuts. Asked on CNN’s “State of the Union” whether he had abandoned his longtime insistence that tax cuts be revenue-neutral, McConnell said: “No, actually we’re not because that’s a rather conservative estimate of how much growth you’ll get out of this pro-growth tax reform.” Trump’s tax reform proposal cleared a critical hurdle on Thursday, when the Senate approved a budget measure that will allow Republicans to pursue a tax-cut package without support from Democrats. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat who attended a Senate Finance Committee meeting at the White House last week, said Trump was at a fork in the road on the tax reform bill. Brown said the president could work with Democrats on helping the middle class and keeping jobs in the country, or throw in with the billionaires. “The people closest to the president whispering in his ear all want to do tax cuts for - want to do trickle-down economics, big tax cuts for the wealthiest people in the country, and hope it trickles down,” Brown said on CNN. “They say it’s budget-neutral, and they say it will raise wages. It’s never done that throughout history.” Mulvaney said he had heard that the House of Representatives may move quickly to accept the Senate’s amendments and save 10 to 12 legislative days. If the House takes up the measure this week, he told “Fox News Sunday,” it “absolutely moves the ball a lot, further a lot quicker toward an actual law.” McConnell also told Fox he expected Congress to get tax reform done by the end of the year. The Republican Senate leader would not say whether he would back an idea being considered by Republicans, according to the Wall Street Journal on Friday, to cap contributions to retirement funds. “We’re just beginning the process of actually crafting the bills,” McConnell said on CNN. “It’s way too early to predict the various details.” Mulvaney said the White House was “agnostic” about adding a top tax bracket, an idea floated by House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan. “It’s not a big piece for us. If the House needs to add it to pass a great tax reform, that’s great. If they don’t, that’s great, too,” Mulvaney said. | 1 |
22,133 | France's Macron accepts invite to visit Russia: RIA | MOSCOW (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron has accepted an invitation to visit Russia and may fly in next year for an economic forum, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday, the RIA news agency reported. RIA cited Lavrov as saying Macron might attend the annual St Petersburg International Economic Forum. | 1 |
22,134 | Trump stands by wiretapping allegation: White House | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump stands by his allegation that former President Barack Obama ordered Trump Tower to be wiretapped during the 2016 campaign, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Thursday. “He stands by it,” Spicer said at a daily briefing. Spicer’s comments came after the Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee said they saw no evidence to support Trump’s claim. | 1 |
22,135 | Lebanon identifies soldiers killed in Islamic State captivity | BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon has identified the bodies of 10 of its soldiers found along the Syrian border in a zone taken back from Islamic State last week, state news agency NNA said on Wednesday. An offensive against the enclave ended with the evacuation of Islamic State militants and their families to eastern Syria under a Hezbollah-brokered deal. Syria s government and Lebanon s Hezbollah allowed a convoy of about 300 lightly armed fighters and 300 relatives to evacuate, surrendering their border enclave. As part of the agreement, IS militants identified where they had buried the soldiers, Lebanon s army chief said. DNA tests confirmed that all 10 bodies found in the mountainous border region were Lebanese soldiers, security sources and local media said on Wednesday. Islamic State had held territory along the border for years, and took Lebanese troops captive in 2014 when they briefly overran the town of Arsal with other militants, one of the worst spillovers of the Syrian conflict into Lebanon. Lebanese Justice Minister Salim Jrayssati said a military court would look into whether any civil or military authorities played a role in their capture. President Michel Aoun called for an investigation last week. At a conference on Wednesday, the families of the soldiers demanded an inquiry to punish anyone who led to the deaths during the fighting and negotiations since 2014. For three years, they had protested in the streets and met with many government officials to find out the fate of their relatives. There is immense and deep sadness in our hearts. But in our minds, there is pride and dignity, Hussein Youssef, the father of a soldier, said at the government headquarters in Beirut. Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri declared Friday a national day of mourning after meeting with the families. They were martyred defending this country, said Nizam Mougheit, whose brother died in Islamic State captivity. Anyone who had a hand in their martyrdom should be held accountable, whoever it is. | 1 |
22,136 | Chile's divided center-left pledges unity for presidential runoff | SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Center-left lawmakers in Chile pledged on Wednesday to unify and support a single candidate in any eventual runoff against conservative candidate Sebastian Pinera, who is leading in polls for this year s presidential race. While Pinera has consolidated support among the country s political right, six left-of-center candidates will be competing in the Nov. 19 first round vote, amid fissures within socialist President Michelle Bachelet s coalition and the emergence of new left-wing leaders. Polls show Pinera, a wealthy businessman who previously governed Chile between 2010 and 2014, has around 40 percent of voter intentions. That would not be enough to win an absolute majority in the first round. A December runoff is expected to be closer, meaning the left s ability to unite around a single candidate could be critical. After the first round in which each of us will give our best effort for the candidate we most support, we promise that in the second round we will support the candidate that represents the forces of the left and center-left, some 300 politicians said on Wednesday in a letter. Senator Alejandro Guillier, an ally of Bachelet who is polling second, has previously said he would seek links with other progressive candidates to ultimately defeat Pinera. Bachelet is constitutionally prohibited from seeking a second consecutive term. The Christian Democrat party, a large centrist and socially conservative party that is putting forward its own candidate, has been hesitant to pledge unity to date, following deep divisions with the governing Nueva Mayoria bloc over elements of Bachelet s policies in recent months. But one of the party s lawmakers said on Wednesday that it would support the best-performing Nueva Mayoria candidate. The night of the 19th we are going to get behind the candidate who moves on to the second round, Christian Democrat Congresswoman Yasna Provoste told journalists on Wednesday. | 1 |
22,137 | [VIDEO] AMERICAN VET DIES FIGHTING ISIS: Couldn’t Sit Back And Watch Iraq Being Taken Over By ISIS After His “Brothers Shed Their Blood” To Make Iraq “Free Democracy” | Keith Broomfield won t likely receive any recognition from the White House for his brave and selfless decision to stand side by side in defense of innocent Kurds who are being slaughtered by Obama s JV Team. Who has time to address a plan to deal with ISIS? President Obama and his lovely wife have more important things to deal with like white privilege, racist cops, and the pain of racism they still experience today while living out their second term in racist America s White House. Who has time to honor an American hero who lost his life fighting one of the most horrific enemies in world history. There s no need for Obama to address the conflict overseas he s got a race war to incite right here in America A volunteer fighter has become the first American to be killed while serving with the Kurdish YPG in Syria.Keith Broomfield, 36, originally from the town of Westminster near Boston, Massachusetts, joined the volunteer fighting group on February 24 and died on June 3 in a battle in the village of Qentere.He died near the border town of Kobani, said Nasser Haji, an official with the YPG. State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke confirmed Bloomfield s death, but declined to provide any details about the circumstances. He said the US was providing consular assistance to his family.Broomfield s mother, Donna, told NBC News from the family home in Westminster that she learned from her other son that Keith, who had been the production manager for the family s manufacturing firm, was dead.She said: He turned his life over to the Lord and he decided this was God s will and God wanted him to do it. Mrs Broomfield said her son had left to fight around four months ago and while there was a little bit of texting after he first arrived, lately she had heard nothing .She said: I didn t want him to go but I didn t have a choice in the matter. I m waiting for his body to come back. The People s Protection Unit (YPG for short) created a foreign brigade called the Lions of Rojava to allow volunteers from around the world to join the Kurdish militia in their fight against ISIS. Those who put themselves forward are given a Kurdish nom de guerre when they join and Broomfield s was Gelhat R met. On the Lions of Rojava Facebook page, he was described as a brave American warrior [who] came to Kobane because he could not lean back and watch the atrocities which were committed by ISIS. The post continued, He felt very connected to the Kurdish people and was a very generous and freedom loving person. So one day our brave warrior Keith decided to make his way to Rojava and to join the fight with the YPG. He booked his flight from the United States and joined the cause. Keith s generosity could be seen in his visits to the refugee camp of Suruc [Turkish town near the Syrian border] and his desire to help the poor children who are growing up in such a dangerous environment. He was a warrior with the courage and the heart of a lion. We want to thank his mother Donna for giving birth and raising such a wonderful son. Our hearts go out to her, his family and the American people. We thank you for your sacrifice and just want to let you know that we are crying with you. But we also want to let you know that his death will be avenged. We will let ISIS feel what it means to kill one of our brothers. We will chase them from our land to the gates of hell. There will be no mercy and no turning back. The Save Kobani page added, First American YPG fighter, Keith Thomas Broomfield (Gelhat R met) from Massachusetts, has been reported as martyred in clashes with ISIS close to the village of Qenter in Kobane region. You were a friend of the Kurdish people, a hero of justice and humanity. May you rest in peace, you will forever stay alive in our hearts. The fight against the Islamic State group has attracted dozens of Westerners, including a number of Iraq war veterans who have made their way back to the Middle East to join Kurdish fighters, who have been most successful against the extremist group.Many Westerners are spurred on by Kurdish social media campaigners and a sense of duty rooted in the 2003 US-led military invasion of Iraq.And while the US and its coalition allies bomb the extremists from the air, Kurds say they hope more Westerners will join them on the ground to fight.Backed by US-led coalition airstrikes, Kurdish YPG fighters in Syria have successfully pushed back Islamic State group militants from Kobani and scores of nearby villages.More recently, they have closed in on the Islamic State-held town of Tal Abyad near the Turkish border. The town is the Islamic State group s main access point to Turkey from Raqqa, the group s de facto capital in Syria.Via: UK Daily Mail | 0 |
22,138 | Republicans have finalized compromise U.S. tax bill -chief House tax writer | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chief tax writer in the U.S. House of Representatives said on Friday that Republicans had finalized a tax bill they hope to vote on next week and that details would be released in a “few hours.” House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady told reporters the text of the bill would be posted when the House comes into session at 5:30 p.m. (2230 GMT) on Friday. | 1 |
22,139 | Pope arrives in Colombia to help heal wounds of 50-year war | BOGOTA (Reuters) - Pope Francis arrived in Colombia on Wednesday with a message of unity for a nation deeply divided by a peace deal that ended a five-decade war with Marxist FARC rebels but left many victims of the bloodshed wary of the fraught healing process. Francis, making his 20th foreign trip since becoming pontiff in 2013 and his fifth to his native Latin America, started his visit in Colombian capital Bogota. He will travel later in the week to the cities of Villavicencio, Medellin and Cartagena. Greeted at the airport by President Juan Manuel Santos as attendees waved white handkerchiefs, the Argentine pope hopes his presence will help build bridges in a nation torn apart by bitter feuding over a peace accord with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Speaking to reporters on the Bogota-bound plane, Francis said the trip was a bit special because it is being made to help Colombia go forward on its path to peace. Francis will encourage reconciliation as Colombians prepare to receive 7,000 former FARC fighters into society and repair divisions after a war that killed more than 220,000 people and displaced millions over five decades. References to the recent peace deal were immediate. A teenage boy, born in 2004 to vice presidential candidate Clara Rojas when she was held captive in the jungle by the FARC, handed Francis a white porcelain dove as a welcome present. On his drive to the Vatican Embassy in central Bogota, the leader of the world s Roman Catholics was mobbed in the pope mobile by screaming crowds tossing flowers and holding up children to be kissed. Peace is what Colombia has been seeking for a long time and is working to achieve, the pope said in a video message ahead of his arrival. A stable, lasting peace, so that we see and treat each other as brothers, never as enemies. The FARC, which began as a peasant revolt in 1964 and battled more than a dozen governments, has formed a political party and now hopes to use words instead of weapons to effect changes in Colombia s social and economic model. But many Colombians are furious that the 2016 peace deal with the government granted fighters amnesty and some will be rewarded with seats in congress. A referendum on the deal last year was narrowly rejected, before being later modified and passed by congress. Trumpet players, singing children and white-clad rappers greeted the pope - wearing a traditional woolen poncho - at the embassy where he urged young people to keep smiling and then led the crowd in the Hail Mary prayer. Don t let anyone steal your hope, he said. People lined up all day to see the pope pass by, queues stretched around the cathedral in Bogota as residents sought passes for his events, and street vendors sold t-shirts, baseball caps and posters carrying Francis s image. Pope Francis coming to Colombia has to unite the people. We cannot continue to be polarized. We must learn to live in peace and respect our differences, Lucia Camargo, a pensioner, said as she lined up for a glimpse of the pontiff. Although most church leaders have voiced support for the accord, some politicians and Catholic bishops have criticized the deal for being too lenient on the guerrillas. The pope is expected to urge them to set aside their differences. The visit will leave us a sense of union, of forgiveness, Bogota Mayor Enrique Penalosa told Reuters. Colombia is very polarized at the moment. There are many passions, many hatreds. Reconciliation will be the emphasis for events on Friday in the city of Villavicencio, south of Bogota, where the pope will listen to testimonials from people whose lives were affected by the violence and then deliver a homily. Victims and former rebels who demobilized prior to the accord will attend. The pope will not meet FARC leaders or the opposition. He also had a message of dialogue and forgiveness for neighboring Venezuela, wracked by months of protests against President Nicolas Maduro, who has tightened his hold on power as an economic crisis has escalated. As his plane flew over the socialist nation, the pope sent cordial greetings in a telegram to Maduro and Venezuelans. Praying that all in the nation may promote paths of solidarity, justice and harmony, I willingly invoke upon all of you God s blessings of peace, he said. | 1 |
22,140 | It’s Official: Trump Just Created His Muslim Ban Without Ever Creating An Actual Ban On Muslims | We know that Trump wants to ban Muslims from being able to enter the U.S. at all, but faces significant hurdles to actually do it. So he just did an end run around all those obstacles by instituting what he keeps calling extreme vetting, because he apparently believes that our current vetting process for refugees is not only non-existent, but preferential towards Muslims, and discriminatory towards Christians.Today, he signed two executive orders one to spur new defense spending, and another to ban visa entries from Syria, Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Libya, Sudan and Yemen (but not countries where he has business, because of course), and to institute extreme vetting for refugees: I am establishing new vetting measures to keep radical Islamic terrorists out of the United States of America. We don t want them here.We want to ensure that we are not admitting into our country the very threats our soldiers are fighting overseas. We only want to admit those into our country who will support our country and love deeply our people. Can we say Muslim ban? There s the above, plus Trump actually told the Christian Broadcasting Network s David Brody the following: [Syrian Christians have] been horribly treated. Do you know if you were a Christian in Syria it was impossible, at least very tough to get into the United States? If you were a Muslim you could come in, but if you were a Christian, it was almost impossible and the reason that was so unfair, everybody was persecuted in all fairness, but they were chopping off the heads of everybody but more so the Christians. And I thought it was very, very unfair. So we are going to help them. There are a lot of conclusions that can be drawn from that alone, but aside from Trump s insane lie namely that we deliberately discriminate against Christians this action sounds an awful lot like a precursor to his Muslim ban. If he were to support Sen. Tom Cotton s bill that would allow religious minorities to apply directly for refugee status here, while Muslim refugees would likely still have to go through the U.N., suddenly Muslims have a harder time getting here than anyone else.It s true that we get a lot more Muslim refugees than Christian refugees, but there s a reason for that and it s not because we re favoring Muslims. Currently, refugees are generally referred to the United States via the United Nations refugee camp in Jordan they don t apply to the U.S. directly. It s a majority Muslim region therefore most applicants are going to be Muslims.Christians then go to the more urban areas where they re likely to be safer, and they might be coming into the U.S. by way of other immigration pathways.Put all of these things together, along with Republicans desire to end funding for the U.N., and we re most of the way to an out-and-out Muslim ban without actually creating a law or an edict that bans Muslims.Featured image by Olivier Douliery via Getty Images | 0 |
22,141 | Trump says he is deeply disturbed by South Sudan, Congo violence | NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday the United States was deeply disturbed by, and closely monitoring, violence in South Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo. He told a lunch with African leaders on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly that he would send his U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley to Africa to discuss conflict prevention. | 1 |
