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Thursday, October 18, 2018

NPR: Agency Prepares Asylum-Fraud Cases Against 2,000 Chinese Migrants

Homeland security officials are investigating 3,500 Chinese migrants who used fake stories to win asylum in the United States and 10,000 of their chain-migration relatives who subsequently migrated into the United States.

An NPR report quotes an unidentified Chinese migrant — identified as “Lawrence” — who helped prosecutors in 2012 target the initial group of immigration lawyers and aides. But Lawrence is now refusing to help officials prepare deportation cases against thousands of the Chinese asylum recipients:

“Because targets are different,” he says. “Those Chinese immigrants — those clients … their attorney just tell lie to them, to do that.”

The way Lawrence tells it, he is fighting a larger battle now against government agencies that are mixing up what is legal with what is right. He wants no part in helping the government use the letter of the law to strip asylum from people who won it years ago — even if that means he has to remain in hiding.

According to Lawrence, DHS asked him in 2017 to help resolve more than 2,200 cases.

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Meet 12 Tea Party Activists Who’re Busy Improving Their State

RICHMOND, Va.—Go in search of the tea party movement that rose up in opposition to the policies of President Barack Obama, and you won’t get the full picture if you fixate on political rallies and protests.

That’s because many tea party activists have been burrowing into state legislative houses across the nation, where their membership has developed expertise on a wide range of public policy questions.

With an eye toward the Virginia General Assembly session that begins in January, about 200 Virginia Tea Party members who gathered here at a downtown hotel Sept. 22 describe how their movement has “morphed” since its inception in 2009.

Instead of staging rallies in front of the Capitol in Washington or various statehouses, the tea party is focused on legislative initiatives that will have a more lasting impact, attendees of the Virginia Tea Party’s fall summit meeting told The Daily Signal.

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Poll: Three-Fourths of Americans Oppose Central Plank of FIRST STEP Act

Respondents back Trump opposition to release for drug dealers

An overwhelming majority of Americans oppose a federal sentencing change which would grant early release to those convicted of dealing hard drugs, a new poll released Thursday shows.

These results suggest that Americans would be unlikely to support the FIRST STEP Act, a criminal justice reform bill which has stalled out in the Senate following President Donald Trump's withdrawal of support, but which a coalition of Democrats and reform-minded Republicans still hope to pass in the next session.

The survey was administered by ORC International and commissioned by the Foundation for Safeguarding Justice, a group which represents the National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys, who are opposed to FIRST STEP. ORC asked respondents if they would "support or oppose a proposal to reduce penalties for traffickers in heroin, fentanyl, and similar drugs?" with 74 percent saying they would oppose the proposal. Majorities opposed the idea across all demographic groups, including both genders, three races, and all age groups.

This response matters because FIRST STEP's primary effect, if implemented, would be to reduce the number of federal prisoners by altering the system's "good time" credit rules, making it easier for convicts to be released early if they completed certain education, training, and other reformatory programs. Importantly, the good time credit expansion would not apply to violent offenders. But, as opponents of the bill—including Trump—have protested, the expansion would apply to federal drug offenders, over 99 percent of whom are traffickers.

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America's Disastrous Occupation Of Afghanistan Turns 17

...And the Taliban are in their strongest position in just that many years.

America has now passed the 17-year mark in Afghanistan. U.S. troops have been fighting there for longer than the Revolutionary War, Civil War, World War I, and World War II combined. Yet Washington is further away than ever from anything that might pass for victory.

And for what?

After so many years of senseless combat, Erik Prince’s proposal to turn the conflict over to contractors almost sounds reasonable. His lobbying efforts in Kabul have not been notably successful, but some day American personnel will come home. And then Washington’s friends in Afghanistan will find themselves on their own.

Seventeen years ago the Bush administration was forced to act. After the 9/11 attacks, it was imperative to disrupt if not destroy al-Qaeda and punish the Taliban regime for hosting terrorist training camps. Washington quickly succeeded: al-Qaeda was degraded and dispersed, the Taliban was overthrown and punished. Washington should have left as quickly as it came. But the Bush administration had other hopes: to create a friendly, liberal, democratic state in Central Asia.

If there was ever a chance to establish a stable regime in Kabul, it was right after the Taliban’s ouster. However, the Bush administration immediately turned to Iraq, which had nothing to do with 9/11. That shift allowed for a Taliban revival. Even after twice increasing force levels—which peaked at 110,000 U.S. and 30,000 allied troops in 2011—the Obama administration was only able to limit the insurgency’s reach. Around that time I twice visited Afghanistan, and found that private, off-the-record opinions of allied military personnel, civilian contractors, and Afghan officials were uniformly pessimistic.

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Newt Gingrich: Here's a leader with a plan to genuinely control our southern border. He needs our support

When House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., introduced the Build the Wall, Enforce the Law Act he set the stage for a vital national debate on important questions.

