Hillary Clinton faces growing pressure to denounce pal Harvey Weinstein as sex-assault accusations surface

Hillary Clinton, champion for women and first female Democratic Presidential Nominee (right) has been silent since her friend and financial backer, Hollywood titan Harvey Weinstein, was fired for sexually harassing actresses and female employees.

Hillary Clinton has remained silent about Harvey Weinstein, her friend and a wealthy campaign donor, days after the Hollywood mogul was accused of sexually harassing actresses and women who worked for him -- and the pressure is building on the former presidential candidate to speak up.

“Where’s Hillary Clinton? Where’s she standing on this issue? She’s been silent. Her silence is deafening,” Republican Party Chair Ronna McDaniel said Monday, according to The Hill.

Weinstein contributed $46,350 to Clinton during her presidential candidacy, as well as to HILLPAC, a committee Clinton used to support other Democrats while she was a senator, according to The Associated Press.
Weinstein also has made massive donations to the Clinton Foundation. The foundation says on its official website that Weinstein gave in the range of $100,001 to $250,000 through June 2017.

Hillary Clinton attended the premiere of “Shakespeare in Love,” produced by Harvey Weinstein, which won the Oscar for Best Picture.

Days after the accusations against Weinstein surfaced, Clinton's Twitter page has made no mention of the story -- but she did have time to plug her children's book and a talk at Stanford University.
Weinstein and his family have given more than $1.4 million in political contributions since the 1992 election cycle, virtually all of it to Democratic lawmakers, candidates and their allies, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.
“…Harvey Weinstein is a major bundler for the DNC. They have embraced him,” McDaniel added.
The Democratic party’s efforts to distance itself from the 65-year-old film executive came after The New York Times reported that he settled sexual harassment lawsuits with at least eight women.
Weinstein was a fixture among Democratic supporters and close to party luminaries for decades, making the revelations especially embarrassing for a party that touts itself as pushing progressive policies for women.
Actress and dedicated liberal women’s rights activist Ashley Judd went on record Thursday for The New York Times story, which states: “Two decades ago, the Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein invited Ashley Judd to the Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel for what the young actress expected to be a business breakfast meeting. Instead, he had her sent up to his room, where he appeared in a bathrobe and asked if he could give her a massage or she could watch him shower, she recalled in an interview.
“‘How do I get out of the room as fast as possible without alienating Harvey Weinstein?’ Ms. Judd said she remembers thinking.”
“During three-decades worth of sexual harassment allegations, Harvey Weinstein lined the pockets of Democrats to the tune of three quarters of a million dollars. If Democrats and the DNC truly stand up for women like they say they do, then returning this dirty money should be a no brainer,” McDaniel told Townhall.

Trump tweets appreciation for Jerry Jones after national anthem remarks

President Trump on Monday tweeted his appreciation for Jerry Jones after the Dallas Cowboys owner took a hard stance against players who kneel for the national anthem by threatening their playing time.

“A big salute to Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, who will Bench players who disrespect our Flag. ‘Stand for the Anthem or sit for the game!’”

