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Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy, the leader of the House s top investigative committee, slammed special counsel Robert Mueller on Sunday for allowing the news media to learn that he and his legal team now have charges in their Russia investigation. In the only conversation I ve had with Robert Mueller, I stressed to him the importance of cutting out the leaks, Gowdy, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, told Fox News Sunday. It s kind of ironic that the people charged with investigating the law and the violations of the law would violate the law. Mueller and his team have for roughly the past five months been leading a Justice Department investigation into whether anybody associated with the President Trump s 2016 White House campaign colluded with Russia to influence the election outcome. On Friday night, CNN reported that Mueller s team has filed the first charges in the case with a federal grand jury.IN THE MEAN TIME, TRUMP S LAWYER SAYS THERE S NO WORRY: Donald Trump s lawyer says President Trump is not worried about what his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort or former national security adviser Mike Flynn told special counsel Robert Mueller in his investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.Ty Cobb told the New York Times Trump is confident neither Manafort nor Flynn has incriminating information about the president. The president has no concerns in terms of any impact, as to what happens to them, on his campaign or on the White House, Cobb said.Prosecutors on Mueller s team reportedly warned Manafort to expect an indictment when they raided his Virginia home in July.CNN reported late Friday the first charges have been filed in the Russia investigation and anyone charged could be taken into custody as soon as Monday. It is not known who is being charged in the case. Trump likes and respects Mr. Manafort and appreciates the work he did for him during the three months he was with the campaign. He likes General Flynn personally, but understands that they have their own path with the special counsel, Cobb said. I think he would be sad for them, as a friend and a former colleague, if the process results in punishment or indictments. But to the extent that that happens, that s beyond his control. | 1 |
What next? Under a Sacramento, California program, public housing residents are getting FREE zip cars .We now have pretty much everything free for people living in government housing free phones, free food, free debit card loaded with money, low-cost housing and now a car to use to zip around in Oy vey!It s no wonder refugee from all over the world want to come to the US. We have the MOST GENEROUS FREEBIES!This program was funded by a grant from the state of California. It s basically a Rob Peter to Pay Paul program The program is funded through a $1.3 million grant from the California Air Resources Board using cap-and-trade funds that businesses pay to offset their carbon emissions. This should be interesting Residents can use the cars on a first come, first served basis. They will be limited to three-hour windows three times per week.Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said the cars will help people get to doctors appointments, job interviews and school.Residents at three public housing areas now have a mini-fleet of free Zipcars to make their way around Sacramento.On Friday, Sacramento launched a pilot program that put eight shared electric Kia Souls at public housing sites. Up to 300 residents can apply for on-demand access to the vehicles, with no charge for maintenance, insurance or juicing up the battery.The program is funded through a $1.3 million grant from the California Air Resources Board using cap-and-trade funds that businesses pay to offset their carbon emissions.Local leaders said it will provide green transportation options to disadvantaged areas where even simple tasks like getting groceries can be a challenge. Not having a car it can be a real strain to get places safely, said Thomas Hall, spokesman for the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District, which is running the program in partnership with car-share company Zipcar and other governmental agencies.The cars are owned and maintained by Boston-based Zipcar, which has car-sharing operations in dozens of cities and on college campuses. Two cars are located at each of four sites: Alder Grove Housing Complex off Broadway, Edgewater apartments downtown, Mutual Housing at Lemon Hill in south Sacramento and the Sacramento Valley Station.READ MORE: SACRAMENTO BEE | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Charles Schumer, the top Democrat in the U.S. Senate, called on President Donald Trump on Sunday to name a single official to oversee and coordinate relief efforts in hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico. Schumer, along with Representatives Nydia Velàzquez and Jose Serrano, said a “CEO of response and recovery” is needed to manage the complex and ongoing federal response in the territory, where millions of Americans remain without power and supplies. In a statement, Schumer said the current federal response to Hurricane Maria’s impact on the island had been “disorganized, slow-footed and mismanaged.” “This person will have the ability to bring all the federal agencies together, cut red tape on the public and private side, help turn the lights back on, get clean water flowing and help bring about recovery for millions of Americans who have gone too long in some of the worst conditions,” he said. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Democrats contended that naming a lone individual to manage the government’s relief efforts was critical, particularly given that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is already stretched thin from dealing with other crises, such as the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in Texas and the wildfires in California. The severity of the Puerto Rico crisis, where a million people do not have clean water and millions are without power nearly a month after Hurricane Maria made landfall, demand a single person to focus exclusively on relief and recovery, the Democrats said. Forty-nine people have died in Puerto Rico officially, with dozens more missing. The hurricane did extensive damage to the island’s power grid, destroying homes, roads and other vital infrastructure. Now, the bankrupt territory is struggling to provide basic services like running water, and pay its bills. “It’s tragically clear this Administration was caught flat footed when Maria hit Puerto Rico,” said Velàzquez. “Appointing a CEO of Response and Recovery will, at last, put one person with authority in charge to manage the response and ensure we are finally getting the people of Puerto Rico the aid they need.” On Thursday, Trump said the federal response has been a “10” on a scale of one to 10 at a meeting with Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello. The governor has asked the White House and Congress for at least $4.6 billion in block grants and other types of funding. Senator Marco Rubio called on Congress to modify an $18.7 billion aid package for areas damaged by a recent swath of hurricanes to ensure that Puerto Rico can quickly access the funds. | 0 |
I guess the people who work for the Baltimore Mayor are like rats on the sinking Titanic. Maybe they figured out that it s not so smart to let rioters destroy your town and then expect the taxpayers to pick up the bloated tab. Baltimore mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is having a problem with retaining her staff. Ever since she helped bring the hammer down on six Baltimore police officers over the accidental death of Freddie Gray, four members on her Office on Criminal Justice have resigned. As in, her four highest-ranking cabinet members have each resigned, one by one, over a three-week period. That does not paint a pretty picture on what regard the Baltimore mayor is held in with her staff members. Shannon Cosgrove, deputy director of the office resigned Tuesday. Angela Johnese, director of the criminal justice office, and Heather Brantner, the mayor s Sexual Assault Response Team coordinator, left their positions in the mayor s office on May 22. LeVar Michael, who headed the office s nonviolent programs, left two weeks ago. Not one of the departed provided a reason for leaving. The Rawlings-Blake now faces even further scrutiny as it was determined that the costs incurred to the city stemming from the Baltimore riots exceed $20 million, quite a hike from the initial estimate of $9 million. So, who wants a job in the Baltimore mayor s office? VIA: BALTIMORE SUN TIMES | 1 |
As liberals are fighting over a picture posted by a self-professed D-List comedian and Bill Maher uttering the N word, Republicans are waging a serious attack on the First Amendment by attempting to silence our constitutional right to protest.As you may recall, on January 20th, millions of people took to the streets to protest the inauguration of Donald Trump. In Washington, D.C., 230 protesters were arrested after anarchists clashed with the police.Anti-Trump chants were occasionally drowned out by the thuds of sound grenades and smoke bombs.Left behind was broken glass from the windows of cafes, restaurants and banks. Declarations of resistance marked the walls and pavements: Make racists afraid again, and F*ck Trump .Images of a limousine in flames later made it onto television screens and the front pages of news websites around the world.Source: Al JazeeraThe D.C. courts decided to throw the book at the protesters. 230 protesters and bystanders were initially charged with felony rioting, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years and a $25,000 fine.On April 27th, though, the Superior Court of D.C. doubled down and now 212 of those defendants are facing up to 80 years in prison. Some of the defendants are journalists, who face up to 70 years, each. This, despite the fact that a lot of them seemed to have been swept up in the confusion and they had no warning to disperse or that tear gas and rubber bullets were coming their way.For (protester Olivia) Alsip, the ever-present weight of the charges has already taken a toll on her life. I m pretty shocked by the impact it s had on my personal life, she explains. It seems that innocent until proven guilty is a falsehood all the way from the prosecution and police to the people who had previously supported me in my activism. It s hanging over my head the entire time, which makes it really challenging. It hinders your ability to plan your life. The bigger issue, of course, is the fact that the First Amendment seems to be under attack from all angles. Donald Trump has been staging a war on the media. A man who body slammed a journalist was just elected to Congress. Some states are legalizing murdering protesters with your car.While some of the protesters in D.C. were undoubtedly involved in rioting, the penalties are draconian and it seems the courts have no interest in figuring out who the guilty parties really were. What this will accomplish for the right is fear. People will be reluctant to express their opinions because they could be thrown in prison, or in some states, run over by a car.Featured image via Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images. | 1 |
First Lady Melania Trump visits HomeSafe, photo via HomeSafe.GP The First Lady s visit to HomeSafe was unannounced, however a press release was issued by HomeSafe and several photos were posted online including at the @FLOTUS Twitter account.Yet, with the exception of the local Palm Beach Post and FootwearNews which focused on the shoes she wore to HomeSafe, no media reported on the First Lady s visit.Melania Trump mentioned her visit on Twitter with this photo of her at the home for the abuses girls, along with offering the girls some words of encouragement and praise:I had a wonderful time visiting @HomeSafeFla today! The young ladies I spoke with hold so much promise for the future. pic.twitter.com/3W5i2Xpo5m Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) April 14, 2017Palm Beach Post reporter George Bennett also tweeted about her visit:Pic from HomeSafe of @FLOTUS @MELANIATRUMP visiting the girls' residence today. Story: https://t.co/zBkPUlSSAe pic.twitter.com/dx0pUtbH1J George Bennett (@gbennettpost) April 14, 2017Home Safe also tweeted pictures of Melania s visit. They thanked her for the visit and said they were excited to have @FLOTUS visit our girls group home in Lake Worth. Today we were excited to have @FLOTUS visit our girls group home in Lake Worth.Thank you for taking the time to listen & talk with the girls pic.twitter.com/v0OqECxqDa HomeSafe (@HomeSafeFla) April 14, 2017Here is an excerpt from the HomeSafeFL press release:Home Safe s description of their agency on Twitter: HomeSafe is preparing children and families for safer, more productive lives through child abuse and domestic violence prevention and intervention programs.The media s decision to ignore this story only proves they really don t care much about the plight of women or of young girls, what they care about is destroying the enemy. The media s transparent hate for anything Trump has forced them to show their cards, and as a result the mainstream media will likely never be trusted again by Americans who once bought everything they were being told hook, line and sinker. | 1 |
One of the things that Trump wants to do over the next four years is continue to hold huge rallies for the purpose of stroking his ego. Apparently, that s already getting underway. He s planning to take a victory lap around the states he won sometime in the next several weeks, rather than working closely with his transition team to make sure as much is in place as possible before Inauguration Day.This will be a 30-state tour if he plans on visiting every state that voted for him. Since the trip seems to be mostly for the purpose of visiting the states he won, it s hard not to see this as a giant middle finger to the states he lost, even though there are a number of voters in rural areas of blue states like Illinois who voted for him.It doesn t really jibe with his ongoing assertions that he will work every day for ALL Americans (shouldn t he be impossibly eager to get to down to business?). In fact, it doesn t jibe with the idea that he ll do any work at all.The glow of winning a presidential election already seems to be wearing off he has to continually find ways of feeling superior and getting the instant gratification that these huge, cheering crowds give him. And really, who wants to spend day after day in boring meetings with transitional staffers, members of Congress, security teams, the current President, and more when he can just be gone all the time, stroking his ego? While some have spun his need for large rallies full of adoring fans as rubbing shoulders with the everyday American, it just doesn t seem like that s what Trump really wants to do.He has an ego the size of Russia. It s not easy to quiet that, and his staff would rather kowtow to him than try and actually mold him into a real statesman. He publicly admits that his life is going to change drastically, but what he s pushing his advisers and planners to do shows he s going to try and hold onto his old life as much as possible.Will he hold rallies in states he didn t carry? Who knows. He ll promise to, because to do otherwise would be to confirm that some people don t matter, even if they voted for him. Will he actually do it, though? It might actually depend on whether he thinks he can get the huge crowds he wants, which is totally what being president is all about.Featured image by Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images | 1 |
BRASILIA/CARACAS (Reuters) - Dismissed Venezuelan prosecutor Luisa Ortega said on Wednesday she had evidence that President Nicolas Maduro was involved in corruption with construction company Odebrecht. Ortega, 59, was a key player in Venezuela s government but broke with it in March. She fled last week to Colombia by boat and on Wednesday morning landed in Brazil. Ortega said she had been persecuted in an effort to hide details of high-level corruption, saying she had proof, though she offered none. Ortega linked the Odebrecht scandal with Maduro and Socialist Party heavyweights including Diosdado Cabello and Jorge Rodriguez. Ortega said she had evidence that Cabello received some $100 million from the Brazilian company. The international community must investigate such cases, she told a news conference. Venezuelan authorities did not respond to a request for comment. Odebrecht admitted in a settlement with U.S. and Brazilian prosecutors to paying bribes across 12 countries to win contracts. According to a U.S. court ruling, between 2001 and 2016, Odebrecht paid about $788 million in bribes in countries including Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela. Ortega was removed from her position early this month by Venezuela s newly formed constituent assembly, a controversial pro-government body whose installation was called dictatorial by governments worldwide. Maduro said on Tuesday he would seek Ortega s arrest, accusing her of having worked for some time with the United States. Maduro blames Washington for many of Venezuela s problems, including triple-digit inflation, shortages of basic goods and months of anti-government unrest. In Caracas, state-controlled television broadcast images on Wednesday of a police operation in what it said was Ortega s apartment. The cameras showed marble floors, large paintings of Ortega herself and one by Andy Warhol, a cellar containing an array of expensive wines and a wardrobe filled with designer labels. Ortega said she would give details of the corruption cases to authorities in the United States, Spain, Mexico, Brazil and Colombia. Since settling in the United States, Brazil and Switzerland for a record $3.5 billion, Odebrecht has sought to negotiate leniency deals that would allow it to keep operating in other countries across Latin America. | 0 |
(Reuters) - Hackers targeted the computer systems of presidential candidate Donald Trump and Republican Party organizations as well as Democratic Party networks, sources familiar with investigations into the attacks said. At least one Trump staff member’s email account was infected with malware in 2015 and sent malicious emails to colleagues, according to one insider for the Republican candidate’s campaign and an outside security expert. It was unclear whether or not the hackers actually gained access to campaign computers. In the past month, U.S. security officials have said that starting last year, hackers infiltrated computers of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton and her party’s congressional fundraising committee. U.S. officials said they have concluded that Russia or its proxies were responsible, leading to calls by some Democrats and cyber security officials for the Obama administration to blame Russia publicly. Kremlin officials have dismissed the allegations as absurd, but there is anxiety in Washington over the possibility that a foreign power might be using hacked information to meddle in the Nov. 8 U.S. election. The Trump campaign has hired security firm CrowdStrike, which also is assisting the Democratic National Committee, according to one person briefed on the matter. The company declined to comment.A different outside security firm was hired to examine software the Trump and Clinton campaigns use to manage mailings, electronic outreach and other campaign efforts, another person who was briefed on the issue said.A spokeswoman for Trump’s campaign declined to comment. A spokesman for the Republican National Committee could not immediately be reached for comment. The tools and techniques used to hack Republican targets resemble those employed in attacks on Democratic Party organizations, including the DNC and Clinton’s campaign organization, two sources said. That has led U.S. officials to reach a preliminary assessment that Russia’s military and civilian intelligence agencies or their proxies have targeted both political parties. Attempts to hack into Republican political organizations over an extended period were reported in intelligence bulletins circulated by U.S. agencies, four sources said. They did not disclose the identities of the organizations. Two U.S. security officials said the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security have offered assistance to both political parties in identifying possible intrusions and upgrading their defenses against what one of the officials called “constantly evolving threats.” | 0 |
PENEDO, Brazil (Reuters) - Former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told Reuters on Wednesday that his recent conviction for corruption might mean that his Workers Party will have to field a candidate other than him in next year s election. In an interview during a marathon bus tour through Brazil s impoverished northeastern states, Lula said the Brazilian government should spend its way out of its worst recession on record and even use some of its international reserves instead of cutting government programs that hurt the poor. Lula s 2003-11 government lifted millions from poverty and polls show he is still one of Brazil s most popular politicians. However, his political future hangs in the balance after he was convicted last month of receiving bribes from a construction firm in return for help winning government contracts. If that conviction is upheld on appeal, Lula will likely be barred from running and could be imprisoned. I know my enemies want to block any possibility of me being a candidate and I am fighting that, Lula, 71, told Reuters in a hotel room where he complained that his arms hurt from physically embracing thousands of supporters who have turned out at every stop of his tour. But nobody is irreplaceable, he added. If there is any problem, the Workers Party has to be able to launch another candidate. A possible stand-in is the former mayor of Sao Paulo, Fernando Haddad, who gained national prominence as education minister under Lula and extended university access to poorer Brazilians. Brazil s real currency extended gains on the news that Lula was contemplating his own replacement, firming more than 1.2 percent to its strongest in more than two weeks. Traders said the prospect of a 2018 race without Lula reinforced bets on Brazil sticking to fiscal austerity and pursuing structural reforms. Lula s gravelly voice has lost strength after he beat throat cancer five years ago, but his fiery speeches have lost none of their power to rally audiences with populist criticism of Brazil s elites. Corruption accusations and the impeachment of Lula s hand-picked successor Dilma Rousseff, who was ousted due to budget irregularities in 2016, caused many members to quit the party last year and led to major setbacks in local elections. Lula said members who left have not joined other parties and, with corruption scandals entangling most of Brazil s political class, they are still undecided, so the Workers Party is hoping to win them back. His three-week, 4,000-kilometer (2,500-mile) tour of a region that greatly benefited from his social programs aims to reconnect his party with its working class base and rebuild what is still Latin America s largest left-wing party. Polls show Lula would handily win the first round of a presidential election but he is in a statistical tie with his former Environment Minister Marina Silva, no relation despite the last name, largely because Lula has a 46-percent rejection rate, the highest among likely contenders. Lula sharply criticized President Michel Temer for privatizing state assets to try to plug a record budget deficit that cost Brazil its investment-grade credit rating two years ago. Temer s ministers blame the fiscal crisis on excessive public spending by Lula and Rousseff. Lula said Temer s spending cuts were the wrong way to pull Brazil from its worst recession on record. He would expand public investment, even if it meant increasing government debt at first, to restart the economy and recover tax revenues. Honestly, I would use some of the international reserves, and money from bank reserves, to make Brazil grow again, he said. Lula said Temer s market-friendly government did not have the courage to raise taxes and make wealthy Brazilians contribute more to government finances. Instead, the government is selling state companies, such as power utility Eletrobras. When there is nothing left to sell, they will sell their souls to the devil, he quipped. | 0 |
Steyn: Now Hillary knows how Bill s victims feel Haha! Mark Steyn was awesome tonight on Tucker Carlson:Oh my gosh! We can t stop laughing at Steyn s account of Hillary on pretty much everything. The best had to be how Clinton lied about how she was named. Too funny!HERE S OUR PREVIOUS REPORT ON THE BIG WHOPPER HILLARY TOLD ABOUT HER NAME: This story is from 2006 and is the first in a long series of Hillary s lies that we ll be exposing over the next couple of months For more than a decade, one piece of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton s informal biography has been that she was named for Sir Edmund Hillary, the conqueror of Mount Everest. The story was even recounted in Bill Clinton s autobiography.But yesterday, Mrs. Clinton s campaign said she was not named for Sir Edmund after all. It was a sweet family story her mother shared to inspire greatness in her daughter, to great results I might add, said Jennifer Hanley, a spokeswoman for the campaign.In May 1953, Sir Edmund and his Sherpa guide, Tenzing Norgay, became the first men to reach the summit of Mount Everest. In 1995, shortly after meeting Sir Edmund, Mrs. Clinton said that her mother, Dorothy Rodham, had long told her she was named for the famous mountaineer. It had two l s, which is how she thought she was supposed to spell Hillary, Mrs. Clinton said at the time, after meeting Sir Edmund. So when I was born, she called me Hillary, and she always told me it s because of Sir Edmund Hillary. Even though Bill Clinton repeated the story in his 2004 autobiography, My Life, Hillary Clinton did not mention it in her own autobiography, Living History, which was published in 2003.But one big hole has been poked in the story over the years, both in cyberspace and elsewhere: Sir Edmund became famous only after climbing Everest in 1953. Mrs. Clinton, as it happens, was born in 1947. Via: NYT | 1 |
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump’s bid to slash funding for the United Nations would make it “impossible” for it to continue its essential work, a U.N. spokesman said on Wednesday, adding that the organization was ready to discuss reform with Washington. The Trump proposal cuts about a third from U.S. diplomacy and aid budgets, or nearly $19 billion. This includes cutting some $1 billion from a U.N. peacekeeping funding and a steep cut to funding for international organizations. The United States is the biggest U.N. contributor, paying 22 percent of the $5.4 billion core budget and 28.5 percent of the $7.9 billion peacekeeping budget. These assessed contributions are agreed by the 193-member U.N. General Assembly. “The figures presented would simply make it impossible for the U.N. to continue all of its essential work advancing peace, development, human rights and humanitarian assistance,” Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said in a statement. Congress sets the federal government budget, and Republicans who control both houses and Democrats have said they do not support such drastic cuts. Trump has said the U.S. share of the U.N. budgets was “unfair.” The General Assembly is currently negotiating the peacekeeping budget from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018 and will later this year negotiate the next U.N. regular budget. Trump wants to cap the U.S. peacekeeping contribution at 25 percent. The United States is reviewing each of the 16 U.N. peacekeeping missions as the annual mandates come up for renewal by the Security Council in a bid to cut costs. During a lunch with U.N. Security Council ambassadors at the White House last month, Trump described the U.S. contributions to the United Nations as “peanuts compared to the important work” as he pushed the world body to reform. “The Secretary-General is totally committed to reforming the United Nations,” Dujarric said. “We stand ready to discuss with the United States and any other member state how best we can create a more cost-effective organization to pursue our shared goals and values.” Trump’s budget proposal included a 44 percent cut to funding for international organizations, but does not specify the cuts, other than “funding for organizations that work against U.S. foreign policy interests.” The State Department said last month it was ending funding for the U.N. Population Fund, an agency focused on family planning and maternal and child health in more than 150 countries. Guterres warned the cut could have “devastating effects.” U.N. agencies such as the U.N. Development Program (UNDP), the children’s agency UNICEF, and the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA), are funded by governments voluntarily. In 2016, the United States was the top contributor to the UNDP’s core budget, with an $83 million donation; the leading donor to UNICEF’s core budget in 2015 with $132 million; and the fourth-largest donor to the UNFPA, giving $75 million. | 0 |
