In Parkland, Florida, 17 people died Wednesday in one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history. The massacre at the Stoneman Douglas High School was the 18th school shooting this year, according to Everytown for Gun Safety. This means there has been a school shooting on average every 60 hours so far this year. Police have identified the gunman as a 19-year-old former pupil named Nikolas Cruz. He was carrying an AR-15 with multiple magazines of ammunition. In addition to the 17 dead, 15 people were injured. We speak to Geraldine Thompson, a former Florida Democratic state senator. She represented the Orlando district where the 2016 Pulse nightclub massacre took place. https://www.democracynow.org/2018/2/15/when_will_this_stop_17_shot[with embedded video, and transcript]
Republican Lawmakers Refuse to Adopt Gun Control Despite 200 School Shootings Since Sandy Hook
Published on Feb 15, 2018 by Democracy Now!
Since the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012, there have been 200 school shootings. But on Capitol Hill and in many state legislatures, Republican lawmakers have blocked efforts to enact gun control. Wednesday’s shooting in Florida comes just days after President Trump released his budget, which proposes cutting millions of dollars from the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. We speak to Josh Horwitz, executive director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. He is the co-author of “Guns, Democracy, and the Insurrectionist Idea.” https://www.democracynow.org/2018/2/15/republican_lawmakers_refuse_to_adopt_gun[with embedded video, and transcript]
Kept Out: Banks Across U.S. Caught Systematically Rejecting People of Color for Home Loans
Published on Feb 15, 2018 by Democracy Now!
A shocking new investigation [ https://www.revealnews.org/topic/kept-out/ ] by Reveal and the Center for Investigative Reporting has uncovered evidence that African Americans and Latinos are continuing to be routinely denied conventional mortgage loans at rates far higher than their white counterparts across the country. Reveal based its report on a review of 31 million mortgage records filed with the federal government in 2015 and 2016. The Reveal investigation found the redlining occurring across the country, including in Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Detroit, Philadelphia, St. Louis and San Antonio. We speak to Aaron Glantz, senior reporter at Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting, and Rachelle Faroul, a 33-year-old African-American woman who was rejected twice by lenders when she tried to buy a brick row house in Philadelphia, where Reveal found African Americans were 2.7 times as likely as whites to be denied a conventional mortgage. https://www.democracynow.org/2018/2/15/kept_out_banks_across_us_caught[with embedded video, and transcript]
Full Broadcast 15Feb18 Real News with David Knight
A mass shooting in a high school in Parkland, FL. David Knight looks at how media demonizes the AR-15 (used to STOP the Texas church shooter) and IGNORES the meds the alleged shooter was on. Callers break down SSRI effects and liberal use of drugs by schools to control students without discipline. And a student from the school, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, says the Secret Service was at the school recently changing security protocols.
[from Alex Jones and his merry band of batshit bullshitters]
Statement from the Press Secretary regarding the Schumer-Rounds-Collins Amendment
Issued on: February 15, 2018
The Administration strongly opposes passage of the Schumer-Rounds-Collins Amendment. This Amendment would drastically change our national immigration policy for the worse by weakening border security and undercutting existing immigration law. Specifically, preventing enforcement with respect to people who entered our country illegally before a date that is in the future would produce a flood of new illegal immigration in the coming months. The Amendment would undermine the safety and security of American families and impede economic growth for American workers.
The Administration continues to insist on a safe, modern, and legal immigration system for the benefit of the American people. The essential pillars of such a system are securing the border through building the physical border wall and closing legal loopholes, protecting the nuclear family by limiting sponsorships to spouses and children, cancelling the visa lottery, and implementing a lasting solution on DACA.
The Administration is committed to finding a permanent, fair, and legal solution for DACA. But this Amendment would only compound the problem by encouraging millions of additional minors to be smuggled into the United States. We need to solve the problem, not perpetuate it indefinitely.
The vitality of the American economy and the safety and security of the American people depend upon these reforms. The Administration cannot support the Schumer-Rounds-Collins Amendment because it is not only dangerous policy that will harm the Nation, but it also fails to deliver on the clear promise the Administration has made to the American people.
If the President were presented with an enrolled bill that includes the Amendment, his advisors would recommend that he veto it.
Today, our Nation commemorates the birthday of an American hero, visionary, civil rights leader, and pioneer in the women’s suffrage movement—Susan B. Anthony.
Born in 1820, Susan B. Anthony lived during a time when women across our country were unable to fully enjoy the rights and blessings of America. In many States, women could not pursue higher education, own land, maintain control of their own earnings, or participate in one of the most basic demonstrations of our democracy—the right to vote. Susan B. Anthony, however, dared to envision a Nation where women’s voices would be given the same respect as those of their fathers, brothers, and spouses. She envisioned a Nation where “women helped make the laws and elect the lawmakers.” She envisioned a Nation that protected the rights and privileges of all Americans, regardless of skin color, sex, or any other physical characteristics.
Fighting inequality became one of Susan B. Anthony’s most passionate pursuits, as she paved the way for the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Her tireless efforts to rally and advocate for women’s rights helped change the course of human history. Her work helped our Nation to realize the egalitarian principles enshrined in the seminal Declaration of Sentiments of the Seneca Falls Convention—that all men and women are created equal by God.
Although she never saw the realization of her life’s work, she certainly left a lasting legacy, which has inspired many generations of Americans. More importantly, millions of women have been able to realize the fruits of her life’s work in every aspect of American life and every sector of American industry. She inspires us to continue to form a more perfect union, and she reminds us that securing equal rights for all people includes preserving and advocating for the preciousness and sanctity of all human life, including the unborn.
