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WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is dusting off its playbook from the special counsel's Russia investigation. Caught off guard by the speed at which a whistleblower's claims have morphed into an impeachment inquiry, President Donald Trump and his team are scrambling to respond. They're turning, at least for now, to some of the same strategies they used to counter special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. The basic tactics deployed by the short-staffed White House: Attempt to discredit government officials at the heart of the story. Dispatch Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani and other allies to muddy the picture. Lean on Republicans...

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The comments are irrelevant. The recording was blatantly illegal. Established precedent in law states that where there was an "expectation of privacy" it is ILLEGAL to record a person without his/her consent. Illegal to have done this in the first place.

Scientists have unveiled a 500 megapixel cloud camera system in China that they say is capable of capturing the facial details of each individual in a crowd of tens of thousands of people, raising fears facial recognition monitoring could soon reach a new level. (Please see full article at the link)

Former House Speaker Paul Ryan, who currently sits on the board of Fox Corp., is reportedly urging Fox News to “decisively break” with President Donald Trump, according to a Thursday Vanity Fair report documenting the network’s “management bedlam.” Vanity Fair’s Gabe Sherman, citing four sources, reported that Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch, who has long tried to move Fox News to the center, “is already thinking about how to position the network for a post-Trump future.” Ryan, the longtime Trump antagonist, has reportedly been suggesting to Murdoch that “Fox should decisively break with the president” as Murdoch holds “strategy conversations...

Polish President Andrzej Duda blamed Israel for Poland's anti-Semitism, the Jewish Insider reported Friday. In a Wednesday meeting with American Jewish leaders at the Polish Consulate in New York, Duda criticized Israel's lack of regret over statements regarding Poland's participation in the Holocaust, and said Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz's comments several months ago were a "humiliation." According to participants in the meeting - which included representatives from the Anti-Defamation League and AIPAC - Duda also suggested that the increase in anti-Semitic attacks against Jews in Poland were a consequence of Katz's comments. Duda's countrymen also told him not to...

Mitt Romney is a fine and decent person, whom I voted for without regret, then or now, and who strangely just published a scathing op-ed in the Washington Post about President Trump days before assuming office as Utah’s newly elected junior senator. But why in the world would he reserve his invective for January, rather than in October, when it surely would have had greater force? As far as Romney’s calls for Trump to be less ad hominem in his retaliatory remarks, he may be right, both in terms of presidential behavior and political wisdom (given that Trump needs to...

Siamese twins walk into a bar in Canada and park themselves on a barstool. One of them says to the bartender, "Don't mind us; we're joined at the hip. I'm John, he's Jim. Two Molson Canadian beers, draft please." The bartender, feeling slightly awkward, tries to make polite conversation while pouring the beers. "Been on holiday yet, lads?" "Off to England next month," says John. "We go to England every year, rent a car and drive for miles. Don't we, Jim?" Jim agrees. "Ah, England!" says the bartender. "Wonderful country... the history, the beer, the culture..." "Nah, we don't like...

--snip-- In the southern Swedish city of Landskrona alone -- a place of roughly 35,000 inhabitants -- since December 2018, there have been seven explosions or bombings. In August, the entrance to Landskrona's city hall was blown up. "Those who do this want to disrupt organized society; we will not let that happen", said municipal council member Torkild Strandberg from the Liberal Party. In August, another city in the south of Sweden, Linköping, experienced its second blast this year. Police found an object that they suspected was explosives. When it was destroyed by the national bomb protection squad, a powerful...

An unnamed Ukrainian official said that Kiev was not made aware that the U.S. suspended security funds until a month after President Trump's call with his counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, which calls into question the whistleblower's account and Democrats' arguments that there was a quid pro quo for the aid. The official told the New York Times that Zelensky's government was unaware about the aid issue up until a month after Trump's July 25 phone call where he discussed Joe Biden and his son Hunter. The whistleblower complaint—citing U.S. officials—claimed that officials in Kiev were aware that the military aid could...

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Friday it wants President Donald Trump to make a "wise option and bold decision" to produce a breakthrough in stalled nuclear diplomacy, in an escalation of pressure on the U.S. ahead of an expected resumption of talks. The statement by Foreign Ministry adviser Kim Kye Gwan came days after Trump said another meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un "could happen soon" without elaborating. (Please see link for full article)

Note: For reasons explained below, particular caution must be used when evaluating this symbol. The “okay” hand gesture—in which the thumb and index finger touch while the other fingers of the hand are held outstretched—is an obvious and ancient gesture that has arisen in many cultures over the years with different meanings. Today, in a usage that dates to at least as early as 17th century Great Britain, it most commonly signals understanding, consent, approval or well-being. Since the early 1800s, the gesture increasingly became associated with the word “okay” and its abbreviation “ok.” In 2017, the “okay” hand gesture...

