Citing global economic weakness and financial market turmoil, the Federal Reserve agreed Thursday to keep its benchmark interest rate near zero despite the rapidly improving U.S. labor market.
But Fed policymakers’ forecast indicates they still expect to bump up the federal funds rate this year for the first time in nearly a decade, with meetings scheduled for October and December. Their projections, however, show they expect to raise it even more gradually over the long-term than they previously signaled . . .
The decision capped the most dramatic run-up to a Fed meeting in recent memory, with economists split on whether the central bank would raise its key rate, which has been near zero since the 2008 financial crisis and affects borrowing costs for consumers and businesses across the economy.
“An argument can be made for a rise in interest rates at this time,” Fed Chair Janet Yellen said at a news conference.But she added, “We want to take more time to evaluate the likely impact on the United States” from the overseas slowdown and market gyrations . . .
In a statement after a two-day meeting, the Fed said, “Recent global economic and financial developments may restrain economic activity somewhat and are likely to put further downward pressure on inflation in the near-term.” (Read more from “No Hike: Fed Keeps Benchmark Rate Near Zero” HERE)
Janet Rogers worked in a hospital that performed abortions. After 30 years, she has come forward with her story . . .
Rogers, [unknowingly] would have a life-changing experience working with one late-term abortion:
One evening a young girl was having a very difficult time. I was there with the doctor. I knew even though the doctor wrote this patient was 15 weeks, she was close to 30 weeks. This happened quite a bit, but no one ever said anything . . .
When she delivered this tiny baby (it looked full term to me) she was actually alive and crying. The doctor said to me, “Put it in the room and close the door. Do not enter til the morning shift.” I immediately took the crying baby and wrapped it up and laid it in a room. I then immediately started calling hospitals around (against the doctor’s wishes) to find someone that would take it. None around would take it cause they said it was not viable. I spent many hours trying. I just wanted to leave this place, but I knew I could not walk out and leave other patients without a charge nurse. Til this day I hear this crying infant in my head.
Despite her desperate efforts to get medical help for the child, the baby girl died. Rogers quit her job, no longer an abortion supporter. (Read more from “‘She Was Alive and Crying!’: Abortion Nurse Quits After Baby Born Alive, Left to Die” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00kathleenhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngkathleen2015-09-18 00:05:512015-09-18 00:05:51‘She Was Alive and Crying!’: Abortion Nurse Quits After Baby Born Alive, Left to Die
President Obama’s senior adviser Valerie Jarrett met with Black Lives Matter activists yesterday at the White House, the latest sign that the Obama administration is involved with the controversial protest group.
Jarrett met with three organizers for Campaign Zero. DeRay Mckesson, Brittany Packnett, and Johnetta Elzie as well as Phil Agnew of the Dream Defenders and Jamye Wooten, an organizer for Baltimore United for Change were there, according to a senior White House official who confirmed the visit to Buzzfeed . . .
“Great meeting, Brittany. Truly appreciate your leadership!!” Jarrett [said] on Twitter. Packnett has six recorded entries of visiting the complex long before the protests in Ferguson. She also was among the select group of Ferguson activists that met with Obama in December 2014. “I could tell he is taking this very personally,” Packnett explained after the 45 minute meeting with the president in the Oval Office. “He wants to see some clear, thoughtful action come from this.”
She also revealed that Obama sympathized with the movement, thanks to his background as a community organizer in Chicago.
“He offered us a lot of encouragement with his background as a community organizer, and told us that even incremental changes were progress,” she told reporters after the meeting. “He didn’t want us to get discouraged. He said, ‘Keep speaking truth to power.’” (Read more from “Valerie Jarrett Meets With Black Lives Matter Leaders at the White House” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-09-18 00:04:142015-09-18 00:04:14Valerie Jarrett Meets With Black Lives Matter Leaders at the White House
In the first two sentences of Jeb Bush’s book, “Immigration Wars,” the former Florida governor credits his wife Columba with shaping his views on immigration.
That might come as a surprise to some voters, after Bush demanded that Donald Trump apologize Wednesday night for making the same point.
Bush was asked during CNN’s Republican primary debate what he thought about Trump’s statement to CNN in July: “If my wife were from Mexico, I think I would have a soft spot for people from Mexico.”
Bush, whose wife was born and raised in Mexico, demanded an apology from the real estate mogul.
Despite Bush’s apparent irritation, in the opening lines of his 2013 book, “Immigration Wars,” he admitted that his wife Columba had in fact shaped his views on immigration. (Read more from “Trump Was Right — in Book, Jeb Credits His Wife for His Immigration Views” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-09-18 00:03:152015-09-18 00:03:15Trump Was Right — in Book, Jeb Credits His Wife for His Immigration Views
Ann Coulter is being blasted as a bigoted “idiot” after she shocked social media users late Wednesday with a tweet that many are calling anti-Semitic.
