credit to alibaba

🇺🇸 **Billy Graham, America's pastor, has died**
<http://archive.is/yuJUb>
 
The world's best-known evangelist, the Rev. Billy Graham, died Wednesday. He was 99.

From the gangly 16-year-old baseball-loving teen who found Christ at a tent revival, Graham went on to become an international media darling, a preacher to a dozen presidents and the voice of solace in times of national heartbreak. He was America's pastor. 

Graham died at his mountain home in Montreat, N.C., where he retired in 2005 after nearly six decades on the road calling people to Christ at 417 all-out preaching and musical events from Miami to Moscow. His final New York City crusade in 2005 was sponsored by 1,400 regional churches from 82 denominations. In recent years, he was plagued by various ailments, including cancer and pneumonia.

He took his Bible to the ends of the Earth in preaching tours he called "crusades." Presidents called on Graham in their dark hours, and uncounted millions say he showed them the light.

10-10
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<:jew:351904133470617610> **US embassy will move to Jerusalem on May14th to celebrate Israel's 70th anniversary**

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<:suicide:280809026944761856> **Students in Louisiana thought this math symbol looked like a gun. Police were called**
<https://archive.fo/ej47o>

A discussion among students at Oberlin High School in Oberlin, La., about a mathematical symbol led to a police investigation and a search of one of the student’s homes, according to the Allen Parish Sheriff’s Office.

On the afternoon of Feb. 20, detectives investigated a report of terroristic threats at the school, where they learned that a student had been completing a math problem that required drawing the square-root sign.

Students in the group began commenting that the symbol, which represents a number that when multiplied by itself equals another number, looked like a gun.

After several students made comments along those lines, another student said something the sheriff’s office said could have sounded like a threat out of context.

Police searched the student’s home, where they found no guns or any evidence that he had any access to guns. Authorities also wrote there was no evidence the student had any intent to commit harm.
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<:overjoyed:384631744571244544> **Facebook pulls violent virtual reality games from CPAC booth after Parkland**
<https://archive.fo/1xc7D>

Facebook pulled violent virtual reality games, including one in which players pretend to shoot people in a train station, from its booth at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference after public criticism.

Facebook's vice president of virtual reality, Hugo Barra, apologized for the demos of violent virtual reality games including "Bullet Train" during CPAC.

Criticism grew on social media of the shooter game demo coming so soon after the shootings at a high school in Parkland, Fla., that left 17 people dead.

"There is a standard set of experiences included in the Oculus demos we feature at public events. A few of the action games can include violence. In light of the recent events in Florida and out of respect for the victims and their families, we have removed them from this demo. We regret that we failed to do so in the first place," Barra said in an emailed statement to USA TODAY.

This is not the first time Facebook has been accused of being tone deaf in demonstrating the capabilities of its virtual reality. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologized last year after live streaming a virtual reality tour of hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico to promote Facebook's Spaces app.
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🇺🇸 **GOP Rep: The 2nd amendment does not ‘guarantee that every civilian can bear any and all arms’**
<https://archive.fo/LudP1>

Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) is throwing his support behind an assault weapons ban, writing in an op-ed on Friday that the Second Amendment guarantee to the right to bear arms does not apply to all guns.

"The Second Amendment is unimpeachable," Mast wrote in The New York Times. "It guarantees the right of citizens to defend themselves. I accept, however, that it does not guarantee that every civilian can bear any and all arms."

Mast's op-ed came days after a gunman opened fire on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., killing 17 people and injuring 14 others.

Mast similarly called for a ban on bump stocks, and said that background checks should also be stricter.

"The president, House of Representatives, Senate, every state legislature, sheriffs, police officers, school boards, students and parents must unite with one mission: that no one will ever be murdered in school again," he wrote.
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🇺🇸 **Four states agree to share gun registries**
<https://archive.fo/mh6iE>

our northeastern states agreed this week to share registries of people banned from purchasing guns, The New York Times reports.

New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Rhode Island will now share information like the names of individuals with warrants out for their arrest and those with mental health issues who have been barred from buying guns.

