Trump Still Believes 'Birther' Obama Conspiracy

President Donald Trump still believes that former President Barack Obama’s birth certificate may be fake, The New York Times reported Tuesday. A senator told the publication that Trump has still not moved on from the conspiracy theory with which he launched his political career.

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GOP Strategist: Sarah Sanders Spews Trump 'Horse Shit'

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is a "serial congenital liar" who buries the American people "in an avalanche of horse shit" and must know in her soul that what she's doing is wrong, a GOP strategist and media consultant said Monday night.

Roy Moore Alters Story About Accusers

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore of Alabama made his first public appearance in almost two weeks on Monday night, and he used it to change his account about a series of accusations of sexual contact with teenage girls and to compare the rush of claims against him to the Trump-Russia investigation. In the past three…

Chinese Professor Just Explained How Trump Is Lying About Saving Three Americans

President Donald Trump attempted to call out LaVar Ball’s lack of gratitude when he supposedly saved his son from being incarcerated in a Chinese prison. Calling him “ungrateful”, President Trump had time to step away from his presidential duties because LaVar wasn’t appreciative enough.

Unfortunately, President Trump may be trying to make this a bigger deal than what it really is. According to a Hong Kong University law professor, shoplifting is a relatively minor charge, and it does not carry the kind of jail time that Trump may think it does. According to professor Fu Hualing, he would be “surprised if they were even prosecuted.” A shoplifting charge in China is relatively minor, with foreigners typically being deported and not put in jail. So it makes sense how LaVar might’ve been more realistic in his appreciation since it wasn’t a charge that required interception by the president.

On Monday, November 6, Cody Riley, LiAngelo Ball, and Jalen Hill were arrested after they stole sunglasses from a Louis Vuitton store in Hangzhou, China. After being arrested, the three surrendered their passports and were released on a $2200 bail, but were forced to stay in their hotel. This demand was made by the team and not by Chinese authorities.

On November 11, the team left to go back to the United States. The three shoplifters stayed behind with Doug Erickson, director of the basketball administration. The next day, President Trump meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping at one point during his 12 day trip to Asia. Apparently, Trump said that he discussed the arrests of the three players with Jinping, with the players finally being eligible to go back to the United States just a couple of days later. Charges were withdrawn by this point, and the bail money was refunded. The players returned on November 14.

On November 15, President Trump publicly asks if the UCLA basketball players will thank him, saying that they were “headed for 10 years in jail!” The two players thanked him and apologized for their actions. The three players were subsequently suspended from the team indefinitely.

If Donald Trump actually met the president of China during his 12-day rendezvous is up to speculation – but the truth of the matter is that the situation was blown out of proportion

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Secret Origins of Thanksgiving

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Fray Sahagun ( Bernardino de Sahagún ) a Franciscan friar, missionary priest and pioneering ethnographer who participated in the Catholic evangelization of colonial New Spain (now Mexico) describes a “Feast of Thanksgiving” practiced by the natives (particularly travelers).

In book 9 of 12 he refers to a group of traveling merchants known as the Pochtecas, (followers of  Quetzalcoatl, who they worshipped under the patron name Yiacatecuhtli or Yacateuctli, Lord of the Vanguard). These traveling merchants are recorded celebrating their safe arrival from a successful business trip by having a “Thanks Giving Feast;”

 “A feast and ceremony of thanksgiving were organized by the returning merchants, also on a day of favorable aspect. There was a prelude to the ceremony of eating mushrooms in which they sacrificed a quail and offered incense to the four directions. They made offerings of flowers and fragrant herbs to the gods in various temples. The eating of mushrooms took place in the earlier part of the evening, and the mushroom eaters did not at least then eat food. At midnight a feast followed, and toward dawn the various offerings to the gods, or the remains of them, were ceremonially buried.”

