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7,900 | Abbas asks Pope, world powers, to intervene against U.S. Embassy move: spokesman | RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday urged the Pope and the leaders of Russia, France and Jordan to intervene against Trump s declared intention to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, Abbas s spokesman said. President Abbas spoke after his call with President Trump with the presidents of Russia and France, with the Pope and with King Abdullah of Jordan. He told them such a move was rejected and he urged them to intervene to prevent it from happening, Nabil Abu Rdainah told Reuters. He said Abbas was not informed about the timing of the planned transfer of the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. | 1 |
7,901 | U.S. says working to cut off North Korean remittances | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said Thursday it is working to cut off revenue streams to North Korea by targeting remittances from its overseas workers, after recent nuclear and missile tests by Pyongyang. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a House of Representatives hearing that the United States is working “relentlessly” to get countries to cut off businesses sending money back to North Korea. He also said Washington is working to encourage the sending home of North Korean diplomats not engaged in diplomatic activity and to make sure that people did not travel to North Korea, including for the May 6 congress of the ruling Workers Party. “What we are focused on, besides the implementation of the (U.N.) Security Council resolutions, is relentlessly building pressure on North Korea, working principally with our key allies Japan and (South) Korea,” Blinken said. “We are working in various ways to cut off all the revenues going to the regime. For example, they have ... overseas workers whose remittances are not going back to their families, but are going to the regime. We’re working to cut those off.” Estimates of North Korean workers abroad vary widely but a study by South Korea’s state-run Korea Institute for National Unification put the number as high as 150,000, primarily in China and Russia, sending back as much as $900 million annually. North Koreans are known to work abroad in restaurants and on construction sites, and also as doctors. The United States is also working to make sure North Korean officials are not invited to travel abroad and to ensure North Korean ships and aircraft are not allowed to dock or land in other countries, Blinken said. The senior U.S. diplomat for Asia, assistant secretary of state for East Asia, Danny Russel, said last week that another North Korean nuclear test could trigger new sanctions including an effort to choke off hard currency earnings by its overseas workers abroad. North Korea has conducted a series of missile launches, in violation of U.N. resolutions in the run-up to the Party congress and experts believe it may conduct a new nuclear test before this convenes. | 1 |
7,902 | German president says all parties have duty to try to form government | BERLIN (Reuters) - German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he expects all parties elected to parliament to be ready for talks to enable a government to be formed after talks on forging a new ruling coalition collapsed early on Monday. All political parties elected to the German parliament have an obligation to the common interest to serve our country, Steinmeier said in a statement he read out to media. I expect from all a readiness to talk to make agreeing a government possible in the near future, he added. | 1 |
7,903 | Aid groups seek $434 million to help up to 1.2 million Rohingya Muslims fleeing Myanmar | COX S BAZAR, Bangladesh (Reuters) - Humanitarian organizations helping Rohingya Muslim refugees in Bangladesh said on Wednesday they need $434 million over the next six months to help up to 1.2 million people, most of them children, in dire need of life-saving assistance. There are an estimated 809,000 Rohingya sheltering in Bangladesh after fleeing violence and persecution in Myanmar, more than half a million of whom have arrived since Aug. 25 to join 300,000 Rohingya who are already there. Unless we support the efforts of the Bangladesh government to provide immediate aid to the half million people who have arrived over the past month, many of the most vulnerable women, children and the elderly will die, said William Lacy Swing, director general of the International Organization for Migration, which is coordinating the aid effort. They will be the victims of neglect. About 509,000 Rohingya have arrived in Bangladesh since attacks by Rohingya militants in August triggered a sweeping Myanmar military offensive that the United Nations has branded ethnic cleansing. Myanmar rejects accusations of ethnic cleansing. It says its forces are fighting insurgents of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) who claimed responsibility for attacks on about 30 police posts and an army camp on Aug. 25. The insurgents were also behind similar but smaller attacks in October last year that led to a brutal Myanmar army response triggering the flight of 87,000 Rohingya to Bangladesh. The agencies plan for help over the next six months factors in the possibility of another 91,000 refugees arriving, as the influx continues, Robert Watkins, U.N. resident coordinator in Bangladesh, said in a statement. The plan targets 1.2 million people, including all Rohingya refugees, and 300,000 Bangladeshi host communities over the next six months, Watkins said.. Half a million people need food while 100,000 emergency shelters are required. More than half the refugees are children, while 24,000 pregnant women need maternity care, the agencies said. U.N. appeals for funds to help with humanitarian crises are generally significantly under-funded. The Rohingya are regarded as illegal immigrants in Buddhist-majority Myanmar and most are stateless. Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has faced scathing criticism for not doing more to stop the violence, although she has no power over the security forces under a military-drafted constitution. She has condemned rights abuses and said Myanmar was ready to start a process agreed with Bangladesh in 1993 under which anyone verified as a refugee would be accepted back. But many Rohingya are pessimistic about their chances of going home, partly because few have official papers confirming their residency. Most are also wary about returning without an assurance of citizenship, which they fear could leave them vulnerable to the persecution and discrimination they have endured for years. The rights group Amnesty International said the international community had to ensure that no refugees are forced back to Myanmar as long as they remain at risk of serious rights violations. The U.N. refugee agency says any repatriation has to be voluntary. Human Rights Watch said it had found evidence that the Myanmar military had summarily executed dozens of Rohingya in a village called Maung Nu in Rakhine state, on Aug. 27, two days after the insurgent attacks triggered the violence. The rights group said it had spoken to 14 survivors and witnesses who were now refugees in Bangladesh. They described how soldiers entered a compound where people had gathered in fear of military retaliation. They took several dozen Rohingya men and boys into the courtyard and then shot or stabbed them to death. Others were killed as they tried to flee, said the rights group, which has accused Myanmar of crimes against humanity. Spokesmen for the government, the military and police did not answer their telephones and were not available for comment. Wednesday is a holiday in Myanmar. Reuters was not able to independently verify the report. The U.N. committees for women s and children s rights called on Myanmar to immediately stop violence in Rakhine, saying violations being committed at the behest of the military and other security forces may amount to crimes against humanity. | 1 |
7,904 | Boiler Room EP #114 – Psychos In The Compromised Media | Tune in to the Alternate Current Radio Network (ACR) for another LIVE broadcast of The Boiler Room tonight 6:00 PM PST | 8:00 PM CST | 9:00 PM EST for this special broadcast. Join us for uncensored, uninterruptible talk radio, custom-made for bar fly philosophers, misguided moralists, masochists, street corner evangelists, media-maniacs, savants, political animals and otherwise lovable rascals.Join ACR hosts Hesher and Spore along with Andy Nowicki and Jay Dyer of Jays Analysis also with a special report from FunkSoul (21WIRE & ACR contributor), for the hundred and fourteenth episode of BOILER ROOM. Turn it up, tune in and hang with the ACR Brain-Trust for this weeks boil downs and analysis and the usual gnashing of the teeth of the political animals in the social reject club.This week on the show we re discussing a plethora of events and disappointments cooked up by the mainstream media and the zombified public who buy into their garbage. The team covers mind control, MK-Ultra, George Webb, media psyops, intelligence and deep state infiltrated movements and FunkSoul brings a special 5 minutes of Funk on a banking industry whistleblower.Direct Download Episode #114Please like and share the program and visit our donate page to get involved! Reference Links, for your consideration and research: | 0 |
7,905 | White House denies Trump made slur with 'Pocahontas' remark | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Monday that President Donald Trump wasn’t making a racial slur when he referred to Senator Elizabeth Warren as “Pocahantas” while speaking with Navajo military veterans who served as code-talkers in World War Two. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said Trump had an “extreme amount of value and respect” for the World War Two veterans and “I think what most people find offensive is Senator Warren lying about her heritage to advance her career.” | 1 |
7,906 | Legendary Investigative Journalist Carl Bernstein Confirms Trump Is A Fascist (VIDEO) | Veteran investigative reporter Carl Bernstein outed Donald Trump as a fascist on Sunday, and if you don t believe him just Google the definition of fascism and you ll see he s right.During an appearance on CNN, Bernstein was asked by Brian Stelter why he thinks Trump is a neo-fascist and the former Washington Post reporter who broke the Watergate scandal wide open in the 1970s obliged. It is a difficult term, and the word neo has a lot to do with it meaning a new kind of fascist in our culture, dealing with an authoritarian demagogic point of view, Bernstein began. Nativist, racist, anti-immigrant bigotry that he appeals to. I think we need to look to the past and I m not talking about Hitlerism and genocide. I m not drawing a direct paralel to Mussolini.But it is a kind of American fascism we haven t seen before. This goes beyond George Wallace, who was merely a racist. This goes to authoritarianism and the desire for a strong man who doesn t trust the institutions and democracy and government. Bernstein then slammed the media for not examining Trump and fascism more closely during this campaign. We now need on cable news to have a debate, a historical debate on what fascism was and is and how Donald Trump fits in the picture. Because it is something very foreign to our political cutltue in terms of the 20th, 21st century. That s going on in print and online but it is not part of our debate on cable. No interviewer as far as I know has asked Donald Trump, what is fascism, Mr. Trump, how are you different from the fascist message? When asked to confirm that he is calling Trump a neo-fascist, Bernstein responded in the affirmative, pointing out that Trump incites violence at his rallies and uses a methodology similar to ones used by fascist leaders of the past, which includes nativism. Berstein also stressed that up to now he had never used the term to describe a living American politician. Here s the video via YouTube.Bernstein isn t the first to point out that Donald Trump is acting an awful lot like a fascist.The Daily Show with Trevor Noah also perfectly demonstrated how Trump is a fascist.Fascism is a cult of action, celebrating aggressive masculinity, fear of outsiders, intense nationalism, intolerance of criticism, and resentment of national humiliation Noah and the Daily Show team discovered. I m shitting myself, Noah remarked. It all lines up so perfectly, doesn t it? It almost stops being funny as you re watching it. And even actor George Clooney called Trump a fascist during an interview with The Guardian earlier this month.And quite frankly, Bernstein, Noah, and Clooney are all correct when they say Donald Trump is a fascist. For months, Trump has viciously attacked immigrants and journalists while bragging about his masculinity and how America needs to be a bully in the world. He has also adopted anti-women rhetoric and even managed to lead his supporters into pledging themselves to him with a Nazi salute that looked eerily like something out of Nazi Germany.Make no mistake, Trump is scary and he is only becoming more frightening as he moves closer to winning the Republican nomination. We could, indeed, be watching the first fascist rise to national power in the United States. Don t believe me? Just click here.And if you need any more proof, consider this. Earlier this month, a Holocaust survivor spoke up and said Trump reminded him a lot of Adolf Hitler. If that doesn t make you believe Trump is a fascist who seriously threatens our nation, nothing will. Featured image via Twitter | 0 |
7,907 | Possible Thales, Leonardo role in Franco-Italian ship talks: sources | ROME/PARIS (Reuters) - Italy and France are discussing a ship-building alliance that could lead to partnerships with Europe s second and third biggest defense contractors, Thales and Leonardo, two sources close to the matter said. The idea has emerged as Paris and Rome try to resolve a dispute over a shipyard in Western France which the French government nationalized to block an attempted takeover by Italy s Fincantieri. France was concerned about job losses at the STX shipyard, the only French site big enough to build aircraft carriers and other large warships. The two governments hope to resolve the STX shipyard dispute in time for a Sept. 27 summit in Lyon where French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni hope to smooth tensions created by growing French influence over Italian businesses. Progress has been made toward the possibility of a European civil and military shipbuilding enterprise, an Italian official with access to the bilateral talks told Reuters. It s clear that Leonardo, along with Thales, cannot be ignored, even if it is difficult to say now how they will be involved. A French official familiar with the discussions said Thales and Leonardo could be brought in as partners for Fincantieri and Naval Group, another French shipbuilder and a small shareholder in STX. Thales owns 35 percent of Naval Group. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Thales and Leonardo could become shareholders in a wider equity alliance or merely suppliers, but that there was no Thales-Leonardo deal for now. Thales and Leonardo declined to comment. A spokesman for Naval Group said, Naval group has always made clear its desire for an industrial alliance at the European level. Continuing discussions with Fincantieri would allow us to intensify the fruitful cooperation we have and, in time, create a global leader. He declined to comment on the possibility of widening the alliance to Leonardo and Thales. An Italian government source said the two nations may work over the next 12 months to study valuations and flesh out ideas on the military part of the proposal. Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti is worried about possible knock-on effects for Italians defense companies, among which Leonardo is the main one, the source added. | 1 |
7,908 | Senators advised House vote on healthcare unlikely before Monday: aide | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. senators have been informed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that a vote on a Republican repeal and replacement of Obamacare might not be held in the House of Representatives before Monday, according to a senior Senate aide. The House had hoped to vote on Thursday on the controversial measure, but has lacked the votes for passage. Meanwhile, another aide said House leaders might still try to schedule a House floor vote very early Friday. House Republicans are scheduled to meet in a closed-door meeting at 7 p.m. (2300 GMT) to assess the situation, according to an aide. | 1 |
7,909 | TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: Unequal Distribution of Sidewalks Keeps Poor From “Shot At The American Dream” | Are we sure this guy is actually qualified for this job? Everything is racist and unfair to the Obama minions. It s just hard to take because it s just so idiotic. Have a listen and I know you ll be shaking your head like I was:Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx told a crowd in North Carolina Tuesday that only 49% of low-income neighborhoods have sidewalks while more affluent areas have near 90%. In order to have a society where everyone has a shot at the American Dream, than it s imperative that we acknowledge these challenges. Foxx made the comments to the Charlotte Rotary Club where he discussed the ways that infrastructure should connect people to opportunity.During his speech, Foxx referenced a map of Atlanta that showed areas of pedestrian and bicycle accidents. The grey areas represent communities of concentrated poverty. This is representative of what s occurring nationally, which is not surprising, because only 49% of low-income neighborhoods have sidewalks. In high-income areas the number is closer to 90%. So, if we want a society in which everyone has a shot at the American dream, than it is imperative that we acknowledge these challenges, Foxx said. | 0 |
7,910 | Florida Keys hit by near-hurricane winds from Irma - NHC | (Reuters) - Wind gusts near hurricane force were occurring in the Florida Keys, the National Hurricane Center said on Saturday in an update on Hurricane Irma. The storm was about 105 miles (170 km) southeast of Key West with maximum sustained winds of 125 miles per hour (205 kilometers per hour), the center said. Irma was moving west-northwest at 9 mph (15 kph). The center said a weather station in Vaca Key reported sustained winds of 48 mph (77 kph) with a gust to 66 mph (106 kph). Marathon, Florida, in the Keys reported sustained winds of 51 mph (81 kph) with a gust to 71 mph (115 kph). On the Saffir-Simpson wind scale, sustained winds of at least 74 mph (119 kph) are classified as hurricane strength. Irma s maximum sustained winds of 125 mph were classified as a Category Three storm. | 1 |
7,911 | DEAR KIDS: Socialism Is Not Cool…Socialism Kills [VIDEO] | This video should be viewed by every middle school, high school and college student. Every adult American who truly understands how evil socialism is, yet would still support it in the United States Of America should hang their selfish heads in shame | 0 |
7,912 | Idiot Donald Trump Jr. Just Released Russian Email Chain — He’s Toast (IMAGES) | Donald Trump Jr. may have been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but he seems to be lacking the superior genes his father claims as a birthright. On Tuesday morning, while in the middle of being a focus of the scandal that will rock his father s administration, he tweeted the email chain that very literally implicates him in colluding with the Russians. Yes, it s that bad.The chain was from June 6, 2016, and it was about setting up the meeting between Trump Jr, Paul Manafort (Trump s campaign manager at the time) and Jared Kushner.Here s my statement and the full email chain pic.twitter.com/x050r5n5LQ Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) July 11, 2017The smoking gun came in this one:Here is page 4 (which did not post due to space constraints). pic.twitter.com/z1Xi4nr2gq Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) July 11, 2017Twitter users were stunned, especially over this part, which explicitly states that Trump Jr. attended the meeting with the intention of getting dirt on Clinton, which he said he would love. The documents would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father, read the email, written by a trusted intermediary, who added, This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government s support for Mr. Trump. If the future president s elder son was surprised or disturbed by the provenance of the promised material or the notion that it was part of an ongoing effort by the Russian government to aid his father s campaign he gave no indication.He replied within minutes: If it s what you say I love it especially later in the summer. Source: NY TimesSo I think this is the part people will focus on as showing knowledge he was getting something of value from foreign source pic.twitter.com/b566VDVgkP Rick Hasen (@rickhasen) July 11, 2017and this about the thing of value itself pic.twitter.com/Pm8kEMp24U Rick Hasen (@rickhasen) July 11, 2017And as to proving solicitation or coordination under campaign laws, Trump Jr. says If it s what you say I love it pic.twitter.com/HVMLsYzDLB Rick Hasen (@rickhasen) July 11, 2017You lied about the meeting twice. Why are we supposed to believe you now? Like every other Trump, you re a fraud. pic.twitter.com/QYyIHmnkWR Josh S nchez (@jnsanchez) July 11, 2017Donald Junior doesn t realize how incriminating this is? Merrill Lynch (@MerrillLynched) July 11, 2017 I love the poorly educated! pic.twitter.com/P0aiGIWHkn Cor10ee (@cor10ee) July 11, 2017A prison romper to match Daddy s! pic.twitter.com/EsoHCZUasS Mike Denison (@mikd33) July 11, 2017The only explanation for this apparent suicide tactic is to get out ahead of a New York Times story. They already had the emails.Trump Senior has been trying to distance himself from his son since the story broke on Monday, but as the New York Times notes, the meeting took place just three floors below his office. Even if Trump argues that Jr. and Kushner weren t officially part of his campaign, he can t make that claim about Manafort.This is serious stuff. Trump Jr. asked to see the information (solicitation), and such information would be considered to be a thing of value. It s both illegal to solicit and it s illegal for a campaign to accept a things of value from foreign entity, and it s hard to dispute that such dirt on an opponent wouldn t be a thing of value.A foreign national shall not, directly or indirectly, make a contribution or a donation of money or other thing of value, or expressly or impliedly promise to make a contribution or a donation, in connection with any Federal, State, or local election.This won t be the final shoe to drop, though. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-California) says that the Congressional intel committee has a lot more damaging information than the public knows. Thankfully, though, the Trump family keeps inching so much closer to hanging themselves.Featured image via Drew Angerer/Getty Images | 0 |
7,913 | Trump, as Comey takes spotlight, vows to stay strong and fight | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump, in a speech across town from a closely watched congressional hearing on his dealings with the FBI amid its Russia probe, told supporters on Thursday their movement was “under siege” and vowed to fight on. “We’re under siege...but we will come out bigger and better and stronger than ever,” he said during a separate speech in Washington. “We will not back down from doing what is right ...we know how to fight and we will never give up.” | 1 |
7,914 | re wheres there a crash world economy collapsing headlines october | apple holiday forecast disappoints given samsungs troubles httpwwwbloombergcomnewsarticlesappleinvestorssniffatoutlookgivensamsungsdifficulties
apple slides in china as homegrown rivals up their design game httpwwwbloombergcomnewsarticlesappleslidesinchinaashomegrownrivalsuptheirdesigngame
apple shares fall on lower phone prices and sliding margin httpswwwbloombergcomnewsarticlesappleseeshigherthanexpectedholidaysalesoniphonedemand
us stocks fluctuate as bank rally offsets apple bonds decline httpwwwbloombergcomnewsarticlesasianandusstockfuturesdeclineasapplesmarginsslide
apple said to develop car operating system in blackberry country httpwwwbloombergcomnewsarticlesappledevelopscaroperatingsysteminblackberrycountry | 0 |
7,915 | SURREAL: Lone Venezuelan Man Plays Violin Amidst Tear Gas and Molotov Cocktails During Riot [Video] | This is so sad and such a lesson for the world Venezuela is tumbling into chaos and violence because of the collapse of their socialist government. Riots and tear gas are daily occurrences now A lone young man was filmed playing the violin right in the middle of a riot where tear gas was being thrown in the foreground. This is the definition of surreal The sound of a sole violin pierces the air. A young man, wearing a helmet painted with his country s flag, braces the instrument under his chin and confidently draws a bow over its strings https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dq7obYQz8X0Our reports on Venezuela are heartbreaking: How bad is it in Venezuela? People are eating one meal a day and the government is doing its best to cover up the humanitarian crisis. We know about the toilet paper shortage but a food shortage is horrific. The lines for pretty much everything have been very long. There s a shortage of everything. The bottom line is that SOCIALISM SUCKS!WHY THINGS KEEP GETTING WORSE IN VENEZUELA: | 0 |
7,916 | infamous minutes piece on soros emerges online | corbett comments
what the government giveth the government taketh away like that money in your wallet do you really think its yours if so the people of india would like to have a word with you
oh havent you heard in case you missed the story during the din and clatter of the us selection circus all hell has broken loose in india
it all started on november th when indian prime minister narendra modi made a surprise television address to the nation as you might have guessed this was no stale policy speech instead modi sent shockwaves through the country and the region by announcing that as of midnight that evening existing and rupee notes would no longer be accepted as legal tender the tax cattle would have until december th to trade in their and rupee notes at post offices and banks
and just like that the bits of colored paper in everyones wallets were revealed aswell useless bits of colored paper
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7,917 | Japan considers refitting helicopter carrier for stealth fighters: government sources | TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan is considering refitting the Izumo helicopter carrier so that it can land U.S. Marines F-35B stealth fighters, government sources said on Tuesday, as Tokyo faces China s maritime expansion and North Korea s missile and nuclear development. Japan has not had fully fledged aircraft carriers since its World War Two defeat in 1945. Any refit of the Izumo would be aimed at preparing for a scenario in which runways in Japan had been destroyed by missile attacks, and at bolstering defense around Japan s southwestern islands, where China s maritime activity has increased. Three government sources close to the matter said the Japanese government was keeping in sight the possible future procurement of F-35B fighter jets, which can take off and land vertically, as it looks into the remodeling of the Izumo. The 248-metre (814-feet) Izumo, Japan s largest warship equipped with a flat flight deck, was designed with an eye to hosting F-35B fighters. Its elevator connecting the deck with the hangar can carry the aircraft, the sources said. Possible refitting measures included adding a curved ramp at the end of the flight deck, improving the deck s heat resistance against jet burners, and reinforcing the ship s air traffic control capability, they said. However, Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera said the government was not taking any concrete steps towards refitting the Izumo. Regarding our defense posture, we are constantly conducting various examinations. But no concrete examination is under way on the introduction of F-35B or remodeling of Izumo-class destroyers, Onodera told reporters on Tuesday. The Izumo has a sister ship called the Kaga. Japan has frequently conducted joint drills with U.S. aircraft carriers in recent months to boost deterrence against North Korea. One of the three government sources called such exercises a great opportunity to see with our own eyes how the U.S. military operates their aircraft carriers as Japan looks into the possible conversion of the Izumo into an aircraft carrier. Regional tension has soared since North Korea conducted its sixth and largest nuclear test in September. Pyongyang said a month later it had successfully tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile that could reach all of the U.S. mainland. Japan is also wary of China s long-range missiles, and would like to secure measures to launch fighters from aircraft carriers in case runways operated by U.S. forces in Japan or by Japan s Air Self-Defence Force were destroyed by missiles. Article 9 of Japan s pacifist constitution, if taken literally, bans the maintenance of armed forces. However, Japanese governments have interpreted it to allow a military exclusively for self-defense. Owning an aircraft carrier could raise a question of constitutionality, the sources said, so the government is set to address the issue in its new National Defence Programme Guidelines to be compiled by the end of 2018. | 1 |
