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6,600 | Kremlin says idea it hacked U.S. Democratic Party emails absurd | MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin dismissed as absurd on Tuesday allegations it was behind the hacking of U.S. Democratic Party emails, saying unidentified individuals were trying to cynically exploit fear of Russia for electoral purposes. It responded after cyber security experts and U.S. officials said there was evidence Russia had engineered the release of sensitive Democratic Party emails in order to influence the Nov. 8 U.S. presidential election. The emails, released by activist group WikiLeaks at the weekend, appeared to show favouritism within the Democratic National Committee (DNC) for Hillary Clinton and prompted the resignation of DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. President Vladimir Putin has tried to avoid giving the impression he favours any U.S. candidate, but has hailed Republican Party nominee Donald Trump as being “very talented”. Russian state TV, which hews closely to the Kremlin’s world view, has left little doubt however that Moscow would prefer Trump. It casts Clinton, whom Putin accused of stirring up protests against him in her role as U.S. Secretary of State in 2011, as a warmonger. “We are again seeing these maniacal attempts to exploit the Russian theme in the U.S. election campaign,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked about the leaked emails. “This is not breaking new ground, this is an old trick which is being played again. This is not good for our bilateral relations, but we understand that we simply have to get through this unpleasant period.” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said earlier on Tuesday he had raised the hacking issue at a meeting in Laos with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. “I don’t want to use four-letter words,” was Lavrov’s only response to reporters when asked whether Russia was responsible for the email hack. Earlier this month, Carter Page, a foreign policy adviser to Trump, visited Moscow, where he gave a lecture complaining that Western governments had often had a hypocritical focus on democratisation in the post-Soviet world. Analysts say the Kremlin would welcome a Trump win because the billionaire U.S. businessman has repeatedly praised Putin, spoken of wanting to get along with Russia, and has said he would consider an alliance with Moscow against Islamic State. Trump’s suggestion he might abandon NATO’s pledge to automatically defend all alliance members is also likely to have gone down well in Moscow, where the military alliance is cast as an outdated Cold War relic. | 1 |
6,601 | Comey Just Laid Out The Two Reasons Putin Supported Trump Over Clinton And Both Are Damning (VIDEO) | Today, FBI Director James Comey sat down with Congress to talk on a wide range of scandals plaguing the Trump administration. It was Part One of a two part series of testimonies likely to destroy Trump s chances of ever pretending Russia didn t help him get elected or that he didn t know the people he staffed in the White House were rife with conflicts of interests. (Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates is up next, and it promises to be a doozy!)Comey started off by emphatically stating (again) that the intelligence community has clear evidence linking Russia and Russia specifically to interference with the election. Calling Russia the single biggest threat to American democracy, he didn t mince words. He also denied Trump s latest frantic attempt to cast doubt by debunking the White House s claim that it was probably China. Comey stood by the intelligence community s conclusions: This was Russia.But Comey s most powerful moment came when he was asked by Sen. Al Franken to explain why Russia wanted Trump over Hillary Clinton in the first place. What was the point? He wasn t Hillary Clinton, who Putin hated and wanted to harm in any possible way, Comey says on why Russia had a preference for Trump pic.twitter.com/xYCQoTJhnG CBS News (@CBSNews) May 3, 2017The point, according to Comey, was two-fold. By every shred of information the intel community has, it s clear that Russia s autocratic ruler Vladimir Putin despises Hillary Clinton. He s had a beef with her stretching back to her time as Secretary of State where she routinely stood up to his plans of expansion. He also blamed her State Department for stirring up Democratic protests against him by the Russian youth fed up with Putin s iron-grip on their country. (Like Trump, Putin often blames legitimate protests against his rule as caused by outside agitators.) In short, according to Comey, Putin wanted vengeance against Clinton for being tough on him and Trump was the way to do it.It also ties into Comey s second conclusion: Russia figured Trump, ignorant as he is, would be much easier to pull one over on. Comey put it slightly more generously: Putin believed he would be more able to make deals, reach agreements with someone with a business background than someone who had grown up in more of a government environment. Putin wasn t wrong. Before the election was even over, his campaign was secretly promising Putin that they would ease up on sanctions. Trump would later appoint Rex Tillerson, a man with very close ties to Russian oil companies and Putin himself, to Secretary of State. Russia got nearly everything they wanted on November 8th, 2016.None of this is good news for Trump. Having lost the popular vote by millions, Trump also has the distinction of being the least popular new president in history. He has a credibility problem. Comey s testimony only makes it clear that his illegitimacy problem extends internationally. Whether he coordinated with Russia intentionally or whether he was a useful stooge for Putin to exploit, remains to be seen. What is clear is that the FBI has every reason to believe Russia was celebrating Trump s win as hard as any Make America Great Again Trump voter.And Sally Yates has the second in the one-two punch coming next week.Featured image via CBS | 0 |
6,602 | #VeryFakeNews CNN BRAGS ABOUT RATINGS To President Trump On Twitter After CNN Producer Is Caught On Video Admitting Trump-Russia Stories Are Fake News…Only About The RATINGS! | James O Keefe s Project Veritas reporters went undercover at CNN to investigate the #VeryFakeNews network to determine the motivation behind CNN s Trump-Russia collusion obsession. Since the inauguration, CNN has mentioned Russian story nearly 16,000 times.Project Veritas reporters can be seen in the video below having a conversation with CNN s supervising producer John Bonifield. The reporter talked to Bonifield first about the constant barrage of Trump-Russia stories on CNN. Bonifield admitted that although CNN has no evidence or proof of Trump involvement with Russia, they continue to make it their top story on CNN simply for ratings and to make money. Bonifield actually confessed to the undercover Project Veritas journalist that President Trump is correct when he says the media is on a witch hunt to take him down. Bonifield told the reporter: I think the President is right to say, like, look you are witch hunting me You have no real smoking gun, you have no proof. Bonifield told the undercover reporter for Project Veritas that CNN is biased and is playing to their audience by attacking President Trump, and actually admitted that Trump is good for business right now. The Project Veritas reporter asked Bonifield, But honestly, you think the whole Russia shit is bullshit? to which Bonifield replied: Could be bullshit. I mean, it s mostly bullshit right now. Like, we don t have any big, giant proof. The way these leaks happen, they d leak it. It d leak. If it was something really good, it would leak. President Trump took to Twitter this morning to call out CNN. In his tweet, Trump hinted that Fake News CNN would likely be replacing the top brass at the dishonest and discredited network. Trump also mentioned CNN s failing ratings, to which CNN Communications boasted that after months of reporting lies about a phony Trump-Russia collusion story, their ratings have actually increased. In other words, because we dragged your name through the mud and falsely accused you of collusion with the Russians without a shred of evidence, our ratings have actually gone up with our liberal viewers who are desperate for any negative Trump news. CNN just posted it's most-watched second quarter in history. Those are the facts. CNN Communications (@CNNPR) June 27, 2017President Trump didn t stop at calling out the OBVIOUS Very Fake News network CNN, he also asked when the other fake news networks would be exposed, specifically NBC, CBS, ABC, the New York Times and the Washington Post:So they caught Fake News CNN cold, but what about NBC, CBS & ABC? What about the failing @nytimes & @washingtonpost? They are all Fake News! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 27, 2017 | 0 |
6,603 | Arab countries in row with Qatar are not interested in solution: Emir | DOHA (Reuters) - Qatar s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani said on Tuesday that Arab states that had imposed sanctions on his country in June over allegations of supporting terrorism were not interested in a solution to the crisis. Speaking to members of the Gulf Arab state s Shoura Council, Tamim said his government was preparing for elections to the consultative body. The necessary legislation would be ready in 2018. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain cut diplomatic and trade links with Qatar on June 5, accusing Doha of financing terrorism and cozying up to their arch-rival Iran. Qatar denies the charges. We express our readiness for a compromise within the framework of a dialogue based on mutual respect for sovereignty and common obligations, but on the other hand we recognize that the indicators that come from the blockade states show they do not want to reach a solution, Tamim said. The four countries have put pressure and published rumors and fabrications against Qatar hosting the World Cup in 2022. Tamim, who assumed office in 2013 after his father stepped down, also said his government was currently working on the instruments needed for elections, which he said would be ready in 2018. Plans for elections to the 45-member body originally envisaged for 2013 were never carried out. In his speech, Tamim also said his government was focusing on completing strategic projects to help the country cope with the sanctions imposed by its neighbors, including ports, water and food security, and to encourage investments. | 1 |
6,604 | Trump Continues To Solicit Illegal Donations From Foreign Lawmakers | Foreign nationals, including lawmakers and other political types, cannot legally donate to or influence U.S. elections. However, the Donald Trump campaign, even after they have been called out on this unlawful activity, continues to send fundraising emails to foreign leaders.MSN reports:Foreign members of parliament from the United Kingdom and Australia confirmed to The Hill that they received fundraising solicitations from the Trump campaign as recently as July 12 two weeks after a widely publicized FEC complaint issued on June 29 by non-partisan watchdogs Democracy 21 and the Campaign Legal Center.Australian progressive MP Terri Butler spoke with reporters from The Hill via telephone, and says that the emails she received were unsolicited spam from Team Trump. I haven t signed up for any Trump lists, she said.United Kingdom House of Commons MP Bob Blackmon has also received these solicitations to his official government email address. He says that they were unsolicited spam as well: I did not sign up, these are sent unsolicited. Yet another foreign MP, UK member Peter Bottomley, says he reached out to the Trump family for an explanation for the spam. He said: Neither [Trump s] sons nor anyone else has answered my questions about how they acquired my email nor why they were asking for financial support that I suppose to be illegal for [Trump] to accept. Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer, who watches out for campaign finance violations, says of Trump s activities: This is kind of absurd. I don t know of anyone else in this situation who would just go on keeping on soliciting money from foreign interests. I think the fact circumstances here are unprecedented.If they are put on notice that their fundraising solicitations of potential foreign donors are illegal and they keep doing it, then you potentially have knowing and willful violations of the law which moves this from civil violations to criminal violations.It s open and shut that federal candidates can t solicit contributions from foreign donors. There s kind of an arrogance about this. It s Trump, so of course he s being arrogant. He s the man who literally said he could shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue and people would still vote for him. He seriously believes he can do no wrong, and that apparently also includes flagrantly breaking the law in an effort to raise money for his pathetic, broke campaign.Larry Noble, an attorney for the Campaign Legal Center, described the Trump camp s illegal activities as really outrageous, and continued: It is a serious violation of federal law to solicit political contributions from foreign nationals.There is no reason this should be happening. While U.S. citizens do live abroad, they usually don t have foreign government email addresses or are members of parliament, so they can t try to explain this by saying they thought they were soliciting U.S. citizens abroad.If the Trump campaign has continued to solicit foreign nationals after the matter first came to light in June, this looks like either gross incompetence, gross negligence or willful conduct. Exactly right. This is either incompetence or willful and knowing violation of federal law. Either way, everyone involved in this needs to be investigated and charged. Trump needs to learn that no, he isn t above the law, even if his ridiculous supporters seem to think he can do no wrong.Featured image via John Sommers II/Getty Images | 0 |
6,605 | DNC CHAIR PEREZ Says Trump ‘Didn’t Win’…Decides To Rewrite Constitution Without Electoral College… | DNC chairman Tom Perez decided to create his own reality during a speech on Tuesday. This is such a Democrat thing they love to make up a false narrative and push it over and over to the sheeple who follow them. It s really pitiful that after so many months that all the Democrats have is this lie The electoral college is a brilliant creation because it gives balance to voters Would you want California and New York deciding our elections? That s what would happen without the electoral college. We bet that Perez already knows this but is counting on the uneducated voters to buy into it .Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez incorrectly stated the Electoral College is not a creation of the Constitution during a Tuesday night speech.(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 = 'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.10'; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));DNC Chair Tom Perez incorrectly claims the Electoral College is not a creation of the Constitution Posted by Fox & Friends on Friday, October 27, 2017 The Electoral College is not a creation of the Constitution, Perez said during a lecture at Indiana University Law School. It doesn t have to be there. The Electoral College, a mechanism for indirect election of the president created by the Founding Fathers as a compromise between smaller states and larger states, is clearly laid out in Article II of the Constitution: Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress. Perez has previously stated that President Donald Trump didn t win last November s election because Hillary Clinton won the popular vote:Following his comment, Perez went on to explain his hopes that states agree to a national popular vote compact, in which states agree to give their allocated electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote. There s a national popular vote compact in which a number of states have passed a bill that says, we will allocate our vote, our electoral votes, to the person who wins the national popular vote once other states totaling 170 electoral votes do the same, Perez said. I m frankly proud to tell you that the first state to pass such a law was Maryland. The main supporters of the plan put forward by Perez seem to understand it is a plan to circumvent the system created by the Constitution, not an argument that the system doesn t exist.The comment from Perez came during a lecture honoring former Indiana Democratic Sen. Birch Bayh, who was accused last year of sexual assault by a writer who said Bayh groped her in the backseat of a limousine. VIA: WFBOUR PREVIOUS REPORT ON THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE:PLEASE SHARE THIS WITH THE CLUELESS LEFT! If the president were elected by unfiltered national vote, small and rural states would become irrelevant, and campaigns would spend their time in large, populous districts. The Electoral College remains in place over two centuries after the framers of the Constitution empowered it to select presidents. Though occasionally maligned, this system of electing a chief executive has been incredibly successful for the American people.The Founding Fathers created the Electoral College after much debate and compromise, but it has provided stability to the process of picking presidents. Though the winner of the national popular vote typically takes the presidency, that vote failed to determine the winner in four elections: 1824, 1876, 1888, and 2000.Some see the Electoral College as a peculiar and mystifying institution that ensures only a few, select individuals will ever cast a direct vote for president in the United States. Others complain that the system rewards smaller states with more proportional power than the large ones.Every four years, around election time, there are murmurs about revamping the system and moving toward a direct, national popular vote.The Founders CollegeAs one of The Heritage Foundations legal experts, Hans von Spakovsky, noted in a paper on the Electoral College: In creating the basic architecture of the American government, the Founders struggled to satisfy each state s demand for greater representation while attempting to balance popular sovereignty against the risk posed to the minority from majoritarian rule. Some elements of the Electoral College, such as the indirect vote through intermediaries, were hotly debated at the 1787 Constitutional Convention. It was eventually justified in part as a stopgap to potentially reverse the vote if the people elected a criminal, traitor, or similar kind of heinous person. The Founders wanted to empower democratic elements in the American system, but they feared a kind of pure, unrestrained democracy that had brought down great republics of the past.The product of the Founders compromise has been well balanced and enduring, and we would be wise to leave it intact.Alexander Hamilton defended the Electoral College in Federalist 68. He argued that it was important for the people as a whole to have a great deal of power in choosing their president, but it was also desirable that the immediate election should be made by men most capable of analyzing the qualities adapted to the station, and acting under circumstances favorable to deliberation, and to a judicious combination of all the reasons and inducements which were proper to govern their choice. Hamilton also wrote that this system of intermediaries would produce a greater amount of stability, and that an intermediate body of electors will be much less apt to convulse the community with any extraordinary or violent movements, than the choice of one who was himself to be the final object of the public wishes. As students of ancient history, the Founders feared the destructive passions of direct democracy, and as recent subjects of an overreaching monarch, they equally feared the rule of an elite unresponsive to the will of the people. The Electoral College was a compromise, neither fully democratic nor aristocratic.The Constitution states:Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of senators and representatives to which the state may be entitled in the Congress.In addition to balancing the protection of individual rights and majority rule, the Founding Fathers attempted to create a federalist system that would keep most of policymaking power reserved to states and localities. America s presidential election system also was designed to empower the states, not just the American people as an undifferentiated mass.The total number of electors and thus electoral votes across all states and the District of Columbia included after the passage of the 23rd Amendment adds up to 538. The winner must receive a majority, or 270, of these votes to become president.The system empowers states, especially smaller ones, because it incentivizes presidential candidates to appeal to places that may be far away from population centers. Farmers in Iowa may have very different concerns than bankers in New York. A more federalist system of electing presidents takes that into account.The states are free to select the method in which they choose their electors. In the early days of the republic, most states chose to have their legislatures pick electors, rather than the people. But, over time, the states shifted to choosing electors via the state s popular vote instead. Every state has opted for popular election at least since the Civil War.Calls to AbolishModern opponents of the Electoral College argue against what they call antidemocratic aspects of the institution, criticizing both the intermediary electors and the state-by-state system of voting.Calls to fundamentally change the Electoral College reached a peak after Republican George W. Bush defeated Democrat Al Gore in the tightly contested 2000 election. Gore narrowly won the national popular vote, and many of his supporters howled that the system even without the Supreme Court stepping in was unfair.One organization, National Popular Vote, has worked toward eliminating the Electoral College through an amendment to the Constitution or a state compact. National Popular Vote argues that the current system encourages presidential candidates to spend most of their time in swing states rather than campaigning for votes across the entire country.This plan for a national popular vote has received a moderate level of support, but Heritage s von Spakovsky has called it bad policy, based on mistaken assumptions. Swing states, he wrote, can change from election to election, and many states that are today considered to be reliably blue or red in the presidential race were recently unpredictable. Many states have signed on to a bill that essentially would tie a state s electoral votes to the national popular vote. Those states will pledge to swing all of their electoral votes to the winner of the national vote.But this is because the incentives would be to appeal only to the biggest population centers. Swing states change over time, and the 2016 election could be a prime example of swing-state unpredictability and erosion of the traditional partisan political map.Additionally, if the president were elected by unfiltered national vote, small and rural states would become irrelevant, and campaigns would spend their time in large, populous districts.FINALLY ARE THE DEMOCRATS PROUD OF THIS DISGUSTING MAN WHO CURSES AND LIES?Read more: Daily Signal | 0 |
6,606 | Approval of President Trump drops to lowest since inauguration: Reuters/Ipsos poll | NEW YORK (Reuters) - Public approval of President Donald Trump has dropped to its lowest level since his inauguration, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Friday, after Trump was accused of mishandling classified information and meddling with an FBI investigation. The May 14-18 opinion poll found that 38 percent of adults approved of Trump while 56 percent disapproved. The remaining 6 percent had “mixed feelings.” Americans appear to have soured on Trump after a tumultuous week in the White House during which the president fought back a steady drumbeat of critical news reports that ramped up concerns about his administration’s ties to Russia. The week started with revelations that Trump shared highly classified information with Russian diplomats in a private meeting. That was followed by reports that former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey, whom Trump recently fired, had written memos expressing concerns that the president had pressured him to stop investigating Trump campaign ties to Russia. Later in the week, the Justice Department appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller to oversee an independent probe into contacts between Russia and the Trump campaign. Trump has denied colluding with the Russians and called ongoing efforts to investigate him a “witch hunt.” No politician in history, he said, “has been treated worse or more unfairly.” While Trump remains popular with members of his own party, many rank-and-file Republicans appear to have backed off their support for the president during the past week. Among Republicans, 23 percent expressed disapproval of Trump in the latest poll, up from 16 percent in the same poll last week. The decline in support from Republicans appears to be a primary reason why Trump’s overall approval rating is now at the lowest level since he took office. The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online in English across the United States. It gathered responses from 1,971 adults, including 721 Republicans and 795 Democrats. It has a credibility interval, a measure of accuracy, of 3 percentage points for the entire group and 4 percentage points for the Democrats and Republicans. (This version of the story has been refiled to delete link to poll results) | 1 |
6,607 | why so few whistleblowers a former cia agents story | is there any merit in taking a cynical view of life are the observations of cynicism realistic brave observations on human nature freed from sentimentality or are they only the somber commentary offered by one who is a loser at the game of life taking solace in his weakness and failure there are compelling arguments either way what is not disputed however is that françois de la rouchefoucauld was one of the most brilliantly cynical epigrammers who ever lived
it probably did not help that he came from a long line of noblemen for nothing so enfeebles the soul as much as inherited wealth and titles he was born in and inherited the title of duke on the death of his father in receiving the usual education of his class he dabbled in military matters in his teens various itinerant love affairs followed with wellplaced women but some of these ended badly we find him imprisoned in bastille for a week in for political intrigue
although married he continued to pursue other women as was the custom of the time and his station marriages in those days were business affairs to be ignored at each partys pleasure or necessity one such dalliance resulted in an illegitimate child but the woman eventually rejected him for a more appealing competitor in he found himself mixed up with a quasirevolt called the fronde an adventure that left him with impaired sight when he was struck with a musket ball in the head health problems also intervened to add to his misery in the form of gout and melancholy
in late seventeenth century france the paris salons were centers of debate discussion and the flowering of controversial ideas by now la rochefoucauld had acquired an acrid talent for stinging prose and he knew how to use it his failures in love and war had primed his spirit for a cynical view of life and this predilection meshed well with the taste of the salons for savage wit nothing is so shallow as sophistication
from his frequent visits to the salon of mme de sable in paris he had begun to piece together a body of epigrams that represented his worldview one of his peers had more commercial goals in mind for a bootleg collection of of his sayings was first published without his permission and with no attribution in two years later he finally put out a proper edition this contained maxims the volume was titled sentences et maximes morales but this is usually shortened to maxims
there is a philosophy here it centers around the idea that all men are selfseeking egoists to a fault any virtue a man displays is only a smokescreen concealing his selflove our virtues are only vices in disguise human vanity takes precedence over nearly all else virtues are lost in selfinterest as rivers are in the sea even the nobler emotions like love and altruism according to la rochefoucauld are only a kind of traffic in which selflove ever proposes to be the gainer he took a dim view of women finding them fit only for love for men such as himself of course and procreation one of his crueler maxims was few womens worth lasts longer than their beauty
but lifes realities eventually caught up with him softening his rougher edges his wife who had cared for him in his infirmities for eighteen years died in his mothers death followed two years later two of his sons would eventually die of injuries received in frances ruinous wars of the period
this gloomy picture was brightened by the entry into his life of the mme de la fayette who was twenty years his junior she invited him to stay with her in paris and he was carried there with difficulty she seems to have viewed him as a reform project she would later say that he gave me understanding but i reformed his heart perhaps his fame made him an interesting captive the union worked and seemed to alleviate his dark picture of humanity and when his final hours came he asked for and received the last rites of the church in
a fair assessment of la rochefoucauld must take into account his undeniable wit his probing sensitivity and his ability to strip away the pretenses behind many human actions yet all in all his maxims are meager in result many of them are superficial and shallow the product of a personality still nursing the wounds of an early disillusionment we weary of his aphorisms after two or three pages and hesitate to reopen his book later
worse still he was wrong to say that virtue and altruism are shams nothing is more vital to life and we can see them around us every day if only we know where to look and as long as our senses are not blinded by fear timor animi auribus officit as sallust says fear blocks out the ears
any bitter weakling can be a cynic but it takes depth of character to accept the worldsand mansfaults and foibles and to balance those against mans unquestioned capacity for greatness of soul broader life experiences might have corrected la rochefoucaulds errors but he preferred to remain in a state of arrested development while receiving the applause and notoriety of paris society his maxims can bring smiles to our faces as it is easy to find amusement in the flaws of others yet we forget that his barbs were directed at us as well
montaigne was far wiser for he took a balanced view of life accepting the worlds absurdities and joys with the equanimity and calm resolution of a greek or roman sage he was also a better man la rochefoucauld was intelligent without being wise and never found the confidence in himself to submit his ego to the consolatory power of a higher philosophical authority in any form cynicism in the end strips a man of his most important protective armor and leaves him naked to face the cruelties of life no cynic ever died a happy man
read more tips on how to get into the best shape of your life | 1 |
6,608 | April Ryan Describes In Harrowing Detail What It Feels Like To Be Abused By Sean Spicer (VIDEO) | By now, everyone is aware of the appallingly abusive way in which White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer treated American Urban Radio Correspondent April Ryan during Tuesday s White House Press briefing. All Ryan was doing was, well, HER JOB, and asking about the cloud of Russia investigations hanging over the embattled Trump Administration. This caused Sean Spicer to completely lose it, and launch into condescending, sexist, and racist attacks on Ryan.After the press availability was over, Ryan spoke with MSNBC s Katy Tur about her experience, addressing the accusation from Sean Spicer that she was pushing an agenda rather than just reporting the facts. Ryan told Tur: I don t have an agenda. We ve never seen anything like this before and my question was simple, how do you change the perception problem? And it went off into this Russian dressing, no shaking my head or whatever. You cannot ignore, as a reporter, there are issues on Capitol Hill. You have investigations going. You have the head of the intel committee coming here to the White House briefing people, the president himself. I understand what Sean is doing trying to make this administration look better than what it does right now. And unfortunately, I was roadkill today. No matter what Sean Spicer s job is, he had not right to treat April Ryan that way. She was just doing her job. If he can t handle tough questions, he should find another line of work. To flat-out deny all of those investigations, and to accuse the press of being at fault for the fact that the criminal activity that is clearly taking place inside the Trump White House is a huge story is truly beyond the pale. Until they come clean about the Russia business, this will continue to be a story. The White House Press Corp would derelict in their duties if they didn t continue to press Spicer on this.Good on you for being a superb member of the Fourth Estate, Ms. Ryan. You handled Spicer s abuse with grace and dignity. Believe me, he s the one who comes out looking worse for wear on this one.Watch the video below, via Real Clear Politics:Featured image via video screen capture | 0 |
