February 27, 2018


News and Views


THIS IS A DAY OF MANY INTERESTING ARTICLES, SO I AM COLLECTING THEM WITH LITTLE COMMENTARY. THERE MAY BE A DOZEN OR SO, WHEREAS I USUALLY AIM FOR SIX.

THE NEXT TWO ARTICLES ON THE KUSHNER TITLE CHANGE, ARE EACH DIFFERENT AND USEFUL; WHILE IN ONE ARTICLE THE PRESIDENT’S LIKELY ADHERENCE TO THE HATCH ACT IS DISPUTED BY THE CAMPAIGN, SAYING IN ESSENCE THAT THEY WILL IGNORE THE HATCH ACT, WHILE IN THE SECOND ARTICLE IT STATES THAT KUSHNER’S POSITION AND POWERS WILL BE DIMINISHED AS THE LAW REQUIRES.

SO WHAT ELSE IS NEW? IF IT’S A RULE THAT OTHERS OBEY, HE WON’T. I’M NOT A BIG ONE ON OBEYING RULES IN GENERAL; BUT I DO THINK THAT IN THE GOVERNMENT WHICH IS BASED ON A (HOPEFULLY) SEPARATE SET OF POWERS, AND IN WHICH THE PRESIDENCY SHOULD NOT BECOME A KINGSHIP IN APPEARANCE NOR DEED, WE NEED TO HAVE OUR RULES LIMITING PRESIDENTIAL POWER FOLLOWED.

WE ARE ALREADY JUST A FEW STEPS AWAY FROM BEING AN AUTOCRACY, AFTER ALL, AND TRUMP KEEPS STEPPING OVER THAT LINE. THE FIRST I KNEW ABOUT THIS KIND OF THING WAS THE PRACTICE OF “SIGNING STATEMENTS” WITH WHICH MORE THAN ONE PRESIDENT HAS LIMITED THE DEGREE TO WHICH HE WOULD FOLLOW A NEW LAW, THOUGH HE DID AGREE TO SIGN IT.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-campaign-nixes-kushner-title-amid-legal-questions-204834881.html?messageId=45324473-e26b-445c-ad7c-814fff918c67&replyId=9826e711-4916-4f98-aa2e-6a764aa623ad&bcmt=1
Trump campaign nixes Kushner title amid legal questions
Olivier Knox, Yahoo News • February 27, 2018

WASHINGTON — One minute, President Trump’s 2020 campaign referred to Jared Kushner as “Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President, and President Trump’s son-in-law.” The next, Kushner became simply “President Trump’s son-in-law.”

Blame the 1939 Act to Prevent Pernicious Political Activities, better known as the Hatch Act. The law imposes limits on what government officials can and cannot do in terms of partisan campaign activities.

The Trump reelection organization appears to have fallen afoul of one of the measure’s provisions with an early Tuesday statement announcing that digital strategist Brad Parscale would run the 2020 operation.

The statement included praise for Parscale from “Jared Kushner, Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President, and President Trump’s son-in-law.”

“Brad was essential in bringing a disciplined technology and data-driven approach to how the 2016 campaign was run. His leadership and expertise will be help [sic] build a best-in-class campaign,” Kushner said in the announcement.

As an assistant to the president, Kushner can take part in limited campaign activities while on duty. But the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) that oversees enforcement of the Hatch Act says the law prohibits “referring to their official titles or positions while engaged in political activity at any time.”

After the original announcement went up, the campaign updated the statement. The new version reads: “Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, said, ‘Brad was essential in bringing a disciplined technology and data-driven approach to how the 2016 campaign was run. His leadership and expertise will be help build a best-in-class campaign.”

(The update repeated the earlier apparent typo. But typos are legal.)

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump at President Trump’s State of the Union address. (Photo: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

Under President Barack Obama, White House aides received yearly briefings from the Office of White House Counsel about legal restrictions on political activities, among other limits that come with a job at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

“You do have to go. There’s a sign-in sheet at each briefing. You sign at the end so that you can’t just sign it and leave. No one else can sign for you,” one White House aide explained to Yahoo News last year.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters at her daily briefing that senior Trump aides had gone through a similar process.

Asked whether White House officials had received a briefing on the rules, including the prohibition on using formal titles in campaign materials, Sanders replied: “I know that both Cabinet and senior staff have been briefed on upcoming midterm elections and what they are allowed to do.”

Under Obama, there were two notable instances of senior aides facing charges of improper politicking. Former Labor Secretary Hilda Solis drew accusations that she engaged in improper fundraising by soliciting subordinates for donations to Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign. The OSC closed its probe when she stepped down to run for office in California, but it had referred the matter to the Department of Justice for possible criminal investigation. And the OSC found that Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius had violated the Hatch Act in 2012 by endorsing a Democratic candidate in North Carolina and urging Obama’s reelection at a gala where she appeared in her official capacity.

Under the current president, Ben Carson was briefly in trouble after he was introduced at an August 2017 Trump campaign rally as “the secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Dr. Ben Carson.” OSC determined that the renowned surgeon had not done anything to imply that he was speaking in his official capacity.

Kushner’s status at the White House also made news on Tuesday, when several news outlets reported that his security clearance had been downgraded, paring back his access to some of the nation’s closest-held secrets. All Trump aides holding interim clearances at the most sensitive level learned in a memo issued Friday that they would be dropped to a lower level. Kushner has played a central role in the administration’s Middle East peace push and relations with China, and he previously had access to the President’s Daily Brief, one of the most sensitive intelligence documents produced for Trump. Politico first reported the change.



THIS VERSION OF THE STORY IS ORIGINALLY FROM HUFFPO, AND THERE ARE DIFFERENCES WORTH READING TO ADD TO WHAT IS THE WIDEST PICTURE OF THE WHITE HOUSE TODAY THAT I’VE READ IN ONE PLACE SINCE TRUMP CAME IN.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/jared-kushner-security-clearance-downgraded-205350322.html?soc_trk=gcm&soc_src=ecd5e8af-dc90-3332-9efb-d522bf6b8dfa&.tsrc=notification-brknews
Jared Kushner Has Security Clearance Downgraded: Reports
Sebastian Murdock
HuffPost • February 27, 2018

Photograph -- Jared Kushner Has Security Clearance Downgraded: Reports

Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and White House adviser, has had his security clearance downgraded, Politico reports.

He has been downgraded from SCI (sensitive compartmented information) access to Secret level, according to the publication.

All other White House aides working on high-level interim clearances also had their access downgraded, according to a memo reportedly sent to staffers on Friday. Earlier that same day, Trump said he would leave it up to his chief of staff, John Kelly, to decide what access Kushner should have.

“General Kelly respects Jared a lot and General Kelly will make that call,” Trump said at a joint news conference with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull at the time.

Kushner no longer receives the President’s Daily Brief, Reuters reports. His access to the highly classified intelligence briefing has been cut off in the past few weeks, sources told the news service.

Kushner is reportedly accepting the decision and “will not ask for special permission” from the president, according to CNN.

Questions of security clearance for White House staff members were raised after the resignation of staff secretary Rob Porter, who was accused by his two ex-wives of mental, emotional and physical abuse. Top officials, including Kelly, allegedly knew of the complaints of abuse against Porter but still gave him temporary security clearance.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders refused to answer questions regarding Kushner’s security clearance during a press briefing earlier Tuesday. Last week, CVCC CCC Sanders said Kushner would continue the work he has been doing whether or not he has full security clearance.

