In May, former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made a behind-closed-doors appearance before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. As details of Tillerson’s testimony begin to become public, what they reveal is that America had two completely separate sets of foreign policy initiatives. There were those put forward in the normal, typical, legal way … and a set of secret meetings conducted by Jared Kushner, the contents of which are still unknown.
The Washington Post reports that Kushner “operated independently,” and left Tillerson and other officials “out of the loop.” This didn’t just include Kushner’s trips to visit with Saudi Arabian prince Mohammed bin Salman. It also featured lining up secret meetings with Mexican officials, including one in which Tillerson stumbled upon a get-together between Kushner and Mexico’s foreign secretary simply because others assumed that the secretary of state had to be aware that a top White House adviser was engaged in a meeting about critical policies.
The U.S. women’s national soccer team defeated France 2-1 in the World Cup quarterfinals in Paris on Friday, eliminating the host nation and the team seen as the Americans’ most challenging opponent.
National team co-captain Megan Rapinoe scored both of the U.S. squad’s goals, one during the first five minutes of the game and the second during the 65th. France’s first and only goal came very late in the game, made by defender Wendie Renard.
The U.S. team has scored within the first 12 minutes of every World Cup match this year. Rapinoe is responsible for five of the U.S. team’s World Cup goals so far.
China has unveiled a prototype of a new magnetic levitation (maglev) train designed to reach speeds of up to 600 km/h.
Maglev technology uses strong electromagnets which lift and propel the train forward on a cushion of air. Without the problem of friction between wheels and rails, maglev trains are able to hit greater speeds than conventional locomotives, and with less noise and vibration.
China already has the world’s fastest commercial maglev service. The Shanghai Maglev, with a top operational speed of 431 km/h, has been carrying passengers on a 30 km stretch between Shanghai’s Pudong airport and the city centre since 2003.
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The super-fast train is set to roll off the production line in 2020.
President Donald Trump threatened Iran with “obliteration” on Tuesday, saying that an attack on “anything American will be met with great and overwhelming force.”
“In some areas, overwhelming will mean obliteration. No more John Kerry & Obama!” the President tweeted.
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Speaking in the Oval Office later in the day, Trump said he believes Iran still takes his threats seriously after he canceled a planned military strike and told reporters he does not need an “exit strategy” from the increasingly tense situation.
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.Trump also said his message to Tehran following the recent exchange of hostile words between the US and Iran — including Iranian President Hassan Rouhani saying the White House is suffering from a “mental disability” — was that he wants to negotiate.
Sen. Kamala Harris’ first big moment of the debate was saying, “America does not want to witness a food fight.” Her second was heaving an entire tray of spaghetti in former Vice President Joe Biden’s face.
The conversation devolved into undecipherable crosstalk a few minutes into the Democratic debate on Thursday, as 10 presidential candidates tried to stand out at the same time. Biden had just responded to a direct swipe at his age from Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) when Harris stepped in and cut through the noise.
“America does not want to witness a food fight,” the California senator said. “They want to know how we’re going to put food on their table.”
On a night that featured the two Democratic front-runners ― Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) ― it was Harris who consistently controlled the debate stage time and time again with clear and measured answers, direct and pointed shots, and lucid and tremendously personal examples.
The man and his 23-month-old daughter lay face down in shallow water along the bank of the Rio Grande, his black shirt hiked up to his chest with the girl’s head tucked inside. Her arm was draped around his neck suggesting she clung to him in her final moments.
The searing photograph of the sad discovery on Monday, captured by journalist Julia Le Duc and published by Mexican newspaper La Jornada, highlights the perils of the latest migration crisis involving mostly Central Americans fleeing violence and poverty and hoping for asylum in the United States.
From the scorching Sonora desert to the fast-moving Rio Grande, the U.S.-Mexico border has long been an at times deadly journey for those who cross it illegally between ports of entry.
Megan Rapinoe, co-captain of the U.S. women’s national soccer team, has no plans to visit President Donald Trump at the White House if the squad wins the Women’s World Cup now underway.
In fact, she doesn’t think the record-breaking team will even be offered the opportunity.
“I’m not going to the fucking White House,” she scoffed when asked if she was excited at the prospect of such a visit during interview clips Eight by Eight magazine released Tuesday.
“We’re not gonna be invited,” she added. “I doubt it.”
The NRA is in real freefall and it’s because of all of the work our movement — and you! — have done to chip away at its power.
In fact, over the last several months, the NRA’s long-time ad agency cut ties with the gun lobby2, its president was forced to resign3, the New York Attorney General opened an investigation into its tax-exempt status4, board members resigned and called for Wayne LaPierre’s ouster5. Independent investigations also exposed the NRA’s deep financial mismanagement and greed6 and the Senate continues to investigate the lobby’s connections to Putin’s Russia7.
The NRA is in real trouble, but our work is not yet over. In the days and weeks ahead we’ll continue to work together to financially drain the gun industry and its lobby. Together, we are building a future with fewer guns.
– The Guns Down Team
P.S. Just this afternoon, news broke that Chris Cox, the NRA’s chief lobbyist, officially resigned from the gun lobby following accusations he helped orchestrate a failed coup against leader Wayne LaPierre8. It’s getting hard to keep up with of the NRA’s woes these days!
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Click the link belowfor tweet (Use your browser or smartphone back arrow (<-) to return for the list below):
An undercover operation in California found that half of tobacco and vape shops failed to check IDs for teens purchasing e-cigarettes and other nicotine products, despite a state law raising the legal age for purchasing tobacco products to 21.
Researchers sent 18- and 19-year-old “decoys” into stores without ID, instructing them to tell the truth about their age if asked. The teenagers then attempted to purchase vape products — e-cigarettes or e-liquids with nicotine — and a chaperone watched to see if the store asked for ID and made a sale.
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Almost half of tobacco and vape shops illegally sold nicotine-containing products to the teens, according to the research, published Monday in the medical journal JAMA Pediatrics. Liquor stores, supermarkets and pharmacies were significantly more likely to check for ID and less likely to make the illegal sales.
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.
The super-fast train is set to roll off the production line in 2020.
‘obliteration’?
Biden and Harris
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Vaping
James' World 2 