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Eight Kenyan teenage schoolgirls died and _NUMBER_ more were hospitalized after a fire engulfed their boarding school dormitory in Nairobi early on Saturday morning, a government official said. The cause of the fire was not known, and the government ordered Moi Girls School closed for two weeks while it investigated, education minister Fred Matiangi told reporters when he visited the school. A fire broke out at the school at _NUMBER_:00am in the morning in one of the dormitories, said Matiangi. He said the school, which has nearly _NUMBER_ students, is one of our top schools in the country and... that we are very proud of. A statement from his office on Saturday evening said the death toll had risen from seven to eight. A shaken _NUMBER_-year-old schoolgirl, Daniella Maina, told Reuters: We were sleeping and a girl woke us up and said that our hostel was burning. We were helped to safety by some teachers. Fires have in the past claimed the lives of dozens of Kenyan boarding school students. In _NUMBER_, _NUMBER_ schoolboys were killed in a dormitory fire at Kyanguli Secondary School outside Nairobi. In _NUMBER_, eight students were killed at a school in Homa Bay County in western Kenya. Lax safety standards and poor emergency procedures have been blamed for some past fires at schools and for other tragedies such as the collapse of a residential building in Nairobi in May that killed nearly _NUMBER_ people. The Kenyan police did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on Saturday morning.

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We ve been screaming from the rooftop that Obama's new open border policy will destroy job opportunities for Americans who really want to work. Can you hear us now?If they keep this up Disney won't be referred to as the Happiest Place On Earth for very much longer Republican senator and presidential candidate Marco Rubio is backing a bill that would triple the number of guest workers businesses could hire every year, after hundreds of workers in his state were fired and literally replaced by foreign guest workers.Disney, Southern California Edison and most recently Fossil Group have together fired hundreds of American'tech workers and forced them to train'their foreign replacements, many of whom were flown in specifically to take their job. You had me here one day, and the next day you had an Indian worker at a lower skill level sitting at my desk, one of the hundreds of tech workers who Disney recently fired told The Daily Caller News Foundation.He and hundreds of his fellow Cast Members were informed last October they were being replaced by a foreign work force, and they could either stick around for _NUMBER_ days and train'their replacements with a good attitude or leave immediately and forego their severance packages.About a month before Disney broke the news, this worker got the very highest rating you can get from management in a performance review, received a raise and was told to expect a promotion. And just a week or two before the announcement, Disney announced record-breaking profits for the company.So when he was called in to that October meeting he was expecting some sort of promotion or pat on the back. Instead, he and the few dozen other highly regarded, knowledgable and experienced employees called into the meeting were told they had _NUMBER_ days to find employment elsewhere. Twenty years of hard work, technical skill building, fostering relationships, a bachelor's degree in IT, guided me to a coveted position as an IT engineer at Disney, he told TheDCNF, speaking on condition of anonymity, because he's waiting on legal advice. And that was just wiped out. They were encouraged to apply for other jobs at Disney, and ordered to stay and fully train'their replacements, if they wanted to keep their severance package. A _NUMBER_ percent bonus was dangled as a reward for those who cooperated fully and maintained a great attitude.The office was soon flooded with the foreign workers, most of whom were fresh out of college. In the first phase, the foreign worker sat next to the American worker in knowledge transfer sessions, and videotaped everything they said and did, and then reviewed the tapes with the American worker to ensure accuracy.Via: The Daily Caller

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Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Thursday that China will persist with the goal of denuclearizing the Korean peninsula and solving the issue through talks. Xi made the comment standing next to U.S. President Donald Trump who is visiting China.

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tweet an image from a neo-Nazi and his statements about women. "We need a president who can help pull us together, not split us apart," Clinton said. The two presumptive nominees are heading into July nominating conventions where they are to formally become the Democratic and Republican candidates who will square off in the Nov. _NUMBER_ presidential election. Clinton's speech comes a week after a sniper shot and killed five Dallas police officers during a protest of police killings of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota. She addressed these incidents and other race-related deaths in Springfield. Clinton's speech on Wednesday carried the echo of history. The state house in the Illinois capital of Springfield was the site where President Abraham Lincoln delivered an anti-slavery speech during his campaign for the U.S. Senate in _NUMBER_, warning that "a house divided against itself cannot stand." As the 16th president of the United States, he went on to guide the country through most of the Civil War. Clinton acknowledged that while "the challenges we face today do not approach those of Lincoln's time," the country's "long struggle with race is far from finished." The Illinois state house is also where President Barack Obama, the first African-American to hold the highest office in America, launched his first campaign for president in _NUMBER_. Trump spent months "trying to discredit the citizenship and legitimacy of our first black president," Clinton said. Trump was loudly fixated on the issue of Obama's birthplace during the _NUMBER_ presidential campaign and had also suggested that Obama was a Muslim, despite clear evidence that the president was born in Hawaii and is a Christian. Clinton acknowledged that she has made some missteps on race. She faced early criticism from the Black Lives Matter movement for past statements, such as one in the 1990s, when she was first lady, calling violent minority youth "super predators." She told the Washington Post earlier this year that she "shouldn't have used those words." "As someone in the middle of a hotly fought political campaign I cannot stand here and claim that my words and actions haven't sometimes fueled the partisanship that often stands in the way of progress, so I recognize I have to do better, too," she added.

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Peruvian villagers suing miner Glencore will argue in London's High Court next week that the company should be held liable over their allegations they were abused by Peruvian police, the law firm representing them said on Tuesday. The allegations, to be presented in a _NUMBER_-day hearing that starts on Monday, illustrates potential legal risks for mining companies that sign pacts with Peruvian police for the provision of security services at their operations. The lawsuit by _NUMBER_ Peruvians said that Xstrata, acquired by Glencore in _NUMBER_, failed to take reasonable steps to prevent abuses by police in deadly protests at the Tintaya copper mine in _NUMBER_, said London law firm Leigh Day. Xstrata paid, fed and provided lodging for police and knew or should have known that Peru's police tend to use excessive force, Leigh Day said. Glencore said Xstrata was not responsible for actions taken by the Peruvian National Police in policing the protests and noted that the lawsuit does not allege that Xstrata or the mine's private security force harmed anyone. Xstrata appealed to the PNP to respect the human rights of protesters before and during the protest, Glencore said in a statement. Like many mining companies in Peru, Xstrata had signed an agreement with Peru's national police for the provision of security services at Tintaya, which stopped operating in _NUMBER_. The agreements, which usually include payment for police, have long been criticized by activists who say it creates a police force loyal to companies instead of the broader public. Defenders of the agreements say that they allow companies to pay for their policing needs in poor, remote regions where they tend to operate alongside villages that lack basic services. Leigh Day law firm said that a Peruvian villager believed to have been shot by police in the _NUMBER_ unrest will attend the hearing. The case will be determined under Peruvian law, the firm said.

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The NY Daily News, one of the tabloid newspapers that also happens to be a hometown publication for Donald Trump, has produced another cover mocking the fascist billionaire.Appearing on the front of Friday's newspaper is a Ku Klux Klansman in full dress, announcing an endorsement of Trump's presidential career.An early look at tomorrow's front page:TRUMP FOR PREZ Ex-KKK leader: Donald just like us! _URL_ _URL_ New York Daily News February _NUMBER_, 2016The cover is a reference to the announcement from infamous former KKK leader David Duke that he is fully backing Trump's campaign. Duke told listeners to his underground radio show that it is the duty of white supremacists to vote for the current Republican presidential front runner. Voting for these people, voting against Donald Trump at this point, is really treason to your heritage, Duke said on the David Duke Radio Program. BuzzFeed News first reported the comments. I m not saying I endorse everything about Trump. In fact, I haven't formally endorsed him. But I do support his candidacy, and I support voting for him as a strategic action. I hope he does everything we hope he will do. Duke also told his fellow white supremacists that they need to go out and volunteer for Trump, noting: And I am telling you that it is your job now to get active. Get off your duff. Get off your rear end that's getting fatter and fatter for many of you everyday on your chairs. When this show's over, go out, call the Republican Party, but call Donald Trump's headquarters, volunteer. Trump has consistently appealed to bigotry in his campaign. He first launched his effort by calling Mexicans rapists, then proceeded to advocate for registering Muslims and barring them from entering the United States. Trump himself has also been caught several times using his Twitter account to amplify the messages of white supremacists and other racists, who are loudly backing his campaign online and attacking his critics.Featured image via Flickr

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Britain is looking at all ways it can put pressure on North Korea after Pyongyang conducted a nuclear test, Prime Minister Theresa May's spokeswoman said on Monday, adding that peaceful diplomatic solutions were preferable. North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test on Sunday, prompting a warning of a massive military response from the United States if it or its allies were threatened. As the prime minister made clear yesterday ... our focus is on working with partners to increase pressure on Korea and find a diplomatic resolution to the crisis, May's spokeswoman told reporters. She said we want to increase the pace of implementation of existing sanctions and look at other measures ... It's our view in the UK that ... peaceful, diplomatic means are best.

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A general appointed at the weekend to run Venezuela's energy sector will name more military officers to senior management posts at state oil company PDVSA as part of a shakeup the government says is aimed at fighting corruption, two company sources told Reuters on Monday. In a surprise move, unpopular leftist President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday tapped Major General Manuel Quevedo to lead PDVSA and the Oil Ministry, giving the already powerful military control of the OPEC nation's dominant industry. Besides the corruption scandals, Quevedo will have to tackle an attempted debt restructuring, within the context of a deep recession and debilitating U.S. sanctions. Sources in the sector said Quevedo's appointment could quicken a white-collar exodus from PDVSA and worsen operational problems at a time when production has already tumbled to near _NUMBER_-year lows of under _NUMBER_ million barrels per day. About _NUMBER_ officials at state oil company PDVSA have been arrested since August in what the state prosecutor says is a crusade against corruption. Sources within PDVSA and the oil industry said Maduro's administration was using corruption allegations to sideline rivals and deepen its control of the industry, which accounts for over _NUMBER_ percent of export revenue. The order given is to militarize PDVSA in key areas, said a PDVSA employee, asking to remain anonymous because he was not authorized to speak to the media. A second source said he was told military officials would take over key production divisions in Venezuela's east and west. Venezuela's president, a former bus driver and union leader whose popularity has plummeted during the economic crisis, has gradually handed the military more power in his cabinet and in key sectors such as mining. Unlike his popular predecessor Hugo Chavez, Maduro does not hail from the military. The opposition says he has been forced to buy the loyalty of the army, historically a power broker in Venezuela, giving them top posts and juicy business contracts while turning a blind eye to corruption. PDVSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but an internal company message seen by Reuters called on workers to come to Caracas on Tuesday for Quevedo's swearing in. Let's all go to Caracas to consolidate the deepening of socialism and the total, absolute transformation of PDVSA, the message read. Quevedo, a former housing minister with no known energy experience, is not a heavyweight in Venezuela's political scene, although two sources close to the military told Reuters he was a Maduro ally. Opposition lawmaker Angel Alvarado predicted the appointment would worsen PDVSA's operations. They re getting rid of the old executives, who although socialist and working under catastrophic management, at least knew about oil, he said. Now we re going to have totally inexperienced hands. Although military appointees had been on the rise within the oil industry too, Quevedo's appointment is the first time in a decade and a half that a military official has taken the helm of the oil industry. PDVSA so far had been led by chemist Nelson Martinez and the Oil Ministry by engineer Eulogio Del Pino, both of whom rose in the ranks under previous PDVSA president and Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez. Later demoted to become Venezuela's representative at the United Nations in New York, Ramirez recently criticized Maduro for not reforming Venezuela's flailing economy, in what insiders say is a power struggle between the two rivals. The opposition has also accused Quevedo of violating human rights during the National Guard's handling of anti-Maduro protests, in which stone-throwing hooded youths regularly clashed with tear gas-firing soldiers. U.S. Senator Marco Rubio included Quevedo on a _NUMBER_ list of Venezuelan officials whom he said should be named in U.S. sanctions, although Quevedo does not appear in the list released by the U.S. Treasury Department. Venezuela's government denies abuses, saying protesters were in fact part of a U.S.-promoted armed insurrection designed to sabotage socialism in Latin America. Quevedo's appointment has worried foreign oil companies in Venezuela, including U.S. major Chevron and Russian state oil giant Rosneft, according to industry sources. Venezuela is also trying to pull off a complex restructuring of foreign debt, including _CUR_60 billion in bonds, about half of which have been issued by PDVSA. Bondholders were invited to Caracas for a meeting with the government two weeks ago, but market sources say there has been no concrete progress or proposals since. PDVSA said on Friday it was making last-minute payments on two bonds close to default, including one backed by shares in U.S.-based Citgo, a Venezuelan-owned refiner and marketer of oil and petrochemical products, due on Monday, and called for trust as it seeks to maintain debt service amid the crisis. Quevedo's position on the debt issue is not publicly known.

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The humanitarian situation in the besieged eastern suburbs of Damascus is an outrage and parties to the conflict must allow food and medicine to reach at least _NUMBER_ trapped Syrians, U.N. human rights chief Zeid Ra ad al-Hussein said on Friday. The shocking images of what appear to be severely malnourished children that have emerged in recent days are a frightening indication of the plight of people in Eastern Ghouta, who are now facing a humanitarian emergency, Zeid said in a statement. The tightening siege has pushed people to the verge of famine in the rebel enclave, residents and aid workers have told Reuters. I remind all parties that the deliberate starvation of civilians as a method of warfare constitutes a clear violation of international humanitarian law, and may amount to a crime against humanity and/or a war crime, Zeid said. Zeid's office had a list of several hundred people who needed medical evacuation, but the government had reportedly imposed severe restrictions on such evacuations, leading to the deaths of several civilians, the U.N. statement said. A U.N. convoy last reached the besieged area on Sept _NUMBER_, with aid for _NUMBER_ people. Food prices have rocketed since forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad took control of several neighborhoods in May and destroyed tunnels that had been used to smuggle goods into the siege. This month they closed Eastern Ghouta's main access checkpoint and imposed a big rise in taxes imposed on traders. Last week two food warehouses were looted in a possible sign of growing desperation , the U.N. statement said.

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Argentine President Mauricio Macri is almost certain to run for re-election in _NUMBER_, his top campaign adviser said on Thursday, even as he acknowledged that the leader's market-friendly reforms were unpopular among many poor Argentines. Jaime Duran Barba, an Ecuadorian who has run campaigns across Latin America and is considered the political guru behind Macri's surprise win in _NUMBER_, told Reuters on Thursday he did not see a scenario where Macri was not a candidate. The most likely is for Macri to go for re-election, it's highly probable. But what is certain is that after that he will leave politics, Duran Barba said in an interview. Center-right Macri has not said if he will seek re-election and told Reuters in an August interview that he was focused on his current government. When the time came for Macri to move on, Duran Barba said that there were important, prepared people who could dispute the succession. He pointed to city of Buenos Aires mayor Horacio Rodriguez Larreta, Macri's Cabinet Chief Marcos Pena, and Maria Eugenia Vidal, the governor of Buenos Aires and the most popular politician in Argentina, according to several polls. But Macri's Let's Change coalition must first post a strong performance in October's legislative elections, where one third of the Senate and half of the lower house seats are up for re-election. Mauricio's strategy has always been: in the first two years we can start a transformation, but the point at which we will know if it is possible or not to change Argentina is the mid-term election, said Duran Barba, who has advised Macri since he first ran for political office in _NUMBER_. The Oct. _NUMBER_ vote is being closely watched by investors because Macri's political nemesis and populist two-term predecessor, Cristina Fernandez, is vying for a Senate seat in Buenos Aires province, home to _NUMBER_ percent of voters. She is believed to be testing the waters for a potential bid for the presidency in _NUMBER_. Fernandez eked out a narrow win over Macri ally Esteban Bullrich in the non-binding primary vote in August, a scenario Duran Barba said was ideal for motivating voters to rally around Bullrich against a divided opposition. It was the best option, our numbers always predicted a tie . I said hopefully she wins by a bit because that way the people will see a need to do something. The latest polls, including an internal poll from the Fernandez camp, are showing Bullrich ahead. Macri's approval ratings are running at _NUMBER_ percent, according to an Observatorio Electoral survey on Tuesday. But his reforms have been unpopular with the country's powerful unions and triggered anti-Macri protests. Argentina's economy came out of recession in the second half of last year, later than expected. Duran Barba acknowledged that Macri's austerity measures had particularly hurt poor slum-dwellers in Buenos Aires province. They raised tariffs, and that was unpopular. We hoped there would be fast results for the economy and that there would be investment. There wasn t, Duran Barba said. He said Fernandez, who has toned down her formerly tub-thumping speeches and gave a rare live interview last week, is copying some of his tactics - such as visits to voters homes, ripe for recording and posting on social media. Cristina has copied a lot of our way of campaigning, Barba said. But it's hurting her. Fernandez's campaign declined to comment.

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Russia is extremely concerned by U.S. President Donald Trump's comments questioning the Iran nuclear deal and suspects that Washington itself may have violated a landmark arms control treaty, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. Lavrov's comments, made to Russian reporters at the United Nations in New York and published by his ministry on Wednesday, illustrate how deeply Moscow and Washington are at odds over an array of issues and suggest any attempts to improve already battered relations face an uphill struggle. Addressing the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, Trump said Iran's _NUMBER_ pact with six world powers to curb its nuclear program in return for loosening economic sanctions was an embarrassment to the United States . Washington could not abide by an agreement if it provides cover for the eventual construction of a nuclear program, Trump said. Lavrov, whose country is a signatory to the deal, said Russia strongly disagreed with that stance. It's extremely worrying, he said. We will defend this document, this consensus, which was met with relief by the entire international community and genuinely strengthened both regional and international security. Trump's threat in the same U.N. appearance to totally destroy North Korea if it had to defend itself or it allies also went down badly with Russia, which shares a border with North Korea and believes negotiations and diplomacy are the only way to resolve a crisis over Pyongyang's missile program. If you simply condemn and threaten, then we re going to antagonize countries over whom we want to exert influence, said Lavrov, referring to Trump's comments. He saved some of his harshest criticism however for what he said was a possible violation by the United States of a landmark _NUMBER_ arms control treaty which bans Russian and American intermediate-range missiles on land. A senior Trump administration official accused Russia earlier this year of violating the same pact the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces treaty something Moscow denied. But Lavrov said it looked like it was Washington, which is in the midst of a _CUR_1 trillion, _NUMBER_-year modernization of its aging ballistic missile submarines, bombers and land-based missiles, that was in breach of the same treaty. We have suspicions on at least three fronts that the Americans are creating weapons systems which violate or could violate the treaty obligations, said Lavrov, who said Moscow had relayed its concerns to the United States. Lavrov has met U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson twice in New York this week.

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Remember when colleges and university were one of the best places in America to have discussions about politics? To be clear, the university does in fact support free speech unless of course, you're a Trump'supporter Several events for Ohio University's Greek Week, an annual, weeklong event focused on philanthropy, have been canceled after some Sorority and Fraternity Life members painted Build the Wall on an area typically designated for graffiti last week.The Greek Week events, set to take place between April _NUMBER_ and _NUMBER_, were amended after unnamed members of Sorority and Fraternity Life painted the graffiti wall by Bentley Hall, including the phrase Build the Wall, according to a letter sent Sunday to sororities and fraternities.The phrase has been a part of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's campaign to construct a wall between the United States and Mexico to discourage immigration from South and Central American countries.The letter was addressed to the OU Sorority and Fraternity Life community and supporters, and was signed by the Interfraternity Council, Multicultural Greek Council, National Pan-Hellenic Council and the Women's Panhellenic Association. This phrase is offensive and hurtful to many individuals as it is directly tied to the Hispanic/Latino/a community, makes them feel marginalized, and the message was interpreted that they'do not belong at Ohio University, the letter stated. Via: The Post AthensNo regard was given to the potentially offensive message Hispanic students painted over Trump message:

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_NUMBER_ contain language that may be offensive to some readers) By Bernie Woodall FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - A Florida state senator resigned on Friday after coming under pressure for yelling obscenities and racial slurs inside a lounge frequented by lawmakers at the state capital in Tallahassee. Senator Frank Artiles, a Republican from Miami-Dade County, made the comments on Monday night to two Democratic senators, both of whom are black, at the members-only Governor's Club, the Miami Herald reported on Tuesday. "I am responsible and I am accountable and effective immediately, I am resigning from the Florida State Senate," Artiles wrote in a resignation letter delivered to the state Senate Majority Leader Joe Negron on Friday. Artiles yelled at Democratic Senator Audrey Gibson, who earlier that day had questioned some bills Artiles sponsored, according to the Miami Herald. He called the Jacksonville senator a "bitch" and a "girl." Artiles also called Democrat Perry Thurston, a black senator from Fort Lauderdale, an "asshole." He also said Negron had risen to majority leader because of the support of six Republican senators he called "niggas," the newspaper reported. Artiles on Wednesday apologized on the state Senate floor. He did not directly mention the comments he made on Monday night, but admitted he made offensive comments. Thurston on Thursday filed a formal complaint to have Artiles expelled from the legislative body. He could not be reached for comment on Friday. Gibson issued a statement on Friday, saying, "This has been an ordeal that no one should have to endure." On Tuesday, Negron said in a statement that he has been informed of Artiles' comments by the senate's minority leader, Democrat Oscar Braynon. "Racial slurs and profane, sexist insults have no place in conversation between senators and will not be tolerated," Negron's statement said. Public protests followed, including one at Artiles' Miami-area headquarters where signs were posted on his office windows demanding that he resign. Artiles, a former Marine, was elected in November to the senate after serving six years in the Florida House of Representatives. "My actions and my presence in government is now a distraction to my colleagues, the legislative process and the citizens of our great state," he said in his resignation letter.

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According to the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, this year marks Harvard's highest percentage of accepted black students to date. Almost _NUMBER_ percent of the total applicants who were offered admission next fall are black. Based off Harvard's average student yield of _NUMBER_ percent, the journal predicts that approximately _NUMBER_ black students will join the class of _NUMBER_. It goes on to stress the fact that American colleges most known for their selectiveness tend to average only _NUMBER_ to _NUMBER_ percent black students. -HPBlack students at Harvard University will be hosting their own, separate black-only graduation ceremony.The Root reports more than _NUMBER_ Harvard graduate students have registered to participate in the'separate black graduation ceremony scheduled for May _NUMBER_.According to The Root, the point of the event is to acknowledge the'struggles and resilience that black students have had to possess in order to thrive in higher education, an environment where minorities are typically underrepresented. Courtney Woods, who is graduating with a master's degree in education policy and management, claimed the event is a way to reclaim Harvard's alleged history of slavery, epistemic racism and colonization. Woods told The Root, Harvard's institutional foundation is in direct conflict with the needs of black students. There is a legacy of slavery, epistemic racism and colonization at Harvard, which was an institution founded to train rising imperialist leaders, she'said. This is a history that we are reclaiming. Woods added, It speaks volumes that there has never been a black graduation ceremony until now. For entire story: MRCtvHere's another example of self-imposed black segregation at Harvard University. By alienating themselves from the white students and suggesting they kill themselves there will never be a chance for black and white students to overcome racism at Harvard. In case you missed it, in March, _NUMBER_, we published a story about students at Harvard University who held a debate where black Harvard students argued that white people should kill themselves for having white privilege .

