This is a HUGE condemnation of the Republican Party.Ever since Donald Trump kicked off his campaign for the presidency, Republicans have cowered before him endorsing him one by one even after saying that they disagree with him and despise the divisive and hateful rhetoric he spews.But former George W. Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson put his writing skills to use on Thursday to pen an epic rebuke of Donald Trump and the Republicans who support him. Trump pretty much represents the negation of everything I ve argued about politics and ideology for the last 30 years, Gerson wrote on Facebook.What he is attacking is not just the establishment. He is attacking a way of doing politics based on persuasion, consensus, compassion and inclusion. Those who argue that conservatism is fundamentally at odds with these values know nothing of conservatism. But Trump represents the confirmation of the worse conservative and Republican caricatures a belief that cultural and religious minorities are threats, a belief that America should abandon its deepest values in the conduct of global affairs, a belief that the values and institutions of our government have failed, and that the times require a strong hand.Gerson continued ripping Trump for wanting to tear down what makes America great.At its best (and, God knows, it has not always been at its best) America shows a welcoming spirit, an example of how a great nation can be united by ideals instead of bloodlines, a place, as George Washington said, where there shall be none to make him afraid. We should love American traditions and institutions enough to repair them, not hand them over to an authoritarian wannabe, who is too ignorant to even understand the inheritance he is casting away.And then he really let Trump have it.Trump s magical policy thinking, setting goals with no serious thought of how they might be achieved; his menacing encouragement of political violence; his disdain for ethnic and religious minorities, which has unleashed and emboldened racists and anti-Semites of every sort; his penchant for conspiracy theories, including a very dangerous vaccine denialism; his promises to conduct the war on terrorism by ordering war crimes, which would set up a constitutional crisis when the US military honorably refuses; his cynical manipulation of gullible religious leaders with tactics that border on blasphemy; his casual use of lies, which he defends even when exposed.Gerson then turned his focus toward the GOP and slammed them for supporting Trump even though he represents the destruction of all the progress America had made since gaining independence from Great Britain and damned them to regret it for all of time.How does any of this return lost greatness to our nation? Sometimes I want to shake people (intellectually,not physically) who favor political disruption and ask: Disruption in favor of what? Look at what you are doing! Look at what you have done! The Republican Party is now firmly harnessed to the wild, uncontrollable horses of fear and exclusion. It has already sustained damage with Latino voters that may take a generation to undo. And now many Republicans will find rationalizations to support Trump. That is natural the reality of politics in every time. Many people simply go with the winner. But this isn t a normal time. I believe that the decision to support Trump, like an embarrassing tattoo, will follow them the rest of their lives. Republicans are not merely making a choice; they are looking into the abyss.Here s the full post via Facebook.// < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); // ]]>I feel bad, on one hand, to be so focused on (some would say, obsessed by) the Trump phenomenon. And it is my intention Posted by Michael J. Gerson on Thursday, March 17, 2016Gerson ended his post by leaving a link to an op-ed he wrote for the Washington Post in which he says Republicans are staining themselves by supporting Trump and that perhaps one of the only honorable option left to save themselves from being forever remembered as the party that destroyed America is to vote for Hillary Clinton.Seriously, Republicans. Listen to Michael Gerson. His advice may just save your party from killing itself.Featured image: Cagle


Waking Times  Browsing through history, it's very clear that the world has undergone many monumental shifts in society that have uprooted it's very foundation in place of new seed.  A paradigm shift is a fundamental change in approach or underlining assumptions. For example, when Pythagoras proposed that the Earth was round instead of flat, the foundation of science and people's understanding of the world was completely changed. Similarly, when the Industrial Revolution took place there was a complete shift in manufacturing, lifestyle, and economics.  A paradigm shift can literally shake a society to its core, taking it off its current path and putting it on a brand new one. Though it might appear the opposite in the corporate controlled mainstream news, it appears that the entire world is in the very early stages of a paradigm shift. These shifts take place in many of the worlds most basic elements and redefine how life functions.  Here are 8 signs the world is undergoing a paradigm shift: 1. The Power of the Internet and the Age of Information  The Internet is arguably the greatest invention in the history of man. Never in our known history has man had access to such a broad range of diverse information from all over the world at the tips of his fingers. Many forget that the Internet has only really been commercialized in the west since the early 1990's and its spread across the world hasn't even come close to peaking yet. The Internet is undoubtedly giving rise to the Age of Information as people become more awake to what's really going on in the world.  A multitude of information is now accessible if one knows where to look. People can now learn new skills or hear different versions of the truth in mere minutes. The Internet is not only giving rise to an open access of information, but communication is almost instantaneous all over the world. It is paramount that the Internet remain an open decentralized system in which everyone can freely add and operate if this paradigm shift is to continue. It feeds almost all other shifts. 2. The Ascent Of the Independent Non-Corporate Online Media  Thanks solely to the Internet, the rise in independent journalism has taken off. Alternative media has become an increasingly popular choice for those wishing to stay truly informed, especially younger generations. People are continually switching off cable news ( cable TV all together ), and instead resorting to online sources. While mainstream news is still the number one source of current world events for the masses, the tide is slowly changing as people are awakening to the fact that corporate sponsored media is mostly propaganda and half-truths.  War is becoming much harder to justify as independent journalists have shined the light on what the powers that be never wanted anyone to see. A prime example is the conflict in Syria in which the establishment, despite the lack of popular support, so desperately wanted to start a war that when the rebels they were funding used chemical weapons, it was then blamed on the Assad government to protect their investment and design. Thanks to independent journalists, a war has so far been averted since it was revealed that the U.S. was in bed with the rebel groups and it was the rebels who used the chemical weapons . This new faction of journalism will give peace a legitimate chance as all dirty laundry is now being aired and corrupt alliances exposed. This in turn has allowed many people to deprogram from the countless media they have taken in over the years and see the world through a clearer lens in which the truth is more evident. 3. A Global Monetary Reshuffling  Though it will never be broadcast on mainstream news, the real threat of a U.S. dollar collapse as the world reserve currency is very real. The paradigm of central bank controlled economies that can issue credit and zero percent interest rates through nearly unlimited printing of money backed by nothing is an illusion that is beginning to break down. It's not just the U.S. dollar that's under threat, but many other central currencies such as the Euro and Yen. Massive equity bubbles are being blown up by this cheap credit along with massive debt that will be nearly impossible to pay back with the current economies in which only the very elite benefit.  Many countries are waking up to the fact that, like all other bubbles, these bubbles will burst and they are beginning to break away from the dollar. Examples include the buildup of a new central bank in the emerging economy of the BRICS group, the countless countries passing trade agreements in which bypassing the U.S. dollar (including agreements in oil), and the persistent selling of treasury stocks by the Chinese government who quite often are the last resort buyer of U.S. debt. Not only has there been a shift in the pecking order of fiat paper currencies, but decentralized crypto-currencies like Bitcoin are threatening the very system of fiat money and the centralized control a select few elite have on that system through central banks. This would shift power worldwide. 4. The Rise of the Peer-to-Peer Economy  A Peer-to-Peer (P20) Economy is a de-centralized model whereby two individuals interact to buy or sell goods and services directly with each other, without intermediation by a third-party, or without the use of a company or business. We see this being used by companies like Air BnB, Uber, Craigslist, Sidecar, and Dogvacay among others. Often referred to as a sharing economy, there is no centralized control of power, allowing people to more directly profit from their goods/services rather than pay unnecessary middlemen along the way.  This is a trend that is sure to grow as technology makes it easier for people to make it on their own and allows for people to own their means of production and finished goods, instead of just being paid in the production process. The peer-to-peer economy is also possible through the abundance of goods already out there, allowing for goods to be shared and recycled rather than thrown away and reproduced. Not only is the peer-to-peer economy growing, but many young people are ditching the career 9-5 jobs and branching off into independent careers or job hopping . The top down business model in economics has now found a legitimate system in which a decentralized bottom up approach gives the power back to the people. 5. The Shift Towards Renewable Energy  The shift towards renewable energy is a forgone conclusion as renewable energy is the way of the future. In fact, the shift looks to be happening faster than people realize. According to the Global Energy Initiative , "Numerous scenarios projected levels of renewable energy for 2020 that already were surpassed by 2010." The IEA states that, "In 2012, the world relied on renewable sources for around 13.2% of its total primary energy supply, and in 2013 renewables accounted for almost 22% of global electricity generation."  With increased technological capabilities along with ever-growing concern over the state of the environment, the world is beginning to not only shift towards renewables, but the power over energy supplies and grids is decentralizing. For example, home solar panels or the new Tesla Powerwall , would enable people to access their own energy directly from the sun without going through middlemen. Another example is a local city like Burlington, VT being the first city in the U.S. to use 100% renewable energy; even whole countries like Paraguay, Iceland and Norway being 100% renewable . Cheap localized energy is on the horizon along with the very real possibility Nikola Tesla once envisioned, which is a world of free energy . 6. A Return to Organic Food  The reemergence of organic food is not only on the rise, but the use of farmers markets and locally grown food is on the rise as well. According to the Non GMO project , "In more than 60 countries around the world, including Australia, Japan, and all of the countries in the European Union, there are significant restrictions or outright bans on the production and sale of GMOs ." The rise is so strong that according to the Organic Trade Association, "Supply shortages [of organics] are one of the greatest challenges facing the industry today. Despite continued growth in production, handlers are not able to keep up with demand."  Thanks in large part to the Internet and non-corporate sponsored research, people are beginning to understand the importance behind knowing exactly what's in the food one consumes and how it directly correlates to health. This has put mounting pressure on food businesses to adapt. The signs are already evident as Chipotle sees their profits increase while operating completely Non-GMO , while sales giants such as McDonalds see profits continue to decrease amidst health concerns over their food. Many are beginning to truly care what goes into their body and the rise of localized non-organic food in this country is a direct result of this health-conscious shift. 7. The Understanding Of a World of Abundance  As Gandhi famously said, "The world has enough for every man's needs, but not for every man's greed." People are finally awaking to the fact that there is enough to go around, just not with the current systems in place. No one is saying there is enough for everyone to live at current western consumption rates, however with adoption of renewable energy, new forms of decentralized government and economics, and the increase in the usage of technological capabilities, there is more than enough for everyone in the world to live happily. For example, the world produces enough food for 10 billion people, yet many go starving as a result of faulty systems of distribution. Another example is water; there is more than enough water on the planet, but it's the economic systems that get in the way of technology.  The notion of scarcity has long haunted the systems of government and economics, but now a new paradigm of abundance is beginning to take root in the minds of people. The Venus project is a prime example of an alternative resource based economy in which sustainability and resource supply are taken into account. A world of abundance with zero emission is no longer just a pipe dream, but could very well become a reality as people think in terms of abundance. 8. The Global Consciousness Shift  Finally a consciousness shift is underway in which people are starting to see themselves as more than just individual people operating in an isolated bubble, but instead as a connected piece in the collective consciousness of planet Earth. The Internet, along with the increased capacity for travel, has allowed people from all over the world to connect. So many parts of the global society have become interconnected and people are beginning to take notice of not only their own country, but countries abroad.  Many are beginning to realize that one group of people suffering means everyone is suffering. This interconnection to everything has given rise to practices such as meditation, yoga, and travel, as well as the continued global acceptance towards mind altering organic substances like marijuana and mushrooms . People are beginning to emotionally connect to life all over the world and not just their immediate home and surroundings. This new reality is showing people that there is more to life than money, as connection to all living things is equally, if not more, valuable.  As one can see, the world is very much in the early stages of a shift in consciousness and design. These shifts are leading to a growing decentralization movement in which the power controls of society are taken from the few and given to the many. Obviously, there is a very strong force at play that is fighting against this paradigm shift. This force is fighting for centralization of power in almost all facets of life. There can be no doubt of the presence of this resistance when one examines the ever-increasing wealth and power gap that is out of control in this country.  The actions taken by these elite organizations are getting more radical and desperate by the day. With all that being said, the global paradigm shift has one advantage that I believe will be the game changer, and that's the will of the people. This is not just the people of a a single country, but internationally, as united global movements such as Occupy Wall street , the Arab Spring, and March Against Monsanto are happening simultaneously all over the world around central causes. So wake-up and participate, for we are in the early stages of a revolutionary paradigm shift in the consciousness of the masses that can truly change society for the better. About the Author  An avid free-thinker, Tim has set out on a mission in search of the truth in whatever form it may come. Ever since his awakening several years ago, his passion for knowledge and justice has led him on a journey into deep research, cultural travel, and complete expansion of the mind. Tim feels as if the information freely flowing into the hands of the public, due to the dawn of the Internet, cannot be stopped at this point, so he has made it his goal to help facilitate and breakdown this complex stream of information, so that others can accelerate their own awakening and be part of the inevitable change happening in society.  You can connect with Tim at:


