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As seen on The Five Police Group Boycotts Ben & Jerry's After Black Lives Matter Endorsement As more women come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against Donald Trump, the Republican nominee is lashing out at the mainstream media, which he claims is running with this "total fiction" to distract from Hillary Clinton's scandals. At a rally in Greensboro, N.C., Trump said these accusations are part of a conspiracy involving the Clinton campaign and what he called “the corrupt media.” Greg Gutfeld agreed with much of Trump's assessment on "The Five" today, saying, "The media wants Hillary to win. There's no doubt about that." Judge Jeanine on Trump Accusers: 'All on One Day? It's a Little Too Convenient' Gutfeld explained that Trump has actually been "set up," as he was given countless hours of coverage and "billions of dollars of free media," only to have the rug pulled out from under him. "The media ... [and] Hillary and Obama, they knew elevating Donald Trump - giving him an air of respectability in the press, as well - turned him into the Republican nominee. Then, out came the knives." Watch the co-hosts of "The Five" discuss above, and let us know what you think in the comments. New WikiLeaks Bombshell: Clinton Aides Discussed 'Emails to and from POTUS'

Donald Trump is a pathological liar. All those who support him are being lied to daily. Once again, Trump has told his gullible supporters that we are letting people in by the thousands who are not vetted and that we don’t know who they are. Refugees must first apply to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which collects documents and performs interviews. Less than 1 percent of refugees get approved for relocation. If they are approved, they are referred to the State Department to begin the vetting process. More information is collected and they are put through security screenings from the National Counterterrorism Center, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. Be the first to know when big news breaks Recaptcha requires verification. protected by reCAPTCHA Privacy - Terms Privacy - Terms If the refugee is Syrian, they must go through another layer of security, which includes further checks by a special part of Homeland Security, the USCIS fraud detection and National Security directors. There, interviews with USCIS officers would take place and fingerprints run through biometric databases of the FBI, Homeland Security and Department of Defense. If all these are passed, health screenings take place. Then refugees are enrolled in cultural orientation classes while information continues to be checked. This process typically takes 18 to 24 months after applying to the UN. This is the most vigorous vetting anyone has ever faced to enter the U.S. Donald Trump is trying to instill fear in the gullible supporters that he has. He has lied about his health records, his tax returns, President Obama’s birth certificate, election fraud (31 cases of voter impersonation in over 1 billion votes) and hundreds of other things, and those who choose to believe him either don’t care about his lies or aren’t smart enough to find out the truth for themselves. Danny Duncan Palmetto

Former FBI Assistant Director James Kallstrom weighs in on significance behind the FBI reopening the case against Hillary Clinton. The FBI announced Friday afternoon it will reopen its investigation of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private e-mail server during her tenure as Secretary of State. The decision comes as the FBI said it is reviewing new information related to the original case. James Kallstrom, former FBI assistant director, discussed the news on the FOX Business Network. “These guys that run the FBI now came to the conclusion that they look like absolute fools and that they’ve done a horrible job, they’ve thrown the agents under the bus, they discredited the FBI’s reputation,” he told Neil Cavuto. “And I can tell the people listening to you, it’s not the FBI agents, believe me. It’s two or three people at the top of the FBI.” Kallstrom believes the government agency shouldn’t have started an investigation in the first place if it didn’t meet certain guidelines. “If they were not ever going to impanel a grand jury, that means you really don’t conduct a criminal investigation. You don’t have subpoena power, you don’t have warrants. That was apparently apparent early on in this investigation. I would’ve liked to have seen somebody with the integrity not to just conduct an investigation that doesn’t meet any of the criteria of how the FBI operates,” he stated. He added: “I suspect that they never had a really bonafide investigation because the Justice Department wouldn’t let them do it.

Britain has to tell the EU that it wants to go by invoking Article 50 of the EU rulebook for the first time in history. Article 50, which is set out in the Lisbon Treaty, is the legal mechanism for the withdrawal of a member state from the EU. The use of Article 50 will start the timer on a two-year process of exit talks over Britain’s political divorce from the 28-member bloc. At the end of the two-year period, Britain will be expelled from the EU unless member states unanimously decide to extend the deadline. The new Prime Minister Theresa May has said that she will trigger Article 50 before the end of March 2017. But the process could be delayed because the Government is being forced to get approval from Parliament in order to do so. The Supreme Court has held up a High Court decision that the use Article 50 needs to be agreed by Parliament to the delight of EU voters. Pro-EU will be given a fresh opportunity to try and block Brexit by voicing their concerns in the House of Commons and Lords. There are fears that Brexit could be delayed until after the German election in autumn 2017 or even postponed indefinitely. There is no timescale for how soon after a referendum Article 50 must be invoked. But the British Government is under pressure to start the process as soon as possible in order to put an end to the uncertainty that has engulfed Europe. The European Council has said: “We now expect the United Kingdom Government to give effect to this decision of the British people as soon as possible, however painful that process may be. “Any delay would unnecessarily prolong uncertainty. “We have rules to deal with this in an orderly way. Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union sets out the procedure to be followed if a member state decides to leave.” Fri, June 24, 2016 The EU referendum result is not legally binding so in theory Parliament could ignore the will of the people by deciding to stay in the EU. This is because Parliament is sovereign and the EU vote was an “advisory referendum”, as opposed to a “binary” referendum which has a fixed outcome. Therefore the EU referendum legislation does not force the Government to automatically take Britain out of the EU. But the political reality is that Theresa May's Government has no choice but to follow through on the electorate’s wishes. Politicians have repeatedly stressed that there was “no going back” if the British people voted to back Brexit in the referendum.

A photo of empty bus seats caused a heated debate on Facebook because people thought they saw six women in burqas. The image was shared to a Norwegian anti-immigration group with the question: “What do people think about this?” Members sounded off, saying things like: “It looks really scary, should be banned. You can never know who is under there. Could be terrorists with weapons.” “Get them out of our country, those who look like collapsed umbrellas. Frightening times we are living in.” “I thought it would be like this in the year 2050, but it is happening NOW!!!!” The user who posted the photo wanted to show people the dangers of jumping to conclusions and spreading fake news. Norway's right-wing government recently proposed a law that would ban Muslim women from wearing full face veils in schools.

What if Idaho sends a message to the rest of the country that we value and respect everyone, especially women, minorities, veterans and the disabled — those denigrated and disrespected by the Republican candidate for president. Idahoans stand for fairness, civility, kindness and compassion. Let go of your ties to the Republican Party for this election and vote for Hillary Clinton and for all the other Democratic nominees. It’s time to stand for fairness. Voting along party lines just to vote for the party does not make sense in this election. Vote Democratic. Barbara A. Elliott, Boise Be the first to know when big news breaks Recaptcha requires verification. protected by reCAPTCHA Privacy - Terms Privacy - Terms

Las Vegas police confirmed the man they believe to be responsible for killing more than 58 people is Stephen Paddock. Here's what we know about him. - Stephen Paddock is a 64-year-old white male. - Paddock was not known to the federal authorities, but was known to local law enforcement. - He lived in Mesquite, Nevada with Marilou Danley on Babbling Brook Ct. Police are searching his house. NBC reporting #LasVegas shooter as Stephen C Paddock who looks to be living at this address with Marilou Danley who Police are searching for pic.twitter.com/Ib1FQMhDBC - Police said that Ms Danley was seen sitting with the suspected shooter in a car before the incident and they are searching for her. She is described as an Asian female who is 4'11". - He was found on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Casino. Police said he had numerous weapons with him. - Police believe he killed himself in a hotel room before they found him. Marilou Danley who #LasVegas police are searching for in connection to the #mandalaybay shooting has previously been to events at hotel: pic.twitter.com/djBDEmHKU0 - Police believe this was a "lone wolf" attack and he was the only shooter. Over 58 people died and more than 500 were injured after a gunman opened fire at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival which was taking place across the road from Mandalay Bay on the famous Las Vegas Strip. This makes it the biggest mass shooting in US history.

North Korea must denuclearise the peninsula amid World War 3 scares, Counsellor to the President, Kellyanne Conway has warned. Speaking to Fox News, Donald Trump’s top aide said: “Well the President’s position, our position on North Korea has never changed. “He continues to apply maximum pressure.” Ms Conway added that the United States is “very happy” to see a more unified effort against Kim Jong-un’s regime. She said: “North Korea must denuclearise the peninsula region and we’re very happy that there seems to be a more unified international effort in this regard, in that pursuit. “You see the United Nations resolution on December 22, very recently, you see the previous resolutions unanimously in support of the United States position with respect to North Korea." Mr Trump’s aide added that North Korea is a threat to the entire world, not just the US. She said: “This is key because this President has made clear from the beginning and constantly throughout the first year of his presidency that a nuclearised North Korea is not just a danger and a threat to America, and to any freedom and democracy loving people, but to the entire world and the world is responding.” It comes after President Trump threatened North Korea with his "much bigger and more powerful" nuclear button following menacing undertones in Kim Jong-un's speech on New Year's Day. Mr Trump wrote on Twitter: "North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the 'Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.' "Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!" North Korea has been fanning fears of World War 3 by refusing to heed calls for denuclearisation – with leader Kim engaging President Trump in an escalating war of words. But Kim appeared to offer an olive branch to neighbouring South Korea – a close US ally – by suggesting North Korea could use the 2018 Winter Olympics to organise diplomatic talks with Seoul to defuse tensions with the international community.

The FBI just blew the Hillary Clinton case wide open she could literally be going to jail. FBI just dropped could put her in the category of bonafide traitor. FBI uncovered Russian bribery plot before Obama administration approved controversial n-u-c-l-e-a-r deal with Moscow. Senate Judiciary opens probe into Obama-era Russian uranium bribery… PAPER: Stunning cover-up

Jemele Hill in September 2016. Jemele Hill, the outspoken host of ESPN’s 6:00 p.m. SportsCenter, called President Donald Trump a “white supremacist” on Twitter. ESPN later posted a statement, saying her comments “do not represent the position of ESPN” and she knows her comment was “inappropriate.” The White House called Hill’s comments a “fireable offense.” The 41-year-old Hill has been hosting the 6:00 edition of SportsCenter, dubbed SC6 with Michael Smith since February. Hill and Smith previously co-hosted Numbers Never Lie and His & Hers before they were promoted to the flagship show. You can follow Hill on Twitter. Here’s what you need to know about Hill’s politics and her latest brush with controversy. Hill’s tweet about Trump was posted late on September 11 after she retweeted a The Hill article about musician Kid Rock, who has been teasing a run for Michigan Senator after launching KidRockforSenate.com in July. The article is about Rock’s long Facebook post about the “extreme left.” ““Pretty funny how scared I have them all and their only agenda is to try and label people / me racist who do not agree or cower to them,” Rock wrote. “He loves black people so much that he pandered to racists by using a flag that unquestionably stands for dehumanizing black people,” Hill wrote, referring to the singer’s use of the Confederate Battle flag. After a back-and-forth with other Twitter users, Hill wrote, “Donald Trump is a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/ other white supremacists.” Hill also tweeted other messages about Trump. “He is unqualified and unfit to be president. He is not a leader. And if he were not white, he never would have been elected. He has surrounded himself with white supremacists — no they are not “alt right” — and you want me to believe he isn’t a white supremacist?” She went on, “Trump is the most ignorant, offensive president of my lifetime. His rise is a direct result of white supremacy. Period. The height of white privilege is being able to ignore his white supremacy, because it’s of no threat to you. Well, it’s a threat to me.” “Donald Trump is a bigot. Glad you could live with voting for him. I couldn’t, because I cared about more than just myself,” she wrote. After the tweet gained attention in the conservative media, ESPN issued a statement. “The comments on Twitter from Jemele Hill regarding the President do not represent the position of ESPN,” the statement reads. “We have addressed this with Jemele and she recognizes her actions were inappropriate.” Hill has continued to Tweet, but on other subjects. Hill has made her politics clear on her Twitter page. She has a tweet with photos of her 2015 and 2016 visits to the White House to meet President Barack Obama pinned to her page. Twitter users frequently complain to her, and she typically responds. In January 2016, ESPN issued a memo to employees to avoid making political comments. Since then, Sage Steele lost a hosting position after writing that she was sad to see the “joy” in the faces of anti-Trump protesters. Curt Schilling was famously fired in April 2016 for an offensive post about transgender people. After the Pulse nightclub shootings in Orlando in June 2016, when a man killed 49 people inside a gay nightclub, Hill wrote, “So in a country where we have done everything possible to undermine the LGBTQ community, we are suddenly lecturing Islam on homophobia. Oh.” Forbes asked ESPN PR why Hill wasn’t fired after that message. A spokesperson told the magazine that Hill’s statement wasn’t a violation of the 2016 memo. ESPN has been dealing with subscriber losses for some time, and its apparent liberal slant on politics has taken the blame in the media. Conservatives point to Schilling’s firing and Caitlyn Jenner receiving the Arthur Ashe courage award in 2015 as examples. Not firing Hill for her comments will certainly not help. SportCenter‘s Linda Cohn also admitted that politics are hurting ESPN. During a conference in June, Hill defended the coverage of political topics, noting that the athletes they cover have made it difficult to avoid politics. “I just hadn’t noticed the correlation between us being called more liberal as you see more women in a position on our network… as you see more ethnic diversity, then all of a sudden ESPN is too liberal. So I wonder, when people say that, what they’re really saying,” Hill said, reports Yahoo News. “The other part of it is that we’re journalists, and people have to understand, these uncomfortable political conversations… the athletes are dragging us here.” Hill continued, noting that they never asked Colin Kaepernick to kneel during the national anthem and they didn’t expect Gregg Popovich to go off on Donald Trump during press conferences. “You have athletes saying they’re going to the White House, not going to the White House, that’s all sports news,” Hill continued. “It didn’t just start with this generation of athletes, it’s always been that way. Sometimes when I hear a viewer say they don’t want their politics mixed with sports, I say, ‘What did you think about Muhammad Ali?’ And then all of a sudden it’s glowing praise.” Hill made similar comments in an interview with Newsday. “Whether we want to discuss it or not, athletes are dragging us into these conversations,” Hill said in January. “It’s not that Mike and I wake up one day and say, ‘Hey, today we’re going to be MSNBC.’ It’s usually based off a news story that is relevant to sports.” Hill has been at ESPN since 2006, when she joined EPSN.com as a columnist. Over time, she began appearing on ESPN TV shows, including First Take, Outside the Lines and others. A short time after she was hired, she spoke with the Columbia Journalism Review about being a young, black female journalist and the reaction you get when you write about race. “Any time you write about race, people get incensed,” Hill said in 2006. “I recently wrote a column saying that there is just as much evidence against Lance Armstrong as there is [against] Barry Bonds, and part of the reason there is this extraordinary benefit of the doubt extended to Lance is because he’s white. That’s not the overwhelming reason, mind you. Just a factor in the whole equation. I got a ton of mail about that one, even though I posed the racial element in the next-to-last graf of the column.” In 2011, she started the His & Hers podcast with Michael Smith, which soon replaced Smith’s Numbers Never Lie in 2013. They continued hosting the show until they moved to SportsCenter. Their part of the show is known as SC6 With Michael And Jemele. The Los Angeles Times reported in March that Smith and Hill signed new contracts, even as ESPN had its massive lay-off earlier this year. Hill told Dan Patrick that their contracts weren’t up for another year when they were approached to host SC6. “The fact that they asked us to do this, that’s a key part of it. This was not our plan. We were about a year out from our contract being up,” Hill said in January. “We knew that they liked us and wanted us to keep doing our thing. We were of the mentality that we were just going to be His and Hers. And what were things that were needed to improve that? And the way it just kind of happened caught us by surprise.” In 2008, Hill had her first brush with controversy at ESPN. The Detroit native compared rooting for the Boston Celtics instead of the Pistons to “saying Hitler was a victim.” “Rooting for the Celtics is like saying Hitler was a victim. It’s like hoping Gorbachev would get to the blinking red button before Reagan. Deserving or not, I still hate the Celtics,” Hill wrote. Hill was suspended for a week and the statement was taken out of her column. She also wrote an apology. However, this was actually just the start of another controversy, as ESPN’s Lou Holtz made a similar remark later that year. He apologized too, but wasn’t suspended. In an interview with Deadspin, Hill shrugged it off. “Many have said that ESPN treated me unfairly. The 64,000 question: How do I really feel? My initial answer is a story, or rather, a moment,” she told Deadspin in 2008. “A couple years ago, I was visiting the Poynter Institute, one of the foremost journalism think tanks in the country, and I sat in on a session taught by one of my favorite columnist and people, the Washington Post’s Sally Jenkins. A student asked her if she ever got upset when other writers rewarded — particularly if she knew they weren’t as good. And Sally said — and I’m paraphrasing here — that she always prided herself on keeping her eyes on her own career. That’s my answer. That’s how I feel.”

Linda Gibbs died on 31 August aged 70. She was told her cancer diagnosis was terminal on 14 July. Hours after receiving the news, she was called by someone claiming to be from her telephone provider who told her a direct debit payment had failed. She gave them her bank details and PIN number and was told someone would come and collect her card to sort the payment out. A woman arrived at her home in Nuneaton and collected the card, which was then used to buy thousands of pounds worth of jewellery. Warwickshire Police have released photographs of a woman they want to interview in connection with the investigation, who, they say, may have been wearing a wig at the time the pictures were taken. Mrs Gibbs' daughter, Anita Foxley, said: "My mum was very vulnerable after being told she had terminal cancer and to be targeted by these people is unforgivable. The extra stress this put on her life in her last days was unbearable. "When they targeted her... she must have been at the lowest point that she's ever been at... I imagine that they preyed on that. Obviously they must have been very convincing, and mum must have trusted them," she added. "I would really like to see justice served on the woman who came to my mum's door that day." Kevin Knight, of Warwickshire Police, said: "These types of heartless criminals regularly prey on the most vulnerable members of the community and in this case they have targeted someone who had just received the most awful news. "You can only imagine the impact this had on the final weeks of Mrs Gibbs' life and the anger it continues to cause her family. We believe the woman in these photos has information that will be vital to our enquiries. Please bear in mind that she might be wearing a wig," he added.

Susan Rice has a unique gift to make the news every time she speaks. Instead of looking in the mirror and considering her ill-advised statements about the cause of terrorism and a deserter’s supposedly meritorious record, this time she blames the backlash on the intersection of race and gender. In short, she claims she is being attacked because she is a black woman. In reality, she is being attacked because she is a ridiculous partisan hack, whose disconnect from basic facts and ability to repeat the most ridiculous spin and talking points from the Obama administration is as ridiculous as it is stunning. If we measured political ability by a person’s capacity to say laughable talking points with a straight face, Susan Rice has to be the politician of the century. She first made the news when she commented on the 2012 attacks in Libya that killed the US ambassador and 3 other Americans. Hillary Clinton’s State Department emails (the ones that weren’t illegally deleted of course), revealed that she told multiple people almost immediately that the events in Libya were terrorist attacks. But in public, Susan Rice went on five Sunday talk shows to claim they attacked in response to a video even though it was plainly obvious to anybody watching that there was more to the attack than a video. The next time she resurfaced she tried to defend Bowe Bergdahl, an army soldier captured by the Taliban. When the Obama administration secured his release Susan Rice again went on morning talk shows. This time she said he served with “ honor and distinction.” But this was completely outrageous because most of his comrades said he defected to the enemy and the army court martialed him for desertion. The trade also sparked a significant debate over the wisdom in trading one (subpar) soldier for five terrorists. Now she has resurfaced again. Her name has entered the conversation in regards to the so-called Russian hacking of the election. Among all of the arguing, Susan Rice admitted to being one of the individuals that unmasked figures in the Trump campaign. Unlike the hysteria over little more than innuendo linking the Trump campaign with Russia, unmasking can be a serious crime. As a result she has been the subject of intense disagreement and scrutiny. Despite regularly sticking her foot in her mouth and repeating talking points that have tenuous connections to reality, she now blames much of the backlash on racism and sexism. An independent prosecutor will investigate the matter and all related issues. Until then, I’m marveling at the utter ineptness of Susan Rice. She supplies so many howling and guffaw inducing talking points but does it with such sincerity and a straight face that I almost wish she would be in the news every day. To have a partisan hack that is willing to spy on their political enemies and fall on their sword must be important for Obama and Clinton. But she also supplies her own daggers every time she speaks.

Original report: Web hosting company GoDaddy is booting the Daily Stormer, a neo-Nazi website, over an inflammatory post about the woman killed in the deadly car attack on people protesting a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. According to CBS News, GoDaddy announced the move after receiving complaints about an article on the site that made derogatory comments about Charlottesville victim Heather Heyer's appearance and views. "We informed The Daily Stormer that they have 24 hours to move the domain to another provider, as they have violated our terms of service," GoDaddy tweeted from its verified account. We informed The Daily Stormer that they have 24 hours to move the domain to another provider, as they have violated our terms of service. Hours later, a post appeared on the Daily Stormer claiming that hacking group Anonymous had taken control of the site and would shut it down within 24 hours. "THIS SITE IS NOW UNDER THE CONTROL OF ANONYMOUS," the post read. "WE HAVE TAKEN THIS SITE IN THE NAME OF HEATHER HEYER A VICTIM OF WHITE SUPREMACIST TERRORISM." Anonymous tweeted that it had "no confirmation" that its hackers were involved and suggested that the Daily Stormer was behind the stunt. We have no confirmation that "Anonymous" is involved yet. Looks more like a DS stunt. Wonder if they are having issues finding a new host. https://t.co/ikXXRBfC5p Anonymous later added, "To be clear, we're saying they weren't hacked. This is DS lying in an attempt to play victim to their audience later." To be clear, we're saying they weren't hacked. This is DS lying in an attempt to play victim to their audience later. © 2018 Cox Media Group.

A Muslim man was shocked to have his request for a judge to acknowledge Sharia law denied in court. Nadir Ibrahim Ombabi, a Minnesota taxi driver, was killed in a car accident. Following his passing, legal proceedings began to determine a settlement for his spouse or surviving family. A wrongful death suit was filed, in which Ombabi's estate was rewarded $183,000 to go to his wife. Ombabi's brother, Hasameldin Ibrahim Imbabi, subsequently disputed the ruling on the grounds that the money should be distributed to his family in accordance with Sharia law. One of the specifics of that argument was that the men should receive "twice the share of the female." "[The brother] further asserts that “the principles of the private international law should have been applied from the beginning since the law of all parties (the decedent, his widow and decedent[‘s] next of kin) is the Islamic Law and they are all Muslims and follow the specifics of the religion.” … [The brother’s] main assertion of error appears to be that the district court should have applied Sudanese Islamic law instead of Minnesota law when distributing the wrongful-death settlement proceeds…. [He] also asserts that the district court erred by refusing to honor a legal declaration issued by the Sudanese Family Court in Khartoum regarding distribution of the wrongful-death settlement proceeds under Sudanese Islamic law," court documents stated, the Washington Post reported. The judge, however, denied the man's argument due to lack of legal representation and specious arguments. Many reader applauded the judge's decision to reject Sharia law. "Muslim man has no grounds to stand on with that, Sharia Law has NO place in this country ... these people need to get it through their thick skull that the US Constitution which is law of our land and Sharia Law does not and cannot co-exist in our land!" one Newsiosity reader commented on the site's Facebook page. "Welcome to America. If you want to immigrate here and live here then follow our laws and rules. "When in Rome Do as the Romans Do " You are in our country .. respect the laws here or go back to your original country. This an example of what is totally wrong with this country now Everyone who comes here wants America to accommodate them and expect us to change . Not happening," another added.

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - California is now officially a "sanctuary state" after Governor Brown signed controversial State Senate Bill 54 which limits local law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration authorities. SB 54, called the California Values Act, was hard fought in the state legislature on its way to the Governor's desk over the issue of public safety versus protecting people living in California illegally. SB 54 protects jail inmates from being held in custody until immigration agents can come and pick them up regardless of their immigration status. The California State Sheriff's Association strongly opposed SB 54 saying, among other things, it protects so-called non-violent offenders including gang members, drug dealers and sex offenders from deportation. SB 54 also protects illegal immigrants from deportation while at public schools, hospitals and courts. "Today I am very pleased to announce the governor of the great State of California, Governor Jerry Brown, signed Senate Bill 54, the California Values Act", said Democrat Senator Kevin De Leon of Los Angeles who introduced SB 54 earlier this year in response to the Trump Administration's immigration policies, "our President is pursuing biased law enforcement policies based on the principles of white supremacy." In a written statement after signing SB 54 into law Thursday, Governor Brown said the California Values Act "does not prevent or prohibit ICE or the Department of Homeland Security from doing their own work in any way. This protects public safety and ensures that hard working people who contribute to the state are respected." The Trump Administration has been threatening to withhold federal funds from states that declare themselves as sanctuaries. The California Values Act takes effect January 1, 2018.

* [http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/midwest/ct-wisconsin-voters-pro-trump-america-20170207-story.html Rural Wisconsin voters await economic revival in a part of now pro-Trump America]. This article is from the ''Chicago Tribune''. Published on February 7, 2017 and written by '''Claire Galofaro''' of the ''Associated Press'', it is based on interviews with former Obama voters who then voted for Trump in [[Crawford County, Wisconsin]].([[Crawford County, Wisconsin|Crawford County]] is one of twenty-three [[Pivot Counties in Wisconsin]].) * [http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/midwest/ct-wisconsin-voters-pro-trump-america-20170207-story.html Rural Wisconsin voters await economic revival in a part of now pro-Trump America]. This article is from the ''Chicago Tribune''. Published on February 7, 2017 and written by '''Claire Galofaro''' of the ''Associated Press'', it is based on interviews with former Obama voters who then voted for Trump in [[Crawford County, Wisconsin]].([[Crawford County, Wisconsin|Crawford County]] is one of twenty-three [[Pivot Counties in Wisconsin]].) +::*Ms. Garafola also wrote ''[https://apnews.com/7f2b534b80674596875980b9b6e701c9 How a community changed by refugees came to embrace Trump]'' for the Associated Press on April 19, 2017 about [[Androscoggin County, Maine]] and ''[https://apnews.com/21cc9528cabd4578996c3f118d8d656f Trump won places drowning in despair. Can he save them?]'' on August 19, 2017 about voters in [[Grays Harbor County, Washington]]. * [http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/02/donald-trump-support-popularity-vigo-county-214774 I'm Still All Trumped Up]. Politico Magazine; February 13, 2017; author '''Adam Wren'''. This article is about [[Vigo County, Indiana|Vigo County]], which is one of five [[Pivot Counties in Indiana]]. * [http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/02/donald-trump-support-popularity-vigo-county-214774 I'm Still All Trumped Up]. Politico Magazine; February 13, 2017; author '''Adam Wren'''. This article is about [[Vigo County, Indiana|Vigo County]], which is one of five [[Pivot Counties in Indiana]].

Mr. Trump says Mrs. Clinton wants “amnesty for everybody, come on in, come on over.” Mrs. Clinton said that she had helped eight million children obtain health coverage, Sept. 11 responders receive medical care and children get safer medicines. Mr. Trump said Mrs. Clinton ignored 600 requests for increased security from J. Christopher Stevens, the ambassador to Libya, and communicated only with Sidney Blumenthal. Mr. Trump accused Mrs. Clinton of being there for President Obama’s “line in the sand” in Syria. She said she wasn’t. Mr. Trump, referring to the effect of Nafta and other free-trade agreements, said, “We lost our jobs.” Mr. Trump said that the United States signed a “peace treaty” to bring an end to the civil war in Syria. Mr. Trump admitted that he used a $916 million loss declared on his 1995 tax returns to avoid paying federal income taxes. But he refused to say how many years he paid no income tax and simultaneously claimed to have paid a “tremendous” amount of taxes. Mr. Trump said we have hundreds of thousands of people pouring into the United States from places like Syria, and we have no idea who they are. Mr. Trump said that growth is “down to 1 percent” and that taxes in the United States are the “highest in the world.” “Since the Great Recession the gains have all gone to the top.” Mr. Trump said “maybe there is no hacking,” in response to Mrs. Clinton’s claim that Russians are engaged in an unprecedented effort to influence the election — on Mr. Trump’s behalf. Mr. Trump said that Mrs. Clinton “wants to go to a single-payer plan” like the health care system in Canada. Mr. Trump said “many people saw” bombs all over the apartment of a couple who committed the terrorist attack in San Bernardino, Calif. Mrs. Clinton deleted 33,000 emails from her private server even after she got a subpoena from Congress. Mr. Trump said that a Clinton associate pushed the “birther” notion against Obama in 2008. Mrs. Clinton said there was no evidence her email has been hacked by a foreign power. Former President Bill Clinton was impeached, lost his law license and paid an $850,000 fine to Paula Jones. Mr. Trump accused Mrs. Clinton of laughing about getting a man acquitted of raping a 12-year-old girl. When Mr. Trump was asked whether he has kissed women or groped women without consent, as he claimed on a recently released video, Mr. Trump said no, he had not. Mr. Trump said that Obamacare is leading to insurance rate increases that are “astronomical.” Mr. Trump said that last year, the United States had a trade deficit of $800 billion.