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Bangladesh could start relocating Rohingya Muslim refugees to a flood-prone island off its coast in the middle of next year, a government official said on Thursday, as it pushes ahead with the plan despite criticism from aid agencies and rights groups. Densely populated Bangladesh has seen an influx of more than _NUMBER_ Rohingya to its southern-most district of Cox's Bazar, fleeing violence in neighboring Myanmar, since August. This week, it approved a _CUR_280 million plan to develop the low-lying Bhashan Char island to temporarily house some of them until they can go home. The Bay of Bengal island, also known as Thenger Char, only emerged from the silt off Bangladesh's delta coast about _NUMBER_ years ago. Two hours by boat from the nearest settlement, the island has no roads or buildings and it regularly floods during the rough seas of the June-September rainy season. When the sea is calm, pirates roam the waters in the vicinity to kidnap fishermen for ransom. We can t keep such a large number of people in this small area of Cox's Bazar where their presence is having a devastating effect on the situation on the ground environmentally, population wise and economically, H.T. Imam, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's political adviser, told Reuters on Thursday. So, as quickly as we can shift at least some of the burden over to Bhashan Char, that will minimize the problem. Rohingya have fled repression in Buddhist-majority Myanmar several times since the 1970s, and almost one most million of them live in crowded camps in Cox's Bazar. Mainly Muslim Bangladesh has said it aims to move about _NUMBER_ refugees to the island. Some aid officials speculate that by raising the island plan, Bangladesh could be trying to put pressure on the international community to find a better solution to the crisis. But Imam, who holds the rank of cabinet minister, has denied any such tactic. He said the navy had started work on developing the island, money for which will come from the government. Bangladesh, however, would need financial and other help from aid agencies to move the refugees to the island, he said. There are some organizations which have assured help but I won t specify who they are, Imam said. It's a huge project and includes the development of livestock. They will be given cattle, they will be given land, they will be given houses. They will raise their livestock, there will be other vocations that will be created. Humanitarian agencies, however, have criticized the plan since it was first floated in _NUMBER_. Having opened its doors to more than _NUMBER_ Rohingya over the past three months, the Bangladesh government now risks undermining the protection of the Rohingya and squandering the international goodwill it has earned, said Biraj Patnaik, Amnesty International's South Asia Director, referring to the plan to move people to the island. In its desperation to see the Rohingya leave the camps and ultimately return to Myanmar, it is putting their safety and well-being at risk. Myanmar and Bangladesh signed an accord last week on terms for the return of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya, though rights groups have expressed doubts about Myanmar following through on the agreement and have called for independent observers for any repatriation. There are concerns about protection for Rohingya from further violence if and when they go home, and about a path to resolving their legal status - most are stateless - and whether they would be allowed to return to their old homes. Imam said Bangladesh was working on those issues but did not give details. In diplomacy, there are a lot of things that happen but then you don t pronounce them publicly, he said. A lot of back-door diplomatic work is being done. People are involved at the highest level. For a graphic on Bangladesh's Rohingya relocation plan, click _URL_

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For a Republican Party trying to woo Hispanic voters, the timing of the U.S. Supreme Court's review of the legality of President Barack Obama's executive action on immigration could not come at a more awkward time. The case, which will consider whether Obama exceeded his constitutional authority to spare from deportation millions of immigrants in the country illegally, is set to be argued in the coming months with a decision due by the end of June. That would land the issue squarely in the middle of the U.S. presidential race, just weeks before Republicans gather for their convention to choose a nominee in November's election. A Supreme Court win for the Republican-governed states that sued to block Obama's action surely would have conservatives in the party celebrating but might have those in the party who are concerned about reaching Hispanic voters fretting. "As a Republican, you would take a quick victory lap and then not talk about it," said Rodell Mollineau, a Democratic strategist and former aide to Senator Harry Reid of Nevada. "Either way, whatever happens, you want it to happen quickly." Republican strategists have long worried that the hard-line stance taken by the likes of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz toward Obama's immigration policies would cost the party the opportunity to secure the badly needed support of Hispanic voters in the general election. In the _NUMBER_ election, Hispanic voters preferred Obama over Republican nominee Mitt Romney by a massive margin, _NUMBER_ percent to _NUMBER_ percent, causing Republican leaders afterward to warn that if the party did not start broadening its appeal to that swiftly growing demographic, it would be on the losing end of presidential contests for years to come. John Feehery, a Republican strategist who has argued that the party needs to a do a better job courting Hispanics, conceded that those voters largely would blame Republicans if Obama's policy is blocked by the justices. But, Feehery said, those voters also might fault Obama for trying to bypass Congress to do something he was not empowered under the Constitution to do, setting back the cause of immigration reform in the process. Hispanic advocates are already angry with Obama over recent deportation raids by the Department of Homeland Security. "Latino voters will of course blame Republicans, but should the Supreme Court decide against the president, he will blamed also, especially in conjunction with his increased enforcement against illegals," Feehery said. Democratic presidential candidates seemed eager on Tuesday to have the court rule on the case, contending that it provides an opportunity for the court to ratify the president's action and end the debate over its legality. And they seemed mindful of the issue's potency on the campaign trail. " action should be upheld so families can stay together and live without fear of deportation," Hillary Clinton, the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, wrote on Twitter. Her top rival, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, said he was "confident the president has the legal authority" for the order. Sanders called on Congress to move forward on immigration reform, but pledged that, as president, "he would uphold and expand the president's action." Criticism of the _NUMBER_ executive order, and of the president's use of his executive authority generally, has been standard fare among Republicans on the campaign trail. Cruz, a senator from Texas and a leading contender for the Republican nomination, has been a long-time critic of Obama's immigration policies. Cruz, a Harvard-trained lawyer and former Supreme Court clerk who once served as his state's top advocate before the high court, said it was significant that the justices will decide whether Obama violated the U.S. Constitution's requirement that presidents "take care that the laws be faithfully executed." "He did not do that, and I trust that the court will reach that conclusion," Cruz said. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who co-sponsored bipartisan immigration legislation that passed the Senate in _NUMBER_ but died in the House of Representatives, has also been a longstanding critic of Obama's use of executive power. Rubio has since backtracked on his support for the legislation. "I'm confident will agree Obama executive orders are unconstitutional," Rubio wrote on Twitter. "Regardless, as president, I will end them."

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This is a great story for anyone who doesn't understand the power one liberal judge can wield from the bench. U.S. District Judge Robart, who is presiding over a _NUMBER_ consent decree requiring the city to adopt reforms to address federal allegations of police bias, rebuked the Seattle police union for holding up reforms as it bargains over a new contract, The Seattle Times reported. The court and the citizens of Seattle will not be held hostage for increased payments and benefits, the judge said, according to the paper. To hide behind a collective-bargaining agreement is not going to work, he'said.Kevin Stuckey, who recently became president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, said the union is prepared to sit down with the city and reach a deal.Judge Robart, a George W. Bush appointee, said proposed police reform legislation should include putting a civilian in charge of police oversight, shutting down a police-led disciplinary board and creating a civilian position of inspector general.Judge Robart threatened to call a hearing and override the city's bargaining process with the union if he concluded the union was interfering with reform, The Times reported. The judge ended Monday's hearing by citing a statistic that claimed _NUMBER_ percent of the'shootings nationwide by police were of blacks. Black lives matter, he'said, drawing an audible reaction in a courtroom, The Times reported.Judge Robart added that the recent targeted shootings of police officers across the country signaled the importance of strengthening police and community relations.Commissioner Enrique Gonzalez said he's very encouraged that a federal judge has actually said that black lives matter, because now we know that not only is this movement happening in the'streets even a federal judge has acknowledged that people of color have been on the receiving end of police brutality and this needs to change, The Stranger reported. Washington Times

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The media needs to keep grilling Republicans over Donald Trump's flirtation with Nazis, because it's clearly a sore spot.When RNC communications director Sean Spicer appeared on CNN with Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday night, he was apparently hoping for a softball interview.But Blitzer had other ideas and soon called out Trump for being quick to whine and condemn the diverse cast of Hamilton while being very slow to condemn neo-Nazis and white supremacists.Blitzer wanted to know why Trump won't just deliver a speech openly condemning these deplorable groups. Spicer responded by saying that, At some point, you've gotta take his position and move on! Spicer said that Trump merely mentioning a disavowal should be enough and that he has made his position clear, but the problem is that Trump hasn't made it clear. Every time he claims to disavow these groups he ends up blowing them a kiss by sharing their tweets or supporting a policy that they support. In fact, these groups have become so emboldened by Trump that hate crimes have spiked since Election Day.Nazis and white supremacists are celebrating in the'streets because they think Trump is the'second coming of Hitler and that it will be open season on minorities across the country.Blitzer asked why these groups still support Trump even though he disavowed them, and Spicer threw a hissy fit. I don't know! he'snapped. That's really not my focus, figuring out why certain groups support him! Blitzer pointed out that Trump has failed to condemn these groups unlike his consistent attacks on diverse groups like the cast of Hamilton for just merely passing on a message to Mike Pence.And Blitzer's persistence cause Spicer to lose his shit. You ve asked me eight times, the'same question! I ve told you what his position is. That's not his focus! His focus is making this country better for all Americans, creating a better country, creating a better education system for all Americans, rebuilding our inner cities. That's what his focus is. So I get that you guys all want to ask the'same question over and over again and make him denounce it eight ways to Sunday, but it's not what he wants to talk about! Here's the video via YouTube. The relevant remarks are at the _NUMBER_:_NUMBER_ mark.The reason why these groups still support Trump is because his condemnation of them has been weak from the very beginning, so it seems like Trump is only saying the minimum to make it sound like he condemns them. What Trump needs to do is deliver a speech to the entire country making it clear once and for all that he'strongly condemns these groups and that he does not share their views nor will he help them pursue their hateful agenda.Featured Image: Screenshot

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The nominating contests that will determine the Democratic and Republican nominees for the Nov. _NUMBER_ U.S. presidential election are about to enter a critical phase. On March _NUMBER_, known as Super Tuesday, primaries or caucuses will be held in about a dozen states, and they could be turning points in both parties. But the key to winning the nomination for each party is ultimately not about the popular vote. It is about securing the number of delegates needed to win the nomination at each party's convention - July _NUMBER_-_NUMBER_ in Cleveland for the Republicans and July _NUMBER_-_NUMBER_ in Philadelphia for the Democrats. Like so many things in politics, there are twists and turns in how the popular vote is used to ultimately select each party's candidate. The following is a guide to the nominating process: Q: Is the delegate selection process the same for the Republican and Democratic parties? A: No. The parties set their own rules. One thing that is the same is that at each party convention, a candidate only needs to reach a simple majority of the delegate votes to win the nomination. Q: How many delegates are there? A: The Democratic convention will be attended by about _NUMBER_ delegates, with _NUMBER_ delegates needed to win the nomination. The Republican convention will be attended by _NUMBER_ delegates, with _NUMBER_ delegates needed to win. Q: I keep hearing about "superdelegates." Are they different from other delegates? Do both the Republicans and Democrats have superdelegates? A: Superdelegates, officially known as unpledged delegates, are a sort of wild card in the nominating process, but only the Democrats have them. The category was created for the _NUMBER_ Democratic convention, and according to political scientists, they are a legacy of the _NUMBER_ convention when there was a fight for the nomination between President Jimmy Carter, who was seeking a second term in the White House, and Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts. Members of Congress were frustrated by their lack of influence, because delegates elected to support one candidate could not switch to support another. So Democratic members of the House of Representatives led an effort to win a role for themselves. That resulted in the creation of superdelegates. Unlike other delegates, superdelegates may change what candidate they are supporting right up to the convention. There is no fixed number of superdelegates because the group is defined by various categories whose members change from one election cycle to another. Here is who gets to be a superdelegate: All Democratic members of the House of Representatives and the Senate; the Democratic governors; the Democratic president and vice president of the United States; former Democratic presidents and vice presidents; former Democratic leaders of the U.S. Senate; former Democratic speakers of the House and former Democratic minority leaders. Throw in the members of the Democratic National Committee and the former chairs of the DNC and you finally have the whole pool of superdelegates. Q: What about the other delegates? Do they get to choose which candidate to support? A: Both the Democratic and Republican parties send delegates to their conventions based on the popular vote in the primary elections and caucuses held in each of the _NUMBER_ states. But the parties have different rules on how delegates are allotted to a candidate. The Democratic Party applies uniform rules to all states. In each state, delegates are allocated in proportion to the percentage of the primary or caucus vote in each district. But a candidate must win at least _NUMBER_ percent of the vote to be allocated any delegates. The Republican Party lets states determine their own rules, although it does dictate some things. Some states award delegates proportionate to the popular vote, although most such states have a minimum percentage that a candidate must reach to win any delegates. Some other states use the winner-take-all method, in which the candidate with the highest percentage of the popular vote is awarded all the delegates. Other states use a combination of the two methods. States that use the proportionate method may instead use the winner-take-all method if one candidate wins more than _NUMBER_ percent of the popular vote. In addition, the Republican Party requires that all states with nominating contests held between March _NUMBER_ and March _NUMBER_ use the proportional method, meaning that all the states holding votes on Super Tuesday will have to award delegates proportionally. Q: What happens to delegates if a candidate drops out of the race? A: Another good question, because we have certainly seen that happen this year. For the Democratic Party, in every state, delegates are reallocated to the remaining candidates. For the Republican Party, it varies by state. In some states, delegates are required to stick with their original candidate at least through the first ballot at the Republican National Convention. In some other states, if a candidate drops out, his or her delegates may immediately pledge to another candidate. There is also a middle ground in which those delegates are reallocated to the remaining candidates. Donald Trump _NUMBER_ _NUMBER_ _NUMBER_ _NUMBER_ _NUMBER_ Ted Cruz _NUMBER_ _NUMBER_ _NUMBER_ _NUMBER_ _NUMBER_ Marco Rubio _NUMBER_ _NUMBER_ _NUMBER_ _NUMBER_ _NUMBER_ John Kasich _NUMBER_ _NUMBER_ _NUMBER_ _NUMBER_ _NUMBER_ Ben Carson _NUMBER_ _NUMBER_ _NUMBER_ _NUMBER_ _NUMBER_ Hillary Clinton _NUMBER_ _NUMBER_ _NUMBER_ _NUMBER_ Bernie Sanders _NUMBER_ _NUMBER_ _NUMBER_ _NUMBER_ **Winner-take-all Republican National Committee: here here Democratic National Committee: here Battlopedia: here,_2016 Vote for Bernie: here _URL_ here here _URL_

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It may be too close to call between Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in the Iowa caucuses on Monday, but the senator from Vermont was the clear winner on social media. Sanders maintained his strong social media presence during the caucuses, commanding the majority of the Twitter mentions over Clinton. Sanders was mentioned over _NUMBER_ times on Twitter during the caucus, while Clinton was mentioned _NUMBER_ times, according to social media sentiment analytics firm Brandwatch. Clinton, the Democratic front-runner and former secretary of state, was in a virtual tie with Sanders with more than _NUMBER_ percent of Iowa precincts reporting. Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, amassed the largest number of new Facebook followers of any candidate in the race during Monday, the social network said, topping Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump by _NUMBER_ to _NUMBER_. Clinton had the third most new followers, with _NUMBER_ liking her page in the past day. Among Republicans, Trump finished second in the caucuses to Ted Cruz, the U.S. senator from Texas. Sanders resonated with Millennial social media users as well. Social media platform Yik Yak, which is particularly popular among younger social media users, said Sanders was mentioned in _NUMBER_ percent of all yaks that discussed a Democratic candidate during the caucuses. While social media buzz does not necessarily translate into votes, it is a good indication of the interest level surrounding a candidate. The Iowa contest was the first of the state-by-state battles to pick nominees for the Nov. _NUMBER_ election to succeed President Barack Obama. Google trends data also showed strong interest in Sanders. In Iowa, Sanders was the top-searched-for Democratic candidate on the search engine, with _NUMBER_ percent of queries relating to the Democratic candidates. Clinton commanded _NUMBER_ percent of queries. Even so, Trump was the top most-searched for presidential candidate overall, according to the most recent Google search data available. SAP is the sponsor of this coverage which is independently produced by the staff of Reuters News Agency.

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Amid allegations of Russian interference with our elections, Republicans are scrambling, trying to defend the leader of their party. The latest defense, which comes from Lindsey Graham and sort of from Paul Ryan, is that Trump is too stupid to collude with the Russians.After former FBI Director James Comey testified in front of Congress, that yes, Trump did ask him to drop the investigation into former national security advisor Michael Flynn. The best defense House Speaker Paul Ryan could come up with was that Trump is new at this. He simply didn't know it wasn't cool to pressure the head of the FBI. The President's new at this. He's new to government. So, he probably wasn't steeped in the long-running protocols that establish the relationships between DOJ, FBI and White Houses. He's just new to this. Pushed further by CNN, Ryan said, I m not saying it's an acceptable excuse. It's just my observation. He's new at government, and so therefore I think that he he is learning as he goes, Ryan said.Source: CNNTeenagers, try that argument next time you get pulled over while driving. On second thought, don't.Now, Sen. Lindsey Graham has taken that argument a step further and said that Trump is too incompetent to have colluded with the Russians. He doesn't believe he did anything wrong with the Russians and I tend to believe him, Graham said on CBS Face the Nation. He can't collude with his own government. Why do you think he is colluding with the Russians? Source: Think ProgressWhat Graham is ignoring is that the fact that Trump is incompetent is likely what made him the most desirable for Russians. Russian journalist Mikhail Fishman says this about Russian president Vladimir Putin's opinion on Trump:They re quite obviously playing Trump. They consider him a stupid, unstrategic politician. Putin is confident that he can manipulate Trump to his advantage, and he'should be.In other words, Trump's a useful idiot to them?Exactly. The Kremlin is limited in their knowledge about what's going on in Washington, but they see the chaos and the confusion in Trump's administration. They see the clumsiness, the inexperience. Naturally, they're working to exploit that.Of course, Graham and Ryan know this and that's what's most dangerous of all. While Trump might be too stupid to know that he is a stooge, the Republican Party's cavalier attitude about the fact that Russia might have installed our incompetent Commander-in-Chief is perhaps the most treasonous part of all of this.

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Allegations of Russian meddling in elections in the United States and Europe are "fantasies", the Interfax news agency cited Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying on Tuesday. "Without a single piece of proof, we are as you know being accused of meddling not only in the U.S. election, but also in those in European states," the agency quoted Lavrov as telling a briefing at the Association of European Businesses in Russia. "Recently, there was an allegation that Moscow decided what minister to appoint in South Africa. In general, there is no limit to fantasy."

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Trump will announce his VP pick tomorrow. Rumor has it, he has narrowed the field down to these two candidates, Governor Mike Pence and Donald Trump. Who do you think would be his best choice?TAKE OUR POLL HERE:Indiana Gov. Mike Pence would bring constitutional fidelity, conservative credentials, traditional faith, foreign policy, Washington know-how, and a calm, steady, Midwestern demeanor to a national ticket with Donald Trump, boosting the New York businessman with several types of voters that may prove to be the key to building an electoral coalition that could propel Trump into the White House.Pence was an Indiana talk show host who took on the party establishment to get into Congress. Once there, he was regularly a thorn in the establishment's side, routinely opposing the go-along-to-get-along establishment playbook. But he did so as a happy warrior who kept disagreement focused on policies, while being friendly and personable with his opponents.Over time, Pence became very popular among conservatives, and effective at communicating a conservative message through the national media.Pence repeatedly opposed George W. Bush's proposals to expand government. When Republicans lost the U.S. House in _NUMBER_, Pence took the ultimate anti-establishment step of running against John Boehner to be the leader of House Republicans. He lost that bid, but garners almost _NUMBER_ voters against the future Speaker, making a name for himself as someone willing to oppose anyone who Pence believed would not lead as a conservative.Pence was regarded as an effective legislator under both Republican and Democratic presidents. Trump has no experience negotiating with Congress or experience with the vast complexity of the federal government. Pence could remedy all that.Pence is also an evangelical Christian with a model family.For a much more in-depth look at Governor Mike Pence and what he brings to a Trump ticket: Breitbart1.) Trump'said he wants and frankly needs a political person who knows the congressional game as well as the players. As a former House Speaker, Newt fits that bill to a t. _NUMBER_.) Newt has run for president himself and so is completely familiar with and experienced in being a national candidate. As such, he's also already been vetted to the max. There will be no surprises.3.) The traditional role of the running mate is attack dog against the opposition. Not that Trump needs any help in THAT department, but Gingrich would certainly make a great tag team partner on the campaign trail against Crooked and Pocohantas though Newt will refer to them in far more genial terms.4.) Trump has the right instincts on a wide variety of issues, but Gingrich has thought them all the way through and then some. You want specifics? Gingrich has em. In spades. And he can articulate them in a way the average Joe can understand. A great communicator in his own right.5.) The liberal media can and will chew up and spit out GOP running mates who aren't ready for prime time. Exhibit #_NUMBER_: Dan Quayle. Exhibit #_NUMBER_: Sarah Palin. That won't happen with Gingrich. He gives to the media every bit as good as he gets from the media.6.) Newt has spent a lifetime in politics helping candidates up and down the ballot in every state. He also knows, understands and will assist conservative grassroots organizations, as well as state and county parties. A true GOP party soldier who understands the nuts and bolts of building a political ground game.7.) He is a prolific fundraiser who has his own stable of GOP mega-donors such as Sheldon Adelson of the Las Vegas Sands who stand ready, willing and able to assist the former House Speaker and his running mate.8.) He is an admirer of the tea party and has been openly supportive of the movement. He's also familiar with the GOP establishment and the K-Street gang and can work with them. He's also proven particularly adept at reaching across the aisle and working with the opposition when the'situation or issue properly calls for it.For entire list of reasons Newt Gingrich would be Trump's best choice for VP, go here: Chuck Muth's News and Views

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Does anyone else out there see a future BMW car commercial with this story? You really can't make this up! it's what we've come to with the entitled people who think they can buy a BMW with their EBT card. Unreal! Actually, you can buy almost anything else with your EBT card which is soooo wrong and not what this entitlement was intended for. It's come to this though:A Florida man has been arrested after allegedly stealing a _CUR_60,000 BMW a day after a car dealership turned him down from buying it with food stamps.Nicholas Jackson went to an auto dealership where managers declined his business when he tried to buy the BMW with a credit card and his Electronic Benefit Transfer card, authorities said.On Thursday night, the Pompano Beach dealership was burglarized and the BMW was missing along with keys belonging to _NUMBER_ other cars, according to the Martin County Sheriff's Office.Authorities said _NUMBER_-year-old Jackson did not have money to fill the tank of the'stolen BMW and subsequently ran out of gas at an intersection.When officers responded to a suspicious person call on Friday morning, they found Jackson, the BMW and the'stolen keys, according to the'sheriff's office.Via: Daily Mail

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The U.S. Senate confirmed private equity executive William Hagerty on Thursday as President Donald Trump's ambassador to Japan, filling a post considered especially crucial in light of neighboring North Korea's recent missile tests. The vote was _NUMBER_ to _NUMBER_ in the _NUMBER_-member Senate. Hagerty, founder of the private equity firm Hagerty Peterson, spent several years in Japan with the Boston Consulting Group and later served in the White House under former President George H.W. Bush. Trump's choice of Hagerty was taken as a sign of the interest in economic ties to Japan by the Republican president, a real estate developer and reality television star, who had never held public office when he was elected in November. North Korea has been worrying and frustrating neighboring countries and U.S. officials with a series of missile tests, more so since Pyongyang last week test-launched its first intercontinental ballistic missile. Trump has been criticized for being slow to name ambassadors to important U.S. allies like Japan, especially in light of the crisis. There is still no new U.S. ambassador to South Korea. Hagerty succeeds Caroline Kennedy, an attorney and daughter of the late U.S. President John F. Kennedy, who held the position from _NUMBER_ until Trump took office in January _NUMBER_.