7,918 | At under $5 each, Trump's votes came cheap | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Donald Trump pulled off one of the biggest upsets in American political history when he toppled Hillary Clinton in the U.S. presidential election on Tuesday - and he did it using far less cash than his rival. Relying heavily on an unorthodox mix of social media, unfiltered rhetoric, and a knack for winning free TV time, the New York real estate businessman likely paid less than $5 per vote during his insurgent White House bid, about half what Clinton paid, according to a Reuters analysis of campaign finance records and voting data. Those figures assume the candidates spent all the funds they raised. Trump’s cost-effective win has upended prevailing concepts about the influence of money in American politics and raised the question of whether a lean, media-savvy campaign can become the new model for winning office in the United States. Political strategists and academics tend to agree, however, that Trump’s performance would be tough to repeat. A household name for his luxury brand resorts, reality TV stardom, and ability to surround himself with non-stop controversy, Trump held advantages that many political candidates lack. “I think this is a case where Trump had unique characteristics as a candidate that allowed him to pursue a different type of strategy,” said Tony Corrado, a professor of government at Colby College in Maine. In total, Trump raised at least $270 million since launching his campaign in June 2015, a little more than a third of the money that Obama’s re-election campaign spent in 2012, according to the most recent filings with the Federal Elections Commission. With vote counting wrapping up in the early hours of Wednesday, Trump had won some 59 million votes nationwide in the general election. That amounts to less than $5 per vote for the $270 million he spent. According to data analytics firm mediaQuant, Trump garnered about $5 billion worth of free media coverage during the election campaign, more than twice the amount earned by Clinton, a lifelong politician who served as secretary of state, senator, and first lady at different times in her career. mediaQuant adds up all the unpaid coverage the candidates earn in newspapers, magazines and social media and then compares the sum to what a comparable amount of coverage, with the same kind of reach, would have cost in advertising. Trump has also frequently dominated news cycles with provocative rhetoric that breaks taboos, including unabashed insults targeting women he dislikes over Twitter, or unusual policy proscriptions like his call to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the country to prevent domestic attacks, or to force Mexico to pay for a multi-billion dollar border wall to keep out immigrants. Trump made his self-funding a selling point early in his campaign as he fended off 16 Republican rivals for the party nomination, arguing that by eschewing big donors he was not beholden to special interests. But once he secured the nomination, Trump changed course and began fundraising in earnest, replicating the small dollar fundraising juggernaut of another insurgent candidate, Democrat Bernie Sanders, along the way. Clinton raised at least $521 million, according to filings. The former secretary of state stuck to the more traditional campaigning model of launching expensive television ads and funding hundreds of staffers who fanned across the country to work to increase voter turnout on Election Day. She spent more than $237 million on television ads and more than $42 million on hundreds of staffers. She also benefited from spending by the Super PACs supporting her candidacy, which are allowed to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money but cannot coordinate directly with the campaign. More than a dozen people, including hedge fund magnate Donald Sussman and global financier George Soros, wrote multi-million checks to Priorities USA, the primary PAC supporting her campaign, according to filings. Michael Traugott, a political science professor at the University of Michigan, said the traditional U.S. model for picking presidents might seem odd to people in other nations, where campaigns are shorter and require less cash. “The system is clearly broken,” Traugott said. | 1 |
7,919 | Factbox: U.S. lawmaker, others in hospital after shooting at baseball practice | (Reuters) - A senior member of the U.S. House of Representatives and other victims were rushed to medical facilities with injuries on Wednesday after a gunman opened fire on a baseball field where Republican lawmakers were practicing for a charity game. The shooter, identified as James Hodgkinson of Illinois, was also taken to a hospital where he died from gunshot wounds. The following is information about the victims and their medical status after the shootings in Alexandria, Virginia, near Washington: - Majority Whip Steve Scalise, the No. 3 Republican in the House, was shot in the hip and was receiving care at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, his office said. Scalise was out of surgery but remained in critical condition, according to the hospital. As whip, Scalise, 51, from Louisiana, is responsible for rounding up votes for legislation and maintaining order among his party’s fractious ranks. A year ago, Scalise and other Republican leaders blocked gun control legislation from coming to a vote on the House floor following a mass shooting at a nightclub in Orlando, Florida. - Matt Mika, a lobbyist for Arkansas-based Tyson Foods Inc and former staffer for two former Republican representatives, was shot in the chest, according to witnesses. In a statement, Mika’s family said he was shot multiple times and was in critical condition. Mika served as a White House aide under former President George W. Bush, where he coordinated volunteers, worked with press advance and security details and managed VIP visits. - Zachary Barth, a staffer for U.S. Representative Roger Williams of Texas, was also shot. Williams said on Twitter that he was doing well and “expected to make a full recovery.” - Capitol Hill police officers David Bailey and Crystal Griner were also among the wounded. Both serve as part of Scalise’s security detail and were in good condition, according to U.S. Capitol Police Chief Matthew Verderosa. The Federal Bureau of Investigation said only one of the police officers suffered a gunshot wound. Other people sustained minor injuries during the shooting but were not hit by gunfire. | 1 |
7,920 | PC WORLD GONE MAD: HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL GRAD RUNS MARATHON WITHOUT TAMPON To Highlight The Sentiment Of Period-Shaming | Yes, we did say she s a Harvard Business School graduate. Just goes to show, you can t buy brains Kiran Gandhi, who has played drums for singer M.I.A. and Thievery Corporation, decided to run the London Marathon without a tampon. Gandhi let her blood flow freely to raise awareness about women who have no access to feminine products and to encourage women to not be embarrassed about their periods. I ran the whole marathon with my period blood running down my legs, the 26-year-old wrote of the April race on her website.Gandhi, a Harvard Business School graduate, wrote that she got her period the night before the big race and thought that a tampon would be uncomfortable while she ran. But that isn t the only reason she decided to let it flow. I ran with blood dripping down my legs for sisters who don t have access to tampons and sisters who, despite cramping and pain, hide it away and pretend like it doesn t exist. She added: I ran to say, it does exist, and we overcome it every day. After the race, she took photos with her family and friends, wearing her period-stained running pants proudly.Gandhi tells PEOPLE that she decided to run without a tampon to highlight the sentiment of period-shaming and the language surrounding women s menstrual cycles. She wrote on her site that on the marathon course, sexism can be beaten. If there s one way to transcend oppression, it s to run a marathon in whatever way you want, she wrote. Where the stigma of a woman s period is irrelevant, and we can re-write the rules as we choose. All photos courtesy of Kiran GandhiVia: People | 0 |
7,921 | At least 71 killed in Myanmar as Rohingya insurgents stage major attack | YANGON (Reuters) - Muslim militants in Myanmar staged a coordinated attack on 30 police posts and an army base in Rakhine state on Friday, and at least 59 of the insurgents and 12 members of the security forces were killed, the army and government said. The fighting - still going on in some areas - marked a major escalation in a simmering conflict in the northwestern state since last October, when similar attacks prompted a big military sweep beset by allegations of serious human rights abuses. The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), a group previously known as Harakah al-Yaqin, which instigated the October attacks, claimed responsibility for the early morning offensive, and warned of more. The treatment of approximately 1.1 million Muslim Rohingya has emerged as majority Buddhist Myanmar s most contentious human rights issue as it makes a transition from decades of harsh military rule. It now appears to have spawned a potent insurgency which has grown in size, observers say. They worry that the attacks - much larger and better organized than those in October - will spark an even more aggressive army response and trigger communal clashes between Muslims and Buddhist ethnic Rakhines. A news team affiliated with the office of national leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, said that one soldier, one immigration officer, 10 policemen and 59 insurgents had been killed in the fighting. In the early morning at 1 a.m., the extremist Bengali insurgents started their attack on the police post ... with the man-made bombs and small weapons, said the army in a separate statement, referring to the Rohingya by a derogatory term implying they are interlopers from Bangladesh. The militants also used sticks and swords and destroyed bridges with explosives, the army said. The Rohingya are denied citizenship and are seen by many in Myanmar as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, despite claiming roots in the region that go back centuries, with communities marginalized and occasionally subjected to communal violence. The military counter-offensive in October resulted in some 87,000 Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh, where they joined many others who have fled from Myanmar over the past 25 years. The United Nations said Myanmar s security forces likely committed crimes against humanity in the offensive that began in October. On Friday, the United Nations condemned the militant attacks and called for all parties to refrain from violence. The United States also condemned the attacks on security forces and it warned the government against indiscriminate reprisals. As government and security forces act to prevent further violence and bring those responsible for the attacks to justice, we expect them to do so in a way that is consistent with the rule of law, protects and respects human rights and fundamental freedoms, demonstrates transparency, and avoids inflaming a tense situation, the U.S. State Department said in a statement. The military said about 150 Rohingya attacked an army base in Taung Bazar village in Buthidaung township. Among the police posts attacked was a station in the majority-Rakhine village of Kyauk Pandu, 40 km (24 miles) south of the major town of Maungdaw. Police officer Kyaw Win Tun said the insurgents burned down the post and police had been called to gather at a main station. Residents were fearful as darkness approached. We heard that a lot of Muslim villagers are grouping together, they will make more attacks on us when the sun goes down, said Maung Maung Chay, a Rakhine villager from the hamlet. The attack took place hours after a panel led by the former U.N. chief Kofi Annan advised the government on long-term solutions for the violence-riven state. Annan condemned the violence on Friday, saying no cause can justify such brutality and senseless killing . Military sources told Reuters they estimated 1,000 insurgents took part in the offensive and it encompassed both Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships - a much wider area compared with October. The leader of ARSA, Ata Ullah, has said hundreds of young Rohingya have joined the group, which says it is waging a legitimate defence against the army and for human rights. We have been taking our defensive actions against the Burmese marauding forces in more than 25 different places across the region. More soon! the group said on Twitter. Chris Lewa of the Rohingya monitoring group, the Arakan Project, said a major concern was what happened to some 700 Rohingya villagers trapped inside their section of Zay Di Pyin village which had been surrounded by Rakhine vigilantes armed with sticks and swords. We are running for our lives, said one of the Zay Di Pyin s Rohingya villagers reached by telephone, adding that houses had been set on fire. The government said the village had been burned down but blamed the fire on the Rohingya. Amid rising tension over the past few weeks, more than 1,000 new refugees have fled to Bangladesh, where border guards on Friday pushed back 146 people trying to flee the violence. Mohammed Shafi, who lives in a Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh, said his cousin in Myanmar had told him of the trouble. The military is everywhere. People are crying, mourning the dead, Shafi said. Things are turning real bad. It s scary. | 1 |
7,922 | Sarah Palin Goes On A CRAZY Racist Rant To Prove Black Lives DON’T Matter (IMAGE) | If there s any one conservative that we wish would just stop thrusting themselves into the spotlight, it s probably Sarah Palin especially after her latest disgusting rant.After the attacks on police officers in Dallas, it seems that conservatives have forgotten that just before that attack, two unarmed black men had lost their lives to police brutality something that has happened far too frequently over the last few years. Many conservatives have responded to the Dallas attacks by denouncing the Black Lives Matter movement, and the former vice presidential candidate just couldn t be left out.In a vile, racist Facebook post, Palin put in her two cents and told everyone just how furious she is while stating that Black Lives Matter is a farce. She wrote: # BlackLivesMatter is a farce and hyphenating America destroys us. Shame on our culture s influencers who would stir contention and division that could lead to evil such as that in Dallas.Shame on politicians and pundits giving credence to thugs rioting against police officers and the rule of law in the name of peaceful protests. It is a farce. #BlackLivesMatter is a farce. Yes Palin has just accused minorities of being racist when she said that those who hyphenate racial backgrounds (such as African-Americans or Mexican-Americans) are actually the ones who further divide our nation. And she referred to peaceful protesters as thugs. Palin also accused the media of having blood on its hands for (accurately) depicting Black Lives Matter as a peaceful movement: Media: quit claiming the rioters are peaceful as they stomp on our flag, shout death to cops! and celebrate violence. It is sick. You perpetuate a perverted message evil men thrive on to intimidate and warp malleable minds that would believe one race matters more than another. Blood is on your complicit hands when you naively or purposefully refuse to tell of this movement s truth. Spoken like a true Republican and someone who does not understand systemic oppression and white privilege, Palin urged her followers to stand up if you re sick of being called racist when proclaiming EVERY LIFE MATTERS, black as much as white and every skin tone in between. You can read the entire post below:Something like this is really to be expected from Palin, though. Her response to the issue of police brutality and race relations in America is just as disappointing as the response from her favorite presidential candidate, Donald Trump. Trump, just like Palin, acknowledged the lives of the police officers far more than the lives of police brutality victims Philando Castile and Alton Sterling. These two are made for each other.Featured image is a screenshot | 0 |
7,923 | Kurdish YPG aims to conquer Syrian region, not fight Islamic State: Turkish minister | ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Recent developments in Syria s Raqqa show that the Kurdish YPG militia, backed by the United States, is more concerned about capturing territory than fighting Islamic State, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a speech on Thursday. Turkey has expressed anger that a convoy of Islamic State fighters were allowed to withdraw from Raqqa last month as part of an agreement with the YPG, saying it was appalled by the United States stance on the issue. [nL8N1NK9RZ] Ankara was also infuriated by Washington s support for the Syria Kurdish fighters, seen by Turks as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has fought a decades-long insurgency in Turkey and is designated a terrorist group by Ankara, the United States and European Union. Turkish procurement of U.S. defence equipment is being delayed in the United States, according to the text of Cavusoglu s speech, and Turkey is developing alternative solutions for this sector. We are unfortunately facing important delays in the procurement of defence equipment we urgently need in the fight against terror from the United States due to U.S. internal practices, the text said, without elaborating. Evidently, as these periods are prolonged, we are developing alternative means to acquire the equipment and systems we require, primarily through our own national resources. Turkey recently completed the purchase of Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile systems, a defence deal that Turkey s Western allies see as a snub to the NATO alliance as the weapon cannot be integrated into the alliance s systems. [nL8N1NI0ED] Ankara also said it was making agreements with the Franco-Italian EUROSAM consortium to develop, produce and use its own sources for air defence system. [nL5N1NE7DI] | 1 |
7,924 | Trump Just Got Caught On Hot Mic, Makes Another Disgusting Joke That Will Ruin His Presidency (VIDEO) | After Donald Trump s first disastrous hot mic moment was revealed through an Access Hollywood audio tape, it was hard to believe that his presidency could be further soiled by another audio scandal but all of that changed today.On Wednesday afternoon, Trump gave a commencement address to graduates at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, where he chose to complain about how unfairly he was treated compared to other presidents (some of which he seemed to forget were assassinated). It looked as if it couldn t possibly get any worse than Trump throwing a temper tantrum about the media instead of inspiring the graduating students but that wasn t the only insanity that occurred.Apparently, Department of Homeland Security secretary John Kelly had no idea he was being recorded, because he got caught on a hot mic making a disgusting joke to Trump, and of course, Trump was laughing right along in agreement with him.During the ceremony, Trump was presented with a saber another instrument that should never be placed in the hands of a man baby. Fortunately, no one was hurt. When Trump went back to his seat next to General Kerry, the DHS secretary leaned in and joked that Trump should use the ceremonial sword on reporters. In the recording below, you can see Kerry lean toward Trump and say, You can use that on the press sir. Trump giggled with glee and said, Yeah, that s right. It was an unbelievable moment that proved that there are children in the White House now:Gen. Kelly tells Pres. Trump you can use that on the press after he s presented with ceremonial saber at Coast Guard Academy commencement. pic.twitter.com/xj73oHxUdZ ABC News (@ABC) May 17, 2017Trump and his team have made no secret that they all hate the mainstream media for its negative coverage, but this joke was absolutely disgusting. Apparently, Trump and his team have learned nothing from Trump s first hot mic incident, in which he praised himself for sexually assaulting women.Featured image via Win McNamee/Getty Images | 0 |
7,925 | Mayors of NY and Los Angeles pledge to remain immigrant sanctuaries | LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Officials in New York and Los Angeles on Thursday said they hoped President-elect Donald Trump would not follow through on a campaign promise to withhold federal funds from “sanctuary cities” that shield people who are in the country illegally. The nation’s two largest cities have sharply limited their cooperation with U.S. immigration authorities seeking to deport undocumented immigrants. President Barack Obama’s administration has used so-called detainer requests to target undocumented immigrants convicted of criminal acts, especially violent ones. New York and Los Angeles do not hold undocumented inmates in jail at the request of the U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unless the detainer request is accompanied by a judge’s order, officials said. Trump said during a debate with Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in October he would seek to deport major drug dealers. “We have some bad hombres here and we’re going to get them out,” he said. Trump early in his campaign pledged to deport all 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States and also threatened to withhold federal funds from sanctuary cities. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a news conference on Thursday that New York would continue to defend undocumented immigrants. “We are not going to sacrifice a half million people who live among us, who are part of our community,” de Blasio said, referring to an estimate of the number of unauthorized immigrants living in New York. “We are not going to tear families apart.” De Blasio said Trump’s threat to withhold funds from sanctuary cities was “dangerous,” but it was too soon to tell whether the president-elect intended to follow through on all his proposals. A spokeswoman for Trump did not return emails or a call. In Los Angeles, a spokeswoman for Mayor Eric Garcetti also voiced hopes over how Trump would proceed on the issue. “We comply with federal immigration agencies, but insist that detainer requests be handled constitutionally,” Connie Llanos, the spokeswoman, said in an email. “It is Mayor Garcetti’s sincere hope that no president would violate those principles, the very foundation of our nation, by taking punitive action on cities that are simply protecting the well being of residents.” California is one of five states that limit compliance with ICE detainer requests and similar policies are in place at 37 cities nationwide, according to the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. Last month, a federal judge in Illinois found the ICE detainer requests were unconstitutional, but the ruling did not apply nationwide. | 1 |
7,926 | This State Is About To Let Guns Have More Rights Than Most People | Just when you think things can t get any more absurd than they already are, Republicans go and prove you wrong. Now, in the state of Michigan, Republicans are pushing for a law that would allow law-abiding citizens to carry concealed pistols without a government-issued permit. Who are these legislators that are introducing such absurd legislation? Michigan Reps. Tom Barrett, R-Potterville; Lee Chatfield, R-Levering; Triston Cole, R-Mancelona; and Jim Runestad, R-White Lake.In HB 5301, it states: A person shall not carry a dagger, dirk, stiletto, a double-edged nonfolding stabbing instrument of any length, or any other dangerous weapon OTHER THAN A PISTOL, except a hunting knife adapted and carried as such, concealed on or about his or her person, or whether concealed or otherwise in any vehicle operated or occupied by the person, except in his or her dwelling house, IN HIS OR HER place of business, or on other land possessed by the person. To summarize, knives bad, guns good. Makes sense, right?According to MLive: Cole, author of House Bill 5304, said the current Concealed Pistol License permit requirement in Michigan is a government over-reach that places an undue burden on residents who want to defend themselves against criminals. Criminals don t have to go through a training class and wait for government permission to have a handgun before they commit armed robbery, yet a law-abiding citizen who simply wants the option of self-defense has to jump through all the hoops and pay a price to carry a concealed weapon, he said in a prepared statement. People who want to ensure the safety of their families against the criminal element should not have to beg for that right, Cole said. Here s a reminder for Triston Cole: guns safety laws are not government overreach. In fact, the Second Amendment calls for a well regulated (ie. well-trained and maintained) militia. The founders didn t write well regulated for no reason. They knew an armed populace also needs to be held under certain laws, restrictions and training. If getting a gun permit and/or training is too hard for some folks, maybe they shouldn t have guns, because they apparently don t have the mental capacity to seek a proper permit. This sort of vigilante justice is exactly what s wrong with parts of America. We need more laws, not fewer, and we definitely don t need a bunch of people just going out, buying guns, and carrying them wherever they like.It s amazing, really. Guns and gun owners in Michigan are about to have more rights than women, and the LGBT community. Apparently, sodomy is to be labeled a felony in the state and punishable by up to 15 years in prison. And as far as abortion rights for women, here are the restrictions in Michigan:Keep in mind, abortion is legal nationwide, and has been since 1973.It is absolutely outrageous how these Republicans will say that going to get a gun permit is government overreach, yet in the same breath go in to people s bedrooms and call them a felon, or into a woman s uterus and call her a murderer.They definitely have their priorities backwards, and should be condemned for this outrageous way of thinking.Featured image: Wikimedia Commons | 0 |