22,142 | NY PROFESSOR Who’s Correctly Chosen President For 100 Years Explains Why Trump Will Win | We ve been telling you all week to ignore the manufactured polls and lies being told by mainstream journalists (of which 65 have been found to be in collusion with Hillary s camp)designed to discourage and deflate Donald Trump supporters. The crowds, the enthusiasm and the fundraising for Trump is on fire, while Hillary and Tim Kaine can barely fill a phone booth with supporters. This SUNY professor has a model that s been working for over 100 years of elections and he s giving the race to Trump The most important thing Trump supporters can do right now, is to reach out to their friends and family and convince them to get out to the polls for Trump. There will undoubtedly be a lot of voter fraud committed by Democrats and it s up to us to help make up that difference with actual voters for Trump. Donald Trump may be behind in most polls, but one veteran New York prognosticator still predicts he will win come Election Day. I think he was the strongest candidate in the primaries and that he will prevail, Helmut North, a political science professor at SUNY Stony Brook, told The Post on Monday, even as the RealClearPolitics average shows the Republican candidate trailing Democrat Hillary Clinton by 6.1 percentage points.The sale of halloween masks have also always been correct in predicting the winner of the presidential election. Check out who s winning in sales: Norpoth developed a model that, applied retroactively in earlier races, would have correctly predicted the winner of every presidential election since 1912 with the exception of 2000, when predicted winner Al Gore barely lost to George W. Bush.The model looks at which of the candidates performed better in the primaries and caucuses and concludes that the stronger performer there will enter the White House. NYP | 0 |
22,143 | OBAMA’S RACE WAR Spreads Like Cancer To London: Famous Blind Musician Weighs In [VIDEO] | Because blind people are probably experts on judging people based on skin color. No mention of the police officers killed over the two bloody days bloody of Black Lives Matter terrorism, starting with the Dallas massacre by racist former Houston Black Panther and ending up with concrete, Molotov cocktails and bricks being thrown at police officers heads during 5-hour shut down of major highway in MN Motown singer Stevie Wonder has told a huge crowd in London, that black lives matter because we are the original people of this world as the city descended into three days of chaos caused by Black Lives Matter demonstrations.The superstar did not, however, address the deaths of five white police officers who were slaughtered in Texas on Friday by a black activist who wanted to kill white people . All life does matter, but the reason that I say black lives matter is because we are the original people of this world, Mr. Wonder told the British Summer Time Festival in Hyde Park. So in essence, everyone here has some black in you. You ve all got some soul in you so stop denying your culture, he added.The singer warned the 65,000-strong crowd of this horrible time we re living in as he opened his set. Adding: I encourage you to choose love over hate. It s just that simple. Choose love over hate, right over wrong, kind over meanness. Hope over no hope at all .On the same weekend as Mr. Wonder s statements, London descended into chaos as Black Lives Matter shut down Parliament Square on Friday, Brixton on Saturday, and Oxford Street and the U.S. embassy on Sunday.Watch the stupidity as Londoners at BLM protest compare apartheid in S. Africa to discrimination against blacks in America:Roads were blocked for up to six hours as activists climbed roofs and demonstrated about racist police and police violence in solidarity with our American brothers and sisters .Via: Breitbart | 0 |
22,144 | Trump Accidentally Says He Wants Single Payer In Latest Tweet – Twitter Lets Him Know (TWEETS) | It can easily be said that Donald Trump is a few sandwiches short of a picnic, and he just proved that fact once again with his latest tweet.Trump, since the start of his campaign, has been telling everyone that he s going to get rid of Obamacare and replace it with something better, and quite honestly if his latest tweet is what he wants liberals will likely get on board. However, in his idiocy, he probably doesn t realize what he just said.Trump tweeted out: Of course the Australians have better healthcare than we do everybody does. ObamaCare is dead! But our healthcare will soon be great. Of course the Australians have better healthcare than we do everybody does. ObamaCare is dead! But our healthcare will soon be great. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 5, 2017If Trump wants to give us what the rest of the industrialized world has, have at it! Please do!!Australia has a Medicare for all program for their citizens, and nations around the world have similar health systems that provide care for their nation s citizens. They take out the middleman of for-profit insurance, and give direct, affordable care, only increasing taxes slightly, and you no longer have the added expense of insurance premiums. AND EVERYONE IS COVERED.Now, this isn t likely what Trump meant to say, but it is what he said.The American Health Care Act, better known as Trumpcare, that passed yesterday in the House is simply a gift to the wealthy while stripping insurance and necessary benefits from those who need it most. That s NOT what Australia has, and would be far worse than anything else in the world.Twitter quickly reminded Trump that he s a moron:@realDonaldTrump Australia is part of the rest of the civilized world that has Universal HC.We can do better.#AHCA#FridayFeeling #TheResistance pic.twitter.com/X1K7f6mAg3 Holly O'Reilly (@AynRandPaulRyan) May 5, 2017@realDonaldTrump And why do you think that everybody else has better healthcare than we do? Could it perhaps be because of universal coverage? Simon Hedlin (@simonhedlin) May 5, 2017@realDonaldTrump Here is the health insurance coverage rate in America compared with other countries before Obamacare. Yes, let's turn back the clock! pic.twitter.com/FNetX0NBnd Simon Hedlin (@simonhedlin) May 5, 2017@realDonaldTrump THEY HAVE GOVERNMENT FUNDED UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE pic.twitter.com/z1OX0e0Mf7 Robert Maguire (@RobertMaguire_) May 5, 2017@realDonaldTrump What's the one thing pretty much every industrialized nation has with regards to healthcare that we don't? Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) May 5, 2017@realDonaldTrump So you're now FOR Tax payer funded Universal Healthcare??? make it happen, then!! Kyle McMahon (@KMacMusic) May 5, 2017@realDonaldTrump Will you promise the American people right now to support an Australian-style healthcare system? Dave Hogg ? (@Stareagle) May 5, 2017We ll likely see Trump denying he said what he said in this tweet later today, but in the meantime, let s pretend he wants Universal coverage so we all can have a little hope back in our lives.Featured Photo by Getty Images | 0 |
22,145 | RADICAL “OCCUPY” MOM WHO LEFT 4 KIDS AND HUSBAND To Block NYC Traffic Plays Victim Card… Sues For “Police Brutality” | Occupy Wall Street 2011:The fun is over for a hippie mother who left her husband and four children to travel 1,000 miles and join the Occupy Wall Street protests.Stacey Hessler, 38, swapped the comfort of sunny DeLand, Florida, for the squalor of Zuccotti Park, New York, after following the protests online.But dramatic photos showed how she was hauled away by police from the protests in Manhattan yesterday her dreadlocks flying everywhere.Hessler, who admitted her mother said she was very selfish for leaving, was arrested for blocking a road near the New York Stock Exchange. What did I do? What did I do? she shouted as she was taken away in plastic handcuffs by three police officers, reported the New York Post.She was charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct for blocking vehicles and pedestrians after she refused to move, police said.The unemployed mother, who left behind four children aged seven to 17, is a Long Island native and had said she would be at the camp forever .Protesters singled out officers as another enemy, saying their crowd control tactics were an excessive, chilling use of force against free speech.At least 300 people were arrested in New York and dozens were arrested elsewhere, including five on charges they assaulted police officers. Via: Daily Mail The mom who left her family in Florida to become part of the raggedy Occupy Wall Street crowd has sued the city over her 2011 arrest testifying Tuesday that she s an innocent victim of police brutality. Somebody grabbed me by my hair and dragged me . . . behind the police officers, said Stacey Hessler, 42, in Manhattan federal court.But city attorneys said in their opening statements that Hessler had blocked pedestrian traffic during the November protest, then refused to move when cops politely asked her to make way. She also allegedly tried multiple times to escape when they finally moved to arrest her. Via: NY Post | 0 |
22,146 | Turkey says air force kills 13 in north Iraq air strike | ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish jets struck a target in northern Iraq on Wednesday, killing 13 suspected Kurdish PKK fighters, the armed forces said in a statement. In an air strike in northern Iraq, 13 armed members of a separatist terrorist organization preparing for an attack were neutralized, the statement said, using a term which Turkey uses to describe Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants. The PKK has been waging an insurgency in Turkey s mainly Kurdish southeast since the 1980s, but also has bases across the border in northern Iraq which Turkey regularly targets. Turkish troops are also conducting a joint military exercise with Iraqi soldiers near their border after Monday s referendum for Kurdish independence in northern Iraq, which has angered both Ankara and Baghdad. Turkey fears the referendum, which was overwhelmingly approved, could fuel support for separatism in its southeastern region, and has threatened economic and military measures in response. | 1 |
22,147 | Dangerous hurricane Irma moving towards Caribbean islands: NHC | (Reuters) - Irma, now a category 4 , is heading towards the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean and is expected to move near or over the northern part of the region by Tuesday night or Wednesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Hurricane Irma is about 320 miles (515 km) east of the Leeward Islands and packing maximum sustained winds of 150 mph(240 km/h), the Miami-based weather forecaster said. Swells generated by Irma will affect the northern Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands during the next several days, the NHC said. | 1 |
22,148 | U.S. Commerce Department to launch China market economy review | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Commerce Department is launching a new review of whether China should be treated as a market economy country, a designation that would effectively limit the calculation of anti-dumping duties on China-made goods. Buried in a federal notice on Wednesday about an investigation into alleged dumping of Chinese aluminum foil into the U.S. market, the department said it is seeking public comments on China’s non-market economy status. The review comes as the White House prepares for the first face-to-face meeting between President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping on April 6-7 at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago retreat in Florida. China’s non-market economy status is considered an irritant for Beijing as the Trump administration works on trade policies aimed at reducing the flow of Chinese imports in to the United States. When China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, its accession terms allowed other WTO members to treat it as a non-market economy and use a third country’s prices to assess whether Chinese goods were being sold below cost. But part of that clause expired on Dec. 11, 2016, which China says means WTO trading partners must drop their use of such surrogate pricing, which has led to higher U.S. anti-dumping duties on imported Chinese goods. The United States and European Union failed to change their view of China’s status. A day later, Beijing launched a formal complaint against them before the WTO. The Commerce Department last conducted a review of China’s non-market economy status in 2006, determining that China failed on all six determining criteria, which are: * the extent to which the country’s currency is convertible into other currencies; * the extent to which wage rates are determined by free bargaining by labor and management; * the extent to which joint ventures or other investments by foreign firms are permitted in the country; * the extent of government ownership or control of the means of production; * the extent of government control over allocation of resources and over price and output decisions of enterprises, and * other factors the administering authority considers appropriate. | 1 |
22,149 | Donald Trump’s Immigrant Wife May Have Committed Visa Fraud | This is the hypocrisy to beat all hypocrisies.As we all know, Donald Trump is vehemently anti-immigration. In fact, it s the centerpiece of his campaign going all the way back to June 2015 when he rode an escalator to a podium and delivered a speech officially throwing his hat into the ring.Since then, the Republican nominee has accused immigrants of being criminals who steal jobs from Americans.Well, now it looks like the same can be said of Trump s own wife Melania, who came to the United States from Slovenia.According to an investigation by Politico, Melania may very well have committed visa fraud and other immigration laws. And Trump s campaign has apparently been lying about her immigration story.In January, Melania claimed that she often flew back to Slovenia to renew an H-1B visa, a visa type that Donald Trump despises and has said he would end. It never crossed my mind to stay here without papers, she told Harper s Bazaar. That is just the person you are. You follow the rules. You follow the law. Every few months you need to fly back to Europe and stamp your visa. After a few visas, I applied for a green card and got it in 2001. But H-1B visas last three years and can be extended to up to six years, which means the First Lady wannabe did not have to fly back to Slovenia for renewal.As it turns out Melania is describing something people do when they aquire a B-1 Temporary Business Visitor or B-2 Tourist Visa, which means she is lying about the circumstances of her immigration to this country. Furthermore, it could also mean she took a modelling job away from an American citizen because her nude photo shoot occurred in the United States in 1995 and B-1 and B-2 visa holders are not allowed to work here. So Melania may have broken the law.Andrew Greenfield, an attorney specializing in immigration law, made that pretty clear. If you enter the United States with the intention of working without authorization and you present yourself to a border agent at an airport or a seaport or a manned border and request a visa, even if there is not a Q&A knowing that you are coming to work you are implicitly, if not explicitly, manifesting that you intend to comply with the parameters of the visa classification for which you sought entry and were granted entry. Another immigration attorney told Politico that if Melania used a B-1 visa she would have had to lie about the purpose of her entry into the country. She would not have been authorized to work in the U.S. while on a B-1 visa. In fact, if a customs agent encounters someone entering the U.S. on a B-1 visa and they know that the individual intends to work for a U.S. employer, the individual will usually be denied admission. In order to avoid being sent back to Slovenia, she may have had to lie about the purpose of her trip. In short, Melania Trump could be guilty of committing visa fraud which is a crime that would seriously jeopardize her green-card status and her United States citizenship.If she were not married to the Republican nominee and were of Hispanic or Muslim descent, Donald Trump would be calling for her to be deported and would be referring to her as an illegal immigrant and a criminal.It sounds like Donald Trump, his wife, and the Republican Party have some serious explaining to do.Featured Image: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | 0 |
22,150 | The Internet Can’t Stop Laughing At Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ Dumbass Tweet (SCREENSHOTS) | White House deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders made more sense on Saturday than she has in her numerous defenses of Donald Trump. Anchor, traffic light, traffic light, traffic light, traffic light, anchor, traffic light, traffic light, traffic light, traffic light, traffic light, traffic light, traffic light, map, map, map, map, map, map, castle, map, map, castle, castle, castle, traffic light, :/9//&, statue, airplane, shrine, house, #, traffic light, lolaklkk, traffic light, traffic light, fountain, monorail, traffic light, train, boat, train, she wrote perhaps the most coherent statement the Trump administration has ever released.What did she mean by this? Who the hell knows but Twitter loves it:This is the most coherent statement to come from the Trump administration. David Blaustein (@blaustein) June 10, 2017IMO it means we are planning to sell the infrastructure of the United States to Russia and China for our personal enrichment Dave (@SandleDavid) June 10, 2017Somewhere in there she said, Trump is a liar. Schumi777 (@schumii777) June 10, 2017Having trouble translating this into its native Russian Stephen Grant (@stephencgrant) June 10, 2017Is lolaklkk the next covfefe ? Lotus Prince (@LotusPrince) June 10, 2017pic.twitter.com/UDs6wOIkQo LucyFur the Cat (@LucyFurTweets) June 10, 2017Sarah Huckabee Sanders just leaked John McCain s Comey testimony prep notes. Produkt (@ProduKtJRG) June 10, 2017I just love how professional this administration is, bless their hearts! Gerriann C Jackson (@gerriannj) June 10, 2017This will not fit on a t-shirt. Susan Oliver (@SeekingSusie) June 10, 2017It s refreshing to see this kind of honesty out of you. Tina O Shea (@stickymama) June 10, 2017I think she s trying to tell us something pic.twitter.com/SbqMQodmPR t (@taylqrgang) June 10, 2017Meanwhile: ???????????? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?????????? ?? ????? ????? ??? ????? Lena Arice Lucas (@LenaAriceLucas) June 10, 2017And then this ???????????????????????????????????????? just saying ? Martin Gilmour (@Sports_care1st) June 10, 2017This happens when I drunk tweet too California Girl (@FightingMad1) June 10, 2017pic.twitter.com/mrnJEuKiEb America (@Natali52475190) June 10, 2017Will we ever know the meaning of this tweet? Possibly not it appears be be written in an ancient tongue spoken only by the people of the lost city of Covefefe. But we can safely assume that she was trying to tell us the pee pee tapes are real.Featured image via screengrab | 0 |
22,151 | life stepping up when this mans brother died he took it upon himself to discourage his nieces art career | email ever wonder whats on the mind of todays most notable people well dont miss our unbelievable roundup of the best and most talked about quotes of the day if im going to your birthday party you sure as hell better have some cake free booze and at least some piece of evidence indicating that youve had a birthday within six months paul krugman on rigor when i was my father told me i had a choice to make he outstretched his arms in one hand he held a microphone representing a career in music and in the other a single sock which i assume represented a career in something sockrelated anyway i chose the microphone and ive regretted it ever since aretha franklin on her career all i need is my guitar my friends my health my vast collection of rare stamps and a pistol to ward off stamp bandits willie nelson | 0 |
