Friday, November 30, 2018
Thursday, November 29, 2018
Wednesday, November 28, 2018
Holy Cow!
There is a giant cow named Knickers in Western Australia and people have gone crazy.
Technically he is not a cow, but a steer (a neutered male). But he is giant, standing at 1.94 metres (6ft 4in ) to his withers (the shoulder). This is just shy of the world record-holding steer, Bellino, who lives in Italy and stands at 2.02 meters. Knickers, a Holstein Friesian, weighs in at 1,400 kilograms and is believed to be the biggest steer in Australia.
Knickers is unusual in that he was given the chance to grow to his full height. Steers are usually sold to processing plants at the age of two or three years. Pearson tried to offload him last month, only to be told by the meat processors said the steer was just too large for the butchery.
“He’s too big for the processing chain, he’s out of spec, he’d be too heavy for the machines and he’d probably actually be hanging on the floor, so there would be contamination issues, and his cuts of meat would be too large,” Pearson says.
Which means Knickers can live out his days on the 3,000-acre property, home to 4,000 head of cattle, for whom he acts as a “coach” – showing them where to roam.
“He just hangs around, he’s part of the furniture,” Pearson says. “Obviously he’s gained some stardom – that’s changed his identity a little bit. We’ll have to see what happens with that.”
Technically he is not a cow, but a steer (a neutered male). But he is giant, standing at 1.94 metres (6ft 4in ) to his withers (the shoulder). This is just shy of the world record-holding steer, Bellino, who lives in Italy and stands at 2.02 meters. Knickers, a Holstein Friesian, weighs in at 1,400 kilograms and is believed to be the biggest steer in Australia.
Knickers is unusual in that he was given the chance to grow to his full height. Steers are usually sold to processing plants at the age of two or three years. Pearson tried to offload him last month, only to be told by the meat processors said the steer was just too large for the butchery.
“He’s too big for the processing chain, he’s out of spec, he’d be too heavy for the machines and he’d probably actually be hanging on the floor, so there would be contamination issues, and his cuts of meat would be too large,” Pearson says.
Which means Knickers can live out his days on the 3,000-acre property, home to 4,000 head of cattle, for whom he acts as a “coach” – showing them where to roam.
“He just hangs around, he’s part of the furniture,” Pearson says. “Obviously he’s gained some stardom – that’s changed his identity a little bit. We’ll have to see what happens with that.”
Tuesday, November 27, 2018
Innocent U.S. Citizens Barred By China From Coming Home
Chinese officials are defending their decision to bar three U.S. citizens from leaving the country, saying they are suspected of "economic crimes". Victor and Cynthia Liu, children of a fugitive Chinese businessman, and their mother, Sandra Han, have been detained since June.
Their father, Liu Changming, who has been estranged from the family for over five years, is wanted in a $1.4bn fraud case in China.
"As we understand it from the relevant authorities, these people you have mentioned all have legal and valid identity documents as Chinese citizens," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters. "They are suspected of having committed economic crimes and have been restricted from leaving China by Chinese police."
While exit bans have often been imposed on Chinese-born foreigners, all three family members reportedly entered China on American passports.
19-year=old Victor and 27-year-old Cynthia travelled with their mother to a tropical Chinese island this summer to visit their grandfather. Days later, their mother - who is a Chinese-born US citizen - was detained by Chinese officials and taken to a "black jail" - a secretive detention center.
The two Liu children have tried to leave the country three times and continue to stay with an uncle. They are being held in order to lure their father, a former state-owned bank executive, back to face criminal fraud charges, though he reportedly cut ties with the family in 2012.
According to the China Daily paper, Liu Changming is one of the country's 100 most-wanted fugitives facing arrest for alleged corrupt practices. He fled China in 2007.
Their father, Liu Changming, who has been estranged from the family for over five years, is wanted in a $1.4bn fraud case in China.
"As we understand it from the relevant authorities, these people you have mentioned all have legal and valid identity documents as Chinese citizens," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters. "They are suspected of having committed economic crimes and have been restricted from leaving China by Chinese police."
While exit bans have often been imposed on Chinese-born foreigners, all three family members reportedly entered China on American passports.
19-year=old Victor and 27-year-old Cynthia travelled with their mother to a tropical Chinese island this summer to visit their grandfather. Days later, their mother - who is a Chinese-born US citizen - was detained by Chinese officials and taken to a "black jail" - a secretive detention center.
The two Liu children have tried to leave the country three times and continue to stay with an uncle. They are being held in order to lure their father, a former state-owned bank executive, back to face criminal fraud charges, though he reportedly cut ties with the family in 2012.
According to the China Daily paper, Liu Changming is one of the country's 100 most-wanted fugitives facing arrest for alleged corrupt practices. He fled China in 2007.
Monday, November 26, 2018
Trump Celebrates Thanksgiving by Stealing Land From Native Americans
About 400 years ago, a man named Tisquantum was kidnapped by an English explorer and taken to Spain as a slave. Miraculously, Tisquantum escaped and returned to the “New World” and to the coastal village where he once lived. In the years he was gone, his entire family died of disease.
A short time later, struggling, desperate English settlers arrived on the shores where his tribe, the Wampanoag, still lived. Tisquantum was key to their survival. Because of his time in Europe, he could speak English. He helped the settlers plant corn and survive winter, and he brokered a peace agreement, without which their colony ― and, by extension, the United States ― would have never existed. The first treaty and the first land grant to the white settlers in North America were translated by this man.
Few people who celebrate Thanksgiving know Squanto’s full name or the name of his tribe. But without Tisquantum or the Wampanoag, the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock surely would have died.
And on this Thanksgiving, the Trump Administration is in the process of terminating the reservation of the tribe that welcomed the Pilgrims.
On Sept. 7, Cedric Cromwell, the chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe received a letter from Tara Sweeney, the assistant secretary of Indian affairs at the Department of the Interior, informing him that his tribe no longer fit the legal definition of “Indian” and would be losing its reservation status. This is the first time that land held under special status for tribes has been taken out of trust since Harry Truman’s presidency.
“The same country that we helped form is now turned against us,” Cromwell told reporters this week. “It’s quite frightening that our own country is attacking us during the holiday that we helped establish.” Read the full story here.