The decision came days after a deadly shooting at a South Florida high school renewed an intense debate over the nation's gun control laws.

“This is a federal government that’s gone backwards on this issue,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said Thursday, according to the Times. “President Trump has pledged allegiance to the [National Rifle Association] and he’s delivered for them.”

Officials said that the effort would expand the information that they share across state lines, according to the Times. States are already supposed to report criminal and other information to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
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<:trump:284711336934375425> **Border wall work begins in downtown Calexico**
<https://archive.fo/hvt8n>

The federal government began work Wednesday to replace a section of border wall in California, the first wall contract awarded in the Trump administration outside of eight prototypes that were built last year in San Diego.

Customs and Border Protection is replacing a little more than two miles in downtown Calexico, a sliver of the president's plan for a “big, beautiful wall” with Mexico. A barrier built in the 1990s from recycled metal scraps and landing mat will be torn down for bollard-style posts that are 30 feet high, significantly taller than existing walls.

The administration is seeking $18 billion to extend the wall. Efforts to pay for it as part of a broader immigration package that would include granting legal status for people who came to the county as young children failed in the Senate last week.

In November, SWF Constructors of Omaha, Neb., won a contract for $18 million to replace the wall in Calexico, about 120 miles east of San Diego. It encompasses an area bisected by the New River, where smugglers are known to guide people through polluted waters. The project, which includes a bridge over the river, is expected to take 300 days.

The administration cleared the way for construction in September by waiving dozens of environmental and other reviews in Calexico. A 2005 law exempted it from environmental reviews if the Homeland Security secretary deems a wall to be in national security interests.
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🚁 **Kill a communist and receive £340, Philippines leader Duterte tells nation**
<https://archive.fo/M94IH>

Rodrigo Duterte also said the communists are easier to hit than birds because they have bigger heads.

His latest crass remarks, which the government issued to reporters yesterday, came after human rights groups condemned him this week for saying troops should shoot female communist guerrillas in the genitals to render them “useless”.

Mr Duterte said in a speech to troops at an air base in central Cebu city, referring to New People’s Army guerrillas: “You kill an NPA today and I’ll pay you 25,000 pesos.

“I was computing that if this drags on for four years, … it’ll be very expensive because it’s war. If I’ll just pay 25,000 for a life, I can save about 47 percent.”
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<:trump:284711336934375425> **Woman Assumes Olympics Fan Is Flying a Confederate Flag. It Was Norwegian.**
<https://archive.fo/7PDKB>

A news tip earlier this week that reported a Confederate flag flying beneath an American flag in the Greenwood neighborhood of Seattle, Washington was discovered to be a mistake — because the red and blue-striped flag was actually a Norwegian flag.

The Seattle Times received the following tip from New York Times best-selling author Rebecca Morris after she believed that she saw a Confederate flag flying in her neighborhood: “Hi. Suddenly there is a Confederate flag flying in front of a house in my Greenwood neighborhood. It is at the north-east corner of 92nd and Palatine, just a block west of 92nd and Greenwood Ave N. I would love to know what this ‘means’ … but of course don’t want to knock on their door. Maybe others in the area are flying the flag? Maybe it’s a story? Thank you.”

However, a more thorough examination revealed that it was actually a Norwegian flag was flying at the house of Darold Norman Strangeland, who raised it at the start of this year’s Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea as an homage to his Norwegian-American background — his parents emigrated to the states in the mid-1950s.

When Morris found out that she had mistaken the flags, she pointed to the current political climate as a possible reason for her mix-up. “Maybe that’s the story,” she told the Seattle Times. “We’re so stressed by all things political that we see things that aren’t there.”
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🇺🇸 **Six companies dump the NRA in just 24 hours**
<https://archive.fo/IldUc>

As teenage school shooting survivors channeled their anger into a national movement, #BoycottNRA exploded across Twitter this week, and companies that once partnered with the National Rifle Association pulled out one by one.

It started with First National Bank of Omaha on Thursday night, which canceled their NRA-branded Visa cards. This was followed by rental car conglomerate Enterprise Holdings, which revoked its NRA member discounts for Enterprise, National, and Alamo. On Friday, the list grew longer as the hashtag started to blow up.

