Thursday, June 1, 2017

Clinton calls out Russia for election loss

President Trump needs to put this piece of trash in prison.

Hillary Clinton came out swinging Wednesday, ripping Russia for her November loss to President Trump and accusing the White House of colluding with Moscow in weaponizing technology to bring her campaign down.
Clinton linked Russia’s interference in the 2016 elections to Trump and said she hoped investigators would be able to unmask a plot to interfere in the U.S. elections.
"I take responsibility for every decision I made, but that's not why I lost,” she said at the annual Code Conference in California. “Anti-American forces are going after our economy and they are going after our unity as a nation."

“Anti-American forces are going after our economy and they are going after our unity as a nation."

Clinton described how a Russian-led misinformation campaign was launched against her using social media networks like Facebook that weren’t able to cut through the “fake news” circulated on the sites.
"What we saw in this election particularly the first time we had the tech revolution really weaponized politically," she said. "It was aimed at me but it's a much deeper, more persistent effort to literally turn the clock back on so much of what we have achieved as a country."
She also didn’t hold back when asked who she thought was responsible for directing the Russians.
“I’m leaning Trump,” she said.
Clinton said she and her campaign repeatedly tried to bring up Russia’s interest in the U.S. election but said her claims were largely ignored.
"Putin wants to bring us down," Clinton said. "It's way beyond me. .... I believe that what was happening to me was unprecedented. Over the summer we went and told anyone we could find that the Russians were messing with the election and we were basically shoo'd away. .... We couldn't get the press to cover it."
Clinton also took issue with a 2010 Supreme Court decision that opened up campaign spending.
“The first time you saw the tech revolution really weaponized politically… you had Citizens United come to its full fruition,” she said. “So unaccountable money flowing in against me, against other Democrats in a way we hadn’t seen. You had effective suppression of votes.”
In the Citizens United v Federal Election Commission ruling, the justices ruled that political spending is protected under the First Amendment. The ruling made it legal for corporations, unions and special interest groups to funnel unlimited amounts of money to candidates – just as long as it was done independently. The high court decision led to a boom in super PACs.
Clinton also claimed she was treated unfairly for accepting millions of dollars in speaking fees from Wall Street firms amid an increasingly competitive race with self-proclaimed "democratic socialist" Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and then Trump.
“I have to say… I never thought someone would throw out my entire career because I made a couple of speeches,” she said. “Men got paid for speeches they made… I got paid for the speeches I made.”

President Trump Meets with Two New Candidates for FBI Director Role

President Trump meets with more candidates as he continues his search for a new FBI director.
At the White House Tuesday, he met with former head of the TSA John Pistole and former Assistant Attorney General Chris Wray to discuss the position.
According to administration officials, the meetings will continue until President Trump finds the “right leader.”
Pistole previously worked at the FBI for more than 20 years and served as Deputy Director for the last six.
Wray previously worked under ousted FBI director James Comey at the Justice Department when Comey was the Deputy Attorney General.

President Trump to Pull U.S. Out of Paris Climate Agreement

President Trump is expected to pull the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement, fulfilling another one of his campaign promises.
In a tweet Wednesday morning, the President said he will be announcing his official decision in the next few days.
On the campaign trail President Trump said the Obama-era deal adds more regulations that hurt American businesses.
According to inside sources, EPA director Scott Pruitt is leading the effort to remove the U.S. from the deal.

