Wednesday Open Thread | Amy Sherald

Posted on October 25, 2017 by rikyrah

Happy HUMP Day, Everyone. More Amy Sherald

AUDIO:

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49 Responses to Wednesday Open Thread | Amy Sherald

  1. SouthernGirl2 says:
    October 25, 2017 at 11:44 pm

    Astros won! Whoo Hoo!

    Reply
  2. SouthernGirl2 says:
    October 25, 2017 at 11:24 pm

    I’M SOOO NERVOUS! Astros 7-5 Bottom of the 11th. #trembling

    Reply
  3. rikyrah says:
    October 25, 2017 at 3:54 pm

    Conservative leaders asked Paul Ryan today if DACA or Obamacare subsidies would be part of a year-end spending deal.

    Ryan said CSR payments wouldn’t, but DACA would.https://t.co/swcKSi8iAm

    — Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) October 25, 2017

    Reply
  4. rikyrah says:
    October 25, 2017 at 2:19 pm

    Trump’s silence on the U.S. deaths in Niger is untenable
    10/25/17 11:21 AM—UPDATED 10/25/17 02:17 PM
    By Steve Benen

    It’s been three weeks. On Oct. 4, four U.S. Army Special Operations soldiers were killed in an ambush in Niger, in the deadliest combat incident since Donald Trump took office, and yet, the president hasn’t even acknowledged what happened.

    Politico reported several days ago that the National Security Council drafted a statement on Oct. 5, expressing the president’s condolences, but the statement was never issued, and no one from Trump World has explained why.

    The president has been asked repeatedly to comment on the deadly attack, but he’s brushed off every inquiry. Last week, given a chance to acknowledge the soldiers’ deaths, Trump responded by bragging about how great he was at contacting fallen Americans’ families – which touched off a parallel controversy, but sidestepped the underlying question.

    On Monday’s show, Rachel described this dynamic as “strange to the point of perplexing,” which is clearly correct. There are all kinds of questions about what exactly transpired on the ground in Niger, and why American troops are there in the first place, but we’re still stuck on a basic question that shouldn’t be shrouded in mystery: why does the president refuse to acknowledge the attack that left four Americans dead?

    Reply
  5. rikyrah says:
    October 25, 2017 at 2:17 pm

    Donald Trump wants you to know he’s ‘a very intelligent person’
    10/25/17 03:06 PM
    By Steve Benen

    During last year’s campaign, Donald Trump probably became aware of the fact that critics questioned his limited intellect. He didn’t handle it especially well, though.

    During an MSNBC appearance, Trump was asked about his foreign policy advisers. “I’m speaking with myself, number one, because I have a very good brain,” the Republican said. “And I’ve said a lot of things.”

    The president said more things this morning on the South Lawn of the White House.

    “Well, I think the press makes me more uncivil than I am. You know – people don’t understand – I went to an Ivy League college. I was a nice student. I did very well. I’m a very intelligent person. You know, the fact is, I think, I really believe, I think the press creates a different image of Donald Trump than the real person.”

    ……………………………….

    I’ve known some brilliant people, and I’ve known some Ivy League grads, but I’ve never even heard of someone who feels the need to speak like this, frequently and with great enthusiasm. It’s almost as if Trump is trying to persuade himself, not the public, that he has “a very good brain.”

    Reply
  6. rikyrah says:
    October 25, 2017 at 2:12 pm

    Republicans look past Trump scandals, zero in on Hillary Clinton
    10/25/17 08:55 AM
    By Steve Benen

    Throughout much of 2016, when it was widely assumed Donald Trump couldn’t win the presidency, congressional Republicans made no effort to conceal their post-election plans: they would go after Hillary Clinton with vigor and glee.

    We now know, of course, how that election turned out, but the extraordinary thing is that those same Republicans have decided to stick to their plan anyway.

    House Republicans on Tuesday announced investigations into two of President Trump’s most frequent grievances, unveiling new inquiries into actions of the Obama administration connected to Hillary Clinton.

