theblaze--2020-02-20--John Bolton breaks his silence: Democrats' impeachment of President Trump was 'grossly partisan'

John Bolton breaks his silence : Democrats ' impeachment of President Trump was 'grossly partisan' Says his testimony would n't @ @ @ @ @ the trial

Former national security adviser John Bolton broke his silence Wednesday and slammed the Democratic Party-led impeachment of President Donald Trump as a "grossly partisan" effort.
Bolton, who is the author of an upcoming book on his experience in the White House, also said that his testimony would not have changed the outcome of the Senate impeachment trial, according to the Associated Press. He made the comments at a public appearance alongside Susan Rice, his counterpart under President Barack Obama.
While the former diplomat refused to disclose any details regarding his book, he did say he believed that the House "committed impeachment malpractice." This, the AP reported, drew "grumbling from the audience."
Democrats alienated Republican allies
The retired official also noted that the manner in which Democrats handled the impeachment "drove Republicans who might have voted for impeachment away because it was so partisan."
He also noted that, contrary to claims by Democrats who called upon him to testify, he does not believe that his testimony would have changed the final impeachment outcome — though he did not expect the Senate to vote against having him appear.
"People can argue about what I should have said and what I should have done," Bolton said. "I would bet you a dollar right here and now, my testimony would have made no difference to the ultimate outcome."
Rice disagreed, telling Bolton and the audience that nothing would have caused her "to refuse to share information with Congress or the public that I thought was of national import."
"I can't imagine withholding my testimony, with or without a subpoena," she added. "I also can't imagine, frankly, in the absence of being able to provide that information directly to Congress, not having exercised my First Amendment right to speak publicly at a time when my testimony or my experience would be relevant."
'Implied threat of criminal prosecution'
Bolton said the reason why he did not "spill his guts" regarding the president's dealings with Ukraine is that he could have faced criminal prosecution if he had shared, even inadvertently, information that is deemed classified. When asked if he would have complied with a House subpoena, Bolton cited the White House review process that is determining whether the contents of his book can be disclosed.
"I'm not here to speculate on that with the pre-publication review process under way," Bolton said, which drew laughter from some in the audience. "Laugh all you want. This is the judgment of my counsel, somebody I worked with 35 years ago, 30 years ago at the Department of Justice."


theblaze--2020-02-20--Rapper blasts Dwyane Wade in a profane rant for encouraging trans child’s transition: ‘You gone too

Rapper blasts Dwyane Wade in a profane rant for encouraging trans child’s transition: ‘You gone too f***ing far’

Rapper blasts Dwyane Wade in a profane rant for encouraging trans child ’ s transition : ‘ You gone too @ @ @ @ @ one heck of a rant

Rapper Boosie Badazz hit out at former NBA star Dwyane Wade in a scathing tweet about Wade's transgender daughter.
Wade recently appeared on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" where he revealed that his 12-year-old daughter Zaya — a biological male — "came out" as a transgender girl. He also told ABC's "Good Morning America" that he and his daughter always knew that she wasn't male.
What are the details?
Badazz — real name Torrence Hatch Jr. — blasted Wade and his parenting in a viral and profane Instagram video.
He captioned the video, "IM GO SAY IT SINCE THIS P**** A** WORLD AINT GO SAY S***!! U TRIPPIN N****."
"I gotta say something about this s***, bro," he began. "Dwyane Wade, you done too f***ing far, dawg. That is a male. A 12-year-old. At 12, they don't even know what they next meal gon' be. They don't have s*** figured out yet. He might meet a woman, anything, at 16 and fall in love with her. But his d*** be gone — how he gon' — like, bruh, you going too far, dawg."
He continued, issuing a passionate plea to reconsider Wade's physical support of his daughter.
"Don't cut his d*** off, bruh. Like, bruh, for real, if he gon' be gay, let him be gay," the rapper continued. "But don't cut his d*** off, bruh. Don't — and dress him as a woman, dawg. He's 12 years old. He's not up there year. He hasn't made his final decisions yet. Don't cut his f***ing d*** off, Dwyane Wade, bruh. You f***ing trippin', dawg."
What else?
Hatch wasn't the only one to speak out against Wade's decision — rapper Young Thug also blasted the basketball star over the announcement.
According to NBC News, the rapper — real name Jeffery Williams — wrote in a since-deleted tweet, "All I wanna say to dwade son is: 'GOD DON'T MAKE MISTAKES.' But hey live your true self."
The outlet reported that he issued a less obvious tweet after deleting the first. He wrote, "You're Gods best creation."
During Tuesday's "Good Morning America" interview, Wade added, "Zaya started doing more research. She was the one that sat down with us as a family and said, 'Hey, I don't think I'm gay.' And she went down the list and said, you know, this is how I identify myself, this is my gender identity."
"'I identify myself as a young lady,'" Wade continued. "'I think I'm a straight trans, because I still like boys.' So it was a process for us to sit down with our daughter and find out who she is and what she likes and not put something on her because as parents, we put our hopes and we put our fears on our kids. And with Zaya, we decided to listen to her and she's leading us along this journey."


theblaze--2020-02-20--After left-wing freakout over op-ed calling for 'elites' to pick the president, Washington Post stea

After left-wing freakout over op-ed calling for 'elites' to pick the president, Washington Post stealth edits controversial headline

After left-wing freakout over op-ed calling for 'elites ' to pick the president , Washington Post stealth edits controversial headline @ @ @ @ @ would notice ?

After backlash from left-wingers over a controversial op-ed, the Washington Post completely altered the article's headline without adding any note about the change.
The move is called a stealth edit and it is bad journalistic practice, to say the least.
The article in question is an opinion piece written by Julia Azari, a political science professor at Marquette University, in which she argued for changing the current primary system to give Democratic Party "elites," and not the electorate, the ultimate power to pick the party's candidate.
It was originally titled, "It's time to give the elites a bigger say in choosing the president," but the headline did not go over well, as immediately upon publication it became the subject of scorn and ridicule on Twitter. Now, that same article is titled, "It's time to switch to preference primaries."
Despite the headline change, the substance of the article remains the same, and though "elites" are no longer mentioned in the headline, they are still mentioned seven times in the relatively short article.
Image Source: WashingtonPost.com screenshot
Disgruntled supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) understood the op-ed to be a swipe at his grassroots campaign amid his surge to the top of the Democratic presidential field.
In the article, Azari expressed doubts about whether the two leading candidates — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg — would be able to the unite the party.
One user derided the article, quote-tweeting it, saying, "S**t people say when Bernie Sanders takes the lead."
Others took cracks at the irony of the Washington Post — known for their tag, "Democracy Dies in Darkness" — publishing an article calling for less democracy.
"'Democracy dies in darkness' isn't always true," one person said. "Sometimes it dies in daylight on the pages of Washington Post, especially when Bernie Sanders is winning and elites are having a meltdown."
"Seeing the words "Democracy dies in darkness" over an article literally calling for oligarchy is the height of irony," another added.
Still another said: "'Democracy Dies in Darkness!' 'Oh, and we must take democracy away from you in broad daylight and let elites vote for you' - WaPo."
One person jabbed the news outlet, saying, "The Onion must have passed on this headline, so WaPo scooped it up."
TheBlaze has reached out to the Washington Post for comment, and this story will be updated with any remarks the news outlet provides.


theblaze--2020-02-20--Meghan McCain lauds Warren for savaging Bloomberg: ‘I really enjoyed watching you rip out Mayor Bloo

Meghan McCain lauds Warren for savaging Bloomberg: ‘I really enjoyed watching you rip out Mayor Bloomberg’s jugular’

Meghan McCain lauds Warren for savaging Bloomberg : ‘ I really enjoyed watching you rip out Mayor Bloomberg ’ s @ @

"The View" co-host Meghan McCain praised presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) Thursday for the way she attacked fellow presidential candidate and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg during Wednesday night's Democratic primary debate in Las Vegas.
McCain has been critical of Bloomberg in the days since he announced his campaign.
What are the details?
Warren appeared via video livestream on Thursday's broadcast, where she discussed Wednesday night's presidential debate in Las Vegas.
"Hello, Senator, this is Meghan," McCain said. "First of all, congratulations last night. I really enjoyed watching you. I really enjoyed watching you rip out Mayor Bloomberg's jugular — I really did."
Warren smiled and responded, "So nice."
Warren opened the Democratic debate with a scathing attack on Bloomberg.
"I'd like to talk about who we're running against," Warren said during her debate opener. "A billionaire who calls women 'fat broads' and 'horse-faced lesbians!' And no, I'm not talking about Donald Trump, I'm talking about Mayor Bloomberg! Democrats are not going to win if we have a nominee who has a history of hiding his tax returns, of harassing women, and of supporting racist policies like red-lining and stop and frisk."
Warren said that she would openly support any Democratic nominee, but warned that Democrats are taking a "huge risk" if they opt to "substitute one arrogant billionaire for another."
During Thursday's show, McCain continued, "I take great offense at the idea that you've been running for president ... and you should just drop out because he has billions of dollars. The time that Trump came up last night was when you compared him to saying that Democrats aren't going to win the nomination if they have a history of harassing women.
"I think this is an incredibly strong point," she insisted. "[Bloomberg] has a history of both misogynistic and racially charged comments over a long period of time, and I believe the media has given him a huge pass on this."
How did Warren respond?
Warren replied, “You know, I think you're asking the question, Meghan: Why [does the media] always seem to give the billionaires extra consideration?"
She added, “Because I think that's what's happened here, but you know what I'll bet you he's doing right now? I'll bet he's reaching in his pocket and spending $100 million more on advertising to try to erase everyone's memory of what happened last night."
Warren continued, pointing out that Democrats should never appoint a man or woman who "has a history of embracing racially outrageous practices like stop and frisk."
"[W]e should not have a nominee who has — we don't know how many times he's been charged with discrimination against women or with sexual harassment and has just shoveled some of his money in to cover it up," Warren added. "Too many men have gotten away with that for far too long and it stops now."
(H/T: The Daily Caller)


theblaze--2020-02-20--Coronavirus crisis could exponentially worsen if it takes hold in Uighur Muslim concentration camps

