Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a political insider who believed in civility, suspended his campaign Wednesday – one day after Sen. Ted Cruz bowed out. How SNL's 'the bubble' sketch about polarization is all too true Republican presidential candidate John Kasich arrives to Central Medford High School in Medford, Ore. on April 28. The Ohio governor suspended his campaign Wednesday. John Kasich, who ran as a hug-providing political insider in a year dominated by voter anger and the rise of outside candidates, suspended his political campaign on Wednesday. The move leaves Donald Trump standing alone as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Mr. Trump sounded conciliatory after news broke that Governor Kasich was quitting. He said that the Ohio governor might be helpful in the Buckeye State for the general election and that he would be interested in vetting Kasich as a possible vice presidential running mate. "I think John's doing the right thing," Trump told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. Did he? Not everyone was so sure. Kasich supporters bemoaned the loss of what they felt was the last source of civility in the race. Over the months of a campaign where other candidates resorted to deeply personal insults, innuendo, and shouting, the Ohio governor stood alone in emphasizing the complexity of political problems and the need to work with others to find answers. "If this is his last campaign, he went out admirably," tweeted Yahoo News National Political Correspondent Matt Bai on Wednesday. Others pointed out that Kasich had finally reached his strategic goal – a one-on-one match-up with Trump – only to withdraw. Whether he could have beaten Trump or not was irrelevant, in this view. He'd have been able to rally anti-Trump forces in a way Ted Cruz could not, and show that Trumpism had not conquered the entire Republican Party. The problem is that Trump, if not Trumpism, does conquer all in the GOP. Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus last night referred to Trump as the "presumptive nominee." Given that, and fact that Trump is almost certain to pile up a winning majority of 1,237 delegates by the end of the primary season, Kasich felt he had no choice but to look for the exits. And there were never enough of those supporters, anyway. Kasich won only his home state of Ohio and by the end was at less than 20 percent in the national polls in a three-man race. Technically, Kasich finished 2016 in fourth, even though he was the last losing contender to drop out. Trump, Senator Cruz, and Marco Rubio all won more delegates. It's amazing that he stayed in the race so long, given that he won more than 20 percent of the vote only once in the first 20 GOP primaries or caucuses, notes FiveThirtyEight polling guru Harry Enten. "Most candidates would have seen the writing on the wall and gone home. Kasich didn't see the wall or the writing, or he didn't care," writes Mr. Enten. Would Trump actually ask Kasich to be his running mate, and if so would Kasich accept? Trump's said he wants a politician as a VP, and the Ohio governor would provide balance to the billionaire in terms of experience and message. The pair never really clashed, though Trump did mock Kasich's losing ways and his enthusiastic methods of eating. For Kasich, a VP slot might validate his quixotic effort and provide a cap to his long and varied political career. But Kasich also described himself as a "Prince of Light and Hope," and he'd be joining a presidential candidate who's shown no eagerness to embrace either of those characteristics.


Fareed Zakaria tends to go for the heart of the matter when he s talking about pretty much anything, but it s not likely that anybody expected him to criticize Donald Trump as bluntly as he did. Zakaria was live on CNN, speaking with Wolf Blitzer about what it says when a presidential candidate has to come back, time and again, to clarify what he says on volatile issues like Russia.Zakaria explained that there s a pattern of ignorance with Trump, and how, when someone points out that he s wrong somewhere, he comes back with a certain bravado and tries to explain it away with a tweet or a statement. He listed multiple examples of this, such as Brexit, the nuclear triad, and even where Tim Kaine was governor (Trump said New Jersey; Kaine actually governed Virginia). Then he said: Usually he adds that the press hates him. But there s a term for this kind of thing This is the mode of a bullshit artist. DAMN. There s a truth bomb if there ever was one. Trump is, indeed, a bullshit artist there s no other way to put it. Watch Zakaria s entire comment below:Fareed Zakaria, discussing Trump on CNN: This is the mode of a bullshit artist. pic.twitter.com/WXsgeegGFS Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) August 1, 2016 Zakaria just hit one of Trump s biggest problems on the head with an awfully heavy hammer. Trump can t ever admit that he made a mistake. It s the media that s dishonest. It s his opponents and enemies who are dishonest. Everyone but him is incredibly dishonest and unfair, and he s just a victim for whom our hearts bleed pink carbonated peanut butter. In the end, though, a bullshit artist is what he really is. And he s the GOP s candidate for president.


Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Tim Kaine spent his Thursday evening with Late Show host Stephen Colbert, and of course eventually the conversation turned to the absolutely destructive force that is the Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump. The first element of Trump s many outrageous statements to be discussed was his absurd description of Trump calling Kaine s running mate Hillary Clinton a bigot. Kaine reminded the audience the difference between the two candidates records regarding America s race troubles: When Hillary Clinton got out of law school, she was working to help advance racial justice in the juvenile justice system in South Carolina and fight school segregation in Alabama, and I about that time got out of law school and was battling housing discrimination in the South and in Virginia. At his early career, Donald Trump was a real estate guy who got sued by the Justice Department for discriminating against people in housing (by) writing the letter C on applications if they were minority, Kaine continued. Hillary Clinton has got a track record all the way back to being a middle schooler in a Methodist youth group of trying to advance priorities for others and Donald Trump s for himself. Kaine is right, of course. The contrast couldn t be more stark, and history speaks for itself. If anyone is the bigot in this scenario, it s Donald Trump, not Hillary Clinton.Briefly, Stephen Colbert turned to his and Kaine s shared faith, and asked Kaine to recite a New Testament verse he is fond of. Kaine responded with Philippians 2:3: Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind consider one another as more important than yourself. Colbert then cited his own favorite verse in Latin. A backstage interview yielded more criticism of Trump from Kaine, when he said: This is fundamentally about the nation s promise of equality. If we are supposed to do a U-turn or not, so you got to take that seriously, and I m really glad she just reminded everybody that is what is at stake in November. Kaine says that if he ever gets to confront Trump, he d ask one simple question: How can you say the things you re saying? Kaine then continued his final blistering blow: He is going around saying that the American military is a disaster, ridicules a Gold Star family, makes fun of John McCain because he was a POW that kind of personality shouldn t be within 10 time zones of being commander-in-chief. So right, Senator Kaine, so right. Hopefully, people listen to you.Watch a clip below, via Raw Story:


New Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa is expected to form a new cabinet this week, with all eyes on whether he breaks with the past and names a broad-based government or selects old guard figures from Robert Mugabe s era. Of particular interest is his choice of finance minister to replace Ignatius Chombo, who was among members of a group allied to Mugabe and his wife, Grace, who were detained and expelled from the ruling party. Chombo is facing corruption charges and is due to appear in court for a bail hearing on Monday. In a tentative sign that he might do things differently, ZANU-PF cut the budget for a special congress to be held next month and also slashed the duration by half from six days, the state-owned Herald newspaper reported on Monday. Mnangagwa was sworn in as president last Friday after 93-year-old Mugabe quit under pressure from the military. He vowed to rebuild Zimbabwe s ravaged economy and serve all citizens. But behind the rhetoric, some Zimbabweans wonder whether a man who loyally served Mugabe for decades can bring change to a ruling establishment accused of systematic human rights abuses and disastrous economic policies. The composition of the new government will show a clear path whether we continue with the status quo or the clear break with the past that we need to build a sustainable state. It s a simple choice, said former finance minister and opposition leader Tendai Biti. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change has called for an inclusive transitional authority to mark a break with Mugabe s 37-year rule and enact reforms to allow for credible and free elections due next year. Zimbabwe needs all hands on deck...We cannot continue reproducing these cycles of instability, Biti, who earned international respect as finance minister in a 2009-2013 unity government, told Reuters. Some economic and political analysts say Mnangagwa s choices may be limited after Cyber Security Minister and close ally Patrick Chinamasa said last week he saw no need for a coalition, as ZANU-PF had a parliamentary majority. And with Mnangagwa saying on Friday elections would go ahead next year as scheduled, the opposition would have little to gain from participating in a coalition just eight months before the vote, Professor Anthony Hawkins, a business studies professor, said. If I were an opposition politician I would say: what s in it for me? Unless I m convinced I m going to lose the election, I won t participate, Hawkins told Reuters. He (Mnangagwa) might introduce technocrats from commerce and that will send out a signal of sorts... As far as the international community is concerned legitimacy is important. It s a very delicate situation and he has very little room for maneuver. The Standard newspaper, which has been critical of Mugabe and his government over the years, said Mnangagwa would be judged on how he delivers on the bold commitments he made at his inauguration. It said he must walk the talk on graft that has exacerbated the country s economic decline. Mugabe s fall after 37 years in power was spurred by a battle to succeed him that pitted Mnangagwa, his former deputy who had stood by him for 52 years, and Mugabe s wife, Grace, 52, who has been at the couple s Blue House mansion in Harare and hasn t been seen in public since.


