Donald J. Trump wins Presidency

Oh yes!!

New bill sanctions the hunting of hibernating bears and wolves in their dens.

THANKS to a new bill signed off by President Donald Trump on Monday, the winter months are about to get a lot more dangerous for bears and wolves in Alaska.

It is now legal for Alaskan hunters to shoot hibernating bears, along with wolf pups in their dens. It also allows the use of aircraft to hunt the animals down.

The new law overturns Obama-era regulations that outlawed these tactics — along with trapping via wire snares and using food to lure bears out to be shot at point-blank range.

More than 30 million hectares of federally protected national reserves across Alaska are affected by the legislation.

Naturally, animal welfare groups are up in arms over this controversial decision.

During hibernation, as bears’ oxygen consumption, metabolic rate, heart rate and blood flow drops — the gigantic mammals become slow to wake and run away.

It is here, they’re at their most vulnerable.

The Humane Society has condemned the law change.

After state representatives first approved the bill last month, Wayne Pacelle, chief executive of the Humane Society, said in a statement: “What the House did today should shock the conscience of every animal lover in America,”

“If the Senate and President concur, we’ll see wolf families killed in their dens [and] bears chased down by planes.”

However, the man who introduced the measure — Ronald D Young, Republican Congressman for Alaska — argued that it is the state’s right to control predators.

“We have to recognise this is not about the little polar bears, the little grizzly bears or wolves on television, this is about the state’s right to manage — not allowing the federal government to do so,” Mr Young said in testimony in February. “We want to be able to take and manage our fish and game for the sustainable yield — so that our fish and game will be there forever,” he said.

It is now legal for Alaskan hunters to shoot hibernating bears, along with wolf pups in their dens. It also allows the use of aircraft to hunt the animals down.

Right, that's it, I'm done, Trump can go to Hell. I cannot abide animal cruelty.

bb1 wrote:
It is now legal for Alaskan hunters to shoot hibernating bears, along with wolf pups in their dens. It also allows the use of aircraft to hunt the animals down.

Right, that's it, I'm done, Trump can go to Hell. I cannot abide animal cruelty.

Totally agree - at the rate things are going the whole thing might become quite academic as the saber rattling and threats continue. Nuked humans are unable to hunt down anything. LL

I've come to the conclusions that there is something very wrong with these clowns in Washington - of both parties - that they are so keen on killing people and animals that cannot fight back.

They're the biggest terrorists on the planet - and heading for a mighty fall.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/10/donald-trumps-action-syria-proves-not-league-putin-says-son/

Donald Trump’s decision to launch a cruise missile attack on Syria proved he is not in league with Russia and will not be “pushed around” by Vladimir Putin, the US President’s son has told The Daily Telegraph.

Eric Trump said his father was not intimidated by President Putin’s talk of war, and there would be “no-one harder” than President Trump if they “cross us”

Jesus H. Christ, boy, stick to watering the greens, as you seem to HAVE no idea of how words are interpreted by the outside world. You've as good as confirmed that it was a stunt for ratings, sorry, votes.

And there's something else. US propaganda these days is about as believable as the clunky, ridiculous old Pravda propaganda. Kremlin propaganda is smooth and shiny, with the added bonus that it generally has some basis in truth, even though it's spun to Russian advantage. They seem to have swapped, somehow.

Now, all those shots of US missiles blasting off from warships, as the Stars and Stripes fluttered in the background, may have impressed Joe Sixpack in middle America, thousands of miles away from the slightest danger.

But RT went and interviewed the people they landed on, the new widows, and the parents whose children were killed.

That's what's being seen all over the world, not Fox news.

I hope Washington doesn't imagine it's winning the propaganda war for hearts and minds?

Journalist who exposed Donald Trump charitable claims and revealed 'grab 'em by the pussy' tape wins Pulitzer.

Washington Post reporter David Fahrenthold honoured for his dogged investigations and three prizes for the 'failing' New York Times.

