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Thursday, July 28, 2016

Gabby Giffords, mother of Orlando victim make passionate pleas at DNC

♥ Mark Kelly whispers to Gabby Giffords, "I think they like you!" Democratic National Convention
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PHILADELPHIA -- Victims and families of gun violence delivered emotional pleas Wednesday night in support of Hillary Clinton as a president who would act to curb mass shootings and press for new gun laws.

Speeches from former Rep. Gabby Giffords, who was shot in the head, and a mother whose son was slain in the Orlando nightclub shooting had audience members in tears.

"In Congress, I learned a powerful lesson -- strong women get things done," Giffords said, in stilted speech, the result of her injury. "Speaking is difficult for me, but come January, I want to say these two words: Madam President."

Christine Leinonen, the mother of one of the 49 people killed at the Pulse Nightclub shootings, was supported by two of her son"s friends while she asked for "common sense" gun laws.

"It takes seven minutes and 48 seconds for a church bell to ring 49 times," she said.

Leinonen was a Michigan state trooper when her son, Christopher, was born.

"There were common sense gun laws the day he was born, but where was that common sense gun law the day he died?" she said, referring to the now-expired federal assault weapon ban that sunset in 2004.

As Leinonen spoke, delegates cried. Cameras panned to former *NSYNC singer Lance Bass, who was visibly shaken by her talk.

Erica Smegielski, the daughter of the Sandy Hook Elementary School principal who was killed in the 2012 massacre, teared up as she said that she was angry and demanded action.

"I should not be here tonight. I do not want to be here tonight," she said. "My mom was murdered so I"m here, I"m here for the mothers and the daughters who are planning weddings so that you get to watch your daughters walk down the aisle."

Former Philadelphia Police Chief Charles Ramsey reflected on the recent police shootings as part of his push for gun control.

And Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, who commanded the national stage in the wake of the Orlando shootings with his 15-hour filibuster in the Senate, spurred the crowd to begin chanting "enough is enough."

Source: http://fox8.com/2016/07/28/gabby-giffords-mother-of-orlando-victim-make-passionate-pleas-at-dnc/

Watch Joe Biden Bring the House Down in Fiery DNC Speech 31

Joe Biden tears down Trump"s favorite phrase

Vice President Joe Bidengave a fiery speech during the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday. Biden spoke of his relationship with President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, paid fitting tribute to his son Beau Biden, who passed away last May of brain cancer at age 46, and of course extolled the virtues of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and the historic nature of her potential presidency.

He reminisced about when he accepted his nomination for vice president and spoke of the "incredible journey" he and President Obama have been on. "One of the finest presidents we have ever had. This is a man of character," he said and added that the Obamas are family.

While he spoke of the loss of Beau, he said, "I"ve been made strong at the broken places," while he named family and those who supported him during the rough times as a source of strength. He also discussed those who have suffered deeply without support. "But they get up every morning, every day, they put one foot in front of the other, they keep going, that"s the unbreakable spirit of the people of America, that"s who we are."

Biden spoke of Clinton glowingly, saying that he had known her for 30 years. "Everybody knows, she"s smart, everybody knows she"s tough, but I know what she"s passionate about. I know Hillary," he said, adding, "We all understand what it will mean for our daughters and granddaughters when Hillary Clinton walks into the Oval Office as President of the United States of America," his voice rising to the cheering crowd. "It will change their lives. My daughters and granddaughters can do anything any son or grandson can do. And she will prove it."

He also brought up the competition, Republican nominee Trump "He has no clue what makes America great," he quipped. "Actually, he has no clue. Period," which brought the house down to chants of "No clue!" Watch the full rousing speech above.

Source: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/watch-joe-biden-bring-the-house-down-in-fiery-dnc-speech-w431381

The point Bill O"Reilly misses about slavery

Bill O"Reilly: Slaves Who Built White House Were "Well Fed" With "Decent Lodgings"
I thought about this encounter again this week after Bill O"Reilly"s commentary on Michelle Obama"s seemingly uncontroversial reference to the White House having been built by slaves. After confirming the truth of the first lady"s statement, he then digressed into a weird description of slavery that seemed to undermine the larger point the first lady was making. His remarks are a reminder of the wisdom deficit disorder that we are facing in this country.

