theblaze--2020-02-03--House impeachment managers make desperate closing arguments: Only guilty people assert their legal r

House impeachment managers make desperate closing arguments: Only guilty people assert their legal rights; Trump could sell Alaska

House impeachment managers make desperate closing arguments : Only guilty people assert their legal rights ; Trump could sell Alaska

Closing arguments in the Senate's impeachment trial wrapped up Monday with some far-reaching arguments from two of the House's impeachment managers.
On the one hand, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) claimed that, if non-criminal acts aren't impeachable, President Donald Trump would be able to trade away a U.S. state to Russia for political assistance.
During his closing arguments, Schiff attacked the position that only criminal actions rise to the constitutional standard of "high crimes and misdemeanors" as grounds for impeachment. If non-criminal actions aren't impeachable, the California Democrat argued, then "a whole range of utterly unacceptable conduct in a president would now beyond reach."
For example, Schiff claimed, "Trump could offer Alaska to the Russians in exchange for support in the next election, or decide to move to Mar-a-Lago permanently and let Jared Kushner run the country, delegating to him the decision whether to go to war."
He added, "Because those things are not necessarily criminal, this argument would allow that he could not be impeached for such abuses of power."
On the other hand, there was the assertion from Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.) that only guilty people don't cooperate with investigations against them, and therefore President Trump is guilty as charged.
"Once he got caught, President Trump engaged in categorical and indiscriminate obstruction of any investigation into his wrongdoing," Demings said of the White House's refusal to cooperate with the House's impeachment investigation. "He ordered every government agency and every official to defy the House's impeachment inquiry. And he did so for a simple reason: To conceal evidence of his wrongdoing from Congress and the American people."
The congresswoman went on to claim, "The president's obstruction was unlawful and unprecedented, but it also confirmed his guilt." That's because, "Innocent people don't try to hide every document and witness especially those that would clear them. That's what guilty people do. That's what guilty people do. Innocent people do everything they can to clear their name and provide evidence that shows that they are innocent."
Just for reference, the presumption of innocence implies that the burden of proof for someone's guilt rests on the side making the guilty claim, not on the accused person.
"This is most assuredly not how our system of jurisprudence works. Innocent people — especially those with reason to suspect that an investigation might be biased or corrupt — are very well advised to assert every single one of their rights and privileges along the way," HotAir's Ed Morrissey rebutted. "Innocent people are not required to exonerate themselves; prosecutors are required to use all lawful means to provide evidence of their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt."
For those fatigued by this entire impeachment saga so far, the good news is that the end is near and a final Senate vote on the matter is expected Wednesday afternoon.


theblaze--2020-02-03--Buzzfeed says leaked audio recording shows Iran knew immediately that it shot down a Ukrainian plane

Buzzfeed News' Christopher Miller said Monday that a snippet of leaked audio suggests that Iran knew immediately that it shot down a Ukrainian Boeing 737 in early January.
The massive crash took the lives of 176 people. The airplane had just taken off from Tehran's Imam Khomeini airport.
What are the details?
According to the outlet, the leaked audio footage features a conversation between an Iranian pilot on an incoming flight and an Iranian air traffic controller.
Buzzfeed's Miller reported that because of the interaction between the pilot and the air traffic controller, authorities in Tehran likely knew immediately that an Iranian missile had struck a Ukrainian passenger jet.
"If air traffic control was aware of something as hazardous as a missile being fired, it's likely to have notified government officials straightaway," Miller wrote.
Miller reported that the audio, which was broadcast on Sunday evening on a Ukrainian television channel, featured the exchange between the pilot and air traffic control. He also noted that the transmission "has been acknowledged as genuine" by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky as well as Hassan Rezaeifar, head of the Iranian investigation team.
Rezaeifar, according to Miller, said Iran would cut cooperation with Ukraine "due to the conversation being published."
"This file was among the materials provided to a group of experts who are investigating the disaster. [Its publication] by the Ukrainian side suggests that we will not transfer any materials to them anymore," Rezaeifar reportedly said.
A partial transcript follows:
Pilot: "There's a flare on the route, like something from a missile. Should anything like this be happening there?"
Controller: "Zone 320? How many miles away? Where?"
Pilot: "Can't say for sure. But I think it is near (airfield) Payam, (city) Karaj."
Tower: "How many miles? Where?"
Pilot: "I now see the light as it flies off of there."
Tower: "We were not informed of this."
Tower: "How does it look like? What does this light look like?"
Pilot: "That's definitely a flash from a missile."
Tower: "It's not flying toward the city (Tehran), is it?"
Pilot: "It might be. Oh, no it was flying from the direction of the city."
Tower: "We were informed of nothing, but keep watching."
What else?
Iran initially claimed that the flight crashed due to technical issues with the plane.
Later, however, Tehran admitted that its Revolutionary Guard inadvertently fired on the airliner because it believed the plane was incoming U.S. cruise missiles instead. Tehran was on high alert at the time, as Iran had only just hours prior launched missile strikes on U.S. troops stationed in Iraq. The missile strikes were in retaliation for the U.S.-sanctioned killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
Following the crash, Reuters reported flames from the wreckage were "so heavy" no rescue was possible. Rescue measures included 26 ambulances and a helicopter.
There were no survivors.


theblaze--2020-02-03--Bernie's surge, Biden's fall, multiple winners: What you need to know before tonight's Iowa caucuses

Bernie 's surge , Biden 's fall , multiple winners : What you need to know before tonight 's Iowa @

After roughly a year of campaigning, the first official votes of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary will be cast Monday night in the much-anticipated Iowa caucuses, with 41 pledged delegates up for grabs.
The big storyline heading into the contest is the unexpected surge of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who appears, for now at least, to be the clear leader in the state.
What does the polling say?
The RealClearPolitics polling average shows Sanders atop the field with 23% of the vote, former Vice President Joe Biden trailing behind him with 19.3%, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg sitting in third with 16.8%, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in fourth with 15.5%, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) in fifth with 9%.
The remaining 6 candidates are polling in the low single digits and are not considered to be threatening a top three finish in the contest.
Sanders, who was trailing Biden by 4 points as recently as two weeks ago, rapidly emerged as the front-runner in the final days before the caucuses.
His surge has not only shocked the Biden campaign, but also came at the direct expense of fellow progressive candidate, Elizabeth Warren. Warren and Sanders share viewpoints ideologically and both occupy the more progressive wing of the Democratic Party. As a result, as Sanders polling numbers have risen, Warren has seen hers plummet in the weeks leading up to the caucuses.
Another notable trend in recent polls is the rise of Pete Buttigieg. A brand-new poll, conducted by the Democratic group Focus on Rural America, released results Monday showing Buttigieg in the lead with 19% of the votes, and Sanders trailing behind at 17%.
What is at stake?
Republicans may not immediately appreciate the significance of Iowa's Democratic caucuses, due to the state's lesser significance in their own party's nominating contest. But while Iowa is usually not an accurate predictor of who the Republican nominee will be, in recent years, it as been an accurate predictor of the eventual Democratic nominee.
In the last four elections, the candidate who won Iowa has gone on to win the Democratic nomination.
This is why so many Democrats are concerned about recent polling coming out of Iowa and New Hampshire showing Sanders with the lead. Democrats who believe that Biden, the current national front-runner, gives them the best chance to defeat President Trump in next year's election are worried that Sanders will pick up steam with wins in Iowa and New Hampshire and run away with the nomination.
Biden surrogate and former Secretary of State John Kerry was even overheard discussing the possibility of entering the race amid concern over "Bernie Sanders taking down the Democratic Party."
Each election is its own story, however, and there are no guarantees that Sanders will take the nomination even with wins in early states. With this in mind, the Biden campaign is already downplaying Iowa results.
"We view Iowa as the beginning, not the end," Biden adviser Symone Sanders said Sunday, according to Axios.
Even if winning Iowa is not the end-all be-all, however, a respectable finish there is paramount for Biden. It would be difficult for the national front-runner to hold on to that status with a dismal performance Monday night.
New rules may change the definition of the 'winner'
For decades, the Iowa caucuses have been decided by the apportionment of delegates, operating similarly to the way the Electoral College does except on a state level, but the popular vote totals were not released to the public. This year, that all changes.
According to the Des Moines Register, on Monday, "the Iowa Democratic Party will publish the raw vote totals from each precinct showing how many people supported each candidate on the first and final alignments."
The Iowa caucuses operate much differently than other states' nominating processes. In Iowa, voters go to local caucus sites, such as churches or high school gyms, and gather in different areas with other voters who support the same candidate. This initial gathering is called the first alignment, and this year, those totals will be published.
After the initial alignment, voters who support candidates that fail to meet a certain threshold have the opportunity to either convince other voters to join their group or join another candidate's group. At this point another tally is taken in what is called the final alignment, and delegates are awarded to candidates proportionally. Those totals will also be published.
The Des Moines Register notes that these new rules could "allow the campaigns to spin the results in a multitude of new ways, potentially hijacking the media narrative and claiming momentum out of Iowa."
For more on this and how Iowa's caucuses could potentially result in multiple winners, read this article by FiveThirtyEight.


theblaze--2020-02-03--Conservative radio icon Rush Limbaugh announces he has advanced lung cancer

'This day has been one of the most difficult days in recent memory for me '