Symantec, the security company that sells Norton Antivirus and LifeLock identify theft protection, terminated its NRA member discount. Soon after, Chubb, a casualty insurance company, announced that it had stopped underwriting NRA insurance policies.

MetLife announced it was ending its discount program. Then Hertz followed the lead of Enterprise and canceled its car rental partnership.
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<:trump:284711336934375425> **US deportations targeting more people with no crime records**
<https://archive.fo/Rnihz>

People arrested by deportation officers increasingly have no criminal backgrounds, according to figures released Friday, reflecting the Trump administration's commitment to cast a wider net.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said 65 percent of arrests from October to December were criminals, compared to 82 percent during the final full three months of the Obama administration.

Looked at another way, arrests of criminals jumped 14 percent to 25,626 from 22,484, but arrests of non-criminals nearly tripled to 13,548 from 4,918.

Overall, there were 39,174 deportation arrests from October to December, up from 27,402 during the final full three months of the Obama administration. The 43 percent surge is consistent with trends since Trump took office and dramatically increased enforcement.

ICE's Dallas field office tallied the most arrests during the latest three-month period, followed by Atlanta and Houston.
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🇺🇸 **Fla. shooting survivor: Cops don't want to face down AR-15s**
<https://archive.fo/I71qQ>

In an interview on MSNBC, student David Hogg defended Scot Peterson, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School resource officer and Broward County Sheriff's deputy criticized by President Trump and local law enforcement for not entering the building during the shooting.

Three other officers from the same department were also reported by CNN to have arrived on scene and taken cover behind their vehicles before deputies from a neighboring department arrived.

"He — just like every other police officer out there at heart — is a good person. He didn't take action in this event, and I can't explain why ... there are no words to explain why he wouldn't take action to take out this individual, but I think it's a good example of if he didn't take action and four others didn't, I mean, who does?" Hogg said.

"Who wants to go down the barrel of an AR-15, even with a glock? And I know that's what these police officers are supposed to do, but they're people too," he added.

Peterson has been the subject of intense criticism in the days following last Wednesday's shooting, after Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel told reporters at a press conference this week that Peterson was outside the building but on campus for the duration of the attack, but "didn't go in."
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🇺🇸 **Bank of America Reviewing Relations with ‘Assault Weapon’ Manufacturers**
<https://archive.fo/ee0CG>

Bank of America is undertaking a review of its relations with “assault weapon” manufacturers.

On February 24 Axios published a statement from Bank of America: 'We are joining other companies in our industry to examine what we can do to help end the tragedy of mass shootings, and an immediate step we’re taking is to engage the limited number of clients we have that manufacture assault weapons for non-military use to understand what they can contribute to this shared responsibility.'

This statement follows a February 19 New York Times’ column which explained how banks and credit card companies could team up to limit finances for companies manufacturing and/or selling “assault rifles.”

For example, NYT reported that “PayPal, Square, Stripe and Apple Pay announced years ago that they would not allow their services to be used for the sale of firearms.”
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🇺🇸 **Axios: Trump discussing death penalty for big drug dealers**
<https://archive.fo/tyOxj>

President Donald Trump is advocating for the death penalty for major drug dealers and much harsher punishments for all drug dealing, Axios reports.

The President has been inspired by the policies of Singapore, citing their low rates of drug use and their executions of drug dealers, according to the report.

"He says that a lot," a source who has spoken at length about the subject with the President told Axios. "He says, 'When I ask the prime minister of Singapore do they have a drug problem [the prime minister replies,] 'No. Death penalty.'"

Trump believes a gentler approach to drug trafficking and use is ineffective, according to the report.

Trump could also back legislation that would require people convicted of dealing as little as two grams of the synthetic opioid fentanyl to receive a five-year mandatory jail sentence, according to the Axios report. The law currently requires that sentence for those who deal 40 or more grams of the drug.
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🇺🇸 **Florida shooting survivor: We will outlive the NRA**
<https://archive.fo/utoLS>

Florida high school shooting survivor David Hogg said in an interview on Monday that those campaigning for stricter gun control laws will outlive the National Rifle Association (NRA).

