Category Archives: News
Kellyanne Conway Just Humiliated Herself And The Trump Team Live On The Today Show
BY BRETT BOSE
PUBLISHED ON FEBRUARY 14, 2017
President Donald Trump’s freakish mouthpiece, Kellyanne Conway, is known as a master of political spin. You can’t trust a word that comes out of her mouth, and she constantly changes the direction interviews are going while avoiding the tough questions with fanciful rhetoric. But it also cannot be denied that she is good at her job…
That is, until today.
In the wake of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn’s resignation yesterday, Conway was busy trying to defuse the situation via her preferred medium of television interviews. However, even Trump’s favorite deceptive spinster couldn’t argue her way out of the hole that Flynn has dug for himself and Trump administration.
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Canadian companies now eyeing Canada-EU trade outcome
Feeling a sense of relief following Donald Trump’s remarks on the future of U.S. trade with Canada, business leaders are now hoping for a second wave of positive news out of Europe.
Corporate Canada is shifting its focus to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s trip across the Atlantic later this week.
Mr. Trudeau’s visit is expected to coincide with the European Union’s ratification vote on its free-trade deal with Canada, an agreement nearly scuttled last fall due to opposition from a small region in Belgium.
“The Prime Minister is now off to hopefully put [the Canada-EU free-trade deal] in his pocket and bring it home from Europe, which would also be good news,” John Manley, the president of the Business Council of Canada, said in an interview.
Canada is expected to ratify the deal after the European Parliament gives its okay.
Continue reading Canadian companies now eyeing Canada-EU trade outcome
How two unemployed guys got rich off Facebook, fake news and an army of Trump supporters
Jobless in May, Paris Wade and Ben Goldman were ruling an empire built on Facebook shares by the time of the vote, influencing millions with rumours, exaggeration, conspiracy theories and lies.
LONG BEACH, CALIF.—Fewer than 2,000 readers are on his website when Paris Wade, 26, awakens from a nap, reaches for his laptop and thinks he needs to, as he puts it, “feed” his audience. “Man, no one is covering this TPP thing,” he says after seeing an article suggesting that President Obama wants to pass the Trans-Pacific Partnership before he leaves office. Wade, a modern-day digital opportunist, sees an opportunity. He begins typing a story.
“CAN’T TRUST OBAMA,” he writes as the headline, then pauses. His audience hates Obama and loves president-elect Donald Trump, and he wants to capture that disgust and cast it as a drama between good and evil. He resumes typing: “Look At Sick Thing He Just Did To STAB Trump In The Back …”
Ten minutes and nearly 200 words later, he is done with a story that is all opinion, innuendo and rumour. He types at the bottom, “Comment ‘DOWN WITH THE GLOBALISTS!’ below if you love this country,” publishes the story to his website, LibertyWritersNews.com, and then pulls up the Facebook page he uses to promote the site, which in six months has collected 805,000 followers and brought in tens of millions of page views. “WE CANNOT LET THIS HAPPEN!” he writes, posting the article. “#SHARE this 1 million times, patriots!” Then he looks at a nearby monitor that shows the site’s analytics, and watches as the readers pour in.
“Down with the globalists,” writes a woman in Cape Girardeau, Mo., one of 3,192 people now on the website, 1,244 of whom are reading the story he just posted.
“Down with the globalists!” writes a man in Las Vegas.
“DOWN WITH THE GLOBALISTS !!!” writes a woman in Helena, Mont.
At a time of continuing discussion over the role that hyperpartisan websites, fake news and social media play in the divided America of 2016, LibertyWritersNews illustrates how websites can use Facebook to tap into a surging ideology, quickly go from nothing to influencing millions of people and make big profits in the process. Six months ago, Wade and his business partner, Ben Goldman, were unemployed restaurant workers. Now they’re at the helm of a website that gained 300,000 Facebook followers in October alone and say they are making so much money that they feel uncomfortable talking about it because they don’t want people to start asking for loans.
Trump knew of Flynn Russia phone call issues ‘weeks ago’
24 Hours – was Flynn’s tenure a record?
President Donald Trump knew weeks ago there were problems with Michael Flynn’s Russia phone calls, a White House spokesman has said.
The president had been “reviewing and evaluating this issue on a daily basis”, Press Secretary Sean Spicer said at a news conference.
Mr Trump had previously said he was unaware of the reports about Mr Flynn.
But he ultimately asked for Mr Flynn’s resignation based on a “trust issue” and not a legal one, Mr Spicer added.