Wrong and Vile: OAN Breaks Down Backlash Over Griffin Photo Firestorm

Kathy Griffin

CNN fired comedian Kathy Griffin from its annual New Year’s Eve broadcast on Wednesday after she drew strong criticism for posing in photographs holding up the likeness of a bloody, severed head resembling U.S. President Donald Trump.
The network announced the termination after earlier criticizing the photos as “disgusting and offensive.”
Griffin posted a videotaped apology on Tuesday night amid a public outcry from Republicans and Democrats alike over the images, including condemnation from Trump.
“Kathy Griffin should be ashamed of herself,” Trump wrote. “My children, especially my 11-year-old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick!”
The U.S. Secret Service, responsible for presidential security, has opened an inquiry into the posting of Griffin posing with the severed-head replica, a spokesman in Los Angeles said when asked whether the agency was looking into the incident as a potential threat on the president’s life.
“We’re aware of it and we’re investigating it,” the spokesman, George Fernandez, told Reuters. He declined to elaborate.
Griffin, 56, a two-time Emmy-winning performer known for her deliberately provocative brand of humor, has appeared since 2007 as co-host of CNN’s New Year’s Eve broadcast from Times Square in New York with anchor Anderson Cooper.
CNN did not make clear whether it was cutting its New Year’s Eve deal with Griffin for just the upcoming 2017 broadcast or for good.
The furor also cost Griffin a show at the Route 66 Casino Hotel outside Albuquerque, New Mexico. Management of the Laguna Pueblo tribe-operated establishment decided to cancel a one-night appearance by Griffin scheduled for July 22, a spokesman said.
Griffin apologized profusely in a video message posted to her official Twitter account late on Tuesday, saying that as a comic she routinely seeks to “cross the line” but realized in this case, “I went too far.”
“The image is too disturbing. I understand how it offends people. It wasn’t funny. I get it,” she said, adding that she was seeking to have the images taken down from social media.
“I beg for your forgiveness,” she concluded. “I made a mistake and I was wrong.”
‘VILE AND WRONG’
Celebrity news website TMZ published a behind-the-scenes video on Tuesday of Griffin posing with the model head for a photo shoot. She was seen reviewing the images with photographer Tyler Shields and jokingly saying, “We have to move to Mexico today because we’re going to go to prison, federal prison.”
TMZ posted an image from the shoot on Twitter.
“This is vile and wrong,” Chelsea Clinton, daughter of former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, wrote on Twitter. “It is never funny to joke about killing a president.”
Trump’s oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., called on sponsors of Griffin to condemn the comedian.
At his daily briefing with reporters in Washington, presidential spokesman Sean Spicer declined to answer directly when asked whether it was appropriate for Trump to have hosted a White House visit by rocker Ted Nugent last month despite violent remarks the musician made in 2012 about then-President Barack Obama.
Secret Service agents met with Nugent after the performer told a National Rifle Association convention in St. Louis that he would be “dead or in jail” if Obama were re-elected. He also declared, “We need to ride into that battlefield and chop their heads off in November.” The Secret Service later said the matter had been resolved with no further action.
“To be honest with you, I’d have to look back and see what those statements were and what the reaction was at the time,” Spicer said when pressed for a comment on Wednesday.
Griffin’s firing by CNN drew widely divergent reactions, with one Twitter follower, Anand Elgie, calling her termination “over reaction,” adding: “she had a bad moment of judgment… Trump bring out the worse in us all.”
Another, Mark Dice, said CNN should have acted sooner. “The fact that you waited this long proves your network endorses the assassination of our president. You are the enemy of the people!!!”

Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Operation Fight With Fire #StandWithSean

From MediaEqualizer.com:
Working Together, Against the Suppression of the First Amendment by the Left
NEW YORK, NY, May 30, 2017 – Today, conservatives stand together with #StoptheScalpings to push back against the attempt to silence those who dare to ask tough questions and pursue the truth. Sean Hannity, of Fox News, took it upon himself to delve deeper into a story, one that left many unanswered questions requiring further investigation.
#StopTheScalpings is part of the Media Equality Project, a new organization launched by Brian Maloney and Melanie Morgan, two longtime talk show hosts, political and media analysts.
The DNC, mainstream media, George Soros, and Media Matters for America, deemed Sean Hannity’s pursuit of the facts too close for comfort. In an effort to protect their ilk, and the secrets they keep, they have created a false narrative. They have defamed Hannity’s character, his work and political positions.
Media Matters has now targeted Sean Hannity’s advertisers all in a back door effort to remove financial support for the show. They do this to silence his voice, because it does not speak in unison with their own.
For months there has been a widespread media narrative advancing a conspiracy theory that the Trump campaign and the Russians colluded to release the DNC emails to Wikileaks, to hurt Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
Continue reading from MediaEqualizer.com

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Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel Cartoons

Why does Vox have a problem with masculine Marines?