SEATTLE - Three brothers in their 70s and 80s have been arrested in Seattle for allegedly possessing images of child-sex abuse with police still investigating them, according to Seattle Police Department. >> Read about the latest in the investigation here On Aug. 19, Seattle child sex crime detectives say they acted on a tip from a relative who arrived to clean out the garage of the brothers. The relative called 911. At the home, detectives collected a staggering amount of child porn. They also found evidence of the sexual exploitation of young girls as well as children's worn clothing and underwear, children’s shoes, toys and movies. Homeland Security's Internet Child Exploitation team assisted in the search, which involved digging for potential buried evidence under locked sheds and garages. Neighbors in the quiet Green Lake neighborhood along Northeast 59th St.Street say they always wondered about the dilapidated house and the three guarded, mysterious Emery brothers who lived there since 1962. "I've never seen a girlfriend, a wife, a woman of any type visit that house," said Don Smith, who lives next door. Seattle police say the brothers, ranging in age from 78 to 82, began molesting their own sister and eventually molested other young relatives for decades. None of them had ever married, none had their own children or many relationships outside their own siblings. Police arrested 82-year-old Charles Lee Emery in a Queen Anne nursing home. Eighty-year-old Thomas Edwin Emery and 78-year-old Edwin Harold Emery were arrested at their home. Scroll down to read about the manifesto. Detectives say Charles, Thomas and Edwin sexually molested young relatives for years, and collected pictures and even children's shoes. But detectives say it was Charles' "manifestos" about Satanic rituals, kidnapping, raping and killing girls that led them to dig under sheds, searching for evidence of potential murder. Detectives say one of Charles' writings was found buried and partially burned -- along with a child's hat. "Their writings express desires to kill children," said Capt. Mike Edwards, who leads SPD's Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force. The search extended from the home in the Green Lake neighborhood to another home the brothers owned 90 miles away in Shelton. "It's very clear that these three individuals have an obsession with young female children, they've had this obsession for most if not all of their lives, and they acted on it," said Edwards. Charging documents indicate SPD detectives questioned Edwin Emery and his relatives about child porn found on his computer in 2013, but no charges were ever filed. Now detectives are hoping to identify the children in the photos and they hope to find victims who may have been molested decades ago and never came forward. Neighbors have been wondering exactly what happened in this home since investigators swarmed the home over the weekend. The new details Seattle police and court documents revealed leave them stunned. For decades, neighbors didn't think much about the three brothers who've lived there for 55 years. “I just thought they were harmless weird old guys,” said Julie Vandenberg, who lives directly across the street. Neighbors saw the investigators in hazardous materials suits and police bring out box after box of evidence on Friday and Saturday. Watch coverage from our report over the weekend below, scroll down to keep reading. “It was shocking. I didn’t know what to think,” said Smith, who watched investigators work late into the night Friday from his home next door. “It’s way worse than I thought. It is sickening, it's really sickening,” Vandenberg said. “Something happened to little children here - it sounds like little girls, and that's horrific.” Neighbors say many young children live on the block. The neighbors say they wish they would've noticed some sign earlier, about what was going on in the house but they're just glad the three brothers aren't there to victimize kids any longer. Neighbor Don Smith said he was surprised the allegations were kept quiet for so long. "I mean, to be next door to these guys for all these years, if. If they're going out every day and doing something like that, I was like, wow. This is too much" © 2018 Cox Media Group.

A couple of weeks ago, after the row over Trump "fat-shaming" Alicia Machado, I suggested the Republican candidate lay off our weight. Now, and I can hardly believe I'm having to write this, I suggest he lay off our vaginas. The day after a video tape emerged in which he suggested he could have any woman he wants because he's a star and so could just "grab them by the pussy", Mr Trump is in a whole ocean of hot political water. Enough, quite possibly, to sink any chance he had of winning the White House. Why this tape - and not the myriad other controversies that have dogged him in recent weeks? First, analyse what he actually says. There is something particularly sexist, I'd say abusive, about this recording. Read this excerpt: "When you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything." "Whatever you want," the interviewer says. "Grab 'em by the pussy, you can do anything," Trump replies." It's the way Mr Trump reveals that he sees women as a piece of sexual meat, something he wants, grabs, discards that is so damning. Surveys (US government and UN) suggest one in five American women are the victim of rape or attempted rape and a staggering 83% of girls suffer sexual harassment at school. Mr Trump is not guilty of either of those but his language is exactly the kind of language that encourages men and boys to feel it's okay to abuse women. There is a violence in the phrases "grab 'em by the pussy" and "you can do anything" that any victim of abuse would recognise and that most women would find sickening. To dismiss the tape as mere "locker room banter" and imply that the people who are offended are making an unnecessary fuss, or to say, as he did in his bizarre overnight apology tape, that this is just a distraction, compounds his problem. But this tape doesn't just offend women, judging from the reaction in the Republican party - it has offended a lot of men too. Whether those men will now withdraw their endorsements of him is yet to be seen. Mr Trump has denigrated people before. His comments about Muslims and Mexicans have arguably been equally grotesque and many, including some Republicans, have suggested they disqualified him for the presidency too. Not everyone in America, however, knows a Muslim or a Mexican. Most people, and most voters, do have wives, mothers, sisters or daughters and that's why this tape touches a nerve, with both sexes, in a way his previous remarks haven't. Powerful men using their position to get sex is nothing new, even in the White House. JFK and Bill Clinton paved that path. Today some of Trump's supporters are making the case that anyone who voted for Bill Clinton has no right to be offended by Donald Trump. I've been critical of Mr Clinton's treatment of women, and of Mrs Clinton's role in shielding him, but those supporters are missing the point. In 2016, don't we all want more from our leaders than another man who feels getting sex from whoever they want, whenever they want is simply one of the perks of power? For my two daughters, I know I do. How Mr Trump manages the fallout from this isn't clear. He doesn't like apologising. Indeed, he has bragged about never doing so. Yet overnight he did release a video statement in which he said: "I said it, I was wrong, and I apologise." In the tape he then goes on to attack both Clintons' records. So on Sunday night, when he debates with Hillary Clinton for the second time, will he raise the issue of Bill Clinton's affairs and Hillary's role in discrediting the women involved, or will he keep quiet about sex altogether? In the past Mr Trump has not been able to resist lashing out when he's under attack. So, whatever his advisers may caution, I suspect we will see more of that in St Louis on Sunday night.

HUNTINGTON BEACH (FOX 11 / CNS) - New video has emerged showing what happened before the shooting took place that left a man dead in Huntington Beach on Friday. A Huntington Beach police officer fatally shot a suspect outside a 7-Eleven store Friday in a confrontation that was caught on video and posted online. WARNING: VIDEO CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES AND CONTENT The shooting occurred about 9:30 a.m. outside the store at 6012 Edinger Ave., where the suspect got into a scuffle with the officer just before the shooting, according to a Huntington Beach Police Department spokeswoman. The suspect later died at a hospital, police said. It happened fast, and like most everything these days, was captured on cell phone video by a bystander. A Huntington Beach Police Officer, in a violent struggle with a man outside a 7-11. The man appears to be a transient, and what spurred their initial interaction is still not clear. After a few seconds of fighting...the two pull away, the man appears to have something in his hand. What it is is not clear. The officer, a few feet away, takes aim with his handgun and fires, once...twice...7 times. The suspect at first takes the shots standing up, then crumbles to the ground. It's quite graphic, quite real, and quite dramatic. In fact, we don't even want to show it on TV it's that violent. The suspect would later die at a hospital and per protocol, the Orange County Sheriff is taking over the investigation. What made this all the more scary was that diagonally across the street is Marina High School. Police ordered it ''locked down'' and immediately cell phones lit up with texts and emails between parents, students, and administrators. There was confusion and near panic among some over reports that there was an active shooter on campus, which there was not. Why? Well, it appears that the shooting happened adjacent to a shopping center called 'Marina Village'. On campus there's an area referred to as ''The Village", so reports of a shooting in ''The Village" or at "The Village'' led to understandable confusion. Yet one of the benefits of social media and that fact that every student has a cell phone, is that the accurate story got out there quickly and students and parents worst fears were calmed within minutes. Cell phone video of the shooting was posted on Twitter, showing the officer firing five shots at the suspect, who stumbles, collapses against a wall of the convenience store, then crumples to the ground.

As previously reported, embattled Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein is the subject of a devastating expose detailing decades of sexual harassment. Donald Trump Jr. trolled Hillary Clinton on Saturday in a viral tweet. “Weird, Hillary has been really quiet about Harvey Weinstein. You would think she would be all Over this. #WhatHappened?” Weird, Hillary has been really quiet about Harvey Weinstein. You would think she would be all Over this. #WhatHappened? — Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) October 7, 2017 But Don Jr. wasn’t finished yet. Donald Trump Jr. challenged sometime comedian Jimmy Kimmel to share his thoughts on liberal icon and sexual predator Harvey Weinstein. Sponsored Sponsored

You know it's an election year when the President of the United States is tweeting about the NFL's referee apocalypse. NFL fans on both sides of the aisle hope the refs' lockout is settled soon. -bo Obama's Twitter feed then pointed to a recent telephone interview with WTAM-AM in Cleveland, in which the POTUS pined for the return of locked-out officals. "But one thing I got to say, though, is it just me or do we have to get our regular refs back?" Obama asked WTAM's Bill Willis ( via the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel). "I can't get involved with it, but I'm just expressing my point of view as a sports fan." In a potentially related story, Mitt Romney has dropped Paul Ryan as his running mate in favor of Ed Hochuli. Follow Dan Hanzus on Twitter @danhanzus.

Mr. Trump said that health insurance premiums were “going up 60, 70, 80 percent,” and “next year, they’re going to go up over 100 percent.” Tens of thousands of Syrian refugees “who are definitely ISIS-aligned — we now have them in our country.” Mr. Trump said a cease-fire agreement between the United States and Russia allowed Russia to control more territory in Syria, because the Russians outplayed the United States. On projections that Mr. Trump’s proposals would raise the national debt, he said that “they’re wrong because I’m going to create tremendous jobs.” Mr. Trump criticized the Obama administration’s support of publicizing in advance the Iraqi-led attack on Mosul, which just began. Mr. Trump said the nuclear deal with Iran will “absolutely” let it obtain nuclear weapons. Mrs. Clinton said Mr. Trump tweeted that the Emmy’s were “rigged” when he did not win for “The Apprentice.” Regarding Mrs. Clinton’s private email server, Mr. Trump said that “she’s guilty of a very, very serious crime.” Mr. Trump asserted that $6 billion went missing from the State Department while Mrs. Clinton was secretary of state. Mrs. Clinton said that when her husband, Bill Clinton, was president, the fiscal position of the federal government improved: A $300 billion budget deficit turned into a $200 billion surplus, she said. And, she added, “we were actually on the path to eliminating the national debt.” Mrs. Clinton said Mr. Trump didn’t even raise the issue of the border wall with the Mexican president, since he choked. Mr. Trump said Mrs. Clinton deleted 33,000 of her private emails after she got a subpoena. When asked about the many women who have come forward to allege they were kissed or groped by Mr. Trump without their consent, Mr. Trump said the stories were largely debunked. “We’ve lost our jobs. We’ve lost our businesses. We’re not making things anymore.” Mr. Trump suggested that South Korea and Japan do not pay any of the costs of maintaining American military bases on their territory. Mrs. Clinton said her fiscal plan “doesn’t add a penny to the debt.” Mrs. Clinton said that Mr. Trump’s economic plan “might lose 3.5 million jobs” while giving tax cuts to people at the very top. “People are going to pour in from Syria — she wants 550 percent more than Barack Obama.” Mrs. Clinton said that Mr. Trump is willing to “spout the Putin line” and “get help from him” in the election. Mr. Trump said “our country has no idea” if the Russians are responsible for the emails published by WikiLeaks. Mr. Trump said that Mrs. Clinton’s support for abortion rights would allow a fetus to be ripped from a woman’s womb in the ninth month of pregnancy, in some cases just a few days before a baby is born. Mr. Trump said Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was forced to apologize for negative comments about him. Mrs. Clinton said the Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court allowed “dark money” to stream into politics.

NEW YORK (KGUN9-TV) - Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva has been released from police custody following his arrest in New York Tuesday. The Tucson area legislator was part of a group sitting in the street in front of Trump Tower. He was involved in a demonstration protesting President Donald Trump's plans to end DACA; the order from then-President Obama protecting from deportation undocumented people who were brought to the U.S. when they were too young to have decided on their own to come to this country. Grijalva was charged with two counts of disorderly conduct---one for disrupting traffic, one for refusing to disperse. A public information officer for New York Police says the Congressman was fingerprinted and given paperwork instructing him to appear before a judge at a future date. Police arrested ten people in all. Grijalva has been a vocal critic of President Trump and his policies, and a strong advocate for protecting DACA recipients from deportation.

Heading into Election Day 2016, the Donald Trump campaign has a very specific path to 270 Electoral College votes. In order to win the election, Trump must win nearly every single battleground state and retain every state that Mitt Romney won in 2012 as well. Plus, there are a few states that Trump is hoping to flip from blue to red. So what exactly are the states that Trump needs to win if he hopes to become president? First, there are 21 states that Donald Trump will win essentially by default. These are the states that traditionally always vote for the Republican candidate, and they add up to 163 Electoral College votes. If Hillary Clinton were to somewhat win in just one of these states, it would be a complete shock. The states are: Then there are two states that usually vote for the Republican candidate but where Hillary Clinton has actually been somewhat close in the polls. Still, it seems likely that these states will stay red as they have been for a long time, but it’s necessary for Trump to defend himself here if he wants to win the election. Those states are: If we add these two states to Donald Trump’s column, plus all the traditionally red states, the Republican nominee is now at 190 Electoral College votes. He needs 80 more votes to become president. What remains are six battleground states that could realistically be won by either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. Those battlegrounds are: All of these states add up to 80 Electoral College votes, meaning that if Trump wins all of the states we have mentioned so far, he hits 270 electors exactly, and he becomes the next president of the United States. The state that Donald Trump absolutely must win in order to be elected president is Florida. Technically Trump can win without it, but the path would become so narrow as a result that it’s almost impossible to imagine Hillary Clinton not winning if she turns Florida blue. If Florida is called for Hillary Clinton on the evening of November 8th, you can essentially consider this the announcement that Hillary Clinton has won the presidency. Florida is worth 29 Electoral College votes. Really, though, Trump does not have much wiggle room, and so basically all of the six battleground states – plus one battleground district – are must wins for him. Because the aforementioned path is so narrow, the Trump campaign is also looking at a fourth category, states that are leaning towards Hillary Clinton and that traditionally vote blue but that Trump hopes he can turn red. Winning any one of these would dramatically increase his odds of victory, as they would give him some room to lose another battleground state but still win the election. Winning any of them would also start eating into Hillary Clinton’s path rather than simply forging Donald Trump’s. Those blue states, accompanied by the lead Hillary Clinton currently has in the polls according to Real Clear Politics, are: To summarize, with each of the battlegrounds (Florida, Iowa, Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Ohio) losing one means Trump must make up for it by winning a combination of blue states (Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin) . If Trump loses a single battleground but does not compensate for it with a victory in a blue state, Hillary Clinton wins the election. And if Trump loses two battleground states, that will be almost impossible to recover from. With that in mind, here are a few scenarios, albeit somewhat unlikely scenarios, where Trump could recover from the loss in a battleground state. Read more about Donald Trump and Melania in Spanish at AhoraMismo.com: Join over 240,000 people who get the most important news stories and the best shopping deals from Heavy – Delivered right to your inbox.

A "Muslim migrant" beats up a boy on crutches in a video posted to a site in the Netherlands. On 29 November 2017, United States President Donald Trump retweeted three videos from Jayden Fransen, the deputy leader of the far-right anti-Islam organization Britain First who was found guilty of religiously aggravated harassment in November 2016. As this group has a penchant for sharing out-of-context, misleading, and false information, it wasn’t surprising that at least one of these videos, which purportedly shows violent acts committed by Muslims, had a misleading caption : Although the video is frequently accompanied by the caption “Muslim migrant beats up Dutch boy on crutches,” there is no evidence to support this assertion, which in fact came, like so many other unfortunate assumptions, from its comment section. This video was first posted to the web site Dumpert.nl, a popular video portal in the Netherlands, in May 2017. Although the original posting largely focuses on the act of hitting a person on crutches, and it was not shared with any claims about the attacker’s religion, some people on the comment section naturally — and baselessly — assumed that the perpetrator was Muslim. As the video was reposted to other web sites, the unfounded claim that the attacker was a Muslim migrant followed it. Shortly after this video was posted to Dumpert.nl, Dutch police officers were able to locate the attacker and arrest him. A news report from the Telegraaf identified him as a 16-year-old boy from Monnickendam. The report made no mention of the boy’s religion. Further, when this months-old video was brought back into the spotlight in November 2017 thanks to a retweet from President Trump, Dumpert.nl posted a short article that mocked Trump for sharing the video: (By the way, fake news! Dader was geen moslim en geen immigrant. Maar leuk geprobeerd Trumpie) (By the way, fake news! Perpetrator was not a Muslim and not an immigrant, but nice try Trumpie) Geenstijl, the web site that operates Dumpert, also stated that the attacker in the video was not a Muslim: Moreover, the perpetrator was not a Muslim, let alone a migrant, but simply a Dutchman. The official Twitter account of the Public Prosecution Service of North Holland also disputed the claim that the attacker in this video was a Muslim migrant. In a message posted on 29 November 2017, they explained that the video showed a May 2017 quarrel between two minors. The attacker, who was born in the Netherlands, was placed in the HALT Program, an alternative settlement for young first time offenders: A video has been shared on twitter in which an argument between two underage boys can be seen. This incident took place in May of this year. The public prosecution service Noord-Holland has studied the file submitted by the police. (1/2) The suspect, who was born and raised in the Netherlands, received a HALT settlement ( https://t.co/w62MNOFvug). This has been successfully completed. (2/2) The Netherlands Embassy in the United States also took to Twitter to tell to President Trump that “facts do matter” and that the attacker in the video was not a Muslim migrant: . @realDonaldTrump Facts do matter. The perpetrator of the violent act in this video was born and raised in the Netherlands. He received and completed his sentence under Dutch law.

UPDATE: 09/12/17 This morning Walt Disney World opened its gates to all four theme parks to guests. Even though the parks looked immaculate, several attractions were closed today (or delayed) due to debris caused by Hurricane Irma. We walked around Magic Kingdom to see if we could identify the causes behind these delays. Walt Disney World Railroad has trees down across the tracks. Tom Sawyer Island is also currently closed due to Hurricane Irma’s after effects. Jungle Cruise has also been reported as needing at least a week to remove the debris before it can be operational. ********************************************************* Hurricane Irma passed over Walt Disney World last night and has since turned into a Tropical Storm. Florida curfew remains in effect until 6pm today for Osceola and Orange counties. Approximately 300,000 are without power in Orange Country alone. Luckily we have not heard of any of the Walt Disney World Resorts losing power overnight. WFTV 9 ABC News reported earlier this morning seeing a “load” of tour buses pass them by. It appears they were carrying linemen to EPCOT to help get the power back on. Lights remain on at Walt Disney World and damage appears minimal https://t.co/qpSXVU9KVo pic.twitter.com/7bSh2epOuP — WDWMAGIC.COM (@wdwmagic) September 11, 2017 Overall it seems that Walt Disney World had relatively minimal damage and the lights remain on. Disney World is still advising their resort guests to remain in their room/building and will notify everyone once the curfew is lifted. Let’s take a look at photos from the different resorts this morning post-Hurricane Irma. Please be patient as some pictures take a bit to load. Tree down @WaltDisneyWorld #caribbeanbeachresort . Just one of #IrmaWDW damages. pic.twitter.com/pPOr6It8ud — mike feltner (@MikeyzDead) September 11, 2017 — mike feltner (@MikeyzDead) September 11, 2017 Caribbean Beach has some tree damage The aftermath of #HurricaneIrma, here at Disney’s Port Orleans French Quarter. Quite a few trees down. 🌳 #LiveFromWDW pic.twitter.com/PztJf5mKj9 — CafeFantasia 💫 (@CafeFantasia) September 11, 2017 Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – French Quarter has quite a few trees down. — Stuart, Becky & Leo (@StuartBeckyLeo1) September 11, 2017 Here's a look behind Disney's Contemporary Resort this morning: #HurricaneIrma pic.twitter.com/Dc3P0xveLG — Attractions Magazine (@Attractions) September 11, 2017 Very minor damage this side of the Animal Kingdom Lodge Savannah, already seen park rangers out surveying damage too pic.twitter.com/9yxSkBww1V — shook in wdw 🌈 (@carackobama) September 11, 2017 Contemporary Resort and Animal Kingdom Lodge Savannah both look like they fared pretty well through the storm. From tiki man's pageOasis pool at the Polynesian pic.twitter.com/1s6EMOxtdb — Ed @ Baylakes edge (@DisneyMoose) September 11, 2017 Watching this tree fall last night at our hotel at Disney. FInally seeing itthis morning, lucky it went the other way! @WFTV @BShieldsWFTV pic.twitter.com/wMLYD7wAgD — Katie Herron (@Nsgirlkt) September 11, 2017 Polynesian seems to have been hit worst. Trees are down but it doesn’t sound like any hit the buildings. — Theme Parks & Beyond (@ParksandBeyond) September 11, 2017 All-Star Music Resort has seen its share of tree debris as well. We will continue to update this page as we receive additional information on the state of the Walt Disney World Resort this morning. Stay Tuned! Are you ready to start planning your amazing Disney vacation? Our friends at MickeyTravels (designated with Platinum Earmarked status by Disney) can help! Click Here for your FREE No Obligation Quote from one of their Authorized Disney Vacation Planners. Ready to experience Disney for yourself? There are still fantastic 2017 Summer and Fall packages to be had. Click here or send an email for a FREE, no obligation quote with an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner. Want more help planning your next Disney vacation? As an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner, my goal is to help you plan the Magic your way. I create customized itineraries, book advanced dining and FastPass+ reservations, monitor for discounts for your vacation, and much much more! And did I mention that my services are FREE? Get in touch toll-free at 1-800-454-4501, via email at mickeytravelssarah@gmail.com or follow along on Facebook. Thank you for visiting Chip and Co - Your home for the best in Disney News!

Following a deadly shooting in Las Vegas that has left more than 50 people dead and over 200 injured, celebrities are taking to social media to express their grief. Authorities shut down part of the Las Vegas Strip and Interstate 15 after receiving reports of an active shooter at the Route 91 Harvest festival, near the Mandalay Bay Casino at about 10:10 p.m. local time. Sheriff Joe Lombardo of Las Vegas Police confirmed at a news conference that the shooter had fired from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay. He said officers responded and the suspect was dead. Jason Aldean was performing as the shooting began. On Instagram, he said he his crew members were safe and that he was "heartbroken." "Tonight has been beyond horrific," he captioned a picture of the city. A post shared by Jason Aldean (@jasonaldean) on Jake Owen, who was slated to perform ahead of Aldean Sunday called the event "unimaginable." "Please pray," he tweeted. Praying for everyone here in Vegas. I witnessed the most unimaginable event tonight. We are okay. Others arent. Please pray. Chris Young tweeted that he clung to "the floor of a trailer behind the stage" and later added that he felt "lucky to be alive." Spent I don't know how long on the floor of a trailer behind the stage... know multiple people are dead. Listening to that gunfire... I'm not gonna say anything else other than I'm lucky to be alive. As are many others... and so many people are gone... this is heartbreaking Little Big Town performed at the same festival a year ago, and tweeted out their prayers. One year ago we played Route 91 on Sunday night. Our prayers are with all the first responders, artists, crew and mostly the country fans. pic.twitter.com/CTGg7Qm6MJ Brad Paisley dedicated his prayers to those at the festival and tweeted, "There are no words right now that suffice." Praying for everyone at #HarvestFestival. There are no words right now that suffice. Miranda Lambert said her heart had been broken. Charles Kelley of Lady Antebellum tweeted that he was, "Praying 4 everyone in the country community & everyone at the scene. My heart is sick over the news in Las Vegas. Praying 4 everyone in the country community & everyone at the scene. Kelsea Ballerini thought of "the fans who came to sing and dance and be free and happy." Just sad. And so sorry for the fans who came to sing and dance and be free and happy. thinking of everyone there & my friend @Jason_Aldean. Those outside of the country community were also in mourning. Celine Dion, who has a residency at Caesars Palace, said that she was "Praying for all the innocent victims and their families." Praying for all the innocent victims and their families in Las Vegas - Céline xx... #LasVegas Mariah Carey offered her thoughts to those affected. "Praying for everyone's safety," she tweeted. Horrified to hear about the shooting in #LasVegas. My thoughts are with the victims and their families. Praying for everyone's safety 🙏💔 Trey Songz, who tweeted he was in Vegas at the time of this incident, offered his prayers and shared that he and his team were safe. Don't even know what to say. To be in Vegas while this is happening, brings a pain to my heart. My team and I are safe Thank God! Prayers up Ne-Yo, who is from Las Vegas, called the news "crazy" and hoped people could "stay safe." Hearing crazy news coming out of my hometown... Las Vegas, please, stay safe. Kendra Wilkinson, a co-host of a show at Paris Las Vegas, said she was "absolutely sick to my stomach." No words, just absolutely sick to my stomach.... Vegas be safe. Prayers to victims. 😔 A befuddled Paris Hilton asked, "What is our world coming to?!" I can't believe what just happened in Las Vegas! What is our world coming to?! 😭 My prayers go out to the victims & their families. 🙏 Ruby Rose expressed her deepest condolences. "I'm so sorry for what is happening right now," she tweeted. "It is horrific just to see the videos.. I can't imagine what you are feeling." Vegas keep safe. I'm so sorry for what is happening right now. It is horrific just to see the videos.. I can't imagine what you are feeling. Sam Smith described the scene as "horrifying," adding his "heart and soul is with all the victims & their families and friends." Horrifying scenes in Las Vegas. My heart and soul is with all the victims & their families and friends. Everybody please stay safe. With tears in his eyes, DJ Steve Aoki told viewers in a video with a Henderson, Nev. geotag to "check on each other" and "stay indoors." Khloé Kardashian exlaimed, "Things have got to change!" This is heartbreaking to learn about! Things have got to change! 🙏🏽 Mandy Moore called the news "devastating." Las Vegas. No words.💔 Victims and their families are in our thoughts and prayers. This is absolutely horrific and devastating. Actress Holly Marie Combs took a stand against automatic weapons, writing, "My only thought is that amount of rounds in automatic rifle should not be available or made or allowed." I am at a loss watching Las Vegas. My only thought is that amount of rounds in automatic rifle should not be available or made or allowed. Assault rifles were on Sheryl Crow's mind. "Can we discuss the loss of rights of people going to a concert because of the lack of assault rifle regulations?" she tweeted. Can we discuss the loss of rights of people going to a concert because of the lack of assault rifle regulations? Chloë Grace Moretz called the Las Vegas police members who responded "true (heroes)." A post shared by Chloe Grace Moretz (@chloegmoretz) on

She’s young, attractive, articulate, conservative, and black! Candace Owens is surely the worst nightmare of the hard-Left wing of the Democrat party. For decades, those folks have taken the black vote for granted. Now blacks are waking up, and that could spell doom for Democrats — hence their “interest” in Latino-Americans, especially illegal immigrants. In the 2-minute video above, hear Candace’s advice and warning for Latinos — namely, don’t be scammed by Democrats the way that America’s blacks have been. Check out her longer speech too (below) given to the Conservative College Student Action Summit in January, 2018. She explains clearly how Democrats are eyeing illegal immigrants as the most promising new voting livestock for their Big-Government-Dependency Plantation. Owens’ message isn’t new, but her youth and style makes her among the best to reach America’s young people, no matter what identity group the Democrats assign them to. Thomas Sowell is fantastic, but he cannot reach young people the way Owens can. Via WFP

A Grain of Saul is a weekly column that digs into some of the biggest issues we face as a nation and as an international community in search of reliable data, realistic solutions, and — most importantly — hope. More and more women are reporting that Harvey Weinstein harassed or sexually assaulted them. After an explosive piece in The New York Times, which cited several women's firsthand accounts of Weinstein's alleged "sexual harassment and unwanted physical contact," it appears the dam has broken. Yesterday, a piece in The New Yorker quoted nearly a dozen on the record firsthand accounts of Weinstein's harassment and sexual assault and included never-before-heard audio recordings from a New York Police Department sting operation in which Weinstein appears to admit to groping model Ambra Battilana Gutierrez. Although Weinstein apologized in a statement for at least some of the behavior referenced in the New York Times article, he denied the sexual assault allegations following the New Yorker piece's release. That piece, a gut-punch for anyone holding out hope the worst wasn't true, was notably written by journalist Ronan Farrow. Farrow is the estranged son of Woody Allen, another Hollywood magnate accused of sexual assault. Those allegations (which Allen denies) were made by his own daughter, Ronan's sister Dylan. With so many accusers against Weinstein now on the record, including household names like Gwyneth Paltrow, Cara Delevingne and Angelina Jolie, all corners of the country are offering their hot takes in the discussion. Perhaps one of the most unfortunate reactions has been to politicize the story, as some conservative pundits have grasped onto Weinstein — a major Democratic donor Michelle Obama once publicly praised as a "wonderful human being" — as illustrative of rotten liberal America. But this isn't a uniquely Democratic problem. Fox News, a notoriously right-wing news outlet, has had to dismiss a slew of on-air talent because of sexual assault allegations. Our Republican president appeared to admit on tape to sexually assaulting women (and has also been photographed chumming it up with Weinstein). The point being: this isn't a partisan or even a political issue. This is — largely — an issue with men, specifically men who yield any kind of power. The allegations leveled against Weinstein, Allen, Bill Cosby, Bill O'Reilly, Roger Ailes, Anthony Weiner and President Trump are not unique to Hollywood or a certain political party. It's not always famous and powerful men, either: it's the Catholic Church, Penn State football, orthodox Jews, professional athletes, universities, and your local retail store. The list goes on. In many of the cases that have made national headlines, though, wealthy men in positions of significant power have leveraged their status to pressure or force women into sexual encounters. Those women are then shamed, threatened with lawsuits and silenced if they speak out. Perhaps most unsettling about these stories is that there is almost always someone who could have stepped up and stopped the harassment or assault. In Farrow's story, he wrote that 16 former and current employees of Weinstein's companies had witnessed or had knowledge of unwanted sexual advances Weinstein made in work-related settings. Sixteen! And that's just the number of current or former employees who happened to speak to Farrow. What about all the ones who didn't? What about the ones who were too scared to speak to a reporter? Weinstein's case, again, isn't unique. In President Trump's infamous Hollywood Access tape, television host Billy Bush laughs offthe notion that Trump could simply "grab women by the pussy" because he was a star. His supporters and advisers dismissed it as "locker room talk." Former Fox News anchor Bill O'Reilly and former CEO Roger Ailes were repeatedly reported to human resources at Fox Newsand, reportedly, no action was taken. Football coach Joe Paterno was let go from Penn State because of what he may or may not have known about convicted rapist Jerry Sandusky. An entire film was made about the Catholic Church spending years trying to fend off reporters who wanted to get the truth out about rampant sexual abuse by priests. In many cases, campus rape stories include bystanders who don't intervene when a clearly intoxicated woman is taken home by a less intoxicated man. People — especially men who are in positions of power — have the ability to step in and stop these stories from happening. And we cannot forget that there are male survivors of sexual assault, and they are every bit as worth protecting. Terry Crews came out on Twitter to share a story about being assaulted by another man who allegedly grabbed his penis while Crews was standing next to his wife at a Hollywood function. Crews said he decided not to retaliate with allegations against the man because he didn't want to be ostracized, noting that "the predator has power and influence." Instead, he let it go, like many women do, because he couldn't stop asking himself if anyone believe him and if the repercussions for speaking out would be life-changing. If Terry Crews, a wealthy, well-known man is wary of reporting his assault, imagine the obstacles that face many other sexual assault survivors. It's time for men to police our own communities, our own friends and our own family members. It's time for men to stop being passive observers of the kinds of harassment and overt sexism that are all too common in the spaces we dominate. It's time for men to stand up for the victims we see in our day-to-day lives, and to create spaces, environments, communities, teams, companies and homes where everyone feels safe and supported enough to speak truth to power. The issue of sexual assault cannot simply be a "women's issue." It cannot be a political talking point. It cannot be a Democrat or Republican or religious or campus issue. Sexual assault is a men's issue. It is my issue. It is your issue. And it's about time we did something about it.

