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7,300 | San Francisco Just Told Trump In No Uncertain Terms To Go F*ck Himself | Donald Trump hasn t even stepped into office yet and he has already managed to fill his cabinet with the richest people ever to self-serve in that position, start an international incident with China, hire multiple white supremacists and other assorted bigots to top-level positions, and generally show us that the next four years will be a test of all that we are as Americans and the city of San Fransisco has already made it clear where they stand.Just before Thanksgiving, the city s Board of Supervisors released an 11-point resolution telling Donald Trump that his hateful ideals are not welcome. The resolution reminds Trump and other assorted bigots that the city stands with the LGBT community, women, Muslims (including refugees) and people of all religions, African-Americans, and every other group sure to be marginalized and harassed under the Trump administration:WHEREAS, On November 8, 2016, Donald Trump was elected to become the 45th President of the United States; now, therefore, be itRESOLVED, That no matter the threats made by President-elect Trump, San Francisco will remain a Sanctuary City. We will not turn our back on the men and women from other countries who help make this city great, and who represent over one third of our population. This is the Golden Gate-we build bridges, not walls; and, be itFURTHER RESOLVED, That we will never back down on women s rights, whether in healthcare, the workplace, or any other area threatened by a man who treats women as obstacles to be demeaned or objects to be assaulted. And just as important, we will ensure our young girls grow up with role models who show them they can be or do anything; and, be itFURTHER RESOLVED, That there will be no conversion therapy, no withdrawal of rights in San Francisco. We began hosting gay weddings twelve years ago, and we are not stopping now. And to all the LGBTQ people all over the country who feel scared, bullied, or alone: You matter. You are seen; you are loved; and San Francisco will never stop fighting for you; and, be itFURTHER RESOLVED, That we still believe in this nation s founding principle of religious freedom. We do not ban people for their faith. And the only lists we keep are on invitations to come pray together; and, be itFURTHER RESOLVED, That Black Lives Matter in San Francisco, even if they may not in the White House. And guided by President Obama s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, we will continue reforming our police department and rebuilding trust between police and communities of color so all citizens feel safe in their neighborhoods; and, be itFURTHER RESOLVED, That climate change is not a hoax, or a plot by the Chinese. In this city, surrounded by water on three sides, science matters. And we will continue our work on CleanPower, Zero Waste, and everything else we are doing to protect future generations; and, be itFURTHER RESOLVED, That we have been providing universal health care in this city for nearly a decade, and if the new administration follows through on its callous promise to revoke health insurance from 20 million people, San Franciscans will be protected; and, be itFURTHER RESOLVED, That we are the birthplace of the United Nations, a city made stronger by the thousands of international visitors we welcome every day. We will remain committed to internationalism and to our friends and allies around the world-whether the administration in Washington is or not; and, be itFURTHER RESOLVED, That San Francisco will remain a Transit First city and will continue building Muni and BART systems we can all rely upon, whether this administration follows through on its platform to eliminate federal transit funding or not; and, be itThe San Francisco Board of Supervisors is determined to maintain the safety and values of the city.FURTHER RESOLVED, That California is the sixth largest economy in the world. The Bay Area is the innovation capital of the country. We will not be bullied by threats to revoke our federal funding, nor will we sacrifice our values or members of our community for your dollar; and, be itFURTHER RESOLVED, That we condemn all hate crimes and hate speech perpetrated in this election s wake. That although the United States will soon have a President who has demonstrated a lack of respect for the values we hold in the highest regard in San Francisco, it cannot change who we are, and it will never change our values. We argue, we campaign, we debate vigorously within San Francisco, but on these points we are 100 percent united. We will fight discrimination and recklessness in all its forms. We are one City. And we will move forward together.Dark times are ahead for our country something even once stalwart Trump supporter Sarah Palin is quickly realizing after The Donald s deal with Carrier to save 1,000 jobs by handing out gigantic tax breaks as a reward for threatening to move a plant to Mexico.Every city needs to follow this example, as it is up to each and every one of us to preserve what America is about Trump will not, after all.Featured image via Getty Images/Chip Somodevilla | 0 |
7,301 | WOW! WHY TRUMP’S PICK FOR LABOR SECRETARY Withdrew Just Hours Before His Senate Hearing | President Donald Trump s pick for secretary of labor, Andrew Puzder, has withdrawn from the nomination just hours before his first scheduled appearance before the Senate HELP committee.Puzder s nomination was controversial from the start because of some of his own business practices that many felt were less than generous. He officially withdrew after an interview his ex-wife, Lisa Fierstein, did on The Oprah Winfrey Show came to light. She claimed that she had to flee from her, then husband, and that she had been abused by Puzder during their marriage.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cURHgCbSWOcFierstein has since admitted that her allegations were false and that she concocted them to get a better settlement in their divorce. She has also sent a letter to the Senate in an attempt to clear her ex-husband s name but it seems to be too little too late.Puzder released this statement concerning his withdrawal.I am withdrawing my nomination for Secretary of Labor. I'm honored to have been considered and am grateful to all who have supported me. Andy Puzder (@AndyPuzder) February 15, 2017(Source: Daily Mail) | 0 |
7,302 | This Hilariously Brilliant Commentary On White Privilege Is Something Everyone Needs To See (VIDEO) | White privilege is a thing. There are many white people who will deny this all day long, though. They think that once slavery was over and Jim Crow laws were abolished, that racism was over. Even the white people who acknowledge white privilege often forget to check said privilege. It s infuriating to white people who actually get it, and especially to people of color. However, it is always refreshing when a white person speaks out about it intelligently, and that is just what Louis CK did on an appearance on Jay Leno s nightly comedy program.It all started with Leno asking how Louis CK s kids were doing. Louis CK responded: My kids are good. I mean, on paper they re great. They re two little white girls in America. Sometimes I look at it that way. I look at them like, you can t say anything. You re doing awesome. Just boiler plate great lives. He then goes on to talk about giving one of his daughters bubble gum flavored medicine, and how she said: Ew! and he told her Fuck you ew! You can t say ew! I m sorry. It s medicine. Most children don t have medicine. Most children in the world they get sick, they die on a rock with a bear eating them. That s how they handle it. After a bit more banter in the little white girls in America vein, Louis CK then goes on to say that you can t take people s historical context away from them. He continues: White people are always like, come on, it wasn t us! Like they want black people to forget everything. Like, every year, white people add 100 years to how long ago slavery was. I ve heard educated white people say slavery was 400 years ago. No it very wasn t. It was 140 years ago. That s two 70 year old ladies living and dying back to back. That s how recently you could buy a guy. The comedic truth continues, and it is truly refreshing to hear a straight white man recognize just how privileged he is because of being born, well, a straight white man.If only the rest of white America was this enlightened.Watch this must-see clip below, via Shaun King s Twitter:3 brilliant minutes from Louis CK on white privilege. Wrapping ugly truths is comedy is a gift.https://t.co/bND8oBTMN4 Shaun King (@ShaunKing) May 20, 2016Featured image via video screen capture | 0 |
7,303 | Trump angers UK with truculent tweet to May after sharing far-right videos | LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump sparked outrage in Britain on Thursday with a sharp rebuke of Prime Minister Theresa May on Twitter after she criticized him for retweeting British far-right anti-Islam videos. As British politicians lined up to condemn Trump for sharing videos originally posted by a leader of a British far-right fringe group, Trump, in an unprecedented attack on one of America s closest allies, replied with an unrepentant message. Theresa @theresamay, don t focus on me, focus on the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom. We are doing just fine, he tweeted. His truculent response caused anger in Britain, where there have been several major Islamist militant attacks this year, with one minister describing Trump s tweets as alarming and despairing . London s Muslim mayor called for the withdrawal of an offer to him to make a state visit to Britain. May, on a visit to Jordan, repeated her view, expressed earlier by her spokesman, that the U.S. leader was wrong for sharing anti-Muslim videos posted by Jayda Fransen, deputy leader of Britain First. But she did not directly respond to Trump s rebuke. I m very clear that retweeting from Britain First was the wrong thing to do, May told reporters in Jordan. She said the group was a hateful organization that sought to spread division and mistrust. The fact that we work together does not mean that we re afraid to say when we think the United States has got it wrong, and be very clear with them, May said. She added that Britain had a long-term, enduring relationship with the United States. The British ambassador to the United States, Kim Darroch, said he had raised concerns with White House officials. British people overwhelmingly reject the prejudiced rhetoric of the far right, which seek to divide communities & erode decency, tolerance & respect, he wrote on Twitter. Fransen, who was convicted this month of abusing a Muslim woman and whose group wants to ban Islam, is facing further criminal charges of racially aggravated harassment. TRUMP AND MAY ONCE HAND-IN-HAND Islamist militants have carried out several major attacks in Britain this year that have killed a total of 36 people, including a bombing in Manchester and two attacks on bridges in London in which victims were rammed with vehicles and stabbed. Trump initially addressed his rebuke to a Twitter handle that was not May s, though he later retweeted to the British leader s correct account. Always a pillar of Britain s foreign policy, the so-called special relationship with Washington has taken on added importance as Britain prepares to leave the European Union in 2019 and seeks new major trade deals. Since Trump became president, May has gone out of her way to cultivate a good relationship with him. She was the first foreign leader to visit him after his inauguration in January, and they were filmed emerging from the White House holding hands. She later said Trump took her hand in a gentlemanly gesture as they walked down a ramp. But she angered his many critics in Britain then by extending an invitation to make a state visit to Britain with all the pomp and pageantry it brings including a formal banquet with Queen Elizabeth. London s mayor, Sadiq Khan, said May should withdraw the offer of a state visit. After this latest incident, it is increasingly clear that any official visit at all from President Trump to Britain would not be welcomed, Khan, who has clashed on Twitter with Trump, said. British lawmakers held an urgent session to discuss Trump s tweets, with parliamentarians from across the political divide united in condemnation. By sharing it (the videos), he is either a racist, incompetent or unthinking, or all three, opposition Labour lawmaker Stephen Doughty said. Britain s Middle East minister Alistair Burt tweeted: The White House tweets are both alarming and despairing tonight. This is so not where the world needs to go. Despite repeated calls from opposition lawmakers to cancel the state visit, Home Secretary (interior minister) Amber Rudd said the invitation still stood although a timing had not been agreed. Outside parliament, there was more harsh criticism from the likes of Brendan Cox, the husband of lawmaker Jo Cox who was murdered in 2016 by a far-right extremist and Justin Welby, the spiritual head of the Anglican Church. The U.S. ambassador to London Woody Johnson wrote on Twitter he had relayed concerns to Washington. The U.S. & UK have a long history of speaking frankly with each other, as all close friends do, he said. The videos shared by Trump purported to show a group of people who were Muslims beating a teenage boy to death, battering a boy on crutches and destroying a Christian statue. Reuters was unable to verify the videos. The Dutch embassy in Washington issued a Twitter comment on one of them, which Fransen had described as showing a Muslim migrant beating up a boy. @realDonald Trump Facts do matter. The perpetrator of the violent act in this video was born and raised in the Netherlands, the embassy said. He received and completed his sentence under Dutch law. Britain First, a little-known party on the periphery of UK politics, welcomed Trump s retweeting of the videos to his 44 million followers, regarding it as an endorsement of their message. I m delighted, said Fransen, whose own Twitter following increase by 50 percent in the wake of the furor to 78,000. She told Reuters Trump s retweets showed the president shared her aim of raising awareness of issues such as Islam . The White House defended the retweets by the Republican president, who during the 2016 U.S. election campaign called for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States , saying that he was raising security issues. It repeatedly refused to be drawn into the content of the videos or whether Trump was aware of the source of the tweets. It s about ensuring that individuals who come into the United States don t pose a public safety or terrorism threat, White House spokesman Raj Shah told reporters aboard Air Force One. | 1 |
7,304 | Trump says Brexit wouldn't impact potential UK-U.S. trade deal if he is president: ITV | LONDON (Reuters) - Presumptive U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said Britain leaving the European Union would make no difference to a potential bilateral trade deal if he became president, according to an interview clip aired by broadcaster ITV on Sunday. During a visit to London last month President Barack Obama told Britons that if they elected to leave the EU in a June 23 referendum they would be at “the back of the queue” for a U.S. trade deal. “I am going to treat everybody fairly but it wouldn’t make any difference to me whether they were in the EU or not,” Trump said in an interview with Piers Morgan, due to be aired in full on ITV on Monday. “You would certainly not be back of the queue, that I can tell you.” | 1 |
7,305 | Trump to ask China to cut financial links with North Korea: White House official | BEIJING (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will ask China to cut its financial links with North Korea and to abide by U.N. sanctions when meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, a senior White House official said on Wednesday. Trump arrived in Beijing on Wednesday afternoon from South Korea for a two-night stop in the Chinese capital as part of his marathon Asia tour. The U.S. president was undecided on whether to declare North Korea a state sponsor of terrorism by the end of his trip, the official said, speaking to reporters on-board Air Force One. Trump believes any talks with the North would require reducing threats, ending provocations and movement toward denuclearization and that no deal can be achieved without denuclearisation, the official added. | 1 |
7,306 | obamas doj also obstructed clinton foundation investigation | freedom center urges college presidents to end aid to campus supporters of terror we ask that you withdraw all university privileges granted to sjp october frontpagemagcom
editors note the following letter was sent to the presidents of the ten campuses named in the freedom centers report on the top ten schools supporting terrorists in alphabetical order the ten campuses are brooklyn college cuny san diego state university san francisco state university tufts university university of california berkeley university of california irvine university of california los angeles university of chicago university of tennessee knoxville and vassar college
october
university of california
dear dr napolitano
your school purports to promote the values of diversity inclusiveness and tolerance yet provides resources funding and legitimacy to students for justice in palestine students for justice in palestine is a campus organization whose sole purpose is to conduct hateful propaganda against jews and the jewish state for the terrorist organization hamas the explicit goals of hamas are the destruction of the worlds only jewish state and genocide against its jewish population for these reasons among others three campuses of the university of californiairvine los angeles and berkeleyhave been named among the top ten schools supporting terrorists by the david horowitz freedom center you may read the full report here httpwwwstopthejewhatredoncampusorgnewstoptenschoolssupportingterroristsfallreport
while it masquerades as a typical campus cultural group sjp is an integral part of hamass efforts to annihilate israel through the boycott divestment and sanctions bds campaign this is an insidious effort that attempts to delegitimize israel and smear it as a rogue apartheid nation these claims are ludicrous more than a million palestinians enjoy israeli citizenship including the rights to vote and to sit on the israeli courts and parliament harvard professor alan dershowitz has said of the bds movement it is antisemitic antizionist antihuman rights antiintellectual antiscience antinegotiation antipeace anticompromise and antipalestinian workers when they are denied opportunities to work both larry summers and hillary clinton have denounced bds as antisemitic jew hatred yet your school provides a platform and funding for its sponsors
with university support sjp also conducts israeli apartheid hate weeks on campus quads these events feature prohamas advocates the construction of apartheid walls featuring prohamas antisemitic propaganda and the creation of mock checkpoints and dieins that disrupt student movements on campus sjp actively disrupts proisrael campus eventsa threat to free speech and a violation of your universitys stated values and rules of conduct
in addition to being scripted by hamas terrorists sjps proterror campaign is funded and guided through a hamas front called american muslims for palestine in recent testimony before the house foreign affairs committee jonathan schanzer who worked as a terrorism finance analyst for the united states department of the treasury from described how hamas funnels large sums of money and provides material assistance to students for justice in palestine sjp through the hamas front group american muslims for palestine amp for the purpose of promoting bds campaigns on american campuses amp was created by sjp cofounder hatem bazian a proterrorist lecturer at uc berkeley who called for a suicide bombing intifada inside the united states it employs highranking officials from other muslim charities that were previously shut down for providing material assistance to terrorists
schanzer described amp as arguably the most important sponsor and organizer for students for justice in palestine sjp which is the most visible arm of the bds campaign on campuses in the united states he detailed how amp provides speakers training printed materials a socalled apartheid wall and grants to sjp activists and even has a campus coordinator on staff whose job is to work directly with sjp and other probds campus groups across the country furthermore according to an email it sent to subscribers amp spent on campus activities in alone
students for justice in palestine continues to accept funding and aid through the hamas front group american muslims for palestine despite its links to terrorist organizations and agendas students for justice in palestine continues to receive campus funds and campus privileges including university offices and the right to hold events preaching the genocidal values of hamas on university property these privileges would normally be denied to groups that preach hatred of any other ethnic group let alone one that supports barbaric terrorists who slaughter men women and children with the goal of cleansing the earth of people who disagree with them
in light of these facts we ask that you withdraw all university privileges granted to sjp and other campus groups who promote the genocidal hamas agenda and that you put an end to the terrorist influences which have infiltrated your campus and which threaten the security not only of jewish students on your campus but of all americans
david horowitz ceo the david horowitz freedom center sherman oaks california | 1 |
7,307 | ONLY HOURS AFTER DEATH Of Supreme Court Justice Scalia, Democrats Demand Obama Chooses His Replacement | The US Supreme Court is set to decide the first major abortion case in nearly 10 years as well as critical decisions on immigration, affirmative action and voting rights. Will the Republican party have the spine to stand up to these reprobates and demand that we wait until after the election to appoint a new US Supreme Court Justice? Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Saturday that the Senate should wait until a new president is elected to confirm a replacement for Justice Antonin Scalia, whose sudden death Saturday shook Washington and threatened to reshape the 2016 presidential race.Democrats said that with 11 months left in Mr. Obama s tenure, the Senate has enough time and indeed an obligation to confirm a replacement. The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president, the Kentucky Republican said in a statement.News of Scalia s death was just hours old before the debate heated up.With the court now divided between four Republican-appointed justices and four Democratic picks, Mr. Obama would have a chance to tilt the bench decidedly to the left, and liberal lawmakers said he should have that chance.Via: Washington Times | 0 |
7,308 | Trump to meet Alibaba's Ma, U.S. Senate majority leader, Univision | (Reuters) - Republican U.S. President-elect Donald Trump continued holding meetings on Monday in New York as he prepared to take over the White House from Democrat Barack Obama on Jan. 20. Below is a list of meetings for Monday, according to Trump’s transition team and eyewitness accounts. *Chairman and chief executive officer, LVMH *Founder and executive chairman, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd * U.S. Senate majority leader * Kentucky Republican * President and CEO Randy Falco [UVN.UL] * Chief News, Entertainment & Digital Officer Isaac Lee * Fox News media host | 1 |
7,309 | Women in Asia-Pacific express dismay over U.S. presidential campaign | TOKYO/TAIPEI (Reuters) - Women in the Asia-Pacific region expressed dismay on Thursday about the U.S. presidential campaign’s focus on the emotional topic of sexual harassment, saying it shows both democracy and the rights of women in America have some way to go. In a fiery final debate on Wednesday night in Las Vegas, Republican nominee Donald Trump accused Democrat rival Hillary Clinton’s campaign of orchestrating a series of accusations by women who said the businessman had made unwanted sexual advances. Clinton, who would be America’s first female president, said the women came forward after Trump said he had never made unwanted advances on women. His denial came after a 2005 video surfaced earlier this month in which he was recorded bragging about groping women against their will. Hsiao Bi-khim, a lawmaker from Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, said she found it “rather incredible” Trump had survived politically in the face of the allegations. If a candidate in Taiwan was caught on tape making similar remarks, “I don’t think such a person would survive a presidential campaign,” she said. Taiwan in January elected its first woman president, Tsai Ing-wen, and on gender equality at least, appears more advanced politically than the United States, she said. “Not only have we elected a woman president, but we have a higher percentage of women who are independently involved in politics and in leadership positions,” Hsiao said. Japan’s former minister for gender equality, Kuniko Inoguchi, said the rest of the world has been dismayed to see the U.S. campaign devolve into “a downgraded debate on women’s issues” and it wouldn’t be happening if Clinton were a man running for president. “So when the glass ceiling breaks, there are a lot of injuries that a woman must bear,” Inoguchi said. Mari Miura, a Sophia University political science professor specializing in women’s issues, said Japanese politicians have also sparked outrage for comments demeaning women in the past. “We hear such comments constantly from Japanese conservative men,” she said. “There are so many incidents that people get used to it and it’s easier to let it go.” A study commissioned by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, published in March, found 28.7 percent of women had experienced some form of sexual harassment, and 40 percent of those said they had experienced unwanted touching. South Korea, which in 2012 elected its first woman president, Park Geun-hye, has slowly become more accepting of women politicians, said Park Young-sun, a female senior member of the Democratic Party of Korea, which has a majority in parliament. Park Young-sun said that when she first entered parliament, in 2004, female lawmakers were considered “decorative items on display”. “They were given positions within the parties like flowers being placed decoratively here and there. Now it’s better.” Nurul Izzah, a Malaysian member of parliament and daughter of jailed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, said the U.S. campaign debate was “a tragedy for women everywhere”. Nurul said “there is a lot of condescension, prejudice” in Malaysian politics, but “political attacks are not really focused on gender-specific issues”. A senior female member of Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s government said what Trump has been accused of doing with women “would make him definitely unelectable in Indonesia”. “What shocks me is that many Americans still accept him and make excuses for him.” She said sexual assault is not part of Indonesia’s political culture, “and even if there are instances, it is not tolerated, and it doesn’t sit well with either men or women”. ‘EVE-TEASING’ India, where sexual harassment and groping on public transport is known as “Eve-teasing”, went through its own soul-searching over the issue after the death of a young woman who was gang-raped on a moving bus in New Delhi in 2012. “In our climate, a Donald Trump-like figure would have to apologize publicly,” said Maya Mirchandani, foreign affairs editor at NDTV, a leading news channel. When she started in TV news in the 1990s, young female reporters were called “soundbite soldiers”, she said. “Print journalists alleged that we used our bodies to stop politicians and get them to talk to us.” Today, Indian law sets clear guidelines for companies to ensure harassment in the workplace is dealt with, she said. Even Australia, known for its colorful language and no-holds barred political culture, has been shocked by the U.S. presidential campaign, said Ged Kearney, female president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions. The closest Australia has come to anything similar recently was a ‘ditch the witch’ campaign adopted by supporters of the conservative opposition against former prime minister Julia Gillard, Australia’s first prime minister, when she argued for a carbon tax during her time in power from 2010 to 2013. “Personally, I think Donald Trump would definitely be unelectable in Australia,” Kearney said. “I don’t think there is any place in Australia for that level of misogyny and cheapening of politics.” | 1 |