It takes a special kind of low life to smear the military on Memorial Day. And the folks who run the lefty website Vox – are that kind of low life.
They published a despicable hit piece accusing the Marine Corps of having a toxic masculinity problem -- compared them to a fraternity house.
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Author Alex Ward said there was a fight for the soul of the Marine Corps.
"There’s a 'toxic masculinity culture' in the Marine Corps, James Joyner, a professor at the Marine Command and Staff College, told me. That may be what is at the core of the women-in-infantry debate among Marine ranks: the identity crisis of a historically macho club now being forced to let in women," Ward wrote.
As if there's something wrong with demanding that our fighting men -- be masculine?
The story sparked widespread outrage among patriots on social media.
"Vox marks Memorial Day by crapping on the Marines," Twitchy declared.
‘Call me crazy but I'm pretty sure the Marine Corps is supposed to be both masculine and toxic," popular blogger Matt Walsh tweeted.
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But we're dealing with the kind of people who seem to want our Marines to prance into battle wearing high heels and camouflage rompers.
I am unfamiliar with Mr. Ward, but it sounds as if Vox has a toxic snowflake problem. Liberal newsrooms have a history of attracting writers who suffer from microaggressions at the mere mention of the military or anything patriotic.
That's the only reasonable explanation for why an American news publication would intentionally attack the military on Memorial Day.
Did you know President Obama was once an avid reader of Vox? Not surprising.
I am all but certain the Vox report would've caused a meltdown in the Obama Pentagon -- think mandatory group hugs, essential oils and white wine spritzers.
But there are no white wine spritzers in Defense Secretary James "Mad Dog" Mattis' Pentagon.
"Find the enemy that wants to end this experiment (in American democracy) and kill every one of them until they’re so sick of the killing that they leave us and our freedoms intact," the retired general once said.
And if that quote doesn't trigger the progressives, consider the general's opinion on men who beat up women:
"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil. You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them. Actually it's quite fun to fight them, you know. It's a hell of a hoot. It's fun to shoot some people. I'll be right up there with you. I like brawling."
Oorah, Secretary Mattis! Oorah!
All that to say, I sincerely doubt our brave Marines are going to lose any sleep over the flatulent emissions coming from the emasculated pajama boys over at Vox.
Semper Fi, America.
Todd Starnes is host of Fox News & Commentary. His latest book is “The Deplorables’ Guide to Making America Great Again.” Follow him on Twitter @ToddStarnes and find him on Facebook.

Trump, Germany's Merkel clash over trade, NATO and 'Western values'

Another Hillary Clinton?

Germany and the U.S. emerged from Memorial Day weekend in a war of words, as Chancellor Angela Merkel and her coalition partners attacked America’s reliability as a world power and President Trump fired back on Twitter.
Merkel said at a beer tent rally in Munich Sunday that Germany cannot "fully rely" on the U.S., and that continental Europe “really must take our fate into our own hands.”

Martin Schulz, head of Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD), which is Merkel's coalition partner in the federal government, went further, calling Trump a "destroyer of all Western values."
“The chancellor represents all of us at summits [NATO and G7] like these,” said Schulz, seen as a challenger to Merkel in the upcoming September election. "I reject with outrage the way this man takes it upon himself to treat the head of our country's government.”
Trump countered on Tuesday, renewing his allegation Germany doesn't pay its full, 2 percent of GDP share toward defense -- a requirement of NATO membership. He also rapped the European economic powerhouse for its trade policies.
“We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military," Trump tweeted. "Very bad for U.S. This will change"

