| Trump deepens war of words with leftist black leaders Posted: 29 Jul 2019 02:30 PM PDT  Rejecting criticism that he is stoking America's smouldering racial divisions, Trump attacked African-American civil rights activist Al Sharpton. Over the weekend, Trump described Baltimore as a "rat and rodent infested mess" unfit for humans and blamed this on Elijah Cummings, the Democrat who represents much of the city in Congress.
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| Ilhan Omar is me. Trump's 'go back' tweet is painful reminder America won't accept us. Posted: 30 Jul 2019 04:00 AM PDT  The American dream became a myth for me long ago, but was reignited when Rep. Ilhan Omar was sworn into office. Donald Trump took that hope away.
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| Death penalty sought for woman accused of killing ex-senator Posted: 30 Jul 2019 05:24 PM PDT  Prosecutors said Tuesday they plan to seek the death penalty against a woman charged in the killing of a former Arkansas lawmaker who investigators say was found dead from multiple stab wounds outside her home. An arrest affidavit for Rebecca Lynn O'Donnell released Tuesday said O'Donnell was caught on video May 28 removing security cameras from inside the home of former state Sen. Linda Collins the last day Collins was seen alive. O'Donnell has been charged with capital murder in the death of Collins, who went by Collins-Smith in the Legislature.
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| Restaurant Apologizes After Asking Officer To Leave Because He Had A Gun Posted: 30 Jul 2019 12:05 AM PDT  A restaurant in San Antonio, Texas, has apologized after asking a police officer to leave the premises because he was carrying a gun.The officer was asked to leave Fogo de Chao Brazilian Steakhouse Saturday night because he was carrying a gun, KSAT reported. Texas law states that establishments can't deny service to an officer or special investigator who is carrying a weapon on the premises, as long as they are authorized to carry the weapon.The restaurant apologized to the San Antonio Police Department and the officer who was asked to leave, according to a statement."We sincerely apologize to the San Antonio Police Department and the officer in question for the incident that occurred at our restaurant last night," the statement read according to KSTA. "Unfortunately, a member of our team made the wrong call. We are working hard to address and correct this unfortunate lapse in judgement.""We will address the policy internally and make sure our team members are clear. We support, respect and appreciate everything our law enforcement does to keep each and every one of us safe, day in and day out."
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| Guatemalan villagers recognize viral photo of mother pleading at U.S. border Posted: 30 Jul 2019 01:08 PM PDT ![Guatemalan villagers recognize viral photo of mother pleading at U.S. border]( "Guatemalan villagers recognize viral photo of mother pleading at U.S. border") Lolinda Amaya cried last week when she saw a viral photograph of a Guatemalan mother imploring Mexico's National Guard to let her enter the United States. It was her niece, Ledy Perez, who had borrowed money weeks earlier and fled her village under cover of night, seeking a better life for her only child. The widely shared photo https://widerimage.reuters.com/story/guatemalan-mother-begs-soldier-to-let-her-enter-us showed her crouched meters away from Mexico's border with the United States, clinging to her young son Anthony Diaz as she looked up at an armed member of the newly formed Mexican military police force.
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| Slain gangster John Dillinger's body to be exhumed from Crown Hill Cemetery in Indiana Posted: 30 Jul 2019 01:19 PM PDT ![Slain gangster John Dillinger's body to be exhumed from Crown Hill Cemetery in Indiana]( "Slain gangster John Dillinger's body to be exhumed from Crown Hill Cemetery in Indiana") No reason was given for the exhumation. But there have been theories that it was not Dillinger who was killed outside a theater, but rather a double.
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| Photos of the 2020 Porsche 911 Carrera and 911 Carrera Cabriolet Posted: 29 Jul 2019 03:01 PM PDT ![Photos of the 2020 Porsche 911 Carrera and 911 Carrera Cabriolet]( "Photos of the 2020 Porsche 911 Carrera and 911 Carrera Cabriolet")
The cheapest version of the 992-gen 911 costs $98,750 and has 379 horsepower. From Car and Driver
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| Russia declares state of emergency as wildfires rage across area size of Belgium Posted: 30 Jul 2019 10:04 AM PDT  Russia on Monday declared a state of emergency in two regions of Siberia as wildfires rage across 12,000 square miles of countryside. Terrified residents in the Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk regions called on the state to act as flames engulfed an area the size of Belgium. There are few inhabited zones in the path of the inferno but smoke has blanketed major cities in Siberia and the Far East, making it hard to breathe and posing health risks for the population. Over 720,000 people have signed a petition on Change.Org calling for a state of emergency to be declared across the whole of Siberia in order to draw more forces and state funding to battle the wildfires that have erupted in the past month. Residents of the affected areas have been posting photos of burning forests and smog-covered cities and villages. Local authorities have however cited at 2015 decree by the Ministry of Natural Resources that allows them not to extinguish wildfires if they do not pose a direct threat to settlements. Fire-fighting can also be avoided if the cost of the operation is higher than the estimated damage. The governor of Krasnoyarsk, Alexander Uss, defended the government's reluctance to put out the fires by comparing them to winter blizzards. He said that it can be "pointless and sometimes even harmful" to try and extinguish flames in unpopulated areas. More than 11 million hectares have already been affected by wildfires this season, Greenpeace Russia said in a statement on Friday, adding that blazes continue to spread around hundreds of thousands of hectares every day. The environmental group warned that it was no longer a regional problem and more measures should be taken. It is not immediately clear if a state of emergency in some of the affected areas will help contain the wildfires. European scientists earlier raised concerns over unprecedented fires that started sooner than usual in the Arctic this summer season releasing huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The fires have been caused by record high temperatures combined with lightning and strong winds.