7,927 | Watch Elizabeth Warren Clobber Trump And Scott Brown: ‘Celebrity Apprentice Meets Biggest Loser’ | Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren once again took aim at Donald Trump and took no prisoners as she hilariously mocked the possibility of a Trump ticket with her one-time rival Scott Brown as his running mate.Warren began her speech at the New Hampshire Democratic Convention on Saturday by apologizing to the state for beating Brown in her home state because she never expected him to become New Hampshire s problem. And from there, Warren proceeded to lampoon the idea of Brown as Trump s vice-presidential nominee. I hear that Donald Trump is floating Scott Brown as a possible running mate. And I thought, Oh, so Donald Trump really does have a plan to help the unemployed.' The crowd erupted in laughter as Warren continued landing punches with more jokes. Scott Brown for vice-president makes a certain kind of sense. I mean that. I think of all the expert advice he can offer Donald Trump. Making up lies about me and my family. Saying weird stuff about his beautiful daughter. And let s face it, nobody knows more about losing to a girl than Scott Brown. Think of it as the perfect reality TV show: Celebrity Apprentice meets The Biggest Loser. Warren then set the jokes aside and took a more serious tone as she focused all of her fire on the Republican nominee. Every day we learn more about him, and every day it becomes clearer that he is just a small, insecure money-grubber who doesn t care about anyone or anything that doesn t have the Trump name splashed all over it. Every day it becomes clearer that he is a thin-skinned, racist, sexist bully. Every day it becomes clearer that he will never be president of the United States. Then she likened Trump s scam university to a used car dealership, but pointed out that the comparison isn t really fair to used car dealerships. Here is a man who runs a business to profit off other people s pain, she continued before slamming Trump for whining about the judge overseeing the lawsuit against him. Poor little Donald is shaking in his high-priced Italian loafers, begging the court to protect him, she quipped. Are you scared, Donald? You should be. Here s the full speech via YouTube:Donald Trump just got his ass handed to him by Elizabeth Warren. And if he really is thinking about picking Scott Brown as his running mate he should probably think again since it s clear such a pairing would be lampooned in the same way for months leading up to the election in November. And that s not a good thing for the GOP. It would be a disaster. Just like it would be a disaster for this nation if Trump somehow wins the election.Featured Image: Screenshot | 0 |
7,928 | Trump flag-burning tweet leads activists to burn some flags in New York | NEW YORK (Reuters) - A small group of hard-left activists burned foot-long U.S. flags outside the Trump International Hotel in New York on Tuesday, in an angry response to a tweet by President-elect Donald Trump that flag-burners should face legal consequences. Social media was itself ablaze on Tuesday in response to Trump’s tweet, which suggested that burning the U.S. flag should be punishable by a year in jail or a revocation of citizenship. Trump’s provocative tweets on flag-burning and other topics, including efforts to recount the Nov. 8 presidential vote, came as the Republican worked to fill his Cabinet in advance of his inauguration in January. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1989 that flag-burning was not a crime but rather a form of protest protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution. The high court has also ruled more than once that citizenship cannot be revoked. U.S. media outlets, including the New York Times, published articles detailing the court rulings, and some Republicans as well as Democrats took to social media to say Trump was in effect threatening to punish dissent despite constitutional protections. Trump supporters also took to social media, pointing out that many politicians, including Trump’s Democratic presidential rival, Hillary Clinton, had proposed making flag-burning illegal. Clinton, while a U.S. senator, co-sponsored a 2005 bill that would have made it a crime to incite violence by burning a flag, threaten another person with a burning flag or destroy or damage a flag belonging to someone else. The measure failed. Tuesday’s protest in New York involved seven members of the Revolutionary Communist Party, a group that is not affiliated with the Communist Party of the United States, and whose members participated in flag-burning at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in July. | 1 |
7,929 | Adidas FLAWLESSLY Trolls Anti-Gay Bigots Who Slammed Their Valentine’s Day Instagram (IMAGES) | With marriage equality nationwide, and with more people now than ever supporting the love between two human beings regardless of gender, Adidas celebrated that love on Valentine s Day with the following Instagram pic with the caption, The love you take is equal to the love you make. The love you take is equal to the love you make.A photo posted by adidas (@adidas) on Feb 13, 2016 at 11:30pm PSTPretty adorable, right? Who could hate that pic, right? Well, leave it to the internet to show the dark underbelly of society that can t wrap their heads around the idea of two people of the same gender in love.As Buzzfeed reports, several folks were none too pleased with Adidas having the audacity to show this image of two women in love presumably kissing, and many decided to write nasty comments.instagram.comFirst of all, whoever this leepapi is, they are not only a bigot, but clearly a moron. The image is of two women. Geez.However, I digress. Adidas wasn t about to let this bigotry go unchecked and smacked down these bigots were they stand, and in the most magnificently glorious way, well, ever.Check it out:instagram.comCommenting directly to the bigots, Adidas responds to the one jerk by simply waving goodbye with a kiss, and the second by explaining that Valentine s Day is for everyone who is in love, not just heterosexuals.These responses were an absolute thing of beauty and quite honestly, I may go out and buy some Adidas active-wear just because of it. Well done.Featured image from Instagram | 0 |
7,930 | France calls for Catalonia discussions within Spanish constitution | PARIS (Reuters) - France on Wednesday reiterated a call for the Spanish government to be left to resolve the secession crisis in the northern region of Catalonia within the framework of Spain s constitution. We call for discussions within the framework of the Spanish constitution, French government spokesman Christophe Castaner told reporters. It is not France s place to take a stand on Spain s internal affairs, he added. French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday that the European Union should not mediate in Spain s worst political crisis since an attempted coup in 1981. | 1 |
7,931 | COLIN POWELL Picked On The Wrong Guy: GENERAL FLYNN Rips Him To Shreds Over Nasty Comments In Leaked Emails [VIDEO] | After General Powell s email server was hacked it seems that Hillary and Trump were not the only ones he attacked with insults and nasty rhetoric.Powell went after retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, a top Trump military adviser. Powell called Flynn a jerk who is unchained and a right-wing nutty. Powell however had to admit once called on the insults that he has actually never even met Flynn nor did he ever serve with him.He responded by stating, Talking to people in the know, his real problem was leadership and management issues at DIA. Senior staff was in incipient revolt. He has been over the top in his comments, conduct unbecoming. But he is unchained. He continues by saying, Pattern of behavior which is why he was fired. Real question is how he got that far in the Army. Flynn did respond during an interview on the Kelly File. I ve actually been called worse things by my little sister. He went on to say, Colin Powell, he s an amazing guy, amazing service, but he s actually, you know, as a footnote in history, he s going to be always struggling for his credibility because of the statement that he made to the United Nations that brought us into the war in Iraq. After the disparaging remarks towards Hillary, Trump, Flynn and a even a few other service members were highlighted as having been said by Powell, Flynn did caution that prominent individuals need to be more careful about what they send electronically.H/T [ Fox ] | 0 |
7,932 | Trump Doubles Down Via The Law, Moves To Protect White Supremacists From Law Enforcement | Donald Trump is a racist. We ve always known that. He has been repeatedly sued by the Department of Justice for refusing to rent apartments to black and brown tenets, and he ran an openly racist campaign in his bid for the White House, regularly retweeting and playing footsie with the Alt-Right, white supremacists, neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan members, and other various assorted bigots. Now that he is squatting in the Oval Office, this man is more dangerous than ever in this direction.We all watched his disgraceful and terrifying defense of neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and Klan members on Tuesday. Now, Trump is prepared to take his sympathy for Nazis and other white supremacists a step further and shield them from prosecution for their domestic terrorism. John Cohn, a former Homeland Security terrorism analyst, says of the situation: When you are a white supremacist and you hear the language coming out of the current administration, you sit back and you say, Those people believe in what we believe in; they have my back. That s what concerns law enforcement the most right now. This is especially concerning, considering that the Department of Justice is explicitly focusing not on homegrown white supremacists, according to Vice News, but on ISIS-like groups instead. In fact, the Trump Department of Justice is not concerned with white supremacists at all. Cohn goes on to say: As it relates to preventing mass-casualty attacks, we know what we need to do. This guy in Charlottesville [James Alex Fields Jr.] fits the behavior profile. His family had called the police before. Of course, James Alex Fields Jr. is the young neo-Nazi who rammed a car into a crowd of protesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and wounding many others. He was known to idolize Adolf Hitler and was pretty much an out-front Nazi.The racist Trump Administration is literally endangering lives. This refusal to go after white supremacists, and indeed their open support of them, is beyond dangerous. It also means local law enforcement is on their own when dealing with this escalating threat because there will be no help to be had from the federal government. All of these fascists and racists need to be removed from office before more people die at the hands of Trump s Nazi followers.You can read the entire disturbing report here, at Vice News.Featured image via screen capture from Twitter | 0 |
7,933 | China summons Australian envoy over political meddling allegations | SYDNEY (Reuters) - China summoned Australia s ambassador to lodge a complaint last week over Canberra s allegation that Beijing had sought to interfere in Australian politics, a source familiar with the diplomatic action told Reuters on Thursday. Relations between Australia and China became strained in recent weeks after Canberra said it would ban foreign political donations as part of a crackdown aimed at preventing external influence in domestic politics, sharpening the focus on China s soft power. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull singled out China as he said foreign powers were making unprecedented and increasingly sophisticated attempts to influence the political process in Australia. In response, China summoned Ambassador Jan Adams to a meeting at the Chinese Ministry for Foreign Affairs on December 8 to lodge a complaint, the source said. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang confirmed the ministry had an important discussion with the Australian ambassador. The Australian side should be very clear about China s position on the relevant issue, Lu told a daily news briefing, without elaborating. China s Foreign Ministry said last week Turnbull s allegations were full of prejudice against China, were baseless and poisoned the atmosphere of China-Australia relations. Turnbull s allegations have been criticized by Australia s opposition Labor Party as showing an anti-China bias that could jeopardize bilateral trade. China, which is easily Australia s biggest trading partner, bought A$93 billion ($70 billion) worth of Australian goods and services last year. Australia s unshakeable security relationship with the United States, however, has limited how cosy it gets with China. Turnbull denied indulging in anti-Chinese rhetoric, insisting Labour was using the issue to win favor with a large voter block ahead of a make-or-break by-election on Saturday that analysts said will determine his political future. I am disappointed they have tried to turn Australians against each other, Turnbull told reporters in Sydney. | 1 |
7,934 | HOW PROGRESSIVE! Women’s March Organizer Has Ties To Terror Group Hamas…Advocates For SHARIA LAW | Approximately 200,000 people participated in a Women s March in D.C. on Saturday. One of the organizers of the march, Linda Sarsour is a Pro-Palestine Muslim activist.She also advocates for Sharia Law in America and has ties to terrorist organization, Hamas.Linda Sarsour, one of the organizers behind Saturday s Women s March, being held in Washington, D.C., was recently spotted at a large Muslim convention in Chicago posing for pictures with an accused financier for Hamas, the terrorist group.Sarsour, the head of the Arab American Association of New York and an Obama White House Champion of Change, was speaking at last month s 15th annual convention of the Muslim American Society and Islamic Circle of North America.While there, she posed for a picture with Salah Sarsour, a member of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee and former Hamas operative who was jailed in Israel in the 1990s because of his alleged work for the terrorist group.Though she avoids discussing it now, Sarsour has acknowledged in past interviews that she has cousins serving prison time in Israel because of their work for Hamas.Sarsour has denied having any contact with the terror group. She told The New York Times in 2012 that she would not have been appointed an Obama Champion of Change if she had.The activist has risen to national attention recently. She served as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, and she is one of four lead organizers for the Women s March. Daily CallerThe fact that an Islamic faction was one of the organizers of the Women s March is laughable at best. Islam is responsible for the worst abuses of women and children not only throughout history, but at present day. Islamic supremacists who wish to impose Sharia law in America have infiltrated various leftist movements in order to appear as an oppressed minority. GP | 0 |
7,935 | do not forgive the msm altmedia our job is not over | gilad atzmon
october
top five donors to clinton campaign are jewish
the jewish chronicle reports this weekend that the five biggest donors to democratic candidate hillary clintons presidential campaign are all jewish
donald sussman hedge fund manager
jay robert pritzker venture capitalist
haim saban israeliamerican media tycoon
george soros speculator
daniel abraham founder of slimfast
the only open question is whether the american people are ready to connect the dots in the last few months we have been reading that american jews are concerned by the sharp rise in antisemitism in the land of the free i guess that manyamerican jews have connected the dots already they grasp that once again jewish elite is playing a very dangerous game on their expense
one would expect jews in general and jewish oligarchs in particular to draw the necessary conclusion from jewish history somehow this never happens the same disastrous mistakes are repeated as we know the consequences are grave | 0 |
7,936 | A Bi-Partisan Miracle: Federal Employee Health Plans Add Critical Autism Benefit | A first glance, this doesn t seem like a big deal:Federal employee health-care plans will have to cover applied behavior analysis for children on the autism spectrum starting next year, and they are being encouraged to step up the incentives for enrollees to participate in wellness programs.But that s only until you understand what applied behavior analysis actually is and why it s one of the single most vital steps in helping children cope with autism. ABA is a form on one-on-one tutoring that can start with children under two years of age (my own son, Jordan, started at about 19 months).This tutoring varies from child to child. In Jordan s case, he learned how to focus on the task in front of him and how to behave in a teacher/student setting. He did this for 2 hours a day, 5 days a week for a little over a year. By the time he went to Early Intervention schooling (another critical component), Jordan was capable of being a student and has been steadily progressing from there.It s hard to overstate how important ABA is for children with autism. It s an incredibly time intensive program taught by highly trained professionals, which means it s very expensive. A full week program is certainly out of the reach of anyone not in the upper middle class and beyond. Making it a mandatory part of federal health care is literally a life-saving and life-changing event for countless parents and their children. I can say with absolute certainty that Jordan s ABA teacher helped him reach out of himself at a time where he couldn t even point to something he wanted because the very idea of directly expressing a need was completely foreign to him.The best part of this is that it s a bi-partisan effort, meaning the usual gridlock will not impact the families that need help the most:Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), co-chair of the Congressional Autism Caucus, called the requirement a milestone that will help ensure families across the country using ABA therapy will no longer have to pay the full out-of-pocket costs, and that public servants in every state will have access to an insurance plan that meets the needs of individuals on the spectrum. We know that early diagnosis and intervention services are critical to the long term development of a child with autism, he said. In addition to universal and early detection screening, interventions such as ABA therapy are important tools that helps provide children with ASD an opportunity to live to their full potential. This is a godsend and I can only hope that it becomes mandatory for EVERY insurance plan. The epidemic of autism is not going away and the longer we wait to help these children, the harder it becomes to help them effectively.Featured image via Getty | 0 |
7,937 | the war against payday lending | police investigate fraud after voter registration flips from republican to democrat pennsylvania state police investigating voter manipulation image credits flickr dokidoki
pennsylvania state police are investigating a couples claim that their political party affiliation was fraudulently changed from republican to democrat on their voter registration applications
the pennsylvania state police are investigating a case of fraud authorities noted in a press release tuesday
on the above date unknown actors filed fraudulent pennsylvania voter registration applications on behalf of the victims a yearold male and a yearold female from the town of new ringgold in schuylkill county
the application changed their political affiliation from republican to democrat
the victims were made aware of these changes on when the schuylkill county office of voter registration sent them new voter registration cards
infowars reached out to the pennsylvania state police who had no new updates but stated they are currently actively investigating the incident newsletter sign up | 0 |
7,938 | WATCH: Top Trump Aide Admits He Sees The Presidency As ‘The Ultimate Reality Show’ (VIDEO) | Donald Trump is a reality television star and we ve heard from numerous people, including President Obama himself, that this is not a reality show like he thinks. Jeb Bush repeatedly hammered Trump for not being a serious candidate. Enter his top strategist, Paul Manafort, who spoke to Chris Matthews on MSBNC Tuesday night, where he directly reinforced the serious joke that is Donald Trump and his campaign.Manafort and Matthews were discussing just how exciting the GOP convention will be. Manafort insisted that, since Trump is already a TV star, he understands the media, and he can make the convention and everything else very entertaining. It s just absolutely, fantastically frightening that we have a candidate with a strategist who thinks this is all just entertainment.The kicker in this interview came when Matthews and Manafort got into this exchange:MATTHEWS: You re going to have to break some eggs, though, right? MANAFORT: I don t think we have to break any eggs. MATTHEWS: Reince Priebus is going to give us an exciting convention? Come on! MANFORT: Donald Trump is going to give you an exciting convention. MATTHEWS: Okay, how? Do you have some movies or- MANAFORT: We re going to have a program put together, it s not put together yet- MATTHEWS: A reality show of some kind? MANAFORT: Well, this is the ultimate reality show, the presidency of the United States. This made us facepalm our eyeballs into the backs of our heads. Watch the whole bizarre exchange below:So there it is. Manafort himself admitted that the Presidency of the United States is, in his view and probably Trump s view, a reality show. That is the most incredible, and unbelievable, position a candidate can take. A Trump presidency will literally make us the world s biggest punchline, whatever Trump himself thinks.Featured image via screen capture from MSNBC video | 0 |
7,939 | AT&T lawyer says U.S. effort to stop Time Warner deal 'foolish': CNBC | (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Justice’s move to block AT&T Inc’s $85.4 billion acquisition of Time Warner Inc was “foolish” because the deal posed no threat to consumers, the wireless carrier’s trial lawyer Dan Petrocelli told CNBC on Tuesday. The Justice Department on Monday sued AT&T arguing that the U.S. No. 2 wireless carrier would use Time Warner’s content to force rival pay-TV companies to pay “hundreds of millions of dollars more per year for Time Warner’s networks.” AT&T has vowed to defend the deal. “We want to go to court as soon as possible,” Petrocelli told CNBC, saying the burden of proof was on the government. The case was initially assigned on Tuesday to Judge Christopher Cooper in federal court in Washington but later reassigned to Judge Richard Leon. The case will be closely watched because U.S. President Donald Trump has been a vocal critic of Time Warner’s CNN, and opposed AT&T’s purchase of Time Warner on the campaign trail last year, saying it would concentrate too much power in AT&T’s hands. In antitrust circles, the court fight will be closely watched since the Justice Department has not successfully litigated to stop a vertical deal - where the merging companies are not direct competitors - since the 1970s, when it prevented Ford Motor Co from buying assets from spark-plug maker Autolite. | 1 |
7,940 | GOP Billionaire Meg Whitman Endorses Hillary Clinton, Trashes Trump | Another day, another billionaire and/or Republican refuses to endorse the train wreck that is Donald J. Trump. While a slew of influential Republicans elected or not have rescinded or flat out refused to endorse the GOP presidential nominee, others have stubbornly remained by his side even after being stabbed in the back.But as Trump continues to say any outrageous, offensive and grotesque thing that comes to mind, one influential mega donor in the party is saying enough and is endorsing Trump s rival, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton instead. And her endorsement of Clinton isn t a I guess I m with her mentality, either it s a full blown Ready for Hillary sentiment.Meg Whitman, a self made billionaire who didn t have any help from her daddy, posted a stinging denouncement of Trump on her Facebook. Earlier this year, during the primary, Whitman expressed concern that Trump s rhetoric would hurt the party and turn off the electorate. It turns out she was right, as Hillary Clinton has taken the lead (for now) by margins of 7 points to 15 points nationally.Whitman referred to Trump as uninformed, unsteady, authoritarian, and a demogauge. She also praised Clinton for being an experienced, level-headed leader:As a proud Republican, casting my vote for President has usually been a simple matter. This year is different. To vote Republican out of party loyalty alone would be to endorse a candidacy that I believe has exploited anger, grievance, xenophobia and racial division. Donald Trump s demagoguery has undermined the fabric of our national character.Trump s reckless and uninformed positions on critical issues from immigration to our economy to foreign policy have made it abun dantly clear that he lacks both the policy depth and sound judgment required as President. Trump s unsteady hand would endanger our prosperity and national security. His authoritarian character could threaten much more.Therefore, I have decided to support Hillary Rodham Clinton. It is clear to me that Secretary Clinton s temperament, global experience and commitment to America s bedrock national values make her the far better choice in 2016 for President of the United States. In a tumultuous world, America needs the kind of stable and aspirational leadership Secretary Clinton can provide. I urge all Republicans to reject Donald Trump this November.Whitman, who is seen as a more moderate Republican given her positions of abortion, gay marriage and immigration, did the unthinkable: she put country over party. And for that Republicans are already denouncing her like they did Romney, Kasich, Christie Todd Whitman, and so forth.This also shouldn t come as a huge surprise. Whitman has donated to and aligned herself with California senator Barbara Boxer, considered one of the most liberal members of the Senate.Good for Meg Whitman in denouncing Trump and doing what is right. Hopefully more Republicans will take action.Featured image via Andrew Burton/Getty Images | 0 |
7,941 | Judge denies request to return to U.S. by Russian lawyer who met Trump Jr. | NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Friday denied a request for Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, who met with Donald Trump Jr. during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, to return to the United States to attend a hearing over an unpaid $6 million settlement in an international money laundering case. In an order filed in Manhattan federal court, U.S. District Judge William Pauley said Veselnitskaya’s immigration status was “squarely within the purview of the executive branch.” Veselnitskaya represented Prevezon Holdings Ltd, a Russian-controlled company, which in May agreed to pay nearly $6 million to settle a U.S. government lawsuit accusing it of laundering proceeds of a $230 million tax fraud. Her temporary permission from the U.S. Department of Justice to enter the United States while working on the case has expired. Following Pauley’s order on Monday, a U.S. lawyer for Prevezon filed a letter asking that Veselnitskaya be allowed to appear by telephone at the hearing, which is scheduled for Nov. 9. The hearing is expected to focus on whether the settlement payment was due on Oct. 31, as the U.S. government has maintained. Prevezon disputed that in a letter filed on Oct. 31. About half of the settlement money was supposed to come from 3 million euros owed to Prevezon the Netherlands had frozen at the United States’ request, according to the letter. The Netherlands lifted the freeze on Oct. 10, but the same day imposed a new freeze based on a complaint by William Browder, chief executive of Hermitage Capital Management, Prevezon’s letter said. Browder has said that the underlying $230 million tax fraud was uncovered by a former Hermitage auditor, Sergei Magnitsky, who died in a Russian prison in 2009. In its letter, Prevezon asked the court to help obtain temporary U.S. immigration status for Veselnitskaya and its owner, Denis Katsyv, so they could attend hearings. Veselnitskaya met Donald Trump Jr in New York last year. Trump Jr. said in a statement at the time that he and Veselnitskaya “primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children” after Russia in 2012 banned adoptions of Russian children by Americans in retaliation for sanctions imposed under the U.S. Magnitsky Act. The 2012 law was intended to punish Russian officials responsible for Magnitsky’s death. Trump Jr. has released emails related to the meeting during last year’s election that described Veselnitskaya as a Russian government attorney who could provide information that would “incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father.” | 1 |