As he brags that he is turning down millions of dollars for his presidential campaign, Donald Trump has leveled a steady line of attack against his rivals: that they are too cozy with big-money super PACs and may be breaking the law by coordinating with them. "You know the nice part about me?" he told reporters in Iowa in August. "I don't need anybody's money." What Trump doesn't say is that he and his top campaign aide have connections to a super PAC collecting large checks to support his candidacy — a group viewed by people familiar with his campaign as the sanctioned outlet for wealthy donors. This summer, Trump appeared at at least two events for the Make America Great Again PAC, which took his campaign slogan as its name and received financing from his daughter's mother-in-law. A consultant for the super PAC is a Republican operative who has previously worked with Trump's campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, according to several people with direct knowledge of their ties. The Trump campaign's links to the low-profile group could undercut the candidate's posture as the only Republican in the race who has not sought to curry favor with wealthy donors, a central part of his anti-establishment message. Lewandowski denied that Trump or the campaign had given the green light to Make America Great Again. "Unlike other campaigns, we don't have a quote-unquote designated super PAC that we tell people to give money to," he said. In a later interview, he threatened to file a lawsuit if The Washington Post reported that Trump had given the group his blessing. "I want to be crystal clear," Lewandowski said. "There is no sanctioned super PAC." Trump did not respond to requests for comments made through Lewandowski and communications director Hope Hicks. [Voters are mad about mega-donors, and it's helping Trump and Sanders] There are a number of links between the real estate tycoon's political operation and the Make America Great Again PAC. Mike Ciletti, a Colorado-based operative who told Politico in August that he is a consultant for the super PAC, was at the Trump campaign offices repeatedly in May and June, according to two people familiar with the visits. WizBang Solutions, the small Commerce City, Colo., printing company where Ciletti serves as a director, is a vendor to the campaign, collecting more than $56,000 in payments so far, according to Federal Election Commission filings. The Trump campaign has paid Ciletti's printing firm since April, with the most recently reported payment on Sept. 18. Since July, Ciletti has been serving as the super PAC's consultant. Such an arrangement with a common vendor is permissible under federal rules only if the firm has a strict firewall in place to prevent coordination. Neither Ciletti nor the company's president returned repeated requests for comment. In one of several interviews with The Post, Lewandowski first denied knowing Ciletti or anyone connected to the super PAC. "I don't know him," Lewandowski said. Two days later, when confronted with the campaign's payments to Ciletti's firm, Lewandowski acknowledged he was familiar with Ciletti. "I know a lot of people," he said. "I know of Mike Ciletti." After being pressed for more details, he hung up. As Trump has soared to the top of the GOP field, he has vehemently criticized the influence of rich contributors, expressing disgust at the proliferation of super PACs and their close ties to other presidential contenders. While candidates are not supposed to collaborate directly with super PACs, they have found creative ways to work in concert. In a recent interview with The Washington Post, the New York tycoon said he planned to go after his opponents for pushing the limits of federal coordination rules. "They're in total cahoots with their [super] PACs, which they're not allowed to be," Trump told The Post earlier this month. "They're all in total cahoots. They put their friends in there. One good thing about me: I'm not." [The 2016 presidential contenders and their big-money backers] Trump has been pressing that argument at his rallies, recently going after former Florida governor Jeb Bush and former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton. "You know the candidate's not allowed to talk to the PAC, right?" Trump asked a crowd in the Atlanta suburb of Norcross on Oct. 10. "They're not allowed to talk to the PAC. You think that Bush is talking to his PAC?" "You think that Hillary is talking to her PAC?" "Not allowed to, by the way, not allowed to," Trump continued. "I don't." Bush spokeswoman Allie Brandenburger dismissed Trump's comments as a "baseless attack," saying the campaign "fully complies with all federal campaign compliance and finance laws and regulations." A Clinton spokesman declined to comment. Since Trump's candidacy has taken off, a dozen super PACs with names such as Art of the Deal PAC and Let's Trump Politics have sprung up to support him. But only one is viewed as operating with his blessing, according to four people familiar with the internal dynamics who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations. Sources say that the groundwork for the PAC was laid in the spring. As he drew close to announcing his candidacy, Trump talked privately with friends and advisers about the benefits of having an allied super PAC to help cover expenses, according to three people familiar with the conversations. He and his aides were also said to have been worried that unscrupulous individuals could create scam PACs that would take advantage of Trump supporters, and they are said to have talked about the need to have a reputable entity in place. The discussions are said to have occurred before Trump became an official candidate, after which he faced restrictions on how he could interact with an outside group. Lewandowski denied that such conversations occurred. "Mr. Trump has $10 billion," he said. "He doesn't care about a super PAC." [Inside the fabulous world of Donald Trump, where money is no problem] At the time, Ciletti was already helping the Trump team. He had previously worked with Lewandowski when the latter was a top official at the conservative advocacy group Americans for Prosperity, which used Ciletti's company, WizBang Solutions, as a vendor, according to people familiar with their relationship. Americans for Prosperity reported in FEC filings paying WizBang $46,000 in the 2014 elections for mailers in Colorado, North Carolina and North Dakota. The Trump campaign first paid WizBang in April to print T-shirts and business cards — two months before Trump declared his candidacy — and has paid the firm every month since, campaign finance filings show. Lewandowski gave conflicting statements to The Post about whether he had made the decision to hire Ciletti, at first saying he had not and then in a subsequent conversation saying he did not remember. He declined to say how he knew the Colorado consultant. "I know of a lot of people," he said. "I have been in politics for 25 years." Ciletti, who was a consultant for now-Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.)'s 2010 congressional bid, is listed in corporate filings as the director of WizBang Solutions, which is headquartered in an industrial park off the interstate in Commerce City outside of Denver. Although WizBang Solutions offers some marketing services, it's best known locally for its printing shop, which produces glossy mailers, signs and other items. The firm's president, Marty Soudani, did not respond to requests for comment. Ciletti began working with Trump's team in the run-up to his June 16 announcement and visited the Trump Tower offices multiple times, according to two people who saw him there. By July, he was fielding pitches from vendors who wished to do work for the PAC, according to a consultant who did a presentation for Ciletti. The Make America Great Again PAC was registered with the FEC on July 1. A Denver lawyer named Jon Anderson sent in the paperwork. He did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The super PAC's Web site prominently features a photo of Trump and his quotes, as well as news articles about his campaign. "We believe in the conservative principles America was founded upon and know that with the right leadership the citizens of this country will come together to help Make America Great Again," reads a statement on the site. A nonprofit group called Make America Great Again that shares the same treasurer as the super PAC was also registered by Anderson, who submitted the incorporation papers in August with the Colorado secretary of state. Like super PACs, nonprofit groups can accept unlimited donations, but they are not required to disclose their contributors. Such organizations, set up under Section 501(c)(4) of the tax code, can do some political activity but that cannot be their primary purpose. Over the summer, Trump attended at least two events for the Make America Great Again PAC: one in Manhattan in July at the home of a woman who is a longtime Trump business associate, as first reported by Politico, and another in August at the New Jersey beachfront mansion of Seryl and Charles Kushner, his daughter Ivanka's in-laws, as CNN reported. Guests did not have to donate to the super PAC to attend the Kushners' event, but they were given information about how to make a contribution, and many wrote checks for various amounts, according to a person familiar with the situation. Seryl Kushner also contributed $100,000 to the Make America Great Again PAC, according to a Kushner family spokesman, who said Trump did not solicit the donation. Under FEC rules, candidates are allowed to appear at fundraisers for super PACs but they cannot request donations of more than $5,000. Lewandowski said the two gatherings that Trump attended were not fundraisers, calling the party at the Kushner estate "a family event." When asked whether Trump knew the receptions were organized by the super PAC, Lewandowski did not respond directly. "They were both just a meet-and-greet," he said. "He gave brief remarks and then left." Make America Great Again PAC has not yet reported making any expenditures. The group will not have to disclose any information about its donors until Jan. 31, the day before the Iowa caucuses. On the trail, Trump has maintained that he has no idea who is setting up super PACs on his behalf. When asked by a reporter in New Hampshire last week whether he would call on such groups to cease raising money, Trump responded: "I know nothing about them, because I have nothing to do with them. I don't even know the people running them." Alice Crites, Anu Narayanswamy and Philip Rucker contributed to this report.