    In the first of two back-to-back announcements, the top Republicans on the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees said they would formally examine the Obama Justice Department’s investigation of Mrs. Clinton’s emails. Less than an hour later, Republicans from the Intelligence and Oversight Committees said they were opening a separate inquiry into the administration’s approval of a 2010 agreement that left a Russian-backed company in control of much of the United States’ uranium.

    ……………………….

    Donald Trump is facing a veritable avalanche of scandals, some of which imperil his presidency, and it’s against this backdrop that congressional Republicans are directing their attention, not toward the president’s alleged misdeeds, but toward the president’s former opponent – a private citizen for the last five years who’ll never seek public office again.

    It’s as if the Congress’ GOP majority is exercising its oversight responsibilities in a parallel universe in which Trump lost the election.

    Stepping back, what’s equally striking is the degree to which this fits into a broader dynamic: the political world seems most comfortable when it’s complaining about Hillary Clinton. Trump often seems obsessed with his former rival; conservative media has focused nearly all of its attention on Clinton; mainstream journalists are nearly as critical; and Congress is launching multiple lines of investigation.

    Reply
  7. rikyrah says:
    October 25, 2017 at 2:03 pm

    Immigration detention in sight for girl with cerebral palsy in Texas

    A 10-year-old girl who has lived in the U.S. since she was an infant could be bound for a detention center now that has she recovered from emergency surgery in South Texas.

    Rosamaria Hernandez, who has cerebral palsy, underwent gallbladder surgery this week at Driscoll Children’s Hospital in Corpus Christi.

    Her mother, Felipa Delacruz, said her daughter was medically released about 8 a.m. Wednesday but because of her lack of legal immigration status is likely bound for an immigration detention center somewhere else in Texas.

    Attorney Leticia Gonzalez told the Caller-Times she is working with the hospital and federal immigration agency to allow the girl to instead be released to the family’s custody.

    “She is not the typical 10-year-old,” Gonzalez said. “We are hopeful Border Patrol sees the bigger picture here.”

    Reply
  8. rikyrah says:
    October 25, 2017 at 2:02 pm

    If you don’t think DOJ ever brings charges from investigations that started from opposition research, you should talk to Sen. Bob Menendez.— Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) October 24, 2017

    Reply
  9. SouthernGirl2 says:
    October 25, 2017 at 11:48 am

    .@JeffFlake @SenBobCorker @SenJohnMcCain God is speaking to y’all. Stand for right regardless of consequences. And all the people said Amen!

    https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/923227720762494978

    Reply
  11. rikyrah says:
    October 25, 2017 at 11:25 am

    House GOP tax leader threatens to break Trump’s promise not to change 401(k) rules
    October 25 at 9:57 AM

    House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady on Wednesday suggested a tax bill he is preparing to introduce could force changes to 401(k) plans and other retirement accounts, potentially bucking a promise from President Trump that those accounts would be left alone.

    Brady, speaking at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor, said “we think in tax reform we can create incentives for people to save more and save sooner.”

    He said he was “working very closely with the president,” but he also said many people who have tax-incentivized retirement accounts contribute $200 per month or less, a level he thought was too low.

    Reply
  12. rikyrah says:
    October 25, 2017 at 10:40 am

    3 out of 281 Does Not a Turning Point Make
    It’s easy to speak out when you have nothing to lose.

    And yet, reports are out today that the same day that outgoing Senators Corker and Flake expressed their utter disdain for the tiny-handed twit, their beloved party that they profess to care so much about gave the numbskull Nazi not one, not two, but THREE separate rounds of applause during a luncheon with Senate Republicans. These same reports stated that the hairbrained Hitler took the luncheon to brag about his many, many great accomplishments and then encouraged his minions to go and get tax reform done. At the end of their meeting, there were likely many awkward handshakes before the dimwitted dufus returned to his domicile to get caught up on the day’s news, as presented by Fox.

    What Bob Corker and now Jeff Flake did today was easy. It’s easy to say how you really feel when you’ve already given your two weeks’ notice. What’s harder to do is to go to a luncheon with a boss that you despise and tell him how you really feel in front of everyone. That epic “I quit” scene only plays out in Hollywood movies because it isn’t easy to completely put yourself out there in a situation that would not only endanger your job but also your career. It’s why millions of Americans endure unsatisfying jobs because they know that the risk is simply not worth the reward. They would rather keep doing their job than cause any trouble that may jeopardize themselves and their career.

