Datasets:

roupenminassian

/

twitter-misinformation

like 0

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The television audience for Thursday’s restrained Republican Party presidential debate on CNN was down from last week’s figures, according to preliminary Nielsen data on Friday. The debate got an average household rating of 8.3, according to overnight data supplied by CBS television. That’s well below the 11.5 rating garnered by the rowdy March 3 Republican debate, broadcast by the Fox News Channel, which translated to 16.9 million viewers. The size of the audience in millions is expected to be available from Nielsen later on Friday. The CNN-hosted debate at the University of Miami came days before votes in Florida and Ohio that will determine whether U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida and Ohio Governor John Kasich will be able to continue with their increasingly long-shot candidacies.[L1N16I1RJ] With previous assaults on front-runner Donald Trump having failed to knock him down, Rubio and U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas chose a more civil approach, raising questions about Trump’s policy positions without attacking him personally.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Climate scientists worried that President-elect Donald Trump will slash their budgets and sideline their research are entering survival mode, trimming the words “climate change” from study proposals, emphasizing business applications of their work, and safeguarding data that shows global warming is real. The early reactions, gathered by Reuters in more than a dozen interviews, may foretell a broader shift in the U.S. climate science community, which had enjoyed solid political and financial support under President Barack Obama but could be isolated under a new administration skeptical of climate change and committed to expanding oil drilling and coal mining. “I think it is maybe really necessary to refocus what you are doing and how you are labeling it,” said Andreas Prein, a scientist at the federally funded National Center for Atmospheric Research, who previously had changed the term “climate change” in a project for the oil industry and expects such linguistic twists to proliferate. Trump has questioned whether climate change exists and has raised the possibility of withdrawing U.S. support for a global accord to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, which an overwhelming majority of scientists believe is driving sea level rise, droughts and more frequent violent storms. Trump is also preparing to nominate cabinet members with close oil industry ties, including Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson as secretary of state and former Texas Governor Rick Perry as energy secretary. A member of the transition team further raised concerns among scientists this month by sending a questionnaire to the Department of Energy seeking the names of researchers there who worked on climate change issues, a move Trump’s team later disavowed. Federal funding for climate change research, technology and international assistance hit $11.6 billion in 2014, from $2.4 billion in 1993, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. While Trump has not explicitly said he would cut such funding, one of his advisers told The Guardian newspaper last month that climate research at NASA would be eliminated. A Trump transition team official did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Prein at National Center for Atmospheric Research said he had replaced the politically charged term “climate change” with “global change” in a project he submitted for the oil industry. He said that regardless of how it is labeled, interest in climate research would likely endure given the importance of extreme weather forecasting to a broad array of industries, like insurance and energy. However, he was concerned the longer-term work crucial to understanding the scope of global warming could lose critical support. Climate scientist Ben Sanderson, also at NCAR, told Reuters he is applying to renew funding for assessing uncertainty in climate change. “Now the proposal would have to be defensible without referring to climate change explicitly, so to talk about weather risks in general,” he said. Tracey Holloway, an air quality scientist at the University of Wisconsin, said she believed simple word changes sometimes could help scientists avoid trouble. Using the term “weather” instead of “climate change,” for example, could work for studies that deal with a short-term time scale, she said. But Eric Holthaus, a meteorologist who writes for online magazine Slate, has taken efforts to protect scientists and their work a step further. He spearhead an effort, with the support of the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Toronto, to let scientists move their data onto publicly available non-government servers. The project, called “DataRefuge,” is intended to eliminate the chances of political interference with the data, he said. The signals from the Trump transition team on climate change have also put members of Obama’s outgoing administration on edge. Current Interior Secretary Sally Jewell told scientists at a conference in San Francisco this week they must confront climate change deniers and speak up if Trump tries to sideline them. White House spokesman Josh Earnest later said in a press briefing he believed the concerns of the scientific community about Trump were “legitimate.” “If the incoming administration determines that they want to base their policy on something other than science, it looks like they’re going to get at least four years to try that out and we’ll have an opportunity to see how it works,” he said. Other scientists were dealing with the stress of a new administration using humor. University of South Florida glaciologist Jason Gulley said his team had a list of joke projects for science under Trump. “How could we weaponize glaciers?” he asked, and what is the best real estate currently hidden under Greenland ice sheets.

Hurricane Matthew Veers Off East Coast Leaving Flooding, Devastation: Thousands of Americans slept in shelter... http://voc.tv/2dH0Rn6 

I was scared my car was gonna stuck in the flood on Truxtun , scary shit

Reality show star turned president Donald Trump has a limited vocabulary. French translators have noticed that, too, and say they are having a tough time translating Trump s speeches into the language of Moli re. Trump is not a great orator, which is something we ve all be subjected to. Words like, sad! are used in his tweets as if that s a complete sentence. Trump said bigly when he really meant big league. Or maybe he didn t mean big league. We ll never really know. After Trump gives a speech, his supporters inevitably jump in to explain to the rest of us what he really meant.Translator B reng re Viennot told the LA Review of Books, you have to be able to get into someone s mind to translate the speaker but when he (Trump) speaks he seems not to know quite where he s going. He seems to hang onto a word in the question, or to a word that pops into his mind, repeating it over and over again, said Viennot. He shapes his thought around it and, sometimes, succeeds in giving part of an answer often the same answer: namely, that he won the election. Trump seems to go from point A (the question) to point B (himself, most of the time) with no real logic, she continued. It s as if he had thematic clouds in his head that he would pick from with no need of a logical thread to link them. Trump s vocabulary is limited, his syntax is broken; he repeats the same phrases over and over, forcing the translator to follow suit, she said.She continued to say that reading Trump in French, which is a very structured and logical language, reveals the poor quality of his language and, consequently, of his thought. As the Independent notes, Trump once referred to swatches of land, when he really he meant swathes of land. Bigly swatches of land.Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images.

Video: Motorcyclist tempts fate riding through Colorado floods, loses http://aol.it/1bOPgwc 

1956:: PM Jawaharlal Nehru Arrives In USA , Inspecting Guard of Honour by American Armed Forces https://t.co/tzXARbO7JT

Airbnb offering free housing to Hurricane Dorian victims | Raleigh News & Observer #SmartNews https://www.newsobserver.com/news/weather-news/article234632627.html …

PLEASE TAKE ACTION TODAY! You will find out this week if Speaker Ryan and Senate Majority Leader McConnell put your safety first! We have no obligation to invite unvetted third world refugees to your towns to live off of your hard work (your tax dollars). Yes, you pay for this!ACTION ALERT: DEMAND CONGRESS STOP FUNDING REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT WITH OUR TAX DOLLARS In the wake of the horrific terror attacks in San Bernardino and Paris, the FBI said it lacks the funds to stay ahead of the escalating terror threats right here in America. So why would we want to divert any of our tax dollars, which should be directed to reinforcing our nation s security and intelligence apparatus to protect our families and our nation, to opening the gates to refugees from terror-supporting nations whom we CAN NOT vet and whose ranks ISIS and other terror organizations target to infiltrate?This Monday (today!) and Tuesday, we must flood the offices of our US Representatives and Senators with calls (US Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121) urging them to vigorously oppose Refugee Resettlement Funding contained in the Omnibus Spending Bill that will be voted on by 12-11-15!Then make 4 more calls to insist the same:1. Speaker Paul Ryan/Phone: 202.225.3031 2. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell/Phone: 202.224.2541 3. Rep. Hal Rogers, Chair, Appropriations Committee/Phone: 202.225.4601 4. Sen. Thad Cochran, Chair, Senate Appropriations /Phone: 202.224.7257Tell your Members of Congress IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS THAT YOU WANT THEM TO SUSPEND REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT FUNDING IMMEDIATELY.Read Sen. Jeff Sessions statement on this: OMNIBUS EXPECTED TO FUND OBAMA S ENTIRE IMMIGRATION AGENDAUS Rep. Candice Miller of MI, Vice Chair of the Homeland Security Committee, said: I support Governor Snyder s decision to suspend efforts to relocate Syrian refugees to Michigan, and have cautioned against the Administration s decision to increase the number being admitted into the U.S. terrorist organizations like ISIS are looking for any and every opportunity to exploit a nation s hospitality to carry out their barbaric attacks against the innocent. Anyone who says we can adequately and safely vet these refugees is wrong because there is no database in Syria and no way to identify who s who. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUE OF OUR TIME. If you don t want unvettable refugees from terror-supporting countries in your neighborhood, you must raise your voices NOW. The immigration industry is a powerful lobby and private resettlement contractors have the authority to send refugees to any town, city, neighborhood or location without public notification and local consent.REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT MONITOR MICHIGANWe have been telling you over the last week or so (here, here and here) that those (mostly the religious Left ) who want to bring in massive numbers of Muslim migrants and other refugees are pulling out all the stops to pressure Congress (yesterday we learned that even the Quakers are against you). They have never (in 35 years!) been so challenged! You must counter them!Next week there will be much to do locally and statewide, but this week, you must make this a priority!READ MORE: REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT WATCH

But O Donnell told Joy Reid on MSNBC s AM Joy on Sunday that if they sue Walsh, they should sue him as well: I believe that Bill O Reilly sexually harassed Wendy Walsh. I believe Bill O Reilly is a sexual harasser. Now, according to O Reilly s thug lawyer, I m sue-able right now. Go ahead. Go ahead. Come and sue me, Bill O Reilly, I dare you. He predicted that O Reilly won t sue because he s actually guilty of these things and also because he wouldn t want to be under oath answering questions about the case.O Donnell also blasted Fox News as a cesspool of sexual harassment and abuse of women. Attention-starved O Donnell wants to jump in on the action It s all about ratings

VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria s far-right Freedom Party (FPO) on Wednesday named control of the interior ministry as its price for joining a future coalition government following its strong showing in a parliamentary election. The anti-immigrant, anti-Islam FPO won around 26 percent of votes cast in Sunday s election. The conservative People s Party (OVP) won most votes by also taking a hard line on immigration, while the centre-left Social Democrats took second place. Asked if the FPO would stick by its pre-election insistence that it would only join a future coalition if its candidate became interior minister, party leader Heinz-Christian Strache told reporters: Yes. We won t go down on our knees for anyone. At 26 percent we naturally aim to implement our (FPO) policies in government, Strache added. The interior ministry in Austria oversees asylum claims and the fight against terrorism, among other responsibilities. Austria s president will on Friday formally ask Sebastian Kurz, leader of the OVP, the largest party at around 32 percent, to start negotiations on forming a new coalition government. The OVP and the FPO overlap in their plans to curb immigration, cut social benefits for refugees, reduce the tax burden on companies and work towards repatriating powers to national governments from Brussels while strengthening external border security. (Click tmsnrt.rs/2yVUDsq for Election graphic) All parties have kept their coalition options open, but the Social Democrats (SPO) are technically still bound by a party conference decision from 2014 that bans it from entering into a coalition government with the Freedom Party. Under Austria s outgoing Social Democrat chancellor, Christian Kern, the SPO has opened up significantly to the Freedom Party by introducing a so-called value compass for potential partners which does not specifically rule out working with the Freedom Party. But Strache said on Wednesday that as long as there was no fresh vote among the Social Democrats base to formally annul the 2014 decision, talk of his party teaming up with the SPO was theoretical . Influential FPO official Manfred Haimbuchner told newspaper Der Standard that he definitely preferred his party to form a government with the conservatives. The FPO was founded by ex-Nazis in the 1950s and first became a major political force in the 1990s under the charismatic Joerg Haider, who praised Hitler s employment policies. Today the party says it has put its Nazi past behind it and purged its ranks of anti-Semitism but still frequently has to expel members for anti-Semitic comments. It has, however, stopped calling for Austria to leave the European Union. For more stories on Austria s election, please see

