Trump Tweets Image of Proposed Border Wall

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By Fox News, In the midst of a contentious fight with Democrats over a possible partial government shutdown and funding for border security, President Trump on Friday tweeted an image of the proposed wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

“A design of our Steel Slat Barrier which is totally effective while at the same time beautiful!” the president wrote in a caption for an image of what appeared to be a tall steel picket-designed fence.

The tweet from Trump came amid a debate over government funding. The Senate has been scrambling to take up a spending package with billions in funding for a border wall, as Trump made clear there is a “good chance” of a partial government shutdown at midnight. (Read more from “Trump Tweets Image of Proposed Border Wall” HERE)

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GOP Senators Float DACA Fix to Rescue Stalled House Border-Wall Bill

By The Hill. Some Senate Republicans are proposing a reauthorization of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in a last-ditch attempt to rescue funding for President Trump’s border wall.

As a motion to proceed to the House-passed measure providing $5.7 billion for the border wall and security stalled on the Senate floor, some Republicans proposed at a private lunch meeting to add protections for certain immigrants in order to pick up Democratic support.

“I don’t see any reason to proceed to a bill that can’t pass,” said Sen. Jeff Flake (Ariz.), a Republican who voted against a motion to proceed to the House bill, which keeps 25 percent of the government funded until Feb. 8.

Flake said he wants to “find a bill that can pass.”

“I think one that could — if we’re going to reopen this thing to add more money for a wall or steel slats, or whatever you want to call it, then throw DACA in, too,” Flake said, adding that several colleagues support his position. (Read more from “GOP Senators Float DACA Fix to Rescue Stalled House Border-Wall Bill” HERE)

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‘Pro-Life’ John Kasich Vetoes Bill Banning Abortions on Babies With Heartbeats

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Today, outgoing Ohio Gov. John Kasich vetoed for the second time a bill that would have prevented babies with beating hearts from being aborted. . .

“As governor, I have worked hard to strengthen Ohio’s protections for the sanctity of human life, and I have a deep respect for my fellow members of the pro-life community and their ongoing efforts in defense of unborn life,” said Kasich. “However, the central provision of Sub. H.B. 258, that an abortion cannot be performed if a heartbeat has been detected in the unborn child, is contrary to the Supreme Court of the United States’ current rulings on abortion.” . . .

On the same day he vetoed the bill, which would have made Ohio the safest state in the country for pre-born children, Kasich signed a ban on dismemberment abortions. The move is reminiscent of his veto of the 2016 heartbeat bill, which he did the same time he signed a 20-week abortion ban into law. . .

“History will judge leaders by what they did or did not do in difficult, inconvenient, yet life saving moments,” said Pastor Rodney Lord of Marietta. Lord leads a coalition of pastors and leaders in southeast Ohio and has a daily radio spot with an audience of 150,000.

“Speaker Smith, Senate President Obhof, and our state legislators have an opportunity to do something significant, meaningful, and life-saving,” said Lori Viars of Warren County Right To Life. (Read more from “‘Pro-Life’ John Kasich Vetoes Bill Banning Abortions on Babies With Heartbeats” HERE)

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China Forcibly Aborts Third Child; Forced Abortion Continues Under Its Two-Child Policy

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By Life Site News. The Chinese Government, operating under the Two-Child Policy, has forcibly aborted a woman’s third child, according to NPR and Radio Free Europe reports.

The woman, an ethnic Kazakh, was a widow with two children, living in the Xinjiang region. She married a Kazakh citizen, living in Kazakhstan, across the border. She was told that, in order to cancel her Chinese citizenship to become a citizen of Kazakhstan, she would need to return to China.

On this return trip, Chinese cadres invited her to the hospital for a “health check-up.” They discovered that she was pregnant and demanded an abortion, because this third pregnancy violated the Two-Child policy – even though she told them, “my husband is a Kazakh citizen and I am carrying a Kazakh citizen.” . . .

The fact that forced abortion continues under China’s Two-Child Policy is further documented in the Population Control section of the 2018 Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) Report, which states that regulations “include provisions that require couples to be married to have children and limit them to bearing two children…Officials reportedly continued to enforce compliance with family planning policies using methods including heavy fines, job termination, detention, and abortion.” (Read more from “China Forcibly Aborts Third Child; Forced Abortion Continues Under Its Two-Child Policy” HERE)

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‘They Ordered Me to Get an Abortion’: A Chinese Woman’s Ordeal in Xinjiang

By NPR. When the 37-year-old Chinese woman stepped over China’s border into Kazakhstan last July, she felt free. . .

