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28 Jan 16:30

CDC Issues Level 3 Warning: Avoid All Non-Essential Travel To China

by Tyler Durden
CDC Issues Level 3 Warning: Avoid All Non-Essential Travel To China

Following comments from the WHO chief that the coronavirus is only a China problem, not a global problem - which seems false given the apparent first non-Chinese death this morning in Thailand (and is perhaps only designed to maintain elevated risk asset prices around the world) - the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has raised its travel warning to level 3 for China - Avoid all non-essential travel.

  • CDC recommends that travelers avoid all nonessential travel to China. In response to an outbreak of respiratory illness, Chinese officials have closed transport within and out of Wuhan and other cities in Hubei province, including buses, subways, trains, and the international airport.  Additional restrictions and cancellations of events may occur.

  • There is limited access to adequate medical care in affected areas.

A novel (new) coronavirus is causing an outbreak of respiratory illness that began in the city of Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. This outbreak began in early December 2019 and continues to grow. Initially, some patients were linked to the Wuhan South China Seafood City (also called the South China Seafood Wholesale Market and the Hua Nan Seafood Market).  

Chinese health officials have reported thousands of cases in China and severe illness has been reported, including deaths. Cases have also been identified in travelers to other countries, including the United States. Person-to-person spread is occurring in China. The extent of person-to-person spread outside of China is unclear at this time.

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses. There are several known coronaviruses that infect people and usually only cause mild respiratory disease, such as the common cold. However, at least two previously identified coronaviruses have caused severe disease — severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus. 

Signs and symptoms of this illness include fever, cough, and difficulty breathing. This novel coronavirus has the potential to cause severe disease and death. Available information suggests that older adults and people with underlying health conditions or compromised immune systems may be at increased risk of severe disease.

In response to this outbreak, Chinese officials are screening travelers leaving some cities in China. Several countries and territories throughout the world are reported to have implemented health screening of travelers arriving from China.

On arrival to the United States, travelers from China may be asked questions to determine if they need to undergo health screening. Travelers with signs and symptoms of illness (fever, cough, or difficulty breathing) will have an additional health assessment.

What can travelers do to protect themselves and others?

CDC recommends avoiding nonessential travel to China. If you must travel:

  • Avoid contact with sick people.

  • Discuss travel to China with your healthcare provider. Older adults and travelers with underlying health issues may be at risk for more severe disease.

  • Avoid animals (alive or dead), animal markets, and products that come from animals (such as uncooked meat).

  • Wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available.

If you were in China in the last 14 days and feel sick with fever, cough, or difficulty breathing, you should:

  • Seek medical care right away. Before you go to a doctor’s office or emergency room, call ahead and tell them about your recent travel and your symptoms. 

  • Avoid contact with others.

  • Not travel while sick.

  • Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when coughing or sneezing.

  • Wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available.

*  *  *

Does any of that sound like this is "contained"... or just a China problem?

Tyler Durden Tue, 01/28/2020 - 09:23
28 Jan 16:29

U.S. Issues Highest Travel Warning as Coronavirus Death Toll Climbs to 106, China Scrambles to Respond

by Simon Kent
The U.S. State Department has issued a Level 4 advisory for the locked down Chinese city of Wuhan, meaning "no American" should travel there "while this virus continues to have impact," Vice President Mike Pence said Monday. He spoke as authorities at the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak battle to control the spread of the disease.
28 Jan 16:29

Joe Biden’s Sister Valerie Sent Millions of Joe’s Campaign Dollars to Her Own Consulting Firm

by Hannah Bleau
Valerie Biden Owens, the sister of former vice president Joe Biden directed $2.5 million from “Citizens for Biden” and “Biden for President Inc.” to her own consulting firm during her brother’s 2008 presidential bid.
28 Jan 16:29

Fact Check: Nancy Pelosi Lies About What Trump, Lawyers Said

by Joel B. Pollak
Fact check - CLAIM: Trump’s lawyers argued he has a right to abuse his power as much as he wants, which is also what he said. Verdict: FALSE.
28 Jan 16:28

U.S. recovers remains from Afghanistan plane crash, verifying identities: official

The United States on Tuesday recovered the remains of individuals from a U.S. military aircraft that crashed in Afghanistan and was in the process of confirming their identities, a U.S. defense official said on Tuesday.
28 Jan 16:28

Coach suspended for saying he'd like dinner with Hitler

by WND News Services

(FOX NEWS) -- A college football coach was suspended after saying in an interview that he would want to have dinner with Adolph Hitler, the former leader of Nazi Germany who was responsible for the deaths of millions of Jewish people.