Today, many of our Nation’s leaders and thinkers are women—and we need more of them. They are essential to the success and greatness of America, and they continue to shatter barriers wherever they exist. On Susan B. Anthony Day, we reaffirm our Nation’s commitment to advancing equal opportunity for all Americans. And we pledge to ensure that young girls across our Nation will always be able to look to the future with the confidence that any dream is attainable.
Thursday, Feb. 15th 2018[, with appearances by Stoneman Douglas student Jalen Martin [ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI1CSNT6oFmLhT7KtFq3XBw , https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI1CSNT6oFmLhT7KtFq3XBw/videos ], Matt Bracken, and Roger Stone, and Anthony Cumia hosting the fourth hour]: FBI Warned About FL Shooter- The FBI was warned about the Florida high school shooter five months ago after he left a comment on the internet saying he was going to "be a professional school shooter." The left is viciously attacking the Second Amendment as expected following the tragic shooting. Also, President Trump addressed the nation about the Parkland, Florida massacre.
A student who survived the Florida school massacre is demanding leaders actually take action. David Hogg survived the Parkland high school shooting. He's now going network to network telling leaders to stop just talking about "thoughts and prayers."
After the 18th school shooting this year, survivors of the Parkland school massacre call on lawmakers to take action on gun violence. Seventeen people were killed and at least 14 were injured at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Something a bit different today. A patron of this channel asked me to consider creating a video where theists tell me what they consider to be the most annoying saying/argument that they often hear from atheists.
I thought it was an intriguing idea and one that might help facilitate better conversation between atheists and the religious.
It's also in my best interest as someone who makes videos against religion to know what sorts of things will make theists tune out.
I approached several theists on Twitter and these were the ones who agreed to contribute.
In June 2017, the Russian military launched the most destructive and costly cyber-attack in history.
The attack, dubbed “NotPetya,” quickly spread worldwide, causing billions of dollars in damage across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. It was part of the Kremlin’s ongoing effort to destabilize Ukraine and demonstrates ever more clearly Russia’s involvement in the ongoing conflict. This was also a reckless and indiscriminate cyber-attack that will be met with international consequences.
Senior Trump Administration officials yesterday hosted a meeting at the White House with a delegation of Mexican officials, led by Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray. The following officials represented the United States: Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta, Secretary of Energy Rick Perry, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster, Senior Advisor Jared Kushner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan, and State Department official Brian Hook. The following officials represented Mexico: Secretary of Foreign Affairs Luis Videgaray, Undersecretary for North America Carlos Sada, Ambassador to the United States Geronimo Gutierrez, Chief of Staff Narciso Campos, and Communications Director Claudia Algorri. Secretary Videgaray also met briefly with Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin, and later met briefly with Vice President Mike Pence.
The meeting furthered the work of both governments over the past year to establish comprehensive agreements on several issues, including economic cooperation and trade, security and law enforcement, energy, regional initiatives, and immigration.
Both delegations look forward to arranging a meeting, in the near future, which will provide President Donald J. Trump and President Enrique Peña Nieto with an opportunity to review the progress that has been made and to discuss various open issues to advance relations between the United States and Mexico.
Today, the Schumer Democrats in the Senate demonstrated again that they are not serious about DACA, they are not serious about immigration reform, and they are not serious about homeland security. They filibustered a proposal with an extremely generous path to citizenship because it also contained reforms that secured our border and secured our immigration system. The Grassley bill was a compromise bill—as demonstrated by the fact that some conservatives opposed its very generous DACA provisions. Yet, the Schumer Democrats chose to filibuster it because they are held hostage by the radical left in their party, which opposes any immigration control at all. Today, they sided with an extreme fringe over the hardworking men and women of the Department of Homeland Security. The Administration will continue advocating for an immigration package that includes border security, ending chain migration, cancelling the visa lottery, and a reasonable DACA solution—a proposal Americans support overwhelmingly. And while radical Schumer Democrats align themselves with the open border fringe, the Trump Administration will continue advocating for the American people. The next step will be for the House to continue advancing the proposal from Chairman Goodlatte and Chairman McCaul.
As new details continue to emerge from the Florida high school shooting, the suspect Nikolas Cruz has confessed to 17 accounts of pre-meditated murder. We take calls from people in the area of the shooting as well as a student at the high school who has been talking to other students who witnessed the event. Also, a train has derailed in New York and was on fire and George Soros influences American elections like you would never believe.
[from Alex Jones and his merry band of batshit bullshitters]
After more than 16 years of war, Afghan civilians live each day under constant threat, as U.S. forces and the Afghan government struggle to secure the country.
Despite hundreds of billions of dollars spent on the war since 2001, U.S. goals are far from within reach. Meanwhile, the Taliban has never been stronger, controlling more land than ever before and establishing footholds in nearly every province in Afghanistan.
President Donald Trump has vowed to undo some of the terror group’s grip on the country and force it back to the negotiating table. But his new strategy, which centers on thousands of additional U.S. troops and an intensification of airstrikes, has only just begun to produce gains.
The Taliban, facing renewed pressure, have increased terror attacks on major cities, striking at the heart of Kabul recently, in a series of devastating attacks that left hundreds of civilians dead in the span of a week.
VICE’s Ben Anderson travelled to Afghanistan in October 2016 as the Taliban were on the verge of retaking Helmand Province, once a crucial territory in the U.S. war. Reconnecting with families he’d visited years earlier, he saw just how little has been done to contain the Taliban’s influence across the country’s rural landscape, and the challenges that await Afghan and U.S. forces.
Former Senator Russ Feingold responds to Speaker Ryan saying it’s not time for “knee-jerk” reactions on gun control in the wake of the Parkland, Florida massacre.