Few words could be more apposite to the tactics of the Remainers. On Thursday morning, after the High Court ruled that the Government cannot use the Royal Prerogative to trigger Article 50, Gina Miller – the woman behind the case – stood outside the Royal Courts of Justice and tried to prove Abraham Lincoln wrong. With a straight face she said that the case had nothing to do with the EU. “This is about process, not politics.” And she’s not alone. Almost to a man and woman the Remainers have told us that all they have been trying to do is right a wrong. That it’s a simple matter of democracy and parliamentary sovereignty being re-established and the fact they are all Remainers is irrelevant. They really do think you can fool all of the people all of the time. Because in the real world the case was brought by people who had only one motive: to screw up this first stage of Brexit. It had almost nothing to do with process and everything to do with politics. And it’s not going to stop here. There is almost nothing the Remainers won’t do to try to keep us in. If that means showing contempt towards the result of the referendum – well, they won’t bat an eyelid. The entire history of the EU shows that whenever a referendum goes against them the Eurofanatics ignore it and demand another one. Which is of course exactly what some – such as Owen Smith, the Labour MP who was beaten out of sight by Jeremy Corbyn this summer – are now saying, arguing that any deal done by the Government should be subject to another referendum. For others there’s no need even to hold a second referendum. They want simply to ignore the referendum and let Parliament put the kybosh on Brexit. Most won’t admit to this because they know that it’s toxic. But some, such as Labour MP David Lammy, are open about their contempt for the electorate. Mr Lammy said that when Parliament decides on Article 50: “I will be voting in what I believe to be the interests of the country – which I think all MPs will take on board – and will absolutely not be voting to trigger Article 50.” This is the crux of the matter because the real issue isn’t whether or not Parliament should have a vote. The real issue is how Parliament will vote. Be clear about what many of the Remainer MPs want: to stop Brexit. And remember that a clear majority of MPs backed Remain in June. They speak about parliamentary sovereignty (which, incidentally, can only be reestablished if we leave the EU). But that’s a fig leaf. What they are really concerned with is finding whatever ways they can to stop Brexit. Let me tell you what is coming next. When MPs have to vote on triggering Article 50 they will come up with some entirely spurious but supposedly democratic reason why they have to vote No. It’s got nothing to do with not honouring the referendum result, they’ll tell us. How could you even think that?! No, it’s because… blah blah blah. On and on it will go. Every time the issue is discussed they will come up with supposedly plausible reasons to do with democracy and fairness that mean they have no choice, they’ll say, but to vote No. In reality they will have only one motive: stopping Brexit. Their hope and plan is that the longer any decisions are delayed the more chance there is of a change of mood. And they will do their damnedest to create that change of mood. So in parallel they will use their powers to try to ensure we have the worst possible deal so that they can re-argue the referendum debate when the deal is done. We are seeing this already with Hilary Benn, the Remainer chair of the new House of Commons select committee on Brexit, demanding that the Government reveals its negotiation stance – and so hand a huge advantage to Brussels. But they are playing with fire. The will of the people has been clearly expressed. The referendum was unambiguous. There is no wriggle room. Brexit must mean Brexit. If it doesn’t – if Remain MPs use their powers to frustrate the will of the people – then they will provoke one of the greatest constitutional crises since the Civil War. Thu, March 2, 2017 Parliament will be defying the people over the result of a referendum that Parliament itself called. But the constitutional crisis may be the least of it. It is a truism of modern politics that voters are disengaged – that their faith in the political class and political institutions is collapsing. In the US that is reflected in Donald Trump’s ascendancy. In France, Marine Le Pen owes her rise to a similar trend. We have a proud tradition that has always pushed extremists and rabble-rousers to the edges. If, however, our politicians were to show that they do not merely fail to connect with voters but are actively contemptuous of them, it is difficult to see how we could avoid disaster. To say there would be anger would barely come close. Not only would our political system be on the point of collapse there would be riots. And it would be a political crisis entirely of the Remainers’ making. These are worrying times. It is not just Brexit that is imperilled by their behaviour. It is our entire political system.

Members of the Dallas Cowboys organization have been reluctant to protest the national anthem, with head coach Jason Garrett calling the anthem “sacred” and Dez Bryant saying he wouldn’t protest. Their attitudes mirror what’s coming from the top. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has made it clear that he opposes national anthem protests. In an interview with FOX Business, Jones said he did “not think the place” to express opinions is by protesting the flag. "I do not think the place to express yourself in society is as we recognize the American flag." – Jerry Jones on National Anthem protests pic.twitter.com/3JkrdMhwWy — FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) September 24, 2017 Jones’ thoughts echo that of many Americans, though as the demonstrations attest, there are many who disagree. Based on his public comments, it would be a surprise to see a display from any Cowboys on Monday night.

Former Dems Now Backing Trump: 'Our Country's Going in the Wrong Direction' If you've ever seen "Watters' World," you know that some American adults are pretty clueless. But what about the youth of the nation? Jesse Watters hit the streets of New York City to see what kids think about Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and the major issues facing the country. What have you heard about Hillary Clinton? What do you think about Donald Trump? "Equal rights, feminism, that's very important nowadays." Watch the "Watters' World" clip above, and let us know what you think in the comments. Clinton Aide in New WikiLeaks Email: 'We Need to Clean This Up. He Has Emails from Her'

In the space of a day, R. Kelly‘s name has catapulted back into the headlines after a shocking exposé alleged that he is leading a secret “sex cult” and is holding women against their will. Since the story hit the wire, the singer has, via his publicist, denied the claims and alluded to taking legal action. However, it’s quickly becoming clear that the drama isn’t going anywhere. The family of alleged hostage Jocelyn Savage held a press conference claiming that Kelly has brainwashed the 21 year old. So much so that she effectively has Stockholm Syndrome: In a twist, Jocelyn sat down with TMZ to refute the claims of her family, insisting that she has been receiving their messages but has willingly cut off communication with them. She wouldn’t, however, reveal what her current living arrangement is nor which city she resides in: Sigh. Keep it locked on That Grape Juice for the latest.

For the third debate in a row, Donald Trump expressed doubt that Russia was behind recent hacks of Democratic groups, putting him at odds not just with Hillary Clinton, but with the entire U.S. intelligence community. “She has no idea whether it’s Russia, China, or anybody else,” Trump said at the final presidential debate held in Las Vegas Wednesday night. “Hillary, you have no idea.” “Do you doubt 17 military and civilian agencies,” Clinton fired back. “And our country has no idea,” Trump said. “Yeah, I doubt it, I doubt it.” In this case, Clinton had it right. Two weeks ago, the U.S. intelligence community announced it is “confident that the Russian government directed the recent compromises of e-mails.” The candidates also challenged on a number of other issues throughout the debate. On the issue of immigration, Trump said Clinton agreed with his signature proposal. “Hillary Clinton wanted the wall. Hillary Clinton fought for the wall in 2006,” Trump said. “I voted for border security, and there are...” Clinton began speaking, before Trump interrupted, “And the wall.” We rate Trump’s claim as partially true. As a senator, Clinton did vote for a bill to build 700 miles of fencing along parts of the 2,000-mile Southern border, but not a massive wall as Trump has proposed. Trump accused Clinton Wednesday night of hiring people to disrupt his allies. “She’s the one, and Obama, that caused the violence,” Trump said. The truth on that score is unclear. Democratic contractors were caught on video, appearing to plan to provoke Trump supporters. But there’s no indication Clinton’s campaign paid for it or even knew about it. As in previous debates, Trump denied making some controversial comments that are immortalized on video. “He said that he could not possibly have done those things to those women because they were not attractive enough for them to be assaulted,” Clinton said. “I did not say that. I did not say that,” Trump said. But in Greensboro, North Carolina, Trump told a crowd, “Believe me. She would not be my first choice. That I can tell you.” “He also went after a disabled reporter, mocked and mimicked him on national television,” Clinton said. “Wrong,” Trump denied. But he did that too, at a campaign rally at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. “I don’t remember!’ He’s going like, ‘I don’t remember!’” Trump said, imitating his physical handicap. On the budget, Clinton claimed that her proposals on infrastructure and education would not add a penny to the debt because she has ways to pay for all of them. Independent analysts said that’s false -- her plan add $200 billion to the debt over the next decade. Trump’s plans, they said, would add $5.3 trillion.

BERKELEY, Calif. (KCRA) — Several fights broke out during largely-peaceful protests in Berkeley Sunday afternoon when about 4,000 people converged on the city, police said. Thirteen people who ranged in ages from 20 to 47 years old, were arrested for "various violations” including assault with a deadly weapon and felony assault during the events, Berkeley police said. Of the people arrested during the protests, several were wearing masks while others were connected to assaults. Two men were arrested after exchanging blows. The SFGate reported they were quickly swept up by officers inside Civic Center Park. Police detained Patriot Prayer leader Joey Gibson at the protests. The SFGate reported he was handcuffed after being chased by a mob of demonstrators who took swings at him and pepper sprayed him. Police said Gibson was actually "rescued" and was not arrested or charged. The crowd began to diminish around 3:30 p.m., six hours after a march led to the protests. The event was one of several rallies that had been called for Sunday in Berkeley, a day after a controversial freedom rally planned by Gibson in San Francisco fizzled amid throngs of counterprotesters. Hundreds of people gathered on the UC Berkeley campus around 10 a.m. Sunday. They then marched to Civic Center Park, where police had set up barricades and secured the area with bomb sniffing dogs. The march was part of the Bay Area Rally Against Hate Rally. In a statement early Sunday, the group said "we fully intend to move forward with (the Rally Against Hate)" on the campus despite calls by the university police department for people to stay away for safety reasons. The rally was held in response to the planned right-wing protest "No To Marxism in America." However, organizer Amber Cummings canceled the protest on Friday, saying Berkeley officials and left-wing extremists made it impossible to hold the event and she would be the sole attendee. Despite the cancellation, hundreds of ring-wing protesters showed up to the park. Around 1 p.m., police reported the crowd had grown to several thousand. A skirmish broke out between several dozen left-wing demonstrators and a handful of right-wing supporters. The skirmish was tense but ended quickly. The left-wing protesters surrounded the small number of right-wing supporters, then shouted at them and pushed them. The right-wing protesters sought protection from police and were escorted away. Before the unpermitted events, Berkeley police put into place several rules in response the protests, stating, "To ensure the peaceful expression of free speech, the City of Berkeley will be prohibiting sticks, pipes, poles and anything else that can be used for a 'riot' at Civic Center Park." Other banned items include explosives, pepper spray, axes, dogs (except for service animals), eggs, torches and more. Police also said anything that "covers or partially covers the face and shields the wearer's face from view, or partially from view, is prohibited." However, protesters with an anarchist group arrived at the park wearing masks and hoods that covered their faces. The group of more than 100 hooded protesters, with shields emblazoned with the words "no hate" and waving a flag identifying themselves as anarchist, broke through police lines, avoiding security checks by officers to take away possible weapons. Then the group blended in with the rest of the crowd. The group pushed their way past police barricades and into Civic Center Park. They assaulted at least five people by punching and kicking them. Gibson was one of the people assaulted by the group. Police broke up the fights, using what appeared to be a smoke grenade to stop one scuffle. The three people who were attacked ran behind police lines to escape. Then around 2:30 p.m., more than 1,000 people left the park and began marching north Martin Luther King Way. An hour later, the crowd had diminished and many roads reopened. ---- The Associated Press contributed to this story.

The left continues to harp on unproven allegations that Donald Trump inappropriately touched women and said dirty words 11 years ago many are wondering where the outrage is about Joe Biden. For years the vice president’s inappropriate touching of women, and the invading of their personal space, has been a punchline seen as harmless. But now that the barrage of claims against Trump has reached its zenith social media has begun asking where the mainstream news sources are on “creepy Uncle Joe’s” unwanted encroachments. #WomenWhoVoteTrump wonder why Joe Biden gets a pass on “inapropriate touching.” Yikes!⤵If this was Trump, imagine the MSM headlines . #MAGA pic.twitter.com/gtk64X3tXH — Trump the Hill (@TrumpTheHill) October 15, 2016 @CNN @andersoncooper @Maddow @MSNBC Where’s the Wall 2 Wall segment on Creepy Uncle Joe Molesting Young Girls/Women? #HYPOCRITES #NVDebate pic.twitter.com/vODHxrEF0g — Truth Is Power (@truthispower777) October 15, 2016 #OnHillarysTeleprompter would someone tell Joe Biden that touching women and making them uncomfortable makes you unfit for office — Robert Wilson (@rwlawoffice) October 15, 2016 Katie Pavlich – It’s Time For a National Conversation About Joe Biden’s Inappropriate Touching https://t.co/ZHpbwjI5XU — Diamond Barbarian (@NoMoreElitists) October 14, 2016 No prof of Trump touching women. Watch Joe Biden Rub, Touch And Kiss His Way To Beck-Like Creepiness – YouTube https://t.co/jFWNo4ssgF — R. Wolfe (@WhoWolfe) October 14, 2016 Joe Biden can’t Keep his Hands off Women, a known fact! Always touching them! HYPOCRIT! pic.twitter.com/nNc1QFG7Hk — TRUMP/ PENCE 2017! (@audreyringrose) October 13, 2016 BIDEN IS A CLASS-A PERV. TALK ABOUT GROPING, HE’S ALWAYS TOUCHING WOMEN. IT’S RIGHT IN OUR FACES! https://t.co/aBAr2mzrlb — DeplorableWhatWhat7 (@OpinionOnion7) October 13, 2016 . @frankthorp Sure let’s have that conversation https://t.co/wC1deHu544 — Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) October 9, 2016

On the left, and among Donald Trump's conservative critics, a new debate has emerged: is the media to blame for the businessman's rise, or are Republican primary voters simply "idiots," as New York Magazine's Jon Chait argued recently, and unable to recognize a con-artist when they see one? This is a false choice. There are plenty of factors that went into Trump becoming the presumptive GOP nominee, and the incessant media coverage of his every utterance and movement probably contributed to his sky-high negatives. But it's unserious, not to mention smug, to assume that Trump has been playing all of his Republican supporters for dupes. You don't need to worship Trump to vote for him. You don't even have to like him, or think he's always honest, because these are not the factors at the heart of Trump's appeal. Consider this from Michael Cooper, a writer, attorney, and liberal Democrat who lives in rural North Carolina. "My Republican friends are for Trump. My state representative is for Trump," he wrote in U.S. News in March. "People who haven't voted in years are for Trump. He'll win the primary here on March 15 and he will carry this county in the general. His supporters realize he's a joke. They do not care. They know he's authoritarian, nationalist, almost un-American, and they love him anyway, because he disrupts a broken political process and beats establishment candidates who've long ignored their interests." This, I think, nicely sums up the core of Trump's support. Yes, there is a cult of personality around the candidate, and some of his backers do seem to think of him as a man who can do no wrong. But the breadth of Trump's support alone indicates that we're dealing with more than just full-fledged #TrumpTrain devotees. We're also dealing with the people Cooper writes about, the ones who aren't so enthralled with the man himself but recognize him as a change agent. And the truth is that a President Trump would, of course, be a change agent. A Hillary win would likely take us to something like the pre-Trump status quo ante, which is one reason why so many D.C. and Wall Street Republicans will wind up supporting her -- they'll still know how to play the game in a second Clinton presidency. A Trump victory, meanwhile, will undoubtedly lead to profound upheaval in our political system. The policies he'll pursue in office are still something of a mystery, but due to his lack of a real, grounding political philosophy, we can assume that he'll embrace positions to both the right- and left-of-center. In effect this would be something like a third party in American politics, and one in control of the White House no less -- a Party of Trump, which will find itself at odds with both stalwart conservatives like Ben Sasse and progressives like Elizabeth Warren. Occasionally he'll find common cause with one side, and sometimes with the other. You could even see him putting together odd bedfellows like Sherrod Brown and Jeff Sessions to pass new restrictions on trade. Any way you look at it, he would scramble everything we know about American politics. You can argue that the changes that Trump would bring to this country would be disastrous, or that he's morally and intellectually unfit for the office. But the one safe bet we have about a Trump presidency is that it would provoke a realignment in our politics and bring about an end to the elite governing consensus of the last several decades. America's many establishments -- Republican and Democrat, liberal and conservative - would all suddenly find themselves on the outs. The Democrats have signaled that they'll run on the idea that a Trump presidency is just too "risky" and "dangerous." But that shows a real misunderstanding of his appeal as a candidate. The subtext of every Trump rally is basically take this risk, take this gamble -- it may all end in tears, but it's worth a shot. America isn't working anymore, his argument goes. It's not working for Americans, Americans know that, and all those smug elites are to blame. How do we fix that? Hard to say: Trump, remember, has a habit of contradicting himself within the same sentence when answering questions about his policy specifics. But step one is blowing up the system, and that's exactly what Trump is promising to do. Is it childish to want the political system to be completely upended even if the consequences might be disastrous? Maybe. But in a country where a plurality of Americans think that "people like them" were better off 50 years ago, at least according to a recent Pew survey, it should also be expected. We can dismiss Trump's voters as low-class, knuckle-dragging racists who deserve, in some sense, to suffer. But that wouldn't be wise from a governing standpoint or, for Trump's opponents, a tactical one. If you think that Trump's voters don't get what's best for them, then it's up to you to sell them on why they're wrong -- to make the case that free trade leads to cheaper, better goods for everyone, that immigration greatly benefits the economy, that a "Muslim ban" is immoral and would only help groups like ISIS. That the system, for all its faults, can still be reformed, and that allowing Trump to raise hell in Washington will only make his supporters' lot worse. But to just dismiss them as "idiots" is, well, stupid. It plays into his hands; it justifies the anti-elite impulse he's exploited. The consensus among all the poll-watchers and data-heads who have consistently underestimated Trump from the onset is that Hillary is all but certain to win in November. And they might be right. But if Trump pulls off the upset, the smugness and lack of empathy that defines too many of his detractors will be in large part to blame.

Are you sick of Republicans? Or just right-wingers in general? Do you want to send a message to Washington that you aren't going to buy into their racist, sexist, xenophobic, homophobic and classist nonsense for one second longer? Then do the very thing that Donald Trump unintentionally encouraged in a recent tweet: Encourage Hillary Clinton to run for president in 2020! Crooked Hillary Clinton is the worst (and biggest) loser of all time. She just can’t stop, which is so good for the Republican Party. Hillary, get on with your life and give it another try in three years! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 18, 2017 I'm sure this is the part where the Clinton-haters — be they Trumpers, Bernie Bros or anything in between — will say something to the effect of, "Of course he wants her to run again. That's the only way he'll get re-elected!" Slow your roll there. Clinton's poll numbers aren't too good right now (OK, they're downright atrocious), but there are still four great reasons to consider choosing her as the Democratic nominee in 2020. Even better, all but one of them has to do with an emotion that has no place in this season (which is why I absolutely had to write this article for Thanksgiving weekend): Spite. Delicious, nutritious spite. 1. Hillary Clinton is the Winston Churchill to Vladimir Putin's Adolf Hitler. I agree with the basic principle of Godwin's Law: The first person to invoke Hitler in a political debate should normally lose. The exception, of course, has to be when someone has genuine Hitler-like qualities. A foreign despot who has invaded neighboring countries and has a right-wing nationalist agenda is about as Nazi-like as you can get. This is where Clinton offers a quality that no politician in America can beat. While Republicans are trying to tar her with a bogus scandal connecting her to Russia (and anyone who believes Clinton did something wrong in the Uranium One deal lacks credibility on all matters political), the reality is that no candidate can be better described as Russia's nemesis than Clinton. Putin has always hated Clinton because of his innate sexism, which has manifested in his policies, and she certainly didn't endear herself to him by publicly criticizing Russian corruption in 2011. As the ample connections between the Trump campaign and Russia or its water-carriers like WikiLeaks clearly demonstrate, the one person we know we can trust more than anyone is the candidate who Putin very obviously did not want to see as America's president. 2. Hillary Clinton being elected president (at last) would monumentally piss off misogynistic trolls, and what's not to like about that? I can't think of a single political figure in recent American history who has been hated as deeply, or for as long, as Hillary Clinton. From the moment she emerged on the national stage in 1992 as a distinctly feminist prospective first lady, she has been the target of right-wing wrath woefully out of proportion to anything she has ever said or done. The reason for this is sexism. It's not the chic thing to say right now, but no other explanation really makes sense. Yes, Hillary Clinton is more centrist than either party likes these days, but why is she singled out for opprobrium here when her husband — who actually served as president — remains popular despite holding the exact same views? The same point can be made about the claim that she is corrupt or too establishment. To the extent that these accusations are valid, they are no more true of Clinton than of the vast majority of politicians from both parties (especially Trump). At the very least, the next Democratic presidential candidate needs to be a woman — perhaps not Clinton specifically, but certainly a woman, to offset the symbolic gut-punch of the first female candidate getting cheated by an overt misogynist. And speaking of cheating ... 3. By winning the popular vote convincingly in 2016, Hillary Clinton has earned the right to be considered the presumptive nominee in 2020. As I wrote in September, Clinton is the first defeated presidential candidate to win the popular vote without being automatically considered a frontrunner in the next election. Two of the previous four popular vote-winning also-rans were actually elected in the subsequent cycle (Andrew Jackson in 1828 and Grover Cleveland in 1892), while two others were widely regarded as frontrunners before dropping out for personal reasons (Samuel Tilden and Al Gore). Let us not forget that, for all of the smack talk about how poorly Clinton ran her campaign, she bested Trump by nearly 3 million votes. This was no razor-thin margin of victory, but a decisive expression of the American public's preference. In terms of percentage points, her margin of victory was roughly comparable to that by which Jimmy Carter beat Gerald Ford in 1976 or George W. Bush beat John Kerry in 2004. She also held Trump to a lower percentage of the popular vote than that garnered by Mitt Romney in 2012. 4. We can expect her to be a good president. Frankly, the worst thing that can be said about a potential 2020 Clinton candidacy, especially in America's current cultural and political climate, is that her husband still hasn't answered for the numerous sexual abuse accusations against him. While it may seem unfair for Hillary to be held accountable for Bill's alleged predations, it can plausibly be argued that she played a role in helping him cover them up. If that is ever proved beyond a reasonable doubt, she should be given the heave-ho. Then again, Bill Clinton is also widely associated with the economic, social and foreign policy conditions of the beloved 1990s, and is greatly missed for that reason. And since few dispute that Hillary was her husband's co-president during that halcyon decade, that association can still remain a giant advantage. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Clinton demonstrated through the 2016 Democratic National Committee platform that she would work with progressives on pursuing a policy agenda very close to their own goals. On issues ranging from raising the minimum wage and fighting global warming to scaling back the war on drugs, she would stand exactly where the majority of grassroots activists in the party want her to be. Plus — while this has been noted countless times before, it deserves repetition — she has ample experience as a U.S. senator and secretary of state in actually getting things done. That ability to get things done, by the way, is why Clinton had high approval ratings as secretary of state (usually in the 60s), even proving more popular than President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden in 2011 and 2012. Her stock may be low now, but it's been low in the past (such as when she "ran" to be first lady in 1992), and it has always recovered. Arguably the big political question facing a potential Hillary 2020 campaign will be whether that bounce occurs at a fortuitous moment for her. It very well could, and wouldn't that be a giant helping of the dish best served cold?

The rise of right wing nationalism comes with a massive side dose of bad faith arguments. So argues Sasha Polakow-Suransky, the author of “ Go Back to Where You Came From: The Backlash Against Immigration and the Fate of Western Democracy," which examines the explosion of far-right anti-immigration politics in both Europe and the United States. People like Donald Trump and Marine Le Pen are reactionaries, Polakow-Suransky told me on "Salon Talks," but they like to hide behind liberal values like equality and secularism when launching attacks on Muslim immigrants. “What these parties are doing, especially in France and Holland, is they’re telling gays, they’re telling feminists, and they’re telling Jews even, ‘We are the only ones who will protect you,” he said. “The threat all of you face is from Islam and Muslims and we’re the only party that can stand up to that.’” These politicians want voters to believe they’re not neo-Nazis and skinheads, he continued, but in reality, they’re “weaponizing secularism to target a specific group.” Polakow-Suransky, who is an Open Society Foundations fellow and has held previous positions as an op-ed editor at the New York Times and as a senior editor at Foreign Affairs, says he sees similarity in how “our president reacts to a horrible terrorist attack,” such as the murders in New York City on Halloween, and other crimes. “You see a real gulf between the reactions to any crime perpetrated by an Islamic extremist and crimes committed by white nationalists or other groups,” Polakow-Suransky said. “I think that shows they’re targeting a specific group rather than talking about universal values that we all share.” Watch our full "Salon Talks" conversation on Facebook. Tune into Salon's live shows, "Salon Talks" and "Salon Stage," daily at noon ET / 9 a.m. PT and 4 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. PT, streaming live on Salon and on Facebook.