Coronavirus crisis could exponentially worsen if it takes hold in Uighur Muslim concentration camps in China Will we even know @ @ @ @

Coronavirus is spreading throughout mainland China and claiming thousands of lives amid a shroud of secrecy and questionable information from the communist Chinese government. As bad as things are now, things could get much deadlier if the virus spreads to the Uighur Muslim concentration camps in northwest China, The Guardian reported.
The estimated number of imprisoned Turkic Uighurs in the region varies widely, but is believed to be between 1 million and 3 million people detained in Chinese "re-education" camps. In those camps, detainees deal with overcrowding, filthy conditions, and lack of adequate medical care — prime conditions for the spread of a deadly, highly contagious virus.
Most of the coronavirus cases in China are in the Hubei province, specifically in the city of Wuhan. That is far from the Xinjiang province where the camps are located — but there have already been 55 confirmed coronavirus cases there.
"People are starting to panic. Our families are there, dealing with the camps and the virus, and we do not know if they have enough to eat or if they have masks," Dilnur Reyhan, a French sociologist of Uighur origin, said, according to The Guardian.
Coronavirus has proven to be particularly dangerous to people with pre-existing health conditions, elderly people, or people under high stress.
China's early attempts to hide the extent of the early coronavirus outbreak leads to the question of whether China would respond properly — or even reveal it to the public — if detained Uighurs began getting coronavirus in large numbers.
This potential danger is yet another reason activists are calling on the Chinese government to close the camps and alleviate the possibility that coronavirus could spread throughout them.
A petition posted on Change.org signed by more than 3,000 people has called for the closure of the camps to reduce the threat posed by holding so many people in close proximity.
"We must not wait until news of hundreds of coronavirus-related deaths in the camps before we react," the petition says. "As China continues to struggle to contain the virus in Wuhan, we can easily assume the virus will rapidly spread throughout the camps and affect millions if we don't raise the alarm now."
Social media campaigns have been started, under hashtags such as #VirusThreatInThecamps and #WHO2Urumqi to urge the World Health Organization (WHO) to send a delegation to Xinjiang.
The Chinese government has, for years, detained Muslim minorities living in Xinjiang in camps for the alleged purpose of re-educating "people influenced by extremism." Detainees are forced to renounce Islam and pledge loyalty to the communist government. The government claims, without providing evidence, that Muslims in the region have ties to dangerous extremists.


theblaze--2020-02-20--Roger Stone sentenced to over three years in prison on charges stemming from the Mueller probe

Roger Stone sentenced to over three years in prison on charges stemming from the Mueller probe But he does n't @ @ @ @

Longtime GOP operative and former Trump campaign associate was sentenced to 40 months in federal prison on Thursday, after prosecutors' previous efforts to get him a longer sentence became a subject national controversy.
According to Fox News:
Before announcing the sentence in a federal courtroom in Washington, the judge in the case, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, took a firm stance toward the Republican operative, faulting him for the actions that led to the charges. She sentenced him to 40 months in prison.
"Mr. Stone lied," Jackson said in court. She also said Stone injected himself "smack" into a political controversy and was not "persecuted."
Stone chose not to speak when given the opportunity.
Stone was found guilty in November on seven counts that included lying to Congress, witness tampering and obstructing a congressional investigation, which stemmed from special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. The 67-year-old Stone was indicted in January following a heavily armed pre-dawn FBI raid at his Fort Lauderdale, Florida, home.
"This prosecution is and was righteous," Assistant U.S. Attorney John Crabb said of the case, echoing a comment Attorney General William Barr made about the matter last week. "The defendant was found guilty by a jury of his peers of obstructing justice, lying to Congress and witness tampering. The court should impose a substantial period of incarceration."
According to NBC News, however, Stone will not have to report to prison until the judge decides on the defense's pending motion for a new trial stemming from a claim of juror bias. Last week, it was reported that jury foreman Tomeka Hart was a former Democratic congressional candidate and had a long history of anti-Trump social media posts.
In addition to the concerns about juror bias, the trial was also recently plagued by controversy about the sentencing itself. Last week, all four line prosecutors handling the case resigned after a Department of Justice put out an amended sentencing memo saying that the initial recommendation of seven to nine years "could be considered excessive and unwarranted." That was after President Donald Trump tweeted that the initial recommendation was a "miscarriage of justice."
The department's change of course on the sentencing recommendation generated considerable backlash against Barr, which included over 2,000 former Justice Department officials as well as some congressional Democrats who called for his resignation over concerns of political interference in the process.
Barr said in an interview later that President Trump had "never asked me to do anything in a criminal case" but that his tweets about cases "make it impossible for me to do my job."
"Bill Barr stepped in and stopped what I thought was an unjust sentence enhancement," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said in the attorney general's defense on Monday, "and to the people who want Barr to resign, we know your agenda!"


theblaze--2020-02-20--Ryan: Bernie at the airport Holiday Inn

Ryan: Bernie at the airport Holiday Inn

( Part One ) .
( Part Two ) .
( Part Three ) .
Some poor guy booked a hotel room on Feb. 3 at the Holiday Inn Airport Conference Center in Des Moines , Iowa , assuming it would be a harmless Monday night .
Only to find himself in the middle of an overflowing Bernie rally on the night of the caucuses .
For the record , the man was not a Bernie Sanders supporter .
Far from it .
He popped his head backward when I told him where I work , smiling .
Well , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her speech , Amy Klobuchar wandered into the crowd , immediately submerged .
Selfies .
Everybody wanted them .
A minute later , the other candidates began to appear on screen , giving speeches .
`` Bernie , '' I said , and we paced to the car and lurked out onto the depopulated streets and the trenchant cold .
But we were both bright with excitement , a couple of detectives .
The valet attendants in their satin outfits saw two oddities , and they were right .
Justin Young and I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Downtown for Amy Klobuchar 's `` Amy for America caucus night party . ''
She gave her speech , in a brilliant maneuver .
I skated the Nissan down empty streets , quietly listening to Bernie 's speech on the Iowa Public Radio station .
`` I love this , what we 're about to do , '' I said , gripping the wheel , words hurried , leaning forward , tapping my left boot .
`` We 're going to hear Bernie talking , then we 'll park , then walk through @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that very room as Bernie is giving the speech that 's being broadcast to millions of people . ''
It was like how in the game Mario Bros. , Mario can jump into giant green storm drains , occasionally .
Like leaping into the television and joining the cast .
`` There 's nobody out on the roads , '' one of us said .
`` Holiday Inn , right up there . ''
As broad-winged commercial airplanes floated overhead .
We scoured for a parking spot and each second felt wasted .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ that hotel .
But there was nowhere to park .
Even the illegal spots were taken .
Cars had creviced every inch of parking lot and curb and all that , had even jammed into dark pyramids of sludge .
Rita Dove wrote , `` I prefer to explore the most intimate moments , the smaller , crystallized details we all hinge our lives on . ''
There were so many more journalists at Bernie 's event that the only media spots left were in the overflow room , which itself seemed at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a heavy vibe , like a sinister library .
The entire hotel exuded gloom .
A quietness you hear in locker rooms after a game that should have ended differently .
Bernie supporters , dazed , stomped out into the snow , or to the restrooms , or just in need of a bit of stomping .
Back to Beechwood Lounge , where we watched the Super Bowl a day earlier .
Although it felt like a week had passed since then .
Because Justin consumes politics with an all-encompassing urgency .
As @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's clearly studied history and politics for years .
Part historian , part political scientist , but also part reporter and part comedian .
On one hand , he 's guided by the old school approach to journalism .
Objectivity .
Solemnity .
Accuracy .
An American has the right to tell nobody who they voted for .
Or maybe it 's a cultural thing .
Snow everywhere you look , piles of it full of gas and oil , and rubbish as well .
That day was unseasonably warm .
The next @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The kind of day that slows everyone down .
With all that ice , you have to be cautious about every step .
Shame is for the uninitiated .
Thanks for reading .
New stories come out every Monday and Thursday .
Next week , a look at Socrates ' sarcasm and Cardi B 's political aspirations .
Check out my Twitter .
Send all notes , tips , corrections to kryan @ blazemedia.com

(Part One). (Part Two). (Part Three).
Some poor guy booked a hotel room on Feb. 3 at the Holiday Inn Airport Conference Center in Des Moines, Iowa, assuming it would be a harmless Monday night. Only to find himself in the middle of an overflowing Bernie rally on the night of the caucuses.
For the record, the man was not a Bernie Sanders supporter. Far from it. He popped his head backward when I told him where I work, smiling. Well, grinning, to be precise.
*
After her speech, Amy Klobuchar wandered into the crowd, immediately submerged. Selfies. Everybody wanted them.
A minute later, the other candidates began to appear on screen, giving speeches.
"Bernie," asked Justin Robert Young, host of Politics Politics Politics.
"Bernie," I said, and we paced to the car and lurked out onto the depopulated streets and the trenchant cold. But we were both bright with excitement, a couple of detectives. The valet attendants in their satin outfits saw two oddities, and they were right.
Justin Young and I had just left the Des Moines Marriott Downtown for Amy Klobuchar's "Amy for America caucus night party." She gave her speech, in a brilliant maneuver. I skated the Nissan down empty streets, quietly listening to Bernie's speech on the Iowa Public Radio station.
"I love this, what we're about to do," I said, gripping the wheel, words hurried, leaning forward, tapping my left boot. "We're going to hear Bernie talking, then we'll park, then walk through some doors and we will stroll into that very room as Bernie is giving the speech that's being broadcast to millions of people."
It was like how in the game Mario Bros., Mario can jump into giant green storm drains, occasionally. Like leaping into the television and joining the cast.
"There's nobody out on the roads," one of us said. "Holiday Inn, right up there."
As broad-winged commercial airplanes floated overhead. We scoured for a parking spot and each second felt wasted. Urgent. We needed to be inside that hotel. But there was nowhere to park. Even the illegal spots were taken. Cars had creviced every inch of parking lot and curb and all that, had even jammed into dark pyramids of sludge.
*
Rita Dove wrote, "I prefer to explore the most intimate moments, the smaller, crystallized details we all hinge our lives on."
*
There were so many more journalists at Bernie's event that the only media spots left were in the overflow room, which itself seemed at capacity. Dank, too. With a heavy vibe, like a sinister library.
The entire hotel exuded gloom. A quietness you hear in locker rooms after a game that should have ended differently.
Bernie supporters, dazed, stomped out into the snow, or to the restrooms, or just in need of a bit of stomping.
*
Back to Beechwood Lounge, where we watched the Super Bowl a day earlier. Although it felt like a week had passed since then.
Approaching midnight, by that point.
Because Justin consumes politics with an all-encompassing urgency. As if it's a duty. He's clearly studied history and politics for years. Part historian, part political scientist, but also part reporter and part comedian. On one hand, he's guided by the old school approach to journalism. Objectivity. Solemnity. Accuracy.
An American has the right to tell nobody who they voted for. Or maybe it's a cultural thing.
Snow everywhere you look, piles of it full of gas and oil, and rubbish as well. That day was unseasonably warm. The next would plummet us into literal freezing. The kind of day that slows everyone down. With all that ice, you have to be cautious about every step.
Shame is for the uninitiated.
Thanks for reading. New stories come out every Monday and Thursday. Next week, a look at Socrates' sarcasm and Cardi B's political aspirations. Check out my Twitter. Send all notes, tips, corrections to kryan@blazemedia.com


theblaze--2020-02-20--CNBC's Jim Cramer on Bernie Sanders: 'Is he really a socialist or is he a communist?'