On Friday, it was revealed that former Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke, who was being considered for Homeland Security Secretary in Donald Trump s administration, has an email scandal of his own.In January, there was a brief run-in on a plane between Clarke and fellow passenger Dan Black, who he later had detained by the police for no reason whatsoever, except that maybe his feelings were hurt. Clarke messaged the police to stop Black after he deplaned, and now, a search warrant has been executed by the FBI to see the exchanges.Clarke is calling it fake news even though copies of the search warrant are on the Internet. I am UNINTIMIDATED by lib media attempts to smear and discredit me with their FAKE NEWS reports designed to silence me, the former sheriff tweeted. I will continue to poke them in the eye with a sharp stick and bitch slap these scum bags til they get it. I have been attacked by better people than them #MAGA I am UNINTIMIDATED by lib media attempts to smear and discredit me with their FAKE NEWS reports designed to silence me. I will continue to poke them in the eye with a sharp stick and bitch slap these scum bags til they get it. I have been attacked by better people than them #MAGA pic.twitter.com/XtZW5PdU2b David A. Clarke, Jr. (@SheriffClarke) December 30, 2017He didn t stop there.BREAKING NEWS! When LYING LIB MEDIA makes up FAKE NEWS to smear me, the ANTIDOTE is go right at them. Punch them in the nose & MAKE THEM TASTE THEIR OWN BLOOD. Nothing gets a bully like LYING LIB MEDIA S attention better than to give them a taste of their own blood #neverbackdown pic.twitter.com/T2NY2psHCR David A. Clarke, Jr. (@SheriffClarke) December 30, 2017The internet called him out.This is your local newspaper and that search warrant isn t fake, and just because the chose not to file charges at the time doesn t mean they won t! Especially if you continue to lie. Months after decision not to charge Clarke, email search warrant filed https://t.co/zcbyc4Wp5b KeithLeBlanc (@KeithLeBlanc63) December 30, 2017I just hope the rest of the Village People aren t implicated. Kirk Ketchum (@kirkketchum) December 30, 2017Slaw, baked potatoes, or French fries? pic.twitter.com/fWfXsZupxy ALT- Immigration (@ALT_uscis) December 30, 2017pic.twitter.com/ymsOBLjfxU Pendulum Swinger (@PendulumSwngr) December 30, 2017you called your police friends to stand up for you when someone made fun of your hat Chris Jackson (@ChrisCJackson) December 30, 2017Is it me, with this masterful pshop of your hat, which I seem to never tire of. I think it s the steely resolve in your one visible eye pic.twitter.com/dWr5k8ZEZV Chris Mohney (@chrismohney) December 30, 2017Are you indicating with your fingers how many people died in your jail? I think you re a few fingers short, dipshit Ike Barinholtz (@ikebarinholtz) December 30, 2017ROFL. Internet tough guy with fake flair. pic.twitter.com/ulCFddhkdy KellMeCrazy (@Kel_MoonFace) December 30, 2017You re so edgy, buddy. Mrs. SMH (@MRSSMH2) December 30, 2017Is his break over at Applebees? Aaron (@feltrrr2) December 30, 2017Are you trying to earn your still relevant badge? CircusRebel (@CircusDrew) December 30, 2017make sure to hydrate, drink lots of water. It s rumored that prisoners can be denied water by prison officials. Robert Klinc (@RobertKlinc1) December 30, 2017Terrill Thomas, the 38-year-old black man who died of thirst in Clarke s Milwaukee County Jail cell this April, was a victim of homicide. We just thought we should point that out. It can t be repeated enough.Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images. | 1 |
About 62 percent of Americans say they won t be taking a vacation this summer at all. Out of that, more than half said they couldn t afford it.Just like the Obama s keep telling us it s all about fair share or something like that As the weather heats up in Washington, DC, the Obamas as planning their summer vacation.The Boston Herald reports that President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle and daughters Sasha and Malia will be staying on Martha s Vineyard from August 8-23.The Obamas have spent almost every single summer on the tony island off the coast of Massachusetts Cape Cod except for 2012 when the president was running for re-election.Continuing yet another tradition of their annual retreat, the Obamas are also expected to stay at the same $12million cottage in Chilmark they rented last year.The 8,100-square-foot home features seven bedrooms, nine bathrooms, a basketball/tennis court, hot tub, infinity pool and views of the Elizabeth Islands.The home is owned by wealthy widow Joanna Hubschman, whose husband Henry died of cancer in 2011.Four years before his death, Mr Hubschman, a General Electric executive, contributed $6,900 the maximum donation then allowed to Hillary Clinton s 2008 bid for president, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.However, it was Barack Obama who took the party s ticket and went on to win the White House.Two weeks before the general election, Mr Hubschman contributed $2,300 to Obama s campaign.This year s vacation is likely to be a bit more relaxing for Mr Obama, who faced a wave of criticism for his golf playing last year in the midst of a crisis with ISIS.Via: UK Daily Mail | 1 |
(Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday will hear arguments in a challenge by 26 states to President Barack Obama’s executive action to defer deportation of certain immigrant children and parents who are in the country illegally. Here is a chronology of the case, United States v. Texas: June 15, 2012 - The Obama administration, through the Department of Homeland Security, initiates the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which suspends deportation for two years for people who entered the country illegally at least five years earlier, before they were age 16, and who were under age 31 as of June 15, 2012. Nov. 20, 2014 - Obama, through unilateral executive action, initiates a new deferred-deportation and work-authorization policy for immigrants whose children are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents and who have been living illegally in the United States since Jan. 1, 2010. These people must pass certain background checks for possible past criminal convictions. The program is called Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA). The Obama administration also expands the earlier DACA program by eliminating the age-31 cap and increasing deferred deportation from two to three years. Dec. 3, 2014 - Texas and other Republican-governed states sue the Democratic Obama administration in U.S. district court in Texas. They assert that Obama’s Nov. 20 executive actions, which bypassed the Republican-led Congress, violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) notice-and-comment requirements for new federal agency rules and violated the U.S. Constitution’s dictate that a president “take care” that laws are “faithfully executed.” In all, 26 of the 50 U.S. states eventually sign on to the lawsuit: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Feb. 16, 2015 - U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen in the border city of Brownsville, Texas issues an injunction blocking enforcement of the programs nationwide. The judge says the Obama administration had failed to offer notice and seek comments under the Administrative Procedure Act. Administration lawyers counter that the actions did not arise from official rule-making but rather from Homeland Security Department discretion on deportation priorities. May 26, 2015 - After the administration appeals the judge’s decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, based in New Orleans, upholds Hanen’s injunction, pending an appeal on the merits of the case. Nov. 9, 2015 - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit rules for Texas and the other states, throwing out Obama’s DAPA and expanded DACA actions because, the court says, they were subject to notice-and-comment requirements under the Administrative Procedure Act. Jan. 19, 2016 - The Supreme Court agrees to hear the administration’s appeal. The justices say they will review the Administrative Procedure Act issue as well as whether the program violates the “take care” mandate. A key question before the justices is whether Texas and the other states even have legal standing to bring the case based on a claim that Obama’s action would cost the states financially in certain public services such as the cost of issuing driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants. Feb. 13, 2016 - Justice Antonin Scalia dies, leaving the Supreme Court with only eight members - four liberals and four conservatives - and the possibility of a 4-4 deadlock. Such a split ruling would be a defeat for Obama because it would leave in place the 5th Circuit decision disallowing his executive action. April 18, 2016 - Oral arguments scheduled in United States v. Texas. A ruling is expected by the end of June. | 0 |
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. oil and gas industry workers have contributed only slightly more money to the campaign of Democrat Hillary Clinton than to Republican Donald Trump since the two clinched their parties’ nominations for the White House, according to Reuters’ review of federal disclosures. The nearly even support suggests ambivalence in the industry between two rivals who have put forward wildly different energy visions. Trump calls for a drastic reduction in regulations to bolster drilling, while Clinton advocates tougher environmental protections and more renewables. Employees in the industry gave Clinton $114,141 and Trump $99,302 since July 1, Reuters found in reviewing individual campaign contributions exceeding $200 and donations funneled through their joint fundraising committees. Both were officially nominated by their parties in mid-July. Several oil and gas industry employees reached by Reuters said they did not donate just because of the candidates’ energy policies. Most requested anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the election. “I am moved by the disturbing nature of what I see in Trump’s vision for America on trade, the economy and national security,” said American Gas Association head Dave McCurdy, who has contributed to Clinton’s campaign. He added, however, that he agreed with Clinton on reducing carbon dioxide emissions blamed for climate change and felt natural gas would play a role in that effort. The association has not endorsed a candidate. Continental Resources Inc Chief Executive Officer Harold Hamm, who has contributed repeatedly to Trump’s campaign, has argued in favor of the candidate’s energy policies. Hamm has said bolstering U.S. drilling would reduce dependence on Middle East oil, whose proceeds he says finance terrorist attacks. A Continental official did not respond to a request for comment from Hamm. An energy lobbyist based in Washington said he understood the industry’s ambivalence. “Clinton is pro-regulation, which hurts,” he said, requesting anonymity. “And Trump has no record in the industry, so there’s no evidence he understands the issues.” Clinton had far exceeded Trump in campaign contributions from industry employees during the primaries, but donations to the Republican side of the ledger were split among a much larger number of candidates than on the Democratic side. During the Republican primaries, the industry had taken an early liking to former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, giving him more than all his rivals combined, before he dropped out of the race in February. | 0 |
Every American should be concerned and should be demanding answers from Washington about why we need to militarize these federal government agencies As the U.S. engages in a national debate over the militarization of the police, federal data shows that government agencies charged with largely administrative roles are spending tens of millions of taxpayer dollars to purchase SWAT and military-style equipment.Since FY 2006, 44 traditionally administrative agencies have spent over $71 million on items like body armor, riot helmets and shields, cannon launchers and police firearms and ammunition, according to federal spending data from watchdog group OpenTheBooks.comThis comes in addition to the $330 million spent on such equipment in that period by traditional law enforcement agencies like the FBI, Secret Service and Drug Enforcement Administration.Some examples of the purchases include: Nearly $2 million spent by the Department of Veterans Affairs on riot helmets, defender shields, body armor, a milo return fire cannon system, armored mobile shields, Kevlar blankets, tactical gear and equipment for crowd control. Over $300,000 spent by the Food and Drug Administration on ballistic vests and carriers in fiscal 2014. Via: Washington Times | 1 |
(Reuters) - Some influential U.S. senators are urging a federal agency to take action to ensure more children are tested for lead poisoning, citing a Reuters investigation that found millions are missing required lead tests, leaving some vulnerable to lifelong health effects. In a three-page letter to be sent on Friday, U.S. senators including Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Ron Wyden of Oregon and Deborah Stabenow of Michigan, all Democrats, called on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), to re-evaluate its lead screening policy for millions of Medicaid-eligible children. The senators want CMS to improve U.S. blood lead testing rates they called “dismal,” and to ensure all state Medicaid programs comply with testing rules and provide treatment for children with elevated blood lead levels. Medicaid is a U.S. government program that provides health care for low-income and disabled people. The letter, provided to Reuters by Brown’s office, cites a June Reuters investigation (reut.rs/1YgbjCX) detailing how millions of U.S. children are falling through the cracks of early childhood lead testing requirements. Though Medicaid has long required children in the program to receive blood lead tests at ages one and two, Reuters obtained data from nearly a dozen states showing that only 41 percent of Medicaid-eligible children were tested as required in 2014. Those shortfalls left some children vulnerable to prolonged and preventable lead exposure, which can stunt their cognitive development and cause permanent mental and physical ailments. Concerns about childhood lead exposure have grown sharply after children in Flint, Michigan were poisoned by lead-tainted drinking water starting in 2014. Across the country, more than 500,000 U.S. children have elevated lead levels, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Another exposure risk is old lead paint in millions of homes built before 1978. In Cleveland, Ohio, for instance, 13.7 percent of children tested had elevated levels of lead in their blood, Reuters found. “Children in Ohio are being poisoned by their own homes,” Senator Brown said on Thursday. “To protect our children, we need better coordination between federal and state health agencies and Medicaid physicians.” Experts cited several factors for the gaps: some doctors do not order the tests or are unaware of Medicaid and state rules; children miss appointments or parents do not follow up on test referrals; and Medicaid and health departments do little to enforce testing. The testing guidelines are often confusing, and federal and state data on lead testing contain gaps. In the letter, the lawmakers urge CMS to take steps to get more children tested and to review and update its lead screening protocols, and help guide state Medicaid administrators to make sure all at-risk children get screened. | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday defended a Republican tax-cut plan against Democratic charges that it favors the rich, saying it will be “one of the great Christmas gifts” for the middle class with just days to go before Congress votes. With a vote on the biggest tax rewrite in three decades set for Tuesday, Republicans were working to ensure party members were holding the line in favor of the legislation against entrenched Democratic opposition. The plan was finalized on Friday after Republican Senators Marco Rubio and Bob Corker pledged their support. Three Republican senators, enough to defeat the measure in a Senate that Trump’s party controls with a slim 52-48 majority, remained uncommitted: Susan Collins, Jeff Flake and Mike Lee. Passage in Congress would provide Republicans and Trump with their first major victory since he took office in January. “It’s going to be one of the great Christmas gifts to middle-income people,” Trump told reporters at the White House before he boarded a helicopter for meetings at Camp David. “The Democrats have their sound bite, the standard sound bite before they even know what the bill is all about,” he added. The proposed package would slash the U.S. corporate tax rate to 21 percent and cut taxes for wealthy Americans. Under an agreement between the House of Representatives and the Senate, the corporate tax would be 1 percentage point higher than the 20 percent rate earlier proposed, but still far below the current headline rate of 35 percent, a deep tax reduction that corporations have sought for years. Democrats have slammed the plan as a giveaway to corporations and the rich that would drive up the federal deficit. For months, Trump has touted the bill as a middle-class tax cut. Studies from independent analysts and non-partisan congressional researchers have projected that corporations and the rich would benefit disproportionately. Trump repeated on Saturday that the tax overhaul would help bring in $4 trillion in foreign profits from U.S. companies. The tax plan proposes new rules for repatriating cash held overseas. “This is going to bring money in. As an example, we think $4 trillion is going to be flowing back into the country,” he said. “That’s money that’s overseas that’s stuck there for years and years.” | 0 |
Thank you, President Trump, for those words of comfort and for denouncing those who promote violence and hatred -Susan Bro, mother of Charlottesville attack victim Heather Heyer.Susan Bro, mother of Charlottesville attack victim Heather Heyer, thanks Pres. Trump for denouncing those who promote violence and hatred pic.twitter.com/E46OnwE5fW NBC News (@NBCNews) August 14, 2017PRESIDENT TRUMP HAS DENOUNCED OVER AND OVER THE VIOLENCE ON BOTH SIDES! To anyone who acted criminally in this weekend s racist violence you will be held fully accountable. Justice will be delivered. POTUS pic.twitter.com/AGjrt4Xnfr CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) August 14, 2017SUSAN BRO S STATEMENT isn t what the left wants The woman who lost her daughter is behaving better than those who are calling for more violence in the streets. Yes, the groups on the left are using Charlottesville as a launching point for even more violence and chaos Can you believe it?The Daily Caller reports: Far-left agitators are calling for an escalation in tactics following this weekend s violence at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville.Many of the same groups that have organized violent demonstrations in Berkeley, California and elsewhere are now calling for an aggressive response to the violence in Charlottesville. Far-left anti-fascist (or antifa) figures are advising agitators to do the job that police won t: shutting down fascists and prevent them from organizing.Radical left-wingers have for months justified violence as a way to fight back against fascism and racism terms that they have applied not just to white nationalist fringe groups but to prominent figures on the right as well.A HUGE SIGN OF A BIGGER FORCE (SOROS) WITH THE FUNDS IS WHEN SIGNS ARE PROFESSIONALLY DONE AND YOU SEE LOTS OF THEM:NOTE: The signs say RefuseFascism.org Please go to this link to see what they re planning: REFUSE FASCISM Charlottesville is just the beginning. If the alt-right can get away with murder there, none of us will be safe. We have to stand up to white supremacists, we have to shut down and chase out these bigots every time they try to organize, or else they will kill more people, reads one poster created by anarchist group CrimethInc, a self-described international network of aspiring revolutionaries. | 1 |
Flustered by a series of protesters, including one just a few feet away from him that the candidate decided to stand up and single out by pointing, Trump told his audience, we have a terrible president who happens to be African-American. Here s the video of the moment.Trump went on to promise his diehard supporters that we have a divided country folks, and that there has never been a greater division that exists in America today. Trump also claimed he was upset about the hatred, the animosity in the country, and promised, I will bring people together. The comments come a day after Trump backers physically harassed Black Lives Matter protesters at a rally in New Orleans.The remarks also come less than a week after Trump refused to denounce the support of the Ku Klux Klan and former Grand Wizard David Duke during an interview on CNN.The White Power/White Nationalist movement has expressed a high level of support for Trump, especially due to his promise to build a beautiful wall on the U.S. Mexico border. Other white nationalists have said that Trump is their preferred candidate, and in return the campaign has given press credentials for white power radio shows to broadcast from his campaign rallies. His son, Donald Trump Jr., even gave an interview to a radio show alongside a white nationalist who favors a return to slavery.Trump s embrace of the racist movement has been condemned by both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.It has also become a problem for so-called establishment Republicans, who fear that a candidate so directly connected to the movement will spell disaster for them in the fall election. They dislike that Trump has said in public what has often been said behind closed doors with hushed tones.Featured image via YouTube | 1 |
A longtime Republican consultant, Carter Wrenn, has finally said what the rest of the GOP won t about voter ID laws. In-person voter fraud is an excuse, and the laws that force people to obtain certain identification, along with limiting or eliminating early voting and other provisions, wouldn t happen if the black community would just vote Republican.You can t make this up. Wrenn told the Washington Post: Look, if African Americans voted overwhelmingly Republican, they would have kept early voting right where it was. It wasn t about discriminating against African Americans. They just ended up in the middle of it because they vote Democrat. So it was about discriminating against African-Americans. How on Earth does Wrenn get from If African Americans voted overwhelmingly Republican to, This wasn t about discrimination? There s no way to make that leap of logic without an awful lot of crazy gymnastics.Basically, Wrenn just admitted that Republicans wouldn t push down the black community if the black community would just do what Republicans want. Republicans would probably be all for fixing inner cities, passing jobs bills, passing crime bills, ensuring the social safety net isn t gutted, and more, if the black community voted Republican. But, since they don t, fuck em. The GOP has to protect its majorities, after all.Wake County, in North Carolina, the state whose voter ID law Wrenn was discussing, says that more early voting would just waste tax dollars and cause additional chaos. Excuses, excuses, and flimsy ones at that. All the county boards in North Carolina are Republican under state law because the governor is a Republican. They re apparently all on his side with rationalizing away their blatant discrimination any way they can.The Supreme Court refused to grant a stay on a lower court s decision that North Carolina s law was crafted with the specific intent of suppressing the black vote. Governor Pat McCrory threw a livid fit, saying that the Court had denied basic voting rights to North Carolina that other states are allowed to enjoy.It s really the state that s trying to deny basic voting rights to their black community, all in the name of preventing voter fraud, and protecting one person, one vote. McCrory has his lies all lined up in a neat little row, though, and will use them, one after the other, for as long as he has to.The GOP needs to clean its own house before they cry about voter fraud. Their standard-bearer s own campaign CEO is guilty of attempting voter fraud, which just makes them utter hypocrites for tolerating that and whining up a storm about the need to prevent voter fraud.But don t call them racist, and don t call these laws racist! The GOP has this strange need to convince itself that this isn t about racism. Consider this, though: even if it truly wasn t about racism, they re still working to actively deny people their constitutional right to vote. Wrenn just damned his party with that interview.Featured image by Mario Tama/Getty Images | 1 |
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May called on EU leaders on Thursday to move forward with Brexit talks, underlining their shared support for free trade and promising to remain a strong partner on security. Hours before the European Union will rule that the Brexit talks have not made enough progress to move to a discussion of the two sides future ties, May appealed to leaders over a dinner to signal that the negotiations will move forward. We should be optimistic and ambitious about what we can achieve as we share the same set of fundamental beliefs in free trade, rigorous and fair competition, strong consumer rights and high regulatory standards, she told the leaders, according to a British government official. Alongside this I want to be very clear, the United Kingdom is unconditionally committed to maintaining Europe s security. | 0 |
DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland has made significant progress in talks with Britain on the future of the Northern Irish border, but the sides are not there yet , a spokesman for Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Monday. The spokesman said Ireland was seeking a commitment to avoid a hard border in the withdrawal treaty, or ensuring that the rules and regulations of the single market and customs union cannot diverge . It is also looking for assurances on the protection of the Northern Ireland peace process, cross-border funding and the British-Irish common travel area as well as a commitment to a transition period, he said. | 0 |
I m shooting for irony here, so bear with me: Thank GOD some people proclaim their bigotry out loud, so you don t have to find out the hard way.Okay, so this couple (who are choosing to remain anonymous) kind of did find out the hard way, but they re still free to make other arrangements after the minister of their church called them into a private meeting to let them know he would no longer perform their ceremony or allow them to marry in his church.Pictured: IronyThe problem, according to Minister Steven North of Ebenezer St. John s Presbyterian Church, was the bride s recent comment on Facebook in support of marriage equality in her native Australia. The country is holding a survey because some places value the individual input of their citizens to help the Australian parliament decide whether or not to allow same-sex couples to marry.Apparently, the clergyman was monitoring the bride-to-be s social media, where she spoke up in support of the measure: I know it s something not everyone will agree on and that s fine but this is what I stand for and frankly it doesn t effect [sic] my relationship with [my partner] one bit. That s when North made the decision to summon the couple into his office. Not only did he tell them that he would not perform the ceremony, but he drove the point home with a letter to the couple as well: After the pre-marital counselling that you attended and the sermons delivered at Ebenezer on this subject, you must surely appreciate that your commitment to same-sex marriage opposes the teaching of Christ Jesus and the scriptural position practiced by the Presbyterian Church of Australia and by me. This conflict of views has practical consequences in relation to your upcoming wedding. If I remember correctly and believe me, as someone who was raised in a very religious household, I do Jesus said as much about same-sex weddings as He did about abortions or whether His Dad wants you to drink that miracle water that creepy Peter Popoff sells at 2 AM on cable. That is to say, nothing. There were no teachings of Christ Jesus on gay marriage. So really the operative part of North s statement is that whole thing at the end where he says and by me. The bride was having none of it. The couple has decided to leave their long-time church, and they did so with a statement of their own: We feel this decision is absolutely disgraceful and is a disgrace to you and all the church, especially when we have been loyal and valued members of this congregation for 10 years. You were made aware from the beginning of our proceedings that we had gay friends and also that people in our wedding party were gay. How could you assume that we would abandon them or degrade them with regards to same-sex marriage? Rather than acquiesce to the thought police of her bigoted church, this couple has faith that they re doing the right thing.Featured image via Scott Barbour/Getty Images | 1 |