Grand Valley State University offensive coordinator Morris Berger spoke to the school’s student newspaper Grand Valley Lanthorn last week and was asked which three historical figures he would want to take do dinner, excluding famous athletes.

“This is probably not going to get a good review, but I’m going to say Adolf Hitler,” Berger told sports editor Kellen Voss. “It was obviously very sad and he had bad motives, but the way he was able to lead was second-to-none. How he rallied a group and a following, I want to know how he did that. Bad intentions of course, but you can’t deny he wasn’t a great leader.”

Read the full story ›

The post Coach suspended for saying he'd like dinner with Hitler appeared first on WND.

28 Jan 16:28

Americans Haven't Been This Confident In The Current Economy Since The Peak Of The DotCom Bubble

by Tyler Durden
Americans Haven't Been This Confident In The Current Economy Since The Peak Of The DotCom Bubble

After a mixed December (headline flat, current up, future down), analysts expected the ongoing ramp in stocks to have lifted the Conference Board consumer confidence survey in January.

Both present situation and futures expectations jumped, lifting the headline to its highest since August.

  • Consumer confidence in January rose to 131.6 vs 128.2 in prior month.

  • Present situation confidence rose to 175.3 vs 170.5 last month

  • Consumer confidence expectations rose to 102.5 vs 100.0 last month

Source: Bloomberg

The present situation reading is back at the highest level since the dotcom bubble peak...

Source: Bloomberg

The Labor Differential (Jobs Plentiful - Hard to Get) surged back near record highs...

Source: Bloomberg

Presumably this survey was undertaken before the latest downturn in stocks amid global pandemic concerns.

Finally, we wonder if - as we have seen in the past - if the spread between dis-saving and consumer confidence has once again been stretched too wide...

Source: Bloomberg

Still, as long The Fed promises to keep stock prices high, everything in the 'economy' must be awesome, right?

Tyler Durden Tue, 01/28/2020 - 10:08
28 Jan 16:28

90% of domestic violence cases dropped in Orleans Parish

by Sofia Mongillo

More than 90% of domestic violence cases are dropped by prosecutors in Orleans Parish according to a report presented to New Orleans City Council last month.

The conviction rate for cases that do make it through court is only 6%, but Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro Jr. said in a press release that the prosecution of domestic violence cases relies almost entirely upon the willingness of the victim to cooperate.

“That is reality, and it is not ‘victim-blaming’ to state that fact,” Cannizzaro said.

The report says about half of dropped charges were due to victims refusing to prosecute the case, while another 37% were dropped because they were not considered suitable for prosecution.

Professor of Criminology and Justice Rae Taylor., affirmed that victims are often unwilling to cooperate but said that there are usually good reasons behind this.

“If you were a survivor of domestic violence or sexual assault and you saw this statistic about your district attorney’s office, would you call the police and put yourself through that whole system?” Taylor said.

Another factor that contributes to victims’ unwillingness to cooperate is victim-shaming, according to Director of the Women’s Resource Center Patricia Boyett.

“We rarely do this with other crimes,” Boyett said. “If someone gets robbed, you don’t tell them it’s their fault.”

Due to misunderstanding regarding victim behavior, cases get dropped because there isn’t enough evidence or interest in the case, Taylor said.

“It is not taken as seriously as other crimes; they’ll take drug crimes more seriously,” she said. “There is no legal recourse and often survivors are left having to answer to their abuser on why police were asking questions.”

According to co-chair of the women’s studies minor Danielle Slakoff, victims stay in these relationships for legitimate reasons, including financial stability or safety for their children, Slakoff said.

“It can take a really long time for someone to leave and even longer for somebody to leave successfully and not be in complete fear for their life every single day,” she said.

Since high school and college students are at high risk of being in abusive relationships due to the transitions happening in their lives, Slakoff wants to educate students on domestic abuse.

“What I tell my students a lot is to just believe someone when they tell you their story, and don’t ever put any blame on them for what happened,” she said.

 

AP News contributed to this report.

