Republican front-runner Donald Trump on Sunday floated the idea of paying the legal fees of a white supporter who sucker-punched a black man leaving a rally. Later that day, he claimed “no responsibility” for political violence, suggesting instead that protesters are dangerous and that his supporters are right to “hit back.” He even blamed Democratic candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for sending protesters to disrupt his rallies, and threatened to sic his supporters on Sanders in retaliation.
Extreme political movements like Trump’s often go hand-in-hand with street violence. But organized militias like Adolf Hitler’s brown shirts and Benito Mussolini’s black shirts don’t spring up overnight. They evolve.
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Image: Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post
Five sheriff’s deputies in North Carolina have been disciplined for failure to act after a black protester was punched by a white supporter of Donald J. Trump at a campaign rally, the sheriff’s office said Wednesday.
Three of the deputies have been demoted and will be suspended without pay for five days for “unsatisfactory performance and failing to discharge the duties and policies of the office of sheriff,” according to a statement released by Sheriff Earl Butler of Cumberland County on his Facebook page. The other two deputies were suspended for three days without pay.
All five were to be placed on probation for the next year, Sheriff Butler said. The names of the deputies were not released.
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Amateur video shows a white Donald J. Trump supporter in a cowboy hat punching a black protester in the face as he was led out of a rally in Fayetteville, N.C.
By REUTERS on Publish Date March 10, 2016. Photo by Travis Dove for The New York Times. Watch in Times Video
For what’s believed to be the first time ever, a senior NFL official acknowledged Monday that there’s a direct link between playing football and developing degenerative brain disease — a significant shift in the discussion over head trauma caused by America’s most popular sport.
Jeff Miller, the NFL’s executive vice president for health and safety policy, acknowledged the connection during a roundtable discussion convened by the House Government and Commerce Committee, which is investigating concussions in the military, sports and other dangerous pursuits.
Asked by Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Illinois, whether he believed “there is a link between football and degenerative brain disorders” like chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, Miller noted research by Dr. Ann McKee of Boston University and said: “Certainly, Dr. McKee’s research shows that a number of retired NFL players were diagnosed with CTE, so the answer to that question is certainly yes.”
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NFL Acknowledges Direct Link Between Football and Brain Disorders
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned doctors Tuesday to use caution when prescribing drugs for chronic pain and to carefully monitor patients using the medications, as part of an effort to reduce addiction and overdoses.
The USA is in the grips of an epidemic of prescription painkiller abuse, with 40 Americans a day dying from overdoses, according to the CDC. In 2013, an estimated 1.9 million people abused or were dependent on prescription opiates, drugs in the same class as morphine.
Nearly all of the prescription opiates on the market are as powerful as heroin, said CDC director Thomas Frieden. Yet prescription opiates often do a very poor job in controlling chronic pain. Some patients who are prescribed opiates actually experience more pain than others, Frieden said. For the vast majority of patients with chronic pain, the risks aren’t worth the benefits, he said.
Russian strongman Vladimir Putin declared mission accomplished Monday and said he is withdrawing his troops from war-torn Syria now that peace talks are underway.
“I believe that the goal set out to the ministry of defense and the armed forces has, in large part, been fulfilled and that’s why I order the minister of defense as of tomorrow to start the pullout of the main part of our military grouping from the Syrian Arab Republic,” Putin said.
Putin’s declaration came as United Nations-led negotiations got underway in Geneva, Switzerland to end the brutal and bloody civil war that has left thousands dead and sent millions more into exile.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin listens during a meeting in the Kremlin on May 27, 2015. Alexei Nikolsky / Pool via AP
A Donald Trump rally that attracted thousands to the University of Illinois at Chicago was abruptly canceled Friday night amid his campaign’s security fears, sparking shouting and scuffling between the candidate’s fans and anti-Trump protesters.
Chicago police said two officers were hurt, including one who was struck on the head with a bottle. At least two other people were taken to a hospital with minor injuries, according to news reports. Five people were arrested.
The rally was called off about a half-hour after the scheduled 6 p.m. start time, after thousands of Trump fans and anti-Trump protesters packed into the free event, which required online registration. Thousands more gathered outside, surrounded by a police perimeter, and people became more vocal as the starting time approached.
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Image: Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post
Everyone’s #BestSchoolDay is different. Before Blake Mycoskie became the founder and Chief Shoegiver of TOMS, his #BestSchoolDay was reciting the Emancipation Proclamation dressed as Abraham Lincoln. Actress and comedian Yvette Nicole Brown remembers the time her third-grade teacher returned from Africa and taught the class Swahili. Twitter co-founder Biz Stone won the “Bicycle Safety Essay Contest” on his #BestSchoolDay. For Samuel L. Jackson and Russell Simmons, every day of high school was a #BestSchoolDay —for Jackson, because he walked to school with the same group of friends, and for Simmons, because he was bussed to a different community that gave him greater opportunity.
Too many students, however, don’t have the classroom resources they need to realize their passions and unlock their potential. Students can’t dream big when classrooms lack books, microscopes, and robotics kits —or even paper, pencils, and paste.
That’s why more than 50 actors, athletes, entrepreneurs and philanthropists are stepping up to provide a boost to those students and their teachers. They’ve created a philanthropic flash mob to make classroom dreams come true across America.
While there were initial rumors that she would be retiring from tennis with a press conference Monday afternoon, No. 7 singles-ranked Maria Sharapova announced she had failed a drug test at the Australian Open. The tennis star said in the press conference that she tested positive for meldonium — an anti-ischemic drug.
According to Yahoo Sports, Sharapova was informed that she had failed the test by the International Tennis Federation a few days prior. “I don’t want to end my career this way,” Sharapova told reporters in the press conference, according to Yahoo Sports. “I really hope I will be given another chance to play this game.”
The drug was recently added to the banned substances list by the World Anti-Doping Agency effective in January. Sharapova, 28, has been the highest paid female athlete for 11 consecutive years.
Audiences at screenings around the world, and some even in the United States, have been cheering and applauding a macabre scene in a new film by Sacha Baron Cohen in which “Donald Trump” accidentally contracts HIV.
“The Brothers Grimsby” opens March 11 in the U.S., though chances are you’re learning that for the first time here, given a decision by Sony Pictures to limit its marketing of the satiric comedy. The studio is concerned about the reaction from the real Donald Trump, according to industry sources familiar with the situation.
At the film’s world premiere in London last week, the Daily Telegraph reported that the Trump moment was met with “loud cheering.” The Metro newspaper called it a “massive cheer.” A viewer at a different screening tweeted, “Went to watch Grimsby and the whole cinema clapped when Donald Trump got given AIDS in it.”
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KGC-42/STAR MAX/IPx
The gasp-inducing scene comes courtesy of writer-producer-star Sacha Baron Cohen.
Film and Writing Festival for Comedy. Showcasing best of comedy short films at the FEEDBACK Film Festival. Plus, showcasing best of comedy novels, short stories, poems, screenplays (TV, short, feature) at the festival performed by professional actors.
Image: Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post
Amateur video shows a white Donald J. Trump supporter in a cowboy hat punching a black protester in the face as he was led out of a rally in Fayetteville, N.C.
#bestScoolDay
James' World 2 