Jones doubled down on his hardline stance Monday, telling ESPN reporter Chris Mortensen there will be “no exceptions” to his rule because players who disrespect the flag need consequences.
"(Jones) said there are no exceptions to this rule or this policy. Any player who disrespects the flag or does not stand for the anthem will not play in the game," Mortensen said. "And if they want to notify the team before the game, hey I'm not going to do this, they can make them inactive. No exceptions -- he started naming Dak Prescott, Zeke Elliott. No exceptions, he said, there are no exceptions."
Jones also cited a passage in the NFL Game Operations Manual that suggests how players act on the sideline when the national anthem is being played. Failing to act in a certain way could lead to fines, suspensions or even a team losing draft picks. Jones credited Trump with reminding him of that.
The NFL has said that the game operations passage is policy and not a rule and that it doesn’t plan to punish players over anthem protests.
Jones made his initial comments hours after Vice President Mike Pence left the game in Indianapolis early when several San Francisco 49ers players took a knee during the national anthem. It is the strongest statement any owner has made since Trump reignited the anthem controversy weeks prior.
“I know this, we cannot ... in the NFL in any way give the implication that we tolerate disrespecting the flag," he said following the Cowboys’ 35-31 loss to the Green Bay Packers. "We know that there is a serious debate in this country about those issues, but there is no question in my mind that the National Football League and the Dallas Cowboys are going to stand up for the flag. So we're clear."
Dallas players have stood on the sideline, many with hands over their hearts, during the anthem ever since former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick started kneeling last season in protest of what he believed were instances of racial injustice in the U.S.
Jones said showing respect for the flag and the anthem is more important to him than any potential issues of team unity.
"There is no room here if it comes between looking non-supportive of our players and of each other or creating the impression that you're disrespecting the flag, we will be non-supportive of each other," Jones said. "We will not disrespect the flag."
Jones said he wasn't aware of whether any of his players had raised a fist at the end of the anthem before the Green Bay game.
"I don't know about that," Jones said. "But if there's anything that is disrespectful to the flag, then we will not play. OK? Understand? If we are disrespecting the flag, then we won't play. Period."
Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross also said Sunday he changed his view on players kneeling for the national anthems and now wants all players to stand, the Miami Herald reported.

FBI cites black extremists as new domestic terrorist threat

Black Lives Matter shouts down ACLU

Celebration of free speech at William & Mary College in Virginia took an unexpected turn last week when protesters from Black Lives Matter swarmed the stage and forced the event to end. And some critics blame this behavior on Trump. #Tucker

The 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., has spawned a violent domestic threat from “black identity extremists” who have stepped up attacks on police, according to an explosive new report by the FBI’s counterterrorism division.

The warning, first reported by Foreign Policy magazine, says that “it is very likely BIEs proactively target police and openly identify and justify their actions with social-political agendas commensurate with their perceived injustices against African Americans ...”

Brown, an African-American 18-year-old, was shot in August 2014 after struggling with white police officer Darren Wilson. Although Brown's supporters claimed it was a deadly case of police brutality, Wilson was cleared of wrongdoing and resigned in November 2014.

Hours before Brown's fatal confrontation with a police officer in Ferguson, Mo., he was seen on a surveillance camera in a nearby store.  (Reuters)

The shooting led to protests in Ferguson that then spread to other parts of the country. It gained added momentum after subsequent racially charged police shootings, spurred on via on social media and the group Black Lives Matter.
The FBI report said that the agency previously had analyzed the potential for violence of black identity extremism, a term that was unfamiliar before it appeared in the document. What has changed, according to the the report, is that violence has now actually occurred and is 'likely" to continue.

“It is very likely that BIEs’ perceptions of unjust treatment of African Americans and the perceived unchallenged illegitimate actions of law enforcement will inspire premeditated attacks against law enforcement over the next year,” the report said. “It is very likely additional controversial police shootings of African Americans and the associated legal proceedings will continue to serve as drivers for violence against law enforcement.”
Attacks in which police officers are targeted have been on the rise in recent years. The most high-profile such incident occurred last year in Dallas, when a gunman named Micah Johnson hid in a parking garage and fired on 11 police officers, killing five of them, during a protest against officer-involved shootings. The FBI report noted that Johnson referred to anger over police shootings and toward whites as what drove him to kill the five police officers.

undated photo of Micah Johnson, who killed five law enforcement officers in Dallas on July 7, 2016, during a protest over two recent fatal police shootings of black men  (The Associated Press)

The FBI report drew accusations of racial profiling.
DeRay Mckesson of Black Lives Matter told The Guardian the terrorism report echoes the days when FBI tracked activist groups including the NAACP and those that opposed wars.

Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson believes the report represents racial profiling  (AP)

“We knew that we were likely being watched,” said Mckesson, a longtime critic of government monitoriing of protest groups. “This is confirmation that the work of social justice continues to threaten those in power.”
The Guardian also quoted an unnamed source it described only as a former senior official from the Department of Homeland Security saying that the category "black identity extremist" was troubling.
"This is a new umbrella designation that has no basis," the source is quoted as saying. "There are civil rights and privacy issues all over this."
But others say that the FBI is correctly sounding an alarm about a serious trend.