BELLEVILLE, Wis. — Drive past the dairy farms, cornfields and horse pastures here and you will eventually arrive at Cate Machine Welding, a business run by Gene and Lori Cate and their sons. For 46 years, the Cates have welded many things — fertilizer tanks, parts, cheese molds, even a farmer's broken glasses. And like many small businesses, they have a dusty old computer humming away in the back office. On this one, however, an unusual battle is playing out: The machine has been taken over by Chinese hackers. The hackers use it to plan and stage attacks. But unbeknown to them, a Silicon Valley is tracking them here, in real time, watching their every move and, in some cases, blocking their efforts. "When they first told us, we said, 'No way,'" Mr. Cate said one afternoon recently over pizza and cheese curds, recalling when he first learned the computer server his family used to manage its welding business had been secretly repurposed. "We were totally freaked out," Ms. Cate said. "We had no idea we could be used as an infiltration unit for Chinese attacks. " On a recent Thursday, the hackers' targets appeared to be a Silicon Valley food delivery a major Manhattan law firm, one of the world's biggest airlines, a prominent Southern university and a smattering of targets across Thailand and Malaysia. The New York Times viewed the action on the Cates' computer on the condition that it not name the targets. The activity had the hallmarks of Chinese hackers known as the C0d0s0 group, a collection of hackers for hire that the security industry has been tracking for years. Over the years, the group has breached banks, law firms and tech companies, and once hijacked the Forbes website to try to infect visitors' computers with malware. There is a murky and much hyped emerging industry in selling intelligence about attack groups like the C0d0s0 group. Until recently, companies typically adopted a defensive strategy of trying to make their networks as impermeable as possible in hopes of repelling attacks. Today, threat intelligence providers sell services that promise to go on the offensive. They track hackers, and for annual fees that can climb into the seven figures, they try to spot and thwart attacks before they happen. These companies have a mixed record of success. Still, after years of highly publicized incidents, Gartner, a market research company, expects the market for threat intelligence to reach $1 billion next year, up from $255 million in 2013. Remarkably, many attacks rely on a tangled maze of compromised computers including those shops like Cate Machine Welding. The hackers aren't after the Cates' data. Rather, they have converted their server, and others like it, into launchpads for their attacks. These servers offer the perfect cover. They aren't terribly well protected, and rarely, if ever, do the owners discover that their computers have become conduits for spies and digital thieves. And who would suspect the Cate family? Two years ago, the Cates received a visit from men informing them that their server had become a conduit for Chinese spies. The Cates asked: "Are you from the N. S. A. ?" One of the men had, in fact, worked at the National Security Agency years before joining a company, Area 1, that focuses on tracking digital attacks against businesses. "It's like being a priest," said Blake Darché, Area 1's chief security officer, of his N. S. A. background. "In other people's minds, you never quite leave the profession. " Mr. Darché wanted to add the Cates' server to Area 1's network of 50 others that had been by hackers. Area 1 monitors the activity flowing into and out of these computers to glean insights into attackers' methods, tools and websites so that it can block them from hitting its clients' networks, or give them a days, weeks or even months before they hit. The Cates called a family meeting. "People work really hard to make products, and they're getting stolen," Ms. Cate said. "It seemed like the least we could do. " Area 1 paid for the installation cost, about $150. Shortly after installing a sensor on the machine, Mr. Darché said his hunch was confirmed: The sensor lit up with attacks. Area 1 began to make out the patterns of a familiar adversary: the C0d0s0 group. Area 1 was founded by three former N. S. A. analysts, Mr. Darché, Oren Falkowitz and Phil Syme. The three sat side by side at Fort Meade, tracking and, in some cases, penetrating adversaries' weapons systems for intelligence. A little over two years ago, they decided to start their own company and raised $25. 5 million in funding from major venture capitalists and security entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, including Kleiner Perkins Caulfield Byers and Cowboy Ventures, and security veterans like Ray Rothrock, the chief executive of RedSeal, and Derek Smith, the chief executive of Shape Security. Area 1 is a new player in threat intelligence, a nascent subsector of the security business that includes companies like iSight Partners and Recorded Future that track attackers in underground web forums and on social media, gleaning intelligence about them. Threat intelligence is still more art than science. The jury is still out on whether companies are equipped to use that intelligence to thwart hackers. Area 1 claims that it can head off attacks through the compromised servers it is tracking. It can also use its vantage point to see where attackers are setting up shop on the web and how they plan to target their intended victims. A handful of Area 1 customers confirmed that its technology had helped head off attackers. One client, a chief information security officer at a large health care provider, said the health care sector had been slammed by digital criminals and governments in recent years. He asked that the company not be named, to avoid becoming a more visible target. He credited Area 1's sensors with blocking several attacks on his network, helping his company avoid the fates of the health insurer Anthem, which was breached by Chinese hackers last year, and a growing number of hospitals hit by attacks that have forced them to pay a ransom to get important information back. Mr. Smith, the chief executive of Shape Security, said Area 1 gave his company warning of three attacks before they happened, providing time to block them. Mr. Smith said he was impressed enough that he made a small investment in Area 1. "Many of these shops are ambivalent because the attacks don't directly impact their business and revenue," he said. "Meanwhile, they unwittingly operate this attack infrastructure. " But Area 1's business model can pose ethical dilemmas. What does the company do when it sees attacks against prominent companies and government agencies who are not Area 1 customers? "We think of ourselves as a bodyguard, not a police force that runs around telling everyone they're a victim," said Mr. Falkowitz, Area 1's chief executive. "We're in the business of . " They do warn some victims, he said. For instance, they tipped off a law firm, a manufacturer, a financial services firm and electronics company that were attacked via the Cates' server after they saw the C0d0s0 hackers make off with their intellectual property. Some of those victims, including the law firm, later signed up for Area 1 services. Not all companies heed the warning. A security consultant for one victim, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of nondisclosure agreements, said that his client chose not to act on a tip from Area 1 last year out of concern that a scandal over a successful online attack against the company would jeopardize its recent acquisition. It figured its acquirer would not have been thrilled to learn that the 's proprietary technology was now in Chinese hacker's hands. Posted on the wall of Area 1's headquarters in a historic house in Redwood City, Calif. is a list titled "45 Things That Are Harder Than Cybersecurity. " It includes flight, solar power, the flu vaccine, brain surgery, the internet, heart transplants, skyscrapers, the Thermos and the . Mr. Falkowitz disagrees with a growing concern that it is too difficult or impossible to stop online attacks. As attackers have grown more sophisticated, many security companies have stopped believing they can block attacks with traditional defenses like antivirus software. Instead, many focus on trying to detect an intrusion "in real time," to catch hackers before they steal too much. Eighty percent of the time, victims learn they have been breached only when law enforcement or someone else shows up with their stolen data, according to Verizon, which tracks breach data. At the N. S. A. Mr. Falkowitz had worked with teams that detected North Korean missile launches. Much of that early work was done with satellites that would look for sudden heat blasts. Eventually, Mr. Falkowitz's team tried a more proactive approach. If they could hack the computers that controlled the missile launch systems, they could glean launch schedules. Area 1 is now taking a similar approach to digital attacks, tapping into the attackers' launchpads, as it were, rather than waiting for them to attack. Hackers don't just press a big red "attack" button one day. They do reconnaissance, scout out employees on LinkedIn, draft carefully worded emails to trick unsuspecting employees to open them and click on links or email attachments that will try to launch malicious attacks. Once they persuade a target to click — and 91 percent of attacks start this way, according to Trend Micro, the security firm — it takes time to crawl through a victim's network to find something worth taking. Then they have to pull that data off the network. The process can take weeks, months, even years and leaves a digital trail. Area 1 watches for this kind of activity and then teams up with firms like Blue Coat, a web security company, to build what it has learned into security software that can try to block attacks when they come. The owners of Cate Machine Welding say that living with Chinese attackers in your office can be a strange feeling. Recently, Area 1 executives visited the shop and showed them some of what they had learned from watching their computer. The C0d0s0 group had used their server to pilfer a law firm's due diligence on an impending acquisition, a financial services firm's confidential trading plans, a mobile payment 's proprietary source code, some blueprints and loan applications at a mortgage company. Hearing that, Mr. Cate expressed pride — and maybe even a hint of schadenfreude. For years, the welding business that is his family's bread and butter has been migrating to China. Now his family is helping American businesses fight back. "We want to do the right thing for these businesses," Mr. Cate said, "For our country. "


Bill Paxton, the affable actor who was a in a string of 1990s blockbuster movies including "Twister," "Titanic" and "Apollo 13," and who later played the lead in the critically acclaimed television drama "Big Love," has died. He was 61. His death, from complications of surgery, was announced on Sunday by a family representative. The statement did not say when or where Mr. Paxton died, but Rolling Stone magazine reported that he died on Saturday. Early in his career, Mr. Paxton had small parts in "The Terminator" (1984) and "Aliens" (1986). Both films were directed by James Cameron, who later featured him in more roles: as a salesman who cheated Jamie Lee Curtis's character in "True Lies" (1994) and as the scientist who salvaged the wreck of the ocean liner in "Titanic" (1997). He also starred in Ron Howard's film "Apollo 13" (1995) portraying Fred Haise, one of three astronauts on a mission to the moon that experienced serious mechanical problems, and in "Twister" (1996) as a . Mr. Paxton appeared regularly on television in the last decade. On the HBO series "Big Love," from 2006 to 2011, he played Bill Henrickson, the patriarch of a polygamist family in Utah, receiving three Golden Globe nominations for his portrayal. In 2012, he was nominated for an Emmy Award for playing Randolph McCoy in the "Hatfields McCoys" on the History Channel. And in 2014 he appeared in six episodes of "Marvel's Agents of S. H. I. E. L. D. " on ABC. Mr. Paxton returned to TV this year as the star of "Training Day," CBS's new police drama. A spinoff of the 2001 movie starring Denzel Washington, the series had its premiere this month, and only four episodes have been broadcast. In total, 13 episodes of "Training Day" have been filmed, and Mr. Paxton appears in all of them. For now, the show will continue to be shown on Thursday nights, but its future is not certain. Reviews have been mixed — though Mr. Paxton's performance as a rogue cop has been praised — and its ratings have been low, averaging little more than four million viewers. In a statement, CBS and Warner Bros. Television offered no word on the show's future. William Paxton was born on May 17, 1955, in Fort Worth, the son of the former Mary Lou Gray and John Lane Paxton, a businessman and sometime actor. When he was 8, Bill and his brother, Bob, were taken by their father to see President John F. Kennedy on the morning of Nov. 22, 1963, in Fort Worth, hours before his assassination in Dallas. "I remember just a really euphoric crowd," he recalled in a 2013 interview. "I was a bit young to really understand later the consequences of the event. " There is a photograph of Mr. Paxton from that morning, perched on a stranger's shoulders. He graduated from Arlington Heights High School in Fort Worth and moved to Los Angeles the next year to break into the film industry, finding jobs as a production assistant and set dresser. At 21 he enrolled in New York University, where he studied with the acting teacher Stella Adler, but dropped out after two years to return to Los Angeles to pursue acting there. "I didn't see any point in a degree," he told Texas Monthly. "I didn't see where I'd be filling that in on an application for any kind of job. " Mr. Paxton's survivors include his wife of more than 30 years, Louise Newbury and two children, James and Lydia. Long before his role in "Big Love,'' Mr. Paxton was in assessing his status in Hollywood. "It's always a little frustrating when you're reading a script after 10 guys ahead of you have had a chance to pick it over," he said in 1998. "You can almost see the bread crumbs. I haven't had a role that's propelled me into major stardom. Sure, I've had roles that put me on the playing field. A lot of base hits. No home runs. "