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump and House of Representatives leaders pushed on Wednesday for votes for their plan to overhaul Obamacare and said they were making progress in their efforts to win over conservative Republicans who have demanded changes to the legislation. With a vote on the bill possible as soon as Thursday, members of the House Freedom Caucus, a conservative Republican faction, said they had been negotiating alterations to the plan with the White House. Much of the discussion hinged on conservatives’ desire to scrap what are labeled “essential health benefits” - services that insurance plans are required to cover under the Affordable Care Act, commonly called Obamacare, such as mental health help. “I can tell you that we’re making great progress,” Mark Meadows, chairman of the hardline conservative House Freedom Caucus, told reporters. “We’re not there yet. But we’re hopeful.” Trump was to meet at the White House with members of the Freedom Caucus on Thursday at 11:30 a.m, the White House said. But while the president courted conservatives, the bill appeared to be losing traction among Republican moderates, some of whom attended a meeting late Wednesday in House Speaker Paul Ryan’s office. Representative Charlie Dent, a leader of the “Tuesday Group” of House Republican moderates, issued a statement saying he could not back the bill. “I believe this bill, in its current form, will lead to the loss of coverage and make insurance unaffordable for too many Americans, particularly for low- to moderate-income and older individuals,” Dent said in the statement. The chairman of the House Rules Committee, which met all day Wednesday to set the rules for the bill’s consideration on the House floor, said late on Wednesday that the panel would resume its meeting on Thursday, having made no definite decision on the timing of the floor vote. Repealing and replacing Democratic former President Barack Obama’s 2010 Affordable Care Act is a first major test of Trump’s legislative ability and whether he can keep his big promises to business. Plans aired by Trump during his election campaign and his first two months in office lifted U.S. stock markets to new highs. But stocks fell back sharply on Tuesday as investors worried that a rough ride for the healthcare legislation could affect his ability to deliver on other big pieces of his agenda, from cutting taxes and regulation to boosting infrastructure. Major stock indexes wobbled on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending slightly down and the S&P 500 slightly higher. Investors are eagerly awaiting Thursday’s healthcare vote, which could be pivotal for Trump’s broader plans. The Freedom Caucus has objected to the bill because its members believe it is still too close to Obamacare. Representative Steve King, a conservative who was among lawmakers who met Trump on Wednesday morning at the White House, said he would now vote for the bill because he got a commitment from Trump to publicly advocate a change to the legislation when it reaches the Senate, eliminating the essential benefits, which also include emergency room visits and maternity and newborn care. “I have a full and firm commitment with many witnesses from President Trump,” King said in a video statement on YouTube. Meadows said the members of the Freedom Caucus had also discussed the essential benefits with the administration. Conservatives say reducing or scrapping the mandates would bring down insurance premiums. On the other side, patient advocates say that not requiring the coverage would hurt both individuals and healthcare providers. “It could leave countless people with too little coverage to meet their health care needs and drive higher rates of uncompensated care at hospitals already struggling to cover their costs,” Bruce Siegel, president of America’s Essential Hospitals, said in a statement. Earlier on Wednesday, a Freedom Caucus aide said more than 25 of its members were opposed, enough to stop the bill from passing. Republicans cannot afford to lose more than 21 votes from their own party, since Democrats are united in opposition. Democrats, meanwhile, said amending the bill in the Senate would affect procedure, and increase the amount of votes Republicans would need in that chamber. Currently, Republicans intend to pass the plan through budget reconciliation, a process with little room for changes that only requires a simple majority to pass. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders also gave signs negotiations were making headway late on Wednesday. “We are continuing to move forward and adding new supporters constantly,” she said. “As we have indicated previously we are open to changes to the bill that make it better and grow its support.” The primary aim of Obama’s signature legislation, passed in 2010, was reducing the numbers of Americans with no health coverage. Twenty million people gained insurance under the law. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated 14 million people would lose coverage under the Republican plan by next year. It also said 24 million fewer people would be insured by 2026. The Republican plan would also rescind taxes created by Obamacare, repeal penalties for not buying coverage, slash funding for the Medicaid program for the poor, and modify subsidies that help individuals buy plans. In the two weeks since it was unveiled, shares of some hospital operators and health insurers have fallen more than 10 percent. If the healthcare bill passes the House, the Senate could take it up next week. Republican leaders hope that if the Senate acts quickly, the bill could go back to the House for a final vote by mid-April, possibly allowing Trump to sign it into law by Easter, April 16. Opponents of the overhaul have been fiercely vocal, and on Wednesday protesters, many in wheelchairs or with serious medical conditions, blocked the Capitol rotunda for about an hour. “Rather go to jail than die without Medicaid,” they chanted. Capitol police said they made 54 arrests and later released the protesters. ACA vs. AHCA: tmsnrt.rs/2n0ZMKf Where senators stand on the AHCA: tmsnrt.rs/2mUE4Xf How Americans feel about the AHCA: tmsnrt.rs/2n7f3e4

New Gov’t Document: COVID Deaths Projected To Increase To 3,000 Per Day By June 1 https://t.co/A7yfjJKCbT | Talking Points Memo #COVID19 #coronavirus #ncpol https://t.co/pMIISTUFXy

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cubans said they were both heartbroken and enraged by the United States decision on Friday to stop processing visas at its embassy in Havana that would further tear at the seams of families already divided by the Florida Straits. The United States said it was cutting its diplomatic presence in Cuba by more than a half because of mysterious attacks against its embassy personnel and was therefore halting regular visa operations. To think you can t go see your family is a terrible thing, said pensioner Xiomara Irene Louzado, 74, who had been planning a visit to the United States to see her sister and nephews. Louzado said she also wanted to visit the graves of her sister and mother. She has traveled there regularly but now she simply no longer knew when she next could. This is unnecessary and inhuman, said Laura Hernandez, a Cuban student who had been hoping to move to live with her father in the United States. With so many families to reunify... why? While Cuba numbers a population of 11.2 million, there are an estimated 2 million Cuban Americans in the United States. It remains unclear which visas the U.S. Havana embassy will still be processing and what other recourses Cubans will have. We have suspended most visa processing in Havana, a notice on its website read. Cuban applicants for non immigrant visas may apply at another U.S. embassy or consulate overseas. The United States has one specific deal with its former Cold War foe to issue 20,000 visas a year to Cubans seeking to emigrate there, agreed after the 1994 rafter exodus to prevent them from taking to the sea illegally in makeshift crafts. Short of an effective third country workaround for those visa applications, Friday s measure would likely ensure it violates that agreement, said Michael Bustamante, an assistant professor of Latin American history at Florida International University. The Cuban government has denied any involvement in the alleged attacks on diplomats in Havana and warned the Trump administration against politicizing them. Twenty-one U.S. embassy employees in Cuba have been injured and reported symptoms such as hearing loss, dizziness, headache, fatigue, cognitive issues, and difficulty sleeping, the State Department said. Several Canadian diplomats have complained of similar symptoms to their American counterparts but Canada said on Friday it had no plans to reduce staff at its embassy in Havana. Many Cubans on Friday said they felt they were once more collateral damage of the war between the anti-Castro lobby in the United States and Cuba. U.S. President Donald Trump, a Republican, had in June said he wanted to partially roll back the detente agreed with Cuba under his predecessor, Democrat Barack Obama. Politics always ends up affecting the poorest, the people, and not the government, said Jessica Aguila, 38, an office employee who had been planning to visit her family at Christmas. In a few months, all the advances between the two countries have been turned to dust. Washington on Friday also warned U.S. citizens against visiting the Caribbean island, a move that will likely hurt many Cubans working in hospitality. That sector is one of the few that had been thriving amidst a gloomy economic outlook, although it took a beating earlier this month from Hurricane Irma that wrought havoc on much of the island s infrastructure. (Trump) is already an imminent danger for us, said Magdalena Hernandez, 67, worse than a Category 5 hurricane.

Make sure and prepare for Hurricane Matthew with proper supplies of food and safety equipment. #freshcatchtci... http://fb.me/5cs6WqcPf 

The Latest: EU: #Wildfires show impact of #climatechange; #Sweden: dozens of #forestfires; #Norway: reindeer, sheep taking shelter from heat in tunnels; #France: 4 #nuclear reactors shutdown, cities ban polluting #cars, @AP https://shrtm.nu/BJrT  #Arctic #Portugal #HeatWave2018

What a bunch of unbelievable traitors we have in this White House Kerry can t be that naive or dumb to Iran s evil. The more he opens his mouth, the more I question his motives.Secretary of State John Kerry told NBC s Chuck Todd that the arms and the missiles were thrown in as an add-on to this nuclear agreement. So this [deal] focused on getting rid of the principal problem in the region, which is Iran s threat to Israel, their threat to the region, to have a nuclear capacity, Kerry said defending the deal. We believe with this, for years into the future, we have this incredible capacity to have access, to have inspections, to hold them accountable. And by the way, even though the arms and the missiles, they were thrown in as an add-on to this nuclear agreement. It was always contemplated if Iran did come and deal on the nuclear program, that was going to be lifted. Via: Weekly Standard

Colorado inmates fighting wildfires got as little as $0.86/day, and those "who work in food services or laundry make as little as $0.60 a day.": https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/11/its-2018-and-abolishing-slavery-is-on-the-ballot-in-colorado/ …

No Food, No FEMA: Hurricane Michael’s Survivors Are Furious https://thebea.st/2IV0u6C?source=twitter&via=desktop … via @thedailybeast

BREAKING: Former Pfizer head of respiratory research Dr. Yeadon and the lung specialist and former head of the public health department Dr. Wodarg filed a petition with the European Medicine Agency warning that COVID vaccines may cause female STERILIZATION https://t.co/VAjExiVIGw

got my ps4 got my food im good thru this blizzard

A Nashville, TN business fired 18 of its employees after they didn t show up for work on A Day Without Immigrants. According to reports, the employees at Bradley Coatings Incorporated did notify their superiors that they would be missing work, but the business sent out a memo stating that anyone who missed work would be fired.Via News Channel 5: We are the team leaders directly under the supervisors and they informed us last night that we could not go back to work and the boss said we were fired, one employee told us.Bradley Coatings, Inc. s attorney released this statement: Bradley Coatings, Incorporated (BCI) is a family-owned, Nashville-based business that provides commercial painting services to its clients on a very demanding schedule. . . BCI has always celebrated diversity and supported the immigrant community. . . Because of the time-sensitive nature of the jobs, these employees were assigned to, all employees were told that they would need to show up for work or they would be terminated. On Thursday, the majority of BCI s employees fulfilled their obligations to our clients, but eighteen employees did not. Regretfully, and consistent with its prior communication to all its employees, BCI had no choice but to terminate these individuals. The reason these employees missed work to engage in peaceful demonstrations had nothing to do with BCI s decision to terminate them. . . BCI will review its procedures in an effort to avoid similar issues in the future, and will continue to provide timely service to its clients and support to the Nashville immigrant community. Robert Peal, Company Attorney(Source: News Channel 5)

No class and no decorum! The always bitter Michelle Obama told a Salt Lake City audience today that we are looking at two different administrations. THIS IS LAUGHABLE:One, she said, was built on hope. The other is being led with fear.WE RE IN THIS MESS BECAUSE OBAMA DIDN T PUT AMERICA FIRST BUT MICHELLE SAYS: It isn t just us first, she said, a reference to Trump s America First agenda. We live in a big country and a big world. You can t just want to help someone in a hurricane and not make sure they can go to the doctor when they re sick. HUH?Her remarks, part of an hourlong moderated conversation, came on the last of a three-day tech conference hosted by Pluralsight, a Utah-based company.She claimed things are tough right now and suggested we re being tested, Obama professed that she continues to be hopeful that the political climate will improve. A BUNCH OF WHITE GUYS . WOMEN AND PEOPLE OF COLOR Obama urged computing companies to invest in and hire more women and people of color Changing that composition, Obama said, will take encouraging girls at a young age to study science and math. It will mean bridging the technology gap that persists in low-income districts. It requires revisions to the public-school system. And it warrants forming hiring committees with more women and people of color. You can t just say you want to fix the problems, you have to mean it, Obama said. If a bunch of white guys are sitting around the table trying to get more women involved, they re not going to come up with the answer. For Utah s Silicon Slopes and elsewhere, she added, a behavioral change in the office environment at IT corporations will need to accompany that shift. You can t hire women and then they come in and they re working for chimps. No offense you guys aren t all chimps, Obama said to laughs from the crowd. I call my husband a chimp sometimes, especially when he s watching the Sports Center. I m like Come on. Look at you. You re an animal. CLINTON JAB? What Barack and I don t want to be is the people that won t go away, she said, finishing the event with a standing ovation. We want to help the next generation come up and take our seats. Read more: sltrb

Since my brother wants to act all tuff during this hurricane, he isn't getting any water and food that I went to buy.