Parkland, Florida massacre survivor, Isabella Gomez, details the horror inside her school as shots rang out and why the tragedy is bringing the “community together.”
No, Trump’s lawyer did not admit to paying porn star himself
The Beat with Ari Melber 2/15/18
Stormy Daniels could tell-all after Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, breaks his silence on a $130,000 payoff to the adult film star weeks before the 2016 election. The lawyer who filed the FEC complaint leading to Cohen’s statement joins The Beat exclusively.
Revealed: How some Democrats aided the NRA-GOP agenda
The Beat with Ari Melber 2/15/18
Watch the controversial historical footage implicating key Democrats in the gun lobby efforts to stop any gun control in congress. Ari Melber’s special report on the bipartisan failures on gun violence.
Tens of thousands have died of opioid overdoses across the US and Canada in 2017, with the death count surpassing the peak of the AIDS epidemic. The weight of the crisis in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario falls on a handful of people struggling to keep their fellow community members alive, similar to countless towns in North America.
Steel Town Down is an intimate portrait of the only harm reduction worker in town and a family desperate to save their son from becoming another victim of the crisis.
WATCH NEXT: Fentanyl: The Drug Deadlier than Heroin
Fentanyl: The Drug Deadlier than Heroin
Published on Jul 22, 2016 by VICE VICE presents an immersive and personal feature film about the fentanyl crisis in Canada told from the perspective of a community of drug users. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28rJqj-7pEY [with (nearly 14,000) comments]
After refusing to answer questions from the House Intelligence Committee and invoking a form of executive privilege, Bannon should be held in contempt, says committee member Rep. Eric Swalwell.
A gun safety measure that closes the so-called 'boyfriend loophole' passed with overwhelming support from Democrats and three Republicans in the Oregon House of Representatives.
Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel provides an update on the school shooting investigation - and says that he supports detaining people against their will based on their online posts.
The White House pulled out all the stops to sink a bipartisan DACA plan - including a veto threat, a presidential tweet and an anonymous background call.
Donald Trump's lawyer says he 'facilitated' the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels from his 'own personal funds' and that neither the Trump campaign nor the Trump organization reimbursed him.
Trump words on gun tragedy ring hollow given past legislation
The Rachel Maddow Show 2/15/18
Rachel Maddow points out that the first significant piece of legislation Donald Trump signed was to give mentally ill people easier access to guns, so his concern that the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter was mentally ill and shouldn't have been allowed a gun doesn't carry much weight.
Trump team uses gun tragedy as cover, reveals financial documents
The Rachel Maddow Show 2/15/18
Rachel Maddow notes the particular timing of the Trump team's release of financial documents showing questionable use of tens of millions of dollars of campaign funds.
'Queen for a day' likely means another witness flip for Mueller
The Rachel Maddow Show 2/15/18
Barbara McQuade, former U.S. attorney, helps Rachel Maddow understand what it means that former Trump campaign staffer Rick Gates had a "Queen for a day" interview with Robert Mueller's team, and why Donald Trump should be worried.
When does a payment count as a campaign contribution?
The Rachel Maddow Show 2/15/18
Ellen Weintraub, vice chair of the Federal Election Commission, talks with Rachel Maddow about factors use by the FEC for assessing whether an individual's expenditure qualifies as a campaign contribution.
No transparency required in how inauguration funds are spent
The Rachel Maddow Show 2/15/18
Ellen Weintraub, vice chair of the Federal Election Commission, talks with Rachel Maddow about why an inappropriate use of inauguration fund money might go unnoticed.
VA Secretary Shulkin worsens scandal with dubious explanation
The Rachel Maddow Show 2/15/18
Rachel Maddow shares details of an inspector general report about VA Secretary David Shulkin using taxpayer money for personal travel with his wife, which he tried to explain away with the excuse that his staffer's computer was hacked.
Lawrence: Mueller likely has a third cooperating witness
The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell 2/15/18
A new report says ex-Trump adviser Rick Gates has likely struck a plea deal with Mueller and may cooperate with the Russia probe. Plus, Steve Bannon met with Mueller for 20+ hours. Lawrence O'Donnell discusses with John Heilemann, Jill Wine-Banks and Ron Klain.
Florida Democrat ready to fight NRA and Gov. Rick Scott
The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell 2/15/18
Andrew Gillum, the mayor of Tallahassee who is running for Governor of Florida against Gov. Rick Scott, tells Lawrence O'Donnell why gun reform is needed and why the young survivors of America's latest massacre might lead to change.
Trump speaks about school shooting, says nothing about gun laws
The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell 2/15/18
Police released the names of the 17 students, faculty and staff who were shot and killed in a south Florida school on Wednesday. Lawrence O'Donnell honors each victim and shares their stories of tragedy and heroism.
Robert Mueller has now met repeatedly with Steve Bannon
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams 2/16/18
We've learned it's been a busy week for Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. What could it all mean for the Trump White House? Vivian Salama, Matthew Nussbaum, and Mieke Eoyang react.
Trump responds to FL shooting without mentioning guns
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams 2/16/18
With the White House weathering multiple crises, Pres. Trump responds first on Twitter and then on-camera to the shooting at a Florida high school without even mentioning guns. Philip Rucker & Tamara Keith discuss.
Paper that endorsed Trump calls on him to enact gun control
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams 2/16/18
Even the conservative New York Post is calling on Trump for common sense gun control. David Jolly, former House Republican of Florida, joins to share his plan for sensible changes to current law.
Here's who in DC benefits from millions in NRA cash
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams 2/16/18
Many of the lawmakers offering words of comfort in the hours after the shooting at a Florida high school have benefited from millions in cash from the NRA.