6,609 | Republicans Not Willing To Defend Trump On-Air According To Fox’s Shep Smith | In the wake of Donald Trump s unhinged and rambling press conference delivered from Trump Tower on Tuesday in which, among many gaffes, he claimed that the alt-left were just as accountable for the violence over the weekend in Charlottesville, VA., and then attempted to justify his statements by adding that there were many fine people on both sides, the Commander in Chief has found himself in a very lonely place.Trump is a man who expects unwavering support and loyalty, but according to a reporter for one of his closest allies, Shepard Smith of Fox News, that is something Trump is currently finding it tough to come by. Smith said on his show, Shepard Smith Reporting, that the network reached out in an effort to get a Republican on-air to defend the President s remarks, but failed to land a single one. Our booking team and they re good reached out to Republicans of all stripes across the country today, Smith said. Let s be honest, Republicans don t often really mind coming on Fox News Channel. We couldn t get anyone to come and defend him here because we thought, in balance, someone should do that, he continued, but Smith didn t stop there. We worked very hard at it throughout the day, and we were unsuccessful. And of those who are condemning the president s condemnable actions, I ve not heard any prominent leaders, former presidents, members of the House or the Senate use his name while speaking in generalities, he added.Since the President s press conference, one of very few he has given during his term in office, many Republicans have spoken out, not just condemning Trump s remarks, but racism and bigotry in general. House Speaker Paul Ryan took to Twitter to deliver the following message:We must be clear. White supremacy is repulsive. This bigotry is counter to all this country stands for. There can be no moral ambiguity. Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) August 15, 2017On Wednesday, former Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush also issued a joint statement in which the pair said that the U.S. must reject hatred in all forms. If there is one time the current President needs to pay more attention to those around him, this is most definitely it.Featured image via Spencer Platt/Getty Images | 0 |
6,610 | Congress revisits Obamacare, this time with a bipartisan twist | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress was wrestling with healthcare again on Tuesday, as lawmakers from both parties considered some approaches beyond simply repealing and replacing Obamacare. The widened healthcare discussion appeared unlikely to yield dramatic changes soon, but marked a shift from the long-running, Republican effort to gut 2010’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as Obamacare is formally known. Republicans’ last attempt in July to overturn former Democratic President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law fell one short in the Senate in a humiliating defeat for President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. In one Senate committee, a bipartisan effort was under way on Tuesday to repair Obamacare without repealing it, led by the Republican health committee chairman, Lamar Alexander, and the panel’s top Democrat, Patty Murray. They want to stabilize the Obamacare individual insurance market by protecting its “cost-sharing subsidies.” Those payments go to insurers to help reduce out-of-pocket medical expenses for low-income Americans enrolled in Obamacare. Trump, who made repealing and replacing Obamacare a major campaign promise, has repeatedly threatened to stop the payments, which insurers say would force a 20 percent premium price increase. Alexander, who also wants states to have more flexibility to design health insurance plans under Obamacare, said on Tuesday the goal was a “small bipartisan step” that could break the years-long partisan stalemate over the law. The Tennessee lawmaker said he hoped to have a bipartisan consensus proposal by sometime next week, although it was unclear if McConnell would bring such a measure to the floor. He was noncommittal when asked about it on Tuesday. Some Republicans were supportive. Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson said if the government did not keep funding the cost-sharing subsidies, insurance premiums would likely rise and the government would have to spend more money on tax credits that help consumers afford the premiums. “The insurance companies get their money either way,” Johnson told Reuters. Maine Republican Susan Collins, who voted against repealing and replacing Obamacare in July, said she hoped to support the bipartisan Obamacare repair effort. “Based on the hearings so far, (I) would expect to,” she said. The effort was being watched closely by companies such as Anthem Inc (ANTM.N), which has trimmed the number of states and counties in which it will sell Obamacare plans in 2018. The company said on Tuesday it was still working with some state regulators on its market participation for next year [L2N1LT17A]. Anthem and other insurers have a deadline of Sept. 27 to finalize their 2018 Obamacare roles. Separately, independent Senator Bernie Sanders, a 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, was pushing a plan to widen the Medicare health insurance program for seniors, to include everyone. Most Republicans looked askance at the idea, which Sanders has long championed, while some leading Democrats like House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer said their priority was improving Obamacare. The Republican anti-Obamacare campaign was not entirely over. Two Republicans were planning to announce a new repeal-and-replace proposal on Wednesday that has White House support. Senators Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy will offer legislation to give states money in the form of block grants instead of the federal funding states get under Obamacare. Critics said the approach would effectively cut billions of dollars in funding for Obamacare subsidies and for the Medicaid program for the poor that many states expanded under Obamacare. The Cassidy-Graham bill must pass by the end of September to comply with Senate procedural rules allowing it to advance with a simple majority, rather than the 60 votes needed for most bills. “It would take an extraordinary lift to get that done before the deadline,” said Senator John Thune, a member of the Republican leadership. | 1 |
6,611 | A Picture Is Emerging: Everyone Who Has Ever Known Ted Cruz Grew To Hate His Guts | Sen. Ted Cruz may be seeing a surge in the Republican primaries, but that s probably just because voters don t know him well enough yet. If ever there were a more unlikable person running for president, you d be hard pressed to find him, just ask anyone literally anyone who has ever had the misfortune of knowing Ted Cruz on a personal level.While it s not surprising that most Democrats view Cruz and his right-wing policies as morally abhorrent and intellectually idiotic, members of his own party are sounding the alarm as well. This week, former presidential candidate Bob Dole broke ranks and very publicly went after Cruz, dropping some uncomfortable truth bombs. I question his allegiance to the party, Mr. Dole said of Mr. Cruz. I don t know how often you ve heard him say the word Republican not very often. Instead, Mr. Cruz uses the word conservative, Mr. Dole said, before offering up a different word for Mr. Cruz: extremist. I don t know how he s going to deal with Congress, he said. Nobody likes him. Dole is being a bit too kind to Cruz, though. His allegiance isn t to Republicans or conservatives it s to Ted Cruz. This is the man, after all, who almost unilaterally orchestrated a government shutdown to prove an insane political point about Obamacare. It cost the country billions, destroyed America s financial credibility overseas, and ultimately accomplished nothing but it did get Cruz s name out there. Would Cruz do it again? In fact, he s already tried.But it s not just fellow politicians on both sides of the aisle who despise Cruz. His past is littered with people who are eager to publicly dish on how awkward, weird, and misanthropic Cruz was when they knew him. His former roommate at Princeton, the now legendary Craig Mazin, has spent much of the past few years relentlessly mocking Cruz on social media. He paints a very disturbing picture of his former Princeton peer.I have 30k followers now, and all I had to do was be stuck in a room with Ted Cruz for a year. I'm sure you're all nice, but SO NOT WORTH IT Craig Mazin (@clmazin) January 18, 2016@GaucheFilms He s not my buddy. I loathe him, and I loathe what he stands for. Craig Mazin (@clmazin) October 27, 2012My freshman year college roommate Ted Cruz is going to be elected Senator. In case I hadn't made it clear, he's also a huge asshole. Craig Mazin (@clmazin) October 26, 2012But maybe Mazin has a personal beef with Cruz. Maybe Cruz was a messy roommate or something? Nope. Another former classmate recently backed up Mazin s assessment.People might think Craig is exaggerating. He's not. I met Ted freshman week and loathed him within the hour. https://t.co/2ZrbTdjHJh Geoff (@gacohen) January 20, 2016Hilariously, The Daily Beast decided to track down more of his classmates to see if their stories matched Mazin s. What they found was an almost universal feeling that Cruz was a creepy, politically extreme asshole.In addition to Mazin and Leitch, several fellow classmates who asked that their names not be used described the young Cruz with words like abrasive, intense, strident, crank, and arrogant. Four independently offered the word creepy, with some pointing to Cruz s habit of donning a paisley bathrobe and walking to the opposite end of their dorm s hallway where the female students lived. I would end up fielding the [girls ] complaints: Could you please keep your roommate out of our hallway?' Mazin says.Cruz exuded such creepy vibes that even in stories that are ostensibly not about how much he s loathed, people can t help but suggest it. The New York Times recently ran a story about Cruz s time working as a law clerk for Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist. The story quickly devolved into former colleagues uncomfortably noting Cruz s sick fascination with murder. It freaked everyone out.In interviews with nearly two dozen of Mr. Cruz s former colleagues on the court, many of the clerks working in the chambers of liberal justices, but also several from conservative chambers, depicted Mr. Cruz as obsessed with capital punishment. Some thought his recounting of the crimes dime store novel was how one described his style seemed more appropriate for a prosecutor persuading a jury than for a law clerk addressing the country s nine foremost judges.But don t worry, it s not just co-workers, roommates, politicians, and pundits that dislike Cruz. Average people do as well. In 2014, ABC News decided to take a novel approach to judging a politicians popularity: See what people were saying about them on Facebook. What they found was that 61 percent of the mentions of Ted Cruz on the social media site were unambiguously negative.So how does Cruz survive in politics despite being hated by everyone? It s not as hard as you d think. For one thing, he s backed by a small but powerful group of millionaires who like his anti-government policies. Secondly, he s a power-hungry, shameless opportunist who seizes the spotlight any time he can. For politicians there is no such thing as bad publicity. The more Cruz s mug shows up on Fox News, the more conservatives learn to live with his inherent creepiness.It s hard to imagine that particular set of skills translating to an effective presidency, however. At this crucial time in America s relations with other nations, having a man who oozes unlikability in the oval office could be a disaster in the making. It s also clear that Cruz will use any opportunity to glorify himself, even if it is at the expense of the good of the country. (See: Government shutdown.)The fact that everybody hates Ted, and that the hatred only grows once you get to know him, should be a MASSIVE warning sign that something is not right with the guy. Is that someone we want running the most powerful nation on Earth?Feature image via Gage Skidmore/Flickr | 0 |
6,612 | Trump lawyer criticizes Comey's leak to news media | (Reuters) - Former FBI Director James Comey said on Thursday that he gave a memo describing his conversations with U.S. President Donald Trump to a “close friend” and told him to share its contents with a reporter, a revelation that sparked sharp criticism from Trump’s lawyer. In testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee, Comey said he wanted to get his account of his conversations with Trump into the public sphere in the hope it would prompt the appointment of a special counsel, as later occurred, to oversee the investigation into Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential election. The conversations included one in which Comey said he believed Trump had pressured him in February to drop a probe into former national security adviser Michael Flynn as part of the broader Russia investigation. Comey said he had asked “a close friend” who was a Columbia Law School professor to get his story out after Trump fired him as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on May 9. Daniel Richman, a professor of criminal law at Columbia, confirmed to Reuters he was the person referred to in Comey’s testimony. Richman, who is listed as an adviser to Comey in his official biography on the school’s website, did not respond to further requests for comments. During his time in office, Trump has raged against the press and its use of anonymous sources. Following Comey’s testimony, Trump’s personal lawyer, Marc Kasowitz sharply criticized Comey for leaking what he called “privileged communications” between the president and the then-FBI director. He tried to link Comey with others in the government who he said had selectively and illegally leaked classified information to undermine the administration and suggested that Comey might have broken the law. It would be up to the appropriate authorities to determine whether the leak should be investigated, Kasowitz said. Comey could not be reached for immediate comment. Some legal experts said Comey’s actions did not run afoul of the law. Faiza Patel, co-director of public policy group Brennan Center for Justice, noted that Comey testified that he was careful to avoid putting classified information in memos memorializing his conversations with Trump. Other experts said Kasowitz’s claim that Comey leaked “privileged” information was off the mark, citing the fact that Trump previously had disclosed details about his interactions with Comey. To leak his memo, Comey chose someone who has publicly defended him in the past, including his handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails. A 1984 graduate of Yale Law School, Richman clerked for the U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. He served as chief appellate attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan from 1987 to 1992, when Comey was also a prosecutor in that office. Richman went on to join the faculty of Fordham University School of Law and moved to Columbia in 2007. He has also served as a consultant to the U.S. Justice and Treasury departments on criminal matters and on advisory committees to former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and New York state Governor Eliot Spitzer. After Comey’s testimony, a surge of Web searches for Richman appeared to overwhelm the Columbia Law School’s website. “Columbia Law’s site is down at the moment. We are working on a solution. Stay tuned,” the school said in a posting on Twitter. | 1 |
6,613 | TWO F-15 FIGHTER JETS Called In To Intercept Unresponsive Plane Violating Airspace Near Mar-A-Lago | The jets flew at supersonic speeds and residents were startled by the loud boom, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, NORAD, said in a statement. The two fighters were able to establish communication with the aircraft. This incident occured at about 7 p.m. ET. No further details were immediately available. The intent of military intercepts is to have the identified aircraft re-establish communications with local FAA air traffic controllers and instruct the pilot to follow air traffic controllers instructions to land safely for follow-on action, the statement read.Earlier this month, a private plane got within 2 nautical miles of Air Force One, which is closer than permitted, while flying over Florida and the incident is being investigated by authorities, Bloomberg reported. FOX News | 0 |
6,614 | PRESIDENT TRUMP Escapes The DC Swamp With His Team…Speaks Out On White House Intruder [Video] | President Trump took Secretary Kelly (DHS), Secretary Ross (Commerce), Secretary Mnuchin (Treasury), Secretary Shulkin (VA), together with their spouses to Trump National Golf Club in Virginia.Accompanying the cabinet was key staff: Press Secretary Sean Spicer, Senior Adviser Steve Bannon, and Chief of Staff Reince Priebus. | 0 |
6,615 | TRUMP TELLS THOUSANDS At FL Rally “Barack Hussein Obama Is Founder of ISIS…Hillary Is Co-Founder” [VIDEO] | For anyone who thinks Trump s comments have crossed over the line, perhaps they ve forgotten about the Obama supported Arab Spring in Egypt that resulted in the violent overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak who was replaced by the radical Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi. And that s just one example Donald Trump accused President Barack Obama on Wednesday of founding the Islamic State group that is wreaking havoc from the Middle East to European cities. A moment later, on another topic, he referred to the president by his full legal name: Barack Hussein Obama. In many respects, you know, they honor President Obama, Trump said during a raucous campaign rally outside Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He is the founder of ISIS. He repeated the allegation three more times for emphasis.The Republican presidential nominee in the past has accused his opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton, of founding the militant group. As he shifted the blame to Obama on Wednesday, he said crooked Hillary Clinton was actually the group s co-founder.Trump has long blamed Obama and his former secretary of state Clinton for pursuing Mideast policies that created a power vacuum in Iraq that was exploited by IS, another acronym for the group. He s sharply criticized Obama for announcing he would pull U.S. troops out of Iraq, a decision that many Obama critics say created the kind of instability in which extremist groups like IS thrive.The White House declined to comment on Trump s accusation.The Islamic State group began as Iraq s local affiliate of al-Qaida, the group that attacked the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001. The group carried out massive attacks against Iraq s Shiite Muslim majority, fueling tensions with al-Qaida s central leadership. The local group s then-leader, Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was killed in 2006 in a U.S. airstrike but is still seen as the Islamic State group s founder.Trump s accusation and his use of the president s middle name, Hussein echoed previous instances where he s questioned Obama s loyalties.In June, when a shooter who claimed allegiance to IS killed 49 people in an Orlando, Florida, nightclub, Trump seemed to suggest Obama was sympathetic to the group when he said Obama doesn t get it, or he gets it better than anybody understands. In the past, Trump has also falsely suggested Obama is a Muslim or was born in Kenya, where Obama s father was from. Via: AP | 0 |
6,616 | Majority of Americans support next president pushing tighter gun laws: poll | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Half of all Americans support President Barack Obama’s executive actions on gun control, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found on Tuesday, with a majority saying they would support the next president taking additional steps to tighten federal gun laws. Obama, frustrated with inaction from lawmakers, ordered stricter gun rules last week that he can impose without Congress’ help, angering Republicans who say he is overstepping the boundaries of his office. Fifty percent of those surveyed said they supported Obama’s executive actions. More than 80 percent of those from his own party said they were in favor of his steps, while 72 percent of Republicans opposed them and said his successor should try to dismantle them. Guns have become a potent, polarizing issue in U.S. politics. The Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to bear arms, a right that is fiercely defended. Congress has not approved major gun-control legislation since the 1990s. Respondents from both parties support more research into the causes of gun violence, the poll showed. Nearly 80 percent of Democrats and 66 percent of Republicans said they would support the next president, who takes office next January after the Nov. 8 election, pushing for more research. Republicans are split on efforts to tighten gun control more broadly. Forty-four percent of those polled said the next president should work to tighten federal gun control laws, while 49 percent were opposed. Sixty-three percent of Americans overall said they would like to see the next president push for stricter gun laws. The survey of 1,559 Americans was conducted from Jan. 8 to 12, with a credibility interval of 3.2 percentage points. | 1 |
6,617 | Activists, executives tell Texas Senate to ditch bathroom bill | AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Transgender activists and business leaders urged a Texas Senate panel on Friday to scrap legislation that would limit bathroom access for transgender people, saying it was a discriminatory measure that would hurt the state’s economy. More than 250 civil rights activists, executives and others registered to speak to the Republican-dominated Senate as it began consideration of the measure, the most closely watched item on the state’s agenda during a 30-day special session. So-called “bathroom bills” have become a flashpoint of U.S. culture wars, with social conservatives saying they protect public safety and civil rights activists saying the measures allow government-sanctioned bias against transgender people. Ashley Smith, a transgender woman and San Antonio architect, said transgender women suffer more violence than the general public, and a bathroom bill would make her more fearful. “Can’t you see how this legislation would make the very real problem of assault even worse?” she asked members of the Senate Committee on State Affairs. Smith drew wide notice on the internet this week after posting a picture of herself with Republican Governor Greg Abbott, a supporter of the bathroom measure who she suggested had no idea she was transgender. Talk of the bathroom bill has already led to about $66 million in lost convention business, convention officials from Texas’ top cities told the committee. If the measure is enacted, the state could lose about $1.4 billion from lost conventions, sports contests and other events, they said. The main measure under consideration is Senate Bill 3, which says certain restrooms, showers and changing facilities in places such as public schools “must be designated for and used only by persons of the same sex as stated on a person’s birth certificate.” Supporters were few in number on Friday. The bill’s sponsor, Republican Senator Lois Kolkhorst, said SB 3 was about “about much more than bathrooms. “(It) is about finding a balance between the right to declare your gender and the right of a parent to protect their child,” she said. During the regular session that ended in May, the Texas Senate easily passed such a measure. But it died in the state’s House of Representatives under pressure from pro-business Republicans. Political analysts expect a similar pattern for the special session. A similar law in North Carolina, partially repealed in March, prompted the relocation of major sporting events and economic boycotts that were estimated to have cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars. | 1 |
6,618 | TRUMP’S DOJ CHOOSES SIDES In Supreme Court Case Of Baker Who Refused To Make Cake For Gay Wedding | The double standard in our judicial system today, as it relates to the protection of religious rights for Christians in America is stunning. Activist judges have been legislating from the bench for far too long when it comes to the protection of religious rights. Will President Trump s DOJ put an end to the persecution of Christians with this very important upcoming case? In a major upcoming Supreme Court case that weighs equal rights with religious liberty, the Trump administration on Thursday sided with a Colorado baker who refused to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple.The Department of Justice on Thursday filed a brief on behalf of baker Jack Phillips, who was found to have violated the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act by refusing to created a cake to celebrate the marriage of Charlie Craig and David Mullins in 2012. Phillips said he doesn t create wedding cakes for same-sex couples because it would violate his religious beliefs.The government agreed with Phillips that his cakes are a form of expression, and he cannot be compelled to use his talents for something in which he does not believe. Forcing Phillips to create expression for and participate in a ceremony that violates his sincerely held religious beliefs invades his First Amendment rights, Acting Solicitor General Jeffrey B. Wall wrote in the brief. WaPoComedian Steven Crowder made a powerful (and hilarious) video that was seen by over 5 MILLION viewers, exposing how the left twists the narrative to promote their radical ideology. Crowder went undercover to several Muslim bakeries in Dearborn, Michigan to see how many of them would be willing to bake a cake for a gay couple. Keep in mind, the left is the champion of Muslim communities in America when it comes to protecting their rights.Watch:In 2015, Star Transport lost a high profile case after two Muslim Somali immigrant drivers who worked for them were fired for refusing to deliver alcohol, as part of their job. Star Transport was forced to pay $240,000 to the two Muslim men after the jury found them guilty of violating the Muslim men s faith. The Federal Judge in the case EEOC alleged that in 2009, Star Transport fired Mohamed and Bulshale after they were required to transport alcohol. Both men told Star Transport that they believed doing so would violate their religious beliefs under Islamic law.Does anyone see a pattern of protection for certain religious beliefs, but not for others?In another very high profile case, the very successful Sweet Cakes by Melissa bakery was forced to shut down, after a leftist judge ruled against the owners, owners Melissa and Aaron Klein, for not agreeing to bake a cake for a lesbian wedding.Watch, as they discuss the shut down of their bakery in this interview:And who could forget this heartbreaking story of Arlene, an adorable little owner of Arlene s Florist, who refused to supply a regular customer flowers for his gay wedding: | 0 |
6,619 | Trump Fan Violently Attacks Black Protester — Guess Who Security Tackled? (VIDEO) | Donald Trump seems to love it when his rabid, racist followers attack black people at his rallies. For instance, last year when Trump s supporters attacked a black man, calling him a n*gger as they punched and kicked him, the 2016 hopeful spoke out in support of the assault, declaring that maybe he should have been roughed up. The Donald, who has been known to tweet white supremacist propaganda and order police to remove African-Americans from his rallies even if they did nothing more than stand still, strives to maintain an authoritarian atmosphere at his rallies, even promising to pay for the legal defense of anyone who attacks protesters black or otherwise at his events.At a rally in North Carolina on Wednesday, one Trump fan took his Fuhrer s words to heart, attacking an African-American man who was in the process of leaving the event. The unnamed black man was just one of several protesters who nonviolently protested the racist GOP frontrunner s speech. As the men leave, Trump supporters can be seen doing their thing namely, acting like f*cking @ssholes. One of the African-American men can be seen flipping the bird to the white-faced Trump supporters. One TrumpFan walks to the end of a row, waits for an opening, and sucker punches one of the protesters.The attack happens in full view of members of the security staff, who are escorting the men out. The logical thing would be to detain the attacker until police arrive. After all, this is clearly an unprovoked assault. But, as this is a Trump rally, security instead throws the victim of the attack to the ground, completely ignoring the white man who assaulted him.Unfortunately, this is where we re at: we have a mainstream GOP candidate who encourages acts of violence specifically against African-Americans and security officers who are willing to completely ignore any acts of violence committed by the faithful, no matter how clear-cut they are.Watch this preview of a Donald Trump America below, and remember to VOTE BLUE in November:Featured image via screengrab | 0 |
6,620 | Obamacare Officially Bans Transgender Discrimination | While Republicans whine and complain that their right to be a bigot is being infringed on by the big bad liberal government, the Obama Administration is (once again) doing the right thing by directing the Department of Health and Human Services to ban all forms of discrimination against transgender individuals.Not only does it ban discrimination against the transgender community, it goes even further: all discrimination on the basis of sex overall is banned fully and completely within health programs and entities that receive any federal funding.Regardless of what Republicans will say about this federal overreach, the Obama Administration has every right to implement this ruling under the Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities rule which is enforceable as part of Section 1557 of the ACA.Once again, Republicans have been outplayed, and their hatred has hit another legal wall. In a statement, Sylvia Burwell, Secretary of Health and Human Services, gleefully defended the decision, saying: A central goal of the Affordable Care Act is to help all Americans access quality, affordable health care. Today s announcement is a key step toward realizing equity within our health care system and reaffirms this Administration s commitment to giving every American access to the health care they deserve. The HHS website plainly lays out a feminist agenda that benefits all women, trans and non:Prohibiting denial of health care or health coverage based on an individual s sex, including discrimination based on pregnancy, gender identity, and sex stereotyping.The decision comes as the Obama Administration also set up blueprints for legal safeguards for trans students in public schools all across the country and sued North Carolina over HB 2, which was found to be in violation of the Civil Rights Act.As Obamacare faces yet another threat in court, Republicans have put forth a candidate that promises to repeal every word of the landmark healthcare law on his first day in office.That means everything this law has corrected sexism, ageism, racism and classism will again hang over the heads of every American should the buffoon known as Donald Trump become President (assuming Democrats don t take back the House or the Senate).Not only are Democrats winning the culture wars led by President Obama and his progressive administration, they are literally putting in place the legal safeguards to see it cemented for the rest of American history.If Democrats don t see the need to come out and vote, this should open the eyes of every weary, disgruntled voter. Democrats can continue the course for four more years and beyond. As Rob Reiner said, transgender rights are the last pieces of the civil rights puzzle.Featured image via Win McNamee/Getty Images | 0 |