Conservative radio icon Rush Limbaugh announced on his Monday show he has "advanced lung cancer," Fox News reported, adding that he will miss some days for treatment.
"This day has been one of the most difficult days in recent memory for me, because I've known this moment was coming in the program today," Limbaugh said. "I'm sure that you all know by now that I really don't like talking about myself, and I don't like making things about me ... The one thing that I know that has happened over the 31-plus years of this program is that there has been an incredible bond that has developed between all of you and me."
Limbaugh, 69, added that his relationship to his listeners has felt like a "family" and that his job as a talk radio host has given him the "greatest satisfaction and happiness" in his life.
"So I have to tell you something today that I wish I didn't have to tell you," he continued, pausing several times. "It's a struggle for me because I had to inform my staff earlier today."
He finally said that "the upshot is that I have been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer."
Limbaugh's announcement begins at the 46:40 mark:
youtu.be
Limbaugh added that his diagnosis was confirmed by two medical institutions on Jan. 20; he said he first realized something was wrong on his Jan. 12 birthday weekend.
The longtime airwave host said he considered keeping his diagnosis under wraps but offered that "there are going to be days when I'm not going to be able to be here because I'm undergoing treatment, or I'm reacting to treatment." But he said that would lead to speculation and that it would be better if he simply said what was up.
"It is what it is," he said, adding that he would appear on air and do the program as best and as often as he can.
'Deeply personal relationship with God'
Limbaugh also said he told his staff earlier in the day that he has a "deeply personal relationship with God that I do not proselytize about" and that he's been focused intently on that spiritual relationship since his diagnosis.
He also said he's experiencing "zero symptoms" related to his lung cancer diagnosis other than "shortness of breath" that he figured may have been asthma or something heart related. But Limbaugh noted that his heart has been "ticking away fine."
Limbaugh also said he'd be gone for the next few days as his course of treatment is determined, and he gets further testing.
He added a thank you to his listeners: "I know you're there in great numbers, and I know that you understand everything I say. The rest of the world may not when they hear it expressed in a different way, but I know that you do. You've been one of the greatest sources of confidence that I've had in my life."
This is a developing story; updates will be added.


theblaze--2020-02-03--While Democrats fret about Sanders, AOC warns it's 'dangerous' for party members to not endorse the

While Democrats fret about Sanders, AOC warns it's 'dangerous' for party members to not endorse the eventual 2020 nominee

While Democrats fret about Sanders , AOC warns it 's 'dangerous ' for party members to not endorse the eventual @ @ @ @ @ nomination , we have to rally behind them , no matter who it is '

As some Democrats are worried about the possibility of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) securing the Democratic Party's 2020 presidential nomination, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is warning that it would be "dangerous" for them not to get behind the party's eventual nominee.
In a Sunday phone interview with Time on the eve of the Iowa caucuses, Ocasio-Cortez said she thinks that Democrats' efforts to stymie Sanders' primary bid are "overblown" but stressed the importance of keeping voters unified against re-electing President Donald Trump.
"Bernie has said this, I absolutely believe this: Whoever gets the nomination, we have to rally behind them, no matter who it is," the Sanders campaign surrogate said. "And I would hope that everybody would do so if Bernie is the nominee as well."
She also said she hoped that Democrats wouldn't try to stop Sanders by using party rules, noting how it could harm voter enthusiasm.
"I don't think it's a good idea for people to try to use superdelegates or other kind of subversive policies to deny anybody the nomination because it's incredibly divisive to do so, and very demoralizing, which is a direct threat in November," she said. "The moment you start playing games trying to deny whoever is the nominee, we really start to get into dangerous territory in terms of defeating Trump."
The far-left House freshman's comments were made against backdrop of some Democrats' concerns about what the self-described democratic socialist'smomentum in the current primary race might mean for their party's chances in the general election against Trump in November.
A Friday story at the Daily Beast described the efforts of a group of moderate Democrats called Third Way to dissuade Iowa voters from picking Sanders, which included a document telling caucusgoers that easily searchable information about Sanders "arm the Trump team with the political equivalent of nuclear weapons," and make him "the easiest target for Trump to beat."
On Saturday, the New York Post reported that some Democratic insiders are afraid that voters might stay home or vote to re-elect President Donald Trump if the Vermont senator tops the 2020 Democratic ticket.
"For Democrats to win, the election must be a referendum on Trump and not a debate about socialism," longtime Democratic donor Michael Kempner told the Post. "The vast majority of Democrats and the nation do not believe in socialism."
Former Obama White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel warned on Sunday that Sanders' campaign might serve to "rupture" Democrats and turn off swing voters in critical battleground states, the Washington Free Beacon reported.
"We as a party, to win Arizona, to win Wisconsin, to win in Michigan and Pennsylvania, and to be viable in North Carolina, need a candidate who moves those swing moderate voters," Emanuel said.
Meanwhile, an Emerson College poll released on the eve of the Iowa caucuses showed Sanders leading his primary opponents in the state by 7 percentage points.


theblaze--2020-02-03--Joy Reid says Pete Buttigieg's use of American 'heartland' term is a 'dog whistle for white voters'

Joy Reid says Pete Buttigieg 's use of American 'heartland ' term is a 'dog whistle for white voters '

MSNBC's Joy Reid says that Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg's references to America's "heartland" could be considered a dog whistle to white voters.
What are the details?
Buttigieg appeared on the cable outlet's "AM Joy" Monday in which Reid questioned him over a tweet in which the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor said that America deserves a president who was shaped by "heartland" values.
Reid admitted that she heard a lot of "not positive" remarks about Buttigieg's sentiments, and said that it sounds an awful lot "like a dog whistle for white voters."
"So I want to read you a tweet from you," she said. "'In the face of unprecedented challenges, we need a president whose vision was shaped by the American Heartland rather than the ineffective Washington politics we've come to know and expect.'"
Buttigieg shared the tweet last week.
Reid continued, "I got a lot of texts on that tweet. Not positive. From people saying, 'heartland'—that sounds to a lot of people like a dog whistle to white voters."
"When you say 'heartland,'" she continued, "who do you mean?"
Buttigieg, clearly taken aback by Reid's assertions, insisted that he simply means what he says when he refers to the heartland of America.
"I'm talking about a diverse heartland, like where I grew up," he responded. "I'm from a city, in the middle of the Midwest, that is about 45 percent non-white. That reflects America in so many ways."


theblaze--2020-02-03--High school boy banned from officially competing with girl gymnasts — so he's claiming gender discri

High school boy banned from officially competing with girl gymnasts — so he's claiming gender discrimination

High school boy banned from officially competing with girl gymnasts — so he 's claiming gender discrimination Athletic committee reportedly @ @ @ @ @ 'would result in a female gymnast being displaced '

Cruz Vernon began competing in gymnastics when he was 9 years old, he told WCBS-TV.
By the seventh grade, he joined his school's all-girl team — and by the ninth grade, Vernon placed in states, the station said.
Image source: WCBS-TV video screenshot
But since then, the committee governing high school sports in Westchester County, New York, banned Vernon from participating as a scoring member of his gymnastics team at Ossining High School, WCBS said. The school has only one gymnastics team.
Image source: WCBS-TV video screenshot
"I could still do my routines during competitions and get scored for them, but whatever score I received wouldn't count toward the team's score," the 17-year-old told the station.
Image source: WCBS-TV video screenshot
Why?
Vernon said the ruling came because he's a boy, WCBS reported.
When Vernon's mother appealed the decision, the Section 1 committee upheld it, saying Vernon “exceeds the physical abilities in his team … thereby creating an unfair advantage" and his participation “would result in a female gymnast being displaced," the station said.
With that, the Vernon family retained an attorney who brought a discrimination complaint to the United States Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, WCBS said.
Image source: WCBS-TV video screenshot
“What we really want is a resolution," lawyer Paul Barger explained to the station. "We want him to have the opportunity to compete."
Vernon also told WCBS that his stature was a factor in the Section 1 committee's decision — but that standing 6-foot-3 is a disadvantage in gymnastics.
He told the station he hopes the ruling is overturned by the spring when postseason competition begins.
“I also want this to reach out to any other boys who may be in a similar situation," Vernon noted to WCBS. “People need to know that there are others going through similar situations, and they're not alone in this."
The Section 1 committee's executive director had no comment on the situation, the station reported.
Anything else?
Republican lawmakers in New Hampshire, Washington, Georgia, Tennessee, Missouri — as well as Idaho — have been looking to enact measures requiring public school athletes to compete according to their biological sex. The proposed measures come in the face of an increasing number of biological males who identify as female and then crush biological female competition.
The issue is particularly fevered in Connecticut, where a pair of biological males who identify as females have been dominating sprinting competitions in high school track and field — and not every biological female opponent is happy about it.
While Vernon is not transgender, his case would appear to present an interesting twist in relation to the overall issue. If he's allowed to compete against girls, does that fly in the face of efforts by lawmakers in other states who want to prevent biological males from competing against biological females?


theblaze--2020-02-03--Trump campaign hits back after Twitter reportedly restricted the president's Super Bowl ad for 'sens

Trump campaign hits back after Twitter reportedly restricted the president's Super Bowl ad for 'sensitive content'

Trump campaign hits back after Twitter reportedly restricted the president 's Super Bowl ad for 'sensitive content' Not going down @ @ @

Twitter restricted one of President Donald Trump's Sunday night Super Bowl ads, according to Matt Wolking, the campaign's rapid response director, placing a "sensitive content" warning over the video.
The ad, which aired at the start of the Super Bowl, featured the Trump administration's successes with criminal justice reform, highlighting Alice Johnson, a former federal prisoner serving a life sentence for nonviolent drug charges.
Trump granted clemency in Johnson's case in 2018.
What are the details?
As highlighted by The Daily Caller, Wolking tweeted, "President Trump's Super Bowl ad about criminal justice reform and Alice Johnson has been restricted on Twitter after angry Democrats reported it en masse."
"They don't want you to see this!" he added.
In a statement to the outlet, Trump campaign Communications Director Tim Murtaugh added, "Yet again, Twitter is silencing President Trump and his campaign on their platform for putting out truthful and compelling content. The ad about Alice Johnson's incredible story highlighted the President's commitment to criminal justice reform and second chance for people."
Murtaugh noted, "It's little wonder why leftists want to block that content — they can't beat Trump so they try to stop him from communicating. Voters are the ones who suffer when they are deprived of all information and points of view."
At the time of this writing, the content warning has apparently been removed from the campaign video. Additionally, there has been no explanation as to why Twitter reportedly slapped a content warning on the president's campaign ad in the first place.


theblaze--2020-02-03--Elizabeth Warren Iowa staffer fed up with LGBTQ pandering: 'No one gives a f*** about a godd**n pron

Elizabeth Warren Iowa staffer fed up with LGBTQ pandering: 'No one gives a f*** about a godd**n pronoun'

