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Stellar's Journal
Stellar's Journal
January 12, 2017
Trump sinks drug stocks
Video : CNNMoneyShares of Big Pharma companies and biotechs fell after President-elect Donald Trump put them on notice because of big price hikes for medications.Source: CNNMoney
January 12, 2017
Fox's Shepard Smith criticizes Trump for 'belittling' CNN
Fox's Shepard Smith criticizes Trump for 'belittling' CNN
TheHillFox's Shepard Smith criticizes Trump for 'belittling' CNN
Fox News' Shephard Smith comes to CNN's defense. pic.twitter.com/yIF9e7CNYX
Mashable News (@MashableNews) January 11, 2017
Fox News anchor Shepard Smith on Wednesday criticized President-elect Donald Trump for his shouting match with a CNN reporter.
Trump refused to take a question from CNN's Jim Acosta during a Wednesday news conference, berating him and accusing his network of reporting "fake news." The confrontation came after CNN reported that intelligence officials briefed Trump about Russia having compromising information on him a report Trump denied.
"President-elect Trump today told CNN's Jim Acosta the his organization amounts to fake news. CNN's exclusive reporting on the Russian matter was separate and distinctly different from the document dump executed by an online news property," Smith said during his closing monologue.
"Though we at Fox News cannot confirm CNN's report, it is our observation that its correspondents followed journalistic standards and that neither they nor any other journalists should be subjected to belittling and delegitimizing by the president-elect of the United States," Smith added.
During the press conference, Trump continuously refused to let Acosta ask him a question.
"You're attacking us, can you give us a question? Acosta asked.
"Don't be rude. No, I'm not going to give you a question. You are fake news," Trump responded, before taking a question from a Breitbart News reporter.
January 12, 2017
DailyKos
Joy Reid Delivered Huge Ratings for MSNBC, So They Chose the Fox Reject
?1484094041DailyKos
If you were waiting for a daily news program featuring a lightweight, partisan hack with absolutely no charisma, then MSNBC really came through for you Monday night.
Greta Van Susterens For the Record debutednot to be confused with the Fox show she no longer has--On the Record. Despite the preposition change, Van Susterens show was pretty much indistinguishable from her old show on Fox. A softball question followed by an occasional harder one that she allowed the guest to evade. I really dont understand CEO Phillip Griffins reasoning for hiring her: she had low ratings with a conservative audience at Foxdoes he think shell find more conservatives over at MSNBC?
As stupid as that sounds, NBC honchos seem to be doubling down on that strategy. Greta joins Morning Joe, Chris Mathews, and more recently, Megyn Dont Worry Kids, Santa isnt White Kelly. Pretty good lineup for the demographic of people who are too stupid to realize they arent watching Fox.
On the other hand, Joy-Ann Reid is a real hard-hitting journalist who doesnt know what a softball question is. She is smart, quick on her feet, and can be a pitbull when a guest tries to evade her. Shes also given MSNBC some of their highest numbers in over a decade:
Airing on the weekends from 10 a.m. 12 p.m., AM Joy delivered the time periods biggest total viewer audience since the 1st quarter of 2003 and biggest A25-54 audience since Q4 2012.
Despite a crushing election, this nation leans left. Trump was beaten in the popular vote by 3 million votes, and Democrats won the majority of votes in the Senate and House as well. If ratings were based on arcane rules or gerrymandering like our national elections, then yes, MSNBCs strategy would make sense. But they arent. Ratings are actually based on popular opinion. There is a huge market for the American progressive audience---one, I might add, that is not currently being filled.
Instead of trying to peel a few of the age 80+, angry, white racists from Fox, MSNBC could be making a play for the large 25-54 audience who think Trump needs his feet held to the fire over hard-fought programs, civil rights... and just plain civility.
Ironically, MSNBC was in the prime position for this market, and they already had the voice. Joy was already on the payroll, scored big in ratings, and Griffin could have hired her for a fraction of the bloated salary given to Van Susteren.
January 11, 2017
Buzzfeed
Fact-Checking Trumps Claim That He Has "Very Little Debt"
?resize=990:679&no-autoBuzzfeed
Explaining how he will avoid conflicts of interest as President, Donald Trump claimed Wednesday that he owes little money to anyone, and none to Russia. As a real estate developer I have very, very little debt, Trump said at his first press conference since winning the presidency in November. I have assets that are and now people have found out how big the company is, I have very low debt.
But companies that Trump owns entirely or in part owe hundreds of millions of dollars to foreign banks, fringe lenders and mortgage companies, according to financial disclosures filed during the election and news reports based on public records.
According to his own most recent financial disclosure, filed in May with the Office of Government Ethics, companies and properties that Trump controls owe at least $315 million. Because the debts were listed in broad numerical ranges, the actual figure may be much higher.
The New York Times reported in August that companies owned by Trump owe at least $650 million. Much of that money is owed to foreign banks, including the Bank of China and Deutsche Bank, the Times reported.
Trumps development company for his new hotel in downtown Washington, D.C. borrowed $170 million from Deutsche Bank, among Germanys biggest lenders, to cover construction costs. To secure that loan, Trump put up a lease granted to him by a federal agency that he soon will oversee.