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| California has strict gun laws. Here's how the Gilroy gunman evaded them Posted: 29 Jul 2019 02:27 PM PDT  US lawmakers renew calls for federal gun reform after shooter purchased weapon legally in NevadaPolice officers escort people from Christmas Hill Park following the shooting. Photograph: Noah Berger/APCalifornia has some of the most stringent gun laws in the country, including a ban on the type of rifle that a shooter used to kill three and wound 15 at the garlic food festival in Gilroy on Sunday.But the gunman had legally purchased the "assault-type rifle", in the style of an AK-47, from the neighboring state Nevada on 9 July before carrying it illegally over state lines into California, highlighting what some gun control advocates say is a loophole in the way laws operate, state by state.The suspect, 19, opened fire in the last hours of the three-day garlic festival, a beloved annual tradition that draws thousands of attendees of all ages. He injured 15 people and killed three – a six-year-old boy, a 13-year-old girl and a man in his 20s – before being shot dead by police officers, who rushed him within a minute of bullets being heard.> Just days ago, a California judge upheld that state's assault weapons ban. > > Yesterday, a murderer who acquired an assault weapon legally in Nevada shot more than a dozen people in Gilroy in less than one minute. THIS is why we need a national ban. NoRAhttps://t.co/CCVonmecqL> > — NoRA (@NoRA4USA) July 29, 2019The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence ranks California first in the nation for having the strongest gun laws.California raised the minimum age to purchase a rifle to 21 in 2018. And last week, a federal judge upheld California's ban on owning, manufacturing or selling semiautomatic rifles and so-called "bullet buttons", rifle attachments that allow shooters to reload more quickly. The state has banned semi-automatic weapons for 20 years. The bullet button ban dates from 2016.Nevada, on the other hand, is ranked 25th in the Giffords Center's ranking.Big Mikes Gun and Ammo, the Nevada store where the gunman bought his weapon, said in a statement on its Facebook page that the shooter had bought the rifle off of the store's internet page."The reach of the California law ends at our border," California's attorney general, Xavier Becerra, told the San Francisco Chronicle, "and so we cannot control what other states do, and that's what makes it so tough. We may have progressive gun laws, but if other states don't match us, we have to rely on the ability to catch" the person.Several lawmakers have pointed at Sunday's shooting to once again call for a federal law that would close this cross-state loophole."The gun used by the Gilroy shooter was an AK-47 type assault rifle. This weapon is illegal to buy or possess in California, which appears to be why the shooter crossed into Nevada to buy the gun," said Senator Dianne Feinstein in a statement. "The assault weapons ban legislation I introduced earlier this year would have prevented that sale from happening. It's time for Congress to debate this bill and vote on it."Feinstein continued: "There are other bills out there that deserve to see the light of day including bills to require comprehensive background checks, help establish extreme-risk laws, prohibit the purchase of high-capacity magazines and eliminate loopholes that allow prohibited individuals [to acquire] guns.""This loss cannot be in vain," tweeted the California congresswoman Jackie Speier early Monday.Speier is looking to close the gap, as one of 190 members of the House who co-sponsored a bill that would ban the import, sale, manufacturing or possession of semiautomatic assault weapons and large capacity ammunition feeding devices on the federal level.> I worked to pass the state law banning assault weapons in the 90's. We need to buy back the ones still in people's possession & throw the book at those who defy the law! We must also pass H.R. 1296, the Assault Weapons Ban, to ban military-style assault weapons across the U.S.> > — Jackie Speier (@RepSpeier) July 29, 2019The California representative Eric Swalwell, who campaigned briefly for the Democratic 2020 presidential nomination and was the only one of two dozen candidates to focus his platform primarily on stronger gun control, was another one of the bill's co-sponsors.> My heart breaks for all of our Bay Area neighbors who attended the GilroyGarlicFestival. We need gun reform and we need it now. EnoughIsEnough> > — Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) July 29, 2019Senator Kamala Harris, who represents California, has called for a renewal of a federal assault weapons ban as well. She has stated that should she be elected, she will give Congress 100 days to take legislative action on gun violence, and if lawmakers cannot reach a consensus, she will take executive action.> Simply horrific. I'm grateful to the first responders who are on the scene in Gilroy, and my thoughts are with that community tonight. Our country has a gun violence epidemic that we cannot tolerate. https://t.co/WqWNxGAQnA> > — Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 29, 2019The gun laws differ so vastly from state to state that a small California city located near the Nevada and Arizona borders voted this month to ask state legislators to allow gun owners from other states to carry registered firearms in the town.> Our thoughts are with the families of those lost last night in Gilroy, CA, as well as the survivors facing a tough road ahead. But thoughts are not enough — action must be taken to EndGunViolence. Every day the Senate refuses to act is a stain on the conscience of our nation.> > — Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) July 29, 2019
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| How to Tell If a Trump Supporter Is Racist Posted: 30 Jul 2019 03:30 AM PDT  Every non-liberal leftist -- that is, nearly every Democrat running for president, New York Times and Washington Post columnist, CNN and MSNBC host, and your left-wing brother-in-law -- labels every Trump supporter and, of course, President Donald Trump, a "racist."And they don't stop there. Leftists don't only label the half of the country that supports the president "racist," they label all whites and America itself "racist." If your son or daughter attends or recently attended an American university, it is close to certain he or she was repeatedly told that America and all whites are racist. According to the Left, whites are divided between those who admit they are racist and those who don't admit it.Every conservative and many liberals know this is a big lie. The great question is: Do leftists believe it? It is impossible to know. But this we do know: If you repeat something often enough, and if your weltanschauung (worldview) and that which gives your life meaning are dependent upon believing something, you will eventually believe it.So here is a way to show it is a lie.Ask any white conservative, including one who supports Trump, the following three questions:1) Do you have more in common with, and are you personally more comfortable in the company of, a white leftist or a black conservative?2) Would you rather have nine white leftists or nine black conservatives on the U.S. Supreme Court?3) Would you rather your child marry a black Christian conservative or a white non-Christian liberal?A white racist would prefer the whites in each case.I have asked these questions of thousands of Trump supporters at lectures and on my radio show. Not once has a white Trump-supporting conservative said he or she would be more comfortable in the presence of a white leftist than a black conservative, or would prefer an all-white liberal Supreme Court to an all-black conservative Supreme Court. Not once has a white Christian conservative said he or she would prefer their child marry a white non-Christian liberal to a black Christian conservative.If you're an honest leftist, this should present a powerful challenge to your belief that all white conservatives are racist.But it won't. Leftists have too much at stake to confront the truth about conservatives. Everything the Left has ever believed has depended upon lying about opponents. From the day Stalin labeled Trotsky -- who served as the head of the Red Army and who, along with Lenin, founded the Bolshevik Party -- a "fascist," leftists have lied about their opponents.Some liberals lie, and some conservatives lie, but the truth is both a liberal and conservative value. It has never been a left-wing value. Any leftist who would commit himself to the truth would cease being a leftist. He would either become an anti-Left liberal or an anti-Left conservative."America is racist." "Whites are racist." "Trump supporters are racist." These are all big lies.So, then, given how important it is to leftists to maintain the lie of conservative racism -- along with xenophobia, misogyny, transphobia, and Islamophobia -- how would they rebut conservatives' answers to these questions?Presumably, they would argue that every conservative who responds to these questions as I described is lying.But these questions are important -- no matter how much leftists ignore or dismiss them -- because they perform an important service for conservatives.I know this from Jewish history. There was so much Jew-hatred in the medieval Christian world that Jews sometimes wondered if there was any truth to the attacks on them. When a whole society denigrates a group, members of the denigrated group start wondering whether any of the attacks on them have any truth. But when the charge of blood libel -- that Jews killed Christian children to use their blood to bake matzos for Passover -- arose, it liberated Jews from taking any of the anti-Semites' attacks seriously. Every Jew knew the blood libel was a lie -- Jews never consumed animal blood, let alone human blood.Every conservative knows his responses to these three questions are heartfelt and true, so these questions can help conservatives come to see the Left's charge of conservative racism as medieval Jews came to see the anti-Semites' blood-libel charge: as a lie.© 2019 Creators.com
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| The Latest: Wisconsin sheriff draws parallel with Closs case Posted: 30 Jul 2019 10:57 AM PDT  Authorities in Wisconsin say a man suspected of killing four people may have been imitating the abduction last year of teenager Jayme Closs. Sheriff Jim Kowalczyk said Tuesday that investigators may never know exactly what led to the Sunday attacks. Kowalczyk says German used a shotgun to blast his way into the woman's home, and then shot and wounded her parents.