They are supposed to be memorable and a chance to reconnect with your loved ones, but family reunions need careful planning to pull off successfully, according to Jeanne Pena, the family reunions manager at Mohonk Mountain House, a resort in New Paltz, N. Y. that hosts more than 150 family reunions a year. "There are a lot of little pieces involved in making sure that this important occasion goes smoothly," she said. Here, Ms. Pena's advice for having a family reunion you'll remember for all the right reasons. Set the Date Far in Advance Getting a large group of family together takes a lot of coordination, and it is best to start planning the trip at least a year in advance so everyone can save the dates and book flights and accommodations. As you get closer to the date, availability will become slim, and prices will go up. Ms. Pena said to be firm about sticking to a date once it has been chosen. "You want to accommodate as many people as possible, but you're unlikely to find a time that works for everyone," she said. Consider a House Rental Homes offer many benefits for family reunions, including multiple private bedrooms, fully equipped kitchens and communal living and outdoor spaces where everyone can gather. Look for rentals on Airbnb. com, HomeAway. com or Vrbo. com, or seek out resorts that have private residences these options give you the space and privacy of a home along with the services of a resort such as daily housekeeping and access to a pool, spa and other amenities. Mohonk, for example, recently opened Grove Lodge, a residence that was built with family reunions in mind. Pick a Destination With Activities Ms. Pena says it's important to find a destination where all generations of your family can have a good time with a variety of activity options. "You want a hotel or home that offers or is near a golf course, a pool, a spa, a lake where you can go swimming or fishing, hiking trails, bike rentals and more," she said. For hotels suited to family reunions, she suggested the Cloister in Sea Island, Ga. Teton Mountain Lodge Spa in Teton Village, Wyo. and Grand Hotel in Mackinac Island, Mich. Plan a Themed Event The purpose of a reunion is to spend time with your family, but Ms. Pena said that in many instances, people tend to go their separate ways to participate in their favorite activities and get little time together as a group. She suggested designating one afternoon or evening of your reunion for a fun collective event such as a Mexican fiesta with a mariachi band, a barbecue with rodeo music, or a dance party of oldies tunes. "In my experience, parties where everyone in the family gathers together are the highlight of the reunion," she said.


We have heard the stories about Apple fanatics selling body parts and changing their passport in order to get the latest products from the company, but this latest story coming from China gives a different perspective on how you can use Apple devices as a tool. As a rather strange tool, in fact: an entrepreneurial Chinese woman is said to have convinced 20 men that she has been dating to buy her iPhones, which she would then sell and use the money as a downpayment for a house. The purchase of a house is probably the single biggest one-time spending in the lifetime of a person, and it could take long years of hard work, so it is indeed remarkable that the woman found the quick way to get there (however, not the most ethical one, arguably). Let's make it clear: the story seems to have started on local Tian Ya Yi Du forum, where someone by the nickname Proud Qiaoba told the story of how her co-worker Xiaoli (not her real name) asked each of her 20 current boyfriends to buy her the new iPhone 7. How in the world is it possible to simulatenously date 20 people remains a mystery that gives this whole story a bit of a fairy tale aura, but knowing that China suffers from a terrible male-to-female ratio let's assume that is somehow possible.  Xiaoli, whose life remains veiled in secrecy, then sold all of the phones to a suspiciously particular place: mobile phone recycling site Hui Shou Bao, all for a total of 120,000 Chinese yuan, the equivalent of around $17,500. The woman then used the cash for a downpayment towards a countryhouse home. Xiaoli broke the news when she invited her co-workers for a house warming party. "Everyone in the office is talking about this now. Who knows what her boyfriendsthink now this news has become public." From Qiaoba we also learn that Xiaoli "is not from a wealthy family. Her mum is a housewife and her dad is a migrant worker, and she is the oldest daughter. Her parents are getting old and she might be under a lot pressure hoping to buy them a house… But it's still unbelievable that she could use this method!"  It does indeed sound quite fantastical and made-up, and some have theorized that it's all just a theory to popularize the local Hui Shou Bao phone re-seller (the company has confirmed that it had indeed sold 20 iPhones from a single person recently). Meanwhile, the whole story quickly started becoming popular in China: a '20 mobiles for a house' hashtag went trending on local microblog Weibo and has been used more than 13 million times. Reaction sway from admiration for Xiaoli's boyfriend-getting and management skills to sheer awe and condemnation of her actions. Whatever it is, Xiaoli – if she even exists – is now said to shy away from the public eye and to refuse interviews from media. That's actually not surprising… those 20 boyfriends surely would not be happy about her actions. Phone Arena  SOURCE


The Walt Disney Company the same group that s so woke, they once apologized for drawing a fat cartoon that made race-baiters mad has taken it upon themselves to teach your kids about LGBT rights by featuring their first on-screen gay character.According to this, Disney plans to have one of the main characters on their popular tween show Andi Mack come out as gay in this week s episode. Oh and it s a 13-year-old boy who s got feelings for the main character s crush.Of course, the character s coming out as gay doesn t to do with moving the plotline forward so much as it pushes the pro-LBGT agenda the media are determined to cram down your throat or, if that fails, your kid s. Andi Mack is a story about tweens figuring out who they are, said Disney Channel in a statement. (Creator) Terri Minsky, the cast and everyone involved in the show takes great care in ensuring that it s appropriate for all audiences and sends a powerful message about inclusion and respect for humanity. Producers say the coming out scene will have the barely-a-teenager telling a friend about his feelings for a boy at school. His friend will tell him it s A-O.K. and perfectly natural for guys to like guys, because Disney s all about creating a brainwashing supportive atmosphere. The company added they consulted with several outside advocacy groups to make sure the scene was age-appropriate and sufficiently inclusive, including gay activist groups GLAAD and PFLAG, along with the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and Common Sense Media.Groups that would ve likely had a different opinion about teaching pre-pubescent elementary school kids the importance of being gay didn t make the list.According to ratings data, the median age of Andi Mack s viewers is 10. In fact, the show is the Disney channel s No. 1-rated program among kids six-14. Because nothing says inclusivity like teaching six-year-olds about being gay, whether their parents like it or not. MRCTV


A Republican member of Congress was caught scrubbing his Wikipedia page of potentially embarrassing information, including his affiliation with a cult. Rep. David Jolly s (FL) congressional campaign was caught in the act. Jolly is running to replace Senator Marco Rubio after his failed presidential campaign.A spokesman for Rep. David Jolly (R-FL) told BuzzFeed News on Tuesday that the campaign removed certain information, including references to the Church of Scientology, that once appeared on Jolly s Wikipedia page.Spokeswoman Sarah Bascom confirmed to BuzzFeed that the campaign took off parts of the Wikipedia entry that told of Jolly s ties to Scientology. The campaign also removed references to Jolly s past career as a lobbyist and his past positions on gay marriage, according to the report.Jolly told a local newspaper the attempt to hide the information was a careless staff mistake, but the incident follows a pattern of politicians and their underlings attempting to remove information from the heavily trafficked encyclopedia site. Corporations have also previously been caught attempting to remove unflattering information or add PR fluff to the site as well.The information Jolly tried to remove has been restored, with a sentence noting:Jolly s relationship with the Church of Scientology, which is based inside his congressional district in Clearwater, Florida, has been reported on in the press, including Jolly s attendance at various fundraising events hosted by the organization.Via TheLipTV, here is the invitation for the Scientology fundraiser for Florida attorney general Pam Bondi involving David Jolly that his campaign tried to hide:David Jolly Scientology InvitationThe Daily Beast reported on Jolly s ties to Scientology in a story headlined Scientology Could Get Its Own Senator. In addition to Jolly s fundraising connection to the group, his wife was slated to be a model in a charity fashion show for the group, and the treasurer for his PAC is on the board of a group founded by Scientologists.Jolly is perhaps trying to avoid connections to Scientology due to their well-documented history of harassment campaigns against defectors, practices involving disconnecting members from their families, or their belief in alien involvement in world affairs.