There is nothing about Obama s executive order gun grab. Barack Hussein Obama has an agenda that, for some reason, no one in America seems to be able to stop. From the video showing fake tears flowing from Obama s left eye, to every false word uttered from his mouth, it is clear he will stop at nothing to fundamentally change America, just as he promised the American voter when he campaigned back in 2007. The White House released a fact-sheet Jan. 4 which previews the executive gun control Obama will unveil Tuesday and one aspect of the new controls is the inclusion of information from the Social Security Administration in the background check system about beneficiaries who are prohibited from possessing a firearm. On July 18 Breitbart News reported on Obama s push to ban gun-possession for Social Security beneficiaries who are believed incapable of handling their own finances.At that same time, the Los Angeles Times reported that a ban was being put together outside of public view, so all the details were not known. But the Times did know that the ban would cover those who are unable to manage their own affairs for a multitude of reasons from subnormal intelligence or mental illness to incompetency, an unspecified condition, or disease. The ban pertaining to Social Security beneficiaries is now tucked into the mental health aspects of Obama s executive gun control.According to the White House executive order preview:Current law prohibits individuals from buying a gun if, because of a mental health issue, they are either a danger to themselves or others or are unable to manage their own affairs. The Social Security Administration (SSA) has indicated that it will begin the rulemaking process to ensure that appropriate information in its records is reported to NICS. The reporting that SSA, in consultation with the Department of Justice, is expected to require will cover appropriate records of the approximately 75,000 people each year who have a documented mental health issue, receive disability benefits, and are unable to manage those benefits because of their mental impairment, or who have been found by a state or federal court to be legally incompetent. The rulemaking will also provide a mechanism for people to seek relief from the federal prohibition on possessing a firearm for reasons related to mental health.Again, the push for a ban on gun possession for certain Social Security beneficiaries was already in the works during the summer, but it is also incorporated into the mental health aspect of Obama s executive gun control.And this means that information on beneficiaries who meet the criteria of mental impairment demonstrated in part by an inability to manage their own benefits will be added to the National Instant Criminal Background System (NICS) so that the beneficiaries cannot buy a gun. Via: Breitbart News | 1 |
ANKARA/BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Thousands of homeless Iranians huddled against the cold late on Monday, a day after at least 450 people were killed in Iran s deadliest earthquake in more than a decade, state TV said. Rescue teams kept up search operations for dozens trapped beneath the rubble of collapsed houses in towns and villages in the mountainous area of the western province of Kermanshah that borders Iraq. Iran s English-language Press TV said more than 450 people were killed and 7,000 were injured when the magnitude 7.3 earthquake jolted the country on Sunday. Local officials expected the death toll to climb as search and rescue teams reached remote areas of Iran. The quake was felt in several provinces of Iran but the hardest hit province was Kermanshah. More than 300 of the victims were in Sarpol-e Zahab county in that province, about 15 km (10 miles) from the Iraq border. Iranian state television said the quake had caused heavy damage in some villages where houses were made of earthen bricks. The quake also triggered landslides that hindered rescue efforts, officials told state television. At least 14 provinces in Iran had been affected, Iranian media reported. Iranian media reported that a woman and her baby were pulled out alive from the rubble on Monday in Sarpol-e Zahab, the worst hit area with a population of 85,000. Relief workers said while much aid had been pledged, there was an immediate need for blankets, children s clothes, medicine and large cans to store drinking water. TV aired footage of some people weeping next to corpses shrouded in blankets. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei offered his condolences on Monday, urging all government agencies to do all they could to help those affected. State TV appealed for blood donations. The government announced one day mourning on Tuesday. Tempers frayed in the quake-hit area as the search went on for survivors amidst the twisted rubble of collapsed buildings. State TV aired footage of damaged buildings, vehicles under rubble and wounded people wrapped in blankets. We need a shelter, a middle-aged man in Sarpol-e Zahab told state TV. Where is the aid? Where is the help? His family could not spend another night outside in cold weather, he said. An Iraqi meteorology official put the quake s magnitude at 6.5, with the epicenter in Penjwin in Iraq s Sulaimaniyah province in the Kurdistan region, close to the main border crossing with Iran. Kurdish health officials said at least six people were killed in Iraq and at least 68 injured, adding that in northern Iraq Kurdish districts seven were killed and 325 wounded. Iraq s health and local officials said the worst-hit area was Darbandikham district, near the border with Iran, where at least 10 houses had collapsed and the district s only hospital was severely damaged. The situation there is very critical, Kurdish Health Minister Rekawt Hama Rasheed told Reuters. The district s main hospital was damaged and had no power, Rasheed said, so the injured were taken to Sulaimaniyah for treatment. Homes and buildings had extensive structural damage, he said. The quake was felt as far south as Baghdad, where many residents rushed from their houses and tall buildings when tremors shook the Iraqi capital. I was sitting with my kids having dinner and suddenly the building was just dancing in the air, said Majida Ameer. who ran out of her building with her three children. I thought at first that it was a huge bomb. But then I heard everyone around me screaming: Earthquake! An Iranian local official told state TV that some villages were totally destroyed. I lost nine members of my family ... they were killed while they slept, a weeping middle-aged woman told state TV. Local officials said hundreds of critically wounded people had been transferred to other provinces as Kermanshah s main hospital had been badly damaged. Iran sits astride major fault lines and is prone to frequent tremors. A magnitude 6.6 quake on Dec. 26, 2003, devastated the historic city of Bam, 1,000 km southeast of Tehran, killing about 31,000 people. Electricity and water was cut off in several Iranian and Iraqi cities, and fears of aftershocks sent thousands of people in both countries out onto the streets and parks in cold weather. Across the area, rescue workers and special teams using sniffer dogs and heat sensors searched wreckage. Blocked roads made it hard for rescue workers to reach some remote villages. Iranian authorities acknowledged the relief effort was still slow and patchy. More than 70,000 people needed emergency shelter, the head of Iranian Red Crescent said. Hojjat Gharibian, one of hundreds of homeless Iranian survivors, was huddled against the cold with his family in Qasr-e Shirin. My two children were sleeping when the house started to collapse because of the quake. I took them and ran to the street. We spent hours in the street until aid workers moved us into a school building, Gharibian told Reuters by telephone. Iran s police, Revolutionary Guards and Basij militia forces were sent to quake-hit areas overnight, state TV reported. Aid workers handed out water to people, while bulldozers worked to clear the streets in damaged areas. A local official said aftershocks slowed down erecting tents for homeless people but electricity had been restored in most of the quake-hit areas. The main problem is sheltering people at this cold weather. We need more tents, Qasr-e Shririn governor Faramarz Akbari told TV. | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said he was actively considering breaking up big banks, Bloomberg Television reported on Monday. Trump’s comments could give a push to efforts to revive the Depression-era Glass-Steagall law that separated commercial lending from investment banking. Reviving such a law would require an act by Congress. “I’m looking at that right now,” Trump said on Monday in an interview with Bloomberg News in the Oval Office. “There’s some people that want to go back to the old system, right? So we’re going to look at that.” While campaigning for president, Trump had expressed support on the campaign trail for a “21st-century Glass-Steagall.” White House spokesman Sean Spicer told a news briefing that Trump had expressed interest in the issue and had been briefed on it by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin but was not ready to discuss it publicly. “We’re not at a point where we’re ready to roll out details of that yet,” Spicer said. “He is actively looking at options and considering things.” One of Trump’s top economic advisers, Gary Cohn, director of the National Economic Council, reiterated Trump’s support for the concept during a private meeting with lawmakers on April 6, a White House spokesperson told Reuters. U.S. stocks sharply pared gains on Monday after Trump’s comments and the S&P 500 bank index dropped nearly 1 percent before rebounding. | 0 |
ORLANDO, Fla. (Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s campaign team is to meet officials from the Republican National Committee on Friday in what both groups described as a routine session to discuss joint operations in Florida. Trump, who is lagging Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in opinion polls, was not expected to attend the Orlando gathering after staging a rally near there on Thursday. He is to hold separate events on Friday in Erie and Altoona, Pennsylvania. The New York businessman is struggling to get past a rough several days, when he suggested gun rights activists could take action against Clinton, a statement he later said was aimed at rallying votes against her. In recent weeks, a steady stream of moderate Republicans, such as U.S. Senator Susan Collins of Maine, have vowed not to support Trump, while 50 Republican national security experts signed a letter opposing him. Many Republicans not only worry about failing to win the White House, but also are alarmed that their majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives could be at risk. Trump has blamed the U.S. news media for taking many of his comments out of context, and on Thursday night, some of his supporters heckled and cursed reporters who covered the rally in a large arena in Kissimmee. On Friday, Trump passed off as sarcasm the assertion he made repeatedly this week that President Barack Obama and Clinton were “co-founders” of Islamic State and its Most Valuable Players. “Ratings challenged @CNN reports so seriously that I call President Obama (and Clinton) ‘the founder’ of ISIS, & MVP. THEY DON’T GET SARCASM?” Trump said in a tweet. It was the second time in recent weeks that Trump has explained a controversial statement as sarcastic. In late July, he invited Russia to dig up tens of thousands of “missing” emails from Clinton’s time as U.S. secretary of state, which raised concerns among intelligence experts that he was urging a foreign government to spy on Americans. He said later he was being sarcastic. | 0 |
In the days following the massacre at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Donald Trump has tried to claim that he is a better ally to LGBT Americans than Hillary Clinton. Trump said: Hillary Clinton can never claim to be a friend of the gay community as long as she continues to support immigration policies that bring Islamic extremists into our country and who suppress women, gays and anyone else who doesn t share their views or values. But a few months ago, Trump posed for a photo alongside Robert Jeffress, a right-wing pastor who is notorious for being anti-LGBT. In the photo, tweeted by Trump, the two men stand next to each other with their thumbs up.Honored to pray for my friend, @realDonaldTrump, at tonight's Dallas rally. #TrumpDallas c: @DanScavino pic.twitter.com/BcgWuszPnu Dr. Robert Jeffress (@robertjeffress) June 17, 2016Robert Jeffress, a pastor from Dallas known for his anti-LGBT sentiment, shared a photo in which he posed with Trump at the candidate s rally at Gilley s, the city s famous honky-tonk. Honored to pray for my friend, @realDonaldTrump, at tonight s Dallas rally, Jeffress tweeted, along with a photo in which they both held their thumbs up. Trump retweeted the image on Friday.Jeffress has pushed rhetoric on gay people eerily similar to that espoused by extremist groups like ISIS.The First Baptist Church pastor in February 2015 was quoted as saying the gay rights movement will pave the way for that future world dictator, the Antichrist, to persecute and martyr Christians without any repercussions whatsoever. Jeffress last month celebrated his state s leaders decision to refuse to comply with President Barack Obama s directive to create more accessibility for transgender students in public schools, saying it s time for an all-out rebellion against this absolute tyranny of the Obama administration. In reality, anti-LGBT rhetoric has been the norm within Republican politics. All the leading candidates for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination were connected to the anti-LGBT movement, most blatantly Senator Ted Cruz, but the practice spread to the entire party.While Democrats dragged their feet to become completely in favor of LGBT equality, the party is also the first to nominate a presidential candidate President Obama who supported same-sex marriage. By contrast, the notion of repealing the right to same-sex marriage is still popular within the Republican party.Featured image Joe Raedle/Getty Images | 1 |
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States urged the Myanmar government on Monday to end military operations in Rakhine state, grant humanitarian access, and commit to aiding the safe return of civilians to their homes, said U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley. People are still at risk of being attacked or killed, humanitarian aid is not reaching the people who need it, and innocent civilians are still fleeing across the border to Bangladesh, Haley said in a statement. Haley s remarks came after she attended a ministerial meeting hosted by British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson on Myanmar on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. | 0 |
Donald Trump s pathetic effort to reach out to black voters got even more disgusting on Saturday, and social media took him to the woodshed for it.On Friday, 32-year-old Nykea Aldridge was killed in Chicago after two gunmen opened fire on another man. She was an innocent bystander who was simply picking up her kids from school.She s also the cousin of Chicago Bulls star Dwyane Wade, who has spoken out repeatedly against gun violence.Wade announced his cousin s death via Twitter, expressing his grief and once again condemning the gun violence that has plagued the city.My cousin was killed today in Chicago. Another act of senseless gun violence. 4 kids lost their mom for NO REASON. Unreal. #EnoughIsEnough DWade (@DwyaneWade) August 27, 2016Wade s mother, a pastor, spoke at the hospital where her niece died. Just sat up on a panel yesterday, The Undefeated, talking about the violence that s going on within our city of Chicago, never knowing that the next day we would be the ones that would be actually living and experiencing it, she said. We re still going to try and help these people to transform their minds and give them a different direction, so this thing won t keep happening. Supporters of Donald Trump, however, used the sad incident as a reason to pander for Wade s support. @DwyaneWade vote for trump MADAME (@MagicRoyalty) August 27, 2016And the Republican nominee used the tragedy to pander to black voters on Saturday in a desperate move to fix his imploding poll numbers.Dwayne Wade s cousin was just shot and killed walking her baby in Chicago. Just what I have been saying. African-Americans will VOTE TRUMP! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 27, 2016Trump literally used this tragedy to declare that black people will vote for him even though he has not specified how he will prevent these shootings from continuing. Wade and his family have not even had time to mourn their loss and Trump is already politicizing it for personal gain.This is about as sick as politics gets, and to add insult to injury, Trump couldn t even be bothered to spell Wade s first name correctly.And as usual, Twitter was quick to jump all over Trump for his insensitivity and lack of human compassion. That s an honest question, @realDonaldTrump: what is wrong with you? You say Clinton just sees black people as votes. What did you just do? Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) August 27, 2016Also, @realDonaldTrump, will you be citing all black murders going forward as reasons to vote Trump? Or just those related to famous people? Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) August 27, 2016 @realDonaldTrump You are disgusting. Vic Berger IV (@VicBergerIV) August 27, 2016.@realDonaldTrump I m sure you are all Dwayne Wade s family can even think about right now!! Lauren Duca (@laurenduca) August 27, 2016 @realDonaldTrump delete your account. Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) August 27, 2016.@realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/v5epogIuqY Netflix and Bill (@PimpBillClinton) August 27, 2016 @realDonaldTrump rolls out The Trump Condolence Card Collection Julie Silver (@JulieAnnSilver) August 27, 2016@realDenaldTrump @realDonaldTrump This is beyond politics. A young woman died and a child lost his mother. Trump is sick and disgusting. Judith Raquel (@GWGMJ30) August 27, 2016 @realDonaldTrump you are so insensitive. Using the tragic death of a mother of four to draw attention to your campaign . chuck swirsky (@ctsbulls) August 27, 2016@realDonaldTrump A family s tragedy is not a political opportunity. Fuck you. HarleyPeyton (@HarleyPeyton) August 27, 2016Trump even took the original tweet down and posted it AGAIN, this time spelling Wade s name correctly but changing nothing else. But Twitter continued ripping him a new one. @realDonaldTrump Not even a thought and a prayer this time? Sahil Lavingia (@shl) August 27, 2016@realDonaldTrump please stop. Andy Cole (@AndyCole84) August 27, 2016 I m actually humiliated *for* you is there a word for that? @realDonaldTrump csd (@csd) August 27, 2016@realDonaldTrump what does someone getting killed have to do with a certain skin tone voting for you ? [*L_*]Reign iN ? (@MightBeReign) August 27, 2016 @realDonaldTrump You don t realize misspelling his name wasn t the offensive part of that tweet. I m starting to pity you. (@MornMoor) August 27, 2016@realDonaldTrump You re not just tone deaf, you re a self-satisfied orange-faced humanity vacuum. Andrew W Chamings (@AndrewChamings) August 27, 2016Seriously, Republicans should be hanging their heads in shame right now. This is unforgivable and should make Trump totally unelectable.Featured image via Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images | 1 |
CAIRO (Reuters) - Arab foreign ministers on Sunday urged the United States to abandon its decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel s capital, saying the move would increase violence throughout the region. The announcement by President Donald Trump on Wednesday was a dangerous violation of international law and had no legal impact, the Arab League said in a statement after several hours of meetings attended by all its members in Cairo. | 0 |
If someone were to ask regular people on the street how they would wake up a sleeping person, they would probably shake them or possibly yell, Wake up! Normal stuff, right? However, there is nothing normal about your average Second Amendment enthusiast.A man in Chandler, Arizona has been arrested after he allegedly lied to police about fatally shooting an intruder on New Year s Eve.It seems like it was your average night. Young people were having a get-together of some kind on New Year s Eve. We have all been to one of these and there is always that one person that falls asleep early. This seems to be exactly what happened in this case.Gage Bodenheimer was at his friend Nathaniel Thomas apartment. While there, Gage fell asleep on the floor. Not a huge surprise so far, because it gets late and not everyone is a night owl. It was supposed to be a nice night with friends but someone invited the Second Amendment and he ruined the party.While Gage was sleeping on the floor, his friend Nathaniel decided he should be awake. Instead of nudging him or speaking loudly, Nathaniel decided to point a gun at his friend and pull the trigger in an effort to make repeated trigger clicks to awaken Gage.Moments later, Gage was dead as Nathaniel thinking the gun was unloaded ended up blowing his friend away with the obviously loaded gun.Nathaniel must have heard from the NRA that he was not responsible for his own firearm irresponsibility because he called 911 and reported that he shot an intruder in his home. There were a couple problems with that. One is that the cops could tell immediately that something was amiss due to the nature of the scene. Second, there were witnesses there in the apartment the whole time. All the police had to do, even if they were so inept at investigating the scene, was to ask any person present what happened.The whole affair was infinitely dumb on Nathaniel s part. Then again, your average person who uses a gun as an alarm clock is not the brightest bulb in the chandelier.Nathaniel was promptly arrested after witnesses informed the police of what happened.Featured image via Photobucket | 1 |
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain s Prince Charles will tour southeast Asia and India later this month, but the heir to the throne will not visit Myanmar, after a spate of violence and allegations that authorities are carrying out ethnic cleansing. Media reports last month said an official visit to Myanmar was being suggested for the trip, which the prince is undertaking on behalf of the British government, and aides acknowledged it had been considered as part of the schedule. But it was omitted from the final program issued on Wednesday. Charles and his wife Camilla will travel to Singapore, Malaysia and then to India where he will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We looked at a range of options in the region and, as we re announcing today, we re going ahead with the visit to Singapore and Malaysia, Philip Malone, Deputy Head of Department at Britain s Foreign and Commonwealth Office, told reporters. Malone and royal aides declined to elaborate. More than 500,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh in the past month since insurgents attacked security posts near the border, triggering fierce military retaliation that the United Nations has branded ethnic cleansing. Last month Britain suspended its training program for the military in Myanmar because of the violence, and diplomatic relations have deteriorated. Rights campaigners had argued against a royal visit. To have someone of Prince Charles s stature go to visit the country would be seen as a reward, and giving legitimacy to the government and the military that are currently violating international law, said Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK. Charles and Camilla will begin their tour in Singapore on Oct. 31 before going to Malaysia, where they will celebrate 60 years of diplomatic ties since the former British colony became independent, before concluding the 11-day tour in India. | 0 |
It s not just Canada that Donald Trump seems to be starting unnecessary battles with today, Mexico has responded to his continued persistence of the border wall.In fact, Mexico is now considering Trump s insistence of the wall, and the lie that Mexico will pay for it, a hostile act.According to Reuters Politics: JUST IN: Mexican foreign minister says Mexico considers construction of border wall a hostile act, will not contribute in any way JUST IN: Mexican foreign minister says Mexico considers construction of border wall a 'hostile' act, will not contribute in any way Reuters Politics (@ReutersPolitics) April 25, 2017This comes shortly after Trump recommitted his efforts to build the wall.According to the New York Times: President Trump insisted on Tuesday that he remained committed to his hotly disputed plan to build a wall along the Mexican border, despite backing off a demand that the project be funded in a short-term spending measure that must be passed by Friday to avoid a government shutdown. Trump has also tweeted this over the past few days:Eventually, but at a later date so we can get started early, Mexico will be paying, in some form, for the badly needed border wall. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 23, 2017The Wall is a very important tool in stopping drugs from pouring into our country and poisoning our youth (and many others)! If Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 24, 2017 .the wall is not built, which it will be, the drug situation will NEVER be fixed the way it should be!#BuildTheWall Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 24, 2017Don't let the fake media tell you that I have changed my position on the WALL. It will get built and help stop drugs, human trafficking etc. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 25, 2017With Trump clearly not backing down off his inflammatory rhetoric surrounding the border wall, it has left Mexico needing to respond. The fact that they are calling Trump hostile isn t only terrible, but dangerous. They seem to be seeing Trump as a foe rather than a trusted ally.Trump s isolationist actions aren t only harmful to the United States and our closest allies, but to geopolitics as a whole.Featured Photo via Getty Images | 1 |
For the first four years of Barack Obama s presidency I chided him for being too nice to the Stupid Part of America. As they spread ridiculous conspiracy theories about him that he s really from Kenya, that he once worked as a gay prostitute to support his cocaine habit, that he s secretly a shapeshifting lizard person, and, yes, that he is coming for every single gun any day now the President opted to sit back and absorb the attacks as he focused on more important issues. Eventually, it seems, he realized that as long as he entertained such monumentally stupid notions without taking a few minutes of his time to obliterate them those who spend their lives spewing such nonsense will not give him the opportunity to focus on what is actually important.Lately, the claws have come out. The President is no longer willing to simply accept the lies spread by the NRA, Fox News, Republican politicians, and other right-wing groups without stepping in to correct the record. Gun shop owner Doug Rhude is a product of the misinformation throws around by the Right. During a Q+A session following PBS News Hour, we were treated to the perfect example of what happens when misinformation, lies, and bigotry are allowed to bounce around a bubble for the better part of a decade:Knowing that we apply common sense to other issues in our society, specifically like holding irresponsible people accountable for their actions when they drink and drive and kill somebody, and we do that without restricting control of cars and cells phones to the rest of us, the good guys, why then do you and Hillary want to control and restrict and limit gun manufacturers, gun owners and responsible use of guns and ammunition to the rest of us, the good guys, instead of holding the bad guys accountable for their actions?As is customary, Rhude used Chicago as his go-to example of something, demanding to know why thugs (the go-to conservative replacement word for n*ggers ) in the city are hell-bent on murdering each other. After taking a moment to process the almost off-the-scale stupidity contained in Rhude s statement/question, Obama politely yet brutally hit him with a massive truth bomb:First of all, the notion that I or Hillary or Democrats or whoever you want to choose are hell-bent on taking away folks guns is just not true.And I don t care how many times the NRA says it. I m about to leave office. There have been more guns sold since I have been president than just about any time in U.S. history. There are enough guns for every man, woman and child in this country.And at no point have I ever, ever proposed confiscating guns from responsible gun owners. So it s just not true. What I have said is precisely what you suggested, which is, why don t we treat this like every other thing that we use? Obama continued, pointing to another favorite right-wing go-to topic: auto fatality rates. Previously, conservatives were able to mindlessly point out that more people are killed by cars than guns. Unfortunately for them and fortunately for the rest of us, regulations and laws have decreased the automobile fatality rate to beneath the level of gun violence. The auto fatality rate has actually dropped precipitously, drastically, since I was a kid, Obama said, asking rhetorically what is the cause of that. The President informed Rhude that thanks to numerous regulations, lots of studies, and a strong and continuing effort we have been able to reduce the number of people who die in cars. No one took everyone s cars away we simply arrived at the common sense decision to actually deal with the problem. We are not allowed to do any of that when it comes to guns because if you propose anything, it is suggested that we re trying to take away gun rights and impose martial law, Obama pointed out, adding that we can t so much as study gun violence because Republicans in Congress have actually passed laws preventing this public health issue from being researched. The notion is that by studying it the same way we do with traffic accidents somehow it s going to lead to everyone s guns being confiscated, Obama pointed out. I just came from a meeting today in the Situation Room in which I got people who we know have been on ISIL Web sites, living here in the United States, U.S. citizens, and we re allowed to put them on the no-fly list when it comes to airlines, but because of the National Rifle Association, I cannot prohibit those people from buying a gun, the President told Rhude. This is somebody who is a known ISIL sympathizer. And if he wants to walk in to a gun store or a gun show right now and buy as much as many weapons and ammo as he can, nothing s prohibiting him from doing that, even though the FBI knows who that person is. Then he dropped the hammer:So, sir, I just have to say, respectfully, that there is a way for us to have commonsense gun laws. There is a way for us to make sure that lawful, responsible gun owners like yourself are able to use them for sporting, hunting, protecting yourself, but the only way we re going to do that is if we don t have a situation in which anything that is proposed is viewed as some tyrannical destruction of the Second Amendment. And that s how the issue too often gets framed.While it is unlikely that Rhude, or any other right-wingers who heard the President s words, learned a single thing, one thing is for certain: It s nice to see Barack Obama standing up for himself.Watch it yourself below: Featured image via video screen captures | 1 |