Anthony Sadler, Alek Skarlatos and Spencer Stone discuss whether it was scarier to thwart a 2015 terrorist attack or portray themselves in the film "The 15:17 to Paris."
The Good news is we are still here, The Bad news is they are still spraying us ! How to Kill the Morgellon Live Nanite Fibers and remove from your Body (Part II) Bravo Von Muller 2 year up-date.
How to Kill Morgellon Fibers and remove from your Body
UK blames Russia for 'malicious' NotPetya cyber-attack The Russian military was directly behind a "malicious" cyber-attack on Ukraine last summer that spread across Europe, British ministers have said. http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-43062113
“Who Needs a Controversy Over the Inauguration?”: Reince Priebus Opens Up About His Six Months of Magical Thinking Months after his chaotic resignation as chief of staff, and with his successor on the hot seat, Priebus comes clean about everything: the inauguration crowd-size fiasco, the decision to fire Comey, the Mooch, the tweets, how he helped saved Jeff Sessions’s job, and his mercurial former boss. “I still love the guy,” he says. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/02/reince-priebus-opens-up-about-his-six-months-of-magical-thinking
Florida shooting: Senators singled out over gun lobby funds As the US reels over the latest shooting at a high school campus in Parkland, Florida - the 18th so far in 2018 - "thoughts and prayers" from public figures are not all being well received on social media. http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-43070480
The NRA deleted a post encouraging people to buy guns for Valentines Day after Florida school shooting The National Rifle Association (NRA) deleted a post encouraging citizens to buy guns for their loved ones on Valentines Day The post was removed within hours of the Florida school shooting. The NRA has been criticized for tone deaf posts in the past. http://www.businessinsider.com/nra-valentines-day-gun-post-deleted-after-florida-school-shooting-2018-2
The FBI Was Warned About A School Shooting Threat From A YouTube User Named Nikolas Cruz In September In September, a YouTube user named Nikolas Cruz left a comment on a video stating, "I'm going to be a professional school shooter." The video's creator alerted both the FBI and YouTube. https://www.buzzfeed.com/briannasacks/the-fbi-was-warned-about-a-school-shooting-threat-from
Donald Trump's Language Is Reshaping American Politics Republicans—and some liberals—downplay the significance of the president’s outbursts. But his words are quietly radicalizing both the left and right, with untold consequences for the future of policy. Do the president’s words matter? In Donald Trump’s first year in office, there has been a surprisingly widespread effort to argue that they do not. Liberals and moderates occasionally insist that the media and the public should shift their attention from the president’s vulgar statements to the real policy work happening at federal agencies. Republican lawmakers, meanwhile, have repeatedly ignored and dismissed Trump’s most shocking comments; criticized the media for paying attention to his tweets; feigned forgetfulness of his vulgarities; and even made jokes about all that ignoring, dismissing, and forgetting. The upshot seems to be: Ignore the words, heed the substance. But Trump’s words are his substance. “Politics is persuasion as well as coercion,” the political scientist Jacob Levy wrote last week, rightly arguing that Trump has “changed what being a Republican means.” He has done so not through legislative coercion—indeed, he barely seems to understand the basics of American government—but through persuasive insistence. On issues as diverse as the alleged dangers of immigration and the nature of truth, Trump’s words have the power to cleave public opinion, turning nonpolitical issues into partisan maelstroms and turning partisan attitudes on their head. Trump’s rhetoric doesn’t produce the legislative artifacts that journalists typically use to analyze presidential power—it hasn’t translated to many actual laws passed. But the country is only just beginning to understand the scope of Trump’s lexical influence. Let’s start with the obvious examples. Years ago (even months ago) it would have been absurd to imagine “law and order” Republicans souring on the FBI; or that the party of Reagan and Bush would turn on the NFL, America’s most orgiastically patriotic sport. But that’s precisely what’s happened. In 2014, about 60 percent of both Republicans and Democrats said the FBI was doing an "excellent" or "good" job. Last year, their views forked: Republican approval of the agency fell by about 10 points, while Democratic opinion improved by a similar margin. The same thing happened with football: Less than 20 percent of Republicans said they had unfavorable views of the NFL in the summer of 2017. But their disapproval had more than tripled by October, after Trump blasted players for kneeling to protest police violence during the national anthem. One analysis determined that, following the anthem protests, the NFL—a $13 billion industry that is the linchpin of the massive pay-TV ecosystem—became one of the most polarizing brands in the country. Trump’s words don’t just reshape Republican attitudes. Just as often they empower and radicalize his critics. One could say that, despite his fondness for gilded touches, Trump evinces not a Midas touch, but a Moses touch—an extraordinary talent for planting a stake in the ground and dividing the landscape before him. This Moses effect is most evident when it comes to Russia and immigration. In mid-2016, 20 percent of both Republicans and Democrats considered Russia an “ally” or “friendly.” One year later, Republicans were more than twice as likely as Democrats to say the same. Immigration had for years been a marginal political topic, especially when compared with issues like jobs and terrorism. But Trump effectively recast immigration as a question of American identity and national security. The construction of a wall along the Mexican border, once a fringey scheme, became the centerpiece of the GOP presidential candidate’s agenda. Today, three-quarters of Trump supporters say that “building the wall” should be the highest priority of his presidency. And yet, because Democrats have become more pro-immigrant under Trump, a record-high share of Americans now say "immigrants strengthen the country.” Essentially, Trump has popularized the liberal position on immigration while radicalizing the right’s. It's tempting to downplay the power of Trump's words by saying their influence is “merely” shifting public opinion. But that's not quite right. First, there’s nothing subtle about Republican voters clutching nativism, the far-right right clutching Nazism, or Democratic voters radicalizing in defiance of the president. The devoted rank-and-file play an outsized role in state primaries. Trump’s “mere” words could