22,152 | ONE DEMOCRAT WHO REFUSES To Cast Electoral Vote For Crooked Hillary Could End It All For Her [VIDEO] | Trump is going to win in a landslide, but wouldn t it be a delicious irony to see a male Bernie supporter have the power to keep her from assuming a role she stole from his guy several months ago It s the Electoral College that determines the President, not the popular vote. And the Electoral College is made up of Electors.Usually, the Electoral College is a formality. Electors vote for whomever won their state.This year, there s a hiccup. A Democrat Elector in Washington state says he won t vote for Hillary.Washington state is almost certainly going for Hillary.If this man won t vote for Hillary, he could keep her from getting the 270 electoral votes needed to win the Presidency.Here s what he said:Robert Satiacum is a Bernie fan. He thinks the Democrat primary was rigged. He thinks Hillary cheated. So he won t vote for her.Watch Satiacum letting everyone know he s not joking around:The Seattle Times reported: No, no, no on Hillary. Absolutely not. No way, said Robert Satiacum, a member of Washington s Puyallup Tribe who had supported Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders as the Democratic presidential nominee. He had earlier told various media outlets he was wrestling with whether his conscience would allow him to support Clinton and was considering stepping aside for an alternate elector. But on Friday, he sounded firm, even if the election is close. I hope it comes down to a swing vote and it s me, he said. Good. She ain t getting it. Maybe it ll wake this country up. And the Seattle Times says there s another Elector in Washington state who might do the same thing:Bret Chiafalo, a Democratic elector from Everett who is also a Sanders supporter, said he is considering exercising his right to be a conscientious elector and vote for the person he believes would be the best president. I have no specific plans, but I have not ruled out that possibility, he said. Via: American Lookout | 0 |
22,153 | Colombia's ELN rebel commander orders ceasefire beginning Sunday | BOGOTA (Reuters) - The commander of Colombia s Marxist ELN rebels on Friday ordered his fighters to begin a ceasefire this weekend as the group struggles through complicated peace talks with the government aimed at ending five decades of war. Nicolas Rodriguez, known by his war alias Gabino, told the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas to begin their part in a bilateral ceasefire agreement with President Juan Manuel Santos government starting on Sunday and running through mid-January. The ELN is in talks in Ecuador to end its part in a conflict involving government troops, leftist rebels, criminal gangs and right-wing paramilitary groups. Since negotiations began in February, the ELN has continued to take hostages for ransom and stepped up bomb attacks in recent weeks on oil companies. It wasn t easy to reach this agreement but finally we achieved it. Since talks began with Santos s government we have insisted on the urgency of this ceasefire because it stops offensive actions and brings important humanitarian relief to the Colombian population, Rodriguez said in a video message. During the ceasefire, agreed on Sept. 4, the insurgent group has pledged to suspend hostage taking, attacks on roads and oil installations, the use of landmines and the recruitment of minors. In turn, the government agreed to improve protection for community leaders and conditions for about 450 jailed rebels. Colombians, we must never stop seeking peace. I hope this temporary ceasefire ... can be extended and become the first step to peace with the ELN, Santos said in a national address on Friday. The center-right president signed a peace deal with the larger Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia in late 2016 after negotiations in Cuba that lasted four years. Founded by radical Roman Catholic priests in 1964, the ELN has sought peace with the government before but made little progress. This would be the first ceasefire with the ELN. The ELN is considered a terrorist group by the United States and European Union. | 1 |
22,154 | Americans Tell Senate GOP To Let President Obama Pick Supreme Court Nominee (IMAGE) | Sorry, Republicans. The American people have spoken and you lose.Ever since Justice Antonin Scalia died, Republicans have insisted that President Obama should let whoever wins the 2016 presidential election nominate the new Supreme Court Justice. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell even vowed not to even consider anyone Obama picks, which is a complete betrayal of the Constitution and everything Scalia stood for.And the American people overwhelmingly disagree with the GOP.Not only is President Obama serving out the final year of the second term a majority of Americans elected him to serve, a new poll shows that Americans still want him to the job despite what Republicans want.A new Rasmussen poll indicates that Americans not only think President Obama should make the pick, they say Senate Republicans should NOT block any nomination Obama puts forth.All told, 51 percent of Americans say President Obama is still the commander-in-chief, therefore he should get to replace Scalia, while only 43 percent say he shouldn t. An even bigger percentage of people, 53 percent, say Senate Republicans should not stand in his way. Only 35 percent say Senate Republicans should remain the obstructionist assholes they are.Here s a chart showing the poll results via ThinkProgress.The poll represents the opinions of likely voters, which means Republicans should probably reconsider their stance since any political stunt could hurt them on Election Day. People are sick and tired of GOP obstructionism and blocking President Obama from filling a vacant seat on the Supreme Court out of some sick political game won t impress voters at all.But rather than listen to the American people, Republicans will probably ignore them like they did when they listened to Ted Cruz and shut down the government. If Republicans really care about not getting their asses totally handed to them at the voting booth this November, they need to suck it up, respect that President Obama is still their president, and give any nominee he puts forward a fair confirmation hearing. That s what the American people want, that s what the American people should get.Featured Image: Flickr | 0 |
22,155 | FLASHBACK: Chilling ’60 Minutes’ Interview with George Soros Nearly 20 Years Ago | 21st Century Wire says George Soros has been described as a philanthropist, yet many of the social movement projects funded by his Open Society Foundation, have led to violent civil unrest and societal instability in the form of color revolutions.In the video below we see a rare glimpse of the contoversial hedge fund mogul, the man dubbed The Man Who Broke the Bank of England, who openly admits to engaging in amoral activities in a 1998 interview with Steve Kroft on 60 minutes.Kroft presses the magnate about his dark past tied to the Nazi-era, as well as his profitable career as an investor/speculator and his escape from Securities and Exchange regulation.Witness the stark and chilling acknowledgement from Soros, as he calculatingly states the following: I don t feel guilty because I m engaged in an amoral activity which is not meant to have anything to do with guilt. READ MORE ON SOCIAL ENGINEERING: 21st Century Wire Social Engineering Files | 0 |
22,156 | rachel maddow shines the light on trumps white supremacist support | sports this file photo shows members of the national iranian mens cycling team
the union cycliste internationale uci has named the national iranian mens cycling team as the greatest team in asia thanks to its outstanding performances at continental sports events
according to the latest monthly rankings released by the worlds governing body for sports cycling and international competitive cycling events the iranian side collected points to claim the top position among other asian outfits
kazakhstan landed in the second asian slot of the uci rankings with points followed by japan and south korea which claimed the third and fourth spots respectively with and points
additionally the iranian cycling club pishgaman kavir yazd accumulated points to stand out in the continental ranking
it was followed by another iranian squad tabriz shahrdari team with points in the second place loading | 1 |
22,157 | Joy Behar Delivers BRUTALLY Honest Message To Trump That He’ll Have To Agree With (VIDEO) | Ever since Donald Trump lost the popular vote in the general election by nearly 3 million votes, he hasn t been able to let it go, even though he won the Electoral College.Even on Wednesday, he was still announcing that he thinks the election had voter fraud and let us all know via his medium of choice Twitter. He tweeted:I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and . Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time). Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017Nothing in those tweets is backed by evidence or facts no matter how many times he says it to try to get us to believe it.Yet, in reaction to Trump being so adamant about their being voter fraud, The View s Joy Behar came up with a brilliant solution hold a new election.Reiterating what she said on The View earlier in the day, Behar tweeted out: If there was voter fraud, I say let s do it over again! If there was voter fraud, I say let's do it over again! Joy Behar (@JoyVBehar) January 25, 2017Which is a very honest suggestion that should, in a logical world, make everyone happy. If Trump thinks there was fraud (there wasn t) then he should be in complete agreement with the suggestion of a new election. And you best be sure Hillary Clinton supporters will more than happily get behind the idea.So, what say you, Donald? Let s do it!Watch the video here:Featured image via video screen capture HT Sarah Burris | 0 |
22,158 | Jordanian Airline Tells Trump To F*ck Himself With Discount Airfare To New York (TWEETS) | The Royal Jordanian airline is celebrating Donald Trump s recent humiliation in style. Since a federal judge recently lifted The Donald s travel ban, Royal Jordanian wants to make sure as many people visit the United States as possible. Royal Jordanian received new instructions from the US Customs and Border Protection to temporarily halt ban on travel of seven previously-barred nationals to enter the USA. The countries are: Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Yemen, Iran and Somalia, the airline said on its website, noting that as always, travelers need a valid visa or Green Card.To celebrate Trump s despair, Royal Jordanian is slashing prices while the ban is lifted. On Sunday, they tweeted an ad featuring the word Ban with the a converted to an o and the word Voyage written in. Fly to the US with RJ now that you re allowed to, it reads, with heavily slashed prices to Chicago, Detroit, and Trump s home state of New York. ?? #DonaldTrump #MuslimBan pic.twitter.com/rptY3dS3Xh Royal Jordanian (@RoyalJordanian) February 5, 2017This isn t the first time RJ has hit Trump over the ban. On Election Day, the airline encouraged travelers to travel to the US while you re still allowed to you know, just in case he wins. ? #USElections pic.twitter.com/yBDVO2w3gb Royal Jordanian (@RoyalJordanian) November 8, 2016The lift of so-called President Trump s ban by a so-called judge has sent the Orange Menace into a fanatical rage as of late with Trump lashing out on Twitter, blaming the judge who denied him his success in keeping people who practice a religion he hates out of the country for any an all terrorist attacks that might or might not occur in the future.Trump should be thanking Judge Robert. As President, it is in his best interest to learn as much about our government as possible and it s clear that The Donald has never heard of checks and balances before this.If you live in one of the seven previously-banned countries, be sure to fly to New York at a discount and visit Trump Tower. We re sure he d love that.featured image via Getty Images (Pool)/screengrab | 0 |
22,159 | Trump says working on welfare reform proposals | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he is weighing recommendations for welfare reform as his government looks for ways to cut costs. Speaking to reporters at the beginning of a cabinet meeting, Trump said some welfare recipients are taking advantage of the system, while others are not receiving enough benefits to live. He did not discuss specific recommendations. | 1 |
22,160 | PRESIDENT TRUMP Issues Warning To John McCain After Senator’s ‘Tough’ Speech | President Trump hit back at Senator John McCain in a pointed statement that should make it clear that Trump isn t playing around with globalist RINO McCain anymore. You can t blame Trump because McCain just keeps nipping at his heels with swipes trying to undermine Trump s policies. RINO McCain famously demolished the latest effort to repeal and replace Obamacare in a dramatic show during the vote. McCain came onto the floor at the end of the Senate vote and voted no with a dramatic thumbs down motion.McCain has been at odds with Trump since Trump questioned McCains status as a war hero. It seems McCain has had it out for Trump ever since.Another bombshell on the McCain/Trump feud hypothesizes that the Trump Dossier could have come from McCain.The latest slam to Trump happened just last night during a speech McCain gave. McCain called out Trump s nationalism but it didn t take long for Trump to respond:President Donald Trump on Tuesday issued a warning shot after Republican Sen. John McCain questioned half-baked, spurious nationalism in America s foreign policy.Trump said in a radio interview with WMAL in Washington that people have to be careful because at some point I fight back. The president added I m being very, very nice but at some point I fight back and it won t be pretty. MANY QUESTIONS RAISED ON MCCAIN S STORY OF CAPTIVITYTrump could be referring to new questions about McCain s captivity in Vietnam. McCain has always been touted as a war hero for decades but many of the men who served when he did have raised questions about McCain.McCain, a former Navy pilot who spent 5 years in a Vietnam prisoner of war camp and is battling brain cancer, offered a simple response to Trump: I have faced tougher adversaries. In Philadelphia on Monday night, the six-term Republican senator from Arizona received an award for a lifetime of service and sacrifice to the country. In addition to recalling his more than two decades of military service and his imprisonment during the war, McCain took a moment to go a step further than the night s other speakers, who lamented what many described as a fractured political climate.MCCAIN S GLOBALIST WORD SALAD: To abandon the ideals we have advanced around the globe, to refuse the obligations of international leadership for the sake of some half-baked, spurious nationalism cooked up by people who would rather find scapegoats than solve problems, he said, is as unpatriotic as an attachment to any other tired dogma of the past that Americans consigned to the ash heap of history. He continued: We live in a land made of ideals, not blood and soil. Former Vice President Joe Biden presented McCain with the Liberty Medal. Though members of opposing parties, the two men worked together during their time in the Senate. Former President Barack Obama, who defeated McCain in his bid for the presidency in 2008, congratulated the senator on the award in a tweet Monday night. I m grateful to @SenJohnMcCain for his lifetime of service to our country. Congratulations, John, on receiving this year s Liberty Medal, Obama wrote.Trump said in the radio interview that McCain voted against Republican efforts to dismantle Barack Obama s Affordable Care Act.He says the vote was a shocker. Read more: WT | 0 |
22,161 | Obama says transgender bathroom directive based on law | ELKHART, Ind. (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Wednesday the decision to direct public schools to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms of their choice was based on the law and the best interests of the children. Speaking at a town hall event broadcast by the PBS television network, Obama, a Democrat, said the federal government waded into the controversial issue after school districts asked the Education Department for guidance. Republicans have blasted the directive as executive branch overreach, and more than a dozen states have sued the Obama administration to block it. “What happened and what continues to happen is you have transgender kids in schools. And they get bullied. And they get ostracized. And it’s tough for them,” Obama said. “My best interpretation of what our laws and our obligations are is that we should try to accommodate these kids so that they are not in a vulnerable situation,” he said. On May 13, the federal government told public schools they must allow transgender students to use bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity. The non-binding guidance contained the implicit threat of cuts in federal funding if it was not followed. It relied on an interpretation of Title IX, which protects people from discrimination based on sex in education initiatives that receive federal financial assistance. The directive came as the Justice Department and North Carolina battled in federal court over a North Carolina state law approved in March that prohibits people from using public restrooms not corresponding to the sex on their birth certificates. Other states are weighing similar measures. “We should deal with this issue the same way we would want it dealt with if it was our child and that is to try to create an environment of some dignity and kindness for these kids,” Obama said. Obama said there “are a lot of things more pressing” than the transgender bathroom controversy, including Islamic State, the economy and jobs. “Somehow people think I made it an issue. I didn’t make it an issue,” he said. | 1 |
22,162 | Trump Live Tweets About ‘Fox And Friends’ While Mass Shooting In Orlando Unfolds | Trump spent his second day having a mental breakdown on Twitter with no signs of stopping. Situations around the world are at a particularly dire moment the Middle East on the brink of war, the terror attack in London, a major infrastructure bill being drawn up but Trump woke up and immediately turned on the Fox News morning entertainment show, Fox and Friends. Instead of getting his morning intelligence briefing, he live-tweeted incoherently about whatever subjects the Fox hosts brought up.First Trump s Muslim ban Then how Democrats are obstructing his ambassadorship picks. (Fact check: They aren t. Trump has nominated almost no one and most spots remain vacant due to his inaction.).@foxandfriends Dems are taking forever to approve my people, including Ambassadors. They are nothing but OBSTRUCTIONISTS! Want approvals. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 5, 2017Finally, he once again viciously lashed out at the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, taking his original lie and adding even more lies on top to smear the British politician.Pathetic excuse by London Mayor Sadiq Khan who had to think fast on his "no reason to be alarmed" statement. MSM is working hard to sell it! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 5, 2017The mayor s no reason to be alarmed quote comes from a larger message where he told British citizens that they would be seeing an increased police presence and that the number of cops was no reason to be alarmed. Trump stripped the context and pretended the mayor was saying that terror attacks were no reason to be alarmed. Trump said that because on Fox and Friends yesterday a guest made a similar claim. He either hasn t been corrected about the false information he learned on Fox News or doesn t care.Trump did all of this while a mass shooting in Orlando unfolded. Unlike the terror attack in London, this one was a workplace dispute and done with a gun. Five people died.Five people were killed in a shooting at Fiamma, a business on North Forsyth Road near Hanging Moss Road near Orlando, the Orange County Sheriff s Office reported this morning, calling it a tragic incident. The shooter a former disgruntled employee who was fired in April then killed himself, shooter, Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said. The shooter had previously been accused of battering a fellow employee.Trump, who needs reasons to justify his Muslim ban, doesn t seem to care much about mass shootings that don t fit the narrative that only scary Islamic terrorists are capable of violence. His silence on the shooting speaks volumes. It was also in stark contrast to his earlier response to London.When a tragedy hit London, he quickly retweeted an unsubstantiated claim made by right-wing conspiracy site, the Drudge Report. He then spent the night and next morning going on a rant about Muslims. He urged people in England to be scared, doing the work of the terrorists for them.In contrast, when a nearly equal number of Americans die in a way that is painfully normal for the country with a major gun violence problem, Trump can t be bothered to even offer condolences. But then, Fox and Friends, which also hates to acknowledge gun violence, probably didn t mention the shooting so how would our president ever know about it?Featured image via Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images | 0 |
