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Sanders Campaign Fights Back After Ohio Bans Youth From Primaries

Twenty-two states, including the District of Columbia, allow 17-year-olds to vote in primary elections as long as they turn 18 by the time the general election is held in November. The rule allows many youth to begin participating in the democratic process of voting for the very first time, but Ohio s Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted reversed the rule in Ohio, revoking the rights for 17-year-olds to vote in Ohio s primaries on March 15th. For both Republicans and Democrats, Ohio will be a key state and every vote will matter. For the Bernie Sanders campaign, the reversal is a blow, as the campaign s strongest demographic is young voters, where they have received over 80 percent support in many states from voters ages 18-29. It is an outrage that the secretary of state in Ohio is going out of his way to keep young people significantly African-American young people, Latino young people from participating, said Senator Sanders in a released on March 8th. Sanders campaign cited US Census data which shows 17-year-old voters are more likely to be African-Americans and Latinos.Ohio s Secretary of State, Jon Husted, argued over the language of Ohio s rule in December, claiming 17-year-olds can still vote, just not to elect a candidate. This isn t the first time Ohio Republicans have tried to deter voter turnout. In 2015, Republican Ohio State Representatives sponsored a bill to demand a poll tax in order to vote, despite poll taxes being unconstitutional. The tax was tucked into a Voter ID bill, which was pushed for under the false assumption Voter ID laws prevent fraud, although voter fraud is virtually non-existent in Ohio. If a voter does not have a photo ID, they will have to pay $8.50 for a voter ID card. In 2015, Hillary Clinton s campaign sued Ohio to repeal several Republican voter suppression tactics which helped George W. Bush win Ohio in 2004.Featured image via Addicting Info

THE BEST ANTI-HILLARY AD EVER MADE…You’ll Want To Watch This BRUTAL VIDEO More Than Once

The Ted Cruz campaign has identified the enemy and they ve placed a target squarely on their backs. It s about time the GOP candidates stopped targeting each other and focused on the real enemy, Hillary Clinton. It Feels Good To Be A Clinton brilliantly points out the corruption, cover-ups and lies of the Clinton Crime Syndicate. The Cruz campaign uses a very creative rap song in the background to hammer home some brutal truths about Hillary and how she operates We guarantee you ll want to watch this more than once:

SHOCKER! Senator Diane Feinstein Calls for a Look Into Comey/Lynch Collusion: “I think we need to know more about that” [Video]

How shocking is it that liberal Senator Diane Feinstein is calling for a closer look at the possible collusion between Lynch and Comey:Dianne Feinstein calls on Congress to investigate whether Loretta Lynch pressured Comey to cover for Hillary Clinton s campaign.#ComeyGate pic.twitter.com/AMwQoQsMe0 Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) June 11, 2017 Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) said Sunday that Congress should investigate whether former Attorney General Loretta Lynch pressured former FBI Director James Comey to cover for Hillary Clinton s presidential campaign. I think we need to know more about that, Feinstein told host Brianna Keilar on CNN s State of the Union. And there s only way to know about it, and that s to have the Judiciary Committee take a look at that, Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said.Comey testified last Thursday that he felt queasy after Lynch asked him to characterize his probe into Clinton s emails as a matter, rather than an investigation. He told the Senate Intelligence Committee that such a request would match the wording of Clinton s campaign.Feinstein, who is a member of the Senate Intelligence panel, said she would ve also felt queasy. I would have a queasy feeling, too, though, to be candid with you, the longtime Senate Democrat said.She added that an investigation separate from the ongoing probe into Russian interference in the election is needed.Read more: The Hill

Russia-Trump campaign collusion an 'open' issue: U.S. Senate panel chiefs

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Leaders of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee said on Wednesday the issue of whether President Donald Trump s 2016 election campaign colluded with Russia remains an open question as the panel intensifies its probe into the matter. Republican Chairman Richard Burr and Democratic Vice Chairman Mark Warner also warned about the risk to future U.S. elections posed by Russia, including what is expected to be a closely contested election next month for governor of Warner s home state, Virginia. Burr told reporters the committee plans to conduct 25 more interviews with witnesses this month, but described his goal of finishing this year the main congressional investigation into Russian meddling as only aspirational at this point. The issue of collusion is still open, Burr said, standing alongside Warner at a press conference to provide an update on the investigation. We have not come to any determination on collusion, he said. Burr said he wanted very much to conclude the investigation before the height of campaigning for November 2018 U.S. mid-term elections, when all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and one third of the 100-seat Senate will be up for grabs. Warner said the United States needed a whole-of-government approach to combating interference with U.S. elections. The Russian active measures efforts did not end on Election Day, 2016, he said. Trump, who has called allegations of campaign collusion with Moscow a hoax, has faced questions about the matter since he took office in January. A special counsel appointed by the Justice Department, Robert Mueller, is conducting a separate probe that could lead to criminal charges. Russia denies meddling. U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Russia interfered in the election to try to help Trump defeat Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton through a campaign of hacking and releasing embarrassing emails, and disseminating propaganda via social media to discredit her campaign. Burr said the committee agreed with the intelligence community s conclusion that Russia had interfered. The committee continues to look into all evidence to see if there was any hint of collusion, Burr said. Now, I m not even going to discuss initial findings because we haven t any. We ve got a tremendous amount of documents still to go through. He said the panel has conducted more than 100 interviews lasting more than 250 hours in its nine-month-old probe, and we currently have booked for the balance of this month 25 additional interviews. Those who have already come before committee members or investigators include the president s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, and social media executives such as officials from Twitter Inc (TWTR.N). On Wednesday, a representative for Kushner and Ivanka Trump denied a report in USA Today that the couple had re-routed personal emails through their family s business. Among witnesses who will appear at future public committee hearings are Trump s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, and executives from Facebook Inc (FB.O), Twitter and Alphabet Inc s (GOOGL.O) Google. Warner and Burr urged American election officials and political campaigns to take the threat of Russian interference seriously. You can t walk away from this and believe that Russia s not currently active in trying to create chaos in our election process. And I assume that the same tactics that you saw in Montenegro, in France, in Belgium and in the United States will continue to be tested within our structure of the election process, Burr said. Burr said the committee has hit a wall in its investigation of a former British spy s explosive dossier on purported Russian support for Trump s 2016 campaign. Former MI6 officer Christopher Steele compiled the dossier, which Trump was told by former FBI director James Comey contained salacious material about the businessman-turned-president. Trump and his associates have called the dossier s contents false. We have, on several occasions, made attempts to contact Mr. Steele, to meet with Mr. Steele, Burr said. Those offers have gone unaccepted. The committee cannot really decide the credibility of the dossier without understanding things like who paid for it, who are your sources and sub-sources, Burr added. (This corrected version of the story removes quote with incorrect attribution in sixth paragraph, replacing with another quote).

HIV POSITIVE, CRACK SMOKING, Liberal Actor Charlie Sheen Wishes Death On Donald Trump…Gets DESTROYED On Twitter

Less than one year ago, Charlie Sheen s ex-wife Denise Richards told reporters that their twin daughters are allegedly scared of him. Sisters Sam, 11, and Lola, 10, are reportedly scared to be alone with their father after an alleged string of abusive texts and threatening outbursts.Richards is suing Sheen for $1.2 million after he allegedly evicted her from the home Sheen left to their daughters, Sam, 11, and Lola, 10, in a trust.The suit filed last week alleges that Sheen once texted to Lola: Your dad is a rock star genius . . . Your mom is a p s wart, and that he called the girl a [bleeping] pig whore while yelling, I m going to kill you and I m going to kill your mom. In November 2015, Sheen announced he was infected with HIV and had paid upwards of $10 million to keep it a secret.It s not that being infected with HIV is in and of itself a crime, but most people who would hide it while continuing to have sex would be in jail. But then again, Hollywood moonbats are not most people and like Hillary and other leftist politicians, they have special rules.In November 2015, The Daily Mail published a story about Sheen with this headline:You are a crack smoking, hooker buying, mentally enslaved moron with HIV. If anyone is on deaths door, it's you, Charlie. https://t.co/iWXmn6bcLC Mark Dice (@MarkDice) December 29, 2016Keep it up. You are the reason why Trump won and you don't even realize it. Thanks for the Win!! Howie (@DwhowardWayne) December 29, 2016no matter how bad life gets, I never actively root for someone to die. That is a truly evil soul. Nick Paredes (@npthree) December 29, 2016 I defended ur ass through ur one of MANY breakdowns. Now ur just a piece of shit. You're living on a prayer Good luck ass! Kristin Billitere (@SpecialKMB1969) December 29, 2016Trump is a deadly menace to this country & the world. I hope Death comes for him next. Laura P (@dsigningwmn) December 29, 2016@Me4Hillary throw in Pence and the rest of the cabinet and I forever promise to eat all my veggies Neolib Sheetcake (@vicsepulveda) December 29, 2016

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roger stone hillary plans to steal election special report james okeefe and roger stone join alex jones

Thai police arrest Hells Angels gang members

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai police have arrested four members of a Hells Angels biker gang accused of drug crimes, violence and posing a threat to society, the Tourist Police said on Thursday. Three Australians and a Canadian were arrested on Wednesday in Pattaya, a major tourist resort with a reputation as a hub for foreign gangs, drug dealing and the sex industry. Piyapong Ensarn of the Pattaya Tourist Police told Reuters that two of the accused gang members would be deported and the two others would be charged with drug offences. Traces of cocaine were found on them, he said. Reuters was unable to contact either the accused or their lawyers for comment. Pattaya is 100 km (60 miles) southeast of the Thai capital, Bangkok. Police said they were still looking for three Australians believed to be members of the gang. A British member of the gang had fled the country before he could be arrested, Piyapong said. The gang made headlines in 2015 when one of its members was murdered by an Australian man, who was sentenced to death in February for the killing.

Former Trump adviser Flynn to turn over some documents subpoenaed by Senate panel: source

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former White House National Security Adviser Michael Flynn has told the Senate Intelligence Committee he will begin turning over some documents subpoenaed by the panel, according to a government source familiar with the matter. Flynn’s representatives told the committee in an email on Tuesday that they would start turning over some subpoenaed documents in time to meet a deadline set by the panel, and that more documents will be turned over later. The committee, which is investigating alleged Russian interference in last year’s U.S. presidential election, issued subpoenas to two of Flynn’s businesses after Flynn had declined to comply with a subpoena issued to him personally.

A DEFENSIVE JOHN KERRY Asks That Israel Move Its Borders Back To 1967 [Video]

John Kerry gave a long-winded speech today claiming the Obama administration had been a friend to Israel. He went on and on describing the support to the Israeli military. He was clearly on the defensive after the debacle of the US abstaining in a vote by the UN Security Council to punish Israel. It s been no secret that the Obama administration has been anti-Israel from the beginning, so Kerry s speech was wasted air time. No one believes anything John Kerry says his credibility had been lost long ago. All you need to know about him was revealed when he flew singer James Taylor to Paris to sing You ve Got A Friend after the horrific terror attack by Islamic terrorists. Obama and Kerry are clearly of the pacifist school of thought that will clear a path for the destruction of the West and Israel.During his speech today he asked that Israel move its borders back to the 1967 location something Obama had previously stated he d like to see Israel do WHAT ARE THESE TWO SMOKING?

Aide to EU Commission head tweets picture of white smoke at Brexit meeting with May

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Martin Selmayr, a top aide to the head of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, signaled on Friday there was an agreement on Britain s divorce terms with the EU by tweeting a picture of white smoke that is a symbol of the election of a new pope. Juncker, Selmayr and the EU s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier are at a working breakfast with British Prime Minister Theresa May in Brussels.

Pelosi says she hopes U.S. debt ceiling will be raised without debate

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives said on Friday that she hopes Congress will pass legislation raising the U.S. debt ceiling by the end of July without making the issue a major topic of debate or linking its passage to other measures. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi told a briefing she didn’t believe the U.S. debt ceiling should be held hostage to political considerations, noting that debate over raising it in the past had caused a downgrade in the U.S. credit rating. “Let’s save our debate for another subject,” Pelosi told reporters.

Even After Charlottesville, If You Hit Protesters With A Car, Republicans Want To Protect You

This year America has seen an interesting and terrifying new technique for dealing with protesters. Republicans, buoyed by their base s enthusiasm for physically harming people who inconvenience them, took a hard look at all of the things being protested across the country. They saw natives at Standing Rock, young African-Americans at Black Lives Matter rallies, and a pretty wide assortment at Donald Trump s inauguration, and they decided the best way to deal with it was to hit them with cars.That s not hyperbole. I guarantee you have had at least one argument on Facebook with a relative or old high school friend who sees pictures of protests and jokes about running over the people in the streets. The GOP decided to codify that behavior by writing laws that would reduce or remove penalties for drivers who do just that.Beginning with North Dakota, lawmakers in six states began to pen a series of proposals that all looked very similar to each other. House Bill 1203 would set the tone:Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a driver of a motor vehicle who unintentionally causes injury or death to an individual obstructing vehicular traffic on a public road, street, or highway, is not guilty of an offense.Similar laws cropped up in Florida, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Texas. These heartless laws were part of a larger effort by Republicans to stifle dissent on a larger scale; a proposal in Oregon would have required schools to expel protesters even peripherally involved in a riot, while one in Ferguson, Missouri the heartland of the Black Lives Matter movement would have created an offense called unlawful traffic interference with which protesters could be charged if they stood in the path of any important white people on their way to do important white people things.It took until the murder of Heather Heyer for Fox Nation to take down a video posted in humor on their website entitled Here s A Reel Of Cars Plowing Through Protesters Trying To Block The Road. I guess this like what a conscience looks like on Fox?But even after the events of this last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia, those GOP legislators are still defending their bills. On Sunday, Texas Rep. Pat Fallon was wondering if the far left knew the difference between a street and a highway. He deleted his social media posts, but his proposal remains:A person operating a motor vehicle who injures another person with the motor vehicle is not liable for the injury if, at the time of the injury:(1) the person operating the motor vehicle was exercising due care; and (2) the person injured was blocking traffic in a public right-of-way while participating in a protest or demonstration.Any wild guesses what it might take in Texas to prove you were exercising due care when you hit that troublesome agitator?Featured image via Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

how we can win the propaganda war

home be the change nsa whistleblower nsa has all of clintons deleted emails fbi can access them any time nsa whistleblower nsa has all of clintons deleted emails fbi can access them any time jay syrmopoulos august comments washington dc one of the architects of the national security agencys surveillance programs dropped a bombshell over the weekend when he stated that the nsa has all of hillary clintons deleted emails he also noted that the fbi has the technical and legal ability to gain access to them if they chose to do so william binney is a former highly respected nsa official that served the agency for over years helping to create its surveillance program before becoming a famed whistleblower upon resigning in on sunday he declared in a radio interview broadcast that the hack of the dnc could have been coordinated by someone inside the us intelligence community angry over clintons compromise of national security data with her email use appearing on sunday on aaron klein investigative radio and speaking as an intelligence analyst binney questioned whether the hack of the democratic national committees servers were actually the work of russian hackers as the clinton camp has alleged instead he raised the possibility that it was actually the work of disgruntled us intelligence officials upset about clinton being given a pass on criminal charges after compromising national security secrets through her use of unsecure personal email servers that were undoubtedly accessed by numerous foreign intelligence services during his interview with reporter aaron klein binney referenced thenfbi director robert s muellers testimony in march before the senate judiciary committee in which mueller spoke of the fbis ability to access a number of secretive databases to track down known and suspected terrorists now what he mueller is talking about is going into the nsa database which is shown of course in the edward snowden material released which shows a direct access into the nsa database by the fbi and the cia which there is no oversight of by the way so that means that nsa and a number of agencies in the us government also have those emails binney said so if the fbi really wanted them they can go into that database and get them right now binney stated in regards to the missing clinton emails when klein asked whether he believed the nsa has copies of all of clintons emails including the deleted correspondence binney replied with a oneword bombshell yes he responded that would be my point they have them all and the fbi can get them right there according to a report by breitbart and the other point is that hillary according to an article published by the observer in march of this year has a problem with nsa because she compromised gamma material now that is the most sensitive material at nsa and so there were a number of nsa officials complaining to the press or to the people who wrote the article that she did that she lifted the material that was in her emails directly out of gamma reporting that is a direct compromise of the most sensitive material at the nsa so shes got a real problem there so there are many people who have problems with what she has done in the past so i dont necessarily look at the russians as the only ones who got into those emails the observer defined the gamma classification gamma compartment which is an nsa handling caveat that is applied to extraordinarily sensitive information for instance decrypted conversations between top foreign leadership as this was how interesting to think about the distinct possibility that the hacked and leaked emails are not the result of russian hackers but actually came to wikileaks from an unknown crusader at the nsa itself another snowden if you will let us hope that after for years of watching clinton expose national security secrets through reckless handling of highly classified intelligence some determined patriots within the intelligence community are now working to see the downfall of clintons by exposing their corrupt political apparatus likely we will never know as zero hedge reported it is the nsa that has been tasked with determining if the russian government is behind the hacks one thing we already know is that when an agency investigates itself it never finds itself responsible share

‘Well-Regulated’ Militia Member Shoots 12-Year-Old Girl In Stomach During Target Practice

You know that well-regulated militia that is mentioned in the Second Amendment? Well, one of their members just shot the 12-year-old daughter of the group s leader. Yes, the same group of responsible gun owners our friends on the Right deem necessary to fend off a tyrannical government can t handle their toys well enough to avoid shooting children they inexplicably bring to target practice.The III% Idaho group was meeting at a local gun range after the group, which was involved in the armed occupation of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge last month, decided to enjoy some target practice to blow off the sort of steam one needs to blow off after a total defeat at the hands of a tyrannical government. According to the president of the group, Brandon Curtiss, the accident occurred when a member failed to take proper safety precautions while clearing a gun.Curtiss says the weapon discharged, and the bullet ricocheted off a metal table beside a shelter and struck the girl in the stomach. The projectile pierced through the girl s abdomen and exited out the other side a true testament to freedom. Sandra Sullivan shared a post from the Pacific Patriots Network containing details. While clearing a weapon there was an accidental discharge, the bullet hit the metal table under the canopy area and then ricocheted where it then struck the 12 year old daughter of Sean Odie O Donahue in the stomach then exiting through her side, Sullivan s message reads. I spoke to Sean and it sounds as if she is going to be ok, she was able to tell him she loved him as they were loading her into the helicopter. The post then begs for donations to help the girl rather than for justice the sort that should end with the shooter behind bars for his negligence reminding members that now is not the time to ask for details. The III% Idaho group showed up to aid Ammon Bundy in the occupation of Malheur by securing the perimeter, but his group s offer was ultimately rejected by the armed insurgency leader. The group also took part in Cliven Bundy s armed standoff with federal officials in 2014 something the FBI may want to remember if they consider any additional charges against militants.Sure, these people believe that they are somehow defending freedom by playing cowboy, but in the end they are just a group of people who should never touch a gun a group that, unfortunately, spends most of its time playing Cowboys and Tyranny.The girl is reportedly recovering from her injuries.Featured image via Facebook

THE TIME THAT TRUMP LITERALLY “Saved The Farm”…A Story The Media Will Never Tell [VIDEO]

A beautiful story of generosity and kindness the media would never share with American voters One narrative emerging around the surprisingly resilient Donald Trump portrays the brash billionaire as a final card laid down by Republican blue-collar voters who see their way of life and their political clout draining away in a bathtub spiral.Trump has been a man of last resort before. Right here in Georgia, in fact. And if his Republican presidential machine doesn t seize upon the tale in the next few weeks, as he and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas battle for Southern votes, then someone in the Trump campaign will be guilty of gross incompetence.It happened in 1986, in the midst of the worst farm crisis since the Great Depression. In Burke County, on Georgia s eastern border, farm after farm was folding.On Feb. 4, Lenard Dozier Hill III, a third-generation occupant of his cotton-and-soybean acreage, was about to have his land sold out from under him. That morning, it was going to be auctioned off at the courthouse steps, so he committed suicide, said Betsy Sharp, his daughter.In the bedroom of the Hill home, along with the .22-caliber rifle that did the work, was a neat stack of life insurance policies and other papers on the nightstand. Hill had intended for the life insurance payout to cover most of his $300,000 debt and so save the family farm for another generation.It was a grievous miscalculation. Most, if not all, life insurance policies include a clause that prohibits payment in cases of suicide. He didn t realize all that, Sharp said.Hill s desperate act struck a chord. Reporters and TV crews descended on the Waynesboro church where the funeral was held. Vandals painted farmer killer on the door of the local bank.Once the family realized the financial futility of Hill s suicide, the burden of saving the farm fell on his widow, Annabel Hill, a 66-year-old teacher and social worker with gray hair and large glasses.The widow was already familiar with Frank Argenbright, a wealthy and white Atlanta businessman who had made a name for himself by organizing the successful effort to save the farm of a black farmer in Cochran named Oscar Lorick.(Argenbright initially tried to do this anonymously, as a masked benefactor who called himself A.N. American. But he was the head of a growing security firm, and his cop friends recognized his voice.)Argenbright arranged a press conference for Annabel Hill in Atlanta. It went national, he said. Today, in the age of the Internet, we use the term viral. Then, as now, clowns came out of the woodwork. In an interview, Argenbright said one of the first calls he received was from a Texas oilman who wanted to come to Atlanta to help. For some reason I had to pay the ticket, Argenbright said. First class.The oilman turned out to be a soused escapee from a rehab unit for alcoholics. Argenbright put him on the next flight back to Texas. In coach.Above is a video, featuring Betsy Sharp, daughter of Lenard and Annabel Hill, put together by Chad Etheridge of Growing America, a news service for farmers.***Argenbright was still at the airport when his assistant called. Someone claiming to be Donald Trump had just rang, offering to help Annabel Hill.A suspicious Argenbright called the number and demanded proof of identity from the man who answered. Herschel Walker works for me, the voice said. The former University of Georgia running back was the star of the New Jersey Generals, a United States Football League team owned by Trump. That was good enough. Well, Mr. Trump, I apologize, Argenbright said.Trump told the Atlanta businessman that his wife, Ivana, had seen the report on the Hill family s plight on the network news, and she suggested that he get involved. The magnate summoned Argenbright and the Hills to New York. After a brief interview, Trump signed onto the cause.Accounts of what followed differ. In his book The Art of the Deal, Trump wrote that, in a phone call, he twisted the arm of a vice president of the Georgia bank that held the Hill mortgage. I said to the guy, You listen to me. If you do foreclose, I ll bring a lawsuit for murder against you and your bank, on the grounds that you harassed Mrs. Hill s husband to his death. All of a sudden, the banker sounded very nervous and said he d get right back to me. Sometimes it pays to be a little wild, Trump wrote.Problem solved.Argenbright, a Trump admirer who would go on to provide security at many of the billionaire s properties, describes a Trump who was far less sure of himself and of the public reaction that would follow. And quieter, too. It wasn t the Donald that you see now, Argenbright said. He wasn t sure that people would respond to him. He didn t want to be embarrassed. Trump provided $20,000 to stave off foreclosure of the Hill farm, but his name was initially kept out of the picture. During a press conference on the courthouse steps in Waynesboro announcing the delay, Argenbright said he spoke only of support from a New York developer. But Trump s identity was easily and quickly guessed. The billionaire and the Georgia farm wife made the rounds of the morning TV shows. Viewers were asked to send their dollars to the Annabel Hill Fund, Trump Towers, New York, 10022. Money poured in, but Trump and a Texas oilman a real one, this time provided the last $78,000. A mortgage-burning ceremony was scheduled for two days before Christmas. The Hill family was again flown to New York, at Trump s expense. I had just graduated from high school. He flew us to New York, and we went to Trump Towers and had breakfast with him, said Betsy Sharp, who is now 49 and lives in Augusta. We saw a whole different side of him that was kindhearted, to reach out to us, to help us, the daughter said. Most people don t know and see that side. All they see is just the blurt that people put on the TV. They don t see the other side of him, and that s what my family got to experience. Argenbright feels likewise. He couldn t have been nicer. He took care of them and stayed in touch with them after that, Argenbright said. He had no ulterior motive. But Argenbright said that, in advance of that mortgage-burning ceremony in 1986, he did catch a glimpse of the media-savvy presidential candidate that we are watching now.Trump ordered the waterfalls in his towers turned off, to make it easier for the TV sound technicians. He made sure that at least three tested cigarette lighters were on hand to spark the fire. The mortgage papers were fake, but Trump ordered an assistant to light one up to make sure they would burn quickly and dramatically, said Argenbright, who supplied an engraved tray from Tiffany s for the ashes. Just to watch how detailed he was in understanding the perception of the moment and how significant it was it was a special time, Argenbright said. He was an honorable guy who wanted to do the right thing. If it wasn t for him, that farm wouldn t have been saved. The Annabel Hill episode was just a small piece of the farm crisis. In the two months that followed, 85 other farms in Burke County alone were scheduled for foreclosure. Other celebrities attempted rescues as well Willie Nelson s series of Farm Aid concerts had begun the year before.But this was the moment that Donald Trump, who had already put his name on the New York City skyline, introduced himself to rural America. Via: AJC