"We're going to have to outlive the NRA and we will because they certainly aren't going to stop but neither are we," Hogg said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

"Last night I was in Livingston, New Jersey, at a campaign rally because essentially this is what this has become, sadly. It shouldn't have to be. I was there giving a speech, explaining my situation, our agenda, and everything like that," he said.

"I was meeting amazing individuals and shaking hands with them. It was every single person I met with there. I knew that's how change was coming because those people showed up and because those people showed up, they stood up and made their voice heard," he continued.
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🇺🇸 **Florida Republican: People are 'not safer' with access to AR-15 style guns**
<https://archive.fo/RPop1>

A House Republican and Army veteran who favors a ban on AR-15 style guns said Monday that easy access to these weapons is not making the U.S. safer, and said a ban on future sales is needed.

"My community, my country is not safer with this unfettered access of anybody that's 18 years or older having access to this platform," Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., said on MSNBC.

Mast, who lost both his legs working as part of a bomb disposal expert in Afghanistan, said he had access to a similar weapon in the Army because of the damage it could do to the enemy. But he said similar weapons shouldn't be widely available in the U.S.

"The Army put this weapon in my hands because it was the best weapon to go out there and kill on the battlefield in the most dangerous country on Earth," he said. "That's why they put it in my hands."
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🇺🇸 **In blow to Trump, Supreme Court won’t hear appeal of DACA ruling**
<https://archive.fo/oLlUe>

The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to hear the Trump administration's appeal of a federal judge's ruling that requires the government to keep the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program going.

Under a lower court order that remains in effect, the Department of Homeland Security must continue to accept applications to renew DACA status from the roughly 700,000 young people, known as Dreamers, who are currently enrolled. The administration's deadline of March 5, when it intended to shut the program down, is now largely meaningless.

Monday's denial also gives Congress more time to come up with a legislative solution, though repeated bipartisan efforts have failed so far.

The court's denial was expected, because the justices rarely accept appeals asking them to bypass the lower courts.
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🇺🇸 **Georgia's lieutenant governor threatens to retaliate against Delta unless it reverses its decision on the NRA**
<https://archive.fo/ZEcX7>

Georgia Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle said he will not support a bill that would give Delta a massive tax break, unless the airline reverses its decision to sever a partnership with the National Rifle Association.

Delta ended the NRA partnership on Saturday due to pressure from gun control advocates following the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida.

The proposed bill would exempt jet fuel purchases from Georgia sales tax and could save Delta around $40 million.

"I will kill any tax legislation that benefits @Delta unless the company changes its position and fully reinstates its relationship with @NRA," Cagle said Monday. "Corporations cannot attack conservatives and expect us not to fight back."

The airline employed more than 33,000 people in the state of Georgia in 2015 and ranks as one of the largest employers in the state.
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🇺🇸 **First transgender recruit joins U.S. military, Pentagon confirms**
<https://archive.fo/zLkSK>

The first transgender recruit has officially signed up for the U.S. military, despite President Donald Trump’s call for the ban of all such individuals from serving in the armed forces.

The Pentagon confirmed Monday the recruit signed their service contract on Friday, after meeting a slew of physical, psychological and medical requirements before being considered for military service, Pentagon spokesman Maj. David Eastburn told The Washington Times. The Defense Department declined to comment on which branch the individual joined or whether the recruit, who wished to remain anonymous, signed up as a serviceman or servicewoman.

News of the enlistment comes as the Trump administration is weighing the recommendations of Defense Secretary James Mattis on whether transgender troops should be allowed into the military. Department spokesman Col. Rob Manning told reporters on Monday that Mr. Mattis’s guidance had been sent to the White House and is currently under review.
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🇺🇸 **If You Have A Mental Illness, This Antifa Student Group Wants You**
<https://archive.fo/t43uc>

A Texas Antifa student group hosted a six month health program to “politicize” students with “mental illnesses,” according to a Thursday report.