CNBC 's Jim Cramer on Bernie Sanders : 'Is he really a socialist or is he a communist ? '

As a former hedge fund manager, CNBC's Jim Cramer knows a thing or two about finance and economics — and on Thursday morning, the host of "Mad Money" made no secret about what he thinks of Sen. Bernie Sanders.
In an exchange with Joe Kernen regarding Sanders' policies, Cramer asked, "Is he really a socialist or is he a communist? What is socialist about what he wants? Joe, isn't he is more of a communist?"
Kernen, who was noticeably taken aback by the question, responded "he is," before catching himself and backtracking, "oh, well, no I'm not saying that! I don't ... but ... it's a fine line and it's authoritarianism either way ..."
Trump and Bloomberg agree
Cramer, who was a vocal critic of the Obama administration's economic policies, said publicly what many have been asking themselves in recent days: Are Sanders' policies not more like those of failed communist states than what you see in countries like Denmark and Sweden? President Trump thinks so.
In a Feb. 2 interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity, the nation's 45th president used the c-word to describe Sanders' ideology.
"I think he's a communist. I mean, you know, look, I think of communism when I think of Bernie," Trump said.
Even former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg agrees with the characterization.
During Wednesday night's Democratic debate, Bloomberg took a shot at Sanders' ideas, comparing them to those of the Soviet Union.
"We're not going to throw out capitalism. We tried that. Other countries tried that," Bloomberg told Sanders. "It was called communism, and it just didn't work."
'Three-way lovechild of ... 1970s Sweden, Argentina, and Yugoslavia'
While the New York Times' Paul Krugman has (laughably) sought to downplay Sanders' socialism, other economists have noted that the Vermont presidential hopeful's views are well to the left of those of the European countries he cites as inspirations for his platform.
As Cato Institute's Ryan Bourne noted in a recent analysis:
Any given European country might engage in one or some of these interventionist policies. Combined though, whatever label you give it, Sanders' platform goes far beyond any modern social democracy in terms of government size and scope. Indeed, his policies can only be considered moderate if some three-way lovechild of the economics of 1970s Sweden, Argentina, and Yugoslavia's market socialism is the baseline.


theblaze--2020-02-20--Authorities discover bodies of 2 dead babies at NJ recycling facility

Authorities discovered the remains of two dead newborn babies Wednesday at a New Jersey recycling facility , ABC News reported .
What are the details ?
Authorities arrived at the Colgate Paper Stock company in New Brunswick , New Jersey , after a call on the grisly discovery of a baby 's body .
Several hours later , authorities discovered a second baby 's body .
Forensic officials are working to determine if the two babies are related and how they died .
They also are attempting to determine the ages of the children .
Law enforcement officials are working @ @ @ @ @ @ @ came to rest at the recycling facility .
The Middlesex Regional Medical Examiner 's Office is set to perform an autopsy on the babies .
According to ABC News ' Candace McCowan , who reported on the finding , the company takes in up to 1,000 recyclable materials on a daily basis .
NJ.com asks that any persons with information on the findings contact police Detective Raymond Quick at ( 732 ) 745-5200 , or prosecutor 's Detective Sean Sullivan at ( 732 ) 745-4060 .
No arrests have been made and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this writing , according to WNBC-TV .

Authorities discovered the remains of two dead newborn babies Wednesday at a New Jersey recycling facility, ABC News reported.
What are the details?
Authorities arrived at the Colgate Paper Stock company in New Brunswick, New Jersey, after a call on the grisly discovery of a baby's body.
Several hours later, authorities discovered a second baby's body.
Forensic officials are working to determine if the two babies are related and how they died. They also are attempting to determine the ages of the children.
Law enforcement officials are working closely with investigators to determine how they came to rest at the recycling facility. The Middlesex Regional Medical Examiner's Office is set to perform an autopsy on the babies.
According to ABC News' Candace McCowan, who reported on the finding, the company takes in up to 1,000 recyclable materials on a daily basis.
Police seeking information
NJ.com asks that any persons with information on the findings contact police Detective Raymond Quick at (732) 745-5200, or prosecutor's Detective Sean Sullivan at (732) 745-4060.
No arrests have been made and the investigation is continuing at the time of this writing, according to WNBC-TV.


theblaze--2020-02-20--Two from quarantined cruise ship die of coronavirus; infection control was 'chaotic' and 'inadequate

Two from quarantined cruise ship die of coronavirus; infection control was 'chaotic' and 'inadequate'

Two from quarantined cruise ship die of coronavirus ; infection control was 'chaotic ' and 'inadequate' There are more than @ @ @ @ @ ship

Two people who were quarantined on a cruise ship off the coast of Japan have died of coronavirus, Japanese officials said Thursday, just over a week after being released from the ship.
They are the first two people to die out of the 634 confirmed cases of coronavirus on the ship, which carried about 3,700 passengers. People have been quarantined on the ship for more than two weeks, although many passengers have been let off if they test negative for the virus.
The victims were a man and a woman in their 80s, NBC News reported, and the man had left the ship on Feb. 11, followed by the woman on Feb. 12. They were both Japanese nationals.
The procedures for containing the spread of the virus on the cruise ship were, according to one expert, not effective at all. Kobe University Hospital professor Kentaro Iwata said the procedures followed for the quarantine were "chaotic."
"Everybody could have the virus," Iwata said. "The cruise ship was completely inadequate in terms of the infection control."
American citizens who were aboard the ship were evacuated by the U.S. Department of State earlier in the week, including some who tested positive for coronavirus. Those who tested positive were placed in 14-day quarantine, mostly at military bases in California and Texas, while some others were moved to hospitals.
The Department of Defense has designated 14 military bases that are located near major airports to be used as quarantine locations.
Japanese nationals who tested negative and were released from the ship are being urged, but not required, to stay home for a couple of weeks.
"COVID-19 is not 100 percent known, and a lot of people got infected on the Diamond Princess. Japanese health minister Katsunobu Kato said, according to Fox News. "Taking those factors into consideration, we believe taking extra caution will contribute to preventing the risk of future infections."


theblaze--2020-02-20--Report: Over half of Baltimore's 32 mayoral candidates have criminal charges on their records

Report : Over half of Baltimore 's 32 mayoral candidates have criminal charges on their records Felony theft , carjacking @ @ @ @ @ , breaking and entering , and passing bad checks are among them

Former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh, a Democrat, is scheduled for sentencing next Thursday after pleading guilty in November to federal charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and tax evasion.
Former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh leaves the federal courthouse after pleading guilty to conspiracy and tax evasion related to her Healthy Holly books on Nov. 21, 2019. Jerry Jackson/Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
But enough about Pugh.
WBFF-TV did a little digging and learned that over half of Baltimore's 32 mayoral candidates have criminal charges on their records.
Among the charges discovered? Felony theft, carjacking, false imprisonment, embezzlement, breaking and entering, and passing bad checks, the station said.
The following are some profiles the station uncovered.
Former Mayor Sheila Dixon
First up is former Mayor Sheila Dixon, a Democrat, who was indicted on 12 counts of theft, fraud, and misconduct in office in January 2009, WBFF reported.
While the initial charges were dismissed, Dixon was indicted on two additional charges in July 2009: felony theft and embezzlement for stealing gift cards intended for the poor, the station said.
Baltimore mayoral candidate Sheila Dixon concedes to Catherine Pugh on election night on April 26, 2016. Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
Dixon was convicted on the misdemeanor embezzlement charge, WBFF said, adding that she reached a plea deal — agreeing to not run for office in Maryland until her four-year probation period ended.
She ran again for mayor in 2016 but lost to Pugh.
Rikki Vaughn
Business owner Rikki Vaughn, a Democrat, has been charged with felony theft, carjacking, and harassment, the station reported, but he was up front about his past in an interview with WBFF.
Image source: WBFF-TV video screenshot
"It was just one of those moments in life where, you know, I just fell," he told the station. "I felt there was no way up, there was no way to crawl away from it. And so I did a stupid act. I had to face the penalties and learn from that mistake."
Others
David Anthony Wiggins — a Republican and self-described business owner and clergy member — was charged with false imprisonment, harassment, failure to comply with a peace order, and filing a false application to purchase a firearm, WBFF said.
William George Herd, also a Republican, was charged with malicious destruction of property, breaking and entering, and passing bad checks, the station said.
Other candidates were convicted of less serious offenses, the station said, including fishing without a license and failure to return a rented car. WBFF said it limited its investigation to charges within the state of Maryland.
(H/T: Blue Lives Matter)


theblaze--2020-02-20--After pouring millions into Virginia elections, gun control group sets sights on Texas

After pouring millions into Virginia elections , gun control group sets sights on Texas ' I would say anyone running @ @ @ @ @ look to Virginia '

