President Donald Trump acts swiftly at dawn of new era

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump assumed power Friday with a fiercely nationalistic vow to put “America first,” taking a stinging swipe at the legacy of his predecessor hours after reciting the oath of office.

Hundreds of thousands of people stood on the rain-splattered National Mall to see the 70-year-old Republican billionaire be sworn in, and deliver a stridently populist call-to-arms.

Trump promised to lift up the nation’s disenfranchised and those who felt betrayed by the political elites, declaring with vindication that “the forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer.”


“From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land,” Trump said, promising an end to business-as-usual in Washington. “From this moment on, it’s going to be only America First.”

Adhering to his vow to immediately start dismantling the healthcare reforms passed by outgoing president Barack Obama, Trump signed his first executive order in the Oval Office, targeting Obamacare.

It commands government offices to grant all possible exemptions to limit the “economic and regulatory burden” of the Affordable Care Act, as a prelude to a full repeal.

As the day’s ceremonial rituals drew to a close, Trump and his wife Melania stepped out — the first lady stunning in an off-the-shoulder ivory gown — to lead the dance at one of the string of glitzy inaugural balls being held across the capital.

The pair slow-danced in a close embrace to a version of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way,” before they were joined by Vice-president Mike Pence and his wife Karen, and both families’ children.

“Well, we did it,” Trump told the revelers. “We won. And today, we had a great day.”

“This was a movement. And now the work begins.”

Power to the people 


During his inaugural address, Trump vowed that his presidency would usher in a new political era.

“We are transferring power from Washington, DC, and giving it back to you, the people,” he said.


Moments earlier, the incoming US leader had placed his left hand on a bible used by Abraham Lincoln and recited the 35-word oath spoken since George Washington.

The popular turnout was visibly smaller than for Obama’s two inaugurations, in 2009 and 2013, with sections of the mall and bleachers along the parade route left nearly empty.

Throngs of Trump’s opponents also converged on Washington.

Most of their protests — by an array of anti-racist, anti-war, feminist, LGBT, and pro-immigration groups — were peaceful, but sporadic violence marred the day.

Several hundred masked, black-clad protesters carrying anarchist flags smashed windows, lit fires and scuffled with riot police blocks from the parade held in Trump’s honor, with at least 217 people arrested for vandalism.

Even the peaceful protesters were intent on spoiling Trump’s party — letting out a deafening roar as the presidential limousine rolled past.

“Not my president! Not my president!” they yelled, as the pro-Trump crowd in nearby bleachers chanted “USA! USA!”

‘This carnage stops here’

For Trump’s critics, there was disbelief that a man who 19 months ago hosted “The Apprentice” reality TV show is now leader of the free world — sworn in with a 37 percent approval rating, the lowest on record, according to a CBS News poll.

Public interest lawyer Renee Steinhagen, 61, came from New York to join the protests.

“I’m doing this to express resistance to the change that await us,” she said. “This administration seems more extreme than any other. This is a simple act of resistance. It’s better than staying at home.”

Trump’s inauguration caps the improbable rise of the Manhattan real estate magnate who has never before held elected office, or served in government or the military.

Rather than appealing to desire to bridge political divides and lift Americans’ gaze to the horizon, his first address to the nation was deeply unorthodox.

Trump painted parts of America as a dystopian hell, with mothers trapped in poverty and “rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape.”

“This American carnage stops right here and stops right now,” he said.

It was a deliberate and striking contrast from the uplifting message of Obama, who was among the dignitaries in attendance.

Obama and his wife Michelle departed the Capitol by helicopter minutes after the swearing-in, turning a page on eight years of Democratic leadership in the White House.

Alliances

A first two Trump cabinet members were sworn in after being confirmed Friday by the US Senate. Both are retired generals: Secretary of Defense James Mattis, and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly.

For the next few weeks the White House plans a series of daily executive orders to roll back Obama’s agenda.

Trump has also vowed to re-examine long-running alliances with Europe and in Asia.

“We will reinforce old alliances and form new ones and unite the civilized world against radical Islamic terrorism, which we will eradicate completely from the face of the Earth.”

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Trump takes charge, vowing ‘America first’ policies

WASHINGTON — Pledging to empower America’s “forgotten men and women,” Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States Friday, taking command of a deeply divided nation and ushering in an unpredictable era in Washington. His victory gives Republicans control of the White House for the first time in eight years.

Looking out over the crowd sprawled across the National Mall, Trump painted a bleak picture of the nation he now leads, lamenting “American carnage,” shuttered factories and depleted US leadership. President Barack Obama, the man he replaced, sat behind him stoically.

Trump’s address lasted just 16 minutes. While his inauguration did draw crowds to the nation’s capital, the numbers appeared smaller than for past celebrations.

Demonstrations unfolded at various security checkpoints near the Capitol as police helped ticket-holders get through. After the swearing-in, more protesters registered their rage in the streets of Washington. Police in riot gear deployed pepper spray and made numerous arrests after protesters smashed the windows of downtown businesses, denouncing capitalism and Trump.

The new president’s first words as commander in chief were an unapologetic reprisal of the economic populism and nationalism that fueled his improbable campaign. He vowed to stir “new national pride,” bring jobs back to the United States, and “eradicate completely” Islamic terrorism.

“From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. From this day forward, it’s going to be only, ‘America First’,” Trump said.

His address lasted just 16 minutes. While Trump’s inauguration did draw crowds to the nation’s capital, the numbers appeared smaller than for past celebrations.

Demonstrations unfolded at various security checkpoints near the Capitol as police helped ticket-holders get through. After the swearing-in, more protesters registered their rage in the streets of Washington. Police in riot gear deployed pepper spray and made numerous arrests after protesters smashed the windows of downtown businesses, denouncing capitalism and Trump.

In a remarkable scene, Trump ripped into Washington’s longtime leaders as he stood among them at the US Capitol. For too long, he said, “a small group in our nation’s capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost.”