A Bunch Of Dumb White Racists Will Picket NFL Offices Because Beyonce Gave Them Butthurt (IMAGES)

Beyonce Knowles took the field at Super Bowl 50 and the crowd went wild. The mega-star and her corps of dancers were perfectly choreographed and brilliantly outfitted. It was lively and entertaining. It was also, unfortunately, far too black for those wonderful American racists who just can t help but ruin everything.In case you weren t paying attention, Beyonce s dancers wore berets, which automatically means they support Herman Bell, the famous Black Panther who was tried and convicted of murder in the 1970s without ever being positively identified by an all-white jury. Even if Bell were indisputably guilty which is beyond questionable by that logic any white person wearing a cross around their neck supports the Westboro Baptist Church, but I digress.At one point, The dancers formed an X on the field, an obvious and admitted tribute to Malcolm X. They also formed an arrow that pointed at Beyonce, which was obviously meant to call attention to the black woman on the field, and we can t have that. Only black men in uniform are allowed on football fields, and only if they never have an opinion about anything or show any emotion whatsoever. It upsets racists.Beyonce and her team also put their fists up in a black power salute, which is also a common sign used by the black panthers and millions of other people since the 1960s. The coup de gras came after the performance, however, when several of the dancers were photographed around a sign that read Justice For Mario Wood, a young black man murdered by police, which of curse also ties Beyonce to the Black Lives Matter movement.The song Beyonce chose is also about her pride for her heritage. The lyrics included: My daddy Alabama Momma Louisiana. You mix that Negro with that Creole Make a Texas bamma I like my baby hair with baby hair and afros I like my Negro nose with Jackson Five nostrils. The racist douchebags of America have declared that they won t stand for this sort of thing. These shenanigans are unbefitting a halftime show and they won t sit idly by and allow it to happen. A black woman and her black dancers performed a number that wasn t acceptable to them, so they demand a return to the glory days when only Paul McCartney, Elton John and other white people were allowed to entertain at halftime.Fifteen minutes of the Left Shark bouncing around to the chicken dance would be more acceptable than having to endure black culture mixed in with their Coldplay. And just why the hell would Chris Martin join two black artists at the end for a chorus promoting unity for ALL people? Disgusting.Sadly, that isn t an exaggeration. The racist bags of sh*t of America can t understand how black artists do anything other than smile and sing innocuous lyrics while impersonating the Four Tops, rejecting their desire to be individuals or to protest for the good of the white race. They are so upset about it, there s now an Eventbrite announcement for an anti-Beyonce rally outside the NFL headquarters scheduled for February 16th. The front page of the event reads as though Beyonce held up pictures of Michael Brown and screamed black power into the mic. Sorry to burst your bubble, racists, but even that would have been acceptable:As if that weren t bad enough, the images used to promote the protest are actually of Herman Bell:Herman Bell was an activist during turbulent times who managed to turn his life around and earn a dual bachelor s and a master s degree and become a positive role model and mentor, all while incarcerated for 35 years for a crime he swears he didn t commit. In true racist a-holes of America fashion, all they see is an angry young man from another era who was convicted 70s style by a jury of someone else s peers.Organizers have also taken to Twitter, where the memes about how evil black people are and how all they can be are criminals are also making the rounds in connection with the #BoycottBeyonce movement :Fun fact BernieBlacks are incarcerated at higher rate because they commit higher rate of crime ?#NHPrimary pic.twitter.com/oEpCaNo990 Jared Wyand (@JaredWyand) February 10, 2016There are so many ways a guy like that needs to be educated. The first way would be how to remove your own hgead from your ass and read a book. They tend to hide lots of useful information in those things.Here s the tweet that perfectly sums up the situation:#BoycottBeyonce = I wish black people would just entertain me instead of standing up for #BlackLivesMatter + being proud of their culture. jen miller (@jenerallyspeaks) February 9, 2016The rally will happen. Racists will gather and demand to be heard, because they are white. Black people will be painted as even more evil than those darned Hispanics. At the end of the day they ll go home and nobody will care. The Super Bowl will continue to offer entertaining halftime shows by artists of all backgrounds, because they love ratings and money.Sorry, you meatheads, but the NFL won t be putting David Allen Coe on stage anytime soon. Featured image from screen capture

As U.S. weighs Afghan strategy, hopes set on fledgling Air Force

KABUL (Reuters) - (This version of the July 23 story corrects reference to A-29 Super Tucano in para 7. The aircraft are built in the United States under an agreement between their Brazilian manufacturer, Embraer and Sierra Nevada Corp.) As the U.S. administration prepares its new strategy for Afghanistan, the Kabul government and its Western allies are working hard to develop an air force that gives government forces the advantage in their war against Taliban militants. The level of equipment, training and assets falls far short of matching the air assets the Americans still maintain in Afghanistan, but billions of dollars are earmarked for the force which is being built up almost from scratch. “That is what will provide the asymmetric advantage to break the stalemate on the ground,” Brigadier-General Phillip Stewart, commander of TAAC-Air, the Resolute Support mission advising the air force, told Reuters. A four-year, $7 billion expansion plan is aimed at training more flight and maintenance crews and increasing the number of aircraft in the Afghan Air Force (AAF). “In 2014, remember, we (NATO and the U.S. military in Afghanistan) had the best air force in the world and the coalition pulled out and we realized we hadn’t grown the Afghan Air Force,” Stewart said. U.S. officers say the aim is to build a counter-insurgency force able to support troops fighting in remote and forbidding terrain with air strikes, supplies and intelligence. The air force is already conducting some air strikes using Brazilian-designed A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft and specially adapted MD-530 scout helicopters and it is building capacity in other areas. Last month, an Afghan air crew parachuted around 400 kg of supplies to an isolated border police outpost, the first time the AAF had conducted an aerial supply drop. “We can do casualty evacuations, we can take cargo, we can take ammunition, we can transport vehicles to different places where they can’t go by road,” said Major Khail Shinwari, an Afghan C-130 Hercules pilot. The AAF has about 120 aircraft in service, ranging from small propeller Cessna 208s to old Soviet-era helicopters, as well as the A-29s, MD-530s and its four veteran C-130 Hercules transporters. In coming years, the old Russian Mi-17s helicopters, which are increasingly difficult to maintain, will be replaced by American UH-60 Black Hawks. The AAF says it is flying up to 140 sorties a day, carrying supplies and providing close air support to troops fighting the Afghan Taliban and Islamic State. But whether it can be built up quickly enough to turn the tide against the stubborn Taliban insurgency is unclear. All the air power of the NATO-led coalition was not enough to defeat the militants and the AAF is nowhere near being able operate alone. U.S. drones, F-16s and Apache attack helicopters are still heavily engaged in areas like Helmand, where U.S. aircraft conducted at least 52 air strikes in the space of five days last week in support of Afghan forces. For the moment, the Afghan A-29s are still using unguided bombs rather than the guided weapons used by the Americans, and the MD-530 helicopters, which came into service in 2015, fire machine guns and rockets attached to their landing gear. “It’s close air support but not as anyone who grew up in the U.S. Air Force would understand it,” Stewart said. “It’s not precision, it’s .50 cal(ibre machine guns) and rockets but they get close to their work and they’re very good.” U.S. trainers say Afghan pilots and crews are being trained to a standard comparable with their American counterparts. But the length of time it takes to train crews - up to four years for pilots and as much as seven years for specialized mechanics - means it will be years before the air force can operate fully independently. For the moment, the emphasis is on building a force suitable for Afghanistan, which means using less complicated equipment such as the C-208s or MD-350 helicopters “at the expense of maybe getting some bigger, sexier platform,” Stewart said. The aim is to increase the effectiveness of the security forces, which advisers hope to get to a point where the Taliban are forced to negotiate a political settlement. As the AAF has grown, however, it has faced increasing pressure from army units to step up operations. Advisers say one of the main risks it faces is overstretch. “They just don’t have the airplanes and sometimes the ground forces will become frustrated because they want more,” Stewart said.

These Veterans Have Some VERY Choice Words For Palin Blaming Obama For Her Son’s Behavior

The reason Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump decided to bring Sarah Palin back into the limelight is still unclear. She was the poison pill for John McCain in 2008, and has made a career off saying wildly moronic things.The latest wildly moronic thing she said happened when she decided to blame President Obama for her son s domestic violence arrest. She said: They come back wondering if there is that respect for what their fellow soldiers and airmen and every other member of the military have given so sacrificially to this country, and that starts at the top. It s a shame that our military personnel even have to question, have to wonder if they re respected anymore. It starts from the top. The question, though, it comes from the top, the question, though, that comes from our own president where they have to look at him and wonder, Do you know what we go through? Do you know what we re trying to do to secure America and to secure the freedoms that have been bequeathed us? So when my own son is going through what he goes through coming back, I can certainly relate with other families who kind of feel these ramifications of PTSD and some of the woundedness that our soldiers do return with, and it makes me realize more than ever, it is now or never for the sake of America s finest that we ll have that commander-in-chief who will respect them and honor them. She s more than implying that President Obama doesn t currently respect our troops, which is just an outright lie. And it is also not the president s fault if her son may suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Nor was it his fault her son was arrested. Knowing this, and calling Sarah Palin out for this uncalled for and vicious attack, is the head of the New York City-based veteran s organization Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA). Paul Rieckhoff said: It s not President Obama s fault that Sarah Palin s son has PTSD. PTSD is a very serious problem, a complicated mental health injury and I would be extremely reluctant to blame any one person in particular. Also stating: It s important to recognize that Track may need help like many veterans. This is a great opportunity for Sarah Palin to sound the alarm about PTSD. Now that she has endorsed Mr. Trump, I would encourage her to talk with him about it. Mr. Trump s campaign is pretty light on specifics about what he would do for veterans. Adding: I hope this doesn t become a political chew toy in a political campaign. Reickhoff seems to really hope that Palin chooses to discontinue her efforts of politicizing PTSD. Hopefully, Palin can recognize that she is a public figure and can use her position in politics to not just become famous, but rather promote positive change in the lives of veterans nationwide. Outright blaming the president for PTSD is petty and wrong, and thankfully she was called out on it.Featured image: Gage Skidmore (flickr)

WATCH: Trump Bashes “Face the Nation” During Interview On…Face The Nation

It is no secret that President Donald Trump likes to call any press coverage that he does not like fake. This weekend he upped the ante a bit when he did an interview with John Dickerson for CBS s Face the Nation. Trump took the opportunity to bash the show to the show s host.After Dickerson called Trump out on some of his policy reversals over the course of the first 100 days of his presidency, this exchange happened: It s always a challenge like life itself is a challenge. It s very funny when the fake media goes out which we call the mainstream media, which sometimes, I must say is you, said Trump. You mean, me personally? asked Dickerson Your show, I love your show. I call it Deface the Nation , but your show is sometimes not exactly correct, said Trump. Featured image via CBS.

ANGRY LIBERAL STORE OWNER Gets Slammed For Using Billboard To Display Image of Trump as Hitler…Asks Liberals To Attack Billboard Owner For Taking It Down [VIDEO]

Things didn t go as well as Nicholle had hoped and now, she s lashing out at the owner of the billboard company who was inundated with calls from angry residents.Rouse & Revolt owner Nicholle Lewis told Newsweek that she didn t sleep much last night. Her phone wouldn t stop going off with the persistent buzzing of death threats for her sign, which stylizes the number 45 into a swastika and features Trump posed in a Hitler-esque stance. I m living in a small, podunk red town and I m already getting death threats, said Lewis, whose store is in right-leaning Chico, population 90,000. My business has completely floundered. Overnight I had more one-star reviews than all the reviews I ve received in a year. The sign was up for less than 24 hours before Stott Outdoor Advertising took it down amid a backlash that featured online attacks.But Lewis said she s standing behind her beliefs. I don t necessarily think that just because I m a business doesn t mean I can t mix my beliefs, Lewis said. That s a common misconception that you can t mix politics and business. I have a platform and I m going to use it. Lewis has used the billboard at the corner of Third Avenue and Mangrove Avenue all year, though this is the first time she s made it political. He is not presidential, he is not a president, Lewis said. He is a celebrity who was born into money. And he s a Nazi sympathizer. I am going to stand behind my beliefs regardless. Lewis said she has been getting some support, too.Lewis got slammed by bad reviews on her store, Rouse and Revolt Facebook page, as well as her personal Facebook page, where she posted this video. In the video, Lewis pleas with liberals to make false claims against the sign company, as a payback because she s been hit with bad reviews. That s called liberal logic, in case you re not familiar with how liberal operate.Watch, as angry liberal Nicholle Haber Lewis threatens the sign company with a lawsuit while simultaneously asking libs to help her destroy his business.(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.10"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));Posted by Nicholle Haber Lewis on Friday, October 6, 2017The general manager of Stott Outdoor Advertising replied to Newsweek:Jim Moravec, the general manager of Stott Outdoor Advertising, told Newsweek that the company took it down because a lot of people misinterpreted the billboard and who the speaker was. I should have not accepted the ad in the first place, Moravec said, adding that the sign looked more like a call for action than an ad for the clothing store. Newsweek

Protests planned for Trump speech at pro-Israel conference

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Some rabbis and Jewish students are planning protests against Donald Trump’s speech on Monday at a conference of the pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC over what they say are his belittling comments about Muslims and other groups. About 18,000 people are expected to attend the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s three-day annual conference in Washington. It is not clear how many will either boycott or walk out of the Republican presidential front-runner’s address. “He has taken every opportunity to vilify women, Muslims, Mexicans, immigrants and the disabled,” said Jeffrey Salkin, a rabbi in Hollywood, Florida, who asked rabbis across the country to join him in a boycott. He said 40 had agreed and signed a protest letter he hoped to distribute at the conference. Another group of rabbis and students called Come Together Against Hate is planning to walk out of the room after Trump takes the stage. Jesse Olitzky, one of its organizers, said he did not know how many people would participate. The group’s Facebook page had 300 members. Some of the students received an email earlier this week from AIPAC warning that if they disrupted the speech, they would have their conference access revoked. An AIPAC official said on Thursday the message “went out in error and was not authorized.” “I know nothing about that,” Trump said in a Reuters interview on Thursday when asked if he had heard about the planned protests and whether he intended to respond. When he announced his candidacy last summer, Trump said some people crossing the U.S. border from Mexico were criminals and rapists, and promised to build a wall along the border. In December, he called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the country, on national security grounds. Last week, he told CNN: “Islam hates us.” The Anti-Defamation League and an organization of Reform rabbis condemned his comments. AIPAC, which is non-partisan, routinely hosts presidential hopefuls at its conference. Trump’s remaining Republican rivals, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Ohio Governor John Kasich, will address the group as well. “The job of AIPAC is not to decide whose policies we like or look into the souls of people,” said Seth Siegel, an AIPAC veteran who said he was not speaking on behalf of the organization. “It’s the organization’s job to try to educate elected officials about how to deepen the U.S.-Israel relationship for the benefit of both parties,” he said. “Having Trump speak at the policy conference is unambiguously part of that mission.”

U.S. calls Myanmar moves against Rohingya 'ethnic cleansing'

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday called the Myanmar military operation against the Rohingya population “ethnic cleansing” and threatened targeted sanctions against those responsible for what it called “horrendous atrocities.” “The situation in northern Rakhine state constitutes ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya,” U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a statement, using a term he avoided when visiting Myanmar, also known as Burma, last week. “The United States will also pursue accountability through U.S. law, including possible targeted sanctions” against those responsible for the alleged abuses, which have driven hundreds of thousands of Rohingya into neighboring Bangladesh, he said. The United States shifted its stance in part to raise pressure on Myanmar’s military and civilian leaders, who have shared power for the past two years under an uneasy arrangement after decades of military rule, to address the crisis. Rights monitors accused Myanmar’s military of atrocities, including killings, mass rape and arson, against the stateless Rohingya during so-called clearance operations after Rohingya militants’ Aug. 25 attacks on 30 police posts and an army base. More than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Rakhine state in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, mostly to neighboring Bangladesh, since the crackdown, which followed the insurgent attacks. “These abuses by some among the Burmese military, security forces, and local vigilantes have caused tremendous suffering and forced hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children to flee their homes,” Tillerson said. While repeating U.S. condemnation of the insurgent attacks, he added: “No provocation can justify the horrendous atrocities that have ensued.” Myanmar’s 2-year-old government, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has faced heavy international criticism for its response to the crisis, though it has no control over the generals with whom it shares power. “It’s not a situation that is completely under her authority, but certainly we are counting on her to show leadership and also to work through the civilian government with the military to address the crisis,” a senior U.S. official told reporters in a conference call. The term “ethnic cleansing” is not defined in international or U.S. law and does not inherently carry specific consequences, a second senior U.S. official said on the call. Murray Hiebert, a Southeast Asia analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington, said the State Department’s use of the term and threat of sanctions “will likely have limited to no impact on the ground.” “It is likely to create more distrust between the United States and Myanmar’s military and government and push them closer to China, Russia, and its more authoritarian neighbors in Southeast Asia,” he added. The U.S. move came the same day as a U.N. tribunal convicted former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic of genocide and crimes against humanity for massacres of Bosnian Muslims and ethnic cleansing campaigns, and imprisoned him for life. The second U.S. official said Washington was analyzing whether genocide or crimes against humanity had occurred in Myanmar, which would violate international law, but has made no determination on either and that this would take time to assess. “In the end it’s a court that has to decide that, as we’ve just seen with the verdict against Mladic,” he said. A top U.N. official in September described the military actions as a textbook case of “ethnic cleansing,” but the United States until Wednesday had avoided the term. Washington has sought to balance its wish to nurture the civilian government in Myanmar, where it competes for influence with China, with its desire to hold the military accountable for the abuses. U.S. officials also worry that the mistreatment of the Rohingya Muslim minority may fuel radicalism. The first U.S. official said Washington would work with Bangladesh and Myanmar to encourage the voluntary repatriation of Rohingya. “We have focused on the issue of voluntary returns,” the official said. “We don’t want people to be forced to return to a situation in which they feel uncomfortable.” Congressional pressure for a tougher U.S. response to the Rohingya crisis mounted before President Donald Trump’s first visit to Asia this month to attend a summit of Southeast Asian countries, including Myanmar, in Manila. U.S. government sources told Reuters in October that officials were preparing a recommendation for Tillerson that would define the military-led campaign against the Rohingya as ethnic cleansing, which could spur new sanctions. In early November, U.S. lawmakers proposed targeted sanctions and travel restrictions on Myanmar military officials. Rights group Amnesty International called for a comprehensive arms embargo against Myanmar as well as targeted financial sanctions against senior Myanmar military officials.

