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VIENNA (Reuters) - The lawyer of an American-Iranian father and son jailed in Iran called on U.S. President Donald Trump to get his officials to press for the men’s release at nuclear talks with Tehran on Tuesday. An Iranian court sentenced 46-year-old Siamak Namazi and his 80-year-old father Baquer Namazi to 10 years in prison each in October on charges of spying and cooperating with the United States. The Namazis’ lawyer, Jared Genser, said he had traveled to the nuclear talks venue in Vienna with Siamak’s brother, Babak, to encourage Washington’s delegation to press the case, adding that he was worried about the detained men’s health. The lawyer said a senior administration official in the U.S. delegation had told him on Monday that the case would be raised directly during the talks on the implementation of a deal reached in 2015 to shrink Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief. A State Department spokeswoman did not comment directly on the case, but said: “We continue to use all the means at our disposal to advocate for U.S. citizens who need our assistance overseas.” Iran has not commented on the Namazis’ prison conditions but has repeatedly said that political prisoners are kept under standard condition in Evin prison with full access to medical care. “In our view, something happening to the Namazis would be devastating not just to one side but to both sides,” Genser told reporters in a hotel near the venue. “For either or both of the Namazis to die on (Trump’s) watch would be a public and catastrophic failure of his negotiating skills,” Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps detained Siamak Namazi, a businessman, in October 2015 while he was visiting family in Tehran, relatives said. The IRGC arrested his 80-year-old father, Baquer Namazi, a former Iranian provincial governor and former UNICEF official in February lat year, family members said. Soon after the sentencing and days before he won the presidential election, Trump said on Twitter: “Iran has done it again ... This doesn’t happen if I’m president!” | 0 |
Laura Loomer decided to make a trip to Brookfield, CT to see how customers at Costco were receiving Crooked Hillary at her book signing tour. Loomer is the same awesome activist who bravely stormed the stage in Central Park and disrupted the Trump assassination play (click HERE for the video), this summer. Last week, Loomer was forcibly removed from Hillary s book signing in New York. When it was her turn to have her book signed, Loomer asked Hillary questions like, Where are your 33,000 emails? and What happened to Seth Rich? (Click HERE for Hillary ambush video). Hillary s reaction was priceless.Here is Laura s video showing the reaction by customers to Hillary appearing at their local Costco for a book signing: Protesters at Hillary Clinton book signing in Brookfield, CT https://t.co/QYNtcVGlKJ Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) September 16, 2017Loomer was eventually blocked by secret service from getting too close to Hillary. Hillary clearly didn t want any more nasty videos out there exposing the truth about the questions Americans really want to hear her answer:Just showed up to @Costco for @HillaryClinton book signing and when I arrived police said @SecretService told them not to let me in. Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) September 16, 2017That moment when @HillaryClinton blocks Laura from going to Costco with secret service and she wanted to be president?? Haha. Way to go loom https://t.co/kmModmdsJ8 Joe Biggs (@Rambobiggs) September 16, 2017Costco did allow Loomer inside the store, in spite of Hillary s request to keep her away:Thank you @Costco for respecting my first amendment right and allowing me inside despite @HillaryClinton telling @SecretService to ban me! Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) September 16, 2017Loomer was told by Costco employees that they don t understand why Costco would allow her to come and that customers were canceling their memberships:A @Costco employee just told me "IDK why they even let her come. They said a lot of people have canceled their memberships. We hate her." https://t.co/c7t8TpF39o Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) September 16, 2017Hillary was strategically placed in the milk aisle and behind the toilet paper at Costco:Behind the toilet paper & yellow rope is where @HillaryClinton was signing books. Yes, #WhatHappened is in the toilet paper aisle @Costco! pic.twitter.com/37j1z6CnjD Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) September 16, 2017Could've been in the @WhiteHouse , but now @HillaryClinton is signing copies of her fiction book next to gallons of milk. #WhatHappened pic.twitter.com/Qdg276pSmL Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) September 16, 2017Here s a great video of some anti-Hillary protesters that were found in the parking lot of Costco, shouting Hillary for Prison :"I think it's a disgrace that @Costco has @HillaryClinton. She's a criminal!" Westchester. Housewife with a #Trump flag pic.twitter.com/YpdLq7yaTI Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) September 16, 2017This Twitter user shares a great photo and comment:So Trump is in the White House and Hillary is between the bottled water and toilet paper at Costco signing her book pic.twitter.com/4JfoYRbz4u Renna (@RennaW) September 16, 2017 | 1 |
The big release of the latest National Review edition, with a cover declaring “Against Trump,” on Thursday night was above all other things a wonderful gift not just to liberals, but anyone who lives outside of the conservative tribe. Because it gives us a glimpse, however temporary, of what it feels like to be a Trump supporter. I defy readers to take one look at the cover and not feel an overwhelming surge of contempt for these establishment conservatives who love to pander to the camo-crowd when it suits them, but get fussy when the rubes rise up and start demanding real skin in the game. You want to rub their smug little faces right in Donald Trump’s ridiculous hair and ask how they like those apples.
Any discerning reader knows that, on some level, you’re meant to root for the monster to turn on Dr. Frankenstein, for the Pied Piper to take the children away, for Satan to finally come for Dr. Faustus. And so it’s impossible not to take pleasure in watching the conservative base come extract its pound of Trump-shaped flesh out of the establishment.
It’s no mystery why the National Review and their supporters hate Trump. He’s vulgar and embarrassing and he does an even better job of exploiting the right-wing rubes and their racism and their provincialism and their ridiculous sense of oppression than they do. They are, in other words, haters. And Trump dismissed them as the haters they are with ease during his press conference Thursday night where he called the National Review a “dead paper” that almost no one reads anymore.
This impression is driven home by actually reading the issue. The editors can’t quite seem to decide what their exact objections to Trump are. Is it that he’s driving the right too far in the direction of fascism or that he’s a secret liberal in disguise? Both! Whatever you need to hear! The strategy is argument through overwhelming. They’ll throw everything they’ve got, even contradictory stuff, at the reader and hope the sheer volume of words impresses them enough to vote for Marco Rubio or Jeb Bush.
The everything-and-the-kitchen-sink strategy produces some hilarious contradictions. The main anti-Trump editorial, written by the editors, darkly warns that Trump isn’t the racist that his followers think he is. “Trump says he will put a big door in his beautiful wall, an implicit endorsement of the dismayingly conventional view that current levels of legal immigration are fine,” they write, even trying to get the reader to believe that Trump’s mass deportation plan is “poorly disguised amnesty”.
But then, in the writer round-up, we’re hearing a different story. “Not since George Wallace has there been a presidential candidate who made racial and religious scapegoating so central to his campaign,” David Boaz sniffs, adding that America “aspired to rise above such prejudices and guarantee life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to everyone.”
So which is it, guys? Is Trump offensive because he’s too nativist or because he’s not devoted enough to keeping the foreigners out? Whatever will make you not vote for him, I guess.
A similar question emerges when it comes to the conservative obsession with masculinity, which they confuse with strength. The editors write that Trump “has an astonishing weakness for flattery, falling for Vladimir Putin after a few coquettish bats of the eyelashes from the Russian thug.”
On the other hand, Ben Domenech worries that Trump is “a tyrannical monarch” who he believes is too eager to “impose [his] will on the nation”. Mona Charen chimes in agreement, saying “conservatism implies a certain modesty about government.” So which is it? Does a big ego make one weak or is the problem that it makes one too strong and authoritarian? Both, I guess! Depends on if you’re more of an anxious masculinity conservative or if you’re one who likes to delude yourself into believing you’re a libertarian sort. Either way, don’t vote Trump! The self-contradictions are particularly amusing, to me at least, on the issue of women. Charen denounces Trump for his need to “constantly to insult and belittle others including, or perhaps especially, women”. But she and many of the other writers also warn the reader about Trump’s pro-choice past, insinuating that he’s not on board with the anti-choice movement. A movement, may I remind you, that is passing mandatory ultrasound and waiting period laws and other medically unnecessary regulations, for the purpose of insulting and shaming women. This self-important National Review manifesto can’t even decide how to feel about the practice of insulting and belittling people. On one hand, as Charen writes, they believe it’s a sign of “a pitifully insecure person”. What then to make of the fact that much of the anti-Trump argument is rooted in cheap shots at the man, from the you’re-a-girl insult regarding his behavior around Putin to Mark Helprin’s swipe at Trump for having “hair like the tinsel on discarded Christmas trees”. I guess everyone at the National Review is a “pitifully insecure person”, so why is it only a crime when said insulter is Donald Trump? Is it because he’s better at it than you guys? It’s tough to say what the National Review expected out of this, besides selling more issues. And even that has a strong possibility of backfiring, as this attack gave Trump an opportunity to imply, with cause, that they are using his name to bolster their declining sales. If the idea was to pry base voters off Trump, good luck with that. All this does is confirm base voter suspicions that the conservative establishment sees them as a bunch of useful idiots who are to be slapped down the second they start thinking they have a real voice in the movement. If the idea was to take a stand and lay out a clear line between the bellicose base and the more refined party elite, well, that’s backfiring, too, as the RNC reacted to all this by disinviting the National Review to partner with them in the Republican debates. In his anti-Trump screed, Ben Domenech gets on his high horse about how ours is supposed to be a “government of the people, by the people,” which he claims Trump is threatening. Keep telling yourself that, buddy. Because it looks a whole lot like Trump’s popularity is due to “the people” revolting against a system where the establishment calls all the shots. And National Review’s flailing shows that the establishment has no idea what to do with that. | 0 |
Moms of transgender children have just sent every fearmongering transphobic conservative a message that is going to make them furious. In response to the massive amount of hatred and bigotry that has been thrown at the trans community over the last few months, these amazing mothers have given anti-LGBT bigots a brilliant and sometimes heartbreaking look at the people who are on the receiving end of the attacks.The video, entitled Meet My Child , was created by the Trans United Fund for the many transgender adults and children who have been discriminated against and attacked by politicians in 20 states via initiatives like bathroom bills in North Carolina. These lawmakers have made it their personal mission to strip trans people of their basic human rights and have Attempted to advance over 50 pieces of legislation attacking transgender people. These policies are a real danger to transgender people and hurt the most vulnerable, including America s transgender children. Meet My Child features three mothers sharing amazing stories of acceptance and love, as well as the process their families when through when their child expressed that they were transgender. The moms in this video want every anti-trans person to know the full extent and consequences of the bigotry they re promoting, which often ends in violent attacks on transgender people. In one particularly emotional moment, a mother with a trans daughter can hardly hold back tears as she says, She s my heart and I don t want to lose her. The film also leapt at the opportunity to blast conservatives like former Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz for spewing bigotry that puts these children in harm s way.You can watch the amazing message below: What these mothers have shown is exactly what brilliant parenting looks like. Conservatives claim to be so concerned about babies and family values, but only when families and children fit into their narrow-minded view of what a family unit should look like. These moms have done an incredible job showing the world what real love and support looks like, and the GOP could certainly learn a thing or two from them.Featured image via screenshot | 0 |
Can there be light below the surface of the Earth, without any exposure to the Sun? Surprisingly, the answer is YES. By Robert Sepehr
Bioluminescent organisms have the ability to glow almost like magic. Many organisms use their natural ability to produce light to trick predators, to attract mates and even to communicate.
The word for this seemingly magical ability is called “bioluminescence,” which comes from “bio,” meaning life, and “lumin,” meaning light.
Most of these organisms, such as plankton, glow blue, but a few glow red, green, or orange. Some tiny animal plankton (zooplankton) are big enough to see with the unaided eye.
Most bioluminescent zooplankton don’t glow in the dark themselves, but instead squirt globs of glowing chemicals into the water.
Some zooplankton use bioluminescence to attract a mate, or to form reproductive swarms. Not only is nature’s biochemistry fascinating, it can also be extremely beautiful, especially given the backdrop of a dark, misty cave.
Glow worm is the common name for various groups of insect larvae and adult larviform females that glow through bioluminescence. They may sometimes resemble worms, but are actually insects.
The glow they produce, through by a chemical reaction, is incredibly efficient; nearly 100% of the energy input is turned into light (Compare this to the best light-emitting diodes at just 24%).
Australia and New Zealand have some of the most spectacular caves, where one can go on guided tours to witness this natural phenomenon up close. (see video below)
Why do some mushrooms emit light? Making light isn’t common in fungi; scientists have described about 100,000 fungal species, and only 75 glow. Lab work has shown that the glow did not happen randomly or by accident.
Scientists found that these mushrooms made light mostly at night, so experiments were conducted to determine why.
According to studies ( referenced in the book ), in dark environments, bioluminescent fruit bodies may be at an advantage by attracting insects and other arthropods that could help disperse their spores.
Conditions that affect the growth of fungi, such as pH, light and temperature, have been found to influence bioluminescence, suggesting a link between metabolic activity and fungal bioluminescence.
The diversity of creatures with this ability is equally astonishing, from algae and the common firefly to deep-sea dwellers that are rarely seen by humans.
What’s also fascinating is that many of these creatures are not closely related, and bioluminescent traits have seemingly evolved separately at least 30 times.
With countless well lit subterranean caves and glowing caverns, it makes one wonder what could be dwelling in vast unexplored areas under the crust.
The idea that our planet consists of a hollow, or honeycombed, interior is not new. Some of the oldest cultures speak of civilizations inside of vast cavern-cities, within the bowels of the earth.
According to certain Buddhist and Hindu traditions, secret tunnels connect Tibet with a subterranean paradise, and they call this legendary underworld Agartha.
In India, this underground oasis is best known by its Sanskrit name, Shambhala, thought to mean ‘place of tranquility.’
Mythologies throughout the world, from North and South America to Europe and the Arctic, describe numerous entrances to these fabled inner kingdoms.
Many occult organizations, esoteric authors, and secret societies concur with these myths and legends of subterranean inhabitants, who are the remnants of antediluvian civilizations, which sought refuge in hollow caverns inside the earth.
Assuming that the myths are true, and the Earth is partially hollow, how could life survive underground? How would organisms receive the ventilation required to breathe miles below the surface?
Surface trees and rainforests are responsible for less than one-third of the Earth’s oxygen, while marine plants, such as phytoplankton, are responsible for between 70 to 80 percent of the oxygen in the Earth’s atmosphere. The vast majority of our oxygen comes from aquatic organisms.
Phytoplankton, kelp, and algae produce oxygen as a byproduct of photosynthesis, a process which converts carbon dioxide and light into sugars which are then used for energy.
Phytoplankton is responsible for HALF of Earth’s oxygen
While the process of photosynthesis usually implies the presence of sunlight, the Sun is not the only available light or energy source able to power photosynthesis.
Before the discovery of hydrothermal vents, and their ecosystems, scientists believed that only small animals lived at the ocean bottom, in seafloor sediments.
They theorized that these animals received their food from above, because the established model of the marine food chain depended on sunlight and photosynthesis, just as the food chain on land does.
Mainstream academia taught that this was the only way life could survive in the darkness of the deep seafloor. The discovery of hydrothermal vents changed all that.
It became clear that vast communities of animals grew quickly and to larger than expected sizes in the depths without the aid of the Sun.
Instead of using light to create organic material (photosynthesis), microorganisms at the bottom of the food chain at hydrothermal vents used chemicals such as hydrogen sulfide (chemosynthesis).
At the seafloor, there are thriving ecosystems that receive energy not from the sun, but from the heat and chemicals provided by the planet itself.
For many thousands of species dwelling in the deep, the energy to sustain life does not flow down from above, but comes up from the interior of the earth.
Even in the unlikely scenario where every single tree were chopped down, we would still be able to breathe thanks to aquatic plant-life (ex. algae).
The Earth has a tremendous amount of water, and these oceans, rivers, and lakes are teeming with numerous species of biologically active, oxygen-producing organisms.
Are there any known sources of sustenance available that could provide for a large human population?
What evidence is there that a sustainable biosphere could exist miles below the surface, totally isolated from the nourishment and the established life cycle provided by the sun?
Where are the entrances to inner earth, and which races live inside?
Author and anthropologist, Robert Sepehr , explores these questions and attempts to unlock their riddles, which have eluded any consideration in mainstream academia.
Numerous endeavors have been undertaken to access the interior of the earth.
Polar expeditions and battles, such as Operation Highjump, still remain largely classified, and have been shrouded in secrecy for decades, but scientific revelations validating the rumors surrounding these covert events, and their implications, are finally being exposed to daylight.
What are the mysteries of inner Earth?
Robert Sepehr’s book, Gods with Amnesia: Subterranean Worlds of Inner Earth , is available on Amazon and all good bookstores.
Source: Atlantean Gardens
Via: Humans Are Free
More from Robert Sepehr : Bioluminescent Glowing Organisms of Inner Earth Subterranean Worlds of Inner Earth New Swabia (Neuschwabenland) and Base 211 Hopi Indians claim that their ancestors emerged from the underworld | 1 |
In the real world, if your boss is damaging your ability to achieve your full potential, you start looking for a new place of employment. Why should these candidate settle for an organization who isn t representing their best interests? The 2016 GOP presidential campaigns agreed on Sunday evening to cut the Republican National Committee (RNC) out of the debate negotiation process and instead deal directly with networks moderating debates, Breitbart News has learned.Corey Lewandowski, the campaign manager for frontrunner Donald Trump, confirmed to Breitbart News via phone on Sunday that the biggest consensus of five separate points the GOP campaigns agreed on was cutting the RNC out of the negotiations with the networks, as the campaigns would each like to negotiate with the networks directly.In response to the revelation that the RNC will be cut out of the process, RNC chief spokesman Sean Spicer the party s point man on handling debates until now said the RNC stands ready to help the candidates in any way they can. The RNC is fully committed to serving the interests of our campaigns, Spicer told Breitbart News. We support the best format to present their vision to lead America forward. A campaign manager with another campaign who wished not to be identified confirmed to Breitbart News that the RNC will no longer be handling debate format and that the campaigns will take the lead on that. The RNC will still handle basic logistics, though, that campaign manager said.The second point of agreement was that they want information from the networks on things such as qualification criteria earlier than before, Lewandowski said, and third was they want greater parity and greater integrity in questions. A fourth point of agreement, according to Lewandowski, was they want debates to last no longer than two hours including commercials and a fifth is they want each candidate to get at least 30 seconds apiece for opening and for closing statements. Mr. Trump has won the last three debates, and he is willing to continue to debate his opponents, Lewandowski told Breitbart News. However, the moderators of the debates should not be the story. Instead, the candidates responses to questions is what the American public should hear. The meeting happened at the Hilton in Alexandria, Virginia, in Old Town on King Street just outside Washington, D.C.Most of the details of what various campaigns wanted was already made public heading into the meeting. Ben Carson s campaign manager, Barry Bennett, was hopeful that the group could agree on one two-hour debate with every candidate onstage, the Washington Post s Bob Costa and Dave Weigel reported.They also quoted former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee s campaign manager Sarah Huckabee Sanders, laying out a previously public demand from campaigns. One of the big goals is allowing for more substance and equal time, Sanders said. It does make that difficult if there are multiple candidates but the debate s capped at two hours. But the revelation that the RNC will no longer be a part of the debate process has not yet been reported until now.During the meeting, too, according to Costa and Weigel, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush s campaign manager Danny Diaz pushed unsuccessfully for Telemundo to get reinstated as a moderator something Trump would boycott. Bush campaign manager Danny Diaz recommended that Telemundo be reinstated after being dropped along with NBC, Costa and Weigel wrote. But the campaign of businessman Donald Trump, represented by manager Corey Lewandowski, threatened to boycott a debate if the Spanish-language network that Trump has clashed with was granted one. Telemundo was supposed to partner with NBC News, but after CNBC s horrendous moderating job in Boulder, Colorado, last week lost its upcoming debate along with partner network NBC News.This revelation also means a last-ditch effort by the RNC to keep control of the process has failed.Via: Matthew Boyle, Breitbart News | 1 |
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Outlining a new strategy for the war in Afghanistan, U.S. President Donald Trump chastised Pakistan over its alleged support for Afghan militants - an approach analysts say will probably not change Pakistan’s strategic calculations and might push it in directions Washington does not want it to go. Trump’s call for India to play a greater role in Afghanistan, in particular, will ring alarm bells for Pakistan’s generals, analysts said. “Trump’s policy of engaging India and threatening action may actually constrain Pakistan and lead to the opposite of what he wants,” said Zahid Hussain, a Pakistani security analyst. Trump criticised Pakistan for providing “safe havens to terrorist organisations” and warned Islamabad it had much to lose by supporting insurgents battling the U.S.-backed Kabul government. “It is kind of putting Pakistan on notice,” said Rustam Shah Mohman, Pakistan’s former ambassador to Kabul, predicting a bumpy road ahead for relations. Trump did resist some advisers’ calls to threaten to declare Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism unless Islamabad pursued senior leaders of the Afghan Taliban and the allied Haqqani network. “Pakistan should not be reassured by this speech, but it could have gone a lot worse for them,” said Joshua White, a National Security Council director under former President Barack Obama. “There were voices within the administration who wanted to move more quickly and aggressively to declare Pakistan not just a problem, but effectively an enemy.” In Washington, a senior administration official said on Tuesday that significant measures were under consideration, including possibly sanctioning Pakistani officials with ties to extremist organizations. The official spoke on condition of anonymity. Pakistan’s powerful military has not commented on Trump’s speech, but the day before it denied any militants had havens in the country. The Pakistani government said Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif met with the U.S. ambassador on Tuesday and would speak in coming days with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson “on the state of play in the bilateral relationship as well as the new U.S. policy on South Asia”. Successive U.S. administrations have struggled with how to deal with nuclear-armed Pakistan. Washington fumes about inaction against the Taliban, but Pakistan has been helpful on other counterterrorism efforts, including against al Qaeda and Islamic State militants. The United States also has no choice but to use Pakistani roads to resupply its troops in landlocked Afghanistan. U.S. officials worry that if Pakistan becomes an active foe, it could further destabilise Afghanistan and endanger U.S. soldiers. Daniel Feldman, a special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan under Obama, said the Obama administration found it more effective to pressure Islamabad over safe havens “in private than in public, and to keep the long-standing Indo-Pak rivalry from playing out in Afghanistan”. Hussain, the security analyst, said Trump on Monday “crossed a red line” as far as Pakistan was concerned when he implored India to deepen its involvement in Afghanistan. Relations between Pakistan and the United States have endured strain during the 16-year war in Afghanistan, especially after al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. special forces inside Pakistan in 2011. The Obama administration had already begun trimming military aid to Pakistan. Last year, the Pentagon decided not to pay $300 million in pledged military funding, and Congress effectively blocked a subsidised sale of F-16 jets to Pakistan. Analysts say Trump is likely to further curtail military aid to pressure Pakistan. But any effort to isolate Pakistan would face problems from China, which has deepened political and military ties to Islamabad as it invested nearly $60 billion in infrastructure in Pakistan. China on Tuesday defended Pakistan after Trump’s remarks, saying its neighbour was on the front line in the struggle against terrorism and had made “great sacrifices” and “important contributions” in the fight. Mohman, the former ambassador, said if the United States kept putting pressure on Pakistan, then Islamabad would drift farther from the American sphere of influence. “We have options,” he said. “We can go to China and Russia, and I think the U.S. can’t afford that.” | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. national security adviser Michael Flynn on Friday pleaded guilty to lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, prosecutors said, adding that he had spoken with a top member of Trump’s transition team regarding his communications with Russia’s ambassador to the United States. Federal prosecutors also said Flynn had been directed by “a very senior member” of Trump’s transition team regarding a December 2016 United Nations vote. Flynn also filed materially false statements and omissions in his March 7, 2017, foreign agent filing over his company’s work with the Turkish government, according to prosecutors. | 0 |
It came together in about a week. First, the idea for a punchy, uplifting dance video that would tell a story about diversity, difference and communal support. Then, 170 dancers, a few hours of rehearsalsand pantsuits. Lots of pantsuits.
The result: the #Pantsuitpower Flashmob for Hillary dance video, performed at New Yorks Union Square. Its gotten nearly 2 million views on Facebook in a matter of days.
The video, accompanied by Justin Timberlakes contagiously boppy disco-pop song Cant Stop the Feeling, was posted on Facebook and Vimeo this week by Humanity for Hillary, a social media campaign aimed at artists, in support of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
I wanted to bring some kind of humanity to her campaign, because I think humanity and love and humor tend to get lost when were in the heat of all of this, says Celia Rowlson-Hall, 32, a New York-based choreographer whos worked on HBOs Girls and other TV shows and music videos. She and her Washington, D.C.-based friend, hiphop choreographer Crishon Landers, created the pantsuit dance, and Rowlson-Hall directed the video with her partner, Mia Lidofsky, an independent film producer. The couple met on the set of Girls.
We just felt the need to do something, Rowlson-Hall says. We thought, how can we creatively impact this election? So we made the video.
Theres nothing like dance to convey enthusiasm and energy, so its a natural political tool. The fact that its rarely used to rally votersand even more rarely used so wellis what makes this video feel so fresh. That, and the clarity of the choreography, the invigorating spirit and skill of the videos massive chorus line, and the catchy tune.
[In a departure from negative TV ads, Clinton airs a spot featuring home videos of children.]
A graduate of North Carolina School of the Arts, Rowlson-Hall has worked in the New York dance scene for the past decade, first performing with a couple of troupes, and more recently choreographing for stage, film and television. She made her feature-film directorial debut with Ma, writing the wordless script, choreographing it and starring in it; it became a favorite of the 2015 American Film Institute Festival. She and Landers choreographed the flashmob scene in about four hours, she says, using simple, clear moves drawn from hiphop, ballet and modern dance. Each bears a message: Raised fists signify #BlackLivesMatter, arms and faces tilted to the sky hint at solar energy, circling hips symbolize reproductive rights. In the quietest and most emotional moment, dancers take a knee to evoke San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernicks national anthem protest against police brutality. Others stand with a hand on their hearts.
This is our right as a democracy to protest or honor the flag as we see fit, says Rowlson-Hall.
She put the word out on Instagram and Facebook seeking dancers. She videotaped herself dancing the steps, and texted it to the dancers whod replied. Many are professionals. A few came from Broadways Fiddler on the Roof and the Martha Graham Dance Company. Some came from as far away as Toronto. Assorted dance enthusiasts joined indentists, other artists and little girls fresh from soccer practice. They had a couple days to learn the moves on their own, then they met in small groups for one-hour sessions with the choreographers. Thats when they were also fitted for their pantsuits, an homage to Clintons go-to workwear. A few suits were donated by Topshop. Stylists scoured thrift stores for the rest.
[The funniest lines from Hillary Clintons interview on Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis]
Near the end you can glimpse the slender, short-haired Rowlson-Hall grooving in a pinstriped suit, her T-shirt emblazoned with The Future is Female.
For all the ebullient energy of the dancing, the video also produced some headaches. The directors didnt have a permit to use Union Square for their shoot.
The power behind the 'power blazer' Play Video3:26
Designer Nina McLemore knows how to dress with attitude, which is why presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Senator Elizabeth Warren and some of the nations most powerful women look to her for fashion advice. (Erin Patrick O'Connor/The Washington Post)
We were terrified wed get shut down by the cops, says Lidofsky. They also feared pushback from Timberlake. They reached out to his manager about using his song, Lidofsky adds, but with no reply they plowed ahead, hoping Timberlake wouldnt mind. (No word from him yet.)
The only time the whole group rehearsed together was 20 minutes before the taping last Sunday morning, Oct 2.
The dancers came knowing the choreography to a T. Ive never seen dancers work like that, says Rowlson-Hall. It was a whirlwind.
Clinton has some appreciation for dance: Her daughter, Chelsea, was a Washington School of Ballet student during Bill Clintons presidency. So far, however, Hillary Clinton has been silent about the pantsuit dance.
