The Serious Side - part 4

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5470513/Now-Trumps-anti-tariff-economic-adviser-Gary-Cohn-out.html

[size=34]Now Gary Cohn quits the White House over tariffs as Trump ramps up attacks on trade deals telling Europe he'll sanction their cars and preparing for action against China for stealing American ideas[/size]

• Gary Cohn joined the administration from Goldman Sachs, and has pushed for more free trade policies
  
  
• He nearly quit over Trump's equivocating remarks on Charlottesville
  
  
• Instead he stayed on through passage of a $1.5 trillion tax cut 
  
  
• Friends hinted he might go after he lost an internal struggle over steel tariffs
  
  
• Trump said Tuesday that he was going ahead with the tariffs 
  
  
• He called Cohn a 'rare talent' in statement to the New York Times
  
  
• Trump defended his White House workplace: 'it looks great on their resume, it's just a great place to work' 
  
  

By GEOFF EARLE, DEPUTY U.S. POLITICAL EDITOR FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 17:49 EST, 6 March 2018 | UPDATED: 05:16 EST, 7 March 2018

    


President Trump's chief economic advisor Gary Cohn is departing the administration after losing an internal clash over looming steel tariffs.
Word of his departure came just hours after Trump said he would impose 'loving, loving' tariffs to protect U.S. industry, and issued a new threat against European cars.
'Gary has been my chief economic adviser and did a superb job in driving our agenda, helping to deliver historic tax cuts and reforms and unleashing the American economy once again,' Trump told the New York Times in a statement. 
'He is a rare talent, and I thank him for his dedicated service to the American people.'

Cohn, 57, is expected to leave within weeks. He becomes just the latest Trump adviser to abandon ship, just days after communications director Hope Hicks decided to go.


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WOE IS ME: Chief of Staff to Vice President Pence Nick Ayers, left, and White House chief economic adviser Gary Cohn, listen as President Donald Trump speaks at a meeting with the members of the National Governors Association in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC on Monday, Feb. 26, 2018. He is expected to leave within weeks



President Trump tweeted his optimistic reassurance on Tuesday that 'many people want the job' and he'll carefully choose Cohn's successor soon
The news comes on a day when Trump tweeted about 'chaos' and churn on the staff, and defended the White House as a place where everyone wants to work.
'Everyone wants to work in the White House,' Trump said. 'They all want a piece of the Oval Office.'
'The new Fake News narrative is that there is CHAOS in the White House. Wrong!' Trump tweeted Tuesday morning. 'People will always come & go, and I want strong dialogue before making a final decision.'
He added, 'I still have some people that I want to change (always seeking perfection). There is no Chaos, only great Energy!' 
On Tuesday he added in an optimistic tweet that he would be 'making a decision soon on the appointment of new Chief Economic Advisor. Many people wanting the job – will choose wisely!'
The groundwork for Cohn's departure came last week when Trump surprised his own aides by announcing his proposed 25 per cent steel tariff on live television during a meeting.
Cohn clashed with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross over the tariffs, and did not prevail. 
The topic had been the subject of a fierce internal battle that had not been finalized.

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'The European Union has been particularly tough on the United States,' Trump complained at a White House press conference with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven

The administration is also considering tariffs to punish China for intellectual property abuses, Bloomberg reported. The move could provoke retaliation from China. The tariffs would hit various products as well as Chinese investment in the U.S., according to the report.
Trump defended the churn of his staff as beneficial in a press availability with the Swedish prime minister, where he also pounded the EU for its trade policies, amid fears a trade war could break out.
Cohn did not attend the news conference. 
 'The European Union has been particularly tough on the United States,' Trump complained.
Then he went after European cars – amid concerns that U.S. car manufacturers could suffer if the price of imported steel jumps under a Trump tariff.
'They make it almost impossible for us to do business with them, and yet they send their cars and everything else back into the United States,' Trump said.


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National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster (R) ans Gary Cohn, White House Economic Advisor brief reporters on President Donald Trump's upcoming trip to the World Economic Forum later this week in Davos Switzerland, at the White House on January 23, 2018 in Washington, DC
'And they can do whatever they'd like, but if they do that, then we put a big tax of 25 per cent on their cars – and believe me, they won't be doing it very long.'
Trump also defended his White House as a great place to work – and even said it was a resume-builder. 
'I don't really want to talk about that. I just said that the White House has tremendous energy. It has tremendous spirit. It is a great place to be working. Many, many people want every single job,' he replied.
Expanding on the tweet, Trump said, 'You know, I read where, 'Oh, gee, maybe people don't want to work for Trump.' And believe me, everybody wants to work in the White House. 


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Gary Cohn, White House Economic Advisor, briefs reporters on President Donald Trump's upcoming trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland, at the White House on January 23, 2018


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National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster (R) and Gary Cohn, White House Economic Advisor brief reporters on President Donald Trump's trip to the World Economic Forum later this week in Davos Switzerland, at the White House on January 23, 2018 in Washington, DC
'And not only in terms of, it looks great on their resume, it's just a great place to work. It's got tremendous energy. It's tough,' he added. 'The White House has a tremendous energy and we have tremendous talent. Yeah, there'll be people, I'm not going to be specific, but there'll be people that change. They always change. Sometimes they want to go out and do something else.'
The news follows reports that Cohn had organized a Thursday meeting with representatives of industries affected by the proposed steel tariffs. It would have been an opportunity for them to try to push back at the idea.
An auto industry source told DailyMail.com Tuesday before word of Cohn broke that the meeting was apparently off for now.
Cohn, who is Jewish, nearly quit after Trump's equivocating remarks on Charlottesville. He drafted a resignation letter that he did not submit.


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Cohn's departure follows that of Communications Director Hope Hicks, who announced she was leaving days after appearing before congressional investigators


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CHURN: White House Communications Director Hope Hicks announced that she will be leaving soon
The White House issued glowing statements about Cohn Tuesday evening.
'Gary has served his country with great distinction, dedicating his skill and leadership to grow the U.S. economy and pass historic tax reform. I will miss having him as a partner in the White House, but he departs having made a real impact in the lives of the American people,' said chief of staff John Kelly.
Cohn said in the statement: 'It has been an honor to serve my country and enact pro-growth economic policies to benefit the American people, in particular the passage of historic tax reform. I am grateful to the President for giving me this opportunity and wish him and the Administration great success in the future.' 
The Times reported Cohn's departure followed conversations Trump had with him about potentially replacing Kelly as White House chief of staff. Trump never made a formal job offer but did discuss whether Cohn was interested, according to the report.

Michael Ian Black is right and it's about time someone said so.

I just read the article about Dana Loesch.

The NRATV - does that mean that the NRA has an own tv channel. That's frightening!

And was the NRA ever as radical as they are now?

Yep, Carol and Amazon stream it...............

Interesting (if that's the right word) that they have done nothing about this since Parkland despite many calls to do so

..........oh and following on from this comment,

https://twitter.com/davidaxelrod/status/970835230306127873

....I see that Joe Scarborough said as much this morning ~ that Trump will 'change his mind' after the Pennsylvania election..........he's pulling the strings of hos global puppet again.......

Say a prayer for Conor Lamb in Pennsylvania. The race is neck-in-neck and the Republicans are pouring money into the race in an attempt to hold onto the seat. If they lose Trump will be apoplectic - a two-fer for the Democrats.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5473207/Stormy-Daniels-lawyer-Yes-porn-star-sexual-fling-Trump.html

[size=34]Trump DID have sex with Stormy Daniels and KNEW porn star was being paid $130,000 hush money says her lawyer, as she sues president to be freed from 'invalid' gagging agreement[/size]

• Porn star Stormy Daniels' lawyer said publicly on Tuesday that 'yes,' his client had a sexual relationship with Donald Trump
  
  
• He also agreed that she might have to return the $130,000 in hush money that she was paid shortly before the 2016 election
  
  
• Daniels sued the president Tuesday in an effort to get the nondisclosure agreement she signed thrown out
  
  
• She says Trump never signed the agreement, making it 'invalid' and unenforceable
  
  
• Daniels also says Trump's personal lawyer has continued to try to silence her as recently as February 28 from speaking out about the 'intimate' relationship
  
  
• She claims to have had an affair with Trump from 2006 to 2007, starting just after first lady Melania gave birth to son Barron
  
  

By DAVID MARTOSKO, US POLITICAL EDITOR FOR DAILYMAIL.COM 
PUBLISHED: 09:46 EST, 7 March 2018 | UPDATED: 10:59 EST, 7 March 2018

    


A lawyer representing adult film actress Stephanie Clifford – who performs under the name Stormy Daniels – confirmed on Wednesday that his client had a sexual relationship with President Donald Trump years ago.
'Yes,' Michael Avenatti said on the 'Today' show, answering the question on every Trump-watcher's mind.
Daniels had previously refused to say out loud what news outlets had reported breathlessly, citing a nondisclosure agreement that she signed in exchange for $130,000 in hush money just days before the 2016 election.
But on Tuesday she sued the president, alleging that while she and both of their attorneys signed it, he never did.

'We look forward to sunlight serving as a disinfectant,' Avenatti told DailyMail.com on Wednesday.
It's unclear whether Trump and his lawyer have a signed copy. 


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Porn actress Stormy Daniels' lawyer confirmed Wednesday that 'yes,' his client had a sexual relationship with Donald Trump a decade ago


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Michael Avenatti said on the 'Today' show what his client had been coy about for months


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Daniels sued Trump on Tuesday, saying that he never signed the nondisclosure agreement that had kept her quiet since just before the 2016 election; 'We look forward to sunlight serving as a disinfectant,' Avenatti told DailyMail.com on Wednesday
Daniels says Trump's longtime personal attorney Michael Cohen has continued to try to silence her about her 'intimate' relationship with Trump that ran from 2006 to 2007 and began shortly after first lady Melania gave birth to their son Barron.
Her lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court includes copies of the nondisclosure agreement – in which she and the president are referred to by aliases – and a side letter that identifies her and Trump by name. 
Avenatti said Daniels is prepared to return the payment, which Cohen insists he made out of his own pocket.
'I think she may have to,' he said, 'and she is prepared to do that.'
But 'in light of the amount of misinformation that’s out there, some of which has been disseminated by Mr. Cohen and others,' he insisted, 'she believes it's important that the public learn the truth about what happened.'


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The lawyer also said Daniels 'may have to' refund $130,000 in hush money, 'and she is prepared to do that'
Avenatti also said he doubts that Cohen, and not Trump, paid his client off.
'We think it’s highly questionable as to whether it came from his personal funds ... there's no question the president knew about it at the time,' he told NBC's audience.
'The idea that an attorney would go off on his own without his clients knowledge and engage in this type of negotiation and enter into this type of agreement, quite honestly I think is ludicrous.'
Avenatti said Tuesday on 'CBS This Morning' that Daniels is 'absolutely not' trying to sell her story to the highest bidder. But he admitted that 'I don't know whether she's going to ultimately seek payment or not.'


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Donald Trump and porn Stormy Daniels aka Stephanie Clifford pose together in 2006; she says her agreement with him to stay quiet about their alleged affair should be tossed out


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Daniels says because Trump did not sign the NDA, the courts should find the agreement 'invalid'


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The lawsuit filed Tuesday lists Donald Trump, as well as an alias he used for the nondisclosure agreement, 'David Dennison'


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Attached as exhibits in the suit is the NDA, as well as a side letter from October 28, 2016.; where Trump aka David Dennison would have signed was left blank


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All of the papers attached as exhibits in the lawsuit were unsigned by a not-yet-president Trump


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The pages were signed however by Trump's attorney Michael Cohen as well as by Clifford's attorney at the time 
The agreement at the center of the legal dispute was signed by Clifford – using her professional name – and Cohen on October 28, 2016.
The copy included with Tuesday's lawsuit features a blank space where Trump would have signed. 
The suit says that Cohen tried to keep Clifford from talking about her relationship with Trump as recently as Feb. 27, 2018.
'To be clear, the attempts to intimidate Ms. Clifford into silence and "shut her up" in order to "protect Mr. Trump" continue unabated,' according to the suit.
'On or about February 27, 2018, Mr. Trump's attorney Mr. Cohen surreptitiously initiated a bogus arbitration proceeding against Ms. Clifford in Los Angeles.' 




Avenatti is asking the court to declare that the 'hush agreement' and the side agreement 'were never formed, and therefore do not exist, because, among other things, Mr. Trump never signed the agreements.'
'In the alternative, Plaintiff seeks an order of this Court declaring that the agreements in the forms set out in Exhibits 1 and 2 are invalid, unenforceable, and/or void under the doctrine of unconscionability.'
The suit also alleges that the president must be aware that Cohen is trying to keep Clifford quiet because, as a member of the New York bar, he is required to keep his client informed at all times.
't strains credulity to conclude that Mr. Cohen is acting on his own accord and without the express approval and knowledge of his client Mr. Trump.'
The 2016 agreement paid Daniels $130,000, days before the presidential election to keep her from disclosing any confidential information about Trump or his sexual partners to anyone beyond a short list of individuals she'd already told about the relationship.
She was also forbidden to share any texts or photos from Trump.
Avenatti said Tuesday that he was 'not at liberty' to say whether or not Daniels still has them.