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| Sheriff's deputy turned TV actor charged in wife's murder Posted: 29 Jul 2019 08:03 PM PDT  Veteran Harris Co. Sheriff's deputy charged with murder after wife's shooting in SE Houston.
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| Ukraine seizes Russian tanker over naval clash: prosecutor Posted: 30 Jul 2019 01:52 PM PDT  A Ukrainian court has ordered the seizure of a Russian tanker stopped last week over its alleged involvement in a Ukrainian-Russian naval clash last year, the country's chief military prosecutor said Tuesday. A court, in the southern city of Odessa, ordered the seizure of the tanker Nika Spirit on Monday, according to documents posted by Anatoliy Matios on social media. The Russian owner of the seized tanker, the Altomar Shipping company, told Russian news agency Interfax that its management was "in contact with Ukrainian authorities" to solve a "range of issues related to the vessel".
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| 'India Ashamed': Outrage grows over ruling party lawmaker accused of rape Posted: 30 Jul 2019 03:52 AM PDT  Protesters stepped up demands on Tuesday for India's ruling party to sack a state lawmaker accused by a young woman of raping her, holding several demonstrations just days after the accuser was critically injured in a highway collision. Opposition groups say Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is protecting Kuldeep Singh Sengar, a legislator from the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, whom the woman accused of the rape in 2017. "Why do we give people like Kuldeep Sengar the strength and protection of political power and abandon their victims to battle for their lives alone?" Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, a leader of the main opposition Congress party, asked on Twitter.
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| Missouri school shooter Drew Grant killed in car crash 21 years after attack Posted: 30 Jul 2019 12:49 PM PDT  A Missouri man, who, along with an accomplice, shot and killed four studentsand a teacher at an Arkansas middle school 21 years ago, died in a car crashlast Saturday, KAIT reports
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| Democratic Debate Warning: Former Obama Chief of Staff Says to Avoid 1 Thing Posted: 30 Jul 2019 05:51 AM PDT  Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel warned Democratic presidential contenders Monday not to "win the nomination in a way that forecloses a path to victory in the general election."Emanuel, former President Barack Obama's ex-chief of staff, criticized the candidates' performances in the first round of Democratic debates in Miami in June."There's a reason [President Donald] Trump gleefully tweeted 'That's the end of that race!'" Emanuel wrote in a Medium post Monday."Too often, you succumbed to chasing plaudits on Twitter, which closed the door on swing voters in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. If you win the nomination in a way that forecloses a path to victory in the general election, we will lose, and your name will go down in infamy," he continued.Emanuel's criticism comes as former Vice President Joe Biden fends off attacks from people even farther to the left accusing him of being weak on civil rights and too tough on crime in the past. But the former mayor warned that the progressive wing of the Democratic Party is being unrealistic in its proposals.
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| 'A lot of yelling': President Donald Trump had a contentious meeting with airline CEOs, report says Posted: 30 Jul 2019 08:57 AM PDT  President Donald Trump reportedly met with U.S. airline CEOs who were looking for support in their complaints against foreign airlines.
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| Water meant for Puerto Rican hurricane victims dumped on farmland Posted: 29 Jul 2019 03:26 PM PDT  Tens of thousands of water bottles destined for desperate Puerto Ricans after devastating back-to-back hurricanes slammed into the US island territory remain unopened on farmland almost two years later, emergency aid officials confirmed Monday. Aerial images captured by AFP show a sea of water bottles, packaged into massive bundles, heaped on what appears to be a private estate in the Higuillar neighborhood in Dorado, 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of San Juan. A spokesman for the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) confirmed it had provided the water bottles as part of relief efforts for Hurricane Maria, which occurred in September 2017.
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| Pakistani army plane crashes into homes, killing 19 Posted: 30 Jul 2019 07:18 AM PDT  A Pakistani military plane crashed into a residential area before dawn on Tuesday, killing at least 19 people, most of them in their homes on the outskirts of the city of Rawalpindi, officials said. Fires, damaged houses and debris were visible in Mora Kalu village near Rawalpindi after daybreak. Victims' relatives were seen wailing and crying as rescuers loaded charred bodies into ambulances.
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| 11 Things We Can't Wait to Order from the New IKEA Catalog Posted: 30 Jul 2019 10:27 AM PDT |
| Death toll in Brazil prison massacre rises to 57 with over a dozen decapitated Posted: 29 Jul 2019 09:39 AM PDT  SAO PAULO/RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - A bloody clash between two prison gangs on Monday left at least 57 inmates dead with 16 of them decapitated, authorities in the state of Para said, the latest deadly clash as Brazil's government struggles to control the country's overcrowded jails. Prisoners belonging to the Comando Classe A gang set fire to a cell containing inmates from the rival Comando Vermelho, or Red Command, gang, Para's state government said in a statement. "It was a targeted act," state prison director Jarbas Vasconcelos said in the statement, adding there was no prior intelligence that suggested an attack would take place.
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| Joint Chiefs nominee denies assault allegations, enlists key support Posted: 30 Jul 2019 08:18 AM PDT  Sen. Martha McSally — a retired Air Force pilot who revealed this year that she was raped by a superior officer — came out with a staunch defense of Air Force Gen. John Hyten.
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| Sony’s making a silent, wearable air conditioner that will launch next year Posted: 29 Jul 2019 08:05 PM PDT  Global temperatures have been rising to new all-time highs this year, a fact that no one who's suffered through the heatwave that's blanketed the US in recent weeks probably needs to be reminded of. Which makes a new product Sony is working on particularly enticing: The consumer electronics giant, no joke, launched a successful crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for what would be an actual wearable air conditioner that slips on the back of a shirt and promises to keep you cool.Sony is calling the device the Reon Pocket, and it's touting the ability for the app-controlled device to lower the temperature on your back from 97F to 73F. The app would be controlled via Bluetooth, and Sony is reportedly pricing this at a very affordable US equivalent to $117.There are, to be sure, a couple of pretty big downsides. One is battery life. The device, which Sony plans to launch first in Japan, would have a battery that lasts less than two hours. Even worse than that -- if you're hoping for relief from the current hot weather, the Reon Pocket won't help you out anytime soon, as it's not coming until 2020.The release date we're hearing right now is March 2020, which will certainly be great if you're planning to, you know, attend the Tokyo 2020 summer Olympics.All that said, this device definitely sounds promising, and we can envision so many people this could benefit. Imagine, for example, having a cooling device on your back that's working to make sure you still look polished on a hot day that helps you avoid sweating like crazy when you're in a suit and headed to a business meeting.As we mentioned above, Sony successfully crowdfunded the product through the company's First Flight program which tries to gin up demand for products to give them a better chance at viability.
