Month: December 2016

Bill to jumpstart research, speed up treatment options

A bill signed by President Barack Obama recently is looking to bring medical breakthroughs and tackle some of the largest health challenges facing Americans. Now a law, the 21st Century Cures Act will speed up the federal review process while reducing bureaucracy needed to approve new medical treatment options.

Trump tweets rattle markets, Mideast, nukes

President-elect Donald Trump long ago earned a reputation for being unpredictable in his statements, but he outdid himself on Thursday. In the span of just a few hours, Trump shook international relations by undercutting the Obama administration over a UN resolution on Israeli settlements, indicated he would ramp up nuclear competition with Russia and then jolted a major defense contractor — and its shareholders — by suggesting he would ask Boeing to replace a fighter jet being made by Lockheed Martin.

Hillary Still Losing Voters a ” Even After Election Day

A post-election poll finds that a tiny number of Trump voters have come to regret their vote, while a group four times larger now says they wish they hadn’t voted for Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton. The poll found that fully 99 percent of Trump’s voters would still pull the lever for him if the election were today instead of a month ago, meaning Trump has only lost one percent of support in the six weeks since Election Day, the New York Post reported this week.

Avon audience sees – Loving’ as major Oscar contender

Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga star in “Loving,” a film about the Virginia couple who won a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1967 making interracial marriages legal throughout the country. Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga star in “Loving,” a film about the Virginia couple who won a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1967 making interracial marriages legal throughout the country.

Clinton wins popular vote by nearly 2.9 million

Hillary Clinton received nearly 2.9 million more votes than President-elect Donald Trump, giving her the largest popular vote margin of any losing presidential candidate. Certified results in all 50 states and the District of Columbia show Clinton winning nearly 65,844,610 million votes – 48 percent – to Trump’s 62,979,636 million votes – 46 percent – according to an analysis by The Associated Press.

Report: Philly Transit Strike Negotiations Cost Half A Million Dollars

Philadelphia’s transit authority spent nearly $500,000 on outside legal counsel during negotiations with striking workers this past month. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority spent $423,388 on outside labor counsel to handle negotiations with Transport Workers Union Local 234 over the contract agreed to after a six-day strike in November, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal .

“President”Trump On Israel

During the past few years the Israel Ambassador to the US, Ron Dermer, has met with Republican leaders, interfered with the American conduct of policy in the Middle East on ground that he, and Prime Minister Netanyahu, believe President Obama hates Jews and hates Israel. Under the administration of Barack Obama the nation of Israel has been provided over SIXTEEN BILLION DOLLARS worth of military assistance, plus money to build a defensive shield against missiles.

Hungary could slash personal income tax to 9 pct in 2018 -minister

Dec 23 Hungary could slash the personal income tax rate to 9 percent from the present 15 percent in 2018 if economic growth climbs above 3 percent on a sustained basis, its economy minister was quoted as saying by business daily Vilaggazdasag on Friday. Earlier this week, Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government, which faces an election in the spring of 2018, raised its economic growth forecast to over 4 percent in the next two years after unveiling a batch of stimulus measures.

Obama Ends List

The one certainty in modern life is that at some point each one of us will discover that our name is on some list. A colleague, who was born in Lebanon was interviewed by FBI agents regarding his membership in a Lebanon group.

The White Establishment

Bill O’Reilly, the man with a quick tongue and ability to write nonsensical books, has created a storm of anger. He charges that any attempt to challenge the Trump victory or seek a Constitutional change in the electoral system is really a dagger pointed to the hearts of those belonging to the White Establishment.

Donna’s Signature Pina Coladas

This alluring corner hideaway is on Williamsburg’s south side, where expensive cocktail bars have replaced the dwindling Puerto Rican neighborhood’s once ubiquitous bodegas, barbershops, and social clubs. So it’s fitting, if somewhat tragic, that the clientele drinking Donna’s signature cocktail, a rum-heavy spin on the piA a colada, are more likely to associate it with spring break than with its status as the national drink of America’s largest territory.