A Shi ite Muslim judge abducted in eastern Saudi Arabia a year ago has been killed by his kidnappers, the Saudi state news agency SPA reported on Monday. Sheikh Mohammed al-Jirani disappeared last December from outside his home in the Qatif region, which is home to about one million Shi ite Muslims in the predominantly Sunni Muslim kingdom. SPA said a security officer and one of the kidnappers were killed in a clash on Dec. 19 and a second kidnapper was arrested. It also said the judge s body had been found in the remote farming district of Awamiya but did not say when he had been killed. Authorities said earlier this year that three men being sought in connection with the abduction were already on a wanted list for their suspected involvement in terrorist attacks in eastern Saudi Arabia. Since 2011 the region has been shaken by frequent, though mostly peaceful, protests by the Shi ite minority. However, Shi ite militants, angry over what they say is repression of their community, have sometimes attacked Saudi security forces in the oil-producing Eastern Province where Qatif is located.


The parliament group for Lebanon s Hezbollah said in a statement on Thursday that Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri s return from abroad and his positive statements signal a possible return to normality in Lebanon, al-Mayadin TV channel reported. Hariri resigned abruptly while in Saudi Arabia on Nov. 4, sparking a political crisis in Lebanon, but returned to Beirut late on Tuesday and shelved his resignation.


Informal mining in Brazil is seen by many as a scourge polluting the Amazon rainforest, poisoning indigenous tribes and robbing the nation of its wealth. For others it is a way of life. Brazilian garimpos, or wildcat mines, are operated by small crews of men, often caked in red-brown mud and working with rudimentary pans, shovels and sluice boxes that have been used for centuries. More sophisticated operations use water cannons and boats sucking mud from the bottoms of rivers. Regardless of the method, searching for gold and other minerals like cassiterite and niobium is dirty, dangerous and often illegal. Looking for gold is like playing in a casino, said a 48-year-old miner. Miners asked not to be named, saying they feared the police as much of their work is illegal. He started in the wildcat mines as a teenager in the area around Crepurizao a ramshackle frontier town of 5,000 with a dirt landing strip that is a gateway for informal mining in the region. Garimpos are in the spotlight as Brazil debates opening an area known as Renca in the northern Amazon forest to mining, which has met with stiff resistance from environmentalists. Mines and Energy Minister Fernando Coelho Filho argues that licensed mining will be an improvement over the estimated 1,000 people currently mining in the reserve illegally. Crepurizao lies hundreds of miles south of Renca, but gives a window into life in the garimpos caught up in the debate. Living in makeshift homes of wood and plastic, miners in the area ship some 60 kilograms (132 lbs) of gold per month, according to traders. That much pure gold is worth millions of dollars on the global market, but high costs and layers of traders in the local market leave most miners living on the brink of poverty. Basic staples can cost four or five times the price in the nearest city, an eight-hour bus ride away. Fuel stations, a general store, a bar, an evangelical church and prostitutes vie for the income and attention of the miners, known as garimpeiros, when they aren t working or lazing in hammocks. There are 2,113 licensed garimpo sites in Brazil, according to ministry data, but environmental experts and two government officials, who asked not to be named, said far more small-scale mines skip the licensing and ignore regulations altogether. In Crepurizao, where mines often cluster close together, it was unclear which operations were licensed. The total area worked by garimpeiros in Brazil is thought to be small. But chemicals like mercury, which miners in Crepurizao dump to separate gold from grit, can leave a large footprint of contamination. In March last year, a government-backed study of indigenous villages in the northern state of Roraima revealed alarming levels of mercury. One group of villagers had more than double the level of mercury considered to be a serious health risk - such as damage to the central nervous system, kidneys, heart and reproductive process - detected in their hair. The Mining and Energy Ministry said a new oversight agency created in a decree by President Michel Temer, now pending congressional approval, would allow more effective government coordination and inspections to restrict illegal mining. Congressman Leonardo Quintao, who sits on the committee considering the new agency, said it will be able to raise more funding for oversight. He said the regulations target licensed miners, while illegal mining remains a matter for the police. Still, one Ibama enforcement officer, who was not authorized to speak to the media, said the government had left miners like those in Crepurizao in a precarious limbo. You can t just pull them out of the garimpos and the cities that are living off gold. And the government does not offer them structure and decent conditions, said the officer. So they re stranded there without the minimum conditions for survival. (Click on reut.rs/2f6E5c2 for related photo essay)


Saturday night s debate saw Donald Trump and Ted Cruz going at each other repeatedly. More specifically, it saw them calling one another liars. Now, Trump has gone on record saying that Cruz is the biggest liar he s ever known. In fact, Trump seems to believe that these alleged lies on the part of Ted Cruz is enough to bring a lawsuit against the Texas Senator. Watch Trump seem to lose his mind as he repeats the same line over and over like a crazy parrot: So we will bring a lawsuit if he doesn t straighten his act out. He s a lying guy, a really lying guy. Some people misrepresent. This guy s just a plain out liar. In fact, I felt better because Marco Rubio called him a liar the other night on stage. I felt so much better. I said good, politician calls a politician? Now I can actually call him a liar. Well considering that Donald Trump has a pretty tenuous relationship with the truth himself, this isn t really saying a whole lot. That whole field of GOP clowns lies through their teeth for sport, so it s really just hypocrisy at its finest. But hey, at least it s great for entertainment.Watch the video below, as posted to Facebook by Fox News:// < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); // ]]> We will bring a lawsuit if he doesn t straighten his act out [Ted Cruz] is a lying guy. Donald J. TrumpPosted by Fox News on Monday, February 15, 2016Featured image from video screen capture


Hmmm .If we didn t know better, we d almost think Obama and Valerie Jarrett had a hand in writing this whacked out script. Don t let some hot-headed member of Congress screw this up. ???This propaganda piece was clearly created for the low information voter A group of celebrities and public figures have come together in a new video to get behind the Obama administration s nuclear deal with Iran, urging the public not to let Congress sabotage the agreement.Actors Morgan Freeman and Jack Black joined forces with Queen Noor of Jordan and former US Ambassador to Israel Thomas Pickering to suggest that the result of the Iran deal falling through would have dangerous consequences.The video was produced by Global Zero, a non-profit organization with the stated mission of the elimination of all nuclear weapons. It would be like a really dark unpleasant cloud of death, Black says, referring to the possibility of a nuclear attack on the United States in a tongue-in-cheek manner.Queen Noor makes it clear that paranoia about Armageddon isn t what they are selling, though. We re not actually worried about Iran dropping a nuclear weapon on the United States, she says. It is true that if Congress sabotages this deal, there would be nothing stopping Iran from getting the bomb, Pickering adds. That would likely spark an arms race throughout the region. Ultimately, we could be forced into a war with Iran, another dangerous, drawn-out and expensive conflict in the Middle East with many lives lost, says Freeman.Meanwhile, Natasha Lyonne from the popular Orange is the New Black TV show chimes in with: Don t let some hot-headed member of Congress screw this up. Since they were nice enough to give you Congress phone number, we re going to do the same: 877-630-4032. We re going to ask that you make the call and DEMAND Congress STOPS Obama from making a reckless deal with Iran, a country who is still chanting Death to America! There s a reason we don t negotiate with terrorists and it s not because we don t want peace it s because we understand that a peaceful resolution can never be reached with people who only want to see your country wiped off the map


The medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) is closing most of its 37 cholera treatment centers in Yemen, saying the epidemic appears to have peaked. Some 884,368 suspected cholera cases have been recorded in the war-torn country in the past six months, including 2,184 deaths, according to the latest figures from the World Health Organization (WHO). The case fatality rate is now 0.25 percent. The number of cholera cases reported in MSF treatment centers has significantly decreased since the peak of the outbreak. As a result, the medical organization is closing the majority of its cholera treatment centers or reducing their capacity, MSF said in a statement late on Monday. Some 567 new patients sought treatment for suspected cholera at MSF s centers in nine governorates of Yemen during the second week of October, down from 11,139 at the peak in the third week in June, it said. Only 9 percent of patients admitted by MSF last week needed to be hospitalized and a limited number of patients have symptoms that correspond with the cholera case definition (acute watery diarrhea with or without vomiting), it said. The remaining cases are believed to be due to other pathogens. Ghassan Abou Chaar, MSF head of mission in Yemen, said: The cholera outbreak is not over but it is no longer our medical priority in Yemen. However, this should not eclipse the dire health situation of millions of Yemenis who are unable to access basic primary healthcare. Civil war in Yemen has killed more than 10,000 people since it began in March 2015. Yemen s war pits the armed Houthi movement that controls the capital against the internationally-recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, which is backed by a Saudi-led coalition that has launched thousands of air strikes to restore him to power. Cholera epidemics usually subside once the disease passes through a population, but aid agencies say the Yemen epidemic lasted longer and spread wider than they initially expected because of the war s toll on health care. U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock said on Sunday that an aid effort by the World Health Organization, United Nations Children s Fund UNICEF, the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) and other agencies had managed to largely contain the devastating cholera epidemic , but warned it could flare up again without urgent investment in health, water and sanitation. ICRC said last month that the humanitarian situation in Yemen is a catastrophe , and cholera cases could reach a million by the end of the year. Alexandre Faite, head of the ICRC delegation in Yemen, said at the time that the health sector is really on its knees in Yemen ... the health staff is on its knees as well because they are not paid. Preventable illnesses and deaths are increasing in Yemen, and this can be partly attributed to the salary crisis, MSF said, noting that doctors, nurses and other public health workers had not been paid in 13 months.


U.S. President Donald Trump is strongly committed to working with the European Union toward common objectives of peace and prosperity, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said on Monday. "Today is my privilege on behalf of President Trump to express the strong commitment of the United States to continue cooperation and partnership with the European Union," Pence said in a statement read out after his meeting with European Council President Donald Tusk. "Whatever our differences, our two continents share the same heritage, the same values and above all, the same purpose to promote peace and prosperity through freedom, democracy and the rule of law. And to those objectives we will remain committed," he continued.


A new version of a Trump administration travel ban will not stop green card residency holders or travelers already on planes from entering the United States, U.S. Secretary for Homeland Security John Kelly said on Saturday. U.S. President Donald Trump's initial attempt to clamp down for security reasons on immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries and on refugees snarled to a halt amid a judicial backlash and chaos at airports. "The president is contemplating releasing a tighter, more streamlined version of the first (order). And I will have opportunity to work (on) a rollout plan, in particular to make sure that there's no one in a sense caught in the system of moving from overseas to our airports," Kelly said at the Munich Security Conference. Asked whether green card residency permit holders would be allowed in, Kelly said: "It's a good assumption and, as far as the visas go, ... if they're in motion from some distant land to the United States, when they arrive they will be allowed in." He promised "a short phase-in period to make sure that people on the other end don't get on airplanes. But if they're on an airplane and inbound, they'll be allowed to enter the country." A draft of the replacement executive order shows that the administration aims to put restrictions on citizens of the same seven Muslim-majority countries covered by the initial order, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cites an internal State Department memo. The replacement order could be issued as early as Tuesday, the Journal reported, citing a U.S. government official. The administration would seek to implement the new order a week to two weeks after it is signed, and covers citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, the Journal said. Trump's original order, which he said was meant to head off attacks by Islamist militants, barred people from those same countries from entering for 90 days and excluded all refugees for 120 days, except those from Syria, who were banned indefinitely. The abrupt implementation of the order last month plunged the immigration system into chaos, sparking a wave of criticism from the countries affected, and from Western allies and some of America's leading corporations, especially technology firms.


Hillary Rodham Clinton holds a commanding 6 to 1 lead over other Democrats heading into the 2016 presidential campaign, while the Republican field is deeply divided with no clear front-runner, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. Clinton trounces her potential primary rivals with 73 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, reinforcing a narrative of inevitability around her nomination if she runs. Vice President Biden is second with 12 percent, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) is third with 8 percent. Although Clinton's favorability rating has fallen since she stepped down as secretary of state a year ago, she has broad Democratic support across ideological, gender, ethnic and class lines. Her lead is the largest recorded in an early primary matchup in at least 30 years of Post-ABC polling. The race for the Republican nomination, in contrast, is wide open, with six prospective candidates registering 10 percent to 20 percent support. No candidate has broad backing from both tea party activists and mainline Republicans, signaling potential fissures when the GOP picks a standard-bearer in 2016. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who was at or near the top of the Republican field in many public opinion surveys last year, appears to have suffered politically from the bridge-traffic scandal engulfing his administration. The new survey puts Christie in third place — with the support of 13 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents — behind Rep. Paul Ryan (Wis.) with 20 percent and former Florida governor Jeb Bush at 18 percent. The rest of the scattered pack includes Sens. Ted Cruz (Tex.), Rand Paul (Ky.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.), who are at 12, 11 and 10 percent, respectively. Among strong backers of the tea party — who make up about one-fifth of the Republicans polled — Cruz has a big lead, with 28 percent, followed by Ryan, at 18 percent. But Cruz, an iconoclastic freshman senator who rose to prominence during last fall's partial government shutdown, registers just 4 percent among those who oppose or have no opinion of the tea party. Christie is weakest among the strong tea party set, winning 6 percent of that group, but he has the backing of 15 percent of other Republicans. Bush's base of support comes from self-identified Republicans, while Ryan's strength comes from white evangelical Protestants, young voters and less conservative wings of the party. Rubio does particularly well among Republicans with college degrees. Christie has benefited from the perception that he has unique appeal among independents and some Democrats, a reputation the governor burnished with his 2013 reelection in his strongly Democratic state. But that image has been tarnished, the survey finds. More Democrats now view Christie unfavorably than favorably, with independents divided. Republicans, meanwhile, have a lukewarm opinion, with 43 percent viewing him favorably and 33 percent unfavorably. Overall, 35 percent of Americans see him favorably and 40 percent unfavorably. Christie's administration is under investigation for a plot last fall to shut down local access lanes to the George Washington Bridge and cause four days of gridlock in Fort Lee, N.J., in an act of apparent political retribution against a Democratic mayor. Among the public, 46 percent say they consider the bridge episode a "sign of broader problems" with Christie's leadership, while 43 percent say they think it was an "isolated incident." Most Republicans give Christie the benefit of the doubt, with 57 percent saying the bridge incident is isolated. Sixty percent of Democrats say it is indicative of broader problems, while independents are almost evenly split. The 2016 presidential campaign is not likely to start taking shape until the end of this year, when candidates are expected to begin declaring their intentions. Among the Republicans, Ryan and Bush appear to be the most ambivalent about a campaign. Other Republicans not named in the poll, such as Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, could gain steam as potential candidates. On the Democratic side, Warren has said she will not run, although she has a loyal following among some liberal groups hoping to draft an alternative to Clinton. Polling this far out in the cycle is poor at forecasting winners of party nomination battles, but it offers important clues about current voter attitudes. Major fundraisers and party activists in particular look to such polls as indications of potential candidates' strengths and weaknesses on the national stage as they begin to pick their horses. In a theoretical head-to-head general-election matchup, Clinton leads Christie among registered voters, 53 percent to 41 percent. This is a far larger deficit than Republicans had in the popular vote in the past two presidential elections. In 2012, President Obama beat Mitt Romney by 51 percent to 47 percent, and he beat John McCain by 53 percent to 46 percent in 2008. Christie is hurt by weak support among independents — trailing Clinton by 48 percent to 43 percent — as well as by a less consolidated party base. Although 90 percent of Democrats say they would back Clinton, only 79 percent of Republicans say they would support Christie. By contrast, Romney beat Obama among independents by five percentage points, and he won 93 percent of Republican votes. Clinton, who would become the first female president if elected, shows enormous strength among women in the new poll. She leads Christie among female voters by 59 percent to 34 percent — more than double the 11-point margin Obama held over Romney. Christie tops Clinton by a slender three points among men, 49 percent to 46 percent; Romney won men by seven percentage points. Clinton is buoyed by net-positive favorability ratings and by the intense loyalty of her supporters. Fifty-eight percent view her favorably , including 32 percent who are "strongly" favorable, while 38 percent have an unfavorable view of her. This marks a decline from a Post-ABC poll last January, as Clinton prepared to leave the State Department. At the time, 67 percent said they viewed her favorably. The drop can be attributed to declining support among independents and Republicans, as Clinton inched back into partisan politics and the news media stopped covering her as a globe-trotting diplomat and focused on her presidential ambitions. Still, Clinton's current popularity is as high or higher than at any point during her eight-year tenure as a U.S. senator from New York, when her favorable rating in Post-ABC polling mostly hovered in the high 40s or low 50s. Although Clinton was the front-runner heading into the 2008 primary season, she barely tipped over 50 percent in two Post-ABC surveys. Clinton's standing heading into the 2016 Democratic primaries is considerably stronger. The poll shows her with remarkable strength across demographic groups. She wins nearly three-quarters of men and women, whites and nonwhites, young and old, as well as lower- and higher- income voters. The Post-ABC poll was conducted Jan. 20-23 among a random national sample of 1,003 adults, including interviews on conventional telephones and with cellphone-only respondents. The overall margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.