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| Hong Kong Train Disruptions Show Protests Becoming Daily Affair Posted: 30 Jul 2019 06:05 AM PDT  (Bloomberg) -- Fresh train disruptions by Hong Kong protesters Tuesday show how unrest once confined to weekend marches through downtown streets is spreading across the Asian financial hub and affecting daily life.Train services were slowed on the centrally located Island Line and the Kwun Tong Line across Victoria Harbor after black-clad protesters blocked doors and requested emergency assistance during the morning rush. There was yelling and confusion as commuters found themselves stuck in large crowds on subway platforms for the second time in less than a week.Although rail operator MTR Corp. said trains were resuming their normal schedules as of 11:30 a.m., such problems are expected to spread as protesters try to keep their grievances in the headlines and force a response by the city's China-appointed government. The incident follows a weekend of rallies that saw a peaceful sit-in at Asia's busiest international airport and sometimes rowdy mass protests that prompted police to fire tear gas in residential areas.The movement has proved surprisingly resilient more than eight weeks after as many as 1 million people took to the streets to oppose Chief Executive Carrie Lam's now-suspended proposal to allow extraditions to mainland China. Authorities in Beijing have so far maintained their support for Lam, who has rejected demands that she resign, formally withdraw the bill and appoint an independent inquiry into the police's use of force.Lam's approval rating slipped another 2 percentage points over the past month to a record low 21%, according to a survey released Tuesday by the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute, formerly the HKU Public Opinion Programme. The share of people satisfied with the local government's performance remained at an all-time 18%, unchanged from the previous survey.Authorities were set to charge 44 out of 49 people arrested during Sunday's clashes with police with rioting, the South China Morning Post reported Tuesday, citing an unidentified police source. The violence had erupted as officers fired volleys of tear gas at demonstrators in Sai Ying Pun, a residential and business area where the Chinese government's liaison office is located. The people were expected to be brought to court on Wednesday, the newspaper said.China warned Monday that political unrest in the former British colony had gone "far beyond" peaceful protest, underscoring concern of more direct intervention. The demonstrations ultimately stem from anxiety that China has been eroding the rights and freedoms promised to Hong Kong before the end of colonial rule in 1997.Read more about the protests' latest impact on Hong Kong stocksDuring Tuesday's protests, services at the Lam Tin, Yau Tong and Tiu Keng Leng stations were suspended. At Tin Hau station on the Island Line, dozens of passengers were queuing up for refunds as train services were suspended.MTR Corp. shares added 0.1% as of 2.47 p.m. in Hong Kong trading, erasing earlier losses."We understand some people want to express their view but we regret that their actions affected train services and other passengers," Alan Cheng, MTR's chief of operating, told reporters. He said platform safety devices had been activated 76 times during the morning, while train emergency buttons were triggered another 47.Protesters argue that they've been driven to guerrilla tactics because the former British colony's unelected government is ignoring historic protests and the police are withholding protest permits and increasing their use of force. Since last month, different groups in the largely leaderless movement have surrounded police headquarters, mobbed government buildings and ransacked the city's legislature."Every confrontation between the protesters and the police has exacerbated their mutual hostility," Hong Kong political commentator Joseph Cheng told Bloomberg Television in an interview on Tuesday. "It is difficult that there are no solutions in sight, no reconciliation process going on and it has become a test of wills."While such tactics risk alienating the general public and causing further damage to the economy, the movement has also received support from the business community. The American Chamber of Commerce's Hong Kong chapter on Monday urged an "internationally credible" independent inquiry into all aspects of the protest movement, saying action was needed to preserve the city's strength as a global financial center.Earlier: AmCham Urges Hong Kong Action to Quell Growing Business ConcernsThe city's otherwise model railway system has born the brunt of several recent incidents, including shocking mob attacks last week on protesters and other train passengers at a railway station in the northern suburb of Yuen Long. Protesters subsequently decided to disrupt train services to highlight the slow police response to the incident.The rail operator on Monday pledged a review of its safety procedures, a move the South China Morning Post newspaper said was prompted by strike threats and internal anger over criticism of a female train driver related to the Yuen Long incident. Last week, MTR chairman Rex Auyeung Pak-kuen endorsed calls for an inquiry into police action."Hong Kongers only want police to do their jobs fearlessly in an unbiased manner and not serve their bosses in Beijing," Max Chung, the organizer of the Yuen Long march, said Tuesday night after being released on bail. Chung had been arrested for inciting others to participate in an unlawful assembly, the city's Now TV reported Sunday.(Updates with Max Chung comment in final paragraph.)\--With assistance from Sheryl Tian Tong Lee, Fion Li, Dominic Lau, Sofia Horta e Costa and Colin Keatinge.To contact the reporters on this story: Iain Marlow in Hong Kong at imarlow1@bloomberg.net;Simon Fuller in Hong Kong at sfuller37@bloomberg.net;Natalie Lung in Hong Kong at flung6@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Karen LeighFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| 79-year-old woman sentenced to jail for feeding stray cats Posted: 30 Jul 2019 08:21 AM PDT  A 79-year-old woman in Ohio has been sentenced to 10 days in jail for feeding stray cats on her back porch.
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| Trump news - live: President jokes about stage collapsing with 9/11 first responders as congress hints at looming impeachment Posted: 29 Jul 2019 07:05 AM PDT  A senior Democrat has said congress should consider impeachment against Donald Trump "whatever timeframe there is", in his strongest hint yet that proceedings will be launched.Jerry Nadler, the House Judiciary Committee chair, was asked if the panel should abandon its investigation into the president, as election season approaches."We have to do this, whatever time frame there is and we're doing it now," he said.Please wait a moment for the live blog to load"We're engaged in an investigation into these different alleged crimes and to whether the President violated his oath of office."Mr Nadler's panel is looking into the special counsel's conclusions, as well as whether Donald Trump's businesses are profiting from his presidency."My personal view is that [Trump] richly deserves impeachment. He has done many impeachable offenses, he's violated the laws six ways from Sunday," he added."We have to defend the Constitution against these kinds of unconstitutional and illegal deeds."The president is also facing a backlash over tweets about Elijah Cummings, a black congressman and his Baltimore district.Mr Trump described the district as a "disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess", in an attack described as racist by Democrats.He also retweeted a post from Katie Hopkins, a far-right British columnist, declaring Baltimore "a proper s***hole".
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| 'Passive aggression. It's a lifestyle': Ocasio-Cortez responds to a GOP congressional critic Posted: 30 Jul 2019 04:40 PM PDT  Rep. Jody Hice, R-Ga., accused Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of having "deliberately misled the American people" about the treatment of migrants in detention.
