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Breaking: Trump waives Jones Act for Puerto Rico

What a difference a day makes, eh? Yesterday, Donald Trump offered a blunt assessment on why action to waive the Jones Act for the Puerto Rico crisis was unlikely. Others pointed out that even a waiver wouldn’t really help, since shipping capacity for Puerto Rico vastly outstrips logistical capabilities for distribution in the wake of Hurricane Maria.

Today, on second thought …

It’s a smart move, both politically and symbolically. Politically, the White House has had an avalanche of unfair press coverage insinuating that they haven’t paid attention to the crisis in Puerto Rico. As Teri Christoph noted, that’s far from the case; they’ve been responding to it since before Hurricane Maria hit, but Trump himself has spent more of his public time talking and tweeting about the NFL than promoting relief efforts.

Symbolically it matters too, even if it won’t change much in the short run. Trump’s suggestion that protectionism should outweigh a humanitarian crisis — especially when it involves American citizens, which is the case in Puerto Rico — was tin-eared at best. It’s not that it wasn’t rational, but that it was too coldly rational. When Americans are suffering, we put that kind of calculation aside for a while in order to get help where it’s needed, or at least leave all options open to do so.

But will this get more help to Puerto Rico during the acute crisis? Not really, no — and even if it did, it wouldn’t matter. The problem in Puerto Rico isn’t getting aid to the island, Bloomberg’s Laura Blewitt reports. The problem is a lack of resources to get it off the docks once it arrives:

Thousands of cargo containers bearing millions of emergency meals and other relief supplies have been piling up on San Juan’s docks since Saturday. The mountains of materiel may not reach storm survivors for days.

Distributors for big-box companies and smaller retailers are unloading 4,000 20-foot containers full of necessities like food, water and soap this week at a dock in Puerto Rico’s capital operated by Crowley Maritime Corp. In the past few days, Tote Maritime’s terminal has taken the equivalent of almost 3,000. The two facilities have become choke points in the effort to aid survivors of Hurricane Maria.

“There are plenty of ships and plenty of cargo to come into the island,” said Mark Miller, a spokesman for Crowley, based in Jacksonville, Florida. “From there, that’s where the supply chain breaks down — getting the goods from the port to the people on the island who need them.” …

Trucks are ready to be loaded with the goods and precious diesel for backup generators, but workers aren’t around to drive. Instead, they’re caring for families and cleaning up flood damage — and contending with the curfew.

The buildings that would receive supplies are destroyed and without electricity, Miller said. The transport companies that have staff available and diesel on hand encounter downed poles and power lines while navigating 80,000-pound tractor-trailers on delicate washed-out roads.

The Jones Act waiver won’t help get aid to Puerto Rico. The aid has been arriving all along. What is truly needed is an effort to rebuild enough transportation and power infrastructure to get the aid moved off the docks in San Juan. And right now, the US military is trying to solve those problems, rather than worry about tweets or the Jones Act. That is a direct result of White House management of the crisis, and a much better metric than Trump’s Twitter account.

However, at some point a Jones Act waiver will help Puerto Rico save some money when it’s in position to spend its own money on the rebuilding effort — but the waiver will almost certainly expire before that time comes. If Congress wants to remove this protectionist act for good policy reasons, it can do that any time. It won’t have anything to do with aid in the immediate and critical time frame, though.

Trump made the right call, politically and symbolically. Now perhaps everyone else can focus on the actual acute crises.

Update: Like I wrote … symbolic (via Fausta Wertz and Steve Eggleston, emphasis mine):

The waiver from the shipping law, which requires American-made and operated vessels to transport cargo between U.S. ports, will only last for 10 days and goes into effect immediately.

“At @ricardorossello request, @POTUS has authorized the Jones Act be waived for Puerto Rico. It will go into effect immediately,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders wrote on Twitter, referring to Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló.

Steve also points out that the waiver might lower costs marginally for charities that are moving goods to Puerto Rico, but it’s not going to have any more dramatic impact than that. Rosselló won’t be in position to do any rebuilding within that ten-day period, which makes this an utterly symbolic move.

The post Breaking: Trump waives Jones Act for Puerto Rico appeared first on Hot Air.