No Food, No FEMA: Hurricane Michael’s Survivors Are Furious https://www.thedailybeast.com/no-food-no-fema-hurricane-michaels-survivors-are-furious …

there are no cars on the road and even though it's a blizzard it's probably the safest time to ride a bike right now

Hurricane Matthew: Family rescued from car rooftop http://goo.gl/fb/S8TV2d 

Oktoberfest now 2 Days. Fall Foliage Ride moved to Sunday the 9th. Thanks Hurricane Matthew! https://t.e2ma.net/cshare/inbound/t/81pwm/a64cb675d636a7b8fcffd228a73b2e20 …

Trump just attacked America's vets by calling those suffering from PTSD weak! #Trump, insulting our heroes makes you weak, stupid & unfit! https://t.co/K5CJ457HCK

Hundreds of thousands gather in central London to protest in solidarity with Palestine Jeremy Corbyn was among the speakers at the protest in Hyde Park and demanded freedom for the Palestinian people #FreePalestine 🇵🇸 https://t.co/W3MBaoxyim

Black Lives Matter protesters graffiti Abraham Lincoln statue in London. Lincoln said in 1863 that "all persons held as slaves held within rebellious states shall be free." #BlackLivesMatter is an excuse to promote communism and attack our System https://t.co/geJ9hnamZk

RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia should not forfeit its sovereign right to one day enrich uranium under its planned civilian nuclear program, especially as world powers have allowed Iran to do so, a senior Saudi royal told Reuters. Former intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisal s comments reinforced Riyadh s stance on what is likely to be a sensitive issue in talks between Saudi Arabia and the United States on an agreement to help the kingdom develop atomic energy. Riyadh aims to start talks with the United States within weeks on a civilian nuclear cooperation pact, which is essential if U.S. firms are to bid in a multi-billion-dollar tender next year for building Saudi Arabia s first two nuclear reactors. The reactors will be part of a wider program to produce electricity from atomic energy so that the kingdom can export more crude oil. Riyadh says it wants nuclear technology only for peaceful uses but has left unclear whether it also wants to enrich uranium to produce nuclear fuel, a process which can also be used in the production of atomic weapons. U.S. companies can usually transfer nuclear technology to another country only if the United States has signed an agreement with that country ruling out domestic uranium enrichment and the preprocessing of spent nuclear fuel steps that can have military uses. It s a sovereign issue. If you look at the agreement between the P5+1 with Iran specifically it allows Iran to enrich, Prince Turki, who now holds no government office but remains influential, said in an interview on Tuesday in Riyadh. He was referring to the six countries the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany that reached a deal with Tehran in 2015, under which economic sanctions on Iran were lifted in return for the Islamic Republic curbing its nuclear energy program. The world community that supports the nuclear deal between the P5+1 and Iran told Iran you can enrich although the NPT (global non-proliferation treaty) tells us all we can enrich, Prince Turki, a senior royal family member and a former ambassador to Washington, said. So the kingdom from that point of view will have the same right as the other members of the NPT, including Iran. SELF-SUFFICIENCY The dual technology has been at the heart of Western and regional concerns over the nuclear work of Iran, Saudi Arabia s regional rival. These worries helped lead to the 2015 deal, which allows Iran to enrich uranium to around the normal level needed for commercial power production. Atomic reactors need uranium enriched to around five percent purity but the same technology can also be used to enrich the heavy metal to higher, weapons-grade levels. Saudi Arabia plans to build 17.6 gigawatts (GW) of nuclear capacity by 2032, the equivalent of around 16 reactors. Riyadh has previously said it wants to tap its own uranium resources for self-sufficiency in producing nuclear fuel. Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih told Reuters on Wednesday that said these large resources were being explored, were promising and that Saudi Arabia would like to localize the industry in the long-term. Prince Turki said the only way to stop uranium enrichment would be by establishing a nuclear weapons-free zone in the Middle East, a longstanding idea which has been backed by the U.N. s nuclear assembly. This is not going to happen overnight. You have to set a time scale for negotiations to include regional discussions between the prospective members of the zone on issues not just of nuclear, but of achieving peace in the Middle East between Israel and Palestine, he said.

BELGRADE (Reuters) - In a joint sting, Serbian and Croatian police have detained 17 people suspected of smuggling dozens of migrants into the European Union, Serbia s Interior Ministry said on Wednesday. Serbia was at the center of the migrant crisis in 2015 and 2016 when hundreds of thousands of people fleeing wars and poverty in the Middle East and Asia journeyed up through the Balkans to reach the European Union. That route was effectively closed last year, but a steady trickle of migrants, arriving mainly from Turkey via neighboring Bulgaria, has continued. Many migrants use smugglers to reach the EU. In a statement, the Interior Ministry said the group detained in Belgrade and four northern towns comprised 12 Serbians and one Afghan man. The police in neighboring Croatia have detained four more suspects, it said. It is suspected that this criminal group facilitated the illegal crossing of the border and transit ... to a total of 82 migrants from Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq, from whom they took 1,500 euros ($1,800) per person, it said. Official data show there are up to 4,500 migrants stranded in government-operated camps in Serbia. Rights activists say hundreds more are scattered in the capital Belgrade and towns along the Croatian border. ($1 = 0.8442 euros)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate panel tasked with vetting Andrew Puzder to head the Labor Department has postponed its tentative plans to hold his confirmation hearing yet again, a move that some political strategists say could signal trouble for the fast-food executive. An aide for the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions said on Tuesday that the panel will not “officially” schedule a hearing “until the committee has received his paperwork from the Office of Government Ethics.” The committee had planned to hold Puzder’s hearing on Feb. 7. Prior to that, the committee eyed three other possible hearing dates. Puzder, who is the CEO of CKE Restaurants, is one of several of President Donald Trump’s nominees who has faced particularly strong opposition from Senate Democrats and progressive groups. His nomination sparked protests by some CKE fast-food workers and the union-backed “Fight for $15” movement to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. George Thompson, a spokesman for Puzder, said Democrats and special interest groups were “obstructing President Trump’s nominees” and that Puzder is “a proven job creator.” Puzder has criticized an overtime rule championed by the Obama administration and opposes raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Last week, workers at franchised locations of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s, which are part of CKE’s restaurant portfolio, filed a range of complaints, alleging wage theft and harassment, among other things. Additionally, some of CKE’s racy advertisements featuring women in bikinis have caused Democrats to ask questions about how Puzder will address sexual harassment in the workplace. “I like our ads. I like beautiful women eating burgers in bikinis,” he was quoted as saying in a 2015 article in Entrepreneur magazine. He added that those ads “did take on my personality.” Experts say the repeated postponement of Puzder’s hearing and the delays over his ethics paperwork since he was first nominated on Dec. 8 are unusual and could be a sign of problems. “It is a likely sign that the vetting is turning up problems and they are trying to figure out how to deal with them,” said Matthew Miller, a partner at the crisis management firm Vianovo. The new delays come on the same day that the same committee voted along party lines to advance Betsy DeVos’ nomination as education secretary to the full Senate floor. On another Senate panel, meanwhile, Democrats boycotted confirmation votes for Treasury Secretary-nominee Steve Mnuchin and Health and Human Services Secretary-nominee Tom Price.

People are finally panicking about cable TV http://t.co/ranEFiHbUK http://t.co/MflRVBh4qA

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Emotions over abortion simmered on the sidewalks outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday, with hundreds of activists on both sides of the issue staging dueling rallies and anti-abortion lawmakers joining the fray. “If you support life, let me hear you scream,” South Carolina Republican U.S. Senator Tim Scott told anti-abortion demonstrators, eliciting yells and applause. “We are talking about 10 fingers and 10 toes and one precious heart. We are here for the right reasons.” The court heard arguments in a legal challenge to a restrictive, Republican-backed Texas abortion law, with a ruling expected by the end of June. It was the latest flashpoint in America’s culture wars. Christina Bennett, a member of the National Black Pro-Life Coalition, shared her story during the anti-abortion rally about how her mother made a last-minute decision not to abort her. “I’m so grateful for my life and I love my life,” Bennett said, defending the Texas law at issue in the case that imposes regulations on abortion doctors and clinic buildings, rules that supporters of the measure state are intended to protect women’s health. Anti-abortion protesters held large posters with photos of aborted fetuses and signs that read, “Protect women, protect life.” One young woman clutched rosary beads in her hands and had red tape over her mouth with the word “life” written on it. Republican U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan addressed the anti-abortion rally, but was barely audible over screams from abortion rights protesters shouting, “Stop the sham!” Abortion rights advocates contend the Texas law is not aimed at protecting women’s health but rather at imposing burdensome regulations that would force abortion clinics to close. Demonstrator Hannah Friedman, a George Washington University student, held up a coat hanger with #WeWontGoBack scribbled across the front, a reference to how unsafe abortions were performed before the Supreme Court legalized abortion nationwide in 1973. “I think it’s really important to speak against the pro-life rhetoric going on behind me, with people using the Bible to defend their own personal beliefs and then inflict those beliefs upon me and my life and my decisions,” Friedman added. “This has been one of the most challenging, difficult and intense years of our lives,” Amy Hagstrom Miller, founder of Whole Woman’s Health, one of the abortion providers that challenged the law, told supporters. “After all, we have nothing to hide and we stand in the light.”

Brutal blizzard Jonas bites: 8,300 flights axed; Cars stranded for hours in Kentucky; : http://goo.gl/xFIuIz pic.twitter.com/32fcSIJJBx

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House wants to see a Republican elected to the U.S. Senate from Alabama to help pass a tax overhaul bill, a senior adviser said on Monday, indicating a possible shift toward supporting candidate Roy Moore, who has been accused of pursuing teenage girls when he was in his 30s. Moore, a former Alabama Supreme Court chief justice, is the Republicans’ only realistic chance to win the special Dec. 12 election. Republicans have a slim 52-48 majority in the Senate. The White House has said President Donald Trump thinks the allegations, including a charge Moore initiated sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl when he was in his 30s, are troubling and he should step down if they are true. But it has also said it is up to the people of Alabama to make the choice for the Senate and it has not called on Moore to exit the race, as have many other leading Republicans. In an interview with Fox News Channel on Monday, senior adviser Kellyanne Conway railed against Doug Jones, the Democratic candidate. Jones, a former federal prosecutor, has overtaken Moore in polls since allegations of sexual misconduct were first reported by the Washington Post two weeks ago. Asked if she was favoring a vote for Moore, Conway said: “We want the votes in the Senate to get this tax bill.” The U.S. House of Representatives passed tax legislation last week. The Senate, where Republicans can afford to lose only two votes, will take up its own version next week. Last week, Conway told Fox: “There’s no Senate seat that’s worth more than a child.” Moore’s campaign has struggled since the Post detailed the accounts of four women who say Moore pursued them while they were teenagers and he was in his 30s. More women have since spoken out with allegations of their own. Reuters has been unable to independently confirm any of the allegations. Moore, 70, has denied the accusations and has said he is the victim of a witch hunt. In her first televised interview since the Post detailed her allegations, Leigh Corfman told NBC’s “Today” show on Monday that Moore “basically laid out some blankets on the floor of his living room and proceeded to seduce me, I guess you would say” on her second visit to his home when she was 14 and he was 32. Corfman said that since the story in the Washington Post there have been “a lot of people that have come out and have said that because of my courage they’re able to do the same.” She said she had considered confronting Moore twice before, but did not do it, once because her school-age children were afraid that “they would be castigated in their group.” Corfman said she has not been paid by anyone for speaking up about her allegations. “If anything, it has cost me. I had to take leave from my job,” she said.