 “At the very first, mushrooms had been served.  They ate them at the time when the shell trumpets were blown.  They ate no more food; they only drank chocolate during the night, and they ate the mushrooms with honey.  But some, while still in command of their senses, entered and sat there by the house on their seats; they danced no more, but only sat there nodding.  One saw in vision that already he would die, and then continued weeping, one saw that he would die in battle; one saw in vision that he would be eaten by wild beasts; one saw in vision that he would take captives in war; one saw in vision that he would be rich, wealthy; one saw in vision that he would buy slaves, he would be a slave owner; one saw in vision that he would commit adultery, he would be struck by stones, he would be stone; one saw in vision that he would steal, he would also be stone and saw in vision that his head would be crushed by stones-they would condemn him; one saw in vision that he would perish in the water; one saw in vision that he would live in peace, and tranquility, until he died; one saw in vision that he would fall from a roof top, and he would fall to his death; however many things were to befall one, he then saw all in vision: even that he would be drowned. And when the effects of the mushrooms had left them they consulted among themselves and told one another what they had seen in vision. And they saw in vision, what would befall those who had eaten no mushrooms, and what they went about doing.  Some were perhaps thieves, some perhaps committed adultery. Howsoever many things there were all were told-that one would take captives, one would become a seasoned warrior, a leader of youths, one would die in battle, become rich, buy slaves, provide banquets, ceremonially bathe slaves, commit adultery, be strangled, perish in water, drown.  Whatsoever was to befall one, they then saw all in vision.  Perhaps he would go to his death in Anauac.” (Florentine Codex, Dibble & Anderson, Bk 9 pp.38-39) 

It is unclear whether this account inspired the Thanksgiving (as we know it today), however it is certain that such practices were quite common in the “New World”, especially prior to the arrival of the new settlers!

YAMANU REI·

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Higher premiums would cancel out some people's tax cuts

Data: The Commonwealth Fund; Chart: Lazaro Gamio / Axios

The Senate's proposed tax overhaul would repeal the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate permanently, and provide individual tax cuts temporarily.

Once those tax cuts expire, just about everyone on the individual insurance market will face higher health insurance costs without a tax cut to help pay for it. And even in the short term, some people's tax cuts would effectively be erased by the higher premiums they'd face without the individual mandate.

Threat level: As my colleague Caitlin Owens reports this morning, based on an analysis from the Commonwealth Fund, the biggest burden here would fall on people who buy insurance on their own, but don't get subsidies to help cover their premiums.

Those subsidies help insulate low-income consumers from premium hikes, but the people who don't get them will be on the hook for all of the added costs that come with repealing the individual mandate — and that would eat up a lot of the extra money they'd be keeping because of the bill's tax cuts.

Many families can't afford even moderate deductibles

Reproduced from Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of the 2016 Survey of Consumer Finance; Note: Liquid assets include the sum of checking and saving accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, savings bonds, non-retirement mutual funds, stocks and bonds; Chart: Axios Visuals

A lot of low-income families can't afford even a moderate deductible, yet deductibles continue to rise in almost all forms of insurance, Kaiser Family Foundation president Drew Altman writes in his latest Axios column.

Roughly 40% of all non-elderly households don't have enough liquid assets to cover a high deductible ($3,000 for an individual or $6,000 for a family).
Among families whose income makes them eligible for the ACA's premium subsidies, 60% don't have enough liquid assets to cover a high deductible and 44% couldn't cover the deductible for a mid-range plan ($1,500 for an individual or $3,000 for a family).

Why it matters: High deductibles are everywhere, and they're only getting higher. Many ACA plans have relatively big deductibles and Republicans' alternatives would push them higher. They've been getting bigger and bigger in employer plans, too.

"For many families, even if they have insurance, any significant illness could wipe out all their savings, making impossible to fix a broken car to get to work, or pay for school, or make a rent or mortgage payment," Altman says.

