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9,100 | HYSTERICAL! Two Trump Supporters Had THE BEST Response to Bikers For Hillary! I Can’t Stop Laughing! | Too funny! Diamond and Silk did a video warning everyone about Bikers for Hillary and that they were on their way to Philly for the convention. Then the video cuts to John Kerry on a girl s bike. And then there s Obama who rides like a girl too.There were no Bikers for Hillary, but there were Bikers for Trump and they showed up by the thousands in Cleveland to help keep the peace. Big difference there on real men versus girlie men. | 0 |
9,101 | CBS poll shows Clinton with 4-point lead vs Trump in White House race | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A CBS News poll released on Monday showed Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton holding a 4-point lead over Republican Donald Trump, 45 percent to 41 percent. The survey of 1,753 U.S. adults was taken Nov. 2-6 and has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points. A Washington Post/ABC poll released earlier on Monday also found Clinton with a 4 percentage point lead. A separate Bloomberg Politics-Selzer & Co poll found a 3 point lead for the former secretary of state. | 1 |
9,102 | Japan's Abe says time to exert maximum pressure on North Korea | TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday it was time to exert maximum pressure on North Korea and he had agreed with U.S. President Donald Trump that China should play a bigger role in getting Pyongyang to give up its weapons programs. Speaking to reporters, he also said Japan supported Trump s position that all options are on the table when it comes to dealing with North Korea. Trump is in Tokyo on the second-day of an Asian swing during which North Korea and trade are expected to top the agenda. | 1 |
9,103 | France says pressure needed to stop North Korea crossing next nuclear hurdle | PARIS (Reuters) - France said on Wednesday it was imperative the United Nations Security Council apply more pressure on North Korea to prevent it jumping another hurdle toward an effective nuclear weapons capacity that could lead to a dangerous military escalation. Amid heightened tension on the Korean peninsula, North Korea has escalated a war of words with the United States, warning of full-out nuclear war if Washington takes military action against it over its nuclear and missile ambitions. “We have to avoid all military escalation,” Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told LCP television. “This threatens nuclear proliferation in the region, but also directly threatens North America. It’s a major danger.” Ayrault, who was in China last week and whose country has no diplomatic representation in North Korea, said it appeared that Beijing was increasingly worried by the behavior of its neighbor. “China is scared of chaos and destabilization of the regime that would result in millions of refugees in the region so we can make progress through international pressure ... sanctions and discussions between the Security Council members to take measures,” he said. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said on Wednesday that Washington would work with its allies and China to put economic and diplomatic pressure on North Korea but added that America would defeat any attack with an “overwhelming response”. “There is no time to lose because all of the money North Korea has is being used for nuclear investment and research which would enable the country to jump another hurdle,” he said. | 1 |
9,104 | Sessions changes statement about Trump campaign and Russia | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions acknowledged on Tuesday he was aware of contact between Donald Trump’s election campaign and Russian intermediaries, again modifying a previous statement about the extent of connections to Moscow. The comment by Sessions to a House of Representatives panel did not reveal any new link between the Trump team and Russia but it was another example of the top U.S. law enforcement official offering a different version of events as lawmakers try to work out if the Trump campaign colluded with Russia in the 2016 election. Sessions told the House Judiciary Committee that he now recalls a meeting last year with then-candidate Trump where a campaign adviser said he had connections with Moscow and could help arrange a Trump meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “I do now recall” the meeting where adviser George Papadopoulos made the proposal, Sessions said, “but I have no clear recollection of the details of what he said during the meeting.” Sessions has previously told Congress he was unaware of any Trump campaign contacts with Russia, leading Democrats on Tuesday to accuse him of lying under oath. “I will not accept and reject accusations that I have ever lied under oath. That is a lie,” Sessions told the panel. Accusations of collusion with Russia during the election campaign have dogged Trump’s first 10 months in office. Sessions’ testimony appears likely to keep the controversy over Russia boiling as Special Counsel Robert Mueller accelerates his investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Since Mueller’s probe began, numerous Trump advisors have acknowledged interactions with Russian intermediaries. They include Donald Trump Jr., former campaign manager Paul Manafort, and Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor, Jared Kushner. Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his interactions with Russian representatives. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Moscow meddled in the 2016 election to help Republican Trump’s campaign. The Kremlin denies that and Trump says there was no collusion between his campaign and Russian officials. Sessions faced tough questioning from committee Democrats on Tuesday. Representative Hakeem Jeffries accused Sessions of hypocrisy, saying Sessions, while he was a U.S. attorney, had prosecuted a police officer for perjury after the officer corrected his testimony. “The Attorney General of the United States should not be held to a different standard than the young police officer whose life you ruined,” Jefferies said. That prompted an angry backlash from Sessions. “Nobody! Nobody - not you or anyone else, should be prosecuted, not me. . .for answering a question the way I did in this hearing. I have always tried to answer the questions fairly and accurately.” During the March 2016 campaign meeting where Russia was discussed, Sessions shut down Papadopoulos’ idea of engaging with Russian contacts, according to a source familiar with the matter. Sessions said that was the version of events he recalled. “After reading his account, and to the best of my recollection, I believe that I wanted to make clear to him that he was not authorized to represent the campaign with the Russian government, or any other foreign government, for that matter,” Sessions said on Tuesday. After that meeting, Sessions said, he did not have “any further knowledge” of additional contacts between the campaign and Russian officials. It was not the first time that Sessions, who was a senior Trump campaign aide and Republican senator, has revised his comments about contact between the campaign and Russia. He said during January’s confirmation hearing that he was unaware of such communications. News reports then emerged showing that Sessions had himself met Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak at least twice in 2016. Under pressure, Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation. He told reporters he was “honest and correct” in his response in the hearing, although he acknowledged he should have mentioned he had met with the ambassador in his role as a senator. Sessions also said on Tuesday he did not challenge a statement by another campaign foreign policy adviser, Carter Page, that he told Sessions in a brief encounter that he was about to leave for Moscow. But he said he had no memory of that conversation. The hearing was starkly divided. Majority Republicans demanded that Sessions appoint a second special counsel to investigate a series of issues involving Trump’s election rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton, including the sale of a uranium company to Russia while she was U.S. secretary of state. Sessions was cautious on that score. When Republican Representative Jim Jordan detailed what the controversy “looks like” to him, the attorney general responded: “‘Looks like’ is not enough basis to appoint a special counsel.” Earlier, Sessions confirmed that he has asked senior federal prosecutors to look into the potential appointment of a second special counsel. Democrats say that five congressional committees have looked into the uranium sale and found nothing improper. | 1 |
9,105 | For inspiration, new Democratic stars look to Elizabeth Warren | PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Twelve years ago, Barack Obama’s electrifying speech at the Democratic National Convention brought tears to Andrew Gillum’s eyes. Now mayor of Tallahassee, Florida, and viewed as a rising star in that state, Gillum did not hesitate when asked to name his political role model. “Elizabeth Warren,” he replied, referring to the firebrand U.S. senator from Massachusetts. That the 37-year-old African-American mayor of a Southern U.S. city identifies Warren as his political lodestar speaks volumes about the Democratic Party’s progressive shift, even as Hillary Clinton officially became its presidential nominee after a quarter-century in the public eye. With the party in transition, Clinton’s 1990s-era brand of Democratic centrism is slowly being eclipsed by a wave of progressivism personified by Warren and by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, a rival of Clinton’s until he endorsed her this month. Although Sanders’ insurgent presidential bid fell short, leaving his supporters bitterly disappointed, a new crop of Democratic candidates seems determined to carry on his work, with Warren, 67, as their putative leader. Like Obama in 2004, Gillum and many others at the Philadelphia convention sought to boost their profiles, raise cash and network with fellow Democrats, buoyed by the adoption of the most progressive platform in party history, with planks for debt-free college, expanded Social Security benefits and a tax on carbon emissions. Clinton, too, has moved to the left, embracing many of these causes, separating herself from a more moderate brand of Democratic politics personified by her husband, former President Bill Clinton, who was pro-free trade, friendlier to Wall Street and emphasized budget discipline. She appealed to Sanders supporters during her speech accepting the party’s presidential nomination on Thursday, pledging to work with him on progressive issues. “Let’s go out there and make it happen together,” Clinton said. Sarah Lloyd, 44, a congressional candidate in Wisconsin who supported Sanders, said, “There is an energy that’s coming from the folks that were brought to the process by the Sanders campaign.... That can only be a positive thing for the party.” More than Sanders, Warren has taken the lead in shaping the Democrats’ next generation. Formerly a professor of law, Warren conceived and set up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau formed in 2011 under President Obama. She launched a political action committee to back Democratic candidates and inspired other advocacy groups, such as the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, to solicit donations to a bloc it terms the party’s “Warren wing.” A speaker at the convention, Florida’s Gillum was frustrated by Sanders because he seemed disinterested in helping other Democratic candidates, in contrast with Warren. “Senator Sanders was content to be a movement by himself,” Gillum said. “It’s a revolution when you bring people along with you.” Warren’s committee has donated to the campaigns of U.S. Senate hopefuls such as Kamala Harris, 51, of California, Jason Kander, 35, of Missouri, and Catherine Cortez Masto, 52, of Nevada. They and Wisconsin’s Lloyd oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the global trade deal that has split the progressive and moderate elements of the party. The PCCC’s slate of “Warren wing” candidates supports a $15-an-hour minimum wage, campaign-finance reform and tighter rules for Wall Street. One of those on the slate is Zephyr Teachout, a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in New York, who has campaigned in a T-shirt that reads, “I’m from the Elizabeth Warren wing of the party” and who has been endorsed by Sanders. “There is a rising and very important populism, talking about money in politics, talking about trade, talking about economic issues,” Teachout, 44, told Reuters. “Within the party, and across the board, there has been a serious rethinking of trade, rethinking of big banks, rethinking of monopolies that have too much power.” Tulsi Gabbard, a U.S. representative from Hawaii, is often mentioned by Sanders supporters as one who could assume his mantle. A cable-news regular, Gabbard, 35, was one of a few Sanders supporters offered a convention speaking slot. Onstage she formally nominated Sanders for president, saying he had become a “voice for millions, connecting seamlessly with laborers in the Rust Belt and environmentalists in the West.” Other rising Democratic progressives frequently cited by strategists include Julian Castro, 41, the U.S. housing secretary, and his twin brother, Representative Joaquin Castro of Texas, former Ohio state senator Nina Turner, 48, U.S. Senate candidate Pramila Jayapal, 50, of Washington, and former South Carolina lawmaker Bakari Sellers, 31. Harris might be the one to shine the brightest. As California’s attorney general, Harris has been mentioned as a potential U.S. presidential candidate or U.S. Supreme Court justice should she win her Senate race in November. She enjoys the support of Warren, Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and former New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, a Republican-turned-independent, suggesting she can appeal to both the party’s liberal and moderate flanks. She joined forces with Bloomberg in his crusade for tighter gun laws, bonded with Warren over helping homeowners struggling through the foreclosure crisis of the late 2000s and joined Obama’s efforts to overhaul a criminal justice system that tends to treat black citizens more harshly than white ones. In one campaign ad, Warren is viewed saying, “Kamala Harris was fearless.” Harris, in turn, has backed Clinton. In an interview, she rejected the idea that the party is leaving Clinton behind even as it nominates her for president. “I strongly believe that these two generations have much more in common than what separates them in terms of fundamental values,” Harris said. | 1 |
9,106 | Giggling Racists Praise Trump For The Growth Of White Nationalism In America (AUDIO) | This story is the perfect example of just how detached from reality the American right wing has become. Two white nationalists (read as: virulent racists) are so excited about how many new racists have come crawling out of the woodwork because of Trump, they can t help but giggle over it:On Saturday, [Jared] Taylor joined Political Cesspool host James Edwards on his program, where the two expressed optimism about the future of what Edwards called the pro-white movement, something that they attributed in part to Trump s candidacy.Edwards gushed about an awakening happening within the spirit of our people that was beyond his wildest dreams when he started his program.Taylor said that he too was hugely encouraged by the growth of the movement, particularly among young people who have grown up with it. He described it as a real sea change. [soundcloud url= https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/254695180 params= color=ff5500 width= 100% height= 166 iframe= true /]And I get it. If I were an openly racist scumbag, I would also be thrilled that so many closeted scumbag racists are coming out into the open. People like Taylor and Edwards have always insisted that they represent a silent majority of whites. Why, if there was only some way to bring them all out into the open, we could finally have the Second Civil/Race War that would forever establish American white supremacy!In case you re unfamiliar with the white supremacy movement and think I m exaggerating, you must not know about The Turner Diaries, a wildly popular book among racists. Here s part of the Wikipedia summary:The novel ends with an epilogue from the year 2099, summarizing how the Organization continued on to conquer the rest of the world and how all non-White races were eliminated. Africa was invaded and all of its black inhabitants were killed. The Puerto Ricans (described as a repulsive mongrel race ) were exterminated and the island of Puerto Rico was re-colonized by whites. When China begins an attempt to invade European Russia, the Organization launches a full-scale assault with nuclear, chemical, radiological and biological weapons which render the entire continent of Asia uninhabitable and rife with mutants . And in America, the last remaining non-white elements are hunted down as well as all individuals involved in organized crime (such as the mafia).So, yeah, these are heady times for racists. Trump has made it OK for them to be out in the open and at political rallies. White power is on the rise!But here s the problem: It isn t. At all.America is a deeply racist county but racism flies in the face of everything we say we believe in: Equality, Fairness, Justice, etc. That means we like our racism to be out of sight, out of mind. In the 1960s, when White America saw hundreds of peaceful black protesters being savagely attacked by the police, they pushed back and the Civil Rights Act was passed. Lesson learned. Keep it on the downlow. Give white people the ability to deny that racism is a problem and they ll happily ignore it. Shove it in their faces and they get really mad. Next thing you know, blacks have more rights and more justice.How dreadful!With the rise of Trump and his white nationalist army of violent thugs, the public is being exposed, once again, to widespread racism. Specifically widespread conservative racism (yes, liberal racism exists but we re not fucking proud of it like conservatives are). The more preening idiots like Taylor and Edwards parade their hate in public at Republican rallies, the less plausible deniability the GOP has. Not for nothing, you don t see neo-Nazis and the KKK coming out to support a Democratic candidate. Ever.The corporate media has bent over backwards to under-report this fact but it s getting harder to hide. Trump is drawing out the worst elements of America s conservative movement for everyone to see. More importantly, that element will refuse to go back into the closet after Trump loses and fades from view. Republicans will be forced to loudly denounce the very racists they used to rely on or be permanently labeled as the party of white supremacy, an electoral kiss of death. Republicans will lose their racist base and the racists will lose their political party.So even as Taylor and Edwards giggle at their rising power, they re guaranteeing themselves a future as a marginalized voice in America politics and they re going to cripple the conservative movement in the process.Keep laughing, dumbasses. Keeeeeep laughing.Featured image via Getty | 0 |
9,107 | Trump Freaks Out: Thousands Of Latino Voters Prove Election Is Rigged | The apparent increase among Latino voters in key early voting states seems to be triggering something of a public meltdown with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. At a campaign event in Nevada, the former reality TV star began spinning a new conspiracy theory.As Donald Trump swept his campaign across the country in a final sprint, he claimed that long lines in Clark County, Nevada, were evidence of electoral wrongdoing. It s being reported that certain key Democratic polling locations in Clark County were kept open for hours and hours beyond closing time to bus and bring Democratic voters in, Trump said. Folks, it s a rigged system. It s a rigged system. And we re going to beat it, he said.Trump wasn t alone. Michael McDonald, the state chairman of the Nevada Republican Party made an explicitly racist complaint about the surge in early voters at the same event noting, They kept a poll open until 10 o clock at night so a certain group could vote. Early indicators show that Republicans are in big trouble in the key swing state of Nevada. Clark County, home to Las Vegas and the state s largest population, is also over 30% Latino. The area has been targeted by the Clinton campaign for early voting, as well as by the political operation of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV).A strong performance there has led to a situation where the Trump ticket is behind the eight ball before Election Day has even begun. Nevada political analyst Jon Ralston has already said that there is only a tiny sliver of hope for Trump, which may explain his bluster and frustration at the campaign event.Trump launched his campaign with an attack on Latinos, calling Mexican immigrants criminals and rapists and promising to build a wall along the southern border to keep Latinos out. It appears that they heard him loud and clear and are hell-bent on destroying his campaign.Featured image via Flickr | 0 |
9,108 | Democracy Expert Tells Us EXACTLY How Republicans Screwed America By Accepting Trump | We ve heard all kinds of reasons why people shouldn t vote for Trump, and why they shouldn t even have accepted Trump to begin with. Trump really should never have gotten this far in the election process, but his lack of sound policy, his racist, xenophobic hyper-nationalism and his misogyny are actually only part of the reason. The rest of the reason lies squarely on the skin that s as thick as a single layer of gauze.Voters confidence in the democratic system is always shaken when their candidate loses, according to democracy expert Shaun Bowler. This is true even when the elections are known to be fair. Bowler says: Collectively, the responses show that when voters see their candidate lose, their regard for the system of government as a whole takes a hit. Even within an established democracy and after an election that was not especially controversial, we see weakening legitimacy of the system in the eyes of losers. Trump has made his thinking very clear: If he wins, the election was fair. If he loses, it was rigged from the start. He will undoubtedly shout that repeatedly at the end of Election Night instead of give a measured concession speech designed to reassure his supporters that democracy still works, and they ll still be in good hands. He ll do it every day afterwards until people stop listening, too.Trump is a very sore loser. He was a sore loser in the primaries, and now, with his entire campaign falling apart, he s spinning wild conspiracies about how everything happening is specifically designed to take him down.The problem lies in the unrest that could easily follow such a declaration after the votes are counted. His supporters are all in solid agreement with him that the polls are rigged, the press is bought and paid for, and the entire planet (except Russia, of course) has been set up to put the woman they call Crooked Hillary into office. We ve already seen people, like this sheriff, call for armed revolt if Trump loses, because of that paranoia.We ve seen other Trump supporters say that as well. In fact, Mike Pence (who would understand this much better than Trump or his average supporter, despite being evil in his own right) had to shut down a Trumpkin in L.A. who was calling for armed revolution: Our lives depend on this election. Our kids futures depend on this election and I will tell you just for me, and I don t want this to happen but I will tell you for me personally if Hillary Clinton gets in, I myself, I m ready for a revolution because we can t have her in. Pence s reply was a quick, Don t say that. However, he still encouraged people to volunteer as poll watchers to be sure that no fraud happens.Three white men, who turned out to be Trump supporters, were arrested for planning to blow up a mosque and an apartment complex full of Somali refugees the day after Election Day.Other supporters are saying they re going to menace anyone who doesn t appear to be American at the polls: I ll look for . . . well, it s called racial profiling. Mexicans. Syrians. People who can t speak American. I m going to go right up behind them. I ll do everything legally. I want to see if they are accountable. I m not going to do anything illegal. I m going to make them a little bit nervous. There s no reason to believe that this stuff won t happen, because Trump is fueling it, rather than trying to quell it. In his story, Bowler points out what actually has happened in other countries where the people believed their elections were rigged: Remember, the lowered levels of regard for the system [in 2012] occurred in an election in which no candidate was crying foul. Crying foul widens the gap in opinions, undermining the support for and legitimacy of the system as a whole.We have seen this in recent elections in Mexico, Ukraine, and Georgia. The consequence has been popular unrest and disturbances. One could argue that several of those elections were, in fact, dirty, and so people were right to protest at an election being stolen. (Genuine corruption is another demonstrable way to undermine faith in democracy.) But problems come when the election was clean and yet the losing politician refuses to accept the result was arrived at fairly. [emphasis mine]There s virtually no evidence that any of our elections have ever been rigged, with the possible exception of a few local elections through history. It s easier for these paranoid lunatics to believe in a vast conspiracy, though, than it is for them to face the truth that their candidate could easily lose in a fair election. The unrest that would follow, due to Trump s fueling such conspiracy nonsense, could be devastating for us. They will not accept evidence that doesn t support their point it ll be part of the conspiracy. Even the GOP is afraid of what Trump s it s rigged! Rigged, I tell you! rhetoric can do. Lindsey Graham said: I don t think leading candidates for the presidency should undercut the process unless you have a really good reason. Former Senator Kit Bondi, of Missouri, said something similar: Someone claiming in the election, I was defrauded, isn t going to cut it They re going to have to say how, where, why, when. Trump won t, though. He ll just say he knows, because Hillary s crimes and Democratic enabling and corruption are well documented, and will expect that to be sufficient.Now Republicans are crying about mounting evidence that their candidate isn t just rude, crude, vile, and impossibly thick, but is also a sexual predator. They made their bed. If we end up with Trump in the White House, what he unleashes on the world will be on their heads. If we end up with civil unrest because of Trump s sour grapes after losing, it s likewise squarely on their heads.It ll be interesting to see how they try and wriggle out of responsibility for this.Featured image by Sarah Rice via Getty Images | 0 |
9,109 | Ana Navarro Unleashes EPIC Tweetstorm Explaining Just How Afraid We Should Be Of President Trump | All kinds of people from both the Left and the Right have been all over the cable news shows in recent days to tell the entire country not to be scared of President-elect Donald Trump. However, Republican strategist Ana Navarro, who has been warning of the dangers of Donald Trump for months, just unleashed an EPIC tweetstorm that shows us all just how dangerous Trump s administration is to be for anyone not straight, white, male, and Christian. Navarro focused on the appointment of Steve Bannon as Trump s Chief Strategist, which means we have a literal white supremacist in the White House. Here is the series of tweets Navarro sent out:Oh, hell! White supremacist, anti gay, anti Semite, vindictive, scary-ass dude named Senior Strategist. After vomiting, be afraid, America. https://t.co/cZvP3vccjS Ana Navarro (@ananavarro) November 13, 2016God help us all. Really. https://t.co/OPLDlsaejj Ana Navarro (@ananavarro) November 13, 2016Ax, "deeply disturbing" is when ur car gets scratched. A white supremacist Neanderthal in WH w/President's ear is DISGUSTING & TERRIFYING! https://t.co/LGRdp6Hn4G Ana Navarro (@ananavarro) November 13, 2016Don't know if Trump playing both sides. I do know we're stuck w/him at least 4 yrs. I hope he works to reign in racism/division he unleashed https://t.co/UFW6dAcccK Ana Navarro (@ananavarro) November 14, 2016Ana Navarro is right. The worst thing we could do is to normalize Trump s campaign trail behavior, or to normalize the bigots he is surrounding himself with ESPECIALLY Stephen Bannon. We are seeing the rise of bigotry in America in a mainstream sense in ways that we haven t seen in decades certainly I ve never seen anything quite like it in MY lifetime, and I am 35 years old. This is not normal. We must be vigilant. Fear is a healthy emotion right now. So is extreme caution.Trump is trying to normalize white supremacy and the Alt-Right, which is nothing more than the new Ku Klux Klan. It s time to stop pretending that Trump s election is not a national tragedy, and stand up to him and his cronies, less we become a nation that celebrates the Jim Crow era and shuns and punishes diversity.Featured image via screen capture from YouTube | 0 |
9,110 | Vietnam dissident's daughter calls on Melania Trump for help | (Reuters) - The 10-year-old daughter of a jailed Vietnamese blogger, Mother Mushroom , has appealed to U.S. First Lady Melania Trump to help win her mother s release ahead of President Donald Trump s visit to Vietnam next month. The handwritten letter, posted on Facebook on Thursday, drew attention to Vietnam s biggest crackdown on dissidents in years before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in November. Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, 37, known as Me Nam (Mother Mushroom), is one of Vietnam s most prominent activists. She was jailed for 10 years in June for publishing anti-state reports, including one about deaths in police custody. Her daughter Nguyen Bao Nguyen, nicknamed Mushroom , referred to Trump s upcoming visit to Vietnam and the International Women of Courage Award awarded by the First Lady to Quynh in March, which drew an angry response from Hanoi. Please help my family re-unite because I know my mother did nothing wrong, Nguyen wrote in the letter, published on Quynh s mother s Facebook Page. We love our mother so much and just want her to come back to us, said Nguyen, who turns 11 on Saturday. Vietnam s government did not immediately respond to a request to comment. The United States has advocated for Ms. Quynh s release, and the release of all prisoners of conscience, multiple times with high-level Vietnamese officials in the run-up to the President s visit to Vietnam including in recent days and weeks, U.S. Ambassador Ted Osius told Reuters. Despite sweeping economic reform and increasing openness to social change, media censorship remains tight in Vietnam and criticism of the Communist state is not tolerated. At least 17 dissidents have been arrested this year in a crackdown that followed changes within the ruling party hierarchy and a growing number of environmental protests. Vietnam has carried out a simultaneous crackdown on corruption. Trump is set to attend the APEC forum in the seaside resort of Danang, besides making an official visit to Vietnam. International donors and trade partners need to step up pressure on the country s leaders to improve its abysmal rights record, and the APEC summit is a good moment to start, said Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch. Quynh s mother, Nguyen Tuyet Lan, is now looking after Nguyen and her four-year-old brother Bear . She told Reuters: My daughter did nothing wrong; just consider what she did as constructive criticism for society. | 1 |