A different set of laws apply to illegals in fact, it appears there are no laws that apply to illegals More than 100 convicted criminals who remained in the U.S. despite receiving deportation orders between 2010 and 2014 now face murder charges, according to the agency charged with carrying out such deportations of illegal immigrants.U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement reports that 121 convicted criminals who were never removed from the country face murder charges today.In response, Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., of the Judiciary Committee submitted a letter on June 12 requesting a multi-departmental response from Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Secretary of State John Kerry and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson.In their letter, Grassley and Sessions cite Immigration and Customs Enforcement statistics that show 1,000 of the 36,007 criminally-convicted illegal immigrants released from custody in fiscal year 2013 have been reconvicted of additional crimes.The senators wrote that the murders committed by the 121 convicted criminals could have been avoided had they not been released.As a result, Grassley and Sessions are requesting an explanation from the Obama administration officials concerning the government s decision to release the convicted criminals before deportation.The senators also ask for information concerning the future of U.S. initiatives to deport convicted criminals and whether immigration officials are fully leveraging existing tools and resources to prevent these dangerous outcomes. However, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Sarah Saldana wrote in a recent letter that convicted criminals may be released, even if the convicted individuals face deportation charges.h/t Weasel Zippers


Election officials in three Pennsylvania counties said they believed no ballots had been wrongly counted as a result of computer malfunctions, despite reports on Tuesday that touch-screen voting machines in the state were switching votes. Officials in Cumberland, Perry and Butler Counties in Pennsylvania told Reuters that they had no reason to believe the mistakes were affecting voters from one party more than the other, and that voters were catching the mistakes on "review screens" before their ballots were cast.


Detroit elections officials waited several days to deliver nearly 100 poll books to Wayne County officials charged with certifying the presidential election, newly released documents show.County clerk officials on Thursday released a memo to State Elections Director Chris Thomas that said 95 poll books from the 662 precincts weren t available at the start of the canvass, which began the day after the Nov. 8 election. Five of those poll books, which contain the names of voters and ensure the integrity of elections, were never delivered to county canvassers and presumably remain missing.The revelation comes atop other irregularities that have prompted a state audit. Among other issues, The Detroit News reported this week that voting machines registered more votes than they should have in one-third of all city precincts. I m not happy with how Detroit handled this election at all, said Krista Hartounian, chairwoman of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers, which certified the election. We had been seeing improvement, but this one was different. This one was off. Canvassers compare poll books with printouts from voting machines to ensure the number of people who signed in to vote match the number of ballots cast.In heavily Democratic Detroit, the numbers didn t match in 392 of 662 precincts or 59 percent. The discrepancies emerged during a statewide presidential recount that began last week and ended Friday following a decision by the Michigan Supreme Court.It s unclear how many extra votes were counted in Detroit. That s because tallies were off by five or more votes in 52 Detroit precincts, but county officials will not release the exact number of discrepancies in each precinct.


The second day of the Democratic National Convention took an emotional turn when a group of black women, whose children s lives were lost long before their time, stepped on the stage and began to tell their heartbreaking stories and say emphatically: Black Lives Matter.The room hushed as Mothers of the Movement told of their children and the violent ways they had left this earth. Geneva Reed-Veal (mother of Sandra Bland), Lucia Bath (Jordan Davis) and Sybrina Fulton (Trayvon Martin) explained to the crowd of delegates why they were standing there in front of them, somewhere they never expected to be. Their stories brought the DNC to tears. You don t stop being a parent when your child dies. I am still Jordan Davis s mother. His life ended the day he was shot and killed for playing loud music. But my job as his mother didn t, Bath said. I lived in fear my son would die like this. I even warned him that because he was a young, black man, he would meet people who didn t value his life, she said. That is a conversation no parent should ever have to have. So naturally, right-wing racists came out in droves.@Tyronem07172460 @RedPillTweets The mothers of the movement are a freaking joke. a group of idiots who didnt raised their kids properly. Mauricio (@Shelby14_02) July 27, 2016There aren t any #FathersOfTheMovement. They all ran out!#MothersoftheMovement Donald Bateman (@NationalismRise) July 27, 2016LMAOOOO, they have Mothers of the Movement on stage. AKA, women who raised their sons to beat, fight with, shoot, or aim at police & ppl. Dav (@DavosFox118) July 27, 2016Mothers of the movement or should I say Mothers of the Racist Hate Group Black Lives Matter Trever Talley (@trever_talley) July 27, 2016#MothersoftheMovement If they actually cared about their kids, they would be still alive. No sympathy from me. #FunctioningIlliterates. DNC IS CORRUPT (@PCiscancerous) July 27, 2016Mother of victims of police violence? they must not have done a great job raising them Mothers of the Movement #DemConvention rewrite omitted#7089 (@JohnFict) July 27, 2016Despite the reactions of bigots, the stories of these grieving mothers are as powerful as they are heartwrenching. The inclusion Mothers of the Movement at the DNC is proof that the Democratic party and Hillary Clinton do believe Black Lives Matter.You can watch these mothers give their moving speech here: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW8_tr3JCEk]


We can probably expect more Donald Trump lackies to be hit with ethics violations over the next four years.South Carolina GOP state Rep. Jim Merrill was hired by Trump in 2015 to serve as an adviser for his campaign in the notoriously conservative state.Predictably, Trump ended up winning the state. But Merrill is about to win a trip to prison after prosecutor David Pascoe officially charged him with 30 counts of ethics violations and misconductAccording to The State, Merrill is being accused of using his political office to receive over $1 million through his company, Greechie Communications, or directly.Merrill is accused of failing to disclose contributions and expenditures made to and from the House GOP Caucus operating account and improperly using that account for campaign purposes. That failure allowed Merrill to collect $164,564 from the House Republican Caucus without without accountability between Jan. 1, 2005 and Dec. 31, 2008, according to prosecutors.Merrill is charged with using his office for financial gain as a House member for receiving $108,169 to Geechie Communications from the GOP caucus just from Jan. 1, 2010 through Dec. 31, 2011.He is accused of using his position from 2005-2008 while serving as House GOP leader to direct $82,515 from the caucus to his PR firm.In addition, the indictment alleges Merrill directed $186,332 from the caucus to Geechie Communications, in excess of the fair market value for services it rendered between 2008 and 2010.In addition, Merrill illegally received payments totaling at least $276,561 from the S.C. House Republican Caucus through multiple accountsAnd those are just the tip of the iceberg.As it turns out Pascoe had to fight in court to keep the investigation because Attorney General Alan Wilson attempted to help Merrill, who happens to be his friend, by trying to assign another prosecutor to the case.This isn t the first time Trump has hired people who have since been charged with committing crimes.A Trump campaign staffer in Michigan was convicted of election fraud late last month.It makes one wonder just how many criminals Trump hired to help him win and how many will be in his administration.Featured Image: Spencer Platt/Getty Images


The end of everything is nearing us all! Or perhaps not, but we won't know when it's here. It's a mysterious universe we are living in, so magnificent and complex that researchers and experts have come up with hundreds of theories on how it originated, how it works and when it ends. The infinite questions that we hold about the universe will keep us thrilled for the rest of our lives, and the universe will probably end before we can even figure it out. We fear the universe will trigger either a Big Crunch or a Big Rip during it's course, colliding into a singularity state or ripping itself apart .  Scientists have revealed that the universe could delete itself, without anyone even noticing it. Experts believe that our universe has reached it's lowest state with every particle in existence except for the "Higs Field". Watch the following video to know more!  Disclose TV SOURCE


