Sunday, February 5, 2017

Stupid Liberal Judge Cartoons





Two-time world heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman sounded off on President Trump, saying he has to keep fighting in order to continue his "winning" streak.
Foreman compared Trump's battles with the many opposition groups to the numerous boxing matches he participated in over the years.
"When you're in something like this, you just have to fight," he said.

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He advised Trump not to listen to his detractors and stay on message, saying that while "in the ring" he would not listen to the "boos" from the crowd until he was home watching the match on tape.
"Sometimes people win because they're winners," he said.
Regarding a moment in a White House meeting when the Rev. Darrell Scott told Trump that Chicago gang leaders reached out to him in hopes of communicating with the president to improve the city, Foreman said he hopes that the commander-in-chief effectively drops a "mountain of social workers" there to help quell the violence.
"Make [Chicago] a good place again," he said.

Trump calls judge’s halt on immigration 'ridiculous;' says will be 'overturned!'


President Trump made clear Saturday that the White House will fight a recent judge’s ruling that effectively stops his immigration ban.
A federal judge in Seattle late Friday imposed a nationwide hold on Trump's temporary ban on travelers and immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries.
“The Constitution prevailed today,” Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson said in a press release. “No one is above the law — not even the President.”
“The opinion of this so-called judge, which essentially takes law-enforcement away from our country, is ridiculous and will be overturned!,” Trump tweeted Saturday morning.
U.S. District Judge James Robart, a George W. Bush apointee, ruled that Washington state and Minnesota had standing to challenge Trump's executive order on immigration. So he issued the temporary, nationwide restraining order based on his opinion that the states showed their case is likely to succeed.
Trump issued the temporary ban following his winning campaign promise to further protect Americans from radical Islamic terrorism.
“When a country is no longer able to say who can, and who cannot, come in & out, especially for reasons of safety & security -- big trouble!” Trump said in two other tweets Saturday. “Interesting that certain Middle Eastern countries agree with the ban. They know if certain people are allowed in its death & destruction!”
The State Department confirmed Saturday that it has reversed the executive order’s provisional revoking of visas, saying, “Those individuals with visas that were not physically cancelled may now travel if the visa is otherwise valid.”
The agency said it also is working closely with the Department of Homeland Security and their legal teams and will provide further updates as soon as information is available.
A purported 60,000 people from the affected countries have had their visas cancelled since the ban took effect last weekend.
The New York Times first reported Friday night that airlines have been told by the government to begin allowing these travelers on planes to the United States.
And Qatar Airways announced on its website Saturday that it has been directed by the U.S. government to permit formerly banned passengers to board U.S.-bound flights, as a result of the judge’s ruling.
Trump’s tweet about the ruling being “overturned” follows White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer releasing a statement late Friday saying the administration "will file an emergency stay of this outrageous order and defend the executive order of the president, which we believe is lawful and appropriate."
Soon after, the White House sent out a new statement that removed the word "outrageous."
"The president's order is intended to protect the homeland and he has the constitutional authority and responsibility to protect the American people," the statement said.
Trump's order last week sparked protests nationwide and confusion at airports as some travelers were detained. The White House has argued that it will make the country safer.
Washington became the first state to sue over the order that temporarily bans travel for people from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya and Yemen and suspends the U.S. refugee program.
Ferguson, a Democrat, said the travel ban significantly harms residents and effectively mandates discrimination. Minnesota joined the lawsuit two days later.
Federal attorneys had argued that Congress gave the president authority to make decisions on national security and immigrant entry.
The two states won a temporary restraining order while the court considers the lawsuit, which aims to permanently block Trump's order. Court challenges have been filed nationwide from states and advocacy groups.
Justice Department lawyers say about 100,000 visas -- not 60,000 -- had been revoked.
The State Department clarified that the higher figure includes diplomatic and other visas that were actually exempted from the travel ban, as well as expired visas.

