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December 2016

Posted by Leslie Eastman on December 04, 2016 9 Comments
Tennessee officials are now reporting that at least 13 people have died during the current wildfire disaster.
The fires, described as the state's largest in 100 years, are believed to be human-caused, authorities said. Twelve of the victims died as a direct result of the firestorm, and one victim died of a heart attack while trying to escape a blaze, officials said at a news conference this morning. The briefing was held in Gatlinburg -- one the worst-hit cities in Sevier County.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on December 04, 2016 14 Comments
A raid conducted by authorities in Ghana shut down a fake U. S. embassy that was set up and run by a crime ring who issued legitimate visas and other documents to anyone who could pay for them. It is not yet known where they got the genuine U. S. passports, birth certificates, visas, and other documents.  Such documents for other countries were also found at the site. It is also not known how many of these documents were used to illegally enter the U. S. over the past ten years.

Posted by Mike LaChance on December 04, 2016 32 Comments
On Saturday night it was announced that the Green Party had dropped its recount efforts in Pennsylvania. CBS News in Pittsburgh reported:
Green Party Drops Statewide Pennsylvania Recount Green Party-backed voters dropped a court case Saturday night that had sought to force a statewide recount of Pennsylvania’s Nov. 8 presidential election, won by Republican Donald Trump, in what Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein had framed as an effort to explore whether voting machines and systems had been hacked and the election result manipulated.

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 03, 2016 25 Comments
Has WWIII started? I thought I'd wake up to a desolate United States after the way the media treated President-elect Donald Trump's call with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, which is the "first time a president or president-elect has spoken with the leader of Taiwan since Washington established diplomatic ties with Beijing in 1979." Of course China threw a hissy fit and lodged a protest with Washington:
“It must be pointed out that there is only one China in the world,” the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday, adding that it had lodged “solemn representations with the US”.
But as far as I know the world has not ended or China has not severed ties. The dependence on America (yes, China needs America) has shown that China will not retaliate against America except with a few strong words.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on December 03, 2016 36 Comments
As Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Lindsey Graham (R[?]-SC) rush to make Obama's Dreamer executive order (EO) law, cat fights are erupting on Twitter regarding immigration and Trump's intentions in this regard. In 2010, the DREAM Act failed in the Senate, so Obama picked up his pen and his phone and, by EO, made it happen.  Now, Republicans are working again with Democrats to revive the failed bill . . . they hope before Obama leaves office, though this is highly unlikely. The Hill reports:
Democratic and Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are working on legislation that would limit deportations if President-elect Donald Trump repeals President Obama’s executive orders on illegal immigration.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on December 03, 2016 27 Comments
President-elect Trump's deal with Carrier to keep a thousand jobs in America is drawing fire from an unexpected source.  Former Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin is slamming the deal as an example of crony capitalism. Writing at Young Conservatives, Palin explains that the government picking winners and losers is always a bad idea, even when "our guy," the good guy does it.  She begins, though, with heartfelt good wishes for the Carrier employees who will be keeping their jobs and having a far better Christmas than they expected.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on December 03, 2016 38 Comments
The nation's largest sanctuary cities, San Francisco and New York City, are busily revisiting their budgets in anticipation of President-elect Trump taking office and making good on his pledge to slash federal monies sanctuary cities currently receive. From the federal government, San Francisco gets a billion dollars each year, and New York City gets approximately $7 billion each year.   For some perspective, NYC receives more money from the federal government than the state budgets for Delaware ($4.1 billion), Mississippi ($6.4 billion), New Hampshire ($5.7 billion), Oklahoma ($6.8 billion), South Dakota ($4.5 billion), and Vermont ($5.8 billion). San Francisco is struggling with budget-related problems already, and with Trump's threat of withdrawing up to a billion federal tax dollars, the city is anticipating further budget issues.
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