Monthly Archives: January 2017

NEW YORK CITY: Feds File Charges In $81M Ponzi Scheme Involving Resale Of Tickets To Hamilton

Via press release from the SEC: The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced fraud charges against two New York City men accused of running a Ponzi scheme with money raised from investors to fund businesses purportedly created to purchase and resell tickets to such high-demand shows as Adele concerts and the Broadway musical Hamilton. The SEC alleges that Joseph Meli …

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WYOMING: After Uproar, Republicans Withdraw (For Now) Bill That Would Legalize Anti-LGBT Discrimination

The Wyoming Tribune-Eagle reports: A controversial bill titled the “Government Non-discrimination Act” was recalled from the Wyoming House of Representatives by its sponsors Thursday afternoon. The action was in order to “give Wyoming citizens time for more thorough consideration,” the bill’s sponsors said in a statement emailed to media members Thursday afternoon. Supporters of House Bill 135 said it would …

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FLORIDA: Two Teens Arrested For Columbine-Style Mass Shooting Plot, Weapons Found At Both Of Their Homes

Orlando’s NBC affiliate reports: Students at The Villages Charter Middle School are being heralded as heroes for speaking up and potentially stopping a school shooting. School officials said they heard rumors Tuesday about a 13-year-old student planning a mass shooting and carrying it out Friday. The middle schooler was taken into custody and admitted to authorities that he and a …

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NORTH CAROLINA: Senate Leader Phil Berger Declares That HB2 Won’t Be Repealed Anytime Soon [VIDEO]

The Raleigh News & Observer reports: Legislators won’t be moving quickly to change House Bill 2 this year, and an “outright repeal” doesn’t have enough support, N.C. Senate leader Phil Berger said this week. Berger spoke in detail about the controversial LGBT law in an interview with Tim Boyum of Time Warner Cable News that aired Thursday night. During a …

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LIVE VIDEO: Trump And British PM Hold Joint Address

Starting any minute. The BBC reports: Theresa May has arrived at the White House for talks with US president Donald Trump as she hopes to renew the special relationship between Britain and America. The two leaders are spending about an hour in face-to-face talks in the Oval Office, where Mr Trump has restored a bust of Winston Churchill removed by …

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CALIFORNIA: Backers Of “Calexit” Secession Movement Get Green Light To Collect 2018 Ballot Signatures

The Sacramento Bee reports: Backers of a proposed constitutional amendment seeking California’s secession from the U.S. can begin collecting voter signatures to qualify for the 2018 ballot, the secretary of state’s office said Thursday. The so-called Calexit movement emerged within days of the upset presidential victory of Republican Donald Trump, who lost California by nearly 4.3 million votes. A recent …

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GOP House Natural Resources Committee Chair Readies Bill To Undo Coal And Methane Pollution Regulations

The Hill reports: House Republicans are preparing to vote next week on two resolutions undoing pollution rules issued in the closing months of the Obama administration. Two Interior Department rules — one protecting streams from coal mining waste and another to cut methane emissions at oil and natural gas drilling sites — are the targets of Congressional Review Act resolutions …

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Melania Wins First Round In “Escort” Libel Suit

Politico reports: First Lady Melania Trump prevailed Friday in the first round of a libel suit she filed against a Maryland blogger over a report he published last summer about claims that Trump worked as a “high-end escort.” Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Sharon Burrell rejected arguments from lawyers for blogger Webster Tarpley to dismiss Trump’s suit for failing to …

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COMING SOON: The Devil Wears Prada: The Musical, Writers Will Be Sir Elton John And Paul Rudnick

Deadline reports: “Is there some reason that my coffee isn’t here? Has she died or something?” That’s a snippet of Meryl Streep’s dialogue from the 2006 comedy The Devil Wears Prada. Now Sir Elton John and Paul Rudnick are writing a musical adaptation for Broadway. A production timeline is TBA for the show, which will be produced by Kevin McCollum, …

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Trump To Speak To Vladimir Putin Tomorrow Amid Reports He Might Lift Obama’s Hacking Sanctions

Quid pro quo. Roll Call reports: President Donald Trump will speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone Saturday amid reports he is considering lifting U.S. sanctions against Russia over its military action in Ukraine. Trump is also scheduled to speak Saturday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whom he has criticized, Reuters reported. Merkel met Friday with French President Francois …