7,942 | BREAKING: CHARITY FAILED TO REVEAL 1,100 DONORS TO THE CLINTON FOUNDATION | More and more dirt on these two grifters who re shockingly still denying the truth or saying nothing to defend themselves. They have pocketed most of the donations with only 15 cents of every dollar donated going to charity. And now this A charity affiliated with the Clinton Foundation failed to reveal the identities of its 1,100 donors, creating a broad exception to the foundation s promise to disclose funding sources as part of an ethics agreement with the Obama administration.The number of undisclosed contributors to the charity, the Canada-based Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership, signals a larger zone of secrecy around foundation donors than was previously known.Details of the organization s fundraising were disclosed this week by a spokeswoman for the Canadian group s founder, mining magnate Frank Giustra.The Canadian group has received attention in recent days as a potential avenue for anonymous Clinton Foundation donations from foreign business executives, including some who had interests before the U.S. government while Hillary Rodham Clinton was secretary of state.The partnership, named in part for Bill Clinton, sends much of its money to the New York-based Clinton Foundation. Two of the partnership s known donors Giustra and another mining executive, Ian Telfer are featured in the soon-to-be-released book Clinton Cash for their roles in a series of deals that resulted in Russia controlling many uranium deposits around the world and in the United States.With the foundation s finances emerging as an issue for Hillary Clinton s presidential campaign, a foundation official this week defended the arrangement with the Giustra group, noting in a blog post that Canadian law prevents charities in that country from disclosing their donors without the donors permission.The Canadian partnership has in recent days begun to reach out to its 28 largest donors, each of whom gave donations equivalent to at least $250,000 in U.S. dollars, to seek permission to release their names, said a person familiar with the foundation, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.The large number of undisclosed supporters of a Clinton-affiliated charity raises new questions about the foundation s adherence to the 2008 ethics agreement it struck with the Obama administration, which was designed to avoid conflicts of interest during Hillary Clinton s tenure at the State Department.Read more: WaPo | 0 |
7,943 | White House says fully committed to draft Senate healthcare bill | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Friday it was “fully committed” to pushing a Republican draft healthcare bill through the Senate, although it was looking at every option for repealing and replacing Obamacare. “We’re still fully committed to pushing through with the Senate at this point but we’re looking at every possible option of repealing and replacing Obamacare,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters. The answer came in response to a question about a tweet earlier in the day in which President Donald Trump had urged lawmakers to first repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it later if they could not muster enough votes for the current proposal. | 1 |
7,944 | After Trump tweet, ethics office to U.S. employees: do not endorse products | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A day after President-elect Donald Trump encouraged supporters to “Buy L.L. Bean,” a U.S. ethics watchdog on Friday warned federal employees they must not endorse products or companies. The U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) said on its official Twitter account: “All executive branch employees must refrain from misuse of position, including endorsements.” No mention of Trump was made in the tweet, and many rules for federal employees do not apply to the president. The ethics office has tweeted other reminders to employees this week, including one that federal gift restrictions remain in place during the upcoming inauguration. The office’s endorsements message drew attention on Twitter, though, because it came after Trump posted support for the Maine catalog retailer known for its backpacks and rubber-bottomed boots. Activists had called for a boycott following reports that a member of the family that owns L.L. Bean contributed to Trump’s campaign. “Thank you to Linda Bean of L.L. Bean for your great support and courage,” the Republican president-elect tweeted. “People will support you even more now. Buy L.L. Bean.” A spokesman for the ethics office declined to comment. The office, created in 1978, wades through financial disclosures to help executive branch officials avoid conflicts of interest. It has drawn attention and some scrutiny for recent public statements about ethics issues facing Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20. On Wednesday, the office’s director, Walter Shaub, criticized Trump’s new plan to resign from managing his global business empire but leave it in the hands of his sons. Trump said he would place his assets in a trust, but he will retain ownership. Ethics experts wanted him to follow the lead of past presidents and establish a blind trust that would be run by someone else independent of his oversight. “Stepping back from running his business is meaningless from a conflict-of-interest perspective. The presidency is a full-time job, and he would have had to step back anyway,” Shaub said in a speech at a Washington think tank. “Nothing short of divestiture will resolve these conflicts.” Last year, the office sent a series of tweets about Trump’s businesses modeled after the brash Republican’s own style of communicating. “Brilliant! Divestiture is good for you, very good for America!” read one. Some Republicans were not amused. Republican Representative Jason Chaffetz, who leads the U.S. House oversight panel, wrote to Shaub this week and told him to come for an interview. | 1 |
7,945 | Trump Awakes With Unhinged Rant Over What To Call His Failing Muslim Ban (TWEETS) | As of this writing, it is not even 7:00 AM on the East Coast and Donald Trump is already awake and tweeting. What s got him so agitated at such an early hour this time? Why, his Muslim ban of course, which he disgracefully promoted after the London terror attacks or rather, as he is now calling it, a travel ban. Inexplicably, Trump is upset with regards to how this ill-fated executive order has been referred to in the papers and the courts, and he just had to assert that it is HE who will decide what to call it, and no one else. Trump tweeted:People, the lawyers and the courts can call it whatever they want, but I am calling it what we need and what it is, a TRAVEL BAN! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 5, 2017Then, he went on to rant that the Department of Justice was wrong to defy his original Muslim ban but instead went for the watered down, politically correct version also commonly known as Muslim ban 2.0.The Justice Dept. should have stayed with the original Travel Ban, not the watered down, politically correct version they submitted to S.C. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 5, 2017Of course, we all remember that the first Muslim ban explicitly placed a religious test on people coming from the countries on Trump s list of banned nations which, of course, is unconstitutional. Further, it simply takes Trump back to his campaign promise of a Muslim ban. Those of us who have spent so much as two seconds listening to this buffoon already knew this was what it was anyway.Then, of course, Trump continued to tweet, this time attacking the courts as he always does over rulings that he doesn t like:The Justice Dept. should ask for an expedited hearing of the watered down Travel Ban before the Supreme Court & seek much tougher version! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 5, 2017In any event we are EXTREME VETTING people coming into the U.S. in order to help keep our country safe. The courts are slow and political! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 5, 2017Yes, the court system can be slow, you big baby, but that s because they d rather get their rulings right than push them through to satisfy impatient morons like you. Further, if you had any sense, you d know that these tweets are now a matter of public record, and they will be used against you in a court of law.This unconstitutional and bigoted ban will be struck down in the Supreme Court, just as it has been in all of the lower courts. You might not have had checks and balances atop your golden tower, but you certainly do while you sit in the Oval Office.Welcome to governing, you big orange idiot. You can t just do what you want anymore. Should have thought of that before you took the job. As for the rest of us? We ll just keep watching you make a fool of yourself on Twitter.Featured image via Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | 0 |
7,946 | BREAKING: Jeb Bush Suspends Campaign Under Pressure From Supporters Of Fellow GOPers | Jeb Bush was originally the annointed one for the GOP Presidential nomination. However, Donald Trump turned the whole race upside down, and Bush never made it out of the single digits. As the South Carolina Primary draws to a close with yet another poor showing in what is widely seen as one of the most important primaries of the election season, supporters of other GOP candidates urge Bush to drop out. Florida Senator Tim Scott, who is backing Marco Rubio, says of Bush s candidacy and how it affects the GOP s chances at the White House: It s hard to tell you what the Bush camp is thinking. He served as a great governor. I think it d be a great opportunity for him to bring his folks over to the Rubio camp. But the reality is everyone who is running wants to do something good for America, so the question is, once you realize that s not going to happen, what do you do next? It s hard to answer that question unless you re the candidate. Sen. Scott wasn t the only one to call for Bush s withdrawal from the race. His fellow struggling GOP candidate John Kasich had his campaign put out the idea that tonight it became a four-person race between Trump, Kasich, Rubio, and Cruz. John Kasich strategist and supporter John Weaver said of the South Carolina outcome: Only four candidates have top-three finishes in any of the early states and can justify staying in. At the same time, John Kasich has now won the so-called Governors Bracket by continuing to run strong and beat expectations. While others were making their last stand in South Carolina, John Kasich strengthened his organization and support despite being outspent by tens of millions of dollars. The pressure worked, as Bush has suspended his campaign. So long, Jeb.God bless America indeed.Featured image via Soda Head | 0 |
7,947 | Pro-trade Republicans get nervous that NAFTA talks could fail | MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Pro-trade Republicans in the U.S. Congress are growing worried that U.S. President Donald Trump may try to quit the NAFTA free trade deal entirely rather than negotiate a compromise that preserves its core benefits. As a fifth round of talks to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement kicked off in Mexico on Friday, several Republicans interviewed by Reuters expressed concerns that tough U.S. demands, including a five-year sunset clause and a U.S.-specific content rule, will sink the talks and lead to the deal’s collapse. Business groups have warned of dire economic consequences, including millions of jobs lost as Mexican and Canadian tariffs snap back to their early 1990s levels. “I think the administration is playing a pretty dangerous game with this sunset provision,” said Representative Charlie Dent, a moderate Republican from eastern Pennsylvania. He said putting NAFTA under threat of extinction every five years would make it difficult for companies in his district, ranging from chocolate giant Hershey Co to small family owned manufacturing firms, to invest in supply chains and manage global operations. Hershey operates candy plants in Monterrey and Guadalajara, Mexico. Some 74 House of Representatives members signed a letter this week opposing U.S. proposals on automotive rules of origin, which would require 50 percent U.S. content in NAFTA-built vehicles and 85 percent regional content. They warned that this would “eliminate the competitive advantages” that NAFTA brings to U.S. automakers or lead to a collapse of the trade pact. Representative Pete Sessions, a Texas Republican who has long been a supporter of free trade deals, said he disagreed with the Trump approach of “trying to beat someone” in the NAFTA talks. Texas is the largest U.S. exporting state with nearly half of its $231 billion in exports last year headed to Mexico and Canada, according to Commerce Department data. “We need to offer Mexico a fair deal. If we want them to take our cattle, we need to take their avocados,” Sessions said. Still, congressional apprehension about Trump’s stance is far from unanimous. The signers were largely Republicans, with no Democrats from auto-intensive states such as Michigan and Ohio signing. Some pro-labor Democrats have actually expressed support for U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer’s tough approach. “Some of those demands are in tune,” said Representative Bill Pascrell of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means trade subcommittee. “We don’t want to blow it up, Republicans don’t want to blow it up. But we want substantial changes in the labor, the environmental, the currency, on how you come to an agreement when there’s a dispute, and on problems of origin.” Farm state Republicans are especially concerned that a collapse of NAFTA would lead to the loss of crucial export markets in Mexico and Canada for corn, beef and other products. Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa said Lighthizer in a recent meeting agreed that a withdrawal from NAFTA would be hard on U.S. agriculture, which has largely benefited from the trade pact. U.S. agricultural exports to Canada and Mexico quintupled to about $41 billion in 2016 from about $9 billion in 1993, the year before NAFTA went into effect, according to U.S. Commerce Department data. Grassley said, however, that Lighthizer’s approach was “taking everybody to the brink on these talks.” Other Republicans are taking a wait and see approach to the talks. Representative Frank Lucas of Oklahoma said he was willing to give Trump “the benefit of the doubt” on NAFTA talks, adding that farmers and ranchers in his rural district were strong Trump supporters in the 2016 election. “The president’s a practical fellow. When push comes to shove, he understands the base,” Lucas said. | 1 |
7,948 | Koch Industries takes aim at House Republican tax reform plan | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Koch Industries, the private conglomerate owned by billionaire conservatives Charles and David Koch, warned on Wednesday that a Republican tax reform proposal meant to encourage U.S. exports could have devastating effects on the economy and consumers. The proposal, known as border adjustability, is part of a larger tax reform plan backed by Republicans in the House of Representatives, including Speaker Paul Ryan. It has attracted the attention of advisers to President-elect Donald Trump as a potential tool for creating manufacturing jobs for blue-collar Americans. But the provision, which would tax imports while exempting U.S. exports from corporate income tax, has raised concerns in the retailing and energy sectors about its potential effects on prices for imported consumer items and foreign goods used in domestic production. Corporate lobbyists say that Trump’s threatened 35 percent import tax against U.S. companies that move jobs overseas could reflect an interest by the president-elect in a border-adjusted approach to tax reform. The Trump team and Republicans in Congress are currently trying to hammer out an agreement on tax reform for 2017. “The proposed border tax adjustment will distort the market, increase consumer prices and create an uneven playing field for companies and consumers,” Philip Ellender, who oversees government and public affairs for the Wichita, Kansas-based multinational, said in a statement. “The long-term consequences to the economy and the American consumer could be devastating,” added Ellender, who said Koch otherwise supports tax reform. Koch is the second largest private U.S. company, with operations that range from refining and chemicals to ranching and forest products. Its owners are known to spend heavily on conservative initiatives and to oppose government intervention in business. Representative Kevin Brady, Republican chairman of the House tax committee that produced the reform plan, welcomed the Koch statement as feedback but described border adjustability as “a key provision” that would level the playing field for “Made in America” products. Brady has said the plan would unleash economic and job growth by cutting the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent, simplifying the tax code and encouraging investment. Border adjustability would help pay for tax cuts by generating $1.2 trillion in revenues over a decade, according to the non-partisan Tax Policy Center. The provision would also discourage U.S. companies from moving operations abroad as a result of another provision, which would eliminate U.S. taxes on the foreign profits of U.S. multinationals. | 1 |
7,949 | Biden: Nord Stream 2 pipeline is a 'bad deal' for Europe | STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said on Thursday the United States believed the Nord Stream 2 pipeline involving Russia and several European energy companies was a “bad deal” for Europe. Russia’s Gazprom and its European partners agreed the project, which will run across the Baltic Sea to Germany, last year. But many eastern European countries and the United States have said the pipeline could limit supply routes and the energy security of the European Union, which gets a third of its gas from Russia. Biden made his comments during a news conference in Sweden. | 1 |
7,950 | Fox News Bans Gene Simmons For Life For Harassing Staff Off Camera | Gene Simmons, the 68-year-old Kiss bassist and co-lead singer, contestant on The Celebrity Apprentice for a grand total of three episodes back in 2008, self-proclaimed womanizer, and all-around poster-boy for washed up, aging rock stars who will stop at nothing to keep their names in the rapidly-diminishing spotlight, has stooped to a new low in his battle against irrelevancy He has been given a lifetime ban from Fox News.When it comes to Fox News, the network has a tendency to be a little lenient on the issue of behavior of sexual nature, a reputation that screams Hold my beer! to a man like Gene Simmons. On what was far from his first appearance on the network, Simmons was a guest last Wednesday on Fox and Friends, as well as Fox Business Network s Mornings With Maria, to promote his new book, On Power. Gene Simmons, who claims to know Donald Trump very well and that the current President s critics should get over it, couldn t be faulted for his onscreen appearance, even helping with the weather report:MUST SEE: @genesimmons helps @JaniceDean with the weather! pic.twitter.com/EFfRQESNuq FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) November 15, 2017Simmons also sat on a panel with Mornings With Maria host Maria Bartiromo and gave his view on the Harvey Weinstein sexual-misconduct case. The lunatics have taken over the insane asylum when respected business entities such as yourself ask guys that like to stick their tongues out what I think of Harvey Weinstein, Simmons answered. Okay, I m a powerful and attractive man, and what I m about to say is deadly serious, he added. Men are jackasses. From the time we re young we have testosterone. I m not validating it or defending it. As is always the case, however, it was when the cameras weren t rolling that things began to get creepy and also quite hypocritical. According to a knowledgeable Fox News source, Simmons arrived on the studio s fourteenth floor to do an interview with FoxNews.com s entertainment section to promote his book, but also chose to walk into a staff meeting uninvited, opened his shirt and shouted, Hey chicks, sue me! He didn t stop there, though. The source claims he went on to tell pedophilia-related Michael Jackson jokes, hit two employees on the head with his book while making comparisons on their intelligence based on the sounds, and asked an African-American employee if he was Al Roker. It was pretty severe, the source said.Simmons behavior was reported to a supervisor, who in turn passed the news on to Fox News human-resources executive Kevin Lord, who promptly banned Simmons from the building. He was also permanently barred from appearing on any Fox News or Fox Business Networkprogramming.It seems that Gene Simmons may have had a change of heart over the past week, as he has released the following statement: I have appeared frequently over the years on various Fox News and Fox Business programs and have a tremendous amount of respect for the talented women and men who work there. While I believe that what is being reported is highly exaggerated and misleading, I am sincerely sorry that I unintentionally offended members of the Fox team during my visit. Although Simmons interview with FoxNews.com was recorded, it will not be released.Featured image via Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images | 0 |
7,951 | China may grasp climate leadership at U.N. talks with Trump pulling out | BONN, Germany (Reuters) - China has a chance to assert leadership of a global plan to combat global warming this week at the first U.N. climate talks since U.S. President Donald Trump decided to quit the 195-nation Paris Agreement, delegates say. Government experts are to work on a rule book for the 2015 climate pact at the Nov. 6-17 annual meeting in Bonn, Germany. The accord seeks to end the fossil fuel era this century with a shift to wind, solar and other clean energies. Trump once dismissed climate change as a Chinese hoax to harm the U.S. economy and said in June that he would pull out of the agreement and instead promote U.S. coal and oil. A formal U.S. withdrawal will take until 2020. No other nation has followed his lead. U.S. influence is likely to wane compared to other big greenhouse emitters led by China, the European Union and India even though Washington will still have a place at the table in Bonn. The rest of the world, including all major emerging economies, has made it clear that it is committed to the Paris Agreement, Maldives Environment Minister Thor Abraham, chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (OASIS), told Reuters. China, on track to beat its goal of a peak in carbon emissions in 2030, seems best placed to step up leadership of an agreement largely designed by Washington under former president Barack Obama, many delegates say. The meeting will be a great free advertisement for China, one European environment minister said. And Beijing plans to launch a nationwide carbon market this year, albeit delayed from the first half. The results (in Bonn) will prove that this (Paris) process has certainly not stopped, China s top climate official, Xi Zhenhua, told a news conference last week. He expressed hopes that Washington will end up staying in the Paris pact. Adding urgency, 2017 is set to be the second warmest on record, behind 2016, according to NASA. And 2017 has had weather extremes of hurricanes, floods and drought-fuelled wildfires. Fiji will preside at the Bonn talks, the first small island nation to do so in more than two decades of U.N. climate negotiations. That may give OASIS, at risk from rising seas, unprecedented influence. The Paris rule book, including details of how to measure and report emissions, is due to be in place by the end of 2018. Alden Meyer, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, said governments will face a tougher test in coming years when they have to ratchet up national ambitions to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. The United Nations says average temperatures will rise about three degrees Celsius (5.4 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times by 2100 with existing policies, against a Paris goal of keeping them well below two degrees (3.6F), ideally 1.5 (2.7F). And on Friday, U.S. scientists released a report saying it was extremely likely that human activities are the main source of warming, contradicting Trump s views. The U.S. has painted itself into a corner, isolated both from other nations and from mainstream science, Christiana Figures, who was the U.N. climate chief in Paris, told Reuters. | 1 |
7,952 | Republican vows 'all hands on deck' in Georgia congressional runoff | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A political newcomer who thrilled Democrats with a strong finish in a Georgia congressional race - despite attacks by President Donald Trump - will face an experienced Republican candidate in a June runoff election for a district long dominated by the party. Democrat Jon Ossoff drew 48.1 percent of the vote in Tuesday’s special election, just shy of the 50 percent needed to win the most closely watched U.S. congressional race since Trump took office in January. Some saw the election, held to replace new Health Secretary Tom Price, as a test of the Republican president’s political strength. Ossoff, 30, was the top vote getter in a field of 18 candidates, 11 of them Republicans, in a suburban Atlanta district that has sent Republicans to Congress since the 1970s. Republican Karen Handel, 55, a former Georgia secretary of state, won 19.8 percent, and will face Ossoff in the June 20 runoff. The runoff presents a stiffer challenge. If Ossoff gets the support of the other Democratic candidates, he would have 49 percent, said Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez. However, Perez said the party would target up to 35,000 Democrats who voted in November’s presidential election but not on Tuesday. “We have an army of volunteers,” he told CNN. Handel, who said Trump called to congratulate her on Wednesday morning, dismissed Ossoff as a well-funded novice who would flounder as Republicans consolidated support behind a single candidate. “We know that this is an important race, and it’s going to stay in the hands of a Republican,” Handel told CNN. “It is all Republicans, all hands on deck.” Demographic changes have made Georgia’s affluent 6th Congressional District more competitive for Democrats. Trump won the district by only 1.5 percentage points in November against Democrat Hillary Clinton, who drew support from its many college graduates. Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said the race showed how the South was changing. “This should be a wake-up call for the Republican Party in the South,” he told NBC’s “Today” show. Ossoff, a former congressional staffer and documentary filmmaker, ran on a pledge to “Make Trump Furious.” Trump jumped into the race in its final days with attacks on Twitter poking fun at Ossoff for not living in his own district and for attracting support from Hollywood celebrities. The president weighed in again on Wednesday with a tweet saying, “It is now Hollywood vs. Georgia on June 20th.” In response, Ossoff portrayed Trump, a New York businessman who had never held public office, as the Washington insider. “Folks in Washington tend to overstate their influence in local races like this,” he told MSNBC. “This comes down to grassroots intensity.” White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Trump would campaign in Georgia for Handel “if needed” but dismissed the race as overhyped. “The Democrats went all-in on this race,” Spicer told reporters. “They lost.” | 1 |