Does our safety matter? Does the safety of our children matter? Does the safety of our neighborhoods and communities matter?

Every American should be grateful that McCarthy is boldly setting out a plan to genuinely control our southern border and provided the resources and organization needed. He has written a bill that he says the House will vote on in December.

When contrasted with the open borders bill of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. – which every Democratic Senate incumbent has co-sponsored – the choice between the two parties is clear.

Republicans will control the border. Democrats will throw the border wide open to anyone who wants to enter.

The American people can decide which future is safer and more desirable.

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https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/newt-gingrich-gop-bill-to-build-a-wall-on-our-southern-border-will-save-american-lives

Veritas Undercover Exposes MO Sen. McCaskill Hiding Liberal Agenda From Moderate Voters: "People Just Can't Know That"

In the third undercover video filmed by Project Veritas during the ongoing 2018 election season, Missouri Senator McCaskill's considerably more liberal views - "essentially the same as [Obama's]" - are exposed as she and her campaign staff conceals them in order to court moderate voters... and she needs them as her and her opponent are essentially tied:

Via ProjectVeritasAction.com,

Said James O’Keefe, founder and president of Project Veritas Action:

“This undercover report shows just how broken our political system has become. Senator McCaskill hides her true views from voters because she knows they won’t like them.”

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Ten Years After The Last Meltdown, Ron Paul Asks "Is Another One Around the Corner?"

September marked a decade since the bursting of the housing bubble, which was followed by the stock market meltdown and the government bailout of the big banks and Wall Street. Last week’s frantic stock market sell-off indicates the failure to learn the lesson of 2008 makes another meltdown inevitable.

In 2001-2002 the Federal Reserve responded to the economic downturn caused by the bursting of the technology bubble by pumping money into the economy. This new money ended up in the housing market. This was because the so-called conservative Bush administration, like the “liberal” Clinton administration before it, was using the Community Reinvestment Act and government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to make mortgages available to anyone who wanted one — regardless of income or credit history.

Banks and other lenders eagerly embraced this “ownership society”’ agenda with a “lend first, ask questions when foreclosing” policy. The result was the growth of subprime mortgages, the rush to invest in housing, and millions of Americans finding themselves in homes they could not afford.

When the housing bubble burst, the government should have let the downturn run its course in order to correct the malinvestments made during the phony, Fed-created boom. This may have caused some short-term pain, but it would have ensured the recovery would be based on a solid foundation rather than a bubble of fiat currency.

Of course Congress did exactly the opposite, bailing out Wall Street and the big banks. The Federal Reserve cut interest rates to historic lows and embarked on a desperate attempt to inflate the economy via QE 1, 2, and 3.

Low interest rates and quantitative easing have left the Fed with a dilemma. In order to avoid a return to 1970s-era inflation — or worse, it must raise interest rates and draw down its balance sheet. However, raising rates too much risks popping what financial writer Graham Summers calls the “everything bubble.”

Today credit card debt is over a trillion dollars, student loan debt is at 1.5 trillion dollars, there is a bubble in auto loans, and there is even a new housing bubble. But the biggest part of the everything bubble is the government bubble. Federal debt is over 21 trillion dollars and expanding by tens of thousands of dollars per second.

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Elizabeth Warren Melts Down in Wake of DNA Disaster

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) launched a bizarre Twitter rant late Monday afternoon following the disastrous rollout of DNA results that further debunkedher decades-long claim to American Indian ancestry.

Warren’s thread of 20-plus (and counting) tweets began at about 5:30 p.m. ET, where she attempted to both insult President Trump and defend herself.

In her first tweet, and without any evidence, Warren made the outlandish claim that Trump “makes creepy physical threats about me.” The truth is that all Trump has ever done is ridicule her false claims about being Cherokee.

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Democrats Gain Huge Fundraising Advantage in 2018 Elections

A flood of donations has allowed Democratic candidates to outspend GOP candidates by almost 2:1 in 80 competitive districts since July, according to an analysis by the Associated Press.

The donations will allow Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s Democratic House candidates to spend $50 million on advertising more than GOP candidates in the run-up to election day, accordingto the Washington Post.

Much of the extra funding comes from small-dollar donations via the Act Blue website, which offers Democrats an easy way to direct donations to their favored local candidates.USA Today reported in August:

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Keith Ellison's lead vanishing amid domestic abuse allegations

Embattled Democrat Rep. Keith Ellison’s lead in the Minnesota Attorney General election appears to be vanishing amid allegations of domestic violence against his ex-girlfriend.

The congressman’s bid to become the top law enforcement official in the blue state was supposed to be an easy task for a popular Democrat who holds one of the top positions within the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

But Ellison’s lead has taken a dramatic cut since Karen Monahan came forward with her story in August detailing the physical and emotional abuse she suffered allegedly at the hands of Ellison.

