Politics

Clint Eastwood Ditches Trump For Michael Bloomberg

Variety reports: Longtime Republican Clint Eastwood is pulling support from Donald Trump in the 2020 election. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, the actor-director signaled that he thinks a different candidate would be the better choice. “The best thing we could do is just get Mike Bloomberg in there,” he said. After endorsing Mitt Romney and famously delivering …

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Seven-Figure Book Deal For Ex-Ukraine Ambassador

The Associated Press reports: Former Ukraine ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, the career diplomat who during the impeachment hearings of President Donald Trump offered a chilling account of alleged threats from Trump and his allies, has a book deal. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt confirmed Friday to The Associated Press that it had acquired Yovanovitch’s planned memoir, currently untitled. Financial terms were not disclosed, …

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IRELAND: Gay PM Resigns After Election Stalemate

The Guardian reports: Leo Varadkar has resigned as taoiseach after Ireland’s hung parliament entered deadlock over the choice of a new premier. Varadkar submitted his resignation to Michael D Higgins, the president of Ireland, on Thursday night after a tempestuous but inconclusive sitting of Dáil Éireann, which met for the first time since the 8 February election. It adjourned until …

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UTAH: State Senate Votes To Decriminalize Polygamy

The Salt Lake Tribune reports: A bill that would effectively decriminalize polygamy and dispel fears of prosecution for plural marriage among consenting adults sailed through the Utah Senate on Tuesday. Sen. Deidre Henderson’s bill would reclassify bigamy as an infraction, codifying the practice of the Utah attorney general’s office not to prosecute otherwise law-abiding polygamists. An infraction, like a traffic …

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US Census Ads To Combat Citizenship Question Scare

Politico reports: In response to widespread fear among immigrants and activists over the Trump administration’s failed drive to put a question about citizenship status on the 2020 census, the Census Bureau is investing millions of dollars in an advertising campaign underlining the fact that participants’ information will not be shared with local or federal authorities. The handful of citizenship-focused advertisements …

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Netanyahu Corruption Trial To Start After March Election

The Associated Press reports: The corruption trial for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will begin March 17, just two weeks after national elections are held, a court said Tuesday. The surprise announcement immediately shook up the final stretch of the contentious election campaign, upending Netanyahu’s attempts to divert attention away from his legal woes. It also could weaken his ability …

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Actress Rosario Dawson Comes Out As Bisexual

This is only news due to the Cory Booker connection, which the cultists will surely leap upon. Entertainment Tonight reports: Rosario Dawson is proud of the love in her life. The 40-year-old Briarpatch star opens up in a new interview about questions surrounding her sexuality following a 2018 Pride month post. “People kept saying that I [came out]… I didn’t …

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Boy Scouts File For Bankruptcy Amid Abuse Suits

The New York Times reports: The Boy Scouts of America, an iconic presence in the nation’s experience for more than a century, filed for bankruptcy protection early Tuesday, succumbing to financial pressures that included a surge in legal costs over its handling of sexual abuse allegations. Founded in 1910, the Boy Scouts have long maintained internal files at their headquarters …

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California To Apologize For WWII Japanese Internment

The Los Angeles Times reports: For decades, Japanese American activists have marked Feb. 19 as a day to reflect on one of the darkest chapters in this nation’s history. On that date in 1942, during World War II, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt authorized the forced removal of over 120,000 Americans of Japanese descent from their homes and businesses. On Thursday, …

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White House Mulls Tax Incentives For Buying Stocks

CNBC reports: As part of a forthcoming package of proposed tax cuts, the White House is considering ways to incentivize U.S. households to invest in the stock market, according to four senior administration officials familiar with the discussions. The proposal, one of many new tax cuts under consideration, would see a portion of household income treated as tax-free for the …

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DOJ Drops Case Against Ex-FBI Head Andrew McCabe

The Washington Examiner reports: The Justice Department declined to pursue criminal charges against former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe for lying to investigators about authorizing media disclosures. Attorneys for the former acting FBI director said they learned Friday morning the case had been closed. “This means that no charges will be brought against him based on the facts underlying the …

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US Claims New Truce Agreement With The Taliban

The Associated Press reports: A senior U.S. official said Friday the United States and the Taliban have reached a truce agreement that will take effect “very soon” and could lead to withdrawals of American troops from Afghanistan. The official said the agreement for a seven-day “reduction in violence” to be followed by the start of all-Afghan peace talks within 10 …

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House Votes To Remove ERA Ratification Deadline

The Associated Press reports: In a bid to revive the Equal Rights Amendment, the House on Thursday approved a measure removing a 1982 deadline for state ratification and reopening the process to amend the Constitution to prohibit discrimination based on sex. “There is no expiration date on equality,″ said Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier of California, the resolution’s sponsor. Nearly 50 …

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Civil War Reenactor Framed Antifa In Terror Threat

Quartz reports: In 2017, Antifa, a loose collection of left-leaning militant anti-fascist groups, was blamed by many for a series of violent threats mailed to a Virginia organization that hosts Civil War reenactments, as well as a pipe bomb planted at one of its annual gatherings. Now the FBI believes those threats likely didn’t come from Antifa at all, but …

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AGAIN: Jussie Smollett Charged With Faking Hate Crime

The Chicago Tribune reports: Actor Jussie Smollett is facing new criminal charges nearly a year after Cook County prosecutors dropped disorderly conduct counts against him for allegedly orchestrating a racist, homophobic attack on himself early last year. Smollett was indicted by a special Cook County grand jury on six counts of disorderly conduct for allegedly making four separate false reports …

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RBG Wants “New Beginning” For ERA Ratification

Vox reports: Congress imposed a 1982 deadline on states hoping to ratify the ERA, though there’s doubt about whether this deadline is binding. Ginsburg’s comments on Monday suggest that she believes this 1982 deadline should be considered binding. “I would like to see a new beginning” for ERA ratification, the justice said. “There’s too much controversy about latecomers,” Ginsburg added. …

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Philippines To Scrap Longtime Military Pact With US

The New York Times reports: The Philippines said Tuesday it had officially informed the United States that it was scrapping a military pact that has given the longtime American ally a security blanket for the past two decades. The notice to terminate the pact, the Visiting Forces Agreement, comes as President Rodrigo Duterte has warmed up to China while distancing …

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Virginia Lawmakers Poised To Decriminalize Weed

Richmond’s ABC News affiliate reports: Virginia is moving toward decriminalizing simple possession of marijuana. The state House on Monday passed HB 972, a decriminalization bill, with bipartisan support. Delegates voted 64-34 for the measure, with a number of Republicans joining Democrats in favor. The state Senate is expected to pass its own version shortly. Gov. Ralph Northam has signaled his …

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Putin Critic Found With Slit Throat In French Hotel

The Insider reports: French police believe that the killing of a blogger from the disputed Russian region of Chechnya in a French hotel room last week was “politically motivated,” a French police official briefed on the case said. The official said the police were now hunting for the blogger’s traveling companion, who disappeared shortly after the killing. French investigators wish …

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Chinese Military Members Charged In Equifax Hacking Of Social Security Numbers Of 150 Million Americans

The Associated Press reports: Four members of the Chinese military have been charged with breaking into the networks of the Equifax credit reporting agency and stealing the personal information of tens of millions of Americans, the Justice Department said Monday, blaming Beijing for one of the largest hacks in history. The 2017 breach affected roughly 145 million people, with the …

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