9,111 | “CHICKEN LITTLE” AL GORE Uses Fear and the Bible to Push his Climate Agenda [Video] | Former VP Al Gore told ABC s George Stephanopoulos weather reports are like the Book of Revelation from the Bible. Can you believe this grifter? You wonder if he really believes his lies!Stephanopoulos asked Gore about President Trump s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord. He asked if it was significant, considering that former President George W. Bush did the same thing with the Kyoto treaty on climate change in 2001.Al Gore: We lost a lot of time when the U.S. did not join the rest of the world community then, and while it is true that we have this sustainability revolution under way, and it s very exciting. It has the magnitude of the industrial revolution, but the speed of the digital revolution. We re still not changing fast enough. It s not just the scientific community warning us now. It s Mother Nature. Every night on the TV news is like a nature hike through the Book of Revelation 70 percent of Florida is in drought right now. Missouri just declared an emergency with another one of these historic climate-related downpours. Gore had the nerve to comment on President Trump s leadership: We need presidential leadership. Since he s not going to lead, the American people are stepping up. The fact is that Al Gore is a grifter who has made millions off of the global warming scam! He s the ultimate grifter. He needs to crawl back into his hole.Via: WFB | 0 |
9,112 | Iraq accused of violating due process for Islamic State suspects | BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi federal and Kurdish regional judiciaries are violating the rights of Islamic State suspects with flawed trials, arbitrary detentions under harsh conditions and broad prosecutions, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Tuesday. As the Sunni Muslim militant group s self-proclaimed caliphate crumbles following defeats in Iraq and Syria, thousands suspected of joining it have been captured, detained, and put on trial. At least 200 have been sentenced and at least 92 executed, an HRW report said. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, at a weekly news conference on Tuesday, denied that Iraq puts Islamic State suspects on trial without evidence but did not address other parts of the HRW report. His government faces the task of exacting justice on Islamic State members while preventing revenge attacks on people associated with the group that could only undermine efforts to create long-term stability. New York-based HRW said that an 80-page report it released early on Tuesday finds serious legal shortcomings that undermine efforts to bring (Islamic State) fighters, members, and affiliates to justice. A spokesman for Iraq s Supreme Judicial Council, which supervises the federal judiciary, declined to comment on the contents of the report ahead of its release. Issues highlighted by the HRW report: - It is too easy to accuse someone of belonging to Islamic State and have them detained. Wanted lists or community accusations without evidence can result in the detention of suspects for months even if wrongly accused. - Detention centers are overcrowded and authorities fail to separate children from adult detainees. Iraqi law states detainees should be brought to a judge within 24 hours of capture but this does not happen. - Detainees are often subject to torture, not granted access to lawyers, and their families are not informed of their whereabouts. Iraqi authorities say they have investigated these allegations but have not released any findings. - The reliance of Iraqi and Kurdish courts on counter terrorism laws to prosecute suspects rather than on laws in the criminal code means crimes are not prioritized by gravity and victims are not included in the process as suspects are not tried for individual acts of murder, rape, torture or slavery. - Proving guilt under counter-terrorism laws is easier as a judge only needs proof that a defendant was a member of Islamic State to find them guilty. This means that anyone from cooks and doctors serving under the group to actual fighters is subject to the same sentences, which range from life in prison to death. This stretches Iraq s resources thin as casting such a wide net means the courts lack the time or manpower to go through all cases, the HRW report says, which prevents victims from getting personal justice. HRW said that when it raised concerns about prosecutors not charging suspects with crimes under the criminal code, Iraqi judicial authorities said there was no need. Genocide and terrorism are the same crime, why would we need a separate charge for genocide? the report quoted one counter-terrorism judge as saying. | 1 |
9,113 | WATCH: Chinese State Media Is Literally Laughing At American Embarrassment Trump | Donald Trump has turned America into an international laughingstock and he hasn t even taken office yet.For weeks, Trump has been antagonizing China by speaking with the leader of Taiwan, which goes against decades of precedent, and has questioned the One-China policy. Both actions have put a strain on America s relationship with the most populous nation on Earth.Clearly, Donald Trump intends to keep taking aim at our largest trading partner, imperiling both our foreign policy and the world economy at a time when Americans are prospering under the economic successes of President Obama.Well, China is now laughing at Trump for being a national embarrassment.CNN s John Berman pointed out that an editorial by state-run Global Times of China mocked Trump. Trump s thinking about China is becoming increasingly clear: He wants China to make huge economic and trade concessions to the U.S. To achieve that, he is willing to stir certain calm areas in China-U.S. relations, including treating the Taiwan issues as his trump card. We were simply angry initially, but now we can t help but laugh at this U.S. leader-in-waiting. Maybe American voters promoted him too quickly, his amateur remarks and over-confident manner are equally shocking. Here s the video via YouTube.A separate editorial in the Global Times warns that Trump s arrogance will likely lead to a major confrontation between the United States and China.The leader of world order seems to be throwing away its job to grab the most advantages. The chaos it may bring to the world is much more severe than a war or a crisis. China faces the challenge of Trump s meddling with the one-China policy.Moreover, China may suffer from a shaken world order. The one-China policy is one part of the existing world order. Trump not only wants to scrap the one-China policy, but also aims at an overall change.In a changing landscape, enhancing one s own strength is most important. Trump has shown strategic arrogance that is beyond America s strength and he seems to be confident that anyone he asks will yield to him.It is quite likely that China and the US will face a head-on confrontation. China must be quick in preparing for sharp provocations from the Trump administration. China s win over this confrontation will serve as the basis for normal exchanges between the two in the future.This is why Americans need to oust Trump before it s too late. He is not only turning America into a joke on the world stage, he is bullying a nation that could punish us economically and go toe to toe with us militarily. We need to cultivate our relationship with China, not sever it. Antagonizing China will only piss them off and make things much more complicated. That s not what America needs right now.Featured image via Mark Wilson/Getty Images | 0 |
9,114 | Trump attacks Clinton on gender, risking backlash from women | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump waded into politically risky territory this week when he accused Democrat Hillary Clinton of exploiting her gender to win votes and said she would have little support if she were not a woman. As Trump and Clinton, fresh off big wins in five Northeastern state primaries on Tuesday, circled each other for a potential matchup in the Nov. 8 U.S. presidential election, his comments portended what could be an unusually nasty campaign. Like other controversial remarks during his White House campaign, Trump’s comments drew criticism from a wide spectrum but also reinforced his image - which has been attractive to some supporters - for plain talk that defies political norms. “The only thing she’s got going is the fact that she’s a woman,” Trump, 69, said on Thursday on NBC’s “Today” show, refusing to back down from targeting Clinton, 68, for what he called “playing the woman’s card.” Trump’s remarks, reaching into an area of gender attacks that is conventionally seen as off-limits, energized Democrats. “Keep talking, Donald Trump,” Democratic Committee National Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz told CNN on Wednesday. “Every single day when Donald Trump opens his mouth, he does more to alienate women.” Trump, unfazed by the criticism, told supporters in Evansville, Indiana, that he has gotten a bad rap. “Nobody cherishes and nobody respects women more than Donald Trump,” he said after being introduced by famed former Indiana University basketball coach Bobby Knight. “I will be so much better to women than Hillary Clinton.” Trump, who can be as free with his personal attacks on men, has consistently polled poorly with women. Democrats and Republicans both accuse Trump of sexism over verbal insults lobbed at Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly and former Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina. On Wednesday, Trump’s closest Republican rival, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, named Fiorina, 61, as his running mate should he win the party’s nomination, a move that could help him draw women’s support. “Donald has a problem with strong women,” Cruz, 45, told reporters in Fort Wayne, Indiana, before a rally. “This is not subtle, it’s not complicated.” U.S. Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer, who fended off a 2010 Senate challenge from Fiorina, said Trump is insulting all women when he attacks Clinton and other prominent women, such as Kelly, in this way. “Either Trump has spent too much time in his Trump Tower and has no clue about what’s happening, or he truly dislikes women and are quite threatened by them,” Boxer said on MSNBC. But Trump said women would support his positions on security and jobs. U.S. Representative Renee Ellmers, a Republican who has endorsed him, said she believed Trump could overcome his unpopularity with women voters with his straight talk. “To me, this is breaking all the rules, this is going against any of the typical history books and elections of the past,” she said. Trump’s top aide and other supporters said focusing on Clinton’s gender was part of Trump’s emerging strategy for the general election and that he had no intention of hewing to traditional rules. “When he is attacked, he will respond,” Trump’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, told Reuters. “The campaign is going to proceed under the mantra, which we’ve had in this campaign from Day One, which is: Let Mr. Trump be Mr. Trump.” A Reuters/Ipsos poll this month showed a big gender gap in opinions about Trump. About two-thirds of women had an unfavorable view of the billionaire businessman and former reality TV star, while 54 percent of men had a negative view of him. In her political career, Clinton has sometimes benefited from missteps by male candidates. Her 2000 U.S. Senate rival, New York Republican Rick Lazio, was seen as a bully when he stepped close to her on stage during a debate to demand she sign a pledge. Early in her first presidential campaign in 2008, Clinton accused her male opponents of “piling on” and said that would prompt more women to support her. Then-Senator Barack Obama’s comments during a debate in New Hampshire that year that she was “likable enough” were seen by some as patronizing, and as helping her win the state’s primary. If Trump wins the nomination, his willingness to raise Clinton’s gender and other issues could make for one of the most contentious general election campaigns in recent history. “I don’t think there’s going to be any taboos with Donald Trump,” said James Pethokoukis, a scholar with the conservative American Enterprise Institute. “He’s not going to treat her with any sort of kid gloves.” Retired U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, a Republican, weighed in on the presidential race during a talk at Stanford University on Wednesday, according to the student newspaper, saying he could vote for his golfing and “texting buddy” Trump but harshly criticizing Cruz. “Lucifer in the flesh,” Boehner said of Cruz, who is a staunch fiscal conservative and who angered many of his colleagues in Congress by leading a government shutdown in 2013. “I get along with almost everyone, but I have never worked with a more miserable son of a bitch in my life,” Boehner said. Cruz said Boehner was allowing “his inner Trump” to come out. “What made John Boehner mad is that I led a movement of the people to hold Washington accountable,” Cruz told reporters. | 1 |
9,115 | BOOM! Rep Louie Gohmert (R-TX) Rips Into Obama’s Gun Grabbing Legislative Minions: “Radical ISLAM Killed These People!” [VIDEO] | Don t think for a minute this union-style Black Lives Matter/Occupy type sit-in wasn t orchestrated in our Oval Office by our Community Organizer in Chief. Obama is desperate to pass gun control legislation before he leaves office. The Democrats who are occupying our House floor are only acting as puppets for his radical agenda. As California Democrat Rep. Brad Sherman spoke Wednesday evening during an unprecedented sit-in on Capitol Hill to demand a vote on gun control, Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-TX) interrupted him, shouting: Radical Islam killed these people! Sherman, a moderate Democrat from the San Fernando Valley, had joined several dozen of his party colleagues in a protest against House Republicans refusal to allow votes on several gun regulations all of which had already failed in the Senate.Though the bills have no chance of becoming law, Democrats hope to win at least one of the votes, which would enable them to argue that by voting Democrat this November, Americans could help them retake the Senate and pass new gun restrictions.The protest was led by Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), who has long drawn on his history in the civil rights movement for partisan purposes, and who hinted last weekend during a Southern California visit that Democrats would do something big on guns.The protest was also timed to coincide with, and drown out, a speech in New York by presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Trump responded to rival Hillary Clinton s attack earlier this week by criticizing Clinton for alleged corruption at the State Department and for her foreign policy record, while laying out his own alternative economic policies.Rep. Gohmert began heckling Rep. Sherman during his speech which was broadcast via Periscope by another Californian, Rep. Scott Peters of San Diego, in violation of House rules. At roughly 4:24 in the video below, Gohmert points to a poster of the victims of the June 12 terrorist attack and insists that radical Islam killed them not the lack of gun control regulations.Via: Breitbart News | 0 |
9,116 | Trump attacks FBI on leakers of Russia reports: 'FIND NOW' | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump criticized the FBI on Friday for failing to stop leaks of national security information to the media and directed the agency to find those who pass on classified information. Trump’s comments come amid media reports saying the FBI refused a White House request to knock down news stories saying members of Trump’s team were in frequent contact with Russian intelligence agents during the presidential campaign. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the nation’s top law enforcement agency, did not answer a request for comment on Trump’s remarks on Twitter. “The FBI is totally unable to stop the national security ‘leakers’ that have permeated our government for a long time. They can’t even find the leakers within the FBI itself. Classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on U.S. FIND NOW,” Trump wrote. News reports by CNN and The Associated Press said White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus asked Andrew McCabe, the FBI deputy director, to deny a Feb. 14 New York Times report that said Trump’s presidential campaign advisers had been in frequent contact with Russian intelligence officers. The request came after McCabe told him privately the report was wrong. A senior administration official said on Friday that FBI Director James Comey also told Priebus later the story was not accurate. Priebus asked if the FBI could set the record straight, but Comey said the bureau could not comment. Priebus asked if he could say intelligence officials assured him the story was inaccurate, and Comey said he could, the official told reporters. The FBI is investigating Russian interference in the Nov. 8 U.S. election. FBI counterintelligence agents are also examining financial transactions by Russian individuals and companies who are believed to have links to Trump associates. “There are investigations that are going on and those investigations must find out exactly what Russia was doing in the United States,” Senator Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told CNN on Friday. “We need a complete investigation and we certainly don’t want the White House at all trying to influence that investigation.” U.S. Representative John Conyers said any White House attempt to influence the FBI was “deeply troubling.” “The White House is simply not permitted to pressure the FBI to make public statements about a pending investigation of the President and his advisors,” Conyers, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said in late on Thursday. | 1 |
9,117 | WTF: There’s A ‘Make America Great Again’ Hat In A Museum Case At Trump’s Election Venue (IMAGE) | If there s one thing we ve learned in this election, it s that Donald Trump s narcissism has absolutely no boundaries. He s clearly in love with himself and is only in this election to prove that he s loved. It d be sad if it weren t so damn scary.In what might be the most bizarre and narcissistic thing yet to come out of the Donald Trump campaign, there seems to be a Make America Great Again red hat in a museum box at the venue where Trump is holding his election night rally.Joe Perticone tweeted the image earlier today:There's a framed 'Make America Great Again' hat on the stage at Trump's venue in New York pic.twitter.com/5i07JhK8l2 Joe Perticone (@JoePerticone) November 8, 2016Seriously though, what the actual f*ck is that? Maybe Trump is preparing the hat for the Smithsonian for that time the United States almost handed the reins over to a complete and utter narcissistic a**hole.That really can be the only reasoning behind it. Because otherwise, nobody actually gives a sh*t about that damn hat other than Trump himself.That hat, mind you, is reminiscent of the Gulf War hats sold at gas stations during the early 1990s.One can only hope that this will be the last time we even have to listen to Trump give a speech in our lifetime.Featured Photo by Mark Wallheiser/Getty Images | 0 |
9,118 | three new polls shatter the myth that the presidential election is tightening | share on twitter print this post
the fbi is examining how a hillary clinton aide handled emails the examination has nothing to do with the democratic nominee her emails or her email server
according to newsweeks kurt eichenwald the scandal is related to the process clinton aide huma abedin used to print out emails for the then secretary of state to read
eichenwald reported because clinton preferred to read documents on paper rather than on a screen emails and other files were often printed out and provided to her either at her office or home where they were delivered in a diplomatic pouch by a security agent abedin like many state department officials found the government network technology to be cumbersome and she had great trouble printing documents there investigative records show as a result she sometimes transferred emails from her unclassified state department account to either her yahoo account or her account on clintons server and printed the emails from there it is not clear whether she ever transferred official emails to the account she used for her husbands campaign
abedin would use this procedure for printing documents when she received emails she believed clinton needed to see and when the secretary forwarded emails to her for printing abedin told the fbi she would often print these emails without reading them abedin printed a large number of emails this way in part because investigative records show other staff members considered her clintons gatekeeper and often sent abedin electronic communications they wanted the secretary to see
the entire scandal is about how emails were printed it has nothing to do with how hillary clinton handled emails or classified information the investigation is related to how an aide printed emails for hillary clinton to read no wonder comey didnt provide more details in his letter to congress the details of what is being examined are an embarrassment to the fbi
there is no evidence that clintons aide committed a crime for the printing of the emails to be deemed criminal there must be evidence that abedin intended to leak classified information there remains zero evidence of criminal activity
the fbi examination of new emails is turning out to be one of the most overblown red herrings of the election and comeys behavior is a disgrace to the us intelligence community
the new information destroys republican hopes that the new emails were the game changer that could save them from defeat republicans may spend the remaining days pushing the emails but their behavior will be the hallmark of a desperate party that is facing a crushing defeat
the emails wont change anything in but they will give congressional republicans a reason to keep investigating hillary clinton in and beyond in other words james comey is already delegitimizing hillary clintons potential presidency | 1 |
9,119 | Brexit deal could be template for EU ties to Ukraine, Turkey, Germany's Gabriel says | BERLIN (Reuters) - An EU agreement with Britain on relations after Brexit could serve as a model for ties with other countries that want to be as close as possible to the bloc but are not yet ready to join, such as Ukraine and Turkey, Germany s foreign minister said. Britain secured the go-ahead from Brussels to start talks on its future relationship with the EU earlier this month, with London saying it aspires to a closer relationship as a former member than that of any other third country. In an interview with the Funke newspaper group published on Tuesday, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said such a deal could offer a solution to the puzzle of how the bloc of 27 can manage its ties with two other large non-members. I can t imagine Turkey or Ukraine becoming EU members in the next few years, he said. If we get a smart agreement with Britain regulating relations with Europe after Brexit, that could be a model for other countries - Ukraine and also Turkey. Turkey, a candidate for EU membership for decades, already has a customs union with the EU which allows the trade of most goods without tariffs. One possibility would be to offer Ankara a new, closer form of the customs union , Gabriel said, although he also said such a project would have to wait for changes in Turkey s political environment. Thousands of people, including German citizens, have been detained in Turkey as part of a government crackdown since a failed coup in 2016. An agreement between the EU and Ukraine on a deep and comprehensive free trade area formally came into force in September, aimed at allowing free trade of goods, services and capital, and visa-free travel for people for short stays. Ukraine s desire for closer ties with the EU was one of the driving forces behind a popular revolt that toppled a pro-Russian president in 2014, leading Moscow to seize Ukraine s Crimea peninsula and back pro-Russian separatists in a still-unresolved conflict in the east of the country. Gabriel s Social Democratic Party (SPD) is preparing for talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel s conservatives on governing together for another four years. | 1 |
9,120 | MSNBC’S MARK HALPERIN Exposed As Sex Predator By 5 Women…MSNBC Gives Slap On The Wrist | Mark Halperin has been accused by 5 different women of disgusting behavior while he was head of ABC News. Some of the things he s been accused of by the women are so disgusting and predatory. He repeatedly rubbed his genitals on 3 different women that was his mojo. He is a special kind of arrogant jerk who preyed on young women using his authority. He got a suspension from MSNBC until they can sort this all out Get the barf bucket out, this guy is a disgusting pig:Longtime political journalist Mark Halperin is out at MSBNC following accusations that he sexually harassed five women while head of ABC News. We find the story and the allegations very troubling. Mark Halperin is leaving his role as a contributor until the questions around his past conduct are fully understood, MSNBC told Fox News in a statement.Halperin, the co-author of best-selling book Game Change, was accused in a CNN report of groping the women in the 2000s while he worked as ABC News political director.The women told CNN that the 52-year-old reporter propositioned them for sex, grabbed their breasts and rubbed his erection on three of them. They said they did not report Halperin.One woman said she visited Halperin in his ABC office in the early 2000s when he forced himself on her. I went up to have a soda and talk and he just kissed me and grabbed my boobs, the woman said. I just froze. I didn t know what to do. Another victim was around 25 years old when she approached Halperin for a gig during the 2004 campaign. The first meeting I ever had with him was in his office and he just came up from behind I was sitting in a chair from across his desk and he came up behind me and [while he was clothed] he pressed his body on mine, his penis, on my shoulder, the woman said.DISGUSTING PIG!Read more if you dare: NYP | 0 |
9,121 | Caribbean islands fear grim tourist season in Irma's wake | MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Hurricane Irma s deadly tear through the Caribbean will hobble the region s multi-billion dollar tourism industry for months, just as hotels, airlines, and cruises were gearing up for the region s peak winter season. As one of the most powerful Atlantic storms in a century, Irma has killed 21 people, leaving hotels, airports and other buildings damaged or flattened across prime vacation islands such as St. Martin and Barbuda. On Friday, it hurtled north of Cuba toward Florida. Jack Richards, president of U.S.-based tour operator Pleasant Holidays, said it may be well into next year before the local tourism industry begins to normalize, costing it billions in lost business. The region s busiest travel season runs from mid-December to Easter, when Americans, Canadians and Europeans leave behind snow and cold for the warm, turquoise Caribbean waters. Can this be repaired in time? The infrastructure to rebuild these countries simply isn t there, he said. This is just massive. Just a few days after Irma razed the first islands, Richards said his bookings have already dropped for the Caribbean, his company s second-most popular destination worldwide for U.S. tourists. More than 26 million international tourists were expected this year in the Caribbean, the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) projected before Irma hit. In 2016, foreign visitors spent $31 billion in the Caribbean and were expected to spend an additional 5.3 percent in 2017. The WTTC estimates that in 2016, travel and tourism contributed $56 billion in gross domestic product. Any disruption in the tourism industry is a disruption of our livelihood, Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) spokesman Hugh Riley said. Officials across the islands have struggled to gauge the scope of destruction, after Irma knocked out electricity and cell phone service, and forced airports to close. The trouble may not yet be over for the Caribbean, with Hurricane Jose forecast on Saturday to pass as a powerful Category 4 storm close to the same group of islands that were trashed by Irma. The hurricane season is set to run for several more weeks. As of Friday afternoon, the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Tourism was urging visitors to stay away from St. Thomas, where four people died in the storm and where the airport remains closed to comercial traffic. The St. Croix airport was slated to reopen on Friday. The 150-room Windward Passage, an upscale hotel overlooking the St. Thomas harbor in the U.S. Virgin Islands, plans to close for six months, it reported to the Department of Tourism. On the tiny island of Barbuda alone, home to about 1,800 people and reef-lined beaches, preliminary damage estimates top $100 million, Riley said. Some 95 percent of the island s buildings were destroyed. Cruise lines, tour operators and airlines have scrambled to accommodate tourists or postpone plans. Royal Caribbean Cruises, Carnival Cruise Lines and Norwegian Cruise Line each canceled several of their Caribbean-bound cruises through the weekend and rerouted others to avoid sailing through the storms dangerous paths. European tour operator TUI said it had evacuated its Florida customers to hotels in inland Orlando, and brought vacationers in Cuba to shelters. German tour operator DER Touristik said it would bus tourists arriving by cruise ship in Miami on Friday directly to shelters, and that ships would leave the harbor again before the hurricane hits. Recovery efforts in hard-hit areas have so far proven difficult. Rolando Brison, St. Martin s director of tourism, said firefighters struggled to hose off sand dumped by the storm onto the airport runways, leaving nearly 3,000 tourists stranded. The airport remained closed on Friday. Tourism is the economy, he said. It s how our people eat. (This version of the story corrects paragraph 11 to show that St. Thomas airport is closed, not St. John s) | 1 |