    This is not a Republican uprising. There are still 278 Republicans in the House and Senate who are willingly complicit in everything that the bumbling buffoon is trying to do. They support him and his agenda in taking away health care from 24 million Americans to taking away health care from 9 million children to deporting 800,000 children to ignoring climate change, gun violence, and mass incarceration to waging an open war against women, people of color, and voting rights. They are complicit not only in their votes on legislation and nominees but also in their votes to protect Putin’s puppet in allowing him to profit off the presidency while simultaneously allowing his administration to be the least transparent and most overtly corrupt in our nation’s history.

    Reply
  13. rikyrah says:
    October 25, 2017 at 10:38 am

    Did you see Dolt45’s official portrait?

    BWA HA HA HA HA AH AHA

    Hideous.

    Reply
  14. Ametia says:
    October 25, 2017 at 10:35 am

    Regina King joins the cast of Barry Jenkins’ film adaptation of James Baldwin’s ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’

    https://shadowandact.com/regina-king-barry-jenkins-if-beale-street-could-talk

    Reply
  15. rikyrah says:
    October 25, 2017 at 10:03 am

    * On a related note, Gillespie recently claimed that there are “more than 2,000 MS-13 gang members just in Fairfax County,” a populous county in northern Virginia. When the Washington Post asked Gillespie and his campaign to back up the claim, they couldn’t.

    Reply
  16. rikyrah says:
    October 25, 2017 at 10:00 am

    Benjy Sarlin‏Verified account @BenjySarlin 44m44 minutes ago
    More
    Trump tweets “NO change” to 401ks, but top House negotiator Kevin Brady says retirement savings are on the table

    Reply
  17. rikyrah says:
    October 25, 2017 at 9:58 am

    THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 10/24/17
    Republicans lash out at Trump, but only as lame ducks
    Michael Beschloss, NBC News presidential historian, talks with Rachel Maddow about Senator Jeff Flake’s withering criticism of Donald Trump and whether there is any momentum behind the recent spate of Republicans speaking out against Trump.

    Reply
  18. rikyrah says:
    October 25, 2017 at 9:57 am

    THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 10/24/17
    Schiff on Trump dossier: Sometimes opposition research is true
    Rep. Adam Schiff talks with Rachel Maddow about the Republican effort to discredit the Trump Russia dossier and shift attention away from Donald Trump’s relationship with Russia and Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.

    Reply
  19. rikyrah says:
    October 25, 2017 at 9:56 am

    THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 10/24/17
    Trump Russia dossier paid for in part by Clinton campaign, DNC
    Devlin Barrett, national security reporter for The Washington Post, talks with Rachel Maddow about new reporting that the Trump Russia dossier, after initially being paid for by an anti-Trump Republican, was eventually paid for by the Clinton campaign and the DNC.

    Reply
  20. rikyrah says:
    October 25, 2017 at 9:55 am

    Which makes Dolt45’s INTERVIEWS OF US ATTORNEYS SEEMS AS CROOKED AS IT IS

    THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 10/24/17
    Federal prosecutors pursuing fmr Trump chair for money laundering
    Rachel Maddow relays a new report from the Wall Street Journal that former Donald Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort under a federal investigation for money laundering in the Southern District of New York.

    Reply
  21. Liza says:
    October 25, 2017 at 9:52 am

    RIP, Fats Domino. And thanks for the music. One of my favorites…

    Reply
  22. rikyrah says:
    October 25, 2017 at 9:48 am

    ASSESSING BETSY DEVOS’ ROLLBACK ON DISABILITY RIGHTS
    Ten months in, the damage that DeVos is doing to America’s most vulnerable is becoming clear.
    BY DAVID M. PERRY, OCT 24, 2017

    ……………………………………………….

