womanofthehills
womanofthehills's JournalFearing for her life, Iowa Democrat abandons race to unseat GOP Rep. Steve King
THIS IS BAD - THREATS OF MURDER AND "RECENT EVENTS AT MY HOME"
The Democratic candidate running against anti-immigrant Republican Congressman Steve King (IA) announced Saturday that she is dropping out of the race for her own safety.
In a Facebook post published Saturday night, Kim Weaver wrote, “Over the last several weeks, I have been evaluating personal circumstances along with the political climate regarding this campaign. After much deliberation, I have determined that the best decision for me is to withdraw my candidacy for the US House race in Iowa’s 4th Congressional District.”
She explained that beginning during her 2016 campaign, she has been receiving threats of physical violence and murder, and said that “recent events at my home” were forcing her to re-evaluate her decision to run against King.
“While some may say enduring threats are just a part of running for office, my personal safety has increasingly become a concern,” Weaver said.
http://www.rawstory.com/2017/06/fearing-for-her-life-iowa-democrat-abandons-race-to-unseat-gop-rep-steve-king/
A Timeline: Pences Role in the White Houses Russia-Related Mess
The Trump White House has produced what appear to be at least three cover-ups. They relate to:
1) former-national security adviser Mike Flynn’s questionable activities relating to Turkey;
2) Flynn’s role in the Trump/Russia controversy; and
3) the firing of former FBI Director James Comey.
Each is a piece of the larger picture depicted in our overall Trump-Russia timeline. But the complexity of the entire situation can render even the summary timeline overwhelming.
So as we continue to update our overall Trump-Russia timeline, we’re also putting together timelines that track key players and events. Our timeline of the Comey firing is the first example. By isolating the pertinent portions of relevant entries that share a common thread, important players have fewer places to hide. Facts, truth, and clarity are Trump’s adversaries.
This Pence edition of the timeline focuses on the vice president: What did he know, when did he know it, and at what points did his public statements diverge from what he knew or reasonably should have known? (The final phrase creates legal responsibility for presumed knowledge, even if the speaker in question denies it.)
http://billmoyers.com/story/timeline-pences-role-white-houses-russia-related-mess/#
Raw Story headline today - "DONALD TRUMP TO HUNGRY SENIORS : DROP DEAD"
(Raw Story has the best headlines for posting on Facebook - esp. for those ignorant republicans on your Facebook page. How f**king sick are these Republicans)
The budget sent to Congress Tuesday for fiscal year 2018 puts the country’s schizophrenia over feeding hungry citizens back on the agenda — this time in the guise of defunding food programs for seniors, millions of whom are homebound, ill and unable to cook or shop. In March, the Trump administration announced it was slashing federal funds for those programs, meaning that more seniors will go hungry, and waiting lists — already numbering in the thousands in some parts of the country — will get larger. The wait for a meal will get longer, too, leaving thousands of seniors, including those just discharged from a hospital, with few options for nutritious food.
As the number of seniors has increased, so has the number of people, particularly the very old, who need food. Yet over the years, increases in federal funding — funneled primarily through the Older Americans Act, which accounts for about 35 percent of the budgets of the nation’s roughly 5,000 meal programs — have not kept pace with the need, as I reported for The Nation in 1998 and 2013.
This year, the Trump budget calls for real cuts in food programs for seniors, not just smaller increases. Erika Kelly, the government affairs officer for Meals on Wheels America, an umbrella organization for the Meals on Wheels network, says the network is already serving 23 million fewer meals than in 2005, a decline that has resulted in an increase in hunger. Today some 10 million elders are threatened by hunger, a 65 percent increase over the past decade.
Apparently, numbers like those don’t bother Trump budget director Mick Mulvaney. As the budget was unveiled, Mulvaney remarked, “This is the first time, I think, in a long time that an administration has written a budget through the eyes of the people who are actually paying the taxes. We’re not going to measure our success by how much money we spend but by how many people we actually help.” And at his March news conference, Mulvaney disdainfully told reporters MEALS ON WHEELS DIDN'T HELP THE PEOPLE it was designed to serve. “Meals on Wheels sounds great,” but “to take that federal money and give it to the states, and say, ‘Look, we want to give you money for programs that don’t work’ — I can’t defend that anymore.”
http://www.rawstory.com/2017/05/donald-trump-to-hungry-seniors-drop-dead/
Blackwater founder held secret Seychelles meeting to establish Trump-Putin back channel- Eric Prince
The United Arab Emirates arranged a secret meeting in January between Blackwater founder Erik Prince and a Russian close to President Vladimir Putin as part of an apparent effort to establish a back-channel line of communication between Moscow and President-elect Donald Trump, according to U.S., European and Arab officials.
The meeting took place around Jan. 11 — nine days before Trump’s inauguration — in the Seychelles islands in the Indian Ocean, officials said. Though the full agenda remains unclear, the UAE agreed to broker the meeting in part to explore whether Russia could be persuaded to curtail its relationship with Iran, including in Syria, a Trump administration objective that would be likely to require major concessions to Moscow on U.S. sanctions.
Though Prince had no formal role with the Trump campaign or transition team, he presented himself as an unofficial envoy for Trump to high-ranking Emiratis involved in setting up his meeting with the Putin confidant, according to the officials, who did not identify the Russian.
Prince was an avid supporter of Trump. After the Republican convention, he contributed $250,000 to Trump’s campaign, the national party and a pro-Trump super PAC led by GOP mega-donor Rebekah Mercer, records show. He has ties to people in Trump’s circle, including Stephen K. Bannon, now serving as the president’s chief strategist and senior counselor. Prince’s sister Betsy DeVos serves as education secretary in the Trump administration. And Prince was seen in the Trump transition offices in New York in December.