Google uncovered Russia-backed ads on YouTube, Gmail : source

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Google has discovered Russian operatives spent tens of thousands of dollars on ads on its YouTube, Gmail and Google Search products in an effort to meddle in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, a person briefed on the company s probe told Reuters on Monday. The ads do not appear to be from the same Kremlin-affiliated entity that bought ads on Facebook Inc (FB.O), but may indicate a broader Russian online disinformation effort, according to the source, who was not authorized to discuss details of the confidential investigation by Alphabet Inc s (GOOGL.O) Google. Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) said separately on Monday that it was looking at whether Russians bought U.S. election ads on its Bing search engine or other Microsoft-owned products and platforms. A spokeswoman for the company declined to comment further. The revelation about Google is likely to fuel further scrutiny of the role that Silicon Valley technology giants may have unwittingly played during last year s election. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Moscow s goal was to help elect Donald Trump. Google has uncovered less than $100,000 in ad spending potentially linked to Russian actors, the source said. Both Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) and Facebook recently detected and disclosed that suspected Russian operatives, working for a content farm known as the Internet Research Agency in St. Petersburg, Russia, used their platforms to purchase ads and post content that was politically divisive in a bid to influence Americans before and after the November 2016 presidential election. The Internet Research Agency employ hundreds of so-called trolls who post pro-Kremlin content, much of it fake or discredited, under the guise of phony social media accounts that posed as American or European residents, according to lawmakers and researchers. Facebook announced last month it had unearthed $100,000 in spending by the Internet Research Agency and, under pressure from lawmakers, has pledged to be more transparent about how its ads are purchased and targeted. Google s review had been more robust than ones undertaken so far by Facebook or Twitter, the source said. Russia s ad purchases on Google were first reported by the Washington Post. Google did not deny the story, and in a statement pointed to its existing ad policies that limit political ad targeting and prohibit targeting based on race or religion. We are taking a deeper look to investigate attempts to abuse our systems, working with researchers and other companies, and will provide assistance to ongoing inquiries, a Google spokeswoman said on Monday. Google, which runs the world s largest online advertising business, had largely evaded public or congressional scrutiny until now. On Sunday, the Daily Beast news website reported that the Kremlin recruited at least two black video bloggers to post clips on YouTube during the campaign. They posed as Black Lives Matter sympathizers who were sharply critical of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Though the videos were only viewed hundreds of times, they demonstrated for the first time that Russia allegedly deployed real people, not just fake online accounts or bots, to further spread propaganda. Congressional committees have launched multiple investigations into Russian interference, but concern about Silicon Valley s role has surged over the past month against the backdrop of a cascade of revelations about how Russia appears to have leveraged their platforms to spread propaganda. A study published on Monday by researchers with the Oxford Internet Institute, which is affiliated with the British university, found that current U.S. military personnel and veterans were targeted by disinformation campaigns on Twitter and Facebook over the past year by a nexus of pro-Kremlin, Russian-oriented sites, along with conspiracy theorists and European right-wing ideologues. Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have said Russia intended to sow discord in the United States, spread propaganda and sway the election. Some Democrats plan to introduce legislation to require internet companies to disclose more information about political ad purchases on their platforms. If Vladimir Putin is using Facebook or Google or Twitter to, in effect, destroy our democracy, the American people should know about it, Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal said Monday on MSNBC. Google officials have been invited to testify publicly about Russian attempts to use their platforms to influence the election before both the House and Senate intelligence committees on Nov. 1 alongside Facebook and Twitter. While Facebook and Twitter have confirmed plans to attend, Google has not.

soy should not be consumed in significant quantities unless it has been fermented or otherwise traditionally processed industrially processed soy should be avoided

health experts share the top home remedies for fighting a cold tuesday november by amy goodrich tags cold symptoms natural remedies immune booster naturalnews stay well during the colder months with these simple timetested home remedies to prevent a common cold help shorten the duration and get you feeling better in no time a common cold is caused by a virus so there is no point in taking antibiotics which only kill bacteria while there is a host of overthecounter remedies available to soothe the symptoms of a common cold nature offers far better and safer solutionswe all know the prevention drill load up on immune boosting foods rich in vitamin c exercise regularly and wash your hands often but what else is there you can do to avoid a runny nose sore throat or a cough seven health editors reveal their sicknesspreventing secrets gargle salt water if you feel the first signs of a scratchy throat jeannie kim executive deputy editor recommends a saltwater gargle she is convinced that it has stopped countless of her colds to soothe a sore throat and kill the sickmaking germs combine half a teaspoon salt with one cup of water and gargle repeat several times a day until scratchiness disappears create some heat according to clare mchugh editorinchief a hot bath or shower is the thing you need she explains that viruses that cause a common cold dont like the heat and are discouraged to multiply if you keep your body warm and why not add immune boosting and cold fighting essential oils to your bathtub to enhance the healing effectfurthermore you could try the good old hot water bottle to help loosen phlegm and deep congestions in the chest swallow raw garlic if you dont mind to sweat it out and have a garlic breath lisa lombardi executive editor recommends eating or swallowing raw garlic while the next day her symptoms usually get worse she feels better in daysif you cannot stomach garlics taste and spiciness then you might want to go with the traditional garlic cure which consists of garlic lemon and honey crush one clove of garlic and add it to a cup of warm water with one teaspoon of honey and the juice of one lemon give it a good stir and repeat this remedy two to three times a day for the duration of your symptoms take echinacea michael gollust the research editor swears by echinacea lozenges he says that while they dont stop a cold in its tracks they definitely reduce the severity of the symptoms the bbc however reports on a comprehensive review that scanned the literature and included only the very best studies showing that people who use echinacea may also have to percent less chance to catch a common cold stay hydrated most health experts agree that hydration is essential for a speedy recovery anthea levi the editorial assistant adds that if you are struggling with blocked sinuses adding lemon juice and cayenne pepper to your glass of water is all you need to breathe freely again go to bed early they often say sleep is one the best natural doctors tomoko takeda canel the acting beauty director couldnt agree more when she gets sick she cancels all her plans has a light meal and then prioritizes an early bedtime to get betternext time you get a cold keep these tips and tricks in mind and you wont need overthecounter drugs that can do more harm than good sources

President Mugabe stuns Zimbabwe by defying pressure to resign

HARARE (Reuters) - President Robert Mugabe stunned Zimbabwe on Sunday by making no mention of resignation in a television address, defying his own ZANU-PF party, which had sacked him hours earlier, and hundreds of thousands of protesters who had already hailed his downfall. Two sources - one a senior member of the government, the other familiar with talks with leaders of the military - had told Reuters Mugabe would announce his resignation to the nation after ZANU-PF dismissed him as its leader in a move precipitated by an army takeover four days earlier. But in the speech from his State House office, sitting alongside a row of generals, Mugabe acknowledged criticisms from ZANU-PF, the military and the public but made no mention of his own position. Instead, he said the events of the week were not a challenge to my authority as head of state and government , and pledged to preside over the congress scheduled for next month. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was dumbstruck. I am baffled. It s not just me, it s the whole nation. He s playing a game, he told Reuters. He is trying to manipulate everyone. He has let the whole nation down. ZANU-PF had given the 93-year-old, who has led his country since independence in 1980, less than 24 hours to quit as head of state or face impeachment, an attempt to secure a peaceful end to his tenure after a de facto military coup. Chris Mutsvangwa, the leader of the liberation war veterans who have been spearheading an 18-month campaign to oust Mugabe, said plans to impeach him in parliament, which next sits on Tuesday, would now go ahead, and that there would be mass protests on Wednesday. He also implied that Mugabe, who spoke with a firm voice but occasionally lost his way in his script during the 20-minute address, was not aware of what had happened just hours earlier. Either somebody within ZANU-PF didn t tell him what had happened within his own party, so he went and addressed that meeting oblivious, or (he was) blind or deaf to what his party has told him, Mutsvangwa said. ZANU-PF s central committee had earlier named Emmerson Mnangagwa as its new leader. It was Mugabe s sacking of Mnangagwa as his vice-president - to pave the way for his wife Grace to succeed him - that triggered the army s intervention. On Saturday, hundreds of thousands had taken to the streets of the capital Harare to celebrate Mugabe s expected downfall and hail a new era for their country. In jubilant scenes, men, women and children ran alongside armoured cars and the troops who stepped in to target what the army called criminals in Mugabe s inner circle. Many heralded a second liberation and spoke of their dreams for political and economic change after two decades of deepening repression and hardship. They, like the more than 3 million Zimbabweans who have emigrated to neighbouring South Africa in search of a better life, are likely to be bitterly disappointed by Mugabe s defiance. Speaking from a secret location in South Africa, his nephew, Patrick Zhuwao, had told Reuters that Mugabe and his wife were ready to die for what is correct rather than step down in order to legitimise what he described as a coup. Zhuwao, who was also sanctioned by ZANU-PF, did not answer his phone on Sunday. However, Mugabe s son Chatunga railed against those who had pushed out his father. You can t fire a Revolutionary leader! he wrote on this Facebook page. ZANU-PF is nothing without President Mugabe. The huge crowds in Harare have given a quasi-democratic veneer to the army s intervention, backing its assertion that it is merely effecting a constitutional transfer of power, rather than a plain coup, which would risk a diplomatic backlash. But some of Mugabe s opponents are uneasy about the prominent role played by the military, and fear Zimbabwe might be swapping one army-backed autocrat for another, rather than allowing the people to choose their next leader. The real danger of the current situation is that, having got their new preferred candidate into State House, the military will want to keep him or her there, no matter what the electorate wills, former education minister David Coltart said. The United States, a longtime Mugabe critic, said it was looking forward to a new era in Zimbabwe, while President Ian Khama of neighbouring Botswana said Mugabe had no diplomatic support in the region and should resign at once. Besides changing its leadership, ZANU-PF said it wanted to change the constitution to reduce the power of the president, a possible sign of a desire to move towards a more pluralistic and inclusive political system. However, Mnangagwa s history as state security chief during the so-called Gukurahundi crackdown, when an estimated 20,000 people were killed by the North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade in Matabeleland in the early 1980s, suggested that quick, sweeping change was unlikely. The deep state that engineered this change of leadership will remain, thwarting any real democratic reform, said Miles Tendi, a Zimbabwean academic at Oxford University.

Cuba to make it easier for Cuban Americans to visit

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Cuba will make it easier for its U.S.-based citizens to travel to the island, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said on Saturday, in a gesture to win support from Cuban Americans during a diplomatic crisis over allegations of mysterious health attacks. The U.S. government closes, and Cuba opens, Rodriguez told a meeting of pro-Havana Cuban Americans in Washington. He said Cuban citizens in the United States would no longer need to have a special review of their Cuban passports to rehabilitate them before traveling to the island. Rodriguez said that procedure had become more difficult due to staff shortages at the Cuban embassy after the U.S. government expelled 15 Cuban diplomats this month due to the dispute over the mystery attacks on U.S. personnel in Cuba. It s unacceptable and immoral, from the point of view of the Cuban government, for people to be harmed by a difference between governments, he said. Some Cuban Americans said Havana was simply acceding to demands that it should have acceded to long ago, like allowing them home without a special procedure. While the United States has not formally accused Cuba of carrying out what it says are attacks that have caused hearing loss and cognitive issues in its diplomats, President Donald Trump said last week Havana was responsible. Cuban government officials accused Trump this week of slandering their country. Tension over the alleged attacks, some of which involved high-pitched sounds, came after Trump said in June he wanted to partially roll back the historic detente between the United States and Cuba, ordering tighter restrictions on travel and trade. These have yet to be unveiled. Rodriguez said Cuba was making it easier for the children of Cubans in the United States to attain Cuban nationality and allowing Cuban Americans to travel to the country on cruise ships that embark at two ports on Cuba. Havana will also allow some Cubans who left the country illegally to return, he said. There are roughly 2 million Cubans or Americans of Cuban origin in the United States. One attendee at the event, Andres Pertierra, a U.S.-born citizen with a Cuban father, said he was excited he now qualified for a Cuban passport. These changes inspire gratitude and bring Cubans abroad closer to Cuban government, said the legal assistant. The Cuban government is making sure that it is clear that the weight of responsibility for failure to normalize falls squarely on the shoulders of the Trump administration.

Pakistan official details car chase that freed kidnapped U.S.-Canadian family

(This version of the story corrects spelling of Caitlan Coleman throughout) By Asif Shahzad ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani troops shot out the tyres of a vehicle carrying a kidnapped U.S.-Canadian couple and their children in a raid that led to the family s release after five years of being held hostage, a Pakistani security official said on Friday. U.S. drones were hovering near the northwestern Pakistani area where American Caitlan Coleman, her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle and their three children, all born in captivity, were freed, another security official said. Coleman and Boyle were held by the Taliban-linked Haqqani network after being kidnapped while backpacking in Afghanistan, and their rescue marked a rare positive note in often-fraught U.S.-Pakistan relations. The family flew out of Pakistan on Friday, according to a Pakistani airport official who saw them. It was not clear whether they were bound for Canada or the United States. A senior Pakistani security source on Friday detailed how the family were freed following a car chase in the northwestern tribal region bordering Afghanistan. He said Pakistani troops and intelligence agents, acting on a U.S. intelligence tip, zeroed in on a vehicle holding the family as they were being moved into Kurram tribal agency near the town of Kohat, some 60 km (37 miles) inside Pakistan. Agents from Pakistan s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency and soldiers attempted to intercept the vehicle, but it sped away, according to the security source. Our troops fired at the vehicle and burst its tyres, he said, declining to be identified because he is not authorised to speak openly to the media. The kidnappers managed to escape, the security official added, saying the troops wouldn t fire at the fleeing captors for fear of harming the hostages. The army recovered the hostages safely from the car. Army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor told NBC News that the vehicle s driver and another militant had escaped to a nearby refugee camp. The family s rescue has been hailed by U.S. President Donald Trump as a positive moment for U.S.-Pakistan relations, which have frayed in recent years amid Washington s assertions that Islamabad has not been doing enough to tackle Haqqani militants who are believed to be on Pakistani soil. Trump, in a statement, said the release of the hostages showed Pakistan was acquiescing to America s wishes for it to do more to provide security in the region . A second Pakistani security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said U.S. drones on Wednesday had been seen circling Kohat, suggesting U.S. co-operation included sophisticated surveillance inside Pakistan. Kohat is deep inside Pakistani territory, next to the eastern edge of Kurram agency in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province - outside the Afghan frontier zone where U.S. drones have in the past been tolerated by Pakistan. The U.S. embassy and the Pakistani military did not comment on the drone report. However, a Taliban commander in Pakistan with knowledge of the hostage family said U.S. drones flying in the area prompted their captors to move them. We took care of this family like our own family members and special guests, but after frequent flying of U.S. drones on Kurram tribal region and its adjoining areas, it was decided to move them to a safer place, said the Taliban official on condition of anonymity. They were being shifted to a safer place when captured by the Pakistani forces. Pakistani officials bristle at U.S. claims Islamabad is not doing enough to tackle Islamist militants, particularly the Haqqanis. After the release of the family, they emphasised the importance of co-operation and intelligence sharing by Washington, which has threatened to cut military aid and other punitive measures against Pakistan. Pakistan s military indicated the family were rescued shortly after entering Pakistan from Afghanistan, and a government official repeated that assertion on Friday. We have been taking on the terrorists... So we have taken action based on the intelligence that was provided by the U.S. side, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria. He added that he had no other details on the operation maybe because they were abducted in Afghanistan, they were there in Afghanistan, and that could be the reason why you have not heard much about it . However, two Taliban sources with knowledge of the family s captivity said they had been kept in Pakistan in recent years. A U.S. government source in Washington also said there was no indication the family had been in Afghanistan. The Haqqani network operates on both sides of the porous Afghan-Pakistani border but senior militants have acknowledged they moved a major base of operations to Kurram agency in the tribal areas. The United States and Afghanistan say that safe havens inside Pakistan allow the Taliban, including the Haqqani network, to plan and launch attacks against the Western-backed Afghan government and U.S. and other foreign troops that support them. The Taliban have been fighting for 16 years to re-establish their ultra-Islamist regime that was toppled in a U.S.-backed military operation over sheltering the al Qaeda terrorist network that planned the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on U.S. cities.

Puerto Rico needs restructuring to avoid cascading defaults: Treasury

NEW YORK/SAN JUAN (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury counselor Antonio Weiss said on Thursday that without a proper restructuring regime, Puerto Rico will default and litigation will intensify, as he pushed Congress to act with legislation to help the island fix its crisis. Weiss, speaking to the House Natural Resources Committee in a hearing about the island’s fiscal crisis, outlined the scale of the problems the U.S. territory faces. “As the cascading defaults and litigation unfold, there is real risk of another lost decade, this one more damaging than the last,” Weiss said. A legislative solution for Puerto Rico, battling with $70 billion debt, may be edging closer. Legislation to find a fix for the island is expected to be drawn up following two Congressional hearings on Thursday - one in front of the House Natural Resources Committee at which Weiss was the sole witness. House Speaker Paul Ryan has said he wants the Republican-led House to develop a response to Puerto Rico’s fiscal crisis during the first quarter of 2016, and Republicans plan to bring a bill addressing the crisis to the House floor by the end of March. Puerto Rico wants access to a bankruptcy-like mechanism to reduce debt - a view backed by President Barack Obama’s administration and some Congressional Democrats. But majority Republicans have not supported efforts to extend bankruptcy protection to the island, a strategy which could be detrimental to some creditors, and are keen to put Puerto Rico under strict fiscal oversight. Weiss, in questioning, said that Treasury’s restructuring proposal was not envisioning the Chapter 9 bankruptcy law U.S. states can access for their public agencies, but legislation “customized to the unique conditions that face Puerto Rico.” Weiss said his team will have to work to convince island leaders of the need for an oversight board for the island. “I think the legislature doesn’t fully understand what this oversight authority would consist of,” he said. Puerto Rico, with a 45 percent poverty rate, has been in recession for nearly a decade and is losing population to the mainland. It is suffering from a huge debt buildup and has already defaulted on some borrowings. “There is fear of the future,” said Weiss. “Puerto Ricans are leaving and are joining us on the mainland where they find access to jobs, a future for their children, better healthcare.” Weiss said that a failure to protect pension payments would “irreparably harm retirees” and add greater stress to Puerto Rico’s economy. “We are deeply concerned about the pensions in Puerto Rico,” he said. The Treasury late last year envisioned giving Puerto Rico’s pensioners stronger legal protection than holders of its constitutionally backed bonds if it went bankrupt, according to a draft of a proposed plan seen by Reuters. A separate hearing before a subcommittee of the House Committee on Financial Services focused on the impact to investors in the $3.7 trillion municipal bond market. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, said without a broad restructuring framework to include more of the debt than a Chapter 9 framework would envision, the issue would not be solved and “we will be back here again.” Legislation for Puerto Rico could potentially be written as a stand-alone law, which carries the risk of having little momentum to approve it, or attached to a bill related to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), a congressional source previously said. An FAA authorization bill which authorizes funding for the agency could come up for a vote in the House of Representatives as early as next month. However, a legislative solution may be hard to achieve given the differing views and acrimonious relationship between Republicans, which control Congress, and Democrats. Tom McClintock, a Republican of California, said instead of increasing regulation, Puerto Rico needs less red tape, less tax burden and could be turned into a “Hong Kong of the Caribbean.” However, Representative Raul Labrador of Idaho said he appreciated that Weiss was “trying to find a solution.” “We don’t agree on every one of your solutions but I can tell that the administration is acting in good faith in finding a solution to the problem,” Labrador said.

Two Florida ports cancel plans to ink pacts with Cuba

MIAMI (Reuters) - Two Florida ports have canceled plans to sign cooperation pacts with Communist-ruled Cuba after state Governor Rick Scott threatened to cancel their funding if they did business with the “Cuban dictatorship.” The news comes as Cuba watchers are looking closely for signs of how the United States’ fragile detente with Cuba will fare under President Donald Trump. Trump has threatened to scrap moves to normalize relations, one of former President Barack Obama’s signature foreign policy initiatives, if he doesn’t get “a better deal.” “Disappointed some (Florida ports) would enter into any agreement with Cuban dictatorship,” Scott wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. “I will recommend restricting state funds for ports that work with Cuba in my budget. Port authorities along the U.S. Southern coast are strong proponents of increased trade and travel with Cuba, and some have expressed interest in using Mariel, located on the northwest coast of the Caribbean island, as a transshipment hub. The Ports of Everglades and Palm Beach had been planning to sign agreements with Cuba during the visit of a Cuban trade delegation this week but said they decided to withdraw the deals. Port of Everglades spokeswoman Ellen Kennedy said this move would not impact trade with Cuba, which was conducted by tenants rather than the ports themselves. One of Port Everglades’ tenants, Crowley Maritime Corporation, has been exporting U.S.-made goods including poultry and medicine to Cuba since obtaining a license to do so from the Office of Foreign Asset Control in late 2001. On Tuesday, Crowley also imported two containers of charcoal from Cuba, the first direct legal import from Cuba to the United States in more than half a century. Kennedy said the memorandum of understanding had been designed to be a “good will gesture” to form a strong alliance with Cuban ports. Cuba and the United States have restored diplomatic ties and signed various cooperation agreements since Obama agreed with Cuban President Raul Castro in December 2014 to work to normalize relations. Obama, a Democrat, used executive orders to circumvent the longstanding U.S. trade embargo on Cuba and ease some restrictions on travel and business. The embargo can only be lifted by the U.S. Congress, which is controlled by Republicans. Trump, who can reverse Obama’s executive orders, has threatened to end the detente if Cuba does not make further political and other concessions, although he has not specified what these should be.

Dinesh D’Souza DESTROYS Leftist College Student’s “White Privilege” Argument [VIDEO]

This is a MUST watch from start to finish. There has never been a leftist who can defeat the brilliant Dinesh D Souza in a debate. He is a gift to conservatism and if we are ever going to win the war against the Left, it is in everyone s best interest to listen to what this brilliant man has to say and learn how to turn the argument back on these faux moralists. The best part of the discussion between this leftist Amherst student and Dinesh D Souza comes at the 5:40 mark and again at the 10:15 mark: History is very complicated. Let me give you an example of India, so we can look at this at the level of theory. India was invaded by the British, and earlier by the Afghans, and the Persians and the Mongols. So you have all these successive invasions. Right? Are you actually saying that you believe in a rule of social justice today, that says globally lets look at this as a global rule of justice I m gonna figure out whose ancestors did what to whom and I m going to return goods that were illicitly taken from the beginning, to the people who had it originally. Do you believe that s a viable way to organize our society? Do you believe, if I can ask you a direct question, that you are the benefit of white privilege here at Amherst? The rest is pure gold Since you are an acknowledged beneficiary of illicit white privilege. Would you be willing to step aside, voluntarily, putting your own moral mouth where your self-proclaimed virtue is, and give your seat, your seat, not my seat, I realize you may be super generous with other people s advantages and favor affirmative action so other white kids who apply to Amherst are turned away to open spaces for minorities. But I m not talking about you acting out you acting out your virtue on them. I m talking about you acting out your virtue on you. Are you willing to give up your illicit seat, that you don t deserve here at Amherst to make room for a disadvantaged minority? Yes or no?

Austria will stay pro-European, election victor tells Brussels

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Austria s likely next chancellor assured European Union leaders on Thursday of his support for the EU, allaying concerns that his country would become a dissonant voice in the bloc with the far right expected to enter its government. Sebastian Kurz of the mainstream conservative OVP party won a parliamentary election on Sunday after campaigning on an anti-immigration platform, and a coalition with the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) is widely anticipated. Arriving at a meeting of conservative EU leaders, the 31-year-old Kurz said he would speak to all parties in the Austrian parliament before deciding on a governing partner. Any government I form will be a pro-European one, Kurz, who has been the Alpine republic s foreign minister since 2013, told reporters. I m not just glad we have this European Union, but I also see it as the responsibility of my younger generation to actively engage and shape the EU in a positive way. Kurz, who will not represent Austria at regular EU summits until he forms a government, also met European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker. Tusk, a former Polish prime minister, hailed Kurz on Twitter as a truly pro-European winner of the Austrian elections . Austria became a member of the European Union in 1995 after a two-thirds majority voted to join the bloc. Recent opinion polls show three-quarters of Austrians want the affluent country to remain a member of the EU. The FPO, which won over a quarter of Austria s vote to the conservatives nearly 32 percent, gained from public unease over a large influx of mostly Muslim migrants into Europe in 2015. Once anti-EU, the FPO now professes to be pro-Europe but wants Brussels to hand back more powers to member states.

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un declares junk food a human rights issue says countries failing to meet globally agreed upon nutrition targets published mins ago united nations ap a un expert says junk food is a human rights concern hilal elver the uns special representative on the right to food said tuesday the rise of industrial food production combined with trade liberalization has allowed large corporations to flood the global market with cheap nutrientpoor foods that force poor people to choose between economic viability and nutrition effectively violating their right to adequate food within the human rights framework states are obliged to ensure effective measures to regulate the food industry ensure that nutrition policymaking spaces are free from private sector influence and implement comprehensive policies that combat malnutrition in all its forms she said

Brexit drives Belgium to set up English-language commerce court

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgium will set up an English-language commercial court to deal with disputes between international companies to make the most of Britain s plan to leave the European Union. The Brussels International Business Court (BIBC) will seek to take on cases that are so far handled by British courts or international arbitration tribunals, the Belgian government said on Friday. Cases in Belgium s regular courts are heard in French or Dutch. The government said the demand for arbitration was likely to grow because of Brexit. The same Brexit means moreover that going to a court in London might not be an appropriate option, it said, without giving a date for the start of the English-language hearings. BIBC will be presided over by sector specialists and parties will have to agree in advance to let the court settle their differences. They will not be able to appeal against the decisions. The development of the European Union cannot be slowed down by Brexit. Our country uses this opportunity to offer a new judicial instrument, Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said in a statement. Some companies, such as Lloyd s of London, the world s largest specialty insurance market, have already picked Brussels as their European base in order to retain access to the EU market after Britain leaves the bloc in 2019.

