Friday, December 29, 2017
Paris Climate Accord
President Trump mocked the Paris Climate Accord he rejected earlier this year in a tweet highlighting the chilly temperatures in his home region.
"In the east, it could be the COLDEST New Year’s Eve on record," Trump wrote. "Perhaps we could use a little bit of that good old Global Warming that our Country, but not other countries, was going to pay TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS to protect against."
"Bundle up!" the president added.In the East, it could be the COLDEST New Year’s Eve on record. Perhaps we could use a little bit of that good old Global Warming that our Country, but not other countries, was going to pay TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS to protect against. Bundle up!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 29, 2017
Fox News Meteorologist Rick Reichmuth said New Years Eve revelers coming to watch the ball drop in Times Square will encounter a high of 20 degrees and low temperatures in the teens after sunset.
He said the conditions in the traditional security "pens" ball drop viewers must stay in could be "dangerous" as the temperatures drop.
On Wednesday, North American wind chills ranged from 19 degrees in Washington to minus-20 in Fargo, N.D. and even as low as minus-39 degrees in Yellowknife, the capital of Canada's Northwest Territories, Reichmuth reported.
Professor who blamed 'Trumpism' for Las Vegas massacre resigns
A far-left Drexel University professor -- known for
making inflammatory remarks on social media -- is resigning from his
teaching job, blaming a right-wing “internet mob” for alleged
“harassment.”
George Ciccariello-Maher, an
associate professor of politics and global studies at the Philadelphia
school, will be leaving next year, he said in a statement Thursday.
He blamed “right-wing, white supremacist media outlets and internet mobs” that allegedly harassed him for nearly a year.After December 31st, 2017, I will no longer work at Drexel University. pic.twitter.com/bAM37dbv1q— George Ciccariello (@ciccmaher) December 28, 2017
The professor had drawn attention for a series of inflammatory remarks. Most recently, he was placed on administrative leave after he blamed the Oct. 1 Las Vegas massacre of 58 people on the “narrative of white victimization” and “Trumpism.”
Some guy gave up his first class seat for a uniformed soldier. People are thanking him. I'm trying not to vomit or yell about Mosul.— George Ciccariello (@ciccmaher) March 26, 2017
The constant controversy created a backlash for the university, prompting an inquiry into the professor's behavior after donors started reconsidering their partnership with the institution.
The university’s provost reportedly wrote to Ciccariello-Maher that "at least two potential significant donors to the university have withheld previously promised donations” while a number of prospective students reversed their decisions to attend Drexel.
In the resignation announcement, Ciccariello-Maher said that “we are at war” and accused conservatives of “targeting campuses with thinly veiled provocations disguised as free speech.”
He added: “In the face of aggression from the racist Right and impending global catastrophe, we must defend our universities, our students, and ourselves by defending the most vulnerable among us and by making our campuses unsafe spaces for white supremacists.”
Drexel previously defended the professor’s right to free speech, but stressed that his views did not reflect those of the institution.
Huma Abedin's cousin convicted in fraud case involving fake emails
A first cousin of Huma Abedin, a former aide to
presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and soon to be ex-wife of
disgraced former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner, was convicted Tuesday in a
fraud case involving fake emails.
Omar Amanat, 44, and his colleague
Kaleil Tuzman face more than a decade in prison after a jury in New York
City found the pair guilty of cooking the books and defrauding
shareholders of the technology company Kit Digital between 2010 and
2012.
Amanat’s brother, Irfan Amana, was also arrested in the
United Arab Emirates and faces charges of fraud with the same tech
firm, the New York Post reported. Judge Paul Gardephe revoked Amanat’s bail after Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Griswold said he was a flight risk, and chastised the father of six children for his "disregard and a disdain for the courts and legal process."
"The evidence of their criminal schemes was so overwhelming that Amanat actually tried to fool the jury by introducing fake emails into the record as exculpatory 'evidence' in this trial," Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim said in a release. "Unfortunately for Tuzman and Amanat, the jury saw through their tangled web of lies, convicting them on all counts."
Evidence against Amanat that involved him telling a government informant of his relation to Abedin was withheld from the jury after his defense lawyers successfully argued it could unfairly influence the jurors.
"Again, particularly in New York, jurors are likely to have strong opinions regarding the Clinton campaign and certain individuals connected to the campaign," the lawyers wrote. "Both supporters and those politically opposed to Secretary Clinton could have reasons to be prejudiced against Mr. Amanat based on his indirect connection to her."
According to the Post, the mothers of Abedin and Amanat are sisters.
Amanat was a successful tech entrepreneur and owned stakes in a film studio that produced Hollywood blockbusters such as the “Twilight” movies.
In November, Abedin's estranged husband, Weiner, began serving a 21-month sentence following his conviction of sending sexual texts to a 15-year-old girl.
Trump rails against North Korea and China, says Mueller will be 'fair,' during wide-ranging interview
President Trump railed against
"nuclear menace" North Korea and fumed at the reports China illegally
delivered oil to the Hermit Kingdom, exclaiming "That wasn't my deal!"
during a wide-ranging interview Thursday with an outlet he's long
derided.
During an impromptu talk with a New York Times reporter,
Trump said his stance on trade with China has “been soft” in order to
encourage the country to help bring an end to the North Korean nuclear
threat.
But after a South Korean report Wednesday said U.S. spy satellites caught Chinese ships illegally sending oil to North Korean boats
dozens of times since October, Trump told The Times that sort of
transaction wasn't acceptable, adding “the only thing more important to
me than trade is war.”“Oil is going into North Korea. That wasn’t my deal!” Trump said. “If they’re helping me with North Korea, I can look at trade a little bit differently, at least for a period of time. And that’s what I’ve been doing. But when oil is going in, I’m not happy about that.”
He added: “We have a nuclear menace out there, which is no good for China."
The comment followed a tweet from Trump earlier Thursday saying: “Caught RED HANDED – very disappointed that China is allowing oil to go into North Korea. There will never be a friendly solution to the North Korea problem if this continues to happen!”
In addition to China and North Korea, Trump spoke to The Times about several other topics that have shadowed his first year in the White House, including special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe. Trump said he believed he was “going to be treated fairly” by Mueller and ultimately be vindicated.
He added he believed the investigation was meritless, calling it a “ruse” devised by members of the Democratic Party “as an excuse for losing an election,” and lamented the inquiry made “the country look very bad."
“It makes the country look very bad, and it puts the country in a very bad position,” Trump said. “So the sooner it’s worked out, the better it is for the country.”
Regarding the investigation and Attorney General Jeff Session’s recusal -- an event that ultimately led to Mueller's appointment -- Trump unexpectedly touted his predecessor’s attorney general, Eric Holder, to The Times. In what appeared to be a veiled shot at Sessions, Trump praised Holder for his “loyalty” to former President Barack Obama, saying Holder “totally protected him.”
Regarding his administration’s success’ during the year, Trump hailed his recently-passed tax bill, boasting he knows “the details of taxes better than anybody” and knows “the details of health care better than most.”
When asked about Alabama Republican Roy Moore’s recent failed Senate bid, Trump told the outlet he felt he had to give his endorsement “as the head of the party.”
Trump added he believed he’d “win another four years” in the White House, and that news outlets would eventually back him because otherwise “their ratings” would go “down the tubes.”
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