In one particular incident, Ellison allegedly dragged her from a bed and shouted “F--- you, b---“ and “I hate you.” She also released a 2017 medical document in which she identified the congressman as the cause of her “emotional and physical abuse.”

Recent polls indicate that Ellison in a dead heat race with Doug Wardlow, the Republican opponent, according to the New York Times. The poll also found that 40 percent surveyed voters said the domestic abuse allegations “are a factor” in whether to vote for the Democrat. Another poll shows the congressman leading by five points.

Ellison has denied all the allegations and allowed the party to review Monahan’s allegations. The state Democratic Party hired Democratic Party-affiliated lawyer Susan Ellingstad whose draft report cleared him of wrongdoing.

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Turkish officials claim police found evidence Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in Saudi consulate

Turkish officials told reporters Tuesday that police have found evidence that Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Turkish police conducted a search of the consulate Monday and Tuesday and claim to have found "certain evidence" that Khashoggi was indeed murdered there, according to the Associated Press.

Investigators spent roughly nine hours searching the consulate for clues as to the reason for Khashoggi's disappearance. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the search was complicated because some of the rooms inside the consulate were freshly painted, raising some questions.

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Pat Buchanan Asks "Should The US-Saudi Alliance Be Saved?"

Over the weekend Donald Trump warned of “severe punishment” if an investigation concludes that a Saudi hit team murdered Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Riyadh then counter-threatened, reminding us that, as the world’s largest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia “plays an impactful and active role in the global economy.”

Message: Sanction us, and we may just sanction you.

Some of us yet recall how President Nixon’s rescue of Israel in the 1973 Yom Kippur War triggered a Saudi oil embargo that led to months of long gas lines in the United States, and contributed to Nixon’s fall.

Yesterday, a week after Jared Kushner had been assured by his friend Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that Khashoggi walked out of the consulate, Trump put through a call to King Salman himself.

According to a Trump tweet, the king denied “any knowledge of whatever may have happened ‘to our Saudi Arabian citizen.’”

Trump said he was “immediately” sending Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Riyadh to meet with the king on the crisis. The confrontation is escalating. Crown Prince Mohammed and King Salman have both now put their nation’s honor and credibility on the line.

Both are saying that what the Turks claim they can prove — Khashoggi was tortured and murdered in the consulate, cut up, and his body parts flown to Saudi Arabia — is a lie.

For Trump and the U.S., this appears a classic case of the claims of international morality clashing with the claims of national interest.

The archetype occurred in the mid-1870s when Ottoman Turks perpetrated a slaughter of Bulgarian Christians under their rule.

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OPINION: Mueller’s Jig Is Up — But That’s Not Enough

The Mueller witch hunt is effectively over — not because Mr. Mueller had not planned to drag this out until he could concoct a crime against Mr. Trump or a member of his family but rather because the jig is up.

Have you noticed how long it has been since anyone even suggested that the president sit down with the “special counsel” for an interview?

Mueller’s raison d’etre was the outrageous and purposely propagandized prevarication that the Trump campaign and even Mr. Trump himself “colluded” with Russia to rig the 2016 presidential election against Hillary Clinton.

The Democrats who perpetrated this fraud are not only masters of projection and deception, but they took their playbook of personal destruction to a whole new level.

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The FBI DELIBERATELY IGNORED ‘Golden Emails,’ Crucial Abedin Messages And More

The Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Hillary Clinton have aHUGE Weiner problem that is even bigger than we first realized.

According to the recently released inspector general report, on September 28 and 29, 2016 the New York office of the FBI immediately reported to the Washington headquarters its discovery of, first, 141,000 and then 350,000 emails on the laptop of Anthony Weiner — also known as “Carlos Danger,” a now-convicted sex offender. Mr. Weiner is the husband of Hillary Clinton’s inseparable aide Huma Abedin.

Now we know by October 4, the New York office had found 700,000 emails. The New York agents had seen and reported to FBI leadership they had seen email headers, all domain names, Mrs. Clinton’s initials on one sensitive but not classified document, and the missing BlackBerry backups.

The New York agents described it as the “entire file” of all Hillary Clinton emails from 2006 until 2016, including the BlackBerry messages that Comey himself had referred to as “the golden emails.”

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Police Officer Charged With Raping Woman During Late Night Traffic Stop

An unnamed woman has accused Ryan Macklin, a six-year veteran police officer in Maryland, of sexually assaulting her during a late-night traffic stop on Thursday night. After a preliminary investigation, Macklin was charged with rape and a host of other charges.

The unidentified woman appears to be in the country illegally, though this has not been confirmed. Maryland's Prince George’s County Police Chief Hank Stawinski repeatedly said that the woman was targeted because she was female, and not because of her "immigration status."

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WATCH: Hillary Clinton Rides To The Rescue Of Sen. Bob Menendez, Crashes (Literally)

Failed Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton made an appearance at a fundraiser for Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) last night and made a big impression on her way in the door.

