Day: January 12, 2017

Top Cabinet nominees Tillerson, Mattis contradict Trump’s foreign policy

Toughness with Russia and China, support of the Iran nuclear deal, the quest for a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Donald Trump’s diplomacy and military picks have outlined the incoming administration’s foreign policy in Senate confirmation hearings this week. And on many strategic issues, in particular the president-elect’s desire for improved ties with Russia, Rex Tillerson, the former head of ExxonMobil chosen for secretary of state, and James Mattis, the retired U.S. Marine Corps general chosen as defense secretary, contradicted Trump in the hearings Wednesday and Thursday.

Contents of Trump’s folders spark speculation

President-elect Donald Trump gestures while speaking during a news conference in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2017. President-elect Donald Trump gestures while speaking during a news conference in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2017.

Contents of Trump’s folders spark speculation

In the aftermath of President-elect Donald Trump’s closely watched news conference, a burning question remains: What, exactly, was in those folders stacked on the desk next to him? The campaign wouldn’t let reporters look at them. Trump never got around to discussing the documents.

Phone hacking company falls victim to hackers

In this July 18, 2011, file photo, an examiner at an FBI digital forensics lab views data extracted easily from a smartphone, in Salt Lake City. A digital forensics firm known for helping law enforcement crack into locked smartphones has fallen victim to hackers.

Trump says buy LL Bean but many products are made in China

Republican President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday urged people to buy from outdoors retailer L.L. Bean – even though many of its products are made in China – as it faces calls for a boycott because of a company heiress’ donations to his candidacy. Trump, in tweeting the endorsement, garnered criticism from the nonpartisan money-in-politics watchdog Every Voice for “personally encouraging his supporters to boost the companies of his super donors.”

Ex-MI6 man linked to Trump dossier is no cowboy, say former colleagues

The former British spy apparently at the centre of a dossier containing embarrassing allegations involving Donald Trump has been described by ex-colleagues as a “thorough” and “highly regarded” professional who would not simply “pass on gossip”. Ex-MI6 officer Christopher Steele has apparently gone into hiding after being identified as the author of the report claiming Moscow held incriminating material on the US president-elect which it could use to blackmail him.

Obama awards Biden Presidential Medal of Freedom

President Barack Obama awarded Vice President Joe Biden with the highest civilian honor Thursday, commemorating an “extraordinary man with an extraordinary career in public service.” A teary-eyed Biden accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom at a ceremony at the White House dedicated to honoring the outgoing vice president.

Ron Paul: Will Barack Obama’s ‘Good War’ in Afghanistan Continue?

Last week, as the mainstream media continued to obsess over the CIA’s evidence-free claim that the Russians hacked the presidential election, President Barack Obama quietly sent 300 U.S. Marines back into Afghanistan’s Helmand Province. This is the first time in three years that the U.S. military has been sent into that conflict zone, and it represents a final failure of Obama’s Afghanistan policy.

With report on Chicago cops, questions about Trump approach

” The Department of Justice is poised to release its report detailing the extent of civil rights violations committed by the Chicago Police Department, triggering negotiations that will provide an early sign of how much pressure President-elect Donald Trump’s administration will be willing to exert on cities to reform their police. The DOJ under President Barack Obama investigated and then negotiated such settlements enforceable by courts, called consent decrees, with roughly 20 cities, announcing the latest one Thursday with Baltimore.

Obama adds Alabama civil rights area to Park Service

” President Barack Obama signed an order Thursday designating an historic civil rights district in Alabama as a national monument, placing several blocks of a city once rocked by racial violence on par with landmarks including the Grand Canyon. The National Park Service will now have oversight of a downtown section of Birmingham, Alabama, that was a focal point of civil rights struggles in 1963 against harsh enforcement of laws mandating racial segregation.

In EPA rebuke, judge orders quick evaluation on coal jobs

A judge has ordered federal regulators to quickly evaluate how many power plant and coal mining jobs are lost because of air pollution regulations. McCarthy had responded to the judge’s previous order in a lawsuit brought against her by Murray Energy Corp. that the EPA must start doing an analysis that it hadn’t done in decades.

In tearful farewell, Obama awards Biden the Medal of Freedom

At the dusk of both of their political careers, surrounded by teary friends and family, President Barack Obama on Thursday bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Joe Biden, the man he called “the finest vice president we have ever seen.” The vice president winced in shock as Obama announced he was conferring the nation’s highest civil honor on his right-hand-man for eight years.

DOJ Watchdog To Review Pre-Election Conduct Of FBI, Other Justice Officials

FBI Director James Comey, shown here testifying on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, has told friends and employees he had few good choices in the investigation into Clinton’s handling of classified information on her private email server. The Justice Department’s watchdog has launched a sweeping review of conduct by the FBI director and other department officials before the presidential election, following calls from Congress and members of the public.

CIA nominee Pompeo agrees Russia behind election hacks

Donald Trump’s pick to run the CIA on Thursday sided with intelligence officials who have determined the Kremlin was behind election cyberattacks, and he took a tough stand against Russia, distancing himself from the president-elect, who wants to warm relations with Moscow. Rep. Mike Pompeo, a four-term conservative Kansas Republican, spoke at his confirmation hearing before the Senate intelligence committee amid a testy standoff between Trump and the spy community over Russian activities during the presidential election.