A Democratic bid to transfer the highly coveted political power of drawing legislative boundaries from state lawmakers to the Democratically controlled Illinois Supreme Court overwhelmingly passed the state House of Representatives on Tuesday. The proposed amendment to Illinois' constitution sailed through the House on a 105-7 vote and now must be approved by a three-fifths majority in the state Senate by Friday in order to be placed on the Nov. 8 general election ballot. Since Democrats controlled the state legislature and the governor's office after the 2010 census, they won the once-a-decade right to draw new legislative district boundaries. The process enabled the party to build super-majorities in both the Senate and House. "The power we presently have is only to protect incumbents," said Representative Jack Franks, a Democrat from Chicago's far northwest suburbs who sponsored the amendment. Republican Governor Bruce Rauner campaigned to take away legislative redistricting responsibilities from the General Assembly but instead backs a different proposal. Under Franks' plan, the Illinois Supreme Court would appoint an eight-member redistricting commission to oversee the drawing of 118 House districts and 59 state Senate districts beginning with the 2022 elections. Critics disliked how Franks' amendment mutes the General Assembly's voice in the process. "What's dangerous about what we're doing (is that) we as a legislative branch are ceding our authority to a co-equal branch of government," said Representative Christian Mitchell, a Chicago Democrat who voted against the amendment. If the plan clears the Senate, the result could be two competing redistricting proposals on the fall ballot, a scenario Rauner has warned would confuse voters. The initiative Rauner backs is being pushed by a bipartisan coalition that includes Republican former Governor Jim Edgar and former White House Chief of Staff William Daley, brother and son of two of Chicago's longest-serving Democratic mayors. That group, known as Independent Maps, proposes a system where a bi-partisan, 11-member commission would be stocked through a random and public screening process overseen by the state auditor general from a pool of 100 finalists.


Whether or not Richard Cordray stays as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) until his term ends in July, the agency's ability to rein in Wall Street will be severely weakened, political insiders, lawyers and consumer advocates said. Doubts are growing that the Democratic director of America's top consumer watchdog will leave his post to run for Ohio governor, as had been widely speculated, after a lackluster Labor Day speech sparked anxiety over his campaign appeal, according to some party insiders. Cordray, whose term at the CFPB ends in July 2018, is not expected to announce any decision to run until the regulator releases long-awaited rules restricting payday lenders, which are expected within weeks, according to multiple sources. Cordray has evaded questions from the Republican chairman on the House of Representatives Financial Services committee, Jeb Hensarling, about his plans, writing in a recent letter: "At this time, I have no further insights to provide on that subject." Even if Cordray stays, he will not enjoy a reprieve from Republican efforts to defang the agency which they believe is too powerful and restricts the flow of credit. "He has been under constant attack in his position because of the threat he poses to the status quo on Wall Street," said Karl Frisch, executive director of Allied Progress, a consumer advocacy group which has called for Cordray to stay on. "I would imagine that would continue regardless of how long he stays in the job." Some Republicans, including Hensarling, have introduced legislation to weaken and even dismantle the agency which was created as part of the post-crisis Dodd Frank Act. While those bills have not gotten far, Cordray will still have to play defense against a Republican-dominated Congress poised to suffocate new CFPB rules using the Congressional Review Act, a mechanism already used to kill 14 Obama-era regulations. Lawmakers are also considering amending the government budget to bring the CFPB's funding, currently provided by the independent Federal Reserve, under the control of Congress, potentially allowing Republicans to starve the agency of resources. President Donald Trump could also take the more extreme step of intervening to remove Cordray. A court ruling last year said the president should be able to fire the CFPB director without cause, which the CFPB is appealing. Even if the CFPB is victorious, Trump may still seek to use causes allowed by the law, such as inefficiency or neglect of duty, to get Cordray out of the way, according to legal experts. The CFPB has declined to comment multiple times on Cordray's plans, possible successors or how it would operate in his absence. Since Trump came to power, the CFPB has raced to finish outstanding rule proposals and taken numerous enforcement actions, hoping to lock in its work in case Trump appoints a pro-Wall Street replacement, said Quyen Truong, a partner at law firm Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, who was the assistant director and deputy general counsel for the CFPB until early 2016. If Cordray quits or is removed, Dodd-Frank requires his deputy to step up temporarily but lawyers say the legitimacy of that step could be challenged. The act may be superseded by a law that allows the president to temporarily fill vacancies. Alan Kaplinsky, head of the Consumer Financial Services Group at law firm Ballard Spahr and a Cordray critic, said the White House is widely expected to appoint Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin as an interim replacement, who would then delegate his duties to lower-ranking officials. Scrapping a new rule allowing bank and credit-card customers to band together in class-action lawsuits and tougher regulation of payday lenders will likely be a Trump appointee's first moves, Kaplinsky said. This could be done by delaying the rule's effective date for further study, a common Washington tactic used to stall the implementation of regulation indefinitely. An acting director could also dramatically scale back the consumer complaint database, a key tool the CFPB uses to resolve disputes for individuals and to identify corporate malfeasance, Truong said. Meanwhile, she said, the agency will continue pursuing enforcement cases, but those will likely be much smaller in scope. Jeff Emerson, a spokesperson for Hensarling, said any new director would naturally be bound by the law, but this person would have "a lot of discretion" to make changes.


Decade-old audio exposes then-Senator Hillary Clinton saying the US should have manipulated Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2006 to prevent a Hamas victory. The presidential candidate lamented that the US didn't "determine who was going to win." "I do not think we should have pushed for an election in the Palestinian territories. I think that was a big mistake," then-New York Senator Clinton told the Jewish Press, a New York-based weekly newspaper, several months after the January election. "And if we were going to push for an election, then we should have made sure that we did something to determine who was going to win," she said. Until Friday, the comment Clinton made on September 5, 2006, only existed on a private audio cassette belonging to journalist Eli Chomsky. An editor and a staff writer for the Jewish Press, he interviewed Clinton at the newspaper's office in Brooklyn. Chomsky, who shared and played the tape for the Observer, says it is the only existing copy of that meeting with Clinton, during which the Palestinian parliamentary election was among top topics. The comments have been posted on SoundCloud. Speaking to the news portal, he recalled being confused by the fact that "anyone could support the idea — offered by a national political leader, no less — that the US should be in the business of fixing foreign elections." The interview took place nine months after the Hamas movement claimed 76 of the 132 parliamentary seats, pushing aside the US-favored Fatah movement and securing the right to form a new cabinet. That victory was neither welcomed in Israel, nor in the US. In Washington, where Hamas is considered a terrorist organization, officials repeatedly stated that they would not work with a Palestinian Authority that included Hamas. Then-President George W. Bush spoke of the elections as symbolizing the "power of democracy," but refused to deal with Hamas as long as it opposed Israel's existence and espoused violence. That day in September 2006, Clinton made "odd and controversial comments," all now saved on the 45-minute record that Chomsky "held onto all these years." "I went to my bosses at the time," Chomsky told the Observer. "The Jewish Press had this mindset that they would not want to say anything offensive about anybody — even a direct quote from anyone — in a position of influence because they might need them down the road. My bosses didn't think it was newsworthy at the time. I was convinced that it was and I held onto it all these years." Source


According to Reuters:  "The new emails turned up as FBI investigators were examining electronic devices used by former Democratic Representative Anthony Weiner in connection with an alleged "sexting" scandal. Weiner's estranged wife, Huma Abedin, is a Clinton confidante."  According to two law enforcement sources, there is a group of investigators within the FBI's New York Field Office – the office that discovered the recent Anthony Weiner emails – that are hostile toward Clinton – and it is believed that this faction is behind the recent media leaks about the ongoing Clinton Foundation investigation.  One thing is for sure – if Clinton wins the election on Tuesday, the Democratic Party will undoubtedly be launching an investigation into the FBI, and it would be more than ironic if the most memorable scandal of the 2016 election ends up being about the FBI, instead of Clinton's emails.  Apparently, Trump supporter Rudy Giuliani – the former mayor of New York City – might have some involvement in it as well:  It is a clear violation of the law by these FBI agents in an attempt to influence a presidential election. If any Democrats were thinking about staying home on election day, this should really inspire them to do the opposite.  Clinton needs every vote now, as people are going to ridiculous lengths to make this election work for Trump, who is currently losing in the polls. Clinton is facing more opposition and obstacles than any presidential candidate has ever dealt with, and even those in power are abusing their authority to get her insane opponent into the White House.