U.S. lawmakers ask Wells about taking back bonuses linked to scam case

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Five Democratic U.S. Senators have asked Wells Fargo if it plans to take back bonuses and other compensation to executives linked to the 2 million phony bank accounts that employees created to meet sales quotas. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other regulators announced last week that they had reached a $185 million settlement with the bank over the scam. “...We write to ask whether the Board of Directors will invoke Wells Fargo’s clawback authority to recover any of the compensation the company has provided to its senior executives, including Carrie Tolstedt, the former senior executive vice president of community banking,” they wrote in a letter dated Thursday and released on Friday. The five - Massachusetts’ Elizabeth Warren, Ohio’s Sherrod Brown, Rhode Island’s Jack Reed, New Jersey’s Robert Menendez, and Oregon’s Jeff Merkley - said Wells Fargo has cause to claw back money under a policy it instituted after the 2007-09 financial crisis. “These clawback provisions are designed to prevent exactly what happened with Ms. Toldstedt: Shareholders and consumers bearing the burden of bank misconduct while senior executives walk away with multimillion-dollar awards based on what the company later finds out are fraudulent practices,” they wrote. Toldstedt led the bank division running the incentive program that pushed the employees to create fake accounts under real customers’ names, often hurting those customers’ credit scores, and received more than $20 million in annual bonuses between 2010 and 2015, they wrote. Wells CEO John Stumpf will testify on Tuesday before the Banking Committee, where Brown is the most senior Democrat.

Puigdemont, other sacked Catalan leaders in Brussels: media

MADRID (Reuters) - The former head of Catalonia and other sacked members of the region s government are in Brussels, where they will make a declaration on Monday afternoon, newspaper La Vanguardia said. Other Barcelona-based paper El Periodico had earlier said Puigdemont was in the Belgian capital, without giving any further detail.

Trump PANICKING As Father Of Slain SEAL Demands Investigation Into His Botched Yemen Raid

Donald Trump s botched Yemen raid left 30 civilians including an 8-year-old American girl and other women and children dead, as well as a Navy SEAL. Trump has been largely silent about the death of William Ryan Owens, and with good reason: it was his negligence that caused it.An 11-year-old child was the first to be struck by a bullet after he heard a commotion outside. Many more children as young as three months old would lose their lives in the bloodbath that was Trump s first military operation. Trump, in his haste to approve the operation over dinner without adequate intelligence, ground support or adequate backup preparations according to military officials, failed to kill his primary target. All that we have to show from the botched mission are a few training videos the Trump administration touted as evidence of their success. The videos have been available on YouTube for a decade.The mission was so poorly-executed that Yemen withdrew permission for the United States to conduct anti-terrorism ground operations within its borders because Trump can not be trusted.And for what was effectively an attempt for The Donald to boost his fragile ego, Owens lost his life.Since the failed mission, the Trump administration has been using the slain SEAL to silence detractors, indicating that any opposition to the failed operation was somehow an assault on Owens himself and his father has spoken out to tell Trump where he can stick that line of rhetoric. Don t hide behind my son s death to prevent an investigation. I want an investigation. The government owes my son an investigation. The elder Owens says that when he heard Trump was coming to pay respects to his son a clear attempt to politicize the death his terrible decision making caused he was not pleased. The Miami Herald reports: I told them I didn t want to make a scene about it, but my conscience wouldn t let me talk to him, Owens said Friday, speaking out for the first time in an interview with the Miami Herald.Owens, also a military veteran, was troubled by Trump s harsh treatment of a Gold Star family during his presidential campaign. Now Owens was a Gold Star parent, and he said he had deep reservations about the way the decision was made to launch what would be his son s last mission.Ryan and as many as 29 civilians were killed Jan. 28 in the anti-terrorism mission in Yemen. What was intended as a lightning raid to grab cellphones, laptops and other information about terrorists turned into a nearly hour-long firefight in which everything went wrong, according to U.S. military officials who spoke to the New York Times.Bill Owens said he was assured that his son, who was shot, was killed early in the fight. It was the first military counter-terrorist operation approved by the new president, who signed the go-ahead Jan. 26 six days into his term. Why at this time did there have to be this stupid mission when it wasn t even barely a week into his administration? Why? For two years prior, there were no boots on the ground in Yemen everything was missiles and drones because there was not a target worth one American life. Now, all of a sudden we had to make this grand display? I d like some answers about all the things that happened in the timeline that led up to it. I know what the timeline is, and it bothers me a lot, Owens says. One aspect in particular is that Donald Trump signed his Muslim ban the day before the raid. As Yemen was one of the affected countries, he wonders if it may have affected friendly forces who were assisting with the raid: It just doesn t make any sense to do something to antagonize an ally when you re going to conduct a mission in that country. Did we alienate some of the people working with them, translators or support people. Maybe they decided to release information to jeopardize the mission. Owens says he has no political agenda; he just wants the truth as do the rest of us.Featured image via screengrab

former ambassador andrew young calls for end to water fluoridation civil rights issue

by ulson gunnar militants led by designated terrorist organisation jabhat al nusra now obliquely referred to by the western media as jabhat fateh alsham has

Ex-U.S. Attorney Bharara takes aim at Trump with criticism and jokes

(Reuters) - Former Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara took several shots at the administration of President Donald Trump on Thursday, calling for “facts not falsehoods” as the basis for political discourse and a more welcoming stance towards immigrants in his first public speaking event since being fired one month ago. Bharara sprinkled the hour-long speech with humor, including a joke about the size of the crowd clearly aimed at Trump. But Bharara also made a series of thinly veiled criticisms of the new administration, referring multiple times to Trump’s campaign pledge to “drain the swamp” in Washington. “You don’t drain a swamp with a slogan. You don’t drain it by replacing one set of partisans with another. You don’t replace muck with muck,” Bharara, 48, said at the Cooper Union in New York. “To drain a swamp you need an army corps of engineers, experts schooled in service and serious purpose. Not do-nothing, say-anything, neophyte opportunists who know a lot about how to bully and bluster but not so much about truth, justice and fairness.” Bharara was fired by Trump on March 11 after refusing to step down. While he was among 46 U.S. attorneys told to submit their resignations, his dismissal was a surprise because Trump had asked him in November to stay in the job. Bharara has said it was not made clear to him at first whether or not he was being dismissed. He joked about that initial confusion with a reference to Trump’s TV reality show in which he regularly fired people on the spot. “I don’t really understand why this was such a big deal, especially to this White House. I had thought that was what Donald Trump was good at,” Bharara said. As the chief federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York, Bharara oversaw several notable corruption and white-collar criminal cases, as well as cases involving national security. He said he was equally proud of the less high-profile work his office did to combat gangs and consumer fraud. Bharara said he expected his successor to carry on with the office’s reputation for independence. He did not comment on who his possible successor. As for his own future, Bharara ruled out running for public office. “I don’t have any plans to enter politics just like I have no plans to join the circus. And I mean no offence to the circus.”

Trump Meets Anti-Vaccination Nuts And Expresses Support For Their Dangerous Movement

On top of all the problems this country faces under a Donald Trump administration, anti-vaxxers are hoping he ll make widespread disease great again.Anti-vaccination advocates literally believe that vaccines are harmful to children despite an avalanche of scientific research and the fact that we have nearly eradicated many viruses that used to kill thousands of people as proof to the contrary.Leading anti-vaxxer Andrew Wakefield, the moron who made parents panic by claiming to link vaccines to autism, got to meet with Trump to spew the same fraudulent claims that cost him his medical license. For the first time in a long time, I feel very positive about this, because Donald Trump is not beholden to the pharmaceutical industry, Wakefield said. He didn t rely upon [drug makers] to get him elected. And he s a man who seems to speak his mind and act accordingly. So we shall see. Now Americans have to fear a world where anyone around them could be carrying a disease that could have been easily prevented by a harmless vaccine because Trump is listening to a crackpot.Thus far, the anti-vaxxer movement has caused outbreaks of whooping cough, rubella, and measles, just to name a few. Measles had been declared eradicated in 2000, but after many parents had a collective freak-out they stopped vaccinating their damn kids and opened the door for measles and other diseases to return. Measles kicked that door down in 2015 when the disease struck many who were unvaccinated after a visitor from another country carried it and spread it to others at Disneyland.At the height of the outbreak, Fox medical expert Dr. Marc Siegel blasted anti-vaxxers and defended vaccines as necessary for the public health. Let me be clear on this, I see no debate whatsoever, Siegel said. Period. This is the greatest vaccine that has ever been created in the history of vaccines. You know we stamped out measles in the United States in 2000. It was incredible because measles is the most contagious virus known to man. If you had measles there would be a 90 percent chance that I would get it by sitting next to you if I weren t vaccinated. It s so much more contagious than the flu. We were talking about Ebola, this is a million times more contagious than Ebola! Your celebrities did not go to medical school! In California, there s 13,000 parents that are taking a personal belief exemption, allowing their kids to go to school without that second MMR vaccine. You need one after you re 1 year old, and then you need one again before you re 5 or 6 years old. I think these parents are putting children at risk in schools. I think schools should consider not allowing these kids in. Make them be homeschooled if they don t have this vaccine. Why should my child be a risk because your child isn t vaccinated? Later that year, the first American in over a decade died after contracting measles.And if Donald Trump aids anti-vaxxers by changing federal policy, he will become a direct threat to the public health as it becomes more likely that diseases once considered eradicated in this country thanks to vaccines return with a deadly vengeance all because we let a bunch of stupid people who reject science influence policy.Featured Image: MNN

OUCH! $15 MINIMUM WAGE ACTIVIST Interviewed By Cavuto Just Doesn’t Get The Truth [Video]

We deserve $15 Ummm, you don t get to decide that Naquasia Legrand, a leader of the $15 minimum wage movement, went on with Neil Cavuto today to defend the outrageous $15 minimum wage.

Putin, Trump agree to defeat IS in Syria: Kremlin

DANANG, Vietnam (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, in a joint statement on Syria, agreed to continue joint efforts on fighting Islamic State until it is defeated, the Kremlin said on Saturday. The two leaders also confirmed their commitment to Syria s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and called on all parties to the Syrian conflict to take an active part in the Geneva political process. Moscow and Washington agree there is no military solution to the conflict, according to the text of the joint statement published on the Kremlin s website.

Trump Campaign CEO Didn’t Want His Kids In School With A Bunch Of ‘Whiny’ Jews

The court records from the divorce of Trump s new campaign CEO have proved to be a treasure trove of information about the man hired to save the Republican nominee s trainwreck of a campaign. The latest insight revealed in these documents is that Stephen Bannon has deeply anti-Semitic tendencies. Shocking, I know. (Insert eye roll here.)According to court documents, the former Breitbart bigwig was worried about sending his twin daughters to the Archer School for Girls because of the number of Jewish students who were enrolled. A statement signed by his ex-wife in 2007 said that Bannon was concerned about the impact Jewish classmates would have on his children. The biggest problem he had with Archer is the number of Jews that attend, read her statement. He said that he doesn t like the way they raise their kids to be whiny brats and that he didn t want the girls going to school with Jews. When they looked into at least one other private school they were considering sending their daughters to, his ex-wife said that Bannon asked about the number of Jewish students attending.Naturally, Bannon is denying these claims. Spokeswoman Alexandra Preate said that Bannon never made any of these statements and added that his girls did end up attending Archer. Mr. Bannon said he never said anything like that and proudly sent the girls to Archer for their middle school and high school education, Preate said.This is the second damning revelation to come from his divorce proceedings this week. Accusations of domestic abuse came to light on Thursday. According to court documents, his wife claimed that he was a sadistic wife-beater who had grabbed her by the throat and arm during a domestic dispute on New Year s Day in 1996. Police came and photographed her injuries, but Bannon was able to avoid consequences by scaring his victim into leaving town so she would miss the court date.Remember folks, Trump only hires the best people.Featured image via Kirk Irwin/Getty Images for SiriusXM

Michelle Obama: Research Proves We Can Lift Economy By Educating Girls

During her time in the White House, First Lady Michelle Obama has championed so many important causes many of them geared toward helping children and women around the world.One of these crucial initiatives, launched last year, was Let Girls Learn an effort to educate teenage girls. This effort was backed by studies that showed that when women and girls are educated, a nation s economy rises. In an interview with a U.S. Agency for International Development publication, Michelle said: Studies from the World Bank show that one extra year of secondary school can increase a girl s future income by 15 to 25 percent. And we know that when girls are educated, they are less likely to contract HIV, more likely to delay childbearing and vaccinate their children, and have lower maternal and infant mortality rates. Research even shows that sending more girls to school can boost an entire country s GDP. The link between the education of girls and a nation s GDP has been made before and thanks to an analysis by Politifact, we now know that there s a lot of truth to that statement.According to research, when there are more girls in school, there is a higher gross domestic product although there is some uncertainty if it s a stronger economy that results in more girls being educated, or if having more girls in school leads to the rise of a nation s economy. One policy report from the World Bank said: By effectively educating more women that is, providing more women with a high-quality education more will enter the labor market, and the economy will show the favorable results. Although educating girls has been shown to improve the economy, this doesn t account for any obstacles women might encounter even if they are educated. Sexism and gender inequality can still have an impact on the economy even as efforts are made to put more girls in school and give them more resources and opportunities. According to a 2009 article in the journal Feminist Economics, the economic benefit will be lost if companies refuse to hire educated girls.However, the gains of educating girls are far more than any roadblocks they may encounter. Education allows girls to make informed decisions about their lives and allows them to contribute to and help improve society. Michelle was dead on when she said: We need to get these girls into school, because we know that education is the single-most important stepping stone to power, to freedom, and to equality. Featured image via Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images

Turkey's Erdogan, U.S. Trump discuss Syria, bilateral ties and Sochi summit: Turkish sources

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and U.S. President Donald Trump discussed recent developments in Syria, bilateral ties and a summit in Russia s Sochi during a phone call on Friday, sources in Erdogan s office said. At a summit in the southern Russian city of Sochi on Wednesday, Russia s Vladimir Putin won the backing of Turkey and Iran to host a Syrian peace congress, taking the central role in a major diplomatic push to finally end a civil war all but won by Moscow s ally, President Bashar al-Assad. A written statement from Erdogan s office will be released later on Friday, sources said.

Macau opposition gains in election after deadly typhoon

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Macau s mostly pro-democracy opposition made slight gains in legislative elections, as critics saw signs of public dissatisfaction with the pro-Beijing government after a deadly typhoon battered the Asian gambling hub a month ago. Results of Sunday s vote announced on Monday showed the opposition camp won five seats in the 33-seat legislative assembly, one more than at the last election four years ago, according to local media reports. Macau s political landscape has long been dominated by pro-establishment, pro-Beijing and casino industry interests, and critics viewed any improvement by the opposition as an achievement. Only 14 of the legislative seats were directly elected, a far lower proportion than in neighboring Hong Kong, also a China-ruled former colony, that has pushed much harder and wrested greater democratic freedoms than Macau, which returned from Portuguese to Chinese rule in 1999. Twelve other seats are indirectly elected in smaller constituencies, while another seven are appointed by Macau s Beijing-backed leader, Fernando Chui, making chances of opposition ever gaining a majority all but impossible. Among the winners was 26-year-old pro-democracy activist and outspoken government critic, Sulu Sou, who becomes the youngest ever Macau lawmaker. Sou was one of the young leaders that helped spearhead one of Macau s largest anti-government protests three years ago, when around 20,000 people rallied against a bill offering a generous compensation package to outgoing officials. Macau s leader, Chui, later withdrew it. In the past four years, people in Macau went through different battles, large and small, Sou wrote on his Facebook page after his victory. Today, people in Macau are using their votes to express their determination for change. Sou couldn t be immediately reached by Reuters for comment. Unlike neighboring Hong Kong, large-scale protests are rare and grassroot dissent is relatively muted in Macau, a former Portuguese colony which returned to Chinese rule in 1999 under a one country, two systems arrangement. The election took place less than a month after Typhoon Hato wrought havoc in Macau, killing ten people. The government s failure to warn people of the devastating storm, a lack of preparedness, along with widespread and protracted cuts to power and water supplies drew public anger and exposed Macau s inadequate infrastructure. While the opposition s gain was marginal, critics said the high 57 percent turnout rate and Sou s win should be a wake-up call for the government. It s an ideal result ... The people came out in greater numbers to support the opposition, Au Kam-sang, a veteran pro-democracy lawmaker who was re-elected, told Reuters. It reflects the incompetence of the Macau government and the aftermath of typhoon Hato, Au added. (This story corrects second paragraph to say previous election was four years ago, not five)

Elizabeth Warren HUMILIATES Trump For His Sexist Late Night Temper Tantrum

Senator Elizabeth Warren just responded to Donald Trump s 3am temper tantrum by dropping the hammer on him.Early Friday morning, the Republican nominee threw a hissy fit on Twitter about Hillary Clinton and Alicia Machado instead of simply apologizing for his sexism and moving on. The results were more insults against the two women and a claim that his tweets prove he is ready to take the 3am phone call as president.Wow, Crooked Hillary was duped and used by my worst Miss U. Hillary floated her as an angel without checking her past, which is terrible! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2016Using Alicia M in the debate as a paragon of virtue just shows that Crooked Hillary suffers from BAD JUDGEMENT! Hillary was set up by a con. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2016Did Crooked Hillary help disgusting (check out sex tape and past) Alicia M become a U.S. citizen so she could use her in the debate? Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2016For those few people knocking me for tweeting at three o clock in the morning, at least you know I will be there, awake, to answer the call! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2016Well, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren is no stranger when it comes to kicking Trump s ass on Twitter so when she fired back on Friday afternoon she went for the jugular.Is this what keeps you up at night, @realDonaldTrump? Thinking of new & interesting ways to call women fat or ugly or sluts? Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) September 30, 2016You never tweet at 3am with ways to help students getting crushed by debt or seniors struggling on Social Security, @realDonaldTrump. Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) September 30, 2016You never tweet at 3am with ways to create new jobs for workers or hold Wall Street accountable, @realDonaldTrump. Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) September 30, 2016Nope, @realDonaldTrump: the only things that keep your mind racing at night are your next racist, sexist tweets & disgusting lies. Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) September 30, 2016A thin-skinned bully who thinks humiliating women at 3am qualifies him to be President does not understand America & is not fit to lead. Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) September 30, 2016Once again, Warren wins the Internet by a devastating knock-out.Featured Image: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Maine governor's outburst tests limits of anger politics

(Editor’s note: This story contains language that may offend readers in the fourth paragraph) By Scott Malone BOSTON (Reuters) - Years before Donald Trump dominated the news cycle with his style of angry politics, Maine Governor Paul LePage made headlines with a similarly brash approach. Since he was elected in 2010, the Republican has told critics of his decision to skip a civil rights breakfast to “kiss my butt” and accused a Democratic rival of forcing budget measures on taxpayers “without Vaseline.” But when LePage, the second U.S. governor to endorse Trump, recently left an obscenity-laced voicemail message for a lawmaker who he believed had called him a racist, he put his career in jeopardy. LePage’s widely circulated verbal attack, in which he called Democratic State Representative Drew Gattine a “little son-of-a-bitch, socialist cocksucker,” sparked the most intense firestorm of criticism the second-term governor has seen. Even legislative leaders from his own party called him into a closed-door meeting to discuss his future. The reaction shows that not all politicians can get away with the kind of bellicose approach that helped Trump wipe out his primary rivals and win the support of angry voters who feel U.S. politicians do not care about their problems. “Trump is a master of media and LePage is not. They are very different at the end of the day,” said Michael Franz, chairman of the government and legal studies department at Maine’s Bowdoin College. “Trump says he hates the media, but he works it very well. LePage just hates it.” The governor infamously joked in 2013 that he would like to blow up the offices of the Portland Press Herald newspaper, which he felt treated him unfairly. On Wednesday, LePage told reporters he had met with Gattine and apologized, and that he had no plans to resign from office. Asked what might change about his governing style, LePage responded that he would no longer speak with reporters. “I will no longer speak to the press ever again after today,” LePage said. “I’m serious. Everything will be put in writing. I am tired of being caught, the gotcha moments.” That came a day after LePage openly discussed the idea of stepping down in a regular monthly interview with a Maine radio station. He later backed away from his comments, and paraphrasing Mark Twain, said in a Twitter post, “The reports of my political demise are greatly exaggerated.” LePage endorsed Trump’s run in February, shortly after New Jersey Governor Chris Christie did. “I was Donald Trump before Donald Trump became popular,” LePage said at the time, saying that the wealthy New York businessman and reality TV star “could be one of the greatest presidents if he sits down and puts together a good team.” Trump has also praised LePage, saying that he would offer him a role in his administration “if he were available.” Both men describe their political styles as authentic and off-the-cuff and accuse more measured rivals of being career politicians who are out of touch with the needs of average voters. LePage’s brusqueness played well in Maine until recently. He won re-election in a three-way 2014 race with the support of 48 percent of voters with a wider margin of victory than the 38 percent he garnered in his first run, also a three-way race. Neil Levesque, executive director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics said that success, coupled with Trump’s rise, could have emboldened LePage to double down on attack politics. “Almost anything goes now. You can call your opponents almost anything, you can threaten them,” Levesque said. “This is the new norm in American politics.”

Both pro and anti-Brexit lawmakers back ousting PM May: former Conservative chairman

LONDON (Reuters) - Former Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps said on Friday that both supporters and opponents of Brexit were among the 30 lawmakers who back a plot to topple British Prime Minister Theresa May. Divisions over May s future burst into the open on Friday after her conference speech was ruined by a comedian, coughing fit and even letters falling off the slogans behind her on stage. Shapps told BBC radio that there was a broad range of lawmakers urging May to step down. These are Remainers, they are Brexiteers. They would never automatically agree on a single candidate and this is not about promoting an individual, he said.

Supreme Court to hear Minnesota voter apparel law challenge

(Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Monday to hear a conservative group’s free speech challenge to a Minnesota law prohibiting voters from wearing T-shirts or other apparel adorned with overtly political messages inside polling stations. A group called the Minnesota Voters Alliance is appealing a lower court’s decision to uphold the law, which forbids political badges, buttons or other insignia inside polling places during primary or general elections. State election officials have interpreted the law as also barring campaign literature and material from groups with political views such as the conservative Tea Party movement or the liberal MoveOn.org. Violators are asked to cover up or remove offending items, but officials are instructed not to bar anyone from voting. The Minnesota Voters Alliance, a St. Paul-based group that says it seeks to expose voter fraud, and several other organizations sued in 2010 claiming state officials turned polling places into “speech-free zones,” violating the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment protection of freedom of speech. Other states including Texas, New Jersey and Delaware have regulations similar to Minnesota’s, according to court filings. The group’s executive director, Andrew Cilek, was temporarily prevented from voting for wearing a T-shirt bearing the Tea Party logo and a button that stated, “Please I.D. Me.” The button was part of a campaign opposing the state’s lack of a photo identification requirement for voting, court papers said. In rulings in 2013 and 2017, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis upheld the Minnesota restrictions, suggesting the law helps maintain “peace, order and decorum” at polling sites. The plaintiffs, represented by the Pacific Legal Foundation conservative legal group, appealed to the Supreme Court saying a total ban on political speech unrelated to candidates or ballot initiatives is overly broad. The high court has allowed states to ban campaign materials and active vote solicitation at polling places, but not all political speech, the plaintiffs said. “The Supreme Court’s decision to hear the case is a good sign for First Amendment rights,” foundation lawyer Wen Fa said in an email. A spokesman for Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon declined to comment but state officials said in legal papers the law is neutral with respect to individuals’ viewpoints. It was one of two cases the conservative-majority court took up on Monday in which conservative organizations are seeking to vindicate what they consider to be their free speech rights. The other involved a challenge to a California law regarding private facilities that counsel pregnant women against abortion.