This post has been updated with more details about Kushner’s clearance.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.

COMMENTS

BiB38 minutes ago

Kushner's daddy went to prison for campaign fraud, bribery, and tax evasion....soon Jared will be following in his daddy's and father-in-law's footsteps. Comrade tRump 2020, 20 years for obstruction, 20 years for treason = MAGAVCVVVVV
ReplyReplies (34)45848

GARY
GARY1 hour ago
Why would Kushner who is swimming in red ink because of his financial problems be allowed to handle the most sensitive and classified American secrets?
Kushner is ripe for the KGB to pull his ticket and threaten to make it public on how many loans Kushner and the Trump family have with the Russians.
Why was Kushner sent to the Middle East to work out a peace deal when it appears he can't manage his finances?
ReplyReplies (25)35418


Alex42 minutes ago
We know where will be the final destination of any classified information given to Trump or Kushner: Putin's desk in Kremlin!
ReplyReplies (10)19618

Vandelay Industries
Vandelay Industries44 minutes ago
Wow Trumps got lots of people getting him coffee
ReplyReplies (5)1245


Yuen13 minutes ago
Jared Kushner Has Security Clearance Downgraded: Reports
Next, Mueller will be downgrading Jared's security level to the same prison cell that his father shared. Mueller! Mueller! Mueller! MAGA! MAGA! MAGA! God bless Mr. Mueller!



REPUBLICANS IN THIS COUNTRY SEEM TO FEEL THAT GIVING OUT MONEY TO TAKE CARE OF LIFE NECESSITIES TENDS TO BE WASTED, LOOTED BY THE POOR; SO, THEY DO AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE TO HELP. THEY ARE AFRAID THAT THEIR HIGH-INCOME PEOPLE AND CAUSES WILL SUFFER A RESTRICTION IF THEY MEET THE PEOPLE’S NEEDS. THAT’S A “POOR INVESTMENT, IN THEIR VIEW. ONE SHOULD ALWAYS GET MONEY BACK FROM ANY INVESTMENT. CHARITY WORK IS THE ROLE OF THE CHURCH, OR OF FUNDS SET UP FOR THAT PURPOSE. THAT’S WHY ON A SOCIAL SECURITY INCOME OF $1,000 A MONTH, THE STATE WILL ONLY GIVE $15.00 A MONTH FOR FOOD AID.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/puerto-rico-says-treasury-abruptly-cutting-4-7-billion-relief-loan-to-2-billion/
AP February 27, 2018, 4:29 PM
Puerto Rico says Treasury abruptly cutting $4.7 billion relief loan to $2 billion

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Puerto Rico's governor said Tuesday that the U.S. Treasury Department has cut a $4.7 billion disaster relief loan available to the U.S. territory by more than half, and he demanded help from Congress.

Gov. Ricardo Rossello said federal officials reduced the amount to $2 billion without providing an explanation nearly five months after Congress approved the loan. He warned the move puts Puerto Rico in a "dangerous financial dilemma" and that his administration could be forced to cut some essential services as the island continues to struggle after Hurricane Maria.

"Any material interruption to Puerto Rico's public services will only exacerbate outmigration of its population to the mainland and further deepen and prolong Puerto Rico's decade-old fiscal and economic crisis," he said.

Tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans fled to the U.S. mainland after the Category 4 storm, which hit as the island was struggling to restructure a portion of its $73 billion public debt load amid an 11-year recession.

Rossello said it seems the Treasury imposed certain loan restrictions to make it "extremely difficult for Puerto Rico to access these funds when it needs federal assistance the most." He also said Treasury officials told his administration last week that they do not intend to forgive the loan.

Puerto Rico Governor Roberto Rossello (C) addresses the media next to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen (L) and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, after Hurricane Maria's devastation, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, December 19, 2017. ALVIN BAEZ / REUTERS

Congress had approved the loan in October to help Puerto Rico recover from the storm, which killed dozens of people and caused up to an estimated $94 billion in damage. Some 15 percent of power customers remain in the dark, and more than 700 families are still living in hotels across the island. Last week, Puerto Rico's power company obtained a $300 million emergency loan that will help keep it operating only through late March, according to a federal control board overseeing the island's finances. The board said it plans to request more loans in upcoming weeks.

It is unclear why the $4.7 billion federal loan was reduced. A Treasury spokesperson did not immediately return a message for comment.

In January, officials with the Treasury Department and the Federal Emergency Management Agency sent Puerto Rico officials a letter stating they were temporarily withholding the loan because they did not believe the government was facing a cash shortage as it had previously warned. Federal officials said the money would be released via the Community Disaster Loan Program once the island's central cash balance decreased to a certain level.

Rossello said talks with Treasury officials are ongoing even as he has asked Congress to intervene.

© 2018 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.



BANNONED? RIGHT.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/we-got-bannoned-house-intel-dem-says-of-hope-hicks-testimony/
By OLIVIA VICTORIA GAZIS CBS NEWS February 27, 2018, 1:25 PM
"We got Bannoned," House Intel Dem says of Hope Hicks' testimony

Several hours into her scheduled appearance before the House Intelligence Committee, White House communications director Hope Hicks is answering some of the committee's questions, according to multiple members, though Democrats and Republicans on the committee differ on the acceptability of her testimony's limited scope.

"She's answered every possible question on the campaign," said Rep. Peter King, R-New York, though he said questions about her time on the transition or in the White House were apparently off the table.

As of Tuesday morning, it was an open question whether, like other witnesses with ties to the White House, Hicks would adhere to a limited scope of questions determined by the Trump administration. By mid-afternoon, it was apparent that she is the latest in a string of witnesses, including former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, to decline to answer questions related to events that took place after the conclusion of the campaign.

"We got Bannoned," said Rep. Denny Heck, D-Washington, suggesting the committee will again find itself at an impasse with a witness pivotal to its ongoing investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election.

Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Florida, like King, said Hicks was forthcoming about her time on the campaign, but said it was a "legitimate concern" whether any witness could invoke privilege with regard to the transition period. "Those questions need to be answered," he said.

Bannon's refusal to answer the committee's questions beyond a list of 25 questions that was "literally scripted" by the White House, according to Ranking Member Adam Schiff, D-California, prompted a call by committee Republicans and Democrats alike to hold Bannon in contempt of Congress.

That possibility did not arise in the aftermath of Lewandowski's testimony, during which he said he was not prepared to answer questions beyond the campaign. It is less clear that it will be considered in Hicks' case.

"We'll cross that Rubicon when we get to it," said the Republican leading the Russia probe, Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas.

hope hicks
Hope Hicks, White House director of strategic communications, arrives to a swearing-in ceremony of White House senior staff in the East Room of the White House on Jan. 22, 2017, in Washington. GETTY

Hicks' appearance was abruptly postponed once in January as counsel for the White House and committee sorted out the scope of her testimony, which continues behind closed doors.

The committee wants to hear from Hicks on any contact Trump campaign members might have had with Russian intermediaries. Members were also interested in Hicks' knowledge of the White House's initial statement, drafted aboard Air Force One, in response to press reports of a June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Russians and Trump campaign officials.