6,621 | Trump Marks D-Day Anniversary By Bragging About Himself, Attacking The Media, And Insulting An Ally | The first thing Donald Trump should have thought about on Tuesday morning is all the American soldiers who sacrificed their lives 73 years ago.On the beaches of Normandy in France, American troops faced the heaviest fire in what is still the largest amphibious operation ever conducted. Many never even made it off the boats that carried them to shore. As depicted in the film Saving Private Ryan, June 6, 1943 was a bloody and terrifying day.But instead of thinking about those brave men today on the anniversary of D-Day, Trump chose to only think about himself.In yet another early morning rant on Twitter, Trump attacked the media and listed basically every channel except Fox News as fake news and once again bragged about winning the election.The FAKE MSM is working so hard trying to get me not to use Social Media. They hate that I can get the honest and unfiltered message out. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 6, 2017Sorry folks, but if I would have relied on the Fake News of CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, washpost or nytimes, I would have had ZERO chance winning WH Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 6, 2017Trump then bragged that he is going to end the threat of terrorism just because he visited Saudi Arabia and then he attacked one of our strategic allies in the Middle East.During my recent trip to the Middle East I stated that there can no longer be funding of Radical Ideology. Leaders pointed to Qatar look! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 6, 2017It should be noted that Qatar has been our ally since 1973. But Trump wasn t done attacking them.So good to see the Saudi Arabia visit with the King and 50 countries already paying off. They said they would take a hard line on funding Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 6, 2017 extremism, and all reference was pointing to Qatar. Perhaps this will be the beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 6, 2017Seriously, Trump literally just accused one of our longtime allies of funding terrorism because Saudi Arabia told him to. Qatar officials deny the allegations.But Trump s attack on Qatar is also hypocritical considering Saudi Arabia has also been repeatedly accused of funding terrorism. The Saudis are also significantly tied to the 9/11 attacks, but you don t see Trump attacking them.The tension between Qatar and other Middle Eastern nations has been building for quite some time now. Trump s pathetic speech during his embarrassing trip overseas had nothing to do with what s happening at the moment. But Trump is trying to take credit anyway.As Trump continues to cause worldwide chaos and insults our European allies, the anniversary of D-Day should be even more important than ever before.29,000 Americans lost their lives that day on the blood-soaked sand and water. To put that figure in perspective, that s more killed in one day than the entire eight-year war in Iraq in which 4,424 American troops were killed.And if we continue to let Trump and his administration remain in power, we could end up fighting another world war that will be even costlier.Featured Image: Sean Gallup/Getty Images | 0 |
6,622 | Government leakers are 'enemies to our state,' White House official says | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Individuals who steal classified information from the U.S. government are “enemies to our state” and must be punished forcefully, the White House’s homeland security adviser said on Wednesday. Tom Bossert, in remarks that were among the first he has made publicly since becoming the White House homeland security adviser, characterized cyber security in the U.S. government and around the world as being in general disarray. “We need to find the people who do it and hold them accountable and be absolutely unwavering in doing so,” Bossert said in remarks at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington, D.C. “People who have taken things that they should not have taken, like Snowden and others, are absolute enemies to our state. Period,” Bossert said. “They need to be caught, punished, and treated as such.” He was referring to Edward Snowden, the former U.S. National Security Agency contractor whose leak of classified information in 2014 triggered an international furor over the reach of U.S. spy operations. Bossert, whose role includes special emphasis on cyber security, made his remarks a week after WikiLeaks published documents related to secret CIA hacking tools. Investigators believe the documents were likely provided by a contractor or CIA employee, two U.S. officials told Reuters last week. It would be the third high-profile public case in recent years in which an insider pilfered a large tranche of secrets from a U.S. intelligence agency. The recent CIA leak shows that intensified U.S. government efforts to prevent leaks by “insider threats” have largely failed, according to cyber security professionals and intelligence officials. In January former President Barack Obama shortened the prison sentence of Chelsea Manning, the former U.S. military intelligence analyst who leaked hundreds of thousands of State Department cables to WikiLeaks in 2010 Manning, now due for release in May, had served seven of her 35-year sentence, and Obama defended his leniency by saying justice had been served. But he drew criticism from Republicans who said the move could embolden other potential leakers. Bossert said agencies and companies have a responsibility to institute controls and continuous employee screening and monitoring systems to guard against insider threats. As he characterized cyber security as being in general disarray, Bossert said the Obama administration did not do enough to forcefully combat and deter growing criminal and nation-state threats. “I feel like I have re-awoken from a long eight-year nap and I found a world that is on fire,” Bossert said. President Donald Trump’s annual budget proposal, expected to be released on Thursday, would reflect the White House’s plan to prioritize cyber security across the federal government, Bossert said. He also confirmed media reports that Rob Joyce, the National Security Agency’s top hacker, is joining the White House as cyber security coordinator. | 1 |
6,623 | Trump Campaign Manager And CEO Outed As Members Of A Secret Far-Right Extremist Group | The Southern Poverty Law Center released a report on Wednesday, outing both of the newest additions to the Trump campaign as members of a secretive far-right extremist group made up of the most powerful conservatives and white supremacists in the United States.In what was described as a shakeup, Trump hired conservative pollster Kellyanne Conway and Breitbart bigwig Stephen Bannon as his campaign s CEO (Whatever the hell that is, since presidential campaigns don t have CEO s.)According to the SLPC s report, Conway and Bannon are members of the Council for National Policy (CNP). This right-wing group is known for its secrecy and is comprised of some of the country s most powerful conservatives. The CNP is an intensely secretive and shadowy group of what The New York Times once described as the most powerful conservatives in the country, reads the SPLC report. In addition, it is so tight-lipped that it tells people not to admit their membership or even name the group. Revealing when or where the group meets, or what it discusses, is also forbidden. The membership rolls also boast some of the most notorious white supremacists in the country as well. The CNP is not controversial so much for the conservatives who dominate it activists of the religious right and the so-called culture wars, along with a smattering of wealthy financiers, Congressional operatives, right-wing consultants and Tea Party operatives as for the many real extremists who are included. The report states that the CNP s members include Michael Peroutka, a neo-Confederate who for years was on the board of the white supremacist League of the South; Jerome Corsi, a strident Obama birther and the propagandist hit man responsible for the Swift boating of John Kerry; Joseph Farah, who runs the wildly conspiracist news operation known as WorldNetDaily; Mat Staver, the Liberty Counsel leader who has worked to re-criminalize gay sex; Philip Zodhaites, another anti-gay activist who is charged with helping a self-described former lesbian who kidnapped her daughter from her former partner and fled the country; and a large number of other similar characters. Earlier this year, the SPLC got their hands on the CNP membership directory for 2014. This document showed that Bannon had been a regular member and Conway had served as a member of the group s executive committee. It is unknown what their current standing with the group is today.When the SPLC first published the original article on the CNP several months ago, they pointed out that it is very much within their rights to operate in secret. However, this means that the group also provides an important venue in which relatively mainstream conservatives meet and very possibly are influenced by real extremists, people who regularly defame LGBT people with utter falsehoods, describe Latino immigrants as a dangerous group of rapists and disease-carriers, engage in the kind of wild-eyed conspiracy theorizing for which the John Birch Society is famous, and even suggest that certain people should be stoned to death in line with Old Testament law. The SPLC concluded that it is not known how their contacts within the CNP may have affected Conway and Bannon. But they reiterated what they wrote in May: At a time of extreme political polarization in our society, in the middle of an ugly presidential contest which has featured an almost unsurpassed record of ethnic, racial and sexual insults and lies, Americans deserve to know who their ostensible leaders are mixing with as we collectively decide our country s future. That is as true of campaign leaders as it is of political candidates, the SPLC added.Trump has been trying to distance himself from the alt-right, the modern term for white supremacists, especially after Hillary Clinton gave a blistering speech calling out his ties with the fringe element. Bannon s connection to Breitbart has drawn scrutiny, as the blogspot is known for its racist, sexist, and anti-Semitic content. But from the looks of it, Trump and his campaign are sitting right in the laps of these right-wing extremists. Conway and Bannon s involvement with the CNP just made that abundantly clear.Featured image via Rawstory and Liberal America | 0 |
6,624 | BREAKING: New CA Law Will Allow Cops To Confiscate Legally Owned Guns | The drip drip drip of communism in the leftist state of California A new California law scheduled to take effect Friday will allow the police to seize private, legally-owned weapons for up to three weeks without charges or allowing the citizen to contest the seizure.AB1014 was passed last year in the wake of 2014 s Isla Vista shooting, where teenager Elliot Rodger went on a rampage near the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara, killing six people along with himself.Rodger s parents had reported him to the police prior to the shooting, concerned about his mental health and rants he posted online. But after meeting with Rodger, police decided he wasn t a criminal risk, and consequently didn t search his apartment, where he was stockpiling weapons and ammunition.The new law is intended to stop such a situation from re-occurring. Under the law, a judge has the power to grant a restraining order telling police to seize a person s guns, based solely on accounts from family members or police that the person is poses an imminent danger to others. The restraining order can be granted without the affected person knowing it exists or being allowed time to contest it.Under the law, the factors a judge can consider in granting the restraining order include not only threats of violence, but also prior felony arrests (even without a conviction), evidence of alcohol abuse, and even the simple act of recently purchasing a gun or ammunition.Once granted, police can use the restraining order to confiscate all of a person s guns and ammunition, and the person is also barred from buying or possessing guns and ammo for the duration of the order. A full court hearing must then be heard within three weeks. At that hearing, a judge will be able to extend the restraining order for an entire year. The law gives us a vehicle to cause the person to surrender their weapons, to have a time out, if you will, Los Angeles Police Department Assistant Chief Michael Moore told Southern California Public Radio. It allows further examination of the person s mental state. The law expands on California gun laws that are already some of the country s toughest. Police already have the power to seize a person s guns if a licensed therapist informs them that the person s mental state makes them a danger to themselves or others. Via: Daily Caller | 0 |
6,625 | Mattis says U.S. will work to stay aligned with Turkey despite diplomatic tensions | TAMPA, Fla (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Wednesday that military relations with Turkey had been unaffected by diplomatic tensions between the two countries and he would continue to work closely with his Turkish counterparts. It is a NATO ally that we will work hard to stay aligned with against our common enemy and we are doing good work together, military to military, Mattis told reporters on board a military plane. When asked whether he expected the diplomatic dispute to affect future operations, Mattis said he did not want to speculate but in the past diplomatic tensions have not affected military relations. | 1 |
6,626 | U.S. judge to consider objection to Trump University settlement | NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. judge will hear arguments on Thursday over whether to grant final approval to a $25 million settlement of fraud lawsuits against President Donald Trump over his Trump University real estate investment seminars, with at least one former student objecting to the deal. Sherri Simpson of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, who paid $19,000 to learn Trump’s investing “secrets,” filed court papers earlier this month arguing the class action settlement should not have contained a provision barring her and other students from opting out and suing Trump on their own. The objection raises the possibility the litigation could continue to dog Trump’s presidency. During the campaign, Trump vowed to fight the fraud claims but agreed to the settlement soon after the election. Under the deal, Trump admitted no wrongdoing. Lawyers for Trump and those representing thousands of other students in two class actions will urge U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel in San Diego to overrule the objection and approve the deal. The students, who paid as much as $35,000 for the seminars, are expected to recover more than 80 percent of the money they paid. Though Simpson’s lawyer, Gary Friedman, called the settlement “laudable,” he said his client wanted to press for a full recovery, as well as punitive damages and other relief. He is planning to argue the deal should be rejected unless she is allowed to do so. “What Ms. Simpson seeks is her day in court,” Friedman said in court papers. Simpson and other students claim they were lured into the seminars by false promises that they would learn Trump’s investment strategies from his “hand-picked” instructors. Trump admitted he did not personally select the instructors but said the claim was sales “puffery.” Rachel Jensen, a class action lawyer for the students, said in a court filing that some 3,730 students submitted claim forms. Two filed objections but only Simpson’s lawyers are expected at the hearing. In court papers, both Jensen and Daniel Petrocelli, a lawyer for Trump, suggested Simpson’s objection might be politically motivated. They noted she appeared in an anti-Trump political ad in February 2016. “Defendants paid $25 million to avoid the uncertainty that political opponents might solicit opt-outs to force a high-profile trial,” Jensen said. Friedman denied any political motive and said he would appeal if the judge overruled the objection. Trump accused Curiel of bias last year based on the Indiana-born judge’s Mexican ancestry. | 1 |
6,627 | RESTAURANT OWNER Makes Awesome Sign Mocking Transgender Bathroom Law | Political correctness is obviously not important to this outspoken business owner The owner of a Windy City Pizza store didn t want there to be any confusion about which bathroom to use in their establishment, so they placed this sign in front of their establishment:Here s another sign that previously appeared in front of the restaurant: | 0 |
6,628 | BAHAHA! HILLARY SAYS She Wants A Border Fence, But Not A Wall [Video] | Hillary Clinton thinks as most progressives do if you change the name of something then it s not so bad. Like commie was changed to progressive LOL! This video is hysterical because it s of Jorge Ramos trying to nail Hillary on the FACT that she voted for a border fence. She s so damn delusional that she actually thinks by changing the term that she can lie her way out of this sticky question. This is a classic! | 0 |
6,629 | Can Trump cut funds to UC Berkeley? Experts say not really | SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump does not have the authority to withhold funding from the University of California at Berkeley where violent protests led to the cancellation of a speech by a far-right editor, academics and experts said on Thursday. Trump threatened to cut funds for the university’s flagship Berkeley campus in a Twitter posting accusing the institution of failing to support free speech and practicing violence against innocent people. But academics and experts interviewed by Reuters said state universities mostly receive federal funds in the form of research grants and financial aid to students, and these cannot be revoked for reasons related to freedom of speech. “There is nothing in current legislation that would allow President Trump to do that,” said Don Heller, a provost at the University of San Francisco and an expert in public education financing. UC Berkeley receives between $400 million and $450 million annually in federal funding for research, and about $216 million for student financial aid, officials said. Some of that can be withheld but only in very specific circumstances, such as the publication of fraudulent research or the refusal of a university to comply with the Title IX law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in educational programs. To add freedom of speech to that list of offenses would take new legislation in Congress, Heller and other experts said. And even if such a law were passed, Berkeley’s situation would be highly unlikely to be affected, said Terry Hartle, vice president for Government and Public Affairs at the American Council on Education. That is because in Berkeley’s case, the university had attempted to facilitate the speech on Wednesday night, cancelling it only after police became concerned about safety. “Because the crowd had grown so violent and agitated, it was our recommendation to the speaker that his public safety was in jeopardy,” UC Berkeley police department spokeswoman Sergeant Sabrina Reich said in a telephone interview. Milo Yiannopoulos, an editor at Breitbart News, was escorted by police from the campus as a relatively small group among the 1500 protesters smashed windows and set fires and the campus was put on lockdown. There were no injuries. Yiannopoulos has been a provocative figure on the internet for years, and has been widely criticized for comments he has made about Muslims, Black Lives Matter activists and feminists. Trump, whose aide Steve Bannon previously ran the right-wing, nationalist Breitbart site, tweeted his response shortly before dawn in Washington on Thursday. “If U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view - NO FEDERAL FUNDS?” the President wrote. His administration was not immediately available for further comment on Thursday. Longer-term, there were some steps a Trump administration could take that would affect the university. For instance, the Department of Energy could conceivably seek to relocate the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, which is in the hills above the campus and is managed by the University of California, said Bob Shireman, a former deputy undersecretary for education in the Obama administration. “There are things that if a president really wanted to punish some particular college they could influence those decisions but it would take a long time and there would be a lot of reaction,” said Shireman, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation. | 1 |
6,630 | Trump orders review of visa program to encourage hiring Americans | KENOSHA, Wis. (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered a review of the U.S. visa program for bringing high-skilled foreign workers into the country, putting technology firms and the outsourcing companies that serve them on notice that possible changes may be ahead. Seeking to carry out a campaign pledge to put “America First,” Trump signed an executive order on the H-1B visa program. It was vague on many fronts, and did not change existing rules, but one objective, said Trump aides, is to modify or replace the current lottery for H-1B visas with a merit-based system that would restrict the visas to highly skilled workers. Indian nationals are the largest group of H-1B recipients annually. Such a change could affect companies, such as Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, Cognizant Tech Solutions Corp and Infosys Ltd, that connect U.S. technology companies with thousands of foreign engineers and programmers. None responded to requests for comment. Trump announced the order and made remarks at a visit to the headquarters of Snap-On Inc, a tool maker in Wisconsin. In addition to addressing the visas issue, he also ordered a review of government procurement rules favoring American companies to see if they are actually benefiting, especially the U.S. steel industry. “With this action, we are sending a powerful signal to the world: We’re going to defend our workers, protect our jobs and finally put America first,” Trump said. Trump was a businessman before he was elected president last year, and his companies have been criticized for using visa programs to fill positions at Trump properties with foreign workers. Trump-branded products are also made overseas. 100-DAY BENCHMARK As he nears the 100-day benchmark of his presidency, Trump still has no major legislative achievements. With his attempts to overhaul healthcare and tax law stalled in Congress, Trump has leaned heavily on executive orders to change policy. It was unclear whether the latest such order would yield immediate results. The H-1B visas section included no definite timeline. The government procurement section did. “We hope the goal of President Trump’s executive order on the H-1B program is ‘mend it, don’t end it,’” said Robert Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a technology industry group. Going to a more merit-based H-1B system could attract more people with advanced science and technology skills, Atkinson said in a statement. But he said some ideas could make the system ineffective, such as requiring advertisement of job openings for long periods to prove the unavailability of U.S. workers. Democrats said Trump’s order was not strong enough, and too late, after thousands of visas were awarded this month in this year’s lottery. “For a president who has prided himself on his swift action when it comes to immigration, an interagency review of the program is a guarded and timid approach. It’s too little, too late,” said U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, the No.2 Democrat in the Senate. Critics of the program say most H-1B visas are awarded for lower-paid jobs at outsourcing firms, many based in India. That takes work away from Americans, lowers wages and keeps Americans from being trained in tech-related fields, they say. “Right now, widespread abuse in our immigration system is allowing American workers of all backgrounds to be replaced by workers brought in from other countries,” Trump said. Tech companies have been bracing for Trump to make changes to the H-1B program. The visas are intended to go to foreign nationals in occupations that generally require specialized knowledge, such as science, engineering or computer programming. The government uses a lottery to award 65,000 visas yearly and randomly distributes another 20,000 to graduate student workers. Critics say the lottery benefits outsourcing firms that flood the system with mass applications for visas for lower-paid information technology workers. “Right now H-1B visas are awarded in a totally random lottery and that’s wrong. Instead, they should be given to the most skilled and highest paid applicants and they should never, ever be used to replace Americans,” Trump said. More than 15 percent of Facebook Inc’s U.S. employees in 2016 used a temporary work visa, according to a Reuters analysis of U.S. Labor Department filings. Facebook did not respond to requests for comment. Infosys, India’s No. 2 IT services firm, has said previously that it is ramping up work on on-site development centers in the United States to train local talent in an effort to address the visa regulation changes under consideration. It warned last week that onerous changes to U.S. visa rules could affect its earnings. NASSCOM, the Indian IT service industry’s main lobbying group, said it backs efforts to root out H-1B abuses, but said the idea that H-1B visa holders are cheap labor is inaccurate. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Washington in February to be open minded on admitting skilled Indian workers. | 1 |
6,631 | U.S. keeps up diplomatic efforts to deal with North Korea crisis | NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Diplomatic efforts to tackle the crisis caused by North Korea s nuclear and missile buildup are continuing, U. S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Tuesday. Mattis, who is on a two-day official visit to the Indian capital to strengthen military ties said pressure on North Korea had increased following a United Nations resolution. We continue to maintain the diplomatically led efforts in the United Nations, he told reporters. You have seen unanimous U.N. security council resolutions passed that have increased the pressure...on the North and at the same time we maintain the capability to deter North Korea s most dangerous threats, he added. | 1 |
6,632 | BALTIMORE MAYOR’S STAFF JUMPING SHIP IN DROVES AS QUESTIONS ARISE ABOUT $20 MILLION ESTIMATE FOR RIOT DAMAGE | I guess the people who work for the Baltimore Mayor are like rats on the sinking Titanic. Maybe they figured out that it s not so smart to let rioters destroy your town and then expect the taxpayers to pick up the bloated tab. Baltimore mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is having a problem with retaining her staff. Ever since she helped bring the hammer down on six Baltimore police officers over the accidental death of Freddie Gray, four members on her Office on Criminal Justice have resigned. As in, her four highest-ranking cabinet members have each resigned, one by one, over a three-week period. That does not paint a pretty picture on what regard the Baltimore mayor is held in with her staff members. Shannon Cosgrove, deputy director of the office resigned Tuesday. Angela Johnese, director of the criminal justice office, and Heather Brantner, the mayor s Sexual Assault Response Team coordinator, left their positions in the mayor s office on May 22. LeVar Michael, who headed the office s nonviolent programs, left two weeks ago. Not one of the departed provided a reason for leaving. The Rawlings-Blake now faces even further scrutiny as it was determined that the costs incurred to the city stemming from the Baltimore riots exceed $20 million, quite a hike from the initial estimate of $9 million. So, who wants a job in the Baltimore mayor s office? VIA: BALTIMORE SUN TIMES | 0 |
6,633 | FIRST GRADE TEACHER READS TRANSGENDER BOOK TO STUDENTS ABOUT How A Boy Came To The Realization He Was Really A Girl | Seriously? FIRST GRADE? When are parents going to stand up and say they ve had enough?!!Officials at Mitchell Primary School are apologizing after a book about a transgender child was read to most of the school s K-3 students. We have a practice of if a topic is considered sensitive, parents should be informed, superintendent Allyn Hutton told SeaCoastOnline.com. In this situation, that didn t happen. The whole culture at Mitchell School is about teaching tolerance and respect. The people presenting the lesson thought (the book) was one more piece of teaching that lesson. In retrospect, we understand that toleration is tolerating people of all opinions, Hutton said.Criticism flooded the district after Fox News host Sean Hannity posted about the lesson on his website, prompted by a Mitchell school mother who was angry she wasn t given advanced warning that teachers were reading students the book I am Jazz by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings, the news site reports.The book details the struggles of a child with a boy s body and a girl s brain, who eventually finds a doctor that tells the family the boy is a transgender.From the book s description on Amazon.com: From the time she was two years old, Jazz knew that she had a girl s brain in a boy s body. She loved pink and dressing up as a mermaid and didn t feel like herself in boys clothing. This confused her family, until they took her to a doctor who said that Jazz was transgender and that she was born that way. Jazz s story is based on her real-life experience and she tells it in a simple, clear way that will be appreciated by picture book readers, their parents, and teachers. The mother wrote in to Hannity.com to express her frustration that she wasn t given a heads up about the lesson, which was read out loud to students in 20 of Mitchell s 22 classes. I feel like my thoughts, feelings and beliefs were completely ignored .My right as a parent to allow or not allow this discussion with my child was taken from me, the mother wrote. It is very upsetting to me that I didn t have an option at all. The mother said she tried to approach school officials about her concerns but was given the cold shoulder. When I spoke with the principal he was very cold about it, she said. It s amazing how thoughtless the school has been with this whole thing. Hannity contacted Hutton with specific questions about the lesson and received an anemic response. I have spoken with the principal at Mitchell School who has been working with their guidance counselor to appropriately manage this situation and provide the appropriate information for the children at this age level, Hutton said. All information has been posted on the school s guidance blog for parent review. That blog, written by guidance counselor Dana Richerich, contends some people may think primary school students are too young to worry about addressing issues surrounding gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) students. Not so, experts say. It s never too early to begin teaching children about respecting differences. When our students and their parents have questions related to LGBTQ issues, our goal is to foster healthy dialog (sic), critical thinking and inclusiveness. With that in mind, our conversations include all students and perspectives to create a safe and supportive school climate, the blog reads.The critical LGBTQ thinking, however, seems to have confused at least one student. The mother who wrote in to Hannity said her son s now confused about whether he s transgender.The boy asked his mother if he s transgender, or if he could be a girl in love with a girl. The mother says that up until time the topic was brought up in school, her son had never said anything like that before, according to Hannity.com. I was taken aback by it, the mother said. Being seven, once you put something in their mind they don t forget so easily. Via: EAG News | 0 |
6,634 | WHOA! DEMOCRATIC Strategist Gives Crooked Hillary The Ultimate Smack Down | The most unpopular, deplorable woman in America, and champion of Wall Street bankers gets a big smack down by Democratic Strategist Harlan Hill. Enjoy:FACT: Clintons take money + work for countries that have institutionalized abuses of women & murder of homosexuals. pic.twitter.com/5GDSwkRUvm Harlan Z. Hill (@Harlan) September 6, 2016Here s what Harlan thinks about Hillary s chances of winning the election in November:Hillary lost the Obama + Sanders coalitions.If I'm right, she'll lose the election too.I went on record w/ @VarneyCo @FoxBusiness: pic.twitter.com/49hpiONrs5 Harlan Z. Hill (@Harlan) September 29, 2016 | 0 |