7,953 | California voters turn down drug pricing initiative | LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California voters turned down a ballot initiative aimed at reining in rising prices for prescription drugs after pharmaceutical companies spent more than $100 million to fight it. The California Drug Price Relief Act, also known as Proposition 61, sought to limit state health programs from paying more for medications than the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which receives the steepest discounts in the country. As of Wednesday morning, with more than 99 percent of precincts partially reporting from Tuesday’s election, the vote was 46 percent in favor of the measure and 54 percent opposed, according to California’s Secretary of State. “The pharmaceutical companies spent a lot to defeat this,” said Stuart Schweitzer, professor of health policy and management at the University of California, Los Angeles Fielding School of Public Health. “They wanted to draw a line in the sand.” The measure’s defeat “reaffirms the power of the biopharma lobby,” Jefferies analyst Brian Abrahams said in a note to investors on Wednesday. The rising cost of prescription drugs came under attack during the U.S. presidential campaign. Both President-elect Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton called for cost-trimming measures including allowing Medicare, the federal health plan for seniors, to negotiate prices with drugmakers. Shares in pharmaceutical and biotechnology shares, under pressure in recent weeks, soared on Wednesday as market fears of a win by Clinton and Democrats gaining power in Congress receded. The Nasdaq Biotechnology index .NBI advanced 7 percent and was on track for its biggest single-day gain in about five years. Proposition 61’s opponents, led by global drugmakers such as Pfizer Inc and Amgen Inc, spent around $106 million. They argued that it would benefit only 12 percent of Californians, while putting the other 88 percent, and veterans across the country, at risk of higher drug costs. Supporters, led by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation and AARP, which advocates for seniors, said only drug companies themselves can raise prices for veterans or other consumers. Vermont Independent Senator Bernie Sanders also campaigned in support of Proposition 61, calling on voters to “stand up to the greed of the pharmaceutical industry.” Proponents, who raised $17 million to support the initiative, estimated it could save California taxpayers up to $5.7 billion over 10 years, although a state legislative analysis said the financial impact is not clear. UCLA’s Schweitzer said the measure would have had only a modest impact on state drug costs. There were also questions about how Proposition 61 would be implemented. The VA’s mandated prices are listed publicly, but its steepest negotiated price discounts are required by law to be confidential. The VA spends some $6.1 billion a year on medicines for 6 million veterans. Proposition 61 would have extended those discounts to around 4.5 million Californians, including certain members of the state’s low-income Medicaid plan, state employees and retirees, university teachers and prisoners. A similar proposition has been approved for Ohio’s 2017 November ballot. | 1 |
7,954 | HILARIOUS! Watch Trump’s Reactions To Bill Clinton And Barack Obama’s Tough Talk On Immigration [VIDEO] | Watch this hilarious edited video made to look like Trump s reacting to Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, as they talk tough (but do nothing at all) on immigration A special note from Kirby Mack who made this hilarious video: NOTE: Since America is stupid I feel the need clarify, THIS IS CLEARLY NOT TRUMP ACTUALLY LISTENING TO OBAMA AND CLINTON. IT S A COMPILATION OF VIDEOS FROM PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS TO EXPOSE THE HYPOCRISY OF ALL OF THE LIBERALS. | 0 |
7,955 | GRAPHIC RIOT VIDEOS EXPOSE THUGS ATTACKING ELDERLY AND WHITES…And The Black Caucus Is Protesting Today In Support Of This? [Video] | youngers these days are becoming so moist pic.twitter.com/ctKxUQXIAz 6Paths OfA WolfsPain (@GiovanniiDC) September 21, 2016THUGS BEATING UP A RANDOM WHITE GUY:Why are they attacking this random guy?#CharlotteProtest #Charlotte pic.twitter.com/Wt6q7o5iwc Andrew Quackson (@AndrewQuackson) September 22, 2016 RIOTERS TRYING TO LIGHT A GUY ON FIRE: Peaceful Protesters just trying to keep a man warm by attempting to light him on fire#CharlotteProtest #Charlotte pic.twitter.com/hWeVAadoi4 Andrew Quackson (@AndrewQuackson) September 22, 2016 RIOTERS BREAKING INTO A STORE:Protestors rush into souvenir store in #Charlotte #CharlotteRiots pic.twitter.com/r0KmeyTkTs myrcat (@Myrna_Perez) September 22, 2016 RIOTERS PULLING PEOPLE FROM CARS:Agitators are now attempting to surround and pull people out of vehicles. #CharlotteRiot/#CharlotteProtest pic.twitter.com/V5ZokkRxlX Audit The Media ?? (@AuditTheMedia) September 22, 2016 STEALING JUST BECAUSE Protesters getting even with an ATM for being responsible for the death of a black man.#Charlotte #CharlotteProtest pic.twitter.com/2wDpOgys8E Andrew Quackson (@AndrewQuackson) September 22, 2016 | 0 |
7,956 | Jared Kushner NEVER Registered To Vote As A “Female”…Media Lie BACKFIRES…Shines Bright Light On How Easily Voter Fraud Can Occur | Meanwhile, as President Trump continues to meet resistance from blue states in his effort to clean up voter fraud, one of his most vocal opponents is none other than the Democrat governor of New York, the same state where the board of elections made the mistake of changing Kushner s identity to a female AFTER he registered as a male . It seems like this may be just the high-profile screw-up the White House has been waiting for in order to revisit the legitimacy of voter rolls in New York.NY refuses to perpetuate the myth voter fraud played a role in our election. We will not comply with this request.https://t.co/eQC6ORV0v1 Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) June 30, 2017Kushner, President Trump s son-in-law, and senior adviser did in fact list himself as a male in his New York voter registration but an elections database error led to him getting listed as a female.Kushner s supposed registration as a woman, which made headlines Wednesday, is actually a data entry error that the New York Board of Elections corrected only after it became public.A Wired story first reported that Kushner whose father-in-law has been waging a fact-challenged war on voter fraud was registered as a woman on his publicly accessible New York State voter information. NYDaily NewsThe Wired story that was written by Ashley Feinberg suggests one of the reasons Kushner registered to vote as a female may be attributed to him committing voter fraud, which according to Feinberg, would, of course, would be interesting, considering that Trump s White House has been fixated on allegations that rampant voter fraud took place during the 2016 election. The Huffington Post used the fake news story to prove that Jared Kushner is not capable of brokering peace in the Middle East. Here is their headline for an article written by Amanda Terkel:From the Huffington Post article:If people weren t already skeptical that Kushner a man who inherited his father s real estate empire and has no policy experience in the Middle East or elsewhere could achieve the impossible, recent developments may give further pause.He registered to vote as a woman.Radical leftist and (sometimes) comedian Jimmy Kimmel did an entire skit on Jared Kushner registering to vote as a female. We ll wait for his apology #VeryFakeNewsCNN quickly jumped on the story without verifying why Jared Kushner was registered as a female. Given the incompetence of our government agencies, one would think CNN would give Kushner the benefit of the doubt, but alas, giving anyone close to President Donald J. Trump the benefit of the doubt would be counter-productive to the Trump-hating network who only has one goal, and that is to destroy Donald Trump and anyone who dares to stand with him. CNN has changed the story that was originally attached to this tweet to reflect their update, but their headline that attempts to paint Kushner as either a liar or a cheat stands on Twitter.Jared Kushner is registered to vote as a female https://t.co/MtWq9uHTC7 pic.twitter.com/1ub2dS6OFM CNN (@CNN) September 27, 2017Another loudmouth liberal who goes by the name of Ring of Fire on Youtube and has over 130K followers, has completely embarrassed himself by using Kushner s inability to fill out a simple form or who is so careless, or reckless, or downright stupid that he cannot fill out a form . | 0 |
7,957 | White House says 'critical' that House passes healthcare bill Thursday | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said it was “critical” that the U.S. House of Representatives pass a Republican-sponsored healthcare bill on Thursday to repeal a law enacted under the administration of former President Barack Obama. “With Obamacare on the verge of collapse, it is critical that the House passes the AHCA (healthcare bill) today and we continue to make progress toward repealing and replacing Obamacare,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told a news briefing. The House was expected to hold a vote on repealing Obamacare later on Thursday, with Republicans predicting victory on overturning the healthcare law even though their seven-year drive could founder in the U.S. Senate. | 1 |
7,958 | WOW! LONDON MAYOR Hammered By Piers Morgan: “Where are the 400 terrorists?” [Video] | This is awesome! London Mayor Sadiq Khan was drilled by Piers Morgan on why Khan isn t keeping tabs on the 400 plus known ISIS radicals living in London: WHERE ARE THEY? WHERE ARE THEY?How are we letting trained jihadis back into the UK without knowing where they are? Sadiq Khan grilled by Susanna Reid and Piers Morgan pic.twitter.com/G7yGWE5mkV The Telegraph (@Telegraph) June 6, 2017Morgan: Where are the 400 jihadis still in London? You re the mayor! WHERE ARE THEY? Mayor Khan: I can t cover 400 peopleMorgan: Why not? Why can t you instruct the police, why can t you say everyone of those people who ve come back from a war zone, I want them followed?Mayor Khan: They have to prioritizeMorgan: What could be a bigger priority than people coming back from a Syrian battlefield with the intent to harm British citizens? Why s it not the number one priority? Why are these people allowed to just come back in in the first place and then the London mayor does not have a clue to where any of them are?OUR LATEST REPORT ON THE MAYOR OF LONDON: London s Muslim Mayor Sadiq Khan, called on the British government today to cancel their visit with President Donald Trump. Speaking to Channel 4 news, Khan felt Trump s out-of-context criticisms and continued attacks on Twitter meant that the U.K. should not roll out the red carpet for the president as his policies go against everything we stand for. He added: When you have a special relationship it is no different from when you have got a close mate. You stand with them in times of adversity but you call them out when they are wrong. There are many things about which Donald Trump is wrong. Hollywood ReporterShouldn t London s government be more concerned with their current mayor s past than of President Trump s efforts to unify the world in the fight against extreme Islamic terrorism?In 2016, the now Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan was branded unfit to be London s Mayor after it emerged that he had described moderate Muslim groups as Uncle Toms a notorious racial slur used against black people to suggest that they are subservient to whites.The incendiary claim emerged in a 2009 interview with Iranian-backed Press TV, when Mr Khan was minister for community cohesion , in charge of Government efforts to stamp out extremism.The revelation is a major blow for Mr Khan, who has faced a string of claims about his past dealings with Muslim extremists during the bitter campaign to succeed Boris Johnson. Daily MailWatch the 2009 video here:That s not the only video that should make every London citizen be concerned about their Mayor s radical views. A 2002 video has emerged showing Sadiq Kahn defending convicted Islamic terrorists who attempted to revive the Islamic Liberation Party in Egypt.The video, via Josh Caplan of Vessel News, shows Khan defending terrorists. At the beginning of the video, Muslims in the street shout Allahu Akbar! GPRare clip from '02 shows then lawyer Sadiq Khan defending convicted terrorists who attempted to revive the Islamic Liberation Party in Egypt pic.twitter.com/gMS9NIYxMQ Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) June 6, 2017 | 0 |
7,959 | With Obamacare vote, House Republicans free to turn to tax reform | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives plans to turn to tax reform in earnest, after concluding a lengthy healthcare debate this week with a vote to repeal and replace Obamacare. But even as Republicans predicted that tax reform would succeed before year-end, lawmakers encountered new uncertainties about what a final tax package might contain, as well as doubts about whether Republicans will be able to enact reforms without Democratic help. President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress have pledged to complete the biggest tax reform since 1986, when President Ronald Reagan was in office, before the end of 2017. But they face an uphill battle, mainly over policy differences within their own ranks. Thursday’s 217-213 House vote on healthcare legislation raised confidence in the Republican-controlled chamber’s ability to move major legislation after two earlier pushes ended in failure. But to move forward on tax reform, the House, Senate and Trump administration must agree on where to set tax rates, how to pay for cuts and whether the final package should add to the deficit or pay for itself, all areas where common ground may be hard to find. A plan to enact reforms without Democratic support will also require Republicans to pass a 2018 budget authorizing the parliamentary process known as reconciliation. But a new budget agreement poses a daunting task given Republican opposition to Trump demands for deep domestic spending cuts. “That may prove to be one, if not the most difficult votes of the tax reform process,” Jonathan Traub, a managing principal at the consulting firm Deloitte Tax LLP. Meanwhile, the need to reach agreement between the House, Senate and White House will likely delay introduction of a tax reform bill, which had been expected in early June. But Republicans say it will ultimately make it easier to enact reforms before the end of the year. The House Ways and Means Committee, which will unveil the initial tax bill, is still aiming for a revenue-neutral package that raises $2.4 trillion for tax cuts through a new border adjustment tax and elimination of business deductions for net interest payments, both controversial measures. Panel chairman Kevin Brady told reporters that revenue neutrality is necessary to ensure bold, permanent changes to tax policy that can drive economic growth. “That’s the argument and the case we’re going to make to the Senate and the Trump administration,” he said. But Representative Mark Meadows, who chairs the conservative Freedom Caucus that helped block Trump’s first healthcare bill, voiced opposition to a revenue neutral approach. “If it’s revenue neutral, you’re not really lowering taxes. You’re shifting the burden,” Meadows told reporters. The Trump tax plan unveiled last week calls for steep tax cuts financed by government revenues that officials say will result from higher growth. Some fear the plan could add trillions of dollars to the deficit if growth does not materialize. Meadows said tax cuts should be offset by cuts to entitlement programs including Social Security and Medicare, which Trump has promised not to touch. | 1 |
7,960 | Trump’s ‘Deportation Force’ Storms Unarmed Legal Resident’s Home And Shoots Him | A Chicago man is in critical condition after the mother of all epic f*ckups by Trump s Deportation Force. On Monday morning, ICE agents raided the home of Felix Torres. It is unclear why they would choose to raid the home not a single person inside is undocumented but apparently, we are not too concerned about accuracy when we kick down brownish people s doors in Trump s America.At approximately 6:00 a.m., immigration agents entered the home, refusing to tell any of the residents why they were there. According to officials, Torres pulled a gun on the armed men who had forced their way into his home and refused to explain their presence Torres family says that s utter hogwash. They didn t say anything. They just came in and pointed pistols in our faces and dragged us out, Torres daughter Carmen says, noting that she was not even allowed to dress or grab milk for her one-year-old daughter, who was sleeping when the armed men invaded the home. It s a lie when they say he was holding a gun. He doesn t even own a gun, she said. They shot my dad. They shot him, and I don t know why. At least eight family members were in the house at the time, including numerous children. According to Carmen Torres, the family has lived there for at least 30 years. We re going to have to talk to CPD to find out if this was a coordinated effort, because if it was in any way, that raises concerns about us as a sanctuary city, 36th Ward Alderman Gilbert Villegas said of the attack. Is this our future in Chicago with Donald Trump as president? The community s got to be nervous about this, and rightfully so, because you have a right to be in your own home without being intimidated, Villegas says. I m conflicted because I haven t got all the details [of the incident] yet, but from the way this has started to play out, it looks like an overstep by an overzealous ICE agent who s just trying to follow Trump s orders. ICE officials say they were not at the home to arrest Torres, though they will nor provide further details. The victim was taken to a nearby hospital where his condition is listed as critical. The shooting is being investigated, though we probably can not expect much in terms of a reasonable resolution to the situation.Featured image via Facebook | 0 |
7,961 | radikale vorhaben die donald trump sofort nach amtsantritt durchsetzen wird | samstag november schlagstöcke und pyrotechnik sichergestellt polizei löst unerlaubte kinderdemo auf köln archiv dem beherzten eingreifen einer hundertschaft der kölner polizei ist es zu verdanken dass am freitag eine nicht angemeldete demonstration in kölnbickendorf innerhalb weniger minuten aufgelöst werden konnte bei den beteiligten wurden dutzende schlagstöcke sowie pyrotechnik in großem umfang sichergestellt nach angaben der polizei nahmen rund minderjährige im alter zwischen drei und sechs jahren an der kundgebung teil augenzeugen berichten dass die beteiligten lautstark sprüche wie sankt martin sankt martin und rabimmel rabammel rabumm bumm bumm skandierten und dabei schlagstöcke vor sich hertrugen an denen brandsätze befestigt waren wasserwerfer gegen pyrotechnik kölner polizei beim einsatz ob es sich bei den demonstranten die sich als besucher der kindertagesstätte blaue zwerge ausgaben um mitglieder eines extremistischen bündnisses handelt wird derzeit noch geprüft die jährige leiterin der gruppe wurde festgenommen und sitzt derzeit noch in untersuchungshaft ein weiterer mann auf einem pferd der die demonstration anzuführen schien konnte sich in vollem galopp dem zugriff durch die beamten entziehen wie die polizei mitteilte werden zudem mehrere dutzend von den demonstranten mitgeführte kekse auf drogen untersucht das ergebnis steht noch aus da mehrere beamte von widerspenstigen kindern gekratzt und laut polizeibericht teilweise fies ans schienbein getreten wurden ergingen insgesamt strafanzeigen wegen gefährlicher körperverletzung und widerstandes gegen vollstreckungsbeamte polizisten wurden krankgeschrieben ssi dan foto rechts marek peters wwwmarekpeterscom gnu hinweis erstmals erschienen am artikel teilen | 0 |
7,962 | Hillary Boils The GOP’s Entire Problem Down To A Single, Brilliant Sentence | Hillary Clinton isn t just looking ahead to the Democratic National Convention, which kicks off this week, but she s also looking at the farcical clown show that was the Republican National Convention. When RNC speakers weren t busy spreading malicious lies for the purpose of driving fear, they were busy attacking her (and sometimes President Obama). Overall, very little was said about what they will do, and it made Hillary kind of sad.Speaking on 60 Minutes, she flat-out said [emphasis mine]: I don t know what their convention was about, other than criticizing me. I seem to be the only unifying theme that they had. There was no positive agenda. It was a very dark, divisive campaign. And the people who were speaking were painting a picture of our country that I did not recognize you know, negative, scapegoating, fear, bigotry, smears. I just was so, I was saddened by it. I seem to be the only unifying theme they had. That s a sad testament to how far the GOP has fallen if there ever was one. Republicans still can t decide how to unify behind someone as vile as Trump, and the RNC wasn t well-attended in part because of that. The fact that they can only unify in their hatred of Hillary is, indeed, sad.The only other unifying theme they have is the impending collapse of the U.S., which is something of which the GOP has been trying to convince us since Nixon ran for president. That s not really new and can t be seen as true unity. It s dogma.Then there are prominent Republicans like Ted Cruz, who openly refused to endorse Trump even in front of an audience made up entirely of Republicans. Trump s presence at the top of the party threw a huge monkey wrench into the GOP s plans to take over the country, and now they don t know what to do with him.It d be hilarious if it wasn t so sad. It d be ridiculously depressing if it wasn t so hilarious. That s the massive contradiction of the Republican Party they can only agree on how they feel about Hillary. Everything else? The GOP civil war escalates.Hillary may well want a real race with a real opponent, and instead she got the three-ring political circus that is Donald Trump and Mike Pence, and the nickname Crooked Hillary. The GOP is done if they can t figure this out, and it s looking increasingly like they can t.Featured image by Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images | 0 |
7,963 | Democrats SUE Republicans Over Plot To Rig Election | Democrats appear to be completely fed up with Donald Trump s bizarre conspiracy theory where he alleges without evidence that the presidential election will be rigged. Trump has also called on his supporters to show up in minority-heavy voting precincts in a move that many believe is an attempt to suppress the vote, to rig things in his favor.Now Democrats are suing the Republicans.The Democratic National Committee is suing the Republican National Committee for aiding GOP nominee Donald Trump as he argues that the presidential election is rigged, claiming that Trump s argument is designed to suppress the vote in minority communities.The suit, filed Wednesday in US District Court in New Jersey, argues that the RNC has not sufficiently rebuked Trump for the line of attack, which he has used as a rallying cry and is assumed to be a way to explain away a potential loss on Election Day.The Democrats argue in the filing that Trump has falsely and repeatedly told his supporters that the November 8 election will be rigged based upon fabricated claims of voter fraud in certain areas or certain sections of key states. Republicans are still bound under a consent decree due to a previous court case, which limits their ability to officially send people to polling stations to intimidate voters. At the same time, outside fringe right wing armed militia groups like The Oath Keepers have recently sent out calls to patrol voting booths on Trump s behalf.Knowing how vital the votes of Latinos, blacks, and others are to Democratic hopes especially with President Obama off the ballot Republicans appear to be highly invested in any and all schemes focused on cutting down the number of voters. If they can suppress minority turnout, which has always been anti-Republican but could now form the foundation of a landslide, Republicans think they could pull out a (tainted) victory.Featured image via Flickr | 0 |
7,964 | Soyinka shreds U.S. greencard in anger over Trump victory | JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Nigeria’s Nobel Prize-winning author Wole Soyinka has torn up his United States green card and renounced his American residency in protest at Donald Trump’s U.S. election win, the writer told news channel eNCA on Thursday. “I’ve done it,” said Soyinka, 82, when asked if he had followed through on an earlier vow to leave the United States if Trump triumphed in the race for the White House. “When I was ready, when I’d finished, I negotiated my departure,” the Nigerian born author said in Johannesburg on the sidelines of a university conference. Soyinka has had regular teaching stints at America’s ivy league universities since the mid 1990s following his Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986. He was the first African writer to win the award. A frequent and fierce critic of his own government, particularly over the carnage being inflicted by Boko Haram militants in northeastern Nigeria, Soyinka said he felt ill at ease in the wake of Trump’s shock victory. “We on the African continent could boast that we had a contemporary descendent ruling the United States,” Soyinka said referring to outgoing President Barack Obama, whose father was a Kenyan. “Suddenly, somebody is making speeches which are meant to reverse those gains.” | 1 |
7,965 | Trump tweets thanks to Steve Bannon for service and role in campaign against Clinton | (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump praised his former chief strategist Steve Bannon on Saturday, thanking him on Twitter for his service and his role in the presidential election campaign against Hillary Clinton. “I want to thank Steve Bannon for his service. He came to the campaign during my run against Crooked Hillary Clinton - it was great! Thanks S,” Trump tweeted. Trump on Friday fired Bannon in the latest White House shake-up. | 1 |
7,966 | Trump nominates Callista Gingrich as ambassador to Vatican | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump plans to nominate Callista Gingrich as ambassador to the Vatican, the White House said in a statement on Friday. She is the wife of former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich and produces documentary films on public policy and history. The announcement came as Trump embarked on Friday on his maiden foreign trip as president, which will include a visit to the Vatican. | 1 |