The Revolutionary Student Front at the University of Texas at Austin hosted a “Revolutionary Mental Health Program” “to address the mental health needs of students in a way that would primarily serve to politicize and strengthen them, to become more committed to revolution and more capable of carrying it out,” reported Far Left Watch.

The UT Austin Antifa student group based its 2017 program on “Turn Illness Into A Weapon,” a book charting the neo-Marxist Socialist Patients Collective group’s actions in Germany, which placed the blame of mental illness on capitalist oppression.

The Revolutionary Student Front sought to create a health care system that not only treated students for their mental illnesses, but also mobilized them to fight capitalism.
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✝ **Pennsylvania church’s AR-15 ceremony prompts nearby elementary school to cancel classes**
<https://archive.fo/fIZsE>

A Pennsylvania school district will cancel classes at an elementary school on Wednesday because a church down the street is hosting a ceremony featuring AR-15 rifles.

World Peace<:sammy:351905309863706625> and Unification Sanctuary in Newfoundland believes the AR-15 symbolizes the “rod of iron” in the biblical book of Revelation, and it is encouraging couples to bring the weapons to a commitment ceremony.

The ceremony, to be held about a half-mile from Wallenpaupack South Elementary School, is expected to draw hundreds of couples.

On Friday, the superintendent of the Wallenpaupack Area School District wrote in a letter to parents that while “there is no direct threat to our school or community,” given concerns about parking, traffic and the “nature of the event,” students will be bused to schools about 15 miles away.
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🇸🇦 **Saudi Arabia allows women to join military**
<https://archive.fo/oNaQY>

Saudi Arabia has for the first time opened applications for women to join its military.

Women have until Thursday to apply for positions with the rank of soldier in the provinces of Riyadh, Mecca, al-Qassim and Medina.

The roles do not appear to involve combat, but will instead give women the opportunity to work in security.

A list of 12 requirements says hopefuls must be Saudi citizens, aged between 25 and 35, and have a high-school diploma.

The women and their male guardians - usually a husband, father, brother or son - must also have a place of residence in the same province as the job's location.
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🇺🇸 **House Democrats introduce bill prohibiting sale of semi-automatic weapons**
<https://archive.fo/YKo2J>

House Democrats have introduced a bill banning semi-automatic firearms in the wake of the Feb. 14 shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla.

Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., announced Monday he is introducing the Assault Weapons Ban of 2018. More than 150 Democrats have signed on in support of the legislation, Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., said.

"Today I joined @RepCicilline and 150+ of my colleagues to introduce the assault weapons ban. It’s time for Congress to listen to the will of a majority of Americans and pass sensible legislation to get these weapons of war off our streets. #NeverAgain #MSDStrong," Deutch tweeted.

The bill prohibits the “sale, transfer, production, and importation” of semi-automatic rifles and pistols that can hold a detachable magazine, as well as semi-automatic rifles with a magazine that can hold more than 10 rounds. Additionally, the legislation bans the sale, transfer, production, and importation of semi-automatic shotguns with features such as a pistol grip or detachable stock, and ammunition feeding devices that can hold more than 10 rounds.

“Assault weapons were made for one purpose,” Cicilline said in a statement. “They are designed to kill as many people as possible in a short amount of time. They do not belong in our communities.”
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🇺🇸 **Police shoot hero who disarmed gunman in Amarillo church**
<http://archive.is/WYUcU>

Texas police shot a man after he disarmed a potential church shooter who had been holding more than 100 people hostage in at a congregation in Amarillo.

The incident took place during a morning service at the Faith City Mission, a Christian organisation which helps people in need in the community. Jones, who had received help from the Faith City Mission in the past, held about 100 congregants and church staff hostage.

He described how officers ordered him to throw the gun to the floor, but that he hesitated as he was worried that the loaded gun would go off if he did so. 'I didn't want anyone else getting hurt. Then pop, pop they shot me. I went down, then a puddle of blood. I thought I was a goner.'