LONDON (Reuters) - A public inquiry into a fire that killed at least 80 people at London s Grenfell Tower will get to the truth about the tragedy, its chairman pledged on Thursday, but critics said survivors of the blaze were still being failed. The 24-storey social housing block, home to a poor, multi-ethnic community, was gutted on June 14 in an inferno that started in a fourth-floor apartment in the middle of the night and quickly engulfed the building. Grenfell Tower was part of a deprived housing estate in Kensington and Chelsea, one of the richest boroughs in London, and the disaster has prompted a national debate about social inequality and government neglect of poor communities. The inquiry started with a minute s silence to honor the victims, whose exact number remains unknown because of the devastation inside the tower. (The inquiry) can and will provide answers to the pressing questions of how a disaster of this kind could occur in 21st century London, its chairman, retired judge Martin Moore-Bick, said in his opening statement. He said the inquiry was not there to punish anyone or to award compensation, but to get to the truth. A separate police investigation is underway, which could result in manslaughter charges. There have been no arrests. The inquiry will examine the cause and spread of the fire, the design, construction and refurbishment of the tower, whether fire regulations relating to high-rise buildings are adequate and whether they were complied with. It will also look at the actions of the authorities before and after the tragedy. But critics warned of a disconnect between the technical, legalistic inquiry process and the ongoing ordeal of traumatized former Grenfell Tower residents still awaiting new homes. Prime Minister Theresa May pledged that all families whose homes were destroyed in the fire would be rehoused within three weeks, but three months later most still live in hotels. Just three out of 197 households that needed rehousing have moved into permanent homes, while 29 have moved into temporary accommodation. We lost everything. It s difficult for the other people to be in our shoes, Miguel Alves, who escaped his 13th-floor apartment in Grenfell Tower with his family, told the BBC. Now I m without anything, I m in the hotel, I have to cope with my family. My daughter, she just started school. They need some stability and that I cannot give to my family, he said. Emma Dent Coad, a member of parliament from the opposition Labour Party who represents the area, said the inquiry s remit was too narrow and would fail to address the blaze s deeper causes such as failings in social housing policies. She also criticized the choice of venue for Moore-Bick s opening statement, a lavishly decorated room in central London. We were sitting in a ballroom dripping with chandeliers. I think it was the most incredibly inappropriate place to have something like that, and actually says it all about the us-and-them divide that people see, she told the BBC. Many of those affected have also expressed disquiet about the fact that Moore-Bick and the other lawyers appointed to run the inquiry are all white and part of a perceived establishment far removed from their own circumstances. The experience of many residents of that tower is that they were ignored because of their immigration status, lawyer Jolyon Maugham, who is advising some residents, told the BBC. We need someone on the inquiry team that can speak to that experience and at the moment on the panel we have a bunch of white privileged barristers, he said. One of the difficulties facing the inquiry is that it needs former residents to give evidence but some fear possible deportation. The government has said it would grant a 12-month amnesty to anyone affected by the fire who was in Britain illegally. Supporters say only permanent residency rights will persuade people to come forward. | 0 |
Here s how Bill is paying back years of loyalty by his enabling wife Hillary, who made it possible for him to sexually assault an untold number of women. With Bill s magnanimous personality and Hillary s less than likable aura and fingernails on a blackboard orator skills, Bill has had her right where any strong and capable woman wouldn t have allowed herself to be in his back pocket. Hillary has allowed herself to be portrayed in the media as a victim and a loyal wife to her impeached husband. The truth is, Hillary needed (and still needs) Bill more than he ever needed her. It s precisely because of Hillary that Bill was able to prey on so many women and keep them quite afterwards. According to several sources, Hillary worked behind the scenes, threatening to do harm to any woman who would dare to come forward and expose her perverted husband for fear of destroying her insatiable desire for a powerful position in politics.During an Oct, 2014 interview, former advisor to President Bill Clinton, Dick Morris said it was then-first lady Hillary Clinton s Nixonian attempt to attack the woman Bill Clinton victimized and sexually harassed by hiring detectives to dig for dirt in their lives Hillary could use against them to smear their character. Dick Morris said he believes Bill was a very good president but he left because he said, What really turned me off was what I call secret police. When she [Hillary] hired this fleet of detectives to go around examining all of the woman who had been identified with Clinton. Not for the purpose of divorcing Clinton. Not for the purpose of getting him to stop but for the purpose of developing blackmail material on these woman to cow them into silence that had a Nixonian quality that I hold against her and I continue to. Via: Breitbart NewsWATCH HERE: | 1 |
BOZEMAN, Mont. (Reuters) - Republican Greg Gianforte defeated a political novice to win Montana’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday, barely 24 hours after he was charged with assaulting a reporter who asked him about the Republican healthcare bill. A race that was expected to be a test of President Donald Trump’s political influence ahead of next year’s U.S. congressional elections was jolted by the charge against Gianforte, a wealthy technology executive who had urged voters to send him to Congress to help Trump. Speaking to cheering supporters in Bozeman after his win, Gianforte apologized for the incident and said he was not proud of his actions. “I should not have responded the way I did, and for that I’m sorry,” Gianforte said. “I should not have treated that reporter that way.” Gianforte beat Democrat Rob Quist, a banjo player and first-time candidate who had focused his campaign on criticism of the Republican effort to repeal and replace former President Barack Obama’s healthcare law. CNN projected Gianforte would win. With 96 percent of the vote counted, he led Quist by 51 percent to 43 percent. Gianforte prevailed despite being charged on Wednesday night with misdemeanor assault on Ben Jacobs, a political correspondent for the U.S. edition of the Guardian newspaper, who said the candidate “body-slammed” him during a campaign event in Bozeman. Gianforte’s victory is a boost for Republicans, who are worried Trump’s political stumbles and the unpopularity of the healthcare bill passed by the House will hurt their chances of holding on to a 24-seat House majority in next year’s elections. But the relatively close margin of the race in Republican-leaning Montana was encouraging to Democrats, who are already focused on next month’s hotly contested special House election in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia. Gianforte had been favored to win in Montana, where Republicans have held the lone House seat for two decades and where Trump won by more than 20 percentage points in the 2016 presidential election. The race had grown closer in the last week, however, as Quist focused on criticism of the House healthcare bill. Quist, wearing his signature cowboy hat, told supporters in Missoula, Montana, that the grassroots energy of his campaign would continue. “I know that Montanans will hold Mr Gianforte accountable,” Quist said. It was unclear if Gianforte’s assault had an impact on the vote. More than a third of the state’s registered voters had already submitted ballots before it happened, state election officials said, and some Gianforte supporters shrugged off the charges or said they did not believe published accounts. “I feel like, it’s all just propaganda, you know what I mean, it’s hard for me to believe anything the media tells me,” said Nathaniel Trumper, who cast a vote for Gianforte at a polling station in Helena. The assault occurred as Jacobs tried to ask Gianforte about healthcare, according to an audio tape. Fox News Channel reporter Alicia Acuna, who was preparing to interview Gianforte, said the candidate “grabbed Jacobs by the neck with both hands and slammed him to the ground.” Afterward, three state newspapers rescinded their endorsements of Gianforte. Some Republican lawmakers, including House Speaker Paul Ryan, suggested he apologize. Gianforte specifically addressed his apology to Jacobs. “Last night I made a mistake,” he said, adding: “I’m sorry, Mr Ben Jacobs.” Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel called Gianforte’s apology “a good first step toward redemption” and said she hoped he “continues to work toward righting his wrong.” Gianforte will take the House seat vacated when Trump named Ryan Zinke as secretary of the interior. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence recorded robocalls to voters on Gianforte’s behalf, and Republican groups poured millions into ads criticizing Quist for property tax liens and unpaid debts, which Quist said stemmed from a botched gallbladder surgery. Quist, who raised more than $6 million for his upstart bid, said the experience gave him insight into the economic struggles some people face. He campaigned last weekend with U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who won the state’s 2016 Democratic presidential primary against Hillary Clinton. Gianforte could face additional, more serious charges once prosecutors review the evidence, Gallatin County Attorney Marty Lambert told Reuters. Gianforte has two weeks to enter a plea to the misdemeanor citation issued by the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office, according to Lambert, who said he would likely review the case before then to decide whether it should be treated as a felony offense, which would supersede the current charge. “There’s always the possibility that when we get the case and the details, that we might look differently at the charging decision,” Lambert said. | 0 |
ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - At least one person died and 50 were wounded after a major earthquake struck large parts of Iraq on Sunday, according to local officials. Health officials said most of the wounded were in Darbandikhan, 75 kilometres (47 miles) east of the major city of Sulaimaniyah in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region. The earthquake struck along the border with Iran. | 0 |
The following statements were posted to the verified Twitter accounts of U.S. President Donald Trump, @realDonaldTrump and @POTUS. The opinions expressed are his own. Reuters has not edited the statements or confirmed their accuracy. @realDonaldTrump : - @foxandfriends, we are in record territory in all things having to do with our economy! [0632 EST] - Great, and we should boycott Fake News CNN. Dealing with them is a total waste of time! [0649 EST] - Looks like another great day for the Stock Market. Consumer Confidence is at Record High. I guess somebody likes me (my policies)! [0703 EST] - Wow, Matt Lauer was just fired from NBC for “inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace.” But when will the top executives at NBC & Comcast be fired for putting out so much Fake News. Check out Andy Lack’s past! [0716 EST] - So now that Matt Lauer is gone when will the Fake News practitioners at NBC be terminating the contract of Phil Griffin? And will they terminate low ratings Joe Scarborough based on the “unsolved mystery” that took place in Florida years ago? Investigate! [0914 EST] - Just spoke to President XI JINPING of China concerning the provocative actions of North Korea. Additional major sanctions will be imposed on North Korea today. This situation will be handled! [0940 EST] - Economy growing! Excluding hurricane effects, CEA estimates that real GDP growth would have been 3.9% in Q3. Stock market at a new high, unemployment at a low. We are winning and TAX CUTS will shift our economy into high gear! [0949 EST] - Departing @JBA_NAFW for St. Charles, Missouri to help push our plan for HISTORIC TAX CUTS across the finish line. A successful vote in the Senate this week will bring us one giant step closer to delivering an incredible victory for the American people! (link: instagram.com/p/BcFs_kXgTG5/) [1334 EST] -- Source link: (bit.ly/2jBh4LU) (bit.ly/2jpEXYR) | 0 |
This is mob rule AGAIN! The best part of this video is when Mayor Mike Signer says that s not the rules He must not have been watching the news lately. The rules don t apply to these kooks.This is like a bunch of toddlers who are warned over and over to stop misbehaving. Is this what America wants? We hope people on all sides see how horrible this is!It s hard to feel sorry for the mayor and city council when they supported this mayhem. The real culprit in all this is their governor. Perhaps they should go visit him to ask questions about what he did to turn the rally/ protest into a violent riot.OUR LATEST ON THE VIRGINIA GOVERNOR: Why did the Democrat VA Governor throw gasoline on the fire after violent protests broke out in Charlottesville? Why did the radical Democrat governor of Virginia LIE about weapons being stashed around the city of Charlottesville prior to the march? Was he just doing his part as a prominent member of the Democrat Party to help create more racial division in America? Why did he lie about Virginia police officers being underprepared for the violence and chaos that took place, when police officers claim they were completely prepared? Was he trying to shine a negative light on the police force assigned to Charlottesville, as part of the Democrat Party s ongoing plan to undermine the credibility of our law enforcement?Last week, Virginia police officers were speaking out, and setting the record straight. They were not about to remain silent while their governor made up stories to boost his party s race dividing, cop-hating narrative.Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas is not just sitting around and wondering how the Clinton bestie was able to get away with lying about what happened in Charlottesville, while the media ignored Governor McAuliffe s part in inciting violence.Sunday on Fox News Channel s Fox & Friends Weekend, Gohmert called for a Department of Justice investigation of Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D-VA) and Charlottesville, VA Mayor Michael Signer for possibly facilitating the violence that took place in Charlottesville earlier this month.Gohmert said, The way forward s not gonna be easy. And I think the Justice Department needs a full investigation of the governor, of the mayor. They said in court there would be violence at Charlottesville, and then the witnesses and the photographs show they herded these groups to create violence so they could brag. We need a Justice Department investigation into Kessler. You don t just go all of a sudden from having multiracial roommates and a Jewish girlfriend to all of a sudden being a white supremacist that wants to join the Republican party. There s something very, very wrong in all of this. He added, Like they were the violence at Trump events, they may have been behind this violence getting started. They facilitated it, anyway. -Breitbart | 1 |
If Clinton and Lynch just talked about grandkids then why is this such a top secret transcript? This is troubling because it portends to what we ve known all along Bill Clinton was meeting with Lynch to fight Hillary s battle. They won t reveal it because it would implicate so many people in government Are we right?A citizen researcher from Florida is attempting to have the recording of the infamous Bill Clinton/Loretta Lynch tarmac tape released to the public, but apparently, the National Security Agency claims they won t release it due to national security. The man researching and seeking to have the tape released is Florida orthodontist Larry Kawa. You may remember him because of Judicial Watch s filing of a lawsuit on his behalf to obtain a week s worth of Hillary Clinton s emails regarding Benghazi.It s being reported now that the NSA has declared the recording of the conversation that took place between Bill Clinton and Loretta Lynch in Phoenix, Arizona on June 27, 2016.Judicial Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act request in March of this year to obtain the following:Any and all records and/or transcripts of a meeting held between Attorney General Loretta lynch and former President Bill Clinton on June 28, 2016.Any and all records of communication sent to or from officials in the Office of the Attorney General regarding the meeting held between Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former President Bill Clinton on June 28, 2016.Any and all records of communication sent to or from officials in the Office of the Deputy Attorney General regarding the meeting held between Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former President Bill Clinton on June 28, 2016.Any and all references to the meeting held between Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former President Bill Clinton contained in day planners, calendars and schedules in the Office of theAttorney General. This brings us to Kawa. In an article at Big League Politics, Patrick Howley writes:The National Security Agency (NSA) blocked the release of a purported tape of Bill Clinton and former Attorney General Loretta Lynch s private airplane talk with a rare legal justification used to protect top national security secrets.The NSA s block of the release of this information citing one of President Obama s executive orders undercuts Hillary Clinton s claim that her husband and Lynch had a purely social conversation about grandkids and golf on June 27, 2016, two weeks before Lynch dropped the Department of Justice investigation into Hillary Clinton s email scandal.Read more: Freedom Outpost | 1 |
BEIJING (Reuters) - Communist Party members should study contemporary capitalism but must never deviate from Marxism, Chinese President Xi Jinping said, offering a clear signal there will be no weakening of party control weeks ahead of a key Congress opening. The party brooks no challenge to its rule, and Xi has overseen a sweeping crackdown on civil society since assuming power almost five years ago, tightening the party s grip over the internet, media and security infrastructure, and locking up rights lawyers and dissidents. Speaking at a study session of the Politburo, one of the party s elite ruling bodies, Xi said that while times are changing and society is developing, the basic tenets of Marxism remain true, state news agency Xinhua said late Friday. If we deviate from or abandon Marxism, our party would lose its soul and direction, Xi said. On the fundamental issue of upholding the guiding role of Marxism, we must maintain unswerving resolve, never wavering at any time or under any circumstances. Xi said the party should better integrate the basic tenets of Marxism with the reality of contemporary China and learn from the achievements of other civilizations to create and develop Marxism , Xinhua said. Xi also asked Party members to study contemporary capitalism, its essence and patterns, the report added, without elaborating. China has transformed its economy since it began landmark reforms in the late 1970s, and is now the world s second-largest economy. Private firms are now supported and encouraged, but the state-owned sector remains a major driver of growth and investment, though some industries like iron and steel are suffering from worryingly high levels of over-capacity. Xi said the party must continuously develop socialism with Chinese characteristics, continuously enhance China s comprehensive national strength and fully demonstrate the advantages of China s socialist system. Next month s party Congress, which opens on Oct. 18, will see Xi further cement his grip on power and usher in a new generation of senior leaders. | 0 |
Assimilation fail A French Muslim has been arrested after trying to drive a car loaded with liquid gas, assault rifles and knives into a crowd at high speed on a busy shopping street in Antwerp. Belgian police, who confirmed more security personnel had been sent to the area, said the car was being driven at high speed and that pedestrians had to jump out of the way to avoid being injured.In the car, authorities said they found knives, a shotgun and a gas can with an unknown liquid and the case has now been taken over by officers who usually deal with extremist attacks. It comes just hours after three people were killed in London by a terrorist who mowed down pedestrians and cyclists outside the House of Commons before stabbing a policeman to death.Belgian police arrested a man named as Mohamed R, 39, on Thursday after he tried to drive into a crowd at high-speed in a shopping area in the port city of Antwerp at around 11am. The suspect, who has not been confirmed as a Muslim but is named after the religion s prophet and is said to be of North African descent, was wearing camouflage when he was arrested. Belgian security forces found a rifle as well as bladed weapons in a car driven by a Frenchman who tried to ram a crowd on Thursday in the port city of Antwerp. Different arms were found in the boot bladed weapons, a riot gun (rifle) and a container of liquid that is still unidentified, the federal prosecutor s office said in a statement.For entire story- Daily Mail | 1 |
Hillary came out with a heavily edited TV ad yesterday, calling Trump s ability to be a role model into question. Here is the video: Really Hillary? You re worried about Trump being a role model? Here are few of Hillary s greatest hits that have been revealed by those closest to her while either acting as our First Lady or in some capacity as a public servant . ***STRONG LANGUAGE WARNING****1) Where is the God damn flag? I want the God damn fucking flag up every morning at fucking sunrise . Hillary to staff at the Arkansas Governor s mansion on Labor Day 1991. From the book Inside the White House by Ronald Kessler, p. 244(2) Fuck off! It s enough I have to see you shit-kickers every day! I m not going to talk to you, too! Just do your Goddamn job and keep your mouth shut. Hillary to her State Trooper bodyguards after one of them greeted her with Good Morning. From the book America Evita by Christopher Anderson, p.90(3) If you want to remain on this detail, get your fucking ass over here and grab those bags! Hillary to a Secret Service Agent who was reluctant to carry her luggage because he wanted to keep his hands free in case of an incident. From the book The First Partner p. 25(4) Stay the fuck back, stay the fuck back away from me! Don t come within ten yards of me, or else! Just fucking do as I say, Okay!!? Hillary screaming at her Secret Service detail. From the book Unlimited Access by Clinton s FBI Agent-in-Charge, Gary Aldridge, p.139(5) Where s the miserable cock sucker? (otherwise known as Bill Clinton ) Hillary shouting at a Secret Service officer. From the book The Truth about Hillary by Edward Klein, p. 5(6) You fucking idiot Hillary to a State Trooper who was driving her to an event. From the book Crossfire ~pg. 84(7) Put this on the ground! I left my sunglasses in the limo. I need those fucking sunglasses! We need to go back! Hillary to Marine One helicopter pilot to turn back while in route to Air Force One. From the book Dereliction of Duty p. 71-72(8) Come on Bill, put your dick up! You can t fuck her here!! Hillary to Gov. Bill Clinton when she spots him talking with an attractive female. From the book Inside the White House by Ronald Kessler, p. 243Additionally, when she walked around the White House, NO ONE was permitted to look her in the eye, they all had to lower their heads with their eyes towards the ground whenever she walked by. Clearly she is a class act!This ill-tempered, violent, loud-mouth, hateful and abusive woman wants to be your next President, and have total control as Commander-in-Chief of our Military, the very Military for which she has shown incredible disdain throughout her public life .Now it will be clear why the crew of Marine One helicopter nick-named the craft, Broomstick ONE Via: TruthFeedAs an added BONUS we ve included a clip from an interview that was filmed in Africa.Hillary shows her true colors when a female student speaking broken English accidentally refers to Barack Obama as Mr. Clinton . Her overreaction to this woman s innocent error shows what really happens when you unintentionally displease the Queen of the Democrat party Watch HERE | 1 |
DUBAI (Reuters) - Eight women and two children from the same Yemeni family were killed when an air strike by forces of the Saudi-led coalition involved in the country s three-year-old war hit a wedding party, residents said on Monday. The 10 people were returning on Sunday evening from a wedding in Marib province, an area east of the capital Sanaa held by the Iran-allied Houthi group, when their vehicle was struck, the sources said. A spokesman for the coalition, which denies targeting civilians and says that every report of an attack is investigated, did not respond to an email requesting comment. The residents said the victims, all female, were part of the same family, but gave no further details on their ages or if anyone else was traveling with them. The coalition has been conducting regular air strikes in Houthi-held areas as part of a campaign to restore President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power. The United Nations says that more than 60,000 people have been killed or wounded in the conflict, which also displaced more than two million and triggered a cholera epidemic that has infected about one million people. | 0 |
Barbra Streisand was an Obama sycophant and one of the corrupt Clinton s most loyal fans. She is also part of the Hollywood liberal resistance movement. Much like Rosie O Donnell, Kathy Griffin, and literally hundreds of overpaid celebrities, Barbara Streisand is obsessed with tweeting about how much she hates President Trump. It s Streisand s latest tweet that has conservatives calling her out for her complete and utter stupidity .Streisand tweeted: Collusion or no collusion, @realDonaldTrump should be impeached for sheer stupidity. Collusion or no collusion, @realDonaldTrump should be impeached for sheer stupidity. Barbra Streisand (@BarbraStreisand) December 30, 2017Twitter users wasted no time DESTROYING the has been entertainer.This tweet suggested her music and acting awards should be recalled due to the sheer stupidity of the recipient.I can think of a lot of Oscars, Emmy s, Tony s and Grammy s that should be recalled due to sheer stupidity of the recipient. Particularly this one: https://t.co/f4KtzLsOQA AnneMarie (@bulliegirl1959) December 30, 2017Dan Bongino suggested that talent aside, Streisand should be mocked for failing constitutional basics 101.Singing or no singing @BarbraStreisand should be mocked for failing constitutional basics 101. https://t.co/EeFKkiYtOb Dan Bongino (@dbongino) December 30, 2017 Mike truly schooled Streisand when he explained to her, You can t impeach a President, because of your feelings, Barbra. You can't impeach a President, because of your feelings, Barbra. https://t.co/vsmuW223pI Mike (@Fuctupmind) December 30, 2017Barbra got destroyed in one powerful image reminding her that Impeachment requires an actual crime pic.twitter.com/BBW1lEY9hn chach malone (@chachmalone) December 30, 2017OUCH! Rita replied to Barbra that she used to be a fan, but no more. She even took it a step further, and let Barbra know that she was now on her boycott list!!! I was a Fan of you!!! Now you are on my boycott list!!! Rita Reisch Afd (@rita_reisch) December 30, 2017Finally, this Twitter user refers to Barbra Streisand as a has been vs the President.There ya go!! A has been vs the President beaner (@CWhitam) December 30, 2017 | 1 |