starve his party of moderate legislators, while encouraging Democratic candidates to embrace more liberal positions to distinguish themselves as distinctly anti-Trump. Second, Trump’s rhetorical posture has some real policy implications. Though he hasn’t yet signed any major legislation on immigration, his harsh stance on undocumented workers empowered the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to increase arrests by 40 percent in his first year, often to shocking effect. And his constant disparagement of experts who refuse to parrot his policies has sucked the talent out of several government agencies, notably the State Department. Finally, Trump’s refusal to accept critical information as true—from his denial of Russian interference in the 2016 election to the “alternative facts” about his inauguration size—has demolished the right’s faith and trust in a free press. Three-quarters of the GOP now say that news organizations make up anti-Trump stories. Even worse, a January study found that nearly half of Republicans believe that accurate stories that “cast a politician or political group in a negative light” are “always” fake news. Trump, along with Fox News, has given his supporters the license to self-deport from reality. Trump’s obsession with building and broadcasting an alternative ledger of facts has made epistemology the fundamental crisis of his term. In its first month, the administration invented or mainstreamed a new vocabulary of mendacity—e.g., fake news, alternative facts—and within 10 months, Trump made more than 1,500 false or misleading claims, according to The Washington Post. That’s roughly six lies, exaggerations, or omissions per day. Trump and Fox News have together formed an axis of epistemic insanity, encouraging base voters who crave conspiracy theories and dismiss all negative news stories. No legislation, no executive order, and no official speech has caused this shift. It is the president’s words, delivered often via Twitter and amplified on Fox News, that have exploded the very notion of a shared political truth. Republican legislators will continue to insist that the president’s indecorous words don’t matter. This is a convenient argument. Trump has outsourced the work of his presidency to other Republicans, who are happy to accept the responsibility of running the country: Budget and economic policy has gone to Mick Mulvaney and Paul Ryan; immigration and criminal-justice policy to John Kelly, Jeff Sessions, and Stephen Miller. The insistence that Trump’s words don’t matter isn’t incidental to the GOP’s broader strategy. It is the strategy—to quarantine Trump’s most noxious rhetoric and proceed apace with traditional Republican governance. It’s rich for Republicans to all of a sudden feign such ambivalence about the power of words. As Jacob Levy notes in his essay, Fox News devotes about approximately one-sixth of the year to demonizing a harmless phrase, “happy holidays,” and Republicans have long attached talismanic power to the term “radical Islamic terrorism.” The idea that a president’s words don’t matter is a deeply ahistorical position. And that’s particularly true for the GOP, whose three previous presidents distinguished themselves through phraseology: “morning in America,” “city on a hill,” “tear down this wall,” “new world order,” “thousand points of light,” “axis of evil,” “bigotry of low expectations.” Perhaps Republicans don’t treat Trump as a typical Republican president because, in a very real sense, Trump is not really the president. Instead, he has become a kind of nationalist identity guru for the new American right. On Monday, an anonymous White House source all but acknowledged this strategy, telling Axios that the president would spend 2018 seeking “unexpected cultural flashpoints,” like the NFL’s kneeling controversy. The White House sees Trump’s principle talent as the ability to activate cultural resentment among his supporters, encouraging them to redefine their identity and values around a nativist anger. And Republicans benefit doubly: The president plays the part he knows best—hype man for the nativist base—and voters come away energized. Politics is downstream from persuasion, and law is downstream from language. Trump has failed to perform the role of a diligent executive, reserving much of his day for television, personal calls, and cultural encyclicals on Twitter. But it would be a mistake to conflate Trump’s indolence for ineffectiveness. No matter how often journalists and politicians dismiss Trump’s words, the words matter. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/02/donald-trumps-language-is-reshaping-american-politics/553349/
Trump’s Inaugural Committee Paid $26 Million to Firm of First Lady’s Adviser WASHINGTON — President Trump’s inaugural committee paid nearly $26 million to an event planning firm started by an adviser to the first lady, Melania Trump, while donating $5 million — less than expected — to charity, according to tax filings released on Thursday. The nonprofit group that oversaw Mr. Trump’s inauguration and surrounding events in January 2017, the 58th Presidential Inaugural Committee, had been under pressure from liberal government watchdog groups to reveal how it spent the record $107 million it had raised from wealthy donors and corporations. Its chairman, Thomas J. Barrack Jr., a longtime friend of Mr. Trump, had pledged that the committee would be thrifty with its spending, and would donate leftover funds to charity. But the mandatory tax return it filed with the Internal Revenue Service indicates that the group’s charitable donations included only an already publicized $3 million for hurricane relief, plus a total of $1.75 million to groups involved in decorating and maintaining the White House and the vice president’s residence. The 116-page filing indicates that the overwhelming majority of the funds went toward expenses related to the inauguration, with the biggest share — nearly $51 million — split roughly evenly between two companies. One of the companies, WIS Media Partners of Marina del Rey, California, was created by a longtime friend of Mrs. Trump, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, according to a person familiar with the firm. Records show that the firm was created in December 2016, but otherwise there is very little information available about it. Ms. Winston Wolkoff made her name planning Manhattan society galas and has subsequently been brought on as a senior adviser to the first lady’s official government office. Stephanie Grisham, a spokeswoman for Mrs. Trump, said that the first lady “had no involvement” with the inaugural committee, “and had no knowledge of how funds were spent.” Ms. Winston Wolkoff is not paid for her work in the first lady’s office, according to Ms. Grisham, who said Ms. Winston Wolkoff is classified as “a special government employee.” Much of the money paid to Ms. Winston Wolkoff’s firm and other event