The Washington Post’s David Fahrenthold has won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting, which included the revelation that Donald Trump had made false claims about his charitable fundraising as well as breaking the news of the tape in which the tycoon bragged about groping women.

During the US election campaign last year, the reporter investigated the President’s philanthropic works over his business career, revealing that Mr Trump had made his fundraising seem more impressive than it actually was.

Following Mr Fahrenthold's reporting, the New York Attorney General opened an inquiry into the Trump Foundation fundraising practices, and ultimately issued a “notice of violation” ordering the foundation to stop raising money in New York.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/pulitzer-prize-journalist-washington-post-david-fahrenthold-donald-trump-investigated-grab-em-by-the-a7677561.html

Oops, it's dummy spitting time!!    LL  

That sort of stuff bothers me very little, LL, to me it's little more than showbiz tittle-tattle and of little real significance.

Illegal actions that get people killed, and risk WW3, concern me very much. As does killing sleeping animals. And complete, overnight, betrayal of people that trust you. Those are my red lines......

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/04/11/was-that-doctor-dragged-off-the-united-airlines-flight-because-he-was-asian-many-in-china-think-so/?tid=sm_tw&utm_term=.d5f6806824ef

Was that doctor dragged off the United Airlines flight because he was Asian? Many in China think so.

BEIJING — News that a passenger was forcibly dragged off a United Airlines plane has gone viral all over the world, but in China the outrage has been fueled by one uncomfortable fact: The doctor who was pulled off the plane, first screaming and then bleeding, appeared to be of Asian origin, and was overhead complaining that this might have been a factor in his treatment.

“He said, more or less, ‘I’m being selected because I’m Chinese,’” fellow passenger Tyler Bridges was quoted as saying by The Washington Post.

That quote, translated into Chinese, was widely circulated on social media here.

By early afternoon on Tuesday, the topic had attracted 85 million readers on Sina Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, and 56,000 comments, making it comfortably the top trending item of the day. Petitions to boycott United Airlines were also going viral on WeChat, a popular messaging service.

“United Airlines just randomly chose an Asian? It’s blatant racial discrimination,” a user called @Rhando_hiclarie wrote in a typical post. “UA is super rubbish.”

Some users pointed out the irony of United’s motto: “Fly the friendly skies,” but many saw incident as an example of American hypocrisy, and what one user called “a perfect illustration” of human rights in the United States.

“I am going to tell you a joke: ‘America is the country with the best human rights in the World,’” one user called @Youthliteratureandart wrote in a post that attracted more than 4,000 likes.

“Americans often say they have democracy and human rights, but they can’t even respect people who have different skin colors,” @Nanchigirl wrote.

“Americans are so barbarous,” @_tua wrote. “Overbooking is the airline company’s own problem. This passenger didn’t break the law. The security guy beat him until his face is covered in blood, is this the so-called American democratic society?”

Chinese-born comedian Joe Wong urged his followers to join the boycott of United.

Another triumph for international relations.

The video is appalling, as is the mess those thugs, who apparently were NOT actually police officers, made of the passenger.

I was amused as it was a case of Trumper's "they hate me ...." syndrome and I wanted to use that cartoon ....   I'll get me coat >>>>    LL 

Just you hang your coat up again, LL.

My personal opinion is that Trump will be more upset by the wave of anger from people who were formerly his most steadfast supporters - and his babbling family are making him look like a complete fool. IMO, this is going to do him far more damage than legal squabbles and stuff about wannabee starlets - who all look the same, anyway.

Coat rehung, ma'am!!   A question - I thought Trumper was a billionaire - so how come travel to his private club in Florida has cost over an estimated $20 million in his first 80 days as president; the outsized spending on travel stands in stark relief to his calls for belt tightening across the federal government.   To date, he has spent six weekends -- and a total of 21 days -- at Mar-A-Lago, his private Palm Beach club. The total estimated costs for those trips are around $21.6 million, so why is the USA taxpayer funding his gallivanting to the 'Winter White House'?   Presidents usually use Camp David, as I recall.      LL   

I think...he can't use his own money due to being Prez, but that's something else that's building up a head of steam, from what I can make out.