Elizabeth Warren Iowa staffer fed up with LGBTQ pandering : 'No one gives a f*** about a godd**n pronoun' 'People @ @ @ @ @ 're gon na create a job '

Elizabeth Warren has gone to great lengths to court LGBTQ support in the Democratic primary. She has, for example, emphasized the need to allow inmates to be held in prison based on their gender identity, rather than their biological sex.
Not everyone on her staff views that as the kind of issue that will win them a primary, and ultimately a potential general election against President Donald Trump, however.
"At the end of the day if we're gonna prioritize pronouns over making sure people have a decent standard of living, that's wrong," Warren campaign Iowa field organizer Angel Alicea said in a video published Monday by Project Veritas.
Alicea is referencing a relatively recent emphasis on the use of people's chosen pronouns, rather than assuming the pronoun of their biological gender. "When you come from where I come from, no one gives a f*** about a godd**n pronoun. They want to know how you're gonna create a job."
Alicea said he's been chastised in the past for speaking out against the need to ask people about their preferred gender pronouns.
"I'm like here for the pronoun thing, but I feel like I shouldn't have to say 'he/him/his," Alicea said. "Like shouldn't it just be implied? ... Like I've been called out for saying something like that, but this is why we lose elections, because we're zeroing in on s*** like that."
Warren has vowed that her Cabinet would include LGBTQ representation. She said half of her Cabinet would include women or gender nonbinary people, and she said her education secretary would have to pass an evaluation from a transgender child before being selected.
Alicea believes the Democratic Party has erred by prioritizing LGBTQ issues like pronoun usage over the economic well-being of Americans, and that could cost them in 2020.
"At the end of the day we've become the party that has prioritized that rather than putting food on the table for working families, and it's like, that's why we lose," Alicea said. "It's a f***ing no-brainer why we're going to godd**n lose an election."
(Content warning: Rough language):


theblaze--2020-02-03--Sen. Lindsey Graham promises Senate will investigate Ukraine whistleblower, the Bidens, FISA abuse

'We 're going to get to the bottom of all of this to make sure this never happens again '

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) announced Sunday that the Senate will investigate the Ukraine whistleblower, the Bidens, and FISA warrant abuse following the conclusion of President Donald Trump's impeachment trial.
The whistleblower
Speaking with Fox News host Maria Bartiromo on "Sunday Morning Futures," Graham said the whistleblower should testify before Congress because he wants "to understand how all this crap started."
"The Senate Intel Committee under Richard Burr has told us that we will call the whistleblower," Graham said. "Why is it important? ... If the whistleblower is a former employee, associate of Joe Biden, I think that would be important. If the whistleblower was working with people on [Rep. Adam] Schiff's staff that wanted to take Trump down a year-and-a-half ago, I think that would be important. If the Schiff staff people helped write the complaint, that would be important.
"We're going to get to the bottom of all of this to make sure this never happens again," Graham vowed.
The Bidens
Graham said, "I'm going to bring in State Department officials and ask them, why didn't you do something about the obvious conflict of interests Joe Biden had?"
"I can prove beyond any doubt that Joe Biden's effort in the Ukraine to root out corruption was undercut, because he let his son sit on the board of the most corrupt company in the Ukraine, and we're not going to give him a pass on that," Graham went on to say.
"Eventually, we will get to Hunter Biden. And I want to know why the Obama administration did nothing about this obvious conflict of interest," he continued. "Joe Biden should have given up the Ukrainian portfolio, or Hunter Biden should be taken off the board, because they ruined America's ability to effectively deal with corruption in the Ukraine by having Hunter Biden on the board of Burisma. That's just a fact.
"We're going to get to the bottom of it," Graham vowed.
Graham explained the Senate Foreign Relations Committee would handle the Bidens.
FISA abuse
Graham said, "When it comes to FISA, I'm going to call [Rod] Rosenstein, Sally Yates, [Andrew] McCabe and [James] Comey to find out how a warrant was issued against Carter Page on four different occasions without an adequate foundation and find out how the Department of Justice and the FBI became so out of balance when it came to Trump."
The Senate Judiciary Committee, which Graham chairs, will take the lead on FISA abuse, he explained.


theblaze--2020-02-03--Invasive, feral monkeys potentially carrying deadly virus have moved into northeast Florida

'The potential ramifications are really dire '

Wild monkeys carrying a potentially fatal form of herpes virus have made their way into a new section of Florida, according to a local news report.
First Coast News — an NBC and ABC-affiliated station in northeast Florida— reported last week that there have been over a dozen sightings of rhesus macaques in Jacksonville-area neighborhoods over the past eight months.
Videos and photographs – grainy and shaky, shot by homeowners – track the trail of a species expansion that experts call concerning and possibly dangerous.
"The potential ramifications are really dire," University of Florida wildlife ecologist Dr. Steve Johnson told First Coast News. "A big male like the one in that video in Jacksonville -- that's an extremely strong, potentially dangerous animal."
First Coast News obtained two videos and several photographs taken of the monkeys. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) officials call the reports credible, a likely expansion of the feral monkey population in Central Florida.
www.youtube.com
The monkeys aren't at all native to Florida but rather a large portion of the Asian continent. According to the Orlando Sentinel, the invasive species was first introduced to central Florida's Silver Spring State Park in the 1930s by a river cruise attraction owner in an effort to draw in more tourists. He put them on an island in the Silver River, the newspaper explains; but as it turned out, they didn't have to stay on the island because they could swim and the population grew in woods nearby.
Since then, the've been spotted in different areas outside of the park, but First Coast News says this is the first time they've been seen in the northeast Florida "first coast" region.
In addition to the potential for primate-on-person violence, contact with the animals could prove dangerous — or even potentially deadly — for humans due to macaques' ability transmit the Herpes B virus.
"B virus infection is extremely rare, but it can lead to severe brain damage or death if you do not get treatment immediately," according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "People typically get infected with B virus if they are bitten or scratched by an infected macaque monkey, or have contact with the monkey's eyes, nose, or mouth."
2018 CDC numbers found that that up to 30 percent of Florida's macaques could be carrying the Herpes B virus.
But so far, none of the feral monkeys have infected anyone in the wild. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says "No confirmed cases of a human contracting herpes B from a macaque in the wild have been documented, but fifty incidents of human infection contracted from macaques in captivity have been reported."
"I personally am concerned," Johnson told The Guardian about the possibility of human infection in December. "There's a low risk, but very high consequence should something happen. Fortunately nothing has happened yet, but I wouldn't want to have that looming over me if I was the state."


theblaze--2020-02-03--Actress Rae Dawn Chong claims having sex — at age 15 — with 33-year-old Mick Jagger was an empowerin

Actress Rae Dawn Chong claims having sex — at age 15 — with 33-year-old Mick Jagger was an empowering choice

Actress Rae Dawn Chong claimed she had sex with Rolling Stones' frontman Mick Jagger when she was 15 years old — and that it was an empowering choice on her part.
"I will tell you that it didn't traumatize me, it wasn't a #MeToo moment, it was something I empoweredly [chose]," Chong told the "It Happened in Hollywood" podcast by The Hollywood Reporter. "I could have said no, I wasn't forced. I thought he was adorable."
What else?
Chong — now a 58-year-old grandmother — gave more details to the Daily Mail concerning her alleged 1977 dalliance with Jagger when he was 33, saying he "never asked me how old I was, and I never told him. It never came up. I remember thinking he was really cute. He had tousled hair. I thought, 'Oh man, he is beautiful.' He said, 'What are you doing right now?' I said, 'Nothing really.' He grabbed my hand and we jumped in his limo and went straight to a recording studio. The Stones were there, I was in the background. I remember being in there for hours and hours. Then I slept over at his apartment. I knew what I was doing. I was experimenting with Mick. I was having fun."
Rae Dawn Chong attends the Los Angeles Premiere of "Parasite," Oct. 2, 2019, in Hollywood, California. Photo by Michael Kovac/Getty Images for NEON
The outlet noted that Chong at the time would have been two years under the age of consent, and Jagger declined to comment on her claims.
Sir Mick Jagger attends the World Premiere of "Somebody Up There Likes Me," Oct. 12, 2019, in London, England. Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/WireImage
Chong insisted Jagger "did nothing wrong. He didn't make me do anything I didn't want to do. It was the 1970s, a different era. I wasn't a victim. I don't want him to get into trouble about this. It wasn't traumatizing. I knew what I was doing. I wasn't an innocent schoolgirl. I always acted a lot older than I was. I was a grown-up at 15," the Daily Mail added.
Chong — whose father is Tommy Chong of stoner comedy duo Cheech and Chong — started smoking marijuana at 12 and moved out of her family home soon after turning 15 to live with a dealer, the outlet said.
"At 15, I was definitely a Lolita," she added to the Daily Mail. "I knew I had the power to pick and chose whatever man I wanted. I was keen to have every experience I could. Mick was part of that."
However, Chong told People in 1985 that while "sex is the nature of both Mick's and my personalities ... we were never romantically or sexually involved."
Jagger and Chong met up that same year when she asked if she could be in his next video, the Daily Mail said, adding that Jagger cast her as his love interest in his "Just Another Night" solo video.


theblaze--2020-02-03--Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes intended to glorify God — whether he won or lost the game

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was named the most valuable player of Super Bowl LIV on Sunday after leading his team to a 31-20 comeback win over the San Francisco 49ers, but whether he won or lost the game, the 24-year-old star was going to remain faithful to his primary purpose — glorifying God with his effort and conduct, according to WDAF-TV.
Mahomes has spoken publicly in the past about how he was raised in the Christian church. Unlike many people his age, he has not departed from that faith even as he rises to the highest levels of fame and athletic achievement.
"Faith has always been big with me," Mahomes said, days before the Super Bowl. "Obviously I want to win every game, but I'm glorifying [God] every single time I'm out there."
That foundation of faith and purpose reminds him that the result of a game is never the most important thing in his life — and may have allowed him to keep his composure when his team was trailing 20-10 in the third quarter, and Mahomes threw his second interception of the night.
"As long as I'm doing everything the right way and the way that He would want me to do it, then I can walk off the field with my head held high and be able to be the man that I am," Mahomes said Friday.
The Chiefs went on to score 21 straight points to win the game and the championship.
"We never lost faith," Mahomes said after the game, according to ESPN. "That's the biggest thing. Everybody on this team, no one had their head down. We believed in each other. That's what we preached all year long."
Not only does Mahomes' faith help him succeed in his career and life, but his example may lead countless others to know Christ.
"I mean, if someone looks up to a person and they are a Christian and, say the person looking up to them is not a Christian, I think there's great impact in that," Pastor Jon Purkey, who shares a barber with Mahomes, said. "Maybe it will lead them to find out who Christ is."