Hicks' own role in responding to reports of the meeting has also been under scrutiny. According to a report in the New York Times, a former spokesman for President Trump's legal team, Mark Corallo, planned to tell Mueller's team that Hicks said on a conference call that emails written by the President's son, Donald Trump, Jr., about the Trump Tower meeting, "will never get out."

In a statement at the time, Hicks' lawyer, Robert P. Trout, strongly denied Corallo's allegation. "She never said that," Trout said, "And the idea that Hope Hicks ever suggested that emails or other documents would be concealed or destroyed is completely false."

Hicks has already been questioned by the special counsel and the Senate Intelligence Committee as part of their respective investigations, according to multiple sources.


© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.



BOTH TRUMP AND SANDERS HAVE BEGUN CAMPAIGNING A YEAR AND A HALF AHEAD OF TIME, AND CONSIDERING THE LENGTH OF TIME IT MAY TAKE TO AMASS THE MANY MILLIONS OF DOLLARS THEY MAY NEED, I GUESS IT’S OKAY, ALTHOUGH I TEND TO FEEL THAT WE SPEND TOO MUCH TIME ON THE ELECTIONEERING. I LOOKED FOR CLUES AS TO ANY RESTRICTIONS ON THAT IN THE LAW, AND I FOUND NONE, JUST RESTRICTIONS ON THE AMOUNT FROM EACH DONOR. MY FIRST REACTION TO THIS ARTICLE WAS THAT I THOUGHT IT WAS A MATTER OF EGOTISM ON TRUMP’S PART – AND OF HIS DESIRE TO SAVE THE COUNTRY ON SANDERS’ PART. OF COURSE, THEY BOTH ARE VERY COMPETITIVE PEOPLE, AND RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT MUST BE ONE OF THE YUUUGEST EMOTIONAL TURN-ONS IN THE WORLD. FOR MY PART, I CAN’T WAIT EITHER. IT’S A COMBINATION OF THE EXCITEMENT IT AROUSES AND THE BOOST IT GIVES ME IN HOPE FOR THE FUTURE. I VERY MUCH WANT US TO GO BACK TO BEING AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL.


https://heavy.com/news/2018/02/brad-parscale-trump-2020/
Brad Parscale: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know
By Ryan O'Connell
Feb 27, 2018 at 12:07pm

Photograph -- Donald Trump's Digital Director and 2020 Campaign Manager Brad Parscale

O n Tuesday morning, Drudge Report announced that President Donald Trump would be making some big news. Major news. Given the multitude of issues currently in play right now, whether it’s guns, North Korea, the ongoing Russian investigation and immigration, Trump certainly had an array of options when it came to making an announcement.

However, when Drudge finally dropped the news, it wasn’t all that surprising.


DRUDGE REPORT
@DRUDGE_REPORT
**WORLD EXCLUSIVE** TUE FEB 27 2018 10:05 AM ET** Just one year into his presidency, Trump will stun the political world by announcing he is running for re-election in 2020. Digital guru Brad Parscale will be named campaign manager, DRUDGE REPORT has learned... Developing...

10:17 AM - Feb 27, 2018
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Everyone already assumed Trump would run for reelection. If there was anything surprising about the news, it was that A) Trump filed for re-election on the day he took office and B) he was naming Brad Parscale, the president’s digital media director, as his campaign manager.

Parscale has been associated with Trump since 2011 when he began working for the Trump Organization, helping them build and develop websites, and was the Trump campaign’s digital media director. Yet he is a relative unknown in Trump World, certainly not as well known as people like Jared Kushner, Kellyanne Conway and others.

So who is Brad Parscale? Here is what you need to know about the Trump 2020 Campaign Manager.

1. Parscale First Started Working for the Trump Organization in 2011
Brad Parscale Trump
Lara Trump and Brad Parscale

Before he entered the Trump orbit, Parscale was struggling web designer, originally from Kansas and living in San Antonio, Texas. Parscale would reportedly set up shop among the web design books in a Borders bookstore in San Antonio, looking to attract customers who were looking to set up their own website.

“Hey, I know how to do what’s in that,” he recalls saying as part of his pitch to potential clients. “Do you need somebody to help you make a website for your business?”

At 6 feet and 8 inches tall and sporting a healthy beard, Parscale soon found himself working on his first project for the Trump family around 2010-2011 after receiving a call from Kathy Kaye, who at the time was the executive director of marketing and sales for the Trump Organization. Kaye had heard good things about the former college basketball player’s work and in a follow up email, asked him to submit a bid for a Trump project.

Parscale submitted a low bid and got the gig, a website for Trump International Reality, which is the Trump Organization’s luxury property brokerage.

“From the point I got hired, I [have] worked on something [for] Trump every day since then,” says Parscale.

Parscale would go on to work on projects for the Eric Trump Foundation, Melania Trump’s skincare line and Ivanka Trump’s retail brand.

2. When Donald Trump was First Starting His Presidential Campaign, the Family Turned to Parscale to Build the Campaign’s Website
View image on Twitter
View image on Twitter

Brad Parscale
✔
@parscale
What a photo of the crew from the @realDonaldTrump campaign. This squad helped change the world. #LetTrumpBeTrump

11:20 PM - Dec 5, 2017
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When the Trump family reached out in 2015, the project they inquired about was significantly more important than the previous ones. Donald Trump was exploring the idea of running for president and they needed a website. They wanted Parscale to build it. Parscale, someone “not even all that into politics,” built a website for $1,500. When Trump entered the next phase of his campaign and needed to coordinate all of his digital advertising for the primaries, Parscale once again got the call.

“It was very organic, my growth within the Trump family,” Parscale told Fortune.

As Trump rolled through the primaries and then headed towards a general election showdown with the Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, Parscale thought the ride was over, that he would be jettisoned for someone with more political experience. But as the country learned over the course of the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump was not your normal candidate and has a tendency to value loyalty over everything else.

The Trump campaign set up shop in San Antonio, at one time, operating an office that employed more than 100 employees. Parscale’s digital operation dumped large sums of money into Facebook ads and according to Buzzfeed, Parscale “on some fundamental level, understood the aesthetic and appeal of Donald Trump.”

Parscale’s stature and prominence in the campaign grew, with one campaign veteran saying that overtime, Parscale “really became the campaign manager.”

3. After Corey Lewandowski was Fired in 2016, Parscale’s Role in the Campaign Grew
Brad Parscale Trump
Getty
Brad Parscale tried to attract customers by hanging out in the computer section of bookstores

Corey Lewandowksi was fired as the Trump campaign’s campaign manager on June 21, 2016, a move that led to the tenure of Paul Manafort, as well as a promotion for Parscale. He would now be the campaign’s digital manager. Others in the campaign would become increasingly well known, but Parscale stayed under the radar, describing his role as the “campaign plumber.” If there was a job that needed doing, Parscale was there to do it.

“In 2016 and going forward, the thing that a campaign does every day is largely digital. The guy or gal who runs digital is, therefore, de facto in charge of the campaign,” said Gerrit Lansing, former chief digital officer of the Republican National Committee. “Parscale is really maybe one of the primary examples of what happens when a campaign needed their digital team more than really any other previous candidate.”