But were refreshing our email every single minute, Lidofsky says with a laugh. We really hope she saw this, and felt the love. | 0 |
There are all kinds of pushes designed to stop Trump from officially taking office in January. There s a petition on Change.org with over four million signatures calling on electors to make Hillary president. A recount effort is underway in three crucial battleground states. There are calls for investigations into his conflicts of interest, which could be unconstitutional and could prevent him from legally taking office.And now, a group of electors has gotten together to start raising money for a three-week mad dash to stop Donald Trump s election. It s true that these are Democratic electors, but their goal is to successfully lobby enough of their Republican counterparts to put someone ahem sane into the White House.The group is calling itself the Hamilton Electors, presumably after founding father Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton described both the need and the purpose of the Electoral College in Federalist No. 68 as the following: [The Electoral College] affords a moral certainty, that the office of President will never fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications. Trump is eminently unqualified for the office of the president, and yet he won the necessary electoral votes. Therefore, if we look at what Hamilton said, our electors are obligated to reject Donald Trump and choose someone else.It s not yet clear what the Hamilton Electors will actually do with the money they raise, but their endgame is clear: Stop Trump in any legal way possible. They have already registered a 527 non-profit organization, and Colorado Democratic elector Michael Baca and his compatriots are looking to replace Trump with a more mainstream Republican.Wait, what? Why a mainstream Republican? Because as much as it should go to Hillary given the popular vote totals, the electors they have to convince to reject Trump are never going to do it if their alternative is a Democrat, and especially if it s Hillary. A mainstream Republican, such as John Kasich, is an alternative that many Republicans could probably get behind. This, however, means convincing Democratic electors in addition to Republican electors.Someone like Kasich could do a lot to halt the progress we ve made over the last 8 years, but he s sane, at the very least. He also won t be flying off the handle on Twitter at every single last perceived slight. He has his problems, but at least we can be reasonably sure the country will survive to see 2020.Under Trump ? There s a lot less of a guarantee, especially with Congressional leaders signaling that they re ready to work with him. And, as some are pointing out, the electors have an obligation to ensure that we don t put a demagogue into the White House. And there is currently no law or precedent preventing the College from choosing its own candidate.There have been no overt signs that Republican electors will get behind the Hamilton Electors, however, the Democratic coalition says they re getting through to at least some of them. Even a split vote, where Trump doesn t get 270 electoral votes on Dec. 19, might help because that would send it to Congress and they d have the final say.Unfortunately, they d probably choose Trump anyway.If someone else, like Kasich, Mitt Romney, or another mainstream Republican managed to get 270 electoral votes, there would likely be some serious problems. That s particularly true for Trump voters, the RNC, and Congress. The chances that the Hamilton Electors will succeed in their efforts are slim, but at least we have a group in the Electoral College that s trying.Featured image by Drew Angerer via Getty Images | 0 |
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration reversed a decision late on Thursday and said fiancés would be considered close family members and therefore allowed to travel to the United States as its revised travel ban took effect. The U.S. State Department concluded “upon further review, fiancés would now be included as close family members,” said a State Department official who requested anonymity. The Trump administration had previously decided, on the basis of its interpretation of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, that grandparents, grandchildren and fiancés traveling from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen would be barred from obtaining visas while the ban was in place. The 90-day ban took effect at 8 p.m. EDT (0000 GMT Friday), along with a 120-day ban on all refugees. On Monday, the Supreme Court revived parts of Trump’s travel ban on people from the six Muslim-majority countries, narrowing the scope of lower court rulings that had blocked parts of a March 6 executive order and allowing his temporary ban to go into effect for people with no strong ties to the United States. A spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, who also requested anonymity, said it would be updating its guidance to state that fiancés would not be barred from obtaining visas while the ban was in place. The Supreme Court exempted from the ban travelers and refugees with a “bona fide relationship” with a person or entity in the United States. As an example, the court said those with a “close familial relationship” with someone in the United States would be covered. The state of Hawaii asked a federal judge in Honolulu on Thursday evening to determine whether the Trump administration had interpreted the court’s decision too narrowly. Hawaii said in a court filing that the U.S. government intended to violate the Supreme Court’s instructions by improperly excluding from the United States people who actually have a close family relationship to U.S. persons, echoing criticism from immigrant and refugee groups. Hawaii called the refusal to recognize grandparents and other relatives as an acceptable family relationship “a plain violation of the Supreme Court’s command.” Hawaii’s Attorney General Doug Chin asked U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson in Honolulu, who blocked Trump’s travel ban in March, to issue an order “as soon as possible” clarifying how the Supreme Court’s ruling should be interpreted. Watson ordered the Justice Department to respond to Hawaii’s request by Monday, and said he would allow Hawaii to reply by July 6. A senior U.S. official did not answer directly when asked how barring grandparents or grandchildren would make the United States safer, but instead pointed to Trump’s guidance to pause “certain travel while we review our security posture.” The U.S. government expected “things to run smoothly” and “business as usual” at U.S. ports of entry, another senior U.S. official told reporters. A handful of immigration lawyers gathered at Dulles International Airport outside Washington on Thursday in case of any problems. “We’re going to keep fighting this ban, even if it applies very narrowly,” said Sirine Shebaya, a senior staff attorney at Muslim Advocates. “It’s still a Muslim ban, and its still trying to send a message to a whole community that they’re not welcome here.” The administration said refugees who have agreements with resettlement agencies but not close family in the United States would not be exempted from the ban, likely sharply limiting the number of refugees allowed entry in coming months. Hawaii said in its court filing it was “preposterous” not to consider a formal link with a resettlement agency a qualifying relationship. Refugee resettlement agencies had expected that their formal links with would-be refugees would qualify as “bona fide.” The administration’s decision likely means that few refugees beyond a 50,000-cap set by Trump would be allowed into the country this year. A U.S. official said that, as of Wednesday evening, 49,009 refugees had been allowed into the country this fiscal year. The State Department said refugees scheduled to arrive through July 6 could still enter. Trump first announced a temporary travel ban on Jan. 27, calling it a counterterrorism measure to allow time to develop better security vetting. The order caused chaos at airports, as officials scrambled to enforce it before it was blocked by courts. Opponents argued that the measure discriminated against Muslims and that there was no security rationale for it. A revised version of the ban was also halted by courts. The State Department guidance, distributed to all U.S. diplomatic posts on Wednesday evening and seen by Reuters, fleshed out the Supreme Court’s ruling about people who have a “bona fide” relationship with an individual or entity in the United States. It defined a close familial relationship as being a parent, spouse, child, adult son or daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law or sibling, including step-siblings and other step-family relations. A department cable said grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, fiancés, “and any other ‘extended’ family members” were not considered close family. The guidelines also said workers with offers of employment from a company in the United States or a lecturer addressing U.S. audiences would be exempt from the ban, but that arrangements such as a hotel reservation would not be considered bona fide relationships. | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When President Barack Obama leaves office on Jan. 20 after eight years, several of his major initiatives will still hang in the legal balance, meaning the U.S. courts and his successor will play a major role in shaping his legacy. Ongoing legal challenges by Republican-governed states and business groups are targeting Obama’s signature healthcare law, his plan to combat climate change, a key immigration initiative, his transgender rights policy, his “net neutrality” internet rules, overtime pay for workers and other matters. Most of the cases are awaiting rulings by trial judges or regional federal appeals courts and could be bound for the U.S. Supreme Court, but are unlikely to get there until after the winner of Tuesday’s election, pitting Democrat Hillary Clinton against Republican Donald Trump, is sworn in. Unless the U.S. Senate changes course and confirms Obama’s nominee, appellate court judge Merrick Garland, to fill the vacant ninth seat on the ideologically split Supreme Court, the next president would be responsible for selecting a new justice who could cast the deciding vote in these cases. The Supreme Court has already agreed to decide a major transgender rights case. Obama’s administration is backing a female-born transgender high school student named Gavin Grimm, who identifies as male and sued in 2015 to win the right to use the school’s boys’ bathroom. A ruling, which also could resolve similar litigation around the country, is not due until the end of June. In another transgender rights case, a number of states challenged the Obama administration’s May guidance to public schools nationwide to let transgender students use bathrooms of their choice. A federal judge blocked the policy in August while the litigation continues. Because Obama during much of his presidency has faced a Republican-controlled Congress hostile to his legislative initiatives, he has often bypassed lawmakers and used executive power to advance policy goals. “Despite having majorities in both houses of Congress, Republicans have refused to govern. Instead, this litigious Republican Party has rushed to the courts with partisan lawsuits,” White House spokesman Eric Schultz said. Those challenging Obama have vowed to fight on unless his successor changes course. “Should a new administration rescind those policies and respect the bounds placed before it, we will happily direct our energies elsewhere,” added Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has helped spearhead various legal challenges to Obama. Clinton, backed by Obama in her White House bid, could be expected to leave in place or even expand on his initiatives and to defend them in court. Trump, if elected, could quickly reverse Obama executive orders as promised. But undoing large-scale regulations like power plant emissions rules could be more complicated. “It’s not at the stroke of a pen,” said Sean Donahue, a lawyer representing environmental groups that backed Obama administration climate rules known as the Clean Power Plan. Trump would have to undergo a new, lengthy rule-making process, according to legal experts. The case with the biggest potential long-term impact is the challenge by states and industry groups to Obama’s Clean Power Plan, which would curb greenhouse emissions mainly from coal-fired power plants. The rules are an important legacy issue for Obama. They also are vital to U.S. obligations under last year’s international climate change treaty. A federal appeals court heard oral arguments in September. A ruling is not due for months. The case is likely to go to the Supreme Court on appeal. The Supreme Court put the regulations on hold in February while the litigation continues. Republicans and conservative groups have launched numerous challenges to the 2010 Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare. The Supreme Court in 2012 and 2015 issued rulings preserving Obama’s top legislative achievement. Now, another Republican-led legal challenge is making its way through the courts. The administration has appealed a district court judge’s May decision that the federal government cannot spend billions of dollars to provide subsidies under Obamacare to help individuals buy policies from private insurers without congressional approval. Separately, the administration is seeking in federal court in Texas to revive Obama’s 2014 executive action to protect millions of immigrants in the country illegally from deportation and give them work permits. The plan, challenged by Texas and other states, has been barred by the courts. The Supreme Court, split 4-4, in June left in place lower court orders blocking the plan, and in October declined to revisit that ruling. Other Obama regulations have been targeted by business groups. A federal appeals court in June upheld Obama’s landmark “net neutrality” rules barring internet service providers from obstructing or slowing down consumer access to web content. The case remains under appeal. In September, states and business groups filed a legal challenge to an administration rule to extend mandatory overtime pay to millions of workers. A ruling is not due until after Obama leaves office. Graphic: Courts weigh Obama legacy - here | 1 |
Planned Parenthood is bidding farewell to a president and his administration that have provided the organization with support and new streams of funding. [Thank you for standing with Planned Parenthood, Mr. President. #ObamaFarewell pic. twitter. — Planned Parenthood (@PPIAction) January 11, 2017, In 2013, Barack Obama was the first sitting president to deliver an address to the nation’s largest abortion chain. At its annual gala, Obama praised the group’s century of service to women and condemned those who “try to turn Planned Parenthood into a punching bag. ” “You’ve also got a president who is going to be right there with you, fighting every step of the way,” the president said. “Thank you. God bless you. ” . @POTUS: Thank you for your eight years of support for Planned Parenthood and reproductive freedom! #ObamaFarewell #IStandWithPP ❤👏 — Planned Parenthood (@PPact) January 11, 2017, Planned Parenthood’s president, Cecile Richards, has enjoyed significant access to the White House during the Obama presidency. CNSNews. com reported that, as of July of 2015, Richards had already made 39 visits to the White House since 2009, when she first was a guest on Obama’s inauguration day. We didn’t do it all, but we accomplished so much. Thank you, @POTUS @FLOTUS. It’s been the honor of a lifetime. #ObamaFarewell pic. twitter. — Cecile Richards (@CecileRichards) January 11, 2017, Thank you @FLOTUS. For everything. ❤️ pic. twitter. — Cecile Richards (@CecileRichards) January 6, 2017, Going to miss @JoeBiden almost as much as @BarackObama pic. twitter. — Cecile Richards (@CecileRichards) January 11, 2017, Obama’s deputies in the Department of Health and Human Services allowed Planned Parenthood to serve as “navigators” to assist in signing individuals up for Obamacare, the president’s signature legislation. The abortion business received more than $1 million in the form of grants even as the group was embroiled in a scandal alleging its practice of harvesting the body parts of babies aborted in its clinics and selling them for a profit. As the “baby parts” scandal erupted, the Obama administration came to Planned Parenthood’s defense by threatening states that passed laws that eliminated the group’s taxpayer funding and redirected it to other federally qualified health care centers that do not perform abortions. In October of 2016, Obama celebrated Planned Parenthood’s centennial anniversary with a wish, “Here’s to another #100YearsStrong”: For a century, Planned Parenthood has made it possible for women to determine their own lives. Here’s to another #100YearsStrong. — President Obama (@POTUS) October 16, 2016, The “nonprofit” abortion chain’s IRS form 990 for 2014 shows that Richards’ salary and compensation jumped to $957, 952, double the salary she made just three years prior, in 2011, when her reported income was $420, 153. Despite a significant increase in Richards’ pay, Planned Parenthood’s annual reports show a consistent decline in legitimate health care services, such as pap smears and sexually transmitted disease treatment. Its 2014 tax return also shows that Planned Parenthood’s 12 highest paid employees all earn salaries amounting to almost half a billion dollars. Planned Parenthood receives over a half billion dollars annually in taxpayer funding — as well as some $186 million in private and corporate donations — and performs over 300, 000 abortions per year. On we’ll start the fight for our future with #IDEFY Live on FB. What will you defy in 2017? — Planned Parenthood (@PPFA) January 16, 2017, | 0 |
21st Century Wire says Everything changed on 9/11. Overnight, it transformed US foreign policy, the geopolitical chessboard, the global police state, a not to mention the laws of physics, the melting point from steel and much more.Based on the initial marketing package, this latest film, which is due for release this September in 2017, looks very much like a consensus reality production designed to further reinforce the official story of 9/11 or will there be more to it?Will this be Sheen s penance and ticket back into mainstream Hollywood?One looming possibility: this could end up being an own goal by the establishment, as the mere presence of former 9/11 Truth activist Sheen in this mainstream film will trigger a wave of chatter challenging the official 9/11 tale (watch Sheen s 2009 video plea to President Obama for 9/11 Truth here). Stay tuned and find out Here is the initial trailer for this latest Hollywood action drama will feature actors Charlie Sheen, Whoopi Goldberg, Gina Gershon and Luis Guzm n. WATCH: SEE ALSO: FBI Trove of 9/11 Pentagon Photos Refuels Conspiracy SuspicionsREAD MORE 9/11 NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire 9/11 Files SUPPORT OUR WORK BY SUBSCRIBING & BECOMING A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The latest version of Senate Republicans’ legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act would leave 22 million Americans without health insurance coverage by 2026, the U.S. Congressional Budget office said on Thursday. The Senate healthcare bill, which Senate Leader Mitch McConnell shelved on Monday, would reduce U.S. deficits by $420 billion over the coming decade by reducing spending on Medicaid spending and non-group health insurance, the CBO said. | 0 |
SALT LAKE CITY (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Monday said he supports Utah Senator Orrin Hatch running for re-election next year, as speculation mounts that fellow Republican and frequent Trump critic Mitt Romney hopes to take the seat. Asked whether he was encouraging Hatch, who is the Senate president pro tempore and chairs its powerful Finance Committee, to run for re-election, Trump said “Yes.” While he and Hatch toured a Salt Lake City food pantry alongside leaders of the Church of Latter Day Saints, Trump sidestepped questions of whether he was trying to block Romney from running, saying only “He’s a good man.” Romney and Hatch are Mormons. | 1 |
In the basement of a mammoth old building in Upper Manhattan that houses the Yeshiva University High School for Boys sits a cramped gym that is home to the high school’s floor hockey team, known as the Lions. The school calls the gym the Lions’ Den, but many visitors call it the Dungeon and liken playing there to playing hockey inside a box. Games are raucous affairs with rough play and frenzied fans squeezed onto the narrow bleachers at one end, between the squads of panting players. Several miles away, in the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx, is the comparatively luxurious indoor rink at the Salanter Akiba Riverdale High School, known as S. A. R. With its sturdy boards and rounded sides, the rink resembles a real ice hockey surface. Its scoreboard is flanked by American and Israeli flags. Between these two extremes exists the but thriving world of interscholastic floor hockey at yeshiva high schools in New York City and surrounding towns. The game in these Orthodox Jewish private schools stretches back at least to the late 1970s, but in recent years, it has grown enormously popular. The championship match can fill an arena with as many as 1, 000 fans, with more people watching live online. Players in elementary grades at Jewish schools now set their sights on yeshivas with the most powerful hockey programs. “Outside the Orthodox community, this is a foreign thing,” said Amir Gavarin, 22, a former floor hockey league player. “But inside, it’s a whole world unto itself, and supercompetitive. ” The teams play in the Metropolitan Yeshiva High School Hockey League, which includes 18 varsity and 15 junior varsity teams for boys. There are also 12 girls’ teams, which play in the spring season. The game is similar to ice hockey, but played on foot on a gym floor with a hard orange ball and squads made up of a goalie and four roaming players. Goalies wear full padding, but the other players wear sweatpants, jerseys and helmets with face masks. Under the jersey, some players wear a tallit katan, a religious garment with knotted fringes, or zizit. Blatant body checking is banned, but there is plenty of contact. The teams play mostly in conventional gyms set up with temporary barriers. Orthodox youngsters are often introduced to the game in summer camp or by friends from their synagogue, and end up playing in one of the many youth leagues that have cropped up in Orthodox neighborhoods, before joining teams in middle school. “In some New Jersey yeshivas, floor hockey is more popular than basketball,” said Yoni Stone, the varsity coach at the Yeshiva University High School for Boys. “Forget high school — every single day school has a team, and the kids start in the youth leagues. ” Players, abiding by their religious tenets, use the sport as an outlet between long hours spent studying Judaic texts and other subjects. Since they observe the Sabbath, there is no play on Friday evenings or Saturdays before sundown. The season runs from late October through March. On a weeknight last month, the Lions made their dramatic pregame entrance to blaring rock music. They were there to take on the Cobras from the Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School in Livingston, N. J. a school financed by the family of Jared Kushner, the of Donald J. Trump. Mr. Kushner himself was proficient at the sport, having played for the Frisch School in Paramus, N. J. when he was a teenager. The Cobras wound up beating the Lions, a fatiguing feat since the ball rarely escapes the playing area, making for almost nonstop action. Each game has three periods, with each period lasting 12 minutes. In fact, the team from the Ramaz School on Manhattan’s Upper East Side prepared to play at the Lions’ gym by having one of its players, a senior training to enter the Israeli Army, put his teammates through rigorous military exercises. The Ramaz School holds games in a modern, brightly lit gym that is a far cry from the Lions’ Den. One night last month, the Rams of Ramaz took on the visiting Thunder from the Rav Teitz Mesivta Academy, or R. T. M. A. from Elizabeth, N. J. and won the game in overtime, prompting a celebratory mob of Ramaz players. At certain powerhouses, hockey is perhaps the most prominent sport, and rivalries have developed between neighboring yeshivas. In Brooklyn, the games can be particularly intense whenever the Magen David Yeshivah or the Yeshivah of Flatbush, both in Midwood, or the Yeshivat Darche Eres in Sheepshead Bay, face off. “They’re seeing all these kids in synagogue the next day, so that creates a certain competitiveness,” Mr. Stone said. When rivals in the Five Towns section of Long Island play, “the whole town shuts down” for games that can attract hundreds of spectators, said David Kolb, a hockey writer for MSG Networks and the operator of Camp Dovid, a summer hockey camp in Pennsylvania where campers wear the names of their yeshivas on their jerseys. Two top teams in the Five Towns — the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway and the D. R. S. Yeshiva High School for Boys — have nurtured a rivalry. And in the league final in 2014, when the Hebrew Academy finally avenged years of losses with a victory, “you would have thought the messiah had come,” said Seth Gordon, the hockey commissioner for the Metropolitan Yeshiva High School Athletic League. “Some of these rivalries start in elementary school, with the seeds planted when these kids are in sixth grade,” Mr. Gordon said. Though the sport has drawn a loyal and passionate following, the athletes are ultimately religious students who are urged to put their spiritual priorities before their athletic ones. “It’s common with the Jewish identity that we can’t do certain things because of the boundaries of observant Jewish life, so we create our own parameters and do it to the fullest,” Mr. Gavarin said. Mayer Schiller, a Hasidic rabbi who in the 1990s coached Yeshiva University High School to six consecutive league championships, is recognized as the progenitor of the yeshiva floor hockey scene. He was hard to miss, since he coached wearing his black hat and coat. Rabbi Schiller, 65, still an avid fan of rock, pop and punk music, established the now popular tradition of having players enter the gym to loud music. The rabbi’s choice: the Ramones. He grew up playing roller hockey in Queens. In the late 1970s, with New York’s professional basketball teams sagging, students began rooting for two local hockey teams, the Rangers and the Islanders, Rabbi Schiller recalled. Rabbi Schiller was a devout Rangers fan who was particularly fond of the raucous play of Nick Fotiu, a native of Staten Island who became a brawler for the Rangers. The rabbi formed a team at the Ramaz School in 1979, and helped organize a fledgling yeshiva hockey league with a teams that grew significantly over the years. He regarded coaching as a form of spiritual service and striving at sports as a complement to studying sacred texts and worshiping God. “If God didn’t mean for this greatness to exist, why did he give us Gretzky and Jordan?” Rabbi Schiller said. On a recent weeknight, the S. A. R. team — which includes Mr. Kolb’s two sons, Gordie and Henri — was put through drills and scrimmaging by its longtime head coach, Howie Falkenstein. Mr. Falkenstein also runs a hockey program at the Westchester Summer Day camp in Mamaroneck, N. Y. and a league in the Bronx that attracts players from across the region. Its youngest level is the Mites division, which is open to first and second graders. Mr. Falkenstein was getting his team ready for its game against the Frisch School and had players practicing penalty shots. Gordie, the S. A. R. Sting’s captain, deftly scored on his brother, a goalie, prompting a chorus of hoots from teammates. S. A. R. wound up beating Frisch, solidifying its status as one of the league’s top teams. “It’s definitely its own niche, but it’s still hockey and it has the team camaraderie that people are looking for,” Mr. Falkenstein said. “It has the same excitement when you score a goal or make a save. ” | 0 |
Feeling safer? One of the sitting members on the Homeland Security Advisory Council s (HSAC) Subcommittee on Countering Violent Extremism is a 25-year-old immigrant of Syrian heritage who said that the 9/11 attacks changed the world for good and has consistently disparaged America, free speech and white people on social media.Laila Alawa was one of just 15 people tapped to serve on the newly-formed HSAC Subcommittee on Countering Violent Extremism in 2015 the same year she became an American citizen. Just last week, the subcommittee submitted a report to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, recommending that the DHS avoid using Muslim terminology like the words sharia and jihad when discussing terrorism.Alawa says she immigrated into the U.S. when she was ten years old. Her family had already left Syria by the time she was born. But I will always be Syrian. I will always be from Syria. I will always be of Syria, she wrote in November 2015, calling the country her homeland. In 2014, Alawa commemorated the September 11 attacks by tweeting that 9/11 changed the world for good, and there s no other way to say it. Exactly a year later, she claimed that, after September 11, Being American meant you were white. In April 2013, she responded to a tweet from activist Pamela Geller who called the Boston Marathon bombings jihad by tweeting: go fuck yourself. On September 21 the day after Secretary of State John Kerry announced that the U.S. would accept 85,000 Syrian refugees in 2016 and 100,000 more in 2017 Alawa mocked the Salty white tears all over my newsfeed. In the Countering Violent Extremism report published last week, Alawa and her fellow subcommittee members recommended that the Department of Homeland Security adapt to the changing nature of violent extremism itself by devoting more attention to anarchists, sovereign citizens, white-supremacists, and others. The report also recommended that, in order to combat violent extremism, the DHS Focus on gender diversity of youth through careful attention to the range of push and pull factors that attract individuals of differing gender. As originally reported by The Daily Caller, the subcommittee Alawa serves on instructed the DHS to begin using American English instead of religious, legal and cultural terms like jihad, sharia, takfir or umma when discussing terrorism in order to avoid offending Muslims.Two months before Secretary Johnson created the Subcommittee on Combatting Violent Extremism, Alawa tweeted: THE US HAS NEVER BEEN A UTOPIA UNLESS YOU WERE A STRAIGHT WHITE MALE THAT OWNED LAND. straight up period go home shut up. Via: Daily Caller | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday he had a good relationship with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson but that Tillerson could be tougher. Trump, who made the comment to reporters at the White House, did not elaborate. NBC reported this week that in a session with Trump’s national security team and Cabinet officials at the Pentagon, Tillerson had openly criticized the president and referred to him as a “moron.” Tillerson on Wednesday said he had never considered resigning and was committed to Trump’s agenda, but failed to address whether he had referred to the president as a “moron,” as NBC reported. | 1 |
After suffering the massively humiliating experience of being led on by the White House over former National Security Advisor General Michael Flynn, Vice President Mike Pence has finally broken his silence and shared his feelings over being made to look like a total idiot in front of America.On Monday in Brussels, Pence spoke alongside the NATO Security General, where he was asked the one question he probably didn t want to answer. The Associated Press Ken Thomas flat-out asked Pence if he felt misled by the Trump administration over Flynn s communications with Russia, particularly after Pence viciously defended Flynn in January. Thomas asked: Do you feel like your were misled by members of the Trump administration or were you frustrated that you were left out of the loop on this situation, and what assurances have you received from President Trump that something like this will not happen again? He may be spending a lot of time with Trump, but Pence has not yet learned how to distract, lie, and bullsh*t his way out of answering questions like his boss yet. Pence gave a measured, careful response, but ultimately revealed that he had been let down. The former governor of Indiana said: Let me say I m very grateful for the close working relationship I have with the President of the United States and I would tell you that I was disappointed to learn that the facts that have been conveyed to me by General Flynn were inaccurate. Pence also addressed Flynn s resignation, where he gave another cautious response: We honor General Flynn s long service to the United States of America, and I fully support the president s decision to ask for his resignation I have great confidence in the national security team of this administration moving forward. You can watch Pence squirm below:Featured image via Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images | 1 |
BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary s main opposition party would be unable to compete at an election next April if state auditors impose a heavy fine in a campaign finance case, a vice chairman for the nationalist Jobbik party told Reuters on Thursday. The party, which was once on the far right but has moved toward the center in recent years, lags far behind the ruling party Fidesz, according to opinion polls. The case could hurt Jobbik s bid to take the political center ground from the populist and nativist Fidesz party of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has ruled Hungary since 2010. Jobbik should pay a fine of 331 million forints ($1.24 million), equal to a price advantage it received illegally for a billboard campaign. Its annual state subsidy should also be cut by the same sum as a penalty, the auditors said on Wednesday in a preliminary finding. Jobbik denies wrongdoing and has 15 days to respond to the findings. The auditor, called ASZ, will deliver a final ruling in a few weeks and Jobbik would then have to pay the fine even if it challenges the decision in court. The penalties are more than Jobbik s 476 million forint annual state subsidy, which is the party s largest source of funding as it receives only small contributions from donors, Jobbik vice chairman Janos Volner said. This case has been so absurd that anything is possible, he said, adding that the inquiry could be a pretext to try to dissolve the party. They will shake us down for every last penny we have, he told Reuters by phone. The auditor is independent and non-political, said its spokesman Balint Nemeth. ASZ Chairman Laszlo Domokos is a former Fidesz lawmaker while Chief Prosecutor Peter Polt is a former Fidesz member twice appointed to his post by Fidesz-dominated parliaments. On Wednesday, prosecutors also pressed espionage charges against Jobbik European Parliament member Bela Kovacs, who subsequently quit the party. In its ad campaign Jobbik accused Orban and some of his associates of corruption. The party used billboards owned by a tycoon named Lajos Simicska for the campaign. Simicska was once a key ally of Orban who has since become a supporter of Jobbik. In stormy debates with Jobbik party leader Gabor Vona in parliament, Orban has repeatedly said Jobbik has been hijacked by Simicska and accused it of doing his bidding. Jobbik and Simicska deny this. Fidesz restricted the use of privately-owned billboards by political parties in a recent law. Jobbik then bought more than 1,000 billboards outright. The party has declined to detail the sources it used for that deal. ($1 = 266.53 forints) | 0 |