Alleged Bill Clinton sexual victim Juanita Broderick hit back after Chelsea Clinton complained that her parents were always being attacked and is some sort of tradition. Her parents being attacked is a tradition? What about your father s victims of sexual assault? Is that some sort of tradition?Following the debate, Trump told the press that he was holding back on bringing up Bill Clinton s sexual predator history out of respect for Chelsea being in the audience.Chelsea, who apparently is okay with her father receiving oral sex in the Oval Office, and her mother berating and threatening his alleged sexual abuse victims, had this to say about Trump: It s a distraction from his inability to talk about what s actually at stake in this election and to offer concrete, comprehensive proposals about the economy, or our public school system, or debt-free college, or keeping our country safe and Americans safe here at home and around the world. And candidly, I don t remember a time in my life when my parents and my family weren t being attacked, and so it just sort of seems to be in that tradition, unfortunately. Juanita Broderick hit back after Chelsea s disgusting flippant attitude about a woman who claims (one of many who have bravely come forward to expose Bill Clinton after being sexually assaulted by him) she was raped by her father:1. Here is my response to Chelsea Clinton's statement about her father's sexual misdeeds Juanita Broaddrick (@atensnut) September 28, 20162. Chelsea you said you don't remember a time in your life that your parents weren't being attacked. Juanita Broaddrick (@atensnut) September 28, 20163. There's a very good reason for this your parents are not good people. Juanita Broaddrick (@atensnut) September 28, 20164 your father was, and probably still is, a sexual predator. Your mother has always lied and covered up for him. Juanita Broaddrick (@atensnut) September 28, 20165. I say again "I was 35 when Bill Clinton Raped me and Hillary tried to silence me. I am now 73. It never goes away". Juanita Broaddrick (@atensnut) September 28, 2016Here s the vile way people who are supporting the FEMALE candidate for President responded:Another foul mouth. And he's from Canada. pic.twitter.com/NmnJIIFcMz Juanita Broaddrick (@atensnut) September 30, 2016And this one wants me beaten pic.twitter.com/rCKPUyuROz Juanita Broaddrick (@atensnut) September 30, 2016Now this idiot is saying I have been in prison. pic.twitter.com/yMhKb1i1kb Juanita Broaddrick (@atensnut) September 30, 2016

Helping my family pack the car and watch them ride off as I brave Hurricane Dorian alone. https://twitter.com/robertoblake/status/1167460993821270016 …

I just ordered Chinese food. It's a hurricane #sandy miracle! I love @chinafun!

NEWARK, N.J. (Reuters) - The bribery case against U.S. Senator Bob Menendez survived a key test on Monday, as the federal judge overseeing his trial rejected a defense motion to throw out the most serious charges. U.S. District Judge William Walls in Newark, New Jersey, allowed the trial to proceed on all charges. He had suggested on Oct. 16 that he was inclined to dismiss the core of the case based on a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year that narrowed the legal definition of public corruption.

Should we go out during hurricane Dorian tomorrow just to go to Galaxys Edge to try and get on the Millenium Falcon ride without having to queue for 3 hours?

Loaded up and ready to head back to DFW. Trying to beat the blizzard they say is coming and I have my car keys

21st Century Wire says Facebook is partnering with Snopes.com and other sites which have apparently been unofficially deemed the new ministries of truth to decide what is and what is not Fake News. Do we trust these agencies more than we trust the intelligence of 21WIRE Facebook followers to discern, on their own, what is Fake News and what is credible Absolutely not.You decide: Is Facebook really cracking down on fake news or is it making it easier for the establishment to burry stories from one of the most widely used sources of news link sharing on the internet? Alex Heath Business InsiderFacebook is going to start fact checking, labeling, and burying fake news and hoaxes in the News Feed, the company announced on Thursday.The decision comes after Facebook received heated criticism for its role in spreading a deluge of political misinformation during the U.S. presidential election, like one story that falsely said the Pope had endorsed Donald Trump.To combat fake news, Facebook has partnered with a shortlist of media organizations, including Snopes and ABC News, that are part of an international fact-checking network led by Poynter, a nonprofit school for journalism located in St. Petersburg, Florida.Starting as a test with a small percentage of its users in the United States, Facebook will make it easier to report news stories that are fake or misleading. Once third-party fact checkers have confirmed that the story is fake, it will be labeled as such and demoted in the News Feed.A company spokesperson told Business Insider that the social network will also use other signals, like algorithms that detect whether a story that appears fake is going viral, to determine if it should label the story as fake and bury it in peoples feeds. We ve focused our efforts on the worst of the worst, on the clear hoaxes spread by spammers for their own gain, and on engaging both our community and third party organizations, Facebook News Feed chief Adam Mosseri said in a company blog post on Thursday.A team of Facebook researchers will also review website domains and send sites that appear to be fake or spoofed (like washingtonpost.co ) to third-party fact checkers, a Facebook spokesperson said. Of the 42 news organizations that have committed to Poynter s fact-checking code of ethics, Facebook is starting out with the following four Snopes, Factcheck.org, ABC News, and PolitiFact. We are only involved to the extent that Facebook relies on the list of signatories to our code of principles as a starting point for the organizations it chooses to verify, a Poynter spokesperson told Business Insider. Facebook is the only organization certifying third party fact-checkers on its platform. Facebook has given its four initial fact-checking partners access to a tool that will let them label stories in the News Feed as fake, a Facebook spokesperson said. The spokesperson said that Facebook is not paying the organizations to fact check Continue the story at Business InsiderREAD MORE MSM LIES AT: 21st Century Wire MSM Watch Files

Yet another, as usual, failure of ⁦⁦@realDnoaldTrump⁩ personally, and his administration generally @fema @FEMA_Brock food, no FEMA: Hurricane Michael’s survivors are furious - The Daily Beast https://apple.news/APp4E5UMtQT2ULJVMPM0ovw …

Another mother who lost her son in military combat is blasting Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump for his attack on the family of deceased serviceman Humayun Khan.Karen Meredith s son, First Lieutenant Ken Ballard, died in combat in Najaf, Iraq in 2004.In a press release from the veterans advocacy group VoteVets, Ms. Meredith wrote: The parents of Humayun Khan showed great courage, standing up in front of the Democratic Convention. Mrs. Khan, who was too grief-stricken to speak to such a large audience, showed extraordinary courage and strength by standing on stage with her husband. For Donald Trump to insult their culture, by saying that is why she did not speak, is offensive. She continues: Donald Trump has already disrespected our POWs, and our veterans, and now, he has insulted the fallen and the families of the fallen. This is an attack on all Gold Star Families. It is an attack on service, and the spirit of service, itself. After Trump attacked the Khan family in an interview with ABC News, he also compared his personal losses to the loss of their son, claiming that he has made sacrifices as well. Of course, all of Trump s five children are alive and well and none have served in military combat.In her letter, Meredith also addresses this point: Our men and women in the military make sacrifices every day. Our military families make sacrifices every day. Donald Trump hasn t sacrificed anything close to that. Building buildings is a job. He didn t lose anything. Even when he went bankrupt he didn t lose anything. All he did is lose other people s money. She also points out the lack of strong condemnation from Republican Party leaders like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan: If they are not willing to stand up to him right now, when he attacks our fallen and Gold Star Families, are they ever going to be willing to stand up to him? When will Paul Ryan stand up to him? When will Mitch McConnell stand up to him? When will Reince Priebus stand up to him? If not now when? By comparison, Hillary Clinton has repeatedly praised the Khan family, including a statement that noted, Captain Khan and his family represent the best of America, and we salute them. Featured image via YouTube

A Spanish biological researcher; U gave the footballer 1 million euro per month & a biological researcher 1800 euro/per month. You are looking for #Corona treatment now. Go to Ronaldo and Messi and they will find you a cure. https://t.co/LuBZNlWOUZ

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An outside adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump called on Sunday for the firing of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director Richard Cordray. Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s former campaign manager who still speaks regularly to the president, criticized a CFPB rule that would make it easier for consumers to sue financial companies. Currently, many consumers are required to settle disputes related to credit cards and other banking products through mandatory arbitration. “It’s my recommendation to the president of the United States to fire Richard Cordray,” Lewandowski told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” The CFPB is the brainchild of Massachusetts Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren. Created by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law, the bureau is charged with protecting consumers from predatory lending practices that were commonplace during the financial crisis. Under current law, the president can only fire Cordray for cause. The legal burden to show cause is high, and Cordray’s term does not expire until July 2018. Cordray is widely expected to run for governor in Ohio, though he has not announced any plans to do so. Lewandowski said Cordray’s potential political aspirations were part of the reason he should be ousted, saying “if he wants to run for governor of Ohio, go run for governor of Ohio, but don’t do so while you’re sitting in a federal office right now.” A CFPB spokesman did not have any immediate comment in response. Republicans fought the creation of the CFPB and have long complained the agency wields too much power without enough accountability to the president or Congress. They have accused it over imposing overly burdensome regulations that they say may unduly harm consumers. A U.S. appeals court is weighing a case involving whether the president should be allowed to fire Cordray at will, and not just for cause. If Trump were to remove Cordray prior to the court’s ruling, it would likely escalate the ongoing legal battle. When asked if his comments about the CFPB were driven by business interests he represents, Lewandowski said he had no clients with such interests before the agency. However, Lewandowski previously worked for Avenue Strategies, which is registered to lobby for Ohio-based payday lender Community Choice Financial.

When Black Lives Matter supporters use the same tactics as an ISIS terrorist, America has a serious problem. Black Lives Matter continues to prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, they re a terrorist organization.After Beyonce s racist halftime Super Bowl 2016 show, this disgusting terrorist type post from an active NFL player shouldn t come as a surprise to anyone NFL Cleveland Browns running back posted this on Instagram this weekend:Because dead cops is cool. GPUnder the vile picture he posted in ebonics: They give polices all types of weapons and they continuously choose to kill us. Communist Disney s ESPN had Cowell s back after the outrage he received on social media:Cleveland Browns running back Isaiah Crowell apologized and said his social media reaction to last week s killing of two black men by police was very wrong. Crowell said he made an extremely poor decision when he posted a drawing that graphically showed a hooded individual putting what looks like a machete into the throat of a police officer. It was an extremely poor decision and I apologize for that mistake and for offending people, Crowell said in a statement released by the team. My values and beliefs do not match that image. The post went up after the police killings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, and before the killing of five Dallas police officers Thursday night.Crowell wrote that he was outraged and upset by the killing of Sterling and Castile, and outraged and saddened by the killing of the five Dallas police officers. He called last week an emotional and difficult week, but said his post was wrong. We have to be better as a society, Crowell said. It s not about color, it s about what s right and wrong. I was very wrong in posting that image. Every single life matters, every death as a result of violence should be treated with equal outrage and penalty.