For Republicans eager to be back in the White House, there was little mention of the party’s bedrock principles: small government, social conservativism and robust American leadership around the world. Trump, who is taking office as one of the most unpopular incoming presidents in modern history, made only oblique references to those who may be infuriated and fearful of his presidency.

“To all Americans in every city near and far, small and large from mountain to mountain, from ocean to ocean, hear these words: You will never be ignored again,” he said.

The new president was sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts, reciting the 35-word oath with his hand placed upon two Bibles, one used by his family and another during President Abraham Lincoln’s inauguration.

Trump and wife, Melania, bid Obama and outgoing first lady Michelle Obama farewell as they departed the Capitol grounds in a government helicopter. Trump and Obama’s political paths have been linked in remarkable ways. Before running for the White House, the billionaire businessman led efforts to promote falsehoods about the 44th president’s citizenship and claim on the office.

Obama addressed a staff gathering at Joint Base Andrews before departing for a vacation in California. “You proved the power of hope,” he said.

Trump’s journey to the inauguration was as unlikely as any in recent American history. He defied his party’s establishment, befuddled the media and toppled two political dynasties on his way to victory. His message, calling for a resurgence of white, working-class corners of America, was packaged in defiant stump speeches railing against political correctness.

He used social media to dominate the national conversation and challenge conventions about political discourse. After years of Democratic control of the White House and deadlock in Washington, his was a blast of fresh air for millions.

But Trump’s call for restrictive immigration measures and his caustic campaign rhetoric about women and minorities angered millions. And Trump’s swearing-in was shadowed by questions about his ties to Russia, which US intelligence agencies have determined worked to tip the 2016 election in his favor.

More than 60 House Democrats refused to attend his swearing in ceremony in the shadow of the Capitol dome. One Democrat who did sit among the dignitaries was Hillary Clinton, Trump’s vanquished campaign rival who was widely expected by both parties to be the one taking the oath of office.

At a post-ceremony luncheon at the Capitol, Trump asked the Republicans and Democrats present to recognize her, and those in the room rose and applauded.

At 70, Trump is the oldest person to be sworn in as president, marking a generational step backward after two terms for Obama, one of the youngest presidents to serve as commander in chief.

Trump takes charge of an economy that has recovered from the Great Recession but has nonetheless left millions of Americans feeling left behind. The nation’s longest war is still being waged in Afghanistan and US troops are battling the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The American health care system was expanded to reach millions more Americans during Obama’s tenure, but at considerable financial costs. Trump has vowed to dismantle and rebuild it.

Trump faces challenges as the first president to take office without ever having held a political position or served in the military. He has stacked his Cabinet with established Washington figures and wealthy business leaders. Though his team’s conservative bent has been cheered by many Republicans, the overwhelmingly white and male Cabinet has been criticized for a lack of diversity.

Before attending an inaugural luncheon, Trump signed his first series of orders, including the official nominations for his Cabinet. He joked with lawmakers, including House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, and handed out presidential pens.

In a show of solidarity, all of the living American presidents attended Trump’s inaugural, except for 92-year-old George H.W. Bush, who was hospitalized this week with pneumonia. His wife, Barbara, was also admitted to the hospital after falling ill. –Julie Pace

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

What went wrong in this year’s presidential polls?

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s victory came as a surprise to many Americans, the nation’s pollsters most of all.

Heading into Election Day, most national surveys overstated what will likely be a narrow popular vote advantage for Hillary Clinton and led many to believe she was a shoo-in to win the Electoral College.

“The polls clearly got it wrong this time,” the American Association for Public Opinion Research said Wednesday in a statement. The association traditionally assesses the state of public polling after each election cycle, and already has a committee in place to do so again this year.

“I think it was an important polling miss. It would really be glossing over it to say that it was a typical year,” said Courtney Kennedy, director of survey research at the Pew Research Center.

For now, it’s impossible to know for certain what exactly went wrong for pollsters this year — and, as votes are still being counted, exactly how far off they were. Some factors pollsters will examine:

How big a miss?

Although most polls throughout the 2016 campaign showed Clinton running ahead of Trump, in the final two weeks of the campaign her advantage narrowed in many national surveys, as well as in states such as Pennsylvania and Michigan. Her apparent lead fell within many surveys’ margins of sampling error.

Kennedy said pollsters may ultimately not have had a historically large miss on the national popular vote, but thinks there was a systematic overrepresentation of Clinton’s support and underrepresentation for Trump’s.

She says people sometimes expect too much of election polls, which “are not designed to provide extremely accurate results.”

Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, says that averages of publicly available polls sometimes give a false sense of certainty in a candidate’s lead.

“You’re taking imprecise estimates and throwing them all together with the hope of eliminating error,” he says.

Shy trump voters?

Trump’s campaign frequently pointed to the possibility that public polls were missing some of his base of support, and some pollsters say that might have played a role in the polling miss.

“One of the biggest problems that polls face nowadays is that people don’t want to participate in them at all,” said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. He plans to use voter data to find out if certain types of people were less likely to participate in his surveys.

At Pew, Kennedy said it appears that there was a segment of Trump’s support base that was not responding to polls, which she called “fundamentally a difficult challenge to fight.” But, she said, it’s unlikely voters were lying about their support.

Turnout

Harold Clarke, a political scientist at the University of Texas at Dallas who regularly conducts polling, said one of the shortfalls in the presidential prediction was a problem that has plagued survey science for decades.

“We’ve got to filter our surveys as we try to pick out those people that are really going to vote,” he said. “We all have the problem of not getting likely voters right.”

Murray said pollsters are using likely voter models that might have worked in the past, but may no longer. He suggested that public pollsters should take a lesson from campaigns and consider putting out a range of numbers reflecting different turnout scenarios instead of a single number that suggests too much certainty in where the horse race stands.

Tightening race
Republican pollster Whit Ayres suggests that many observers — himself included — assumed that since Trump had never held a lead, he wouldn’t get the benefit of the doubt from voters in the end. But he says that in races where an incumbent is stuck below 50 percent in the polls, late deciders often break toward the challenger.

“There were a number of us who should have raised that possibility before the election,” Ayres said. “If you think about it, Hillary Clinton is about as close as you can get to an incumbent.”