A short time later, struggling, desperate English settlers arrived on the shores where his tribe, the Wampanoag, still lived. Tisquantum was key to their survival. Because of his time in Europe, he could speak English. He helped the settlers plant corn and survive winter, and he brokered a peace agreement, without which their colony ― and, by extension, the United States ― would have never existed. The first treaty and the first land grant to the white settlers in North America were translated by this man.
Few people who celebrate Thanksgiving know Squanto’s full name or the name of his tribe. But without Tisquantum or the Wampanoag, the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock surely would have died.
And on this Thanksgiving, the Trump Administration is in the process of terminating the reservation of the tribe that welcomed the Pilgrims.
On Sept. 7, Cedric Cromwell, the chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe received a letter from Tara Sweeney, the assistant secretary of Indian affairs at the Department of the Interior, informing him that his tribe no longer fit the legal definition of “Indian” and would be losing its reservation status. This is the first time that land held under special status for tribes has been taken out of trust since Harry Truman’s presidency.
“The same country that we helped form is now turned against us,” Cromwell told reporters this week. “It’s quite frightening that our own country is attacking us during the holiday that we helped establish.” Read the full story here.
Sunday, November 25, 2018
Trump's Anti-Immigrant Hotline Flooded with Prank Cals
The Trump administration’s 2017 creation of the VOICE Office—an anti-immigrant smear campaign with historical roots in Nazi Germany—wasn’t just widely condemned, it was almost universally ridiculed. Reporter Robbie Gramer tweeted at the time that the office was flooded with prank callers reporting crimes committed by space aliens. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was quick to deny the reports, claiming the propaganda office experienced “no disruption.” That, according to newly-obtained internal emails, was a lie.
Prank calls fully upended the system, leaving operators unable to answer more than 98 percent of incoming calls during the protest as the media relations team attempted to contain the narrative. In reports and emails produced in the first days of operation, ICE officials described an “overwhelming” amount of calls. The day after the launch, the office received more than 16,400. Of those, only a little more than 2,100 were placed into a queue, and only 260 answered. Callers in the queue waited as long as 79 minutes to reach an operator. An official noted that, should the rate of calls continue, they would need an additional 400 operators to field the hotline.
The Trump administration also claimed the office was a resource for crime victims, but this was also a lie. Reports show that, in the first days after launch, the number of callers actually seeking crime information was minuscule. In reality, the office was meant as a way to harass immigrants, people that racists and thugs perceived to be immigrants, or just anyone that pissed them off for one reason or another.
Prank calls fully upended the system, leaving operators unable to answer more than 98 percent of incoming calls during the protest as the media relations team attempted to contain the narrative. In reports and emails produced in the first days of operation, ICE officials described an “overwhelming” amount of calls. The day after the launch, the office received more than 16,400. Of those, only a little more than 2,100 were placed into a queue, and only 260 answered. Callers in the queue waited as long as 79 minutes to reach an operator. An official noted that, should the rate of calls continue, they would need an additional 400 operators to field the hotline.
The Trump administration also claimed the office was a resource for crime victims, but this was also a lie. Reports show that, in the first days after launch, the number of callers actually seeking crime information was minuscule. In reality, the office was meant as a way to harass immigrants, people that racists and thugs perceived to be immigrants, or just anyone that pissed them off for one reason or another.
Saturday, November 24, 2018
Facebook Caught (Again) Not Safeguarding Users' Private Data
Facebook failed to closely monitor device makers after granting them access to the personal data of hundreds of millions of people, according to a previously unreported disclosure to Congress last month.
Facebook’s loose oversight of the partnerships was detected by the company’s government-approved privacy monitor in 2013. But it was never revealed to Facebook users, most of whom had not explicitly given the company permission to share their information.
by early 2013 it had entered into data-sharing agreements with seven device makers to provide what it called the “Facebook experience” — custom-built software, typically, that gave those manufacturers’ customers access to Facebook on their phones. Those partnerships, some of which date to at least 2010, fall under a consent decree with the Federal Trade Commission drafted in 2011 and intended to oversee the company’s privacy practices.
When a team from PricewaterhouseCoopers conducted the initial F.T.C.-mandated assessment in 2013, they found that the company wasn’t monitoring what smartphone manufacturers did with Americans’ personal information, or making sure these manufacturers were following Facebook’s own policies.” He added, “It’s not good enough to just take the word of Facebook — or any major corporation — that they’re safeguarding our personal information.
Facebook’s loose oversight of the partnerships was detected by the company’s government-approved privacy monitor in 2013. But it was never revealed to Facebook users, most of whom had not explicitly given the company permission to share their information.
by early 2013 it had entered into data-sharing agreements with seven device makers to provide what it called the “Facebook experience” — custom-built software, typically, that gave those manufacturers’ customers access to Facebook on their phones. Those partnerships, some of which date to at least 2010, fall under a consent decree with the Federal Trade Commission drafted in 2011 and intended to oversee the company’s privacy practices.
When a team from PricewaterhouseCoopers conducted the initial F.T.C.-mandated assessment in 2013, they found that the company wasn’t monitoring what smartphone manufacturers did with Americans’ personal information, or making sure these manufacturers were following Facebook’s own policies.” He added, “It’s not good enough to just take the word of Facebook — or any major corporation — that they’re safeguarding our personal information.
Friday, November 23, 2018
Thursday, November 22, 2018
Hatemonger Whines About His Neighbors Not Liking Him
Online, Gavin McInnes is the gung-ho, ex-punk leader of a hate group who rails against liberal decadence. At home in his wealthy New York suburb, he’s upset that liberals won’t accept him.
“I blame [George] Soros for all of this,” McInnes said during a September broadcast of Infowars, on which he bemoaned what he claimed was his supposedly degraded social status. “Soros is terrorizing me and trying to shut down my fraternal club, the Proud Boys. And he’s paying people to mess with my life, and spread these lies about me, spread fake news.”
in 2016, McInnes founded the Proud Boys—a violent, ultranationalist men’s club—and selling his $2.5 million Brooklyn penthouse to buy a home in Larchmont, a tony Westchester County town 20 miles north of the city.
After months of high-profile street fights involving the Proud Boys, neighbors in McInnes’ upscale town are starting to take notice of who exactly moved next door.