DUBLIN (Reuters) - New thinking is needed from the British government to secure agreement on the Irish border and allow Brexit talks to move onto the next phase as the current proposals are not credible, Ireland s Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said on Tuesday. Brussels wants three issues broadly solved before it decides in December whether Brexit talks can move onto a second phase about trade, as Britain wants. These are Britain s exit bill, safeguarding expatriate rights, and the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, which will be the UK s only land frontier with the EU after its departure. After the latest round of negotiations ended with little obvious progress last week, Coveney said there was still a way to go on the border proposals before the negotiating teams would be able to move on to the next phase. The current approach the British government are taking is not compatible with the solutions that we need, Coveney told reporters. Some of the ideas they published in their paper late in the summer hint towards finding solutions to those problems, but I don t think they are comprehensive or credible ... We need more detail and we need to see some new thinking that is flexible and recognises the unique challenges of the island of Ireland. He was referring to proposals in August when London said there should be no infrastructure or electronic surveillance on the 500-km (300-mile) border, with smaller firms exempted from any new customs processes and trusted trader arrangements put in place to reduce the burden for larger companies. Coveney said Ireland did not think Britain s three aims of quitting the EU s single market and customs union, that the whole of United Kingdom leave together, and that there be no border infrastructure were compatible. The European Union agreed with Dublin s position, he said. Some 30,000 people travel across the border every day via over 400 crossings without any controls, and the issue is particularly sensitive given the decades of violence over whether Northern Ireland should be part of the UK or Ireland. Around 3,600 people were killed before a 1998 peace agreement. Dublin has said that the best way to retain the status quo is by keeping the same rules and regulations on both sides of the border. We need a credible plan to avoid the imposition of border infrastructure in the future and we don t have it yet, Coveney said. | 0 |
It s a rare occasion when a Hollywood legend defends President Trump. The director of blockbuster hits like Alien and Blade Runner just came out in support of President Trump s tax overhaul. It s ironic that it was during a presser for his new movie All the Money in the World . Is he just pandering to audiences who have turned away from Hollywood? Will he be shunned by the Hollywood elites now that he s gone against the grain? After five decades of directing, maybe he s oblivious to any blowback WFB reports:Ridley Scott defended the Republican tax overhaul during an interview about his new film, saying the bill will result in business owners reinvesting and generating economic growth.The topic came up as the legendary movie director spoke to the Denver Post about his latest movie, All The Money In The World, which is based on the true story of a kidnapping in Italy in the 1970s. There s a lot [sic] commentary in this film about the value of human life, class struggles and the role of wealth in society, interviewer John Wenzel said. Do you think there s anything to be learned from it at this moment in America? Well, let s take the tax bill, Scott said. People say (Republicans) are doing it for the wealthy class. What they forget is if you get a clever, un-selfish business person I don t care if it s a corner store or a big business who s suddenly saving 15 percent, they ll put it back in this business. | 1 |
The NFL was able to take a stand when it comes to the Cowboys attempt to honoring slain police officers in their hometown, but when an NFL player posts an ISIS type execution of a police officer on social media, they can t seem to find their voice to express their disapproval The NFL has denied the Dallas Cowboys request to wear the Arm-in-Arm decal on their helmets for Saturday s preseason opener against the Los Angeles Rams.The Cowboys had unveiled the decal at an emotional start to their first padded practice of training camp, when they walked arm-in-arm on the field with Dallas police officials, including police chief David Brown, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings and the families of the police officers slain in the line of duty last month.The Cowboys, who wear the decal on their helmets during training camp, knew they would not be able to wear the decal for the regular season but had hoped to wear it in the preseason. We certainly understand the position the league takes on this, but it won t diminish our support for that concept of unity and supporting our police force and what they do to make our lives better on a daily basis, coach Jason Garrett said. That arm-in-arm image is something that we really believe in. You heard me talk about it a couple weeks back. What we re trying to do as a football team is build a team that s close. We talk a lot about unity and having each other s backs, and certainly they embody that. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has this to say about the decal controversy:Tight end Jason Witten spearheaded the idea of the players honoring the police and the families. While a little disappointed, Witten believes the gesture at the start of camp can have a long-lasting impact. What s really important is what we tried to do, and that s to unite that community, our community, and show that support for those families and really honor the leadership of our city, Witten said. I think that decal not being on the helmet is not going to stop that. It s going to continue to do that not only now but in the future as we move forward. As players and an organization that is something we re going to continue to support. ESPNWe reported about Cleveland Brown s player, Isaiah Crowell s Instagram post on July 11, 2016. While Cleveland Brown s acknowledged his post, the NFL has yet to make a public admonishment or levy a fine against him for making what was akin to a terrorist threat on social media against law enforcement.Here is a screen shot of the Instagram post that Crowell posted and then removed:Under the vile picture he posted in ebonics: They give polices all types of weapons and they continuously choose to kill us. 100percentfedup.comCleveland Police force was not taking this lightly. Here s how they replied to Crowell s vile post:Crowell got blasted for posting an illustration last week of a cop getting his throat slashed by a masked person. He posted it on Wednesday after Alton Sterling and Philando Castile s deaths, but the day before 5 Dallas officers were shot and killed. The running back deleted the post and the Browns demanded he publicly apologize, which he did.But Stephen Loomis, President of Cleveland Police Patrolmen s Association, thinks the store-bought apology isn t enough. He needs to go to Dallas, help the families who lost their loved ones last week, write them a check, look them in the eyes and give a heartfelt apology. Loomis says Crowell s post was as offensive as putting a picture of historical African-American men being hung from a tree in the 60s. He adds that if Crowell doesn t go to Dallas and make a donation, I will pull Cleveland officers, sheriffs, state troopers out of First Energy Stadium this season if he doesn t make it right. As for Crowell admitting he was wrong and acted out of rage Loomis says, You re a grown ass man, and you claim you were too emotional to know it was wrong? Think we ll accept your apology? Kiss my ass. TMZ | 1 |
KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine is puzzled by the lack of a U.S. response to requests it has made to question former Donald Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort as a witness over two cases involving misuse of Ukrainian state funds, the chief investigator said. Manafort was indicted last month in Washington on charges he denies ranging from money laundering to acting as unregistered agent of former pro-Kremlin president Viktor Yanukovich s Party of Regions. The charges, some going back more than a decade, mention neither Trump nor his campaign. Serhii Horbatiuk, head of special investigations at the general prosecutor s office, told Reuters Ukraine had sent requests in 2014 and 2015 to question representatives of a law firm and Manafort. He said Ukraine had received reassurances from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that the requests would be met, but without result. Of course it s not normal, Horbatiuk said in an interview at his office. I would not say that we are upset, I would not say officially that we are upset, but it s not clear why it is so, he said. Even the results they have got so far, we could have got them back in 2015 or 2016 with their help. But during these years there was no cooperation for unknown reasons. In Washington, the FBI and the Department did not immediately respond to requests from Reuters for comment. Horbatiuk is investigating two cases. One relates to the suspected illegal use of Ukrainian state funds by justice ministry officials to pay a U.S. law firm for a report used to justify the imprisonment of former prime minister and political rival Yulia Tymoshenko during Yanukovich s rule. The second relates to a so-called Black Ledger discovered after Yanukovich s 2014 ouster by street protests, a book supposedly listing payments from a slush fund by Yanukovich s Party of Regions to their associates, including Manafort. Yanukovich denies corruption accusations. Manafort denies all wrongdoing and in Ukraine he is at this stage only wanted as a witness. Horbatiuk said he had not been contacted for assistance by the team of Special Council Robert Mueller, who indicted Manafort during an investigation into alleged Russian efforts to swing the 2016 presidential election in Trump s favor. Manafort s attorney says his work for the Ukrainians ended in 2014, two years before he joined the Trump campaign. But the indictment sheds new light on the Ukrainian cases: the allegation that Manafort used offshore accounts to funnel $4 million to pay for the Tymoshenko report was news to Horbatiuk s team, who thought the report had cost around $1 million. He will submit a new request for help to the U.S. within weeks. It is important to combine our investigations so that we can obtain information to determine the origin of this money ($4 million), he said. And the general information allows us to say that the investigation could be promising provided that the law enforcement agencies of the United States and Ukraine cooperate in what we are interested in. Manafort joined the Trump presidential campaign in March 2016 and later became campaign manager, but he was forced to resign in August as questions emerged about his previous work for Yanukovich s party. | 0 |
GENEVA (Reuters) - The people of West Papua are facing a slow motion genocide and demand independence from Indonesia, separatist leaders told Reuters after a march in Geneva, adding they would press their case with a petition to the United Nations in New York. Benny Wenda, international spokesman for the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), said the human rights situation had worsened under Indonesian President Joko Widodo, with estimates of up to 8,000 people arrested last year. They look at West Papua differently, as subhuman, and as a colony. We are not equal. That s why if we live with Indonesia, in 30 years time my people will disappear, he told Reuters. Indonesian presidential spokesman Johan Budi declined to comment on the separatists comments. West Papua and Papua provinces - often collectively referred to as West Papua - make up the western half of an island north of Australia, with independent Papua New Guinea to the east. The provinces have been gripped by a long-running and often violent separatist conflict since they were incorporated into Indonesia after a widely criticized U.N.-backed referendum in 1969. Dutch colonial rule ended in 1963. Widodo has made easing the tension in the two provinces on the island a key goal, through stepping up investment, freeing political prisoners, and addressing human rights concerns. However, Oridek Ap, coordinator for Free West Papua Campaign in the Netherlands, said his father was killed in 1984 for singing freedom songs, and it was still dangerous to speak out. Sometimes they find a body and we have confirmation of death. But as long as somebody is disappeared we don t have confirmation, he said. When we talk about slow motion genocide, how can you prove it. On the other side of the border we are talking about 7-8 million Papuans. Why not on our side? This killing is still going on. The separatists say there are 2.5 million West Papuans, roughly the same as 50 years ago. What happened in 1969 was a fraud, Wenda said. This is why West Papuans believe that our right to self-determination under international law still exists. Geneva is the house of human rights and freedom. That s why we start here, and then we go to New York, he said. Wenda, who has political asylum in Britain, added: We need to solve this problem in the United Nations. Last month Indonesia struck a deal with U.S. mining firm Freeport McMoRan Inc to take a 51 percent stake in Grasberg, the world s second-biggest copper mine, which is in Papua. | 0 |
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan said on Friday the decision by the United States to withdraw from the Paris climate accord was “regrettable” and that climate change required a concerted effort by the whole of the international community. “Japan believes the leadership of the developed countries to be of great importance (on climate issues), and the steady implementation of the Paris Agreement is critical in this regard,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference that Japan would continue to call on the United States to engage on the issue of climate change. | 0 |
According to Donald Trump, he didn t lose in the Republican Iowa Caucus. He came in second, which is really the same thing as winning when you really think about it. Except it s not. However, to Trump s fragile ego, and what he tells himself in the mirror each night, is that he really won, because Ted Cruz was a meanie and cheated.Now, to prepare himself for loss everywhere he goes, Trump has now taken to telling everyone he doesn t actually have to win a state. In this case, New Hampshire. Someone should probably let Trump know that in order to win the Republican Party nomination he s going to have to not only win states, but win a lot of them, not come in second, but actually, in all legitimacy, win.However, Trump being Trump, and with his narcissistic personality disorder preventing him from being able to wrap his giant head around a loss, even losing is a win to him. He even told CNN s Jake Tapper on State of the Union: I want to win New Hampshire, but I don t think I have to win it. He s clearly preparing himself for a loss, despite having a monster lead in the Granite State, but after Iowa, he s probably thinking all bets are off.Donald Trump will never admit to losing, now if he does lose, well, he can say he called it and claim he never needed it: I told you guys I didn t need it! He s creating a bit of an insurance policy for himself as really any good businessperson would: you have a contingency plan.Oh, Trump. If not for your ego, you would be a very lonely man. Your love for yourself is unending. Trump: I want to win N.H., but I don t think I have to win it. #CNNSOTU Full interview: https://t.co/1UBwh3zztW https://t.co/uVRpYsQ305 State of the Union (@CNNSotu) February 7, 2016Video/Featured image: Twitter | 1 |
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Not too long after taking office, Trump decided to start asking around about how the government could roll back regulations and make it easier for companies to get their projects approved. But he didn t ask ordinary Americans, or small business owners. He didn t ask people in small towns and big cities. He asked big corporations what their opinions were. He sought advice from the same people he blasted as The Swamp during his campaign, and promised repeatedly to drain it.Now, given who he s appointed to his cabinet, it was pretty clear that he had zero intention of draining the swamp. Trump specifically targeted manufacturers and fossil fuel producers for this, probably because he thinks allowing them to run roughshod will at least help him pretend he s truly bringing manufacturing jobs back. But this is even more egregious because major industry insiders don t care about people. They don t care who they hurt in pursuit of the almighty dollar. Of course they want industry regulations cut these are the industries people fought (and died) against to stop things like child labor and worker exploitation.The White House got 168 comments total. Manufacturers went after the EPA the hardest, with 79 of those comments targeting that agency. The EPA received 79 comments total, because of course it did. And companies targeted the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts with 48 and 29 comments respectively, because having to clean up after yourself so everyone around you can breathe clean air and drink clean water is just too difficult.Trump s decision to halt key provisions of the Clean Water Act has already angered people, particularly those living in communities that are especially vulnerable to poisoned water. The director of the Sierra Club s Beyond Coal campaign has said: Trump s attempt to halt these clean water protections for mercury, lead, and arsenic from coal power plants is dangerous and irresponsible. After years of peer-reviewed studies, extensive input from medical experts and scientists, and thorough review of public comments, the EPA made the right call in finalizing strong clean water protections against coal plants dumping toxic heavy metals into our waterways As a mother, I m frankly horrified that the EPA would put the safety of drinking water at risk for millions of Americans, but that s exactly what they ve done. Coming from West Virginia, where we ve had enormous challenges with maintaining clean water supplies due to the coal industry s political influence, I m outraged that these common sense protections are under attack from the EPA itself. But, well, profit is king here, even though the coal industry is never going to recover no matter what Trump tries to do. A full breakdown of the agencies and regulations that these companies would like to see rolled back, if not outright eliminated, is below:BP says it wants to make it easier to drill for gas and oil in the very same Gulf that was devastated in the Deepwater Horizon disaster, because why force them be careful when they can lie about being able to self-regulate? (Big corporations can t self-regulate.) And The Associated General Contractors of America wants to roll back regulations for paid sick leave for government contractors. They probably want to get rid of overtime rules, too.Of course, business groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are applauding Trump for this. They see this administration as one that is finally interested in relieving businesses from a regulatory onslaught that occurred, principally, during the prior administration. Others are not so sure this is the best way to do things, though, because companies will always, always, always act in their own best interests, and damn the rest of the world. Jeffrey Zients, who worked on regulatory issues under Obama, said: At a time when many CEOS are focused on the short term and looking to maximize their profitability each quarter, I believe that a lot of their aversion to these regulations reflects a short-term mind-set that values reducing costs over anything else.That s unfortunate, because well-crafted regulations are an important part of creating sustainable and fair economic prosperity in the long run. A detail. These companies don t want sustainable and fair economic prosperity in the long run. They want unfair and profitable in the short run. It s the nature of the beast. And it s why the business world needs strong regulation. Instead, Trump is trying to give them back the ability to do what they want, when they want, how they want, without regard to the harm they cause.Featured image by Ron Sachs Pool via Getty Images | 1 |
The Stupid Part of America is riled up again after Maryland made a small change to its state song. To make it a bit more modern, the state Senate voted 37-8 to both officially reaffirm Maryland, Oh Maryland as the official state song, and to remove the words Northern scum so that citizens of the state can finally sing it without feeling a stinging sense of shame. Maryland, Oh Maryland was penned in 1861 and adopted as the state song in 1939. Talking Points Memo notes that it is unclear why the song was adopted at that particular historical moment but notes there had been two recent lynchings in the state and the NAACP was then advocating for equal pay for black teachers. In other words, it probably was not selected because people enjoy singing to the tune of O Tannenbaum. By enshrining a Confederate war anthem, the General Assembly may have been seeking symbolically to challenge such efforts, the AP notes.The song is pretty inflammatory. Currently, it ends with a rousing call to fight against those dirty northerners who wanted to end slavery: She is not dead, nor deaf, nor dumb Huzza! She spurns the Northern scum! She breathes! She burns! She ll come! She ll come! Maryland! My Maryland! The song refers to President Abraham Lincoln as a despot and urges Marylanders to burst the tyrant s chains. The changes keep one verse from the old lyrics and add one from an 1894 poem describing the natural beauty of the state of Maryland something more appropriate in modern times than complaints about Lincoln and calls for an armed uprising. They keep the historic song. It s still there, but this bill is an excellent compromise to move forward, so that our children and our children s children and so that all Maryland can be proud of our state song, said Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller (D). At the present time, all of Maryland cannot be proud of our state song, and so that s the reason I m voting green. Changing the song is a completely reasonable action, given its inflammatory speech so naturally, Fox News fans became rather incensed when they learned about what they view on an assault on their heritage (whether they are from Maryland or not). Some complained about rap music for some reason, while others threatened to take up arms against the government. Others whined about black people, some said that this is a form of white genocide (the systemic elimination of the white race that Donald Trump s supporters in the KKK believe is happening), and others still hold out hope that the South will rise again. And, of course, there were the customary calls for President Obama s death that accompany literally everything that happens in the world: Unfortunately, this is where we re at as a nation and Donald Trump s rhetoric has given these people, who would normally keep their shameful and idiotic opinions to themselves and their local Klavern, the courage to speak out. Whenever someone tells you that Republicans aren t racist, we d tell you to show them this, but we all know they will simply claim that the hundreds of similar comments are left by liberal plants who want to destroy America no matter how much evidence exists that this attitude is no longer the minority in the Rapublican Party.The bill is set to go to the House, where it is expected to pass a good thing for the state of Maryland, but something that will likely cause at least a few acts of violence against African-Americans. It s just what conservatives do these days.Maybe next, legislators can hop on board the effort to change the name of Negro Mountain or at least take down the numerous highways signs and remove the picnic area.Featured image via screengrab | 1 |
The fundamental transformation of America: Watch Obama and the Democrat party beg tens of millions of people who broke the law when they entered our country to get to the polls to shape the future of our nation Leticia de la Paz s family has two major motivations for pursuing U.S. citizenship.They want to move past the discrimination they feel as foreign-born residents, and they want to take part in choosing a leader who, as de la Paz says, will care about immigrants and a better future. She shares these sentiments through a Spanish-language interpreter, as her 25-year-old daughter, Gabriela, works through a crowded room at Nashville s Global Mall where dozens of Middle Tennessee immigrants are completing the paperwork that will put them on the path to naturalization. We are here in the United States to have a better life and to have better rights, says Leticia de la Paz, whose husband came to the United States in 1989 and became a citizen last year, inspiring their daughter.For many, this is the next step.Tennessee has one of the fastest-growing immigrant populations in the country, according to Stephanie Teatro, co-executive director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition. Already, more than 114,000, or nearly 38 percent of the total foreign-born population, are naturalized citizens and eligible to vote, she says. Statewide another approximately 75,000 immigrants are eligible to apply for citizenship today but haven t taken action.For Cristina Corona, a 30-year-old from Guadalajara, Mexico, the clinic carried concrete value.Two years ago, Corona began the citizenship process, hiring a local lawyer to walk her through the process. She spent $10,000, she said, and then the firm shut down and all her information was lost.On Saturday, she started again.Like the de la Paz family, Corona said she faces discrimination, particularly in airports where she often gets detained. She hopes having a U.S. passport will ease that. She also hopes it will help her find more job opportunities beyond working as a server in her mother s cafe on Nolensville Pike.And there is one more motivating factor: Her mother s insistence that Corona vote. She says all the time, Get out to the polls. As the number of immigrant families continues to grow, so does their political power.Immigrant voters played a vital role in the recent Nashville mayoral election, as the immigrant coalition registered hundreds of new American voters, and immigrant community members reportedly turned out to the polls in large numbers, though official voter turnout demographics are not yet available.Nashville mayoral candidates took notice of the growing immigrant vote, as every candidate attended the local Immigrant and Refugee mayoral forum. Candidates translated campaign materials into Spanish, they visited mosques and did interviews on Spanish-language radio.Via: The Tennessean | 1 |
It s official. Donald Trump is losing Republican support in Congress.As much as they want to believe that continuing to support Trump is in their best interests, Republicans are beginning to realize that they can no longer tolerate his unpresidential behavior.The tipping point was reached on Tuesday when Trump attacked Attorney General Jeff Sessions again on Twitter and demanded that he open an investigation against Hillary Clinton.Ukrainian efforts to sabotage Trump campaign quietly working to boost Clinton. So where is the investigation A.G. @seanhannity Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 25, 2017Attorney General Jeff Sessions has taken a VERY weak position on Hillary Clinton crimes (where are E-mails & DNC server) & Intel leakers! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 25, 2017Apparently, Trump thinks that Hillary should be persecuted just because he is being investigated for colluding with Russia during the 2016 Election.Well, Trump s hissy fit did not impress Senator Lindsey Graham, who took to his own Twitter account to rip Trump a new one for his inappropriate meddling and obstruction.President Trump s tweet today suggesting Attorney General Sessions pursue prosecution of a former political rival is highly inappropriate. 4 Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) July 25, 2017Prosecutorial decisions should be based on applying facts to the law without hint of political motivation. 5 Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) July 25, 2017To do otherwise is to run away from the long-standing American tradition of separating the law from politics regardless of party. 6 Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) July 25, 2017The past support Trump has received from Republicans is clearly starting to wane. And Trump only has himself to blame because he lacks the ability to keep his mouth shut and exercise self-control. He is literally attacking his own Attorney General, a man who is supported by many Republicans in the Senate.Pennsylvania GOP Rep. Charlie Dent also expressed frustration over Trump s obsessive effort to derail the Russia investigation, telling Morning Joe that Trump s whining is distracting and makes it a lot harder for lawmakers to do their jobs.If Trump doesn t stop interfering with the Department of Justice, he will lose more Republican support. At some point, they will wake up and realize that he is hurting their party and America, and once that happens, impeachment will soon follow.Featured image via Shawn Thew-Pool/Getty Images | 1 |
You know, for being a member of the master race, President Steve Bannon sure fails to look the part. On Wednesday, Argentinian-American comedienne Tamara Yajia posted a photo of Steve Bannon that highlighted a rather glorious pustule on his face. Yummy, she wrote to accompany the horrifying image.Yummy pic.twitter.com/8r0aKIfhJW Tamara Yajia (@DancesWithTamis) February 24, 2017Naturally, the internet gods accepted this offering gleefully and their servants amassed to join together in mockery of the white supremacist who is for some reason allowed to act as President while The Donald plays with his toys and tweets like a middle schooler.@DancesWithTamis that's the plastic bottle gin trying to escape his body Lyle Clip Art (@Kyle_Lippert) February 24, 2017@DancesWithTamis @DanKCharnley That can't be unseen. thatsmetrying (@CAcannotsleep) February 24, 2017@DancesWithTamis "master race" ?? Adam ??? (@fastjohnny) February 24, 2017@DancesWithTamis That is the most disgusting thing you have ever posted. Dave Davington ? (@TenSpeedDave) February 24, 2017@DancesWithTamis Evil comes out of his pores as well as his mouth. Juice (@juicesixtysix) February 24, 2017@DancesWithTamis he hasn't washed his face in 35 years and his skin is dying to escape his face. Marjie Cunningham (@missmarjiec) February 24, 2017@DancesWithTamis Please don't tease that 60 year old alcoholic teenager about his acne. He's very sensitive. Hootie the HOTY (@babygandolfini) February 24, 2017@DancesWithTamis Doesn't he look like he stinks? I bet he stinks. Denise (@DDavis2) February 24, 2017@DancesWithTamis I would rather eat your thyroid than look at close-ups of Bannon's rosacea-infused facial hair. Dean (@plugzero) February 24, 2017@DancesWithTamis @Anomaly100 Probably smells of Johnny Walker and stale farts .@margaretcho Donna DJD (@ddicorcia) February 24, 2017@DancesWithTamis @Anomaly100 My uterus just fell out. CarmenBella 2.0?? (@LaLaBellaxo) February 24, 2017@DancesWithTamis mmmm skin tags, liver spots, rosacea, open sores. He's a real fucking delight this one is. Arak (@rickydilly1949) February 24, 2017Apparently, not everyone was happy with the tweet but Yajia was perfectly happy to tell them exactly where they can fuck which is off. The idiots who unfollowed me for posting a pic of Steve Bannon s pus zit will never know that I m about to masturbate to glory hole p*rn, she wrote to the triggered little snowflakes who couldn t handle seeing Bannon s face besmirched.The idiots who unfollowed me for posting a pic of Steve Bannon's pus zit will never know that I'm about to masturbate to glory hole porn Tamara Yajia (@DancesWithTamis) February 24, 2017Bannon describes himself as a Leninist who wants to destroy the state who wants to bring everything crashing down, and destroy all of today s establishment. More revently, he admitted that all of Trump s his cabinet picks were intended to destroy the institutions they were chosen to lead.In short, fuck him and the monster living on his face.Featured image via screengrab | 1 |