Police officer Darren Wilson during his medical examination after he fatally shot Michael Brown, in Ferguson, Mo.  (The Associated Press)

"It's not racial profiling, it's violence profiling," said Scott Walter, president of Capital Research Center, a conservative think tank, told Fox News. "Identity politics can kill, whether it's white identity politics, which killed in Charlottesville, or black identity politics, which kills cops."
"We have to be able to distinguish between free speech and violence," Walter said. "[Many] longtime [black] activist groups were not obsessed with voilence."

Randy Sutton, a former Las Vegas law enforcement official who now is the national spokesman for Blue Lives Matter, told Fox News that the FBI report makes official what he and others in police work have been observing in recent years.
"Nobody is saying anything negative about protests," Sutton said, "Protesting is everyone's right. This is about commiting acts of violence. Many Black Lives Matter protests call for violence against police, with chants like 'What do we want?' and 'Dead cops!' It's terrorism, and it's no different than Islamic terrorism."
Sutton said the rising number of ambush attacks on police has had a chilling effect on how they do their jobs.
"Police are not being as aggressive because of the political climate," he said. "There's been a dramatic decrease in proactive policing."

Pence promises federal assistance to California as it battles deadly wildfires

Vice President Mike Pence pledged federal assistance to California on Monday as the state battles deadly wire fires that have already claimed at least 10 lives.

Pence traveled to California to raise money for Republican congressional candidates and bolster support for the Trump administration’s recent tax proposal.

Speaking outside a small manufacturing company near Sacramento, Pence deviated from his talking points to offer his guarantee that the government will jump in to help deal with the devastating fires.
“I can assure you, as I did the governor, the federal government stands ready to provide any and all assistance to the state of California as your courageous firefighters and first responders confront this widening challenge,” Pence said.
Although it was unclear if he was promising to answer Gov. Jerry Brown's request for a federal disaster declaration, Pence did say that he would speak with the governor.
"We'll be working very closely with Gov. Brown and California to see you through these challenging times," Pence said.
Pence arrived Sunday in Los Angeles for a three-day swing through the state, and he'll head back to Southern California on Tuesday.

Sanctuary City Cartoons

FEMA head Brock Long dismisses San Juan mayor's complaints: 'Political noise'

FEMA Administrator Brock Long said his agency has "filtered out" San Juan Democrat Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz.  (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti, Reuters/Jonathan Ernst, File)

FEMA Administrator Brock Long said on Sunday that as his agency responds to the crisis in Puerto Rico, it's also "filtered out" San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, adding: "We don't have time for the political noise."  

More than two weeks after Hurricane Maria lashed the island, killing 36 people, Cruz tweeted Sunday: "Increasingly painful to undestand the american people want to help and US Gov does not want to help. WE NEED WATER!" She later wrote, "Power collapses in San Juan hospital with 2 patients being transferred out. Have requested support from @FEMA_Brock NOTHING!" 

"We filtered out the mayor a long time ago," Long told ABC News' Martha Raddatz on "This Week" Sunday, after Raddatz mentioned the tweets. "We don't have time for the political noise. The bottom line is, is that we are making progress everyday in conjunction with the governor."
SAN JUAN MAYOR DONS 'NASTY' SHIRT FOR INTERVIEW ON TRUMP'S PUERTO RICO RESPONSE

Birds of a feather flock together ( Two Idiots )

Cruz and President Trump have traded shots in the weeks after the monster storm made landfall. Late last month, the mayor appeared on television in a black shirt with white letters that read, "HELP US, WE ARE DYING." Cruz argued that federal aid had been slow to reach Puerto Rico following Maria, which knocked out power to the entire island.
Trump tweeted the following day: "Such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help." He added that Cruz was "very complimentary only a few days ago," but "has now been told by the Democrats that you must be nasty to Trump."
Later, Cruz wore a short emblazoned with the word "NASTY" for an interview with Univision.
Trump visited the island last Tuesday. Afterwards, while Cruz said she hoped new channels of communication with the White House would "put in motion what is needed" to save lives, she also said Trump sometimes was more a "miscommunicator in chief" than a commander in chief.
"In regards to the power failure, we are restringing a very fragile system everyday," Long explained. "As we make progress, simple thunderstorms pass through, knock the progress out."
Rebuilding the island, he said, "is going to be a greater conversation for the Congress in conjunction with the governor."
When hospitals have power failures, intensive care unit patients are being flown to the USNS Comfort, according to Long.
"As far as the political noise, we filter that out, keeps our heads down and continue to make progress and push forward restoring essential functions for Puerto Rico," Long said in the interview.