Parscale began working closely with Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and one of Trump’s most trusted advisor, on the campaign’s Facebook advertising.


Brad Parscale
✔
@parscale
Finally. @WIRED gets it right. Here is an insider at @facebook that built the system and saw behind the curtain. https://www.wired.com/story/how-trump-conquered-facebookwithout-russian-ads/ …

3:06 PM - Feb 23, 2018

How Trump Conquered Facebook Without Russian Ads
Why Russia’s Facebook ads were less important to Trump’s victory than his own Facebook ads.

wired.com
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During the campaign, the Trump campaign reportedly “spent $1.1 million on digital advertising through the firm of Parscale.” All in all, the Trump campaign paid Parscale $94 million for his work. Parscale didn’t pocket all that money though. He claims a large chunk of it went to outside vendors and in the end, his firm made $10 million from the campaign.

4. Parscale Operates a Digital Consulting Firm Based Out of San Antonio, as Well as the Nonprofit America First Policies
Brad Parscale Trump
Brad Parscale

Since Trump moved into the White House in January of 2017, Parscale has remained involved with Team Trump, even though he has remained down in San Antonio. He has gone on to receive a good amount of credit for the Trump victory, but is quick to downplay his role.

“Maybe my job made 0.1% of difference, but Donald Trump did 99.9% of the work, and anyone who tells you different doesn’t know Donald Trump,” Parscale said. “Donald Trump won the campaign, and I was empowered by Jared Kushner and lucky to be around people like Kellyanne Conway and Steve Bannon,” he added. “I think I took Mr. Trump’s and Jared’s confidence in me and did the best job possible. And I had a great team.”

Outside of politics, Parscale has stayed busy. In July of 2017 he sold the web production side of his businesses to CloudCommerce, a digital services company, for a reported $9 million. Giles-Parscale had been operating since 2011, back when Parscale was first contacted by the Trump Organization, and the company had done a good amount of work for the Trump Campaign.


America First
✔
@AmericaFirstPAC
We raised $30 million to support @realDonaldTrump's #MAGA agenda in our first year. 2018 will be even bigger!https://www.axios.com/pro-trump-outside-group-raised-30-million-in-2017-1516759350-449ae7d0-deb8-431f-8912-bc4677761abf.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=twsocialshare&utm_campaign=organic …

9:03 AM - Jan 24, 2018

Pro-Trump outside group raised $30 million in 2017
$14 million on hand heading into 2018

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Parscale now operates Parscale Strategy LLC., a firm aimed at attracting more big-name clients and projects. Parscale Strategy LLC is also involved in both the presidents’ re-election campaign and America First Policies*, a social welfare nonprofit that was founded by former Trump advisors to promote the president’s agenda.

5. Parscale’s Height Drew Him to Basketball, But His First Love was Computers
Brad Parscale Trump
Getty
Brad Parscale is 6’8″ and played basketball in college

Given his physical appearance, it’s somewhat of a mystery how Parscale has managed to avoid the spotlight so well. At 6’8″, he’s not exactly someone you miss when he walks into a room or makes his way through the lobby of Trump Tower.

Parscale was born in 1976 in Topeka, Kansas and growing up, he “never showed any interest in politics,” according to his father, Dwight Parscale. “When you’re 6-foot-8, it’s hard to be a bad basketball player.” Parscale played basketball throughout high school and went on to play for two junior colleges before ending up at the University of Texas at San Antonio, where he played before a knee injury cost him his scholarship. He finished his college career at Trinity University.

Yet despite his passion for basketball, Parscale was big into computers starting at an early age, attending his first computer camp before he was seven years old. His father says that Parscale took to computers “like a fish takes to water” and after he attended that camp “he was a very demanding child. He always wanted the newest and best computers, which his mother and I of course happily provided to him.”

After college, Parscale moved to California, where he worked as a sales and marketing director for a software company. He returned to Texas in 2004, when he set up Parscale Media. In 2011 he formed Giles-Parscale with Jill Giles of Giles Design.

Parscale is married to Candice Blount. The couple has one child.


AMERICA FIRST POLICIES* --

America First (policy)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_First_(policy)
For other uses, see America First

America First refers to a foreign policy in the United States that emphasizes American nationalism. It first gained prominence in the interwar period and was advocated by the America First Committee, a non-interventionist pressure group against the American entry into World War II.[1] Since 2016, an identically-named foreign policy that emphasizes similar objectives has been pursued by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.[2][3][4][5]

First use

America First originally referred to the foreign policy advocated by the America First Committee, a non-interventionist pressure group against the American entry into World War II and it emphasized American nationalism in international relations. The America First Committee's membership peaked at 800,000 paying members in 450 chapters, and it popularized the slogan "America First."[1] While the America First Committee had a variety of supporters in the United States, "the movement was marred by anti-Semitic and pro-fascist rhetoric."[6]

[6] Brian Bennett, "America First", a Phrase with a Loaded Anti-Semitic and Isolationist History, Los Angeles Times (January 20, 2017): "While the America First Committee attracted a wide array of support, the movement was marred by anti-Semitic and pro-fascist rhetoric."

See also Susan Dunn, Trump's 'America First' has ugly echoes from U.S. history, CNN (April 28, 2016): "Seeking to brand itself as a mainstream organization, America First struggled with the problem of the anti-Semitism of some of its leaders and many of its members."

Richard Gid Powers, Not Without Honor: The History of American Anticommunism (The Free Press, 1995: Yale University Press ed., 1998), p. 167: "The America First Committee and Norman Thomas's group tried to maintain their distance from anti-Semites and fascists, but the lunatic fringe of countersubversives was drawn irresistibly to them, wild for the possibility of become part of a powerful mainstream political movement. Gerald L. K. Smith, Elizabeth Dilling, Gerald B. Winrod, William Dudley Pelley, Charles Coughlin, Laura Ingalls, and all of the country's other notorious anti-Semitic anticommunist crackpots joyously raised the temperature of the debate by attacking defense preparations as Jewish inspired and Communist directed."

Pat Buchanan (October 13, 2004). "The Resurrection of 'America First!'". The American Cause. Retrieved 2008-02-03
Michael Cox and Martin Durham, "The Politics of Anger: The Extreme Right in the United States" (p. 287), in Paul Hainsworth, ed., The Politics of the Extreme Right: From the Margins to the Mainstream, London/New York: Pinter, 2000, ISBN 1855674599
DelReal, Jose A. (April 27, 2016). "Trump, pivoting to the general election, hones 'America First' foreign policy vision". Washington Post. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
Haberman, Maggie; Sanger, David E.; Trump, Donald (March 26, 2016). "Transcript: Donald Trump Expounds on His Foreign Policy Views". The New York Times. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
Sherman, Jake (January 25, 2017). "Poll: Voters liked Trump's 'America first' address". POLITICO. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
Savransky, Rebecca (January 25, 2017). "Majority of Americans approves of Trump's 'America First' message". The Hill. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
Elving, Ron (January 21, 2017). "Trump Vows Policy Vision Of 'America First,' Recalling Phrase's Controversial Past". NPR. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
Thomas, Louisa (July 24, 2016). "America First, for Charles Lindbergh and Donald Trump". The New Yorker. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
http://reason.com/blog/2016/03/31/donald-trump-is-no-non-interventionist
Camila Domonoske (6 February 2017). "If America's No. 1, Who's No. 2? European Nations Compete For The, Uh, Honor". NPR. Retrieved 7 February 2017.