7,310 | WHEN HUMA MET HILLARY: “Oh my God, she’s so beautiful and she’s so little!” | Apparently Hillary s secret emails may contain information about a special relationship between Huma and Hillary. Clinton insiders continue to come forward with allegations of Hillary s affairs with women during her marriage to Bill. Why is it be a big deal for any of the men running for President to have an affair, but a non-issue when it comes to Hillary? Why does Hillary get a pass on her alleged affair/s? The top aide to Hillary Clinton says meeting Clinton was amazing, and that she remembers thinking about the now-Democrat presidential candidate, Oh my God, she s so beautiful and she s so little! You know these things that happen in your life that just stick? Huma Abedin said in a Call Your Girlfriend podcast interview. She walked by and she shook my hand and our eyes connected and I just remember having this moment where I thought, Wow. Call Your Girlfriend describes itself as a podcast for long-distance besties everywhere. The podcast is hosted by Ann Friedman, a freelance journalist and New York magazine columnist, and Aminatou Sow, a digital strategist who was named one of Forbes 30 under 30 in tech fields. The hosts said Abedin the vice chair of Clinton s presidential campaign was among the top 10 people they were hoping to interview for their podcast. You re a big deal to young ladies, Sow complimented Abedin at the start of the interview.Abedin said she prefers to have a role that is behind the scenes. I really work as part of a village, as my boss coined the phrase, she added. It does take a village to support Hillary Clinton. I am part of that village. Asked about the first time she met Clinton, Abedin said in the fall of 1996 when she was 21 she was working in the former First Lady s office as an intern for her then-chief-of-staff Melanne Verveer. Clinton, she said, was very good about meeting all the interns in her office. But Abedin said it was in Little Rock after Bill Clinton was re-elected president that Hillary Clinton shook my hand and our eyes connected and I just remember having this moment where I thought wow, this is amazing. And I just it just inspired me. You know, I still remember the look on her face, she continued. And it s funny, and she would probably be so annoyed that I say this, but I remember thinking, Oh my God, she s so beautiful and she s so little! Via: Breitbart News | 0 |
7,311 | Heartwarming Hugs and Kisses from POTUS During Texas Visit [Video] | POTUS was all over Texas today with hugs and concern for flood victims. It was amazing to see both President Trump and First Lady Melania doing such kind deeds for Texans Who says our President isn t empathetic? He s full of compassion for all Americans!WATCH: Pres. Trump meets with children and poses for pictures with Harvey victims at NRG Stadium in Houston https://t.co/SFsm2tbj12 pic.twitter.com/3QSRI4mUZf CBS News (@CBSNews) September 2, 2017PRESIDENT TRUMP VISITS WITH THOSE IMPACTED BY HURRICANE HARVEY:LIVE: Pres. Trump visits with those impacted by Hurricane #Harvey at a relief center in Houston, Texas. https://t.co/XxmzIezvce pic.twitter.com/f9K8SvGd2h ABC News (@ABC) September 2, 2017GREAT PHOTO OF OUR COMPASSIONATE POTUS:In Houston @POTUS and @FLOTUS bring smiles to children and give out crayons and coloring books. pic.twitter.com/zUR6UOTA4e Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) September 2, 2017A POSITIVE MESSAGE FROM POTUS!Pres. Trump, Melania Trump hand out meals to those displaced by #Harvey at hurricane relief center in Houston, Texas https://t.co/7agmFsHG02 pic.twitter.com/PqXPvP1UwI ABC News (@ABC) September 2, 2017President Trump Thanks Our Servicemembers: I m proud of you. Happening Now: @POTUS and @FLOTUS greet servicemembers at air base outside of Houston. pic.twitter.com/x6ZDbPyBLQ Fox News (@FoxNews) September 2, 2017 | 0 |
7,312 | Graveyard killing of Belgian mayor was 'revenge': media | MOUSCRON, Belgium (Reuters) - A Belgian teenager who blamed the local mayor for his father s suicide after he was fired from a town hall job has confessed to slashing the politician s throat in a cemetery on Monday night, public broadcaster RTBF said. The murder of Alfred Gadenne, 71, the mayor of Mouscron and a former lawmaker in the regional parliament, has shocked the country, with the prime minister expressing his horror . The public prosecutor told Reuters that a man was under arrest after giving himself up to police at the scene after dark in Mouscron, an industrial border town of 57,000 close to the French city of Lille. He declined comment on media reports. RTBF, citing sources including the suspect s lawyer, said he was 18 and told police he was avenging his father, who killed himself two years ago after losing his job as a local council employee. A box-cutter was found at the scene, where the young man had calmly called police to attend around 8 p.m. Gadenne, a conservative whose death prompted tributes from across the national political spectrum, acted as caretaker for the cemetery next to his home and was killed after going there to lock up for the night, as he did every evening. Media reporting of this spare-time occupation during his decade as mayor had allowed the suspect to find Gadenne alone, RTBF said. It added that the man waited until he reached the age of majority so his mother, also a municipal employee, could not be held liable for his actions under Belgian law. Mourners left flowers at the cemetery gates and visited the town hall to sign a book of condolence for the mayor. | 1 |
7,313 | MEDIA IMMEDIATELY REPORTS Alleged Killer Of Imam, Assistant Was Catholic…Takes Days To ID Religion Of Muslims Who Commit Acts Of Terror In US [VIDEO] | There is no question that the killing of any innocent human is a tragedy. So how is it that the media determines just how much of a tragedy each unjust killing is? When 13 US Army members were murdered by Nidal Hassan, a Muslim psychiatrist who worked on the same US Army base, why did it take the media so long to report about his allegiance to radical Islam or his cries of Alluha Akbar as he slaughtered and wounded unsuspecting military members? Should the media have kept his devotion to Islam from the public in order to protect members of his faith from unjust persecution? Only months ago, Obama s Attorney General Loretta Lynch threatened to punish anyone who used what the DOJ considers hate speech against Muslims, but never mentioned Christians, Hindus or Jews. Why did the media identify the CATHOLIC faith of the Hispanic man who killed the NY Muslim Imam and his assistant within hours of his capture, while hiding the faith of Muslims who commit acts of terror against Americans? Why does the media and our government go out of their way to protect members of the Muslim community, while racing to out the alleged Catholic Hispanic killer?Where were the large crowds of Mulsims protesting the hate after 9-11 in NY? Where were they after the worst mass murder in American history by radical Muslim Omar Mateen in Orlando?The suspect accused of murdering an imam and his assistant in New York had hatred toward Muslims after 9/11, his brother has said as police investigate whether he was hired as a hitman. Hispanic Oscar Morel, 35, of Brooklyn, was charged Monday night with two counts of second-degree for the killings of Imam Maulana Alauddin Akonjee and Thara Uddin after cops say they recovered what they believe is the gun at his home.Investigators found clothes similar to those worn by the gunman in surveillance video of the killing stuffed into the wall of the suspect s home along with the weapon.Police and the Queens District Attorney would not say why Morel has not been charged with first degree murder but it may be because it will be easier to upgrade the charges at a later stage.Morel worked as a janitor at The New School, a private university in New York, and was brought up in a Catholic family.His brother Alvin told the New York Post his brother was furious after attack on the Twin Towers but insisted it was only temporary .He said: The only time we ever felt anything was 9/11, Alvin Morel said. We felt that same anger. We all had a hatred. The New York Daily News also reported that detectives were working on the theory that somebody hired Morel as a hit man.Police have not yet speculated on a motive, though New York Police Department s chief of detectives said the possibility that the murders were a hate crime is certainly on the table .After his arrest, more information about Morel and the shooting were revealed:Morel, 35, is Hispanic, went to Catholic school and worked as a private university janitorHe has been charged with second-degree murder and will be arraigned at Queens Criminal Court on Tuesday morningSecond degree murder means the killing was not pre-meditated, but the charges could be upgraded Morel told police he was in the area at the time of the slaying and admitted he was the man in the surveillance video but said he didn t shoot anyone The NYPD have said: We strongly believe this is the individual They expressed confidence after detectives found a gun and clothes similar stuffed into the wall of Morel s homeHis brother said he had animosity towards Muslims after 9/11, but it had subsided Alvin Morel also said his brother was a good guy and was in disbelief at what happened Muslims in the community where the imam and his assistant were killed say they have been harassed Residents in the Bangladeshi-Muslim community in Queens and Brooklyn have described harassment in recent months by people who shouted anti-Muslim epithets.But Morel s brother said: We re Catholic-school kids we don t do this. He s a good guy. He also added on Facebook: I cant believe what has happened. I don t believe whats injustice. GOD help my brother mother father and my self. Boyce added: We believe, because of the evidence we ve acquired thus far, that we strongly believe this is the individual. Some have said that the men being shot in the head could have been the result of a feud between Muslims and Hispanics.The arrest was announced just hours after about 1,000 people gathered under tents to praise Akonjee, 55, and Uddin, 64, in an Islamic funeral service where emotions ran high.The ceremony featured several speakers who said they believed the victims were targeted because of their religion. Some members of the congregation shouted, Justice! periodically throughout the service.After the ceremony, part of the crowd marched to the spot a few blocks away where the shooting took place.Mayor Bill de Blasio told those gathered that the entire city was mourning with you. Some in the largely Bangladeshi Muslim community in Queens and Brooklyn have described harassment in recent months by people who shouted anti-Muslim epithets.Read more:Daily Mail | 0 |
7,314 | Did Hillary Clinton REALLY Break Her Toe? [VIDEO] | On Friday, freelance reporter and political consultant Michael J. Hout tweeted a photo of Hillary Clinton walking with forearm crutches at Yale Law School on Saturday. Hillary told the world that she broke her toe while walking downstairs with a cup of coffee in her hand, while she was in the UK promoting her ridiculous book What Happened , that tells the story of how it s everyone else s fault but her own that she lost the presidential election to Donald Trump. Hillary Clinton at @YaleLawSch today wearing braces of some kind pic.twitter.com/kduS19CkbU Michael J. Hout (@michaeljhout) October 22, 2017But is that really What Happened ? The Washington Free Beacon took a closer look at Hillary s story to see if she really broke her toe, if she just had a bit too much to drink, or if she s hiding from interviews after the new Uranium One story broke, with evidence of Hillary selling 20% of America s uranium to Russia in return for contributions to her Clinton Foundation slush fund.Watch: | 0 |
7,315 | #LondonBridge MUSLIM Men CAUGHT Laughing, Celebrating, Yelling “Allah Akbar” While Watching Aftermath Of Terror Attack From Vehicle [VIDEO] | Just another day in the holy month of Ramadan London is the scene of carnage again with another terror attack. A van plowed into pedestrians on London Bridge with reports of men jumping out of the van to stab random people. We re posting details as they come in from the UK. Several people have been killed and the latest update is that 5 armed terrorists are on the run in London.Meanwhile, a video has been posted on social media showing what appears to be Muslim men who have just witnessed the London Bridge terror attack and are simply observers of a horrific terror attack against innocent people. You can hear them speaking in Arabic and saying something about 3 attacks, after which time you can hear one of them yell, Allah Akbar! It s interesting to hear how the Muslim men in the vehicle respond to the murder of innocent people at the hands of Islamic extremists . After watching this video, one has to wonder how exactly, we should go about differentiating between the moderate and extremist Muslims Muslims laughing and yelling Allah Ackbar in London after #LondonBridge attack pic.twitter.com/6XjlwwQqQ7 Tanya Tay (@realTanyaTay) June 3, 2017 | 0 |
7,316 | Trump expected to pick investor Wilbur Ross as U.S. commerce secretary | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is expected to name Wilbur Ross, a billionaire known for his investments in distressed industries, to head the Commerce Department, a Republican source familiar with the decision told Reuters on Tuesday. An announcement on Ross to lead the department, which pursues anti-dumping cases against cheap foreign imports, could come as early as Wednesday, NBC News said. Ross declined to comment to Reuters on Tuesday. Ross, 78, a staunch supporter of Trump and an economic adviser, has helped shape the Trump campaign’s views on trade policy, blaming the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico and the 2001 entry of China into the World Trade Organization for causing massive U.S. factory job losses. “I think there’s a big difference between the impact of trade agreements on corporate America and the impact on Mr. and Mrs. America,” Ross told CNBC in an interview earlier this year. “Corporate America has adjusted to them by investing lots of capital offshore.” Ross, whose net worth was pegged by Forbes at about $2.9 billion, heads the private equity firm, W.L. Ross & Co in New York. Ross’ connections to Trump date back to 1990, when as a turnaround expert for Rothschild and Co he worked on behalf of bondholders to help engineer a restructuring of hundreds of millions of dollars in debt owed on Trump’s Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. In 2002, by then in charge of his own private equity firm, Ross formed International Steel Group to consolidate several bankrupt steelmakers, including Bethlehem Steel, Acme Steel and LTV Steel. He sold the company in a $4.5 billion deal two years later to Mittal Steel. Ross retains a stake in what is now part of the world’s largest steel company, Arcelor Mittal, and sits on its board of directors. His various business interests, which also include automotive components and textiles, could make avoiding conflicts of interest a complicated prospect as the head of an agency with broad influence over trade cases and U.S. industrial policies. Arcelor Mittal has benefited from several recent anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties imposed by the Commerce Department against a wide range of steel products from China, South Korea, Japan, Britain, Turkey and other countries. Those have helped lift domestic steel prices, boosting the company’s bottom line. Ross may also face questions from lawmakers over the January 2006 Sago coal mine disaster in West Virginia that killed 12 miners in an explosion and collapse. Owned by a subsidiary of one of his companies, International Coal Group, the mine had been cited for more than 200 safety violations International Coal was sold for $3.4 billion in 2011 to No. 2 U.S. coal miner Arch Coal, which filed for bankruptcy protection in January amid plummeting coal prices. He could be questioned as well over a $2.3 million fine his firm agreed to pay in August to the Securities and Exchange Commission to settle accusations it did not properly disclose some fees that it charged investors. | 1 |
7,317 | Spy plane contract to be awarded in fiscal 2018: U.S. Air Force | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force contract to start replacing the aging fleet of JSTARS spy and battle management planes is expected to be awarded in the first quarter of fiscal 2018, Air Force Secretary Deborah James said on Wednesday. James told a U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee hearing it was regrettable it was taking longer than expected to award the engineering, manufacturing and development contract. Last year the Pentagon’s chief arms buyer approved the next step in a multibillion-dollar competition to replace 16 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System aircraft, or JSTARS, which have flown over 100,000 combat hours and are approaching the end of their service life. | 1 |
7,318 | US MEDIA THROWING OUT “Unmitigated Bullsh*t.” In Effort To Destroy TRUMP…Liberal Journalist Squeals | Like we didn t know this already BUT now we have a firm account of media efforts to bury Trump. The globalists and media are having a hissy fit because the people are rising up against another term for Obama on steroids. Yes, Hillary wants even more freebies for the masses. Who s gonna pay for it? You!Glenn Greenwald of the Intercept, formerly of The Guardian newspaper, laid out in an interview with Slate magazine that the media in the United States has decided to band together in a last-ditch effort to stop the rise of 2016 GOP presidential nominee Donald J. Trump.Greenwald, the progressive journalist who broke the Edward Snowden mass government surveillance storyline, was asked what he thought about Donald Trump s press conference recently in which Trump joked that Russia should release any emails it has from 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton s illicit private home-brew email server from her time as President Barack Obama s Secretary of State. What did you think of Trump s press conference? You ve gone after people who you thought were smearing those denying a Trump-Russia connection, and you ve used the word McCarthyite to describe them. But now Trump has encouraged the Russians to find or release more Hillary Clinton emails, Slate asked Greenwald. In his response, Greenwald detailed how the media in the United States has decided to bloc together against Trump s candidacy for the presidency:OK, so, I am glad you asked about that because this is the conflict that I am currently having: The U.S. media is essentially 100 percent united, vehemently, against Trump, and preventing him from being elected president. I don t have an actual problem with that because I share the premises on which it is based about why he poses such extreme dangers. But that doesn t mean that as a journalist, or even just as a citizen, that I am willing to go along with any claim, no matter how fact-free, no matter how irrational, no matter how dangerous it could be, in order to bring Trump down.Greenwald bashed the New York Times for pushing, in his words, unmitigated bullsh*t. Read more: Breitbart | 0 |
7,319 | Taiwan activist to be tried for subversion in China in 'open' hearing | Beijing (Reuters) - China will on Monday put on trial a Taiwanese activist, who disappeared while on a visit to the mainland in March, on suspicion of subverting state power, in what court authorities said would be an open trial. Lee Ming-che, a community college teacher and human rights advocate, went missing on his March visit but authorities later confirmed he had been detained, straining already-tense ties between the mainland and the self-ruling island. Lee s trial will begin first thing on Monday morning, at the Intermediate People s Court of Yueyang city, in the central province of Hunan, a woman who answered the telephone at the court told Reuters. Authorities have video-streamed or live-blogged increasing numbers of court proceedings in recent years as part of a push towards judicial transparency. But rights activists say that in sensitive cases, holding open hearings is a tool for authorities to demonstrate state power and that usually the defendant has agreed to an outcome. Photographs of a billboard announcement of the trial date and time, which circulated online on Friday, were genuine, the woman at the court confirmed. The announcement said Lee would stand trial alongside another man, Peng Yuhua, who is suspected of the same crime. It is not clear who Peng is or what his relationship to Lee is, if any. Lee Ching-yu, Lee s wife, who has been campaigning for his release, was contacted this week by a man who said he was her husband s lawyer and who told her to come to the mainland for the trial, Taiwan s Mainland Affairs Council said on Thursday. The council said the Taiwan government would help her apply for travel documents and arrange lawyers to go with her. Lee s case has strained relations between Taipei and Beijing, which have been difficult for decades but particularly tense since President Tsai Ing-wen, leader of Taiwan s independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, took office last year. Beijing regards the island as a breakaway province and it has never renounced the use of force to bring it back under mainland control. Proudly democratic Taiwan has shown no interest in being run by Communist Party rulers in Beijing. | 1 |
7,320 | WOW! Sheriff Clarke DESTROYS Lie That Obama Is Helping Black Community With BRUTALLY HONEST Commentary On This Photo-Op | Sheriff Clarke better beef up his security detail after Obama and his Democrat friends sees this truth bomb! Kid, I got everything ready for you, food stamps, failing pubic schools, inescapable poverty, unemployment, crime. pic.twitter.com/Le2KyibUvP David A. Clarke, Jr. (@SheriffClarke) August 6, 2016 | 0 |
7,321 | Judge orders detention of Rio state congressmen, state bank employees | RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - A judge in Brazil has ordered the detention of several top political figures in Rio de Janeiro, including the president of the state assembly, federal prosecutors said on Tuesday. Police were also serving 10 arrest warrants in the capital Brasilia regarding more than $100 million in contracts involving state bank Caixa Economica Federal in a separate investigation, prosecutors said, suggesting a years-long anti-corruption push may be far from over. According to a prosecutors s statement, Judge Abel Gomes has put out a bench warrant for Rio state assembly president Jorge Picciani, two other state assemblymen, and 10 other persons, including legislative aides. They are accused of accepting bribes from the state s transportation industry body in exchange for favorable legislation going back to the governorship of S rgio Cabral, who held power from 2007 to 2014 and was arrested in 2016 on corruption charges. The arrested deputies were members of embattled President Michel Temer s PMDB party. Also on Tuesday, Brazil s federal police said in a statement that it was carrying out 10 search and detention orders in the capital Brasilia, some of them relating to employees of state bank Caixa Economica Federal. The police said the accused illegally skimmed money from about 385 million reais ($117 million) in information technology contracts received from the bank. None of the accused parties could immediately be reached for comment. | 1 |
7,322 | Trump says will not attend next Republican presidential debate | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican front-runner Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would not attend the next televised Republican presidential debate scheduled for next Monday. “I think we’ve had enough debates,” Trump, who won three states in Tuesday’s nominating contests, told Fox News in an interview. Fox on Monday announced the new debate, its latest in the primary season as the party chooses its candidate ahead of the Nov. 8 presidential election. Trump said he had scheduled a major speech the same night - before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee - and was surprised to hear Fox had planned another debate. “How many times can the same people ask you the same question?” Trump asked. “So I was very surprised when I heard that Fox called for a debate. Nobody told me about it and I won’t be there, no.” The pro-Israel lobby group holds its annual policy convention in Washington Sunday through Tuesday and has confirmed both Trump and Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton as speakers. It has not issued a formal schedule. It would not be the first time Trump has skipped a debate. He also sat out the Fox News/Google debate on Jan. 28, after complaining of unfair treatment in a previous Fox debate. | 1 |
7,323 | Saudi agency says country targeted in cyber spying campaign | LONDON/RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabian security officials said on Monday that the country had been targeted as part of a wide-ranging cyber espionage campaign observed since February against five Middle East nations as well as several countries outside the region. The Saudi government s National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) said in a statement the kingdom had been hit by a hacking campaign bearing the technical hallmarks of an attack group dubbed MuddyWater by U.S. cyber firm Palo Alto Networks. Palo Alto s Unit 42 threat research unit published a report last Friday showing how a string of connected attacks this year used decoy documents with official-looking government logos to lure unsuspecting users from targeted organizations to download infected documents and compromise their computer networks. Documents pretending to be from the U.S. National Security Agency, Iraqi intelligence, Russian security firm Kaspersky and the Kurdistan regional government were among those used to trick victims, Unit 42 said in a blog post (goo.gl/SvwrXv). The Unit 42 researchers said the attacks had targeted organizations in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Israel, as well as entities outside the Middle East in Georgia, India, Pakistan and the United States. The Saudi security agency said in its own statement that the attacks sought to steal data from computers using email phishing techniques targeting the credentials of specific users. The NCSC said they also comprised so-called watering hole attacks, which seek to trick users to click on infected web links to seize control of their machines. The technical indicators supplied by Unit 42 are the same as those described by the NCSC as being involved in attacks against Saudi Arabia. The NCSC said the attacks appeared to be by an advanced persistent threat (APT) group - cyber jargon typically used to describe state-backed espionage. Saudi Arabia has been the target of frequent cyber attacks, including the Shamoon virus, which cripples computers by wiping their disks and has hit both government ministries and petrochemical firms. Saudi Aramco, the world s largest oil company, was hit by an early version of the Shamoon virus in 2012, in the country s worst cyber attack to date. The NCSC declined further comment on the source of the attack or on which organizations or agencies were targeted. Unit 42 said it was unable to identify the attack group or its aims and did not have enough data to conclude that the MuddyWater group was behind the Saudi attacks as outlined by NCSC. We cannot confirm that the NCSC posting and our MuddyWater research are in fact related, Christopher Budd, a Unit 42 manager told Reuters. There s just not enough information to make that connection with an appropriate level of certainty. Palo Alto Networks said the files it had uncovered were almost identical to information-stealing documents disguised as Microsoft Word files and found to be targeting the Saudi government by security firm MalwareBytes in a September report. | 1 |