22,163 | PRISON PORK BAN: We Have Great News For Prisoners But Bad News For Pigs | Just start asking questions and the Obama administration reverses course very interesting. The validity of the claim that prisoners don t like pork was called into question by Sen. Chuck Grassley and then the quick reversal on the prison pork ban. The Obama administration wouldn t be lying? Haha! Hummm The Obama administration did a rapid U-turn on its decision to remove pork products from federal prisons after a few questions from Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley.The federal Bureau of Prisons reversal of the Oct. 1 menu change comes just one week after its spokesman, Edmond Ross, said pork was the lowest-rated food among inmates. To corroborate the validity of the claim that prisoners indicated a lack of interest in pork products, I am requesting copies of the prisoner surveys and responses that were used to support the determination to no longer serve pork in federal prisons, the Republican senator wrote to the agency on Thursday, the Washington Post reported. Please provide any economic evaluations the Bureau of Prisons has relied on that detail the cost of pork as compared to beef, chicken, and non-meat products such as tofu and soy products. Pig products were back on the menu within hours of the letter s publication.Grassley also happens to be the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which oversees the federal prison system.Read more: WND | 0 |
22,164 | Facing revolt on healthcare bill, U.S. Senate Republicans delay vote | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republican leaders postponed a vote on a healthcare overhaul on Tuesday after resistance from members of their own party, and President Donald Trump summoned Republican senators to the White House to urge them to break the impasse. The delay put the future of a longtime top Republican priority in doubt amid concerns about the Senate bill from both moderate and conservative Republicans. With Democrats united in their opposition, Republicans can afford to lose only two votes among their own ranks in the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had been pushing for a vote ahead of the July 4 recess that starts at the end of the week. The legislation would repeal major elements of Obamacare and shrink the Medicaid government healthcare program for the poor. “We’re going to press on,” McConnell said after announcing the delay, adding that leaders would keep working to make senators “comfortable” with the bill. “We’re optimistic we’re going to get to a result that is better than the status quo.” At the White House meeting with most of the 52 Republican senators, Trump said it was vital to reach agreement on the Senate healthcare measure because Obamacare was “melting down.” “So we’re going to talk and we’re going to see what we can do. We’re getting very close,” Trump told the senators. But he added, “If we don’t get it done, it’s just going to be something that we’re not going to like, and that’s okay.” McConnell, whose party has a razor-thin majority in the 100-member Senate, told reporters that Republican leaders would work through the week to win over the 50 senators needed to pass the bill, with a vote planned after the recess. Vice President Mike Pence could provide the crucial vote needed to break a tie. “I think we can get 50 votes to yes by the end of the week,” Republican Senator Roger Wicker said after the White House meeting. The House of Representatives last month passed its own version of a healthcare bill, but the Senate bill has been criticized from both the left and the right. Moderate Republicans worried millions of people would lose their insurance. Conservatives said the bill does not do enough to erase Obamacare. The bill’s prospects were not helped by a Congressional Budget Office analysis on Monday saying it would cause 22 million Americans to lose insurance over the next decade, although it would reduce the federal deficit by $321 billion over that period. The report prompted Senator Susan Collins, a Republican moderate, to say she could not support the bill as it stands. At least four conservative Republican senators said they were still opposed after the CBO analysis. Three more Republicans, Rob Portman of Ohio, Jerry Moran of Kansas and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, said after the delay was announced that they oppose the current draft. Portman and Capito cited the bill’s Medicaid cutbacks and how that would hurt efforts to combat the opioid epidemic that has taken a heavy toll in their states. The Medicaid program was expanded under former President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law. “I think giving time to digest is a good thing,” Republican Senator Bob Corker said after the delay was announced. U.S. stock prices fell, as the decision to postpone the vote added to investor worries about Trump’s ability to deliver on his promises of tax reform and deregulation, as well as changes to the health sector. Those expected changes have driven a rally in U.S. stocks this year. The benchmark S&P 500 index closed down 0.8 percent, and the Dow Jones industrial average finished down 0.46 percent. “The market likes certainty and now there’s uncertainty. What is this going to look like when this gets out of the next iteration?” said Peter Costa, president of trading firm Empire Executions Inc. Passing the measure would be a win for Trump as he seeks to shift attention after weeks of questions over Russia’s role in last year’s U.S. presidential election. McConnell has promised since 2010 that Republicans, who view Obamacare as a costly government intrusion, would destroy the law “root and branch” if they controlled Congress and the White House. Republicans worry a failure to deliver will cost them votes in next year’s congressional elections. If the Senate passes a healthcare bill, it will either have to be approved by the House or the two chambers would reconcile the differences in a conference committee. Otherwise, the House could pass a new version and send it back to the Senate. Lawmakers are expected to leave town by Friday for their July 4 holiday break, which runs all next week. The Senate returns to work on July 10, the House on July 11. Lawmakers then have three weeks in session before their month-long August recess. (This story corrects Dow Jones industrial average’s percent loss in 16th paragraph.) | 1 |
22,165 | This 2016 Hannity Tweet Is Now Like A Knife In The Back For Trump | No one on earth has been a bigger cheerleader for Donald Trump than Fox News Sean Hannity. In the wake of Monday s indictments of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, Manafort s top aide Rick Gates and with a guilty plea of former economic advisor to Trump, George Papadopoulos, it appears the house of cards is beginning to collapse.Hannity, though, is ready with the pro-Trump propaganda. Immediately after the news of the indictment hit, Hannity was ready with his defense of Trump which means he s blaming Hillary:Not that there wasn t Russian collusion with a 2016 presidential candidate. It s just that her name was not Trump. We now have real evidence that the FBI uncovered a Russian plot dating back to 2009 that involved bribery, extortion, blackmail, money laundering and racketeering. It all came a year before Hillary Clinton and the Obama Administration approved the corrupt Uranium One deal. We have evidence of another Russia scandal, also involving a 2016 candidate not named Trump. We now know that the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee paid over $9 million to help fund the discredited, Russia-linked dossier crafted to ruin then-candidate Donald Trump. This was nothing short of a collaborative effort with the Russians to manipulate the outcome of the last presidential election.Not surprisingly, Trump s statements are mirroring Hannity:Sorry, but this is years ago, before Paul Manafort was part of the Trump campaign. But why aren't Crooked Hillary & the Dems the focus????? Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 30, 2017 Only, Manafort was part of the Trump campaign during many of these alleged crimes and Hannity knows it. In fact, in 2016, he tweeted it:While a Sean Hannity tweet certainly won t stand up in a court of law, Hannity has long been the media sycophant for the Trump administration. If he says Manafort was instrumental in Trump winning the White House, he was.Featured image via Drew Angerer/Getty Images. | 0 |
22,166 | WATCH: WHY 93 YR OLD WOMAN VOTED For The First Time In Her Life For TRUMP | First time voters, Democrats, minorities, women, the elderly and the youth are all jumping aboard the Trump Train. With so much enthusiasm from such a cross-section of America, is it even possible for Trump to be beaten? He s a strong man, a strong speaker. And what he says, I have faith enough and believe enough that he ll do what he says, she says.It s a moment 93 years in the making, that was over in a matter of minutes.Beada Corum voted for the first time in her life. I felt real good, and I enjoyed it, she says. Corum, who s 93 years old, cast her ballot for the only man running she feels she can trust, Donald Trump.Corum registered to vote back in July, after Trump announced he was running.Since then, her story has gone viral, inspiring Trump to make a campaign stop in Knoxville, where she was a featured speaker.She s also on the ballot as one of his delegates. That s a great honor, to be a 93-year-old woman, and it s just an honor for me to be for Donald Trump, she says.The trump campaign called her Tuesday night, asking her if she would vote early. She says the call made her feel special, so she showed up the first day polls opened. I voted early today because my time may expire you know, early votes, you know it s in, she says. | 0 |
22,167 | Trump Jr.’s Lies About To Be EXPOSED; Meeting With Russian Lawyer Allegedly Recorded | The entire weekend, and now the beginning of the week, has had the news cycle spinning madly with news of the meeting Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort had with a shady Russian lawyer during the 2016 presidential campaign. The plot has thickened as Trump Jr. s stories regarding the reasons for the meeting and the nature of the conversations that took place there kept changing. Finally, things really exploded on Tuesday, when Lord Cheeto s mini me was forced to tweet out the actual emails that led to this meeting because if he hadn t the New York Times would have printed them for him. Said emails show that Trump Jr. knew he was meeting Russians for the explicit purpose of possibly gathering information that would damage the Clinton campaign.As if all of that isn t looking grim enough for Trump s eldest tyke, it seems that the meeting may have been recorded. Claude Taylor, who has worked on three Democratic presidential campaigns, tweeted out that potentially damning fact:A source with knowledge of the investigation tells me that IC had "ears on" Russian lawyer. The meeting was recorded. Donald, Jr is toast. Claude Taylor (@TrueFactsStated) July 10, 2017Now, we all know that the Trumps routinely lie. They prove that all the time. Trump Jr. s story has changed radically over the course of the last few days alone. That in and of itself really should warrant scrutiny from the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, as well as Special Counsel Robert Mueller. In the meantime, Jared Kushner s security clearance needs to be revoked immediately, as he is a national security threat.As for Donald Trump Jr. if this meeting really was recorded, Claude Taylor s tweet is correct. He s toast. He has put out false statement after false statement, and something tells me he s still not telling everything the way it really went down. It should only be a matter of time before the entire Trump criminal enterprise is in jail.Featured image via John Sommers II/Getty Images | 0 |
22,168 | Cuba denies involvement in incidents concerning U.S. diplomats | HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba’s government said on Wednesday it would never allow actions against diplomats and their families on the island, after the U.S. State Department reported “incidents” had caused physical symptoms in Americans serving at the U.S. Embassy in Havana. “Cuba has never, nor would ever, allow the Cuban territory to be used for any kind of action against accredited diplomats or their families,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. Earlier on Wednesday, the U.S. State Department said it had expelled two Washington-based Cuban diplomats in May after the unspecified “incidents” in Havana. | 1 |
22,169 | $3.5 MILLION DOWN THE DRAIN….Day 5 WI Recount: TRUMP +25 | Just think how many youth centers could have been built in inner cities or how many broken-down classrooms in America could have been repaired with the $3.5 MILLION being wasted on Jill Stein and Hillary s futile recount effort? Aren t the Democrats all about the poor, the downtrodden and the disenfranchised? Or are they really just all about staying in power? The next time one of your progressive friends tries to argue with you about how the Democrats are all about compassion, remind them of the money that was wasted on this recount that could ve been used to help the very people they proclaim to be helping.Shameful Day 5 of the Wisconsin recount continued the pattern on previous days, as Donald Trump extended his Election Day lead over Hillary Clinton by a couple dozen votes.Trump leads Wisconsin by about 22,000 votes. So far, data from the Wisconsin recount as of December 5 shows that little is changing. The major candidates have each gained a smattering of votes in municipalities around the state as a variety of errors are found, but nothing has changed in significant enough numbers to upend the election. Not even close. Trump and Clinton have also each lost votes in communities throughout the state, basically making any gains and losses a wash.Here are the specific totals:Trump has lost 302 votes. Trump has gained 386 votes. Trump net vote gain by Day 5: 84 votesClinton has lost 293 votes. Clinton has gained 351 votes. Clinton net vote gain by Day 5: 58 votes | 0 |
22,170 | Unlike Trump, Americans want strong environmental regulator - Reuters/Ipsos | NEW YORK (Reuters) - More than 60 percent of Americans would like to see the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s powers preserved or strengthened under incoming President Donald Trump, and the drilling of oil on public lands to hold steady or drop, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Tuesday. The results could foretell stronger-than-expected public opposition to Trump’s plans to boost energy development by slashing environmental regulations, an agenda shared by some of his top Cabinet picks slated for Senate confirmation hearings later this week. Trump takes office on Friday. Some 39 percent of Americans would like to see the EPA, the nation’s top environmental regulator, “strengthened or expanded,” while another 22 percent hope for it to “remain the same,” according to the poll. Just 19 percent said they would like to see the agency “weakened or eliminated” and the rest said they “don’t know.” Among Republicans, 47 percent wish for the EPA either to “remain the same” or be “strengthened or expanded,” while 35 percent want it “weakened or eliminated”. The online poll of 9,935 people was conducted Dec. 16 to Jan. 12 and has a credibility interval, a measure of accuracy, of 1.1 percentage points. “Trump is a businessman, and that’s all he thinks about ... what will make money,” said Terry Cox, a 61-year-old resident of Tennessee who voted for the New York real estate mogul in November’s election. “But I’m hopeful there’s a limit to what he can do when it comes to weakening protections for wildlife and the environment.” A Trump transition team official declined to comment. Trump campaigned on a promise to drastically reduce environmental regulations in order to create jobs and pave the way for more oil, gas, and coal development. He has said he would refocus the EPA on its core mission to protect air and water quality. He also accused the agency of using “totalitarian tactics” to enforce its regulations under President Barack Obama, who had made the EPA central to his broader effort to combat global climate change by cutting carbon emissions. According to the Reuters/Ipsos poll, just over 60 percent of Americans think it would be wrong to weaken wildlife protections and air and water regulations to bolster the energy industry, while they were nearly evenly split on whether carbon emissions should be softened to help the industry. The poll also showed that 39 percent of Americans want to see a decrease in coal mining and oil drilling on U.S. federal lands in the coming years, while 23 percent hope for it to stay the same. Just 22 percent said they wanted to see an increase, and the rest said they do not know. The U.S. government holds title to about 500 million acres of land across the country, including national parks and forests, wildlife refuges and tribal territories, overlaying billions of barrels of oil and vast quantities of natural gas, coal, and uranium. Trump has promised to boost industry access to these reserves. Trump nominated Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, a climate change skeptic who has repeatedly sued the EPA over its regulations, to head the agency. Pruitt is scheduled for Senate hearings on Wednesday, where lawmakers are expected to ask him about his ties to the energy industry. Trump also nominated U.S. Representative Ryan Zinke of Montana, an avid outdoorsman and former Navy SEAL commander who advocates for more coal mining on federal lands, to run the Department of the Interior that oversees public lands. Zinke will face Senate questions on Tuesday. And Trump chose former Texas Governor Rick Perry to head the Department of Energy, a move that would put him in charge of the agency he proposed eliminating during his failed bid for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. Perry will be questioned on Thursday. | 1 |