January 11, 2017
?cache=k51cyo0vim
Police Officers Overwhelmingly Agree That Bad Cops Arent Held Accountable
More :HuffPo?cache=k51cyo0vim
WASHINGTON ― U.S. police officers largely believe high-profile deaths of black people at the hands of law enforcement officers have made their jobs more difficult, according to a new national survey. Theyre also skeptical of the protests that have followed those tragic incidents.
But theres one key issue where it turns out protesters and law enforcement officers overwhelmingly agree: Bad cops arent held accountable.
Seventy-two percent of U.S. police officers do not believe that officers who consistently do a poor job are held accountable, according to a new Pew Research Center survey conducted by the National Police Research Platform.
Asked whether they agreed with the idea that officers who consistently do a poor job are held accountable, 47 percent of officers disagreed and 25 percent strongly disagreed. Barely one-quarter of officers surveyed either agreed or strongly agreed that officers who do a poor job are held accountable (24 percent agreed, while just 3 percent strongly agreed).
The majority of officers, 53 percent, either disagreed or strongly disagreed that the disciplinary process at their agency is fair, while a combined 46 percent agreed or strongly agreed that it is fair.
The Pew Research Centers survey was conducted last year and involved nearly 8,000 law enforcement officers. Many of the other results of the survey will not be terribly surprising to those paying close attention to the tensions between law enforcement and many of the communities they patrol. It found that most officers dont believe the public understands the risks and challenges of being a police officer, for example. But the survey does reveal deep divisions within the law enforcement community.
The Justice Departments forthcoming report on the Chicago Police Department is likely to focus on how many of the nations law enforcement agencies fail to hold officers accountable when they engage in misconduct.
Under Obama, DOJs Civil Rights Division has taken a more aggressive approach to addressing systemic problems of police misconduct, and many of its reports on police departments have focused on problems in their internal affairs systems.
But Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), who is all but certain to be confirmed as President-elect Donald Trumps attorney general, indicated Tuesday that hed be hesitant to pursue consent decrees with police departments where federal investigators have found patterns of unconstitutional conduct, in part because having DOJ say an agency is systematically failing would be bad for officer morale.
January 11, 2017
More at the link above.
Report: Russia Has Trump Golden Showers Blackmail
http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2017/01/10/buzzfeed-trump-caught-in-perverted-sex.html?source=TDB&via=FB_PageRussian intelligence officers planned to blackmail Donald Trump with knowledge of his alleged "perverted sexual acts," a new report obtained by Buzzfeed alleges. The unverified report by a person claiming to be a former British intelligence official alleges that Russian officials intended to blackmail Trump with evidence of him allegedly hiring multiple sex workers to perform "golden showers" in front of him. The hotel where the acts allegedly occurred were said to be under Russian surveillance.
More at the link above.
January 10, 2017
According to Quinnipiac University, Trump has an unfavorable rating of 51% and unfavorable rating of 37%. The president-elects favorability ratings are down seven points over the last 30 days.
Respondents also had highly unfavorable views of Trumps personal traits:
53 39 percent that he is not honest, compared to 52 42 percent November 22;
49 44 percent that he has good leadership skills, compared to 56 38 percent;
52 44 percent that he does not care about average Americans, compared to 51 45 percent who said he did care;
62 33 percent that he is not level-headed, compared to 57 38 percent;
71 25 percent that he is a strong person, compared to 74 23 percent;
68 27 percent that he is intelligent, compared to 74 21 percent.
Trump is not even in office yet, and he has already broken his own record for being the least popular president-elect in history. Respondents by a margin of 45%-34% believed that Trump would be a worse president than Obama.
Donald Trump has never been a popular political figure, but the notion of beginning his presidency by taking healthcare away from nearly 30 million Americans has come back to haunt him. Trump doesnt have a positive agenda for the country, and the endlessly negative president-elect is seeing his own negativity thrown back at him by the American people.
Trump never inspires confidence. The takeaways from the Quinnipiac University poll are that most Americans dont like Trump. They have no faith that he cares about them, and they think he is going to be a pretty lousy president.
Never in modern history has a president-elect gotten off to such a terrible start with the public.
Donald Trump is reaping the seeds of division and hate that he sowed during his presidential campaign. It has come full circle, as America is stuck with a president-elect that they really dont like.
Trumps Approval Rating Plunges To Historic New Low Days Before Inauguration
POLITICUSAAmerica is not giving Donald Trump a warm welcome to the White House as a new poll found that Trump's job approval rating has dropped seven points to 37% over the past month.America is not giving Donald Trump a warm welcome to the White House as a new poll found that Trumps job approval rating has dropped seven points to 37% over the past month.
According to Quinnipiac University, Trump has an unfavorable rating of 51% and unfavorable rating of 37%. The president-elects favorability ratings are down seven points over the last 30 days.
Respondents also had highly unfavorable views of Trumps personal traits:
53 39 percent that he is not honest, compared to 52 42 percent November 22;
49 44 percent that he has good leadership skills, compared to 56 38 percent;
52 44 percent that he does not care about average Americans, compared to 51 45 percent who said he did care;
62 33 percent that he is not level-headed, compared to 57 38 percent;
71 25 percent that he is a strong person, compared to 74 23 percent;
68 27 percent that he is intelligent, compared to 74 21 percent.