Well, sort of. She made a big impression in a wall.

Clinton's black SUV rolled up to the fundraiser, then jumped a curb and crashed into the venue's side wall.

WATCH:

Sen. Rand Paul: It's time to rethink America's relationship with Saudi Arabia -- It is not our friend

It’s time to rethink America’s relationship with the Saudi Kingdom.

It is no surprise to most Americans that we help arm, train, equip and otherwise prop up the government of Saudi Arabia. The Saudis have long bought and paid for many politicians and for an image of moderate pro-Americanism as part of the face they show the world.

But the face presented simply is not reality. It is time to use our leverage to force change in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We can start by cutting off our military aid and weapons sales to the kingdom.

The killing of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi is many things, including brutal and terrifying to those who report on the Saudis. What it also should be, in light of what it exposes about the Saudi regime, is a turning point in our relationship, where we as Americans stop and ask ourselves what we have been propping up and supporting.

The fate of Khashoggi might come as a shock to many Americans, but it’s nothing new. A U.N. report reveals that over “3,000 allegations of torture were formally recorded” against Saudi Arabia between 2009 to 2015, according to The Guardian, with the report also noting a lack of a single prosecution of an official for the conduct.

I have been attempting to expose this for many years. Others in the U.S. government know it, but either won’t admit it or attempt to brush it aside. It’s a fact that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the largest sponsor of radical Islam on the planet, and no other nation is even close.

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https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/sen-rand-paul-its-time-to-rethink-americas-relationship-with-saudi-arabia-it-is-not-our-friend

Trump threatens to cut U.S. aid to Honduras over immigrants

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to withdraw funding and aid from Honduras if it does not stop a caravan of people that is heading to the United States.

"The United States has strongly informed the President of Honduras that if the large Caravan of people heading to the U.S. is not stopped and brought back to Honduras, no more money or aid will be given to Honduras, effective immediately!" Trump said on Twitter.

Up to 3,000 migrants crossed from Honduras into Guatemala on Monday on a trek northward, after a standoff with police in riot gear and warnings from Washington that migrants should not try to enter the United States illegally.

The crowd more than doubled in size from Saturday, when some 1,300 people set off from northern Honduras in what has been dubbed "March of the Migrant," an organizer said. The migrants plan to seek refugee status in Mexico or pass through to the United States.

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Sen. Dim Kaine: 'We've Got' to 'Fight in the Streets'

Commenting on how Democrats can strengthen their party by effectively targeting Trump administration policies they oppose, Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said liberals must "fight in the courts, fight in the streets" and "fight at the ballot box."

On Tuesday morning's Morning Joe (MSNBC), co-host Mika Brzezinski asked, "So, broad question about the future of the Democratic Party, especially given your firsthand experience with what we've all been through. There's so much going on here that we clearly see, you know, places where you -- we can criticize what the administration is doing, but how does the party rebuild? How do you prevent overreach in a situation like this? How do you prevent a continuation of the bubble in a situation like this, and how does the party reclaim its reach across the country while fighting these battles?"

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Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown Urges Amnesty for Illegals with Jobs

The federal government should stop enforcing deportation laws against illegal migrants who have jobs, Ohio Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown said in a campaign debate with his GOP opponent, former Rep. Jim Renacci.

Even as Brown urging a national amnesty for illegal-immigrant workers and their children, he also said taxpayers should pay to repair the damages caused by the mass illegal-immigration which he supports.

The demand from the flood of illegal immigrants — up to 22 million nationwide — raises rents and real-estate prices, but Brown said housing is too expensive and the government should provide more cheap housing.

More here

GOP Senator Rescinds Praise of McCaskill, Asks Campaign to Remove Him From Ad

A Republican senator, whose compliment was featured in a Claire McCaskill campaign ad, rescinded his praise this week and asked the Missouri Democratic senator to remove his name and image from the ad.

The newest McCaskill ad, titled "Independence," trumpets her moderate record and her history of working across the aisle. "It's why Republican Senator Pat Roberts said, ‘if you want to pick somebody to work in a bipartisan manner … to get things done — you pick Claire McCaskill," the ad's narration says, over a picture of the Kansas Republican and McCaskill.

But Roberts, who has endorsed McCaskill's Republican opponent Josh Hawley, took back the remark and asked for his name, image, and quote to be removed from the ad.

"Senator Claire McCaskill’s days of bipartisanship are long over," Roberts said in a statementissued through the Hawley campaign. "On critical issues over the last year, I’ve watched her vote to raise taxes on Missourians and oppose conservative judges including Judge Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court. I’m very disappointed that she’s sided with her party’s leadership and opposed the Trump Administration against the best interests of Missouri at every turn."

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TV reporter fired for wearing MAGA hat while covering Trump rally

A television reporter in southern Minnesota might need a new hat saying “Make Me Employed Again.”

