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House Rejects Impeachment Measure, Lawmakers Overwhelmingly Reject Resolution by Dem Al Green

In this photo from Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2017, Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, arrives for a Democratic Caucus meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington. The House has overwhelmingly voted to kill a resolution from Green to impeach President Donald Trump. The vote Wednesday was 364-58. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

OAN Newsroom, Marty Golingan

The House overwhelmingly rejected an attempt by Democrat Representative Al Green to impeach the president.
On Wednesday, 364 lawmakers immediately voted to kill Green’s impeachment measure with only 58 Democrats voting to move ahead.
The resolution was expected to fail as it was widely opposed by Republicans and most Democrats.
Texas Congressman Al Green has described the president as having “behavior unfit for the oval office,” but previous accusations against the congressman himself reveal his own behavior was out of line.
Green is a vocal member of the anti-Trump movement in the House of Representatives, and has been at the forefront of the liberal effort to see President Trump removed from office.

President Donald Trump speaks in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House, Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

However, past allegations of sexual misconduct have called the Texas congressman’s integrity into question.
Back in 2007, Green’s former district director Lucinda Daniels accused him of sexual contact without consent at her home.
Afterwards, Daniels said the politician tried to pursue a romantic relationship, and when she spurned his advances — Green created a hostile work environment.
She also said Green tried to smear her character, making it difficult for her with future employers.
An attorney for Green said Daniels demanded $1.8 million dollars in damages, but the congressman countered the allegations.
He filed a lawsuit against the alleged victim, claiming he was being extorted by Daniels.
Green suggested she threatened to sue him for workplace discrimination if he did not pay her the large sum.
A year later, lawyers from both Green and Daniels issued a joint statement saying both the congressman and the alleged victim resolved their dispute outside of court without any sort of settlement or litigation.
The congressman’s attorney later said Green would drop his lawsuit if Daniels dropped her accusations and signed an agreement refuting her claims against the Democrat.
After she signed the agreement, Green’s spokesman says the congressman indeed had a — quote — “romantic encounter” with Daniels, but any suggestion of sexual assault was false.
This back-and-forth between Green and his former employee raises questions about his present conduct in the House.
Green appears obsessed with impeaching President Trump, calling for his impeachment whenever the president says something he disagrees with.
He is currently playing “chicken” with his articles of impeachment after scheduling to present them on the House floor and swerving left by not showing up for his presentation
He later claimed he wanted his fellow Democrats and the public to review his proposal.
After more than a decade in office, Green has not done much legislatively.
He has shown strong liberal bias in his political stances, favorably voting for everyone of former President Obama’s budget proposals and voting against everyone of former President George W. Bush’s tax and spending cuts during his tenure.
Critics say a man willing to file a frivolous lawsuit against an alleged assault victim and draft partisan impeachment documents, clearly does not have his priorities or his constituents at heart.

Outrage as Philly pushes through ban on bulletproof glass in crime-plagued neighborhood shops

Philadelphia is one step closer to getting rid of bulletproof glass in many of its small businesses as part of a larger effort to crack down on loitering, public urination and potential drug sales -- but it's triggered backlash from the shopkeepers.

The city's Public Health and Human Services Committee passed a bill that enables Philadelphia's Department of Licenses and Inspections to regulate the bullet-resistant barricades that stand between customers and cash registers in many neighborhood corner stores, according to Fox 29.

“No establishment required to obtain a Large Establishment license … shall erect or maintain a physical barrier that requires the persons serving the food either to open a window or other aperture or to pass the food through a window or other aperture, in order to hand the food to a customer inside the establishment,” the bill states. It also calls for larger establishments to have bathrooms for customers.
Many of the hundreds of deli owners feel as though they are being singled out and are among those protesting the bill, according to Fox 29.
“If the glass comes down, the crime rate will rise and there will be lots of dead bodies,” Rich Kim, the owner of Broad Deli, which sells soda, meals and beer by the can, said. “The most important thing is safety and the public’s safety.”
Kim said the glass went up after a shooting and says it saved his mother-in-law from a knife attack.
Fox News previously reported that the bill, put forward by Councilwoman Cindy Bass, focuses on “stop-and-go” convenience stores that act more like bars than the restaurants they are licensed to be, selling beer and shots of liquor over the counter and attracting crowds that end up becoming public nuisances, according to lawmakers.
Pennsylvania state law mandates businesses with restaurant licenses should regularly sell food and have tables and chairs to seat 30 people. But some businesses keep their seating locked up or out of reach and the grills shut down, selling little more than alcohol and forcing customers to wander outside.
Bass told Fox News that in “more than 90 percent of cases they are breaking the law in terms of operating outside the requirement of their license.”
Bass said the bulletproof glass and partitions at some of these businesses are a concern of the city’s health department, as if a customer is choking or having an allergic reaction, a barrier should not stand in the way of safety.
She also addressed the security concerns. “Thousands of businesses operate in the same neighborhoods with no Plexiglass,” she told Fox News, mentioning stores like Rite-Aid and barber shops. “I’ve never been to a bar with Plexiglass.”
Kim objected to the claims that the bill stemmed from nuisance complaints city officials got from constituents, and said that calls to police often were met with slow responses.
The chairman of the Asian American Licensed Beverage Association of Philadelphia, which represents 217 ‘beer delis’ in the city, also said most of the businesses being targeted “are in not-as-safe neighborhoods.”
A full council vote is slated for Thursday, December 14, according to Fox 29.

