Township’s Mosque Appeasement Case Hits Huge Snag

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A deal that many viewed as a $3.5 million appeasement payment to a mosque project has hit a huge snag, with a lawsuit claiming that the meeting at which township officials approved the settlement of an earlier lawsuit was illegal.

The case earlier raised eyebrows when officials in Bernards Township in New Jersey abruptly held a meeting on short notice to pay off the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge.

The Muslim organization sued after town officials said it couldn’t build a huge mosque in a residential area because the infrastructure wouldn’t support it.

According to the Thomas More Law Center, the settlement “reads more like an instrument of surrender.”

The settlement required the township to hold a public meeting about the mosque project, but it forbade anyone from commenting on “Islam” or “Muslims.” (Read more from “Township’s Mosque Appeasement Case Hits Huge Snag” HERE)

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No ‘Russia Collusion’ in Mueller’s Case Against Flynn

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By Art Moore. It’s significant that Michael Flynn, President Trump’s former national security adviser, pleaded guilty Friday to the “process crime” of lying to FBI agents rather than to a conspiracy of collusion, contends a former assistant U.S. attorney.

Flynn’s plea in federal court centered on his conversations with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. in December 2016, during the presidential transition period. ABC News reported Flynn plans to testify that Trump himself directed him to reach out to Russians.

But Andrew McCarthy, a former assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, argues Special Counsel Robert Mueller would not permit Flynn to settle the case with a single count of lying to FBI agents if his conversations with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak had provided evidence that the Trump administration would ease or eliminate sanctions on Russia as a payback for Russia’s cyber-espionage against the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic Party.

He pointed out that the only major case Mueller previously has brought was against former Trump-campaign chairman Paul Manafort and an associate, which had nothing to do with the 2016 election.

“It is becoming increasingly palpable that, whatever ‘collusion’ means, there was no actionable, conspiratorial complicity by the Trump campaign in the Kremlin’s machinations,” McCarthy wrote in a column for National Review. (Read more from “No ‘Russia Collusion’ in Mueller’s Case Against Flynn” HERE)

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Dem Senator: Mueller Must Be Protected From ‘Another Saturday Night Massacre’

By Brandon Carter. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) warned Friday that Congress must protect special counsel Robert Mueller from being fired by President Trump, or risk “another Saturday Night Massacre.”

“We proposed legislation that would stop [Trump] from firing the special counsel, and it would shield the special counsel from any sort of political interference, which now seems increasingly threatening,” Blumenthal said on MSNBC’s “All In with Chris Hayes.”

“It is a shattering moment for the Trump presidency,” he continued. “Comparing it to Watergate – there’s a real danger of another Saturday Night Massacre.”

The “Saturday Night Massacre” occurred in 1973 when then-President Richard Nixon fired the special prosecutor in charge of the Watergate investigation, which also triggered the resignation of the attorney general and deputy attorney general.

Blumenthal said the Senate should “send a signal” and pass a bill to protect Mueller to ensure Trump is “discouraged or deterred from endangering our democracy.” (Read more from “Dem Senator: Mueller Must Be Protected From ‘Another Saturday Night Massacre'” HERE)

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John McCain Reveals If He’ll Vote for GOP Tax Bill

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Sen. John McCain announced Thursday he will cast his vote in support of the GOP’s tax plan, a major sign of progress for GOP leaders who hope to vote on the tax overhaul by the end of the week.

The Arizona Republican said in a statement that the bill, which he believes is “far from perfect,” earned his vote because it “would enhance American competitiveness, boost the economy, and provide long overdue tax relief for middle class families.”

“This bill would directly benefit all Americans, allowing them to keep a higher percentage of what they earn,” McCain said. “According to the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation, every income bracket would see tax relief under this bill. The child tax credit would be doubled to $2,000 per child and the tax code would be substantially simplified.”

McCain also signaled his support of lowering the corporate tax rate to 20 percent, a move he believes would make the American economy more attractive for investment and help stimulate job growth.

He said he took seriously the concerns raised that the bill would increase the national deficit by $1.5 trillion over 10 years, but added it was clear to him the positives of the GOP tax overhaul override the negatives.

“This is not a perfect bill, but it is one that would deliver much-needed reform to our tax code, grow the economy, and help Americans keep more of their hard-earned money,” McCain said.

McCain also praised a “return to regular order” in the Senate.

“I am pleased that this important bill was considered through the normal legislative processes, with several hearings and a thorough mark-up in the Senate Finance Committee during which more than 350 amendments were filed and 69 received a vote,” he said.

McCain cast the decisive vote against the GOP Obamacare repeal bill over the summer in large part because he disapproved of the Republican leadership’s decision to rush the bill to the floor without going through the traditional Senate committee process.