6,635 | U.S sanctions North Koreans for 'flagrant' rights abuse | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on seven North Korean individuals and three entities for flagrant human rights abuses, including killings, torture, forced labor and the hunting down of asylum seekers abroad. Today s sanctions target the North Korean military and regime officials, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. We also are targeting North Korean financial facilitators who attempt to keep the regime afloat with foreign currency earned through forced labor operations. Among those sanctioned were the director and the deputy director of the Military Security Command, the first vice minister of the Ministry of People s Security and the labor minister. North Korea s consul general in Shenyang, China, and a diplomat at its embassy in Vietnam were also sanctioned. We are especially concerned with the North Korean military, which operates as secret police, punishing all forms of dissent, the statement said. Further, the military operates outside of North Korea to hunt down asylum seekers, and brutally detains and forcibly returns North Korean citizens. The Treasury statement charged that Ku Sung Sop, the consul general in Shenyang, and Kim Min Chol, the diplomat in Vietnam, had participated in the forced repatriation of North Korean asylum seekers. Scott Busby, the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, told a news briefing that Ku s case had been raised with China. He said it was up to China how to react, but the range of possibilities included expelling him from the country. Speaking in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said China does not approve of countries using their own domestic law to enact unilateral sanctions outside of the United Nations framework. We will maintain normal exchanges and cooperation with North Korea on the basis of complying with U.N. resolutions, he told a daily news briefing, without elaborating. Busby said North Korean government violations included extrajudicial killings, torture, rape and forced abortions and the aim of the sanctions was to send a message, especially to prison camp managers and mid-level officials, that individuals would be held accountable. The U.S. administration has sought to restrict the income North Korea receives from its export of labor as part of efforts to choke off funds helping to finance the country s nuclear and missile programs, which Pyongyang says are aimed at developing weapons capable of hitting the United States. North Korea routinely denies widespread allegations of rights abuses. The Treasury statement said the Ch olhyo n Overseas Construction Company, which was sanctioned along with the Military Security Command and the External Construction Bureau, had operated in Algeria and was reported to earn foreign currency for North Korea. Employees of Ch olhyo n are kept in slave-like conditions, including having salaries and passports withheld by (North Korean) security officials assigned as site supervisors, meager food rations, poor living conditions, and severe restrictions on their freedom of movement, the Treasury statement said. It said the External Construction Bureau had operated in Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. | 1 |
6,636 | Democrats urge full review before Senate vote on Obamacare attack | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic leaders in the U.S. Congress on Monday demanded that lawmakers wait to find out the budgetary and healthcare impacts of a new, last-ditch legislative effort by Republicans to repeal Obamacare before voting on it. In their long-running war on former President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law, Senate Republicans are now proposing to replace it with a system that would give states money in block grants to run their own healthcare programs. Drafted by Republican Senators Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy, the bill was introduced last week. Graham and Cassidy said they were close to securing the votes needed for passage, but the bill’s outlook was uncertain. If approved, it would replace the 2010 Affordable Care Act, known informally as Obamacare, which Republicans have long seen as government overreach into the healthcare business. The Graham-Cassidy measure has revived a fight that many in Washington thought was over when an Obamacare repeal-and-replace bill flopped in the Senate in July, humiliating Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and President Donald Trump. Two Senate committees, including the powerful Finance Committee, on Monday announced they would hold hearings on the bill next week, the first public hearings all year for any Republican Senate proposal to overhaul Obamacare. Republican Senator John McCain had called for a return to regular order and public hearings before voting against a repeal-and-replace bill in July. Senator Ron Wyden, the top-ranking Democrat on the Finance Committee hearing, said next week’s hearing “makes a mockery of regular order.” The Congressional Budget Office, a non-partisan fiscal analysis unit of Congress, said on Monday it will make a preliminary assessment of the bill’s impact next week. But it said it will not be able to estimate the impact on the deficit or changes in insurance coverage or premiums for several weeks. Worried Democrats seized on the statement to urge Republicans to wait for a full CBO score before holding a vote. “Have the courage and decency to wait for a CBO score,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor on Monday. The House of Representatives is on a break this week. A delay to wait for a CBO analysis is something Republicans can ill afford since in two weeks Senate procedural rules will make it much more difficult for them to advance the legislation. A special parliamentary procedure that would allow the bill to move forward in the Senate with a simple majority of only 51 votes will expire in two weeks. After that, it would need 60 votes, like most Senate legislation. Republicans have a slim 52-vote Senate majority. Schumer called Graham-Cassidy a “Frankenstein monster of a bill” that would be costly for some states. He said Democrats would use every procedural tool to slow or stop its passage. Stock prices fell for small hospital chains that have high corporate debt loads and that likely would be hurt under the plan’s probable decrease in government payments for patients. Community Health Systems closed down 35 cents, or 4.6 percent, to $7.26, and Tenet Healthcare fell $1.01, or 6.0 percent, at $15.72. Trump has been telephoning members of Congress in recent days urging action on dismantling Obamacare. McConnell has not promised to bring Graham-Cassidy to the floor for a vote, but he asked the CBO for a quick assessment. Not all the Senate’s conservatives back the bill. Senator Rand Paul said it did not go far enough to repeal Obamacare. Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana told reporters he was worried that the bill would allow some states to set up their own single-payer healthcare system. McCain and two other Republican senators, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, all of whom voted against the last Republican effort to repeal Obamacare, were said by aides to be undecided on the latest proposal. Collins, of Maine, told reporters she was still analyzing the measure, but listed several concerns, including possibly higher insurance premiums for older Americans. She said the Maine Hospital Association calculated her state would receive a billion dollars less in Medicaid and other federal healthcare spending over the next decade under the bill, and “that obviously is of great concern to me.” But if it can get through the Senate, the plan may have a chance in the House of Representatives, also controlled by Republicans. Past Republican proposals to dismantle Obamacare have been hampered, in part, by CBO estimates that showed the bills would have left millions more Americans without health insurance. Obama’s healthcare reform has provided health benefits to 20 million Americans. | 1 |
6,637 | Trump’s Most Disgusting Betrayal Of America (So Far) Is About To Be Exposed | Donald Trump s mortgage company was part of the carnival of greed that preyed on the American people by providing subprime mortgages to unqualified borrowers, a practice which led to the financial collapse in 2008 and the Great Recession that followed.Hillary Clinton s presidential campaign is planning a major push to bring up Trump and his role in the business that led to billions in bailout costs for the American taxpayer.About a dozen surrogates and local elected officials in Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Florida, New Hampshire, Iowa, Colorado, Nevada and elsewhere will host calls, events and release statements focused on Trump s response to the housing crisis that precipitated the economic recession.Trump wasn t just on the outside of the scheme. His company was right in the middle of it.Clinton s allies plan to highlight that Trump Mortgage approved subprime mortgages to unqualified borrowers. The mortgages were one of the key financial instruments linked to the crash.Trump even handed out advice on how to profit from a crash like the one that would eventually occur and consume millions of jobs in America and around the world. In his book, How to Build a Fortune, Trump said, If there is a bubble burst, as they call it, you know you can make a lot of money. Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), who will be part of the Clinton push, released a statement highlighting Trump and his role in the collapse: You don t make America great by rooting for its economy to fail. While Hillary Clinton was proposing measures to ease the effects of the housing bubble on American homeowners before the crisis, Donald Trump was cheering on the market s collapse and reportedly peddling sub-prime loans so he could try to get even richer. Once again showing that Trump s so-called business sense is more big talk and bravado than anything resembling actual insight, Trump launched a mortgage business in 2005, even as warning signs began to emerge that the mortgage industry was about to soon face trouble.Featured image via screen capture | 0 |
6,638 | CONSERVATIVE LEADER Sends Stern Message To Mitt Romney: Go Home And Be Quiet! [Video] | Matt Schlapp, the leader of the American Conservative Union, slammed Mitt Romney for his continued attacks on GOP nominee Donald Trump. | 0 |
6,639 | MAXINE WATERS Gleefully Reveals Plan to Destroy Trump in Disturbing Interview [Video] | Rep. Maxine Waters said today that if Robert Mueller does his job and is able to prove collusion between President Donald Trump s campaign and the Russians, then we ve got him. In an interview with MSNBC host and self-professed Waters fan Joy Reid, Waters reiterated that Democrats needed to work to remove Trump from office. Reid asked Waters if she had a sense that more Republicans in Congress were willing to stand up to Trump.Waters said she felt some Republicans did not know how to handle the situation or were simply waiting for the president to implode. Many of them are not comfortable, and I believe that if Mueller does his job, if he s able to connect the dots, if he s able to show collusion, then we ve got him, she said. They will move away from him. Waters, a darling of progressives due to her constant calls for Trump s impeachment, has previously likened Mueller s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election to a contest of sorts. In an appearance Friday on MSNBC, she said Mueller is going to win. Trump has consistently stated the Mueller probe is a witch hunt and pointed to the partisanship of the investigators on his team, although other Republicans have said Mueller s reputation is unquestioned.On The View last week, Waters said she welcomed the leaks coming from Trump s White House and was so glad they re telling us what s going on. | 0 |
6,640 | THE BEST OF WATTERS’ WORLD: “If liberals are so creative, why can’t Obama create jobs?” | Jesse Watters is pretty awesome! He s great at making people think but being funny at the same time. Pretty awesome! | 0 |
6,641 | Arab states urge U.S. to abandon Jerusalem move | CAIRO (Reuters) - Arab foreign ministers late on Saturday urged the United States to abandon its decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel s capital, saying the move would increase violence throughout the region. The announcement by President Donald Trump on Wednesday was a dangerous violation of international law , had no legal impact and was void , the Arab League said in a statement after a session attended by all its members in Cairo. Trump s endorsement of Israel s claim to all of Jerusalem as its capital would reverse long-standing U.S. policy that the city s status must be decided in negotiations with the Palestinians, who want East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state. The decision has no legal effect ... it deepens tension, ignites anger and threatens to plunge region into more violence and chaos, the Arab League said at 3 a.m. local time after hours of meetings that began on Saturday evening. It said it would seek a U.N. Security Council resolution rejecting the U.S. move. Lebanon s Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil said during the emergency meeting that Arab nations should consider imposing economic sanctions against the United States to prevent it moving its Israel embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. Pre-emptive measures (must be) taken ... beginning with diplomatic measures, then political, then economic and financial sanctions, he said, without giving specific details. The Arab League statement made no mention of economic sanctions. Arab criticism of Trump s plan contrasted sharply with the praise Washington s traditional Arab allies heaped on him at the beginning of his administration in January. | 1 |
6,642 | Argentina's Macri expects missing sub to be found in coming days | BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentine President Mauricio Macri said on Friday that the country s navy and foreign forces would continue the search for a submarine that went missing nine days earlier and said he expected the vessel to be found over the days ahead. | 1 |
6,643 | hillary is a real christian says michael moore | public faith in elections falls as the state grows outofcontrol state power ryan mcmaken misesorg october comments
in the wake of the final presidential election debate last week the mainstream media was appalled that donald trump would not preemptively agree to not contest the outcome of the election
trumps position reflects a growing faction of americans who doubt the integrity and honesty of the american electoral system in response mainstream media sources have responded by vehemently insisting that rigged elections are a myth
while rarely stated explicitly the way american electoral politics is supposed to work is this the population spends several months listening to the candidates accuse each other of terrible crimes horrible ideas and gross incompetence each candidate lists the ways he or she will use the power of government to force the winners policy preferences on the losers then once the votes are cast everyone is supposed to quickly accept the results ignore everything that was said during the campaign and immediately accept the winner as having an indisputable mandate to rule over everyone including the sizable minority or even the majority in many cases who either voted against the winner or abstained if there appears to be any irregularities in the vote well those should just be ignored because it would tear the country apart to drag out the election if half the country feels its been cheated well tough luck and better luck next time democracy breaks down as perceived interventionism increases
this model can only work indefinitely under certain specific conditions it can be workable when there is a perception that government is limited in its power and extensive or abrupt change to government institutions are thought to be rare it can also work in a small culturally uniform society where there is a relatively small divide between socioeconomic and ethnic groups
in the case of the united states however it appears that neither of these conditions apply
in the age of presidential executive orders militarized police uncountable federal laws and a myriad of spy agencies empowered to watch americans every move gone is the perception that a loss in an electoral contest should simply be accepted without question the president says he can issue laws with a pen and a phone without any need to consult congress the libya war proved presidents can invade any country without so much as a debate in congress meanwhile the untouchable supreme court hands down decisions that are equivalent to constitutional amendments some of which can have enormous effects on the daily lives of ordinary citizens
in other words the stakes are now reaching the point where an attitude of better luck next time doesnt cut it whether or not these fears are at times overstated is irrelevant the fact is the perception of democratic lawlessness is growing
this situation is further complicated by the fact that the united states is an enormous conglomeration of different cultural and socioeconomic groups spread out over a vast and varied geography many of these different groups distrust each other and in a country where the president and the judiciary now rule largely by proclamation there is reason to be fearful when the other guys candidate wins and yours loses democracy can work when the stakes are low
contrary to the naive musings of some nostalgic conservatives the united states was never united into a single cultural linguistic or socioeconomic group those differences may have reached a low point during the twentieth century but they were far larger in the th century than they are today
when you have a diverse population however the problem of who controls the government becomes far more important and this concern grows as the state becomes more powerful writing on the topic of immigration and nationalism in australia ludwig von mises noted how powerful states exacerbate the problem of cultural divides could a laissezfaire regime be guaranteed to all residents of australia mises notes it would not matter at all if there were cultural mistrust between englishdescended australians and asian newcomers however since laissezfaire liberalism has not been embraced a familiar problem presented itself
the present inhabitants of australia fear that some day they could be reduced to a minority in their own country and that they would then have to suffer all the horrors of national persecution to which for instance the germans are today ie the early s exposed in czechoslovakia italy and poland
it cannot be denied that these fears are justified because of the enormous power that today stands at the command of the state a national minority must expect the worst from a majority of a different nationality as long as the state is granted the vast powers which it has today and which public opinion considers to be its right the thought of having to live in a state whose government is in the hands of members of a foreign nationality is positively terrifying it is frightful to live in a state in which at every turn one is exposed to persecution masquerading under the guise of justice by a ruling majority it is dreadful to be handicapped even as a child in school on account of ones nationality and to be in the wrong before every judicial and administrative authority because one belongs to a national minority
it is clear that no solution of the problem of immigration is possible if one adheres to the ideal of the interventionist state which meddles in every field of human activity or to that of the socialist state only the adoption of the liberal program could make the problem of immigration which today seems insoluble completely disappear in an australia governed according to liberal principles what difficulties could arise from the fact that in some parts of the continent japanese and in other parts englishmen were in the majority
these same principles can be applied outside the subject of immigration as well the existence of an interventionist state means any country composed of diverse ethnic and socioeconomic groups faces the same problem of one group being exploited by another group with the help of state power change the term nationality to political party or interest groups and one has a fair approximation of the problem of democracy in any interventionist state
in the presence of a relatively weak government however these concerns are often overstated at the turn of the th century in the us for example the fact that spanishspeakers were in the majority in new mexico and many areas of the american west was irrelevant to the lives of the vast majority of americans the fact that japanese immigrants and their descendant were outcompeting white businessmen in california was simply not a matter of national importance the fact that oregon attempted to outlaw catholic schools was not a matter for presidential executive orders thanks to widespread suspicion of federal power at the time the lack of a strong federal judiciary and a relatively weak presidency meant these issues remained largely local while public policy was haphazard
voters have always feared losses in elections but now more than ever the voters may be justified in refusing to simply accept the outcomes of elections under an interventionist state which meddles in every field of human activity when that is the case elections are not something to be taken lightly trumps remarks about rigged elections and public fears over the outcome are to be expected from voters with an immense fear of outofcontrol state power
in response to all of this the pundits and government class will tell us that everyone must double down on democracy and that elections specifically federal ones are sacred rituals never to be questioned there will be a double standard of course a trump victory will be questioned by the media and powerful politicians but in that case it will be the fault of the russians and not anything wrong with the system itself the solution for the feds of course will be a federal takeover of the election system if clinton wins then no questioning of the system will be tolerated at all to question the outcome or the wisdom of these presidential contests will be denounced as scarcely less than sacrilege
the true solution to the problem remains far more practical however to paraphrase mises it is clear that no solution of the problem of elections is possible if one adheres to the ideal of the interventionist state so long as elections are increasingly perceived to be referenda on which side shall use the power of the state to crush the other side faith in the electoral system will erode and the potential for real violence will increase newsletter sign up get the latest breaking news specials from alex jones and the infowars crew related articles | 0 |
6,644 | U.S. companies tout climate policies, fund climate skeptics | BOSTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. companies that have expressed the most fervent public support for President Barack Obama’s environmental agenda are also funding its biggest enemies - the scores of U.S. lawmakers who are climate change skeptics and oppose regulation to combat it, according to a Reuters review of public records. Ahead of the Nov. 8 presidential and congressional elections, the donations from companies including PepsiCo, Dupont, and Google reveal a disconnect between how these companies present themselves to the public on environmental issues, and how they manage their political contributions to support business-friendly policy. (Click here for a graphic: tmsnrt.rs/2bWl9dN) Many companies active in U.S. politics spread their political donations broadly on both sides of the aisle and consider multiple issues when deciding whom to support. But inconsistency between a company’s environmental positions and its political giving may point up a need for better oversight, according to Jon Lukomnik, head of the Investor Responsibility Research Center Institute. “There really needs to be a process that looks at these issues ... at C-suite and board levels on a periodic basis,” Lukomnik said. The Reuters review covered donations made during the 2016 election cycle by the political action committees (PACs) of 30 of the biggest publicly traded U.S. companies that signed Obama’s “American Business Act on Climate Change Pledge” in 2015, a public promise to enact climate-friendly corporate policies and support strong climate change oversight like the global climate accord signed in Paris. The review found that 25 of the 30 companies are funding the campaigns of lawmakers featured on a “climate deniers” list that was put together by Organizing For Action, a non-profit created by former Obama campaign aides to advocate his agenda. The list includes more than 130 members of Congress, nearly all Republicans, and is a who’s who of the biggest opponents of Obama’s plan to combat climate change. Some of those on the list dispute the label “denier” and describe themselves as climate change “skeptics”. The list includes Republican Congressman Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, an energy advisor to presidential candidate Donald Trump who once argued the Earth was cooling not warming, and Republican U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, who last year held up a snowball on the Senate floor as evidence global warming does not exist. The review found PepsiCo and DuPont’s political action committees gave about half or more of the money from their top donations in support of senators and congressmen on the list. That amounted to $56,500 from the Pepsi PAC’s 29 donations of $2,500 and above, and $40,000 from the DuPont PAC’s 19 donations of $2,000 and above. Other signatories to the American Business Act on Climate Change Pledge that gave more than a third of their top political contributions to lawmakers on the list include Google, AT&T, GE, Verizon, and Mondelez, according to the review. Those levels of donations given to climate skeptics are relatively high given that the list covers about a quarter of U.S. Congress members. Officials from PepsiCo, Google, AT&T, and Verizon did not respond to requests for comment. DuPont declined to comment, and Mondelez referred Reuters to the press release announcing its participation in the climate pledge. A GE spokeswoman said the company supports “elected officials based on a wide range of issues, but we have consistently been outspoken about the need to address climate change and have invested over $17 billion in cleaner technology R&D over the last 11 years.” PepsiCo has also been working to become more energy efficient, and now operates the country’s largest fleet of electric delivery trucks. But it still has a sizeable carbon footprint: It produced some 4.1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents in 2013, down 2 percent from 2012, according to its website. A more recent figure was not available. DuPont, also working to increase its energy efficiency, emitted 16.5 million metric tons of greenhouse gases in 2013. Congressman Cramer, a self-described climate skeptic who opposes Obama’s climate agenda but has taken donations from companies that signed the climate pledge, said companies tend to consider issues like tax policy, national security, and regulatory policy when picking who to support - as opposed to a single issue like the environment. He, like other lawmakers featured on the Organizing For Action “climate deniers” list, said the debate over climate change was not as clear cut as Obama’s allies depict it. “It is not a black and white issue, like if you agree with Obama you’re enlightened, and if you don’t you’re in the dark,” he said. “It is more of a spectrum.” A spokeswoman for Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, another lawmaker featured on the list, said he had “done more than almost any other member of Congress to increase the use of clean energy” sources like wind and biofuels. But she added he was opposed to Obama’s climate change initiatives, like the Clean Power Plan to curb carbon output, because he felt that it could hurt the competitiveness of U.S. businesses globally. Senator Inhofe, who said he doesn’t mind the label “climate denier”, suggested that some companies had signed the American Business Act on Climate Change pledge for superficial reasons. “These are competitive companies, and the board might have said ‘Look, right now it might be a popular thing to join this, and there’s no downside since we’re not really committing to anything.’ That absolutely goes on,” he said. The five companies reviewed by Reuters that did not fund opponents to Obama’s climate change agenda either had no political action committee, like Apple, or made only a small number of contributions, like Coca Cola. Lauren Compere, managing director at sustainable investment manager Boston Common Asset Management, said consistency between policy and political giving was becoming increasingly important to environmentally-minded investors. “No company should want to be perceived as espousing progressive climate policies on the one hand, while funding climate deniers on the other,” she said. | 1 |
6,645 | 20 TIME DEPORTED MEXICAN Laughs While Being Sentenced For Sodomy, Kidnapping and Sexual Assault In SANCTUARY STATE of Oregon…Tells Victims’ Relatives: “See All You Guys In Hell!” [VIDEO] | Next time you see a Democrat lawmaker, thank them for supporting sanctuary cities and states, and making every American less safe A Mexican man who was deported from the US 20 times has been convicted of 10 counts including sexual assault in Oregon. On Friday, Sergio Jose Martinez, 31, was sentenced to 35 years in prison in a Portland courtroom after pleading guilty to kidnapping, sexual assault, sodomy and several other counts, KOIN reported.Martinez smiled throughout the trial, and as he left, he gave one grim parting shot to his two victims relatives: See all you guys in Hell. The first attack occurred early on the morning of July 24, when Martinez entered the Northeast Portland home of a 65-year-old woman through a window she had left open to cool the house.Wielding a metal rod, Martinez told the woman to get down on the ground, where he bound and blindfolded her, threatened to murder her, and then sexually assaulted her, KGW reported.He stole the woman s purse and car; she called the police from a neighbor s home, and they located the vehicle and put it under surveillance.While they kept an eye on the car, however, Martinez was stalking his second victim in a parking garage on the corner of Northeast 21st Avenue and Northeast Halsey Street.He approached her carrying a knife and made her get into her car; as he got in after her she attempted to escape, but he was able to grab her and start slamming her head into the ground.The woman called out for help and as passersby approached, Martinez attempted to steal her car, then fled on foot when it failed to start. Police caught him minutes later.Two relatives of one of the victims, and one of the victims herself spoke during the sentencing phase Friday, in which Martinez often grinned.A brother of one victim told Martinez: Sergio, no sentencing is enough. I rather you rot in Hell. Deputy District Attorney Amity Girt, the prosecutor on the case, said: We had some very powerful victim impact statements that said it all. It was really breathtaking to hear the far-reaching consequences of violent crime, the emotional injury. Under the agreement that spared Martinez a possibly longer sentence if he had been found guilty at trial, he pleaded guilty to 10 counts, including first-degree burglary, sodomy, sex abuse, kidnapping, robbery, and second-degree assault.Martinez s lawyer, Jonathan Sarre, said his client suffers from some mental illnesses; often such people may do inappropriate things in these situations. However, he acknowledged that a doctor had declared Martinez competent to stand trial.Martinez had been freed from jail in Portland a week before the attacks; he was in there for interfering with police and providing a false birth date.He was released despite a request from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement for the Multnomah County Sheriff s Office to hold him so the agency could take him into custody.Oregon became America s first sanctuary state when it adopted a law in 1987 preventing law enforcement from detaining people who are in the United States illegally but have not broken other laws. Daily Mail | 0 |
6,646 | Trump's 'been clear to me' to try to rebuild Russia ties: Tillerson | WELLINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump told his top diplomat that the dispute over probes into links between his inner circle and Russia should not undermine U.S. efforts to rebuild relations with Moscow, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Tuesday. Speaking in New Zealand after a trip to Australia, Tillerson reiterated the U.S. commitment to the Asia-Pacific region as global leaders have expressed growing mistrust over the Trump administration, which has withdrawn from key international agreements since taking office. At home, Trump’s administration has been plagued by questions over links to the Russian government. Tillerson said Trump told him to try to improve ties with Russia regardless of the U.S. political backdrop. “I can’t really comment on any of that because I don’t have any direct knowledge,” Tillerson told a news conference in Wellington, when asked how worried he was that the U.S. political crisis could take down the Trump administration. “The president’s been clear to me: do not let what’s happened over here in the political realm prevent you from the work that you need to do on this relationship and he’s been quite clear with me... that we might make progress. I’m really not involved in any of these other issues,” he said after a meeting with New Zealand Prime Minister Bill English. U.S. intelligence agencies concluded in January that Moscow tried to tilt the election campaign in Trump’s favor, including by hacking into the emails of senior Democrats, a charge the Kremlin denies. Trump has denied any collusion but the FBI and congressional probes into the Russia matter have dogged the early months of his presidency. Tillerson said the Asia-Pacific region remained “extremely important” for the United States both in terms of national security and economic interests. The Trump administration has come under fire for withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal and more recently the Paris Climate accord - both key to the region and to the small island nation of New Zealand. His visit was met by protesters, who threw condoms filled with water at a figure of Trump in front of parliament, protesting against the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris agreement and urging English to take a tougher stance, according to media. “We do believe that engaging globally remains important and we will be seeking ways to remain engaged and there are many ways we can do that, through the U.N. intergovernmental panel on climate change as well as economic and trade forums that we will obviously be very active in as well,” he said. The visit also comes at a time when China, one of New Zealand’s top trading and diplomatic partners, is projecting itself as the leader of free trade particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. | 1 |