Then she met the man who changed her life. Like her, he was an ethnic Kazakh. Unlike her, he was a citizen of Kazakhstan, from across the border. . .

The couple’s life together as husband and wife was established. The only thing left for the woman to do was to complete the paperwork to cancel Chinese citizenship for her and her children, so that they could become Kazakh citizens. For this, she had to return to her hometown in China. . .

“I thought they wanted to interrogate me again,” she says. “But they took me to the hospital instead. They administered another health check, and then they told me I was pregnant.” . . .

She was six weeks along. Before she could share the news with her husband, local authorities returned to her house the next day. “They ordered me to get an abortion,” she says. . .

“The police and local officials came and took me and my brother to a government building,” the woman says. “They made my brother sign a document saying that if I don’t get an abortion, he would suffer the consequences. I knew this meant he’d be detained in a camp. I’d do anything to protect my brother, so I agreed to the abortion.” (Read more from “‘They Ordered Me to Get an Abortion’: A Chinese Woman’s Ordeal in Xinjiang” HERE)

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Video Captures Retired Marine Taking Robber’s Gun, Beating Him With It

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By The Daily Caller. A would-be armed robber picked on the wrong bartender early Tuesday morning when he tried to rob an Altoona, Pennsylvania, bar only to be disarmed and beaten with his own gun.

The yet-unidentified black male suspect walked into Ajay’s Bar around 1 a.m. Tuesday morning, armed and demanding money from the bartender, WTAJ reported.

Surveillance video posted by Liveleak shows the bartender going to get the money, followed by the suspect. But as he was about to hand over the cash, the bartender — who happened to be a “highly trained” former Marine Corps combat veteran — promptly disarmed the would-be robber.

A shot was fired toward the ceiling before the bartender hit the suspect in the head with his own weapon, which police say had actually been reported stolen months earlier.

(Read more from “Video Captures Retired Marine Taking Robber’s Gun, Beating Him With It” HERE)

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Bar Robber Stopped by Retired Marine Veteran

By WTAJ. Police are looking for a suspect who attempted to rob a local bar, but was stopped by their bartender.

Altoona police say a suspect came to Ajays Bar about 1 a.m. this morning with a gun and demanded money. That’s when the bartender, a retired marine Corp combat veteran, stepped in.

Police say the suspect pointed the gun at the bartender demanding cash from the register. The bartender then went to get the money, and as he was handing it to the suspect, the bartender disarmed them. That’s when a single shot was fired towards the ceiling of the bar. The bartender then proceeded to hit the suspect in the back of the head with the gun and punch them repeatedly in the face.

“I am very familiar with him. He is highly trained. The suspect definitely picked the wrong guy to mess with,” said Sgt. Matt Plummer, Altoona Police Department. (Read more from “Bar Robber Stopped by Retired Marine Veteran” HERE)

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Santa Claus Visits School and Dies

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By The Daily Caller. . .A 67-year-old Russian man named Valery Titenko suffered a heart attack while performing his role as Father Christmas in front of kindergarteners. According to reports, Titenko was feeling chest pains earlier in the day and had recently been in poor health. However, the professional actor did not want to let the kids down by canceling.

The group of kids apparently thought that Titenko’s fatal collapse was part of his skit and began giggling. A woman dressed as a clown who was also part of the skit noticed Titenko’s fall and rushed to help him. (Read more from “Santa Claus Visits School and Dies” HERE)

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Santa Claus Collapses and Dies in Front of Children at School Christmas Party

By Mirror UK. A Santa Claus collapsed and died in front of children at a school Christmas party.

The Russian Santa was energetically performing and running around with the youngsters before footage captured him coming to a stop and falling backwards. . .

As kindergarten staff confronted the young students, he was rushed to hospital in Kemerovo but died on the way, said a medical source. . .

It was revealed today that he had not been feeling well, and had complained of chest pains, but did not want to let the children down so came to perform for them. . .

He had been given a day off from the theatre but insisted on attending the children’s festive party in Siberia. (Read more from “Santa Claus Collapses and Dies in Front of Children at School Christmas Party” HERE)

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Democrats Are at Each Other’s Throats Over an Issue That Barely Got Mentioned in the 2018 Elections

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The progressive bloc of House Democrats supporting a “Green New Deal” have a warning for their more moderate colleagues: Don’t get in the way of creating a “strong” climate committee. . .

