Donald Trump woke up early as usual to post some bullshit on Twitter, and he got epically trashed.Today is Inauguration Day and Trump decided he would brag about it.It all begins today! I will see you at 11:00 A.M. for the swearing-in. THE MOVEMENT CONTINUES THE WORK BEGINS! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2017As the world waits in horror for what is likely to be a petty and divisive inaugual address, Twitter users launched an all-out attack on Trump in response to his tweet.Happy #Inauguration, @realDonaldTrump! Some facts for you: Climate change isn t a HOAX. The U.S. is a melting pot. Science matters. David G. McAfee (@DavidGMcAfee) January 20, 2017@realDonaldTrump you really should see a doctor if this movement doesn t stop. That s not healthy. Roland Scahill (@rolandscahill) January 20, 2017@realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/w3ejKwLaxK paladine (@paladine) January 20, 2017@realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/nToOu132HY Cult Of Personality (@ResemblingACult) January 20, 2017@realDonaldTrump Please remember: 7M more people voted against you than for you. There is no mandate. Don t believe it? Look to the streets, Bill Shapiro (@Bill_Shapiro) January 20, 2017@realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/x3IRT4KDZt Diva (@sammypolsen12) January 20, 2017@realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/rUlMozVg8I Diva (@sammypolsen12) January 20, 2017@realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/LwWVpZkw1N Diva (@sammypolsen12) January 20, 2017.@realDonaldTrump Fake news thohttps://t.co/h4wOHGRek8 Jordan Uhl (@JordanUhl) January 20, 2017.I hope you fall on your face walking up to the podium. It ll be a perfect metaphor for the next four years @realDonaldTrump #rejecttrump Tomo Milicevic (@tomofromearth) January 20, 2017@realDonaldTrump its your BIG day little hands #Inauguration pic.twitter.com/8vyDsjuwOh Lil Kim Ms. G.O.A.T (@killerbee805) January 20, 2017@realDonaldTrump What time do you start the Hunger Games? Matt Haig (@matthaig1) January 20, 2017@realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/p4tK62aCug JoeMyGod (@JoeMyGod) January 20, 2017It should also be pointed out that Trump s tweet is a complete lie because he does not intend to work until Monday. That s right. He s literally using his first two days as president as vacation days.Donald Trump is unqualified to be president and he should be impeached the second he finishes swearing to uphold and defend the Constitution, because he will immediately be violating that oath due to his conflicts of interest and his persecution of the free press.The last eight years of hope and change are being replaced with four years of darkness and hate. Let s hope America lasts long enough to fix the mess Trump makes.Featured image by Spencer Platt via Getty Images


Dr. Sebastian Gorka, deputy adviser to President Trump and former Breitbart News national security editor, echoed President Trump's denunciation of the "witch hunt" against Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Friday's Breitbart News Daily. ["The Democrats have lost touch with reality," he said. "It's not just fake news. It's very fake news. The whole Russia story is a the Democrats cannot cope with, and their facilitators in the mainstream media, simply, psychologically, cannot cope with the reality that the American people didn't choose Hillary Clinton. " Gorka said they were using this " of ties to Russia" as a "coping mechanism. " "The fact that it's the last administration that had the most disturbing ties to Russia — that's what the newspapers should be reporting," he said. SiriusXM host Alex Marlow noted that Gorka produced an extensive body of work for Breitbart News that was very far from " . " He worried that fake news stories about Russia controlling the Trump administration could interfere with the war against global jihadism, in which Russia is clearly a significant player, no matter what one thinks of the Putin regime. "I think that there are probably people, constituencies, forces that would like that to happen, but I can assure you, it will never happen," Gorka replied. "I have to go back to the man who is the . There was, if you recall, I think it was his last press conference from Trump Tower when he turned the ground floor into a giant press conference facility. In the QA, they asked him bluntly, one of the reporters said, 'So what about your links to Vladimir Putin? What about relations in the future with Moscow?' And the president was unequivocal. He said, 'Look, I'd like to be able to have good relations with Putin and the Kremlin. It doesn't really look very likely, and if that's the case, so be it. '" "We are pragmatists. We're not ideologues," he declared. "My friend Monica Crowley said something very, very important: Our president must be understood as not an ideological candidate, our future president is an attitudinal one. That's the important thing to understand. That attitude is about making America great again. That's all we care about: national security and returning America to a place of leadership. The fake news will not be allowed to distort our understanding of the U. S. national interest and how we're going to realize that for all Americans, whatever newspapers they read, Alex. " Marlow asked which top priorities the White House feels are not receiving the coverage they deserve because the media is so busy with fake news attacks. "I think that the biggest ones remain the two versions of the Caliphate," Gorka replied. "I love to quote the line that Bibi Netanyahu used in front of Congress where he said, 'If you want to understand the Middle East, the chaos in the world today, it's basically a Game of Thrones for who's going to control and have the crown of the Caliphate. '" "We focus on ISIS. We will obliterate ISIS, as the president said in his joint address. But there's another version of the Caliphate, and that's the Iranian version that they've been exporting, their theocratic version of the Caliphate that they've been exporting since 1979. That's a very, very serious threat — especially if you look at how the last administration empowered Iran through billions of dollars, through the JCPOA, the Iran deal, and the threat of a nuclear Iran," he said. "On top of that, there's a subtler one, and that's what has happened to the armed forces of America under the last eight years — the underfunding, the being thinly stretched, the operational tempo especially of our Tier 1 units," he continued. "We are going to rebuild the military because if you don't have strength, you can't have peace. " Marlow asked about reports that Iran is preparing for a weapons "shopping spree" after existing U. N. resolutions expires. "This is just another example of the ticking deadlines expiring on certain limits to what Iran can do," Gorka said. "Here we have not quite a sanction, but it is a moratorium that will expire and allow the mullahs to access the technologies that they haven't been able to do before. If you compare this to how they responded to the lifting of U. S. sanctions recently, or sanction measures — unfortunately, these things are all done in the expectation that there will be better behavior afterwards from Tehran, and in every single case, we've seen exactly the opposite. " "We release the billions. We pay the ransoms. The pallets of cash are shipped over to Iran. What happens? Our naval vessels are harassed. There's a ballistic missile test. Our friends are fired upon," he said. "So again, the most important thing to understand here is not the idealistic attitudes of the multilateral institutions it's that there are nations out there — Iran included — that are fundamentally powers, who do not share the same interests of America and her allies, who need to start toeing the line, and that's why they were put on notice. We need to see better behavior out of Tehran before any similar measures are implemented, either multilaterally or unilaterally," he declared. Marlow cited another recent report that suggested the Obama administration moved data from the investigation of alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russian government to a lower level of classification, to facilitate "easier sharing. " He called this revelation "troubling and strange. " "Well, it looks quite transparent," Gorka said. "Just a matter of days before the Trump administration took control, there was a decision made inside the White House that certain special types of intelligence, certain types of signals intelligence, certain types of intelligence related to Russia could be promulgated, could be shared across the whole intelligence community in ways that had never been possible before. The reasoning for that is very, very hard to determine, unless there was some kind of political motivation. " "Why, days before we come into office, after dozens and dozens of fake news reports about potential connections to Russia, would we wish to downgrade this information and make it more shareable across the intelligence community — unless you're hoping that somehow it will leak and be used for political purposes?" he asked. "If you want to have an investigation on Russia, don't look at AG Sessions look at the Obama administration's decisions to do things like this," he suggested, "because it smacks of a very, very dangerous thing: the politicization of intelligence. " Marlow applauded the Trump White House's firm stand with the United Nations, most recently with a demand for the Human Rights Council to end its "obsession with Israel. " "We try to keep our promises," Gorka said. "I think you'll agree that the last six weeks have produced what in other administrations would have taken six months. " He counted "dealing with the attitude of multilateral organizations like the U. N. " as one of those rapid accomplishments. "We want to cooperate if it's in the interests of the United States, but the constant bashing and the ideologically driven actions of individual states and states coming together in various committees of organizations like the United Nations to hammer again and again and again our closest ally in the Middle East is just unacceptable. It's simply unacceptable," Gorka stressed. "We have, as the president has said, an unbreakable bond with Israel, and the idea that they are in the crosshairs of the U. N. repeatedly, when around them you see true human rights abuses happening on a massive scale that the U. N. somehow forgets or doesn't see — if you wish to see American leadership in the world again, assisting the United Nations to do the good that it was originally meant to do, then these kinds of, again, politically motivated attacks must decrease and hopefully stop," he insisted. Breitbart News Daily airs on SiriusXM Patriot 125 weekdays from 6:00 a. m. to 9:00 a. m. Eastern. LISTEN:


Chicago is considering naming a street after Oscar Lopez Rivera, the domestic terrorist who founded the FALN terror group responsible for killing six people and perpetrating some 130 bombings and terror attacks on U. S. soil between 1974 and 1983.[ Ward Alderman Robert Maldonado submitted a proposal to name a stretch of North Luis Munoz Marin Drive after the convicted terrorist early in February. The proposal was quickly pushed through ahead of new rules that would prevent people who are still living from having a Chicago street named after them. Alderman Maldonado attempted to claim that the new street name is not meant to honor the FALN terror outfit but is only meant to honor Rivera. Others note that it is farcical to claim you are honoring a man whose only claim to fame is in starting a terror group while pretending you are not also honoring the terror group. Joe Connor, the son of a man killed by a FALN terror attack in 1975, was furious at the move to honor his father's murderer, according to the Chicago . "He is a sworn terrorist," Connor said. "He was convicted of bombings in Chicago that did injure people. He tried to escape from prison with machine guns and plastic explosives where he was gonna kill the guards. … And Chicago is gonna put up a sign in his honor?" "The idea that people will walk by and see this street sign and think that Oscar Lopez was some sort of great person — it's diabolical," Connor added. "The world is upside down here. What's next for Chicago, bin Laden Boulevard? Charles Manson Court? This is worse than a disgrace. It is sinister. It's a direct insult to my father's life. " The plan to honor the Puerto Rican separatist approved by Chicago's Transportation Committee advanced this year after Barack Obama commuted Rivera's sentence. Obama ordered Rivera's release despite that he has never renounced his past violence. New York Councilman Joe Borelli said the commutation "proves that Obama and most liberals are out of touch with reality and willing to sacrifice all norms in the name of progressivism. " Indeed, Joe Conner noted that Rivera isn't even supported by most Puerto Ricans. In an in the Chicago Connor noted that few Puerto Ricans have ever supported the independence movement Rivera championed. Lopez has never represented the people of Puerto Rico. Never more than 5 percent of Puerto Ricans have ever voted for independence from America and in 2012 fully 60 percent voted for statehood. Further, Lopez and the FALN's vision of "freedom" never involved freedom at all for Puerto Ricans but subjugation in a Marxist state with Lopez and the FALN no doubt in the role of the Castros, as they wanted a "free and socialist" Puerto Rico. The son of the murdered New Yorker ended his with a plea to the city. This is the felon whom Chicago plans to honor. I ask Ald. Maldonado, in the name of decency, to withdraw the honorary street designation for terror leader Oscar Lopez Rivera and cancel the vote. Should Maldonado refuse, I ask Mayor Emanuel and the other aldermen to reject and vote against the naming of Oscar Lopez Rivera Way. Twelve members of the FALN serving lengthy jail sentences were offered amnesty in 1999 by President Bill Clinton but only on the condition that they sign a statement expressing sorrow for their past crimes. Rivera was the only one of the dozen convicted terrorists who refused to sign the oath. Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail. com.


Keywords: ban on marijuana , legalized marijuana , Marijuana benefits  Long gone are the days where marijuana is seen as taboo. More and more states have been legalizing marijuana for medical use—Alaska, California, DC, Delaware, Maine, Oregon, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New Jersey, New Mexico, Connecticut, Michigan, Maryland, Hawaii, Arizona, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Vermont; while Colorado and Washington have made history by decriminalizing the plant completely. Besides the United States, many countries have also began legalizing the use of marijuana (however, in some of these places, cultivating or transporting is still illegal)—Cambodia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Italy, Estonia, Jamaica, Mexico, Nepal—among many others.  After a Gallop poll was done, it showed that 58 percent of Americans are in favor of legalizing the natural plant. This is the first time in history that Americans are more in favor of legalizing, than criminalizing, the herb. Below are a few reasons why it's time to legalize marijuana worldwide. Marijuana can be used to treat a variety of medical ailments.  Did you know that marijuana helps in treating epileptic seizures? It contains certain cannabinoids that have anticonvulsant properties, according to Katherine Mortati, MD, a neurologist serving at the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center , SUNY Downstate Medical Center . Furthermore, marijuana has been discovered to relieve nausea in cancer patients, increase appetite in HIV/AIDS patients, relax muscle tension and spasms; and relieve chronic pain. It has a very low abuse risk.  According to Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent, around 9 to 10 percent of adult users become dependent on marijuana. This is much lower than the dependent 20 percent of cocaine users, 25 percent of addicted heroin users, and the 30 percent of dependent tobacco users. Cannabis can be a useful in treating insomnia.  The number one cause of insomnia is stress, and marijuana aids in relaxation. A study done by the National Cancer Institute found that patients that ingested a cannabis plant extract spray reported a much more restful sleep. It has been researched that THC provides a subject with an easier time falling asleep, longer sleep, deeper sleep, and better breathing while sleeping. The National Institute on Drug Abuse and National Institutes of Health funded studies that reported that subjects were able to fall asleep easier and more quickly after consuming THC. Approximately 40% of Americans have admitted to using marijuana.  With more and more Americans having admit to trying marijuana at least once in their lives, it has been shown that marijuana is less addictive than coffee. Because of this, more people are finding reasons to feel safer when trying the drug. No one has ever died from a marijuana overdose.  There has never been any reported case of anyone ever fatally overdosing on marijuana, despite the large amounts of THC in their systems. Prescription drugs, on the other hand, have been responsible for over 25,000 deaths in 2014 according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse ; while the Center for Disease Control and Prevention report that 6 Americans die every day from alcohol poisoning.  Sources:


The vast majority of almost 2 million Nigerians driven from their homes by the conflict with Boko Haram cannot return because of a lack of security, an aid agency said on Wednesday. About 1.8 million people have been displaced in Nigeria by the conflict with the Islamist insurgency, which has left at least 20,000 dead and shows little sign of ending as it drags into its ninth year. The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said in a report that 86 percent of internally displaced people were not ready to return home in the immediate future. Insecurity is cited by 84 percent of them as the main reason for wanting to stay put, it said. Only about six in 10 people said they wanted to return to their villages at some point, but could not do so now, the NRC report said. Many of the displaced say they have tried to return home, only to be forced to flee back to safer camps and cities because of continued attacks by Boko Haram and general insecurity. While the end game is for communities to return home, the unfortunate truth is that pushing people back now will have harmful consequences, Jan Egeland, NRC secretary general, said in a statement. Although Boko Haram in recent months has increased its attacks on displaced people, they still feel safer in camps and urban centers than in their communities, said Egeland. The Nigerian government and military have repeatedly said the insurgency has been defeated . Despite that, Boko Haram has killed 381 civilians in Nigeria and Cameroon since the beginning of April, more than double the amount dead in the preceding five months, Amnesty International said last month. The NRC survey did not take into account the roughly 200,000 refugees who have fled to neighboring countries such as Cameroon, Chad and Niger. The humanitarian crisis in northern Nigeria is now one of the biggest in the world, with $1 billion needed to fund relief efforts in 2017, the United Nations says.


A key committee in Mexico's Senate on Thursday ratified a deal with the United States that would boost competition in air transportation, a Senate spokesman said, paving the way for expansion of the world's second largest cross-border market. The deal, which both governments have already signed and modifies a 1960 agreement, would open up new routes for airlines to fly between the countries and allow for an unlimited number of flights. Mexico's full Senate must still ratify the agreement for it to take effect, which is likely to happen in the coming days. While some analysts have welcomed the deal, saying it would lower airfares by boosting traffic, Mexican airline workers have complained it would put the country's airlines at a disadvantage. The United States, which has a fleet of 7,500 planes compared to Mexico's 300, accounts for 65 percent of total flights in Mexican airspace, well above the 22 percent offered by Mexican carriers. Ratification would also remove the main hurdle to a closer tie-up between Delta Air Lines Inc and Grupo Aeromexico SAB de CV. The carriers have asked the U.S. government to grant them immunity from antitrust law so they can coordinate better flight connection times as well as prices, a request that cannot be granted until the aviation accord comes into force. Delta said last week its deal to buy up to 49 percent of Aeromexico is expected to close this summer.


We are witnessing the unraveling of the fabric of constitutional government, and only a fool can believe it will end well. [The nastiest opponents to President Trump inside and out of government apparently feel justified in using "any means necessary" to defeat and remove him. Every day sees more evidence of a desire not only to block his policies but to drive him from office. While it does not yet rise to the level of an organized conspiracy, it does raise serious issues of constitutional fidelity. First, in the weeks following the November election, we saw street protest and marches, followed by lawsuits, then leaks from inside government, and then talk of "impeachment" over crimes for which no evidence exists. And folks, in the words of Al Jolson, you ain't seen nothing yet. It's probably going to get worse. The seeds of this "cultural embarrassment" over Trump's victory were planted in the days immediately following the November 8 election: These efforts have at least three obvious things in common: desperation born of utter shock at Trump's election victory elitist arrogance and the active participation and support from the nation's major media organizations. Yet, there is another novel element interwoven in these events that is even more dangerous — dangerous not simply as a political obstacle to Trump's agenda, but inherently dangerous to the survival of our country. That novel element is the active, conscious subversion of lawful Presidential orders and initiatives by the permanent civil service apparatus called the "senior bureaucracy. " It is also being called the "Deep State," meaning the part of the government that is immune to political appointment and political accountability. And most dangerous of all is the involvement of our nation's intelligence agencies in the leaks aimed at embarrassing the President. The earliest news stories about an alleged "Russian connection" openly named America's intelligence operations as the source. Now comes this month's FBI testimony that the agency has been conducting an investigation of the Trump campaign, and yet the FBI still has not cited any evidence of any that justifies the investigation. This involvement of intelligence agencies and the FBI in investigations — and the subsequent leaking of information gathered in the surveillance — puts into question the President's ability to trust the information provided to him by those agencies. And THAT, my friends, can seriously impair his ability to manage national security policy and any international or crisis that occurs. The theme of an "illegitimate presidency" provides a veneer of moral justification for seemingly disconnected acts of political sabotage. If resistance to Trump's policies is resistance to "tyranny" by a "usurper," then nothing is out of bounds or off limits. This " " arrogance is what makes the campaign potentially lethal for constitutional government. The effort to paint President Trump as a usurper who deserves to be thrown out of office is unprecedented in its scope and intensity, and it will have unintended consequences for the Republic. This week there were revelations from the House Intelligence Committee supporting Trump's allegation of Obama regime surveillance of the Trump campaign and transition. Intelligence gathered by lawful wiretaps of foreign agent activities recorded "incidental" conversations involving persons inside or close to Trump campaign. Those "intercepted" conversations reportedly had nothing to do with alleged "Russian hacking" of the election, nor did they reveal any "collusion" with Russian agents. Yet, contrary to law, the conversations were shared with Obama White House staff and then with the media. How do we explain the bizarre obsession of Democrat leaders and the media with the "Russian connection"? Not one tiny shred of evidence has been produced by anyone to show any Trump campaign collusion with Russian activities connected to the 2016 election. And yet, the media and Democrat opponents (sorry, I repeat myself) continue to raise that specter to keep alive the myth of a "stolen election. " In the last days of the Obama administration, new rules were signed into law by Attorney General Loretta Lynch and the NSA Director as administrative amendments to Executive Order 12333, rules allowing the distribution of certain raw intelligence data to 16 additional government agencies at home and abroad. It may have been those new rules which facilitated the leaking of information concerning conversations Trump's nominee for Mike Flynn, had with the Russian Ambassador — conversations which the FBI later said broke no laws. What this week's revelations show is not any Russian collusion with Trump to influence the election but nearly the exact opposite: elements of the Obama government colluded with intelligence agencies to spy on the Trump campaign — or at a minimum, to use information gathered by surveillance to attack and undermine the Trump campaign team's transition plans for an orderly changing of the guard. Opposition to Trump policies is to be expected, and by hostile bureaucrats was not unknown in the first year of the Reagan administration and other governmental changeovers. But there are legitimate and lawful means of opposition and illegitimate ones — even illegal ones, like the leaking of classified information. If the saboteurs inside government expect the American public and tens of millions of Trump supporters to tolerate organized, incipient treason against constitutional government, they are mistaken.