Mr Garces, who credits the Faith City Mission with helping him turn his life around after a four-year-stint in prison, was hit in the neck, but was rushed to hospital and survived. He is now calling for police to receive more and improved training in use of deadly violence, telling ABC7 that the officer who shot him 'didn't know what he was doing'.
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🇺🇸 **Federal judge whom Trump called ‘Mexican’ clears way for border wall**
<https://archive.fo/PnYO1>

The federal judge once slammed by President Donald Trump as being a “Mexican” who was incapable of being impartial has sided with Trump in his bid to move ahead with construction of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel on Tuesday rejected arguments by the state of California and a coalition of environmental groups, who said the Trump administration had improperly ignored environmental laws in its push to build the wall.

Curiel said in his 101-page ruling that such decisions should be left to other branches of government, not the judiciary. He quoted U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts in saying political matters "are entrusted to our Nation’s elected leaders, who can be thrown out of office if the people disagree with them. It is not our job to protect the people from the consequences of their political choices.”

Curiel, who was nominated to the federal bench by President Barack Obama, made it clear his ruling centered on whether the administration had the authority to build a border wall, not on the wisdom of that decision. He described the "heated political debate" surrounding the project and added: "In its review of this case the Court cannot and does not consider whether underlying decisions to construct the border barriers are politically wise or prudent."
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🇸🇨 **‘Time for reconciliation over’: South Africa votes to confiscate white-owned land **
<http://archive.is/TaERN>

The South African parliament voted on Tuesday in favor of a motion seeking to change the constitution to allow white-owned land expropriation without compensation. The motion, which was brought by Julius Malema – the leader of the radical Marxist opposition party, the Economic Freedom Fighters – passed by a wide margin of 241 votes to 83 against.

Several parties – the Democratic Alliance, Freedom Front Plus, Cope and the African Christian Democratic Party – did not support the motion. The matter has been referred to the parliament’s Constitutional Review Committee, which must report back by August 30.

“The time for reconciliation is over. Now is the time for justice,” Malema told the parliament. “We must ensure that we restore the dignity of our people without compensating the criminals who stole our land.”
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🇺🇸 **Hope Hicks Will Resign as White House Communications Director**
<https://archive.fo/8mkwE>

Hope Hicks, one of President Donald Trump’s longest serving advisers and closest aides, will resign, the White House said a day after she testified to congressional investigators probing Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election.

Hicks was named White House communications director in September, but was on Trump’s staff from the beginning of his presidency. Prior to joining the Trump campaign, she had worked in public relations for the Trump Organization.

“I wish the president and his administration the very best as he continues to lead our country,” Hicks said in a statement released by the White House.

She won’t leave the White House immediately, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. The New York Times reported earlier that she was resigning.

She is the latest of several recent high-profile departures from Trump’s White House. Another communications aide, Josh Raffel, said Tuesday he would resign. A top technology aide, Reed Cordish, said earlier this month he would leave. Staff Secretary Rob Porter resigned earlier this month after reports that he had been accused of domestic violence by two ex-wives.
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🇺🇸 **Trump: 'Take the guns first, go through due process second'**
<https://archive.fo/wTOwY>

President Trump on Wednesday voiced support for confiscating guns from certain individuals deemed to be dangerous, even if it violates due process rights.

“I like taking the guns early, like in this crazy man’s case that just took place in Florida ... to go to court would have taken a long time,” Trump said at a meeting with lawmakers on school safety and gun violence.

“Take the guns first, go through due process second,” Trump said.

Trump was responding to comments from Vice President Pence that families and local law enforcement should have more tools to report potentially dangerous individuals with weapons.

“Allow due process so no one’s rights are trampled, but the ability to go to court, obtain an order and then collect not only the firearms but any weapons,” Pence said.

"Or, Mike, take the firearms first, and then go to court," Trump responded.
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🇺🇸 **Trump: Bill combining concealed carry and gun background checks bill will 'never pass'**
<https://archive.fo/H7xYA>

President Donald Trump on Wednesday cast doubt on the prospects for expanding concealed carry gun laws, telling a bipartisan meeting of lawmakers at the White House that there was no hope of passage if linked to a broader bill on background checks.

Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), the House majority whip, pushed for adding to the FIX National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) Act a provision that would make concealed carry permits valid across state lines, but the president said that “it’ll never pass.”