Donald Trump has been hiding in plain sight. Or not hiding. Seldom, if ever, has an American politician so aggressively acted out and imposed his unfiltered personality on the public, consequences be damned. And yet, the final weeks of the presidential campaign now are wholly centered on the media's shocking revelations about who he really is. "Well, where have you been?" is one glaring question for the media. The other is about how complicit the media has been in covering for him until now. Trump is a thrice-married beauty pageant owner, a compulsive attention seeker and a sexual braggart. The possibility of him not engaging in lewd, loutish, outre and, for a presidential candidate, scandalous behavior is nil. Was no one in the media looking? Did nobody care about the details? Or was it just not possible to believe what was as clear as the noses on our faces? A journalist's job can't be so easy as that. Or, perhaps, it was just a case of not wanting to belabor the obvious: It would hardly seem to advance the discussion to insist that Trump is an oaf, brute, philistine and cad, which is, of course, exactly the shocked — shocked! — point that now repeatedly is being made in the campaign's final days. Or, as the candidate uniquely created and promoted by the media, has he been gamely protected and tolerated through stages of amusement, gratefulness ("It may not be good for America, but it's damn good for CBS," said CBS Corp. chief Leslie Moonves earlier in the cycle, no doubt now regretfully), incredulity and alarm, until we reached the horror stage in September with a sudden leveling of the polls, prompting the media to act in righteous concert? The unavoidable awkwardness, of course, is that so many of the details about Trump's particular sort of sleaziness, so many smoking guns, actually have been in the hands of the media all along. The more or less fatal bullet came from the NBC-owned infotainment show Access Hollywood. Billy Bush, who would become a Today show regular this summer — that is, an employee of the NBC News division of NBCUniversal — was the other party to the tape. He knew! Reports indicate that inside NBC he was talking openly about what he knew since this past August. Still, perhaps this wasn't seen so much as news but as Trump being Trump, as hilarity. Really, does the video reveal anything about Trump that was not previously known? Bush, now losing his Today role, becomes something of a tragic figure in this. In the business of stroking celebrities, he now is reviled for stroking one. Likewise, NBC, ever on the job of the care and maintenance of NBC stars, was no doubt instinctively reluctant to shoot one — one, as it happens, running for president. Part of the rationale about the video's news value, and for why the media should be so righteous about stomping on Trump now, is the seeming singularity of the vulgarity in Trump's own voice. (For those without television or internet, he told Bush, among other things, he "moved" on Bush's Access Hollywood co-anchor Nancy O'Dell "like a bitch" and noted "when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. … Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.") To have imagined it, to have intellectually appreciated what it must be, is nothing like actually hearing it. And yet, it turns out his real voice, offering a detailed and nuanced account of his sexual views and habits, was not at all unique. What he said theoretically in private to Bush he has said publicly over and over again with many variations — including agreeing with the description of himself as a sexual predator — to Howard Stern, for 30 years a leading champion of sexual harassment practices. Trump himself — recalling Gary Hart's fatal invitation to reporters to follow him if they didn't believe his claims of virtue — assured Anderson Cooper during the second debate that, in fact, he really didn't do the things he said he did. Voila! Among the accounts to swiftly contradict him was one from a former People reporter, Natasha Stoynoff, assigned to cover Trump and Melania at Mar-a-Lago in 2005 on the occasion of their first wedding anniversary. During the interview, in Stoynoff's telling, Trump sexually assaults her with a sudden kiss and grope. It is pretty much only Trump himself who now points out that the article she wrote based on this interview is a celebratory one. Nobody else, least of all anyone in the media, is saying People published a fraudulent story. It lied: People had firsthand proof the marriage was something other than what it said it was but drooled sycophantically over the couple anyway. The influence of People contributed to creating the celebrity stature of Trump. Now, with no more information than it had then, it wants to take that stature back. Who's responsible for what? Who's less trustworthy here? Another aspect of the media rationale for why now and not before involves the recently enshrined journalistic principle that the testimony of one victim brings out supporting testimony of others — and now there's a growing list of Trump grope victims — quite putting aside the fact that when witnesses have the opportunity to compare accounts, that necessarily lessens reliability. While it is wholly believable that Trump systematically mashed a lot of women, it also is as reasonable that the rudeness and grossness he has made no secret of, only now, in the tailoring of a chorus of accounts (lawyers shaping the language of decade-old memories) inflates to a media consensus of sociopathic if not criminal behavior. Indeed, The New York Times, when it previously pursued the issue of Trump's behavior toward women for an article in May, relying on independent accounts, came up with an entirely different tenor of story — "a complex, at times contradictory portrait of a wealthy, well-known and provocative man and the women around him, one that defies simple categorization." Trump, not surprisingly, now that he has been simply categorized as a sex abuser, makes matters worse for himself. By attacking the media — with toothless threats of lawsuits — he fortifies its unity and its certainty. But you can see why he's hurt and confused. For so long the media encouraged him to be Donald Trump. Thirty years of enabling him and encouraging him. And through more than 18 months of campaigning for president, it really seemed like he was going to get away with being who he was. But let no one forget: The media, if it makes you — in this instance with great civic resolve — can break you, too. This story first appeared in the Nov. 4 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.

After Colin Kaepernick rightly chose to kneel during the national anthem before NFL games, many racists and idiots came out with critical response to what was a peaceful, important statement against police brutality and systemic American racism. That’s what Kap’s protest is about. Brutality and racism. Violence against people of color, unimpugned state violence at that. Kap’s protest is strictly against racism, which is what this country was built on. On the backs of African slaves shipped here catch-style to do white people’s work. Kap’s protest is decidedly not against the American flag. Anyone — including our moron President — that tries to argue otherwise is themselves a moron. “But the troops!” you might scream. The troops are a manifold and variegated thing. Here’s a former Marine sayingthat Kap’s protest is nececcesary. Chaps is good. Many of them fight for Kaepernick’s right to stand down during the national anthem. You want to shit on those troops too? Here’s a picture of Laremy Tunsil, a wonderful and beautiful left tackle, kneeling out of solidarity with fellow Americans before Sunday’s game against the New York Jets, which the Dolphins lost, 20-6. That doesn’t matter at all, though. He kneels at left. Hat off to Tunsil for this action. “Respecting the flag” and “respecting the anthem” before football games are perhaps the dumbest notions floated among sports fans. Sporting events are not flag-worthy at all. Nobody else in the world does this. Further, THESE ATHLETES ARE HUMAN PEOPLE. Laremy Tunsil is a real person with real political beliefs, and his political beliefs include “black people shouldn’t be killed by the police with impunity.” That’s a pertinent thing to assert. Tunsil’s politicism is important.

Trump is so far off the reservation that he is claiming that Republican Special Counsel Robert Mueller is a Democrat who worked for Obama for eight years. Neither of these statements is true. Video: Trump said, “But you have a group of investigators that are all Democrats. In some cases, they went to the Hillary Clinton celebration that turned out to be a funeral. So you have all these investigators that are Democrats. In all fairness, Bob Mueller worked for Obama for eight years.” The Special Counsel is not a Democrat. He is a Republican. Robert Mueller did not work for Obama for eight years. He was replaced as FBI Director by James Comey in 2013. In 2011, Obama asked Mueller to say on beyond his initial ten-year term, and the Senate approved his request. Trump is in complete meltdown mode, and he is inventing reasons out of thin air for why he can’t sit down for an interview with the Special Counsel. The investigation is not a biased witch hunt against him. The Russia investigation is being run by members of Trump’s own party. Facts matter. The fact is that Trump is lying and running away from doing an interview with Mueller. For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

The level of doublethink involved in being a contemporary member of the GOP is astounding. Former Presidential candidate and current Donald Trump sycophant Mike Huckabee can barely even remember basic facts, like whether or not Trump has ever admitted to committing sexual assault. The things Republicans have to tell themselves and the public in order to continue pushing their agenda take some serious mental gymnastics. We have Presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway coining the term “alternative facts.” Former Press Secretary Sean Spicer became a laughing stock for his outrageous defenses of President Donald Trump’s statements and behavior. And the person who took Spicer’s Job, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, has continued that trend. For example, she suggested that ESPN analyst Jemele Hill be fired for bullying President Trump on Twitter, despite the fact that the President regularly uses his own Twitter account to shout down opponents and turn his followers against others. However, Sarah’s father Mike Huckabee may take the cake with his comments on Fox & Friends this morning. Conservatives have loved speaking about disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein and his donations to Democratic causes and candidates, and Trump’s favorite morning team and Huckabee decided to tie it back to Hillary Clinton yet again. Host Abby Huntsman started things off by addressing Huckabee: “There was also an uncomfortable moment when she talked about President Trump, how he admitted to being sexual assaulter. She was asked about the Weinstein situation and she mentioned how her husband – Bill Clinton – what he did was in the past. Anyone watching that, I think, was a little squirmy in their seat. She even looks squirmy, talking about it. Has President Trump ever admitted to being a sexual assaulter?” Anyone with a halfway functioning brain would of course recall the infamous Access Hollywood tape where Trump bragged about grabbing women “by the pussy” because he was famous. Huckabee, apparently, lacks that halfway functioning brain, responding: “I don’t recall that that has ever happened.” He then proceeds to turn the discussion back to Bill Clinton, who, if you recall, was President twenty years ago. Fairly selective memory there, Mike. So keep playing in your big boy trucks, Donald, and know that your sycophants are doing everything in their power to rewrite history. Watch the ridiculous exchange below: Featured image via Flickr user Gage Skidmore / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Amanda Marshall was Oregon’s federal district attorney. Then the scandals started catching up to her. Let’s recap her sordid history. Appointed by Obama in 2011, Marshall resigned in 2015 after allegedly stalking a subordinate and having an affair, and later faced internal probes (no pun intended). Marshall is the DA who pursued charges, even to the point of double jeopardy, against Dwight and Steven Hammond, the eastern Oregon ranchers who preemptively set controlled burns to stop wildfires from encroaching on their property. After already serving time in federal prison, Marshall encouraged the judge to re-imprison them for a harsher sentence. Those actions are what prompted the Malheur Wildlife Refuge protests in early 2016. In 2014, Marshall was caught on camera conspiring with Gabby Gifford’s gun control group, Americans For Responsible Solutions, to scheme up new gun control laws and propaganda. She spoke of wanting to force county Sheriffs to enforce federal gun laws, while also being one of the voices saying that local law enforcement shouldn’t enforce federal immigration laws. Of course the anti gun folks were more than happy to feature Amanda Marshall as a guest speaker at a summit presented by Ceasefire Oregon and “Oregon Alliance To Prevent Gun Violence”. Now she faces ethics complaints with the Oregon State Bar. The Oregonian reports: The panel determined there was probable cause to bring ethics charges against Marshall for violating rules dealing with honesty and trustworthiness. The case now advances to the trial phase. A panel will convene, likely sometime in the spring, to determine if Marshall has engaged in misconduct. Punishment for ethics violations range from a public reprimand to a suspension or disbarment. The disciplinary board identified two rules Marshall may have violated, one involving criminal conduct that reflects poorly on a lawyer’s honesty and trustworthiness or fitness and the other dealing with conduct involving fraud and dishonesty. Marshall’s lawyer, Allison Martin Rhodes, said Monday that Marshall “has always acknowledged” that she “was not completely truthful” when asked by a superior about the relationship. Martin Rhodes has said Marshall lied when asked if she had sex with her subordinate but was subsequently forthcoming in a four-hour interview with authorities. The professional standards agency opened an investigation last year after the U.S. Department of Justice’s inspector general found Marshall had engaged in a yearlong “intimate and personal” relationship with a subordinate. The inspector general said Marshall, who now practices law in McMinnville, violated sexual harassment laws, lied to investigators and tried to block the investigation. The Inspector General’s Office in March 2015 opened an investigation of Marshall. She took a leave of absence that month, citing health reasons that included post-traumatic stress disorder. She officially resigned on May 15, 2015, amid the internal review. It’s just fitting that someone with ties to the Obama administration and anti-gun organizations is caught up in a series of scandals and lies. Sponsored Sponsored

ILOSM family the situation between Usher and his STD accuser, Quantasia Sharpton, has just gotten even more real. For Ms. Sharpton, it’s bad, but for Usher, it’s great. As we previously informed you all, Quantasia claimed that she’d met Usher at his concert and then had a one night stand with him later that night, without him telling her that he allegedly has herpes… It was her details ( and the prior lies she was accused of telling about other celebs) that caused many Usher fans to call her bluff though. Sharpton claimed that after Usher’s concert, she went back to her Days Inn hotel room and Usher called her, then went to Days Inn to sex her up like Color Me Badd (okay she didn’t say the Color Me Badd part, but if the shoe fits…). Anywho, after fans heard her ‘Days Inn’ claim, they were like ‘Chile please…Usher ain’t rollin’ up to a cheap Days Inn hotel room to have sex with you.’ Days later, an alleged Days Inn worker then claimed she saw Usher walk into the hotel to go see Quantasia. The worker also said the only reason she revealed that is because she didn’t like that Usher reportedly said to the press that Quantasia isn’t “his type.” Many Usher fans didn’t buy the employee’s story either. Fast forward to today and Usher has spoken, through his team, to provide 3 facts that shoot down Quantasia’s claims, according to TMZ. Check out what was reported by Usher’s people below… 1. WIFE/MANAGER: Sources close to the singer tell TMZ … he says there was never a hotel hookup with Quantasia Sharpton, telling friends, in November 2014 he was on the verge of getting engaged to Grace Miguel. Usher tells them at the time of his alleged encounter, Grace was his manager and they spent ALL their free time together. His people say when the two weren’t enjoying free time, it was all business, and they were inseparable. The couple got engaged less than 2 months after the alleged Days Inn tryst.-via TMZ 2. ACCUSER’S TIMELINE CONFLICT: Usher’s people also say on the night in question his show ran late, which pushed the meet-and-greet well after midnight … and that flies in the face with Quantasia’s timeline in which she claims she hooked up with the singer around 12. -via TMZ 3. TRAVEL SCHEDULE CONFLICT: We’re told his travel schedule was super tight too … making it even more unlikely he even had time to step out for a secret trip to the Days Inn. -via TMZ Sometimes it’s best to make moves in silence…I wonder if Quantasia Sharpton and her attorney, Lisa Bloom, are now wishing that she did, because this is turning out to be a mess.

Donald Trump is our next president, which means Keith's not going anywhere. Catch every episode of his new GQ show, The Resistance, and then come join the fight. Don't miss Keith Olbermann's new book, Trump Is F-cking Crazy (This Is Not a Joke) Available now on Amazon Keith Olbermann's suits, starting with episode 100, provided by Tallia Orange

Corey Taylor doesn’t like Donald Trump. In fact, that’s probably something of an understatement, the President being dubbed ‘the Cheeto’ throughout America 51. But on the other hand, Corey doesn’t like the two-party system of American politics at all, which he makes abundantly clear at the beginning of his fourth book. One thing The Great Big Mouth loves, however, is his country – the United States Of America. In his typical stream-of-consciousness style, often flailing wildly off-topic, the Slipknot frontman airs his gripes with all the political bullshittery that has gone down on his home turf recently. While his previous books have taken aim at the unending list of humanity’s traits that annoy Corey, this is a takedown of modern-day politics and (of course) the Trump administration from a man who admits he feels no kinship to either big party, but has a wealth of knowledge on American politics and a comical yet vicious tongue to match. Using his band life and turbulent childhood as reference points throughout, Corey shares his liberal views on everything from Black Lives Matter to Reaganomics, with cursing and caps lock firmly in place, forever reminding the reader that he’s an asshole (his words!). And while not everyone will agree with the points made on these pages, this asshole knows his shit.

The Dallas Cowboys made headlines before their Week 3 “Monday Night Football” game against the Arizona Cardinals when they briefly knelt on the field — alongside owner Jerry Jones — and then stood with arms linked during the national anthem. While some saw the move as a good compromise between protesting during the anthem and respecting the flag, others were surprised and disappointed the Cowboys took a knee at all. Why is there politics in the middle of football? Protest on your own time! Political agenda being shoved down my throat everywhere No escape — TexasGirl (@HannahIvers) September 26, 2017 Well, Dez Bryant has good news for those who weren’t happy with the demonstration: It won’t be repeated. TRENDING: MLB Player Goes 7 Straight Games With HR, Sets Franchise Record The Cowboys’ star receiver told the Dallas Morning News that the team will go back to doing what it did before Monday night’s game: “We’re going to stand and put our hand over our heart.” Bryant said the Week 3 protest “was just a response to [President Donald] Trump. That’s all that was.” Trump had suggested last week that he’d like to see NFL owners fire players who protest during the national anthem. Jones said Friday morning on KRLD-FMthat Bryant appeared to be “torn” before the protest took place in Arizona. “I’m so appreciative of how the team responded,” said Jones. “It was a trying time. Players were truly under pressure, external pressure from their relationships. They were really under pressure to basically in many cases kneel at the flag.” As for this week, Bryant said, “I’m going to leave all of that in the past. It is what it is. I’m focused on this week. I don’t even want to think about it. I’m done.” Trump also tweeted that he had spoken with Jones and confirmed that the players will stand for Week 4. Spoke to Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys yesterday. Jerry is a winner who knows how to get things done. Players will stand for Country! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 27, 2017 It appears the Cowboys will be back to business as usual come Sunday. Dallas will look to build upon its Week 3 victory over the Cardinals as it hosts the surprising Los Angeles Rams at AT&T Stadium. We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

Donald Trump, Republican nominee for president, does not believe in the United States Constitution. That’s a strong statement, but it’s increasingly clear that it’s true. Trump wants to be president of a country whose fundamental organizing document he almost completely disagrees with. Even if he has read the Constitution – which is a serious question, as raised by Khizr and Ghazala Khan during the DNC – Trump doesn’t believe in its core principles and values. You know, the principles and values that make America great. This disdain was on full display Monday. When talking about the recent bombings in New York and New Jersey, Trump lamented the fact that the Constitution would require suspected bomber Ahmad Khan Rahami to be treated fairly. “He will be represented by an outstanding lawyer. His case will go through the various court systems for years and in the end, people will forget and his punishment will not be what it once would have been. What a sad situation,” he said. “We must have speedy but fair trials and we must deliver a just and very harsh punishment to these people.” Trump also decried that Rahami would be given “amazing hospitalization” and “a fully modern and updated hospital room.” Putting aside Trump’s inaccurate assessment of the quality of medical care prisoners receive and the woefully underfunded public defender system in the U.S., Trump is attacking some of the bedrock principles of American justice. Ever since Gideon v. Wainwright, the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution has been understood to require that everyone charged with serious offenses in this country receive defense counsel. This protection for criminal defendants is cause for celebration, not castigation. Speaking about this right in glowing terms, the Supreme Court has said it is “necessary to insure fundamental human rights of life and liberty” and called this a “noble ideal” without which there can be no fair trial. Similarly, the Eighth Amendment prohibits “cruel and unusual punishment.” We already know from Trump’s advocating extreme forms of torture that he is no fan of this part of the Constitution, but his comments Monday make that even clearer. Prisoners’ serious medical needs cannot be ignored; doing so would be “cruel and unusual.” The Supreme Court has explained that “infliction of such unnecessary suffering is inconsistent with contemporary standards of decency” and outlined the basic principle that “the public be required to care for the prisoner, who cannot, by reason of the deprivation of his liberty, care for himself.” Just this weekend, he once again showed that he couldn’t care less about the First Amendment. After The New York Times published a story finding that Trump relied on $885 million in tax breaks to build his real estate empire in New York City, Trump tweeted, “My lawyers want to sue the failing @nytimes so badly for irresponsible intent. I said no (for now), but they are watching. Really disgusting.” Of course, as any middle school student will tell you, the First Amendment protects the freedom of the press. Part of that protection is that no public figure can sue as a result of a bad story without proving malice, meaning that the journalists knew the story was false or demonstrated complete disregard for whether it was true. This standard is crucial in protecting the press from being attacked by people who don’t like unflattering coverage. Without this principle, the press would be too scared to write pieces critical of the powerful, and the First Amendment would be virtually meaningless. It’s been clear from other contexts, though, that “ virtually meaningless” is how Trump views the First Amendment as a whole. Among other things, he has called for violence against individuals expressing their opinions and advocated for a religious test for those entering the country. These positions fly in the face of the First Amendment’s protection of free expression and freedom of religion, as well as its guarantee against an established state religion. Trump is no fan of the rest of the Constitution either. His recently announced maternity leave plan includes no coverage for fathers, which shows his lack of concern for the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause; his insistence that women and doctors should be punished for abortion shows that he doesn’t believe in a constitutional right to privacy under the Due Process Clause; he has promised to violate treaties, which are constitutionally recognized sources of law; he doesn’t understand the difference between state and federal authority, the basic principle of federalism which underlies the Constitution; nor does he care about separation of powers, the founding constitutional idea that the president, Congress and the courts have different responsibilities in order to prevent tyranny. In other words, other than his repeated invocation of the Second Amendment, including his not-so-oblique references to one of his supporters shooting Hillary Clinton (something that came up again this weekend), Trump has shown that he disagrees not just with one or two isolated parts of the Constitution – which would be within normal democratic bounds, and is countenanced by the Constitution’s amendment process – but rather with the very fabric of the document. This is highly unusual in American politics, where most debate occurs against the backdrop of accepted constitutional principles. Trump doesn’t appear to accept those principles at all, and instead seems to want to be president of a country with a foreign understanding of government and its relationship to the people. If Trump were elected, he would have to swear the same allegiance to the Constitution that every president has before him: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” Based on how he has campaigned over the past year, if he were to utter those last 10 words, he would be lying – as has become par for the course with Donald Trump.

Brynn Anderson/AP Photo In his Alabama appearance for Roy Moore, Steve Bannon turned in an intellectually and morally putrid performance even by his standards. There is a partisan case for voting for Moore, which is simply that Republicans can’t afford to lose a Senate seat over the next three years and Moore’s failings must be ignored or rationalized away for the larger good of the party. This is not an elevated line of reasoning and is not obviously correct on its own terms. With Democrats throwing John Conyers and Al Franken overboard, Senate Republicans would be welcoming into their ranks a potent symbol of sexual malfeasance to be used against them in the 2018 midterms. It’s a better argument, though, than the tawdry justifications offered up by Bannon, who parachuted into an already disreputable campaign and dragged it through the gutter. Bannon seems to misunderstand the nature of the deplorables he seeks to lead. “Deplorable” is supposed to be an unfair, disparaging term for people who believe reasonable but politically incorrect things (immigration should be restricted, NFL players should stand during the national anthem, all lives matter, etc.). It shouldn’t be a license for doing truly deplorable things. Democrats, at least some of them, now want to jettison Bill Clinton and are saying that they were wrong to defend him during his scandals. For his part, Bannon wants to pick up the ethics of the party of Clinton and transfer them into the GOP. In Alabama, Bannon used that phrase redolent of the 1990s, “the politics of personal destruction.” Who is doing the destroying? Why the globalists, of course. There is nothing they aren’t capable of. It’s not clear why the globalists would be so fixated on defeating Moore that they’d work behind the scenes to get a bunch of women — and corroborating witnesses — who don’t know each other to lie about Moore having a romantic interest in them when they were teenagers. It seems a lot of effort to defeat a man who is arguing he should be elected to provide another vote for corporate tax cuts. Bannon referred to a conspiracy against Donald Trump in the way the “Access Hollywood” tape was brought to light, somewhat jocularly. But his mind-set is deeply conspiratorial. Because there are so many forces arrayed against you — the globalists, the establishment, the media — you are freed of any moral responsibility or standards. In fact, the mere mention of the words “honor” or “integrity” is a terrible provocation. Bannon launched his scurrilous attack on Mitt Romney because the former Republican presidential nominee used those terms in opposing Moore. Bannon shot back, in a truly perverse riff, that Moore has more honor in his “pinkie” than the entire Romney clan; per Bannon, Moore served in Vietnam and Romney didn’t, and none of Romney’s sons joined the military. Obviously, if going to Vietnam and having kids who served in the military is the sole measure of honor, Trump fails the test, and John McCain passes it. This doesn’t stop Bannon from considering Trump the great savior of the republic and McCain a disgrace. But it’s not worth trying too hard to unpack Bannon’s spiel. There is a huge element of play-acting here. Bannon waited to see which way the wind was blowing in Alabama. If Moore were still running consistently behind Democrat Doug Jones, Bannon wouldn’t be holding a campaign rally for him and challenging Romney to come down to Alabama to prove his manhood. He’d be looking to minimize the damage and shift the blame (the advantage of the specter of an all-powerful establishment is that it can be blamed for anything). Privately, Bannon can’t be thrilled that he’s stuck with Moore, and he must know that Moore is a kook, even if he can’t admit it in public. Bannon likes to attack everyone else in the party for lacking courage, but in Alabama, he’s afraid to admit he backed a bum candidate and afraid to acknowledge the truth about Moore. The urgency to get the party to back Moore-type candidates isn’t immediately apparent. If the point is just to hold Republican Senate seats, safer, more conventional Republicans are better suited to the task. If the point is just to support the Trump agenda, safer, more conventional candidates are as reliable, and perhaps more reliable than the likes of Moore, who opposed the Graham-Cassidy health care bill (“Rand Paul praises Roy Moore for opposing Obamacare repeal effort” is how one headline put it at the time). Part of the point has to be to elect candidates who have no standards for the sake of it. Bannon may be thinking ahead to a time when the Trump sex allegations become a live issue again or when a true scandal emerges from the Robert Mueller investigation. In this scenario, will there be anyone more naturally inclined to be dismissive of the accusers or other evidence than former Judge Roy Moore? Bannon may also believe that a GOP with a highly attuned ethical sense can’t truly be the party of the working class. In which case, who is the one who has contempt for the “rubes”?

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that “Trump could be the greatest president in history.” In a 14 December 2016 interview with CNN’s Don Lemon, Robert Kennedy, Jr. said that “I think Trump can be any kind of president he wants. I think he could be the greatest president in history if he wanted to.” Kennedy, who spoke these words prior to Donald Trump's taking office, was speaking in general terms about his hope that Trump would become a great president, seeing optimism in the fact that Trump appeared at the time to be unbound by ideology. On 14 December 2016, President John F. Kennedy’s nephew, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, appeared on CNN Tonight with Don Lemon to discuss the appointment of former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State (a move Kennedy, an environmental activist, was strongly opposed to). In an earlier segment on that night’s show, Lemon and his guests had drawn comparisons between the Trumps and the Kennedys, referencing remarks made by former Microsoft head Bill Gates a day earlier, with Lemon’s asking Kennedy Jr. how he felt about this comparison: We’ve discussed this on this show during the primary season, but Bill Gates has said today that Trump could be a new JFK. Some people look how close the Trump family is and how connected the children are to the family business and any they could be like the Kennedys. […] How do you feel about that? Kennedy’s answer, essentially, was not that Donald Trump had already done and achieved things that would fairly rank him as the “greatest President in history,” but that the comparison of Trump to the Kennedy family could turn out to be fair, because Donald Trump “is less bound by ideology than any president probably that we’ve had this century.” His statement was one of optimism for the future and was not rooted in anything Donald Trump (who had yet to assume office) had actually done as President: I think Trump, you know, because he doesn’t have obligations, he doesn’t owe anything to anybody, if he’s — I think if he cares about history and he understands that history is his principal audience, that he could be an extraordinary president. […] He said to Leonardo DiCaprio the other day that he wanted to be the next Teddy Roosevelt and he can easily do that he could — but I think it’s important to start by surrounding yourself with advisers who share that idealism and not people who are just working for the oil industry. I think he can be any kind of president he wants. I think he could be the greatest president in history if he wanted to. Since that exchange, numerous pro-Trump websites have run with Kennedy’s statement that “I think [Trump] could be the greatest president in history” without offering the any of the context that led to up to it. Numerous YouTube videos excerpt this brief segment, posted under the title “Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Drops Bombshell: ‘Trump Could Be Greatest President In History!'” Other sites have added their own slanted commentary to Kennedy’s remark, frequently suggesting the conversation happened more recently. In a May 2017 post frequently reshared on Facebook, ConservativeFighters.com gleefully and rhetorically asked: “Can you hear the sobs coming from liberal protesters when a left-wing icon like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. finally admits the truth?” While Kennedy is certainly a Democrat, he has expressed willingness to work with Trump in the past, especially during the timeframe when the Don Lemon interview took place. Trump allegedly offered Kennedy (though Trump later disputed this) the chance to head a controversial commission on “vaccine safety” that had been widely panned by the medical community back in January 2017. However, because Kennedy’s words, in full context, were not offered as complimentary of Trump’s actions as a president (which he wasn’t at that point) but as a general hopefulness for the future, we rate this claim as a mixture. Snopes.com has long been engaged in the battle against misinformation, an effort we could not sustain without the support of our readers. If you'd like to learn more about how you can support us, click here.

Athletes choosing to kneel during the national anthem is currently a controversial topic in the US. The this past weekend, 27 players from the Jacksonville Jaguars and Baltimore Ravens opted to take a knee during the singing of the US national anthem before a game at Wembley Stadium in London. This was the most players ever to kneel during the national anthem in a single NFL game ever. The defiant stance has become a sign of protest against racial inequality within the US, and more recently, against President Trump's lacklustre response to the Charlottesville white-nationalist rally last month, and the heated aftermath that followed. The defiant stance first made national news following a preseason game in 2016, when Colin Kaepernick sat down (as opposed to the tradition of standing), during the playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner". His reasoning was divisive, but simple: "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder" Eventually, Kaepernick conversed with former NFL player and US military veteran, Nate Boyer, and they both agreed that kneeling would be a much more respectful way to protest, whilst still showing respect for those who have fought in the US military. But the Jaguars and the Ravens weren't the only NFL teams to show solidarity against President Trump this week. The Pittsburgh Steelers, Oakland Raiders, Washington Redskins and more all protested in one way or another - with the Seattle Seahawks and Tennessee Titans even choosing to remain their locker rooms during the playing of the national anthem. And yet, what's even more inflammatory is President Trump's reaction to the silent protests. Instead of addressing the issues of racial injustice, Trump has hit out at the NFL, stating that fans should “refuse to go to games until players stop disrespecting our Flag & Country”, and that any players who take a knee should be fired or suspended. But President Trump isn't the only fan tuning in every week to witness the protests. Young children are incredibly impressionable, and one six-year-old in particular decided to demonstrate a protest of his own during the pledge of allegiance at his elementary school. As reported on ABC Action News, a six-year-old boy in Pasco County knelt down during a reading of the pledge of allegiance - an action that his teacher found disrespectful of the country, and disrespectful of the flag. The teacher send a text message to the boy's mother, informing her, "I knew where he had seen it. But I did tell him that in the classroom, we are learning what it means to be a good citizen". The teacher then told the child to "stand up and stop it", something that the boy's mother does not believe is her "right". The boy's mother said that she did not tell her son to take a knee, but also does not want her son to be silenced. She is now asking the school to be more open-minded, as she believes the issue is "much bigger" than her son. Linda Cobbe of Pasco County schools stated that they follow state law, and that the only way a student can be exempted from reciting the pledge of allegiance is with a written request from the parents, and even then, "they must stand". Cobbe also agreed that a more beneficial approach would have been to pull the boy to the side of the class and discuss the matter, instead of punishing him in front of the other students. But the mother believes that this shouldn't just be about her son: "The bigger issue is cultural. They have demonstrated to me, through multiple incidents, that they don't take inclusion and diversity serious". Both the boy's mom and the school are now hoping that the incident will be something everyone can learn from, as the school "does not want to infringe on anyone's rights". Should the boy and his mother be punished? Was it simply just a child copying something his favorite football team did one TV, or was he fighting for his right to be heard and respected in the community? One thing is for sure, the actions of the NFL are being seen and heard across the nation by everyone.