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Clifford also alleges Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen (pictured), has continued to try to silence her 


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Clifford's attorney, Michael Avenatti, shared the full complaint with the attached NDA agreement and side letter as exhibits to Twitter on Tuesday 

[size=18]Adult film star Stormy Daniels through the years



[/size]

The president has never addressed the alleged relationship publicly, and the White House has side-stepped questions about it with spokesperson Raj Shah telling members of the press he had never asked the president about it.
Cohen has acknowledged the payment, and has previously claimed it came from his own funds – but has never said what the payment was for.
In the suit, Clifford also alleges that in January 2018, Cohen, 'concerned the truth would be disclosed ... through intimidation and coercive tactics, forced Ms. Clifford into signing a false statement wherein she stated that reports of her relationship with Mr. Trump were false.'

Read more:

• Stormy Daniels sues Trump, says 'hush agreement' invalid because he never signed - NBC News
  
  
• Dropbox - Filed Complaint.pdf
  
  
• Stormy Daniels' attorney: Trump knew about payment to her at the time - TODAY.com
  
  

Stormy Daniels' attorney looks like the love child of Matt Lauer and John Travolta.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5472893/Putin-says-hed-annihilate-world-nukes-fired-Russia.html




[size=34]Putin says he would annihilate the world with his nuclear weapons if nukes were fired at Russia because 'why do we need a world if Russians cease to exist?'[/size]

• Vladimir Putin promised he'd retaliate in case of nuclear attack
  
  
• Russian President swore to wipe out the world with his own nukes
  
  
• Told TV documentary there would be no need for a world without Russia
  
  

By WILL STEWART FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 08:11 EST, 7 March 2018 | UPDATED: 13:53 EST, 7 March 2018




Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he would destroy the world with nuclear missiles if Russia came under attack.
Putin, who was pictured kissing an enamoured fan on the campaign trail this week, made clear that if Russia was hit by nuclear weapons and faced being wiped out, then the world would not be worth saving. 
In a TV documentary he said: 'I want to tell you, and I want this to be known here and abroad.


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From Russia, with love: President Vladimir Putin made it clear that if Russia was under attack and faced being wiped out, then the world would not be worth saving


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Vladimir Putin showed how much he loves his fellow Russians last week when he kissed a female supporter as she took a selfie at an election campaign meeting
'Our plans for using it (his nuclear arsenal), I am hoping it will never happen, our theoretical plans of using it is a so-called retaliatory, counter strike.

'A decision about using nuclear weapon can be made only if our missile warning system recorded not only the launch of missiles, but also gave an accurate prediction of flight trajectories and the time when the warheads fall on Russia.'

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• He said: 'This is called a retaliatory, counter strike, when we receive a legal right to respond.
  
  

'Yes this will be a global catastrophe for humankind. It will be a global catastrophe for the world.
'But as a citizen of Russia, as a head of the Russian state, I want to ask - why do we need a world if Russia ceases to exist?' 


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Cake fan: President Putin looked over the moon to be visiting a bakery and confectionery factory in Samara, Russia on Wednesday


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Poser: The President joined the staff for a photo opportunity at the factory
Earlier this week, Putin surprised onlookers by kissing a female supporter on when she asked to take a selfie with the president.
The famously dour Russian leader, 65, was photographed kissing fan Larisa Sergukhina at the Luzhniki stadium in the capital Moscow after a concert intended to drum up support for him.
After the March 3 concert, Putin agreed to have some photos taken with his supporters, one of which got more attention in Russian media than the event itself.
Onlookers were gobsmacked when Putin planted a kiss on the forehead of his admirer Ms Sergukhina.
Putin is the hot favourite to win the presidential election on 18th March, though if no candidate gets more than half the votes cast a second round will be held on 8th April, with less popular candidates removed from the ballot slip.
Putin is running as an independent. His opponents include Pavel Grudinin of the Communist Party and Vladimir Zhirinovsky of the liberal LDPR party.

Putin finds a way to taunt his puppet boy every day. I'm sure he laughs his ass off when the Orange Shitblizzard doesn't dare respond.

.......also known for doing this.....!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/5155448.stm

Hope all of you are okay over there despite the odd spot of global warming (#thundersnow now I gather)

Having had the Beast from the East we are now contending with the Pest from the West.......oh, and Russians poisoning Russians........

Happy Independent Women's Day!

That's a weird behaviour of Putin - apart from those where he tries to be Superman by riding a horse half-naked or swimming in ice-cold water.

So - after Trump imposed economic sanctions on North Korea for having killed Kim Jong Un's brother (which happened in Asia, so there's absolutely no way a foreign country which is not involved in it at all can sanction another one like that). How long, do you think, it will take your orange-headed president to impose sanctions vs Russia for having poisoned this spy and his daughter (plus a policeman who's also in coma)?

I don't think it will happen, and if it does the idiot will let it be known he doesn't agree with the sanctions.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5477977/US-asks-China-100-BILLION-cut-trade-deficit-not-1-billion.html

[size=34]U.S. asks China for $100 BILLION cut in trade deficit after Trump tweeted that it was just a $1 billion request – missing the mark by 99 per cent[/size]

• Donald Trump tweeted Wednesday that China has been asked to reduce its trade surplus with America by $1 billion this year
  
  
• It turns out the real number that came up in discussions last week with China's top economic architect was $100 billion 
  
  
• The U.S. trade imbalance with China was $375.2 billion in 2017, making Trump's tweeted goal a drop in the bucket and the newer number more meaningful 
  
  
• The president also warned on Wednesday of coming trade enforcement measures surrounding intellectual property abuses
  
  
• Trump is on a major trade policy push and is expected to impose new tariffs on steel and aluminum imports this week
  
  

By DAVID MARTOSKO, US POLITICAL EDITOR FOR DAILYMAIL.COM 
PUBLISHED: 09:40 EST, 8 March 2018 | UPDATED: 12:18 EST, 8 March 2018


President Donald Trump boasted Wednesday that his administration has tasked the Chinese government with reducing its U.S. trade surplus by $1 billion this year.
Whether that was a typo or a presidential mental lapse, he missed the mark by $99 billion.
The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that when Trump administration officials met with China's top economic architect last week, they asked for a $100 billion reduction in the trade imbalance between the two countries.
After Chinese officials briefed economist Eswar Prasad about the meetings between American officials and Liu He, the Cornell University expert said he was told America's goal was to reduce its bilateral trade deficit by about one-third.

That gap stood at $375.2 billion last year. Trump's tweet on Wednesday drew head-scratches because a $1 billion improvement would represent just a small fraction of 1 per cent of that.


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President Trump boasted Wednesday that he aimed to persuade China to pare down its U.S. trade surplus by $1 billion – but the real number turned out to be 100 times bigger


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Trump's ask of Beijing would have amounted to a trade deficit reduction of barely one-quarter of 1 per cent, instead of the more massive change his administration is actually seeking; he also tweeted a warning about lax enforcement of intellectual property agreements
'China has been asked to develop a plan for the year of a One Billion Dollar reduction in their massive Trade Deficit with the United States,' the president wrote then. 'Our relationship with China has been a very good one, and we look forward to seeing what ideas they come back with. We must act soon!'
White House spokespersons did not respond on Wednesday to a question about the president's apparently weak, drop-in-the-bucket strategy.

TOP TRADE DEFICITS 

America's top five trading partners also represented its biggest trade deficits in 2017:

[list=mol-bullets-with-font]
[*]China: $375 billion
[*]Mexico: $71 billion
[*]Japan: $69 billion
[*]Germany: $65 billion 
[*]Canada: $18 billion
[/list]




The United States has had the world's largest trade deficit in every year since 1975. The combined deficit in goods and services was $566 billion in 2017. Measuring goods alone, as Trump frequently does in public, the deficit stands at $810 billion.
Trump is expected to formally roll out import tariffs on steel and aluminum this week, a move that could hit China and Russia the hardest.
Separately, he tweeted a signal that his administration is also ready to clamp down on nations that flout the World Trade Organization's global agreement on protecting patents and other intellectual property, like commercial brands and computer technology innovations.
'The U.S. is acting swiftly on Intellectual Property theft. We cannot allow this to happen as it has for many years!' the president wrote in a second tweet. 
A Politico reporter tweeted Wednesday that the administration may be 'eyeing tariffs on more than 100 Chinese products as well as investment restrictions.'


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Trump built up his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping with a state visit to Beijing in November, but trade tensions have overshadowed their rapport this year


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In this 2016 photo, laborers work in the steel market in Yichang in central China's Hubei province; China has expressed 'grave concern' about a U.S. trade policy report that pledges to pressure Beijing
Liu told U.S. business leaders late last week that President Xi Jinping is ready to revive high-level talks on economic disputes, and would name a new liaison to defuse trade tensions with America.
He said he wanted a list of things the administration wanted China to do in order to defuse trade tensions.
Instead of his olive branch making international news, it was overshadowed by Trump's announcement last Thursday of the new tariffs.
After proposing tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum from China and elsewhere, Trump warned in a tweet that 'trade wars are good, and easy to win.'
China's Commerce Ministry shot back on Friday, saying his plan would 'seriously damage multilateral trade mechanisms represented by the World Trade Organization and will surely have huge impact on normal international trade order.'


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Chinese economic deputy Liu He (center) was in the U.S. last week to talk trade, and heard the $100 billion request

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5480579/Hero-SWAT-team-members-suspended-responding-massacre.html

[size=34]Two 'heroic' SWAT team members are suspended without pay for disobeying orders and responding to Florida high school massacre while 'cowardly' deputies cowered outside[/size]

• Detectives Jeffrey Gilbert and Carl Schlosser were suspended on February 22
  
  
• The two rushed to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School when they heard there was an active shooter
  
  
• The Broward County Sheriff's Office never called for the team to respond
  
  
• Miramar Police Department spokeswoman Tania Rues said it created a danger for the officers who were responding
  
  
• But the police department union said the two men were 'brave' and 'heroic' 
  
  

By MARY KEKATOS FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 00:03 EST, 9 March 2018 | UPDATED: 01:47 EST, 9 March 2018

    



Two Florida SWAT team members have been suspended after responding to the Florida massacre without their bosses' permission.
Detectives Jeffrey Gilbert and Carl Schlosser - as identified by the Florida Sun-Sentinel - did not tell superiors that they were going to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School where mass shooter Nikolas Cruz, 19, killed 17 people.
After they jumped into action without following protocol, the two were suspended from the Miramar Police Department's 'privileged program' on February 22 and were ordered to surrender their SWAT-issued rifles.



Detectives Jeffrey Gilbert (left) and Carl Schlosser (right) were suspended from Miramar Police Department after responding to the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentine's Day without their bosses' permission
The SWAT members' suspension applied to the SWAT team, department spokeswoman Tania Tues said on Wednesday, adding that they'll remain on active duty for other assignments.

Miramar's SWAT team had been training in Coral Springs near the high school at the time of the shooting rampage and was placed on standby after the active-shooter report came in.
The Broward County Sheriff's Office never called for the team to respond.





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The Broward County Sheriff's Office never called for the team to respond to the shooting where Nikolas Cruz, 19, shot and killed 17 (Pictured, students flee Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School)


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Police response plans across the country have been changed to avoid having cops swarm to scenes (Pictured, students flee Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School)
Police response plans across the country have been changed to avoid having cops swarm to scenes. A crowd of arriving law enforcement can cause road blocks needed by ambulances, overwhelm radios and potentially add to more confusion. 
The president of the police officers' union disagreed with the department's decision and called the officers 'brave and heroic'.
'While it may have been a violation of policy to not notify their supervisors that they were going there, their intentions were brave and heroic, I think,' Jeff Marano, president of the Broward County Police Benevolent Association, told the Florida Sun-Sentinel on Wednesday.