22,171 | Russia blocks U.N. Security Council condemnation of Syria attack | UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia blocked a Western-led effort at the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday to condemn last week’s deadly gas attack in Syria and push Moscow’s ally President Bashar al-Assad to cooperate with international inquiries into the incident. It was the eighth time during Syria’s six-year-old civil war that Moscow has used its veto power on the Security Council to shield Assad’s government. In the latest veto, Russia blocked a draft resolution backed by the United States, France and Britain to denounce the attack in the town of Khan Sheikhoun and tell Assad’s government to provide access for investigators and information such as flight plans. The toxic gas attack on April 4 prompted the United States to launch missile strikes on a Syrian air base and widened a rift between the United States and Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that trust had eroded between the two countries under U.S. President Donald Trump. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson echoed that comment after meetings with Russian leaders in Moscow, saying that relations are at a low point with a low level of trust. Tillerson called for Assad to eventually relinquish power. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, called on Moscow to stop protecting Assad and said the United States wants to work with Russia toward a political solution for Syria. “Russia once again has chosen to side with Assad, even as the rest of the world, including the Arab world, overwhelmingly comes together to condemn this murderous regime,” Haley told the 15-member Security Council. “If the regime is innocent, as Russia claims, the information requested in this resolution would have vindicated them.” Russia’s deputy U.N. envoy, Vladimir Safronkov, said the draft resolution laid blame prior to an independent investigation. “I’m amazed that this was the conclusion. No one has yet visited the site of the crime. How do you know that?” he said. He said the U.S. attack on the Syrian air base “was carried out in violation of international norms.” Syria’s government has denied responsibility for the gas attack in a rebel-held area of northern Syria that killed at least 87 people, many of them children. A fact-finding mission from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is investigating the attack. If it determines that chemical weapons were used, then a joint U.N./OPCW investigation will look at the incident to determine who is to blame. This team has already found Syrian government forces were responsible for three chlorine gas attacks in 2014 and 2015 and that Islamic State militants used mustard gas. China, which has vetoed six resolutions on Syria since the civil war began, abstained from Wednesday’s U.N. vote, along with Ethiopia and Kazakhstan. Ten countries voted in favor of the text, while Bolivia joined Russia in voting no. U.S. President Donald Trump, speaking at an event in the White House, said he was not surprised by China’s abstention. Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Matthew Rycroft told the Security Council that samples taken from the site of the April 4 attack had been analyzed by British scientists and tested positive for the nerve gas sarin. He said Assad’s government was responsible. Diplomats said that Russia has put forward a rival draft resolution that expresses concern at last week’s gas attack and condemns the U.S. strike on Syria. It was unclear if Moscow planned to put the text to a vote. | 1 |
22,172 | BUSTED! FBI Hid Clinton-Lynch Tarmac Meeting Documents…Delay Turning Over | The FBI is out of control. It is stunning that the FBI found these Clinton-Lynch tarmac records only after we caught the agency hiding them in another lawsuit. Judicial Watch Tom Fitton.FBI hid 30 documents related to Clinton-Lynch tarmac meeting. https://t.co/8JJTDR4G47 Real Jack (@RealJack) October 14, 2017BUSTED! THANK GOODNESS FOR JUDICIAL WATCH!Judicial Watch was informed yesterday by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) that the FBI has located 30 pages of documents related to the June 27, 2016, tarmac meeting between former Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former President Bill Clinton, and proposes non-exempt material be produced no later than November 30, 2017 (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:16-cv-02046)).The new documents are being sent to Judicial Watch in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed after the Justice Department failed to comply with a July 7, 2016, FOIA request seeking the following:All FD-302 forms prepared pursuant to the Federal Bureau of Investigation s investigation of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton s use of a private e-mail server during her tenure. All records of communications between any agent, employee, or representative of the Federal Bureau of Investigation regarding, concerning, or related to the aforementioned investigation. This request includes, but is not limited to, any related communications with any official, employee, or representative of the Department of Justice, the Executive Office of the President, the Democratic National Committee, and/or the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton.All records related to the meeting between Attorney General Lynch and former President Bill Clinton on June 27, 2016. The FBI originally informed Judicial Watch they did not locate any records related to the tarmac meeting. However, in a related case, the Justice Department located emails in which Justice Department officials communicated with the FBI and wrote that they had communicated with the FBI. As a result, by letter dated August 10, 2017, from the FBI stated, Upon further review, we subsequently determined potentially responsive documents may exist. As a result, your [FOIA] request has been reopened (Surprisingly, the Trump Justice Department refuses to disclose the talking points developed by the Obama Justice Department to help it respond to press inquiries about the controversial June 27, 2016, tarmac meeting between Loretta Lynch and Bill Clinton at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.)On June 27, 2016, Attorney General Loretta Lynch met privately with former President Bill Clinton on board a parked private plane at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona. The meeting occurred during the then-ongoing investigation of Mrs. Clinton s email server, and mere hours before the Benghazi report was released publicly involving both Mrs. Clinton and the Obama administration. Judicial Watch filed a request on June 30 that the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General investigate that meeting. The FBI is out of control. It is stunning that the FBI found these Clinton-Lynch tarmac records only after we caught the agency hiding them in another lawsuit, stated Judicial Watch Tom Fitton. Judicial Watch will continue to press for answers about the FBI s document games in court. In the meantime, the FBI should stop the stonewall and release these new records immediately. This case has also forced the FBI to release to the public the FBI s Clinton investigative file, although more than half of the records remain withheld. The FBI has also told Judicial Watch that it anticipates completing the processing of these materials by July 2018.There is significant controversy about whether the FBI and Obama Justice Department investigation gave Clinton and other witnesses and potential targets preferential treatment.The Obama administration extended numerous immunity agreements, including: Clinton s former Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills; John Bentel, former director of the State Department s Office of Information Resources Management; Heather Samuelson, Clinton s executive assistant; Brian Pagliano, an IT employee at the State Department who serviced the Clinton non-government server; and an employee at Platt River Networks, the company that maintained it. It is not clear whether Hillary Clinton received some type of immunity.In 2015, a political action committee run by McAuliffe, a close friend and political supporter of Bill and Hillary Clinton, donated nearly $500,000 to Jill McCabe, wife of McCabe, who was then running for the Virginia State Senate. Also, the Virginia Democratic Party, over which McAuliffe had significant influence, donated an additional $207,788 to the Jill McCabe campaign. In July 2015, Andrew McCabe was in charge of the FBI s Washington, DC, field office, which provided personnel resources to the Clinton email probe. Judicial Watch has several lawsuits about this McCabe/FBI/Clinton scandal.Via: Judicial Watch | 0 |
22,173 | Trump's high court pick vows independence, says he is no 'rubber stamp' | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch on Tuesday pledged independence from President Donald Trump, bristled at his criticism of the judiciary and said not even the president is above the law amid Democratic concerns he would be beholden to the man who selected him. Answering questions from senators during a more than 11-hour session on the second day of his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing, Gorsuch said Trump never asked him to overturn the 1973 Supreme Court ruling legalizing abortion nationwide, saying if the Republican president had done so, “I would have walked out the door.” Trump promised during last year’s presidential campaign to appoint an anti-abortion justice who would overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, which many conservatives want reversed. If confirmed by the Senate as expected to fill a 13-month-old vacancy, Gorsuch would restore the nine-seat court's conservative majority at a time when Republicans control Congress and the White House. But the conservative federal appeals court judge from Colorado repeatedly said he was beyond politics. (GRAPHIC - Confirming Gorsuch: How it works tmsnrt.rs/2mB9WPR) “When I became a judge, they gave me a gavel not a rubber stamp,” Gorsuch said. “I am my own man,” he added. Trump has assailed the judiciary both as a candidate and since taking office on Jan. 20. He condemned federal judges who put on hold his two executive orders to ban the entry into the United States of people from several Muslim-majority countries, calling one a “so-called judge” and suggesting that blame for a future terrorist attack should go to the courts. “When anyone criticizes the honesty or integrity or the motives of a federal judge, well I find that disheartening, I find that demoralizing, because I know the truth,” Gorsuch said. When Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal asked if that included Trump, Gorsuch said, “Anyone is anyone.” Gorsuch previously made similar remarks in private to senators including Blumenthal, but Trump at the time accused Blumenthal of misrepresenting Gorsuch’s comments. Trump indicated in a speech on Tuesday night that his approach was unlikely to change. “The courts are not helping us, to be honest, it’s ridiculous. Somebody said I should not criticize judges, OK, I’ll criticize judges,” he said. Gorsuch’s steady, measured performance during the marathon session, marked by a few moments of indignation under Democratic questioning, indicated he was on track for confirmation. Democrats probed Gorsuch on whether he would be willing to hold Trump accountable. Asked by Senator Patrick Leahy whether a president has the power to violate a law on surveillance of Americans, Gorsuch said, “Nobody is above the law in this country, and that includes the president of the United States.” Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said if Trump resumes the use of waterboarding, a prohibited form of simulated drowning, on detainees, he “may get impeached.” Gorsuch said he would not speculate on whether Trump could be prosecuted if he authorized waterboarding, but repeated, “No man is above the law.” Republicans have praised Gorsuch, 49, as highly qualified for a lifetime appointment as a justice. Democrats, who have slim chances of blocking his nomination, have questioned his suitability, with some portraying him as favoring corporate interests and insufficiently independent from Trump. Chuck Grassley, the panel’s Republican chairman, asked Gorsuch “whether you’d have any trouble ruling against a president who appointed you.” “That’s a softball, Mr. Chairman,” Gorsuch said. “I have no difficulty ruling against or for any party, other than based on what the law and facts in the particular case require. And I’m heartened by the support I have received from people who recognize that there’s no such thing as a Republican judge or a Democratic judge. We just have judges in this country.” “I have offered no promises on how I’d rule in any case to anyone. And I don’t think it’s appropriate for a judge to do so, no matter who’s doing the asking,” Gorsuch added. Gorsuch refused to offer his opinion of Trump’s travel ban, saying it was an ongoing case. When Leahy brought up a Republican lawmaker’s suggestion that Gorsuch would uphold Trump’s ban, the nominee said, “A lot of people say a lot of silly things” and that lawmaker “has no idea how I’d rule.” Gorsuch said rulings should be based on the law and not politics, adding, “A good judge doesn’t give a whit about politics or the political implications of his or her decision.” Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse pressed Gorsuch to call for the anonymous financial backers behind the Judicial Crisis Network conservative legal advocacy group’s $10 million campaign supporting his nomination to identify themselves, but the nominee refused, saying he would not engage in politics. But Gorsuch added, “Nobody speaks for me.” The seat Gorsuch was nominated to fill has been vacant since the February 2016 death of conservative justice Antonin Scalia. Some Democrats have said Republicans “stole” a Supreme Court seat last year when the Senate refused to consider former Democratic President Barack Obama’s nominee to replace Scalia, appellate judge Merrick Garland. Questioned by Leahy, Gorsuch called Garland an “outstanding judge,” but refused to answer whether Obama’s nominee had been treated fairly by Senate Republicans. Gorsuch said Supreme Court precedents deserve respect, even as he sidestepped answering whether he thought a series of contentious cases from the past had been decided correctly, including Roe v. Wade and cases on gun rights, political spending, religious rights and the ruling tipping the 2000 presidential election to Republican George W. Bush. Gorsuch did say that the issue of gay marriage, which the Supreme Court legalized in 2015, was “absolutely settled law.” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer told reporters Gorsuch looked like “he’s playing dodge ball,” saying the nominee “has bent over backwards to avoid revealing anything.” The confirmation hearing resumes on Wednesday morning and is scheduled to last through Thursday. Grassley has said the committee is likely to vote on Gorsuch’s nomination on April 3. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the full Senate would vote on confirming Gorsuch before lawmakers’ mid-April recess. | 1 |
22,174 | China tests new dredger capable of South China Sea projects: state media | BEIJING (Reuters) - China is testing a new dredger ship that will greatly enhance its land reclamation capabilities, a state media report said on Sunday, as the country continues to develop facilities in the South China Sea in a bid to strengthen its claims in the waters. State-run Beijing News newspaper said the Tian Kun began water tests on Friday. A cutter suction dredger is a type of a ship used for large-scale projects to create or reclaim land. For example, there are many hard coral reefs on the sea floor of the South China Sea, the paper quoted Zhang Xiaofeng, chief engineer for the vessel, as saying, adding the ship will be put into service sometime in the first half of 2018. Recent satellite images show that China has quietly undertaken more construction and reclamation in the South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes each year, in a bid to strengthen its grip despite objections from Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam as well as the United States. Some experts say China will land its first deployments of jet fighters onto its runways in the Spratly islands in coming months. The United States is concerned China s construction of islands and military buildup in the waters could be used to restrict free nautical movement. Its ships have carried out freedom of navigation patrols in the area, angering China. The subject could come up when Trump visits Beijing next week as part of his 12-day Asia trip and meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping, though North Korea s recent nuclear and missile tests are expected to feature more prominently in talks. The South China Sea issue isn t an issue between China and the United States, China Vice Foreign Minister Zheng Zeguang told reporters on Friday, adding there is no issue with freedom of navigation in the region and that China has indisputable sovereignty over islands and surrounding waters. | 1 |
22,175 | Dependent on migrant dollars, rural Mexico prays for Trump defeat | MOLCAXAC, Mexico (Reuters) - In the small southern market town of Molcaxac, 650 miles (1050 km) from the U.S. border, Alicia Villa is praying to God that Republican candidate Donald Trump does not become the next president of the United States. Over the past two decades, as Mexico’s rural economy stalled, Molcaxac and hundreds of towns like it became dependent on dollars sent by relatives who made the perilous journey north, a lifeline she fears will be cut by a Trump White House. Villa, 65, said funds sent by a daughter working illegally as a house cleaner in Sacramento, California have supported her family for 12 years because the work she does as receptionist in Molcaxac does not pay enough to make ends meet. “I am Catholic and I have asked God and the Virgin of Asuncion that he lose,” Villa said of Trump, placing her head in her hands and intoning a prayer in the square of the deeply religious hill town dominated by a striking blue church. Inside, the church was adorned with notes thanking migrant relatives for money sent to help build homes, start businesses and pay for marriages in the town surrounded by rivers, mountains and meadows in the state of Puebla. “Trump says he will kick out everyone who doesn’t have papers and we really need them to be there,” said Villa, adding that she had not seen some family members living in the United States in 20 years. Trump, a real-estate tycoon who has narrowed the gap with Democratic rival Hillary Clinton ahead of next Tuesday’s vote, has vowed to make it harder for illegal immigrants to live and work in the United States, to increase deportations and to limit remittances unless Mexico pays billions for a wall along the nearly 2,000-mile (3,200-km) U.S.-Mexico border. Such policies would take a heavy toll in Molcaxac, where local authorities say more than 70 percent of the population lives on remittances sent home by immigrants to the United States, many of them undocumented. “Our town has improved a lot since our people started to leave for the United States,” said stonemason Esteban Marquez, whose workshop was partly funded by remittances from one of his children. Mexico has more than 5 million citizens living without regular papers in the United States, or about half of the entire undocumented population. Those men and women send back a large chunk of Mexico’s foreign exchange earnings, contributing more than $20 billion in remittances wired this year through September. According to Mexico’s Central Bank, Puebla received $1 billion in remittances in the same period, making it the fifth biggest recipient among Mexican states. So many people from Puebla live in the New York area that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a Trump supporter, visited the state in 2014. Couriers have grown rich transporting salsas and fresh cheese to homesick natives up north. The money has transformed places like Molcaxac, a picturesque town dotted with well-built homes attesting to the flow of dollars. It is not just the potential loss of income Trump could spark that worries Molcaxac locals. The lack of employment in rural Mexico is one of the main reasons drug gangs find it easy to recruit among young people and those deported from the United States, they say. “Here in Mexico, the truth is there is nothing for them,” said stonemason Marquez. “The people who stay need to survive, and since there is no work, they get pulled into crime.” Opinion polls in the run-up to the election suggest that Villa’s prayers stand a good chance of being answered, with most putting Clinton consistently ahead of her Republican rival. But the polls also show her losing ground in the final stretch. Real Clear Politics, which averages the results of most major polls, shows Clinton’s advantage had declined from 4.6 percentage points to 1.7 points over the past week. Even those of more modest means in Molcaxac are on edge with America’s election. “Only God knows if they are going to be able to stay there,” said Serafina Martinez, who at 70 still works in the fields. She worries it would be hard to survive without the little her son in California sends when he can. “I would like him to keep helping us with pennies,” said Martinez, her curved back laden with firewood and groceries. Still, the uncertainty has also helped locals in an unexpected way: the Mexican peso’s value plunges every time Trump advances, making the dollar remittances stretch further. But there is no doubt in the minds of Molcaxac’s townspeople that they would rather see Clinton in the White House. Clinton has proposed comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship, and says she will end detention of immigrant families. “I think she will win, and that gives us hope that our relatives will be able to regularize (their papers),” said Teresa Amador, selling flowers in the main market. “I have a son who was born there, and he is going to vote for the lady.” | 1 |