9,122 | WOW! Social Media FREAKS OUT Over What’s Behind MARIAH CAREY During #LasVegas Shooting Interview With Piers Morgan [VIDEO] | Good Morning Britain viewers have been left baffled by pop diva Mariah Carey s appearance on Monday s installment following the breaking news of a shooting in Las Vegas.The 47-year-old hitmaker was due to chat to host Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid about her upcoming Christmas shows in London and Paris before news broke about the shocking incident at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival which so far has claimed the lives of 50 people and left more than 400 injured.Appearing in a live feed from her Beverly Hills home, Mariah was seen stretched out across a chaise longue in a red gown as the British TV presenters asked her about the attack near the Mandalay Bay Resort and Hotel.The Grammy award-winning singer is no stranger to the world-renowned Vegas strip, having held residency at Caesars Palace s the Colosseum in recent years.Despite admitting she didn t know enough about the attack, Mariah shared her condolences to all who were affected.Following the interview, GMB s Piers took to social media to explain that Mariah s reps knew that they would ask her about the horrific attack.Writing to his 6.12million followers, he retweeted a comment that criticized the interview and added: We told Mariah s people before the interview. Her reaction seemed very relevant given she s a performer who often resides in Vegas. Daily MailAlthough fans have come to expect that whenever Mariah is being interviewed, that she will make her viewers uncomfortable, this latest interview with Piers Morgan has created a bit of a social media meltdown. Social media users couldn t get over how Mariah was draped across the sofa like she was posing for a glamorous magazine shoot during the morning talk show. It was the CHRISTMAS tree in the background, however, that had everyone really questioning her sanity. Piers Morgan cleared up the confusion about the Christmas tree when he told viewers that, Mariah was booked to do an interview about her UK Christmas tour. So without addressing the elephant or Christmas tree if you will, in the room, Morgan was able to explain (kind of) why Mariah Carey was propped up on her couch with a lighted Christmas tree behind her during the first official week of fall | 0 |
9,123 | NO SHAME! MSNBC ANCHOR Attacks Critically Injured Steve Scalise Who Can’t Defend Himself [Video] | Joy Reid is known for her racist slant on the news. She s one bitter and angry woman we ve reported on numerous times for her over-the-top rhetoric. This latest rant is surprising even for Reid. She goes after critically injured congressman Steve Scalise with the aide of a NAACP board member. Steve Scalise cannot defend himself right now The left has no shame!Reid: There s a whole country out there and a lot of people, at least in my Twitter timeline, and it s a delicate thing, because everybody is wishing the congressman well and hoping that he recovers, but Steve Scalise has a history that we ve all been forced to sort of ignore on race. He did come to leadership after some controversy over attending a white nationalist event, which he says he didn t know what it was. He also co-sponsored a bill to amend the Constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman. He co-sponsored the House healthcare bill, which as you said would gut healthcare for millions of people including three million children and he cosponsored a bill to repeal the ban on semiautomatic weapons. Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise is still hospitalized in critical condition but liberal MSNBC host Joy Ann Reid didn t let that stop her from portraying Scalise as an extremist just three days after an angry left-winger shot Scalise and tried to assassinate dozens of Republican congressmen in Alexandria, Virginia on Wednesday.House Majority Whip Steve Scalise was in imminent risk of death when he was flown to a trauma center Wednesday after being shot during an ambush of a GOP congressional baseball team practicing on a Virginia field. He will be in the hospital for a considerable period of time, presumably weeks, said Jack Sava, trauma director at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, who spoke Friday about the Louisiana Republican who remains in critical condition at the hospital in the District.Sava added that Scalise was as critical as you can be when he came in after a single rifle shot traversed his body from his left hip through internal organs to the other hip as witnesses said he was fielding ground balls.The shot fired at Scalise left perhaps hundreds of bullet fragments internally, many of which may never be removed because surgery might be more dangerous than leaving them in place, Sava said. That circumstance is not uncommon for that type of injury, known as a transpelvic gunshot wound, the trauma surgeon said.Sava said Scalise will require surgeries soon for abdominal and bone injuries, in addition to the two he has undergone to repair a bone in his leg broken by the bullet. The congressman sustained substantial damage to organs and blood vessels, Sava said, and remains in intensive care.How can these idiots keep arguing with a man who is critically injured in the hospital? It s horrible because he cannot defend himself! | 0 |
9,124 | Palestinian President Abbas says peace closer with Trump engaged | NEW YORK (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas expressed optimism on Wednesday about reaching a peace agreement with Israel this year and said U.S. President Donald Trump s commitment to the issue would help create the deal of the century in the region. Abbas met Trump on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly gathering of world leaders in New York and thanked him for his support. If this is any proof to anything ... it attests to the seriousness of your Excellency, Mr. President, to achieve the deal of the century in the Middle East during this year or in the coming months, God willing, Abbas said through an interpreter. Trump said his team of advisers was working very hard on the issue, as were Israel, Saudi Arabia and other nations. I think we have a very, very good chance, and I certainly will devote everything within my heart and within my soul to get that deal made, Trump said. We re at a very important juncture, there s a small period of time, and we re going to see what we can do. There can be no promises, obviously, he said. Abbas noted that the Palestinians had met with Trump s team more than 20 times since the U.S. president entered office in January, and he said the fact that Jews and Muslims were celebrating a new year was a positive sign. This is a very sweet coincidence that we can celebrate the new year together within a 24-hour period, and if this is an indication to anything, it means that we can coexist peacefully together, Abbas said. Later at the U.N. gathering, Abbas urged the 193-nation body to end the Israeli occupation of the state of Palestine within a set timetable. He also borrowed a campaign line of Trump s, using the phrase draining the swamp as an argument for addressing the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis. Trump used a similar phrase as a presidential candidate to criticize politicians and policy making in Washington. Beyond any doubt, draining the swamp of colonial occupation of our land and ending its unjust, oppressive and illegal practices against our people would greatly affect the fight against terrorism, depriving terrorist groups of one of the key rallying cries they exploit to promote their repugnant ideas, Abbas said in his prepared remarks. Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier in the week. The Israeli and Palestinian leaders both went out of their way to praise the U.S. president. The White House played down both meetings in terms of their significance toward peace talks on one of the world s most intractable conflicts that has defied the peacemaking efforts of several U.S. administrations going back decades. The Palestinians seek to establish an independent state in the Israeli occupied West Bank, territory captured in the 1967 Middle East war and the Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital. The Palestinian Authority s ambassador to the United States, Husam Zomlot, said the meeting was forward-looking, and the conversation was deep and frank between the two allies. The Palestinian Authority said in a statement Abbas told Trump that peace can be achieved through implementing the two-state solution based on the 1967 borders. Abbas also said the illegal Israeli settlements policy poses an immediate threat to that. For at least two decades, the goal of U.S.-led diplomacy has been a two-state solution , meaning an independent Palestinian state living side-by-side and at peace with Israel. But neither Trump nor his aides have publicly recommitted to a two-state solution, instead saying it is up to the two parties to work out in peace talks. Abbas insistence on a return to 1967 pre-war borders is something Israel has repeatedly rejected. | 1 |
9,125 | Fujifilm unit wins $768 million defense contract: Pentagon | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fujifilm Medical Systems U.S.A. Inc, a unit of Fujifilm Holdings Corp, has been awarded a $768 million contract for digital imaging network picture archiving communications system products and maintenance, the Pentagon said on Tuesday. | 1 |
9,126 | Paul Manafort, Special Counsel Mueller tussle over Ukrainian op-ed | (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort did not violate a court gag order when he helped edit an opinion piece about his political work in Ukraine, his defense lawyer Kevin Downing argued in a court filing on Thursday. A federal grand jury indicted Manafort and his business associate Rick Gates in October as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into accusations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The charges against Manafort include conspiracy to launder money and failing to register as a foreign agent working on behalf of former pro-Russian Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych’s government, who was ousted in 2014. Thursday’s filing came after prosecutors working for Mueller said earlier this week that they no longer could agree to more lenient bail terms for Manafort after discovering that he was working with a colleague tied to Russian intelligence agencies on an opinion piece that cast his work in a favorable light. Mueller’s office argued that his efforts to work behind the scenes on the piece as recently as November 30 ran afoul of the judge’s November 8 order instructing all parties to refrain from making statements to the media or in public settings that could prejudice the case. Jason Maloni, a spokesman for Manafort, declined to comment. Joshua Stueve, a spokesman for Mueller, also declined to comment. Downing said in Thursday’s filing that his client was involved only in editing the piece to ensure accuracy, and that it would not prejudice the case because it was ultimately published in a Ukrainian newspaper, not an American one. “The defense did not, and does not, understand that the court meant to impose a gag order precluding Mr. Manafort from addressing matters, which do not ‘pose a substantial likelihood of material prejudice to this case,’” Downing wrote. Earlier in the week, prosecutors said in a filing that they had reached out to Manafort’s lawyers when they discovered the draft and had been assured that it would not be published. The piece appeared online in the English-language Kyiv Post on Thursday. The article, which was authored by Oleg Voloshyn, a former spokesman for Ukraine’s foreign affairs ministry, praised Manafort’s political work in helping Ukraine secure better relations with the European Union. “I can only wonder why some American media dare falsely claim that Paul Manafort lobbied Russian interests in Ukraine,” the piece said. “Without his input Ukraine would not have had the command focus on reforms that were required to be a nation candidate to the EU.” Brian Bonner, the chief editor at the Kyiv Post, told Reuters that the article was submitted on Monday. Bonner said Voloshyn claimed to have written the article and then sent it to Manafort and the American’s longtime Russian colleague, Konstantin Kilimnik, for fact-checking before submission. Bonner said he did not immediately publish the article because he was suspicious of the contents and wanted to confirm that Voloshyn had written it. “It was blatantly pro-Manafort with an opinion about his activities that most people don’t share and that his record in Ukraine doesn’t support,” Bonner wrote in an email. Voloshyn told Reuters he was not immediately in a position to comment. It was not clear when U.S. District judge Amy Berman Jackson would decide the issue, but Manafort and Gates are due to appear before her on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for a status hearing. | 1 |
9,127 | Merkel urges compromises as coalition talks enter final stretch | BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday urged party leaders negotiating a tricky three-way coalition government to show more willingness to compromise, as support for her conservative bloc plunged to the lowest level in more than six years. Merkel s conservatives, who bled support to the far-right Alternative for Germany in a Sept. 24 election, are trying to forge an alliance with the pro-market Free Democrats (FDP) and the left-leaning Greens which is untested at the national level. Despite three weeks of exploratory talks, the unlikely partners still have to overcome differences over climate protection, energy, transport, immigration and euro zone policy. Speaking ahead of a meeting in which party leaders were expected to sum up progress made so far and bridge some gaps, Merkel said all parties had first exchanged their views and then consolidated the approaches by highlighting their differences. Now in this third phase, the task is to find compromises, Merkel said, adding that there was still a lot of work to do. But from my point of view, a solution can be reached with goodwill, Merkel said. If this will be achieved, we ll not know before the end of the week, however. FDP leader Christian Lindner put the onus on Merkel s Christian Democrats (CDU) and her Bavarian CSU allies, saying his party and the Greens had already given ground. The Greens and the FDP have moved. Now it s up to the conservatives to show some flexibility. I assume there is goodwill from all sides, Lindner said. Katrin Goering-Eckardt from the Greens said she wanted to see a leap from the other negotiation partners. But CSU leader Horst Seehofer declined to comment when asked by reporters what compromises he was willing to offer. The Greens made concessions on Tuesday by no longer insisting on fixed dates to ban cars with combustion engines and to shut down coal-fired power stations. The FDP gave ground by accepting more modest income tax cuts than an election campaign pledge of up to 40 billion euros in relief. Lindner also dropped an election manifesto pledge to phase out the ESM euro zone bailout fund. Merkel wants to have an agreement in principle by Nov. 16 on moving ahead to formal coalition negotiations to form a black-yellow-green government dubbed a Jamaica coalition because the parties colours match those of that country s flag. With less than a week to go, the exploratory coalition talks are not only complicated by the differences between the parties, but also by splits within the political parties themselves especially within the conservatives and Greens. A breakdown of the talks could mean fresh elections in Germany, Europe s biggest economy, since the Social Democrats (SPD) the second biggest party have made clear they have no appetite for joining another grand coalition under Merkel. A survey by Emnid for Bild am Sonntag newspaper showed only 30 percent would vote for Merkel s CDU/CSU bloc if there were a federal election this Sunday, down 1 percentage point. This is the lowest reading for the conservatives in this survey since October 2011 and marks a slump in support since the Sept. 24 election, in which Merkel s bloc won 32.9 percent. Touching on one of the thorniest issues, Merkel said on Saturday that Germany should lead the fight against climate change and cut emissions without destroying industrial jobs. Merkel s comments, made in her weekly podcast and in the middle of talks on limiting global warming attended by about 200 nations in the western German city of Bonn, highlighted the dilemma facing the centre-right leader in the negotiations. While the CDU/CSU and the FDP want to spare companies from additional burdens, the Greens want to spell out which measures the next government will implement for Germany to reach its 2020 goal of lowering emissions by 40 percent from 1990 levels. Due to strong economic growth and higher-than-expected immigration, Germany is at risk of missing its emissions target without any additional measures. | 1 |
9,128 | no title | she is a total idiot how did she ever get that job oh i forgot who she was working for | 1 |
9,129 | [VIDEO] Mooch Will Give Barack Work Out Gear…You Know, So He Can Workout With What? 2 Lb Weights? WATCH FLASHBACK VIDEO | Mooch is asked about what she will get her weak-kneed husband for Christmas: He s going to get some workout stuff. It s not going to be very interesting this year, honey. Sorry. Here s Barry hitting the gym. By the looks of this video, work out gear is the last thing he needs. Maybe a personal trainer, but not workout gear: | 0 |
9,130 | [VIDEO] HILLARY’S VAN BLOWS BY ELDERLY PEOPLE IN WHEELCHAIRS Waiting To See Her On Way To Manufactured Event | Hillary s for all Everyday Americans just not the elderly ones in wheelchairs Hillary Clinton wants to meet everyday Americans so badly, she drove right past many waiting in front of her event in Iowa.In the now-viral clip of reporters chasing after Clinton s Scooby van, the Clinton camp drove to the back entrance, surprising both reporters and many of her supporters waiting to get a glimpse of the candidate. I think what you don t see in that clip, which is one of the most surprising things is there were actually a ton of people waiting for her at the front of that college, said Financial Times reporter Megan Murphy. There were elderly people in wheelchairs, there were people and they just cruised right on by to the back. The news that Clinton symbolically drove past ordinary voters while driving their own everyday Americans to the event will certainly reflect poorly on the campaign. The incident draws parallels to the man Clinton hopes to succeed in the Oval Office when he drove past disabled veterans in Phoenix.The Democratic front-runner had already snubbed everyday Americans when she parked at a handicapped spot for her convenience at one event and did not include differently-abled citizens in her announcement video. Those were the everyday Americans. Those were the everyday Iowans and guess what they were lined up in front of that community college, Murphy said.Morning Joe host Mika Brzezinski was appalled after hearing the story. Earlier in the day, she criticized the Clinton campaign for her evasive and inaccessible approach to the campaign roll out which has left Clinton looking stale and flat. Joe Scarborough, on the other hand, laughed and said the story proved the narrative of an inauthentic Clinton campaign. The former congressman said it was not surprising Clinton did not want to meet the elderly people on wheelchairs because her staff did not get to vet them first. Because they want the everyday Americans that they had talked to for 30 minutes about how to act like an everyday American, Scarborough said.With senior citizens making up a quarter of all voters in 2014, up from 21 percent in 2010, Clinton may face an uphill battle in gaining the trust of the most reliable voting block to turn out on Election Day.Via: WFB | 0 |
9,131 | Austria's conservatives want schools to make 'sufficient' German compulsory | VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria s conservative People s Party wants children who do not speak sufficient German to take compulsory language classes as a condition for being allowed to attend school, party leader Sebastian Kurz said on Wednesday. Tens of thousands of migrants from the Middle East, Afghanistan and Africa have arrived in Austria in the past two years. Their integration has become an important political topic and Kurz, whose party is the junior partner in a coalition government with the Social Democrats, has gained in popularity because of his hard stance on immigration. Though his proposal ostensibly applies to all children, public debate has centered around those from migrant backgrounds, most of whom are currently placed at school according to age. They receive separate language lessons but teachers have said that this is not enough to integrate them. One can only follow the curriculum if one s German is good enough, Kurz said at a news conference in Salzburg, where he presented his party s education program for parliamentary elections on Oct. 15. Who starts at school needs to understand the teaching language, the party chief said, echoing demands from the far-right Freedom Party. | 1 |
9,132 | Holding keys to debt limit, Democrats weigh tax demands | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats in the U.S. Congress wield little clout nowadays, but they will likely have plenty of influence on the looming issue of the U.S. debt ceiling and party leaders are considering whether they should try to convert that advantage into bargaining power on tax reform. Even though they control the White House and both chambers of Congress, Republicans are again divided among themselves as pressing fiscal issues rattle financial markets and test President Donald Trump’s ability to keep the country’s accounts in order. The debt ceiling is a legal cap on how much money the federal government can borrow to fund its budget deficits and meet debt obligations. Failure to meet payments could lead to a default and a downgrade in America’s credit rating, with the potential to trigger global financial shockwaves. Speaking to reporters at the White House on Friday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he was “100 percent confident” that the debt ceiling would be raised in September. “There is no scenario where the government won’t be paying its bills,” Mnuchin said. Action is needed to raise the debt ceiling by Sept. 29, the administration has warned, although some fiscal experts say the deadline may actually be mid-October. The Trump administration wants Congress to pass a “clean” increase, without extraneous political measures attached. But, reflecting long divisions in the party over fiscal policy, many conservative Republicans have said they will not vote for a debt-limit bill that does not also contain promises of federal spending cuts. So, analysts say, Trump and Republican leaders will need the votes of Democrats, who generally favor a clean bill, to raise the debt limit and avoid a default. Armed with this edge, Democrats are considering using the debt debate to press Republicans for bipartisan tax reform, said Democratic Senate aides, which would inject new uncertainty into the debt limit issue. Overhauling the tax code is a top priority for Trump and his fellow Republicans, but they have made little progress since the president took office in January. Their behind-closed-doors planning process so far on tax reform has ignored the Democrats. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and House of Representatives Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi are skeptical about supporting a debt ceiling increase while Republicans pursue tax cuts that Democrats say would cause the federal deficit to balloon. “We’re telling Republicans that if it is their intention to use that debt limit increase to allow for tax cuts for the wealthy, that they are going to have a harder time getting Democratic votes,” said a Senate Democratic aide. Senate Democrats offered earlier this month to move forward with bipartisan legislation on taxes, on condition that changes do not add to the deficit or benefit the wealthy. For now, Senate and House Democrats are watching Republicans and the Trump administration wrangle over the debt ceiling, with no clear plan yet in sight. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan have not said if they want a clean bill. Ryan said on Thursday that Congress will pass legislation to raise the federal debt ceiling, noting that lawmakers have several options. McConnell has said the debt ceiling will be raised, a spokesman said on Thursday. Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said in an email: “Leader Pelosi has expressed support for a clean debt ceiling hike, but has also echoed the concerns that many House Democrats have about supporting such a move while Republicans simultaneously blow a multi-trillion dollar hole in the deficit with tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires.” Given the stakes, Schumer and Pelosi would face a daunting task in holding their parties’ lawmakers together if they want to squeeze concessions out of Republicans with the country on the brink of a potential default. Some Democrats are skeptical such a strategy could work. “We ought to get the debt ceiling done. It’s a bad precedent to try to use the debt ceiling for leverage for other political objectives,” said Representative John Yarmuth, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee. Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell expressed concern on Friday about the possibility of the debt ceiling not being raised. “If the debt ceiling were not to be raised, the United States would not be able to pay all of its bills. That’s never happened before; it would be unprecedented and that could be a major shock to the economy,” Powell said in an interview with CNBC during a conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Democrats have been talking about using the debt ceiling as a lever against Republican tax reform since June and laid out their conditions for working together on tax legislation in an Aug. 1 letter to Trump and Republican leaders. McConnell flatly rejected the idea of broad bipartisanship. But it could be the only way forward on taxes if Republicans cannot agree on a budget resolution for fiscal 2018. That is needed to unlock a legislative provision that would allow them to pass a tax bill in the Senate, where Republicans have only a slim majority, without Democratic support. | 1 |
9,133 | HOLLYWOOD HYPOCRITES MATT DAMON and RUSSELL CROWE Reportedly Helped Kill NYT’s Story That Could Have Exposed Harvey Weinstein 13 Years Ago | The hypocrisy of the Hollywood elites who would hide the truth about a sexual predator is beyond the pale If I had a bucket list, I d say raising my four girls to be strong, good women would be number one. -Matt Damon, 2010 interviewReally Matt? What about the chance that you allegedly had in 2004 to save untold numbers of women from being victims of the disgusting Hollywood kingpin and billionaire Harvey Weinstein?Though the New York Times has been widely celebrated for its article exposing decades of sexual-harassment accusations against Harvey Weinstein, one journalist claims the paper sat on an earlier article detailing the producer s misconduct. Sharon Waxman, founder of the Wrap, writes that her own investigate reporting, which took her on an international trip to uncover rumors of Weinstein s sexual misconduct, was cut from the Times in 2004 under pressure from several Hollywood elites. Waxman alleges in the Wrap that Matt Damon and Russell Crowe called her directly to dispel the reports she was following about Miramax s Italian head Fabrizio Lombardo, who was allegedly hired to take care of Weinstein s women needs. She says that because of their influence, and interference from Weinstein, whose company was a big advertiser in the Times, the article was edited to remove the more salacious details. Damon and Crowe had previously worked with Weinstein on pictures like Good Will Hunting, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, and Cinderella Man.Waxman claims that the gutted story could have exposed Weinstein much earlier. I had people on the record telling me Lombardo knew nothing about film, and others citing evenings he organized with Russian escorts, Waxman said. She also alleges that she tracked down an intern in London who had been paid off in a settlement with Weinstein. I was devastated after traveling to two countries and overcoming immense challenges to confirm at least part of the story that wound up running last week, more than a decade later, she writes. Vulture | 0 |
9,134 | Australian Hindus protest meat advertisement featuring Lord Ganesha | SYDNEY (Reuters) - Hundreds of people attended rallies in Australia s major cities on Sunday to protest an advertisement the Indian community described as highly insulting in its depiction of the Hindu deity Lord Ganesha. The India Forum Australia (IFA) arranged the protests in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth in response to a Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) advertisement, aired earlier this month. The ad featured various religious figures including the Hindu god, considered vegetarian by followers, sitting down to a meal of lamb. IFA president Nihal Agar said on Sunday the MLA had not listened to the Indian community s earlier concerns when the ad initially screened. To say something is legal is one thing, but it s something else to touch the heart and that is how MLA has failed our community, he said. This is not the multicultural Australia that we truly love. Earlier this month, India s High Commission in Canberra lodged a complaint with the Australian government asking for the ad s removal. The Advertising Standards Bureau dismissed complaints, saying Lord Ganesha was depicted positively and that the advertisement s intent was to be inclusive. Assistant Minister for Social Services and Multicultural Affairs, Zed Seselja, told Reuters on Sunday that he had met Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and leaders of Australia s Hindu community because of the genuine hurt that had been caused. Seselja said organizations needed to consider the impact on people of faith when they exercised their freedom of speech but cautioned against censorship. An MLA spokesman said in a statement after the ad first aired that the organization had undertaken extensive research and consultation while making the advertisement. The industry association has a history of controversial campaigns, geared at generating discussion and promoting meat consumption. Another advertisement this year featuring indigenous Australians welcoming boat arrivals to a barbecue on a beach was described as insensitive while a previous campaign was criticized for promoting violence against vegans. | 1 |