Republicans have joined congressional calls for an investigation into Mr Flynn’s contacts with Russia.
“The evolving and eroding level of trust as a result of this situation and a series of other questionable incidents is what led the president to ask General Flynn for his resignation,” Mr Spicer said.
Mr Flynn resigned over allegations he discussed US sanctions with a Russian envoy before Donald Trump took office.
The retired army lieutenant-general initially denied having discussed sanctions with Ambassador Sergei Kislyak, and Vice-President Mike Pence publicly denied the allegations on his behalf.
Mr Flynn later said he could not recall whether he discussed the sanctions.
When exactly did Trump know? Continue reading Trump knew of Flynn Russia phone call issues ‘weeks ago’
Germany completes return of 300 tons of reserve gold from US
Various gold bars, are displayed in the German central bank’s headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017. Germany’s central bank has completed an effort to bring home 300 tons of gold stashed in the United States, part of a plan to repatriate gold bars kept abroad during the Cold War. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
BERLIN (AP) — Germany has completed an effort to bring home 300 metric tons (330.7 tons) of gold stashed in the United States, part of a plan to repatriate gold bars kept abroad during the Cold War.
The German central bank said it brought 111 tons of gold back from the Federal Reserve in New York last year, concluding in September — the last of 300 tons slated for return.
“The transfers were carried out without any disruptions or irregularities,” said Carl-Ludwig Thiele, board member of the central bank, called Bundesbank.
Continue reading Germany completes return of 300 tons of reserve gold from US
A Democratic Lawmaker Just Filed A Bill Requiring A Psychiatrist For Trump’s Mental Health
Representative Ted Lieu (D-California) has decided that Trump’s dangerous rhetoric and erratic behavior, including some very questionable phone calls with foreign leaders and weird press conferences, is reason enough to have a psychiatrist on stand-by.
Lieu said that he and fellow lawmakers are concerned for the mental well-being of the president and that he deserves to have a specialist available at all times. Since 1928 the White House is required to have a physician present, but not a psychiatrist because of the stigma surrounding mental illness.
Lieu believes that Trump’s mental health is especially troubling because he has an obvious “disconnection from the truth.” This is particularly dangerous if that individual just so happens to be the leader of the free world.
It is not normal for the president of the United States, within 24 hours, to write about death and destruction and fake news and evil. The most troubling aspect of this is it is very clear he has a disconnection from the truth…the very first press conference he had in this administration, they could have talked about jobs or health care. They talked about crowd size. And then lied about it. It’s one of the most bizzare events i’ve witnessed in politics.
Trump’s mental state has been increasingly called into question due to his obvious lies and late-night Twitter rants. The man is completely detached from reality, seemingly because he can’t take any criticism or negativity at all. It’s unbelievable that a man who rejects facts in favor of his own idealized fiction and fantasies is supposedly qualified to be president. Not only that, but someone who is mentally ill now has the world’s greatest military at his fingertips. We live in dark and dangerous times.
Drain the Swamp — Kellyanne Conway Just Broke a Federal Ethics Law on National TV
In the middle of an interview, Kellyanne Conway did a spontaneous PR spot for Ivanka Trump to hawk her merchandise on live TV — a violation of federal law.
Trump’s top adviser was answering a question about the president when she deviated from the topic and started talking about Trump’s eldest daughter, Ivanka, and her experience of helping to run the Trump Organization while also developing a clothing and accessories line bearing her name. Then, after a minute-long buildup, and while Fox & Friends Host Steve Doocy was trying to interject to ask another question, Conway told viewers to “Go buy Ivanka’s stuff.”
Conway appears to have violated a longtime ethics law in which federal employees are barred from using their office to endorse products. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) Director Walter Shaub posted a reminder of the rule to the OGE’s website shortly after Donald Trump tweeted his support for LL Bean as President-elect, encouraging his followers to buy their products. One of the planks of the rule is that executive branch employees are barred from “endorsing any product, service, or company.”
Continue reading Drain the Swamp — Kellyanne Conway Just Broke a Federal Ethics Law on National TV
The media botched this Trump story last week — and that’s bad for everyone
White House press secretary Sean Spicer holds up paperwork highlighting and comparing language about the National Security Council from the Trump administration and previous administrations, at the White House on Jan. 30. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Deputy Editorial Page Editor
Feb 5, 2017
The Trump administration has launched a raft of ill-considered, reckless and wrongheaded foreign policy initiatives in its first two weeks, from banning entry by citizens of a country that is its partner in war (Iraq) to needlessly alienating the leaders of two of the closest U.S. allies (Mexico and Australia).
