The Serious Side - part 4

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5415197/Pennsylvania-church-bless-couples-toting-AR-15-rifles.html

[size=34]Pennsylvania church urges couples to take their AR-15s to a commitment ceremony because the rifles 'represent the biblical rod of iron mentioned in the Book of Revelation'[/size]

• A branch of the Unification Church is encouraging couples to take part in a blessing with their rifles in tow
  
  
• The church says that AR-15s symbolize 'rods of iron' mentioned in the Book of Revelation
  
  
• Area parents are concerned about how close the ceremony is to a local elementary school - especially in the wake of the Parkland, Florida shooting
  
  
• The Unification Church is often described as a cult but outside observers 
  
  

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
PUBLISHED: 17:58 EST, 20 February 2018 | UPDATED: 11:07 EST, 23 February 2018



A Pennsylvania-based offshoot of the Unification Church is encouraging couples to bring their AR-15 rifles with them to a commitment ceremony in the Pocono Mountains, a half-mile from an elementary school.
World Peace and Unification Sanctuary in Newfoundland, Pennsylvania, says it planned the Feb. 28 ceremony long before last week's massacre at a Florida high school. Authorities say the alleged shooter used an AR-15.
Tim Elder of the Unification Sanctuary said Tuesday that the church believes the AR-15 symbolizes the 'rod of iron' mentioned in the Bible's apocalyptic book of Revelation. 


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The Unification Church (led by Hyung-Jin Moon and his wife, above) is holding a blessing that encourages believers in Pennsylvania to bring along rifles - the church claims the guns are referred to in the Bible

RELATED ARTICLES

'This will be a big thing for us. It's a new stage for us because it incorporates the rod of iron, as it is in Revelations. Revelations talks about the returning Christ ruling with the rod of iron,' Elder said. 
'This rod of iron is the AR-15, in today's terms,' he added. 
Up to 600 people are expected to attend the ceremony according to WNEP.
Some parents are expressing alarm, but Elder says the weapons will be unloaded and secured. 


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The controversy arises from the fact that the ceremony will take place near a school, soon after the Parkland Florida shootings, concerning area parents
'It's something I would consider keeping my child home. It's scary,' said Liz Zoccola.
'I wish they wouldn't have it at all. I don't think there's a good time to have it, especially this close,' Kendra Hanor added.
The leader of the church is Hyung-Jin Moon. The church leader's father is the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church, which often is described as a cult.

..... Ok I think I’m going throw up now 

Carolhathaway - I was speaking with more than a hint of sarcasm. After all, we know just because Trump says something doesn't mean he believes it or will do it. He changes his mind every 5 minutes. Arming teachers is the idea of the day. Who knows? Tomorrow he may suggest boot camp for kindergarteners. He's an idiot!

Now I've seen everything! Bringing automatic weapons into a church? for a wedding? Were they afraid one of them might try to back out? Lord, this world is full of sick people! (And it just struck me that they're the ones with all the guns.)

This is superb.

People are cancelling their Amazon Prime accounts because Amazon hosrs NRA tv channels!!

https://twitter.com/Ike_Saul/status/967151642574548998

That is freaking awesome.

http://www.newsweek.com/twitter-amazon-jeff-bezos-nra-816871

https://twitter.com/shannoncoulter/status/967193318823096320/photo/1

http://deadline.com/2018/02/alyssa-milano-nra-tv-video-channel-amazon-boycott-hollywood-1202300178/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5429107/Mormon-parents-girl-killed-Florida-speak-out.html

[size=34]'When families break down, that's where problems begin': Mormon parents of 14-year-old girl killed in Florida shooting say better family values, not gun control, are needed to stop another school massacre[/size]

• Ryan and Kelly Petty told the Deseret News they hope those seeking change in the aftermath of the tragedy consider 'policies that strengthen families'
  
  
• The couple's daughter Alaina, 14, died in last week's Florida school shooting
  
  
• They said she was expecting to leave school early that day to go to an orthodontist appointment
  
  
• Ryan added that his faith has helped him not be angry after the tragedy and focus on his three other children
  
  
• 1,500 attended Alaina's funeral and the Army awarded her its Medal of Heroism
  
  
• One of her Mormon friends, Madeleine Wilford, was also shot by 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz four times but survived her injuries
  
  

By GERMANIA RODRIGUEZ FOR DAILYMAIL.COM 
PUBLISHED: 20:14 EST, 23 February 2018 | UPDATED: 08:21 EST, 24 February 2018

    






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Alaina Petty, 14, died in last week's Florida school shooting
The Mormon parents of a 14-year-old girl killed in last week's Florida school shooting think better family values - not gun control - could have saved their daughter's life, they said in a new interview. 
Ryan and Kelly Petty told the Deseret News they believe admitted shooter Nikolas Cruz, 19, is responsible for the loss of their daughter Alaina, but they also think he wasn't given the love and support he needed after his adoptive parents died.
While many blame the shooting on weak gun control, and others such as President Trump suggest arming teachers is the solution, the Pettys think help for families is the way to stop the mass shootings epidemic.

'Strong families are vital to a peaceful, functioning society,' Ryan said.
'When families break down, that's where the problems begin. We need legislators and policymakers to pass legislation and create policies that strengthen families.' 
'We wish and believe, that if somebody had been able to put their arms around him and show him some compassion and love to the extent that would have enabled him to get some help, things may have been very different last week.'
Alaina's parents are still piecing together what happened to their daughter. They said she was in her English class expecting to get picked up in about 30 minutes for an orthodontist appointment when Cruz walked into the high school and unleashed a bloodbath.


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Ryan and Kelly Petty told the Deseret News they hope those seeking change in the aftermath of the tragedy consider 'policies that strengthen families'. They are pictured with daughter Alaina, daughter Meghan, 19, son Ian, 22, and son Patrick, 17


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Alaina's funeral on February 19 was attended by 1,500, and the U.S. Army awarded her its Medal of Heroism
Their 17-year-old son Patrick, also a student at Stoneman Douglas High School, texted Kelly: 'There's a shooter on campus.'
Alaina, however, never answered her mother's texts. 
As they waited for news of their daughter at the Marriott Hotel, the Pettys began hearing details about the shooter, who lost his adoptive mother last November and had a history of violent and threatening behavior.
'Having a strong family is the most important thing, to have support and love and to learn right from wrong,' said Kelly.
'When children don't have that, sometimes they end up doing really bad things. If strong families were encouraged more and fought for more, more kids could be helped and not fall by the wayside and not do things like last week.' 
Ten hours after the shooting, the Pettys found out Alaina had died. 
'There are no words to fill the hole we feel in our lives,' Ryan told the Deseret News.
He added that while his family is 'saddened' Cruz didn't receive help before he decided to unleash the massacre, they are not removing any responsibility for the choices he made.
Ryan also said that when he watched media coverage of previous school shootings he thought he would be angry if it happened to him, but now, aided by his strong faith, he feels a sense of peace.


