Picture of Houston nursing home patients sitting in flood water goes viral

This photo of elderly nursing home patients sitting in waist-high flood water while awaiting rescue is going viral. This is not a hoax. SHAME on Houston’s Democratic Mayor Sylvester Turner for ignoring the governor’s calls to evacuate before Hurricane Harvey made landfall.
In the aftermath of Harvey, the governor called Turner’s office four times offering help, but this idiot mayor refused to return his phone calls.
Shame on black people who continue electing Democrats to office who consistently do NOTHING to help their own people.
This is unforgivable. The city should’ve had a list of all nursing homes, and the patients should’ve been evacuated to a shelter before the major category 4 hurricane hit.
Shame on the family members who put their loved ones in nursing homes and didn’t even check on them.
Houston has to do something to make sure a shameful situation like this never happens again. This is a disgrace! Sandra rants.



Post by Sandra Rose.

Trump fires White House chief of staff Reince Priebus

Trump with Reince Priebus on election night. Trump said on Friday: ‘Reince is a good man. John Kelly will do a fantastic job. He’s a great, great American.’ Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

Donald Trump has fired Reince Priebus as White House chief of staff and replaced him with Homeland Security secretary John Kelly, the president announced on Twitter on Friday.
Trump tweeted: “I am pleased to inform you that I have just named General/Secretary John F Kelly as White House Chief of Staff. He is a great American … and a great leader. John has also done a spectacular job at Homeland Security. He has been a true star of my administration.”

The dismissal of Priebus came as little surprise after he was the subject of a furious, foul-mouthed attack by new communications director Anthony Scaramucci, who claimed he would be asked to resign imminently. Priebus told the Wall Street Journal in a text message that he resigned privately on Thursday.

Trump – who in six months has now lost a chief of staff, deputy chief of staff, national security adviser, communications director and press secretary – added on Twitter: “I would like to thank Reince Priebus for his service and dedication to his country. We accomplished a lot together and I am proud of him!”

According to a pooled report, Trump sent the tweets shortly after Air Force One landed back at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland following a trip to Long Island, New York. Priebus and Scaramucci were on the same flight back to Washington DC.

Trump got off the plane and told reporters: “Reince is a good man. John Kelly will do a fantastic job. General Kelly has been a star, done an incredible job thus far, respected by everybody. He’s a great, great American. Reince is a good man.”

In a statement, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said: “General John Kelly is one of the true stars of the administration. He has helped seal the border and reduced illegal immigration by 70%. He is respected by everyone, especially the people at the Department of Homeland Security.

“The entire administration loves him and no one is comparable. He will begin on Monday morning and a cabinet meeting will follow his swearing in Monday morning.

“The president thanks Reince Priebus for his service. They accomplished a lot together. He was loyal in his dedication to the president. The president thanks him and his family for his great service to the country, and he will always be a member of the Trump Team.”

Priebus was one of the least powerful chiefs of staff in recent history, and his future had long been a matter of speculation. In a highly unorthodox move, Trump decided that Priebus and chief strategist Steve Bannon would serve as “equal partners” in implementing his agenda.

Obamacare defeats Trump again at US Senate

Trump: His plan to kill Obamacare fails again at US Senate

United States Senators early Friday narrowly rejected a dramatically slimmed-down Obamacare repeal bill, even after being promised by GOP leaders that the measure would never actually become law.

The strategy was a desperate and ultimately unsuccessful gambit by Republican leaders, who had run out of options after failing to persuade their majority to pass legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with a promised new healthcare plan.

Instead, they said their so-called skinny repeal bill would only be used as a vehicle to develop a comprehensive package later in consultation with House Republicans, who passed a more sweeping bill in May.

But three Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and John McCain of Arizona — joined all Democrats and independents in voting against the bill in a 51-49 vote.

The tally was delayed for several minutes just before it was set to take place by some dramatic last-minute lobbying of McCain by Vice President Mike Pence and others, but they were unable to sway the lawmaker.

McCain, who was recently diagnosed with brain cancer, had provided the critical last vote needed to begin debate on the measure earlier this week when he fly out from Arizona, where he has been recuperating from surgery to remove a blood clot.

The failure sends Senate GOP leaders back to square one in their bid to roll back the healthcare law.

“This is clearly a disappointing moment,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, challenging Democrats to come up with a better solution to fixing problems with the current law. “It is time to move on.”