This article is part of the Opinion Today newsletter. You can sign up here to receive more briefings and a guide to the section daily in your inbox. Republicans are starting to talk openly about refusing to fill Antonin Scalia’s Supreme Court seat not only through the end of President Obama’s term but indefinitely. Ted Cruz, Charles Grassley and John McCain have all sent such signals, as have some other prominent conservatives. It’s worth taking this talk seriously. Too many top Republicans have made clear in recent years that they care more about winning than about adhering to political norms or doing what’s best for the country. You can see this attitude in the willingness to shut down the government, the threats to default on the national debt and the stated desire to make Obama a failed president. The political scientists Thomas Mann and Norm Ornstein call it “ asymmetric polarization”: the two political parties have come to behave quite differently. Refusing to seat a ninth justice, simply for ideological reasons, would be a clear and worrisome break with democratic tradition. It would send the message that Republicans believe a president should be able to exercise the Constitutional power to name justices only if that president were Republican. It would represent a new level of partisan cynicism. I hope that the wiser heads within the Republican Party prevail after the election. But Democrats should be prepared for the alternative. The alternative would mean that Senate control — which remains up in the air, given the tightness of recent polls — will be crucial. If Republicans hold the Senate, a President Hillary Clinton would be at their mercy with any nominee. If Democrats take the Senate, they would have an obvious fallback plan: eliminating the 60-vote threshold of the filibuster — as a Senate majority can always do — and confirming a justice with 51 votes. As long as Republicans keep talking about permanent obstructionism, Democrats should not hesitate to use that option. What I’m reading: Jeff Shesol, at The New Yorker, has an excellent breakdown of the growing signs of the Republicans’ Supreme Court obstructionism.

President Trump responded to reports that special counsel Robert Mueller is about to indict people in his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election by pointing the finger at Democrats. Trump said the investigation into whether his campaign colluded with the Kremlin is “phony,” “bad for our country,” a “witch hunt,” and “evil politics.” He added the news that Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee paid for the unverified dossier alleging scandalous behavior by Trump has united Republicans. “Never seen such Republican ANGER & UNITY as I have concerning the lack of investigation on Clinton made Fake Dossier (now $12,000,000?), the Uranium to Russia deal, the 33,000 plus deleted Emails, the Comey fix and so much more,” Trump tweeted. “Instead they look at phony Trump/Russia, ‘collusion,’ which doesn't exist. The Dems are using this terrible (and bad for our country) Witch Hunt for evil politics, but the R's are now fighting back like never before. There is so much GUILT by Democrats/Clinton, and now the facts are pouring out. DO SOMETHING!” The $12 million figure refers to the amount of money Clinton’s campaign paid to Perkins and Cole, a law firm that then paid Fusion GPS to do opposition research on Trump. Fusion GPS then paid former British spy Christopher Steele, who authored the dossier on Trump that was released shortly before the inauguration. It’s not clear if all $12 million the Clinton campaign paid to the law firm went toward funding the dossier. Trump was also referring to a deal between an American company and a Russian government agency to purchase the company, which controlled about 20 percent of the country’s uranium supply. Clinton’s State Department was one of nine government agencies that signed off on the purchase, and that decision has come under new scrutiny after revelations that the FBI was investigating if Russians were trying to gain influence in the American uranium industry. Later on, Trump added the new focus on the Russia investigation is likely a distraction from the Republican push for tax reform. "All of this 'Russia' talk right when the Republicans are making their big push for historic Tax Cuts & Reform. Is this coincidental? NOT!" Trump tweeted.

Opinion Modal Trigger Voters’ top concerns are the stagnant economy and the threat of terrorism, but you wouldn’t know it from Hillary Clinton’s TV ads or campaign speeches. She’s trying to twist the presidential race into a referendum on political correctness. Too embarrassed to run on her party’s economic record or her failed stint as secretary of state, she’s positioning herself as top cop of the speech police. For example, Hillary is running an ad depicting pre-teen girls looking self-consciously in the mirror, agonizing over their bodies. Sometimes such young girls’ worries turn into deadly eating disorders, ultimately killing 10 percent of those affected. Clinton cynically exploits the pain and fear felt by thousands of families. Her ad uses a voiceover of Trump saying things like “she ate like a pig” and “does she have a fat ass?” Parents struggling with their child’s eating disorder run to one doctor after another frantically seeking answers. The causes are complex and still not entirely known — but no one believes the cause is Donald Trump. Some experts blame Hollywood’s glorification of skinny women for at least contributing to the rash of eating disorders and young girls’ body-image struggles. Instead of trying to muzzle Trump and other men, why isn’t Hillary calling out her big supporters in the entertainment industry? The same question applies to Hillary’s double standard in bashing Trump for lewdness but celebrating it in popular music. Clinton’s latest super PAC ads condemn Trump’s bawdy 2005 remarks on a bus with show-biz journalist Billy Bush. Trump bragged to his buddy, “I moved on her like a bitch.” Clinton claims to have been outraged when she heard it, calling it “horrific.” Manhattan Institute scholar Heather Mac Donald chuckles at Clinton’s hypocritical “sudden onset of Victorian vapors.” After all, Clinton has no problem with the salacious lyrics of her pal and supporter Beyoncé. Even when Beyoncé sings: “I came to slay bitch . . . when he f–k me good I take his ass to Red Lobster.” Clinton says, “I want to be as good a president as Beyoncé is a performer.” Trump can’t catch a break with Clinton, even when he’s trying to do the right thing. Another Clinton ad attacks Trump reaching out to inner-city African-Americans with promises of more jobs and school choice. Reminding minority voters that Democratic politicians have failed to improve their economic opportunities, Trump asks for their vote, saying: “What the hell do you have to lose?” Clinton’s ad says: “Everything.” It follows her ad featuring Ku Klux Klan members praising Trump. It’s McCarthyite guilt by association. Trump has no connection to the group. What’s Trump actually guilty of? Poaching on Hillary’s turf. Worse than tarring Trump, she’s labeling cops, teachers and millions of other Americans racists. Whenever she talks to black audiences, she stokes racial resentment. She told the NAACP that whites “need to recognize our privilege and practice humility.” All whites, she claims, have “implicit bias,” and she wants bias training for police and other professions. Implicit bias — you’re told you have it even if you don’t realize it, no matter how colorblind you try to be, and denying your bias just proves it. Implicit bias is PC drivel. There’s no solid data to support it, cautions social scientists Philip Tetlock of UPenn and Gregory Mitchell of the University of Virginia and experts from New York University and the University of Connecticut. But if Clinton becomes president, we’ll all be undergoing re-education at school or work to cure our “implicit bias.” To see what President Hillary’s America would be like, look at most college campuses today. Few on campus dare to question Black Lives Matter, militant multiculturalism and “safe spaces” to spare students from challenging ideas. Hillary’s dictating how Americans talk about race, sex, even body shapes. Trump calls it like he sees it. He doesn’t stick to the well-rehearsed rhetoric of a career politician. But his supporters are sick and tired of political correctness. He’s not running for saint. He’s running to get the job done, something Hillary Clinton has already proven she can’t do. Betsy McCaughey is a senior fellow at the London Center for Policy Research.

On Monday ESPN suspended Jemele Hillfor 2 weeks in response to her tweets encouraging NFL fans to boycott anyone who sponsors Dallas Cowboys owner, Jerry Jones. Hill's tweet was in response to Jones comments that any player who disrespected the flag would be cut from his team. In a statement ESPN said, "Jemele Hill has been suspended for two weeks for a second violation of our social media guidelines. She previously acknowledged letting her colleagues and company down with an impulsive tweet. In the aftermath, all employees were reminded of how individual tweets may reflect negatively on ESPN and that such actions would have consequences. Hence this decision." ESPN says that it has accepted the apology of Jemele Hill for tweeting that President Trump and his followers are "white supremacists." Earlier this week, the co-host of ESPN's “SC6 with Michael and Jemele" fired off a series of tweets calling the President a "bigot" and "white supremacist." Hill apologized for her tweets on Wednesday. "My comments on Twitter expressed my personal beliefs." She wrote on Twitter. "My regret is that my comments and the public way I made them painted ESPN in an unfair light." The network issued a followup statement after her apology and said that Hill has a right to her personal beliefs, but said that they are not reflective of the company's opinions or beliefs. "She has acknowledged that her tweets crossed that line and has apologized for doing so. We accept her apology," they wrote. ESPN has been under intense scrutiny after they pulled their broadcaster Robert Lee off air “as the tragic events in Charlottesville were unfolding" in August. The Associated Press contributed to this report. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is calling for the termination of an ESPN anchor after she called President Donald Trump a white supremacist on Twitter. “That is one of the more outrageous comments that anybody could make and certainly is something that is a fireable offense by ESPN,” Sanders said on Wednesday. This comes after Jemele Hill, who co-hosts a ESPN show called “SC6 with Michael and Jemele," fired off a series of Tweets denouncing Trump and calling his supporters white supremacists. EPSN soon issued a statement in response to Smith's remarks. “The comments on Twitter from Jemele Hill regarding the president do not represent the position of ESPN,” the network said. “We have addressed this with Jemele and she recognizes her actions were inappropriate.” ESPN on Tuesday distanced itself from anchor Jemele Hill’s tweets calling President Trump “a bigot” and “a white supremacist.” “The comments on Twitter from Jemele Hill regarding the president do not represent the position of ESPN,” the network tweeted from its public relation’s department’s account. “We have addressed this with Jemele and she recognizes her actions were inappropriate,” ESPN added of Hill, a co-host on the 6 p.m. broadcast of the network’s “SportsCenter” program. Hill on Monday had a series of Twitter exchanges with other users that involved her harshly criticizing Trump. “Donald Trump is a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/other white supremacists,” she said in one tweet. “Trump is the most ignorant, offensive president of my lifetime,” Hill added in another post. “His rise is a direct result of white supremacy. Period.” Hill added in a third tweet that “Donald Trump is a bigot” before going on to deride the president’s supporters. “The height of white privilege is being able to ignore his white supremacy, because it’s of no threat to you,” she said. “Well, it’s a threat to me.” Some Twitter users on Wednesday praised Hill for singling out Trump, while others lambasted her decision instead. ESPN is owned by Disney, and neither company elaborated on a possible punishment for Hill, who was on Tuesday night’s broadcast of “SportsCenter” like normal. Former National Football League (NFL) quarterback Colin Kaepernick, meanwhile, on Tuesday voiced support for Hill on Twitter. Kaepernick remains unsigned after playing with the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to 2016 in a situation that remains controversial in the football world. The professional athlete began kneeling during the National Anthem last year to protest police brutality and racial injustice. Supporters say Kaepernick is making a legitimate stand for social justice, while critics charge he is acting unpatriotic instead. These celebrities ended up deleting their Twitter accounts. Let's get started!

The story is told that one evening, President Lincoln greeted a Congressional delegation, ushered them into his private study and asked their business. “We present you with a petition,” said the group leader, “demanding that you dismiss General Grant.” “And why should I do that?” asked Lincoln. “Grant is a drinker,” replied the leader. “He is known to have been drunk in his tent.” The president replied, “Gentlemen, I wish all my generals drank what Grant drinks; he wins!” This is how we should regard President Trump’s tweeting and his unbecoming, personal attacks on members of the media. We may cringe at Mika’s still-bleeding face, as we would in the tent of a drunken general. But Trump wins! In office barely five months, he has moved sure-footedly to correct the derelictions of the feckless fool who preceded him. His cabinet, the best since Lincoln, the Keystone pipeline, the impeccable Supreme Court nominee, the gathering of what amounted to the formative meeting of a Middle East NATO to defeat ISIS, the facing up to North Korea and Iran and Russia and China, the withdrawal from the rigged, insufferable Paris Climate Accord, sealing our borders to prohibit illegal entry, especially entry by dreadful thugs and terrorists, and moving aggressively to rid the country of those thugs and illegals like MS-13 and the monster who killed Kate Steinle, whom Obama welcomed, either directly or through insolent benign neglect. And on and on. We are awestruck at the vision, purpose and energy Trump has brought to the leadership of his country. But he is yet hampered by a war at home. The Democrats, the Progressives (or do I repeat myself), the Radicals, The Anarchists, the Communists, the university intelligentsia, Black Lives Matter, all amalgamated into a huge mass of vicious, unhinged hatred for Donald Trump. He alone stands between A Great America and the Sorosification of America. And so we see a level of disgusting personal attack on Mr. Trump such as has never been seen before, including faux-beheadings, calls for his impeachment, calls for his assassination, magazine covers depicting the president’s head with the cross hairs of a rifle at his temple, queries about his sanity, “professional” assertions of his imbalance, bastardized Shakespearean plays, allegations that he is a modern Hitler, utterly invented stories of misconduct by Trump or his team, based on unidentified “sources.” Ad nauseam. I propose you did a disservice to your community and your country when you admonished Rep. McSally to come out and vigorously oppose President Trump and school him in proper conduct (“Time for McSally to take a stand,” July 5, Page A6). And I propose you were in error when you promised that if she did not follow your advice, she would be punished in 2018 by the voters. You have it exactly backward. She owes her president her complete loyalty. She doesn’t need your advice. She is already wobbly enough. And, if she is punished at the 2018 election, it will be for failure to support and defend her president, and the punishment will be at the hands of We The People, who elected Mr. Trump.

Brazil’s new Migration Law relaxes criminal penalties for migrants. At a recent protest against this law in São Paulo, Muslim migrants demonstrated their distaste for dissent. Jihad Watch reader Natan sends in this video and writes: Terrorist Attempt at Anti-Migration Law Protest in Brazil. Syrian immigrants throw homemade bombs at peaceful people protesting at Av. Paulista in São Paulo, Brazil. The attack took place on May 2, when the group of protesters was walking. The attack was recorded by one of the protesters. In the video it is possible to see when the Muslims ignited the artifact and launched against the civilians. Police arrested the attackers, the crime was registered at a local police station.

In his election campaign, Mr Trump was clear about his desire to build a "great great" wall along the border of the US and Mexico which he believes will bring an end to illegal immigration from South and Central America. LBC presenter Ian Collins received a call from Mexican Josephine, who explained why she could not wait for work to begin on the wall. Josephine believes people from her native country are victimised because the Mexican government does not do enough for their people and have no authority when it comes to handling crime, especially in relation to drugs. She said: “We get the blame for all these criminals. “The Mexican government has turned a blind eye and the war has been lost with the drugs. “Many areas of Mexico have become worse than Chicago. “People are shooting themselves... they look after their family and they have machine guns and they drive around in trucks.” Collins then asked: “So you’re saying Donald Trump wasn’t being a racist then? I don’t want to put words in your mouth I just want to be clear.” Tue, December 13, 2016 “No, no, no,” Josephine replied. Since becoming President-elect has reiterated his intention to crack down on immigration. Speaking to CBS in his first major interview since being elected Mr Trump said: “What we are going to do is get the people that are criminal and have criminal records, gang members, drug dealers, where a lot of these people, probably two million – it could be even three million – we are getting them out of the country or we are going to incarcerate.” Collins, attempting to understand why the Mexican woman was so pleased about Mr Trump’s election success, said: “Was he saying something that lots of people think but are too scared to say?” Josephine said: “Yes, and another thing is that I love the people that are here that I know, I know many people that are Asians, that are Arabs, good speaking English people, but there are very few. “The most people in the area don’t want to mix, and they are very hostile. “Everything has been twisted. I have scrutinised everything in this campaign and newspapers said today he is getting rid of three million migrants. “But they missed a word. Trump said ‘illegal criminals’.”

The NFL national anthem story isn’t going away anytime soon. During many debate shows that air on cable sports networks, it was topic one. This was especially true during true during FS1’s Undisputed with Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe. As the FS1 Dynamic Duo began discussing the topic, Sharpe went on an incredible eight-minute rant on how NFL owners suddenly got an awakening about President Trump’s comments at an Alabama rally about players who kneel during the national anthem. Sharpe first said he was “disappointed and … unimpressed,” about the whole thing. And then he expressed why he was disappointed and unimpressed: “I’m disappointed, Skip and Joy, because this is the tipping point. Of the 7,537 things that President Trump has said in the last 50 years, him calling an NFL player a ‘SOB’ is what brought the NFL, the owners and players together. And while some might be moved by the conscience of these NFL owners, it wasn’t their conscience that moved them. It was the cash. Because see Skip, what we know about people with money, they don’t like to be told what to do…they don’t like being bullied. You see, President Trump has bullied a lot of people …” Sharpe then mentioned Trump’s comments on Mexico, attacking a Gold Star family after last year’s Democratic National Convention, and his statements to former Access Hollywood host Billy Bush about women saying, “that did not shock the conscience of NFL owners.” And he also pointed out a number of owners, including Jerry Jones, Daniel Snyder, Shad Khan, and Robert Kraft, who contributed to Trump’s inauguration. “Now I’m unimpressed because this wasn’t a protest. This was unity. So what are we showing solidarity against, Skip? We’re showing solidarity because President Trump .. he challenged the very men … wealthy, wealthy men … billionaires and he told them what you should do if someone protests, you should fire them. They don’t like being told what to do, Skip. “And then, Skip, he called players that protested the anthem … he called them ‘SOB’s.’ Think about that now, he called them ‘SOB’s.’ That’s what got the owners, that’s what got the players to unite. “Is that the worst that he’s ever said? Absolutely not. Never called Vladimir Putin an ‘SOB,’ Never called (Erdogan) of Turkey an ‘SOB,’ even those men that walked down the streets in Charlottesville, Virginia … he never said ‘SOB’ …” This was an impassioned Sharpe. He also pointed out Colin Kaepernick, who started the kneeling during the national anthem, was forgotten and the NFL owners were uniting against Donald Trump. “It wasn’t until he came for the NFL that their conscience was shocked!” Sharpe said of all the teams that issued statements this weekend, only the Seattle Seahawks got the reason why they were denouncing the President’s statements. And he also set his sights on fellow FS1 analyst Ray Lewis for previously criticizing Kaepernick and then kneeling on the sideline with the Baltimore Ravens in London on Sunday. Sharpe said he was “very disappointed” in him, saying Lewis “sat in that chair right there saying that he could never kneel, never not stand for the national anthem” citing those who died fighting for the flag and then he went down on both knees. “What are you kneeling for?” It was one of the more emotional segments on Undisputed in its brief history.

Do Not Resist is an order to the viewer: Watch. Videos in newsfeeds depicting the murder of black men by police open automatically without warning on our screens all the time, forcing another wave of trauma for some black folks and other people of color. This film changes the perspective, offering on-the-ground footage of protests, police-academy training and interviews with people involved in both. Why does our society so often discount the stories of black people who face danger from the police? The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has just passed a ruling declaring that it is reasonable for black men to flee police officers, so great is the risk. In this new and vital documentary, Craig Atkinson interrogates what is happening in American police departments and why cops' presence on the streets looks more and more like war. There's no need for commentary in the film when footage from protests in Ferguson, Missouri, immediately following Michael Brown's death at the hands of a police officer shows squads of cops in riot gear, holsters on their hips, facing down young black men wearing shirts reading "STOP KILLING US." Why do police act this way? What is the culture creating this? At local and national levels, Atkinson investigates. His visit to a police academy, where officers in training are told that the riskiness of their day jobs guarantees great sex back home, illuminates the objectification, detachment and selfish brutality of American police culture — and why it might be so seductive. Atkinson focuses on the growing resistance to it; we must, too. Director:Craig Atkinson Writer:Craig Atkinson

President Donald Trump criticized some in the National Football League Friday night at a rally for Alabama Republican Senate candidate Luther Strange, saying team owners should fire players for taking a knee during the national anthem. Trump added that if fans would "leave the stadium" when players kneel in protest during the national anthem, "I guarantee, things will stop." Trump said NFL owners should respond to the players by saying, "Get that son of a b**** off the field right now, he's fired. He's fired!" Unable to play video. HTML5 is not supported! "For a week, (that owner would) be the most popular person in this country. Because that's a total disrespect of our heritage. That's a total disrespect for everything we stand for," Trump said. Last year, Colin Kaepernick -- formerly with the San Francisco 49ers, but currently without a team -- drew national attention for refusing to stand during "The Star-Spangled Banner" prior to kickoff. "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color," Kaepernick told NFL Media in August 2016. His protest spurred both support and backlash. Following the events in Charlottesville, Virginia, where white supremacists gathered to protest the removal of a Confederate soldier statue, Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett told CNN he would follow suit. "I can't stand for the national anthem," Bennett said. "I can't stand right now. I'm not going to be standing until I see the equality and freedom." Trump also took aim at NFL efforts to prevent concussions. "They're ruining the game, right?" he said. "They're ruining the game."

Tropical Storm Harvey is building up strength in the Gulf of Mexico. A hurricane may be on our hands, and it’s headed to Texas and Louisiana, where it is predicted to do a lot of flooding with massive amounts of rain and 80 mph winds. Update (8/25/17; 8:29 P.M.): Hurricane Harvey has seriously picked up. The storm has upped the ante to a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds as high as 130 mph. Gusts of winds have been reported to be as high as 155 mph. Update (8/27/17; 10:45 P.M.): Massive flooding has reached Houston and many areas of southeast Texas, with 20 inches of rain hitting some areas. However, the hurricane has since dwindled from a Category 2, with sustained winds of 110 mph. More flooding and rainfall is expected into Wednesday, with meteorologists predicting 50 inches of rainfall. Three deaths have already been reported along with 12 injuries. Update (8/29/17; 7:52 P.M.): Harvey is officially a tropical storm. However, that doesn’t downplay the danger. An incredible amount of flooding has been reported in the Houston area. There are now 14 official causalities of the storm, including a family of six and a Houston police officer. Update (9/5/17; 1:34 P.M.): The death toll of Hurricane Harvey has increased to at least 60 causalities as a direct result of the storm. Officials are expecting up to 20 inches of rain in eastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana, starting Friday (August 25) up until the beginning of next week. As a result of the impending storm, Portland, Texas, is already being evacuated. Corpus Christi Mayor, Joe McComb, just announced that a voluntary evacuation is highly encouraged especially if you are in a low-lying area. — H-E-B Prepared (@HEBPrepared) August 24, 2017 Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell have also evacuated their employees. Flights in-and-out of the area have been cancelled and delayed. Gas stations are currently running out of gas as people are attempting to escape the path of the hurricane. On Thursday, Hurricane Harvey can be found in the Gulf of Mexico. It’s been predicted that the storm will be into Texas by Friday, and will advance even more as it enters Louisiana. Flooding is expected in both states. The current speed of the hurricane is 80 mph. San Patricio County issues mandatory evacuation https://t.co/VEEaYZrMpS via @callerdotcom #HurricaneHarvey #RGV — Teddy Wilson (@reportbywilson) August 24, 2017 Schools in Houston have been closed in anticipation of Hurricane Harvey. Districts are announcing closures for public schools, community colleges, and universities. Hurricane Harvey school closures in Houston: Districts already announcing closures https://t.co/Dwd7vFuhFZ via @houstonchron — Andrew Blankstein (@anblanx) August 24, 2017 Here’s a short list of some of the schools that will be closing down as a result of the storm.

A total of 16 women joined together Monday to address their stories of sexual assault and sexual harassment at the hands of President Donald Trump. While many of these women came forward during the 2016 election, the Trump campaign attacked them, their lives and many right-wing activists invented information designed to discredit them. The three women that spoke earlier to Megyn Kelly sat at a table with documentarian Robert Greenwald of Brave New Films. He commended the reporters who have investigated the many accounts across all industries about sexual harassment. “There was one man that wasn’t being held accountable — who’s not being called out,” Greenwald said. That’s why he decided to create the documentary with the women. “It really had an impact on your heart, your soul, your emotions,” Greenwald said. He noted that so many women came forward to warn Americans, but “attention was not paid.” Today, Greenwald said “we know better. We know a lot better,” when it comes to predators. He demanded those in politics to act against anyone of either party not to give anyone “a pass.” Jessica Leeds, Samantha Holvey and Rachel Crooks each introduced themselves, telling story after story of their horrifying encounters with Trump. “I have a new dream now that this man will be held accountable for his actions and that future women will not be treated as less than just because they are a woman,” Holvey said. Crooks noted that given Trump owned the building in which she worked, she didn’t have any power to do anything. “Given this hostile work environment, my only solution at the time was to simply avoid additional encounters with him,” Crooks said. “I do realize that in the grand scheme of things there are far worse cases of sexual harassment, misconduct and assault. But make no mistake, there is no acceptable level of this behavior. That some men think they can use their power, position or notoriety to demean attack women speaks to their character and not ours. Which, believe me, is a tough lesson learned.” She went on to say that it was only through other remarkably similar accounts that she felt empowered to come forward. “Instead, this was serial misconduct and perversion on the part of Mr. Trump,” Crooks continued. “Unfortunately, this behavior isn’t rare in our society. Many women of any background can be victims. The only reason I am here today is because this offender is the president of our country.” She went on to note that Trump had dismissed his “Access Hollywood” tape as “locker room talk,” but “having been the victim of such actions, I knew better.” She asked that some things should transcend politics and that all people, regardless of position or power be held accountable for their actions, including Trump. Leeds walked through her disgusting story and further encounter, saying that she never once anticipated being on the front page of a newspaper. She was “absolutely destroyed” by Trump’s election. “The United States is a big strong country,” Leeds said that she thought at the time. “We can survive this person.” But women kept coming up to her in public and told Leeds their own story. She said that she had hoped things were better for women in business, but “apparently I was wrong.” When the Harvey Weinstein story hit and woman after woman began to come forward, people were finally being held accountable. “Except for our president,” Leeds said. She quoted Trump’s White House, who has said that the women are all “liars.” She noted that some are holding men accountable for bad behavior, however, “our president is not being held accountable for what he is and who he is.” Leeds said that this is part of the problem that is happening in Alabama. Crooks agreed, saying that Trump endorsed Roy Moore because he denied the allegations and it “worked for him.” Lisa Boyne spoke via phone to the press conference, telling her own story of being invited to a dinner party with Trump in the West Village. She said that he wanted the women to rate other women on a 1 to 10 scale. While at dinner, the men used the table as a “casting couch.” The women were brought to the table one by one and he told them to walk across the table. Boyne said that Trump looked up their skirts as they walked by. She said that John Casablancas ordered her to drink more but she refused and he was bothered by her refusal. She ultimately excused herself to the ladies room and from the restaurant. She explained that over the years her story was met with shame and questions of why she was there. She tried to pitch it to reporters, but no one wanted to hear it. “As a parent I was so deeply deeply offended… because he had a son around the age of my son and what sort of values are we teaching our children when we say that something like rape is ‘locker room talk,'” she shouted. “And that her husband talking about that is ‘boy talk.’ Everybody is normalizing as something that boys and men say in the locker room. That is the talk of horrible people and Trump keeps staying it to the press pool. And you’re all taking it in like it’s normal. It is not a normal way for people to talk. Why aren’t people calling him out on that. Something that is so horrific — I’m so fed up of listening to people. We take it in like it’s nothing. We shouldn’t teach our boys to talk like this.” She went on to say it was “one thousand times worse that what Al Franken has done.” Watch the full event below: You can watch the clip of the Brave New Films documentary below:

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Two people are dead after an officer-involved shooting Friday afternoon on White Horse Road, according to the Greenville County Sheriff Will Lewis. The sheriff’s office got a call that a man with a gun was chasing a woman near McAfee Funeral Home, according to Greenville County Sheriff Will Lewis. Deputies responded to a call that came in just after 4 p.m. according to dispatch. The shooting happened near the McAfee Funeral Home on White Horse Road, dispatch said. As the woman ran across White Horse Road, the man shot her, according to Greenville County Coroner Parks Evans. He said when deputies confronted the man, the man fired at deputies. The coroner said the deputies returned fire killing him. The woman was taken to Greenville Memorial Hospital where she was pronounced dead just before 5:30 p.m., said Evans. Saturday afternoon the Greenville County coroner's office identified the woman as Candy Rosario, 25, of Greenville. Witnesses on scene said a deputy confronted the man and ordered him to put down his gun and the deputy was forced to discharge their weapon after the man did not put the gun down. Witnesses on scene said about 10 to 15 shots were fired. On Sunday, the Greenville County coroner identified the man as Ramiro Bravo Ramirez, 34, of Greenville. The coroner said autopsy results on Ramirez are still pending. Dispatchers said White Horse Road reopened around 6 a.m. on Saturday. All of the deputies are fine and the investigation has been turned over to SLED, Lewis said. Following standard procedure, the deputy is placed on administrative leave while the investigation is pending. We will continue to update this story as we get new information.