A local man at a country club mocked McInnes for being involved with Infowars and tried to sabotage his application to join, he claimed in the September broadcast. One of his daughter’s tutors allegedly stopped working for the family, citing McInnes’ politics. In a June broadcast, he claimed to have gotten into an altercation with a neighbor and kicked the man’s dog.
Larchmont residents’ real problem, locals say, is with McInnes’ role in the Proud Boys, which has been designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. And the Proud Boys’ involvement in a Manhattan brawl brought McInnes to the neighborhood’s attention.
On Oct. 12, McInnes spoke at Manhattan’s Metropolitan Republican Club. While he received a police escort after leaving the club, a crowd of Proud Boys lingered behind, and they brawled with anti-fascist protesters. Police arrested five Proud Boys and are seeking the arrest of four others, as well as three anti-fascists involved in the brawl.
The neighborhood's reaction triggered a fascinating exchange that highlights how someone can try (and seemingly has failed) to maintain a Jekyll and Hyde existence-- sowing hate and discord in a public forum but wishing to maintain a phony alter ego in his private life.
“I blame [George] Soros for all of this,” McInnes said during a September broadcast of Infowars, on which he bemoaned what he claimed was his supposedly degraded social status. “Soros is terrorizing me and trying to shut down my fraternal club, the Proud Boys. And he’s paying people to mess with my life, and spread these lies about me, spread fake news.”
in 2016, McInnes founded the Proud Boys—a violent, ultranationalist men’s club—and selling his $2.5 million Brooklyn penthouse to buy a home in Larchmont, a tony Westchester County town 20 miles north of the city.
After months of high-profile street fights involving the Proud Boys, neighbors in McInnes’ upscale town are starting to take notice of who exactly moved next door.
A local man at a country club mocked McInnes for being involved with Infowars and tried to sabotage his application to join, he claimed in the September broadcast. One of his daughter’s tutors allegedly stopped working for the family, citing McInnes’ politics. In a June broadcast, he claimed to have gotten into an altercation with a neighbor and kicked the man’s dog.
Larchmont residents’ real problem, locals say, is with McInnes’ role in the Proud Boys, which has been designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. And the Proud Boys’ involvement in a Manhattan brawl brought McInnes to the neighborhood’s attention.
On Oct. 12, McInnes spoke at Manhattan’s Metropolitan Republican Club. While he received a police escort after leaving the club, a crowd of Proud Boys lingered behind, and they brawled with anti-fascist protesters. Police arrested five Proud Boys and are seeking the arrest of four others, as well as three anti-fascists involved in the brawl.
The neighborhood's reaction triggered a fascinating exchange that highlights how someone can try (and seemingly has failed) to maintain a Jekyll and Hyde existence-- sowing hate and discord in a public forum but wishing to maintain a phony alter ego in his private life.
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
Ignorance Results in Death of Girl in India
Villagers in India's southern state of Tamil Nadu are grieving the death of a 14-year-old girl who died in a cyclone after being forced to sleep separately because she was menstruating. Her family told reporters that the girl was trapped in the hut when the cyclone made landfall. Cyclone Gaja is known to have killed at least 46 people in the coastal state.
Some villagers said this was a "wake up call" as it was common practice to segregate menstruating girls. Menstruation is taboo in large parts of rural India. Women are traditionally believed to be impure during their periods.
The family of the girl, S Vijayalakshmi, lives in a house next to the hut but they survived the storm. Her grandmother, S Visalakshi, said they couldn't rescue her as a coconut tree had fallen on the hut, which made it impossible to reach her.
Veerasena, a local social activist, said both rich and poor families followed the tradition of forcing girls to sleep separately while they were menstruating.
Some villagers said this was a "wake up call" as it was common practice to segregate menstruating girls. Menstruation is taboo in large parts of rural India. Women are traditionally believed to be impure during their periods.
The family of the girl, S Vijayalakshmi, lives in a house next to the hut but they survived the storm. Her grandmother, S Visalakshi, said they couldn't rescue her as a coconut tree had fallen on the hut, which made it impossible to reach her.
Veerasena, a local social activist, said both rich and poor families followed the tradition of forcing girls to sleep separately while they were menstruating.
Tuesday, November 20, 2018
Monday, November 19, 2018
Lock Her Up!!!
Ivanka Trump used a personal email account to send hundreds of messages discussing official White House business last year, officials confirm.
A review into her emails revealed she had used her private address to contact government officials.
In 2016, her father Donald Trump accused Hillary Clinton of putting the US "in danger" over her use of a private email while secretary of state.
According to the reporting from the Washington Post, some of the emails may have been in violation of federal law. Austin Evers, from a group called American Oversight, which submitted the freedom of information request that led to the discovery of Ms Trump's use of personal email last year, said the "president's family is not above the law".
"There are serious questions that Congress should immediately investigate," Evers said. "Did Ivanka Trump turn over all of her emails for preservation as required by law? Was she sending classified information over a private system," he added.
A review into her emails revealed she had used her private address to contact government officials.
In 2016, her father Donald Trump accused Hillary Clinton of putting the US "in danger" over her use of a private email while secretary of state.
According to the reporting from the Washington Post, some of the emails may have been in violation of federal law. Austin Evers, from a group called American Oversight, which submitted the freedom of information request that led to the discovery of Ms Trump's use of personal email last year, said the "president's family is not above the law".
"There are serious questions that Congress should immediately investigate," Evers said. "Did Ivanka Trump turn over all of her emails for preservation as required by law? Was she sending classified information over a private system," he added.
Sunday, November 18, 2018
Telling Tall Tales
Trump's ignorance remains on display, as he continues to blather about forestry management-- even though California's Camp fire didn't start as a forest fire.
Trump also told officials they need to do ‘more raking and cleaning’ as he surveyed still smoldering remains at a trailer park which was destroyed by wildfires.
The Orangeman also drew comparisons to Finland, saying "we have to take care of floors of the forest..in our countries they do it definitely; different story." How the U.S. government would be able to "manicure" the 19 million acres of Californian forest land it owns (58% of the total forest acreage in California) remains a mystery-- the Trump administration has proposed slashing tens of millions of dollars from the Department of Interior and US Forest Service budgets.
Many were also perplexed at one of the most idiotic things Trump has ever said, when he said "I have a strong opinion-- I want great climate."