7,324 | Trump’s Revolting ‘Hot Mic’ Moment Has Just Blown His Campaign And The GOP To Bits (VIDEO) | Earlier today, an audio recording surfaced of Donald Trump talking about working really hard to fuck a married woman eight months after he married Melania. But this is about more than just a leaked extramarital affair; he actually tried to assault this woman and he bragged that he just starts kissing beautiful women, which is likewise sexual assault.His inner circle and surrogates don t know what to do with this.Mike Pence actually dodged his press pool and then disappeared when they asked him about it. Politico s Matthew Nussbaum got that on video and posted it to Twitter earlier today:My attempt to get Pence to respond to the Trump tape. He ignored the question. pic.twitter.com/jgv5rUJZIb Matthew Nussbaum (@MatthewNussbaum) October 7, 2016Perhaps, when he s had a chance to calm down, he ll tell the press that Trump never said those things he said. He s good at that. Maybe he ll even say the audio was doctored, the Washington Post s David Farenthold obviously fabricated it, whatever. It ll be the only way that Mr. Mike Family Values Pence can deal with this without cracking up.One of Pence s campaign staffers said that his hasty departure with no comment to his press pool had nothing to do with this news. We call bullshit on that.Ben Carson, another staunch defender of family values, and who s one of Trump s surrogates now for whatever reason, said through his spokesman that this is no big deal, because everyone cheats on their spouse: You know, these things happen. I m sure somebody could find a video of Bill Clinton talking like this are we gonna say Bill Clinton was the same person as president that he is today? Obviously not.People commit adultery. It happens. Ministers. Heads of state. Everyday people. People are human, they do human things. It s nothing unusual that somebody committed adultery on their spouse. Women do it. Men do it. Should we be shocked by it? No. The difference is that Republicans tried to argue, back in the day, that Bill Clinton s sexual escapades made him unfit to be President. They felt, at the time, that presidents should be held to a higher standard. Yet here s Ben Carson, a staunch evangelical and Republican, basically saying, Eh. Everyone does it. So what? Others are not so quick to defend him, though. Paul Ryan, who had finally managed to swallow his bile enough to appear with Trump, disinvited him to the Wisconsin event tomorrow and will appear alone.He said: I am sickened by what I heard today. Women are to be championed and revered, not objectified. I hope Mr. Trump treats this situation with the seriousness it deserves and works to demonstrate to the country that he has greater respect for women than the clip suggests. RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, who has spent an awful lot of time defending Trump from various attacks since the July convention, blasted him: No woman should ever be described in these terms or talked about in this manner. Ever. And one of his own campaign advisers said: This should have never happened. I wish it had never happened. I think I know that men talk this way sometimes, but it s nothing I would ever want to hear or condone or approve of. My reaction is it s appalling. It s just flat out appalling. The adviser said, Another day in Trump world I hate it. Trump s campaign did issue an apology, but it was lukewarm and backhanded and tried to deflect some of the backlash by saying Bill Clinton was probably worse.And so it goes. If Bill Clinton was unfit to serve because of his extramarital affairs, then what s Trump for sexually assaulting women and openly bragging about it? The GOP will never coalesce around a response for this.Featured image by Ethan Miller/Getty Images | 0 |
7,325 | Trump Just Threatened To Jail Hillary If He’s Elected – Then She Blasted His Orange Face Off (VIDEO) | Well, he said it. Trump s fans have long been chanting lock her up at his rallies despite that Clinton has not committed a single jailable offense. But they re sure that it happened, and their candidate took their conspiracy theories and irrational hatred mainstream during Sunday s sh*tshow of a presidential debate. I didn t think I would say this but I m going to say it, Trump began. If I win, I am going to instruct my Attorney General to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation Trump told Clinton that in his opinion the people at the FBI are furious with her because of the email nonscandal. We re going to get a special prosecutor and we ;re going to look into it because you know what? People have been, their lives have been destroyed for doing one-fifth of what you have done, he said.Clinton s face the entire time was priceless as we watched her choke back grins and laughter, at times finding it impossible to hide her mirth. At one point, her face kind of froze as she appeared to daydream about her first day in the Oval Office and one could even see thought bubbles appear over her head: Madame President. President Hillary Clinton. Yeah. That s the ticket. Then, when it was her turn to respond, she dropped the hammer: Everything he just said is absolutely false but I m not surprised. Clinton once again reminded Americans that her website is serving as a fact-checking service for the night, calling the daunting task impossible. It s just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country, Clinton said before Trump shot back, because you d be in jail. Remember to vote in November otherwise, we get a President who believes his political opponents should be jailed without committing a crime.Watch it below:Featured image via Getty Images/Win McNamee | 0 |
7,326 | Former FBI chief's ire over Trump laid bare in testimony | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Throughout the drama of his U.S. Senate testimony on Thursday, James Comey sat ramrod-straight, his mouth set, all business. It was the posture of a longtime law-enforcement official and former FBI director, someone used to keeping matters close to the vest. But even the steady, crisp rhythm of his answers could not hide what lay beneath the surface: Comey’s dismissal by President Donald Trump last month wounded and angered him. Beyond testifying to conversations he said he had with Trump concerning the federal probe into ties between Trump’s campaign and Russian officials, Comey time and again told the Senate committee before him and viewers across the country he not only has a harsh opinion of the president’s purported conduct, but also of his character. Just minutes into his testimony, Comey said the president and his aides had chosen to defame him by spreading lies about his job performance, attempting to shred a reputation carefully built during 20 years of government service. “Those were lies, plain and simple, and I am so sorry that the FBI workforce had to hear them and that the American people were told them,” he said. Later, Comey testified he began documenting his conversations with the president because of what he called “the nature of the person.” “I was honestly concerned he might lie about the nature of our meeting,” Comey said. Trump, uncharacteristically, stayed silent during Comey’s testimony, despite earlier suggestions from White House aides that he might take to Twitter to respond. He never did, ceding the stage, for the moment, to his nemesis. He left rebuttals to his son, Donald Trump, Jr., who defended Trump on Twitter, and to his outside lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, who denied the president had ever pressured Comey to drop the FBI’s probe into Trump’s former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. In response to questions from senators, Comey repeatedly cast Trump as a boss or “patron” trying to secure his loyalty, something that Comey said made him “uneasy.” At one point, Comey was asked why his version of events should be believed over the president’s. “I’ve tried to be open, fair, transparent and accurate,” he said, encouraging senators to examine the two men’s “consistency track record, demeanor, record over time, that sort of thing.” Referring to a Trump comment on social media about the possible existence of tapes that could provide proof of their conversations, Comey said he was so rankled he decided to hand memos of his interactions with the president to a close friend to leak to the media. “I’ve seen the tweet about the tapes,” Comey said. “Lordy, I hope there are tapes.” At the White house, in keeping with Trump’s silence, his aides played down the day’s events. “It’s a regular Thursday at the White House,” Sarah Sanders, the deputy press secretary, told reporters, as televisions in the West Wing blasted Comey’s testimony. Trump watched at least part of the hearing with his outside legal team, in a dining room at the White House, but Sanders said she did not know if he had seen much of it. Sanders took umbrage when asked if, as Comey had suggested, the president had lied. “I can definitively say the president is not a liar. I think it’s frankly insulting that question would be asked,” she said. After Comey’s testimony, Trump delivered a brief speech to a friendly audience at a conference of religious leaders in Washington where he did not mention the controversy. Throughout the hotel ballroom where the event was staged, attendees expressed support for the Republican Trump and distaste for Democrats and the news media. “I feel he’s doing a wonderful job for our country,” said Donna Hubers of Baltimore, who was checking her phone for Comey updates. There were some lighter, and literary, moments in Comey’s testimony. He recalled at one point that he had to give up a dinner date with his wife because Trump asked to meet him at the White House. That was one of the meetings that Trump allegedly used to pressure Comey to drop the investigation into Flynn. “In retrospect, I love spending time with my wife, and I wish I would have been there that night,” he said on Thursday, drawing laughs from the senators. Comey also reached into English history to boost his portrayal of Trump. He was asked by Senator Angus King, an independent, whether he took the president’s references to the Flynn probe in the Oval Office as a directive to drop the matter. Comey replied with a quotation attributed to King Henry II of England, who was at odds with Thomas Becket, the archbishop of Canterbury. “Yes. It rings in my ear as, well, ‘Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?’” “I was just going to quote that,” Senator King said. “And the next day, he (Becket) was killed.” | 1 |
7,327 | Merkel and the refugees: How German leader emerged from a political abyss | BERLIN (Reuters) - Near the end of a recent campaign speech in northern Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel turned to Europe s refugee crisis of 2015 and offered her audience a comforting dual message. Germans should be proud of the warm welcome they gave hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers, many of them fleeing war and persecution in the Middle East, she told an audience of over 1,000 gathered in the fishing village of Steinhude. Then she shifted gears: What happened in 2015 cannot, should not and must not happen again. It is a phrase she has used repeatedly in market squares across Germany as she campaigns for a fourth term in a federal election on Sept. 24 that she is widely expected to win. [nL5N1LQ0H1 Two years since she opened Germany s borders to asylum seekers to avert what she says was a looming humanitarian disaster, and saw her popularity slide as a result, Merkel has climbed her way out of the deepest hole of her political career. There are many factors behind her comeback. But few are as important as her skill at spinning a narrative about the refugee crisis that many Germans can support, whether they cheered or condemned her actions of 2015. Merkel is not running on a policy of open borders and that fits perfectly with the mood in the country, said Robin Alexander, author of a best-selling book on the German government s handling of the refugee crisis. Many people like the image of Germany as a model of humanitarian virtue. At the same time they know the country could not continue to welcome refugees like it did. It is this set of feelings that Merkel is appealing to. By the end of 2015, 890,000 asylum seekers had entered Germany, many without proper identity checks, overwhelming local communities. Merkel s actions divided Europe and led to a surge in anti-immigrant sentiment. The hard-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party seems sure to enter parliament for the first time. A year after her decision, and following a series of small-scale attacks in Germany by Islamist militants, her popularity ratings had plunged 30 points to 45 percent and she faced questions about whether she would run for chancellor again. Yet today, 63 percent of Germans say she is doing a good job and, according to a Bertelsmann Foundation survey this week, 59 percent believe the country is on the right track. It has been a long, difficult road back, said one of her top aides. But we have gotten to a point where the refugee issue is no longer a negative for Merkel in the election campaign. Merkel has been helped by external events such as Britain s vote for Brexit last year and Donald Trump s election victory in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, both of which reinforced her appeal as a guarantor of stability. A decision by Macedonia in early 2016 to shut its border with Greece stemmed the flow of refugees, easing pressure on Germany. And the country has not suffered a large-scale Islamist attack, an event which might have triggered a voter backlash. But Merkel s knack for understanding how Germans tick has also been crucial. At many of her public appearances, she is confronted by anti-immigration protesters who try to drown out her speeches with whistles and chants of Merkel must go! . In Steinhude, a woman held up a sign showing Merkel s diamond-shaped hand pose over a German flag with a blood-spattered bullet hole in the middle. I offer you terror, death and chaos , the sign read. But the dozen or so protesters were dwarfed by supporters who applauded her message. I m not sure if there was another way to handle the refugee crisis. Those refugees had to go somewhere, said Willi Kordes, 70, who runs a sewage treatment firm in nearby Vlotho. I don t trust anyone to do it better. Working in her favor in the election is the fact that many of Germany s other established parties, including the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), led by her main challenger Martin Schulz, backed her open-door policy. The AfD, running a racially-tinged campaign that has put off some voters, has come off its 2016 highs in the polls. The one mainstream party that has offered a hardline alternative, the Christian Social Union (CSU), is the Bavarian sister party to Merkel s Christian Democratic Union (CDU). A vote for the CSU is akin to a vote for Merkel. A crucial factor behind Merkel s rebound has been the decline in asylum seekers entering Germany. About 280,000 arrived in 2016, with another drop likely this year. Merkel takes credit for this, pointing to a deal she brokered between the European Union and Turkey, under which Ankara has cut the number of migrants crossing into Europe via its territory. But critics say the closing of Balkan borders which Merkel publicly opposed was the real driver. Some see parallels with her behavior in the euro zone financial crisis, when European Central Bank President Mario Draghi s pledge to do whatever it takes to keep the currency bloc together, allowing her to stick to a hard line towards euro states such as Greece without fear of consequences. In the refugee crisis, it has been countries like Macedonia, Turkey and Hungary - which shut down routes the refugees used - that have done Merkel s dirty work , allowing her to maintain the image of a caring leader who helped people fleeing war. The approach has helped Merkel extend her control over the political centre. Some right-wing voters may have fled for the AfD but polls suggest young, urban voters who traditionally lean left could fill the gap. Germany s economy has been strong enough to absorb the influx of refugees without big cracks emerging in society. In reaction to its Nazi past, Germany has emerged as a more open, tolerant country than many assumed when the crisis hit. A survey published this month ranking the top fears of the Germans put terrorism at the top. But a separate poll for the Bild newspaper showed they do not see curbing immigration as a priority. Germans are astonishingly global, liberal and open to the world, said Menno Smid, head of the Infas Institute for Applied Social Sciences, which released a survey last month showing broad acceptance of refugees in Germany. We are the winners from globalization. The economic factors that led to Trump simply don t exist. | 1 |
7,328 | (Video) Congressman Gohmert Lets It Rip On Boehner: ‘Dictatorship for years!’ | Cong. Louis Gohmert confirms what most conservatives knew about Boehner in this video. Gohmert ran against Boehner last year and now we know just how frustrating it must have been to work with Boehner who s really a Democrat at heart. He caved to every whim of Obama and is partly responsible for the mess America s in right now. | 0 |
7,329 | White House says cyber review to go beyond 2016 election | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Friday the intelligence review ordered by President Barack Obama on cyber attacks involving U.S. elections will go beyond the Nov. 8 vote and will include the 2008 election. “What the president asked for is a review to look at malicious cyber activity tied to our presidential election cycle,” White House spokesman Eric Schultz said at a news briefing. “It will be broader than just looking at this past election.” | 1 |
7,330 | Judges uphold Bosnian Croat convictions in last verdict of Yugoslav war tribunal | THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Appeals judges at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal upheld on Wednesday the convictions of six Bosnian Croats found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity during the 1990s, in the court s last verdict before it closes next month. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), established by the United Nations in 1993, is due to close when its mandate expires at the end of the year. The six former high-level politicians and defense officials were convicted in 2013 of participating in an ethnic cleansing campaign against Bosnian Muslims. They include Jadranko Prlic, a former defense minister, whose 25 year jail sentence was upheld on Wednesday. He had been found guilty of being part of a criminal enterprise by the wartime Croatian government of late President Franjo Tudjman, to create an ethnically pure state. Zagreb, which maintained it had clean hands in the bloody 1992-95 war in Bosnia, had wanted that finding overturned. However the appeals chamber concluded that it was not shown that the earlier judges had misinterpreted relevant evidence of Tudjman and Zagreb s confirmed Croatia s role in the Bosnian conflict. Several convictions for specific crimes for Prlic and the five others were reversed in the appeal, but president Judge Carmel Agius said all six remain convicted of numerous and very serious crimes. | 1 |
7,331 | MAJOR Republican Celebrity Turns On Trump; Fans SHOCKED (TWEETS) | It s not tough to imagine that NASCAR races have their share of Donald Trump s Make America Great Again caps. Your stereotypical NASCAR is a, as we re told by Fox News and those on the right, real American with real American values, which means no tolerance for those people from other places. A funny thing happens, though, even in NASCAR circles, nearly every American is a product of immigration so some surprising people are taking Trump s Muslim ban very seriously. NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt Jr. is one of them.Earnhardt has been at the top of his sport for years when it comes to fans. For the last 14 years, he has won most popular driver, every single year. Donald Trump is also a big favorite with the NASCAR crowd and the drivers were mostly happy with Trump s electoral victory. Still, while Earnhardt is hardly a Democratic Socialist (he is a Republican), his politics do skew a little to the left of Trump (of course, these days, Mussolini s politics skew a little to the left of Trump).In 2006, Earnhardt was the only NASCAR driver to answer a question about his support of the Confederate flag. He didn t support it. He called it racist. I guess with popularity comes the courage to drive a different direction and over the weekend, he criticized the Trump administration s Muslim ban on Twitter.Unlike Trump, Earnhardt seems to have a grasp on how our country was built on the backs of immigrants:@GelarBudidarma my fam immigrated from Germany in 1700s escaping religious persecution. America is created by immigrants. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) January 29, 2017Reactions were mixed, but a lot more nuanced than if the message had come from someone who s considered a libtard. Some are turning their backs on Earnhardt:@DaleJr @GelarBudidarma Immigration is not what the focus is here Dale. You and I know this, this is about unvetted illegals. RIP Sr 2ndrun.tv (@2ndruntv) January 29, 2017@DaleJr @GelarBudidarma that is the stupidest thing I ve ever heard. Lol. Did they crash planes into buildings in the 1700s. Dummy. scottbu70 (@scottbu70) January 30, 2017Even more are thankful:@DaleJr Thank you Mr. Earnhardt. We need more prominent Southern voices to speak out. David V. Iannelli (@DVIannelli) January 29, 2017@DaleJr @GelarBudidarma Thank you, sir. You re a model for those who worry taking a stand might cost them something. Spencer Critchley (@scritchley) January 29, 2017@DaleJr Good on you for standing on the right side of history ? C.Mon (@ClaireeMonroe) January 29, 2017@DaleJr Thank you Mr. Earnhardt. We need more prominent Southern voices to speak out. David V. Iannelli (@DVIannelli) January 29, 2017But not without backlash:@DVIannelli @DaleJr Yeah David more people like YOU need to leave our country to make room for the jihadis. Or are U a hypocrite? Norman South (@NotesfromNorm) January 30, 2017Perhaps people like Earnhardt are the people we need to help get our country back from the fascist dictator that s currently occupying the White House. Conservatives aren t going to listen to anyone from Hollywood, but they clearly do listen to heroes in their own world. Let s hope others will join Earnhardt soon.Featured image via Jason Hanna/Getty Images. | 0 |
7,332 | U.S. says it wants Syrian government to negotiate 'seriously' with opposition | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Friday urged supporters of the Syrian government to press it to participate fully in negotiations with the opposition, saying a lack of a political resolution in the war-torn country threatened indefinite instability. In a statement, a spokeswoman for the State Department said the United States wanted the government s supporters to use their leverage to urge the regime to participate fully in tangible negotiations with the opposition in Geneva. The United States urges all parties to work seriously toward a political resolution to this conflict or face continued isolation and instability indefinitely in Syria, spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement. A United Nations negotiator characterized a round of peace talks that ended on Thursday as a missed opportunity, and he laid most of the blame at the feet of Syria s government. | 1 |
7,333 | Obama says 9/11 legislation sets 'dangerous precedent': CNN | FORT LEE, Va. (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Wednesday called the Senate’s vote to override his veto of legislation allowing relatives of the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to sue Saudi Arabia’s government a mistake. “If we eliminate this notion of sovereign immunity, then our men and women in uniform around the world could potentially start seeing ourselves subject to reciprocal loss,” Obama said during a town hall meeting-style interview on CNN, referring to potential lawsuits. “It’s a dangerous precedent,” he said. | 1 |
7,334 | LOL! HOLLYWOOD Announces Name Of New Awards Show To Replace The Oscars…And It’s HILARIOUS! | Since most of the actors and producers in Hollywood will either be in treatment, or out of a job, for sexually harassing, or abusing women, men and children in the industry, the Academy Awards show will be taking on a new theme this year.Now that the culture of rot in Hollywood has been exposed, there will be a new awards ceremony to replace the once prestigious Academy Awards show. The new show will be called the Biggest Groper Awards , and it will honor the creeps in Hollywood, who for decades sexually abused anyone in their paths while fawning over the politics of the most well-known sexual predator to ever roam the halls of the White House. The award will also pay homage to all of the celebrities who recently supported Hillary s campaign for President, the woman who gave Bill Clinton the green light to sexually assault multiple women, while she threatened to harm any of the women who dared to come forward.*Harvey Weinstein-Hollywood kingpin ProducerLouis CK- Comedian/Filmmaker Ben Affleck-Actor George W. Bush Sr-Former President Kevin Spacey Actor James Toback Hollywood Screenwriter Chris Savino Creator of Nickelodeon s The Loud House Roy Price Head of Amazon Studios John Besh Celebrity Chef Mark Halperin ABC News Journalist Micheal Oreskes Top Editor at NPR (National Public Radio) Lockhart Steele Editorial Director at Vox Media Adam Venit Head Agent of motion picture group WME Steven Seagal Actor Charlie Sheen Actor Jeremy Piven Entourage Actor Ed Westwick Gossip Girl Actor Dustin Hoffman Oscar-winning Actor Matthew Weiner Creator of AMC s Mad Men Andy Dick Former NewsRadio star/Actor Brett Ratnor Rush Hour Producer/Director David Blaine Magician David Guillod Atomic Blonde Producer Robert Knepper Transporter 3 Actor John Singleton Oscar-nominated DirectorUnhonorable-mention to Harvey Weinstein s brother, Bob Weinstein, who is under investigation for sexually harassing Spike TV The Mist showrunner Amanda Segel. The Source*We hate to have to do this, but this article is satire. There will not be a Groper Award given to the most disgusting sexual predator in Hollywood, created in the likeness of the accused rapist, and serial sexual predator, former President Bill Clinton. | 0 |
7,335 | Trump questions lawmakers' efforts to curb asset seizures by police | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Tuesday there was “no reason” to curb law enforcement agencies that seize cash, vehicles and other assets of people suspected of crimes, a practice that some lawmakers and activists have criticized for denying legal rights. The issue of civil asset forfeiture, created to disrupt the activities of organized crime groups, arose when sheriffs from around the United States told Trump at a White House meeting that they were under pressure to ease the practice. “I’d like to look into that,” Trump said. “There’s no reason for that.” In 2016, a group of Republican and Democratic lawmakers introduced a bill, which did not become law, that would have required the government to do more to show that seized property was connected to a crime. Critics have said suspects have few avenues to challenge the seizures and that forfeiture laws were sometimes abused. Police in some cases seize property from people who are never charged or convicted. Trump, a Republican, asked acting U.S. Attorney General Dana Boente, who was at the gathering, whether executive orders or legislation were needed to support forfeiture. Boente said that was unnecessary but law enforcement agencies needed encouragement. Trump voiced disagreement with lawmakers who want to change asset forfeiture laws, and some of the sheriffs laughed when Trump suggested he might want to “destroy” the career of one Texas legislator. He said members of the U.S. Congress would “get beat up really badly by the voters” if they interfered with law enforcement’s activities. Later, Sheriff Harold Eavenson of Rockwall County, Texas, told Trump of his response to a state lawmaker who had introduced legislation requiring suspects first be convicted before assets could be seized. “I told him that the cartel would build a monument to him in Mexico if he could get that legislation passed,” Eavenson said. “Who was the state senator?” Trump asked. “You want to give his name? We’ll destroy his career,” the president deadpanned, to laughter. Eavenson did not identify the lawmaker, but a Republican state senator has introduced similar legislation in Texas. The Texas Observer magazine reported that the bill had support from Republicans and Democrats. | 1 |
7,336 | WOW! VIDEO EMERGES Of Hillary Clinton Admitting Foreign Leaders Contacted Her During Campaign, Discussed How They Could “Stop Donald Trump” | Hey Robert Mueller! Do you care to find out which foreign leaders candidate Hillary Clinton spoke with during her campaign? Because according to Hillary, she received messages from foreign leaders asking her if they can endorse her to stop Donald Trump from becoming President. I am already receiving messages from leaders. I m having foreign leaders ask if they can endorse me to stop Donald Trump. Hillary Clinton, March, 2016Hmmm Is there a tape of candidate Donald Trump like the one of Hillary, where he admits to having discussions with foreign leaders about how to stop Hillary from becoming President?While speaking at a Democratic Presidential Townhall meeting in Columbus, Ohio, in March of 2016, Hillary thought she was rather clever by attempting to make it appear as though Donald Trump was wildly unpopular with all of her foreign connections. It s too bad the media forgot about this clip:TREASON? Video surfaces of Hillary admitting she was in contact with foreign leaders interfering in our election! https://t.co/EHHTyC0sEU Newt-Trump Fan Club (@NewtTrump) July 19, 2017 | 0 |
7,337 | RADICAL “TOLERANT” FEMALE Black Bloc, Antifa Leader Follows Muslim Boyfriend To Turkey… Surprised When She Was Beaten, Raped | DC Antifa Leader Moved to Turkey with Man She Met, Surprised When Beaten and Abused https://t.co/MsBtGGxwem pic.twitter.com/XjC3UbmvRn Jack Posobiec (@JackPosobiec) May 2, 2017McCauley claims this is not the person who she traveled to Turkey to be with in her response to Prosibiec:How nice of you to link to my blog, Jack. I wrote about this publicly. Nice "investigative" skills. You got a photo of the wrong guy though. https://t.co/shOj6FfEyl Lacy MacAuley (@lacymacauley) May 2, 2017So all day, #fascists were a lot of bluff and bluster. Brought guns they never shot. Just chanted, gave #Nazi salutes, taunted. #Pikeville pic.twitter.com/FlVAOkudlW Lacy MacAuley (@lacymacauley) April 29, 2017How nice of you to link to my blog, Jack. I wrote about this publicly. Nice "investigative" skills. You got a photo of the wrong guy though. https://t.co/shOj6FfEyl Lacy MacAuley (@lacymacauley) May 2, 2017Lacy Mccauley can be seen acting as the tolerant host at this organized LGBTQ dance party in front of Vice President Mike Pence s home. At about the 1:40 mark, Lacy interviews Natalie, one of the peaceful protesters who warns Mike Pence, Bro .at me bro! She continues, We re gonna fight you and dance the more you come at us. So bring it! We re ready. We re gonna keep resisting in love dancing because it looks like you don t have any. So it looks like you need to be taught. Lacy then goes on to interview more hateful gay protesters preaching love and tolerance . So many angry, hateful people protesting against hate The hypocrisy of a liberal exposed: | 0 |