theblaze--2020-02-03--NRA fires back at Michael Bloomberg's misleading gun control ad with powerful ad of its own

NRA fires back at Michael Bloomberg 's misleading gun control ad with powerful ad of its own

The National Rifle Association on Sunday issued a fierce response to Michael Bloomberg's misleading gun control ad that aired during the Super Bowl.
The misleading ad claimed that 2,900 children die from gun violence every year. However, as Washington Free Beacon reporter Stephen Gutowski noted, almost half of those "children" are actually adults ages 18 and 19. In fact, the ad merely cites misleading data from Bloomberg's gun control group, Everytown for Gun Safety.
In response, the NRA issued an ad of its own blasting Bloomberg's gun control push. The ad includes direct responses from numerous Second Amendment supporters.
"As the mother of a 3-year-old little boy, my family means everything to me. As a woman, I believe that the best way to protect my family is with a firearm. And Michael Bloomberg will never take that right away from me," one woman says. "I'm the gun lobby and I am not afraid of Michael Bloomberg. Mike, come and take it."
"It's very important to me to keep my home secure and that is why there is a gun on the left side of my bed and the right side. Mr. Bloomberg, your home is protected by armed guards at all times. Why can't I exercise my Second Amendment rights to protect mine? I am not afraid of Michael Bloomberg," another woman says.
"Mike Bloomberg suggests that disarming minority males like myself will keep us alive. But I have news for you: Mike Bloomberg is a white billionaire who has no place in telling me how I can defend myself or my loved ones," one man says. "And Mike, as an African-American male that you want to disarm, I promise you will never take away my Second Amendment. I am not afraid of Mike Bloomberg."
"As a woman, it's important that I'm able to defend myself. As a mother, I would like to pass that on to my daughter so that she knows she never has to be defenseless. Mike Bloomberg, think about the women in your life. Are you okay with the fact that your policies could leave them defenseless?" another woman says. "Michael Bloomberg will never take that right away my right to defend myself. I am not afraid of Michael Bloomberg."
In an official statement, the NRA told Fox News: "It is regrettable but not surprising that salient facts didn't make the ad. Bloomberg cherry-picked aspects of the story to push his agenda. Bloomberg pushes for confiscation of guns and stripping regular Americans of our right to self-defense while he enjoys armed security 24/7. He sees America as his kingdom, and the rest of us as his peasants."
Despite the pushback, Bloomberg campaign spokeswoman Julie Wood defended the ad.
"Ask any grieving parent whose 18- or 19-year-old son or daughter was shot and killed, and they will tell you they lost a child," she said. "There are simply too many of these deaths, and Mike has a plan to prevent them with common-sense gun safety laws."


theblaze--2020-02-03--Priest refuses communion to state lawmakers who voted for pro-abortion bill

A Rhode Island priest is refusing to serve Holy Communion to state lawmakers who supported a pro-abortion bill.
In 2019, Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo signed a bill preserving federal abortion protections into state law. According to U.S. News and World Report, the law says that Rhode Island will not restrict a woman's right to abortion "prior to fetal viability or afterward if an abortion is necessary for the health or life of the mother."
What are the details?
According to the Providence Journal, the Rev. Richard Bucci, 72, passed out flyers at West Warwick, Rhode Island's Sacred Heart Church publicly highlighting all state lawmakers who voted on a pro-abortion bill.
Bucci also said that these lawmakers will not be able to serve as marriage witnesses, godparents, or lectors at church-sponsored events.
The flyer said, "In accord with the teaching of the Catholic Church for 2000 years, the following members of the legislature may NOT receive Holy Communion, as are all the officers of the state of Rhode Island, as well as Rhode Island's members of Congress.
"In addition," the missive continued, "they will not be allowed to act as witnesses to marriage, godparents, or lectors at weddings, funerals, or any other church function."
The Roman Catholic Diocese, according to the outlet, "tacitly condoned" the flyer.
In a statement, Bucci said, "If they are proud of what they have done, why do they want to keep it a secret? We all hear about responsibility. Let them take responsibility. If they think this is a good and wholesome and holy thing ... they should be proud of it, and why should I hide that from my parishioners?"
He continued, "They call me 'Father' so that I may have an influence in their lives, and this is a serious issue of life and death."
Anything else?
Through his spokesperson, Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence acknowledged Bucci's flyers, saying that the priest was welcome to do as he saw fit in this particular regard.
“For every sacrament, the Church provides detailed norms for preparation and reception. It is the pastor's duty to apply them within his parish, in accord with Church law," the spokesperson said. "This includes the proper reception of Holy Communion as outlined by the Code of Canon Law. Because the Church entrusts to each pastor the duty of teaching, sanctifying, and governing his parish, the daily pastoral and administrative decisions are made at the local parish level."


theblaze--2020-02-03--Coronavirus death toll surpasses that of SARS outbreak in mainland China

Coronavirus death toll surpasses that of SARS outbreak in mainland China Is the Chinese government telling the whole truth ?

Chinese media claim that the new strain of coronavirus has killed more people in the country than the SARS outbreak of the early 2000s did, but is the country telling the full story?
Late Sunday, the Global Times — a Chinese state tabloid — reported that the number of novel coronavirus deaths on the country's mainland had hit 361, which it says was more than the total number of 349 caused by SARS almost 2 decades ago.
While the vast majority of confirmed coronavirus deaths so far have been in China, the first person to die of the disease outside of the country passed away in the Philippines over the weekend.
The new Chinese death toll outpaces that put out by the World Health Organization, Business Insider pointed out in its report of the news, and it follows on the country's reports last week that the virus had already infected more people in China than the SARS outbreak did.
The contrast between the current numbers and the SARS numbers is significant because of the time frame in which they occurred. While the SARS outbreak took place over a period of nine months, the first case of the current outbreak was reported less than two months ago in mid-December.
But there are concerns that China isn't telling the world the whole truth about the severity of the outbreak.
According to a new medical research paper published Friday, the University of Hong Kong found that, as of Jan. 25, more than 75,000 people in Wuhan had likely already contracted the virus and that the number of infections doubles in under one week, which would make the number of infections well above the current reported level of 17,000.
In late January, video surfaced of a "whistleblower" claiming to be a nurse treating patients in the disease's epicenter of Wuhan China. The woman claimed that the actual number of people infected in China was at 90,000, which contrasted drastically with the government's 2,700 reported cases at the time.
Furthermore, The Daily Beast reported Monday that China detained a group of doctors who tried to sound the alarm about people experiencing problems with their respiratory symptoms:
They were part of a medical school's alumni group on WeChat, a popular social network in China, and they were concerned that SARS, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, was back.
It wasn't long before police detained them. The authorities said these eight doctors and medical technicians were "misinforming" the public, that there was no SARS, that the information was obviously wrong, and that everyone in the city must remain calm. On the first day of 2020, Wuhan police said they had "taken legal measures" against the eight individuals who had "spread rumors."
Given the Chinese government's authoritarian structure, officials downplaying the outbreak's severity isn't beyond the pale, explains Professor Sam Crane, the chair of Asian studies at Williams College, Massachusetts.
"If we consider not only Sars in 2003 but also large-scale disasters like the Songhua River contamination in 2005 and the Wenzhou train crash in 2011, and we could add other incidents, we see a pattern of denial and cover-up and evasion on the part of local leaders," Crane told The Guardian. "[They are] afraid of being associated with 'problems' that could reflect badly on their personal careers and create headaches for higher level leaders."
Last week, the World Health Organization declared the ongoing viral outbreak to be a "Public Health Emergency of International Concern," which the organization defines as "an extraordinary event which is determined to constitute a public health risk to other States through the international spread of disease and to potentially require a coordinated international response."
A day afterward, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued its first quarantine order in more than five decades in response to the matter.


theblaze--2020-02-03--Joe Biden snaps at 'Today' host Savannah Guthrie over Hunter-Burisma question: 'You don't know what

Joe Biden snaps at 'Today' host Savannah Guthrie over Hunter-Burisma question: 'You don't know what you're talking about!'