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| Gang database made up mostly of young black, Latino men Posted: 30 Jul 2019 10:21 AM PDT  Boston police are tracking nearly 5,000 people — almost all of them young black and Latino men — through a secretive gang database, newly released data from the department shows. Black people comprise about 25% of all Boston residents, Latinos about 20% and white people more than 50%. The racial disparity is "stark and troublesome," said Adriana Lafaille, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, which, along with other civil rights groups, sued the department in state court in November to shed light into who is listed on the database and how the information is used.
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| UPDATE 3-U.S. rapper A$AP Rocky kicked and punched me, teenager tells Swedish court Posted: 30 Jul 2019 01:36 AM PDT ![UPDATE 3-U.S. rapper A$AP Rocky kicked and punched me, teenager tells Swedish court]( "UPDATE 3-U.S. rapper A$AP Rocky kicked and punched me, teenager tells Swedish court") A teenager told a Swedish court on Tuesday that he was kicked and punched by U.S. rapper A$AP Rocky and two of his entourage during an altercation outside a hamburger restaurant in Stockholm last month. The 30-year-old performer, producer and model, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, pleaded not guilty to a charge of assault on the first day of a trial that prompted U.S. President Donald Trump to intervene on the artist's behalf. Outlining his case using videos from security cameras and witnesses' mobile phones, prosecutor Daniel Suneson said that following an altercation in central Stockholm, Mayers threw 19-year-old Mustafa Jafari to the ground, after which he and two of his entourage kicked and punched him.
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| The One Thing That Will Decide the 2020 Election Posted: 30 Jul 2019 12:12 AM PDT  Purple states can swing either way and often end up deciding our elections. So, it's worth asking what people in those states think about the issues dominating politics. Heritage Action for America, the sister organization of The Heritage Foundation, recently carried out a wide survey of Americans in five purple states, asking them about immigration, health care, political correctness, and much more. In this episode, our Editor-in-Chief Kate Trinko sits down with Nate Rogers from Heritage Action to unpack it all.Kate Trinko: Joining us today is Nate Rogers, who is a senior adviser for political affairs at Heritage Action for America. Nate, thanks for joining us.The liberal Left continue to push their radical agenda against American values. The good news is there is a solution. Find out more >>Nate Rogers: Thank you.Trinko: Heritage Action just did a series of polls in the United States, sometimes focusing on purple states, sometimes looking nationally, sometimes looking at people of a certain ideological persuasion. They talked about health care, socialism, capitalism, and much more.Nate, what were some of your biggest takeaways?Rogers: This was a really interesting exercise. We entered it not looking to reach any conclusions that we had going in, we wanted to be very open in the polling process.The purple state poll is actually the fourth poll of a series of four, so it was actually the last poll that we conducted.
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| Whither Evangelical Purity Culture? Thoughts on the Legacy of a Lost Pastor Posted: 29 Jul 2019 12:17 PM PDT  If you don't live in Evangelical-world, you probably missed this news. An influential Evangelical author and pastor named Joshua Harris announced on Saturday that he was in the process of "deconstruction." His statement was clear. "By all the measurements I have for defining a Christian," he said, "I am not a Christian." He apologized to the LGBT community for not affirming gay marriage and for the ways that his writing and speaking "contributed to a culture of exclusion and bigotry."For Christians, it's a sad statement, but it's also full of real integrity. Rather than try to jam Christianity into his evolving worldview, he respects orthodoxy by opting out.Harris burst into prominence as a young Christian with every author's dream: a giant, influential first-book bestseller. It was called I Kissed Dating Goodbye, and it sold almost a million copies. If anything, however, the sales numbers understated its influence. It was part of the foundation of Evangelical "purity culture," and it revolutionized parenting and dating for countless Christian parents and families.I remember it well. I was a youth pastor for a few memorable months at the height of the courtship craze. The year was 1998, I was a youth volunteer at a small church in Georgetown, Ky., when our youth pastor left. Until we could find a new youth pastor, I was in charge. I preached the youth service every week, I led the youth Sunday school, and I led the youth prayer groups. I was also a commercial litigator in a big law firm, and suddenly I had two full-time jobs. It was one of the best times of my life.But we also had a problem. The youth ministry had gone all-in on purity culture. The previous youth pastor had even declared "no date '98," placing a moratorium on every kid in the youth group: not even a single date for the entire year. When it came to relationships, it would be "courtship" (tersely defined as parental-supervised visits and outings) or nothing.This wasn't wanton repression or cruelty. Many parents had entered adulthood wounded by past broken relationships. They regretted the mistakes of their youth and desperately wanted their kids to avoid similar heartbreak. Also — and this is crucial for understanding purity culture — they fervently believed in a specific earthly reward for their child's youthful obedience. Courtship represented the best method of ensuring a healthy, sexually vibrant marriage to a faithful spouse.This is what writer Katelyn Beaty called the "sexual prosperity gospel," an "if/then" transactional relationship with God that manufactures a series of promises from scripture and then creates a form of Christian entitlement and expectation. "I did what you asked, Lord, now may I see my reward?"Beaty's critique is well taken, and it's certainly true that purity culture built a series of (often wildly unrealistic) expectations about the marriage relationship that awaited kids who courted. But I think it did something even darker — in its effect (if not its intent), it reversed the gospel message, teaching Christian kids that they risked being defined by their sins, not by Christ.It worked like this — sexual sin stained young persons, even if Christ forgave them. They would walk into marriage diminished in some crucial ways. The white dress, fundamentally, was a lie. And the message wasn't confined to sexuality. Did you drink? Did you smoke a joint? Each one of those things altered a person's self-definition. They were no longer "pure." They could never be "pure" again.All too many times, I saw the despair. A young person would come to me and say, "I screwed up." They would really mean, "I'm ruined." Their storybook dreams were dead. A 17-year-old with (God willing) 70 years of life ahead of him would approach me carrying the awful burden of thinking that he had defined his life forever. He was no longer — and never would be — the person he wanted to be.Sometimes the despair would trigger wild rebellion. If they're "ruined," then why should they care about obedience? There are two states of being — virgin or not, teetotaler or not — and if you're not, then you might as well indulge yourself. Other times the despair would trigger constant, nagging guilt and regret. A girl would walk down the aisle to marry a man who loved God and loved her, and she'd feel a shadow on her soul.In point of fact, the gospel message rests first on bad news, then on indescribably good news. The bad news is simple: You were never "pure." It's not as if sex or drink or drugs represent the demarcation line between righteous and unrighteous. They are not and were never the "special" sins that created particularly acute separation from God. Yes, they could have profound earthly consequences, but they did not create unique spiritual separation.The indescribably good news is that from the moment of the confession of faith, believers are not defined by their sin. They're not defined even by their own meager virtues. They're defined by Christ. Moreover, they find that "for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." This does not by any stretch mean that past sin wasn't sin — one of my best friends is an eleven-years-sober addict who did dreadful things during his worst days — but it does mean that their past now gives them a unique ability to reach suffering people. Their terrible stories and past pain have been redeemed, transformed into instruments of grace and mercy.One of my first acts as youth pastor was to lift the ban on dating. Ending legalism is not the same thing as sanctioning sin, and I have no idea if there was more or less extramarital sex as a result of the dating ban or the purity rings. But it was incumbent upon me — in the limited time that I had in leadership — to tell the truth, and the truth was that legalism is its own kind of sin. To create burdens where Christ did not is an act of arrogance. It's deeply harmful. And, sadly, it's a way of life in all too many Christian churches.Harris has famously repented of his past legalism, and that makes his departure from the faith particularly poignant. He helped define young people by their sin, and then he left. He separated from his wife, and he rejected Christianity itself. He is like an inadvertent arsonist, who flees the burning house rather than helping fight the fire he helped ignite. I'm sad to see him go. I'm sadder still to see the pain he caused when he was present.