This is such a sad, tragic and misunderstood story by so many. Was the now deceased father of 11, LaVoy Finicum simply defending his rights as defined in the U.S. Constitution, or did he cross the line?Oregon protest leader Ammon Bundy and seven others were arrested Tuesday night. Protester LaVoy Finicum was killed in the confrontation with police and the FBI.video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo playerThe daughter of Malheur Refuge occupation spokesman LaVoy Finicum, reportedly killed by federal agents during a traffic stop north of Burns, said Wednesday her father was a loving man and loved freedom more than his life.Finicum s daughter Thara Lynn Tenney posted a message on her Facebook page last night asserting that her father had already surrendered before he was gunned down. I want the world to know how my father was murdered today. His hands were in the air and he was shot in the face by the American authorities. Ammon Bundy reported there are 6 witnesses to this evil, wrote Tenney.Her testimony was echoed by another eyewitness, Victoria Sharp, who was in the car with Finicum when the group were pulled over by cops and federal agents. Sharp claims that Finicum put his hands out of the car window and asked the police to allow the women to leave the car. They shot at him, but they missed him, said Sharp, adding that the group then attempted to drive away in the car but were shot at again by police. When we crashed and stopped for a second, he got out of the car, he had his hands in the air, he s like just shoot me then .and they did, they shot him dead, said Sharp.Challice Finch said she is heading back to Arizona from her home in Texas to be with her family.Finch s father reportedly was killed by federal agents during a traffic stop on Highway 395 in Harney County, law enforcement officials are quoted as saying.The traffic stop led to the arrest of Ammon Bundy and several militia members, who appeared in U.S. District Court in Portland Wednesday afternoon.LaVoy Finicum had told reporters he would die before he would go to prison.Finicum, a rancher from Colorado City, Arizona, traveled several hundred miles to join the Bundy militia at the refuge.Now there s video The FBI released video of LaVoy Finicum s shooting. He had his hands up. He s a great man, and just because he s dead doesn t mean his fight will not go on. He s now a martyr, Finch said.Nevada Assemblywoman Michelle Fiore tweeted My heart and prayers go out to the LaVoy Finicum s family. He was just murdered with his hands up in Burns, OR. Ryan Bundy has been shot in the arm. Federal agents say all in the two obeyed orders to surrender, except for two people, Finicum and Ryan Bundy.Finch said her father texted her hours before leaving to meet with the Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer on Tuesday, a trip interrupted by the fateful traffic stop. He sent me a text to just check on me, making sure that I was doing good and to remember to pray and to let me know that he was thinking of me, and that he loved me and was praying for me every day. Finch said.On Wednesday Cliven Bundy, father of Ammon Bundy, told reporters his son told him the FBI murdered militia spokesman LaVoy Finicum with his hands up. LaVoy Finicum was murdered. Cold-blooded murder. They shot him with his hands up. https://youtu.be/kkIw2F6cfeoVia: Gateway Pundit | 1 |
GENEVA (Reuters) - The U.N. Human Rights Council voted on Friday to extend its investigation into suspected crimes against humanity in Burundi, dealing a blow to an attempt by a group of African countries to dial down the level of scrutiny. Burundi had hoped that by promising to cooperate fully with the U.N. human rights office and inviting three experts to the country, the Council would drop its Commission of Inquiry. It appeared to have succeeded on Thursday when the Council agreed to send the three experts, backing a resolution that also welcomed Burundi s decision to restore full cooperation with the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Burundi s ambassador, Renovat Tabu, told the Council that after that decision, there was no longer any need to continue the Commission of Inquiry, as demanded by the European Union. There is a clear will of the EU to instrumentalize the Council to politicize human rights, he said. But the EU, with strong backing from the United States, pressed the case for the Commission of Inquiry. Just days ago, when Burundi finally agreed to engage members of this council in discussions for the first time, the Burundian ambassador portrayed a rosy picture of his country, with the clear goal of ending the Commission of Inquiry, which he repeated again today, U.S. diplomat Jason Mack said. Don t be confused by Burundi s last-minute engagement, which is solely to put an end to ongoing investigations, he said. The commission has said there are reasonable grounds to believe crimes against humanity have been committed since April 2015 when President Pierre Nkurunziza said he would seek a third term in office. The opposition has said he acted unconstitutionally by doing so. Burundian officials at the highest level should be held accountable for crimes against humanity and a list of suspects has been drawn up, the commission said earlier this month. In a statement following the vote, the commission said it would like to believe that the Burundian authorities will now respond to a renewed request for dialogue . Among the 22 countries voting to maintain maximum scrutiny were Botswana and Burundi s neighbor Rwanda, alongside European countries and the United States. Other African nations were among the 11 no votes and 14 abstentions. | 0 |
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There s a lot of talk that, if Mueller indicts friends and associates of Trump over the Russia scandal, Trump will just pardon them and nobody will get punished, least of all Trump. There are two problems with that: First, to accept a pardon is to admit guilt, so he d be throwing them under the bus. But secondly, and perhaps more importantly, any pardons he issues could land him in hot water just that much sooner. According to Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), his pardoning power is not exactly absolute.Schiff told ABC News: I don t think the president s power is all that absolute, as people have been suggesting.The president cannot pardon people if it s an effort to obstruct justice, if it s an effort to prevent Bob Mueller and others from learning about the President s own conduct. So, there are limitations. This whole thing really took off when Mueller was appointed special counsel to investigate whether Trump obstructed justice when he fired James Comey. It s true that the Constitution does give the president broad power to issue pardons for offenses against the United States. However, we currently don t have any precedent for a president pardoning people tied to his own campaign, and rumors have been circulating that Trump wants to test his pardoning powers to see just how far they actually go.That could be part of why the Tweeter-In-Chief was panicking so badly on Twitter that he screamed, DO SOMETHING! in a rant about Hillary Clinton and Uranium One. He might be aware that not only is Mueller getting closer to something that implicates him, which we just can t have, but also that he can t pardon anyone Mueller indicts (or perhaps has been strongly warned away from trying).A pardon would require an admission of guilt, but it would also prevent people from flipping on Trump and singing out the truth in exchange for lesser charges or a lesser sentence. Depending on who s indicted, and what they do, the man who would be king in the White House will find it far more difficult to keep claiming that Russia is just a distraction and there s nothing to it.And so will all his lackeys.Too bad.Featured image via Alex Wong/Getty Images | 1 |
On Sunday s broadcast of CNN s Reliable Sources, a panel discussed the role Roger Ailes legacy. The Fox News founder is retiring from his position as the network s CEO due to a massive wave of allegations from female employees of sexual harassment.The episode began with the show s host, Brian Stelter posing the question, When you take stock of Roger Ailes legacy, his impact on media, do you think we would have Donald Trump as the GOP nominee without Roger Ailes? Political analyst Jeff Greenfield wasn t ready to say that Trump would not be a political success if it were not Ailes. Roger Ailes did to the media what Donald Trump did to the political process. What Greenfield is saying is that both Ailes and Trump are spectacular at rallying hardcore right-wing conservatives to support whatever narrative they choose to promote.While Greenfield isn t ready to put the burden of Trump on Ailes shoulders, Jane Hall, a former regular guest on Fox News said that you would not have Donald Trump without Roger Ailes. It has been rumored that Ailes next major project besides the autobiography he is going to write would be to work on Trump s presidential campaign. Panelist and Trump supporter, Jeff Lord, didn t provide any more credibility to those rumors. That being said, he did mention that Ailes would be very useful on the Trump campaign trail.Fox News, right-wing extremism, and now Trump exist in a reinforcing feedback loop that has caused so much harm to the United States and the world. They have given megaphones to the biggest loons out there in the United States.You can watch the panel discussion below.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn3AgNq2QikFeatured image from video screenshot | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy said on Friday that it was moving the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln and other ships into position to provide humanitarian relief from Hurricane Irma if needed. The Abraham Lincoln, along with the amphibious assault ship Iwo Jima and transport dock ship New York, have left Norfolk, Virginia and are making their way south while trying to avoid the hurricane, U.S. officials said. A destroyer is expected to join them. These ships are capable of providing medical support, maritime civil affairs, maritime security, expeditionary logistic support, medium and heavy-lift air support, the statement said. In total, the four ships have three CH-53E Marine heavy lift helicopters, 10 MH-60S and 14 MH-60R Navy medium life helicopters. The Pentagon said the assault ship Wasp near the U.S. Virgin Islands was carrying out evacuations for critical patients from the island of St. Thomas to the larger St. Croix island. So far, 21 patients have been evacuated with another 23 evacuations planned for Friday, U.S. Northern Command said in a statement. The U.S. Air Force said it had moved 50 F-16 fighter jets and more than 100 personnel from Shaw Air Force base in South Carolina to Louisiana. Military facilities in the path of the hurricane have ordered evacuations. MacDill Air Force base in Tampa, home to U.S. Central Command which oversees military operations in the Middle East, ordered a mandatory evacuation. Marine Corps Recruit Depot in Parris Island, South Carolina, said it had authorized and encouraged non-essential military and civilian personnel to evacuate. | 0 |
21st Century Wire says This will rank as one of the most egregious miscarriages of consumer trust in US history. In a brief statement to Reuters, according to these Silicon Valley executives: Yahoo is a law-abiding company, and complies with the laws of the United States. Actually, Yahoo is in breach of the law. The laws they think they are talking about do not allow for flipping a dead switch on the 4th Amendment and conducting mass surveillance on all US citizens.In reality, the US Constitution is meant to be the supreme law of the land and Yahoo just colluded with an out of control US federal government to trash the 4th Amendment.So who is Marissa Mayer, the Yahoo CEO who willingly colluded behind closed doors with the NSA and the FBI to submit all of Yahoo s customer base to unwarranted surveillance? Why was this 37 year old neophyte allowed to walk into the top spot from Google with no real managerial experience, and put in charge of such a large corporation and then given a $54 million golden parachute after this dark spying debacle? She has quickly amassed net worth of approximately $500 million half a billion dollars.It sounds like she was definitely hand-picked for this particular job SELL OUT: Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer sold out her customer base to an out of control, data-hungry Federal government.The GuardianYahoo last year secretly built a custom software program to search all of its customers incoming emails for specific information provided by US intelligence officials, sources have told Reuters.The company complied with a classified US government directive, scanning hundreds of millions of Yahoo Mail accounts at the behest of the National Security Agency (NSA) or FBI, according to two former employees and a third person who knew about the program.Some surveillance experts said this represents the first known case of a US internet company agreeing to a spy agency s demand by searching all arriving messages, as opposed to examining stored messages or scanning a small number of accounts in real time.It is not known what information intelligence officials were looking for, only that they wanted Yahoo to search for a set of characters. That could mean a phrase in an email or an attachment, said the sources.Reuters was unable to determine what data Yahoo may have handed over, if any, and whether intelligence officials had approached other email providers besides Yahoo with this kind of request.According to the two former employees, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer s decision to obey the directive troubled some senior executives and led to the June 2015 departure of the chief information security officer, Alex Stamos, who now heads security at Facebook.( ) Andrew Crocker, staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said that the use of the word directive to describe the program indicated that the request may have been ordered under the section 702 of the 2008 Fisa Amendments Act, which allows the government to target non-US citizens abroad for surveillance.Revelations by Edward Snowden about the Prism and Upstream programs of which the Yahoo program looks like a hybrid, Crocker said show that US citizens were also subject to mass surveillance. The fourth amendment and attendant privacy concerns are quite staggering, Crocker said. It sounds like they are scanning all emails, even inside the US the fourth amendment protects that fully. It s hard to see how the government justifies requiring Yahoo to search emails like that; there is no warrant that could possibly justify scanning all emails Continue this story at The GuardianREAD MORE SCI-TECH NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Sci-Tech Files | 1 |
This week temperatures in the town of Phalodi, located in the state of Rajasthan, India, reached 123.8 degrees F. It was the highest temperature ever recorded in the country.As CNN reports here, the brutal heat is taking a massive toll on the people and the economy. At least 400 people have died from heat-related causes over the past four weeks.Photos published by CNN here show devastated crops, dead livestock and melting roads in New Delhi, where temperatures reached 109 degrees F.A video posted to YouTube reportedly shows a road in Shaheed Chowk, Silvassa, Gujrat, which is melting due to scorching heat. The country s current deadly heat wave comes on the heels of a devastating summer heat wave which claimed the lives of more than 2,500 people in 2015. Last year s deadly wave of heat in India was the fifth deadliest in recorded history.Think Progress reports:According to the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, India is getting hotter as humans continue to pump carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. With these increases in heat, the report produced by 1,250 international experts and approved by every major government in the world said with high confidence that the risk of heat-related mortality would rise due to climate change and population increases, along with greater risk of drought-related water and food shortages.Today there are 330 million people in India who do not have access to enough water to fulfill their daily needs.The country has reported higher than average temperatures throughout 2016.As Michael Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University, explained to Think Progress, the unprecedented heat waves sweeping across India are happening with current global warming levels of just 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit. If we continue down this same path, scientists say global temperatures will rise seven to nine degrees by the end of the century.Climate change denying republicans in Congress should be required to spend some quality time in India. Maybe walking on melting roadways and baking in a slow oven, set to 124 degrees F, would help them come to grips with reality.Image credit: video screen capture via World Wide Viral on YouTube | 1 |
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany’s center-left chancellor candidate Martin Schulz has criticized U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies as “un-American” and warned against lifting sanctions imposed against Russia over its role in the Ukraine crisis. In one of the sharpest remarks yet by a senior German politician since the new American leader took office, Schulz told the Funke media group in an interview published on Wednesday that Europe had to stand up to defend liberal values. “What Trump is doing is un-American,” Schulz said, adding that the United States like no other country in the world stood for enlightenment, democracy and freedom. “If Trump is now driving a wrecking ball through this set of values, then I will tell him as chancellor: That’s not the policy of Germany and Europe,” Schulz added. Germany’s Social Democrats last week nominated former European Parliament president Schulz to run against Chancellor Angela Merkel in a federal election in September, and the surprise move has boosted popular support for the centre-left party. Merkel said on Monday the global fight against terrorism does not warrant putting groups of people under suspicion, adding Trump’s order to restrict people from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States violates the spirit of international cooperation. Turning to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Ukraine conflict, Schulz said that sanctions imposed against Russia could only be lifted after both sides had implemented the so-called Minsk peace plan. “As long as the Minsk peace agreement is not fully implemented, the sanctions cannot be lifted. We must tell Putin very clearly that Russia is obliged to respect and defend international law,” Schulz said. Schulz’ comments bring more clarity about his stance on Russia after some leading Social Democrats have voiced support for a partial lifting of sanctions as long as Russia is implementing some aspects of the plan. Merkel, one of the architects of the peace deal, has repeatedly said that sanctions against Russia can only be lifted once the Minsk agreement has been fully implemented. | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama’s advisers would recommend he veto a bill in the House of Representatives that prohibits use of funds to transfer individuals detained at the Guantanamo Bay military prison to the United States or any foreign country, the White House said on Tuesday. The bill was introduced in the House and is making its way through Congress. It faces a tough battle in the Senate. Operation of the prison “weakens our national security by draining resources, damaging our relationships with key allies and partners, and emboldening violent extremists,” the White House said in a release. | 0 |
Nobody would have ever said this about any of our previous presidents. Nobody.But because President Obama and his family are black, Fox News host Sean Hannity is trying to get in as much hateful racist talk as possible before the Obamas leave the White House in January.And when President Obama leaves office, Hannity is offering to arrange for a one-way trip to Kenya for him and his family in response to a non-response the White House had to a satirical article claiming that Obama wants to move to Canada if Donald Trump wins the election on November 8th. Remember how Democrats insisted last week that we all need to be united behind whoever wins the election? Hannity began. Well, I guess that only applies if Donald Trump loses because apparently the president cannot bring himself to say that he ll unite behind the Trump presidency. Hannity talked about how a White House aide failed to deny rumors that President Barack Obama was planning to leave the United States if Trump wins the election, and then offered to send President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and their two daughters to Africa as long as they don t come back. I ll pay hang on a second, I m offering I ll even rent a plane as big as Air Force One. [ ] I have an offer for the president. I will charter a plane for you and your family. I will make sure it s as big a plane as Air Force One, what you have grown accustomed to, in other words. Taxpayer-funded plane. I don t know where I m going to get Maybe I ll just Maybe I ll ask Trump if I can charter his plane for Obama. That s what I will charter Donald Trump s plane if he ll let me, and I will charter it to the country of your choice. You want to go to Canada? I ll pay for you to go to Canada. You want to go to Kenya? I ll pay for you to go to Kenya. Jakarta, where you went to school back in the day, you can go back there. Anywhere you want to go. I m gonna I ll put the finest food, caviar, champagne, you name it. I have one stipulation: you can t come back. That s fair. Here s the audio via YouTube.First of all, President Obama has already stated that he will peacefully transfer the presidency to Donald Trump in January should he actually win on Election Day. In fact, President Obama will even attend the inauguration.Second, every president in the modern era has had full use of Air Force One no matter where they go during their presidency. And it has always been taxpayer funded. Even when George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan took those 880 days of vacation during their presidencies combined while President Obama has only taken 217 days of vacation. So if Hannity wants to pretend that President Obama is somehow freeloading off of the taxpayers by using Air Force One, he should probably get all of the facts first.Furthermore, President Obama was NOT born in Kenya. His father was, but President Obama was born in Hawaii to an American mother and is a natural-born American citizen. His wife Michelle and their daughters were also born in the United States.Hannity s offer is disrespectful and hearkens back to a time when racists wanted to send blacks back to Africa just to keep America white.Fox News should be embarrassed that this jackass is still on their payroll, much less on their airwaves.Featured Image: Screenshot | 1 |
The nationwide depression among democrats, specifically Hillary supporters, has not declined much since the initial election day devastation occurred.They have now come up with a name for their plight, they re calling it Post-Election Stress Disorder. The title is a nod toward the condition that many returning veterans experience, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.PTSD is a serious disorder, it is believed to be responsible for suicides in a large number of active duty military and veterans. Every day, 22 veterans take their own lives. That s a suicide every 65 minutes. As shocking as the number is, it may actually be higher.*Some veterans are taking exception, with good reason, to liberals even insinuating that their disappointment over Hillary Clinton losing an election comes close to what is experienced on the battlefield.'Post-Election Stress Disorder': Vets take issue with new term for upset liberals https://t.co/IHrPi2CGCC pic.twitter.com/vlMe9lUqnZ Fox News (@FoxNews) February 21, 2017(Source: Fox Insider) | 1 |
Do you think this is a good idea or is this enabling the addict?Las Vegas is betting on a new approach to combat rising heroin and HIV rates: vending machines of clean needles.But the syringe exchange vending machines, a first in the United States, aren t open to just anyone walking by. They are accessible to clients of Trac-B Exchange, a program run by the Las Vegas Hard Reduction Center.And the machines don t take money. Instead, drug users scan a card and enter a unique ID number in order to vend one of the colorfully gift-wrapped boxes inside. This is a harm reduction approach, said Chelsi Cheatom, program manager for Trac-B Exchange, in an interview with NBC Las Vegas affiliate KSNV. People are already exchanging in these behaviors, and anytime someone s engaging in a behavior that could cause them some potential health side effects, we want to encourage them to reduce their risk of harm. The center worked in collaboration with the Southern Nevada Health District and the Nevada AIDS Research and Education Society (NARES) to install the new machines, which will be available at three different locations by the end of May. Each client will be limited to two kits a week; each box contains syringes, alcohol wipes, safe sex supplies, and a sharps disposal box. Providing clean needles and supplies is a proven method for limiting disease transmission in a community, said Dr. Joe Iser, Chief Health Officer of the Southern Nevada Health District, in a statement Wednesday.Nevada is the first U.S. state to launch a vending machine program for clean syringes, but the vending machine model has been in use for several years in Puerto Rico, Europe, and Australia.In 2014, a harm-reduction group installed crack pipe vending machines in Vancouver, Canada. But that program operated differently, with full access to anyone for just a quarter.Read more: NBC | 1 |
Now, some may say because Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) was born to an American citizen, even while in Canada, he is to be considered a natural born citizen. However, when looking at the Constitution in the context of the time frame that is was written, and in regards to how certain laws were to be read, that natural born status actually may not apply to the senator.Why? Because, unlike today, in 2016, when woman are considered equals among men (for the most part), when the Constitution was written by our Founders it was quite a sexist time.Legal scholar Thomas Lee from Fordham University believes that Cruz should be disqualified. And as the Washington Post describes: On this straightforward, intuitive, and deeply conservative reasoning, several prominent legal scholars have argued Cruz is arguably not a natural-born citizen. As the Founding Fathers and their contemporaries probably would have understood that phrase, the argument goes, Cruz is ineligible for the presidency not because he was born in Canada, but because he was born in Canada to a Cuban father. Furthermore: Under King Edward III, who reigned from 1327 to 1377, England expanded this definition to include the children of ambassadors and soldiers who were serving the monarch overseas. In the centuries to come, Parliament modified the definition further to include the children of private English subjects who happened to be abroad.In the late 18th century, though, that definition did not include English mothers who were traveling. If they conceived children with foreign men, it was assumed those children would not be loyal English subjects and were not considered natural born. Yikes! Looks like Cruz isn t a natural born citizen after all. Well, at least if we go by the United States Constitution as it was originally written and intended. Which, strict constitutional conservatives like a certain Sen. Ted Cruz claim so adamantly to be. He might as well excuse himself from the presidential race right now. Unless, of course, he s not a strict constitutionalist and doesn t want to abide by the Founding Fathers original intent.HOW. DARE. HE?!Truth be told, we really don t know the Founding Fathers true intention, and can only go by how natural born was defined in the era that the phrase was first prescribed. Everything else is hearsay and interpreted to fit specific agendas (such as, wanting to allow a Canadian born to a Cuban dissident to be President of the United States). Sure, his mother was an American citizen, but if we are to abide by the law as originally intended, this surely may disqualify Cruz. All because the Founding Fathers were harshly sexist.How much do you want to bet Ted Cruz wishes he was a women s rights activist now? Oops.Featured image: Gage Skidmore (Flickr) | 1 |
