Yes, Trump Anxiety Disorder Is a ‘Real’ Thing

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. . .During normal times, therapists say, their sessions deal with familiar themes: relationships, self-esteem, everyday coping. Current events don’t usually invade. But numerous counselors said Trump and his convulsive effect on America’s national conversation are giving politics a prominence on the psychologist’s couch not seen since the months after 9/11—another moment in which events were frightening in a way that had widespread emotional consequences.

Empirical data bolster the anecdotal reports from practitioners. The American Psychiatric Association in a May survey found that 39 percent of people said their anxiety level had risen over the previous year—and 56 percent were either “extremely anxious” or “somewhat anxious about “the impact of politics on daily life.” A 2017 study found two-thirds of Americans’ see the nation’s future as a “very or somewhat significant source of stress.” . . .

Jennifer Panning, a psychologist from Evanston, Illinois, calls the phenomenon “Trump Anxiety Disorder.” She wrote a chapter on it in a collection by mental health experts called “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump.” In an interview, she said the disorder is marked by such symptoms as “increased worry, obsessive thought patterns, muscle tension and obsessive preoccupation with the news.”

A study from the market research firm Galileo also found that, in the first 100 days after Trump’s election, 40 percent of people said they “can no longer have open and honest conversations with some friends or family members.” Nearly a quarter of respondents said their political views have hurt their personal relationships. (Read more from “Yes, Trump Anxiety Disorder Is a Real Thing” HERE)

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It Takes Rep. Chip Roy Less Than 2 Minutes to Shame Congress for Failing on Border Security

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Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, took to the House floor Wednesday and unloaded on his fellow lawmakers for planning to leave town without securing the border.

His speech is not even two minutes long, and yet he makes a comprehensive case that Congress is derelict in its duty to protect America.

(For more from the author of “It Takes Rep. Chip Roy Less Than 2 Minutes to Shame Congress for Failing on Border Security” please click HERE)

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Large Group of Migrants Tunnels Under Arizona Border Wall

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Border patrol agents in Arizona this week were overwhelmed after the largest caravan of migrants ever to cross into the United States tunneled beneath the border wall near San Luis, Arizona. According to ABC News, the migrants immediately turned themselves into Customs and Border Protection.

“Migrants can be seen marching toward Border Patrol agents by the hundreds,” reports ABC News. “Smugglers dug a series of seven holes, only a few feet long beneath the steel border fence, with hundreds going beneath the wall and a smaller number clambering over it.”

The migrant group included 376 people, 179 of which were reportedly children, 30 of whom were unaccompanied minors. While the number of illegal crossings has dropped significantly since its peak in 2001, Customs and Border Protection says the demographics of today’s migrants have noticeably changed due to the overwhelming number of parents crossing with children.

“Parents with children now comprise over 80 percent of the total apprehensions of those crossing the 2,000-mile long border with Mexico,” reports ABC News. “The vast majority of them, like the group near Yuma Monday, surrender immediately or seek out Border Patrol agents in order to begin the asylum process.”

One particular case highlighted by ABC News was a man who paid coyotes $5,000 to lead him and his 12-year-old daughter up from Guatemala to the U.S. border, leaving behind his wife and two daughters. The case recalls that of the crying girl in the famous Time photo whose mother also took her from her family via coyotes. (Read more from “Large Group of Migrants Tunnels Under Arizona Border Wall” HERE)

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The Fate of the Gofundme Campaign for Trump’s Wall

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The government remains shut down. We’re past the 20-day mark, and we’re all still alive. There aren’t dead bodies in the streets. Democrats, the Trump White House, and congressional Republicans remain deadlocked on the border wall funding, and Trump said he would not sign any spending package without it. There is a border crisis. So, why not start a GoFundMe for the wall. Air Force veteran Brian Kolfage started one, with a goal of raising a $1 billion. It’s raised over $20 million in 25 days. Over 300,000 people have contributed to it. Here’s the description again:

The government has accepted large private donations before, most recently a billionaire donated $7.5 Million to fund half of the Washington Monument repairs in 2012; this is no different.

Like a majority of those American citizens who voted to elect President Donald J Trump, we voted for him to Make America Great Again. President Trump’s main campaign promise was to BUILD THE WALL. And as he’s followed through on just about every promise so far, this wall project needs to be completed still.

. . .

Well, it was a good run, but the campaign wasn’t successful. Maybe the writing was on the wall; $1 billion is quite the goal, but the amount of money raised in this period of time was pretty solid. Alas, GoFundMe will be refunding all of the money after Kolfage changed the mission campaign; he now says a nonprofit will be established with the funds. GoFundMe spokesperson Bobby Whithorne said, “If a donor does not want a refund, and they want their donation to go to the new organization, they must proactively elect to redirect their donation to that organization” (via The Hill):

GoFundMe said Friday that it would refund $20 million raised by more than 300,000 donors for President Trump’s border wall after an account aiming to raise $1 billion for the wall changed part of its campaign.