    Ten months into the Trump administration, the damage that DeVos and her appointees are doing to America’s most vulnerable is beginning to show. A few weeks ago, she announced significant changes to the department’s guidance on Title IX as it pertains to sexual assault in schools. Then, last week, the department rolled back 72 policy documents that specifically detailed the rights of disabled children in schools.
    It’s a little unclear whether now is the time to panic. Generally speaking, the documents—listed here—clarify how existing federal disability rights law applies to school districts around the country. In no cases did the Department of Education make clear what guidance they were overturning or where they simply feel there’s a more recent document that should take precedence. The many disability-rights and education experts with whom I spoke over the past few days were divided, and wanted more time to go through the documents line by line. The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, an organization focused on protecting the legal education rights of people with disabilities, issued an early statement insisting that the Department of Education justify each revocation.
    Disability rights law is complicated. Understanding the details can mean the difference between access to services, or dangerous exclusion. Students and their caregivers often don’t know their rights. Some school districts seem to like it that way in order to cut costs; recently, the Chicago Public Schools hired outside consultants to construct elaborate bureaucratic obstacles for students and their families, as explosively reported by Chicago Public Radio’s WBEZ last week. In more benign cases, administrators and teachers may be as ignorant as students and caregivers. The Department of Education can help by explaining—in clear, non-legal language—precisely what rights students have and what procedures should be followed. When language is out of date, these guiding documents should be updated.

    .That doesn’t seem to be what’s happening here. Rebecca Cokley, senior fellow for disability policy at the Center for American Progress, tells me via direct message: “The DeVos administrations rescinding of SEVENTY-TWO [emphasis hers] guidance documents will impact people with disabilities from womb to the tomb. We want safer schools for our children, better and more effective programming to help them transition to employment to have better lives than our own.” Cokley is not convinced that the Department of Education is on track to help with these goals.

    Without guidance, as observed on Twitter by Donald Moynihan, professor of public affairs at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, states and schools have “de-facto-discretion … to deny access to services.” Moreover, Moynihan added, given Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ long-stated hostility to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act as “the single most irritating problem for teachers,” we can’t look to the Department of Justice for help when the Department of Education fails to guide local districts.

    Reply
  23. rikyrah says:
    October 25, 2017 at 9:44 am

    Uh huh
    Uh huh

    Now, if you’re gonna do one of those’ Trump Voter’ stories…..put a camera on a bunch of them who voted for him because he was gonna bring the steel mills back, and then read them this story. Wait for reaction, but be sure to laugh at them after you read the story.

    Under Trump, Made in America Is Losing Out to Russian Steel
    An oligarch-owned steel company is winning pipeline contracts, and foreign steel imports are up 24 percent this year.
    By Margaret Newkirk and Joe Deaux

    Four days after his inauguration, Donald Trump signed a handful of executive memos to advance the Keystone XL pipeline and revive the U.S. steel industry. He invited builder TransCanada Corp. to reapply for a permit denied by Barack Obama and ordered up fast-track rules forcing not only Keystone but also all new U.S. pipelines to be made from American steel. “From now on, we’re going to be making pipeline in the United States,” he said.

    Made-in-America Keystone was a stunt. Most of its pipes had already been manufactured, a fact the White House grudgingly admitted when it exempted the project from any new Buy American rules a few months later. While some of Keystone’s pipes were made in the U.S., at least a quarter of them came from a Russian steel company whose biggest shareholder is an oligarch and Trump family friend. The company, Evraz North America, supplied Keystone from its steel plants in Canada and for years has lobbied in Washington against Trump-style protectionism.

    Ten months after his Keystone event, Trump has yet to deliver on his pledge to boost the fortunes of American steel. Two self-imposed deadlines for trade action, one in June and one in July, have come and gone. Meanwhile, the prospect of tariffs has led to a surge of cheap foreign steel into the U.S., with imports rising 24 percent in 2017, the fastest increase in years.

    Reply
  24. SouthernGirl2 says:
    October 25, 2017 at 9:35 am

    I found my thrill on Blueberry Hill….

    RIP Fats Domino

    Reply
  25. rikyrah says:
    October 25, 2017 at 9:31 am

    DA PHUQ?
    (CNN) — The National Park Service proposes more than doubling the entrance fees at 17 popular national parks, including Grand Canyon, Yosemite, and Yellowstone, to help pay for infrastructure improvements.
    Under the agency’s proposal, the entrance fee for a private vehicle would jump to $70 during peak season, from its current rate of $25 to $30.