Trump s new UN Ambassador Nikki Haley just held her first press conference following the UN Security Council s monthly meeting on Middle East issues, and this was NO ordinary press conference. After watching this video, it s easy to see why President Trump chose her to represent the US in hopes of redefining our support for democracy in the Middle East, while identifying nations who support terrorism. Here s an excerpt of her speech to the press: The Security Council just finished its regular monthly meeting on Middle East issues. It s the first meeting like that that I ve attended, and I have to say it was a bit strange. The Security Council is supposed to discuss how to maintain international peace and security. But in our meeting on the Middle East, the discussion was not about Hezbollah s illegal build up of rockets in Lebanon. It was not about the money and weapons Iran supplies to terrorists. It was not about how we defeat ISIS. It was not about how we hold Bashar Assad accountable for the slaughter of hundreds and thousands of civilians. No, instead the meeting focused on criticizing Israel, the one true democracy in the Middle East. I am new around here, but I understand that s how the council has operated month after month for decades. I am here to say the United States will not turn a blind eye to this anymore. I am here to underscore the iron-clad support of the United States for Israel. A star is born is our reaction to the first press briefing by President Trump s new ambassador at the United Nations. The ex-governor of South Carolina was ridiculed by the Left when the president first sent her nomination up to the Hill, owing to her alleged lack of foreign policy chops. She certainly rang the wake up gong for that crowd this morning, after emerging from her first Security Council monthly meeting devoted to the Middle East. Tough as nails but with a smile and a layer of Southern charm.The ambassador had just come from the regular monthly Security Council on Middle East issues. She said it was her first such meeting, and it was a bit strange. The Security Council, she said, is supposed to discuss how to maintain international peace and security. But the meeting, she said, was not about Hezbollah s illegal buildup of rockets in Lebanon, it was not about the money and weapons Iran provides to terrorists, it was not how we defeat ISIS, it was not how we hold Beshar al-Assad accountable for the slaughter of thousands of civilians. No, she said, instead the meeting focused on criticizing Israel, the one true democracy in the Middle East. I am new around here, but I understand that s how the Council has operated month after month for decades. I am here to say the United States will not turn a blind eye to this anymore. I am here to underscore to the ironclad support of the United States for Israel. I am here to emphasize that the United States is determined to stand up to the U.N. s anti-Israel bias. The ambassador made clear that the Trump administration will not support the kind of resolution from which the Obama administration s ambassador Samantha Power shamefully abstained, though Mrs. Haley was too polite to name the humiliated Ms. Power. The outrageously biased resolutions from the Security Council and the General Assembly only make peace harder to attain by discouraging one of the parties from going to the negotiating table. Incredibly, Mrs. Haley said, the U.N. department of political affairs has an entire division devoted entirely to Palestinian affairs. Imagine that. There is no division devoted to illegal missile launches form North Korea. There is no division devoted to the world s number one state sponsor of terror, Iran. The prejudiced approach to Israeli-Palestinian issues does the peace process no favors, and it bears no relationship to the reality of the world around us. The double standards are breathtaking. The ambassador warned that it is the U.N. s anti-Israel bias that is long overdue for change, and said America will not hesitate to speak out in defense of its friend in Israel. All this was going on while the press was questioning President Trump on what he was going to do about anti-Semitism. If his ambassador to the world body is any example, the answer is plenty. She has the principles of a Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the grit of a John Bolton, and the star power of a Jeane Kirkpatrick, and in her first press briefing she certainly made her point. Editorial of The New York Sun | 1 |
HAVANA (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro arrived in Cuba on Thursday evening in a surprise visit to bring a donation of goods after Hurricane Irma wreaked havoc on the Caribbean island, state-run media there said on Friday. Cuban President Raul Castro received Maduro at the Havana airport, state-run television showed. The two countries are close ideological and strategic allies against what they call U.S. imperialism. This aid will contribute to making up for the damage caused by Hurricane Irma, state-run radio station Radio Reloj said. Cuba and Venezuela became strategic allies in 2000 with the rise to power of Socialist Hugo Chavez in the South American country, which holds the world s largest oil reserves but is undergoing a major economic crisis. An agreement to exchange oil for medical and other technical services underlies their economic relationship and continues despite a drop in oil deliveries by Venezuela and payments to Cuba for services. Millions in Venezuela are suffering from food shortages and soaring inflation. | 0 |
(Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said on Monday he would nominate retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, a presidential rival-turned-supporter to serve as Department of Housing and Urban Development secretary. Below are people mentioned as contenders for senior roles as Trump works to form his administration before taking office on Jan. 20, according to Reuters sources and media reports. See the end of list for posts already filled. * Mitt Romney, 2012 Republican presidential nominee and former Massachusetts governor * Rudy Giuliani, Republican former mayor of New York City * Bob Corker, Republican U.S. senator from Tennessee and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee * David Petraeus, retired general and former CIA director who pleaded guilty to mishandling classified information that he shared with his biographer, with whom he was having an affair * Jon Huntsman, former Republican Utah governor and ambassador to China under President Barack Obama, ran for 2012 Republican presidential nomination in 2012 * James Stavridis, retired Navy Admiral * John Bolton, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush, foreign policy adviser to 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney * Rex Tillerson, president and chief executive officer of Exxon Mobil * Joe Manchin, Democratic U.S. Senator of West Virginia * Dana Rohrabacher, Republican U.S. Representative of California and senior member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs * Michael McCaul, Republican U.S. representative from Texas and chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee * David Clarke, Milwaukee County sheriff and vocal Trump supporter * Retired Marine Corps General John Kelly, former leader of Southern Command * Joe Arpaio, who lost his bid for re-election as Maricopa County, Arizona sheriff, and has campaigned for Trump * Kris Kobach, Kansas secretary of state * Frances Townsend, who was homeland security and counterterrorism adviser to Republican President George W. Bush * Jeff Holmstead, energy lawyer, former EPA official during George W. Bush administration * Robert Grady, venture capitalist, partner in private equity firm Gryphon Investors * Leslie Rutledge, Republican Arkansas attorney general * Carol Comer, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management * Scott Pruitt, Republican Oklahoma attorney general * Kevin Cramer, Republican U.S. representative from North Dakota * Robert Grady, venture capitalist, partner in private equity firm Gryphon Investors * Heidi Heitkamp, Democratic U.S. senator from North Dakota * Joe Manchin, Democratic U.S. senator from West Virginia * Gary Cohn, president of Goldman Sachs Group Inc * Larry Nichols, co-founder of Devon Energy Corp * James Connaughton, CEO of Nautilus Data Technologies and a former environmental adviser to President George W. Bush * Rick Perry, former Republican Texas governor * Forrest Lucas, founder of oil products company Lucas Oil * Heidi Heitkamp, Democratic U.S. senator from North Dakota * Robert Grady, venture capitalist, partner in Gryphon * Cathy McMorris Rodgers, U.S. representative from Washington state and House Republican Conference chair * Sarah Palin, former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee * Jan Brewer, former Republican Arizona governor * Mary Fallin, Republican Oklahoma governor * Ray Washburne, CEO of investment company Charter Holdings * U.S. Navy Admiral Mike Rogers, director of the National Security Agency * Ronald Burgess, retired U.S. Army lieutenant general and former Defense Intelligence Agency chief * Robert Cardillo, director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency * Pete Hoekstra, former Republican U.S. representative from Michigan * Rudy Giuliani, former NYC mayor * Dan DiMicco, former CEO of steel producer Nucor Corp * Andrew Puzder, CEO of CKE Restaurants * Lou Barletta, Republican U.S. representative from Pennsylvania * Victoria Lipnic, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission member and former Labor Department official during the George W. Bush administration * Dr. Ben Carson, former 2016 Republican presidential candidate and retired neurosurgeon * Gary Cohn, Goldman president * Mick Mulvaney, Republican U.S. representative from South Carolina * Scott Brown, former Republican U.S. senator from Massachusetts * Sarah Palin, former Alaska governor * Jeff Miller, former Republican U.S. representative from Florida who was chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee The Trump transition team confirmed the president-elect would choose from a list of 21 names he drew up during his campaign, including Republican U.S. Senator Mike Lee of Utah and William Pryor, a federal judge with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. * Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus * Steve Bannon, former head of the conservative website Breitbart News * Jeff Sessions, Republican U.S. senator from Alabama and senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee (subject to Senate confirmation) * Republican U.S. Representative Mike Pompeo from Kansas (subject to Senate confirmation) * Michael Flynn, retired Army lieutenant general and former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency * Nikki Haley, Republican South Carolina governor (subject to Senate confirmation) * Betsy DeVos, Republican donor and former chair of the Michigan Republican Party (subject to Senate confirmation) * Tom Price, Republican U.S. representative from Georgia, orthopedic surgeon (subject to Senate confirmation) * Elaine Chao, former labor secretary and deputy transportation secretary under Republican Presidents George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush, respectively (subject to Senate confirmation). Chao is married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell * Steven Mnuchin, former Goldman executive and Trump’s campaign finance chairman (subject to Senate confirmation) * Wilbur Ross, billionaire investor, chairman of Invesco Ltd subsidiary WL Ross & Co (subject to Senate confirmation) * James Mattis, retired Marine Corps general (subject to Senate confirmation) * Ben Carson, retired neurosurgeon and former Republican presidential candidate | 0 |
A man shouting Allahu Akbar has stabbed two women to death with a butcher s knife before being gunned down by soldiers in Marseille.The victims, aged 17 and 20, suffered horrific injuries during the frenzied attack, with one slashed in the throat and the other stabbed in the chest and stomach.Eyewitnesses told how a man dressed in black launched himself at the two women, who screamed for their lives as others ran for safety.The assailant was gunned down by soldiers who were on patrol inside Saint Charles train station at the time as part of France s ongoing state of emergency.The suspect, thought to be aged 25 to 30, was known to authorities for common law crimes while analysis of his fingerprints came up with several aliases.Photographs from the scene showed a woman lying on the ground and armed police standing over the attacker. A white sheet was later placed over his body.In a tweet, President Emmanuel Macron said: Deeply outraged by this barbaric act, in pain with the families and relatives of the victims of Marseille. I hail the Operation Sentinelle soldiers and the police forces who reacted with extreme calmness and efficiency. Marseille mayor Jean-Claude Gaudin said he believed the incident to be a terrorist attack , while interior minister G rard Collomb said it could be related to terror.A police source added: [ The stabbings were] frenzied and took place in front of lots of witnesses. The man first shouted threats and then launched into the two women. The two were killed by a knife, and then soldiers on anti-terrorism duties intervened. They shot the man dead. He added that the suspect shouted Allahu Akbar Arab for God is the Greatest during the attack.He was estimated to be aged between 25 to 30 years and no had no identification papers on him.The soldiers were part of Operation Sentinel, a wide-ranging security operation involving armed patrols dispersed all over France.It is thought to be the latest in a long series of Islamic State atrocities across France and the rest of Europe. -Daily Mail | 1 |
An employee of Safeside Tactical in Roanoke, Virginia accidentally shot herself in the leg on Thursday, May 6 during a private event being held inside the gun store. According to local station WDBJ7, the shooting took place just before noon, while the business was closed to the public.Roanoke City Police Department and Roanoke Fire EMS were called to the scene. The shooting victim was transferred to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, where she is being treated for non life-threatening injuries.According to a statement released by the company, the injured employee works in an administrative position.The company stated: All of our employees undergo required firearm safety training upon hiring, and this unfortunate incident shows that even experienced firearm owners must be ever-vigilant and aware of the responsibilities associated with safe handling. According to the NRA, guns make for a safer society. Following that line of reasoning, a gun shop should be the safest place in the world. This is just one of many incidents where people have been accidentally or purposely injured by a firearm while surrounded by guns.On January 9, 2015, for example, four people were shot inside a gun store in Shawnee, Kansas.A few months later, a Fayetteville, NC man shot himself in the leg while attending a gun show.In November 2015, two men were shot at a gun show in Idaho when a vendor accidentally fired a rifle. In January of this year, somewhere between one and three people were shot at a gun show in Ohio. Authorities were unable to determine the exact number of people who were shot at that event.Also in January of this year, two people were killed and two others injured during a father-son shootout at a gun store in Mississippi.All of the people involved in these shootings were surrounded by guns when they were injured or killed. Contrary to what the NRA says, being surrounded by guns does not make a person less likely to get shot. In fact, the opposite is true. The more guns that people have access to, the greater their risk of being injured or killed by one.Featured image via Ratha Grimes via Flickr cc 2.0 | 1 |
(Reuters) - The Department of Labor on Wednesday released a long-awaited rule requiring companies to disclose when they seek advice about countering union campaigns, which several business groups vowed to challenge in court. The so-called persuader rule, first proposed in 2011, amends the federal Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act to require detailed reports from employers and their advisers, including the types of consulting or legal services rendered and any fees paid. For more than 50 years, the reporting law required such disclosure from employers only when their lawyers or consultants interacted directly with workers. The Department of Labor said in a memo accompanying the rule that workers would be better prepared to make decisions about unionizing if they knew who was behind their employers’ arguments. The rule is backed by major unions, including the Service Employees International Union and the AFL-CIO. Activities covered by the rule include hiring consultants or lawyers to create materials and policies for organizing anti-union campaigns or script managers’ communications with employees. The proposal has come under attack from groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers, which say it would stifle employers’ free speech rights to counter union organizing, and the American Bar Association, which says it could interfere with attorney-client privilege. The rule is the latest salvo in the business community’s battle with the Obama administration over labor policy. Business groups compared the proposal with rules adopted last year by the National Labor Relations Board to speed up the union election process, saying both provide little benefit to workers while burdening employers. Several business groups on Wednesday said they would probably sue over the persuader rule. They said it could discourage some companies from consulting lawyers at all, potentially leading them to commit inadvertent labor violations during union campaigns. “The DOL must have created this rule with the real intent of assisting organized labor because they are the only ones who stand to gain anything from this,” said Robert Cresanti, president and chief executive officer of the International Franchise Association, one of the groups that says it is considering a court challenge. Pushback was also expected from Republicans in Congress. Representative John Kline of Minnesota, who chairs the House Education and the Workforce Committee, said in a statement on Wednesday that the rule was unfair because it did not impose the same disclosure requirements on unions. | 0 |
One of Donald Trump s favorite punching bags is CNN. He even once tweeted a GIF image of himself punching a person with a CNN logo superimposed over the head indicating that he d like to enact violence against CNN s reporters. Then there was the time he tweeted the Trump Train roaring over CNN. Now, he s back at it this time suggesting that fake CNN should be the ones representing America to the world, and that they are doing a bad job. Here is that tweet:.@FoxNews is MUCH more important in the United States than CNN, but outside of the U.S., CNN International is still a major source of (Fake) news, and they represent our Nation to the WORLD very poorly. The outside world does not see the truth from them! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 25, 2017Of course, it is beneath the dignity of most people to respond to a moronic buffoon like Trump under normal circumstances. However, he is currently squatting in the White House, and has his tiny orange hands on the levers of power not to mention the nuclear codes so they have to stoop to a Trumpian level when personally attacked. However, being, well, you know, FIT to be doing the job they are doing, the good folks at CNN Communications fired back at Trump, and their response is nothing short of perfect:It's not CNN's job to represent the U.S to the world. That's yours. Our job is to report the news. #FactsFirst CNN Communications (@CNNPR) November 25, 2017BOOM! Couldn t have asked for a sicker burn than this. And they are right of course especially the part about #FactsFirst. Trump has a problem with the truth, as we all well know. That s what makes what the CNN Communications people replied so fabulous. It is the ultimate truth something the likes of the pathological orange liar that is Donald Trump knows nothing about.Featured image via Andrew Burton/Getty Images | 1 |
BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - Slovak government leaders agreed on Friday to amend a coalition agreement to lure back a junior party which withdrew its support for the alliance three weeks ago, provoking a political crisis. The Slovak National Party (SNS), junior member in a three-party coalition, canceled the coalition agreement on Aug. 7, calling for a new deal that would give it more say in decision-making. Now leaders of the three parties Prime Minister Robert Fico of leftist Smer, ethnic-Hungarian party Most-Hid leader Bela Bugar and SNS s Andrej Danko have agreed to hold regular weekly meetings to meet the SNS s appeal for better communication within the coalition. Danko also complained on Thursday that co-ruling with Fico s Smer was difficult because both parties address the same voters. According to opinion poll by Polis agency, SNS support fell to 7.2 percent in August from 8.6 percent in March 2016 election. The government needs the votes of all three coalition parties to maintain a majority in the 150-seat parliament and Fico struck a conciliatory tone on Friday. There is no alternative to this government. We have to find new ways to communicate, to understand each other better, Fico told journalists. SNS has argued for more government investment to revitalize thermal spa resorts and wants a national airline to be set up while Smer says spending must not endanger reaching a balanced budget planned for 2019. Opposition lawmakers have alleged the SNS pulled out of the coalition to divert attention from a row over the distribution of 300 million euros ($351.69 million) in EU subsidies by the education ministry. The conflict escalated last week when Fico demanded Education Minister Peter Plavcan s resignation over the alleged mismanagement of the subsidies managed by his department. Slovak media have reported that the ministry chose several companies with no history in research or innovation as recipients of EU subsidies aimed at supporting science. SNS leader Andrej Danko said the allegations of the misappropriation of funds were unfounded but agreed to replace Plavcan. | 0 |
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela s government and opposition will resume efforts to hold dialogue, the third attempt in a year by the administration of President Nicolas Maduro and his adversaries to break up a bitter political stalemate. Previous dialogue efforts have ended in recriminations between the two sides and no concrete progress amid a dire economic crisis that has led to increased malnutrition and preventable diseases. Opposition leaders said that even though Maduro has previously used the talks to stall for time instead of implementing serious reform, a new round would still be needed to help ensure free and fair presidential elections, which are currently scheduled for 2018. We have developed relations in Latin America so that in the company of friendly countries and governments, we can facilitate the conditions for a presidential election, Julio Borges, president of the opposition-led National Assembly, told a news conference. The opposition in September walked away from dialogue with the ruling Socialist Party, insisting the government had not met demands including the release of imprisoned opposition activists and mechanisms to allow foreign humanitarian assistance. Legislator Luis Florido, spokesman for the opposition in the dialogue process, said the opposition would seek a new elections council and would push for presidential elections. He added that Paraguay, Mexico and Chile would accompany the process. Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez said via Twitter, the dialogue continues on Nov 15 in the Dominican Republic. The two sides in September held exploratory meetings with the backing of Dominican President Danilo Medina. | 0 |
Donald Trump, Jr was such a natural in his delivery of a very powerful speech at the RNC. He hit on the topics of jobs and education but the main takeaway from his speech is his honesty when speaking about the great character of his father. | 1 |
No word on when Soros will be put on trial for paying protestors to riot or when Al Sharpton will be charged with inciting the riots with his inflammatory racist rhetoric (All comments in italics are opinions of 100% FED Up!)According to a report from the U.S. Department of Justice, police responding to race-related protests and riots in Ferguson, Missouri, last summer made a series of missteps, including antagonizing crowds with attack dogs and military-style tactics.Yeah..because the people inciting riots, burning down businesses and threatening anyone who dared to drive through Ferguson are probably pretty credible witnesses when it comes to missteps by the Ferguson Police Department. The report, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters, is a draft summary of a document the DOJ plans to release in the coming weeks evaluating law enforcement actions. A Justice Department spokesperson said the after-action assessment will convey the findings and lessons learned. The report focuses on the tactics of police from Ferguson, St. Louis, St. Louis County, and the Missouri Highway Patrol. All four agencies tried to quell the protests and riots that broke out after a white Ferguson police officer shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, on Aug. 9, 2014. We are always willing to engage in constructive dialogue about best practices, the St. Louis department said in a statement. We are interested in the final report to identify what we did well and what we may need to improve upon. How improving number of arrests made for arsonists/rioters who burn down businesses to make a statement? The Justice Department draft report, which covers actions over the 17 days following the shooting, found that police lacked effective protocols, were not adequately trained, struggled with communication and coordination, and made mistakes that sometimes heightened tensions.The use of dogs for crowd control during the Ferguson protests incited fear and anger in the crowd, according to the report, while the use of teargas on people without warning was also a problem.In addition, police were inconsistent in using force and making arrests, and some officers removed their nameplates to evade accountability for their actions, the Justice Department said.The report also criticized police for positioning snipers atop armored vehicles to monitor the crowd through rifle sights, saying the tactic served only to exacerbate tensions. Yeah because why would the cops in Ferguson be concerned about their own safety when clowns like this are openly walking around advocating for violence against Officer Wilson?It found that law enforcement agencies set a negative tone with the media by initially offering limited public information about Brown s shooting. The report also said police inhibited protesters constitutional right to free speech.In all, the report lists 45 findings along with recommendations for improvements.Via: Reuters | 1 |
Conservative Christian leaders who still support Donald Trump despite his sexism and remarks about sexual assault are feeling the wrath of Christian women right now.When Donald Trump was caught bragging about groping women, hitting on teen girls, and accused of sexual assault, conservative Christians like Tony Perkins, Ralph Reed, and Pat Robertson all said that they continue to support the Republican nominee, thus proving that they care more about power than they do about morals.Indeed, the hypocrisy of conservative Christian leaders, when it comes to Trump, has been stunning to watch unfold because these men are literally giving Trump a pass. If Trump had sexually assaulted men instead of women, you can be sure Perkins and the rest of his ilk would not only be calling for Trump to be removed from the ballot, they d be calling for his execution.But because Trump assaulted and insulted women, these so-called men of God don t give a damn.And they pissed women off in the process, which is why 700 Christian women from across the country signed a letter to these male leaders calling them out for continuing to support Trump. As Christian women we are appalled by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump s recorded remarks that disparage women and condone sexual assault, the women wrote. Such language cannot be dismissed as locker room talk. Mr. Trump must offer public contrition that fully acknowledges the seriousness and depravity of his actions.The sin of misogyny has caused many of us to experience sexual assault or sexually abusive language that threatened our safety, dignity and well-being.Christian leaders cannot condone such violent speech about women as a minor mistake or an innocent attempt to be macho. These excuses teach our young people that such language is acceptable and do further harm to those who have been abused.We urge all religious leaders to preach, teach and help their communities heal from the twin sins of sexual violence and misogyny. While we are disheartened by Mr. Trump s toxic words, we believe this moment presents an opportunity to teach our daughters and sons that they are loved, and to teach all Americans how to speak out against sexually violent language.Unlike the charlatans who still support Trump and dare to call themselves Christians, these 700 women are demonstrating true Christian values.Donald Trump s words and behavior is unacceptable and should be condemned by religious leaders, not ignored or excused. Ignoring and excusing his behavior and words only sends a message to men within and outside of the congregation that it is okay to treat women like shit. But it s not okay and Donald Trump should not be allowed to be President of the United States.Any conservative Christian who still supports Trump after these latest revelations even after whining for years about how America supposedly needs a president with strong moral values in the White House, should be ashamed of themselves because they not only revealed themselves as hypocrites, they disgraced their church and their God.Featured Image: Dashboard Jesus via Amazon | 1 |