6,647 | U.S. senator: 'Unlikely' Cuba ambassador will be approved this year | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which oversees the confirmation of foreign service nominees, said on Wednesday it was “highly unlikely” that an ambassador to Cuba would be approved this year. President Barack Obama on Tuesday nominated career diplomat Jeffrey DeLaurentis to be the first U.S. ambassador to Cuba in more than five decades. “The committee was notified of the nomination yesterday but has not yet received the appropriate paperwork to begin its work,” Republican Senator Bob Corker said in a statement emailed to Reuters. “However, it is highly unlikely that an ambassador to Cuba would be approved in the lame-duck.” The appointment of DeLaurentis, the top American official at the U.S. embassy in Havana, marked Obama’s latest move to go as far as he can in normalizing ties between the former Cold War foes before he leaves office in January. But the nomination must be approved by the Republican-controlled Senate, which is seen as a long shot. Corker’s committee would have to hold a confirmation hearing for DeLaurentis and vote to approve his nomination before it would go to the full Senate, where it could be blocked by any senator. Many lawmakers have warmly embraced Obama’s moves toward more normal relations with Cuba, which became public in a shock announcement in December 2014. But several strongly oppose his efforts, arguing that Cuba must do far more to improve human rights before it can deal normally with the United States. Cuban-American senators such as Republicans Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz and Democrat Robert Menendez are particularly opposed to Obama’s policy. Rubio and Menendez are both members of the foreign relations panel. Congress’ “lame-duck” session takes place in November and December, after the elections on Nov. 8 and before the new Congress comes to Washington in January. | 1 |
6,648 | Highlights: The Trump presidency on March 20 at 9:20 P.M. EDT | (Reuters) - Highlights of the day for U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Monday: FBI Director James Comey confirms for the first time that the bureau is investigating possible ties between Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia as Moscow sought to influence the 2016 U.S. election. Neil Gorsuch, Trump’s U.S. Supreme Court nominee, emphasizes the need for judicial independence even as the president castigates jurists who have ruled against him, while Democrats question whether Gorsuch would rule against abortion rights and gun control while favoring corporations. Congressional Republicans recraft their Obamacare replacement bill in hopes of satisfying critics as Trump prepares to promote his first major legislative initiative on Capitol Hill. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi says he wins assurances of greater U.S. support in fighting Islamic State militants in talks with Trump and top advisers, but cautions that military might alone would not be sufficient. The Trump administration is considering sweeping sanctions aimed at cutting North Korea off from the global financial system as part of a broad review of measures to counter Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile threat, a senior U.S. official says. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson plans to skip an April 5-6 meeting of NATO foreign ministers for a U.S. visit by the Chinese president and will travel to Russia later in the month, U.S. officials say, a step allies may see as putting Moscow’s concerns ahead of theirs. European foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini expresses concern about the Trump administration’s proposed deep cut in U.S. foreign assistance, saying it will destabilize major parts of the world and hurt American national security. U.S. officials are taking fingerprints of asylum seekers in an Australian-run camp on the Pacific island of Nauru, signaling that vetting of applicants for resettlement in what Trump calls a “dumb deal” has restarted. German Chancellor Angela Merkel says a G7 leaders’ summit in May will be a good opportunity to address differences with Trump on how to secure free trade while making commerce fairer. The Chinese government is seeking advice from its think tanks and policy advisers on how to counter potential trade penalties from Trump, preparing for the worst even as it hopes for business-like negotiations. Trump’s daughter Ivanka is getting an office in the White House West Wing, stepping up her highly visible role in helping advise her father. | 1 |
6,649 | Bernie Sanders DESTROYS Trump During His Coronation From The Comfort Of His Armchair | Remember when Donald Trump said he would debate Bernie Sanders and then refused to do so when Sanders accepted? Well, now we know how it would have gone.During Trump s coronation at the RNC Convention, the Vermont Senator sat back at home and responded to Trump s acceptance speech on Twitter and the result clearly shows that Sanders can wipe the floor with Trump on social media or in person.Of course, Sanders targeted Trump s economic proposals in particular, but he also counter-punched the Republican nominee on his Middle East policy, students loans, the Supreme Court, and Citizens United all while lampooning Trump for using other nations to manufacture his products.#RNCwithBernie pic.twitter.com/x5nuSI6AuN Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 22, 2016 Will Trump mention climate change, the great environmental crisis of our time? Been waiting for a year now. #RNCwithBernie Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 22, 2016Those who voted for me will not support Trump who has made bigotry and divisiveness the cornerstone of his campaign. #RNCwithBernie Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 22, 2016 We believe in bringing people together, not dividing them up. Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 22, 2016Trump is wrong. The real cause of instability in the Middle East was the Bush-Cheney invasion of Iraq. By the way, where is President Bush? Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 22, 2016 Trump s big economic plans: Give trillions in tax breaks to millionaires, refuse to raise the federal minimum wage. #RNCwithBernie Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 22, 2016Trump s economic plan: $3.2 trillion in tax breaks for millionaires, cut programs for low-income Americans. #RNCwithBernie Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 22, 2016 What a hypocrite! If Trump wants to fix trade he can start by making his products in the US, not low-wage countries abroad. #RNCwithBernie Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 22, 2016Fix trade. Stop manufacturing Trump shirts in Bangladesh at 30-cents an hour. #RNCwithBernie Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 22, 2016 Fix trade. Stop manufacturing Trump ties in China. Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 22, 2016Fix trade. Stop manufacturing Trump clothing in Mexico. #RNCwithBernie Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 22, 2016 Citizens United is one of the worst decisions in our history. Will Trump mention it or is he too afraid of the Koch brothers? #RNCwithBernie Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 22, 2016Still waiting for a single word about covering the 28 million Americans without health insurance. I guess they don t matter much to Trump. Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 22, 2016 Trump: I alone can fix this. Is this guy running for president or dictator? #RNCwithBernie Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 22, 2016Trump: I alone can fix this. Maybe he doesn t understand that a president has to work with Congress. #RNCwithBernie Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 22, 2016 Looks like Ted Cruz was right about one thing. Trump does not understand what the Constitution is about. #RNCwithBernie Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 22, 2016Our movement understands that what we don t need is Trump s huge tax breaks for millionaires. #RNCwithBernie Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 22, 2016 Trump thinks climate change is a hoax. My supporters understand that we must move away from fossil fuels, not expand them. #RNCwithBernie Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 22, 2016Will there be one word about student debt or making college affordable? Or just concerned about more tax breaks for the rich? #RNCwithBernie Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 22, 2016 Trump s economic plan: same old, same old trickle-down economics. Pathetic. #RNCwithBernie Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 22, 2016Trump s economic plan: let states lower the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, already a starvation wage. Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 22, 2016 Trump s Supreme Court nominees would, like Scalia, oppose a woman s right to choose, support Citizens United and gut the Voting Rights Act. Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 22, 2016Bernie definitely made it clear that Donald Trump is NOT a viable alternative for his supporters to turn to in the wake of his endorsement of Hillary Clinton. Sanders understands that Trump would be a disaster for this country and going forward a little by voting for Hillary is way better than going completely backwards by voting for Trump.Oh, and it s also pretty clear that Sanders kicked Trump s ass.Featured image via Twitter | 0 |
6,650 | Key House Republican expects to see revised healthcare plan within 24 hours | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The leader of a group of U.S. House Republican conservatives said on Monday he expects to see text of a revamped bill to repeal and replace Obamacare within 24 hours. “We’re waiting to see what the legislative text actually outlines but we remain open minded and willing to look at the details of the plan,” Representative Mark Meadows, chairman of the House of Representatives Freedom Caucus, told reporters after a meeting of the group, which helped kill a White House-backed plan last month. “We’re hopeful that we’ll get the legislative text within the next 24 hours.” | 1 |
6,651 | Iraqi parliament votes to remove kirkuk governor from office: lawmakers | BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq s parliament voted on Thursday to remove the governor of Kirkuk from office following a request from Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, according to several lawmakers who attended the vote. The decision to remove the governor, Najmaddin Kareem, comes after Kirkuk - an oil-rich province claimed by both the central government in Baghdad and the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq - decided to take part in a referendum set for Sept. 25 on Kurdish independence. | 1 |
6,652 | Denmark no longer to automatically accept U.N. refugee resettlement quota | COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Denmark will no longer automatically accept a quota of refugees under a U.N. resettlement program after passing a law on Wednesday that enables the government to determine how many can enter each year. Since 1989, Denmark has agreed to take 500 refugees a year selected by the United Nations under a program to ease the burden on countries that neighbor war zones. But after the European migration crisis in 2015 brought almost 20,000 claims for asylum, Denmark has refused to take any U.N. quota refugees. Under the new law, the immigration minister will decide how many refugees will be allowed under the U.N. program, with 500 now the maximum except in an exceptional situation . It s hard to predict how many refugees and migrants will show up at the border to seek asylum, and we know it may be hard to integrate those who arrive here, Immigration and Integration Minister Inger Stojberg said last month when her ministry proposed the law. The opposition Social-Liberal Party said opting out of the U.N. program would increase pressure on countries already accommodating large numbers of refugees, and the move could encourage other countries to follow suit. Last year, more than 6,000 people claimed asylum in Denmark. Between January and November this year just over 3,000 people did. (Corrects throughout to show new law only applies to U.N. resettlement quota, not other refugee applications.) | 1 |
6,653 | Tensions lurk behind Pence's 'partnership' visit to Indonesia | JAKARTA (Reuters) - Washington has billed Vice President Mike Pence’s visit to Indonesia next week as a booster for the Strategic Partnership between the world’s second- and third-largest democracies, but a raft of bilateral tensions could sap the goodwill from his trip. Pence’s counterpart in the world’s most populous Muslim country has voiced worries about U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration policy, which critics say is biased against Muslims, and about his “America First” mantra on trade and investment. “We in Indonesia never change. The change is there. That’s why we’re asking them now, ‘what is your policy now on the economy, on democracy, now that Trump is in power?’,” Vice President Jusuf Kalla told Reuters on March 31. “What does it mean, ‘America first’? I can say, too, ‘Indonesia first’ if you say ‘America first’.” Indonesia is one of 16 countries against which the United States runs a trade deficit that will be investigated by the Trump administration for possible trade abuses. Trump’s combative approach will not sit easily with Indonesia, where economic nationalism and protectionist tendencies have flourished since a slump in commodity prices in recent years slammed the brakes on economic growth. “Unfortunately I do see a hardening of attitudes on our side,” said a senior Indonesian government official, who declined to be named. “And it’s of particular concern because we’re on that list of 16 countries ... that are going to be investigated.” The official said a tougher stand by Indonesian authorities had also contributed to a series of disputes with U.S. companies, including Alphabet Inc’s Google, miner Freeport-McMoRan Inc and financial services giant JP Morgan Chase & Co. A SERIES OF FACE-OFFS Indonesia has dueled with Google over back taxes and fines running into hundreds of millions of dollars, and with Freeport in a contract row that has crippled operations at the world’s second-largest copper mine, Grasberg. It also dropped JP Morgan as a primary bond dealer after the bank’s research analysts issued a negative report on the country in November. “It’s a very unfortunate series of issues which all happen to be American,” said the official, who expects them to come up in private during Pence’s visit. Indonesia is the third stop on an April 15-25 tour that includes South Korea, Japan and Australia. Google declined to comment for this report, and JPMorgan did not respond to a request for comment. Freeport Indonesia spokesman Riza Pratama said: “This visit is happening entirely independent of our current negotiations with the government of Indonesia.” However, billionaire investor Carl Icahn, Freeport’s third-biggest shareholder and now a special adviser to Trump, has described Jakarta’s tactics over the mining contract as “disingenuous and insulting”, according to the New York Times. Another potential irritant is biodiesel. The U.S. National Biodiesel Board (NBB), a producer group, has petitioned the U.S. government to impose anti-dumping duties on biodiesel from Indonesia and Argentina, claiming they have flooded the U.S. market. “This is one of the issues that we have asked the trade ministry to bring to the meeting (with Pence),” Paulus Tjakrawan, a director at the Indonesia Biofuel Producers Association, told Reuters. “Our hope is for the government to be firm ... Otherwise we will be taken advantage of,” he said. “Not to act like thugs but, for example, if they put barriers to our exports, why not stop importing some of their goods?” Despite the strains, the government official said Indonesia would be careful to start its relationship with the Trump administration on the right foot. Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s approach to foreign policy has been led more by economic interests than geopolitical considerations: he has pursued increased trade and investment from China but keeps a diplomatic distance from Beijing and established a strategic partnership with Washington under former President Barack Obama. U.S. ambassador to Indonesia, Joseph R. Donovan Jr, said in a statement last week that Pence’s visit reflected a continued commitment to that partnership, would deepen economic engagement and boost regional security cooperation. “The U.S. embassy here certainly is going to great lengths to make the visit a success,” said the Indonesian official. “My impression is he’s (Pence) not going to ruffle feathers in public, he’s not going to cause a ruckus.” | 1 |
6,654 | Trump's FBI comments to Russians were aimed at cooperation: McMaster | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump raised the firing of his FBI director in a meeting with Russia’s foreign minister to explain why he had been unable to find areas of cooperation with Moscow, the White House national security adviser said on Sunday. “The gist of the conversation was that the president feels as if he is hamstrung in his ability to work with Russia to find areas of cooperation because this has been obviously so much in the news,” H.R. McMaster said in an interview on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.” Reports that Trump boasted to Russian officials of firing former FBI director James Comey to relieve “great pressure” from a law-enforcement probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election engulfed his administration in turmoil just as Trump left for his first foreign trip as president on Friday. “I just fired the head of the FBI. He was crazy, a real nut job,” Trump said during a May 10 meeting with Russian officials, according to a report by The New York Times that cited a document summarizing the meeting and an unnamed U.S. official. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denied that Comey had come up during the meeting, according to Interfax news agency. McMaster also said in Sunday’s interview that the central purpose of Trump’s conversation with Lavrov and Russia’s ambassador to Washington was to confront Russia on areas where the United States considers them disruptive, such as Syria. McMaster criticized sources who told reporters that Trump had disclosed highly classified information to the Russian officials in the meeting about a planned Islamic State operation. “In a concern about divulging intelligence they leaked actually not just the information from the meeting, but also indicated the sources and methods to a to a newspaper. I mean it doesn’t make sense,” McMaster said.” | 1 |
6,655 | Despite Trump vow to end catch and release, he is still freeing thousands of migrants | McAllen, Texas (Reuters) - Standing on the bluffs of Roma, Texas on a May afternoon two border patrol agents look out over the meandering Rio Grande River that separates Mexico from the United States and recall a time when the scene was far less tranquil. Last fall, during the waning months of the Obama administration, hundreds of immigrants crossed the river on rafts at this point each day, many willingly handing themselves over to immigration authorities in hopes of being released into the United States to await court proceedings that would decide their fate. Now, the agents look out on an empty landscape. Foot paths up from the water have started to disappear under growing brush, with only the stray baby shoe or toothbrush serving as reminders of that migrant flood. The reason for the change, the agents say, is a perception in Mexico and Central America that President Donald Trump has ended the practice known as “catch-and-release,” in which immigrants caught in the United States without proper documents were released to live free, often for years, as their cases ran through the court system. Now, would-be border violators know “they’ll be detained and then turned right back around,” said one of the two agents, Marlene Castro. “It’s not worth it anymore,” she said. Castro was simply echoing her boss, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, who said on a visit to El Paso, Texas in April, “We have ended dangerous catch-and-release enforcement policies.” But immigration attorneys, government statistics and even some officials from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which falls under Kelly, suggest that despite the DHS chief’s statement, there has been no clear change to the catch-and-release policy. That’s in large part because there are legal constraints on who can be detained and for how long, due to a shortage of beds and a court ruling limiting the stay of women and children in custody to 21 days. A separate court ruling limits detention time for immigrants whose countries refuse to repatriate them. And Kelly noted in a February memorandum that asylum seekers that have proven they have a “credible fear” of returning home could be candidates for release if they present “neither a security risk nor a risk of absconding.” Daniel Bible, ICE field office director for Southern Texas, told Reuters he and his colleagues have not been issued new directions, and so continue to release illegal immigrants deemed to be low security risks, usually with notices to appear in court. “We look at each case the same way we always have,” Bible said. DHS spokeswoman Jenny Burke confirmed to Reuters that the agency has not issued new guidance for releasing migrants caught at the border. Asked to explain why there had been no new guidance, given Kelly’s statement in April, Burke said, “ICE officers make custody determinations on a case-by-case basis, prioritizing detention resources.” In a memo made public in February, Kelly defined catch and release as any policy that allows immigrants to be released from detention while they await their court hearings, making it easy to abscond. Ending catch and release was one of Trump’s central promises during the 2016 presidential campaign. Some advocates who work with migrants say they have seen little change since Trump came into office. “Sure, people are still being released,” said Kevin Appleby, senior director of international migration policy at the Center for Migration Studies. “Not because they believe in releasing them, but because there are not enough beds at the moment.” ICE declined to provide data on the number of migrants being released into the United States. But other ICE data not previously published and reviewed by Reuters shows the pool of people not in custody and awaiting court appearances is growing. Since Trump took office in late January, the number of immigrants awaiting court proceedings while living freely in the United States has grown by nearly 30,000, rising by an average of about 7,500 per month, according to the ICE data. During the last seven months of President Barack Obama’s presidency, the rolls of those awaiting legal proceedings outside of custody grew more rapidly, at an average of about 20,600 people per month. Part of the slower rate under Trump can be traced to a 58 percent drop in apprehensions of people crossing the border. Still, the numbers suggest the Trump administration is a long way from ending catch-and-release. NumbersUSA, a Washington-based organization that supports limited immigration, praised the Trump administration’s tough talk and its chilling effect on illegal immigration. “That impact will be temporary, though, unless the administration follows through by ending ‘catch and release’ for good,” it said. The Trump administration though has come up against the reality that there simply is not enough space in detention centers. Congress has funded about 34,000 beds to detain immigration violators, and the average daily population of detainees has been near or above capacity since before Trump took office. One way the administration hopes to free up detention space is to decrease the time it takes to resolve cases. The Justice Department has requested funding to hire an additional 125 immigration judges over the next two years, an increase of 50 percent. In the meantime, some border officials hope would-be migrants remain nervous. When told that ICE detention centers are still releasing many immigrants to live in the United States, Castro and her border agent colleague, who declined to be named, exchanged a look and then shrugged. “Don’t tell them that,” her colleague said. -See a related photo essay here reut.rs/2qZcutn | 1 |
6,656 | fbi horrified as spy says russia has been supporting and cultivating trump for years | jakub voracek of the philadelphia flyers celebrates after scoring the winning goal during the shootout against the buffalo sabres at wells fargo center on october in philadelphia pennsylvaniaafp
the philadelphia flyers came back from behind to beat the buffalo sabres on tuesday night
trailing nothing at the end of the second period the flyers sprang into life and scored three times to tie the game at threeapiece at the end of the third period
no goals went either way from then onwards and so he game was taken into overtime and later into shootout thats where jakub voracek scored the game winner for the flyers | 1 |
6,657 | UKIP's Farage: I can help UK build ties with Trump | LONDON (Reuters) - Leading Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage said on Tuesday he was in a good position to help Britain build ties with Donald Trump after the U.S. President-elect tweeted that Farage should be British ambassador to Washington. “I have known several of the Trump team for years and I am in a good position with the President-elect’s support to help,” Farage, leader of the opposition UK Independence Party (UKIP), wrote in a column for the Breitbart website. “The world has changed and it’s time that Downing Street did too,” he said, referring to Prime Minister Theresa May’s office. Downing Street earlier said there was “no vacancy” for an ambassador to the United States and an excellent one was already in place. Trump, who after his election victory met Farage ahead of any EU leaders, had said on Twitter that “many people” would like to see the UKIP leader, who is on very bad terms with the ruling Conservatives, as Britain’s ambassador. | 1 |
6,658 | U.S. Supreme Court rejects Texas appeal over voter ID law | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal by Texas seeking to revive the state’s strict Republican-backed voter-identification requirements that a lower court found had a discriminatory effect on black and Hispanic people. The justices let stand a July 2016 decision by a lower court that found that the 2011 Texas statute ran afoul of a federal law that bars racial discrimination in elections and directed a lower court to find a way to fix the law’s discriminatory effects against minorities. There were no noted dissents from the high court’s decision not to hear the case from any of the eight justices, but Chief Justice John Roberts took the unusual step of issuing a statement explaining why the case was not taken up, noting that litigation on the matter is continuing in lower courts. Roberts said that although there was “no barrier to our review,” all the legal issues can be raised on appeal at a later time. The law, passed by a Republican-led legislature and signed by a Republican governor, had been considered one of the strictest of its type in the United States. It was challenged in court by the U.S. Justice Department under former President Barack Obama, civil rights groups and individual voters. Critics including the Obama administration had said the Texas law and similar statutes enacted in other Republican-governed states were tailored to make it harder for minorities including black and Hispanic voters, who tend to support Democrats, to cast ballots. Backers of these laws have said they are necessary to prevent voter fraud, despite little evidence of such fraud. The seven types of government-issued identification permitted under the law as proof of identity included a driver’s license, a concealed handgun license, a military ID card and a U.S. passport but not state university ID cards or identification issued to obtain welfare benefits. A special 15-judge panel of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 9-6 that the Texas law had a discriminatory effect and violated the U.S. Voting Rights Act. The judges were divided differently on other parts of the ruling. The appeals court directed a federal district court to examine claims by the plaintiffs that the law was actually intended to be discriminatory, rather than merely having a discriminatory effect. A hearing on that part of the case was scheduled for Tuesday but has now been delayed following a request from President Donald Trump’s administration. While Obama’s administration had backed the challenge to the Texas requirements, the Trump administration could change course. Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, whose office launched the appeal, said he was disappointed by the court’s action. “Texas enacted a common sense voter ID law to safeguard the integrity of our elections, and we will continue to fight for the law in the district court, the Fifth Circuit, and if necessary, the Supreme Court again,” Paxton said in a statement. Challengers of the Texas law have said that up to 600,000 people would be unable to vote if the law were fully in effect because of the large number of voters who lack the limited types of permissible identification. After the appeals court ruling, Texas and the plaintiffs struck a deal for a short-term remedy to be used for the November 2016 election. The Texas law is one of several passed by Republican legislatures since 2010. A similar law in North Carolina was struck down by a federal appeals court in July 2016. | 1 |
6,659 | French government dampens Corsican nationalists' autonomy hopes | PARIS (Reuters) - France s government on Tuesday ruled out major concessions towards autonomy sought by Corsica s nationalists after they won a regional election, but said it was open to talks that took account of the island s distinctive character. The nationalists on Sunday won two thirds of the seats in the new regional council that takes office on Jan. 1. Their ambitions are relatively modest among the wave of secessionist movements that have sprung up in parts of Europe as its traditional political forces have lost traction. Unlike Catalonia s nationalists, they do not target outright independence, but they do seek official status for the Corsican language and a greater say on fiscal issues. Government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux said there were Corsican specifics to be taken into account in the discussions that Paris holds with all new regional authorities. (But) let s be clear ... this was not a referendum or a vote on autonomy or independence, he told France 2 TV. The Corsican nationalists also want to be able to decide who can buy properties and they seek liberty for those they call political prisoners, who have been condemned for attacks or are awaiting judgment. The sun-drenched island, the birthplace of Napoleon and known as much over recent decades for its sometimes violent independence movements as for its stunning landscapes, has long been a thorn in the side of French governments. Clandestine group the National Front for the Liberation of Corsica (FLNC) laid down its weapons in 2014 after a near four-decade long rebellion, in a major shift that helped boost the popularity of the moderate nationalists who won Sunday s election. Asked about prisoners, Griveaux said: The law must be respected. When there have been crimes and a court ruling, when people have been condemned, the sentence should be carried out. Asked about Corsican becoming an official language on the island alongside French, Griveaux said provision had already been made in various regions to allow the use of a local language, for instance in some schools. But the language of the Republic is French, he added. Political analyst Andre Fazi, a lecturer at the University of Corsica, said it would be hard for the nationalists to get what they wanted. But with Sunday s election win, it would also be risky for the government to not do anything, he said. Shutting the door completely could boost calls for outright independence, as was the case in Catalonia. In a sign that the government might be taking this into account, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe on Sunday called nationalist leader Gilles Simeoni to congratulate him on his win and told him he was willing to see him soon in Paris. | 1 |