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'If strong families were encouraged more and fought for more, more kids could be helped and not fall by the wayside and not do things like last week,' said Alaina's mom Kelly.


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The Pettys said their daughter was expecting to leave school early the day of the shooting to go to an orthodontist appointment (Alaina's siblings pose with authorities of the Mormon church on February 16)



'I'm amazed I haven't felt angry.
'We're choosing to focus on our eternal family,' said Ryan, who, aside from Patrick, also shares 22-year-old Ian and 19-year-old Meghan with Kelly.
Alaina's funeral was attended by 1,500, and the U.S. Army awarded her its Medal of Heroism.
She was part of her school's Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps. The Perrys said that at first they thought their daughter was just trying to get out of P.E., but soon saw her running 5ks, obstacle courses and mile runs with a 30-pound backpack.
The dedicated girl attended Mormon Church seminary courses at 6am before going to school, and JROTC until 5.30pm. When Hurricane Irma struck Florida, she volunteered to help others with the group Mormon Helping Hands.
'Alaina always did more than the physical work. She was just caring. She would do anything she could to make the families feel safe and to help them emotionally, too, to feel better,' friend Hannah Beardall told the Deseret News.
One of Alaina's Mormon friends, Madeleine Wilford, was shot by Cruz four times but survived her injuries, which included a collapsed lung, and returned home on Wednesday.
Through tears, Madeleine said Alaine was 'amazing' and that she loved her. 
'I loved her,' she said. 'She always lit up the room. She was always so lighthearted and spirited. She always made people laugh. It was rough losing her, finding out she was dead. I know she's in a good place.' 
Speaking to the Deseret News, 17-year-old Madeleine shared her experience that tragic day, saying 'all of a sudden shots went off' when she was in her AP Psychology class.

RELATED ARTICLES

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5430373/Father-school-shooting-survivor-son-blasts-CNN.html

[size=34]Father of school shooting survivor who claims CNN gave his son 'scripted' town hall question is accused of doctoring emails with the producer[/size]

• Colton Haab, 17, refused to attend CNN’s town hall after claiming that CNN executive producer Carrie Stevenson scripted a question for him
  
  
• His father Glenn Haab shared an email exchange between him and Stevenson with Fox News and HuffPost
  
  
• CNN then released a different version of the exchange between the pair to Business Insider which shows the email was doctored
  
  
• Trump weighed in on the controversy tweeting 'Just like so much of CNN, Fake News. That's why their ratings are so bad! MSNBC may be worse'
  
  

By MICHELLE GANNEY FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 11:06 EST, 24 February 2018 | UPDATED: 13:04 EST, 24 February 2018

    


The father of a student who survived the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Florida has been accused of doctoring emails with a CNN producer. 
Colton Haab, 17, claimed that CNN executive producer Carrie Stevenson scripted a question for him to ask lawmakers in Sunrise, Florida on Wednesday.
Haab's father, Glenn Haab, sent a Word document of his email exchange with Stevenson to Fox News and HuffPost, reported Daily News.


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Glenn Haab's son survived the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Florida
However, a CNN source then released a different version of the exchange between the pair to Business Insider.

President Trump used this as an opportunity to attack the media as he tweeted on Friday 'Just like so much of CNN, Fake News. That's why their ratings are so bad! MSNBC may be worse,' he wrote early Friday. 
A CNN spokesperson said in a statement that Glenn was trying to 'discredit CNN and the town hall with doctored emails.'


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Colton Haab, 17, claimed that CNN executive producer Carrie Stevenson scripted a question for him to ask lawmakers in Sunrise, Florida on Wednesday
In both versions of the email, Stevenson rejects a speech the teen wrote and tries to pin the teenager down to one question she typed out 'so that we can get to as many people as possible.'
Colton said he refused to attend CNN’s town hall on the massacre because he was asked to read scripted questions. 
'CNN had originally asked me to write a speech and questions, and it ended up being all scripted,' he said. 



Eliza Relman from Business Insider shared the email exchange between CNN and Glenn Habb's


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In both versions of the email, Stevenson rejects a speech the teen wrote and tries to pin the teenager down to one question she typed out 'so that we can get to as many people as possible'


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Colton Haab told Fox News host Tucker Carlson that CNN producers asked him to recite a scripted question
Glenn said, 'We are not actors nor do we read from a script…I[f] you want Colton only to read this one short question — we are not the right people for your town hall meeting.'
Colton helped 60 to 70 people hide in a Junior ROTC room at the school when Nikolas Cruz started his deadly rampage at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.



'I didn’t think it was going to stop (the bullets) but it would definitely slow it down to make it from a catastrophic to a lifesaving thing,' he said.
Cruz, 19, was armed with an AR-15 rifle when he shot dead 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14.


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President Trump used this as an opportunity to attack the media as he tweeted on Friday 'Just like so much of CNN, Fake News. That's why their ratings are so bad! MSNBC may be worse,'


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Nikolas Cruz, 19, faces court after shooting dead 17 people 

http://people.com/politics/florida-school-shooting-slams-melania-trump-anti-bullying/




[size=14][size=14]17 Killed in Florida High School Mass Shooting
Seventeen people were killed in a mass shooting at a Florida high school Wednesday afternoon, Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel announced Wednesday


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DEPUTY ASSIGNED TO FLA. SCHOOL RESIGNS AFTER VIDEO SHOWS HE STAYED OUTSIDE DURING SHOOTING[/size]
DAVE QUINN 
February 24, 2018 12:07 PM
A survivor of the deadly Florida high school shooting is asking First Lady Melania Trump to take her fight against cyber bullying to her step-son Donald Trump, Jr., after he promoted disturbing and false conspiracy theories about her family online.
Lauren Hogg — a 14-year-old student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida — where 17 people were shot and killed by a alleged 19-year-old gunman earlier this month — wrote an impassioned series of tweets to the FLOTUS on Friday.
Lauren’s brother David Hogg, 17, has been an outspoken voice seeking stricter gun control legislation in the wake of the Feb. 14 shooting. A student journalist, he recorded the attack in real time on his cell phone while also interviewing those huddled closest to him about how terrified they felt. He’s since appeared on news networks like CNN and programs like CBS’ Meet the Press to talk about the tragedy, leading the #NeverAgain gun control movement and challenging politicians and companies to no longer accept money from the NRA.


RELATED: Students, Staff, Heroes: Here Are the Victims of the Florida High School Mass Shooting
Since then, critics online have alleged that David was a crisis actor coached in his anti-Trump activism by his retired FBI agent father — conspiracy theories that drew more attention when Trump, Jr. “liked” them on Twitter.
The Hoggs’ mother, Rebecca Boldrick, has said the family has received death threats. “I’m under so much stress,” Boldrick told The Washington Post. “I’m angry and exhausted. Angry, exhausted and extremely proud.”