Source:Axios

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LGBT Congressional Staff Associations Hold Observance Of Transgender Day Of Remembrance With 25+ Congressional Staffers

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Congressional Staff Association (CSA) held an observance of Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) on the Capitol Steps today with more than 25 Congressional staff in attendance. The program included a reading of names in remembrance of the transgender lives lost in 2017, followed by a moment of silence led by Bishop Allyson Abrams, founder and current pastor of Empowerment Liberation Cathedral.

Kory Masen, Racial and Economic Justice Policy Advocate with the National Center for Transgender Equality, attended and spoke about the meaning of TDOR, the importance of standing together, and the small actions everyone can do to support the transgender community. The LGBT CSA was also joined by the GLASS Caucus, the LGBTQ Staff Association for the U.S. Senate, and LC-GLOBE, the official Library of Congress organization for all LGBTQ+ employees and allies.

“The LGBT CSA is proud to stand with the transgender community on and off Capitol Hill today to observe a moment of silence in remembrance of those we’ve lost this past year,” said Todd Sloves, President of the LGBT CSA. “On Transgender Day of Remembrance, we want to demonstrate that there is strong support for the transgender community at the center of our nation’s capital, where the decisions that influence the direction of our nation are made. We can never forget that members of our community continue to be targeted for who they are. Today and every day we stand up to say they will not be forgotten and discriminatory and violent behavior against the most vulnerable within our community will not be accepted. We look forward to making this an annual tradition until there are no names to read.”

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Keri Claussen Khalighi Accuses Russell Simmons of Rape

Twitter users were generally not surprised when Def Jam Recordings mogul Russell Simmons was accused of rape. Model Keri Claussen Khalighi came forward on Sunday, telling the Los Angeles Times Simmons and Brett Ratner allegedly rapped her in 1991 when she was 17 years old. She met up with the powerful duo at a casting call.…

Five major companies have decided to distance themselves from Fox News host Sean Hannity by pulling their advertisements from his show in the wake of his support for Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore and his attacks on the four women who accused Moore of sexual misconduct this week, whom he accused of lying for money.

Media Matters says they have received confirmations from 23andme, ELOQUII, Keurig, Nature’s Bounty, and realtor.com, on their decision to pull ads from Hannity’s Fox News show.

On Thursday, Hannity, who endorsed Moore’s campaign in September, claimed that Moore’s accusers were lying, saying: “Then you have false allegations that are made, and you know — how do you determine? It’s ‘He said, she [said].”

Hannity also claimed that the women making allegations against Moore are only doing it for money: “This goes back to what you said. Do people do it for money, do they do it political reasons? How come — is that more common than people would think?..They will lie to make money.”

He continued:

“Here’s some really fascinating questions. How do you know if it’s true? How do we — what’s true? What’s not true? How do you ascertain the truth? What happens when it’s 38 years later? It’s a serious topic, and — because if it’s true and people act like this, it’s disgusting, it’s despicable, it’s criminal.”

Then Hannity invoked the Bible’s Ten Commandments:

“We do have Ten Commandments. One of the commandments is ‘thou shalt not bear false witness.’ We know human beings break, with regularity, the other nine commandments. Did they break this one?”

Media Matters notes:

In August, Media Matters called on Hannity’s advertisers to stop financially supporting his lies and extremism and warned that Hannity’s volatility made him a business risk. The companies who spoke out this week join Cadillac and E-Trade among other brands that no longer wish to be associated with the Fox host.

Hannity’s advertiser losses from the late summer are part of the reason Fox’s revenue has begun to drop precipitously.

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Donna Brazile: ' my friends are mad at me

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'My Democratic friends are mad at me': Donna Brazile explains herself in deep-left San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO — After publishing an unfettered memoir critiquing Hillary Clinton's failed presidential bid, former Democratic Party leader Donna Brazile on Thursday doubled down on her criticism of the nominee before a receptive audience in deepest-left California.