F-35s could assist in intercepting North Korean ICBMs, experiment shows: report

FILE: A U.S.Marine Corps F-35B joint strike fighter jet conducts aerial maneuvers during aerial refueling training over the Atlantic Ocean.  (Reuters)

A 2014 test provided evidence that the U.S.’ F-35 fighter jet could prove to be a viable weapon against the threat of a North Korean-launched ballistic missile, reports said.

The high-tech F-35's sensors could help other missile-defense equipment track and destroy an intercontinental ballistic missile launched by North Korea.

John “Bama” Montgomery, a business development manager at Northrop’s targeting division, told Defense One that information gathered by the F-35s could be transmitted to a THAAD anti-ballistic missile system.
“The shooter now has information to go and put his information in the right place," Montgomery said. "Thus, the radar doesn’t have to search. It goes, ‘I know where it is; it’s right there.'”
The assessment pointed to an Inside Defense report that cited Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., who said the joint strike fighter could down an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in its boost phase.
The Defense One report said the U.S. does not have a foolproof way to down an ICBM. The report said the best chances the U.S. has in intercepting a missile is when it is on, or leaving the launch pad.
Northrop reportedly conducted a test in 2014 to determine if the F-35’s Distributed Aperture System could accurately track an ICBM. The test determined that the sensors could help missile-defense systems destroy the target.
The news was reportedly wasn't released until Tuesday because it took several years to determine. The modeling and simulation numbers are classified, but Montgomery told Defense One that, “I can tell you right now that this system, as depicted here, really does help the ballistic missile environment.”
Last week, North Korea launched a Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile that demonstrated a greater range than other missiles North Korea has tested. One expert estimated its range at more than 8,100 miles if launched on a standard trajectory, which would put Washington, D.C., within reach.
The details of the test remain unclear, with a U.S. official saying the missile did not manage to make a re-entry into Earth's atmosphere – the key problem for North Korea's nuclear program.

US Embassy workers in Cuba found to have brain abnormalities, report says

Brain abnormalities have been found in the U.S. diplomats who were victims of suspected attacks at the U.S. Embassy in Cuba, according to a new report.

Doctors discovered that white matter in the brains of Embassy workers had “developed changes,” The Associated Press reported. White matter allows different areas of the brain to communicate.

Doctors found changes within the white brain matter in U.S. diplomats who experienced "attacks" while at the American Embassy in Cuba.  (AP Photo/Desmond Boylan)

At least 24 U.S. Embassy officials in Cuba had reported hearing loud, grating noises before experiencing ear issues, hearing loss, dizziness, headache, fatigue, cognitive issues and difficulty sleeping.
CUBA CITES LACK OF EVIDENCE IN MYSTERIOUS SONIC ATTACKS ON DIPLOMATS
Some victims knew immediately that the attack was affecting their bodies, while some developed physical symptoms within 24 hours.
Other Americans who were not working but were traveling in Cuba had also reported experiencing weird symptoms similar to those that the U.S. officials reported, the State Department said.
While investigators had initially suspected what personnel were expecting as “sonic attacks,” officials are now avoiding that term.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Tuesday that he believes the Embassy workers were victims of “targeted attacks,” but noted the U.S. doesn’t know who perpetrated them.
However, Tillerson did say that the blame for the attacks falls on Cuba, as its government is responsible for the safety of diplomats in their country.
FIRST RECORDING EMERGES OF HIGH-PITCHED 'SONIC WEAPON' LINKED TO ATTACKS ON US EMBASSY WORKERS IN CUBA
Cuba has denied all accusations of involvement and claimed the Trump administration was “deliberately lying” about the attacks.
The Cuban government has also asked that the U.S. release its findings of the attacks for Cuba to investigate. Tillerson has said that while the U.S. had released some information, the country won’t release additional details that could allow the perpetrator to determine how effective the attacks were.
Most of the victims have fully recovered, officials told The Associated Press.