Months after Burger King started serving a plant-based version of its signature Whopper, McDonald’s announced Thursday that it is rolling out its own veggie burger. The “P.L.T.” — that’s an acronym of its ingredients, natch: “Plant. Lettuce. Tomato” — will be available for 12 weeks starting Monday at 28 locations in southwestern Ontario, according a statement. The burger in question is from Beyond Meat, a company whose meat-substitute patties are already being served Carl’s Jr. locations around the United States. (Please see article at the link)

Democratic presidential candidates are united in condemning President Donald Trump for seeking a foreign country's help to trash a domestic political rival. But when it comes to defending the president's target, former Vice President Joe Biden, it's more complicated. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren suggested she'd consider barring her vice president's children from serving on the boards of foreign companies, the very kind of business arrangement Trump has used in unfounded attacks accusing Biden and his son Hunter of corruption. When asked whether Trump's attacks reflect on Biden's "campaign or his character," California Sen. Kamala Harris said, "I'll leave that up...

President Donald J. Trump’s Humanitarian and Responsible Approach On Refugees Protects the Welfare of American Citizens "A responsible approach to refugees is one that seeks the eventual return of refugees to their home countries so that they can help to rebuild their own nations."  - President Donald J. Trump MOST GENEROUS IMMIGRATION SYSTEM IN THE WORLD: America continues to lead the way in worldwide refugee efforts, both in financial contributions and permanent resettlement. The United States expects to receive more than 368,000 new refugees and asylum claims in fiscal year (FY) 2020 – continuing our generous record of providing humanitarian protections....

White House Logo ECONOMY NATIONAL SECURITY BUDGET IMMIGRATION THE OPIOID CRISIS Search WhiteHouse.gov PRESS BRIEFINGS Press Briefing by Acting Director of ICE Matthew Albence IMMIGRATION Issued on: September 26, 2019 SHARE: menuALL NEWS James S. Brady Press Briefing Room 11:01 A.M. EDT ACTING DIRECTOR ALBENCE: Good morning. Thank you for joining us. My name is Matt Albence. I’m the Deputy Director of ICE and the senior official performing the duties of the director. Before I begin, I want to take a moment to recognize and thank the dedicated law enforcement professionals that are here on the stage with me. I...

Joint Base Andrews Prince George’s County, Maryland 1:00 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody. I just watched a little bit of this on television. It’s a disgrace to our country. It’s another witch hunt. Here we go again. It’s Adam Schiff and his crew making up stories and sitting there like pious whatever you want to call them. It’s just a — really, it’s a disgrace. It’s a terrible thing for our country. They can’t do any work. They’re frozen — the Democrats. They’re going to lose the election; they know it. That’s why they’re doing it. And it should...

BEIJING/HONG KONG (Reuters) - China, having let the yuan cross the once sacred red line of 7 per dollar, will allow its currency to fall further and may even risk U.S. anger by using it as a bargaining chip in already thorny trade talks, market participants believe. Beijing had kept the yuan on the strong side of 7 since 2008, so effectively abandoning that trading floor on Aug 5 triggered intense investor activity. The currency's 3.8% decline in August as a whole was its sharpest monthly fall in 25 years, prompting U.S. President Donald Trump to launch a fresh salvo...

What does DJT know? Why is he questioning Crowdstrike? see http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3781317 A FReeper post today on that article by DivineMomentsOfTruth, posted this: "The DNC had Crowdstrike investigate their alleged Russian hack, while telling the FBI to go away. What was the DNC hiding.. We’ve been asking this since it happened. President Trump wants the Ukrainians to investigate Crowdstrike.. THAT has the Democrats in a panic." Got me thinking. As a hypothetical, how much of recent history would be explained if Crowdstrike was a CIA company??? Not to involve Fusion GPS at all, just talking Crowdstrike. Hmmm. It would explain why...

September 27 2019 Memorial of Saint Vincent de Paul, Priest Reading 1 Hg 2:1-9 In the second year of King Darius,on the twenty-first day of the seventh month,the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai:Tell this to the governor of Judah,Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel,and to the high priest Joshua, son of Jehozadak,and to the remnant of the people: Who is left among youthat saw this house in its former glory?And how do you see it now?Does it not seem like nothing in your eyes?But now take courage, Zerubbabel, says the LORD,and take courage, Joshua, high priest, son...