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Dan Savage Relaunches #ITMFA: Proceeds Go To ACLU, Planned Parenthood, And Refugee Assistance Project

Dan Savage writes at The Stranger: I didn’t think I’d see a worse president than George W. Bush in my lifetime. But here we are. So I’m bringing back ITMFA buttons and adding T-shirts and, yes, red hats to the ITMFA collection. Go to impeachthemotherfuckeralready.com or, if that’s too much typing, ITMFA.org to order some ITMFA swag for yourself or …

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Pence And Conway To Address Anti-Abortion March

Fox News reports: Vice President Mike Pence has agreed to speak at Friday’s March for Life, the annual anti-abortion demonstration in Washington. In a statement, the March for Life says neither a president nor a vice president has ever spoken at the event, now in its 44th year. One of President Donald Trump’s top advisers, Kellyanne Conway, is also on …

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Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev Writes In TIME: The Threat Of Nuclear War Seems Real Again

Former USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev has penned an essay for TIME Magazine. An excerpt: Today the nuclear threat once again seems real. Relations between the great powers have been going from bad to worse for several years now. The advocates for arms build-up and the military-industrial complex are rubbing their hands. We must break out of this situation. We need …

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Conway: Mexico Won’t Pay For The Wall Because They Want Their Drugs To Keep “Pouring Over The Border”

Politico reports: The Mexican government opposes a border wall separating the U.S. and Mexico because it does not want to stop the northward flow of illegal drugs and undocumented immigrants across the border, counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway said Friday. “Well they don’t want it, Gayle, because they want to continue to allow people and I assume drugs, since …

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Man Behind Voter Fraud Claims: We Can Totally Prove It, We Just Need A Little More Time [VIDEO]

This morning Vote Stand founder Greg Phillips, the man apparently behind Trump’s belief in rampant voter fraud, appeared on CNN to tell host Chris Cuomo that he totally has the proof, but he just needs a little more time to develop his data. As you’ll see, Cuomo wasn’t having it, telling Phillips, “How do you know you’re right? Shouldn’t you …

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Trump To Hannity: Waterboarding Isn’t Torture [VIDEO]

The Hill reports: Waterboarding doesn’t constitute torture, President Trump said Thursday, reiterating his past arguments that it is an effective way to gather intelligence. “I mean, torture is real torture, OK? Waterboarding is – I’m sure it’s not pleasant, but waterboarding was just short of torture,” he said in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity. “When – you know, …

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Washington Post: Trump Pressured Park Service Director To Back Up His Inauguration Attendance Claims

The Washington Post reports: On the morning after Donald Trump’s inauguration, acting National Park Service director Michael T. Reynolds received an extraordinary summons: The new president wanted to talk to him. In a Saturday phone call, Trump personally ordered Reynolds to produce additional photographs of the previous day’s crowds on the National Mall, according to three individuals who have knowledge …

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Trump Tells Congressional Leaders About Voter Fraud Example He Says Was Told To Him By A German Golfer

The New York Times reports: On Monday, President Trump gathered House and Senate leaders in the State Dining Room for a get-to-know-you reception, served them tiny meatballs and pigs-in-a-blanket, and quickly launched into a story meant to illustrate what he believes to be rampant, unchecked voter fraud. Mr. Trump kicked off the meeting, participants said, by retelling his debunked claim …

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Pastor Rick Wiles: Thanks To Trump, God’s Grace Is “Oozing Out Of Heaven” And I’m Rolling In It [AUDIO]

Brian Tashman reports at Right Wing Watch: Yesterday on “Trunews,” End Times radio host Rick Wiles declared that the first days of Donald Trump’s presidency have been so successful that they are undoubtedly a sign that God’s blessing is “oozing” onto America. “Friends, listen to me,” he said. “God’s favor is on us. Please, please, please comprehend what is happening. …

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British PM Theresa May Tells GOP Leaders She Plans To Have Strong Personal Relationship With Trump

The Guardian reports: Theresa May has said she believed she could a forge a strong personal relationship with Donald Trump, arguing that “sometimes, opposites attract”, as she set out how post-Brexit Britain could work with his country to shape the world. On the eve of a much-anticipated visit to the Oval Office, the prime minister used a speech to Republican …

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