One thing Trump has decidedly not done, however, is downgrade the participation of the director of national intelligence and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the deliberations of the National Security Council.
You may have heard and read otherwise, repeatedly. Therein lies an illustration of how communication between the executive and mainstream media, and with it coverage of the Trump administration, has already come unhinged.
Yhe problem originates in part in the blizzard of executive orders issuing or leaking from the White House — some of them signed and others mere drafts — that officials have done little to explain to Cabinet agencies, much less the press. Then there is the already established proclivity of press secretary Sean Spicer and other spokespersons to retail brazen untruths, at the apparent urging of the boss, amid a stream of insults directed at reporters.
Continue reading The media botched this Trump story last week — and that’s bad for everyone
Everything you need to know about the Trump travel ban
60,000 people have had visas cancelled under the ban
CBC News
Feb 06, 2017
A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found that roughly one in two Americans support the travel ban. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
U.S. President Donald Trump says a temporary suspension of a travel ban he introduced has put his country “in such peril” — an assertion currently being tested in the courts in what is shaping up to be his administration’s first major legal challenge.
The ban, which was issued as an executive order in the name of national security, caused confusion at airports and affected 60,000 foreigners. Here’s the latest on where the ban sits now and what lies ahead in the courts.
Is the ban being enforced right now?
People with valid visas from the seven Muslim-majority countries — Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen — can now enter the United States. Refugees who were destined for the U.S. before the order was signed will also now be granted entry.
The ban, which also suspended the Syrian refugee program indefinitely, was introduced as an executive order on Jan. 27.
Where does the ban stand now with the courts?
U.S. District Court Judge James Robart on Friday temporarily suspended parts of Trump’s executive order. The challenge was put forward by the attorneys general of Washington state and Minnesota.
Robart’s decision drew sharp criticism from the president.
The White House then filed an emergency request to resume the ban, but it was rejected by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, a federal appeals court based in San Francisco, on Sunday.
Lawyers for Washington State and Minnesota on Monday submitted a brief from former U.S. officials, including past secretaries of state John Kerry and Madeleine Albright.
They warned, “Blanket bans of certain countries or classes of people are beneath the dignity of the nation and constitution that we each took oaths to protect.”
Representatives from tech companies including Apple, Google and Uber also submitted briefs that argued the executive order would hurt their business operations. Hawaii’s attorney general has also filed a motion to join the lawsuit opposing the travel ban.
The Justice Department filed its appeal Monday afternoon. The appeals court will hear arguments in the case Tuesday in an hour-long telephone conference.
The three federal appeals court judges — Judge William C. Canby Jr. (an appointee of Jimmy Carter), Judge Michelle T. Friedland (an appointee of Barack Obama), and Judge Richard R. Clifton (an appointee of George W. Bush), will then determine if the ban will be upheld or continue to be suspended. It’s unclear when a ruling will come.
What happens next?
Whichever way the federal appeals court rules, the case may ultimately proceed to the Supreme Court, given that both sides are likely to file an appeal. Five of the eight Supreme Court justices would need to agree to overturn Robart’s order, otherwise the appeals court’s ruling would stand. The court is currently split with four conservative and four liberal judges.
Is there actually support for the ban in the U.S.?
Support for the ban has been difficult to gauge. Immediately after the order was issued, demonstrators gathered in airports across the country to protest the ban. But a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found that roughly one in two Americans support the ban while 31 per cent of respondents said it made them feel safer.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online in English in all 50 states. It gathered poll responses from 1,201 people including 453 Democrats and 478 Republicans. A probabilistic sample of this size would yield a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Has there been any fallout in Canada?
Nexus memberships have been revoked from all Canadian permanent residents with citizenship in any one of the seven majority-Muslim countries affected by the U.S. travel ban.
Canadian residents with citizenship in one of the seven countries affected by the travel ban have had their Nexus memberships revoked, the Canada Border Services Agency said Friday.
Lawyers and law students have set up camp at airports in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver to offer aid to those affected by the ban. Toronto-based Corey Shefman has joined with other lawyers to respond to the changing policies.
Shefman said the evolving situation is causing some confusion.
“We’ve been telling people and our American colleagues have been telling people, if you think you’re going to be affected by the travel ban, travel now and travel quick because we don’t know how long this stay is going to last,” he said referring to the temporary suspension.
Continue reading Everything you need to know about the Trump travel ban