By Jesse Lee Peterson President Donald Trump has issued a blunt warning to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel about his city s out-of-control violence: If the city doesn t fix the horrible carnage going on, I ll send the feds! Trump s words sent shockwaves across the country.But what s wrong with black men that they can t stop the carnage?Those of you who read my columns know that for the past 27 years I have run a nonprofit, BOND, dedicated to Rebuilding the Family by Rebuilding the Man. I work with all men, but the primary focus has been to get black men to drop their anger so God can guide them, and they can lead their families in the right way.Men are supposed to represent Jesus Christ on earth; the man is the Christ in the family. But the black community is nearly devoid of men who truly exemplify Christ.Black men were not like this prior to the 1960s. They believed in God and took care of themselves and their families. But after Lyndon B. Johnson signed the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Democrats seduced blacks away from God and the Republican Party with programs. They ve owned blacks ever since.Democrats empowered black liberal politicians to run cities like Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta, Baltimore and Memphis. They left these cities in worse shape than when they took office, but the media refused to hold them accountable because of their color and political affiliation.Coleman Young ran Detroit for 20 years. He was racially divisive and allowed the city to be ruined by drugs and crime. A succession of black Democrats followed, including Kwame Kilpatrick, who was sentenced to 28 years in federal prison for mail fraud, wire fraud and racketeering.Dozens of Congressional Black Caucus members have been in Congress for decades and they ve enriched themselves, but they haven t lifted a finger to save their districts.Donald Trump is going to make these people clean up the mess so that decent black people can live in peace. Why couldn t Obama and these black politicians do the same?Liberal blacks argue that it s unfair to expect Obama would stop the violence in just eight years. Some said it would be an infringement on freedoms. Yet blacks living in dangerous neighborhoods already feel like prisoners in their own homes.Comedians Conan O Brien, Trevor Noah and Seth Meyers mocked Trump for threatening to send in the feds. But it s no laughing matter for black families trapped in dangerous neighborhoods. These people wouldn t be joking if LGBT or Muslims were being slaughtered.Trump is going to reinstate law and order because he loves all Americans. His father was his role model. When men and women love their fathers, it s like loving God, and they have real love and a desire to help people.Still, many blacks hate Trump even though he is trying to save them. It reminds me of how Jesus Christ made it possible for us to return to the Father, and yet he was hated for that.To help himself and his family, the black man must recognize that Donald Trump and whites aren t the enemy. The black man s anger was first caused by his impatient mother and grandmother who raised him (the father is rarely in the home). When the black man understands this and repents of his anger, he will be set free. He can then help himself, his family and his community.To read the article in its entirety: WND | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress is working on national self-driving vehicle legislation that could replace state-by state rules and make it easier for automakers to test and deploy the technology, senior U.S. House and Senate lawmakers told Reuters on Tuesday. The chairman of the influential House Energy and Commerce Committee said he planned to unveil a package of legislation to overhaul federal rules governing self-driving vehicles. “We’re getting very close. I think it’s a good package. We’ve put a lot of work into it,” Representative Greg Walden of Oregon said in an interview, adding that there was “good bipartisan agreeement” and he hoped to unveil and take up the package in the next month or two. Senator John Thune, a Republican who chairs the Senate Commerce Committee, is also working on a legislative self-driving proposal with Senator Gary Peters, a Michigan Democrat. “We’re not there yet but we are getting closer,” Thune said. Thune and Walden spoke to Reuters on Tuesday after getting a ride in a self-driving Audi, a unit of Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE). Companies such as Alphabet Inc and Ford Motor Co are aggressively pursuing automated technologies and want unified federal regulations to replace outdated rules and make it simpler to develop and eventually sell the technology across the country. This spring, Republican staff drafted a summary of 16 potential legislative proposals on federal reforms and regulations that they circulated to automakers and which was seen by Reuters. Among proposals under consideration is one to allow the U.S. Transportation Department to exempt up to 100,000 autonomous vehicles from current safety standards, which were written on the assumption responsibility for a car’s operation rested with the human driver. The existing motor vehicle safety standards bar the sale of vehicles without steering wheels and gas pedals, for example. Alphabet Inc’s Waymo unit has called for those rules be changed. Another proposal would prohibit a state from restricting testing by a manufacturer of up to 250 vehicles and comes as automakers have sparred with California over revisions to its self-driving car testing rules. Thune said he planned to hold a hearing on June 14 about self-driving car issues but did not put a specific timetable on introducing legislation. He said he wanted to avoid a “patchwork” of regulations from 50 different states on self-driving cars and look at cybersecurity and other issues. “The key thing is to make sure we stay in the lead on the innovation that there aren’t unnecessary roadblocks in the way, balancing that with safety,” Walden said. On Monday, the U.S. Transportation Department said it would unveil revised self-driving guidelines within the next few months, responding to automakers’ calls for regulations to sanction costly efforts to put autonomous vehicles on the road. The voluntary guidelines would provide direction to states on self-driving cars as Congress works to set more permanent rules to oversee autonomous vehicles. But legislation might not be approved this year and states and automakers are eager for guidance from regulators in the interim. Vehicle crashes annually kill more than 35,000 people on U.S. roads and injure 2.4 million. Walden said the goal was to get self-driving cars on the roads in big numbers so in a generation people would say: “‘What a bunch of barbarians - they drove themselves? Are you kidding me? And look at how many died every year and they thought that was acceptable?’” | 1 |
HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finland will leave the European Union and position itself as the Switzerland of the north to protect its independence if Laura Huhtasaari, the presidential candidate of the eurosceptic Finns Party has her way. She also told Reuters in an interview she wants to tighten immigration rules. Huhtasaari dubbed Finland s Marine Le Pen after France s National Front leader is a long-shot. But she believes she has a real chance in the January election as her party has taken a fresh start following its removal from the coalition government in June. The rise in Europe of parties that are critical towards the EU and immigration is due to bad, unjust politics, she said. The role for Finland in the euro zone is the role of a loser and payer... I do not want Finland to become a province of EU, Finns must stand up for Finland s interests. The Finns Party, formerly called True Finns , rose from obscurity during the euro zone debt crisis with an anti-EU platform, complicating the bloc s bailout talks with troubled states. It expanded into the second-biggest parliamentary party in 2015 and joined the government, but then saw its support drop due to compromises in the three-party coalition. This June, the party picked a new hard-line leadership and got kicked out of the government, while more than half of its lawmakers left the party and formed a new group to keep their government seats. Huhtasaari, 38, who was picked as deputy party leader in June, said voters were still confused after the split-up but that the party would eventually bounce back. The game is really brutal. The biggest parties want us to disappear from the political map. No-one is in politics looking for friends. The Finns party ranks fifth in polls with a support of 9 percent, down from 17.7 percent in 2015 parliamentary election, while the new Blue Reform group, which has five ministers, is backed by only 1-2 percent. Incumbent President Sauli Niinisto, who originally represented the centre-right NCP party, is widely expected to be elected for a second six-year term by a wide margin. A poll by Alma Media last week showed 64 percent of voters supporting Niinisto while 12 percent backed lawmaker Pekka Haavisto from the Greens. Huhtasaari, a first term lawmaker, was backed by 3 percent of those polled. Things happen slowly when you re fighting against the hegemony... I still have time before the elections, she said. Huhtasaari, who supports U.S. President Donald Trump and Britain s former UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage, said the European eurosceptic movement was gradually strengthening despite a series of blows to anti-establishment parties. France s National Front and Italy s 5-Star Movement failed in attempts to win legislative and civic elections while UKIP won no seats in the British parliament, albeit that its goal of Brexit won a referendum. Any change takes time, a step forward and step back... But the movement strengthens all the time, she said, noting Austria s Freedom Party s strong performance in October elections. Markku Jokisipila, the director at the Center for Parliamentary Studies of the University of Turku, said Huhtasaari was unlikely to succeed in the Jan 28 election. Around 70 percent of Finns support EU membership and the centre-right government is committed to the euro. There s no way around it, she is very inexperienced politically for this election, Jokisipila said. He added that the Finns party had become more united after the June split-up, but that it was now too focused on its anti-immigration and anti-EU platforms to be able to increase support. They will not disappear from the Finnish politics. The challenge is to broaden their profile... but they have also proved that they do have surprise potential. | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White supremacists and neo-Nazis have rarely, if ever, in recent history been so enthusiastic about a presidential appointment as Donald Trump’s choice of Steve Bannon to be his chief White House strategist. Before he took over as chief executive of Trump’s campaign in August and led it to victory last week, Bannon headed Breitbart News, a website and voice for the alt-right movement, a loose right-wing confederation that includes hardcore nationalists, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and anti-Semites. Five days after Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton, Trump rewarded Bannon, 62, a former Goldman Sachs banker and a Navy veteran, by appointing him senior counselor and chief strategist - jobs not subject to U.S. Senate confirmation. Democrats, rights activists and minority groups were outraged and said Trump, himself accused of racism and misogyny during the campaign, had just flung open the White House doors to hatemongers. Many urged him to reconsider. “Bringing Steve Bannon into the White House is an alarming signal that President-elect Trump remains committed to the hateful and divisive vision that defined his campaign,” House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement on Monday. “There must be no sugar-coating the reality that a white nationalist has been named chief strategist for the Trump administration,” Pelosi said. The Southern Poverty Law Center, the Anti-Defamation League and the Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) also denounced Bannon. Bannon, who grew up in a Democratic family, has a reputation of trying to tear down a Republican Party establishment that he deemed too soft and too entrenched. As a senior adviser to the Republican Trump, Bannon will be expected by far-right groups to champion their views and make sure that Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, keeps such campaign promises as building a wall on the southern U.S. border, cracking down on Muslims entering the country and restricting the influx of Syrian war refugees. “Perhaps ‘The Donald’ is for real,” Rocky Suhayda, chairman of the American Nazi Party, told CNN. David Duke, a longtime leader of Ku Klux Klan movements, and Richard Spencer, a white nationalist who runs the National Policy Institute, were among the leading alt-right figures to praise Bannon’s appointment. In remarks published in the New York Times on Tuesday, Bannon ascribed his interest in populism and American nationalism to a desire to curb what he views as the corrosive effects of globalization. He rejected what he called the “ethno-nationalist” tendencies of some in the movement. “It’s not that some people on the margins, as in any movement, aren’t bad guys - racists, anti-Semites. But that’s irrelevant,” he told the Times. Political commentator Armstrong Willliams, a close associate of former Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson, said Bannon was “one of the finest and most honorable people I’ve ever met” and not bigoted in any way. The Trump campaign had been struggling to manage Trump’s unconventional candidacy when Bannon took over. He stayed behind the scenes and devised the strategy for the final days of the campaign that kept Trump on message and enabled him to upset Clinton in crucial states such as Michigan. It was Bannon and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, who invited three women who accused Bill Clinton of sexual assault to attend a presidential debate in hopes of unnerving Hillary Clinton. Bannon, looking typically unkempt with mussed hair and stubbly chin, grinned from the back of the room as Trump and the women held their pre-debate news conference. “Bannon is a legitimately sinister figure,” Ben Shapiro, who had been editor-in-chief of Breitbart under Bannon, wrote in August on the dailywire.com conservative news website which he founded. “He is a vindictive, nasty figure ... He will attempt to ruin anyone who impedes his unending ambition and he will use anyone bigger than he is - for example, Donald Trump - to get where he wants to go,” Shapiro wrote. ANTI-SEMITISM ACCUSATIONS While Bannon was at Breitbart, it had stories with headlines such as “Birth control makes women unattractive and crazy,” “Political correctness protects Muslim rape culture” and “Hoist it high and proud: The Confederate flag proclaims a glorious heritage.” The site’s pro-Trump agenda featured speculative stories questioning Hillary Clinton’s health and accusing her close aide Huma Abedin of being a Saudi spy. Bannon was charged with domestic violence and battery in 1996 after his then-wife, Mary Louise Piccard, said he grabbed her by the throat and arm during an argument. The case was dropped when she did not appear in court. In 2007 Piccard said in court documents Bannon did not like the school the girls attended because it had too many “whiny brat” Jewish students. Bannon had a varied and profitable career before joining Breitbart. He earned degrees from Virginia Tech, Georgetown University and Harvard Business School and served four years in the Navy. It was his Navy experience, he said, that led him to shed his family’s Democratic allegiance and become an admirer of Republican Ronald Reagan. He was at Goldman Sachs before starting his own investment firm, which specialized in media. Through negotiating a studio sale, he obtained a stake in the royalties for the popular television show “Seinfeld,” a money-making powerhouse in syndication. He was an executive producer of the feature movies “Titus” and “The Indian Runner” before producing, directing or writing conservative-oriented documentaries such as “Clinton Cash” about the Clinton Foundation, “Generation Zero” about the global economic crisis of 2008-2009 and “The Undefeated” on former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. | 1 |
Molly Guy, the owner of Stone Fox Bride, a SoHo bridal shop, often finds herself catering to an unconventional client, one inclined to tweak or entirely dispense with tradition — and with it the wearing of a wedding veil. That bride, she said, “can barely stomach the idea of wearing a white dress, let alone a veil. ” Another type, Ms. Guy said, is more likely to conform. “Her mother and grandmother got married in a veil, and she will adhere to tradition. ” Yet a third, she said, reads Vogue and doesn’t care about the traditional: “She loves the accessory element of a veil. ” Whichever type of bride — in favor, opposed or simply on the fence — her decision to wear a veil, or reject it, is apt be fraught, heavily weighted by considerations of faith, family pressures, feminist principles and the no less compelling dictates of style. But what sets this bride apart from her mother’s generation is a ringing conviction that wearing a veil is less often a matter of custom than it is one of personal choice. Allison Shoening, 33, of Centennial, Colo. a project manager for a law firm, is to marry in September. She chose to wear a veil with the blusher, the portion that covers her face. “I struggled with the decision myself for a while,” Ms. Shoening said. “Over all, I like the look of a veil. It adds an element to my wedding. ” And a wisp of decorum. “If I go strapless, I want to keep my look balanced,” she said. “I just don’t want everything bare. ” Others drop the veil, or at least the blusher, dismissing these elements as relics of male oppression, about as unwelcome on one’s wedding day as a pair of manacles. When she married four years, ago, Jessica Huseman, 26, left her head bare. “My and I both find the idea of a veil to be a little silly,” she said. Pointedly, Ms. Huseman said: “We had this mutual agreement to share our lives. It was troubling, if you saw marriage as a partnership of equals, to wear a veil. ” “The idea of my husband lifting a veil over my face as his possession in front of our family and friends would have made me feel objectified,” she said. Those saying no to the veil included a number of women with deeply held religious convictions and strong family ties. Emily Dause, 30, who grew up in a family of evangelical Christians, saw no betrayal of her faith in replacing the veil with a headband for her coming May wedding. “It seemed to me that a veil is connected to being seen as a package, something to be given away on her wedding day,” said Ms. Dause, a teacher from Mechanicsburg, Pa. “It was disturbing that the veil has been viewed historically as connected to superstitions about warding off demons. ” She and others also see the veil as a symbolic reference to the virginity of the bride. Some brides sidestep the issue entirely, said Alexis Swerdloff, the editor of New York Weddings. She said they replace the frothy length of cloth with a smaller, more discreet head covering, something like the birdcage (a small veil that cups the face) or the more fascinator, an ornamental headpiece customarily embellished with a wisp of tulle extending slightly over one eye. Such choices tend to be governed less by custom than by taste. Wearing a fascinator, or alternately, a garland of flowers or comb, “is a way of saying, ‘Oh, so, I’m a modern, cool bride, and I just like the way this looks,’” Ms. Swerdloff said. Meghan Boledovich, a restaurant forager at Print in New York, plans to wear a small veil when she marries in July. “I would wear it mostly because of how it looks,” she said. According to the Wedding Report, which tracks industry trends, based on government data and surveys of couples, the average amount spent on dress accessories (mostly veils, but other items, too) was $226 in 2015, a drop of 1. 3 percent from 2014. In a culture, it’s not surprising that brides favoring the veil tend to be swayed by images of muses like Princess Grace of Monaco, Bianca Jagger, Stevie Nicks or more contemporary figures, like Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, or Jerry Hall, who married Rupert Murdoch in March with her head covered by a cloud of lavishly embroidered tulle. As with many stylistic choices, “These things really come down to what people seeing in magazines, on blogs and on the runway,” said Ms. Guy of Stone Fox Bride. For inspiration, she refers her clients to a roster of hip role models, Gwen Stefani and Solange Knowles, among others, never mind that on her wedding day, Ms. Knowles had subbed the veil for a white cape. Lindsay Short, a senior accessories buyer for David’s Bridal in Conshohocken, Pa. said she is seeing an uptick in brides who wear veils. “In particular to a return to the cathedral veil,” she said. “Our customer tends to be the bride that wants the ball gown and the fairy tale. ” A recent resurgence of formfitting gowns calls for the trailing veil and train, Ms. Short said. “It gives her that showstopping moment many brides still dream of. ” Kristen Maxwell Cooper, the executive editor of The Knot, said surveys last year of brides who use that website showed that 57 percent bought a veil. In contrast, in 2013, only 31 percent of the brides surveyed said they bought one. “Sometimes choosing to wear a veil has nothing to do with tradition,” Ms. Cooper said. “The feeling is that it’s just something beautiful. If you’re going to wear it, it’s now or never. ” Mara Urshel, an owner of Kleinfeld Bridal in Brooklyn, said that the company is selling as many veils as it did four or five years ago, despite price increases: Some cost $6, 000 or $7, 000, or even as much as $10, 000, for the type of elaborately embellished variations some luxury houses now offer to match their gowns. (Veils more typically start at $300 and may go up to $2, 500.) Ms. Swerdloff, who skipped the veil at her own wedding this month, was somewhat startled to discover that, contrary to her expectations, most of brides who were photographed for New York Weddings’ spring 2016 issue did indeed wear a veil. So eager were some New Yorkers to make a style splash on their day of days, they insisted on wearing an ultralong veil, once relegated to the formal setting of a church or palatial estate, in the most informal surroundings. “I’ve seen a lot of long veils on brides wearing short dresses, and getting married in a community garden,” Ms. Swerdloff said. For some an elaborate veil remains the single most effusive expression of a long cherished fantasy. “I always imagined I would wear a cathedral veil,” said Allison Appell Cohen, 27, an account manager for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas in Dallas. “Every girl wants to be princess for a few hours,” Ms. Cohen said. “The veil is a statement maker, it’s so regal. Just to have it and the train of my dress trailing behind me: I knew that’s what I wanted. ” Others, loath to sacrifice tradition, cling to the veil’s symbolism. Karen Salva, 28, a location scout and makeup artist in the film industry, was married this month in Mystic, Conn. in a Jewish ceremony, her face and hair concealed. “As I got to the huppah,” she recalled, “my mother lifted the veil up and presented my husband to me. ” Benjamin Stern, her fiancé, had covered her face with the blusher veil, a variation on a Jewish wedding custom known as the badeken. Ms. Salva was moved: “It was symbolically a way of for him to say: ‘Let me do this one last thing for you. Let me protect you and shelter you. ’” Posting on the wedding blog “Love My Dress,” Jennifer Cranham commented that she initially hesitated to wear a veil. “But now, it’s one of the things I’m most excited about,” said Ms. Cranham, who will marry this year. Her mother was as well. Ms. Cranham wrote that when she tried on her veil in the fitting room, her mother gazed at her raptly. “The dress didn’t get tears,” Ms. Cranham said. “But the veil did. ” | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Longtime Trump communications aide Hope Hicks has been named as interim communications director, the White House said on Wednesday, in the latest personnel move for President Donald Trump as he continues to seek someone for the job. The role of communications director had last been filled by Anthony Scaramucci, a New York financier who was ousted after just 10 days following an obscene tirade he made to a reporter for The New Yorker magazine. Scaramucci proved to be a divisive figure in the White House. Former press secretary Sean Spicer resigned over his arrival, and Chief of Staff John Kelly, once he took over, fired Scaramucci. Hicks, 28, worked in communications for Trump during his campaign following a tenure with his Trump Organization. She will work with White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, according to the White House. Scaramucci’s predecessor as communications director, Michael Dubke, resigned in May after about three months in the post. The search for permanent replacement comes as Trump has repeatedly railed against leaks within his administration. His attorney general has also warned of a possible crackdown on journalists and their sources who divulge classified information. | 1 |
21st Century Wire says Is McMaster going to reignite tensions with Russia?In the follow video Stuart J. Hooper asks if we should be worried about General McMaster replacing General Flynn as Trump s National Security Advisor.While Flynn understood that Russia has a sphere of influence in the world that the US should be wary of encroaching upon, McMaster is the author of a report entitled The Russia New Generation Warfare Study , which is, is intended to ignite a wholesale rethinking and possibly even a redesign of the Army in the event it has to confront the Russians in Eastern Europe .Watch the report video here: READ MORE TRUMP NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Trump FilesSUPPORT 21WIRE SUBSCRIBE & BECOME A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV | 1 |
House Speaker Paul Ryan’s Obamacare 2. 0 does not and will not have 218 votes — the requisite number to pass the House of Representatives — since the House Freedom Caucus’ official position is lined up against the bill, Freedom Caucus sources tell Breitbart News. [A member of the House Freedom Caucus tells Breitbart News that is an official position of the House Freedom Caucus is against the earlier version of the bill — a leaked draft — but also formally for the full repeal bill and then a replacement bill from Sen. Rand Paul ( ). That position has not changed nor it is expected to at any point between now and if and when leadership attempts to ram this bill through the House, this member added. Also, for the House Freedom Caucus to take an official position — which again binds its members to vote a certain way in the House, meaning that as a bloc the Freedom Caucus is expected not to vote for this bill — it requires 80 percent of its membership to back the official position. That means, given that there are a few more than 40 members of the House Freedom Caucus, there are definitely well more than 30 members who voted internally to take that position in the Freedom Caucus — and it appears as though the Freedom Caucus’ 40 plus members are completely united in support of this position. While technically the House Freedom Caucus has not yet taken an official position on this bill, the official position it has taken on healthcare in favor of real full repeal and then the Paul bill precludes members from voting for this bill — unless something changes down the road, which it is not expected to. “Our members are united in opposition,” a House Freedom Caucus source told Breitbart News. “If they brought it up for a vote today it’d fail. Our group is united in the belief that this is the moment the freedom caucus exists for — to block this monstrosity and protect the POTUS from walking into an electoral disaster in 2020 because of it. ” Simply doing vote math, Republicans need 218 votes to pass any bill out of the House of Representatives. There are more than 40 members of the House Freedom Caucus. With only 237 Republicans comprising the majority in the House, and 193 Democrats with 5 vacancies, Republicans cannot afford to lose approximately 20 votes depending on those vacancies and absences. No Democrats are expected to vote for the bill. If the vote fails, as it is expected to at this time, then Ryan will be in serious trouble in terms of his credibility. He has repeatedly publicly stated that he will be able to deliver 218 votes for this Obamacare 2. 0 legislation, “The American Health Care Act,” at multiple press conferences over the past few days. Ryan’s bold promise to deliver the votes for this bill no matter what is a risky move, with at least more than 40 Republicans against it when he can only afford to lose less than 20, since twisting more than 20 arms is a tough thing to do on an issue this important. It remains to be seen what will happen next, but top conservatives are already calling on Ryan to withdraw Obamacare 2. 0 and go in a different direction than this way before things get worse. A failure by Ryan would be especially embarrassing for Republicans, including to President Donald Trump. | 0 |
LUANDA (Reuters) - Angola s first new president in almost four decades vowed to rebuild an economy devastated by falling oil prices and fight corruption at his inauguration on Tuesday. Jo o Louren o told thousands of supporters in Luanda he would also tackle gaping inequality in Africa s second largest oil producer - though analysts have already raised doubts about his ability to make far-reaching change. No one is so rich and powerful that they cannot be punished and no one is so poor that they cannot be protected, he said to loud applause. In a 45-minute speech, Louren o said he would strive to bring in reforms covering gender equality, the freedom of the press, private enterprise and public health. Former president Jose Eduardo dos Santos remains head of the ruling MPLA party, giving the veteran leader influence over key policy decisions. Any serious attempt to transform the country could put Louren o on a collision course with senior party figures and powerful interest groups. Angola s economy fell into recession last year, while unemployment is officially over 20 percent and a shortage of foreign currency has forced firms to pull back operations. Louren o said he would work to reduce state intervention in the economy and give free enterprise the space and support to thrive. He has previously said he does not rule out negotiating a deal with the International Monetary Fund or World Bank to help rebuild an economy heavily reliant on oil. There are enormous challenges before us ... We call on the help of everyone on this difficult journey, he said. | 0 |
The former Fox News contributor and editor of the Weekly Standard, Bill Kristol, took to Twitter to appease his newfound liberal friends with a disgusting tweet, mocking devout Christian and genuine conservative, Vice President Mike Pence. Ever since President Trump won the election, Kristol and his never-Trump friends have become unhinged with hate for the President and for anyone he surrounds himself with. Yesterday, Vice President Mike Pence made a surprise visit to the troops in war-torn Afghanistan to roll out President Trump s new fight to win policy.Pence addressed the troops at a Bagram Airfield hangar, telling them that before he made his trip, he asked president Trump what message he wanted to be delivered to the troops. Here is Pence s touching message to the troops from President Trump:Pence told the troops, Before I left the White House yesterday, I asked Trump if he had a message for our troops here in Afghanistan. And he looked at me and said, Tell them I love them. And he did.WATCH:Before I left the @WhiteHouse yesterday, I asked @POTUS Trump if he had a message for our troops here in Afghanistan. And he looked at me and said, Tell them I love them. pic.twitter.com/PO4F7Z5vOx Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) December 21, 2017 Never-Trumper and former frequent FOX News guest Bill Kristol mocked Vice President Mike Pence over his speech to our troops. Kristol wrote:And I, a mere humble and unworthy VP, gazed back into the kindly and understanding eyes of the great and glorious POTUS, and said, Thank you O POTUS! And thank you for letting us say once again, Merry Christmas! And I, a mere humble and unworthy VP, gazed back into the kindly and understanding eyes of the great and glorious POTUS, and said, Thank you O POTUS! And thank you for letting us say once again, Merry Christmas! https://t.co/RAQwmQk2Sq Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) December 22, 2017Little sad man, Bill Kristol, who was once respected by conservative Americans, has been reduced to retweeting glowing articles about himself published by liberal rag publications like The Slate to discuss where Republicans went awry, whether Palin abetted Trump s rise, and the costs of rationalization. NEW @IHaveToAskPod: @BillKristol talks about where Republicans went awry, whether Palin abetted Trump's rise, and the costs of rationalization. https://t.co/rEwacCUfZx Isaac Chotiner (@IChotiner) December 21, 2017 | 0 |
Diamond and Silk: Liberals are trying to destroy this country. They want us to live in a third-world country. We don t want socialism. I don t want globalism I want to live free. I want to be happy, and I want to help President Trump make America great again. .@DiamondandSilk: "Liberals are trying to destroy this country. They want us to live in a third-world country. We don't want socialism. I don't want globalism I want to live free. I want to be happy, and I want to help @POTUS make America great again." pic.twitter.com/2MVgYGQbDr Fox News (@FoxNews) December 16, 2017The ladies are spot on! They are fighting the good fight for President Trump. If you don t love America then you can leave!The ladies visited the White House recently:We had a magnificent time with our man, the @POTUS, @realDonaldTrump and @FLOTUS Melania Trump at the White House Christmas Party while hanging out with @ScottBaio (Chachi from Happy Days) and so many more beautiful people on the Trump Train. Merry Christmas. We Love You all. pic.twitter.com/GDSLDEHygD Diamond and Silk (@DiamondandSilk) December 13, 2017OUR FAVORITE DIAMOND & SILK MOMENT IS A VISIT ON THE VIEW : They re President Trump s #1 fans and they ve been with him from the start of his campaign. The wildly popular, hilarious and outspoken Diamond and Silk duo have been hitting it out of the park on YouTube with their videos that rely entirely on pro-Trump commentary. They never use vulgarity or threats and their videos are always G-rated (Well, okay, a few of their videos may be PG-13). Apparently supporting the President of the United States now violates YouTube s monetization policies. Their videos have received millions of hits and had such an effect on liberals that Youtube recently made the decision to pull 95% of their revenue.Conservative Trump supporters Lynnette Hardway and Rochelle Richardson of North Carolina, know they re never going to get an invitation to leftist The View show, so, by using a few special effects, Diamond and Silk have decided to make a surprise visit to The View hags and give them a piece of their mind. The result is hilarious!Watch, as Diamond and Silk school Whoopie, Joy Behar and the rest of the liberal hags on The View about who is, and who is not our President, and remind them of what the President s role is and what is expected of Congress.Enjoy:.@DiamondandSilk have been anxious to get Whoopi & the ladies from The View straighten out because they've gotten a lot of stuff twisted. pic.twitter.com/ddkgKcW7yF Diamond and Silk (@DiamondandSilk) September 9, 2017WE LOVE THESE LADIES! | 1 |
Obviously not the smartest cowards in the desert https://youtu.be/QsZN_0barc8h/t Weasel Zippers | 1 |
If you thought it was hilarious that Trump s 2020 slogan was directly lifted from a promotional poster for The Purge, you re in for a treat when you realize that he quoted a Batman villain during his first speech as President. Today, we are not merely transferring power from one administration to another or from one party to another, Trump told his tiny, tiny crowd of less than a quarter-million on Friday, But we are transferring power from Washington, D.C. and giving it back to you, the people. Trump says he wrote his speech himself, apparently after watching The Dark Knight Rises. The Internet was quick to notice similarities to a speech given by Batman villain Bane:Guys Donald Trump quoted Bane in his #Inauguration speech! pic.twitter.com/tVZQ4ppgPK Batman-News.com (@BatmanNewsCom) January 20, 2017Trump definitely quoted Bane about 4 times ? #TrumpInauguration pic.twitter.com/x9OttdDttk Manchester Guestlist (@VIPMCRuk) January 20, 2017"The Rich! The oppressors of generations who have kept you down with myths of opportunity, and we give it back to you, the people" pic.twitter.com/2v8U0V2R2C Jim Lee (@meanJim) January 20, 2017Trump plagiarized Bane from batman in his speech https://t.co/llNyQcAFUt Tyler Good (@tylerg00d) January 20, 2017Find a president who can do both @freshboyrdee @BatmanNewsCom pic.twitter.com/NrjOgNrQuT MEGATRON (@MEGATRON_BWC) January 20, 2017People are comparing Trump to Bane from Batman but if I remember correctly at least Bane stood up to Wall Street Danny Gold (@DGisSERIOUS) January 20, 2017Donald trump loves quoting villains in movies first the slogan from the purge and now bane from Batman La Flame (@brotado40) January 20, 2017I DID NOT plager .plajur .copy my speech from #Bane in #batman. FALSE NEWS .PROVE IT! #Inauguration #TrumpInauguration #trump45 #trump https://t.co/C2L4gjoNDQ Dogald J. Trump (@dogaldtrump) January 20, 20172016: Melania steals from a Michelle Obama speech2017: Trump steals from a Bane speech2018: Pence steals from an Emperor Palpatine speech Noah Kinsey (@thenoahkinsey) January 20, 2017Trump is giving the same speech that Bane gives in The Dark Knight Rises before he empties out the jail #Inauguration Stitchell?? (@GarryStitchell) January 20, 2017You know, it is probably appropriate that Trump would quote a deranged killer who took control of a city, emptied the prisons, proclaimed martial law, and threatened to blow everyone in the city up if they didn t comply with his authority. It s going to be just like the movies.Unfortunately, Batman is not real and will not be here to protect us from Trump. It is up to each of you to do all that you can to ensure that this real-life villain does not win. Oppose him at every turn, or we lose Gotham America as we know it.Featured image by Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images/screengrab | 0 |