7,338 | Incoming U.N. climate chief seeks swift action: at odds with Trump | OSLO (Reuters) - The United Nations’s incoming climate chief said on Thursday she will push for rapid action under a U.N. accord to slow global warming and expressed hopes that U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will drop calls for a renegotiation if elected. Mexico’s Patricia Espinosa, a former foreign minister appointed on Wednesday to head the Bonn-based U.N. Climate Change Secretariat from July, urged all governments swiftly to ratify the 195-nation accord hammered out in Paris in December. She told Reuters that “it’s not impossible” that the agreement, seeking to transform the global economy away from fossil fuels this century, could enter into force as early as this year, giving it strength in international law. Espinosa is at odds with Trump, who is skeptical that man-made emissions cause climate change. He told Reuters on Tuesday that he was “not a big fan” of the Paris accord and that “at a minimum I will be renegotiating those agreements”. Asked about Trump’s threat, Espinosa said the Paris deal was a hard-won compromise by more than 190 nations. “It would not be easy for anybody to just say ‘I want to renegotiate this’,” she said. Nations who agreed in Paris range from top greenhouse gas emitters China and the United States, small island nations fearful of rising sea levels and OPEC members who depend on income from oil. Renegotiation “is really not a scenario that in a multilateral process you can see as something feasible,” she added. Espinosa said she would be “respectful of everybody who has a role to play in any country” but at the same time seek to build momentum for action. Many other backers of the accord have expressed dismay at Trump’s call. The Paris Agreement will enter into force once 55 nations responsible for 55 percent of global emissions formally ratify the deal. So far, 16 nations have ratified, accounting for just 0.03 percent of emissions. Many nations, including China and the United States which together represent 38 percent of emissions, say they will join this year. Espinosa, 57 and now Mexico’s ambassador to Germany, will succeed Christiana Figueres of Costa Rica, who is stepping down after six years. Espinosa said she also will seek to link action to curb climate change to all aspects of development in coming years. She agreed with Figueres, who has said governments will have to toughen existing pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions to limit a rise in temperatures linked to more droughts, floods and rising seas. “I think it’s possible but very difficult, not reachable with the commitments we have on the table,” Espinosa said of the toughest goal in the Paris Agreement, to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times. | 1 |
7,339 | In North Dakota, Trump finds Democrat willing to explore tax plan | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has found at least one Democrat willing to entertain his tax reform pitch: Senator Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, who plans to travel with him on Air Force One on Wednesday to a tax event in her home state. Trump is trying to persuade Democrats to support his push to cut tax rates and simplify the tax code this year, a plan critical to bolstering Republicans heading into 2018 midterm elections, but which so far has included few details. The White House plans to put Trump out on the road on a near-weekly basis this fall to sell his plan, which faces huge obstacles in Congress. Republicans control Congress but have so far been unable to pass Trump’s top legislative priorities. He has appealed to Democrats to help, but lawmakers from the party are furious about his recent comments about white supremacists and his move on Tuesday to end a program that gave work permits to some immigrants brought illegally into the United States as children. Last week, Trump made his first major tax reform speech in Missouri, urging voters to reject that state’s Democratic U.S. senator, Claire McCaskill, in the 2018 midterm elections unless she supports tax reform. Similarly, Wednesday’s speech is aimed in part at Heitkamp, a Democrat up for re-election in a Republican stronghold, who has been willing to buck her party in the past. “Both of the Reagan tax cuts were passed by a Democratic majority in the House (of Representatives), a Democratic speaker, and the vast majority of Democrats in the Senate, including a Democratic senator from the great state of North Dakota,” Trump will say, according to excerpts released by the White House. On Friday, Heitkamp said both parties need to work together on tax reform, which she views as critical for businesses and families in her state. “I hope President Trump uses this visit to address the kitchen-table issues that keep the North Dakotans I’ve met with across the state this past month up at night,” Heitkamp said in a statement. Trump’s political push on tax reform will get an assist from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce lobbying group, which is set to begin a multimillion-dollar, multi-state campaign in New York on Thursday, a Republican familiar with the plan said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The campaign will be aimed at Republican members of Congress and some members of the conservative Freedom Caucus. “It talks about the need for a sense of urgency, the need to change tax loopholes, the need for family tax relief, and it’s got to happen now,” the official said. | 1 |
7,340 | Kremlin: U.S. to blame for no Putin-Trump bilateral meeting in Vietnam | MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Sunday that inflexibility on the part of the United States was to blame for the lack of a bilateral meeting between Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump during a summit in Vietnam. Trump and Putin met briefly on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Vietnam on Saturday and agreed on a joint statement supporting a political solution for Syria, but did not hold substantive bilateral talks. “Unfortunately the American side did not offer any alternatives despite all efforts of our Russian colleagues. There was only one time offered that was convenient for the American side, and only one place offered, which had already been rented by the Americans,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by the RIA news agency. “The Americans showed no flexibility, and unfortunately did not offer any other alternative proposals. That is why the meeting could not happen,” Peskov added. Putin himself said on Saturday the lack of a bilateral meeting with Trump in Vietnam was due to both leaders’ schedules and protocol obstacles that their teams had been unable to overcome. Allegations that Trump’s election campaign colluded with Moscow last year to turn voters away from Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton have hampered the president’s efforts to improve frosty U.S.-Russian relations. Putin renewed his denial of the allegations during his brief meeting with Trump on Saturday. Trump has previously said the accusations of collusion were a hoax. | 1 |
7,341 | Ethics review sought after Trump adviser touts Ivanka Trump products | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - (This February 9 story has been refiled to correct paragraph 19 to show HSN Inc has dropped Trump Home products, but still sells Trump presidential memorabilia; it did not sell Ivanka Trump products.) A congressional committee said on Thursday it was seeking a review into whether senior White House adviser Kellyanne Conway had violated ethics rules by using her position to promote product lines of President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka, a day after he attacked a retailer for dropping them. Federal ethics rules prohibit executive branch employees from using their positions to endorse products or for the private gain of friends. The law does not apply to the president. “Go buy Ivanka’s stuff ... I’m going to go get some myself today,” Conway told Fox News in an interview from the White House. “I’m going to give a free commercial here: Go buy it today, everybody.” Republican Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House of Representatives Oversight committee, said late on Thursday in a statement he had agreed to a request by a member of the panel to ask the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) to review Conway’s comments and recommend disciplinary action against her if warranted. Chaffetz and Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the committee, said in their letter to the ethics office: “Conway’s statements appear to violate federal ethics regulations, which prohibit actions that imply a government endorsement of the ‘personal activities’ of another person.” “In this case, there is an additional challenge, which is that the president, as the ultimate disciplinary authority for White House employees, has an inherent conflict of interest since Conway’s statements relate to his daughter’s private business,” they said. The OGE did not respond to requests for comment. Asked at a press briefing on Thursday if Conway had crossed an ethical line, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said, “She has been counseled on that subject, and that’s it.” Conway, asked in an interview on Fox News on Thursday evening how she had been counseled, replied: “I’m not going to comment on that.” She said she was aware of the letter from Chaffetz and Cummings and that it was being reviewed internally. “I’m just really happy that I spent an awful lot of time with the president of the United States this afternoon and that he supports me 100 percent,” she added. The non-profit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and Public Citizen have both filed complaints with the OGE and the White House Counsel’s Office. “It’s a violation of the rule,” Norman Eisen, who served as an ethics adviser to Democratic President Barack Obama, told MSNBC. “It’s a serious matter.” On Wednesday, President Trump attacked department store chain Nordstrom Inc for dropping his daughter’s products, drawing intense criticism for using a White House twitter platform to intervene in a commercial matter involving his family’s business ties. Nordstrom said it dropped the brand for its poor performance. Online sales of Ivanka Trump branded products fell 26 percent in January 2017 compared with the same period a year earlier, according to retail analytics firm Slice Intelligence which shared its findings with Reuters. The company analyzed data from email receipts of over 4 million U.S. online shoppers. The data also showed sales of the Ivanka Trump brand declined in the second half of 2016 at all online retailers including Amazon.com Inc, which sells most of the brand’s merchandise. In-store sales of the Ivanka Trump brand was not available. Ivanka Trump had said she would step away from her company when her father took office in the White House. Retailers that have dropped Ivanka Trump products include Neiman Marcus [NMRCUS.UL]. HSN Inc has stopped selling Trump Home products, but still sells Trump presidential memorabilia. An ongoing campaign called #GrabYourWallet encourages shoppers to boycott products with ties to President Trump and his family. Supporters have launched an alternative social media campaign called #BuyIvanka. President Trump has pledged to ensure that products sold in America are actually manufactured on U.S. soil, but a New York Times report in December found that many of Ivanka Trump branded products were made in China, Indonesia and Vietnam. Ivanka Trump’s company declined to comment where her goods were manufactured. | 1 |
7,342 | WHY IS THE PRESENCE OF RUSSIAN AIRCRAFT FIGHTER JETS NEAR U.S. SHORES INCREASING? | Is our Community Organizer In Chief being tested by Putin?The air is frigid and the wind is howling as Air Force Col. Frank Flores lifts a pair of foot-long binoculars and studies a hazy dot about 50 miles west across the Bering Strait. That s the mainland there, he shouts above the gusts.It s Siberia, part of Russia, on the Asian mainland.Named for an old mining camp, Tin City is a tiny Air Force installation atop an ice-shrouded coastal mountain 50 miles below the Arctic Circle, far from any road or even trees. The Pentagon took over the remote site decades ago and built a long-range radar station to help detect a surprise attack from the Soviet Union.At least from this frozen perch, America s closest point to Vladimir Putin s Russia, the Cold War is turning warm again.U.S. F-22 fighter jets scrambled about 10 times last year twice as often as in 2013 to monitor and photograph Russian Tu-95 Bear bombers and MiG-31 fighter jets that flew over the Bering Sea without communicating with U.S. air controllers or turning on radio transponders, which emit identifying signals.The Russian flights are in international airspace, and it s unclear whether they are testing U.S. defenses, patrolling the area or simply projecting a newly assertive Moscow s global power. They re obviously messaging us, said Flores, a former Olympic swimmer who is in charge of Tin City and 14 other radar stations scattered along the vast Alaskan coast. We still don t know their intent. U.S. officials view the bombers which have been detected as far south as 50 miles off California s northern coast as deliberately provocative. They are a sign of the deteriorating ties between Moscow and the West since Russia s annexation of Ukraine s Crimea region in March of last year and its military intervention to support separatists in eastern Ukraine.Similar Russian flights in Europe have irked leaders in Britain, Ireland, Sweden, Norway and elsewhere. In January, British authorities were forced to reroute commercial aircraft after Russian bombers flew over the English Channel with their transponders off.In all, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization says its jets scrambled to monitor Russian warplanes around Europe more than 100 times last year, about three times as many as in 2013. Russian air patrols outside its borders were at their highest level since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, NATO said.Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in a statement in November, as tensions heightened over Ukraine, that Russia s strategic bombers would resume patrols in both the Atlantic and the Pacific. In the current situation we have to maintain military presence in the western Atlantic and eastern Pacific, as well as the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, he said.Although the Arctic draws less attention, Russia is flexing muscles there after years of decline. President Vladimir Putin s government has announced plans to reopen 10 former Soviet-era military bases, including 14 airfields, that were shuttered along the Arctic seaboard after the Cold War.A shipyard in Severodvinsk, the largest city on the Russian Arctic Coast, has begun building four nuclear-powered submarines for the first time in decades, according to Russian news reports. The Pentagon says the reports are accurate.The Pentagon has responded by spending $126 million last year to upgrade Tin City and other coastal radar stations in Alaska. It also has added military exercises with northern allies including flying U.S. strategic bombers over the Arctic for the first time since 2011.Last week, four B-52s flew from bases in Nebraska and Louisiana on simultaneous, round-trip sorties to the Arctic and North Sea regions, the Air Force announced. Along the way, the bomber crews engaged in air intercept maneuvers with fighter jets from Canada, England and the Netherlands.The Air Force has said it may base the first squadrons of next-generation F-35 fighter jets at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska starting next year.The buildup comes as melting ice caps are opening valuable new sea lanes, sparking a scramble for oil and other untapped natural resources by the eight nations with territorial or maritime claims in the far north. We re experiencing a reawakening of the strategic importance of the Arctic, said Navy Adm. William E. Gortney, commander of the Pentagon s Northern Command and of the North American Aerospace Defense Command. Is this a second Cold War? It doesn t matter what we think, Gortney said. Maybe they think the Cold War never ended. Via: LA Times | 0 |
7,343 | NEVER BEFORE SEEN: FBI Trove of 9/11 Pentagon Photos Refuels Conspiracy Suspicions | 21st Century Wire says The FBI released 27 never before seen images chronicling the destructive Pentagon attack on 9/11. While the FBI move appears to be an effort to be more transparent, they ve refueled old conspiracy suspicions hidden in plain sight. COVER-UP? Photo Illustration 21WIRE s Shawn Helton To this day, the attacks on September 11th, 2001, have remained some of the most enigmatic crimes of the century.There has been an endless dispute over the how of 9/11 and the who, as well as the various methods used to carry out the atrocities of that day. There s an even heavier debate over what brought down WTC Building 7 and since then, other 9/11 rabbit holes have also challenged the nature of the planes said to be involved in both New York and Washington DC.Whatever your thoughts are concerning planes or other theories on 9/11 it s still worth noting that even the mainstream media admitted at the time that there was, no evidence of a plane at all, following the destruction of a portion of the Pentagon s western side.Watch as Jamie McIntyre, a former Senior Pentagon correspondent for CNN, suggests the lack of evidence supporting the official story surrounding American Airlines flight 77 .Here s one telling image released by the FBI that doesn t appear to support the official story of American Airlines flight 77 s fuselage crashing into the Western side of the Pentagon. Its as if logic and reason were also casualties on 9/11 where is the rest of the plane and why is the crater so small? PENTAGON TALES What really happened here? (Image Source: vault.fbi.gov)In another telling image, part of the damage seen at the Pentagon on 9/11 looks errily reminiscent to that of the Oklahoma City bombing INTERIOR EXPLOSION? Why does this look similar to the damage at OKC IN 1995? (Image Source: abcnews)The FBI releases also contained images of twisted plane parts that curiously lacked evidence of fire damage given the devastating crime scene, it s hard to see how that would be possible.See the FBI photos here for yourself and ask yourself one single question: where is the Boeing passenger airliner? . More from Free Thought Project below BREAKING: The FBI Just Released Never Before Seen Photos of 9/11 Pentagon WreckageClaire Bernish Free Thought ProjectAfter surreptitiously releasing to the public one week ago, the FBI unceremoniously announced today the unprecedented release of never-before-seen images from the attacks of September 11, 2001, and some of the pictures evoke still more questions.Others could be seen as putting to rest a popular theory American Airlines Flight 77 never actually smashed into the Pentagon. The FBI Vault release is minute in size, to say the least with a mere 27 images comprising the file and does not include video, audio, nor anything other than photos.But, given the stony silence from the U.S. government toward families of victims of the attacks, even the meager disclosure is a welcome morsel of information with the potential to provide answers.Indeed, in the very first image, labeled plainly, 9-11 Pentagon Debris 1, a single piece of wreckage sits isolated on a parcel of lawn bearing the American Airlines logo and marked with letters and numbers.More from Free Thought Project here SEE ALSO: What to Expect From BBC Panorama and Guardian s Whitewash of UK Gov t Funding Terrorists in SyriaSEE ALSO: The Guardian Exposed Conning Public into Financing Independent Journalism SEE ALSO: White Helmets & Local Councils Is the UK FCO Financing Terrorism in Syria with Taxpayer Funds?SEE ALSO: A Guide to Mainstream Media Fake News War PropagandaSUPPORT 21WIRE SUBSCRIBE & BECOME A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV | 0 |
7,344 | Factbox: Trump on Twitter (December 7) - Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day | The following statements were posted to the verified Twitter accounts of U.S. President Donald Trump, @realDonaldTrump and @POTUS. The opinions expressed are his own. Reuters has not edited the statements or confirmed their accuracy. @realDonaldTrump : - Go get the new book on Andrew Jackson by Brian Kilmeade...Really good. @foxandfriends [0808 EST] - National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day - “A day that will live in infamy!” December 7, 1941 [1004 EST] - Today, our entire nation pauses to REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR—and the brave warriors who on that day stood tall and fought for America. God Bless our HEROES who wear the uniform, and God Bless the United States of America. #PearlHarborRemembranceDay [1116 EST] - Today, the U.S. flag flies at half-staff at the @WhiteHouse, in honor of National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. instagram.com/p/BcaeCLLAEkl/ [1504 EST] - Today, as we Remember Pearl Harbor, it was an incredible honor to be joined with surviving Veterans of the attack on 12/7/1941. They are HEROES, and they are living witnesses to American History. All American hearts are filled with gratitude for their service and their sacrifice. [1552 EST] - Across the battlefields, oceans, and harrowing skies of Europe and the Pacific throughout the war, one great battle cry could be heard by America’s friends and foes alike: -- Source link: (bit.ly/2jBh4LU) (bit.ly/2jpEXYR) | 1 |
7,345 | Biden talks to Israel's Netanyahu about Israel-Turkey relations: White House | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday, the White House said in a statement. The two leaders discussed ongoing efforts to improve Israel-Turkey relations and to increase energy cooperation in the eastern Mediterranean, the White House said. | 1 |
7,346 | Kremlin: no firm date yet for proposed congress of Syria's peoples | MOSCOW (Reuters) - No firm date has been set yet for a Congress of Syria s peoples proposed by Russia, the Kremlin said on Tuesday, stressing that such a forum should be as inclusive as possible. There is no clarity yet (on the date), no one is setting a task for himself to adjust this event to the New Year holidays or after them, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a conference call with reporters. The main thing is to properly prepare and agree the lists (of the participants) - this is precisely the hardest part of it. | 1 |
7,347 | Minnesota Governor Dayton released from hospital after fainting | (Reuters) - Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton was released on Monday from a hospital where he was treated after fainting during an event, an aide said. Dayton, 69, was treated for dehydration at Regions Hospital in St. Paul and will return to a normal schedule on Tuesday, aide Bob Hume said in a statement. “He is grateful for the excellent level of care he received while a patient at Regions,” he said. Dayton collapsed on Sunday while speaking during an event in Woodbury, a St. Paul suburb. He is a member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party. | 1 |
7,348 | Even Trump’s New Campaign Manager Demanded He Release His Taxes (VIDEO) | The problem with running for President in the 21st Century is that nearly everyone has a Google page or 1,000 about them, and often, video to back it up. That s the case with Kellyanne Conway, who was named Donald Trump s new campaign manager in his second attempt to shake things up.In April, Conway appeared on CNN, where host Don Lemon asked her about an alliance between John Kasich and Ted Cruz. Conway, who wasn t working for Trump, or apparently even supporting Trump, at the time, thought the alliance was fine, but Trump s refusal to release his taxes wasn t.Then head of a super-PAC supporting Trump rival Ted Cruz, Conway was asked in an April 25 CNN interview if the alliance between John Kasich and Ted Cruz was fair. Of course it s fair game, she said. Oh absolutely. It s completely transparent. Donald Trump s tax returns aren t, and I would like to see those be transparent. Here s the video:And here s Donald Trump s new campaign manager in April call for Trump to release his tax returns pic.twitter.com/pIxCCm39xj John Whitehouse (@existentialfish) August 19, 2016That wasn t the first time Conway was critical of Trump, nor was it the last. Here she is talking about Trump s damaging rhetoric: Here s Donald Trump s new campaign manager in February saying Trump s rhetoric was unfortunate for children pic.twitter.com/zb0LwwX5Mg John Whitehouse (@existentialfish) August 19, 2016On Feb. 10, Conway blasted Trump s claim that he is for the little guy, questioning his business ethics.Trump actually built a lot of his business on the backs of the little guy she said on CNN, adding that Trump is known for not paying contractors after [they have helped him] build something. She also sharply critiqued the businessman in the past over Trump University, his use of personal insults, and simply saying things that aren t true, the left-leaning group said.Source: The HillIn other words, it s becoming increasingly clear that Trump surrogates souls can be bought and sold, although it s not clear for how much. As for Trump, perhaps the appeal is that as a lawyer, Conway once helped Paula Jones in her sexual harassment case against Bill Clinton.Featured image via Gage Skidmore at Flickr | 0 |
7,349 | blog if donald trump pardons me i would be honored to serve as secretary of agriculture | email the majesty of nature is aweinspiring and dont worry weve got plenty of those monkeys with the giant red asses were not going to leave you hanging wondering when the swollen red asses are going to show up heres one monkey ass to start this list of beautiful nature photos off right elsewhere in nature the blue whale is the largest animal in earths history even bigger than the dinosaurs and if you think we blew our entire redassed money wad on that first one then you are seriously mistaken the alaskan wood frog has the amazing ability to freeze in winter and thaw itself out when the weather gets warm again it sounds like something out of science fiction and while it isnt a hulking red monkey ass its still an impressive example of the power of evolution no way wed skimp on monkeys with bulbous red buttocks thats not how we treat our readers when we promise inflamed red monkey asses we deliver in spades feast your eyes on these remarkable specimens more monkeys with beaconlike red asses are coming up but in the meantime here is the hummingbird moth at first glance youd mistake it for a bird but its actually an insect that happens to look like a hummingbird which is pretty cool if you think about it once again its time to behold red monkey ass and this time theres a whole gaggle of monkeys with blindingly bright asses but this isnt the end of the red assfest no siree this we promise chimpanzees are our closest cousins in nature with an almost humanlike intelligence they sadly were not blessed with a brightred ass but are smart enough to use simple tools like sticks to catch termites you cant help but wonder about humanitys place in nature when you see a creature so similar to us weve got a real showstopper of a red ass on deck but first lets do our due diligence and check out the galápagos tortoise it can live over years incredible here we go this monkey has a truly huge red ass much bigger and redder than any ass weve seen before we are fortunate to share a planet with a bloated red miracle as beautiful as this monkeys breathtaking ass red monkey asses are nature at its finest and we hope youve had your fill of them | 0 |