BOULDER, Colo. — Through the darkness, Rashaan Salaam drove his Suzuki sedan. He was, as usual, alone. For months, friends said, Salaam had been a recluse who left his rented condo in a Denver suburb only occasionally, to buy groceries and, even more rarely, for a solitary morning walk. Now and then he went to a bar for drinks and a steak, sitting by himself. But on this Monday night, Dec. 5, Salaam, a former football standout, was headed for the site of his greatest triumph. From his home, it was eight miles to the University of Colorado in Boulder, where Salaam was a running back who won the Heisman Trophy in 1994. On the final dash of his last game at Folsom Field here that year, Salaam roared 67 yards for a touchdown, collapsing in the end zone and spurring his teammates to hoist him onto their shoulders as fans waved "2000" signs he had become just the fourth college player to exceed 2, 000 rushing yards in a season. Now, on an unseasonably warm December night, he drove past the stadium and cut through the heart of the idyllic Colorado campus, where, he often said, he still felt most comfortable. Less than two miles from where he had scored his touchdown, he pulled into the tiny parking area of Eben G. Fine Park, bordering the burbling Boulder Creek. Around 8 p. m. a few hours after the voting closed for the 2016 Heisman and five days before the 22nd anniversary of Salaam's trophy win, a young man walking in the park saw a body lying beside an idling sedan. Salaam. A revolver lay nearby. Salaam's death at the age of 42 is being investigated as a likely suicide. Autopsy results are expected in about a month. But in the days since the death, as friends, relatives and associates puzzle over the circumstances, they cannot help but wonder if the Heisman and its attendant expectations of fame had undercut his life instead of elevating it. "Rashaan came back to Boulder a few years ago to revive himself," said Francisco Lujan, one of Salaam's close friends and a business associate. "He was trying to find a way to find himself. He returned to where the memories were good. " T . J. Cunningham, a Colorado teammate who had stayed in touch with Salaam until a few months ago, said he believed Salaam's football career, which sputtered after he left college largely because of injuries, always weighed on him. "Rashaan was 20 years old when he won the Heisman Trophy," Cunningham said. "To achieve the epitome of success at 20, but then you can't get to that point again — what did that do to Rashaan?" That may be an insoluble question. For people who knew him, the prospect that he took his own life is hard to reconcile with someone best known for an infectious smile that brightened a room when he entered it. As Cunningham said: "He was a happy guy. I can still see him at Christmas last year, at my house teaching my how to hit a baseball. But, you know, Rashaan struggled with some things. " Many of his friends believed he suffered from depression and mood swings, typical signs of the brain disease, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or C. T. E. that has afflicted scores of players. The disease is linked to repeated hits to the head and diagnosed posthumously, but it is unclear if Salaam's family members have donated his brain to be tested. The Salaam family declined to be interviewed for this article, and multiple phone messages and email messages left for relatives drew no response. Salaam's brother, Jabali Alaji, told USA Today shortly after Rashaan's funeral on Dec. 9 that if Salaam's brain were examined: "I would guarantee they'd find it. I would guarantee it. " But several of Salaam's friends who spoke with family members said they were told Salaam's brain would not be tested. Though injured often, Salaam had no known history of repeated concussions or head trauma. But as Cunningham said: "Rashaan had a lot of collisions. He wasn't a fake and juke guy he ran right through you. "C. T. E.? He showed all the symptoms," Cunningham said, "and C. T. E. probably added to that. " Whatever the cause, it was obvious to people around him that Salaam was dealing with mental health problems. He routinely retreated to his condo and stayed there. Phone calls and texts from friends went unreturned for days or weeks, especially since October. Salaam spent Thanksgiving by himself, a neighbor said, in his small, plain condo next to a playground and a municipal wastewater plant in Superior, Colo. "He was always in his condo," said the neighbor, Deanna Ardrey. "He would sit there by himself every day. You knew there was something off. " Riley Robert Hawkins, a school social worker and behavioral therapist who had been a partner with Salaam in a charitable foundation since 2011, talked to him about whether he should seek treatment for depression. "You could tell he was fighting some things," Hawkins said. "Anxiety and depression, that's bipolar. It was always there to some degree. "Like many of us," he said, "I think he thought he had a handle on things. " Maurice Henriques, another Colorado teammate who had remained close with Salaam, said it was impossible to pinpoint what ailed him. "For the family's sake, you'd love for there to be an explanation," he said. "But it's probably a cocktail of things — depression, some C. T. E. and Rashaan still trying to deal with the transition from football. "How," he added, "do you yourself?" When he was first handed the Heisman in 1994, Salaam had no idea how much the trophy would complicate the rest of his life. Going forward, it distorted the perception of his career. Salaam had a spectacular N. F. L. rookie season with the Chicago Bears but faded markedly thereafter, lasting for only four seasons. After that, he more and more kept his distance from the trophy, whose renowned pose is a stiff arm. "He felt people viewed him as a failure," said David Plati, an associate athletic director at Colorado and a friend of Salaam's for nearly a . "He was frustrated with his N. F. L. career. That's the burden the Heisman carries. He felt pressure that he had to go do something in the pros as good or greater than what he did in college. "He felt that people were looking at him, thinking that he let them down. " Still, the Heisman loomed large. Everybody wanted to see it and touch it. Salaam wanted to stand apart from it. "He wasn't a huge fan of the trophy itself," Lujan said. "When he was making an appearance, people would always ask if he could bring the Heisman Trophy to the engagement. He'd turn them down. He didn't like carrying the trophy around. It made him feel like the only reason anyone wanted to see him was because he had a Heisman Trophy. " Once, visiting Salaam at his home, a friend saw the trophy being used as a doorstop. For the majority of the last 22 years, Salaam's mother kept the trophy at the family home in San Diego. Salaam was conflicted about the trophy from the start he declined to do several major interviews the year he won it. "That's the thing. Deep down Rashaan didn't care about the trophy and never did because he didn't like being singled out," Plati said. "Rashaan wanted to be just one of the guys," Plati said. "But he knew his offensive linemen wanted him to win the Heisman. He understood it was important for the university and the football program. " Salaam is Colorado's only Heisman winner and eventually got into the experience of winning it, even enjoying the week in New York for the ceremony. At the time, it seemed like a thing — not a lifetime designation permanently attached to his name. He had won the trophy in his junior year and entered the 1995 N. F. L. draft. Yet he was perturbed, even insulted, when he was the fifth running back taken in the first round. But Salaam had proved others wrong in his career before. With his mother urging him on, he had left his hometown, San Diego, and traveled by bus two hours daily to attend La Jolla Country Day, a private school where he excelled academically and on the football team. But La Jolla played football, and Salaam was barely noticed by college recruiters. His La Jolla coach mounted a campaign to promote him, and soon Colorado took him on. He was, however, on the third string as a college freshman. Though he was a sturdy and weighed in at 220 pounds, there were doubts about whether he had the speed to compete at the highest level of college ball. He made progress as a sophomore, and by his spectacular junior season at Colorado had more than vanquished his critics. And yet, N. F. L. evaluators still had reservations, which is how Salaam fell to the draft's 21st pick. As a rookie, Salaam rushed for 1, 074 yards and 10 touchdowns, becoming the youngest N. F. L. player to rush for more than 1, 000 yards. But a series of leg injuries limited his playing time and effectiveness in the next two seasons, his last with the Bears. In 1999, he carried the football once for 2 yards for the hapless Cleveland Browns. He was also briefly with two other N. F. L. teams but never got on the field. In 2001, Salaam played for the Memphis Maniax of the X. F. L. At 28, he regrouped and spent nearly a year getting in top shape because the San Francisco 49ers had invited him to training camp. Around that time in 2003, in an interview with ESPN, Salaam decided to open up about his marijuana use while with the Bears. He said he was too young to handle the money and success of his early N. F. L. career and blamed an undisciplined lifestyle for hampering his development as a professional. Salaam later said he had hoped the interview would show a newfound maturity, since he was admitting to a mistake and describing a new, robust work ethic. But the reaction to the interview, and to Salaam, was decidedly negative. He was cut by the 49ers toward the end of training camp. After a flirtation with the Canadian Football League, his football career was over. Salaam said in interviews years ago that he had invested much of his nearly $4 million N. F. L. payday with a San Diego brokerage firm. Shortly after retiring from football, Salaam began spending months in China, where he started a mixed martial arts business. None of his friends were sure how or why he made a connection with China, but there he promoted championship events and shuttled between his native California and Beijing. By the beginning of this decade, he sold the venture and returned to San Diego. There, Salaam lived quietly, and mostly, anonymously. A "bachelor for life," Salaam never married, although his friends said they had met his various girlfriends over the years. About five years ago, Salaam decided to return to the Boulder area in what was viewed as an attempt to regain his footing in a familiar place. He began working with Lujan, a coach at a local high school, who had a company that did testing for N. F. L. and C. F. L. scouting combines. Salaam was paid $2, 500 or more for public appearances and helped with the testing. He appeared financially secure. While he did not live extravagantly — rent at his condo this year was about $1, 500 a month — he never seemed in need of funds. A 2011 newspaper account reported that Salaam sold ornate rings he had received for winning the Heisman Trophy for roughly $9, 000. Salaam said that the rings were sold, without his knowledge, by a family member. "Rashaan's primary goal when he came here was to start a foundation to help youth," said Lujan, who eventually put Salaam in touch with Hawkins, the school social worker, who years earlier had founded the SPIN Foundation — Supporting People in Need. Together, Hawkins and Salaam planned events, camps, clinics and appearances, and they devised programs to benefit underprivileged children. Salaam became a fixture at Jefferson High School in Edgewater, Colo. where Hawkins has worked for 15 years. Salaam regularly spoke with classes and worked with students individually and in groups. For four days in April 2015, for example, the foundation brought about 30 Jefferson students and staff members to the ski slopes of Aspen for a trip that was called a "Ski for the Heisman" program. "Rashaan was like a family member to Jefferson students," said Oscar Lopez, a senior at the high school who participated in the trip. "He was like a big brother and he was always encouraging us to better ourselves. He talked about the mistakes he made and how he kept going. His big message was to stay positive. " Lopez, who is a wrestler and football player, said Salaam once cautioned him about taking care of his body in athletics. "He told me if I was hurt, to protect myself and stay off the field," Lopez said. "He had injuries and went back out there. He said, 'Don't do that, let it heal. '" Lujan said the cost of the Aspen trip was $25, 000. At Jefferson High, students who had laughed on the Aspen slopes with Salaam and been buoyed by his enthusiasm for their future prospects were thunderstruck by his death. "I broke down because he was always here for us," said Janessa Kiome, a senior at Jefferson. "And that night, no one was there for him. " Hawkins and others have been counseling the Jefferson students. Seated in his school office last week, Hawkins sighed and said: "Rashaan was trying to save lives, but he had trouble saving his own life. There are things we can explain and things that we can't explain. " It had been hard to get to know Salaam well, as he was introverted by nature and something of a loner, especially in the last few months. He was a semiregular at C. B. Potts, a bar and restaurant about a mile from his condo in Superior. He usually came in around 10 on Sunday nights, well past the dinner rush. He was always alone, and he would sit in a section of the bar unoccupied by other patrons, ordering a steak and two or three vodka drinks known as Moscow Mules. "He was always nice to everyone," said Chris Rosa, a bartender there who works Sunday nights. "But more than a few times, we'd be talking and he'd say he was mad that injuries and bad luck messed up his N. F. L. career. He said things spiraled out of control and he wished things had been different. " Rosa said he had not seen him in the last couple of months. Neither had his friends or the people he worked with, like Lujan and Hawkins. "Everyone has the same story," Lujan said. "We've asked each other, 'When did you last hear from him?' And everyone answers, 'About a month or six weeks ago. '" Salaam's neighbor Deanna Ardrey was among the few who saw him regularly during this period. She had met Salaam a few months earlier when she moved in with her boyfriend. She learned only by accident that Salaam had played football, then Googled him and was dumbfounded to discover his celebrity. "We talked about football, but he was more likely to talk about other things, like astronomy," Ardrey said. "He was always pointing out planets to us in the sky. " On sunny days, Salaam kept his front door open and Ardrey would hear music playing. In the fall and winter, Salaam's television would be tuned to football games. "We would hear him watching games all night and yelling at the TV," Ardrey said. "But I mean, he was always there by himself. Every day, every night. His car was always in the driveway. " In the days before his death, Ardrey noticed something unusual: His car was frequently gone at night. "In the last few days, I've been thinking: How many times did he go to that park thinking he might — and then changed his mind?" Ardrey wondered last week. On the morning of Dec. 5, Ardrey saw her neighbor as she got in her car and waved at him. He waved back and smiled. Much later, he drove away from the condo, leaving a light on in the living room.