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Photo: The Most Sickening Protest Picture We’ve Seen All Week

Culture

Photo: The Most Sickening Protest Picture We’ve Seen All Week

By Ben Marquis
on September 28, 2017 at 11:41am

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It’s become quite clear that many Americans find professional athletes taking a knee during the national anthem to be disrespectful of the American flag and the men and women who have fought and died to defend it.

Yet, many of the kneelers and their supporters in the media insist that the protest has nothing to do with disrespecting our nation’s fallen warriors or the flag, and is only intended to raise awareness of racial inequalities and instances of police brutality.

However, a shocking picture that recently went viral has seemingly exposed that narrative to be a lie. It appears to shows a young man taking a knee at The Tomb of the Unknowns monument in Arlington National Cemetery, during the playing of “Taps” no less, according to a Facebook post from Salute Media.

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Salute Media reported that the photo was taken by a combat veteran who was paying his respects to the fallen at the most hallowed grounds of our nation and military — a place generally regarded as one of quiet reverence, honor and self-reflection.

American Military News noted that it is widely considered to be disrespectful for people to do anything other than stand silently and respectfully during the playing of “Taps” — a beautifully somber bugle call often heard at military funerals — particularly while at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

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In fact, acts of disrespect at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, if spotted by the guards on duty, have been loudly admonished in the past, as seen in a video shared by Military.com.

Unsurprisingly, many people on social media expressed their displeasure with the sight seen in the viral photo.

Thus far, no other photos or video have emerged of the kneeling man at the hallowed Tomb, nor have any details about his identity or stated reason for kneeling, if he even had one.

Should his identity ever be revealed, he could end up facing consequences for his actions — not from the military or government, but from the rest of society at large, who don’t care for those who have displayed utter disrespect at such an honorable location.

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Recall back in 2012 when another disrespectful photo at the Tomb went viral, in that case a woman flipping the middle finger and pretending to shout next to a sign that asked visitors to remain silent and respectful at all times. According to the New York Daily News, that woman ended up losing her job over the “ignorant and distasteful” photo once her employers saw it.

It remains to be seen if anything else will come of this most recent incident at the Tomb, but hopefully it is not the start of a new trend.

Please share this story on Facebook and Twitter so everyone can see this shocking picture of someone taking a knee at Arlington National Cemetery’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

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Watch: Spike Lee Defends Anthem Protests, Suddenly Gold Star Dad Grabs the Mic

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Spike Lee might personify the current national anthem protests perfectly: He’s a millionaire entertainer who acts like he’s the center of the universe and sees every single thing through the lens of race.

Unsurprisingly, the far-left film director recently defended NFL players who refuse to stand for the national anthem… but the parents of a soldier killed in Afghanistan quickly put him in his place.

“How do you support these multi-millionaires on their knees, and don’t support what the fallen heroes died for?” the father of Staff Sgt. Louis Bonacasa asked Spike Lee during a CNN debate Wednesday night.

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The Bernie Sanders-supporting Lee dismissed the question, and bizarrely claimed that refusing to stand for the American flag didn’t insult troops who have died defending it.

VIDEO

“All these players have said, many many times, that they respect the armed forces,” Lee said. “They respect the flag. And they respect America. And this narrative that when they take a knee, it’s insulting your son who is no longer here, is not true.”

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That response was, in fact, a lie. Colin Kaepernick — the player who started the current movement — has repeatedly said that he doesn’t respect the flag and doesn’t respect America.

“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” the now unemployed quarterback declared last year.

In other words, literally the opposite of what Spike Lee claimed while looking a gold star family in the eyes.

Luckily, the family of the slain American soldier pushed back against the arrogant Hollywood director.

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“When North Korea aims a nuclear missile at us, are these ‘heroes’ that you say, NFL players who can’t support our flag, are they gonna be on their knees when this happens, or are they gonna support our veterans?” Bonacasa asked.

Lee refused to actually answer that question, but repeated the hysterical and asinine narrative that President Trump was more dangerous than nuclear-armed dictator Kim Jong Un. The claim, of course, had absolutely nothing to do with the question.

“I’m worried just as much about Donald Trump as that crazy guy in North Korea. And he has a nuclear code. I’m worried about that,” Lee said.

It is becoming increasingly apparent that liberals live in a different universe than the majority of Americans.

Out-of-touch views such as continuing to insult veterans with anthem antics, or repeating some drivel about Trump being more dangerous than a dictator who has executed hundreds of people in a human rights hell-hole show that “progressives” like Lee shouldn’t be taken seriously.

