Day: December 20, 2016

Trump Seen Paying Off for Putin With Sanctions Relief Next Year 18 minutes ago

The U.S. will start easing its penalties, imposed over the showdown in Ukraine in 2014, during the next 12 months, according to 55 percent of respondents in a Bloomberg survey, up from 10 percent in an October poll. Without the restrictions, Russia’s economic growth would get a boost equivalent to 0.2 percentage point of gross domestic product next year and 0.5 percentage point in 2018, according to the median estimates in the poll.  Donald Trump’s surprise election in November is feeding expectations of a sea change in U.S. policy even after the European Union this week rolled over its economic penalties against Russia for an additional six months.

Trump Seen Paying Off for Putin With Sanctions Relief Next Year 18 minutes ago

The U.S. will start easing its penalties, imposed over the showdown in Ukraine in 2014, during the next 12 months, according to 55 percent of respondents in a Bloomberg survey, up from 10 percent in an October poll. Without the restrictions, Russia’s economic growth would get a boost equivalent to 0.2 percentage point of gross domestic product next year and 0.5 percentage point in 2018, according to the median estimates in the poll.  Donald Trump’s surprise election in November is feeding expectations of a sea change in U.S. policy even after the European Union this week rolled over its economic penalties against Russia for an additional six months.

9 Non-Fiction Books To Give As Presents This Year

Off-Duty Vegas Officer Shot at Robber; Suspect Arrested Las Vegas police are investigating an officer-involved shooting after a robbery suspect allegedly fought with an off-duty officer who fired his weapon during the scuffle at an animal hospital. Protest Outside Nevada’s Electoral College Vote About 40 protesters gathered outside the Nevada Capitol to express their opposition to President-elect Donald Trump.

MSNBC Host Battles it Out With NC Gop Director Over Repeal of Bathroom Bill

The Democrats in North Carolina got what they wanted: HB2 – or the “bathroom bill” – will be fully repealed today, through a special session of the state’s General Assembly. It’s a consolation prize from exiting Governor Pat McCrory to Governor-elect Roy Cooper, who will be, essentially, a lame duck governor for as long as Republicans hold the majority in the state’s House and Senate.

Controlled burns conducted at Carroll Lake

Workers with the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency and Tennessee Department of Forestry conducted controlled burns on what used to be the bottom of Carroll Lake last week in order to clear out some of the vegetation in preparation for the refilling of the lake. Anyone driving by the site of Carroll Lake on Highway 22 last week may have noticed a lot of smoke coming from an area that was once covered by water.

Michelle Obama Tells Oprah She Will Not Run For Office

In her highly hyped White House exit interview with Oprah Winfrey , First Lady Michelle Obama continues to insist she is not interested in running for office. The idea of a Michelle Obama White House probably speaks more to voters regret with the election outcome, FLOTUS speculated in the interview, which aired first on CBS and then on OWN.

With long memories, Crusaders make short work of Vikings

It was no surprise that when the teams met Monday, Village Christian wanted to send a clear message it had not forgotten that loss. As if on cue, Village Christian went on a 20-0 run in the first half that put the game away early and the Crusaders cruised to a 66-39 win at Kennedy to reach the semifinals of the San Fernando Valley Invitational.

Perrin man pleads guilty to scamming cattle marketing agency

Tony Eugene Lyon, 52, of Perrin, pleaded guilty to a federal charge of wire fraud after being arrested in July 2015 for scamming a Nebraska based cattle marketing agency. Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association Special Ranger John Bradshaw led the investigation along with TSCRA Special Ranger Wayne Goodman and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Frank Super.

Will Trump live up to his infrastructure promises?

Even as they maneuver for a share of the $1 trillion in spending Donald Trump promised to rebuild America’s roads, bridges and airports, lobbyists for transportation and utility industries are beginning to wonder whether Trump really meant what he said. From the day he formally entered the presidential race to the moment he declared victory, Trump pledged to rebuild the nation’s aging and inadequate infrastructure.

The Latest: McConnell says no to select panel on Russia

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is rejecting calls for a special Senate investigative committee focused on possible interference in U.S. elections by Russia and other countries. McConnell says a finding by U.S. intelligence officials that Moscow hacked Democratic emails in a bid to elevate Donald Trump “is a serious issue, but it doesn’t require a select committee.”

Aleppo: Obama’s legacy of shame

All decent men and women should condemn the assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey. They should also condemn the deliberate mass bombing of Syrian civilians in Syria by troops under the command of Syrian strongman Bashar Assad and Russian strongman Vladimir Putin.

NSA watchdog put on leave in whistleblower case

Allegations of retaliation against a whistleblower at the National Security Agency have left its top watchdog fighting for his job, according to an intelligence official and another individual familiar with the case. The case could offer some credence to Edward Snowden’s claim that he could not have reported the government’s domestic surveillance program without facing reprisals.