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The U.S. Navy on Monday confirmed recovery of the remains of all _NUMBER_ sailors killed after the warship John S. McCain collided with a merchant vessel in waters near Singapore and Malaysia. The guided-missile destroyer collided with the Alnic MC east of Singapore last week while approaching the city state on a routine port visit. The U.S. navy and marine corps divers have now recovered the remains of all _NUMBER_ USS John S.McCain sailors, the Seventh Fleet said in a statement on its website. The news follows the navy's Thursday announcement that it had suspended wider search and rescue operations after finding and identifying the remains of one sailor. The navy found the remains of missing sailors inside sealed sections of the damaged hull of the warship, which is moored at Singapore's Changi Naval Base. The incident is under investigation to determine the facts and circumstances of the collision, the statement added. Aircraft, divers and vessels from Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the United States joined a search-and-rescue operation for the missing sailors over an area of about _NUMBER_ sq. km. around the crash site. The pre-dawn collision, the fourth major accident for the U.S. Pacific Fleet this year, has prompted a review of its operations. The Navy has removed Seventh Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin from his post, citing a loss of confidence in his ability to command after the run of accidents. Rear Admiral Phil Sawyer takes command of the fleet from Aucoin, who had been due to step down next month. The U.S. navy has also flagged plans for temporary and staggered halts in operations across its global fleet to allow staff to focus on safety. In a one-day operational pause last Wednesday, officers and crew of Seventh Fleet ships deployed at a facility in Yokosuka, Japan, received fresh training in risk management and communications. The Seventh Fleet, headquartered in Japan, operates as many as _NUMBER_ ships, including the U.S. navy's only forward-deployed aircraft carrier, and has about _NUMBER_ aircraft and _NUMBER_ sailors.

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Didn t America have to suffer through a high profile perjury case for another Clinton not so many years ago? Oh yeah that was Bill Clinton who was actually IMPEACHED for LYING to a grand jury. Is there a more corrupt, self-serving power-driven couple in America? WASHINGTON, D.C. Today, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte sent a letter to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia requesting an investigation into whether former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton committed perjury and made false statements when testifying under oath before Congress.The letter states: The evidence collected by the FBI during its investigation of Secretary Clinton's use of a personal email system appears to directly contradict several aspects of her sworn testimony. In light of those contradictions, the Department should investigate and determine whether to prosecute Secretary Clinton for violating statutes that prohibit perjury and false statements to Congress, or any other relevant statutes. Background:During a July _NUMBER_, _NUMBER_ hearing before the House Oversight Committee, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey stated the truthfulness of Secretary Clinton's testimony before Congress was not within the'scope of the FBI's investigation. According to Director Comey the Department of Justice requires a criminal referral from Congress to initiate an investigation into Secretary Clinton's congressional testimony.Additionally, Chairman Chaffetz sent a letter to Director Comey requesting the FBI's full investigative file from its review of former Secretary Clinton's use of an authorized private email server.Chairman Goodlatte sent a letter to Director Comey pressing for more information about the FBI's investigation and also led a letter signed by over _NUMBER_ members of Congress demanding answers from FBI Director Comey regarding the many questions surrounding his announcement that he does not recommend federal prosecution against former Secretary Hillary Clinton for mishandling classified information through private email servers.Full text of letter:The Honorable Channing D. Phillips U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia _NUMBER_ Fourth Street NW Washington, D.C. 20530Dear Mr. Phillips:We write to request an investigation to determine whether former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton committed perjury and made false statements during her testimony under oath before congressional committees.While testifying before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on July _NUMBER_, _NUMBER_, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey stated the truthfulness of Secretary Clinton's testimony before Congress was not within the'scope of the FBI's investigation. Nor had the FBI even considered any of Secretary Clinton's testimony. Director Comey further testified the Department of Justice requires a criminal referral from Congress to initiate an investigation of Secretary Clinton's congressional testimony. We are writing for that purpose.The evidence collected by the FBI during its investigation of Secretary Clinton's use of a personal email system appears to directly contradict several aspects of her sworn testimony. In light of those contradictions, the Department should investigate and determine whether to prosecute Secretary Clinton for violating statutes that prohibit perjury and false statements to Congress, or any other relevant statutes.Thank you for your attention to this important matter. oversight.house.govWatch Hillary caught in lies during testimony in video here:Watch the impeachment of Hillary's serial sexual abuser husband, Bill for lying before a grand jury about his affair with young intern Monica Lewinsky:

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North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un said on Friday the North will consider the highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history against the United States in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to destroy the North. Calling Trump mentally deranged and his comments the most ferocious declaration of a war in history, Kim said his U.N. speech on Tuesday confirmed Pyongyang's nuclear program has been the correct path . His remarks ... have convinced me, rather than frightening or stopping me, that the path I chose is correct and that it is the one I have to follow to the last, Kim said in the statement carried by the North's official KCNA news agency, promising to make Trump pay dearly for his speech . Trump had warned the North Korean leader in his U.N. address on Tuesday that the United States, if threatened, would totally destroy the country of _NUMBER_ million people and mocked Kim as a rocket man on a suicide mission. It was the U.S. president's most direct reference to military action so far against the North, which conducted its sixth and largest nuclear test on Sept. _NUMBER_. In addition to the nuclear test, North Korea has launched dozens of missiles since Kim came to power in _NUMBER_. Two recent ballistic missiles flew over Japan as Pyongyang advanced toward its goal of creating nuclear warhead-tipped missiles that can hit the United States. Kim said Trump would face results beyond his expectation, without specifying what action North Korea would take next. I will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged U.S. dotard with fire, Kim said in the rare direct statement, referring to Trump. He offered more vitriol for Trump, saying he was unfit to hold the prerogative of supreme command of a country, and he is surely a rogue and a gangster fond of playing with fire, rather than a politician. A day after Trump's address, North Korea's Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho had likened Trump to a barking dog, saying his comments were no threat to the North. Kim took a page out of Ri's book on Friday, saying a frightened dog barks louder . Now that Trump has denied the existence of and insulted me and my country in front of the eyes of the world.., we will consider with seriousness exercising of a corresponding, highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history, Kim said.

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Republican U.S. senators John McCain and Marco Rubio won their party's nominations on Tuesday to seek re-election in Arizona and Florida in November, as both of the high profile politicians defeated insurgent challengers. McCain, the _NUMBER_ failed Republican presidential candidate, now faces a spirited challenge in Arizona from Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick, who has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since _NUMBER_ and wants to move to the Senate. McCain has said this year's race could be the toughest of a political career spanning more than three decades. In advancing to the general election, the _NUMBER_-year-old McCain handily beat ex-state Senator Kelli Ward, _NUMBER_, a conservative Tea Party activist and a follower of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Like McCain, Rubio also is girding for a potentially tough challenge on Nov. _NUMBER_. Also in Florida, U.S. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz overcame a challenger - and the embarrassment of being stripped last month of her job as head of the Democratic National Committee - and will get a shot at a seventh House term in the Nov. _NUMBER_ general elections. She beat law professor Tim Canova, an outspoken Wall Street critic aligned with U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders. The non-traditional campaigns of Trump and Sanders, who exceeded expectations in his failed Democratic White House bid, spurred speculation that other insurgent politicians could make an impact this year. But that didn't happen in either of the closely watched nominating races in Florida and Arizona. Rubio, who abandoned his presidential campaign in March, cleared the initial hurdle in his battle for a second six-year term in the U.S. Senate. He defeated novice politician Carlos Beruff, a millionaire homebuilder, who embraced Trump. U.S. Representative Patrick Murphy, a Democrat, won his party's Senate nomination on Tuesday, and is expected to give g Rubio a tough fight, especially if Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton leads Trump in Florida. There is speculation that Rubio might still harbor presidential ambitions after media reports this week that he had refused to commit to serving all six years of a Senate term if he were re-elected. Trump has endorsed McCain and Rubio in their re-election bids even though he has rocky relations with both. How McCain and Rubio fare could have a big say in whether Republicans can defy expectations and maintain majority control of the Senate after November's election. "The balance of the Senate and the outcome of the presidential election are all hanging on Florida," Rubio predicted in a fundraising appeal late on Tuesday. Trump offended McCain and many other Republicans last year by suggesting the maverick senator was anything but a war hero because he was captured during the Vietnam War after his airplane was shot down during a bombing mission. In March, Trump ended Rubio's presidential run by trouncing him in the Florida primary to cap a race in which the New York businessman taunted the first-term senator as "little Marco." Rubio fired back, insulting Trump on everything from his hair color and the size of his hands to misspelled words in tweets. During their re-election efforts, both McCain and Rubio have offered support for Trump as the party's White House nominee and steered clear of attacks on that might antagonize Trump's core supporters. But they have tiptoed around Trump, mainly out of concern that his provocative comments on illegal immigration, Muslims and U.S. support for NATO could alienate moderate and independent voters in their states.

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Poland hopes Turkey will eventually join the European Union, Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Tuesday, days ahead of an EU summit which will discuss the frayed relations between Brussels and Ankara. The EU, particularly heavyweight member Germany, has become increasingly critical of Turkey since President Tayyip Erdogan launched large-scale purges of state institutions, the military, the judiciary and academia after a failed coup in July _NUMBER_. Poland has supported and today supports Turkey's EU accession efforts, Duda told a joint news conference with Erdogan during his visit to Warsaw. I hope Turkey and the EU will continue on the same path ... leading to a full membership for Turkey. EU leaders will discuss the bloc's deteriorating ties with Ankara on Oct. _NUMBER_ during a two-day summit. Turkey's _NUMBER_-year-long accession talks, already dogged by disputes on a range of issues, have ground to a halt since the post-coup crackdown, in which more than _NUMBER_ people have been jailed pending trial and some _NUMBER_ - including judges, journalists and soldiers - have been sacked or suspended. Within the EU, Poland has traditionally been among the most staunch supporters of enlargement, including Turkey's accession. Erdogan, speaking alongside Duda, reiterated his criticism of the EU's accession policy, saying the bloc should announce the end of talks if it doesn t mean to accept Turkey. We won t bother you any further and you don t bother us, he said.

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Most sane Americans are gonna love it!h/t Weasel Zippers

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The European Union does not share Turkey's view that the network of U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen is a terrorist organization and would need to see substantive evidence to change its stance, the EU's counter-terrorism coordinator said. The comments by Gilles de Kerchove are likely to infuriate Ankara, which accuses Gulen of masterminding a failed military coup last year, in which more than _NUMBER_ people were killed. Gulen has denied the charge and condemned the coup. Turkey has long accused its NATO allies, including the United States and Germany, of failing to condemn the abortive putsch strongly enough, saying they appeared more concerned by Ankara's ensuing crackdown on suspected supporters of the coup. As for FETO, we don t see it as a terrorist organization, and I don t believe the EU is likely to change its position soon, Kerchove said, using the Turkish government's acronym for Gulen's network. You need not only circumstantial evidence - like just downloading an app - but concrete substantive data which shows that they were involved..., he told Reuters in an interview cleared for publication on Thursday. Turkish authorities have detained some _NUMBER_ people, including teachers, police officers, journalists and U.S. consular staff for alleged links to Gulen's network. Some _NUMBER_ people have been sacked or suspended from their jobs. Some have been detained for having downloaded ByLock, a messaging app the government says was used by the coup plotters. Others have been detained for having had telephone calls with ByLock users. Human rights groups and some EU officials accuse Erdogan of using the crackdown to muzzle dissent in Turkey, a charge Ankara denies. It says the scale of the clampdown is justified because the Gulen network threatens national security. Gulen was once an ally of Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted AK Party and his movement ran schools, banks and media outlets in Turkey until the two men had a public falling-out in _NUMBER_. Germany's BND spy agency has said it is not convinced that Gulen was behind the failed coup, in which rogue soldiers used tanks and helicopters to attack Turkey's parliament and other key targets. Turkey has also sought, so far unsuccessfully, Gulen's extradition from the United States, where the cleric has lived in self-imposed exile since _NUMBER_. U.S. officials say their courts require sufficient evidence to order his extradition. As of July, Turkey had supplied _NUMBER_ boxes of documents to the United States for evidence, Ankara's envoy to Washington has said, although he has acknowledged that more concrete evidence of Gulen's direct involvement has remained elusive. Germany, which has sharply criticized the mass arrests in Turkey, has refused to extradite people Ankara says were involved in the plot or linked to Gulen's network. The decision on extradition is in the hands of all member states, and most of the time the judiciary, the independent judiciary, and they need hard evidence, Kerchove said.

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Millennial propaganda tool for the Democrat Party, Buzzfeed news publication attempted to do a hit piece on Eric Trump. They claim that when Eric was giving his list of reasons his father chose to run for office, which included the insanity of the political correctness we see today, that he incorrectly stated the White House Christmas tree is called a Holiday Tree. But did he really misspeak?Buzzfeed never addressed the core of Eric Trump's comments, which were really about the ruin of our nation over political correctness. Instead, Buzzfeed chose to dissect one small part of what Eric Trump'said about the White House Christmas tree, which, as it turns out, was actually mostly accurate.The White House Christmas tree was renamed the Holiday Tree in the _NUMBER_ s, Republican House Speaker Denny Hastert changed the name back to Christmas tree in _NUMBER_. This is the garbage young Americans are reading every day in their social media newsfeed. It's one of the primary reasons we see so many young people walking around in a stupor with Bernie Sanders or Hillary bumper stickers on their Prius .From Buzzfeed Eric Trump, listing off reasons his father is running for president, said in an interview this week that one of the motivations was the renaming of the White House Christmas tree to holiday tree. The tree placed on the White House lawn during the holiday season is still called the National Christmas Tree. He opens up the paper each morning and sees our nation's leaders giving a hundred billion dollars to Iran, or he opens the paper and some new school district has just eliminated the ability for its students to say the pledge of allegiance, or some fire department in some town is ordered by the mayor to no longer fly the American flag on the back of a fire truck, Trump told James Robison in an interview posted this week.Buzzfeed never questioned the validity of the ransom money our President covertly paid to Iran. They never questioned whether or not schools and local governments are attempting to eliminate the pledge of allegiance, so as not to offend immigrants or refugees. It's funny how they never suggested the'story about the firemen being forced to remove the American flag from the back of their trucks was not _NUMBER_% accurate. Nope just the accuracy of the Christmas tree comment Or he'sees the tree on the White House lawn has been renamed Holiday tree instead of Christmas tree, continued Trump. I could go on and on for hours. Those are the very things that made my father run, and those are the very things he cares about. Chain emails that began when President Obama took office falsely claimed that tree had been renamed. A tree on Capitol Hill was briefly called a Holiday Tree in the 1990s, but the name was changed in _NUMBER_ at the direction of then-Speaker Dennis Hastert.Watch Eric Trump's awesome speech at the RNC, where he talks about why his dad is running and why he's the most qualified man in America to step in and assume the office of President of the United States:

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Patriotism is alive and well at this Florida school!COOPERGATE SCHOOL S FACEBOOK PAGE HAS A STATEMENT ON WHAT TWO YOUNG PATRIOTS DID: This is what RESPECT looks like at Coppergate. Two of our safety patrols, Nate and Isaac, quietly went to the courtyard and completed their flag duty in a driving rainstorm.Not only did they bring the flag down, they also stood in the wind and rain and calmly completed the _NUMBER_ folds. Then Nate protected the flag as he walked with honor and respect to retire it for the day. We are so proud of Nate and Isaac for their responsibility, respect, devotion to duty, and love of country.HERE S THE STORY: Two Florida elementary school students are being praised for their show of respect for the American flag despite the pouring rain.Isaac Davis and Nate Helmath, both _NUMBER_ years old, are safety patrols at Coppergate Elementary School in Middleburg and are in charge of lowering Old Glory at dismissal time.However, last week, a torrential rainstorm passed over the'school, making flag duty a wetter-than-usual experience. Still, driving rains could not stop Isaac and Nate from doing their duty.The two brought the flag down and completed the _NUMBER_ folds while standing in the pouring rain.Via: FOX News

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U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order that prohibits dealings in new debt from the Venezuelan government or its state oil company on Friday in an effort to halt financing that the White House said fuels President Nicolas Maduro's dictatorship. Maduro, who has frequently blamed the United States for waging an economic war on Venezuela, said the United States was seeking to force Venezuela to default but he said it would not succeed. The order is Washington's biggest sanctions blow to date against Maduro and is intended to punish his leftist government for what Trump has called an erosion of democracy in the oil-rich country, which is already reeling from an economic crisis. It suggests a weakening in already strained relations between the two countries. Just three days ago, Maduro said the relations between Caracas and Washington were at their lowest point ever. All they re trying to do to attack Venezuela is crazy, said Maduro on a TV broadcast on Friday. With the efforts of our people, it will fail and Venezuela will be stronger, more free, and more independent. Venezuela faces a severe recession with millions suffering food and medicine shortages and soaring inflation. The South American nation relies on oil for some _NUMBER_ percent of export revenue. Citgo Petroleum , the U.S. refiner of Venezuela's ailing state-run oil company PDVSA, is practically being forced to close by the order, warned Maduro, adding that a preliminary analysis showed the sanctions would impede Venezuelan crude exports to the United States. He said he was calling urgent meetings with U.S. clients of Venezuelan oil. The new sanctions ban trade in any new issues of U.S.-dollar-denominated debt of the Venezuelan government and PDVSA because the ban applies to use of the U.S. financial system. As a result, it will be it tricky for PDVSA to refinance its heavy debt burden. Investors had expected that PDVSA would seek to ease upcoming payments through such an operation, as it did last year, which usually requires that new bonds be issued. Additional financial pressure on PDVSA could push the cash-strapped company closer to a possible default, or bolster its reliance on key allies China and Russia, which have already lent Caracas billions of dollars. They want us to fall into default, said Maduro, adding that just under two-thirds of Venezuelan bond holders are in the United States. Maduro insisted that Venezuela would continue paying its debts. The decision also blocks Citgo Petroleum from sending dividends back to the South American nation, a senior official said, in a further blow to PDVSA's coffers. However, the order stops short of a major ban on crude trading that could have disrupted Venezuela's oil industry and worsened the country's faltering economy. It also protects holders of most existing Venezuelan government and PDVSA bonds, who were relieved the sanctions did not go further. Venezuelan and PDVSA bonds were trading broadly higher on Friday afternoon. Maduro may no longer take advantage of the American financial system to facilitate the wholesale looting of the Venezuelan economy at the expense of the Venezuelan people, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Friday. Venezuela's Oil Ministry and PDVSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. PDVSA, the financial engine of Maduro's government, is already struggling due to low global oil prices, mismanagement, allegations of corruption and a brain drain. Washington last month sanctioned PDVSA's finance vice president, Simon Zerpa, complicating some of the company's operations as Americans are now banned from doing business with him. Trump has so far spared Venezuela from broader sanctions against its vital oil industry, but officials have said such actions are under consideration. The Republican president has also warned of a military option for Venezuela, although White House national security adviser H.R. McMaster said on Friday that no such actions are anticipated in the near future. Venezuela has for months struggled to find financing because of PDVSA's cash flow problems and corruption scandals have led institutions to tread cautiously, regardless of sanctions. Russia and its state oil company Rosneft have emerged as an increasingly important source of financing for PDVSA, according to a Reuters report. On at least two occasions, the Venezuelan government has used Russian cash to avoid imminent defaults on payments to bondholders, a high-level PDVSA official told Reuters. At this point our view is that the country can scrape by without defaulting this year, largely with the help of Chinese and Russian backing and by further squeezing imports. Next year is a tossup, said Raul Gallegos, an analyst with the consultancy Control Risks. However, China has grown reticent to extend further loans because of payment delays and corruption. Russia has been negotiating financing in exchange for oil assets in Venezuela, sources have told Reuters, but going forward it would be difficult for the OPEC member to provide enough assets to keep up loans destined for bond payments. Venezuela's government has around _CUR_2 billion in available cash to make _CUR_1.3 billion in bond payments by the end of the year and to cover the import of food and medicine, according to documents reviewed by Reuters.

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Leading Republicans on Tuesday outlined a plan to help Puerto Rico shed crippling debt and accused investor-allied groups of misleading lawmakers about the proposal. The rescue would steer creditors and holders of Puerto Rico bonds toward a new, independent board that would seek a fair way to write down an estimated _CUR_70 billion in debt. Banks, mutual funds, hedge funds and Puerto Rico citizens all hold paper issued by _NUMBER_ entities on the U.S. commonwealth and many of those investors, if not all, would face a loss. Lawmakers in Congress are being lobbied - and attacked - by investor groups that are trying to protect their bottom lines. "They are deceitful," said Rep. Rob Bishop, a Utah Republican who leads the House Natural Resources Committee. Bishop said accusations likening the Puerto Rico rescue plan to a government bailout were "crap," and the plan had the virtue of "protecting taxpayers and not spending government money." The rescue plan does, however, adopt some principles of bankruptcy law and that makes it controversial. Investors could be forced into a settlement over the objections of holdout bondholders under certain circumstances, according to a draft of the bill. Some lawmakers said allowing Puerto Rico to modify its bonds could mean chaos for municipal markets. "If they can do it for Puerto Rico, they can do it for every other state," Rep. Tom McClintock said of the damage that the rescue bill would do. McClintock, a California Republican, said he was "very concerned" about the plan after a half-hour meeting Tuesday afternoon of Republicans on the Natural Resources panel. House Speaker Paul Ryan said in a statement that he supported Bishop's effort because it "holds the right people accountable for the crisis shrinks the size of government." Ryan also said he liked the idea of an independent board settling investor disputes, adding that legislation passed last week to halt payments on Puerto Rico's debt was "troubling." The Republican Study Committee, a group of conservative lawmakers, said in a statement it was still reviewing the bill, but "we are encouraged that there appear to be some improvements." Ryan will need the votes of many fiscally-conservative Republicans - and as is seen likely, some Democrats - if he is to get the rescue package through the House of Representatives. The plan will face a test on Wednesday when the Natural Resources panel begins to amend the plan during a law-writing session known as a "mark up." An aide to House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said her office was still reviewing the legislation.

