January 2, 2017

Perdue Seen As Trump's Pick for Agriculture

Source: Political Wire



January 2, 2017By Taegan Goddard

“Former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue is the leading candidate to be tapped as Donald Trump’s secretary of agriculture. Perdue has won statewide office twice, theoretically making his confirmation easier,” Playbook reports.

“Agriculture and veterans affairs are the two cabinet posts that Trump has not yet filled. Of course, as we’ve now learned, Trump sometimes changes his mind. Nothing is official until it’s announced.”

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Read more: https://politicalwire.com/2017/01/02/perdue-seen-trumps-pick-agriculture/

January 2, 2017

How Long Will GOP Congress Stay Unified?

January 2, 2017By Taegan Goddard

Politico: “Since Republicans will control all the levers of power in Washington for the first time in almost a decade, they’ll hit the ground running on some issues: Both chambers, for example, hope to pass a budget blueprint that makes a critical down payment on repealing Obamacare even before Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.”

“But it won’t take long for the inherent divide between Senate and House Republicans to rear its head. The House wants to pass a number of bills to scrap Obama-era rules and curb executive branch regulatory powers. But those will be a much heavier lift in the upper chamber.”

Wall Street Journal: Republicans take control facing internal tensions

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https://politicalwire.com/2017/01/02/long-will-gop-congress-stay-unified/

January 2, 2017

Obama to deliver farewell address in Chicago on January 10

Source: Reuters

By Jeff Mason | HONOLULU

U.S. President Barack Obama will deliver a farewell address on Jan. 10 to reflect on his time in office and say thank you to his supporters, he said in an email statement released on Monday.

Obama, noting that the first president of the United States, George Washington, had penned a farewell address in 1796, said he would deliver his speech in his hometown of Chicago.

"I'm thinking about (the remarks) as a chance to say thank you for this amazing journey, to celebrate the ways you've changed this country for the better these past eight years, and to offer some thoughts on where we all go from here," he said.

Republican Donald Trump will be sworn in to office on Jan. 20. During his campaign for the White House, Trump pledged to undo many of Obama's signature policy measures, including his healthcare law.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-obama-idUSKBN14M0I3

January 2, 2017

Judge closes hearing on South Carolina church gunman's competency

Source: Reuters



Mon Jan 2, 2017 | 10:25am EST

By Harriet McLeod | CHARLESTON, S.C.

A judge on Monday barred the public and press from a hearing to determine if Dylann Roof is mentally fit to serve as his own lawyer in the penalty phase of his trial, when the jury will decide whether to give him the death penalty for the 2015 massacre at a South Carolina church.Roof, 22, an avowed white supremacist, shot dead nine people at the historically black Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston.

The same jury found Roof guilty last month of 33 counts of federal hate crimes resulting in death, obstruction of religion and firearms violations.

The jury will be seated again to determine whether to put Roof to death but first the judge must decide whether Roof can serve as his own attorney or whether he will be represented by court-appointed lawyers.

U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel, whose decision was expected on Monday, said he was keeping the proceedings closed in order to avoid sequestering the jury.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-south-carolina-shooting-roof-idUSKBN14M0HT

January 2, 2017

Israeli police to question Netanyahu over alleged gifts: media

Source: Reuters


Mon Jan 2, 2017 | 12:11pm EST

By Luke Baker | JERUSALEM

Police are expected to question Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his official residence in Jerusalem on Monday on suspicion of receiving gifts from businessmen in breach of his role as a public servant, Israeli media reported.

The move was authorized by Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit, who decided after a preliminary probe that there was sufficient evidence for a criminal investigation, Haaretz newspaper reported. The questioning will take place on Monday evening, Israel Radio said.

The police and Justice Ministry would not confirm when the interview would take place or the nature of the investigation, details of which have appeared in the media in recent days. Netanyahu's office has denied any wrongdoing.

"All the supposed affairs will turn out to be fiction," his family spokesman said on Monday. "We are repeating: there will be nothing, because there is nothing."



Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-netanyahu-idUSKBN14M0KJ?il=0

January 2, 2017

Out of power, state Dems frustrated with national committee

Source: Associated Press


MONDAY, JAN 2, 2017 11:00 AM EST

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Democrats around the country are demanding change from a national committee they say has focused too heavily on the White House at the expense of governorships, legislatures and state party operations.

“It’s got to be helping us organize in our states to be able to build that power at the state legislative level,” Michigan Democratic Party Chair Brandon Dillon said of the Democratic National Committee, currently searching for a new leader. “We’ve lost governorships and state legislatures at a rate that is pretty astounding.”

DNC members gather in February to elect a new chairman, with five candidates running so far, each pledging to rebuild from the ground up. Money from the DNC to state parties has been inconsistent during President Barack Obama’s tenure and, in most states, less than it was under former chairman Howard Dean. Party chairs say that’s resulted in fewer staff members and training programs, a change felt particularly in Republican-leaning states. State leaders also say Obama’s grassroots group Organizing for Action has functioned more like competition than a partner.