7,967 | WATCH: Joy Behar CRUSHES Newt Gingrich On ‘The View’ For Disrespectful Attack On Megyn Kelly | Newt Gingrich just got owned by the ladies of The View. On Tuesday night, the Kelly File host interviewed Trump supporter and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.As the pair argued about the accuracy of polls that show Donald Trump getting his his ass beat by Hillary Clinton, Kelly pointed out that Trump hasn t exactly been helping himself when it comes to the women s vote due to his comments about groping women and the sexual assault allegations that have been raining down on him ever since.When Kelly suggested that Trump may be a sexual predator, Gingrich exploded and flew into a disrespectful rage against her. I m sick and tired of people like you using language that s inflammatory that s not true! Gingrich yelled while wagging his finger at Kelly. When you use the words, you took a position. And I think it s very unfair of you to do that, Megyn! I think that is exactly the bias people are upset by You are fascinated with sex and you don t care about public policy! That s what I get out of watching you tonight! Kelly responded by telling Gingrich that he doth protests too much and then ended the interview by telling him to go deal with his anger issues.Whoopi Goldberg and her co-hosts absolutely loved the way Kelly handled herself and the way she humiliated Gingrich.Candace Cameron Bure said she admired Kelly for standing up to Gingrich, only to then ruin the moment by agreeing with him that the media is biased.Goldberg replied by pointing out that the media took Bill Clinton to task back in the 1990s and that she would love to hear Trump talk about policy if he could ignore every little slight against him long enough to do so.BUre then complained because Trump isn t getting positive coverage from the media, only to get smacked down because Hillary Clinton is talking the way Trump is on the campaign trail.Then Joy Behar chimed in with the praise of the day to save the segment from going down the rabbit hole. Megyn got him, he was bleeding from wherever, Behar quipped about Gingrich in reference to an attack on Kelly made by Trump early in the primary when he said she has blood coming out of her wherever just because she asked him about the many insults about women he has made over the years. She nailed him, you know what I mean? Behar continued. When I watched that, I was like, Yes! Sara Haines also enjoyed watching Gingrich get his ass handed to him and remarked that Trump only has himself to blame for the way the media is covering him. Jedediah Bila agreed. Newt Gingrich needs to watch The Kelly File, because she is tough on everyone, Bila said. She s not somebody who picks favorites, she s somebody in this business who does her job. It s not her fault that Donald Trump has said and done some horrible things that s Donald Trump s fault. Bila concluded by pointing out that if Trump were out there talking policy well and articulating policy well, that would be the story but that s not the story because that s not what he is doing. Here s the video via YouTube.Newt Gingrich made a huge mistake attacking Megyn Kelly in the way he did. Because it only solidifies the image that Trump and his supporters have zero respect for women and that image is killing Trump and Republicans as a whole in the polls right now.Featured Image: Screenshot | 0 |
7,968 | Obama says China would not take change in U.S. policy on Taiwan lightly | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Friday it was fine for President-elect Donald Trump to review Washington’s “one-China” policy toward Taiwan, but he cautioned that a shift could lead to significant consequences in the U.S. relationship with Beijing. “For China, the issue of Taiwan is as important as anything on their docket,” Obama told a news conference. “The idea of one China is at the heart of their conception as a nation and so if you are going to upend this understanding, you have to have thought through what ... the consequences are.” China lodged a diplomatic protest earlier this month after Trump, a Republican, spoke by phone with President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan. The 10-minute telephone call was the first of its kind by a U.S. president-elect or president since President Jimmy Carter switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 1979, acknowledging Taiwan as part of “one China”. China considers Taiwan a wayward province, to be taken back by force if necessary. Obama noted that, under the decades-old policy, China had recognized Taiwan was its own entity that did things its own way, while Taiwan had agreed that, with some autonomy, it would not declare independence. “That status quo, although not completely satisfactory to any of the parties involved, has kept the peace and allowed the Taiwanese to be a pretty successful ... economy and a people who have a high degree of self-determination,” Obama said. The Democratic president said he had advised Trump that foreign policy had to be conducted in a systematic, deliberate, intentional way. “There’s probably no bilateral relationship that carries more significance and ... where there’s also the potential, if that relationship breaks down or goes into a full conflict mode, that everybody is worse off,” he said of the U.S.-China ties. He said Beijing would not treat a departure from U.S. policy toward Taiwan lightly. “The Chinese will not treat that the way they’ll treat some other issues. They won’t even treat it the way they treat issues around the South China Sea, where we’ve had a lot of tensions,” he said. Taiwan reiterated it was committed to keeping the status quo in its relations with China and in promoting peace and stability, and thanked Washington for deepening U.S.-Taiwan relations. A statement from Taiwan’s Presidential Office said Tsai’s government looked forward to strengthening that relationship under Trump’s administration. | 1 |
7,969 | 4 Insanely Great Ways One Idea From Obama Just Made Life Amazing For Millions Of Americans | The New York Times has done a major new study on the effects of the Affordable Care Act aka Obamacare on the lives of Americans. The Times analyzed what happened in the first full year of the implementation of Obamacare between 2013 and 2014, and the results are mind-blowing in how they ve fundamentally altered the lives of some of the most vulnerable Americans for the better.The first full year of the Affordable Care Act brought historic increases in coverage for low-wage workers and others who have long been left out of the health care system, a New York Times analysis has found.Remember, Obamacare passed without a single Republican vote in the House or Senate, and has survived two Supreme Court challenges and other court challenges made up by the obstructionist Right. The last Republican presidential nominee ran on a platform of repealing it, and so has every GOP presidential candidate running this year.Obamacare has also survived dozens of Republican votes to repeal it, while six years later the GOP has still not offered a plan to replace it.After the passage of Obamacare, the amount of people insured in every slice of America went up in a major way. Between 2013 and 2014, this is how much those increases were, as a percentage:For decades the gap between the wealthy and poor on access to health care has been steadily growing wider and wider. But after the passage of Obamacare, that gap has stopped growing. It s the one area where inequality has actually been halted in its tracks:Nevertheless, the Times s analysis shows that by the end of that first full year, 2014, so many low-income people gained coverage that it halted the decades-long expansion of the gap between the haves and the have-nots in the American health insurance system, a striking change at a time when disparities between rich and poor are growing in many areas.Here s an infographic from the Times illustrating this amazing moment in American health care: Policies like Obamacare are just abstract ideas until they are implemented. But now we have one concrete example of what happens in just one city thanks to Obamacare. The St. John s Well Child and Family Center in South Los Angeles explained that 18,000 new patients were enrolled thanks to the new law mostly black and Latino people who didn t have insurance before. The clinic has reported a 44% increase in cervical cancer screenings, 25% increase in tobacco cessastion therapy, and a 22% increase in the share of patients who now have their hypertension under control.That s in one clinic in one city.All of these improvements have happened even though Republicans have refused to expand Medicaid in many of their states, even with assistance in the form of federal dollars. That s why the law has helped far fewer blacks than it could have because blacks, especially in the south, tend to live in GOP-dominated states like Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi.Imagine if instead of stubbornly refusing to help Obama, those red states bought in and brought the kind of health care revolution being felt in that Los Angeles clinic to hundreds of thousands more people?Featured image via Flickr | 0 |
7,970 | Ted Cruz Arrives In The Bronx Only To Put Down New Yorkers, Tosses Protester Who Speaks Up | You ve honestly got to be a special kind of stupid to go into the Bronx in your effort to try to win New York, and then double-down on putting New Yorkers down for their supposed values. However, there Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz was, in all his creepy glory, again going after New York values. When asked to elaborate on what he meant, he said: Those are the values, the values of the New York liberal politicians that have been hammering the people of this great state. And he especially went after New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, saying: Every time there is a confrontation between criminals and cops he sides with the criminals, looters and rioters instead of the police officers. Which is just a flat-out lie, but he s clearly trying to cater to a crowd outside of New York, and completely giving up on any chance as winning the state over Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump. However, Cruz did take the opportunity to try to bash Trump when he said, If you want to know what liberal democratic values are, follow Donald Trump s checkbook. Donald Trump has been funding those liberal democratic politicians. Which may very well be true, but those liberal politicians keep winning, because they are clearly favored over smarmy, pretentious, wannabe Christian conservatives who think they ve been appointed by God to run the nation. Conservatives like Cruz.One protester, clearly fed up with the arrogance and idiocy of Cruz even being there said, You re running on an anti-immigrant platform, and you re speaking in the Bronx. You should not be here. The Bronx, of course, being home to thousands of immigrants, and has been for over a century.Not liking to be interrupted, Republican staffers had this protester removed, but according to the NY Daily News, it seems the protester got his fair share of applause for speaking up.Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. said: Ted Cruz is a hypocrite. He not only offended New Yorkers, he offended Bronxites, and now he s here today in New York and in the Bronx looking for money and votes. We in the Bronx know how offensive he s been. We know the truth about our borough. Cruz just being there is an insult in and of itself. Who the hell does he think he is to come into the Bronx seeking support, but then continue to put New Yorkers down? That protester was absolutely right, he shouldn t have even been there.Featured Photo by Kyle Rivas/Getty Images | 0 |
7,971 | U.N. mediator de Mistura to attend Syria talks on Friday: report | MOSCOW (Reuters) - U.N. special envoy on Syria Staffan de Mistura will arrive in Kazakhstan s capital on Friday to take part in Syria peace talks, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry said on Thursday, according to Russia s state news agency RIA. De Mistura will fly to Astana after talks in Moscow on Thursday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Kazakhstan is hosting negotiations that aim to end the Syria crisis. Discussions in the past few months have focused on establishing de-escalation zones in Syria. | 1 |
7,972 | Senator Grassley to meet Garland despite opposition to nominee | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley has invited Judge Merrick Garland to breakfast, but absent from the menu will be any promise of hearings on President Barack Obama’s nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court. A spokeswoman for Grassley said that the Republican senator spoke with Garland late on Monday and extended the invitation “where they could discuss the nomination and why the Senate will not consider a nominee until the next president takes office.” The Senate Judiciary Committee is in charge of holding hearings on Supreme Court nominees chosen by the president and deciding whether to recommend full Senate confirmation. Most of the Senate’s 54 Republicans have indicated opposition to confirming any high-court nominee of Obama’s, saying the choice should be made by the next president, who would be elected on Nov. 8 and sworn in on Jan. 20, 2017. Despite the wall of Republican opposition to Garland, who is considered a moderate federal appeals court judge, Obama and his fellow Democrats continue to push for Senate confirmation this year. Garland already has made several “courtesy calls” to senators, mostly Democrats, and will continue his visits to Capitol Hill this week. If he were to be confirmed, Garland - nominated to fill the vacancy created by the Feb. 13 death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia - would tilt the Supreme Court to the left for the first time in decades. The race for a replacement for Obama, who is completing his second and final term as president, is in full swing now with billionaire businessman Donald Trump leading two other Republican candidates and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton the front-runner for the Democratic nomination. But it could be weeks or months before the two political parties settle on their respective candidates. A date for the breakfast meeting has not yet been set, Grassley’s spokeswoman said. | 1 |
7,973 | Mexico arrests former high-ranking PRI official in corruption probe | MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican authorities on Wednesday arrested a former high-ranking official of President Enrique Pena Nieto s party in a corruption investigation in the northern state of Chihuahua, the state s governor said. The arrest extends a streak of corruption allegations dogging the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), with four former governors arrested on such charges this year. Entrenched corruption is expected to be a key issue in the runup to Mexico s next presidential election in 2018. Alejandro Gutierrez, who was the adjunct secretary to the presidency of the PRI, was arrested in a joint operation by state and federal police, Chihuahua Governor Javier Corral wrote in a post on Facebook. The Chihuahua prosecutor s office accused Gutierrez of participating in a sophisticated scheme to divert public funds of 250 million pesos ($13 million) earmarked for educational programs in 2016. Gutierrez will present himself before a judge early Thursday, the office said in a statement. This week, Mexican newspaper Reforma published reports on an alleged Chihuahua corruption scheme to funnel the money into the PRI s campaign fund, through avenues such as fake contracts for workshops for parents and expensive software. The reports were based on testimony to prosecutors by former state finance minister Jaime Herrera that the paper obtained. Gutierrez arrest took place in Coahuila. This week, he rejected allegations against him in an interview with Mexican newspaper Vanguardia, saying he was considering suing for defamation. I am thinking, I will have to look into it, if I initiate some legal proceeding, he said. I do not know, I repeat to you, I did not know not even one official, nor ex-official, of finances... I see things that are absolutely false. Gutierrez arrest contributes to the clearing up of the crimes of political corruption that have been attributed to the former governor, C sar Duarte J quez, said Corral, of the National Action Party. The government is determining whether others should be held responsible for the funneling of funds to PRI coffers in 2016, Corral added. In March, a Mexican judge issued an arrest warrant for Duarte on suspicion of embezzlement. Corral has said he is a fugitive from justice. A spokesman for the PRI did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The PRI was routed in 2016 regional elections, losing several of its bastions, including the states of Veracruz, Tamaulipas and Quintana Roo, as voters expressed discontent over a series of graft scandals. | 1 |
7,974 | EU getting closer to starting trade talks with Britain in December: Tusk | BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The chairman of European Union leaders said on Monday he was encouraged by the progress of talks on avoiding a physical border between Ireland and Northern Ireland after Britain leaves the EU, which brought closer the prospect of starting trade talks with Britain. London wants to start talks on the future trade deal with the EU as soon as possible to provide clarity for companies based in Britain on the terms of business after exiting the EU in March 2019. But the EU said it could only start such talks once sufficient progress is made in negotiations on the terms of the divorce - a financial settlement, citizens rights and the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. Tell me why I like Mondays! Encouraged after my phone call with Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar) on progress on Brexit issue of Ireland. Getting closer to sufficient progress at December EU summit, Donald Tusk said on Twitter. | 1 |
7,975 | U.S. diplomats accuse Tillerson of breaking child soldiers law | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group of about a dozen U.S. State Department officials have taken the unusual step of formally accusing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson of violating a federal law designed to stop foreign militaries from enlisting child soldiers, according to internal documents reviewed by Reuters. A confidential State Department “dissent” memo, which Reuters was first to report on, said Tillerson breached the Child Soldiers Prevention Act when he decided in June to exclude Iraq, Myanmar, and Afghanistan from a U.S. list of offenders in the use of child soldiers. This was despite the department publicly acknowledging that children were being conscripted in those countries. [tmsnrt.rs/2jJ7pav] Keeping the countries off the annual list makes it easier to provide them with U.S. military assistance. Iraq and Afghanistan are close allies in the fight against Islamist militants, while Myanmar is an emerging ally to offset China’s influence in Southeast Asia. Documents reviewed by Reuters also show Tillerson’s decision was at odds with a unanimous recommendation by the heads of the State Department’s regional bureaus overseeing embassies in the Middle East and Asia, the U.S. envoy on Afghanistan and Pakistan, the department’s human rights office and its own in-house lawyers. [tmsnrt.rs/2Ah6tB4] “Beyond contravening U.S. law, this decision risks marring the credibility of a broad range of State Department reports and analyses and has weakened one of the U.S. government's primary diplomatic tools to deter governmental armed forces and government-supported armed groups from recruiting and using children in combat and support roles around the world,” said the July 28 memo. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert, questioned at length by reporters on the issue at her daily briefing, strongly defended Tillerson’s decision as valid and in “technical compliance with the law in the way he read it.” “No one in the United States government likes the idea of the use of child soldiers,” she said. “It’s abhorrent. Asked at a photo opportunity with the visiting Peruvian foreign minister about his decision, Tillerson sidestepped any direct response to the dissenting officials’ complaint. Reuters reported in June that Tillerson had disregarded internal recommendations on Iraq, Myanmar and Afghanistan. The new documents reveal the scale of the opposition in the State Department, including the rare use of what is known as the “dissent channel,” which allows officials to object to policies without fear of reprisals. The views expressed by the U.S. officials illustrate ongoing tensions between career diplomats and the former chief of Exxon Mobil Corp appointed by President Donald Trump to pursue an “America First” approach to diplomacy. The child soldiers law passed in 2008 states that the U.S. government must be satisfied that no children under the age of 18 “are recruited, conscripted or otherwise compelled to serve as child soldiers” for a country to be removed from the list. The statute extends specifically to government militaries and government-supported armed groups like militias. The list currently includes the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Mali, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. In a written response to the dissent memo on Sept. 1, Tillerson adviser Brian Hook acknowledged that the three countries did use child soldiers. He said, however, it was necessary to distinguish between governments “making little or no effort to correct their child soldier violations ... and those which are making sincere - if as yet incomplete - efforts.” [tmsnrt.rs/2zWGRt0]Hook made clear that America’s top diplomat used what he sees as his discretion to interpret the law. Foreign militaries on the list are prohibited from receiving aid, training and weapons from Washington unless the White House issues a waiver based on U.S. “national interest.” In 2016, under the Obama administration, both Iraq and Myanmar, as well as others such as Nigeria and Somalia, received waivers. At times, the human rights community chided President Barack Obama for being too willing to issue waivers and exemptions, especially for governments that had security ties with Washington, instead of sanctioning more of those countries. “Human Rights Watch frequently criticized President Barack Obama for giving too many countries waivers, but the law has made a real difference,” Jo Becker, advocacy director for the group’s children’s rights division, wrote in June in a critique of Tillerson’s decision. The dissenting U.S. officials stressed that Tillerson’s decision to exclude Iraq, Afghanistan and Myanmar went a step further than the Obama administration’s waiver policy by contravening the law and effectively easing pressure on the countries to eradicate the use of child soldiers. The officials acknowledged in the documents reviewed by Reuters that those three countries had made progress. But in their reading of the law, they said that was not enough to be kept off a list that has been used to shame governments into completely eradicating the use of child soldiers. Ben Cardin, ranking Democrat on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, wrote to Tillerson on Friday saying there were “serious concerns that the State Department may not be complying” with the law and that the secretary’s decision “sent a powerful message to these countries that they were receiving a pass on their unconscionable actions.” The memo was among a series of previously unreported documents sent this month to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the State Department’s independent inspector general’s office that relate to allegations that Tillerson violated the child soldiers law. Legal scholars say that because of the executive branch’s latitude in foreign policy there is little legal recourse to counter Tillerson’s decision. Herman Schwartz, a constitutional law professor at American University in Washington, said U.S. courts would be unlikely to accept any challenge to Tillerson’s interpretation of the child soldiers law as allowing him to remove a country from the list on his own discretion. The signatories to the document were largely senior policy experts with years of involvement in the issues, said an official familiar with the matter. Reuters saw a copy of the document that did not include the names of those who signed it. Tillerson’s decision to remove Iraq and Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, from the list and reject a recommendation by U.S. officials to add Afghanistan was announced in the release of the government’s annual human trafficking report on June 27. Six days earlier, a previously unreported memo emailed to Tillerson from a range of senior diplomats said the three countries violated the law based on evidence gathered by U.S. officials in 2016 and recommended that he approve them for the new list. It noted that in Iraq, the United Nations and non-governmental organizations “reported that some Sunni tribal forces ... recruited and used persons younger than the age of 18, including instances of children taking a direct part in hostilities.” Ali Kareem, who heads Iraq’s High Committee for Human Rights, denied the country’s military or state-backed militias use child soldiers. “We can say today with full confidence that we have a clean slate on child recruitment issues,” he said. The memo also said “two confirmed cases of child recruitment” by the Myanmar military “were documented during the reporting period.” Human rights advocates have estimated that dozens of children are still conscripted there. Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay challenged accusers to provide details of where and how child soldiers are being used. He noted that in the latest State Department report on human trafficking, “they already recognized (Myanmar) for reducing of child soldiers” – though the report also made clear some children were still conscripted. The memo said further there was “credible evidence” that a government-supported militia in Afghanistan “recruited and used a child,” meeting the minimum threshold of a single confirmed case that the State Department had previously used as the legal basis for putting a country on the list. The Afghan defense and interior ministries both denied there were any child soldiers in Afghan national security forces, an assertion that contradicts the State Department’s reports and human rights activists. | 1 |
7,976 | JIMMY KIMMEL READS His Second Book To Donald Trump: Winners Still Aren’t Losers [Video] | Jimmy Kimmel writes a second book for Trump pretty GREAT! | 0 |