Sen. Charles E. Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, said he looked forward to taking a bipartisan approach to healthcare reform. “It’s time to turn the page,” he said “We are not celebrating. We are relieved.”

The bill would have left much of the 2010 law in place and eliminated just a handful of its provisions, including its insurance mandates.

According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the bill would would have left 16 million more people uninsured over the next decade and increased insurance premiums by an average of 20% annually over the next decade.

The eight-page Health Care Freedom Act eliminated the requirement that Americans have health insurance and suspended a requirement that large employers provide insurance to their employees.

It delayed for three years a tax on medical device makers.

Additionally, the legislation made it easier for states to avoid some requirements in the current law and allowed consumers to sock more money away in Health Savings Accounts to pay for insurance premiums.

It also restricted funding to Planned Parenthood by prohibiting federal funding to clinics that provide abortion services, even for non-abortion related services such as cancer screenings

Most GOP senators panned the bill. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) called the plan a “fraud,” “disaster” and “the dumbest thing in history.”

Senators said they feared the House might simply pass the skinny bill and send it to President Trump to be signed into law.

*Culled from Los Angeles Times

Sean Spicer resigns as Press Secretary as Trump picks Anthony Scaramucci to head White House Communications

Sean Spicer, has resigned White House Press Secretary following the appointment Anthony Scaramucci as White House communications director

Reuters reports that President Trump picked the Wall Street financier to head the White House communications on Friday as the White House deals with a lot of communication surrounding the special counsel probe and several investigations into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible ties with the Trump campaign.

Since former communications director, Michael Dubke resigned in May, the seat had been vacant with Sean Spicer serving a dual role as press secretary and communications director.

Scaramucci, a Republican fundraiser and founder of Skybridge Capital, had been offered the post of U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris earlier.

Following news that Scaramucci had been picked, Sean Spicer abruptly resigned as White House Press secretary.

New York Times reports Spicer to have vehemently disagreed against Scaramucci as a pick for the position and told Trump that he believed the appointment was a major mistake.

Obamacare defeats Donald Trump

Ex-US President Barack Obama and President Donald Trump 

President Donald Trump’s bid to overhaul or outrightly repeal former President Barack Obama’s legacy health law, known as Obamacare,  has collapsed.

The efforts collapsed in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, dealing a sharp setback to Trump and the Republican Party’s seven-year quest to kill President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law.

The disarray in the Republican-controlled Senate rattled financial markets as it cast doubt on the chances for getting Trump’s other domestic policy priorities, such as tax reform, through a divided Congress.

Saying he was disappointed, Trump suggested at the White House that he might let the insurance markets created under Obamacare go under and then try to work with Democrats on a rescue.

“We’re probably in that position where we’ll just let Obamacare fail,” Trump told reporters. “We will let Obamacare fail, and then the Democrats are going to come to us.”

U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell initially said he would set a vote on a straight repeal of Obamacare after it became clear on Monday night that he did not have enough support to pass an overhaul of the healthcare law, but the new approach unraveled within hours.

Republican Senators Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska quickly announced they would not back repeal, appearing to doom the fledgling effort. With Democrats united in opposition, Republicans can only afford to lose two votes to pass the measure in the Senate, where they have a slim 52-48 majority.

“I do not think that it’s going to be constructive to repeal a law that at this point is so interwoven within our healthcare system and then hope that over the next two years we will come up with some kind of replacement,” Collins told reporters.

Obamacare has boosted the number of Americans with health insurance through mandates on individuals and employers, and income-based subsidies. About 20 million Americans gained insurance coverage through the law.

US Congressman gets 40 hour community service sentence for punching a reporter

Congressman-elect Greg Gianforte was sentenced to community service, a $385 fine and 20 hours of sessions for anger management after pleading guilty to assaulting Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs on the eve of his election.

In a courtroom packed with journalists and spectators in Bozeman, Montana, Gianforte pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault, saying, “Although it was not my intention to hurt him, I understand Ben was injured.”

After judge Rick West repeatedly asked Gianforte whether he believed he caused injury to Jacobs, the congressman-elect said he did.

The Judge initially said he would sentence him to four days in jail, saying he could do a work program as an alternative to spending those nights in jail.

But when the judge learned that the assault charge was not eligible for the program, he decided to instead sentence him to 40 hours of community service, emphasizing that he did not want the congressman-elect to go to jail since he has apologized.