Nationally and in key states such as Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, Trump prevailed among voters who said they decided which candidate to support in the last week before voting, according to exit polls conducted for The Associated Press and television networks by Edison Research.

In retrospect, Republican pollster Ed Goeas says that he saw a sign he now believes was a clue of Trump’s advantage. In his national polling, he saw an 8 percentage point edge for Trump in voter intensity and enthusiasm among his supporters.

“But the assumption on our part was that Clinton’s ground game would overcome or neutralize that intensity,” Goeas said. “It just didn’t.”

Not enough polls?

In several key states, including Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, there were few polls conducted in the final week before the election.

“In some of those unexpected states in the Rust Belt — Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin — you didn’t see some of the more rigorous polls being conducted,” said Kennedy.

Goeas confesses to failing to see some late movements, in part because his polling ended four days before the election.

“So basically we were looking at numbers thinking where he might end up,” Goeas said of Trump’s chances in Wisconsin, where he believed the Republican would benefit from Republican Sen. Ron Johnson’s get-out-the-vote operation. “Did we have any comfort he would do it? No.”

“It would have been nice to have a couple more Michigan and Wisconsin polls to adjust that perception” that Clinton was leading, Miringoff said. “The campaigns don’t stop because the pollsters do their final poll.”/rga

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Donald Trump elected US president

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump has been elected president of the United States.

The Republican nominee won Wednesday after capturing Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes, putting him over the 270 threshold.

Voters eager to shake up the nation’s political establishment picked the celebrity businessman to become the nation’s 45th president.

Trump rode an astonishing wave of support from voters seeking change and willing to accept a candidate loose with facts and accused of sexual misconduct.

He upset Democrat Hillary Clinton, who would have become the first woman to serve in the Oval Office.

Trump struck a populist tone and placed a hardline immigration stance at his campaign’s heart.

Trump rose to political fame after questioning whether President Barack Obama was born in the United States. He will now follow Obama into the White House.

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Canadians cheering up Americans with #TellAmericaItsGreat

NEW YORK— America’s neighbors to the north — so often the butt of their jokes — are taking to social media to try to keep spirits up in the U.S. during this divisive election season.

Using the hashtag #TellAmericaItsGreat, Canadians have swamped Twitter with compliments about American music, culture, technology and even tailgating. The outpouring of love triggered a reply — #TellCanadaThanks.

It’s all an effort started by the Toronto-based ad agency The Garden Collective, which chose its hashtag as a play on Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America great again.” The firm’s video launching the social media push has gotten over 752,000 YouTube views and the hashtag has been trending on Twitter for several days. Many Canadians have made their own mini-videos, too.

Dic Dickerson, managing director of the firm, called it a pet project they devised for no other reason than to just spread love. “We put it out there and I don’t think any of us expected to get as much traction as it did but we’re really, really excited by all the positivity,” he said. “A lot of people are talking, which is exactly what we wanted.”

The agency was founded about 18 months ago and usually focuses its attention on businesses. Dickerson said they’d never done anything like this.

“Every day we come in and the founders and myself and our team, we sit around and sort of talk about what’s new, what’s everybody reading, what are we looking at, and it always sort of came back to this notion of just how negative everything was about this upcoming election,” he said. “You can either pile on with the negativity or try to look at the positive side of things.”

Some of the things Canadians say they admire about the U.S. are its federal parks, its diversity, its missions to Mars, jazz and Tupac Shakur. One Canadian from Halifax on Tuesday complimented Americans for baseball, “The Catcher in the Rye” and first lady Michelle Obama.

Canadians, who have long been mocked by their southern neighbors for their accents (“aboot”), their creation of Justin Bieber and an apparent abundance of moose, have enjoyed some good press recently, largely thanks to their telegenic new prime minister, Justin Trudeau.

Americans, meanwhile, have been in the doldrums as Trump and Hillary Clinton face accusations of running a squalid campaign for presidency, not to mention several dispiriting Hollywood breakups, including the demise of Brangelina. The land that gave the world Ryan Gosling has now proven as seemingly warm and kind as that sensitive actor in America’s time of need.

“Don’t worry neighbors, if the election goes haywire, you can all come and live up here with us, plenty of room!” wrote one Canadian on Twitter.

Only the most cynical people would suspect this, but might the cheer-up ad campaign be really a massive attempt to troll Americans? Is this just a big mocking of the Yanks? Dickerson said no.

“It’s only coming from a place of love,” he said. “We’ve kind of been joking around about it like it’s a collective group hug from your neighbors to the north. It just felt right at this moment to share the love.”

source: technology.inquirer.net

Clinton says she takes ‘no satisfaction’ in Trump’s actions

SEATTLE — With Donald Trump on the defensive, Hillary Clinton says she is taking “no satisfaction” in his actions and promising to repair the damage and project a message of unity during the campaign’s final weeks.

Hours after her Republican rival furiously defended himself against multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, Clinton spoke Friday of the need for national healing in a Seattle fundraising speech that also saw her call upon Americans to help her govern if she’s elected president.

“This election is incredibly painful. I take absolutely no satisfaction in what is happening on the other side with my opponent,” Clinton said while visiting a Seattle campaign field office. “I am not at all happy about that because it hurts our country, it hurts our democracy, it sends terrible messages to so many people here at home and around the world.”

The Democratic presidential nominee said earlier at a Seattle fundraiser that while she understands many voters want to “turn away,” her supporters need to help her win the election to “demonstrate the positive, optimistic, confident, unifying vision of America that I believe in and that I think, together, we can demonstrate America’s best days are still ahead of us.”

While President Barack Obama is ending his two terms with high approval ratings, Clinton’s struggles with high unfavorability ratings and questions about her honesty could undermine any electoral mandate she might achieve in November.