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It's a free country, and the nineteen members of Congress who are planning to boycott President-elect Trump's inauguration are certainly within their rights. So even is Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., who said over the weekend that Trump's election is illegitimate. That doesn't make his comment true or honorable or helpful to the nation's well-being, but he is free to say it.Reps. Lewis, Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., Barbara Lee, D-Calif., Katherine Clark, D-Mass., and the other inaugural boycotters are certainly not alone in finding Trump uniquely awful. They are not alone in believing the president-elect has gone out of his way to offend people. Probably they also recognize that, in the'safe districts they all represent, an inaugural boycott might even be a political winner.But this is also part of a pattern. Lewis and Lee, along with some other Democratic lawmakers at the time, also boycotted to make a point when President George W. Bush was inaugurated in _NUMBER_. The Washington Post reported at the time that Lewis thought it would be hypocritical to attend Bush's swearing-in because he doesn't believe Bush is the true elected president. Maybe they had a better excuse that time, as there was so much lingering acrimony surrounding the Florida recount. But we're talking about elected members of Congress who have refused to accept two Republican presidencies in a row. Is there always a good enough excuse whenever a Republican wins? At what point is it fair to ask whether some people are just not committed to democratic or legal processes at all unless the results come out as they hope? Washington ExaminerWatch the video below to see how Democrats protested Bush's inauguration:After skipping Bush's inauguration in '_NUMBER_, _USER_ says there's a pattern of John Lewis's attempts to de-legitimize Presidents! _URL_ Trish Regan Intel January _NUMBER_, _NUMBER_

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After a tumultuous opening month in the White House, President Donald Trump is heading to a friendlier, familiar and potentially rejuvenating place: the campaign trail. Beset by vicious fights over his Cabinet, legal setbacks over his immigration orders, the resignation of his national security adviser and an investigation into possible links between his campaign and Russian intelligence, Trump is turning to the winning formula that vaulted him into the White House: big, adoring crowds and fiery, angry speeches. He has replaced Hillary Clinton, his former Democratic presidential rival, with a new foil: newspapers and TV news outlets that have reported unflattering revelations of dysfunction or other problems in the White House. He has described them as "lying", "corrupt", "failing" and, late on Friday, as "the enemy of the American people." On Saturday, he holds a campaign rally in an airport hangar in Melbourne, Florida, just up the coast from his Mar-a-Lago resort where he will spend the weekend. The event gives Trump a chance to bypass what he says is an unfair media and take his message straight to his supporters. "It will remind people that he still has a lot of support out there, and he probably needs the reminder," said Republican strategist John Feehery. "When you are inside the bubble, it's not a bad idea to reconnect with your supporters and get re-energized." Trump's race against Clinton was marked by big, boisterous rallies, and the event in Florida is likely to be the first of many as he tries to appeal directly to his most passionate supporters and reframe his image following growing questions over his temperament and ties between his campaign and Russian intelligence. Shortly after an unusually long and combative _NUMBER_-minute presidential news conference on Thursday, Trump's campaign sent out a fundraising email featuring a "media accountability survey" asking supporters about coverage. "I've made it a point to cut through the media's noise and go straight to the American people. It worked during the campaign, and it will work again over these next four years," Trump said in the email. Democrats countered with their own fundraising email, seeking donations to ensure "Trump is a one-term president." "First he had Republican primary opponents, then he had Hillary Clinton, and now he has the evil media," said Republican strategist Rich Galen. "He's very comfortable in this kind of campaign mode." The Florida rally marks an extraordinarily early start to the _NUMBER_ White House campaign for Trump, who filed re-election papers with the Federal Election Commission five hours after he was sworn in as president on Jan. _NUMBER_. His predecessor, Barack Obama, filed the same form in April _NUMBER_, more than two years into his first term as president. The paperwork was not a formal declaration of Trump's candidacy, but allowed him to continue raising funds, including the money received from sales of his popular red "Make America Great Again" hats. The Trump campaign raised _CUR_9.6 million in December and had about _CUR_7.6 million on hand at the end of the year, the last time it was required to file a report with the FEC. Obama and other presidents have traditionally held campaign-style events to support their legislative initiatives, but they were organized and paid for by the White House. Saturday's rally will be organized and run by the campaign, the White House said. Obama hit the road frequently in early _NUMBER_ to rally voters behind his economic stimulus package. But he was also supported by an outside group called Organizing for America that filled some of the role of a campaign organization by building grassroots backing for his policies. By keeping his campaign intact, including his campaign website, Trump has made the concept of a "permanent campaign" into reality. The website, which features a photo of the inauguration, stresses Trump's campaign cannot stop because "we still have much work to do." Trump's first presidential event outside Washington was on Friday in North Charleston, South Carolina, where he visited an airplane plant operated by Boeing Co to celebrate the unveiling of its latest Dreamliner jet. On Air Force One after the Charleston event, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said Trump is headed back on to the campaign trail because the media does not always deliver his message well, and "he can do that very effectively by taking the stage and talking to the people of America." Trump's early re-election campaign start has created some confusion for federal workers worried about possibly violating a U.S. law prohibiting them from engaging in political activity in the workplace. The U.S. Office of Special Counsel, an independent government agency that protects federal bureaucrats from unfair personnel practices, issued guidance to federal workers last week after it said it received "numerous" questions about whether they can express their views on Trump given his intention to run for re-election. Federal workers would violate the law if they start calling for his re-election or defeat while on duty, the memo said, but since the election is still three years away workers can express approval or disapproval of his policies or actions but "may not display signs in their office that read 'Reelect Trump in _NUMBER_' or express" views on his candidacy while in the workplace. Once he formally announces his candidacy, the memo said, workers who are on duty or in the office cannot do anything "directed at the success or failure of his candidacy."

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China said on Thursday a dual suspension proposal to handle North Korea was still the best option, after U.S. President Donald Trump said he and Chinese President Xi Jinping had rejected a freeze for freeze agreement. North Korea's rapid progress in developing nuclear weapons and missiles has fueled a surge in regional tensions as United Nations-led sanctions appear to have failed to bite deeply enough to change its behavior. China and Russia have proposed that the United States and South Korea stop major military exercises in exchange for North Korea halting its weapons programs. Beijing formally calls the idea the dual suspension proposal. Speaking upon his return from Asia on Wednesday, Trump said he and Xi had agreed that they would not accept a freeze for freeze idea, which China's foreign minister announced in March. Asked how China understood Trump's remarks and whether he agreed with the characterization of what Trump said he agreed to with Xi, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said only through talks that addressed all sides legitimate security concerns could there be a peaceful resolution. We believe that the dual suspension proposal is the most feasible, fair and sensible plan in the present situation, Geng told a daily news briefing. Not only can it relieve the present tense situation, it can also resolve all parties most pressing security concerns, and provide an opportunity and create conditions to resume talks, and find a breakthrough point to get out of trouble, he added. The dual suspension is just a first step and not the end point, Geng added. We hope that all sides can conscientiously treat and proactively consider China's proposal, and at the same time we welcome relevant parties to put forward proposals that can benefit the promotion of a peaceful resolution for the peninsula nuclear issue. Asked at a regular briefing if Trump stood by his remarks as to what he had agreed with Xi, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders on Thursday replied: Both sides made their positions clear. They are different, but we agreed that there are going to be different positions and therefore it's not going to move forward. North Korea has said it needs to develop its weapons to protect itself from what it sees as U.S. military aggression. It also sees U.S.-South Korean military exercises as joint preparations for invasion. South Korea and the United States, which has about _NUMBER_ troops based in South Korea, say their exercises are defensive in nature.

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U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has billed his move to re-open federal lands to new coal leases as a win for miners seeking to expand production. But a review of company filings shows that coal miners with the most to gain already have enough leases in hand to last well over a decade. Trump will sign a decree on Tuesday to reverse former President Barack Obama's _NUMBER_ ban on new federal coal leases, part of a wide-ranging executive order to sweep away green regulations his administration says have hobbled the drilling and mining industries. "When we evaluate energy, let's look at the social cost of not having a job," Trump's Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said in a Twitter post on Tuesday ahead of the executive order. But companies focused on coal deposits below federal lands, such as Peabody Energy, Arch Coal, and Cloud Peak, have enough coal in the ground on existing leases to last an average of more than _NUMBER_ years at _NUMBER_ sales levels, earnings reports show. That suggests miners could already ramp up production levels immediately if the market demanded more coal. Energy experts say that is unlikely on a large scale due to stiff competition from cheap and abundant natural gas. "These initiatives prevent things from getting worse for coal, but they won't help much," said Charles Dayton, vice president of market analytics at Doyle Trading Consultants in Colorado, which has been tracking reserve levels on public lands. Shares in Cloud Peak were up about _NUMBER_ percent in early trading on Tuesday, ahead of the executive order, with Peabody up _NUMBER_ percent and Arch down _NUMBER_ percent. The current level of reserves appeared to be within historical norms. A decade ago, under Republican President George W. Bush when there were no bans on federal coal leasing, the industry had about _NUMBER_ years worth of leases on federal lands, according to a Reuters examination of securities filings. Arch Coal and Peabody confirmed they have substantial reserves on their federal leases already, but nonetheless welcomed Trump's move. "Peabody has a comfortable amount of reserves in the Powder River Basin, although we recognize the poor public policy represented by the leasing moratorium put into place by the prior administration," Peabody spokesman Vic Svec told Reuters in an email. Arch Coal has "sufficient permitted reserves to sustain our operations on federal lands for a number of years to come," spokeswoman Logan Bonacorsi said. "But as with all producers we will need to add reserves over time, and the ability to obtain those reserves when needed is important." Officials at Peak and Contura did not respond to requests for comment. Trump's executive order will also seek to undo Obama-era rules limiting carbon emissions. One example is the Clean Power Plan, a regulation that would have increased pressure on states to replace coal-fired power stations with ones using cleaner fuels like natural gas, wind and solar. Obama's administration imposed the temporary ban on new federal coal leases in January _NUMBER_ as part of a broad environmental and economic review to ensure royalties from lease deals provide fair returns to taxpayers. It was not immediately clear whether the royalty review would continue even with the ban on leases lifted. Some analysts said this scenario could trigger a near-term land rush by companies fearing higher royalty rates in the future. Coal accounts for about a third of U.S. electricity production, down from about half a decade ago. About _NUMBER_ percent of all U.S. coal comes from federal lands, mainly in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Montana. Luke Popovich, a spokesman for the National Mining Association industry group, said he expected Trump's executive order to have symbolic impact, at least. "Lifting the moratorium would strengthen the signal to markets that the federal government is not any longer standing in the way of fossil energy," he said. He added that re-opening federal lands to new leases could also play into a production upswing if demand ultimately increases. The U.S. Energy Information Administration has forecast a _NUMBER_ percent increase in western coal production to _NUMBER_ million short tons by _NUMBER_, driven mainly by higher natural gas prices. Others were less optimistic about the U.S. coal industry's outlook, saying the best Trump could do is slow the sector's decline. Since _NUMBER_, coal production has plunged more than _NUMBER_ percent to the lowest levels since _NUMBER_ due to falling prices. The industry has been hit with massive layoffs and bankruptcies.

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It's almost like our Community Agitator in Chief purposefully won't acknowledge anyone who isn't in lock-step with his radical agenda Hope Change Division and Hate The Obama White House sent three officials to robber Michael Brown's funeral in Ferguson. Obama sent more officials to Brown's funeral than to Margaret Thatcher's funeral.Obama sent three White House officials to criminal Freddie Gray's funeral.The White House sent no one to NYPD Officer Brian Moore's funeral.Obama skipped Antonin Scalia's funeral and went golfing instead.The Obama White House will send a representative to Alton Sterling's funeral on Thursday. GPThe Advocate reported:Gary Chambers, spokesman for the Sterling family, confirmed Thursday that both Civil Rights activist the Rev. Jesse Jackson and a White House representative would be attending the funeral of Alton Sterling on Friday. Jackson will be a speaker at the event along with the Rev. Al Sharpton and Louisiana Congressman Cedric Richmond.The family of Alton Sterling is inviting the community to mourn with them on Friday at a public funeral held at Southern University.Chambers said both Richmond and Sharpton immediately reached out to the Sterling family in the wake of Alton Sterling's death and offered to help in any way.

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Chinese President Xi Jinping is likely to retain his right-hand man, the graft-buster Wang Qishan, in a senior position at a key Communist Party Congress this month even though he has reached retirement age, according to a majority of people with ties to the leadership interviewed by Reuters. The fate of the _NUMBER_-year-old Wang, who keeps a low public profile but is often described as China's second most powerful politician, has been a source of intense speculation ahead of the Congress, which opens on Oct. _NUMBER_. Twelve of the _NUMBER_ people with ties to China's leadership, including former officials as well as relatives, aides and close friends of current and former senior officials, said Wang was likely to retain a leadership role. They said it was unclear what Wang's title would be and whether he would remain on the powerful seven-member Politburo Standing Committee. The other four said he would probably step down. Under one scenario, Wang would become one of two vice chairmen of the National Security Commission, set up in _NUMBER_ to increase coordination among the branches of China's security bureaucracy and headed by Xi, three of the sources said. Alternatively, he could become vice chairman of the Communist Party itself, if Xi resurrects the party chairmanship position, they said. Under other scenarios, Wang could become premier - replacing Li Keqiang, a role that traditionally includes management of the economy, or head of parliament. He will most likely stay on in some form, maintaining a position of power. He's important to Xi, said Zhang Lifan, a Beijing-based political commentator and historian. Xi has shown he is willing to break with precedent before and he ll probably do it again with the seven up, eight down rule for Wang, he added, referring to the unwritten rule that officials cannot be promoted when they reach the age of _NUMBER_. The party signaled last year that the rule was not binding. However, deferring retirement would raise questions about whether Xi, _NUMBER_, would himself use that as precedent to retain his roles as party and military chief beyond completion of the traditional two five-year terms. Regardless of title, Wang's next role may include a remit that extends to management of China's economy, whose growth is imperiled by heavy debt and inefficient state enterprises. Wang Qishan has a very strong economic policy voice. I could entirely see a circumstance under which he's given another role that brought that out more, said Duncan Innes-Ker, regional director for Asia for the Economist Intelligence Unit. Wang was previously a vice governor of the central bank, and as a vice premier with an economic portfolio helped oversee China's recovery from the _NUMBER_ global financial crisis. Another possible scenario is that the retirement age for Chinese officials would be extended to _NUMBER_, the sources said. Wang could therefore retain his Standing Committee seat and head the National Supervisory Commission, a super-ministry that would absorb the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection he now heads. But the sources said keeping him in that role risked cementing the anti-corruption campaign as Wang's legacy, rather than Xi s. If Wang Qishan continued as CCDI secretary, his achievements would be so great it would shock his master, a leadership source said, quoting a Chinese idiom. China's State Council Information Office, which doubles as the party's spokesman's office, did not respond to a request for comment on Wang's future. The party's anti-graft watchdog also did not respond to a request for comment. After an absence from the spotlight in the summer, Wang has been increasingly active in recent weeks, meeting with high-profile foreign visitors. In September, he met Singapore's prime minister and Cambodia's deputy prime minister, while the Financial Times reported that Wang had a secret meeting with Steve Bannon, a key former advisor to U.S. President Donald Trump. These meetings show Wang is setting himself up to stay on, said a senior Asian diplomat who declined to be identified given the sensitivity of the matter. Wang has transformed his commission into one of China's most powerful bodies, with _NUMBER_ million officials punished since _NUMBER_ and dozens of top officials jailed, including the powerful former domestic security chief, Zhou Yongkang. Some analysts and party insiders said it was possible Wang would simply retire, as precedent dictates. Having overseen the jailing or punishment of more than one million Communist Party, government and military officials, Wang has accumulated many enemies, the sources said. Keeping Wang on the standing committee at the expense of younger candidates for promotion could also put pressure on Xi. Wang may also want to retire, some of the sources said. He will stand down mainly because Xi does not need him any longer and changing the retirement age rule carries significant political costs, said Steve Tsang, director of the China Institute at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. Wang's retirement could also be perceived as a victory for Guo Wengui, the fugitive tycoon who has made unsubstantiated corruption allegations against senior party officials, including Wang and his family. More generally, one of the sources with leadership ties said, Wang's retirement could see corrupt elements launch a counteroffensive and try to retrieve lost ground .

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And this woman wants to be in charge of America? She can't even handle a Laugh Factory standup skit! The thing that's so wrong is that the first amendment comes into play here. You won't believe this:In what appears to be a first for a serious presidential contender, Hillary Clinton's campaign is going after five comedians who made fun of the former Secretary of State in standup skits at a popular Hollywood comedy club.A video of the'short performance, which is less than three minutes, is posted on the website of the renowned club, Laugh Factory, and the Clinton campaign has tried to censor it. Besides demanding that the video be taken down, the Clinton campaign has demanded the personal contact information of the performers that appear in the recording. This is no laughing matter for club owner Jamie Masada, a comedy guru who opened Laugh Factory more than three decades ago and has been instrumental in launching the careers of many famous comics. They threatened me, Masada told Judicial Watch. I have received complains before but never a call like this, threatening to put me out of business if I don't cut the video. Practically all of the country's most acclaimed comedians have performed at the Laugh Factory and undoubtedly they have offended politicians and other well-known personalities with their standup routines. Tim Allen, Jay Leno, Roseanne Bar, Drew Carey, George Carlin, Jim Carrey, Martin Lawrence, Jerry Seinfeld and George Lopez are among the big names that have headlined at the Laugh Factory. The First Amendment right to free speech is a crucial component of the operation, though Masada drew the line a few years ago banning performers including African Americans from using the n-word in their acts.The five short performances that Clinton wants eliminated include some profanity and portions could be considered crass, but some of the lines are funny and that's what the Laugh Factory is all about. The video features the individual acts of five comedians, four men and a woman. The'skits make fun of Clinton's wardrobe, her age, sexual orientation, the Monica Lewinsky scandal and the former First Lady's relationship with her famous husband. The Laugh Factory has appropriately titled it Hillary vs. The First Amendment. Masada told Judicial Watch that, as soon as the video got posted on the Laugh Factory website, he received a phone call from a prominent person inside Clinton's campaign. He said the video was disgusting and asked who put me up to this, Masada said. The Clinton staffer, who Masada did not want to identify, also demanded to know the names and phone numbers of the comedians that appear in the video. Masada refused and hung up. He insists that the comedy stage is a sanctuary for freedom of speech no matter who is offended. Just last night we had Dana Carvey doing Donald Trump and it was hilarious, Masada said. HERE IT IS:

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We are now down to the wire in the all-important and hotly contested _NUMBER_ election. Everyone has crawled into their corners, and in this most bizarre and contentious year, we're all ready to end it already. People have lost friends, relationships have ended the tone of this campaign has been good for no one. That is all due to one man's toxic rise to the top of the GOP presidential ticket: Donald Trump.There's one thing that we all need to remember, though: This was no accident. Trump is a classic demagogue. He has brought out the worst in the entire country, has appealed to people's deepest, basest levels of prejudice, hate, and fear. He's made those of us who are minorities feel especially vulnerable, because we know what is really at stake here. Well, comedian Bill Maher has a very important message regarding all of this and especially the rise of Donald Trump no matter which side of the political aisle you fall on.Maher, like most liberals, has spent years excoriating the GOP for their bigotry, lack of belief in science, religious fanaticism, warmongering, and fantasy economic proposals. However, he'says he was wrong. Men like Mitt Romney and John McCain were nowhere near as dangerous as Trump. To that end, he had this to say the the nation on Friday night's edition of his HBO program Real Time: So I ve heard these young people on the news they say things like Donald Trump I don't like him but Hillary, I can't vote for a liar. First of all, it's just apples, and oranges and orange. After those opening lines, Maher got uncharacteristically grave and serious, saying: This is different. I promise it, this will not make your life better. And also, once fascists get power, they'don't give it up. You ve got President Trump for life. I know liberals made a big mistake because we attacked your boy Bush like he was the end of the world, and he wasn't. And Mitt Romney we attacked that way. I gave Obama a million dollars because I was so afraid of Mitt Romney. Maher then went on to offer olive branches to Republicans, while giving a warning about Trump: They were honorable men who we disagreed with and we should have kept it that way. So we cried wolf and that was wrong. But this is real. This is going to be way different. Bill Maher is right. Donald Trump is a dangerous demagogue. He's a literal fascist who has shown that he cares not about the Constitution, civil liberties, or any of the things we have come to take for granted as Americans. Trump is Hitler-level dangerous. Just like they treated the last Fuhrer as a clown and a buffoon prior to his rise, just as establishment types thought they could control him and use him as a puppet to get him elected so is the'same with Trump. Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.America don't make Germany's mistakes. This man is not who you think he is. I promise, we ll all live to regret it if we elect him.Watch Bill Maher's all too correct warning below:Featured image via video screen capture

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Trump hates the media with a passion. He often rails on Twitter, and at his rallies, about the dishonest media, and the dishonest coverage they give him. He complains that he's been treated very unfairly by any media outlet that doesn't immediately shove its head up his ass, and he bans outlets he deems to be too dishonest and unfair to have the privilege of covering him.Not once has he ever actually laid out what is fair. But, thanks to his former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, we now have a definition for fair reporting. But watch out, it's pretty ridiculous: What fairly means is you'don't editorialize, you'report what he'says, that's fair. If you look at the'story that he did in The New York Times on foreign policy, it was literally the transcript of what he'said it wasn't editorialized at all. That's fair reporting. That was in response to Don Lemon saying that Trump is bashing CNN for repeating what he'says and fact-checking it. So, basically, fair is no fact-checking, no discussion, just his words. Nothing else.All that does is give Trump a license to say what he wants, because then he knows the media won't call him on it. Of course, that's exactly what he wants to have happen. He wants everyone to believe him, to trust him implicitly, even though he's lying through his teeth. A huge part of his hatred toward the media is their penchant for fact-checking him, and proving him false.This is the most laughable definition of fair reporting imaginable.Watch a video of this below, beginning at about the _NUMBER_:_NUMBER_ mark:Just now on _USER_: some frank talk about Trump & the media with _USER_ & _USER_://t.co/OJk77DpOvl Brian Stelter August _NUMBER_, 2016Featured image by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images

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Italy's parliament will be dissolved between Christmas and the New Year with national elections likely set for March _NUMBER_, a parliamentary source in contact with the president's office said on Wednesday. The source said the vote could also be held on March _NUMBER_, with a final decision due to be taken shortly. A national election must be held by May, but most political parties are keen to hold elections as soon as possible. While the centre-right is seen winning most seats at the forthcoming ballot, opinion polls suggest it will not win an absolute majority, making a hung parliament the most likely outcome.

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Morneau Shepell Inc , the human resources management company at the heart of conflict-of-interest allegations against Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau, said on Friday it would not benefit from pension or tax legislation proposed by the Liberal government. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government has been badly shaken by the conflict-of-interest controversy about his finance minister, who is the multimillionaire former chief executive officer of Morneau Shepell. Some have questioned whether Morneau, whose father founded Morneau Shepell, would be forced to resign. Morneau Shepell, a major provider of pension administration services to private companies and government agencies, said it is not involved in the consultation for either changes to the small business tax code or to the pension reform. If passed, would allow federally regulated pension plans the option to implement target benefit pension plans. They would not be required to do this, the company said in a statement. Several provinces have already enacted similar enabling legislation for pension plans that they regulate, but in practice, very few employers have adopted it, Morneau Shepell said. The company said it severed all contact with Morneau upon his election to the House of Commons in October _NUMBER_. Morneau resigned as executive chairman of Morneau Shepell shortly after his election. Morneau, who was named finance minister shortly after his election to Parliament, said last week he would put his assets in a blind trust and divest his stockholding in the family business in response to criticism that his proposals for pension or tax reform could benefit his company and his personal finances. On Thursday, Morneau said he will donate to charity any profit that his Morneau Shepell shares have made since he was elected. The company's stock, currently trading at C_CUR_21.17, closed at C_CUR_15.77 in the session before the election, which would put the potential profit for the _NUMBER_ million shares Morneau has said he holds at C_CUR_5.4 million. Morneau told reporters on Thursday he did not know what the difference in the value of the shares will be. Opposition parties from both the political left and right have seized on the ethics scandal, trying to tie Trudeau's team to what they say is an entitled Liberal Party that has previously faced corruption charges.