Disgraced Hollywood producer and mogul Harvey Weinstein has been under the spotlight as multiple disturbing allegations of him sexually abusing women have come to the public's attention following an article published by the New York Times. The abuse has allegedly been occurring for over three decades, with the earliest case cited being from 1984. TMZ writes that on Wednesday morning Weinstein's daughter Remy called 911 to notify police that her father was "suicidal and depressed." The 22-year-old and her father were reportedly arguing. The morning's event took place in the Los Angeles area. The Daily Mail reportsthat Weinstein attempted to flag down a ride from a random driver following the argument. When the police arrived, Remy reportedly made no mention that her father was suicidal, and said it was a family dispute. Actresses Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Mira Sorvino, Rosanna Arquette, Heather Graham, Ashley Judd, Asia Argento, and others have come forth with their personal stories of Weinstein's sickening and sexually abusive behavior. Weinstein's wife Georgina Chapman left the famed Hollywood producer on Tuesday. In a statement made to People, Chapman wrote, "My heart breaks for all the women who have suffered tremendous pain because of these unforgivable actions. I have chosen to leave my husband. Caring for my young children is my first priority and I ask the media for privacy at this time."

PUYALLUP, Wash. - A man who police say is connected to nearly a dozen robberies was shot by an officer after a chase Wednesday morning. The suspect is expected to survive after undergoing CPR at the scene. The officer responded to the Denny's restaurant near South Hill Mall for reports of an armed robber threatening employees and customers. The officer began chasing a pickup truck that was speeding away. The driver lost control and crashed into a concrete overpass pillar nearby, police say. That's when the passenger pointed a gun at the driver, prompting the officer to fire a shot, injuring the gunman. The suspect was given CPR until medics could arrive and transport him to the hospital. Police say the suspect, a 37-year-old convicted felon, is tied to at least ten other robberies in the Pierce County area. The driver, a 39-year-old who is also a convicted felon, was arrested and booked into the Pierce County Jail, The officer is now on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure after an officer fires their gun.

A recent Sacramento Bee commentaryby another anti-Trump ankle biter (“Horrified by Trump? Just tell yourself it could be worse,” by Foon Rhee) talked about how horrified he was by President Trump. How Trump’s belittled our allies, demonized immigrants and endangered the environment — the usual mind vomit leftists spew forth on a daily basis. He talked about Russian collusion, which after 11 months and nearly $7 million has yielded no evidence whatsoever, and how Trump is undermining America by deregulating the EPA and repealing Obama’s health care debacle, which is true since Trump is trying to improve both fiascos. The writer then goes on to say that as horrible as Trump is, it could be worse. That is also true, especially if Hillary had been elected. She would not only have increased the growing malignancy of a liberal ideology that has made a mockery of the presidency, the IRS, the FBI, the DOJ and the media, but we’d have both Clinton serial women abusers and compulsive liars in the White House. On Hillary’s website one can open tabs on ethnic, religious and sexual minorities all related to the nature of diversity, power and oppression, but unlike Trump’s, there’s not one mention of her vision of a true American community. Why is that? The afternoon's latest local news Recaptcha requires verification. protected by reCAPTCHA Privacy - Terms Privacy - Terms Larry Bargenquast, Paso Robles What do you think? The Tribune welcomes your opinion. Send your letters to the editor to letters@thetribunenews.comor submit your letter here. Letters should be no longer than 200 words. Your letter must include your address and phone number. Writers are limited to one letter a month. We reserve the right to edit letters for length, clarity and taste. All letters and Viewpoints become the property of The Tribune.

Mandalay Bay security guard Jesus Campos was an "accomplice" to Las Vegas Strip mass shooter Stephen Paddock. On 5 October 2017, the disreputable web site GotNews.com — run by notorious Internet troll Chuck C. Johnson — reported (with no evidence or citations) that the security guard being lauded as a hero for his role in helping to stop the massacre perpetrated by Las Vegas Strip shooter Stephen Paddock was, in fact, an accomplice in the shooting. Stephen Paddock, 64, has been named as the lone gunman by law enforcement in the 1 October 2017 mass shooting, in which he fired on a music festival crowd of 22,000 with a modified automatic weapon from a suite in the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, killing 58 and wounding hundreds. High-ranking officials from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the law enforcement agency leading the investigation, have said that while they still don’t know if Paddock had any accomplices in planning the attack, they have on several occasions confirmed that per their investigation, he was the only shooter. Large-scale tragedies like mass shootings and terrorist attacks have been unfortunate lures for conspiracy theorists and purveyors of false information in the Internet age. Disreputable web sites latch on to the chaotic aftermaths of such incidents to seduce audiences with “alternatives” to official investigations, claiming to harbor the “truth” that dishonest officials and the “mainstream media” are hiding from the public. For example, GotNews stories carry this fundraising plug: You won’t hear this stuff from the lying mainstream media. Keep the GotNews mission alive: donate at GotNews.com/donate or send tips to editor@gotnews.com. If you’d like to join our research team, contact editor@gotnews.com. GotNews didn’t provide in its story any evidence to support their claim that hotel security guard Jesus Campos was an accomplice, other than an anonymous “official” with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF). GotNews reported: The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives now believes Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock likely had help planning and executing the deadliest mass shooting in US history from none other than the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino security guard who was shot in the leg that night, a senior ATF official told GotNews. Jesus Campos has been praised for his apparent heroics on October 1st, as he supposedly rushed to Paddock’s suite, was shot in the upper thigh through the door, and continued to help get people to safety despite his wounds. However, a new report indicates the ATF now believes he was likely an accomplice of Paddock’s, and may have even been involved in the initial shooting as a second gunman from the other broken window in Paddock’s 32nd-floor room. According to an ATF official, these suspicions are corroborated by the extreme amount of gunpowder residue found on Campos’ hands. “They believe he killed Paddock, shot holes through the door and his own arm to produce physical evidence for his cover story, then went and lay next to the elevator,” a senior ATF official doing ballistic work for the shooting told GotNews. The ATF contacted GotNews to notify them the story was inaccurate; the story was then updated with this disclaimer: The ATF has disputed GotNews’ source, saying “the information in the article is incorrect,” in the following article on a theory regarding the Las Vegas shooting. “Please know that the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is the lead of the investigation of the shooting in Las Vegas and ATF is assisting. This is an ongoing investigation where we continue to work with our law enforcement partners,” the ATF said. This article will continue to be updated with developments. If you have any tips, email editor@gotnews.com However, another disreputable web site, YourNewsWire.com, which regurgitated the GotNews story on 6 October 2017, did not include this crucial “update” to alert readers that the allegations in the story were disputed by the very agency cited. We followed up with the ATF to ask whether any of their employees had been in contact with GotNews. The agency responded: We do not believe that any ATF officials spoke to GotNews or mentioned to anyone that Mr. Campos was a second shooter. We sent Johnson a detailed list of questions about the GotNews story, but Johnson only responded asking that we “please print” his claim to have a source with ATF. We found no evidence to support stories that report Campos acted in any other way than heroically. Campos has been hailed as a hero by the police department for not only locating Paddock’s room, but braving a hail of gunfire in doing so.. Police said Campos provided them with a door key to the suite and stayed to help them evacuate other guests until officers ordered him to seek medical aid for a gunshot wound to the leg (there are no reports that Campos had a wound to his arm, as GotNews claims). During a 4 October 2017 press conference, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said: But his [Campos’s] bravery was amazing because he remained with our officers, providing them the key pass to access the door, and actually continued to help them clear rooms until our officers demanded that he go seek medical attention. In another update on 6 October 2017, LVMPD Undersheriff Kevin McMahill reiterated that Campos’s actions were nothing other than heroic: Most of you also now know the name of the Mandalay Bay security guard, who you’ve all named in the media, and I’ll just reaffirm to you that Jesus Campos is a true hero. I can tell you now just a little bit more that I know about what he did that particular day. We now know that he was dispatched to what they call a door alarm on the 32nd floor. He went up there to investigate the open door and as he was doing his job diligently, he came under fire by our suspect. As you know, he was struck in the leg. He turned around and retreated. He notified his dispatch, which was absolutely critical to us knowing the location, as well as advising the responding officers as they arrived on that 32nd floor. I can tell you that this was a remarkable effort by a brave and remarkable man. I want to say today that I don’t think we’ve done a good enough job recognizing him and his actions, and for that I apologize. I just want to take the moment and clear the record that he’s an absolute hero. This is not the first time Johnson has framed an innocent person (a heroic one, no less) in the aftermath of a deadly incident. Dallas attorney Andrew Sommerman is representing in a pending defamation suit the family of Joel Vangheluwe, who Johnson wrongly identified as the driver of the Dodge Charger that ran down a group of counter-demonstrators at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in mid-August. He said of Johnson: When one does not care about the facts or how it affects people, it damages lives and creates a further disaster than what was originally created. On 12 August 2017, GotNews “ retracted” the article naming Vangheluwe as the driver of the car that rammed into the crowd, leaving 32-year-old Charlottesville resident Heather Heyer dead, allegedly because the police hadn’t yet named a suspect. Why GotNews backtracked in that case to defer to police but not in the case of Campos is unclear but accuracy doesn’t seem to have been the goal — as of 6 October 2017, the GotNews story still says “police have not identified the suspect,” even though James Alex Fields was not only publicly identified but also charged with the crime the day the story was published. Johnson, 28, has a long and dizzying history of scandal as a semi-successful Internet troll. He gained widespread notoriety when he attempted to out a woman who had anonymously written a disputed column about being raped on campus for Rolling Stone, but then identified the wrong woman. In 2015, he joined a short list of people banned by Twitter after a tweet asking supporters for funding to help “take out” civil rights activist DeRay McKession. Johnson is also behind the crowdfunding web site WeSearchr, where he has raised funds for supporters of the neo-Nazi web site Daily Stormer and a movement of white supremacists who chartered (then abandoned) a ship in an effort to scuttle the efforts of aid organizations trying to rescue migrants making the deadly Mediterranean Sea crossing between North Africa and Europe. During a press briefing on 9 October 2017, Lombardo said investigators revised the shooting timeline, noting that Paddock shot Campos six minutes before he opened fire on the crowd. Lombardo acknowledged that Campos was shot at 9:59 p.m. Responding to AP reporter Ken Ritter’s question, Lombardo said: Yes, the timeline associated with the original shot and Mr. Campos has changed. Through investigation, as I have conveyed to you from the very beginning, in your zest for information and my zest to ensure the public safety and the calming of their minds, is some things are going to change. Now they are minute changes, OK. There’s not this all-encompassing answer associated with the information that we presented before, in other words it’s not completely inaccurate, but what we have learned is Mr. Campos was encountered by the suspect prior to his [Paddock’s] shooting to the outside world. Variations: On 12 October 2017, readers asked about a purported CNN item reporting the claim as news: Hello will you please tell me if the CNN report released today October 11th “Breaking News – Police Arrest Mandalay Security Guard Jesus Compos As Second Shooter In Las Vegas Massacre” is true or false? Thank you for your time A fake news web site posing as CNN published an article reiterating the debunked rumor on 11 October 2017: Breaking News – Police Arrest Mandalay Security Guard Jesus Compos As Second Shooter In Las Vegas Massacre CNN) Breaking News – Mandalay Bay security guard Jesus Compos has been arrested accused of being an accomplice and second shooter in the Las Vegas massacre that claimed the lives of 59 people and injured more than 500. Jesus Campos had originally been praised for his apparent heroics on October 1st, as he supposedly rushed to Paddock’s suite, was shot in the upper thigh through the door, and continued to help get people to safety despite his wounds. However, FBI officials involved in the investigation now believe he was an accomplice of Paddock’s, and was involved in the initial shooting as a second gunman from the other broken window in Paddock’s 32nd-floor room. The domain name (cnn-internationaledition.com) and use of CNN’s logos successfully duped social media users into believing the story was legitimate and sharing it. Hosting records revealed that the site was registered on 10 October 2017, one day prior to the publication of the article. Additional registrar details indicated that the site was registered outside the United States by an individual, not CNN. 9 October 2017, 5:10 P.M.: Added additional information that Campos was shot sooner than initially thought by investigators. 12 October 2017, 5:35 P.M.: Added information about an iteration from cnn-internationaledition.com, a fake news web site posing as CNN. Snopes.com has long been engaged in the battle against misinformation, an effort we could not sustain without the support of our readers. If you'd like to learn more about how you can support us, click here.

In an article focusing on free speech on the campus, The New York Times tells its readers that the UC Berkeley faculty is divided over whether or not the university should allow right-wing speakers to appear on campus. Their most recent concern was motivated by a "Free Speech Week" event that was being put together by provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos, who was invited by a small campus group called Berkeley Patriot. He was going to appear on the campus in February, but his scheduled speech was canceled after protesters prevented it from taking place. The upcoming event was scheduled to take place from September 24-27, but as Rick Moran reports in these pages, it was announced today that Berkeley Patriot canceled the event. Participants initially mentioned were Steve Bannon and Ann Coulter, but now it has become apparent that neither planned to attend. Listed speaker Charles Murray announced he would not participate in any event Milo had arranged “because he is a despicable asshole.” Murray’s name, moreover, was listed without his knowledge or consent. All of these announced speakers regularly enrage leftist students and send them into conniptions. To confound issues even more, Milo Yiannopoulos announced he would appear and speak anyway at the famous Sproul Plaza, the site of the 1964 Free Speech Movement protest. Promising surprises, he now is asserting his right to free speech as a private citizen to speak on campus without any formal group sponsorship or invitation. Saying he would appear this Sunday at noon, there is certain to be a large police presence as well as a vast group of leftist protestors, most likely including Antifa groups. The highlight at the now suspended conference was to be the "Mario Savio Award,” given to the individual who in their eyes has most represented the idea of free speech. The name of the award is also meant to anger liberals. Mario Savio led the famous Berkeley protests in the 1960s. When the university moved in October of 1964 to prevent a protestor from speaking, students spontaneously surrounded the police car he had been put in. Savio gave an eloquent speech that made him famous from on top of the police car. Soon 3000 or more students arrived. Then they took over Sproul Plaza, the administration building. Eventually, scores of police arrived and arrested those students who had taken over the building. Now Yiannopoulos is co-opting the once liberal and leftist cause of free speech as his own, and in effect positing that he and his associates are the ones acting in Savio’s spirit. An organizer of the original '60s protests, playwright and author Barbara Garson, called Free Speech Week a “grotesque parody” of the movement she helped lead. As of today — the 23rd — the event will not take place. Yet Milo's appearance — should he show up — has forced the university authorities to spend one million dollars arranging for security, since they fear the kind of violence that erupted in Charlottesville when Antifa appeared to contest the neo-Nazis and racists who planned a rally there. It’s getting very expensive for conservatives to speak. Recently, Ben Shapiro spoke without incident and reported he had a fruitful exchange of opinion with liberal and leftist students, although security for his talk cost UC Berkeley $600,000.

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that former FBI Director James Comey “lied and leaked” information and ultimately protected Hillary Clinton, while also questioning the credibility of the FBI’s probe into her email. Trump’s early morning tweets come in the wake of news that the bureau’s former director had drafted a statement exonerating Clinton before the investigation was over. “Wow, FBI confirms report that James Comey drafted letter exonerating Crooked Hillary Clinton long before investigation was complete. Many people not interviewed, including Clinton herself,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “Comey stated under oath that he didn’t do this-obviously a fix? Where is Justice Dept?” “As it has turned out, James Comey lied and leaked and totally protected Hillary Clinton. He was the best thing that ever happened to her!” the president added later. Newsweek reported Monday on documents released by the FBI that included an email sent on May 2, 2016, by Comey to other FBI officials that included a file titled “Drafts of Director Comeys July 5, 2016 Statement Regarding Email Server Investigation Part 01 of 01.” Despite Comey having already drafted a statement on the investigation into Clinton’s email practices while at the State Department, the probe would continue on for months. Clinton herself was not interviewed until July 2, 2016, three days before Comey held a press conference to announce that the FBI would not recommend filing charges against the former secretary of state. That Comey had drafted a statement exonerating Clinton with months to go before the completion of the investigation has raised concern among Republicans on Capitol Hill, including Senators Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who wrote a letter to current FBI Director Christopher Wray noting that “the outcome of an investigation should not be prejudged while FBI agents are still hard at work trying to gather the facts.” While the president has complained that Comey was too easy on Clinton, the former secretary of state has made no secret that she believes it was Comey’s late October 2016, announcement that the bureau was examining potentially fresh evidence related to the email investigation that cost her the election. The evidence examined by the bureau came up fruitless, but Clinton has complained that the resurfacing of the scandal so close to Election Day reintroduced doubt into voters’ minds. Trump, who reveled in the bureau’s investigation into Clinton throughout the campaign, fired Comey last May, a move the White House initially said was based on Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s assessment of Comey’s handling of the Clinton investigation. Trump later conceded that he had already made his mind up to fire Comey before receiving Rosenstein’s recommendation and that he had made the decision with the FBI’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election weighing on his mind.

(WEYI/WSMH) -- The Michigan State Police out of Detroit took to Twitter reporting the claims of a viral video about human trafficking in a Metro Detroit suburb are not accurate. "It was investigated by law enforcement and not a case of human trafficking. He was right about being vigilant but that’s about it," said the State Police on Twitter. This is the Facebook post where Nick Ahmad claims human trafficking almost happened to his wife and others. The video has been viewed over 650,000 times and shared close to 30,000 times. After an investigation the Michigan State Police took to twitter saying the viral Facebook video is not accurate.

Hillary Clinton has made it official. The former secretary of state announced that she will be seeking the nomination for President of the United States on Sunday with a campaign video on her official website. The spot opens with various people talking about their hopes for 2015, ending with Clinton saying, “I’m getting ready to do something too. I’m running for President.” “Americans have fought their way back from tough economic times, but the deck is still stacked in favor of those at the top,” she continues. “Everyday Americans need a champion, and I want to be that champion. So you can do more than just get by, you can get ahead and stay ahead.” Clinton’s run for the presidency will hardly come as a surprise. The politician has long been hyped as the Democratic front-runner for the 2016 election. This marks Clinton’s second time vying for the presidency. She first ran during the 2008 election, but lost the Democratic ticket to then-junior senator Barack Obama. Clinton later served on Obama’s cabinet, working as the secretary of state from the start of his presidency in 2009 through Feb. 1, 2013. When Clinton, 67, left her position in 2013, political watchers took it as a sign that the former first lady was preparing for her own campaign in 2016. Her announcement makes her the first major candidate to seek out the Democratic nomination. On the Republican side, Senator Ted Cruz, from Texas, and Senator Rand Paul, from Kentucky, have already thrown their hats into the ring. Given Clinton’s high profile (and the fact that her candidacy has been speculated about for years), she has become a major target for both other Democratic hopeful nominees and Republicans. The past few months haven’t been without scandal. In March, she admitted to using a private email address while working as the secretary of state because it was “convenient.” While the politician said that she was “allowed” to use her personal email, critics took issue with the fact that it caused an issue for journalists requesting records through the Freedom of Information Act and Benghazi investigators who have subpoenaed Clinton. More on Hillary Clinton: • Hillary Clinton Officially Joins the 2016 Presidential Race • Inside Hillary Clinton’s Decision to Run: ‘We Need to Break Down the Highest, Hardest Glass Ceiling’ • Barack Obama Offers Advice to Hillary Clinton for Her 2016 Run • What Should We Call Bill If Hillary Wins? He Has Some Ideas

Colin Kaepernick continues to be in the news, though recently it is largely for what he isn’t doing. He was released from the San Francisco 49ers earlier this year, and he has yet to find work despite several tantalizing openings due to roster upheaval and injuries on other teams. This is because many NFL owners and fans did not like how he kneeled for the national anthem. They viewed it as a self-indulgent and disrespectful act that politicized what should have been a nonpolitical event. But, showing their continued march towards irrelevancy, left leaning commentators like Ryan Clark on ESPN’s Mike and Mike show are now saying Kaepernick is a victim. Without a hint of irony, Clark said that Kaepernick was the “flag bearer” for blacks in America and the NFL. But in order to use that analogy, a person would have to actually respect the flag, and this in turn undermines the narrative that liberals and activists are peddling. The narrative from activists, race hucksters, and many politicians is that blacks are disproportionately targeted by cops and the judicial system. That they are victims of systemic poverty that leads to crime, and that the root causes and issues that are important to them are not being addressed. This narrative isn’t wholly disconnected from reality, but it’s twisted into an overtly political narrative that often undermines meaningful reform. Flag bearers are important in history because they often represent the focal point of command and control. The flag was usually close to the commander, and the flag moving forward on the battlefield could communicate an attack when it was too loud for words. It was an honorable tradition to carry the flag, and the enemy often aimed for the flag bearer, which made it the most dangerous spot on the battlefield. Raising the flag on Iwo Jima became one of America’s most cherished memorials, and seeing the flag through a nightly bombardment supplied our national anthem. No compatible source was found for this video. The importance of the flag doesn’t seem lost on Ryan Clarke and other analysts when they compare Kaepernick to a flag bearer. This makes their use of that analogy all the more tone deaf. They are so blinded by their victim narrative that they don’t recognize that his very protest was actually an insult to the flag. It’s tougher to find people more removed from the poor and supposedly discriminated members of inner cities than professional athletes. Acting macho and street tough is part of their persona, but it’s just as authentic as professional wrestling. These athletes are part of the one percent, who make more money than most Americans and play in taxpayer subsidized stadiums while getting special treatment. I can’t think of an individual more unsuited to lead the supposed civil rights crusade for blacks than a pampered 1% athlete. But with a black President, Secretary of State, and Supreme Court Justice, it’s tough to argue that racism is worse now than in the past when athletes stood and honored the flag. If Ryan Clarke and other liberal sports analysts want to praise the act of kneeling for the anthem, they should avoid using analogies that underscore the importance of the flag.

Vegas gun shop posts 'pre-Hillary sale' advertisement pic.twitter.com/eV2TSNm1lP — FOX & Friends (@foxandfriends) October 17, 2016 Pence: Media 'Piling On' Trump with 'Unsubstantiated Claims' Giuliani: Trump Claims Seem 'Coincidental', 'WikiLeaks Info More Relevant' Fr. Morris: Hillary Aides 'Want to Line Up Catholic Church with Dem Platform' A Las Vegas gun store is offering a "pre-Hillary sale," saying that gun prices will rise under a Hillary Clinton administration. In an advertisement over the weekend in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Westside Armory said it was holding the sale on tactical rifles. “Don’t wait!” the advertisement reads. “Prices will skyrocket after Crooked Hillary gets in.” The advertisement shows a picture of a Smith & Wesson M&P Sport II, a semiautomatic tactical rifle, which the store is selling for $699.99. Let us know what you think in the comments. FAIR AND BALANCED... Don't miss the final presidential debate, moderated by Fox News' Chris Wallace, on Wednesday, October 19th at 9:00pm ET on Fox News Channel! LOOK: Car Split Completely in Half After NY DUI Collision Pirro: If Hillary Picks Justices, 'No One Will Give a Damn About Trump Claims' Democrat Caught on Tape: 'Might Be Executive Orders' from Clinton on Gun Control

It seems that Corey Feldman was telling the truth about those 1993 tapes on which he named names of alleged sexual predators in Hollywood. In October, the former child actor claimed that he once told the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office about all of the alleged sexual predators in Hollywood during an interview related to the investigation of molestation accusations against Michael Jackson. The Sheriff’s Office previously said it didn’t have the records Feldman had referred to. On Wednesday, Fox News reported that it received confirmation from the Santa Barbara County sheriff that they did in fact have the tapes that Feldman was referring to. The publication received confirmation in an emailed statement: “Following the recent inquiries into the Sheriff’s Office interview of Mr. Feldman in 1993, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office conducted an additional review for any stored items remaining from the Michael Jackson investigation. In a container which included the original reports from the investigation, the Sheriff’s Office located some detective working copies of audio recordings made during the investigation. A copy of Mr. Feldman’s interview was located. The recording is being turned over to the Los Angeles Police Department. Due to the fact that this case involves the alleged sexual abuse of a child, we are unable to comment further and any documentation or evidence related to this case is exempt from release” Feldman appeared on “Today” in October and told — ironically enough — Matt Lauer that he was crowd-sourcing $10 million for a documentary he claims will expose the truth about sex abuse in Hollywood. “I’ve told the police … They’re on record. They have all of this information. But they were scanning Michael Jackson. All they cared about was trying to find something on Michael Jackson. Michael was innocent … I told them, ‘He was not that guy,'” Feldman said at the time. Trending headlines DOWNLOAD OUR FREE NEWS APP © 2018 Cox Media Group.

SEATTLE - Seattle police say they arrested three men as hundreds of demonstrators and counter-protesters converged downtown Seattle one day after violent clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia. The rally organized by the conservative pro-Trump group known as Patriot Prayer — and a counter protest aimed at standing against hate — were planned for Sunday. A barricade separated the groups of protesters in downtown Seattle. Police officers stood by dressed in black, riot gear. Police said they used pepper spray and blast balls to disperse crowds after fireworks were thrown at officers. Those arrested were a 40-year-old man for obstruction, a 37-year-old man for assault and a 25-year old-man for assault. It all began peacefully enough as hundreds of activists stepped off from Denny Park just before 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon. Counter protesters included members of the Veterans for Peace, Socialist Party, Washington Federation of State Workers and other groups. Counter-protesters marched from Denny Park through downtown Seattle to Westlake Park, but many of those protesters were prevented from reaching the “freedom rally.” But some counter-protesters did make it. During the rally, some of the demonstrators began trying to run past Seattle police. When that didn't work, they tried taunting the officers with silly string. As the crowd surged toward police, they were doused with pepper spray. Council member Mike O'Brien expressed frustration over the crowd being kept away from Westlake Park. "Why weren't the demonstrators not allowed to get to Westlake Park?" O'Brien said. "I don't know what the call was. I'm not in a position to second guess that at the moment." He added he would like to find out why police prohibited the crowd from reaching Westlake Park. Many marchers said they were there to simply take a stand, especially after what happened in Charlottesville. "They are missing out on the love that exists here on the other side," said Rev. Priscilla Paris Austin, pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church in South Lake Union. "If they can push themselves through to see past their fear, they can find the love that exists here for them as well." The pro-Trump group "Patriot Prayer" gathered for a rally in Westlake Park that it billed as in support of freedom and free speech. On its Facebook page, the Patriot Prayer groups posted: “Seattle is running our state with a pedophile as a mayor. The West Coast has slowly been infected with communist ideologies throughout our entire culture. It is a belief that the individual is weak and that we are all victims. This is the lie of the century. No matter who you are, we are all amazing people with the ability to do anything that we put our minds to. These liberal strongholds run off of hatred and negativity. Patriot Prayer will bring in a positive message to Seattle that the people are starving for..” Patriot Prayer’s first speaker stated a message from the organizers; that the incident in Charlottesville was an act of terrorism and should be denounced, and that white supremacists were not welcome at their event. He called for peace and love and said anyone who attended for racist reasons should leave. He then said that Seattle and America’s values are inclusive values. His message was met by boos by some in the crowd. The latest on the "Freedom Rally" put on by 'The Patriot Prayer', a conservative group, and the "Solidarity Against Hate" counter-protest in Seattle. All times local. Click here to see photos of today's rally and counter-protest. [4:57] The scheduled event at Westlake Park has concluded. Police will remain in the area for the time being. [4:45] Seattle Police have made an arrest at 5th and Pine. Police have made an arrest at 5th and Pine. More details to follow. [3:54] An update from the Seattle Police Department: Police continue to maintain a presence at a separate event at Westlake Park. [3:47] Demonstrators are marching back to Denny Park, according to the Seattle Police Department. Demonstrators are marching back to Denny Park. Some in the crowd are throwing items at the officers who are providing traffic control. [3:03] The Seattle Police Department has issued a Dispersal Order at 2nd and Pine. Police also have confiscated weapons, and have made arrests. The number of arrests is unknown at this point. Dispersal order issued at 2 & Pine. Please leave/avoid the area. Police confiscated these weapons & have made arrests. pic.twitter.com/AzxscIg1tQ [2:00] The "Solidarity against hate group has marched from Denny Park to Westlake Park where the conservative "Freedom Rally" group is located. [1:00] One of two groups that planned to march in downtown Seattle Sunday has said the group will not march, but gather in light of the violence that erupted at a Charlottesville, Va., rally Saturday. The Patriot Prayer, a conservative, pro-Trump group, will gather at 2 p.m. at Westlake Park. Opponents, which include members of the Veterans for Peace, Socialist Party, Washington Federation of State Workers and other groups, had planned to march after the Patriot Prayer group originally announced it would march in Seattle on August 13. They will gather at Denny Park at 1 p.m. The Patriot Prayer group had touted the event as a “Freedom Rally”; opponents of their messaging say the group is homophobic, racist and bigoted. The group has been criticized for inciting violence at recent gatherings in Portland and Vancouver, B.C. The Columbian newspaper recently did a profile on the group's lead, Joey Gibson. © 2018 Cox Media Group.