So as Trump has dealt with a firestorm that started last week with the release of an 11-year-old videotape of him bragging about kissing and groping women, Clinton is increasingly aiming her message not only at Democrats but at disaffected Republicans and independents turned off by the spectacle.


draiser at the Paramount Theatre, where Trump backers gathered outside on a blustery day, one bearing a sign that read, “Hillary for Prison 2016,” Clinton struck a tone of conciliation. She said she wanted people “to start looking after each other again,” and that while she would aim to pass laws and seek “some real national commitments,” people needed to support each other at the end of an acrimonious campaign season.

“I will be asking for your help. I need your help not just to win this election but to govern and to heal the divides that exist in our country right now,” Clinton said. “I do believe there isn’t anything we can’t do once we make up our minds to do it.”

The former secretary of state said those challenges extend across the globe, saying she had talked to many foreign leaders who complained about Trump’s praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin or her opponent’s calls for a temporary ban on foreign Muslims entering the country.

“So make no mistake, we do have to repair the damage which he has done, which we will do. But on both domestic and national security grounds, repudiating his candidacy sends exactly the right message,” she said.

Leading in many battleground state polls, Clinton’s team is assessing the possibility of expanding the map to compete in traditional Republican states like Utah, Georgia and Arizona. She is preparing for next week’s final debate in Las Vegas and then an intense stretch of campaigning. While she continues to call Trump unqualified to be president, much of her message appears aimed beyond November — and into a possible first term.
READ: Clinton reaching past Trump, as he denies report of assault

“Bringing people together to solve problems is key to our democracy. There’s no question about it,” Clinton said. “And I want us to do that in a spirit of mutual respect, listening to one another, having each other’s backs.”

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Clinton edges ahead of Trump in post-debate poll bump

WASHINGTON—Hillary Clinton has pulled ahead of presidential rival Donald Trump in a new national poll out Friday, just days after her strong showing in the first televised debate.

The Democrat and former secretary of state bested her Republican rival by three percentage points in a Fox News poll which showed her ahead 43 to 40 percent.

Although Clinton’s lead is within the poll’s three percentage point margin of error, it shows a bump for Clinton, who beat Trump by only one percentage point in the same poll two weeks ago.

Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein polled at eight and four percent respectively.

The nationwide results come as Clinton’s numbers improve in a number of critical swing states following the debate.

Florida — with its prodigious number of electoral votes — has swung back toward Clinton since Monday’s political showdown, polling shows, offering her a tantalizing opening to reach the White House.

Meanwhile a Detroit News-WDIV-TV four-way matchup conducted in the battleground state of Michigan found Clinton leading Trump by seven percentage points after the debate.

The first of three, the debate was the most watched in US history with 84 million people tuning in, according to a Nielsen tally.

During the clash the Democrat frequently forced her prickly opponent on the back foot over judgment, taxes, foreign policy and terrorism.

But American voters do not particularly like either candidate and many are still undecided.

The Fox News poll found that 53 percent had an unfavorable opinion of Clinton, while 55 percent view Trump in a negative light.

The number of voters who find Trump honest and trustworthy, meanwhile, sank eight points since mid-September to 31 percent.

Clinton’s numbers remain relatively unchanged: 35 percent now find her honest and trustworthy compared to 34 percent two weeks ago.

The Fox News poll interviewed 1,009 registered voters, and includes results among 911 likely voters. It was carried out Tuesday through Thursday.

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Getting Auto Insurance Quotes Online – Why it Will Save You Money

Getting Auto Insurance Quotes Online

Here are some reasons to get an online quote for auto insurance Pennsylvania.

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You really only have one option in order to achieve this goal. Comparing similar plans types are even recommended by the Pennsylvania state government. check on similar plans that meet their needs. all meet their needs and the state, the next step is to get quotes. To find your Pennsylvania auto insurance budget, the best way is to search online.

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By doing this, you can quickly grasp the ways in which one applies to you personally. There is a family member who just your driver’s license? You can include it. Do you have a good driving record? Within its geographic area, what is the probability that an individual will suffer an accident?

without even having to leave your own home, you can get quotes online in just a few short hours while discovering what there plans and approximate costs. You can also apply and pay online, in many cases, and even set up payment plans for automatic bill payments.

Pennsylvania requires car owners have minimum policies to cover the use of their cars as most states in the US The economic situation of a policy owner involved in an accident that is not affected, and not It matters what caused the incident. If your car is important to their way of life, then you need insurance.

Do not just trust your instincts in choosing the most beneficial policy, use other features that help you know what. In order to ensure the best possible price, go online to make an auto insurance quote for the state of Pennsylvania.

source: autoinsurancequotes2.info

Trump moves from ‘crooked Hillary’ to ‘the devil’ on stump

MECHANICSBURG, Pennsylvania — On the campaign stump Donald Trump has opened August by moving from ‘crooked Hillary’ to ‘the devil.’

Speaking in Pennsylvania on Monday, the billionaire real estate mogul derided Bernie Sanders’ capitulation in the Democratic primary race and Sanders’ decision to support Clinton.

Trump said of Sanders: “He made a deal with the devil. She’s the devil.”

Trump in recent days has taken to categorizing the the Clinton-Sanders understanding as a “deal with the devil” but this was the first time that he went so far as to specifically equate Clinton with Lucifer.

Trump’s supporters packed a Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania high school gymnasium and thousands more were left outside or forced to watch in a spillover room.

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Hillary Clinton declares ‘moment of reckoning’

PHILADELPHIA—Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton, who sacrificed personal ambition for her husband’s political career and then rose to be a globally influential figure, became the first woman to accept a major party’s presidential nomination on Thursday night (Friday morning in Manila), a prize that generations of American women have dreamed about for one of their own.

Declaring that the nation was at “a moment of reckoning,” Mrs. Clinton, 68, urged voters to reject the divisive policy ideas and combative politics of the Republican nominee, Donald J. Trump. She offered herself as a steady and patriotic American who would stand up for citizens of all races and creeds and unite the country to persevere against Islamic terrorists, economic troubles, and the chaos of gun violence.

“Powerful forces are threatening to pull us apart, bonds of trust and respect are fraying,” said Mrs. Clinton, who worked on the speech until the early hours of Thursday morning. “And just as with our founders there are no guarantees. It truly is up to us. We have to decide whether we all will work together so we all can rise together.”