7,977 | US Middle Class Still Suffering from Rockefeller-Kissinger Industrial Transfer Scheme to China | Dick Eastman The Truth HoundWhen Henry Kissinger and David Rockefeller met with Zhou Enlai in China in 1973 just after President Richard Nixon had visited China establishing official relations an understanding was reached whereby the U.S. would supply industrial capital and know-how to China.In return Kissinger-connected corporations would gain the monopolistic advantage of low-cost labor production which could outcompete all U.S. domestic industry.The comparative advantage gained was being able to hire Chinese laborers who were ready to work hard at exceedingly low cost with no drugs, no alcohol, a strong work ethic, no unions, no paid benefits and weak environmental standards. And with such a large labor pool, burned out workers could simply be replaced. This gave the Rockefeller/Kissinger corporations a major edge over their domestic U.S. competitors who had to pay relatively high wages, high regulation costs, deal with union strikes and collective bargaining etc.Of course, the American consumer did not see greatly lowered prices commensurate with such greatly lowered labor costs. The $19.99 plastic action-figure toy marketed with a Hollywood movie still cost $19.99 even though it cost $12 to $15 to produce in the U.S. but less than $2.00 per copy to produce in China and transport to America s West Coast container ports for distribution throughout America.The consumer paid pretty much the old prices but the corporations split the monopoly profit with China s Princelings since it did not take much of a lowering of prices to drive high-wage, high-benefit, contracted-labor domestic corporations out of business (not to mention the environmental and workplace safety regulations with which domestic companies were saddled). Then, Wal-Mart became a near-monopoly retailer that increased and reinforced the widespread selling of these off-shore manufactures.Thus, America s domestic producers were not simply being bested on one or another area of production; they were being bested across the entire spectrum of manufactured goods that American buy. It was anticipated that these domestic firms would fail, and their failure was hastened by the banks maintaining a deflationary domestic economy in the U.S. throughout the post Rockefeller-Kissinger-Zhou buildup of China and the degrading of American domestic manufacturing.Remember, the entire money supply of the U.S. is borrowed that is, the money co-created with a debt of an even bigger amount (principal plus compound interest) that must in due course be returned to the lender. But money in the domestic economy was going to multinational corporations and to China, while also going to taxes to pay on the national debt that resulted [NOTE: Due to U.S. industrial depletion, federal revenue receipts as well as the tax-take of state and local governments, shrunk, resulting in greater government borrowing and therefore greater public debts TRUTH HOUND note]. And of course, compound interest was attached to that debt.Rockefeller and Kissinger were (and to some extent still are) at war with middle-class America with intelligent, self-supporting, self-respecting, ambitious, industrious citizens who always pose the greatest threat in the form of populist politics to the bankers and their Bank-of-England/East-India-Company/Rothschild monetary and trade system, the very system that Rockefeller and Kissinger were representing and expanding when they visited Zhou Enlai.So here we are in 2016 and newly elected President Donald J. Trump says he intends to place a tariff on goods imported from China, while the media decries the tariff proposal as a violation of long-standing liberal free-trade policies. One more thing in defense of who I believe was a great president and a warning for the new one.Richard Nixon opened China believing in peaceful co-existence and the fact that if given time for a fair comparison of how free-enterprise and representative government functions in contrast to the communist planned economy, that the U.S. model would win out over a system where each receives what the state deems he needs and where work is ordered by the state.But of course Kissinger and Rockefeller instigated the Watergate coup against Nixon a frame-up with John Dean and Kissinger as the real Deep Throats by my deductions from public information so that the Rockefeller/Kissinger plans for China s industrialization and America s deindustrialization could proceed unopposed, as it certainly did after Nixon resigned to avoid a constitutional crisis that would hinder the proper working of government.Nixon should have fought them because they were about to take a financial axe to this country as soon as Nixon was gone. When Nixon was gone, they first robbed the middle-class of their savings with banker Paul Volcker s QE (quantitative easing) bond purchases at the New York Federal Reserve branch. Then, when that was accomplished, America s savings-and-loans were cast into crisis (because they had been taking in money short-term at 3% and lending long-term at 6%). This helped force the deregulation of banking to Rockefeller advantage after which Volcker moved to become Federal Reserve Chairman in control of the discount rate. With that lever of power that sets the interest-rate framework of the nation, Volcker inaugurated the tight-money (deflation) policy that has persisted to this day, making it very hard for firms to invest in automation to combat the cost advantage of Chinese subsistence labor.Japan was hit with deflation too they were going to provide us with the robots. THE WHOLE THING WAS A GREAT PLAN AGAINST US, COORDINATED AT EVERY LEVEL, WITH EVERY INSTITUTION, FROM THE NEWS TALKING ABOUT HOW THE LEVERAGED BUY-OUTS OCCURING IN THE DEFLATION WERE MAKING US LEAN AND MEAN, WHEN IN FACT THEY WERE TEARING OUT THE GUTS OF AMERICAN PRODUCTION. And the news media and the economics and business administration courses in colleges sung the praises of international free trade and the efficiency of markets nonstop.I watched it all from a pretty good seat on the sidelines, but of course I was marginalized as just another excess white person who needed to stand aside so that blacks and women could have their fair chance. And who could argue with that? So I took to the internet to see what effect I could have simply speaking as a citizen, where I ve met encountered considerable abuse and ridicule, which certainly makes it unpleasant to try and be the Paul Revere awakening the good citizens.I do wish President Donald Trump the best. But let us make sure that none of the neo-conservatives he is taking into his administration are really Kissingers beholden to Goldman-Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein. Beware of new Watergates.Washington writer Dick Eastman taught economics at Texas A & M University and also studied the behavorial sciences.READ MORE CHINA NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire China Files | 0 |
7,978 | France's Macron says EU all united on Brexit talks | BRUSSELS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that the European Union s 27 remaining nations were all united in their stance on Brexit behind the bloc s negotiator Michel Barnier in talks on Britain s withdrawal. This European Council will be marked by a message of unity, Macron told reporters on arrival at an EU summit in Brussels. Unity in the Brexit discussions because we are all united on how things stand, the interests we have and our ambitions, behind one negotiator. | 1 |
7,979 | [VIDEO] GERMAN MAYOR Blames Victims Of Mass Rape, Sexual Assault By Muslim Migrants For Not Defending Themselves | Because blaming the Muslim migrants who raped and sexually assaulted an untold number of women on New Years Eve would be politically incorrect and certainly not very hospitable A political scandal is developing in Germany as ordinary citizens wake up to the scale of the migrant crime cover-up, and the callous reaction of the mayor of Cologne to mass-sex crime on new year s eve.The Mayor of Cologne has spoken out about the attacks, but her carefully chosen words are unlikely to delight many. Rather than addressing the root causes of the violence unlimited mass migration and a totally failed system of integration the newly elected pro-migrant mayor instead blamed the victims of the sexual abuse for having failed to defend themselves against the immigrant attackers.Here is a video of the shocking chaos that took place on New Years Eve:Speaking on live television this afternoon mayor Henriette Reker, who was near-fatally stabbed in the run up to October elections by an anti mass migration campaigner, said in future women would have to be better prepared in her city to deal with migrants.She remarked: The women and young girls have to be more protected in the future so these things don t happen again. This means, they should go out and have fun, but they need to be better prepared, especially with the Cologne carnival coming up. For this, we will publish online guidelines that these young women can read through to prepare themselves .What form this guidance will take is presently unclear, the mayor could take inspiration from young victim whose modest clothes protected them from the worst consequences of walking at night in areas controlled by migrant men. The woman said: Fortunately I wore a jacket and trousers. a skirt would probably have been torn away from me .Despite her words of warning towards women in the city they could prepare for more violence against them, she refuted the suggestion there was any link between the attacks and migrants, contradicting her own chief of police.An opposition council member has today sounded the alarm bell on the deteriorating state of control the local government has over the city of Cologne, and in an official letter from the council group has warned those planning to come to the famous Cologne council next month the city and the police are unable to guarantee the safety of locals and tourists .Council group leader and lawyer Judith Wolter said in her letter to the people of Cologne today: I want as a member of the Cologne City Council to submit a travel warning for the carnival time in Cologne city centre. Especially the area in and around the central station, the cathedral and the adjoining area towards the banks of the Rhine for tourists (and locals) is no longer considered even in normal times as safe. For months, there is in these areas numerous thefts, open drug dealing, robberies and harassment of all kinds Dozens of women were sexually harassed in public and there was at least one rape. Neither the city nor the police are able to guarantee in the territory described the safety of tourists and locals. Especially for women it must be assumed that a high security risk is here in the evening and night hours. At New Year s Eve there was a legal vacuum and a no-go area for women. With the climax of the Carnival season it is unfortunately expected to be a similar situation .German police have admitted to losing several urban areas to migrant gangs as so-called no-go zones, but this is possibly the first time a public square in the centre of a European city has been acknowledged by officials as having been lost to criminality, and out of the control of police at night.News of the attacks was suppressed for days, with just short reports of isolated incidents in Cologne city centre making it to local outlets on New Year s Day.The Kolnifsche Rundschau described the scene at the railways station as largely peaceful and made no effort to describe those who attacked the young women, one of which told press she had fingers on every orifice after she was stripped near naked.Only after nearly 100 victims of assault and abuse came forwards to police, and stories of attacks started circulating on social media did the truth of the situation start to slowly emerge, forcing local police to hold a press conference on Monday afternoon.Despite the chief of police admitting the enormous scale of sexual assault and confirming the attackers were of North African and Arab origin, much of the mainstream media is still in damage control mode, either trying to shift the focus from migrants, or avoiding the events completely. Via: Breitbart News | 0 |
7,980 | Senate panel presses SEC nominee Clayton on conflicts | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Jay Clayton, the Wall Street attorney tapped by President Donald Trump to lead the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, on Thursday defended himself against Democrats’ charges that multiple conflicts of interest would force him to miss too many SEC votes. Clayton, a partner at elite law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, is expected to win confirmation easily, although some Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee raised concerns about his ties to Wall Street and Goldman Sachs, a bank he represented during the financial crisis and that employs his wife, Gretchen. His wife plans to resign from the bank if Clayton is confirmed, and he said he will recuse himself from matters involving his or the firm’s clients for two years. Some clients have included Barclays, Deutsche Bank, Bill Ackman’s hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management and former Ocwen Financial Corp Executive Chairman William Erbey. Clayton told the panel his Wall Street legal experience is a “strength,” adding he did not think conflicts of interest would present problems in leading the agency that enforces securities laws and regulates U.S. stock, options and bond markets. “As far as the extent of my practice and whether the recusals that would be required for potential conflicts will impair my ability to act as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, I do not believe they will do so,” he said. Clayton, a political independent, told the committee the Dodd-Frank financial reform law should be “looked at” to determine if it has achieved its goals. When pressed on certain parts of the law, such as whether the SEC should delay implementing a rule requiring companies to disclose the ratio of CEO pay to the median pay of workers, Clayton declined to wade into the debate until he could get more information from SEC staff. In their questioning, Republicans led by panel chairman Mike Crapo of Idaho said the SEC should help make it easier for companies to raise money, a goal the Trump administration has embraced. Clayton said that SEC regulations should be clear and lean, saying complexity creates confusion. Companies are taking longer to go public and compliance costs are a deterrent, he said, but he did not offer policy solutions to the problem. Throughout the hearing, Democrats including Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, repeatedly said Clayton’s Wall Street relationships are a worry. “In today’s confirmation hearing for Jay Clayton, the matter of conflicts of interests was the skunk at the party,” said Lisa Gilbert, a vice president of legislative affairs for Public Citizen, which has criticized Clayton’s Wall Street ties. Clayton’s potential recusals could be significant because the commission currently only has two sitting members: Democrat Kara Stein and Republican Michael Piwowar. If Clayton recuses himself and the remaining two disagree, any measure before the commission would fail. He stressed he did not see this as a major concern because most enforcement votes are “unanimous.” Clayton also said he strongly believes in holding individuals accountable for wrongdoing, adding it could be a greater deterrent than coming down on corporations. The SEC only has civil jurisdiction and cannot bring criminal prosecutions. Democrats also questioned if Clayton is willing to stand up to Trump and his appointees. Warren pointed to billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who is advising Trump on regulation, and asked Clayton about Icahn using his high-profile role to boost his own investments. Icahn has a controlling stake in a refinery that could benefit from a change he has proposed to the U.S. biofuels program and a 24.57 percent stake in Herbalife Ltd, which is under investigation for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Clayton acknowledged he met with Icahn after he was nominated to discuss the role of activist investors, but was careful not to judge Icahn’s roles as investor and White House adviser. Violations of insider trading laws generally entail a “facts and circumstances analysis,” he said. Current and former SEC staff have told Reuters they are confident that Clayton will make a strong SEC chairman. Former Republican SEC Commissioner Daniel Gallagher, who has known Clayton since the financial crisis, attended the hearing Thursday and gave him high marks. “His demeanor is perfectly fitting for an SEC chairman,” he said. | 1 |
7,981 | Rescue efforts end in Indian building collapse; 34 dead | MUMBAI (Reuters) - Rescuers in the Indian city of Mumbai wound down on Friday their search for victims in the ruins of a condemned building that collapsed, after pulling 12 survivors and 34 bodies from the rubble, emergency services said. The 117-year-old, six storey-building in a congested old neighborhood came crashing down early on Thursday after heavy rain had drenched the financial hub for days. Rescue operations are in a demobilization phase. Two fire appliances and one ambulance will be on standby at site as a precautionary measure, said P. S. Rahangdale, chief fire officer of the Mumbai Fire Brigade. Among the dead was a 20-day old baby, police said. The collapse was the second in Mumbai in little over a month. In July, 17 people were killed when a four-storey building came down after suspected unauthorized renovations. The cause of the latest collapse was not known but it came after several days of torrential rainy-season downpours that flooded parts of the city. Devendra Fadnavis, the chief minister of Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital, ordered an inquiry. The building had been declared unsafe by the housing regulator in 2011 but many people had stayed on living here. Neighbors said developers tasked with renovating properties in the area had not provided enough information about options for temporary housing. Officials from the housing regulator told media they had granted a neighborhood trust with the right to redevelop the building and provide temporary housing to residents. The trust issued a statement on Thursday saying it had started relocating residents, and had moved seven families in 2014, but other residents had refused to leave. | 1 |
7,982 | BREAKING: Trump Supporters Busted By FBI For Plotting MASSIVE Terrorist Attack | The FBI thwarted an act of domestic terrorism on Friday when they arrested three white men for plotting to blow up an apartment complex in Kansas.Curtis Allen, Gavin Wright, and Patrick Stein were all taken into custody after an investigation that took eight months busted the trio for planning a massive terrorist attack in Garden City.Their target was an apartment complex and a mosque that serviced 120 Somali refugees.According to KWCH, United States Attorney Tom Beall said the men stockpiled a large cache of firearms, and ammunition. Beall said the men planned to park vehicles full of explosives at all four corners of the Garden City apartment complex. The men said they wanted to wake people up .Beall said the men wrote a manifesto, which they wanted published after the bombing.According to an affidavit, the were a part of a group called the Kansas Security Force and the Crusaders. These are militia groups whose members support and espouse sovereign citizen, anti-government, anti-Muslim, and anti-immigrant extremist beliefs, read the affidavit.The three men had planned to carry out the attack on November 9th, one day after Election Day.And as it turns out, Curtis Allen is a supporter of Donald Trump and his Facebook page is full of anti-Muslim rhetoric. I personally back Donald Trump, an unhinged Allen wrote in a post ranting about how Hillary Clinton is supposedly going to put Americans in FEMA camps and take all guns away.Allen was also particularly paranoid about Muslims. Here is just a sampling of his posts.Clearly, this guy hates Muslims, and his hate and paranoia was only perpetuated by Republican nominee Donald Trump.Trump has built his campaign on bashing Muslims, especially Muslim refugees. So Allen decided to join with two other guys in an effort to kill Muslims. Whether the other two are Trump supporters as well is not known, but this is how dangerous Donald Trump has become in our country. He is making right-wing nut jobs blood thirsty and paranoid enough to commit acts of domestic terrorism.Featured Image: Spencer Platt/Getty Images | 0 |
7,983 | Fox News Rails Against Media Coverage of Trump’s First 100 Days – Here’s How They Covered Obama’s | Donald Trump s media mouthpiece, Fox News, is trying to put a positive spin on his terrible first 100 days, just like Reince Priebus and Trump himself. Part of what Fox is doing seems to be taking to Twitter to loudly complain about how the rest of the media has covered his first 100 days. Needless to say, they are very unhappy that the media s coverage has been overwhelmingly negative. To them, this demonstrates a very obvious hatred of Trump:The media s 100-day war against @POTUS. pic.twitter.com/orcTyETvzt Fox News (@FoxNews) April 23, 2017Study: 89% of broadcast news coverage of the Trump Administration has been negative. pic.twitter.com/bSV5vCoDZZ Fox News (@FoxNews) April 23, 2017TV News pushed relentlessly negative agenda. pic.twitter.com/G09jhqdra3 Fox News (@FoxNews) April 23, 2017But this is because it s Trump. Fox News was similarly negative during Obama s first 100 days. According to George Mason University s Center for Media Affairs, Bret Baier s Special Report only gave positive coverage to Obama 23 percent of the time (they analyzed Special Report because it most closely resembles traditional broadcast news). 77 percent of their coverage was negative.Overall, only 21 percent of Fox s total coverage was positive, and that number dropped to 15 percent when discussing his policies.Perhaps more than that, though, is the fact that Fox declared their opposition to Obama as quickly as they could. In April of 2009, they were openly urging their viewers to get involved in Tea Party protests against President Obama s fiscal policy.Furthermore, they weren t afraid to use words like socialism, fascism, Marxism and even communism. They uttered those words 1,400 times during Obama s first 100 days, or 14 times per day.So really, where do they get off whining about how the media s covering Trump? The fact of the matter is that Trump has actually been a complete disaster since he got elected. His proposals are literally impossible, he thought he could strongarm both Congress and hostile world leaders into falling in line behind him, and he s spent more time golfing in his first 100 days than Obama spent in his entire first year. Calling all this out is part of the media s job.Photo of Donald Trump by Mark Wilson/Getty Images. Photo of President Obama by Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images | 0 |
7,984 | Trump aides attack agency that will analyze health bill's costs | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Aides to U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday attacked the credibility of the nonpartisan agency that will analyze the costs of a replacement for Obamacare, as the White House sought to quell opposition from many conservative Republicans. The Congressional Budget Office, which provides official estimates of the budget impact of proposed legislation, is expected to issue a report as soon as Monday that will assess the healthcare legislation put forward by Republican House of Representatives leaders. The report could influence sentiment toward a bill already under fire from Democrats and some Republicans, especially if it suggests the legislation would reduce the number of Americans with health coverage or worsen U.S. budget deficits. Republicans have long opposed Obamacare, formally called the Affordable Care Act, on the grounds it was government overreach and led to higher insurance premiums. The 2010 law, Democratic President Barack Obama’s signature legislation, provided 20 million previously uninsured Americans with health coverage. Trump has called Obamacare a “disaster” and made its repeal and replacement a key campaign pledge. Several Republican lawmakers said on Sunday the replacement bill was unacceptable in its current form, including conservative Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, who said the plan could not pass the Senate and could put the Republican House majority at risk in 2018 congressional elections. “I believe it would have adverse consequences for millions of Americans and it wouldn’t deliver on our promises to reduce the cost of health insurance for Americans,” Cotton said. In a series of television interviews, White House budget director Mick Mulvaney and top White House economic adviser Gary Cohn said the CBO was focusing on the wrong metrics with the estimates it will provide on the number of people who are insured. Cohn and Mulvaney said the CBO should instead should analyze whether patients can actually afford to go to a doctor. “I love the folks at the CBO, they work really hard, they do, but sometimes we ask them to do stuff they’re not capable of doing, and estimating the impact of a bill of this size probably isn’t the - isn’t the best use of their time,” Mulvaney told ABC’s “This Week” program. Speaking on Fox News, Gary Cohn, director of the White House National Economic Council, said: “We will see what the score is, in fact in the past, the CBO score has really been meaningless.” “They’ve said that many more people will be insured than are actually insured. But when we get the CBO score, we’ll deal with that,” Cohn said. The Trump administration’s criticisms of the CBO are unusual. Prior administrations, both Republican and Democratic, steered clear of attacking the credibility of the agency, which many lawmakers regard as a neutral arbiter. The CBO’s current director, Keith Hall, was appointed by Republicans in 2015. The credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s has estimated 6 million to 10 million people could lose health insurance coverage under the Republican plan. Senator Bernie Sanders, who ran for president in 2016 as a Democrat, said it was “cowardly” for Republicans to proceed with a healthcare bill without CBO estimates, telling CBS’ Face the Nation show: “This is a disgrace.” In recent weeks, Trump administration officials and Republican lawmakers have criticized what they said were overly optimistic estimates from the CBO of the number of Americans who would sign up for health insurance on government-run exchanges. The CBO estimated in 2013 that 22 million people would be purchasing insurance through the exchanges in 2016. Only 10.4 million were signed up for those plans by the middle of last year, according to Department of Health and Human Services data. The House Republican legislation would scrap tax penalties for Americans without health insurance, roll back an expansion of Medicaid insurance for the poor, and replace Obamacare’s income-based subsidies with a system of fixed tax credits to help people buy private insurance on the open market. Cohn also disputed the notion that millions of people on Medicaid would become uninsured as Obamacare’s expansion of the program is rolled back over a period of years. He said many of these people would be transitioned into new private and employer-sponsored plans that would become more affordable under the Republican plan. House Speaker Paul Ryan, the Republican plan’s top backer in Congress, said he was “certain” the CBO would show a reduction in the number of Americans with coverage. “You know why? Because this isn’t a government mandate,” Ryan told NBC’s Meet the Press. Conservative Republicans said, however, they could not support the plan without significant changes. Republican Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, a founder of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, said it did not go far enough to meet Republicans’ promise to kill Obamacare. “We told them we were going to replace it with something that would bring down the cost of insurance. That’s what we told them,” Jordan told Fox News Sunday. “This legislation that the speaker’s brought forward doesn’t do that.” | 1 |
7,985 | INFAMOUS ROMANIAN HACKER Tells FOX News Host How “EASY” It Was To Hack Hillary’s Server [VIDEO] | Of course, America s favorite criminal candidate says America shouldn t believe the infamous hacker who claims he accessed her unsecured server because he s a criminal. LOL if anyone can spot a criminal, it s Crooked Hillary The infamous Romanian hacker known as Guccifer, speaking exclusively with Fox News, claimed he easily and repeatedly breached former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton s personal email server in early 2013. For me, it was easy easy for me, for everybody, Marcel Lehel Lazar, who goes by the moniker Guccifer, told Fox News from a Virginia jail where he is being held.Guccifer s potential role in the Clinton email investigation was first reported by Fox News last month. The hacker subsequently claimed he was able to access the server and provided extensive details about how he did it and what he found over the course of a half-hour jailhouse interview and a series of recorded phone calls with Fox News.Fox News could not independently confirm Lazar s claims.In response to Lazar s claims, the Clinton campaign issued a statement Wednesday night saying, There is absolutely no basis to believe the claims made by this criminal from his prison cell. In addition to the fact he offers no proof to support his claims, his descriptions of Secretary Clinton s server are inaccurate. It is unfathomable that he would have gained access to her emails and not leaked them the way he did to his other victims. The former secretary of state s server held nearly 2,200 emails containing information now deemed classified, and another 22 at the Top Secret level. Via: FOX News | 0 |