Experts: Social media giants fight Trump’s anti-terror plan while providing platform for terrorists


Twitter’s $1.6 million pledge to help fight the White House’s anti-terror immigration order is just the latest case of social media companies taking on Trump, but critics say the same companies are doing next to nothing to stop dangerous radicals from using their platforms to spread hate.
According to sources, radical social media accounts are using photos of Nawar al-Awlaki, the 8-year-old daughter of cleric Anwar al-Awlaki who was killed in the U.S.-led raid in Yemen on Sunday, to recruit members. That’s just the latest in a plethora of social media strategies and campaigns created by extremists to recruit and spread their jidhadi message.
“Recruitment has many forms, and sharing the news of her death and her picture can be seen as a motivation to some to join the jihadi cause,” a spokesperson for the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) told Fox News. “MEMRI’s Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor has observed many accounts, both jihadi and non-jihadi, discussing the killing of Nawar al-Awlaki and displaying her picture.”
Companies like Twitter and Facebook have been hit with a slew of civil lawsuits the past year alleging that the companies are liable for the deaths of those killed in terror attacks by ISIS and organizations that have used social media platforms to spread their message. Among those suing are the families of the Pulse Nightclub victims, who filed a lawsuit against Twitter, Facebook and Google alleging the companies provided “material support” to ISIS and helped radicalize the shooter.

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A Facebook spokesperson told Fox News that terrorist activity is not allowed on the platform.
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“Facebook has zero tolerance for terrorists, terror propaganda, or the praising of terror activity,” a spokesperson for Facebook told Fox News. “We work aggressively to remove it as soon as we become aware of it.”
But the social media giant relies heavily on the Facebook community, of almost 1.7 billion users, to report activity that violates community standards and shows any traces of extremism. Facebook, then, confirms the account of interest, immediately removes it from the platform, and then attempts to identify related material through accounts with associated activity.
But critics say this isn’t a reliable way of tracking accounts of those individuals who have hijacked their profiles to promote propaganda.
 “Social media sites and applications have been propaganda multipliers, allowing them to connect with potential followers across countries, cultures and languages,” House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul wrote in a counterterrorism strategy report released last fall. “Social media companies are on the virtual frontlines of the fight and must be proactive in removing terrorist content—they should ensure that their terms and conditions expressly prohibit such material and that takedowns are done quickly to prevent extremist messages from spreading.”
Twitter officials, who did not respond to Fox News’ request for comment regarding its strategy, shut down hundreds of thousands of accounts for threatening or promoting terrorist attacks since mid-2015. Facebook said it has teams around the globe to review reported content 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
But still, small technology companies feel there is more that could be done.
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“Users don’t know what they’re looking for –you need to be schooled,” Eric Feinberg, founding member of Global Intellectual Property Enforcement Center, told Fox News. “Some of these things aren’t in English –you can’t rely on people who don’t know what to look for.”
Feinberg’s firm uses a technology that scans for hashtags across social media platforms in different languages for communication that indicates terrorist planning.
But Christopher O’Rourke, CEO of Soteria, a cybersecurity firm based in Charleston, South Carolina, told Fox News that extremists are not as “naïve” as people think.
“We’ve been following them for years. They use code words, they are covert,” O’Rourke, who is a former U.S. government-sponsored cyberhacker who worked with the tailored access operations within the NSA, told Fox News. “It’s the silent, smart ones using technology to their benefit that are the most risk for causing problems. You wouldn’t pick up on subtle nuances –you’d notice if someone threatened ‘infidels’, but the thing about terrorists is the smart ones know how to blend in and you can’t really differentiate that.”
O’Rourke criticized Facebook, saying that the company has data on how users interact on the platform, but the algorithms have failed them in the past, such as reports last year of Facebook not sharing certain partisan information, which the company blamed on an algorithm error.
“At the end of the day, computers are not as intelligent as a proper analyst,” O’Rourke told Fox News. “Good, old fashioned man power and communication with law enforcement is what we need.”