On top of the inaccurate details that O"Reilly felt the need to peddle, his comments reveal a failure to realize that the test of the strength of a democracy is how we deal with uncomfortable facts. In the U.S. Constitution, our Founders sought to form a "more perfect union" which, by definition, means that it was not yet perfect to begin with. It"s OK to admit that our country is a work in progress. Slavery, the shackles of the past, need not shackle us now. Telling us that slavery wasn"t all bad, even by implication, distracts from Michelle Obama"s point that only in a country of immense promise and self-confidence could the descendants of those people who were forced to cut and drag the granite of the Early Republic now inhabit their handiwork as the first family. That defines a great country, doesn"t it?

O"Reilly is a writer who believes in narrative history. Although historians (and in the case of his Reagan book, veterans of that administration) quibble with his books on Lincoln, Kennedy and Reagan, the fact is that he and his co-author, Martin Dugard, understand how to write a good yarn and a good line. It"s not surprising, necessarily, that he offered the historically indefensible counternarrative of the well-treated slave to make some noise. But shouldn"t some subjects, like the awfulness of slavery, be too serious for literary gamesmanship?The issue is not political correctness. It is wisdom at a fragile moment in our history. For months, we have seen race, religion and ethnic origin used to defend violence, weaken civil liberties and to challenge existing institutions. Why try to make a cheap point off the first lady, of all people, by diminishing the collective experience of suffering by so many Americans of the same race?If this was a misinterpreted throwaway line by O"Reilly, he has a chance to correct his history Wednesday night. If he was somehow suggesting a larger argument about the reality of slavery, then he is guilty of the same obfuscating as those who are responding to the Russian hack on the DNC by suggesting maybe the Russians should be hacking Hillary Clinton"s server to find her missing emails. Talk about missing the point!

To put it in terms O"Reilly should especially appreciate: Imagine someone saying after Dallas in 1963, "Too bad about Kennedy but wasn"t the weather beautiful and didn"t he look happy at the end." C"mon, Bill. [Full disclosure: About a decade ago I appeared on O"Reilly"s show and enjoyed the discussion.] This is a time when the country desperately needs smart people of the left and the right to act like adults, to highlight the profound over the superficial, the real over the spin.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/27/opinions/bill-oreilly-slavery-opinion-tim-naftali/index.html

Bill O"Reilly: "They Want Me Dead! They Do!"

Bill O"Reilly: Slaves Who Built White House Were "Well Fed" With "Decent Lodgings"

Bill OReilly used the start of Wednesday nights OReilly Factor to defend himself against a sparky little storm of criticism about his Tuesday comments on a line in Michelle Obamas Democratic Convention speech: I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves. OReilly had responded by saying the slaves that worked there were well-fed and had decent lodgings.

OReillys remarks were widely reported, criticized, and derided; the Fox News host condemned the phony outrage, and specifically chided Stephen King and Bryan Cranston for needling him on Twitter.

OReillys Wednesday response started out aggressive and escalated to shouting paranoia. He gave Wednesdays Talking Points Memo the piquant title Vicious Attacks By Media Deceivers, and brought on Fox regulars Geraldo Rivera and Eric Bolling for reinforcement. We who work at this network have to band together, OReilly told Rivera and Bolling, to call out the people who are trying to destroy this network! Bill said Fox contributors must call out the lies of the far-left press by name.

OReilly then shifted to one of his favorite punching bags, Black Lives Matter, criticized protests under that banner, and made a looping, vague argument about the violence that has occurred at various political protests. Then the host said, Im afraid its going to happen to me at Fox News! His voice rising to a shout, OReilly bellowed, They want me dead! They do!

Rivera in particular looked a bit startled at how quickly the chat had moved from Michelle Obama to the hosts fears of personal attack. The entire segment was indeed startling. Perhaps the recent decision by Rupert Murdoch to oust long-time Fox News mastermind Roger Ailes has made OReilly worried about his own place in the world, but as for any threat of personal harm as I said: startling indeed.

Watch O"Reillys initial comments:

Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNErFkPsBvH5XFJchXfV1s2RM9U_Gw&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&ei=zlaaV_hVzY_dAc-6rtAD&url=https://www.yahoo.com/tv/bill-oreilly-slaves-stephen-king-fox-news-obama-005154797.html

"No More War": Protesters Disrupt Ex-CIA Director Leon Panetta"s DNC Speech

Crowd CHANTS "LIES" to LEON PANETTA during DNC Speech

Protests on the floor of the convention continued on Wednesday. They reached a peak when former CIA Director Leon Panetta took the stage. While Panetta was criticizing Donald Trump"s appeal to the Russians to hack Hillary Clinton"s emails, many delegates started chanting "No more war!" We hear Panetta"s remarks and speak to a Bernie Sanders delegate who took part in the protest.