7,350 | Utah’s Oldest Paper DEMANDS Trump Drop Out Of Race In Scathing Must-Read Editorial | As the Deseret News said on Saturday, they haven t endorsed a candidate in 80 years, but they made it clear who shouldn t be president in a damning editorial Trump supporters are going to hate. We are neutral on matters of partisan politics, the editorial began. We do, however, feel a duty to speak clearly on issues that affect the well-being and morals of the nation. Accordingly, today we call on Donald Trump to step down from his pursuit of the American presidency. Unlike some evangelical conservative Christian leaders like Tony Perkins and Ralph Reed, who still support Trump even after his lewd comments about groping women dropped like a bombshell on Friday, the Mormon-owned newspaper roundly condemned Trump and called for him to resign his candidacy, citing his lack of character.The idea that women secretly welcome the unbridled and aggressive sexual advances of powerful men has led to the mistreatment, sorrow and subjugation of countless women for far too much of human history.The notion that strength emanates from harsh, divisive and unbending rhetorical flourish mistakenly equates leadership with craven intimidation.The belief that the party and the platform matter more than the character of the candidate ignores the wisdom of the ages that, when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn. (ProverbsThe editorial pointed to Trump s history of making misogynistic comments about women and said that Trump has failed time and time again to demonstrate the ethical behavior that presidents need to govern a nation with compassion, understanding, and respect. And then the editorial took aim at Trump s supporters.In the face of these revelations, it is disheartening to see otherwise decent individuals now attempting to defend Trump s talk, dismissing it as mere locker room bravado. At the time of the audio recording, Trump was not a hormonal teenage athlete, but rather a 60-year-old husband of an expectant mother and the father of four children.America s locker rooms deserve better.The Deseret News concluded by calling on Trump to resign but if he doesn t, Americans need to stand against him in November.This is one of those rare moments where it is necessary to take a clear stand against the hucksterism, misogyny, narcissism and latent despotism that infect the Trump campaign even as we hope for a more auspicious future of liberty, prosperity and peace for the nation.And it looks like the people will have to take that stand in November because Donald Trump has vowed to stay in the race. Let s just hope voters reject him by a landslide so that Republicans are never stupid enough to nominate someone like him ever again.Featured Image: Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Images | 0 |
7,351 | Obama says he hopes Trump sends 'signals of unity' after campaign | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday it was important for President-elect Donald Trump to send signals of unity after a bitterly fought campaign. At a news conference, Obama declined to comment on Trump’s selection of conservative provocateur Steve Bannon as his White House chief strategist. But the Democratic president said he privately told the Republican Trump in an Oval Office meeting last week that because of the “bitterness and the ferocity of the campaign that it’s really important to try to send some signals of unity and to reach out to minority groups, to women and others that were concerned about the tenor of the campaign.” | 1 |
7,352 | U.S. mulls South Sudan pressure, cutting aid may not work: U.N. envoy | ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - The United States is considering how to pressure South Sudan s President Salva Kiir into peace, but withdrawing aid may not work, U.S. envoy to the United Nations Nikki Haley said ahead of a visit to South Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia on Tuesday. Haley plans to visit Gambella in western Ethiopia, where nearly 350,000 refugees have flooded across the border from South Sudan since the country spiraled into civil war in 2013, just two years after it gained independence from Sudan. You have to really think hard before you pull U.S. aid because President Kiir doesn t care, Haley said. He doesn t care if his people suffer and that s the concern we have as we don t know that will make a difference. That s a conversation we will have and we will try and see exactly what will move President Kiir so that he does ... start to really look at creating a safe position for his people, she told reporters in Addis Ababa late on Monday. Haley will this week be the most senior member of U.S. President Donald Trump s administration to visit South Sudan, where she is due to meet with Kiir. But first, she will see how the conflict has threatened to spillover through deadly cross-border raids into Gambella, Ethiopia by gunmen from South Sudan. Trump s new aid administrator, Mark Green, visited South Sudan last month, telling Kiir that Washington was reviewing its policy toward his government. He called on Kiir to end the violence and implement a real ceasefire. The war in South Sudan was sparked by a feud between Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar. It has plunged parts of the world s youngest nation into famine and forced a third of the population - some 4 million people - to flee their homes. Machar fled and is now being held in South Africa to stop him stirring up trouble, sources told Reuters in December. A fragile peace deal broke down last year amid gun battles between soldiers and rebels in the capital Juba. International efforts to bring warring sides to new talks have not succeeded. We can t see any more deaths, we can t see anymore famine, we ve got to start seeing the situation start to get better and I think that the pressure is only going to continue until President Kiir makes a difference, Haley said. The Trump administration last month imposed sanctions on two senior South Sudanese officials and the former army chief for their role in the conflict, atrocities against civilians and attacks against international missions in South Sudan. | 1 |
7,353 | Rick Perry a leading candidate for U.S. energy post: source | NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rick Perry, who proposed eliminating the U.S. Energy Department during his unsuccessful bid for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, has emerged as a leading candidate to head the agency under President-elect Donald Trump, a transition official said on Sunday. Democratic U.S. Senators Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Manchin of West Virginia also are in the running for the job as Trump continues to fill key positions in his administration ahead of taking office on Jan. 20, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Perry served as governor of Texas, a leading oil-producing state, from 2000 when he succeeded President George W. Bush until 2015. In his two unsuccessful presidential runs, he touted his record of job creation in the second-most-populous state. Perry’s proposal to scrap the Energy Department caused what has become known as his “oops” moment during a November 2011 debate when he could not remember the departments he wanted to eliminate. “It’s three agencies of government when I get there that are gone: commerce, education and the um, what’s the third one there? Let’s see,” Perry said. His debate adversaries tried to prod his memory, but Perry ultimately gave up, saying, “I can’t. The third one, I can’t. Sorry. Oops.” It was the Energy Department, which is responsible for U.S. energy policy and oversees the nation’s nuclear weapons program. Perry also ran for the 2016 presidential nomination against Trump but dropped out in September 2015 after gaining little traction. Perry initially was a fierce critic of Trump but later endorsed Trump and called him “the people’s choice.” In July 2015, Perry said: “Let no one be mistaken: Donald Trump’s candidacy is a cancer on conservatism, and it must be clearly diagnosed, excised and discarded.” If Perry gets the job, it would be further indication that the incoming Trump administration may be friendly toward the fossil fuel industry. Trump is set to pick U.S. Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a climate-change skeptic and an advocate for expanded oil and gas development, to head the Interior Department. Trump’s pick for the Environmental Protection Agency is Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, an ardent opponent of President Barack Obama’s measures to curb climate change who has sued the EPA to block in a bid to undo a key regulation to curb greenhouse gas emissions, mainly from coal-fired power plants. And Trump is expected to name Rex Tillerson, chief executive of oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp, as secretary of state. | 1 |
7,354 | U.S. hopes easing limits on Cuba will boost reform in Havana: officials | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States hopes a new package of U.S. regulatory changes affecting Cuba will encourage people-to-people interactions and provide additional incentives for Havana to make economic and trade reforms of its own, U.S. officials said on Tuesday. The regulatory reforms, which were introduced earlier on Tuesday, loosen travel restrictions on Cuba and ease limits on the use of U.S. dollars in trade transactions there just days ahead of President Barack Obama’s historic visit to the former Cold War enemy. U.S. officials told reporters the new rules would allow more Cubans to work legally in the United States without having to defect, but they declined to predict how that might affect Major League Baseball. “It certainly does address the ability of Cuban athletes who can earn salaries in the United States to do so,” one official told reporters in a briefing. | 1 |
7,355 | STUNNER: Donald Trump is Next President of United States | 21st Century Wire says Republican candidate Donald J Trump will be the 45th President of the United States.History has been made, as he will be the first person ever to hold office despite having no previous political or military experience Trump s victory was definitive. By breaking through the seemingly impregnable Blue Wall in the northern rust belt of Wisconsin and Michigan, Trump effectively ran the table on Democrat favorite Hillary Clinton in what pundits are calling one of the biggest political realignments in decades. It s time for America to bind the wounds of division, said Trump in front on a crowd of thousands at his acceptance speech at the Hilton in downtown Manhattan.Trump s victory over Clinton is now regarded as the most stunning upset in US political history upending the establishment s false polling and the mainstream media s collusion with the Democratic Party and the Clinton campaign. Neither the polls or the pundits saw this coming.It s reported that Hillary Clinton called Trump to concede the race before he addressed his supporters. I ve just received a call from Secretary Clinton, said Trump. She congratulated us, it s about us, on our victory. And I congratulated her and her family on a very, very hard-fought campaign. I mean, she fought very hard. Hillary has worked very long and very hard over a very long period of time, and we owe her a major debt of gratitude for her service to our country. And I mean that very sincerely. Earlier this week, Trump predicted his victory, likening it to the UK s surprise BREXIT vote this past summer, saying it would be Brexit Plus Plus. After being written off by the media and the party establishment in the GOP primaries, and then again in the general election, Trump still managed to capture the imagination of one of the biggest insurgent voting blocks in electoral history. Before the results came in, yesterday 21WIRE editor Patrick Henningsen commented on the key to Trump s success, explaining: Granted, half of the American population have been conditioned to hate Trump for various reasons. But many of them are missing the key point in the Trump story, just like they did in the Sanders story. Trump offered millions of voters something profound: the idea that even in today s insulated political fortress that is Washington DC, anything is still possible in American politics where an outsider can come in and shake up a stale and corrupt ruling class. Stay tuned for more updates.READ MORE ELECTION NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire 2016 FilesSUPPORT 21WIRE SUBSCRIBE & BECOME A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV | 0 |
7,356 | Senior Russian diplomat hails U.S. readiness to start talks with North Korea: Ifx | MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia welcomes U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson s statement that Washington is ready to begin direct talks with North Korea, the Interfax news agency cited Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying on Wednesday. Tillerson said direct talks with Pyongyang might start without pre-conditions, backing away from a key U.S. demand that North Korea must first accept that giving up its nuclear arsenal would be part of any negotiations. | 1 |
7,357 | U.S. says Sudan commits to severing North Korea ties | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sudan committed on Thursday to severing all trade and military ties with North Korea, the U.S. State Department said, as Washington seeks to isolate Pyongyang over its nuclear and missile programs. The United States welcomes the Government of Sudan s pledge and will continue engagement on this issue to ensure that this commitment is fully implemented, the State Department said in a statement, adding that the Sudanese foreign ministry made the announcement following meetings with a visiting U.S. diplomat in Khartoum. | 1 |
7,358 | Justice Department names new acting head of drug enforcement agency | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday it tapped Robert Patterson, a career investigator, to temporarily lead the Drug Enforcement Administration, after the drug office’s previous acting chief stepped down. Patterson, considered the highest-ranking special career agent at the DEA, has been serving as the agency’s principal deputy administrator since November 2016. He started his DEA career in the New York Division in 1988. Chuck Rosenberg, a holdover from Democratic President Barack Obama’s administration, left his job on Sunday. His departure came two months after he criticized Republican President Donald Trump for telling law enforcement officers not to be “too nice” to suspects. It is unclear who will ultimately be named to permanently lead the DEA. Trump has yet to put forth a nomination. Rosenberg had led the DEA as acting administrator since 2015. Prior to that, he was chief of staff to former FBI Director James Comey, whom Trump fired in May. The United States is facing a major opioid drug epidemic and the Justice Department has been stepping up efforts to police it. There are also questions about whether the Justice Department will take a more aggressive approach toward enforcing federal laws prohibiting the use of or distribution of marijuana. | 1 |
7,359 | Iraq wants control of Kurdish region's oil exports: state firm | BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq wants the Kurdistan region to stop independent crude exports and to hand over sales operations to the Iraqi state-oil marketer SOMO, the company s director said on Thursday. Iraq is talking to Turkey to allow SOMO to sell the Kurdish crude that arrives by pipeline in Ceyhan, the Turkish terminal on the Mediterranean, acting SOMO director general Alaa al-Yasiri told reporters in Baghdad. About 530,000 barrels per day (bpd) used to arrive in Ceyhan via the pipeline until mid-October, of which about half came from the Kurdistan Regional Government s oilfields and the rest from Kirkuk, a disputed province claimed by both the Kurdish region and Iraqi authorities in Baghdad. Output from Kirkuk fell in mid-October, when Iraqi forces took back control of the northern region s oilfields from Kurdish fighters who had been there since 2014. Kurdish Peshmerga forces deployed in Kirkuk in 2014, when the Iraqi army fled in the face of an advance by Islamic State militants. The Kurdish move prevented the militants taking control of the oilfields. The pipeline carried on average 419,000 bpd in October, down from 600,000 bpd in September, said Farid al-Jadir, the director general of North Oil Company, which operates Kirkuk. NOC should resume exports from Kirkuk through the Kurdish pipeline this month, after the two sides agree on terms of use, Yasiri said. Kirkuk would also export by tanker trucks about 15,000 bpd to the refinery of Kermanshah in Iran, he added. Yasiri expected an old pipeline that bypasses most of the Kurdistan region to resume operation in three months. The pipeline was severely damaged by Islamic State after it took over Mosul s Nineveh province in 2014. U.S.-backed Iraqi forces ousted the group from Mosul in July, after a nine-month campaign supported by Kurdish Peshmerga fighters. Iraq, the second-largest producer of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries after Saudi Arabia, supported any future decision by the group to support oil prices, Yasiri said. OPEC is expected to extend curbs on oil output when it meets in Vienna at the end of month. | 1 |
7,360 | Chicago mayor unveils 'gimmick-free' budget for FY 2018 | CHICAGO (Reuters) - Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel proposed a fiscal 2018 budget on Wednesday that he said eschews “fiscal smoke and mirrors,” but critics said vestiges of those practices remain. In his annual budget speech to the city council, Emanuel said the spending plan is free of what he called any “budget gimmick” like so-called scoop and toss, which extends maturities on existing bonds to provide budget relief, for the first time since he took office. “Every single bad financial practice we inherited in 2011 has now been eliminated from the budget,” he said. The $10 billion budget, which includes $3.77 billion for operations, relies on $94 million in savings from a future bond refinancing under a new debt structure. A chronic structural budget deficit and an unfunded pension liability that totaled $35.76 billion at the end of 2016 have led to low credit ratings and increased borrowing costs for the nation’s third-largest city. The mayor’s budget accelerates savings from a plan approved by the city council this month to refinance up to $3 billion of sales tax revenue and general obligation bonds through a new entity at lower interest rates. The new Sales Tax Securitization Corp will be assigned Chicago’s state-collected sales tax revenue and will pledge that money to pay off the refinanced bonds. Bond investors will have a statutory lien shielding the debt from municipal bankruptcy, which is not allowed under Illinois law. Carole Brown, Chicago’s chief financial officer, said the city will realize more savings from the debt refinancing in fiscal 2018, which begins on Jan. 1, than in 2019. “But we’ll expect to show savings annually until we’ve amortized all the debt,” she added. One critic, Alderman John Arena, said the new debt structure - which he opposed - could end up extending the life of some bonds by as much as 40 years. “Our fear is that (Emanuel is) making the claim of moving scoop and toss out of the way we do business but really moving it over to that special entity,” he said. Brown acknowledged that to achieve level debt service on the corporation’s bonds, maturities on existing bonds may change. “It is possible we won’t 100 percent match maturity for maturity,” she said. The budget counts on $50.3 million in revenue growth, $19.35 million in spending cuts, as well as other measures to address a $114.2 million structural gap and more than $87 million in new spending for additional police hires and reforms. | 1 |
7,361 | Officials: Trump Will Only Read Security Briefings If We Treat Him Like A Toddler | With the advent of print on demand and e-readers, parents of toddlers have a fantastic tool to help keep their little ones engaged in reading. They have customizable books, featuring their child as the protagonist. There must be some parents of toddlers in the Trump administration. They have discovered that the only way to get their boss to read a security briefing is to treat him just like a toddler by putting his name in the briefing.According to staffers, Trump s attention span, which apparently only extends to about 140 characters, is so short that one personal mention in a brief isn t enough. They need to squeeze his name in as many placers as possible. That s not the only thing they need to do to keep the Commander-in-Chief paying attention. They need to keep them under one page, if possible, and with lots of pictures, charts and graphs. He likes maps too. He likes to visualize things, said a senior administration official. The guy s a builder. He has spent his whole life looking at architectural renderings and floor plans. The details emerged as people close to the President worried that he may not be able to stick to the script and avoid more problems as he heads out on his first foreign trip. Officials are worried that Mr Trump s lack of focus and attention to detail could cause problems as he visits Arab leaders in Saudi Arabia, Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Israel and the West Bank, the pope at the Vatican, NATO leaders in Brussels and G7 counterparts in Sicily.Source: IndependentA Republican official expressed concern that Trump was going to be out of his element during his visit to the Middle East (he s just now figuring this out?). This, after Trump insisted that solving the 4,000 year-old conflict is easy. I want to see peace with Israel and the Palestinians. There is no reason there s not peace between Israel and the Palestinians none whatsoever. Unfortunately, this is Trump in a nutshell. It was easy for him to become rich (he inherited it). It was easy for him to file multiple bankruptcies and pass the losses onto the taxpayers. If something is not handed to him on a gold platter (silver is much too pedestrian), it s not worth the time. Trump is either the laziest or the dumbest man ever to hold the office of the presidency. Hell, why choose? It s clear that he s both.Featured image via Michael Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images | 0 |
7,362 | Ted Cruz Tells His Fanatics To Put On Their ‘Armor Of God’ To Prepare To Fight For Him | In an effort to prepare his supporters for the upcoming Republican primary, Ted Cruz urged them to put on their armor of God and not believe any bad things people say about him. I want to tell everyone to get ready, strap on the full armor of God, get ready for the attacks that are coming, Cruz said according to the Washington Post.Cruz leads in some Iowa polls over Donald Trump and has seen a rise in national polls despite the fact that his religious zealotry is a huge threat to our democracy and Constitution.And that s why he is telling his fanatics to cover their ears and refuse to believe or even consider any attacks made against him, even if they might be true. Unfortunately, there are a lot of folks in politics who are not constrained by what they view as quaint notions of the truth, Cruz continued. They believe particularly as you get close to an election day, that they can just toss out any lie, any attack and the attack will do its damage before anyone discovers that it s not true. So I want everyone here to get ready, because that is coming, and it s coming with a ferocity none of us has ever seen. Cruz claims that establishment Republicans are trying to sabotage his campaign by telling lies about him. In reality, the only lies being told are the ones coming from Cruz s own mouth.Like when he was caught in a lie last month on live television during an appearance on Fox News while claiming that he didn t want an immigration bill to pass in the Senate, which didn t match up with previous statements he has made.Or how about when Cruz was outed as a complete hypocrite on CNN when Dana Bash pointed out that he wouldn t be running for president today had the United States not granted asylum to his father. In fact, he may not have ever existed since Cruz s father would have likely been killed in Cuba if the United States government had succumbed to fears over Communism being spread by immigrants.And then there s the time Cruz claimed that Christians do not commit acts of terrorism, conveniently ignoring the KKK, anti-abortion lunatics, Timothy McVeigh and multiple mass shootings that have occurred in recent years.Ted Cruz is basically treating his supporters like a cult leaders treat their followers. He is telling them to ignore what is said outside the campaign and is using religious rhetoric to gin them up into a frenzy. He wants them to believe that he is a divine leader sent by God to rule the country like a king, which is literally what an Iowa Republican actually does believe.Facts and truth do not matter to Ted Cruz. He only wants people to believe what he tells them to believe. And if he does win, theocracy will replace our democracy as the Bible replaces our Constitution.Featured Image: YouTube/ Wikimedia | 0 |
7,363 | It’s ON: Comey Refuses To Testify Before Intelligence Committee Unless The Hearing Is Public | When former FBI director James Comey refused to testify before Congress in a closed session, it seemed odd to many who have been paying attention to the Donald Trump/Russia scandal. Comey was fired shortly after requesting more funding for the investigation into Trump and his associates likely collusion with Russia. In Comey s termination letter, Donald Trump thanked him for confirming three times that he was not under investigation though Comey s colleagues say no such thing happened.According to numerous reports, Comey had begun receiving daily rather than weekly reports on the investigation in the time before he was fired. So why was he unwilling to testify? Because he wants this shit to go down in public.One of Comey s associates strategically leaked to the New York Times that Comey would be willing to speak :Mr. Comey made no comment, but later in the day he declined a request to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday. According to a close associate of Mr. Comey, he is willing to testify, but wants it to be in public.The matter arose in a series of early-morning Twitter messages in which Mr. Trump appeared agitated over news reports on contradictory accounts of his decision to fire Mr. Comey, which came at the same time the F.B.I. is investigating ties between Mr. Trump s associates and Russia. Among other things, he threatened to cancel future White House briefings.The White House s original version of the story was that the president had acted on the recommendation of the attorney general and deputy attorney general and fired Mr. Comey because of his handling of last year s investigation into Hillary Clinton s emails. But in an interview with NBC News on Thursday, Mr. Trump said he had already decided to fire Mr. Comey and would have done so regardless of any recommendation. He also indicated that he was thinking about the Russia investigation when he decided.What does Comey know? Trump, who demanded a loyalty pledge multiple times that the ousted director turned down, recently threatened to release tapes of their conversations. Trump did not say what was on these alleged tapes, but The Donald s Nixonian outburst reveals that he s incredibly nervous about whatever it is that Comey knows.As for Comey? He hopes there are tapes.A source close to Comey told me this morning: He hopes there are tapes. That would be perfect. Ken Dilanian (@KenDilanianNBC) May 12, 2017Featured image via screengrab | 0 |
7,364 | Explosion in southeast Turkey kills two soldiers: CNN Turk | ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Two Turkish soldiers were killed on Monday in the southeastern province of Hakkari after an improvised explosive device detonated, Turkish broadcaster CNN Turk said. The bomb was set off as a Turkish army truck drove past it near the Iraqi border. | 1 |