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The president of the police officers' union disagreed with the department's decision and called the officers 'brave and heroic'  (Pictured, Detective Carl Schlosser)


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he SWAT members' suspension applied to the SWAT team, department spokeswoman Tania Tues said on Wednesday, adding that they'll remain on active duty for other assignments (Pictured, Detective Jeffrey Gilbert)
A third SWAT member, Officer Kevin Gonzalez, was suspended for violating the department's social media policy and code of contact, reported the Sun-Sentinel.
He was accused of being linked to posts that 'put the city and police in a negative light,' the Florida Sun-Sentinel reported. 
The Broward Sheriff's Office told the news outlet Wednesday that it could not confirm whether anyone contacted the Miramar department on the day of the shooting, but said Miramar's SWAT team was 'not needed.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5480411/Melania-Trump-meets-Florida-shooting-survivor-White-House.html

[size=34]Melania Trump meets Florida school shooting survivor, 16, at the White House before surprising the teen by introducing him to the President in the Oval Office[/size]

• Melania Trump met with Kyle Kashuv at the White House on Thursday
  
  
• The 16-year-old survived the Valentine's Day shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland
  
  
• First Lady posted a series of photographs and a brief video on social media of her meeting with the teenager
  
  
• Kyle also sat down with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office shortly after 
  
  
• He has been in Washington DC for the past few days meeting with various lawmakers to voice his concerns about gun control laws 
  
  

By EMILY CRANE FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 20:34 EST, 8 March 2018 | UPDATED: 00:56 EST, 9 March 2018

    


Melania Trump has met with a Florida school shooting survivor at the White House before surprising the teenager by introducing him to the President in the Oval Office.
The First Lady posted a series of photographs and a brief video on social media of her meeting with 16-year-old Kyle Kashuv on Thursday. 
He also sat down with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office shortly after.
The teenager survived the Valentine's Day shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida that killed 17 students and staff.

Scroll down for video 


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The First Lady posted a series of photographs and a brief video on social media of her meeting with 16-year-old Florida school shooting survivor Kyle Kashuv on Thursday


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Mrs Trump later surprised the 16-year-old by introducing him to President Trump in the Oval Office
He was forced to hide in a classroom closet while the gunman opened fire.  
Kyle has been in Washington DC for the past few days meeting with various lawmakers to voice his concerns about gun control laws.
When meeting with the First Lady, Kyle showed her the ReachOut app, which he has been promoting in the wake of the deadly shooting at his school.
The app lets students reach students to discuss emotional or mental problems they might be experiencing.
'Wonderful to meet @KyleKashuv today. His message of unity is one we should all share. Thank you for visiting us at the @WhiteHouse & hope you enjoyed your surprise meeting with @potus! Wishing you much success w @TheReachOutApp,' Mrs Trump tweeted.  



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When meeting with the First Lady, Kyle showed her the ReachOut app, which he has been promoting in the wake of the deadly shooting at his school


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Melania posted a short video on social media of her meeting with Kyle at the White House


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The teenager, pictured above in the Oval Office on Thursday, survived the Valentine's Day shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland
Kyle followed up with his own photos and a tweet that read: 'Was so great meeting @FLOTUS and @POTUS @realDonaldTrump. They're true Patriots.'
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting Kyle had said that he supported Trump in the last election and considers himself a Republican. 



But he said the shooting made him reconsider his position on guns, saying there needs to be stronger background checks to make sure mentally unstable people like Nikolas Cruz can't purchase weapons.  
'Previously I believed that everyone under the Constitution should be allowed to have guns, but I now realize that not everyone should have guns and we should have way stricter background checks and mental evaluations,' he said.
'We need to a middle ground and have some reform.' 


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In the immediate aftermath of the shooting Kyle had said that he supported Trump in the last election and considers himself a Republican


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Kyle said while he supported Trump, the shooting made him reconsider his position on guns and he now believes there needs to be stronger background checks


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Share or comment on this article

Did Melania or Donald invite other survivors to visit them at the White House as well? Maybe students who have critisized him since the shooting? Or did they simply invite this guy because he agrees with Trump's politics? At least it's nice that Kyle realized that gun controls are necessary. It's just sad that he literally needed to be in a shooting to find out about that, that former shootings hadn't changed his mind about that. It's also interesting that he seems to think that only mentally ill or unstable people are able to shoot others...

Carolhathaway - I don't know why he was invited to the White House, or if other students were invited as well. I think it's important to remember that he's still a child who hasn't fully matured. He's still forming his view of the world.

From what he says I'd bet his parents are Trump supporters. They live in Florida so they probably support gun ownership. Their beliefs have to influence their son, especially as he is still living at home. Maybe he will change his opinions when he gets out into the world on his own.

I don't think he believes only mentally ill people shoot people. I think he believes that responsible gun owners who are not mentally ill will not shoot other people. That is a position taken by a lot of people who favor gun ownership.

Lizzy,
thanks for your explanation!

IMO every person who legally owns a gun will not shoot other people unless they are attacked - like policemen or security. But for them it's part of their job to have a gun and to prepare for using it.

I know, I know. Due to the 2nd Amandment, US Americans (or at least many of them) see this differently...

Last month other students and their parents met with Trump the White house flew them in. I'm guessing they weren't all in
agreement with Trump.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5482437/Coward-cop-warned-stay-away-Parkland-shooting-911-call.html

[size=34]How Coward Parkland cop LIED about school massacre: Newly released 911 calls contradict deputy's account of shooting and reveal how he knew killer was inside and not outside the building[/size]

• Scot Peterson radioed 911 at 2.23pm on February 14 from Stoneman Douglas
  
  
• He said he heard what could have been 'firecrackers' then went to investigate
  
  
• He then repeatedly gives the school building address as the location 
  
  
• Other deputies chimed in that it could have been at the school football field
  
  
• But Peterson insisted it was at the school saying, 'Do not approach... stay at least 500ft away at this point'
  
  
• He previously defended himself by saying he thought the shooter was outside
  
  
• His attorney said the reference to the football field by others gave him that idea 
  
  

By JENNIFER SMITH FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 09:40 EST, 9 March 2018 | UPDATED: 13:33 EST, 9 March 2018

    

The newly released 911 call of the coward Parkland cop reveals that he knew gunman Nikolas Cruz was inside the school despite his 10-day-old claim that he thought the shooting was outdoors. 
Scot Peterson was the only officer at the scene in Parkland, Florida, when Nikolas Cruz opened fire on Valentine's Day at around 2.20pm. 
Instead of running into the building to try to take down the shooter, Peterson remained outside the freshman building. 
He was fired for the cowardly move but has tried to defend himself by saying he thought the shooter was outside. 

On Thursday, his 911 call was released. On it, he can be heard clearly telling the operator that the gunfire is 'inside' the building.  

Afterwards, he tells them: 'Do not approach the 12 and 1300 building. Stay at least 500ft away at this point.' 
That call was at 2.27pm, by which point gunman Nikolas Cruz had finished killing and had dumped his AR-15 rifle inside to flee in a crowd of scared students.
Peterson' s attorney did not respond to questions on the 911 call on Friday.  He earlier released a statement on his behalf defending his behavior.   
'Let there be no mistake, Mr. Peterson wishes that he could have prevented the untimely passing of the seventeen victims on that day, and his heart goes out to the families of the victims in their time of need. 

PETERSON'S 911 CALLS 

2.23pm: 'Be advised we have possible, could be firecrackers. I think we have shots fired, possible shots fired —1200 building' 
Seconds later, he says: 'Get the school locked down, gentlemen.' 
2.25pm: 'All right... We also heard it’s by, inside the 1200' 
2.27pm: 'Do not approach. Stay at least 500 feet away at this point.' 



'However, the allegations that Mr. Peterson was a coward and that his performance, under the circumstances, failed to meet the standards of police officers are patently untrue.' 
They said that he believed the shooter was outside because he had listened to others on the police radio saying that the gunman was 'outside' and near the 'football field'. 
The 911 calls show that deputies do make reference to the football field as the shooter's possible location but Peterson is heard afterwards saying it was 'inside' the freshman building. 
His first radio call went out at 2.23pm. 
'Be advised we have possible, could be firecrackers. I think we have shots fired, possible shots fired —1200 building,' he said. 
Once he had made his way there, he radioed again to confirm the location of the shooting but did not specify whether the shots were coming from inside or outside the building. 
'All right... We also heard it’s by, inside the 1200,' he said at 2.25pm. 
Panicked as the shots intensified, he then said: 'Get the school locked down gentleman!' 



Jeff Bell, the president of BSO’s police union, said the audio proved Peterson was cowardly on the day of the shooting. 
'It certainly backs up that he never went into the school. At one point he says to keep back 500 feet. 
'Why would he say that?' he told The Miami Herald.


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Peterson remained outside as other students who were in the school called 911 themselves to report the shooting. They are pictured being evacuated by a SWAT team which entered 24 minutes after the school resource officer's first call 


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Peterson (above left) has defended not going into the school by saying that he thought the shots were coming from outside. Also under scrutiny is captain Jan Jordan (right) who ordered deputies to 'stage a perimeter' around the school before going inside 

[size=18]Florida high school deputy resigns after not engaging shooter[/size]


The Broward County Sheriff's Office and its handling of the shooting has faced intense scrutiny. It is now the subject of a House Committee investigation. 
Sheriff Scott Israel condemned Peterson's response as cowardly, as has President Trump. 
There are also questions over why captain Jan Jordan, who was issuing commands on the day of the shooting, ordered deputies to form a perimeter once they had arrived at the school instead of telling them to go inside straight away. 
The first SWAT teams did not enter the school until 2.47pm, 15 minutes after Jordan's perimeter request and 24 minutes after Peterson's first call which referenced 'firecrackers'. 


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As Peterson called 911, so too did countless students inside the school. They also texted their parents to tell them that a shooting was unfolding 


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Terrifying video from inside a classroom on the day of the shooting shows students hiding under desks 

[size=18]Moment students in Florida school are rescued after shooting



[/size]


Other harrowing calls from students and parents were also released on Thursday. 


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Nikolas Cruz, 19, is in custody on 17 capital murder charges and 17 counts of attempted murder
They included a mother speaking through a 911 operator to tell her daughter: 'I love you, I love you.
'It's going to be fine. Can you hide somewhere? Can you play dead? You need to do it. 
'If he shoots, you need to play dead … Tell her to pray. Tell her to pray for strength.' 
The dispatcher then told her: 'Be quiet, be quiet, keep the phone line open. 
'Don't move. Just stay hidden.' 
The calls began at 2.21pm, a minute before Peterson's first one. 
Cruz was dropped off at the school by an Uber at 2.19pm and began shooting within seconds of entering the school. 

[size=34]PARKLAND SHOOTING TIMELINE[/size]

2.06pm: Nikolas Cruz is collected in an Uber 
2. 18pm: Cruz sends final text to the son of the Sneads, the family he was living with. He asked him what classroom he was in at the school and what teacher he had. His final message was: 'Yo' 
2.19pm: Cruz, 19, is dropped off by Uber 
2.21pm: He enters building 12, the freshman building and starts shooting. The first 911 calls pour in from terrified students 
2.23pm: Scot Peterson, the school resource officer, makes his first 911 call over his radio and describes the gunfire as 'possible firecrackers'
2.25pm: Peterson says: 'All right... We also heard it’s by, inside the 1200' 
2.27pm: Cruz drops his rifles and leaves the school in a herd of terrified, fleeing students 
2.27pm: Seconds later, Peterson says over his radio: 'Do not approach. Stay at least 500 feet away at this point.'
2.32pm: Broward County Police Captain Jan Jordan issues the command 'NEED PERIMETER'
2.47pm: SWAT teams enter the school for the first time
2.50pm: Cruz enters a Walmart and buys a drink at the Subway then runs away on foot
2:51 p.m: First notice of shootings to local hospital Broward Health North.
2:55 p.m: First victim arrives at ER at Broward Health North.
3:01 p.m: Cruz goes to McDonalds, sits down for a short time and then leaves on foot 
3:41 p.m: Cruz is arrested near 4700 Wyndham Lakes Drive in Coral Springs

https://twitter.com/rmasher2/status/971855232966668288

PAN - That clip's been all over the news here.  I'd love to know what went through that coal miner's mind. I wonder if he's still a Trump fan.

I saw an interview yesterday on a news program with this steelworker.  He didn’t seem affected at all by Trump’s stupid comment.  He seemed as supportive as ever.  That’s the thing with Trump supporters.  They seem to forgive all his transgressions if he delivers.  It’s all transactional to them.

Donnamaraie - They forgive him even if he doesn't deliver! What has he actually done for them besides undermine their health care, raise their taxes, destroy the environment, infringe on their rights and promise them futures in dying industries?

https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/were-not-your-pawns-parklands-never-again-movement-meets-the-lawmakers


[size=44]“We’re Not Your Pawns”: Parkland’s Never Again Movement Meets the Lawmakers

Back at school, the student activists grapple with partisanship.