The DNC has gone beyond the pale this year in using an anchor baby Karla Ortiz, her illegal mother and a second illegal immigrant, Astrid Silva, to promote illegal immigration at their convention this year. The child puppet of the Clinton machine was brought on stage to share that she is afraid that her mommy and daddy would be “forced to leave”. The crowd went wild, cheering for this law-breaking family and for the wanton use of a child to promote their open border agenda. Breaking the law, as we have seen with Hillary, is no big deal, and therefore breaking into this country is also of no consequence to Democrats. In fact, one can almost hear Hillary say, “What difference does it make? Let them all stay, as long as they vote for me.” Read the remarks swirling on Twitter regarding Karla Ortiz and her illegal immigrant parents on the next page. Hillary has no shame and will use whomever she pleases to make it to the White House. Yeah…great job breaking the law. Everyone is super proud of your family. In today’s Democrat Party, rules and laws mean absolutely nothing if they hurt your feelings. It doesn’t get anymore clear than this. Immigrants are obviously great for this country in many ways. But that’s not the conversation the left wants to have. They want to demonize anyone who thinks we should be able to control who comes in and malign anyone who believes that immigrants should come here legally the right way. It’s pathetic to watch them cloud the issue like this. Here are some of the responses that started pouring in instantly from the left. I am the daughter of an immigrant & a daughter of the American Revolution. Our nation’s diversity is our greatest strength #DemsInPhilly This girl’s speech about the fear of deportation brought people to to tears #DemsInPhillyhttps://t.co/pKq5xcNQjM via @fusion — Mike de la Rocha (@mrmikedelarocha) July 26, 2016 #KarlaOrtiz Beautiful speech I literally cried. #inspiring#weareallamericans#america — Francisco Aguilar (@francoj559) July 26, 2016 Mother-daughter duo who could be separated by deportation try to humanize immigration issues at DNChttps://t.co/jakOnulP8o — Annelize Bester (@AnnelizeBester) July 26, 2016 28-year-old illegal immigrant, Astrid Silva, blasted Donald Trump in her speech at the DNC for his promise to “separate families”: “When I was four years old, my mother and I climbed into a raft and we crossed a river to join my dad in America for a better life,” Astrid Silva, who hails from Mexico, said in remarks delivered to the 4,000-plus Democratic delegation. Silva was the first illegal immigrant to deliver a major speech at either party’s nominating conventions. “My family and I are here because of people like Sen. Harry Reid,” she said, highlighting the Senate minority leader’s defense of DREAMers, or young adults who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children. “When Donald Trump talked about deporting 11 million people, he’s talking about separating families like mine,” Silver said. “Hillary Clinton understands that this is not who we are as a country.” “I know she will fight to keep our families together. I know she will,” Silver said of the former secretary of state. Ahead of her convention speech, Silver told Fusion she hoped the invitation to speak demonstrated “the stark contrast” between the Democratic National Convention and the Republicans’ four-day gathering in Cleveland last week, “where undocumented people [were] being called horrible names.” Forget law and order and rational thought, let’s just let our feelings do the voting and put the Queen of Law Breaking in the White House. If Trump doesn’t make it into the White House America as we have known and loved her will cease to exist. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8IfRNwyfaM

A wave of liberal rage has marked the last 11 months since the rise and subsequent election of President Donald Trump. Antifa protestors clad in black masks shut down college campuses, destroy property and indiscriminately attack those they disagree with, whether women or the elderly. Meanwhile, CNN fires Kathy Griffin for taking photos with a bloody replica of the president’s decapitated head. Amid this backdrop, The Huffington Post publishes an article calling for the execution of Trump and “everyone assisting his agenda.” Then, shots ring out as a man gorged on media hysteria attempts to slaughter Republican congressmen while they practice for a charity baseball game. The aggression since Trump’s nomination is difficult to enumerate, but nevertheless, The Daily Caller News Foundation pored over media reports to compile a close but non-exhaustive list of violent acts against conservatives in months following the Republican National Convention. No compatible source was found for this video. In creating the list, The DCNF reviewed numerous articles detailing attacks and violent threats against conservatives and Trump supporters. While there are examples of anonymous threats, The DCNF chose to include only those that resulted in the cancelling of events and two to members of Congress deemed credible. Some instances of violence between rival protestors were not included as it was difficult to ascertain who initiated the event. To see the list of attacks visit The Daily Caller. By now, you already know that Republican lawmakers were the target of a brutal and unjustifiable shooting in Virginia. House majority whip Steve Scalise was shot several times and has been hospitalized. He appears to be in critical but stable condition. Several other Republican lawmakers witnessed the carnage. The shooter, “socialist democrat” James Hodgkinson, wasn’t so lucky, succumbing to wounds received in a shootout with police officers. This shooting is a harsh reminder of the growing vitriol in American politics where violence between liberal and conservative hard-liners is only becoming more common, with both sides committing inexcusable violence. The shooting occurred during an early morning baseball practice. The shooter, Hodgkinson, appears to have been an ardent Bernie Sanders supporter and opposed President Trump. His choice of targets was almost certainly not random and was likely premeditated. Hodgkinson is from Illinois but has been staying in the DC area for at least six weeks. Besides Scalise, two police officers were wounded during the shooting. Senator Paul Rand, who witness the event, has hailed the police officers and credited them for preventing a far worse tragedy. The police officers present were there to guard Scalise. Hodgkinson already had a track record with the police before the shooting. He had previously been charged with assault and battery for punching a woman in the face with a closed fist. He also confronted that woman’s boyfriend with a shotgun, reportedly firing one shot in the air. Apparently, he also physically abused his daughter, and police were called when he started shooting several pine trees on his property. Neighbors were worried that bullets would strike nearby homes. Hodgkinson also claimed to be a “democratic socialist” on his social media profiles. Writing to the Belleville News-Democrat, he stated, “I don’t ever again want to hear how great a president [Ronald Reagan] was. All he did was give tax breaks to the rich and put the rest of the country (or at least 13.1 percent) out of work.” He added, “To think the Republican Party can call this man their idol is un-American. It’s all about the money.” To read rest of article visit OpsLens.

President Donald Trump forecasted that Bernie Sanders would run against him in 2020 “even if he’s in a wheelchair,” and mocked the Vermont senator by imitating a scrunched-up body. Trump expressed that opinion over the summer when he invited four Democratic lawmakers to the White House, and also asked, “Who is going to run against me in 2020? Crooked Hillary? Pocahontas?” the New York Times reported on Saturday. At 70 years old, Trump was the oldest president to be inaugurated in the U.S. Trump, now 71, is nearly five years younger than Sanders, who would turn 79 in 2020. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks during a rally against President Donald Trump's travel ban outside the Supreme Court in Washington, DC, U.S. January 30, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein Reuters But Sanders’s wife Jane in June said that the senator was actively advocating for policies benefiting the working class and that his age wasn’t a factor. “Ageism is the last ‘ism’ that seems to be acceptable to people, and I never felt that it was whether somebody was too young or too old,” she told the New York Times. “You win some. You lose some. And you keep on going and maybe you can win the next one.” Bernie Sanders, who lost the Democratic nomination to Hillary Clinton last year, has started addressing some of his political shortcomings including his lack of foreign policy connections, a sign he may be gearing up for a 2020 bid, POLITICO reported late last month. Other Democrats that Trump called out over the summer have not indicated they will make a bid for the presidency. After Trump in October tweeted he hopes Clinton will run against him, Clinton told BBC Radio 4, “No, I’m not going to run again,” but that she would continue to speak out against Trump. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who Trump refers to as “Pocahontas” because she claims to have a Native American background, is considered a top Democratic contender. In August, she brushed off the idea, saying, “I'm doing my job every single day. I am not running for president, I'm doing my work." Meanwhile, some Republicans recently have cast doubt over whether Trump will seek reelection—even though he is raising millions of dollars for a campaign. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in October told the Today show that if Trump runs again, “I would support him, yes, but I'm not so sure what will happen." Shortly after, Senator Rand Paul said Republicans "need to know (if) President Trump (is) running for re-election,” and, “I think you won't know that until you get into sort of second, third year of his presidency." Trump’s approval rating has remained very low as a probe into whether he and his campaign colluded with Russians in the 2016 election widens. More from Newsweek

Photo by MaryHelen Avalos The Sons of the American Legion recently retired a torn and tattered American flag and presenting a new one to Adrea Ricke, Globe Public Library Manager. From left to right: A.J. Sprague, Sons of the American Legion Adjutant and Finance Officer; Margaret Smith, American Legion Adjutant; Jesse Horta, member; Su Samra; Adrea Ricke, Library Manager and Hector Samra, Legion member.

Usually, the person with the most information makes better decisions. But when you rely on info that’s wrong, chances increase that your decisions are wrong. So it is with Florida’s solar power ballot Amendment 1. Opponents are funneling misinformation into the discussion. The truth is that by voting for Amendment 1, Florida voters have a historic opportunity to advance solar power in the Sunshine State, at the same time ensuring that energy consumers are treated fairly; this includes those who choose solar and those who do not. What does the amendment do? It constitutionally guarantees individuals and businesses the right to buy or lease solar equipment to produce their own energy; this means consumers will always have the right to generate their own solar electricity, and politicians cannot tamper with that right. Contrary to what opponents say, solar customers can still sell any excess electricity they generate back into the electric grid. More importantly, it protects Florida consumers from scams, rip-offs, overcharging and unfair subsidies. It treats all electricity consumers fairly. Because it is renewable energy, a tax break is provided. This is because renewable solar energy aids in protecting the environment. If you choose not to install solar, you won’t be required to subsidize the costs of electric grid access and back-up power to those who do. Another good point made by Florida TaxWatch is that, for Floridians who want the right to provide their own energy needs, “this amendment raises that right to Constitutional status, which strengthens that right, as it cannot be changed by state or local governments without going back to the voters.” Something else you should know, since we are seeing political leftists like the League of Women Voters dishing out misinformation to welcoming publishers like The Palm Beach Post (which editorially calls Amendment 1 a “fraud”), is that this ballot initiative is being supported by a wide list of groups other than utility companies. These include bipartisan coalitions of business, civic, non-profit and faith-based organizations working to promote solar energy without sacrificing common sense consumer protection. Many of those opposing Amendment 1 are companies that don’t want you to buy your own solar panels to generate your own electricity because they want you to buy solar electricity from them. Their business model is to lock consumers into 20-year contracts to put their solar equipment on your roof and sell you the electricity from it. And here’s the awful catch: The current published price for one of the leading companies, Solar City, is nearly 50% higher than what average Floridians pay for electricity today, plus its contract includes an automatic 2.9% cost increase—double what Floridians normally face. Something else these opponents fail to divulge is that they want a subsidy to operate their business model in Florida, a “stand-by charge” uniformly applied to every electric customer to ensure their model makes economic sense—for them. I do not believe that’s good for Floridians. Amendment 1 protects consumers from this type of subsidy. The Amendment does not block ownership of solar, it does not make solar more expensive, and it certainly does not discourage people from installing solar on their homes. These are outright lies to pull the wool over your eyes. Florida deserves a holistic approach to solar. Thankfully, Amendment 1 will provide a constitutional framework for solar in the Sunshine State, which will keep politicians and special interest groups from tampering with it.

Rose McGowan, one of 28 actresses and film industry figures who has accused Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct, blasted colleagues Ben Affleck and Matt Damon for allegedly remaining silent about the charges for years. Then the Twitter police stepped in. We'll get there. Affleck and Damon were accused of helping kill a 2004 New York Times story about Weinstein's inappropriate sexual behavior. McGowan called Damon a “spineless profiteer”: Hey @mattdamon what’s it like to be a spineless profiteer who stays silent? pic.twitter.com/rp0OrRrpqJ She was a tad bit more concise with this blast at Affleck: Ben Affleck fuck off This tweet from Affleck really set her off: To which she responded: @benaffleck “GODDAMNIT! I TOLD HIM TO STOP DOING THAT” you said that to my face. The press conf I was made to go to after assault. You lie. OK, now that you understand the flavor of the whole thing, enter, the Twitter police. McGowan announced on Wednesday via Instagram that the Twitter powers that be had suspended her account for 12 hours — with the countdown to begin after she deleted the “tweets that violate our rules”: No word what those “rules” are, given Twitter is littered with F-bombs and worse on a daily basis, not to mention brutal ad hominem attacks against anyone and everyone. In 1997, then-23-year-old McGowan reportedly reached a $100,000 settlement with Weinstein over what The New York Times described as “an episode in a hotel room during the Sundance Film Festival,” Business Insider reported. Oddly, ten years later, McGowan and Weinstein were all smiles as they arrived, arm-in-arm, at the Los Angeles premiere of the film “Grindhouse'” in March 2007: TMZ originally reported that the producer would be getting help in Wickenburg, Arizona. But Thursday morning, it reported that Weinstein is now in the Scottsdale, Arizona, area at a rehabilitation center for treatment of “behavioral issues,” including sexual addiction. As is often the case, (see: “Anthony Weiner,” et al.) Weinstein's apologies and subsequent claims of desiring help come only after decades of alleged inappropriate sexual behavior, including alleged rape, after finally being outed.

The article was inaccurate in that it claimed that the German children in question had been forced to carry out work for migrants. The Kiel Ministry of Education confirmed that the school had come up with the idea because some migrant children sat in the class. It said that the students themselves thought of the project.

That black adolescents receive harsher disciplinary punishments at school than their white peers for the same offenses is troubling enough. But federal data showing that even at the preschool level black students are nearly four times as likely to be suspended as their white peers is especially shocking. What it suggests is that racial biases are creeping into classrooms filled with 4-year-olds and that schools are effectively criminalizing black children, particularly boys, when they are barely out of diapers. Two years ago, federal civil rights officials issued guidance calling on school districts to train their teachers to overcome this problem and showing districts how to recognize and avoid discriminatory practices. But researchers are just beginning to understand the psychological mechanisms that lead teachers who see themselves as loving, supportive figures to discriminate against minorities. Chief among these mechanisms, according to a new reportfrom Yale University’s Child Study Center, are racial preconceptions that shape the way the teachers view black boys in particular. These preconceptions were found to exist in black as well as white preschool teachers. In the study, the Yale researchers showed teachers a dozen brief video clips of four well-behaved preschool-aged children, two boys, one black and one white, and two girls, one black and one white, working and playing together in a classroom. Though the children were behaving calmly, the teachers were asked to look for signs of behavior that might become problematic. A computer program that tracked the eyes of the teachers as they watched the video showed that both black and white teachers watched the black children, especially the boys, longer when looking for signs of trouble. And when the researchers asked teachers which child had commanded the most attention, 42 percent of them chose the black boy, 34 percent the white boy, 13 percent the white girl and 10 percent the black girl. In other words, the black boy in this study received far more scrutiny from teachers than his behavior warranted. This brings to mind the “driving while black” phenomenon, in which police officers stop African-American motorists without cause, or stop-and-frisk practices that predominantly single out blacks. The Yale study is consistent with previous research suggesting that teachers tend to see “acting out” by black children as more threatening than similar behavior in white children, and thus deserving of disproportionately harsher punishments. This is counterproductive on a number of counts, but what’s really at stake here is the future of these children, whose early disciplinary problems put them at greater risk later on of falling behind, dropping out and eventually getting caught up in the juvenile justice system.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios is quite often looked at as a ‘half-day park.’ People believe that it doesn’t have much to offer in the form of attractions and entertainment, and so they only spend a few hours in the park dedicated to celebrating film and stage classics. While Hollywood Studios is undergoing a significant amount of changes as they begin to construct both Star Wars Land and Toy Story Land, this doesn’t mean that the park doesn’t have much to offer. Here are four reasons why we keep going back to Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 4. Excellent restaurants One of the things I love most about Disney’s Hollywood Studios is the table service restaurants because they are so wonderfully themed. From elegant and classy to old-fashioned and heart-warming, these restaurants do a great job of serving you high quality food with high quality service. I love the old Hollywood vibe and decadent menu at the Hollywood Brown Derby, especially for a special night out. I also love the Sci-Fi Dine In Theater, with its unique theming and restaurant setup and classic American menu. The 50’s Prime Time Café is another great option if you want a fun dining experience, and you’re even allowed to watch TV during dinner. 3. Star Wars If you’re a fan of the classic franchise, then you are definitely going to keep going to Hollywood Studios. Though Star Wars Land isn’t set to open for another few years, there is still an abundance of Star Wars to go around in the meantime. Guests can ride Star Tours: The Adventure Continues and come face to face with some of the most beloved, and feared, characters of the franchise. They have even updated the ride to include characters from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Fans of Star Wars can also head to the Star Wars Launch Bay located in the animation courtyard. Inside, they will have the chance to browse through Star Wars merchandise and meet Chewbacca and Kylo Ren. 2. Entertainment Disney’s Hollywood Studios does have quite a fun mix of entertainment, though many people choose to skip right over most of it. One of the park’s most spectacular forms of entertainment is Beauty and the Beast—Live On Stage. If you are a fan of the movie and a fan of musicals, this Broadway style show will have you singing and bopping along to the movie’s most inspiring songs. Another big attraction in the park that I, personally, would consider a form of entertainment is the Frozen sing-a-long in the theatre that once housed the American Idol Experience. Two Arendelle historians, who bring the house down every time I see it, bring this fun and enchanting retelling of the story to life. Plus, who doesn’t love to belt out ‘Let It Go’? And we can’t forget about the nighttime show, Fantasmic! Step inside Mickey Mouse’s imagination and see just how powerful your dreams can be, complete with plenty of appearances from your favorite Disney characters. The park has also recently introduced a new holiday nighttime spectacular titled Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! With plenty of special effects, projections and fireworks, it’s sure to become a family favorite. 1. Rides For a park so small, Hollywood Studios has a killer lineup of attractions that is only going to get better as it continues to get expanded. People come from all over the world just to experience the Tower of Terror, which is a classic ride that has been helping guests ‘drop in’ since 1994. Hollywood Studios is also home to one of the few classic roller coasters Disney has—Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster. With high speeds, twists, turns and funky music, this attraction is a must-do during your time in the park. One of the more recent additions to the park, and my personal favorite, is Toy Story Midway Mania, which lets you battle your friends and family in five carnival-inspired games inspired by different Toy Story characters. And, of course, we can’t forget about The Great Movie Ride, which is a must-do for any film fans visiting the park. You get to step inside some of the most iconic movie scenes in film history, and you even get to be part of the show as well. These are only a few of the attractions available to you, but it proves that there are many things that will keep you coming back. Though many people will try to argue that Disney’s Hollywood Studios isn’t a park worth spending an entire day at, there are many reasons why they’re wrong. With a variety of restaurants, entertainment and attractions, there are plenty of things to do that will keep you and your family entertained all day long. Be sure to check out all that Hollywood Studios has to offer during your next trip. BONUS TIP: Consider planning and booking your next Disney trip with an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner you can trust like MickeyTravels. They’ll help you get the best Walt Disney World deal, share expert advice and their services are totally FREE! It’s genius!

Emails leaked from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s private email account Friday by WikiLeaks addressed using executive privilege to keep the emails between Hillary Clinton and President Obama from being released, a 2008 survey testing reaction to then-Sen. Obama’s Muslim father and use of cocaine, and a suggestion from former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm on how to take Clinton out of the “bubble.” March 2015: Podesta wrote to Cheryl Mills about withholding emails between Clinton and Obama Six days before Hillary Clinton spoke to reporters at the United Nations about her private email server, Podesta wrote to Cheryl Mills, “Think we should hold emails to and from potus? That’s the heart of his exec privilege. We could get them to ask for that. They may not care, but I seems like they will.” In September, Politico reported that the State Department would not release emails exchanged between Clinton and Obama to the public, citing the “presidential communications privilege,” which is another name for the executive privilege. Claiming the privilege enables the president to withhold certain information that has been requested by other branches of government or by the public. This means that the emails the two wrote to each other won’t be released until 5 to 12 years after the end of the Obama administration, as dictated by the Presidential Records Act. January 2008: Clinton pollster proposed message testing lines on Obama--including reference to his Muslim father, past cocaine use An email referring to “McCain Survey-3” from Greenberg research listed a number of survey questions with “negative facts” about Clinton’s primary opponent, then-Sen. Obama. Kristi Fuksa, of Greenberg Research, sent the email to Democratic operatives including Podesta, Paul Begala, Tara McGuinness and Susan McCue The statements floated included subjects like his upbringing among Muslims, his father’s Muslim faith, his referring to past cocaine use as “a little blow” -- here’s the survey: * 1 Obama (owe-BAHM-uh) was the only candidate at a recent event not to cover his heart during the national anthem and he has stopped wearing an American flag pin. * 2 Obama (owe-BAHM-uh) benefited from a land deal from a contributor who has been indicted for corruption. * 3 Obama (owe-BAHM-uh) would personally negotiate with the leaders of terrorist nations like Iran and North Korea without preconditions. * 4 Obama (owe-BAHM-uh) voted against allowing people to use handguns to defend themselves against intruders. * 5 Obama (owe-BAHM-uh) plans to raise taxes by 180 (one hundred and eighty) billion dollars a year to pay for his government-run health care plan * 6 Obama (owe-BAHM-uh) voted repeatedly against emergency funding bills for U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. * 7 Obama (owe-BAHM-uh)‘s father was a Muslim and Obama grew up among Muslims in the world’s most populous Islamic country. * 8 Obama (owe-BAHM-uh) is ranked as one of the ten most liberal members of the Senate because of his support of issues like gay adoption. * 9 (Other) * 10 (All) * 11 (None) * 12 (Don’t know/refused) * 13 Obama (owe-BAHM-uh) voted against requiring medical care for aborted fetuses who survive the procedure. * 14 Obama (owe-BAHM-uh) supports giving driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants * 15 Obama (owe-BAHM-uh) described his former use of cocaine as using “a little blow.” Begala told the Washington Post that the survey was named for John McCain because “it was designed to test attacks that might come in the general election.” He also pointed out that “every campaign and every PAC tests potential negatives against the candidate they support...that’s all it was.” July 2015: Jennifer Granholm’s suggestion on how to get Clinton out of the “bubble” The former Michigan governor suggested Clinton could dispense with the idea that she’s “out of touch” by doing “work days,” in which she’d pick “8 occupations that she is willing to spend one day working at. She humbles herself, but gives dignity to the workers whose salaries she wants to raise.” Some of Granholm’s suggestions included working as a janitor in a school cafeteria, at a daycare center, making beds in a hotel, bussing tables at Denny’s or working “behind the counter at McDonalds or Chipotle’s!” CBS News’ Steve Chaggaris and Donald Judd contributed to this report © 2016 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

President Trump took a shot at Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Monday, describing him as "beleaguered" in a tweet about the Russia investigation. "After 1 year of investigation with Zero evidence being found, Chuck Schumer just stated that "Democrats should blame ourselves,not Russia," Trump tweeted. "So why aren't the Committees and investigators, and of course our beleaguered A.G., looking into Crooked Hillarys crimes & Russia relations?" read his follow-up tweet. Trump disclosed in a New York Times interview on Wednesday that he would not have hired Sessions if he had known that Sessions would recuse himself from the Russia probe. "Should have never recused himself and if he was going to recuse himself he should have told me before he took the job and I would have picked somebody else," Trump said. The president's comments prompted speculation that Sessions would resign from his post. However, a day after the interview was published, Sessions said he plans on continuing in the role. "I’m totally confident that we can continue to run this office in an effective way," Sessions said.

I have never been prouder to be an American. That might seem like a strange confession in these dark times, when there is so much divisiveness in the country. Every day we are faced with cringe-worthy behavior by our country’s leaders: sexual harassment, enabling hate groups by publicly echoing their messages, the enactment of policies that curtail the constitutionally guaranteed civil rights of the nonrich. We who love our country are often left embarrassed, enraged and exhausted. It’s as if some jokester slapped a going out of business sign on our country’s back and scribbled underneath: everything (we stand for) must go. Then why am I so proud of America? Because, to paraphrase what Thomas Paine famously said during the Revolutionary War, these are the times that try Americans’ souls. It is during tumultuous times like these—times when we are challenged to defend our most sacred beliefs with more than trite slogans on caps—that real heroes rise up to face that challenge. Among these heroes are the athletes who recognize that they have a responsibility not just to defend a goal or a hoop, but also to defend American values and ideals. There are certain iconic images that will forever live in our social collective unconscious of activist athletes who risked their lives, not to mention their careers, to uphold their principles and commitment to their country: Jesse Owens receiving his gold medal in the 1936 Berlin Olympics while a German runner-up beside him gave the Nazi salute. John Carlos and Tommie Smith raising their black-gloved fists when receiving their medals at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics to protest injustice and poverty in the African-American community. In 1996, Nuggets guard Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf bowing his head in prayer during the national anthem as a protest against racism. In 2014, LeBron James and other NBA players wearing i can’t breathe shirts to protest Eric Garner’s death at the hands of police. These heroes remind us what true patriotism is: people caring more about protecting the principles of the Constitution than about their own careers, fame, money or even lives. Colin Kaepernick, the recipient of this year’s Sports Illustrated Muhammad Ali Legacy Award, is one such hero. What makes Colin so deserving of this award is that he fully embraced all of those risks in order to remind Americans about systemic racism. This is exactly what Muhammad Ali did when, at the height of his boxing career, he refused to be drafted during the Vietnam War. Ali knew that he was not at risk of being sent into combat and could have served as a celebrity soldier. But he insisted on standing up for his principles, even though it cost him millions of dollars and resulted in death threats, harsh attacks from the press and public, the loss of his title and the possibility of prison. Since Colin first declined to stand for the national anthem on Aug. 14, 2016, to call attention to the astounding number of unarmed African-Americans killed by police, the citizens have responded with both praise and condemnation, just as they always have whenever anyone exercises their right to free speech on a contentious topic. This is the same treatment bold Americans of conscience have always received. People rarely want to hear the truth when that truth reveals problems they don’t want to face. It’s easier to blame the messenger and ignore the message. He is forcing the country to continue to have a meaningful conversation about racial inequality when many want to pretend there is no problem. That’s why Colin has been vilified and glorified, ostracized and memorialized, demonized and idolized. Though supporters have come and gone, Colin has never wavered in his commitment. This selfless courage has inspired other athletes—from high school to professional ranks—across all sports, races and genders to make their voices heard. He is forcing the country to continue to have a meaningful conversation about racial inequality when many want to pretend there is no problem. Sports Illustrated’s Muhammad Ali Legacy Award was created to honor individuals whose career in athletics has directly or indirectly impacted the world. On Nov. 30, it was reported that a group of about 40 NFL players and league officials had reached an agreement for the league to provide approximately $90 million between now and 2023 for activism endeavors important to African-American communities. Clearly, this is the result of Colin’s one-knee revolution and of the many players and coaches he inspired to join him. That is some serious impact. It has always been perplexing that people criticize athletes like Colin as being unpatriotic because they are exercising the rights the Constitution protects. It’s especially puzzling when they are accused of disrespecting the national anthem, which contains the lyrics, “No refuge could save the hireling and slave/From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave,” and was written by a man who referred to blacks as an “inferior race of people.” When that song is playing, it seems like an especially appropriate time to bring up the fact that 200 years after it was written, we are still treating African-Americans as an inferior race by denying them equal opportunities in education, jobs, health care and voting. We praise our military for risking everything to make sure America lives up to the promises in the Constitution: equal opportunity and respect for all people. Upon hearing about the establishment of the award in his honor, Ali said, “I know there will be a great tradition of champions to receive this award in the future, and I look forward to celebrating their spirit and accomplishments.” Were my old friend still alive, I know he would be proud that Colin Kaepernick is continuing Ali’s tradition of being a selfless warrior for social justice. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a former recipient of the Sports Illustrated's Muhammad Ali Legacy Award. His new book Becoming Kareem: Growing Up On and Off the Court details his most influential mentors, including his lifelong friend, Muhammad Ali.

Donald Trump fully embraced his inner neocon before the United Nations today. He lashed out at North Korea, indicating that he was ready to ‘totally destroy’ it. He upbraided Iran as a corrupt and malignant regime that had taken America and its allies to the cleaners with the nuclear deal—’One of the worst and most one-sided transactions.’ And for good measure, he scoffed at various socialist regimes around the globe. The only term missing in his dyspeptic assessment of the carnage around the world was ‘axis of evil,’ the phrase that George W. Bush made famous when he decried Iran, North Korea and Iraq after the 9/11 attacks. The language he deployed was seldom less than apocalyptic. Like Bush, he embraced the tone of moral superiority: ‘If the righteous many do not confront the wicked few, then evil will triumph.’ When it was not chiliastic, Trump indulged in snark, referring to ‘Rocket Man’ as being on a ‘suicide mission.’ There can be no doubting that the regimes Trump referred to are as nasty as they come. But enmeshing America in an Asian land war would surpass any of the follies that it has experienced in the Middle East. Russia and China can only hope that Washington becomes stuck in another unwinnable war. What served America well during the cold war wasn’t overt confrontation such as in Vietnam, but the strategy of containment. Certainly Trump’s speech fitted with the desire he is now expressing to stage a massive military parade down Pennsylvania Avenue on 4 July to match, or even surpass, the festivities surrounding the Bastille Day parade that left him agog this past July in Paris, where he was the guest of Emmanuel Macron. One problem is that the avenue isn’t actually strong enough to withstand the weight of tanks rolling over it. Never mind. For Trump, these are mere details. He has apparently become enamoured by a vision of a militarised America that can set wrong aright abroad, whenever and wherever it pleases. His bellicosity is discordant, however, with the more isolationist America First doctrines that he brayed about during the presidential campaign. America First has been converted into a bellicose unilateralism. If anything, it sounds like neocon 2.0. It was notable that during his speech at the UN, Trump veered from claiming, on the one hand, that it was imperative to respect the national sovereignty of individual nations to alleging, on the other, that there is no burking the necessity of taking out regimes that he, and he alone, deems inimical to American interests and values. What about the country that meddled with the 2016 American elections, thereby violating the precious sovereignty Trump dwelled upon? There was nary a word about Russia. The most that can be hoped for with Trump’s speech is that it was simply more rodomontade. The danger, as so often with the old boy, isn’t if he’s insincere. It’s if he really means what he said.