7,365 | DIRTY TRICK THE R(In Name Only)NC Used Against Trump And Cruz To Prop Up Bush, Kasich And Rubio | While the R(In Name Only)NC doesn t appear to consider Ben Carson a threat and have largely left him alone, there is no question they are coming at Trump and Cruz with both barrels blazing. Even the most casual observer of the last two debates was caught a bit off guard with the insane enthusiasm they seemed to express for low energy jeb! and the GOP candidate most willing to reach across the aisle and cut a deal with the Democrat Party, in my state of Ohio Governor John Kasich. We re not questioning whether or not Rubio had supporters in the audience, as we can actually see what voters may find appealing about him, but the level of applause for his repetitive answers was not consistent with his poll numbers compared to the other top contenders. GREENVILLE, South Carolina The chairman of the local Republican Party here confirmed to local television that 2016 frontrunner billionaire Donald Trump s concerns and those of his closest competitor Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) with the Republican National Committee (RNC) allocation of debate audience tickets are well-placed.Chad Groover, the chairman of the Greenville County Republican Party here, told WYFF the local NBC News station that party donors get tickets to the debate. You ll have a good mix of people who are donors, people who are donors and workers, and people who are just workers, Groover said, noting that he got a couple of dozen of tickets to hand out to the party s faithful donors. I didn t have hundreds of tickets. I had a couple of dozen tickets, Groover said.That means a significant proportion of his stack of approximately 24 tickets went to monied interests backing the GOP not to actual voters in the upcoming election.Sources close to the process who work for the RNC, but are not authorized to speak on the record, confirmed to Breitbart News throughout the evening on Saturday that that is standard operating procedure for the RNC and the party as a whole for all debates: Donors get tickets while voters have to watch on TV at home.As such, the same appears to have been true party-wide. One well-placed source who works for one of the GOP presidential campaigns and was in attendance at the debate on Saturday evening here but was not authorized to speak on record about the matter told Breitbart News that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley were personally given scores of tickets to distribute. Both despise Trump and have said so publicly Haley even using the platform of the official GOP response to the State of the Union to do so and it would be no surprise if they did aim to stack the audience with anti-Trump sentiment. I ve never seen anything like it, said another source in the audience, someone who has attended several of the GOP debates. That source said the anti-Trump and anti-Cruz audience members who were thoroughly cheering for Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and his mentor former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush when they made passionate cases for amnesty for illegal aliens, something entirely non-representative of South Carolina s electorate were behaving unlike any audience he d ever seen in his lifetime of attending GOP presidential debates.The Republican National Committee s Sean Spicer confirmed to Breitbart News pre-debate that the RNC proper distributed 367 tickets while the state party and locally elected officials received 550 tickets. Meanwhile the debate partners CBS News, the Peace Center, and Google received another 100 tickets. That means more than 1000 tickets 1,017 by Spicer s admission went not to voters in the upcoming election and not to campaigns for equal distribution to their supporters but to special interest distribution of those connected to the party, mostly high dollar donors. Only 600 tickets were distributed equally among the six remaining GOP campaigns, which to be fair to the RNC is the highest number of tickets distributed as such so far this election cycle.But Trump s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, is calling for the RNC to drop all donor tickets and stop handing them out to special and monied interests entirely. Lewandowski says at all the rest of the debates from here on out, Spicer and the RNC must equally allocate all tickets among the various campaigns so they can distribute them equally and fairly to their supporters and cut out all the donors and special interests who get tickets. I think the RNC does a terrible job in allocating the tickets, to be honest with you, There s an opportunity there s 2,000 seats out there, there s six candidates on stage, they should just divide them evenly so everyone has them, but instead they just give them to the donor class, they give them to the lobbyists and to all the special interests, Lewandowski said in the spin room. It s not fair, it s not equitable. So I think what they should do moving forward is take the total number of seats available, allocate them across the board and let the candidates bring their people in, because that s who should be here, not the donors. Spicer has refused repeatedly over the course of several emails on Saturday and Sunday morning to answer whether the RNC will comply with Lewandowski s request to drop all RNC and state and local party ticket allocation and just allow the campaigns to equally distribute all debate tickets fairly to their supporters in the future.Trump s and Cruz s concerns are even being confirmed by many across the political spectrum. In fact, even the left-of-center Huffington Post confirms that the RNC s ticket allocation system seems to have been behind the excessive and unwarranted booing of Trump and Cruz and cheering of the donor class supported Rubio and Bush. The audience at Saturday s CBS News Republican presidential debate was more boisterous than unusual booing, clapping and generally making its feelings known during several exchanges between candidates on stage in Greenville, South Carolina, the Huffington Post s Igor Bobic wrote. At various points, attendees seemed to favor former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), and to be very much against Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and real estate mogul Donald Trump the two candidates currently leading the race. The way the Republican National Committee distributed the tickets may have been behind the heightened reactions. Vox, another left-of-center outlet, ran a headline that made it even clearer: The Republican establishment packed the debate audience with Donald Trump haters. In the piece, author German Lopez noted that the audience s pro-Rubio and pro-Bush cheering was very peculiar as was the booing of Trump and Cruz. Something very peculiar happened at the Republican debate on Saturday night: When Donald Trump talked, the audience booed. Yet when Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, and even John Kasich talked, they got loud cheers and applause, Lopez wrote. This happened again and again. It even led a spike in Google searches for Why are people booing? Vox even admits that Trump s claim on stage that the odd and unrepresentative of the party s voting base audience was made up of Jeb s special interests and lobbyists was really not that far-fetched. Prior to the debate, the Republican Party decided not to use a lottery system to decide who should be in the audience, Lopez wrote. Instead, most tickets went to elected Republican officials, donors, and other workers for the party picked by local, state, and national party officials. The result, it seems, is the room was packed with Republican voters who overwhelmingly dislike Trump. Via: Breitbart News | 0 |
7,366 | Air traffic controllers end strike at new Senegal airport | DAKAR (Reuters) - Air traffic controllers ended a strike at Senegal s main airport on Friday, a union leader said, after shutting it down for most of the day over demands for more training and transportation stipends. The government says the new $680 million airport, which was inaugurated on Dec. 7, will help make Senegal a transport hub in West Africa and boost the tourism sector. But air traffic controllers complained that they had not been adequately trained to work at the new facility before it opened and said they launched their walkout for people s security . They also wanted increased stipends for employees transport to the airport, which lies some 45 km (28 miles) outside the city center. Late on Friday, however, Mame Alioune Sene, the president of the union representing the workers, said that it was suspending the strike. Our decision was motivated by security issues. We think that the authorities have understood, he said. We re going back to work to allow planes to take off and land. Sene did not say if the workers specific demands had been met. The airport is Senegal s busiest and is used by international carriers including Air France, Ethiopian Airlines [ETHA.UL], Brussels Airlines, Iberia, South African Airways, TAP Portugal and Kenya Airways. An airport management official said the strike meant around 30 flights serving some 5,000 passengers had to be canceled or delayed. The airport is Senegal s busiest and is used by international carriers including Air France, Ethiopian Airlines [ETHA.UL], Brussels Airlines, Iberia, South African Airways, TAP Portugal and Kenya Airways. Senegal, a fish and peanut exporter, is looking to take advantage of its reputation for political stability to expand tourism to its extensive Atlantic coastline. Last year, the country launched a new national carrier, Air Senegal, which ordered two new Airbus A330 jets last month. | 1 |
7,367 | White House divisions on display with Scaramucci's comments | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The rifts inside President Donald Trump’s White House were on startling display on Thursday, as his new communications director urged Trump’s chief of staff to state publicly that he does not leak information to the media. Anthony Scaramucci, a New York financier who last week became the White House communications chief, also compared his relationship with Trump’s chief of staff, Reince Priebus, to a pair of brothers from the Bible, one of whom killed the other. Scaramucci said last week he and Priebus were friends and “a little bit like brothers, where we rough each other up once in a while, which is totally normal for brothers.” On Thursday, Scaramucci said in an interview with CNN: “When I said we were brothers from the podium, that’s because we’re rough on each other. Some brothers are like Cain and Abel. Other brothers can fight with each other and get along. I don’t know if this is repairable or not. That will be up to the president.” Scaramucci appeared to suggest in a Twitter post late on Wednesday that Priebus may have had a hand in what Scaramucci described as a “leak” of his official financial disclosure documents to the U.S. news organization Politico. Politico said the information was not a leak but was publicly accessible. “When I put out a tweet and I put Reince’s name in a tweet, they’re all making the assumption that it’s him because journalists know who the leakers are,” Scaramucci told CNN on Thursday. “So if Reince wants to explain he’s not a leaker, let him do that,” Scaramucci added. Scaramucci had written earlier on Twitter: “In light of the leak of my financial disclosure info which is a felony. I will be contacting @FBI and the @TheJusticeDept #swamp @Reince45.” Scaramucci’s comments illustrated an ongoing power struggle at the highest levels of Trump’s staff as the Republican president faces investigations into his election campaign’s connections with Russia and with Trump yet to win congressional approval for any major legislation. Republican U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan defended Priebus after Scaramucci’s comments. “Reince is doing a fantastic job at the White House and I believe he has the president’s confidence. If those two gentlemen have differences my advice would be to sit down and settle your differences,” Ryan said at a news conference. | 1 |
7,368 | Trump says latest Obamacare repeal plan has 'very good chance' | NEW YORK (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he thought the latest effort to repeal and replace Obamacare had a “very good chance” of passing and said the U.S. Senate eventually would be forced to make a deal on the issue. “I think there’s tremendous support for it. I think it’s actually much better than the previous shot,” Trump told reporters in New York. “I thought that when I won (the election) I would go to the Oval Office, sit down at my desk, and there would be a healthcare bill on my desk, to be honest. And it hasn’t worked out that way. And I think a lot of Republicans are embarrassed by it.” Trump said he hoped the latest effort would succeed. “We think this has a very good chance,” he said, describing President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law as dysfunctional. “At some point the Senate is going to be forced to make a deal. They’re just about at that point right now.” | 1 |
7,369 | Trump must be respected as U.S. president, says Germany's Merkel | BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday Donald Trump must be shown appropriate respect for holding the office of the U.S. president, even if she may differ with him on policy issues. Merkel, campaigning for a fourth term in office after a Sept. 24 national election, has refused to bend to pressure from her Social Democrat (SPD) rivals to resist demands by Trump for NATO members to increase their defense spending. As a committed Atlanticist, she has stressed the strength of German relations with the United States even when flagging differences in opinion on policy. If you take the president of the United States, whatever differences of opinion there may be, I know he prevailed in a tough election. It wasn t reserved for him on a silver platter, she told business daily Handelsblatt in an interview. In the end, he won the election under American electoral law and that means he is democratically elected and that this person should be shown the appropriate respect, regardless of how I assess his views, she added. Her SPD challenger, Martin Schulz, has been far more critical of Trump, referring to the U.S. president as this irresponsible man in the White House . Merkel, who enjoyed holidaying in the United States before becoming chancellor in 2005, said she missed the opportunity to vacation there now. I can t go on holiday in San Diego now as chancellor because the time difference is too much, and that is something I miss a bit, but the work itself is so marvelous that I can afford to miss it. | 1 |
7,370 | Woman Reveals How Head Of Fox News Molested Her For Years (VIDEO) | The parent company for the conservative Fox News forced out the man who created the network, Roger Ailes, over the summer after a sexual harassment scandal grew out of control. Multiple women across multiple decades broke their silence and made allegations about Ailes behavior. Their complaints gained currency as a pattern emerged over and over with how Ailes treated them. The drumbeat reminded many of the slow train wreck surrounding Bill Cosby and the multiple allegations against him.On ABC News, former Fox News booker Laurie Luhn decided to speak in front of cameras for the first time to discuss what Ailes behaved like, allegedly.Luhn said Ailes told her to strip down to her lingerie and dance for him. Feeling intimidated and worried for her job, she said she did as she was told. He would have me get down on my knees and tell me, You know what you are, Laurie. You re my whore. You re my sex slave. You re going to do whatever I tell you to do at any time. Do you understand that? Luhn said. And he explained that it was like the military, that if he gave an order I was to follow through. Luhn said Ailes then instructed her to perform oral sex and she was too stunned to refuse. I didn t question it, she said. And that was his big thing, Just don t ever question anything I ever ask you to do, Laurie. You understand? Luhn said Ailes kept her in his control for twenty years, employing her at the network while personally using her. Ailes has denied all her allegations, as well as the claims made against him by other women.The most prominent of the women who have made accusations against Ailes is current Fox News host Megyn Kelly, who details her allegations about Ailes behavior in her new book. Fellow Fox News host Bill O Reilly has slammed Kelly for speaking out during her book tour. O Reilly was one of the male Fox hosts who initially leapt to Ailes defense.Featured image via screen capture | 0 |
7,371 | Corsican nationalists surge in first round of French election | PARIS (Reuters) - Corsican nationalists won almost half of the vote in the first round of the French Mediterranean island s territorial election on Sunday, a landslide likely to fuel local calls for greater autonomy from Paris. The ticket led by autonomist leader Gilles Simeoni won 45.36 percent of the votes for the newly created, more powerful local assembly, according to final interior ministry results. A second round will be held next Sunday. President Emmanuel Macron s ticket only came in fourth with 11.26 percent of the vote. In the April and May presidential elections, Macron had already significantly underperformed his national score in Corsica. Macron s Republic On the Move party said in a statement the vote showed Corsicans loss of confidence in the central government and that it aimed to rebuilt trust everywhere in France. Separately, the party also hailed the election of the first mayor associated with Macron s movement on Sunday, in the southern village of Saint-Sulpice-la-Pointe near Toulouse. | 1 |
7,372 | Russia detains Norwegian citizen over suspected spying: RIA | MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia has detained a Norwegian citizen it suspects of spying, the RIA news agency reported on Tuesday, citing a Moscow court which sanctioned the individual s detention. Media reports said Russia s FSB security service had caught the Norwegian taking secret documents about the Russian Navy from a Russian citizen. | 1 |
7,373 | BREAKING: RUBIO WINS GOP Senate Nomination In FL…Did Trump’s Endorsement Help Him Win? | Based on the number of supporters Trump is drawing at his Florida rallies, it might be a good time for Rubio to jump on the Trump Train Marco Rubio won the Republican nomination for a second Senate term Tuesday night, a reversal of fortune after Florida GOP voters dealt a fatal blow to his presidential ambitions in a primary earlier this year.With the Senate on the line, Republicans convinced the Florida lawmaker to seek re-election rather than retiring after only a single term. Rubio had planned to either be in the White House or the private sector next year. Winning his primary is the first step in extending his stay on Capitol Hill instead.The primary field mostly cleared for Rubio when he decided to give it another go. The sole holdout among name candidates was builder Carlos Beruff. Rubio mostly ignored his primary opponent, refusing to debate him. Via: Washington ExaminerMeanwhile, Rubio says he ll consider campaigning with Trump:Sen. Marco Rubio says he's open to campaigning alongside Donald Trump, @mkraju reports https://t.co/JKoUjl9QdP https://t.co/eU5xyYHN39 CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) August 30, 2016 | 0 |
7,374 | ANGRY BLACK MILWAUKEE RESIDENTS Set City On Fire After Armed Black Man Is Killed By Police: “The black people of Milwaukee are tired…They’re tired of living under this oppression” [VIDEO] | This is Obama s America This will be his legacy. He was elected by over 90% of the Black community. He promised them jobs. Instead, he opened our borders and gave their jobs to illegal aliens who will gladly do the jobs for less money.During Obama s tenure, the percentage of black Americans struggling below the poverty line has advanced, according to the most recent Census Bureau data, from 25.8 in 2009 to 26.2 in 2014 up 1.6 percent. Real median income among black households during those years, according to the Census Bureau, sank from $35,954 to $35,398 down 1.5 percent.The number of black food-stamp participants exploded across that time frame from 7,393,000 to 11,699,000, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports up 58.2 percent. Also, from Obama s oath of office through the fourth quarter of 2015, the percentage of black Americans who own homes foundered from 46.1 percent to 41.9 percent, according to the Census down 9.1 percent. -National ReviewMilwaukee:A standoff between police and an angry crowd turned violent Saturday night in the hours after a Milwaukee police officer shot and killed an armed suspect during a foot chase on the city s north side.After an hours-long confrontation with officers, police reported at 10:15 p.m. that a gas station at N. Sherman Blvd. and W. Burleigh St. was set on fire. Police said firefighters could not for a time get close to the blaze because of gunshots.Later, fires were started at businesses including a BMO Harris Bank branch, a beauty supply company and O Reilly Auto Parts stores near N. 35th and W. Burleigh streets, a grim and emphatic Mayor Tom Barrett said. He spoke at a midnight news conference at the District 3 police station at N. 49th St. and W. Lisbon Ave.The mayor said some involved in the disturbances took to social media early in the evening to encourage others to come out and participate in trouble-making. He said many of them were young people, and he urged parents to keep tight reins on their children to avoid a repeat of Saturday night. Our police officers are doing everything they can to restore order, he said. But he said everyone needed to help restore calm. If you love your son, if you love your daughter, text them, call them, pull them by their ears, get them home. The mayor said police had shown an amazing amount of restraint Saturday evening.Hamilton said, Our city is in turmoil tonight. He promised a full and open investigation into the the police-involved shooting.Assistant Police Chief James Harpole said at least 200 people had gathered at the disturbances earlier. He said there were multiple gunshots over the course of the evening.When the gas station was set ablaze, there were three people in the building and all got out safely, he said.The news conference ended with Aldermen Russell W. Stamper II and Khalif Rainey delivering strongly worded statements about the disturbance springing from the frustrations of black Milwaukeeans and the problems they face.Rainey, who represents the area where the man was shot by the officer and the disturbance occurred, was particularly pointed. He said Sherman Park had become a powder keg this summer, and ended his remarks by implying that downtown could be the site of disturbances if the issues facing African-Americans here not addressed. This entire community has sat back and witnessed how Milwaukee, Wis., has become the worst place to live for African-Americans in the entire country, Rainey said. Now this is a warning cry. Where do we go from here? Where do we go as a community from here? Do we continue continue with the inequities, the injustice, the unemployment, the under-education, that creates these byproducts that we see this evening? The black people of Milwaukee are tired. They re tired of living under this oppression. This is their existence. This is their life. This is the life of their children. Now what has happened tonight may have not been right; I m not justifying that. But no one can deny the fact that there s problems, racial problems, here in Milwaukee, Wis., that have to be closely, not examined, but rectified. Rectify this immediately. Because if you don t, this vision of downtown, all of that, you re one day away. You re one day away. Earlier in the evening, more than 100 people gathered near the scene of the shooting at N. 44th St. and W. Auer Ave. and at times pushed against a line of 20 to 30 officers, some of whom were in riot gear.At one point, the officers got in their cars to leave and some in the crowd started smashing the windows and side of a squad car. Another vehicle was set on fire. As officers returned to the scene, this time with more in riot gear, as many as seven shots could be heard about 8:45 to 9 p.m.Soon thereafter, the crowd turned on and chased reporters and a photographer from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. One reporter was shoved to the ground and punched.Police later tweeted that an officer was hit in the head with a brick that was thrown through a squad window. Police said the officer was being treated at a hospital.At nearly 11 p.m., police tweeted that gunshots again were fired near N. 44th St. and W. Auer Ave.City officials said three people had been arrested during the initial disturbance. Another disturbance developed at N. 35th and W. Burleigh streets.Crowd breaks widows of unoccupied squad near Sherman and Auer. Other squad set afire and broken windows on another. pic.twitter.com/Jux2mJZYyQ Milwaukee Police (@MilwaukeePolice) August 14, 2016City police officials said two officers stopped two suspects in a car about 3:30 p.m. The suspects then took off on foot. During the pursuit, a six-year veteran of the department shot and killed a 23-year-old Milwaukee resident, who was carrying a semiautomatic handgun, police said.The officer was not hurt.During his midnight news conference, Barrett said the officer pursuing the 23-year-old man ordered him to drop his gun. The man didn t and the officer fired several times, the mayor said.The man was hit twice, once in the chest and once in the arm. He said police determined there were 23 rounds in the man s gun.Barrett said the officer was wearing a body camera and his understanding was that the camera was operational during the incident. Via: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | 0 |
7,375 | Macron's popularity improving: poll | PARIS (Reuters) - Fewer French voters are dissatisfied with Emmanuel Macron s performance, a poll showed on Sunday, halting a recent slide in the popularity ratings of the French president in recent months. The poll, conducted by Ifop for newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche (JDD), showed Macron s dissatisfaction rating declining to 53 percent in September, from 57 percent in August. Some 45 percent expressed satisfaction with the centrist leader - up from 40 percent in August. The poll of 1,989 people was carried out on Sept. 15-23. Macron s approval ratings have dropped sharply in opinion polls since his election in May, dragged down by labor reforms and planned budget cuts, including a decrease in housing aid for students. The new poll comes as French far-left opposition party leader Jean-Luc Melenchon drew tens of thousands to a rally on Saturday against Macron s labor reforms, aiming to reinforce his credentials as Macron s strongest political opponent. | 1 |
7,376 | TWO SOMALI MUSLIM MEN Arrested For Daytime Gun Fight In Olive Garden Parking Lot In City Ranked “#2 Best Place To Live In America” | Police on Tuesday arrested two people and were seeking a third after a shooting in Northwest Rochester, MN.In 2014, Rochester, MN was ranked No. 2 on Livability.com s second annual national list of the Top 100 Best Places to Live.Rochester, MN is now a gateway city for refugee resettlement and it is being systematically destroyed. Violent crime is at unprecedented levels. Daily reports of gunfights are not uncommon.Authorities received multiple emergency calls about 12:50 p.m., reporting shots fired in a parking lot at Minnwest Bank, 331 16th Ave. NW. According to Sgt. Frank Ohm of the Rochester Police Department, the incident involved three to four black males fighting, and shots were fired.One or two individuals ran south, and one or two individuals ran north away from the parking lot, Ohm added. Two suspects were arrested down the street and were taken into custody for further questioning.UPDATE: Attempted murder charges have been filed against the two Rochester men arrested as suspects in Tuesday s shooting near the Olive Garden restaurant.Arraigned Thursday were 21-year-old Abdi Abukar and 22-year-old Idris Haji-Mohamed. Conditional bail for the two suspects was set at $500,000.Multiple witnesses have identified Abukar as the one who was firing shots at a third man as he ran through the parking lot of the restaurant just before 1 p.m. The gun suspected of being used in the shooting was found near where the two men were apprehended. Police suspect a second gun was involved. And, at least one witness told police it appeared two men were shooting at each other. The man who was being fired at is still being sought.Police aren t sure what the motive was for the shooting because the two suspects have not given a statement. It s suspected it may be related to two recent shootings in the city. Pamela Gellar | 0 |
7,377 | WATCH: Gay Man Beaten After Lunatic Sees Him Kiss His Partner | There is a disturbing video coming out of Miami Beach, Florida which shows two men get into a fight inside of a Burger King. The fight broke out after a man saw two gay men, Jordan Schaeffer, a Los Angeles man who was visiting the area, and his partner, Eric Danko, kissing.At that point, a man who has yet to be identified began insulting the couple and using derogatory gay slurs. The heated exchange quickly escalated, becoming physical in a matter of moments. Surveillance footage shows Schaeffer and the unidentified man wrestling on the ground. The subjects in this case happen to be gay individuals and that s part of our investigation to see what provoked that attack, explained Miami Beach police officer Ernesto Rodriguez. [The men] Had some sort of exchange with victims, a verbal exchange which escalated into a violent physical attack, Rodriguez continued.The surveillance footage shows another man wearing a white shirt join the conflict, preventing people from trying to break up the fight. The man has also yet to be identified, so it is unknown if he had any relationship to the assailant.Police who have witnessed the footage have determined that the man is probably trained in some form of martial arts. Schaeffer escaped the conflict with lacerations on his lips. It is surprising that people concern themselves about what two people care about, Mark Meyer, a local community member who was disturbed by the altercation said. There s a lot of people in the world and if they re afraid to get out and see it then maybe they should just stay home and not even go to a Burger King. Police are pursuing the case as a felony battery charge. If you have any information about the assailant, please call the Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-8477.You can watch the video below.Featured image from video screenshot | 0 |