By Emily Witt
March 8, 2018[/size]






Emma González, one of Parkland’s student activists, returned to school and continued organizing the March for Our Lives while others went to Washington.
Photograph by Joe Raedle / Getty

Three weeks after a former student had shot seventeen pupils and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, and three days after classes had resumed, the campus was settling into a routine again. A few patrol cars and a small squadron of sheriffs on motorcycles were all that remained of the police presence. The sign-waving supporters outside were gone, and the farm animals trained in emotional support had returned to their paddocks. By the time the school bell rang on Friday, at 7:40 A.M., the one television crew on site was breaking down its tripod. Outside the school fences were piles of rotting flowers, Teddy bears, deflated Mylar balloons, and pinwheels spinning in the sun. What had begun as an emergency was settling into finality.
In the days leading up to the Stoneman Douglas students’ return to school, the movement for gun control they had started had grown far beyond the city, out in the world. The teen-age activists had tolerated expressions of empathy from daytime talk-show hosts (Dr. Phil and Ellen DeGeneres) and lame jokes from the nighttime ones (Jordan Klepper and Bill Maher). John Legend and Chrissy Teigen, George and Amal Clooney, Oprah Winfrey, and other celebrities had made large donations for the upcoming march on Washington. As bereaved parents gave furious speeches at the Florida statehouse, where the legislature was considering a school-safety bill, a delegation of Stoneman Douglas students travelled to Washington, D.C. They met with the Speaker of the House, the House Minority Leader, and the Florida congressional delegation, all of whom afterward posted photos on social media of themselves engaged in thoughtful conversation at conference tables. The students posted photos of themselves with Congressman John Lewis, of Georgia, the civil-rights leader, and with the Vermont senator Bernie Sanders.
Emma González, one of the student leaders, hadn’t joined the delegation to Washington, but had stayed at home to work on recruitment for the March for Our Lives, to be held on March 24th, in Washington. The afternoon of her third day back at school found her in the gymnasium of the recreation center at Pine Trails Park, preparing for an information session. Since her return to school, González had dedicated herself to selling the march to her fellow-students. This meant sharing Never Again’s platform about gun control, while also being sensitive to a wide range of political viewpoints. At a meeting the previous day, some students expressed worry that the march’s message was too partisan.
“These are my opinions,” González said to Jeffrey Foster, her A.P. Government teacher, who was there to answer questions from parents. “I’m, like, you can say whatever you want about whatever topic, I’m not telling you what to say there, but make sure the message is cohesive. Here’s how I feel, and here is what goes through my head. You don’t have to listen to me on this, but if you want to help this is a really important way to help.”
The gym had been stocked with pizzas, boxes of tissues, and coolers of drinks. Students arrived, many of them accompanied by their parents, and took their seats. González checked to make sure that bottles of water and paper plates had been put out. She wore a maroon sundress and pink sneakers. Less than two weeks before, I had watched as she sat at a picnic table and chose a Twitter handle. Now she had more than a million followers on Twitter—more, as many pointed out, than the N.R.A. But all of this had happened outside of school. I asked how it was to be back.
“It’s pretty good,” she said. “And if news developments happen in the day—like today, when we found out about the shooting, my friend got upset, and I was immediately able to talk to her. I didn’t have to drive over to her house or run over there, like, she walked down the hallway and we were able to talk to each other. That’s nice. And the support dogs—have you heard about the support dogs?”
The shooting that day had happened at Central Michigan University, where a nineteen-year-old named James Eric Davis, Jr., had killed his parents, who had arrived to pick him up for spring break. For González and the other students, the news of yet another act of gun violence on a campus had renewed their sense of purpose but also their feeling of powerlessness.
“It feels like we’re not getting anything done,” González said. “The wheels of bureaucracy turn so slowly that, no matter what we say and how many people we get to sign petitions, we can’t vote anybody out until midterm elections, which are so far away.” As February gave way to March, two points were proved about the gun-control debate: first, that cynicism about it was not unfounded; second, that, even as the students advocated, the violence would not stop.
To insure that students would be comfortable asking questions, the media were not allowed to remain in the gym for the lecture, so, as González dimmed the lights and began her presentation, I stepped outside. Near the entrance of the rec center, Ryan Deitsch and Delaney Tarr, who had been among the students who went to Washington, D.C., earlier in the week, sat at a table. Never Again had developed a platform, the main tenets of which Tarr read out to me from a yellow notebook with the words “Anything Is Possible!” embossed on the cover in gold.
“Of course, the assault-weapons ban is the most difficult, and that’s the longest-term thing,” she said, flipping pages until she found her list. “But now what we’re really getting into is universal background checks. That would also entail closing the gun-show loopholes, closing straw purchases, and instilling the red-flag system. We also want to get rid of high-capacity magazines, and we want to raise the age from eighteen to twenty-one.” In Washington, particularly when talking to pro-gun politicians, the students focussed their arguments on narrower problems: the law that forbids the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives from creating a searchable database; the Dickey Amendment, which prevents research that advocates or promotes gun control; bump stocks, which allow a semiautomatic weapon to fire at a rapid clip. The students became increasingly adept at identifying political obfuscation: the congressman who might discuss “extensive background checks” rather than universal ones; the congresswoman who brings up mental illness to change the subject from gun control. With Senator Charles Schumer, of New York, they discussed the flaws of the background-check system, and how to improve the original assault-weapons ban, from 1994, which Schumer co-authored, and which the students think could be more effective with the addition of a gun-buy-back program.
I asked what it was like to go back to school. “Boring,” Deitsch said. “It’s been coloring and Play-Doh.” Classrooms had been supplied with games and something called “kinetic sand” to ease the students’ reëentry. “When you sit down with the Speaker of the House and then you’re told to just play with a lump of clay, it’s not really stimulating.”
The Speaker of the House, it turned out, had given the students some pushback on their critique of the Dickey Amendment, and a hallway encounter with Congressman Darrell Issa, of California, had turned downright contentious. The Democrats had been more amenable, but, after speaking to them, the movement added another message. “We also wanted to tell them, ‘Listen, we’re so grateful for the help and everything, but we’re not your pawns,’ ” Chris Grady, a Stoneman Douglas senior who went on the trip, said later, after the meeting in the gymnasium. “Make no mistake about it: we’re our own movement.”
The following evening, the second annual Obama Roosevelt Legacy Dinner, advertised as one of the “premier events for the Broward County Democratic Party,” was held at the Pier Sixty-Six Hotel, in Fort Lauderdale. Valets waved attendees into parking lots that overlooked a marina filled with gleaming white yachts. The dinner, tickets to which cost a hundred and seventy-five dollars or more, had been planned long in advance of the shooting, but the agenda had shifted. Bowls of ribbons in Stoneman Douglas colors were available for guests to pin to suit lapels and sequinned cardigans. The crowd was friendly, mostly over the age of forty, and clad in sensible shoes. The yachts outside likely belonged to other people; Mar-a-Lago was a county away. Several Stoneman Douglas students had come to the fund-raiser, too, although not, they emphasized, to endorse a particular candidate. If anything, it was the politicians who wanted their photos taken with the students. In their cocktail-hour soapbox speeches, the Democratic candidates for Florida’s 2018 gubernatorial race emphasized their records and sentiments on gun control. Afterward, a host encouraged guests to proceed to dinner in a “blue wave.”
The national anthem was sung and the Pledge of Allegiance recited, and then the ceremony began. The focus of the night was the violent act that had happened at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and what to do about it, as if the students had woken the politicians from a long enchanted slumber. There were only perfunctory mentions of health care, climate change, or the tax cut that Republicans had passed earlier that year. There was no mention of the resignations and allegations plaguing the Trump Administration, which had shared the headlines with the shooting and its aftermath for the past two weeks.
Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz spoke of “the three-legged stool on which future generations can build and thrive: faith, hope, and courage.” Congressman Ted Deutch, at whose behest the students had visited Washington, said “Never again can we fail to take action.” Philip Levine, a candidate for governor, referred to to the students in attendance as “a new greatest generation right here.” Cynthia Busch, the county chairwoman, said that the Broward County e-mail list had tripled in the last week.
“No more deals, no more compromises,” she promised. “We are here to fight.”
The keynote speaker was Congressman Joseph Kennedy III, of Massachusetts. Kennedy is a ginger who speaks in the short staccato bursts of his great-uncle and grandfather. At thirty-seven, he has been tapped by the Party as a rising star, not only because of his dynastic connections and his relative youth but because of his ability to speak about important things without sounding phony. Earlier in the year, he was selected to give the Democratic Party’s response to Trump’s State of the Union address. Now he issued a statement on an issue that, thanks to the relentless activism of the students, was going to be decisive in the midterm elections.
Kennedy began with acknowledgments and a joke about his family’s love of Florida. (“From what I can tell, President Kennedy didn’t get that winter tan ice fishing on Cape Cod.”) But he soon moved on to the heart of the matter.
“Our children wake up every morning in a country where nearly a hundred lives will be lost to guns by the time they go to bed, and they hear a Republican Party say that that is the price of freedom,” he said.
Kennedy recalled other instances of youth activism in American history: the mill girls of Lowell in the mid-nineteenth century; the Little Rock nine, in 1957; the children who marched for civil rights in the “children’s crusade” and were arrested in Birmingham, in 1963; the four students killed by the National Guard at Kent State, in 1970. “From Stonewall to Selma to Seneca Falls, America’s youth forces us to confront where we have fallen short,” he said.
He concluded with a promise that this time the adults would try harder. “Broward, have no doubt: our nation will follow you,” he said. “We will be better than we were in Little Rock, and in Birmingham, and in Kent. We will not force our kids to march alone. We will not tell them to do our government’s job.”
Was the government doing its job? In Florida, the state legislature passed a bill—which now awaits the signature of the Florida governor, Rick Scott—raising the age at which a person can buy an assault rifle to twenty-one. It also allotted sixty-seven million dollars to train and arm teachers, despite opposition from students and lawmakers who predicted that the policy would put more children, particularly African-American students, at risk. (There was also the opposition of Florida state representative Elizabeth Porter, who asked, "Do we allow the children to tell us that we should pass a law that says no homework?") In the U.S. Senate, Jeff Flake, a Republican, and Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, co-sponsored another bill raising age limits. The President expressed support for the idea, saying at a meeting with lawmakers that “It doesn’t make sense that I have to wait until I’m twenty-one to get a handgun but I can get this weapon at eighteen.” I thought back to what Ryan Deitsch, the Never Again activist, had told me while sitting in the Pine Trails Park rec center the day before: “Until the politicians vote and pass something, all of their words mean nothing. As soon as they’re shot down, it just means that everything we talked about, everything we did in Washington, everything we did in Tallahassee amounts to nothing. And we choose to refuse that reality.”

An explanation of the dickey law:

[size=36]This Insidious, 20-Year-Old Rule Is Still Blocking Crucial Research on Gun Violence Today[/size]

October 5, 2017 by LISA PETERSON










The horrific mass shooting that killed more than 58 people in Las Vegas on Oct. 1 has brought the topic of gun control legislation — and America's severe lack of it — back to the forefront of our national conversation once more. There have been 273 mass shootings in the US during 2017 (so far), and yet Americans find it's still mind-bogglingly difficult to even have a fact-based discussion on the topic. This is largely because of one incredibly problematic rule: the Dickey Amendment.

Named after its writer, Republican Rep. Jay Dickey, the Dickey Amendment has a pretty depraved origin story. After a 1993 study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) found that keeping guns in the home made people less safeand strongly correlated with higher rates of homicide in the home, the National Rifle Association (NRA) pulled out all the stops to squash the NCIPC altogether. While the NRA was unsuccessful in its campaign to fully eliminate the NCIPC, it was able to heavily influence Congress with the help of a boatload of money. According to the American Psychological Association, after much campaigning from the NRA, Congress included a directive in its 1997 appropriations bill banning the CDC from using funds for research "used to advocate or promote gun control." Congress also moved to strip the amount of money the CDC had used to research gun risk the previous year from its budget and dedicate it to the research of traumatic brain injury instead.

Related
Too Soon For Gun Control, Trump? As Australians, Our Experience Begs to Differ

While the CDC isn't explicitly banned from researching gun violence, the rule still restricts researchers from specifically examining the public health risks associated with gun ownership and use, something that the medical community continues to push back against. The American College of Physicians has said that "firearm violence is not only a criminal justice issue but also a public health threat," and the American Medical Association has called the uncontrolled ownership and use of firearms "a serious threat to public health."







Interestingly, it appears that even the author of the Dickey amendment has had a change of heart, later joining the medical community in supporting further research on the issue. In an editorial Dickey cowrote for The Washington Post in 2012 with the former president of the NCIPC, Mark Rosenberg, the pair expressed their frustration that scientists still cannot answer "whether having more citizens carry guns would decrease or increase firearm deaths" as a result of the NRA's meddling in Congress. Dickey wrote that we "must learn what we can do to save lives."