Joe Biden snaps at 'Today ' host Savannah Guthrie over Hunter-Burisma question : 'You do n't know what you 're @ @ @ @

Former Vice President and presidential candidate Joe Biden snapped at "Today" co-anchor Savannah Guthrie on Monday morning after she asked him about the Burisma scandal surrounding his son, Hunter Biden.
What are the details?
During the interview, Guthrie asked the 77-year-old Biden whether he believed that his son's controversies in dealings with Ukraine have affected the Democratic presidential candidate's campaign.
Guthrie said that President Donald Trump's impeachment proceedings highlighted the scrutiny on Hunter's job at Burisma, a Ukrainian natural gas company, and pointed out that Hunter's alleged dealings were placed on the forefront.
During the impeachment proceedings, House and Senate Republicans "ensured that everyone knows" about Hunter's role at Burisma.
"That's a good thing," the presidential candidate fired back. "No one's found anything wrong with his dealings in Ukraine except they said that it's a 'bad image.'"
He agreed that the appearance of Hunter's role on the Burisma board did not look very good, but insisted that Guthrie didn't know what she was talking about anyway.
Guthrie asked if Biden believed it was inappropriate that Hunter accepted the position on the Ukrainian board as the company allegedly wanted access to information from the Obama administration.
"Do you think it was wrong for him to take that position knowing it was really because that company wanted access to you?" she asked the presidential candidate.
“That's not true," he snapped. “You're saying things you do not know what you're talking about. No one said that. Who said that?"
Undaunted, Guthrie said that many people in the political world believed that it was "kind of sleazy" that Hunter accepted the job. She also wondered why Burisma would hire Hunter when he had no previous experience in the field, to which Biden responded, "Because he's a very bright guy."
www.youtube.com
Hunter, who has a well-known history of drug and alcohol abuse, was discharged from the Navy in 2013 after abusing drugs.
He took the position on Burisma's board in 2014 while his father was still President Barack Obama's vice president.
You can read more about Hunter and Burisma here.


theblaze--2020-02-03--Moving Super Bowl tribute to the American flag features Medal of Honor recipient and Johnny Cash's '

Moving Super Bowl tribute to the American flag features Medal of Honor recipient and Johnny Cash's 'Ragged Old Flag'

Moving Super Bowl tribute to the American flag features Medal of Honor recipient and Johnny Cash 's 'Ragged Old Flag @

The NFL kicked off Sunday night's Super Bowl LIV with a moving tribute to the American flag.
The video tribute featured Marine Lance Cpl. Kyle Carpenter, who served in Afghanistan in 2010 and is the nation's youngest living Medal of Honor recipient, and Johnny Cash's recording of "Ragged Old Flag."
The tribute also featured "First Ladies of the NFL," the wives who own NFL teams.
What are the details?
The tribute featured Carpenter and the NFL wives talking about the American flag, which they say is the nation's "most precious symbol of freedom."
Cash can be heard reciting "Ragged Old Flag" over historic American news clips and dramatic reenactments of historic events such as 1815's Battle of New Orleans.
During one portion of the tribute video, Carpenter can he heard reciting parts of the Declaration of Independence.
He can be heard saying, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
The moving tribute ends with Carpenter concluding, "God Bless America."


theblaze--2020-02-03--Democratic congressman 'disturbed' by ICE courthouse arrest of illegal immigrant with multiple crimi

Democratic congressman 'disturbed' by ICE courthouse arrest of illegal immigrant with multiple criminal convictions

Democratic congressman 'disturbed ' by ICE courthouse arrest of illegal immigrant with multiple criminal convictions He says the arrest 'may @ @ @ @ @ our local justice system '

A Democratic House member said he was "disturbed" by Immigration and Customs Enforcement's arrest of an illegal immigrant with multiple criminal convictions because it happened at a courthouse.
"I was disturbed to learn that ICE arrested Ericka Gonzalez Zuniga at the Hidalgo County Courthouse yesterday," Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas) said in a statement Friday. "While lawful, this lacked forethought, incites fear in our community, and may have a detrimental impact on our local justice system."
Gonzalez went on to say that he would work with ICE and local officials in order to "develop appropriate protocols that prevent this from happening again."
Zuniga's arrest became a point of controversy because it was conducted at a South Texas courthouse after her son was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the 2018 drunk-driving death of a Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office dispatcher, the Monitor of McAllen, Texas, explained.
ICE spokeswoman Nina Pruneda said in a statement to the Monitor that Zuniga "was issued a final order of removal by a federal immigration judge on January 4, 2005, and has multiple illegal entries into the United States" and that she had multiple convictions for theft between 2003 and 2010 as well.
Also, KRGV-TV reports that in July 2014 she confessed to stealing stealing four pairs of shoes from a sporting goods store and subsequently pleaded guilty to property theft charges, which was made a felony due to her prior theft convictions. The outlet also notes that she has been arrested over six times under multiple names over the course of the last two decades.
ICE's arrests of illegal immigrants at courthouses have become one of several hot-button enforcement issues amid the Trump administration's immigration enforcement efforts in recent years. In response to ICE's efforts, officials in multiple states and lower jurisdictions around the country have been trying to keep immigration agents from doing their jobs at courthouses for some time now. Critics — such as the American Civil Liberties Union — say that such arrests spread fear among illegal immigrant communities and hinder judicial operations.
ICE has repeatedly asserted that, per current policy, courthouses are not considered "sensitive locations" such as churches and schools, where enforcement operations are typically discouraged. Additionally, acting ICE Director Matthew Albence has said that courthouses are often the only place where immigration officials can catch illegal immigrants when local law governments won't cooperate.
"The fact that we have to arrest people in courthouses is largely necessitated by the fact that law enforcement agencies will not honor our detainers," Albence explained at a September press briefing. "Four or five years ago, before this whole sanctuary city issue exploded, we didn't really have to go into court rooms because we'd be able to get the individual while they're sitting in the custody of another law enforcement agency."


theblaze--2020-02-03--VIDEO: Jay-Z, Beyoncé sit during national anthem at Super Bowl — and folks are up in arms about it

VIDEO : Jay-Z , Beyoncé sit during national anthem at Super Bowl — and folks are up in arms about @ @ @ @ @ for yourselves .
What a disgrace . '

Jay-Z and Beyoncé were seen on video seated during a portion of the national anthem at the Super Bowl, and a lot of people are riled up: Some at the power couple for not showing respect for the flag; others at folks who're angry at them, ET reported.
The clip shows Jay-Z and Beyoncé, as well as their daughter, Blue Ivy, in their seats while Demi Lovato sings the lyric, "Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there":
ET pointed out that Jay-Z and Beyoncé were "far from the only ones who chose not to stand during the performance."
Mixed reaction
The reaction on Twitter to the couple sitting down during the anthem was decidedly mixed:
Any news on any white people who didn't stand?
Nothing says "OPPRESSION" like a bunch of American, CAPITALIST multi-millionaires sitting on their behinds for the National Anthem.
They are an embarrassment. They should be both respectful and thankful that America has given them the opportunities to be successful multimillionaires.
It's the them using the 1st Amendment
White people calling out Beyonce and Jay-Z for not standing for the national anthem is peak whiteness.
But national security proponent Brigitte Gabriel didn't like the optics one bit:
Anything else?
Some interpreted the couple sitting as support for former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who began the trend of kneeling during the anthem to protest police brutality and oppression of minorities. Both Beyoncé and Jay-Z have been supportive of Kaepernick's cause.
However, when Kaepernick canceled his highly publicized NFL workout in November as a precursor to possibly returning to the league, Jay-Z — who reportedly pressured the league to host the workout — took issue with Kaepernick's actions and said the quarterback turned a "legitimate workout" into a publicity stunt.
ET reported that Kaepernick shared a screenshot of someone else's social media post seemingly implying that Jay-Z was hypocritical for sitting during the anthem after partnering with the NFL on entertainment events — including the halftime show — despite how the league handled anthem protests.
The outlet said it reached out to representatives for Beyoncé and Jay-Z for comment.


theblaze--2020-02-03--Terrorist group claims responsibility for terror attack at Naval Air Station Pensacola

'We congratulate our Muslim nation and embrace the operation of the martyr hero '

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack at Naval Air Station Pensacola in December that killed three people and wounded eight others.
On Sunday, an audio recording purporting to be from the terrorist group's leader, Qassim al-Rimi, claimed responsibility for the Dec. 6 attack, the New York Times reported.
"We congratulate our Muslim nation and embrace the operation of the martyr hero, the daring knight Muhammad bin Saeed Al-Shamrani," the audio said, according to Reuters.
The group did not offer direct evidence proving the reported killer — Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, a second lieutenant in the Saudi Royal Air Force — was connected to AQAP. However, the group did produce communications between Alshamrani and their organization, as well as Alshamrani's will.
The Justice Department confirmed last month that the Pensacola attack was "an act of terror."
Attorney General William Barr said:
This was an act of terrorism.
The evidence shows that the shooter was motivated by jihadist ideology. During the course of the investigation, we learned that the shooter posted a message on social media on Sept. 11 of last year that said: "the countdown has begun." Over Thanksgiving weekend, he visited the 9/11 Memorial in New York City. He also posted other anti-American, anti-Israeli, and jihadi messages on social media, and did so two hours before his attack at the naval base.
However, the FBI said it did not believe Alshamrani was connected to a single group. A government source told Reuters that officials did not believe AQAP's claim.
Still, Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer, told the Times that AQAP's claim of responsibility is significant because it shows "that AQAP has infiltrated the Saudi military, which is an embarrassment for the Saudis."
AQAP's claim of responsibility coincided with reports that al-Rimi was the target of a successful drone strike last month.
According to the Times, the government is still working to confirm that the airstrike killed its target.


theblaze--2020-02-03--Google workers organized anti-Trump protests using company time, emails, and facilities, book reveal

Google workers organized anti-Trump protests using company time, emails, and facilities, book reveals

How would that work out for Trump supporters ?

After President Donald Trump was elected, Google employees used company time and resources to organize anti-Trump demonstrations — another example of the overwhelmingly politically liberal culture within the tech giant.
The Daily Caller's Peter Hasson revealed the efforts in a new book, titled, "The Manipulators: Facebook, Google, Twitter, and Big Tech's War on Conservatives." Hasson obtained Google emails showing the extent of the coordination within the company to oppose Trump.
"If your stomach turns when you consider a Trump presidency, I urge you not to let this moment pass quietly," one Google employee wrote to his coworkers, urging them to attend a protest in San Francisco.
Another Google employee organized a protest in which people would send disapproving postcards to the White House on March 15. That protest was publicized with a dramatically worded email, telling employee bring their "woke selves" to an area on the Google campus.
"We the people, in vast numbers, from all corners of the world, will overwhelm the man in his unpopularity and failure," the email said. "We will show the media and the politicians what standing with him — and against us — means. And most importantly, we will bury the White House in pink slips, all informing Donnie that he's fired. Each of us — every protester from every march, each congress-calling citizen, every boycotter, volunteer, donor, and petition signer — if each of us writes even a single postcard and we put them all in the mail on the same day, March 15th, well: you do the math. No alternative fact or Russian translation will explain away our record-breaking, officially-verifiable, warehouse-filling flood of fury."
The Trump presidency apparently survived this attempted flood of mail.
In his book, Hasson emphasizes the unlikelihood that someone organizing pro-Trump political activity would be allowed to use company time, email lists, and office space in such a way.
"It bears repeating that the employees used their work email addresses, a company listserv, and company office space to organize their anti-Trump activism, because there is absolutely no chance that a Google employee could get away with organizing pro-Trump activism using Google resources on company time," Hasson wrote. "If someone tried, their coworkers would run them out of the company, if their bosses didn't fire them first."