A new report from RealClearPolitics is detailing what might be another illegal endeavor of Donald Trump at the behest of his charitable foundation (which has already been caught illegally using funds to pay off lawsuits).From 2011 to 2014, leading up to his presidential announcement (and speculation in 2012), the Trump Foundation donated nearly $300,000 to various conservative groups and organizations.IRS laws clearly state that charity executives may not use a foundation funds to finance personal endeavors that benefit said executives.In 2011, Trump met with South Carolina conservative activist Oran Smith with the intent for, as Smith puts it, laying the foundation for a campaign. After the meeting between the two, Trump, using foundation money, donated $10,000 to Smith s organization, the Palmetto Family Council.According to RealClearPolitics:In many cases, this flow of money corresponded to prime speaking slots or endorsements that aided Trump as he sought to recast himself as a plausible Republican candidate for president. Although sources familiar with the thinking behind the donations cautioned that Trump did not explicitly ask for favors in return for the money, they said the contributions were part of a deliberate effort by Trump to ingratiate himself with influential conservatives and brighten his political prospects.Talk about real pay-for-play.Using Foundation money to monetarily influence, even slightly, those who could (and would) catapult his political career (a personal endeavor) is still illegal under IRS laws no matter how many technicalities Trump and his lawyers want to argue.In almost all instances, these conservative organizations, with considerable political influence, invited the billionaire mogul and provided endorsements after he donated thousands of dollars to their cause.Another high profile donation was made to The Family Leader organization, a socially conservative think tank that featured Trump as a keynote speaker at one of their most prestigious events in 2013. Trump was featured as the keynote speaker after giving $10,000 like he did with the Palmetto Family Council. RealClearPolitics points out that Trump may have broken IRS rules by giving directly to the organization and not its affiliated nonprofit branch, thus pitting Trump in a double whammy on unethical, illegal political meanderings.After Trump donated $100,000 to Citizens United, a Koch-backed political entity:In April 2014, when Citizens United hosted a cattle call of would-be Republican candidates for president in New Hampshire, Trump was there. In January 2015, at Citizens United s Freedom Summit in Iowa, Trump was again on the program.This won t bode well, especially for a guy who s under audit from the IRS. We now know why, apparently.While Republicans try to find something, anything, to pit Clinton against her foundation, the GOP is ignoring the obvious abuses of Trump and his. This double standard from the right should not surprise anyone their candidate is failing and they need to divert any negative attention away from him. This is the party of Christian values at work.


Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), fresh off a brain cancer diagnosis that he is statistically unlikely to beat, is apparently all out of f*cks to give. Today, he tweeted an article in the opinion section of the Washington Post, calling it a must-read. The article in question? Trump s breathtaking surrender to Russia. And the op-ed holds absolutely nothing back. Here are a couple of my favorite excerpts from the piece:But once again, President Trump after extended personal contact with Vladimir Putin and the complete surrender to Russian interests in Syria acts precisely as though he has been bought and sold by a strategic rival. The ignoble cutoff of aid to American proxies means that Putin won in Syria, as an administration official was quoted by The Post. Concessions without reciprocation, made against the better judgment of foreign policy advisers, smack more of payoff than outreach. If this is what Trump s version of winning looks like, what might further victory entail? The re- creation of the Warsaw Pact? The reversion of Alaska to Russian control? There is nothing normal about an American president s subservience to Russia s interests and worldview. It is not the result of some bold, secret, Nixonian foreign policy stratagem the most laughable possible explanation. Does it come from Trump s bad case of authoritarianism envy? A fundamental sympathy with European right-wing, anti-democratic populism? An exposure to pressure from his checkered financial history? There are no benign explanations, and the worst ones seem the most plausible. The problem is the damage to U.S. interests done in the meantime. It now seems that the Russians by meddling in a presidential election and by playing down such aggression have achieved an intelligence coup beyond the dreams of the Soviet era. The result is an America strategically and morally disarmed.The fact that John McCain is posting such a strongly worded article about Trump s surrender to Russia is extremely telling, and begs the question: Behind closed doors, how many other Republicans feel this way? In public, it s obvious that Republicans feel they must present a united front against the Democratic Party and forces of the left. However, despite recent silence from #NeverTrump conservatives, it wasn t even a year ago that leadership figures such as Paul Ryan were dead set against him. Given the fact they are spineless, how much pressure will it take to get them to turn against him?If Donald Trump s numbers keep dropping, primarily among Republicans, I think you ll see it happen. And if that s the case, it might not take until 2018 to bring him down.Here s Senator McCain s tweet:Must-read @MJGerson @washingtonpost: Trump s breathtaking surrender to #Russia https://t.co/SkWocuF8dM John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) July 21, 2017


The nation's most powerful labor leader, vowing to defeat President Obama's key trade legislation in the House next month, warned Hillary Clinton of serious political consequences if she fails to take a stand against the Pacific trade pact that the president is campaigning for as a major part of his legacy. Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, predicted that no more than 20 House Democrats would vote for Trade Promotion Authority, the "fast-track" bill that on Friday passed the Senate. "Thirteen Democrats left their base," he said of the Senate vote in an interview with Capital Download. "They decided to pass something that was going to cost jobs and lower wages, and they're going to have to answer to their constituencies for that." He added: "They'll be held accountable; there's no question about that." Organized labor has been waging a fierce battle against the legislation, which would require Congress to approve or reject without amendments the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade deal among the United States and 12 other Pacific Rim nations. Many labor unions have frozen campaign donations as they lobby against it. The battle between two customary allies — a Democratic president and the country's biggest labor federation — underscores the complicated politics of Obama's attempts to pass legislation through a Republican-controlled Congress during the final two years of his tenure. It also exposes challenges ahead for Clinton, who praised the emerging Pacific pact as "the gold standard" in her memoirs as secretary of State but has avoided declaring her view of it since becoming a presidential candidate. "Unfortunately, it falls far short of being the gold standard," Trumka told USA TODAY's video newsmaker series in an interview at AFL-CIO headquarters, just across Lafayette Square from the White House. "It's not silver. I'm not sure it's copper or some other form of metal, but it's not gold, because it's going to cost us jobs and it's going to lower wages in this country." Trumka said he didn't know where Clinton now stood on the issue. "She's going to have to answer that," he said. "I think she won't be able to go through a campaign without answering that and people will take it seriously and it will affect whether they vote for her or don't vote for her." If Clinton backs the trade pact and the fast-track authority, there will be costs, he cautioned. "It will be tougher to mobilize working people. It'll be tougher to get them to come out excited and work to do door-knocking and leafleting and phone-banking and all the things that are going to be necessary if she is the candidate and we endorse her to get elected. It will make it far more difficult." It even is "conceivable" that the AFL-CIO wouldn't endorse a presidential candidate, he said, "if both candidates weren't interested in raising wages and creating jobs." Asked whether Obama's presidency had been good for working Americans, Trumka paused. "The president's been seriously handicapped in his ability to deliver things for the American public, because you've got a determined opposition in the Republican Party that will actually hurt the country to deny him a victory," he began. But he added, "I wish he would have fought for some of the things that are needed as hard as he's fighting for fast track and TPP." In the Senate vote, Trumka said he was surprised to have lost the support of Democratic senators Benjamin Cardin of Maryland, Chris Coons of Delaware and Patty Murray of Washington state. When the interviewer commented that it's hard to defeat a president, he replied: "We'll see."