The post 90% of domestic violence cases dropped in Orleans Parish appeared first on The Maroon.

28 Jan 16:27

Suspension recommended for Longtime New Orleans attorney over two car crashes the same day while intoxicated

by Karen Kidd

NEW ORLEANS – Longtime New Orleans attorney Joseph Mayer III faces possible suspension following a Jan. 17 recommendation issued by a Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board (LADB) hearing committee over two crashes in the same day while he was intoxicated. Read more..

28 Jan 16:26

Officials: Four shot outside Connecticut courthouse; shooting was not a random act

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (WTNH)– Police are investigating after four people were shot outside of a Connecticut courthouse on Monday afternoon.

Police say that at around 12:16 p.m., officers responded to the report of a shooting at the Golden Hill Courthouse at 172 Golden Hill Street in Bridgeport.

According to the office of Bridgeport mayor Joe Ganim, four individuals received gunshot wounds while sitting in a car outside of the courthouse.

Officials say that an assailant driving by in a car shot at the four individuals who were sitting in the stopped vehicle. Three of the victims then ran out of the car that was shot at and into the courthouse for cover.

The fourth person shot was in the driver’s seat of the stopped vehicle and was found outside near the car injured.

(Photo: Ethan Fry)

All four victims were taken to St. Vincent’s and Bridgeport Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Two of the victims suffered serious injuries, while the other two were minor.

The statement from Mayor Ganim’s office also stressed that the shooting was not a random act, and it is not an active shooter situation.

Police say that they believe the shooting was targeted and is possibly related to a homicide that occurred in the city on Sunday night.

(Photo: Ethan Fry)

Police say that they have one suspect in custody in connection with the shooting and are now actively pursuing the car involved.

28 Jan 16:26

Coronavirus scare has border health officials from both sides in constant communication

by Sandra Sanchez

McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — With the number of coronavirus cases expected to rise, health officials on both sides of the Texas-Mexico border are communicating frequently, and so far there are no confirmed cases of the potentially deadly virus in Texas or northern Mexico, a top health director told Border Report on Monday.

Eduardo “Eddie” Olivarez, chief administrative officer for the Hidalgo County (Texas) Health and Human Services and member of the Task Force of Border Health, said that although there are a few cases of a less serious strain of the coronavirus in South Texas, no patients in the region have tested positive for the deadly strain that originated from Wuhan, China. That strain has killed over 80 people and sickened at least 3,000, mostly in China.

But as world health officials work to contain the virus — which manifests symptoms similar to the flu but can cause serious respiratory damage, and even death — border health officials are keeping a close eye on the situation, Olivarez said. They are particularly concerned that if a case were to occur in the border region, then the virus could easily jump the border with so many people crossing daily between the United States and Mexico.

Members of Mexico’s Baja California state Health Secretary epidemiology brigade walk towards the arrival gate to check passengers of China’s Hainan Airlines flight HU7925 from Beijing, at the Abelardo L. Rodriguez International airport in Tijuana, Mexico, on January 27, 2020. – China’s capital on Monday recorded its first death from a deadly coronavirus as it struggles to contain a rapidly spreading disease that has sparked global alarm, with countries scrambling to evacuate their citizens from the epicenter of the epidemic. (Photo by Guillermo Arias / AFP) (Photo by GUILLERMO ARIAS/AFP via Getty Images)

“We work very closely with our Mexican counterparts and we’re on the phone pretty regularly on this and other illnesses. We are monitoring this very closely,” Olivarez said.

Two suspected cases of what Olivarez calls the “Wuhan strain” of the coronavirus were reported across the border from McAllen in Reynosa, Tamaulipas. But both cases turned out to be negative, he said. Another suspected case at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, also turned out to be negative, he said.

A positive confirmation of the virus takes 72 to 96 hours because it must be grown in a lab culture, Olivarez said. However, a negative confirmation can be obtained quicker — within 24 to 36 hours.

The few current cases of the lesser coronavirus that are reported in the region are being referred to as “co-viruses,” Olivarez said. These often show cold-like symptoms and are not considered to be a serious health hazard.

duardo “Eddie” Olivarez is chief administrative officer for the Hidalgo County (Texas) Health and Human Services. (Courtesy Photo)

Olivarez said state health departments on the border, from Texas to California, hold weekly talks with Mexico’s health department located in Mexico City. The Secretaría de Salud de la Ciudad de México “reviews all border health issues from A to Z, which includes flu, yellow fever, dengue, Zika,” he said. Any health concerns, such as this new coronavirus strain, then would be sent to the each state’s public health emergency management offices.