[/size]

23 Feb

Lauren Hogg@lauren_hoggs
[ltr]Hey @FLOTUS you say that your mission as First Lady is to stop cyber bullying, well then, don’t you think it would have been smart to have a convo with your step-son @DonaldJTrumpJr before he liked a post about a false conspiracy theory which in turn put a target on my back[/ltr]

Lauren Hogg@lauren_hoggs

[ltr]&created a safe space for people all over the world to call me and my family horrific things that constantly re-victimizes us and our community. I’m 14 I should never have had to deal with any of this and even though I thought it couldn’t get worse it has because of your family.[/ltr]
11:36 AM - Feb 23, 2018

• 
  
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  9,780 people are talking about this
  
  

[size][ltr]
Twitter Ads info and privacy

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Actions like that have “put a target on” Lauren’s back, she says.
“Hey @FLOTUS you say that your mission as First Lady is to stop cyber bullying,” Lauren wrote on Twitter. “Well then, don’t you think it would have been smart to have a convo with your step-son @DonaldJTrumpJr before he liked a post about a false conspiracy theory which in turn put a target on my back and created a safe space for people all over the world to call me and my family horrific things that constantly re-victimizes us and our community?”
“I’m 14. I should never have had to deal with any of this,” she continued. “Even though I thought it couldn’t get worse, it has because of your family.”
RELATED VIDEO: Melania Trump Gives Anti-Bullying Speech at the U.N.





Days before her husband was elected president, Melania Trump vowed that, if she became first lady, she would work to end the “absolutely unacceptable” social media bullying in America.
She has since headed to the U.N. to talk about the cause, in a speech the Twitterverse found more than a little ironic back in September.
“It remains our generation’s moral imperative to take responsibility for what our children learn. We must turn our focus right now to the message and content they are exposed to on a daily basis — social media, the bullying,” Melania said at an event for spouses of world leaders at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations.
“When we join together as parents caring for children, whether they live in our own families, across the street, across the nation, or across the globe, we claim our responsibility to the next generation to ensure they are prepared to accept the torch of leadership for the world of tomorrow.”
RELATED VIDEO: PEOPLE Writer Natasha Stoynoff Breaks Silence, Accuses Donald Trump of Sexual Attack





Melania’s husband, President Donald Trump, often uses social media to bash critics in harsh personal terms.
In June, Melania defended her husband (via a spokesperson) after he attacked Morning Joe anchor Mika Brzezinski on Twitter, claiming she’s “low I.Q.,” “crazy,” and alleging he once saw her “bleeding badly from a face-lift.”
“When her husband gets attacked, he will punch back 10 times harder,” the first lady’s spokeswoman said at the time.[/size]

Is Colton Haab perhaps feeling a bit under-appreciated? As a ROTC member he probably doesn't travel in the same circles as the kids who are organizing the movement. Maybe they didn't include him in their plans, or maybe he didn't want to work with them. Who knows? But it seems he's feeling that he didn't get enough attention for what he did. Maybe he's right, but because of the way he's acting it sounds more like sour grapes to me.

As far as appealing to Melania Trump goes, I wouldn't waste my breath. I think she just spends her time trying to stay out of the way of the Trump clan.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5430713/Delta-United-cut-ties-NRA-Florida-school-shooting.html

[size=34]Delta and United end their discounts for NRA members as the number of companies to cut ties with the gun lobby rises to FOURTEEN[/size]

• Four rental car companies, two insurers, two hotel chains and a bank are among the companies to shun the gun lobby
  
  
• Nearly two dozen corporations nationwide offer incentives to NRA members 
  
  
• #BoycottNRA was the second most trending topic on Twitter Friday afternoon 
  
  
• Two major airlines, Delta and United, announced on Saturday they were severing ties with the powerful gun lobby
  
  
• Soon after both airlines were trending on Twitter after they announced they would no longer provide discounts to NRA members  
  
  

By JESSICA FINN  and SNEJANA FARBEROV FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 12:43 EST, 24 February 2018 | UPDATED: 13:00 EST, 24 February 2018



Delta and United Airlines have joined a growing chorus of US companies distancing themselves from the National Rifle Association in the wake of the latest school massacre in Florida.
The major airlines tweeted they are each ending the discounted trips NRA members previously enjoyed and want the lobbying group to remove the airlines' information from its website. 
Petitions are circulating online targeting companies that offer discounts to NRA members on its website.
#BoycottNRA was the second most trending topic on Twitter on Friday. 

On Saturday United and Delta were trending. 


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National Rifle Association Executive Vice President and CEO Wayne LaPierre (pictured) spoke about the school shooting on Thursday as growing number of US companies distance themselves from the lobby group


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Members of the gun lobby have access to special offers from partner companies on its website, ranging from life insurance to wine clubs. 
But American companies have been publicly severing ties to the powerful gun-lobbying group since the shooting on February 14 where 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz murdered 14 children and three school staffers in a brutal shooting spree with an AR-15 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. 
For a third consecutive day, companies listed on the site have cut ties to the NRA as it aggressively resists calls for stricter gun control in the wake of the mass shooting in  Parkland, Florida.
 The rental car company Hertz tweeted on Friday that it has notified the NRA that it is ending the lobby's discount program with Hertz.


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The rental car company Hertz tweeted on Friday that it has notified the NRA that it is ending the lobby's discount program




Insurer Chubb Ltd. said was ending participation in the NRA's gun-owner Carry Guard insurance program but it provided notice three months ago


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The insurance company MetLife Inc. discontinued its discount program with the NRA on Friday


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First National Bank of Omaha, one of the nation's largest privately held banks, announced that it would not renew a co-branded Visa credit-card with the NRA

[size=34]LIST OF COMPANIES THAT CUT TIES TO NRA:[/size]

• Hertz
  
• Chubb 
  
• Met Life
  
• Symantec
  
• Teladoc
  
• Simplisafe
  
• Best Western
  
• Wyndham Hotels
  
• Alamo Rent A Car
  
• National Rent A Car
  
• Enterprise Rent A Car
  
• First National Bank of Omaha
  
• Delta Airlines
  
• United Airlines 
  

The insurance company MetLife Inc. also discontinued its discount program with the NRA on Friday. 
The software company Symantec Corp., which makes Norton Antivirus technology, did the same.


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National Rifle Association Executive Vice President and CEO Wayne LaPierre said at the Conservative Political Action Conference that those advocating for stricter gun control were exploiting the Florida shooting
Insurer Chubb Ltd. said Friday it was ending participation in the NRA's gun-owner Carry Guard insurance program, but it provided notice three months ago. The program that provided coverage for people involved in gun-related incidents or accidents had been under scrutiny by regulators over marketing issues.
Those defections arrived a day after the car rental company Enterprise Holdings, which also owns Alamo and National, said it was cutting off discounts for NRA members. 
First National Bank of Omaha, one of the nation's largest privately held banks, announced that it would not renew a co-branded Visa credit-card with the NRA.
Nearly two dozen corporations nationwide offer incentives to NRA members, according to ThinkProgress.com, a news site owned by the Center for American Progress Action Fund. 
Amazon.com Inc and other online streaming platforms are also facing demands to drop the online video channel NRATV, featuring programming produced by the group.
Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, founded after 20 first-graders were shot and killed at a school in Connecticut in December 2012, sent letters to Apple Inc, AT&T Inc , Amazon, Alphabet Inc's Google and Roku Inc on Friday, asking them to drop NRATV from their products. None of the companies immediately responded to requests for comment on the letters.