Appeals court denies Trump request to immediately reinstate travel ban


Early Sunday morning a federal appeals court denied the Justice Department's request for an immediate reinstatement of President Donald Trump's ban on accepting certain travelers and refugees.
The DOJ filed an appeal of a judge’s order temporarily stopping Trump’s travel ban on Saturday night, saying it’s the “sovereign prerogative" of a president to admit or exclude aliens.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco instead asked for the Justice Department to file a counter-response by Monday afternoon.
The higher court's denial of an immediate stay means the legal battles will continue for days at least.
The appeal stated that the district court’s ruling “conflicts with the basic principle that an alien seeking initial admission to the United States requests a privilege and has no constitutional rights regarding his application."
The appeal also said the temporary order blocking Trump’s ban was an overreach of judicial authority. The order was issued by U.S. District Judge James Robart in Seattle.
"Judicial second-guessing of the President's national security determination in itself imposes substantial harm on the federal government and the nation at large," it said.
Acting Solicitor General Noel Francisco argued on Saturday night saying that the president has the power to decide who can enter or stay in the United States.
"The power to expel or exclude aliens is a fundamental sovereign attribute, delegated by Congress to the executive branch of government and largely immune from judicial control," the brief says.
The Justice Department asked that the federal judge's order be stayed pending resolution of the appeal, so that the ban can "ensure that those approved for admission do not intend to harm Americans and that they have no ties to terrorism."
Trump’s controversial executive order has caused unending confusion for many travelers trying to reach the U.S.
Demonstrations took place outside the White House, in New York and near his estate in Palm Beach, Florida, where Trump was attending the annual American Red Cross fundraising gala.
"We'll win," Trump told reporters Saturday night. "For the safety of the country, we'll win."
The department on Saturday advised refugee aid agencies that those set to travel before Trump signed his order will now be allowed in. A State Department official said in an email obtained by The Associated Press that the government was "focusing on booking refugee travel" through Feb. 17 and working to have arrivals resume as soon as Monday.
The Homeland Security Department no longer was directing airlines to prevent visa-holders affected by Trump's order from boarding U.S.-bound planes. The agency said it had "suspended any and all actions" related to putting in place Trump's order.
Hearings have also been held in court challenges nationwide. Washington state and Minnesota argued that the temporary ban and the global suspension of the U.S. refugee program harmed residents and effectively mandated discrimination.