Economists agree with Trump that the U.S. trade gap favors Germany by $67.8 billion per year. That trade deficit is the second largest after China's $310 billion advantage over the U.S.
MERKEL URGES EU TO CONTROL ITS OWN DESTINY, AFTER TRUMP VISIT, CLIMATE CHANGE DECISION
Trump has confronted Merkel over her country's failure to meet the NATO guidelines for defense expenditures. Germany is one of the 23 NATO members that has not met the 2 percent goal of defense spending. The European economic powerhouse ranked 15th among NATO members, spending a mere 1.2 percent of its gross national product on military defense.
The U.S., Greece, Poland, Britain and Estonia are the only NATO members who meet (or exceed) NATO’s criteria for armed forces spending. A Politico story published last week, titled "Trump's right about Germany," said "Merkel's economic policies really are hurting the U.S.”
MERKEL: EUROPE MUST STAY UNITED IN FACE OF ALLY UNCERTAINTY
It is not the first time that anti-American rhetoric has played a role in a German election campaign. Former social democratic Chancellor Gerhard Schröder mobilized voters around anti-American sentiments to win the 2002 election. In his memoir, “Decision Points,” President George W. Bush accused Schröder of reneging on German support for the U.S. in the Iraq war. That touched off a war of words between Bush and Germany’s then justice minister.
When he was foreign minister, Germany's current social democratic president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, called Trump a "hate preacher." Steinmeier’s successor as foreign minister, the social Democrat Sigmar Gabriel, has pivoted away from the U.S and toward the Islamic Republic of Iran. Just days after the U.S and other world powers reached a nuclear deal with Iran in 2015 to curb its atomic program, Gabriel went to Iran with a delegation of business leaders. He made a second trip last year to jump-start business deals with Iran.
This past week, Gabriel was engulfed in scandal after inviting a hard-line anti-Western, anti-U.S. Iranian cleric to the foreign ministry for a conference promoting religious peace. The extremist Iranian religious leader Hamidreza Torabi, a key organizer of the Quds event in Berlin, an anti-Western rally calling for the destruction of the Jewish state, appeared at the foreign ministry event.
Torabi sponsors buses for pro-Hezbollah and pro-Iranian regime activists to travel to Quds, which also serves as a gathering spot for boycott campaigns against Israel.
Although the U.S. has designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, Merkel has declined to outlaw the Lebanese militant group. There are 950 active members and supporters of Hezbollah in Germany.
The Israeli Embassy told Fox News that Germany should have never invited Torabi to the conference.
“Any person who incites violence has no place in a dialogue that uses religions as a bedrock to bring peace, tolerance and understanding between people, nations and religions,” the ministry said. “Moreover, there is no doubt that a person who incites violence against Israel and Jews in the name of God, in the city of Berlin, has no place in such a dialogue, certainly not one organized by the German government.”
Torabi, who heads the Islamic Academy of Germany, held a poster in downtown Berlin at the 2016 anti-Israel Quds rally urging the “rejection of Israel” and terming the Jewish state “illegal and criminal.”