BEST NATIONS RANKING – THIS IS EXTREMELY INTERESTING, AND GAVE ME A LAUGH HERE, IN PARAGRAPH 6, WHICH IS A NEWS SATIRE FROM THE NETHERLANDS:
WATCH THE VIDEO.
“The video begins by describing the Netherlands' founding father, William of Orange, who fought against the Spanish.

"The Spanish were total scumbags," the Trumpian narrator says. "They fought against us for 80 years, but they couldn't beat us. Couldn't do it. Total losers. They're all dead now by the way."

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2017-01-25/dutch-tv-show-trolls-donald-trump-for-america-first-message
Dutch TV Show Trolls Donald Trump For 'America First' Message
If America is first, who comes second?
By Lauren Boyer, Social Media Editor | Jan. 25, 2017, at 4:17 p.m

Photograph -- "From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land," President Donald Trump said at his inauguration on Jan. 20. "From this day forward, it's going to be only America first, America first." (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

In his inauguration speech, President Donald Trump promised to put "only America first."

The phrase, typical of Trump's nationalistic rhetoric, echoed throughout the world, begging another question: Who comes second?

The satirical news show “Zondag met Lubach” (“Sunday with Lubach,” in reference to host Arjen Lubach) sought an answer this question, introducing the new American president to the Netherlands in a satirical clip inspired by Trump's speaking style.

[READ: These Are the Countries Donald Trump Tweets About the Most]

The video begins by describing the Netherlands' founding father, William of Orange, who fought against the Spanish.

"The Spanish were total scumbags," the Trumpian narrator says. "They fought against us for 80 years, but they couldn't beat us. Couldn't do it. Total losers. They're all dead now by the way."

The video expounds upon the country's many attributes, including Dutch – "the best language in Europe" – and the blackface-wearing Christmas character Black Pete, "the most offensive, the most racist thing you've ever seen."

Since it was posted Jan. 23, the video has gone viral, with more than 5 million views to date.

“We totally understand it’s going to be America first," it concludes, "but can we just say: The Netherlands second?"

According to data from the 2016 Best Countries rankings, neither the United States nor the Netherlands rank first or second. Those top honors are claimed by Germany and Canada, respectively.

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Tags: Inauguration, Donald Trump, Netherlands

Lauren Boyer is Social Media Manager at U.S. News & World Report. Follow her on Twitter, connect with her on LinkedIn or reach her at lboyer@usnews.com.



MY NORTH CAROLINA FRIENDS WHO GO TO MY FACEBOOK SEEM TO AGREE WITH ME ON ISSUES, BUT MY SISTER AND HER HUSBAND DON’T. THAT’S OKAY. I LOVE THEM FOR OTHER REASONS. THE FOLLOWING FROM THE ARTICLE TELLS ME THAT WHAT I HAVE FEARED AND SURMISED FOR MYSELF ARE SHARED BY MANY IN THE WORLD.

“Bremmer isn't alone. Donald Trump pledged to "Make America Great Again." The world thinks he is doing the opposite.

The United States slips in this year's U.S. News Best Countries ranking, dropping to the No. 8 spot after falling one position from its 2017 ranking. Switzerland, an island of stable prosperity in a world of turmoil, remains the Best Country, according to a global survey of more than 21,000 persons.

The reasons for America's drop – the second straight year its ranking dipped – are fueled by the world's perceptions of the country becoming less progressive and trustworthy, more politically unstable and a president who after just a year in office is far more unpopular than any other head of state or company CEO.”

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/us-news-unveils-best-countries-rankings?int=news-rec
America Slips in the Eyes of the World
Donald Trump’s first year as president rattles world’s confidence, while quiet, stable Switzerland remains the No. 1 country.
By Kevin Drew, Assistant Managing Editor | Jan. 23, 2018, at 12:01 a.m

Photograph – Donald Trump in profile (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post/Getty Images)

The mood on the international conference call at the beginning of this month was somber as Ian Bremmer, president of the political risk consulting firm Eurasia Group, prepared to list off top global dangers in the coming year. Bremmer began with a show-stopping line:

"If we had to pick one year for a big unexpected crisis — the geopolitical equivalent of the 2008 financial meltdown — it feels like 2018." The reasons are many, Bremmer cited, but the most prominent causes for global insecurity stem from U.S. President Donald Trump's move away from global leadership, and China's eagerness to fill the perceived vacuum.

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US President Donald Trump offered North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un what he called

Is America Great Again? Data Say No

Bremmer isn't alone. Donald Trump pledged to "Make America Great Again." The world thinks he is doing the opposite.

The United States slips in this year's U.S. News Best Countries ranking, dropping to the No. 8 spot after falling one position from its 2017 ranking. Switzerland, an island of stable prosperity in a world of turmoil, remains the Best Country, according to a global survey of more than 21,000 persons.

The reasons for America's drop – the second straight year its ranking dipped – are fueled by the world's perceptions of the country becoming less progressive and trustworthy, more politically unstable and a president who after just a year in office is far more unpopular than any other head of state or company CEO.

As in 2017, Canada remains the No. 2 in the survey. Germany, as it was in 2016, is perceived as the most powerful country in Europe – surpassing the U.K. to place at No. 3 overall, while the U.K. drops to No. 4. Japan rounds out the top five, the highest finish for a nation in Asia, a region which survey respondents increasingly believe holds many of the keys to the world's future. At No. 6 is Sweden and Australia moves up to the No. 7 position, surpassing the U.S.

The 2018 Best Countries rankings, formed in partnership with global marketing communications company Y&R's brand strategy firm, BAV Group, and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, are based on a study that surveyed global citizens from four regions to assess perceptions of 80 countries on 75 different metrics.

Trump Shocks, Divides the World

The Best Countries rankings come just days after Trump celebrates his first year as U.S. president. The U.S. is still seen as the most powerful nation. In many ways, however, the results reflect 12 months of ongoing signs of the decline of America's standing in the world. In this sense, a noticeable "Trump Effect" is taking hold of the U.S.

Just days after taking office, Trump fulfilled a campaign promise by pulling the U.S. out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact. Weeks later a poll showed just 15 percent of Germans believed the new U.S. president to be competent. By last spring's NATO summit, European leaders had begun believing that the U.S. had abdicated its leadership role in the military alliance, as Trump shifted support for both NATO and the European Union.

As summer unfolded, Trump announced the U.S. would withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change. Days later, the nonpartisan Pew Research Center released a poll showing the unpopularity of Trump and his policies was sharply dragging down global opinion of the U.S.

Meanwhile, Trump's statements further rattled world opinion. The president engaged in a war of words with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. By November, Trump had begun accumulating a sizeable trail of verbal gaffes to world leaders.

By early January, the Washington, D.C.-based Freedom House warned that democracy was "in crisis" around the world, in no small part because of Trump's repeated attacks on the judiciary system and news media in the U.S., lack of seeking "meaningful input" from relevant agencies and "violations of basic ethical standards."