In addition, Olivarez said his department has been in talks with the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection regarding the potential spread of the coronavirus at ports of entry and within migrant detainees. The protocol plan already is in effect, he said, for cases of mumps and measles and influenza in these places.

Border Report will continue to monitor any new cases of coronavirus on the border and will update with information.

Visit the BorderReport.com homepage for the latest exclusive stories and breaking news about issues along the United States-Mexico border.

28 Jan 16:25

‘Dumbest Man On Television’: POTUS Responds To Don Lemon Mocking Trump Voters

by William Davis
'With terrible ratings!'
16 Jan 00:03

GOP senator: 2020 candidates must recuse themselves from impeachment trial

by Jordain Carney
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said on Wednesday that Democratic senators running for the party's 2020 nomination should recuse themselves from taking part in President Trump's impeachment trial."Tomorrow, one hun...
16 Jan 00:02

Gun Grab in Virginia Would Spark Next Civil War

by Infowars.com
Governor threatens 'consequences' over creation of 2nd Amendment sanctuaries
16 Jan 00:00

The Era of Fed Power Is Over. Prepare for a More Perilous Road Ahead. - Wall Street Journal

16 Jan 00:00

Trump antagonist Avenatti's bail is revoked, threatening Nike trial in New York

A federal judge on Wednesday revoked Michael Avenatti's bail after he was accused of fraudulently hiding $1 million from creditors, threatening a separate trial of the celebrity lawyer and critic of U.S. President Donald Trump on charges he tried to extort Nike Inc .
15 Jan 23:59

James O’Keefe Reveals New Bernie “Gulag” Information

by Infowars.com
Share this link!
15 Jan 23:58

Deputies conduct welfare check for judge as pressure rises over relationship with Assumption deputy

by BY DAVID J. MITCHELL | Staff writer
Florida deputies found Judge Jessie LeBlanc on Tuesday afternoon, driving outside Pensacola, after family members in Louisiana became concerned about her well-being and asked law enforcement officers to find her, authorities said Wednesday.
15 Jan 23:58

#CNNIsTrash Trends As Pushback Grows Against Oligarchic Election Meddling

by Tyler Durden
#CNNIsTrash Trends As Pushback Grows Against Oligarchic Election Meddling

Authored by Caitlin Johnstone via Medium.com,

The hashtag #CNNIsTrash is the number one trend on Twitter as of this writing due to the network’s appalling treatment of Bernie Sanders in last night’s Democratic presidential debate in Iowa.

The joint smear job against Sanders had many arms, including wildly biased questions like Wolf Blitzer deliberately associating Bernie with “Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei” by pointing out that they both want US troops out of the Middle East and demanding to know how he was going to avoid “bankrupting the country” with a healthcare plan used in nations all over the world.

But by far the most glaringly egregious assault on the Vermont Senator’s image was when CNN moderator Abby Phillip took a completely evidence-free sexism smear which defies all logic and presented it to the debate audience as an established and undeniable fact. You can watch the exchange here:

Phillip brought up a transparently ridiculous claim that was “leaked” to the press and confirmed by Warren that in 2018 Sanders had told Warren he did not believe that a woman could win a presidential election. It’s a completely unproven allegation about an unwitnessed private conversation, yet Phillip did not ask Sanders if he had said such a thing, she asked him why he said it, presenting it as a given fact.

Sanders explicitly denied ever saying any such thing. He said there’s Youtube footage people can look up of him saying a woman could become president many decades ago, adding that he only ran for president in 2016 because Warren refused grassroots efforts to persuade her to run (efforts which he’d supported).

“So Senator Sanders, I do want to be clear here, you’re saying that you never told Senator Warren that a woman could not win the election?” asked Phillip.

“That is correct,” Sanders replied.

“Senator Warren,” Phillip then asked without missing a beat. “What did you think when Senator Sanders told you that a woman could not win the election?”

It was such a brazen manipulation that even CNN’s heavily pro-establishment crowd audibly reacted. Warren then cooperated with this manipulation by responding as though the allegation was a proven fact, without acknowledging Sanders’ denial or defending her claim.