6,660 | After four months jail, Turkey's Amnesty director says trial is 'surreal' | ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Amnesty International s Turkey director, freed from four months detention but still facing trial on terrorism charges, said the case against her and other human rights activists was absurd and surreal . Idil Eser was one of eight activists freed last week on bail, in a case which has become a flashpoint in Turkey s tense relations with Europe. Their trial has brought condemnation from rights groups and some Western governments concerned by what they see as creeping authoritarianism in the NATO member state. The activists were detained by police in July as they attended a workshop on digital security and information management on an island near Istanbul. The charge against them, of aiding a terrorist organization, is similar to those leveled against tens of thousands of Turks detained since a failed military coup by rogue soldiers in July 2016, in which at least 240 people were killed. I cannot even find words to describe the absurdity, the surreality of the situation. It s total nonsense, Eser said when asked about the charges. She was speaking to Reuters in her first interview since being released. Turkey rejects foreign criticism of the trials and says its judiciary operates independently of the government. Turkey is a state of law and our judges are independent and impartial, Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag told reporters earlier this week when asked about the case. At the time of the activists detention, President Tayyip Erdogan said the eight had gathered on the island for a meeting that might be considered as a follow-up to last year s failed coup, which he has cast as part of a foreign-backed plot. Erdogan was quoted by several Turkish newspapers on Thursday as telling reporters on his plane that the judiciary was acting independently in the case. We cannot know how the court will rule in the end, the Hurriyet newspaper quoted him as saying. The indictment also brought charges against Swedish national Ali Gharavi and Peter Steudtner, a German, prompting an angry response from Berlin, which threatened to put curbs on economic investment in Turkey and said it was reviewing arms projects. The day after their release last week, Steudtner and Gharavi left Turkey, but the trial continues on Nov. 22. Prosecutors have sought jail sentences of up to 15 years for all of the defendants. Steudtner and Gharavi told the court during the trial that they were shocked by the allegations against them. They could not immediately be reached for further comment. Authorities have jailed more than 50,000 people pending trial in a crackdown following the abortive coup. Erdogan says the purges across society are necessary to maintain stability in Turkey, a NATO member state bordering Iran, Iraq and Syria. European allies fear he is using the investigations to check opposition and undermine the judiciary. Eser said her time in jail had marked a turning point in her life. Less than a week after her release, the 54-year-old made an appointment at a tattoo parlor in central Istanbul. With other defendants, we had decided to go to a Turkish bath when we got out, and the other decision was to get a tattoo, she said. So I started right away. | 1 |
6,661 | Ballot boxes, voting papers appear at some polling stations for Catalan referendum | BARCELONA (Reuters) - Ballot boxes and voting papers were being set out at some voting stations in Catalonia in preparation for Sunday s planned referendum on splitting from Spain, local media said, despite Spanish authorities declaring the vote illegal. Catalonia s TV3 showed ballot boxes and voting papers ready at one polling station in a Barcelona suburb. La Vanguardia newspaper reported that the first ballot boxes had arrived in several centers. Voting is due to start at 9 A.M. (0700 GMT) but it is unclear if police will allow it to go ahead. | 1 |
6,662 | Colorado lawmaker aims to outlaw pot-laced gummy bears | (Reuters) - A Colorado lawmaker is trying to outlaw marijuana-laced gummy candies that resemble children’s treats, the latest effort by a U.S. state to address the complexities and unintended consequences of pot legalization. In 2014 Colorado became the first state to allow the sale of marijuana for recreational use, and it has grown to be a billion dollar industry in the state. The measure by State Representative Dan Pabon, a Democrat from Denver, would prohibit edible marijuana to be sold in the form of an animal, human or fruit, common shapes for gummy candies favored by young children. “Right now in Colorado, there are no distinguishing characteristics between the gummy bear that contains marijuana and one that does not,” Palon said. The appeal of edible marijuana products to children has become a concern in the few U.S. states that have legalized pot in recent years. In Washington state, where legal pot has been on sale for about 18 months, regulators recently tightened the rules on edible products made with cannabis, said Rick Garza, director of the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis board. The new restrictions outlawed brightly colored marijuana lollipops and other sweets deemed to be particularly attractive to children, Gar said. Numerous children in Colorado were hospitalized after becoming critically ill as a result of ingesting edible marijuana products after pot became legal there in 2014, and lawmakers have already moved once to toughen the rules. But Democratic Governor John Hickenlooper has urged the legislature to do more, saying in his State of the State address in January that pot-laced edibles look too much like “products kids can find in the candy aisle.” “Back in the day, candy cigarettes desensitized kids to the dangers of tobacco - and today, pot-infused gummy bears send the wrong message to our kids about marijuana,” Hickenlooper said. Pabon’s bill, submitted on Thursday, directs the state’s marijuana regulatory agency to develop more detailed guidelines on how enforcing the ban on marijuana candies shaped like humans, animals or fruit would work. Voters in four U.S. states and the District of Columbia approved ballot measures to legalize marijuana for recreational use by adults in recent years. Numerous others allow medicinal use. Advocates have pushed for similar referendums in a half-dozen other states, including California, Massachusetts and Maine. In Maine, a proposed legalization referendum advanced on Friday when a judge overruled a state official’s decision invalidating some of the signatures needed to get the initiative on the ballot. | 1 |
6,663 | us military prepares to shut down russias internet if it hacks the election | email
isis has declared war on palestine threatening genocide against the palestinian people following the murder of hamas senior commander saber siam on sunday isis militants said that siam was killed due to the fact he was a partner in a declared war against religion and against muslims working for the heretical government in gaza americansorg report the attack was conducted by isisaffiliated salafist rebels who have also warned local residents to stay away from hamas offices and buildings as it plans to carry out more attacks the conflict between hamas and isis in gaza started when palestinian forces demolished a makeshift mosque used by ansar albayt almaqdis in early may ansar albayt almaqdis is an egyptian islamist group that has pledged allegiance to isis and has been recruiting palestinians for the islamic state after demolishing the almtahabin mosque hamas then arrested seven men including a local salafist sheikh yasser abu houli isis claims it will kill palestinians one by one and that it knows the names and addresses of all the officers working for the palestinian intelligence agency | 0 |
6,664 | Mueller, New York attorney general cooperating on Manafort probe: Politico | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team is working with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on its investigation into President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort and his financial transactions, Politico reported on Wednesday. Citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, Politico reported Mueller’s team, which is investigating possible collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia, and Schneiderman’s aides have shared evidence and talked frequently about a potential case in recent weeks. The cooperation “could potentially provide Mueller with additional leverage to get Manafort to cooperate in the larger investigation into Trump’s campaign, as Trump does not have pardon power over state crimes,” Politico reported. CNN reported on Tuesday that Mueller had issued subpoenas to an attorney who formerly represented Manafort and to a Manafort spokesman. Manafort’s Virginia apartment was raided by agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation last month. The longtime political consultant and lobbyist is being investigated for possible money laundering and has been targeted as someone who might testify against former colleagues, two people familiar with Mueller’s work have said. Politico said no decision had been made on whether to file charges, and quoted one of the sources as saying “Nothing is imminent.” Mueller’s team has been looking into Manafort’s lobbying work and financial transactions, including real estate deals in New York. Manafort, who headed Republican Trump’s campaign for several months in 2016, has not been accused of any wrongdoing. Schneiderman, a Democrat, said in May that Trump’s firing of former FBI Director James Comey threatened the integrity of the agency. Trump has called Schneiderman a “lightweight.” Russia has denied any meddling in the 2016 U.S. election. Trump has denied any collusion by his campaign and has condemned the investigation as political witch hunt. | 1 |
6,665 | OBAMA’S WAR ON COPS Takes Toll On Black Communities: Young Girl Cries Over #BlackLivesMatter Violence In Her Milwaukee Neighborhood [VIDEO] | Communities like Ferguson, Baltimore and now Milwaukee, didn t ask for this war on cops, it was thrust upon them. It was organized, paid for and well-orchestrated by Obama and other Democrats players from a variety of backgrounds. Former Attorney General Eric Holder was caught paying protesters with taxpayer money to come to Sanford, FL to march against George Zimmerman in the Trayvon Martin case that got Obama s Race War/War on Cops started back in March, 2012. With so many stories about the violence and crime coming out of Milwaukee, a bright ray of hope comes from a prayer rally created by a community torn apart by Obama s war on cops.A young girl bravely speaks out against the violence in her neighborhood. The sadness and despair in her shaking voice is truly heartbreaking. These people are trapped in a neighborhood overrun with crime, violence and despair. They re trapped in a neighborhood run by greedy Democrat politicians who have substituted government control for self-respect and dignity. They have taken away these citizens desire to do better, they have stripped them of the belief that they truly can escape their situation. They ve set up Planned Parenthood abortion mills on every corner to keep their population down and have given them just enough to sustain themselves, but not too much to escape government control.Rotten school officials and union leaders tasked with improving their education are only out for themselves, always looking for the next pay raise or special perk that comes with the job. What these self-serving politicians and school administrators are giving to these communities of mostly fatherless kids are a poor education, low self-esteem and no hope for a better life.These young adults are choosing a life of crime over a job. They re choosing to drop out of school instead of getting a job at a local fast-food restaurant while attending a local community college or technical training center. These young adults don t know, or understand the value of sacrificing today for a future tomorrow, because the Democratic Party has convinced them they don t need to worry about the future. They ve convinced them they don t need to be self-sufficient. The only thing they need is the government and that s enough. That s also the reason this frightened little girl seen in the video below, is trapped in this tragic neighborhood filled with violence and crime and may never get out as long as Democrats continue to fool the voters in these crime-ridden cities they are on their side.Thank goodness these citizens, (who are truly a ray of hope in these uncertain times) are able to turn to God for guidance and to ask for protection for their community, and for law enforcement officers who keep their neighborhoods safe. | 0 |
6,666 | White House says some members of infrastructure advisory council resign | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Some members of a White House infrastructure advisory council have resigned, the White House said on Tuesday, days after President Donald Trump’s response to violence at a rally by white nationalists in Virginia prompted business leaders and cultural figures to quit other panels in protest. Trump last week disbanded two business advisory councils after several chief executives resigned in protest over his remarks blaming the violence on anti-racism activists as well as white nationalists. In a statement on Tuesday, the White House did not give a reason for the resignations from the National Infrastructure Advisory Council and said the panel met on Tuesday with the majority of its members. It did not specify how many members quit. “We can confirm that a number of members of the NIAC who had been appointed under the previous administration have submitted their resignation,” the statement said. Trump, commenting on the Aug. 12 rally organized by neo-Nazis and other white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia, where a woman was killed when a car plowed into a group of counter-protesters, said last week that there were “very fine people” on both sides. Trump dissolved the American Manufacturing Council and the Strategic and Policy Forum on Aug. 16. Sixteen members of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities also resigned on Friday in protest. | 1 |
6,667 | economists sign letter urging america not to vote for donald trump | egypt the file photo shows mohammed badie a senior figure of egypts now outlawed muslim brotherhood
egypts appeals court has upheld a draconian life sentence that was handed down to mohammed badie the spiritual leader of the now outlawed muslim brotherhood
the court ruled on wednesday that badie along with others who served as ministers in the government led by the countrys first democratically elected president mohamed morsi who was supported by the brotherhood between and deserved life behind bars for inciting violence and murder
badie has been viewed as a key element in the muslim brotherhood a party which operated under numerous restrictions during the era of the countrys former dictator hosni mubarak the senior brotherhood figure played a major role in the popular uprising that led to the ouster of mubarak in january
during the wednesday session the court also upheld the death sentences for other individuals who had been tried in absentia
a criminal court in tried defendants who include former youth and supplies ministers for charges of murder attempted murder resisting authorities assaulting policemen sabotage and blocking a main road in the nile delta city of qalyubia
the general legal procedure against the muslim brotherhood began in july when morsi was ousted in a military coup the head of the egyptian armed forces abdel fattah elsisi came to power afterward sisi is believed to have orchestrated the coup as well as the ensuing crackdown on the brotherhood
estimates provided by human rights campaigners show that people have been killed and have been arrested in relation to the crackdown on the members and supporters of the muslim brotherhood
morsi himself has been sentenced to years in jail for escaping prison in the appeals court endorsed the sentence last week rejecting his appeal loading | 1 |
6,668 | WATCH: Trump Loves The GOP Healthcare Bill But Kellyanne Conway Doesn’t Want His Name On It | If Trump isn t willing to attach his name to something, you know it must really be bad no matter how wonderful he says it is.On Monday, House Republicans passed what they dubiously refer to as the American Healthcare Act, which repeals the Affordable Care Act.The bill would strip healthcare from millions of Americans, including the millions who were able to access Medicaid coverage. The bill also defunds Planned Parenthood and sticks senior citizens with higher costs among a litany of other things that screw over the American people.On Tuesday, Donald Trump praised the bill on Twitter.Our wonderful new Healthcare Bill is now out for review and negotiation. ObamaCare is a complete and total disaster is imploding fast! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 7, 2017Of course, the only reason why the Affordable Care Act is imploding is because Trump and Republicans have been sabotaging it.But as wonderful as Trump says the Make America Sick Again bill is, his propaganda minister Kellyanne Conway is desperate to make sure Trump s name is not attached to it.After being asked by Fox News host Bill Hemmer if it would be okay to call the bill Trumpcare, Conway was quick to reply that Trump s name should not be associated with it in such a way. It s the American Health Care Act, and I think it s aptly named that for this reason, Conway said. It wants to cover, it wants everyone to have access to coverage, and that is something that didn t happen under Obamacare I ll call it Trumpcare if you want to, but I didn t hear President Trump say to any of us, I want my name on that. It s not about branding according to someone s name. This is serious business. Here s the video via YouTube:Gee, that didn t stop Republicans from branding the Affordable Care Act as Obamacare, even though the landmark healthcare law was aptly named because it actually made healthcare more accessible and affordable for millions of Americans.Trump s American Healthcare Act only strips millions of Americans of their healthcare coverage. It does nothing to give coverage to everyone. If Trump wants to cover all Americans he would push for universal healthcare, not a bill that takes healthcare away from millions, including people who voted for him.The real reason why Conway doesn t want Trump s name on the bill is because it s a bad bill that will harm a lot of people. In fact, it will likely lead to the deaths of many Americans.Trump and his Republican sycophants don t give a shit about all the people they are going to hurt by repealing the Affordable Care Act. Ad they certainly do not care about this country and its future. They only care about themselves.Featured image via screenshot | 0 |
6,669 | Key Republican senator doubts 15 percent corporate tax rate can be reached | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the Senate Finance Committee said on Friday he doubted negotiators trying to craft a tax reform bill could reach President Donald Trump’s goal of dropping the U.S. corporate tax rate to 15 percent. “I sincerely doubt that we will be able to get to that level on corporate tax rates,” Republican Senator Orrin Hatch, whose panel has jurisdiction over the U.S. tax code in the Senate, told CNBC. | 1 |
6,670 | OOPS! MIT Researchers Debunk Global Warming Data…Report Confirms President Trump Was Right To Pull Out Of Paris Climate Agreement | B b..but Al Gore and Barack Obama say Scientists were exposed for manipulating climate data during the 2011 Climategate scandal when 5,000 emails were released from scientists proving that the science behind their studies is inconclusive and mostly a result of manipulating climate data to fit the political message they were trying to convey.Three themes emerged from the emails that were released in the Climategate scandal: (1) prominent scientists central to the global warming debate are taking measures to conceal rather than disseminate underlying data and discussions; (2) these scientists view global warming as a political cause rather than a balanced scientific inquiry and (3) many of these scientists frankly admit to each other that much of the science is weak and dependent on deliberate manipulation of facts and data. ForbesA new report on global warming data has now proven President Donald Trump to be right to pull out of the Paris Agreement. The report analyzed climate data such as Global Average Surface Temperature (GAST), the NOAA, and HADLEY.SHFTPLan reports: According to the report, which has been peer reviewed by administrators, scientists and researchers from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), and several of America s leading universities, the data is completely bunk: In this research report, the most important surface data adjustment issues are identified and past changes in the previously reported historical data are quantified. It was found that each new version of GAST has nearly always exhibited a steeper warming linear trend over its entire history. And, it was nearly always accomplished by systematically removing the previously existing cyclical temperature pattern. This was true for all three entities providing GAST data measurement, NOAA, NASA and Hadley CRU.As a result, this research sought to validate the current estimates of GAST using the best available relevant data. This included the best documented and understood data sets from the U.S. and elsewhere as well as global data from satellites that provide far more extensive global coverage and are not contaminated by bad siting and urbanization impacts. Satellite data integrity also benefits from having cross checks with Balloon data.The conclusive findings of this research are that the three GAST data sets are not a valid representation of reality. In fact, the magnitude of their historical data adjustments, that removed their cyclical temperature patterns, are totally inconsistent with published and credible U.S. and other temperature data. Thus, it is impossible to conclude from the three published GAST data sets that recent years have been the warmest ever despite current claims of record setting warming.Finally, since GAST data set validity is a necessary condition for EPA s GHG/CO2 Endangerment Finding, it too is invalidated by these research findings. (Full Abstract Report) Fox News reported on President Trump pulling out of the Paris Agreement per his campaign promise: he is leading. President Trump is withdrawing the United States from the Paris Climate Accord.It is the right decision for a number of reasons.First, the Paris Accord is being treated by many as a treaty with treaty obligations, but President Obama never submitted it to Congress for passage.Second, though President Trump could have left it in place and done nothing, his successor could have easily revived it if left in place.Third, the structure and implementation of the Paris Accord set a terrible precedent. President Obama worked for what amounts to a global agreement with voluntary measures, but those measures would impact the American economy. But, despite that impact, President Obama did not present the Paris Accord to Congress for ratification or debate. Members of the liberal establishment were outraged.Obama criticized President Trump s decision to pull out of the Paris Climate agreement with the following statement : A year and a half ago, the world came together in Paris around the first-ever global agreement to set the world on a low-carbon course and protect the world we leave to our children.It was steady, principled American leadership on the world stage that made that achievement possible. It was bold American ambition that encouraged dozens of other nations to set their sights higher as well. And what made that leadership and ambition possible was America s private innovation and public investment in growing industries like wind and solar industries that created some of the fastest new streams of good-paying jobs in recent years, and contributed to the longest streak of job creation in our history.Simply put, the private sector already chose a low-carbon future. And for the nations that committed themselves to that future, the Paris Agreement opened the floodgates for businesses, scientists, and engineers to unleash high-tech, low-carbon investment and innovation on an unprecedented scale.The nations that remain in the Paris Agreement will be the nations that reap the benefits in jobs and industries created. I believe the United States of America should be at the front of the pack. But even in the absence of American leadership; even as this Administration joins a small handful of nations that reject the future; I m confident that our states, cities, and businesses will step up and do even more to lead the way, and help protect for future generations the one planet we ve got. But of course, like all Champagne Socialists, their credo is do as I say, not as I do, with Obama jacking up his carbon footprint when abroad. Who could forget Obama s massive convoy during a recent speaking gig in Milan?The Independent Journal Review reported: Former President Barack Obama traveled to Italy this week to make a speech on climate change at the Seed & Chips: The Global Food Innovation Summit in the city of Milan.It seems like Obama has taken a page out of Leonardo DiCaprio s book of do as I say, not as I do and took a private jet to Milan. Not only that, he had a 14 car convoy to get into the city, which also included protection from above with a helicopter.It doesn t end there. According to The Daily Mail, 300 police officers were used to protect the former president.The fleet of 14 included multiple SUVs, police cars, and sedans not to mention a few motorcycles. Here s another look at the convoy:While in Milan, Obama also met with former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who was a close partner during their respective times in office. Gateway Pundit | 0 |
6,671 | FBI's Comey meets with top U.S. congressional leaders | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - FBI Director James Comey on Thursday met with senior congressional leaders, including the intelligence committee chiefs, FBI and congressional officials said. The officials declined to discuss the subject of Comey’s meeting with the group of leaders known as the “Gang of Eight”. U.S. President Donald Trump has alleged that the Obama administration wiretapped his election campaign. The Gang of Eight, who have routine access to highly classified materials, include House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes and its top Democrat, Adam Schiff. Senate members include Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and the top Republican and Democrat on the intelligence committee, Senators Richard Burr and Mark Warner. The House intelligence committee on Wednesday asked the Justice Department in a letter for copies of documents which if they exist could shed light on Trump’s allegation. A law enforcement source said the Federal Bureau of Investigation was in discussions with the National Security Division of the Justice Department as to how to respond to public and congressional inquiries about the existence or non-existence of such eavesdropping. If Trump’s campaign or advisers were indeed being wiretapped, the most likely legal path for the Obama administration to do so would be to have the Justice Department ask the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for permission to eavesdrop. Trump accused predecessor Barack Obama on Saturday of wiretapping him during the late stages of the campaign, but offered no evidence for an allegation which an Obama spokesman said was “simply false”. The intelligence committee’s letter, addressed to Dana Boente, the acting Deputy U.S. Attorney General, also asks for copies of any such orders actually issued by the court and any electronic surveillance warrants related to Trump or his associates issued last year by a federal judge or magistrate under a wide-ranging anti-crime law. Reuters saw a copy of the letter, signed by Nunes and Schiff, on Thursday. The letter has not been publicly released. Nunes said on Tuesday he had seen no evidence to support Trump’s wiretapping allegation. Law enforcement sources have said that the FBI is pursuing a wide-ranging counter-intelligence investigation of alleged contacts between Trump associates and Russians, as well as two separate investigations into pre-election email hacking linked to Russia which mainly targeted Democratic political operatives. | 1 |
6,672 | Senior Republicans signal issues in Congress for Obama Afghan plan | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Representative Mac Thornberry, the Republican chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, said on Wednesday that the White House must submit a supplemental funding request immediately to support President Barack Obama’s plans to keep 8,400 troops in Afghanistan. Senator John McCain, who leads the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he welcomed Obama’s decision but added in a statement: “That said, when the President himself describes the security situation in Afghanistan as ‘precarious,’ it is difficult to discern any strategic rationale for withdrawing 1,400 U.S. troops by the end of the year.” | 1 |
6,673 | Higher chance of no deal if EU exit talks do not move on quickly: minister | LONDON (Reuters) - The longer it takes for Britain and the European Union to start negotiations on their future relationship after Brexit, the higher the chance of a no deal scenario, trade minister Liam Fox said on Wednesday. I think it s unreasonable (not to move the Brexit talks forward) given the business interests across the European Union and given the interests of international investors, Fox told a committee of lawmakers. The trouble is that the later these discussions begin, the higher the chance of not reaching a deal on time become. | 1 |
6,674 | Obama To Release More GITMO Detainees So They Can Rejoin Their Fellow Terrorists | Obama is determined to close GITMO to follow through with a campaign promise. So he s been releasing terrorists pretty regularly and it s no secret that they just rejoin their fellow jihadis in an effort to kill us all. He s a peach of a guy isn t he?Here s why Americans should be outraged by this effort to release 17 more jihadis:MORE LIES: Obama talks of releasing low risk detainees, but that got done in the Bush years. By 2009, the population was 24 percent medium risk, 75 percent high risk including the top Taliban traded for Bergdahl. A terrorist the president sprang from Gitmo in 2012, Ibrahim al-Qosi, has surfaced as a top leader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.WASHINGTON The Obama administration appears to be on the cusp of the largest round of transfers of Guant namo Bay detainees in a single month since 2007, a move that could reduce the detainee population there to as low as 90 by mid to late January, according to officials familiar with internal deliberations.Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter has notified Congress in recent days that he has approved 17 proposed transfers of lower-level detainees, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss matters that have not yet been made public. Congress has required Mr. Carter to certify that security standards have been met at least 30 days before any transfers. In recent weeks, President Obama has twice stated that his goal is to reduce the number of detainees at Guant namo Bay prison to the double digits from 107 by the end of this year.President Obama wants to close the Guant namo prison in Cuba before he leaves office in a little over a year. His administration has stepped up efforts to find countries to take 48 detainees on a transfer list and moved to speed up the work of a parole-like board that might approve the release of others who are currently recommended for indefinite detention.Read more: NYT | 0 |