STRASBOURG (Reuters) - European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker urged European Union governments on Wednesday to use economic recovery and Brexit as springboards toward a closer union, built on an expanded euro zone and a pivotal role in world trade. In his annual State of the European Union speech, Juncker sketched out a vision of a post-2019 EU where some 30 countries would be using the euro, with an EU finance minister running key budgets to help states in trouble. Tax and welfare standards would converge and Europe, not the United States, would be the hub of a free-trading world. The EU chief executive stressed his wish to heal divisions between eastern and western states. He sees that as vital to countering a drive, including by founding powers France and Germany, to set up new structures within the bloc that would exclude some poorer, ex-communist members in the east. The wind is back in Europe s sails, Junker told the European Parliament, citing economic growth and the easing of a succession of crises Greek debt, refugee inflows, the rise of eurokcepticism reflected in Brexit - that seemed to threaten the EU s survival. Now we have a window of opportunity, but it will not stay open for ever, he said, emphasizing a need to move on from and even profit from the British vote to leave the bloc in 2019. We will keep moving on because Brexit isn t everything, it is not the future of Europe, he said in a speech that Brexit supporters said showed they were right to take Britain out of a bloc set on creating more powerful, central institutions French, German and eastern European officials made positive comments, but several said Juncker would face stiff opposition. In a carefully balanced, hour-long discourse in Strasbourg, he called on nationalist eastern leaders though not by name to stop defying EU courts over civil rights, and on westerners to drop attempts to keep out cheaper eastern workers or palm off inferior food in poorer national markets. But his core proposal for countering what is known as a multispeed Europe by encouraging all states to join the euro and other EU structures faces resistance in both non-euro zone countries and potentially in Paris and Berlin, where the newly elected President Emmanuel Macron and about-to-be-re-elected Chancellor Angela Merkel are readying their own plans. Macron plans to present his ideas for reforming the 19-nation euro zone on Sept. 26, two days after the German election, a French diplomatic source said. EU officials hope leaders may discuss the issues at a dinner on Sept. 28 before a summit in Estonia. If we want the euro to unite rather than divide our continent, then it should be more than the currency of a select group of countries, Juncker said. The euro is meant to be the single currency of the European Union as a whole. He noted that only long-standing EU members Britain and Denmark have a legal right not to adopt the euro. EU officials say that with Britain leaving, and the eight remaining non-euro states accounting for only 15 percent of EU GDP, Juncker sees it as natural for EU and euro zone policy to operate in unison. For that reason, he rejected proposals, led by France, for a special euro zone budget, finance minister and parliament. These functions, he said, should be filled instead by a vice president of the Commission, chairing the Eurogroup of 19 euro zone finance ministers and managing a euro zone budget that would be part of the budget for the whole EU, overseen by Parliament. While Denmark in fact pegs its crown closely to the euro, a drive to push the likes of Poland and Sweden into the euro would be a hard sell in those countries, while Germany, France and others have been skeptical about letting poorer states join yet. Juncker proposed EU funding and technical help to encourage non-euro members to get themselves into a position to join. For Juncker, officials say, the departure of Britain, for all the difficulties it brings, means goodbye to the major power that has continually sought opt-outs from new integration projects, and offers an opportunity to end the habit for good. Everyone should be in everything, one senior official said. An aide to Macron said Juncker had made many ambitious proposals in line with French ideas and played down divergence on euro zone reform, noting Juncker would offer final ideas only in December. In Germany, government officials were restrained. But Beate Merk, a regional minister in Bavaria allied to Merkel, said expanding the euro to the whole EU would be a risky experiment that would greatly heighten Europe s problems . Euroskeptics responded critically to the Commission president s speech. Ryszard Legutko, an EU lawmaker from Poland s right-wing ruling party, warned against responding to problems with the same old more Europe, more Europe arguments. That is not the answer, he said. We need to get the EU s house in order before there can even be a discussion on centralizing even further. Nigel Farage of the UK Independence Party said: All I can say is, thank God we re leaving. Farage s allies cheered when Juncker finally mentioned Brexit near the end of his speech and said the British would come to regret their tragic referendum decision to leave. Looking ahead to March 30, 2019, the day when Britain will be out of the EU, Juncker said he had proposed that Romania, which will then hold its rotating presidency, should host a summit in the formerly German-speaking Transylvanian city of Sibiu. There leaders should set out plans for a more united Union, two months before voters elect a new European Parliament.

During Obama s 8 years in office, he took a passive approach to the aggressive and unhinged North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. At the end of his time in office, Obama had to admit that his approach with them didn t work. President Trump however, is not Barack Obama, and has chosen a different course of action. He s not about to sit back and ignore North Korea s crazy dictator, as he continues to threaten the United States.CNS News President Obama, speaking at his final news conference in Laos, said his approach to North Korea is to not reward bad behavior, but he also admitted that his approach isn t working because Pyongyang has continued to engage in the development of their nuclear program. Obama spoke shortly before North Korea conducted its fifth and largest nuclear test.Obama said he is deeply disturbed by North Korea s continued flouting of international obligations, and he pointed to the defensive measures the deployment of U.S. THADD missiles in South Korea intended to protect the U.S. and its allies.North Korea upped its warmongering with Donald Trump today in a series of menacing boasts threatening to ravage US troops amid fears the two countries are heading for war.The secretive state vowed to pulverize US bases and South Korean capital Seoul if it was threatened by the US military, which is carrying out drills on the Korean peninsula. A US aircraft carrier group is steaming towards the region.It claimed it would ruthlessly ravage the US if Washington attacked. China warned the region could go to war at any moment .The rhetoric comes after North Korea warned that President Donald Trump s troublemaking and aggressive tweets have pushed the world to the brink of thermo-nuclear war.Pyongyang s Vice Minister Han Song Ryol accused Trump of building up a vicious cycle of tensions and warned the US against provoking North Korea militarily. He said: We will go to war if they choose. He added the country would continue developing its nuclear program and conduct its next nuclear test whenever its leaders see fit.In the past week Trump has shown his willingness to launch military strikes, with US missiles deployed in Syria and Afghanistan.In other developments today, as tensions heighten in the Korean peninsula:Pence plans to celebrate Easter with US and Korean troops on Sunday before talks on Monday with acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn. We re going to consult with the Republic of Korea on North Korea s efforts to advance its ballistic missile and its nuclear program, a White House foreign policy adviser told reporters, previewing Pence s trip.Pence will land in Seoul the day after North Korea s biggest national day, the Day of the Sun. The White House has contingency plans for Pence s trip should it coincide with a another North Korean nuclear test by its leader Kim Jong Un, the adviser said. Unfortunately, it s not a new surprise for us. He continues to develop this program, he continues to launch missiles into the Sea of Japan, the adviser said. With the regime it s not a matter of if it s when. We are well prepared to counter that, the adviser said.U.S. officials have played down the prospect of any military strike against North Korea, which would likely provoke massive North Korean retaliation and huge casualties in Japan and South Korea and among U.S. forces in both countries.China, North Korea s sole major ally and neighbor, opposes its weapons program and has called for talks leading to a peaceful resolution and the denuclearization of the peninsula. Military force cannot resolve the issue, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters in Beijing. Amid tensions we will also find a kind of opportunity to return to talks. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also underscored fears about possible threats from North Korea, telling parliament in Tokyo that Pyongyang could have the capacity to deliver missiles equipped with sarin nerve gas.CIA director Mike Pompeo said North Korea was closer now than it had ever been to being able to threaten the United States with a nuclear-tipped intercontinental missile and increased its technical know-how with each new test.Experts do not believe North Korea has a deliverable long-range nuclear weapon, or intercontinental missiles.But that could change within the next few years, as experts say North Korea could have a viable nuclear warhead and a ballistic missile capable of hitting the US mainland during Trump s watch as president.Aerial photos taken Tuesday show continued activity at the Punggye-ri Nuclear site where US officials fear a nuclear device has been installed in a tunnel ahead of another test.And Han, referring to North Korea as the Democratic People s Republic of Korea, said Friday: If the US comes with reckless military maneuvers then we will confront it with the DPRK s preemptive strike. We ve got a powerful nuclear deterrent already in our hands, and we certainly will not keep our arms crossed in the face of a U.S. preemptive strike. The message had been echoed in the days before, when North Korea said it would launch a merciless retaliatory strike against US military action.Pyongyang also recently launched a ballistic missile and some experts say it could conduct another nuclear test at virtually anytime.For entire story: Daily Mail

[AW News] Haitians scramble for shelter from powerful Hurricane Matthew via @ameborworld_com http://ameborworld.com/2016/10/04/aw-news-haitians-scramble-for-shelter-from-powerful-hurricane-matthew-via-ameborworld_com/ …

This unhinged high school teacher was caught telling students to turn their Trump t-shirts inside out, because the Make America Great Again slogan is the same thing as a swastika. Come again?Watch:Teacher makes students flip MAGA shirts inside out because it's similar to a swastika & represents nazis! pic.twitter.com/hu0WRvwZ4D USA Association (@USAAssociation) September 4, 2017Example after example of intolerant radical educators threatning students who refuse to tow the liberal line have emerged over the past decade. One of our favorite examples took place less than 2 years ago when multiple professors at Washington State University explicitly told students their grades would suffer if they used terms such as illegal alien, male, and female, or if they failed to defer to non-white students.A Fresno State professor was actually caught on video bullying a student at the college where he teaches because she chalked a pro-life message on the sidewalk (after she received permission from the school to write the pro-life message on the sidewalk).Watch this male professor bully this young female student:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate deal followed an internal debate that pitted anti-globalist advisers like Steve Bannon against more moderate voices such as Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, and top economic adviser, Gary Cohn. In the end, Trump stuck to a promise that he had made on the campaign trail last year aimed at helping blue-collar workers who he feels are under siege in a changing U.S. economy. “I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Pars,” he said on Thursday in making his announcement. But Trump’s intentions concerning the Paris accord were unclear even to some of his aides until the last day or so, since he has shown flexibility on some campaign promises and had gotten an earful about the need to stay in the agreement from key allies at a Group of Seven summit last week in Sicily. At the White House, the behind-the-scenes debate about whether to stay in Paris or bolt was an intense one that dragged on for weeks. Ivanka Trump, whose husband, Jared Kushner, is a senior White House adviser, had been quietly urging her father to keep the United States in the Paris agreement, and had sought to ensure her father heard all sides in the debate, an official said. Cohn last week suggested Trump might be softening on his outright hostility toward the accord, telling reporters the president’s position was “evolving” based on input from world leaders who wanted the United States to remain in the agreement. Kushner, on the other hand, came around to the view that the standards set out in the agreement did not work for the U.S. economy, a senior administration official said. The official said the question for Kushner was whether to try to change those standards within the agreement or pull out. Consistently in favor of pulling out were Bannon and Trump speechwriter Stephen Miller, who was involved in writing Trump’s Paris remarks, and Scott Pruitt, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Both Bannon and Miller are seen as key architects of Trump’s “America First” agenda, which is aimed at ensuring U.S. interests are taken into account over a globalist view. Although there had been some discussion of keeping the United States in the Paris accord, while changing its carbon emissions commitments, as a way of maintaining global unity, in the end, Trump decided to cut the cord entirely. “I think the president’s legal team felt very strongly that it was best, that the cleanest way to address it was to just get out,” a senior administration official told reporters.

Hail! [pic] ‰ÛÓ https://t.co/B7omJ7U3EI

I was indifferent toward the snow until I had to dig my car out. Obama said he'd bring change; I didn't expect that to mean a blizzard

I should have said, "most precious handful of books." Obviously I'm not imagining you filling your car with stacks of paper novels before driving to safety through a wildfire area.

The Dallas Cowboys tried to have it both ways tonight at the start of the Monday Night football game. The team was joined by owner Jerry Jones as they knelt before the national anthem They stood with arms linked during the anthem. What do you think of this attempt to straddle the fence?Crowd erupts in boos as owner Jerry Jones and entire Dallas Cowboys team kneel live on Monday Night Football pic.twitter.com/ZBKt3KMXYR Jack Posobiec (@JackPosobiec) September 26, 2017 What did this accomplish? Absolutely nothing! A bunch of fools who failed civics. It s not about them its about the nation. The entire Dallas Cowboys team took a knee before tonight's national anthem. pic.twitter.com/7siBIjACJr FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) September 26, 2017 The Cardinals linked arms with members of the military during the national anthem:The Cardinals linked arms with members of the military during tonight's national anthem. pic.twitter.com/AUENyoEIIo FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) September 26, 2017 The NFL s operations manual, which, unlike its rule book, is not available to the public, states: During the National Anthem, players on the field and bench area should stand at attention, face the flag, hold helmets in their left hand, and refrain from talking. The home team should ensure that the American flag is in good condition. It should be pointed out to players and coaches that we continue to be judged by the public in this area of respect for the flag and our country. Failure to be on the field by the start of the National Anthem may result in discipline, such as fines, suspensions, and/or the forfeiture of draft choice(s) for violations of the above, including first offenses.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgium took steps to expel a Saudi imam who preaches at the country s biggest mosque for spreading extremist ideology, the immigration minister said on Tuesday. The imam s residence permit was withdrawn as a prelude to expelling him. He had lodged an appeal against that decision which, if it failed, would oblige him to leave the country, Minister Theo Francken told radio station BelRTL. Brussels Grand Mosque, which was leased to Saudi Arabia for 99 years in the 1960s as part of an energy deal, has faced repeated accusations from local politicians of propagating ultra-conservative forms of Islam. There is a problem with the Grand Mosque... I have taken the decision to withdraw the residence permit of the imam of that mosque, Francken said. We have had some very clear indications that he was very radicalized, Salafist and conservative. He was dangerous for our society and national security. Francken did not name of the imam, who the ministry also declined to name when contacted by Reuters. Authorities at the mosque were not immediately available for comment. The Salafist movement - which is strongly influenced by Saudi Arabia s Wahhabi school of Islam - sees many other branches of the faith as heretical has been linked to militant groups such as Islamic State. A judge will decide in the coming weeks on the imam s appeal.