Hillary Clinton’s lead in general election polls has faded over the last few weeks. One reason might be that a growing number of Republicans are coalescing around Donald Trump’s candidacy. Another part of the explanation? Fewer telephone polls. So far this year, telephone surveys have tended to show Mrs. Clinton leading by a slightly larger margin than those conducted online. There hasn’t been a telephone survey since Mr. Trump beat back all his rivals early this month. So Mrs. Clinton’s seeming lead has seemed to shrink particularly fast. Why does Mr. Trump do better in online polls? And are the online polls right? The prevailing theory of Mr. Trump’s edge in online surveys is “social desirability bias” — the idea that poll respondents might be less likely to divulge a socially undesirable opinion, like support for a controversial candidate like Mr. Trump, to a live interviewer than in an online questionnaire. This is not an entirely new phenomenon for Mr. Trump. He fared better in online surveys during the Republican primaries than he did in telephone surveys, a tendency first identified by Jonathan Robinson at Catalist, a data firm associated with the Democratic Party. The pattern lasted all the way through the end of the primary season. The online pollster Morning Consult conducted a study indicating that social desirability bias drove his edge. Thomas Edsall, writing in the The New York Times, raised the possibility that the same phenomenon explains Mr. Trump’s strength in the online polls right now, suggesting that Mr. Trump could outperform traditional surveys showing a wide lead for Mrs. Clinton. Social desirability bias might well be helping Mr. Trump in online polls. But it’s a lot less clear now than it was during the primary season. And even if that is what’s going on, there’s no reason to assume the online polls are right. With the primary season effectively over, I think we can say, with some qualifications, that the surveys were probably more accurate than the online surveys. Why? The actual results just weren’t as good for Mr. Trump as the balance of online surveys predicted they would be. Mr. Trump has now won 41 percent of the popular vote — including the string of recent contests where he clearly broke through and outperformed his prior vote tallies. On Super Tuesday, he won just 34 percent of the vote — and he won about 39 percent between then and the New York primary. But the online surveys showed Mr. Trump at 38 percent as early as the new year, broke 40 percent around Super Tuesday, and were in the by March 15. His actual vote tallies consistently trailed the online surveys. They look a lot more like what the surveys showed at the time. The Upshot published a series of demographic models throughout the primary season that estimated how Mr. Trump might have fared if the country had voted on that date. At the time, our estimates showed Mr. Trump did not approach 40 percent of the vote until March 15. With the benefit of hindsight, we can do even better: Take all of the results so far, and estimate how Mr. Trump would do in a national primary held at any given stage of the race. These estimates, based on the actual results, consistently match more closely with the live interview surveys than the online ones. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the social desirability bias theory is wrong. It’s possible that other differences between online and polls — likely voter models or sampling procedures — accounted for Mr. Trump’s additional strength. All told, it’s not enough evidence to make me think that the online polls are more accurate about Mr. Trump than the surveys. Mr. Trump’s advantage in online polls is a lot less clear in the general election than it was in the primary. It does seem to exist. Mrs. Clinton generally leads Mr. Trump by less in online surveys. On balance, though, Mr. Trump has about 2. 5 more points in polls. He’s actually earning a smaller share of the vote in online surveys than in the polls — the exact opposite of what one might expect if he were being hurt by social desirability bias in polls. So what’s going on? The main difference between the online and polls is there are vastly more undecided voters in the online surveys. In the surveys, there are correspondingly more supporters of Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump, with Mrs. Clinton apparently gaining slightly more ground. Why are there so many undecided voters? It’s a methodological quirk, relating to the way that online pollsters have to ask questions. Consider, for instance, how the typical NBC Street Journal poll, a survey, asked the horse race question in March: “And, if the election for president were held today, and Donald Trump were the Republican candidate and Hillary Clinton were the Democratic candidate, for whom would you vote?” Notice that “undecided” or “other” or “don’t know” isn’t a stated option? Live interview pollsters can do that, since the respondent is free to say “other” or “I don’t know,” and the interviewer can record it as such. In the poll, 9 percent volunteered “other” or “neither,” and 2 percent weren’t sure. But this is a lot more challenging for an online pollster. If you put “don’t know” or “other” as an option, a lot of people are going to take it. But if you don’t include it, you have a problem: What will the truly undecided voters do? They could provide an unreliable answer or leave the survey. If you provide them the option to “skip,” they might skip through the whole questionnaire. In the end, many of the online pollsters give voters the option to choose undecided. Voters are taking it in huge numbers. You can see the effect in another type of NBC News survey: those conducted online by SurveyMonkey. At the beginning of May, the first NBC general election poll included an explicit “don’t know” option. Mrs. Clinton led, 43 to 37, with 19 percent selecting “don’t know. ” But in their second survey, conducted after Mr. Trump emerged triumphant, “undecided” was no longer an option. Respondents could go out of their way to skip the question and leave it blank, but they couldn’t simply say “undecided. ” The result? Mrs. Clinton led, 49 to 44 percent, with just 7 percent electing to skip the question. This doesn’t mean there isn’t a social desirability bias against Mr. Trump. One could imagine, for instance, that Mr. Trump would receive notably more support in the online surveys if they had as few undecided voters as the surveys. But it does make it harder to compare the results of the online and surveys, since there’s no way to be sure whether Mr. Trump would still be doing better if there were fewer undecided voters. You could imagine, for instance, that a bunch of Bernie Sanders’s supporters will take the “don’t know” option, simply to spare themselves from having to support Mrs. Clinton. In the most recent YouGov online survey, 30 percent of Mr. Sanders’s supporters were selecting either “someone else,” “not sure” or “wouldn’t vote. ” But in the recent New York News survey, just 9 percent wound up in those categories. Mrs. Clinton was the beneficiary: She held 82 percent of Mr. Sanders’s supporters, but just 55 percent in the YouGov poll. (Mr. Trump did fare better among Mr. Sanders’s supporters in the YouGov poll, earning 15 percent of the vote, than in The New York News poll, where he won 10 percent.) My guess is that Mr. Trump would still fare slightly better in the online surveys than in the polls, even if the number of undecided voters was equal. Mrs. Clinton tends to lead by a hair more among decided voters, even after removing the “undecided” voters. But it’s not clear that it’s a social desirability effect, or that it’s more accurate. | 0 |
CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Greenpeace Africa and other NGOs intend to appeal against South Africa s decision to grant an environmental permit for a new 4,000 megawatt nuclear plant close to Cape Town, the activists said on Monday. Last month South Africa s department of environmental affairs granted authorization to state-owned power utility Eskom to build the new plant at Duynefontein, close to the continent s only existing nuclear site Koeberg. South Africa s nuclear regulator said in October that an installation site license for the plant would likely be granted in June, despite the finance minister saying construction of a new plant was unaffordable in a stagnant economy facing further credit downgrades. If this project goes ahead, it will infringe the environmental rights of both present and future generations. This authorization can and must be challenged, Penny-Jane Cooke, climate and energy campaigner for Greenpeace Africa, said in a statement. South Africa s nuclear plans are shrouded in controversy and uncertainty, with local activists and the media raising concerns about transparency and costs as well as safety and environmental risks at a time when Pretoria is trying to reduce the economy s heavy reliance on coal power. Nuclear reactor makers including Rosatom, South Korea s Kepco, France s EDF and Areva, Toshiba-owned Westinghouse and China s CGN are eyeing the South African project, which could be worth tens of billions of dollars. | 1 |
A phone call to the office of Jeremy Travis, new in Washington: “The attorney general wants to talk with you. ” The attorney general of the United States at that moment, in 1994, would have been Janet Reno, and not long before, Mr. Travis had gone to work for her as director of the National Institute of Justice, an agency that conducts research for the Justice Department. Ms. Reno told him that she was sitting with one of her deputies, Mr. Travis recalled on Thursday, and they had just read a news article about the DNA exoneration of a man who had been on death row. “She said, ‘I have two questions,’” Mr. Travis said. “‘How many more are there like this? What can we learn from it? ’” It may not be immediately apparent how daring that inquiry was 22 years ago. DNA testing was then in its early days as a tool in criminal justice, and few people anticipated that prisoners would clamor to have old biological evidence retested in hopes of clearing their names. Moreover, hardly anyone was willing to say aloud that innocent people really were locked up. Politicians could not spend money fast enough on prisons. After a long climb in crime rates, the country was ratcheting up sentences. Bill Clinton had suspended his presidential campaign in 1992 so that he could be in Arkansas, where he was then the Democratic governor, for the execution of a murderer who had shot himself in the head and was so that he asked prison guards to save the pecan pie from his last meal for him as he was being led to his lethal injection. Ms. Reno had read, though, about the exoneration of 16 people, including a former marine, Kirk Bloodsworth, who had been sent to death row in Maryland for the killing of a child on the strength of testimony by five eyewitnesses. At such a moment, the notion that fallibility was poured into the foundation of the criminal justice system was startling and disruptive. Ms. Reno, who died this week at 78, was unafraid of looking directly at it. The first woman to hold the position of attorney general, she served eight years. “This is an illustrative story of how she fought for truth, and how she worked,” said Mr. Travis, who is now the president of John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. Without Google or the rich resources of the modern web, the researchers working for Mr. Travis scoured reports from around the country. The Innocence Project in New York, the leading organization using DNA to overturn convictions, had some information, but it too was still in an embryonic phase. Still, the researchers found 28 cases of innocent people who had been wrongly convicted, and prepared a report, “Convicted by Juries, Exonerated by Science. ” DNA testing is practical only in a small fraction of cases, but the flaws it discloses in conventional investigative techniques — first documented in that report — are profound. The most important question is not how those innocent people got out of jail, but how they got into it. Eyewitness errors were a leading source of wrongful convictions, as were false confessions and junk forensic science. The report included commentaries by prosecutors, a police superintendent, and Peter J. Neufeld and Barry C. Scheck, the of the Innocence Project, who wrote, “There is a strong scientific basis for believing these matters represent just the tip of a very deep and disturbing iceberg of cases. ” (Mr. Neufeld, Mr. Scheck and I later wrote a book on the subject.) At Ms. Reno’s request, the justice institute brought in panels of psychologists who had studied the working of human memory. “She stayed the whole day,” Mr. Travis said. The work led to new ways of asking witnesses to look at suspects and of recording complete interrogations, as well as greater rigor in laboratory practices and the preservation of evidence. Ms. Reno met many detectives in her home as a child — her father had been a police reporter in Florida — and for her, it was important that the public realized they were hardworking, great people, said James Doyle, a lawyer and author who interviewed her for “True Witness,” a book about eyewitness procedures. That first report she commissioned on DNA exonerations looked fearlessly at the errors not just of police officers, but of a whole constellation of players in justice. “Ernest Hemingway once famously wrote that ‘all modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain, called ‘Huckleberry Finn,’” Mr. Doyle wrote on the Crime Report website. “It is not too much to say that all modern criminal justice reform can be traced to that pamphlet. ” | 0 |
(This version of the story corrects spelling of Caitlan Coleman s name) By Drazen Jorgic and Asif Shahzad ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The freeing of a hostage U.S.-Canadian family by Pakistan s army has been hailed by officials as a positive step in mending ties between Washington and Islamabad, but those hoping for a fresh start in their fraught relationship seem likely to be disappointed. Pakistan and the United States have for years been - at best - uneasy allies in the war against the Taliban and other Islamist extremists. U.S. President Donald Trump said the raid that rescued American Caitlan Coleman, her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle and their three young children showed that Pakistan had started to respect the United States again in response to his administration s tough-talking tactics. But the two countries still have conflicting interests - and the Trump administration s vow to apply more diplomatic pressure on Pakistan is unlikely to work, given Islamabad s growing alliance with regional heavyweight China, say analysts. This is a small occurrence between Pakistan and the U.S., and it should not be confused with the big issues that separate Pakistan and the U.S., said Pakistani security analyst Imtiaz Gul. On Friday, five years after they were kidnapped in Afghanistan, Coleman and Boyle flew home with the three children born while they were captives of the Haqqani network, a feared Taliban sub-group that Washington particularly accuses Pakistan of failing to do enough to fight. Some saw the timing as a goodwill gesture ahead of upcoming visits by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. I don t think it s a coincidence that this hostage release was announced when you have a parade of top Trump administration officials in Islamabad to deliver strongly worded warnings to Pakistan, said Michael Kugelman, a South Asia specialist at the Woodrow Wilson Center. He added that no one should take the good news as a definite sign that Pakistan would drastically change its behavior towards militants such at the Haqqanis. Going after hostages is not the same thing as going after the terrorists holding them, he said. The United States has repeatedly accused Pakistan of not doing enough to eliminate militant havens on its territory. For now, officials on both sides are talking up the cooperation on display in Wednesday s rescue operation, when Pakistani troops acting on a U.S. intelligence tip-off swooped on a vehicle carrying the hostages. But tensions remain. Pakistan is still angry at the unilateral U.S. operations on its soil to kill al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in 2011 and last year s drone strike that killed Taliban supreme leader Akhtar Mansour. United States officials, for their part, suspect both bin Laden and Mansour were able to live in Pakistan with the tacit support of at least some elements of the powerful military. Washington also argues that the Taliban - which has been fighting to re-establish its hardline Islamist regime in Kabul since a 2001 U.S.-backed military intervention - would not have been able to gain so much ground against Afghan government forces in recent years without safe havens in Pakistan. Trump s administration in August warned aid to Pakistan might be cut and Washington might downgrade its status as a major non-NATO ally, in order to pressure it to do more to help bring about an end to America s longest-running war. Pakistani officials bristle at U.S. claims Islamabad is not doing enough to tackle Islamist militants, particularly the Haqqanis, saying they have cooperated for years and launched military operations to push out militants from its soil. Pakistan also says few appreciate that 17,000 Pakistanis have died fighting militants or in bombings and other attacks since 2001. Pakistan is less vulnerable to threats of U.S. aid cuts because Islamabad has been deepening its relationship in recent years with China, which is financing some $57 billion in infrastructure projects, said Gul. Critics say the Pakistani military nurtures the Taliban and other Islamist factions because they are seen as potentially useful to Pakistan s core confrontation with old rival India. The Trump administration s recent talk of a regional strategy for Afghanistan that would include a bigger role for India has deeply upset Pakistan s establishment, said Mosharraf Zaidi, an Islamabad-based commentator and former Pakistan Foreign Ministry adviser. It seems like for the U.S., and President Trump has said so, that India is going to be a big part of the future of Afghanistan, and for Pakistan that s not on the table, Zaidi said. As a nuclear power, Pakistan could also be offended further at Trump s implication that it has bowed to his administration s pressure. Given that people understand that respect for America is a big deal for Trump and a big deal for the American people, it shouldn t be so hard to understand why Pakistan ... also wants to be respected, said Zaidi. | 0 |
Watch Juan Williams make several attempts to shame Fox Five host, Kimberly Guilfoyle for speaking out against Obama s Black Lives Matter race war in America. Once he realizes he s losing the argument, he attempts to berate her, telling her she is uncomfortable about being a racist. His horrible accusation is followed up brilliantly when Guilfoyle responds by asking, Why would I be uncomfortable about it [racism] as a Puerto Rican woman? A heated exchange on the subject of identity politics took place on The Five between, Kim Guilfoyle accused co-host Juan Williams of becoming infamous and also ridiculous because you put words in people s mouths. Guilfoyle, praising a commencement speech by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, said, I like his emphasis on faith and belief. Because in my personal opinion, the past eight years, we have seen under the Obama administration, they have used class warfare and race and envy to divide the nation. They have, and communities when you see Ferguson and other places Oh, I see. President Obama did Ferguson? Williams interjected.https://youtu.be/3bRrDyacnP0 Their exchange continued:KG: I didn t say that, Juan. And you re really become infamous and also ridiculous because you JW: Because that was a ridiculous statement.KG: You put words in people s mouth and you paraphrase JW: I didn t say You said President Obama, Ferguson .KG: I didn t say that. I said the administration.JW: OkayKG: And it s true. Under Eric Holder and the Injustice Department.JW: Whoo.KG: This is part and parcel for what happened across this country. We did not come closer together as a country. We became more divided. And there was more loss of life and destruction of property from that race and identity politicsJW: I see, because people speak out against injustice, you don t like it and it makes you uncomfortable.KG: Well, it s no it doesn t make me uncomfortable.JW: You have to deal with reality.KG: No. I do deal with reality. The bottom line is they fostered an environment that was violence and that was not something that brought people together. Instead of using the opportunity as president to bring people together and blur race and gender lines it was more about divisiveness JW: Oh, I see you want to blur race and gender when it makes you uncomfortable, KimberlyKG: I m not uncomfortable by it at all. I m not uncomfortable by it at all.JW: People in this country who have to live with police aggression KG: Why would I be uncomfortable with that as a Puerto Rican woman? The only way to blur race and gender is with alcohol! Greg Gutfeld burst in, bringing the heated exchange to a landing. Everybody just go out and get drunk. Via: Mediatate YouTube | 0 |
EXETER, N.H./MILFORD, N.H. (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, emerging from the first presidential nominating contest in Iowa as the leading Republican mainstream contender, portrayed himself in New Hampshire on Tuesday as the party’s best hope to recapture the White House. But Rubio, 44, a U.S. senator from Florida, faces a strong field of establishment rivals in next week’s New Hampshire primary after his stronger-than-expected third-place finish in Iowa behind front-runners Ted Cruz, 45, and Donald Trump, 69. “If I am the nominee, we are going to beat Hillary Clinton and it won’t be by the flip of a coin,” Rubio told supporters in Exeter, New Hampshire, taking a jab at the close Democratic race in Iowa between Clinton and challenger Bernie Sanders, where some precincts were decided on a coin flip. Other more mainstream Republicans including former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Ohio Governor John Kasich and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, are expected to do better in New Hampshire than in Iowa and vie with Rubio to become the establishment favorite. Cruz and Trump also headed to New Hampshire as the presidential race shifted to the second nominating contest in the state-by-state battle to pick nominees for the Nov. 8 election to replace Democratic President Barack Obama. Trump told a news conference before a rally in Milford, New Hampshire, that he felt “a tinge” of disappointment at losing to Cruz in Iowa.. The billionaire businessman also picked up an endorsement from former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown. Cruz told New Hampshire supporters he was like former Republican President Ronald Reagan, urging the state to help ensure his nomination by giving him a win in the Feb. 9 primary. “Every day from now until Election Day here in New Hampshire, I’m going to continue asking for the men and women of New Hampshire to make that same fateful decision yet again so that we can reignite the promise of America,” Cruz said. Cruz, a conservative U.S. senator from Texas, beat Trump in Iowa’s Republican caucuses with the help of the state’s large bloc of evangelical Christians, but he might struggle to finish on top in New Hampshire, where Republican voters have a more secular and libertarian streak. Cruz apologized to rival Ben Carson over an email his campaign sent on Monday night implying Carson was dropping out of the race and his Iowa backers should switch to Cruz. “This was a mistake from our end, and for that I apologize to Dr. Carson,” Cruz wrote. The campaign for Carson, who finished fourth in Iowa, said the retired neurosurgeon had accepted Cruz’s apology but that the incident was the sort of “dirty trick” politics that Carson was trying to fight. The Democratic presidential contenders, Clinton and Sanders, also headed to New Hampshire after their close duel in Iowa, where the former secretary of state narrowly edged out the insurgent U.S. senator from Vermont. Vermont borders New Hampshire, and that proximity may give Sanders an advantage in next Tuesday’s primary. Clinton’s razor-thin margin was the smallest in Iowa Democratic caucus history. Concerns about the income gap and economic insecurity have helped Sanders, 74, a self-described democratic socialist who came from far behind in polls to throw a scare into the front-runner in Iowa. Clinton, 68, acknowledged she had to try harder to win younger Democrats, who backed Sanders in Iowa in large numbers. “I’m going to have some work to do to reach out to young voters, maybe first-time voters, who have to make a tough decision,” she told CNN. The two Democrats also renewed a days-old battle over when and where to have more face-to-face debates, and were still talking about potentially meeting in a televised debate on Thursday night in New Hampshire. On the Republican side, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who dropped out of the race in December, said a recent hardening of Rubio’s position on immigration and the strength of his anti-abortion stance might cost him. “Running to the right to win Iowa is going to be a hard sell here in New Hampshire,” Graham, a supporter of Bush, told Reuters in Rindge, New Hampshire. The son of Cuban immigrants, Rubio said he was the candidate to unite the Republicans in the November election, when the party hopes to regain the White House after Obama’s two four-year terms. “People realized on the Republican side that we cannot afford - this country cannot afford - to lose this election, and that I give the party the best chance not just to unify our party but to grow it,” Rubio told ABC’s “Good Morning America” from Manchester, New Hampshire. The fluent Spanish speaker hopes to win back some of the Latino vote the party lost in recent years as it toughened its stance on immigration. A foreign policy hawk, Rubio advocates a tough approach to Iran, the Islamic State militant group and other U.S. foes. Iowans who supported Rubio at the caucuses said they responded to his relatively positive message and viewed him as the candidate most likely to beat Clinton should she be the Democratic nominee. Worries about issues such as immigration and terrorism have fueled the campaigns of Trump and Cruz. Christie on Tuesday accused Cruz and Rubio of lacking executive experience for the job of president. “What do they do exactly in the United States Senate? They talk and they talk. They are not responsible for doing anything,” Christie said at his campaign’s New Hampshire headquarters in Bedford. Opinion polls of Republicans show Trump leading nationally and in New Hampshire. But the state has a long tradition of bucking trends in presidential primaries. Trump, the outspoken real estate magnate who dominated the Republican race for months, broke an unusual silence of more than 12 hours on Twitter after his defeat in Iowa. “Because I was told I could not do well in Iowa, I spent very little there - a fraction of Cruz & Rubio. Came in a strong second. Great honor,” he wrote on Twitter on Tuesday where he has regularly posted scathing criticism of his opponents. (Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu, Susan Heavey, Mohammed Zargham and Megan Cassella in Washington, Ginger Gibson and John Whitesides in Iowa; Writing by Alistair Bell and John Whitesides; Editing by Frances Kerry, Howard Goller and Peter Cooney) SAP is the sponsor of this coverage which is independently produced by the staff of Reuters News Agency. | 1 |
Take that you filthy animals! | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate will most likely vote on four gun control measures on Monday, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate said, after the weekend shooting massacre at a gay nightclub in Florida. Two of the proposals are sponsored by Democrats and two by Republicans, Senator John Cornyn of Texas said on Thursday. “I think it’s pretty definite,” he said of the Monday time frame. | 0 |
Longtime friend and Clinton advisor Diane Blair released Hillary s uncensored remarks about the 22 year old intern Monica Lewinsky her husband pursued and had sex with in America s Oval Office. Narcissistic Looney Toon is how Hillary described her. Wow! Way to show your compassion for a young influential girl who was pursued by your husband for the purposes of pleasuring him. What a true champion of women | 1 |
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — On the grounds of the Old State Capitol here, where nearly 160 years ago, Abraham Lincoln held forth on “a house divided,” Hillary Clinton on Wednesday lamented the Party of Lincoln’s transition to the Party of Trump, casting the present moment as an indelible stain on Republican history. Yet even as she savaged Donald J. Trump as an existential threat to American democracy, a week before Republicans plan to nominate him for president in Cleveland, Mrs. Clinton set off on a delicate balancing act of her own. She waded with care into the thickets of national reckonings over police violence and violence against the police, hoping to position herself as an unlikely agent of harmony. And in an uncharacteristic admission, Mrs. Clinton assumed responsibility for at least a small measure of the fractiousness in the national discourse. “I cannot stand here and claim that my words and actions haven’t sometimes fueled the partisanship that often stands in the way of our progress,” she told a small audience that crowded beneath a grand ceiling here. “So I recognize I have to do better, too. ” Though Mrs. Clinton has for weeks stressed unity as the binding theme of her campaign — making speeches in front of “Stronger Together” signs — the staging on Wednesday was particularly unsubtle. She immediately invoked President Lincoln, quoting from his speech on June 16, 1858. She spoke slowly and sternly, as if narrating a documentary, railing against a litany of national hardships: gun violence, economic inequality, an overreliance on the police to remedy societal ills. She suggested reassuringly that America had overcome much more than its recent pain and political fury. “The challenges we face today do not approach those of Lincoln’s time. Not even close,” she said. “But recent events have left people across America asking hard questions about whether we are still a house divided. ” For a candidate not known for soaring oratory, and often not especially comfortable pursuing it, the venue was something of a risky choice, inviting comparisons to some of the most stirring speakers in American history. Nearly a century and a half after Lincoln condemned slavery here, Senator Barack Obama stood before the Capitol in February 2007 to announce his bid for president. Mrs. Clinton’s aides had billed this speech as a major address, hoping to build on remarks last week before black clergy members in Philadelphia, when she urged white Americans to “do a better job of listening when talk. ” She did touch on the deaths of black men in Louisiana and in Minnesota, and the deaths of five police officers in Dallas, reciting all of their names. She also cited the deaths of five Latinos in episodeslast week. But during her remarks, Mrs. Clinton trained her attention largely on Mr. Trump, whose campaign she called “as divisive as any we have seen in our lifetimes. ” In perhaps her most zealous flourish, she noted that Mr. Trump had suggested Tuesday night that he could relate to systemic bias against black Americans because “even against me, the system is rigged. ” “Even this, the killing of black people by police, is somehow about him,” Mrs. Clinton said. As the Republican Party prepares to nominate Mr. Trump next week, Mrs. Clinton seemed inclined to highlight the consequences of that choice at every opportunity. She mocked Mr. Trump’s reference last week to “Article 12” of the Constitution, which does not exist, and wondered about giving him access to the levers of power. “Imagine if he had not just Twitter and cable news to go after his critics and opponents, but also the I. R. S. — or for that matter, our entire military,” she said. As she moves to portray Mr. Trump as a purveyor of national chaos, Mrs. Clinton is also seeking to bridge a divide in her own party. Her campaign is hopeful that the endorsement from Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont on Tuesday will help bring Democrats together in earnest before the party’s convention in Philadelphia in two weeks. Implicit in her comments on Wednesday was a plea for empathy, even for political opponents — a striking gesture from Mrs. Clinton, who has long inspired intense partisan passions and was criticized last year for saying in a debate that Republicans were the “enemy” she was proudest to have made. “Let’s put ourselves in the shoes of Donald Trump’s supporters,” said Mrs. Clinton, who speaks often of her family’s roots. (Her father owned a small drapery business in Chicago.) “We may disagree on the causes and the solutions to the challenges we face,” she continued, “but I believe, like anyone else, they’re trying to figure out their place in a America. ” Wrapping up, Mrs. Clinton strayed from her prepared text to describe a song from the musical “Hamilton,” which she saw for the third time on Tuesday, telling the crowd that history had its eyes on how Americans respond to this moment. Then she quoted Lincoln once more. “If we do the work, we will ‘cease to be divided,’” she said. “We, in fact, will be indivisible — with liberty and justice for all. And we will remain — in President Lincoln’s words — the last, best hope of earth. ” | 0 |
MANILA (Reuters) - Leaders of Asian nations meeting in Manila on Monday skirted around the mass exodus of Rohingya Muslims triggered by Myanmar s military crackdown, disappointing human rights groups who were hoping for a tough stand on the humanitarian crisis. There was no pressure either from U.S. President Donald Trump over the Philippines bloody war on drugs during a meeting on the sidelines of the summit with President Rodrigo Duterte. Trump told reporters that he had a great relationship with Philippines leader, who, a year ago, had branded then-President Barack Obama a son of a bitch for questioning his ruthless campaign. They really hit it off, Duterte s Communications Secretary Martin Andanar told reporters after the meeting with Trump. A draft of the statement to be issued after a meeting of Southeast Asian leaders made no mention of the flight of Rohingya from military operations in Myanmar s Rakhine state that the United Nations has described as ethnic cleansing. One paragraph mentioned fleetingly the importance of humanitarian relief for affected communities in Rakhine state. The statement was drawn up by the Philippines, current chair of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which includes Myanmar. It did not use the term Rohingya for the persecuted Muslim minority, which Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has asked foreign leaders to avoid. The government in mostly-Buddhist Myanmar regards the Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and does not recognize the term. Over 600,000 Rohingya have fled to refugee camps in Bangladesh since military clearance operations were launched in response to attacks by Rohingya militants on Aug. 25. The plight of the Rohingya has brought outrage from around the world and there have been calls for democracy champion Suu Kyi to be stripped of the Nobel peace prize she won in 1991 because she has not condemned the military s actions. Some ASEAN countries, particularly Muslim-majority Malaysia, have voiced strong concern over the issue recently. However, in keeping with ASEAN s principle of non-interference in each others internal affairs, it appeared to have been put aside at the summit. With Myanmar having ethnically cleansed 600,000 Rohingya Muslims in just two months, it s time for ASEAN to transcend its do-nothing approach to atrocities among its members, said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, in a Twitter message. The ASEAN leaders did agree that they should not take a lull in the dispute over the South China Sea for granted. While the situation is calmer now, we cannot take the current progress for granted, they said in a statement drafted ahead of a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. It is in our collective interest to avoid miscalculations that could lead to escalation of tensions. China claims almost all of the sea, one of the world s busiest waterways. Taiwan and four ASEAN nations - Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Brunei - have competing claims. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte suggested ahead of the summit that, despite their differences, the leaders should not discuss the South China Sea. We have to be friends. The other hotheads would like us to confront China and the rest of the world on so many issues, he said on Sunday. The South China Sea is better left untouched. At the meeting s formal opening on Monday, he pointed to other triggers for a threat of violence in the region, including terrorism, violent extremism, and piracy on the seas. The menace of illegal drug trade continues to endanger the very fabric of our society, he said. More than 3,900 people have been killed in the war on drugs that Duterte declared when he took office last year. His government says the police act in self-defense, but critics say executions are taking place with no accountability. The United States and the Philippines, a former U.S. colony, have been strategic allies since World War Two. But their relations have been strained by anti-U.S. outbursts from Duterte and his enthusiasm for better ties with Russia and China. However, the animosity of the past appears to have been all-but forgotten, and Duterte - who has been called the Trump of the East for his brash style and coarse language - told the U.S. president: We are your ally. We are an important ally. Trump was criticized earlier this year after he praised Duterte during a phone call for the great job he was doing to counter illegal narcotics. The two leaders seem to have warmed to each other after meeting for the first time on Saturday at a meeting of Pacific Rim leaders in Vietnam. On Sunday, Duterte crooned hit Filipino love song Ikaw (You) at a gala dinner in Manila, saying it was on the orders of Trump. One of the song s verses begins: You are the light in my world, a half of this heart of mine . On the last leg of a marathon Asia tour that has taken him to Japan, South Korea, China and Vietnam, Trump told reporters that he had made significant progress on trade issues. We ve made some very big steps with respect to trade, far bigger than anything you know, he said, describing his trip as fruitful and adding: It was red carpet like nobody, I think, has probably ever seen. | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican John Kasich ended his longshot presidential bid on Wednesday, NBC News and Politico reported, leaving Donald Trump’s path clear to capture the Republican nomination for the Nov. 8 election. Kasich, 63, the Ohio governor and a former U.S. congressman, had vowed just a day earlier to keep running after U.S. Senator Ted Cruz dropped out following a poor showing in Indiana’s Republican primary on Tuesday. NBC cited an unidentified Kasich campaign source as saying the governor would suspend his campaign. The campaign did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment. Kasich, who was able to win only his own state in the race for the 2016 Republican nomination, canceled a media appearance on Wednesday in Virginia and scheduled a 5 p.m. EDT statement in Columbus, Ohio, his campaign said. Trump’s decisive victory in the Indiana primary forced Cruz to suspend his candidacy and prompted speculation that Kasich, running a distant third, would do the same. | 1 |