The sentencing comes a week after Gianforte reached a settlement with Jacobs in which the Republican apologised to the reporter and agreed to pay $50,000 to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

In a letter to Jacobs, Gianforte wrote his “physical response” to the Guardian reporter’s “legitimate question was unprofessional, unacceptable, and unlawful”.

“I made a mistake and humbly ask for your forgiveness,” he added.

No US president has been treated more unfairly – Trump

Donald Trump gave vent to frustrations over his mounting political problems Wednesday, declaring that no president in US history had been treated “more unfairly.”
During a commencement address at the US Coast Guard Academy, Trump urged graduating cadets to follow his example and “fight, fight, fight. Never, ever, give up. Things will work out just fine.”

“Look at the way I’ve been treated lately. Especially by the media. No politician in history and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly. You can’t let them get you down,” he said.

The outburst came amid intensifying pressure on the president in the wake of his firing of James Comey as director of the FBI last week, in the midst of a probe into whether Trump’s campaign colluded with Russian attempts to tilt the US election in his favour.

The Senate Intelligence Committee announced Wednesday that they have asked Comey to testify.

The New York Times, citing sources close to Comey, reported on Tuesday that Trump asked the FBI director in an Oval Office meeting to drop its probe of former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

A day earlier, the Washington Post, citing unnamed sources, reported that Trump had shared highly classified intelligence with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov regarding an Islamic State group terror threat.

AFP

Here’s How The Obamas Are Fabulously Living Life After The White House

Former US First Couple Barack and Michelle Obama are living it up since leaving the White House and it appears they’re enjoying every minute of it. Find out what the Obamas are up to these days inside….

After eight years living inside of a bubble in the White House, Barack and Michelle Obama are back to civilians again. And they're happy about it.

The former President and former First Lady cover the newest issue of PEOPLE magazine where details about what life is like post-White House are spilled. They’re really just enjoying everyday life things. The stuff they couldn’t do while living on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Mrs. Obama enjoys having the freedom to work up a sweat in a Soul Cycle class. And we know this to be true because we’ve spotted her leaving a session or two in the past. She also enjoys packing her own bag lunch and eating with her staff while watching viral videos in her D.C. office. Ha! As she said in the past, she couldn't wait to hit up Target, so we know she's living it up in the retail spot.

Meanwhile, Mr. Obama is happy to get out of a suit and rock his leather jacket he tucked away during his presidency. “Imagine putting on a suit and tie almost every day for eight years. I think he enjoys not having to do that,” Barack’s chief of staff, Anita Breckenridge, said. POTUS decided against wearing the leather jacket during his presidency because he didn’t think it was presidential enough to wear while in office. But now, he’s free to wear it when his heart so pleases.

While they still have Secret Service detail, it’s nothing like it used to be. They can decide at the last minute to go to dinner without having to have teams of people prepare for an outing hours before.

However, Mr. Obama is still not allowed to drive anywhere.

“He hasn’t been able to drive, and probably won’t for awhile,” Breckenridge said. “The bubble’s still there, but you can’t underestimate not having a press pool or a large motorcade: It all feels significantly smaller.”

The lucky few who are around them say the Obamas look relaxed and happy. And that’s all we can ask for.

We're so happy that they’re enjoying their much-needed time to do all of the things they want to do. Now, we're just waiting on those post-White House memoirs.

And since this is news...

While Mr. and Mrs. Obama have remained relatively silent about their thoughts on Trump, something Mr. Obama allegedly told friends has recently leaked. PEOPLE supposedly spoke with a few of Obama's friends and he reportedly called Trump “nothing but a bullshitter." It's reported he said this to a few friends in early November, right after his Election Night phone call with Trump. Ha! We'd have to agree.

 

Photo: PEOPLE/AP

Democrats call for Trump’s impeachment

At least two congressional Democrats have put up calls for Trump to be impeached over claims that the President disclosed classified secrets to Russian foreign minister about a planned Islamic State operation during their meeting last week.

 House Democrats Al Green and Maxine Waters have urged Congress to impeach Trump in the wake of the latest bombshell allegations, coming on the heels of the shock firing of FBI director James Comey last week. The lawmakers say Trump’s dismissal of Comey — who was overseeing probes into possible Trump campaign collusion with Russia to skew the 2016 election — amounts to an attempt to hinder the counterintelligence investigations.