U.S. officials said the FBI has been scrutinizing the Seychelles meeting as part of a broader probe of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election and alleged contacts between associates of Putin and Trump. The FBI declined to comment.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/blackwater-founder-held-secret-seychelles-meeting-to-establish-trump-putin-back-channel/2017/04/03/95908a08-1648-11e7-ada0-1489b735b3a3_story.html?utm_term=.6f1e3882f1bc
There are many reasons to oppose a Mike Pence presidency but his skill at lying is the biggest
by Sarah Kendzior
On Oct. 3 2016, Mike Pence took to the stage for his first and only US vice presidential debate—and calmly lied through his teeth about Donald Trump for 90 minutes. He lied about whether Trump had said more countries should have nuclear weapons. He lied about Trump saying he wanted to punish women who had abortions. He lied about Trump defending dictators. He lied about Trump doing business with Russia. Every time his opponent, vice-presidential candidate Tim Kaine, brought up a statement by Trump—a public, documented statement, the veracity of which Americans could easily validate—Pence did not embellish. He simply smiled and lied.
Seven months later, Pence is still lying, only now the lies have become more dangerous. Today, Americans face a dual threat from Pence: first, in his capacity as vice president and as a key player in an administration rife with scandal and possibly treasonous activity; and second, as the potential inheritor of the tarnished presidency as talk of impeachment accelerates. Mike Pence spent months trying to hide the truth about Donald Trump. It is important that Americans do not make the same mistake with Pence.
Impeaching Trump, in other words, would not free the US from the dark specter of collusion and betrayal that has swept over it since Trump took power. Although Trump has lowered the bar for president immeasurably, Americans must not forget that behind Pence’s smooth smile is a calculating politician with a track record of oppressive policymaking and a knack for dishonesty. The answer to the question “Trump or Pence?” is always “neither.”
Though the US press was notoriously slow to investigate the Trump team’s relationship with Russia, often burying or downplaying the story, the last two weeks have revealed an America in crisis. After firing FBI director James Comey, Trump invited Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov and ambassador Sergey Kislyak into the White House and chatted about highly classified state secrets. Trump went on to make statements suggesting obstruction of justice on national television, while newspapers revealed that Trump had asked Comey to shut down the investigation of former national security advisor-turned-foreign agent Michael Flynn.
https://qz.com/992053/will-donald-trump-get-impeached-mike-pence-would-not-be-a-better-us-president/
Duterte jokes that his soldiers can rape women under martial law in the Philippines
Three days after declaring martial law in the rebellious southern Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered his troops to crush the militants, and gave a speech to inspire them:
“You can arrest any person, search any house,” Duterte told the soldiers Friday.
“I alone would be responsible” for anything they did under martial law, he said. “I will go to jail for you. If you happen to have raped three women, I will own up to it.”
This last comment — absolving his soldiers for any future rapes — was widely reported as a joke, and if it was, it wouldn't be the ruler's first attempt at the genre.
Before he won the presidency last year, Duterte joked that he “should have been first” in the gang rape of a woman who was held hostage, raped and killed in the 1980s
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/05/27/duterte-jokes-that-his-soldiers-can-rape-women-under-martial-law-in-the-philippines/?utm_term=.f0993046f21b
WaPo Update with charts - latest development - Trump ties to Russian interests
Here’s what we know so far about Team Trump’s ties to Russian interests
Congress and U.S. intelligence agencies are scrutinizing connections between Russia and the Trump campaign as they investigate evidence that Russia interfered in the 2016 election. Here are members of Team Trump who are known to have Russian connections and the story lines that have made those ties relevant. This graphic will be updated with new developments.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/trump-russia/?utm_term=.771e3e7a8f48
Paul Ryan: James Comey Is Not a Nut Job - "I like Jim Comey"
House Speaker Paul Ryan on Wednesday publicly disagreed with President Trump’s reported assertion that ex-FBI Director James Comey is a “nut job.” During an Axios event in Washington, D.C., the top House Republican said, “Yeah, I don't agree with that. And he’s not [a nut job].” Ryan later added: “I like Jim Comey.” According to The New York Times, during his Oval Office meeting with Russian diplomats, Trump bragged that firing “nut job” Comey had eased the “great pressure” on him from the ongoing FBI probe into Russian ties to the Trump campaign.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2017/05/24/paul-ryan-james-comey-is-not-a-nut-job?via=desktop&source=copyurl
Horrifying video shows Texas cops violently arresting 14-year-old girl as her mother screams
(Knowing they will probably be videotaped does not even deter these assholes)
A video posted online this week appears to show a San Antonio police officer repeatedly striking a 14-year-old girl while trying to arrest her.
The San Antonio Express News reports that the girl was arrested after police initially responded to a phone call about two men fighting in the area. The girl and her mother were in the neighborhood attending a quinceañera, which is a birthday party traditionally held in Latino communities for girls who turn 15.
While responding to the fight, one of the officers got into some kind of confrontation with the girl, who was standing with her mother in a parking lot near the party.
The video, which was shot by a bystander, appears to show the girl taking a step toward the officer, who then responded by striking her multiple times and forcibly restraining her. The girl was then arrested and taken into custody on charges of allegedly assaulting a public servant.
The video quality is poor overall, and the San Antonio Police Department says that it is reviewing body camera footage of the incident before making a judgement on the officer’s actions.
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Nonetheless, Artessia House, one of the girl’s lawyers, tells the San Antonio Express News that footage of the officer striking the girl is “clear as day.”
http://www.rawstory.com/2017/05/horrifying-video-shows-texas-cops-violently-arresting-14-year-old-girl-as-her-mother-screams/
Starting last week, I can no longer put a grey box around a quote
When I hit "excerpt", info shows but does not transfer to post. Any suggestions?
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