After spending half the season perpetrating an protest against the national anthem, NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick announced his free agency. But, with teams snapping up players, Kaepernick has thus far gone ignored by the NFL. Now, sports writer Mike Freeman, searching for a reason for the player's fall, ultimately decided that Kaepernick is being punished for "the crime of speaking his mind. "[For BleacherReport. com, Mike Freeman seems gobsmacked that no team has come forward to offer the 49ers quarterback a new birth. With his analysis, Freeman seems to blame the country and the NFL for being racist for not allowing Kaepernick to have unlimited success and untold accolades. Freeman also proclaims that Kaepernick is being punished for "the crime of speaking his mind. " The San Francisco quarterback became the talk of the league this season with his protests by refusing to stand for the playing of the national anthem at the start of each game. But, just as Kaepernick declared his free agency he also announced the abrupt end of his refusal to stand for the anthem. With the league's free agents signing to teams at a quickening pace, Kaepernick has thus far gone unsigned. Kaepernick, once considered an up and coming player with a bright future, helped lead the 49ers to the Super Bowl in 2012 only a year after he went pro, and then led the team to an NFC Championship the following year. Since then his playing has declined. After several seasons of lackluster play, rumors circled that the 49ers would trade him ahead of the season. Freeman even notes that some football analysts feel Kaepernick has lost a step, saying, "some teams genuinely believe that he can't play. They think he's shot. I'd put that number around 20 percent. " But Freeman goes on to claim that Kaepernick has become toxic mostly because of his protests: Second, some teams fear the backlash from fans after getting him. They think there might be protests or [President Donald] Trump will tweet about the team. I'd say that number is around 10 percent. Then there's another 10 percent that has a mix of those feelings. Third, the rest genuinely hate him and can't stand what he did [kneeling for the national anthem]. They want nothing to do with him. They won't move on. They think showing no interest is a form of punishment. I think some teams also want to use Kaepernick as a cautionary tale to stop other players in the future from doing what he did. One executive even reportedly told Freeman that Kaepernick is "an embarrassment to football. " Freeman does admit that teams may just be waiting for the most advantageous time to bid for Colin's services. But, he thinks that what is happening to Kaepernick is "highly unusual. " It all adds up to little interest in the player, "and that's putting it kindly" Freeman writes. Freeman does add a long list of reasons people have criticized Kaepernick for his play, reasons that have nothing to do with his protests. The writer says that some criticize Kaepernick's throwing accuracy, others think he isn't much of a team player because he is a moody loner, and still others say he seems out of his depth when asked to learn new schemes. Despite all the complaints about Kaepernick's play and prickly personality, Freeman finds his lack of free agency opportunity shocking. Freeman writes: Still, it's hard to emphasize how unusual Kaepernick's current situation is. If a Super Bowl quarterback can walk and chew bubble gum simultaneously, he gets opportunities. Those opportunities usually arrive until that player is totally and completely done. That's not the case with Kaepernick. So, why is Kaepernick being left behind? It's all because everyone is punishing him for "the crime of speaking his mind," Freeman thinks. Kaepernick's new agents appear to have foreseen all of this, which is why it wasn't surprising when sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter that Kaepernick would start standing for the anthem. Now, he sits. Waiting and waiting. A player whose political statement may have cost him his NFL career. With this, Freeman proves that, like many, he misunderstands freedom of speech. It is absolutely correct that Kaepernick has the right to say America has never been great, to slam our soldiers, the police, and other first responders, to tout Black Lives Matter and the like. But, it is the fans' corresponding right to decide they don't like him when he expresses those ideas. It is also highly logical for teams assessing Kaepernick's free agency to decide they don't want to bring his controversial views into their locker rooms and to assault their fans with his protests. Kaepernick has a right to speak out, but he doesn't have a right to expect no repercussions from that speech. Consider the most perfect example of cause and effect concerning the topic of free speech, when country band the Dixie Chicks went on tirades overseas against the United States in the early 2000s Then, here at home they pretty much lost their fan base because of their outbursts. Sure, the Dixie Chicks had a right to mouth off against the U. S. A. and no one said they didn't have that right. But, fans also had the corresponding right to stop patronizing their musical product, and it wasn't long before their musical career went from chart topping hits to invisible on the music scene. The reaction to Kaepernick, who said even worse things about the U. S. than the Dixie Chicks ever did, is entirely similar. Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail. com.


No trade takes place between Thailand and North Korea, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said on Tuesday, ahead of an expected visit by a U.S. envoy seeking to step up pressure on North Korea over its weapons programs. The United States has been urging Southeast Asian countries to do more to cut funding streams for North Korea as tension mounts over its development of nuclear weapons and missiles to carry them as far as the United States. Thailand guarantees ... that we have abided by the United Nations resolutions, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha told reporters at his official Government House offices. There have been reports about North Korean boats in our waters ... I prohibited them a long time ago. There is no trade ... there is no commerce, he said. Joseph Yun, the U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, is due in Bangkok this week to discuss stepping up pressure on North Korea which has been pressing ahead with its weapons tests in defiance of U.N. resolutions and sanctions. During a visit to Bangkok in August, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson pressed Thailand, the United States oldest ally in Asia, for more action on North Korea. At the time, the United States said it believed North Korean companies were active in Thailand and said it was encouraging the Thailand to close them. Following Tillerson s visit, Thailand s foreign ministry said trade with North Korea had dropped by as much as 94 percent over the previous year. It did not give any more detail. North Korea tested its most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile late last month. The U.N. Security Council is due to hold a ministerial meeting on North Korea s nuclear and missiles programs on Friday.


