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'No f--- cops'! Gym bans police officers, military because they might offend minority members

The owner of a gym in Atlanta is coming under fire after posting an obscene sign outside his business that states in part: "No f------ cops."

The sign, which has since been removed, appeared outside of EAV Barbell Club on the east side of Atlanta, according to 11Alive. The full sign said: "Rules: Do whatever the hell you want, correctly, except Crossfit cultism. No f------ cops.”

The notice started to gain attention after a military veteran saw the message and reported it to media outlets.
Jim Chambers, the owner of the gym, told 11Alive he took responsibility for the sign and wanted the message to be clear.
“We’ve had an explicitly stated ‘no cop’ policy since we opened, and we also don’t open membership to active members of the military,” Chambers told NBC4i.
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Chambers said law enforcement agents were not allowed in his business because their presence made his minority clientele uncomfortable.
The Atlanta Police Department did not comment on the ban but said, “Were we to respond to an emergency there, this sign would not stop us from lawfully doing our job.”
Chambers added: “If they have a warrant, they can go anywhere they want, but we’re not breaking the law."
Chambers said he would put the sign back up at some point but claimed that he and his clients would not need the help of law enforcement in the future.
“It was really just that the vulgarity in that sign that seems to bring it out for people,” Chambers told 11Alive.

Trump blasts McConnell over 'excessive expectations' remark, source says

President Donald Trump ripped into Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in a tense private phone call Wednesday morning, a source familiar with the call told Fox News.

The source said Trump was reacting angrily to McConnell’s remarks at a Rotary Club speech Monday in his home state of Kentucky in which he suggested that the president, given his lack of political experience, suffers from “excessive expectations” about what both chambers of Congress can get done.

During the approximately 10-minute phone call, the source said, the president curtly told McConnell he did not appreciate the criticism and still expects Republican leaders to push for repealing ObamaCare, even though that has largely been shelved for now.
The source added that Trump also told McConnell he is unhappy with U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who cast a decisive vote against repealing ObamaCare without a replacement in place. McCain, who is battling brain cancer, also slammed the president’s aggressive rhetoric on North Korea this week.
The source said the president mused to McConnell that he does not understand why the majority leader is allowing McCain to keep his powerful chairmanship of the Senate Armed Services Committee after bucking the party.
The barb-filled phone call between Trump and McConnell -- the Senate leader whom the president still needs to shepherd the rest of his legislative agenda -- came hours before the president's Wednesday afternoon tweet expressing more gentle public annoyance over McConnell’s remarks.
“Senator Mitch McConnell said I had ‘excessive expectations,’ but I don’t think so,” the president tweeted. “After 7 years of hearing Repeal & Replace, why not done?”

Japan Collecting Intel on North Korea, Guam Responds to Provocation

Tens of thousands of North Koreans gathered for a rally at Kim Il Sung Square carrying placards and propaganda slogans as a show of support for their rejection of the United Nations’ latest round of sanctions on Wednesday Aug. 9, 2017, in Pyongyang, North Korea. (AP Photo/Jon Chol Jin)

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Japanese officials say the country is collecting intelligence on North Korea’s nuclear program.
The nation plans to closely coordinate with the U.S. and South Korea, urging Pyongyang to comply with the U.N. Security Council resolutions.
One of the specific investigations Japan will be conducting aims to determine the validity of a report that says North Korea has successfully produced a miniature nuclear warhead which can fit inside its missiles.
Officials in Tokyo point to the U.S. as a vital ally amid Pyongyang’s provocation.
As the threat in Pyongyang escalates, Japan is also considering changes to the way it approaches defense.
Meanwhile, the governor of Guam is reassuring his people after North Korea threatens to carry out a missile strike on the U.S. territory.
In an online message Wednesday, Governor Eddie Calvo says he was told by both the DOD and DHS that changing the country’s threat level is unnecessary.
This despite growing threats by North Korea to strike the U.S. via Guam.
Calvo says North Korea’s warning is no threat, and the island is prepared for “any eventuality.”
He says Guam has defenses strategically placed to protect its people.
Pyongyang says it’s “carefully examining” a plan to strike Guam, which is home to about 163,000 people, and a U.S. military base.

Scientists Debunk N.Y. Times Story About ‘Leaked’ Climate Change Report

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Scientists debunk The New York Times claim that it leaked a secret — “gloom and doom” — climate change report which President Trump is trying to keep from the public.
The story was published on Monday, and makes allegations against those who challenge scientific data on human-caused climate change.
It reported that people were worried the study would be publicly released, but those who worked on the report are pushing back against the claims.
A scientist who authored the report tweeted quote, “BBC asked me if I leaked our climate science report to the media. I said no — why bother. It was publicly available during review.”