Patrice Munsel, a coloratura soprano who as a teenager became one of the Metropolitan Opera's youngest stars and later crossed over into television and musical theater, died on Aug. 4 at her home in Schroon Lake, N. Y. She was 91. Her death was confirmed on Wednesday by her daughter Heidi Schuler Bright. Ms. Munsel was 17 when, in March 1943, she won a Met contract and $1, 000 after tying for first place in the eighth annual Metropolitan Auditions of the Air, a precursor to the Met's National Council Auditions, a program to discover promising young opera singers and nurture their careers. (The other winner was Christine Johnson, who originated the role of Nettie Fowler in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "Carousel" when it opened on Broadway in 1945.) By November Ms. Munsel had signed a contract with the impresario Sol Hurok for a guaranteed $120, 000. On Dec. 4, at 18, she made her Met debut as the temptress Philine in Ambroise Thomas's "Mignon," wearing a ring and a crown lent to her by the soprano Lily Pons. The audience gave Ms. Munsel a standing ovation of several minutes. The critics were generally less kind. "For this part her voice is neither sufficiently big, or developed, or brilliant enough," the critic Olin Downes wrote in The New York Times. "In plain words," he said, "she was cruelly miscast, in this, one of the most exacting roles in the coloratura soprano's repertory. " More than 40 years later, in a Los Angeles Times interview, Ms. Munsel said simply, "I didn't have a clue as to what the part was about. " She performed a total of 225 times at the Met, excelling as the maid Adele in Strauss's "Die Fledermaus" and earning praise from Downes for her "virtuoso singing" and "very amusing acting. " He declared her born for the role "by personality, wit, temperament. " Rudolf Bing, the company's general manager during Ms. Munsel's tenure, is said to have called her "a superb soubrette. " But Ms. Munsel had given up touring the moment she became engaged to Robert C. Schuler, an adman turned television producer, whom she married in 1952. Not long after returning from their European honeymoon, she did a star turn on movie screens as Dame Nellie Melba, the Australian soprano, in the 1953 biopic "Melba," produced by the Hollywood legend Sam Spiegel. From there, she strutted her way into the Las Vegas nightclub scene, peeling off a voluminous silk skirt at the New Frontier in 1955 to reveal a halter and bejeweled pink capris. Two years later, Ms. Munsel embarked on a television career with "The Patrice Munsel Show," a variety series on ABC, joining guests like Eddie Albert, Andy Williams, Tony Bennett and John Raitt in a mix of light opera and pop, though she admitted to hating " lyrics. " It was canceled after one season. Ms. Munsel last performed at the Met in 1958 as Mimi in "La Bohème," a role she had long coveted. She then focused on motherhood, traveling and musical comedies, performing splits in the 1965 Lincoln Center Theater presentation of "The Merry Widow" and occasionally turning productions of "The Sound of Music" and "The King and I" into family affairs with her four children. Besides her daughter Heidi, two other children survive: another daughter, Nicole Schuler, and a son, Scott Schuler, as well as two grandsons and two . Her husband, who in 2005 chronicled his marriage to Ms. Munsel in the book "The Diva I: My Life with Metropolitan Opera Star Patrice Munsel," died in 2007. Their son Rhett Carroll Schuler died in 2005. Patrice Beverly Munsil was born on May 14, 1925, in Spokane, Wash. (She later changed the spelling of her surname to Munsel at the Metropolitan Opera's request.) Her father, Dr. Audley J. Munsil, was a dental surgeon her mother, Eunice Munsil, was a homemaker and an accomplished piano player. Ms. Munsel had a lifelong comedic streak. "I'm sure when I emerged from my mother's womb, the doctor slapped me, I hit a high C and slapped him back," she wrote in a biographical sketch on her website. She began studying ballet and tap at 6 and soon, inspired by Walt Disney, decided that she wanted to be a professional whistler. "There were always birds whistling in the background" of films like "Cinderella" and "Snow White," she explained, "so I decided to whistle my way to Hollywood. " Her parents, eager to encourage any and all of her artistic aspirations, managed to find her a whistling teacher. But it wasn't long before listening to Met radio broadcasts convinced her that her true destiny was to become an opera star. By 15 she had moved with her mother to New York, where voice lessons were supplemented with piano, harmony, theory, French and Italian classes, as well as fencing lessons and gym workouts three times a week. Within two years Ms. Munsel's vocal coach, Giacomo Spadoni, urged her to audition at the Met, where he was chorus master, and she agreed. "After all, at the age of 17, how long can one wait?" Ms. Munsel wrote. "I stepped on the stage and sang my first aria on the Metropolitan Auditions of the Air without a nerve in my body. I won, and I was on my way to fame and stardom. "


Four days after James T. Hodgkinson opened fire on a group of Republican congressmen at a baseball field in Alexandria, Virginia, Trinity Professor Johnny Eric Williams sided with anonymous blogger Son of Baldwin, who proposed that black emergency personnel should let wounded white people die rather than lend assistance. Baldwin posted his opinions under the hashtag, #LetThemFuckingDie.Professor Williams linked Son of Baldwin s statement, adopted the hashtag as his own, and posted some additional denunciations of white Americans for their destructive mythology of whiteness and their white supremacy system. Referring to all self-identified whites, he wrote, The time is now to confront these inhuman assholes and end this now. When Campus Reform broke the story on June 20, it rapidly spread through the media. Trinity College put Professor Williams on leave, beginning June 26.But after Trinity Dean and Vice President Tom Cresswell reviewed Williams statements, he returned with a 31-page report that found his Facebook posts were extramural utterances protected by Trinity College s policy of academic freedom. Trinity College President Joanne Berger-Sweeney endorsed Dean Cresswell s findings, and added that she doesn t condone the hashtag which offend[s] me personally and contradicts our fundamental institutional values. Nevertheless, Williams has been reinstated in good standing.Trinity reached the decision because, like many other colleges, it has failed to draw meaningful lines between valid and invalid claims on academic freedom. That failure plunges colleges ever deeper into the mire of ethnic chauvinism, categorical hatreds, anti-intellectual diatribe, mind-deadening vulgarity, and psychopathology. Worse, we are getting used to this mire and finding it harder to defend essential distinctions. If we are at the point where #LetThemFuckingDie is upheld as a wholesome exercise in extra-mural academic speech, we are in serious trouble. The FederalistThe hate-filled anti-white professor s disgusting Facebook comments didn t come without a price. Trinity College has reported to have lost 16 students and $200,000 in donations as a result of sociology professor Johnny Eric Williams.Washington Times Trinity College President Joanne Berger-Sweeney sent a letter to school community members on Monday that detailed financial losses attributable to a Mr. Williams racial tirade. He attracted national media attention after calling white people inhuman a-holes who need to die just days after a gunman critically wounded Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise and targeted other Republican lawmakers for assassination. We can and will recover from the financial cost of this incident; the work before us now is to heal as a community, Ms. Berger-Sweeney wrote, the Hartford Courant reported Tuesday. The official said that she was disappointed in the wake of decisions by angry donors and former students, but offered respect and hope that those individuals ultimately will see that there continue to be many good reasons to invest in Trinity. If you see [white people] drowning. If you see them in a burning building. If they are bleeding out in an emergency room. If the ground is crumbling beneath them. If they are in a park and they turn their weapons on each other: do nothing, a June 16 article by Son of Baldwin says. Let. Them. F-ing. Die. And smile a bit when you do, an article shared on the professor s Facebook page on June 18 said.Mr. Williams was placed on leave after the scandal broke, but a report issued July 14 reinstated him and paved the way for a January 2018 return to the classroom.The Federalist Trinity s dilemma is in large part a matter of a double standard, created to coddle black radicals on campus. The prevailing view among colleges and universities is that robust declarations of racial resentment by African-American professors or students should be considered within the bounds of academic freedom. This allowance is a one-way street. Similarly abusive language from a white or Asian professor would almost certainly be met with severe sanctions.Trinity s decision is but one incident of many in which college officials granted a pass to hate speech by radical professors. In 2015, Boston University Professor Saida Grundy received a slap on the wrist after tweeting: Why is America so reluctant to identify white college males as a population problem? Earlier this year, Texas A&M Professor Tommy Curry quietly skirted dismissal after an interview emerged in which he said look, in order to be equal, in order to be liberated, some white people may have to die. Students too get a pass.Gordon Barnes, editor-in-chief of The Advocate, the CUNY graduate student newspaper, published an editorial in fall 2014 In Support of Violence. Barnes declared, The time for peace has passed; indeed it never existed in this country. He specifically called for violence against the police: Violence directed towards state representatives is not only warranted, it is necessary. CUNY apparently thought nothing amiss in Barnes extra-mural utterances. To the contrary, in 2017 the CUNY Graduate Center featured Barnes for a Ph.D. Snapshot to advertise its history program.Remarks by a faculty member or a graduate student advocating violence against racial groups might well be reasonable grounds for strong sanctions, including possible dismissal. But this hasn t happened because colleges and universities have appointed so many faculty members who present themselves as authentic voices of black rage. It is plainly difficult to call someone to account for doing exactly what he was hired to do. Rage-filled black professors are not going to lose their positions for expressing rage.This situation grew out of decades in which colleges went out of their way to appoint black faculty members who held separatist views and who affected angry attitudes as a badge of authenticity. The initial impetus for such appointments came from liberal white professors who argued that recruiting in this vein would help the colleges retain black students, many of whom couldn t seem to come to grips with the traditional curriculum and the mostly white faculty that taught it.We saw this reflected in the Faculty Minutes of Bowdoin College, when we were researching the study that became What Does Bowdoin Teach? Faced with the skepticism of his colleagues, Professor Daniel Levine pushed for the immediate creation of Afro-American Studies in 1969. Bowdoin had no one qualified to teach the program. Levin responded by insisting, over and over, It must be so! He got his way. Bowdoin dived head first into creating a program grounded in angry politics, rather than scholarship.


Turkey s nationalist opposition will seek support from the ruling AK Party to lower a 10 percent threshold to enter parliament, a party official said on Thursday, in a sign that a new rival political party could shake up Turkish politics. Former interior minister Meral Aksener broke with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and formed her own Iyi Parti ( Good Party ) last month, posing a challenge to the MHP and to President Tayyip Erdogan s AK Party. Speaking to reporters in Ankara, MHP Deputy Chairman Semih Yalcin said his party, which could fall below the threshold if Iyi Parti s apparent early popularity is sustained, would push to lower the barrier. The MHP has preparations regarding the (threshold) electoral law, and this will be discussed depending on the offers we receive (from the AK Party), Yalcin said, a day after MHP leader Devlet Bahceli called the threshold too harsh . Since 1982, political parties in Turkey have needed to win at least 10 percent of votes to be represented in the 550-seat parliament. The country faces presidential and parliamentary elections in 2019. A recent poll suggested that Aksener s party could overtake the main opposition secular CHP and push the MHP and pro-Kurdish opposition HDP out of parliament by forcing their share of the vote below the current threshold. It would also cut into the AK Party share of the vote. The Islamist-rooted AK Party, led by Erdogan, is a broad organization, counting among its ranks nationalists and religious conservatives. Will they (Iyi) win 20 percent or one percent? We will see... Everyone will see how they hold up after they stand in front of the people in 2019, Yalcin said of the Iyi Parti. The MHP won as much as 18 percent of votes in a 1999 parliamentary election but slipped below the threshold at 9.5 percent in 2002. It has exceeded 10 percent since then. Under an executive presidential system approved in an April referendum, the president will be given expanded powers. The number of MPs will be increased from 550 to 600, while the parliament s authority will be reduced. Critics argue that lowering the threshold, and the resulting change in the composition of parliament, would not have any great impact under the new presidential system. The AK Party, founded by Erdogan, has dominated Turkish politics since 2002, holding a majority in parliament for 15 years. After winning almost 50 percent of votes in the latest parliamentary elections in 2015, Erdogan and party officials said they aimed to win more than half the votes in 2019.