Inglewood, CA — On Sunday, police responded to a call of a suspicious vehicle parked on Manchester Boulevard around 3:10 am. When police arrived, they engaged in a 45-minute long standoff before opening fire on the man and woman inside the vehicle, killing them both.  In the news release on Monday, following the shooting, police claimed that the woman in the car had a gun. Scott Collins, a spokesman for the Inglewood Police Department said that the couple refused to obey the officers' commands to exit the vehicle. The officers then feared for their safety and opened fire on the car — killing the couple.  The woman was pronounced dead shortly after the shooting, and the man succumbed to his injuries after paramedics transported him to a local hospital, according to the LA Times.  The shooting seemed like an open and shut case until the next day. Mayor James Butts, while responding to questions about the shooting, opened up a huge can of worms — both the man and the woman were unconscious.  For at least 45 minutes, police attempted "to rouse" them in an effort "to de-escalate the situation," said Butts.  After admitting that the couple was asleep, Butts quickly defended the officers, noting, "Obviously at some point they were conscious because somebody felt threatened."  However, that notion has yet to be proven and is particularly unlikely due to the fact that not a single officer received so much as a scratch, nor did the couple have any reason to be violent.  Both of the victims were parents; Kisha Michael, 31, a single mother of three sons, and Marquintan Sandlin, 32, a single father of four daughters.  Michael's twin sister Trisha stated the obvious when she said that it's possible that Kisha merely passed out on the way home from their night out.  Families for both described them as devoted parents who made arrangements for care of their children while they took a night off, according to NBC Los Angeles.  "The police ain't telling us nothing," said Trisha Michael after being met with tight lips from the department.  "He was a loving father," said Sandlin's sister Leandra Faulkner. "All he cared about was his girls, getting them right."  Of course, as is standard procedure for all those killed by police, their arrest records were released to shame them. Michael was on probation for a misdemeanor last year, and 7 years ago, Sandlin was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm in Los Angeles.  According to his relatives, Sandlin had a 'rough life' but had turned it around and was working as a successful truck driver.  Sadly, these children will now grow up knowing that their parents were taken from them by cops, scared of a sleeping couple. Share Google + Concerned Citizen  Perhaps the mother had the gun on her lap for protection while they slept. At least they didn't drive drunk. These parents did not deserve to die! Mary Hagerty  Did she really have a gun, or did the cops just say that to excuse the murders of two sleeping people? Lying about weapons is a known police tactic to get out of trouble. Sometimes they go as far as to plant a weapon. Conscious  Let's say they had a gun. How did the police see it if they were asleep. Hmmm that makes it irrelevant John and Linda Robel  WHO GIVES A FUCK ABOUT "DRIVING DRUNK"? IT IS DETERMINED BY AN ARBITRARY NUMBER THAT IS EXTORTED BY THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS..WE ENCOURAGE PEOPLE EVERYDAY TO ANNUL THIS POLICE STATIST HORSESHIT. A FELONY CAN BE EXPUNGED BUT NOT A FUCKING MISDOMEANOR DUI. GET A GRIP. THIS NOTHING BUT A GOVERNMENT RACKET AND PROFFITEERING OF THE DUI INDUSTRY. Kevin Burnett  Sounds like more #blackliesmatter twits. Alan Lammle  Sounds more like #Bluethugliesmatter twits. Duryea L. Williams  Smh……ignorance is contagious Talisha Harris  No where in the article talks about that movement. From the article it sounds like innocent people, who were not armed, and who were sleep were killed. Did I miss something? Anon ymous  They may or may not have had a gun. But, having a gun is no reason for the police to shoot & kill someone. Nikkia Bailey  Maybe they were too drunk to drive Anon ymous  Black lives matter also! What part of that is so hard to understand? Kburnett isanidiot  Stop being an ignorant fuckwad racist troll, Kevin Turdnett. Philip Williams Ryan Robbins  Marie Laveaux – I'm not disagreeing with you, I just always like to see some real info before I jump to conclusions. Not just a headline. I have no idea what happened and will not put blame on either side unless I see some hard evidence. Julie Asperger  On Los Angeles local news report they said the vehicle was stopped in the middle of Manchester Blvd not parked on the side of the road. (Both are illegal) seemed strange the way it was presented to us. This makes it even weirder. I passed by and seen there is a large memorial for them. To bad there is no video to see what really happened.  Cops don't like being filmed.  For obvious reasons. Julie Asperger  Yea I was harassed by some a few years back on Hollywood Blvd and intimidated into deleting video of them using excessive force on cooperating men. I even showed them my press ID and tried to be allowed to keep the video they said fuck the press. Kimberly Reichard Emerson  The intelligent of us know we're not. I can't even comprehend what's wrong with the people here that still believe we're in "the land of the free and home of the brave". It's frightening to say the least. Shawn Soto  This is so fucked up..Wtf is wrong with people. Why can't any one just act right? All you fuckers carrying so much hate on race..it's ridiculous. I'm sick of it!! An alot if peeps, an I mean alot. Are following an feeding this shit through media an all!! I hve mad love for all race in the world. Am does any one even hve a pure blood line now a days? I think not!! So don't be fooled by just the way your skin looks!!  We all belong to the human race. There's no other race than that. Thom Prentice  nice infotisments Colin Parker  I never understood why their prior arrest recods are released, It's not admissible in any court for a current charge so why are the police allowed to use it? Alan Lammle  To help soften the public in their attempt to make them look like they did nothing wrong in shooting 2 people in cold blood… Gary Harryman  Shouldn't the records of every cop at that scene also be released? Tray Pressley  To label them as "criminals" so they can justify the murder. MarkyMark NdaHouse  To demonize the dead… jamesawyatt  AS LONG AS BUREAUCRATS ARE ALLOWED TO HIRE WITH LITTLE OR NO SUPERVISION THOSE WHO SEEK TO BE EMPLOYED AS COPS, MANY OF WHOM HAVE A HISTORY OF BEING BULLIES GOING BACK THROUGH THEIR CHILDHOOD AND WHO SEEK THIS MEANS OF FURTHERING THEIR BULLYING LUST NOW ARMED WITH IMPRESSIVE UNIFORM, SHINY NEW BADGE AND DEADLY WEAPONS AND WITH THE PRESUMPTIONS THAT THEY NOW HAVE A LICENSE TO BEAT, CRIPPLE AND SHOOT WHEN EVER AND WHOM EVER THEY PLEASE, ATROCITIES ARE EXPECTED TO BE THE NORM AND WILL BE EXPECTED TO GROW AT AN EXPONENTIAL RATE. IT IS FOREVER HOPED THAT ONE OR MORE LAW FIRMS WILL COME INTO BEING THAT WILL RELENTLESSLY UNDERTAKE THE FILING OF SUITS AND NOT ONLY AGAINS THE INVOLVED JURISDICTION AND THE INDIVIDUAL ROGUE COP OR COPS BUT THOSE WHO WERE INVOLVED IN THE HIRING OF THE COP OR COPS; THE IMPRESSION ALWAYS BEING THAT THESE WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE HIRING AND THUS ARE AS GUILTY AS THE INVOLVED ROGUE COP(S) & THEY HAVE TO BE FACED WITH THE HARSH REALITY BY HAVING LEVIED AGAINST EACH AND EVERY OFFENDER HUGH AWARDS/FINES; NOT JUST ON THE JURISDICTION, I.E. THE CITY, COUNTY, STATE OR FEDS . . . BUT ALSO AGAINST EACH OF THE INDIVIDUAL INVOLVED IN THEIR BEING HIRSD . . . AS WELL AS THE ROGUE COP OR COPS THEMSELVES AS INDIVIDUALS; THE AWARDS TO BE PAID BY THE INDIVIDUALS' BY THEIR PRORATED AWARD SHARE PAYMENT OUT OF THEIR OWN POCKETS AND ONLY A PRORATED SHARE BY THE JURISDICTION AS WHAT THE JURISDICTION PAYS WILL INVARIABLY COME OUT OF THE POCKETS OF THAT JURISDICTION'S TAX PAYERS. STIFF PENALTIES IN THE FORM OF HUGE FINANCIAL JUDGEMENT AWARDS SHOULD GO A LONG, LONG WAY IN FOSTERING AN AWARENESS BY THESE WHO HAVE ESCAPED ACCOUNTABILITY FOR SO, SO LONG OF THE POTENTIALLY VERY EXPENSIVE FOLLY OF THIS THEIR IRRESPONSIBLE ACTIONS WHICH RESULTS IN SO MUCH SUFFERING AND MANY TIME CRIPPLING INJURY AND/OR DEATH. Mary Hagerty  I agree, but please don't use all CAPS to write. It's way harder to read. Roberto Carlos Moscoso  Sadly the government insists that they want to take guns away from civilians, for only police officers have training and are responsible enough to handle guns. Yet, I've seen more mass shootings and innocent people dying in the hands of cops than in the hands of "irresponsible citizens". Crazy ah? Tracy Walling Otis  Is that true Marco Emilio Giovanni Maltese? That's truly horrifying if so. If you have a source of those statistics, I would appreciate the link for it. I know it's bad. I'm not denying that. But I am even more disgusted if it is that bad. :'(  I've read that cops killed more than 1000 people in the USA in the last 3 years. But I'm sorry I don't have the link, you can search and you will find it easily. I think USA people should be more scared of cops than of terrorists. Alain Vosselman  I'm stunned.. i can no longer believe this. This is going to be talked about in the future (if we still have one) just as we talk now about Stalin's regime… or Sadam Hussein's…. or Pol Pot. From now on even if we discover new life 100 triljon lightyears away traveling by mega-super-freak-aliesh tech vehicles.. we'll still be the most amazing embiciles of the universe. Aaron Beedle  The fact that there are enough of these stories coming from america for several to be posted everyday proves how messed up the place is. I would not want to be a black person living in america today. I wouldn't live there at all. Nothing will happen to the officers. They should be sentenced for murder, and receive a full sentence. Police officers over there intruding on people's property and killing pets, killing people just walking down the street or washing their car. I'd i was an american the only reason i'd want to own a gun was to defend my self against police officers. Ryan Robbins  You shouldn't believe everything you are reading online. It's bad right now, but it's not nearly as bad as many are making it out to be. All of these innocent victims are not nearly as innocent as they are initially made out to be. When the truth finally comes out on most of these stories, it's on page 6 and nobody takes the time to post it because it does not fuel there agenda to spread hate and prejudice. Aaron Beedle  it is true everyone has agendas… im sure there are a lot of people in general dying in america.. but i know from life that the people with the power are usually the assholes. I would say that at least 80% of all male human beings struggle to handle power reasonably. females would be close too. When it is appointed rather than earned, such as when someone is called a police officer and given a weapon that can kill people with ease, people tend to not handle it well. I heard a while ago that some parts of the world do not use equipment they would not fire at themselves. And they are made to. It teaches people restraint. Christopher Rawson  The police across America are being demonized by a sickness in the system that wants to put us against one another. That human is a human ,none of us our without fault or live life without ever feeling in over our head….possibly there is another way Tim Walker  I suppose if "everyone" voted for that one independent/libertarian candidate, then maybe we would have a fighting chance. Sadly that will never happen. The vast majority of people have been brainwashed by the two main parties. With the division they have created they can easily put in any candidate they choose, how can anyone prove that it wasn't predetermined?  I just watched a news video of this story. The mayor said the couple were passed out when police arrived. "Police spent 45 minutes trying to rouse them and de-escalate the situation". How is there a situation to de-escalate if they are passed out? 山崎 コロッケ  Ryan said nowhere in his comment that they deserved what happened. All he said was that another source had different information. If another source has clashing info, of course one of them is going to be wrong. No need to bash him. Vanessa White  Some groups must be trying to start to a race conflict and some are just happy with Anarchy. I would never call them for anything. They don't seem to know who or when to shoot. Or maybe they are all amped up on steroids all the time. pitiful. I will keep the children in prayer. Blue Thugs  All cops are cowards, never seen one that wasn't a coward and bully. One of the cops got tired of waiting and said "gun" that was all the excuse they needed to open fire. What if that was a white couple with a gun in the car,nearly everyone has a gun on person or in the car these days. What if they have a permit or concealed carry permit. Do you fucking think the cops would have fired 62 rounds into that car and killed the white couple, well do you?. If one of the thug cops did holler gun, no one can ever say anything to contradict them. Cops know if only one side is left alive, no one can say otherwise. Better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6. That is every cops motto, as they know they are above the laws for mere mortal humans. Linda Brown  Chickenshit Bullies This B.S. Has to stop. I belive all you say as I have been targeted in Canada. First Nations People,drunk & drive teens and pot smokers are all targets where I live. Every skin color fair game on last two. For sure these Peace Officers should be heald accountable face an open hearing ( open to public ) " a fair trial " and then deal with courts decision. I'm not sure if this happened to my friends it would not end in graveyard. These murders must face charges and hopefully Murder One. USN Veteran  BT, I respect your opinion however do not fully agree with you. I do know a few LEO's. Good stock. Adult Scout Leaders. And there was an Officer from my childhood past, whom mentored me. However, I can not defend other LEO's actions. I firmly believe that an armed society is a polite society.  ARIZONA STATE CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISION — Article 2, Section 26.  "The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself or the State shall not be impaired, but nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing individuals or corporations to organize, maintain, or employ an armed body of men."  Arizona respects the right of all U.S. citizens to carry a concealed handgun with or without a permit, or to carry openly while in this state. An Arizona resident permit can be obtained for the purposes of carrying concealed while in other states that offer recognition or reciprocity.  Castle Doctrine Enacted Right to Carry Confidentiality Provisions Enacted Right to Carry in Restaurants Legal Right to Carry Laws No Permit Required Right To Carry Reciprocity and Recognition Outright Recognition Right to Keep & Bear Arms State Constitutional Provisions With Provisions  As such, Arizona has fewer crimes per capita committed with a firearm as does California. How does extrapolate these facts? Perhaps as Arizonians have come to accept firearms as a know factor in their daily lives, whereas Californians do not. Perhaps California's draconian laws encroach upon human mental health? Whereby inhibiting residents of the State of California to live in fear rather than confidence?  I for one shall leave this contemptuous State, seeking solitude of which only a truly free society can bring. I shall make Arizona my final resting place. (I expect in this forum environment, there may be egregious comments to the "final resting place"). ?  I respect all of my fellow American Citizens and their Constitutional RIGHT to express their opinions, as protected by the United States Constitutional First Amendment.  USN Veteran Margie Campbell-Threadgill  Maybe I missed something in the article, but does it state that the cops fired 62 rounds in the car? If so, I missed it. Fed1718 XXX  Department of justice has statistics on police killings and being white doesn't make you immune, in fact MORE whites were killed by police than blacks in the last 20 years. Doesn't excuse this horrible murder of an innocent couple but please don't fall prey to deluded thinking that being white makes a difference. Look for yourself.  How is anyone white or black ever supposed to trust a police officer these days? Blue Thugs  Fuck you dude. My dad is a good cop and i judge his actions too. You are biased. I'm not and leave ppl alone, they never bother with flat tires so fuck off. Chris Cochran  Every single one of these cops needs to be charged with Murder, and the police need to pay to make those kids end up having a good life since they will never have their parents to give them one Gary Harryman  Yes every cop at that scene is guilty of the same crime. Since they acted as a gang, they should stand trial as a gang and all be charged with the same crime – murder. Terri Spanjer  I wish people would stop and think for a minute about how the government is ALLOWING police to murder citizens and that over the last 2 years these incidents are occurring a hundred times a year. It's all part of the Big Plan to remove ALL YOUR RIGHTS and TERRIFY YOU. … PS : Yes, 9/11 was an inside job. Think.  American cops have been given free rein to do whatever they want — The government ENCOURAGES police brutality. Lucas Vegen  I dont understand, maybe im to young, maybe the UK is completely different.  Black lives are being slaughtered even in their sleep and we sit and watch idol.  I learned at a young age. The Country will only change when its forced to, black people need to stand up, we are not shooting practice and we will raid stores, court rooms and banks in the 100's or 1000's if Money and Property is all they care about.  More may die, but we all die eventually and will die sooner if we watch idol. This is the world you want to live and raise your kids in? Really!?  This is not hate talk, but Black lives matter marches and speeches should be the calm before the storm… If they continue to kill us and our Children in our sleep. I dont think talking should be our last effort. How many more will die  It won't. They're killing everyone now. Desiree M. Mondesir  INSANE. I KNOW all cops are not like this but the ones who are…God help them. Or rather, God help the people they senselessly murder and their remaining loved ones. How on earth does a sleeping couple threaten you, causing you to "fear for [your] life"?!?! B Alan Eisen  I fell asleep in my truck on a very cold night in front of my house. A police officer wanted to arrest me for sleeping in it, but the night was so cold, he got numb hands and left. Ross Thompson Laurie Choate  this of course will be swept under the rug as quickly as possible.. they messed up bad on this one.. i would love to see the dash cams vids. but im sure that too is now gone.. very sad that we can no longer trust any person in uniform.  how does one "de-escalate" a situation where the occupants of the car are asleep? David Lynn Courtney  freaking terrible and shameful roomtempIQ  The entire legal system is skewed, in favor of those who have money. No doubt black folks are unfairly targeted/abused/killed by cops, but us poor white folks get cop abuse as well, but us poor whites don't seem to be killed by cops as often as black folks.  That being said, I recently moved to a very rural county and the Sherriff's Deputies here are stand-up good guys. They are not cowards or bullies. That is one reason I moved here. B Alan Eisen  I wouldn't compare rural life with inner city life at all. Rural people respect each other. They help each other. The police are neighbors. You can explain inner city hell to yourself. Ян Кариси  In 2015 the police in USA murdered 303 Black people and 578 White people. Total killed of all was 1140.  So far in 2016 the police in USA murdered 33 black people and 81 White people. Total killed so far as of February 27 is 166.  But, more whites than blacks you say..??? Simple, Only Black Lives Matter to the main stream media. Their mission is to promote an agenda to put us common folk against one another. Also, imagine if us whites acted like blacks when we have one of our own killed by police? When are whites going to loot and riot? Thomas Headen III  You Riot when your sports teams lose, or win, for that matter. Percentages sir, say that black men are 21 times more likely to be killed by police than white men. I think if the percentage were reversed, you would be alarmed as well. God bless. Michael McMaster  To put it in perspective, if police were shooting people in a colourblind fashion then you'd expect that for every 100 people shot, 12-13 of them would be black, and 68 would be white. Or to put it another way: Left handed people are about 10% of the population. If it turned out that year after year they were 30% of the people killed by police, it would be fair to ask why they were being singled out disproportionally. Anna Black  Whites Loot and Riot during sports. The real question is where is the All lives matter when this happens? Daniel robins one yahoo.com  Woops, they did it again. Todd Schacherl  So now sleeping while black is a capital offense? "If only they had cooperated while sleeping, they wouldn't have been shot." Is that what we are to believe? Deloren Tucker  wtf… John and Linda Robel  The Blue Code of Silence is well established and routinely used. Tim Egan wrote "Breaking Blue" a book that documents the historical corruption of these "Big Brave Heroes". Orwell was right, " BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING" and THE PIGS ARE RUNNING THE FARM". Line these POS up for the FIRNG SQUAD and make their families watch.. John and Linda Robel  KEEP VOTING FOR DEMOCRATS ALL YOU STUPID SONS OF BITCHES AND KALIFORNIACATORS. I'M SURE GOV MOONBEAM FEELS YOUR PAIN.  "must have broke the law""blue lives matter" -every cop apologist dickhead on the internet  What's wrong with the cops, they couldn't wake them up it's a shame Nancy Keys  They had me confused when they said the woman's twin sister name Kisha??? Blue Thugs  Everyone in America needs to watch the documentry/movie called " Peace Officers". I bet a thousand to a cop's doughnut there was no gun even in the car. If so it was planted after killing them probably. Stayce  Wow, I didn't know things were this bad . It just seems that being black is so wrong anymore. Why do these things keep happening? I just ask that all cops and law enforcement be mindful of what they are doing and double check their situation before over reacting. Now kids are without parents, this is ridiculous. Bless the babies and their parents. Lincoln Kirby  Huh I always thought the conscious scared the police more, i.e. Us. Oh wait they can't tell who's conscious and who isn't. Why was I born with less rights than my parents, and my younger family member born with less freedoms than I was born with? The fuck happened. Did we stop thinking. Δανιήλ Ντάνιελ  FUCK THESE KIND OF MOTHER FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT POLICE WHO ARE JUST BULLYS WITH A BADGE AND A GUN HOPE THEY ALL DIE HORRIBLE PAINFULL DEATHS PIECES OF SHIT!!!! BROKE A WHOLE FUCKING FAMILY FOR WHAT? PUSSY BITCH ASS TRIGGER HAPPY PUSSY ASS PIGS SMFH! Deloren Tucker  When r we going to start fighting back Deloren Tucker  police are only human like us Anthony Georgeson  This has to stop, this is insane 7 orphans. Unarmed people killed by those who are supposed to serve and protect, crazed gunmen killing indiscriminately. This isn't the wild west, this is a war zone. I know guns can be a tool as much as a wepon. A knife, a stick , a rock, a fist, can be a deadly wepon. How do we fix this start making every stich of clothing out of Kevlar. Replace fluoride with Prozac. Can we learn anything from places that don't have a problem like Iceland. It has to stop. The Officers involved should have been interviewed by civilians before the went to Police Academy, maybe they weren't good with serve and protect.  Show me the video! DKSMan  WTF this article is full of major inaccuracies. They weren't parked on the side of the road. They were in the middle of a major street right in front of an intersection. They didn't pull over and go to sleep. All you have to do is loom at the crime scene photos and see this article is full of false information. They had a gun on them as well. Catherine Durnford-Wang  So? For that they deserve to be shot? And they had a gun? So what, again? Aren't guns allowed under the second amendment? Zatanique  How does a sleeping couple put anybody into a state of fear for their lives? I smell a cover up of monumental proportions by the cops involved. I can't believe that they could possibly find a plausible reason to justify opening fire on these two people. Not only do I want to see a Special Grand Jury called to deal with these cops, police department and city. I want to see a wrongful death suit brought against them, the police department and the city. Because of these cops 7 children are without their parents. No amount of money is going to make that better or make up for what they did.  On what planet could you possibly justify what happened? SMH for real  I cannot even grasp this! If they were not conscious why didn't they try to make sure they were not suffering from Co2 poisoning. Oh no lets just shoot them and make up any story we like. Huh???? David Sbraga  If you only had the courage to say that to someone face, and not while 6th were hiding behind a Kevlar and screen. I'd pray for you, but I don't believe in prayer, and I don't believe it would do you any good. Mark Nasia  parents on a date, were asleep in their car? does this headline make sense, I mean, two people shot while sleeping in their car makes more sense, that date would have happened before they decided to sleep, where are the editors these days  Jevez Robinson Paul Myers  Surely the same laws should be used and Policemen and the hiring officials as is used against gangs and organised crime. Lets face it the police force is the biggest organisation of organised criminals in the world!!!  Blacks, Latinos, Asians, and Progressives must compete and vie for every civil service job. Once on, rise in rank and change The system. Genevieve Friday King  Two exhausted parents falling asleep in a car in and of itself, not news. Hell, I've been at work and college and found parents zonked out from exhaustion from parenting…..but to be executed like this???? uh, were the cops afraid the parents would wake up and ground them for a week? or a stern talking to? Johndca Marible  These cops need to stop it. So we're suppose to believe that this woman and this man with 7 children between them are in a car that late at night just waiting to threaten cops with a gun. We're REALLY suppose to believe that story? I don't understand how cops can be so afraid when they have a license to carry a gun, training on top of that, a partner, and access to call for backup. I just don't get it. If you're that afraid of a Black person on sight, then you don't need to be a police officer. You need to seek help. Last time I checked, it was Black people getting killed by the police and not the other way around. Yeah, the cops have a handful of tragedies but it cannot compare to the numbers when you talk about deaths of Blacks by police. Not by a longshot. I'm getting really tired of this and the whole USA needs to revamp its law enforcement system. You can give guns to cops who are suppose to protect and serve but where is the protection for the rest of us? Jeff Putterman