Gregg Jarrett: Jared Kushner gets mugged by the media mob

“This nation was dedicated to freedom under law, not under mobs.”
So wrote the late Justice, Tom Clark, who gave me my first tour of the Supreme Court in the 1970s. Justice Clark cared deeply about the role of the news media in holding our government accountable. But he would be dispirited to see their embrace of “mobocracy,” as he once described it.
The mob as a ruling class is today’s mainstream media. They assert political control by denigrating and vilifying. No act by the Trump administration, however slight, will be spared a full-throated “scandal” as declared by the media. All deeds are treated as crimes or impeachable offenses.
The latest victim is President Trump’s son-in-law and White House adviser, Jared Kushner. His crime appears to be no crime at all. He met with two foreign officials from Russia –an ambassador and a banker. Back channel communications were allegedly discussed. Mass hysteria in both print and television ensued.
There was no attempt at reasoned analysis, no context of historical precedence.
The media all but shouted, “off with his head!” Execution first. A trial with real or imagined evidence sometime later, if ever.
Back Channel Communications
The Washington Post ignited the media firestorm by publishing a story that Kushner met with Sergei Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to Washington, in December and allegedly sought a private communications channel with the Kremlin.
Within an hour, television reporters and pundits were declaring it a “bombshell” –their favorite description of anything related to Trump. No one bothered to point out that nearly every recent president has established and relied on similar back channel contacts.
Notably, President John Kennedy depended on two sets of back channel communications with the Soviets to diffuse the Cuban Missile Crisis in October of 1962. His brother Bobby Kennedy arranged an urgent deal with Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin to remove the missiles in Cuba in exchange for the U.S. removing obsolete missiles in Turkey. At the same time, the State Department commandeered ABC correspondent John Scali to work out other details with Soviet Embassy official Alexander Fomin. A catastrophic nuclear exchange was averted.
But nowhere in the hyper-media coverage was this mentioned in the hours after the Kushner story broke. Only two days later, in an opinion column by David Ignatius, did the Washington Post admit the value of secret contacts when he observed, “Such back channels can add stability and predictability in foreign relations.” Few in the media have picked up on it.
It makes no difference whether the idea of a private communications channel was broached before or after President Trump took office. It is a distinction without a difference. As Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly observed, “It’s both normal, in my opinion, and acceptable.”
So much for the “bombshell.” More like a media dud. Of course, they’ll never admit to it.
The Logan Act Charade
Because the Kushner meeting occurred after Trump was elected but before he took office, the media continues to claim that the Logan Act was violated. Passed in 1799, it prohibits private citizens from interfering in diplomatic disputes with foreign governments. Surely, Kushner violated that law, the media exclaimed.
But no one has ever been prosecuted under the Logan Act. Therefore, it is legally inoperable because it has remained dormant for more than two centuries. Prosecutors are not allowed to use a statute that has fallowed for such a long period of time. In other words, it is dead. It sits on the books of our criminal codes only as words collecting dust. Nothing more.
Even if it was somehow germane and valid, Kushner was not acting as a private citizen as the Act requires. He was serving as a representative of the incoming administration. Other presidents have had discussions with foreign governments before taking office, including President Obama.
Yet the media seems oblivious to both the law and its application.
Security Clearance Form
The media continues to speculate that Kushner committed a crime by omitting his Russian meetings when he filled out his security clearance forms. But the press almost never mentions that people are rarely prosecuted because it is exceedingly difficult to demonstrate that it was “knowingly falsified or concealed,” as the law demands.
Have you ever seen one of these forms? They are long and confusing. Few people manage to fill them out correctly or completely.
Since violation is not a strict liability crime, the feds would have to prove “specific intent.” That is, Kushner tried to deliberately deceive the government. Incomplete paper work, by itself, is not a criminal act.
Significantly, the day after Kushner submitted his form, his attorney alerted the FBI it was in error and would be amended to include several meetings with foreign officials. These circumstances hardly constitute a crime. Immediate notification of a filing mistake vitiates any legal culpability.
But, again, journalists seem to conveniently overlook this. The story is too good to let the facts get in the way.
Kushner Not a “Target”
Media madness switched gears into overdrive when it was reported that Kushner is a focus by the FBI in their Russian investigation. But what does that really mean?
It means, quite simply, the Bureau would like to speak with him about his meetings with Russian officials. It does not necessarily imply there is a scintilla of evidence that he committed any crimes. If the feds had such evidence, he would have received a “target letter” as Justice Department rules require.
The media tends to forget (or not realize) that it is not a crime to talk with a Russian, including an ambassador. After all, it is Kislyak’s job to meet as frequently as possible with current and incoming government officials. Does he endeavor to influence those people and our government’s policies? Of course. That’s why he’s stationed in Washington. Our ambassador in Moscow serves the same function. It’s called diplomacy and advocacy.
Kushner also met with a Russian banker, Sergey Gorkov, the head of Vnesheconombank, which is the subject of U.S. sanctions. Such a meeting, by itself, does not violate the sanctions order nor is it a crime.
Neither is it a crime to collude with a foreign government to influence an election. As I explained in a recent column, there is no criminal statute prohibiting it. President Trump insists there was no collusion. But even if there was, it is not unlawful.
The lawyer for Jared Kushner says he is prepared to answer any and all questions. Perhaps when he does, he will expose the media for its slanted coverage and hyperbolic headlines.
The media deserves a good mugging.
Gregg Jarrett is a Fox News Anchor and former defense attorney.

Trump views Germany as political opponent: senior SPD lawmaker

U.S. President Donald Trump has made clear with his latest tweet that he views Germany as a political opponent, said a senior German lawmaker from the Social Democrats, junior partner in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling coalition.
“Donald Trump makes clear with his tweet that he views Germany as a political opponent,” Thomas Oppermann, head of the Social Democrats’ (SPD) parliamentary group, told reporters on Tuesday.
Trump criticised Germany earlier on Tuesday for its trade surplus and military spending levels, a day after Merkel rammed home her doubts about the reliability of the United States as an ally.
In his tweet, Trump said: “We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military. Very bad for U.S. This will change.”

Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Whiny Democrat Taught Kid Cartoons

Trump reportedly mulling major overhaul to White House staff

President Trump is reportedly considering a major shakeup to his White House staff and bringing back top campaign strategists over his frustrations by what he sees as his team’s inability to contain the crisis involving alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Lawyers and public relations experts are being recruited, the Associated Press reported Sunday, as new revelations surface about Moscow’s interference and possible improper dealings with the Trump campaign and associates. The disclosures dogged Trump during his first trip abroad since taking office and threaten to overwhelm and stall the agenda for his young presidency.
The latest reports have taken aim at Trump’s son-in-law and top adviser Jared Kushner. Kushner is alleged to have spoken with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. about setting up a back-channel communications network with Moscow during the presidential transition.
Trump did not come out directly and defend Kushner, but decried what he called the “fake news media” in a series of tweets earlier Sunday. He focused heavily on leaks — both those coming out of the White House and an intelligence leak blamed on Americans about this week's deadly bombing at a concert in England.
The back channel was meant to connect Michael Flynn, who later became Trump's first national security adviser, with Russian military leaders, the AP reported. Flynn was fired in February, officials saying he misled Vice President Mike Pence about whether he and the ambassador had discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia in a phone call.
While overseas, Trump's longtime lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, joined a still-forming legal team to help the president shoulder the intensifying investigations into alleged Russian interference in the election and his associates' potential involvement. More attorneys with deep experience in Washington investigations are expected to be added, along with crisis communication experts, to help the White House in the weeks ahead.
"They need to quarantine this stuff and put the investigations in a separate communications operation," said Jack Quinn, who served as White House counsel for President Bill Clinton.
Trump believed he was facing more of a communications problem than a legal one, despite the intensifying inquiries, one person familiar with his thinking told the AP.
As he mulls changes, Trump has entertained bringing his former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, and former deputy campaign manager, David Bossie, formally back into the fold. Both Lewandowski and Bossie discussed the prospect with the president before his trip, according to one person told of the conversations.
As a possible shakeup looms, Trump has other issues to deal with on the home front. Aside from the Russia investigation, the president still has to make an official decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement all the while defend his budget plan and hope his health care bill garners support in the Senate.
Trump also has to decide soon on a Pentagon recommendation to add more U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, as well as boosting reinforcement for the beleaguered Afghan military.
While taxes have taken a back seat in recent weeks, Trump tweeted Sunday: "The massive TAX CUTS/REFORM that I have submitted is moving along in the process very well, actually ahead of schedule. Big benefits to all!"

Paul Ryan shunned by dozens of middle schoolers during photo op

A group of New Jersey eighth-grade students schooled House Speaker Paul Ryan over his unwillingness to critique President Trump.
About half of the more than 200 students from South Orange Middle School refused to pose for a photo with Ryan during a school trip to Washington, D.C., last Thursday.
Matthew Malespina, 13, who waited across the street with other classmates declining to be in the picture with the Wisconsin Republican, said the school informed them the night before of the photo op on the Capitol steps.
“I was like, ‘Oh God, I’m not taking a picture with this man.’ I first texted my mom because my mom hates Paul Ryan as well,” Matthew told the Post on Sunday. “And I was saying to her, Oh God, I can’t do this. I can’t take a picture with him.’ She said that was completely fine, just be respectful.”
Being in the photo wasn’t mandatory, Matthew said, so he was surprised by the number of students who agreed to turn out because of the lack of support among the students for Trump.
“Our school is pretty liberal. I only know three Trump supporters in our grade and there’s a lot people in our grade. So it’s fairly liberal. [Teachers] knew that a lot of people didn’t like Paul Ryan,” he said. “But they gave us the option. I was shocked by the number of people who wanted to join me and my friends to not take a picture of him. It was like half the grade.”
His mom, Elissa Malespina, said she’s proud of her son for standing up for his principles.
“I proud of him that he chose to not do that and I proud he did so in a respectful manner,” she told the Post. “Yes, he [Ryan] is the third most powerful person in the nation, technically, but I don’t agree with his stance on a lot of things and neither does my child.”