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True to form, Trump and his campaign are royally pissed at Newsweek and Kurt Eichenwald for their report on one of Trump's companies that violated the Cuban embargo. Trump let loose a bunch of unrelated attacks, but the campaign's official response wasn't much of a response. That is, until Kellyanne Conway opened her mouth on The View.When the ladies of The View asked Conway about the Cuba story, she first said: Read the entire story. It starts out with a screaming headline, as it usually does, that he did business in Cuba. And then it turns out he decided not to invest there. But Trump Hotels & Casinos did spend _CUR_68,000 there, which violated the embargo. Conway either doesn't know what all the embargo banned, or she has no idea how to stick to her defense of her lord and savior. When the ladies of The View pressed her further, she'said: I think they paid money, as I understand from the'story, they paid money in _NUMBER_. And then, of course, she launched into a totally irrelevant diatribe about Hillary Clinton.But we digress.Whether it was _NUMBER_ or just before Obama lifted certain restrictions, Trump's hotel company illegally spent money in Cuba while he was chairman and still had a controlling interest. End of story.And that's concerning, as is the law and order candidate's denial that he ever breaks the law. In fact, Marco Rubio, who has endorsed Trump, is unhappy with Eichenwald's findings: This is something they're going to have to give a response to. I mean, it was a violation of American law, if that's how it happened, said on the ESPN/ABC Capital Games podcast. I hope the Trump campaign is going to come forward and answer some questions about this.' This wouldn't be nearly the huge deal it is if he and his campaign would say something like, Yes, this happened, however, it was handled and Mr. Trump and his businesses took the necessary steps to ensure this kind of thing never happened again. But Kellyanne Conway threw her boss under the bus in trying to deny this ever happened instead.Featured image by Spencer Platt/Getty Images

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A federal judge on Thursday said he was leaning toward approving a _CUR_25 million settlement of fraud claims against President Donald Trump and his Trump University real estate seminars but deferred a final decision to a later date. At a hearing in San Diego, Judge Gonzalo Curiel noted that, under the class action settlement, former Trump University students were expected to recover _NUMBER_ percent of the money they spent on courses and mentoring programs. "That is an extraordinary amount," the judge said, noting the recovery rate in similar lawsuits is usually closer to between _NUMBER_ and _NUMBER_ percent. He did not specify when he would rule. A Florida woman objected to the settlement, saying she should have the opportunity to opt out and take Trump to court herself. Patrick Coughlin, a class action lawyer for the students, said the students would actually receive over _NUMBER_ percent of their money back. Some _NUMBER_ students submitted claim forms in the class action that dates to _NUMBER_, according to court papers. The students, who paid as much as _CUR_35,000 for the seminars, claimed they were lured by false promises that they would learn Trump's investing "secrets" from his "hand-picked" instructors. Trump vowed to continue fighting the fraud claims during the presidential election campaign but agreed to the settlement soon after. He has admitted he did not personally select the instructors, but his lawyers have described the claim as mere sales "puffery." Trump accused Curiel of bias last year based on the Indiana-born judge's Mexican ancestry. Sherri Simpson, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, who paid _CUR_19,000, objected to the settlement provision blocking students from opting out of the deal. She has said in court papers she would like to seek full recovery from Trump, plus punitive damages and other relief. Gary Friedman, a lawyer for Simpson, argued in court the notices were defective. Curiel questioned Friedman and said he would consider the objection.

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The failing _USER_, which has made every wrong prediction about me including my big election win , is totally inept! - The Trump base is far bigger & stronger than ever before . Look at rallies in Penn, Iowa, Ohio....... - ...and West Virginia. The fact is the Fake News Russian collusion story, record Stock Market, border security, military strength, jobs..... - ... Supreme Court pick, economic enthusiasm, deregulation & so much more have driven the Trump base even closer together. Will never change! - Hard to believe that with _NUMBER_/_NUMBER_ _TAG_ News on CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, NYTIMES & WAPO, the Trump base is getting stronger! - Working hard from New Jersey while White House goes through long planned renovation. Going to New York next week for more meetings. - Interesting to watch Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut talking about hoax Russian collusion when he was a phony Vietnam con artist! - Never in U.S.history has anyone lied or defrauded voters like Senator Richard Blumenthal. He told stories about his Vietnam battles and.... - ...conquests, how brave he was, and it was all a lie. He cried like a baby and begged for forgiveness like a child. Now he judges collusion? - On _TAG_ thank all the brave men and women who have sacrificed in battle for this GREAT NATION! _TAG_ - The Fake News Media will not talk about the importance of the United Nations Security Council's _NUMBER_-_NUMBER_ vote in favor of sanctions on N. Korea! - How much longer will the failing nytimes, with its big losses and massive unfunded liability , remain in business? - I think Senator Blumenthal should take a nice long vacation in Vietnam, where he lied about his service, so he can at least say he was there -- Source link:

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The U.S. Office of Special Counsel is investigating whether Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke broke the law when he gave a speech to a professional hockey team owned by a political donor in June, the agency said on Tuesday. Zinke is already being investigated by the Interior Department's inspector general in connection with his travels and the use of private charter flights, amid heightened scrutiny into private plane use by administration officials. The Campaign for Accountability complained last week that a speech Zinke gave on June _NUMBER_ to the Vegas Golden Knights, a National Hockey League team based in Las Vegas, violated the Hatch Act barring executive branch employees from engaging in political activity. The team is owned by Bill Foley, chairman of Fidelity National Financial Inc and a donor to Zinke's congressional campaigns. The Office of Special Counsel's Hatch Act unit, which is independent from the Justice Department, said in an email to Daniel Stevens, executive director of the Campaign for Accountability, that it received its Hatch Act complaint "and will open a case file to address this matter." A spokeswoman for the agency declined to comment on the case. Interior Department officials said the speech did not violate any laws, rules or regulations. Melinda Loftin, the Interior Department's designated ethics official and Edward Keable, director of Interior's departmental ethics office, said in a joint statement that Zinke's use of chartered flights and engagements were cleared by ethics and legal departments. "The trip - including the Secretary's address to the hockey developmental squad - was completely compliant with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations," they said. On Friday, former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price resigned after an outcry over his use of costly private charter planes for government business. The Campaign for Accountability questioned Zinke's travel. "Contrary to the conclusion drawn by Interior officials, a trip to offer a motivational speech to a hockey team does not appear to fall within the mission of the Department of Interior - 'protecting America's Great Outdoors and Powering Our Future,'" the watchdog group wrote. In June, the Office of Special Counsel determined that Trump's social media director Dan Scavino violated the Hatch Act in April in calling for Trump supporters to defeat a Republican congressman at the polls.

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A bigoted conservative attorney in Alabama is suing the five Supreme Court Justices who voted to legalize same-sex marriage across the nation.The whining lawyer, named Austin Burdick, is after _CUR_6 million in damages because he'says he can no longer do his job because the Constitution has been destroyed by Justices Anthony Kennedy, Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kegan. Defendants goes beyond a manipulation, twist, strain, or unique perspective on the text and crosses over in to an abandonment of the Constitution, Burdick claims in the lawsuit. For centuries the Constitution has been the instrument of protection for the rights of citizens against government intrusion, specifically, since the ratification of the 14th Amendment in _NUMBER_, interpreted the plain language of the Constitution and that amendment to be a guarantee of freedom from government interference in individual liberty. Clearly, Burdick probably should not have been able to pass the bar, because his argument is ridiculous. The ruling made by the high court in Obergefell v. Hodges is the perfect demonstration of the Supreme Court ruling precisely because the Constitution protects the rights of citizens, which includes the rights of gay people. But Burdick claims the Justices rewrote the Constitution. The opinion in fact rewrites the 14th Amendment to read: Every state must make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges and immunities of citizens of the United States; further, each state shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law under the guise of extending tax benefits or some other license; and any person within its jurisdiction may be deprived of the equal protection of the laws when it is fashionable to do so.' Seriously, how did this idiot get a law license?The fact is that the 14th Amendment guarantees every American citizen equal protection and due process, something that bigots like Burdick have been denying to LGBT people for decades. He is literally whining because he thinks the Constitution should allow him to discriminate against gay people.The Constitution was not rewritten and there is no reason why Burdick cannot continue to practice law, although there are reasons why he'should not be allowed to do so. Suing the highest ranking judges in the nation is frivolous and a waste of the judiciary's time. The Supreme Court has the final say on what is constitutional and what is not. It says so right in the very Constitution Burdick claims has been destroyed.Burdick has apparently felt threatened by same-sex marriage since last May when he wrote on his website that all same-sex couples are after is benefits while claiming that same-sex couples haven't been denied anything at all.No same sex couple is prevented from proclaiming that they are committed to each other. No same sex couple is prevented from conducting a ceremony of their own choosing or design to add dignity to their relationship. No same sex couple is prevented from exchanging rings and vows. No same sex couple is prevented from endeavoring to live happily ever after. No same sex couple is prevented from referring to their partner as their spouse. Further, no same sex couple is prevented from announcing to the world that they are married. In fact, many of the'same people who have rushed to the courthouse for a license state that they have been married for years.Make no mistake, this lawsuit is just another part of Burdick's temper tantrum. He claims same-sex couples already have the right the get married when in reality many states, including Alabama, banned same-sex couples from getting married before the Supreme Court ruling. In fact, Alabama is still trying to deny same-sex couples that right.Any self-respecting judge should laugh Burdick out of court since this is clearly just another desperate ploy by conservatives to keep their anti-gay hate alive. Featured image from Wikimedia

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The Congressional Budget Office released their assessment of the GOP's Obamacare replacement bill on Monday and the news was worse than many had even feared. According to the analysis of the nonpartisan group, the American Health Care Act would result in _NUMBER_ million people losing their healthcare within the next ten years.Talking Points Memo reports that in response to the CBO report, the American Medical Association denounced the Republicans make America sick again bill as unacceptable. If this bill were to become law, CBO projects _NUMBER_ million Americans who have gained coverage in recent years could lose it in _NUMBER_. For the AMA, that outcome is unacceptable, the group said on Monday.The AMA made their opposition to the AHCA crystal clear last week. In a letter written last Tuesday, the group said there was no way they could support the AHCA as drafted because of the expected decline in health insurance coverage and the potential harm it would cause to vulnerable patient populations. Critically, we urge you to do all that is possible to ensure that those who are currently covered do not become uninsured, the AMA begged lawmakers.The CBO assessment estimated that of the _NUMBER_ million people who would lose their insurance over the next decade, _NUMBER_ million would find themselves without coverage before the end of the year. When the number of people already uninsured is combined with those who would lose their healthcare under the AHCA, a total of _NUMBER_ million people would have no coverage by _NUMBER_. Today's estimates from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office underscore the AMA's concerns about the AHCA as it is written, the AMA said.The AMA conceded that the Affordable Care Act was admittedly an imperfect law, but they said there was no way to deny that Obamacare was a significant improvement on the'status quo at the time. The AMA believes we need continued progress to expand coverage for the uninsured. Unfortunately, the current proposal as the CBO analysis shows would result in the most vulnerable population losing their coverage. Under the AHCA, the elderly and disabled would be hit with higher premiums than their younger, healthier counterparts. This means that they would also be the most likely to be unable to afford coverage even though they are the ones whose lives depend on healthcare the most.Featured image via Joe Raedle/Getty Images

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In a stunning last minute power grab by the Obama administration with just _NUMBER_ days left in his Presidency, the Department of Homeland Security released a statement this evening officially declaring state election systems to be critical infrastructure. The'statement from DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson defines election infrastructure as storage facilities, polling places, centralized vote tabulations locations, voter registration databases, voting machines and all other systems to manage the election process so pretty much everything.I have reached this determination so that election infrastructure will, on a more formal and enduring basis, be a priority for cybersecurity assistance and protections that the Department of Homeland Security provides to a range of private and public sector entities. By election infrastructure, we mean storage facilities, polling places, and centralized vote tabulations locations used to support the election process, and information and communications technology to include voter registration databases, voting machines, and other systems to manage the election process and report and display results on behalf of state and local governments. Given the vital role elections play in this country, it is clear that certain systems and assets of election infrastructure meet the definition of critical infrastructure, in fact and in law, Johnson stated. Particularly in these times, this designation is simply the right and obvious thing to do. The designation allows for information to be withheld from the public when state, local and private partners meet to discuss election infrastructure security potentially injecting secrecy into an election process that's traditionally and expressly a transparent process, according to the AP. U.S. officials say such closed door conversations allow for frank discussion that would prevent bad actors from learning about vulnerabilities. DHS would also be able to grant security clearances when appropriate and provide more detailed threat information to states. The announcement of a federal takeover of the electoral process follows a report from several intelligence agencies also released Friday which purports the Russian government worked to influence the outcome of the _NUMBER_ US election.The AP reports several states in recent months opposed the move fearing the designation would lead to increased federal regulation or oversight on the many decentralized and locally run voting systems across the country. At least one member of the US Election Infrastructure Cybersecurity Working Group, Georgia Secretary of State Brian P. Kemp, stated he opposed the measure claiming more federal oversight could make systems more vulnerable and could make protected records more accessible, the AP writes.Kemp reportedly called the move a federal overreach into a sphere constitutionally reserved for the'states on a conference call with Johnson Thursday, and said the designation smacks of partisan politics. Examples of election infrastructure include storage facilities, voter registration databases, voting locations, voting machines and other systems designed to manage the election process, the AP notes. For entire story: InfowarsDecember _NUMBER_, _NUMBER_ Georgia's secretary of state has claimed the Department of Homeland Security tried to breach his office's firewall and has issued a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson asking for an explanation.Brian Kemp issued a letter to Johnson on Thursday after the'state's third-party cybersecurity provider detected an IP address from the agency's Southwest D.C. office trying to penetrate the'state's firewall. According to the letter, the attempt was unsuccessful.And now, Channel _NUMBER_ Investigative Reporter Aaron Diamond has learned two more states election agencies have confirmed suspected cyberattacks linked to the'same U.S. Department of Homeland Security IP address as last month's massive attack in Georgia.Watch here:Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp recently told Politico it is nothing more than an attempt to subvert the Constitution to achieve the goal of federalizing elections under the guise of security. During an earlier interview with the'site Nextgov, Kemp warned: The question remains whether the federal government will subvert the Constitution to achieve the goal of federalizing elections under the guise of security. Kemp told POLITICO he'sees a clear motivation from this White House to expand federal control, citing Obama's health care law, the Dodd-Frank financial-reform legislation and the increased role of the Education Department in local schools.To some election officials, this sounds like the first stage of a more intrusive plan. I think it's kind of the nose under the tent, said Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos, a Democrat. What I think a lot of folks get concerned about when the federal government says, Well, look, we're not really interested in doing that, but we just want to give you this, and then all of a sudden this leads to something else. Meanwhile, Kemp continued on by noting that this administration only has _NUMBER_ days left in its term and to make such a critical decision during the 11th hour smacks of partisan politics. But we're sure it's nothing, Obama doesn't really strike us as the type to play the partisan politics game. Zero Hedge

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Esteemed Democratic Attorney Alan Dershowitz UNLOADED on left-wing sensation Maxine Waters on FOX and Friends Sunday. Dershowitz responded to Waters calling him a racist on MSNBC:Alan Dershowitz: Well, she doesn't know what she's talking about. First of all, I wasn't talking about the grand jury I was talking about the petit jury. Grand jury doesn't matter. Grand jury will indict a ham sandwich. But if there were to be an indictment it would matter greatly where the trial was. Maxine Waters should know better and does know better If I d have said race didn't matter she would have called me a racist. She throws around the term so loosely and so inappropriately and it weakens her credibility by calling everybody a racist. When she calls real racists racists, nobody is going to believe her Race matters. Maxine Waters ought to know that and Maxine Waters ought to be ashamed of herself.

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From the Washington Examiner Roy Moore is the embattled Republican senatorial nominee in Alabama, but two other figures in the party have even more to lose in his race: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon.First, the obvious. If Moore is beaten by Democrat Doug Jones a leaked National Republican Senatorial Committee poll has the'socially conservative retired judge trailing Jones by _NUMBER_ points, but this is at odds with public polling McConnell will be knocked down to leading a _NUMBER_-_NUMBER_ Republican Senate.That may not seem like much in a Senate that has no meaningful filibuster for executive and judicial appointments, but where _NUMBER_ votes are no more useful for advancing legislation that can't be snuck through the reconciliation process. It is nevertheless significant given that the Senate has already had trouble passing major legislation like Obamacare repeal and tax reform with the majority it currently has.It also would bring the Democrats one vote closer to recapturing the Senate majority, despite a very daunting electoral map for the upper chamber in _NUMBER_. Winning such a reliably red state would aid Democratic candidate recruitment across the board and embolden the party's ten senators from states President Trump carried who are up for re-election next year.Superficially speaking, McConnell comes out a loser if Moore is defeated. But not in the bigger picture. The Dec. _NUMBER_ special Senate election in Alabama could also be viewed as a front in the proxy war between McConnell and Bannon.After leaving the White House, Bannon threatened to recruit primary challengers for most of the incumbent Republican senators who are seeking re-election in _NUMBER_. At a joint press conference with Trump in the Rose Garden, McConnell didn't mince words about how he felt about this gambit. Look, you know, the goal here is to win elections in November, McConnell said last month. Back in _NUMBER_ and _NUMBER_, we nominated several candidates Christine O Donnell, Sharron Angle, Todd Akin, Richard Mourdock. They re not in the Senate. And the reason for that was that they were not able to appeal to a broader electorate in the general election. My goal as the leader of the Republican Party in the Senate is to keep us in the majority, he added. The way you'do that is not complicated. You have to have nominated people who can actually win, because winners make policy and losers go home. Bannon wants more Republican senators who will vote against McConnell. McConnell and his allies believe the Breitbart News chief's intervention in the primaries could lead to fewer Republican senators overall, so they have started punching back.In September's Alabama Republican primary, McConnell went all in on appointed incumbent Sen. Luther Strange and lost, despite the president's backing. Bannon made the argument that the candidate Trump endorsed wasn't the one who would be most supportive of the Trump agenda. For that, he insisted, you needed an anti-establishment candidate like Moore. Bannon, via Moore, won.Both men might have been better off with Rep. Mo Brooks, who was eliminated in the first round of voting. Brooks was big on the Trump agenda and did not have all the weird sexual baggage that could wind up dooming Moore. Bannon allies told the Washington Examiner that the former top Trump'strategist might have preferred Brooks.Yet McConnell's political apparatus spent heavily against Moore to protect Strange, a sitting senator who struggled from the local perception he'secured his seat through some kind of corrupt bargain with disgraced former Gov. Robert Bentley. And Bannon couldn't very well throw his weight behind a candidate who, despite being ideologically Trumpist, endorsed Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, over Trump in the _NUMBER_ primaries especially while still serving in the West Wing.Freed from the White House, Bannon backed Moore less because the Ten Commandments judge had any particular affinity for the issues that Trump ran on last year and more because Alabama's political conditions made him likely to beat Strange. Moore would owe McConnell and the establishment nothing, but Bannon would have chits to cash in and an improved reputation as a kingmaker inside the GOP.If Moore loses in a disastrous fashion , it will prove McConnell's point about the futility of Bannon's enterprise before the Senate majority is ever really at risk.Breitbart American Majority founder Ned Ryun talked about Roy Moore and the Alabama Senate race with Breitbart News Executive Chairman Steve Bannon and SiriusXM host Raheem Kassam on Friday's Breitbart News Daily, broadcast live from the Restoration Weekend event.Bannon asked Ryun about celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred's involvement in the Roy Moore case, representing a woman who accuses Moore of assaulting her in _NUMBER_ when she was _NUMBER_ years old.Ryan said Allred is basically a human vulture when you look back at some of the things she's been involved in.Watch lawyer Gloria Allred, as she'skirts the issue of whether or not the high school yearbook being used to prove a relationship between Judge Roy Moore and one of his accusers is a forgery:Watch forgery expert make case that Gloria Allred's client is lying about Roy Moore's signature: Remember the incident with Arnold Schwarzenegger? Ryun asked. She brought all these women in front of him, said they're going to sue, they're going to file suit against Schwarzenegger. Guess what? After the election, absolutely nothing happened. I think a real turning point was that press conference when they pulled out the yearbook and the'signature, he'said of Allred's entry into the Moore controversy, referring to an interview with MSNBC's Katy Tur where Allred did not come off well.Ryun said this interview demonstrated that the best way to respond to sensational allegations is to just throw facts back at them. Ryun said there was no doubt in his mind that the allegations against Moore were part of an organized hit, as Bannon put it. I ve been in D.C. almost _NUMBER_ years. And, again, I don't have hard proof, and I will say this clearly: I do not have hard proof, but I strongly suspect it's a very short list of people, all who are associated with Mitch McConnell whether it's Josh Holmes, whether it's Karl Rove, might even be Steven Law I don't know, but I strongly, strongly suspect somebody out of the McConnell camp planted the'story. It was planted. This came with the blessing of Mitch McConnell at some point, that he was going to take a political shot at Roy Moore, he declared.

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For anyone who thinks Trump's comments have crossed over the line, perhaps they've forgotten about the Obama supported Arab Spring in Egypt that resulted in the violent overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak who was replaced by the radical Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi. And that's just one example Donald Trump accused President Barack Obama on Wednesday of founding the Islamic State group that is wreaking havoc from the Middle East to European cities. A moment later, on another topic, he referred to the president by his full legal name: Barack Hussein Obama. In many respects, you know, they honor President Obama, Trump'said during a raucous campaign rally outside Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He is the founder of ISIS. He repeated the allegation three more times for emphasis.The Republican presidential nominee in the past has accused his opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton, of founding the militant group. As he'shifted the blame to Obama on Wednesday, he'said crooked Hillary Clinton was actually the group's co-founder.Trump has long blamed Obama and his former secretary of state Clinton for pursuing Mideast policies that created a power vacuum in Iraq that was exploited by IS, another acronym for the group. He's sharply criticized Obama for announcing he would pull U.S. troops out of Iraq, a decision that many Obama critics say created the kind of instability in which extremist groups like IS thrive.The White House declined to comment on Trump's accusation.The Islamic State group began as Iraq's local affiliate of al-Qaida, the group that attacked the U.S. on Sept. _NUMBER_, _NUMBER_. The group carried out massive attacks against Iraq's Shiite Muslim majority, fueling tensions with al-Qaida's central leadership. The local group's then-leader, Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was killed in _NUMBER_ in a U.S. airstrike but is still seen as the Islamic State group's founder.Trump's accusation and his use of the president's middle name, Hussein echoed previous instances where he's questioned Obama's loyalties.In June, when a shooter who claimed allegiance to IS killed _NUMBER_ people in an Orlando, Florida, nightclub, Trump'seemed to suggest Obama was sympathetic to the group when he'said Obama doesn't get it, or he gets it better than anybody understands. In the past, Trump has also falsely suggested Obama is a Muslim or was born in Kenya, where Obama's father was from. Via: AP

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The Democrats just keep on pushing the FAKE NEWS of Trump colluding with the russians to win the election. The'striking thing is the coordination in talking points. Unreal! They must email every person to push over and over the'same words so we're all brainwashed to believe the lies:Earlier in the week, the line was crisis of confidence The Democrats are way too predictable!CNN decided it was a good time to declare a crisis in confidence with the trump administration What a joke! The firing of Comey was nothing of the'sort! when Democrats called for coney's firing for months and then Trump finally fires him, how can'that be a bad thing for Democrats? It's not they're just playing politics:CNN Reported: A president who thrives on crises has created the biggest one yet of his presidency.President Trump's decision to fire James Comey creates a crisis of confidence around the federal government on a level that most likely hasn't been seen since Watergate. With the tangled threads of Russian influence, last year's presidential election and an active FBI investigation, Trump's move will test loyalties and force a moment of truth for his Republican allies and his Justice Department.No one is seriously questioning whether the president acted within his authority, and the White House's official explanation for what transpired is straightforward enough. According to that version of events, the attorney general and deputy attorney general recommended Comey's ouster, and the president quickly agreed and acted accordingly.