With 52 members in the Senate, Republicans can only afford to lose two votes if they hope to pass their tax overhaul.

However, many commentators believe McCain’s support will pave the way for the bill to be passed.

Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin was initially opposed to the tax plan, but said Wednesday he would vote yes after the small business deduction was increased from 17.4 percent to 20 percent.

Republican Sen. Steve Daines of Montana also announced Wednesday he changed his “no” vote to a “yes” after seeing “good progress for Main Street businesses.”

GOP Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee, Jeff Flake of Arizona and Susan Collins of Maine have yet to announce their support of the bill. (For more from the author of “John McCain Reveals If He’ll Vote for GOP Tax Bill” please click HERE)

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Pelosi Finally Calls on Conyers to Resign

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It took nine days since the accusations were first leveled, but Democratic minority leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., finally thinks that accused serial sexual harasser Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., should resign.

Pelosi has reversed her position on Conyers. Just four days ago on Sunday, Pelosi called Conyers an “icon.”

Now, what about Al Franken and his five accusers? (For more from the author of “Pelosi Finally Calls on Conyers to Resign” please click HERE)

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Lawyer for Illegal Alien Who Got off Murder Charge Has a Shocking Message for Trump

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A verdict was reached in the murder trial of Kate Steinle Thursday night.

Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, a five-time deported illegal immigrant and convicted felon, was found not guilty of murder after shooting and killing the young San Francisco resident in 2015 . . .

Moments after the verdict, defense attorney Matt Gonzalez addressed reporters outside the courtroom. He addressed potential critics of the “not guilty” decision who might “criticize” the jury. Gonzalez specifically mentioned the president, vice president and attorney general. The attorney sent a blunt message to the Trump administration: “Let me remind them that they themselves are under investigation… and may avail themselves to the presumption of innocence.”

(Read more from “Lawyer for Illegal Alien Who Got off Murder Charge Has a Shocking Message for Trump” HERE)

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Repeal of Obama-Era ‘Net Neutrality’ Means ‘Free, Open Internet’

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On Dec. 14, the Federal Communications Commission is expected to roll back Obama-era Internet regulations, a move that one commissioner tells WND and Radio America will reinvigorate broadband innovation and reduce the government’s influence over the Internet while keeping important consumer protections in place.

“We have five commissioners at the FCC. Each commissioner gets to cast their own vote their own way. I’ll be voting ‘yes’ in favor of this plan. So we should know right then as soon as the gavel strikes where the votes are and the public will get to see it,” said Brendan Carr, who was nominated to the FCC by President Trump earlier this year. He was confirmed and sworn in to his post in August.

The FCC effort is in response to a 2015 decision to apply Title II of the 1934 Communications Act to the Internet. Democratic appointees controlled the panel at the time and made the changes out of fears that Internet service providers, or ISPs, would soon be in a position to demand the purchase of services at whatever prices they wished.

Known as Net neutrality, Carr said the new rules badly misapplied laws designed to address telephone service and actually wound up with the federal government micromanaging the Internet and its providers.

“[Title II] arises from the 1930s and was designed to regulate the Ma Bell telephone monopoly,” Carr explained. “It’s not designed to regulate a fast-moving, competitive marketplace. Pursuant to that re-classification, it then adopted a series of open Internet rules.” (Read more from “Repeal of Obama-Era ‘Net Neutrality’ Means ‘Free, Open Internet'” HERE)

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FBI Opens Domestic Terrorism Probe of Antifa Anarchists

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Federal domestic terrorism investigators are probing “a number of” people animated by “kind of an Antifa ideology,” FBI Director Christopher Wray told lawmakers Thursday.

“We do have a very active domestic terrorism program,” Wray told the House Homeland Security Committee. “And while we’re not investigating Antifa as Antifa — that’s an ideology and we don’t investigate ideologies — we are investigating a number of what we would call anarchist-extremist investigations where we have properly predicated subjects of people who are motivated to commit violent criminal activity on kind of an Antifa ideology.”

Wray stressed that while the FBI has about 1,000 open domestic terror investigations, none of them are focused on “ideology, opinion, or rhetoric,” and instead are based on threats.

The extreme left Antifa came to the fore of the national political debate in August, following a string of incidents between the left-wing activists and alt-right white supremacists, or right-wing speakers accused of white supremacy. Those protests and counter-protests culminated in violence at a rally staged by white supremacists in Charlottesville, Va., in which a counter-protester was killed when an individual who attended the rally drove a vehicle into a crowd of left-wing activists.