In the Best Countries survey, the greatest drop by the U.S. in the rankings came in the perceptions of survey respondents for countries having open travel policies. The backlash against Trump's travel ban order in February 2017 and subsequent media attention are having a lasting impact on America's image, and challenging long-held perceptions of the country's reputation for openness.

One piece of good news for the U.S.: The country is seen as the No. 2 country overall for education. Even so, U.S. higher education industry experts worry the country is becoming a less attractive destination for international students, partly because of U.S. immigration policies.

Opportunities for Many Countries

Among other key findings in the 2018 Best Countries survey:

"Soft Power" continues to define powerful national brands as Switzerland, Canada, the Netherlands and the Nordic countries – Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Norway – dominate the top 15 positions in the various rankings.

Terrorism, income inequality and climate change remain the top issues that survey respondents want their leaders to prioritize and tackle.

A majority of survey respondents say religion is a "primary source of most global conflict today."

The discontent driving populism and nationalism remains strong; Fewer survey respondents this year see themselves as citizens of the world vs. their country compared to last year (52 percent in 2018 vs. 58 percent in 2017).

Still, people around the world increasingly want unity and solutions; 87 percent say promoting diversity and tolerance is important, while 84 percent agree that people can work through their individual differences.
Technology and the internet draw mixed views; 73 percent agree that the internet is making them act more like global citizens, but 77 percent believe that their privacy is at risk. Another 73 percent believe technology is displacing jobs.

The roles of government and big business are beginning to blur in people's daily lives. This development is shaping public perceptions of government and corporate leaders – corporate CEOs are generally more popular than government heads of state.

America's perceived retreat from its traditional global leadership role is creating opportunities for other countries, particularly in the areas of "soft power," arenas where economic and cultural influence drive opinions and policy-making.

Switzerland's position as the No. 1 overall country is driven by its reputation for citizenship and being open for business. For the third year in a row, Canada is seen as offering the best quality of life, driven by high ratings for education, health care and public safety.

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SO, WHO’S ON FIRST?

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/slideshows/the-25-best-countries-in-the-world?int=news-rec
The 25 Best Countries in the World
Based on global opinion, these 25 nations are the world's best.

GO TO -- https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/overall-full-list

Switzerland
#1 in Best Countries Overall

No Change in Rank from 2017

Switzerland, officially called the Swiss Federation, is a small country in Central Europe made up of 16,000 square miles of glacier-carved Alps, lakes and valleys. It’s one of the world’s wealthiest countries, and has been well-known for centuries for its neutrality.

The Swiss Confederation was initially founded in 1291 as a defensive alliance among cantons. In 1499, the Confederation became independent from the Holy Roman Empire. In 1848, a new constitution turned the Confederation into a centralized federal government, ending a period of conflict. Since then, the country has enjoyed relative tranquility.
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$659.8 billion GDP 8.4 million POPULATION $60,374 GDP PER CAPITA, PPP

Canada
#2 in Best Countries Overall

No Change in Rank from 2017

Canada takes up about two-fifths of the North American continent, making it the second-largest country in the world after Russia. The country is sparsely populated, with most of its 35.5 million residents living within 125 miles of the U.S. border. Canada’s expansive wilderness to the north plays a large role in Canadian identity, as does the country’s reputation of welcoming immigrants.

Although the Norse briefly settled in Canada during the 10th century, European exploration accelerated in the 1500s. France and Britain angled for control over the region, with the British cementing their dominance in 1763. The country was a collection of British colonies until it became a self-governing dominion in 1867.
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$1.5 trillion GDP 36.3 million POPULATION $46,441 GDP PER CAPITA, PPP


Germany
#3 in Best Countries Overall

#4 out of 80 in 2017

Germany, the most populous nation in the European Union, possesses one of the largest economies in the world and has seen its role in the international community grow steadily since reunification. The Central European country borders nine nations, and its landscape varies, from the northern plains that reach to the North and Baltic seas to the Bavarian Alps in the south.

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$3.5 trillion GDP 82.7 million POPULATION $48,449 GDP PER CAPITA, PPP


United Kingdom
#4 in Best Countries Overall

#3 out of 80 in 2017

The United Kingdom is a highly developed nation that exerts considerable international economic, political, scientific and cultural influence. Located off the northwest corner of Europe, the country includes the island of Great Britain – which contains England, Scotland and Wales – and the northern portion of the island of Ireland.

The year 2017 ushered in anxiety about the country’s role on the global stage, due to the public voting in the summer of 2016 to leave the European Union. The vote raises questions about the European Union, as well as the policies supporting the eurozone.

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$2.6 trillion GDP 65.6 million POPULATION $42,421 GDP PER CAPITA, PPP


Japan
#5 in Best Countries Overall

No Change in Rank from 2017

Japan, one of the world’s most literate> and technically advanced nations, is an East Asian country made up of four main islands. While most of Japan is covered by mountains and heavily wooded areas, the country’s roughly 126 million people lead a distinctly urban lifestyle. Long culturally influenced by its neighbors, today the country blends its ancient traditions with aspects of Western life.

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$4.9 trillion GDP 127.0 million POPULATION $41,220 GDP PER CAPITA, PPP


Sweden
#6 in Best Countries Overall

No Change in Rank from 2017

The Kingdom of Sweden, flanked by Norway to the west and the Baltic Sea to the east, expands across much of the Scandinavian Peninsula and is one of the largest countries in the European Union by land mass. Capital city Stockholm was claimed in the 16th century, and border disputes through the Middle Ages established the modern-day nation.

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$511.0 billion GDP 9.9 million POPULATION $49,759 GDP PER CAPITA, PPP


Australia
#7 in Best Countries Overall

#8 out of 80 in 2017

The Commonwealth of Australia occupies the Australian continent. The country also includes some islands, most notably Tasmania. Indigenous people occupied the land for at least 40,000 years before the first British settlements of the 18th century.

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$1.2 trillion GDP 24.1 million POPULATION $48,712 GDP PER CAPITA, PPP


United States
#8 in Best Countries Overall

#7 out of 80 in 2017

The United States of America is a North American nation that is the world’s most dominant economic and military power. Likewise, its cultural imprint spans the world, led in large part by its popular culture expressed in music, movies and television. In 2016 the country elected Donald Trump president. Trump's rhetoric and stances on issues including immigration and foreign trade have raised questions around the world, including from the country’s closest allies, about the nation’s future course on the global stage.

Following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the U.S. launched its War on Terror, including the Iraq War, the ongoing war in Afghanistan and other military strikes, including the 2011 killing of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. The war has had wide-reaching effects on the country’s politics, economy and global alliances that resonate to this day.

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$18.6 trillion GDP 323.1 million POPULATION $57,608 GDP PER CAPITA, PPP


France
#9 in Best Countries Overall

No Change in Rank from 2017

It is difficult to overstate the influence France has on the world, both in the past and today. Located in Western Europe, France is one of the world’s oldest countries, and its reach extends around the globe through science, politics, economics and perhaps above all, culture.

Starting in the Middle Ages, France evolved through kingdom, empire and finally, into a republic. It was one of the first nations to champion the rights of the individual. France today is a democracy with a separation of power falling between executive, legislative and judicial branches of government.