Pennsylvania mayor attacked by her son at campaign office, police say

Democrat Mayor Kim Bracey of York, Pa. and a mugshot (r) of her son Brandon Anderson, 30  (York Mayor's Office/York City Police Department)

The son of a Pennsylvania mayor was charged with assault last week after he punched and stomped the politician, who says her son is battling an opioid addiction.

Police said the son of York Mayor Kim Bracey attacked her at her campaign office on Sept. 30, the York Daily Record reported.

The reports quoted police as saying Brandon Anderson, 30, of York, was charged with punching his mother in the face, knocking her to the ground, and then stomping on her back, head and face while she was down.
"Like thousands of families, our family is confronting the fact that my adult son is battling an opioid addiction," Bracey said. "No family is immune from this epidemic -- which is why we must do everything in our power to solve it."
She also asked for privacy.
Bracey is running for a third term as mayor.
A person who witnessed the attack intervened when Anderson tried to hit the mayor with a wooden flag pole, the York Daily Record reported Saturday.
A “Biker for Bracey” event was taking place at the campaign office the day of the alleged attack, according to the paper.
Bracey's Facebook page shared a photo showing her with bikers who attended the event.
A Democratic campaign operative who said he was speaking on Bracey’s behalf said the mayor was doing okay physically but said the family was shaken, the paper reported.
After a week behind bars, Anderson was released on bail Friday, the York Dispatch reported.
Cops didn’t say what, if anything, provoked the alleged attack.

Trump seeks sanctuary-city crackdown, curb on unaccompanied minors for 'Dreamer' deal

The Trump administration on Sunday announced it's seeking several major changes to the country's immigration system —  in exchange for extending the Obama-era program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. 

The requests included additional crackdowns on “sanctuary cities” that protect illegal immigrants; reducing the number of incoming refugees; 10,000 more Customs and Border Patrol agents; and new initiatives curbing the number of unaccompanied immigrants who come to the U.S. illegally as children. Democrats already have said many of the White House's terms are off the table.

“Unfortunately, over the last several decades respect for the rule of law has broken down and immigration enforcement has been sacrificed for the sake of political expediency. This has made us less secure and it cannot stand,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement. “Now President Trump has put forth a series of proposals that will restore the rule of law to our immigration system, prioritize America’s safety and security, and end the lawlessness. These are reasonable proposals that will build on the early success of President Trump’s leadership. This plan will work. If followed it will produce an immigration system with integrity and one in which we can take pride. Perhaps the best result will be that unlawful attempts to enter will continue their dramatic decline.”
DACA essentially allows law-abiding illegal immigrants brought into the U.S. by their parents to live and work in the country without fear of deportation.

Carlos Esteban, a student from Virginia, with pro-DACA activists outside the White House in September.  (AP Foto/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

The Trump administration argued earlier this year that federal courts were ready to strike down DACA as unconstitutional, which would put the future of so-called “Dreamers” in jeopardy.
Trump gave Congress six months to find a legislative alternative, then struck a framework deal last month with House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York, leaving the door open for extending DACA.
In a joint statement, Pelosi and Schumer said the White House's new list of requests “goes so far beyond what is reasonable” and “fails to represent any attempt at compromise.
“The Administration can’t be serious about compromise or helping the Dreamers if they begin with a list that is anathema to the Dreamers, to the immigrant community and to the vast majority of Americans,” they wrote.
“If the President was serious about protecting the Dreamers, his staff has not made a good faith effort to do so,” they said.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y., accompanied by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., left, and other House and Senate Democrats, at a news conference in September.  (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