Trump is not even in office yet, and he has already broken his own record for being the least popular president-elect in history. Respondents by a margin of 45%-34% believed that Trump would be a worse president than Obama.
Donald Trump has never been a popular political figure, but the notion of beginning his presidency by taking healthcare away from nearly 30 million Americans has come back to haunt him. Trump doesnt have a positive agenda for the country, and the endlessly negative president-elect is seeing his own negativity thrown back at him by the American people.
Trump never inspires confidence. The takeaways from the Quinnipiac University poll are that most Americans dont like Trump. They have no faith that he cares about them, and they think he is going to be a pretty lousy president.
Never in modern history has a president-elect gotten off to such a terrible start with the public.
Donald Trump is reaping the seeds of division and hate that he sowed during his presidential campaign. It has come full circle, as America is stuck with a president-elect that they really dont like.
January 10, 2017
More :Hollywood reporter
Final Box Office: 'Hidden Figures' Beats 'Rogue One' With $22.8M
BoxOfficeMoJoSunday estimates had showed the two films tying for No. 1, but 'Hidden Figures' ended up winning the race. Elsewhere, 'Underworld: Blood Wars' underwhelms in its debut, while 'Rogue One' races past the $900 million mark globally.
Empowered women and outer space dominated the North American box office over the weekend as Theodore Melfi's biographical drama Hidden Figures orbited past Rogue One: A Star Wars Story to win the race with $22.8 million from 2,471 theaters as it expanded nationwide, versus $22.1 million for Rogue One in its fourth weekend from 4,157 locations.
Sunday morning estimates had showed the two films all but tying for the No. 1 spot with roughly $22 million each, but Hidden Figures did more business than expected throughout the day. (Most rival studios showed Hidden Figures narrowly beating Rogue One all along. The stand-alone Star Wars story is hardly a slouch, though, having stayed atop the chart for three consecutive weekends.)
Nabbing a coveted A+ CinemaScore, Hidden Figures stars Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monae as the real-life African-American mathematicians who helped NASA put the first men into space even while having to endure a segregated workplace. Their story, however, had been obscured for decades.
More :Hollywood reporter
January 7, 2017
More: Chicago Suntimes
Obama fans in line as early as 4:30 a.m. for speech tickets
?w=1238For many who scored a ticket to President Barack Obamas farewell address at McCormick Place next week, waking up hours before the Saturday sunrise to brave the frigid cold and winds off Lake Michigan was well worth it.
Im so excited. This is a historical moment, said Tanika Sykes, the first person to receive a ticket to the speech. Im just so grateful to be able to witness it.
Asked what she wanted to hear at Tuesdays speech, she said: Hope. Im ready for the Obama Hope speech to encourage us, to let us know that its OK. Were going to survive, we always do. And its going to be a great America.
Sykes, of south suburban Homewood, said she got in line at 4:30 a.m., though she had to stand outside in the zero-degree weather for about 45 minutes.
Etta McChristian, who proudly said she, like the president, was from the South Side, was also among the first in line.
She and some friends reserved a room at the nearby Hyatt Regency Hotel the night before so they could get in line as soon as possible.
Whoever the president is, you have some big shoes to fill because, at the end of the day, Barack did a great job, McChristian said.
The line for tickets snaked through the east building of McCormick Place, out into the frigid cold and back into the convention centers western building.
By 9 a.m., McCormick Place officials were telling those still waiting in line outside that it was unlikely theyd get a ticket. Despite the warning, hundreds remained outside. An hour later, those already inside were still receiving tickets, according to McCormick Place spokeswoman Cynthia McCafferty.
Foot and vehicle traffic was dense throughout much of the South Loop and Bronzeville throughout the morning as many late arrivers searched for a place to park or get in line.
Well before 7 a.m., Chicago Police were warning people away from McCormick Place, saying the lines were too long, and that the tickets already spoken for.
CPD on its Facebook page wrote: Anyone hoping to receive a ticket this morning to President Obamas farewell address at McCormick Place who is NOT already on property will not be receiving a ticket. Save yourself from the frigid temperatures as a large crowd is already in line.
Genevieve Perry, who also lives in the city, felt good about her chances of getting a ticket, but said the line didnt look as long as it actually was, which allowed some nerves to set in.
Im getting nervous as I look in and see how much farther the line is, Perry said. You think its going to be done, you take and look and youre like Wait, it winds again.
Perry brought her headphones and a book to pass the more than three hours she spent in line.
Its just been trying to not think about what happens if we dont get a ticket, Perry said.
More: Chicago Suntimes
January 6, 2017
Michelle Obama held her final public event as first lady of the United States as she spoke at a School Counselor of the Year event in the White House where she had a special and heartfelt message for young people.
Michelle Obama delivers emotional final speech as first lady of the United States
Michelle Obama held her final public event as first lady of the United States as she spoke at a School Counselor of the Year event in the White House where she had a special and heartfelt message for young people.
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