The rightwing pundit went on a Twitter tirade during the Republican presidential candidate debate, accusing participants of kowtowing to special interests when she wrote: “How many f—ing Jews do these people think there are in the United States?”
The tweet, which was shared nearly 2,000 times, prompted criticism from hundreds of people, including actor and comedian Seth Rogen . . .
The sharp-tongued commentator told her nearly 660,000 followers on Twitter that she was instead calling out the GOP “panderers” for repeatedly reiterating their support for Israel during the debate.
“I like the Jews, I like fetuses, I like Reagan. Didn’t need to hear applause lines about them all night,” she tweeted. “Cruz, Huckabee Rubio all mentioned ISRAEL in their response to: ‘What will AMERICA look like after you are president.'” (Read more from “Ann Coulter Sparks Outrage Over ‘Anti-Semitic’ Tweet, Rant About Jews” HERE)
An iridescent, multi-hued cloud phenomenon was recently spotted in Costa Rica skies, and residents were left awestruck and mystified.
The spectacle in the sky was reported this past Tuesday afternoon in numerous cities including, San Jose, Parrita, Pavas, Escazu and Hatillo. Coincidentally, the sighting occurred on the country’s Independence Day.
Many witnesses took to social media to post photos and video of the luminous cloud formation, with some even noting that it looked like an “end of times” scene.
Resident Joey Petit told ABC News today that he and his family were at the playground in Escazu for an Independence Day festival when his 11-year-old son, Ariel Joseph Petit first noticed the strange cloud.
“He immediately grabbed the camera and started taking video and photos,” he said. “We were just so amazed. We had no idea what it was and we’d never seen anything like it.” (Read more from “Mysterious Iridescent ‘End of Times’ Cloud Phenomenon Spotted in Costa Rica” HERE)
White House officials announced the start of a nationwide campaign on Thursday to encourage legal immigrants to become American citizens, which could add millions of voters to the electorate in time for the presidential election next year.
With about 8.8 million legal residents in the country who are eligible to become citizens, White House officials said they were trying to make it easier to complete the final steps to citizenship.
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, the federal agency in charge of naturalizations, will offer practice tests on cellphones for the civics exam that immigrants must pass, but which many find daunting, and will hold preparatory workshops in rural areas. Applicants will also be able to pay the fee, still a hefty $680, with a credit card.
The White House is working with regional immigrant groups to organize more than 70 citizenship workshops and about 200 naturalization ceremonies in the coming week alone. Four citizenship ambassadors have been named, including Fernando Valenzuela, the Mexican-born former pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers who recently became an American citizen after many years in the United States.
Also in the works are local initiatives to make immigrants feel more welcome, and a revision of Justice Department regulations that would make it easier for people who want to help immigrants naturalize to obtain credentials to provide basic volunteer legal assistance. (Read more from “White House Campaign Urges Legal Immigrants to Become (Voting) Citizens” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-09-18 00:00:132015-09-18 00:00:13White House Campaign Urges Legal Immigrants to Become (Voting) Citizens
By Fox News. Donald Trump once again found himself the lightning rod of the Republican presidential race Wednesday, as he tangled with a debate stage full of rivals trying to position themselves as the best alternative to the GOP front-runner.
The second Republican primary debate veered into serious policy territory – covering everything from Iran to Russia to Planned Parenthood to immigration. But, at times to the visible frustration of candidates trying to stick to those issues, few segments passed without a sparring session between Trump and one of his opponents. Almost every time, Trump hit back – and it was unclear whether any candidate would be able to dent his front-runner status.
The candidate perhaps most eager to knock the billionaire businessman down a peg was former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who lost his lead to Trump over the summer. Repeatedly, Bush challenged Trump on his record and past comments.
He told Trump to apologize to his wife for suggesting her being from Mexico makes Bush more sympathetic to Mexicans – Trump refused.
He accused Trump of once giving him money as he sought casino gambling, unsuccessfully, in Florida. (Read more from “Round 2: GOP Rivals Try to Ding Trump at Debate – Front-Runner Hits Back” HERE)
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Let the Sparks Fly: Carly Fiorina Takes on Donald Trump
By MJ Lee. For once, it wasn’t the Donald Trump show.
The billionaire businessman’s uneven performance at CNN’s prime-time Republican presidential debate Wednesday gave Carly Fiorina and Jeb Bush openings to seize the spotlight. And they did, putting Trump in the unusual position of being on defense throughout the evening.
Fiorina, who fought her way onto the main stage with a breakout debate performance last month, pointedly confronted the real estate mogul. She was stern when asked about Trump’s recent assessment of her appearance, when he told Rolling Stone: “Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that?”
Fiorina shot back during the debate: “I think women all over this country heard very clearly what Mr. Trump said.”
