demmiblue
demmiblue's JournalGuy Sings 'Living On A Prayer' To Himself, The Entire Park Joins Him
Odds are, if you start singing it in public, someone else will join you. That’s what one man experienced when he starting singing Living On A Prayer while sitting on a bench. The man’s voice enchanted the people around him and pretty soon the entire park was singing along with him.
Passer-by Matej Priteržnik posted the video on YouTube and got over 895k views. People absolutely loved it because of the sense of community you get when you watch the clip.
https://www.boredpanda.com/guy-in-park-starts-singing-bon-jovi-song-everyone-joins/
"It's Payback Time": With Acquittal Certain, Trump Plots Revenge on Bolton, Impeachment Enemies
Several sources said Bolton is at the top of the list. Trump’s relationship with Bolton was badly damaged by the time Bolton left the White House in September. Trump has since blamed his former national security adviser for leaking details of his forthcoming memoir that nearly derailed the impeachment trial by pressuring Republicans to call witnesses. In the book Bolton reportedly alleges Trump told him directly that Ukraine aid was tied to Ukraine announcing investigations into the Bidens (Bolton has denied being a source of the leak).
The campaign against Bolton has already begun. On January 23, the White House sent a cease and desist letter to Bolton’s lawyer demanding that Bolton’s publisher, Simon & Schuster, not release the book in March without removal of certain information. Trump intends to ratchet up the pressure, and some Republicans close to the White House fear how far Trump will take things after he’s gotten off for a second time (Trump famously made his July 25 call to Volodymyr Zelensky the day after Robert Mueller testified before Congress.) “Trump has been calling people and telling them to go after Bolton,” a source briefed on the private conversations said. The source added that Trump wants Bolton to be criminally investigated. A person familiar with Trump’s thinking said Trump believes Bolton might have mishandled classified information. According to a former official, the White House is planning to leak White House emails from Bolton that purportedly allege Bolton abused his position at the National Security Council. The official said that West Wing officials have discussed releasing emails “showing [Bolton] was doing pay-to-play,” the official said. A person close to Bolton dismissed the story. “John plays things straight,” the person said.
The White House declined to comment.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/02/trump-plots-revenge-on-bolton-impeachment-enemies
https://twitter.com/RobertMaguire_/status/1224418041775214592
2 dead in shooting incident at Texas A&M-Commerce residence hall
Source: NBC News
Two people were killed and another injured in a shooting at a residence hall at Texas A&M University-Commerce on Monday.
Students and staff members on campus were asked to shelter in place as a "precautionary measure" as university police investigate the shooting at Pride Rock Residence Hall, according to campus police.
Campus police said they found three victims who suffered gunshot wounds, two of whom were confirmed dead.
Another person was transported to a hospital, according to campus police. The third victim's condition is unclear.
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/2-dead-shooting-incident-texas-m-commerce-residence-hall-n1129021?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma
'You basically are nothing': the Americans shut out of the Iowa caucuses
As Democratic candidates began a last-minute blitz across Iowa on Friday evening, nearly a dozen men gathered in a cavernous YMCA meeting room in downtown Des Moines to have a conversation that felt a universe removed from the 2020 race.
They were part of one of the largest groups shut out of Monday’s caucus: people with felony convictions. Iowans are barred from voting for life once they commit a felony, and people can’t vote even if they committed a crime decades ago. The state’s policy, one of the strictest in the country, means more than 42,000 Iowans out of prison won’t have a say in choosing a presidential candidate. Almost 10% of the black voting-age population can’t vote because of a felony conviction.
For decades, the Iowa caucuses have marked the beginning of the presidential primary, and often set the tone for the election year. But the event has come under increasing scrutiny for giving some voters – namely white and wealthy Iowans – outsized power in choosing the president in a state that’s already more than 90% white. Meanwhile, the physical and legal barriers built into the structure of the caucuses leave out large swaths of the population, whether they are disabled, work long hours, or were once convicted of a crime.
“When you know you can’t vote, you remove a certain segment of people from the political process,” said Mendoor Smith, one of the participants at the two hour meeting, organized by Image 4 Lives, a mentorship and support group founded by Robert Pate, a former felon. “If they’re removed from the process, then they’re not learning anything. If they have children, then they’re not telling their children anything.”
Smith, 46, who got his bachelor’s degree after getting released from prison said he had been closely following the caucuses and has been going to rallies and encouraging others to caucus, even though he can’t.
A few miles north, Gretchen Brown-Waech was getting ready for a historic caucus designed to serve another community often sidelined in the political dialogue: the 300,000 voting-age Iowans with disabilities.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/feb/03/americans-shut-out-iowa-caucuses?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
https://twitter.com/ashleyalman/status/1224372786027728902
Susan Collins' Campaign Is Being Helped by a Mysterious Hawaii Company
Source: The Daily Beast
A mysterious Hawaii company may have illegally funneled a six-figure contribution to a political group boosting an embattled Republican Senator 5,000 miles away, an ethics watchdog alleged on Monday.
The company, Society of Young Women Scientist and Engineers LLC, was formed in late November, according to corporate records in Hawaii. Just over a month later, on December 31, the company donated $150,000 to 1820 PAC, a deep-pocketed super PAC with ties to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that was created to help reelect Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME).
There is scant public information about the company. It does not appear to have a website or any social media presence. Its listed address is a P.O. box in Honolulu (listed as a “unit” number in 1820’s FEC filings). Google searches turn up no information on the company. And there’s no record of prior political involvement by its sole officer, Jennifer Lam.
All of that suggests that the Society of Young Women Scientist and Engineers was set up for the sole purpose of making political contributions, according to the Campaign Legal Center, which filed a complaint on Monday asking the Federal Election Commission to investigate its December contribution to 1820 PAC, which was named after the year Maine was founded.
Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/susan-collins-campaign-is-being-helped-by-a-mysterious-hawaii-company
Jill Biden: "We used to be great friends... And now he's changed,"
https://twitter.com/NewDay/status/1224314577699123207ABC News @ABC STICK TOGETHER: A mom and daughter dog team figured out how together they could...
https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1224095591967358976
Trump Administration Curbs Immigration for Additional 6 Countries in Election-Year Push to Restrict
Source: Time/AP
(WASHINGTON) — The Trump administration announced Friday that it was curbing legal immigration from six additional countries that officials said did not meet security standards, as part of an election-year push to further restrict immigration.
Officials said immigrants from Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Eritrea, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania will face new restrictions in obtaining certain visas to come to the United States. But it is not a total travel ban, unlike President Donald Trump’s earlier effort that generated outrage around the world for unfairly targeting Muslims.
Trump was expected to sign a proclamation on the restrictions as early as Friday.
The announcement comes as President Donald Trump tries to promote his administration’s crackdown on immigration, highlighting a signature issue that motivated his supporters in 2016 and hoping it has the same affect this November. The administration recently announced a crackdown on birth tourism and is noting the sharp decline in crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border and citing progress on building the border wall.
Read more: https://time.com/5775596/trump-travel-ban-expansion/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=editorial&utm_term=u.s._&linkId=81556915
https://twitter.com/aflores/status/1223349131290316801
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