    Reply
  27. rikyrah says:
    October 25, 2017 at 9:25 am

    Folks who attacked Hillary for being “in the pocket of the globalist banks” for giving a talk at Goldman Sachs seem less interested in this. https://t.co/Iw0M0d0QsY

    — Steve Silberman (@stevesilberman) October 25, 2017

    Reply
  28. rikyrah says:
    October 25, 2017 at 9:25 am

    Just In — the Senate, including brave truth-tellers Corker, Sasse, and Flake just gave banks a free pass to screw people again.

    — Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) October 25, 2017

    Financial rules changing while the circus makes noise.. Consumer Bureau Loses Fight to Allow More Class-Action Suits https://t.co/JcvVBdjpX5

    — Ari Melber (@AriMelber) October 25, 2017

    Senate Republicans struck down a rule that would have let Americans sue banks and credit card companies https://t.co/8b7qfnvDvA

    — The New York Times (@nytimes) October 25, 2017

    Reply
    • Ametia says:
      October 25, 2017 at 10:15 am

      Yes; don’t be FOOLED by the Re-THUGS who are suddenly ANTI-#45. They are PROFIFTIN$$$$

      All of a sudden they have discovered their morality, ethics, and good conscience?

      GTFOH

      Reply
  30. rikyrah says:
    October 25, 2017 at 9:06 am

    The NAACP has warned African-American travelers to be careful when flying with American Airlines.

    The group issued an advisory late Tuesday, saying it has noticed “a pattern of disturbing incidents reported by African-American passengers, specific to American Airlines.”

    Reply
  31. rikyrah says:
    October 25, 2017 at 9:05 am

    If Obama did this …oh the hell with it. Let’s just outsource Pacific security to China so Ohio can feel like they stuck it to the elites. https://t.co/X5HMLRM4ji

    — Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) October 25, 2017

    Reply
  32. rikyrah says:
    October 25, 2017 at 8:52 am

    “Empty barrel”: The real meaning of John Kelly’s slurs against Frederica Wilson
    So much for military honor. Kelly’s attack on Wilson was not just false but redolent of racism and sexism
    CHAUNCEY DEVEGA
    10.24.2017•4:00 AM

    …………………………..

    In response to this debacle, Trump apparently instructed White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general, to appear in person at last Thursday’s White House press briefing. Kelly’s mission? To be a human shield for his boss. How? By enabling Trump’s malignant narcissism, sociopathy, lies and cruel treatment towards a grieving war widow, her family and other loved ones. Despite claims about how “honorable” Kelly is, at least for that day he was Trump’s water carrier and stooge.
    Kelly insisted that Trump is being treated unfairly and that Myeshia Johnson and Rep. Wilson were the offenders against propriety and good taste, violating some imaginary “sacred” rule where no one should listen to a phone call between a president and the family members of a killed soldier. This norm apparently does not apply to Kelly himself, or other members of Trump’s inner circle.

    Kelly’s finale in aiding and abetting Trump’s war on black women was a rhetorical killshot in which the former general said that Wilson was “in a long tradition of empty barrels making the most noise.” He claimed he had heard her brag about her role in making a new FBI building in South Florida possible. Wilson, according to Kelly, spoke at the opening ceremony “about how she was instrumental in getting the funding for that building, and how she took care of her constituents because she got the money, and she just called up President Obama, and on that phone call, he gave the money, the $20 million, to build the building. . . . And we were stunned, stunned that she’d done it. Even for someone that is that empty a barrel, we were stunned.”
    Translated: Kelly publicly defamed Wilson — and, by implication, Myeshia Johnson — as being a loud, stupid, ignorant person. But words can also mean more than a superficial reading would suggest.

    Language derives power from the social, political and historical context in which it is used. The meaning of language is also a function of the relationship between the individuals and groups in question.

    Kelly is one of the most powerful men in the world. He is also one of the most powerful white men in America. Black women and girls are undervalued and dehumanized in American society. White supremacy endures as one of the most powerful forces in all of American political and social life. It works through and not apart from sexism and misogyny.