New Jersey Rep. Frank Pallone and other top Democrats oppose creating a House climate change committee, preferring to shepherd any related legislation through the existing committee structure. Global warming wasn’t a top issue in the 2018 elections, but liberal Democrats are pushing for the House to put a major emphasis on the issue in 2019.

Khanna and Democrats supporting the so-called “Green New Deal” want a House climate committee that’s just as strong as others, meaning subpoena power and the authority to introduce bills.

The “Green New Deal” being pushed by incoming New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is backed by more than 40 Democrats. The plan calls for a House committee to draft “Green New Deal” legislation to move the U.S. to 100 percent green energy.

Pallone will chair the Committee on Energy and Commerce in 2019. He and other incoming committee chairs plan to hold hearings and introduce their own bills on global warming when they take the gavel next year. These incoming chairs don’t see the reason to create a whole new committee on the matter.

(Read more from “Democrats Are at Each Other’s Throats Over an Issue That Barely Got Mentioned in the 2018 Elections” HERE)

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Christian Baker Who Refused to Bake a Gay Wedding Cake Is Back in Court Over a ‘Transition Day’ Cake

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By The Blaze. Colorado baker Jack Phillips, who gained global attention for refusing to bake a cake for a gay couple’s wedding, was back in court earlier this week, The Associated Press reported.

The Christian baker and his lawyers are fighting back against allegations that he discriminated against transgender lawyer Autumn Scardina when he denied her request for a “transition day” cake.

“At this point, he’s just a guy who is trying to get back to life. The problem is the state of Colorado won’t let him,” Jim Campbell, an attorney for the Alliance Defending Freedom, told the AP after Tuesday’s hearing. Alliance Defending Freedom is the Christian nonprofit law firm representing Phillips. . .

“All people — no matter who they are, what they believe, or what protected characteristics they have — are welcome in Phillips’ shop and may purchase anything available for sale,” according to the lawsuit. “But as a devout man of faith, Phillips cannot create custom cakes that express messages or celebrate events in conflict with his religious beliefs.”

The lawsuit points out that the baker has received calls asking for cakes to celebrate “Satan, featuring satanic symbols, depicting sexually explicit materials, and promoting marijuana use. Phillips believes that some of those requests came from the same Colorado lawyer.” (Read more from “Christian Baker Who Refused to Bake a Gay Wedding Cake Is Back in Court Over a ‘Transition Day’ Cake” HERE)

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Colorado Baker Back in Court Over Second Bias Allegation

By AP. Attorneys for a Colorado baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple on religious grounds — a stand partially upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court — argued in federal court Tuesday that the state is punishing him again over his refusal to bake a cake celebrating a gender transition. . .

The Colorado Civil Rights Commission said Phillips discriminated against Denver attorney Autumn Scardina because she’s transgender. Phillips’ shop refused to make a cake last year that was blue on the outside and pink on the inside after Scardina revealed she wanted it to celebrate her transition from male to female.

She asked for the cake on the same day the U.S. Supreme Court announced it would consider Phillips’ appeal of the previous commission ruling against him. In that 2012 case, he refused to make a wedding cake for same-sex couple Charlie Craig and Dave Mullins. (Read more from “Colorado Baker Back in Court Over Second Bias Allegation” HERE)

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Trump Orders Major Military Withdrawal From Afghanistan

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By The Washington Post. President Trump has directed the Pentagon to come up with a plan to withdraw nearly half of the more than 14,000 troops deployed to Afghanistan, U.S. officials said Thursday, a move that many of Trump’s senior advisers and military officials have warned will plunge the country further into chaos.

The order comes on the heels of Trump’s announcement that he will be withdrawing all 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria, a surprise decision that the president made against the counsel of his top advisers and without warning any of the allies who have fought alongside American forces in the battle there against the Islamic State.

The Afghanistan directive also comes as the United States attempts to negotiate a peace deal with the Taliban, potentially undercutting leverage that American diplomats have. It marks a significant departure from Trump’s August 2017 decision to slightly increase the number of U.S. troops there and keep them in place with conditions on the ground dictating withdrawal. (Read more from “Trump Orders Major Military Withdrawal From Afghanistan” HERE)

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Trump Has Ordered More Than 7,000 US Troops to Leave Afghanistan, Cutting Troops Levels in Half

By Business Insider. President Donald Trump has ordered the immediate withdrawal of more than 7,000 US troops from Afghanistan, according to multiple reports, citing defense officials.