The White House also asked to limit family-based green cards to spouses and the minor children of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, in addition to creating a point-based system. And, it called for boosting fees at border crossings, making it easier to deport gang members and unaccompanied children, and overhauling the asylum system.
“When crafting the Administration’s immigration principles, the President asked us to focus on measures that will assist the Department of Homeland Security’s law enforcement personnel with what they need to enforce our immigration laws, secure our border, and protect American communities across this country,” Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Elaine Duke said in a statement.
Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairwoman Michelle Lujan Grisham, D-N.M., fired back: “The President’s draconian and anti-immigrant principles jeopardize the bi-partisan, bi-cameral progress that has been made to pass a legislative solution that will protect nearly 800,000 Dreamers. It is immoral for the President to use the lives of these young people as bargaining chips in his quest to impose his cruel, anti-immigrant and un-American agenda on our nation.”
House Speaker Paul Ryan’s spokesman Doug Andres said the House immigration working group would review the list and consult with Republican members and the administration.

Jerry Jones gives Cowboys players ultimatum: Stand for anthem or sit for game

Jerry Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, wants his team to stand for the national anthem.  (AP)

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Sunday any player who disrespects the flag will not play.

Jones’ comments, the strongest made on the anthem controversy, came after he was asked about Vice President Mike Pence leaving the game in Indianapolis early after several San Francisco 49ers players took a knee during the national anthem.

"I know this, we cannot ... in the NFL in any way give the implication that we tolerate disrespecting the flag," he said following the Cowboys’ 35-31 loss to the Green Bay Packers. "We know that there is a serious debate in this country about those issues, but there is no question in my mind that the National Football League and the Dallas Cowboys are going to stand up for the flag. So we're clear."
Jones and the rest of the team knelt arm-in-arm before the national anthem before a game against the Arizona Cardinals two weeks ago, days after President Trump reignited the anthem-protest controversy.
Dallas players have stood on the sideline, many with hands over their hearts, during the anthem ever since former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick started kneeling last season in protest of what he believed were instances of racial injustice in the U.S.
Jones said showing respect for the flag and the anthem is more important to him than any potential issues of team unity.
"There is no room here if it comes between looking non-supportive of our players and of each other or creating the impression that you're disrespecting the flag, we will be non-supportive of each other," Jones said. "We will not disrespect the flag."
Jones said he wasn't aware of whether any of his players had raised a fist at the end of the anthem before the Green Bay game.
"I don't know about that," Jones said. "But if there's anything that is disrespectful to the flag, then we will not play. OK? Understand? If we are disrespecting the flag, then we won't play. Period."
Additionally, Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross said he changed his view on how his team should handle the national anthem. Ross said because Trump made standing for the national anthem about “patriotism,” he evolved the way he looks at the protest, according to the Miami Herald.
Ross now wants all of the Dolphins players to stand for the anthem. Three Dolphins players – Kenny Stills, Julian Thomas and Michael Thomas – remained off to the sideline during the anthem Sunday.
The NFL has said the game operations manual distributed to teams includes a reference to players standing for the anthem, but that it's a policy and not a rule. The league has said it doesn't plan to punish players over anthem protests.
"The league in mind should absolutely take the rules we've got on the books and make sure that we do not give the perception that we're disrespecting the flag," Jones said.

Hollywood Hypocrite Cartoons

James Woods retires from acting after saying he's blacklisted because he's conservative

Just weeks after James Woods said he was blacklisted in Hollywood because of his conservative views, the Oscar-nominated actor said he was retiring from the industry.

Woods tweeted this summer that he had “accepted the fact that” he was blacklisted from Hollywood because of his views. He has said being conservative has made it tough to find work in Hollywood the past few years.

The “Casino” actor has twice been nominated for an Academy Award and has won an Emmy Award three times.  His movie credits include “Salvador (1986)” and “Ghosts of Mississippi (1996),” both of which earned him a nomination for an Oscar. He's also played H.R. Haldeman in Oliver Stone's "Nixon (1995)," starred alongside Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford in Sydney Pollack's "The Way We Were (1973)" and was also in Martin Scorsese's epic crime drama "Casino (1995)."

James Woods with Sharon Stone in the 1995 epic crime drama "Casino."