9,135 | Hillary-Haters Send Death Threats To Arizona Republic For Endorsing Clinton | After 126 years of endorsing Republican candidates for President, the Arizona Republic decided that they could not, in good conscience, endorse Donald Trump. Arizona is a solid red state with a solid red and oftentimes nutty conservative government, and some of the people of the state are so angry with the Republic for endorsing Hillary that the paper has lost subscribers and is now receiving death threats.Phil Boas, who s in charge of the Republic s editorial page, said: Well, it s been crazy around here. We re getting a lot of reaction both locally and national. I don t believe true readers of the editorial page are surprised by all this at all, because over the past year we have been writing scathing, scalding articles about Donald Trump. There may be some true readers of the editorial page who are angry, but it s just as likely that these are primarily Trumpkins and others who hate Hillary with a passion, and are pissed off that their paper has betrayed them like this. Trumpkins are known for advocating violence against anyone who disagrees with their chosen god, and Trump himself eggs them on.Trumpkins sent death threats to delegates who didn t want to support Trump at the RNC. The chairman of Colorado s Republican Party was told to go kill himself, and to hide his family and pray he made it all the way to Cleveland. A Jewish writer for The Huffington Post got death threats and wishes after calling Trump out for an anti-Semitic tweet.Trump and his loyal subjects have normalized this kind of behavior. Unfortunately, this behavior can lead to domestic terrorism, and anyone who carries out these threats would be considered domestic terrorists.Boas, and the Republic, are rightfully concerned about Trump s strong desire to destroy the free press because he can t take criticism. It s also his misogyny, racism, lack of presidential temperament and lack of any real policy proposals that pushed the Republic to endorse Hillary. Boas says the paper is feeling the weight of our history during this election cycle.The Republic may have endorsed the GOP candidate had it been Marco Rubio or Jeb Bush candidates that were actually respectful, respectable and, in comparison to Trump, responsible. But they didn t, so the Republic stands by its decision to endorse Hillary, along with many other papers that have broken with decades of tradition. Trump is too distasteful for them, and his fans are just as bad.Featured image by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images | 0 |
9,136 | Qatar to buy 24 Typhoon jets from UK's BAE Systems | DOHA (Reuters) - Qatar s defense minister has signed a letter of intent to purchase 24 Typhoon jets from British defense group BAE Systems, in a move that could anger other Gulf countries boycotting Doha. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain cut diplomatic and trade links with Qatar on June 5, suspending air and shipping routes with the world s biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas, which is home to the region s biggest U.S. military base. The letter of intent includes the ministry s intention to purchase 24 modern Typhoon aircraft with all their equipment, state news agency QNA reported on Sunday. The agreement was signed by Minister of State for Defence Affairs Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah and his British counterpart Michael Fallon, QNA added. This will be the first major defense contract with Qatar, one of the UK s strategic partners, Britain s Ministry of Defence said in a statement, adding that talks over a deal had taken several years. We also hope that this will help enhance security within the region across all Gulf allies. The Eurofighter Typhoon is a joint project between BAE, France s Airbus and Italy s Finmeccanica [SIFIF.UL] and supports an estimated 40,000 jobs in Britain. Neither statement gave the cost of the combat jet deal. BAE had agreed in 2014 to supply Saudi Arabia with 72 Typhoon jets in a deal worth 4.43 billion pounds ($6 billion). Fallon told a conference in London, on Saturday, the British government will step up efforts to help BAE Systems to sell more Typhoon jets with government-to-government deals. The Typhoon has attracted fewer orders this year than the rival Rafale built by France s Dassault Aviation , which has agreed deals with Egypt and Qatar. Qatar also signed a deal in June to buy F-15 fighter jets from Boeing Co in the United States for $12 billion and concluded a 5 billion euro ($6 billion) deal with Italy for seven navy vessels. The wealthy Gulf state has been accused by its neighbors of supporting terrorism and meddling with Iran, Saudi Arabia s arch-rival in the region. Qatar denies the accusations. The crisis has put the region on edge and prompted Turkey to send troops to Doha in a sign of support. | 1 |
9,137 | Senate approves Trump trade nominee ahead of NAFTA renegotiation | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Thursday approved President Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. Trade Representative, a critical position ahead of renegotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. The Senate voted to confirm veteran trade lawyer Robert Lighthizer by a 82-14 vote. | 1 |
9,138 | U.S. high court pick Gorsuch seen as genial, firmly conservative | (Reuters) - When gay former law clerk Joshua Goodbaum married his partner in 2014, he got effusive and emotional reassurance from his former boss, President Donald Trump’s conservative U.S. Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch. Goodbaum, now an attorney in Connecticut, recalled fondly their conversation on the week of the wedding: “He said, ‘This is a wonderful thing. You’ll see how your relationship grows.’” Goodbaum, who in 2009 served as a clerk for the Colorado federal appeals court judge, added: “I have never felt the least whiff from him of homophobia or intolerance toward gay people.” As the U.S. Senate weighs whether to confirm the Republican president’s nomination of Gorsuch for a lifetime seat on the nation’s highest court, his views on social issues, such as gay rights, are under scrutiny by Democrats and Republicans alike. The Supreme Court periodically makes landmark civil rights decisions such as the 2015 ruling legalizing gay marriage nationwide. In their current term, for instance, the justices will tackle a major transgender rights case. For a year, the court has had eight justices, not the requisite nine, because Republicans refused to consider Democratic former President Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland. Democrats remain furious with the Republicans for that, and are scouring Gorsuch’s record to build their case against his Senate confirmation. When he was named as a nominee by Trump on Tuesday, Gorsuch, 49, immediately came under attack from liberal groups that pounced on his social issues record, which is thin but offers clues on how he might behave as a justice, if confirmed. Like Goodbaum, friends and acquaintances of Gorsuch, many of them Democrats, said he is genial, tolerant and respectful. In some ways, he differs in style from the justice he was named to replace, the late Antonin Scalia, who was known for being combative and blunt on the bench. Gorsuch would not put politics before the law, these people said. But his conservative legal philosophy indicates he would likely vote with like-minded conservative justices on the closely divided court. He rejects the idea that liberals can press their social agenda in the courts. That could signaled he may be less likely to side with Justice Anthony Kennedy, a conservative who often casts the deciding vote in close cases. Kennedy has joined with liberal justices in backing gay marriage, abortion rights and, most recently, a limited form of racial preferences in college admissions. It remains an open question whether Gorsuch would vote for conservative agenda items such as expanding religious liberties in a way some critics say allows for discrimination against gays and others, restricting voting rights and lifting campaign finance restrictions. In a 2005 article for conservative magazine National Review, Gorsuch said liberals “have become addicted to the courtroom, relying on judges and lawyers rather than elected leaders and the ballot box, as the primary means of effecting their social agenda on everything from gay marriage to assisted suicide to the use of vouchers for private-school education.” Some liberal politicians and advocacy groups have labeled Gorsuch a conservative hardliner in part over his role in deciding a 2013 case involving the Christian owners of the arts-and-crafts retailer Hobby Lobby. The ruling allowed owners of private companies to object on religious grounds to a federal requirement that they provide insurance to employees that pays for women’s birth control. It was affirmed by the Supreme Court. “We absolutely must not confirm a Supreme Court nominee who has ruled that the religious beliefs of employers can trump the law,” said Rachel Tiven, chief executive of Lambda Legal, an advocacy group for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. On another issue, Gorsuch last October said his colleagues on the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals should have reconsidered a ruling that prevented Utah Governor Gary Herbert from suspending funding to women’s healthcare and abortion provider Planned Parenthood over videos purported to show its officials negotiating the sale of fetal tissue. In 2006, Gorsuch wrote a book arguing against legalization of assisted suicide and euthanasia. After Trump nominated him, many social conservatives and religious groups, perhaps looking back at his book, said they hoped Gorsuch would vote on the court to roll back abortion rights. In the book, Gorsuch cited the “inviolability of human life,” calling it a “basic good.” The Knights of Columbus, a Roman Catholic fraternal organization, said Gorsuch would uphold religious freedoms “and the right to life of every person.” Former clerks said they do not know how Gorsuch, a member of the Episcopal church, would vote on gay marriage or abortion. But they said he never brought his religion into his work. “He’s not the kind of person to use his post to push an agenda,” said Jason Murray, a Gorsuch clerk in 2011 who is a Democrat. “You could certainly say Judge Gorsuch is a conservative. But I don’t see how his personality or record bears out that he is an extremist,” Murray said. Some who know Gorsuch personally said his respect for legal precedent could prevent radical attempts to change the law. “He’s very sensitive to the importance of societal stability. So if he were to change Roe v. Wade significantly I would be surprised,” added Tracy Ashmore, a Democratic lawyer from Denver, referring to the landmark 1973 Supreme Court ruling legalizing abortion. | 1 |
9,139 | Blaming judges is 'corrosive,' says a judge who ruled against Trump | HONOLULU (Reuters) - One of three federal appeals court judges who last month upheld a ruling that blocked U.S. President Donald Trump’s first try at a travel ban said on Thursday it was “corrosive to the justice system” when litigants attack judges for their decisions. Judge Richard Clifton of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals became the latest in a series of judges to draw criticism from Trump after Clifton and two colleagues refused to reinstate an executive order temporarily barring entry by people from seven Muslim-majority countries. Shortly after the Feb. 9 ruling, Trump tweeted: “SEE YOU IN COURT, THE SECURITY OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE!” He also told reporters that the ruling was “political.” “It’s easy to blame the referee when you don’t like the result,” Clifton said in a speech to the Conference of Western Attorneys General, which is meeting in Honolulu. “It is corrosive to the system when a disappointing result, or result disappointing to you, is responded to by blaming the referee,” said Clifton, who did not mention Trump by name. He urged the state attorneys general not to blame judges, saying it could lead to a “breakdown in law and order.” Clifton, appointed to the court by former Republican President George W. Bush, was discussing the executive order case, but did not comment on any substantive issues about the travel ban. The White House had no immediate comment on his speech. Trump has frequently attacked judges who rule against him. Last month, he called a Seattle federal judge who ruled against the first travel ban a “so-called judge.” During last year’s presidential campaign, he said a San Diego federal judge overseeing a fraud lawsuit against Trump University was biased because of his Mexican heritage. | 1 |
9,140 | 'Fully committed' NATO backs new U.S. approach on Afghanistan | BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO allies on Tuesday welcomed President Donald Trump s decision to commit more forces to Afghanistan, as part of a new U.S. strategy he said would require more troops and funding from America s partners. Having run for the White House last year on a pledge to withdraw swiftly from Afghanistan, Trump reversed course on Monday and promised a stepped-up military campaign against Taliban insurgents, saying: Our troops will fight to win . U.S. officials said he had signed off on plans to send about 4,000 more U.S. troops to add to the roughly 8,400 now deployed in Afghanistan. But his speech did not define benchmarks for successfully ending the war that began with the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, and which he acknowledged had required an extraordinary sacrifice of blood and treasure . We will ask our NATO allies and global partners to support our new strategy, with additional troops and funding increases in line with our own. We are confident they will, Trump said. That comment signaled he would further increase pressure on U.S. partners who have already been jolted by his repeated demands to step up their contributions to NATO and his description of the alliance as obsolete - even though, since taking office, he has said this is no longer the case. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in a statement: NATO remains fully committed to Afghanistan and I am looking forward to discussing the way ahead with (Defense) Secretary (James) Mattis and our Allies and international partners. NATO has 12,000 troops in Afghanistan, and 15 countries have pledged more, Stoltenberg said. Britain, a leading NATO member, called the U.S. commitment very welcome . In my call with Secretary Mattis yesterday we agreed that despite the challenges, we have to stay the course in Afghanistan to help build up its fragile democracy and reduce the terrorist threat to the West, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said. Germany, which has borne the brunt of Trump s criticism over the scale of its defense spending, also welcomed the new U.S. plan. Our continued commitment is necessary on the path to stabilizing the country, a government spokeswoman said. In June, European allies had already pledged more troops but had not given details on numbers, waiting for the Trump administration to outline its strategy for the region.Nearly 16 years after the U.S.-led invasion - a response to the Sept. 11 attacks which were planned by al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden from Afghanistan - the country is still struggling with weak central government and a Taliban insurgency. Trump said he shared the frustration of the American people who were weary of war without victory , but a hasty withdrawal would create a vacuum for groups like Islamic State and al Qaeda to fill. | 1 |
9,141 | This Chart Captures Every Sexist Slur Trump Supporters Tweeted At Megyn Kelly (IMAGES) | On Tuesday, Trump announced that he would be skipping Thursday night s GOP debate because Fox News host Megyn Kelly would be moderating it, and Trump is scared sh*tless of her even since she made him look like a complete idiot the first time moderated the GOP debate.Since Trump got his ego handed to him on a silver platter, Trump has kept himself busy with a mostly one-sided feud against Kelly, solidifying the very sexist, misogynistic behavior the Fox host called him out on during the first debate. It should come as no surprise that Trump s supporters are just like him disrespectful with unhealthy, hateful views toward women. And it couldn t be any more apparent than their activity on social media.VocativVocativThe tweets from Trump s supporters are hardly surprising these are the same people who routinely attack protesters at Trump s rallies animalistic, violent behavior which Trump sometimes even encourages.Because Trump has refused to participate in the debate, Trump s fans have been demanding that Kelly be removed from her position as moderator after Trump s initial demand for her exclusion was denied. Trump s followers are all sexist, misogynistic babies and it s easy to see why Trump appeals to these people.Featured image is a screenshot | 0 |
9,142 | WATCH: Utah Republican Leaves GOP After Disappointing GOP Convention Nominates Trump | If this keeps up there won t be enough Republicans left to justify the existence of the party.Utah GOP state Senator Mark Madsen attended the Republican National Convention last week and witnessed his state make every effort to keep Donald Trump from becoming the nominee. But they failed, and Trump gave a gloom and doom acceptance speech formally making him the leader of a party coming apart at the seams.In the wake of the disappointing convention, Madsen decided that the time was right to bolt from the Republican Party because every decision and inclination I had before was reinforced. Although Madsen claims that Trump s nomination isn t what ultimately changed his mind, it s kind of hard to believe that it wasn t a factor. After all, the longtime Utah Republican has concerns about Trump s inexperience.In fact, Madsen bizarrely claimed that he is leaving the party because it is somehow too progressive, therefore, he has decided to join the Libertarian Party, which apparently frowns upon progress.He also said the Republican Party makes me want to cry because I ve invested a lot in that party. Libertarian Party Chairman Nicholas Sarwark did not refrain from bashing the Republican Party and said that the reality clown show is what is causing many Republican lawmakers to abandon ship. After the disaster that we saw in Cleveland, in which a party that was once storied has nominated a reality show star for president, where the convention chairman s cutting off the microphone of a sitting U.S. senator, it s broken, Sarwark said. It s fundamentally broken and it s dying. Even Madsen s own wife is voting against the Republican Party and she also had no problem blaming the convention for her decision. That was my tribe, Erin Madsen said. That was my people. I believed deeply in what I thought the Republican Party believed. But after having gone to the convention in Cleveland, I don t think that s my tribe anymore. They don t believe what I believe. And you re going to think this is crazy but it s like a death in the family for me. It breaks my heart. Here s video of Madsen announcing his switch via YouTube.Last week, a lifelong Texas Republican formally resigned from the Republican Party by writing an epic resignation letter that went viral. I will not contribute my name, my work, or my character to an utterly indefensible cause, Chris Ladd wrote after being a Republican for the last 30 years. No sensible adult demands moral purity from a political party, but conscience is meaningless without constraints. A party willing to lend its collective capital to Donald Trump has entered a compromise beyond any credible threshold of legitimacy. There is no redemption in being one of the good Nazis. Donald Trump is the poison pill that Republicans forced themselves to swallow so they really shouldn t be surprised that their party is dying.Featured image via John Sommers II/Getty Images | 0 |
9,143 | STATUE OF LIBERTY AS A MUSLIM? Congressman Sparks Protest After Hanging Painting in Office | Here we go again another student art contest that brings with it a controversial painting. Remember the Cops as Pigs painting that caused a stir in the Capitol? This painting is taking the iconic symbol of the Statue of Liberty and making it a religious symbol of islam with the hijab. Congressman Correa needs to take this painting down!A student painting that depicts the Statue of Liberty wearing a Muslim hijab, displayed in congressman Lou Correa s Santa Ana office, is being attacked as an unpatriotic violation of the separation of church and state by members of We the People Rising, a Claremont-based activist group that advocates stricter enforcement of immigration laws.The group, which includes several Orange County participants, has asked without success that Correa remove the painting, which hangs with other finalists from the Democratic congressman s annual student art competition.Because of the complaint, Correa said he asked the House Office of Legislative Counsel for advice and was told there was no legal issue. That has not appeased the activists, who are tentatively planning a Sept. 11 protest at Correa s district office. It s a bad example for our congressman, said Orange resident Mike McGertrick, an activist with We the People Rising. He shouldn t have anything religious in his office. I would like to see our Congress people be right-down-the-line patriotic. Read more: East Bay Times | 0 |
9,144 | Trump blasts retailer Nordstrom, raising new concern on business ties | WASHINGTON/CHICAGO (Reuters) - (This February 8 story has been refiled to show HSN Inc has dropped Trump Home products, but sells Trump presidential memorabilia in paragraph 21. It did not sell Ivanka Trump products.) President Donald Trump blasted department store chain Nordstrom Inc on Wednesday for dropping his daughter Ivanka’s clothing line, prompting critics to accuse him of misusing public office to benefit his family’s sprawling business empire. After Trump’s highly unusual move to use a White House platform to intervene in a commercial matter involving his daughter, Nordstrom reiterated that its action last week was based on declining sales of the Ivanka Trump products. But White House spokesman Sean Spicer characterized the move as a “direct attack” on the president’s policies. “My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom. She is a great person - always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible!” Trump wrote on Wednesday on both his personal and official presidential Twitter accounts. Ethics officials who served past Republican and Democratic administrations said Trump’s tweet was both unprecedented for a president and troublesome. “This is misuse of public office for private gains,” Richard Painter, who served as Republican President George W. Bush’s chief ethics lawyer, said in an email to Reuters. “And it is abuse of power because the official message is clear - Nordstrom is persona non grata with the administration.” Norman Eisen, an ethics adviser to Democratic President Barack Obama, noted that several states have unfair competition laws, including California where Nordstrom operates many stores. The tweet, he said, could spark lawsuits if the company’s brand was being injured by an unfair attack. The wealthy New York real estate developer who became president on Jan. 20 has declined to sell off his businesses despite demands from critics that he do so to avoid thorny conflicts of interest. Trump on Jan. 11 said he would maintain ownership of his global business empire but hand off control to his two oldest sons during his presidency. Trump’s web of international companies remains a bit opaque since he has refused to release his tax returns, which experts have said would provide a clearer view of his business interests. Ethics experts have said Trump’s arrangement does little to address potential conflicts because he would still know what assets he owned, such as Trump-branded golf courses and hotels, and his family would continue to profit from them. Ivanka Trump ran a clothing and jewelry business bearing her name, in addition to other work for the Trump Organization, before saying she would resign when her father was sworn in as president. Her father’s various contentious actions and comments have prompted boycott efforts by critics and have driven some consumers away from Trump family businesses. During a White House press briefing, Spicer painted Nordstrom’s action as an attack on the president’s daughter. “For someone to take out their concern with his policies on a family member of his is just not acceptable. And the president has every right as a father to stand up to them,” Spicer said. A spokeswoman for the Ivanka Trump brand declined to comment. On Tuesday, First lady Melania Trump filed a $150 million defamation lawsuit accusing the Daily Mail British tabloid of damaging her brand by falsely reporting she had worked as an escort. The lawsuit said the article ruined a “unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” for the first lady but her lawyer said she “has no intention of using her position for profit.” Democrats pounced on Trump for the tweet. “I think it’s inappropriate, but he’s a totally inappropriate president,” said Nancy Pelosi, the top U.S. House of Representatives Democrat. Senator Bob Casey, a Democrat, in a tweet indicated the matter should be referred to the federal Office of Government Ethics. Nordstrom said it informed Ivanka Trump about its decision in early January. “Over the past year, and particularly in the last half of 2016, sales of the brand have steadily declined to the point where it didn’t make good business sense for us to continue with the line for now,” the retailer told Reuters. Nordstrom shares initially fell after the president’s criticism, but closed up 4 percent on the New York Stock Exchange. Retailers still selling Ivanka Trump products include Macy’s Inc, TJX Cos, Hudson’s Bay Co, which runs high-end chains like Lord & Taylor, and Dillard’s Inc. Retailers that have dropped Ivanka Trump include Neiman Marcus [NMRCUS.UL]. HSN Inc has stopped selling Trump Home products, but still sells Trump presidential memorabilia. The move by some retailers to drop her products comes amid an ongoing campaign called #GrabYourWallet, which encourages shoppers to boycott products with ties to President Trump, his family and his donors. Usage of the hashtag on Twitter rose dramatically on Wednesday. “President Trump said he is going to have nothing to do with his family businesses,” said Robert Weissman, president of liberal watchdog group Public Citizen. “His reaction to developments with his daughter’s business line suggests that claim is untrue.” Trump’s tweet left fellow Republicans in an uncomfortable position. Republican Senator David Perdue of Georgia told Reuters of Trump’s tweet, “That sounds like a personal matter to me.” Perdue added, “He is a citizen and he is a citizen who is now president of the United States.” Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, asked whether the president should be criticizing a publicly traded company over its business dealings with Trump’s daughter, said, “I don’t know the answer to that question. Let me think about what the answer is.” Since winning the presidential election on Nov. 8, Trump has castigated specific companies on Twitter but this was his first tweet involving a business tied to his family since the victory. A group including former White House ethics attorneys filed a lawsuit after Trump took office accusing him of allowing his businesses to accept payments from foreign governments, in violation of the U.S. Constitution. | 1 |
9,145 | ALL OUT BRAWL! BERNIE/HILLARY DELEGATES GO AT IT: ‘We need a medic!’ [Video] | WOW! IT WAS AN ALL OUT BRAWL AT THE NV DEM CONVENTION: The Hill Reported: Tensions were high at the Democratic convention in Nevada Saturday, with Bernie Sanders supporters demanding delegate recounts, booing Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and causing other disruptions, according to local media reports. Keep on booing and boo yourself out of this election .we had our Nevada caucus and Hillary Clinton won, BarbaraBoxer Sanders supporters were angry over a voice vote that adopted a set of temporary convention rules as the permanent rules, according to the Las Vegas Sun.And supporters also reacted angrily to the count of delegates attending the convention, which put Hillary Clinton at an advantage. Final numbers announced later in the day showed 1,695 Clinton supporters in attendance to Sanders s 1,662. The focus has been all on the Trump/Third Party situation but the Bernie/Hillary situation is what the press might want to focus on an all out brawl happened at the NV Dem Convention. Here s a little sample of just how ugly it got: FIGHT BREAKS OUT - CALL A MEDIC! Fight just broke out. Someone got their credentials snatched pic.twitter.com/RnDSMxaiI4 Laura Martin (@LauraKMM) May 14, 2016 | 0 |
9,146 | UK parliament expected to vote on Brexit deal by late 2018 or early 2019: Davis | LONDON (Reuters) - Britain s parliament will vote on whether to accept the government s deal on exiting the European Union by December 2018 or January 2019 if negotiations with Brussels progress as anticipated, Brexit minister David Davis said on Thursday. If it goes to the timetable (EU negotiator) Mr Barnier expects, or wants to go to, which is October of 2018, it s likely the European Parliament will vote December or January... we will have that put before the house before then, there s no doubt about that, Davis told parliament. | 1 |