While it's heartening that at least one individual has seen the light on this crucial issue, we simply must do more to put an end to the seemingly endless bloodshed and heartbreak caused by mass shootings in America — allowing scientists to conduct research surrounding mass shootings and gun violence seems like a great place to start. We can all urge our elected representatives to push for the Dickey Amendment to be lifted and make sensible gun reform a reality. Learn how you can reach your representatives here.

Reading all these articles about guns rights vs. gun control is completely frustrating.  The Second Amendment needs to be amended.  Without a doubt.  Its wording is ambiguous and its meaning is constantly distorted.  I was reading an article where former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Warren Burger said in 1991 that the Second Amendment “has been the subject of one of the greatest pieces of fraud, I repeat the word ‘fraud’ on the American public by special interest groups that I have ever seen in my lifetime.”

Why is it that whenever the 2nd Amendment comes up everyone conveniently forgets that the right to bear arms was deemed necessary for "a well ordered militia"? ( - which is what our National Guard is.) Maybe gun ownership should be contingent on service in the Guard or one of the Armed Forces. How many of our brave NRA members would be armed then, I wonder?

Great idea!!

Anyway control is the key
Documents of every gun
Training

Those guns are perceived as toys



And then to change the Second Amentment

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5486531/Trump-calls-NBCs-Chuck-Todd-sleepy-eye-son-b-h.html

[size=34]He's a sleepy-eye son of a b***h': Vitriolic Trump unleashes astonishing attack on Chuck Todd during Pennsylvania rally in which he also lays into Oprah and reveals his new slogan for 2020[/size]

• Trump took aim at the Meet the Press host in the first minutes of Pittsburgh rally
  
  
• Was there to campaign for Republican Rick Saccone in upcoming election
  
  
• But spent the bulk of his rally hitting at fake news and discussing CNN's ratings 
  
  
• Also revealed his new campaign slogan for 2020 will be 'Keep America Great!'   
  
  

By DAILYMAIL.COM REPORTER
PUBLISHED: 19:41 EST, 10 March 2018 | UPDATED: 20:59 EST, 10 March 2018

    


Donald Trump is back on the campaign trail, and back to poking fun at journalists.
This time the president took aim at NBC's Chuck Todd, calling him a 'sleepy eye son of a b***h' as he stood before the crowd in Moon Township, Pennsylvania.  
Trump arrived in Pittsburgh to campaign for Republican Rick Saccone, who is neck-and-neck with Democrat Conor Lamb in a special election for the district's vacant house seat.
But, true to fashion, the president spent more time talking about television ratings, 'fake news', and his own reelection - revealing his 2020 campaign slogan will be 'Keep America great!' 

Scroll down for video


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Trump took aim at NBC's Chuck Todd, calling him a 'sleepy eye son of a b***h', as he stood before the crowd in Moon Township, Pennsylvania (pictured) 


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It appears Trump was responding to a tweet from Todd on Saturday afternoon, directly replying to the president's calls of fake news
[size=28]Video playing bottom right...[/size]

It appears Trump was responding to a tweet from Todd on Saturday afternoon, directly replying to the president's calls of 'fake news', when he hit out at the host. 
'In the first hours after hearing that North Korea's leader wanted to meet with me to talk denuclearization and that missile launches will end, the press was startled and amazed,' Trump tweeted. 
'They couldn't believe it. But by the following morning the news became FAKE. They said so what, who cares!' 
Todd hit back that Trump's criticism had 'no basis in fact'.
'Even using the loose set of parameters he sometimes uses to call something a "fact" or "fake" doesn't apply on this,' the host tweeted. 
'Now if he replaced "press" with "some West Wing staff", there'd be some truth in this.' 


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Trump was referencing a 1999 appearance on Meet the Press in which he spoke about North Korea when he felt the need to mention Todd instead


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Todd clearly struck a nerve with Trump, who called him out within the first few minutes of his rally on Saturday night


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Earlier on Saturday Trump had claimed that the 'fake' news had changed their response to his newly announced meeting with North Korea 


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Todd, who responded four hours before the rally, said Trump's critique had 'no basis in fact'
Todd clearly struck a nerve with Trump, who called the journalist out within the first few minutes of his rally on Saturday night.
Trump was referencing a 1999 appearance on Meet the Press, in which he spoke about North Korea, when he felt the need to mention Todd instead. 
'It’s 1999 I’m on Meet the Press, a show now headed by 'Sleepy eyes Chuck Todd', the president said. 'He's a sleeping son of a b***h.'  



Trump also criticized the ratings of Martha Stewart and Arnold Schwarzenegger when they hosted The Apprentice, as well as the numbers for CNN and MSNBC. 
'NBC is perhaps worse than CNN,' he said. 'And MSNBC is horrible!'  
He also hit out at the public's support for an Oprah Winfrey presidential campaign, saying: 'I'd love to beat Oprah. I know her weakness'. 
Trump also called Democratic Rep Maxine Waters a 'low IQ individual', repeatedly telling the crowd 'we will impeach her', and once again referred to Democratic Sen Elizabeth Warren as 'Pocahontas'. 


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At one point during the rally Trump even claimed he has done more than any other first-term president in history 


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The rally was meant to be in support of Republican Rick Saccone (left), who is neck-and-neck with Democrat Conor Lamb (right) for a vacant house seat


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A Saccone loss would be a blow to Trump, as it would be the first loss by Republicans of a seat in the House of Representatives since he took office


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Saccone (pictured with his wife Yong) has had an underwhelming performance in what has become a surprisingly tight race with Lamb.
Trump likewise repeatedly attacked his predecessors, claiming George W Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama could not achieve what he had with North Korea.
'Obama would not have done it, neither would Bush, neither would Clinton, all they did was nothing,' he said. 
'This should've been handled over the last 30 years, not now,' Trump went on as he discussed relations with North Korea. 
'But that's okay, that's what we do, we handle things,' he added, claiming North Korea had said he has 'done a great job'.  
Trump went so far as to say that Kim Jong Un even told the president that the Olympics would have 'been a total failure' without him.
'It's a little hard to sell tickets when you think you're going to be nuked,' said Trump, who took credit for making the Olympics 'very successful'.   
'Is there anything funner than a Trump rally?' he asked the crowd, clearly enjoying himself after weeks of dodging scandals with Russia, Robert Mueller, and Stormy Daniels.
Trump also spent extensive time discussing his support for making drug dealers face the death penalty.
'These people are killing our kids and they're killing our families and we have to do something,' he said.  
Trump scarcely mentioned Saconne during the night, instead turning it into a classic campaign rally with talks of the wall, immigration, and trumped up claims about how much he has achieved in the White House. 


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Trump likewise repeatedly attacked his predecessors, claiming George W Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama could not achieve what he had with North Korea


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The president hit out and Oprah, saying: 'I'd love to beat Oprah. I know her weakness' and called Democratic Rep Maxine Waters a 'low IQ' individual 


+15


Trump also lodged a number of attacks on what he called the 'fake press', attacking CNN and MSNBC, and once again calling Democratic Sen Elizabeth Warren 'Pocohontas'
At one point Trump, who couldn't help but bring up his election night numbers, even claimed he has done more than any other first-term president in history.
In the end Trump eventually called Saccone a 'good person' and said he was 'special'. 
'I don't want to put pressure on you Rick, but the world is watching,' he added.   
'If Trump's in your corner how can you lose?' said Saccone, who briefly took the podium to thank the president for his support. 
Saccone and Lamb are running to fill the seat vacated by Republican Rep Tim Murphy, who resigned after news broke he allegedly asked his lover to have an abortion - despite his public platform against it. 
A Saccone defeat would be a blow to Trump, as it would be the first loss by Republicans of a seat in the House of Representatives since he took office.
Trump won the district by 20 points in 2016, but Saccone's performance has been underwhelming in what has become a surprisingly tight race with Lamb.
The president nicknamed the Democrat 'Lamb the Sham', and claimed the former Marine was 'trying to act like a Republican' to win votes.    
Tuesday's race could signal how much help Trump can provide Republican congressional candidates trying to keep control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate in midterm elections next November.

Share or comment on this article

Did he say anything about gun control?

I'm not going to comment on what else he said. For me it's so sad to see that somebody tramples he laws and PC under foot and nobody seems to be able to stop him- and lots of people also celebrate him.

No one seems to want to stop him, those that should and could are getting what they want all the deals they want done. While the terrible child has his tantrums and embarrasses our country.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5487363/Putin-shows-world-start-World-War-III-new-missile.html

[size=34]Putin shows world how he could start World War Three with first successful launch of 'invulnerable' nuclear missile system which flies at 10 times the speed of sound[/size]

• President Vladimir Putin called hypersonic Kinzhal (Dagger) 'an ideal weapon'
  
  
• The high-speed, high-precision missile is capable of flying at almost 7,700mph
  
  
• Comes just days after Putin promised 'global catastrophe' in a Third World War
  
  

By AFP and IAIN BURNS FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 08:19 EDT, 11 March 2018 | UPDATED: 08:44 EDT, 11 March 2018

    

Russia said today that it successfully launched a hypersonic missile capable carrying a nuclear warhead.
President Vladimir Putin called it 'an ideal weapon' when he unveiled a new array of next-generation arms earlier this month.
The high-speed, high-precision Kinzhal (Dagger) missile - capable of flying at almost 7,700mph across 1,250 miles - was launched from a MiG-31 supersonic interceptor jet that took off from an airfield in the South Military District in Russia's southwest. 
'The launch went according to plan, the hypersonic missile hit its target,' the ministry added.








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The high-speed, high-precision Kinzhal (Dagger) missile - capable of flying at almost 7,700 mph -was launched from a MiG-31 supersonic interceptor jet that took off from an airfield in the South Military District in Russia's southwest


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President Vladimir Putin called it 'an ideal weapon' as he unveiled a new array of next-generation arms earlier this month


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'The launch went according to plan, the hypersonic missile hit its target,' the ministry added. Pictured: The missile flying through the sky in the video 


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The Kinzhal missile was one of an array of new weapons Putin unveiled in his state-of-the-nation address earlier this month, ahead of a presidential election on March 18 that he is all but guaranteed to win. Pictured: A still from the video released today 


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Set to rousing, patriotic music, the video shows the plane safely landing after test-firing its payload


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The ministry released video footage showing two pilots gearing up for a flight and then running towards a jet with a large missile slung beneath its underbelly
It comes just days after the belligerent Russian leader said he would unleash a 'global catastrophe' if a Third World War were to break out and threaten his country. 
The ministry released video footage showing two pilots gearing up for a flight and then running towards a jet with a large missile slung beneath its underbelly.
Set to rousing, patriotic music, the video then shows a missile detaching from the airborne plane and gliding across the dark sky, leaving a fiery trail behind.
Some 250 flights have been conducted in training for day and night launches, and in all weather conditions, it was reported. 
The Kinzhal missile was one of an array of new weapons Putin unveiled in his state-of-the-nation address earlier this month, ahead of a presidential election on March 18 that he is all but guaranteed to win.



Putin said the missile flies at 10 times the speed of the sound and can overcome air-defence systems.
The missile has been deployed in the Southern Military District since December 1, he added.
Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Facebook that work had also been done to modernise the 'unique' MiG-31 supersonic jet that will carry the missile.
Since the start of the year, more than 250 sorties have been carried out by the aircraft to perfect the work of the missile systems, the defence ministry said. 


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President Putin also showed the crowd video footage of a test of the new Sarmat missile, carried out last year

[size=18]Putin showcases new missile Sarmat during his Moscow speech



[/size]




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Social media users were quick to point out that this computer generated sequence from earlier in the month appears to show missiles raining down on the US state of Florida


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During his speech, Putin said the creation of the new weapons has made NATO's US-led missile defense 'useless'. Pictured: A demonstration of one of the weapons last week 
In his speech at the beginning of the month, Putin said Russia had tested an array of new nuclear weapons 'invulnerable to enemy interception.
He said the weapons include a nuclear-powered cruise missile and a nuclear-powered underwater drone.
He also showed video footage of the launch of a new heavy intercontinental ballistic missile on big screens.
The video footage also contained a computer-generated sequence showing the potential power and reach of the new rocket, which included bombs raining down over the US state of Florida.
During his speech, Putin said the creation of the new weapons has made NATO's US-led missile defense 'useless,' and means an effective end to what he described as Western efforts to block Russia's military development.


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In his speech at the beginning of the month, Putin said Russia had tested an array of new nuclear weapons 'invulnerable to enemy interception

[size=18]Putin: New nuclear missile is 'a powerful mighty weapon'



[/size]




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The Russian leader said the high-speed underwater drone (pictured) also has an 'intercontinental' range and is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead that could target both aircraft carriers and coastal facilities
He said: 'I want to tell all those who have fuelled the arms race over the last 15 years, sought to win unilateral advantages over Russia, introduced unlawful sanctions aimed to contain our country's development: All what you wanted to impede with your policies have already happened.
'You have failed to contain Russia.'
Speaking of the new arsenal, Putin said that the nuclear-powered cruise missile tested last fall has an unlimited range and high speed and maneuverability allowing it to pierce any missile defense.
The Russian leader said the high-speed underwater drone also has an 'intercontinental' range and is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead that could target both aircraft carriers and coastal facilities.
He said its operational depth and high speed would make it immune to enemy intercept, adding: 'It's just fantastic!'