“If you look at the conceal carry population, these are people by and large who are helping us stop crime, so I hope that that’s not immediately dismissed because there is a lot of talk to just putting that on the side,” he said on Wednesday. Scalise was critically wounded in a shooting during a practice for the congressional baseball game last summer.

Though Trump didn’t completely rule out Scalise’s proposal, he suggested it be passed as a separate bill.

“I think that maybe that bill will someday pass but it should pass as separate,” the president said. “If you’re gonna put conceal carry between states in this bill, we’re talking about a whole new ball game and I’m with you, but let it be a separate bill. If you add conceal carry to this, you’ll never get it passed.”
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<a:thinkasd:412976929629536286> **Hate body odour? You're more likely to have rightwing views**
<https://archive.fo/GtqPb>

People who have a greater tendency to turn their nose up at the whiff of urine, sweat and other body odours are more likely to have rightwing authoritarian attitudes, research suggests.

The study also found having a greater disgust for body odours was linked, albeit to a small degree, with support for Donald Trump when he was a presidential candidate.

The team say the findings support the idea that a feeling of disgust might partly underpin social discrimination against others, with the link rooted in a primitive urge to avoid catching diseases from unfamiliar people or environments.

But, he stressed, feelings of disgust are not immutable. “Even though disgust is a very primitive emotion that is definitely rooted in our biological survival, it can still be altered,” he said.

Previous studies have linked levels of disgust to political orientation, with some research suggesting those who identify as conservative have greater aversion to revolting images.
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🇺🇸 **Walmart raises minimum age for firearm purchases to 21**
<https://archive.fo/k67fh>

Walmart will only sell guns and ammunition to people over the age of 21 from now on.
The company said in a statement Wednesday that it decided to review its firearm sales policy "in light of recent events."

"Going forward, we are raising the age restriction for purchase of firearms and ammunition to 21 years of age. We will update our processes as quickly as possible to implement this change," a statement said.

"We are also removing items from our website resembling assault-style rifles, including nonlethal airsoft guns and toys," Walmart (WMT) said. "Our heritage as a company has always been in serving sportsmen and hunters, and we will continue to do so in a responsible way."
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<:trump:284711336934375425> **Trump refers to Sessions as 'Mr. Magoo': report**
<https://archive.fo/WzDeX>

President Trump refers to Attorney General Jeff Sessions as “Mr. Magoo,” The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

Trump has been comparing his top law enforcement official to the bumbling cartoon character, an elderly man who lands in comic situations largely due to his severe near-sightedness.

The president has also been complaining to associates that he generally has hired the best lawyers for himself, but that as president he’s forced to utilize Sessions, who isn’t defending Trump to the best of his ability, according to The Post.

Special counsel Robert Mueller is reportedly investigating whether Trump tried to oust Sessions from his administration last summer.

Trump has repeatedly attacked the attorney general, largely over Sessions’ decision to recuse himself from the investigation into Russian election interference.
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🇺🇸 **Planned Parenthood to invest $20 million in elections**
<https://archive.fo/CZktF>

Planned Parenthood is launching a $20 million fund that will go toward candidates who support abortion and other reproductive rights.

The program, called "March. Vote. Win," will focus on gubernatorial, U.S. Senate, U.S. House, attorneys general, and state legislature elections. The focus will be on Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

The $20 million, which is an initial investment, will fund grassroots programs as well as ad and mail programs to inform the public about where different candidates stand on issues such as abortion and birth control.

States have a range of restrictions on abortions, from banning abortion after 20 weeks into a pregnancy to limiting which healthcare professionals can administer an abortion pill.
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🇺🇸 **McConnell: Senate to skip gun debate for bank bill**
<http://archive.is/SDYtB>
 
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Thursday the Senate will turn to a banking bill next week, dashing hopes of many senators in both parties that the Senate would be able to pass gun legislation quickly in the wake of the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida.

The decision reflects the reality that negotiators have not settled on legislation that can pass the GOP-led House and Senate and be signed by President Donald Trump.