University of California to end lavish spending on dinners

The University of California has announced it will no longer pay for the meals of its governing board after a newspaper reported lavish spending on dinners.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported Sunday that UC President Janet Napolitano 's office reimbursed regents for more than $225,000 in dinner parties since 2012, including $17,600 for a banquet held the night before the board voted to raise tuition.
UC Board of Regents Chair Monica Lozano and Napolitano said in a statement that regents will "absorb their costs for board dinners" to avoid questions over how money is spent.
The newspaper reports Monday the reversal was the idea of regent Richard Blum.
Dinner costs are paid out of a private endowment designated for university business costs not covered by state or tuition funds.
Earlier this month, California Gov. Jerry Brown announced that he is withholding $50 million from the University of California in light of an audit last month that claimed to have found a stash of $175 million in secret funds while officials requested more money from the state.
A state audit found that under university system President Janet Napolitano, former Department of Homeland Security chief, UC administrators hid $175 million from the public while increasing tuition and asking the state for more money.
The UC Board of Regents in January voted to increase in-state tuition and fees by $336 next academic year. Some lawmakers called for a reversal of the tuition hike in the wake of the audit.

'Sanctuary Cities' protests interrupt Texas House session

Texas becomes first state to ban sanctuary cities

Protests erupted in the Texas capitol building on Monday over Gov. Greg Abbott’s new law cracking down on ‘sanctuary cities,’ interrupting the final day in this year’s regular session of the Texas Legislature.
Hundreds of protesters chanted in opposition to the new law, forcing House leadership to stop the session and send state troopers to clear the gallery.
Activists wearing red T-shirts reading "Lucha," or "Fight," quietly filled hundreds of gallery seats as proceedings began. After about 40 minutes, they began to cheer, drowning out the lawmakers below.

Some protesters held banners that said, “See you in court” and “See you at the polls,” while others chanted “Hey, hey. Ho, ho. SB-4 has got to go.”
The demonstration continued for about 20 minutes as officers led people out of the chamber peacefully in small groups. There were no reports of arrests.
Abbott signed SB-4 into law earlier this month in an effort to remain consistent with federal immigration law. The law effectively bans sanctuary city policies in Texas and gives law enforcement officers the ability to ask the immigration status of anyone they stop. Under the law, officers who fail to comply, or cooperate, with federal immigration agents could face jail time and fines reaching $25,000 per day.
“What it means is that no county, no city, no governmental body in the state of Texas can adopt any policy that provides sanctuary, and second, what it means, is that law enforcement officials, such as sheriffs, are going to be required to comply with ICE detainer requests,” Abbott said on “Fox & Friends” the day after signing the bill into law.
He added, “Isn’t it quasi-insane that we have to pass a law to force law enforcement officers to comply with the law?”
Texas is the first state to officially ban sanctuary cities under President Trump. Colorado passed a law in 2006 outlawing sanctuary cities, but the measure was repealed in 2013. So far, only Texas, Mississippi, Georgia, and Tennessee have officially passed bills into law banning ‘sanctuary policies.’ Virginia attempted two measures in the Republican-led legislature, but both were suspended after Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe threatened to veto.
The Texas law is set to take effect on Sept. 1, and opponents have vowed to challenge it in court, after slamming it as the nation’s toughest on immigrants since Arizona’s crackdown in 2010. But Abbott said key provisions of Texas’ law had been tested at the U.S. Supreme Court, which struck down several components of Arizona’s law.
Mayors throughout the Lone Star State were in opposition to the bill’s passage, claiming it would weaken the relationship between law enforcement officials and the public, but Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton already filed suit against local jurisdictions that had been accused of not cooperating with federal immigration agents.
Paxton filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, just days after Abbott signed SB-4 into law.
“Unfortunately, some municipalities and law enforcement agencies are unwilling to cooperate with the federal government and claim that SB-4 is unconstitutional,” Paxton said.
But opposition groups are pushing back.
Just last week, the Texas Civil Right Project filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of the Texas Organizing Project Education Fund, alleging SB-4 is a “discriminatory, unconstitutionally vague” bill that encourages “racial profiling.”