7,378 | Factbox: Five facts about Tom Cotton, Trump's likely pick for CIA | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Tom Cotton, a hawkish Iraq war veteran who has said he did not consider waterboarding to be torture, is likely to be chosen by President Donald Trump as the next leader of the Central Intelligence Agency amid a Cabinet shake-up, senior administration officials said. Here are five facts about the Arkansas Republican: - Cotton, 40, is a staunch Trump ally who has vigorously opposed the Iran nuclear deal. He served one term in the House of Representatives before being elected to the Senate in 2014 as part of a Republican wave. Cotton sits on the Intelligence Committee but has no experience managing a large organization. - Cotton has given a qualified endorsement of the intelligence community’s assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election to boost Trump’s prospects. “I have no doubts about the intelligence community’s assessment,” he said in an Oct. 5 interview with Washington Post columnist David Ignatius. - Cotton wants to boost the defense budget, saying the U.S. military is in crisis, and has pointed to both Russia and China as growing threats. He accused Moscow of trying to divide NATO and said China was “seeking control over the Pacific Rim.” - A decorated Army veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Cotton appeared to align himself with Trump’s support of waterboarding, saying he did not consider it torture. “Waterboarding isn’t torture. We do waterboarding on our own soldiers in the military,” the former paratrooper told CNN in November 2016. Waterboarding, the practice of pouring water over someone’s face to simulate drowning as an interrogation tactic, was banned by Democratic President Barack Obama days after he took office in 2009. - Cotton is a graduate of Harvard University and Harvard Law School. A father of two, he has a reputation as a devoted family man who once apologized for being late for an intelligence hearing because he was tending to a baby in his office. | 1 |
7,379 | NY Gov. Cuomo Directly Threatens Businesses: ‘If You Boycott Israel, New York Will Boycott You’ | In an unprecedented and unconstitutional move, New York s governor, Andrew Cuomo, has issued an executive order creating a blacklist of businesses in the state that are involved in the BDS movement against Israel. BDS stands for boycott, divest and sanction, and is a major way of protesting Israel s illegal actions in Palestine.The order actually tells state officials to compile a list of businesses involved in the BDS movement so Cuomo can order the State of New York to boycott them. As Baher Azmy, of the Center for Constitutional Rights, put it, this is 21st century McCarthyism, and it s vile.Speaking at the exclusive Harvard Club, Cuomo had the gall to say: If you boycott against Israel, New York will boycott you. If you divert revenues from Israel, New York will divert revenues from you. If you sanction Israel, New York will sanction you. Citizens United pretty much gave businesses First Amendment rights, and this violates those rights. Cuomo is using government power to coerce even force businesses into supporting Israel whether they want to or not. He called BDS an economic attack on Israel that must be stopped.While various states have bills in their legislatures that would likewise sanction businesses involved with the BDS movement, Cuomo s executive order gives him immediate power to take care of these businesses with a list that will be made public once it s finished. He even said that passing legislation can often be tedious, as though that s justification enough for issuing an order like this.Omar Barghouti, a founder of the BDS movement, said this isn t surprising and explained what Israel is busy doing: Having lost many battles for hearts and minds at the grass-roots level, Israel has adopted since 2014 a new strategy to criminalize support for B.D.S. from the top, he said in an email, adding that such actions were meant to shield Israel from accountability.' Israel will live by the sword for as long as it can; it will occupy all of the land for as long as it can, and it s afraid its time will draw to a close sooner rather than later if the U.S. officially condemns their actions in Palestine. As such, they re brainwashing us.Alphonso David, Cuomo s general counsel, said that this order specifies the BDS movement, but would target any boycott aimed at Israel. He also said it s meant to send a message about the BDS movement: Mr. David said in an interview that the executive action was meant to send a clear message that the B.D.S. movement is deplorable. He added that the governor s order was not meant to be interpreted as opining on actions taken to empower Palestinians, or meant to discourage debate over Israeli actions in the Middle East. Rather, it intends to stake a position on a movement that the State of New York unequivocally rejects, as the order puts it. The State of New York can reject whatever it wants. It can issue a statement to that effect. It should not be allowed to trample the 1st Amendment rights of anybody for any reason, especially to protect a country guilty of heinous atrocities.Constitutional rights are inalienable, unless you use them to protest Israel.Featured image by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images | 0 |
7,380 | These DAMNING Tweets Are EXACTLY Why Trump Should Lose His Twitter Account NOW | Earlier today, Trump appeared to tank the stock of yet another company with a single, ill-considered tweet:The F-35 program and cost is out of control. Billions of dollars can and will be saved on military (and other) purchases after January 20th. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 12, 2016While we can all agree that the man-child known as Donald King Cheeto Trump is absolutely clueless about his responsibilities and clout as president, it seems it might not have been that tweet that actually tanked Lockheed Martin s stock. What may have happened is considerably worse and considerably more terrifying. Newsweek s Kurt Eichenwald tweeted the following, which, if true, demonstrates just how dangerous it is that Trump has any access at all to social media:God. Wall Street guy tells me he & buddies watching TV news 2 see if they can figure out what company might make Trump angry, then short it. Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) December 12, 2016First Boeing, now Lockheed Martin. But it s not just that. Many of the replies are showing that Lockheed s stock actually began to tank a few minutes before Trump let the world know he was pissed at them. In other words, the possibility exists that Wall Street traders are manipulating the market to their advantage, and basing that manipulation on our ignorant, petty man-child of a president-elect:@kurteichenwald Did they get the word 5 minutes before Trump tweeted about F-35s (Lockheed Martin)? https://t.co/1LcN2lT8Jo Sean Smith (@protanope) December 12, 2016@kurteichenwald Clearly someone had the head s up on the F-35 program and shorted Lockheed minutes before. Wonder if S.A.C. still gets leaks Carolyn Lanzetta (@CarolynLanzetta) December 12, 2016@kurteichenwald @mybookishways kind of like whomever it was who dumped Lockheed shares 5 min before he tweeted? J.N. Duncan (@jimnduncan) December 12, 2016How s that swamp-draining going, Trumpkins? Bet they won t be so thrilled when Wall Street goes after their employers because of him.This is Trump s economy. One of two things is most likely to happen here: Either Wall Street will get tired of Cheetolini s antics and stop paying attention, or they ll go all out at some point and bankrupt someone. Regardless, this is something that should never have even gotten started. Trump is going to ruin us.Featured image via Drew Angerer/Getty Images | 0 |
7,381 | nintendo cuts fullyear sales operating profit forecasts | microsoft introduces windows update with creative focus
october by dina bass and jing cao bloomberg
httpwwwbloombergcomnewsarticlesmicrosoftintroduceswindowsupdatewithcreativefocus
new software version set for spring features virtual reality
surface allinone computer unveiled in time for holidays | 0 |
7,382 | WATCH: Hilariously Stupid Trump Fans Fooled By Hitler Quotes Disguised As Trump’s (VIDEO) | It s no secret that Donald Trump and Adolf Hitler are very similar. Like Hitler, Trump wants to keep the Untermensch in this case Muslims, Hispanics, and other brown people out of his country. Both men chose to run for office on a Christian platform while failing to act anything remotely similar to Jesus. Like Hitler, Trump has decided that an entire segment of the population Muslims should be forced to register in a national database and to wear special little badges. And, like Hitler, The Donald wants to throw a certain segment of the population in concentration camps. Dissenters especially minorities are brutally beaten at his rallies, something Trump adamantly supports.With all the similarities between the two fascists, YouTube prankster channel SloFlo decided to conduct a little social experiment: They quoted Adolf Hitler to Trump supporters, but told them the words were Trump s. The prankster made up a fake Trump pamphlet, but he replaced all the quotes with Hitler quotes. Well, there s a lot of people that should be sterilized according to Donald Trump, said a man wearing a Trump tie. So, sure. You look at the Democratic Party and they prove that, one supporter said. That s why I m voting for Trump. He s a smart man, he s got the world by the balls right now, a young woman replied. He s got a lot of money, and he s very influential because of his money, and what he s done with, like, his empire. As soon as our economic system starts improving, we don t have to worry about the immigrants anymore, an enthusiastic man Trumpsplained. They ll go away. Well, man is the cruelest animal, said Tie Guy.After the Trump supporters said they agree with the quotes in the pamphlet, they were in for a surprise when it was revealed that the quotes actually came from none other than Adolf Hitler a man whose speeches Trump has been known to keep by his bedside. I m definitely not down with racism, said the young woman after learning she had just endorsed Hitler s words. I d say you re lying to me, another Trump supporter said with a blank stare on his face. Asked if he still supports Trump, he replied: Well, yeah, But I don t support Hitler. Pressed on whether he supports the quotes, he explained that If Donald Trump said them, I support em! Watch this hilarious prank below:Featured image via screengrab | 0 |
7,383 | The Tweet Trump Sent THE DAY His Son Had Russian Collusion Meeting Is Disturbing As Hell | It s kind of poetic: Russian help and Trump s tweets are largely what propelled him to the White House, and those two things may also bring about his downfall.On news that Trump s son, Donald Jr., scheduled a meeting during the campaign with a Russian lawyer promising dirt on Hillary Clinton, the microscope on Trump s shady campaign only intensified. He s tried everything to get it to stop, including firing the FBI director investigating him, but it s all starting to come out.Making matters worse for the White House, Donald Jr. keeps digging himself a deeper hole. First, he tried to cover up the meeting. Then when he got caught, he lied about the contents of the meeting. Then when he got caught again, he admitted, with no apparent awareness, that, yes, he had tried to collude with the Russians, but since he failed it wasn t wrong. (Note: hiring a hitman to kill your wife is a crime whether the hitman goes through with it or not.)On Monday, following a weekend of collusion evidence against him, Donald Jr. again brought out his gold-plated shovel and started digging.Obviously I'm the first person on a campaign to ever take a meeting to hear info about an opponent went nowhere but had to listen. https://t.co/ccUjL1KDEa Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) July 10, 2017For what it s worth, staffers from other campaigns, both Republican and Democratic, have gone on record to say that there is a flat policy in election teams of handing over any information about an opponent seemingly obtained illegally or from a foreign adversary to law enforcement. Famously, Al Gore immediately summoned authorities when a shady person obtained Bush s debate prep notes.When Gore campaign was sent Bush debate brief book, they called FBI. If foreign interests offer you info on former SOS, you call the FBI. stuart stevens (@stuartpstevens) July 10, 2017Most politicians hold themselves to that higher standard Trump s team didn t.It gets worse.Liberal pundit and longtime thorn in Trump s side, Keith Olbermann, went ahead and checked out what Trump was up to the day his son was meeting with the Russians. It turns out, it was the very first day he decided to mention Hillary s emails.Guess what @realDonaldTrump did the same day Jr, Manafort, Kushner met that Russian? He sent his 1ST tweet about Hillary's "33,000 emails" pic.twitter.com/BAP9aEDcLE Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) July 10, 2017And three days later, Wikileaks dumped the Hillary campaign s emails, boosting Trump and ultimately helping him win the election.Coincidence?Featured image via Olivier Douliery Pool/Getty Images | 0 |
7,384 | HOW OBAMA’S BROKEN U.S. Deportation Process and Canada’s Open-Door Immigration Policy Are Responsible For Horrifying Act of Terror By Somali Immigrant | U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Tuesday that a Somali refugee charged with ramming his car into a Canadian policeman, stabbing him and then injuring four people while leading officers on a high-speed chase over the weekend was ordered deported from the U.S. in 2011.Jennifer Elzea, an ICE spokeswoman, said Hasan Sharif Abdulahi was taken into ICE s custody in San Diego in July of that year and in September an immigration judge ordered him sent back to Somalia.Elzea said Sharif was released from custody two months later then failed to report as ordered for his removal on Jan. 24, 2012. She said efforts to locate him were unsuccessful.Sharif faces 11 charges, including five of attempted murder in the Saturday night attack in Edmonton, Alberta. Police have raised the possibility of filing terrorism charges against Sharif because there was an Islamic State flag in his car and he was investigated in 2015 for espousing extremist views.Canadian Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said Sharif, 30, entered Canada legally in 2012 and obtained refugee status.A preliminary hearing for Sharif opened Tuesday but was recessed so he can find a lawyer. He appeared on closed-circuit television and followed proceedings with the help of an interpreter. The suspect spoke briefly with a lawyer who stepped forward to help.Edmonton police say they believe Sharif acted alone during the series of attacks, which began around 8:15 p.m. Saturday as police Constable Mike Chernyk was handling crowd control outside a Canadian Football League game at a stadium just northeast of downtown. AP | 0 |
7,385 | Islamic State set up Libyan desert army after losing Sirte: prosecutor | TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Islamic State militants in Libya set up a desert army composed of at least three brigades after they lost their stronghold of Sirte last year, a senior prosecutor said on Thursday. Hundreds of militants are believed to have escaped from Sirte before or during the seven-month campaign to oust the jihadist group from the coastal city, which it took control of in 2015. Sheltering in desert camps, fugitive militants have become emboldened in recent weeks, occasionally setting up checkpoints on roads to the south and east of Sirte and claiming two deadly attacks against local forces. The United States, which provided air support for the Sirte campaign, has conducted three sets of air strikes targeting the camps - one in January, one on Sept. 22, and one on Tuesday. After the first strikes some wounded militants had been arrested and some materials seized, Sadiq Al-Sour, head of investigations for the Attorney General s office, said at a news conference in Tripoli. Investigators learned that Islamic State had established a desert army led by Libyan militant Al-Mahdi Salem Dangou, also known as Abu Barakat, Sour said. The force includes three brigades operating under Dangou, each with its own commander. This army was established after the liberation of the city of Sirte... Now they are in the Libyan desert, said Sour. Separately, Sour said authorities had arrested a senior Islamic State commander who supervised the beheading of 21 Coptic Christians from Egypt in Sirte in February 2015. He gave details on the incident and indicated their place of burial, Sour said. We are seeking with military authorities in the central region to discover where the bodies are, and hopefully we will find them, despite the time that has passed. Egypt launched air strikes in Libya a day after Islamic State released a video showing the Copts being beheaded on a beach. Sour said that in the past, Islamic State had used established routes to bring foreign fighters into Libya from neighboring countries including Sudan, Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria. The largest number of fighters had been brought in from Sudan and transited through the Libyan city of Ajdabiya, about 350 km (218 miles) east of Sirte, he said. | 1 |
7,386 | Senate quickens pace of approving Trump judicial picks | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One thing is definitely going right for U.S. President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans who control Congress: they are steadily getting conservatives appointed as judges, advancing their long-held ambition of reshaping the federal judiciary. So concern among conservatives arose after Democrats swept to victory in state and local elections in Virginia, New Jersey and elsewhere this month, signaling potential trouble for Republicans in the November 2018 mid-term elections in which control over Congress is at stake. If the party’s slim 52-48 majority in the Senate, which reviews and confirms federal judicial nominees, is at risk, Republicans may need to move even more quickly on getting judges confirmed by the Senate for their lifetime posts, some legal experts said. “Obviously, who gets nominated and the pace of confirmations ... changes dramatically if the Senate were to flip back to the Democrats,” said John Malcolm, a former Justice Department lawyer and now an analyst at the Heritage Foundation conservative think tank in Washington. Republicans “should be paying particular attention to pushing through as many nominees as they can,” added Malcolm, also active in the Federalist Society, a conservative lawyers’ group whose members have frequently been tapped for judicial posts by Republican presidents. Trump and congressional Republicans have not passed any major legislation since he took office in January despite controlling the White House and Congress. But after a slow start that had worried conservative activists, Republicans have made major headway on judicial appointments in recent weeks. The Senate has now voted to confirm 14 Trump judicial nominees, including Donald Coggins on Thursday as a district judge in South Carolina. That includes Supreme Court appointee Neil Gorsuch, eight others on regional appeals courts ranking just below the Supreme Court and five on trial courts. Obama had only seven confirmed at this point in his presidency. Democrats, who accused Republicans of impeding nominations from Trump’s Democratic predecessor Barack Obama, have said Republicans are trying to ram Trump’s nominees through the Senate, including some they say lack basic qualifications. Conservative groups that just last month were criticizing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for the pace of confirmations are now applauding him. McConnell, in a move with little precedent in U.S. history, last year refused to act on Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, paving the way for Trump to restore the high court’s conservative majority with Gorsuch’s appointment. “When the history books are written about the Trump administration, I believe perhaps the most long-lasting and significant legacy will be the men and women appointed and confirmed to the federal bench,” Republican Senator Ted Cruz said at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday. Trump has a unique opportunity to reshape the judiciary. He inherited more than 100 vacancies when he took office, twice the number Obama inherited. The number has since climbed above 160. Trump generally has selected deeply conservative nominees, many in their 40s and 50s and able to serve for decades. He could name up to 30 percent of the federal bench in his first four-year term, said Leonard Leo, a Trump advisor on judicial nominations. Having a more conservative judiciary could be pivotal on legal disputes involving presidential powers, abortion, the death penalty, religious rights, gay rights, litigation involving corporations and other matters. The main impact of this infusion of conservative jurists will be to flip the ideological breakdown of several liberal-leaning federal appeals courts, said political scientist Sheldon Goldman, an expert in judicial selection at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Federal appeals courts, divided into 11 geographic regions plus two based in Washington, often have the final say in major legal disputes because the Supreme Court hears only a small number of cases annually. During Wednesday’s Judiciary Committee hearing for six Trump judicial nominees, Democrats said Republicans were acting on too many too quickly, preventing proper questioning of the candidates. Trump’s appointees may be more reliably conservative than those of previous Republican presidents. Goldman said nearly all have a connection to the Federalist Society, providing a “very consistent ideological vetting process.” Leo, the society’s executive vice president, helped compile a shortlist of Supreme Court nominees for Trump that included Gorsuch. Judges will be a focus of the society’s national convention that started on Thursday in Washington, with Trump selections including Gorsuch due to appear. While Republican lawmakers have been divided over legislation on issues including taxes and healthcare, judicial nominees are an issue on which tend to agree. “Fixing Obamacare is no easy task,” said Carrie Severino, chief counsel of the Judicial Crisis Network conservative legal advocacy group, “whereas the president has done such an excellent job of choosing nominees that it’s a no-brainer.” | 1 |
7,387 | Corporate winners of Obama budget still face long odds | NEW YORK (Reuters) - Facing a hostile Congress in an election year, President Barack Obama will be hard-pressed to push through many of the proposals in his final budget as U.S. leader. But that could be a silver lining for investors: If the long-shot plans gain traction, companies that stand to win new business or funding from proposed spending, such as auto suppliers, hospital chains and construction firms, could get an unexpected boost to their shares. Some details of the budget plan, set to be unveiled on Tuesday, already are known. It will include $4 billion over 10 years for development of safe-driving vehicles, an area already of interest to many companies. Added funding could benefit suppliers such as Delphi Automotive, Autoliv and Mobileye, which are developing safety features for autonomously driven cars, and Lear, which makes electrical power systems, according to Brian Sponheimer, analyst at Gabelli & Co. “The market discounts that any proposals by this administration will be if not ignored, then outright put down,” Sponheimer said. “There clearly is upside if it passes, but there is a very healthy skepticism that that is likely to take place.” Obama’s plan to fund an overhaul of the nation’s infrastructure through a $10-a-barrel tax on crude oil could also boost engineering and construction firms such as Granite Construction said Morris Ajzenman, an analyst at Griffin Securities. “But I give very very little probability that it comes to pass.” Similarly, Ipsita Smolinski, managing director at healthcare research consulting firm Capitol Street, said it was doubtful the Republican Congress would approve Obama’s plan to aid the 19 state governments that passed up an earlier offer to expand the Medicaid program for low-income Americans. Such a plan, she said, would benefit hospital companies including Tenet Healthcare and HCA Holdings and Medicaid insurers such as Centene and Molina Healthcare. More palatable to Congress could be Obama’s push for $755 million to jumpstart cancer research. But that level of investment without being more targeted may not benefit any specific firms, given that so many drug and biotech companies are invested in developing cancer therapies. Major defense contractors - including Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and General Dynamics - stand to benefit from the budget, said Sterne Agee CRT analyst Peter Arment. “It’s an election year, national security is at the top of the priority list and a lot of elected officials – they don’t want to be tied to cutting defense,” Arment said. | 1 |
7,388 | UK PM May: We must fight for the political mainstream | MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Wednesday that her party must fight for a Conservative mainstream political agenda, speaking in her address to the annual party conference. We must come together to fight for this mainstream Conservative agenda. To win the battle of ideas in a new generation all over again, May said. | 1 |
7,389 | Trump EXPLODES In Morning Meltdown Accusing President Obama Of Treason | Donald Trump threw another temper tantrum on Twitter as the investigation closes in on him.You know that the investigation must be getting closer to nailing Trump to the wall by how he is acting right now.Over the last few days, Trump has been trying to blame his crimes on President Obama and Hillary Clinton while simultaneously insisting that no crimes were committed. Why did the DNC REFUSE to turn over its Server to the FBI, and still hasn t? It s all a big Dem scam and excuse for losing the election! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 22, 2017Since the Obama Administration was told way before the 2016 Election that the Russians were meddling, why no action? Focus on them, not T! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 24, 2017Hillary Clinton colluded with the Democratic Party in order to beat Crazy Bernie Sanders. Is she allowed to so collude? Unfair to Bernie! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 25, 2017It has been a hilarious circular firing squad that Trump can t seem to stop stepping in the middle of, which is exactly the reason why top law firms in this nation want nothing to do with him.And on Tuesday morning, Trump threw another hissy fit and accused President Obama of colluding with Russia.You heard that right. Trump just accused President Obama of committing treason against the United States and then he claimed that no collusion exists. Trump then demanded an apology.The reason that President Obama did NOTHING about Russia after being notified by the CIA of meddling is that he expected Clinton would win.. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 26, 2017 and did not want to rock the boat. He didn t choke, he colluded or obstructed, and it did the Dems and Crooked Hillary no good. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 26, 2017The real story is that President Obama did NOTHING after being informed in August about Russian meddling. With 4 months looking at Russia Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 26, 2017..under a magnifying glass, they have zero tapes of T people colluding. There is no collusion & no obstruction. I should be given apology! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 26, 2017These are the rantings and ravings of a desperate man who knows that his time as president and a free man is running out. The reason why President Obama could not act at the time is because Trump was claiming that the election was rigged. Any move Obama made to stop Russia would have drawn cries of election rigging by Trump, especially had he lost due to Russia being stopped. Also, the extent of the meddling was still under investigation and Obama still retaliated by slapping sanctions against Russia prior to leaving office, the very same sanctions Trump is trying to remove.By accusing President Obama of treason, Trump has crossed yet another line, demonstrating once and for all that he is unfit to hold office and should be impeached.Featured Image: David Becker/Getty Images | 0 |
7,390 | U.S. House approves funding for children's healthcare program | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday approved legislation to continue a federal insurance program for millions of lower-income children and pregnant women, but with an ongoing funding battle it could be weeks before the program gets more money. The House Republican measure was approved 242-174 largely along party lines. It would continue the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for five years. But Democrats warned the partisan House approach would not fly in the Senate, further delaying cash for the program that expired over a month ago. “This bill is going nowhere ... the Senate will not take it up, and we will be waiting around until Christmas” to get funding, Democratic Representative Frank Pallone warned. Republicans control 52 of the Senate’s 100 seats, and 60 votes are needed for passage there. CHIP, which provides health insurance to about 9 million children, has been a bipartisan program since its creation 20 years ago and reauthorizing funding has not been contentious - until now. Under President Donald Trump and a Republican-controlled Congress, healthcare issues have become highly politicized as Republicans have repeatedly failed to repeal and replace Obamacare, a top Trump campaign promise. The program’s funding lapsed on Sept. 30, but most states have enough money to continue it past 2017. Still, 11 states, including Colorado, California, Utah, Ohio and Pennsylvania expect to exhaust their funding by the end of the year, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Another 21 states anticipate running out of money by the end of March 2018. The House bill extends the program for five years, and continues funding of community health centers for two years. It also includes $1 billion for Medicaid programs in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, hard hit by recent hurricanes. The bill became controversial after Republicans added provisions that would affect the Affordable Care Act, former Democratic President Barack Obama’s signature domestic policy achievement. They include slashing funding from the law’s Prevention and Public Health Fund, which among other things helps fight the opioid epidemic, and making it easier to kick people off Obamacare plans for non-payment of premiums. However, Republican Representative Greg Walden pointed out the bill would block for two years the Medicaid cuts for hospitals that would otherwise occur under Obamacare. Democrats criticized the legislation for asking Medicare’s wealthiest one percent of beneficiaries, those who make more than $40,000 each month, to pay more to help fund health insurance for low-income children. | 1 |