And by the way-- it was obvious (yet again) that Donald Trump is NOT 6' 3". Here he is, next to Gavin Newsom who actually is 6' 3"
Here's Trump next to Jeb Bush, who is 6' 3"
And next to Canada's Prime Minster Trudeau, who is 6' 2"
Trump also told officials they need to do ‘more raking and cleaning’ as he surveyed still smoldering remains at a trailer park which was destroyed by wildfires.
The Orangeman also drew comparisons to Finland, saying "we have to take care of floors of the forest..in our countries they do it definitely; different story." How the U.S. government would be able to "manicure" the 19 million acres of Californian forest land it owns (58% of the total forest acreage in California) remains a mystery-- the Trump administration has proposed slashing tens of millions of dollars from the Department of Interior and US Forest Service budgets.
Many were also perplexed at one of the most idiotic things Trump has ever said, when he said "I have a strong opinion-- I want great climate."
And by the way-- it was obvious (yet again) that Donald Trump is NOT 6' 3". Here he is, next to Gavin Newsom who actually is 6' 3"
Here's Trump next to Jeb Bush, who is 6' 3"
And next to Canada's Prime Minster Trudeau, who is 6' 2"
Saturday, November 17, 2018
Bigotry Down Under
One of Australia's leading wedding magazines is shutting down after it refused to feature same-sex couples. When the bigotry of the magazine's owners was exposed, advertisers had abandoned them in droves.
In a farewell post on its website, the magazine's founders said they had been targeted by "a flood of judgement," and that hey made the choice because they had "no desire to create a social, political or legal war. White Magazine has always been a secular publication, but as its publishers, we are Christian. We have no agenda but to love," they wrote. Except when their agenda includes hatred of gays, of course.
Australia legalized gay marriage last year after the country overwhelmingly voted in favor of it. Photographer Lara Hotz, who shot three covers for the magazine, blew the lid on the magazine's secret policy of not including gay couples. Hotz, who is in a same-sex marriage herself, said the magazine's decision made her feel "extremely hurt".
"It appears they are happy to take money, content and photographs from LGBTQ advertisers and contributors, but are yet to support and represent us in the same way as heterosexual couples are represented in the magazine," she added..
Many on social media branded the magazine owners as homophobes who did not deserve to be in business. "It doesn't seem to me that your agenda is just to love, it seems like your agenda is just to love straight people," wrote one.
Another commenter (who clearly doesn't understand what free speech means) said she felt the magazine's freedom of speech had been impeded, writing: "Unfortunately, if you have faith and don't agree with same-sex marriage, you can't run your own business the way you want."
In a farewell post on its website, the magazine's founders said they had been targeted by "a flood of judgement," and that hey made the choice because they had "no desire to create a social, political or legal war. White Magazine has always been a secular publication, but as its publishers, we are Christian. We have no agenda but to love," they wrote. Except when their agenda includes hatred of gays, of course.
Australia legalized gay marriage last year after the country overwhelmingly voted in favor of it. Photographer Lara Hotz, who shot three covers for the magazine, blew the lid on the magazine's secret policy of not including gay couples. Hotz, who is in a same-sex marriage herself, said the magazine's decision made her feel "extremely hurt".
"It appears they are happy to take money, content and photographs from LGBTQ advertisers and contributors, but are yet to support and represent us in the same way as heterosexual couples are represented in the magazine," she added..
Many on social media branded the magazine owners as homophobes who did not deserve to be in business. "It doesn't seem to me that your agenda is just to love, it seems like your agenda is just to love straight people," wrote one.
Another commenter (who clearly doesn't understand what free speech means) said she felt the magazine's freedom of speech had been impeded, writing: "Unfortunately, if you have faith and don't agree with same-sex marriage, you can't run your own business the way you want."
Friday, November 16, 2018
Thursday, November 15, 2018
8 Rules for Social Media
1) Check the date on that article you’re sharing. It may still be interesting, but if it’s old, flag that fact. Death to late tweeters.
2) Was that hoax debunked last week? Then why are you sharing it today?
3) Don’t tell people to call members of Congress from other districts or states. Just don’t. It’s a waste of everyone’s time.
4) If you’re the one Facebooking a screenshot of your oh-so-devastating comeback to your political foe, consider that perhaps said political foe does not agree with you about the winner of that exchange.
5) If you didn’t see that call to action on Elizabeth Warren’s Facebook page, then Elizabeth Warren is not asking you to do it, so quit sharing it.
6) Are the constant pictures of super-healthy food you made and claim to think is delicious intended to convince me, or yourself?
7) Yes, we know you see yourself as a badass, sarcastic, no-nonsense person, but maybe the five memes a day pounding that into our heads are overkill … or even make you look like you’re trying too hard for some reason.
8) Do you have the exact same smile and/or pose in every picture? Most of us can agree that duck lips are always a no, but do you paste a very specific grin on your face every time you see a camera? Do you automatically square your shoulders or swivel your body into the best angle? Cock your leg just so? Yeah, stop that.
Wednesday, November 14, 2018
Monkey Invasion Results in Death
A baby has died after being snatched from his mother's lap by a monkey in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
Neighbors rushed to help after hearing the mother's screams on Monday afternoon in a village near Agra city, according to Agra Police Assistant Superintendent Abhishek, who goes only by his first name. The baby was just 12 days old.
"They threw stones at the monkey to force it to drop the baby but by the time he abandoned it, he had already attacked him severely on the face," Abhishek told reporters. The child's body was recovered from the terrace of an adjacent house. Police said his injuries indicate he was bitten on the face.
Monkey attacks are common in India-- especially in the country's capital New Delhi, where government offices are surrounded by dozens of monkeys swinging from the trees or lounging in the sun on the sidewalk. It is estimated that monkeys bite over 1,000 people a day nationwide.
Indians are generally critical of efforts to control or manage the monkey population, due to the animal's association with the monkey god Hanuman, a prominent deity in Hinduism, who is believed to bestow courage, strength and longevity to the person who thinks about him. Monkeys are therefore considered sacred by Hindus, and people often pay tribute to him by feeding monkeys. Feeding of monkeys only serves to bring them into further conflict with humans-- resulting in gangs of monkeys invading houses, apartment complexes and government buildings.
Neighbors rushed to help after hearing the mother's screams on Monday afternoon in a village near Agra city, according to Agra Police Assistant Superintendent Abhishek, who goes only by his first name. The baby was just 12 days old.