Democrats, liberals most likely to unfriend on Facebook over politics?

Who’d have guessed that the tolerance brigades would be the least tolerant of dissenting political opinion? Oh, let’s not always see the same hands According to the polling firm PRRI , self-identifying Democrats and liberals are much more likely to have unfriended people on Facebook over a political post than any other demographics. Democratic women report the highest level of all, at 30%.

Maureen Dowd: Hillary’s Participation Trophy

Yes, it’s from Maureen Dowd of The New York Times! Can the apocalypse be far behind now? Here is a short primer for the young protesters. If your preferred candidate loses, there is no need for mass hysteria, canceled midterms, safe spaces, crying rooms or group primal screams.

NRL Completes First Flight Of UAV With Custom Hydrogen Fuel Cell

Researchers from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory’s chemistry and tactical electronic warfare divisions completed the first flight of the Ion Tiger unmanned air vehicle with a new hydrogen-powered fuel cell built in-house. The NRL team designed and built a custom fuel cell system capable of up to 5,000 watts, using formed metal-foil bipolar plates, which saved space and weight.

Court to unseal Clinton email search warrant

A federal court in New York is scheduled to release redacted copies Tuesday of the search warrant that allowed the FBI to dig into a trove of Hillary Clinton emails days before the presidential election. The emails were found on a computer belonging to former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of a top Clinton aide.

‘Info leak not by security forces’

Kuala Lumpur: Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Dr Shahidan bin Kassim assured that there was no leak of information from law enforcement agencies and security forces in the Eastern Sabah Security Zone . He said the leak of information was currently focused on “tali barut” , especially among the illegal immigrants in Sabah.

Coal mine rule draws GOP’s ire

The Obama administration Monday unveiled a new rule designed to protect streams and groundwater from coal mining, but the threat of a Republican-led challenge of the measure looms large after President-elect Donald Trump takes office. The Interior Department said in a news release that the rule “updates 33-year-old regulations and establishes clear requirements for responsible surface coal mining that will protect 6,000 miles of streams and 52,000 acres of forests over the next two decades, preserving community health and economic opportunities while meeting the nation’s energy needs.”

Local briefs, Dec. 20, 2016

The three finalists are William DeFord, Michael Grattan III and Kevin Kennedy, all of Grand Junction. The three were nominated Friday by the 21st Judicial District Nominating Commission.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Or just CLICK THIS LINK to start shopping for anything. Don’t worry – anything you buy through it will pay Daily Pundit a commission! Thanks! 1 c Unsalted butter, room temperature 1 c Sugar 1 c Light brown sugar 2 ts Vanilla 2 Extra-large eggs 3 c Flour 1 ts Baking soda 1 ts Salt 24 oz Semisweet chocolate chips 2 c Coarsely chopped toasted pecans Beat together butter and sugars until light and creamy, about 3 minutes with an electric mixer.

Appraising Trump’s pick for secretary of state

Robert Gates served as defense secretary under George W. Bush, a Republican, and then Barack Obama, a Democrat, which qualifies him as an honest broker and independent thinker. How honest? He wrote in September that Donald Trump is “beyond repair” on national security, “stubbornly uninformed about the world” and “unfit to be commander-in-chief.”

[Peter Singer] The empathy trap

Soon after Barack Obama was elected president of the United States, he told a young girl, “We don’t have enough empathy in our world today, and it is up to your generation to change that.” Obama expressed a widespread view, so the title of a new book, “Against Empathy,” by Yale University psychologist Paul Bloom, comes as a shock.

U.S. Electoral College Finalizes Trump’s Victory

The Electoral College has finalized Republican Donald Trump’s election as U.S. president, rejecting a last-minute push by some Democrats to sway its members. The December 19 vote awarding Trump 304 of the 270 votes he needed to claim victory is the next-to-last step in the presidential election process, as laid out in the U.S. Constitution and federal law.

Saudi coalition says used UK-made bombs in Yemen

PanARMENIAN.Net – The Saudi -led coalition fighting in Yemen on Monday, December 19 said it had made “limited use” of British-made cluster bombs, a type of weapon which 100 countries have pledged not to use. In its 21-month campaign against Shiite rebels who have seized much of Yemen, the Saudi-led alliance has faced repeated allegations of killing civilians.

The college bowl explains why Hillary Clinton lost

The excuses for why Hillary lost are many, but like in football, if you fumble on your opponent’s two-yard line, maybe you don’t deserve to win. Consider the University of Michigan vs. The Ohio State University football game Thanksgiving weekend, pitting number 2 against number 3 in Columbus.

Trump owes nothing to the ‘Bush Barnacles’

Hillary Clinton’s Democrats are now three-time losers, having lost the election, lost the recounts, and lost the electoral college, but the Republicans will be winners in 2020 only if they keep their promises. Because they are doomed to fail, we could be witnessing the death throes of the Democratic Party as we know it.