James Bunner, a multimedia journalist for NBC affiliate KTTC-TV in Austin, was fired Friday, reportedly for wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat while covering President Trump’s rally in Rochester on Thursday.

As the rally got underway, images of Bunner wearing the bright red hat began appearing on Twitter

Noel Sederstrom, the station’s news director, told the Star Tribune of Minneapolis that the station’s policy does not allow staff members to wear apparel from political campaigns while covering stories.

Bunner had uploaded a video of himself appearing to celebrate while dancing in a newsroom on Trump’s inauguration day.

“Me watching the Trump inauguration,” he wrote in the description.

Sederstrom told BuzzFeed News that Bunner was fired for wearing the hat during Thursday’s rally, not because of the political views displayed on his social media pages.

Bunner doesn’t have a listed phone number and didn’t immediately return a social media message seeking comment Friday.

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A Viewer Writes: Salisbury University Coach Placed On Administrative Leave

Though it was interesting Salisbury University head basketball coach Andrew Sachs was put on administrative leave but no one knows why.

Mexico Vows to Stop Migrant Caravan If It Ignores Immigration Law

Mexico’s immigration authorities vowed to stop members of a migrant caravan consisting of roughly 1,300 individuals from Honduras trying to make their way north, eventually to the U.S. border. Those wanting to enter Mexico will have to follow immigration law or they will be turned back, officials say.

In a prepared statement, the National Immigration Institute (INM) claimed that members of the migrant caravan wanting to enter Mexico would have to request a visa through their consulate and follow immigration law. Those who refuse would be turned back.

Over the weekend, more than 1,300 migrants began an organized caravan in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, publicly claiming that their goal was the U.S. Border, Breitbart Texas reported. The caravan was apparently organized through social media and started on Saturday. By Monday, the group already entered Guatemala as they made their way toward the border with Mexico. The statements made by group members point to a lack of jobs and violence in Honduras as their reason to head north.

Most recently, President Donald Trump tweeted the federal government informed Honduras that if the caravan was not stopped reversed, the U.S. would stop all foreign aid to the nation.

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'Pull over NOW': Mom filmed whipping teen son with belt after he took her new BMW

Liza Campero's 14-year-old brother will at least have to go the rest of the year without his cell phone, PlayStation 4 and the door on his bedroom.

But the high school freshman from El Paso, Texas, rides into his punishment on a wave of social media attention after he went joyriding in his mother's new BMW last week.

In a series of now viral tweets, Campero filmed her furious mother as she intercepted the boy on the road like a hawk and whipped him with a belt near oncoming traffic.

The boy planned to sneak out with the car to see his girlfriend. But it appears he underestimated his mother's innate tracking ability.

"[My brother] was embarrassed at first," she said. "But he went back to school yesterday, and everybody tells him he's like a legend."

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Big Pharma Trying to Undermine Trump Drug Price Legislation

As the Trump administration pushes for drug price transparency, the pharmaceutical industry is already trying to subvert the coming changes.

On a Monday morning press call, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) CEO Stephen Ubl said they believe “just including list prices is not sufficient and would be misleading for several reasons.” He contends that since list prices rarely reflect what consumers actually pay through insurance, the price information could discourage patients from seeking needed medical attention.

Instead, PhRMA wants to provide in-ad links to websites that would reportedly feature a “drug’s list price, an expected range of possible patient out-of-pocket costs and financial support that is available to help consumers pay for their drugs.”

PhRMA’s move did not impress Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar, who does not believe this half-measure is nearly enough:

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"Why Don't You Go Kill Yourself?" - Two GOP Candidates Assaulted In Minnesota

Police say they've identified two suspects who allegedly attacked two Republican candidates for Minnesota's state legislature over the past week - attacks that have helped justify President Trump's warning that the Democratic Party has become the "party of Mob Rule" in the wake of the widespread outrage and street demonstrations provoked by the confirmation of SCOTUS Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

According to the National Review, Republican state representative Sarah Anderson was punched in the arm last week after confronting a man who was vandalizing lawn signs promoting Republican candidates. Over the weekend, Shane Mekeland, a first-time Republican candidate, received a concussion after he was sucker punched while speaking with constituents at a restaurant in his assembly district.

Republican state representative Sarah Anderson

Anderson said she was terrified by her assailant, who only backed off when she climbed back in her car and drove away.

"It was just insane. He was charging at me, saying, 'Why don’t you go kill yourself?' To have someone physically coming after you and attacking you is just disheartening."

Charges against the suspects, who have not been publicly identified, will likely be filed in the coming days, according to local police. Meanwhile, Mekeland has continued to suffer memory loss and sensitivity to light stemming from the concussion he received during the assault.

"I was so overtaken by surprise and shock, and if this is the new norm, this is not what I signed up for," Mekeland said.