The exchange left Trump in an unusual position: uninterested in hitting back. (Read more from this story HERE)
A recent report from the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) shows that while most of the illegal immigration to this country over the past few decades has emanated from Latin America, it is also a growing problem from some Asian countries.
MPI estimates there are 285,000 Chinese nationals in this country illegally, up 307% from 1990. Even more striking, they estimate roughly 1.5 million people are here illegally from all Asian countries. In a public email from MPI on Tuesday, they noted that 900 Chinese aliens classified as “violent offenders” have been released onto our streets. And remember, Asia includes the Middle East. Take comfort in that thought.
The MPI study also shows a disturbing trend in illegal immigration from Africa, with the bulk of the estimated 342,000 illegal immigrants originating from Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia, and Kenya.
3 Important Lessons & Takeaways From This Report:
First, much of the influx in illegal immigrants from non-Latin American countries is clearly the result of people overstaying their visas. While it is of urgent importance to complete the border fence to stem the flow of illegal immigration from across the southern border, the next GOP president must immediately implement a visa tracking system. It was required by Congress 19 years ago, after all.
Also, the increase in illegals from those who overstay their visas lays waste to those who say fixing unqualified birthright citizenship is a distraction. Thumb-sucking pundits like Charles Krauthammer contend that if we just secured the border, the entire problem will become moot. Clearly, the numbers show that we must eliminate all of the magnets otherwise we will face a growing visa problem in the long-run. Allowing people to scam the system and come here for the purpose of giving birth to American-born children will make it hard to deport illegal immigrants even with a successful visa tracking system in place.
Finally, the growth in illegal immigrants from China is a clear rebuke to those who contend the catalyst for illegal immigration is the lack of sufficient legal immigration. As I’ve noted before, most of our illegal immigration has stemmed from the very countries where we’ve admitted more legal immigrants than ever before. That is certainly true for Mexico and Latin America. But China is now another good example. Almost 72,000 Chinese immigrants were granted green cards in 2013, the most of any country after Mexico. Legal immigration from China has topped 745,000 over the past decade, up from 17,627 in the ‘70s, 170,897 in the ‘80s and 342,058 in the ‘90s, according to DHS data.
The pattern of illegal immigration, when juxtaposed to the time period and country of origin of legal immigration, clearly shows that when we balkanize our country with record immigration over such a short period of time, it fosters a climate that creates a chain reaction for relatives and communities of those recent immigrants to come join them in America – however they may come here. Even the most generous immigration caps will never suffice for the desired immigration levels precisely because precipitous immigration concentrated from specific countries will always entice more of their families and friends to come join them. And unless all caps are completely abolished, they will come here illegally in order to jump the massive line.
The world works on incentives and the more we incentivize balkanization and discourage assimilation, while granting illegal immigrants a panoply of benefits – including the ultimate benefit of citizenship – the more people will continue to come here illegally. (For more from the author of “Illegal Immigration From Asia Rises With Legal Immigration” please click HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-09-16 23:58:442015-09-16 23:58:44Illegal Immigration From Asia Rises With Legal Immigration
This story has inspired its own hashtag: #IStandWithAhmed, because in this case, the teen is named Ahmed Mohamed, and that’s important, because I’m not so sure there would be a hashtag if his name was Alex Brownson, Jose Martinez, or John Chung. But hey, I’m just a racist.
Texas ninth-grader Ahmed Mohamed loves technology. His bedroom is filled with gadgets, soldering tools and equipment, because he loves to build new things, specifically technological things. Props, to this kid, not enough teens are building their own tech gear. But the story goes sideways when Ahmed builds a clock with a digital face, and its innards set inside a case. He brings it to school and everything blows up:
Ahmed’s clock was hardly his most elaborate creation. He said he threw it together in about 20 minutes before bedtime on Sunday: a circuit board and power supply wired to a digital display, all strapped inside a case with a tiger hologram on the front.
He showed it to his engineering teacher first thing Monday morning and didn’t get quite the reaction he’d hoped for.
“He was like, ‘That’s really nice,’” Ahmed said. “‘I would advise you not to show any other teachers.’”
He kept the clock inside his school bag in English class, but the teacher complained when the alarm beeped in the middle of a lesson. Ahmed brought his invention up to show her afterward.
“She was like, it looks like a bomb,” he said.
(Read more from Muslim Student Arrested For Bringing ‘Bomb’ To School. Turns Out ‘Bomb’ Was A Clock. HERE.)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-09-16 23:56:502015-09-16 23:56:50Muslim Student Arrested For Bringing ‘Bomb’ To School. Turns Out ‘Bomb’ Was A Clock. (+video)
Citing global economic weakness and financial market turmoil, the Federal Reserve agreed Thursday to keep its benchmark interest rate near zero despite the rapidly improving U.S. labor market.
