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Obama to nominate first openly gay service secretary to lead the Army
Source: WASHINGTON POST
By Greg Jaffe September 18 at 3:25 PM
President Obama, in a historic first for the Pentagon, has chosen to nominate Eric Fanning to lead the Army, a move that would make him the first openly gay civilian secretary of one of the military services.
Fanning’s nomination is the latest in a series of actions taken by the administration to advance the rights of gays and lesbians throughout the federal government. The Obama administration has overhauled internal policies to provide benefits to same-sex partners, appointed gay men and lesbians to the executive branch and the federal bench and ended the 18-year ban on gays serving openly in the military.
Fanning, who must still be confirmed by the Senate, has been a specialist on defense and national security issues for more than 25 years in Congress and the Pentagon. As Army secretary, he would be partnered with Gen. Mark Milley, who took over as the Army’s top general in August. Together the two men would assume responsibility for the Pentagon’s largest and most troubled service.
“Eric brings many years of proven experience and exceptional leadership to this new role,” Obama said in a statement. “I look forward to working with Eric to keep our Army the very best in the world.”
Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-to-nominate-first-openly-gay-service-secretary-to-lead-the-army/2015/09/18/d4b1aafe-5e30-11e5-8e9e-dce8a2a2a679_story.html?postshare=9211442605975428
Obama White House Rips Republicans For Lacking The Guts To Stand Up To Trump's Birtherism
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest blistered Republicans for not standing up to Trump’s birtherism:
Is anybody really surprised this happened at a Donald Trump rally? I don’t think anybody who has been paying attention to Republican politics is at all surprised.
The reason for that is that the people who hold these offensive views are part of Mr. Trump’s base. Mr. Trump himself would be the first to tell you that he’s got the biggest base of any Republican politician these days.
Now, it is too bad that he wasn’t able to summon the same kind of patriotism that we saw from Senator McCain who responded much more effectively and directly when one of his supporters at one his campaign events about seven years ago raised the same kind of false claims.
Now, what’s also unfortunate is that Mr. Trump isn’t the first kind of politician to countenance these kinds of views in order to win votes. In fact, that’s precisely what every Republican presidential candidate is doing when they decline to denounce Trump’s cynical strategy. Because they’re looking for those same votes.
http://www.politicususa.com/2015/09/18/obama-white-house-rips-republicans-lacking-guts-stand-trumps-birtherism.html
TRUMP re: his Concealed Carry Permit: “Our personal protection is ultimately up to us"
Donald Trump imagines a world where regular citizens can buy automatic weapons; where gun owners can hide their weapons in any state; where there are no expanded background checks for gun purchases; and where citizens fight crime with their own assault rifles.That’s at least according to Trump’s position statement on guns, which he released on Friday. In it, the Republican presidential candidate laid out a vision on the Second Amendment similar to the one held by the National Rifle Association, which opposes new gun control measures and advocates instead for stricter enforcement of existing laws.
“The Second Amendment to our Constitution is clear,” Trump’s statement reads. “The right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed upon. Period.”
A few parts of Trump’s statement focus on concealed carry, or the right for gun owners to walk around in public with their weapons hidden. He advocated for a federal law that mimicks a driver’s license — in other words, if you get a concealed carry permit in one state, it should be enforceable in other states. Currently, there is no federal law addressing this — though all 50 states allow concealed carry with some type of permit, each permit has different terms, and is only enforceable in the state in which it was given.
This position is particularly personal to Trump. “Our personal protection is ultimately up to us,” his statement reads. “That’s why I’m a gun owner, that’s why I have a concealed carry permit, and that’s why tens of millions of Americans have concealed carry permits as well.”
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Anderson Cooper: Trump was gutless for not standing up to the “loudmouth” in the crowd.
"It's extraordinary for this guy who claims to be a straight talker that he doesn't have the guts to stand up to some loudmouth in his own crowd."
“If you’re an actual leader,” Cooper said, “if you actually want to lead people in this country and you want to be president to all people in this country, including the Muslim population in this country, you don’t just pander to every loudmouth in your audience.” Cooper continued, noting that Trump was gutless for not standing up to the “loudmouth” in the crowd.
http://www.examiner.com/article/anderson-cooper-rips-donald-trump-for-allowing-anti-muslim-comments-at-rally
Staff members from rival Republican presidential candidates were allegedly involved in bar fight
Republicans are gathered on Mackinac Island for a Republican leadership conference this weekend. Last night attendees gathered at Horn's Bar and at some point later in the night, a fight broke out. From John Patrick Yob, Rand Paul's national political director and chief Michigan strategist:
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“As I was sitting at the bar talking to someone at Horn’s in Mackinac Island Thursday night, I witnessed (the man) suddenly, out of nowhere, approach one of Rand Paul’s advisers, John Yob — unprovoked — and try to hit him,” Hall wrote on his West Michigan Politics blog. “(He) missed a full on shot but still struck Yob’s in the face with a powerful blow near the jaw.”
Hall said the Rubio campaign official was at the bar trying to drum up votes for the Florida senator in the presidential straw poll The Detroit News and MIRSnews.com are conducting this weekend at the conference.
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2015/09/18/mackinac-island-bar-fight/72388142/
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/09/18/1422457/-Staff-members-from-rival-republican-presidential-candidates-were-allegedly-involved-in-bar-fight
Born in Iran and raised in California-The GOP won’t be able to decide which of the two is worse.
White House Announces New Chief Floral Designer, Hedieh GhaffarianThe White House today announced that Hedieh “Roshan” Ghaffarian has been selected as the White House Chief Floral Designer.
“We are thrilled to have Roshan serve as our Chief Floral Designer and lead our tremendously talented, dedicated floral staff,” said First Lady Michelle Obama. “Roshan’s life story is a powerful reminder that the American Dream endures and the President and I look forward to seeing her creativity flourish for White House guests to enjoy year-round.”
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Biography of Hedieh “Roshan” Ghaffarian:
Hedieh “Roshan” Ghaffarian was born in Tehran, Iran, and raised in Los Altos, California. After immigrating to California with her family as a young child following the Iranian revolution, Hedieh attended middle school and high school in Northern California. In her early‑twenties Hedieh started her business, Flower Affairs, from her parents’ garage. A female entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience and over 1,000 events completed, Ghaffarian has an expansive portfolio and extensive experience in envisioning, planning, and executing large-scale events with great attention to detail. Ghaffarian has trained with UK-based floral designers Jane Packer, Paula Pryke and Kenneth Turner. Her work has been featured in several publications, including Ceremony Magazine, Today’s Bride Magazine and The Knot.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/09/17/white-house-announces-new-chief-floral-designer-hedieh-ghaffarian
Sunset Over The Mountains Of Pluto
MORE!
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2015-09/18/pluto-new-horizons-panorama-image
http://www.space.com/30577-pluto-sunset-atmosphere-photo-new-horizons.html
"he kept us safe"
NOT
https://twitter.com/owillis/status/644567618377093120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
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