The attacks occurred in the days after the Democratic-Farmer-Labor party suspended a member of its communications staff for a week after he wrote in a Facebook post that Democrats would [bring Republicans] to the guillotine" during the upcoming midterm election, per the Washington Free Beacon.

Mekeland expressed disappointment with Democrats for not condemning his attacker and for not doing more to punish the communications staffer.

"He's a political staffer so you'd think if anybody should know boundaries, I think that'd be it," he said.

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Most states facing confirmed or possible cases of polio-like illness

This year, more than half of all US states have had confirmed or possible cases of acute flaccid myelitis, the polio-like illness that can cause paralysis and mostly affects children, according to an exclusive CNN analysis.

In total, CNN found 47 confirmed cases and 49 more that were suspected or being investigated, for a total of 96.

CNN found that Colorado had 14 confirmed cases, more than any other state, followed by Texas with eight and Minnesota with six.

Acute flaccid myelitis, also called AFM, is a rare but serious condition that affects the nervous system, with a particular focus on the gray matter of the spinal cord.

The CDC has seen an increase in cases since August 2014. Although the cause remains a mystery in the majority of cases, the 2014 jump coincided with "a national outbreak of severe respiratory illness among people caused by enterovirus D68," though it wasn't found in all patients, according to the CDC.

Other enteroviruses have also been found in patients with AFM. For example, 11 of the Colorado cases of AFM this year have tested positive for EV A71, a rare type of enterovirus not usually seen in the US, rather in Asia and other parts of the world, according to state epidemiologist Dr. Rachel Herlihy.

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Treasury Dept Official Leaked Trump Associates’ Financial Records To BuzzFeed

A U.S. Treasury Department official was arrested Wednesday and charged with providing a reporter with sensitive reports related to suspicious banking transactions of several Trump associates.

Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards, a senior official at Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), was arrested for leaking documents known as Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) that were cited in a series of news articles published by BuzzFeed News.

She is charged with one count of unauthorized disclosures of suspicious activity reports and one count of conspiracy to make unauthorized disclosures of suspicious activity reports. The case is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan.

According to a government complaint, Edwards leaked documents of banking records for former Trump associates Paul Manafort and Rick Gates. She also leaked financial reports ofMaria Butina, a Russian national indicted on charges of acting as an undercover Russian agent.

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Facebook Deletes Disabled Vet’s Page Without Warning — After Taking $300,000 for Ads

Facebook blacklisted the conservative news page run by disabled Air Force veteran Brian Kolfage with no warning or explanation — after he reportedly spent more than $300,000 on Facebook advertising.

On his new website which aims to put an end to social media censorship, Air Force veteran and triple-amputee Brian Kolfage explains who he is and the challenges he’s facing stating: “I’m a veteran of The United States Air Force. I was severely wounded in combat, on 9/11/2004 while serving in Iraq I lost both my legs entirely and my right hand. I’m the most severely wounded US Airman to survive.”

Kolfage continued: “I’m not a ‘conservative.’ I’m not a ‘liberal.’ I’m an American, with deep beliefs in what our country stands for. I proved this by vowing to protect and fighting for America greatest tenant: Free Speech. Many Americans have fought for these political freedoms … freedom of speech … and every American has enjoyed those freedoms… UNTIL TODAY. October 11th Facebook shut down thousands of Facebook accounts for their political opinions stating that they don’t have a ‘legitimate political argument’. STOP SOCIAL MEDIA CENSORSHIP NOW!”

Kolfage was the administrator of a number of Facebook pages, notably the pages Right Wing News and Military Grade Coffee, both of which were deleted recently as Facebook attempts to crack down on what it considers “misinformation” on the platform. Right Wing News had more than 3 million followers at the time of its blacklisting by Facebook.

More here

Two cops face dismissal after they fired at an unarmed teen driving a stolen car

Two Chicago police officers are facing dismissal after they fired on a stolen Jaguar being driven by an unarmed teen who was then killed by a third officer.

Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson found that Officers Michael Coughlin Jr. and his partner that day, Jose Torres violated department rules when they fired on the Jaguar being driven by 18-year-old Paul O'Neal in July of 2016.

The case now goes to the Chicago Police Board which will determine which rules have been violated and if the officers should lose their jobs, according to theChicago Tribune.

While Torres and Coughlin's shots did not strike O'Neal, when the teen ditched the car and started running through backyards in the South Shore neighborhood, Officer Jose Diaz believed he was armed and fired at him.

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MeSioux Movement Mourns - When Warren Woke Up To A World Without Her

Elizabeth Warren’s national political career is over. And malignant narcissist that she is she keeps trying to score rhetorical points against Donald Trump, thinking if she can just get in a good one, she’ll stop being a laughing stock.

But, that’s not going to happen. She’s accumulating nicknames now at a rate that is faster than black men are leaving the Democrats.