[size=18]NRA's Wayne LaPierre calls for armed guards in schools

[/size]




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#BoycottNRA was the second most trending topic on Twitter



Comedian Tommy Campbell applauded the boycott but called on politicians to follow suit



There was also plenty of backlash on Twitter in response to the NRA boycott 


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Some supporters of the gun lobby rushed to join the NRA in response to the calls for a boycott
'We have been just disgusted by NRATV since its beginning,' Shannon Watts, founder of the Moms Demand Action group, told Reuters. 
'It really propagates dangerous misinformation and inflammatory rhetoric. 
'It tries to pit Americans against one another, all in an attempt to further their agenda of selling guns.' 
David Hogg, one of the outspoken student survivors of last week's attack who launched the #NeverAgain anti-gun violence movement, said the students would target any company with ties to the NRA, in addition to lawmakers who accept donations. 

RELATED ARTICLES

NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre said in a blistering speech delivered on Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference that those advocating for stricter gun control are exploiting the Florida shooting which killed 17 people, mostly high-school students.
'Evil walks among us and God help us if we don't harden our schools and protect our kids,' LaPierre said.
'The whole idea from some of our opponents that armed security makes us less safe is completely ridiculous.'


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Parkland school shooting survivor David Hogg, who launched the #NeverAgain anti-gun violence movement, said the students would target any company with ties to the NRA
President Donald Trump has aligned himself with the NRA, suggesting some teachers could be armed so that they could fire on any attacker.
American corporations are moving in the other direction.
On Friday, a large Wall Street money management firm said that it wanted to engage with major weapons manufacturers about what comes next.
Blackrock Inc., which manages $6trillion in assets, has become one of the largest stakeholders gun manufacturers like Sturm Ruger & Co., American Outdoor Brands Corp. and Vista Outdoor Inc. through indirect investments. 
The money is placed in index funds, so Blackrock cannot sell shares of individual companies within the index. Its fund clients invest in indexes that might contain companies like Ruger.
On Friday, spokesman Ed Sweeney said Blackrock will be 'engaging with weapons manufacturers and distributors to understand their response to recent events.'
Blackrock, through indirect investments, holds a 16.18 percent stake in Sturm Ruger, an 11.91 per cent stake in Vista, and a 10.5 percent stake in American Outdoor, according to the data firm Factset.
Shares of gun companies mostly fell in trading Friday.

There's a very interesting article titled How to Stop Violence by Laura L. Hayes on Slate.com. Her theory, backed by research, is that mental illness isn't the cause of these shootings - it's anger, and an inability to channel anger into acceptable actions. Makes a lot of sense.

It's a long, fairly serious read but worth it.

Random thought: As a teacher who thinks Donald Trump is the greatest threat to our children, he might want to think twice about putting a gun in my hands. Just sayin".

It definitely sounds right , look at the people who will shoot you because of road rage.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5431001/Trump-tweets-shootings-wouldnt-happen-armed-teachers.html

[size=34]Trump insists AGAIN shootings would not happen with armed teachers - and promises yearly bonuses for educators who keep weapons in their classrooms[/size]

• President Trump tweeted on Saturday armed educators would be an 'inexpensive deterrent' compared to paying for more security guards 
  
  
• He floated a concealed carry proposal while hosted grieving students and parents from the Florida school shooting massacre at the White House 
  
  
• Proposed arming up to 20 percent of educators and providing yearly bonuses 
  
  
• He also encouraged new age restrictions for purchasing semi-automatic firearms and the ban of bump stocks
  
  
• Trump said teachers would go through annual training to carry, but didn't elaborate on who would pay for these costs 
  
  
• The NRA disagreed with age restriction increase on Thursday  
  
  

By GEOFF EARLE, DEPUTY U.S. POLITICAL EDITOR and FRANCESCA CHAMBERS, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT FOR DAILYMAIL.COM and DANIELLE ZOELLNER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 15:21 EST, 24 February 2018 | UPDATED: 15:24 EST, 24 February 2018

    


President Donald Trump insisted again on Twitter that armed educators would end school shootings and promised yearly bonuses to those who kept weapons in their classroom.
The president proposed a controversial bill on Wednesday to provide as many as 20 percent of teachers with concealed and carry permits after meeting with students from Marjory Stoneman High School.
He beefed up his proposal saying educators who chose to have weapons in their classroom would receive a 'yearly bonus'.
Neither Trump nor the White House has said who would pay to train them, but the decision would be 'up to states'.

Trump said in a tweet on Saturday: 'Armed Educators (and trusted people who work within a school) lover our students and will protect them. 
'Very smart people. Must be firearms adept & have annual training. Should get yearly bonus. 
'Shootings will not happen again - a big & very inexpensive deterrent. Up to States.' 
Scroll down for video  


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President Donald Trump on doubled down on his controversial proposal to give teachers concealed carry permits on Thursday afternoon - saying as many as 20 percent of educators could be toting guns in some schools


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President Trump (left) shakes the hand of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting survivors Carson Abt (center) and Ariana Klein (right) during a White House listening session on Wednesday 


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President Donald Trump published this tweet Saturday afternoon. He is pushing a proposal for teachers to carry firearms in the classrooms






The president told public officials that he envisioned a force of ex-Army, Navy Coast Guard personnel and Marines like his chief of staff John Kelly carrying concealed weapons on their person.
'You can't hire enough security guards. You would have 100, 150 security guys, 'he told state and local leaders during a White House listening session. 'Who wants that many security guards standing all over the place loaded up with guns? But you could have concealed on the teachers.'




Trump said gun-free zones are to a killer 'like going in for the ice cream,' saying, 'That's like "here I am, take me." '
'And by the way instead of advertising "this school has no guns, we are gun free," you let people know the opposite, nobody's going to attack that school, believe me,' he said. 
Trump explained in his tweet the use of teachers would be a 'very inexpensive deterrent' compared to the cost of extra security guards. 
But only the most 'adept' teachers would be allowed to wield weapons. He insisted every educator would be required to have annual training.   
Trump's initial proposal on Wednesday to arm 20 percent of teachers was criticized as excessive – that's roughly 650,000 of the nation's educators – but the president insisted in a tweet that it would be a 'GREAT DETERRENT' to potential shooters. 
In other tweets earlier this week Trump encouraged the age restriction to be raised to 21 years old for firearm purchases and a ban of bump stocks, which were used during the Las Vegas massacre.