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Repeat after me: There are no gun accidents. There. Are. No. Gun. Accidents. People all too often die unintentionally like when responsible gun owners leave their weapons lying around and children find them and while these situations are often called accidents, the true issue is negligence. Simply put, nothing would have happened in many, if not most accidental shootings if the gun wasn't present in the first place or, at minimum, if the owners of the weapons actually cared about gun safety.The NRA regularly promotes the lie that all people who own firearms are responsible good guys with guns who stand ready to leap into action at the first sign of danger .Once again, one of the Saviors of Mankind accidentally discharged a firearm and took another human's life. On Saturday, a gun store owner in Amelia, Ohio was murdered when someone taking a concealed weapons class was negligent with his gun. An unnamed participant in a class at the KayJay Gun Shop someone who already owned a gun and wanted to carry it around with him everywhere he or she goes was practicing weapon malfunction drills with a handgun that was, for some reason, loaded during a training exercise. The weapon fired and struck shop owner James Baker in the neck.Friends describe Baker, whose shop repairs and engraves firearms, has authorization to manufacture weapons, and is licensed to sell military-grade guns like the one that was used to slaughter fifty people in Orlando, Florida, as a special person who was loved by the whole community. As always, the media and police are treating this as though it was an actual accident, like tripping while walking down the'sidewalk. The reality is that this was no accident, and it is time that we stop treating it as such. This was murder. Sure, the person did not intend for it to happen just like if someone is negligent while driving a car and runs someone over. In the latter case, at least the killer would be charged with a crime something that rarely happens in accidental shootings.The investigation is still ongoing, but we can expect two things to happen: no charges will be filed , and Second Amendment advocates will flock to excuse this accident before forgetting about it entirely.Perhaps it's time that we end the madness. Maybe, just maybe, we need to reconsider if the Second Amendment should exist in the first place.Watch a report on this latest accident below:Featured image via screengrab

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A video of a terrified and previously abused puppy being shown love for the first time by her handler has captured the hearts and minds of many. The puppy, Priscilla, is crying out as a caretaker pets her. Not knowing how to react to the love she's shown for the first time, Priscilla cries out in anguish and fear but as the video progresses, amazing things happen.Defenseless and petrified, Priscilla keeps snapping her head back to the hand of the caretaker, anxiously anticipating what the caretaker will do next. Watching Pricilla's trauma gives the viewer an idea of the magnitude of abuse Priscilla previously suffered.However, after a few strokes around her head, eyes, and ears, Priscella slowly yet surely calms. Later on in the video, Priscella is in the arms of her caretaker and she'seems both comfortable and reassured that the people around her mean no harm.The last part of the video shows a happy Priscilla playing with her handler and another dog. She is bright, happy, and physically healthy, unlike the Priscilla we saw in the previous video. Not much is known about Priscilla other than the clear abuse she clearly incurred from her previous owner and that she is from Romania.It is striking what a little love and affection can do. If we treated all creatures in this manner, including each other, one can only imagine how wonderful the world we live in would be.Featured Image via YouTube Screen Capture from Daily Mail

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When Columbia University's internal investigation of its chaplain for religious discrimination came up empty, an ex-employee went to the government. A former employee of Columbia's Office of the University Chaplain has alleged that they faced discrimination for their Muslim faith in a complaint filed with the New York City Commission on Human Rights last month.Now the Ivy League institution is facing fines up to _CUR_250,000 and could be ordered to reform its internal policies on religious accommodations, the Columbia Daily Spectator reports.According to Campus Reform, the Muslims on campus recently demanded a prayer space and a Muslim advisor.The complaint charges that University Chaplain Jewelnel Davis denied the employee's requests to work earlier shifts during Ramadan instead increasing their workload during that time and reprimanded them for taking daily breaks to pray, all while *allowing similar accommodations for non-Muslim employees. *Who else insists on praying _NUMBER_ times a day during the workday?When confronted about this behavior, Davis allegedly responded that she was unused to accommodating such prayer breaks.Columbia's employee policy states that it will accommodate any religious practices that doesn't place undue hardship on the University.Does praying _NUMBER_ times a day during the workday qualify as undue hardship ?We ve reported on Somali Muslims who tried to do the'same thing in Minnesota and Colorado and failed. Work productivity is harmed greatly by taking so many breaks. The Muslims were fired from this company!MUSLIMS FIRED After Breaking UPS Rules File Lawsuit Claiming Rules Don t Apply to ThemSomali Muslims Stage Walkout On The Job In Protest Of Prayer Dispute And Then They Got A Dose Of RealityWe re hoping the policy isn't changed at Columbia to accommodate these Muslims. This is a slippery slope!Read more: Columbia Spectator

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The terror attacks in Brussels, Belgium have brought out the Muslim-haters on the right in full force particularly GOP presidential hopeful Ted Cruz. The creepiest candidate on the right has openly called for the police to increase patrols in Muslim neighborhoods, and has gotten backing for his disgusting statements from the network that is a longtime mouthpiece of the bigoted right Fox News.Well, there's one person who isn't taking their bullshit lying down: Comedy Central host Larry Wilmore. On Wednesday night's edition of his show, Wilmore blasted Cruz and Fox over their bigotry, and especially their insistence that anyone questioning their hateful words is just being politically correct. Gooooooooo f*ck yourselves. I mean, a major news network, so-called major news network, and a major presidential candidate slamming a major religion has nothing to do with political correctness. It's just wrong. To round out the hilarious but truthful segment, Wilmore interviewed Masir Ali, an expert on the Middle East. He weighed in from a snowy vacation, complete with snowboard, to show everyone just how dumb Ted Cruz and Fox News really are.The Nightly Show host is right. They are wrong. Bigotry and discrimination are a huge and major selling point with right-wingers, and here in the year _NUMBER_ that is just shameful. We seriously have one of the two major political parties in America that gets most of their votes for hating on anyone who isn't straight, white, male, and Christian. Think about that, and what it means for the future of this country.Watch the video below via Comedy Central:Featured image via video screen capture

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President Donald Trump, after nearly a month in power, has yet to unveil major legislation or publicly endorse bills from others, getting Republicans off to a slow start on the sweeping reforms they promised on the campaign trail. As Trump and Republicans ricochet from crisis to crisis, lawmakers have lowered expectations for legislative action in _NUMBER_ on tax reform, health care, financial regulation, jobs and infrastructure, with some urging more White House guidance. Trump has spelled out few specifics on such issues in his more than two dozen executive orders, proclamations and memoranda. A temporary ban on U.S. entry by refugees and people from seven Muslim-majority countries was blocked in court. Ambitious campaign promises by Trump helped the Republicans make a clean sweep of the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives in November's national elections. Movement on legislation could come soon now that the Senate has confirmed nine of Trump's Cabinet nominees and is poised to approve others soon, despite delays by Democrats. But concern is mounting among some Republicans and moderate Democrats who had hoped for more at this stage. On taxes, for instance, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told Reuters, "What I'd like to see the administration do is lead on this issue." The White House needs to "either come out with their own tax cut plan or weigh in pretty quickly," he said, "I'm getting unnerved that there's lack of coordination." Last week, Trump promised a "phenomenal" tax plan within weeks but offered no details. Nor has he firmly endorsed or opposed tax reform proposals being debated in Congress. At a party retreat last month, lawmakers warmed to remarks by Trump that seemed to show support for a House Republican "border adjustment" tax to encourage exports and discourage imports. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan issued a statement saying Congress and Trump were "on the same page." But the enthusiasm was short-lived. The White House later said border adjustment was only one option. After a week, Ryan said tax reform legislation would not appear until mid-_NUMBER_. Democratic Representative Jim Himes, who has talked about working with Republicans, said in an interview that promises of "day one" action have rung hollow. "Instead, we are torn apart by poorly drafted executive orders, tweets, Russian ties to the White House," he said. At a press conference on Thursday, Trump said he would submit an "initial plan" on health care in March and tackle tax reform after that. He said, "Tax reform's going to happen fairly quickly. We're doing Obamacare. We're in the final stages." Trump's legislative record lags some, but not all, recent presidents. Democrat Barack Obama laid out an economic stimulus plan days after his January _NUMBER_ swearing in and signed it into law less than a month later. Republican George W. Bush sent a tax cut proposal to Congress less than three weeks after taking office in January _NUMBER_. It was enacted four months later. Democrat Bill Clinton fulfilled a central campaign promise in his first weeks in office when he enacted a family-leave bill on Feb. _NUMBER_, _NUMBER_. Republican George H.W. Bush accomplished little of note in his first _NUMBER_ days, while his predecessor Republican Ronald Reagan sent dozens of detailed budget cut plans to Congress less than a month after his _NUMBER_ swearing in. In an Oct. _NUMBER_ campaign speech, Trump vowed to work with Congress to introduce "broader legislative measures" in the first _NUMBER_ days of his administration to reform the tax code, repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, boost job creation, curb job offshoring, spend _CUR_1 trillion on infrastructure and build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. In his first _NUMBER_ days, Trump has not yet offered any legislation to advance these goals. Investors have not been deterred. The Dow Jones industrial average has surged roughly _NUMBER_ percent since he was elected. "Right now there is a lot of hope in the market, but so far I haven't seen Trump show that he knows how to manage policy or have much of a plan," said Thyra Zerhusen, co-chief investment officer of Fairpointe Capital in Chicago. 'PROCEEDING WELL' - HENSARLING Trump signed a bill into law on Tuesday repealing an Obama administration anti-corruption rule that required oil and mining companies to disclose payments to foreign officials. Republican Representative Jeb Hensarling, who attended the signing ceremony, said, "Things are proceeding well." Legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, and replace parts of it will be unveiled after a _NUMBER_-day House recess that begins on Friday, Ryan said on Thursday. Republicans have been struggling to come up with a detailed plan for replacing Obama's signature domestic policy that they have vowed to repeal. At the outset of Trump's term, Republican lawmakers, lobbyists and tax experts were planning to repeal Obamacare in February, then begin revamping the tax code in March. Now, House Republicans say they may pass a tax-reform bill by August. That would force the Senate to take up the issue at the start of the _NUMBER_ midterm election season, a bad time for lawmakers to be making hard decisions. From the start of the new administration, some Republicans had jitters about Trump's moves, such as his battle with the media over the size of the crowd at his swearing-in ceremony. "He should be talking about how we're going to be reforming healthcare," Republican Representative Charlie Dent told reporters on Jan. _NUMBER_. "I hope he gets more focused on policy."

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Hillary Clinton was dogged throughout her campaign by her decision to set up a private email server in the basement of her suburban New York home to handle communications as secretary of state. Comey said in July that agents found _NUMBER_ classified emails containing emails that were classified at the time they were sent or received. That included eight marked top secret. Although Comey labeled Clinton's behavior extremely careless, he added that it did not warrant prosecution.We do assess that hostile actors gained access to the private commercial e-mail accounts of people with whom Secretary Clinton was in regular contact from her personal account. We also assess that Secretary Clinton's use of a personal e-mail domain was both known by a large number of people and readily apparent. She also used her personal e-mail extensively while outside the United States, including sending and receiving work-related e-mails in the territory of sophisticated adversaries. Given that combination of factors, we assess it is possible that hostile actors gained access to Secretary Clinton's personal e-mail account. James Comey on Hillary's server Lifezette And here is the hilarious version of Comey Vs. Clinton. Enjoy! All kidding aside Even if we assume Comey didn't botch the Clinton email investigation which is quite an assumption to make, especially considering how outraged so many investigators in the FBI were in the weeks and months following Comey's announcement why did the FBI director continue to comment on ongoing investigations? Why did he continue to feed red meat to wolves on both sides of the aisle in Congress?The FBI, regardless of Comey's intentions, has now become a blunt political tool that's being wielded by some of the most dishonest, power-hungry people in the country: politicians. That's not only foolish and reckless, it's dangerous to liberty and undermines the credibility of a group of people that must appear credible in the minds of the people for justice to be served and for liberty to endure.The American people deserve better from their FBI director, and if Comey proves to be incapable of exercising greater prudence, perhaps it's time for someone more careful and considerate to take the helm at one of the world's most powerful government agencies. -The Blaze

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Cambodia's parliament voted to change party laws on Monday to re-distribute seats if a party is dissolved after the government filed a lawsuit earlier this month to dissolve the main opposition party, part of an escalating political crisis. Lawyers from the interior ministry filed a lawsuit on Oct. _NUMBER_ to demand the dissolution of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party , in a move that would help Prime Minister Hun Sen to extend his _NUMBER_-year rule when the nation votes in an election next year. The latest move comes amid growing concern from the United Nations and rights groups over what they say is Cambodia's deteriorating human rights and political situation ahead of the key election. It follows an exodus by several opposition figures - nearly half of Cambodia's opposition parliamentarians fled abroad in September and early October - as Hun Sen moves to tighten his grip on power by silencing critics in the lead-up to the polls. The attempt to disband the CNRP comes after its leader, Kem Sokha, was charged with treason following his arrest on Sept.3. The government said the CNRP had conspired with foreign advisors to topple the government, citing a _NUMBER_ video clip that shows Kem Sokha talking about a plan to take power with the help of Americans. Monday's parliamentary vote on the new amendments was supported by all _NUMBER_ parliamentarians present from Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party , while the CNRP boycotted the morning session. Under the new laws, if a political party abandons its seats, is delisted, is disbanded or dissolved, a list of candidates or members of parliament of that party are no longer valid and beneficial. The laws require that National Election Committee re distribute seats to other parties participating in elections within seven days. Cheam Yeap, a lawmaker from the ruling CPP party, said the amendments were aimed at guaranteeing long lasting political stability in Cambodia. Seeing the actions of betraying the nation and people by the CNRP leader Kem Sokha, with the obvious evidence, the signatory lawyers asked for the amendments on these four laws, Cheam Yeap told the parliament on Monday. There was no debate on the amendments on Monday and the government has not provided new evidence against Kem Sokha, besides the _NUMBER_ video. Mu Sochua, deputy president of the opposition CNRP, who fled Cambodia earlier this month in fear of arrest, said that parliament's move was unconstitutional. It's a total violation of the constitution and the will of the people. The highest national institution - the National Assembly will not be legitimate, Mu Sochua, who has called for targeted sanctions against Cambodia, told Reuters by e-mail. Authors and anyone adopting the proposed amendments will take part in putting an end to democracy in Cambodia.

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An explosion at a guesthouse near the Fatima Masumeh shrine in the Iranian city of Qom on Thursday left four dead and _NUMBER_ wounded, most of them Iraqi pilgrims, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency. The explosion was caused by a pilgrim mishandling a leaking cooking gas cannister, Mehr said, citing local witnesses. A spokesman for the Qom fire department told Mehr the cause is still being investigated. Some of the dead and wounded may still be under rubble inside the guesthouse, according to Mehr. Photos posted by Mehr showed bloodied pilgrims laid out in the street and firemen rummaging through the ruins of the guesthouse. The shrine in Qom, which is approximately _NUMBER_ kilometers south of the capital, Tehran, is the second-most sacred spot in Iran for Shi ite Muslims.

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Day in and day out, CNN works hard to try and convince American audiences that it's a legitimate news outlet, and it hopes that the public will take seriously the troubled news network's various on-screen actors and quasi-journalists. On New Year's Eve, one of CNN's highly paid anchors, Don Lemon could be seen on national TV in New Orleans with co-presenter Brooke Baldwin, as Lemon proceeded to pound shots of tequila live on air, slurring his speech and shouting, while simultaneously getting his ear pierced during the program. Lemon then went on to sink into a melancholy diatribe about not being in a relationship and personal struggles with his own narcissism.The episode prompted many critics to question his psychological state, and also to ask whether or not Lemon might have a serious drinking or substance problem.Things got so bad that network producers had to pull the audio feed while drunk Lemon began shouting _NUMBER_ was awful. On the New York City feed, onlookers from CNN were obscure female American comedian, Kathy Griffin, joined by news presenter and actor Anderson Cooper, both of whom were enjoying the'spectacle not at all concerned with the potential damage to Lemon's reputation as a result of his alcoholic episode on air.Griffin could be seen shouting, Nipples! Nipples! Nipples! as Lemon began to unbutton his dress shirt.Watch Don Lemon drunk on air during CNN's New Years broadcast:_URL_ .

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Prime Minister Theresa May pledged on Tuesday to hold a mirror up to society with a study showing sharp racial disparities in Britain, as she looks for a way to demonstrate her leadership is about more than just delivering Brexit. Among the findings of the audit, the data showed Asian, black and other minority ethnic households were most likely to be in persistent poverty, that ethnic minorities have a lower employment rate than white people, and that they were under-represented in senior public sector jobs. Bogged down by Brexit and losing her parliamentary majority in a snap election in June, May has struggled to deliver on social reforms to tackle what she has called burning injustices since taking control of the ruling Conservative party in July _NUMBER_. Attempting to relaunch that agenda, she published the findings of a Race Disparity Audit which pulled together existing data from across sectors such as health, education, employment and the criminal justice system and analyzed it to discover how ethnicity affects people's lives. This audit means that for society as a whole for government, for our public services there is nowhere to hide. These issues are now out in the open, she told a private meeting to launch the report, according to her office. The message is very simple: if these disparities cannot be explained then they must be changed. May's center-right Conservatives were blindsided in June's election by a surge in support for the left-wing policies of opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, who has presented higher state spending as part of the cure for voters he says have been let down years of cuts to public services. The prime minister has done nothing but exacerbate the problems. Far from tackling the burning injustices she has added fuel to the fire, Labour's equalities spokeswoman Dawn Butler said. She called for the government to start offering solutions to the problems the audit highlighted. At last week's Conservative conference, May was keen to show party members that she had a plan to counter Corbyn's rise and allay fears that Brexit was squeezing out action on Britain's social problems. It will hold a mirror up to society and allow us and wider society to see where action is needed, May told a meeting of her senior ministers, according to a spokesman. May's deputy Damian Green said the audit's findings were not relentlessly negative , but added in a forward to the document: There is still a way to go before we have a country that works for everyone regardless of their ethnicity. .

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North Korea warned countries at the United Nations on Monday in a statement: don t join the United States in military action against the Asian state and you will be safe from retaliation. The caution was contained in a copy of North Korean Deputy U.N. Ambassador Kim In Ryong's prepared remarks for a discussion on nuclear weapons by a U.N. General Assembly committee. However, Kim did not read that section out loud. As long as one does not take part in the U.S. military actions against the DPRK , we have no intention to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against any other country, according to Kim's prepared remarks. The entire U.S. mainland is within our firing range and if the U.S. dares to invade our sacred territory even an inch it will not escape our severe punishment in any part of the globe, the statement read. Tensions have soared between the United States and North Korea following a series of weapons tests by Pyongyang and a string of increasingly bellicose exchanges between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The U.N. Security Council has unanimously ratcheted up sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs since _NUMBER_. North Korean Deputy U.N. Ambassador Kim did tell the U.N. General Assembly committee on Monday: Unless the hostile policy and the nuclear threat of the U.S. is thoroughly eradicated, we will never put our nuclear weapons and ballistic rockets on the negotiation table under any circumstance.

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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday he would discuss North Korea thoroughly with U.S. President Donald Trump when he visits next month, and reaffirm the two countries commitment to working together in dealing with the country. Abe was speaking at a news conference after his ruling coalition scored a landslide victory in the lower house election on Sunday.

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The University of Chicago's admissions office is offering a reward to its student tour guides who can dispel the notion among prospective students and their families that the city is unsafe and scary. In an email obtained by The Chicago Maroon, Colleen Belak, the assistant director of admissions at the university, offered a _CUR_500 cash prize to those who find a creative way to dispel the negative perception about Chicago's violence epidemic. FOX If you've paid attention to the national news over the last few months, you ll notice that the city of Chicago is often painted with a broad brush as an unsafe or scary place to reside, Belak wrote to the campus tour guide listhost. Of course, certain realities should not be ignored, but at the end of the day most of us are proud Chicago residents with a deep love of the city. With that spirit in mind, we have an opportunity for you to win some money _CUR_500 to be exact. If you are able to come up with a creative way to approach this negative perception, be it a video series, blog post, photo, or something else entirely Keep in mind that the audience is a high school student and his/her family. Here is a _NUMBER_ Deadliest Hoods map of Chicago showing two of the highest crime areas in the city are directly next door to the University of Chicago courtesy of Heyjackass, a website dedicated to cataloging the'shootings and murders that take place in gun-free Chicago:

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Arizona Republican Senator Jeff Flake has never been a fan of Donald Trump or his incendiary, divisive brand of politics. Now, he is a leading GOP voice against electing Roy Moore to the United States Senate. Moore is an accused child molester, and has a lifetime history of making all kinds of bigoted and incendiary comments. He has said that homosexuality should be illegal, and that Muslims should not be allowed to serve in Congress. Moore was also removed twice from the Alabama Supreme Court for refusing to comply with higher court rulings. Well, Flake has finally had enough of his party enabling characters like Moore. He had already said that if he lived in Alabama, he d be voting for Democrat Doug Jones. Now, Flake has taken his support of Jones even further, in the wake of the Republican National Committee's decision to support an accused child molester rather than a Democrat.Taking to Twitter, Senator Flake posted an image of a check made out to Doug Jones Senate campaign. Here is the tweet, captioned Country over Party :Country over Party _URL_ Jeff Flake December _NUMBER_, 2017Now, I don't agree with Jeff Flake on anything politically, but I can say that he is trying to act with morality and decency here. One could argue that Flake's plans to retire from the Senate mean that he can do this without consequence, but at this point, that matters not. We do not need a pedophile in the United States Senate, and the GOP apparatus should be ashamed of themselves for trying to get Roy Moore elected. But, hey better a pedophile than a Democrat, right?Featured image Drew Angerer/Getty Images

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Egyptian security forces killed _NUMBER_ militants during a raid on a farm hideout in the western desert region on Friday, a week after a deadly attack on a police convoy, authorities said. An Interior Ministry statement gave no details on the militants, but Egyptian forces have been battling several armed Islamist groups, mostly focused on an entrenched Islamic State affiliate that has killed hundreds of police officers and troops in the northern Sinai Peninsula since _NUMBER_. They took a house in the farm as a temporary hideout faraway from security monitoring to receive newly recruited elements and train them and prepare the explosive devices, the ministry statement said. The clashes were in an area near the Assuit-Kharga desert highway, around _NUMBER_ km southwest of Cairo, in New Valley province that shares a long border with neighboring southern Libya. Southern Libya has become a hideout for militant brigades taking advantage of the security vacuum there. After clashes with the militants, the ministry said _NUMBER_ bodies were recovered at the farm, some wearing militant uniforms. Security forces also recovered weapons, suicide bomb belts, cash and ammunition. The statement did not say whether the group was linked to the militants who attacked police last week in a remote area of Giza governorate, _NUMBER_ km outside Cairo, when sources say they were searching for a militant hideout. Security forces dealt a severe blow to the terrorist elements in revenge for the blood of the men who were martyred last week in the oasis, the state news agency MENA said earlier, citing a high-level security source. Most of Egypt's violence is centered in the northern Sinai, where a local group, Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, pledged allegiance to Islamic State in _NUMBER_. It had mostly targeted security forces with ambushes and suicide attacks, but has spread to other areas of Egypt outside the peninsula. The western desert region has long been for a route for smugglers and arms coming across Libya's porous border. The Egyptian military said on Monday its air force hit eight four-wheel-drive vehicles carrying arms and explosives at the western border with Libya, killing the militants on board.