DEMOCRAT GOVERNOR Andrew Cuomo just pardoned 18 illegals who were facing immigration enforcement actions because of prior criminal charges. He says his pardon was based on their rehabilitation efforts. Cuomo blasted what he called President Trump s hard-line immigration efforts. Is following the rule of law a hard line ?IN SEPTEMBER OF LAST YEAR CUOMO SIGNED AN EXECUTIVE ORDER IGNORING IMMIGRATION LAW?Yesterday New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order barring law enforcement officials from inquiring about the citizenship status of suspects during investigations. It would also apply to other state agencies outside of law enforcement in most cases. In other words, rather than just refusing to cooperate with ICE when they seek to deport illegal aliens, Cuomo is raising the bar and basically pretending that we don t even have any immigration laws.IS THIS ABOUT VOTES, VOTES, VOTES? YOU BET IT IS! While the federal government continues to target immigrants and threatens to tear families apart with deportation, these actions take a critical step toward a more just, more fair and more compassionate New York, Cuomo said in a statement.WE SAY THAT TRUMP SHOULD CUT OFF INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDS!IGNORING CRIMINAL HISTORIES:Among those pardoned Wednesday was Lorena Borjas, 57, who had been convicted of criminal facilitation in 1994 as a result of being a victim of human trafficking. Borjas, a transgender woman from Mexico, has worked as an advocate for the transgender and immigrant communities since her conviction, the governor s office said. Freddy Perez, 53, was convicted of criminal sale of a controlled substance in 1993. Perez, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, said he hopes to become a U.S. citizen, according to the governor s office.Prior to Wednesday s pardons, Cuomo had issued seven pardons for immigrants in an effort to postpone their deportation, The New York Times reported.Read more: The Hill | 1 |
It s hard to believe that racism is still a key issue in a city with one of the highest African American populations in America, but that wasn t the case in Philadelphia on New Year s Day, when white people dressed up in brownface for the city s annual Mummers Parade and insulted #BlackLivesMatter protesters with racial slurs while trying to argue that the parade wasn t racist!The Mummers Parade has been a New Year s Day tradition in Philadelphia where Mummers (amateur actors/Philadelphia citizens) dress up in extravagant costumes and perform throughout the city. As part of the costumes, it used to be common practice for the actors to wear blackface but this was curbed in 1964 after the NAACP and supporting protesters pressured the city to have it removed from the parade. Blackface was never officially sanctioned, so it still occurs despite the fact that blackface is now commonly regarded as racist. In response, the Philly Coalition for REAL Justice decided to schedule a rally during this year s Mummers Parade in protest.Coverage of the rally ended up exposing not only rampant racism, but misogyny. Along with the brownface, there were many men dressed up as wenches and some people even mocked the #BlackLivesMatter movement by carrying signs that said Wench Lives Matter, Pirate Lives Matter and Shark Lives Matter (which bared some resemblance to KKK attire).When parade participants heard of the Philly Coalition for REAL Justice rally, they began flooding the group s Mummers Parade Justice Rally s Facebook event page to convince America that the Mummers Day parade wasn t racist and ironically showed an impressive amount of white privilege and N-bombs.It should be mentioned that #BlackLivesMatter wasn t even the sole purpose of the rally it was just one of many issues that protesters had with the Mummers Parade. And the rally s intention was not to shut the Mummers Parade down. The Justice Rally s page wrote: Bring your signs, banners and noise makers to the Mummers parade and let s represent for the issues that matter to our communities! Our goal is to pack the stands and the parade route around city hall with people representing for #BlackLivesMatter in a city 48% black, funding public schools, fighting for a $15 minimum wage, dumping Trump, immigration rights and explosive oil trains. Not one mention of shutting the parade down, just the innocent intention of improving the lives of Philadelphians. Here are some of the horrendously racist, vile things people posted on the Justice Rally s event page in response: So improving Philadelphia is something to condemn, and yet behavior like what happened in the below Facebook post is perfectly acceptable at the Mummers Parade:If that had been a group of drunk black people p*ssing on homeless people, this would have never been accepted. Fortunately, there were also many people who recognized that the Mummers Parade does have a racist past and that racism and misogyny don t belong in such a widely celebrated parade. Hopefully 2016 will be the year that the more offensive traits of the parade get squashed.Featured image via Joshua Scott Albert Twitter | 1 |
HILLARY HAS A TRACK RECORD OF BEING A BIG PHONY She s been caught on numerous occasions breaking out a fake southern accent. It s just too funny! Here she is at the CUNY graduation spewing bs and faking her accent:Bitter Hillary Clinton giving commencement speech at CUNY during #ComeyTestimony: "I wish I was flying in from the White House!" pic.twitter.com/9dSqvwGtq5 Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) June 8, 2017 In case you missed her past takes on a fake Southern accent:MEMPHIS: She s just like one of you Ha! Hillary Clinton breaks out the very phony Southern accent during a speech in Memphis. This always cracks me up because I m from the South and we can spot a phony a mile away. Pandering to her base is what Clinton does best. Just like Obama, she plays to the crowd she s speaking to by adopting their accent or acting like she s just one of them. This folksy style is cringe inducing for anyone with half a brain but she IS speaking to a group of Democrats soooooo SOUTH CAROLINA: Hillary Clinton sat down for a Chair Chat with the Chairman of the Democratic Party of South Carolina. During the interview, as in many of her speeches to people who live in the South, she put on a Southern accent that is absent from her speeches to Northerners. We made a mashup of some of the most painfully pandering moments, and ranked the intensity of her accent with cowboy boots (1 = lowest, 5 = strongest). | 0 |
Donald Trump is so deplorable that even Cthulhu wants nothing to do with him.The fictional evil creature created by H.P. Lovecraft and his fans were quick to issue a denial after horror author Stephen King compared Cthulhu to Republican nominee Donald Trump on Monday. Breaking News: Reliable sources reveal that Donald Trump is actually Cthulu, King wrote on Twitter. The absurd hairdo isn t absurd at all. It hides the tentacles. Breaking News: Reliable sources reveal that Donald Trump is actually Cthulu. The absurd hairdo isn t absurd at all. It hides the tentacles. Stephen King (@StephenKing) September 12, 2016And hilariously enough, Cthulhu responded in the comments by taking offense at being compared to Trump. @StephenKing Sorry, Stephen, you couldn t be more wrong. That clown has nothing on me. https://t.co/LHXy2IBln8 Cthulhu for America (@cthulhu4america) September 12, 2016Then some Cthulhu fans jumped in..@StephenKing I m sorry Mr. King, but Candidate Cthulhu (@cthulhu4america) is certainly not as duplicitous and fraudulent as Trump is. (((TS Valle))) (@tattoosandbones) September 12, 2016 @StephenKing @dmalmon I don t see it. Cthulhu has a coherent, if unspeakable, program. Bill Cameron (@bcmystery) September 13, 2016@StephenKing That s offensive to our Lord and saviour ? Roo Morgue (@roomorgue) September 12, 2016 @StephenKing @BlueRaveFinn No, he s nowhere near competent enough to be Cthulhu. Evil-Yet-Amazingly-Stupid is not an Elder God trait. James Petruzzi (@Hawaiianimages) September 12, 2016@StephenKing interesting hypothesis, but if he were Cthulhu at least he d offer a clearer future for America and less insanity. ? Tom Dullemond (@Cacotopos) September 12, 2016Cthulhu then posted a statement on Twitter categorically distancing himself from Trump. Trump could barely hope to be 1/63 as great as I am if he weren t such a buffoon, Cthulhu wrote, continuing by saying that Trump is an impulsive firestarter. Trump could barely hope to be 1/63 as great as I am if he weren t such a buffoon, @StephenKing pic.twitter.com/AKU0PFNoG2 Cthulhu for America (@cthulhu4america) September 12, 2016Donald Trump truly is an embarrassment to this country and Republicans should be ashamed of themselves for picking him as their nominee.Featured image via Ralph Freso/Getty Images | 1 |
By Catherine J Frompovich What a question to ask: Is your vaccinated child ‘hazardous material’? Wow! However, that’s not flippant at all when one considers the amount of hazardous chemicals and... | 0 |
Not only is Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford s wife drop-dead gorgeous, she s also smart, patriotic, and apparently outspoken when it comes to professional athletes who refuse to stand for our national anthem. We couldn t stop smiling, as we read Kelly Stafford s passionate and patriotic Instagram message to her husband s fellow NFL players.Here s what Stafford wrote: If you think the country can be better, stand for the ideal. If you think the answer is people showing unity, stand with them. The anthem is not the national police song. The anthem is not the national racists song. The anthem is an exercise in how this country can endure and rise, how we can agree on its future potential, even while struggling with its present.The anthem s words depict a flag that is suffering through bombs and rockets. You could easily view those bombs and rockets as the challenges our democracy faces today, and the flag a symbol of rising above them. -Mitch albomI ve been hesitant to talk about this, as I know I will get backlash from it.. but I believe we can stand and show our unity against everything that doesn t represent what this flag stands for.Let s stand united against terrorists, against racism, against white supremacists, against killing of cops, against police brutality, against sex slave trafficking.. against anything that is not the ideal for this country.Let s unite in the fact that God made us all unique and different and that is something we should cherish. You can disagree with me and that is totally ok.. let s use this forum to discuss (not yell at each other) and listen to one another.Here is the actual Instagram post: If you think the country can be better, stand for the ideal. If you think the answer is people showing unity, stand with them. The anthem is not the national police song. The anthem is not the national racists song. The anthem is an exercise in how this country can endure and rise, how we can agree on its future potential, even while struggling with its present. The anthem s words depict a flag that is suffering through bombs and rockets. You could easily view those bombs and rockets as the challenges our democracy faces today, and the flag a symbol of rising above them. -Mitch albom I ve been hesitant to talk about this, as I know I will get backlash from it.. but I believe we can stand and show our unity against everything that doesn t represent what this flag stands for. Let s stand united against terrorists, against racism, against white supremacists, against killing of cops, against police brutality, against sex slave trafficking.. against anything that is not the ideal for this country. Let s unite in the fact that God made us all unique and different and that is something we should cherish. You can disagree with me and that is totally ok.. let s use this forum to discuss (not yell at each other) and listen to one another. #landofthefree #homeofthebrave #illstandwithyou #nfl #standunited #unitedwestandA post shared by Kelly Stafford (@kbstafford89) on Aug 23, 2017 at 4:45am PDTMost of the comments Stafford received on her Instagram post were positive, however, there are always gonna be haters out there, and for the haters, Stafford posted a follow up to her original statement (which also received mostly supportive responses):A post shared by Kelly Stafford (@kbstafford89) on Aug 23, 2017 at 7:55am PDT | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon has notified the U.S. Congress of the sale to Nigeria of 12 Super Tucano A-29 planes and weapons worth $593 million, which the West African country wants for its fight against the militant group Boko Haram. The Federal Register on Monday published the Aug. 2 notification from the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency. The sale includes thousands of bombs and rockets and was originally agreed by former President Barack Obama’s administration. The Super Tucano A-29, an agile, propeller-driven plane with reconnaissance and surveillance as well as attack capabilities, is made by Brazil’s Embraer. A second production line is in Florida, in a partnership between Embraer and privately held Sierra Nevada Corp of Sparks, Nevada. The Super Tucano costs more than $10 million each and the price can go much higher depending on the configuration. It is powered by a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT 6 engine. The Obama administration delayed the deal after incidents including the Nigerian Air Force’s bombing of a refugee camp in January that killed 90 to 170 civilians. President Donald Trump has said he plans to go ahead with foreign defense sales delayed under Obama by human rights concerns. (This story corrects headline and paragraphs 1 and 2 to reflect that the notification was made on Aug. 2, not on Monday) | 0 |
President-elect Donald Trump has named Steve Bannon as his senior counselor and chief strategist. Reince Priebus will be the White House chief of staff.
The uproar came when the press release announced that the two would be equal partners in the White House, thus making Bannon one of the most powerful people in the Executive Mansion. It has been stated that the most effective way to influence the White House is to be named the president’s most important advisor.
Bannon’s place in the Trump administration is of significance in American politics. It is also one of controversy. The president-elect’s choice for his top aide was criticized by the NAACP, the Anti-Defamation League, and multiple Democratic leaders. Harry Reid stated, “President-elect Trump’s choice of Steve Bannon as his top aide signals that White Supremacists will be represented at the highest levels in Trump’s White House.”
John Weaver, a Republican consultant to Governor John Kasich, sent a tweet stating “a racist, anti-Semite” was named an equal to Trump’s chief of staff and warned the nation to stay vigilant.
Bannon was a significant part of the creation and growth of the nationalist right, or alt-right movement, which welcomes those who are openly anti-Semites and racist. The Washington Post printed a similar comment when he became chairman of the Trump campaign, stating: “it was the latest sign for white nationalists, once dismissed as fringe, that their worldview was gaining popularity and that the old Republican Party was coming to an end.”
The Bannon Climb to the White House A former spokesman for Breitbart News, Kurt Bardella, told The New Yorker that Bannon attempts to ride the coattails of anyone who could grant him political power. He supported Sarah Palin, then the Tea Party, on to Ted Cruz, jumped to Ben Carson, and so on.
From 2008 to 2016, he studied Sarah Palin and political figures that held a right-wing status. He even made documentaries about these people, creating a kind of epicenter for the nationalist right, or alt-right, movement.
After President Barack Obama was re-elected, Republican leaders, the GOP business wing, and consultants decided their focus needed to be on immigration. Priebus was the chairman of the Republican National Committee and submitted a report stating that passing legislation for immigration reform was a necessary means for the survival of the party. This situation became Bannon’s window of opportunity.
He was open about his disdain for Fox News and believed Rupert Murdoch was a globalist. He thought of Priebus, Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan and other Republican leaders as enemies. Bannon made Breitbart a rebellious hub, resisting all efforts to immigration reform. He developed a friendship of support with Senator Jeff Sessions, leader of the Senate opposition.
This divide created an opening for an unnoticed group of conservatives, who had been marginalized. They shared an idea to “promote the restoration of white culture.” Bannon provided Breitbart as an outlet to further the alt-right movement and bring it into mainstream conversation.
Journalists were sent to the Mexican border to interview Americans who believed they were victims of immigration. The writers used anti-Semitic terms in their articles while criticizing globalists and international bankers. Weeks before Bannon became chairman of the Trump campaign, he told a reporter for Mother Jones, “We’re the platform for the alt-right,” referring to the Breitbart News site.
The nationalist-right website encouraged any outsider who was a threat to Republican leadership. Ted Cruz was a key element of the government shut-down, in 2013. The news site celebrated the accomplishment. It supported David Brad when he defeated Cantor, in a primary, by verbally assaulting his Wall Street connections. The site even assisted in instigating the uprising against Speaker of the House John Boehner.
During the 2015 Republican primaries, Breitbart shredded the reputations of Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush. By the fall, Breitbart was the “Trump propaganda machine or Trumpbart News,” as referred to by critics.
When Breitbart News reporter, Michelle Fields, was grabbed by Corey Lewandowski for approaching Trump, Bannon took the side of the presidential campaign. He did not protect his own reporter while the campaign denied the incident.
In August 2016, he found the Golden Ticket. Trump asked Bannon to chair his presidential campaign.
Under the Wing of Trump The presidential candidate had already received criticism for using the vocabulary of white nationalists and anti-Semitic radicals. This, combined with his approval from the Ku Klux Klan made Trump an even more favorable ally. Allegedly, Bannon inserted anti-Semitic and racist rhetoric in Trump’s written campaign speeches and television ads. When asked about these invocations, Bannon stated that he supported “nationalism, not white nationalism.” He believes the European movements focus on the identity of the people as a nation, not racial identity.
He stated the approval of white working-class Americans could win Trump electoral votes from Michigan and Wisconsin, in the presidential election. These states have voted Democrat since the ‘80s. He did not believe Hillary Clinton had the same Hispanic and African-American support Obama had garnered in 2012. This would cause her to lose the Florida electoral votes. Bannon was right.
The alt-right nationalist has nurtured his connections with like-minded people in France, the U.K., Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands. The first foreign national the president-elect met with was Nigel Farage, a friend of Bannon.
He has stated multiple times that American capitalism was constructed on “Judeo-Christian values.” He believes that when capitalism was most beneficial, the strongest leaders were also faithful Judeo-Christians. They were either active in the Christian or Jewish faith and it was manifested in their accomplishments. Would the Founding Fathers considered white supremacists?
Senior Council The senior counselor position has been held by David Axelrod and Karl Rove, most recently. The role is a high-level function in the Oval Office that involves communication with national and foreign governments. It could involve writing speeches for the president on any occasion.
Appointing Bannon to this position tells the nation that the philosophy of the alt-right voters will integrate into American policy. Indeed, it is the plan, of the president-elect, to deport millions of immigrants after his Inauguration Ceremony. Could this begin a new Holocaust?
By Jeanette Smith
Sources:
The New Yorker: Steve Bannon Will Lead Trump’s White House
The Jerusalem Post: Stephen Bannon in 2014: Racism will get ‘washed out’ of nationalist right
Fortune: Trump Taps Reince Priebus for Chief of Staff, Stephen Bannon as Senior Counselor
Featured Image Courtesy of Joel Hageman’s Flickr Page
Top Image Courtesy of Travis Nep Smith’s Flickr Page Bannon , Trump , white house | 1 |
We Are Change
Wikileaks has been leaking more emails then we can keep up with but two of the biggest bombshells recently released by the international whistle-blower organization are that the Department of Justice and State Department were in collusion with the Clinton campaign.
The emails show Clinton campaign manager John Podesta being warned by Department Of Justice Assistant Secretary General Peter Kadzik from a non-government email address about Hillary’s investigation.
Kadzik wrote to Podesta with the subject line “heads up,” tipping him off to the investigation into Hillary Clinton on Benghazi.
“There is a HJC oversight hearing today where the head of our Civil Division will testify. Likely to get questions on State Department emails. Another filing in the FOIA case went in last night or will go in this am that indicates it will be awhile (2016) before the State Department posts the emails,” Kadzik wrote.
Peter Kadzik is also in charge of investigating Huma Abedin’s emails. Kadzik was also an attorney for John Podesta and in Podesta’s own words he was a “ fantastic lawyer” who “kept me out of jail.”
In another bombshell, Podesta made false statements to a grand jury during the investigation into the Monica Lewinsky trial, which Podesta himself summarizes in another leaked email.
A further revelations about Kadzik is the fact that Peter Kadzik represented Marc Rich as his attorney – the same Marc Rich that Bill Clinton controversially pardoned and the FBI released it’s investigation files into on Monday.
If that’s not enough Kadzik’s son tried to get a job working for the Clinton campaign . Then there is the fact that Kadzik had multiple dinners with Podesta during the email investigation .
These are obvious conflicts of interest here and one that needs to be brought forward.
In another example of collusion between the Clinton campaign and the government’s investigation of it’s candidate Hillary Clinton, it’s been revealed that FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe’s wife received $675,000 in political donations from Clinton campaign surrogate Terry McAuliffe’s PAC and the Democratic Party of Virginia.
Terry McAuliffe was the person that enabled the FBI to open an investigation into the Clinton Foundation when Terry McAuliffe himself was investigated for corruption .
Other Wikileaks emails show collusion between officials in the U.S. State Department. Two recently leaked emails show that not only was Clinton’s campaign tipped off by a DOJ insider but the U.S. State Department colluded with the New York Times the day prior to announcing Hillary’s private server.
Lauren Hickey told Clinton aides that then-State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki “just cleared” a statement to a New York Times reporter.
“Hi guys – Jen just cleared. She made the highlighted change — just rephrased a line about NARA updates state is undertaking. Yes on your point re records – done below. And yes will let you know — should be in the new few minutes.” – Lauren Hickey.
Additionally an email from Brian Fallon, Clinton’s press secretary who used to be the DOJ’s director of public affairs until joining Clinton’s campaign in April 2015, highlights that Fallon was being leaked information from the DOJ on Hillary Clinton’s investigation in the early stages of a status hearing. So what makes you think he didn’t get further information? To add to that, again a private non-government email was used to relay this information to Podesta and the rest of the campaign.
“DOJ folks inform me there is a status hearing in this case this morning, so we could have a window into the judge’s thinking about this proposed production schedule as quickly as today.”
– Brian Fallon.
What more will be revealed about the inner workings of Clinton’s campaign and the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private server? Stay tuned to We Are Change.
The post WIKILEAKS: Emails Show Clinton Collusion Between State Department And DOJ appeared first on We Are Change .
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - If Americans were looking for clarity on leading Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s world views, they might have come away disappointed from Thursday night’s debate. Asked who he trusts on national security, Trump had warm words for three men with world views that differ from one another, and who diverge sharply on some key issues from Trump himself. They are former diplomat Richard Haass and retired U.S. Army officers Gen. Jack Keane and Col. Jack Jacobs. His mention of the eclectic trio did little to satisfy mounting calls for him to announce a list of his campaign foreign policy advisors, who traditionally take top posts should he be elected. His debate comments appeared to be more words of admiration for the three men than a signal he was forming the nucleus of a national security team. Trump has been rejected by a significant swath of his party’s foreign policy establishment. Almost 110 Republican foreign policy veterans have signed a letter pledging to oppose Trump, saying his proposals would undermine U.S. security. The three men Trump mentioned have different views of the 2003 Iraq invasion, arguably the most controversial foreign policy decision in a generation. Trump says he opposed the war, calling it a disastrous intervention and accusing the administration of then President George W. Bush of misleading Americans. Keane is a defense hawk who helped devise the 2007 Iraq “surge” — a move to send tens of thousands more U.S. troops to Iraq to quell sectarian strife — and served as an informal consultant to Bush. Keane told Reuters on Friday he has never spoken to Trump. Keane, now chairman of the board of the Institute for the Study of War think tank, said he has briefed seven presidential candidates from both parties, whom he declined to identify. “I don’t comment publicly on any candidate, their proposals, their policies. I have never done. I won’t do it,” he said. Haass is a centrist foreign policy thinker and president of the Council on Foreign Relations, a think tank seen as a fixture of the U.S. foreign policy establishment. The State Department’s policy planning director at the time of the Iraq invasion, he wrote later that he was largely against the war. “I did not believe in the Iraq war,” Haass said in a 2009 interview with National Public Radio. Trump has proposed barring Muslims from entering the United States, demanded that Mexico fund a wall to control illegal immigration across the U.S. border, and praised Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has called for building up the U.S. military while also saying he wants allies to pick up more of the burden in conflicts such as Syria and Iraq. He has vowed to destroy Islamic State. A spokeswoman for Haass, Iva Zoric, said that he briefed Trump on foreign policy in August 2015. In a tweet late on Thursday, Haass wrote: “I do not endorse candidates. What I have done is offered to brief all candidates, & have briefed several, D(emocrat) & R(epublican) alike.” Jacobs, now a frequent television commentator, won the Medal of Honor, the highest U.S. military decoration, in the Vietnam War. He has expressed skepticism regarding large scale American military interventions in the Middle East and has suggested that waterboarding, an interrogation technique that many call torture and that Trump has endorsed, is ineffective. Trump softened his stance on torture on Friday, saying he would not order the U.S. military to break international laws on how to treat terrorism suspects. Jacobs has been critical of political leaders who send American troops on missions without what he considers a well-defined strategy. Jacobs, writing in 2007, criticized the post-invasion plan for Iraq, including the “foolish decision” to disband the Iraqi army. Pressed on Thursday night to identify his foreign policy advisers, Trump said that Haas and Keane were “excellent” and that he liked Jacobs “very much.” Jacobs declined to comment on whether he was helping Trump. “I have many people that I think are really excellent but in the end it’s going to be my decision” on national security matters,” Trump said. Keane, who appears frequently before congressional committees and on television, has accused U.S. President Barack Obama of not acting forcefully to help moderates in Libya and Syria. He called Obama’s 2011 withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from Iraq an “absolute strategic failure,” and charged that he lacks a strategy to contain the spread of Islamic State and help moderates in the region. Keane told Reuters that as a strict rule, he will not join campaigns as an advisor, nor endorse political candidates. (Editing by Stuart Grudgings) This article was funded in part by SAP. It was independently created by the Reuters editorial staff. SAP had no editorial involvement in its creation or production. | 0 |
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany should be more assertive in setting foreign policy according to its own interests rather than to those of the United States, the German foreign minister said on Tuesday. Traditionally close ties between Berlin and Washington have soured since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January. Trump is at odds with Germany over Iran and North Korea, has denounced Germany s trade surplus with the United States, accused Berlin and others of owing vast sums to NATO and worried partners by deciding to ditch the Paris climate accord. The traditional view of the United States as having a protecting role was beginning to crumble , Sigmar Gabriel told an audience of politicians and government representatives at the Koerber Foundation. The U.S. s retreat (from its international role) is not due to the policies of only one president. It will not change fundamentally after the next elections, he said. Germany should continue to invest in its partnership with the United States as a trading partner but must be more assertive in representing its own interests when the two countries are at odds. Gabriel gave the example of sanctions against Russia that the U.S. Congress agreed on in the summer and which could ultimately affect Germany s energy supply as they affect Russian pipelines. Gabriel also warned against ending the nuclear deal with Iran, saying this would increase the risk of war and affect national security, and against any move by the United Stales to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Germany cannot afford to wait for decisions from Washington, or to merely react to them. We must lay out our own position and make clear to our allies where the limits of our solidarity are reached, Gabriel said in the speech, excerpts of which had been published by Sueddeutsche Zeitung ahead of time. Germans see U.S. President Donald Trump as a bigger challenge for German foreign policy than authoritarian leaders in North Korea, Russia or Turkey, a survey published by the Koerber Foundation showed. Post-war Germany has pursued a cautious foreign policy embedded in the principles and institutions of the European Union, due to the legacy of World War Two but has gradually taken on a more active global role in the last decade or so. Gabriel s Social Democrats (SPD) have said they will launch talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel s conservatives on forming a government next week if members of his center-left party gave him the green light at a congress this weekend. | 1 |
Whoever dubbed Tuesday, April 26 the “Acela Primary” (because the five states that held primaries on that day coincide with the route of Amtrak’s fastest carrier) needs a refresher in how trains and Republican presidential hopefuls run.
The Washington-to-Boston Acela service is known for the three things: speed, “quiet cars” and higher fares.
You won’t find those first two traits – swiftness and silence – in this boisterous, time-consuming GOP affair. Expensive, yes, but not a joy ride.
Here are four takeaways, now that the Republican local has completed its northeastern course.
Trump Towered. I’ve kept struggling with a way to best characterize Donald Trump’s roll – New York last week; Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island all this week.
One thought: Trump 2016 looks a lot like the American map circa the mid-1700’s. He’s conquered 12 of the 13 original colonies (New Jersey votes on June 7), plus most of the southeast. Except for a few states here and there, Trump controls the American continent east of the Mississippi River.
But now the race moves west. First up: Indiana, on May 3 (more on that in a moment). A week later: West Virginia and Nebraska.
After that, the GOP field spends quality time on the West Coast – two weeks in Oregon and Washington – before a final push in California, Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota and the aforementioned New Jersey.
The question: Trump has momentum as he steps off the Acela. Then again, so too did Texas Sen. Ted Cruz after he rolled Trump in Wisconsin’s April 5 primary.
From this point forward to California, will it be “nomemtum” or “big mo” for The Donald?
Isn’t It Bromantic? You’ve heard of Rudolph Valentino, but maybe not Jean Acker. She was Valentino’s first wife – best known for supposedly locking him out of the bedroom on their wedding night, never consummating the marriage, yet suing for the legal right to “Mrs. Rudolph Valentino”.
The political marriage between Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich (quicker even than Valentino and Acker’s two-month courtship) may not turn out to be as cinematic.
But there is the matter of consummation.
Cruz thinks Kasich intends to cede Indiana to the more conservative Texan; Kasich has told reporters he’s not instructing his followers to switch to Cruz.
It’s anyone’s guess as to whether Cruz and Kasich much care for each other. What I don’t understand: why they felt the need to go public with their hasty nuptials. Other than the obvious reason: they both realize the urgency of the moment – far behind in delegates, needing to defeat Trump soon before he salts away the GOP nomination.
It’s funny how fast things can change in politics: we entered April with Trump looking wobbly; we’ll exit the month with Cruz and Kasich resorting to a bromance that reeks of desperation.