Pruitt an Unacceptable Choice, Ohio Scientists Tell Sen. Portman

Scientists, engineers and health professionals in Ohio have delivered a letter today to Sen. Rob Portman’s office expressing their strong opposition to President-elect Trump’s nominee to run the Environmental Protection Agency , Scott Pruitt. Portman, a Republican, will be a key vote on whether the closely-divided Senate puts Pruitt in charge of the EPA, an agency he has repeatedly tried to undermine as Oklahoma attorney general.

More human remains found in search for plane in Lake Erie

Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday that top intelligence leaders told him and President Barack Obama they felt obligated to inform them about uncorroborated allegations about President-elect Donald Trump out of… Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday that top intelligence leaders told him and President Barack Obama they felt obligated to inform them about uncorroborated allegations about President-elect Donald Trump out of concern… A pro-Trump PAC linked to L.L. Bean heiress Linda Bean is now reporting donations it never disclosed to the federal government last year. President-elect Donald Trump is urging people to buy L.L. Bean as the company faces calls for a boycott because of a family member’s donations to his candidacy.

Louisiana Flood of 2016 drives surge in insurance policies

The Louisiana Flood of 2016 is driving homeowners to buy federal flood insurance — some for the first time — after a steady, years-long decline in participation in the national program. The National Flood Insurance Program in 2016 is on pace to top its 2012 high in Louisiana of roughly 483,000 active policies, said Wayne Berggren, an insurance crew leader with FEMA.

More human remains found in search for plane in Lake Erie

More human remains have been recovered in the search for wreckage of a corporate jet carrying six people that crashed in Lake Erie two weeks ago, authorities said Thursday. Cuyahoga County’s medical examiner, Dr. Thomas Gilson, said DNA testing will be required to identify the remains found Wednesday.

USDA analysis says ethanol sharply cuts greenhouse gas emissions

Jan 12 The U.S. government on Thursday said that ethanol is better for the environment than previously expected in a report boosting the country’s biggest biofuel a week ahead of a new administration that has some in the industry concerned. The report, the first of its kind from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to examine the actual impact of ethanol, said the biofuel reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 43 percent relative to gasoline.

Watchdog to investigate FBI actions before election

The Justice Department’s inspector general announced Thursday he will launch an investigation into the department and FBI’s actions in the months leading up to the 2016 election, including whether department policies were properly followed by FBI Director James Comey. Democrats have blamed Comey’s handling of an investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server and his late-October release of a letter about the case as among the reasons for her loss to Republican Donald Trump.

CarlsonCast Jan.12–Hour1

Republican Phil Fortunado has finally been appointed to replace outgoing Senator, Pam Roach, in the State Senate. KVI’s John Carlson interviews initiative activist, Tim Eyman, about the arduous process to confirm the replacement.

The Real Reason Trump Won: Part 3 of 4by Dan McLaughlinHow did Donald …

In Part 2 , I repeated the same analysis at the state-by-state level and found that Trump also didn’t do especially well in the battleground states, but he won because the handful of states he flipped narrowly from the Democrats were almost all large states. But did Trump win – or did Hillary lose? Those aren’t separate questions, but to get a better handle on what really happened, we need to look beyond the two-party percentages to turnout.

Hillary Clinton Email Criminal Investigation to Reopen

Fox News Senior Judicial Analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano says the Hillary Clinton e-mail investigation is about to be re-open. Editor’s Note: The Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General announced Thursday it will launch an internal probe on the Federal Bureau of Investigation handling of Hillary Clinton email investigation, according to The Wall Street Journal .

Canada’s Household Debt Crisis: Blame Capitalism

Canadian capitalism is in crisis, with household debt reaching a record high 166.9 per cent of disposable income and about 208 per cent of GDP, and wage stagnation is a primary cause. Richard Vague told the Globe and Mail “any country whose private-debt-to-GDP ratio goes beyond 150 per cent and that has a five-year growth rate of 18 per cent or greater in that ratio experiences a financial crisis at some point.”

Divers refine search area for plane missing in Lake Erie

Searchers using sonar continued scanning a more refined search area in Lake Erie Thursday, as they continue to recover debris from the plane which carried six people before disappearing from radar last month. At a press conference in Cleveland, city and airport officials confirmed that some of the wreckage brought up from the lake was part of the Cessna 525 Citation believed to be carrying Boardman High School graduates John and Suzanne Fleming, their sons, a neighbor and his daughter.

Six children presumed dead in Baltimore fire

A woman and three other children escaped the midnight blaze and were hospitalised as of midday Thursday, fire officials said. The collapse of floors and burning debris at the three-story home in Northeast Baltimore, US, made it difficult for firefighters to fight the fire and search the site, Baltimore City Fire Chief Roman Clark said.

Will Trump Shred the Iran Nuclear Deal?

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, listens to Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, right, before resuming talks over Iran’s nuclear program in Lausanne, Switzerland, Monday, March 16, 2015. Stack up the op-eds and essays on the disasters that await the world once Donald Trump moves into the White House and you’ll have a long list of dismaying scenarios.