Woods was a Hollywood favorite -- and a Democrat -- until at least 1998, when he broke ranks with the party after former President Bill Clinton's impeachment.
He said on Twitter that he switched parties because of his disgust with the former president.
"Every single #Democrat without exception stood behind a convicted perjurer," he wrote on Twitter this summer. "That was the end."
His luck in Hollywood turned sour soon after he became a Republican. He has not had a major role in a film in at least a decade.
The news of his retirement was included in a press release issued by Woods' real estate agent offering Woods' Rhode Island lake house for sale.

Woods was recently in a Twitter feud with actress Amber Tamblyn, who accused him of trying to pick her up when she was 16.  (AP)

Allen Gammons said Friday that Woods is 70 and wants to relax. He says the actor's brother and mother recently died, and he hopes to spend more time on passions including photography, antiquing and poker.
Gammons said Woods' decision was not political.
The announcement comes after Woods was in a Twitter feud with actress Amber Tamblyn, who last month accused him of trying to pick her up when she was 16. Woods called it a lie. Gammons said Woods declined to comment Friday when asked about Tamblyn's accusation.
Woods has said there are many conservative stars who didn’t speak up because “the blacklist against conservatives in Hollywood is very real.”

The Harvey Weinstein scandal: Why are so-called feminists defending this creep?

Harvey Weinstein

Lisa Bloom and Wendy Walsh

Harvey Weinstein should go sign up for the dating website OkCupid and make sure he gets that pink ribbon on his profile, branding him a feminist and supporter of Planned Parenthood. The media mogul is the ultimate bro-choicer, an adoring donor to the Democratic Party, defended by some of the left’s most powerful women.

Weinstein has been accused in a lengthy New York Times story of doing some truly horrendous things to women, totally unsolicited − also known as sexual harassment − over a period of nearly three decades. His alleged victims were talented young actresses and other women who had the potential to build successful careers on their own without some ugly, creepy man coercing them into giving him a massage or worse. 

FILE -- Producer Harvey Weinstein and wife, designer Georgina Chapman, arrive at the 2015 Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Beverly Hills, California February 22, 2015.  (Reuters)

Gross.
But this is Hollywood, and the feminists are the women who defend creeps like Weinstein.
Anita Dunn, a close associate of President Obama who became his communications director for a time at the White House, has been reported to have counseled Weinstein after the allegations broke in the media.
Even more troubling is that celebrity women’s advocate attorney Lisa Bloom is representing Weinstein. This is a woman who has represented victims in high-profile sexual harassment cases. Throwing that legacy away, she agreed to represent Weinstein, whom she said she has counseled that “times have changed” and he “needs to evolve into a higher standard.” Really?
Bloom’s reasoning regarding Weinstein gets better, though: “He has acknowledged mistakes he has made. He is reading books and going to therapy. He is an old dinosaur learning new ways. He wants to reach out to any of the women who may have issues with him to talk to them in a respectful, peaceful way, with me present if that is acceptable to them.”
I hope Bloom has a better answer for the women who Weinstein is accused of sexually harassing and forcing to look at him half-clothed or with no clothes at all, with tears in their eyes, as he emotionally blackmailed them for sex.
But this is Hollywood. This is Hugh Hefner’s world. This is the liberal paradise of promoting equal rights and justice for women, yet defending the men who use them for their own satisfaction, discarding them for younger versions every year, and then complaining about it years later when the women finally have the courage to say “enough!”
This is not true feminism. Supporting men who tear down women for their own use, supporting free access to taxpayer-funded abortion so men can cover up their own conduct, and mistreating women for decades is nothing for women to get behind.
These powerful women, these self-proclaimed feminists, are only hurting women when they stand up for and promote men who proudly use their own power to harass and demean women.
Penny Young Nance is president and CEO of Concerned Women for America, the nation’s largest women’s public policy organization. She is the author of the book "Feisty and Feminine: A Rallying Cry for Conservative Women" (Zondervan 2016).

Kim Jong Un promotes sister to North Korea's ruling politburo, reports say

Kim Yo Jong

North Korean state media reported Sunday that leader Kim Jong Un had promoted his sister, Kim Yo Jong, making her an alternate member of the country’s top decision-making body, the politburo.