A gun control group co-founded by 2020 presidential candidate and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced a multimillion-dollar effort to support anti-gun candidates in Texas.
In a news release issued on Wednesday, anti-gun organization Everytown for Gun Safety said that it planned to spend $8 million in an electoral effort focused on state legislature and congressional races as well as "educating the voting electorate in order to make Texas competitive at the statewide level."
According to a corresponding memo about its plans for the Lone Star State, the group plans to put resources into 27 different House district races either trying to oust "gun lobby-backed candidates" or re-elect pro-gun control candidates, with a big focus on the Dallas and Houston suburbs. The memo also claims that the state House is "just nine seats short" of a pro-gun control majority.
On the federal level, the memo also says that the group will put efforts into trying to flip control of seats currently held by GOP Reps. Michael McCaul, John Carter, Dan Crenshaw, and Chip Roy, as well as three House seats currently held by Republicans who are retiring. The group also plans to defend two Democratic seats held by Reps. Lizzie Fletcher and Collin Allred.
"Gun safety has become a top issue for voters — especially in the suburbs — as Texas becomes younger and more diverse, and after years of horrific gun violence and lawmakers who fail to address it," a statement from Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action, which is a part of Everytown, says. "That's why we'll focus on electing gun sense candidates up and down the ballot in Texas, where a majority of households own guns, because polling proves gun owning and non-gun owning parents alike want their children to keep their kids safe."
The group also notes that the $8 million Texas spending spree will be just part of its overall $60 million investment in the 2020 election cycle.
This isn't Everytown's first attempt to flip control of a state legislature. The gun control group took a victory lap over the results of Virginia's statewide elections in November after spending over $2.5 million on those races and capitalizing on a shooting that took place in the state earlier that year. Those elections saw the control of the general shift from Republican to Democrat and paved the way for the current Democrat-let gun control efforts going on in Richmond.
"I would say anyone running for office in Texas should look to Virginia," Watts said in a story by the Houston Chronicle. "Six months after a shooting in Virginia Beach, all of the elected officials who refused gun sense were voted out of office."
While the group was co-founded by Bloomberg, Watts said on a Wednesday call that Everytown was "totally separate" from his 2020 presidential campaign, according to CNN.
"Mike and I founded Everytown together. He's a critical part of the movement," Watts said. "But as the movement has grown, so has our organization and our funding. Mike has consistently provided between a quarter and a third of our funding, depending on the cycle. In 2019, he provided about 25% of our contribution. But our grassroots engagement has grown in leaps and bounds."


theblaze--2020-02-20--Cops say Texas drunk driver hit a pedestrian, drove a half-mile with the 'mangled corpse' in his pas

Cops say Texas drunk driver hit a pedestrian, drove a half-mile with the 'mangled corpse' in his passenger seat, and then walked into a bar

Cops say Texas drunk driver hit a pedestrian , drove a half-mile with the 'mangled corpse ' in his passenger @ @ @ @ @ into a bar

A drunk driver was arrested in south Austin, Texas, over the weekend on allegations that he hit a pedestrian and drove at least a half-mile with the "mangled corpse" in his passenger seat before stopping at a beer garden.
Witnesses told officers they saw a 2014 white Ford Focus strike a pedestrian walking with a shopping cart near Slaughter Lane at around 10:30 p.m. Saturday before driving southbound on Menchaca Road, according to an arrest report obtained by the Statesman. The vehicle was allegedly being driven recklessly and at a high speed without any headlights on.
Upon impact, the body of the pedestrian, who police on Wednesday identified as 55-year-old Lee Martin Cagle, reportedly went up into the air and through the windshield. Officers responding to the incident found the Cagle's body in the passenger seat of the vehicle about half a mile down the road — the head and some other body parts had been detached.
According to the arrest report, the driver, Paul Joseph Garcia, 24, then calmly exited the parked vehicle and walked up to a beer garden barefoot and "in a manner that caught the attention of the other patrons."
Officers found Garcia with blood and other debris on him that matched "the blood and body tissue found coated in the interior of the vehicle," and after performing sobriety tests, arrested him for driving while intoxicated. He had not been served any alcohol at the beer garden.
In the arrest report, investigators noted that debris and body parts were found lining the road for the half-mile from the beer garden back to where the accident had occurred. Near the site of the accident, the pedestrian's shopping cart was found pushed "into a cluster of mailboxes with enough force to bend a two-inch diameter, galvanized steel post that supported mailboxes."
Garcia was officially charged for intoxication manslaughter and accident involving injury and is being held at the Travis County Correctional Complex on $110,000 bond.
Here's more about the incident from KXAN-TV:


theblaze--2020-02-20--Despite crowded 2020 field, CNN’s Van Jones laments that Democrats ‘should have other choices’ than

Despite crowded 2020 field, CNN’s Van Jones laments that Democrats ‘should have other choices’ than Sanders and Bloomberg

Despite crowded 2020 field , CNN ’ s Van Jones laments that Democrats ‘ should have other choices ’ than @ @ @ @ @ a judgment on this party '

CNN host and political commentator Van Jones says that the popularity of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in the Democratic presidential primary race shows that "mainline Democrats" have a problem and that the party needs to "look in the mirror" to figure out what's going on.
"From a party point of view, mainline Democrats are being squeezed out by Bernie and Bloomberg," Jones said during a panel discussion following Wednesday night's contentious debate. "Bernie is leading a bottom-up insurgency from the left, and he's not actually a Democrat. And then now you have this top-down incursion from the right from, uh, from Bloomberg — millions of people billions of dollars — he's not really a Democrat, either."
As far as the two candidates' Democratic bona fides are concerns, Jones was likely referring to the fact that Sanders' party affiliation in the Senate is independent and Bloomberg was a Republican during his years as New York City mayor.
Jones said that, in his view, the popularity of the two candidates "tells me that there's a judgment going on with the American people that the mainline Democrats — there's something wrong, there's something defective, there's something that's not cutting the cheese and so these outside forces are coming in, squeezing them out."
"What you're seeing is there's a judgment on this party and frankly one of the people I had the most hope in is you because you had a different set of ideas," Jones said to former Democratic candidate Andrew Yang, who was also on the panel, "but people should be looking in the mirror in this party to figure out what is going on here because really we should have other choices than just these two outsiders."
But Democrats have had plenty of other candidate choices in the primary race so far, many of whom have already dropped out of the running for party's nomination after failing to gain steam.
And yet, out of that incredibly crowded primary field, Sanders has emerged as the current front-runner with the former mayor enjoying his own recent surge after declaring his candidacy in November. After winning the New Hampshire primary, Sanders' RealClearPolitics national polling average currently puts him at the front of the pack with Bloomberg coming in third place behind former Vice President Joe Biden.


theblaze--2020-02-20--Hillary Clinton has no interest in being Mike Bloomberg's VP candidate: 'Oh, no'

Hillary Clinton has no interest in being Mike Bloomberg 's VP candidate : 'Oh , no' Probably the right choice

Former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said this week that she would not be interested in joining former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg as his running mate.
The possibility originated when unnamed Bloomberg campaign sources told the Drudge Report that Bloomberg was considering Clinton and thought they would make a "formidable" combination.
When asked about the rumor, Bloomberg's communications director didn't confirm or deny its truth.
"We are focused on the primary and the debate, not VP speculation," Jason Schechter said in a statement, according to the New York Post.
Clinton killed those rumors during a Tuesday interview on El Vocero de Puerto Rico.
"Oh no," Clinton said when asked about joining the Bloomberg campaign. "I'm just waiting and watching as this plays out. I will support whoever the nominee is."
Clinton was a senator in New York for several years while Bloomberg was mayor of New York City. Clinton went on to run for the Democratic nomination twice, losing to former President Barack Obama in 2008, and defeating Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in 2016 before losing the general election to President Donald Trump.
Clinton has (mostly) indicated that she's not interested in becoming anyone's vice president, although she has a habit of wording her denials in a way that leaves the door slightly open.
"I never say never because I believe in serving my country," Clinton told Ellen DeGeneres about vice presidential aspirations. "But it's never going to happen."
The choice to distance herself from Bloomberg looked even wiser after the billionaire's abysmal performance during the Nevada presidential debate Wednesday night, when the other primary candidates took turns teeing off on his reported racist and sexist comments, his support of stop and frisk, and his history of sexual misconduct allegations.


theblaze--2020-02-20--Bernie Sanders said his 'socialism' is just like Denmark's, but it's actually more like Cuba's

Bernie Sanders said his 'socialism ' is just like Denmark 's , but it 's actually more like Cuba's The @ @ @ @ @ rebuked the 'socialist ' label