Hoosier Daddy. A word about campaigning in Indiana, home to a pivotal presidential contest and a contentious GOP Senate primary both of which are playing out along “establishment/outsider” lines: if I were working the basketball-crazy state, I’d want one of three individuals by my side – basketball legend Larry Bird, former Indiana University Coach Bobby Knight, or the kid who drained the jumper at the end of “Hoosiers”.
OK, Jimmy Chitwood doesn’t exist in real life and “Larry Legend” isn’t all that political (though he once snubbed Ronald Reagan). That leaves us with Coach Knight, who’s appearing with Trump at a Wednesday evening rally in Indianapolis.
It’s not the first sports endorsement to come Trump’s way – Buffalo Bills Coach Rex Ryan warmed up the crowd for him at a rally the day before New York’s primary. And it begs the question of pro-Trump star power other than the “Apprentice” and Gary Busey, Wayne Newton and Jon Voight.
With polls showing Trump holding a narrow lead among Hoosiers, Cruz could use some star-power of his own – better yet, maybe a Gene Hackman pep talk.
California. The Chicago Cubs have waited 71 years for a World Series appearance; 108 years for a title. California’s absence from the national political picture seems just as pronounced.
Post-Acela Primary, Trump’s delegate count has risen well into the 900’s. That puts him three-fourths of the way to 1,237, which is now officially out of reach for Cruz (until after a first ballot in Cleveland, when pledged delegates can begin switching their votes).
Here’s why California matters more with each passing week: Trump can’t win without taking a gluttonous portion of the Golden State’s 172 GOP delegates (to get to 1,237 on June 7, I’m guessing he’ll have to score 140 delegates); as such, it’s the #nevertrump movement’s last chance to derail him.
In California Amtrak parlance, that primary would be a ticket on the Coast Starlight – a three-day ride along the West Coast that isn’t fast and isn’t cheap.
And unlike Tuesday’s Acela experience: maybe the only real hope of throwing Trump from the train.
Bill Whalen is a research fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, where he analyzes California and national politics. He also blogs daily on the 2016 election at www.adayattheracesblog.com. Follow him on Twitter @hooverwhalen. | 0 |
A rookie Dr. Ben Carson: I haven t said anything about me being the only one to do anything. I m the only one to separate siamese twins. The only one to operate on a babies while still in a mother s womb. I m the only one to take out half a brain, although you would think if you go to Washington that someone had beat me to it. | 0 |
(Reuters) - Storm-battered Puerto Rico, with a population of 3.4 million, is still without electricity five days after Hurricane Maria struck with ferocious winds and torrential rains, the most powerful hurricane to hit the U.S. territory for nearly a century. Eighty percent of the power lines in Puerto Rico are down, the island s electricity utility PREPA said on Monday. PREPA spokesman Carlos Monroig said the utility is evaluating all of Puerto Rico s electrical infrastructure by air. The following are responses from multinational companies with a presence in Puerto Rico on how they are dealing with the aftermath of Maria: WAL-MART STORES INC Wal-Mart spokesman Phillip Keene said: We don t have a timetable yet on being fully operational, but we are working very hard to recover operations on the island as quickly as possible. As of this morning, hundreds of loads of water, emergency supplies and other needed resources like generators have either been delivered to the island or are on the way there. We will send trucks to open stores and those that are able to accept deliveries as soon as safely possible. No details to share on economic or operational impact. Lisa Belot, media relations at Sprint, said: Due to the severe damage caused by Hurricane Maria and the impact on Sprint s network, technical staff have mobilized to review the state of our sites in Puerto Rico and to expedite the reconstruction process to reestablish communication as quickly and safely as possible for all of our customers. Our first shipment has already arrived in Puerto Rico with generators and parts required for restoration, and crews of engineers and technicians from the U.S. have already joined the local team on the island. A second shipment is scheduled to arrive on Wednesday. The company said: We are closely monitoring our network in Puerto Rico and working to address the full effects of Hurricane Maria. Storm damage is significant across the region and commercial power is unavailable, both of which can affect our ability to provide service. And, unfortunately, some cleanup crews working in the area have accidentally damaged additional communications infrastructure. We are coordinating with local authorities and deploying resources as rapidly as possible to assist in restoration and recovery efforts as quickly as conditions allow. Nat lia Salom o, global corporate media relations at drugmaker and consumer Johnson & Johnson, said: Our preliminary assessment is that our physical facilities fared well given the magnitude of the storm. We are partnering with local and federal authorities to monitor the state of the infrastructure. While we helped our employees and campuses prepare, we continue to work with customers and our emergency aid partners to restock products and relief supplies that have been in heavy demand. Prior to the storm, we took steps to adjust our raw material and product supply flow to account for potential interruptions, and we will continue to assess the situation. BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB CO Bristol-Myers Squibb spokesman Ken Dominski said: Puerto Rico sustained significant damage, and our primary concern is with our employees, their families and the citizens of Puerto Rico. We have some damage to one of our three facilities, however we are executing contingency plans that we believe mitigates product supply risk as we assess the situation on the island and work to bring our operations back online. We are contacting employees to provide support in their recovery from Hurricane Maria while the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation is responding with a $250,000 cash donation to support emergency relief efforts. Scott Sayres, a spokesman for Honeywell International, said the company s focus is on making sure their employees are safe. They re still working on it ... our folks on the ground are making sure everyone s accounted for and what their needs are ... we re still assessing the facilities. | 1 |
ATLANTA (Reuters) - The two Democratic candidates running for governor in Georgia are both lawyers and former state legislators. Both are women, and on many policy issues it’s hard to tell them apart. Both even share the same first name - Stacey. But they sharply disagree on the path to victory. Stacey Abrams, 44, wants to become the first African American female governor in the United States by mobilizing solidly Democratic black voters, who vote sporadically in elections, to form a winning coalition with white liberals. Stacey Evans, 39, thinks the math does not add up without also appealing to white moderates, many of them outside urban areas, who voted for President Donald Trump last November. She is highlighting her crossover appeal as a white suburban mother with country roots. Their divergent strategies mirror a wider debate within the Democratic Party that has grown louder after strong turnout by minority voters helped to power recent Democratic victories in Alabama and Virginia. As the party prepares for the 2018 congressional elections, there is disagreement over which voters to spend more time and money on - minority voters who are a fast-growing share of the electorate but do not reliably cast ballots, or blue-collar and suburban whites who swing between parties. (Graphic: tmsnrt.rs/2yYkcHV) Reuters interviews with liberal activist groups, some donors and an examination of campaign finance records show that many on the left are betting on Abrams’ strategy as the best shot at turning a Republican state. Underscoring the stakes in Georgia is the unusual attention from national groups seeking to push the party farther left. Their level of early support for Abrams is largely unparalleled among other 2018 gubernatorial and many congressional races. A dozen liberal groups have already thrown support behind Abrams, according to a Reuters tally, even though the Democratic primary, or nominating contest, is still months away. The breadth of that support has been little reported. Abrams, who rouses audiences to near religious fervor describing her struggles growing up poor and black in the South, argues that Democrats have wasted resources on swing voters. “We have left too many voters untouched,” she said in an interview, noting that she refuses to tone down her support for abortion, gay rights and labor unions to appeal to Republican-leaning voters. Her opponent does not discount the importance of black voters and also embraces liberal views. But “you are going to have to persuade some moderate Republicans to vote for you, if you are going to win in Georgia,” said Evans, who tears up before crowds when she recounts a childhood spent moving from one rural trailer home to another. After losing the White House last year, the Democratic Party found itself powerless in Washington. Some in the party faulted their presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, for her lack of outreach to minority voters in key states. Others blamed her inability to connect with working class white voters who were once Democratic. Minorities supported the Democratic ticket by wide margins in 2016, but turnout was flat among Hispanics and sharply lower among African Americans, according to the Pew Research Center. Only half of Georgia’s black voters cast ballots in 2016, compared to more than two-thirds of whites, a Reuters review of state records showed. The Democratic National Committee said the recent wins in Alabama and Virginia “show that Democrats are a force to be reckoned with when we invest early in the communities that represent who we are as a Party.” Jennifer Duffy, a political analyst at the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, said boosting Democratic turnout could work as a strategy. But she urged caution - focusing too narrowly on specific demographic groups risks alienating moderate Democrats. And swing voters, especially in suburban areas, also played a role in the recent Democratic victories, she noted. University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock agreed the numbers are there if Democrats do not lose more white voters. At the Abrams campaign headquarters, a poster titled “How We Win” points out that Democrats in Georgia have lost recent elections by some 200,000 votes. More than 1 million black voters did not cast ballots during the last governor’s race in 2014, state data shows. “They don’t vote because we don’t ask, and this is a campaign that is going to keep asking,” Abrams said, speaking on a recent evening to an audience of three dozen volunteers. Abrams, a tax attorney and romance novelist who led Democrats in the state legislature, said her campaign has already reached out to more than 300,000 voters with door knocks, phone calls and text messages. She hosted summer events with music and barbecue in a dozen smaller cities - places like Macon, a predominately African American community, and tiny Dalton in the rural northern state. National liberal activists are lining up endorsements, money and manpower behind Abrams, who is seen as starting with an advantage in a Democratic primary dominated by black voters. Democracy for America, MoveOn Political Action and the Working Families Party call her campaign a model of how to engage the nation’s increasingly diverse electorate. “Politics is changing in America, and Abrams’ path to victory reflects the changing demographics and enthusiasm,” said Dan Cantor, national chairman of the Working Families Party. MoveOn, whose recent endorsement of Abrams marked its first in a 2018 governor’s race, said it would mobilize its 125,000 Georgia members as volunteers for her campaign. Democracy for America is similarly engaging nearly 35,000 members in the state. Officials said the group has already raised nearly $25,000 for Abrams, an unusually high sum for an election still a year away. A group called PowerPac is organizing a $10 million get-out-the-vote effort with plans to hire people to contact minority voters and use targeted radio, phone and digital campaigns. Individual donors from outside Georgia have contributed more than half of the $470,000 in larger donations that Abrams has reported, according to a Reuters analysis of campaign finance records. Billionaire George Soros, one of the Democratic Party’s biggest financial backers, and two sons donated $21,000 each. By contrast, Evans is not receiving many donations from outside of Georgia, nor national endorsements. Her campaign is focused on restoring cuts to a state college scholarship called HOPE. Most of her money has come from in-state donors, who have fueled almost all of her reported $390,000 in major donations. She has support from Georgia’s last Democratic governor, as well as a big-name Democratic strategist, Paul Begala, who worked for the governor who created the scholarship. The Georgia contest reflects divisions between those who want to broaden the Democratic electorate by bringing back voters who have shifted away, and those who want to drill deeper into the party’s base to increase turnout, said Begala, calling it “an utterly false choice.” “It is like a football team saying, ‘Do you play offense, or defense?’” Begala said. “You have to do both.” At a recent barbecue luncheon in Athens, Evans pointed out that she outperformed Clinton last year in her district by 12 percentage points, picking up moderate voters. “You can win in areas where you might not think you are going to have support, if you show up and talk to people,” she told lawyers lunching on pulled pork served on paper placemats. Evans is not knocking on voters’ doors just yet. But she is traveling the state talking to local Democratic organizations and African-American churches. Lukis Newborn, an undecided rural voter, recently heard Abrams speak in a suburban Atlanta sports bar. He found her exciting. But he also connects with Evans, having been raised in a household where dinner was rice and beans or peanut butter and jelly. “Both are a part of me,” said Newborn, 26, from Paulding County. “It’s an internal struggle of a Georgia Democrat like no other.” | 0 |
CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - A top adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump plans to hold talks in Canada on Tuesday with members of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s team, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday. Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, will travel to Calgary, Alberta, where Trudeau and his cabinet are holding a two-day retreat focused largely on the new U.S. administration. | 0 |
Just like Donald Trump, Sean Hannity has a thin skin and throws a temper tantrum on Twitter whenever someone tells the truth about him.That s what happened on Thursday when Wall Street Journal foreign affairs columnist Bret Stephens took a shot at Hannity by calling him Fox News dumbest anchor for attacking Republican leaders for not blindly supporting Trump no matter what he does and threatened to blame them on the air repeatedly if Trump loses in November.Fox News dumbest anchor had a message for y all: https://t.co/AMQutLDeow via @Yahoo Bret Stephens (@StephensWSJ) August 5, 2016And that was enough to cause the Fox News host to explode in rage on Twitter with a series of posts attacking Stephens. Wsj genius. Where were u when Boehner punted on the power of the purse a added nearly 5 trillion in new debt? https://t.co/oaH1b92PFS Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) August 5, 2016Where were you when R party refused to use the power of the purse to defund Obamacare ? https://t.co/oaH1b92PFS Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) August 5, 2016 Where were you dumbass when in 2014 R s said the would stop Obama s illegal and unconstitutional exec amnesty? https://t.co/oaH1b92PFS Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) August 5, 2016It s arrogant, elitist, enablers like you that never hold R s accountable that created the opening for Trump!! https://t.co/oaH1b92PFS Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) August 5, 2016 If Hillary wins I will hold assholes like you accountable. You will be responsible for her Supreme ct selections..,, https://t.co/oaH1b92PFS Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) August 5, 2016Where were u when weak pathetic Boehner & Co allowed the POTUS to accumulate more debt than all 43 pres combined https://t.co/U0LWTPLzOw Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) August 5, 2016Hannity s hissy fit even carried over to Friday. Congress has the power of the purse. Why in 2014 did R s promise to defund exec amnesty? Why capitulate to Obama? https://t.co/U0LWTPLzOw Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) August 5, 2016Hannity is right that Congress has the power of the purse, but not funding Obamacare would have resulted in a veto, which is a power the president has. Ultimately, a government shutdown would have occurred and Republicans would have been blamed like they were in 2013 when Ted Cruz persuaded Republicans to defund Obamacare that October. The standoff was a disaster for Republicans who were overwhelmingly blamed in multiple polls and would have resulted in the United States defaulting on the national debt had the shutdown not been ended by Republicans backing down and funding the law.Furthermore, Hannity didn t care about the national debt when President Bush was busy adding trillions to it with two wars that lasted over a decade. Bush took a surplus left by Bill Clinton and turned it into a $1.4 trillion deficit that Fox News and Republicans immediately tried to blame President Obama for. And just so Hannity knows, President Obama s fiscal responsibility has nearly eliminated that deficit.This is the second time in a month that Hannity has flown off the handle because he couldn t deal with being criticized.The first incident occurred just after the Republican Convention in Cleveland when Jon Stewart took over Stephen Colbert s desk and delivered an epic smackdown of Hannity for being hypocrite by hating on President Obama for certain things while loving the same things about Trump.Here s the video of that epic mocking via YouTube.And of course, Hannity responded by losing his sh*t on his radio show.It s really no wonder why Hannity supports Trump. He looks at him and sees himself.Featured image via screen capture. | 0 |
The Minnesota officer who has been on trial for the murder in the shooting death of a black motorist has been found not guilty. The verdict was announced around 2:55 p. m. on Friday. [St. Anthony police Officer Jeronimo Yanez testified during the trial that Philando Castile had his hand on a gun. A Facebook video live streamed by Diamond Reynolds, his girlfriend who was in the car, went viral. She narrated as Castile sat dying. Officer Yanez fatally shot Castile on July 6 after a traffic stop in Falcon Heights, a suburb in St. Paul, Minnesota. At the time, there was a question as to whether Castile was a suspect in a recent convenience store robbery. Officer Yanez faced charges of manslaughter and reckless discharge of a weapon. The Minnesota jury has been deliberating this week. Shortly after the shooting, Officer Yanez’ lawyer said, “I can tell you that the stop of the vehicle for an equipment violation was not the only reason for the stop. ” A handgun was recovered at the scene. During the Facebook live stream, Reynolds said, “police just shot my boyfriend for no apparent reason. ” Castile had a concealed handgun license. During Yanez’ trial, a police force expert testified that the officer was justified in his use of force. Expert Joe Dutton told jurors “When Yanez saw the grip of Castile’s hand, he had to react to the actions of Mr. Castile,” reported the CBS affiliate in Minnesota. He added, “This truly was a decision, there wasn’t time to do anything else. ” A firefighter testified that he heard Castile’s gun drop to the ground from his pocket when he put him on a stretcher. Officer Yanez took the stand in his defense. He testified that he stopped Castile’s car after Castile drove past him and gave him a “deer in the headlights” look that made him suspicious. “It’s a trigger,” he testified. The officer was already on alert after the convenience store robbery and Castile looked like one of the robbery suspects. He radioed his partner that he was going to pull the car over because “[t]he two occupants just look like people that were involved in a robbery,” Minnesota’s Star Tribune reported. He also had legal grounds to pull Castile over because he was driving with a broken brake light. Yanez walked up to the car, and he could smell burnt or burning marijuana, he testified. The officer told the jury he saw Castile’s hand on the gun and Castile did not follow his instructions not to reach for the gun. He told the jury, “I told him, ‘Don’t pull it out,” but when he saw Castile pull out the top of the gun, “That’s when I engaged Mr. Castile and shot him. ” The officer testified when he saw Castile’s gun, “my family popped into my head. My wife. My baby girl. ” “I did not want to shoot Mr. Castile at all. ” “Those were not my intentions. ” After the shooting, Castile’s mother, Valerie Castile, reportedly told CNN, “I think he was just black in the wrong place. ” Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton further fanned the flame of racial tension when he asked at a press conference after the shooting — “Would this have happened if the driver and passenger were white?” He answered his question saying — “I don’t think it would have,” reported Fox 9 News in . Paul. As can be heard in the video, the officer told the girlfriend, “I told him not to reach for it. I told him to get his hand off of it. ” This occurs at the mark in the video. Lana Shadwick is a writer and legal analyst for Breitbart Texas. She has served as a prosecutor and associate judge in Texas. Follow her on Twitter @LanaShadwick2 | 0 |
Donald Trump is a threat to the continuing survival of our nation and democracy. And the only thing that can stop him is the Electoral College.That s why Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig is openly calling upon the Electoral College to save us from this abomination that has made a mockery of our Constitution without even setting one foot inside the White House yet.Most Americans would agree that the Electoral College is an outdated part of our election that should be removed. But in this instance, it the last hope America has to keep Trump and his racist minions from destroying our country.In an op-ed for the Washington Post, Lessig points out that the Founding Fathers adopted the Electoral College as an additional check on our elections to make sure that demagogues and con artists like Donald Trump don t get to be president.Hillary Clinton currently has more than a 2 million vote lead over Trump in the popular vote, which means the will of the American people has been trampled by an electoral system that Republicans may very well have rigged this year, which is why Jill Stein has raised enough money to trigger a recount in three battleground states.On December 19th, the electors will meet to cast their votes for president and vice-president. And when they do, they have a chance to put the rightful winner of the 2016 Election in the White House.According to Lessig, the Electoral College is not meant to deny a reasonable judgment by the people. It is meant to be a circuit breaker just in case the people go crazy. In this election, the people did not go crazy. The winner, by far, of the popular vote is the most qualified candidate for president in more than a generation. Like her or not, no elector could have a good-faith reason to vote against her because of her qualifications. Choosing her is thus plainly within the bounds of a reasonable judgment by the people. The framers left the electors free to choose. They should exercise that choice by leaving the election as the people decided it: in Clinton s favor.In short, electors need to do the right and moral thing and vote for Hillary Clinton, even if it means being fined for voting their conscience.Over 4 million Americans have already signed a petition asking the Electoral College to vote for Clinton. Fell free to sign it by clicking here.These electors have a responsibility to keep our country from burning down to the ground. Trump has already proven that he isn t taking the presidency seriously and that he intends put our government into the hands of people who want to destroy it.Lessig is right to ask the electors to switch their votes to Clinton and the rest of us need to ask them to do it, too. We need to support them and tell them we have their back. Sure, conservatives will bitch about it. But at this point, who really gives a shit about them anyway? They voted for a tyrant, therefore, their opinions no longer matter.Featured Image: Zach Gibson/Getty Images | 0 |
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Friday he did not believe that Britain would crash out of the European Union with no Brexit deal. EU leaders will meet on Friday to discuss their response to British Prime Minister Theresa May s appeal to move to the next phase of Brexit negotiations and are expected to agree that there needs to be more progress in talks on the divorce terms. We have some details but we don t have all the details we need... It s not my working assumption that we ll have no deal, Juncker told reporters. | 0 |
The House voted Friday to block federal funding to Planned Parenthood for a year and curb some abortion practices, in the chamber's first legislative response to videos showing the abortion provider's tissue harvesting practices.
The Planned Parenthood "de-fund" bill passed 241-187, on a nearly party-line vote.
Hanging over the debate, though, was the possibility of a government shutdown showdown. Republican leaders brought the legislation to the floor as they try to address lawmakers' outrage over the videos. Some conservatives originally wanted to demand Planned Parenthood be de-funded as part of a must-pass government budget bill; House leaders tried a different tack Friday with the two bills, which are not tied to the overall budget.
The stand-alone measures, though, stand little chance of becoming law. The Senate has not yet acted on the issue. And the bills not only face opposition from most Democrats but veto threats from the White House.
That means some conservatives could still want to tie the issue to the budget package, as a means of leverage. Congress has until the end of the month to pass a new budget, or else parts of the government could again start to shutter, as happened in 2013.
On Friday, House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., downplayed the chances of such drama.
"We will pass a bill that funds the government," he told Fox News.
The bills approved Friday were a reaction to videos showing Planned Parenthood officials casually describing how they provide researchers with tissue from aborted fetuses. The anti-abortion activists who secretly recorded the videos say they show that Planned Parenthood is illegally profiting from organ sales. The organization says it's broken no laws and is being victimized by deceitfully edited recordings.
"Anyone who watches those videos -- they are horrific," McCarthy told Fox News. "Aborting live babies for profit -- why would anybody want to spend tax dollars for that?"
The first bill would block Planned Parenthood's federal funds for a year. The other would impose criminal penalties on doctors who don't try saving infants born alive during abortions.
But with the overall government funding issue not resolved, Democrats once again have taken to accusing Republicans of playing games with the economy. The White House, in a statement released Thursday evening, said Obama called the shutdown threat "a game of chicken with our economy that we cannot accept."
It's a tricky situation for House Speaker John Boehner, who wants to avoid a partial government shutdown while preventing a rebellion in the ranks.
"Our leaders wave the white flag every time there's a confrontation," said Rep. Mark Salmon, R-Ariz. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said Boehner wants to "implement what the lobbyists want, not what the constituents of our district want."
At a closed meeting Thursday among House Republicans, leaders unveiled internal polling that attendees said showed most people would oppose a government shutdown -- even those who have seen the videos and oppose financing Planned Parenthood.
Many Republicans argued that the polling showed a shutdown fight would be damaging and unwinnable, especially since Senate Democrats already derailed a bill erasing Planned Parenthood's funds.
"Pounding on the table doesn't turn 54 into 60 in the Senate," said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., referring to the number of GOP senators and the number it would take to end Democratic filibusters.
The bill by Rep. Diane Black, R-Tenn., would transfer Planned Parenthood's federal money to thousands of government-backed community health centers. Supporters say that would keep women's health care intact, but opponents say those centers are overwhelmed and often far from women who need them.
Planned Parenthood gets around $450 million yearly in federal payments, mostly Medicaid reimbursements for handling low-income patients, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. That's around one-third of the $1.3 billion yearly budget for the organization, which has nearly 700 clinics and provides sexual disease testing, contraceptives and abortions.
Conservatives' determination to block Planned Parenthood's money has been partly fueled by the race for the GOP's presidential nomination. Several candidates used their Wednesday night debate to urge lawmakers to turn off that funding spigot.
But spotlighting GOP divisions, Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., wrote Thursday to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, one of the presidential hopefuls. Cruz wants Republicans to oppose financing the government unless Planned Parenthood's money is cut off, defending his effort during the debate by saying, "I'm proud to stand for life."
Ayotte, who faces her own tough re-election fight next year, wrote that she opposed risking a partial shutdown "given the challenges and threats we face at home and abroad" and asked, "What is your strategy to succeed in actually defunding Planned Parenthood?"