9,147 | Trump threatens German carmakers with 35 percent U.S. import tariff | FRANKFURT/BERLIN (Reuters) - U.S President-elect Donald Trump warned German car companies he would impose a border tax of 35 percent on vehicles imported to the U.S. market, a plan that drew sharp rebukes from Berlin and hit the automakers’ shares. In an interview with German newspaper Bild, published on Monday, Trump criticized German carmakers such as BMW (BMWG.DE), Daimler (DAIGn.DE) and Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) for failing to produce more cars on U.S. soil. “If you want to build cars in the world, then I wish you all the best. You can build cars for the United States, but for every car that comes to the USA, you will pay 35 percent tax,” Trump said in remarks translated into German. “I would tell BMW that if you are building a factory in Mexico and plan to sell cars to the USA, without a 35 percent tax, then you can forget that,” Trump said. Volkswagen (VW) shares closed down 2.2 percent, while BMW and Daimler’s shares ended 1.5 percent lower. Under pressure to deliver on campaign promises to revive U.S. industrial jobs, Trump has turned his fire on carmakers that use low-cost Mexican plants to serve the U.S. market. He has also warned Japan’s Toyota (7203.T) it could be subject to a “big border tax” if it builds its Corolla cars for the U.S. market at a planned factory in Mexico. All three German carmakers have invested heavily in Mexico, but also pointed out on Monday that they manufacturer in the United States as well. BMW executive Peter Schwarzenbauer told reporters the company was sticking to plans to invest around $1 billion in a new plant in Mexico, which is due to go into production in 2019 and create at least 1,500 jobs. “The president’s powers are considerable. He can legally impose tariffs of up to 15 percent for 150 days. Trump is not constrained by Congress,” said Simon Evenett, professor of international trade at Switzerland’s University of St Gallen. “Even if foreign companies object and seek to challenge the legality of tariffs, it will take at least 18 months to get decided. Corporate strategies will be disrupted by then.” While investing in Mexico, German carmakers have quadrupled light vehicle production in the United States over the past seven years to 850,000 units, more than half of which are exported from there, Germany’s VDA automotive industry association said. “In the long term, the United States would be shooting itself in the foot by imposing tariffs or other trade barriers,” VDA President Matthias Wissmann said in a statement. German carmakers employ about 33,000 workers in the United States and German automotive suppliers about 77,000 more, the VDA said. Speaking in tabloid newspaper Bild, German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said that rather than trying to penalize German carmakers, the United States should instead respond by building better and more desirable cars. Norbert Roettgen, head of Germany’s foreign affairs committee, said Berlin needed to take Trump’s comments seriously. “He seems to be absolutely focused on short-term job interests and security interests ... not that he is looking for free trade so much, but more for protection,” he told Reuters. Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz and BMW already have sizeable factories in the United States where they build higher-margin sports utility vehicles (SUVs) for export to Asia and Europe. Around 65 percent of BMW’s production from its factory in Spartanburg, South Carolina, is exported overseas. BMW builds the X3, X4, X5 and X6 models in the United States. “It is surprising that Trump singles out the carmaker that exports more vehicles from the United States than any other manufacturer,” Evercore ISI analysts said. A BMW spokeswoman said the planned plant in the central Mexican city of San Luis Potosi would build the BMW 3 Series from 2019, with the output intended for the world market. The plant would be an addition to existing 3 Series production facilities in Germany and China. In June last year, BMW broke ground on the plant, pledging to invest $2.2 billion in Mexico by 2019 for annual production of 150,000 cars. Daimler has said it plans to begin assembling Mercedes-Benz vehicles in 2018 from a $1 billion facility shared with Renault-Nissan (RENA.PA) (7201.T) in Aguascalientes in Mexico. A spokesman for Daimler declined to comment on Trump’s remarks. Last year, VW’s Audi division inaugurated a $1.3 billion production facility with 150,000 vehicle production capacity near Puebla, Mexico. Audi said it would build electric and petrol Q5 SUVs in Mexico. Audi declined to comment on Monday. VW also declined to comment on Trump’s remarks but noted it was investing another $900 million in its U.S. plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Trump called Germany a great car producer, saying Mercedes-Benz cars were a frequent sight in New York, but claimed there was not enough reciprocity. Germans were not buying Chevrolets at the same rate, he said, calling the business relationship an unfair one-way street. Chevrolet sales have fallen sharply in Europe since parent company General Motors (GM.N) in 2013 said it would drop the Chevrolet brand in Europe by the end of 2015. Since then, GM has focused instead on promoting its Opel and Vauxhall marques. Asked by Reuters whether Trump could take any steps to make it easier for GM to sell more American-made cars in Europe, GM Chief Executive Mary Barra said the company aimed to build cars in markets where they are sold. “We’re a global company so we’re going to continue that focus just because from an economic perspective that generally turns out to be the best framework,” she said. “I think there is a lot that we can work on with President-elect Trump.” | 1 |
9,148 | Factbox: Trump on Twitter (Jan 31) - Pelosi, Democrats, Gorsuch | The following bullet points are from the U.S. President Donald Trump’s Twitter accounts (@realDonaldTrump and @POTUS). Reuters has not edited the tweets. @realDonaldTrump : - Nancy Pelosi and Fake Tears Chuck Schumer held a rally at the steps of The Supreme Court and mic did not work (a mess)-just like Dem party! [621 EST] - When will the Democrats give us our Attorney General and rest of Cabinet! They should be ashamed of themselves! No wonder D.C. doesn’t work! [627 EST] - Getting ready to deliver a VERY IMPORTANT DECISION! 8:00 P.M. [1931 EST] - Join me live from the @WhiteHouse. here … [2001 EST] - Hope you like my nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch for the United States Supreme Court. He is a good and brilliant man, respected by all. [2245 EST] - Today I met with pharmaceutical executives at the @WhiteHouse...here:0 … [1359 EST] - Highlights From The President's Listening Session With Pharmaceutical Industry Leaders at the @WhiteHouse today: here … [1621 EST] - Join me live from the @WhiteHouse at 8:00pm tonight. #SCOTUS m.facebook.com/POTUS/ [1653 EST] - Join me live from the @WhiteHouse as I announce my nomination for United States Supreme Court Justice. here … [1949 EST] - #JusticeGorsuch #SCOTUS [2011 EST] - President Trump's Nominee for the Supreme Court Neil M. Gorsuch. #SCOTUS #JusticeGorsuch here#page … [2016 EST] - President Donald J. Trump Nominates Judge Neil Gorsuch to the United States Supreme Court #JusticeGorsuch #SCOTUS www.facebook.com/DonaldTrump posts/10158580999910725:0 … [2308 EST] -- Source link: (bit.ly/2jBh4LU) (bit.ly/2jpEXYR) | 1 |
9,149 | Hong Kong 'milkshake' murderer challenges her life sentence | HONG KONG (Reuters) - An American serving a life sentence in a Hong Kong jail for the 2003 milkshake murder of her Merrill Lynch banker husband made a fresh challenge against her sentence on Friday. Nancy Kissel, who is in her mid 50s, has been in jail since 2005 when she was found guilty of murdering her husband after giving him a drug-laced milkshake and then clubbing him to death with a metal ornament in their luxury home. She was convicted a second time in a 2011 retrial and failed in a final appeal against her conviction in 2014. Kissel lodged a judicial review against the Long-Term Prison Sentences Review Board, Hong Kong court records showed. She is arguing that the board had deprived her of the right to make an informed submission to challenge the rationality of its decision. A lawyer for Kissel said the board should have recommended to the Chinese controlled city s chief executive that a fixed prison term should have replaced an indefinite life sentence, public broadcaster RTHK said. The murder gripped Hong Kong s business and expatriate communities with its tales of domestic violence, rough sex and adultery that cast a shadow over the high-flying lifestyles of financial professionals in the former British colony. Kissel s latest move comes the same week that British former Bank of America Merrill Lynch employee Rurik Jutting appealed against a life sentence handed down last year for murdering two Indonesian women he tortured and raped. | 1 |
9,150 | Republicans Rubio, Cruz release taxes, piling pressure on Trump | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidates Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz released tax returns for several years on Saturday in an effort to pressure billionaire front-runner Donald Trump to follow suit. Rubio, whose financial decisions earlier in his life have come under scrutiny, paid $78,917 in taxes on $335,561 in gross income in 2014, along with his wife, Jeanette. Cruz paid $389,124 in taxes on $1.2 million income in 2014 along with his wife, Heidi, who is employed by Goldman Sachs and currently on leave from the bank. Rubio and Cruz, both first-term U.S. senators, trail Trump in national polls and are fighting to stop the political novice from locking up the Republican nomination for the Nov. 8 election after big wins in South Carolina and Nevada. The real estate developer has said he will not release his returns until a routine audit has been completed. “If Donald is embarrassed about his tax returns, it’s up to the voters to assess the facts. It’s time to stop delaying and come clean with the American people,” Cruz said in a statement. Rubio released his last five years of federal returns on Saturday, while Cruz submitted four years. Rubio said Trump, who has promoted his success as a businessman as one of his key qualifications for the presidency, may not be as wealthy as he suggests. “I think part of it is he’s not as rich as he says he is,” Rubio said while campaigning in Georgia. Rubio and his wife have only one debt: the mortgage on their house, the campaign said, seeking to emphasize that the senator had moved past previous financial woes. Rubio often refers to the nearly $150,000 in student loan debt he incurred by the time he graduated from law school, paid off with proceeds made from his 2012 autobiography. He also faced questions for struggling for several months in 2008 to pay the mortgage on his $384,000 South Florida home, despite a $300,000 salary from his job at a Miami law firm. Rubio also drew scrutiny for liquidating a retirement account to cover expenses, such as home repairs and school fees. That was reflected in $68,241 of income as part of his 2014 return. During his 2010 bid for the U.S. Senate, which followed his stint as a Florida state lawmaker from 2005-2006, Rubio had to defend his use of a Republican Party-issued American Express credit card for more than $7,200 personal expenses, which he later paid back. Trump has accused Rubio of living beyond his means. Rubio’s adjusted gross income in 2010 was $183,826 in 2010. It spiked to $929,439 in 2012, when his book “An American Son: A Memoir” was published. “There is no doubt the Rubio family has come a long way from the days when their largest monthly expense was a check to (student loan provider) Sallie Mae and checks were sent in the mail to pay bills with the hope the payment did not arrive before the next paycheck was deposited into their account,” Rubio’s campaign said. Cruz’s wealth, with $1.2 million in combined income with his wife in 2014, placed them well above the $423,000 threshold of the top 1 percent of earners in Texas, according to a 2015 Economic Policy Institute report. (Reporting by Jeff Mason and Alana Wise; Editing by Leslie Adler and Mary Milliken) This article was funded in part by SAP. It was independently created by the Reuters editorial staff. SAP had no editorial involvement in its creation or production. | 1 |
9,151 | Lieberman withdraws from consideration to be FBI director | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. Senator and Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Lieberman has withdrawn from consideration to be the next director of the FBI, citing the potential for an appearance of a conflict of interest given President Donald Trump’s decision to retain an attorney who works at the same firm. Lieberman works at a New York firm headed by Marc Kasowitz, who has been hired by Trump to represent him amid probes by the Justice Department and Congress into possible ties between Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russia. “With your selection of Marc Kasowitz to represent you in the various investigations that have begun, I do believe it would be best to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest,” Lieberman wrote to Trump in a letter dated Wednesday. A copy of the letter, which was first disclosed by the Wall Street Journal, was provided to Reuters on Thursday. The White House did not respond to a request for comment on Lieberman’s withdrawal. Trump told reporters a week ago that he was “very close” to selecting a nominee to replace James Comey as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and he said Lieberman was a leading candidate. Trump fired Comey on May 9, a decision that set off a political firestorm given Comey’s central role in the FBI’s probe of Russian meddling in the election and potential collusion between Trump campaign associates and Russian officials seeking to swing the vote in Trump’s favor. The Department of Justice appointed a special counsel, former FBI director Robert Mueller, to lead an independent investigation into the Russia matter. Given Kasowitz’s role, Lieberman might not have been able to participate in the Russia investigation for a period of two years without White House and Justice Department waivers, Kathleen Clark, a professor of legal ethics at Washington University School of Law told Reuters on Wednesday. A federal regulation restricts newly hired government lawyers from investigating their prior law firm’s clients for one year, a period that was extended to two years under an executive order signed by Trump in January. CNN, citing a unnamed senior administration official, reported on Wednesday that Trump wanted to renew the search for an FBI director after having interviewed a number of candidates, including Lieberman. On Thursday, citing unnamed sources, CNN said John Pistole, a former deputy director at the FBI and a former head of the Transportation Security Administration, was under consideration. | 1 |
9,152 | French opposition struggles to emerge from rubble of Macron victory | PARIS (Reuters) - Battered and bruised from electoral defeat by Emmanuel Macron s centrists, France s Socialist Party is laying off most of its staff and selling its Paris base, while the centre-right Republicans limp on in search of a leader. Facing falling membership after winning just six percent of the vote in the presidential election, the centre-left party told staff on Wednesday it would have to fire most of them, days after its historic headquarters was put up for sale to raise funds. On the other side of the political divide, the conservative Republicans are leaderless and have struggled for months to decide whether to expel party members who have signed up to serve with Macron. The two parties ruled France for decades, but Macron s Republic on the Move has stolen the middle ground from under their feet. Macron benefits from a large political space left vacant by the opposition, said Vincent Thibault of Elabe pollsters. He has to face very few attacks from the other parties. Fewer lawmakers and local officials mean the Socialist Party s income has fallen to 8 million euros ($9.42 million) a year from 28 million previously. Party treasurer Jean-Francois Debat told Reuters around 60 of 97 staff would have to go. While the Republicans are the largest opposition group in the lower house of parliament and hold a majority in the senate, they are in barely better shape. For the past five months they have struggled to stem Macron s poaching of their top officials, or to oppose economic policies that mirror their own. In the latest of several meetings on membership, the party decided in principle on Tuesday to expel Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and other ministers serving in Macron s government. But having failed to gather enough officials at the meeting, they were forced to postpone the actual decision for a week, drawing scorn from critics. It s grotesque, Sebastien Lecornu, a junior minister and one of those facing expulsion, told Le Parisien daily. They are punishing us for backing reforms that are useful to the country ... the right is committing suicide. The far left and far right are also struggling to mount a credible opposition to 39-year-old Macron. The far-right National Front, weakened by its own divisions, has become close to inaudible. Its leader Marine Le Pen had the worst ratings on record for France 2 television s top political show last week, with only 1.7 million viewers. The far-left France Insoumise has been more vocal, and polls show it is seen as the strongest opponent. But it has struggled to get voters out on the streets against Macron s reforms and surveys show it is regarded more as a protest movement. | 1 |
9,153 | OBAMA’S SPEECH ABOUT “CHILD SAFETY” Was Interrupted When Rapper Guest’s Ankle Bracelet From KIDNAPPING Charge Went Off | We told you about the fancy affair Obama was planning to host at the White House for black rappers last week. The latest development with the ankle bracelet on a criminal rapper makes you want to scream, Are you kidding me? An attempt by President Obama to promote his My Brother s Keeper initiative, which aims to keep youths of color out of trouble, came to a farcical end when rapper Rick Ross s ankle bracelet which he received on a kidnapping and assault charge went off.Obama had invited a bevy of hip-hop heavyweights, including Niki Minaj, Common, Busta Rhymes, Pusha T and DJ Khaled, to the meeting at the White House Friday.But none of them least of all Ross himself expected the ankle bracelet to interrupt the president, according to TMZ.Obama reportedly invited the stars to the serious and fancy affair, which was not made public before the event, to promote the initiative.It was so serious, in fact, that Ross, who is typically photographed topless to show off his impressive all-over body tattoos, wore a smart suit and a pair of black Adidas sneakers.That suit conveniently covered the ankle bracelet that he received after last year s kidnapping, assault and battery charges. Unfortunately, it wasn t able to block the sound of his new anklet s random beeps one of which went off just as Obama was finishing his speech.Even the self-styled Hood Billionaire was surprised at the sound, a source said.He later posted a picture of himself and DJ Khaled talking after the event on his Instagram account. Via: Daily Mail | 0 |
9,154 | Trump promised to repeal Obamacare. Now what? | NEW YORK (Reuters) - Republican President-elect Donald Trump vowed on the campaign trail to repeal Obamacare, but making good on that promise may be easier said than done. President Barack Obama’s 2010 national healthcare reform law extended medical insurance to 25 million more people by expanding the Medicaid plan for the poor and creating subsidized coverage for individuals. Republican lawmakers, who have voted more than 50 times to repeal all or part of the law, have begun pressing Trump to deliver. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Wednesday repealing Obamacare is a “pretty high item on our agenda” for the new Congress. But a complete repeal of Obama’s Affordable Care Act may not be immediately in the cards, as Republican lawmakers now hold 51 seats in the Senate at latest count, well short of the 60 seats required to overturn it. Instead, health policy experts said, Trump could try to dismantle key elements through a process called budget reconciliation. That would allow him to eliminate funding for the income-based subsidies that make the new insurance plans affordable, or cut the money providing expanded Medicaid benefits in 31 states. “Some of the policy experts on the Republican side would say tearing it up and starting over would be very disruptive,” said Paul Howard, director of health policy at the conservative Manhattan Institute. Parts of the law have been weakened through legal challenges. Several of the largest U.S. health insurers have pulled out of the exchanges for individual coverage after losing money on a sicker-than-expected group of patients. Consumers not eligible for government subsidies have seen premiums rise sharply, including a projected average increase of 25 percent for 2017. Scrapping the law altogether without a clear plan for providing replacement coverage for so many people would be politically risky, experts said. Trump also would face a tight deadline were he to try to dismantle the insurance exchanges by 2018; many state-based health insurance regulators require insurers to submit plans for the upcoming year by April or May - only a few months into a new administration. Trump also could seek changes to other provisions of the law, such as a tax on medical device makers, or the so-called “Cadillac tax” that is due to hit rich employer-based healthcare plans in 2020. However, some elements could not be eliminated by depriving the law of funds. For instance, the law prevents insurers from denying coverage to people based on their health or pricing insurance based on gender. Mandatory coverage of preventive benefits also would be unaffected - short of a complete repeal. It also is not clear if Trump would try to reverse the individual mandate, which requires people to purchase health insurance or pay a penalty. The goal of the requirement was to broaden the pool of policyholders to include more healthy Americans. Aetna Chief Executive Officer Mark Bertolini said on Thursday at a New York Times Dealbook conference that some elements of the law are so popular that they are likely to continue, even if there is something Trump calls “repeal.” They include allowing young adults to stay on their parents’ plans and people with health problems to buy insurance without paying more. Medicaid could continue to expand, he said, though with a different type of federal financing. Trump’s surprise victory over Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton rattled healthcare investors on Wednesday, depressing shares in hospital operators and some insurers. Medicaid focused health insurer Molina Healthcare Inc. fell nearly 16 percent, and hospital chain Tenet Healthcare Corp dropped 25 percent. Large insurers, who have been losing money on the exchanges, gained, with Anthem Inc. up 1.5 percent. Enrollment opened on Nov. 1 for 2017 coverage and once those plans are purchased, it would be legally difficult for Trump to cancel them before the one-year contracts run out, said Molina Healthcare Chief Executive Officer Dr. Mario Molina. “Any changes they make will have to be on a prospective basis to begin in 2018,” Molina said. It’s not clear what Trump’s plan to replace Obamacare would look like. Options he raised on the campaign trail include replacing the Obamacare individual coverage with high-deductible healthcare plans, and lumping the sickest people together into high-risk pools that are insured separately. “I think there is going to be a lot of confusion and a lot of anxious people,” Molina said. Among the worries for some people covered under Obamacare is how long it will last. Before the law took effect, Marc Dobin, a 57-year old mediator and lawyer in Jupiter, Florida, said his insurer put a surcharge on his premium because he has heart stents. Under Obamacare, insurers are barred from charging more for pre-existing conditions. “Imagine the disaster if, part way through the year, they cancel it,” Dobin said. For others, the cost of premiums bolstered their support for Trump. Crista Simmons, 63, a piano teacher in Kalamazoo, Michigan, spends about a third of her gross income on premiums and medical care. “There are people who pay more in premiums than their mortgage,” she said. | 1 |
9,155 | Snowflake Trump Kicks Off Campaign Rally By Attacking The ‘Fake News’ Media | America s so-called president held a rally in Melbourne, Florida, after just a few weeks into the job. Donald Trump spoke of the mess he has inherited (LOL) and of course, he lashed out at the media. This was Donald s campaign rally for 2020 and he s already been on vacation three times since taking the oath of office. His guest speakers were laughable, with one saying he s kept all of his campaign promises, including draining the swamp. Trump promised to achieve his agenda despite the lies, misrepresentations and false stories thrown at him by the media. He said that without offering proof and the crowd ate it up. I want to speak to you without the filter of the fake news, Trump said. The crowd, of course, erupted in cheers. The dishonest media, which has published one false story after another with no sources, even though they pretend they have them they make them up in many cases, the scandal-plagued amateur president said. They just don t want to report the truth. Many of our greatest presidents fought with the media and called them out, Trump said while mentioning Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln, according to The Hill. When the media lies to people, I will never, ever, let them get away with it. I will do whatever I can that they don t get away with it, Trump said. They have their own agenda and their agenda is not your agenda. But despite all their lies, misrepresentations and false stories they could not defeat us in the primaries or general election and we ll continue to expose them as what they are and most importantly we ll continue to win, win, win, Trump continued. Do you think that one media group back there, that one network, will show this crowd? Not one, not one, Trump declared. Meanwhile, at that very moment, CNN was panning the crowd. I ve ordered the construction of a Great Border Wall that will start very shortly, Trump said at the adulation rally. The problem is, though, that Trump did not tell his supporters that we, the taxpayers, will be footing the bill, not Mexico. We are going to drain the swamp in Washington, DC, he said. The crowd chanted Drain the swamp, Drain the swamp! Trump s gullible supporters did this after he already filled the swamp up with terrifying creatures.On Air Force One, Trump told reporters, Life is a campaign. Making our country great again is a campaign. For me, it s a campaign. To make America great again is absolutely a campaign. It s not easy, especially when we re also fighting the press. According to the Melbourne Police, 9,000 people attended the campaign rally for the man who has already been elected.Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images. | 0 |
9,156 | Trump remittance plan would violate Mexican rights: Mexico cenbank | MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Donald Trump’s proposal to force Mexico to pay for his planned border wall by threatening to block remittances from illegal immigrants would be a major violation of Mexicans’ rights, Mexico’s central bank governor said on Tuesday. The Republican presidential hopeful’s campaign said last week that if elected in November, Trump would use a U.S. anti-terrorism law to cut off such money transfers unless Mexico made a one-time payment of $5 billion to $10 billion for the wall. However, speaking in Mexico’s Congress, Mexican Central Bank Governor Agustin Carstens dismissed the idea. “The remittances are the property of the people that make them, and they have every right to be able to carry out international transfers,” Carstens told reporters. “So it would be a serious violation of the property rights of our fellow citizens abroad, and this measure would be completely unjust.” | 1 |
9,157 | Iran sentences member of nuclear negotiating team to five years in jail: Tasnim | LONDON (Reuters) - Iranian authorities sentenced a member of Iran s nuclear negotiating team to five years in jail, Tasnim news agency reported on Wednesday although it gave no details of the case. Iran reached a nuclear deal with the United States and five other major powers in 2015 that led to the lifting of most of the international sanctions against Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear program. The potential detente with the West has alarmed Iranian hardliners, who have seen a flood of European trade and investment delegations arrive in Tehran to discuss possible deals, according to Iran experts. Reports last year in the Iranian media said a nuclear negotiator with dual nationality had been arrested after being accused of providing sensitive economic information to Iran s enemies. In May, the judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said a member of the negotiating team who was facing espionage charges had been sentenced to a prison term, but added that he could not provide details since the verdict could be appealed. The case was reviewed in an appeal court and a five-year jail sentence was upheld, Tasnim quoted an informed source as saying on Wednesday but did not name the person. Tasnim reported in July 2016 that a member of the negotiating team who was in charge of banking affairs during the talks had been arrested. The agency and some other semi-official media named him as Abdolrasul Dori Esfahani with Iranian-Canadian nationality and possibly holding other passports. Security officials have arrested several businessmen, including Iranians holding joint American, European or Canadian citizenship, as part of a crackdown on Western infiltration . Iran s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in October 2015 detained Siamak Namazi, a businessman in his mid-40s with dual U.S.-Iranian citizenship, while he was visiting family in Tehran. The IRGC in February arrested his 80-year-old father, Baquer Namazi, a former Iranian provincial governor and former UNICEF official who also has dual citizenship. Both men were jailed in 2016 for 10 years for spying and cooperating with the U.S. government. | 1 |
9,158 | Justice Dept. delivers documents on wiretap claim to Congress | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department on Friday said it delivered documents to congressional committees responding to their request for information that could shed light on President Donald Trump’s claims that former President Barack Obama ordered U.S. agencies to spy on him. The information was sent to the House and Senate intelligence and judiciary committees, said Sarah Isgur Flores, a Justice Department spokeswoman. The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Republican Devin Nunes, said in a statement late on Friday that the Justice Department had “fully complied” with the panel’s request. A government source, who requested anonymity when discussing sensitive information, said an initial examination of the material turned over by the Justice Department indicates that it contains no evidence to confirm Trump’s claims that the Obama administration had wiretapped him or the Trump Tower in New York. The House Intelligence Committee will hold a hearing on Monday on allegations of Russian meddling in the U.S. election. Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey and National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers will testify and are expected to field questions on Trump’s wiretap claim. Leaders of both the House and Senate intelligence committees, including from Trump’s Republican Party, have said they have found no evidence to substantiate Trump’s claims that Obama ordered U.S. agencies to spy on Trump or his entourage. The White House has publicly offered no proof of the allegation. On Monday, the House panel sent the Justice Department a letter asking for copies of any court orders related to Trump or his associates which might have been issued last year under an electronic surveillance law or a wide-ranging anti-crime statute. | 1 |