Ex-FBI Official: Mueller Probe 'Has Penetrated The White House'

Last night, Chris Hayes spoke to ex-FBI official Frank Figluzzi, who served under then-FBI Director Robert Mueller. "What do you make of the actions Monday in terms of what you understand his strategy to be here?" Hayes said. Figluzzi said there's "clearly a pathway that he's got planned out." "One of the things that I think…

The Associated Press reports:

Former President Barack Obama is congratulating the two Democrats who won gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey. In a Wednesday morning tweet, Obama said: “This is what happens when the people vote.”

Democrat Ralph Northam beat Republican Ed Gillespie in the race for Virginia governor. In New Jersey, Democrat Phil Murphy trounced Republican Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, who served under the term-limited, deeply unpopular GOP Gov. Chris Christie.

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Republicans across the country take a shellacking

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How big of an Election Night did Democrats have on Tuesday? And how rough was it for Republicans one year after Donald Trump’s surprising victory in 2016? Consider all of these results across the country:

In the marquee gubernatorial contest in Virginia, Ralph Northam defeated Republican Ed Gillespie by 9 points, 54 percent to 45 percent, marking Democrats’ biggest gubernatorial win in the state since 1985;
Also in Virginia, Democrats swept the statewide races for lieutenant governor and attorney general, and they have a shot at winning control of the House of Delegates, which was unthinkable going into last night;
In New Jersey, Democrat Phil Murphy bested Republican Kim Guadagno by 13 points in that state’s gubernatorial race, 56 percent to 43 percent;
In Washington state, it appears Democrats won control of the state Senate;
In New Hampshire, Democrat Joyce Craig defeated incumbent Republican Ted Gatsas to become Manchester mayor, per New Hampshire political reporter Paul Steinhauser.
In Georgia, Democrats picked up two state legislative seats in special elections;
And in Maine, a ballot initiative to expand Medicaid in the state easily passed.

Add it all up, and you can clearly see that the political winds are at Democrats’ backs right now, on the same day when two more House Republicans announced their retirements.

And while off-off year elections are hardly a guarantee to predict what will happen in the following midterms, remember that 1993 (when Republicans George Allen, Christine Todd Whitman and Rudy Giuliani won big) told us a lot about how 1994 would play out, and ditto 2009 (when Republicans Bob McDonnell and Chris Christie won) for the 2010 midterms.

What was extraordinary about last night was that it featured generic Democrats and Republicans — Northam vs. Gillespie in Virginia, Murphy vs. Guadagno in New Jersey, Medicaid expansion vs. not to expand it — and Democrats came out on top.

So last night was more than Virginia’s increasingly blue tint, or the power of the Northern Virginia suburbs. It was a drubbing across the entire country.

Source NBC.com

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Wibur Ross is not the only one in Trump Administration with offshore accounts

Image result for chief economic adviser Gary Cohn, secretary of state Rex Tillerson, and Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin.

Aside from Ross, other members of the Trump administration were found to have been involved with offshore accounts. They include chief economic adviser Gary Cohn, secretary of state Rex Tillerson, and Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin.

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GOP using Clinton to unite party

Trump tweets every few days about how she's the real Russian scandal.

Congressional Republicans and the Wall Street Journal editorial page pile on with calls for investigations.

Her campaign and the DNC are busted paying for the salacious and partly discredited Trump dossier.

A former campaign official says HRC alumni have a strong sense of camaraderie and call around to coordinate and commiserate with each new wave: "It never ceases to amaze all of us how this campaign that's a year old continues to extend into the future."
Be smart: As Democrats try to figure out 2020, it's bad enough that they keep re-litigating the Clinton-Trump general election. But top Dems think it's horrendous that the party is now re-litigating the Clinton-Sanders primary.

Clinton's former high command says none of this breaks through in real America. But party insiders know that if they're going to take back the House, Senate or White House, they need to look forward, not backward.

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Trump Still Believes 'Birther' Obama Conspiracy