theblaze--2020-02-03--Ryan: Iowa, Iowa, Iowa

Ryan: Iowa, Iowa, Iowa

This was Iowa , the true America .
If there is such a thing .
There is n't .
There is .
There has to be .
There can not be .
There absolutely is .
At one point , at one of the many train-track intersections in the state , the crossing gate lowers and the bell rung and a train chugged by , and several cars waited at the designated line .
A few minutes later , the train just stopped on the tracks .
But people kept pulling into the line of cars .
And nobody sped @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In New York or Chicago , you 'd hear screeching and honking and curse words .
In Texas or California , peel-outs and gunshots .
It 's a lovely state , a charming place .
The way the land breathes under you , all spread out like a blanket , and the cornstalks lean with each breeze , and the marigold softness to the horizon without skyscrapers imposing their faces .
Everywhere you look all you see is America .
The honeyed scent of fertilizer and livestock .
At night the whole world @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can imagine what Adam and Eve felt like , alone in a garden , contemplating the electric sky full of planets and stars and other lives that they could not understand .
Iowa is 187 times bigger than New York City , yet there are about 3 million people in Iowa , compared to 9 million in New York City .
There are more hogs than humans in Iowa .
That is an actual fact .
Yet I can see why people have stayed in Iowa for generations .
You have to admire @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with parallel rivers as borders .
And on the easternmost side , along the Mississippi River , there 's the world 's steepest and shortest railway .
On the other , along the Missouri River , a monument to Sergeant Floyd , the only man to die during Lewis and Clark 's great expedition .
And every July , for a whole week , cyclists traverse that divide , bumping along those uneven roadways .
Just to be clear , there are 21 million hogs in Iowa .
That 's roughly the population @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Phoenix and Seattle and Detroit — combined .
Or Mumbai .
If these Iowa hogs divided into two factions and occupied different sides of the state , Iowa would have two megacities , a classification earned in America only by New York City and Los Angeles .
The swine arrived in the 1500s , thanks to the ham-obsessed Spaniards led by Hernando DeSoto .
For centuries , Native American tribes alone occupied the land .
Sac and Fox Nation , Ioway , Dakota Sioux , Illini , Otoe .
Before that , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the 1700s , the French showed up with their fur trade and their treaties .
The area belonged to France until 1763 , following defeat by Spain in the French and Indian War .
The region flopped from one nation 's hand to the next , until the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 , when the United States government bought swathes of land — from Louisiana to Montana — land that would become Midwestern and Southern states , including Iowa .
Congress paid $ 18 per square mile .
Shortly after the purchase , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ little possessive .
And soon enough the settlers were shoving the Indians off the land they 'd occupied since the Ice Age .
Which is some next-level gentrification .
America has always had a violent streak , and it was violent back then .
And cruel .
There was mayhem , out there on the wobbly plains .
Gunfights , stabbings , honest-to-God cowboy stuff .
Gunslingers .
Who knows what else .
Then , the Civil War .
1860s .
The worst kind of war .
The kind that guts a nation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ later , some of those tensions still linger .
Iowa had only been a state for 15 years , with a population of about 500,000 .
Yet roughly 75,000 Iowan men fought for the Union , the highest percentage of soldiers from any state , on both sides .
And they died like hell , drowning in the mud , ransacked by cannonballs , a bayonet to the guts or the neck or anywhere really , because it was the cruel early stages of modern war , when the technology was advanced enough @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but you still had to get close to the men you were fighting , face to face , in a field or on a hillside , and hundreds of thousands of men needed to die before we decided on the winner .
But America has always been a rugged , unceasing country , a roughneck , a chancer .
Most of the time it pays off .
We fought a Civil War , and stayed together .
Then came the railroads .
Sprouting up all across the country , in the late 1800s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ part of the country to any other part of the country .
So the farming jobs flourished in Iowa and the population grew .
In 1901 , Quaker Oats was founded in Cedar Rapids .
A century later , it would be owned by the company that is Coca-Cola 's competitor .
Then , in 1937 , Iowa State University professor John Vincent Atanasoff and graduate student Clifford Berry created the first automatic electronic digital computer .
Meaning , the same state that gave us oatmeal also shoved us toward the creation of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all the luxuries of our digital reality .
Iowa 's era of thriving agriculture collapsed into the Great Depression , then World War I , then World War II .
And , everywhere in the world , people wanted to live in large cities , of which Iowa has very few .
Iowans coped how they could , replacing the agricultural with the industrial .
During the war , they built tanks , rifles , airplanes , armor .
You should know that 8,389 Iowans died by the end of the war on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ war .
Then returning to endless fields and oceanic skies and a night that sways in all of its majesty .
As the haze of a wartime economy cleared , Iowans enjoyed a sense of renewal .
They had benefited from the change of industry .
Agriculture had always been their moneymaker , but now they built refrigerators , farming equipment , stationary .
To this day , Iowa is the largest producer of eggs , pork , and corn .
In 1958 , Winnebago , the RV manufacturer , was founded in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ since that day , your home can be anywhere on this continent , whenever you want .
A year later , music died in a plane crash outside Clear Lake , Iowa .
During the mid-1970s , Indian yogi Maharishi Mahesh settled in Iowa .
Mahesh had gained fame as a guru to the Beatles and the Beach Boys in an LSD-drenched era , so Fairfeild , Iowa must have seemed otherworldly to Mahesh .
Or perfectly quiet .
While there , he cultivated the Transcendental Meditation technique , built it as a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ established Maharishi International University , an accredited private school with a `` consciousness-based education '' system .
Mantras , silence , focused breathing , stillness .
It caught on in Iowa , and continues to .
Or maybe Iowa had always been meditative and transcendental , all that landlocked rough-patch in the middle of a continent .
The prehistoric bones underneath it all .
The 1980s saw an agriculture crash of some sort .
But recall the events which occurred in Des Moines on Jan. 20 , 1982 , when a 17-year-old boy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and snout — then hurled the poor creature at Black Sabbath .
Ever the performer , Ozzy Osbourne yanked the tiny corpse from the ground and shoved it in his mouth and started gnashing .
He thought it was a toy .
By the time he realized it was in fact a tiny dead mammal , he 'd already started and could n't break the persona .
After the show , he rushed from the venue to Broadlawns Medical Center for a rabies shot .
Ozzy Osbourne 's bat decapitation stands as one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ' N ' Roll history .
Happened right there in Des Moines .
Then there 's Britt , Iowa , home to the annual National Hobo Convention , as well as the Hobo Museum .
Call the town quirky or gross for hosting such a thing .
Or see the humanity in it , the neighborliness .
Supposedly , the name `` Iowa '' is a reference to when Indians discovered the land .
It was the first word they uttered .
When they looked at the sprawling land and the hills , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Iowa , '' which translates to `` beautiful , beautiful , beautiful . ''
I am currently in Des Moines for the Iowa caucuses .
Check my Twitter for live updates .
Email : kryan @ blazemedia.com