9,159 | Republicans Are Literally Plotting An Intervention With Trump To Save Their Party | The GOP implosion is about to be set off as influential Republican leaders are on the cusp of staging an intervention with presidential nominee Donald Trump.Yes, you read that right three months before a presidential election, a candidate is being given an ultimatum by their party leaders about cleaning up their act or dropping out of the race.You couldn t even make this stuff up for TV, let alone reality.According to NBC News:Key Republicans close to Donald Trump s orbit are plotting an intervention with the candidate after a disastrous 48 hours led some influential voices in the party to question whether Trump can stay at the top of the Republican ticket without catastrophic consequences for his campaign and the GOP at large.Republican National Committee head Reince Priebus, former Republican New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich are among the Trump endorsers hoping to talk the real estate mogul into a dramatic reset of his campaign in the coming days.The intervention comes as Trump has repeatedly been attracting negative press for a slew of gaffes, including attacking the Khans whose son was killed in battle kicking out a crying baby at his rally, selfishly accepting a Purple Heart, and backstabbing fellow Republicans running for reelection.In the last several days, influential Republicans, from policy advisers under Reagan to Congressman Richard Hanna and mega-donor Meg Whitman, have publicly stated they will be voting for Hillary Clinton over the GOP nominee. Heck, even John McCain s granddaughter is voting for Hillary Clinton. It seems that with every passing day another Republican wakes up and realizes how truly damaging Trump is.Of course the Trump campaign denied such an intervention was in the works and pathetically tried to convince the public that the campaign was more unified than ever. Republicans are more scared that he will drop out of the race, something that seems very unlikely.As of right now, the Trump train has derailed and is heading on a crash course into a ditch.Can anyone remember a time in our American electoral history when a presidential candidate was forced to undergo an intervention to clean up his act? This is something completely unheard of, but lo and behold, it s happening right before our eyes.Remember when Republicans told us he would change his tune when he secured the delegates needed to be the nominee? Guess that was just another lie. And now they are paying the price, and, if Democrats show up to vote in November, it will pay off beautifully.Featured image via Alex Wong/Getty Images | 0 |
9,160 | Ohio Democratic Headquarters Vandalized With Literal Load Of Sh*t (TWEET) | This has been one nasty election year. First, a North Carolina GOP office was firebombed. Luckily, no one was hurt. Now, another swing state, Ohio, has seen vandalism but this time the other side of the aisle was the target. A truckload of manure was dumped right out front at the Warren County Democratic Party headquarters. Here is the tweet showing the damage:When they dump manure, we go high! One of our best performing offices, generating strong D early vote. Lesson: keep organizing while they bs pic.twitter.com/0pbrUEPG1O David Pepper (@DavidPepper) October 29, 2016The Country Party Chair, Bethe Goldenfield, said the following: I won t be responding to anyone who thinks this is acceptable behavior. It is ILLEGAL! That it is. Yes, this has been an exceptionally nasty election cycle. Most people are wishing it was over. In the meantime, it seems that some people are taking their frustrations with everything out on each other. That isn t the way, though, folks. Whether you re a Republican or a Democrat, violence and vandalism is not the answer. Whomever is responsible, please stop.Featured image via Public Domain | 0 |
9,161 | Lebanese foreign minister says hopes Hariri returns to Beirut: RIA | MOSCOW (Reuters) - Lebanon s Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil said in Moscow that he hopes Saad al-Hariri, who resigned as prime minister on Nov. 4, would return to Beirut after he completes his visit to France, Russia s RIA news agency reported. He said that the main aim now is that Hariri can return to Lebanon without any conditions or restrictions on his freedom and, once back in Lebanon, that he can decide whether to step down as the prime minister, the news agency reported. He said, according to the agency, that Hariri should still be considered as Lebanon s serving prime minister. Hariri s visit to France was aimed solely at securing his return to Lebanon, the agency reported. Bassil said earlier on Friday that some forces are trying to oust the Lebanese leader. | 1 |
9,162 | Trump's EPA pick may struggle to dismantle Obama's environmental legacy | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scott Pruitt, Donald Trump’s pick to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, has fought President Barack Obama’s measures to curb climate change at every turn as attorney general of Oklahoma. Now he is hoping to take apart Obama’s environmental legacy from the inside out, a task that could prove tougher than it sounds. Legal experts and former EPA officials said Pruitt could score some early easy wins in January, killing regulations the Obama administration rushed through during his final months in office, such as the agency’s rule to curb methane emissions from the oil and gas industry. That is because a little-used law called the Congressional Review Act allows Congress to erase such ‘midnight’ rules with a simple majority vote, something that should come easily in the Republican-controlled Congress. But regulations that have been on the books for longer, most of those Obama ushered through during his two four-year terms, will be more difficult to reverse, experts on both sides of the political divide said. For these regulations, which include the Clean Power Plan that requires states to cut carbon output, along with vehicle emissions standards, Pruitt will have just a handful of options, none of them easy, and nearly all of them triggering drawn out legal battles against well-funded environmental groups and attorneys general from Democratic Party-controlled states. The outcomes of these battles will have broad impacts on American industry, air and water quality, and the country’s role in global climate change, which an overwhelming majority of scientists say is causing sea level rise, increased droughts, and more frequent violent storms. Republican Trump campaigned on a promise to slash regulation to free up drilling and coal mining, something he said was possible without compromising air and water quality. He vowed that within his first 100 days in office he would rescind Obama’s Clean Power Plan, eliminate “unwarranted restrictions” on hydraulic fracturing oil drilling technology, cut “outdated” regulations, and pull the country out of a global pact to curb warming of the planet. Trump’s transition team named Pruitt as his pick to lead the EPA on Thursday, cheering industry and enraging green groups – both sides citing the 48-year-old lawyer’s repeated lawsuits against the agency he now seems destined to lead. Pruitt did not respond to requests for comment. One of the first categories of established EPA regulation that Pruitt may target are those that are already being challenged in court: the Clean Power Plan and the Waters of the United States Act, which expands the number of waterways that are federally protected. As state prosecutor in oil- and gas-producing Oklahoma, Pruitt joined coordinated legal efforts by states to block these rules, calling them examples of federal overreach. As head of the EPA, Pruitt will likely try to take the simple step of halting the EPA’s defense of these regulations. Jody Freeman, a law professor at Harvard University, said such a move could create complications for the EPA, however, as it may be required legally to explain and support the change in direction. And even if the EPA was able to withdraw its defense for the rules, other interested parties, including state governments and businesses, could intervene to defend them - raising the specter of a lengthy court battle. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said he is “leading a coalition of states that is already aggressively fighting back against efforts to reverse the progress this country has made in combating climate change over the past eight years.” California Governor Jerry Brown’s top aide Nancy McFadden said California will “stand our ground” against attempts to gut EPA rules. Another option Pruitt could take would be to challenge the very basis upon which Obama’s EPA created many of its climate change focused regulations: its finding that carbon dioxide endangers public health. Successfully overturning the so-called “endangerment finding” would remove the foundation upon which most of the administration’s clean air regulations were based, experts said. But doing so would be hard given the volumes of scientific research that support it, and the requirement to build up a new case that shows carbon dioxide is innocuous. The effort would likely also trigger lawsuits. The DC Circuit Court of Appeals, which hears all cases challenging federal clean air rules, has been supportive of the scientific evidence for manmade climate change. “I do think that the new administration will have to expend substantial effort for a rule that rolls back or repeals the endangerment finding to withstand legal challenges,” said Megan Berge, a lawyer for Baker Botts who represents power companies. David Doniger, a lawyer for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said he believed “there is no chance you could get either the DC Circuit, or Supreme Court, to find that CO2 and other pollutants don’t endanger public welfare and health.” Bob Perciasepe, former Deputy EPA Administrator under Obama, said challenging the endangerment finding would have to be done through the Administrative Procedures Act, which outlines a long process of gathering and considering public feedback. Pruitt could also try to undo the existing regulations using the same steps Obama’s EPA used for adopting them, legal experts and former government officials said. But that is a months-long process of proposal, public engagement and public comment that would lead to heated debate and potential litigation. Perhaps easiest would be to slash staff and reduce the agency’s funding, making it powerless to enforce its own rules. In this case, as with the others, Pruitt seems likely to be taken to court. “I stand ready to use the full power of my office to compel their enforcement by the agency,” said New York’s Schneiderman. Susan Dudley, a top regulatory official under President George W. Bush, who also attempted to shrink EPA regulation, said campaign promises to gut the government bureaucracy can be tough to fulfill. “None of those initiatives has succeeded at accomplishing more than minor changes at the margin,” she said. | 1 |
9,163 | North Korea's Kim says will make 'deranged' Trump pay dearly for U.N. speech | SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea s leader Kim Jong Un said on Friday the North will consider the highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history against the United States in response to U.S. President Donald Trump s threat to destroy the North. Calling Trump mentally deranged and his comments the most ferocious declaration of a war in history, Kim said his U.N. speech on Tuesday confirmed Pyongyang s nuclear program has been the correct path . His remarks ... have convinced me, rather than frightening or stopping me, that the path I chose is correct and that it is the one I have to follow to the last, Kim said in the statement carried by the North s official KCNA news agency, promising to make Trump pay dearly for his speech . Trump had warned the North Korean leader in his U.N. address on Tuesday that the United States, if threatened, would totally destroy the country of 26 million people and mocked Kim as a rocket man on a suicide mission. It was the U.S. president s most direct reference to military action so far against the North, which conducted its sixth and largest nuclear test on Sept. 3. In addition to the nuclear test, North Korea has launched dozens of missiles since Kim came to power in 2011. Two recent ballistic missiles flew over Japan as Pyongyang advanced toward its goal of creating nuclear warhead-tipped missiles that can hit the United States. Kim said Trump would face results beyond his expectation, without specifying what action North Korea would take next. I will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged U.S. dotard with fire, Kim said in the rare direct statement, referring to Trump. He offered more vitriol for Trump, saying he was unfit to hold the prerogative of supreme command of a country, and he is surely a rogue and a gangster fond of playing with fire, rather than a politician. A day after Trump s address, North Korea s Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho had likened Trump to a barking dog, saying his comments were no threat to the North. Kim took a page out of Ri s book on Friday, saying a frightened dog barks louder . Now that Trump has denied the existence of and insulted me and my country in front of the eyes of the world.., we will consider with seriousness exercising of a corresponding, highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history, Kim said. | 1 |
9,164 | Zimbabwe's Mugabe in talks with ousted vice president: army chief | JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Zimbabwe s top general said on Monday he was encouraged by contact between President Robert Mugabe and former vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa, whose sacking two weeks ago triggered a coup. In remarks made on the state broadcaster, General Constantino Chiwenga said Mnangagwa would be back in the country soon and hold talks with Mugabe, adding that the army was confident its intervention code named Operation Restore Legacy was progressing well. | 1 |
9,165 | Good Side? Barbra Streisand Would Only Be Photographed “From Her Good Side” At Hurricane Telethon | This is rich! We ve heard for years about the outrageous demands from Streisand but this takes the cake! Barbra Streisand only wants to be shot from her good side even when it comes to charity.The singing diva joined other A-list celebrities such as Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Justin Timberlake, Kerry Washington and Diddy at the Hand in Hand relief benefit in LA last week, but made sure fotogs shot her best side (which we re told is the left side of her face). There were a ton of celebrities on the red carpet, but she wanted to walk the carpet in reverse order, so the cameras would only shoot her good side. It was as if she was a salmon swimming upstream, a source quipped.Streisand is famous for insisting on being shot from the left; she even swapped seats with Fallon as a guest on his Tonight Show. She and the other stars helped raise millions for hurricane victims during the telethon benefit.Read more: Page Six | 0 |
9,166 | The Nerve! Clinton Claims The VA Scandal Was No Big Deal | Hillary Clinton has some nerve claiming that the VA scandal was not widespread. What does she know? She obviously doesn t know what she s talking about and has offended veterans once again is she calling them liars? If it s the Republican right wing conspiracy then why is this a bipartisan cause that s using FACTS instead of sweeping criticisms? This woman has some nerve to make this claim after Dems blocked any help for our military or veterans.The VA scandal that left thousands of veterans on long waiting lists for care while officials received bonuses wasn t a really bid deal according to Hillary Clinton. She said on MSNBC that it wasn t as widespread as it has been made out to be, and then she went on to blame Republicans for failing to provide the VA with proper funding. It s all part of some plot to call for privatization.She said the problem is real, but cautioned that it s not been as widespread as it has been made out to be on MSNBC s Rachel Maddow Show on Friday.The former first lady blamed Republicans for using the issue as part of an ideological agenda and said they want the VA to fail. Now nobody would believe that from the coverage you see, and the constant berating of the VA that comes from the Republicans, in in part in pursuit of this ideological agenda that they have, Clinton said. They try to create a downward spiral, don t fund it to the extent that it needs to be funded, because they want it to fail, so then we can argue for privatization. Senate Democrats blocked a bill to fund the VA earlier this month in order to negotiate a larger budget deal. I m sure she left out the part about her party blocking VA funding so they could spend money on other things. Never mind that, or how President Obama is holding up a defense bill. President Obama is engaged in similar hostage taking, having just vetoed bipartisan defense legislation that, among other things, would pay the troops.Via: The Lonely Conservative | 0 |
9,167 | U.N. welcomes move by Libya to help find refugee solutions | GENEVA (Reuters) - The U.N. refugee agency on Wednesday welcomed a decision by Libya to open a transit center for unaccompanied children and other vulnerable refugees from among hundreds of thousands of migrants, and called on EU countries and others to accept them. Reports this month of white Libyan slave traders selling black African migrants at markets in Libya - a grim echo of the trans-Saharan slave trade in centuries past - have drawn worldwide horror and condemnation. Hundreds of thousands of migrants have been crossing the Sahara and the Mediterranean to reach Europe through Libya in each of the past several years. Thousands die during crossing the desert and at sea. Many are now being held in camps in Libya in conditions rights groups describe as inhumane. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has flown 13,000 migrants from Libya back to their countries of origin this year under a voluntary repatriation program. But thousands of others who face war or persecution at home cannot be sent back safely. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has been seeking to open a refugee transit center in Tripoli to resettle or evacuate as many as 5,000 of the most vulnerable out of Libya each year. UNHCR...welcomes the decision by the Libyan authorities to set up a transit and departure facility in Tripoli for people in need of international protection, the Geneva-based agency said in a statement on Wednesday. With support from the Italian government, the initiative will facilitate the transfer of thousands of vulnerable refugees to third countries, it said. But we now need EU member states and others to step up with offers of resettlement places and other solutions, including family reunification slots, said Roberto Mignone, UNHCR Representative to Libya. The goal is to speed up the process of securing places in third countries, particularly for unaccompanied and separated children and women at risk, it said. William Lacy Swing, head of the IOM, told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday that it was working with partners to try to empty the detention centers in Libya of around 15,000 migrants. Nigeria s president said on Wednesday the government had started bringing stranded citizens home from Libya after the global outcry over reports that migrants there were being sold into slavery. | 1 |
9,168 | Obama To Give “Goodies” To His Latest Favorite Group…Criminals | Earlier today, White House Correspondent Mark Knoller was Tweeting out the info from Obama s announcement about goodies for criminals and I just couldn t believe it. I know, I know it s really not hard to believe for some but this is such a blatant slap at the rule of law and to the law abiding American taxpayers it really is shocking: Obama plans several things via executive order that will benefit criminals. One executive order installs a program called ban the box where government agencies can t ask about criminal history when hiring. The second thing Obama s doing for inmates is to give them education grants and housing assistance .WTH! Ever in search of benefits to hand leftist constituencies, Democrats have decided to give goodies to their most natural constituency of all: criminals. According to the Associated Press, President Obama will announce executive orders Monday attempting to prevent screening for prior criminality in government hiring. The so-called ban the box program would prevent government agencies from asking about criminal history until later in the interview process. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Vermont Senator Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) (D-Loonbag), and former Maryland Governor Martin O Malley have all joined Obama in calling for banning the box meaning the check box for criminal conviction. Obama also wants to prevent public housing from hindering the ability for convicted criminals to gain access to subsidies. So, in short, we all get to hire unhireable employees with criminal backgrounds, and subsidize those who wouldn t be able to find housing because they have committed crimes. All of this merely represents the latest in a string of attempts by Democrats to reach out to those at odds with law enforcement. Last summer, Obama visited a federal prison, where he told prisoners that as a former user of both marijuana and cocaine, he could have ended up in prison, too. These are young people who made mistakes that aren t that different from mistakes I made, Obama said. The difference is they did not have the support structure, the second chances, the resources that would allow them to survive these mistakes. Actually, the difference is that Obama didn t get caught, tried, and convicted. And while Obama finds pandering to convicted criminals cute, those who live in the neighborhoods such drug dealers destroy might find it less endearing. Meanwhile, just days ago, Hillary Clinton said she would sign a law that would ban racial profiling. She did not explain how the legal standard of racial profiling would be proved, thus placing every arrest of a person of color at risk of potential legal liability. She also said she would use executive action to destroy sentencing differentials between crack and powder cocaine, despite the fact that crack cocaine and powder cocaine use differs widely, and that black legislators originally sought the sentencing differential to rid drug-ravaged inner cities of the crack scourge. The same day, Clinton demonstrating her own belief that crime and ethnicity are inherently tied launched African Americans for Hillary at Clark Atlanta University after lunching with vicious Jesse Jackson. We have to create those channels of opportunity so that we go from childhood to adulthood pursuing your dreams, instead of cradle to prison and seeing them die, she intoned. This weekend, Obama echoed that message. I believe we can disrupt the pipeline from underfunded schools to overcrowded jails, he said in his weekly address. I believe we can address the disparities in the application of criminal justice, from arrest rates to sentencing to incarceration. Obama did not explain how school funding leads people to become criminals, because there is no information suggesting that it does. Nor did he present statistics showing systemic bias against people of color in the criminal justice system as opposed to white people with the same criminal histories and same crimes. And he certainly didn t discuss the Welfare-driven collapse of the black family, which has contributed to criminality in the black community more than any other single factor. No, he pandered, just as he has over and over again with regard to anti-police militancy. Obama s pattern is simple: the police are always wrong at first glance, and even if they re not wrong based on the eventually revealed fact pattern, their innocence is an outlier. After all, Obama is fond of saying, black Americans aren t making up issues with law enforcement. Read more: Breitbart | 0 |
9,169 | WHY THIS REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR Is Being Called “The Most Selfish Man In Politics” [VIDEO] | Watch this video and you ll see why this man is being called The Most Selfish Man In Politics King KasichThe Most Selfish Man In Politics. This is the Hashtag that really should be shared! Like us and Share if you agree that we shouldn t be usurped!Posted by RAW Conservative on Tuesday, 12 April 2016 | 0 |
9,170 | [VIDEO] OBAMA ANGERS BALTIMORE FIREFIGHTERS WITH LIE ABOUT “One Fire” DURING RIOTS: Actual Number of Riot Fires Is Shocking | He just can t help himself This is what happens when you elect a racist community organizer as your President. Barry knows exactly what he s doing right now. Every word and every action is calculated and carefully orchestrated with other racists in his regime. Americans need to share stories like these to stop the bleed before it gets even more out of control How does he do it? How does Barack Obama manage to insult and pi$$ off one group after another of working Americans?President Obama took time Tuesday during his press conference with the Japanese Prime Minister to discuss the situation in Baltimore after the rioting and looting on Monday.Obama accused the media of looping one burning building for sensationalism.Point number four, the violence that happened yesterday distracted from the fact that you had seen multiple days of peaceful protests that were focused on entirely legitimate concerns of these communities in Baltimore. Led by clergy and community leaders, and they were constructive and they were thoughtful, and frankly, didn t get that much attention.And one burning building will be looped on television over and over and over again, and the thousands of demonstrators who did it the right way, I think, have been lost in the discussion.It s not clear which burning building he was talking about There were 159 fires set on Monday night by peaceful protesters in Baltimore.The International Association of Fire Fighters asked President Obama on Friday, Which one? Via: Gateway Pundit | 0 |
9,171 | WATCH: TEACHER MAKES EXAMPLE OF 10-YR Old Boys Because They Stood With Their Hands Over Their Hearts For Pledge of Allegiance | Two students at a metro Atlanta elementary school say they were singled out for what they did during the Pledge of Allegiance. Tuesday morning at Orrs Elementary School, 10-year-old Jason Newberry said he and one classmate put their hand over their heart while reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. He said when they did, others in the class called them names. Me and him got called KKK, Nazi, and we just kept getting bullied the whole day, said Newberry.Newberry said it wasn t until his second-period teacher showed them a news clip of NFL players kneeling that he realized the present controversy surrounding the flag.The teacher made a poll on paper and passed it out to all the students to see what they thought was right or wrong about taking a knee. The teacher even told students that she would never stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and that if she did stand she would not really mean it.A spokesperson for Spalding School District tells CBS46 the assignment was supposed to be a lesson on First Amendment Rights, but they wouldn t say if the teacher was disciplined for her comments.In a letter sent home to parents Wednesday, the teacher wrote the following: I apologize for expressing my views to my students. I recognize that while this was not a one-sided lesson, the topic itself and the expression of my views were not appropriate, my intentions were well-meaning.Parents say they plan to stand with their children Thursday morning in front of the school s flagpole when the National Anthem is recited over the loudspeaker. CBS46Watch here:CBS46 News h/t Silence is Consent | 0 |
9,172 | Comey Hates Trump So Much He Once Tried To Hide In The Curtains To Avoid Him (VIDEO) | We all know the feeling of dread that takes over when you see someone in public that you would really rather avoid. That frantic moment when you look around for somewhere, anywhere, to hide. Well, apparently former FBI Director James Comey felt that way about Donald Trump, not that you can blame him.The New York Times reports that Comey was once so desperate to avoid dealing with Trump that he tried to blend in with the curtains to avoid him. Make no mistake, Comey is not a little guy. He stands 6 8 tall. So he tends to stand out. But Brookings Institution fellow Benjamin Wittes said that Comey was hoping that if he stood close enough to the dark blue curtains of the White House Blue Room in his suit (that was an almost perfect match), maybe he could go unnoticed. He thought he had gotten through and not been noticed or singled out and that he was going to get away without an individual interaction, Wittes told the Times.But no such luck. Trump spotted Comey and made a big production out of it. He called Comey out of the curtains, noting that he had become more famous that himself and then proceeded to hug Comey against his will.Comey said that as he was walking across the room he was determined that there wasn t going to be a hug, Wittes said. It was bad enough there was going to be a handshake. And Comey has long arms so Comey said he pre-emptively reached out for a handshake and grabbed the president s hand. But Trump pulled him into an embrace and Comey didn t reciprocate. If you look at the video, it s one person shaking hands and another hugging. Lucky for us, this classic moment was caught on video: Featured image via Joe Raedle/Getty Images | 0 |
9,173 | Democrat Clinton raised more than $140 million in August: campaign | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Democrat Hillary Clinton raised about $143 million in August for her presidential bid and the Democratic Party, the her campaign announced on Thursday. Of the total, about $62 million was raised for the candidate’s White House run and about $81 million was raised for the Democratic National Committee and state parties. Clinton spend most of the month of August working the Democratic fundraising circuit and trying to amass a war chest to use against Republican Donald Trump. The August hauls included a lucrative two-week swing of high-dollar events in the moneyed East Coast vacation spots of Martha’s Vineyard and the Hamptons, along with star-studded luncheons in Los Angeles and gatherings with high-tech leaders in Silicon Valley. A three-day, $19 million fundraising trip to California included a stop at the home of former basketball star Magic Johnson, lunch at the home of musician Justin Timberlake and actress Jessica Biel and an afternoon event in Northern California with Apple’s Tim Cook. Twenty people paid at least $200,000 each to attend a nighttime event at the estate where Laurene Powell Jobs is building a dream home designed by her late husband, Steve Jobs. Clinton has already saturated the airwaves in key states with television ads, while Trump has spent almost nothing on the general election. Trump has struggled to raise large sums of cash. Instead, much of his campaign has been self-funded, using his personal wealth to fuel his shoestring primary campaign. But supporters of Trump have warned that a general election requires more to be spent on expensive television ads and requires outside fundraising. Trump has not yet released his fundraising totals for the month of August. Clinton’s campaign has already announced plans to spend $77 million in swing state advertising before the Nov. 8 election. Her campaign said the average donation in March was $50, a signal that she is drawing from small-dollar donors and not just those who write checks worth thousands of dollars. “Thanks to the 2.3 million people who have contributed to our campaign, we are heading into the final two months of the race with the resources we need to organize and mobilize millions of voters across the country,” campaign manager Robby Mook said in a statement. | 1 |