Spanish authorities on Sunday pursued efforts to block an independence vote in Catalonia, seizing campaign materials as the chief prosecutor said jailing the region s top politician could not be ruled out. The government in the northeastern region is intent on holding a referendum on October 1 that will ask voters whether they support secession from Spain, a ballot Madrid has declared illegal. In a raid on a warehouse in the province of Barcelona on Sunday, police confiscated around 1.3 million leaflets and other campaign materials promoting the vote issued by the Catalan government. The haul was the largest in a series of similar raids, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. Spanish prosecutors, who have ordered police to investigate any efforts to promote the plebiscite, said last week that officials engaged in any preparations for it could be charged with civil disobedience, abuse of office and misuse of public funds. More than 700 Catalan mayors gathered in Barcelona on Saturday to affirm their support for it. Asked if arresting regional government head Carles Puigdemont was an option if preparations continued, Spain s chief public prosecutor said in an interview: We could consider it because the principal objective is to stop the referendum going ahead. I won t rule out completely the option of seeking jail terms... It could happen under certain circumstances, Jose Manuel Maza was quoted as also telling Sunday s edition of newspaper El Mundo. The Catalan parliament passed a law enabling the referendum early last month, but Spain s Constitutional Court suspended it the next day. Pro-independence activists have said they plan to distribute campaign leaflets promoting the referendum on Sunday evening in Barcelona. Although polls show less than half of Catalonia s 5.5 million voters support independence, most in the wealthy northeastern region want the chance to vote on the issue.


A U.S. judge on Monday appeared skeptical toward a request from several states that want him to order the administration of Republican President Donald Trump to continue payments to health insurers under Obamacare. At a hearing in San Francisco federal court, U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria said he aimed to issue a ruling on Tuesday. The Trump administration earlier this month terminated the payments, which help cover out-of-pocket medical expenses for low-income Americans, as part of several moves to dismantle the signature healthcare law of his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama. Trump had threatened to cut off the subsidies for months, prompting health insurers such as Anthem Inc, Humana Inc, UnitedHealth Group Inc and Aetna Inc to raise premiums or exit insurance markets. Democratic attorneys general from 18 states and the District of Columbia sued the federal government and asked for an immediate order halting Trump's move while the case is being litigated and argued that terminating the payments harmed customers by raising insurance rates. But Chhabria on Monday suggested that California and other states had anticipated Trump's move and worked with insurers to make sure most consumers would not be harmed. That weakens the case for a court order forcing the payments, Chhabria said. "Why should I be ordering the administration to make these payments in the next few months while we get the case adjudicated?" Chhabria asked. Since cutting off the payments, Trump has alternately supported, and dismissed, an effort by Republican and Democratic senators that would reinstate the subsidies for two years until a broader replacement to the 2010 Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, can be negotiated. While Democrats accused Trump of sabotaging Obamacare, the president argued that the subsidies made insurance companies "rich." In a court filing on Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice pointed to a prior ruling from a Washington, D.C. federal court that said Congress had never appropriated the money for the subsidies. An appeal of that ruling is currently on hold. Either side could appeal Chhabria's ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is weighted with Democratic-appointed judges. From there, any further appeal would go to the U.S. Supreme Court.


South Sudan is hiking fees for humanitarians and blocking them from reaching hungry families, even as the oil-rich country appeals for nearly 2 billion dollars to help avert starvation amid a civil war, five aid groups told Reuters. The government and the United Nations announced on Wednesday that South Sudan needs $1.7 billion in aid next year to help 6 million people half its population cope with the effects of war, hunger and economic decline. But aid groups said bureaucracy, violence and rocketing government fees were stopping their work, despite a promise from President Salva Kiir to allow unhindered access after the United States threatened to pull support to the government in October. All the aid workers spoke on condition of anonymity, citing fear of expulsion from the country. Alain Noudehou, the U.N. s top humanitarian official in the country, said the increased fees are a major concern. [It] will take away from the resources we have to address the crisis, Noudehou, humanitarian coordinator for the U.N. Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), said on Wednesday. Juba announced plans in March to charge each foreign aid worker $10,000 per annual permit but later dropped them. It revised the fees steeply upwards last month, however, requiring some foreign aid workers to pay $4,000 for a permit 16 times the old rate. At least two aid groups have paid, they told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Humanitarian Affairs Minister Hussein Mar Nyout said on Wednesday he had received many complaints over the new fees and restrictions on travel for some aid workers. This is not in the spirit of the president and we are going to implement the order of the president, he said in response to questions at a news conference. About one-third of South Sudan s 12 million population have fled their homes since the civil war began in 2013, two years after it won independence from Sudan. The United Nations describes the violence as ethnic cleansing. Earlier this year, pockets of the country plunged briefly into famine. The economy has nosedived, there is hyperinflation, and the government is unable to pay civil servants and soldiers because oil production has collapsed and official corruption is rampant. The confusion over permits delays aid, organizations said. Nobody understands who is giving directives and who is supposed to implement, said the head of one international aid group in South Sudan. He said customs have seized his organization s IT equipment, despite an import tax waiver for aid groups. Last week, a team of doctors said they were denied permission to travel outside the capital because they had not received work permits they had paid for. Another aid group said it is unable to bring in foreign medical staff to complete a government-approved project because authorities said even a consultant visiting South Sudan for a week had to pay $4,000 for a permit that takes months to obtain. The first issue is the inherent absurdity and impracticality of the rules, said an employee of the aid group. The second is that laws are being tried inconsistently by four government agencies that are at loggerheads. South Sudan expelled the Norwegian Refugee Council s country director last year, while some 28 aid workers have been killed this year, with nine shot dead in November alone, according to the United Nations. UNMISS staff are exempt from the work permit requirement but the government has forced some contractors to pay, in violation of an agreement with the U.N., an UNMISS spokeswoman said. Juba is not honoring a similar treaty exempting aid agencies receiving U.S. funding, a Western diplomat said.


Donald J. Trump spent his first week in office repeating the lie that between three million and five million people had voted illegally in the November election, first to members of Congress, then on Twitter, then in an ABC News interview, then again on Twitter on Friday, citing an unsubstantiated claim popular in conspiracy circles. On Wednesday, Mr. Trump had announced in a pair of tweets that he would be asking for a "major investigation" into voter fraud, "including those registered to vote in two states. " Since then, a variety of news organizations have found that several members of Mr. Trump's inner circle were registered in more than one state during the election. Several still are. There is no evidence that any of them voted twice. • Steve Bannon, Mr. Trump's strategist, was registered to vote in Florida and New York, the Sarasota found. • Tiffany Trump, Mr. Trump's youngest daughter, was registered in Pennsylvania and New York, NBC News reported. • Sean Spicer, his press secretary, was registered in both Virginia and Rhode Island, according to The Washington Post. • Jared Kushner, his and close adviser, was registered in New York and New Jersey, according to The Washington Post. • Steven Mnuchin, who is nominated to lead the Treasury Department, was registered in New York and California, CNN found. Not really. Have you ever moved to a new state? And did you call up the people in charge of voting in your old state to tell them to go ahead and take you off their list? Probably not. Neither, apparently, did some members of the Trump family and his White House. "There is nothing illegal about that," Fred Voigt, the deputy election commissioner for Philadelphia, told Heat Street, the News Corp. conservative and libertarian site, which reported Ms. Trump's double registration. "The illegality only occurs if one votes in two places, not if you're registered in both. " State authorities regularly purge their voter rolls of people who move or die. Mr. Bannon's case is a little different. A Guardian report last summer found that Mr. Bannon was registered at a vacant home he had previously rented for his but that he had never lived there himself. Shortly after that report, the Guardian said, Mr. Bannon changed his registered address to the home of a Breitbart writer, also in Florida. When he voted in November's election, he did so by absentee ballot in New York, a spokesman for the state Board of Elections confirmed. On Wednesday, after widespread news reports of his double registration, Sarasota County removed Mr. Bannon from the rolls, The Herald Tribune reported. As the reports of double registrations grew, Kellyanne Conway, one of Mr. Trump's senior advisers, appeared on NBC's "Today" show on Thursday and denied that members of Mr. Trump's inner circle were registered in more than one place. "I talked last night to Tiffany Trump, and she said it is flatly false that she is registered in two states," she said. But NBC had confirmed that Ms. Trump, in fact, was.