A computer generated missile is seen separating and flying above the Earth's atmosphere in the video from earlier this month
Putin added to applause that names for the nuclear-powered cruise missile and the drone haven't yet been chosen, and suggested that the Defense Ministry run a nationwide contest for the best names.
The President accompanied his statement to an audience of hundreds of senior officials and lawmakers with videos and computer images of new weapons, which were shown on giant screens at a conference hall near the Kremlin.
'No-one in the world has anything like that,' he said. 'It may appear someday, but by that time we will develop something new.'  
Putin said that Russia also tested a new heavy intercontinental ballistic missile, called Sarmat, with a range and number of warheads exceeding its Soviet-era predecessor, known in the West as Satan.
He praised a new generation of young scientists working on such weaponry, calling them 'the heroes of our time'.
The Russian leader emphasised that the development of new weapons that have no equivalent in the West came in response to the US withdrawal from a Cold War-era treaty banning missile defenses and US efforts to develop a missile defense system.
He said that the US has ignored Russian complaints.
'No one has listened to us,' he said. 'You listen to us now.'
He said the new weapons will help ensure global stability and draw a line under attempts to weaken Russia.
He said the Kinzhal, or Dagger, already has been deployed in Russia's Southern Military District.
He said it's a hypersonic missile carried by an aircraft that that flies at 10 times the speed of sound with an unpredictable trajectory towards its target. 
Late last week, Putin said he would destroy the world with nuclear missiles if Russia came under attack.


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He made clear that if Russia was hit by nuclear weapons and faced being wiped out, then the world would not be worth saving.
In a TV documentary he said: 'I want to tell you, and I want this to be known here and abroad. 
'Our plans for using it (his nuclear arsenal), I am hoping it will never happen, our theoretical plans of using it is a so-called retaliatory, counter strike.
'A decision about using nuclear weapon can be made only if our missile warning system recorded not only the launch of missiles, but also gave an accurate prediction of flight trajectories and the time when the warheads fall on Russia.'
He said: 'This is called a retaliatory, counter strike, when we receive a legal right to respond.
'Yes this will be a global catastrophe for humankind. It will be a global catastrophe for the world.
'But as a citizen of Russia, as a head of the Russian state, I want to ask - why do we need a world if Russia ceases to exist?'

This story probably won't surprise anyone - but it explains quite a lot.........

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/03/russian-connection-what-happened-moscow-inside-story-trump-obsession-putin-david-corn-michael-isikoff/

I assume PAN Isikoff and Corn will be making the rounds of the cable news networks this week with the release of their book.

I just want to say last night I was watching cable news and they started televising the Trump rally.  I quickly changed the channel to watch another program.  Over an hour later I turn back and Trump was still on stage talking.  I couldn’t believe it.  What really pissed me off was the fact that both CNN and MSNBC chose to carry Trump’s entire speech.  During past presidencys news programs did not televise ‘stump’ speeches by a President for candidates. You’d  think news programs would have learned their lesson by giving this man so much exposure during the campaign.  I wonder now ....

I just saw Chuck Todd on Meet the Press interviewing Mnuchin about the president's unacceptable behaviour in his speech and how he would explain it to his children as acceptable - usual mantra back about the economy rather than his behaviour.....not sure how they get away it apart from the fact that interviews are so short becos of ad breaks. So then I start wondering who the shareholders are in the TV station and what pressure they bring to bear........

That was a pitiful interview PAN.  The only reason Mnuchin and others in the administration get away with it is because the Republican Party allows them to.  There are no repurcussions for any of Trump’s bad behavior.  Chuck Todd is one of the few media journalists who has tried to stay neutral, far more so that cable news journalists.  But you could see how frustrated he was with Mnuchin’s inadequate answers to his questions.

Watching Mnuchin in that interview the first thing that came to mind is that guy looks EXACTLY like Charlie McCarthy.  Do you know who I’m talking about?  The famous wooden dummy of ventriloquist Edgar Bergen.  I don’t think the guy moved his head once.
Telling and speaks volumes doesn’t it?

Yes, I think so, but I have yet to see Mnuchin turn his head!

This is surprising.....

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/jared-kushner-brother-gave-50-000-march-lives-article-1.3868484

Interesting. I bought the News today and didn't see any mention of this. Maybe I missed it - or maybe it's only in the online edition (which I didn't look at, since I got the actual paper).

Anyway, if true, it's nice to know that someone in that family has a soul.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5487747/Trump-propose-arming-school-staff-raising-gun-purchase-age.html

[size=34]Trump PULLS BACK from big changes to gun laws after Florida shooting as White House unveils safety proposals that DON'T include raising minimum age for buying long guns to 21[/size]

• The White House unveiled gun and school safety proposals on Sunday night
  
  
• They include arming teachers but backtrack on president Donald Trump's previous calls to raise the minimum age to purchase certain firearms to 21
  
  
• The proposals were also expected to include support for banning bump stocks but they make no mention of it 
  
  
• The president is establishing a Federal Commission on School Safety that will be headed by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and 
  
  
• These announcements come nearly a month after a 19-year-old killed 17 people at a mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, renewing debate over gun control
  
  

By GERMANIA RODRIGUEZ FOR DAILYMAIL.COM 
PUBLISHED: 11:42 EDT, 11 March 2018 | UPDATED: 01:10 EDT, 12 March 2018

    


The White House has unveiled gun and school safety proposals that include arming teachers but backtrack on president Donald Trump's previous calls to raise the minimum age to purchase certain firearms to 21. 
The Trump administration's proposals vow to provide 'rigorous firearms training' to 'specially qualified' teachers on a voluntary basis. This includes assistance from the Department of Justice which will offer firearm training to school staff through their local agencies.
Sunday night's announcements also included news that the president is establishing a Federal Commission on School Safety that will be headed by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.


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The White House has announced plans to arm teachers but has backtracked on president Donald Trump's previous calls to raise the minimum age to purchase certain firearms to 21


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The president is establishing a Federal Commission on School Safety that will be headed by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos (pictured)
The commission will largely focus on mental health and strengthening school security, but will also explore other solutions such as raising the age requirements for gun purchases, according to the White House. 

Today's announcements did not say when the commission's findings will be released, but an official said it would be within a year. 
'Far too often the focus has been only on the most contentious fights -- the things that have divided people and sent them into their entrenched corners,' Devos said on Sunday, according to CNN. 
'But the plan that we're going to advance and talk about is a pragmatic plan to dramatically increase school safety and to take steps to do so right away.' 
As part of the the proposals, the Department of Homeland Security will work with state and local authorities in a public awareness campaign based on their 'see something, say something' anti-terrorism campaign.
The White House plans also mention supporting the transition of military veterans and retired law enforcement officials into education-related careers.  
These proposals were expected to include raising the minimum age for buying long guns to 21, a measure Trump has said he would support, but the unveiled plans make no mention of this.


+8


 Students have mobilized to call for stricter gun control laws after the deaths of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School at the hands of a 19-year-old former student


+8


Trump held a listening session with gun violence victims last month (pictured) following the Parkland shooting



During a February 28 meeting, the president said: 'Now, this is not a popular thing to say, in terms of the NRA. But I'm saying it anyway, you can buy a handgun - you can't buy one; you have to wait until you're 21. 
'But you can buy the kind of weapon used in the school shooting at 18. I think it's something you have to think about.'
Also expected was support for banning bump stocks, a modification to high-capacity rifles that lets them fire like an automatic weapon.
Shooter Stephen Paddock used a bump stock in an October 2017 shooting rampage in Las Vegas that left 58 people dead and more than 850 injured - the worst mass shooting in American history.
However, the proposals made no mention of this.  
Critics of the president slammed the White House's announcements, claiming Trump backed down from supporting raising the minimum age for gun purchases because of pressure from the National Riffle Association, the powerful lobbying group.


+8




+8



Nikolas Cruz, 19, (left) killed 17 people last month at a school shooting in Florida, and Stephen Paddock (right) used a bump stock in 2017 to kill 58 people and injure 850 others in Las Vegas


+8


Trump was expected to announce his support for banning bump stocks (pictured in a stock photo), but the proposals announced ion Sunday said nothing on the matter

'This plan is weak on security and an insult to the victims of gun violence,' Democratic Senator Robert P. Casey Jr. said in a statement to the Washington Post.
'When it comes to keeping our families safe, it's clear that President Trump and Congressional Republicans are all talk and no action.'
Co-president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence said in a statement: 'President Trump has offered only drips of water in response to a five-alarm fire.'
The White House announcements did, as expected, include official support for a bipartisan Senate bill known as Fix NICS that Republican Senator John Cornyn and Democratic Senator Chris Murphy introduced to improve federal compliance with criminal background checks. 
The news on school safety measures come nearly a month after a mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, renewed debate over gun control.
Student survivors of the shooting have mobilized to call for stricter gun control laws after the deaths of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School at the hands of a 19-year-old former student. 





+8


On Friday, the NRA filed a lawsuit against the state of Florida after a Republican Governor Rick Scott signed a law that bans the purchase of firearms by anyone younger than 21

[size=18]Florida Governor Rick Scott signs gun bill to ban bump stocks



[/size]

During his presidential campaign, Trump touted his support for gun rights and was endorsed by the NRA.
Since the Florida shooting, he has offered conflicting statements about his views on gun policies, at times calling for new restrictions and at other times rowing back on his comments.
Trump has recently held listening sessions with gun violence victims, legislators and with the NRA - which on Friday filed a lawsuit against the state of Florida after a Republican Governor Rick Scott signed a law that bans the purchase of firearms by anyone younger than 21.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5490145/Trump-Jr-partners-donor-pitched-govt.html

[size=34]Donald Trump Jr.'s hunting buddy who helped raise millions for 2016 campaign has had special access to top officials since the election[/size]

• Donald Trump Jr. and Texas hedge fund manager Gentry Beach have long claimed they're just friends
  
  
• But the president's eldest son and the Republican donor have a previously undisclosed business relationship
  
  
• Last February, Beach and an Iraqi-American businessman met with top officials at the National Security Council
  
  
• They presented a plan for lightening U.S. sanctions in Venezuela in exchange for opening business opportunities for U.S. companies there 
  
  
• Seven months later Beach attended a private lunch in Dallas between Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Republican donors, including some in big oil
  
  

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
PUBLISHED: 06:20 EDT, 12 March 2018 | UPDATED: 08:30 EDT, 12 March 2018

    


Donald Trump Jr. has a previously undisclosed business relationship with a longtime hunting buddy who helped raise millions of dollars for his father's 2016 presidential campaign and has had special access to top government officials since the election, records obtained by The Associated Press show.
The president's eldest son and Texas hedge fund manager Gentry Beach have been involved in business deals together dating back to the mid-2000s and recently formed a company – Future Venture LLC – despite past claims by both men that they were just friends, according to previously unreported court records and other documents obtained by AP.
Beach last year met with top National Security Council officials to push a plan that would curb U.S. sanctions in Venezuela and open up business for U.S. companies in the oil-rich nation.
Ethics experts said their financial entanglements raised questions about whether Beach's access to government officials and advocacy for policy changes were made possible by the president's son's influence – and could also benefit the Trump family's bottom line.


+4


Donald Trump Jr. and Texas hedge fund manager Gentry Beach have long claimed they're just friends, but the president's eldest son and the Republican donor have a previously undisclosed business relationship


+4


Tommy Hicks Jr, Donald Trump and Gentry Beach (right) are pictured at an undated event
'This feeds into the same concerns that we've had all along: The really fuzzy line between the presidency and the Trumps' companies,' said Noah Bookbinder, who leads Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a public policy group. 'Donald Trump Jr. sort of straddles that line all the time.'

Last February, just as Trump Sr. was settling into office, Beach and an Iraqi-American businessman met with top officials at the National Security Council to present their plan for lightening U.S. sanctions in Venezuela in exchange for opening business opportunities for U.S. companies, according to a former U.S. official with direct knowledge of the proposal.
Career foreign policy experts were instructed to take the meetings, first reported last April by the website Mic.com, at the direction of the West Wing because Beach and the businessman were friends of Trump Jr., the official said.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive government work, said that inside the NSC lawyers raised red flags about the appropriateness of the meeting.
The U.S. didn't act on the pitch, which would have gone against the president's hard-line stance on the South American nation and its president, Nicolas Maduro.
Seven months after the Venezuela meetings, Beach attended a private lunch in Dallas between Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Republican donors, including businessmen with petroleum interests, according to a copy of Zinke's schedule.