Kim’s appointed of his 28-year-old sibling was viewed as a move to further consolidate his power.

An image of Kim Yo Jong, younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, is seen on a TV screen at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Nov. 27, 2014.  (Associated Press)

The sister reportedly replaces Kim Jong Un's aunt, Kim Kyong Hee, who was a key decision maker when Kim’s father – the late Kim Jong Il – ruled the country, Reuters reported.
The promotion was announced Saturday, at a meeting in which Kim also described North Korea’s nuclear weapons program as a “powerful deterrent” that guaranteed the nation’s sovereignty, Reuters reported, citing the state media report.
Kim Yo Jong, a vice director of propaganda for North Korea’s ruling Workers Party, was sanctioned in January -- along with six other North Korean officials -- by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control for “human rights abuses and censorship activities,” Bloomberg reported.
But the sister has appeared more prominently in public in recent months, Bloomberg reported.
“She’s been recognized for the work she’s done in the past year to idolize Kim Jong Un,” said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at South Korea’s University of North Korean Studies, the news agency reported. “Kim Jong Un is extending his father and grandfather’s practice of empowering family members.”
In other appointments Saturday, Kim promoted Kim Jong Sik and Ri Pyong Chol -- two of the three men behind Kim's banned rocket program, Reuters reported.
And North Korea's foreign minister, Ri Yong Ho was named a full member of the politburo, Reuters reported.

At Saturday’s meeting, Kim Jong Un said his country’s nuclear weapons were a “powerful deterrent firmly safeguarding the peace and security in the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia” against “protracted nuclear threats of the U.S. imperialists.”
The report of Kim’s remarks came hours after U.S. President Donald Trump asserted that “only one thing will work” in negotiations with the Hermit Kingdom, Reuters reported.
Trump’s remark seemed to suggest that the president was thinking about possible military action.
In recent weeks, North Korea has launched two missiles over Japan and conducted its sixth nuclear test.

Trump willing to pursue 'temporary deal' on health care

President Donald Trump speaks about healthcare in the Blue Room of the White House in Washington, July 24, 2017.  (Associated Press)

Looking to break the logjam in Washington on repealing and replacing ObamaCare, President Donald Trump said Saturday evening that he was willing to pursue “a temporary deal” to get a new health care plan in place.

In remarks on the South Lawn of the White House before leaving for a fundraising trip to North Carolina, the president referred to a popular GOP proposal that would have the federal government turn over money for health care directly to states in the form of block grants.

“If we could do a one-year deal or a two-year deal as a temporary measure, you'll have block granting ultimately to the states, which is what the Republicans want,” he said. “That really is a repeal and replace.”
Meanwhile, in an interview taped earlier this week and aired Saturday night on Trinity Broadcasting Network, the president assured host Mike Huckabee that “We'll have health care before the election.”
Earlier Saturday, Trump said he had spoken with the Senate's Democratic leader on Friday to gauge whether the minority party was interested in helping pass "great" health legislation.
Democrats said they willing to hear his ideas, but were not willing to scrap the 2010 Affordable Care Act, also known as ObamaCare.
Trump's latest overture to Democrats followed GOP failures so far to fulfill the party's years-long promise to repeal and replace the ACA, despite controlling the White House and Congress since January.
The president tweeted that he called Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Friday to discuss the ACA, which Trump said was “badly broken, big premiums. Who knows!”
Trump said he wanted “to see if the Dems want to do a great HealthCare Bill.”
Schumer said through a spokesman Saturday that Trump "wanted to make another run at repeal and replace and I told the president that's off the table." Schumer said if Trump "wants to work together to improve the existing health care system, we Democrats are open to his suggestions."