They took out Saddam in two weeks, but they can t finish IS in two years? asked Falih, another Iraqi who asked that his last name not be used out of security concerns. It just doesn t make sense. 21st Century Wire says This latest report serves as a reminder of just how thin the US-led international game of supporting extremist militants has become.The most comical part of this story is how US military court scribes at the Associated Press are still in denial that Iraqis are harboring ill will against the US for suffocating (via crippling sanctions), bombing and destroying, looting and occupying their country over the last 25 years.Aside from numerous reports showing US weapons and equipment being dropped by accident and then used by ISIS, it s undeniable by now that the US have been the primary driver in fueling the rise and growth of this militant fighting group over the last 7 years.Associated Press writers are very careful to frame this narrative and advance the establishment s favorite meme that the debacle of Iraq was down to US government incompetence , rather than inherent malice even though history clearly demonstrates that malice has been omnipresent in US foreign policy for at least the last 70 years.SEE ALSO: 50 Years of Targeted Kill Lists by US Government Why can t they (the Iraqis) appreciate what we ve done for them? Seriously Sinan Salaheddin and Susannah George AP/Military.comBAGHDAD For nearly two years, U.S. airstrikes, military advisers and weapons shipments have helped Iraqi forces roll back the Islamic State group.The U.S.-led coalition has carried out more than 5,000 airstrikes against ISIS targets in Iraq at a total cost of $7 billion since August 2014, including operations in Syria. On Tuesday a U.S. Navy SEAL was the third serviceman to die fighting ISIS in Iraq.But many Iraqis still aren t convinced the Americans are on their side.Government-allied Shiite militiamen on the front-lines post videos of U.S. supplies purportedly seized from ISIS militants or found in areas liberated from the extremist group. Newspapers and TV networks repeat conspiracy theories that the U.S. created the jihadi group to sow chaos in the region in order to seize its oil.Skepticism about U.S. motives is deeply rooted in Iraq, where many still blame the chaos after the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein on American malice rather than incompetence Read more at Military.comREAD MORE ISIS NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire ISIS Files

Main Stream Media Talking Heads Are Shrieking About 'A Historic Blizzard That Will Cripple The East Coast, Go Out And Buy Food SPEND! SPEND'

Yosemite National Park reopened its scenic valley Tuesday after a nearly three-week closure due to nearby wildfires but advised visitors to expect smoky air, limited lodging and food services at the popular California park. http://www.djc.com/news/le/12113769.html …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican leaders in the House of Representatives on Wednesday dismissed U.S. President Barack Obama’s proposed $10.25 per barrel tax on oil, saying the increase would translate into higher gasoline prices for consumers. “The president’s tax proposal is dead on arrival at the House. It will not happen,” House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican, told reporters. House Speaker Paul Ryan also rejected the idea. The tax, to be phased in over five years, was part of Obama’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2017 released on Tuesday.

Tonight's Halloween ride has been cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy! :( Stay safe and dry!

Where is @fema? No Food, No FEMA: Hurricane Michael’s Survivors Are Furious. #HurricanMichael https://thebea.st/2IV0u6C?source=twitter&via=desktop … via @thedailybeast

In a dream you saw a way to survive and you were full of joy.

What we do during hurricane sandy eat lots of food :) http://instagr.am/p/RWT0GApXT8/ 

The National Park Service might be out of a job keeping the White House grounds maintained. A 10-year-old boy named Frank wrote President Donald Trump to offer his lawn mowing services at no charge and we all know the President loves a good deal. So Frank mowed away this morning!President Trump tweeted out: Frank FX Giaccio-On behalf of @FLOTUS Melania & myself, THANK YOU for doing a GREAT job this morning! @NatlParkService gives you an A+!Frank FX Giaccio-On behalf of @FLOTUS Melania & myself, THANK YOU for doing a GREAT job this morning! @NatlParkService gives you an A+! pic.twitter.com/135DxuapUI Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 15, 2017 HERE S WHAT HAPPENED IN EARLY AUGUST:Note to media: If you won t report the good things surrounding Trump s spectacular 6 months in office, including positive stories involving scores of his supporters of all ages, ethnicities and genders, Sarah Huckabee Sanders will.Here's Sarah Huckabee Sanders reading a letter from 10-year-old Frank from Virginia https://t.co/0TCpj3P2xE Meg Wagner (@megwagner) August 2, 2017This smart little entrepreneur clearly touched the president s heart with this letter: Dear Mr. President,It would be my honor to mow the White House lawn for some weekend for you, even though I m only 10, I d like to show the nation what young people like me are ready for. I admire your business background and have started my own business. I ve been mowing my neighbors lawns for some time, please see the attached flyer, here s a list of what I have and you re free to pick whatever you want: power mower, push mower, and weed whacker, I can bring extra fuel for the power mower and charge batteries for the weed whacker, and I ll do that with no charge.Sincerely,Frank. Huckabee-Sanders, who is a mother of 3 young children, was probably tickled pink to offer President Trump s response to this ambitious young man in person: Frank, I m happy to report back to you that I just spoke with the President, he wanted me to be sure and tell you that you re doing a great job and keep working hard. He also asked me, we found out when we called, to let you know that we would be reading this letter to wish you a happy birthday. I think Frank went from 10 to 11 in the time that we received and were able to respond to this letter, and he also wanted to invite you to spend a morning here at the White House with the groundskeeper.

Someone parked their car in the living room because of Hurricane Matthew http://ift.tt/2dRMVnJ 

MY BOSS WANTS ME TO COME INTO WORK THIS WEEKEND- Like tf do you not see this blizzard... No one's gonna buy chinese food in a snow storm

Will coronavirus force Portland men to finally shave off their hipster beards? https://t.co/RT9FxGhEqL https://t.co/3x6pOzAjic

California wildfire deaths rise to 44 as more bodies are found in cars and homes pic.twitter.com/kHM0xfj8Jp

We do what's called a hurricane party @cbakerswaggy grab your favorite drink, kick back, and go along for the ride

Donald Trump s refusal to believe our nation s top intelligence agencies about Russian interference in our election is even causing Fox News to turn on him.For more than a month, Trump has been defending Russia and Vladimir Putin after the CIA and 17 other intelligence agencies concluded that Russia hacked into the DNC and spread propaganda to influence voters to benefit Trump, who actually encouraged Russia to commit espionage against the United States.During a Senate hearing on Thursday, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper testified that Russia committed these crimes against our country.And Fox News host Shep Smith took Trump to the woodshed for continuing to side with Russia over the experts in our own intelligence community. There were lots of ways Russia tried to sway our vote, Smith said. [Clapper] testified that Russia used cyber attacks to target the Democratic National Committee we know that. He said they also used propaganda and disinformation, including fake news. Fake news that the Kremlin commissioned and generated. In other words, a pack of lies packaged up as news of the day in an effort to saw the minds of the American electorate. We don t need a dictionary to figure out what he s saying, Smith declared. He s saying, Putin knew this, Putin directed this. This is all about Putin. Smith pointed out that Trump would rather pal aound with Julian Assange, who if he walked out the door would be arrested, over the $62 billion a year American intelligence agencies and all their leaders. Then Smith slammed Trumped for hypocritically saying that he respects our intelligence agencies and pondered why he is questioning them. Apparently not this intelligence, Smith snapped. He s made that clear. Because this intelligence says that Vladimir Putin and the Russians tried meddling with the U.S. election to help him, Donald Trump, get elected. But why? Does Donald Trump not trust the intelligence agencies? Or is this a thank you to the Russians for all their help? We do not know. But it s one of those. The bottom line, Smith said, is that there is no doubt none that Russia interfered with America s election. And that s precisely why Donald Trump is unfit to be president. By defending Russia, he is defending our enemy and letting them dupe him. This nation cannot afford to have someone in the White House who refuses to acknowledge that Russia committed an act of war against this country. It makes us vulnerable to future attacks, attacks that Trump clearly has no problem with as long as they benefit him.Featured image Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

No food, no FEMA: Hurricane Michael's survivors are furious - The Daily Beast https://apple.news/APp4E5UMtQT2ULJVMPM0ovw …

Outstanding job by brave Vacaville PD. They risked their lives rescuing over 50 shelter animals in wake of California wildfires. https://twitter.com/bestfriends/status/1029007607934201856 …

USDA Offers Food Safety Tips for Areas Affected by Hurricane Dorian https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USFSIS/bulletins/25c3963#.XWq5X5lUbcI.twitter … via @Granicus

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Less than an hour after U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel s capital, Palestinians protested by turning off the lights on the Christmas tree outside Bethlehem s Church of the Nativity, the traditional birthplace of Jesus. It was a timely reminder that while headlines focused on Islamist calls for uprisings and Trump s references to Jewish historical ties, the president s words also stirred deep feelings among the Palestinians small Christian community. Coming out of the Sunday service in his Assyrian Catholic church in Jerusalem, Fredrick Hazo accused Trump of dragging all the world into trouble , and called on the U.S. leader to reverse his decision. We are united - Christians, Muslims, we are one, said the 59-year-old Palestinian musician, standing in an alley in the heart of the Old City, surrounded by shops selling religious trinkets. He was frustrated by the politics, but confident the delicate balance the three faiths kept in the holy city would prevail. In this sacred place, God is protecting us all. We are guarded by his angels in Jerusalem, Hazo added. Christians make up around just one percent of the Palestinian population in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem - though they punch above their weight in local and national politics. Back in July, Hazo protested alongside Muslims against Israel s installation of security scanners at the nearby al-Aqsa mosque - Islam s third holiest site - after two Arab-Israeli gunmen shot dead two Israeli police officers at the site. It removed the metal detectors after days of bloody clashes, scenes that have not been repeated in the city since Trump s declaration. The appeals to religious unity inside Jerusalem s walls stand in contrast to the more divided voices outside. In the hours running up to Trump s statement, Pope Francis called for the status quo in the city to be respected. The Episcopal Church of the United States said Trump s announcement could have profound ramifications on the peace process and the future of a two-state solution . But Trump s decision found strong backing from another corner of the Christian community - many among his own country s politically powerful evangelicals who see God s hand in the modern-day return of Jews to a biblical homeland. Trump convened a circle of evangelical advisers during his presidential bid, and he was the overwhelming favorite of white evangelical voters in last year s U.S. election. We are all bible-believers and we believe that this is the bible-land and that Jerusalem is the ancient capital of Israel back to the days of King David, said Dallas-based Mike Evans, part of an evangelical group that met Trump on Monday. So for our president to stand up and declare it makes us extremely proud and honored. For Palestinian supermarket cashier Mohammed al-Hawa, however, Trump s words and the logic behind them ignored the more complex reality on the ground. People of all faith in Jerusalem were united in prayer, the 33-year-old said, even if they were divided over politics. Christians, Jews and Muslims live in this city together. There is no problem between them. Only the politics. The governments want to make wars, he said. This is my city - my blood, my life, added a 70-year-old Palestinian, walking through the pilgrim-packed courtyard of Jerusalem s Church of the Holy Sepulchre, revered by Christians as the site of Jesus s tomb. The church is packed into a small parcel of land that also holds the al-Aqsa compound and Judaism s Western Wall I can go to the church, to anywhere in Jerusalem, not Trump nor Netanyahu can stop me, added the man who identified himself only as a Jerusalemite .