In CNN’s post-debate analysis, pundits actively reinforced the completely fact-free narrative that this allegation was an established reality, with Van Jones referring to “a banana peel sitting out there for Bernie to slip on when it came to his comments about women,” an idea premised on the position that those comments are known to have actually happened.

CNN’s Jess McIntosh took it even further, overtly dismissing Sanders’ denial and saying, “I think what Bernie forgot was that this isn’t a he said/she said story. This is a reported out story that CNN was part of breaking, so to have him just flat out say no I think wasn’t nearly enough to address that for the women watching.”

Of course, the allegation absolutely is a he said/she said story, per any possible definition: Warren says it happened, Sanders said it didn’t. The fact that CNN “reported out” on that he said/she said story doesn’t magically turn it into a fact, as should be obvious to any grown adult who isn’t suffering from a severe head wound.

More importantly, nobody actually believes that Bernie Sanders told Elizabeth Warren a woman cannot be president. Not Jess McIntosh, not Abby Phillip, not Van Jones, not Elizabeth Warren, not CNN, and not any of the establishment loyalists who are trumpeting this allegation as fact. Anyone who claims to believe that this interaction occurred is simply lying to advance a political agenda, and they know it.

The belief that a woman cannot be elected president in 2020 is not a thing. Nobody believes that, and anyone who pretends to believe that anyone believes that is simply telling you that they are an unprincipled liar who would rather take a nonsense stand on a nonsense issue than promote actual policies and changes. The heavy favorite to win the 2016 election was a woman, and were she not literally in the middle of an FBI investigation during that election she would have overcome the narrow margins she lost by.

It’s been years since anyone has believed that a woman cannot win a US presidential election. If you claim that the one person in the world who does believe this is a senator who’s spent decades advocating for feminism and women in politics, you are a liar. It absolutely is that simple.

So angry Berners have been rightly decrying the despicable manipulations of CNN, which can only be a good thing. A massively influential news corporation owned by the largest telecommunications company on the planet should not be able to determine who voters select to the highest elected office in the most powerful country in the world.

This is oligarchic election interference, plain and simple. If the US government is going to call a few thousand dollars in Russian facebook memes election meddling, then the billions which get poured into the billionaire media tilting the scale to advantage the billionaire class is far worse by orders of magnitude.

Last May I wrote an article titled “The Worst 2020 Election Interference Will Be Perfectly Legal” saying that the most egregious forms of election meddling we’ll see in this presidential race will not be perpetrated by the Russians, nor by the DNC, nor by sleazy gerrymandering or voter ID requirements, nor by hard vote tally manipulation, but the everyday, in-your-face manipulations of corporate media outlets like CNN. Unsurprisingly, this is already proving undeniably true.

In fact the power of these vast news media corporations to manipulate the way the populace thinks and votes stretches far beyond the consequences of a mere presidential election. The ability to manufacture consent for the agendas of the plutocratic class which controls these corporations enables war, ecocide, militarism, soul-crushing oligarchic neoliberalism, increasingly Orwellian surveillance programs and an increasingly militarized police force to destroy lives and this very world without it ever occurring to a critical majority that it would be possible for us to use the power of our numbers to force real changes to our advantage.

It is good that people are loudly criticizing this dynamic. It’s important to keep drawing attention to the way we’re being manipulated out of having any control over not just what happens in our world, but over what we think about what happens in our world. Hopefully public trust in the mouthpieces of oligarchy can be weakened to such an extent that people stop buying into their deceptions.

*  *  *

Thanks for reading! The best way to get around the internet censors and make sure you see the stuff I publish is to subscribe to the mailing list for my website, which will get you an email notification for everything I publish. My work is entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around, liking me on Facebook, following my antics on Twitter, checking out my podcast on either YoutubesoundcloudApple podcasts or Spotify, following me on Steemit, throwing some money into my hat on Patreon or Paypalpurchasing some of my sweet merchandise, buying my new book Rogue Nation: Psychonautical Adventures With Caitlin Johnstone, or my previous book Woke: A Field Guide for Utopia Preppers. For more info on who I am, where I stand, and what I’m trying to do with this platform, click here. Everyone, racist platforms excluded, has my permission to republish or use any part of this work (or anything else I’ve written) in any way they like free of charge.