    For centuries, black women and girls in America have been stereotyped as being loud, aggressive, hypersexual, lazy and violent. Simultaneously, black women and girls have also been viewed by the white gaze as being natural caregivers, unselfish and possessed of unique emotional and physical strength which makes them immune (unlike white women) to pain and suffering. In total, these stereotypes transform the complex and diverse life experiences and humanity of black women and girls into caricatures such as “the mammy,” the “black harpy” or the “Sapphire.”

    At the website for the Jim Crow Museum, sociologist David Pilgrim explains the “Sapphire” stereotype in the following way: “The Sapphire Caricature portrays black women as rude, loud, malicious, stubborn, and overbearing. The Sapphire Caricature is a harsh portrayal of African American women, but it is more than that; it is a social control mechanism that is employed to punish black women who violate the societal norms that encourage them to be passive, servile, non-threatening, and unseen.”
    Wilson immediately decoded the racist and sexist invective in Trump’s and Kelly’s attacks on her character.

    Stacey Plaskett, the U.S. Virgin Islands’ delegate to Congress, also understood the deeper meaning of Trump’s and Kelly’s slurs against Rep. Wilson. Plaskett told The New York Times, “He continually called that fallen soldier ‘your guy’ to his wife. That was his wife. . . . It was almost as if he doesn’t believe that we have husbands and wives as black people. And that I find very disturbing, that he would not give her the respect of calling that soldier her husband. . . . I think he challenges anybody who goes after him and corrects him, whether they are black or white or male or female,” she continued. “I think the attack is more stark when it is a woman of color.”

    Ultimately, John Kelly, who served the United States as a four-star Marine general, and is now White House chief of staff, basically called a congresswoman a loud, stupid black bitch.

    It does not matter to Kelly, Trump, the right-wing media or Trump’s deplorable foot soldiers that Wilson has a graduate degree in education and worked for decades as a school principal.

    It does not matter to Kelly, Trump, the right-wing media or Trump’s human deplorable foot soldiers that everything Wilson said was correct and that Trump and Kelly’s accounts have proven to be lies.

    For Trump and his cabal, all that matters is the political power that comes from slurring a black woman, and how such an action inflames and arouses the racist voters who installed him in the White House.

    Reply
  33. rikyrah says:
    October 25, 2017 at 8:12 am

    Raw Story‏Verified account @RawStory
    Mike Pence casts tie-breaking vote in Senate to hand Wall Street major victory over consumers

    The Hill‏Verified account @thehill
    Trump kills Obama rule aimed at protecting independent farmers from big food companies: http://hill.cm/QJIRFaf

    Reply
  34. rikyrah says:
    October 25, 2017 at 8:11 am

    Republicans Need a Better Response Besides Quitting https://t.co/0JOBNG8yeS

    — Esquire (@esquire) October 25, 2017

    Reply
  35. rikyrah says:
    October 25, 2017 at 8:10 am

    Credit where credit is due: Every single Democratic senator voted against the Wells Fargos and Equifaxes of the world tonight.

    — Michael Linden (@MichaelSLinden) October 25, 2017

    Reply
  36. rikyrah says:
    October 25, 2017 at 8:09 am

    @GOP insists on the continued membership of Thad Cochran (79), who is demonstrably cognitively impaired. He chairs the Appropriations Cmtee

    — meta (@metaquest) October 25, 2017

    Reply
  37. rikyrah says:
    October 25, 2017 at 8:07 am

    Leaders of more than a dozen countries will meet for a major summit in the Philippines in mid-November, but President Trump won’t be there. He is planning to skip it and leave the Philippines the day before. It’s a bad signal to send to the region, and it could undermine the overall goal of his Asia tour by calling American regional leadership into question…

    “The President’s trip to Asia is extremely lengthy and will be his longest to date – his return to the U.S. on the evening of Nov. 13 is entirely schedule-driven,” the spokesman said. “You should not read anything into his being absent on the 14th.” The East Asia Summit opens in Angeles on Nov. 13, but the major events with world leaders occur on Nov. 14.