production companies likely was passed through to other vendors who provided goods or services on a subcontractor basis. Ms. Winston Wolkoff personally received $1.62 million for her work, according to one official from the inaugural committee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the details publicly. The official said that Ms. Winston Wolkoff’s firm paid the team used by Mark Burnett, the creator of “The Apprentice,” whose involvement in the inaugural festivities was requested by Mr. Trump. Also reaping payments for event production services was Hargrove, Inc., of Lanham, Md., a company that plans trade shows and other events, which was paid $25 million. David Monn of New York, who also is known for orchestrating society events and planned a state dinner for former President Barack Obama, was paid $3.7 million, and a company called Production Resource Group of New Windsor, N.Y., was paid $2.7 million, according to the tax return. Other expenses for which the committee paid directly included ticketing, on which it spent $4.1 million, and promotional gifts, on which it spent $560,000. It also spent heavily on payroll and administrative expenses, including spending $9.4 million on travel, $4.6 million on salaries and benefits for its 208 employees, $500,000 on legal fees and $237,000 on fund-raising. The inaugural committee official said that wrap-up costs were more significant than had been anticipated, and indicated that the committee’s finances were affected by the fact that it never struck a large deal for broadcast rights to the inaugural balls. The $107 million raised by the committee was about twice as much as Mr. Obama’s inaugural committee raised for the festivities around his 2009 swearing-in. Mr. Barrack, a California investor, in a statement released by the committee with the tax return, praised the committee for carrying out the inauguration and more than 20 related events with “elegance and seamless excellence without incident or interruption, befitting the legacy and tradition that has preceded us.” The inaugural committee closed out October with $2.8 million in the bank, according to the tax filing. It indicated in the release that the remaining funds also would be donated to charity once remaining expenses are paid. The tax return indicated that the committee already donated to six nonprofit groups, and inaugural officials pointed out that the $5 million in total charitable donations to those groups was more than Mr. Obama’s committee donated. Among the recipients of charitable donations, the White House Historical Association received $1 million, while the Vice President’s Residence Foundation, which is devoted to decorating and furnishing the Vice President’s residence on the grounds of the Naval Observatory in Washington, received $750,000. The Smithsonian Institution received $250,000. The American Red Cross, the Salvation Army and Samaritan’s Purse, an evangelical group, received $1 million each. All three groups were involved in relief efforts after a string of hurricanes that ravaged the Gulf Coast, Florida and the Caribbean. As questions mounted last summer about the inaugural committee’s finances and pledged charitable donations, Mr. Barrack released a statement promising that “millions of dollars of reserve funds will be allocated to various charities, institutions, and foundations in an amount that surely will exceed any previous inauguration.” The inaugural committee split the costs of staging a range of festivities with the taxpayer-funded Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies and various federal, state and local government agencies. Security costs alone were predicted to be upward of $100 million, which will eventually be paid for by the federal government. Among the top donors to Mr. Trump’s inaugural committee were the Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon G. Adelson, who donated $5 million, and corporations including Chevron, Boeing, and AT&T. The committee had previously filed a mandatory report with the Federal Election Commission listing its donors, and the donor names were redacted from the I.R.S. filing released Thursday. The bulk of the report — about 90 pages — was comprised of a list of donation amounts without the identities of the corresponding donors, including a page-and-a-half of in-kind donations, such as a musical performance valued at $729,000 and vehicle and equipment expenses valued at a total of $631,000. It was not immediately clear who donated the musical performance or the other services. The inaugural committee was criticized for staging an extravagant concert on the National Mall featuring performances by the country music star Toby Keith and the rock band Three Doors Down. The concert reportedly cost $25 million. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/15/us/politics/trumps-inaugural-committee-paid-26-million-to-first-ladys-friend.html
Florida’s Gun Law Sickness Not only is there no law requiring the registration of handguns or rifles — the state has a law expressly prohibiting any such regulation. https://www.thedailybeast.com/floridas-gun-law-sickness
The White Nationalists Who Claimed Ties to the Florida School Shooter Used Memes and Rap to Spread Hate Online [Updated] - further to https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=138585321 Speculation as to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz’s motivations began late yesterday as Instagram accounts and YouTube comments believed to be associated with him surfaced. Today the leader of a white nationalist fringe group claimed that Cruz was a member, and that his group had given Cruz training. The Republic of Florida, as they’re called, are “a white civil rights organization fighting for white Identitarian politics, And (sic) the ultimate creation of a white ethnostate,” according to its website. The group—which is explicitly homophobic and antisemitic—encouraged its members to undergo “paramilitary training,” purchase knifes and firearms, and pledge their “willingness to wage battle.” In a since-deleted video uploaded by the group’s leader, Jordan Jereb, a masked man stands in front of a Republic of Florida banner and claims that “we’ve made rapid advancements in the stockpile of many supplies—not just food—and I’ll let you use your imagination.” Jereb himself appear to have loose ties to the Traditionalist Worker Party, another ethno-nationalist fringe group you may recall from a controversial New York Times profile. That group’s leader, Matthew Heimbach, appears alongside Jereb in a YouTube video as both prepare for a League of the South conference. [...] https://gizmodo.com/the-white-nationalists-tied-to-the-florida-school-shoot-1823044091