Apparently The Speaker Of The House Is Now Taking Advice From Kanye West (TWEET)

Just when you thought Republicans couldn t get any worse, they go and endorse something Kanye West says. And not just any Republican, mind you, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI). You know, the man third in line to run the nation.Now, this ordinarily wouldn t be such a big deal, and we could just look at it as a politician trying to be cool by retweeting something a celebrity says, but this time around, the implications surrounding the quoted retweet are kind of huge.Here s the thing, Republicans love to boast that they re all about freedom and fiscal conservativism, but we all know that s a load of horse shit. The only freedom Republicans want is the freedom to screw people over. Whether it be by funneling middle class dollars to the top, or by using religion as an excuse to discriminate. No matter how you look at it, the only freedom Republicans want, is the freedom to be assholes.So, when West tweets out, What is your definition of freedom? There is no true freedom without economic freedom, and watching the person third in line to the presidency tweet it out as a good point, it really leaves most sane people scratching their heads. via TwitterFirst of all, neither Kanye West nor Paul Ryan and his Republican pals are good with money. West is currently begging for $1 billion from Mark Zuckerberg to help pay down his monstrous debt and fund his ideas, and Republicans think they can lower the deficit by bringing in less revenue and spending more or wars and defense. Both can scream about economic freedom til they pass out, but they are the last people in the world to be boasting it. Neither are good with money.Looking at this from a broader lens, though, these two may be the perfect pair after all, since they are seemingly so similar. Both are braggadocios. Both are bad with money. Both think they re shit doesn t stink. Both are extremely difficult to work with. So, maybe it s not so odd that Paul Ryan retweeted him, but rather what should be considered odd is that Paul Ryan is thought of as capable to be Speaker of the House.Hopefully this isn t the beginning of Kanye s 2020 run for the White House.Featured image: Flickr/Wikimedia

Supreme Court to hear major case on political boundaries

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Monday to decide whether the U.S. Constitution limits how far lawmakers can go to redraw voting districts to favor one political party over another in a case that could have huge consequences for American elections. The high court has been willing to invalidate state electoral maps on the grounds of racial discrimination, as it did on May 22 when it found that Republican legislators in North Carolina had drawn two electoral districts to diminish the statewide political clout of black voters. But the justices have not thrown out state electoral maps drawn simply to give one party an advantage over another. The justices will take up Wisconsin’s appeal of a lower court ruling last November that state Republican lawmakers violated the Constitution when they created state legislative districts with the partisan aim of hobbling Democrats in legislative races. The case will be one of the biggest heard by the Supreme Court during its term that begins in October. The case involves a long-standing practice known as gerrymandering, a term meaning manipulating electoral boundaries for an unfair political advantage. The lower court ruled that the Republican-led legislature’s redrawing of state legislative districts in 2011 amounted to “an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander.” A panel of three federal judges in Madison ruled 2-1 that the way the Republicans redrew the districts violated the U.S. Constitution’s guarantees of equal protection under the law and free speech by undercutting the ability of Democratic voters to turn their votes into seats in Wisconsin’s legislature. In a possible sign of deep ideological divisions among the nine justices over the issue, the court’s conservative majority granted Wisconsin’s request, despite opposition from the four liberal justices, to put on hold the lower court’s order requiring the state to redraw its electoral maps by Nov. 1. That means Wisconsin will not need to put in place a new electoral map while the justices consider the matter. A Supreme Court ruling faulting the Wisconsin redistricting plan could have far-reaching consequences for the redrawing of electoral districts due after the 2020 U.S. census. State and federal legislative district boundaries are reconfigured every decade after the census so that each one holds about same number of people, but are sometimes draw in a way that packs voters who tend to favor a particular party into certain districts so as to diminish their statewide voting power. Wisconsin Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel welcomed the justices’ decision to hear the state’s appeal and called the state’s redistricting process “entirely lawful and constitutional.” The case in the short term could affect congressional maps in about half a dozen states and legislative maps in about 10 states, before having major implications for the post-2020 redistricting, according to the New York University School of Law’s Brennan Center for Justice. “Wisconsin’s gerrymander was one of the most aggressive of the decade, locking in a large and implausibly stable majority for Republicans in what is otherwise a battleground state,” said Brennan Center redistricting expert Thomas Wolf. “It’s a symptom of politics going haywire and something that we increasingly see when one party has sole control of the redistricting process.” Justice Anthony Kennedy, a conservative who sometimes sides with the court’s liberals in major cases, could cast the decisive vote. Kennedy, writing in a 2004 case, indicated he may be open to the idea that racial gerrymanders could violate the Constitution. Though a “workable standard” defining it did not exist, he suggested one might emerge in a future case. Democrats have accused Republicans of taking improper actions at the state level to suppress the turnout of minority voters and others who tend to support Democrats and maximize the number of party members in state legislatures and the U.S. House of Representatives. Republicans call their actions lawful. Republicans control the U.S. Congress. They also have majorities in an all-time high of 69 of 99 state legislative chambers, according to the Republican State Leadership Committee. After winning control of the state legislature in 2010, Wisconsin Republicans redrew the statewide electoral map. They were able to amplify Republican voting power, gaining more seats than their percentage of the statewide vote would suggest. In 2012, Republicans received about 49 percent of the vote but won 60 of the 99 state Assembly seats. In 2014, the party garnered 52 percent of the vote and 63 Assembly seats. A dozen Wisconsin Democratic Party voters in 2015 sued state election officials, saying the redistricting divided Democratic voters in some areas and packed them in others to dilute their electoral clout and benefit Republican candidates. The lower court found that redistricting efforts are unlawful partisan gerrymandering when they seek to entrench the party in power, and have no other legitimate justification. The state argues recent election results favoring Republicans were “a reflection of Wisconsin’s natural political geography,” with Democrats concentrated in urban areas like Milwaukee and Madison.

Netanyahu asks Trump to recognize Israeli sovereignty over Golan Heights

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, territory Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war. Most of the world considers the Golan, a high plateau between northeastern Israel and southwestern Syria, to be occupied by Israel, which annexed the territory in 1981 in a move not recognized internationally. During a briefing with Israeli and foreign media after meeting Trump at the White House, Netanyahu was asked whether he had raised the Golan issue. “Yes,” he replied. Asked how the U.S. president had responded, he said: “I wouldn’t say that he was surprised by my request.” Netanyahu did not elaborate. Israel made a similar request to the Obama administration in 2015, but it was rejected, diplomats said at the time. While Israel has long coveted sovereignty in the Golan, it is unclear whether the White House would take such a step now, given that it could further complicate the Syrian conflict. If the United States were to recognize Israel’s claim, it would likely anger Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is backed by Russia and Iran in his war with Islamist militants and rebel groups. The Trump administration has talked about working more closely with Russia to end the Syrian conflict. Recognizing Israel’s sovereignty in the Golan could undermine those efforts. It could also spur Iran and its proxies in Syria, particularly the Lebanese Shi’ite militia Hezbollah, to turn more of their focus against Israel, targeting its forces stationed across the Golan Heights. Israel has warned Hezbollah, with which it fought a six-week war in 2006, against attacking its territory. It has carried out occasional air strikes in the Syrian portion of the Golan to target Hezbollah fighters, including units smuggling arms. Israel’s argument for sovereignty over the territory is based partly on the fact that Syria has splintered over the past five years of fighting, to the extent that Israel says there is no one to whom it could hand back the Golan. But with the United States and Israel looking to forge an ever-tighter relationship, it is also possible that Trump, who has shown himself to be unpredictable at times, could decide to recognize Israel’s sovereignty. As well as around 25,000 Israeli settlers in the territory, many of them working in agriculture, there are about 20,000 Druze of Syrian citizenship, many of whom have relatives living in just across the valley in Syria.

THANKS OBAMA! Half Of Students In Top 700 School Districts Are From Immigrant Households…30% Are ILLEGAL ALIENS

Barack Obama and the Democrat Party were laser focused on opening the immigrant floodgates for 8 years. They re the first ones to cry when President Trump mentions budget cuts to schools and programs for the elderly, but what about the enormous burden millions of new immigrants (mostly illegal) have put on the backs of taxpayers? The Democrats were only looking at immigrants as voters, they didn t consider how the massive influx of people on entitlement programs would affect our schools and social programs. The statistics below are stunning:Children of immigrants, many in the United States illegally, make up the bulk of students in 700 of the biggest school areas, a huge and unexpected wave that is changing education and society in America, according to a groundbreaking new report.Using Census Bureau statistics and Google Maps, the Center for Immigration Studies found that in areas including northern Virginia, New York City and Houston, children of immigrants made up to 93 percent of all students. The number of children from immigrant households in schools is now so high in some areas that it raises profound questions about assimilation, said the report provided to Secrets. What s more, immigration has added enormously to the number of public school students who are in poverty and the number who speak a foreign language. This cannot help but to create significant challenges for schools, often in areas already struggling to educate students who come from disadvantaged backgrounds, it added.Overall, 23 percent of all public school students were from an immigrant household in 2015. In 1990 it was 11 percent, and in 1980 it was 7 percent.And, said the CIS report, between one-fourth and one-third of public school students from immigrant households were the children of illegal immigrants. Report author Steven Camarota said, Of course, we must educate the children of immigrants. But, added the Center s director of research, the key question moving forward is whether it makes sense to continue to admit 1 million new legal permanent immigrants each year and tolerating illegal immigration without regard to the absorption capacity of our schools in terms of both educating students and assimilating them. On a state level, he found that California has the biggest percentage of immigrant students in public schools, 48 percent, followed by Nevada, 35 percent, New Jersey and New York at 34 percent, and Texas, 31 percent.The bulk have Mexican or El Salvadoran parents.He also found that many immigrant families are poor, which cuts the tax base schools have to tap for funds.For entire story: Washington Examiner

WIKILEAKS JULIAN ASSANGE Reveals Hillary’s Connection To ISIS And Discusses Emails That Could Put Her In Jail [VIDEO]

Afshin Rattans goes underground inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London with Julian Assange. He talks to the founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange about how his recent DNC leaks have no connection to Russia. Plus what are Hillary Clinton s connections to ISIS and Russia.

WATCH: Hillary Smacks Trump With His Own Words On The Issues In New Video Series

Donald Trump has made a lot of offensive statements over the years, and Hillary Clinton is using them against him in a series of short video clips to educate people on what their possible next president thinks. The first in a new series: a message from your potential next president on pregnancy, Clinton says to introduce the clip on Twitter.It s only an 18 second snippet. Hail to the Chief plays in the background and then Donald Trump appears to give his brief thoughts on pregnancy. Well you know, pregnancy is never it s a wonderful thing for the woman, it s a wonderful thing for the husband, it s certainly an inconvenience for business, Trump says.Here s the video via Twitter.The first in a new series: a message from your potential next president on pregnancy.https://t.co/LmUZI20JCo Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) May 27, 2016So all you women out there who manage to work and have a family, Trump wants you to know that you are an inconvenience for business. Yeah, that s probably going to piss off a lot of women. And that s the point. Hillary Clinton is laying the groundwork for the general election by releasing these short clips featuring Trump and all the stupid and offensive remarks he has made on issue after issue over the years.Trump is already the Republican nominee so if Hillary captures the Democratic nomination, she would be battling Trump for the White House and America s future.The orange-tanned businessman certainly has a steep cliff to climb when it comes to women voters.70 percent of women hold an unfavorable view of Trump. And an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows Clinton leading Trump 51 to 38 percent among female voters, a 13 point gap that is wider than President Obama s victory over Mitt Romney among women in 2012. NPR reports that if the numbers hold the gender gap would be the widest it has ever been since 1952, which makes it clear that the Republican Party is in serious trouble if they think they can win election merely by courting the votes of white old men.Hillary certainly has plenty of ammunition to fire at Trump with future videos, too. After all, we re talking about a guy who has suggested on mulitple occasions that he wants to have incestuous relations with his daughter, a guy who has openly stated that he is more interested in getting women pregnant than he is in helping to take care of the kids after they are born. I like kids, Trump once said. I mean, I won t do anything to take care of them. I ll supply funds and she ll take care of the kids. It s quotes like this that could bury Trump this November if Hillary Clinton gathers enough of them to use in short videos that will definitely appeal to those who don t have the patience to sit through an entire Trump interview or debate.Trump and and GOP should take note, because it looks like their poll numbers are about to get worse.Featured image via screenshot

Jury deadlocks over tax-evasion charges against Washington state auditor

SEATTLE (Reuters) - A jury did not convict Washington state’s auditor on money-laundering and tax-evasion charges on Tuesday in a blow to federal prosecutors who argued that the Democrat had “spun a web of lies” to avoid paying taxes and defraud thousands of homeowners. The jury in Tacoma also acquitted Troy Kelley, 51, of a single charge of making a false statement to IRS agents in April 2013 after about four days of deliberation following more than five weeks of trial. “This is the first step toward vindication for him,” Angelo Calfo, a defense attorney for Kelley, said by telephone. The criminal allegations against Kelley focus on his former document-tracking business for title companies during real estate sales and refinancing transactions in which he is accused of pocketing roughly $3 million in fees that should have been returned to borrowers from at least 2003 to 2008. A grand jury indicted Kelley, a Democrat elected in 2012, a year ago for his alleged scheme to keep stolen money and hide it from both the Internal Revenue Service and those due a refund for home purchases or mortgage refinancings. Among the charges Kelley faced was one count of possession and concealment of stolen property related to processing fees that should have been returned to borrowers. He also faced charges of failing to pay federal taxes, obstructing related IRS collections, money laundering, attempted obstruction of a civil lawsuit, and filing false income tax returns. It was not immediately clear what would happen with the remaining charges, Calfo said. Federal prosecutors could seek to re-try the case, or the judge could grant Kelley’s motion to dismiss the charges, he said. After a grand jury indicted Kelley last year, U.S. Attorney Annette Hayes said that he “spun a web of lies in an effort to avoid paying his taxes and keep more than a million dollars that he knew did not belong to him, but instead should have been returned to thousands of homeowners across this state.” Hayes said in a statement on Tuesday that her office “will thoroughly review the counts that the jury deadlocked on before making a decision about our next steps in this case.” A judge blocked a recall effort as Kelley fought the charges and he took a leave of absence to prepare his defense. Washington state Governor Jay Inslee, a fellow Democrat, has called for Kelley’s resignation.

The Exodus: The State Department’s Entire Senior Management Team Just Quit Over Trump

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson s better get busy running the State Department because the entire senior level of management officials resigned Wednesday over alleged president Donald Trump. This is only part of the ongoing mass exodus of senior foreign service officers following Trump s election.Trump s team was looking for people to fill Tillerson s Number one and two positions as well as three officials and looking to replace the State Department s undersecretary for management, Patrick Kennedy, The Washington Post reports. Kennedy held that job for nine years and hoped to keep it under Tillerson. He was actively involved in the transition.Then suddenly:Then suddenly on Wednesday afternoon, Kennedy and three of his top officials resigned unexpectedly, four State Department officials confirmed. Assistant Secretary of State for Administration Joyce Anne Barr, Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Michele Bond and Ambassador Gentry O. Smith, director of the Office of Foreign Missions, followed him out the door. All are career foreign service officers who have served under both Republican and Democratic administrations.On Jan. 20th, Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security Gregory Starr retired. On that same day, the director of the Bureau of Overseas Building Operations, Lydia Muniz, left her position. It s the single biggest simultaneous departure of institutional memory that anyone can remember, and that s incredibly difficult to replicate, David Wade, who served as State Department chief of staff under Secretary of State John Kerry, told the paper. Department expertise in security, management, administrative and consular positions in particular are very difficult to replicate and particularly difficult to find in the private sector. Since the election, several senior foreign service officers in the State Department s regional bureaus have also resigned or retired. These retirements are a big loss. They leave a void, said Wade. These are very difficult people to replace. This sort of mass exodus has never happened before. It s not a partisan issue. These officials worked under both Republican and Democratic administrations.Meanwhile, our newly minted Twitter-addicted president is busy sending out mean-girl tweets on his unsecured Android and trying to prove that he won the popular vote even though he didn t. There s a madman in the White House and senior officials with the State Department want no part of the former reality show star s presidency.Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images.

Venezuelan crisis spawns boom in gambling

CARACAS (Reuters) - The Whale , The Dog or The Zebra ? Players line up beside a small kiosk in a poor neighborhood to choose animals in a lottery game that has become a craze in Venezuela even as the oil-rich country suffers a fourth year of brutal recession. It seems more and more Venezuelans are turning to gambling in their desperation to make ends meet amid the country s unprecedented economic crisis. Though more people lose than win overall, the illusion of a payday has become more alluring as Venezuelans endure the world s highest inflation, shortages of basics from flour to car batteries, and diminished real-term wages. Among multiple options from race courses to back-street betting parlors, the roulette-style Los Animalitos (or the Little Animals) is currently by far the most popular game on the street. Most people I see playing the lottery are unemployed, trying to make a bit extra this way because the payouts are good, said Veruska Torres, 26, a nurse who recently lost her job in a pharmacy and now plays Animalitos every day. Torres often plays more than a dozen times daily at the kiosk in Catia, spending between 5,000-10,000 bolivars, but sometimes making up to 50,000 or 60,000 bolivars in winnings - more than a quarter of the monthly minimum wage. When that happens, she splits the money between buying food and diapers for her baby boy, and re-investing in the lottery. The Animalitos game, whose results appear on YouTube at scheduled times, is hugely popular because it goes through various rounds, holding people s interest, and provides more chances to win than most traditional betting options. The cheapest ticket costs just 100 bolivars - a quarter of a U.S. cent at the black market currency rate, and more than 10 times less than that at the official exchange level. It helped me a lot, said Eduardo Liendo, 63, of a timely win. He recently lost his house and lives in a car in Caracas Propatria neighborhood, but had a successful punt on the Animalitos, choosing the dog figure after his own had died. There is no hard data on betting figures, and the government s betting regulator did not answer requests from Reuters for information. But those behind Venezuela s gambling businesses, run by a mixture of private companies and local regional authorities, said trade was booming, with lines longer and busier than ever - because of, not despite, the hard times. In a crisis like the one we re going through, people drink and gamble more to escape from reality, said psychologist Rosa Garcia from the rural state of Barinas. The latest scarcity in Venezuela is cash - as authorities cannot produce enough notes to keep up with dizzying inflation - so many bars, shops and betting parlors have quickly switched from cash to electronic transactions to keep money flowing. That has hit the Caracas hippodrome, where cash is still king. But thousands still go there at weekends, pushing against fences in front of the sand track to cheer their horse on as salsa music booms in the background. (See reut.rs/2A2eOEB for a related photo essay)

Mozambique president replaces energy and foreign ministers

MAPUTO (Reuters) - Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi has sacked four ministers, including those with the foreign affairs and energy portfolios, his office said late on Tuesday, without giving a reason. Energy is a key portfolio in Mozambique, which has vast untapped offshore gas reserves that are being developed by oil majors such as Italy s Eni. Nyusi s office said Ernesto Max Elias Tonela had replaced Leticia da Silva Klemens as minister of energy and mineral resources and Jose Condugua Antonio Pacheco was the new foreign minister, replacing Oldemiro Baloi. The president also replaced the ministers of industry and trade and of agriculture and food security. Tonela, the new energy minister, previously served as commerce minister. An economist by training, Tonela has also worked previously on the board of the Hidroelectrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB) company responsible for Mozambique s 2,000 megawatt hydroelectric dam.

Trump says U.S. should toughen up fight against Islamist militants

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, reacting to attacks at Brussels airport and a metro station on Tuesday, said the United States and Western countries should toughen up in their fight against Islamist militants. “I would close up our borders,” Trump told Fox News in an interview. “We are lax and we are foolish,” said Trump, the front-runner in the race for the Republican nomination in the November election.

WHOA! BREAKING NEWS: CNN Producer Caught On Undercover Tape Admitting Trump-Russia Coverage Is BULLSH*T…”President Is Right To Say You Are ‘Witch Hunting’ Me” (VIDEO)

James O Keefe s Project Veritas reporters went undercover at CNN to investigate the #VeryFakeNews network to determine the motivation behind CNN s Trump-Russia collusion obsession. Since the inauguration, CNN has mentioned Russian story nearly 16,000 times.Project Veritas reporters can be seen in the video below having a conversation with CNN s supervising producer John Bonifield. The reporter talked to Bonifield first about the constant barrage of Trump-Russia stories on CNN. Bonifield admitted that although CNN has no evidence or proof of Trump involvement with Russia, they continue to make it their top story on CNN simply for ratings and to make money. Bonifield has worked as a journalist and as a producer for nearly 15 years at CNN, making him a pretty reliable source when it comes to how things work at CNN.Bonifield actually confessed to the undercover Project Veritas journalist that President Trump is correct when he says the media is on a witch hunt to take him down. Bonifield told the reporter: I think the President is right to say, like, look you are witch hunting me You have no real smoking gun, you have no proof. Bonifield told the undercover reporter for Project Veritas that CNN is biased and is playing to their audience by attacking President Trump, and actually admitted that Trump is good for business right now. The Project Veritas reporter asked Bonifield, But honestly, you think the whole Russia shit is bullshit? to which Bonifield replied: Could be bullshit. I mean, it s mostly bullshit right now. Like, we don t have any big, giant proof. The way these leaks happen, they d leak it. It d leak. If it was something really good, it would leak. Watch the unbelievable video here:Did the three resignations that took place at CNN today have anything to do with the impending release of O Keefe s explosive video proving that CNN manufactures Trump-Russia collusion stories for ratings, or for money?The story about the three CNN employees resigning for publishing fake news broke yesterday. Is ti a coincidence that today, O Keefe released this explosive bombshell video?Here s the story that broke yesterday: CNN employees have resigned for their role in pushing fake news about the Trump-Russia story that claimed a member of the Trump transition team was under investigation.Reporter Thomas Frank, editor Eric Lichtblau and executive editor Lex Haris all resigned from their positions following a company-wide investigation into the single-sourced story that was quickly debunked, The Washington Post first reported. CNN quickly followed up with a story of their own on the resignations. Lichtblau reportedly oversaw the false story, while Haris headed up CNN s investigative unit. In the aftermath of the retraction of a story published on CNN.com, CNN has accepted the resignations of the employees involved in the story s publication, CNN s coverage quotes a company spokesman as saying.Philly.com On Thursday evening, CNN investigative reporter Thomas Frank published a potentially explosive report involving an investigation of a Russian investment fund with potential ties to several associates of President Donald Trump.But by Friday night, the story was removed from CNN s website and all links were scrubbed from the network s social media accounts. That story did not meet CNN s editorial standards and has been retracted, CNN said in an editors note posted in place of the story. Links to the story have been disabled.