Mrs. Clinton radiated confidence, from her pungent delivery and easy laugh to the unusually expressive ways she shifted her tone and delighted in her own best lines. She smoothly acknowledged her own limitations and trust issues as a public figure and forcefully challenged Mr. Trump over his claims that he alone could fix America’s problems.

And after 25 years in a sometimes brutal national spotlight, Mrs. Clinton tried to explain who she is and what drives her—from her Methodist faith to her passion for government policy that could mean all the difference for people.

Policy wonk

“I sweat the details of policy,” Mrs. Clinton said. “Because it’s not just a detail if it’s your kid—if it’s your family. It’s a big deal. And it should be a big deal to your president.”

It was one of several contrasts she drew with Mr. Trump, who has barely explained how he would carry out his policy goals. And she received help from several Republicans and military veterans who took the convention stage earlier in the evening to warn that Mr. Trump was not fit for the presidency and would take the United States to “a dark place of discord and fear,” as a retired general, John Allen, put it. Democrats in the convention hall broke out into a booming, lengthy chant of “USA, USA!”

But the most powerful guest speaker of the evening was Khizr Khan, a Muslim American whose son joined the Army after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and was killed during service in Iraq. Mr. Khan, rebuking Mr. Trump for frequently demonizing Muslims as threats to the United States, pulled a copy of the Constitution out of his suit jacket.

“Mr. Trump, have you even read the Constitution?” he said. “You have sacrificed nothing.”

His words seemed to send a collective shiver through the convention hall, leaving some delegates in tears.

Night of history

Few recent political conventions have had a night gusting with so much history and high emotion. If elected, Mrs. Clinton would become the 45th president of the United States, as well as the first to be married to a former president, Bill Clinton, the nation’s 42nd.

She would be the latest in a long line of Yale graduates and accomplished lawyers to lead the country, but she would also be the first mother and grandmother to be commander in chief, decades after women became heads of state elsewhere.

Democrats roared with passion and pride as a beaming Mrs. Clinton took the stage after her daughter, Chelsea, introduced her as an American who was inspired by her own mother’s impoverished childhood and had faced personal and professional choices that defined generations of women. The two locked eyes and fell into a long embrace as Mrs. Clinton patted her back. A moment later, Mrs. Clinton waved at Mr. Clinton, and he blew her a kiss.

Have no fear

Then Mrs. Clinton, who has given only a few major political speeches in her life, delivered her biggest yet. She offered a positive portrait of America that felt like a different country than the nation in decline that Mr. Trump often describes and that many voters’ fear has come to pass after years of terrorism at home and abroad and the growing gap between rich and poor.

“He’s betting that the perils of today’s world will blind us to its unlimited promise,” Mrs. Clinton said. “He wants us to fear the future and fear each other. Well, a great Democratic President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, came up with the perfect rebuke to Trump more than 80 years ago, during a much more perilous time:  ‘The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.’”

Mrs. Clinton, facing a three-month general election campaign against an unpredictable Mr. Trump, who has risen in the polls since his convention speech last week, hoped that her remarks here would not only energize her party, but also help her connect with undecided and independent voters who are skeptical of her candidacy.

Bernie’s cause

She nodded toward the political work she still had to do. Praising her rival for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, she told his mostly liberal supporters—some of whom booed or staged a “silent protest” in the hall, declining to applaud her speech—“I want you to know, I’ve heard you. Your cause is our cause.”

And she acknowledged that many voters still do not relate to her after her eight years as first lady, eight as a senator, and four as secretary of state.

“The truth is, through all these years of public service, the  ‘service’ part has always come easier to me than the ‘public’ part,” Mrs. Clinton said. “I get it that some people just don’t know what to make of me,” she added before sharing memories of her humble roots and life lessons from church and her mother—particularly, “no one gets through life alone.”

Bashing Trump

Her strategy was to go hard at Mr. Trump, repeatedly drawing contrasts between her positions—which are in the mainstream of Democratic politics—and Mr. Trump’s unorthodox views for a Republican, such as placing tariffs on other nations’ goods and possibly withdrawing from treaties and trade deals.

Reciting a litany of unusual and unlikely ideas that Mr. Trump laid out at the Republican convention, Mrs. Clinton drew huge laugh when she said, “He spoke for 70-odd minutes—and I do mean odd.”

Mrs. Clinton, the rare first lady who, like her idol Eleanor Roosevelt, used the job to influence policy and who went on to be a powerful figure, began her own quest for the White House nearly a decade ago with her first run for the nomination against Barack Obama.

Back then she presented herself as a steely and even hawkish Democrat who held some views—opposing gay marriage, supporting free trade, and championing the rights of gun owners—that she has shifted since her defeat. This time around, she fashioned herself as “a progressive who likes to get things done”—the sort of line-straddling language that makes some liberals dubious of her values and some independents skeptical about her authenticity.

Wellesley speech

Her convention speech comes 47 years after the young Hillary Rodham wound up in Life magazine when she used her commencement address at Wellesley College to reckon with that era’s civic unrest and clashes between protesters and police officers.

Her message to the millions of people watching her speech on television on Thursday night was similar, as she implored Americans to look past fear and tumult and to choose harmony over hatred. But this time, Mrs. Clinton was to speak to an audience that is deeply distrustful of her. Some 67 percent of all voters and 74 percent of independents said they do not trust Mrs. Clinton, in the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

About six weeks ago, Mrs. Clinton started sketching down rough notes about what she wanted to say on the eve she accepts her party’s nomination. A month ago, discussions with her top policy adviser, Jake Sullivan, and the speechwriters Dan Schwerin and Megan Rooney, began to shape the speech, with advice from a variety of friends and former speechwriters. Mrs. Clinton also sought advice from Mr. Obama’s much-admired former director of speechwriting Jon Favreau.

Falling barriers

The speech often electrified the assembled Democrats with its crowd-pleasing lines about Mr. Trump like, “Imagine him in the Oval Office facing a real crisis: A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons.” And the delegates reveled at the end as confetti rained down on Mrs. Clinton and she playfully swatted at the spill of balloons.