If you ve ever been on Twitter then you know that with how great it is to get and receive information and updates as they happen, with the good comes the bad. The very, very bad.One person who has recently encountered some of the bad is actress and activist Olivia Wilde. She s a huge supporter of equal rights for women and minorities, and stands up frequently against police brutality. However, she recently learned a pretty harsh truth about some of her Twitter followers.First, Wilde tweeted out how important it is to stop Donald Trump and make sure more women get into office:WOMEN CAN STOP TRUMP. Watch this VIDEO & join our movement to elect women! @emilyslist @lauradawnANW @sarahsophief https://t.co/b1boVnfOEX olivia wilde (@oliviawilde) May 23, 2016She also tweeted her reaction when learning one of the officers involved in the death of Freddie Gray was not being held accountable at all:Until the police are held accountable for violent crimes, we have no chance at peace in this country. #FreddieGray olivia wilde (@oliviawilde) May 23, 2016However, as anyone knows who frequents Twitter just even a little bit, if you tweet out something against Trump or against police brutality against people of color, you re going to get a deluge of racist replies, and probably a good dose of misogyny as well.After receiving several replies that were pretty awful and offensive, Wilde then tweeted out: You never know how many racists follow you until you post something about police brutality. Or Trump. You never know how many racists follow you until you post something about police brutality. Or Trump. olivia wilde (@oliviawilde) May 23, 2016And while not all Trump supporters are racist, if you re racist, you re probably supporting Trump. That s a pretty safe bet. And Wilde unfortunately learned the truth of that the hard way. Good on her, though, for telling it like it is!Featured Photo by Donald Bowers/Getty Images for RYOT Twitter


Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner on Friday vetoed a bill passed by the Democratic-controlled legislature in April to spend nearly $3.9 billion on state services that have not been funded due to an ongoing fiscal 2016 budget impasse. The Republican governor called the legislation "an empty promise." "The bill purports to appropriate $3.89 billion, including more than $3 billion in general funds that the state does not have, for higher education and social service providers, but provides no source of funding," Rauner said in his veto message. The political stalemate between Rauner and Democrats has left Illinois as the only U.S. state without a complete fiscal 2016 budget, operating instead on court-ordered spending and a muddled patchwork of ongoing and stopgap appropriations. Rauner called on lawmakers to pass complete balanced budgets for the current and next fiscal years, although the governor has proposed funding most fiscal 2017 services with a temporary spending plan and K-12 schools with a full-year budget. Illinois' new fiscal year begins on July 1. The Democrats' spending bill passed with enough votes in the Senate to override a veto, but fell short of that margin in the House. The measure would have sent money to cash-starved state universities and colleges, covered tuition grants for low-income college students, and funded health and human services that were not subject to court orders. The measure also appropriated about $63 million for unpaid wage increases owed to about 24,000 unionized state workers.


The number of people arrested in Britain on suspicion of terrorism offences rocketed by 68 percent in the last year to the highest figure on record during a period when the country suffered four deadly attacks, figures showed on Thursday. Statistics from the Home Office (interior ministry) showed there were 379 arrests in the year to June, up from 226 from the 12 previous months, and the most since 2001 when the data began to be collected. Britain is on its second-highest threat level, severe , meaning an attack is highly likely and 36 people were killed in terrorist incidents in the first six months of 2017. Among the arrests, 12 came after an attack in March on London s Westminster Bridge when a man drove a car into pedestrians killing four, before he stabbed a policeman to death outside parliament. Another 23 followed a suicide bombing at a pop concert in Manchester in May, and the following month police arrested 21 suspects after three Islamist militants drove into pedestrians on London Bridge before stabbing people at nearby restaurants and bars, killing eight. One arrest followed an attack in north London when a van was driven into worshippers near a mosque which left one man dead. Britain s most senior counter-terrorism officer Mark Rowley has said police have been arresting a suspect every day. He said this week that there had been a shift in the threat level rather than an isolated spike. In the three years until March this year, police foiled 13 potential attacks but in the next 17 weeks, there were the four attacks while the authorities thwarted six others, Rowley said. The pace has continued to be almost as challenging since then, he told a conference in Israel. The official figures showed that among the 379 arrests, 123 people were charged with an offense, of which 105 were terrorism-related, while 189 were released without charge.


Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner refused to step away from his stalled legislative agenda on Wednesday while insisting that a spending deal remains within reach, but his words appeared to leave his Democratic rivals unmoved. Republican Rauner and the Democratic-controlled legislature have been locked in a budget stalemate for nearly seven months. "To achieve a grand compromise, we must cast partisanship and ideology aside," Rauner told the state legislature in his State of the State address. "We must break from the politics of the past and do what is right for the long term future of our state. I'm ready, and it's my genuine hope that you are too." Rauner, a political newcomer, became governor a year ago. The wealthy venture capitalist used last year's annual speech to lay out an ambitious agenda that included business-friendly changes to workers' compensation, a freeze on local property taxes, curbs on public-sector collective-bargaining, and legislative term limits. But Rauner's so-called turnaround hit a brick wall in the legislature, where House Speaker Michael Madigan pronounced it "extreme." The stalemate has left Illinois without a budget more than halfway through fiscal 2016. About 90 percent of state government is being funded through court orders, an enacted spending bill for K-12 schools, and continuing appropriations for pensions and bonds. In a nearly 40-minute speech that drew robust Republican applause but only a tepid Democratic response, Rauner did not abandon his stalled plan and lobbed barbs at two primary Democratic constituencies. "I understand that union leaders and trial lawyers are putting pressure on you to keep the status quo, but if we don't offer a competitive environment for businesses, pretty soon the unions won't have any more jobs to unionize and the trial lawyers won't have any more businesses to sue," Rauner said, producing sarcastic laughter from some Democratic lawmakers. After the speech, Democrats continued to balk at the governor's agenda and questioned why he made no direct reference to the casualties of the budget impasse, including the state's university system, rape-crisis centers and other human-service providers that have been deprived of state funds. "I certainly would have appreciated it had he done that," Madigan told reporters. But Rauner's GOP ally, House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, dismissed the speaker's criticism. "Today is the state of the state, not the state of the budget," Durkin said. The day ended with the spectacle of the lone public Rauner sympathizer within Madigan's 71-member super-majority Democratic caucus lashing out at the speaker while appearing before reporters and carrying a red sleeping bag and backpack. State Rep. Ken Dunkin, a Chicago Democrat, used his props to dramatize his willingness to stay at the Capitol and even "shower" in the speaker's private statehouse bathroom for as long as it takes to strike a budget deal. For a deal to happen, Madigan needs to "stop holding the citizens of Illinois hostage to his political maneuvering, to his political shenanigans, and actually get things done," Dunkin said.


Voter identification laws (aka Voter ID) are an attempt by Republican lawmakers to suppress the vote with demographics that often vote for Democratic candidates young voters, minorities, the poor. Often, when confronted with this, conservatives claim that the laws are in place to protect the integrity of the ballot against so-called voter fraud, but time and time again studies have shown that voter fraud happens so infrequently it is almost nonexistent.In Wisconsin, failed Republican presidential candidate Governor Scott Walker praised the recent implementation of voter ID in Wisconsin s presidential primary. But one case shows that the law is just a fancy, modern version of Jim Crow:Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker said his state s strict new voter-ID requirement worked just fine in the April 5 primary, but thousands of Wisconsinites were unable to cast a ballot because of the new law. One of them was Eddie Lee Holloway Jr.Holloway, a 58-year-old African-American man, moved from Illinois to Wisconsin in 2008 and voted without problems, until Wisconsin passed its voter-ID law in 2011. I never miss voting, he said. He brought his expired Illinois photo ID, birth certificate, and Social Security card to get a photo ID for voting, but the DMV in Milwaukee rejected his application because the name on his birth certificate read Eddie Junior Holloway, the result of a clerical error when it was issued.The Nation goes on to report that Holloway ended up spending $200 on records, made trips between two states, and was still unable to vote in Wisconsin. The U.S. Court of Appeals is currently reviewing a case brought before it on behalf of Holloway by the ACLU. The ACLU estimates that there are thousands of people in Wisconsin who have been disenfranchised like him.This is exactly what Republicans want. They ve said it on the record, multiple times, that voter ID helps them because it suppresses the vote. Their party best succeeds when less and less people get to exercise their Constitutional rights.