I gather there are some US elections next year, and the GOP had been expected to win easily, due to the US having been MAGA-d by then. Instead, these shenanigans are likely to have the opposite effect, because Trump has destroyed the very reasons he was elected in the first place. This is, of course, assuming he hasn't provoked WW3.

Remember, there's been no healthcare reform, no tax reform, no Wall-building. And he was supposed to destroy ISIS in 30 days, not bomb the people fighting ISIS.

Frankly, if he sends MORE ground forces, illegally, into Syria, they are going to get kerb-stomped. ISIS will do it because killing Americans, preferably horribly, is what they live for; the battle-hardened Syrian and Iranian troops will make mincemeat of the US gender-balanced, safe space troops, and Russia will do it because, Strictly business, nothing personal.

Meanwhile, the US military is still entangled in Afghanistan and Iraq, and one or two other places, and is sabre-rattling at Fattie.

Anyone with even a passing interest in military history can see Trump is on course for disaster, humiliation, and a lot of US personnel going home in body bags. If the US public had any sense, they would storm Washington with pitchforks and guillotines before it's too late.

Canadian woman threatened with being 'dropped in an acid bath' for boycotting Trump products.

When Amanda Dexter did an interview with CBC News in February on why she was boycotting Trump products, she wasn't prepared for what happened next.

She was immediately bombarded with vicious attacks on Twitter.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/trump-boycott-twitter-baycott-ivanka-1.4061114

Social media has always been a hotbed of hate because people can make comments anonymously.

But the Trump era has provided some people with further motivation to blast their critics online, says sociologist Ellen Berrey.

Trump has promised to make America great again partly by taking a hardline approach on issues such as immigration and refugees.

That has created an "us versus them" mentality that some people have decided gives them licence to attack anyone who is different or who opposes their viewpoint, says Berrey.

"If you listen to what he says, it's so much of, 'We're good; they're bad.' And not only, 'They're bad,' [but] 'They need to be punished,'" says the University of Toronto professor. "[It's] very much about degrading the other side."

It's happening all over, LL, it's not just confined to Trump supporters - or McCann-haters:

https://stephendaisley.com/2017/04/10/bile-anger-and-the-growing-divisiveness-of-a-nations-politics/

Daisley is the STV journo who was sacked after two SNP MPs leaned on STV; he now writes for the Mail.

Scottish political twitter is ghastly - much of it actually makes #mccann look sane.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/786777/snp-twitter-pornography-complaints-paul-wright-council-election-candidate

MSP accused of ignoring complaints about ‘sickening’ porn posts by SNP’s candidate

AN SNP MSP has been accused of ignoring complaints about a council election candidate who posted “extreme pornography” on Twitter.

I'm not on social media - I dislike it intensely - but I do read it, off and on. It has turned into an absolute curse, just a platform for disgusting people who hitherto were rightly ignored.

This gives some idea just how badly Washington is losing the propaganda war:

https://www.rt.com/news/335123-rt-viewership-ipsos-study/

RT ranks among the top five most-viewed international news channels in Europe and the US, the biggest study yet of the Russian network’s viewership by Ipsos reveals. Seventy million individuals switch to RT TV channels weekly, with 35 million watching daily.
The study was conducted by the world's third largest market research company, based in France, in 38 countries out of the 100+ where RT programming is available. The survey was taken between August-November 2015, just as RT was preparing to mark its 10th anniversary.

“Ipsos has decades of experience in international audience measurement, and we’ve worked with dozens of premier broadcasters from around the world. We are happy that RT chose Ipsos to conduct their biggest audience survey yet,” said Ipsos Connect MENAP CEO, Elie Aoun.