Sen. Bernie Sanders often points to northern Europe as a prototype of the kinds of economies and societies he wants to build as president of the United States of America. At Wednesday night's Democratic debate, for instance, the 78-year-old candidate from Vermont said, "Let's talk about democratic socialism (...) let's talk about what goes on in countries like Denmark!"
The presidential hopeful's comment was in response to former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg describing Sanders' agenda as "communism" during a heated exchange.
"We're not going to throw out capitalism. We tried that. Other countries tried that," Bloomberg told Sanders. "It was called communism, and it just didn't work."
Denmark or Cuba?
Sanders says his policies are just like Denmark's; Bloomberg says Sanders' agenda looks like something out of the Soviet Union. Who's right?
It's difficult to reduce entire economies to soundbites, but one thing is clear: On issue after issue, when you move past Sanders' bumper sticker slogans and study the details of his policies, they are often well to the left of what they have in Europe and closer to the practices of former Soviet states, like Cuba.
Here are some examples:
Health care: Sanders' marquee proposal is his Medicare For All system where the government would play the role of a public insurance company that covers every American (and undocumented immigrants) from cradle to the grave. Such a system is indeed common in much of Europe and Canada, but the similarities begin to end when you look at the details of his proposal. For instance, Sanders calls for banning private health insurance — this is unheard of Scandinavia and most of Europe. Sanders also says that under his plan Americans would have no co-payments, but European patients typically have co-payments (albeit, often modest ones). Under the Danish system, for instance, psychological treatments are not covered and patients still have to pay for prescription drugs. In fact, as TheBlaze reported last week, very few countries have anything that resembles Sanders' health care plan. The closest one that comes to mind — where private health insurance is banned and the government even covers medication, vision, mental health and dental care — is Cuba.
Taxes: Sanders says he would raise the U.S. corporate tax rate from 21% to 35%. Sounds European, right? Not really. Here, again, he employs a sleight of hand. While Americans correctly associate Europe with high taxes when it comes to personal income and sales taxes, Sanders' corporate tax rate would be far higher than the European average. Denmark and Sweden, for instance, only have a 22% corporate tax rate, almost the same as ours. The only European country with a corporate tax regimen resembling what Sanders is pitching is France (34.5%). The French have a lovely country, but it's hardly a model for a desirable business environment. According to the 2018 Financial Complexity Index by TMF Group, France has one of the most complex business climates in the world. In practical terms, that means it's among the hardest countries to comply with local business regulations and tax policies — making it a less desirable destination for companies and investors who create jobs. Oh, you know what other country does have a 35% corporate rate? Cuba, which imposes a 35% tax on foreign companies operating on the island.
Corporate Governance: Sanders' "Corporate Accountability and Democracy" plan would require publicly traded companies and corporations of a certain size to have 45% of their boards elected by workers and to give up 20% ownership to employees. As the Cato Institute's Ryan Bourne explained in a recent article, this is "far more radical than [British leftist Jeremy] Corbyn's Labour" proposals which only pitched 1/3 of corporate boards and 10% of company stock to be controlled by workers. It also runs well to the left of similar requirements in Scandinavia. In effect, Sanders' plan mandates moving toward collective control of the means of production and nationalization of major industries, the textbook definition of Cuban-style socialism.
Denmark: Stop calling us socialists!
Not only are Sanders' policies fundamentally different than Denmark's in key ways, the country's former prime minister has even explicitly rejected his characterization of their economy.
In a 2015 speech, then-Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said, "I know that some people in the US associate the Nordic model with some sort of socialism. Therefore, I would like to make one thing clear. Denmark is far from a socialist planned economy. Denmark is a market economy."
Given the major policy differences between Sanders' proposals and what's commonly practiced in most of Europe, and the similarity to those of communist countries, Americans would be wise to view the Democratic front-runner's pitch for what it is: a bait-and-switch scam that must be rejected.


theblaze--2020-02-20--Socialism is bad and it's everywhere — and we've voted for all of it

Socialism is bad and it 's everywhere — and we 've voted for all of it Few people in power @ @ @ @ @ it

Socialism is bad. Everybody's saying it. Like worse than Hillary bad.
There's even data to prove it. Recent polling says socialism is pretty much worse than anything you can think of on the political spectrum bad. Only 46% of Americans say they would ever vote for a socialist, which is more than 30 points lower than those who say they would vote for a gay candidate.
Clearly then, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is most royally screwed when it comes to general election time. Because socialism is so completely opposed to liberty that no one other than a progressive zealot and the normal useful idiots of the Democratic Party could possibly embrace it.
Except a bunch of Republicans probably. Hold my beer.
Meet MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace, who went on an adverb parade recently to proclaim she would "gladly and easily and handily" vote for Sanders to defeat President Trump. Yes, we are talking about that Nicolle Wallace, the former White House communications director under former GOP President George W. Bush. Weird, isn't it, that the one-time gal in charge of the entire messaging ops of a "conservative" White House could have a heart groomable for the most virulent socialism?
Not at all, says my buddy Daniel Horowitz at Conservative Review: "These were the people running the GOP prior to Trump ... and I hate to inform you, they are still everywhere in the party at the highest levels."
Let's go to Conservative Review's Liberty Scorecard to confirm, shall we? That's where Sanders himself weighs in at a socialist's dream 23%. I know I often refer to those Quisling Republicans who score F's on that measurement of fealty to conservatism, the Constitution and common sense capitalism, but there simply can't possibly be any GOPers who score below a guy who honeymooned in the Soviet Union. Can there?
(Queue awkward silence and GIFs of face palms, eye rolls and that guy with the mullet who mouths WTF).
Their names are Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) along with Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania. But let's not let them have all the fun bringing the red scare to America. Also sitting at a traitorous 30% liberty score or below are such notables as none other than Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and conservative heroes du jour like Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Rep. Peter King (N.Y.), and — get this — Rep. Elise Stefanik (N.Y.), the spunky scourge of impeachment.
"Get your hands off my president, but burn the rest to the ground" has a nice ring to it, don't you think? We will call it the "Hail Hydra!" theme song.
I wish this were a joke, but we are living in a comic book where the theme of my show this year — "Assume you are being lied to" — jumps out from every page whenever Republicans attempt to claim the high ground. We haven't had a right-of-center party filled with actual freedom fighters for a very long time. We've simply had the socialists and the grifters, aka the corporate socialists that Sanders himself as already rightly labeled the Republican elite.
And we've voted for all of it.
So, yes, as I stated in the beginning, socialism is very bad. But something else is also equally true: It's already everywhere, surrounding you, and very few people in power have any actual plans to stop it. Nor, apparently, do we.


theblaze--2020-02-20--Mexican cartels are hiring American children as young as 12 to smuggle drugs and weapons across the

Mexican cartels are hiring American children as young as 12 to smuggle drugs and weapons across the border

Mexican drug cartels are hiring American children — as young as 12 — to smuggle drugs and weapons across the U.S. southern border at an alarming rate.
In Arizona alone, the numbers are not only staggering, but growing.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection found that "in fiscal year 2018 there were 36 children arrested for narcotics at Arizona's ports of entry. In fiscal year 2019, that number jumped to 57. So far in fiscal year 2020, which started in October, there's been 17 arrests," Fox News reported Wednesday.
"It's a problem, we know it's there. We're trying to mitigate that issue through education and prevention," said Alan Regalado, a Border Patrol agent in Tucson, Arizona.
"These teenagers are either smuggling in vehicles, they're smuggling on their body and in their body, so it's very dangerous," he added.
In order to combat the problem, Regalado started T.E.A.M. Kids, or "Together Educating and Mentoring Kids," a four-week program put on in schools to warn students about border recruiters. He told Fox News the program was first implemented in area high schools, but soon he realized that many of the students had already been recruited by that point and that education needed to begin earlier, even as early as elementary school.
Many of the kids caught running drugs and weapons are able to be charged as adults, since the crime of transporting drugs for sale is a class 2 felony.
In cooperation with T.E.A.M. Kids, Santa Cruz County Attorney George Silva explained that he tries to get the upper hand on cartels by warning students of the steep consequences for their actions.
"At this school I had promised the kids that if you are caught with dangerous drugs I'm sending you to prison and that's what ended up happening to this 17 year old ... this student was an honor roll student, you know he was a very good student, he wanted to go NAU and he wanted to study criminal justice, so he thought 'I can't afford to go to college so one way of being able to pay for my college is to run dope,'" Silva told Fox News.
"[Children] do it because they think it's cool but they also do it because of the easy money … [but] the minimum sentence is 3.5 years and obviously prosecuting them as adults means that they would be convicted felons for the rest of their lives," he added.
President Donald Trump has taken a hardline stance against the Mexican cartels. In a bold move in November, he announced that his administration would designate them as terrorist organizations, freeing the U.S. government to take decisive action against them.


theblaze--2020-02-20--College's equity and inclusion officer who held 'F*** Trump' sign while protesting president's visit

College's equity and inclusion officer who held 'F*** Trump' sign while protesting president's visit to city now out of a job

College 's equity and inclusion officer who held ' F*** Trump ' sign while protesting president 's visit to city @ @ @ @ @

The chief equity and inclusion officer at Kellogg Community College in Battle Creek, Michigan, is out of a job after posting a photo of himself holding a sign that read, "F*** Trump, F*** McConnell, F*** Graham," at a protest of the president's visit to the city in December, WBCK-FM reported.
College President Adrien Bennings said on Monday that Jorge Zeballos' position is being eliminated and that her office will assume equity and inclusion responsibilities, the station said. Bennings started as president at KCC last month:
Eric Greene, KCC's chief communications, told the Battle Creek Enquirer that the move had nothing to do with Zeballos' controversial actions: "I don't think it would be fair to say that had anything to do with this. It had to do with the college being fiscal stewards of its resources, within any position at the college, there needs to be a clear demonstrated need."
But last month, the college released a statement emphasizing Zeballos expressed personal opinions on his own time and not as a representative of the school, WWMT said, adding that he was still working at KCC.
"However, this matter is a teachable moment and healthy reminder for all KCC employees that our actions as individuals can have an impact on the institution," the statement said, the station reported. "Whether that impact affects an individual's employment status at KCC, positively or negatively, is a determination made via KCC's ongoing performance management process"
What's the background?
Zeballos took part in the Dec. 18 protest — and he later posted the photo in question to his Facebook page, which is no longer publicly accessible, WWMT-TV reported.
But screenshots still exist:
Image source: Facebook, redacted
'A sincere apology'
Zeballos recently addressed the KCC board of trustees and apologized for his actions, Campus Reform reported.
"The first thing I want to say is that the last couple of weeks have been really challenging for the institution and for me personally," Zeballos said. "This set of events has given me the opportunity to go into some deep reflection about my actions and the impact on the institution, so I want to offer this tonight: a sincere apology to the Board, my colleagues, Dr. Bennings, to students, to the community for the impact that my actions have had and the reactions that they have generated. I commit to moving forward, being much more mindful of any actions that I take and the impact that they might have on this institution. And I also firmly commit to taking any steps necessary to repair any trust that has been broken. Thank you."
youtu.be
After Zeballos spoke, KCC student Kimberly Towski addressed the board and said Zeballos has the right to free speech under the First Amendment, Campus Reform reported.
But Hal Longman argued that "somebody who's in the upper echelon of education using that kind of ... language just exposes [their] ignorance ..." the outlet noted.
Community member Joni Jones called Zeballos' actions "below the dignity of the office" of chief equity and inclusion officer and asked, "Is this the type of language that we taxpayers or you board members expect from a public higher education administrator? Is there not a code of conduct fo KCC employees?" Campus Reform added.
But one attendee noted to the outlet that "people ... found a way to attack and say, 'Hey, we want to get one of you brown people out of a position of power,' it's just white privilege. It's just that white entitlement piece straight across the board."


theblaze--2020-02-21--Support for Joe Biden implodes in new poll from key primary state of South Carolina

Support for Joe Biden implodes in new poll from key primary state of South Carolina This is disastrous for Biden

The presidential campaign for candidate Joe Biden received another body blow on Thursday in the form of a damaging poll from the key primary state of South Carolina.
The former front-runner saw a lead as big as 20 points in the Winthrop University polling from September, but that has dwindled down to a mere 5-point lead.
The latest iteration of the Winthrop University polling shows Biden with only 24 percent support in South Carolina, with socialist firebrand Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) increasing to 19 percent support.
Sanders improved by 8 percentage points from September in the same poll.
Biden has performed poorly in the first two state electoral contests of the Democratic primary, and this latest poll indicates his momentum is eroding. One advantage he has in South Carolina is his outsized support among African-Americans, who constitute a major part of Democratic voters in the state.
The surge in support for Sanders has left many of the centrist establishment Democrats sounding the alarm. MSNBC's Chris Matthews warned that the revolutionary strain of socialism had been tried in other countries and failed.
New York billionaire Mike Bloomberg entered the primary race and immediately attacked Sanders' socialism in the fiery Democratic debate on Wednesday.
The South Carolina primary election will be conducted on February 29.
Here's the latest on the Biden implosion:


theblaze--2020-02-21--Gut-wrenching video shows the impact of bullying on 9-year-old Australian boy with dwarfism. The wor

Gut-wrenching video shows the impact of bullying on 9-year-old Australian boy with dwarfism. The world is reacting.