Sean Spicer Bombs Press Briefing, Fails To Defend Trump Over Comey Tapes (VIDEO)

Donald Trump continues to be the biggest pain in the a** for White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, who seems to visibly hate his job more and more each day.Earlier today, Spicer crashed and burned during his press briefing when reporters cornered him and asked him why Trump refused to release the alleged tapes and recordings of the private conversations between himself and former FBI Director James Comey. This was a hot topic, considering that Trump had just accused Comey of lying under oath last week, when Comey said Trump demanded that he drop the investigation on Michael Flynn, Trump s former National Security Adviser.When a reporter questioned Spicer about why Trump wouldn t give up the recordings if they could prove Comey had lied during his hearing, it was clear that Spicer wanted to hide behind the bushes again. Spicer stumbled over his words and said: I think the president made it clear on Friday that he would get back as soon as possible on this. Things got even more humiliating as the reporter pressed Spicer further, So what s he waiting for, what s the delay? It looked like Spicer had completely given up defending Trump or trying to come up with a more clever response. Instead, Spicer said: He s waiting for he s not waiting for anything. When he s ready to further discuss it, he will, but he laid out his position very clearly, very concisely on Friday. You can watch this very awkward press briefing below:Trump has gotten himself in such a mess with this whole Russia thing that not even his own team knows how to defend him anymore. As Spicer continues to fail Trump, the rumors of his termination have only been strengthened. After Trump sees this, Spicer s days in the White House may be numbered.Featured image via Win McNamee and Alex Wong / Getty Images

Trump STUNS Republican Voter By Straight-Up Telling Her That He WILL Deport Her Family (VIDEO)

Donald Trump has figured out that the more offensive, controversial and vulgar he is, the more conservative voters are going to love him. He s carried that tone throughout his entire campaign, and has only seemed to rise in the polls. Now, he s focusing on offending individual Republican voters to win their approval.During a Today Show town hall event on Thursday morning, undecided Republican voter Jamie Eckman asked The Donald a question that would impact many Americans: would he deport the undocumented parents of a relative that was a natural-born citizen relative? Eckman asked: My relative is a natural-born American in the military, deployed in Oman. His father and stepmother are undocumented citizens here in the undocumented people here in the United States for the last 25 years without any way of adjusting their status. If you re president, what will you do for those members that are the fabric of our country, that have been here for 25 years undocumented? Won t they be deported? Once again, Trump nailed his formula of being an absolute a**hole and despicable human being. After taking a few moments to insult his rival, Canadian-born Ted Cruz, Trump returned to the matter at hand and answered Eckman s question with something she probably didn t want to hear: Yes, your loved ones are still getting deported. Trump said: When you say natural-born citizens, that s interesting. I assume you were born here. Why do you mention that? Because you know who always says that? Ted Cruz. He was born in Canada and lived there for four years. He says, I m a natural-born citizen when, actually he was born in Canada. But, you know what? He has no path right now.. Eckman quickly clarified that she wasn t on team Cruz before Trump continued to tell Eckman she could kiss her family goodbye if he became the next President. They ve been here how many years? We re going to do something. For people that have been look, we re either going to have a country or we re not going to have a country. But many people are very fine people. and I m sure these are very, very fine people. They re going to go, and we re going to create a path where we can get them into this country legally, okay? But it has to be done legally. Taken aback that she didn t get the answer she was looking for, Eckman asked the Republican front runner, You will deport them first, right? Trump responded: They re going to go, and then come back and come back legally. We have wonderful people. It s too tough to say you ll never come back again. They re coming back, but they re coming back into our country legally. So important. And to prove just how disgusting and heartless he is, Trump added, Now that might not be the perfect answer for you, but am I going to get your vote? Eckman didn t answer.You can watch Trump break this Republican voter s heart below:Despite all of the backlash he s faced, Trump continues to cling to his racist, intolerant immigration stance. It seems that unless Eckman wants to be packing her relatives bags in November, she d better vote for Hillary Clinton. But unfortunately, because Republicans just aren t very bright, Trump might still get her vote. Featured image via screenshots

U.S. urges African nations to press North Korea over nuclear program

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged African leaders on Friday to take further actions to pressure North Korea to end its nuclear and missile programs, including downgrading diplomatic ties and expelling North Korean laborers. All nations must act to implement U.N. sanctions in full, Tillerson told a trade and security gathering with African ministers. Further, I urge you to take additional measures to pressure the DPRK by downgrading your diplomatic relationships with the regime, severing economic ties, expelling all DPRK laborers and reducing North Korea s presence in your country. The U.S. State Department said on Thursday that Sudan had committed to severing trade and military ties with North Korea.

House Speaker does not rule out amendments to debt limit bill

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan on Wednesday did not rule out attaching amendments to legislation that would increase the nation’s debt ceiling. Asked if the bill could include legislative add-ons aimed at luring lawmaker votes, Ryan told reporters at a news conference that “I’m not foreclosing any option at this time.” He added that Congress would address the issue before the United States hits its current debt ceiling limit.

Heavy squalls with tornadoes from Irma sweep south Florida: NHC

(Reuters) - Hurricane Irma was about 110 miles (175 km) southeast of Key West, Florida, and heavy squalls carrying tornadoes were sweeping across south Florida, the National Hurricane Center said on Saturday. The storm had maximum sustained winds 120 miles per hour (195 kilometers per hour). The center said the core of Irma will continue to move near the north coast of Cuba for next few hours and should be near the Florida Keys on Sunday morning.

Myanmar police to free journalists working for Turkish broadcaster

(Reuters) - Myanmar police said on Tuesday they would drop pending charges against two journalists working for Turkey s state broadcaster, their interpreter and driver, who were jailed in November for violating an aircraft law by filming with a drone. Cameraman Lau Hon Meng from Singapore, reporter Mok Choy Lin from Malaysia, Aung Naing Soe - a local journalist who was interpreting for the pair - and driver Hla Tin were detained by police on Oct. 27 near Myanmar s parliament building in the capital Naypyitaw. They are currently each serving a two-month prison sentence under a colonial-era aircraft law, but all four still face further charges for importing the drone. The two foreign nationals have also been charged with an immigration offence. Police Lieutenant Tun Tun Win and an immigration officer - the complainants - appeared in a Naypyitaw courtroom on Tuesday and asked that the court drop the charges. Tun Tun Win told Reuters higher police officials had ordered the case dropped because the four did not mean to endanger national security by flying the drone. Additionally, he said, the decision was intended to forward the relationship between countries , referring to the two journalists home countries, Singapore and Malaysia. A law officer - the government s prosecutor in the case - was expected to tell the court the charges were formally dropped in another hearing set for Thursday, defense lawyer Khin Maung Zaw told Reuters. The higher authorities already instructed to terminate with good intention, but the procedure can only be accomplished on that day (Thursday), the lawyer said. The four are set to complete their sentences under the aircraft act on Jan. 9, but may be released earlier for good behavior, he added. The case had raised concerns over freedom of the press in Myanmar, where a civilian government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi took power last year but the military retains control of security matters, including the police. Two Reuters journalists were arrested on Dec. 12 after they went to meet police officers for dinner on the outskirts of Myanmar s largest city Yangon. Wa Lone, 31, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 27, have now been in detention for two weeks with no access to visitors or to a lawyer. They had covered the crisis in western Rakhine state that has driven 655,000 stateless Rohingya Muslims across the border to Bangladesh since August. The reporters are being investigated under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act.

#DNC GIVES ANTI-HILLARY Dems Free Speech Cage Outside Convention [VIDEO]

It s just cleaner that way You know, keeping anyone who disagrees with Hillary in a caged area Shutting down free speech it s the American Democrat way

U.S. launches opioid fraud and detection unit

(Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions unveiled on Wednesday a plan to go after doctors and pharmacies suspected of healthcare fraud by over-prescribing and unbridled distribution of addictive pain medications known as opioids. In a speech at a Columbus, Ohio, police academy, Sessions said a new Opioid Fraud and Abuse Detection Unit pilot program would also study death rates of patients with opioid prescriptions. “With these new resources, we will be better positioned to identify, prosecute and convict some of the individuals contributing to these tens of thousands of deaths a year,” Sessions said in prepared remarks. He said the new program would pay for 12 assistant U.S. attorneys serving three-year terms to investigate and prosecute fraud in the prescribing of opioids. Deaths from opioids have surged in the United States. In 2015, prescription painkillers and heroin killed more than 33,000 people, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly half of those overdoses involved prescription pain medications. Sessions has made a priority of fighting drug-related crimes since taking over the U.S. Justice Department in February. It shut down AlphaBay, a dark web marketplace accused of facilitating a global trade in drugs as well as firearms and computer hacking tools.

Russian senators approve 'foreign agents' media bill: RIA

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia s upper house of parliament on Wednesday approved a bill which will allow the authorities to list foreign media operating in Russia as foreign agents , responding to U.S. restrictions on two Russian media outlets, RIA news agency reported. Last week the foreign agents law was swiftly approved by the lower chamber of the legislature. It now needs President Vladimir Putin s signature to become law. The move by the compliant parliament heavily dominated by Putin s loyalists comes after his threat this month that Russia would respond in kind to what he said were Washington s measures to restrict the freedom of speech of Russian media organizations operating on U.S. soil.

Asian viewers give nod to Clinton after first presidential debate

BEIJING/TOKYO (Reuters) - Hillary Clinton put Donald Trump on the defensive and showed a better grasp of foreign policy issues, according to a sampling of people across Asia who watched the fiery first U.S. presidential debate. In China, the debate was streamed live on China’s Twitter-like Weibo service and attracted thousands of comments despite the lack of a translation into Chinese.  Some called Trump “a loose cannon”, while others thought that as a businessman he was best qualified to lead the world’s largest economy. William Hua, a Chinese lawyer who watched the debate at an American Chamber of Commerce event in Beijing, said he thought Clinton came out on top. He was most concerned, though, about an issue that didn’t come up in the debate. “Donald Trump says Japan and South Korea can develop nuclear weapons? It seems absolutely ridiculous,” Hua said. Trump said in an interview with The New York Times in March he would consider letting Japan and South Korea build their own nuclear weapons, rather than rely on America for protection against North Korea. Opinion polls have shown the two candidates in a tight race leading up to the debate. A CNN poll of debate watchers released after the event found 62 percent felt Clinton won compared to 27 percent for Trump. In a sign investors also saw Clinton as the winner, U.S. S&P500 stock futures rose as did Asian shares. “Markets started to call the debate for Hillary within the first 15 minutes or so, with the Mexican peso surging in what is probably its busiest Asian session in years,” said Sean Callow, a senior currency analyst at Westpac in Sydney. The Mexican currency has risen and fallen in recent weeks depending on polling numbers for Trump, who has vowed to take trade protectionist measure against the United States’ southern neighbor and build a wall across the U.S. border with Mexico to prevent illegal immigration. Trump raised eyebrows among a packed crowd watching the debate at The American Club in Singapore when he lashed out against China. “Look at what China is doing to our country,” Trump said not long after the debate began. “They are devaluing their currency and we have nobody in our government to fight them ... They are using our country as a piggy bank to rebuild China, and many other countries are doing the same thing.” Landy Eng, a former employee of the California state government who’s been living in Singapore the past 20 years, said he was an undecided voter. “But Trump’s China-bashing is something I’m not particularly in favor of,” he said. Still, Eng said he does like the “disruptive” factor of Trump’s campaign and thinks it is making Clinton a better candidate. Aloysius Lee, a 65-year-old retiree from Hong Kong, who watched the debate at The Foreign Correspondents’ Club in the territory, said that Trump was too unpredictable. “Hillary is the kind of person you can do business with, at least from my point of view,” Lee said. With Trump, “you don’t know what’s going to happen next, you don’t know what he’s going to say next”. South Koreans, watching the debate on TV screens in the lobby of Seoul’s central train station, said they were with Clinton on the issues. “Trump has ideas of withdrawing U.S. forces from our country, and in terms of national security, Trump is a threatening figure,” said Lee Hyo-jin, 26. “So I support Hillary,” she said. Trump during the debate again said if U.S. allies like Japan and South Korea “don’t pay their fair share, they may have to defend themselves or help us out.” Asked about Trump’s comment, Japan’s Defence Minister Tomomi Inada told a regularly scheduled news conference on Tuesday the U.S.-Japan military alliance does not just benefit Japan “but is also in the interests of the United States.” Clinton seemed to have the better temperament during the debate, according to some Asian viewers. Li Jiaoli, 21, an editing intern from China’s southwestern province of Sichuan, said Clinton seemed more presidential while Trump’s expressions made her laugh. “Trump’s responses were too aggressive. High-level politicians should have more self-control,” Li said. The debate prompted a storm of tweets around the region, many of them commenting on the optics of the debate. “Trump is looking worked up and angry and sulky and shouty -She looks utterly in control by contrast,” said Barkha Dutt, news anchor on India’s NDTV in a tweet. “She ignores his barbs & attacks; he gets baited by every one of hers.” Mel Fryer, 30, a waitress at the Mercantile Hotel in Sydney’s historic Rocks district said she was “terrified” at the prospect of a Trump presidency, while the debate screened to an empty pub. “But he’s going ok,” she said of his debate performance. “He uses simple words and simple phrases and gets his point across.”

Trump Insulted German Leader On First Visit, Gave Her A ‘Bill’ For NATO (DETAILS)

The fact that German Chancellor Angela Merkel is no fan of Donald Trump is no secret. However, being the diplomatic, experienced world leader that she is, Chancellor Merkel took the time she was forced to spend at the White House with Trump in stride. She smiled at the cameras at all the right times, held a joint presser with him, and was cordial to all, as real world leaders do. This all comes as Trump insulted Merkel more than once during the visit. We all know that he infamously embarrassed our nation by petulantly refusing to shake the Chancellor s hand, and now, there is a new report out that Trump actually gave Merkel an invoice for expenses that he believes Germany owes for defenses provided by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).According to The Hill via a report from The Times of London, Trump s insane bill charges Merkel roughly 300 billion pounds. A response from a German minister on Trump s childish stunt was predictably and deservedly scathing, essentially saying that Merkel has no intentions of stooping to Trump s level: The concept behind putting out such demands is to intimidate the other side, but the chancellor took it calmly and will not respond to such provocations. The same minister said that Merkel, quote, ignored the provocations. Of course, the White House says that Trump never gave Merkel the invoice, but that s likely just another lie to cover up for Trump s petulant, childish, and internationally embarrassing behavior.In fact, it is perfectly plausible that Trump gave Merkel this invoice, because he had already had aides calculate just how much below 2 percent of Germany s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was spent on NATO defense in the last 12 years. Countries within NATO all commit to spending 2 percent of their GDP annually to support NATO. Trump even had the people doing the calculations add interest.This is just beyond embarrassing. Here is another ally we are on the rocks with, all because we have a president who acts like a whiny school yard bully instead of leader of the free world.Featured image Cheriss May/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Democrats in disarray on eve of convention to nominate Clinton

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - The head of the Democratic Party resigned on Sunday amid a furor over embarrassing leaked emails, hoping to head off a growing rebellion by Bernie Sanders supporters on the eve of the convention to nominate Hillary Clinton for the White House. Lingering bitterness from the heated primary campaign between Clinton and Sanders erupted after more than 19,000 Democratic National Committee emails, leaked on Friday, confirmed Sanders’ frequent charge that the party played favorites in the race. In a statement, DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said the best way for the party to accomplish its goal of putting Clinton in the White House was for her to step aside after the convention. Sanders had demanded earlier in the day that Wasserman Schultz resign. The furor was a blow to a party keen on projecting stability in contrast to the volatility of Republican candidate Donald Trump, who was formally nominated at a raucous convention in Cleveland last week. It also overshadowed preparations in Philadelphia for Clinton’s coronation as the nominee to face Trump in the Nov. 8 presidential election. She will be the first woman nominated for president by a major U.S. political party. The four-day Democratic convention will open on Monday. In some good news for Clinton, The New York Times reported that businessman and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will endorse her in a prime-time speech on Monday, saying she will be the best choice for moderate voters in 2016. The cache of emails leaked on Friday by the WikiLeaks website disclosed that DNC officials explored ways to undermine Sanders’ insurgent presidential campaign, including raising questions about whether Sanders, who is Jewish, was really an atheist. Sanders said Wasserman Schultz, a U.S. representative from Florida, had made the right decision for the future of the Democratic Party. “The party leadership must also always remain impartial in the presidential nominating process, something which did not occur in the 2016 race,” he said. The Clinton camp questioned whether Russians may have had a hand in the hack attack on the party’s emails and were interested in helping Trump, who has exchanged words of praise with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “What’s disturbing to us is that experts are telling us that Russian state actors broke into the DNC, stole these emails and other experts are now saying that Russians are releasing these emails for the purpose of helping Donald Trump,” Clinton campaign chairman Robby Mook said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort said the Clinton camp was trying to distract from its party discord ahead of the convention. “What’s in those emails show that it was a clearly rigged system, that Bernie Sanders ... never had a chance,” Manafort said on ABC. Clinton, 68, a former secretary of state, and Sanders, 74, an independent U.S. senator from Vermont who ran for president as a Democrat, waged a bruising months-long battle for the nomination. Branding himself a democratic socialist, Sanders galvanized young and liberal voters with his calls to rein in Wall Street and eradicate income inequality. But Sanders repeatedly voiced frustration with a DNC and party establishment he felt was stacked against him, and the resentment from Sanders and his supporters threatened to disrupt the convention. “I’m not shocked but I’m disappointed,” Sanders said of the emails earlier on Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” The emails showed DNC officials pondering various ways to undercut Sanders. Brad Marshall, the DNC’s chief financial officer, apologized on Facebook on Saturday for an email in which he discussed how some voters in upcoming nominating contests in Kentucky and West Virginia would reject an atheist. “He had skated on saying he has a Jewish heritage,” Marshall wrote in a May 5 email to three top DNC officials. No names were mentioned, but Sanders was the only Jewish candidate. “I think I read he is an atheist. This could make several points difference with my peeps. My Southern Baptist peeps would draw a big difference between a Jew and an atheist.” Clinton told CBS’s “60 Minutes” in an interview that aired on Sunday that she had not read any of the emails but it was “wrong and unacceptable” to bring religion into the political process. The emails angered many Sanders supporters who were already dismayed by Clinton’s choice on Friday of low-key U.S. Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia as her vice presidential running mate. Kaine, 58, who could appeal to independents and moderates, has never been aligned with party liberals. Sanders, who has endorsed Clinton and will speak on her behalf to the convention on Monday, said he would have preferred she pick U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, a favorite of the party’s liberal wing, as her No. 2. “I have known Tim Kaine for a number of years. ... Tim is a very, very smart guy. He is a very nice guy,” Sanders said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “He is more conservative than I am. Would I have preferred to see somebody like an Elizabeth Warren selected by Secretary Clinton? Yes, I would have,” he said. Carrying pitchforks meant to portray Clinton as the devil, hundreds of Sanders supporters took to the streets of Philadelphia earlier on Sunday to say they felt betrayed by the DNC. “It just validated everything we thought, everything we believed to be true, that this was completely rigged right from the beginning, and that you know it was really about what they were doing everything to set it up so she would win,” Sanders supporter Gwen Sperling said. DNC Vice Chairwoman Donna Brazile will serve as interim chair through the election, the DNC said on Twitter.

Strikes kill 19 in rebel village in Syria's Idlib: Observatory, rescue service

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Air strikes killed 19 people in a village in Syria s rebel stronghold of Idlib overnight, a rescue service there and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Wednesday. The strikes pounded Maar Shureen in the northwestern Idlib province and injured 25 other people, the Britain-based Observatory said. The dead included seven children, it said. The war monitoring group added that Syrian government or Russian aircraft had struck the village. Russia s Defence Ministry denied involvement, saying in a statement carried by RIA news agency that its jets had not flown in that area. There was no immediate comment from the Syrian military, which says it only targets militants. Idlib s civil defense, a rescue service known as the White Helmets which operates in rebel territory, said on social media that fierce bombing killed 19 people overnight. There were two consecutive strikes...The second strike came shortly before rescue teams arrived, Mustafa Youssef, who heads the Idlib civil defense, said. The Damascus government lost Idlib after insurgents took over the provincial capital in 2015. It has since become the only province fully under opposition control, and the most populated insurgent-held part of Syria. Hayat Tahrir al Sham, the Islamist alliance spearheaded by the former al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria, is the dominant rebel force in Idlib. This has raised fears among some civilians and other rebel factions that the province could come under attack and turn into a major battlefield. Thousands of civilians and fighters have poured into Idlib in the past year, bussed out of towns and cities which Syrian troops seized with the help of Russia and Iran-backed militias. Government forces and their allies stepped up air strikes against opposition towns in the Hama countryside and the southern part of Idlib, rebels said last week. The province, bordering Turkey, is part of Russian-brokered de-escalation agreements that seek to shore up ceasefires in parts of western Syria. Turkey, which had long backed some Syrian rebel factions, set up observation posts in Idlib in October under a deal with Russia and Iran to reduce fighting there. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said the military operation in Idlib was largely completed. The deployment was also seen partly aimed at containing Kurdish influence nearby in northern Syria.

Iraqi PM Abadi insists outcome of Kurdish independence referendum be canceled

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq s prime minister insisted on Thursday that the Kurdish independence referendum be declared void, an apparent rejection of the Kurdistan region s offer to freeze its independence push as part of efforts to resolve the crisis through talks. We won t accept anything but its cancellation and the respect of the Constitution, Haider al-Abadi said in a statement . The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) proposed on Wednesday an immediate ceasefire, a suspension of the referendum result and starting an open dialogue with the federal government based on the Iraqi Constitution . Baghdad has always considered the Kurdish secession referendum illegal. It responded last week by seizing back the city of Kirkuk, the oil-producing areas around it and other territory that the Kurds had captured from militant group Islamic State. Abadi has ordered his army to recapture all disputed territory and has demanded central control of Iraq s border crossings with Turkey, at Fish-Khabur, located inside the Kurdish autonomous region. Fish-Khabur is strategically vital because oil from both Kurdish and government-held parts of northern Iraq crosses via a pipeline there into Turkey, the main route out of the area for the exports that are crucial to any Kurdish independence bid. The fighting between the central government and the Kurds is particularly tricky for the United States which is a close ally of both sides, arming and training both the Kurds and the central government s army to fight Islamic State.