Is anyone else concerned that the Left was able to turn the display of a Confederate flag by an American into a criminal offense almost overnight? When a contractor s truck at the University of Wisconsin LaCrosse sported a Confederate flag across its grille in November, one official was quick to condemn the contractor, call for the flag s removal, and it turns out even asked for an informal police investigation into the matter. E-mails obtained by the LaCrosse Tea Party show Paula Knudson, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs at the school, went farther than previously known in her efforts to get the flag removed and the contractor punished.LaCrosse confederate flagUpon learning of the flag s presence on campus, Knudson e-mailed Doug Pearson, the head of Facilities Planning and Management for the school, to ask that the contractor be told the flag needed to go. The contractor quickly and willingly complied and Knudson went on to e-mail the entire UWL campus students and faculty to express her regret over the incident and say that she was personally. . . offended and. . . very sorry for the fear and angst caused by its presence. [Emphasis added]At the same time, e-mails reveal, Knudson e-mailed pictures of the truck to interim UW-LaCrosse Police Chief Scott McCullough with the subject line License please? After reading Knudson s campus-wide missive, McCullough responded to say he read her e-mail to mean that there was no longer any need for police action since the flag had been removed.McCullough also went on to reference another incident with yet another truck that displayed the Confederate flag and urged Knudson to remember that the police cannot run license plate numbers without a valid excuse to investigate the vehicle. I would like to take a second and make clear that like the last truck with this emblem, I would need to be conducting a police investigation into some violation (I believe it was harassment last time) before I can run this plate, he wrote. It could be literally only seconds talking with a complainant but it is an important protection to all of us that even the police cannot simply run records checks for no reason, he went on to say. Please don t take this as any hesitation on our part to help just that we have very specific rules that we (the police) need to follow. At least two students who were offended by the flag took action on their own and approached the construction site to express their indignation according to an e-mail from facilities chief Pearson. The job site superintendent was concerned about two students who walked into the job site and confronted the trucker, Pearson wrote in an e-mail to Knudson that included UWL Chancellor Joe Gow. The superintendent indicated they [the students] were rude and were baiting the trucker to say something. I can help resolve these issues, but staff and students should not be walking into a job site without proper personal protective equipment. The following day, Chancellor Gow e-mailed Knudson to chide her for how she handled the situation. He urged her to point out the trucker kindly complied with the school s request that the flag be removed. We need to refute the notion that we have somehow banned display of the confederate flag, because we don t have the legal authority to do so. And we wouldn t want to stifle free expression no matter how uncomfortable it might make us feel [emphasis added], Gow concluded.In public statements made after Media Trackers first broke the news of the incident and published a picture of the truck, Gow said the Confederate flag clearly is a racist symbol, but acknowledged that UWL would have allowed the trucker to continue to display it had he refused to remove it.


U.N. declares junk food a 'human rights' issue Says countries failing to meet globally agreed upon nutrition targets Published: 9 mins ago  UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A U.N. expert says junk food is a human rights concern.  Hilal Elver, the U.N.'s special representative on the right to food, said Tuesday the rise of industrial food production combined with trade liberalization has allowed large corporations to flood the global market with cheap, nutrient-poor foods that force poor people to choose between economic viability and nutrition, effectively violating their right to adequate food.  "Within the human rights framework, states are obliged to ensure effective measures to regulate the food industry, ensure that nutrition policymaking spaces are free from private sector influence and implement comprehensive policies that combat malnutrition in all its forms," she said.