6,675 | U.S. Congress members decry 'ethnic cleansing' in Myanmar; Suu Kyi doubts allegations | YANGON/NAYPYITAW (Reuters) - Members of the U.S. Congress said on Tuesday operations carried out against the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar had “all the hallmarks” of ethnic cleansing, while the country’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi expressed doubts about allegations of rights abuses. The U.S. Senate members also said they were disturbed by a “violent and disproportionate” security response to Rohingya militant attacks that have driven more than 600,000 people from Myanmar to neighbouring Bangladesh. Human rights monitors have accused Myanmar’s military of atrocities, including mass rape, against the stateless Rohingya during so-called clearance operations following insurgent attacks on 30 police posts and an army base. Myanmar’s government has denied most of the claims, and the army last week said its own probe found no evidence of wrongdoing by troops. “We are not hearing of any violations going on at the moment,” Suu Kyi told reporters in response to a question about human rights abuses at the end of the Asia-Europe Meeting, or ASEM, in Myanmar’s capital Naypyitaw. “We can’t say whether it has happened or not. As a responsibility of the government, we have to make sure that it won’t happen.” Nobel laureate Suu Kyi said she hoped talks with Bangladesh’s foreign minister this week would lead to a deal on the “safe and voluntary return” of those who have fled. Suu Kyi’s less than two-year old civilian government has faced heavy international criticism for its response to the crisis, though it has no control over the generals it has to share power with under Myanmar’s transition to power after decades of military rule. While a top UN official has described the military’s actions as a textbook case of “ethnic cleansing”, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on a visit to Myanmar last week refused to label it as such. In early November, U.S. lawmakers proposed targeted sanctions and travel restrictions on Myanmar military officials. Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley, who was among the sponsors of the legislation introduced in the Senate, led a congressional delegation that visited Rakhine this week, but was blocked from traveling to the violence-hit north of the state and to Rohingya camps. The group also traveled to Cox’s Bazar district in Bangladesh, where Rohingya refugees are huddled into makeshift camps and fed by overstretched aid agencies. “Many refugees have suffered direct attacks including loved ones, children and husbands being killed in front of them, wives and daughters being raped, burns and other horrific injuries. This has all the hallmarks of ethnic cleansing,” Merkley told reporters in Myanmar on Tuesday. “We are profoundly disturbed by the violent and disproportionate response against the Rohingya by the military and local groups,” he said. The delegation called for Myanmar to allow an investigation into the alleged atrocities that would involve the international community. “We want to emphasize that the world is watching,” Merkley said, adding that it was important Myanmar allow anyone who wants to come back to return to their homes and their farms. Merkley said the delegation was “not here today to recommend…what the U.S. government would do or should do,” when asked about the legislation introduced in the Congress. Myanmar officials have so far said they plan to resettle most returnees in new “model villages”, rather than on the land they previously occupied, an approach the United Nations has criticized in the past as effectively creating permanent camps. “Individuals cannot be coming back…simply to return to camps where there would be continued discrimination, restrictions on full participation in the economy and society,” said Merkley. He warned that isolating people in camps creates a “two-tier society that is fundamentally incompatible with the future of democracy and it guarantees perpetuation of suspicions and misunderstandings and conflicts.” Speaking earlier on Tuesday, Suu Kyi said discussions would be held with the Bangladesh foreign minister on Wednesday and Thursday about repatriation. Officials from both countries began talks last month on how to process the Rohingya wanting to return. “We hope that this would result in an MOU signed quickly, which would enable us to start the safe and voluntarily return of all of those who have gone across the border,” Suu Kyi said. The Rohingya are largely stateless and many people in Myanmar view them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Suu Kyi said Myanmar would follow the framework of an agreement reached in the 1990s to cover the earlier repatriation of Rohingya, who had fled to Bangladesh to escape previous bouts of ethnic violence. That agreement did not address the citizenship status of Rohingya, and Bangladesh has been pressing for a repatriation process that provided Rohingya with more safeguards this time. “It’s on the basis of residency...this was agreed by the two governments long time ago with success, so this will be formula we will continue to follow,” Suu Kyi said. Earlier talks between the two countries reached a broad agreement to work out a repatriation deal, but a senior Myanmar official later accused Bangladesh of dragging its feet in order to secure funding from aid agencies for hosting the refugees. | 1 |
6,676 | Millionaire Palin And Billioniare Trump Beg Gullible Supporters To Pay For Sarah’s Travel Costs | If you ve ever noticed how Donald Trump brags more about how much money he s made than how much he s given away, that s because he s notoriously uncharitable. Apparently that same level of pennypinching applies to the people who come out to endorse him even conservative celebrity Sarah Palin.According to a new fundraising email sent from Sarah Palin s controversial Political Action Committee (SarahPAC), Palin needs her supporters to break out their checkbooks and give as much as they can to the one time vice presidential candidate so she can attend political events to support endorsed candidates like Trump. The email, captured by Politico reporter Ken Vogel shamelessly tells Palin s loyal fans to visit the PAC s website to [contribute] what you can because Palin went all in for Donald Trump. As bizarre as it is for Trump to not offer to cover travel expenses for his new best friend and political ally, it s downright offensive to suggest Palin herself can t afford to pay her own way, either. This is the same person, after all, who recently put her $2.5 million Arizona mansion on the market. She s also the person who quit her job as governor in order to cash in on a book deal and a Fox News gig that earned her around $12 million. She may not be Donald Trump rich, but she s wealthy enough to buy a ticket or two from Travelocity.Longtime followers of Sarah Palin s grift machine won t be surprised by this latest moneygrab. SarahPAC has consistently operated like a personal bank account for Palin. The millions of dollars pulled in by gullible conservatives rarely go to meaningful political campaigns. Instead, the fiscal conservative uses the money to fund her lifestyle and promote her brand.As political watchdog group Open Secrets noted in 2014:What did SarahPAC spend most of its money on, then, in the third quarter? Many of the same consultants she has used all along for speechwriting, fundraising, logistics and research. There s even someone paid to consult on coalitions. Travel, presumably for Palin, is part of the equation; a PAC like this is useful for keeping a high profile nationally without having to pay those pesky airline and hotel tabs out of personal funds. And the PAC sent $10,885 to HarperCollins publisher of all three of Palin s books for books for donor fulfillment. That wasn t the only book purchase by the committee: A lump sum of $13,000 was listed as being spent for lodging, SUV rental, books for donors. In other words, Palin s SuperPAC is designed exclusively to (legally) steal money from conservatives hoping to get involved in the political process. Instead of using that money to fulfill her commitment, she spends it on SUV rentals and buying her own book in bulk to boost her sales. Now she says she needs more to keep up with Trump s traveling circus.In the interest of transparency, let s consider what one would get should they decide to give Palin some traveling money:It s been less than 24 hours Featured image: screengrab | 0 |
6,677 | Divided Srebrenica awaits Mladic verdict 22 years after massacre | SREBRENICA, Bosnia (Reuters) - Almir Salihovic sits in his office in Srebrenica, waiting for a U.N. tribunal to give its judgment on the man accused of massacring his cousins and uncles there in 1995. He is hoping for a measure of justice, but little else. The businessman was 10 when he fled through the woods with his father and brother as Bosnian Serb soldiers opened fire behind them. The troops killed more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the days that followed. Next week the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia will give its verdict on Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb general accused of overseeing the murders and other war crimes, including the siege of Sarajevo. A guilty verdict on Nov. 22 would give some personal satisfaction to victims, Salihovic told Reuters at his transportation company in the eastern town, where his family returned in 2004. But it would do little else - certainly nothing to heal the deeper traumas and still gaping divides. For most Serbs he will remain a hero, for others he will be the butcher and criminal, and we will continue to live in our folds, side by side, not together, he said. We carry the burden of a terrible crime that puts inter-ethnic relations under pressure. The legacy of a commander who led the Bosnian Serb army in its swift takeover of two-thirds of the country during the 1992-95 war still divides Muslim Bosniaks and Serbs in Bosnia. For Srebrenica Muslims, Mladic is a symbol of the chaos and killings that broke out when his forces took over the U.N-protected eastern enclave where about 40,000 Muslims from eastern Bosnia had sought refuge. For Serbs the 74-year-old is a proud general who won the territory with very few of his own casualties. Srebrenica s own Serb mayor Mladen Grujicic says the killings did not amount to genocide - and the two international courts who ruled that they did were biased against his fellow Serbs. It will take many more years to reveal the complete truth, which is not favoring any side, Grujicic told Reuters. We in both communities are victims while higher agendas are at stake, he added, without elaborating. Srebrenica is now a shrinking town where about 7,000 Muslim Bosniaks and Serbs still live side by side, suspicious of each other and divided by the past. One thing they do share is their poverty. The town is dotted with empty houses, left behind by people seeking a better life. This year the only bakery and butchers shop had to close down. Srebrenica was once known for its metal plant and nearby lead, zinc and gold mines. These days, the main landmark is the cemetery on its outskirts and the 6,575 white tombstones marking the remains of the victims that authorities have managed to find. In 2010, I buried my children and husband. Nobody should go through it ever again. Now I live alone, and I should not have had to live alone if it was not for some hotheads, said Hatidza Mehmedovic. The 66-year-old comes every day to tend the graves of her husband and two sons killed in what is widely seen as Europe s worst atrocity since the World War Two. This is not life, this is hell, this is a life of punishment, Mehmedovic told Reuters. Further southwest, in Mladic s home village of Bozanovici, his cousins are also waiting for the tribunal s verdict. They fear he will be jailed for crimes they say he did not commit. I would be happiest if he died before the judgment, his uncle Mile Mladic told Reuters. We would then raise a large monument for him in the village and write the truth. All this that is happening is not the truth. It is a lie. The general is not guilty. | 1 |
6,678 | ‘I Don’t Think You Have a Standard’: NYT Reporter Called Out Over Claim Obama Told 18 Lies While POTUS [Video] | I Don t Think You Have a Standard Tim Carney to New York Times reporter on different standards for different presidentsWe have a huge scandal at the FBI but these so-called journalists decide to discuss this? The entire video below is a pitiful display of partisan hackery we ve come to expect from MSNBC. This is why the American people are so FED UP with the main stream media Perhaps MSNBC should practice what they preach and start telling the truth. You have to ask yourself how these people stay employed when they can t even tell the truth about either POTUS. The funny thing to watch in the video is just how serious they are when discussing the topic of lying. It really is the definition of irony Washington Examiner columnist Tim Carney called out a NYT reporter on Morning Joe Friday over the latter s report that President Barack Obama told just 18 distinct lies during his two terms in office.CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS?Both of these reporters and the entire panel are absolutely bonkers for even having this discussion! This is a perfect example of just how off kilter these so-called journalists are. Do they not have anything else to report???The New York Times juxtaposed President Donald Trump with Obama on lies told in office in a report Thursday, with the newspaper claiming Obama told 18 distinct falsehoods during his entire presidency compared to Trump s 103 in less than a year in office.The Free Beacon reported that Obama, according to fact-checker PolitiFact, had made 98 separate mostly false, false, and pants on fire statements in his administration, with the Times leaving many of them out of its analysis.Carney wrote a piece for the Examiner in which he stated Trump was far more detached from the truth than most politicians, but he hit the newspaper for omitting so many of Obama s lies from the piece, such as claiming during a State of the Union address that his administration had eliminated lobbyists from policy-making jobs.Carney said it didn t seem to be a proper use of data journalism to say one would count up the lies when it left out so many of Obama s. Read more: WFB | 0 |
6,679 | UK says defense commitment in Nordic and Baltic states won't waver after Brexit | LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will pledge on Monday that its commitment to security and defense in Nordic and Baltic nations will not change after Brexit, seeking to reassure states affected by what foreign minister Boris Johnson described as Russian antagonism . The Foreign Office said Johnson would host a meeting of foreign ministers from eight countries, including Estonia, Sweden and Latvia, on Monday to discuss issues including Russia, NATO and defense co-operation after Britain s EU exit. In an increasingly complex world, Britain remains a reassuring presence to its friends, especially those facing continued Russian antagonism in the north of Europe and the Baltic region, he said in a statement ahead of the meeting. He cited the deployment British troops in Estonia, which in March reached around 800 personnel, as a statement that Britain stands by its allies in the face of outside aggression and of its commitment to NATO. Britain wants a safe and secure world, and as we leave the European Union, we will continue to defend and promote our common interests, as we rise to any challenges we face together, he said. | 1 |
6,680 | Greek top court to decide Dec. 13 on Russia cyber suspect extradition | ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece s Supreme Court will decide on Dec. 13 whether to extradite a Russian to the United States where authorities want to put him on trial for laundering $4 billion via a bitcoin platform. Alexander Vinnik, who says he is a bitcoin consultant, is accused by U.S. authorities of running the BTC-e exchange, which they allege was a conduit for laundering proceeds from illicit activities. Vinnik denies the charges and is fighting his extradition to the United States. I don t think there is independent justice in the United States for a Russian citizen, Vinnik told the court in session in Athens. He also said conditions in American prisons were terrible . Addressing the court, a Greek public prosecutor recommended Vinnik s extradition. The 38-year-old was arrested in northern Greece on the basis of a U.S. warrant in July, one of seven Russians arrested or indicted worldwide this year on U.S. cybercrime charges. Since his arrest, Russia has also sought Vinnik s extradition there on lesser charges of fraud. Vinnik has agreed to be extradited to Russia. In competing requests of this nature, the final decision of where Vinnik will be extradited rests with Greece s justice minister. | 1 |
6,681 | Fox News Host Calls GOP Out On Voter ID Laws And Conservatives Go INSANE (VIDEO/TWEETS) | It s always a good day when a conservative acknowledges how hateful and racist their own party has become, and decides to go anti-GOP for a few moments. Yesterday, that s exactly what Fox News host Shepard Smith did while he was reporting about how the Supreme Court ruled it would not to restore North Carolina s voter ID law for this upcoming election a move that would undoubtedly be bad news for Donald Trump.As if that weren t a hard enough blow for conservatives, Smith didn t mince his words as he spoke about why the voter ID law existed in the first place to prevent minorities from being able to vote. In a frustrated voice, Smith called out the Republican Party for its racist election strategy: North Carolina had put in one of those You have to show an ID rules which so often in Republican states are designed to keep some minorities from being able to vote, and they tried to reduce the number of voting days. The US Supreme Court says that will not happen. You can watch that brilliant moment below: You can only imagine how conservatives on social media reacted to this. Many of them accused Smith for being a LIEberal (liberal) and standing in the way of Donald Trump becoming president. Many of these tweets are so belligerent, it s hard to even read.TwitterTwitterTwitterTwitterTwitterTwitterConservatives have every right to be afraid after the Supreme Court smacked North Caroline s voter ID law down after all, Trump is polling HORRIBLY with minorities (he s currently at ZERO percent with African Americans). Now that the Republican party s plan to prevent minorities from getting to the polls has been ruined, conservatives are obviously terrified that Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton is going to win this election by a landslide.Featured image via screen capture | 0 |
6,682 | OBAMA’S Mexico Gun-Running, Race-Baiting, Former Attorney General Hired By State Of CA To Help Fight Against Trump | Eric Holder was embroiled in some sort of controversy for most of the time he served as Obama s choice for Attorney General. He was the key figure in the Fast and Furious gun-running scandal with Mexico, and was also involved in the IRS scandal that targeted conservatives and conservative leaning organizations. Holder also was instrumental in fanning the flames of the Trayvon Martin case in Sanford, Florida. While he was acting as our nation s Attorney General, he was caught by Judicial Watch spending our taxpayer dollars to deploy a little-known unit of the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Community Relations Service (CRS) to Sanford, FL, following the Trayvon Martin shooting to help organize and manage rallies and protests against George Zimmerman. Holder was also present in Ferguson where he did absolutely nothing to stop the rioting and chaos. California lawmakers already are preparing for a legal brawl with the Donald Trump administration and they ve got President Obama s former top attorney in their corner.Top state Democratic lawmakers announced Wednesday that former Attorney General Eric Holder has been tapped as outside counsel to advise the Legislature on potential challenges with the Trump government. He will lead a team from the Covington & Burling law firm, where he s been working since leaving the Obama administration in 2015. With the upcoming change in administrations, we expect that there will be extraordinary challenges for California in the uncertain times ahead, California Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de Le n and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon said in a statement. This is a critical moment in the history of our nation. We have an obligation to defend the people who elected us and the policies and diversity that make California an example of what truly makes our nation great. They said Holder and his team will advise in our efforts to resist any attempts to roll back the progress California has made. The statement did not specify which policies they anticipate will cause friction, though California s numerous sanctuary cities are likely to face challenges from an administration that has threatened to pull their federal funding. FOX NewsSets forth articles of impeachment stating that Holder: (1) engaged in a pattern of conduct incompatible with the trust and confidence placed in him in that position by refusing to comply with a subpoena issued by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on October 12, 2011, in connection with a congressional investigation into Operation Fast and Furious by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF); (2) failed to enforce multiple laws, including the Defense of Marriage Act, the Controlled Substances Act, and the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986; (3) failed his oath of office by refusing to prosecute individuals involved in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) scandal of unauthorized disclosure of tax records belonging to political donors; and (4) testified under oath before Congress on May 15, 2013, that he was neither involved in nor had heard of a potential prosecution of the press but later confirmed to the House Judiciary Committee in a letter dated June 19, 2013, that he approved of a search warrant on journalist James Rosen. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, De Le n suggested Holder s team will work on issues like immigration, climate change, the environment and voting rights. The unorthodox arrangement assigns to Holder s team some duties that normally would be handled by the state s top law enforcement official, the California attorney general. Gov. Jerry Brown has nominated Democratic Rep. Xavier Becerra for that job.Holder was one of Obama s longest-serving and most controversial Cabinet members.He had a contentious relationship with congressional Republicans, who in 2012 voted to hold him in contempt of Congress for not turning over documents on the Fast and Furious gun-walking scandal. FOX News | 0 |
6,683 | Watch This Profusely Oblivious Billionaire Question Why People Are So Unhappy (VIDEO) | There are people in this world who are willfully ignorant, or just unabashedly uninformed and out of touch with reality. Many of these people are in positions of great wealth and power who really don t have to deal with the everyday problems that life may throw at those who are not at the same level as they are. One of these people is billionaire Stephen Schwarzman, the Chairman and CEO of Blackstone Group, and investment firm currently with $333 billion in assets and revenues of $7.6 billion. Schwarzman himself is worth $9.3 billion, and was listed #62 on Forbes list of most powerful people in 2015.Schwarzman is so out of touch and greedy that he actually wants poor people to pay more in taxes and make sure rich people pay less, even going after Warren Buffett for saying the rich should pay more. He seems to be the living embodiment of Ebenezer Scrooge.So, it wasn t at all surprising that during an interview with Bloomberg, Schwarzman had absolutely no clue why people are so upset and angry at our current economic structure, and why it s the centerpiece of many political debates.The oblivious billionaire stated: What s remarkable is the amount of anger. Whether it s on the Republican side, or the Democratic side. Bernie Sanders to me is almost more stunning than some of the stuff going on on the Republican side. How is that happening? Why is that happening? What is the vein in America that is being tapped into across parties that s made people so unhappy? Here s some advice for Schwarzman: walk into one of your many bathrooms, close the door, walk up to the mirror, and stare at the face you see. It will be there that he will see what is the vein in America that has made people so greatly unhappy. Furthermore, the fact that he doesn t see himself, his cronies, and his business practices as the problem is yet another issue in and of itself. The first step to solving a problem is realizing there is a problem, even if you are the problem.If you want to know why people are so unhappy, Schwarzman, listen. Listen to the anger and frustration in people s voices who work endless hours to barely make ends meet. Listen to the mother s who have trouble feeding their children because corporate lobbyists push for more tax breaks and subsidies while their paid for legislators also push to cut food assistance programs. Listen to the countless people who just want to make a living wage while you sit atop billions of dollars and refuse to recognize the reality of the working class. Listen, Schwarzman. Listen. It will be there where you could finally figure out why people are so unhappy. And why people are rising up to fight greed and injustice where it stands. Video: Bloomberg Featured image: Flickr/Screengrab | 0 |
6,684 | Clinton calls Trump too unsteady to be president | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton pivoted to a general election match-up against Republican candidate Donald Trump on Thursday, saying he is dangerously unpredictable and not qualified to be president. Confident that she is finally close to defeating U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont for the Democratic nomination, Clinton turned heavy fire on Trump, who has been running about even with her in national polls of voters looking ahead to the Nov. 8 presidential election. On the Republican side, Trump promoted top aide Paul Manafort to serve as campaign manager and chief strategist, the Trump campaign said. Corey Lewandowski, the Trump aide who has been campaign manager, retains that title and will continue to oversee day-to-day operations, the campaign said. In addition, Trump has hired veteran Republican lawyer A.B. Culvahouse to help vet potential vice presidential running mates, a source close to the campaign said. In a CNN interview, Clinton used the example of the apparent downing of an EgyptAir plane from Paris to Cairo to say that Trump would lack the skills to bring together U.S. allies to respond to global threats. “I know how hard this job is and I know we need steadiness, as well as strength and smarts in it, and I have concluded that he is not qualified to be president of the United States,” Clinton said. Trump, the Republicans’ presumptive presidential nominee, has been intensifying his criticism of Clinton by lobbing personal attacks at her and her husband, former President Bill Clinton. Clinton, a former U.S. secretary of state, said she would resolutely refuse to respond to Trump’s goading. “He can say whatever he wants,” she said. But she said the EgyptAir crash reinforces the need for American leadership and that Trump’s proposed temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States has sent the wrong signal to countries that Washington will need to work with in the fight against Islamic militants. “He says a lot of things that are provocative, that actually make the important task of building this coalition, bringing everybody to the table and defeating terrorism more difficult,” she said. “It sends a message of disrespect and it sends a message that makes the situation inside those countries more difficult.” Clinton suggested the Democratic race was over because of her nearly insurmountable lead in delegates to the nominating convention, despite Sanders’ insistence on staying in the race. “I will be the nominee for my party,” she said. “That is already done, in effect. There is no way that I won’t be.” She said Sanders will have to eventually help her unify the Democratic Party after the prolonged nomination fight. “I am absolutely committed to doing my part, more than my part. But Senator Sanders has to do his part,” she said. The Sanders campaign rebuffed Clinton’s nudge to get out of the race, pointing to his recent victories. “In the past three weeks voters in Indiana, West Virginia and Oregon respectfully disagreed with Secretary Clinton. We expect voters in the remaining eight contests also will disagree,” Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs said. Trump stepped up efforts to rally Republican loyalists behind his campaign after winning a divisive primary fight that left the party ruptured. On Capitol Hill, Manafort and other Trump aides met with conservatives in the House of Representatives who are members of the Freedom Caucus group and canvassed them for policy ideas. “Manafort was reaching out for ideas” on policy, and several Freedom Caucus members made suggestions, said Republican Representative Scott DesJarlais of Tennessee. “It went very well, it was encouraging. I think the Trump team recognizes the relevance of the Freedom Caucus, and the influence they have. I think actually, despite some early skepticism by some members, I think the (Freedom Caucus) board received Manafort and his representation of Trump very well,” DesJarlais said. Manafort also met with U.S. Senator Mike Lee of Utah, a Tea Party Republican who was a big backer of U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas for president. Lee has expressed some concerns about Trump’s candidacy. A spokesman for Lee said U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, a key Trump adviser, was also at the meeting. | 1 |
6,685 | Vote ruling by chief justice surprises Kenyans, but not his colleagues | NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya s Supreme Court ruling to scrap last month s presidential election was shaped by a new chief justice who proved a staunch defender of judicial independence on a continent where judges are often seen as being under the thumb of executive powers. David Maraga s declaration that the Aug. 8 election was void and demand for a new poll with 60 days shocked many in the East African nation and abroad. But his announcement, after a 4-2 vote by a court panel to annul the vote, didn t surprise those who know the chief justice. We knew this case was coming and he was the man to hear it, Professor Tom Ojienda, who worked with Maraga and sits on the Judicial Service Commission that appointed him chief justice, told Reuters. He is a stickler for the rules. President Uhuru Kenyatta, who was expected to be sworn in for a second term until Friday s Supreme Court ruling, said he respected the decision. But he took a swipe at Maraga s colleagues, calling them crooks and saying the judiciary needed fixing. Kenya, a U.S. ally in the fight against Islamists and a trade gateway to East Africa, has a history of disputed votes. A row after the 2007 vote led to ethnic bloodshed that killed more than 1,200 people. In 2013, a bid by veteran opponent Raila Odinga to secure an election rerun was rejected by the Supreme Court. This time, the opposition changed tack in their petition. Instead of seeking to prove enough votes were fake to undermine the vote - an almost impossible task in the two weeks the court had to give its judgment - Odinga s supporters sought to demonstrate that the online tallying process lacked integrity. The new approach may have been a key factor in securing a decision that had the backing of four of the panel s six judges, who have three weeks from the ruling to publish details of their decision. But the opposition also found in the chief justice a man ready to defend judicial powers against the highest office and unswayed by a tendency in Kenya, a nation of more than 40 ethnic groups, for voters to back fellow clans people. Within months of his appointment in October, Maraga called out Kenyatta for telling voters on a campaign stop in Maraga s home region of Nyamira County in April that their son had a job. Maraga responded that his appointment had nothing to do with the president. Kenyatta is a Kikuyu, Kenya s biggest ethnic group but still a minority. Odinga is a Luo, another big grouping. The chief justice is Kisii, a smaller group from Kenya s western highlands. Maraga also sent a clear message to national leaders on Aug. 2 that the judiciary was above the political fray. The emerging culture of public lynching of judges and judicial officers by the political class is a vile affront to the rule of law and must be fiercely resisted, he said in a statement. Maraga did not immediately issue a response to Kenyatta s latest comments. Reuters could not reach him for comment. Kenyans have long complained that getting any official business done requires a kitu kidogo , Swahili for a little something or bribe, a frustration that is echoed across Africa. But Kenya has slowly rebuilt confidence in its judiciary after the post-2007 vote violence. A new constitution in 2010 demanded reforms of the judiciary and other public institutions. Maraga, who has risen the ranks as those reforms have been implement, was known by colleagues for his strict adherence to the rules even as a young lawyer. A devout Christian of the Seventh Day Adventist tradition, he built his practice in the Rift Valley city of Nakuru rather than to Nairobi where he where he could have secured more high profile cases and would have more easily rubbed shoulders with the rich and powerful, his colleagues said. If a client gave you any problem, or asked for anything that was wrong, or refused to pay, (Maraga) would just say, Let him go. Other ones will come , said Professor Ojienda said. Maraga s integrity and record of strictly interpreting election procedures in past polls swayed the commission to appoint him last October, Ojienda said. The opposition s high hopes in 2013 that it could overturn that election result were dashed. Supreme Court judges, then led by Maraga s predecessor Willy Mutunga, rejected their petition. This time, even Odinga - a former prime minister who has fought and lost three presidential races including this one - seemed surprised. After listening to Friday s ruling in court, he broke out into a broad grin and pumped his fist in the air. Since 2013, several new judges were appointed to the Supreme Court s seven-strong panel. Friday s decision was backed by Maraga and two others appointed after 2013. Another, who had been on the panel in 2013, also backed the ruling. Two judges dissented, while one was ill and did not vote. An election is not an event, it is a process from the beginning to the end, Maraga said before reading the ruling. Four years earlier, the opposition had some of their arguments thrown out as they were lodged too late, while their complaints about the widespread failure of the electronic voting systems failed to convince the judges. This time, the opposition case hinged on the election board s failure to post online tally forms from each of the 40,883 polling stations before announcing results. The forms were supposed to be signed by each party s agent, as a hard-copy backup to the electronic transmission. But thousands of forms were missing from the board s website when it announced results. A report by independent court-appointed experts found many forms lacked official stamps, signatures or serial numbers. That was enough to convince a majority in Maraga s panel. (Corrects ethnicity of Chief Justice, paragraph 11) | 1 |