Beginning in 2017, Republicans will hold 33 governorships and fully control legislatures in 25 states, as well as the Congress and presidency. During Obama’s two terms in office, the party lost more than 1,000 seats at the state and national level.

Read more: http://www.salon.com/2017/01/02/out-of-power-state-dems-frustrated-with-national-committee/

January 2, 2017

Finland to pay unemployed basic income of $587 per month

Source: Associated Press



MONDAY, JAN 2, 2017 12:00 PM EST

HELSINKI (AP) — Finland has become the first country in Europe to pay its unemployed citizens a basic monthly income, amounting to 560 euros ($587), in a social experiment hoped to cut government red tape, reduce poverty and boost employment.

Olli Kangas from the Finnish government agency KELA said Monday that the two-year trial with the 2,000 randomly picked citizens who receive unemployment benefits kicked off Jan. 1.

Those 2,000 unemployed chosen will receive 560 euros every month, with no reporting requirements on how they spend it. The amount will be deducted from any benefits they already receive.

The unemployment rate of Finland, a nation of 5.5 million, stood at 8.1 percent in November with some 213,000 people without a job — unchanged from the previous year.

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Read more: http://www.salon.com/2017/01/02/finland-to-pay-unemployed-basic-income-of-587-per-month/

January 2, 2017

'New York Times' Reporter Shares Picture of Joe Scarborough at Trump's NYE Party

by Alex Griswold | 11:20 am, January 2nd, 2017

The feud between MSNBC Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough and other reporters flared up again Monday when a picture of Scarborough attending Donald Trump‘s New Year’s Eve party was posted to Twitter.

Scarborough took exception Sunday when incoming New York Times reporter Sopan Deb tweeted that he had “partied” with Trump. Scarborough insisted in a lengthy tweetstorm that he had only stopped by Trump’s party in street clothes so he could discuss a possible interview. The argument angered Scarborough enough that he even brought it up on the show Monday.

The debate took on an interesting turn Monday when Deb’s colleague Maggie Haberman tweeted pictures of the event sent to her by an attendee, including one of Scarborough and his co-host Mika Brzezinski.

Maggie Haberman
?@maggieNYT

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David Martosko
?@dmartosko 49m49 minutes ago

@maggieNYT Was this taken outside? Pity we can't see if Joe was indeed in street clothes
3 replies 3 retweets 13 likes
Reply 3 Retweet 3
Like 13

Maggie Haberman ?
@maggieNYT 46m46 minutes ago
@dmartosko attendee said poolside. Also said they weren't in formal wear and they left v early.
3 replies 1 retweet 6 likes

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http://www.mediaite.com/online/new-york-times-reporter-shares-picture-of-joe-scarborough-at-trumps-nye-party/

January 2, 2017

At least 60 inmates killed in prison riot in northern Brazil

Source: Associated Press



By Mauricio Savarese?|?AP January 2 at 10:35 AM

RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazilian state authorities say at least 60 inmates have died during a prison riot in the northern state of Amazonas.

State public security secretary Sergio Fontes says it’s the biggest prison massacre in the state’s history. And an unconfirmed number of inmates also escaped during the riot that extended from Sunday afternoon to Monday morning.

Two of the biggest crime gangs of Brazil began fighting last year over control of several prisons and authorities in Amazonas believe that’s the reason behind the first riot of 2017.

Fontes says the inmates made few demands to end the riot, which hints at a killing spree organized by members of a local gang against those of another that is based in Sao Paulo.

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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/dozens-of-inmates-killed-in-prison-riot-in-northern-brazil/2017/01/02/52e49eda-d0f5-11e6-9651-54a0154cf5b3_story.html?utm_term=.52002a57e2f4&wpisrc=al_alert-world

January 2, 2017

Scranton in our hearts: Joe Biden may be leaving us, but his memory will stay forever

Joe Biden was the vice president we needed from 2009 to 2017

MATTHEW ROZSA

Democrats are going to miss President Obama when he leaves office next month. But the leader of the country has often taken a back seat to his partner and second-in-command, Joe Biden, who won over Americans’ hearts over the past eight years.

Here are some of the best Joe Biden moments, which will make us all realize just why we’ll miss him.

10. The Obama-Biden bromance

When Barack Obama selected Joe Biden as his vice presidential running mate in 2008, he did so because the six-term senator would add some much-needed experience to Obama’s résumé. By the 2012 election, however, the Obama-Biden relationship had blossomed into a genuine friendship, one that has been dutifully chronicled in photographs plastered all over the Internet.



9. He’s a meme machine.

No discussion of Biden’s vice presidency is complete without the Obama-Biden memes that have spread like wildfire. But from the man parodied in The Onion to his love of ice cream, Biden has shown he’s meme-worthy.



more
http://www.salon.com/2017/01/02/scranton-in-our-hearts-joe-biden-may-be-leaving-us-but-his-memory-will-stay-forever/