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| Hong Kong protesters clash with police as 44 activists charged with rioting Posted: 30 Jul 2019 05:11 PM PDT  Hundreds of people surrounded a police station in Hong Kong on Tuesday chanting "free the martyrs" after 44 activists were charged with rioting following weekend clashes between protesters and police defending China's representative office. It was the first time the rioting charge has been used during protests which erupted over an extradition bill that would have allowed people in Hong Kong to be sent to mainland China for trial. Another man was charged with possession of an offensive weapon. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets on Sunday as they sought to defend China's main representative office from protesters who set up road blocks and hurled bricks and sticks. What started three months ago as rallies against the extradition bill, has evolved into a wider backlash against the city's government and its political masters in Beijing. The near daily protests have disrupted business, piled pressure on the city's government and stretched its police force, which some have accused of using excessive force. A police officer points a gun towards anti-extradition bill protesters who surrounded a police station where detained protesters are being held during clashes in Hong Kong Credit: Reuters Hundreds of protesters gathered at the Kwai Chung police station where some of the activists were to be freed on bail. Clashes broke out between the protesters and police. One officer brandished a gun to ward off the crowd. Rioting carries a maximum ten year jail term in Hong Kong. Activists say they have done nothing wrong and are only seeking justice. In the driving rain, many chanted "Liberate Hong Kong," and "Revolution of our time". Besides calling for the extradition bill to be scrapped, rather than its suspension so far, protesters have also demanded the resignation of city leader Carrie Lam, an independent inquiry into the police's handling of the crisis and the unconditional release of all those arrested. Some of the activists are due to appear in court on Wednesday. Earlier in the day, protesters blocked train services during the morning rush hour. "We don't know how long we are going to stay here, we don't have a leader, as you can see this is a mass movement now," said Sharon, a 21-year-old masked protester who declined to give her full name. "It's not our intention to inconvenience people, but we have to make the authorities understand why we protest. We will continue with this as long as needed." Activists blocked train doors, playing havoc with services Credit: RITCHIE B TONGO/EPA By mid-morning, commuters were crammed into stations across the city, waiting to board trains that were delayed, with no service on some lines. Hong Kong, which returned from British to Chinese rule in 1997, is embroiled in its worst political crisis for decades as the increasingly violent protests pose one of the gravest populist challenges to Communist Party rulers in Beijing. China on Monday reiterated its support for Hong Kong's embattled leader Carrie Lam and its police and urged Hong Kong's people to oppose violence. Lam's popularity has dropped to a record low, according to a survey by the independent Public Opinion Research Institute released on Tuesday. The survey, conducted between July 17 and July 19, showed Lam scored a rating of 30.1, down from 33.4 at the beginning of the month. Her approval rate stands at 21%, while her disapproval rate is 70%. Over the last few years, many people in Hong Kong have become concerned about the whittling away of the city's freedoms, guaranteed under a "one country, two systems" formula established when it returned to China in 1997. China denies interfering and has said the protests are an "undisguised challenge" to the formula under which the city is ruled, and risked damaging its economy.
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| 'Pink Lady Bandit,' accomplice arrested after string of bank robberies on East Coast Posted: 29 Jul 2019 01:53 PM PDT  A woman who is taking her bank robbing scheme across the country, has now hit North Carolina twice.
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| Trump fact checker: Did the US president really spend 'lots of time' with 9/11 responders? Posted: 30 Jul 2019 02:24 AM PDT  Donald Trump has signed the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund in the White House Rose Garden to fund the care of emergency workers who became ill after the terrorist attacks. He also revived an old claim that he spent time at ground zero alongside firefighters and police officers. Mr Trump has a long history of making questionable and provocative statements about what he saw on the day of the attacks and how he reacted, including some critical of Muslims.At the signing ceremony, surrounded by emergency medical workers who had lost colleagues and friends in the attacks, the US president sought again to place himself near the centre of the recovery effort."Many of those affected were firefighters, police officers and other first responders," he said. "And I was down there also, but I'm not considering myself a first responder. But I was down there. I spent a lot of time down there with you." According to Richard Alles, a retired deputy chief with the New York Fire Department, Mr Trump was not a presence at ground zero."I spent many months there myself, and I never witnessed him," said Mr Alles, who was at the Rose Garden event. "He was a private citizen at the time. I don't know what kind of role he could have possibly played."Mr Alles said he had vivid memories of meeting congresswoman Carolyn B Maloney, who became an integral part of passing the bill after the attacks. Ms Maloney did not attend the event at the White House earlier this week. Mr Trump's claims about where he was and what he was doing during the attacks date back years, with him often inserting and removing details along the way, Timothy O'Brien, the author of TrumpNation: The Art of Being the Donald, said."Donald Trump was absolutely not a first responder by any standard definition," Mr O'Brien said. "If we're defining it as the first wave of people who arrived at ground zero to provide help, he was not in that wave."On the day of the attack, Mr Trump called into WWOR-TV to say that he had a window in Trump Tower that looked directly over the World Trade Centre.As the buildings burned, the show's anchors praised his real estate prowess in a wide-ranging interview. Mr Trump said that if he had decided to run for president in 2000, he would have taken a "hard line" on the perpetrators, and that he had "somebody down there" near the attack who had witnessed at least 10 people jumping out of the World Trade Centre towers.He also discussed a building he had in the area."40 Wall Street actually was the second-tallest building in downtown Manhattan and it was actually, before the World Trade Centre, was the tallest – and then, when they built the World Trade Centre, it became known as the second tallest," Mr Trump said. "And now it's the tallest." (It was not.)By the time Mr Trump hit the campaign trail in 2015, those initial stories had evolved into a mishmash of unproven claims. At a rally, he said he had watched people jump with his own eyes – possibly through a "solid gold" telescope – at Trump Tower. That claim is unproven, and Trump Tower is about 4 miles from the World Trade Centre site. He also shared another widely debunked claim that Muslims in New Jersey were celebrating after the planes hit.In the days after the attack, Mr Trump ventured outside of Trump Tower to provide commentary, which largely focused on real estate and estimating the building costs of recovery.In an interview with a German television station on 13 September, 2001, Mr Trump was asked if he would be personally involved in the recovery effort."I have a lot of men down here right now," Mr Trump said. "We have over 100 and we have 125 coming. So we'll have a couple of hundred people down here."He added: "We will be involved in some form helping to reconstruct."On 14 September, 2001, a Newsday report noted that Trump was in the vicinity of ground zero speaking on his mobile phone: "No, no. The building's gone," Mr Trump said over the phone.A photo taken of him on 18 September, 2001, has been used in a widely circulated meme that claims Mr Trump personally travelled to ground zero with hundreds of workers to help uncover victims.Mr O'Brien, the author, said the size of the Trump Organisation at the time was "a little bit over a dozen people," which would have made it impossible to send hundreds of people to participate in the relief effort.At the time, Mr Trump had a large number of casino workers based in Atlantic City, New Jersey, but there is no documented effort of him marshalling his resources to aid in the relief effort."He's very comfortable propagandising that event for political purposes," Mr O'Brien said. "Even in the face of tragedy, he can't help but self-promote and self-aggrandise."The donations Trump said he gave to charities involved in the relief effort are all unproven. In 2016, Scott M Stringer, the New York City comptroller, said there was no evidence that a $10,000 donation pledge that Mr Trump made after the attacks had ever been given to a charity called the Twin Towers Fund.The White House did not respond to a question asking for clarification of Mr Trump's involvement at ground zero.The New York Times
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| Deported from Turkey, Syrians return to unfamiliar country Posted: 30 Jul 2019 03:03 AM PDT  Bab al-Hawa Border Crossing (Syria) (AFP) - Still reeling from his sudden deportation from Turkey with just the clothes on his back, Mohammad Hassan stood in the arrivals hall at a border crossing in northern Syria unsure what to do next. "I left Syria seven years ago," said the 22-year-old. During Hassan's years of exile, Syria's landscape changed dramatically.