22,176 | Trump says New Hampshire win not necessary to secure nomination | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said he does not have to win the New Hampshire primary vote on Tuesday to secure the nomination, apparently tamping down expectations despite holding a double-digit lead in that state’s polls. The billionaire businessman came in second to Texas Senator Ted Cruz in the Iowa caucuses last week, although polls put him ahead. His candidacy has alarmed the Republican establishment and has been marked by rows, including over his calls for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States. No Republican has won the presidential nomination without winning either the Iowa caucuses or the New Hampshire primary since the 1970s, but it would not technically be impossible. Asked whether a loss in New Hampshire would derail his campaign, Trump told the NBC News show “Meet the Press”: “I don’t think I need it. I hope that I get it.” “I would like to win but I don’t know that it is necessary.” Recent opinion polls give him a lead of between 10 and 22 percentage points over the next closest contender. Trump has built his campaign in part around his self-declared reputation as a “winner,” and a loss in New Hampshire would intensify doubts that he can translate opinion poll support into votes. He also told “Meet the Press” that he has spent as much as $50 million less than expected on the campaign so far, in part because the media provides him so much free publicity. “People like you put me on. What do I take a commercial for?” Trump told the show’s moderator, Chuck Todd. (This story has been refiled to restore dropped word “in” in 2nd paragraph; restores quotation marks to “Meet the Press” in paragraphs 4 and 8) (Reporting by Howard Schneider; Editing by Louise Ireland) SAP is the sponsor of this content. It was independently created by Reuters’ editorial staff and funded in part by SAP, which otherwise has no role in this coverage. | 1 |
22,177 | MONTEL WILLIAMS Says Oregon Patriots Are “Undereducated Terrorist Buffoons” And National Guard Should “Shoot To Kill” Them | He s pro-gun, pro-military, anti-fracking and anti-wrongful imprisonment of US veterans in Mexico. But TV personality Montel Williams has found himself in hot water with conservatives after making some outrageous claims on Twitter about the patriots protesting federal government overreach in Oregon: And here, pro-gun and conservative (on some issues) Montel Williams, makes an apology for his comments on Twitter, along with an explanation about why he made them:// <![CDATA[ (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_GB/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); // ]]>Since I am trending apparently, let s clear somethings up about #OregonUnderAttack1) Some of you are incapable of Posted by Montel Williams on Monday, 4 January 2016Via: Weasel Zippers | 0 |
22,178 | MURDERERS AND RAPISTS FOR HILLARY: VA Governor, Close Clinton Friend Gives 206,000 Felons Voting Rights, Releases Them From Jail Before Election | The good news for Hillary is that she should be able to connect with these hardened criminals on a personal level. The only thing that stands behind Hillary and an orange jumpsuit is her husband s connections and the corrupt Democrat machine that can t get enough of the Clinton Crime Syndicate.In a move called unprecedented by the Richmond-Times Dispatch, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe signed a sweeping order that grants 206,000 convicted felons voting rights just months before the presidential election.McAuliffe s order extends to non-violent and violent felons, including convicted murderers and rapists, an expert told the New York Times.If some cannot abide by society s standards, those standards are barriers that society must break down, McAuliffe affirmed in announcing the order. If we are going to build a stronger and more equal Virginia, we must break down barriers to participation in civic life for people who return to society seeking a second chance. We must welcome them back and offer the opportunity to build a better life by taking an active role in our democracy. I believe it is time to cast off Virginia s troubling history of injustice and embrace an honest, clean process for restoring the rights of these men and women, the governor said in a statement.McAuliffe couched his move in terms of social justice and civil rights, having compared felon disenfranchisement to a poll tax. The order will likely boost black voter turnout in a critical swing state that could deliver Hillary Clinton one estimate provided to the New York Times claimed as many as one in five blacks in Virginia lost their right to vote after being convicted for committing felonies. Via: Breitbart News | 0 |
22,179 | THE REAL TRUTH ABOUT WHY OBAMA Is Planting Muslim Refugees In Small Towns Across America | This is the best explanation of why Obama and the Democrat party are fighting so hard to keep the US State Department s Refugee Resettlement program going strong. Please share this with everyone who s been wondering why the Democrats are so eager to bring Muslim immigrants from countries who hate us, to America, while leaving Christian refugees from the same countries behind. To hell with terrorism, the Democrats want to win even if it s at the expense of our national security Looks like my old stomping grounds in Montana are heating up. People there are not taking Obama s plan to force refugees on them lying down. There was a protest in Missoula, Montana recently over that very issue. It is just one of many battles brewing out there in small town America.Small towns in the sparsely populated parts of America are the perfect place to relocate these refugees. Especially, if your agenda includes politically terraforming the country. The West is historically conservative in their politics. Many are Republicans and Libertarians. Even the Democrats hearken back to an earlier time when they were more conservative in nature. Obama and the Democrats can t have that. They need to have an entire country willing to submit to Marxist diktats. They need areas seeded with those who will vote Democrat and ensure that they stay in power no matter what.And it s not just voting demographics that are pushing this move either. I personally believe that there is a warped logic to all of this. That if Islam can be made the predominant religion in America, people will be more easily controlled. That s insane of course and won t work, but there you have it. Instead, Shariah law will be implemented and you will see the same atrocities occurring in Europe happen here. The big difference being, that at least for now, Americans are armed and will use those weapons to protect their neighbors, loved ones and country.Of the 237 Syrian refugees admitted to the U.S. since the attacks in Paris just one has been a Christian. The rest have been Muslims.CNS News reports that according to data from the State Department Refugee Processing Center, since the November 13 attacks the U.S. has admitted 236 Sunni Muslim refugees from Syria and a single Christian a Greek Orthodox refugee.Bringing in the refugees also moves forward the Cloward and Piven strategy to overwhelm the system so it will collapse and cause chaos in the streets. These people want to tear the system apart, so they can replace it with something truly heinous. The Obama administration will never admit that this is the plan, but can you honestly look at what is going on today and tell me it isn t? Our borders are wide open. We are not vetting anyone to speak of and security here in the US is worse than before 9/11.Communities in states such as Idaho, Montana, North Dakota and Kansas are being infused with Muslim refugees even though they are not wanted by the residents or the local law enforcement. The feds and their leaders are not giving them a choice. Wyoming is the only state currently not participating in the program, but even the governor there wants to jump in it. Living in large cities would be too costly for the refugees and more can be accomplished with seeding them across the plains. In a small town, they can turn everything to their advantage in short order. Since many of our larger cities are already flooded with immigrants from south of the border and from Muslim nations, in many respects they have at least partially fallen to the ploy already. This is the fundamental transformation of America in play. South Carolina, Idaho, Minnesota, North Dakota and Michigan are vigorously fighting against this program and Obama s change .The same entitlements, jobs, lodging and freebies will be given to these refugees in small town America. But that will mean taking more and more away from locals in these same communities. These immigrants bring crime and disease with them. As crime rises, people will leave which will hasten the take over of these towns. At least that is what Obama and his friends hope for. I pray that people dig in and decide to stay and fight if they can.We haven t learned a damned thing from watching what is going on over in Europe. How do you justify the rapefugees in Germany and Sweden, who treat rape as game for a large number of players at a given event? How can you ignore the violence, the murders, the depravity that is the Ummah? What s wrong with these people? Do money and power mean so much to them that they don t care that they are selling America out to a hellish nightmare movement? Imagine your wives, daughters, mothers, neighbors little children subjected to these beasts. What would you do?For entire story: Trevor Loudon | 0 |
22,180 | SNIVELING COWARDS AT CNN Caught Editing Trump Tape With “Muslim” Comments [VIDEO] | If the Republican Party really cared about winning this race, they d cancel the upcoming debate with CNN. The only logical reason for the GOP establishment to agree to allow CNN to host the next debate would be if they were working behind the scenes with CNN to take Trump out. But the RNC wouldn t do that would they? Left-wing cable news network CNN has been caught red-handed selectively editing Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump s comments about a Muslim registry, and doing so in order to make it sound as though he is agreeing to this registry. He is not.The edited video is yet another lying log on the left-wing garbage fire that is CNN, and yet in just three weeks, this very same garbage fire is hosting the next Republican presidential debate!What exactly does CNN have to do in order to lose its right to depose these candidates for two hours in front of the whole world? If CNN is already maliciously editing video to take out out the frontrunner, I don t even want to speculate.Courtesy of Gateway Pundit, watch the CNN video. Pay special attention to the sneaky edit just before Trump says absolutely :The left-wing liars at CNN have intentionally edited the video to make it look as though Trump said absolutely to a Muslim registry. What CNN edited out is in bold:Reporter: Should there be a database system that tracks Muslims who are in this country?Trump: There should be a lot of systems, beyond databases. We should have a lot of systems, and today you can do it. But right now we need to have a border, we have to have strength, we have to have a wall, and we cannot let what s happening to this country happen any longer.Reporter: Is that something your White House would like to implement?Donald Trump: I would certainly implement that. Absolutely.Trump s absolutely is clearly in reference to strengthening the border. Look at the whole transcript. When the NBC News reporter asks, Is that something your White House would like to implement?, Trump has just talked about fortifying the border and obviously believes that is what the NBC reporter is referring to.CNN edited that out!It is time for Reince Priebus and the Republican Party to stand up these left-wing hit squads disguising themselves as journalists.CNN should not be allowed within a country mile of a GOP debate.How many more warning signs does the Republican Party need to realize that this is a suicide mission?Do we want to win in 2016, or not?Via: Breitbart News | 0 |
22,181 | Norway's right-wing government projected to win re-election | OSLO (Reuters) - Norway s tax-cutting Prime Minister Erna Solberg is on track to keep power after an election on Monday, closely defeating a Labour-led opposition in a campaign over how to manage the oil-dependent economy, official projections showed. The ruling coalition of the Conservatives and Progress Party, and two smaller center-right allies, would win 88 seats in the 169-seat parliament, Norway s Directorate of Elections projected based on a count of early votes. A separate TV2 forecast gave the government and its allies a wider majority of 91 seats. | 1 |
22,182 | ‘Journalistic Malpractice’: CNN Slammed for ‘Biased’ Coverage in Favour of Hillary | 21st Century Wire says This definitely needed to be said.Host of popular internet news shows The Young Turks, Cenk Uygur, has slammed the mainstream media for journalistic malpractice after they fraudulently announced that Hillary Clinton would be the Democratic nominee prior to the result of the California primary.Here at 21WIRE, we informed our readers last week that such big politik dirty tricks would be played.Uygur appeared on CNN saying: Brian, you guys, and I mean all of the establishment press, totally tilted the playing field here from day one by counting those superdelegates, Superdelegates do switch their votes all the time, they switched it in 2008. Hillary Clinton had a 100-superdelegate lead which completely vanished in 2008, But if you count them in the official tally, when you know they can, and often do switch their votes, and have not voted yet, that is simply incorrect, that s not journalism. From day one, which was absolutely incorrect, it was in fact journalistic malpractice which indicates an establishment bias. Watch the full interview here: EVERYTHING ON ELECTION 2016: 21st Century Wire Election Files | 0 |
22,183 | SHE SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN ALLOWED To Step Foot On American Soil: How Female Terrorist Used Fake Info To Get US Visa | CAN WE JUST STOP ALLOWING Muslim Refugees and visitors into U.S. from countries who hate us already? How about we focus on the 1% of Pakistani s who are Christian that face daily persecution at the hands of Muslims?UPDATE: Tashfeen Malik posted a pledge of allegiance to ISIS before her deadly attack. She used a fake address on her passport.Via ABC:For the visa application, the address she listed in her Pakistani hometown, ABC News discovered today, does not exist. Malik received a her Green Card this summer, U.S. officials said.Tashfeen Malik, the female terrorist involved in the San Bernardino attack should have never been granted an American visa if the Immigration and Nationality Act holds any weight.Malik, who was found to have a Pakistani passport, obtained the K-1 visa in Islamabad, Pakistan. However, American visa laws that are meant to detect potential terror threats trying to infiltrate the country should have blocked the female jihadist from obtaining that visa.As the Center for Immigration Services notes, Section 214(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act states that individuals who appear likely to overstay their temporary visas and try to settle permanently in the United States are not to be issued one. The regulation is meant to detect individuals seeking a visa who do not have permanent families in their home country and whether or not they have enough money to travel back to their home country once their visa is expired.This screening process is meant to expose individuals trying to to get into the country for the purpose of resettling permanently and overstaying their visa, as so many do.Nonetheless, Malik was able to obtain a visa in Islamabad despite the screening process which should have detected the fact that she was a young woman resettling in the US to potentially raise a family with her radical jihadist husband Syed Farook.Malik passed her DHS screening:Under Section 214(b), Malik should have been denied a visa, as there was ample evidence that she would overstay her visa.But, Malik could have obtained her visa the same way the 9/11 hijackers obtained theirs: through the Visa Express program.As reported by The Hayride, the Visa Express program allowed 9/11 hijackers Abdulaziz Alomari, Salem al Hamzi, and Khalid al Midhar to obtain their visas in Saudi Arabia without even being interviewed by consular officials at the American consulate.The terrorists simply obtained their visas by sending officials their applications and supporting documents through a designated travel agency.This allowed the three terrorists to go undetected despite red-flags that they were single, young men with not enough funds to return back to their home countries once their visas expired.Likewise, if Malik gained her visa through the Visa Express program at the American consulate in Islamabad, it would explain how she was allowed to enter the country despite overwhelming suspicions that she would overstay her visa.The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) admits that there are so many visas given out each year around the world that it is impossible to conduct background checks on every single person.And, we all saw what happened yesterday in San Bernardino.Via: Gateway Pundit | 0 |