France demanded on Wednesday an urgent U.N. Security Council session on human trafficking in Libya and raised the possibility of sanctions on the country after a video appearing to show African migrants sold as slaves there sparked global outrage. Convened by Italy, which struck a deal with Libya to slash the number of migrants reaching its shores, the Council on Tuesday unanimously backed a resolution urging tougher action to crack down on human trafficking and modern slavery worldwide. Speaking to lawmakers, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian suggested Paris wanted to take things further and called for an urgent session of the Council to specifically discuss the situation in Libya. Libyan authorities, who have been alerted several times, including by myself because I was there in September, have decided to open an investigation into the facts, Le Drian said. We want it to go fast and if the Libyan justice system can not carry this procedure through then we should open international sanctions, Le Drian said. Footage appearing to show African migrants sold as slaves in Libya has sparked an international outcry with protests erupting across Europe and Africa, while artists to soccer stars to U.N. officials have made pleas for the abuse to end. The video broadcast by CNN showed what it said was an auction of men offered to Libyan buyers as farmhands and sold for $400, a chilling echo of the trans-Saharan slave trade of centuries past. What has been revealed is indeed trafficking of human beings, it s a crime against humanity, Macron said during a news conference with African Union President Alpha Conde. Macron said he wanted the U.N. Security Council to discuss what concrete steps could be taken to tackle the issue. A French diplomat said the U.N. session would likely be in coming days, probably next week, and would see what concrete measures could be taken to improve the situation. Despite events in Libya, Conde put the blame firmly on the European Union, accusing it of encouraging the Libyans to keep migrants in the North African country despite there being no government. What happened in Libya is shocking, scandalous, but we must establish the responsibilities, said Conde. In Libya there is no government, so the European Union can not choose a developing country and ask that country to detain refugees (...) when it doesn t have the means to do so, he added. The refugees are in terrible conditions ... so our European friends were not right to ask Libya to keep the migrants. The European Union is responsible. Le Drian said he wanted the International Organization for Migration and the U.N. Refugee Agency to publish details about the trafficking of migrants in the country. Libya splintered along political, ideological and tribal lines during and after a 2011 NATO-backed uprising that unseated former leader Muammar Gaddafi. In 2014 a battle for the capital led to rival parliaments and governments being set up in Tripoli and the east.


The Singapore government s laws limiting critical speech and peaceful assembly are overly broad and make the country a repressive place severely restricting what can be said and published, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday. In its first wide-ranging report on Singapore in 12 years, the group called on the government to amend or repeal laws and rules that restrict speech and assembly and drop charges against individuals for peaceful speech and assembly. Singapore s Ministry of Communications and Information did not immediately have a comment on the report. The government has held the position that Singapore s laws and regulations were needed to maintain social order and harmony. The Singapore s attorney-general s office has started contempt of court proceedings against the prime minister s nephew and authorities are prosecuting a prominent human rights activist for organizing assemblies without permit. Beneath the slick surface of gleaming high-rises, however, it is a repressive place, where the government severely restricts what can be said, published, performed, read, or watched, the 133-page report said. Singapore promotes itself as a modern nation and a good place to do business, but people in a country that calls itself a democracy shouldn t be afraid to criticize their government or speak out about political issues, the group s Deputy Asia Director Phil Robertson said. Human Rights Watch called on the Singapore government to amend or repeal in entirety laws that it said were too broadly worded and used to arrest, harass, and prosecute critical voices, including the Sedition Act and the Public Order Act. The report is partly based on interviews with civil society activists, journalists, lawyers, academics and opposition politicians, many of whom declined to be identified due to fear of possible repercussions, the group said. Late in November, Singapore authorities charged human rights activist Jolovan Wham for organizing public assemblies without a police permit. In August, the Singapore attorney-general s office began court proceedings against Li Shengwu, the grandson of the country s founder, over a Facebook post in which he said the government is very litigious and has a pliant court system.


Iran is targeting about $30 billion in investment by offering 70 oil and natural gas projects to international companies as the Persian Gulf country anticipates the lifting of economic sanctions. Iranian officials presented the projects at a two-day conference in Tehran as part of an effort to attract more than $100 billion to revive the energy and petrochemicals industries and generate much-needed government income. Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh introduced them along with a new type of investor contract offering better incentives than the buy-back agreements Iran offered in the past. The work covers 52 production and 18 exploration projects, both onshore and in the Gulf and Caspian Sea. Iran is offering a negotiable framework for new oil deals rather than a uniform contract for all investors, Roknoddin Javadi, managing director at National Iranian Oil Co., said Saturday in Tehran. The government may modify the framework and plans to present more details in February at a conference in London, Seyed Mehdi Hosseini, chairman of the ministry's Oil Contract Restructuring Committee, said Sunday in an interview. Here are five things to know about this turning point in Iran's campaign to upgrade its energy industry: * The new investor contract will give companies a share of the oil they produce and let them sell it globally, Hosseini said in Tehran. International companies will be paid in cash or in kind based on a fee per barrel, Talin Mansourian, a consultant with Hosseini's committee, said Saturday. Iran would reduce the fee if oil prices fell by more than 50 percent and increase it if prices rose by a corresponding amount, Mansourian said. Iran's old buy-back deals paid companies a fixed fee regardless of how much oil they produced and offered them no incentive to exceed output targets. Buy-backs also paid no compensation to companies that spent more than budgeted amounts to develop a field. Under the new contracts, the NIOC won't limit capital spending and will approve budgets on a yearly basis, though companies still won't receive a higher fee if they produce above their output targets, Hosseini said. * The new contracts will be valid for 20 years, with possible extensions to 25 years. Buy-back agreements were limited to seven years, which wasn't enough time for companies to make adequate returns on their investments, Total SA Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne said last month in Abu Dhabi. Investors should be able to recover their development costs five to seven years after starting production, according to Iranian officials. Companies that come up empty-handed after exploring for oil or gas can search for fuel in nearby areas. Under buy-backs, they had to stick to development plans agreed upon before work began and were barred from exploring new areas. * Companies will be able to negotiate directly for some contracts, and Iran could sign its first deal as early as March or April, Hosseini said. Iran won't allow foreign companies to escape their contractual obligations if the U.S. or another party re-imposes unilateral sanctions, said Seyed Mostafa Zeynoddin, an adviser to the committee. If the UN restores sanctions, a company could claim force majeure if unable to execute a contract, he said. * International investors must team up with local partners that the Iranian government selects, and they can't own hydrocarbon deposits. Iran will let international and local companies determine the stakes each will hold in joint-ventures formed to develop fields. * Iran is preparing to start the bidding process for oil and gas rights by the next Iranian calendar year starting March 21. Companies will be asked to make bids based on a per-barrel development fee, Mansourian said. NIOC will announce other terms when it starts the tendering process in four to five months, she said.


Mayor of London Sadiq Khan called on the British government on Wednesday to make a formal apology for the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre in which nearly 400 Sikhs were shot dead by British Indian army soldiers. During a visit to the Golden Temple at Amritsar in northern India, the most important pilgrimage site of Sikhism, Khan called the massacre one of the most horrific events in Indian history. On Sunday 13 April 1919, some 50 soldiers began shooting at unarmed civilians who were taking part in a peaceful protest against oppressive laws enforced in the Punjab by British colonial authorities. At least 379 Sikhs were killed, but the figure is still disputed. It is wrong that successive British governments have fallen short of delivering a formal apology to the families of those who were killed, he said. I m clear that the government should now apologize, especially as we reach the centenary of the massacre. This is about properly acknowledging what happened here and giving the people of Amritsar and India the closure they need through a formal apology. Khan, who is from the opposition Labour Party, does not speak for Britain s Conservative government. Former Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron visited Amritsar at the end of a trade mission to India four years ago in a show of contrition over the massacre but stopped short of making a formal apology. Khan is on a six-day mission to India and Pakistan to strengthen cultural and economic ties with the British capital. The British Foreign Office said in a statement: As the former Prime Minister said when he visited the Jallianwala Bagh in 2013, the massacre was a deeply shameful act in British history and one that we should never forget. It is right that we pay respect to those who lost their lives and remember what happened. The British Government rightly condemned the events at the time.


After the election of Donald Trump many folks seem to see it as a permission slip to be as racist and vile as possible. However, here s the thing, you re still going to get called out as racist and vile. And one Alabama police officer just found this out the hard way.According to the Washington Post: Talladega Police Officer Joel Husk was terminated Wednesday for violating the department s social media and code of conduct policies, City Manager Patrick Bryant said. What did he do? So glad you asked: Husk had posted several memes on his Facebook page, including one showing Obama and Melania Trump. Fluent in Slovenian, English, French, Serbian, and German, it said over Trump s photo. Over Obama s, it read: Fluent in Ghetto. Not only that, he posted several extraordinarily racist memes:via Washington Postvia Washington PostAccording to the City Manager, the statements were deemed to be biased or racially insensitive or derogatory and because of that, they have to take action to correct it. If you re going to be a police officer and serve all the public, you can t assume black people standing up for their rights are equivalent to the KKK. That s about the most horrific equivalence imaginable.Also, according to WaPo: Husk, 37, who had been with the department for about two and a half years, had also shared a meme showing President Obama with the words: Was Dallas a terrorist attack? Yes! Carried out by Obama s own homegrown terrorist group! Which is a blatant lie and anyone who were to feel that way belongs nowhere near law enforcement. The city took the proper action letting this racist cop go, and hopefully it will be an example to police departments all over the country that this sort of behavior simply cannot be tolerated.Trump s election must not be allowed to serve as a permission slip to bigots everywhere that it s fine to be as awful as possible, because here in the land of the free and the home of the brave, everyone is protected. Everyone, regardless of color, class, gender, sexual orientation, or creed.Featured Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images