We saw this coming a mile away. Early Thursday, the controversial Milwaukee County Sheriff, David Clarke resigned without any notice. The move was a surprising one but we should have known that President Trump had something to do with it. The former Wisconsin sheriff gave his resignation on Thursday to join the Trump administration. While Clarke submitted his letter of resignation Thursday afternoon, the letter did not include the details of why he quit and what was next for the sheriff. However, CNN reports that Clarke will join the Trump administration but what exactly he will be doing is still unknown. Trump has pegged him earlier this year for a role, but Clarke withdrew from consideration within a few days of the announcement. According to CNN: “It’s unclear what job Clarke will take in the administration, but one of the sources said he’s expected to join the White House. Clarke likely won’t be offered a Senate-confirmed role because his nomination would face opposition from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.” Back in May, Clarke publicly announced he’d accepted a position as an assistant secretary in the Department of Homeland Security. But according to sources, no official offer had been made to him at the time of his announcement and was forced to withdraw from consideration. Clarke is known for defending Trump against racial claims. After the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, many critics spoke about against Trump’s response and his failure to condemn white supremacy. Clarke went on Sean Hannity’s show to defend the President by stating that he doesn’t have a racist bone in his body. Perhaps, Clarke will be joining the Trump team just to do television appearance on Trump’s behalf to combat claims of racism and bigotry. Only time will tell. What do you think about Clarke’s move?

Oct 19, 2017 at 3:09 PM From Washington, D.C. to the NFL and Hollywood, America’s idols are tumbling down. This is not a bad thing. For too long, we have wasted precious time and money worshipping these so-called “social justice” warrior hypocrites who continue to disappoint. Here’s to hoping all this disappointment will lead us back to what really matters, but don’t count on it. Huge swaths of Americans still bow at the altar of social justice. They believe government-forced “charity” will advance us to an utopian paradise where everyone enjoys the same outcome, despite personal effort, upbringing, unique abilities and education. Truth is, though, social justice is an oxymoron based on the false premise that the cure for injustice is leveling the playing field and redistributing wealth. As former Vice President Joe Biden once said, “You may call it redistribution of wealth ‒ I just call it being fair.” Karl Marx would be so proud. Marx hated religion, private property and Judeo-Christian values as much as leftists do today. That’s why you should bolt out of any place of worship that combines Jesus, social justice and the government in the same sentence. In his book, “The Fatal Conceit: The Errors of Socialism,” economist Friedrich Hayek nails what’s really at stake: “The aim of socialism is no less than to affect a complete redesigning of our traditional morals, law and language ‒ and on this basis to stamp out the old order and the supposedly inexorable, unjustifiable conditions that prevent the institution of reason, fulfillment, true freedom and justice.” Yesteryears’ creepy social justice warriors are now out of the closet and no longer hide their agenda. Instead, they give it a pink boa and parade their intentions to destroy capitalism, silence free speech and scrub Judeo-Christian values from the public square. They harp about injustice and claim only they can fix it, which is one of the most arrogant, egotistical piles of hogwash you’ll ever hear. All that, while they divide us into two groups, normal folks and them. They believe normal folks are about as smart as slugs, therefore incapable of coherent reasoning and self-care. To them, everyday Americans aren’t diamonds in the rough, they are pliable, moldable objects used to reshape America into a socialist nightmare like Venezuela. As I’ve said before, Democrats’ sacrosanct belief that the government was created to control how fairness is spread around is nothing more than a modern-day effort to reinvent Robin Hood, without all the chivalry and green tights. Those who romantically embrace the concept of social justice believe the misnomer that stealing from some and passing it on to those who should have had it in the first place will result in some sort of righteous leveling. Leftists don’t own the market on charity. Normal folks leave government out of the mix and combine their compassion with common sense. They bring food in one hand and a rifle in the other, knowing if they teach someone how to hunt, they’ll eat for a lifetime. In comparison, leftists bring Trader Joe’s bagels in one hand and a voter’s registration card in the other. Seizing the opportunity to convert their victims into non-thinking entitlement aficionados, they stop at nothing to meet an immediate need, then lead them by their noses to leftist-run metropolises where crime and government handouts abound. I know, the devil is always in the details, but I’ll go ahead and say it anyhow. Forced “charity” doesn’t bring about justice. Instead, it creates injustice when it stirs up animosity between the less fortunate and those being penalized, taxed, for their hard work under penalty of prosecution. In sharp contrast, there is a power in authentic generosity that no amount of government social-engineering could or will ever match. The social justice crowd should dust off the knees they protest with and try it sometime. ^ Susan Stamper Brown lives in Alaska and writes on culture, politics and current events.

Stephen C. Paddock has been identified as the lone shooter in the Las Vegas shooting that occurred at the Route 91 Harvest Festival, as reported by USA Today. The shooter is currently dead and suicide has been reported as the probable cause of death. Since news of the shooting broke, Paddock’s family has begun to speak out and his brother Eric, from Orlando, Florida, has been talking to the media. Get to know more about the shooter through his brother Eric, the incident itself, and how Eric Paddock views the tragedy. “Not an avid gun guy at all…where the hell did he get automatic weapons? He has no military background,” gunman’s brother says pic.twitter.com/EMSKLQGYFM — CBS News (@CBSNews) October 2, 2017 In an interview with Daily Mail, Eric Paddock said that his brother had no political or religious affiliation of which he was aware. Paddock added that: He was just a guy. Something happened, he snapped or something. Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo also told FOX News that a motive is not known, explaining: We have no idea what his belief system was. Right now, we believe he was the sole aggressor and the scene is static. Unfortunately, ISIS accounts online are claiming Stephen C. Paddock actually converted to Islam months ago and the shooting was on their behalf. It is unclear if this is coming from actual ISIS propaganda accounts or random supporters, though Good Morning America has begun discussing the possibilities of this as well. The Associated Press has posted the above tweet, announcing this news. Brother Eric Paddock tells Daily Mail that their family is confused and shocked. He explained: We know absolutely nothing, this is just, we are dumbfounded … We have absolutely no idea. Our condolences go to the victims and all their families. The Orlando Sentinel reports that, according to public records, much of Stephen C. Paddock’s family resides in Florida. Eric Paddock says that his 90-year-old mother, who lives close to him, is struggling to cope with the news and is “in shock”. Paddock told Daily Mail: Our family is OK, we’re sitting in here in our house hoping that everyone doesn’t attack us. My mother is 90 years old, lives down the street from me, we’re just completely dumbfounded. Like his brother was reported to be, according to his Facebook page, Eric Paddock is retired, like several of his family members in Florida. Stephen C. Paddock was living in Nevada at the time of the shooting. Stephen C. Paddock and his brother’s relationship was not strained, but they were not very close. Eric Paddock said that he and his brother lived on different coasts and that they did not speak very often. Eric Paddock said his brother was a regular at Las Vegas casinos, according to Good Morning America, and Stephen used to work as an accountant. In an interview with Las Vegas Review Journal, Paddock also said: We have no idea how this happened. It’s like an asteroid just fell on top of our family. He then added: There is no reason we can imagine why Stephen would do something like this. All we can do is send our condolences to the people who died. Just no reason, no warning … As far as we knew, he had enough money to live the rest of his life in comfort. Paddock said that, as much as he knew, his brother had no known health or financial problems at the time of the shooting. With over 50 people dead and over 400 injured in the shooting, this is reported to be the deadliest shooting in American history. Country star Jason Aldean was on stage performing at the time of the shooting and he ran off stage once aware of what was happening. Shooter Stephen C. Paddock opened fire from a 32nd floor hotel room at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino.

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Attackers have mounted simultaneous gun and suicide bomb assaults on Iran's parliament building and the tomb of the republic's revolutionary founder in Tehran. At least seven people were killed and 35 others injured in the twin assaults, the semi-official Fars agency reported. The attacks were the most audacious State media reported that gunmen stormed the parliament building in Tehran and went on a shooting spree. At least one attacker detonated a suicide bomb. Five people died and at least 25 were injured there, Fars reported. At the same time, a gun and suicide bomb attack targeted the Ayatollah Khomeini mausoleum on the southern outskirts of the Iranian capital. Two people died and 10 were injured at the shrine, Fars said. A woman was arrested after the attack at the tomb, Fars reported, adding that another attacker has been surrounded by security officers. CNN has not independently verified the number of victims and it was not immediately clear whether the number of dead included the suicide bombers. The attackers were holding a number of hostages inside the highly-fortified parliament building, Press TV reported, as Iranian officials scrambled to establish who was behind the attacks or whether they were coordinated. A picture from semi-official Fars news agency shows a man lowering a young boy from a window of the parliament building onto the street as another man holding a gun watches over them from another window. The man with the gun is reportedly a policeman helping with the evacuation. Attacks of this nature are extremely rare in Iran, particularly in the highly-controlled capital where tourist and government sites are tightly policed. Gun ownership is heavily controlled in Iran, raising speculation that the attackers' guns were smuggled into the country. Symbolic attack Iran's parliament, also called the Islamic Consultative Assembly or Majlis, has 290 members. It has female members and has representatives for religious minorities including Christians, Zoroastrians and Jews. It is currently unclear how the attacker or attackers entered the parliament building, which has multiple security checkpoints. The location of the mausoleum attack is symbolic, targeting the tomb of the Islamic Republic's founder and first supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. He led the revolution that overthrew the Shah in 1979 and was Iran's leader for 10 years. The mausoleum is located around 25 kilometers (15 miles) from the parliament. Attacks rare Such attacks in Iran are rare, but the country -- with its largely Shiite population -- has been involved in military actions against Sunni terrorist groups such as ISIS, who regard Shiites as apostates. Last year, Iran's government said it thwarted "one of the biggest plots" by terror groups targeting Tehran and other major cities during the month of Ramadan. This year's holy month started almost two weeks ago on May 26. The last major attack in Iran was in 2010 when a Sunni extremist group carried out a suicide attack against a mosque in Sistan-Baluchistan killing 39 people. Kurdish groups have carried out small scale attacks against Iranian security forces in the north-west of the country. Print this article Back to Top

Following another dump of his personal emails, Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podesta, is claiming that Russian hackers targeted his account to try and influence the presidential election -- and he suggested that those hackers tipped off a Trump advisor. CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes reports that Podesta on Tuesday went step-by-step through all the contact Donald Trump and his campaign aides have had with Russian actors or with Wikileaks. He argued that it’s all circumstantial evidence pointing so some kind of secret understanding between Trump and the highest reaches of the Russian government. Podesta said the theft of 10 years worth of emails from his gmail account is now being investigated as part of the FBI’s larger probe into hacks at the Democratic National Committee (DNC). The U.S. intelligence community said on Friday that it is “confident” those hacks were directed by the “Russian government.” “Russian interference in this election and their apparent attempt to influence it on behalf of Mr. Trump is, I think, of -- should be of utmost concern to all Americans,” Podesta told reporters from the Clinton campaign plane. Podesta noted that long-time Trump confidant Roger Stone appeared to have advance notice of the hack, when Stone tweeted back in August: “Trust me, it will soon be the Podesta’s time in the barrel.” Stone also recently told Florida Republicans that he was in touch with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. The emails are a revealing and sometimes embarrassing window into the workings of a major campaign. In one, now-interim DNC chair Donna Brazile (who was working for CNN) appears to slip the campaign a “question” Clinton was to be asked at a CNN town hall during her primary contest against Bernie Sanders. In another, Starbucks CEO and major Clinton donor Howard Schultz called the campaign “stale” and lacking the “transparency that the American people...will need to trust and ultimately elect” Clinton. Trump, for his part, has brushed off accusations that his words and his proposals seem to favor Putin. “She doesn’t know if it’s the Russians doing the hacking,” Trump said during Sunday’s presidential debate town hall. He also claimed “I know nothing about the inner workings of Russia.” In North Carolina, President Obama said Trump sounded much like a Russian dictator when he threatened to jail Clinton if he won. “I frankly never thought I’d see the day when we had a major party candidate who would be promoting those kinds of notions,” the president said at a Clinton campaign event. Podesta said he doesn’t know why Trump would be sympathetic to Russia, but he suggested that it might be his business dealings or his fascination with Vladimir Putin. He added that he expects the leaks to soon follow the pattern of other Russian-led hacks, where they begin by releasing real documents at first -- and then start releasing fake ones.

This post is the opinion of the the author and does not necessarily represent The Good Men Project. Today Trump has pulled the old bait & switch on a group of Americans called “Dreamers”. The harpooning of DACA targets people who are by all accounts as American as apple pie: the children of immigrants. They take nothing away from anybody. They cost nothing and do nothing but contribute to our nation’s greatness. They are fundamentally what America is all about, really. This decision illuminates the fundamental character of this administration: cruel and mean. No longer can there be any denying what Trump’s agenda is. His tenure has but one goal: to eradicate everything and anything associated with Barack Obama. He hasn’t even tried to hide it. I’d previously written that Trump is the Middle Finger President. His one obvious competency is his capacity to give the middle finger to anyone that doesn’t kiss his butt. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that Trump is the middle finger himself. He represents a minority of Americans: mostly uneducated, working class/poor whites who feel angry and left behind. They are resentful of the gains that blacks, people of color, and immigrants have made. The majority of them are economically insecure and bent on finding someone to blame because they don’t have the mettle to examine themselves. White supremacy suits them just fine. Among the educated Trump supporters, most of them are elderly, in retirement, who have too much time to sit and get hypnotized by Fox News. They parrot spitting Obama’s name like a foreign four letter word. Enough has unfolded in the past 9 months to clarify exactly what Trump’s presidency is about, and it’s clear that it’s about anything but serving America. At this point, he’s alienated a good percentage of his own party. No need to regurgitate the stream of officials he’s fired or who’ve walked away from his administration. No need to replay senior members of his own party denouncing his behavior. It’s become glaringly obvious: this guy is about one thing, and that is being the stand-in for a basket of American’s once labeled “deplorables”. While this sounds like a petty insult, the polls have been consistent: approximately 1/3rd of Americans have deplorable views about black people, people of color, LGBT, and immigrants. They are overwhelmingly white, and while they are not all Trump supporters, ALL Trump supporters are in this demographic. This is his base. Trump has responded by making every single decision he can to appease and please them. Nothing offended them worse than Barack Obama in the White House. As such, he’s dedicated his entire term to doing nothing other than wiping Obama’s name from the annals of American history. The only problem (for him) is, he’s actually done the reverse. Initially, it appeared that approximately 45% of the country was in his camp. This was alarming and deeply distressing for those who held President Obama as a champion of the environment, of civil rights reforms, and the people. President Obama’s grace and personal skills helped pave the way for a global relationship with the rest of the world. That made many of us feel safer. In just 9 months, Trump has managed to alienate our closest allies, and wall the USA off from much of the world. We look in the mirror and find ourselves facing a toddler-like madman lobbing hydrogen bombs at us. Kim Jong Un is the perfect shadow reflection for Trump who claims to be the “great negotiator” who’s going to make “great deals” all over the world. So far, he’s been successful at one thing: rolling back approximately 800 of Obama deals, mostly concerning the environment, civil rights, and immigration. Look forward: 100 years from now, historians will look back to this era as the turning of the tide in American culture and politics. Trump’s name will forever be etched in the books as the provocative agitator who turned America on its head. For all his publicity stunts and lust for fame, he probably didn’t think it would go this way. Because of his monumental effort to white-out Obama’s name from history, it will forever be impossible to mention Trump without talking about Barack Obama. History will show that trump would never have been possible if not for President Obama. Van Jones called it “white lash”. It’s a rebound reaction from a white demographic entirely uncomfortable with the idea of a progressive black man in the White House. To make matters worse, Obama’s a far more dignified, intelligent, and graceful man than most of us can ever hope to be. Who else could have enraged white supremacists this much? And who other than Trump could have emboldened them enough to take their hoods off and show their faces, marching while shouting racists chants with such shameless bravado? There are no more sacred cows. When he cut funding to Meals on Wheels, most of us thought, huh? What’s wrong with you? Then it was school lunches for children, which prompted Michelle Obama to twist up her face (very un-Beyonce like) and say, “what’s wrong with you?” Now comes DACA and the whole world screws up its face and shouts, “WTF is wrong with you???” Here’s what’s wrong with him: there is a tiny fragment of our society that applauds this sort of attitude, and he is a slave to applause. Speaking of slaves, these are the same people who, when polled said they thought slaves should never have been freed. The same people when polled said they thought white supremacists and Neo Nazis were being marginalized more than people of color. The same people who think the media is a bigger threat to democracy than white supremacists. These are the people Trump is playing to. As such, whenever he’s under fire – which is often – he goes on the campaign trail and holds a MAGA rally, where he (in the words of John McCain) “fires up the crazies”. This is the demographic who hold his base intact, and according to polls should he alienate them, his approval ratings dip into the single digits. Trump and his tiny base have one agenda: to wipe Obama’s name from the books. Unfortunately for him, in the years to come, his name will stand in the shadow of Obama as historians will establish comparisons that will have Trump turning in his gold plated grave. Thanks to Trump, by comparison, President Obama will be seen as a great visionary of supernatural eloquence and character. Trump’s legacy will be pitifully tarnished as the president who did nothing but roll back Obama’s reforms. He will be forever known as the president who stood for nothing more than giving a middle finger to President Obama. All to appease a racist, small minded base standing on their last quivering leg. They’ve found their hero, the archetypal symbol of white supremacy in Donald Trump. In 100 years, when history looks back, it will be Donald Trump’s anti-legacy that will give torque to Obama’s legacy. No matter how many Obama regulations and laws Trump rolls back, whether it be the Paris Accord or Cuba or DACA, history will cast a glorious light on Obama. Much of this will we can owe to the spotlight Trump gave him. We will recognize that this dark era is the result of a progressive black man and his family coming to power, agitating the shadow of racism and white supremacy in America. Because of him, the rising up of this ugly shadow that we now see so clearly is firmly in our collective cross hairs. In 100 years, we will give thanks for Donald J. Trump for making the target so big and easy to hit. We’ll be grateful for how simple he made it for us to see our disease. We will thank him for ushering in a new dream because we were finally able to cut the illness out and begin our healing. Thanks to Donald Trump, we’ll be able to see Barack Obama for the great man that he was, and we’ll build a monument to him upon the failures of Trump and his ilk. I bet Trump didn’t see that coming.

Off-Site audio mp3 of Address [AUTHENTICITY CERTIFIED: Text version below transcribed directly from audio. (2)] I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity. But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition. In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children. It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges. But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. **We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: "For Whites Only."** We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."1 I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends. And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today! I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today! I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."2 This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day. And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning: My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride, From every mountainside, let freedom ring! And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. But not only that: Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring. And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!3 ** = Content within red asterisks absent from this audio. For reasons unknown to this writer, the audio has been edited -- at least once -- to exclude the content noted in double asterisks in the main text area above. Click player below or here for audio of the content in red asterisks. Audio includes surrounding content for reference beginning with "There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights" and ending with "righteousness like a mighty stream." 1 Amos 5:24 (rendered precisely in The American Standard Version of the Holy Bible) 2 Isaiah 40:4-5 (King James Version of the Holy Bible). Quotation marks are excluded from part of this moment in the text because King's rendering of Isaiah 40:4 does not precisely follow the KJV version from which he quotes (e.g., "hill" and "mountain" are reversed in the KJV). King's rendering of Isaiah 40:5, however, is precisely quoted from the KJV. 3 At: http://www.negrospirituals.com/news-song/free_at_last_from.htm Also in this database: Martin Luther King, Jr: A Time to Break Silence Audio Source: Linked directly to: http://www.archive.org/details/MLKDream Image #2 Source:. http://www.jfklibrary.org External Link: http://www.thekingcenter.org/ Page Updated: 11/14/17 U.S. Copyright Status: Text and Audio = Restricted, seek permission. Image #1 = Uncertain. Image #2 = Public domain. Copyright inquiries and permission requests may be directed to: Estate of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr Intellectual Properties Management One Freedom Plaza 449 Auburn Avenue NE Atlanta, GA 30312 Fax: 404-526-8969

The boogie man is real. He is not a monster with long fangs, sharp claws, red eyes, and a tail who lives in your closet and comes out when the bedroom light is off. He is, in fact, a man of different ages, height, weight, and skin complexion. He is the Black man. Throughout our time in America, the Black man has been demonized as this being who is a destructive, carnivorous, raping, and murderous beast who is a danger to every human on this planet. This belief has been the motivation for many acts of violence towards the Black man: beatings, stabbings, lynching, as well as legislation such as the Black Codes and the 1994 Crime Bill. The thought of the African-American man being an out-of-control criminal and sexual predator has marred him in society by white men, white women, and even his own community. Dr. Tommy J. Curry, professor of philosophy at Texas A&M University, hopes to fight the perception of the Black boogie man with his new book, The Man-Not: Race, Class, Genre, and the Dilemma of Black Manhood. The Man-Not was written to show the Black man as something other than a caricature of violence: as a full-bodied person. Can people who have been studied and labeled as irredeemable and misogynist by white and Black feminist groups be viewed as men who are capable of vulnerability? Can a being that has not only historically been the target of violent racist attacks by white men and women be victims of sexual violence from said people as well? I became aware of Dr. Curry by listening to an interview he gave on the podcast, “The Context of White Supremacy”, a show dedicated to discussing racism with other non-white people. What struck me was not how well researched Curry’s theories on white supremacy were. Although his thoughts were grounded in facts, I was taken aback by how fearless he was in addressing racism, not only to the academia or “academy” as he likes to call it, but in everyday life. Dr. Curry’s explanation of how white people cannot be ignorant about racism was mind altering. Instead of blaming it on no contact or lack of socialization, Curry pushes back and lays the responsibility on white culture itself, “We know that white people have done the same type of behaviors. They have discriminated against Black people; they’ve called Black people niggers and God knows what other names. They always vitiated, secluded, and segregated Blackness. To repeat those things doesn’t seem to be the work of ignorance, in fact, it seems to be the repetition of historical knowledge of about how to treat Black folk. So when we see the same thing, ignorance seems to be the unrealistic apologetic.” To this day it is the most valuable theory on race that I have heard in the past five years. The main part of The Man-Not is broken down into five chapters. In “On Mimesis and Men”, Dr. Curry reveals the justification of enslaving and controlling the Black man and the origin of the “Black Beast” narrative. In “Lost In a Kiss?”, Dr. Curry discusses Eldridge Cleaver’s lost manuscript The Book of Lives, Cleaver’s thoughts on the sexualization of Black men in prison, and how the mere existence of Black life provokes an attack by white racists. “The Political Economy of Niggerdom” is a look into the negative perception of Black men held by many in the academy and other PWI’s (Predominately White Institutions). Dr. Curry highlights that many of the current theories being taught in colleges about African-American males are inaccurate and based on racist thought. “Eschatological Dilemmas” talks about the often victimized Black male through sexualized violence, and why they are not afforded the ability to be seen as victims. Finally, “In the Fiat of Dreams” illustrates how not only the death of Black men and boys is de-centered, but it is thought of as deserving. Each chapter in The Man-Not presents a case of the African-American men and boys being in constant danger for existing. On the state of the Black man, Dr. Curry comments, “To be a Black male is to live in constant fear of being accused of some offense against another. Black men live in a world where any accusation against them is thought to be evidence of their guilt. Imagine a world in which any individual who can be thought of as a victim of a Black male has the power to define him as a criminal. This is the world many Black males find themselves imprisoned within, too often defined by the accusations of others against them rather than their actual character.” This is a part of the everyday existence of being Black. Your word means very little. If someone accuses you of a crime, the thought is that you are guilty of said crime. If you look like a criminal, chances are you are one. I thought about Michael Bennett, the Seattle Seahawks football player who was held at gunpoint by police for “looking like a suspect.” The benefit of the doubt is never given to us. I was very interested in reading “Lost In a Kiss?”, the section of the book that highlights Cleaver’s lost manuscript, The Book of Lives. I had read Cleaver’s raw Soul on Ice when I was young and had been fascinated by his view on white supremacy. It wasn’t the bourgeois look into racism that many of his contemporaries had, but a gritty, gutter, street-level take on racist whites and the system they preside over. The Book of Lives, an unpublished writing of Cleaver’s, spoke about homosexuality in prison and how, in Dr. Curry’s words, “prisons are hedonistic warehouses.” This ties into the theme of The Man-Not: the specific societal and historic vulnerability of Black men and the white supremacist order, making the Black male disposable. “Lost in a Kiss?” also talks about the irrational fear that whites possess towards Black people and the violence that Blackness attracts. Dr. Curry quotes Frantz Fanon, author of the classic book The Wretched of The Earth on this issue: “The Negro is phobogenic, meaning that the Negro triggers a pre-rational fear in the mind of the white. This fear objectifies the Negro, over-determining his being as the phantasm of the white mind. The objectified Black is endowed with evil intentions and with all the attributes of a malefic power.” After I read this, I thought of the unarmed Black men that were gunned down by police – from the adult Mike Brown, Walter Scott, down to the young Tamir Rice. Black men of all ages and sizes inspire fear. The most impactful chapter of The Man-Not is “Eschatological Dilemmas: Anti-Black Male Death, Rape, and the Inability to Perceive Black Males Sexual Vulnerability”. Dr. Curry perfectly illustrates that throughout his time in America, the Negro has never been seen as a victim of sexual violence. Through his raging appetite to rape women and elongated member, the Black man cannot be raped. “The hyper-masculine stereotypes of Black males make it almost unfathomable for many onlookers to see Black men and boys as victims of women’s violence or rage,” Dr. Curry says. Chapter 4 also analyzes the sexualized pressure that led to many Black men being killed in the late 1800’s. Because he was a Black man and could rape, the white woman was in potential danger and these men had to be lynched. “He has to be controlled. He has to be locked away…” This way of thinking has not only been used throughout the years to falsely convict Black men of raping and sexually assaulting white women, but has forever stamped the Black man as hypersexual in his own community. While The Man-Not spends much of its time combating the negative stereotypes that reduce the Black man to a caricature, it also muses about life as a Black child seeing the violence that is directed at him because he is male. Dr. Curry writes, “Imagine what it means to see this life from the eyes of a Black boy, anxious and afraid of a youthful death – doubtful that he could live long enough to be a Black man?” This is something that every Black man living in America realizes: that he could be a victim of police terrorism, state-sanctioned murder, or even killed at the hands of a white vigilante who believes his or her life is in danger. I have written about this extensively, knowing that our life is perilous. In the land rife with anti-Black male sentiment, The Man-Not presents the case for why Black men have not only been historically a target of every type of violent attack and stereotype, but that because of their Black maleness, this eliminates any supposed privilege they would share with white men. Dr. Curry describes a world where even though Black men have the lowest employment, the lowest life expectancy, and the highest percentage of people who are incarcerated in the United States in numbers that far exceed those at the height of South African Apartheid, there is a supposed inherent advantage to being Black and male. African-American men constitute the lowest numbers of being students and instructors in college. They are also killed by police at a larger percentage than any other living group. With all this being said, they are to have male privilege and are subjects of discourse taught in universities that African-American men are pathologically oppressive and violent. This special type of vitriol is called “Black Misandry” a term Dr. Curry and his colleagues have popularized when discussing the anti-Black male thought. The Man-Not destroys this train of thought with facts and that is what makes it such a powerful book. The Man-Not is an important work that is essential in the day and age of disposable blog entries that ride on incorrect tropes about Black men. This is factual work backed up by data that can be proven, and that is what is missing in conversations about race. The Man-Not is a very dense book. There is a lot to digest here, but a book about racism and white supremacy should not be a quick read. This is a triumph in Black studies and about how the African-American man and boy is written. I felt pride and satisfaction reading this book. A Black man writing a book to humanize Black men and boys: it couldn’t have come at a better time for me and everyone else. — ◊♦◊ Sign up for our Writing Prompts email to receive writing inspiration in your inbox twice per week. All Premium Members get to view The Good Men Project with NO ADS. A $50 annual membership gives you an all-access pass. You can be a part of every call, group, class, and community. 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There are TWO genders: male and female. It’s for liberals to get that under their skin because it’s a biological FACT. It’s ridiculous for Liberals advocate for mentally ill people to have sex change surgeries. They need help, not to be maimed. Our country has failed these people under Obama…but now President Trump is ENDING the politically correct BS. It’s time to do the right thing!! According to usa politics today: Had state-funded schools, colleges and universities not complied with the directive, it could put public institutions at risk of losing federal funding. As a result, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor temporarily blocked the Obama directive nationwide in August. In his ruling, O’Connor said Title IX “is not ambiguous” about sex being defined as “the biological and anatomical differences between male and female students as determined at their birth.” Trump is going to bring back family values and Christian values to America again! It’s time this country to become conservative and normal again! We should stop with the promotion of liberal sick values, all that sick attitude, we have to be normal and sane and good people again! No more transgender, gay, abortions, drugs, crimes, illegals etc… We have to have law and order, strong police, strong border, strong military, strong churches, more freedom, less socialism, less communism, less utopia, lower taxes, less regulation! That is the Trump rule, that is the Trump philosophy, and we voted for that! And if he do that, America will be great again! So, GO TRUMP GO! GOD BLESS AMERICA AND PRESIDENT TRUMP! (h/t) The Blaze