For her, though, the greatest exhilaration flowed from the sense that history had been made and that the lives of future generations would be changed forever.

“Standing here as my mother’s daughter, and my daughter’s mother, I’m so happy this day has come,” Mrs. Clinton said. “Happy for grandmothers and little girls and everyone in between. Happy for boys and men, too—because when any barrier falls in America, for anyone, it clears the way for everyone. When there are no ceilings, the sky’s the limit.

“So let’s keep going,” she said, “until every one of the 161 million women and girls across America has the opportunity she deserves.” TVJ

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Last of the 49 bodies removed from Orlando nightclub

ORLANDO, Florida — The last of the bodies were removed from an Orlando gay nightclub overnight as investigators dug into the background of the gunman, who called 911 to profess allegiance to the Islamic State during the attack that left 49 victims dead.

At the White House, President Barack Obama said Monday there is no clear evidence so far that gunman Omar Mateen was directed by the extremist group. He said Mateen was inspired by radical information over the internet, calling it another apparent example of “homegrown extremism.”

Wielding an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and a handgun, Mateen opened fire at the crowded Pulse Orlando club early Sunday in the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history. He was killed in a gun battle with a SWAT team after police used explosives and a small armored vehicle to punch a hole in a wall and allow dozens of club-goers to escape, police said.

The tragedy shocked the nation and cast a pall over Orlando, known the world over as the home of Walt Disney World and other theme parks.

“We will not be defined by the act of a cowardly hater,” Mayor Buddy Dyer vowed.

Mateen was a 29-year-old American-born Muslim who worked as a security guard in Florida. FBI officials said they had investigated him in 2013 and 2014 on suspicion of terrorist sympathies but could not make a case against him.

Counterterrorism experts have been warning in the past few years about the danger of so-called lone wolf attackers who act in sympathy with extremist groups like the Islamic State but are not directed by them.

Despite the 911 call from the club, the picture became murkier when Mateen’s Afghan immigrant father suggested another motive: anti-gay hatred. The father said his son got angry a few months ago when he saw two men kissing in Miami.

Also, Mateen’s ex-wife attributed the violence to mental illness, saying he was bipolar and abusive toward her.

Obama said investigators are still looking into killer’s motivations and considering all possibilities, noting that like the Islamic State have been known to target gays.

The Islamic State’s radio called Mateen “one of the soldiers of the caliphate in America.” Al-Bayan Radio, a media outlet for the extremist group, hailed the attack, saying that it targeted a gathering of Christians and gays and that it was the worst attack on U.S. soil since 9/11.

The statement gave no indication of whether the group planned or knew of the attack beforehand.

Mateen’s father, Seddique Mir Mateen, told reporters Monday that the massacre was “the act of a terrorist,” and added: “I apologize for what my son did. I am as sad and mad as you guys are.”

He wouldn’t go into details about any religious or political views his son held, saying he didn’t know. Asked whether he missed his son, he said: “I don’t miss anything about him. What he did was against humanity.”

Thirty-nine of the dead were killed at the club, and the others died at hospitals, the mayor said. By Monday morning, families of 24 of the victims had been notified, Dyer said.

Workers removed the bodies four at a time on stretchers and loaded them into white vans. The action was repeated over and over. The covered bodies were taken to the county medical examiner’s office. All were there by 11 p.m., Dyer said.

At least 53 people were hospitalized, including five in grave condition, meaning the death toll could rise.

On Monday morning, officials emphasized that there was no immediate threat to the public.

The shooting started about 2 a.m., with more than 300 people inside the Pulse, where it was Latin night.

“He had an automatic rifle, so nobody stood a chance,” said Jackie Smith, who saw two friends next to her get shot. “I just tried to get out of there.”

Jon Alamo had been dancing for hours when he wandered into the club’s main room just in time to see the gunman. “You ever seen how Marine guys hold big weapons, shooting from left to right? That’s how he was shooting at people,” he said.

“My first thought was, ‘Oh, my God, I’m going to die,'” Alamo said. “I was praying to God that I would live to see another day.”

Pulse patron Eddie Justice texted his mother, Mina: “Mommy I love you. In club they shooting.” About 30 minutes later, hiding in a bathroom, he texted her: “He’s coming. I’m gonna die.”

Justice’s name would eventually be added to the list of the dead.

On the same day as the Orlando attack, an Indiana man armed with three assault rifles and chemicals used to make explosives was arrested in Southern California and told police he was headed to a West Hollywood gay pride parade, authorities said.

The previous deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history was the 2007 attack at Virginia Tech, where a student killed 32 people and took his own life.

Mateen was not unknown to law enforcement: In 2013, he made inflammatory comments to co-workers and was interviewed twice, according to FBI agent Ronald Hopper, who called the interviews inconclusive. In 2014, Hopper said, officials found that Mateen had ties to an American suicide bomber, but the agent described the contact as minimal, saying it did not constitute a threat at the time.

Mateen bought at least two guns legally within the last week or so, according to Trevor Velinor of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

Mateen exchanged gunfire with 14 police officers at the club and took hostages at one point. In addition to the assault rifle and handgun, he had a weapon in his vehicle, police said.

Police Chief John Mina said officers held back for some time because Mateen indicated he had a bomb vest. About 5 a.m., authorities sent in a SWAT team to rescue the remaining club-goers, Mina said.

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

America Commemorates Memorial Day

Columbia, SC (WLTX) - It's Memorial Day, a time set aside for America to remember its men and women who died to give us all our freedoms and liberties.

The exact origin of Memorial Day is somewhat in dispute, but most sources say it began after the Civil War to honor those killed in that conflict. At least one account says freed slaves in Charleston, South Carolina were the first to mark the occasion, when they celebrated the end of the war in 1865.

First known as "Decoration Day," the first official proclamation of the holiday was made in 1868 by an organization of Northern veterans which said that people should celebrate the day on May 30. It would remain on that exact date for almost 100 years.