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$2.5 trillion GDP 66.9 million POPULATION $42,336 GDP PER CAPITA, PPP


Netherlands
#10 in Best Countries Overall

#11 out of 80 in 2017

Situated along the fringes of Western Europe, the Netherlands is a coastal lowland freckled with windmills characteristic of its development around the water. Three major European rivers - the Rhine, Meuse and Schelde - run through neighbors Germany and Belgium into the nation’s busy ports.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands emerged in 1815 after years of Spanish and later French occupation. In 2010, a collection of island territories in the Caribbean known as the Dutch Antilles were disbanded, but Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten remain constituent countries within the Kingdom.

Known as Dutch, the people of the Netherlands have formed what has long been considered a tolerant society, though some politicians are increasingly voicing concerns over immigration and Islam.. In 2001, the country became the first to legalize same-sex marriage, and national stances on drugs, prostitution, euthanasia and abortion are liberal. Holland also boasts the highest concentration of museums in the world. It was the birthplace of Rembrandt and Van Gogh, as well as the microscope, telescope and thermometer.

More than 1,000 bridges and 20,000 miles of bike paths connect the densely populated nation, with most citizens concentrated in a grouping of cities along the coast, known as the Randstad. Much of the country is underwater, and the 40 million people that touch down in capital city Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport each year land more than a dozen feet below sea level.

The seat of the government is located about 40 miles southwest of the capital in The Hague. The Dutch operate under a constitutional monarchy with an elected parliament, within which there are two main political parties. In 2012, leaders of the two parties signed a cooperative coalition agreement, focused on improving health care, the housing market, the labor market, foreign policy and the energy sector.

[Explore the top universities in the Netherlands.]

Known for its tulips, this high-income, developed nation is one of the world’s leading exporters of agriculture, an industry that has become mostly mechanized. An open-market policy and prime transportation location help the Netherlands maintain a trade surplus, but the economy continues to recover from an expensive stimulus program designed to help it bounce back after the economic downturn in 2009.

The Netherlands is active in United Nations peacekeeping efforts and headquarters The International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court in The Hague. It was a founding member of NATO and the modern-day European Union, of which it has been quite vocally supportive.

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$770.8 billion GDP 17.0 million POPULATION $51,249 GDP PER CAPITA, PPP


THIS IS ANOTHER HAPPY STORY ON A HORRIBLE EVENT.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/how-a-first-responder-disregarded-an-order-and-saved-a-florida-school-shooting-victims-life/ar-BBJFmpL?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=iehp
How a first responder disregarded an order and saved a Florida school shooting victim's life
By Doug Criss, CNN
12 hrs ago February 27, 2018

Photograph -- © Joe Raedle/Getty Images Lt. Laz Ojeda, Coral Springs Fire Department, fights back tears as he talks about the day he helped save the life of Maddy Wilford after she was shot multiple times during the mass…

As they sped away from the shooting scene at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the first responder was skeptical.

Lt. Laz Ojeda of the Coral Springs Fire Department had been told that his patient, Maddy Wilford, was 15 years old. She had been shot at least three times in the February 14 mass shooting, and she'd lost so much blood first responders initially feared she was dead.

But Ojeda thought she was older than 15 and roused her to make sure. Conscious for a second, she whispered she was 17.

That made all the difference.

Instead of taking her to a hospital with a children's facility some 30 miles away as he had been instructed to do, Ojeda made the decision to take Maddy to a hospital just 10 miles from the high school. The gutsy, split-second call probably saved her life.

Ojeda recounted his story Monday during an emotional news conference at Broward Health North, the hospital where his team took Wildford.

A fateful choice
Ojeda was in the third rescue group to reach the high school after shooter Nikolas Cruz had opened fire on students, teachers and staff that day. He said it was a scene of "organized chaos."

When Wilford was brought to them, she was so pale they didn't think she was alive, until another officer shook her.

"I believe she gasped, or she moved," Ojeda said. "She made signs of life."

1/29 SLIDES © John McCall/Sun Sentinel/TNS/Getty Images
Students are released from a lockdown outside of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. after reports of an active shooter on Feb. 14, 2018.

Slideshow by photo services

Alive, but in bad shape. She had a number of injuries, including a chest wound, which Ojeda says a SWAT team member from the Broward County Sheriff's Office sealed up, an act which also contributed to her survival.

Ojeda and his team prepared her for transport.

"I looked at Maddy, and she didn't look 15," Ojeda said. "We had been told to take her to (Broward Health Medical Center)."

That medical facility, which also has a children's hospital on its campus, was about 30 miles away, and Ojeda was worried Wilford would die before they got there.

"I looked at her, I gave her a sternal rub, and I said, 'Hey, how old are you?'" Wilford showed no response to Ojeda's question. He asked a second time.

"She came around, and she told me she was 17," Ojeda said, his voice quivering with emotion as he wiped away tears.

Then he made the decision that the doctors who treated her agree saved her life.

"We're going to Broward North!" Ojeda said as he redirected his team. "It's only 10 miles away."

A miraculous recovery

Wilford came under the care of Dr. Igor Nichiporenko, medical director of trauma services at the hospital.

When she arrived, she was "pale and not responsive. She was in shock," said Nichiporenko, who also spoke at the news conference. He had little information but could see that she had "multiple gunshot wounds" to her chest, abdomen and upper sternum.

Nichiporenko had to perform "damage control," amounting to extricating bullets and repairing damage, first in Wilford's abdomen and then her chest and in the right upper extremity, where tendons had been "shattered from gunshot wounds."

Despite her horrendous injuries, Wilford has made an almost miraculous recovery.

"Her hospital stay was less than seven days," Nichiporenko said. "Young people have a tendency to heal very fast. She's very, very lucky."

Asked whether Ojeda's call to take her to Broward Health North instead of the more distant hospital saved Wilford's life, Nichiporenko said, simply, "yes, of course."

Wilford, who went home last week, also spoke at the news conference, expressing her thanks to everyone who helped her.

"I'd just like to say that I'm so grateful to be here, and it wouldn't be possible without those officers and first responders and these amazing doctors," she said.

As for Ojeda, he said it's hard to describe what this experience has meant to him.

"I am beyond words. All I can say is that I thank God," he said on CNN's "New Day" Tuesday. "I thank God for allowing us to be an instrument in this miracle."

CNN's Susan Scutti contributed to this story.


THIS ARTICLE IS ABOUT WHAT MAY BE A COMMON PATTERN IN WARMING TRENDS, BUT WE HAVEN’T ALWAYS COLLECTED INFORMATION ON THEM BEFORE. OF COURSE, SCIENTIFIC MEASUREMENTS AND THE IMMENSE POWER OF CALCULATION AND DATA STORAGE THAT COMPUTERS HAVE IS UNDOUBTEDLY HALF OF THE REASON FOR OUR SUCCESSES THESE DAYS.

MY FIRST THOUGHT HERE WAS THAT VOLCANIC ACTIVITY COULD BE RESPONSIBLE. THERE’S A VERY ACTIVE VOLCANIC AREA IN ICELAND AND ONE IN SIBERIA. HE’S PROBABLY RIGHT, THOUGH, THAT IT IS AN ACCUMULATION OF WARMING IN THE AREA DUE TO SOLAR RADIATION, AND SPREAD NORTH BY STORM ACTIVITY.