Trump scrambled the debate at an unusual White House meeting with bipartisan lawmakers Wednesday when he embraced Democratic proposals and rejected Republican ideas.

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<:happytrump:396612999038763009> **The number of Delta Air Lines passengers who bought tickets with NRA discount: 13**
<https://archive.fo/bv4lQ>

40 million tax break for Delta Air Lines? Only 13.

The Georgia legislature removed a jet-fuel tax break from a larger tax package Thursday. Lawmakers were upset that Delta, which is headquartered in Atlanta, dropped the National Rifle Association from a discount-fare program in an effort to appear neutral on gun policy.

After the firestorm, Delta will review all its marketing programs to avoid those that might become political, CEO Ed Bastian announced Friday.

But the airline said only 13 passengers ever bought tickets with an NRA discount. That translates into each discount costing the airline about $3 million in tax breaks.

Delta had agreed Saturday to drop its marketing program with the National Rifle Association. The airline said it was an effort to remain neutral in the debate over gun policies, after the shooting deaths of 17 people on Feb. 14 at a Florida high school.

The airline doesn't disclose how many discount programs it has, airline spokesman Trebor Banstetter said. Delta had sold just 13 tickets under the discount program with the NRA, he said.
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🇺🇸 **Fla. senate revokes 2-year ban on AR-15s minutes after it passes**
<https://archive.fo/XgGU0>

The Florida state senate briefly approved a two-year freeze on the sale of AR-15 assault rifles on Saturday — before overturning the measure 15 minutes after the initial vote.

The semi-automatic rifle was the type used in the Parkland, Fla., high school massacre on Feb. 14.

The fleeting prohibition came on an unrecorded voice vote, in which lawmakers shouted yea or nay, according to the Tampa Bay Times. It was swiftly reconsidered and overturned by a more formal roll call vote of 21-17.
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<:trump:284711336934375425> **Trump on China's Xi consolidating power: 'Maybe we'll give that a shot some day'**
<https://archive.fo/tBU52>

President Donald Trump bemoaned a decision not to investigate Hillary Clinton after the 2016 presidential election, decrying a "rigged system" that still doesn't have the "right people" in place to fix it, during a freewheeling speech to Republican donors in Florida on Saturday.

In the closed-door remarks, a recording of which was obtained by CNN, Trump also praised China's President Xi Jinping for recently consolidating power and extending his potential tenure, musing he wouldn't mind making such a maneuver himself.

"He's now president for life. President for life. No, he's great," Trump said. "And look, he was able to do that. I think it's great. Maybe we'll have to give that a shot some day."

The remarks, delivered inside the ballroom at his Mar-a-Lago estate during a lunch and fundraiser, were upbeat, lengthy, and peppered with jokes and laughter. But Trump's words reflected his deeply felt resentment that his actions during the 2016 campaign remain under scrutiny while those of his former rival, Hillary Clinton, do not.

"I'm telling you, it's a rigged system folks," Trump said. "I've been saying that for a long time. It's a rigged system. And we don't have the right people in there yet. We have a lot of great people, but certain things, we don't have the right people."
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🇮🇷 **Iranian Supreme Leader Demands Americans Disarm**
<https://archive.fo/S1Zhg>

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is calling on America to "make guns illegal" in light of deadly shootings that have taken place across the United States, according to comments made by the Iranian leader over the week.

Khamenei, who has instructed his government to spend billions of dollars on military hardware and ballistic missiles, lashed out at the United States over the weekend, calling on America to ban all guns in light of a series of domestic shootings.

"No one dares apply the clear solution to the promotion of guns and homicide in America. What's the solution? It's to make guns illegal," Khamenei wrote on Twitter. In a sweeping thread that touched on gun violence and the homicide rate in America, Khamenei criticized the U.S. "gun lobby" and called on America to ban weapons.

"In U.S., 100s are killed every week by homicide for no crime,—no reason—not at the hands of police, as US police brutality is a separate issue," the Iranian leader wrote. "The accessibility of guns leads to homicide; it's created problems for a country like U.S., everyone admits, fears, & is concerned about it."
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