The Don of Hardcore Steps Up Again

In a photo published in 1982 by the small zine Maniac!, Paul Hudson, known then as H.R., stood over a pile of bricks and soil in a scraggly garden, his legs spread apart and every inch of his shirtless upper body tightly flexed. He called it his “last official punk pose,” and in the accompanying interview he explained why he was stepping away from his band, Bad Brains, changing his name to Joseph I, and starting a new, Rastafarian-influenced reggae outfit, Zion Train.

Completing August Wilson’s Life Work

August Wilson’s life work was his “Century Cycle,” a ten-play portrait of black life in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, each set in a different decade. Until this month, only one had not played on Broadway: “Jitney,” about gypsy-cab drivers in the seventies.

“Enough Is Better Than a Feast”: Christmas Dinner in the Time of the Great Depression

Andrew Coe and Jane Ziegelman, a husband-and-wife team of authors and food historians, host their dinner parties in a broad Brooklyn Heights kitchen designed to resemble a nineteen-thirties schoolroom: red cupboards, wood counters that groan with the accumulated weight of cookbooks. Although Coe and Ziegelman once co-wrote a history of foie gras, their latest project is “A Square Meal: A Culinary History of the Great Depression,” a thick volume that examines a complex decade in American dining.

Continuing battle with media, Trump avoids news conference

Less than a month from taking office, President-elect Donald Trump has yet to hold the traditional news conference that most incoming presidents have held within days of their victory. Trump, whose refusal to do news conference has been criticized by journalism groups and media watchdogs, has instead tried to convey his message directly to the American public, bypassing the media with pronouncements at his boisterous rallies and, of course, distributing his thoughts 140 characters at a time on his famed Twitter account.

Release of emails by Chicago mayor doesna t end dispute

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s decision to release thousands of pages of private emails does not end a dispute in Illinois about public access to such emails from him and other officials when they deal with government business. Emanuel announced late Wednesday that he had settled a lawsuit by a government watchdog group over emails from his personal accounts, but it allows him and his personal lawyer to decide which emails are public records and which are not.

Lawyer says Wahlberg movie unfair to Boston bombera s widow

A lawyer for Katherine Russell, widow of one of the Boston Marathon bombers, says the new film “Patriots Day” is unfair because it suggests she knew something was up before the attack and then didn’t cooperate with the investigation afterward. “It’s just not true,” lawyer Amato DeLuca told The Associated Press.

5 things to know about Syriaa s Aleppo

Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces and years of fighting have laid waste to much of the city of Aleppo, but he has won it back after nearly six years of war. The president now looks more secure than ever since the 2011 uprising against his family’s four-decade rule.

License issued for $1B Montana power storage project

A Montana company has been granted a license to build a $1 billion, 400-megawatt power storage project in the central part of the state that would supplement electricity from wind turbines and other sources, according to documents released Thursday by federal regulators. The 50-year license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission allows Absaroka Energy, of Bozeman, Montana, to construct and operate the project on a 177-acre site near the tiny town of Martinsdale, home to fewer than 100 people.

UN Security Council delays vote on Israeli settlements

The UN Security Council on Thursday delayed a contentious vote on a draft resolution demanding that Israel halt settlements as President-elect Donald Trump weighed in and said the United States should veto the measure. Egypt requested that the vote be postponed, one day after submitting the draft text to the council, a move that triggered immediate calls from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a US veto to block the resolution.

DC subway working on fare card holders with Trump’s image

Washington’s subway system is now working with President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural committee to produce a commemorative sleeve to hold Inauguration Day fare cards. Metro revealed on Wednesday that the special Inauguration Day passes won’t have Trump’s picture on them, the way the cards honoring President Barack Obama’s did.

Appeals court: College’s drug tests of all students illegal

A federal appeals court on Thursday reinstated a judge’s 2013 ruling that a central Missouri technical college’s mandatory drug testing policy is unconstitutional when applied to all students. The full 8th U.S. District Court of Appeals, in a 9-2 ruling, sided with the American Civil Liberties Union in reversing an earlier decision by a three-judge panel of the same St. Louis-based court.