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Nearly nine out of _NUMBER_ Indians hold a favorable opinion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and more than two-thirds are satisfied with the direction he is taking the country, a Pew survey has found, two years before he heads into a general election. Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition won the biggest parliamentary majority in three decades in a _NUMBER_ election and the poll by the U.S.-based research center showed that his personal ratings remain high. Critics have accused hardline Hindu groups linked to the ruling coalition of promoting a partisan agenda, including targeting minority Muslims, since he came to power. They have also blamed Modi for slowing economic growth and for failing to generate the hundreds of thousands of jobs needed for young people joining the workforce each month. But the Pew poll found that _NUMBER_ percent of Indians held a favorable view of Modi, a shade higher than the _NUMBER_ percent who gave him a thumbs-up in _NUMBER_, a year after he swept to power promising to transform India into a high-growth economy. Such high ratings are unusual for political leaders three years into office in south Asia, where governments are more often voted out than retained as people become frustrated with broken campaign promises. Modi's favorable rating is _NUMBER_ percentage points higher than that of Sonia Gandhi, the leader of the main opposition Congress party, and is _NUMBER_ points more than that for her son, Rahul Gandhi, who is expected to take over the party leadership. Three years into Modi's five-year tenure, the honeymoon period for his administration may be over but the public's love affair with current conditions in India is even more intense, Pew said in comments on its findings. The survey was conducted in February and March, a few months after Modi withdrew most high-value bank notes in a shock move aimed at illegal wealth, but which put millions of people in difficulty as cash was sucked out of the economy. Modi defended the measure as an attack on the rich hiding their wealth from the taxman and said gains would come to the poor. Economic growth eased to a three-year low in the June quarter and experts said part of the reason was that the withdrawal of most of the currency had hurt consumer demand in a largely cash-driven economy. A poorly implemented goods-and-services tax that went into effect in July has further unsettled small businesses, many of which are part of the bedrock of the BJP's political base. But the poll found that more than _NUMBER_ percent of those surveyed said economic conditions were good, up _NUMBER_ percentage points since just before the _NUMBER_ election. Overall, seven-in-ten Indians are now satisfied with the way things are going in the country. This positive assessment of India's direction has nearly doubled since _NUMBER_, Pew said. The next general election is due in _NUMBER_. But several states are voting for new assemblies over the next few months including Modi's home state of Gujarat.

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The Obama administration reversed course on Tuesday on a proposal to open the southeastern Atlantic coast to drilling as an oil price slump and strong opposition in coastal communities raised doubts about the plan. Besides market and environmental concerns, the U.S. Interior Department said it also based its decision on conflicts with competing commercial and military ocean uses. The decision, which is sure to reverberate in the presidential election campaign, reverses a January _NUMBER_ proposal for new leases in the Atlantic as part of the department's five-year plan to set new boundaries for oil development in federal waters through _NUMBER_. "We heard from many corners that now is not the time to offer oil and gas leasing off the Atlantic coast," Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said. "When you factor in conflicts with national defense, economic activities such as fishing and tourism, and opposition from many local communities, it simply doesn't make sense to move forward with any lease sales in the coming five years." Hillary Clinton, the front-runner in the race for the Democratic Party's nomination to run in the Nov. _NUMBER_ presidential election, has moved to the left on environment under pressure from green groups. She tweeted: "Relieved Atlantic drilling is now off the table. Time to do the next right thing and protect the Arctic, too." Donald Trump, the businessman and former reality TV personality who is the Republican front-runner, has raised questions about whether more offshore drilling is necessary given the abundance of onshore shale production. The proposal would have opened up drilling sites more than _NUMBER_ miles off Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia to oil drilling by _NUMBER_. Coastal communities in these states protested the administration's plan, fearing the possibility of an oil spill like the BP Horizon accident in _NUMBER_ on the U.S. Gulf Coast, and its effects on tourism and their economies. "With this decision coastal communities have won a 'David vs. Goliath' fight against the richest companies on the planet, and that is a cause for tremendous optimism for the well-being of future generations," said Jacqueline Savitz, environmental group Oceana's vice president for U.S. oceans. Virginia officials had welcomed the initial plan to allow offshore drilling, saying it would bring economic benefits. On Tuesday, Senator Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia, said he was surprised that the Department of Defense had raised concerns about naval installations, one of which is off the state's coast. "The DOD has been relatively quiet during this public debate and has never shared their objections with me before," he said. Major oil companies, including Exxon Mobil Corp, Shell and Chevron, had pushed for an open Atlantic. Shell Oil Company spokeswoman Natalie Mazey said the decision was "short sighted" and would "jeopardize the abundance of affordable domestic energy the economy has become dependent on." The American Petroleum Institute said the decision goes against the will of voters, governors and members of Congress who support more development. "The decision appeases extremists who seek to stop oil and natural gas production which would increase the cost of energy for American consumers and close the door for years to creating new jobs, new investments and boosting energy security," said API President Jack Gerard. The Interior Department also announced Tuesday that it would evaluate _NUMBER_ other potential lease sales in other areas of the country - _NUMBER_ in the Gulf of Mexico and three off the coast of Alaska. "The proposal focuses potential lease sales in areas with the highest resource potential, greatest industry interest, and established infrastructure," Jewell said. The Interior Department said that in the Gulf, resource potential and industry interest are high and infrastructure already exists. It proposes two annual lease sales that include the Western, Central, and part of the eastern Gulf of Mexico not subject to the current congressional moratorium. It also includes a potential sale each in the Chukchi Sea, Beaufort Sea, and Cook Inlet planning areas in Alaska. The department would take comments on other options, including an alternative that includes no new leasing. While green groups praised the decision to keep the Atlantic off limits for now, they raised concerns that the United States would keep the door open for drilling in the vulnerable U.S. Arctic. "The administration must take Arctic leases out of the final five-year plan," said Cindy Shogan, executive director of the Alaska Wilderness League. "No place has potentially more to lose due to climate change than the Arctic." The Interior Department will open the five-year proposal to a _NUMBER_-day comment period.

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Hillary may find out she needs more than black women drag her lying criminal ass over the finish line Actress and Bernie Sanders supporter Susan Sarandon recently received shock and criticism for suggesting she may not vote for Hillary Clinton in the general election. She's not alone. According to a recent McClatchy-Marist Poll conducted on March _NUMBER_-_NUMBER_, _NUMBER_ percent of Sanders supporters would not support her, while _NUMBER_ percent would. Sanders voters are even more committed to him and perhaps against Clinton, McClatchy DC suggested that after Sanders's Tuesday win in Wisconsin.While voters under _NUMBER_ are among the most likely to eventually support Hillary, they could play a role in her possibly losing to the Republican nominee. Even if they'don't vote for a Republican, staying home could cause Hillary to come up short.Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, called the possibility potentially worrisome for Hillary. Age seems to be the most significant factor, he noted.Professor Carlos L. Yordan of Drew University made a similar point recently, noting the particular importance of young people in swing states. Hillary might also risk a loss if she faces off against Ted Cruz in November, as a recent Fox News poll found he's preferred by millennials.Via: Red Alert Politics

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U.S.-backed militias battled foreign fighters defending the last pocket of Islamic State's one-time Syrian capital of Raqqa on Monday, bringing their four-month offensive for the city to the brink of victory. A Reuters correspondent saw smoke rising above the city and heard mortar fire, but did not see air strikes while in Raqqa. A field commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces , an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias, said he expected the operation to end on Monday. The U.S.-led coalition that backs them said it could not give a timeline. SDF spokesman Mostafa Bali said they were fighting Islamic State in only one small zone of Raqqa in the evening, around the city's national hospital and stadium. Bali said he could not determine how much longer the battle would take. The clashes are ongoing, he added. A convoy of Syrian Islamic State fighters quit Raqqa on Saturday night with their families, leaving only _NUMBER_-_NUMBER_ foreign jihadists to mount a last stand, the SDF has said. The SDF is now poised to end Islamic State's rule over a city where it had launched a string of lightning victories in _NUMBER_ and plotted attacks on civilian targets across the West. Its defeat in Raqqa mirrors its collapse across Iraq and Syria, where its enemies have driven it from cities, killed its leaders in air strikes and regained the oil fields that funded its self-declared caliphate. Islamic State lost Mosul in Iraq, its largest city and most prized possession, after months of fighting in July. The militants, which at their height ruled millions of people in both countries, are now forced back in Syria into a strip of the Euphrates valley south of Deir al-Zor and desert on each side. We have conducted some strikes in the last _NUMBER_ hours, but I suspect that that will pick up here very soon with the SDF advancing into the final remaining areas of the city, said coalition spokesman Colonel Ryan Dillon. The SDF said they gained control of six more districts on Monday. The coalition has supported the SDF with air power and special forces throughout its Raqqa campaign, which began in November with an offensive to isolate the city. The battle inside Raqqa started in June, and the intense air strikes and street-to-street fighting drove many of its people to refugee camps and left much of the city a mess of concrete debris. The field commander in Raqqa described Monday's fighting as a clearing operation and said he expected it to be completed by the end of the day with the SDF controlling the whole city. Ilham Ahmed, a senior Kurdish leader who co-chairs the SDF's political affiliate, said earlier she expected the end of the offensive to be declared within hours or days. A Reuters correspondent was with an SDF sniper unit on a frontline facing the hospital complex that represents one of Islamic State's last strongholds in the city, and saw two men in camouflage clothing climb a building and raise a flag. Cars in the streets below had loudspeakers mounted on their roofs broadcasting messages to the last Islamic State fighters telling them they would not be ill-treated if they surrendered. Another SDF field commander, who gave his name as Ashraf Serhad, said he had heard that _NUMBER_ IS fighters remained and on Sunday he had seen several vehicles leave the hospital carrying some who had surrendered. Saturday night's convoy included about _NUMBER_ IS fighters and nearly _NUMBER_ family members, said Omar Alloush, a member of the Raqqa Civil Council set up under SDF auspices to run the city. The fighters who left in the convoy, as part of a deal brokered by tribal leaders, are being held by security forces before interrogation and may be tried in court, he added. The deal also allowed civilians to leave IS-held districts. Dillon said about _NUMBER_ civilians had left the militant-held parts of the city in the past week. The strongest group in the SDF is the YPG, a Kurdish militia that Turkey regards as an extension of the PKK, which has waged an insurgency against Ankara for three decades. YPG influence across swathes of northern Syria including in majority Arab areas, and its backing by the U.S., has provoked disquiet in Turkey. The U.S.-backed offensive has pushed Islamic State from most of northern Syria, while a rival offensive by the Syrian army, backed by Russia, Iran and Shi ite militias, has driven the jihadists from the central desert. When the jihadist group was entrenched in Syria and Iraq, it turned Raqqa into a planning and operations hub. Many of its leaders were at times based there, and former hostages said Mohammed Emwazi, better known as Jihadi John, imprisoned them along with those he later executed in a building near the city. The group killed dozens of captured Syrian soldiers there in July _NUMBER_ and made the city the site of a slave market for Yazidi women captured in Iraq and given to fighters. The coalition has said Raqqa was a center for attacks abroad, and in November _NUMBER_, after militants killed more than _NUMBER_ people in Paris, France launched airstrikes on Islamic State targets in the city. But as the group defends its last patch of bomb-cratered ground in the city, the cost of the battle lies evident all around. Much of Raqqa lies ruined, hundreds of civilians have been killed, and thousands more have fled.

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Dem Sherrod Brown and GOP Senator Orrin Hatch go at it! They were discussing the tax plan and Hatch let Brown know he doesn't appreciate the class warfare propaganda THE MIDDLE CLASS WINS WITH TRUMP TAX PLAN:The Senate's plan to rewrite the tax code would go much further than a competing House proposal toward making good on Republican promises to focus on the middle class, a new report shows.Moderate-income people would consistently see the largest percentage declines in their tax bills, according to an analysis released late Saturday by the official, nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation.In _NUMBER_, people in the middle of the income spectrum, earning between _CUR_50,000 and _CUR_70,000, would see their taxes fall by _NUMBER_ percent. Those earning between _CUR_20,000 and _CUR_30,000 would see a _NUMBER_ percent decline, the report shows, while millionaires would get a _NUMBER_ percent tax cut.Unlike with the House plan, that trend holds up throughout the period over which JCT analyzed the Senate proposal. In _NUMBER_, for example, millionaires would get a _NUMBER_ percent tax cut from the Senate plan, compared with a _NUMBER_ percent decline for people in the middle and a _NUMBER_ percent reduction for those earning between _CUR_20,000 and _CUR_30,000.How Republicans tax plans would affect people in different income groups has been a hotly contested issue in Congress, with the GOP contending its plans are aimed at the middle class while Democrats call them a giveaway to the rich.The House proposal would have a muddled impact on people in different income groups, JCT found earlier this month. At first, modest-income people would be its biggest winners, but the outlook changes after the first few years. Some modest-income people would face tax increases under the House plan, JCT found, and by _NUMBER_, millionaires would be its biggest winners.The analysis of the Senate plan, which the Finance Committee plans to formally take up on Monday, shows people in every income cohort receiving a tax cut on average, though it did not examine whether some people within those groups would face tax increases.

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In the shadow of disused Soviet-era factories in Minsk, a street lined with eclectic bars, art galleries and yoga studios has become a haven from the vigilant eyes of the Belarussian authorities. This place is like an island, said Yegor, _NUMBER_, who works at popular bar Hooligan. It's the street of freedom. The government of President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for the past _NUMBER_ years and has boasted that he is the last and only dictator in Europe ,has little tolerance for any opposition. A powerful police force and feared state security keep citizens in check. But police patrols are rare in Oktyabrskaya, partly due to its location on an out-of-the-way peninsula in a bend of the river Svislach. When the first restaurant opened there in _NUMBER_, few visitors came but now it ranks among the most fashionable quarters of Minsk. Such is the growing popularity of that Oktyabrskaya that investors such as Belgazprombank, a subsidiary of state-owned Russian lender Gazprombank, have big plans for the district. Earlier this year the bank purchased part of a factory there and intends to turn it into a gallery, restaurant and theater complex. The manufacturing sector has not entirely abandoned Oktyabrskaya - one machine-making factory named after the _NUMBER_ October Revolution still operates there. Financial difficulties prompted state-owned MZOR to lease or sell some of its facilities to Oktyabrskaya's developers, but the firm still maintains some production with a reduced workforce. Mikhail, who has worked at the factory for _NUMBER_ years, said he approves of the influx of new hipster businesses. The street has come back to life, he said. Oktyabrskaya's long-term future ultimately depends on the authorities good favor, cultural analyst Maksim Zhbankov said. For now they tolerate it. But I can t say that someone won t turn up tomorrow and say they ve decided to tear it all down, he said.

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Infamous Donald Trump'spokeswoman Katrina Pierson has once again proven just how pitiful and ridiculous The Donald and his entire team is. In speaking about President Barack Obama's recent endorsement of Hillary Clinton, Pierson revealed that she actually thinks that supporters of Bernie Sanders are going to switch sides and vote GOP. Actually, she'said with full confidence that she thinks HALF of Sanders fans are going to switch over to team Trump.It doesn't get any more idiotic than this, and it's almost hard to believe. When Jake Tapper asked Pierson how many Sanders supporters will jump ship to avoid voting for Clinton, Pierson said: I think the polls are showing, one in four, maybe, I think it's going to be half at some point. There is a transition happening, not just in this country but globally, the consciousness is definitely changing, and younger voters want to see the'status quo busted up. That is absolute madness, and Pierson has mocked the intelligence of Bernie's followers by saying they would vote for a racist, misogynistic Republican. First of all, Trump has insulted their chosen candidate several times, referring to him as Crazy Bernie. He's also encouraged violence against Sanders supporters that dare to attend his rallies. Another thing Trump is in denial about is the fact that Sanders will probably be giving Clinton his endorsement soon, and urge his supporters to throw their support behind the former Secretary of State as well.Now, Sanders fans might not be happy that Clinton is leading the Democratic party, but most of them know that Trump needs to be stopped by any means possible. According to a recent poll, the real numbers reveal that less than a quarter of Sanders voters might switch over to Trump. The polls also revealed that _NUMBER_ percent of Sanders backers would choose Clinton over Trump but when has the Trump campaign ever really been concerned with facts?You can watch Pierson spew this pro-Trump nonsense in the video below:Featured image is a screenshot

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Does anyone remember a time in recent history that candidates in the Republican party caused so many hissy fits by the Left?//

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Looking to lay the groundwork for her presidency if she wins the White House in November, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton named several veterans of President Barack Obama's administration for her transition team on Tuesday. Ken Salazar, a former interior secretary and U.S. Senator from Colorado, will lead a team of four co-chairs including one-time national security adviser Tom Donilon and Neera Tanden, a former Obama aide who now leads the progressive Center for American Progress think-tank, the Clinton campaign said. The other co-chairs are former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm and Maggie Williams, director of Harvard's Institute of Politics, the campaign said in a statement. The announcement came as Clinton has gained momentum in the opinion polls against Republican rival Donald Trump, whose campaign has struggled after he made a string of controversial remarks since formally winning his party's nomination last month. Clinton leads Trump in the Nov. _NUMBER_ presidential election by more than _NUMBER_ percentage points in a Reuters/Ipsos tracking poll released on Friday. The current RealClearPolitics average of polls shows her _NUMBER_ points ahead. Clinton has been a former secretary of state, U.S. senator and first lady and her transition team includes old names from her long tenure in Washington, some of whom have also served Obama. Tanden, who played a key role in shaping Obama's health care overhaul, is a longtime friend and adviser to Clinton who worked on her Senate campaign. Williams was the _NUMBER_ transition director for Clinton when she became first lady, and then her chief of staff in the White House when Bill Clinton was president. Two policy advisers on the campaign, Ed Meier and Ann O'Leary, will also move full time to the transition team. Heather Boushey, the executive director of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, will be the chief economist, the campaign said in a statement. Boushey has advised the campaign on economic policy. Transition teams oversee personnel appointments and help develop an administrative framework during the period between the November election and the inauguration in January, to make it easier for a new president to begin implementing policy agendas. Trump, a New York businessman who has never held elected office, picked New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to head his own transition team in May. More establishment Republicans, alarmed by Trump's inability or unwillingness to rein in his provocative remarks, have distanced themselves from the candidate in recent weeks. The Wall Street Journal, a leading conservative voice, said in an editorial on Monday that he should fix his campaign in the next three weeks or hand over to his running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence. Trump drew heavy criticism after engaging in a prolonged spat with the parents of a Muslim U.S. Army captain killed in Iraq. Last week, he suggested gun rights activists could take action against Clinton, a statement critics found alarming but which he later said was aimed at rallying votes against her. Trump also called Obama and Clinton the "co-founders" of Islamic State, a false claim he later said was sarcastic but did not wholly abandon. Despite Clinton's lead in polls, Obama warned Democrats against over confidence, telling a fundraising gathering on Monday in Massachusetts, "If we are not running scared until the day after the election, we are going to be making a grave mistake."

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By now, the whole world knows that Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore was banned from an Alabama mall and the YMCA for creeping on little girls. He has been accused of molesting young girls as young as age fourteen. Of course, when the allegations first came out and the uproar and backlash began, everyone, regardless of politics, reacted with outrage. However, the GOP's outrage was often much more muted. Further, it took awhile for the Republican National Committee to pull their support for Moore, despite the deeply disturbing allegations of his being a pedophile. Well, now that the rage has died down, the RNC is back with a new message regarding this Senate race: Better a pedophile than a Democrat.Under cover of night, the RNC reinstated their support for Roy Moore, and an RNC official confirmed to The Hill that, quote, We can confirm our involvement in the Alabama Senate race. So, there you have it, folks. They literally want a child molester in the United States Senate rather than a Democrat. There are only a few voices from the right who are being brave on this one and none of them are seeking re-election. Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney tweeted that the GOP must not tolerate Moore:Roy Moore in the US Senate would be a stain on the GOP and on the nation. Leigh Corfman and other victims are courageous heroes. No vote, no majority is worth losing our honor, our integrity. Mitt Romney December _NUMBER_, 2017Outgoing Arizona GOP Senator Jeff Flake has actually said that he would vote for the Democratic candidate, Doug Jones, if he lived in Alabama, and former Jeb Bush adviser Tim Miller has actually endorsed and donated to Jones. Outgoing Pennsylvania moderate Republican Charlie Dent said he never supported Moore in the first place. Here's the video of Dent's takedown of Moore:There is also outspoken Trump critic and longtime GOP strategist Steve Schmidt, who went on national television and called Moore a pedophile:Other than that, though, it has been radio silence. After all, they need that vote. Besides, let's face it the GOP writ large showed America and the world what they stand for when they elected Donald Trump.Featured image via Scott Olson/Getty Images

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The race card thing is getting old fast The Austin County Sheriff's Office released the dash camera video of a July _NUMBER_ traffic stop of State Representative Garnet Coleman Tuesday to refute claims Coleman made last week about being disrespected and treated like a child. Coleman, as the chair of the Committee on County Affairs, held a hearing last Thursday in Austin as the first public inquiry into the arrest and death of Sandra Bland in Waller County. In that hearing, Coleman recounted his own history of being pulled over in traffic stops and gave this account of an I-_NUMBER_ traffic stop that happened just two weeks ago. He talked to me like I was a child, he'said of the'sheriff's deputy who pulled him over for speeding. He was so rude and nasty. Even when he found out I was a legislator, he became more rude and nasty. And I didn't understand why this guy was continuing to go on and on and treat me like a child. And basically like I m saying is treat me like a boy. I want to be very clear about that, Coleman said in the committee hearing. Via: Breaking 911KHOU The Texas Municipal Police Association, the Harris County Deputies Organization, the Houston Police Officers Union and the Dallas Police Union all issued demands for Coleman to apologize for his fabrication of the events in the traffic stop. Sheriff Brandes asked Coleman to apologize for his remarks about the'sheriff's deputy. Instead, Coleman seemed to double down on the race card boy word. They may not have , Coleman told KHOU. But they weren't sitting in my seat. And, if you know the history of my people, you know that being treated like a child or a boy is not something that we accept very well. The Houston Police Officers Union issued a strong rebuke to Coleman. Our organization has supported Representative Coleman during his tenure in the Texas Legislature, however, since Representative Coleman refuses to own up to the fact that his statements in committee regarding the'stop were in fact not true and completely out of line, we have no choice but to discontinue our support of him. Via: Weasel Zippers Black Democratic Texas State Rep Claims Mistreatment By Police During Traffic Stop, Video Shows Anything But

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The Kremlin said on Sunday that inflexibility on the part of the United States was to blame for the lack of a bilateral meeting between Russia's President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump during a summit in Vietnam. Trump and Putin met briefly on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Vietnam on Saturday and agreed on a joint statement supporting a political solution for Syria, but did not hold substantive bilateral talks. "Unfortunately the American side did not offer any alternatives despite all efforts of our Russian colleagues. There was only one time offered that was convenient for the American side, and only one place offered, which had already been rented by the Americans," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by the RIA news agency. "The Americans showed no flexibility, and unfortunately did not offer any other alternative proposals. That is why the meeting could not happen," Peskov added. Putin himself said on Saturday the lack of a bilateral meeting with Trump in Vietnam was due to both leaders' schedules and protocol obstacles that their teams had been unable to overcome. Allegations that Trump's election campaign colluded with Moscow last year to turn voters away from Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton have hampered the president's efforts to improve frosty U.S.-Russian relations. Putin renewed his denial of the allegations during his brief meeting with Trump on Saturday. Trump has previously said the accusations of collusion were a hoax.