9,174 | WHOA! Why Is Our Classless President Following Porn Sites On Twitter? | Just another classless act in the life of President Barack Obama President Obama s Twitter account, which is run by his Organizing for Action staff, follows 636,000 accounts. Many of them you might expect: Michelle Obama, Joe Biden, John Kerry. Even Mariah Carey and Snoop Dogg don t really raise an eyebrow. But several accounts on the presidential follow list fit a different theme: Asa Akira, a porn star who has 653,000 followers and, in her Twitter bio, states I have an award-winning asshole. Joanna Angel (390,000 followers), who describes herself as a multiple award winning punk porno princess; Penthouse Pet Of The Year Nikki Benz (808,000 followers); and Ashley Steel (138,000 followers), who writes that she is a Porn Star, Doggy mama, Happiness Junkie, XXX Model, Buddhist, & Total nerd. So why is the official Twitter account for the president of the United States publicly following adult movie stars? Of course, American porn stars are just as American (and just as worthy of the President s ear) as anyone else, but this interaction is nonetheless an unusual move for an elected official s campaign-managed social media account.Neither the Organizing for Action campaign nor the White House immediately responded to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Joe Rospars, Obama s principal digital strategist for both presidential campaigns, said that he was not available to comment.The current presidential candidates seemed to have been more intentional about their follow lists, if for no other reason than that Twitter had blocked auto-following before the start of their 2016 campaigns. Nikki Benz, Penthouse s 2011 Pet Of The Year, has followed Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, and Donald Trump. None of them have followed back. Via: Fast Company | 0 |
9,175 | Most Of Those ‘Latinos For Trump’ Signs At The RNC Weren’t Held By Latinos (VIDEO) | Now, you d think after calling Mexicans rapists and murderers, Donald Trump would have the Latino community bending over backwards to support him, but alas, they just don t seem to like him very much. Wonder why? It s really a thinker.In fact, Trump holds a 77% unfavorable rating with the Latino community, and Hillary Clinton is currently leading by 48 points among Hispanic voters.So, what s a guy to do at the Republican National Convention to show the world watching at home that Latinos really want Trump after all? Play make-believe!Sure, out of the 2,482 delegates in attendance at the RNC 133 were Latino, but for the cameras, that s not nearly enough, sooooo have white people hold up Latinos Para Trump signs!!Which is even incorrect grammar, it should have read Latinos Por Trump, but I digress. They probably didn t have anyone to ask.Here are some of the Latinos right here:Seems to me like some of these Texas delegates w/ Latinos for Trump signs are not Latino someone is passing them out pic.twitter.com/z8KuCdyqny Eliza Collins (@elizacollins1) July 22, 2016RNC botches grammar on Spanish sign claiming Hispanics support Trump: https://t.co/tpUZ9xfvBa pic.twitter.com/5nEpx2y9A9 The Hill (@thehill) July 22, 2016Stupid cameras getting too close to show what s actually going on. Someone s gonna get fired for sure.In reality, this is the general reaction from the Latino community, although, I m sure there are some who genuinely like Trump."Latinos for Trump" BISH WHERE??? pic.twitter.com/JP4RF7e4sf Marcella Arguello (@marcellacomedy) July 22, 2016 Here s more proof of the signs via this Fusion video:There was something seriously fishy about all the Latinos for Trump at the RNC.Can you spot it??https://t.co/BAhShCZw65 The Tylt (@TheTylt) July 23, 2016Featured image via Twitter | 0 |
9,176 | this smart harmless pesticide patent could take down monsanto and change the world | a complaint has been filed against fbi director james comey with department of justice office of professional responsibility that accuses him of interfering in a presidential election
the democratic coalition against trump released a statement announcing their complaint the democratic coalition against trump filed a complaint with the department of justice office of professional responsibility on friday against fbi director james comey for interfering in the presidential election following the fbis decision to open up an investigation into secretary clintons emails this close to election day federal employees are forbidden from participating in political activities under the hatch act
it is absolutely absurd that fbi director comey would support donald trump like this with only days to go before the election said scott dworkin senior advisor to the democratic coalition against trump it is an obvious attack from a lifelong republican who used to serve in the bush white house just to undermine her campaign comey needs to focus on stopping terrorists and protecting america not investigating our soon to be presidentelect hillary clinton
outrage is growing over comeys actions as details about the fbi investigation have revealed that it has nothing to do with clinton her emails or her server
director comeys motives for sending the letter days before a presidential election have been questioned by both republicans and democrats
if comeys actions were politically motivated he would be in violation of the hatch act
what republicans initially viewed as a new hope in the presidential election has quickly been exposed as a desperately political ploy
the american people deserve a full explanation from director comey because the letter that was released today raises more questions than answers | 0 |
9,177 | U.S. challenged by rising North Korea tensions, Russia urges calm | UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia urged hot heads to calm down on Friday as the United States admitted it felt challenged by North Korea s warning that it could test a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific and President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un traded more insults. Trump called the North Korean leader a madman on Friday, a day after Kim dubbed him a mentally deranged U.S. dotard who would face the highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history in retaliation for Trump saying the U.S. would totally destroy North Korea if it threatened the U.S. or its allies. We have to calm down the hot heads, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters at the United Nations, where world leaders gathered this week for the annual U.N. General Assembly. We continue to strive for the reasonable and not the emotional approach...of the kindergarten fight between children. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson expressed hope in an interview with ABC that sanctions and voices from every corner of the world could lead North Korea back to talks, but admitted intensifying rhetoric had left Washington quite challenged. North Korea s Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, warned on Thursday that Kim could consider a hydrogen bomb test of an unprecedented scale over the Pacific. Ri, who is due to speak to the United Nations on Saturday, added that he did not know Kim s exact thoughts. In response, Tillerson said U.S. diplomatic efforts would continue but all military options were still on the table. North Korea s six nuclear tests to date have all been underground, and experts say an atmospheric test, which would be the first since one by China in 1980, would be proof of the success of its weapons program. A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Washington was taking Kim s threat seriously and added that any atmospheric test would be a game-changer. But he said there were questions about North Korea s technical capabilities and Washington did not give too much credence to Pyongyang taking such action. There s a certain amount of bluster that s taken for granted when you re dealing with North Korea, the official told Reuters. Pyongyang conducted its sixth and largest nuclear test on Sept. 3 and has launched dozens of missiles this year as it accelerates a program aimed at enabling it to target the United States with a nuclear-tipped missile. Lavrov on Friday again pushed a proposal by Moscow and Beijing for a dual suspension of North Korean weapons tests and the U.S.-South Korean military drills to kick-start talks. Lavrov suggested that a neutral European country could mediate. He described the exchange of insults between the U.S. and North Korean leaders was quite bad, unacceptable. U.S. Treasury and gold prices rose while the Japanese yen strengthened on Friday as the exchange of barbs fueled geopolitical jitters and drove investors into assets considered safer during times of turmoil. The latest round of rhetoric began on Tuesday when Trump, in his first address to the United Nations, made the threat to destroy North Korea, a country of 26 million people. He also called Kim a rocket man on a suicide mission. His remarks ... have convinced me, rather than frightening or stopping me, that the path I chose is correct and that it is the one I have to follow to the last, Kim said in the statement carried by the North s official KCNA news agency on Friday, promising to make Trump pay dearly for his speech. South Korea said it was the first direct statement of its kind by a North Korean leader. Japan, the only country to suffer an atomic attack, called the North Korean threat to conduct an atmospheric test totally unacceptable . Trump on Friday tweeted: Kim Jong Un of North Korea, who is obviously a madman who doesn t mind starving or killing his people, will be tested like never before. The White House said on Friday that Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in had agreed to Seoul s acquisition and development of highly advanced military assets and to increased deployment of U.S. strategic assets in and around South Korea on a rotational basis. It did not name specific weapons systems. On Thursday Trump announced new U.S. sanctions that he said allows the targeting of companies and institutions that finance and facilitate trade with North Korea. Then when asked if diplomacy was still a possible, he said: Why not? The additional sanctions on Pyongyang, including on its shipping and trade networks, showed Trump was giving more time for economic pressure to weigh on North Korea. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said banks doing business in North Korea would not be allowed to operate in the United States. KCNA also published rare criticism of official Chinese media, saying comments on North Korea s nuclear program had damaged ties and suggested Beijing, its neighbor and only major ally, had sided with Washington. KCNA said Chinese media was openly resorting to interference in the internal affairs of another country and driving a wedge between the two countries. China s Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said: All relevant sides should exercise restraint and dedicate themselves to easing the situation rather than irritating each other. The rhetoric has started to rattle some in other countries. French Sports Minister Laura Flessel said France s team would not travel to the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea if its security could not be guaranteed. The 2018 Games are to be staged in Pyeongchang, just 80 km (50 miles) from the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea, the world s most heavily armed border. (Corrects typographical error to dual in paragraph 12.) | 1 |
9,178 | WATCH: NBC Reporter Calls Trump Out For Lying Repeatedly During Live Press Conference | Donald Trump finally held his first solo press conference on Thursday and it did not go well at all.In fact, it was a complete and total disaster and an embarrassment.Throughout his remarks, Trump peppered the press and the American people with lie after lie.His principle target, of course, was the media, which he again accused of being dishonest. The press has become so dishonest that if we don t talk about it, we are doing a tremendous disservice to the American people, Trump said. Tremendous disservice. We have to talk about it. We have to find out what s going on because the press, honestly, is out of control. The level of dishonesty is out of control. I ran for president to represent the citizens of our country. I am here to change the broken system so it serves their families and their communities well. I am talking, and really talking, on this very entrenched power structure and what we re doing is we re talking about the power structure. We re talking about its entrenchment. As a result, the media s going through what they have to go through to oftentimes distort not all the time and some of the media s fantastic, I have to say, honest and fantastic but much of it is not. The distortion, and we ll talk about it, you ll be able to ask me questions about it. We re not going to let it happen because I m here, again, to take my message straight to the people.Trump went on to claim that he inherited a mess from President Obama and portrayed the world as an apocalyptic wasteland that only he can fix.And then he bragged about his Electoral College win again as some sort of proof that the American people love him.I put it out before the American people, got 306 electoral college votes. I wasn t supposed to get 222. They said there s no way to get 222. 230 is impossible. 270, which you need that was laughable. We got 306. Because people came out and voted like they have never seen before. So that s the it goes. I guess it was the biggest electoral college win since Ronald Reagan. In other words, the media is trying to attack our administration because they know we are following through on pledges that we made, and they are not happy about it for whatever reason.Trump s press conference was a dumpster fire of lies. And NBC reporter Peter Alexander stepped up to the plate and called Trump out. You said today that you had the biggest electoral margin since Ronald Reagan, Alexander began. He then proceeded to list President Obama s two electoral victories which were far bigger than Trump s in 2016.Trump then claimed that he was talking about Republican presidential wins.Overall, Trump s win is one of the smallest on record and he lost the popular vote by nearly three million votes.Faced with the facts and caught in a lie, Trump was asked Why should Americans trust you? Trump claimed that he was given the information, suggesting that he was just reading remarks that someone told him to read.Alexander repeated his question and added to it. Why should Americans trust you when you accuse the information they receive as being fake when you re providing information that s fake? he asked.All Trump could say in response was I don t know. Here s the video via YouTube:Clearly, Donald Trump doesn t know how to do anything except lie. And this is why we have a free press to call him out for it.Featured image via screenshot | 0 |
9,179 | WATCH: Sexist Tucker Carlson Gets His A** Handed To Him By Teen Vogue Writer | Remember when Jon Stewart humiliated Tucker Carlson on his own show many years ago? Well, this time it was Teen Vogue writer Lauren Duca doing the humiliating.During an appearance on Fox News on Friday, Duca refused to let Carlson talk over her and misrepresent what she has said.Earlier this week, a man confronted Ivanka Trump on a JetBlue flight and yelled at her. The man was removed from the plane and Trump supporters immediately threw a hissy fit because someone dared criticize Trump s daughter in public.Despite conservative whining, a majority of people sided with Ivanka in the moment because it s pretty damn rude to approach someone, especially a mother who is with her kids, and yell at them.Duca is also against yelling on airplanes but warned people not to let Ivanka off the hook because of this rude incident.Ivanka Trump is poised to become the most powerful woman in the world. Don t let her off the hook because she looks like she smells good. Lauren Duca (@laurenduca) December 23, 2016And, of course, Fox host Tucker Carlson took that tweet the wrong way.He accused Duca of supporting what the man did to Ivanka, but that s not what she said at all and let Carlson know it.Duca conceded that many of Ivanka Trump s qualities are admirable but the fact that she enable her racist sexist father despite appearing to be a feminist is concerning.Tucker Carlson was unable to grasp what Duca was calmly explaining to him. Apparently, she needed to speak more slowly.But the interview grew more contentious as Carlson acted smug and repeatedly tried to prevent Duca from speaking to defend herself, causing her to refer to him as a partisan hack. Carlson even repeatedly focused on Ivanka being accosted on the plane, which forced Duca to once again explain to Carlson that she is firmly against yelling at people on planes.Once that issue was settled, Carlson moved on to mocking Duca for being a writer at Teen Vogue. That didn t go down so well for Carlson either.And once he finally stopped being an asshole about where Duca works, he attacked her for defending religious freedom, telling her that she should stick the thigh-high boots all while laughing at her before cutting her off before she could respond.Here s the video via YouTube.Seriously, Tucker Carlson was rude and out of line and he owes Duca an apology.But Duca responded later on Twitter..@TuckerCarlson is an enemy of rational discourse. In this fraught moment, his bully tactics are profoundly damaging, and achieve nothing. Lauren Duca (@laurenduca) December 24, 2016So not only did Duca completely OWN Carlson throughout the interview, Carlson embarrassed himself by acting like a douchebag.Featured image via screenshot | 0 |
9,180 | Congressional Republicans Might Cause This Deadly Virus To Overwhelm U.S. | There has been a minor war brewing in Congress since February that the media has not received as much attention as it needs to. Many Republicans are refusing to support President Obama s plan to prevent millions of deaths from the Zika virus, an epidemic that has swept through South America and could enter into the continental United states any day now.In February 2016, The World Health Organization officially declared the Zika virus a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. That s when President Obama announced a plan to spend $1.9 billion dollars to halt the spread of the virus before it reaches the United States and the rest of North America.Below is a map released by the White House that shows how the virus can spread throughout the United States.The Zika virus is spread through mosquito bites. Specifically, Aedes mosquitos. which are often found in urban areas, are to blame for the spread of the virus. When a person contracts the Zika virus, the symptoms are usually fairly mild. Those who are infected experience pain in their joints, headaches, and pain behind the eyes. Symptoms usually persist for a few weeks and then go away. Usually, a person who becomes infected with the virus becomes immune to the disease in the future. There is no cure for the disease. Historically, there have not been any incidents of the Zika virus being a fatal. However, since the outbreak, deaths have been linked to the virus one of which was in Puerto Rico.Even though symptoms are mild for the average person, everything changes if a pregnant woman contracts the virus. That s where the disease reveals its true power to destroy lives. The Zika virus can cause a fetus to develop what is called fetal development disruption sequence. What happens is that the brain of the fetus stops growing, or is severely scared, which leads to brain damage and conditions such as microcephaly. A condition where an infant s head is much smaller than it should be, sometimes as small as an orange according to NPR.As it was pointed out in an opinion piece published in the New York Times, the fact that Republicans are willing are not willing to take immediate action to stop the virus is incredibly hypocritical when you consider they tried to blame the 2014 Ebola outbreak on the president.It should be noted that not all Republicans are willing to risk the nation s health over petty budget squabbles. Senator Marco Rubio has publicly lambasted his fellow Republicans for stalling. Rubio was quoted as saying, The money is going to be spent. And the question is, do we do it now before this has become a crisis, or do we wait for it to become a crisis? Rubio has good reasons to plead for urgency on the matter. Gulf states will be among the first and hardest hit by the Zika when and if it reaches the continental United States, including Rubio s home state of Florida. If only, Rubio had the same mentality when it came to other crises such as climate change.So once again, we find ourselves with a Congress controlled by neoconservatives who have neither the compassion to do what is right and act to save lives, as well as the lack of fiscal wisdom to understand that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. These types of battles are what are what legitimizes Brand New Congress s mission to scout out and support Democrats and progressive Republicans (Yes, they do exist. It s pragmatic to accept that there are seats Dems are never going to be able to take.) in elections to make a Congress that functions. Or at least one that functions well enough that they can decide that the future of the United States shouldn t look like an episode of The Walking Dead.Featured image from (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) | 0 |
9,181 | Trump Just Said Hillary Is The Reason He’s Branded As A Sexual Predator | In the last debate, Trump had to answer for the allegations that he d sexually assaulted women, which came out on tape courtesy of David Farenthold at the Washington Post. He was just asked about it again, and now, not only are all these allegations false, according to The Donald, but Hillary is behind all of it.He thinks Hillary and her campaign are the reason that he s now called a sexual predator.No, really. We are not even kidding. He said that during tonight s debate: First of all, the stories have been largely debunked. Those people, I don t know those people. I have a feeling how they came I believe it was her campaign that did it. Did what? Hillary contacted all of them, coerced them into accusing Trump of sexual assault, and then put it under a spotlight? Is that what he s saying?He would, no doubt, say no. However, he also claims that Hillary and Obama paid people to cause violence at his rallies: They hired people. They paid them fifteen hundred dollars and they re on tape saying be violent cause fights do bad things. Really? He extended that to Hillary, and now he seriously thinks Hillary planted people to accuse him of sexual assault to bolster her campaign. With that nonsense, there s no way to believe anything he says about his victims.Six witnesses from People just came forward, saying they know that Natasha Stoynoff s story is true. He s on tape saying that he kisses beautiful women without waiting for them to consent. He said, Grab them by the pussy. Whatever, when talking about how women let him do whatever he wants because he s a star.And Hillary s responsible for him being branded a sexual predator? Oh, please.Featured image by Scott Olson via Getty Images | 0 |
9,182 | New Jersey governor proposes flat rate for education funding | (Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on Tuesday proposed overhauling the state’s education funding formula to provide all public school districts with a flat rate of $6,599 per student. Calling it his “Fairness Formula” in policy statements on Tuesday, Christie said aid for special needs students would continue even with any potential formula change. Schools are funded through property taxes, which in New Jersey are some of the highest in the nation because of the state’s “unaffordable and broken school funding formula propped up by special interests and misguided Supreme Court precedent,” Christie said in a statement. He said he would traverse the state this summer to talk about the proposal. The amount of state aid school districts receive now varies widely, with some getting less than $3,000 per pupil and others getting as much as $28,000 Such a change would be an uphill battle, as it would need approval from a Democrat-led legislature that has already rejected previous education formula changes from Christie, a Republican. “Governor Christie’s idea is unconstitutional and harmful to our most vulnerable children,” Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto said in a statement on Tuesday, adding that Christie still hasn’t fully funded schools under the existing formula. Currently, poorer districts receive more state aid under a formula based on a 1990 New Jersey Supreme Court decision called Abbott v. Burke II, which ruled the state’s education funding was unfair and that low-income “Abbott districts” must be funded on par with wealthier ones. | 1 |
9,183 | the great wall streetwashington con job part of the recovery which didnt happen | chart of the day what escape velocity core capex orders down straight months out of last | 0 |
9,184 | #WINNING UPDATE: Arizona’s Other Anti-Trump, RINO Senator Just Got Some Very Bad News | Watch President Trump hammer Senator McCain and the weak Senator Flake at an Arizona rally, where he also threw his support behind Dr. Kelli Ward:AP Arizona Republican Sen. Jeff Flake s re-election race is becoming a case study in the GOP s convulsions among the establishment, a furious base, and angry donors.After bucking Donald Trump in a state the president won, Flake is bottoming out in polls. Yet Republicans look like they may be stuck with a hard-core conservative challenger who some fear could win the primary but lose in the general election.A White House search for a candidate to replace former state Sen. Kelli Ward in the primary appears to have hit a wall. And now conservatives want to turn Arizona into the latest example of a Trump Train outsider taking down a member of the GOP establishment. People are fooling themselves if they think Jeff Flake is anything but a walking dead member of the United State Senate, said Andy Surabian, whose Great America Alliance is backing Ward. I don t see how he survives a primary. I don t see how he survives a general. The numbers just don t add up, added Surabian, who worked at the White House as an adviser to Steve Bannon, then the president s top strategist.Despite discontent among some Republicans over Ward, Bannon met with her last week at a conservative conference in Colorado Springs to encourage her campaign, according to a Republican official who spoke on condition of anonymity to disclose the previously unreported private meeting.Ward unsuccessfully challenged Arizona s senior senator, John McCain, in last year s election, losing in the primary by a wide margin. But in Flake, she would face a more vulnerable candidate at a moment when the GOP establishment is on the defensive, facing a simmering anti-incumbent mood heightened by Republicans failure to make good on seven years of promises to scrap Barack Obama s health care law.Flake is in danger of becoming the latest victim of this voter wrath. Yet rather than making an effort to soothe pro-Trump GOP voters, he s all but dared them to take him down by kicking off his campaign with an anti-Trump manifesto, Conscience of a Conservative, a book in which he bemoaned his party s failure to stand up to Trump in last year s presidential race. We pretended that the emperor wasn t naked, Flake wrote.Trump, in turn, has lashed out at Flake on Twitter, calling him toxic, while praising Ward. White House officials say there s little chance Trump will have a change of heart over supporting Flake. One official, speaking on condition of anonymity to disclose private deliberations, said Trump is irritated not only by Flake s public criticism but by what Trump sees as the senator s attempts to use his critiques of the president to gain attention.Nevertheless, Flake, 54, insists he won t be getting out of the race. The primary is Aug. 29. | 0 |
9,185 | Trump Blames Media Conspiracy For Low Numbers In His Latest Unhinged Twitter Rant (TWEETS) | Floundering Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump went off on an unhinged Twitter rant Sunday morning, where he blamed the media for his plummeting polling numbers.Trump began his rant by targeting the New York Times. The paper published an article entitled Inside the Failing Mission to Tame Trump s Tongue on Saturday. Trump is apparently furious with The Gray Lady for publishing the piece. The failing @nytimes has become a newspaper of fiction, writes Trump. Their stories about me always quote non-existent unnamed sources. Very dishonest! The failing @nytimes has become a newspaper of fiction. Their stories about me always quote non-existent unnamed sources. Very dishonest! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 13, 2016The article that has Trump throwing a temper tantrum that primarily focuses on failed attempts to pivot Trump more towards the middle. Allegedly, there has been a concentrated effort in the Trump campaign to tone down his rhetoric, and those efforts have failed. A strategy like this is fairly typical in a switch from running in a primary campaign to running in a general election. If you re a Republican, you need to position yourself to the right of your opponent(s) to rally the GOP s conservative base. Then, in the general, you move towards the middle to appeal to swing voters.However, it s Trump, so he took umbrage with the New York Times article s reporting on the matter, saying, The failing @nytimes, which never spoke to me, keeps saying that I am saying to advisers that I will change. False, I am who I am-never said. The failing @nytimes, which never spoke to me, keeps saying that I am saying to advisers that I will change. False, I am who I am-never said Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 14, 2016Trump is who he says he is. That s why it shouldn t be too surprising that he had to resort to creating a conspiracy theory to blame for his lousy polling numbers, If the disgusting and corrupt media covered me honestly and didn t put false meaning into the words I say, I would be beating Hillary by 20%. If the disgusting and corrupt media covered me honestly and didn't put false meaning into the words I say, I would be beating Hillary by 20% Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 14, 2016Like most Trump Twitter outbursts, it can be hard to examine such obviously flawed logic seriously. Sure, there a lot of problems with mainstream media coverage. However, those problems have only worked to help Trump. The press loves a gaffe, and Trump fires them off like a right-winger who just got his hands on their first AR-15. It s lead to him receiving an incredible number of free media play. It s what made his campaign what it is today. However, this is a general election and that strategy just does not cut it.Now is the time for Trump to act like a real politician. Since Trump doesn t have any experience governing or running for office, he s failing. Trump cannot recover, so all he has left is vague conspiracies to blame. Never mind the fact that Trump has blackballed major and small media outlets for his entire campaign. Never mind the fact that he started a feud with gold star family. Never mind the fact that he forgot that Russia had annexed Crimea only two years ago.Trump just cannot accept that he is a failed politician, the same way he cannot accept that he is a failed businessman.Featured image from Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images | 0 |