HONG KONG (Reuters) - A Chinese official admonished Hong Kong on Thursday for failing to introduce a national security law, ramping up pressure on the former British colony to enact the contentious Article 23 that critics say will further choke its freedoms. The global financial hub has been ruled under a one country, two systems principle since it returned to China in 1997, guaranteeing freedoms not enjoyed on the mainland, including an independent judiciary and freedom of expression. Those freedoms are outlined in its mini-constitution, the Basic Law , a document that also demands the city pass its own laws preventing treason, secession and subversion against Communist Party rulers in Beijing. Hong Kong leaders have in the past decade put off passing Article 23, possibly their most sensitive political task, especially as tensions ran high after the months-long pro-democracy demonstrations in 2014. But Beijing officials have not forgotten, and on Thursday Li Fei, who chairs the Basic Law Committee under the Chinese parliament s standing committee, said it was a duty that cannot be shirked . I believe we can all see the harmful effects from this legal vacuum, he said in a speech in Hong Kong. I d like to emphasize, (Hong Kong should) safeguard national sovereignty and security through legislation and strict implementation of the law. An earlier planned national security law for Hong Kong was shelved in 2003 after an estimated 500,000 people marched against it. In his hour-long speech, live-streamed in some schools and at times directed at students, Li also lashed out at a nascent independence movement, which has gone largely underground after most of its figureheads were charged for what the government called a riot in 2016. Their behavior is absurd, the nature of it is illegal, and emotionally speaking it s absolutely impermissible, he said. We must resist and oppose them without any hesitation. Li s remarks came after Chinese President Xi Jinping took what some saw as a harder line on Hong Kong s future during his visit in July to mark the 20th anniversary of the 1997 handover. Xi warned then that any attempt to endanger Chinese sovereignty and security, challenge China s power, or use Hong Kong to carry out infiltration or sabotage would be acts that cross the red line and were absolutely impermissible . The city s new leader, Carrie Lam, bent on mending the damaged trust between Beijing and the Hong Kong public, has repeatedly said the timing is not right to introduce security laws, just three years after the youth-led demonstrations directly challenged Beijing s authority. Even without any new local laws, some Hong Kong lawyers, diplomats and activists believe Beijing may make its own attempt to outlaw independence debates through a formal interpretation of the Basic Law, or extending national laws to cover Hong Kong. Such moves would have to be followed by Hong Kong s courts, deepening fears over the strength of Hong Kong s vaunted rule of law and freedom of speech. Some experts note that Beijing has lowered the threshold for such action after its preemptive interpretation of the Basic Law last year, which effectively disqualified lawmakers who did not take their oaths properly. It also ruled last month to outlaw mockery of the national anthem and decided the law would be extended to Hong Kong, which will take effect after it s been put to the city s legislature.

If you look closely, you might find a few familiar hypocrites who were calling for the nomination of a new Supreme Court Justice before Scalia s body was removed from the hotel where he died h/t Weasel Zippers

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will deepen economic and financial reforms and further open its markets to foreign investors as it looks to move from high-speed to high-quality growth, President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday. China will push ahead with market-oriented reforms of its foreign exchange rate as well as its financial system, and let the market play a decisive role in the allocation of resources, Xi said at the opening of a key, twice-a-decade Communist Party Congress. China s open door will not be closed, it will be only be opened wider, Xi said. The government will clean up rules and practices that hinder a unified market and fair competition, support development of private firms and stimulate vitality of all types of market entities, Xi said, while pledging to further open China s services sector to foreign investors. However, while expressing support for market reform and private firms, Xi also called for stronger, bigger state firms. The government will promote strengthening, improvement and expansion of state capital, (and) effectively prevent loss of state assets, deepen reform of state-owned enterprises, development a mixed-ownership economy and cultivate globally competitive world-class firms, Xi said. Xi s comments reiterated a long-standing pledge by party leaders to give a greater role to free-market forces to improve efficiency and put the economy on a more sustainable growth path. But as Xi gears up for his second five-year term, foreign business executives and analysts increasingly believe market liberalization is seen as secondary to his state-centered approach to economic policy and his focus on stability. Other painful reforms that many economists say are needed have also moved slowly under Xi. They include overhauling China s bloated and debt-laden state sector, fixing the fiscal system to tackle local government debt and bringing in new property taxes to ward off housing bubbles. China should also strengthen consumption as a foundation for economic development, Xi said, and will expand the middle class and narrow the gap in development between rural and urban areas. Beijing s campaign to rein in high debt levels and industrial overcapacity will continue as part of supply-side structural reforms, he added. Xi also proposed a goal of developing China into a basically modernized, innovation-driven country by 2035 and a modern strong power by 2050. But analysts said that suggests the government is likely to continue to target moderately high economic growth in coming years, which could see the country s large debt pile climb even further. China s gross domestic income per capita would need to rise by an average of 6.6 percent a year in real U.S. dollar terms from 2017 onwards to become an innovative economy and match the development level of today s South Korea by 2035, ANZ estimated. That growth figure needs to be no lower than 4.9 percent for China to be a modernized economy - the by World Bank s definition of high income countries - all the way to 2050, ANZ added. Nobody knows what is a modernized country , but from the wording of Xi Jinping you can tell what he would like to achieve is for China to be one of the high income countries today like Japan and Australia, said Raymond Yeung, Great China Chief Economist at ANZ in Hong Kong. China is expected to post its strongest economic growth in several years this year, riding on a government-led construction boom, but economists said it is still relying too heavily on credit-fueled stimulus despite policymakers vows to reduce debt risks. Some international agencies and economists have argued Beijing should abandon its arbitrary annual growth targets or lower it to become less reliant on government stimulus and bank credit. Less ambitious growth targets would also give policymakers more room for tougher reforms. Specific economic targets for 2018 are likely to be set during an economic work meeting later this year, but are not expected to be announced until March. The International Monetary Fund warned this year that China s credit growth was on a dangerous trajectory and called for decisive action , while the Bank for International Settlements said in late 2016 that excessive debt growth was signaling a banking crisis in the next three years. For graphic on China's economic report card, click: tmsnrt.rs/2xNmnxD For graphic onChina's leadership, click: tmsnrt.rs/2yw6MG8

SYDNEY (Reuters) - The death of Australian batsman Phillip Hughes was a ‘tragic accident’ and not as a result of a failure to enforce the rules of the game or inadequate safety equipment, the New South Wales (NSW) Coroner’s Court ruled on Friday. Hughes was hit on the back of the neck by a rising delivery when playing for South Australia in a domestic match at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Nov. 25, 2014. He died two days later in a Sydney hospital. After reviewing the circumstances surrounding the incident to determine whether the 25-year-old’s death could have been avoided, NSW State Coroner Michael Barnes said he could find no evidence to support the view of Hughes’ family that he had died in a “very unsafe workplace”. “The family’s grief at losing their much loved son and brother was exacerbated by their belief that unfair play had contributed to his death,” said Barnes. “It is hoped that they accept the compelling evidence that the rules were complied with. Phillip was excelling at the crease as he so often did and that his death was a tragic accident.” The helmet worn by Hughes came under the spotlight following his death, though the NSW Coroner said the batsman’s death could not have been avoided by wearing different protective equipment. Australia’s cricket board in May made it compulsory for players to wear helmets when facing fast and medium-paced bowling in line with recommendations from a review into the death of Hughes. The family had been angered that Hughes had been subjected to threatening language from an opponent and had suffered a sustained spell of aggressive short-pitched bowling that contravened the rules of the game. Barnes accepted Hughes had received a barrage of short-pitch blowing, but all of which fell within the rules of the game. The court said it was unable to rule on whether Hughes had been subjected to threatening language, though Barnes said it was implausible that no “sledging” had occurred at all during the day. “Hopefully, the focus on this unsavoury aspect of the incident may cause those who claim to love the game to reflect upon whether the practice of sledging is worthy of its participants,” said Barnes. “An outsider is left to wonder why such a beautiful game would need such an ugly underside.”

Why did I see a couple people dig out their cars and leave the apt complex? Like where are you going to go in this blizzard?

Oh God! RT @deongordon: Tornado on the ground north of Birmingham in Cullman. Take shelter now. Be safe.

AKRON, Ohio (Reuters) - Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump urged the Justice Department on Monday to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate if donors to the Clinton Foundation got special treatment from the State Department when it was run by his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. Trump made the appeal at a rally before thousands of cheering supporters in Akron, Ohio, as he tries to rebound from a slide in national opinion polls with little more than two months to go until the Nov. 8 election. Trump accused former President Bill Clinton and his wife of turning the Clinton Foundation charity into a “pay-for-play” scheme in which wealthy donors, foreign and domestic, got favors from the State Department during Hillary Clinton’s 2009-2013 tenure as the country’s top diplomat. Trump faulted both the Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation for not indicting Clinton over her use of a private email server as secretary of state. FBI Director James Comey cited her careless handling of classified emails but opted not to prosecutor her. “The Justice Department is required to appoint a special prosecutor because it has proved to be, sadly, a political arm of the White House,” Trump said. “Nobody has ever seen anything like it before.” Trump’s appeal came the same day a conservative watchdog group, Judicial Watch, released 725 pages of State Department documents, including some it said were examples of preferential treatment provided to donors at the request of former Clinton Foundation executive Douglas Band. Trump’s call for an independent investigation followed an announcement by the Clinton Foundation that it would no longer accept foreign donations should Clinton be elected president. The Clinton campaign fired back at Trump, saying the foundation had already laid out “the unprecedented steps the charity will take if Hillary Clinton becomes president.” Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta said in a statement that Trump “needs to come clean with voters about his complex network” of businesses that are in debt to big banks, including the state-owned Bank of China, after a New York Times report on the subject. “Donald Trump should stop hiding behind fake excuses and release his tax returns and immediately disclose the full extent of his business interests,” Podesta said. While keeping up the attack on Clinton, Trump in his speech also outlined some agenda items, as Republicans have been urging him to do for months. The more disciplined Trump followed a campaign shake-up last week that brought in veteran pollster Kellyanne Conway as campaign manager. But in a sign that organizational challenges remain, Trump canceled a rally planned for later this week in Las Vegas and postponed an immigration speech in Denver. Earlier on Monday, Trump insisted he was not “flip-flopping” on immigration, despite a comment by Conway on Sunday that his plan to deport 11 million illegal immigrants was still under review. In his Akron remarks, Trump, struggling to broaden his support beyond the white working-class voters who have been his base of support, again urged blacks and Hispanics to give him a chance, saying: “What the hell do you have to lose?” repeating a line he delivered on Friday that was criticized by Clinton as “ignorant.” Trump said Democratic politicians had not been able to stem crime and poverty in inner cities despite pledges to do every election year. “I say it and I’m going to keep saying it and some people say: ‘Wow that makes sense’ and some people say: ‘That’s not very nice,’” Trump said. “And I say it with such a deep-felt feeling, what do you have to lose? We’ll bring jobs back. We’ll bring spirit back. We’ll get rid of the crime.”

Funny but sadly very true!Match A, B and C with Conservative, Progressive or Muslim.Your favorite scent is:A. GunpowderB. PatchouliC. Fresh bloodWhen your sister is raped, you:A. Hunt down the bastard and drag him to the cops.B. Hope the rapist isn t your boyfriend.C. Kill your sister.When a Jewish person steps in front of you, you say:A. Excuse me, sir? B. Typical Zionist! C. Death to Israel! When a Christian steps in front of you, you say:A. After you, brother. B. Typical Christo-fascist! C. Death to infidels! As a concerned parent, you make sure your kids know how to:A. Punch a bully.B. Blame the patriarchal hetero-normative Zionist hegemony for all their problems.C. Stab a Jew or infidel.Your favorite prayer isA. Our FatherB. Oh God, I hope I m not pregnant!C. Allahu akbar!(For guys)When you see an attractive woman on the street, you:A. WhistleB. Wonder if she s a transgenderC. Take her home as a sex slave(For gals)When you see a handsome man at work, you:A. Bring him cookiesB. Bring him up on false sex harassment chargesC. What is work?CAN YOU ADD TO OUR QUIZ? VIA: IOTW

For some people convicted of sex crimes in Florida, the only shelter open to them during Hurricane Dorian is the county jail. My latest for @theappeal -- https://theappeal.org/fl-county-people-on-sex-offender-registry-should-shelter-from-hurricane-in-jail/ …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives stripped a requirement that women register for the military draft from a sweeping annual defense policy bill on Tuesday, but supporters of the provision said they would keep pushing for its passage. Democrats accused the committee’s Republican leaders of using an underhanded ploy to undercut the House Armed Services Committee, which had approved the amendment, and avoid what could be a difficult vote for some party members. “They don’t want to subject their members to a vote on equality for women,” Representative Steny Hoyer, the No. 2 House Democrat, told reporters. Republican Representative Mac Thornberry, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said the amendment was removed because it violated House budget rules due to the cost of registering women. He said it was replaced with an amendment calling for a broad review of the Selective Service. The House Rules Committee set up removal of the amendment from the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, during a meeting late on Monday. It was taken out of the bill via a procedural vote on Tuesday afternoon. But the effort is not dead. The Senate Armed Services Committee included a similar amendment in its version of the NDAA, and it has bipartisan support in the Senate. The Senate’s Republican Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, said he believed women should register, although he did not expect the country to reinstate the draft. “Given where we are today with women in the military performing virtually all kinds of functions, I personally think it would be appropriate for them to register just like men do,” McConnell told a news conference. Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced last year that all combat positions would be open to women, which immediately prompted calls that women also should be required to register. That worried some social conservatives uncomfortable with the blurring of men’s and women’s traditional roles in society. The U.S. military has been an all-volunteer force since the 1970s, but young men have been required to sign up for the Selective Service in case the draft is reactivated. To become law as part of the NDAA, a version of the defense bill with the amendment would have to be approved by the full House and Senate, and signed by President Barack Obama.