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A court in Vietnam jailed dissident Nguyen Van Oai for a further five years on Monday for violating the terms of his probation after a spell in prison, his lawyer said. Human rights groups have expressed alarm over the Communist-ruled country's biggest crackdown on activists in years. Oai, _NUMBER_, was arrested in January while on probation after a _NUMBER_ sentence for activities aimed at overthrowing the government. He had been released in _NUMBER_. On Monday, the people's court in Nghe An, central Vietnam, also found him guilty of resisting security personnel in performing their duty. He was given another four years on probation as well as the prison sentence. Oai said he was innocent and he would appeal, his lawyer, Ha Huy Son, told Reuters. The court made no immediate comment. Despite sweeping economic reforms and growing openness to social change, Vietnam's Communist Party retains tight media censorship and does not tolerate criticism.

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Maybe comedy is a better career choice for Gary Gary Johnson, the Libertarian nominee for president, had been raring for Wednesday night's town hall on MSNBC. He had been cut from the first televised debate after missing the polling threshold, and he had not been invited when the network hosted a commander-in-chief forum with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. This was their consolation prize, Johnson told The Washington Post this week when asked about the MSNBC special. It was put to us that, look, you weren't in this initial program. Here's what we d like to offer in lieu of being with the two major-party candidates. And I said, An hour of prime time Chris Matthews? I ll take it. But the hour didn't go as planned. Johnson, who had been pilloried for blanking on the relevance of the Syrian city of Aleppo in another MSNBC interview, whiffed his way through an even easier foreign policy question. Who's your favorite foreign leader? Matthews asked. Who's my favorite? Johnson replied. Anywhere in the continents, Matthews said. Any country. Name one foreign leader that you look up to. William Weld, Johnson's running mate, chimed in with an assist: I m with Shimon Peres. I m talking about living, okay? Matthews said. You gotta do this. Any continent. Canada, Mexico? I guess I m having an Aleppo moment, Johnson said. In the whole world! Matthews said. Anybody in the world. I know, I know, Johnson said. Pick any leader, Matthews said. The former president of Mexico, Johnson said. Which one? Matthews said. I m having a brain freeze, Johnson said.Weld, who had left the governor's office in Massachusetts in an unsuccessful attempt to become ambassador to Mexico, began naming the country's former presidents. Fox? Zedillo? Calderon? Fox, Johnson said with a combination of jubilation and relief. He was terrific.

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U.S. President Barack Obama aired his human rights concerns with Saudi Arabia's King Salman on Wednesday, but his talking points on that subject are expected to be get less attention when he meets Gulf Arab monarchs on Thursday. Activists have urged the American leader to push Saudi Arabia over its human rights record, but the region's many geopolitical crises are likely to dominate a summit already overshadowed by strained ties between Washington and the Gulf. The president, who arrived on Wednesday, hopes to allay Gulf countries' fears over Iranian influence and encourage them to try to douse sectarian tensions in the region in an effort to confront the threat posed by Islamic State. Most of the Gulf Arab monarchies have in private been sorely disappointed by Obama's presidency, regarding it as a period in which the United States has pulled back from the region, leaving space for their archrival Iran to expand its influence. Human rights have not figured high on the list of issues straining the relationship. But Saudi Arabia has increasingly chafed at what it sees as a campaign of vilification by Western media, think tanks and rights groups. Rob Malley, Obama's adviser on the Middle East, said rights issues would be raised, and deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes met human rights advocates at the White House just before the Riyadh visit to hear their concerns. During a two-hour meeting on Wednesday with the Saudi king and a group of top princes, Obama expressed his broad concerns about human rights issues, the White House said, without listing specific cases. But early signs were that disagreements over human rights would be relegated to the margins of Thursday's talks. Obama has spoken of his desire to persuade Gulf states to arrive at a "cold peace" with Iran to ease sectarian tensions and allow all sides to focus on what he sees as a greater threat emanating from Islamic State. On Thursday, he will attend a summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which groups the monarchical states of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. Apart from Oman, they are ruled by Sunni Muslim dynasties that see revolutionary, Shi'ite Iran as a threat to their security and say its involvement in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen has fueled conflict and deepened sectarian divisions. The White House shares the view of Gulf Arab states that Tehran plays a destabilizing role. But its willingness to enter a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers last year caused fears in Riyadh that Washington was not listening to Gulf Arab concerns. Riyadh has come under fire in Western countries for its restrictions on women, suppression of freedom of expression, strict blasphemy rules and a judicial system that applies Islamic law and frequently beheads convicts. Rights groups are also pushing for Obama to press Saudi Arabia to end the war in Yemen, for which peace talks are due to take place in Kuwait this week, and where air strikes by a Saudi-led coalition have killed many civilians. "I urge you to take this final opportunity to speak out publicly on human rights issues inside the Kingdom," Elisa Massimino, president of Human Rights First, a U.S. monitoring and activist group, wrote in an open letter. Saudi Arabia has said other countries should not interfere in its domestic affairs by criticizing its human rights record. It insists its Islamic legal system is its own business and that its courts are fair and independent. It says the war in Yemen was in support of its internationally recognized government and aimed at restoring stability. It says it has taken great care to avoid civilian casualties.

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Iraq's Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani vowed on Tuesday to press ahead with a referendum on Kurdish independence on Sept. _NUMBER_ despite a vote by Iraq's parliament to reject the move. Earlier the parliament in Baghdad authorized the prime minister to take all measures to preserve Iraq's unity. Kurdish lawmakers walked out of the session before the vote and issued statements rejecting the decision. Western powers fear a plebiscite in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region - including the oil-rich city of Kirkuk - could ignite conflict with the central government in Baghdad and divert attention from the war against Islamic State militants. Iraq's neighbors - Turkey, Iran and Syria - also oppose the referendum, fearing it could fan separatism among their own ethnic Kurdish populations. The referendum will be held on time... Dialogue with Baghdad will resume after the referendum, Barzani, president of the Kurdistan Regional Government , said in a statement on his ruling party's official website after the vote. Barzani told a gathering of Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen in Kirkuk that the referendum was a natural right , according to a tweet from his aide Hemin Hawrami. Barzani also said Kirkuk should have a special status in a new, independent Kurdistan. Iraqi lawmakers worry that the referendum will consolidate Kurdish control over several areas claimed by both the central government in Baghdad and the autonomous KRG in northern Iraq. This referendum lacks a constitutional basis and thus it is considered unconstitutional, the parliamentary resolution said, without specifying what measures the central government should take to stop Kurdistan from breaking away. Mohammed al-Karbouli, a Sunni Muslim lawmaker, said: Kurdish lawmakers walked out of session but the decision to reject the referendum was passed by a majority. A senior Kurdish official dismissed the vote as non-binding though an Iraqi lawmaker said it would be published in the official gazette after approval from the Iraqi presidency. The KRG has said it is up to local councils of disputed regions in northern Iraq to decide whether to join the vote. Kirkuk, an ethnically mixed city, voted last month to participate in the referendum, a move that stoked tensions with its Arab and Turkmen residents, as well as with Baghdad. Kurdish peshmerga forces took control of the Kirkuk area and other areas claimed by both Baghdad and the Kurds after Islamic State militants overran about a third of Iraq in _NUMBER_ and Baghdad's local forces disintegrated. At a news conference on Tuesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said the Kurds were continuing to illegally export Kirkuk's oil, and he called for urgent talks. I call upon the Kurdish leadership to come to Baghdad and conclude a dialogue, Abadi said. A Kurdish delegation met officials in Baghdad for a first round of talks in August concerning the referendum. An Iraqi delegation was expected to visit the Kurdish capital of Erbil in early September for a second round of talks, but the visit has yet to happen with less than two weeks before the vote. Kurds have sought an independent state since at least the end of World War One, when colonial powers divided up the Middle East after the collapse of the multi-ethnic Ottoman Empire and left Kurdish-populated territory split between Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria.

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This ass-clown reminds us of why term limits are so important. Leisa and I saw Rep. Rangel up close and personal last week when we visited the Capitol building as guests of Rep. Mike Bishop . We were shocked at some of the people who have been elected to represent our nation. _NUMBER_% of the House members looked like they should be roaming the halls of a nursing home NOT the halls of Congress! These people have no business making serious decisions on behalf of our country. Charlie Rangel is a perfect example of our assertion It's no secret that Democrats can't stand the Tea Party, but rarely do they express their hatred out loud like Rep. Charlie Rangel did. In a moment caught on camera, the Democrat Congressman let reporters know what he really thinks about the coalition of citizens who believe in individual liberty and small government .TheBlaze reports:Rep. Charlie Rangel had harsh words for Tea Party Republicans during a town hall he hosted Tuesday in New York City. The outspoken Democrat was asked by TheBlaze about what he thinks motivates the more conservative wing of the House Republicans. They come from states that used to own slaves, Rangel said of his Tea Party colleagues. They come from states that the Confederate Army was pledged allegiance to. They come from states that the Ku Klux Klan and voters rights and all of those things came into play. hey left the Democratic Party, thank God, they joined the Republican Party and they like being among themselves, Rangel added.They even got his comments on video here:Via: Deneenborelli

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Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari appealed for calm and an end to communal violence on Saturday after police said armed herdsmen killed _NUMBER_ people in the central state of Plateau. Local police said Fulani herdsmen attacked Ancha village, in the Bassa local government area of Plateau state, in the early hours of Friday. They said it was thought to be a reprisal attack after a boy from the herding community was killed. Police provided details of the attack, in which five people were injured, late on Friday. Fighting between semi-nomadic cattle herders and more settled communities over land use claims hundreds of lives a year in Nigeria's central and northern states. I urge all our communities in the state and the other parts of the country to embrace peace and bring to a stop these painful and unnecessary killings, said Buhari, in an emailed statement. He said communities and security agencies in Plateau had taken steps to pull the state back from the brink of anarchy and senseless killings , adding that it would be a painful loss to allow these unsavory acts to return . The violence is another security challenge for Buhari in addition to the eight-year Boko Haram jihadist insurgency in the northeast and attempts to maintain a fragile ceasefire in the southern Niger Delta energy hub where militant attacks on oil facilities last year cut crude production by more than a third.

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Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has told Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi that Moscow remains committed to the Iran nuclear deal, Russia's Foreign Ministry said in statement on Thursday.

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The co-founders of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, Ben Cohen, and Jerry Greenfield, were two of the _NUMBER_+ arrested in the past week at the U.S. Capitol to protest the influence big money has in politics as part of the Democracy Spring movement. According to the U.S. Capitol Police, those arrested were charged with crowding, obstructing or incommoding, which is unlawful demonstration activity. Both Cohen and Greenfield were processed and released on scene.Ben Cohen also runs a non-profit, Stamp Stampede, which literally stamps money out of politics. The'stamps stamp money with slogans such as Not to be used for bribing politicians. No matter what issue you are most passionate about environment, healthcare, soaring prescription drug costs the root cause is always linked to corporations giving so-called donations in large sums to politicians, in a process Senator John McCain has called legalized bribery, Ben Cohen told me in an interview for the New York Observer in December _NUMBER_. A few hundred really wealthy people put in the majority of early contributions to our country's presidential candidates, he'said. In the context of congress, our representatives get gobs of money from corporations through lobbyists for either passing or not passing legislation, essentially transforming our democracy into an oligarchy. We can't tackle the rest of the problems until we tackle this basic one. It's difficult to address because it requires an amendment to overturn a Supreme Court decision, but that's what Americans have done throughout history we have worked to overturn egregious decisions, which is why we have the constitutional amendment process. The non-profit's website, StampStampede.org, has photos of stamped money posing with Senator Elizabeth Warren and other advocates for getting money out of politics. As long as corporate and wealthy influences can undermine democracy through campaign contributions, the gridlock in congress will persist and most likely worsen. Big money doesn't want meaningful progressive reforms, they want to influence legislation to insulate themselves from the rigors of a competitive market while exploiting tax loopholes and government subsidies to maximize their profits at the expense of the working and middle classes in America.Featured Image Courtesy of Flickr

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Habeas Corpus for Animals???The animal personhood movement believes dolphins, great apes, and elephants deserve to be able to sue and now it has a plaintiff.A New York judge has ordered the'state to justify why two chimpanzees allegedly kept at a Long Island public university and used as research subjects shouldn't be transferred to an animal sanctuary in south Florida.The animal rights advocates representing the animals hailed the judge's decision late Monday to grant a hearing early next month as a watershed moment for their long and controversial effort to persuade courts to confer human rights on primates.It wasn't as big a victory for animal rights fanatics as initially thought:The judge, according to , mistakenly labeled her order a writ of habeas corpus, saying she had only granted the hearing to discuss the legal issues raised by the Nonhuman Rights Project. Judge Jaffe on Tuesday amended her initial order, striking out the words habeas corpus from the document.That's how progressivism works. They push the envelope as far as they can. If people scream with laughter or in horror, they pull it back a little. Then, after the barrage of liberal propaganda we are relentlessly assailed with from every direction has had a little more time to work on us, they push the envelope forward again.For their part the animal rights kooks are not backing down:The organization isn't challenging the conditions of their confinement, but the confinement itself. In a petition last month, the group described the animals as autonomous and self-determining beings who should be protected by the common law of habeas corpus, a right granted only to legal persons. Give Obama a few more years to stack the courts with left-wing zealots. Not only will monkeys, dogs, and goldfish have habeas corpus rights, they will be entitled to vote and collect welfare or rather, their human companions will be entitled to on their behalf.Why not? According to liberal ideology, souls do not exist, and there is no moral difference between a human and an animal.

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel is on track to win a fourth term in Sunday's national election despite a dip in support for her conservatives, a poll showed on Tuesday, and she shrugged off calls to quit from far-right hecklers. Merkel has been repeatedly booed during the election campaign, particularly in Germany's formerly Communist east, where support is strongest for the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany , set to enter parliament for the first time. An opinion poll published on Tuesday by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung daily put the AfD on _NUMBER_ percent, up two points since the end of August, while Merkel's Christian Democrats and their Bavarian CSU allies slipped two points to _NUMBER_ percent. However, the CDU/CSU remain far ahead of the center-left Social Democrats, which were also down two points on _NUMBER_ percent, according to the poll conducted by Allensbach for the FAZ, while the business-friendly Free Democrats edged up to _NUMBER_ percent. People who whistle and heckle contribute little, Merkel told a CDU rally in the northeastern port town of Wismar, not far from where she grew up. Merkel was unperturbed when a man shouted Traitor to the fatherland during her speech, while several dozen supporters of the far-right National Democratic Party gathered outside, carrying posters reading Merkel must go! Hundreds of AfD party members and anti-Islam activists rallied together in the eastern city of Dresden on Monday, counting down the days to a vote set to make the AfD the first far-right group in Germany's parliament in more than _NUMBER_ years. The AfD has capitalized on discontent over the influx of one million migrants into Germany in _NUMBER_ and _NUMBER_, but the other parties all refuse to work with the AfD and no one wants to sit next to them in parliament. Merkel contrasted Tuesday's hecklers with the contribution of _NUMBER_ million Germans who are involved in voluntary associations, including those who help support refugees. But she added that the recent wave of migrants should not and will not be repeated . Another poll, conducted by Forsa for RTL television and Stern magazine, showed support for Merkel's CDU/CSU bloc fell one percentage point in the last week to _NUMBER_ percent, its lowest since April, while the SPD was unchanged on _NUMBER_ percent. SPD leader Martin Schulz has been campaigning against inequality, but his message has failed to gain traction at a time when unemployment is at its lowest in decades. The Allensbach poll showed that _NUMBER_ percent think the CDU has done the best job to address the issues that interest voters, compared to _NUMBER_ percent for the SPD and _NUMBER_ percent for the AfD. In fresh positive news from the economy, the Mannheim-based ZEW research institute said the mood among German investors improved more than expected in September as worries about the stronger euro faded. The ZEW survey suggested markets expect Europe's biggest economy to continue its solid performance in the coming months, buoyed by record-high employment, rising real wages and ultra-low borrowing costs that are supporting a consumer-led upswing. With Merkel's conservatives commanding a solid poll lead, the main question in Germany now is who she will govern with after the election, rather than whether she will stay in power. The latest polls put support for the far-left party Die Linke at _NUMBER_-_NUMBER_ percent, and the environmentalist Greens on _NUMBER_ percent. This means that only another grand coalition of Merkel's conservatives with the SPD or a three-way alliance of the conservatives, FDP and Greens would have a stable majority. The Allensbach poll showed _NUMBER_ percent of voters would prefer a coalition of conservatives with the FDP, while _NUMBER_ percent want a continuation of the current grand coalition and _NUMBER_ percent favor an alliance of SPD, Linke and Greens.

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Wal-Mart Stores Inc, Target Corp and PepsiCo Inc on Wednesday joined an expanded group of nearly _NUMBER_ companies calling in a letter for U.S. legislation to protect immigrants brought into the country illegally by their parents from deportation, according to organizer FWD.us. The retailers and other companies asking Congress to pass a permanent replacement for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, reflect broadening pressure on political leaders to find a solution for the roughly _NUMBER_ immigrants known as "Dreamers". A group of businesses less than half the size and weighted toward technology companies sent a similar letter in August, before President Donald Trump said he would end the program. The new letter reflects Trump's decision and asks for a permanent solution to let DACA recipients remain in the United States. Trump said that DACA immigrants who have work permits that expire before March can apply to renew them for another two years, if they do so before Oct. _NUMBER_. Both letters were spearheaded by FWD.us, a pro-immigration group co-founded by Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg. The very first incarnation of the letter included signatories from major technology companies such as Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp and Amazon.com and Alphabet Inc's Google. But over the course of several days, a much broader swath of the U.S. economy, from media firm Viacom to private equity firm TPG signed on. The newer letter adds firms like biotech firm Becton, Dickinson and Co, according to a copy of the letter and signatures seen by Reuters. "That you see business leaders from every major sector of the economy come out and ask Congress to pass a permanent fix for DACA right away shows that this is a bipartisan issue that has strong support," Todd Schulte, president of FWD.us, told Reuters. The new letter calls on Congress to "immediately pass the bipartisan DREAM Act - or similar legislation - that gives Dreamers the permanent legislative solution they deserve." The DREAM Act, first introduced in Congress in _NUMBER_, would provide Dreamers with a way to become U.S. citizens after first becoming permanent residents. DACA, a set of executive actions introduced by President Barack Obama in _NUMBER_, didn't include a pathway to citizenship, which would require an act of Congress. Some conservatives in particular object to offering citizenship to DACA recipients. Activists including United We Dream also are encouraging DACA recipients and companies they work for to be public about their situation. Enrique Ramirez was brought to the United States from Mexico when he was two years old. He graduated from Harvard University and is now attending law school at the University of Texas at Austin. "There's been so much money invested in me by this country, wouldn't even a conservative person want me to contribute to my community here?" Ramirez said. DACA shields recipients from deportation and allowed them to work and attend school legally if certain requirements were met. Speaking on ABC television on Sept. _NUMBER_, Apple CEO Tim Cook said he was "encouraged" that leading Democrats and Republican President Trump have said they are near a deal on DACA legislation. Apple has said it has _NUMBER_ DACA beneficiaries among its ranks. "We think it's essential that we not only let them stay in this country, but welcome them," Cook said of DACA recipients. "I am encouraged that Congress will pass a law to make this permanent." Other tech companies are looking to pair with local groups to help DACA recipients. Ride-haling firm Uber Technologies Inc said that is holding a series of town-hall meetings in _NUMBER_ cities to answer drivers' questions about DACA changes, and that it plans to donate _CUR_500,000 to local groups that can help drivers with issues like paperwork and application fees.

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The'same woman who has been privy to our nations top secret classified information through our reckless former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, has a father who openly advocated for state sponsored Sharia Law and a mother who Abedin's mother founded an aid organization in the 1990s that was tied to the Muslim Brotherhood. This is the'same Secretary of State whose largest contributors to the Clinton Foundation Hillary's campaign slush fund are from majority Muslim nations who police Sharia Law. Abed in is also currently serving as Vice Chair to Hillary Clinton's campaign. Is this a coincidence?In August _NUMBER_, we'reported that Huma Abedin made a surprise visit to Dearborn, MI. with absolutely no press coverage by the mainstream media. As a side note, Dearborn, MI has the largest population of Muslims in America.According to the Arab American News: Huma Abedin, vice chair for the Hillary for America campaign, met with Arab and Muslim American leaders on Aug. _NUMBER_, to discuss issues that matter to the community.During her speech, Abedin praised the patriotism and heroism of Muslims across the country, including the Khan family, a Muslim Gold Star family whose son, Captain Human Khan, was killed in Iraq while protecting his fellow service members.STUNNING DEVELOPMENTSyed Abedin, the father of top Hillary Clinton aide Huma, outlined his view of Sharia law and how the Western world has turned Muslims hostile during a wide-ranging video interview that shines newfound light on the reclusive thinker's world views, according to footage exclusively obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.Abedin, a Muslim scholar who was tied to the Saudi Arabian government until his death in _NUMBER_, has remained somewhat of a mystery as the media turns its eye to his daughter Huma, a top Clinton campaign aide who recently announced her separation from husband Anthony Weiner following his multiple sex scandals.Syed Abedin explained his views on the Muslim world and spread of Islam during a _NUMBER_ interview titled The World of Islam, which was first broadcast on Western Michigan University television.Abedin said that Arab states must police the upholding of Sharia, or Islamic law, and explained why the majority of Muslims view Israel and the Western world in primarily hostile terms.The video provides a window into the Abedin family's ideology, which has been marred by accusations it is connected to the Muslim Brotherhood.Abedin, who was then a professor in the university's college of general studies, said that Western intervention in the Arab world has sparked a backlash among many faithful Muslims. The response to the West has been of two kinds, Abedin said. By and large the response has taken more of a hostile form. The first impulse of the average Muslim in the Islamic world is that this kind of borrowing would be somehow an alien factor into our social fabric and thereby destroying the integrity of our ethos the integrity of our culture, he added.In a separate discussion on the'state's role in a person's life, Abedin said it is necessary to police the application of Sharia law. The'state has to take over as Muslim countries evolve, he argued. The'state is stepping in in many countries where the'state is now overseeing that human relationships are carried on on the basis of Islam. The'state also under Islam has a right to interfere in some of these rights given to the individual by the Sharia. For entire story: WFBHuman Abedin's mother who was the Muslim World League's delegate to the UN conference wrote in a _NUMBER_ article that Clinton anentire d other speakers were advancing a very aggressive and radically feminist agenda that was un-Islamic and wrong because it focused on empowering women She'seemed to rationalize domestic abuse as a result of the'stress and frustrations that men encounter in their daily lives. While denouncing such violence, she didn't think it did much good to punish men for it.