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Tyler Durden Wed, 01/15/2020 - 17:05
15 Jan 23:57

Hell breaks loose at Christian school over girl's colorful birthday cake

by Joe Kovacs

Kayla Kenney celebrating her 15th birthday (Courtesy Kimberly Alford on Facebook)

The most famous rainbow in history is when God made His covenant with Noah after the flood mentioned in the book of Genesis.

But now, a private Christian school in Kentucky is coming under fire for allegedly expelling a student because she had a rainbow-colored cake and sweater to celebrate her birthday.

"She did nothing wrong," Kimberly Alford said of her 15-year-old daughter, Kayla Kenney, in an interview with the Louisville Courier Journal.

The saga began in late December when the family was celebrating Kayla's 15th birthday at a Texas Roadhouse restaurant. It was when Alford posted a photo of her daughter on her Facebook page that all hell broke loose.

The girl happened to be wearing a sweater with a rainbow on it, and the cake had a variety of rainbow-like colors.

Alford told the paper she received an email from Whitefield Academy's head of school, Bruce Jacobson, explaining her daughter was being expelled "immediately due to a post on social media."

Learn astonishing Bible truth on a higher level than ever before with the Holy Spirit-filled books by Joe Kovacs

She said Jacobson wrote that the picture "demonstrates a posture of morality and cultural acceptance contrary to that of Whitefield Academy’s beliefs” and follows two years of "lifestyle violations."

In recent years, the rainbow flag has often been used as a symbol of same-sex and transgender rights.

Alford noted her daughter is not homosexual, and the colorful cake was merely for fun, indicating the bakery receipt listed the design as "assorted colors."

She also told the paper the Whitefield Academy Parent Teacher Fellowship even displayed a rainbow image on its private Facebook page before later taking it down after her daughter was expelled.

"I just feel like it's a label (school officials) have put on her," Alford said. "Just because I'm wearing a rainbow doesn't mean I'm gay."

Meanwhile, Jacobson told the Courier Journal the girl's expulsion came after "two years of continuous violations of our student code of conduct."

"Inaccurate media reports are circling stating that the student in question was expelled from our school solely for a social media post," the school said in a statement. "In fact, she has unfortunately violated our student code of conduct numerous times over the past two years."

The school added: "Whitefield Academy is accredited by ACSI/AdvancEd and a member of the Non Public School Commission of Kentucky, and therefore we meet all Kentucky regulations and laws. Our code of conduct is on pare with other private Christian schools in our area. It is unfortunate that one of the student’s parents chose to post internal family matters on social media, and we hope our former student is not adversely affected by what her parents chose to make public about her situation."

Jacobson wouldn't disclose if the photo of the rainbow cake and shirt led to Kayla's ouster, but said the teen had faced "a progression of discipline."

Air Force Staff Sgt. Jamila Lopez Daniel guides a loader toward the door of a KC-10 to unload pallets of cargo under a full rainbow at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, Jan. 4, 2020. (Photo by Air Force Senior Airman Ruben Rios)

"All the families of students know that they have expectations they need to (follow)," Jacobson told the paper. "We always try to work with families over a period of time."

Alford explained that a school disciplinary officer had found Juul pods in her daughter's backpack last October,and she and Kayla met with schools officials, agreeing that the girl "would be on probation."

"Any other behavior issues could cause her to be expelled," Alford said. "Since October, there have been no disciplinary issues. There have been no academic issues. There has been nothing."

The parent-student handbook for Whitefield Academy says students may face expulsion "when there is a serious departure from the school's guidelines."

A portion concerning student behavior indicates Whitefield's "biblical role is to work in conjunction with the home to mold students to be Christ-like."

"On occasion, the atmosphere or conduct within a particular home may be counter or in opposition to the biblical lifestyle the school teaches. This includes, but is not limited to, sexual immorality, homosexual orientation or the inability to support Biblical standards of right and wrong. ... In such cases, the school reserves the right, within its sole discretion, to refuse admission of an applicant or to discontinue enrollment of a student."

Chris Hartman, executive director of the Fairness Campaign, a Louisville-based LGBTQ advocacy organization, said it "seems incredibly outrageous" if the girl was expelled because of the birthday photo.