"They threw stones at the monkey to force it to drop the baby but by the time he abandoned it, he had already attacked him severely on the face," Abhishek told reporters. The child's body was recovered from the terrace of an adjacent house. Police said his injuries indicate he was bitten on the face.
Monkey attacks are common in India-- especially in the country's capital New Delhi, where government offices are surrounded by dozens of monkeys swinging from the trees or lounging in the sun on the sidewalk. It is estimated that monkeys bite over 1,000 people a day nationwide.
Indians are generally critical of efforts to control or manage the monkey population, due to the animal's association with the monkey god Hanuman, a prominent deity in Hinduism, who is believed to bestow courage, strength and longevity to the person who thinks about him. Monkeys are therefore considered sacred by Hindus, and people often pay tribute to him by feeding monkeys. Feeding of monkeys only serves to bring them into further conflict with humans-- resulting in gangs of monkeys invading houses, apartment complexes and government buildings.
Tuesday, November 13, 2018
Tragedy of Unfortunate Circumstances
Fourteen years ago, Indonesia suffered one of the deadliest disasters in modern history, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake that unleashed a sixty-foot wall of water that killed approximately a hundred and seventy thousand people, many of them in the northern province of Aceh.
In the years following, the government invested in preparing for the next catastrophe. In 2008, a disaster-management board was created, which, with the help of foreign governments, including Germany and the United States, built an early-warning system for tsunamis, made up of twenty-two sensor-laden buoys, which cost half a million dollars each and went online the following year.
Soon, schools of fish began gathering in the electric fields emitted by the buoys’ computers, which drew fishermen, some of whom scrapped the equipment for copper wiring. Other sensors fell into disrepair after funding cuts led to poor maintenance. In 2016, an earthquake in western Indonesia, near Aceh, revealed that none of the buoys worked anymore.
An early warning system that might have prevented deaths in the recent Indonesian tsunami has been stalled in the testing phase for years due to a funding dispute. inter-agency wrangling and delays in getting just $69,000 to complete the project mean the system hasn’t moved beyond a prototype developed with $3 million from the U.S. National Science Foundation.
“To me this is a tragedy for science, even more so a tragedy for the Indonesian people as the residents of Sulawesi are discovering right now,” said Louise Comfort, a University of Pittsburgh expert in disaster management who has led the U.S. side of the project, which also involves engineers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and Indonesian scientists and disaster experts.
“It’s a heartbreak to watch when there is a well-designed sensor network that could provide critical information,” she said.
In the years following, the government invested in preparing for the next catastrophe. In 2008, a disaster-management board was created, which, with the help of foreign governments, including Germany and the United States, built an early-warning system for tsunamis, made up of twenty-two sensor-laden buoys, which cost half a million dollars each and went online the following year.
Soon, schools of fish began gathering in the electric fields emitted by the buoys’ computers, which drew fishermen, some of whom scrapped the equipment for copper wiring. Other sensors fell into disrepair after funding cuts led to poor maintenance. In 2016, an earthquake in western Indonesia, near Aceh, revealed that none of the buoys worked anymore.
An early warning system that might have prevented deaths in the recent Indonesian tsunami has been stalled in the testing phase for years due to a funding dispute. inter-agency wrangling and delays in getting just $69,000 to complete the project mean the system hasn’t moved beyond a prototype developed with $3 million from the U.S. National Science Foundation.
“To me this is a tragedy for science, even more so a tragedy for the Indonesian people as the residents of Sulawesi are discovering right now,” said Louise Comfort, a University of Pittsburgh expert in disaster management who has led the U.S. side of the project, which also involves engineers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and Indonesian scientists and disaster experts.
“It’s a heartbreak to watch when there is a well-designed sensor network that could provide critical information,” she said.
Monday, November 12, 2018
Trump Fails Once Again on the World Stage
Trump's overseas trip over the weekend was a spectacular failure, and as always, he remains incredibly uninformed and oblivious to the whole affair.
Trump started off by claiming that Emmanuel Macron insulted the United States when the French president proposed the idea of the continent having its own defense force. Trump mistakenly conflated two statements made by Macron (spoken days apart), mis-characterizing what he meant. Trump likely just pulled that bullshit straight from Fox News' morning show.
After that, Trump's ignorance was on full display in a tweet when he said that anniversaries of war should be celebrated, rather than commemorated. He also clearly didn't know that World War I wasn't even in the top five of deadliest wars in the modern era-- with World War II incurring over 5 times the number of casualties.
Trump then brought on a heap of criticism by using the rain as an excuse to not visit Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near the village of Belleau, France. It's the site of a 1918 battle in which the American and French repelled German forces. More than 1,800 Americans died there. Chief of Staff John Kelly made the visit in Trump's place, and didn't seem any worse for the wear.
The next day, Trump was seemingly rebuked by Emmanuel Macron and didn't even realize it, when the French president delivered a passionate indictment of nationalism, saying:
On Sunday, observers from around the world were treated to photographs of world leaders walking shoulder to shoulder along the Champs Elysees in a show of unity to mark the 100 years since the moment World War I drew to a close. The symbolic march was made without Vladimir Putin or the ostensible “leader of the free world,” who both declined to join the even due to "security" reasons.
In a veiled dig at Trump's America-first policies and skepticism toward multilateral cooperation, Merkel issued remarks later in the day, warning that "lack of communication and unwillingness to compromise" can have deadly consequences.
This weekend was the latest in a long string of diplomatic and public relations failures, which only serve to remind everyone how offensive Trump is to most people and how isolated he has become in the global community.
Trump is considered so offensive that he’s deliberately excluded from ceremonial events-- McCain’s funeral, Barbara Bush’s funeral, the recent U.K. royal wedding are just a few recent examples. In other cases, Trump boycotts ceremonial events for political reasons-- such as the White House Correspondents’ Dinner or the Kennedy Center Honors.
In still other cases, Trump wants to participate in ceremonial events, but others don’t want to be in his company-- such as the opening of the Mississippi Civil Righs museum last year, or the many championship sports teams who have declined White House invitations.
At this point, the only question is: will he be impeached, will he resign or do we have to wait two more years for voters to kick him out?