Sunday, May 28, 2017

Intel Spies Hurting the Government Cartoons

These 5 Acts of Kindness Reveal There's More to Donald Trump Than Just His Celebrity Persona

Since Donald Trump announced he was running for president, he has seen no shortage of the media spotlight.

But one thing that fails to receive coverage: how Trump has touched the lives of others.

Here are 5 acts of kindness that reveal there's more to the billionaire than just his big celebrity persona.

1. The time he gave sanctuary to Grammy Award winning singer Jennifer Hudson after three of her family members were murdered:

When Hudson's mother, brother and nephew were gunned down in Chicago, she put everything on hold for a while. She stayed at Trump Tower to grieve, where The Donald didn't charge her a dime and also provided security for her and a few of her family members.

2. Airlines wouldn't accommodate a boy who had serious medical issues, so Trump offered his jet to help:Three-year-old Andrew Ten needed to go to New York to receive some special medical attention. But there was one big problem: The airlines refused to board him because Ten required several different pieces of medical equipment on the flight. Ten's parents put in a call to Trump, who then dispatched his private jet to meet their pressing needs.

3. He helped save a family's working farm that was going into foreclosure:

In 1986, Annabell Hill was in danger of losing her family farm. On top of that, her husband had just committed suicide hoping that his life insurance policy would cover the remaining balance that they owed. When Trump saw her tragic story, he decided to do something about it.
According to the New York Times:

Donald Trump, the New York real estate tycoon, helped prevent foreclosure today on a family farm whose owner had committed suicide to try to save his land.
Mrs. Hill proposed to bank officials that the land be sold privately so she could keep some of the 705 acres. Parts of the farm have been in the Hill family for three generations.

4. After Sergeant Andrew Tahmooressi was released from a prison in Mexico, The Donald sent him a big check to help get him back on his feet:Tahmooressi spent seven months in a Mexican prison. During that time, he was beaten and even chained to a bed. When he was released, Trump sent him a check for twenty five thousand dollars.

5. What Trump did for a bus driver who helped save a woman from jumping off a bridge:

Darnell Barton was driving his bus across a bridge when he spotted a woman on the other side of railing, staring down at the traffic below. Barton stopped the bus and approached the woman. After one of his passengers explained they didn't want to “see someone die,” he managed to put his arm around her and she agreed to come to the other side of the bridge.
After hearing about what Barton did, The Donald sent him ten thousand dollars.
Trump said:

"I thought that was so beautiful to see. I think he is a great guy with an amazing heart and I said that man should be rewarded.
Clearly, Donald Trump isn't just a good businessman, he's a Good Samaritan, too.

By Justen Charters, Justen is a content specialist and viral editor for Independent Journal Review.

Huma Abedin wants $2M for a tell-all memoir

Reward a Criminal?

Huma Abedin is ready to tell all – for a cool $2 million.
The estranged wife of disgraced ex-Congressman Anthony Weiner and former top aide to Hillary Clinton has been meeting over the past few weeks with top literary agents to discuss her writing a book, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Abedin, 40, is seeking as much as $2 million for the book, which would likely detail her husband’s sexting scandal and her role in Clinton’s failed presidential bid, according to the report.
Clinton has reportedly given the green light for the purported book.
The tome “is envisioned as a reflection on how her personal and professional lives collided during the campaign,” according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Despite being placed in the spotlight, Abedin hardly ever gives interviews.
“She’s more interesting than her husband. We know who he is. She’s the ongoing mystery,” Princeton University presidential historian Julian Zelizer told the Hollywood Reporter. “But she’ll have to put herself out there. That’s what the publisher will be looking for.”
Aside from appearing in the 2016 documentary “Weiner,” Abedin has not commented publicly on her husband’s repeated lewd Web dalliances with women he met online.
Abedin filed for separation in August 2016 in the middle of the presidential campaign after it was disclosed that Weiner included pictures of their 4-year-old son in one of his sex-charged messages.
But the couple is still together.
Sources told The Post in March that Abedin was giving the marriage another try.
“Both [his and her] families are hoping they will reconcile,” said one source.
“A lot of [their] friends believe this is an illness, that he is sick,” said another source.
But “Huma takes it into consideration that there’s been no affair, or physical contact that anybody is aware of. He never met [the women].”