The week of Donald Trump s election, white nationalists celebrated.In the bowels of the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, three blocks from the White House, members of the so-called alt-right movement gathered for what they had supposed would be an autopsy to plot their grim future under a Clinton administration. Instead, they celebrated the unexpected march of their white nationalist ideas toward the mainstream, portraying Mr. Trump s win as validation that the tide had turned in their fight to preserve white culture. It s been an awakening, Richard B. Spencer, who is credited with coining the term alt-right, said at the gathering on Saturday. This is what a successful movement looks like. Source: NY TimesWhile they still agree with Trump s agenda, or at least what they think Trump s agenda is, they aren t celebrating anymore. They aren t happy with many of Trump s cabinet picks. Right after the election, I think it was euphoria, says Kevin MacDonald, a retired evolutionary psychology professor at California State, Long Beach and another white nationalist mainstay. But as we get into it now, there s more trepidation. MacDonald says Trump s appointments also have rattled the movement, especially his propensity for tapping rich Wall Street bankers. These are globalists in general. They love free trade, they love immigration big red flags for us, he says.Source: NPRSo odd that a businessman who brags about his international business ventures would hire globalists. Who could have seen that coming? Anyone who paid attention, that s who, but cheer up our neo-nazi brethren, there s hope for you still (just not for the rest of us). Trump still has his (bad pun ahead) Trump card: Jeff Sessions, who s been tapped for Attorney General. They also like Rex Tillerson, Trump s pick for Secretary of State.MacDonald hopes Sessions, Trump s nominee for attorney general, will clamp down on immigration. White nationalists also like the nominee for secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, who s seen as being close to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, a darling of the alt-right.While Trump s cabinet might be a little too globalist for these mouth breathers, there s still plenty for them to love. There s little chance under this Republican government that anyone other than white men will make any sort of advances.Featured image via Drew Angerer/Getty Images | 1 |
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Former Russian economy minister Alexei Ulyukayev was found guilty of soliciting a $2 million bribe and sentenced to eight years in jail on Friday, in a case that has shone a rare light on infighting among the elite ahead of a presidential election. Ulyukayev, the most senior serving official to be arrested in decades, was found guilty of accepting the bribe last year from Rosneft (ROSN.MM) chief executive Igor Sechin, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin. Sechin took part in an elaborate sting operation on Nov. 14 2016 involving Russia s FSB security service which ended in the arrest of Ulyukayev, 61, the latest twist in what several sources said was a Kremlin turf war. People have ambitions and they are fighting over them, said one senior source who knows several of the people involved in the case. Ulyukayev, who denied the charges, said he d been set up. He said he thought the bag with the bribe was a gift of expensive alcohol. He said he would appeal and a source close to Ulyukayev said his lawyers hoped Putin might pardon him if that failed. The case s denouement comes just months before a March presidential election which incumbent Putin is expected to win. If, as expected, he is re-elected he will be 71 at the end of his new term and is barred by the constitution from running for a third consecutive term. With that deadline looming, turf wars take on extra importance because they could help decide who runs Russia after Putin. The verdict and the harsher-than-expected sentence Ulyukayev was widely forecast to get a suspended sentence is likely to be interpreted as a sign that Sechin s place at Putin s side is safe and that he is increasingly influential, something that has alarmed other members of the elite. We re dealing with a court that has been hijacked by personal interests, Gleb Pavlovsky, an ex-Putin adviser, wrote on social media. State prosecutors had said that Ulyukayev had asked for the bribe in exchange for approving the sale of the state-controlled oil company Bashneft (BANE.MM) to Rosneft, something he initially opposed. Boris Neporozhniy, a state prosecutor, hailed Friday s verdict as a sign of the supremacy of the law, while a spokesman for Rosneft, the oil firm Sechin runs, said Ulyukayev had been caught red-handed and that the evidence against him had been rock solid. Before his arrest, Ulyukayev had been one of the leading figures in a faction of economic liberals who argued for less state control over the economy. Sechin is widely seen as the main champion of the opposite view, that the state should consolidate its grip, particularly over the energy sector that provides a large share of Russia s state revenue through its two biggest companies, Rosneft and Gazprom. He is backed by others, many of them with a background in state security, who share his view. Two sources said the way Ulyukayev s trial had been conducted showed that his rivals for influence in the ruling elite had used the trial to try to push back against him. They did that by lobbying officials for the trial to be held in public, and by leaking elements of the prosecution case to the media, the two sources said. Sechin has publicly opposed the court s decision to release audio tapes of the sting operation. The fact that the trial has been held in public and not behind closed doors showed the limits of Sechin s influence, the sources said. Ulyukayev, who was handcuffed and placed in a courtroom cage after the verdict, looked shocked and said he had been treated unfairly. Of course it s unjust, he told reporters. When one reporter pointed out he d received the minimum custodial sentence for the charges, Ulyukayev held up his handcuffed hands and said: You call this the minimum? When asked about the case on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment. Former Russian finance minister Alexei Kudrin, an adviser to Putin and a strong advocate of less state control over the economy, strongly criticised the verdict. It s a terrible, groundless verdict, Kudrin said on social media. It s weak work by the investigation... Many face such injustice these days. | 0 |
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated U.S. President Donald Trump for his speech against Iran on Friday, seeing an opportunity to change the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran as well as Iranian conduct in the region. He (Trump) boldly confronted Iran s terrorist regime (and) created an opportunity to fix this bad deal, to roll back Iran s aggression and to confront its criminal support of terrorism, Netanyahu said in a Facebook video. | 0 |
Obama s ICE Director Sarah Saldana is not the only one determined to help Obama fundamentally transform America. In 2013, Border Agents pleaded with Congress to not pass the Gang of Eight bill. They warned that passing it would make America less safe. ICE Agents warned:The 1,200 page substitute bill before the Senate will provide instant legalization and a path to citizenship to gang members and other dangerous criminal aliens, and handcuff ICE officers from enforcing immigration laws in the future. It provides no means of effectively enforcing visa overstays which account for almost half of the nation s illegal immigration crisis.WE WERE WARNEDU.S. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL), a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, voiced his objections to Sarah Saldana s nomination in 2014 when he submitted the following remarks for the Congressional record on the nomination of Sarah Saldana as Assistant Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE): Mr. President, I rise to speak in opposition to the nomination of Sarah Saldana. Ms. Salda a has been nominated to head the nation s top immigration law enforcement agency, which has been at the epicenter of this administration s refusal to enforce our nation s immigration laws.When asked whether she rejects the President s unlawful action to unilaterally grant legal residence and work permits to 5 million individuals illegally in the country, Ms. Salda a, currently the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, responded no. Her answer reflects a remarkable disregard for the rule of law that demonstrates that, if confirmed, she will continue the pattern of lawlessness perpetuated by the President and the political leadership of the Department of Homeland Security.Breitbart News- President Obama s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director tells lawmakers that no consequences are planned for sanctuary cities until Congress first passes comprehensive immigration reform. Sarah Salda a testified before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on criminal alien violence.After hearing emotional testimony from families torn apart by illegal immigrant murderers, Republican members of Congress grilled two administration witnesses: Leon Rodriquez, Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and Sarah Salda a, Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Both Rodriquez and Salda a have been tasked with carrying out President Obama s executive amnesty for so-called DREAMers, which includes work permits and medical benefits for low-income illegal aliens funded by citizen taxpayers.Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) repeatedly pressed Salda a on why the Administration was taking no action against sanctuary jurisdictions that refuse to turn over dangerous criminal aliens from their prisons and jails to federal law officers. Salda a replied that Congress would first have to pass comprehensive immigration reform. Vitter: This has been going on for years and you still are not prepared to say that there is ever going to be any negative consequence to those [sanctuary] jurisdictions. When is that going to change? Salda a: I presume when you all address comprehensive immigration reform; perhaps it can be addressed there. Vitter described Salda a s answer as ridiculous and kept pressing: And absent Congress passing that [Senate immigration] bill, that you and the Obama Administration prefer, you don t think right now we can stop sanctuary cities from flaunting federal law? You don t think right now there can be any negative consequences when they do not properly cooperate under existing federal law with immigration enforcement? Salda a gave a muddled reply: That s what I understand that all of you are working on. Ironically, an immigration bill pushed by Senators Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) would have given amnesty to many of the criminal aliens the families who testified today wish to see deported. As Chris Crane, president of the National Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Council, noted at the time:Senator Rubio left unchanged legislative provisions that he himself admitted to us in private were detrimental, flawed and must be changed. Legislation written behind closed doors by handpicked special interest groups which put their political agendas and financial gains before sound and effective law and the welfare and safety of the American public. As a result, the 1,200 page substitute bill before the Senate will provide instant legalization and a path to citizenship to gang members and other dangerous criminal aliens, and handcuff ICE officers from enforcing immigration laws in the future. It provides no means of effectively enforcing visa overstays which account for almost half of the nation s illegal immigration crisis.Senator Grassley offered an amendment that would that would have barred gang members, such as the notorious MS-13 gang members who have wreaked havoc across the country, from getting amnesty but that amendment was defeated in the Judiciary Committee. The final bill 68 senators voted for therefore expressly made amnesty available to gang members an amnesty that included access to green cards, welfare and the prize of U.S. citizenship.As The Washington Post reported at the time, this was part of a coordinated effort by members of the Gang of Eight to quash amendments that might have damaged the likelihood of the bill s speedy passage:The eight met in private before each committee hearing, hashing out which amendments they would support and which oppose as a united coalition. Senate aides said amendments were rejected if either side felt they would shatter the deal.Politico confirmed this report:During the Judiciary Committee markup in May, the Gang routinely met to decide which amendments they would support or oppose. In one meeting, the senators thought they had all agreed to defeat a proposal from Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) to require a biometric exit and entry at points of entry before undocumented immigrants could secure green cards, according to one Senate Democratic aide.The day the bill passed the Senate, National Citizenship and Immigration Services Council president Ken Palinkas and president of the National ICE Council Chris Crane, who together represent more than 20,000 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees on the front line of immigration enforcement, issued this joint statement:ICE officers and USCIS adjudications officers have pleaded with lawmakers not to adopt this bill, they wrote, The Schumer-Rubio-Corker-Hoeven proposal will make Americans less safe and it will ensure more illegal immigration especially visa overstays in the future. It provides legalization for thousands of dangerous criminals while making it more difficult for our officers to identity public safety and national security threats. The legislation was guided from the beginning by anti-enforcement special interests and, should it become law, will have the desired effect of these groups: blocking immigration enforcement. This is anti-public safety bill and an anti-law enforcement bill.Immigration and the transformation of America is shaping up to be the most passionate issue of the 2016 race.When Governor. Scott Walker (R-WI) was question by a DREAMer during a recent campaign stop and said illegal aliens seeking to become Americans needed to return home. He also suggested at the same stop that foreign worker visas should be limited when American jobs and wages are in danger, a position that polls well with liberals and conservatives alike.Via: Breitbart News | 1 |
BRASILIA (Reuters) - A Supreme Court injunction on Friday temporarily blocked the extradition of Cesare Battisti, an Italian left-wing former guerrilla convicted of murder in his country. The decision by Justice Luiz Fux prevents the Brazilian government from extraditing Battisti until the full court can rule on habeas corpus request from Battisti s lawyers, a ruling that is expected within two weeks. The former guerrilla was briefly arrested this month when trying to leave the country. Battisti faces life in prison in Italy, where he was convicted of four murders committed in the 1970s, when he belonged to a guerilla group called Armed Proletarians for Communism. He escaped from prison in 1981 and lived in France before fleeing to Brazil to avoid being extradited to Italy. Brazil s Supreme Court authorized Battisti s extradition in 2009, but he was not sent back to Italy because former leftist President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva granted him refugee status on his last day in office in 2010. | 0 |
Those who were shocked by the latest ABC / Washington Post goal seeking report (aka poll ) that shows Hillary opening up a 12-point lead with likely voters after the latest debate last Wednesday need to look a little further. Ironically, this poll farce was embargoed for release after 9 a.m. EST on Saturday, which made it a dominant topic of conversation on all the morning talk shows.Of course, like many of the recent polls from the likes of Reuters, ABC and The Washington Post, something curious emerges when you look just beneath the surface of the headline 12-point lead.Meanwhile, with huge variances in preference across demographics one can easily see how simple it is to rig a poll by over indexing to one group vs. another. While the pollsters release the the split of the sample pool by political affiliation, they do not share the split by any of the following demographics which are just as important to determining the outcome of the poll. Zero Hedge METHODOLOGY This ABC News poll was conducted by landline and cellular telephone Oct. 20-22, 2016, in English and Spanish, among a random national sample of 874 likely voters. Results have a margin of sampling error of 3.5 points, including the design effect. Partisan divisions are 36-27-31 percent, Democrats Republicans Independents. As we ve pointed out numerous times in the past, in response to Reuters efforts to tweak their polls, per the The Pew Research Center, at least since 1992, democrats have never enjoyed a 9-point registration gap despite the folks at ABC and The Washington Post somehow convincing themselves it was a reasonable margin.Rush Limbaugh weighed in on the suspicious outlier poll that came out on Saturday night: I don t care what network you watch, maybe with Fox exempted, although certain places at Fox you ll find the same sentiment. It s over. And they all cite these polls. They all cite the polls that show Hillary up 10 to 12 points. And even take the low point at 10, I just saw somebody on CNN, a conservative Republican say, At 10 points with two weeks it s over, there s no way you can reverse that, it s history. So they all believe the polls. In fact, their belief in the polls is biblical. I think these people have a greater confidence and faith in the polls than they do in the Bible. So it s over. And, furthermore, to show you just how over it is, the Democrats are actually now in red states where Trump may win those states, but they re in there and they re working down the ballot and they re gonna win back the House, they re gonna win back the Senate, and Chuck-U Schumer is gonna end up a majority leader in the Senate.And you Republicans, you are toast, do you understand? You Republicans, it s toast, and you Republicans had better start doing your postmortems right now, and you had better starting figuring out why this happened. You lost this because you saw to it that Trump was nominated, and if you weren t for Trump, you better find out who made it possible for Trump to be nominated, and you better do something about those people. Americans who are sick and tired of a corrupt media and the corrupt politicians they prop up, need to ignore these manufactured polls. Instead of wasting time reading this drivel, Americans need to be out knocking on doors and contacting friends, to explain to them why we need a President like Trump to DRAIN THE SWAMP!There has never been a better time to ignore Hillary s media and stay focused on the prize | 1 |
The notoriously violent MS-13 street gang, known for slashing victims to death with knives and machetes, is reviving its brutal brand of violence to reassert its dominance in the Washington metropolitan area with authorities linking at least eight homicides in Virginia and Maryland in 2016 to the gang.The recent uptick in violence can be traced to a failed gang truce in El Salvador and, in part, to a surge of unaccompanied Central American children who entered the United States in 2015 to flee violence at home, according to gang analysts.There is concern over the degree to which MS-13, also known as Mara Salvatrucha, has exploited an immigration policy that over the past two years has allowed waves of migrant children to enter the United States.In one of the eight recent killings with MS-13 ties, three young men were charged in connection with the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old in Loudoun County, Virginia. They were identified as having entered the United States illegally in 2013 as unaccompanied children who later skipped immigration hearings.-Washington TimesWatch Tucker Carlson tell viewers that MS-13 is a far greater threat than ISIS: The police commissioner on Long Island s Suffolk County declared war on the MS-13 gang Thursday after the discovery of four mutilated bodies in a Central Islip parkThe slayings are a stark reminder that we are in the midst of a war, Timothy Sini said, standing across the street from where the bodies of four young men were found Wednesday night. We re going to continue that war. MS-13, already blamed for six Long Island slayings, emerged as the prime suspects because of the brutality of the executions.Wednesday s discovery came six weeks after 13 alleged MS-13 gang members were indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice for murders.MS-13 was founded in Los Angeles by immigrants seeking safe haven from a civil war in their native El Salvador during the 1980s. This is a long-term war, Sini said. And make no mistake about it, it s a war. UPI | 1 |
Rocker Ted Nugent says he s seen the light after the Virgina shooting and claims he will stop with the toxic rhetoric he is famous for using to attack Democrats.In an interview with 77WABC Radio on Thursday, Nugent claimed that he has turned over a new leaf and reevaluated his language. He swore he will from now on refrain from saying anything that can be interpreted as condoning or referencing violence. At the tender age of 69, my wife has convinced me I just can t use those harsh terms. I cannot and will not and I encourage even my friends/enemies on the left, in the Democrat and liberal world, that we have got to be civil to each other. Ted is famous for attacking Democrats with violent suggestions that could be thought of as threats. He has been particularly harsh on Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. He once suggested that the former president suck on my machine gun and referred to him as a piece of shit. He also disgustingly suggested that Obama should be lynched. He was very horrendous towards Hillary Clinton, especially when she was running for president. When making references to his guns he suggested she ride one of these into the sunset, you worthless b*tch. Well, Ted, let s hope you are serious about changing your violent tune. Any public figure who has called out for violence against any politician now has blood on their hands.Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Webster Public Relations | 1 |
LONDON (Reuters) - Iran s Tasnim news agency reported on Friday that the country had unveiled a new ballistic missile with range of 2,000 km (1,200 miles), capable of carrying several warheads. The report, which gave few other details, quoted the head of the Revolutionary Guards aerospace division, Amirali Hajizadeh, speaking on the sidelines of a military parade in Tehran. | 0 |
MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian Defense Ministry on Tuesday denied allegations that its air strikes had killed civilians in Syria s Idlib province, saying that in recent days it had only bombed Islamist militant fighters in the area. Moscow said it was responding to assertions from the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which on Monday said six civilians had been killed in the province, including a woman and a child. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu criticized Moscow on Monday for the same reason, saying that recent Russian bombing in Idlib had killed civilians and moderate rebels and that this would be discussed with Russian President Vladimir Putin when he visited Turkey this week. Putin is expected to meet his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Thursday for talks on Syria. Major-General Igor Konashenkov of the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that the Russian and Syrian air forces did not bomb residential areas and accused the observatory of making up allegations and of sympathizing with radical Islamist militants. In the last few days, after drone reconnaissance and confirmation via other channels, Russian planes struck 10 terrorist targets in Idlib Province, Konashenkov said. These were militant bases, ammunition stores, armored vehicles, rocket systems, and workshops fitting out jihad jeeps which were located a long way from residential areas, he said. Konashenkov said Russia had data to confirm the accuracy of its attacks and the ministry on Tuesday published video of the strikes on Idlib to back its assertions that it had only bombed militant targets. The targets struck had taken part in a militant offensive on Sept. 18 which had surrounded 29 Russian military policemen who then had to be broken out in an operation backed by air power, he added. | 0 |
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey is launching an initiative at the United Nations to annul a decision by the United States to recognize Jerusalem as Israel s capital, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday. Erdogan was speaking two days after a Muslim leaders meeting in Istanbul condemned U.S. President Donald Trump s decision, calling on the world to respond by recognizing East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine. We will work for the annulment of this unjust decision firstly at the UN Security Council, and if a veto comes from there, the General Assembly, Erdogan told crowds gathered in the central Anatolian city of Konya via teleconference. The United States is a permanent Security Council member with veto powers, meaning any move to overturn Washington s decision at the council would certainly be blocked. Jerusalem, revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims alike, is home to Islam s third holiest site and has been at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for decades. Israel captured Arab East Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed it in an action not recognized internationally. Trump s decision broke with decades of U.S. policy and international consensus that the city s status must be left to Israeli-Palestinian talks, leading to harsh criticisms from Muslim countries and Israel s closest European allies, who have also rejected the move. A communique issued after Wednesday s summit of more than 50 Muslim countries, including U.S. allies, said they considered Trump s move to be a declaration that Washington was withdrawing from its role as sponsor of peace in the Middle East. Asked about the criticism during an interview with Israel s Makor Rishon daily, the U.S. ambassador to Israel said Trump had done what is good for America . President Trump...does not intend to reverse himself, despite the various condemnations and declarations, Ambassador David Friedman said. | 0 |
Before Supreme Court Justice Scalia s body was even cold the Republican Party vowed to stop any attempt by President Obama to nominate a replacement for his seat. Now, the Republican National Committee (RNC) is announcing that they have created a task force to do just that.According to The Hill the RNC has joined forces with an advocacy group, America Rising Squared, to attack Obama. The new obstructionist force is apparently going to launch television and radio ads, media appearances and petitions to support Senate Republicans who have vowed to not hold hearings when Obama nominates a replacement for Scalia. The group also plans to go after Democrats who are up for re-election in the Senate and the two Democratic candidates (Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton) who are running for president.RNC Chairman Reince Priebus commented on the campaign to prevent Obama from carrying out his Constitutional duties, calling it: the most comprehensive judicial response effort in our party s history We re going to hold everyone accountable and make sure Democrats have to answer to the American people for why they don t want voters to have a say in this process. What s really clear here is just how delusional the Republican Party is. They keep saying that the want to make sure we have a voice in this process as if we don t already.When we elected and re-elected Barack Obama we did so with the full knowledge that he would have the responsibility to pick a Supreme Court justice if a seat opened up. We expect him to fill the vacancies in the court and uphold the checks and balances that our founding fathers thought were so important. We elected him with the understanding that he would be president for eight years, not seven.Furthermore, I ve heard the GOP call him a lame duck president even though it is only March of his last year. A lame duck president is not at all what they seem to think it is. According to Merriam-Webster a lame duck is: an elected official or group continuing to hold political office during the period between the election and the inauguration of a successor. President Obama will not be a lame duck until after we pick a new commander-in-chief in November. So, even by their very own statements, he has an absolute right to pick the next justice for the Supreme Court. Of course, it is the GOP we are talking about and they seem to just make shit up as they go along.Featured image via Wikimedia (Obama)/ Flickr (Priebus) | 1 |
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