22,184 | U.S. spy chief 'resolute' on Russia cyber attack, differs with Trump | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. intelligence official said on Thursday he was “even more resolute” in his belief that Russia staged cyber attacks on Democrats during the 2016 election campaign, rebuking persistent skepticism from Republican President-elect Donald Trump about whether Moscow was involved. James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, said he had a very high level of confidence that Russia hacked Democratic Party and campaign staff email, and disseminated propaganda and fake news aimed at the Nov. 8 election. “Our assessment now is even more resolute than it was” on Oct. 7 when the government first publicly accused Russia, Clapper told a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He said motives for the attack would be made public next week. Trump on Thursday morning called himself a “big fan” of intelligence agencies. But he has cast doubt on their assessments that Russia targeted the campaign of his opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, drawing ire from his fellow Republicans as well as Democrats who are wary of Moscow and distrust Trump’s praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The intelligence officials at Thursday’s hearing said they worried a lack of support from atop the government could prompt valued staff members to leave their agencies. “There’s a difference between healthy skepticism ... and disparagement,” Clapper said. Vice President-elect Mike Pence has used the expression “healthy skepticism” to defend Trump’s criticism of intelligence findings. Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan, speaking at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics on Thursday, said that because Trump had never served in government, he was unfamiliar with the intelligence profession. “It doesn’t bother me if someone is going to be skeptical and challenge our work and maybe disagree with our views, but I expect that the president of the United States will recognize that the CIA and intelligence community were established by statute for a very important reason,” The congressional hearing was overseen by Republican Senator John McCain, a vociferous Russia critic. It was the first in a promised series of briefings and hearings on allegations that Russia tried to disrupt or influence the U.S. campaign, one of the most bitter in recent history. Moscow denies the allegations. McCain told reporters that Senator Lindsey Graham, also a vocal critic of Moscow, would chair a new Armed Services subcommittee dedicated to cyber issues. Trump will be briefed by intelligence agency chiefs on Friday on the hacks. President Barack Obama received a report on the matter on Thursday. An unclassified version will be made public early next week. “I don’t think we’ve ever encountered a more aggressive or direct campaign to interfere in our election process than we’ve seen in this case,” said Clapper, who leaves when Trump becomes president on Jan. 20. Clapper stopped short of declaring Russia’s actions “an act of war,” saying that determination was beyond the scope of his office. Clapper and the two other officials who testified, National Security Agency Director Admiral Mike Rogers, and Marcel Lettre, undersecretary of defense for intelligence, did not say what made U.S. intelligence confident Russia was behind the cyber attacks, a conclusion also reached by several private firms. Obama last week ordered the expulsion of 35 suspected Russian spies and imposed sanctions on two Russian intelligence agencies he said were involved in hacking U.S. political groups such as the Democratic National Committee. The CIA has identified Russian officials who fed material hacked from the DNC and Democratic Party leaders to WikiLeaks at Putin’s direction through third parties, according to a new U.S. intelligence report, senior U.S. officials said. Documents stolen from the DNC and Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podesta, were posted on the Internet before the election, embarrassing the campaign. In a tweet on Wednesday, Trump was skeptical about a Russian role in the affair, writing: “(WikiLeaks founder) Julian Assange said ‘a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta’ - why was DNC so careless? Also said the Russians did not give him the info!” But on Thursday, Trump said in another Twitter post that he was not against intelligence agencies or in agreement with Assange. “The media lies to make it look like I am against ‘intelligence’ when in fact I am a big fan!” Trump tweeted. Clapper said Assange had put American lives in danger and deserved no credibility. McCain and other lawmakers also blasted Assange. Senator Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, said there would be “howls” from Republicans if a Democrat described intelligence officials as Trump had. U.S. intelligence officials have said Russian cyber attacks were specifically aimed at helping Trump beat Clinton. Several Republicans have acknowledged the Russian hacking but have not linked it to an effort to help Trump win. Trump and top advisers believe Democrats are trying to delegitimize his victory by accusing Russia of helping him. Senator Tim Kaine, an Armed Services member who was Clinton’s vice presidential running mate, said: “It is my hope that this Congress is willing to stand in a bipartisan way for the integrity of the electoral process.” Graham said Obama’s actions against Moscow fell short. “I think what Obama did was throw a pebble. I’m ready to throw a rock,” Graham said. “Putin is up to no good and he better be stopped.” | 1 |
22,185 | Canada proposes health warnings, child-proof packs for legal pot sales | OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Canadian government proposed on Tuesday mandatory health warnings and child-proof packaging as well as a licensing regime for all cannabis products in legislation ahead of the July 2018 legalization of recreational marijuana. The proposals, which will be open for public consultation for 60 days, include restrictions on packaging to ensure the products are not enticing to children as well as legal standards for quality control and potency, Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor told reporters. The government is on track to legalize recreational marijuana by July 2018, making it the first Group of Seven country to do so. Petitpas Taylor said the government wants to set strict guidelines for the safety of cannabis products, but ensure micro-producers and big companies alike will have access to the market as long as they are licensed. We want to make sure the market will be open to everyone. Some people will be small businesses and they can certainly apply for a license in order to have a micro-industry, if you will, she told reporters, adding there is no limit to the number of licenses that will be available. The proposed regulations address the licensing, tracking, packaging and labeling of recreational and medical marijuana practices, and include a permitting regime for the cultivation, processing, sale, testing and import and export of cannabis. The federal government earlier this month proposed splitting with the provinces income from excise taxes on recreational marijuana, drawing criticism from Ontario, which is concerned it will face higher costs associated with the new law. The federal government said it wants an excise tax on all cannabis products, including medical marijuana, of C$1 per gram (0.04 ounce), or 10 percent of the retail price, whichever is higher. Some provinces have asked the government to delay legalization, saying they need more time to set up a sales system and train police officers who will be enforcing the new rules. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the issue part of his 2015 successful election campaign and the Liberal government says regulating marijuana will keep it out of the hands of underage users and reduce drug-related crime. Shares of licensed producers, such as Canopy Growth, have soared in anticipation of legalization but the stocks are expected to face a bumpy ride in 2018. | 1 |
22,186 | Dan Rather: Trump’s First Two Months In Office Is Worst Start He’s Ever Seen | Legendary newsman Dan Rather has lived through and covered several presidencies so he knows what he s talking about.Rather was just a boy of 13 when Franklin D. Roosevelt died in 1945. In 1950, he began his career in journalism while Harry Truman was in office.Since then, Rather has witnessed every presidential beginning and has even reported on them.And according to Rather, Donald Trump s first two months in the presidency are the worst he has ever seen.Rather posted his observation on Facebook early Monday morning, even going so far as to quip that the only president who had a worse start was William Henry Harrison, who died one month after being sworn in.We re roughly two months into the Trump Presidency, and it is the worst start to a time in office I have ever seen. I am not alone in this conclusion. Many Presidential scholars are saying it s the worst start of any Presidency in the history of the country.Now William Henry Harrison in 1841 talked too long in the cold of his inauguration. He caught pneumonia and died a month later. So, yes, I suppose you could say that his time was worse.One of those Presidential scholars is Douglas Brinkley, who said that that Trump s administration is so bad that treason is hanging over it. This is the most failed first 100 days of any president, Brinkley concluded.Rather then briefly listed some of Trump s failures.So after two tumultuous, chaotic and in many ways outrageous months (an embarrassing defeat on ACA repeal, the deepening Russia probe, the striking down of the travel ban) where do we stand? Where does all of this go?Rather went on to warn the American people that a weak President running a weak, ragtag administration is a prescription for trouble. Trouble internationally could come from enemies and other competitors who may see opportunities for advantage and overreach. Trouble internally could easily come from a worried, divided nation, and opportunistic ideologues and politicians who try to exploit the situation.Rather concluded by urging people to remain vigilant and continue fighting.Donald Trump and his entire administration is a bad joke. He has turned our nation into a laughingstock around the world and has repeatedly demonstrated that he is incompetent.Trump should resign before he embarrasses our country and himself even further.Featured Image: Matthew Eisman/Getty Images | 0 |
22,187 | Trump recognition of Jerusalem as Israeli capital would fuel violence: Arab League | CAIRO (Reuters) - Any move by the United States to recognize Jerusalem as Israel s capital would fuel extremism and violence, Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said on Saturday. He spoke a day after a senior U.S. administration official said U.S. President Donald Trump was likely to make the announcement next week. The Palestinians want Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, and the international community does not recognize Israel s claim on all of the city, home to sites holy to the Jewish, Muslim and Christian religions. Word of Trump s planned announcement, which would deviate from previous U.S. presidents who have insisted the Jerusalem s status must be decided in negotiations, has already drawn criticism from the Palestinian Authority. Today we say very clearly that taking such action is not justified ... It will not serve peace or stability, but will fuel extremism and resort to violence, Aboul Gheit said in a statement published on the Arab league s website. It only benefits one side; the Israeli government that is hostile to peace, he added. | 1 |
22,188 | WOW! STARBUCKS CEO JUST ACCUSED Whites Of Committing Senseless Violence Against “people who are not white”…And He’s Getting DESTROYED On Social Media | Thousands of Starbucks customers cut up their gold cards and boycotted their favorite coffee spot after Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz stuck his foot in his mouth, when he defended immigration of unvetted Muslims from terror hotbed nations to the US. Schultz was hammered on social media after offering to hire Syrian immigrants before Americans to prove his point about how inclusive he is.Well, it appears as though the arrogant leftist CEO of Starbucks has done it again. Howard Schultz tweeted from the Starbucks account: I know we re better than this. The bigotry, hatred, and senseless violence against people who are not white cannot stand. Howard Schultz "I know we're better than this. The bigotry, hatred, and senseless violence against people who are not white cannot stand. Howard Schultz pic.twitter.com/JWpOmIV0H0 Starbucks Coffee (@Starbucks) August 16, 2017Who is we re Howard? Who exactly are you calling racists or bigots? Who has actually been committing the violence at pro-Trump and pro-freedom of speech rallies across America?Maybe it s these guys?Maybe he was referring to this white guy punching this black guy because he s supporting our president or because he s holding an American flag:Oops! Never mind that s a black guy punching a white guy.So tell us again Howard, what was it again you wanted your customers to know about violence against people who are not white?Here are just a few responses Schultz s ignorant and offensive tweet provoked:Howard Shultz violence against ANYONE can not stand! Anything less inclusive is bigotry. Anna-May Smith (@AnnaMaySmith1) August 17, 2017"against people who are not white cannot stand. Implies only whites are to blame. It is about a specific group, no backpeddaling. Michael (@wouldabeen) August 17, 2017Violence against whites is okay. No one cares about whites, they are just trash. White lives DON'T matter. So says Howard Schultz. Captain Skywarn (@n0jaa) August 17, 2017 | 0 |
22,189 | Middle East adviser departs Trump's National Security Council | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top adviser on Middle East issues to U.S. President Donald Trump left the National Security Council on Thursday as the White House grapples with internal divisions as well as major policy issues involving Syria, Iran and Iraq. The Weekly Standard magazine was first to report the departure of Derek Harvey, a retired Army colonel and intelligence officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. The magazine said Harvey was fired. Michael Anton, a spokesman for NSC Director H.R. McMaster, confirmed Harvey’s departure. “General McMaster greatly appreciates Derek Harvey’s service to his country as a career Army officer, where he served his country bravely in the field and played a crucial role in the successful surge in Iraq, and also for his service on Capitol Hill and in the Trump administration,” Anton said. “The administration is working with Colonel Harvey to identify positions in which his background and expertise can be best utilized,” Anton said in a statement, providing no further details. In a separate statement, Harvey said he left the NSC to “take advantage of a new opportunity to continue serving” Trump, but he did not indicate that he was offered any particular post. Harvey praised the top administration officials and the NSC staffers with whom he worked, and added that he looked “forward to shouldering greater responsibilities in support of the president.” | 1 |
22,190 | 'Dreamers' left confused about fine points of immigration program's end | NEW YORK (Reuters) - Days after President Donald Trump’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, Mayara Pena still has a lot of unanswered questions. One of them is about her cars. In March, she leased a 2009 Honda for her personal use and a brand new 2017 Dodge van for the small construction business she owns. On Tuesday, Pena, who came to the United States from Brazil as a teenager, learned that her authorization to work and protection from deportation under DACA will lapse in 2019, before the car leases are up. At that point, the social security number Pena used on the leases will no longer be valid. Moreover, Massachusetts, where the 29-year-old lives, will soon require proof of legal residency to obtain a driver’s license, and Pena worries what that will mean for her existing license – and for her car insurance. In ending the program, Trump said he wants the Republican-controlled Congress to enact a permanent, nationwide solution to stabilize the lives of so-called Dreamers such as Pena, people brought to the United States illegally as children. But in the past, Republicans and Democrats in the deeply divided legislature have been unable to agree on the issue. The administration has promised an “orderly” end to DACA, but program participants are finding it hard to get answers to their many questions about what exactly that means. Although the program is federal, the fate of its nearly 800,000 participants will vary from state to state, with state policies determining whether or not they will be able to continue studying, receive financial aid, or even drive legally. Many states do not yet know themselves what the program’s end will mean. More than a dozen state attorneys general and the University of California system are suing Trump in an effort to reinstate the program. “I think it’s crazy because the government gave us chance to come out, they invited us to do that and now they are throwing us under the bus. It’s bad for the economy,” Pena said. “They are just putting us in the shadows again and we are not going to be able to grow.” On Tuesday night, hours after Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the end of DACA, immigration attorney David Leopold held a 45-minute Facebook Live session in which he was overwhelmed by more than 200 questions and comments from people nervous about their futures. “What about those in college who don’t pay or pay very little with DACA?” one questioner asked. “I just received my approval” for a trip outside the country, another posted, “should I travel?” “How should we address this with our employers?” someone else asked. Leopold had to explain that many of the questions would require individual legal counseling or just could not be answered yet, as individual states, as well as universities and businesses, have not yet had time to evaluate the situation. Some issues that fall under the federal government will be uniform in each state. Work authorization, for example, will be withdrawn for all. But on some matters, geography will count. At least 18 states, for example, allow for in-state tuition rates for students living in the country illegally and a subset of those - California, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas and Washington - allow undocumented students to receive state financial aid. Three states - Arizona, Georgia and Indiana - specifically prohibit in-state tuition rates for students without legal status, and two states - Alabama and South Carolina - do not let them enroll in any public postsecondary institution, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Jin Park, a 21-year-old senior at Harvard, has been in the United States since he was seven, when his South Korean family overstayed their tourist visas. He will lose his protections in August 2018. Park is now reevaluating his plans, including applying for a prestigious Rhodes scholarship, which would require him to study abroad. He fears he would not be let back into the United States after that. He is also worried about his long-term goal of becoming a community doctor for the immigrant community in the New York City borough of Queens where he grew up. Park says he does not think he can do his final hospital training as a resident after medical school or be licensed as a physician if he no longer has a valid work permit. Stuart Heiser from the Association of American Medical Colleges said he has not yet heard about any guidance group members are giving current or prospective medical students. “It is very crucial question that is just up in the air,” Park said. For Pena in Massachusetts, meanwhile, some things seem clearer than others. Recently, she received pre-approval for a loan to buy a house. Her goal was to find a fixer-upper she and her husband would remodel. They have two U.S. citizen children. But when her DACA expires and with it her right to work legally, she does not believe a lender will take a chance on her. “I am not even looking anymore,” Pena said. (For a graphic on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, click here) | 1 |