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| Strengthening Tropical Storm Erick forecast to approach Hawaii by week's end Posted: 29 Jul 2019 01:39 PM PDT  Tropical Storm Erick is gaining strength in the eastern Pacific Ocean and is forecast to approach Hawaii by the weekend, forecasters announced Monday.
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| Congress Has a Dangerous Idea for Your 401(k) Posted: 29 Jul 2019 04:00 AM PDT  (Bloomberg Opinion) -- Saving for retirement can be a perilous endeavor in the U.S., thanks in part to the Trump administration's moves to weaken safeguards against unscrupulous sellers of financial products. Now Congress is poised to make things worse -- by undermining protections governing the country's most popular investment vehicle, the 401(k) plan.Named after a once-obscure 1978 provision in the tax code, the 401(k) allows people to set up retirement-savings accounts through their employers, with income taxes deferred until the money is withdrawn. Employers and their chosen administrators assume fiduciary responsibility for the plans, meaning that they're supposed to offer a menu of sensible investment options. Ideally, these include low-fee mutual funds, sometimes targeting a specific retirement date.Amid growing concern about the number of people financially unprepared for retirement, Congress is considering tweaking how the 401(k) works. The overall intent of the relevant bipartisan legislation, known as the SECURE Act in the House and RESA in the Senate, seems admirable: Encourage people to save more. Among other provisions, the bills could help small employers band together to create efficient 401(k)s, and increase age limits for contributions to tax-deferred accounts.Yet the bills also seek to encourage a currently rare option in 401(k) plans: annuities. In principle, this could be wonderful, if the bills permitted only true annuities -- that is, investments that pay a guaranteed, fixed sum of money each year -- and if the fees they charged savers were kept in check. Unfortunately, neither is the case.Many annuities sold in the U.S. are complicated, overpriced products with payments determined by sometimes deceptive formulas that even sophisticated investors struggle to understand. Worse, the legislation specifically frees 401(k) providers from any hard obligation to pick the lowest cost products, allowing them wide leeway to consider a range of factors. That's startling, given that excessive cost is the single greatest critique leveled against both 401(k) plans and many forms of annuities.Granted, it's possible that 401(k) providers will work with insurance companies to offer annuities with genuinely transparent, predictable streams of retirement income. The providers' fiduciary duty should hold them to a higher standard than the insurance agents who typically peddle the worst products. Yet given 401(k) plans' mediocre track record, coupled with the insurance industry's long track record of selling inappropriate products, I wouldn't bet on it.Why would legislators expose savers to such risks? I won't speculate, but I will note one potentially relevant fact: Over the past 30 years, according to OpenSecrets.org, people and entities associated with three organizations -- Mass Mutual Life Insurance, FMR (the parent company of Fidelity Investments) and the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors -- have collectively been the largest donors to Congressman Richard Neal, who introduced the legislation in the House.Congress should make substantive fixes before it sends the legislation to President Trump's desk. Specifically, limit the "safe harbor" that shields 401(k) providers from liability, making it apply only to true fixed annuities. Explicitly place the burden of proof on fiduciaries to justify any inclusion of a higher-cost investment option in a 401(k). Lastly, require plan fiduciaries to evaluate and justify the expected returns on annuities and other proposed investment options compared with low-cost bond and equity index funds.Otherwise, instead of helping secure Americans' retirements, Congress could end up making them even more vulnerable.To contact the author of this story: Ethan Schwartz at ethanschwartz18@gmail.comTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Whitehouse at mwhitehouse1@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Ethan Schwartz has worked as an investment manager and financial services executive for 21 years. He was a special assistant to the deputy secretary of the Treasury in the Clinton administration. For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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| Nevada jury being picked for biker club racketeering trial Posted: 29 Jul 2019 05:31 PM PDT ![Nevada jury being picked for biker club racketeering trial]( "Nevada jury being picked for biker club racketeering trial") Echoes and chaos of a deadly 2011 shootout between rival motorcycle gangs in a northern Nevada casino are set to be retold in a Las Vegas federal courtroom in coming weeks, during a racketeering trial of eight Vagos members charged with being part of a broad criminal enterprise in several Western states. Jury selection began Monday in U.S. District Court for a trial scheduled to begin with openings Aug. 12 and stretch until about Thanksgiving. The eight men, all from California and ranging in age from 36 to 70, represent the first of three groups totaling 21 defendants in a sweeping case that prosecutors allege involves Vagos and crimes in California, Arizona, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah and Nevada.
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| Russia says U.S. may be aiming to quit nuclear test ban treaty Posted: 30 Jul 2019 03:33 AM PDT  The United States may be planning to blame Russian non-compliance as a pretext to pull out of the Comprehensive nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), a Russian diplomat told the Conference on Disarmament, the world's main arms talks forum, on Tuesday. "It would appear that through propaganda around false claims about Russia's compliance there are attempts to prepare international opinion for a U.S. exit from the CTBT and then to blame Russia again for everything," the Russian diplomat said.