Treasury: Mnuchin doesn't support Congress examining new gun laws Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin appeared to stage a surprising break from the Trump White House on Thursday and endorsed congressional action on gun violence in the wake of the devastating school shooting in Florida that left 17 dead. His office says that’s not so. Instead, according to a Treasury official, Mnuchin was referring to whether there was money in the federal budget to examine the proliferation of mass shootings in the United States, not whether Congress should consider new gun control laws. “Secretary Mnuchin was directly addressing Congressman [John] Lewis’ question about availability of funds in the budget to address the issue of gun violence. He also reflected the feelings shared by all Americans that yesterday’s school shooting was a profound tragedy,” said Treasury spokesman Tony Sayegh. The controversy began Thursday morning when Mnuchin responded to a question from Rep. Lewis (D-Ga.) at a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on whether there was money in the White House budget request to address gun violence. [...] https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/15/steven-mnuchin-congress-gun-control-414314
Twin brothers arrested in NYC on explosives charges after authorities find bomb-making materials Twin brothers have been arrested in New York City on explosives charges for making a bomb, multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News. The two arrests were made in The Bronx, the sources aid. Investigators recovered bomb-making materials as part of the investigation. Christian and Tyler Toro were arrested in a joint counter-terrorism operation involving the FBI and the NYPD. The charges do not allege terror-related offenses only the explosives-related counts. Christian Toro, a former teacher in The Bronx, is charged with his brother Tyler Toro with explosives-related charges. Court records said the brothers were paying minors to strip fireworks of their gunpowder so they could build a bomb. Christian Toro and Tyler Toro "knowingly made firearms" and aided and abetted in the making of firearms at their home in the Bronx from about October 2017 to February of this year, according to a criminal complaint filed in the Southern District of New York. Christian Toro is also accused of distributing explosive materials to two individuals under the age of 21 in the Bronx, according to the complaint. On Dec. 4, 2017, a student was arrested after a bomb threat was called into a high school in Manhattan's Harlem neighborhood, and Christian Toro resigned from his teaching position shortly after the arrest, the complaint states. After the resignation, Tyler Toro returned Christian Toro's school-issued laptop, where a technical specialist found a copy of the "Explosives Book," a text that provides instructions for manufacturing explosive devices, according to the complaint. On Feb. 8 of this year, multiple law enforcement agents interviewed Christian Toro, who stated that he "had not intentionally downloaded" the incriminating book into the laptop. Instead, Christian Toro stated that he had been researching the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings and had come across a copy of the book. Christian Toro also told investigators that he never built a bomb and had only looked at the book's table of contents. On Wednesday, investigators interviewed multiple students at the school, who indicated that at least two students visited an apartment where Christian Toro would pay them $50 per hour to break apart fireworks and store the powder that came out of them in containers, the court document states. The students visited the apartment between October 2017 and January 2018, according to the complaint. While serving a search warrant for the Bronx apartment, investigators found about 20 pounds of iron oxide, about 5 pounds of aluminum powder, about 5 pounds of potassium nitrate and about 2 pounds of confectioner's sugar located in the floor of a bedroom closet. A glass jar containing a black powdery substance, later identified as explosive material, was also found on top of the closet shelf, the court document states. Another closet contained a cardboard box containing firecrackers, more containers full of varying substances and a bag containing varying sizes of metal spheres. A diary containing writing that stated that it it were lost it should be returned to Tyler Toro was located on the kitchen table as well. "WE ARE TWIN TOROS STRIKE US NOW, WE WILL RETURN WITH NANO THERMITE" the diary read, according to the complaint. Both brothers occupy the back bedroom where several of the items were found, authorities said. They made an initial appearance in court, where a judge ordered them to be held with no objection from their defense attorneys. Christian Toro and Tyler Toro both pleaded not guilty. Attorneys for the brothers were not immediately available for comment. There is no current or active threat, according to law enforcement. http://abcnews.go.com/US/brothers-arrested-nyc-terror-charges-authorities-find-bomb/story?id=53126254
NYPD arrests two for making bombs - video The NYPD announces the arrest of two New York men who have been charged with manufacturing a destructive device and the distribution of explosive materials to a minor. https://www.cnn.com/specials/live-video-2?adkey=bn
ABC News, Joy Behar slammed for ‘The View’s’ attack on Mike Pence’s Christian faith ABC is facing mounting criticism after its panelists on “The View” mocked Vice President Mike Pence’s Christian faith. Detractors of “The View” are focusing on the fact that ABC News, which claims to be an unbiased broadcast news operation, oversees such a nakedly partisan program with one “token” conservative. The women of “The View” took a shot at Pence’s Christian faith on Tuesday, mocking the former governor of Indiana for talking to Jesus and even calling it a “mental illness.” Sunny Hostin said it’s “interesting” that former White House staffer Omarosa Manigault Newman recently said that Pence talks to Jesus and believes Jesus tells him things. Hostin said she is a “faithful” Catholic but doesn’t want her vice president “speaking in tongues.” Joy Behar then said, “It’s one thing to talk to Jesus. It’s another thing when Jesus talks to you… that’s called mental illness.” ABC News paints itself as a fair news organization but its longtime slogan, “See the Whole Picture,” often doesn’t apply to “The View,” according to many critics. “It has become jarring how fixated the show is on politics and how slanted the table is,” Mediaite columnist Joseph Wulfsohn told Fox News. Wulfsohn said it’s ABC News’ prerogative if network executives decide that having four outspoken liberals and a single “token” conservative is “profitable” but the decision “does a great disservice” by marginalizing the view of roughly half the country. The Hill media columnist Joe Concha thinks “it would be wise for ABC News to divorce itself” from “The View.” “It's a pure opinion and infotainment program and therefore should be under its entertainment division,” Concha told Fox News. Fox News’ Todd Starnes slammed Behar in a scathing