President Trump was criticized sharply, at the time, for emphasizing that there was violence “on both sides” at the rally, when the murder victim was a member of counter-protesters. The incident also put a spotlight on cases of Antifa threatening violence to stymie speeches by right-wing political figures, ranging from alt-right speakers such as Milo Yiannopoulos to conventional conservatives such as Ben Shapiro. (Read more from “FBI Opens Domestic Terrorism Probe of Antifa Anarchists” HERE)

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So, What About Joe Scarborough’s Dead Intern…

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Shortly after NBC unleashed news of its firing of “The Today Show” anchor Matt Lauer, President Trump ripped into the left-leaning network and even called for MSNBC to fire Joe Scarborough based on an “unsolved mystery” surrounding the death of Scarborough’s intern in 2001.

Trump tweeted Wednesday morning: “So now that Matt Lauer is gone when will the Fake News practitioners at NBC be terminating the contract of [MSNBC President] Phil Griffin? And will they terminate low ratings Joe Scarborough based on the ‘unsolved mystery’ that took place in Florida years ago? Investigate!”

The president also urged the news media to “Check out Andy Lack’s past!” Lack, 70, is the chairman of NBC News and MSNBC.

On July 20, 2001, Scarborough was a Republican congressman who represented Florida when his 28-year-old intern, Lori Klausutis, turned up dead in his office . . .

According to the medical examiner, Klausutis, who had an abnormal heart rhythm, lost consciousness and fell in Scarborough’s office. She reportedly hit her head on a desk, which caused her death, the medical examiner said. Authorities said Klausutis had told people she wasn’t feeling well the day before she died. (Read more from “So, What About Joe Scarborough’s Dead Intern…” HERE)

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These Protesters Finally Prove Trump Right – They Got Paid

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Organizers with the left-leaning group Housing Works told protesters they must “risk arrest” in order to be reimbursed for airfare to Washington, D.C., according to an internal email obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation.

“We will transport, house and feed you, and deal with all legal support. Caveat: if you are far away from DC and expensive to transport, we can probably only fly you if you can risk arrest,” the internal email told supporters.

The group organized a large protest on Capitol Hill against the Republican-led Tax Reform measure in the Senate Tuesday, and will return Thursday, Dec. 5 to ensure that the measure doesn’t pass the upper chamber of Congress.

“The Rs voted and fled the room, but were snagged by reporters in the hallway, surrounded by bird-doggers, and shamed for their disgraceful votes,” the group said about the protests.

Housing Works is based out of New York City, and aims to further the health of the LGBTQ community, according to the group’s website. (Read more from “These Protesters Finally Prove Trump Right – They Got Paid” HERE)

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Airline Glitch Could Leave Thousands of Holiday Flights Stranded Without Pilots

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More than 15,000 scheduled American Airlines flights in December are currently without sufficient crew due to a computer glitch that gave too many pilots time off during the holiday season.

Dennis Tajer, a spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association said the glitch affected flights scheduled from Dec. 17 to Dec. 31.

The scheduling snafu is currently affecting flights from some of American Airlines largest hubs, including airports in New York, Miami, Dallas, Boston, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City and Charlotte, North Carolina, according to a company memo obtained by Bloomberg and CNBC.

Tajer said the airline’s scheduling software went haywire.

“The airline is a 24/7 op,” he said. “The system went from responsibly scheduling everybody to becoming Santa Claus to everyone.”

“The computer said, ‘Hey ya’ll. You want the days off? You got it.’”

American Airlines spokesman Matt Miller said the airline is working to ensure no flights are canceled during the holiday rush, saying its pilots are being offered 150 percent of their hourly rate to fill open trips.

“We have reserve pilots to help cover flying in December, and we are paying pilots who pick up certain open trips 150 percent of their hourly rate — as much as we are allowed to pay them per the contract,” Miller said.

“We will work with the APA to take care of our pilots and ensure we get our customers to where they need to go over the holidays.”

However, the APA, which represents 15,000 American pilots, filed a grievance against the airline.

The union said the proposed solution of offering pilots time-and-a-half violates its labor pact.

“This is certainly not routine,” Tajer said. “This is a crisis right now, and in that crisis, they’ve gone solo.”

American Airlines isn’t the first airline to mismanage the scheduling for its pilots.

Budget airline Ryanair was forced to cancel 2,000 European flights in September after too many of its pilots took their annual leave.

It’s unclear at the moment how American Airline’s bottom line will be affected by the unexpected increase in labor costs over the holiday.

Shares of American Airlines dropped 1 percent in late afternoon trade after news broke of the potential holiday flight cancellations. (For more from the author of “Airlines Glitch Could Leave Thousands of Holiday Flights Stranded Without Pilots” please click HERE)

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