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A listening session was scheduled at the White House this week with President Trump who heard from students, parents and teachers affected by gun violence. 
Trump told the victims his administration would go 'go very strongly to age' restrictions on firearms purchases and 'go very strongly to the mental health aspect' of shootings like the ones at Parkland and Sandy Hook.
But the National Rifle Association (NRA) does not believe the age needs to be increased to stop these massacres from happening. Instead, the increase in age would punish 'law-abiding citizens for the evil acts of criminals'. 
The NRA is currently in hot water from several companies that have previously supported the pro-gun organization.
As of Saturday afternoon, 14 organizations cut ties with the NRA after they were disappointed by its response to the most recent school shooting where 17 people were killed in Parkland, Florida. 


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The policy split played out on the eve of a conservative conference just outside of Washington, D.C. that attracts 10,000 of the movement's most ardent supporters annually, including several thousand students. NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre is seen here skewering ideological opponents of the organization

[size=18]NRA's Wayne LaPierre calls for armed guards in schools



[/size]

NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre spoke during a conservative conference outside Washington D.C. on Thursday after Trump proposed raising the age restriction. 
His appearance came during an influx of gun-control lobbyist attacked the organization and its control over policy in Washington. 
In the speech, LaPierre went hard on his organization's proposal to fill schools with armed guards. The conservative figure did not comment on Trump's idea to turn teachers into a security force or on the age restrictions Trump wants to put on buying some guns.
Trump said later, after a conversation with the organization, that he did think he would find himself in a face-off with the NRA, however.
'I spoke to them, and they're ready to do things. They want to do things,' Trump said at his school safety session. 'The NRA is ready to do things.' 
Asked if he was ready to go up against them, a reference to the dispute over age restrictions, Trump said, 'I don't think I'll be going up against them. I really think the NRA wants to do what's right.'

LizzyNY wrote:There's a very interesting article titled How to Stop Violence by Laura L. Hayes on Slate.com. Her theory, backed by research, is that mental illness isn't the cause of these shootings - it's anger, and an inability to channel anger into acceptable actions. Makes a lot of sense.

It's a long, fairly serious read but worth it.

Random thought: As a teacher who thinks Donald Trump is the greatest threat to our children, he might want to think twice about putting a gun in my hands. Just sayin".

Lizzy I will check out the article.  Thanks.  It should also be noted that men by far are the perpetrators of mass violence.  Add to that their fascination with guns and in general their inability to express emotions (like channeling their anger)  as effectively as women do, and you’ve got an explosive combination.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/09/22/study-guns-owners-violence/90858752/

firearmshttps://edition.cnn.com/2018/02/15/politics/guns-dont-know-how-many-america/index.html

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/09/22/study-guns-owners-violence/90858752/


[size=32]3% of Americans own half the country's 265 million guns[/size]

Rick Jervis, USA TODAYPublished 6:06 p.m. ET Sept. 22, 2016 | Updated 9:42 p.m. ET Sept. 22, 2016




(Photo: Scott Olson, Getty Images)

CONNECT[url=https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=http%3A//usat.ly/2dntQ0G&text=3% of Americans own half the country%27s 265 million guns &via=usatoday]TWEET[/url] 64LINKEDIN 3COMMENTEMAILMORE
Despite steep declines in violent crimes, an estimated 70 million firearms were added to American arsenals the past two decades, according to a new landmark study on gun ownership.
Overall, Americans own an estimated 265 million guns – more than one gun for every American adult, according to the study by researchers at Harvard and Northeastern universities. Half of those guns – 133 million – were in the hands of just 3% of American adults, so-called “super owners” who possessed an average of 17 guns each, it showed.
The survey, the most authoritative since a 1994 study posed similar questions to gun owners, is under peer-review for publication in a trade journal. Summaries of the study were released this week to the Guardian and The Trace news outlets.
The findings include:

• An estimated 55 million Americans own guns.
  
  
• The percentage of the U.S. population who own guns decreased slightly from 25% in 1994 to 22% last year.
  
  
• Between 300,000 and 600,000 guns are stolen each year.
  
  
• Gun owners tend to be white, male, conservative, and live in rural areas.
  
  
• 25% of gun owners in America are white or multi-racial, compared with 16% of Hispanics and 14% of African Americans.
  
  
• There are an estimated 111 million handguns nationwide, a 71% increase from the 65 million handguns in 1994.
  
  

Researchers found that the top reason people owned guns was for protection from other people, even though the rate of violent crime has dropped significantly the past two decades, said Deborah Azrael, director of research at the Harvard Injury Control Research Center and one of the study's authors.
Azrael said the study tried to update numbers and trends that hadn’t been reviewed in two decades. Separate reports on background checks and gun storage, based on the same survey, are scheduled to be released later this year.
“In a country where 35,000 people a year die by firearms, we haven’t been able to come out with a survey on gun violence for 20 years,” she said. “That’s a real failure of public health and public policy.”

Over the years, Congress has pulled funding from agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to deter in-depth reviews of gun violence, said Daniel Webster, a gun violence researcher at Johns Hopkins University.
The Harvard/Northeastern study is important because it examines the number of guns found in respondents' home and their motivation for owning them, he said. “People’s perception of risk and need to have a gun does not correlate with their actual risk,” Webster said. “That’s the most important thing for us to understand.”
The super owners consisted of an estimated 7.7 million Americans and owned between eight and 140 guns each. Nearly half of gun owners owned just one or two guns. Those owners merit further study to try to bring down the nation’s suicide rate, Azrael said
More than half of all suicides in the USA – or about 21,000 a year – are committed with a firearm, according to the CDC.
Philip Cook, a Duke University researcher and co-author of the landmark 1994 study, said Azrael's study is important in further understanding gun deaths and the forces behind them. "The very idea that something as fundamental as many how many Americans own guns is only measured once every 20 years seems surprising," he said. "But that's the world we live in."
Azrael said she was able to tap into funding from the Fund for a Safer Future, a consortium of donors created after the 2011 shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and 18 others near Tucson, Ariz. That fund was further bolstered in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting, where a gunman shot and killed 20 elementary-aged students and seven adults before shooting himself, she said.
The study was based on an online survey of nearly 4,000 Americans conducted in 2015 by market research company GfK, with a nationally representative panel of opt-in participants who are paid to complete surveys, she said.
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5431807/Samuel-L-Jackson-pulls-no-punches-savages-Trump.html

[size=34]'Can someone that's been in a gunfight tell that motherf***** the flaws in his plan': Samuel L Jackson pulls no punches as he savages Trump's idea to stop school shootings by arming teachers[/size]

• Jackson's post, which garnered more than 220,000 likes on Twitter, came after the Donald Trump tweeted highly trained educators should carry guns
  
  
• Trump's proposals said that around 20 per cent of teachers with with military or special training experience should be allowed to carry firearms
  
  
• He later doubled down on the proposal during a speech he delivered at the Conservative Political Action Conference  
  
  
• Nikolas Cruz stormed Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle and murdered 17
  
  

By DAILY MAIL ONLINE REPORTER
PUBLISHED: 22:17 EST, 24 February 2018 | UPDATED: 22:42 EST, 24 February 2018

    


Samuel L. Jackson had some choice words for the President of the United States before the start of the weekend after the commander-in-chief spit-balled a plan to guns in the hands of teachers.  
'Can someone that's been in a Gunfight tell that Muthaf**** that's Never been in a Gunfight, the flaws of his Arm The Teachers plan??!!' Jackson tweeted on Friday.
Jackson's post, which garnered more than 220,000 likes on Twitter, came after the Donald Trump tweeted that armed educators could serve as a deterrent to would-be killers following a deadly school shooting earlier this month.