The Associated Press contributed to this report. | 0 |
NICOSIA (Reuters) - Around 175 migrants, including many women and children, were rescued off Cyprus on Friday after their boat ran aground, police said. The vessel was tracked sailing off Cyprus s north-west coast. Authorities said those on board were being escorted to a nearby harbor. The nationality of the migrants and their port of departure were not immediately clear. In September, more than 300 Syrian refugees arrived in the same area, a patchwork of jurisdictions that borders on the ceasefire line splitting Cyprus between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, with a United Nations buffer zone in the middle. The waves of migrants fleeing neighboring Syria have largely skirted the island, but there has been an increase in landings in recent months. Earlier on Friday, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said 850 people had made illicit landings in Cyprus so far this year, compared with 345 in 2016. | 1 |
Good morning. (Want to get California Today by email? Here’s the .) The Democrats’ power in the State Capitol is ironclad. And it was wielded in startling fashion last week when a Republican state senator defied a demand to stop speaking and was physically removed from the Senate floor by law enforcement. The senator, Janet Nguyen, had stood up to criticize Tom Hayden, the 1960s radical, over his opposition to the Vietnam War. Days earlier, Mr. Hayden had been honored in the Capitol for his service in the Legislature. He died in October. But as Ms. Nguyen, who fled Communist Vietnam as a child, was speaking, the presiding senator declared her out of order. When she refused to sit, he summoned the . “Have her removed immediately,” said the senator, Ricardo Lara, a Democrat. If the plan was to silence Ms. Nguyen, it backfired. Captured on video, the commotion drew wide news coverage. Republicans circulated their outrage on social media, with some adopting the #shepersisted hashtag that became a rallying cry after Senator Elizabeth Warren was herself cut off during a speech. At the California Republican Party’s convention over the weekend, Ms. Nguyen was held up as a symbol of free speech. Hundreds of stickers were printed that read: “I stand with Janet. ” “It’s unknowable for us why they wouldn’t allow it,” Jean Fuller, the Senate Republican leader, said of the action against Ms. Nguyen. Some Democrats accused Ms. Nguyen of having violated parliamentary rules. Mr. Lara declined through a spokesman to offer specifics. On Monday, Kevin de León, the Senate president pro tempore, addressed the controversy on the Senate floor, saying he was “troubled” by what happened. “Thursday was not one of the finest moments in the Senate’s history,” he said. “As the leader of this body, I take full responsibility for what transpired and for making sure it never happens again. ” That may not be enough for Republicans who are calling for an investigation. “My constituents are extremely upset,” said Ms. Nguyen, who represents a part of Orange County with a large Vietnamese population. “They’re upset that their voices were shut down. ” Even so, as happened with Ms. Warren, Ms. Nguyen’s speech got far more attention than it otherwise would have. You can read it here. (Please note: We regularly highlight articles on news sites that have limited access for nonsubscribers.) • A small plane crashed into a Riverside neighborhood. At least three people died. [The Press Enterprise] • Making sense of Measure S, the latest battle in Los Angeles’s war over development. [Los Angeles Times] • A judge affirmed a blogger’s right to publish the home addresses of California lawmakers who backed gun legislation. [The Associated Press] • Unauthorized immigrants in Sacramento are selling their furniture and cars in case they are deported. [Sacramento Bee] • California leaders demanded details from the Trump administration on immigration arrests in the state. [Reuters] • It’s science, minus the swearing. A Los Alamitos school is using a PG edition of the book “The Martian” to teach physics, astronomy and chemistry. [The New York Times] • SpaceX plans to send two tourists around the moon and back in 2018. [The New York Times] • An Uber official resigned after the company learned he was accused of sexual harassment while working at Google. [The New York Times] • How apparent human error combined with live television to effect at the Oscars. [The New York Times] • Photos: Ten images that show the extensive damage to the Lake Oroville spillway. [KCRA] • San Diego County was deluged with its heaviest rain of the winter. [San Diego ] It was “the worst party ever. ” That’s how Bill Schutt, author of the gripping new book “Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History,” titled his chapter on the Donner Party tragedy. In the summer of 1846, a group of 87 pioneers set out from Missouri to settle the California coast. Led by George Donner, a businessman with no trail experience, the group took a misguided shortcut that in fact put them weeks behind schedule. Still, by late October, they stood before the final mountain pass in the Sierra Nevada, just a day or two from civilization on the other side. They rested for the night. And in a stroke of colossally bad luck, disaster hit. It snowed. They were stuck. Through the winter months, the group descended into starvation, madness and, infamously, cannibalism. The last survivor, found surrounded by half eaten corpses, wasn’t rescued until . All told, 35 died during the winter encampment or trying to escape it. We caught up with Mr. Schutt, who is a professor of biology at Long Island University, by phone. Some excerpts from the conversation: Q. I get the sense that your book tries to normalize cannibalism. Is that right? A. That’s a fine line to walk. If you’re not careful it sounds like you’re condoning that behavior. And I’m not. What I’m doing is taking a look at it through the eyes of a zoologist, of a scientist. . .. When looking at survival cannibalism like the Donners, I’m not trying to normalize that, I’m trying to say that it’s predictable behavior. Q. What did you learn about human nature researching this story? A. Just how strong and rugged these people were. … They showed incredible bravery all along the way. There was individual heroism, group heroism on a scale that makes you glad that you’re human. Q. Why do you think the Donner Party attracts such fascination? A. They came so close to getting across that pass. They missed it by a night. And if you’ve ever stood in the Donner Pass and looked down and realized that they got this far — that blew me away. California Today goes live at 6 a. m. Pacific time weekdays. Tell us what you want to see: CAtoday@nytimes. com. The California Today columnist, Mike McPhate, is a Californian — born outside Sacramento and raised in San Juan Capistrano. He lives in Davis. Follow him on Twitter. California Today is edited by Julie Bloom, who grew up in Los Angeles and attended U. C. Berkeley. | 0 |
Trump spoke to his supporters at a rally in Cleveland, Ohio, on Saturday. As one would expect from Trump, he s not about to sit back and allow Bernie Sanders supporters and Black Lives Matter terrorists hijack his rallies. After addresseding the violent protesters in Chicago, he reinacted Bernie Sanders cowardly reaction when two female Black Lives Matter terrorists took over the mic while at the start of his rally in Seattle. He called Bernie Sanders a communist and identified his supporters as troublemakers. Watch here:Watch here to see how Bernie Sanders reacted to the aggressive and disrespectful, thuggish behavior of two female representatives from the Black Lives Matter terror group. What is even more stunning is how the man who wants to be the leader of the free world stands in a corner like a dutiful Leftist allowing these two women to completely hijack a rally his people orgnaized. If Bernie can t control two unarmed, female domestic terrorists, how could anyone expect he could defend America against one of our enemies? This video is so embarrassing, it should be played over and over again as a reminder of the pacifist, communist who wants to be America s next President:Not everyone at the Bernie Sanders rally was down with the hateful, divisive Black Lives Matter terror representative s message; | 0 |
Yoko Ono, the artist known for such monumental works as “Breaking up The Beatles” and well, that’s really it, has taken to Twitter to once again insert herself into the political sphere. Comment on this Article Via Your Facebook Account Comment on this Article Via Your Disqus Account Follow Us on Facebook! | 1 |
Fox News continues to outdo itself for its incompetent so-called journalism. A Fox News host said that Bernie Sanders is basically a communist for wanting free college tuition for young Americans. While the host has no clue to what a communist is, what the host said about millions of Americans was the true insult.In a startling display of disdain for middle and lower-income Americans, Fox host Gretchen Carlson said that if rich kids get to go to school on their parents dime, then it s because their parents worked incredibly hard : Where he said, you know, poor people should be able to go to college free, like rich kids. Free? If that s actually true, quite possibly their parents worked incredibly hard to be able to pay for them, the full ride to go to college! What her silly statement implies is that parents of kids who can t afford to send them to college without assistance means that they are not hard workers. The shear arrogance is striking. How much money a person makes is not indicative of whether he/she works hard! The shear stupidity coupled with arrogance is very disturbing. It s puzzling how such people can have a platform on television.The host also went on to demean younger generations for supporting Bernie Sanders. Alarmed by the overwhelming support Sanders has received from young voters, Carlson dismisses them as lacking an understanding in what she believed were Sanders communist policies. She said: We have fought wars! Men and women have died in this country to fight against communism and many of these same principles, quite honestly Katherine, I mean, it s astounding. The more these people continue to spew such nonsense, the more obvious it is why Sanders has enormous popular appeal to Americans. It s time to give the American Dream back to everyone and not a select few.Watch Here: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8DKt6MhUGo]Featured Image via Screen Capture | 1 |
Very few of Donald Trump s fans are more blindly loyal to him than former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, but Trump s behavior of late has really pissed some people off, including Newt Gingrich. Trump has denigrated the family of a fallen Iraq soldier, he s kicked a mother with a crying baby out of a rally, bashed his fellow Republicans, accepted a Purple Heart from a soldier for no other reason than to show it off, and said he thinks his own daughter should just get a new job if she s being sexually harassed at work.In short, Trump is imploding, taking the GOP with him, and to Gingrich, that is unacceptable. In fact, he used that very word when describing what s happening: The current race is which of these two is the more unacceptable, because right now neither of them is acceptable.Trump is helping [Hillary] to win by proving he is more unacceptable than she is. He also dropped this bomb on Trump s election chances: He cannot win the presidency operating the way he is now. [Hillary] can t be bad enough to elect him if he s determined to make this many mistakes. Now, Gingrich isn t saying he ll endorse or vote for Hillary. But he stopped being Trump s apologist for a moment, and is even one of the Republicans that s working on staging an intervention for Trump. They re hoping to get him to change course before the damage to their party is irreversible.Trump has also refused to endorse either Paul Ryan or John McCain in their re-election races, proving yet again that he would rather pick petty fights over imagined slights than actually focus on running for president. To Gingrich, he s still acting like it s primary season, and like he s still competing against 17 other candidates.Don t let Trump hear him say any of this, though! Gingrich so pansy-assed about this that he furiously tried to backpedal on Twitter. Maybe he thinks that Trump won t notice his comments if he pretends the media is making this up?Media has wildly misinterpreted my critique of a bad week for Trump. Trump is vastly better than Hillary as President. Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) August 3, 2016Please.Featured image via John Moore/Getty Images | 0 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump supports the goal of peace between Israel and the Palestinians, even if it does not involve the two-state solution, a senior White House official said on Tuesday. Speaking a day before Trump holds a White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the official said peace was the ultimate goal. “Whether that comes in the form of a two–state solution if that’s what the parties want, or something else,” the official said, adding that Trump would not try to “dictate” a solution. Failure by a U.S. president to explicitly back a two-state solution would upend decades of U.S. policy embraced by Republican and Democratic administrations. It has long been the bedrock U.S. position for resolving the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict and has been at the core of international peace efforts. Any sign of a softening of U.S. support for eventual Palestinian statehood could also anger the Muslim world, including Sunni Arab allies, which the Trump administration needs in the fight against Islamic State and to back efforts against Shi’ite Iran. Trump considers Middle East peace a “high priority,” the White House official said. The president has given his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, the job of negotiating a peace deal. “We would want to work on it very quickly,” the official said. Trump’s choice for U.S. ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, who has not yet been confirmed by the Senate, will not be involved in the president’s discussions with Netanyahu on Wednesday, the official said. Friedman advocates settlement building and has questioned the two-state solution. The White House said earlier this month that Israel’s building of new settlements or expansion of existing ones in occupied territories may not be helpful in achieving peace. The statement was a shift in tone for Trump, who signaled during the campaign that he could be more accommodating toward settlement projects than his predecessor, Barack Obama. | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. congressional panel has asked pharmaceutical entrepreneur Martin Shkreli to testify at a Jan. 26 hearing about his company’s decision to raise the price of a life-saving prescription drug, according to a Republican committee staffer. Shkreli, who became known as “Pharma Bro,” created a fire storm last year after his company Turing Pharmaceuticals hiked the price of a drug called Daraprim by more than 5,000 percent. Last month, Shkreli was forced to step down as Turing CEO amid criminal and civil securities fraud charges alleging he ran a Ponzi-like scheme during his tenure at the hedge fund MSMB Capital Management and while he was the CEO of Retrophin, another drug company he previously headed. The securities fraud charges are unrelated to the drug pricing probe by the committee. The hearing before the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will primarily focus on Turing’s price spike of Daraprim, and price hikes for two of Valeant Pharmaceutical’s heart medications - Isuprel and Nitropress. A Democratic committee staffer told Reuters on Friday that Valeant’s Interim CEO Howard Schiller is also expected to appear at the hearing. A Valeant spokeswoman confirmed that Schiller will attend, and said he looks forward to testifying and that the company is cooperating with the ongoing congressional probe. An attorney for Shkreli declined to comment. Earlier this month, House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz and Ranking Member Elijah Cummings jointly sent document requests to Valeant, Turing and Shkreli. In their requests, the lawmakers asked for documents showing each company’s gross revenues and profits from the sales of the drugs in question, as well as communications by the CEOs in connection with the drugs. Since then, Turing has given tens of thousands of documents to U.S. congressional investigators ahead of the hearing, according to a Democratic committee staffer. A spokeswoman for Turing did not have an immediate comment. The committee is expected to review another batch of documents from Valeant in the near future. The deadline for submission is Jan. 22. The House Oversight panel’s interest in drug pricing was sparked by Cummings, who for more than a year has called for the Republican-led panel to probe prescription drug pricing. In a statement, Cummings said he is glad there is now bipartisan support for an investigation. He said Americans are “fed up with watching major drug companies rake in record profits while they continue to struggle to afford their medicines.” | 0 |
(Reuters) - The mayor of Stockton, California, was arrested on Thursday on a felony eavesdropping charge stemming from a strip poker game he is accused of surreptitiously recording at a summer camp he hosts for disadvantaged inner-city children, prosecutors said. Mayor Anthony Ray Silva, 41, was also charged with three misdemeanor counts - contributing to the delinquency of a minor, child endangerment and furnishing alcoholic beverages to individuals under the legal drinking age of 21, according to a criminal complaint filed in court. Silva is accused of using his cellphone to make an audio recording of conversation among several young people, including a 16-year-old boy, who were playing strip poker with the mayor inside his cabin at the camp. Prosecutors said in a media statement it was evident that the participants, who were naked, were recorded against their will. Amador County District Attorney Todd Riebe said those present besides the mayor included two to three females and three males, all ranging in age from 18 to 20. The criminal complaint further accuses Silva of supplying alcohol to six underage youths. Prosecutors said some were camp counselors. The incidents, according to prosecutors, took place last August at the Stockton Silver Lake Camp in Amador County, which lies in California Gold Country on the edge of the Sierras northeast of Stockton. In addition to hosting unprivileged children at the city-leased camp each summer, Silva has served as president of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Stockton for the past six years. Silva’s lawyer, Mark Reichel, told Reuters his client “will be vindicated” and suggested the case was politically motivated, noting that the mayor, a Republican, faces a tough election run-off in November against a Democratic city councilman. Asked whether Silva was playing strip poker with youths from his camp, Reichel replied, “I highly doubt it.” Reichel added, “I can’t wait to fight them in court, so we can expose the epidemic of kids at summer camp playing strip poker.” Silva was elected mayor of Stockton, a city of about 300,000 east of San Francisco, in November 2012, months after the municipality filed for bankruptcy. The city emerged from bankruptcy protection in February 2015. Silva, who is not married, was arrested by FBI agents Thursday morning at the camp and released on $20,000 bond later in the day. His next court date is Aug. 18. If convicted of the charges, he could face up to three years in prison. | 0 |
So far, this video has over 530,000 views. Does that make the content legitimate? Certainly not. But the premise is certainly not that far-fetched, considering our government has been bringing mostly Muslim refugees to America for over 35 years through the very secretive US State Department Refugee Resettlement Program.A large number of refugees that have been strategically placed throughout the U.S. are Muslims. So why are Catholic and Lutheran charities the #1 and #2 largest benefactors of our taxpayer dollars when it comes to delivering Muslims from countries who hate us?I placed a call to our local Catholic charity office where the director assured me over the phone that they aren t selective about who comes here. I told her, that as a Catholic, I was more concerned about helping the Christians who are being left behind to be slaughtered by Muslims than bringing Muslims to America. She assured me there really is no difference. I asked her what the rate of conversion is once they bring tens of thousands of Muslims to our local area in Michigan? Silence.Bill O Reilly seems genuinely shocked to find out that our very own State Department has been quietly dumping off refugees in New Jersey with no approval from the state or its citizens.Watch here:Of the approximately 2,000 Syrian refugees who have come to the United States over the past several years, an estimated 97 percent are Muslim.In FY 2015, the State Department, through the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration and the Office of Refugee Resettlement, spent more than $1 billion on these programs, which settled international refugees vetted by the United Nations High Commission on International Refugees in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The federal government spent hundreds of millions of dollars more than that on refugees, however. The Department of Health and Human Services also provided a number of entitlements to these refugees.Much of this $1 billion in annual revenue goes to voluntary agencies (VOLAGs), several of which are Christian non-profits, such as Catholic Charities, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, World Relief Corporation, Church World Service, and Domestic and Foreign Missionary Service of the Episcopal Church of the USA. (also referred to as Episcopal Migration Ministries), who are contracted on behalf of the government to help these refugees get settled in their new homes in America.Five of the top nine VOLAGs are Christian non-profits. The other four are Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, International Rescue Committee, US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, and the Ethiopian Community Development Council.After providing three to four months of resettlement services to these refugees, having been well compensated for their assistance services, these Christian non-profit VOLAGS stop providing services and are not required to keep track of the refugees location within the United States.As Ann Corcoran wrote recently at Refugee Resettlement Watch, the arrangement benefits the VOLAGs but provides little comfort to Americans worried about the national security implications of bringing in so many unvetted refugees:Refugee resettlement is profitable to the organizations involved in it. They receive money from the federal government for each refugee they bring over. They have almost no real responsibilities for these refugees. After 4 months the sponsoring organization is not even required to know where the refugee lives.A good percentage of the revenues of these Christian non-profit organizations, many of which were originally established to provide charitable services to the poor already within local American communities, now comes from their work as subcontractors to the federal government to relocate these foreign, often Muslim, refugees.In effect, critics argue, these VOLAGS have become agents of the federal government whose new mission is to import terrorism to the United States under the false flag of Christian compassion.As Refugee Resettlement Watch reported, there are multiple ways for these VOLAGs to generate revenue from this program:a. $1,850 per refugee (including children) from the State Department.b. Up to $2,200 for each refugee by participating in a U.S. DHHS program known as Matching Grant. To get the $2,200, the Volag need only show it spent $200 and gave away $800 worth of donated clothes, furniture, or cars.c. The Volag pockets 25 percent of every transportation loan it collects from refugees it sponsors .d. All Volag expenses and overhead in the Washington, DC HQ are paid by the U.S. government.e. For their refugee programs, Volags collect money from all federal grant programs Marriage Initiative, Faith-based, Ownership Society etc., as well as from various state and local grants.The program is so lucrative that in some towns the Catholic Church has lessened support for traditional charity works to put more effort into resettlement. It uses collection offerings to promote the refugee resettlement program.Despite claims that these Muslim refugees have been vetted to keep out terrorists, numerous reports, including those by the Department of Homeland Security and FBI, indicate that this process is flawed, especially for refugees from countries like Syria, where virtually no data bases to perform background checks exist.Of the approximately 2,000 Syrian refugees who have come to the United States over the past several years, an estimated 97 percent are Muslim.President Obama wants to bring in an additional 10,000 Syrian refugees to the United States in FY 2016 (which ends September 30, 2016). At least 26 governors and the vast majority of Americans oppose this plan on national security grounds, but the President is doubling down. | 1 |
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[Ed. – Well, that’s a new one.]
A man is in custody after leading police on a bizarre chase into the east Valley on Wednesday night.
Phoenix police began following the suspect in Phoenix and the pursuit continued into the east Valley, but it took a bizarre turn when the suspect stopped at an In-N-Out Burger restaurant’s drive-thru near Priest and Ray Roads in Chandler.
The suspect appeared to order food, but then drove away and got out of his pickup truck near Rock Wren Way and Ray Road.
He then ran into a backyard and tried to get into a house through the back door. | 0 |
Archives Michael On Television Will Barack Obama Delay Or Suspend The Election If Hillary Is Forced Out By The New FBI Email Investigation? October 28th, 2016
Just when it looked like Hillary Clinton was poised to win the 2016 election , the FBI has thrown a gamechanger into the mix. On Friday, FBI Director James Comey announced that his agency has discovered new emails related to Hillary Clinton’s mishandling of classified information that they had not previously seen. According to the Associated Press , the newly discovered emails “did not come from her private server”, but instead were found when the FBI started going through electronic devices that belonged to top Clinton aide Huma Abedin and her husband Anthony Weiner. The FBI has been looking into messages of a sexual nature that Weiner had exchanged with a 15-year-old girl in North Carolina, and that is why they originally seized those electronic devices. According to the Washington Post , the “emails were found on a computer used jointly by both Weiner and his wife, top Clinton aide Huma Abedin, according to a person with knowledge of the inquiry”, and according to some reports there may be “potentially thousands” of emails on the computer that the FBI did not have access to previously. Even though there are less than two weeks to go until election day, this scandal has the potential to possibly force Clinton out of the race, and if that happens could Barack Obama delay or suspend the election until a replacement candidate can be found?
Let’s take this one step at a time. On Friday, financial markets tanked when reports of these new Clinton emails hit the wires. The following comes from CNN …
After recommending earlier this year that the Department of Justice not press charges against the former secretary of state, Comey said in a letter to eight congressional committee chairmen that investigators are examining newly discovered emails that “appear to be pertinent” to the email probe.
“In connection with an unrelated case, the FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear pertinent to the investigation,” Comey wrote the chairmen. “I am writing to inform you that the investigative team briefed me on this yesterday, and I agreed that the FBI should take appropriate investigative steps designed to allow investigators to review these emails to determine whether they contain classified information, as well as to assess their importance to our investigation.”
At this point, we do not know what is contained in these emails. But without a doubt Huma Abedin is Hillary Clinton’s closest confidant, and I have always felt that she was Clinton’s Achilles heel. Journalist Carl Bernstein (of Watergate fame) is fully convinced that the FBI would have never made this move unless something significant had already been discovered …
We don’t know what this means yet except that it’s a real bombshell. And it is unthinkable that the Director of the FBI would take this action lightly, that he would put this letter forth to the Congress of the United States saying there is more information out there about classified e-mails and call it to the attention of congress unless it was something requiring serious investigation. So that’s where we are…
Is it a certainty that we won’t learn before the election? I’m not sure it’s a certainty we won’t learn before the election.
One thing is, it’s possible that Hillary Clinton might want to on her own initiative talk to the FBI and find out what she can, and if she chooses to let the American people know what she thinks or knows is going on. People need to hear from her…
If the FBI has indeed found something explosive, would they actually charge her with a crime right before the election?
It is possible, but we also have to remember that government agencies (including the FBI) tend to move very, very slowly. If there are thousands of emails, it is going to take quite a while to sift through them all. And of course Barack Obama has lots of ways that he could influence, delay or even shut down the investigation.
So those that are counting on this to be the miracle that Donald Trump needs should not count their chickens before they hatch.
But if Hillary Clinton were to be forced out of the race by this FBI investigation, the Democrats would have to decide on a new candidate, and that would take time. The following is from a U.S. News & World Report article that examined what would happen if one of the candidates was forced out of the race for some reason…
If Clinton were to fall off the ticket, Democratic National Committee members would gather to vote on a replacement. DNC members acted as superdelegates during this year’s primary and overwhelmingly backed Clinton over boat-rocking socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
DNC spokesman Mark Paustenbach says there currently are 445 committee members – a number that changes over time and is guided by the group’s bylaws, which give membership to specific officeholders and party leaders and hold 200 spots for selection by states, along with an optional 75 slots DNC members can choose to fill.
But the party rules for replacing a presidential nominee merely specify that a majority of members must be present at a special meeting called by the committee chairman. The meeting would follow procedures set by the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee and proxy voting would not be allowed.
It would be extremely challenging to get a majority of the members of the Democratic National Committee together on such short notice. If Clinton were to drop out next week, it would be almost impossible for this to happen before election day.
In such a scenario, Barack Obama may attempt to invoke his emergency powers . Since the election would not be “fair” until the Democrats have a new candidate, he could try to delay or suspend the election. There would be a lot of controversy as to whether this is legal or not, but Barack Obama has not let the U.S. Constitution stop him in the past.
Meanwhile, new poll numbers show that the Trump campaign was already gaining momentum even before this story about the new emails broke. According to a brand new ABC News/Washington Post survey, Donald Trump is now only trailing Hillary Clinton by 4 points after trailing her by as much as 12 points last weekend.
And CNBC is reporting on a highly advanced artificial intelligence system that accurately predicted the outcomes of the presidential primaries and which is now indicating that Trump will be the winner in November…
An artificial intelligence system that correctly predicted the last three U.S. presidential elections puts Republican nominee Donald Trump ahead of Democrat rival Hillary Clinton in the race for the White House.
MogIA was developed by Sanjiv Rai, founder of Indian start-up Genic.ai. It takes in 20 million data points from public platforms including Google, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube in the U.S. and then analyzes the information to create predictions.
The AI system was created in 2004, so it has been getting smarter all the time. It had already correctly predicted the results of the Democratic and Republican Primaries.
Without Hillary at the top of the ticket, the odds of a Trump victory would go way, way up.
So if Hillary is forced out of the race by this investigation, Barack Obama and the Democrats will want to delay or suspend the election for as long as possible if they can.
At this point there is probably not a high probability that such a scenario will play out, but in this crazy election year we have already seen that just about anything can happen. | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said on Wednesday the House will take up supplemental disaster funding to help areas hit by hurricanes and wildfires on Thursday. “We think it’s critical that we pass this legislation this week to give the people in California the support that they need to fight these fires, to help the victims, and also to help the communities still recovering and dealing with humanitarian problems with the hurricanes,” Ryan said at a news briefing on Wednesday, citing Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico. | 0 |
WHAT MORATORIUM? These guys in Congress are getting around the moratorium and spending like drunken sailors er pigs Stop the madness!Congress has appropriated over $4 billion earmarks this year despite a ban on pork barrel spending, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) announced on Wednesday.The group unveiled the 23rd edition of its Pig Book at the Phoenix Park Hotel near Capitol Hill, revealing millions in earmarks for fish passage, embryo adoption awareness, and abstinence education. The 2015 Pig Book continues to prove that any earmark is a bad earmark, CAGW president Tom Schatz said. At a time when members of Congress from both sides of the aisle and both sides of the Capitol continue to call for a restoration of earmarks, taxpayers should deliver a loud and clear message that it is time for earmarks to be permanently banned. Congress has been operating under a self-imposed earmark moratorium since 2010. However, lawmakers have found ways to get around the moratorium.CAGW found the cost of earmarks increased from $2.7 billion to $4.2 billion between fiscal years 2014 and 2015.The report highlights $2.6 million earmarked for the Denali Commission, a 1998 program to build infrastructure in rural Alaska that President Obama wanted to eliminate in 2012. Since FY 2000, 26 projects worth $295.8 million have been earmarked for the Denali Commission, including requests by Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee member Lisa Murkowski (R., Alaska), Sen. Mark Begich (D., Alaska), and the late Sen. Ted Stevens (R., Alaska), according to the Pig Book.Read more: WFB | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Wednesday he does not yet know how Republicans will amass the votes needed to pass legislation now being crafted to dismantle Obamacare, but expressed some optimism on another top priority, overhauling the tax code. In an exclusive interview with Reuters, McConnell said healthcare and taxes still top the Republican legislative agenda, and he added that he will not reach out to the minority Democrats on either one because differences between the two parties are too stark. McConnell also said he has not asked the White House for input as the Senate devises its own healthcare legislation after the Republican-led House of Representatives passed its version on May 4, but may do so in the future. Excluding Democratic involvement will leave McConnell, a conservative 75-year-old Kentuckian with a reputation as a dealmaker, a narrow path to win passage of these ambitious goals, which are also at the head of Republican President Donald Trump’s policy agenda. A repeal of Obamacare was one of Trump’s leading campaign promises last year. Asked about behind-the-scenes work among Senate Republicans on hammering out the provisions of a healthcare bill, McConnell said, “I don’t know how we get to 50 (votes) at the moment. But that’s the goal. And exactly what the composition of that (bill) is I’m not going to speculate about because it serves no purpose,” McConnell said. Republicans hold a 52-48 Senate majority. In the event of a 50-50 tie, Republican Vice President Mike Pence would be called upon to cast a tie-breaking vote. McConnell opened the interview by saying, “There’s not a whole lot of news to be made on healthcare.” He declined to discuss what provisions he might want to see in the bill or provide a timetable for producing even a draft to show to rank-and-file Republican senators and gauge their support. On the other hand, he said, prospects for passage of major tax legislation were “pretty good.” While this too will be difficult, McConnell said, it is “not in my view quite as challenging as healthcare.” Trump and his fellow Republicans in Congress want to cut tax rates across the board, but a House proposal to use the tax code to boost exports and discourage imports has split the business community and some lawmakers. The House narrowly passed its legislation to overhaul the healthcare system and dismantle major parts of the Obamacare law, formally called the Affordable Care Act, that was Democratic former President Barack Obama’s signature legislative achievement, overcoming unified opposition from Democrats. On Wednesday, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the House-passed bill would result in 23 million people losing health insurance coverage by 2026, a sobering figure for Senate Republicans as they mull action. The CBO also said federal budget deficits would fall by $119 billion over 10 years under that bill. Asked if he was getting any guidance from the White House on healthcare legislation, McConnell said, “Honestly I haven’t asked for any. I told the president there would be a point at which we might well want him and the vice president to be helpful.” McConnell said Trump and Pence could play an important role when it comes to “whipping” up support for whatever bill is produced. If the Senate passes a healthcare bill, lawmakers would have to work out the differences in the House and Senate versions and pass a compromise bill before it could go to Trump for his signature. With Republicans holding a slim Senate majority, McConnell likely needs the cooperation and support of hard-line conservative Republicans such as Senator Ted Cruz who in the past have been difficult to corral. Cruz is a member of a working group within the Senate in charge of crafting the Senate Obamacare repeal legislation. “I’m grateful that he wants to help us get an outcome here,” McConnell said. Republicans face a tricky balancing act. Because they cannot expect any Democratic support and have a razor-thin majority, they must devise legislation that appeals not only to the most conservative senators but also does not drive off many Republican moderates. Since it became law in 2010, Republicans have railed against Obamacare, arguing that it is too expensive and involves the government too deeply in Americans’ healthcare decisions. They have said they want to replace it with a program that repeals most Obamacare taxes, reduces federal spending in the Medicaid insurance program for the poor and leaves more decisions up to the states. McConnell in the past has promised to undo Obamacare “root and branch.” Now that Republicans are in a position to do so with control of both Congress and the White House, they have struggled to come up with a consensus plan. The Republican leader compared the effort to solving a Rubik’s Cube. Many Senate Republicans have misgivings about the House-passed legislation, which Democrats have said would deprive millions of people of insurance, benefit the wealthy and roll back Obamacare protections such as guaranteed coverage for people with pre-existing conditions. McConnell made clear that senators are writing their own bill, saying, “We’re working on a separate approach.” In taking a Republican-only approach to healthcare and taxes, McConnell said of Democrats, “They’re not interested in doing what we’re interested in doing.” McConnell expressed optimism two parties can band together to pass legislation funding the federal government in the fiscal year starting on Oct. 1. He also noted good prospects for bipartisanship on a bill to expand sanctions against Iran, due for debate in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this week, and renewal of a Food and Drug Administration user-fee program that expires later this year. | 0 |