Gut-wrenching video shows the impact of bullying on 9-year-old Australian boy with dwarfism .
The world is reacting .

On Wednesday, an Australian mother took to Facebook to make an impassioned plea against bullying as her son, 9-year-old Quaden, begged to die after years of abuse over his dwarfism.
It did not take long for Quaden's country and the rest of the world to react, sending love to a child whose pain was felt deeply.
What are the details?
Quaden's mom, Yarrak Bayles, posted a video on social media with the message, "This is the impacts of bullying! I seriously don't know what else to do!"
The camera is focused on Quaden, who sobs as he says, "I want to die right now," begging for a rope or a knife and at one point saying, "I want someone to kill me, and get it out of me."
This writer cried while watching it.
Ms. Bayles said on the video that Quaden's struggles with the abuse have been something their family has kept private for many years, but that she has hit a breaking point. The mother made an impassioned plea for parents and teachers to be pro-active in educating their children and students on the dangers of bullying — particularly when it comes to individuals who have a disability.
The footage of Quaden went viral within hours, and as it continued to spread the following day, messages of encouragement and love for the Australian boy poured in.
A 13-year-old girl sent Quaden a message telling him that watching his video made her cry, too, and shared her own experience of being bullied "almost every day" because of her stutter. One woman wrote on the Facebook page, "Love you dude, all the way in Texas we stand with you! You're stronger than any bully, remember that sweet boy."
Conservative pundit Dan Bongino tweeted the video of Quaden, saying, "I thought I was a generally tough guy. I'm not. This video broke me. I cannot fathom the pain this young man has been put through. God bless all of the people who reached out to help him and his family."
Hollywood actor and Australian native Hugh Jackman recorded a video telling the little boy, "Quaden, you are stronger than you know, and no matter what, you've got a friend in me."
Quaden's favorite rugby team, the Indigenous All Stars, also sent him a video message with the players gathered, telling him, "Hey Quadey...Just wanted to wish you all the best brother, we know you're going through a hard time right now but the boys are here."
Quaden will be leading the team onto the pitch this weekend.
Ms. Bayles noted on her Facebook feed that a GoFundMe had been set up by Brad Williams — a comedian who also has dwarfism — to send Quaden to Disneyland, letting followers know that other GoFundMe accounts had also been set up that were fake. As of this writing, the legitimate fund for sending Quaden to Disneyland had raised over $165,000 with a goal of raising $10,000.


theblaze--2020-02-21--Liz Warren said she would disavow all Super PAC money — but she's singing a different tune now

Liz Warren said she would disavow all Super PAC money — but she 's singing a different tune now Warren @ @ @ @ @ out of the race

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) was excoriated by her critics for changing her tune on super PAC money after claiming she would disavow all such financial campaign support.
Warren would not disavow a super PAC on Thursday when questioned by reporters about "Persist," a super PAC that had earmarked a million dollars' worth of spending on ads in Nevada for her presidential aspirations.
"If all the candidates want to get rid of super PACs, count me in," she said. "It can't be the case that a bunch of people keep them and only one or two don't."
Reuters noted that her website still contained a statement vehemently promising to disavow any super PAC support.
Lis Smith, the communications adviser for the Pete Buttigieg campaign, bitterly complained about Warren's hypocritical change of heart.
"This is the problem with issuing purity tests you yourself cannot pass," she tweeted.
She was responding to a tweet of a statement by Warren in an email that she would accept no super PAC campaign support.
Warren's flip-flop may be due to her inability to garner enough support in the first two states of the Democratic primary contest to be considered a top candidate. She came in third place in Iowa and in fourth place in New Hampshire.


theblaze--2020-02-21--'Shut the hell up': Eric Holder triggered by reporter exposing Andrew McCabe prosecutor's Democratic

'Shut the hell up': Eric Holder triggered by reporter exposing Andrew McCabe prosecutor's Democratic bona fides

'Shut the hell up ' : Eric Holder triggered by reporter exposing Andrew McCabe prosecutor 's Democratic bona fides

Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder lost his temper on Thursday in reaction to details surrounding the Democratic prosecutor and Obama administration holdover who dropped the case against former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, telling a reporter to "shut the hell up" and accusing him of wanting to "use the justice system for political reasons."
What are the details?
Investor's Business Daily alum and RealClearPolitics contributor Paul Sperry tweeted Tuesday, "BREAKING: Molly Gaston, the asst US Attorney who signed letter to McCabe's lawyer informing McCabe she was closing criminal case against him, is Democrat who's given thousands to Dems including Obama & who once worked for Dem side of House Oversight & whose mother worked for WaPo."
On Thursday night, Holder replied to Sperry, "Why don't you shut the hell up. Your bias is showing. I bet you've never been a prosecutor or have any idea how DOJ works. People like you-who want to use the justice system for political reasons-are both dangerous and ignorant. The case was-like you-an obvious loser."
The Twittersphere pointed out that Mr. Holder is a partner at Covington & Burling LLP, the same law firm where Gaston's father, Eugene Gulland, is senior counsel.
According to Fox News, Sperry "has often been critical of Holder, the Justice Department, and current Attorney General William Barr."
Sperry tweeted Thursday night, "Eric Holder completely politicized DOJ so he has a lot of gall weighing in on this issue."
What's the background?
The Justice Department launched an investigation into McCabe in 2018, following a criminal referral from DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz. McCabe, who now works for CNN, was accused of lying to investigators and leaking sensitive information to the media.
On Feb. 14, Gaston and DOJ Fraud & Public Corruption Section Chief J.P. Cooney sent a letter to McCabe's attorneys informing them that "the Government has decided not to pursue criminal charges against your client."


theblaze--2020-02-21--Tim Scott says Trump will see at least a 50 percent increase in African American support, and win re

Tim Scott says Trump will see at least a 50 percent increase in African American support, and win re-election

Tim Scott says Trump will see at least a 50 percent increase in African American support , and win re-election

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) said that he believes President Donald Trump will increase his support among African-Americans by at least 50 percent and that this would guarantee him a re-election victory in 2020.
Scott made the comments to Neil Cavuto on his Fox News show Thursday. He based much of his opinion on the entrance and performance of New York billionaire Mike Bloomberg into the Democratic primary campaign.
"President Trump will see a 50 percent increase in his African-American support," said Scott.
"It will go from 8 percent in 2016 to a minimum of 12 percent in 2020. He may even get to 15 percent of the African-American vote, and that is game over!" he added.
"Wow, what makes you say that, Senator? asked Cavuto.
"Well, listen to what the Democrats are saying. They have top-tier candidates that say red-lining was a good thing, having a negative impact on African-American home ownership," Scott said.
"And what is President Trump doing during the same time?" he asked rhetorically. "Simple. He had an executive order to increase affordability of home ownership, and African-American home ownership since he took office is up about 2 percent."
Scott went on to refer to Bloomberg's advocacy for "harassing African-American males through stop and frisk," a controversial law enforcement policy.
"Compare that against President Trump's criminal justice reform packages that are making the justice system more fair for African-Americans disproportionately than it has been in a long time, at least thirty years!" he added.
Scott also cited higher wages, more jobs, and a lessening of the wealth gap. He added that the president had secured permanent funding for historically black colleges and universities for the first time in the country's history.
"President Trump is not just talking a good game, he is walking a good game!" he concluded.
Here's the video of Scott's comments:


theblaze--2020-02-21--Dem ex-Rep. Katie Hill says 'rampant biphobia' was a 'huge part' of why she resigned

Dem ex-Rep. Katie Hill says 'rampant biphobia ' was a 'huge part ' of why she resigned The former lawmaker @ @ @ @ @ investigated for allegedly having an affair with a staffer

Former Rep. Katie Hill (D-Calif) claimed this week that "rampant biphobia" played a significant role in her decision to step down from Congress, because of the backlash she received after nude photos of her were leaked online amid rumors of her sleeping with subordinates.
Hill resigned in October after the House Ethics Committee launched an investigation into allegations that the California Democrat had a sexual relationship with a male legislative aide. She admitted at the time to previously having an "inappropriate" relationship with a female campaign staffer prior to being elected.
What are the details?
ABC News' George Stephanopoulos asked Hill in an exclusive interview that aired Thursday whether she regretted her decision to leave office. "I strongly feel that I made the right call in stepping down for several reasons," the former lawmaker replied. "One of which is that I did not want to be a liability to my colleagues."
Hill explained, "We knew from the people who had ... obtained the [explicit] photos that there were hundreds more images and text messages that were out there that I had no idea what they could be."
Stephanopoulos then noted that the scandal surrounding Hill "exploded" and asked the former congresswoman, "How much of it is tied to the fact, in your mind, that you're bisexual?"
"I think a lot of it is, and it's also partly because I'm a woman," Hill responded, claiming, "The bisexuality is a huge part of it."
Hill went on to reason, "There's biphobia that is rampant, still, and certainly misunderstanding of what bisexuality is."
Anything else?
When Hill resigned during her freshman year in office, she used her farewell speech to blame "right-wing media" and "misogynistic culture" for her downfall.
Yet Hill was being investigated for allegedly engaging in a sexual relationship with a congressional aide, which is a violation of a House ethics rule aimed at protecting subordinates from members who might use their power to take advantage of staffers. The rule was implemented in reaction to the #MeToo movement.