In what appears to be the first major step toward ending America’s involvement in a war fought for nearly two decades, the president has decided to cut the US military presence in Afghanistan in half, The Wall Street Journal reported. There are currently roughly 14,000 American service members in the war-torn country.

News of the withdrawal comes just one day after Trump declared victory over ISIS and announced the withdrawal of US troops from Syria, a move that reportedly drove the president’s secretary of defense to resign from his position Thursday.

“I think it shows how serious the president is about wanting to come out of conflicts,” one senior U.S. official told TheWSJ. “I think he wants to see viable options about how to bring conflicts to a close.”

Another official told The New York Times that the Afghan forces, which have suffered unbelievably high casualties, need to learn to stand on their own, something senior military leaders have suggested they may not yet be ready to do. (Read more from “Trump Has Ordered More Than 7,000 US Troops to Leave Afghanistan, Cutting Troops Levels in Half” HERE)

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Sacha Baron Cohen: We Stumbled Upon Possible Pedophile Ring During ‘Who Is America’ Taping, Notified FBI

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Showtime host Sacha Baron Cohen revealed Wednesday that he stumbled upon what he thought could be a possible pedophile ring while taping his controversial summer series “Who is America?”

During a classic Baron Cohen-style fake interview, the comedian plays a character named Gio who eventually asks a Las Vegas concierge to get him an underaged boy as a “date.” After this concierge offered to put “Gio” in touch with a person who apparently procures such boys, Baron Cohen turned the troubling footage over to the FBI.

“We were shooting some of this at the time of Harvey Weinstein. We wanted to investigate how does someone like Harvey Weinstein gets away with doing what … get away with criminality, essentially. And the network that surrounds him. We decided that Gio would interview a concierge in Las Vegas,” Baron Cohen explained to Deadline.

“During the interview, I revealed that basically Gio has molested an eight-year-old boy,” he continued. “Now, mind you, this is extreme comedy and we thought that the guy would leave the room. Instead, this concierge stays in the room and I go, listen, you’ve got to help me get rid of the problem. And this guy starts advising Gio how to get rid of this issue. We even at one point talk about murdering the boy, and the concierge is just saying, ‘well, listen, I’m really sorry. In this country, we can’t just drown the boy. This is America we don’t do that.’ And then, in the end, he puts me in touch with a lawyer who can silence the boy.” . . .

The footage was immediately handed over to the FBI by Baron Cohen’s team “because we thought, perhaps there’s a pedophile ring in Las Vegas that’s operating for these very wealthy men,” he told Deadline. “And this concierge had said that he’d worked for politicians and various billionaires.” (Read more from “Sacha Baron Cohen: We Stumbled Upon Possible Pedophile Ring During ‘Who Is America’ Taping, Notified FBI” HERE)

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Catholic Church in Illinois May Have Hidden Hundreds of Complaints of Sexual Misconduct

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The Catholic Church in Illinois, which includes the Chicago Archdiocese, may have hidden hundreds of allegations of sexual misconduct made against priests and other members of the clergy, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said in a press conference late Wednesday. . .

“Madigan opened an investigation into the issue in Illinois in August after a grand jury report revealed widespread clergy abuse in Pennsylvania,” the news site continued. “The attorney general has been reviewing thousands of pages of internal documents released from each of Illinois’ six diocese as part of its investigation.”

Each diocese in Illinois has released a list of “credibly” accused members of the clergy, Madigan said, but those lists only include around 185 names, total, and don’t reference other priests who were accused of misconduct but were not “adequately investigated.” Each individual diocese, including Chicago, has its own definition of an “adequate investigation,” and there are no uniform rules for handling claims of sexual misconduct or reporting allegations to law enforcement. . .

The news comes on the heels of a separate report issued by the Midwest Province of Jesuits that claims at least 65 Jesuit brothers and priests across 12 states have been “credibly accused” of sexual misconduct, including 18 priests who operated within the Chicago archdiocese. “Half a dozen” of those priests were teachers at a Chicago-area prep school.

According to the report, one of those priests, Fr. Donald McGuire, was moved around several times over the course of four decades before being finally defrocked in 2007 — only after being convicted of bringing a minor across state lines for the purpose of having sexual contact. (Read more from “Catholic Church in Illinois May Have Hidden Hundreds of Complaints of Sexual Misconduct” HERE)

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