He also noted the rainbow connection to the flood of Noah in the Holy Bible, one of the most well-known Christian accounts in the world.

(Pixabay)

"So the idea that they would eject someone for the simple display of a rainbow is ludicrous," Hartman told the paper.

Alford is now receiving messages of encouragement on Facebook, with some saying:

  • "We stand behind you 100%! So do all of America now."
  • "Just wanted to let u know I am praying and totally supporting u and ur babygirl."
  • "Please tell your daughter she is better off!! That school and the staff should be ASHAMED!!"

Follow Joe on Twitter @JoeKovacsNews

wnd-donation-graphic-2-2019

The post Hell breaks loose at Christian school over girl's colorful birthday cake appeared first on WND.

15 Jan 23:56

Army Given Gun Confiscation Questionnaire

by The Alex Jones Show
Also, Virginia braces for a battle over gun rights.
15 Jan 23:56

Obama Behind Northam’s Anti-Gun ‘Emergency,’ Says Virgina State Police Officer

by Infowars.com
Obama continues to meddle in state and local politics - even after his presidency!
15 Jan 23:55

CNNers Knock ‘Jarring’ Pelosi Impeachment Signing Ceremony, Pens: ‘Off-Message’ from Somber Tone

by Josh Feldman

Speaker Nancy Pelosi signed the two articles of impeachment at a signing ceremony today which included pens that were handed out to the House impeachment managers. Minutes later on CNN, Dana Bash and Nia-Malika Henderson criticized the ceremony and said it had a dissonant tone.

Bash said, “We are used to seeing signing ceremonies, handing out pens at moments of celebration, when a president is signing is legislation, when even sometimes… when the House sends over a landmark piece of legislation. It was unusual to see that kind of ceremony and handing out the pens and smiling for a picture in this kind of situation where the House Speaker has bent over backwards to say publicly and privately this is somber, this is not a time for celebration.”

Henderson agreed it was “jarring” and “off-message,” saying, “You heard Nancy Pelosi say that this is a sad and tragic day, and then there she is holding up the pen and having photographs taken with those pens, so it is a little off-message for somebody who has tried to set a very serious tone and here she is posing for the photographs with the pen.”

And if you’ve been on Twitter thus far, you’ve already seen that there’s already much talk about the pens:

You can watch above, via CNN.

15 Jan 23:54

McConnell locks in schedule for start of impeachment trial

by Jordain Carney
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has officially locked in the schedule for the first few days of the Senate impeachment trial against President Trump after the House formally notified the chamber that it had...
15 Jan 23:54

Nancy Pelosi Uses More than a Dozen Commemorative Pens to Sign 'Sad' Articles of Impeachment

by Joel B. Pollak
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) declared herself “sad” as she used more than a dozen commemorative pens to sign the two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump on Wednesday evening.
15 Jan 23:54

U.S. and China tiptoe around holes in new trade agreement

The United States and China signed an initial trade deal on Wednesday that will roll back some tariffs and boost Chinese purchases of U.S. products, defusing an 18-month row between the world's two largest economies but leaving a number of sore spots unresolved.
15 Jan 23:54

Whitney Houston among six Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees

Late superstar Whitney Houston and five other artists and bands, living and dead - and representing a wide range of musical genres, including pop, electronica and rap - were unveiled on Wednesday as this year's inductees to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
15 Jan 23:53

'The Speaker lied': As Pelosi names impeachment managers, Trump hits back hard

by Joe Saunders, The Western Journal

President Donald Trump’s White House came out swinging.

Within moments of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s long-awaited announcement Wednesday of the seven Democrats who would be in charge of the Trump impeachment trial in the Senate, the White House released a blistering attack on Pelosi and the entire, transparently political impeachment process.

It was a sign of things to come, and an excellent indication of how brutal the upcoming fight is going to be.

“The only thing Speaker Pelosi has achieved with this sham, illegitimate impeachment process, is to prove she is focused on politics instead of the American people,” the White House statement said.

TRENDING: Californians literally swimming in fecal matter thanks in part to left's homelessness crisis

“The Speaker lied when she claimed this was urgent and vital to national security because when the articles passed, she held them for an entire month in an egregious effort to garner political support. She failed and the naming of these managers does not change a single thing. President Trump has done nothing wrong.”

No one who has followed the impeachment saga closely could disagree with the point about Pelosi's delay.