Can an elite, TV network based in Manhattan find a comfortable home at a Dallas telecommunications company led by an executive who is also the Boy Scouts of America president? Richard Plepler, the head of HBO, considered the question at his regular lunch spot — a corner table at The Lambs Club in New York. It had been a whirlwind few days for Mr. Plepler, and while the restaurant may have been familiar, little else about the week was business as usual. Five days earlier, HBO's parent company, Time Warner, agreed to be taken over by ATT in an $85 billion deal that startled the media world. Mr. Plepler met his potential new boss, the ATT chief executive Randall Stephenson, for the first time last Monday, and they spent 30 minutes chatting at HBO's headquarters overlooking Bryant Park. Still, Mr. Plepler said he was comfortable with this shotgun marriage, and for one big reason: He believes he will be able to run things the way he always has. "Randall made very clear to everybody that what they are buying they look at with enormous respect and admiration, and the last thing they have any interest in doing is messing with a winning game," he said on Thursday. Will it be that simple? HBO, which also has operations in Los Angeles, is a creature of its coastal milieu and creates shows like "Game of Thrones" and "Westworld," the kind of entertainment that appeals to viewers with a tolerance for amoral protagonists and graphic violence. It is also home to the liberal host Bill Maher, and the British comedian John Oliver, who delights in skewering powerful corporate interests on his show "Last Week Tonight. " The premium cable channel is an unabashed big spender, too, throwing lavish parties and dinners at places like the Museum of Modern Art in New York City or the Hotel du Cap in Cannes, and flying actors, directors and writers across the country. ATT, though, will have $175 billion or more in debt on its balance sheet if the proposed merger is completed. "One is a connectivity sales company and another is an entertainment provider," said Gary Arlen, the head of Arlen Communications, a research firm that examines the media and telecommunications industries. "ATT has a history as being a public utility. It's bland and very vanilla. HBO is showbiz all the way. " Over a plate of chicken paillard last Thursday, Mr. Plepler acknowledged that assimilation would take some time. "Obviously when you get to know people, there's a learning curve on both sides," he said. But he said that for HBO and other parts of Time Warner to thrive, "you have to have a Chinese wall between the creative process and everything else. " For its part, ATT has contended it would stay out of the way. "I know they're different cultures, and we'll be protective of the cultures to ensure we don't destroy the business," Mr. Stephenson said at a conference conducted by The Wall Street Journal last week. "We'll have the experts that know to run these businesses running these businesses. " If the deal is not blocked by regulators, ATT will acquire not just HBO, but also CNN and entities like TBS, TNT and Warner Bros. which earn billions in revenue. But HBO is the crown jewel of Time Warner's media properties, having won more Emmys than any other network for 15 consecutive years. Now, however, HBO faces increased pressure to find new hits and pick up new subscribers when there is more competition than ever in television. There are examples of peaceful transitions when a nonmedia company acquires a content company — like Comcast's ownership of NBC Universal, which has gone smoothly — but others have created headaches. Universal Pictures, for instance, has endured many owners, including bankers (Standard Capital) liquor moguls (Seagram's) and cable pioneers (Comcast). When it was owned by General Electric, about a decade ago, executives at the film studio were required to attend Six Sigma sessions — which involve meticulous business analysis exercises — in Crotonville, N. Y. to their extreme displeasure. When Columbia Pictures was owned by in the 1980s, it had hits like "Ghostbusters" and "Tootsie," but the studio was banned from showing soft drinks, and executives chafed under Coke's expectations about profit margin, according to "Hit and Run," a 1996 book about the movie industry by the entertainment reporters Nancy Griffin and Kim Masters. Still, the ATT is certainly no stranger to enormous acquisitions — and bringing in a company, however different, is nothing new. "At ATT, there's a culture within consumer marketing and there's another culture in the engineering area, but there is mutual respect," said James Cicconi, a former longtime ATT executive who ran external affairs and retired last year. "The same thing would be true for more creative areas or companies like an HBO. ATT is pretty sophisticated in terms of acquisitions and the importance of being able to integrate. " As a subscription service that does not rely on ratings for revenue, HBO depends on generating excitement, striving to place its shows at the center of the cultural mainstream. It willingly approves big budgets to ensure high production quality and attract top talent, a practice that has allowed it to forge strong relationships with prominent actors, writers and directors. While many television networks now shoot in Canada because it is cheaper, for instance, HBO does not. The reason? Most actors prefer to avoid making the trip. When HBO made the film "Clear History," Larry David's 2013 comedy, the comedian requested that the network add a few million dollars to the budget. They gave it to him. He asked if the movie could be shot on Martha's Vineyard, where he has a home. They did it. "If we make an investment, whether it's a screening or an event, it's about enhancing our brand and elevating our brand," Mr. Plepler said. He said he would "be very surprised" if ATT did not embrace that. There are other questions about melding the two cultures. HBO has a proudly progressive view of the world, and its prominent dramas feature plenty of violence and sex. It is also willing to take risks. Michael London, a producer of "Confirmation," an HBO original movie that recreated the Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas hearings, said in an interview this year that the filmmakers "knew it would be difficult and challenging to tell the story within a corporate environment with legal threats and telephone calls. HBO is fearless. " If ATT gets someone complaining on the phone, will there be bigger problems? "HBO has succeeded on their terms, but ATT plays a much larger game," said Bill Miller, a prominent lobbyist based in Austin, Tex. "HBO plays to their hometown, but ATT plays to a national audience where half of them aren't progressive, and that puts them in a bit of a bind potentially. As soon as people feel unhappy or victimized, they'll hear a lot about it. That's what elected officials do: They complain. But for now, it is time for the honeymoon, with Mr. Stephenson, the telecom executive and Boy Scouts president, and Mr. Plepler, the consummate media executive, developing a relationship in real time. At the conference in California last week, Mr. Stephenson said he would visit the Warner Bros. studio later that day. And then, making light of their distinct sartorial preferences, he quipped: "I'm going to unbutton my shirt like Richard's over there. "


The DeKalb County Georgia School Superintendent, Stephen Green, has issued a warning to all teachers against making statements in support of President Donald Trump or his policies. Since the warning was given, two teachers have already been forced to tender their resignation.Via World Net Daily: Green is now taking it a step further, warning teachers not to inject their personal beliefs into the classroom if they line up with those of the president of the United States.Green told a local newspaper, the Champion, that his Jan. 30 statement sought to grant students assurance that DeKalb County Schools officials remain committed to being culturally responsive, diverse and supportive of DeKalb County s immigrant population. Our schools will be safe places for learning and teaching, he wrote in the statement. We will not tolerate any form of bullying or discrimination on or off district property that interferes with learning or the rights of others. Apparently teaching jobs in some Georgia public schools now include furthering the superintendent s personal political views.(Source: The Gateway Pundit)


A senior official in South Africa s ruling ANC said on Wednesday the party must act against those involved in corruption, and that the issue was damaging its image. Zweli Mkhize, seen as a potential candidate to replace President Jacob Zuma as African National Congress head at a party conference in December, made the remarks at a mining conference in Johannesburg. Mining executives, bankers and investors have all expressed growing concern about governance in Africa s most industrialized economy. Zuma, who must step down after a general election in 2019, is the focus of numerous corruption allegations, making the issue a touchstone for those keen to rid the ANC of his influence. Many of the allegations are linked to a slew of leaked emails, which Reuters has not independently verified, that point to the Gupta family, business friends of Zuma s, using their influence to secure lucrative state contracts for their companies. Zuma and the Guptas have consistently denied allegations of wrongdoing. As a party, we should act on those who are involved ... Those emails have come with a lot of revelations, Mkhize, a straight-talking medical doctor, told the conference. Zuma is also under pressure to establish a commission of inquiry based on a report released last year by an anti-graft watchdog into allegations that brothers Ajay, Atul and Rajesh Gupta swayed the appointment of ministers. If there is a proper judicial commission of inquiry, we should be able to put this issue to rest. This is one of the major issues inside the ANC, said Mkhize, a member of the ANC s Top Six leadership group. Mkhize said the graft allegations around the Guptas - widely referred to in South Africa as state capture - were a concern to the ANC because of their effect on the image of the organization . We do not have something that indicates that the ANC itself is captured, he told Reuters. Mkhize told the mining executives that the ANC was concerned about tensions between the industry and the mining ministry. The sides are locked in a bitter legal battle over revisions to an industry charter, which include raising the level of shares that blacks should own in mining companies. Mkhize has said he is available to be a candidate for the presidency if ANC branches choose him. Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of the conference, he said it was too early to gauge his level of support. The frontrunners are former cabinet minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Zuma s ex-wife and preferred successor, and Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, who has also spoken out strongly against corruption. Analysts have said Mkhize, who hails from Kwa-Zulu Natal, Zuma s home province, could emerge as a compromise candidate.


MONTERREY, Nuevo León — Authorities in this state have arrested one of the men allegedly responsible for having robbed, kidnapped and murdered two beer delivery men earlier this month. [As Breitbart reported, since early February, families from Nuevo Leon have been reporting robberies at gunpoint by highway men. The robberies and kidnappings have taken place along the highway and near the international bridges in Reynosa. The crimes have also been reported near the city of San Fernando, Tamaulipas, along the roads that connect Ciudad Victoria with the Texas border. Recently, Jose Alberto Torres Gomez and Romel Guadalupe Cano Hernandez, both beer delivery men with the Cuauhtemoc Moctezuma beer company, had left the warehouse in San Fernando, Tamaulipas. The two employees were making their regular beer deliveries when they were kidnapped. Three days later, authorities in Nuevo León received a phone call about two bodies dumped near the 30 kilometer marker along the highway that connects China, Nuevo Leon, with Mendez near the Tamaulipas border. The men's clothing, along with their physical appearance, helped Nuevo León's ministerial police connect the bodies with the kidnapping report. Relatives of the victims took to social media for information about the fate of their loved ones. A law enforcement official with the Nuevo León Attorney General's Office revealed to Breitbart Texas that the beer delivery truck had a GPS tracker which helped authorities locate the vehicle in the town of General Bravo. Based on the investigations of the case, authorities in this state were able to arrest Ricardo Gonzalez Flores near General Bravo. Gonzalez remains in police custody on two homicide counts and one count of robbery. Authorities revealed that they are working on arresting a second gunman tied to the case. Gonzalez is also under investigation for his role in the theft of fuel in the region. Such acts have long been used by Mexican cartels to supplement income. Editor's Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to the Mexican States of Tamaulipas, Coahuila and Nuevo León to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities. The writers would face certain death at the hands of the various cartels that operate in those areas including the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas if a pseudonym were not used. Breitbart Texas' Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and in their original Spanish. This article was written by Tony Aranda from Monterrey, Nuevo Leon and "J. M. Martinez" from Piedras Negras, Coahuila.