9,186 | U.S. defense chief urges Congress to stick to bipartisan budget deal | SEATTLE (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter Thursday urged Congress to stick to a bipartisan budget agreement that locked in spending levels for fiscal 2016 and 2017, warning that reopening the deal would lead to inefficiencies and could raise concerns overseas. Carter told military leaders and industry at an event hosted by Microsoft Corp that the Department of Defense needed greater stability to plan its spending levels and prepare for the complex challenges it faces around the world. “We’ve got to come together in Washington and break the gridlock for such important functions as funding the federal government,” Carter said. “We can’t go in every fiscal year with chaos and continuing resolutions. That’s a money waster ... because it causes us to manage inefficiently.” Carter said he worried that Congress could undermine the two-year budget agreement that set funding levels for this fiscal year and the one that begins Oct. 1. “I really hope the bipartisan budget agreement sticks,” Carter said, noting that it was even more difficult to maintain such deals in a presidential election year. U.S. defense officials worry that Republican moves to add funding to the Pentagon’s fiscal 2017 budget plan could jeopardize the budget deal. Carter said the turbulence caused by recent budget battles was not helpful for managing the Pentagon and gave allies and potential enemies the false impression that the U.S. military was in disarray when it was actually investing well overall. | 1 |
9,187 | Carson Warns GOP: Nominate Trump Or Suffer ‘Absolute Destruction’ (VIDEO) | The horror that is Donald Trump s rise to the top of the GOP presidential race continues, and now his former nemesis turned ardent supporter Ben Carson went on Fox and Friends on Monday morning to warn the Republican Party that they better nominate Trump or else.It s no secret that the Republican establishment can t stand Trump, but is, like the rest of us, at a loss as to what to do to stop him. The guy is like Teflon his supporters are so brainwashed that they don t care how many lies he tells or how many people he insults. They just want Trump in the White House. Carson said to the hosts: I can tell you this. If there are shenanigans, if it s not straightforward, all of those millions of people that Donald Trump has brought into the arena are not going to stay there.And the Republicans are going to lose. And it s going to be not only the presidency, but it s going to be the Senate, and it could even be the House. It s going to be absolute destruction. The thing is, though, the GOP is done either way if Trump gets the nomination. The majority of Americans are not bottom feeding racists, misogynists, and homophobes like Trump supporters are. They are the lowest of the low, and everyone knows it. Make America Great Again is nothing more than code for Make America White Again. Most people, regardless of political persuasion, know how dangerous Donald Trump and his horrible rhetoric are. He and his supporters are reminiscent of the rise of Adolf Hitler, and we all know how that turned out.Carson went on to opine: And if they re more concerned about America, they will not blow up a straightforward process. They will let the will of the people prevail. I guarantee you, Mr. Carson, the will of the majority of Americans is NOT a Donald Trump presidency.Watch the video below, as posted by Raw Story:Featured image via video screen capture | 0 |
9,188 | Trump taps Pence to lead transition team, removes New Jersey's Christie: NYT | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has removed New Jersey Governor Chris Christie as leader of his transition team, handing the reins over to Vice President-Elect Mike Pence, a former U.S. lawmaker with deep Washington ties, the New York Times reported on Friday. The Times, citing several sources close to the transition team, said Trump told advisers he wanted to use Pence’s contacts to move the transition process along. NBC News also reported the handover, which came one week after two former Christie associates were found guilty in the New Jersey “Bridgegate” scandal. | 1 |
9,189 | obamacare forces companies to drop workers from private insurance | by michael maharrey communications company att spies on you at the behest of the federal government and rakes in millions of taxpayer dollars in the | 0 |
9,190 | Tillerson speaks with Turkish counterpart about visa spat | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson spoke on Wednesday with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and expressed his profound concern over the detention of staff at U.S. diplomatic missions in Turkey, the U.S. State Department said in a statement. Tillerson also called on the Turkish government to present evidence behind the accusations against two locally employed staff who were arrested in Turkey this year, the statement said. The detentions prompted Washington to stop issuing visas and triggered a diplomatic crisis. | 1 |
9,191 | Sean Hannity Disrespects Family Of Slain DNC Staffer In Sorry Quest To Prove No Trump/Russia Link | Conspiracy-loving conservatives are once again all over last summer s murder of Seth Rich, a DNC staffer they believe leaked the DNC s emails to Wikileaks rather than Russia. They re yelling about it as loudly as they can because if it were true, then it would serve to demonstrate that there s no connection between Trump s campaign and Russia. This latest round of frothing over Rich s death began when Rod Wheeler, a legal commentator at Fox News, claimed he could confirm that Rich leaked those emails during an appearance Fox 5 D.C. Now Rich s family is demanding that Wheeler stop altogether, which should make others shut up too out of simple respect for them. But some don t seem to care.Rich s family sent a cease-and-desist letter to Wheeler, threatening legal action if he continued to spew his conspiracy theories about Rich s death. It seems, though, that Sean Hannity is either unaware of the family s wishes, or he just plain doesn t care. Chances are, it s the latter, since he wants to continue telling himself that Trump is his lord and savior and perfect in every way. He tweeted:Seth Rich was murdered last year in what officials believe was a botched robbery. Hannity has been screaming about it on Twitter ever since Wheeler claimed to know stuff on television, ignoring key facts and statements about the case is his desperation to prove that there was zero collusion between Trump s campaign and Russia.Rich s family blasted Wheeler for his statements, as well they should. A sudden death in any family is exceptionally traumatic. They said: Your statements and actions have caused, and continue to cause, the Family severe mental anguish and emotional distress. Your behavior appears to have been deliberate, intentional, outrageous, and in patent disregard of the Agreement and the obvious damage and suffering it would cause the Family Your improper and unauthorized statements, many of which are false and have no basis in fact, have also injured the memory and reputation of Seth Rich and have defamed and injured the reputation and standing of the members of the Family. Hannity should be castigated for his insistence on pushing this conspiracy theory to his not insignificant Twitter audience, as should Newt Gingrich and the Fox News network for pushing it on the air. This story has repeatedly been debunked, and the family wants everyone to shut it and let Rich rest in peace.If the story were true, it might be easier to understand why the media wouldn t leave it alone against Rich s family s wishes. But it s a vapid conspiracy that right-wingers like Hannity are pushing in a pathetic, desperate attempt to deflect attention away from the Trump-Russia connection.Featured image by Paul Zimmerman via Getty Images | 0 |
9,192 | President Obama Gets His Troll Game On By Thanking Trump And Cruz For This Hilarious Reason | President Obama is clearly in good spirits thanks to his surging approval ratings and perhaps just a dash of relief at finally getting some rest after his term ends. At a big L.A. fundraiser meant to give a boost to Democratic candidates this year, Obama couldn t help but make a few jokes at the Republican Party s nightmare primary situation. And like any good joke, it was funny because there was some truth to it.During the night, Obama acknowledged that there are a bunch of very serious reasons to be terrified of what a Trump presidency might look like. For women, minorities, those in poverty, or Muslims, four years of Trump are not an option. He noted that one voter met him recently and nervously asked: Tell me that Mr. Trump is not succeeding you! But before Americans despair, there is one silver lining. As Obama told the crowd, the one thing we can thank Trump and Ted Cruz for is making the stakes of this election absolutely clear. They aren t hiding behind innuendo any more. The GOP s hostility towards progress is on full display. Mr. Trump has actually done a service as Mr. Cruz is doing a service and that is laying bare, unvarnished some of the nonsense that we have been dealing with in Congress on a daily basis. People act as if these folks are outliers but they are not! We should thank Mr. Trump and Mr. Cruz for just being honest that this is how we re thinking these days, or not thinking these days. Obama nailed it. What Cruz and Trump are doing is fighting for the true nature of the Republican Party right out in the open. Each competes to outdo the other s xenophobia, religious discrimination and hateful rhetoric. Even while Trump is being condemned by some in his party over his language, his closest competitor has repeatedly stated that he too will build a massive concrete wall along the southern border. Both have floated the idea of discriminating against American Muslims based solely on their religion. As the race sinks lower, it s hard to say which is the worse of the two.For that, Americans can get a clear sense of the stakes. The Republican Party is simply not an option if you care about women s rights, LGBT rights, the welfare of the poor, or religious tolerance. Neither candidate has a platform that extends to minorities or young people. Both have very high profile supporters with ties to white supremacy.Which is why, in a serious turn, Obama said it was crucial for voters to oppose whoever gets the Republican nomination.Ds tell @POTUS they will miss him & aren't excited about the 16 race "And I say, 'I have no patience for that." Juliet Eilperin (@eilperin) April 8, 2016"I say to folks, 'we cannot be complacent, & we cannot be cynical, because the stakes are too high.'" @POTUS Juliet Eilperin (@eilperin) April 8, 2016Well said, Mr. President.Featured image via Joshua Lott/Getty Images | 0 |
9,193 | ABORTION Employees Give GUT-WRENCHING Accounts Of LIVE BABY KILLINGS: “twisting the head off the neck with his own bare hands” [VIDEO] | On this anniversary of Roe VS Wade, it is so important for Americans to understand that just because 43 years ago today, a majority of Supreme Court Justices ruled that women can legally kill the babies God placed in their wombs it s still the taking of a life Remember the one that he did? That the baby the fetus came out, and it was alive and he had thought he had actually killed it already and the fetus opened up his eyes and grabbed his hand, his finger? A lot of times he would bring the big fetus that were over-age in a bag and we would say Oh my g*d, that s a big baby! It would take us over an hour to do an abortion that big. The women that go there [abortion clinic] have no idea what they re getting themselves into. And a lot of questions would want be, Does the baby feel? And I would think it would make me so mad because I would say Why does that matter to you, when you re coming in here to kill your baby?' | 0 |
9,194 | Factbox: What's in tax bill U.S. House Republicans are debating? | (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives’ tax panel continued debating amendments on Tuesday to a tax bill offered by congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump. The following are its major provisions, grouped as revenue-losing tax cuts or revenue-gaining tax increases, based on 2018-27 fiscal estimates by Congress’s nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation. CORPORATE RATE. Cuts corporate income tax rate to 20 percent from 35 percent. Federal revenue loss: $1.5 trillion over 10 years from 2018 through 2027. PASS-THROUGHS. Caps maximum tax rate on small businesses and other non-corporate enterprises at 25 percent, down from present top rate on “pass-through” income of 39.6 percent. Sets rules for distinguishing between individual wage income and actual pass-through business income to block abuse. Loss: $448 billion. TERRITORIAL SYSTEM. Ends ‘worldwide’ system used by United States to tax corporations’ domestic and foreign profits. Adopts ‘territorial’ system making foreign profits brought into the country tax-exempt. Ends ‘deferral’ rule that lets corporations hold foreign profits abroad tax-free. Loss: $205 billion. CAPITAL EXPENSING. Allows businesses to immediately write off, or expense, at full value certain new capital investments. Relaxes similar write-off requirements for small businesses. Allows more businesses to use cash accounting and other simplified accounting formats. Loss: $66 billion. CORPORATE MINIMUM. Repeals 20 percent federal corporate alternative minimum tax. Loss: $40 billion. REPATRIATION. Imposes mandatory one-time tax on $2.6 trillion in foreign profits held abroad under deferral rule, at 12 percent for cash; 5 percent for illiquid assets. Both are far below the 35 percent rate corporations would owe if they brought the same profits into the country, or repatriated them, under present law. Tax due as a result of one-time tax would be payable over eight years. Gain: $223 billion. INTEREST DEDUCTIONS. Limits interest cost deductions to 30 percent of taxable income. Exempts businesses with average gross receipts under $25 million, some public utilities and “real property trades.” Gain: $172 billion. NOL CARRY. Tightens carry-back and carry-forward by businesses of net operating losses (NOL). Gain: $156 billion. FOREIGN COMPANIES. Slaps 20 percent excise tax on large, foreign-owned companies active in U.S. market that import goods and pay royalties or other tax-deductible, non-interest fees to foreign parents. Exempts those that agree to treat these payments as income connected to their U.S. business and subject to overall U.S. income tax. Gain: $154 billion. DOMESTIC PRODUCTION. Repeals deduction for domestic production activities. Gain: $95 billion. MINIMUM TAX. Imposes new 10 percent minimum tax on U.S. companies’ high-profit foreign units. Gain: $77 billion. VETERANS, DISABLED, KIDS. Repeals tax credits that subsidize business costs of testing for rare diseases; employer-provided child care; fixing historic buildings; first-year wage costs for veterans, poor people, ex-prisoners and kids working summer jobs; providing access for disabled; and Social Security on waiters’ and waitresses’ tips. Gain: $73 billion. STADIUMS. Repeals tax deduction for government bonds to subsidize stadiums and other projects. Gain: $57 billion. FRINGE BENEFITS. Curbs deductions for entertainment, amusement and recreation facilities. Gain: $34 billion. LIKE-KIND. Closes loophole some taxpayers use to avoid tax on gains in property values by swapping for similar property in “like-kind exchanges.” Gain: $30 billion. CLEAN ENERGY. Repeals or curtails tax credits for producing electricity from wind, biomass, geothermal, solar, municipal waste and hydro power; constructing alternative energy plants; and installing alternative energy equipment. Gain: $15 billion. FDIC PREMIUMS. Limits federal deductibility of big banks’ Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation premiums. Gain: $14 billion. STATEHOUSE LOBBYING. Restricts deductions for incentives from state and local governments to stop a business from relocating and local government lobbying. Gain: $8 billion. ROLL-OVERS. Tightens rules on rolling over gains from stock sales into a small business; selling inventions, patents and copyrighted material; and ending partnerships. Gain: $4 billion. FEWER BRACKETS. Consolidates tax brackets from seven to the following: For married couples filing jointly, zero tax on income up to $24,000; 12 percent from $24,000 to $90,000; 25 percent from $90,000 to $260,000; 35 percent from $260,000 to $1 million; 39.6 percent over $1 million. For unmarried individuals and married couples filing separately, the bracket thresholds would be about half of those above, except the 35 percent bracket for unmarried individuals would click in at $200,000. Revenue loss: $1.1 trillion. STANDARD DEDUCTION. Increases standard deduction for taxpayers to $12,200 from $6,350 for individuals, and to $24,400 from $12,700 for married couples. Loss: $913 billion. AMT. Repeals alternative minimum tax on high-income taxpayers. Loss: $695 billion. CHILD TAX CREDIT. Expands child tax credit to $1,600 from $1,000. Creates $300 credit for parent and non-child dependent. Preserves child and dependent care credit. Loss: $640 billion. INHERITANCES. Doubles exemption from estate tax on inherited assets and repeals tax over six years. Loss: $172 billion. PERSONAL EXEMPTION. Repeals $4,050 individual personal exemption. Revenue gain. $1.6 trillion MORTGAGES, STATE AND LOCAL TAXES AND MORE. Lowers cap on interest deduction for new mortgages to $500,000 from $1 million in home debt. Repeals mortgage interest deduction for second homes. Repeals deduction for state and local income and sales tax paid by individuals and families, but preserves it for business owners. Caps deduction for state and local property tax paid at $10,000. Repeals deductions for personal casualty losses, tax preparation costs and medical expenses. Repeals cap on itemized deductions for high-earners. Gain: $1.3 trillion. COLLEGE COSTS. Repeals and consolidates several tax breaks for higher education costs. Gain: $65 billion. MOVING, DIVORCE. Repeals moving expense deduction and income exclusion for moving expense reimbursements. Ends alimony deduction. Gain: $27 billion. IDENTIFICATION REQUIRED. Sets new identification requirements for taxpayers claiming tax credits for children, education costs or earned income. Gain: $23 billion. HOME GAINS. Restricts tax exemption on gains in home value and imposes new residence requirements. Gain: $22 billion. EMPLOYEES, TEACHERS. Repeals tax break for employee awards. Ends teacher expenses deduction. Ends tax break for dependent care expenses. Gain: $9 billion. ELDERLY, ADOPTIONS. Curtails tax credits for elderly and disabled, child adoption expenses, mortgage credit certificates, plug-in electric vehicles. Gain: $4 billion. | 1 |
9,195 | EVERY AMERICAN SHOULD HEAR THIS: Radical Democrat Chair Openly Reveals The Shocking Agenda Of The Democrat Party During May Day Speech [Video] | Tom Perez decided to go there yesterday when he said during his May Day speech that no human being is illegal .So now the Democrats are coming out with the truth they are openly advocating for open borders. Pretty unbelievable, huh? They used to at least attempt to hide the fact that they are for open borders, but now it s out in the open. Could it be that the Dem Chariman Tom Perez is connected to the pro-open borders radical group La Raza?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFoLUXm3gQoTom Perez has been going around spouting profanity against the Republicans in a new effort to try and win votes we think this is great for the Republicans. Who wants to hear profanity laden speeches?One of the latest speeches with profanity showed a young kid right next to Perez during the speech! Who does that?Perez refused to say President Trump s name: Our most important power is not the mister in the White House, I can t even mention his name, the power is with all of you He then claimed that no one is illegal: No human being is illegal, we must treat everyone with dignity DNC Chair Tom Perez was on MSNBC (video below) to answer to critics who didn t like his nasty speech:He appeared at an event held by New Jersey Working Families Alliance, a re-branded ACORN agency and gave a hateful and divisive speech. He claimed that, Republicans don t give a sh*t about people . Why the Democrats picked this far left radical is puzzling unless the Democrats plan on going full commie Perez is connected to the radical open borders group La Raza. Something tells us that Obama made this pick for the Democrats.Check out a defiant Perez doubling down on is nastiness:OUR PREVIOUS REPORT BELOW:Newly elected Democrat Chair Tom Perez went a little bonkers with a rant on how he wants the Dems to think Trump didn t win the election. The Democrats are trying to discredit Trump at every turn but they re losing. The American people want good policy and NOT political turmoil. That s exactly why Trump won! People are sick to death of this type of outright lying to sway people to your side.Perez has a long radical history connected to La Raza and other open borders organizations. His track record is full on radical. e s in cahoots with Obama to continue the fundamental transformation of America. Anyone who s a Democrat should be shocked that he s taking the party in such a far left direction. Do your research and you ll know why he was the choice for Dem Chair.He just fired all Democrat Party staffers and is bringing in all new people. The party is clearly taking a new direction and it s not a good one for any American. | 0 |
9,196 | Trump, Israel's Netanyahu to speak at 1:30 pm ET: White House | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New U.S. President Donald Trump will speak by telephone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at 1:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, the White House said. Trump, who was sworn in on Friday, has criticized former President Barack Obama’s policies toward Israel and has promised to improve relations after taking office. | 1 |
9,197 | Schaeuble warns against divisions in Europe after Brexit 'nonsense' | BERLIN (Reuters) - Describing Brexit as nonsense , German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble warned on Monday against allowing Europe to divide further along east-west lines, saying this would be a catastrophe . Speaking at his 75th birthday party in the southwestern town of Offenburg, Schaeuble paused after mentioning Britain in the context of Europe. Laughter broke out among the guests and, in an aside, he said Britons were probably unhappy now with their vote last year to leave the EU. If we were now to get new divisions between east and west after the British it was nonsense to take such a decision and they are probably no longer happy with it that would be a catastrophe, he said. We must be clear: we will only have a good future, history shows this, if we hold Europe together, and that means all of Europe, he added. Schaeuble appeared to be referring to a deepening divide between eastern countries like Poland and Hungary and their EU partners to the west over democratic values, acceptance of refugees and further European integration. French President Emmanuel Macron has been especially critical of governments in Warsaw and Budapest, which the EU says are distancing themselves from core European values like free speech and rule of law. Germany, in part because of its history with Poland, has been less openly critical of its eastern neighbors, but it has tacitly supported Macron and steps by the EU to ratchet up pressure on governments in the east. Many Poles, especially rightwing supporters of the ruling Law and Justice party, are animated by a hatred of Germans dating to World War Two, though relations have warmed up since the end of communism when Germany backed Polish EU membership. Last week, European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker stressed his wish to heal divisions between eastern and western states. Juncker also attended Schaeuble s party on Monday and praised him for working to unify the EU. Schaeuble said those EU states that want to press ahead with closer integration must do so. But we must also be careful that not only the big states decide. I learned that from Kohl, he said with reference to late Chancellor Helmut Kohl, with whom he worked on the reunification of Germany. | 1 |
9,198 | 12 Yr. Old Videotapes A Public Service Announcement For The Low Information Voter | You are one of the most narcissistic, power-hungry, self-absorbed politicians of this day. I want liberty, not Hillary! On Sunday, CJ Pearson, the 12-year-old Georgia conservative who made headlines with a video saying Barack Obama doesn t love America, posted another video on YouTube slamming Hillary Clinton. Pearson minced no words in his scathing take-down of the former Secretary of State, saying he is sick and tired of her. I want liberty, not Hillary, he said. Pearson described Clinton as one of the most narcissistic, power-hungry, self-absorbed politicians of this day. He also said Clinton, who was elected to the Senate before being appointed Secretary of State, really has no accomplishments to speak of. The reason she was appointed, he said, was because she has a good last name. And, he added, that s the only reason she has any respect in Washington circles. You ve done nothing for this nation, and you don t care about this nation, he said. What you care about is, I don t know, Hillary Clinton. I am sick and tired of politicians like you trying to run my country, he added. Pearson, who is a bit young to vote, said he would not cast a ballot for Clinton because he wants a commander-in-chief, not a narcissist-in-chief. As of this writing, the video which can be seen above has been viewed over 16,000 times. Most of those who commented on the video had high praise for Pearson. This is proof that the mainstream media is losing their grip on Americans, one person said. Kid, your (sic) going to be somebody important! If we re still here, another person added.There were a few detractors, including one person who said Pearson has a future in tv/politics as the uncle tom expressing the interests of white conservative america (sic). The commenter was called out for his racism.On Sunday, Clinton announced her run for the White House with a press release that initially said she has fought children and families her entire career. She then headed to Iowa in an armored van nicknamed Scooby because it reminds her of the van in the 1960s cartoon.Via: Joe Newby, Examiner | 0 |
9,199 | Egyptian billionaire denounces Saudi corruption crackdown | ROME (Reuters) - Egyptian billionaire businessman Naguib Sawiris condemned on Friday a crackdown on graft in Saudi Arabia, saying the purge had undermined the rule of law in the Kingdom and would deter investment. In unusually outspoken comments, Sawiris, a well-known business figure in North Africa and the Middle East, also accused Qatar of destabilizing the region, and said there were only a handful of Arab nations that were safe to invest in. Saudi security forces rounded up dozens of members of the country s political and business elite last month on the orders of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in what was billed as a war on rampant corruption. Sawiris, whose family s Orascom businesses have interests ranging from construction to telecommunications, said influential figures should stand up to the Crown Prince, whom he referred to as this young man . We need to tell him no . There is the rule of law and order. You have a transparent process. Where is the court? What is the evidence? Who is the judge? he told a conference in Rome, questioning the Crown Prince s motives. Are you not part of this? Where did you get your money? Didn t you do this? What is the system? he said. Prince Mohammed has said Saudi Arabia needs to modernize and has warned that without reform, the economy will sink into a crisis that could fan unrest. Critics say his purge is aimed at shoring up his own power base, which the Saudi government denies. Sawiris said everyone with a conscience should speak out, but added that many were too frightened to do so. Everyone is scared because they have interests there, they have the oil, they have the money. But you need to have a conscience. When I say this, I know I am done-for in Saudi Arabia. No more business (there). Ok, I don t care. A monthly Reuters poll published on Thursday showed Middle East fund managers had become more positive towards Saudi Arabian equities after an initial market sell-off following the launch of the anti-graft drive. But Sawiris, who is not known to have major investments in Saudi Arabia, predicted business leaders would steer clear of the country in future. I think after what happened in Saudi Arabia, no one will invest there, he said. Sawiris also took aim at Iran, accusing the country of interfering in the affairs of its neighbors. He likewise denounced Qatar, saying it was funding terror groups. Why don t they take care of the prosperity of their own people instead of financing crazy clergymen who push young men to go and kill? he said. A group of Arab nations led by Saudi Arabia and Egypt cut ties with Qatar in June, accusing it of fomenting instability. Qatar, a tiny Gulf state, has denied supporting militants. Asked where was safe to invest in the Arab world, Sawiris mentioned Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan and Sudan, but jokingly dismissed Lebanon. The problem with Lebanon is they are all sharks and they leave nothing to anyone. Only a crazy person would invest in Lebanon, he said. | 1 |
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