(Read more from “The Fate of the Gofundme Campaign for Trump’s Wall” HERE)

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Pittsburgh Moves To Eviscerate Second Amendment Rights

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Well, this was expected. After the horrible shooting at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh last October, the city is now moving to ban assault-style rifles, ban certain types of ammunition, and allow courts to ban gun ownership for people who are deemed dangerous. The city has suffered a terrible tragedy when vicious anti-Semite Robert Gregory Bowers shot and killed 11 people. He wounded six others, including four police officers. Police shot bowers after a gunfight. He eventually surrendered to police. Bowers deserves everything he gets in the court of law.

Yet, as with most reactions to these tragedies by liberal America, it’s knee-jerk. All three proposals represent a dangerous encroachment on constitutional rights. The Steel City is following Boulder, Colorado, which also banned so-called assault weapons (i.e. AR-15s) within the city limits. There is a grandfather clause, however, permitting current owners who had already owned these rifles to keep them as long as they receive a certificate by the local sheriff’s office. It’s not a registry, but it sure sounds like a rest run for one.

The only provision that could prevent future tragedies is the law that would permit authorities to ban gun ownership to individual deemed dangerous, but what are the criteria? This law, along with the many being proposed, is something that both sides could come together on to debate, especially if the language and protocols were thoroughly hashed to prevent abuse. On paper, it’s common sense—and it could serve the public interest, but loose phrasing is highly subjective. Laws like these should be a long, tedious, and hyper-analytical process to avid government denying Americans’ constitutional rights to gun ownership, which you know happens in these deep-blue corners of America.

The Pittsburgh proposals are arguably unconstitutional and local gun rights groups have also noted Pennsylvania state law barring localities from enacting stricter gun control laws than those already on the statewide books. (Read more from “Pittsburgh Moves to Eviscerate Second Amendment Rights” HERE)

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Hoax? Former Navy EOD Officer Explains Why ‘Bombs’ Addressed to Democrats Almost Certainly Meant to Be Intercepted

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Former Navy explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) officer Tom Sauer authored a viral Twitter thread concerning the potentially explosive packages addressed to prominent Democrats on Wednesday. According to Sauer, it’s extremely likely that the packages were meant to be intercepted and cause political damage, as opposed to actual attempts to harm targets.

Sauer, whose identity has been verified to The Daily Wire, used his expertise to analyze an image of a package addressed to former CIA Director John Brennan, which was first obtained by CNN. The former bomb disposal officer, who emphasized that he only spoke on behalf of himself, told The Daily Wire that the makeup of the device appears to indicate that it was intended to be intercepted. “It’s highly, highly unlikely that this was a genuine attempt,” he explained. “This is like holding up a bank with a toy gun.” ​

When asked by The Daily Wire about the parody ISIS flag sticker reportedly identified on the package, Sauer said this seems to be yet another signal that the package was meant to be intercepted to “scare the hell out of people” and not actually cause damage. “That’s going to get flagged right away,” he said.

“It reeks of amateur hour,” said Sauer, with regard to new reports on “shards of glass” and “Sulphur” being identified within the device. “Glass is fairly light,” he explained. Typically you’d find metal or rocks as the device would be heavier and thus more damaging, though glass “is no picnic.”

(Read more from “Hoax? Former Navy EOD Officer Explains Why ‘Bombs’ Addressed to Democrats Almost Certainly Meant to Be Intercepted” HERE)

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Turkey Releases U.S. Pastor After 2 Years in Prison

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By NPR. Roughly two years after Turkish authorities detained Andrew Brunson on suspicion of espionage, the U.S. pastor is a free man once more. Turkey ordered his release Friday, ending a case that heightened tensions between Turkey and the U.S.

A court in the western city of Izmir actually sentenced Brunson to a little more than three years in prison, according to Turkey’s state news agency Anadolu. However, as NPR’s Peter Kenyon in Istanbul explains, the court says he will serve no more time, considering his health issues.

“The court also lifted judicial controls on Brunson — that means restrictions on his movements have been lifted and he is now free to leave the country,” Kenyon reports. The prosecutor had asked for a 10-year sentence.

The evangelical pastor wept in court upon hearing the news of his release, Reuters reported. Prior to the ruling, he said, “I am an innocent man. I love Jesus, I love Turkey.” After he listened to an alleged witness, he said, “I do not understand how this is related to me.” (Read more from “Turkey Releases U.S. Pastor After 2 Years in Prison” HERE)

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U.S. Pastor Andrew Brunson Leaves Turkey After Being Detained for 2 Years

By Fox News. President Trump drew loud cheers at a rally on Friday evening when he announced that Pastor Andrew Brunson — newly released from Turkey and heading home — is expected to visit him in the Oval Office on Saturday.

“We bring a lot of people back,” the president told the crowd in Lebanon, Ohio, near Cincinnati. It was an apparent reference not only to the release of Brunson, but to the negotiated return of three American hostages from North Korea in May. President Trump also won the release of three UCLA basketball players who were detained in China last November.