Merkel, Macron pledge to lead EU forward post-Brexit

TALLINN (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron won backing from Angela Merkel for plans to reform the European Union after Brexit, founded on what the German chancellor called intense cooperation between Paris and Berlin. But many leaders remained wary of ambitious new projects, doubting the appetite of voters for giving up national control and fearing the continued strength of anti-EU sentiment that is taking Britain out of the bloc and saw the far-right win dozens of seats in the German parliament in Sunday s election. Last night s discussions showed there s a common realization of a need for a leap forward in Europe, Macron told reporters on Friday after an EU summit dinner that stretched beyond midnight in the Estonian capital Tallinn. Today we re all convinced Europe must move ahead faster and stronger, for more sovereignty, more unity and more democracy. Macron voiced satisfaction with summit chair Donald Tusk s commitment to report back to EU leaders when they meet again in three weeks with proposals for concrete steps to be taken. Tusk himself referred to a profusion of reform initiatives, such as those from Macron in a barnstorming pro-European speech at the Sorbonne on Tuesday and by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker earlier this month. But Tusk, a former Polish premier, also added a note of caution, urging a step-by-step approach to real problems . He insisted the EU needed to maintain unity in the face of conflicting views about so many new initiatives: Even though some may think it is a kind of a Eurovision contest, and perhaps it is, I am personally convinced that together, we will make good use of it, if we sing unisono. Merkel, re-elected for a fourth term on Sunday but weakened by the rise of an insurgent eurosceptic opposition, met Macron for half an hour before the dinner and, according to a French aide, welcomed his speech as visionary and a return of co-founder France as a driving force in the European Union project. But she also noted differences. Some of her potential new coalition partners, along with northern governments like the Dutch and Finns, are very dubious about his suggestions for pooling budgets with less fiscally austere states in the south. As far as the proposals were concerned, there was a high level of agreement between German and France. We must still discuss the details, but I am of the firm conviction that Europe can t just stay still but must continue to develop, she said. Merkel is happy to play what she sees as a traditional role in a partnership that has driven the Union for 60 years, German officials say, with France back on form as a creative force and Berlin building consensus and helping put ideas into practice. Macron faced a reality check of scepticism from leaders wary of his talk of ambitious horizons for the continent. The no-nonsense president of euro zone member Lithuania, Dalia Grybauskaite, tweeted during the dinner: European horizons drawn. Important to avoid mirages in the desert on the way. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told reporters countries needed first to reform their own economies: You re starting with the end point ... There is a discussion about a European finance minister but no one has told me what he would do. British Prime Minister Theresa May also attended the dinner, despite Britain s increasing isolation as it prepares to quit. She took the opportunity of Friday s digital summit in Tallinn to visit British troops on a NATO mission in northern Estonia and pledged post-Brexit security cooperation with European neighbors confronting Russian threats. May arrived knowing that a keynote major Brexit speech she made last Friday succeeded in unblocking talks in Brussels this week on Britain s divorce package though the leaders in Tallinn were at pains to avoid appearing to negotiate with her. The chief EU negotiator, Michel Barnier, praised on Thursday a new dynamic to Brexit negotiations created by concessions made by May, although progress was still not sufficient to allow discussions on future trade relations. That message was rammed home by Juncker, Barnier s boss, who told reporters in Tallinn that it would take miracles to have sufficient progress by next month and he did not expect that effectively ruling out EU leaders giving a green light to trade talks when they meet in Brussels on Oct. 19-20. Friday s talks on a digital agenda for Europe ranged from cross-border data flows and privacy to cybersecurity and taxing online businesses.

Ryan has concerns over 9/11 Saudi bill but predicts veto override

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives would override any presidential veto of a bill allowing survivors and families of victims of the Sept. 11 attacks to sue Saudi Arabia, Speaker Paul Ryan predicted on Wednesday while also citing concerns with the legislation. “I worry about legal matters. I worry about trial lawyers trying to get rich off of this. And I do worry about the precedence. At the same time, these victims do need to have their day in court,” Ryan, a Republican, told reporters. Congress has overwhelmingly passed the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act in reaction to long-running suspicions, denied by Saudi Arabia, that hijackers of the four U.S. jetliners that attacked the United States in 2001 were backed by the Saudi government. Obama in coming days is expected to veto the bill on grounds that other countries could use the law as an excuse to sue U.S. diplomats, service members or companies. But Congress could have the last word if the Senate and House of Representatives each override that veto by a two-thirds vote. “I do think the votes are there for the override,” Ryan said. When asked by a reporter if U.S. support for Saudi Arabia was “unconditional,” Ryan responded that the country “is a very important and valuable ally” and is helping Washington in the “war on terror.” He noted, however, “Our support for any country is not unconditional.”

Scotland's Sturgeon sees no reason not to get special Brexit deal like N.Ireland

EDINBURGH (Reuters) - An agreement to keep Northern Ireland in regulatory alignment with the European Union after Brexit could be replicated in other parts of the UK, Nicola Sturgeon, the head of Scotland s devolved pro-independence government, said on Monday. Earlier, Irish government sources said the British government had agreed to maintain such alignment for Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK but shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland, an EU member state. If one part of the United Kingdom can retain regulatory alignment with the European Union and effectively stay in the single market (which is the right solution for Northern Ireland) there is surely no good practical reason why others can t , Sturgeon said on Twitter. In the 2016 referendum in which the UK as a whole voted to leave the EU, a large majority of Scots voted to remain in the bloc. The British government has so far ruled out any special Brexit deal for Scotland that would reflect that. The devolved Scottish government has been campaigning for the UK to stay within the European single market and customs union, and had originally argued that Scotland could stay in the single market even if the rest of the UK left the trading area.

WATCH: TSA’S PAT-DOWN At Dallas Airport Leaves Mother Enraged: “We have been through hell this morning” [Video]

TSA allows for a pat-down of a teenage passenger, and in this case, all approved procedures were followed to resolve an alarm of the passenger s laptop, spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said in an email.Huh? Was the laptop given a full groping too? Why would they need to do this if the teen set off no alarms but a computer did?For at least two minutes, the TSA officer at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport gives the boy a going-over that just seems a little too thorough.Read more: WaPoTSA SEXUALLY MOLESTS TEEN AT LAGUARDIA: This is so scary for anyone out there but especially for parents who fly their kids to different places alone. This TSA agent took advantage of this young girl who was probably scared to death. Horrible!A college student was sexually molested at LaGuardia Airport by a uniformed TSA agent who demanded she go into a bathroom with him after she got off a flight so she could be searched, sources told The Post.The 22-year-old victim, who is Korean, had gotten off the plane from Salt Lake City around 8 p.m. Tuesday when the agent approached her on the third floor of Terminal B. He lured her into the bathroom by demanding she be searched and then molested her, the sources said. The woman filed a complaint with cops, and witnesses at a money exchange booth were able to help identify the sex fiend. The alleged assailant a 5-foot-9, heavyset man wearing a TSA uniform has been arrested and charged with sexual abuse, the sources said. The student picked the suspect out of a photo lineup. His identity was not immediately released. A spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration was not immediately able to provide any information about the arrest.

Kenya opposition leader urges vote boycott, civil disobedience

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Opposition leader Raila Odinga urged Kenyans to boycott Thursday s repeat presidential election, saying he would lead a campaign of civil disobedience. Odinga spoke shortly after the Supreme Court said it was unable to consider a last-minute appeal to delay the vote after five out of seven judges failed to turn up. The repeat election was ordered by the Supreme Court on Sept. 1 after judges nullified the results of the Aug. 8 presidential contest on procedural grounds. The election commission had said Odinga lost to President Uhuru Kenyatta by 1.4 million votes. Odinga is refusing to participate in Thursday s contest because he says the election commission has failed to implement reforms to prevent it being, once again, marred by irregularities. We advise Kenyans who value democracy and justice to hold vigil and prayers away from polling stations, or just stay at home, he told a cheering crowd in Nairobi s Uhuru Park, backing away from previous promise to call large-scale protests. Convince your friends, neighbors and everyone else not to participate, he said in English. If they support the president, he cautioned: do not insult or assault them. Instead, seek to open their eyes. But several speakers who preceded him gave speeches in KiSwahili calling on opposition supporters not to allow people to vote. With the Supreme Court unable to hear petitions to delay the vote, election officials said it would go ahead, regardless of Odinga s decision. The head of the national election board, Wafula Chebukati, said the vote would proceed even if some polling stations were unable to open. In cases where there will be problems (delivering materials) ... the polling officer will have the right to inform us and polling can be suspended to another day. Seeking to explain the Supreme Court s absences, Chief Justice David Maraga said one judge was unwell, another was abroad and another was unable to attend after her bodyguard was shot and wounded on Tuesday night. It was unclear why the others did not show up. Turmoil ahead of the election prompted the U.S. State Department to issue a statement saying it was deeply concerned by efforts by both parties to undermine the independence of the electoral commission. It condemned the attack on the deputy chief justice s bodyguard and urged Kenyans to reject violence. Minutes after Maraga s remarks on live television, hundreds of supporters took to the streets of Kisumu, Odinga s main stronghold. Riot police used teargas to disperse them. Two protesters received gunshot wounds, a Reuters witness said. If the government subverts the sovereign will of the people ... then people are entitled to rebel against this government, Kisumu governor Anyang Nyong o, a hardline Odinga supporter, told reporters. Such comments seem certain to fuel fears of a major confrontation with security forces, already blamed for killing nearly 50 people in Kisumu and Nairobi slums after the canceled August vote. Months of political uncertainty have blunted growth in Kenya, East Africa s biggest economy and a key Western ally valued for its relative freedom and stability in a tumultuous region. Kenyatta is keen for the poll to proceed to cement his rule. Many wonder when or if ever all this politicking will end, he said in a televised speech on Wednesday evening. I call to each and every one of us to turn out once again and vote. For some citizens, the instability has rekindled memories of large-scale ethnic violence that killed 1,200 people following a disputed election in 2007. Meanwhile, in anticipation of possible violence ahead of the elections on Thursday, shoppers crammed into Nairobi s upmarket Carrefour supermarket to stock up on food, said Jason Straziuso, who had to wait nearly two hours to pay for his groceries. There was about 40 carts per register, everyone was jockeying for position trying to find the shortest line, he said. Every single cart was as full as it could be. Single mother Marian Elema said she had paid double the usual bus fare for to take her five children to her home town Isiolo, in central Kenya, because she feared violence would break out in the port city of Mombasa where they live. I decided to travel home to escape possible clashes between opposition supporters and police, she told Reuters. I am not here to vote but for the safety of my children. In Kisumu s tallying center, election officer John Ngutai sat huddled with a handful of other officials, waiting for missing election material and hundreds of absent colleagues. He said attacks by opposition supporters last week meant the election board had only managed to train 250 out of 1,300 staff needed to hold the election in his constituency. Our trainings were disrupted and officials attacked, so some people withdrew, he said. Even if the election goes ahead, the opposition might still challenge the result in the Supreme Court. Judges said they were prepared to annul the re-run, and send the country of 45 million back to square one, if the election does not meet the required standards. In a ruling early on Wednesday, High Court Judge George Odunga said some local election officials had been appointed in an irregular manner, but to withdraw them at the last minute would only make an already dire situation worse. For the elections to proceed in the absence of the said officers would in my view be a constitutional crisis of unimaginable magnitude. Simply put, it would be a recipe for chaos. However, he admitted that not dismissing them could form the grounds for legal challenges afterwards. Opposition lawyers seeking to challenge Thursday s vote might also cite the failure of the election board to hold elections in all parts of the country, if enough polling stations are unable to open. The constitution does not stipulate a minimum turnout, but says the election should be held at the same time in all parts of the country.

After quitting talks, Syrian government envoy blames Saudis

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Syrian government envoy to U.N.-backed peace talks in Geneva said on Friday that Saudi Arabia had mined the way to the meeting and did not want a political solution to the conflict. The Syrian government delegation earlier quit the talks in Geneva, blaming the opposition s rejection of any role for President Bashar al-Assad in any interim government. Saudi policy is the foundation that got this matter to where it is. They do not want any success for the political, peaceful solution, Bashar al-Ja afari, who also serves as Syria s U.N. envoy, said in an interview with al-Mayadeen television.

Trump, Japan's Abe to spend time at Trump resort in Fla. after meeting: White House

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump has invited Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to visit his private Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida over the weekend after the two leaders meet on Friday in Washington, the White House said on Tuesday. “This is a testament to the importance the United States places on the bilateral relationship and the strength of our alliance and the deep economic ties between the United States and Japan,” White House spokesman Sean Spicer said at a White House press briefing.

NOT NEWS: 7 DEAD…35 Wounded In Obama’s Hometown In 2 Days…WATCH: BLACK CHICAGO RESIDENTS Blame Barack Obama [VIDEO]

Chicago residents are living a nightmare. The murder and crime statistics are what you would expect to see in a war torn Middle Eastern nation.These Chicago residents have had enough and they re speaking out against Barack Obama and the Democrat party that has sold them a bill of goods:Click HERE to see more Chicago residents speak out: The liberal agenda is not the black agenda, it is not the family agenda and it s not the American agenda. Seven people were killed and at least 35 others including a 5-year-old girl were wounded in shootings across Chicago between Friday night and Monday morning.The weekend s latest homicide happened Sunday morning in the Englewood neighborhood on the South Side.About 8:35 a.m., an officer on patrol found 32-year-old Dwayne T. Triplett slumped over at the wheel of a vehicle near his home in the 1100 block of West 72nd Street, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner s office.He suffered gunshot wounds to the head and chest, and was pronounced dead at the scene at 8:53 a.m., authorities said.Earlier Sunday, two men, ages 34 and 42, were slain on a Brainerd neighborhood porch on the South Side. Officers responding at 1:13 a.m. to a call of shots fired in the 9000 block of South Marshfield found them dead, one shot in the head and the other in the neck, police said.Authorities have not released their names. Family members identified the older man as Antwon Brooks, a father of two.Late Saturday in Back of the Yards, a 17-year-old boy was killed and a 19-year-old man was wounded in more South Side gunfire.They were standing in the street about 10:20 p.m. in the 5200 block of South Sangamon when a silver Audi pulled up and someone inside fired shots, police said. The 17-year-old, identified as Christopher Fields, was shot in the back and taken to Stroger Hospital, where he died at 11:17 p.m., authorities said. He lived in the 6200 block of South Csangamon. Via: CBSlocal

Internet SLAMS Trump Over Mother’s Day Women’s Health HYPOCRISY (Tweets)

This morning our commander-in-chief wished Happy Mother s day to all of the great mothers out there, but women and men from all over America ripped him a new one as they responded to what most considered a hollow message from the president, who has proved to us through his words and actions that he isn t siding with women s health and well-being.With the Trumpcare plan being the GOP s main focus in the House and Senate, Trump is proving to be more of an enemy than a supporter of women. If this plan goes into effect, it would decimate health care access for women. The president and his Republican friends were on the receiving end of backlash today for what some see as ignorance, callous indifference, hypocrisy, and ignorance in the face of a health crisis for women. Want to support women & mothers? Give them access to they need to lead the lives they want. #TrumpCare doesn t care. Said a tweet from Planned Parenthood Action Fund.I wonder how many GOPs who voted #trumpcare will wish their moms Happy Mothers Day while their vote said, hey your healthcare means nothing. FrugalistaBlog (@frugieblog) May 13, 2017If your Rep has a #MothersDay message & voted for Trumpcare, remind them they made a c-section a pre-existing condition. Don't let them off. David Lebo (@leboism) May 14, 2017Show you care about mothers: Double down on your commitment to oppose #Trumpcare! #MothersDay https://t.co/CEd6TWWrao CenterforReproRights (@ReproRights) May 13, 2017Countless messages took over the internet today, some targeting Trump while others took shots at other GOP lawmakers, including Speaker Paul Ryan.For #MothersDay, Ryan got moms Trumpcare which could gut pregnancy care for millions & charge hire premiums to mothers who had c-sections https://t.co/jIcPxUJkK5 Molly Cain (@mollicus) May 14, 2017Critics have pointed out that the health care bill Republicans are pushing should be named wealthcare, as opposed to healthcare. Political columnist Richard Eskow explained: It s a wealth grab for the already wealthy. Its benefits will go, first and formost, to billionaires who make more money from investments than form work. the 400 highest-earing households in the county will get an average tac break of $7 million per year under the Republican Plan. The legislative group working towards the plan is comprised of thirteen men and not one single woman. The negative impacts of this plan on mothers and all females will be severe. Even coverage for prescription drugs, which women also utilize more than men, could lose its designation as an essential health benefit under the House bill.On the bright side, mother-daughter relationships with potentially divergent political views can come together around this topic.Best Mothers Day ever: after explaining to my conservative mom how #trumpcare would harm me, she asked how she could write her Senators ?? tannerglass (@tannerglass) May 14, 2017Featured image via Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

BARACK OBAMA SHOWS HE’S SERIOUS About Fighting Terrorism…Releases Osama Bin Laden’s Bodyguard From Gitmo

Obama doing what Obama does best putting radical Muslims who are a serious threat to our national security back on the battlefield against America The Obama administration has released from the Guantanamo Bay prison an al Qaeda terrorist who served as terror mastermind Osama Bin Laden s personal bodyguard, according to an announcement by the Defense Department.Abdel Malik Ahmed Abdel Wahab Al Rahabi, a top terror operative who had planned to participate in the 9/11 attacks and who received training to be a suicide bomber, was freed from Gitmo and transferred to Montenegro.Al Rahabi is just the latest accused terrorist to be released from prison by the Obama administration as it pursues an end-of-administration effort to clear out Gitmo and shut it down.The release was condemned by some in Congress who have opposed the administration s efforts to shutter Gitmo. The administration is playing Russian roulette with America s safety by releasing 9/11-plotter Abdel Malik Ahmed Abdel Wahab Al Rahabi from Gitmo, Sen. Mark Kirk (R., Ill.) said in a statement. Rehab s transfer abroad is all the more alarming after terrorist Ibrahim al-Qosi resurfaced in December 2015 in the Arabian Peninsula as the top recruiter for al Qaeda after being transferred from Gitmo to Sudan. Via: WFB

No better U.S. ambassador for Prague than Trump's ex-wife, says Czech president

PRAGUE (Reuters) - Czech President Milos Zeman has thrown his support behind a bid by Ivana Trump, the ex-wife of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, to become the next ambassador to the country of her birth. “They could not send a better U.S. ambassador to Prague,” Zeman told her in a telephone call on Wednesday, the president’s office said in a statement. Ivana Trump told the New York Post last week she would suggest to her ex-husband that she become ambassador to the Czech Republic. The 67-year-old socialite, born in Zlin in what was then Czechoslovakia, told the paper the country was “where I’m from and my language and everybody knows me”. Her suggestion, reported by Czech media over the weekend, has been welcomed by other politicians but most enthusiastically by the president’s office, whose spokesman said on Twitter it was a great choice. It was another sign of a sharp pro-American U-turn by the Czech presidential administration. Zeman was one of the few European politicians who vocally backed Trump in his campaign for the U.S. presidency. After the real estate billionaire won the election in a surprise victory a week ago, Zeman held a rare press briefing in which said he was “very happy” with Trump’s victory and that the two shared opinions on immigration and terrorism. Like Trump, the outspoken Czech president has often railed against “elites” critical of his leadership and has warm views towards Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Unlike Trump, Zeman is very keen on deepening ties with China. Despite his country’s NATO membership, Zeman has often repeated the Russian line on the conflict in Ukraine and was not invited to the White House under President Barack Obama. He has had an open feud with current U.S. ambassador to Prague, Andrew Schapiro. In 2015, he “closed the door” of Prague Castle to the envoy for a time, after he made comments perceived as critical of the Czech president’s decision to attend a World War Two commemoration in Moscow. The president’s spokesman, Jiri Ovcacek, tweeted last week that “a beautiful gift for my January birthday will be the exit” of the current ambassador.

Xi says China will let the market play decisive role in resource allocation

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will let the market play a decisive role in resource allocation in the economy, China s President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday at the opening of a key Communist Party congress. Beijing has called for a greater role for market forces in the economy in order to improve efficiency and develop a more sustainable growth model.

U.S. adjusts military support to partners in Syria: White House

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said that he had informed Turkey s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a call that Washington is adjusting military support to partners on the ground in Syria, the White House said Friday. Turkey s presidency had previously reported that the United States would not supply weapons to the Kurdish YPG fighters in Syria. [nA4N1L2020]

cranberry juice does not prevent urinary tract infection new study finds

a ppp poll of florida found candidates who have been vocal in their support for gun violence prevention perform well in florida democratic presidential nominee hillary clinton leads republican donald trump by four points and democratic us senate candidate patrick murphy is tied with republican incumbent sen marco rubio by an almost two toone margin florida voters would be more likely to vote for a candidate for us senate who supports strengthening gun laws suggesting ample room for growth for gun safety candidates before the election next month the poll was conducted by ppp the americans for responsible solutions pac and it illustrates the dilemma that the florida senate race has created for democrats democratic leadership is divided on spending more money on expensive florida media but there are polls that suggest that sen marco rubios democratic challenger rep patrick murphy has a chance of winning the seat if rep murphy can beat sen rubio the defeat would likely put an end to rubios national political career or at least force the florida republican to put the brakes on his plan to run for president in and instead focus on a run for governor democrats have a real chance to send marco rubio to the unemployment line rubio has been a disinterested senator who just like ted cruz seems only interest in his senate seat as a platform from which to launch his presidential ambitions rubio has provided poor service to his constituents and doesnt deserve to return to the us senate sen rubio has refused to commit to serving his full senate term which should tell voters all they need to know about his commitment to them democrats have a chance to solidify their potential senate majority by sending marco rubio home with cash to spend and less than two weeks left in the campaign theyd be foolish not to take it marco rubio inches closer to unemployment as poll shows florida senate race tie added by jason easley on fri oct th

Town’s Only Black Firefighter’s Home Burns Down After Racist Sends Threatening Letter (VIDEO)

On Monday night, Kenneth Walker received a letter in his mailbox. The letter, which appears to be written by someone who would be likely to support Donald Trump, warned Walker that he was not wanted in the small New York town of North Tonawanda especially not in his current position.Walker is the town s sole African-American firefighter the guy on whom residents can count to save them if something terrible happens. But to the person who wrote the letter, he s just a n*gger. via CNNThe letter oh-so-politely informs him that n*ggers like himself are not welcome to be firefighters, and that no one wants him in the city. Walker is warned that he has until the end of the week to resign his position. The racist threat is punctuated by an ominous or you will regret it .. n*gger. Apparently, the author was unwilling to actually wait until the end of the week. A fire broke out at Walker s home while he and his family were away. Almost everything inside was destroyed, including the family s two beloved pet cats. I have children that live here, Walker told CNN affiliate WKBW. You can have a problem with me, you can have a problem with anything I may say or do. But there s no reason to involve my home. I told everybody it s appalling to think about what s taking place, North Tonawanda Fire Chief Joseph Sikora told CNN. Our city has never had an issue like this. Not in 26 years. Quite frankly it sickens me. If nothing else, this hateful act has proved the letter writer wrong about exactly how wanted Walker actually is by the townsfolk. The community banded together to provide food, money and clothes to the Walker family, but they still have nowhere to live: Unfortunately we couldn t take anything because there s nowhere to put it. As for a resignation, it does not appear that will be happening. A sign outside the Gratwick Hose Fire Company reads, We support Ken Walker. He s there on Sundays. He s there on holidays taking time away from his family and sleep to answer calls, Bob Brennan of the fire company told WKBW. I wish I had 20 more members like Ken Walker. Walker says he refuses to be intimidated, and that he is not at this point going to resign. He may consider a transfer to another company, however, if he determines his family is not safe.The FBI is investigating the attack.Watch a report on the fire below:Featured image via screengrab

Hadi calls on Yemenis to rise up against Houthis after Saleh's death - live speech

DUBAI (Reuters) - Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi called on Yemenis on Monday to rise up against the Iran-aligned Houthis after the death of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. Speaking in a speech carried live on the Saudi-owned al-Arabiya television, Hadi also called for a new chapter in the fight against the Houthis, who were allied with Saleh before he turned on them and offered to back the Saudi-led coalition.