Lee is the same as the NFL players who have nothing logical to say but believe that they are great crusaders of justice. At the end of the day, their points don’t hold up, and it’s clear that a desperation for attention is the real reason for their actions.

The American people are tired of it. Lee gave up on making sense a long time ago. The NFL still has a chance at redemption, but that opportunity is quickly running out.

H/T Informed Folks

Please press “Share on Facebook” if you’re tired of spoiled entertainers insulting and ignoring the American people!

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Fed-Up Steven Seagal Just Declared War on the NFL

Politics

Fed-Up Steven Seagal Just Declared War on the NFL

By Martin Walsh
on September 28, 2017 at 5:48am

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One of the most ferocious martial artists in the world just declared war on the NFL and its players who find it acceptable to disrespect our flag and national anthem.

During a very candid interview with the U.K. news program “Good Morning Britain” that took place from Russia, actor Steven Seagal referred to anthem protesters as outrageous and disgusting

According to the Daily Mail, Seagal said he believed kneeling during the anthem was nothing short of disrespect to the brave men and women who have died so that players can make millions while playing a game for a living.

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“I think it’s outrageous, I think it’s a joke, it’s disgusting. I respect the American flag,” Seagal said.

Seagal said he he doesn’t understand why some players find it acceptable to blatantly disrespect the very country that gives them the opportunity to live such extravagant lifestyles.

Seagal agreed with President Donald Trump’s critical comments last Friday about anthem protesters and how NFL owners should fire players who disrespect our flag.

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“And that owner, they don’t know it, but they’ll be the most popular person in this country,” Seagall said.

After slamming anthem protesters, Seagal said it has been hard for Trump to get things done because too many “Obama-ites and people that feel they should overthrow Trump” are still in office.

With more than 200 NFL players kneeling during the national anthem on Sunday in response to Trump’s comments, more people are beginning to take action against a league that appears to be endorsing the degradation of our national anthem.

To Seagal’s point, players kneeling during national anthem is disrespectful to our nation’s flag and to all the brave men and women who died for all of our freedoms.

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Despite outrage from the liberal media, let us never forget that these NFL players are getting paid millions of dollars. Several of these players who disrespect our flag have no idea how great of an opportunity they have.

True American patriots like Seagal don’t want to see anyone disrespecting our flag and country.

Please like and share this if you agree with Steven Seagal that it’s unacceptable for players to kneel during the national anthem and blatantly disrespect the flag!

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NFL Sacked! Businesses Cut Ties With NFL, Let Fans Cancel Over Protests

<p>NFL sponsors are feeling pressure to respond after more than 200 players, coaches and team owners knelt in protest during the anthem on the weekend of Sept. 23. While most NFL sponsors have so far not ended their sponsorships, at least three organizations have reacted and others are being pressured.</p>

via NewsBusters – Exposing Liberal Media Bias

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Ghanaian Migrant Who Raped Camping German in Front of Her Boyfriend Calls Victim a ‘Prostitute’

Ghanaian Migrant Who Raped Camping German in Front of Her Boyfriend Calls Victim a ‘Prostitute’

victim

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/Frank Brehm/Bonn Police

by Virginia Hale28 Sep 20170

28 Sep, 2017
28 Sep, 2017

The Ghanaian migrant accused of raping a German student whilst threatening to kill her boyfriend if he intervened has branded his victim a “prostitute” in court.

Identified only as Eric X. in local media, the failed asylum seeker is accused of raping the 23-year-old victim in a meadow near Bonn, after slashing the camping couple’s tent with a machete and demanding their valuables.

The pair handed over six euros and a portable set of speakers, before hearing their assailant tell the woman, “Come out, bitch. I wanna f*** you,” in English  — threatening to kill her 26-year-old boyfriend if he tried to prevent the assault.

Defying the advice of his lawyers to stay silent, the Ghanaian railed against his victims — who local media report to be heavily traumatised by the attack  — during his appearance at a district court in Bonn.

“I do not understand why I should be silent about a case I don’t know anything about,” he said, before lashing out at Judge Eumann for noting that the defendant’s DNA was an exact match to that found on the victim.

“If the court says that this is my DNA, then I must call the girl a prostitute,” Eric X. cried out, shackles rattling as he gesticulated wildly, according to Die Welt.

“Anyone who supports this girl who claims she was raped is the dirtiest man on earth,” he added.