+4


Beach's friendship with Don Jr. dates back a long time: The pair are shown with Alex Tisch and Kevin Glaser in 2006 at an 'Operation Smile' benefit event


+4


President Trump could find his eldest son's business ties an unwelcome distraction

[size=10][size=18]Ethics groups condemn Trump Jr.'s visit to India promoting condos
[/size][/size]

The Interior Department didn't respond to a request for comment about the meetings. A White House official said Trump Jr. didn't arrange Beach's visit to the NSC and his proposal was dismissed.
In a statement, the Trump Organization said Trump Jr. has never played a role arranging meetings 'with anyone at the White House or any other government agency.'
Alan Garten, the Trump Organization's general counsel, acknowledged that Trump Jr. had invested with Beach in the past, but referred AP to a statement released by the company in April, which said their relationship was 'strictly personal.'
In a statement provided by a friend, Beach said it was 'absolutely not true' that he'd ever 'used my longtime personal friendship with Donald Trump Jr.' to influence government decision making.
According to his friends, Beach, who has known Trump Jr. since they attended the University of Pennsylvania together in the late 1990s, developed his own relationships during the campaign and inauguration and doesn't need Trump Jr. to broker introductions.
Beach was an avid fundraiser and campaigner for President Trump, particularly in Texas, where Trump Jr. told donors last March that Beach and another longtime hunting pal, Tom Hicks Jr., raised millions for his father's campaign, according to the Dallas Morning News.

After the election, Beach served as a finance vice chairman for the inaugural committee and faced scrutiny after a nonprofit he started at the time advertised hunting and fishing trips with Trump Jr. and his brother, Eric, to million-dollar donors.
Last October, Beach incorporated a business called Future Venture LLC in Delaware without listing any Trump connection, signing himself as the entity's agent.
But a disclosure report filed with New York City officials and obtained by AP via a public records request shows Trump Jr. is named as the president, secretary and treasurer of the company.
The purpose of the limited liability company could not be determined from the filings. The Trump Organization said it was set up to pursue technology investments.
Previously unreported court documents show that the two men, each a godfather to one of the other's sons, did business together well before they formed Future Venture.

In a 2010 deposition, Trump Jr. testified that he had twice made investments in ventures that Beach had an interest in: $200,000 in a dry Texas oil well managed by Beach's father and an undisclosed amount in a failed mining stock affiliated with Beach's uncle.
In August 2008, while the two men were golfing together in New York, Beach suggested Trump Jr. sell his shares in the tanking stock 'if you need the tax loss,' according to a copy of his testimony filed in a long running civil lawsuit between Beach and a former employer, hedge funder Paul Touradji.
Beach's father, Gary Beach, was convicted last month of federal bankruptcy fraud after a seven-day trial in Dallas.
Trump Jr. testified that he had other business discussions with Beach – but not all of them came to fruition, including a plan to buy a hunting preserve in Mexico with Beach.
Trump Jr. also referred Beach to someone he knew from Saudi Arabia when Beach was working on a potential oil purchase and invested $50,000 along with his sister Ivanka in an Argentine resort developed by one of Beach's friends, he testified.
Trump Jr. estimated he exchanged roughly 500 emails with Beach at the time of his 2010 deposition.
Pressed for details about the oil well deal in his deposition, Trump Jr. indicated he wasn't well versed in the oil-and-gas business.
'You know, I put some money with a friend,' he testified.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5490833/DeVos-struggles-answer-basic-questions-60-Minutes.html




[size=34]Education Secretary struggles to answer basic questions about education on '60 Minutes' as she fumbles answers on school choice, campus rapes and racism
[/size]

• Education Secretary Betsy DeVos struggled in an interview on the CBS program
  
  
• She admitted to interviewer Leslie Stahl that she hadn't visited a low-performing school
  
  
• 'I have not intentionally visited schools that are underperforming," DeVos told CBS's Leslie Stahl'
  
  
• DeVos, a major backer of school choice in Michigan, struggled to defend the program in her home state 
  
  
• DeVos backs charter schools and vouchers that allow students to pay for private and parochial education 
  
  
• Pitched the Trump administration's armed teachers proposal 
  
  
• She said she couldn't imagine her own First Grade teacher, Mrs. Zorhoff, carrying a gun 
  
  

By GEOFF EARLE, DEPUTY U.S. POLITICAL EDITOR FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 10:40 EDT, 12 March 2018 | UPDATED: 11:12 EDT, 12 March 2018


    

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos struggled her way through an interview with '60 Minutes' as she tried to pitch her school choice positions and admitted she hadn't deliberately visited underperforming schools.
The controversial cabinet member from Michigan had trouble explaining poor school performance in her home state despite her own multi-million contributions to programs that support vouchers for public as well as private and religious schools.
At one point she even admitted to correspondent Leslie Stahl that ''I have not intentionally visited schools that are underperforming.'  
'Have the public schools in Michigan gotten better?' Stahl asked her during one exchange.

'I don’t know. Overall, I, I can’t say overall that they have all gotten better,' DeVos responded. 



SCHOOLED: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos struggled on '60 Minutes' to answer questions about low-performing schools in her home state of Michigan
'The whole state is not doing well,' said Stahl, speaking to DeVos in her home state.
'Well, there are certainly lots of pockets where this, the students are doing well,' she responded.   
'I hesitate to talk about all schools in general because schools are made up of individual students attending them,' Stahl said at one point, notwithstanding her agency's mission of improving education nationally. 
'Michigan schools need to do better. There is no doubt about it,' she said.
'Have you seen the really bad schools? Maybe try to figure out what they’re doing?' Stahl asked, continuing to press her.
'I have not, I have not, I have not intentionally visited schools that are underperforming,' she said. 
Scroll down for video 



STAHL TACTICS: Host Leslie Stahl repeatedly pressed DeVos about what happens to students left in low-performing public schools



'I have not intentionally visited schools that are underperforming," DeVos told CBS's Leslie Stahl,' in her most damaging answer



'Maybe you should,' volunteered Stahl.
'Maybe I should. Yes,' DeVos responded. 
Her performance got panned in multiple media outlets.   
Stahl also got asked about administration changes to Title IX rules that make it harder for accusers to prove accusations charging sexual assault, the Washington Post noted.   




Betsy DeVos sat down with 60 minutes for the March 11, 2018 program
'Are you in any way, do you think, suggesting that the number of false accusations are as high as the number of actual rapes or assaults?' Stahl asked.
'Well, one sexual assault is one too many, and one falsely accused individual is one too many,' DeVos responded.
'Yeah, but are they the same?' the interviewer pressed.
 'I don’t know. I don’t know. But I’m committed to a process that’s fair for everyone involved,' said DeVos.
 Asked about the Trump administration's proposal to let teachers carry concealed weapons, she responded: 
'That should be an option for states and communities to consider. And I hesitate to think of, like, my first-grade teacher, Mrs. Zorhoff, I couldn't ever imagine her having a gun and being trained in that way,' DeVos said. 
'But for those who are-- who are capable, this is one solution that can and should be considered. But no one size fits all. Every state and every community is going to address this issue in a different way,' she added.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5492729/House-Republicans-end-Russia-probe-say-no-evidence-collusion.html

[size=34]BREAKING NEWS: Republicans END House probe into Russian collusion saying there is NO EVIDENCE Putin meddled to help Trump beat Hillary[/size]

• 'We found no evidence of collusion' said GOP Rep. Mike Conaway of Texas
  
  
• Democrats have yet to see the 150-page report 
  
  
• The House panel experienced partisan warfare over the probe 
  
  
• 'We found perhaps some bad judgment, inappropriate meetings, inappropriate judgment in taking meetings,' Conaway said 
  
  
• Said Don Jr.'s Trump Tower meeting with Kremlin-linked lawyer 'should never have taken place'
  
  
• A bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee probe continues, as does special counsel Robert Mueller's probe 
  
  
• The Republican report 'how anti-Trump research made its way from Russian sources to the Clinton campaign' 
  
  
• Focus on the golden showers dossier, which included Russian sources of information
  
  

By ASSOCIATED PRESS and GEOFF EARLE, DEPUTY U.S. POLITICAL EDITOR FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 18:18 EDT, 12 March 2018 | UPDATED: 19:09 EDT, 12 March 2018

    

Republicans on the House intelligence committee are ending their probe of Russian interference in the elections and have finished a draft report concluding there was 'no collusion' with President Trump's campaign.
That conclusion is a stark departure with what the Intelligence Community found in a report issued in January of 2017 that Russia interfered in the elections and had a 'clear preference' for Trump.
 The draft report concludes there was no collusion or coordination between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and Russia.
The finding is sure to please the White House and enrage panel Democrats who have not yet seen the document and argue that more investigation is needed.

After a yearlong investigation, Texas Rep. Mike Conaway says the committee has finished conducting dozens of witness interviews and will share the report with Democrats on Tuesday. 


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In the clear - from Republicans: Republicans on the House intelligence committee have completed a draft report concluding there was no collusion or coordination between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and Russia.
'We found no evidence of collusion,' Conaway said.
Conaway is the Republican leading the House probe.
The public will not see the report until Democrats have reviewed it and the intelligence community has decided what information can become public, a process that could take weeks. Democrats are expected to issue a separate report with much different conclusions.



Conaway said the panel's probe found some 'bad judgement,' but no collusion.
He acknowledged that an infamous June 2016 meeting between Donald Trump Jr., a Russian lawer promising dirt on Hillary Clinton, Paul Manafort, and Jared Kushner shouldn't have happened.
'That meeting should never have taken place,' Conaway said. 'But we can't find anything that leads us to a collusion string.' 
'We found perhaps some bad judgment, inappropriate meetings, inappropriate judgment in taking meetings — but only Tom Clancy could take this series of inadvertent contacts, meetings, whatever, and weave that into some sort of a spy thriller that could go out there.'


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'NO COLLUSION':  Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas said: 'We found no evidence of collusion' in the investigation
He also said of the committee: 'We couldn't establish the same conclusion that the CIA did that they specifically wanted to help Trump,' he said, The Hill reported.
That failure is distinctly at odds with what the Intelligence Community found in a joint report issued shortly after the elections.
According to the IC report: 'The Intelligence Community found in their January 2017 report: 'We assess Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election. Russia's goals were to undermine public faith in the US democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency. We further assess Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump. We have high confidence in these judgments.' 
'We also assess Putin and the Russian Government aspired to help President-elect Trump’s election chances when possible by discrediting Secretary Clinton and publicly contrasting her unfavorably to him,' the report found. 


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OUT OF THE LOOP: Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has yet to receive the Republican-drafted report
Panel chairman Devin Nunes of California issued a statement that thanked only Republican members of his panel – a sign of the partisan strife that has broken out there.
'After more than a year, the Committee has finished its Russia investigation and will now work on completing our report. I'd like to thank Congressmen Trey Gowdy, Tom Rooney, and especially Mike Conaway for the excellent job they've done leading this investigation,' Nunes said.
'I'd also like to recognize the hard work undertaken by our other Committee members as well as our staff. Once the Committee's final report is issued, we hope our findings and recommendations will be useful for improving security and integrity for the 2018 midterm elections.'
Republicans and Democrats on the panel recently issued competing memos about the FBI's conduct in the Russia and Hillary Clinton probes.
Conaway said he expects Democrats to make changes to the report – although finding anything close to agreement on the fractured panel would be extremely challenging.