President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, to board the Marine One helicopter, Oct. 7, 2017  (Associated Press)

Trump has suggested before that he would be open to negotiating with Democrats on health care, but there have been no clear signs of a compromise between the two parties.
Schumer said a starting point could be negotiations led by Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., who have been discussing a limited bipartisan deal to stabilize state-level markets for individual health insurance policies. People covered under the health law represent about half of those who purchase individual policies.
Trump irritated GOP leaders in Congress when he reached a deal with Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on a spending bill and the debt ceiling. The president has referred to those two Democrats as "Chuck and Nancy."
But the Trump administration announced Friday that it would allow more employers to opt out of no-cost birth control to women by claiming religious or moral objections. The move was one more attempt to roll back Obama's health overhaul, prompting Democrats to question whether Trump is committed to avoiding sabotaging the law.
Trump floated the potential talks as he approved an emergency declaration for a large part of Louisiana and ordered federal assistance for the state as Hurricane Nate approached the central Gulf of Mexico.
The president headlined a fundraiser on Saturday night in Greensboro, N.C., to benefit his Trump Victory joint fundraising committee with the Republican National Committee. The event was expected to raise $2 million, with donors paying up to $35,000 per couple to serve as co-hosts.

Obama Judge Derrick Watson Cartoons

Pres. Trump: U.S. Will Not Lift Sanctions on Cuba ( Photos of the real Cuba )

The Real Cuba.

The Real Cuba.

The Real Cuba.

President Donald Trump talks with audience members during a Hispanic Heritage Month event in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Oct. 6, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Trump is sticking to his word, saying the U.S. will not lift sanctions on Cuba.
He made the comments from the east room of the White House Friday as he hosted a celebration for Hispanic Heritage Month.
This comes after the Trump administration ordered to expel 15 Cuban diplomats from the Washington embassy following unexplained attacks on U.S. diplomats in Havana.
The president says sanctions will continue until Cuba gives political freedom to its people.
“The same failed communist ideology that has brought oppression to Cuba has brought nothing but suffering and misery everywhere and every place it has been anywhere in the world,” President Trump stated. “Communism is the past. Freedom is the future.”
The president went on to stress the importance of the Hispanic community, and specifically praised Hispanic business owners for their contribution to our economy.
He also highlighted recovery efforts in Puerto Rico, and said America will not rest until Puerto Rico is back on its feet.

Hawaii wants to challenge third version of Trump travel ban ( Yes he's the same Democrat puppet of Obama that bans everything Trump.)

U.S. District Court Judge Derrick Watson ( Yes he's the same Democrat puppet of Obama that bans everything Trump.)

HONOLULU –  A federal judge on Friday said he would give Hawaii an opportunity to make its case that it should be allowed to challenge the Trump administration's latest travel ban.

U.S. District Court Judge Derrick Watson said Hawaii would have until Tuesday morning to file a new motion. The government will have until Saturday, Oct. 14, to respond.

The latest travel ban removes Sudan from the list of affected countries and adds Chad and North Korea, along with several officials from the government of Venezuela. It's scheduled to take effect Oct. 18.

"Hawaii fought the first and second travel bans because they were illegal and unconstitutional efforts to implement the president's Muslim ban," Hawaii Attorney General Doug Chin said in a statement. "Unfortunately, the third travel ban is more of the same."

The motion said the new version of travel ban "flouts the immigration laws' express prohibition on nationality discrimination, grossly exceeds the authority Congress delegated to the president, lacks any rational connection to the problems it purports to address and seems to effectuate the president's promise to ban Muslims from the United States."

Chin has been battling President Donald Trump on travel bans since February, after the president sought to bar new visas for people from seven mostly Muslim countries.

The state later amended that lawsuit to add a plaintiff: the imam of a Honolulu mosque. Hawaii has roughly 5,000 Muslims.

When Trump revised the ban, Chin amended the lawsuit to challenge that version.

In March, U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson in Honolulu agreed with Hawaii that the ban amounted to discrimination based on nationality and religion.

A subsequent U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowed the administration to partially reinstate a 90-day ban on visitors from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen and a 120-day ban on refugees from anywhere in the world.

The court's ruling exempted a large number of refugees and travelers with a "bona fide relationship" with a person or entity in the U.S.

Hawaii successfully challenged the federal government's definition of which family members would be allowed into the country. Watson ordered the government not to enforce the ban on close relatives such as grandparents, grandchildren, uncles and aunts.

An attorney representing Hawaii notified the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday that the state intends to challenge the third travel ban.