TRANSCRIPT

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: Protests on the floor of the convention continued on Wednesday. They reached a peak when former CIA Director Leon Panetta took the stage. While Panetta was criticizing Donald Trump"s appeal to the Russians to hack Hillary Clinton"s emails, many delegates started chanting "No more war!"

LEON PANETTA: Donald Trump asks our troops to commit war crimes; endorses torture; spurns our allies, from Europe to Asia; suggests that countries have nuclear weapons; and he praises dictators, from Saddam Hussein to Vladimir Putin.

DELEGATES: No more war! No more war! No more war! No more war! No more war!

LEON PANETTA: Today --

DELEGATES: No more war! No more war! No more war! No more war!

AMY GOODMAN: Just after Leon Panetta stopped speaking, Democracy Now!"s Deena Guzder caught up with one of the delegates who took part in the protest.

ALEXIS EDELSTEIN: My name is Alexis Edelstein. I"m a delegate for California for the District 33. And I"m a Bernie delegate.

DEENA GUZDER: Who was speaking, and what happened here at the DNC right now?

ALEXIS EDELSTEIN: The former director of the CIA, Leon Panetta, was speaking. The Oregon delegation started to chant "No more war!" All the Bernie delegations, all 57 of them, states and territories, chanted "No more war!" with them. As soon as that kept going and going, the DNC shut off the lights to the Oregon delegation, almost as a way of showing that they want to silence them.

DEENA GUZDER: Why did this action happen when Panetta was speaking, in particular?

ALEXIS EDELSTEIN: The "No More War" action, plus, as you know, Leon Panetta is CIA. The CIA, you know, it"s supporting foreign wars nonstop, continuously, also initiating drone wars. Hillary Clinton is a warmonger. Hillary Clinton wants to continue all the wars in the Middle East. Hillary Clinton is with Israel on the Palestinian issue. We are for a free Palestine. Hillary Clinton wants to continue all acts of foreign insurgency. And Hillary Clinton, as the secretary of state, was also responsible in supporting the coup in Honduras. Myself being from Argentina, I"m very sensitive to Latin and South American issues. I was born under a military dictatorship in Argentina that was supported by Henry Kissinger. And Hillary Clinton is a supporter of Henry Kissinger. So, that"s why we"re very antiwar, anti-Hillary Clinton. Half of the budget goes to the war budget, to the defense budget, and that really sacrifices what else we can invest in infrastructure, education, healthcare, all the things that this country is lacking and that -- what Bernie Sanders is fighting for.

AMY GOODMAN: That"s Bernie Sanders delegate Alexis Edelstein. When we come back, we"ll host a debate between professors Michael Eric Dyson and Eddie Glaude. Stay with us.

Source: http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/37015-no-more-war-protesters-disrupt-ex-cia-director-leon-panetta-s-dnc-speech

Clinton and DNC at Risk for Campaign Finance Violations

Hillary Clinton Hires Disgraced Debbie Wasserman Schultz - Interview with Eric Schiffer

With the WikiLeaks email scandal already causing the resignation of Democrat Party chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Hillary Clinton and the Democrat Party may now face legal riskregarding violations of campaign finance guidelines.

The June 22 WikiLeaks disclosure of 19,252 hacked emails appears to show a pattern of senior officers of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) scheming and colludingto favor Hillary Clinton and oppose Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) during the 2016 Democrat primaries and caucuses. The emails include DNC plans to commit dirty tricks, spread false rumors, and coordinate activities directly with the Clinton campaign.

DNC officers earn annual salaries of $91,000 to $98,000 and staff members earn $29,000 and $96,000 a year, according to the Glassdoor website. Such apparent involvement by DNC employees in direct support of Clintons political campaign may have represented hundreds of thousands of dollars of value received.

Hillary Clintonfully understands the acute legal risk,aftershe hadher political start in the summer of 1971 working on a subcommittee for Democrat Senator Walter Mondale in Washington, D.C. Clinton leveraged those contacts to obtaina job in the spring of 1974 as a 26 year-old lawyer who helped draw up President Nixons articles of impeachment for obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of Congress.