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Conaway said Donald Trump Jr.'s Trump Tower meeting with Kremlin-linked lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya  'should never have taken place'
In addition to backing up Trump's 'no collusion' claim, the report puts forward the president's argument that the Clinton camp had Russia ties – by way of the Steele Dossier, which ex British intelligence officer Christopher Steele drafted on contract with political intelligence firm Fusion GPS based on his own research, which included Russian sources of information. 
The Republican draft will look at 'how anti-Trump research made its way from Russian sources to the [Hillary] Clinton campaign,' Conaway said, in an apparent reference to the dossier.
'We will say that there was an attempt to use foreign sources with respect to the Clinton campaign,' he continued.
'It was clear that it there was — at least Steele and however much he talked and didn't talk to Russians — that's foreigners and that information was paid for by the DNC and the Clinton campaign,' Conaway said. He also added:  'I don't have any direct evidence that they knew about it.'
Conaway's statements also are at odds with the indictments of 13 Russians handed down by Mueller's office last month.
According to the indictments, which reference the online information campaign carried out from a notorious St. Petersburg Russia troll farm, 'Defendants posted derogatory information about a number of candidates, and by early to mid-2016, Defendants' operations included supporting the presidential campaign of then-candidate Donald J. Trump ('Trump Campaign') and disparaging Hillary Clinton.' 
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence panel, has yet to receive the Republican-drafted report Monday and hadn't been told as of Monday afternoon that the GOP had decided to end the interview portion of the probe, CNN reported.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5492593/GOP-candidate-calls-Parkland-student-skinhead-lesbian.html

[size=34]Republican candidate for the Maine House calls Parkland massacre survivor Emma Gonzalez a 'skinhead lesbian' and her classmate David Hogg a 'bald-faced liar' in series of vile tweets [/size]

• Leslie Gibson called Parkland survivor Emma Gonzalez a 'skinhead lesbian'
  
  
• He also called survivor and high school student David Hogg a 'bald-faced liar'
  
  
• The insults came in a series of Tweets attacking the Florida massacre survivors
  
  
• Gibson is a GOP candidate running for the Maine House of Representatives  
  
  
• He is currently running unopposed and local Democrat organizers are looking for someone to challenge him in the upcoming race
  
  

By ABIGAIL MILLER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM and ASSOCIATED PRESS
PUBLISHED: 17:35 EDT, 12 March 2018 | UPDATED: 02:11 EDT, 13 March 2018

    


Leslie Gibson, who is currently the only declared candidate for the 57th district in Maine, took to Twitter to attack two of the survivors of the Parkland High School shooting - calling one a 'skinhead lesbian' and the other a 'bald-face liar'
A Republican candidate for the Maine House of Representatives took to Twitter to attack two of the survivors of the Parkland High School shooting - calling one a 'skinhead lesbian' and the other a 'bald-face liar.' 
Leslie Gibson, who is currently the only declared candidate for the 57th district, was speaking about two of the most prominent survivors of the massacre, Emma Gonzalez and David Hogg respectively when he made his comments. 
'There's nothing about this skinhead lesbian that impresses me and there is nothing to say unless you're frothing at the mouth moonbat,' Gibson wrote in a response to a The Hill article about Gonzalez. 

In a later tweet he said calling her a survivor disingenuous because 'she was in a completely different part of the school,' than where the students were gunned down.  
The political hopeful also called Hogg a 'bald-faced liar' after a comment the teen made in a CNN interview in which she said NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch 'owns congressmen.' 
'Dana Loesch 'owns' Congressmen?' Gibson said about Hogg's interview. 'Completely absurd. Hogg doesn't get a pass when he blatantly lies.' 


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The GOP candidate was speaking about two of the most prominent survivors of the massacre, Emma Gonzalez and David Hogg respectively when he made his comments


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'There's nothing about this skinhead lesbian that impresses me and there is nothing to say unless you're frothing at the mouth moonbat,' Gibson wrote in a response to a The Hill article about Gonzalez
After receiving backlash for the comments, he took to twitter to 'sincerely apologize,' for the homophobic remark and to say it was 'inappropriate to single out these students regardless of whether I agree with their message or not.' 
He also added that he 'took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States' during his military career. 
'To me, that oath has no expiration date. However my passion for defending our rights must be tempered with civility, and that did not happen in this instance.' 



Patt Fogg, a Democratic organize in Greene, Maine, said left-wing voters are trying to find a candidate to run against Gibson for the seat. 
'I with I knew someone who could get into this race,' Fogg told the Sun Journal. 
'That sort of stupidity really turns people off.' 
Party candidates have until Thursday to file a petition and claim a spot on the ballet, though Independent politicians can file until June 1.  


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In a later tweet he said calling Gonzalez (pictured after speaking about gun control at a rally on February 17) a survivor disingenuous because 'she was in a completely different part of the school,' than where the students were gunned down


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The political hopeful also called Hogg a 'bald-faced liar' after a comment the teen made in a CNN interview in which she said NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch 'owns congressmen'
Gibson appears to have since deleted his personal Twitter account,though his campaign account remains active. 
Gonzalez and Fogg have so far been two of the most vocal and prominent of the survivors of the shooting that left 17 dead at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14.
Gonzales, 18, has identified herself a Cuban bisexual in a piece she wrote for Harpar's Bazaar in which she described many of her interests before saying: 'but none of this matters anymore.' 
'What matters is that the majority of American people have become complacent in a senseless injustice that occurs all around them,' she wrote, referring to school shootings. 
'What matters is that most American politicians have become more easily swayed by money than by the people who voted them into office.
'What matters is that my friends are dead, along with hundreds upon hundreds of others all over the United States.'
Hogg has also been incredibly vocal since the Valentine's Day tragedy, and has repeatedly called out NRA members both in person and on Twitter. 
Just after the massacre he was one of a few accused of being a crisis actor and not a real student survivor.

Leslie E. Gibson needs to ask himself why he, a grown man, is so angry  with a couple of kids just because they don't want people shooting at them. Would he be happier if they had died? Would their arguments be valid then?

He also needs to be reminded that he is no longer in the military. The US is not a war zone (yet!) and these kids are not the enemy - they are our future.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-43388723


Trump just fired Tillerson.........

He didn't agree and see things the idiots way so he was fired.

If he gets elected the people in his state need to have their heads checked. He is horrible with obviously no common sense or judgement.

What did he expect o happen people to applaud his ridiculous comments.

I guess there is no accounting for honor or dignity when some of these losers run for political office.  Too bad for this Maine district that Gibson is the only declared candidate.  There must be some decent Democrat in that district to run against this rude and clearly unfit character.  Mickey Mouse would do ...

I think Trump was planning to fire Tillerson for some time and was waiting for the right moment to divert everyone’s attention.  Focus on the firing and look away from Stormy Daniels and the Russian investigation.  New reports came out about Roger Stone’s contact with Assange.  There is also a decent chance that a Democrat is going to win a special election today despite Trump’s big rally last week to stump for the Republican.  Possibly another loss for Trump.   I didn’t think Tillerson was a good Secretary or State but I definitely don’t think Pompeo is going to be any better for different reasons.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-5495441/Parkland-Florida-students-parody-NRA-ad-anti-gun-video.html

[size=34]'We've had enough of the lies. The sanctimony. The ignorance': 16-year-old Parkland shooting survivor calls out the NRA in parody of its own video that blasted gun control supporters[/size]

• On March 4, the NRA released a commercial in which spokesperson Dana Loesch criticizes those who support gun control measures
  
  
• In the video, Dana addresses opponents and flips over an hourglass, indicating that their time is almost up
  
  
• Several students who survived the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, worked together to recreate the ad in order to share a very different message
  
  
• In their spoof version, student Sarah Chadwick addresses the NRA and politicians who support it in a similar style to that in Dana's original video
  
  

By CARLY STERN FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 12:43 EDT, 13 March 2018 | UPDATED: 15:18 EDT, 13 March 2018

    


Students who survived the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last month have satirized the NRA with a new parody commercial.
On March 4, the NRA released a minute-long video starring spokesperson Dana Loesch, in which she criticizes everyone from politicians to the media to professional athletes for their stances on gun legislation.
Now several teens from Parkland, Florida have created their own ad, copying Dana's style while slamming everything she stands for — and their version, starring 16-year-old Sarah Chadwick, has been liked more than three times more than the original. 

[size=10][size=18]Parkland survivor mocks the NRA's 'Time's up' video

[/size][/size]

Alison Jackson mocks up the Royal family on Mothering …

Satire: 16-year-old Parkland shooting survivor Sarah Chadwick stars in a new spoof video (left) created by a group of the school's students to parody one shared by the NRA (right)


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Speaking out: 'We've had enough of the lies. The sanctimony. The ignorance,' Sarah begins the clip, repeating many of Dana's own words with a few additions and tweaks of her own
Two days after the NRA's ad was released, several students who lived through the massacre in Florida released their own version on Twitter, parodying Dana's style and language to get their own message across.

In the clip, student activist Sarah stands next to an hourglass, like Dana did in her video. She wears a March for Our Lives sweater, promoting the planned protest set to take place in Washington, D.C. on March 24.
'We've had enough of the lies. The sanctimony. The ignorance,' she begins, repeating many of Dana's own words with a few additions and tweaks of her own.
'The hatred, the pettiness, the NRA. We are done with your agenda to undermine the safety of our nation's youth and the individual voices of the American people,' she goes on.
'So to every government official unwilling to take action and make change, to everyone with an A+ rating from the National Rifle Association. To every spokeswoman with an hourglass, who uses free speech to alter and undermine what our flag represents...
'To the politicians who would rather America's youth die than get assault weapon's off the shelves, to the manipulative lobbyists who think their political stances should be the only ones supported by legislation... 

• RA calls out 'lying media' and 'Hollywood phonies' in fiery ad
  
  

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Joke's on them: The original video starred Dana Loesch, who calls out several groups of people that have promoted gun control measures


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Opposing views: In the new clip, Sarah copies Dana's video but calls out people and groups who work against all gun control measures, instead of those who support them



Take that: Sarah mocked Dana in a tweet responding to the video
'To those who refuse to accept common stance gun safety as a bipartisan issue, to those who call high school students paid crisis actors and refuse to listen...
'Your time is running out. The clock starts now,' she says, flipping over her hourglass.
The ad closely mimicked the original commercial, which aired during the Oscars and was also shared on Twitter.
In that one, Dana  stands in front of a plain black background and also has an hourglass next to her. She speaks to the camera, calling out political opponents in steady, pointed lecture. 
'We've had enough of the lies. The sanctimony. The arrogance,' she said. 'The hatred, the pettiness, the fake news. We are done with your agenda to undermine voters' will and individual liberty in America. 


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Team: Several survivors, including Emma González, worked on the video



Safety: Diego Pfeiffer, another survivor, was also involved in the clip, which called out the NRA



Budget: Adam Alhanti said they didn't spend any money making the video


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Crew: The group came together to criticize 'every government official unwilling to take action and make change' and 'everyone with an A+ rating from the National Rifle Association'
'So to every lying member of the media, to every Hollywood phony, to the role model athletes who use their free speech to alter and undermine what our flag represents...
'To the politicians who would rather watch America burn than lose one ounce of their own personal power, to the late night hosts who think their opinions are the only opinions that matter...
'To the Julianne Reeds, the Morning Joes, the Mikas, to those who stain honest reporting with partisanship. To those who bring bias and propaganda to CNN, The Washington Post, and The New York Times...
'Your time is running out. The clock starts now,' she concludes, turning over the hourglass next to her.


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Support: The teen activists' video has been liked more than 65,000 times and has support from Rosie O'Donnell


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Familiar? A few commenters jokingly compared Dana to the Wicket Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz
While the NRA's video earned almost 20,000 likes on Twitter, Sarah's post has been liked over 65,000 times so far — and the number is still growing.
'I told you we have our own hourglass too,' the teen wrote in a tweet to Dana.
Several of her classmates chimed in too. In a behind-the-scenes clip, at least four other people can be seen in the room with Sarah during production of the video.
Adam Alhanti, one of the student crew members, wrote that the video cost them $0 to make — presumably much less than the NRA's version.
Emma González, who has earned international attention for a speech she made following the shooting, noted that she was the boom operator, and Diego Pfeiffer tweeted that he was the lighting director.


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A different kind of pro-life: The video was used to promote the upcoming March for Our Lives demonstration



For it: Sarah and her classmates have been using the hashtag #IWillMarch to talk about the protest


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Powerful: The teens have been using social media to spread their message and gain support



One survivor, Jaclyn Corin, said she is marching so that one day her own children will be able to feel safer


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Another survivor, Cmaeron Kasky, said he is marching for those who can't because they were killed due to gun violence
Ryan Deitsch was the director, and Sofie Whitney was the teleprompter holder.
Thousands of people on the social media platform have also written to the teens, applauding them for the video and their continued activism.
One particularly well-liked tweet compared an image of Dana and her hourglass to a still from the Wizard of Oz, showing the Wicked Witch of the West with the hourglass counting down Dorothy's life.
Rosie O'Donnell showed her support, as did thousands of others.
The shooting survivors have also taken to Twitter with the hashtag #IWillMarch to further promote the March for Our Lives, sharing their reasons in a series of poignant tweets.


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Not resting: Since the shooting a tMarjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on February 14, there has been a steady stream of protests


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Making change: Several students, including Emma (pictured) have become leaders of the movement
'#IWillMarch so our future generations don’t have to,' Sarah wrote. '#IWillMarch so no child will have to go through what my classmates, myself, and so many more have gone through.'
'#IWillMarch to show that I cannot and will not be silenced. To show that I do everything for those that we lost and those that survived. I march for myself and for every student,' wrote classmate Delaney Tarr.
'#IWillMarch to push legislation that should’ve happened years ago, will you join us on March 24th??' asked John Barnitt.
'#IWillMarch for the kids who deal with gun violence everyday and are disregarded by the media,' added Jaclyn Corn. '#IWillMarch for the kids who deal with gun violence everyday and are disregarded by the media.'