Saturday, February 4, 2017

X U.S. Representative Barney Frank Cartoons

AKA

Dodd-Frank financial regulations





Trump begins rollback of Dodd-Frank financial regulations


President Trump signed an executive order Friday taking aim at the regulatory labyrinth created by Dodd-Frank, the massive 24,000-page law passed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.
“We expect to be cutting a lot out of Dodd-Frank,” Trump said, after morning meetings with business leaders.
The order directs the Treasury secretary to initiate a review and consult with regulatory agencies to identify changes to Dodd-Frank. It will not take effect immediately and awaits Senate confirmation of Trump’s Treasury Secretary nominee Steve Mnuchin.
Trump also signed a presidential memorandum that instructs the Labor Department to delay implementing an Obama-era rule that requires financial professionals who charge commissions to put their clients' best interests first when giving advice on retirement investments.
The rule was intended to prevent conflicts of interest by financial advisers and brokers. Opponents say it extends beyond the Labor Department’s authority.
While the financial oversight order won't have any immediate impact, the administration's intent is clear.
"The Dodd-Frank Act is a disastrous policy that's hindering our markets, reducing the availability of credit and crippling our economy's ability to grow and create jobs," said Press Secretary Sean Spicer.
Trump pledged during the transition that rolling back regulations, particularly 2010 Dodd-Frank law, would be a priority of his administration.
White House National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn echoed the president in an interview with Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo.
Cohn argued regulations are “the biggest hindrance to job creation” and have a negative impact on banks’ lending practices.
“All banks have been under such regulatory scrutiny where they’ve been forced to literally build capital. Instead of lending capital ... to their clients and allowing them to grow their businesses and hire people and create jobs, they’ve been taking those reserves and taking that capital and hording it to meet the regulatory requirements and pay for additional regulations,” he said Friday morning.
The executive order is the “beginning of some of our executive actions to roll back regulations in the financial markets,” Cohn added.
Since its passage, there has been a surge in banking mergers and acquisitions, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News.
They reported that U.S. bank mergers increased to about $18 billion in 2016, the highest recorded level since 2009.
“We appreciate the administration’s support for pro-growth policies so banks can go even further in helping communities and our economy thrive,” said Rob Nichols, president of the American Bankers Association, in a statement.
“A sensible and careful review of Dodd-Frank and other financial regulations can and should strengthen those goals while unleashing the power of the banking industry — from small towns and communities to our nation’s financial centers — to fuel the increase in economic prosperity that we all seek,” added Nichols.
In its regulatory rollback, the administration has a willing partner in the Republican-controlled Congress which got the ball rolling this week.
On Wednesday, the House voted 235-187 to repeal a controversial Dodd-Frank requirement that publicly traded companies disclose confidential information related to the negotiation of business contracts.
The rule was vacated in 2013 by a federal judge on the grounds it was too arbitrary.
The SEC re-issued the rule last summer. But in an early morning Friday session, the Senate voted 52-47 to OK the House-approved measure, which President Trump is expected to sign.
Describing it as an “anti-corruption rule,” Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-OH, maintained repealing the regulation makes it easier for companies to hide their dealings with foreign governments, like Russia and China.
A source close to House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling told Fox News the Texas Republican plans to reintroduce the Financial Choice Act in the coming weeks. The legislation is the only measure to date that proposes to repeal and replace Dodd-Frank.
The bill would repeal the authority of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), which was intended to help rescue failing large firms without relying on government bailouts. It also would replace the head of the controversial Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with a five-member panel and establish an office of inspector general.

BuzzFeed sued over publication of Trump dossier, report says



Ze Frank is an American online performance artist, composer, humorist and public speaker based in Los Angeles, California. He is currently the president of BuzzFeed Entertainment Group.

Buzzfeed was sued by the Russia-tied tech firm named in the dossier that contained unsubstantiated allegations against President Trump for including “libelous, unverified” information about the company, McClatchy reported Friday, citing the lawsuits.
The defamation suits were brought by XBT Holdings. Company lawyers reportedly filed complaints against BuzzFeed and its editor Ben Smith. A former British spy and his company were also named in complaints.
The company seeks an “undetermined compensation for the damages.”
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A Buzzfeed spokeman told McClatchy that it redacted the name of the company’s owner and “apologize for including it.”
McClatchy reported that the dossier said XBT and affiliates “had been using botnets and porn traffic to transmit viruses, plant bugs, steal data and conduct “altering operations” against the Democratic Party leadership.”
The suit reportedly says Alekej Gubarev, XBT’s owner, is married with three children and “has found his personal and professional reputation in tatters.”
The network did not give details about the information, saying the charges had not been verified, but BuzzFeed soon published the 35-page dossier. Most reputable news organizations, following up the story, also did not report the details.
Trump and his team was quick to attack news organizations that spread unsubstantiated reports about a damaging dossier last month collected on him by Russia, an incident that illustrates how old rules of journalism are being tested in today's rapidly changing media world.
Trump called BuzzFeed "a pile of garbage" for publishing the allegations.
CNN reported that Trump had been briefed by intelligence officials about compromising personal and financial information that Russia had collected on him.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer and Vice President Pence sharply condemned those who spread the story. Spicer called BuzzFeed's decision "outrageous and highly irresponsible," while Pence said it was an effort by some in the media to delegitimize the election and discredit the incoming administration.
"The American people are sick and tired of it," Pence said.
Meanwhile, Trump credited The New York Times, a newspaper he's often been at odds with, for its decision not to publish what it could not independently verify.

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