Fauxcahontas

Lie-awatha

Last of the Fauxhicans

Fraudazuma

Fakeagawea

After being thoroughly rebuked by the Cherokee Nation for using her DNA results (which, by the way, make her more Aryan than Hitler) for cheap political purposes, Warren continues to debase herself stridently rallying her supporters to force Trump to pay up on his ‘bet’ with her that she is significantly Native American.

She went from possibly being of Cherokee origin to being the founding member of the Slapaho tribe.

Because, seriously, someone needs to slap some sense into her.

And if this incident proves anything it is that she’s surrounded by the worst political strategists this side of Hillary Clinton.

My dad used to say, “It is better to be thought an idiot than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.” Honestly that may be the longest sentence my dad ever spoke aloud.

It’s too bad Lizzie’s dad didn’t teach her that.

But, what’s truly awe-inspiring about this beginning of the Me Sioux Movement here is how unbelievably tone deaf Warren is to how things work in politics now.

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New York Forest Rangers stretched thin as state park tourism soars

Leaf-peeping season is peaking all over the Adirondacks and Catskills. As New Yorkers from the city and suburbs swarm to see nature's yearly show and get in a good hike or canoe trip, state forest rangers are concerned about managing more tourists and more land without additional rangers.

The New York State Forest Ranger force, part of the Department of Environmental Conservation, numbers around 134 across the state. Most are located in the Adirondack and Catskill Parks. Known as the Forest Preserve, this land is dedicated by legislation passed more than a century ago to remain "forever wild."

The Adirondack Park is nearly 6 million acres on its own — 2.6 million of that state parkland — the largest publicly protected area in the continental United States; the Catskills parkland adds another 700,000 acres. The state has actually added land to the preservation area in recent years. It's a great accomplishment, but one that has grown forest rangers' responsibilities but not their workforce.

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The Results Are In

State Department provided 'clearly false' statements, 'shocked' federal judge says

In a combative exchange at a hearing Friday in Washington, D.C., a federal judge unabashedly accused career State Department officials of lying and signing "clearly false" affidavits to derail a series of lawsuits seeking information about former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's private email server and her handling of the 2012 terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth said he was "shocked" and "dumbfounded" when he learned that the Department of Justice's Inspector General (IG) had granted immunity to former Clinton chief of staff Cheryl Mills during its investigation into the use of Clinton's server, according to a court transcript of his remarks.

"I had myself found that Cheryl Mills had committed perjury and lied under oath in a published opinion I had issued in a Judicial Watch case where I found her unworthy of belief, and I was quite shocked to find out she had been given immunity in — by the Justice Department in the Hillary Clinton email case," Lamberth said during Friday's hearing.

The DOJ IG, Michael Horowitz, noted in his report that it was "inconsistent with typical investigative strategy" for the FBI to allow Mills to sit in during the agency's interview of Clinton during the email probe, given that classified information traveled through Mills' personal email account. "[T]here are serious potential ramifications when one witness attends another witness’ interview," the IG wrote.

More here


https://www.foxnews.com/politics/state-department-provided-clearly-false-statements-to-derail-hillary-clinton-doc-requests-federal-judge-says

MEF uncovers Obama-era scandal; Congress investigates

An investigative report by the Middle East Forum (MEF) has prompted the US House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to initiate an investigation into a 2014 decision by the Obama administration.

In 2004 the U.S. Treasury Department listed a Sudanese organization-- the Islamic Relief Agency (ISRA, aka the Islamic Africa Relief Agency)-- a “Specially-Designated Terrorist Organization”. It did so because ISRA provided "direct financial support" to Osama bin Laden; "was responsible for moving funds to the Palestinian territories for use in terrorist activities"; and “serve[s] as a conduit to Hamas.”

The Forum’s Sam Westrop exposed in National Review that in 2014, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) approved a $200,000 grant to the Islamic Relief Agency (ISRA) in Sudan through World Vision, Inc.

The project was temporarily suspended in November 2014 after USAID and the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) were alerted to ISRA’s terror links.

However, even after confirming ISRA’s status as a sanctioned entity, OFAC nonetheless authorized a $125,000 transfer to ISRA in May 2015, after “close collaboration and consultations with the Department of State.”

The Forum’s findings resulted from a successful Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against USAID, countless hours poring through documents, and working with an investigator in Khartoum.

More here

Georgia Democrats Cry Racism to Mask Voter Fraud

In news even less surprising than Democrat Sen. Elizabeth “Fauxcahontas” Warren’s DNA test showing she is 99.9% white, the Georgia Democrat Party is using accusations of racism and voter suppression as a smokescreen to hide their own efforts at voter fraud.

Georgia’s Democrat/Socialist gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams has filed a lawsuit claiming Georgia’s Secretary of State (and Republican gubernatorial candidate) Brian Kemp has disenfranchised 53,000 mostly minority voters by flagging their voter applications pending verification under Georgia’s so-called “Exact Match” law.