op-ed, saying it’s “understandable that a Christophobe like Behar be dumbfounded by such a concept.” Starnes added that “if hearing the voice (of) God means (you are) mentally insane” then he is crazy himself. “If ABC News wants to employ an anti-Christian bigot – that is their business,” he wrote. Pence himself didn’t appreciate the comments and slammed ABC News Wednesday on C-SPAN. “To have ABC maintain a broadcast forum that compared Christianity to mental illness is just wrong,” Pence said. “It is simply wrong for ABC to have a television program that expresses that kind of religious intolerance.” Jeffrey McCall, a media analyst and DePauw University professor, told Fox News that it is concerning that “The View” falls under ABC’s news division. “It would seem the news division of a major broadcast network should not be programming content that is clearly partisan. The show should be exported to the entertainment division, if only to maintain some journalistic integrity for the news division,” McCall said. Ironically, “The View” has emerged as the most prominent broadcast of ABC News, whose programming has otherwise been in steep decline, battling declining ratings and relevance. At the same time, ABC News’ oversight of “The View,” which it took over in 2014, has been criticized for “Keystone cops management,” according to one ABC insider, resulting in “Game of Thrones” style feuding between hosts, multiple firings and behind the scenes turmoil. The Media Research Center emailed supporters on Thursday morning with a message titled, “Don't let ABC get away with this.” The email reiterates the offensive comments made by Behar and Hostin and states, “We need to stand up against these bullies and bigots and let them know that we will not stand for such disgraceful and prejudiced behavior.” The MRC said that “religious bigotry and hypocrisy cannot and will not be tolerated” and even posted the phone number to contact ABC News executives with complaints. “Take a minute and call ABC now and let them know that this anti-Christian bias is dangerous and deeply offensive,” the MRC told subscribers. Meanwhile, the women of “The View” addressed the controversy on Thursday and Behar didn’t exactly apologize. “I don’t mean to offend people but apparently I keep doing it,” she said. “It was a joke.” ABC News, part of the reliably liberal Disney ABC Television Group, has been accused of veering left on a regular basis. ABC News reporter Brian Ross famously helped spur a 350-point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average in December after he reported incorrectly on live television that fired National Security Adviser Michael Flynn would testify that Trump had ordered him to make contact with Russians about foreign policy while Trump was still a candidate. Ross issued a correction, and was then suspended for a month without pay. He was later demoted to an unclear role at ABC News’ beleaguered Lincoln Square Productions. In fact, Concha pointed out that ABC News embarrassed Behar by having her read Ross’ report on the day of the error -- which he said is proof the two should be mutually exclusive. “A floor director literally walked it out to Behar, who read the lead verbatim... the story blew up before being ‘clarified’ and eventually corrected. Joy looked foolish and was forced to apologize the next day,” Concha said. Other examples of ABC News’ liberal bias include the fact the network’s chief anchor, former Bill Clinton communications director George Stephanopoulos, did not disclose a substantial donation to the Clinton Foundation in 2015 and was forced to recuse himself from moderating presidential debates. ABC News did not immediately respond to requests for comment. http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2018/02/15/abc-news-slammed-for-joy-behar-s-attack-on-mike-pence-s-christian-faith.html
Missing Google Images' "View Image" button? Use [search engine] Startpage [ https://www.startpage.com/ ] Image Search instead [...] Just visit the Startpage main website and enter a search term. You do need to switch to images on the results page to get a thumbnail view of images similar to the one that is provided by Google Images. A click on an image displays options, and one of the options is view image. This, as you may have guessed already, opens the image directly. One of the added benefits of using Startpage Search for that is that the images are opened anonymously through a proxy so that your information does not leak to the site hosting it. [...] https://www.ghacks.net/2018/02/15/missing-google-images-view-image-button-use-startpage-image-search-instead/
Ultra-processed foods 'linked to cancer' A link between highly processed foods and cancer has been suggested by French researchers. What counts as ultra-processed Mass-produced packaged breads and buns Sweet or savoury packaged snacks including crisps Chocolate bars and sweets Sodas and sweetened drinks Meatballs, poultry and fish nuggets Instant noodles and soups Frozen or shelf-life ready meals Foods made mostly or entirely from sugar, oils and fats http://www.bbc.com/news/health-43064290 study http://www.bmj.com/content/360/bmj.k322
Eating ultra-processed foods like chicken nuggets ‘linked to cancer,’ study says A new study, published Wednesday in the British Medical Journal, found that a 10 percent increase in the amount of ultra-processed foods in a person's diet was linked to a 12 percent increase in cancers of some kind. The kinds of "ultra-processed" foods associated with the increased risk of the disease included cakes, chicken nuggets, mass-produced bread, fizzy drinks, confectionery and processed meat. The study has prompted health experts to urge caution at its findings, while also stressing a healthy and balanced diet is best. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/15/study-ultra-processed-foods-like-chicken-nuggets-linked-to-cancer.html
Musk's Tesla to stay in space for millions of years The Tesla car that Elon Musk launched into space is likely to stay there for tens of millions of years before crashing into the Earth or Venus. http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-43063379
Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster will eventually crash in space — and scientists think they know where and by when SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, recently launched the world's largest operational rocket on February 6. Falcon Heavy's launch sent Musk's personal 2008 red Tesla Roadster on a voyage toward Mars orbit with a "Starman" dummy in the driver's seat. Planetary scientists are concerned about bacterial contamination on Musk's car in case it crashes into Mars — a planet that may host alien microbes. However, new calculations show the Tesla will most likely hit Earth, Venus, or the sun. http://www.businessinsider.com/starman-elon-musk-car-orbit-collision-risk-calculations-2018-2
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