In the 1880s, people began to refer to it as Memorial Day, and over time (particularly after World War I) that became the adopted standard. It wasn't until 1967, however, that federal law officially named it "Memorial Day."

A year later, Congress passed a measure which made the official observance of Memorial Day on the last Monday in May, rather than always on May 30.

Over the years, of course, the day has also become a time when Americans spend time with their families as the summer travel season begins.

But of course, we want to honor the true meaning of the day, and it's within that spirit that News19 joins everyone across the nation in recognizing the sacrifice of America's fighting forces.

source: wltx.com

Clinton, in ‘dead heat’ with Trump, offers sharper contrast

WASHINGTON, United States — Hillary Clinton tried to draw a sharper contrast with Donald Trump on Sunday, saying the central message of her campaign was “We’re stronger together,” even as a new poll showed the two candidates in a statistical tie.

The new Washington Post/ABC News survey found the presidential frontrunners in “a virtual dead heat” among registered voters.

Never in the poll’s history, The Post said, had two major party nominees been viewed as harshly, with nearly 6 in 10 voters holding negative impressions of both candidates.

That underscored a growing sense of urgency in the Clinton campaign to define her both more clearly and positively — a task made harder by her inability to shake off her tenacious Democratic rival, Bernie Sanders.

Clinton, in an appearance on NBC, challenged Trump’s “Make America Great” slogan, suggesting that “he seems to be particularly focused on making himself appear great.”

The former secretary of state said her campaign would be “demonstrating the hollowness of his rhetoric, and the danger of a lot of what he has said.”

‘We’re stronger together’

Asked to sum up her own message, Clinton said, “We’re stronger together.”

She said Americans needed to unify and work together to improve the economy. “We’re stronger together when we have a bipartisan, even nonpartisan foreign policy that protects our country. And that provides the kind of steady, strong, smart leadership that the rest of the world expects.”

But the new poll seemed to show that if Americans are united about anything, it is in their dissatisfaction with the two leading candidates.

What is shaping up to be the nastiest American presidential campaign in recent memory is beginning with voters expressing historically deep and practically identical levels of discomfort with both Trump and Clinton.

This has shaken up some in the Democratic camp, who assumed Trump would be an easy target, and it has provided encouragement to Sanders, the Vermont senator who trails Clinton but keeps winning primaries.

Appearing on Sunday talk shows, Sanders pleaded with the hundreds of the party’s so-called super-delegates who support Clinton to reconsider their allegiance ahead of the Democratic nominating convention in late July.

A frequent critic of the Democrats’ selection process, he said the party was headed for an “anointment” of Clinton.

As the race for the White House grows closer, Clinton supporters and some Democratic Party leaders have made increasingly insistent calls for Sanders to step aside and let Clinton turn her full attention to Trump.

But Sanders vowed yet again on Sunday to stay in the race at least until California, the most populous state, stages its primary on June 7.

The Post/ABC poll found the two leading candidates are in a statistical dead heat, with 46 percent of registered voters favoring Trump and 44 percent supporting Clinton.

That amounted to an 11-point shift in the Republican’s favor since March.

Clinton’s net negative rating among registered voters was a minus 16, virtually the same as Trump’s minus 17, though his negatives were significantly higher among all adults.

Positive ratings

Voters gave Sanders the most positive ratings of the three, with a net positive of 8 points among registered voters.

But Clinton suggested on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the Sanders numbers might be meaningless, because early polls are often unreliable and because Sanders has not borne the brunt of the intense scrutiny that she has faced for decades.

“I don’t think he’s ever had a single negative ad against him,” she said. “That’s fine, but we know what we’re going into and understand what it’s going to take to win in the fall.

“Finally, I would say that polls this far out mean nothing. They certainly mean nothing to me.”

Voters also continued to express positive views of President Obama, to whom Clinton has closely tied her campaign, giving him a 51-percent approval rating.

Clinton has largely aligned herself with Obama — while taking her distance on issues like trade with Asia — but said Sunday that she is her own person.

“I’m not running for anybody’s third term,” she said on NBC. “I’m running for my first term. I also want to do what works. My goal is to produce positive results for the American people.”

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Jimmy Kimmel launches ‘campaign’ for US veep

NEW YORK — Late-night comic Jimmy Kimmel says he’s looking for a new job — vice president of the United States.

The ABC jokester launched his “campaign” on his show Thursday with a speech on Hollywood Boulevard. Kimmel says “it’s time to take our country back! From whom? I don’t know, but I want it back.”

He’s not the first comic to lampoon politics in such a manner: Pat Paulsen got laughs for his bid for president in 1968, and Stephen Colbert launched a short-lived campaign before the 2008 election.

Kimmel says he’d never stop fighting for his fellow Americans, unless “Game of Thrones” is on, then he’d stop for as long as it takes for him to figure out what’s going on in the show.

source: entertainment.inquirer.net

Dating website matches Canadians to Americans escaping ‘Trump horror’

A new dating site aims to ‘match’ single Canadians with single Americans who want to break free from the impending terror of a “Trump Presidency” after Republican Party Presidential nominee Donald Trump continued to storm primaries in the United States (US) presidential race.

Joe Goldman, the CEO of love matchmaking site maplematch.com, told Canadian news site Global News that the site was bombarded with heavy traffic and countless signup numbers days after its commencement.

“At this time, we are currently waitlisting users and will begin matching as soon as we are able,” Goldman said. As of this date, 4,150 have signed up for the waitlist. The dating site will soon match people from both countries.

The matchmaking company told the press that no anti-Trump organization or party funded their operations.

The topic “Move to Canada” became a sizzling topic on the internet after Trump’s hiking fame transpired due to his stance on illegal immigration. Gianna Francesca Catolico

source: technology.inquirer.net

Sanders wins Wyoming to extend victory run

NEW YORK, United States — White House hopeful Bernie Sanders extended his winning streak in his bid to pull off a shock and defeat Hillary Clinton, grabbing victory in the Wyoming Democratic caucuses Saturday, US media said.