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Samuel L. Jackson's (Pictured) post, which garnered more than 220,000 likes on Twitter, came after the Donald Trump tweeted highly trained educators should carry guns in the classroom



Trump's proposals said that around 20 per cent of teachers with with military or special training experience should be allowed to carry firearms
On February 14, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz stormed Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle and murdered 17 people in a shocking daytime attack.

Trump first floated the proposal via Twitter on Wednesday saying that around 20 per cent of teachers with with military or special training experience should be allowed to carry firearms in the classroom. 


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On February 14, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz (pictured) stormed Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida and killed 17
He later doubled down on the proposal during a speech he delivered at the Conservative Political Action Conference, telling convention goers:  'A teacher would have shot the hell out' of Cruz. 
'The teachers and the coaches and other people in the building, the dean, the assistant principal, the principal, they love their people, they want to protect these kids,' Trump said on Friday.   
The shooting has led to fierce national debate over the wisdom of current gun-control standards and what steps can be taken to stop mass killings on school campuses in the future.   
Jackson and Trump have gone head-to-head before. In 2016, Jackson accused the real-estate mogul of cheating at golf and that he received a surprise bill from Trump for being a member of one of his courses, according to The Hill. 
Trump later tweeted in response: 'I don't know @SamuelLJackson, to best of my knowledge haven't played golf w/him & think he does too many TV commercials—boring. Not a fan.'

[size=10][size=18]'We have to harden our schools': Trump recommends arming teachers


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President Donald Trump, joined by Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student Carson Abt, right, and Julia Cordover, the student body president at the school




He later doubled down on the proposal during a speech he delivered at the Conservative Political Action Conference
 

I am obviously against that thing
And I would like to say

Can really a teacher kill a kid ?

It's me anything is possible in the world we live in .

What is really scary to me is that there are racist teachers in our schools , giving one a gun even if there are rules 
to when they can use it I don't believe will work.

Trump will do nothing, he is making it clear his only solution is arming teachers not taking the guns out of civilians hands.

While Mr. Trump has said in recent days that he wished to strengthen background checks for people seeking to buy guns, the White House said on Thursday that the president is not currently proposing to close a loophole for sales at gun shows.


Teacher's responses


Arming teachers is not a new concept. The N.R.A. campaigned for it after Sandy Hook. But Mr. Trump’s resurrection of the proposal has come under swift opposition from teachers organizations and law enforcement officials who argue it would put unreasonable burdens on educators while making schools less safe.
Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, said she had held a telephonic town hall on Wednesday night in which she discussed the proposal with 60,000 educators.
“The response was universal, even from educators who are gun owners: Teachers don’t want to be armed, we want to teach,” Ms. Weingarten said. “We don’t want to be, and would never have the expertise needed to be, sharp shooters; no amount of training can prepare an armed teacher to go up against an AR-15.”

Reading here and there I knew about another really tough kid


Brandon Maxfield

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5431723/Mexican-presidents-visit-White-House-postponed-testy-Trump-call.html

[size=34]Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto postpones his visit to the White House after Trump 'loses his temper' during a testy 50-minute phone call[/size]

• Summit between Trump and Enrique Pena Nieto has been postponed
  
  
• The two leaders reportedly had a difficult phone conversation on Tuesday  
  
  
• Impasse reached when Trump refused to say Mexico wouldn't pay for the wall
  
  
• Officials had discussed a meeting in coming weeks, but date had not been set
  
  
• Trump has floated the idea of tariffs or taxes on remittances to pay for wall
  
  

By REUTERS
PUBLISHED: 21:05 EST, 24 February 2018 | UPDATED: 08:10 EST, 25 February 2018

    



US President Donald Trump and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto postponed plans for the Mexican leader's first visit to the White House, after a testy phone call involving Trump's push for a border wall, a senior US official said on Saturday.
'The two leaders agreed now was not the immediate right time for a visit but that they would have their teams continue to talk and work together,' the official said.
Mexican officials had been talking about a summit between Trump and Pena Nieto in the next few weeks, without specifying when.
The two leaders spoke for about 50 minutes on Tuesday, according to the Washington Post, which first reported the delay earlier on Saturday


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Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto (left) is postponing a summit with Trump after the US President reportedly told him he'd keep saying Mexico will pay for the border wall




But the discussion led to an impasse when Trump would not agree to publicly affirm Mexico's position that it would not fund construction of the wall along the US-Mexico border.
A Mexican official said Trump lost his temper during the conversation, the newspaper reported. 
But it said US officials described Trump as frustrated and exasperated, because he believed it was unreasonable for Pena Nieto to want him to back off his campaign promise of forcing Mexico to pay for the wall.
Mexico´s foreign ministry said it had nothing to say about the call, other than a statement on Tuesday that said Trump had expressed condolences for a helicopter crash in Mexico and both sides had committed to advancing the bilateral agenda of trade, migration and security.



+3


Trump asked Congress for $23 billion for border security, most of it for building the wall, but he has also said the US could recoup the cost through tariffs or taxes on remittances to Mexico
The wall, a key item for Trump's political base of supporters, has become a sticking point in talks to keep alive a federal program that protects from deportation young people who were brought to the United States illegally as children.
In his latest budget proposal to Congress, Trump requested $23 billion for border security, most of it for building the wall.
Pena Nieto, who met Trump in July on the sidelines of a G20 summit, canceled an earlier meeting after Trump threatened to impose a tax on Mexican imports to pay for the wall. 
Trump also met the Mexican president once during the 2016 election campaign.