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| Cory Booker Qualifies To Join Third Round Of Democratic Debates Posted: 29 Jul 2019 12:36 PM PDT  Presidential candidate Cory Booker has qualified to participate in the third round of Democratic debates, according to his campaign.Booker, a New Jersey senator, passed the threshold of 130,000 unique donors, his campaign said Monday, CNN reported. He had already met the polling requirements for the September debate.More than a quarter of the donors came after the first debate in June, his campaign said."We're building this campaign the right way, brick by brick from the grassroots up, and we're seeing the results of that strategy as we continue to build momentum," Addisu Demissie, Booker's campaign manager, told CNN.Booker joins six other Democrats who have qualified for the fall debate, which requires candidates to pass a donor and polling requirement. Former Vice President Joe Biden, Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris will be participating in the third debate. South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg and former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rouke have also qualified for third debate spots.
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| 15 memes about student loans for when you're in debt and need to laugh it off Posted: 29 Jul 2019 02:01 PM PDT  Congrats graduates! Your student loan debt might be forgiven if, and only if, you are left-handed, live in Iowa, apprentice under a wizard, and it's the third cycle of the fifth blood moon. So in the mean time, we might just have to fork over the cash every month. It can be hard to be slapped with an adult-sized bill when you still feel like an exhausted child, except taller and with the ability to drink alcohol. Who gave us this responsibility of tens of thousands of dollars for the next few decades? After all, as so many people so eloquently put it, "I'm baby." SEE ALSO: Animal shelter finds forever homes for furry 'aliens' with Area 51 memesYou start thinking to yourself -- did I even need that higher education? I don't feel any smarter? Why am I laying down stacks when my TA just showed Bill Nye videos our entire lecture? Sadly, we don't have the answers (we're all currently dealing with our own student loans, RIP.) But if you feel like good ol' Sallie Mae is burning a whole in your paycheck every month, and nobody seems to have a concrete plan to destroy the loans through a bit of light arson, these memes are for you. > this is what happens when I make a payment on my student loans https://t.co/bP1RGGXtVG> > -- Jake Bunger (@jakebunger) July 29, 2019> My new proposal would forgive student loans for anyone who can dunk on a regulation rim> > -- Dan Sheehan (@ItsDanSheehan) July 29, 2019> I feel like the "erasing student loan" agenda is the adult version of "if you elect me for class president I promise we'll have pizza and ice cream for lunch every day".> > -- Beale St. Jae Crowder (@el_budget) July 28, 2019SEE ALSO: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's 12 best moments of 2019 (so far)> I have announced a student loan debt forgiveness program for those who run up the stairs to the Crypt. Grab the books from the skeletons, and pass into the Pit of the Pendulum. Knock over the column and cliiiimb into the King's Storeroom. Smash the clay pots to find the key that- pic.twitter.com/X2GZVJpXGZ> > -- CurtDogg (@CurtisBonds) July 28, 2019> I think all student loans should be forgiven but each person's forgiveness ceremony should be extremely long and insanely Catholic> > -- Brooks Otterlake (@i_zzzzzz) July 28, 2019> friend: was it worth it to take out all those student loans to work in healthcare? > > me: without a doubt! > > narrator: there were some doubts> > -- Doc Around the Clock (@DocAroundThClok) July 27, 2019> Asked my dad for help with my studentloans and this is what he gave me: pic.twitter.com/nQ1nxza3iZ> > -- picodegallo (@picodegalllo) July 28, 2019> Your student loans are forgiven GetMeNakedIn5Words pic.twitter.com/T2SY062MPn> > -- Matt (@matthewmerez) July 27, 2019> me thinking i understood student loans vs me seeing another charge on my account pic.twitter.com/m6thiK6v3H> > -- carrie (@maxgoofofficial) July 23, 2019> This, but unironically. StudentLoans pic.twitter.com/2aXNThKIBa> > -- MJG ⛳️ (@MJGWrites) July 25, 2019> Tell Jesus to meet me at the student loans office tomorrow morning we have a few things to work out https://t.co/wpETOTbEUK> > -- Jesse Thomas Reese (@JTReese89) July 22, 2019> I will always think of that poor raccoon trying to wash his cotton candy in water before eating it, and probably apt for the student loan pic.twitter.com/dwAD2S5ELw> > -- Daryl Bartley (@hypercubexl) July 29, 2019At least we won't be stuck paying our loans back in the afterlife. Right? Right? WATCH: BTS's J-Hope donates thousands towards school scholarships
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| The president is right about Baltimore. Are Democrats really prepared to defend failure? Posted: 30 Jul 2019 05:13 AM PDT  Baltimore is one of the least livable, most dangerous cities in America. It's not racist to point that out.
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| Tip on Canada murder suspects turns up empty: police Posted: 29 Jul 2019 04:15 PM PDT  Canadian police on Monday said they have not found two murder suspects in an area of northern Manitoba they had searched for 24 hours after receiving a tip on the teenagers' possible location. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police on Sunday announced they had sent numerous officers to the indigenous community of York Landing to investigate a possible sighting of Kam McLeod, 19, and Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, who are suspects in three murders. The Royal Canadian Air Force also assisted, but "after a thorough & exhaustive search, #rcmpmb has not been able to substantiate the tip in York Landing," Manitoba RCMP said on Twitter.
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| Man finds 'mummified' baby in dead mother's freezer Posted: 30 Jul 2019 12:17 PM PDT  A man found a "mummified" baby in his mother's freezer while cleaning out her flat following her death. Adam Smith, from St Louis, Missouri, said he was "confused" and "angry" after discovering the girl's remains, which he believes could be a sister he never knew he had.The infant's corpse was wrapped in a pink blanket in a cardboard box which Mr Smith, 37, said his mother had kept alongside food in the freezer his whole life."It still had skin, hair and everything," he told local television station KSDK. "It was mummified."Mr Smith said his mother Barbara had always maintained the box contained part of her wedding cake. But she had been secretive about it, with the box considered "a no-no conversation"."Now I know why," he told the St Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper.Mr Smith said he had never before looked inside the box, but curiosity got the better him as he sorted out his mother's belongings after the 68-year-old died of lung cancer on 21 July.After taking the box out from behind a frozen steak pie and opening it up, he felt a foot and saw the baby's head."After that, I just freaked out," he told KSDK. "I put it back into the box and I called police right away."Officers arrived at the flat shortly before 1am on Sunday.The St Louis Metropolitan Police Department is treating the case as "suspicious death" and an autopsy is to be conducted.Mr Smith, who has provided a DNA sample to the police, said he had been consumed with questions about the baby and why his mother kept it secret."I'm 37, and it has been in my freezer for 37 years and I was always told it was a wedding cake top," he said."Even as she was on her deathbed, she never told me what was in that box," he told the Post-Dispatch. "That's what makes me think maybe she did something to this baby and didn't want to tell anyone because she was afraid she would get in trouble."Mr Smith added it had also dawned on him that for his "whole life" he had eaten food from a freezer that may also have contained his "frozen sister"."Who absolutely keeps their own child in a box for this long?" he told St Louis television station KTVI. "I just have so many thoughts. It's just insane."
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