theblaze--2020-02-21--Bernie Sanders surrogate gets into angry exchange with CNN host on why socialism is unpopular

A surrogate for the presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) got into a very testy exchange with a CNN host over the unpopularity of socialism.
Brooke Baldwin accused Nina Turner, the co-chair of the Sanders campaign, of pivoting away from a question about socialism when she subtly accused her of bias.
"There was just new polling," said Baldwin, "because I think we do care about what the electorate thinks. There's this new Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll that found that two-thirds of the respondents said that they were actually uncomfortable with a socialist president."
"Well, when you break it down, Brooke," responded Turner, "you know Shakespeare once said, 'What's in a name? A rose by any other name smells just as sweet.' What is democratic socialism? It is government of the people, by the people, and for the people."
"Nina, I appreciate Shakespeare just as much as you do!" interrupted Baldwin. "I had a role in Macbeth, way back in the day, but I am talking about this particular poll, and I want an answer on the fact that the majority of America is not comfortable with a socialist president."
"He is a democratic socialist," Turner corrected, "and the majority of the American people, let me tell you what they comfortable with, they comfortable with Medicare for All, they're comfortable with college for all."
"Nina, you keep pivoting, you gotta answer the question!" demanded Baldwin.
"No, I'm not! I'm answering the question!" said Turner. "I might not answer it the way you want me to answer it, but I am answering the question."
Turner went on to accuse "some people" of trying to "demonize" the word socialism and claimed that polling could be manipulated.
On Wednesday, the dispute over socialism broke out at the Democratic debate in Las Vegas, Nevada, between New York billionaire Mike Bloomberg and Sanders.
Here's the exchange between Turner and Baldwin:


theblaze--2020-02-21--Kentucky gov signs bill requiring school resource officers to carry guns

Each school in the state will now have an armed police officer on guard

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) signed a school safety bill into law on Friday, that requires school resource officers to carry a firearm. Effective immediately, every school in the state will now have at least one armed police officer on guard.
What are the details?
The legislation was passed with overwhelming bi-partisan support in both Republican-controlled chambers of the Kentucky legislature. Beshear, a Democrat, took the full ten days allowed to take action on the measure, and finally opted Friday to sign it into law rather than veto it or allow it to become law without his signature, the Lexington Herald-Leader explained.
"I simply cannot ask a school resource officer to stop an armed gunman entering a school without them having the ability to not only achieve this mission, but also to protect themselves," Beshear said during a press conference, according to the Courier-Journal. He added, "We must be able to stop the worst of the worst."
The new law modifies a 2017 law that required every school in Kentucky to have a school resource officer on site for security purposes. The earlier legislation, however, was mum on whether or not the officers would carry a firearm. The law signed by Beshear on Friday requires those officers to be armed.
Beshear had faced pressure from civil rights groups, including Black Lives Matter, to veto the bill. The Hill reported that opponents of the bill "warned that the new law would not make schools safer and would create dangerous situations for students of color."
Republicans hailed the new law on Friday, with Senate Education Chairman Max Wise (R) — who sponsored the bill in the Senate — calling its signing "an incredibly important day for the commonwealth." The lawmaker told the Herald-Leader, "This new legislation, which goes into effect immediately, is crucial to the General Assembly's continued efforts to protect Kentucky's children, teachers and staff by improving the safety of our schools."


theblaze--2020-02-21--MSNBC contributor calls out 'racist liberal whites' who support Bernie Sanders, campaign fires back

MSNBC contributor calls out 'racist liberal whites ' who support Bernie Sanders , campaign fires back '' I do n't @ @ @ @ @ the island of misfit black girls you throw out ... ''

An MSNBC contributor and editor of "The Root" called out "racist white boys" who support Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and his campaign fired back on social media.
Johnson was explaining his MSNBC debate with Nina Turner, a Sanders campaign official, about whether it is political useful to criticize candidate Mike Bloomberg by calling him an "oligarch," when he made the comments.
"A large number of bargain basement pathetic doubly intensely ignorant bigoted white boys who masquerade as liberals who find themselves consistently in support of Bernie Sanders online have decided that they want to make this part of their meme," Johnson said.
"I do find it fascinating that racist, liberal whites seem to love them some Bernie Sanders consistently," he added. "And always have a problem with any person of color who doesn't want to follow with the orthodoxy of their lord and savior Bernie Sanders."
Johnson went on to explain several moments from the Sanders campaign where he felt they thumbed their nose at black journalists and other African-Americans.
"He cares nothing for intersectionality. I don't care how many people from the island of misfit black girls you throw out there to defend you on a regular basis, it doesn't mean that your campaign is serious!"
The hosts appeared aghast at his comments, and jokingly chided him, saying that he had gone too far.
"I don't care!" he responded. "I don't care."
Briahna Joy Gray, the national press secretary for the Sanders campaign, responded to an edited clip of the exchange and accused Johnson of "open racism and sexism" in a tweet.
"I hope we can have political disputes without engaging in open racism and sexism," she tweeted. "This misogynoir is disappointing, but not surprising from @DrJasonJohnson. I hope we can all encourage each other to be better."
Sanders is considered the frontrunner of the Democratic primary campaign after the results in the Iowa and New Hampshire contests.
Here's the video of Johnson's statements:


theblaze--2020-02-21--Chinese diplomat claims coronavirus will be 'liquidated' by next month: 'Complete victory'

Chinese diplomat claims coronavirus will be 'liquidated ' by next month : 'Complete victory' There 's reason to be skeptical

From an outside perspective, it seems as though coronavirus is spreading somewhat uncontrollably throughout the Hubei province of China where it originated. China's ambassador to Russia, however, feels differently.
Ambassador Zhang Hanhui told a Russian official that China will have a "complete victory" over coronavirus by next month, and could possibly have no cases of the virus outside the Hubei province by the end of this month, according to the Financial Times.
"We can win a complete victory over this virus," Zhang Hanhui reportedly said to Russian parliamentary official Ivan Melnikov. "Outside of Hubei, in other regions, we can win this victory already this month. And in the center of the epidemic, the disease will be liquidated next month."
There have been more than 77,000 cases of coronavirus worldwide. More than 2,200 people have died, and more than 12,000 are currently in serious or critical condition. All but 14 coronavirus deaths occurred in China.
The statistics out of China have been treated with skepticism, and multiple changes by Chinese health authorities regarding how cases are counted has added another level of doubt to their accuracy. Those factors make Zhang's claim of a quick "complete victory" over coronavirus in China seem unlikely. There were 411 new cases of coronavirus in China on Thursday.
World Health Organization director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Friday that the "window of opportunity is narrowing" to control worldwide spread of the viruses, with the numbers of cases increasing in countries such as South Korea and Japan. From CBS News:
[Ghebreyesus] said the WHO was concerned over the number of coronavirus cases with no clear epidemiological link to China, meaning that patients had neither traveled there or come in contact with any confirmed cases. He also voiced concern about the potential spread of the virus in China's Shandong province, near Hubei, the epicenter of the outbreak.
Iran, Australia, and Italy have see coronavirus cases in recent days, and there are more than two dozen confirmed cases in the United States.


theblaze--2020-02-21--11-year-old girl gives birth in a bathtub. Now her father — an illegal alien who was once deported —

11-year-old girl gives birth in a bathtub. Now her father — an illegal alien who was once deported — her mother, and brother are under arrest.

11-year-old girl gives birth in a bathtub .
Now her father — an illegal alien who was once deported — @ @ @ @ @ are under arrest .

Authorities arrested the mother, father, and brother of an 11-year-old girl after she delivered a child in a bathtub at the family's St. Charles, Missouri, home.
According to a BuzzFeed News report Friday, the unnamed girl's parents are facing charges of child endangerment. The girl's 17-year-old brother is being charged with incest, statutory rape, and statutory sodomy.
What are the details?
Police arrived at a hospital on Feb. 11 responding to a call about a child with an umbilical cord and placenta still attached. The child had a body temperature of 90 degrees, the outlet reported.
An affidavit revealed that the young girl's parents — identified by TooFab as Francisco Javier Gonzalez-Lopez and Lesbia Cante — brought the baby to the hospital. Gonzalez-Lopez initially reported that the baby was his, and that a mistress he impregnated dropped the child off at his home. He later told investigators, however, that the child belonged to his 11-year-old daughter, and that his son — her brother — was the father of the newborn.
Gonzalez-Lopez, according to charging documents, was identified as being an illegal immigrant who was previously deported from the United States.
Throughout questioning, Gonzalez-Lopez and Cante insisted that they were unaware that their son raped their daughter or that she had fallen pregnant through assault.
Upon questioning, the 17-year-old reportedly admitted that he had sex with his sister "about 100 times," the outlet said. The teen denied knowledge that his sister was pregnant, according to the outlet.
What else?
The state is planning to take custody of the child when it is well enough to leave the hospital.
The girl's mother, father, and brother are all in jail at the time of this writing. The girl is said to be staying with relatives.
TooFab reports that Cante — who pleaded not guilty Wednesday — was being held on a cash-only bond of $100,000. Gonzalez-Lopez is being held on a $10,000 bond, and their son is being held on a $25,000 bond.


theblaze--2020-02-21--Bloomberg camp calls out 'Bernie Bros' after Knoxville office is vandalized

Bloomberg camp calls out 'Bernie Bros ' after Knoxville office is vandalized 'It echoes language from the Sanders campaign and @ @ @