7,986 | Ousted Hong Kong lawmakers ordered to pay hefty expense bills | HONG KONG (Reuters) - Four Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmakers who were ousted from the legislature this year condemned on Monday as political persecution a demand that they pay back hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses. A special legislative commission demanded that the lawmakers each pay up to HK$3.1 million ($397,400) in operating expenses and staff wages, the legislative council s president, Andrew Leung, said. Critics say the demand for money is an attempt to bankrupt the four and pile pressure on the city s pro-democracy camp that has tried to challenge what it sees as increasing interference by Beijing despite a promise of autonomy in the financial hub. Leung said the legislature had a duty to recover the funds, backdated to when the lawmakers first took office in October last year, as public money was involved. The former lawmakers - Nathan Law, veteran activist Leung Kwok-hung otherwise known as long hair , lecturer Lau Siu-lai, and surveyor Edward Yiu - would be given four weeks to respond, after which the legislature would decide what to do. This is raw political persecution, said Law, 24, who was jailed in August on an unlawful assembly charge linked to Hong Kong s pro-democracy Occupy protests in 2014, but who is out on bail pending an appeal. It s preposterous, Law added at a news conference held with the other three. Another of the expelled lawmakers, Yiu, said the four had worked hard as lawmakers over nine months, and they should be compensated for that, and not punished unjustly. Hong Kong s High Court expelled the four from the 70-member legislature in July after judging their oaths of office void for various reasons including speaking too slowly, adding extra words, or using a tone of voice suggesting disrespect towards China. The disqualifications came after China s parliament last November judged that lawmakers must swear allegiance to Hong Kong as part of China, and that candidates would be disqualified if they changed the wording of their oath or if they failed to take it in a sincere and solemn manner. The ruling was considered Beijing s most direct intervention in Hong Kong s legal system since the 1997 handover of the city from Britain to China. The disqualifications eroded the influence of the opposition pro-democracy camp that had held a slender one-third veto bloc in the legislative council. Nearly 100 democracy activists are facing court cases in connection with their campaigning and several including student protest leader Joshua Wong have recently been jailed. A former British colony, Hong Kong reverted to China 20 years ago under a one country, two systems formula that guarantees a range of freedoms not enjoyed in China, including a direct vote for half of the legislative assembly. ($1 = 7.8005 Hong Kong dollars) | 1 |
7,987 | Did Mike Pence Use The Police To Illegally Suppress The Vote Of Tens Of Thousands Of Black People In Indiana? | Right in the middle of the nine thousand scandals swirling around Donald Trump comes one about his running mate, Mike Pence. As governor of Indiana, Pence oversaw everything from legalized discrimination to destroying the state s educational system, and there was even an attempt to destroy freedom of the press. Now, it s come out that he may have engaged in some voter suppression as well particularly against Indiana s black voters.This is so much worse than the clearly fraudulent voter ID law. The Indiana State Police raided the offices of the Indiana Voter Registration Project (IVRP) in an alleged attempt to root out voter fraud . IVRP didn t see it that way, and neither did advocacy groups. They saw it as a deliberate attempt to shut them down, slowing registration and nullifying thousands of registration applications for black people across the state. The whole initiative, if it can even be called that, started in nine counties, and then expanded to 56 counties shortly after this raid.The IVRP is based in Indianapolis, which has a higher black population than the rest of the state. Patriot Group USA, a progressive advocacy group, started running ads against Pence and the state after the raid. They and the IVRP say that more than 40,000 black Hoosiers may not be allowed to vote on Nov. 8.Besides that, employees were barred from filming the raid, and the police handcuffed a black employee and denied him his legal right to speak to an attorney.Black voters tend to vote Democratic, and almost every voter suppression tactics are aimed at harming Democratic voting. As longtime GOP consultant Carter Wrenn said, when he effectively threw his party and its suppression tactics to the wolves: Look, if African Americans voted overwhelmingly Republican, they would have kept early voting right where it was. He was speaking of North Carolina trying to end early voting, but this applies to most voter suppression tactics. Pence would know that he s a conniving old white man who sees the black community as an electoral threat. If they can t register, they can t vote, and if they can t vote, his party is safer.It s so disgustingly simple it makes us want to put our fists through the walls.Of course, Pence s spokesperson called the allegations false and absurd. He said: In fact, the Indiana State Police has uncovered strong evidence of voter fraud by Patriot Majority USA. Among Governor Pence s top priorities is ensuring the integrity of the election and that every single Hoosier vote counts. He has full confidence in the Indiana State Police investigation to achieve this goal. Uh huh. Sure. The state police have found exactly ten irregularities so far, and they re mostly missing zip codes or other minor problems, according to Fusion. Ten, and those irregularities show anything but fraud.Pence ought to be ashamed of himself, but he s still Donald Trump s running mate so we all know he s incapable of shame.Featured image by Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images | 0 |
7,988 | Elizabeth Warren DESECRATES Trump At La Raza: ‘Born With Cash In His Fist And Hate In His Heart’ | Speaking at the National Council of La Raza conference in Orlando on Saturday, Elizabeth Warren went after Donald Trump and completely desecrated him in a fiery speech.Addressing the crowd at the national conference of the largest Hispanic advocacy organization, the Massachusetts senator stressed the importance of economic issues as they pertain to the Hispanic community and denounced Trump s racist rhetoric. We believe that diversity has made this country strong, Warren said. And racism, sexism, homophobia, hatred, injustice, and bigotry have no place here. We will never build Donald Trump s stupid wall, she said to a standing ovation.Warren said that come hell or high water, Clinton must win this election in November. Hillary Clinton must be the next President of the United States, and Tim Kaine must be the next Vice President of the United States, Warren said. Not can , not should , we must make them. Hillary Clinton must be the next President of the United States, and Tim Kaine must be the next Vice President of the United States, Warren said. Not can , not should , we must make them. Warren, who joked that I haven t been this excited to come to Orlando since Harry Potter arrived, also stressed the importance of healthcare during her 20-minute speech, noting that one in four Latinos have no health care. I know how hard every single one of you is working, sometimes we ve got to stop and we ve got to remind ourselves what it is that we re working for, Warren said. Why we get up in the mornings and why we fight. It is time to come down hard on predatory practices that allow financial institutions to systematically strip wealth out of Latino communities, and we are ready to fight for it. She also demanded reforms in drug laws and criminal sentencing as well as immediate action on climate change, in addition to her focus on economic issues. We believe that no one should work full-time and still live in poverty, Warren said. Latino workers earn less than white workers and African-American workers. That means raise the minimum wage, enforce overtime pay, pass sick leave and family leave and schedules that work. Warren then called out the Republican nominee by name. I have a few things to say that will not fit into 140 characters on Twitter, she said, calling Trump a weak, thin-skinned man , small, insecure, money-grubbing and A man who will never be president of the United States. She spoke of the heart wrenching story of a Hispanic man who testified during a Senate hearing on the 2008 mortgage crisis who told how he had struggled not to cry when he told his daughters that they were going to lose their home. She then contrasted his story with that of the bigoted billionaire who said he was excited for the real estate market to crash. He was drooling over the idea of a housing meltdown because it meant he could buy up more properties on the cheap. What kind of a man does that? she asked.The senator concluded that this election will decide what kind of a people we are and what kind of a country we want to build. Featured image via Mark Wilson/Getty Images | 0 |
7,989 | Lunatic Right-Winger Uses Girl Scout Cookies As Reason To End Laws Against Child Labor | Right-wingers never have been very smart, but this one really takes the cake. There is an idea that the fact Girl Scout cookies are sold means America needs to end child labor laws. No, this isn t a joke and it isn t an exaggeration.A piece from The Federalist is suggesting that children engaging in an annual fundraising drive by selling cookies are somehow no more offensive than 10-year-olds working in steel mills, or coal mines, for 10 or more hours per day, 7 days a week.To quote the article:The Girl Scout cookie program, in other words, teaches young girls how to be entrepreneurs; it teaches them how to work. It is, after a fashion, child labor. The great scandal is not that the Girl Scouts are promoting child labor, it s that there isn t more child labor in the United States today.Source: The FederalistThe author then complains about the fact the government has outlawed every meaningful kind of occupation for children younger than 14, Citing any manufacturing occupation, most processing occupations, all work requiring the use of ladders, scaffolds or their substitutes, outside window washing. Children younger than 14 should not have any meaningful kind of occupation other than school student! The sheer insanity of this is beyond words.He goes on to say that there is even a strong case for abolishing what he calls compulsory education, by letting them not go to school in exchange for being able to work full-time instead. I m sure a 10-year-old will land a good-paying full-time job where they can support themselves over the next 70 years with no schooling.The American right-wing has totally gone off the deep end. You might say But this is only one writer s opinion. The problem is, it isn t. Elected federal-level Republicans have resurrected the idea of removing safeguards against child labor just a few years ago. Even wannabe presidential candidates have advocated for it. It s a real thing that Republicans want to do, and that scares the hell out of me.If those freeloading Girl Scouts can safely sell harmless boxes of cookies for one month a year, why aren t they working the other 11 months in a steel mill instead of wasting time being forced to go to school. Right? God help us if these people take control.Featured image via wikicommons | 0 |
7,990 | EPIC RESPONSE AFTER THE BOSTON GLOBE Runs Fake Cover Bashing Trump…THIS IS GREAT! | THE BOSTON GLOBE ran a Sunday edition with a fake cover slamming Donald Trump for his desire to secure our border with Mexico. It was kind of a look at how supposedly horrible life would be with a president who actually puts Americans first. Fake news is happening everywhere these days but it s a big deal when a major newspaper does it. This is yet another example of how the media is so desperate to hurt Trump.The great thing is that there s the new media that responded almost immediately with a cover of Obama. The different in this cover is that these horrible things are REALLY happening under Obama! Way to go! | 0 |
7,991 | U.S. says it will provide Ukraine with 'defensive' aid | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will provide Ukraine with enhanced defensive capabilities, the State Department said on Friday, as Kiev battles Russian-backed separatists in the eastern part of the country. U.S. assistance is entirely defensive in nature, and as we have always said, Ukraine is a sovereign country and has a right to defend itself, the department said in a statement. It said the decision was part of the U.S. effort to help Ukraine defend its territorial integrity and deter further aggression, but did not specify the capabilities being considered. Earlier on Friday, ABC News reported that President Donald Trump was expected to approve the sale of anti-tank missiles to Ukraine, citing State Department sources. Any sale would need congressional approval. Ukraine and Russia are at loggerheads over a war in eastern Ukraine between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian government forces that has killed more than 10,000 people in three years. Kiev accuses Moscow of sending troops and heavy weapons to the region, which Russia denies. Russian President Vladimir Putin said in September that any decision by the United States to supply defensive weapons to Ukraine would fuel the conflict in eastern Ukraine and possibly prompt the separatists to expand their campaign there. On Monday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said it was recalling officers serving at the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination (JCCC) in Ukraine, accusing the Ukrainian side of obstructing their work and limiting access to the front line. Ukrainian officials, security monitors and Kiev s foreign backers warned on Wednesday that Moscow s decision to withdraw from a Ukrainian-Russian ceasefire control group could worsen the fighting in eastern Ukraine. Earlier this week the State Department said it had approved an export license for Ukraine to buy certain light weapons and small arms from U.S. manufacturers. Senator John McCain on Wednesday welcomed the small arms sale. McCain, a Republican, urged Trump to authorize additional sales of defensive lethal weapons, including anti-tank munitions, and to fully utilize security assistance funds provided by the Congress to enable Ukraine to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity. | 1 |
7,992 | FIRST It Was”Low Energy Jeb” And “Lyin Ted,” Then It Was “Little Marco,” FINALLY…Trump’s Given Hillary A Well-Deserved Nickname [VIDEO] | What do you think about Hillary s new nickname? Did Trump go too far or should he have gone even further?We all know that Donald Trump has a unique way of referring to his opponents, from calling Marco Rubio little Marco and Ted Cruz lyin Ted. Yesterday, Trump in Dexter, New York revealed a nickname for his rival on the opposite side of the aisle, labeling the Democratic front-runner crooked Hillary. I m not controlled by the special interests and the lobbyists. And they control crooked Hillary, and they control lyin Ted Cruz, right? he said.The GOP front-runner had earlier teased the possibility of nicknaming Hillary Clinton in a special interview on Hannity, saying a pretty good one would soon be revealed. So many nicknames, and he s been so effective with it, commented Pete Hegseth. Between Benghazi and private servers and the Clinton Foundation Hey, the word crooked fits pretty well. Anna Kooiman noted that Trump has a way of exposing whatever weakness the candidate has. Clinton, for her part, responded in an interview with ABC News, saying she really could care less about the new nickname. He can say whatever he wants to say about me, she said. I don t respond to Donald Trump and his string of insults about me. Here is Trump letting the crowd know he ll reveal the name in a month:A month later, Trump remained true to his word. He reveals Crooked Hillary to his supporters:Via: FOX News | 0 |
7,993 | Australian PM says government at risk if it loses Sydney by-election | SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Wednesday his government s future was at risk if it lost a Sydney by-election this weekend and failed to regain its one-seat majority, forcing it to rely on independents to survive in power. Turnbull s conservative voter base in the harbourside seat of Bennelong, usually a safe blue-ribbon seat, has collapsed, according to an opinion poll on Tuesday. The Newspoll in The Australian newspaper said Turnbull s Liberal-National coalition and the opposition Labor each have a 50 percent chance of winning on a two-party preferred vote, with Liberal voters deserting to a newly formed conservative party. It is a tight race. It is very high cost. If Labor were to win in Bennelong, then (Labor leader) Bill Shorten would be very close to becoming prime minister, Turnbull told reporters in Sydney. If Turnbull loses Bennelong, it would only take the loss of support from key independents in a vote of no confidence to see his minority government topple. Centre-left Labor has not held power since 2013. Turnbull has led a minority government since October after his deputy prime minister was forced to quit parliament for holding dual citizenship. Under Australia s constitution, national politicians can only have Australian citizenship. The deputy prime minister was re-elected on Dec. 2 after renouncing his New Zealand citizenship, but Turnbull failed to regain his one-seat majority because Bennelong s Liberal incumbent, former tennis champion John Alexander, quit parliament because he believed he might hold dual Australian-British citizenship. Turnbull s future now rests on the voters of the affluent Bennelong electorate, where 13 percent of electors were born in either China or Hong Kong. But a strain in relations between Australia and China in the past week may cost Turnbull votes. Turnbull announced last week a ban on foreign political donations aimed at preventing external influence in domestic politics. He singled out China in announcing the ban, prompting a rebuke in China s People s Daily newspaper. Australia must recognise China is now leading the world. The government s attitude towards China will cost them votes, said Cao Gui Dong, a candidate for the Christian Democrat Party in Bennelong. A loss in Bennelong would also see Turnbull s grip on the prime ministership again come under scrutiny, with one Liberal politician already calling for him to quit before Christmas. Turnbull has fought off leadership speculation for most of 2017, amid a slump in polls as voters flock to far-right parties, but has vowed to lead his government to the next election due in 2019. (This version of the story fixes typo paragraph six) | 1 |
7,994 | Russia says hopes USA will not act unilaterally against North Korea | MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that Moscow could not accept North Korea’s “reckless nuclear actions” but said he hoped the United States would not take any unilateral action against Pyongyang. Lavrov warned against anyone responding to North Korea’s behavior by “breaking international law.” In televised comments, he also said that Russia was ready to restore relations with Washington and would judge U.S. President Donald Trump’s readiness to do the same by his statements. | 1 |
7,995 | Man deliberately rams car into students in southern France, three hurt | TOULOUSE, France (Reuters) - A man deliberately drove his car into a group of people outside a school near Toulouse in southern France on Friday, injuring three Chinese students, police sources said. The driver of the vehicle, a 28-year-old man, was known to police for committing minor offences but was not on a terrorism watchlist, the sources said. He was arrested at the scene. One of the students, a young woman, was being treated for serious head injuries. For the moment, it is not being looked at as a terrorist incident although it is also not ruled out, the Toulouse prosecutor said in a statement. The driver has long suffered from psychological problems and was hospitalized until Dec. 2016, the prosecutor said. More than 240 people have been killed in France since early 2015 in attacks by Islamist militants or assailants inspired by the Islamic State group. Monday will mark the second anniversary of attacks in Paris that killed more than 130 people. Earlier this week, French police arrested nine people and another was arrested in Switzerland in coordinated counter-terrorism swoops. | 1 |
7,996 | Sanders says he will meet with Hillary Clinton on Tuesday | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said he will meet with his rival Hillary Clinton on Tuesday to press her to embrace his progressive agenda, saying he wants to know what she will stand for if she becomes president. Speaking on ABC’s “This Week” program on Sunday, Sanders did not concede he had lost the Democratic presidential nomination to Clinton, who is leading in Democratic primaries and is the party’s presumed nominee. Sanders said he and Clinton would discuss “if she wins, what kind of administration she will have.” “What I need to see (is) a commitment that there will be progressive taxation,” he said, saying corporations and billionaires should pay higher tax rates. He repeated his stance that he would do “everything I can” to ensure Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, will not become president. Sanders said he wanted to see Clinton embrace his view that healthcare should be a universal right in America and public universities should offer education for free. “Will she go as far as I would like her to go? No, she won’t,” he said. “But I think millions of people want to understand and see is what kind of commitment she has to addressing the real crises in the country.” | 1 |
7,997 | No role for Assad in Syria's future: Tillerson | GENEVA (Reuters) - President Bashar al-Assad and his family have no role in the future of Syria, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Thursday ahead of peace talks aiming at a political transition scheduled to resume next month. Tillerson said that the Trump administration backed the Geneva peace talks as the only way to end the more than six-year-old war and move to a political transition and elections. He was speaking after holding talks with U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, who announced that stalled peace talks between the Syrian government and still-to-be-united opposition would resume in Geneva on Nov. 28. The United States wants a whole and unified Syria with no role for Bashar al-Assad in the government, Tillerson told reporters in the Swiss city at the end of a week-long trip that took him to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan and India. It is our view and I have said this many times as well that we do not believe that there is a future for the Assad regime and Assad family. The reign of the Assad family is coming to an end. The only issue is how that should that be brought about. When the Trump administration came into office it took the view that it was not a prerequisite that Assad goes before the transitional process started, he added. Supported by Russian air power and Iran-backed militias, Assad appears militarily unassailable and last month Assad ally Hezbollah declared victory in the Syrian war. Those forces have pushed Islamic State back from large swathes of eastern Syria in recent months and over the past year have taken numerous pockets of rebel-held territory around Aleppo, Homs and Damascus. My reading is that Assad is here to stay for as long as the Russians and the Iranians have no alternative to him, a Western diplomat told Reuters. The date of his departure will depend on the Russians more than anyone else. Once - or if - they find someone better, he may go. Ceasefire deals brokered by Russia, Turkey, Iran and the United States in remaining rebel-held areas of western Syria have freed up manpower for Assad s allies. Tillerson called his discussions with de Mistura fruitful and said the United States will continue our efforts to de-escalate the violence in Syria . He said the only reason Assad s forces had succeeded in turning the tide in the war against Islamic State and other militants was air support they have received from Russia . Tillerson said Iran, Assad s other main ally, should not be seen as having made the difference in the defeat of Islamic State in Syria. I do not see Syria as a triumph for Iran. I see Iran as a hanger-on. I don t think that Iran should be given credit for the defeat of ISIS (Islamic State) In Syria. Rather I think they have taken advantage of the situation. | 1 |
7,998 | Trump TERRIFIES Businesses So Badly They’re Doing THIS To Avoid His Dangerous Fits (DETAILS) | Trump really needs his Twitter account permanently suspended, or someone needs to find a way to permanently lock him out of the platform. His tweets claiming credit for job creation he had nothing to do with, plus his blasting companies when they don t do what he wants, and his threat of a 35 percent border tax, has businesses terrified of ending up on his radar.And how are they responding? By repeating job announcements, or preemptively announcing new jobs and investments in the U.S., as if they are new developments, in order to appease Trump and generate fake news about new jobs. After Trump blasted Toyota on his Twitter account, the industry was nervous and wondering who was next.Toyota Motor said will build a new plant in Baja, Mexico, to build Corolla cars for U.S. NO WAY! Build plant in U.S. or pay big border tax. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2017He s gone after Lockheed-Martin and Boeing, too, plus others. Kristin Dziczek, a spokeswoman for the Center for Automotive Research said: Pretty much everybody is dreading being the subject of a tweet. Getting hauled out into the court of public opinion with virtually no warning is not something anybody wants to get engaged with. So they re doing the only thing they can think of to do. They re appeasing him. They ve been cowed. They ve been bullied. They ve been intimidated and coerced and it s ridiculous and disgusting.Most of the things they re announcing in the way of investment and job creation are things that are years in the making. For instance, GM admitted that they accelerated their plans under pressure from Trump, but those plans very likely date back to 2014.And GM has been bringing jobs back to the U.S. for years already.Walmart s plans are their usual annual plans. Sprint s jobs were part of an older promise from their parent company to create 50,000 jobs in the U.S. And Bayer and Monsanto, if they re allowed to merge, will be investing and spending what they already invest and spend here.Still, though, Trump has the entire corporate world running scared. If they were running scared in the right ways, this might actually be good. When they re acting because they re afraid of the president and his Twitter account, there s a serious problem.The automakers have started to time their announcements so that they appear to be Trump s doing, for the sole purpose of staying out of his line of fire. Other companies will probably start following suit, if for no other reason than to avoid having their reputations and stocks tank because Trump had a snit on Twitter.Featured image by Drew Angerer via Getty Images | 0 |
7,999 | HAS BILL CLINTON LOST IT? Watch Him Yank Balloon From Little Girl At DNC Celebration…And More Super Senior Moments [VIDEO] | By now, pretty much everyone has seen pictures or video footage of Bill Clinton snoozing while Hillary gave her powerful speech filled with lies and empty promises.At times, Bill just couldn t contain himself over the excitement of his beloved wife being coronated by a hostile crowd in Philly We watched him walk around the stage after Hillary s coronation looking like he was in some type of stupor, but the footage of him with the little girl at the bottom really takes the cake.Hillary s loser brother was about to hit the balloon when he realized he was standing next to the queen and quickly retreated He was so excited to hit the balloon, then he realized who he was standing next to #DemsInPhilly pic.twitter.com/kZjzwZ6A4y Brandon Wall (@Walldo) July 29, 2016After watching Hillary s regular coughing fits, and knowing that she has to travel with a full-time physician, shouldn t American voters be asking themselves if either one of these aging grifters are well enough to occupy our White House?Here s Bill looking a little confused about why there are suddenly so many balloons around him:Bill Clinton just hanging out with the balloons, having a blast pic.twitter.com/JKCW1zqay7 Steven Dennis (@StevenTDennis) July 29, 2016Here s Bill wishing Hillary would pay attention to him. Good luck Bill. Your best days are definitely behind you bill: hey hill check this outhillaryhey hillaryhillhey hillary check this outhillary look what i hillhillary pic.twitter.com/MAbRFW1yeY Ingrid Ostby (@ingridostby) July 29, 2016Here s Bill after he seems to have captured a special big blue balloon with stars from the DNC celebration. Oh look, there s a little girl who would love to hold that balloon Oops! Not so fast little girl! That s Bill Clinton s balloon. The Clinton s don t give things away they take them. Find your own balloon little girl | 0 |
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