HE ALSO MENTIONS A STRATOSPHERIC “SUDDEN WARMING” EVENT (30,000 FEET ABOVE THE EARTH), WHICH IS ALSO SOMETHING THAT HAS BEEN NOTICED ONCE IN THE LAST SEVERAL WEEKS AND AN UNNAMED NUMBER OF TIMES BEFORE; HOW OFTEN AND HOW THOSE HAVE AFFECTED THE OVERALL WARMING TREND AREN’T’ SPECIFIED, BUT IT DOES SAY THAT THEY “REARRANGE WARM AND COLD AIR MASSES,” WHICH ALSO IS “POORLY UNDERSTOOD.” I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO KNOW WHY AND HOW THE AIR 30,000 FEET HIGH WOULD “SUDDENLY WARM.” A GRADUAL CHANGE I COULD UNDERSTAND MORE EASILY. THIS ARTICLE LEAVES ME LITERALLY YEARNING FOR MORE INFORMATION. HOW ABOUT YOU?

http://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/north-pole-surges-above-freezing-in-the-dead-of-winter-stunning-scientists/ar-BBJCSJu?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=iehp
North Pole surges above freezing in the dead of winter, stunning scientists

Three slides -- GFS model analysis of temperature difference from normal (in Celsius) Sunday over the Arctic. The temperature is above freezing at the North Pole.

The sun won’t rise at the North Pole until March 20, and it’s normally close to the coldest time of year, but an extraordinary and possibly historic thaw swelled over the tip of the planet this weekend. Analyses show that the temperature warmed to the melting point as an enormous storm pumped an intense pulse of heat through the Greenland Sea.

Temperatures may have soared as high as 35 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) at the pole, according to the U.S. Global Forecast System model. While there are no direct measurements of temperature there, Zack Labe, a climate scientist working on his PhD at the University of California at Irvine, confirmed that several independent analyses showed “it was very close to freezing,” which is more than 50 degrees (30 degrees Celsius) above normal.

The warm intrusion penetrated right through the heart of the Central Arctic, Labe said. The temperature averaged for the entire region north of 80 degrees latitude spiked to its highest level ever recorded in February. The average temperature was more than 36 degrees (20 degrees Celsius) above normal. “No other warm intrusions were very close to this,” Labe said in an interview, describing a data set maintained by the Danish Meteorological Institute that dates back to 1958. “I was taken by surprise how expansive this warm intrusion was.”

Such extreme warm intrusions in the Arctic, once rare, are becoming more routine, research has shown. A study published last July found that since 1980, these events are becoming more frequent, longer-lasting and more intense.

“Previously this was not common,” said lead author of the study Robert Graham, from the Norwegian Polar Institute, in an email. “It happened in four years between 1980-2010, but has now occurred in four out of the last five winters.”

Graham explained that these warming events are related to the decline of winter sea ice in the Arctic, noting that January’s ice extent was the lowest on record. “As the sea ice is melting and thinning, it is becoming more vulnerable to these winter storms,” he explained. “The thinner ice drifts more quickly and can break up into smaller pieces. The strong winds from the south can push the ice further north into the Central Arctic, exposing the open water and releasing heat to the atmosphere from the ocean.”

Scientists were shocked in recent days to discover open water north of Greenland, an area normally covered by old, very thick ice. “This has me more worried than the warm temps in the Arctic right now,” tweeted Mike MacFerrin, an ice sheet specialist at the University of Colorado.

Such warm water is appearing to have an effect on air temperatures. At the north tip of Greenland, about 400 miles to the south of the North Pole, the weather station Cape Morris Jesup has logged a record-crushing 61 hours above freezing so far this calendar year. The previous record, dating to 1980, was 16 hours through the end of April in 2011, according to Robert Rohde, a physicist at Berkeley Earth, a nonprofit that conducts temperature analysis. At one point, the temperature was as high as 43 degrees (6.1 degrees Celsius).

Kent Moore, a professor of atmospheric physics at the University of Toronto, who published a study in 2016 linking the loss of sea ice to these warm events in the Arctic, said a number of factors may have contributed to the latest warming episode.

For one, he said, recent storms have tracked more toward the North Pole through the Greenland Sea, drawing heat directly north from lower latitudes, rather than through a more circuitous route over the Barents Sea. He also said ocean temperatures in the Greenland Sea are warmer than normal. “The warmth we’re seeing in the Greenland Sea is definitely enhancing the warm events we’re seeing,” Moore said. “I’m surprised how warm it is, but I am not sure why.”

The rise in Arctic temperatures is probably also tied to a sudden warming of the stratosphere, the atmospheric layer about 30,000 feet high — above where most weather happens — that occurred several weeks ago, Moore said. Why these stratospheric warming events happen is poorly understood, as are their consequences. However, they tend to rearrange warm and cold air masses, and this latest one has also been linked not only to the Arctic warmth but also to the “Beast from the East” cold spell over Europe.

Moore stopped short of saying that the warm spikes observed in the Arctic in recent years are a sure sign that they are becoming a fixture of the winter Arctic climate; more data is needed, he cautioned.

Whether a blip or indicative of a new normal, scientists have uniformly expressed disbelief at the current Arctic temperatures and the state of the sea ice.

“This is a crazy winter,” said Alek Petty, a climate scientist at NASA, in an interview. “I don’t think we’re sensationalizing it.”

“It’s never been this extreme,” Ruth Mottram, a climate scientist at the Danish Meteorological Institute, told Reuters.



A NEW LOOK AT TWO OLD FRIENDS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRY5N-lnPFs
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson: 01/20/1976...Jonathan Winters -Newest Cover Popular Realit
Donald Williams
Published on Feb 9, 2017
popular tv shows, Jonathan Harshman Winters İ (November 11, 1925 – April 11, 2013) was an American comedian, actor, author, and artist. Beginning in 1960, Winters recorded


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aRb3WMulN4
Jonathan Winters, one of his last interviews
Don Sweeney
Published on Jan 28, 2014
A segment from The John Kerwin Show of the last known interview with Jonathan Winters shot at his home in Montecito, CA
Category Comedy
License Standard YouTube License



MADDOW TIME

THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 2/26/18
Banker's divorce could expose role in Manafort Trump scandal
Rachel Maddow explains how the estranged wife of Federal Savings Bank chief Steve Calk could end up revealing details of the bank's unusual loan of $16 million to Paul Manafort through a divorce court subpoena. Duration: 9:01


THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 2/26/18
Trump admin a cautionary tale of nepotism for future generations
Rachel Maddow highlights Donald Trump's tendency to hire people he knows or is related to for White House jobs, and the conflict that creates, particularly in the case of Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner who continue in senior White House roles despite being ... more Duration: 12:10


THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 2/26/18
Melania Trump cuts ties with friend's company amid questions: NYT
Ken Vogel, political reporter for The New York Times, talks with Rachel Maddow about breaking news that the first lady's office has cut tie's with Melania Trump's friend's newly created company after it was revealed that she was paid $26 million for unspecified ... more Duration: 7:16


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Democrats satisfied with debunking of Devin Nunes memo
Rep. Jim Himes, member of the House Intelligence Committee, talks with Rachel Maddow about the Democratic memo rebutting the memo produced by Devin Nunes. Duration: 5:09