Iowa, Iowa, Iowa.
This was Iowa, the true America. If there is such a thing. There isn't. There is. There has to be. There cannot be. There absolutely is.
Friendly people, in general. Patient, courteous.
At one point, at one of the many train-track intersections in the state, the crossing gate lowers and the bell rung and a train chugged by, and several cars waited at the designated line. A few minutes later, the train just stopped on the tracks.
But people kept pulling into the line of cars. And nobody sped off and nobody honked their horns. In New York or Chicago, you'd hear screeching and honking and curse words. In Texas or California, peel-outs and gunshots.
It's a lovely state, a charming place. The way the land breathes under you, all spread out like a blanket, and the cornstalks lean with each breeze, and the marigold softness to the horizon without skyscrapers imposing their faces.
Everywhere you look all you see is America. The honeyed scent of fertilizer and livestock. At night the whole world gets so dark and quiet that you can imagine what Adam and Eve felt like, alone in a garden, contemplating the electric sky full of planets and stars and other lives that they could not understand.
*
Iowa is 187 times bigger than New York City, yet there are about 3 million people in Iowa, compared to 9 million in New York City.
There are more hogs than humans in Iowa. That is an actual fact.
Yet I can see why people have stayed in Iowa for generations.
You have to admire its stable geography. The only state with parallel rivers as borders.
And on the easternmost side, along the Mississippi River, there's the world's steepest and shortest railway. On the other, along the Missouri River, a monument to Sergeant Floyd, the only man to die during Lewis and Clark's great expedition. And every July, for a whole week, cyclists traverse that divide, bumping along those uneven roadways.
Just to be clear, there are 21 million hogs in Iowa.
That's roughly the population of Mexico City. Or San Francisco-Oakland and Phoenix and Seattle and Detroit — combined. Or Mumbai. If these Iowa hogs divided into two factions and occupied different sides of the state, Iowa would have two megacities, a classification earned in America only by New York City and Los Angeles.
21 million hogs!
The swine arrived in the 1500s, thanks to the ham-obsessed Spaniards led by Hernando DeSoto. For centuries, Native American tribes alone occupied the land. Sac and Fox Nation, Ioway, Dakota Sioux, Illini, Otoe. Before that, woolly mammoths roamed the plains.
In the 1700s, the French showed up with their fur trade and their treaties. The area belonged to France until 1763, following defeat by Spain in the French and Indian War.
The region flopped from one nation's hand to the next, until the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, when the United States government bought swathes of land — from Louisiana to Montana — land that would become Midwestern and Southern states, including Iowa. Congress paid $18 per square mile.
Shortly after the purchase, the territory's new residents got a little possessive. And soon enough the settlers were shoving the Indians off the land they'd occupied since the Ice Age. Which is some next-level gentrification.
*
America has always had a violent streak, and it was violent back then. And cruel. There was mayhem, out there on the wobbly plains. Gunfights, stabbings, honest-to-God cowboy stuff. Gunslingers. Who knows what else.
Then, the Civil War. 1860s. The worst kind of war. The kind that guts a nation. Over a century and a half later, some of those tensions still linger.
Iowa had only been a state for 15 years, with a population of about 500,000. Yet roughly 75,000 Iowan men fought for the Union, the highest percentage of soldiers from any state, on both sides.
And they died like hell, drowning in the mud, ransacked by cannonballs, a bayonet to the guts or the neck or anywhere really, because it was the cruel early stages of modern war, when the technology was advanced enough to kill you from far away, but you still had to get close to the men you were fighting, face to face, in a field or on a hillside, and hundreds of thousands of men needed to die before we decided on the winner.
But America has always been a rugged, unceasing country, a roughneck, a chancer. Most of the time it pays off. We fought a Civil War, and stayed together.
Then came the railroads. Sprouting up all across the country, in the late 1800s. Trains could haul produce from any part of the country to any other part of the country. So the farming jobs flourished in Iowa and the population grew.
In 1901, Quaker Oats was founded in Cedar Rapids. A century later, it would be owned by the company that is Coca-Cola's competitor.
Then, in 1937, Iowa State University professor John Vincent Atanasoff and graduate student Clifford Berry created the first automatic electronic digital computer. Meaning, the same state that gave us oatmeal also shoved us toward the creation of Grand Theft Auto V and iPhones and all the luxuries of our digital reality.
Iowa's era of thriving agriculture collapsed into the Great Depression, then World War I, then World War II. And, everywhere in the world, people wanted to live in large cities, of which Iowa has very few.
Iowans coped how they could, replacing the agricultural with the industrial. During the war, they built tanks, rifles, airplanes, armor. You should know that 8,389 Iowans died by the end of the war on Sept. 2, 1945.
Imagine surviving war. Then returning to endless fields and oceanic skies and a night that sways in all of its majesty.
As the haze of a wartime economy cleared, Iowans enjoyed a sense of renewal. They had benefited from the change of industry. Agriculture had always been their moneymaker, but now they built refrigerators, farming equipment, stationary. To this day, Iowa is the largest producer of eggs, pork, and corn.
In 1958, Winnebago, the RV manufacturer, was founded in Winnebago County, Iowa, and, since that day, your home can be anywhere on this continent, whenever you want.
A year later, music died in a plane crash outside Clear Lake, Iowa.
During the mid-1970s, Indian yogi Maharishi Mahesh settled in Iowa. Mahesh had gained fame as a guru to the Beatles and the Beach Boys in an LSD-drenched era, so Fairfeild, Iowa must have seemed otherworldly to Mahesh. Or perfectly quiet.
While there, he cultivated the Transcendental Meditation technique, built it as a proper school of thought. He even established Maharishi International University, an accredited private school with a "consciousness-based education" system. Mantras, silence, focused breathing, stillness. It caught on in Iowa, and continues to.
Or maybe Iowa had always been meditative and transcendental, all that landlocked rough-patch in the middle of a continent. The prehistoric bones underneath it all.
The 1980s saw an agriculture crash of some sort. But recall the events which occurred in Des Moines on Jan. 20, 1982, when a 17-year-old boy gripped a dead bat — all fangs and snout — then hurled the poor creature at Black Sabbath.
Ever the performer, Ozzy Osbourne yanked the tiny corpse from the ground and shoved it in his mouth and started gnashing. He thought it was a toy. By the time he realized it was in fact a tiny dead mammal, he'd already started and couldn't break the persona. After the show, he rushed from the venue to Broadlawns Medical Center for a rabies shot.
Ozzy Osbourne's bat decapitation stands as one of the most notorious moments in Rock 'N' Roll history. Happened right there in Des Moines.
Then there's Britt, Iowa, home to the annual National Hobo Convention, as well as the Hobo Museum. Call the town quirky or gross for hosting such a thing. Or see the humanity in it, the neighborliness.
Supposedly, the name "Iowa" is a reference to when Indians discovered the land.
It was the first word they uttered.
When they looked at the sprawling land and the hills, they said "Iowa, Iowa, Iowa," which translates to "beautiful, beautiful, beautiful."
I am currently in Des Moines for the Iowa caucuses. Check my Twitter for live updates. Email: kryan@blazemedia.com


theblaze--2020-02-04--America goes to bed without a winner as Democrats heap scorn on Iowa caucus debacle

America goes to bed without a winner as Democrats heap scorn on Iowa caucus debacle Some are speculating this could @ @ @ @ @ gets to caucus first

The Iowa Democratic Party was unable to report the highly anticipated results of its caucuses held Monday, declaring a last-minute delay citing reporting irregularities and leaving Democratic campaign officials furious.
Candidates, reporters, and the most of the nation called it a night after it became clear that the results may not be revealed with accuracy for days — or longer.
What are the details?
Democrats rolled out a new caucus method requiring multiple vote counts at precincts this year, The Washington Post reported, and the results were submitted via an app. There was confusion over the integrity of both systems, leading to widespread speculation over what caused the delay in solidifying the results.
The country waited for hours before the party finally released a statement at 11:30 p.m. EST saying:
We found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results. In addition to the tech systems being used to tabulate results, we are also using photos of results and a paper trail to validate that all results match and ensure that we have confidence and accuracy in the numbers we report. This is simply a reporting issue. The app did not go down and this is not a hack or an intrusion. The underlying data and paper trail is sound and will simply take time to further report the results.
Eventually, the party ended up on a conference call with each of the Democratic 2020 candidates' campaigns, but made things worse by balking and hanging up when the campaigns began to ask questions. Fox News reported that one campaign staffer referred to the IDP's "brief" call as "crazy." A second campaign staffer confirmed, "Yes, they did hang up."
From there, further chaos ensued. Elena Schneider of Politico reported that "Iowa Democrats are literally knocking on the doors of the precinct chairs who hadn't yet called in their results, according to one Iowa Democrat. They are going door-knocking. At midnight. After the caucuses are over."
A Yahoo News correspondent reported that one Democratic campaign adviser told him this fiasco would be the end of the Iowa caucus, declaring, "It's dead. The campaign gave them millions of dollars. It's dead."
The hashtag #TomPerezResign began trending on Twitter, as Democrats placed blame on the Democratic National Committee chair, with a Huffington Post senior reporter declaring, "The Iowa Caucus debacle is so insulting to the candidates, their volunteers, the caucus-goers and the DNC's own process. Tom Perez has to resign."
Anything else?
The media weighed in on the criticism, too. MSNBC's Chris Matthews reacted to the mess by saying, "The guy in the White House is chuckling all night here, showing the Democrats can't even get a three-car funeral organized — or whatever you want to call it — I would say to the people of Iowa, the last person leaving Des Moines, please turn out the lights."
Fox News' Chris Wallace said of the IDP, "Even if and when they get numbers, they're going to have to go through the numbers and the process with every single one of these campaigns before they put them out."
Responding to the question of whether this could be the final first-in-the-nation caucus for Iowa, Wallace said, "I love Iowa, and I think the people there take it very seriously, but the Iowa Democratic Party has failed them terribly tonight, and I would be very surprised if Iowa leads the state rolls when we get to 2024."


theblaze--2020-02-04--Pete Buttigieg declared victory in Iowa despite zero results being reported, and liberals are furiou

Pete Buttigieg declared victory in Iowa despite zero results being reported, and liberals are furious at him

Pete Buttigieg declared victory in Iowa despite zero results being reported , and liberals are furious at him

Presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg was criticized on social media after he declared victory in the Iowa caucuses despite no official results being reported.
The South Bend, Indiana, mayor was expected to do well in the key early contest of the Democratic primary, but his presumed victory was marred by the lack of actual results.
"We don't know all the results. But we know by the time it's all said and done, Iowa, you have shocked the nation," he said in his quasi-victory speech. "By all indications, we are going on to New Hampshire victorious!"
The Democratic Party of Iowa released statements attempting to explain why results were delayed, but the lack of clarity and transparency led to embarrassing denunciations and accusations online.
Failed presidential candidate Marianne Williamson noted the peculiarity of Buttigieg's speech:
"Pete Buttigieg wins Iowa according to Pete Buttigieg! I get how this works. It's kind of fun once the horror wears off," remarked comedian Francesca Fiorentini.
"We have no results yet @PeteButtigieg claimed victory? Wtf am I missing something?" asked Olga Lautman.
Filmmaker Adam Best accused Buttigieg of truing to "fix" the results.
"According to what I can tell from watching Buttigieg's weird speech, he just won the American presidency with 97% of the Black vote. So, I guess congrats to him," joked Nima Shirazi.
"Out of the 100 or so supporters standing behind Pete Buttigieg right now, every single one of the black people seem to be strategically positioned directly behind Pete so they'll all be in the camera shot," complained CNN contributor Keith Boykin.
Democratic party officials were still unclear early Tuesday morning as to when the results could be expected.
Here's the latest in the caucus debacle:


theblaze--2020-02-04--John Kerry, self-proclaimed lifelong gun owner: No one should use an 'AR-16 with a long clip' to hun

John Kerry, self-proclaimed lifelong gun owner: No one should use an 'AR-16 with a long clip' to hunt

John Kerry , self-proclaimed lifelong gun owner : No one should use an 'AR-16 with a long clip ' to @