MAJOR LIBERAL RAG RELUCTANTLY PUBLISHES Article On President Trump’s Outstanding Accomplishments…It’s How They Explain His Successes That Has Everyone Laughing

The Atlantic, a publication that wouldn t know unbiased journalism if it bit them in the a$$ published what appears to be a reluctant piece on President Trump s outstanding accomplishments during his first 6 months in office. Most of the people reading this piece by The Atlantic are fans of their writing because they ve bought into the progressive, anti-American sentiment they were fed like crack cocaine in college. Almost like the patch that smokers wear to help them get through the withdrawal of nicotine while going through a cessation program, The Atlantic provides their readers with enough anti-Trump propaganda to keep them in business, while acting like a support group for their readers, who fear every anti-American piece of legislation Barack Obama worked so hard to implement, is all unraveling, thanks to this guy who foolishly wants Make America Great Again . Of course, in the eyes of The Atlantic reader, America was never great to begin with.The parts where The Atlantic talks about President Trump s accomplishments are italicized and the comments the writer makes to counter Trump s successes have been highlighted.The Atlantic starts out the article by giving credit to Trump s shadow government , as somehow being responsible for his amazing successes in his first 6 months. According to The Atlantic, the actual government is the fake news stories and the obsession with negative chatter surrounding Trump s presidency, while President Trump s accomplishments have been hidden in the shadows .The Atlantic Imagine, if you will, that there is a shadow government.The actual government, the administration of Donald Trump, is coming off the worst week of his presidency, although there haven t been any smooth weeks. Trump s top legislative priority, repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, seems dead for the moment. (Tax reform? Forget it.) His administration has set a new standard for chaos and dysfunction, rolling through staffers the way other administrations run through, well, legislative initiatives. Trump s foreign policy remains inchoate and ineffective. Meanwhile, a special counsel investigation looms over the entire administration, threatening both its legitimacy and legal jeopardy for some of its members.Things are going considerably better for the shadow government. With the Trump administration s chaos sucking up all the attention, it s been able to move forward on a range of its priorities, which tend to be more focused on regulatory matters anyway. It is remaking the justice system, rewriting environmental rules, overhauling public-lands administration, and greenlighting major infrastructure projects. It is appointing figures who will guarantee the triumph of its ideological vision for decades to come. let s consider the Trump administration s accomplishments. Spoiler alert: like climate change, they re real.One of the two biggest victories has come on border security, which was one of Trump s top campaign priorities. Border crossings have already plummeted, suggesting that rhetoric making it clear to immigrants that they are not welcome is effective in its own right. Customs and Border Protections report that apprehensions of unauthorized people are down nearly 20 percent from the same time in 2016. (Trump continues to radically exaggerate these figures, though.) This decline has occurred despite Trump being foiled on his actual policy proposals at the border. Construction hasn t begun on his border wall yet, and federal courts have repeatedly smacked down his Muslim travel ban.That said, he did get one good result in courts and that points to a second area of success. The Supreme Court allowed parts of the travel ban to go forward, in a victory that would not have happened without Neil Gorsuch on the court, filling a seat that under all previous customs would have been filled by Barack Obama s appointee Merrick Garland. Given his legislative struggles, the most enduring Trump victories are likely to come in the judicial branch.Trump may get to appoint several more justices to the high court. And in the meantime, he s filling up lower courts with lifetime appointees. As the veteran Democratic official Ron Klain wrote recently, A massive transformation is underway in how our fundamental rights are defined by the federal judiciary. For while President Trump is incompetent at countless aspects of his job, he is proving wildly successful in one respect: naming youthful conservative nominees to the federal bench in record-setting numbers. There are the quiet, far-reaching changes. Getting back to Pruitt, the environment is one of the places where the Trump administration has had its largest impact. The most prominent move was Trump s June 1 announcement that the U.S. will withdraw from the Paris climate accord. But the EPA is moving on other fronts as well. It s working to dismantle Barack Obama s Clean Power Plan, a signature policy aimed at reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. In June, following a February executive order from Trump, the EPA began the process of rescinding the 2015 Waters of the United States rule, which aimed at protecting smaller bodies of water and streams in the same way that larger ones had been. In December, in the closing weeks of his administration, Obama banned drilling in the Arctic and parts of the Atlantic Ocean; the Trump administration promptly set about undoing that ban. (How interested oil companies will be remains to be seen.)The New York Times found in June that Pruitt s EPA has moved to undo, delay or otherwise block more than 30 environmental rules, a regulatory rollback larger in scope than any other over so short a time in the agency s 47-year history. And it might have done more if not for constraints imposed by judges. EPA tried to abandon an Obama-era rule on methane emissions, but a court on Monday forced it to continue enforcing the rule.Other agencies are also in on the environmental deregulation act. The State Department reversed an Obama-era decision, clearing the way for the Keystone XL pipeline to begin construction. The Interior Department is considering reversing a rule on fracking on public lands, and might also reverse some equipment regulations on offshore drilling equipment implemented after the 2010 Gulf oil spill. The department has rolled back a ban on coal mining on public lands.Although the Justice Department had staunchly opposed a Texas voting law that has repeatedly been smacked down by courts as discriminatory, Sessions switched the department s position, and it has now told courts the law ought to be allowed to remain. The attorney general has also sought to cut off funding to so-called sanctuary cities, though his legal authority to do so is disputed.Curiously, since he campaigned as an atypically LGBT-friendly Republican, Trump has also made a range of changes on gay issues. Last week alone, the Justice Department announced that sexual orientation was not covered by Section VII, and the president said that transgender people would not be allowed to serve in the military. The administration has also rejected Obama-era protections for transgender students.

House Democrat says Republican undermines intel probe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. House of Representatives intelligence committee Democrat said on Wednesday he had “grave concerns” about the committee’s ability to conduct a credible investigation after its Republican chairman suggested President Donald Trump’s communications may have been collected during surveillance. “I have expressed my grave concerns with the Chairman that a credible investigation cannot be conducted this way,” U.S. Representative Adam Schiff said in a statement. The House intelligence panel is conducting one of the main congressional investigations of possible ties between Trump associates and Russia during the 2016 U.S. president election. Republican Representative Devin Nunes, the committee’s chairman, announced at a news conference on Wednesday that an anonymous source had provided him with information that communications by associates of Trump’s and possibly Trump’s had been swept up during routine surveillance.

Spanish court orders prison for ex-Salvadoran officer over priests' massacre

MADRID (Reuters) - A Spanish court has ordered the imprisonment of a former El Salvadoran army colonel for participating in the murder of five Spanish Jesuits in 1989 during the Central American country s civil war, a court ruling showed on Thursday. The ruling comes after the United States deported Colonel Inocente Orlando Montano Morales to Spain, where he is facing charges related to the massacre of six Roman Catholic priests. He arrived in Madrid on Wednesday and was taken into custody. Montano, who is being prosecuted for murder and crimes against humanity, will formally be notified of his charges next Monday, according to the ruling from the Spanish High Court. Montano, 74, had been in U.S. custody since 2011 when he was arrested outside Boston on immigration fraud charges after the Spanish government indicted 20 former Salvadoran army officers for the killings of the Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter. The group was targeted because one of the priests, Father Ignacio Ellacuria, was a prominent critic of the U.S.-backed right-wing government. The massacre was one of the most notorious acts of a decade-long civil war during which 75,000 people were killed and 8,000 went missing. Spanish judge Manuel Garcia Castellon said in his ruling on Thursday that Montano actively participated in the decision and design of the murder of the Spaniards and Jesuits of an El Salvadoran University, Ellacuria, Ignacio Martin, Segundo Montes, Amando Lopez and Juan Ramon Moreno. Montano, who has proclaimed his innocence, is also accused of overseeing a radio station that urged the priests murder and participating in meetings a day before the deaths when a colleague gave the order to kill the men. The massacre occurred early on Nov. 16, 1989, when a group of soldiers from the U.S.-trained Atlacatl Battalion entered the campus of the Central American University where Ellacuria was rector. At the time, a battle was raging across the capital San Salvador as part of a nationwide offensive launched by the left-wing Faribundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN). Ellacuria had advocated a negotiated settlement to the war and the international revulsion at the murders helped to push through such a solution. The war ended in 1992. After a criminal investigation, two army officers were convicted for the Jesuit murders and jailed, but later released after an amnesty law passed in 1993.

Ben Carson Believes Poverty Is Just A ‘State Of Mind’ And People Aren’t Happy About It

Ben Carson, the head of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, has come under fire for comments he made during a radio interview on Tuesday when he called poverty a state of mind live on air. A statement like that would be quite low coming from anyone, but it takes on a whole new meaning when it comes from the lips of the man who oversees the department that handles housing for millions of low-income Americans.The statement was made when Carson was being interviewed by conservative media personality and personal friend, Armstrong Williams. Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, has dealt directly with poverty himself and credits his mother for getting his family out of that situation, but that didn t stop him from implying that some people are just poor because they have a negative outlook on life.According to a transcript of the interview with Williams that was released on Wednesday, Carson didn t shy away from making his feelings on the subject known. I think poverty to a large extent is also a state of mind, he said. You take somebody that has the right mindset, you can take everything from them and put them on the street, and I guarantee in a little while they ll be right back up there. But he didn t stop there, adding that lending a helping hand to those in need may not even improve their lives if they don t have the right mental attitude, thus there s really no point in trying. You take somebody with the wrong mindset, you can give them everything in the world they ll work their way right back down to the bottom, he continued, strong words coming from the man who is in charge of trying to keep roofs over the heads of those not exactly living in the lap of luxury.Not every low-income earner is presented with the same opportunities as Carson s mother, but in his opinion, that shouldn t even factor into the equation. If everybody had a mother like mine, nobody would be in poverty, Carson said. She was a person who absolutely would not accept the status of victim. Naturally, Twitter exploded after the release of the transcript on Wednesday, as Twitter tends to do, with everyone from former Barack Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett to beloved Star Trek actor and human rights activist George Takei weighing in on Carson s comments.Poverty is a state of mind Ben Carson? Tell that to a kid who can t afford lunch for school or won t have anything to eat for dinner. it s kimberly (@bkimberlyb) May 24, 2017Ben Carson said poverty is a state of mind.Next month, I m going to tell my landlord that I paid my rent with positive thinking! Zerlina Maxwell (@ZerlinaMaxwell) May 24, 2017Ben Carson says that poverty is a state of mind. You know what else is a state of mind? Always being a blithering idiot. George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) May 24, 2017Featured image via Larry French/Getty Images

Israel buoyed by Trump tack against Iran atom deal but sees long way to go

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel was upbeat about U.S. President Donald Trump s anticipated announcement on Friday of major steps against the international nuclear deal with Iran, but voiced doubt that the tougher tack by Washington could turn around Tehran. While the White House s distaste for the 2015 pact may be sweet to the ears of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his government is mindful of the limits of any unilateral U.S. action in the face of dissent from other big power signatories. Some Israeli officials quietly question whether Washington has the will to follow through, noting what they deem insufficient U.S. efforts to stem the entrenchment in next-door Syria of Iran-allied forces helping Damascus in the civil war. Trump was expected to say in a 1645 GMT speech that he will not re-certify the nuclear agreement in light of Iran s ballistic missile projects and involvement in regional trouble-spots. That would give the U.S. Congress 60 days to decide whether to reimpose sanctions on Tehran that were suspended in return for it rolling back technologies with nuclear bomb-making potential. Netanyahu spokesmen declined to comment on the pending speech. A veteran Israeli cabinet minister from Netanyahu s Likud party sounded cheered by Trump s resolve, but appeared to note the depth of partisan rifts around the U.S. administration. The outcome that could happen, and this is the only positive outcome we can see at this stage, is that Congress manages to come together around new, significant sanctions, the minister, Tzachi Hanegbi, told Tel Aviv radio station 102 FM. (That) will confront a lot of gigantic international companies which are today streaming to the Iranians ... with a dilemma of having to choose between the Iranians and trading with the world s biggest economy, which is the United States. Netanyahu has lobbied hard against the Iran deal, delivering a speech in Congress shortly before it was signed that angered then-U.S. President Barack Obama. Addressing the U.N. General Assembly last month, Netanyahu urged world powers that negotiated the deal to fix it or nix it. He called specifically for cancelling a core sunset clause that removes caps on Iran s nuclear projects after a number of years. Asked about the sunset clause in the radio interview, Hanegbi gave no indication Israel believed it would be reviewed. He noted the resistance that Trump s new measures faced from European powers, Russia and Iran, which has threatened to quit the nuclear deal if the U.S. imposes new sanctions against it. Iran, Hanegbi assessed, will not yield at all - period - in other words, not just not within 60 days, but neither within 60 months or 60 years, because they really do not believe that the world will reverse course. They look rather mockingly at the United States. But he added, If the United States reverses course and begins a process of building delegitimation for the agreement, it could be that the world, part of the West, will join it in a process that could take time ... There is still a long way to go until the dangers of this deal pass. Israel is believed to have the Middle East s only nuclear arsenal with about 200 warheads and sees Iran s nuclear activity as a threat to its existence. It refuses to confirm or deny that it has nuclear weapons. There has been dissent within Israel over the nuclear deal, with several Netanyahu ex-advisers grudgingly coming out in its favor. His former defense minister, Ehud Barak, told the New York Times on Wednesday: Like many Israelis, I think the Iran deal is a bad deal. But it is a done deal. Barak warned that any U.S. withdrawal from the agreement would not be followed by other world powers and could prompt Iran - which denies seeking nuclear weapons - to work on a bomb. Hanegbi dismissed such predictions as nonsense . Iran has no interest in withdrawing from the agreement (because that) would immediately unite Russia and China to the United States against it, he told the radio station. He noted - as have U.N. nuclear inspectors - that the Iranians have not budged a hair s breadth from their commitments under the deal .

Putin, in Syria, says mission accomplished, orders partial Russian pull-out

MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin flew into Syria and ordered a significant part of Moscow s military contingent there to start withdrawing on Monday, declaring their work largely done. Putin, who polls show will be re-elected comfortably in March, made the announcement during a surprise visit to Russia s Hmeymim air base in Syria - his first since Russia intervened in the conflict. He held talks with President Bashar al-Assad and addressed Russian forces. The first leg in a three-country one-day whirlwind diplomatic visit which sees Putin also meeting his Egyptian and Turkish counterparts, Putin is keen to leverage the heightened Middle East influence that Syria has given him to cast himself as a leader who can do diplomacy as well as military force. The Kremlin first launched air strikes in Syria in September 2015 in its biggest Middle East intervention in decades, turning the tide of the conflict in Assad s favor. Now that it regards that mission complete, Putin wants to help broker a peace deal. In just over two years, Russia s armed forces and the Syrian army have defeated the most battle-hardened group of international terrorists, Putin told Russian servicemen. A significant part of the Russian force could now return home. The conditions for a political solution under the auspices of the United Nations have been created, said Putin. The Motherland awaits you. Washington was skeptical about Putin s statement. Russian comments about removal of their forces do not often correspond with actual troop reductions, and do not affect U.S. priorities in Syria, said Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon. Putin made clear in any case that Russia would retain enough firepower to destroy any possible Islamic State comeback. Syrian state television quoted Assad as thanking Putin for Russia s help, saying the blood of Moscow s martyrs had been mixed with the blood of the Syrian army. It also showed the two men watching what it called a victory parade with Russian troops dressed in desert uniforms marching past. Russia s main contribution has been air strikes, and with Iran-backed Shi ite militias doing much of the fighting on the ground, the partial Russian withdrawal may not make a huge difference when it comes to the military situation. Russia s campaign, which has been extensively covered on state TV at home, has not caught the imagination of most Russians. But nor has it stirred unease of the kind the Soviet Union faced with its calamitous 1980s Afghanistan intervention. The use of private military contractors, something which has been documented by Reuters but denied by the defense ministry, has allowed Moscow to keep the public casualty toll fairly low. Officially, less than 50 Russian service personnel have been killed in the campaign, but the real number, including private contractors, is estimated to be much higher. Russia s mission accomplished moment in Syria may help Putin increase the turnout at the March presidential election by appealing to the patriotism of voters. Though polls show he will easily win, they also show that some Russians are increasingly apathetic about politics, and Putin s supporters are keen to get him re-elected on a big turnout, which in their eyes confers legitimacy. Putin, who with the help of state TV has dominated Russia s political landscape for the last 17 years, told Russian servicemen they would return home as victors. Speaking in front of a row of servicemen holding Russian flags, Putin said his military had proved its might and that Moscow had succeeded in keeping Syria intact as a sovereign independent state. I congratulate you! Putin told the servicemen. Putin is keen to organize a special event in Russia - the Syrian Congress on National Dialogue - that Moscow hopes will bring together the Syrian government and opposition and try to hammer out a new constitution. When asked about Putin s announcement, Yahya Aridi, spokesman for the Syrian opposition in Geneva, said it welcomed any step that brought Syria closer to real peace. Putin made clear however that while Russia might be drawing down much of its forces, its military presence in Syria was a permanent one and that it would retain enough firepower to destroy any Islamic State comeback. Russia will keep its Hmeymim air base in Syria s Latakia Province and its naval facility in the Syrian Mediterranean port of Tartous on a permanent basis, said Putin. Both bases are protected by sophisticated air defense missile systems. Putin was told by the military that it had begun withdrawing 25 aircraft, a detachment of Russian military police, a detachment of Russian special forces, a military field hospital and a de-mining center. However, Russia has announced partial force draw-downs before only to later bring in different capabilities. We ve seen such announcements before, which turn about to be less significant than they might have initially appeared, said one European diplomat who declined to be named. The most significant contribution Russia can make to advancing peace in Syria is to pressure the Assad regime to engage seriously in Geneva (peace talks). Absent that, the suspicion will be that this announcement may have more to do with Russian politics than the Syrian situation.

Senators challenge Trump plan to privatize air traffic control

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States’ top transportation official on Wednesday promoted the Trump administration’s proposed privatization of the air traffic control system in the face of criticism from Democratic lawmakers and some Republicans. “Our air traffic organization must be more nimble,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao told the Senate Commerce Committee. “A bulky federal government procurement apparatus does not move fast enough to keep pace with new technologies and new demands.” President Donald Trump on Monday unveiled the plan to modernize air traffic control and lower flying costs. Under the proposal, air traffic control would be spun off from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and put under the aegis of a nonprofit entity. Critics say the plan would hand control of a key asset to special interests and big airlines. Senator Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican, said on Wednesday that small airports in his state oppose the plan. He said that after air traffic privatization in the United Kingdom airline passenger fees rose 30 percent. “This is a tough sell,” Wicker said. Senator Jerry Moran, a Kansas Republican, said he remains “skeptical” of the idea of removing Congress from air traffic control oversight and handing it to a 13-member board. The administration says it would not charge the private entity for the government’s air traffic control assets and would bar Congress from reviewing fees charged by the board. Senator Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, opposes the proposal. “Why give away billions of dollars in government assets to an entity that will be governed in large part by the airlines?” he asked. Nelson argued “a fundamental breakup of the FAA cannot advance when there are such strong divisions among aviation stakeholders and in Congress. It just won’t happen.” Chao denied that the major airlines would control the board and said they would have just two seats on the board. She also pledged to address rural concerns. One big issue is whether general aviation could face higher costs and access to airspace if a private board takes over. Executives from United Airlines (UAL.N), Hawaiian Airlines Inc [HAII.UL], American Airlines Inc (AAL.O) and Southwest Airlines Co (LUV.N), all represented by the Airlines for America lobbying group, praised the Trump plan on Monday. The FAA spends nearly $10 billion a year on air traffic control funded largely through passenger user fees, and has spent more than $7.5 billion on next-generation air traffic control reforms in recent years. It is unclear whether privatization would speed the rollout of new systems such as satellite-based aircraft tracking that replaces ground radar dating back to World War Two.

Trump Fan Running For Congress Says He Will ‘Make America White Again’

For those who think Donald Trump isn t bringing horrible racism out from the depths of the right-wing s closet, there s Rick Tyler, an independent candidate running for office in Tennessee s third Congressional district. He s so worried about the browning of America that he s actually running his campaign on taking us back to the 1960s, when there were fewer problems, by making America white again.Yes, that s literally what he wants. He even had campaign billboards put up that said, Make America White Again, around Benton, Tenn. Tyler claims that he s got no hatred for people of color. He just wants America to go back to a 1960s, Ozzie and Harriet, Leave it to Beaver time when there were no break-ins; no violent crime; no mass immigration. Right, there s totally no racism there. We re sure some of his best friends are people of color, too. He thinks that white people are the architects of advanced society, so elevating white people is the best way to make America great again. He also had a billboard up that was a picture of the White House ringed with Confederate flags, which said, I have a dream. For someone who allegedly isn t racist, he certainly enjoys racist sayings and symbols, and implying that people who aren t white are responsible for all our ills today.To co-opt one of the most famous messages from one of the most famous civil rights leaders in American history for his racist agenda is just vile.How does Trump fit into this, besides his rampant, blatant racism? Tyler wrote the following on his website: [T]he Trump phenomenon has and will continue to produce spin off effects and fall out that can be beneficially seized upon by the elect remnant of the God of Scriptures. In our present political season the dominant presence of Donald Trump has served to open us channels of discourse and dialogue that have previously been off limits. His advocacy of a temporary ban on Muslim immigration and the construction of a wall on the Southern border have created a climate conducive to conversation relative to the elephant in the living room no one wants to talk about namely, the urgent and vital subject of race. There it is, the hatred and fear of political correctness that pervades the thinking of these racists. They believe it s not racist at all to say that race plays a role in America s downfall, and imply that whites are the only race capable of restoring us to our former glory. Nope. It s just telling it like it is, and Tyler seems to have embraced that Trumpian mentality wholeheartedly.The signs have been taken down, but Tyler didn t do it. He wants them back up, saying he paid for them to be up through November s election: If I could I d have hundreds of these billboards up across the 3rd District. That would go over just as well as his initial billboards did. Tyler is delusional though. He believes that his signs do reflect the feelings of a majority of people, despite the people from Tennessee s third district calling into WCRB-TV to say that their county does not, in fact, feel this way. The billboards were likely removed because those people Tyler thinks are so supportive of his views were actually upset.Featured image via screen capture from WRCB report

Trump idea of Japan, South Korea with nuclear weapons is destabilizing: White House

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The prospect of Japan and South Korea obtaining nuclear weapons would be incredibly destabilizing, the White House said on Wednesday, a day after leading Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said the two U.S. allies should build such weapons to deter enemies. “Mr. Trump’s suggestion that somehow we should encourage our allies in South Korea to develop nuclear weapons is directly contrary to a policy that the United States has long pursued and that the international community has long supported,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters at a daily briefing.