6,686 | WATCH Black Chicago Residents Blame Obama For Crime And Joblessness: “He needs to resign” | Barack wants the Black Community to blame Whites and cops. These Black Chicago residents aren t buying it. They re putting the blame squarely on Barack Hussein Obama and Rahm Emanuel. He s probably the the worst President ever elected. Have the same love for these (black) young people as you ve got for the ones across the border. These residents of Chicago understand that Obama has done nothing to help raise them out of a state of dependency. They want jobs. They want self-esteem. They want to raise their families and earn a paycheck. Obama and the Democrats want to keep them down. And when the joblessness is so out of control, and the youth living in these impoverished neighborhoods get out of control, the cops are called in. Obama and Eric Holder have managed to turn the same cops who are coming into these neighborhoods and risking their lives into Public Enemy #1. Obama has these residents living in a perpetual hell-hole with no way out. No wonder they re so damn angry. Someone needs to get the message out to these communities that the Democrat party has no interest in helping them to break this cycle. The Black community needs jobs. We want them, we need them and it is a matter of life and death for us. The liberal agenda is not the black agenda, it is not the family agenda and it s not the American agenda. | 0 |
6,687 | Some Conservatives Hate Trump So Much They Are Praising President Obama’s DNC Convention Speech | The same conservatives who have attacked President Obama over the last eight years really liked his speech on Wednesday night.When President Obama spoke in support of Hillary Clinton during the DNC Convention, he extended an olive branch to conservatives who are dissatisfied with Donald Trump as the Republican nominee. Look, we Democrats have always had plenty of differences with the Republican Party, and there s nothing wrong with that, Obama said before reaching out to those who are #NeverTrump. It s precisely this contest of ideas that pushes our country forward. But what we heard in Cleveland last week wasn t particularly Republican and it sure wasn t conservative. What we heard was a deeply pessimistic vision of a country where we turn against each other, and turn away from the rest of the world. There were no serious solutions to pressing problems just the fanning of resentment, and blame, and anger, and hate. President Obama then stressed unity along with the themes of patriotism and our Founding Fathers. And he even mentioned Ronald Reagan. And that is not the America I know. The America I know is full of courage, and optimism, and ingenuity. The America I know is decent and generous I see Americans of every party, every background, every faith who believe that we are stronger together black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American; young, old; gay, straight; men, women, folks with disabilities, all pledging allegiance, under the same proud flag, to this big, bold country that we love. Ronald Reagan called America a shining city on a hill. Donald Trump calls it a divided crime scene that only he can fix.The reason he ll lose it is because he s selling the American people short. We re not a fragile people. We re not a frightful people. Our power doesn t come from some self-declared savior promising that he alone can restore order as long as we do things his way. We don t look to be ruled. Our power comes from those immortal declarations first put to paper right here in Philadelphia all those years ago: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that We the People, can form a more perfect union. And because many Republicans are starting to wake up and realize what their own party has become, they praised President Obama s speech.National Review columnist Rich Lowery was stunned because he seems to think patriotism and the founding documents are trademarked Republican beliefs.American exceptionalism and greatness, shining city on hill, founding documents, etc they re trying to take all our stuff Rich Lowry (@RichLowry) July 28, 2016Erick Erickson of Redstate couldn t believe how much he enjoyed it. I disagree with the President on so much policy and his agenda, but appreciate the hope and optimism in this speech. Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) July 28, 2016The GOP offered a vision of doom, despair, and division. Tonight the President I think divides us offered optimism. I hate this year. Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) July 28, 2016Republican strategist Rory Cooper thought the speech was great and slammed his own party for making it easy for Obama by nominating Trump. Great speech. And we made it easy for him. Rory Cooper (@rorycooper) July 28, 2016This conservative was shocked to hear President Obama defend conservatives from Trump.Still stunned. Feel like I m in the twilight zone. Obama just defended America & conservative values from attacks by the Republican nominee. (((AG))) (@AG_Conservative) July 28, 2016Jeb Bush campaign staffer Tim Miller said that Republicans just lost an entire generation of voters. Will a Trump apologist explain to me why an 18 yo watching the conventions would want to be a Republican? We re giving away a generation Tim Miller (@Timodc) July 28, 2016Former Reagan speechwriter John Podhoretz appreciated the nod to his former boss.Take about five paragraphs out of that Obama speech and it could have been a Reagan speech. Trust me. I know. John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) July 28, 2016While they praised President Obama s speech, they all still hate him and the progressive policies he supports. Of course, these Republicans conveniently ignore that many of the policies President Obama has pursued throughout his two terms were ideas that their party once supported, especially Obamacare. But the consensus is clear. Donald Trump preaches hate and division while President Obama delivered the speech Republicans only wish their nominee would have done. Thank God the President had the grace on that stage last night to point out that Donald Trump is neither a Republican nor a conservative, Erick Erickson wrote on Thursday. I am glad that even the President is not willing to tar and feather my party with Trump, despite my party s willingness to commit political suicide. Featured Image: Pete Sousa | 0 |
6,688 | U.S. State Department finds briefing video cut but unclear why | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. State Department video of a press briefing about secret U.S.-Iran nuclear talks was deliberately edited but there is no evidence to suggest the cut was intended to hide information, a U.S. spokesman said on Thursday after further details were released of an investigation into the incident. “We are confident the video of that press briefing was deliberately edited,” State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters, adding: “What we were not able to determine is why the edit was made in the first place. There’s no evidence to suggest it was made with the intent to conceal information from the public.” The excised portion of a Dec. 2, 2013, briefing included a question about whether an earlier spokeswoman for the department had misled reporters about whether the United States was holding secret direct nuclear talks with Iran. The State Department initially said it was caused by a “glitch” but later said it was a deliberate omission. Kirby said the investigation by the department’s Office of the Legal Adviser could not rule out that a technical glitch might have deleted the portion of the video because of the “choppy nature of the cut.” He said the findings had now been shared with Secretary of State John Kerry and with congressional members. | 1 |
6,689 | Hispanic Chamber Of Commerce Endorses Hillary Clinton…At The RNC | It s no secret Hispanics hate Donald Trump. He has record low favorability with them, and there are no signs that support with them will rise in the coming months. GOP Hispanic leaders and pundits alike, from Republican governor Susana Martinez to CNN s Ana Navarro, have been chastising and distancing themselves from the Republican nominee for President.And another influential Hispanic group is distancing themselves from the nominee in the most public way possible.The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, which endorsed Ohio governor John Kasich, will be publicly backing Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, and will announce their endorsement live from Cleveland at the RNC.Talk about the ultimate trolling.President of the Chamber, Javier Palomeraz, denounced Trump to the Huffington Post, saying his divisive and racist rhetoric is the reason the group will be backing Clinton:We believe it is appropriate for us to weigh in and say enough is enough What we re hearing from Donald Trump in his campaign: divisive, mean-spirited language [that] has marginalized Hispanics, immigrants, American POWs, Muslims, women, the disabled and the list goes on.After public spats with Palomeraz, in which Trump cancelled events planned, the Clinton campaign was right there to attend, listen, and learn about the needs of Hispanic business owners. The Clinton campaign also was repeatedly in touch with the Chamber in an effort to reach out to communities using a slew of business leaders familiar with their needs.No wonder they re endorsing Clinton. It s no secret that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is pro-Republican, pro-Conservative. But their opinion isn t the only representation of business in America.While Trump flunks the presidential test (yet again), Clinton picks up the pieces and offers her hand in support. It s no wonder more unions and business leaders have endorsed her than Trump. The Republican nominee looks out for one person and one person only himself.Featured image via Ethan Miller/Getty Images | 0 |
6,690 | WAS HIS DEATH COINCIDENTAL? [VIDEO] He Warned Us Obama Would Divide Us By Race And Class…He Claimed He Had Proof…Then Suddenly He Died | Andrew Breitbart got under the skin of the left like no other. When he entered the political scene, progressives had been so used to getting a pass from polite conservatives, they didn t quite know what to make of him. By exposing the ties between unions, academia, the media and Democrat party, Andrew made their plan to disrupt everything we hold dear about our country much more difficult to implement.He was 100% correct in his predication about what Obama would do to our country. It s too bad the media did everything they could to bury his message and pretend he didn t exist.Watch Andrew explain Barack Obama s plan to divide our nation just prior to Obama s second term:This video is one of the best examples of how Andrew Breitbart boldly and brilliantly exposed the truth behind the very well organized progressive democrat party: If you can t sell freedom and liberty you s*ck! Here is the brilliant and very funny story about how Andrew Breitbart went from an apathetic liberal to a passionate conservative and the #1 enemy of the left. Truth is light and light is the best disinfectant. No one s light shined brighter on the left than our hero, Andrew Breitbart.Sheriff Arpaio talks about how he spoke with Andrew on the phone just before he died on March 1, 2012:Listen to one of the only witnesses who were present when Andrew Breitbart died:Here is Sean Hannity s tribute to Andrew that shows the amazing work by Breitbart and how he started the citizen journalism revolution :Here is the video Breitbart planned to release before he died. Watch brilliant economist Thomas Sowell explain the significance of this video and Barack Obama s relationship with radical Harvard Law School professor Derrick Bell.Here is a trailer from the brilliant movie, Hating Breitbart that was released shortly after his death. It shows his support for conservatives and tea party members: He came out of nowhere and shook things up like no other before him. There will never be another Breitbart.Rest in peace Andrew Breitbart. We ll do our part to help keep your torch lit #War | 0 |
6,691 | Allies Abroad: Trump Is A ‘Laughingstock,’ Childishly ‘Obsessed With Obama’ | Most of us in the U.S. are well aware of Donald Trump s extreme obsession with former President Barack Obama, but now we know that foreign diplomats are privy to that, too. Top-ranking European officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told BuzzFeed News what they think of Trump and what their chief concerns were. Trump s erratic and unpredictable Twitter use was brought up as well. Also discussed was Trump s lack of a strong, experienced team around him.In total, six top European government officials who ve had firsthand dealings on the international stage with Trump and his administration were interviewed by BuzzFeed and their views are consistent.At international gatherings, Trump is described as something of a laughing stock. Trump could send a tweet in the middle of the night pissing off Kim Jong Un. And the next morning we wake up to a world on the brink of war, one diplomat said.That observation was made before Trump tried to start a nuclear war on Twitter so we can only imagine how he or she feels now.One of the officials went as far as to say that a small group of diplomats play a version of word bingo whenever Trump speaks because they consider his vocabulary to be so limited. Everything is great , very, very great , amazing , the diplomat said of Trump s vocabulary.But there s also a fear among our allies that Trump is dangerous. He has no historical view. He is only dealing with these issues now, and seems to think the world started when he took office, a diplomat told BuzzFeed News. He thinks that NATO existed only to keep the communists out of Europe. He has a similar attitude in Asia-Pacific with Japan, ignoring that the US basically wrote their constitution. The diplomats said they also believe that Trump s foreign policy is chiefly driven by an obsession with unraveling former President Barack Obama s policies, and we ve pretty much seen that, too, here in the U.S. It s his only real position, one official said. He will ask: Did Obama approve this? And if the answer is affirmative, he will say: We don t. He won t even want to listen to the arguments or have a debate. He is obsessed with Obama. Another diplomat said that it s impossible to discuss serious international issues, such as Libya, with Trump. They have growing concerns because they re still struggling to find someone in his administration to engage with because meeting with Trump has proved to be basically useless. He s not the kind of person you can have a discussion about how to deal with [Fayez] al-Sarraj [the prime minister of Libya], the official added. So you look for people around him, and that is where it s a problem: The constant upheaval, it s unclear who has influence, who is close to the president. We feel their pain. We witnessed Trump s obsession and profound jealousy of Obama when he tried to claim that our country s first black President is really a sneaky Muslim from Kenya. The former reality show star tried to delegitimize Obama but he failed to do so because facts got in his way. That s still the main problem with Trump. He s adverse to facts. But, he did sell himself on the campaign trail to people who thought they could stick it to liberals by siding with the former reality show star, a man with zero political experience. And here we are, just after 7 months after Trump was sworn in and we could break out in a nuclear war at any minute. Conservatives sure showed us with their MAGA and Pepe memes, didn t they?Read more:Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images | 0 |
6,692 | feds ramp up real id bullying tactics | by nadia prupis canadian free speech advocates slammed recent revelations that montreal police tracked a journalists cell phone calls text messages and locations in an | 0 |
6,693 | ANTI-TRUMP TEACHER Wears “Tuck Frump” Jacket During Classes…Student’s Snap Goes Viral | A disrespectful teacher at Sherman Jr Senior High School in West Virginia wore a Tuck Frump jacket during classes. A student s picture went viral.We re just wondering why this teacher wasn t fired on the spot! She s promoting her political beliefs in school and disrespecting our president with a twist on profanity. Not funny and not cute no matter how short the time was that she wore the jacket her excuse doesn t fly.What say you?BOONE COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) Boone County Schools is investigating after a picture of a teacher is circulating on social media and getting major attention. The picture shows a teacher inside her classroom wearing a jacket with an anti-Trump patch on the back of it.The snapshot was of Sherman Junior High and High School teacher Cheryl Judy who is an art teacher at the school.The picture shows Judy sporting a jean jacket with a play on words, disrespecting President Trump.Judy confirmed that she is the one in the photo, but says it does not show the whole story. She says she wore the jacket to school without the anti-Trump patch and pinned it on during school hours, trying it on for just two minutes to make sure the patch was on straight. She says in the short period of time she had the jacket on inside the classroom, a like-minded student snapped a picture and posted it to social media.A community member re-posted the picture, and it has since been shared several thousand times on multiple platforms.Judy says she did not flaunt the jacket at school and although she is liberal, would never force her liberalism on others. Although Huffman cannot comment specifically on personnel matters, he says a full investigation will begin once spring break is over, at the end of the week: We expect professionalism with both conduct and appearance It seems to have caused great a bit, a great amount of concern from around the area and around the nation, as we ve received multiple phone calls today. Community reactions were mixed, on Facebook and in the neighborhood nearby the school, some expressing concern, others outrage and some saying the picture is being taken out of context and being made into a bigger deal than it is. Nobody thought it would blow up like that, said Braxton Harless, who is a junior at the high school. Some are upset. Some just really don t care about it. Some parents are calling for Judy s resignation, while others like Lori Selbe say she may not have made the right decision is putting on the jacket but says everyone makes mistakes.Via: wsaz | 0 |
6,694 | HERE YOU GO: HILLARY’S E-MAILS FOR YOUR READING PLEASURE | Here are the e-mails released last night that confirm what we all knew from way back Hillary is a total elitist who has everyone do just about EVERYTHING for her. It s really pitiful that we had a Secretary of State who behaves this way. In addition, Hillary is clearly vindictive and petty. In some of the e-mails she discusses taking down Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas: STILL WAITING FOR THE YOGA E-MAILS Here you go: HILLARY S E-MAILS Here s another great source from the WSJ | 0 |
6,695 | Michael Moore Says He Is ‘Absolutely’ Convinced Trump Will Ban Muslims | Filmmaker and activist Michael Moore said there is no doubt in his mind that Donald Trump will go through with banning Muslims from the United States, just like he said he would.Speaking to Variety, Moore said that he has already done his grieving over Trump s win, which he saw coming long before it became a reality. I went through my five stages of grief months and months ago when I realized he was going to win, he said.Moore said that he has taken him literally and seriously since day one, which is why he fully expects Trump to do all the horrible things he said he would on the campaign trail, like building a wall along our southern border to keep out all the rapey Mexicans. You do have to take Trump at his word, Moore said. I still hear people say, Oh, he s not really going to build the wall. Oh, he is going to build it. He knows that he s got to deliver at least a version of the wall. This, Moore explained, is why he absolutely believes Trump will go through with enacting his Muslim ban. He s shown how he s going to do it, Moore said. He s going to get away with it by making it a ban on Muslims who come from the following countries. He needs just enough cover for his crowd to say, Oh, he s being reasonable there. He s not banning all Muslims. Moore also said that he was profoundly affected by Meryl Streep s powerful speech denouncing Trump at the Golden Globes. I had tears in my eyes, Moore said. It was so powerfully delivered by the perfect person. She was talking about human empathy. It was not about being a Republican or a Democrat. It was about: Have you no decency, sir? Trump s supporters like to say that they don t take what he says literally. But that is a mistake. As Maya Angelou said, When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time. We know who Trump is. And we also know it s going to be a long four years.Featured image via Kevin Winter/Getty Images For AFI | 0 |
6,696 | BOOM! TRUMP Gives Powerful Immigration Speech…WEBSITE CRASHES With HUGE Volume Of Donors…SAME DAY: “Benghazi Blood On Her Hands” Hillary Appears Before Half-Empty American Legion Conference [VIDEO] | We re not sure who s doing the polling in America, but judging by the consistently huge crowds clamoring to see Donald Trump vs. Hillary s meager (likely paid) audiences for her rallies, something just doesn t smell right Yesterday, Trump knocked it out of the park in AZ as he delivered a home run speech on immigration. Here are some of the highlights:https://youtu.be/TGVjSCTRgMsTrump s speech obviously resonated with Americans, as enthusiastic supporters crashed his site trying to donate to his campaign. Gateway Pundit took this screen shot of the website crash:Trump website CRASHES Due to high volume of donors after #Immigration speech! @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/xpL69a5R8M Jim Hoft (@gatewaypundit) September 1, 2016Compare Hillary s crowd at the American Legion convention in Cincinnati to Trump s crowd below:https://twitter.com/redlanews/status/771149826755063809Here s Trump s huge crowd at the same venue:Crowd seems to be slightly bigger today awaiting Donald Trump's speech at American Legion Convention. @WCPO pic.twitter.com/xDd4CRttq7 paula christian (@PaulaChristian_) September 1, 2016 | 0 |
6,697 | Connecticut lawmakers approve labor pact with pension concessions | NEW YORK (Reuters) - Connecticut lawmakers narrowly approved a new labor contract with public employees on Monday that is expected to save the state at least $1.2 billion - largely through pension concessions - and could clear the way for lawmakers to agree on a past due budget. The total savings are combined over five years, from fiscal 2017 through 2021, according to a report from the legislature’s office of fiscal analysis on Monday. The house approved the deal last week. On Monday evening Lieutenant Governor Nancy Wyman, a Democrat who acts as president of the Connecticut Senate, broke a tie so the measure could pass 19 to 18. The state missed its July 1 deadline to pass a biennial budget for the current and next fiscal year, leading Governor Dannel Malloy, a Democrat, to take over state spending and slash costs. The labor pact is “a key piece toward adopting a budget for our state,” Malloy said in a statement after the vote. “I am urging legislative leaders on both sides of the aisle to work with our administration on finding a solution on this as possible so that the most vulnerable populations do not suffer long-term consequences.” Pension and healthcare provisions were also extended until 2027 in the deal, which Malloy said would ultimately save $24 billion over 20 years. Labor costs have been one sticking point in budget talks as lawmakers differed with each other and Malloy over how to close a $5.1 billion shortfall over two years. Through the State Employee Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC), which covers about 42,000 members in 15 different unions, public employees ratified the deal on July 17. They negotiated with Malloy, who said the agreement would shave $1.6 billion off of the current deficit. This fiscal year alone contains the biggest savings of any other year at $371.8 million, the legislative analysis said. The largest concessions come from changes to public pensions and retiree healthcare. Employees will contribute more towards their pensions, and annual cost of living adjustments will be tied to the consumer price index. Wages will also be frozen for the three years ending fiscal 2019 but will be raised 3.5 percent in each of the following two years. Republican critics said that concessions did not go far enough, that taxes would have to rise to pay for it and that the deal squandered an opportunity for a broader restructuring of public pensions and benefits. | 1 |
6,698 | more migrants pitch tents on paris streets as calais camp shuts | amanda taub new york times november
call it the crisis of whiteness
white anxiety has fueled this years political tumult in the west britains surprising vote to exit the european union donald j trumps unexpected capture of the republican presidential nomination in the united states the rise of rightwing nationalism in norway hungary austria and greece
whiteness in this context is more than just skin color you could define it as membership in the ethnonational majority but thats a mouthful what it really means is the privilege of not being defined as other
whiteness means being part of the group whose appearance traditions religion and even food are the default norm its being a person who by unspoken rules was long entitled as part of us instead of them
snip
its fundamentally about who are we said eric kaufmann a professor of politics at birkbeck college university of london what does it mean to be part of this nation is it not our nation anymore our meaning the ethnic majority
these kinds of questions are really front and center even though theyre not necessarily verbalized
the questions can seem like a sudden reversal after decades of rising multiculturalism through the civil rights movement in the united states and the european unions opening up of borders
snip
white peoples officially privileged status waned over the latter half of the th century with the demise of discriminatory practices in say university admissions but rising wages an expanding social safety net and new educational opportunities helped offset that most white adults were wealthier and more successful than their parents and confident that their children would do better still
that feeling of success may have provided a sort of identity in itself
but as western manufacturing and industry have declined taking many workingclass towns with them parents and grandparents have found that the opportunities they once had are unavailable to the next generation
that creates an identity vacuum to be filled
for someone who is lower income or lower class professor kaufmann explained youre going to get more selfesteem out of a communal identity such as ethnicity or the nation than you would out of any sort of achieved identity
snip
a recent gallup study found that mr trumps supporters tend to earn aboveaverage incomes for their communities but also tend to live in majoritywhite areas where children are likely to be worse off than their parents
snip
the formal rejection of racial discrimination in those societies has by extension constructed a new broader national identity the united states has a black president london has a muslim mayor of pakistani descent
but that broadening can to some feel like a painful loss articulated in the demand voiced over and over at trump rallies probrexit events and gatherings for populist parties throughout europe i want my country back
the mantra is not all about bigotry rather being part of a culture designed around peoples own community and customs is a constant background hum of reassurance of belonging
the loss of that comforting hum has accelerated a phenomenon that robin diangelo a lecturer and author calls white fragilitythe stress white people feel when they confront the knowledge that they are neither special nor the default that whiteness is just a race like any other
fragility leads to feelings of insecurity defensiveness even threat and it can trigger a backlash against those who are perceived as outsiders
snip
for decades the language of white identity has only existed in the context of white supremacy when that became taboo it left white identity politics without a vocabulary
if you are a workingclass white person and you fear that the new cosmopolitan world will destroy or diminish an identity you cherish you have no culturally acceptable way to articulate what you perceive as a crisis
some of these people have instead reached for issues that feel close to their concerns trade crime the war on drugs controlling the borders fear of islamist terrorism all are significant in their own right and create very real fears for many people but they have also become a means to have a public conversation about what societys changes mean for white majorities
snip
there will not likely be a return to the whiteness of social dominance and exclusive national identity immigration cannot be halted without damaging western nations economies immigrants who have already arrived cannot be expelled en masse without causing social and moral damage and the other groups who seem to be cutting in line are in fact getting a chance at progress that was long denied them
western whites have a place within their nations new broader national identities but unless they accept it the crisis of whiteness seems likely to continue | 0 |
6,699 | Democrat Forces Trump’s Own Nominee To MOCK Him, Admit Obama’s Inauguration Was Bigger (VIDEO) | Donald Trump is fuming over the size of his little inauguration last weekend. Not only did his inauguration have embarrassingly low attendance numbers when compared to Barack Obama s previous inaugurations, but it was also completely outnumbered by the Women s March, which was a protest AGAINST him!Trump has tried to make his inauguration look less pathetic by having his team spew lies, despite the fact that photographic evidence clearly shows that almost no one went to see him get sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. While Trump continues to soothe his monstrous ego on Twitter, his political opponents are having the time of their lives mocking him and what Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley just did was the perfect way to troll someone like Trump.At the confirmation hearing for Rep. Mike Mulvaney (R-SC), Trump s pick for director of the Office of Management and Budget, Merkley forced Mulvaney to humiliate Trump in front of everyone by showing side by side photos of Trump s inauguration and Obama s 2009 inauguration. To make things even worse, Merkley asked Mulvaney to publicly state which inauguration crowd was bigger.Faced with the evidence and a room full of peers, Mulvaney was forced to admit what Trump and his team wouldn t: that Obama s inauguration crowd was bigger. Merkley then tied it all together, making sure to state his point in mocking Trump. He said: The reason I m raising this is because budgets often contain varied deceptions. You and I talked in my office about the magic asterisk. This is an example of something where the president s team, on something very simple and straightforward, wants to embrace a fantasy rather than a reality. You can watch this beautiful moment below:Later, Merkley made sure Mulvaney got the point by calling on him to give actual budgets instead of the alternative facts Trump s team has become well known for.This was absolutely brilliant, and we need more senators calling Trump and his team out for their lies. They need to be held accountable, and this was a great way to do it.Featured image via Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images | 0 |
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