Share on Facebook Share on Twitter When it comes to taking herbs for medicinal purposes, it seems the mainstream belief is that they are not as effective and not worth taking. While the effectiveness of herbs has not been studied deeply to determine how well they work across the entire population, the same could be said for most pharmaceutical drugs. Much of the time, pharmaceutical drugs attempt to mimic a compound that occurs in nature (herbs), but often bring the risk of side effects in the process. advertisement - learn more Safety is one of the most critical areas of review amongst herbs and drugs. According to stats released by the American Association of Poison Control Centers, no deaths have been reported due to the use and consumption of herbs. [4] However, pharmaceutical drugs and physician prescribed medications kill approximately one million Americans each year. While it is important to note that herbal medicines can be lethal in extreme doses, it appears their safety is much greater than that of pharmaceutical drugs. [2] Interestingly, pharmaceutical drugs are actually adding to the world-wide issue of declining health due to their side effects and encouragement of viral resistance. Antibiotics in particular are adding to the wave of increased viral strength when it comes to certain infections. [3] Herbs, on the other hand, can be a useful tool in fighting infections that have turned into superbugs due to the overuse of antibiotics. It is always useful to perform as much research as possible, or as you see fit, when it comes to both pharmaceutical drugs and herbs prior to taking them. Just as we approach the use of herbs with skepticism, so too should we approach the use of any pharmaceutical drugs with the same discerning eye. Contrary to popular belief, our reluctance to use herbs in Western culture is not a result of their inefficacy. It is because pharmaceutical companies (and those who can benefit from the sale of pharmaceutical drugs) have done a great job of making them seem unsafe and inadequate. Herbs cannot be patented and owned, unlike synthetic drugs, which is why many pharma companies operate the way they do. Seek out the assistance of a naturopathic doctor, traditional Chinese medicine practitioner, ayurveda practioner, or herbologist before you use herbs. Like any medical issue, each illness can have different root causes and it's always important to understand them before relying on any treatment to solve the entire problem.  Below is a list of herbs that can not only boost lung and respiratory health but can also repair it. Herb information is courtesy of John Summerly who is a nutritionist, herbologist, and homeopathic practitioner. advertisement - learn more 1. Licorice Root – Glycyrrhiza Glabra Licorice is one of the more widely consumed herbs in the world. In Traditional Chinese Medicine it occurs in more formulas than any other single herb because it is thought to harmonize the action of all other herbs. Licorice is very soothing and softens the mucous membranes of the throat and especially the lungs and stomach, and at the same time cleanses any inflamed mucous membrane that needs immune system support . It reduces the irritation in the throat and yet has an expectorant action. It is the saponins (detergent-like action) that loosen the phlegm in the respiratory tract so that the body can expel the mucus. Compounds within this root help relieve bronchial spasms and block the free radical cells that produce the inflammation and tightening of the airways. The compounds also have antibacterial and antiviral effects to them as well, which helps fight off viral and bacterial strains in the body that can cause lung infections. Glycrrhizins and flavonoids can even help prevent lung cancer cells from forming. For people with high blood pressure this should be taken with caution. 2. Coltsfoot – Tussilago Farfara Coltsfoot has been traditionally used by Native Americans for thousands of years to strengthen the lungs. It clears out excess mucus from the lungs and bronchial tubes. It also soothes the mucus membranes in the lungs and has been shown in research to assist with asthma, coughs, bronchitis, and other lung ailments. Coltsfoot is available in dried form for tea or as an alcohol extract known as a tincture. 3. Cannabis The toxic breakdown of therapeutic compounds in cannabis from burning the plant are totally avoided with vaporization. Extracting and inhaling cannabinoid essential oils of the unprocessed plant affords significant mitigation of irritation to the oral cavity that comes from smoking. Cannabis is perhaps one of the most effective anti-cancer plants in the world, shown in study after study to stimulate cannabinoid receptor activation in specific genes and mediate the anti-invasive effect of cannabinoids. Vaporizing cannabis allows the active ingredients to stimulate the body's natural immune response and significantly reduces the ability of infections to spread. Vaporizing cannabis (especially with very high amounts of cannabinoids) opens up airways and sinuses, acting as a bronchodilator. It is even a proven method for treatment and reversal of asthma. 4. Osha Root – Ligusticum porteri Osha is an herb native to the Rocky Mountain area and has historically been used by the Native Americans for respiratory support. The roots of the plant contain camphor and other compounds which make it one of the best lung-support herbs in America. One of the main benefits of osha root is that it helps increase circulation to the lungs, which makes it easier to take deep breaths. Also, when seasonal sensitivities flare up your sinuses, osha root, which is not an actual antihistamine, produces a similar effect and may help calm respiratory irritation. 5. Thyme – Thymus Thyme is very powerful in the fight against chest congestion. It produces powerful antiseptic essential oils which are classified as naturally antibiotic and anti-fungal. Thyme is well known to zap acne more so than expensive prescription creams, gels, and lotions. Thyme tea has the power to chase away and eliminate bacteria and viruses, so whether your infection is based on one or the other, it will still work. Thyme has been used as a lung remedy since antiquity and is used extensively today to prevent and treat respiratory tract infections and bacterial infection pneumonia. 6. Oregano Although oregano contains the vitamins and nutrients required by the immune system, its primary benefits are owed to its carvacrol and rosmarinic acid content. Both compounds are natural decongestants and histamine reducers that have direct, positive benefits on the respiratory tract and nasal passage airflow. Oil of oregano fights off the dangerous bacteria Staphylococcus aureus better than the most common antibiotic treatments. Oregano has so many health benefits that a bottle of organic oregano oil should be in everyone's medicine cabinet. 7. Lobelia Inflata Did you know that horses given lobelia are able to breathe more deeply? Its benefits are not limited to equestrians. It has been used as an "asthmador" in Appalachian folk medicine. Lobelia, by some accounts, is thought to be one of the most valuable herbal remedies in existence. Extracts of Lobelia Inflata contain lobeline, which showed positive effects in the treatment of multidrug-resistant tumor cells. Lobelia contains an alkaloid known as lobeline, which thins mucus and breaks up congestion. Additionally, lobelia stimulates the adrenal glands to release epinephrine; in effect, this relaxes the airways and allows for easier breathing. Also, because lobelia helps to relax smooth muscles, it is included in many cough and cold remedies. Lobelia should be part of everyone's respiratory support protocol! *Use with caution as too much can cause side effects. 8. Elecampane – Inula Helenium Elecampane has been used by Native Americans for many years to clear out excess mucus that impairs lung function. It is known as a natural antibacterial agent for the lungs, helping to lessen infection, particularly for people who are prone to lung infections like bronchitis. Herbal practitioners often recommend one teaspoon of the herb per cup of boiling water, drunk three times daily for two to three weeks. Elecampane is also available in tincture format for ease. 9. Eucalyptus – Eucalyptus Globulus Native to Australia, eucalyptus isn't just for Koala bears! Aborigines, Germans, and Americans have all used the refreshing aroma of eucalyptus to promote respiratory health and soothe throat irritation. Eucalyptus is a common ingredient in cough lozenges and syrups and its effectiveness is due to a compound called cineole. Cineole has numerous benefits — it's an expectorant, can ease a cough, fights congestion, and soothes irritated sinus passages. As an added bonus, because eucalyptus contains antioxidants, it supports the immune system during a cold or other illness. 10. Mullein – Verbascum Thapsus Both the flowers and the leaves of the mullein plant are used to make an herbal extract that helps strengthen the lungs. Mullein is used by herbal practitioners to clear excess mucus from the lungs, cleanse the bronchial tubes, and reduce inflammation that is present in the respiratory tract. A tea can be made from one teaspoon of the dried herb to one cup of boiled water. Alternatively, you can take a tincture form of this herb. 11. Lungwort – Pulmonaria officinalis As early as the 1600's, lungwort has been used to promote lung and respiratory health and clear congestion. Pulmonaria selections come in all kinds so seek a herbologist for direction. Lungwort also contains compounds that are powerfully effective against harmful organisms that affect respiratory health. 12. Chaparral Chaparral, a plant native to the Southwest, has been appreciated by the Native Americans for lung detoxification and respiratory support for many years. Chaparral contains powerful antioxidants that resist irritation, and NDGA, which is known to fight histamine response. NDGA inhibits aerobic and anaerobic glycolysis (the energy-producing ability) of cancer cells. Chaparral is also an herb that fights harmful organisms. The benefits of chaparral are mostly available in a tincture extraction but chaparral tea may support respiratory problems by encouraging an expectorant action to clear airways of mucus. [Source] 13. Sage – Salvia Officinalis Sage's textured leaves give off a heady aroma, which arises from sage's essential oils. These oils are the source of the many benefits of sage tea for lung problems and common respiratory ailments. Sage tea is a traditional treatment for sore throats and coughs. The rich aromatic properties arising from sage's volatile oils of thujone, camphor, terpene, and salvene can be put to use by inhaling sage tea's vapors to dispel lung disorders and sinusitis. Alternatively, brew a strong pot of sage tea and place it into a bowl or vaporizer. 14. Peppermint – Mentha × Piperita Peppermint and peppermint oil contains menthol — a soothing ingredient known to relax the smooth muscles of the respiratory tract and promote free breathing. Dried peppermint typically contains menthol, menthone, menthyl acetate, menthofuran, and cineol. Peppermint oil also contains small amounts of many additional compounds including limonene, pulegone, caryophyllene, and pinene. Paired with the antihistamine effect of peppermint, menthol is a fantastic decongestant. Many people use therapeutic chest balms and other inhalants that contain menthol to help break up congestion. Additionally, peppermint is an antioxidant and fights harmful organisms. 15. Plantain herb – Plantago major and P. lanceolata Plantain leaf has been used for hundreds of years to ease coughs and soothe irritated mucous membranes. Many of its active constituents show antibacterial and antimicrobial properties, as well as being anti-inflammatory and antitoxic. Clinical trials have found it favorable against cough, cold, and lung irritation. Plantain leaf has an added bonus in that it may help relieve a dry cough by spawning mucus production in the lungs.  Sources:


By Sean Colarossi on Mon, Oct 31st, 2016 at 8:47 pm While the media continues to focus on the Clinton email non-story, news about Donald Trump's ties to Russia continues to gain steam. Share on Twitter Print This Post  While the media continues to focus on what is increasingly becoming a non-story – FBI Director James Comey's vague letter regarding more emails related to Hillary Clinton – news about Donald Trump's ties to Russia continues to gain steam.  Not only did NBC just report that the FBI is now in the preliminary stages of investigating Trump's ex-campaign manager's connection to Russia, but Slate also reported on Monday that a Trump server may have repeatedly been communicating with a Russian bank.  Slate claims that while a group of computer scientists was looking into the Russian cyber attack of the DNC, they stumbled onto something unexpectedly.  The report:  In late July, one of these scientists—who asked to be referred to as Tea Leaves, a pseudonym that would protect his relationship with the networks and banks that employ him to sift their data—found what looked like malware emanating from Russia. The destination domain had Trump in its name, which of course attracted Tea Leaves' attention. But his discovery of the data was pure happenstance—a surprising needle in a large haystack of DNS lookups on his screen. "I have an outlier here that connects to Russia in a strange way," he wrote in his notes. He couldn't quite figure it out at first. But what he saw was a bank in Moscow that kept irregularly pinging a server registered to the Trump Organization on Fifth Avenue.  More data was needed, so he began carefully keeping logs of the Trump server's DNS activity. As he collected the logs, he would circulate them in periodic batches to colleagues in the cybersecurity world. Six of them began scrutinizing them for clues.  The researchers quickly dismissed their initial fear that the logs represented a malware attack. The communication wasn't the work of bots. The irregular pattern of server lookups actually resembled the pattern of human conversation—conversations that began during office hours in New York and continued during office hours in Moscow. It dawned on the researchers that this wasn't an attack, but a sustained relationship between a server registered to the Trump Organization and two servers registered to an entity called Alfa Bank.  This news doesn't come out of nowhere. Trump has repeatedly praised Vladimir Putin as a strong leader, all while taking pro-Russia positions throughout the campaign that come straight off a Kremlin wishlist.  The Clinton campaign was quick to jump on the report in a statement by Clinton Senior Policy Adviser Jake Sullivan:  This secret hotline may be the key to unlocking the mystery of Trump's ties to Russia. It certainly seems the Trump Organization felt it had something to hide, given that it apparently took steps to conceal the link when it was discovered by journalists.  This line of communication may help explain Trump's bizarre adoration of Vladimir Putin and endorsement of so many pro-Kremlin positions throughout this campaign. It raises even more troubling questions in light of Russia's masterminding of hacking efforts that are clearly intended to hurt Hillary Clinton's campaign. We can only assume that federal authorities will now explore this direct connection between Trump and Russia as part of their existing probe into Russia's meddling in our elections.  Trump's pro-Russia rhetoric and policy positions are not a coincidence. The more information that comes out, the clearer it is that the Republican nominee has connections to Russia that he is hiding from voters.  With just a week until Election Day, this is the explosive story the media should be focusing on. It's critical that the American people know what kind of financial ties a potential president has with an American adversary, especially when that adversary is Russia.