[size=18]Wall is necessary for drugs, Mexico will pay: Trump in August




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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5433655/Trump-retweets-radio-host-said-Sandy-Hook-hoax.html

[size=34]Trump bizarrely retweets FOUR-year-old post from radio host who once said Sandy Hook was a hoax and recently attacked activists of the Florida school shooting[/size]

• President Trump retweeted a four-year-old tweet from a radio show host who has floated conspiracy theories about mass shootings 
  
  
• Host Wayne Dupree called the parents of Sandy Hook Elementary victims 'crisis' actors' back in 2013
  
  
• He made a similar insinuation about teenage activists in social media posts from the last week, and also suggested two of the students are gay  
  
  

By NIKKI SCHWAB, U.S. POLITICAL REPORTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 18:59 EST, 25 February 2018 | UPDATED: 21:45 EST, 25 February 2018

    


President Donald Trump curiously retweeted a four-year-old tweet from a radio show host who believed the Sandy Hook shooting was a 'hoax' and insinuated that some of the Parkland, Florida shooting activists were gay. 
On Saturday, Trump wrote, 'So true Wayne, and Lowest black unemployment in history!' calling attention to right-wing host Wayne Dupree who had tweeted back in November 2014, 'This is what it's all about! It's ok 2 b black, conservative and love America and not vote Democrat! Freedom exists!' 
While the president has often touted the black unemployment numbers, the left-leaning ThinkProgress pointed out a number of objectionable things Dupree had said this week, and in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shooting, that would give any normal politician pause before spreading an individual's message. 


+6


President Trump, seen Sunday during the Governors' Ball at the White House, has once again retweeted a conspiracy theorist, this time a radio show host who labeled Sandy Hook parents 'crisis actors' and suggested teen activists were gay


+6


President Trump retweeted an almost four year old tweet from radio host Wayne Dupree on the heels of Dupree criticizing some of the student activists calling for stricter gun control laws in the aftermath of the Parkland, Florida shooting 


+6


Wayne Dupree had tweeted about being a black conservative back in November 7, 2014. Trump used his tweet to make a boast about black unemployment numbers, which the president has taken credit for 
For one, Dupree called the parents mourning the deaths of their children at Sandy Hook Elementary School 'crisis actors' back in January of 2013, long before that term was applied to the children of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School this month. 

President Trump retweeted radio host Wayne Dupree (pictured) on Saturday 
More recently, on February 19, Dupree shared photos of some of the kids speaking out from Marjory Stoneman Douglas suggesting they were shedding crocodile tears when the news cameras were on, but smiling and posing for photos with journalists when the cameras are off. 

'Silence on the set......3......2......1..... Action!' he wrote, insinuating the kids were actors. 
The Washington Post found that Dupree had gotten increasingly angry at the Florida kids' political activism in the wake of the Valentine's Day shooting that rattled their Parkland, Florida community, and left 17 dead. 
'Listen, I am really trying to give these students spokespeople a chance,' he wrote last Sunday on Facebook, four days after the massacre. 'I know they are still grieving & emotions are still high but this misinformation on gun control and blaming Trump is making my mercury rise.'   


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Radio host Wayne Dupree labeled parents mourning in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting 'crisis actors' amid a shooting 'hoax' 

RELATED ARTICLES

On Monday, he wrote his post suggesting the kids were just acting. 
Then, on Tuesday, Dupree suggested that two of the most vocal students, Emma González and David Hogg, were gay. 
 'Unfortunately, you can already tell these kids are going to be card-carrying leftists,' Dupree wrote beneath an image of González and Hogg on CNN. 'I hate to be blunt despite what tragedy they went through, but both those kids look like they are going to be future members of the LGBTQXYZ movement.' 
On Friday, the Post noted, Dupree attended the Conservative Political Action Conference being held just outside of Washington, D.C. 
President Trump was the main speaker at the conference that day,
During his speech, the president spoke of his support for the Second Amendment and floated the idea of arming teachers to prevent a school shooting, like the one in Parkland, from happening again.

For me the problem is not that people think so but that they expose their opinions and others actually believe them.

The students's sexuality is sbsolutely not the point, but that's the same people who aren't getting tired of saying that George is gay and Amal is a transgender for discrediting them.

My grandparents had a pub, so I partly grew up there and have heard this talk for ages. But that doesn't mean you have to believe this b..it, everybody still has his common sense (well, maybe not everybody...)

As my son says , common sense is not common any more.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5434325/Oscar-nominated-producer-Men-Aleppo-denied-visa.html

[size=34]Oscar-nominated Syrian producer of 'Last Men in Aleppo' is denied a visa into the US for the awards because of Trump's travel ban[/size]

• Kareem Abeed, Syrian producer of Oscar-nominated 'Last Men in Aleppo,' has been denied a visa to enter the US to attend the 90th Annual Academy Awards
  
  
• The film by Abeed and director Feras Fayyad made history this year as the first Documentary Feature Oscar nominee from a Syrian directing-producing team
  
  
• Abeed's denial was made under under Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the basis for President Donald Trump's initial travel ban
  
  
• The latest version includes an outright ban on foreign nationals from Syria
  
  
• Therefore, half of the history-making team will not be able to attend the Oscars, while Trump continues to claim he advocates for merit-based immigration
  
  
• The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has released a statement in solidarity with the Syrian producer and the rest of the film's team 
  
  

By STEPHANIE HANEY FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 23:01 EST, 25 February 2018 | UPDATED: 06:04 EST, 26 February 2018

    

The Syrian producer of Oscar-nominated 'Last Men in Aleppo' has been denied a visa to enter the US to attend the 90th Annual Academy Awards, being held in Los Angeles on March 4. 
The film, which has made history as the first Documentary Feature Oscar nominee from a Syrian directing-producing team, was directed by director Feras Fayyad and producer Kareem Abeed. 
Abeed's denial was reportedly made under under Section 212(f) of the Immigrationand Nationality Act, according to the International Documentary Association. 
That provision was cited by President Donald Trump as the basis for his first travel ban.

Trump's latest version of the travel ban, which the US Supreme Court ruled could take effect in December, includes varied restrictions on foreign nationals entering the US from each of Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, Somalia and Yemen. 
Scroll down for video 


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Kareem Abeed, the Syrian producer of Oscar-nominated 'Last Men in Aleppo,' has been denied a visa to enter the US to attend the 90th Annual Academy Awards, being held in Los Angeles on March 4
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has released a statement in solidarity with the Syrian producer and the rest of the film's team. 
'For 90 years, the Oscars have celebrated achievement in the art of filmmaking, which seeks to transcend borders and speak to audiences around the world, regardless of national, ethnic, or religious differences,' the statement read.
'As supporters of filmmakers, and the human rights of all people, around the globe, we stand in solidarity with Fayyad as well as the film’s producer Kareem Abeed, who was denied a visa to the United States to attend the Academy Awards on March 4.'
The Syrian team's documentary tells the story of a group called the White Helmets. This volunteer organization carries out search and rescue missions, in an attempt to save lives amid bombing attacks in the war-torn region.