Speaking at Joe Biden campaign rally over the weekend, former secretary of state and supposed lifelong hunter and gun owner John Kerry asserted that no one should use an "AR-16 with a long clip" to hunt.
"You heard from Joe about the things he did with the NRA," Kerry said to the crowd of Biden supporters. "That took courage. Delaware is a tough state. I'm a hunter. I'm a gun owner. Been that all my life," he continued. "But I got news for you, there's not a veteran here who would take an AR-16 with a long clip to go out and shoot a deer or shoot anything. There is no business — Joe led the fight to get those things off the street."
Kerry likely meant to refer to the AR-15 semiautomatic rifle and also confused a clip with a magazine, both surprising mistakes for a lifelong gun owner.
"Now we have a crowd that was willing to bring them back," Kerry continued. "And we saw what happened in Las Vegas and other places. We need a Joe Biden with the guts and the courage and the savvy to be able to do something that's reasonable about guns in our country."
Kerry again makes a mistake in claiming there was a "crowd that was willing to bring [AR-15s] back," since AR-15s were never fully banned.
He may be referring to the assault weapons ban inaugurated under President Bill Clinton in 1994, but that law simply placed restrictions on how many features could be added to the AR-15 and similar firearms. That ban was also lifted in 2004, well before the current gun debate in America ensued.
Responding to the gaffe, popular gun rights blog Bearing Arms called out Kerry for proceeding to demonize guns without knowing much about them.
"If you want a ban a gun, shouldn't you at least know what it's called? And why is it that so many 'lifelong gun owners' who love gun control talk about firearms like someone speaking a foreign language?" the article said.


theblaze--2020-02-04--'We are baffled as to what's going on!' — Democrats say 'quality control' issues have delayed result

'We are baffled as to what's going on!' — Democrats say 'quality control' issues have delayed results from Iowa caucuses

'We are baffled as to what 's going on ! '
— Democrats say 'quality control ' issues have delayed @ @ @ @

The Democratic Party of Iowa was hit with embarrassing criticism after a "baffling" delay in the results being released from the highly anticipated Iowa caucuses.
MSNBC's Steve Kornacki reported that they had reached out to the Democratic Party and received no answers about why the results were delayed.
"I can tell you the Iowa Democratic Party now isn't saying anything," said Kornacki. "No answer, no answer, no answer."
"So frankly, we are baffled as to what's going on. We are not getting any communication from the Iowa Democratic Party. And as you say, this is highly unusual."
Here's the video of Kornacki:
www.youtube.com
A report from Politico indicated that the phone line into the Democratic Party was not working and that some precinct chairs were being told to take cellphone photos of the results and text them to an executive director.
Some results were supposed to be sent into the party headquarters through a phone application, but that system has failed.
"We are on paper in many cases," not the app, said an Iowa Democrat. "The whole system largely broke."
Iowa Democratic Party communications director Mandy McClure released a statement trying to explain the delay.
"The integrity of the results is paramount. We have experienced a delay in the results due to quality checks and the fact that the [Iowa Democratic Party] is reporting out three data sets for the first time," said McClure.
"What we know right now is that around 25% of precincts have reported, and early data indicates turnout is on pace for 2016," she added.
The Biden campaign registered its disappointment with the "considerable flaws" in the reporting system.
Here's the latest about the Iowa caucuses:


theblaze--2020-02-04--Trump campaign boots Bloomberg News reporter from Iowa event

The president 's campaign is keeping with its policy after the news organization announced it would not investigate 2020 Democrats

Officials for the re-election campaign for President Donald Trump escorted a Bloomberg News reporter out of an event in Iowa on Monday, following through with Trump 2020's policy of no longer credentialing the outlet's reporters.
What are the details?
The Wall Street Journal reported that Bloomberg reporter Jennifer Jacobs was "walked out of the room" before a press conference in West Des Moines, on the same day as the Iowa caucuses. President Trump was not present at the event.
A Trump campaign representative told The Hill, "It was cordial, but she wasn't credentialed per our policy." Bloomberg News refused comment to both the Journal and The Hill on the matter.
The founder and namesake of Bloomberg News, Democrat Mike Bloomberg, announced his candidacy for president of the United States in November. Shortly thereafter, his news organization's editorial and research editor-in-chief announced to staffers, "We will continue our tradition of not investigating Mike (and his family and foundation) and we will extend the same policy to his rivals in the Democratic primaries." However, the editor declared, "Our P&I team will continue to investigate the Trump administration."
The decision was lambasted publicly by several media outlets and even a former veteran Bloomberg News reporter.
In early December, Trump 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale reacted to Bloomberg News' policy with a counter-policy from the president's re-election campaign.
"Bloomberg News has declared that they won't investigate their boss or his Democratic competitors, many of whom are current holders of high office, but will continue critical reporting on President Trump," Parscale wrote. "As President Trump's campaign, we are accustomed to unfair reporting practices, but most news organizations don't announce their bias so publicly.
"Since they have declared their bias openly, the Trump campaign will not longer credential representatives of Bloomberg News for rallies or other campaign events," Parscale said, adding, "We will determine whether to engage with individual reporters or answer inquiries from Bloomberg News on a case-by-case basis."
Anything else?
Bloomberg defended his news outlet's decision to limit its political coverage of all 2020 Democrats while he is in the race and dismissed his own reporters' complaints over the policy, telling them, "With your paycheck comes some restrictions and responsibilities."
The Washington Examiner noted that Bloomberg News reporters "still have access to Trump's rallies as part of their permanent role in the White House press corps travel pool."


theblaze--2020-02-04--Swing-vote Sen. Lisa Murkowski says she 'cannot vote to convict' on impeachment

Swing-vote Sen. Lisa Murkowski says she ' can not vote to convict ' on impeachment The Republican from Alaska lambasted @ @ @ @ @ for the political nature of the proceedings

Centrist Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) announced Monday that she "cannot vote to convict" President Donald Trump on the charges brought against him by House Democrats in the ongoing Senate impeachment trial, arguing it is up to the American people to "pronounce a verdict" in November.
The moderate from Alaska also had strong words of condemnation for the conduct of the House, the Senate, and the president.
What are the details?
"The House rushed through what should have been one of the most serious, consequential undertakings of the legislative branch simply to meet an artificial, self-imposed deadline," Murkowski said from the Senate floor. She declared twice, "The House failed in its responsibilities."
Moving on to voice her displeasure over how Senate proceedings were conducted, Murkowski said, "The Senate should be ashamed by the rank partisanship that has been on display here. We cannot be the greatest deliberative body when we kick things off by issuing letters to the media instead of coming together to set the parameters of the trial and negotiate in good faith on how we should proceed."
Sen. Murkowski, addressing some of her Democratic colleagues, said, "For all the talk of impartiality, it is clear to me that few in this chamber approached this with a genuinely open mind. Some have been calling for the president to be impeached for years." Then, addressing some of her fellow Republicans, the senator continued, "Others in this chamber saw little need to even consider the arguments from the House before stating their intentions to acquit."
Speaking of members of both parties and both chambers over their complete reversal of arguments from the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton, Murkowski said, "That level of hypocrisy is astounding."
Sen. Murkowski went on to say, "The president's behavior was shameful and wrong. His personal interests do not take precedence over those of this great nation."
The senator from Alaska argued that half of America wanted the Senate to dismiss the impeachment articles against President Trump immediately, and the other half would only view the trial as being fair if the president were removed from office.
Ultimately, Murkowski said, "I cannot vote to convict. The Constitution provides for impeachment, but does not demand it in all instances." She added, "Removal from office and being barred from ever holding another office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States is the political death penalty. The president's name is on ballots that have already been cast. The voters will pronounce a verdict in nine months, and we must trust their judgment."


theblaze--2020-02-04--Entrance polling at Iowa caucuses shows voters prioritizing a candidate who can beat Trump, over one

Entrance polling at Iowa caucuses shows voters prioritizing a candidate who can beat Trump, over one they agree with

Entrance polling at Iowa caucuses shows voters prioritizing a candidate who can beat Trump , over one they agree with @ @ @ @ @ for Bernie Sanders

Entrance polling from the Iowa caucuses on Monday evening showed that voters were prioritizing which candidate would be more likely to defeat President Donald Trump in the 2020 election.
The survey showed that voters prioritized the pragmatic choice over policy agreement by nearly a two-to-one margin.
63 percent of those surveyed said they prioritized beating the president, while only 35 percent said they prioritized a candidate with policies that were in agreement with their own.
The emphasis on beating Trump might be a sign that voters in the Iowa caucus will prefer a "safer" candidate to one with more liberal political policies.
The Iowa caucus is seen as extremely important for candidates to raise money and show early support in the primary race.
Other results showed that health care was the greatest concern among caucus voters, with 41 percent saying it was the most important issue. 21 percent said climate change was the most important issue, while another 16 percentage replied that income inequality was their issue.
The RealClearPolitics average of polls showed that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was leading the pack in Iowa, with Joe Biden coming in at second place.
Here's more about the Iowa caucuses:


theblaze--2020-02-04--The final Des Moines Register poll — the one they decided not to release — shows Joe Biden in fourth

The final Des Moines Register poll — the one they decided not to release — shows Joe Biden in fourth place: report

The final Des Moines Register poll — the one they decided not to release — shows Joe Biden in fourth @ @ @

An unreleased final poll shows Democratic national front-runner Joe Biden in fourth place ahead of the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses Monday night.
The CNN/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll, often called the "gold standard" of Iowa polling, was expected to release its much-anticipated last official poll results ahead of the caucuses.
But on Saturday, after a respondent issued a complaint about the way the poll was administered, saying one of the candidate's names was omitted when they were asked to name their preferred candidate, the Des Moines Register and partners decided to cancel its release.
"While this appears to be isolated to one surveyor, that could not be confirmed with certainty," said the news outlet. "Therefore, out of an abundance of caution, the partners made the difficult decision not to move forward with releasing the poll."
What were the results?
After news of its cancellation, the results of the unreleased poll were allegedly leaked and circulated on Twitter.
On Monday, FiveThirtyEight.com confirmed the results, which show Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in the lead with 22% of the vote, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in second with 18%, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg in third with 16%, and the former vice president all the way back in fourth with just 13%.
FiveThirtyEight noted that Selzer and Co., the pollster in charge of the Iowa Poll, has an A+ on its Pollster Rating.
Why does it matter?
News of Sanders' surge in the Iowa polls had been widely reported in the lead-up to the caucuses, but the RealClearPolitics polling average showed Biden hanging in there at or near second place.
Had the respected poll been released Saturday showing Biden nearly 10 points back and in fourth place, the media narrative surrounding the caucuses would have been greatly influenced.
"Imagine the news cycle that would have been, with national front-runner Biden making such a poor showing in the last, highest-profile poll before the caucuses," said FiveThirtyEight in its report.