A campaign office in Knoxville, Tennessee, for former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg was allegedly vandalized Thursday night and the campaign is hinting that it may be connected to supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
"This latest incident at our Knoxville campaign office is exactly what we've been warning about. We don't know who is responsible for this vandalism, but we do know it echoes language from the Sanders campaign and its supporters," Bloomberg campaign manager Kevin Sheekey said in a statement Friday.
"Over the past week, we've seen similar attacks against Mike Bloomberg 2020 offices in multiple states. Fortunately, no one has been injured. But this needs to end before someone gets hurt," Sheekey continued.
"We call on Bernie Sanders to immediately condemn these attacks and for his campaign to end the Trump-like rhetoric that is clearly encouraging his supporters to engage in behavior that has no place in our politics," he said.
Words like "racist," "classist," and "oligarch" had been spray-painted on the sides and front doors of the office in Knoxville on Thursday, alongside snippets from news articles in which Bloomberg allegedly made derogatory statements about women and people of color.
The Bloomberg campaign's news release said the vandalism in Knoxville was reminiscent of other attacks on Bloomberg campaign offices in Ohio and Michigan over the last week.
Sanders has come under fire of late on accusations that his supporters are especially aggressive, threatening, and even violent. Only a few days ago, the Bloomberg campaign went after Sanders in an ad showcasing the bully tactics of the "Bernie Bros."
Sanders responded to the criticisms during Wednesday's debate, saying, "We have more than 10.6 million people on Twitter, and 99.9% of them are decent human beings. If there are a few people who make ugly remarks, I disown those people."
"They are not part of our movement," he concluded.


theblaze--2020-02-21--Nevada Democrats are trying to avoid an Iowa-like fiasco by hiring a call center to help with their

Nevada Democrats are trying to avoid an Iowa-like fiasco by hiring a call center to help with their caucuses

The Nevada Democratic Party wants to make sure that its presidential primary caucuses don't go down in history as the kind of outright debacle that the American people witnessed earlier this month in Iowa, and they've taken a big step to keep that from happening.
According to a report at NBC News, Silver State Democrats are hoping that hundreds of call center operators will help them avoid disaster:
Nevada Democrats have hired a professional call center with 200 paid operators and dedicated reporting lines to help take in results from caucus sites around the state, diverging from Iowa where lightly trained volunteers manned the phones and reported chaos and jammed phoned lines after an app that was supposed to process most of the results malfunctioned.
"We have been working around the clock to ensure that what happened in Iowa will not happen here, which is why we're taking no chances when it comes to reporting," Molly Forgey, spokesperson for the Nevada Democratic Party, told NBC News. She added that the steps taken should "ensure that our precinct chairs and site leads will be able to successfully report results on caucus day."
This isn't the only effort that the state party has undertaken to avoid ending up with Iowa-level ignominy. In the wake of the Iowa disaster, Nevada state Democratic Party Chairman William McCurdy II put out a statement saying that the party's caucuses wouldn't be employing the reporting app or vendor that were blamed for the delays and inconsistencies that plagued Iowa's Democratic results.
Instead of the notorious app, NPR reported on Wednesday, the state party has decided to employ a system of special Google forms accessed through internet browsers on iPads distributed to precinct chairs. However, the party says that those chairs will also have the option to manually record the results on paper.
Earlier this week, a re-canvass of the Iowa Democratic caucus results showed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) ahead of former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg in the popular vote while Buttigieg holds a razor-thin lead in state delegate equivalents.


theblaze--2020-02-21--Oxford faculty may nix Homer's 'Iliad,' Virgil's 'Aeneid' from Classics syllabus to close 'attainmen

Oxford faculty may nix Homer's 'Iliad,' Virgil's 'Aeneid' from Classics syllabus to close 'attainment gaps' among students

Oxford faculty may nix Homer 's 'Iliad , ' Virgil 's 'Aeneid ' from Classics syllabus to close 'attainment gaps @ @ @ @ @ and Virgil would be a terrible and fatal mistake '

The Classics faculty at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom is proposing to remove Homer's "Iliad" and Virgil's "Aeneid" from the early stages of study in order to close "attainment gaps" among students, according to the Oxford Student, a campus newspaper.
What are the details?
This proposal is part of a series of reforms aimed at modernizing the first stage of the Classics degree, known as Moderations (aka Mods), the Student said.
But the Mods — culminating with a set of 10 exams — has been increasingly criticized in recent years due to attainment gaps between male and female candidates, as well as between candidates who have studied Latin or Greek to the "A-Level" and those who have not, the paper noted.
More from the Oxford Student:
The removal of Virgil and Homer papers, which take up two out of the ten Mods papers, have been marketed as a move that will reduce the attainment gaps and thus improve access to the subject. However many have questioned why the solution to this problem involves the removal of Homer and Virgil.
There have been a number of other recent reforms proposed by the faculty, including changes to the way in which students are streamed based on previous levels of study as well as an increase in the amount of language tuition available to all Classicists. However, this most recent reform has accused of being an unnecessary step by members of the Classics faculty who claim that the removal of the compulsory study of Homer and Virgil would result in an incomplete and less fulfilling course of Classical study.
What did one Classics student have to say?
Jan Preiss, a second-year Classicist at New College, set up a petition against the proposal, the paper said.
"Removing Homer and Virgil would be a terrible and fatal mistake," Preiss told the Oxford Student. "[The proposal] would mean that firstly, Oxford would be producing Classicists who have never read Homer and never read Virgil, who are the central authors of the Classical tradition, and most of Classical literature, in one way or another, looks back to Homer and interacts with the Iliad. Removing it would be a shame because Homer has been the foundation of the classical tradition since antiquity, and it is impossible to understand what comes after him without studying him first."
What did a professor have to say?
Professor Jonathon Prag told the paper that no decision has been made on the proposal.
What else has been going on at Oxford?


theblaze--2020-02-21--Tim Tebow: I'd rather be known for saving babies from abortions than winning Super Bowls

Tim Tebow : I 'd rather be known for saving babies from abortions than winning Super Bowls Tells pro-life crowd @ @ @ @ @ here matters '

Tim Tebow may not have had the NFL career that many hoped he would, but it does not seem to be a priority to him. As the keynote speaker at "LIV-ing in Victory," a football-themed banquet on Feb. 11 organized by Kansans for Life, the former Heisman Trophy winner said he has other priorities in life, like saving babies from abortions.
LiveAction reported that in his remarks, Tebow thanked the attendees at the Overland Park Convention Center for "having courage in the face of a lot of other people who don't have it and for your willingness to be up here and support this organization."
'It matters more than winning the Super Bowl'
The former football star said it's more important to save babies from abortion than winning Super Bowls.
"It really does mean a lot more than winning the Super Bowl," he told the crowd. "One day, when you look back and people are talking about you and they say, 'Oh my gosh, what are you going to be known for?' Are you going to say Super Bowl, or we saved a lot of babies?"
Tebow, who is open about his Christian faith, said his pro-life efforts are part of his own "rescue mission."
"It's a rescue mission. You know why we call it a rescue mission? Because when we say that, it puts a timeline on it," Tebow said.
He added, "When's the last time you heard a rescue mission taking place in a month or a few years? No, a rescue mission means now. It gives you a sense of urgency. It says we have to go not because it's our time, but because it's their time. … I have to live a sense of urgency because while I might have time, they don't."
He was almost aborted himself
Tebow, who is now a minor league outfielder for the New York Mets, also told the story of how, as the smallest among five siblings, he is occasionally called "Timmy the tumor," a reference to when his mother thought he was a tumor when she was pregnant with him.
"To make a long story short, when I was born, they found out the placenta wasn't actually attached. So, the doctor looked at my mom after 37 years of being a doctor and said, 'This is the biggest miracle I've ever seen because I'm not sure how he's alive.' … I'm so grateful that my mom trusted God with my life and her life."
Tebow concluded his remarks with an encouraging message for the pro-life movement:
What you're doing here matters. You're fighting for life. You're fighting for people that can't fight for themselves. And my question to you is: Are you willing to stand up in the face of persecution, in the face of adversity, in the face of criticism, when other people are going to say it's not worth it, when other people won't stand beside you? Maybe not everybody is going to be with you. Will you stand up for what's right?


theblaze--2020-02-21--Tennessee toddler went missing in December. Authorities want to know why her parents didn't report h

Tennessee toddler went missing in December. Authorities want to know why her parents didn't report her disappearance until this week.

Tennessee toddler went missing in December .
Authorities want to know why her parents did n't report her disappearance until @ @ @

Fifteen-month-old Evelyn Boswell has reportedly been missing since the day after Christmas, but her family only just reported the toddler's disappearance on Tuesday, according to authorities.
On Wednesday, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation requested that the Sullivan County Sheriff's Office issue an Amber Alert for the missing child.
What are the details?
The Tennessean reported that investigators are attempting to determine why the child's family took so long to report her missing.
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokesperson Leslie Earhart announced Friday that the child was last seen wearing a pink tracksuit, pink shoes, and a pink bow. Evelyn stands 2-feet tall and weighs 28 pounds. She has blonde hair and blue eyes.
On Friday, the bureau tweeted that individuals in a "gray 2007 BMW with TN tag 3M9-6W9 have information regarding Evelyn Boswell's whereabouts." The bureau pointed out that the vehicle has front-end damage.
Anyone with information on the child's disappearance or whereabouts should call 911 and report and details about the case to 1-800-TBI-FIND.
What else do we know?
According to WATE-TV, a Blountville, Tennessee, man told authorities that he dated who he claimed was the child's mother — Megan "Maggie" Boswell — for a few weeks, but never saw the child.
"All I've seen is pictures of [the child], I've never even seen the baby," the man, identified as Hunter Wood of Hunter T's Chicken Shack, told the station. "I have no relationship with that child whatsoever."
Wood said that he met the woman when she applied for a job at his restaurant.
Wood added that the child was staying with a man he identified as her father — Ethan Perry — in December. Perry was reportedly home on military leave for the Christmas holiday.
"While Evelyn's father, Ethan, had the child, the baby, you know, fell off the bed and broke her arm, and he took her to the hospital," he added. "That's what I was told."
"They have half custody to the best of my knowledge," Wood continued. "It's not my business to dig further into that because we weren't that serious for me to dig further."
He added that he only wants authorities to find the child.
"I'm not doing this to, you know, hurt this investigation because all in all the entire matter here of what's going on and what needs to be resolved is finding that baby," he told the station.