22,191 | EU looks for 'big pot of money' to handle migration | BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union leaders will promise during talks in Brussels sufficient and targeted funding for migration projects in Africa and elsewhere, according to a draft statement that shows they have yet to put their money where their mouth is. The EU has spent billions of euros in recent years on keeping a lid on immigration from the Middle East and Africa after a 2015 peak in arrivals overwhelmed the bloc and fueled support for populist, right-wing and anti-immigration groups. In 2016, the EU promised Turkey at least 3 billion euros over two years for the Syrian refugees it hosts in exchange for Ankara cutting off the migratory route to Greece. It has so far contracted to pay nearly 1.7 billion of that and disbursed 900 million. The bloc has been giving money to Greece and Italy, the main EU countries of arrival for refugees and migrants crossing the Mediterranean, spending on tightening external borders, as well as financing more deportations from Europe and providing training and equipment to the Libyan border and coast guard. Italy has led EU s efforts on the lawless Libya, where the bloc is also funding U.N. programs to send people back home further south in Africa - so that they do not try to cross to Europe - and improve the miserable conditions in camps where migrants are often stuck. The bloc decided to sponsor many other projects in Africa, including in Niger, to promote growth and slow emigration. But EU governments have been slow to chip in to the so-called Africa Trust Fund, with one senior EU diplomat saying on Wednesday the shortfall is in the high tens of millions of euros. If the situation is not fixed quickly, we might find ourselves in a position that we cannot carry out our policies, the diplomat said. Some EU states have been hesitant to pay, saying not all projects proposed under the Africa scheme were clearly tied to keeping a lid on migration to Europe, or complaining about funds going to waste because of mismanagement or corruption. You need to know what that money will be spent on and that has not been entirely clear so far. You need to know who will benefit from this money, another senior EU diplomat said. An EU official summed up the atmosphere around the table by saying: There is no trust in the Africa Trust Fund. Asked what does the EU - which will hold a high-profile summit with African partners in Abidjan on Nov.28-29 - need to solve this headache, the person added: A big pot of money. Beyond discussing financing to keep immigration to the bloc under control, EU leaders meeting in Brussels on Thursday and Friday will praise Italy for its efforts in Libya The EU has faced heavy criticism from rights groups that the bloc is turning into a fortress, deprives refugees and migrants of their rights and exposes them to even more suffering. Brussels says investing in Africa could help prevent migrants from seeking to trek north and risk their lives in deadly crossings through the Sahara and the Mediterranean. After more than a million people crossed the sea in 2015, the number stood at 363,000 in 2016 and is below 160,000 so far this year, according to data from the United Nations and EU border agency Frontex. Frontex said on Wednesday the 156,000 arrivals this year via all four main routes - leading to Greece, Italy, Spain and south-east EU states - mark a two-third fall from a year ago. With emotions surrounding migration having subsided somewhat from the 2015 peak, EU leaders will also touch on how to handle those asylum-seekers who make it onto European shores, an issue that has divided them for two years now. Frontline southern states and wealthy countries that receive most asylum seekers have sought to require other countries to take more in; eastern EU members have refused. Estonia, currently the bloc s rotating chairman, will make anther proposal at squaring the circle days after the summit. The positions have not changed much but there is a slight shift maybe for a broad agreement, another senior EU diplomat said. Sources said the proposal to reform the bloc s asylum rules will still include some version of an obligatory or automated relocation scheme for times of high arrivals. That has long been opposed by Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic, and may be too watered down to win backing from Greece or Italy. | 1 |
22,192 | House to consider disaster aid Wednesday | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House will consider a disaster relief package on Wednesday in wake of Hurricane Harvey that led to massive flooding in Texas and has been blamed for at least 50 deaths, the House majority leader’s office said Monday. On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump asked Congress for an initial $7.85 billion for recovery efforts after the storm caused an estimated $180 billion in damage. | 1 |
22,193 | Britain wants Zimbabwe to rejoin international community: PM May | LONDON (Reuters) - Britain wants Zimbabwe to rejoin the international community following the resignation of Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Theresa May said on Wednesday. We want to see that country rejoining the international community, May told parliament. | 1 |
22,194 | Factbox: 2016 presidential candidates on social media | NEW YORK (Reuters) - The 2016 contenders for the White House have used social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook as campaign tools to an extent not seen previously in U.S. presidential politics. But usage and tactics vary widely across the campaigns of the 11 top Republicans and three top Democrats in the race. (Graphic: tmsnrt.rs/1UvTsE2) Following are some key social media usage and engagement statistics on the major candidates’ campaigns. Social media data were gathered on Republicans Donald Trump; Ben Carson; Marco Rubio; Ted Cruz; Jeb Bush; John Kasich; Chris Christie; Carly Fiorina; Rand Paul; Mike Huckabee; and Rick Santorum; and on Democrats Hillary Clinton; Bernie Sanders; and Martin O’Malley. The 2016 presidential candidates with the most followers, in order: 1. Donald Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 2. Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) 3. Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) 4. Ben Carson (@RealBenCarson) 5. Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) Chris Christie (@ChrisChristie) has the fewest followers, followed by John Kasich (@JohnKasich) and Jeb Bush (@JebBush). The 2016 presidential candidates who follow the most accounts, in order: 1. Ted Cruz 2. John Kasich 3. Marco Rubio 4. Bernie Sanders 5. Hillary Clinton Donald Trump is following the fewest accounts, followed by Ben Carson and Chris Christie. Presidential candidates with the most tweets (including retweets), in order: 1. Donald Trump 2. Ted Cruz 3. Mike Bloomberg 4. John Kasich 5. Bernie Sanders Ben Carson has tweeted the least, followed by Chris Christie and Jeb Bush. Presidential candidates whose campaign profiles have been on Twitter the longest, in order: 1. Marco Rubio 2. John Kasich 3. Mike Huckabee 4. Martin O’Malley 5. Donald Trump Hillary Clinton was the last candidate to create a Twitter profile for her 2016 presidential bid, and the campaigns of Chris Christie and Ben Carson joined just months prior to the Democratic presidential front-runner. Presidential candidates with the most “likes” on Facebook, in order: 1. Donald Trump (5,500,909 “likes” and counting) 2. Ben Carson (5,053,021 “likes” and counting) 3. Bernie Sanders (2,497,947 “likes” and counting) 4. Hillary Clinton (2,316,417 “likes” and counting) 5. Rand Paul (2,106,854 “likes” and counting) The following 2016 presidential candidates have accounts on Snapchat, a social media platform favored by millennials: 1. Bernie Sanders (@bernie.sanders) 2. Hillary Clinton (@hillaryclinton) 3. Chris Christie (@christie.2016) 4. Ben Carson (@drbencarson) 5. Jeb Bush (@jebbush) 6. Ted Cruz (@cruz4president) 7. John Kasich (@johnkasich) 8. Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) 9. Carly Fiorina (@carlyfiorina16) 10. Martin O’Malley (@governoromalley) 11. Rand Paul (@senatorrandpaul) Donald Trump, Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee do not have Snapchat accounts, according to a Snapchat representative. Among all millennials who are likely to vote in the 2016 presidential election, about one-third (34 percent) use Snapchat and nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of millennial Snapchat users are following the campaign closely, the representative said. The Sanders, Cruz, Kasich, and Paul campaigns have all sponsored Snapchat video or geofilter ads. | 1 |
22,195 | comment on hillary is so unpopular she has to pay off youth voters and fabricate her rallies by dl | the american medical association defines an alcoholic as someone who has a prolonged period of frequent heavy alcohol use is unable to control drinking once it has begun has withdrawal symptoms when the individual stops using alcohol needs to use more and more alcohol to achieve the same effects has a variety of social andor legal problems arising from alcohol use
by that definition hillary clinton is an alcoholic exhibit a
in an email to hillarys campaign chairman john podesta on august director of communications for hillarys campaign jennifer palmieri wrote referring to hillary
i think you should call her and sober her up some
heres a screenshot of the email released by wikileaks exhibit b
on feb hillarys spokesman nick merrill sent an email presumably to hillarys campaign staff with the subject hrc clips news clips on hillary rodham clinton the news clips that day included an article by benjamin bell for abc news titled one thing that might surprise you about hillary clinton which merrill reproduced in its entirety in his email
bells article was an interview with new york times national political reporter amy chozick on whether hillary clinton would announce shes running for the presidency one of the questions bell asked chozick was covering hillary clinton what is one thing that has surprised you about her
chozick answered
hmm she likes to drink we were on the campaign trail in and the press thought she was just taking shots to pander to voters in pennsylvania um no
heres a composite screenshot of the relevant part of merrills email from wikileaks exhibit c
according to the national enquirer top staffers of hillarys campaign told the enquirer they even began this years presidential campaign by secretly planning a stint in rehab for hillary but any rehab therapy quickly failed amid the pressures of the campaign and the effort of making a deal over an fbi probe into her email scandal
a source said the stress of her political career the neverending scandals and her worsening health plunged her into a lifethreatening booze hell she turned to drink to drown her fears hillary tries to hide her problem like she lies about so many things a close friend of hillary added hillary has been drinking heavily for years to forget her miserable marriage to serial cheater bill shes also hit the bottle to cope with other stress as well as the boredom of flying all over the world when she was secretary of state
one hillary insider told the enquirer that hillary has blackouts and wakes up wondering where she is and what she has done and that shes not fit to be president
certainly hillary must be drunk when she obscenely ground against the twerking black woman see below because no sane person in her then position as us secretary of state would behave like this in public
eowyn
dr eowyns post first appeared at fellowship of the minds dont forget to follow the dc clothesline on facebook and twitter please help spread the word by sharing our articles on your favorite social networks share this | 0 |
22,196 | Here’s Absolute PROOF Donald Trump Thinks The Government Is A Reality Show; We Should All Be Terrified | Donald Trump, despite having a face and hairline made for radio, is convinced that the way to run a government is to hold casting calls. He wants to choose cabinet nominees who look the part, rather than nominees who are qualified. Presentation is very important because you re representing America not only on the national stage but also the international stage, depending on the position, said Trump transition spokesman Jason Miller.To lead the Pentagon, Trump chose a rugged combat general, whom he compares to a historic one. At the United Nations, his ambassador will be a poised and elegant Indian American with a compelling immigrant backstory. As secretary of state, Trump tapped a neophyte to international diplomacy, but one whose silvery hair and boardroom bearing project authority.Source: Washington PostFor some reason, die-hard conservatives are not at all bothered by this method of choosing the people who will be responsible for our health and safety. He likes people who present themselves very well, and he s very impressed when somebody has a background of being good on television because he thinks it s a very important medium for public policy, said Chris Ruddy, chief executive of Newsmax Media and a longtime friend of Trump. Don t forget, he s a showbiz guy. He was at the pinnacle of showbiz, and he thinks about showbiz. He sees this as a business that relates to the public. The look might not necessarily be somebody who should be on the cover of GQ magazine or Vanity Fair, Ruddy said. It s more about the look and the demeanor and the swagger. Trump allegedly chose Marine Gen. James Mattis as his nominee for Secretary of Defense because he is the closest thing to General George Patton that we have. That s in reference to a physical resemblance, not his abilities as a general. Trump also chose Mike Pence for his looks and teased that he was going to choose Mitt Romney for Secretary of State for his looks. If our Republican Congress gave a crap about the people they represent, they would shut down these central casting nominees from the start, but this style of hiring fits right in with the Republican agenda, which is to take the government down from the inside.Featured image via Ty Wright/Getty Images | 0 |
22,197 | Bill Clinton delivers defense of his foundation's 'profound' work | NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Bill Clinton on Wednesday called running his family’s charitable foundation one of the great honors of his life in a passionate defense against criticism of its work as his wife, Hillary Clinton, campaigns to become president. Speaking onstage in a New York City hotel ballroom for about an hour, he told supporters of the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation that it had brought about “a profound advance in the conduct and impact of modern philanthropy.” “Don’t give up what brought you here,” he said, closing out the 12th and final annual conference organized by the foundation, called the Clinton Global Initiative. “You have done something good and noble and worthy.” The foundation, which Clinton founded as he prepared to leave the White House in 2001, has come under intense scrutiny brought about by a long presidential campaign. Journalists have scoured newly released email records from Hillary Clinton’s tenure running the State Department from 2009 to 2013, which show foundation officials seeking meetings with Clinton or other diplomats on behalf of donors. Donald Trump, Clinton’s Republican opponent for the presidency, has called for a special prosecutor to investigate allegations of breaching government ethics rules. The Clintons have said that even if some of their wealthiest donors, which include corporations and foreign governments with interests before the U.S. government, may have hoped for special favors in return, none were granted. To avert suggestions of conflicts of interest, the foundation has said it will drastically limit its operations if Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, wins the election to succeed Barack Obama on Nov. 8. It would stop accepting money from foreign and corporate donors, foundation officials say, and much of its work would be spun off into independent entities not controlled by the Clintons. Bill Clinton, 70, has expressed frustration that political journalists covering his wife’s campaign have written more about the foundation’s donors, which include the government of Saudi Arabia and foreign billionaires, than the charitable programs it runs. He spoke at length about how he had been moved by meeting children with HIV in Cambodia, orphans left behind by the 2004 tsunami that struck Indonesia and victims of the earthquake in Haiti in 2010. He made only oblique references to the 2016 election campaign. “Everywhere today there is a temptation to say that everything I just told you is wrong, ‘Life is a zero-sum game and I’m losing; no, you’re wrong, our differences matter more than our common humanity,’” he said. “These are not the right choices.” (Refiles to make clear in paragraph 5 that foundation officials were seeking the meetings on behalf of donors.) | 1 |
22,198 | Republican Candidate Gets Caught Calling For Lynching President Obama | A Minnesota Republican is desperately trying to convince voters that his years worth of racist, sexist, and anti-gay Facebook posts no longer reflect who he is.Nolan West is a former GOP aide who is now running for a seat in the Minnesota statehouse.But he apparently didn t think that his social media posts were fair game, so when the Minneapolis Star Tribune started writing a story about all of his offensive and hateful statements he rushed to scrub his account of everything going all the way back to 2008 when he called for lynching President Obama soon after he was first elected in 2008. IT S LYNCHING TIME, West wrote.And it s not hard to see where West gets his hatred of the first African-American president from. West also posted praise of the Confederacy and expressed his utter disdain for Abraham Lincoln. As we all know, the Confederacy started a Civil War to keep slavery legal while Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves and kept the Union together.According to the Star Tribune:On the day South Carolina removed the Confederate battle flag from its statehouse grounds in 2015, West reposted an advertisement for the flags on his Facebook page, continuing his history of publicly expressing admiration for the Confederacy and disdain for Lincoln.West is currently on House GOP staff while running for the north Metro suburban seat vacated by retiring Rep. Tim Sanders, R-Blaine.In 2011 West marked the day Confederate President Jefferson Davis resigned from the U.S. Senate, 150 years earlier. West also called Lincoln, a fellow Republican, the single worst president this country has ever seen. In addition, the Star Tribune reports that West also posted offensive remarks about women and gay people.West, of course, offered what should be considered a fake apology and claimed he is not the same person that he has been for the last 8 years. I apologize for posting insensitive material, West wrote in an email. I ve taken those posts down because they do not reflect who I am or what I believe. And rather than drop out of the race in disgrace like he should, West is staying in the race, which, if Minnesota voters would like to know, is against his DFL opponent Susan Witt, who by all rights should win in a landslide so that District 37B is not represented by a racist Confederate sympathizer who clearly believes black people should still be enslaved and hanged at the end of a rope.Featured image via Twitter | 0 |
22,199 | A Hedge Fund Exploiting Death And Destruction Could Spell Big Trouble For A US Congressman | Progressive hero Alan Grayson is best known as the member of congress who has introduced more legislation than any other. He s remembered for his statements on the GOP s lack of a plan for health insurance, stating their plan is, if you get sick, you die. He s also well-known for comparing the Tea Party to the KKK.From the outside, Grayson is a true American success story. Born in the Bronx, Grayson managed to make his way through Harvard Law, becoming a multi-millionaire as a trial lawyer. On the inside, however, some serious questions have arisen.A House Ethics Committee investigation is underway looking into a trio of hedge funds operated by Grayson that may have broken several rules for second-source income, use of congressional staffers for private enterprise and misuse of government travel expenses. Two of the hedge funds, that have since been closed, were located in the Cayman Islands, and one in the US.As a United States Congressman, Grayson is forbidden from earning more than $27,500 from a second source. While he states he had no taxable income from the funds during his time as a congressman, which include terms from 2009-2011 and 2013 to present. Grayson started the funds in 2012 while not serving, but kept them open when he won reelection for 2013. The question of his income comes because he was still listed as a manager of the fund, which typically comes with a price tag.Emails from Grayson s staff, as well as income disclosures, show that at least one of his staffers appeared to be employed by the fund and the congressman at the same time. Though the earnings were as light as $1K per month, there are still clear ethics violations that have to be investigated.Evidence also shows that Grayson has used taxpayer funds to manage the fund from abroad and possibly to solicit new investors to the fund, a charge he vehemently denies. While on a trip to Tampa to present a proposal for increases to social security in August 2015, Grayson reportedly scuttled his agenda to manage the hedge fund as markets bottomed out across the globe because of turmoil in China.What this all spells is big trouble for Alan Grayson. He s convinced that the DNC is working against him in a bid to see another Democrat elected to the senate seat being vacated by Marco Rubio. Unfortunately, the most disturbing news about Grayson and his hedge fund comes from his own brochures and admissions, where he asserts that the philosophy of the fund is to invest in low-cost markets where political turmoil, civil unrest, war, famine and blood in the streets offers unique opportunities when the area rebuilds.His funds have all but failed, and his investors have all been paid back what they have lost, making him quite possibly the most decent of congressional rule-breakers, but a rule breaker nonetheless. | 0 |
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