The court also heard Eric X. embark on a “long-winded narrative” about his life in Ghana, during which he was repeatedly told by the judge to “get to the point”.

According to the accused, his father owned several cocoa plants and “was like a king” in the African country.

“He had a lot of money and was very well known. In Ghana, a king can have as many women as he wants, if he can take care of them,” he told the court.

The suspect was arrested soon after the attack in nearby Siegburg after a man recognised him from a composite picture of the rapist that was released by German police.

It later emerged that Eric X. could have been deported since March 17th, when his application for asylum was rejected. Just 10 days before the attack, he was informed by authorities that he faced deportation to Italy, where he first filed an asylum claim.

via Breitbart News

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Army Investigating West Point Grad’s Pro-Communist Twitter Posts

Cadets at the United States Military Academy march out of Eisenhower Barracks Friday, May 31, 1996, for their Graduation Parade at West Point, N.Y. The more than 900 cadets will graduate Saturday. (AP Photo/Jim McKnight)

BY:

September 27, 2017 9:37 am

The U.S. Army announced Tuesday it was investigating a West Point graduate who publicly posted to social media several photos advocating communism, including several that featured him wearing his alma mater’s uniform.

West Point swiftly responded to the posts as they spread rapidly across social media, making clear the messages posted by Second Lieutenant Spenser Rapone “in no way reflect the values of the U.S. Military Academy or the U.S. Army.”

“As figures of public trust, members of the military must exhibit exemplary conduct, and are prohibited from engaging in certain expressions of political speech in uniform,” West Point wrote in a statement. “Second Lieutenant Rapone’s chain of command is aware of his actions and is looking into the matter. The academy is prepared to assist the officer’s chain of command as required.”

In one photo posted to twitter this week, Rapone is holding a military cap with the message “Communism Will Win” scrawled on the inside. A second photo features Rapone wearing a Che Guevara t-shirt under his uniform with the the Argentine communist revolutionary’s iconic mantra, “Hasta la victoria siempre,” posted below.

Several of Rapone’s messages feature the hashtag “Veterans for Kaepernick,” referring to the former 49ers quarterback who sparked the movement of players taking a knee during the National Anthem in protest of racial injustice.

Rapone also boasts his communist views in his twitter bio, referring to himself as a “commie” and member of the Democratic Socialists of America Veterans Working Group.

via Washington Free Beacon

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NFL Woes Mount as DirecTV Offers Refunds to Customers Offended by Protests

The first shoe has just dropped following the National Football League’s hideously botched reaction to comments by President Trump over national anthem protesters.

The league’s premier television partner DirecTV which provides the popular “Sunday Ticket” package of out-of-market games has announced that it would be providing refunds to customers who may have been offended by the anti-Trump protests that ruined last weekend’s slate of games for millions of fans.

This is a really big deal because it marks the first time that a corporate NFL partner has been made to acknowledge the extent to which the league has offended patriotic Americans. If DirectTV is offering refunds, then there had to have been a huge negative response after Sunday’s fiasco.

The key to getting a refund is linked to specifically mentioning the protests as the reason for the complaint.

As reported by ESPN “DirecTV allows some NFL refunds after anthem controversy”:

DirecTV is offering unprecedented refunds for fans who want to cancel their NFL Sunday Ticket package, if they inform the company that they are doing so due to the recent protests during the national anthem, a source confirmed.

Once the season starts, fans usually cannot cancel their subscriptions, but AT&T, which owns DirecTV, decided to change the policy due to the sensitivity of the issue. The price of the package, which allows fans to get out-of-market games, is about $280.

An AT&T spokesperson declined to confirm the cancellation policy and said the company would have no numbers to share.

The exemption was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

The company is unwilling to confirm this lest it trigger a run on cancellations but the word is now out thanks to the Wall Street Journal report.

This is proof that NFL sponsor boycotts can be an effective tool to bring an end to the anti-Americanism and the infusion of radical leftist and racial politics into games that not that long ago, offered a brief sanctuary from the woes of the world.

Boycotts aren’t limited to the left who have used their pressure tactics to wage a part of their campaign of cultural cleansing through economic pressure and public shaming of corporations who are typically run by gutless wonders who will quickly knuckle-under at the first sign of adversity.