North Carolina fails to repeal LGBT law as culture wars rage

Repealing North Carolina’s law limiting LGBT protections at the close of a bitter election year was supposed to heal blows to the economy and perhaps open a truce in the culture wars in at least one corner of the divided United States. The failure of state lawmakers to follow through instead shows how much faith each side has lost in the other, as Americans segregate themselves into communities of us and them, defined by legislative districts that make compromise unlikely.

Senate Dems press Trump’s wealthy picks for financial data

Top Senate Democrats are trying to put the brakes on President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks, insisting on extensive financial information on some of the wealthiest Americans before moving forward on nominations. Frustrated by the slow response of billionaires and multimillionaires to their request, 16 Democrats delivered an ultimatum Thursday, saying no committee should vote on a nominee until the individual has cleared an FBI background check, provided a financial report and an ethics agreement with the Office of Government Ethics, and responded to “reasonable requests for additional information” such as tax returns.

States Won by Trump Have Highest ‘Obamacare’ Enrollment

Some 6.4 million people signed up by the mid-December deadline – 400,000 more enrollees than the same period last year, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. In a twist, the states with the most people selecting coverage all went for Trump in the presidential election: Florida, with just under 1.3 million selections; Texas, with about 776,000; North Carolina, with 369,077; Georgia, with 352,000; and Pennsylvania, with 290,950.

Some Christian Leaders Upset at Octavia Spencer’s Role as God in “The Shack”

North Carolina’s failure to repeal its so-called bathroom law, which limits LGBT rights and has sparked widespread boycotts and controversy, doesn’t end the… — Police in Australia say that they have foiled a terror attack that would have targeted the city of Melbourne, possibly on Christmas Day.Seven people … The close of any year is not complete without carving out time for reflection and review, celebrating accomplishments and preparing for new adventures. For American Ethanol S… Lincoln – No.

Trump’s Economic Plan is a Betrayal of the People Who Voted for Him

Trump’s economic plan has sent stocks ripping higher for six weeks straight. But what’s going to happen to stock prices when Congress gives Trump’s plan a big thumbs down? Has anyone thought about that yet? And what about the Fed? Does anyone seriously think that Fed chairman Janet Yellen is going to sit on her hands while Trump launches a $1 trillion fiscal stimulus package that triggers a sudden burst of growth followed by a sharp uptick in inflation? No, Yellen’s not going to sit on her hands.

Trump: US must ‘greatly strengthen’ nuclear capability

President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday abruptly called for the United States to “greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability” until the rest of the world “comes to its senses” regarding nuclear weapons. His comments on Twitter came hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin said strengthening his country’s nuclear capabilities should be a chief military objective in the coming year.

Wisconsin panel OKs investigation into John Doe leaks

The Wisconsin Assembly has authorized Attorney General Brad Schimel to investigate how evidence collected during a secret investigation into Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign was leaked to a newspaper. The Guardian US in September published hundreds of sealed documents from the so-called John Doe investigation, which was shut down by conservative state Supreme Court justices in 2015.

Cruise Ship Passenger ‘Intentionally’ Went Overboard

The United States Coast Guard was called in to search for a man who went overboard from a Royal Caribbean cruise ship off the coast of the Florida Keys Thursday morning. A 22-year-old man was reportedly seen jumping from the 12th deck of the ocean liner at 1:49 a.m. about 33 miles southeast of Key Largo.

North Carolina legislature’s special session ends without repealing discriminatory HB2 law

Donald Trump has won the presidency after narrowly carrying a few states to put him above 270 electoral votes.But according… Senate Republicans refused to give President Obama’s pick to replace Supreme Court Justice Scalia even the courtesy of a… The North Carolina legislature ended its special session Wednesday, failing to fulfill the deal they had made with the city of Charlotte and incoming Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper to repeal the controversial and discriminatory HB2. Known as the “bathroom bill,” it’s actually an expansive restriction on civil and workers’ rights.