Trump started off by claiming that Emmanuel Macron insulted the United States when the French president proposed the idea of the continent having its own defense force. Trump mistakenly conflated two statements made by Macron (spoken days apart), mis-characterizing what he meant. Trump likely just pulled that bullshit straight from Fox News' morning show.
After that, Trump's ignorance was on full display in a tweet when he said that anniversaries of war should be celebrated, rather than commemorated. He also clearly didn't know that World War I wasn't even in the top five of deadliest wars in the modern era-- with World War II incurring over 5 times the number of casualties.
Trump then brought on a heap of criticism by using the rain as an excuse to not visit Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near the village of Belleau, France. It's the site of a 1918 battle in which the American and French repelled German forces. More than 1,800 Americans died there. Chief of Staff John Kelly made the visit in Trump's place, and didn't seem any worse for the wear.
The next day, Trump was seemingly rebuked by Emmanuel Macron and didn't even realize it, when the French president delivered a passionate indictment of nationalism, saying:
“Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism. By saying, ‘Our interests first, who cares about the others,’ we erase what a nation holds dearest, what gives it life, what gives it grace and what is essential: its moral values."Trump has yet to verbally acknowledge Macron’s comment on nationalism, but he did appear to grimace after Macron spoke.
On Sunday, observers from around the world were treated to photographs of world leaders walking shoulder to shoulder along the Champs Elysees in a show of unity to mark the 100 years since the moment World War I drew to a close. The symbolic march was made without Vladimir Putin or the ostensible “leader of the free world,” who both declined to join the even due to "security" reasons.
In a veiled dig at Trump's America-first policies and skepticism toward multilateral cooperation, Merkel issued remarks later in the day, warning that "lack of communication and unwillingness to compromise" can have deadly consequences.
This weekend was the latest in a long string of diplomatic and public relations failures, which only serve to remind everyone how offensive Trump is to most people and how isolated he has become in the global community.
Trump is considered so offensive that he’s deliberately excluded from ceremonial events-- McCain’s funeral, Barbara Bush’s funeral, the recent U.K. royal wedding are just a few recent examples. In other cases, Trump boycotts ceremonial events for political reasons-- such as the White House Correspondents’ Dinner or the Kennedy Center Honors.
In still other cases, Trump wants to participate in ceremonial events, but others don’t want to be in his company-- such as the opening of the Mississippi Civil Righs museum last year, or the many championship sports teams who have declined White House invitations.
At this point, the only question is: will he be impeached, will he resign or do we have to wait two more years for voters to kick him out?
Sunday, November 11, 2018
Right-Wing Nationalist Wins Brazilian Presidency
Bolsonaro’s climb to power has been marked by divisive rhetoric and offensive speech that has thrilled followers and appalled critics in equal measure. Bolsonaro served seven consecutive terms in the Brazilian Congress, with little to show for his time there-- very few of his bills were approved.
Bolsonaro believes that having a female child is a “weakness,” and has said he would not treat or pay women the same as men in the workplace.
In 2013, he said that he would “rather have a son who is an addict than a son who is gay,” and that he was “proud to be homophobic.” In June 2011, he said he would “rather his son die in a car accident than be gay,” adding: “If a gay couple came to live in my building, my property will lose value. If they walk around holding hands, kissing, it will lose value.”
In April 2017, Bolsonaro spoke about visiting traditional Afro-Brazilian communities. He described the weight of the residents using the Portuguese word “arrobas,” an outdated unit of measure for weighing cattle and agricultural products. He said, “The lightest Afro-descendant there weighed seven ‘arrobas’. They don’t do anything. They are not even good for procreation.”
Bolsonaro is an enthusiastic advocate of torture. When he voted for Dima Rousseff's impeachment two years ago, he dedicated his vote to a colonel who ran a torture center during the country’s military dictatorship in which Rousseff herself was tortured.
Criticizing Brazil’s government during a 1999 interview, Bolsonaro said:
“The Congress today is useless … lets do the coup already. Let’s go straight to the dictatorship. . .Elections won’t change anything in this country. Unfortunately, it will only change on the day that we break out in civil war here and do the job that the military regime didn’t do: killing 30,000.”
Bolsonaro has also said he would curtail efforts to protect the environment and indigenous land:
“We need to put a stop to the demarcation of indigenous land … indigenous people want to rent out the land, they want to be able to do business, they want electricity, a dentist to remove the stumps of teeth from their mouths … indigenous people are human beings like us. They don’t want to be used for political purposes.”
He is also very dismissive of indigenous people, saying:
“Our Amazon is like a child with chickenpox, every dot you see is an indigenous reservation … and the Brazilian people applaud [demarcation of indigenous land]. Look at these people, no political strategy!”
Saturday, November 10, 2018
Friday, November 9, 2018
Who Is This "Fake" Attorney General?
After he fired Jeff Sessions, Trump appointed a loyalist as Attorney General, in a move that many scholars and constitutional experts consider unconstitutional and illegal, per the Appointment Clause of the Constitution, which provides that a “principal officer” in the federal government may not be appointed without Senate confirmation,
But who is this Matt Whitaker? Whitaker, who has never been confirmed by the Senate for any position in the Trump administration, once said that judges should be Christian and proposed blocking non-religious people from judicial appointments. He went on to claim that judges needed a “biblical view of justice” and questioned the judgment of secular lawyers.
Whitaker made the remarks at a conservative forum in April 2014, where he appeared as a candidate for the Republican US Senate nomination in Iowa. Video clips of the event were saved by People For the American Way, a liberal campaign group.
As reported by the Daily Beast, Whitaker was also behind a secretive group that stepped in to protect members of the Trump campaign from allegations of meetings with Russian officials. That included trying to distract from the fact that Jeff Sessions lied about his meetings with the Russian ambassador in Senate testimony, by challenging Democratic senators to list all of their meetings. The organization was also connected to spreading rumors that Christine Blasey Ford mistook Brett Kavanaugh for another high school classmate.
When not busy interfering in the Russia investigation, Whitaker also kept busy promoting a patent scam. As reported by the Miami New Times, Whitaker wasn’t just on the board of a company selling would-be inventors worthless (and nonexistent) “worldwide patents,” he also sent threatening letters to a former customer of the scam who complained about being taken for tens of thousands of dollars. World Patent Marketing charged some customers over $70,000 for their patent services, did nothing, and used Whitaker to bully people into silence.