The state — which is overwhelmingly Republican — awards only 14 delegates, meaning Sanders barely puts a dent in Clinton’s more than 200-delegate lead, but it gives the self-described democratic socialist another morale boost, ahead of the crucial New York primary on April 19.

The Vermont senator won 56 percent of the Wyoming vote to 44 percent for Clinton, CNN projected, with most ballots counted.

Clinton though remains the clear frontrunner for the Democratic party ticket for November’s general election, but Sanders has the momentum and has enjoyed a string of successes at the polls.

Speaking to supporters in New York, Sanders broke into his speech to say to cheers: “All right. News bulletin. We just won Wyoming.”

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

What Americans think of AlDub, Eat Bulaga's Kalyeserye

Since the phenomenal love team of Alden Richards and Maine "Yaya Dub" Mendoza broke the internet, more and more people are getting wind of Eat Bulaga's KalyeSerye.

News and lifestyle website BuzzFeed uploaded a video Friday of Americans reacting to AlDub. The video has gained over 10,000 views on YouTube as of this writing.

The Americans whom BuzzFeed invited totally had no idea about the love team at first, with some of them thinking AlDub was a gasoline station or a cute dolphin.

After the first Kalyeserye episode was shown to them, a lot of the reactions were positive.

"He's totally hot," said one woman of Alden Richards.

"This show is totally electric. I don't know what the (expletive) is going on, but it's just like a whirlwind of fun (expletive)," another man mused.

"Say goodbye to your 'Desperate Housewives,' your 'Parks and Recreation,' throw that (expletive) out. Eat Bulaga is coming to the States," the same man added.

—Raffy Cabristante/ALG, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com

Republican candidates Bush and Trump clash over 9/11 remarks

WASHINGTON - Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush transitioned from defense to offense on Sunday after criticism from rival Donald Trump that his brother, former President George W. Bush, carried some blame for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Trump, the flamboyant front-runner in the 15-candidate Republican field, once again provoked a tit-for-tat with Bush on Friday by saying his brother must share some of the blame for the attacks that occurred during his first year in office.

"Look, my brother responded to a crisis, and he did it as you would hope a president would do," Bush said on CNN's "State of the Union."

"The great majority of Americans believe that. And I don't know why he keeps bringing this up."

Bush said Trump's comments about the Sept. 11 attacks called his credibility into question. The former Florida governor attacked Trump's foreign policy credentials and compared his grip on international issues to a reality television show the billionaire businessman formerly hosted.

"Across the spectrum of foreign policy, Mr. Trump talks about things that -- as though he's still on 'The Apprentice,'" Bush said on CNN.

"Talking about Syria - saying ISIS should take out (Syrian President Bashar al-Assad), then Russia should take out ISIS, as though it was some kind of board game and not a serious approach," he said.

Trump doubled down on his comments during an appearance on "Fox News Sunday," using a oft-repeated Jeb Bush phrase - that his brother "kept us safe" - against him.

"Jeb said 'we were safe with my brother. We were safe.' Well the World Trade Center just fell down," Trump said on Fox.

"I'm not blaming George Bush, but I don't want Jeb Bush to say 'my brother kept us safe,' because September 11th was one of the worst days in the history of this country."

Bush has defended his brother's actions after the Sept. 11 attacks, but his campaign has kept its distance from the unpopular president indelibly linked to the unpopular Iraq war.

He mocked Trump's comments and likened them to blaming President Franklin D. Roosevelt for the World War Two attack on Pearl Harbor.

"Next week, Mr. Trump is probably going to say that FDR was around when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor," he said. "It's what you do after that matters. And that's the sign of leadership." — Reuters

US warns of global ‘terror’ threat after French attacks

The United States on Friday warned Americans to beware of "terrorist actions and violence" all over the world, following the attacks on the Charlie Hebdo magazine and a Jewish supermarket in Paris.

"Recent terrorist attacks, whether by those affiliated with terrorist entities, copycats, or individual perpetrators, serve as a reminder that US citizens need to maintain a high level of vigilance and take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness," the State Department said.

The advisory is an update to its "Worldwide Caution" from October 10, 2014 and comes after three days of bloodshed in France that started on Wednesday when heavily armed Islamist gunmen burst into the offices of Charlie Hebdo and killed 12 people.

Four people were then killed Friday at a Jewish supermarket in Paris.

The State Department statement said that US-led coalition bombing raids on the radical Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria made US nationals and interests a target for reprisals, "especially in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and Asia." — Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com

On Fourth of July holiday, Obama urges immigration overhaul

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama told Americans on the Independence Day holiday on Friday that welcoming immigrants to the United States is "central to our way of life" as he made an impassioned argument for a new immigration policy.

"We have to fix our immigration system, which is broken, and pass common-sense immigration reform," Obama said at a White House ceremony for 25 foreign-born men and women who gained American citizenship for their service in the US military.

Obama is struggling on two fronts in the immigration debate.

His drive for Congress to pass a comprehensive immigration overhaul this year collapsed when House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, the top Republican in Washington, told him the House would not hold a vote.

Along the southern US border in Texas, Obama's administration is attempting to get a handle on the tens of thousands of children from Central America who have flooded into the country, straining resources and leading to Republican criticism that Obama is not doing enough to stop the surge.

The twin challenges have put Obama in a difficult position. While he has vowed to take executive actions on his own to make it easier for undocumented people to remain in the United States, he says most of the recent migrants will be sent home.

This has upset immigration advocacy groups who support him and see the new migrants as victims of gang violence in their home countries.

Obama's remarks in the White House East Room underscored his message that the United States would be a weaker nation without immigrants.

"The basic idea of welcoming immigrants to our shores is central to our way of life," Obama said. "It's in our DNA. ... We shouldn't be making it harder for the best and brightest to come here."

Obama is scheduled to visit Texas next week to participate in events to raise money for Democratic candidates in the November congressional elections. But he will resist Republican pressure to visit the border, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Friday.

At the White House ceremony, 25 people were sworn in as citizens. They came from 15 countries ranging from Australia to Guatemala to the Philippines to Ukraine. —Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com