Europe is the region where RT has the largest audience, with 36 million people watching the channel weekly. Eleven million get their news from RT at least once a week in the Middle East and Africa. In India, Ipsos included only English-language viewers, who constitute about 10 percent of the country's population, and among them 7 million viewers watch RT weekly.

In the US, RT's weekly audience is above 8 million viewers, the study showed, which places the broadcaster among the top-5 international TV news channels.

“Thirty-five million people watch us daily, and we are successfully competing with long-established channels worldwide,” said RT’s Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan. “In 10 years we have truly succeeded in making our voice heard around the world."

By comparison, France 24 reports having a combined weekly viewership of 45.9 million viewers for its three channels.

BBC World News, the 24-hour, English-language, international flagship news channel of the British media giant BBC, has an estimated 76 million viewers each week, according to the latest available figures. Deutsche Welle's TV programs have an audience of 55 million people every week, according to its report.

In addition to successfully competing with other news channels on the air, RT maintains a strong online presence, a recent study by comScore showed. RT's websites and YouTube channels were visited 49 million times in November 2015, with users from the US providing the largest share. The online desktop audience of RT surpassed those of such international news majors as Al Jazeera, Voice of America and euronews....etc

All those people have now seen exactly what, and who, Trump's missiles actually hit. Though actually, the Kremlin doesn't need propaganda when the US does such STUPID things.

http://thehill.com/latino/327916-dems-winning-fight-over-wall

Democrats are winning the war over the wall.

Despite President Trump’s request for more than $1 billion to fund the Mexican border wall this year, GOP leaders are expected to exclude the money in the spending bill being prepared to keep the government open beyond April 28.

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) says the choice is pragmatic and the money will come later.

But the issue has become a political thorn in the side of GOP leaders who are facing pushback from Republicans voicing concerns over the diplomatic fallout, the disruption to local communities and the enormous cost of the project, estimated to be anywhere from $22 billion to $40 billion.
With Democrats united against new wall funding, it’s unlikely the Republicans have the votes to get it through and prevent a government shutdown.

Among the loudest GOP skeptics are those representing border districts. Reps. Will Hurd (R-Texas) and Martha McSally (R-Ariz.), for instance, hail from districts that span a combined 880 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border. They’re pressing the administration to justify the huge costs.

“We recognize the need for robust border security and infrastructure to ensure public safety and increase cross border commerce,” the lawmakers wrote recently to top administration officials. “We also have an obligation to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars.”

Grover Norquist, a conservative anti-tax crusader who has supported comprehensive immigration reform, told The Hill that payment for the wall has not been an issue in his discussions with allies on Capitol Hill.

And some Republicans are concerned that deteriorating relations with Mexico may be too high a price to pay for the wall.

In a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing Wednesday, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) expressed concern to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly about a growing resentment in Mexico over the administration's border policies.

“There is a lot of anti-American sentiment in Mexico. If the election were tomorrow in Mexico, you'd probably have a left-wing, anti-American president in Mexico. That can't be good for America,” McCain said.

“It would not be good for America, or for Mexico,” Kelly conceded....etc

http://news.sky.com/story/us-is-planning-attacks-on-damascus-to-blame-assad-claims-putin-10833716

Vladimir Putin has claimed he has information that the US is planning to strike Damascus to pin the blame on Bashar al Assad.

The Russian president said Moscow had received intelligence about planned "provocations" using chemical weapons that would point the finger at the Syrian government.

More follows...

Unfortunately, that is EXACTLY the sort of dumb, bloodthirsty thing Washington would do - and not for the first time.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/11/british-cabinet-split-syria-response-g7-leaders-discuss-fresh/

Boris Johnson has failed to secure the backing of the G7 nations for swift sanctions against Russia and Syria, leaving the US-UK plan to pressurise Vladimir Putin in tatters.