But who is this Matt Whitaker? Whitaker, who has never been confirmed by the Senate for any position in the Trump administration, once said that judges should be Christian and proposed blocking non-religious people from judicial appointments. He went on to claim that judges needed a “biblical view of justice” and questioned the judgment of secular lawyers.
Whitaker made the remarks at a conservative forum in April 2014, where he appeared as a candidate for the Republican US Senate nomination in Iowa. Video clips of the event were saved by People For the American Way, a liberal campaign group.
As reported by the Daily Beast, Whitaker was also behind a secretive group that stepped in to protect members of the Trump campaign from allegations of meetings with Russian officials. That included trying to distract from the fact that Jeff Sessions lied about his meetings with the Russian ambassador in Senate testimony, by challenging Democratic senators to list all of their meetings. The organization was also connected to spreading rumors that Christine Blasey Ford mistook Brett Kavanaugh for another high school classmate.
When not busy interfering in the Russia investigation, Whitaker also kept busy promoting a patent scam. As reported by the Miami New Times, Whitaker wasn’t just on the board of a company selling would-be inventors worthless (and nonexistent) “worldwide patents,” he also sent threatening letters to a former customer of the scam who complained about being taken for tens of thousands of dollars. World Patent Marketing charged some customers over $70,000 for their patent services, did nothing, and used Whitaker to bully people into silence.
Thursday, November 8, 2018
Good News For Near-Extinct Northern White Rhino
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| Sudan was the last of his kind |
The northern white rhino was once common throughout the north of the African continent, including Uganda, South Sudan, the DRC and Chad. Illegal hunting to meet demand for rhino horn caused a rapid decline in the wild, and the rhino sub-species was declared extinct on the wild in 2008.
Earlier this year, Sudan, the last male northern white rhino, died at the age of 45. Two females are left - his daughter and granddaughter, who live in Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya, where they are guarded around the clock. However, both have health problems of their own and cannot breed naturally.
The southern white rhino is found in southern Africa, including South Africa, Namibia, and Zimbabwe. Numbers dropped to a few hundred individuals around a century ago, but conservation efforts led to a recovery. About 20,000 exist in protected areas and private game reserves.
The white rhino split into two divided populations living in the north and south of Africa around one million years ago. But an extensive analysis of DNA from living rhinos and museum specimens shows the northern and southern populations mixed and bred at times after this date, perhaps as recently as 14,000 years ago.
Cross breeding using assisted reproductive technology could theoretically be used to rescue the northern white rhino from its current predicament.
Sperm from male northern white rhinos is being kept in frozen storage, but conservationists are divided about how it should be used.
In July, one team took eggs from female southern rhinos - which number around 20,000 in the wild - and fertilised them with frozen sperm from a male northern white rhino, to create hybrid embryos. The new study suggests this sort of approach might pay off, given that the two rhinos are closer genetically than once thought.
Other options include using frozen tissue from a wider pool of northern white rhinos to generate stem cells that have the capacity to develop into eggs and sperm. This would avoid diluting the gene pool, but is more challenging to achieve.
Wednesday, November 7, 2018
Dems Win; Trump Starts to Panic
Democrats romped yesterday, picking up 34 seats and taking control of the House of Representatives-- guaranteeing a stop to any further Trump craziness and beginning the long-overdue oversight of Trump's excesses.
In a move of complete desperation, Trump committed an immense tactical mistake the very next morning by firing Attorney General Jeff Sessions and installing Robert Mueller’s arch-nemesis to oversee the Russia probe.
Everybody expected Trump to fire Sessions, and for sure Mueller has contingency plans in place in case Trump made such a move to shut down his investigation. From a purely political standpoint, Trump just made his own corruption impossible for Democrats to ignore as they prepare to assume their oversight role in January. Right on cue, the incoming chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform issued a statement about Sessions’ firing-- calling for the House to investigate the real reason for this termination, confirm that Acting AG Matthew Whitaker is recused from all aspects of the Special Counsel’s probe, and ensure that the Department of Justice safeguards the integrity of the Mueller investigation.
The craziness didn't stop there. Just hours later, Trump insulted a Japanese reporter during a live press conference and then suspended the White House press credentials of CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta and barred him from the White House grounds.
The move follows a heated exchange between Acosta and an angry Trump at that eventful White House press conference. Trump objected to Acosta's pointed follow-up questions and attempted to have a White House intern take the microphone away from him. Sarah Huckabee Sanders tried to claim that Acosta "placed his hands" on the intern, but live video of the event clearly shows that to be a flat-out lie. It was the intern who initiated contact by grabbing several times at Acosta's arm; other than retaining control of the microphone, Acosta made no other motions.
Who knows what other signs of desperation are ahead-- there a couple of months until the new Congress is sworn in. Stay tuned.
In a move of complete desperation, Trump committed an immense tactical mistake the very next morning by firing Attorney General Jeff Sessions and installing Robert Mueller’s arch-nemesis to oversee the Russia probe.
Everybody expected Trump to fire Sessions, and for sure Mueller has contingency plans in place in case Trump made such a move to shut down his investigation. From a purely political standpoint, Trump just made his own corruption impossible for Democrats to ignore as they prepare to assume their oversight role in January. Right on cue, the incoming chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform issued a statement about Sessions’ firing-- calling for the House to investigate the real reason for this termination, confirm that Acting AG Matthew Whitaker is recused from all aspects of the Special Counsel’s probe, and ensure that the Department of Justice safeguards the integrity of the Mueller investigation.
The craziness didn't stop there. Just hours later, Trump insulted a Japanese reporter during a live press conference and then suspended the White House press credentials of CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta and barred him from the White House grounds.
The move follows a heated exchange between Acosta and an angry Trump at that eventful White House press conference. Trump objected to Acosta's pointed follow-up questions and attempted to have a White House intern take the microphone away from him. Sarah Huckabee Sanders tried to claim that Acosta "placed his hands" on the intern, but live video of the event clearly shows that to be a flat-out lie. It was the intern who initiated contact by grabbing several times at Acosta's arm; other than retaining control of the microphone, Acosta made no other motions.
Who knows what other signs of desperation are ahead-- there a couple of months until the new Congress is sworn in. Stay tuned.