Where to begin?

First, and most importantly, the law does not prevent anyone from voting. Democrats claim that a simple spelling discrepancy is enough to prevent a voter from casting a ballot, but that is a blatant lie. In fact, the phrase “exact match” appears nowhere in the law.

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Why Require Voter ID?

With the midterms less than a month away, the idea of election integrity should be on everyone’s minds. Unfortunately, Democrats and their Leftmedia super PAC would have us believe that voter fraud is a myth concocted by the Right to keep minorities from voting. Instead, they would rather focus on the phantom Trump-Russia collusion story that has been refuted by all but the most rabid anti-Trump leftists.

For Democrats, it’s easy to believe that Russian ads on Facebook can swing an election away from Hillary Clinton. The idea that the millions of duplicate and dead voters on the nation’s electoral rolls could be unduly swinging elections, however, is a bridge too far.

Judicial Watch’s Election Integrity Project released a report last year that found that America’s voter rolls were in chaos. By crunching numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey and the federal Election Assistance Commission, Judicial Watch discovered that there were 3.5 million more registered voters than actual eligible adult voters in the United States.

Think that might be relevant again with the November midterms around the corner?

National Review’s Deroy Murdock took a deep dive into the numbers...

Supreme Court to hear a case that could determine whether socials can censor their users

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case that could determine whether users can challenge social media companies on free speech grounds.

The case, Manhattan Community Access Corp. v. Halleck, No. 17-702, centers on whether a private operator of a public access television network is considered a state actor, which can be sued for First Amendment violations.

The case could have broader implications for social media and other media outlets-- in particular, a broad ruling from the high court could open the country's largest technology companies up to First Amendment lawsuits.

That could shape the ability of companies like Facebook, Twitter and Alphabet's Google to control the content on their platforms as lawmakers clamor for more regulation and activists on the left and right spar over issues related to censorship and harassment.

The Supreme Court accepted the case on Friday.

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U.S. Returns To #1 In Economic Category For First Time Since 2008

The United States returned to the top spot as the most competitive country in the world for the first time since 2008 after it made the second highest overall gain from the previous year's ranking from the World Economic Forum.

The top five countries were the U.S., Singapore, Germany, Switzerland, and Japan — all of which saw their scores increase in 2017, The Wall Street Journal reported.

"Economic recovery is well underway, with the global economy projected to grow almost 4% in 2018 and 2019,” the report stated, adding that "recovery remains vulnerable to a range of risks and potential shocks."

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Liberal profs launch campaign to pack Supreme Court

Less than a month after the confirmation of Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh entrenched a 5-4 conservative majority on the Supreme Court, leading law professors are urging Democrats to expand the size of all of the nation's federal courts and pack them with liberals.

Far-left Harvard professors Mark Tushnet and Laurence Tribe are lending their support to the so-called "1.20.21 Project," which was launched by political science professor Aaron Belkin on Wednesday to counter "Republican obstruction, theft and procedural abuse" of the federal judiciary.

That rhetoric reflects the professors' apparent surprise after Democrats lost the 2016 presidential election, which they had hoped would allow the party to continue appointing liberal judges and justices.

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Kicked Her To The Curb, Eh...


Bring It On...


When Will We Stop These Liberals?


Yeah, Uh Huh!


Idiot!


Very Creative!


Dan Said It Was Going To Be Like This...


Overdose Deaths in Maryland Continue to Increase, while Wicomico County Experiences a Decrease

(Salisbury, MD) On Friday October 12, 2018, The Maryland Department of Health released the second quarter Unintentional Drug and Alcohol Related Intoxication Death report which documented an 11% increase in overdose deaths in the state of Maryland when compared to the same time period last year (January-June 2018). Although the state is seeing an overall increase, Wicomico County is seeing a reduction in lives lost, dropping from 19 lives lost from January to June of 2017, to 17 lives lost from January to June of 2018.

This report came on the same day Wicomico County recognized and honored lives lost due to overdose in our community, at the County’s rescheduled Overdose Awareness Day event. Over two hundred people were given access to community resources and Naloxone trainings in an attempt to educate and raise awareness around this important topic.

“It is events such as these that aid in reducing the number of overdoses experienced in Wicomico County. Not only are we providing resources to the community, we are humanizing those individuals struggling with the disease of addiction in an attempt to break the surrounding stigma,” states Christina Bowie-Simpson, Opioid Coordinator for Wicomico County. Prevention and treatment efforts continue to be a priority for the County with hopes that lives lost to addiction will continue to decrease.

If you or someone you love is struggling with a substance use disorder, you can find help at BeforeItsTooLateMD.org or by calling 211 and pressing 1. You can also contact the Community Outreach Addictions Team (COAT) at 443-783-6875.

Indiana Man Shows His Appreciation To a Convoy of Soldiers By Paying Their Entire Tab

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