Germany and Italy vetoed the idea of targeting Russian and Syrian military leaders until an investigation has been carried out into who was to blame for last week’s nerve gas attack in Idlib province.

The Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano said Mr Putin “must not be pushed into a corner”, suggesting Italy may not support extra sanctions even if an investigation proves Assad was to blame.

An investigation? Instead of just bombing first and asking questions later? What a novel idea!

The EU high representative for foreign affairs, Federica Mogherini, is also understood to have been cool on the idea of sanctions.

It means Rex Tillerson, the US Secretary of State, will fly to Moscow tonight with a hugely weakened hand.

Trump Says China Will Get Better Trade Deal if It Solves ‘North Korean Problem’.

WASHINGTON — President Trump, plainly frustrated by China’s inaction on North Korea, aimed his Twitter feed at Beijing on Tuesday, telling the Chinese government that the United States would exchange trade concessions for support in pressuring Pyongyang.

“I explained to the President of China that a trade deal with the U.S. will be far better for them if they solve the North Korean problem!” Mr. Trump declared on Twitter around 8 a.m.

That was followed by a more impatient post in which he said: “North Korea is looking for trouble. If China decides to help, that would be great. If not, we will solve the problem without them! U.S.A.”

Mr. Trump’s message captures his quandary in dealing with the nuclear threat from North Korea: Only China, with its economic leverage over its neighbor, can realistically force a change in the behavior of North Korea’s dictator, Kim Jong-un.

But despite its own deepening frustration with Mr. Kim, China has so far been unwilling to tighten the vise on him.

President Xi Jinping of China did not offer Mr. Trump any public commitments when they met last week in Palm Beach, Fla. Even in private conversations, officials said, the Chinese leader was circumspect. More at link.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/11/world/asia/trump-china-trade-north-korea.html?_r=0

Yup, he tweeted it.

Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump 2h2 hours ago
More
North Korea is looking for trouble. If China decides to help, that would be great. If not, we will solve the problem without them! U.S.A.

I reckon he's been nobbled, his current actions are making him look foolish and weak. Someone found his VERY weak spot. He's also given control of US Mid-east policy to AQ/ISIS.

Want the stupid Yanks to act as our air force? Commit an atrocity, blame Assad or Russia, make Ivanka cry and watch those missiles fly!

He's acting like one of those medieval popes that made their illegitimate children princes......

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/migrants-are-being-sold-open-slave-markets-libya-1616492

Migrants from West Africa are being openly traded in "public slave markets" across Libya.

As a departure point for refugees trying to get to Europe, migrants arriving in Libya from sub-Saharan Africa are particularly vulnerable due to a lack of money and little in the way of documentation.


Survivors have told the International Organization for Migration (IOM) how there are slave markets and private prisons all over Libya.

Libya, post-Freedumbing.

I am getting rather sick of the Pres at the moment. So have glanced over posts here but I fully intend on reading them when I am not so disturbed. I really think having his children involved in politics is not the best move at all.

Well, I'm just an onlooker, Lily, but it seems to me he's screwing up badly right now. No-one voted for his family to be running things - especially not foreign and military policy. Launching illegal missile attacks because your daughter is wailing in your ear makes you look weak, not strong - Putin or Xi would have told her to GTF and stick to designing frocks.

And the entire world saw him betray his promises to his supporters with that asinine, failed missile attack. It makes his word on anything worthless. Good God, even Italy led the charge at the G7, refusing to go along with what Washington wanted re. Russia.

The 5 Eyes will hang on for now, but if it goes any more pear-shaped, Perfidious Albion will drop him like a hot potato. I shudder to think what he intends to do about North Korea.

He doesn't seem to have read a history book, especially not military history, or grasp that China has been around for thousands of years, and invented the Art of War. I wouldn't be in the least surprised if China and Russia are luring him into fighting unwinnable wars on several different fronts, before hitting him with some asymmetrical warfare of their own, whether it's electronic or financial.