Tuesday, November 6, 2018
Monday, November 5, 2018
Man-Eating Tiger Shot and Killed in India
A tiger which terrorized India's forests and is believed to have killed 13 people has been shot after she was lured into the open with a Calvin Klein fragrance.
A hunter shot and killed the female tiger with a single bullet, after the animal had charged at a forest ranger who fired a tranquilising dart at her.
A team of more than 150 people had spent months searching for T-1, using a paraglider and dozens of infrared cameras while sharpshooters had ridden on the backs of elephants.
The big cat, given the nickname T-1, was coaxed out of hiding in forests in Maharashtra, central India, in using a men's cologne known as Obsession For Men. Experts said the fragrance contained civetone which would make tigers seek out the source of the smell, rolling around and taking huge sniffs. A villager said, "Whatever is in that, cats love it. They just seem to be in absolute heaven."
Local villagers celebrated the tiger's death with firecrackers but animal rights groups have called the killing unethical. India's Supreme Court issued a hunting order for the tiger in September, ruling that she could be killed if tranquilizers failed. Forestry officials were forced to admit that no vet was present during the hunt, as required by the Supreme Court order.
Although India has launched a major campaign to boost tiger numbers, urban spread (as the population of 1.25 billion continues to grow) has increasingly eaten into the territory of wild animals.
A hunter shot and killed the female tiger with a single bullet, after the animal had charged at a forest ranger who fired a tranquilising dart at her.
A team of more than 150 people had spent months searching for T-1, using a paraglider and dozens of infrared cameras while sharpshooters had ridden on the backs of elephants.
The big cat, given the nickname T-1, was coaxed out of hiding in forests in Maharashtra, central India, in using a men's cologne known as Obsession For Men. Experts said the fragrance contained civetone which would make tigers seek out the source of the smell, rolling around and taking huge sniffs. A villager said, "Whatever is in that, cats love it. They just seem to be in absolute heaven."
Local villagers celebrated the tiger's death with firecrackers but animal rights groups have called the killing unethical. India's Supreme Court issued a hunting order for the tiger in September, ruling that she could be killed if tranquilizers failed. Forestry officials were forced to admit that no vet was present during the hunt, as required by the Supreme Court order.
Although India has launched a major campaign to boost tiger numbers, urban spread (as the population of 1.25 billion continues to grow) has increasingly eaten into the territory of wild animals.
Sunday, November 4, 2018
Saturday, November 3, 2018
As If We Needed More Evidence
Trump's lawyer-for-hire Michael Cohen is starting to spill the beans on his former boss, relating a string of racist remarks from the Orangeman himself.
During a 2016 campaign stop, Cohen told Trump that his campaign rally looked vanilla on television. Trump responded, "That's because black people are too stupid to vote for me."
Cohen also referenced a conversation he had with Trump after Nelson Mandela's death. Trump said, "Name one country run by a black person that's not a shithole," and then he added, "Name one city."
In 2004, Trump made comments about not selecting Kwame Jackson, an African-American Harvard business graduate to be the winner of "The Apprentice." Trump said, "There's no way I can let this black fag win."
Cohen also recalled a conversation with Trump en route from the Chicago airport to their hotel, when they drove through what looked like a rough neighborhood. Trump made a comment, saying "Only the blacks could live like this."
After Cohen twice retweeted Florida Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum, President Trump called Gillum a 'stone cold thief,' in a remark critics immediately called racist. Trump also labelled Tallahassee (where Gillum is mayor}, one of the nation's "worst run cities."
During a 2016 campaign stop, Cohen told Trump that his campaign rally looked vanilla on television. Trump responded, "That's because black people are too stupid to vote for me."
Cohen also referenced a conversation he had with Trump after Nelson Mandela's death. Trump said, "Name one country run by a black person that's not a shithole," and then he added, "Name one city."
In 2004, Trump made comments about not selecting Kwame Jackson, an African-American Harvard business graduate to be the winner of "The Apprentice." Trump said, "There's no way I can let this black fag win."
Cohen also recalled a conversation with Trump en route from the Chicago airport to their hotel, when they drove through what looked like a rough neighborhood. Trump made a comment, saying "Only the blacks could live like this."
After Cohen twice retweeted Florida Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum, President Trump called Gillum a 'stone cold thief,' in a remark critics immediately called racist. Trump also labelled Tallahassee (where Gillum is mayor}, one of the nation's "worst run cities."
Friday, November 2, 2018
Thursday, November 1, 2018
Trump's Soaring Federal Deficit
According to the latest quarterly refunding statement, the U.S. Treasury is about to sell a record amount of debt, surpassing levels seen both in the aftermath of the Great Depression and the Global Financial Crisis.
On Wednesday, the US Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee unveiled that it will increase the amount of debt to be sold at the upcoming quarterly refunding auctions to $83 billion from $78 billion three months earlier. This will be the fourth straight quarter of increasing refunding auction sizes and is driven by the soaring US deficit shortfall, which in 2018 hit $779 billion the highest since 2012.
the debt issuance at this quarterly refunding will surpass the previous record of $81 billion set by former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner in 2009 when the U.S. was issuing record amounts of debt to fund its recovery from the Great Recession.
In his official campaign launch address, Trump promised to reduce the $18 trillion debt. On the campaign trail, Trump said he would “freeze the budget,” which has certainly not happened. Shortly before his inauguration, he told Fox News host Sean Hannity that he would “balance the budget very quickly… I think over a five-year period. And I don’t know, maybe I could even surprise you.”
More bullshit from a bullshit artist.
On Wednesday, the US Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee unveiled that it will increase the amount of debt to be sold at the upcoming quarterly refunding auctions to $83 billion from $78 billion three months earlier. This will be the fourth straight quarter of increasing refunding auction sizes and is driven by the soaring US deficit shortfall, which in 2018 hit $779 billion the highest since 2012.
the debt issuance at this quarterly refunding will surpass the previous record of $81 billion set by former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner in 2009 when the U.S. was issuing record amounts of debt to fund its recovery from the Great Recession.
In his official campaign launch address, Trump promised to reduce the $18 trillion debt. On the campaign trail, Trump said he would “freeze the budget,” which has certainly not happened. Shortly before his inauguration, he told Fox News host Sean Hannity that he would “balance the budget very quickly… I think over a five-year period. And I don’t know, maybe I could even surprise you.”
More bullshit from a bullshit artist.
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