A number of media personalities urged the president to resign following the claim that he divulged highly classified information about the Islamic State group to the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, and its ambassador to Moscow Sergey Kislyak. “The president should resign,” wrote David Frum, a conservative editorial writer for the Atlantic, a call echoed by influential TV satirist Stephen Colbert who urged the US leader: “Donald Trump, if you’re watching, first of all: You’re a bad president. Please resign.”

Constitutional law expert Laurence Tribe argued even before the latest explosive reports that sufficient evidence had accrued since Trump took office in January to merit launching an impeachment investigation.

“The country is faced with a president whose conduct strongly suggests that he poses a danger to our system of government,” he wrote in the Washington Post at the weekend. The US impeachment process — a Constitutional method for removing the president or other federal officials from office on the grounds of “treason, bribery, and other high crimes and misdemeanors” — involves several stages. 

If a majority of the House votes in favor of impeachment, the Senate will then hold a trial. To convict and oust the president the Senate must achieve the high threshold of a two-thirds vote. No influential lawmaker has thus far spoken out in support of impeaching Trump. However, Reuters, quoting two U.S. officials with knowledge of the meeting said the intelligence Trump shared with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak, was supplied by a U.S. ally in the fight against the militant group. The White House said the allegations, first reported by the Washington Post, were not true. 

“The story that came out tonight as reported is false,” H.R. McMaster, Trump’s national security adviser, told reporters at the White House, adding that the two men reviewed a range of common threats including to civil aviation. 

“At no time were intelligence sources or methods discussed. The president did not disclose any military operations that were not already publicly known. … I was in the room. It didn’t happen,” he said. The White House also released a statement from Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who said the meeting focused on counterterrorism, and from deputy national security adviser Dina Powell, who said the Post story was false. Reacting to the news, the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat, Dick Durbin, called Trump’s conduct “dangerous” and reckless.” The Republican head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Bob Corker, called the allegations “very, very troubling” if true. One of the officials said the intelligence was classified Top Secret and also held in a secure “compartment” to which only a handful of intelligence officials have access. 

After Trump disclosed the information, which one of the officials described as spontaneous, officials immediately called the CIA and the National Security Agency, both of which have agreements with a number of allied intelligence services, and informed them what had happened. While the president has the authority to disclose even the most highly classified information at will, in this case he did so without consulting the ally that provided it, which threatens to jeopardize what they called a longstanding intelligence-sharing agreement, the U.S. officials said.

‘NO FILTER’

In his conversations with the Russian officials, Trump appeared to be boasting about his knowledge of the looming threats, telling them he was briefed on “great intel every day,” an official with knowledge of the exchange said, according to the Post. U.S. officials have told Reuters they have long been concerned about disclosing highly classified intelligence to Trump. One official, who requested anonymity to discuss dealing with the president, said last month: “He has no filter; it’s in one ear and out the mouth.”

Trump mocks Clinton over election loss, tells her to move on

US President Donald Trump has again lambasted former Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton and this time it’s because she blamed the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and WikiLeaks for her election loss.

Trump, in a tweet, said on the contrary, Clinton was protected from criminal prosecution by FBI Director James Comey over her email scandal.

“FBI Director Comey was the best thing that ever happened to Hillary Clinton in that he gave her a free pass for many bad deeds!

“The phony Trump/Russia story was an excuse used by the Democrats as justification for losing the election.

“Perhaps Trump just ran a great campaign”, Trump said on his Twitter handle.

Clinton had in an interview at a Women's event in New York, Monday, said she was on her way to winning the November 8 election if not for a last-minute letter to Congress from Comey and the release of campaign emails from WikiLeaks.

The former Secretary of State also said that she thought she would have won the election if not for the two major events during the home stretch of the campaign.

“I was on the way to winning until a combination of Jim Comey’s letter on October 28 and Russian WikiLeaks raised doubts in the minds of people who were inclined to vote for me but got scared off.
“And the evidence for that intervening event is I think compelling, persuasive, and so we overcame a lot in the campaign”, Clinton said.

She alleged that the Trump campaign “quite coordinated with the goals” of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the election, adding that Putin “certainly interfered in our election to hurt me and help my opponent.’’

Clinton also said Trump “should worry less about the election and my winning the popular vote.
“I did more than three million votes than my opponent.’’