Questions about Nixons election activities led to theFederal Election Campaign Act of 1971,which instituted stringent disclosure requirements for federal candidates, political parties and political action committees.

FECA amendments in 1974, following Nixons resignation, set very strict limits on contributions by individuals, political parties and PACs. The amendments also established an independent agency called the Federal Election Commission to administer campaign and party disclosures statutes, which include U.S. Code 52 USC 30109, that includes civil fines of up to 300 percent of illegal contributions, and criminal penalties of being imprisoned for not more than 5 years for knowingly and willfully committing a violation of any provision of the Act.

The FECA was further tightened with the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, whichbanned national parties from raising or spending non-federal funds, called soft money, which arecontributions to a political party that are not describedas going to a particular candidate, thus avoiding various legal limitations.

The FEC restricts individuals to contributions of up to $2,700, for each candidate, per election cycle; $5,000 for each Political Action Committee; $33,400 for a national committee per year; and $100,200 for national party committee accounts per year.

The current federal election campaign laws require strict separation between a political party and a candidate. The party cannot 1) coordinate with candidates and 2) use party soft money funds raised for party building activities, such as efforts to get-out-the-vote and generic issue advertising to promote a particular candidate.

The WikiLeaks disclosures suggest a deep coordination between the DNC and the Clinton campaign, but there is no direct evidence in the initial dump of hacked emails that there were any coordinated expenditures between the DNC and Clinton. It is possible, however,that the use of DNC staff man-hours and equipment to aid one candidate in the context of a primary electioncould have violated the soft-money expenditure ban.

The DNC and Clinton campaign may also beat risk for violating the campaign finance laws of the 50 states. In the 27 states with Republican Attorneys Generals, the DNC and Clinton probably cannot benefit from political loyalties but most state campaign finance laws are very lax.

WikiLeaks has stated that its hacker source, Guccifer 2.0, will soon release the emailsthat were not disclosed by Clinton to the State Department. Gussifer 2.0 also promises, The main part of the [DNC] papers, thousands of files and mails, I gave to WikiLeaks. They will publish them soon.

Source: http://www.breitbart.com/2016-presidential-race/2016/07/26/clinton-dnc-risk-civil-criminal-campaign-finance-violations/

Light Seen Streaking Across Sky Over Western States

July 27th, 2016 Fireball "Meteor" - Space Junk Reentry Over California (Warning: Profanity)

THURSDAY UPDATE: A Chinese rocket re-entered the atmosphere near California late Wednesday night around the same time many people shared video on social media of a mysterious bright object streaking across the night sky.

U.S. Strategic Command spokeswoman Julie Ziegenhorn wouldnt say if the rocket ever posed danger to people on the ground. She says the command often sees re-entries.

Ziegenhorn tells The Associated Press the Chinese CZ-7 rocket re-entered the atmosphere around 11:36 p.m. Central time. Thats about the same time social media lit up with reports from Nevada, Utah and California of a small fireball streaking across the sky.

Ziegenhorn referred all other questions about the rocket to Chinese authorities

Officials from Nellis Air Force Base in southern Nevada had earlier told KTNV-TV the light was a meteor breaking up.

Reporting by the Associated Press.

Previous story below:

Social media is buzzing tonight about a meteor that streaked across the sky over Northern California. The bright object was traveling east and appears to have broken up over the Wasatch Mountains in Utah.

Authorities at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas tell the local CBS affiliate they suspect the object was a meteor, but they are continuing to check other sources.

A trio of meteor showers is now underway. The Delta Aquarids peak early in the morning on Friday, July 29. Meteors from this shower appear to shoot out from a central point called a radiant, which is located near the star Delta Aquarii. The best viewing time is between 2 and 4 a.m. in the southeast sky but theyre visible as early as midnight local time.

The second shower currently in progress is the Alpha Capricornids, which radiate from northwestern Capricornus. While these meteors are very limited in number they can sometimes be fairly bright. The Capricornids peak in late July.

The third meteor is the Perseids, which are already in progress, but become more active in August, reaching a peak on the night of August 12 and early morning hours of August 13. The Perseids can be found in the northeast sky and are most visible around midnight local time.

https://twitter.com/joshherrin/status/758522750189211653/video/1

It was spotted moving across the sky in Las Vegas, according to this tweet.

Some people say they saw it break up over Utah.

Source: http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2016/07/27/meteor-seen-streaking-across-california/