7,391 | Health Secretary Price's use of private jets under review | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Health Secretary Tom Price’s use of private jets for government travel was under investigation on Friday after an internal watchdog agreed to review the issue following calls by Democrats for a probe. Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General Daniel Levinson’s office said it would request Price’s travel records and seek to review their justification. Price has taken at least two dozen such charter flights since May at a cost to U.S. taxpayers of about $300,000, according to Politico, which first reported the travel. HHS’s Office of the Inspector General “is conducting a review of Secretary Price’s federal travel using chartered aircraft. The review focuses on whether the travel complied with Federal Travel Regulations, but may encompass other issues related to the travel,” said Levinson’s spokeswoman, Tesia Williams, adding that it would be finished as soon as possible. The move comes after House Democratic lawmakers called for the internal review earlier this week. [nL2N1M203S] Separately, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform’s top Democrat, U.S. Representative Elijah Cummings, also asked Price for details on the flights and called on panel chairman Trey Gowdy to hold an immediate hearing on the issue. Representatives for Price did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the investigation, earlier reported by the Washington Post and NBC News. HHS spokeswoman Charmaine Yoest defended Price’s travels, telling the Post: “This is Secretary Price, getting outside of D.C., making sure he is connected with the real American people” and adding that commercial flights could have lengthy delays or force him to miss public events. In a letter to Price, Cummings asked the secretary for details on the number of flights, the full costs and any documentation about their purpose by Oct. 10. “If these reports are accurate, this would be a stunning and hypocritical breach of trust given that the Trump Administration ... is trying to take away health care from millions of Americans and is proposing to slash funding at HHS,” he wrote. As a U.S. lawmaker in 2009, Price chastised “the fiscal irresponsibility” of government private plane use in an appearance on CNBC that he also posted on Twitter at the time. Questions over Price’s charter flights come as another top U.S. official, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, is facing scrutiny over his use of a government plane to fly to Kentucky for a visit to Louisville and Fort Knox. Mnuchin and his wife viewed the solar eclipse during the trip, which was to an area of the country that experienced the full eclipse. [nL2N1LI0YD] | 1 |
7,392 | South African court rules Zuma appointment of state prosecutor invalid | JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa s High Court ruled on Friday that President Jacob Zuma s appointment of a state prosecutor to decide whether to reinstate corruption charges against him was not valid and should be set aside immediately. The court also ruled that Zuma should not make a new appointment and that Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa should appoint a new public prosecutor within 60 days. The ruling is a stinging rebuke for Zuma, who is due to step down in 2019 after more than a decade in power. Zuma s office said he would appeal the decision. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), whose head prosecutor Shaun Abrahams was removed from his post by the High Court ruling, also said it would appeal. The rand was buoyed by the court ruling, with analysts saying markets saw Zuma s influence curtailed. Judge President Dunstan Mlambo said at the Pretoria High Court the appointment of Abrahams as the National Director of Public Prosecutions was invalid and set aside. In his ruling, Mlambo said: In our view, President Zuma would be clearly conflicted in having to appoint a National Director of Public Prosecutions, given the background ... and particularly the ever present specter of the many criminal charges against him that have not gone away. The charges against Zuma relate to a 30 billion rand ($2 billion) government arms deal arranged in the late 1990s and have amplified calls for Zuma to step down before his term as president ends in 2019. In October the Supreme Court of Appeal upheld an earlier decision by a lower court that the nearly 800 corruption charges filed against Zuma before he became president be reinstated. It then fell to Abrahams, appointed by Zuma as chief state prosecutor in 2015, to decide whether or not the NPA would pursue a case against Zuma. Abrahams gave Zuma until the end of November to make representations to prevent the charges being brought against him. Abrahams has not commented on whether Zuma presented any submissions of what decision he has taken on the matter. The case in the Pretoria High Court had been brought by a trio of civil society organizations seeking an order declaring the previous state prosecutor s removal was invalid. Zuma has faced a string of corruption allegations during his time in office, many of them over leaked emails that suggest his friends the Gupta family may have used their influence to secure lucrative state contracts for their companies. Zuma and the Guptas deny wrongdoing. The African National Congress (ANC), which is set to elect Zuma s successor next week, said it would allow the parties involved to reflect on the judgment and its implications as well as decide whether to appeal or not. | 1 |
7,393 | IS YOUR CONGRESSMAN Selling You Out For More ‘Refugees’? | When President Trump announced that the U.S. would take 45,000 refugees for Fiscal Year 2018, it was a lower number than previous years but don t forget we take another 50,000 in the Diversity Visa Lottery! We have taken more refugees than any other nation in the world Our congress wants more We re not kidding! 100 of them sent a letter to President Trump begging for more MORE VOTES FOR DEMOCRATS To Read the entire letter: CONGRESS WANTS MORE REFUGEESHERE S THE PART REQUESTING MORE REFUGEES:The refugee number is woefully insufficient when compared to the millions of people who have been forced to flee their home countries. Establishing a PD of 45,000 is the lowest refugee admissions goal in our nation s history. This would prevent tens of thousands of people from enriching American communities while seeking safety, protection, and an opportunity to provide a better future for themselves and their families in the United States.PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO TELL THESE CONGRESSCRITTERS THAT YOU DON T WANT MORE REFUGEES:Eddie Bernice JohnsonDonald S. Beyer, Jr.Earl BlumenauerLisa Blunt RochesterSuzanne BonamiciRobert A. BradyAnthony BrownMichael CapuanoSalud CarbajalTony C rdenasAndr CarsonJudy ChuDavid N. CicillineKatherine ClarkYvette D. ClarkeSteve CohenJohn Conyers, Jr.J. Luis CorreaJoe CourtneyJoe CrowleyElijah E. CummingsDanny K. DavisPeter DeFazioDiana DeGetteJohn K. DelaneyMark DeSaulnierTed DeutchDebbie DingellLloyd DoggettMichael DoyleKeith EllisonEliot L. EngelAnna G. EshooAdriano EspaillatElizabeth H. EstyDwight EvansBill FosterLois FrankelRuben GallegoJohn GaramendiJimmy GomezJosh GottheimerGene GreenRa l GrijalvaLuis V. Guti rrezColleen HanabusaAlcee L. HastingsBrian HigginsJames HimesEleanor Holmes NortonPramila JayapalHakeem JeffriesMarcy KapturWilliam R. KeatingRobin L. KellyJoseph P. KennedyRo KhannaDaniel T. KildeeJames LangevinRick LarsenJohn B. LarsonBrenda L. LawrenceBarbara LeeSander LevinTed W. LieuZoe LofgrenAlan LowenthalStephen LynchCarolyn B. MaloneyDoris MatsuiBetty McCollumJames P. McGovernGwen MooreSeth MoultonJerrold NadlerGrace NapolitanoDonald NorcrossBeto O RourkeFrank Pallone, Jr.Jimmy PanettaBill Pascrell, Jr.Donald Payne, Jr.Ed PerlmutterScott PetersChellie PingreeMark PocanJared PolisDavid PriceMike QuigleyJamie RaskinBen Ray LujanLucille Roybal-AllardBobby RushTim RyanJohn SarbanesJan SchakowskyAdam SchiffBradley S. SchneiderRobert C. Bobby ScottJos E. SerranoCarol Shea-PorterAlbio SiresLouise SlaughterAdam SmithDarren SotoEric SwalwellMark TakanoDina TitusPaul TonkoNorma J. TorresNiki TsongasJuan VargasMarc VeaseyFilemon VelaNydia Vel zquezPeter J. ViscloskyTimothy WalzDebbie Wasserman SchultzBonnie Watson ColemanPeter WelchJohn Yarmuth | 0 |
7,394 | Former New York deputy secretary of state accused of perjury | NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former New York deputy secretary of state was arraigned on Friday after being indicted this week on charges that he lied about paying restitution after being convicted in 2007 of defrauding the state, the U.S. Justice Department said. Joseph Strevell, 54, of Castleton, New York, served as deputy secretary of state of New York from 1997 to 1999. He faces five counts of perjury and one count of defaulting on a restitution obligation. The Justice Department has accused him of lying under oath about making monthly payments, as well as his contributions toward the purchase of a 138-acre horse farm in 2013 and his daughter’s wedding in 2014. Prosecutors said Strevell falsely testified that his mother and aunt paid most of a $75,440 down payment on a lease for the farm and that he paid a couple thousand dollars for the wedding, when in fact he contributed more than $30,000. Strevell was convicted in federal court of defrauding the state after he left the state department, which traditionally oversees official records, to serve as head of the state-funded Institute of Entrepreneurship. In 2009, he was ordered to pay $111,500 in restitution, and given guidelines to pay a minimum of $100 per month or 10 percent of his gross monthly earnings, whichever was greater. After his arraignment, Strevell was released from custody in Albany, New York pending a trial in U.S. District Court. “Restitution is a mandatory obligation that no convicted felon should be able to walk away from,” Richard Hartunian, U.S. attorney for the northern district of New York, said in a statement. Strevell’s attorney, Paul Evangelista, declined to comment on the case. | 1 |
7,395 | (VIDEO) DESPERATION? CLINTON CAMPAIGN PANDERS TO RADICAL BLACK GROUPS | I come too faaaar DOES THIS PANDER COME WITH A FAKE BLACK ACCENT? Over the weekend, Clinton s black outreach director, LaDavia Drane, attended the Movement for Black Lives convention in Cleveland. That visit marked the campaign s first outreach to the movement, which has seen even wider press coverage in the past week after activists disrupted a presidential forum at Netroots Nation.Do we really want another president who listens to people like Al Sharpton?That protest has been fresh in the minds of presidential campaigns and many of the at least 1,300 attendees according to organizers at the weekend s convention.A Clinton campaign official on Saturday confirmed to BuzzFeed News that Drane had one-on-one meetings and group listening sessions to engage stakeholders including ministers, community organizers, elected officials, and other individuals in Cleveland for the Movement for Black Lives. An Ohio native, Drane engaged people inside the movement and listened to a range of suggestions related to Clinton s outreach, as well as policy recommendations, the official said. We will continue to engage a wide array of stakeholders, including members of the black lives matter movement, when crafting policy on important issues like reforming our criminal justice system, the official said. READ MORE: BUZZFEED | 0 |
7,396 | Turnout in German election slightly lower than 2013: official | BERLIN (Reuters) - Turnout in Germany s national election was slightly lower at 1200 GMT than at the same time four years ago, the Federal Returning Officer said in a statement on Sunday. At 1200 GMT, 41.1 percent of registered voters had cast a ballot, compared to 41.4 percent in 2013. That masked considerable variation across the country. Earlier, North Rhine- Westphalia, the country s most populous state, had reported a 3 percent increase in turnout. | 1 |
7,397 | Cuba holds municipal elections on road to Castro era’s end | HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba took another step on Sunday toward the end of the Castro era, with millions of residents placing paper ballots in cardboard boxes for ward delegates to municipal assemblies. The vote comes the day after the first anniversary of revolutionary leader Fidel Castro s death and precedes another election early next year for provincial and national assembly deputies. The new national assembly, where 50 percent of the deputies must be ward delegates elected on Sunday, is expected on Feb. 24 to select a new president to replace Raul Castro, Fidel s 86-year-old younger brother, who has said he will step down after serving two five-year terms. The Castro brothers have headed the government since the 1959 revolution. Raul Castro will remain head of the Communist Party until 2021, the only legal party in Cuba. Nearly 27,000 candidates are running for 12,515 ward positions in Sunday s election, the only part of the electoral process that is contested publicly and with direct participation by ordinary Cubans. The results will be announced on Monday. The candidates for the provincial and national assemblies are nominated by commissions composed of representatives of Communist Party-controlled organizations, such as the trade union federation, then presented as a slate for a public vote. Those slates have had the same number of names as seats in previous elections. Fifty percent of those names must be ward delegates. The electoral cycle comes at a tricky time for the Caribbean nation as the revolutionary generation passes, an economic reform program appears stalled, aid from key ally Venezuela shrinks, and the Trump administration threatens. Yet candidates debated none of these issues before Sunday s vote. First Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who is expected to succeed Castro, lauded the electoral process and refused to speculate about his future. Today is a day to talk about what we are doing and Fidel, he told reporters after casting his ballot. Asked about relations with the United States, he said Cuba remained interested in improving them, but reiterated its position that negotiations would have to be based on mutual respect and equality and without dictates. The future depends on them, not us, he said. Campaigning is prohibited in Cuba, and candidates for the ward posts were nominated at neighborhood meetings based on their personal merits, not policy positions. They need not belong to the Communist Party, and many candidates are independents, but only a few government opponents have ever competed. I am happy to vote, but I must say, like most young people I do not think it makes any difference, said a young woman, who requested anonymity because she holds an important government job. She added that there was an ongoing discussion on how to reform the electoral process and make government more responsive. This year a coalition of opposition groups ran more than 160 pre-candidates, but most were blocked by state security from nomination meetings, and none are running on Sunday. | 1 |
7,398 | Pastafarian Fights Georgia For Right To Wear Colander In License Photo — Will Probably Win | Pastafarianism is a fairly new religion. Its adherents are atheistic in belief, and they worship the Flying Spaghetti Monster. The religion took off in 2005, founded by Bobby Henderson in response to the Kansas Board of Education s decision to allow so-called Intelligent Design which is nothing more than biblical creationism in a very transparent disguise to be taught as a valid point of view in public schools. Ever since the religion became popular with non believers everywhere, Pastafarians have been fighting for the same rights that every other religion has including the right to wear religious headgear in driver s license photos. For Pastafarians that means wearing colanders in their photos.The latest fight in this arena comes from Chris Avino of Georgia. Avino was allowed to wear the colander in a temporary driver s license photo, but the decision was reversed for the picture that would be used on his permanent document. Officials insist that the state of Georgia does not deem it appropriate to allow customers to be issued identification cards of licenses that portray satirical or offensive points of view. This ruling comes courtesy of Angelique McClendon, an attorney for Georgia s Georgia Department of Driver Services. McClendon s decision comes because she says that while headdresses, scarves, and veils can be worn in photos for religious purposes, that a colander is not a veil, scarf or headdress. A colander is a kitchen utensil commonly used for washing or draining food. McClendon also went on to condemn Pastafarianism altogether, saying that it is not a religion, but instead philosophy that mocks religion. Avino, however, took his cause to Twitter, and seems to be considering taking the state through the legal system regarding his religious right to wear his colander. He answered McClendon s ruling by saying: Just because a colander is not traditionally used as a headdress does not mean that it cannot serve that purpose. In fact, it does serve that purpose for the tens of thousands, perhaps even hundreds of thousands, of believers who claim Pastafarianism as their religion.You may find our beliefs to be strange, but as strange as you may feel they are, they are still our beliefs. Some may find it strange that Christians believe that Jonah spent 3 days in a whale s belly according to some texts. Some may find it strange that Muslims believe that Muhammad was carried to the seven heavens on the back of a winged horse. Some may find it strange that Scientologists believe that Xenu, the dictator of the Galactic Confederacy brought billions of people to earth in a DC-8-like spacecraft, stacked them around volcanoes, and killed them with hydrogen bombs. Maybe you, the reader of this letter, do not personally believe that Muhammad flew to heaven on a winged horse, but do you question the validity of Islam as a religion? He went on to make the very valid point that it is not up to the state to decide which religions deserved recognition, and that if they recognize one, they must recognize all. Our religion exists. It is legitimate. It s claims are no less valid than the claims of other recognized religions. I am in no way breaking the law or breaking any rules by wearing my religion s headdress, a colander, during my driver s license photo. But DDS is. DDS is infringing on my 1st amendment right to express my religious beliefs freely within the laws of the United States of America, within the laws of the state of Georgia, and within the rules of the DDS. The thing is, when you strip away the commonality and acceptance of mainstream religions like Christianity and such without question, they are no more valid than Pastafarianism. There is not a shred of evidence that any of them are true. Therefore, if Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, and others get recognition, Pastafarianism should as well. Chris Avino is right. It is not up to the state to decide that his religion deserves no recognition. All religions are equally ridiculous, and I champion his right to wear his colander.Sue the pants off them, Mr. Avino, and wear your religious colander with pride.Featured image via Twitter/Raw Story | 0 |
7,399 | NEW BOMBSHELL REPORT Shows DNC Emails Were Copied On East Coast ONLY 5 DAYS Before SETH RICH Murder…Disproves Russian Hacking Theory | DNC staffer Seth Rich was shot in the back several times while walking home late at night, when he was only blocks from his home. Rich was on the phone with his fianc when he was shot and left for dead. Seth Rich was hired by the Democrat Party as the official voter expansion data director. Although there is no confirmed connection yet, he was clearly privy to information that could potentially harm the Democratic Party, and more specifically Hillary Clinton s chances of winning the election in November. Although the DC Police Department ruled the crime a botched robbery, nothing was stolen from Rich after he was shot. Many believe that Rich was the person who copied the DNC emails and sent them to Wikileaks via a middle-man. Was Guccifer 2.0 the middle man?Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has strongly hinted that the source for the DNC emails he released was Seth Rich. In this interview with Julian Assange, he seems to suggest on Dutch television program Nieuwsuur that Seth Rich was the source for the Wikileaks-exposed DNC emails and was murdered:On August 9, 2016, Assange offered a $20K reward for information leading to the conviction for the murder of DNC staffer Seth Rich. ANNOUNCE: WikiLeaks has decided to issue a US$20k reward for information leading to conviction for the murder of DNC staffer Seth Rich. WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) August 9, 2016The report shows the DNC files were copied only 5 days before the unsolved cold-blooded murder of DNC staffer Seth Rich. h/t GPOn Sept. 13, 2016, POLITICO reported on Guccifer 2.0 s alleged hack into the DNC servers:If authentic, the documents would represent the latest strike from the mysterious hacker persona that has already roiled the 2016 election with leaks of documents stolen from the DNC and the House Democrat s campaign arm, the DCCC. Earlier document dumps include the internal communications that forced the resignation of former DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz this summer and fueled allegations of party bias against Bernie Sanders.The following statement from FBI Director James Comey seems to back up the assertion that Guccifer 2.0 was not the hacker. Comie testified to Congress that it was the assessment of the FBI that, hostile actors gained access to the private commercial email accounts of people with whom Secretary Clinton was in regular contact from her personal account. (like Seth Rich?)According to Fox News In May, 2016, Guccifer repeatedly claimed to Fox News during a series of interviews that he had successfully breached Clinton s private server. Guccifer made the same claims to NBC News, which published his claims later.In July, when FBI Director James Comey was asked about this claim before Congress, he testified, He did not [gain access to Clinton s server], he admitted that was a lie. Guccifer 2.0 was arrested and extradited to Romania where he is currently serving time for hacking offenses. In communication from jail, Guccifer 2.0 adamantly refuted the claim that he is Russian or tied to the Russian government via The Hill: I really hope you ve missed me a lot. Though I see they didn t let you forget my name. The U.S. intelligence agencies have published several reports of late claiming I have ties with Russia, reads the post. I d like to make it clear enough that these accusations are unfounded. I have totally no relation to the Russian government. Guccifer told Fox and NBC News that he breached Clinton s server, but in his May 2016 interview, when pressed by the FBI, Guccifer said the claims were not true. Here are a few key highlights from the bombshell report by The Forensicator that backs up Guccifer 2.0 s claim to FOX and NBC in 2016 that he did NOT hack the DNC emails and offers evidence that the emails were hacked locally (by Seth Rich?) and that the data was copied on a fairly slow USB flash drive:This study analyzes the file metadata found in a 7zip archive file, 7dc58-ngp-van.7z, attributed to the Guccifer 2.0 persona. For an in depth analysis of various aspects of the controversy surrounding Guccifer 2.0, refer to Adam Carter s blog, Guccifer 2.0: Game Over.Based on the analysis that is detailed below, the following key findings are presented: On 7/5/2016 at approximately 6:45 PM Eastern time, someone copied the data that eventually appears on the NGP VAN 7zip file (the subject of this analysis). This 7zip file was published by a persona named Guccifer 2, two months later on September 13, 2016. Due to the estimated speed of transfer (23 MB/s) calculated in this study, it is unlikely that this initial data transfer could have been done remotely over the Internet. The initial copying activity was likely done from a computer system that had direct access to the data. By direct access we mean that the individual who was collecting the data either had physical access to the computer where the data was stored, or the data was copied over a local high speed network (LAN). They may have copied a much larger collection of data than the data present in the NGP VAN 7zip. This larger collection of data may have been as large as 19 GB. In that scenario the NGP VAN 7zip file represents only 1/10th of the total amount of material taken. This initial copying activity was done on a system where Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) settings were in force. Most likely, the computer used to initially copy the data was located somewhere on the East Coast. The .rar files and plain files that eventually end up in the NGP VAN 7zip file disclosed by Guccifer 2.0 on 9/13/2016 were likely first copied to a USB flash drive, which served as the source data for the final 7zip file. There is no information to determine when or where the final 7zip file was built.Here are a few key conclusions from the report:Conclusion 6: The initial DNC file collection activity began at approximately 2016-07-05 18:39:02 EDT and ended at 2016-07-05 18:53:17 EDT. This conclusion is supported by the observed last modified times and the earlier conclusion that the ex-filtrated files were copied to a computer located in the Eastern Time zone.Conclusion 7: A transfer rate of 23 MB/s is estimated for this initial file collection operation. This transfer rate can be achieved when files are copied over a LAN, but this rate is too fast to support the hypothesis that the DNC data was initially copied over the Internet (esp. to Romania). This transfer rate can also be achieved when copying directly from a computer s hard drive to a fairly slow USB flash drive; there is a lot variability in USB flash drive speeds. We can shorten this statement and say that the 23 MB/s transfer rate supports the conclusion that the files were initially copied locally and not over the Internet.For an in depth analysis of various aspects of the controversy surrounding Guccifer 2.0, refer to Adam Carter s blog, Guccifer 2.0: Game Over.Here is an excerpt from Guccifer 2.0 s What Happened and When Did It Happen timeline: A lot of people are concerned if I have any links to special services and Russia?I ll tell you that everything I do I do at my own risk. This is my personal project and I m proud of it. Yes, I risk my life. But I know it s worth it. No one knew about me several weeks ago. Nowadays the whole world s talking about me. It s really cool!How can I prove this is true? I really don t know. It seems the guys from CrowdStrike and the DNC would say I m a Russian bear even if I were a catholic nun in fact. At first I was annoyed and disappointed. But now I realize they have nothing else to say. There s no other way to justify their incompetence and failure. It s much easier for them to accuse powerful foreign special services. They just f*cked up! They can prove nothing! All I hear is blah-blah-blah, unfounded theories and somebody s estimates.Specialists from Eastern Europe, Russia, China, India work for the leading IT-companies such as Google, IBM, Microsoft, Apple. There s no surprise that many hackers are descendants from these regions.Almost all recent famous hacker attacks have been attributed to Russia. the researchers supposed that the same instruments were implemented during the attacks. But I d like to reveal a secret to all those cool IT-specialists: all the hackers in the world use almost the same tools. You can buy them or simply find on the web.This line in Guccifer 2.0 s message is very interesting and extremely plausible:Guccifer 2.0 timeline. What happened and when did it happen? | 0 |
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