A perfect video to start your day! Here s a video of our wonderful POTUS taking the best shot ever: Donald Trump ~He's even good at Golfing!! Have a Fantastic Week My Deplorables ! #MondayMotivation pic.twitter.com/Z8LBHl0BHM DeplorableGirl Bot (@eissolomon11) August 28, 2017By the way, Hillary is charging mega-bucks to hear her yammer on about why she thinks she lost to Trump.As if Texas hasn t had enough disasters! The Clinton Grifter Show is coming to Irving, Texas with prices ranging from $100 to a whopping $3,000! Honorable ? This is the same woman who used bleach bit to erase emails These two are so desperate to make a buck that they re not only hawking a book but charging people to promote the book Our prediction is that these events are quietly cancelled after low turnout.The Dems are trying to distance themselves from the Clinton dynasty. The word is that Barack has decided that former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick should be the next black president. Good luck with that | 0 |
(Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will take aggressive action against cyber hacking in the early days of his government, Vice President-elect Mike Pence told reporters in New York on Friday. In a brief statement he delivered outside Trump Tower, Pence commented on a report by U.S. intelligence agencies that concluded Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian government to use hacking to try to help Trump win the Nov. 8 election. Trump was briefed on the contents of the report earlier on Friday in what Pence called “a constructive and respectful dialogue.” “The president-elect has made it very clear that we are going to take aggressive action in the early days of our administration to combat cyber attacks and protect the American people from this type of intrusion in the future,” Pence said. | 0 |
BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday urged party leaders negotiating a tricky three-way coalition government to show more willingness to compromise, as support for her conservative bloc plunged to the lowest level in more than six years. Merkel s conservatives, who bled support to the far-right Alternative for Germany in a Sept. 24 election, are trying to forge an alliance with the pro-market Free Democrats (FDP) and the left-leaning Greens which is untested at the national level. Despite three weeks of exploratory talks, the unlikely partners still have to overcome differences over climate protection, energy, transport, immigration and euro zone policy. Speaking ahead of a meeting in which party leaders were expected to sum up progress made so far and bridge some gaps, Merkel said all parties had first exchanged their views and then consolidated the approaches by highlighting their differences. Now in this third phase, the task is to find compromises, Merkel said, adding that there was still a lot of work to do. But from my point of view, a solution can be reached with goodwill, Merkel said. If this will be achieved, we ll not know before the end of the week, however. FDP leader Christian Lindner put the onus on Merkel s Christian Democrats (CDU) and her Bavarian CSU allies, saying his party and the Greens had already given ground. The Greens and the FDP have moved. Now it s up to the conservatives to show some flexibility. I assume there is goodwill from all sides, Lindner said. Katrin Goering-Eckardt from the Greens said she wanted to see a leap from the other negotiation partners. But CSU leader Horst Seehofer declined to comment when asked by reporters what compromises he was willing to offer. The Greens made concessions on Tuesday by no longer insisting on fixed dates to ban cars with combustion engines and to shut down coal-fired power stations. The FDP gave ground by accepting more modest income tax cuts than an election campaign pledge of up to 40 billion euros in relief. Lindner also dropped an election manifesto pledge to phase out the ESM euro zone bailout fund. Merkel wants to have an agreement in principle by Nov. 16 on moving ahead to formal coalition negotiations to form a black-yellow-green government dubbed a Jamaica coalition because the parties colours match those of that country s flag. With less than a week to go, the exploratory coalition talks are not only complicated by the differences between the parties, but also by splits within the political parties themselves especially within the conservatives and Greens. A breakdown of the talks could mean fresh elections in Germany, Europe s biggest economy, since the Social Democrats (SPD) the second biggest party have made clear they have no appetite for joining another grand coalition under Merkel. A survey by Emnid for Bild am Sonntag newspaper showed only 30 percent would vote for Merkel s CDU/CSU bloc if there were a federal election this Sunday, down 1 percentage point. This is the lowest reading for the conservatives in this survey since October 2011 and marks a slump in support since the Sept. 24 election, in which Merkel s bloc won 32.9 percent. Touching on one of the thorniest issues, Merkel said on Saturday that Germany should lead the fight against climate change and cut emissions without destroying industrial jobs. Merkel s comments, made in her weekly podcast and in the middle of talks on limiting global warming attended by about 200 nations in the western German city of Bonn, highlighted the dilemma facing the centre-right leader in the negotiations. While the CDU/CSU and the FDP want to spare companies from additional burdens, the Greens want to spell out which measures the next government will implement for Germany to reach its 2020 goal of lowering emissions by 40 percent from 1990 levels. Due to strong economic growth and higher-than-expected immigration, Germany is at risk of missing its emissions target without any additional measures. | 1 |
Trump has been on a 48-hour freak out with the hosts of MSNBC s Morning Joe and his clear incoherence has everyone from mental health experts to average Americans once again concerned that the president is seriously mentally ill. The evidence that our president is indeed mentally unfit for office is circumstantial but persuasive and Trump keeps digging the hole deeper.Most people would agree that a man who can t stop himself from fabricating a rumor of a bleeding facelift to publicly attack the host of a cable show he doesn t like is unfit for office. In normal times, that alone would be grounds for invoking the 25th Amendment s clause on the president s mental capacity. For Trump, that s only the tip of the iceberg, the latest in a seemingly unending string of incidents that should raise serious concerns.The White House seems to be painfully aware that the questions swirling around his stability are undermining the credibility of his role as president. Consequently, and for the first time in U.S. history, the White House has to run with the narrative that you cannot question the president s mental health. Trump is sane because they say he is sane and shut up about it.Just hours after Trump got into a public fight with the hosts of Morning Joe on Twitter while he watched the show live, Kellyanne Conway went on ABC s Good Morning America to say it was unpatriotic to ever question whether Trump has lost his mind. Even while he continues to provide evidence that he has had some sort of mental breakdown.After summarizing an (incomplete) list of the things Trump has been called online, Kellyanne said: It doesn t help the American people to have a president covered in this light. I m sorry. It s neither productive nor patriotic. The toxicity is over the top. In short, Kellyanne wants us to believe Trump is the victim in all of this. Meanwhile, he continues to play the part of the bully.Worth remembering: Trump s favorite network, Fox News, once aired Glenn Beck claiming Obama hated white people. Its star anchor, Sean Hannity, repeatedly accused Obama of being a pathological narcissist. And its resident mental health expert, repeatedly diagnosed both Barack and Michelle Obama with various pathologies, including once saying Michelle needed to lose weight. None of that irrational hatred or vitriol caused Obama to live-tweet a rant about Fox News hosts or personally smear them on social media.But then, Obama wasn t mentally ill, so why would he?Featured image via YouTube | 0 |
As is typical for the NRA whenever there s a high-profile shooting, they waited days before issuing a real statement on Orlando. They likely do this so they can craft a statement that makes themselves and all gun owners out to be the real victims, instead of calling the shooting what it was and using their considerable clout to work on doing something real about it.In the case of the Orlando massacre, they re saying Obama s politically correct refusal to actually go after radical Islamic terrorists is what caused this. Chris Cox, executive director of the NRA s Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA), wrote an op-ed that was published in USA Today about the whole tragedy. As expected, he toed the party line instead of saying something of substance. But the real gem was the second paragraph: The terrorist in Orlando had been investigated multiple times by the FBI. He had a government-approved security guard license with a contractor for the Department of Homeland Security. Yet his former co-workers reported violent and racist comments. Unfortunately, the Obama administration s political correctness prevented anything from being done about it. Funny thing is, he just debunked the NRA s whole argument that this is Obama s fault right there. By mentioning how Omar Mateen was on the FBI s radar for possible ties to terrorist groups, Cox completely destroyed his own argument. Mateen was able to get his guns legally despite having been the subject of two FBI investigations for ties to radical Islamic groups because of the NRA, not Obama, and certainly not political correctness. Mateen had no criminal record and already had a concealed carry permit as a licensed security officer. It s not clear whether he was on any terror watch lists, but even if he had been, he may still have been legally able to buy guns. Senate Republicans might have been able to stop this, but instead, they killed a bill that would have prevented suspected terrorists from buying guns last year, on the grounds that it would only hurt innocent Americans who happen to end up on that list for no reason.They ll do anything to maintain their A+ ratings with the NRA. Who cares who dies? The NRA s blessings are the only things that matter here.For its own part, the NRA-ILA once wrote about a study saying criminals don t get their guns legally anyway. The implication there is that we can t stop criminals from getting guns, so everything we could do to prevent even some criminals from getting guns is pointless.In fact, the NRA s policies actually serve to arm criminals, potential terrorists and other violent people more easily. John Fugelsang said it perfectly with this tweet:Guns don t kill ppl, but NRA ppl who own Congress ppl make it very easy for deranged ppl to get guns & kill innocent ppl. John Fugelsang (@JohnFugelsang) June 14, 2016But we don t need a tweet to prove this. The Coalition To Stop Gun Violence has a list of all the ways the NRA s work actually arms dangerous people:For details on just how the NRA accomplishes each of these items, click on the link above.The laxness that allowed Mateen to get his guns exists because of the NRA s more guns everywhere crusade. The massacre at the Pulse nightclub didn t happen because Obama is too weak and politically correct to do something about radical Islamic terrorism. It happened in large part because the NRA created the very environment that allowed Mateen to get his guns. To blame Obama and his political correctness is a gross and disgusting insult to everyone who has died at the hands of someone with a gun. Guns don t kill people, people kill people, is what the NRA s entire agenda boils down to. But a gun makes it far, far easier for a murderer to murder. The NRA is cold and callous, and Cox s attempt to twist this into a problem of political correctness is absolutely vile.Featured image by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images | 0 |
During a segment of Real Time with Bill Maher, the comedic host went all out in his defense of Bernie Sanders foreign policy experience.During the segment, the lefties at the table agreed that Sanders is excellent on economic issues. Though some seemed skeptical that Sanders has the same grasp of foreign policy issues. Maher was asked by MSNBC s Alex Wagner if he seriously thinks that Sanders is fit to lead the nation as president when it comes to foreign policy matters. Wagner asks Maher: Do you want Bernie Sanders getting off Air Force One, making a deal on foreign police with ? Do you think he s at the level that we need? Maher responds to Wagner s question, saying: Fuck yeah! The guy who voted right on the Iraq war? Yea, I do. Then, Armstrong Williams, an advisor for Ben Carson, decided to chime in. Williams implies that it doesn t actually matter how well Sanders knows foreign policy. That s because Sanders would be surrounded by experts.Maher says that might be good enough for Carson, who once repeatedly and publicly referred to Hamas, as Hummus. Maher recounts the time that Carson said that we need to build a coalition of Arab nations, in order to combat the Islamic State. When asked what nations he would have been a part of this coalition, Carson couldn t name a single nation.The idea that Sanders wouldn t be strong on foreign policy issues is ridiculous. Both Hillary Clinton and Sanders, have not been extremely illustrative about their views on foreign policy. That might have to do with the fact that Democrats are not that passionate about foreign policy issues this election cycle. There may be a few areas where the two candidates diverge, though, they both seem to mainly differentiate themselves by tone on issues like the Islamic State.You can watch the segment from the show, below.https://youtu.be/62YiMIGmAdc?t=4s Featured image from video screenshot via YouTube. | 1 |
A group of Saint Louis University baseball players won t be punished after an insanely racist conversation they had amongst themselves became public. While it might seem that a group of students in a position to represent the school might face some form of discipline if they were to, say. call the President a baboon, reference multiple awful stereotypes about black people, and complain that a colored is running the country. Unfortunately, the school is continuing a proud American tradition almost as ancient as the sentiments these students were busted expressing: protecting sports teams from facing the music for their actions.Last May, the team traveled to Washington, D.C., where the conversation in a pitchers-only GroupMe chat swiftly went from where do we eat to Donald Trump s Inner Thoughts. One player suggested the KFC in the White House you know, because all black people eat fried chicken (har har). Another helpfully added that They got rivers of the grape kind there, another reference to a popular African-American stereotype among stupid people. I heard they got a colored running the country, someone else said. This Tru? Another player replied, Unfortunately.. It is. The asker responded, F*cking watermelon eating baboon. and Luke Sommerfeld needed a MacBook charger.via DeadspinIt s unclear if Luke ever found his charger, but one thing is for certain the pitchers on the Saint Louis University baseball team are a bunch of racist f*cks.One of the players texted a screenshot of the message to his roommate, former team manager Brendan Twomey, who held on to it for almost a year until his girlfriend saw it on her phone. Together, the two filed a complaint to the university. Deadspin gives a brief rundown of the events that transpired: The report was filed on April 4On April 5, Twomey and his girlfriend spoke to a university investigator.On April 11, after not having heard anything about the status of the investigation, Twomey and his girlfriend sent the image to the Black Student Alliance, who posted it to their Facebook page. Dr. Mona Hicks, SLU s Dean of Students, said there had been a miscommunication and a meeting to discuss the case was supposed to be held the next day.But, according to SLU s bias-related incident report log, the investigation had been closed on April 7 and labeled not applicable for discipline. When I received that screenshot, obviously I knew it was wrong, but I was in a tough situation because I didn t want to necessarily hurt anybody, Twomey said as he explained his reasoning for holding onto the screenshot for so long. You become close [to the players] because you do spend so much time with them, so you overlook [that]. At the same time, I felt extremely disrespected. I knew there should be some sort of punishment, but I didn t know how to go about that, he added.Asked about her decision to fail to punish her racist baseball players, Hicks was full of excuses. If I were to directly state to you, You suck because of all of your social identities that God gave you. That would be wrong. That would require some adjudication, Hicks said in defense of giving her school s pitching rotation a pass on the horrible things they said. We also need to respect laws. This was a private conversation, or at least the perception of private between in-group parties. Hicks did not explain what privacy laws were broken, though the answer to that is none. One of the players sent the screenshot to someone who showed it to someone else. No one hacked anyone, no one took someone s phone without permission. All of the information was given willingly. But, hey she was trying to protect these students right to privacy rather than avoiding a disruption of the season that might lead to the team failing to make it to the playoffs two years in a row (ultimately, they did not), right?Instead, the players chose to participate in a facilitated dialogue about what they did and the team s four captains wrote a letter to the school newspaper apologizing for that racist thing their teammates did: The leaders and captains of the team would like to extend an apology to anyone offended by the bias messages. We, too, are frustrated and feel that the comments do not accurately reflect the values that we hold. So far, the only person to face any real punishment is Twomey, who has been harassed since he blew the whistle on the players racist conduct. The Riverfront Times reports:Two days later, Twomey says he awoke to discover his roommate had sloshed chewing tobacco spit on the floor outside his bedroom door, as well as the kitchen sink. Fingernail clippings had been prominently placed on the towel Twomey uses to clean his glasses.(In a Wednesday Facebook post from Pulphus, Twomey s roommate was identified as SLU pitcher Brett Shimanovsky in fact, Shimanovsky appears to be the very same player/roommate who earlier provided Twomey with a screenshot of the racist chat thread. Twomey himself declined to answer questions about his roommate s identity, but says the roommate has since voluntarily moved out. Shimanovsky did not respond to a message seeking comment.) I consider this retaliation for filing a bias incident report, Twomey says in a video documenting Shimanovsky s actions:Twomey says he is disappointed that the university has not in any way punished the players, whom he says should have been forced to miss a conference tournament (but that clearly was not an option in the eyes of the school, of course). He calls the captains letter an insult, though he notes that the team s coach, Darin Hendrickson, did take the time to discuss the issue with him. He said he was aware there was a culture problem on the baseball team, a culture problem of entitlement, privilege and immaturity. He also said it was one of his biggest regrets that he hadn t recruited more diverse players, Twomey recalled. He adds that there are racial issues that need to be confronted.It started a dialogue and frankly it needs to be continued, the student says. Hopefully, this issue will light a fire under the university and get them to really dedicate themselves to the SLU mission of diversity and inclusion. Featured image via screengrab | 0 |
Ever since Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia s death. Republicans have been clear about one thing: No matter what, they intend to obstruct Obama because every day is a day that ends in -day. While the president has a Constitutional duty to appoint a new Justice to replace the much-reviled racist, anti-gay, anti-woman sleazebag now that he is burning in Hell, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has vowed that he won t allow the Senate to even consider Obama s nominee no hearings, no votes, nothing.Republicans falsely claim that it is outside tradition for a president to appoint a new Supreme Court Justice in his final year in office, despite that a full third of presidents have done so in an election year. On Tuesday, the president met with McConnell and Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley in the Oval Office to talk about Obama s plan to nominate someone within the next couple weeks. Unfortunately, the Republicans refused to budge on their mission to obstruct the president.The meeting barely lasted forty minute and, while the president offered to consider anyone McConnell and pals suggested for the position, they continued their usual modus operandi of not having a single f*cking idea.After the pointless meeting, President Obama took to social media to smack down some elephants. On Facebook, he brilliantly trolled the pro-Constitution party with 36 words that should (but won t) shut them up namely, Article II Section 2 of the Constitution. The message was punctuated with the hashtag #DoYourJob a message Obama has been sending Republicans since they initially announced that they would obstruct him no matter what. On Twitter, the president posted a petition urging the Senate to do its job. Our Supreme Court is too important to be held hostage by the same partisan gridlock that has caused government shutdowns, the petition reads. President Obama is taking his constitutional responsibility seriously the Senate should do the same. Along with the petition, Obama left a very clear message: Leaving a seat open on the Supreme Court for more than a year is irresponsible. Along with the petition, Obama left a very clear message: Leaving a seat open on the Supreme Court for more than a year is irresponsible but what else can we expect from Republicans these days? Irresponsibility is their defining attribute. Do your job is not a hard message to understand, but it is certainly not a course of action the Party of Reagan views as viable.Featured image via White House/screengrab | 0 |
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Former two-term Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is seeking a drastically reduced sentence that would see him released from federal prison within a year after convictions in 2011 for corruption charges including extortion and wire fraud, according to U.S. court documents. Federal prosecutors countered, recommending in documents filed just before a midnight Tuesday deadline that Blagojevich serve out his original 14-year sentence, of which he has served more than four years. The motions come ahead of a scheduled resentencing on Aug. 9 before U.S. District Judge James Zagel after an appellate court last year vacated five of Blagojevich’s 18 criminal convictions. Prosecutors declined to retry the ex-governor on the vacated convictions. Blagojevich, a Democrat, was the first Illinois governor to be removed from office and has been in federal prison in Colorado since 2012. The former governor was convicted on charges including seeking money in exchange for an appointment to the senate seat formerly held by President Barack Obama. His attorneys argued in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois that the flamboyant former U.S. House Representative has made efforts toward restitution, tutoring fellow prison inmates and playing in a band with a since-released inmate called the Jailhouse Rockers. They said that Blagojevich’s release from prison early would allow him to repair his relationship with his wife and two daughters. “A sentence in the neighborhood of five years incarceration accompanied by a period of supervised release would be sufficient,” Blagojevich attorney Leonard Goodman said in a filing. U.S. prosecutors argued that Blagojevich should serve out the entire sentence as he still does not take responsibility for his illegal actions. “(Blagojevich’s) continued insistence that he lacked intent to commit the crimes of which he was convicted further demonstrates a complete lack of acceptance,” they said. | 1 |
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Anthony Scaramucci, a hedge fund founder who was a fundraiser in Donald Trump’s election campaign, will join the president-elect’s White House staff as an advisor and public liaison to government agencies and businesses, he said on Friday. Scaramucci, founder of Skybridge Capital hedge fund and a former employee at Goldman Sachs(GS.N), is a member of Trump’s transition team. He will work as a liaison in the White House for state and local governments and for both American and foreign businesses, Scaramucci told reporters in New York. “One of my other personal goals though is to get all of the American people to see President Trump the way I see him,” he added. Trump, a Republican, takes office on Jan. 20. Scaramucci played down media reports from Thursday that he would hold a position analogous to that currently held by Valerie Jarrett, who oversees the White House’s Offices of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs and is seen as one of President Barack Obama’s most powerful advisers. “That’s probably an overstatement,” Scaramucci said when asked about the comparison. “Valerie and I know each other quite well and I will be speaking to her later in the day. I don’t want to overstate the position.” Scaramucci did not discuss what would happen to Skybridge, which had $12 billion in assets under management or advisement as of Nov. 30, 2016, down from $12.9 billion as of Dec. 31, 2015, according to firm’s website. The firm was put up for auction as Scaramucci began considering a potential position in the White House, Reuters reported last month. | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States sought on Monday to avoid openly taking sides in an Iraqi-Kurdish dispute, as Iraq s capture of the Kurdish-held city of Kirkuk raised the risk of an open conflict between U.S. allies in the fight against Islamic State. U.S. President Donald Trump expressed disappointment the two sides were fighting. We don t like the fact that they re clashing. We re not taking sides, Trump told reporters at the White House. We ve had for many years a very good relationship with the Kurds as you know and we ve also been on the side of Iraq, even though we should have never been there in the first place. We should never have been there. But we re not taking sides in that battle. Iraqi government forces captured the major Kurdish-held oil city of Kirkuk on Monday, responding to a Kurdish referendum on independence with a bold lightning strike that transforms the balance of power in the country. A convoy of armored vehicles from Iraq s elite U.S.-trained Counter-Terrorism Force seized Kirkuk s provincial government headquarters on Monday afternoon, less than a day after the operation began, a Reuters reporter in Kirkuk said. Senator John McCain, the influential chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, warned Iraq s government of severe consequences over any further misuse of U.S.-provided weaponry against Kurdish forces. Pentagon spokesman Colonel Robert Manning declined to speculate on whether the United States might cut off military aid and training to Iraqi forces in the event a major conflict, saying: I m not going to speculate on that but I will tell you that we re looking at all options for planning considerations ... We encourage dialogue. | 1 |
As schools across the nation are fighting science, schools in Portland, Oregon are giving a big middle finger to politically motivated science denial text books and making sure that everything that students read in school says that yes, climate change is real, and yes, it s caused by humans.On Tuesday, the school board passed a unanimous resolution that requires that all text books that mention climate change mention it as fact, not as theory. The books must also say that humans caused it.In testimony to the board, Bill Bigelow, a former Portland teacher, told district officials that we don t want kids in Portland learning material courtesy of the fossil fuel industry. Bigelow said that material that treats climate change as anything other than fact is published by companies making concessions for fossil fuel companies. He pointed to words such as might, may and could in educational materials.Source: Oregon LiveConservatives, naturally, are flipping out, saying that this move is political, when really, it s the other side that s all about politics over science.Portland public schools ban textbooks that cast doubt on climate change https://t.co/PciB5gBemASchool Board playing liberal politics. Jim Pond (@PondJim) May 22, 2016 Welcome to the public school system, where kids are not allowed to see opposing view points https://t.co/UEOHfj2NPh A.N.T.S (@A_N_T_S_) May 22, 2016Next: Book burnings by Brownshirts in downtown Portland https://t.co/Ux1XK0eTWW John Cereghin (@Pilgrimway) May 21, 2016 Not an Onion story: Portland School educators ban science books that don t agree w/ man made global warming. https://t.co/tuiDqxB4dV #AGW Victoria Taft (@VictoriaTaft) May 21, 2016Can t win the argument?Ban opposition:Oregon Local News -Portland school board bans climate change-denying materials https://t.co/pkkz2LoONI Dillon (@000Dillon000) May 20, 2016Wacko preacher Bryan Fischer went Bizarro World: Flat-earthers on Portland school board ban science. Galileo would be unimpressed. https://t.co/YLrUk9INq1 Bryan Fischer (@BryanJFischer) May 21, 2016Is the Portland school district being political? Not really. There is a scientific consensus and even a voter consensus, that climate change is real and man-made. Beyond that, what is the benefit to making it up? There s no such thing as Big Green Energy, except maybe for all the big energy companies that see the writing on the wall and are themselves investing in green energy. In other words, if there s a political conspiracy, there has to be someone who benefits, and the parties who benefit, to make the conspiracy believable, must be more powerful than those on the other side. That s simply not the case with climate change.On the other side of the debate, you find Republican politicians, and you find the big money, led by the Batman villains known as the Koch Brothers.According to Greenpeace, the Koch brothers have spent nearly $80 million in attempting to convince Americans that climate change is a hoax, perhaps perpetrated by Al Gore (really, does that make any sense whatsoever?).Here s more about it:Like all Batman villains, the Koch brothers are smart. They know that the best way to create sympathetic voters is to get them young, and get them young is what they do. While the brothers don t write textbooks, their hands are all over the books that go to schools throughout the country. The textbooks attempt to rewrite history, give students an anti-government bias and yes, teach them that climate change is a hoax. That s the real political agenda, but it all happens behind the scenes, so voters don t notice. That s why a school board meeting might seem a lot more political than two billionaires working quietly in the background, destroying the planet.Featured image via Joe Raedle with Getty Images. | 1 |
21st Century Wire says On Twitter today, President Donald Trump announced that he will ban transgender people from serving in the US military in any capacity.The move reverses Barack Obama s previous decision to allow transgender personnel from serving.Trump explained the practical dillemas in being forced to cater to the progressive gender agenda: After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017 .Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming .. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017 .victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017Former US Olympic Decathalon gold medal winner Bruce Jenner recently began a sex change and has since renamed himself Caitlyn Jenner.After Trump s announcement, Jenner then tweeted: There are 15,000 patriotic transgender Americans in the US military fighting for all of us. What happened to your promise to fight for them? There are 15,000 patriotic transgender Americans in the US military fighting for all of us. What happened to your promise to fight for them? https://t.co/WzjypVC8Sr Caitlyn Jenner (@Caitlyn_Jenner) July 26, 2017EDITOR S NOTE: No doubt, the Russians, the Chinese, ISIS and North Korea must be shaking in their boots at the mere thought of Jenner s military proposition.Star Trek actor and LGBT activist, George Takei, lashed-out against Trump s tweets on Wednesday:Donald: With your ban on trans people from the military, you are on notice that you just pissed off the wrong community. You will regret it. George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) July 26, 2017See other liberal celebrities Twitter reactions as well as Chelsea Manning here.Watch this interview on liberal daytime TV talk show, The View, as Jenner explains his/her politics and what it s like to be a transgender registered Republican: READ MORE POLITICALLY CORRECT NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire PC FilesSUPPORT OUR WORK BY SUBSCRIBING & BECOMING A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV | 0 |
West Virginia has been devastated by a loss of 10,000 jobs due to the Obama administration s efforts to shut down the coal industry. If Hillary Clinton is elected, we can see a continuation of job loss there. Here s what she said a few weeks ago about the coal industry: | 1 |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump warned Democrats on Sunday that Obamacare was in trouble and would die without government funding, apparently referring to the possibility of ending federal subsidies to help lower-income people buy health insurance. “Obamacare is in serious trouble. The Dems need big money to keep it going - otherwise it dies far sooner than anyone would have thought,” Trump said in a Twitter post. Republicans want to repeal the 2010 Affordable Care Act but have not agreed on a replacement. | 0 |
After the Obama years of record food stamp usage, President Trump is pushing new initiatives to get people off of the government dole. The number was higher than 39.5 million (all-time high of 47.6 million in 2015) but you see the explosion with the graph below: The fraud in the food stamp program is so rampant and easy to commit, we ve become a global magnet for grifters who immigrate and set up shop to cash in on money for food stamps. This program is ripe for reform but what s most disturbing is the very lenient penalty for the crime of food stamp fraud. The fraudsters are usually given a very light jail sentence and ordered to pay back the money. The problem is that the money has probably gone overseas and will NEVER be paid back. These grifters fade into the woodwork only to resurface when they reoffend. THE TOP 5 FOOD STAMP FRAUD CASES FROM 2017: After the Obama years of record food stamp usage, President Trump is pushing new initiatives to get people off of the government dole. The number was higher than 39.5 million (all-time high of 47.6 million in 2015) but you see the explosion with the graph below:The fraud in the food stamp program is so rampant and easy to commit, we ve become a global magnet for grifters who immigrate and set up shop to cash in on money for food stamps.This program is ripe for reform but what s most disturbing is the very lenient penalty for the crime of food stamp fraud. The fraudsters are usually given a very light jail sentence and ordered to pay back the money. The problem is that the money has probably gone overseas and will NEVER be paid back. These grifters fade into the woodwork only to resurface when they reoffend.THE TOP 5 FOOD STAMP FRAUD CASES FROM 2017:The food stamp program is a federally-funded program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and federal investigators are most often the ones who catch those engaged in fraudulent activities..Investigators often uncover millions of dollars worth of food stamp fraud, mostly from people who run convenience stores in low-income areas where many patrons receive food stamps through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).To show how many millions of dollars these criminals have taken away from the federal government, here are the 5 biggest takedowns of food stamp fraud of 2017.IMMIGRANT FRAUD IS THE COMMON THREAD!1. Ohio Convenience Store Owner Sentenced to 33 Months in Prison for $2.8 Million in Food Stamp FraudA former Ohio convenience store owner got caught carrying out a $2.8 million food stamp fraud scheme where he allowed benefit recipients to exchange their food stamps for cash.The USDA revealed in an audit that the store, Breaden Market, cashed in on SNAP benefits more than ten times the amount of larger stores in the area, raising red flags among investigators.A judge eventually convicted and sentenced George Rafidi, 62, to 33 months in prison in February and ordered him to pay that $2.8 million back.2. Florida Investigators Discover More than $20 Million in Food Stamp FraudThe agency said it uncovered the majority of fraud when paging through SNAP benefit applications stating fraudulent household information.3. Baltimore Man Sentenced to Four Years for $3.7 Million Food Stamp FraudA Baltimore store owner got slapped with a four-year prison sentence for carrying out $3.7 million worth of food stamp fraud.Mohammad Shafiq, 51, was one of 14 other Baltimore-area retailers sentenced for $16 million worth of food stamp fraud, where they exchanged SNAP benefits for cash.The judge ordered Shafiq to pay back that $3.7 million to the federal government and serve three years of supervised release following the end of his sentence.4. Three Wisconsin Men Who Carried Out $1.2 Million Food Stamp Fraud Sentenced to Hard TimeA judge sentenced three Milwaukee, Wisconsin, convenience store owners Kanwar Gill, 67, Raviinder Gill, 27, and George Nance, 59 to prison terms ranging from 15-20 months in October after the three had been found guilty of exchanging cash for SNAP benefits.Their store, Quick N EZ, had been an authorized retailer that accepts food stamp benefits, but the $1.2 million in benefits the store redeemed was far beyond the amount the small convenience store was expected to redeem.Records show that all three men had been ordered to pay back the $1.2 million in fraudulently earned money. An Iraqi immigrant pleaded guilty to $1.4 million in food stamp fraud in November for conspiring with others to defraud the U.S. government.Ali Ratib Daham, 40, of Maine, gave customers cash in exchange for SNAP and Women, Infant, and Children (WIC) program benefits. He then redeemed the full value of the benefits to obtain more money from the government fraudulently.The naturalized U.S. citizen is expected to face a harsh prison sentence for his crime he faces up to 20 years behind bars and will most likely be expected to pay back the $1.4 million to the government.Via: Breitbart | 1 |
PARIS (Reuters) - French trade unionists blocked access on Monday to several fuel depots in protest against an overhaul of employment laws, seeking to test the government s will to reform the economy. In southern France, protesters unions set up a road-block in front of Total s La Mede refinery, while in western France fuel depots were blocked near Bordeaux and the coastal city of La Rochelle. Union members also held go-slow operations on highways near Paris and in northern France. We re determined. We re going to stay as long as possible while hoping that other blockades take place elsewhere, maybe that ll make Mr. Macron move, Force Ouvriere union official Pascal Favre told Reuters. Eager to avoid fuel shortages, centrist President Emmanuel Macron s government deployed police at some sites before dawn to ensure by force that protesters could not block access. It s not in blockading the country s economy and by preventing people from working, that one best defends one s cause, junior economy minister Benjamin Griveaux told RTL radio. The labor reform is due to become law in the coming days after Macron formally signed five labor form decrees on Friday, in the first major economic reforms since he took power in May. The new rules, discussed at length in advance with unions, will cap payouts on dismissals that are judged unfair, while also giving companies greater freedom to hire and fire employees and to agree working conditions. While unions have failed to derail the reform, the considerable political capital Macron had after his landslide election victory in May is quickly evaporating. Macron suffered his first electoral setback on Sunday when his Republic on the Move (LREM) party won fewer seats than expected in elections for the French Senate. | 0 |
SHOCK VIDEO : Hillary Needs Help Climbing ONE SINGLE STEP in Florida SHOCK VIDEO : Hillary Needs Help Climbing ONE SINGLE STEP in Florida Videos By TruthFeedNews October 27, 2016
Hillary Clinton needed a helping hand to trek up a single step during a visit in Florida today.
Clinton was outside to greet supporters in Lake Worth when she attempted to stand on a small riser. With help from her Secret Service agents, she finally conquered the single step.
Watch the video:
Support the Trump Movement and help us fight Liberal Media Bias. Please LIKE and SHARE this story on Facebook or Twitter. | 1 |
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