Republicans are already predicting doom and gloom for November. Since Donald Trump seems not to grasp what get on message means (they ve been telling him to do that for months), members of the Republican Party are already predicting Hillary Clinton as the victor.In an exclusive with The Hill, several members of the House GOP caucus under anonymity, who back Trump, now say they are preparing for a Clinton sweep in November.One Southern lawmaker, who is a Trump supporter, told the Hill:I m not feeling great about the immediate future of the conservative movement right now. As a conservative who believes our ideas are good for America, it is pretty gloomy these days.The southern lawmaker acknowledged Trump would be a difficult candidate to sell to the American people, considering the GOP s lack of a coalition with women, minorities, LGBT, and youth voters (yet they re still a Trump supporter), which means they don t care about the bran issues facing their party. There was some hope that the disaffected, so-called silent majority would be broad enough and turn out in large enough numbers to give Trump a chance. But if he continues the next 90 days like the last week, then he will lose big time, the southern lawmaker told the Hill.One Northeastern lawmaker was more candid with his feelings:I think it will be Hillary. If I had to bet, I d definitely bet that Trump loses. This is like a football game where you hate both teams. You root for a tie and maybe some minor injuries.Right now, it sucks to be a Republican. Rep. Matt Salmon, who originally backed Marco Rubio, then Ted Cruz and now Trump, admitted a Trump win will be a steep climb. That s because the GOP didn t listen to their 2012 autopsy report, and they are paying the price. But not all members of the GOP are ignoring the findings from their last loss in 2012. Rep. Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania told the Hill that the GOP must learn from their autopsy report if they hope to win:Another autopsy will occur, and the next time I hope lessons will be learned.Fat chance that will happen. They seriously thought Romney was going to beat President Obama, and decided to disregard all the points they missed when he didn t win.The GOP is bracing for a Clinton win, and so is the rest of he country anything is better than Donald Trump.


Fighters with the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia have credited Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan with their victory over Islamic State in Raqqa, in apparent response to U.S. criticism of their praise of a man jailed in Turkey for treason. In a video praising Ocalan s ideological power , the YPG fighters rebuffed U.S. criticism of battle celebrations in Raqqa last week where the YPG s all-female affiliate, the YPJ, unfurled a banner with his face on it. The banner has become a new focal point for Turkey s anger over U.S. support for the YPG, which Ankara sees as an extension of Ocalan s outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Deeply concerned by the rise of Kurdish power in northern Syria, Turkey has opposed the U.S. alliance with the YPG which spearheaded the Raqqa campaign under the banner of the multi-ethnic Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). On Saturday, the U.S. embassy in Turkey issued a statement reiterating its misgivings about Ocalan, in an apparent response to criticism from the Turkish government over the banner. The PKK is listed among foreign terror organizations. Ocalan has been jailed in Turkey for his actions related to the PKK. He is not a person to be respected, it said. In the video circulated by the YPG press office on Sunday, seven fighters credit Ocalan s ideology for the defeat of Islamic State at Raqqa, which served as the jihadists Syrian base of operations and a hub for planning attacks in the West. All victories, developments and gains made here are results of a great battle based on his opinions and philosophy. If his ideological power hadn t been with us, we wouldn t know what to do in such a situation, said one of the fighters. Raqqa would never have been rescued from the darkness of recent years, and all other IS occupied cities as well. Ocalan s influence runs deep in Kurdish-led regions that have emerged in northern Syria since its civil war began in 2011. Steps are under way to establish a new political system based on his ideas about federalism and local democracy. Another of the fighters, who identified himself as a Canadian and gave his name as Hozan Kobane, said the U.S. government position on Ocalan was a mistake and a bit behind the times . The writings and the philosophy and the influence of Abdullah Ocalan was very, very decisive in motivating the soldiers with an ideology of peace and democracy that allowed this liberation to be possible, he said. The U.S.-led coalition has said the Ocalan banner was not sanctioned by the SDF leadership. Furthermore, the Coalition does not approve of the display of divisive symbols and imagery at a time in which we remain focused on the defeat of Daesh (IS) in Syria, Colonel Ryan Dillon, the coalition spokesman, said. Ocalan has been in jail in Turkey since 1999 on a treason conviction. More than 40,000 people, most of them Kurds, have died in the fighting since the PKK took up arms against the state in 1984. The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, Turkey and the European Union.


We all know that President Donald Trump has wanted to blow up the disaster that is Obamacare for months now, however, his latest vision of bringing better healthcare to the people of America will actually stop billions of dollars in payments to health insurance companies that serve the poorest enrollees in the Affordable Care Act.If the President stops these payments, the entire health insurance system will be thrown into complete chaos, resulting in higher prices and fewer choices, if any, for consumers. Insurance companies would most likely increase the premiums of people using exchanges such as HealthCare.gov and Covered California, or stop selling to them altogether. Without Trump s payments, this aspect of healthcare will simply fall apart under his watch.The main issue behind all of this are cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments, reimbursements to health insurance companies made in order to reduce out-of-pocket costs such as deductibles and copayments for low-income customers. The House of Republicans filed a lawsuit in 2014, which is still pending, against the Obama administration questioning the legality of these payments. According to one White House official, the Trump administration has agreed to make the CSR payment for the month of May, but has made no commitment after that. As Donald Trump himself said about the healthcare system in January during a pre-inauguration speech, The easiest thing would be to let it implode in 17 and believe me, we d get pretty much whatever we wanted. In Trump s unhinged mind, ending what he has referred to as these bailout payments would force democrats to negotiate repealing the Affordable Care Act, however, they don t seem too keen on doing so, nor do the majority of the American people, with 60 percent stating that they don t approve of negotiations that disrupt insurance markets according to a survey conducted last month by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Three-quarters of those surveyed also believe the ACA should be kept running and two-thirds, including a majority of Republicans, believe that the repercussions of any further problems stemming from changes to healthcare in the USA sit squarely on President Trump s shoulders.Still, the President continues to ignore any advice given to him and remains in favor of cutting the payments. To be eligible for the cost reduction, enrollees in exchanges can earn up to 250 percent of the federal poverty level, which equals $30,015 per person. With the CSR payments being made by the government, deductibles of thousands of dollars are reduced to just hundreds for the consumer, a subsidy that has been received by seven million people between November 1, 2017, and January 31 this year, equating to 58 percent of exchange enrollees.Without the Trump administration making these CSR payments, insurers would need to raise premiums by an average of 19 percent on top of any other price increases next year.


During a segment of HBO s Real Time with Bill Maher, Prophets of Rage guitarist Tom Morello sat down with the show s host Bill Maher where they discussed the legacy of Muhammed Ali.Maher described the influence that the late boxing champion had on himself and the world, saying: He invented hip-hop. It was completely revolutionary. For everyone who is younger, who grew up in a world of hip-hop, where braggadocio is a big part of life. You know I used to say, rap is affirmative action for the ego. Morello agreed with Maher, saying that Ali had influenced himself, saying that he was particularly attracted to Ali because of how unapologetic his attitude was. Morello also went on to comment on how Ali s legacy is now being whitewashed. I was attracted to Muhammad Ali by how he used his vocation to inflict his worldview on the public, and it was unapologetic. In the same way with Nelson Mandela, there s been a sort of a whitewash of who Muhammad Ali was. He was a person who said, You might not like my religion, but it s my religion. You might not like the color of my skin, or my opinions, but I am just as American as you are. And the powers that be can shove it, because I m the champion of the world and I m the peoples champion. And that s thing, as a kid, that made me think, in my vocation, I can express my opinion in a way that is unapologetic as well. Morello was spot on with his statement that Ali s legacy is being whitewashed. That s why a hate-mongerer like Donald Trump feels comfortable tweeted out platitudes to The Greatest despite the fact that Trump s presidential campaign flies in the face of everything that Ali stood for. Ali was so much against Trump s stance on banning Muslim s from entering the United States, that he wrote a public letter lambasting the idea.You can watch the segment below:"Muhammad Ali invented hip-hop." @BillMaher and @TMorello reflect on Ali's revolutionary and unapologetic persona:https://t.co/qj1YJc1D71 Real Time (@RealTimers) June 11, 2016Featured image from video screenshot


SIOUX CITY, Iowa — Texas Republican Ted Cruz on Saturday brushed off the most recent poll results showing him behind businessman Donald Trump in Iowa by 5 points. "If you had told me a year ago that two days out from the Iowa caucuses we would be neck and neck, effectively tied for first place in the state of Iowa, I would have been thrilled," Cruz told reporters. The latest Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics Iowa Poll, released hours before Cruz held a rally here, showed Trump retaking his lead in Iowa. Cruz previously held the poll's top spot. The latest Iowa Poll showed Trump at 28% support among likely Iowa Republican caucusgoers and Cruz at 23%. Even so, Cruz considers himself in a "dead heat" with Trump for the top spot. Cruz pointed to an increase in attacks against him as proof that he still has strong political standing in Iowa. "Everyone in the field is running millions of dollars in attack ads. We saw it in the last debate where everyone lined up to toss their attacks. That's fine. That goes with the territory," Cruz said. "I'll tell you I'd be a lot more worried right now if nobody was attacking me. Then that would be concerning: What do they know that we don't?" The U.S. senator and presidential hopeful was ending a five-stop day. Cruz had set the rally here as the location for a one-on-one debate he challenged Trump to earlier in the week. Trump did not show up. Throughout the day, Cruz gave a version of his usual stump speech, laying out his agenda for what he'll do if he makes it to the White House. It includes repealing Obamacare and Common Core, opening an investigation into Planned Parenthood, instituting a flat tax, and eliminating the IRS and a slate of other federal agencies. Linda Imsland, of Hubbard, said she supports Cruz, during his stop in her town 25 miles north of Ames. "He believes with all his heart that the Constitution needs to be upheld," she said. "I believe he's a very patriotic man. I believe that he cares about the country, and I think it scares him to death to see where we're headed, and it does me, too." Cruz has been making his final pitches throughout Iowa while counting down the hours to caucus night. "This is now your time. This is the men and women of Iowa, the time to look candidates in the eyes and make the judgment: Who do I trust? Who do I know is going to defend the Constitution, is going to repeal Obamacare, is going to stop amnesty, is going to kill the terrorists and keep this country safe?" Cruz said.