Earlier in the day, Trump spoke with reporters about Brunson, after it was confirmed that the 50-year-old North Carolina pastor was beginning his journey home after being detained for two years.

“He’s, I think, in good shape,” the president said. “He’ll be stopping most likely in Germany for a full check-up and then he’s going to be coming to the Oval Office, most likely on Saturday.

“But we’re very honored to have him back with us,” Trump continued. “He suffered greatly, but we’re very appreciative to a lot of people.” (Read more from “U.S. Pastor Andrew Brunson Leaves Turkey After Being Detained for 2 Years” HERE)

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Venezuela Has Lost 13 Percent of Its Population in a Mass Exodus From Socialism

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Venezuela has lost more than 13 percent of its population in the wake of the mass wave of migration caused by the so-called “socialism of the 21st century,” which has had a dramatic effect on other countries in the region due to the serious humanitarian crisis.

Official figures from the International Organization of Migration (IOM) indicate that between 2015 and 2017, Venezuelan emigration more than doubled, increasing from 700,000 people to 1.5 million.

But the truth is that there are thousands of Venezuelans with dual citizenship who have left Venezuela, just as there are many more who arrive as tourists to their new destinations and remain there. The migratory flow began with mass arrivals to neighboring Brazil and Colombia but has now spread across the region.

According to pollster Consultores 21, 40 percent of the population of Venezuela wants to emigrate, and according to estimates by the sociologist Tomás Páez, by the middle of 2018, 15 percent of the Venezuelan population will have left the country with the hope of being able to return one day.

The streets are empty in Venezuela. As the months pass, there are fewer cars on the streets and fewer people on the sidewalks. Venezuelans’ emigration is truly remarkable in the sense that the situation was once reversed: In just one decade Venezuela received 11 million foreigners fleeing crises in their own home countries. Those days are long gone. (Read more from “Venezuela Has Lost 13 Percent of Its Population in a Mass Exodus From Socialism” HERE)

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Man Sues to Obtain Minority-Owned Business Status After DNA Test Claims He’s 4 Percent Black

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Ralph Taylor of Lynwood, Washington, looks white. But after taking a DNA test showing that he is 6 percent indigenous American and 4 percent sub-Saharan African, he began to identify as multiracial and applied for minority-owned business status to win more business from state and federal government contractors.

Taylor’s application was denied, and now he’s suing. . .

The test concluded that Taylor was 90 percent Caucasian, but Taylor considers the results showing his multiracial heritage to be proof that he is a minority. In 2013, he applied for his business, Orion Insurance Group, to be recognized by the state of Washington as being minority-owned.

His application was first rejected by the state’s Office of Minority & Women’s Business Enterprises on the grounds that he was not “visibly identifiable” as a minority. But after he appealed, the Office eventually approved his application before reversing its decision again and ultimately denied him the certification in 2014.

In issuing its decision, the state of Washington dismissed the DNA test, questioning its accuracy. The OMWBE wrote, “The documentation that Mr. Taylor provided was insufficient to prove that he has held himself out to be a member of either [the Black American or Native American] group(s) over a long period of time.” (Read more from “Man Sues to Obtain Minority-Owned Business Status After DNA Test Claims He’s 4 Percent Black” HERE)

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China Supposedly Meddling in 2018 Elections

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By AP. Taking center stage at the United Nations, President Donald Trump on Wednesday accused China of trying to interfere in the upcoming U.S. congressional elections because it opposes his tough trade policies. The White House provided scant evidence of anything akin to the level of Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

“They do not want me or us to win because I am the first president ever to challenge China on trade,” Trump said as he chaired the U.N. Security Council for the first time. He made his accusation against the backdrop of the special counsel’s investigation into Russian interference in the last election to help him and amid concerns that this November’s elections also could be vulnerable.

Asked later what evidence he had, Trump said there was “plenty” but didn’t immediately provide details, suggesting that some of the material was classified. Instead, he zeroed in on China’s propaganda efforts to flood the heartland with ads and statements against Trump’s billions of dollars in punishing tariffs. (Read more from “China Supposedly Meddling in 2018 Elections” HERE)

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Trade Turmoil Between China and the U.S. Spills Into Military Relations

By CNBC. As the world’s two largest economies exchange tit-for-tat tariffs, there are growing suggestions that the trade turmoil has spilled over into military relations.

China has canceled friendly engagements with the U.S. Navy, possibly due to the trade dispute.

In an interview with CNBC’s Morgan Brennan, Navy Secretary Richard Spencer, the branch’s top civilian, explained the intricate relationship between the two naval forces.

“When we look at China, it’s a very complex situation to say the least because they are also a great trading power,” Spencer said. “We have a major trading power as a competitor,” he added, noting Beijing’s ambitious military buildup.

Spencer’s comments come on the heels of reports that China’s top naval commander canceled a planned visit this week to meet with his American counterpart and that the U.S. was denied a port visit in Hong Kong for its USS Wasp amphibious ship. (Read more from “Trade Turmoil Between China and the U.S. Spills Into Military Relations” HERE)

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