    But the region is sure to read a lot into Trump’s absence, according to experts and former officials. By not attending the East Asia Summit his first year in office, even though he will already be nearby, Trump is signaling a lack of interest in the organization and the project it represents.

    “It is a big deal. The Obama administration made a point of investing in these regional institutions in order to demonstrate we are an Asia Pacific power, a resident power in the region. This will only raise more questions about American credibility,” said Derek Mitchell, former U.S. ambassador to Burma. “Multilateralism in Asia is often just about showing up, but even that appears to be hard for him.”

    Multiple administration officials told me there was a lengthy debate inside the Trump administration about the summit, but officials close to Trump were concerned the president did not want to stay in the region for so long and worried he could get cranky, leading to unpredictable or undiplomatic behavior.…

    Reply
  38. rikyrah says:
    October 25, 2017 at 8:05 am

    Attending the East Asia Summit Nov. 14? You won’t see Trump. He’s going home the night before. https://t.co/7PWoChCM9k

    — Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) October 24, 2017

    Reply
  39. rikyrah says:
    October 25, 2017 at 8:04 am

    Watch this, feel nostalgic for Obama and then do what he says and go win an election https://t.co/FZTxKbkZyf

    — Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) October 24, 2017

    Reply
  40. rikyrah says:
    October 25, 2017 at 8:03 am

    MARYLAND HEIGHTS • They call it the great pumpkin caper of suburban St. Louis.

    It all started on the midnight watch for one Maryland Heights police officer the night of Oct. 18. It was about 1:40 a.m. when the first call came in: The pumpkins were missing. First in one subdivision — Pinehurst — then more calls from another — Arrow Heights. There soon seemed to be gaping holes in fall stoop displays everywhere in the area. Sgt. Jamie White of the Maryland Heights Police Department was on the case.

    A neighbor called in a description of a compact SUV spotted around the time of the first vanishing pumpkin. In yet another subdivision — Brookside — White soon tracked down a Subaru Forester matching the description. The officer quickly suspected he’d nabbed his thief. The car held three teenage boys and 48 pumpkins.

    Plus one gourd.

    “No idea how they all fit in there,” Maryland Heights police Capt. Scott Will said. “It was top-to-bottom orange. “It wasn’t hard to put the pieces together after that.” Police stopped the car and arrested the teens on the spot. The case was cracked. Luckily the pumpkins weren’t.

    The next day, officers placed the abducted decor along a white wall at headquarters, took a picture and posted it to social media. “I have attached a picture of a pumpkin line up,” wrote Officer Erica Stough in a post seeking pumpkin owners. “If you woke up this morning to missing pumpkins, please contact me.”

    There began a dayslong pumpkin ID process. “You’d be surprised how many people showed up to identify their pumpkins,” said Will. “We were inundated.” Will said many claimed to know their pumpkin by sight.

    (“FRED! I thought we’d never see you again!” said the suburban housewife with tears running down her face.)

    “I don’t know how, but we trusted people would be honest,” he said. “And you know, a pumpkin is basically a pumpkin.”

    As of Tuesday, there were only 13 pumpkins (plus the gourd) left unclaimed.

    It was a happy ending for all except the three teens that were seemingly found orange-handed. The older two, both 18, were charged with misdemeanor stealing. The third, a 16-year-old, was referred to juvenile court. One of the teens told police he couldn’t explain what possessed the group to go on their pumpkin-nabbing spree.

    “They made a bad decision,” Will said.

    There is also, of course, a larger lesson to the story, Will said, besides the fact that it is difficult to conceal large quantities of pumpkins in a compact SUV. “It’s a great example of people not being afraid to call and report something like this,” Will said. “They saw one pumpkin missing, but they reported it not even realizing these guys were on a pumpkin rampage.

    “(Police) are here for the big stuff,” Will said. “But we’re here for smaller stuff like missing pumpkins, too.”

    Reply
  41. rikyrah says:
    October 25, 2017 at 6:19 am

    Two people dead at a shooting on Grambling’s campus 😥😥

    Reply
  42. rikyrah says:
    October 25, 2017 at 6:18 am

    Good Morning, Everyone 😐😐😐

    Reply

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