At this point in the race, it s pretty clear that Donald Trump would be a disaster for the country. His divisive and racist statements about Mexicans and Muslims have caused an uproar with many. His policies on everything from foreign policy to economics are incoherent and juvenile and he would most certainly be dangerous as the next president of the United States. However, there s someone way more dangerous lurking just behind Trump, and that s Texas senator Ted Cruz.Yes, it s been established that Cruz is quite a creepy guy and I m not only referring to his facial expressions or his smirk. Just take a look at what he and his campaign did in Iowa. His campaign propagated that Ben Carson dropped out of the race to get people to vote for Cruz. His campaign also sent out mailers to voters to guilt them into voting for Cruz. However, those alone aren t the reasons. Here is just the first of four reasons why Ted Cruz is the most dangerous person lurking around for the presidency: Number one, Cruz is an ideologue: Cruz is driven by ideology. Cruz doesn t think there s man made climate change, he rejects same sex marriage, wants to abolish the IRS, holds that everyone has a right to guns, and thinks that there should be no divide between church and state, loves the death penalty, rejects immigration reform, demand the repeal of Obamacare, and he takes a strict originalist view of the Constitution. And that s just the first reason!Watch the rest of the reasons here:https://www.facebook.com/RBReich/videos/1157252837620644/Featured Image Via Video Screen Capture.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders won his first endorsement from a fellow U.S. senator on Wednesday, and he and rival Hillary Clinton both announced backing from New York City labor unions as they battled to win next week’s state primary. The Transport Workers Union Local 100, representing 42,000 workers in the New York region, backed Sanders as he struggled to dent Clinton’s lead in a state each has called home. Deriding “fierce attacks” against unions over the last several decades, Sanders called organized labor the last line of defense against corporate greed in America. “We’ve got to stand together, take on the big-money interests and make it clear that our government works for all of us, not just the 1 percent,” the U.S. senator from Vermont said. Following his endorsement announcement, Sanders joined a picket line of Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N) workers, who went on strike on Wednesday after contract talks hit an impasse. He thanked the workers for fighting corporate greed and told them: “Today you are standing up not just for justice for Verizon workers. You’re standing up for millions of Americans.” Clinton, a former two-term senator from New York, scored her own union endorsement from Local 3 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, representing more than 27,000 area workers. Sanders trails Clinton in the number of delegates won in primaries and caucuses. The former U.S. secretary of state has 1,758 delegates to Sanders’ 1,069, according to the Associated Press. A candidate needs 2,383 delegates to win the nomination to be the party’s candidate in the Nov. 8 election. Clinton on Wednesday also won backing from New York’s Daily News, which called her a “superprepared warrior realist” who understands the economic toll the country has faced, while labeling Sanders “utterly unprepared” with “politically impossible” goals. The newspaper’s editorial board interview with Clinton’s Brooklyn-born rival this month prompted criticism of Sanders as lacking detailed understanding of some of his main policy initiatives. U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, announced his endorsement of Sanders in a New York Times column, saying he supports Sanders for his work battling economic inequality, opposing trade deals and fighting for the middle class. “It is time to recommit ourselves to that vision of a country that measures our nation’s success not at the boardroom table, but at kitchen tables across America,” wrote Merkley, the junior U.S. senator from Oregon. Merkley’s announcement precedes Oregon’s May 17 primary.

The false claim from @realDonaldTrump -- one of many about "voter fraud" -- was quickly refuted by #Michigan's secretary of state: https://t.co/HzzFUmBR4d

@katyperry Please donate to 501c3 charity http://ParnellServices.Com . All donations will support hurricane Dorian recovery and relief efforts. Initially, the funds will help first responders meet survivors' immediate needs for food, fuel, clean water, hygiene products, and shelter.

You know all that buzz you are hearing about a likely Hillary Clinton FBI indictment? This may be the shocker of all shockers, but it s completely made up.Before right-wing pundits popped the corks on their champagne bottles, this lie was uttered by Fox News Bret Baier, who claimed that two separate sources with intimate knowledge of the FBI investigations ha confirmed not only that the Clinton Foundation investigation is far more expansive than anybody has reported so far but that there is a lot of evidence and that the sources say it will end in likely an indictment. This would be a bombshell revelation if it were true. On Thursday, however, Baier explained that his claims were inartful :MARTHA MACCALLUM (CO-HOST): The FBI sources that you spoke with suggest that an indictment is likely. That would prove go ahead.BRET BAIER: I want to be clear I want to be clear about this, and this was came from a Q and A that I did with Brit Hume after my show and after we went through everything. He asked me if, after the election, if Hillary Clinton wins, will this investigation continue, and I said, yes absolutely. I pressed the sources again and again what would happen. I got to the end of that and said, they have a lot of evidence that would, likely lead to an indictment. But that s not, that s inartfully answered. That s not the process. That s not how you do it. You have to have a prosecutor. If they don t move forward with a prosecutor with the DOJ, there would be, I m told, a very public call for an independent prosecutor to move forward. There is confidence in the evidence, but for me to phrase it like I did, of course that got picked up everywhere, but the process is different than that.That s his way of saying he was lying. The next time one of your right-wing friends (if you have any left at this point) parrots his ridiculous claims, show them his retraction that their absolute best argument against Hillary Clinton is based on a lie.Watch it below:Featured image via screengrab

2 pple have been confirmed dead and over 20 rescued while many went missing after a ferry carrying 200 collided with a fishing boat.#News

NEW YORK (Reuters) - In a presidential campaign notable for its negativity, the option of “Neither” candidate appears to be an appealing alternative, at least to participants in the Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll. Many voters on both sides have been ambivalent in their support for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump, complicating the task of the pollsters trying to track the race. That sentiment may help explain an apparent skew that recently emerged in the Reuters/Ipsos poll results. Given the choice, a relatively large group of voters opted for “Neither/Other” candidate compared with other major polls, leading to an underreporting of several percentage points for one or other of the two major contenders at times in the race. As a result, Reuters/Ipsos is amending the wording of the choice and eliminating the word “Neither,” bringing the option in line with other polls. The amended Reuters/Ipsos tracking poll will be published later Friday, available at polling.reuters.com. From the beginning of June until the middle of July, the Reuters/Ipsos survey showed consistently lower support for Trump than other polls were capturing. At times, the Reuters/Ipsos poll showed Clinton with a lead over Trump as wide as about 12 percentage points among registered voters - five percentage points higher than Clinton’s lead in some other comparable polls. To determine the cause, the pollsters examined what made the Reuters/Ipsos poll different. Their conclusion: By giving respondents the option of “Neither/Other,” the survey appears to have captured greater numbers of ambivalent voters unwilling to commit to either candidate than other major polls, which only offer the choice of “Other.” During the period analyzed, the historically high antipathy for both major candidates, paired with the option of selecting “Neither/Other,” meant the Reuters/Ipsos poll probably underreported Trump’s support before the Republican convention, perhaps by 3 to 5 percentage points. More recently, the “Neither/Other” option appeared to lead to an underreporting of Clinton’s support in the run-up to the Democratic convention, said Cliff Young, pollster and president of Ipsos Public Affairs, which partners with Reuters on the poll. The pollsters estimated the Clinton shortfall at 2 to 4 percentage points. Tom W. Smith, director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Society at the University of Chicago, said the earlier Trump numbers in the Reuters/Ipsos poll could have indicated a softness of support for Trump among a relatively small group of conservative voters who had yet to come to terms with his candidacy.  It is plausible that a similar effect among Democratic voters may be hitting Clinton now when presented with the option of “Neither,” he said. And the skews displayed by the “Neither” phenomenon may indicate there is a chance for some gains among alternative party candidates, Smith said. Tim Mclheny, a 47-year-old civil servant from Vermont who describes himself as a moderate Republican, is a case in point. When asked in the Reuters/Ipsos poll who he will vote for in November, he skipped both Trump and Clinton and opted for “Neither/Other.” “It is the lesser of two evils,” Mclheny said. He said he will cast his ballot for the candidate he believes will do the best for civil servants. Ultimately, however, he said he may well grudgingly opt for Trump come November. Here’s how the pollsters reviewed their methodology and decided to drop “Neither.” Ipsos tested three alternate versions of the presidential preference questions on different groups in a survey and compared those results to the outcome of the established version of the tracking poll.  That test found eliminating the word “Neither” from the “Neither/Other” response increased Trump support by between 3 to 5 percentage points on any given day leading up to the Republican convention. It also increased Clinton’s support, but by a smaller margin. spotlight.ipsos-na.com/?p=5574 Since the convention, however, Trump’s support seems to have solidified among wary supporters. Now, the “Neither” issue appears to be affecting Clinton in the survey. On Tuesday, for example, the established tracking poll had the candidates tied at 38 percent each. A 13-point lead for Clinton on July 14 had vanished in two weeks. (polling.reuters.com/#poll/TM651Y15_13/filters/PD1:1/dates/20160701-20160726/type/smallest) But eliminating “Neither” from the “Neither/Other” answer produced a different result. In that case, Clinton was ahead, 40 percent to 36 percent, on Tuesday. When asked the question in the new way, 11 percent of voters opted for “Other.” By comparison, 14 percent opted for “Neither/Other” in the version of the survey that showed the race tied. The three-point gap suggests the “Neither” phenomenon was now working against Clinton. In the nearly five years Reuters/Ipsos has been offering the “Neither/Other” option to respondents in presidential polling, it has never yielded such a skew. The results highlight how poll designs and methodologies can yield significantly differing results, and how important differences can emerge from the way a question is framed. The Economist/YouGov poll, like the Reuters/Ipsos survey, is conducted online. It uses a similar battery of questions, but does not offer the “Neither/Other” option, just “Other.” In Economist/YouGov’s July 17 poll, Clinton was ahead by 4 percentage points among registered voters, with Trump at 41 percent. The NBC News/SurveyMonkey online poll gives three options: Clinton, Trump, or “No Answer,” which more firmly prods respondents to make a choice. In their July 17 poll, Clinton led Trump by one point, 46 to 45, among registered voters. Telephone polls tend to ask voter preference as an open-ended question, or just offer respondents the choice of the Democratic and Republican candidates. Among phone polls, such as the ABC News/Washington Post and NBC/Wall Street Journal surveys, Clinton recently led by four to five points. The CBS/New York Times telephone poll of registered voters had the race tied at 40 percent each. The Reuters/Ipsos presidential-preference poll result and other results in the survey are updated twice a week.

I don't think the 3 cases of water I got is enough and all my food is gone before the hurricane. I'm fucked

/ it's fine baby I was screaming at the TV x https://t.co/JwDfPYG3NT

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos confirmed on Monday that the government has agreed to a bilateral ceasefire with the ELN rebel group that will last 102 days. The priority is to protect citizens, so during this period, kidnappings, attacks on oil pipelines and other hostilities against the civilian population will cease, Santos said in a televised speech.

KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he hoped the United States would continue to support Ukraine in its stand-off with Russia following the victory of Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential election. “The President looks forward to a continuation of U.S support in two important areas: Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression ... and also assistance in the realization of major reforms,” Poroshenko was quoted as saying in a statement on Wednesday.