The NFL’s self-inflicted damage, however, will likely be long-lasting and nothing short of the firing of Commissioner Roger Goodell should be the short-term objective of any such boycotts. It is under his “leadership” that this situation exploded and as the old Greek proverb goes – a fish rots from the head down.

DirecTV wisely chose to honor the wishes of its customers and shareholders can direct their ire at the NFL and Goodell for busting a cap into the goose that laid the golden egg.

Could lawsuits from fans be far behind?

via Downtrend.com

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Obama Hauls In Millions From Wall Street, Not A Peep From The Media

He hasn’t made enough yet.

It’s the height of hypocrisy.

Seriously, it could not be any more hypocritical, or it would just sound made up.

Former President Barack Obama is hauling in millions from Wall Street banks — the very institutions he harangued throughout both of his presidential campaigns.

Throughout their political careers, both Hillary Clinton and Mr. Obama berated banks and the “fat cats” who run them as heartless corporations (while filling their own pockets with their cash). Mrs. Clinton made millions giving speeches to the huge financial institutions, swatting away charges of hypocrisy. This apparently didn’t really sell with Mr. and Mrs. America, who didn’t elect her president.

Now it’s Mr. Obama’s turn to make bank.

Last month he spoke to clients of Northern Trust Corp. for about $400,000, a person familiar with his appearance told Bloomberg News.

But that’s not a one-off. “Last week, he reminisced about the White House for Carlyle Group LP, one of the world’s biggest private equity firms, according to two people who were there,” Bloomberg wrote.

Bloomberg went on to note that he would “give a keynote speech at investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald LP’s health-care conference,” which happened Monday.

You can bet they brought a hefty chunk of change: The Cantor Fitzgerald speech was worth about $400,000, according to Agence France-Presse, citing “a person briefed on Obama’s planned appearance.”

And not every paid appearance by Mr. Obama is even known.

“Obama’s appearance at the Carlyle conference in Washington was previously unreported. The private equity giant has enjoyed some of the best political connections in the world, with executives and advisers who have included former presidents, prime ministers and cabinet secretaries. Obama discussed his life and the decisions he made in the White House, the people who heard him said,” according to last week’s Bloomberg report.

At his apparent going rate, just those three speaking engagements we know about brought Mr. Obama a $1.2 million haul. He hasn’t even been out of office a year, and the very places he bashed while in office are paying him big bucks to swing by and speak.

Keep reading…

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Trump Unleashes Video of McCain Promise That Has Him Scrambling

Politics

Trump Unleashes Video of McCain Promise That Has Him Scrambling

By Cillian Zeal
on September 27, 2017 at 7:44am

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Any 30-year career in the Senate is bound to have some highs and some lows. However, for Sen. John McCain, those lows seem to be agglomerating themselves in what are sure to be his final years in office.

While nobody ever thought that McCain was particularly a movement conservative — in fact, RINOs his size were usually only espied at the zoo or on safari — his unreliability became a major issue after he effectively sank Obamacare repeal in the Senate.

If McCain thought that his vote would be forgotten, or perhaps remembered as a profile in courage — well, it certainly doesn’t look that way from here. And, as President Donald Trump reminded everyone, McCain’s vote was a stab in the back to voters who relied on McCain’s repeated promises to repeal Obamacare.

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In a video posted by the president to Twitter on Monday, McCain is seen saying he would repeal and replace President Barack Obama’s signature legislation over and over again:

This is what McCain supporters are scrambling to hide — it’s not just once or twice. That video is over six minutes long. That’s approximately the average length of one of the deep cuts on The Cure’s “Disintegration.” And, you know what? Listening to it is roughly about as depressing.

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Yes, I know, John McCain is a war hero. Yes, I know he’s going through a tough time right now with his cancer diagnosis. Yes, I know, he has done some good things for the GOP. He has served his country in both the military and the Senate.

However, now that the GOP-led Congress has given up its final effort to pass Obamacare repeal — a weaksauce, establishment-friendly last-ditch effort at that — it’s instructive to remember who shares the most responsibility for that failure.

All McCain had to do was cast the deciding vote and the Senate’s plan would have gone into conference, where problems could have been hammered out. That’s all he was being asked to do. That’s what he torpedoed at age 81, in what is almost certainly his final term in the Senate.

President Trump isn’t going to forget that McCain singlehandedly killed the last chance to accomplish what the Arizona senator has been promising for years. Neither should you.

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