When Democrats who control the House of Representatives rammed through their ludicrously amorphous articles of impeachment in December -- the “obstruction of Congress” charge alone should have had the Founders spinning in their graves -- the rationale for the unseemly speed was that Trump’s continued residence in the White House somehow constituted a danger to the Republic.

Yet, in a burst of cleverness that might well have come from watching too much liberal TV, Pelosi decided to withhold the articles from the Senate for nearly a month, ostensibly to be sure the Senate trial was “fair” but more likely to see if some kind of evidence might drop from the sky that would help the Democrats improve their historically bad case.

As the heavens don’t seem to be helping her, and even Democrats were getting impatient with the delay, Pelosi finally caved.

As The Associated Press reported, the House voted Wednesday to transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate shortly after Pelosi announced her racially diverse cast of impeachment managers.

To get an idea of the absurdity that’s surrounding a supposedly solemn constitutional process, note that USA Today thought it was important to mention the ethnic affiliations of the House impeachment team:

“Unlike the group of 13 Republicans who managed their case against President Bill Clinton, who were all white men, this group of seven managers consists of three women and four men. Two are members of the Congressional Black Caucus, and one is a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus."

Imagine the box-checking that went on in the speaker’s suite to get to that lineup.

Meanwhile, on Twitter, Trump himself blasted the latest move as another “Con Job by the Do Nothing Democrats.”

As usual, he had plenty of critics -- liberals love to follow the president they loathe -- but he had plenty of supporters, too.

But this one summed it up well.

While Pelosi's antics might be too serious to be considered a sketch show comedy, there's no doubt that the San Francisco Democrat's tenures as House speaker have been marked by making a travesty of the governance of the United States.

During her first time around, she managed to saddle the country with the disastrous yoke of Obamacare, with a series of parliamentary maneuvers and strongarm tactics that would make Machiavelli blush.

This time, she’s managed in the course of a year to apparently lose control over her caucus to its most left-wing elements and saddle the country now with the unnecessary burden of watching its duly elected president defeat a despicable impeachment attempt.

The big point to remember is that Pelosi and her Democrats lost control of the House in the 2010 midterms, after Obamacare passed. Impeachment could well have the same effect.

It's doubtless going to be a distraction for a president who's already busy fighting a war on terrorism, managing the country’s relations with enemies like Iran, and revamping the trade relationship with China.

That’s an agenda that would mean most administration’s hands were full.

But that didn’t stop the Trump White House on Wednesday from coming out swinging.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.

The post 'The Speaker lied': As Pelosi names impeachment managers, Trump hits back hard appeared first on WND.

15 Jan 23:53

The broken record of breaking encryption skips again in Florida shooter case

by Sean Gallagher
A man in a suit gesticulates while he bloviates.

Enlarge / US President Donald Trump speaks about the impeachment inquiry during a tour of the Flextronics computer manufacturing facility where Apple's Mac Pros are assembled in Austin, Texas, on November 20, 2019. Now, he's ranting about Apple being unpatriotic. (credit: MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

On the eve of the House of Representatives' forwarding of articles of impeachment to the Senate, President Donald Trump took time to attack Apple. The president's outburst on Twitter appears to be about the FBI's inability to get access to the physical storage on two iPhones connected to last month's killings at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida. And it is the latest ratcheting up of rhetoric from the Trump administration on device encryption.

The phones are believed by the FBI to have been the property of Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, the Saudi Air Force officer who was the suspect in the shooting of three members of the US Navy in December. Alshamrani died after being shot by law enforcement, and the devices were locked.

But an Apple spokesperson said that Apple had provided the contents of the cloud backups of those devices to investigators within hours of the shooting, and Apple executives thought the FBI was satisfied with that—until the FBI came back a week ago and asked for additional assistance. It is not clear that Apple has refused that assistance, but the company has resisted providing a way for the government to break the encryption on devices in the past. Apple did this out of concern that breaking open devices would reduce the protection provided to law-abiding customers against theft of their personal data off stolen or otherwise targeted devices.

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15 Jan 23:53

Fight escalates over planned impeachment press restrictions

by Nathaniel Weixel
The fight over potentially major restrictions on press access covering the upcoming Senate impeachment trial escalated Wednesday as a second group of reporters formally asked Senate leaders to intervene....