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President Donald Trump's latest version of his travel ban, which the US Supreme Court ruled could take effect in December, includes varied restrictions on foreign nationals entering the US from each of Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, Somalia and Yemen; Trump is seen here spekaing during the Governors Ball for US governors attending the National Governors Association (NGA) winter meeting in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC on Sunday


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'Last Men in Aleppo' tells the story of a group called the White Helmets, made up of volunteers who carry out search and rescue missions, in an attempt to save lives amid bombing attacks in the war-torn region; A still from the film is seen here
A short documentary on the same topic and produced by Netflix, titled 'The White Helmets,' won an Oscar in 2017.    
Regarding Syria, from which the producer of 'The Last Men in Aleppo' hails, Trump's latest proclamation banning travel from mostly Muslim countries, issued on September 24, reads as follows:
'The government in Syria regularly fails to cooperate with the U.S. Government in identifying security risks; is the source of significant terrorist threats; has been designated as a state sponsor of terrorism; has significant inadequacies in identity-management protocols; and fails to share public-safety and terrorism information. Accordingly, the entry into the United States of nationals of Syria as immigrants and nonimmigrants is suspended.' 



The first version of Trump's travel ban was issued on January 27, 2017, and almost immediately faced court challenges across the US.
The first order included Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, which are all predominantly Muslim countries.
Shortly after the first travel ban was issued, foreign-language film Oscar winner Asghar Farhadi, who was born in Khomeyni Shahr, Iran, protested the 89th Annual Academy Awards by not attending due to Trump’s policy. 
His winning film, 'The Salesman,' is set against the backdrop of a Tehran, Iran production of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, and shows how violence has touched the lives of an innocent married couple of performers who have moved to the wrong place, at the wrong time. 


+6


Shortly after the first travel ban was issued, foreign-language film Oscar winner Asghar Farhadi, who was born in Khomeyni Shahr, Iran, protested the 89th Annual Academy Awards by not attending due to Trump’s policy; Farhadi is seen here at the Opening Gala dinner during the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 17, 2017 in Cannes, France


+6


Iranian-American engineer/astronaut Anousheh Ansari accepts Best Foreign Language Film for 'The Salesman' on behalf of director Asghar Farhadi onstage during the 89th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland Center on February 26, 2017 in Hollywood
Farhadi prepared a statement to be read when his film won, which was delivered by Iranian-American engineer Anousheh Ansari.
In addition to thanking the Academy for the award, Farhadi's statement read as follows:
'I’m sorry I’m not with you tonight. My absence is out of respect for the people in my country and those of other six nations whom have been disrespected by the inhumane law that bans entry of immigrants to the US. Dividing the world into the "us" and "our enemies" categories creates fear, a deceitful justification for aggression and war. These wars prevent democracy and human rights in countries which have themselves been victims of aggression.'
Farhadi then called on his colleagues to raise awareness about the things that make us more similar than we are different. 
He added: 'Filmmakers can turn their cameras to capture shared human qualities and break stereotypes of various nationalities and religions. They create empathy between "us" and "others," an empathy which we need today more than ever.' 
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The official White House twitter account shared the following message on Sunday night:
'Merit-based immigration reform will benefit American workers and relieve the strain imposed by our current system on Federal resources.'
Trump retweeted the statement, which included a video of him speaking about immigration reform at the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) meeting, held over the weekend at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland.
Trump recently came under fire in January for claiming to advocate for merit-based immigration, but reportedly calling distraught nations, like Haiti and those in parts of Africa, 's***hole countries' and saying the US should strive for more immigration from Norway, a country characterized by pale-skinned, Germanic inhabitants.
Trump has not directly responded to the statement by the Academy in support of Abeed, or commented on his denial of a visa to attend the Oscars. 
'Last Men in Aleppo' will compete for the award of Best Documentary Feature against 'Abacus: Small Enough to Jail,' 'Faces Places,' 'Icarus' and 'Strong Island.'


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Trump waves goodbye after addressing the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center on Friday in National Harbor, Maryland

Another shocking Trump story..........

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5435627/Trump-use-photo-Florida-victim-email-asking-cash.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5435627/Trump-use-photo-Florida-victim-email-asking-cash.html

[size=34]Donald Trump uses photograph of Florida shooting victim in an email asking for cash donations to his re-election campaign[/size]

• Email asking for cash for Trump's re-election campaign contained photo
  
  
• It showed Trump and First Lady visiting  Madeleine Wilford, 17, in hospital
  
  
• Miss Wilford survived Parkland high school massacre two weeks ago
  
  

By SARA MALM FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 06:43 EST, 26 February 2018 | UPDATED: 07:16 EST, 26 February 2018



President Donald Trump has used a picture of a Parkland high school massacre survivor in an email asking for cash towards his re-election campaign.
The President and First Lady Melania Trump visited Madeleine Wilford, 17, in hospital two days after the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
The email led with a photo of the visit and stated that Trump, who has proposed arming teachers as a way to tackle school shootings, would make children's safety his top priority.


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Come begging: A black-and-white version of this photograph was used to illustrate an email asking for donations to the Trump re-election campaign
'The nation has turned its attention to the senseless school shooting in Parkland, Florida,' the email seen by CNN reads.

'Trump is taking steps toward banning gun bump stocks and strengthening background checks for gun purchasers.

RELATED ARTICLES

'The President has made his intent very clear: 'making our schools and our children safer will be our top priority.''
The email was finished off with a link to the Trump re-election campaign's donations website. 
It is not known if Miss Wilford or her family are Trump supporters, nor if she gave permission for the photograph to be used in his campaign.


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The President and First Lady Melania Trump visited Madeleine Wilford, 17, in hospital two days after the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida


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Students and their parents are pictured on Sunday as they went back to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School nearly two weeks after a gunman killed 17 students and teachers 
During their visit to her sickbed, the President and the First Lady promised to give Miss Wilford a letter of recommendation for the college she hopes to attend, Brigham Young University.
Miss Wilford survived the school shooting on Valentines Day which saw former student Nikolas Cruz, 19, murder 14 students and three members of staff.
She suffered a collapsed lung and had to have three tendons in her right arm re-attached and and titanium plates fused to her broken ribs. 
After a week in hospital, Miss Wilford made was able to return home last Wednesday.
In an interview from her hospital bed, Miss Wilford described how Cruz had begun shooting through windows a few classrooms down as he made his way down the hall.
She recalled how students dove to the floor in an attempt to get out of the line of sight of the door window as she wedged herself between the teacher's podium and a desk. As students hid, she was pushed towards the middle of the room.
'All of a sudden I felt a shot hit me,' Miss Wilford,, a devout Mormon Christian, told Deseret News, adding that she could not recall feeling the other three bullets.
'I realized I was shot and an immense amount of pain went over me. The first thing I thought was that I was going to die. I was screaming, "Help me! Help me!" I was frantic. I didn't know what to do.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5437169/Trump-says-hes-getting-rid-bump-stocks-own.html

[size=34]'I don't care if Congress does it or not': Trump says he's 'getting rid of bump stocks' on his own - only for White House to admit that they don't know if he can[/size]

• President Donald Trump said Monday his administration would take regulatory action to ban bump stocks devices
  
  
• They essentially allow a semi-automatic weapon fire more like an automatic 
  
  
• 'I'm writing that out myself,' Trump said
  
  
• The NRA said Sunday it doesn't back any ban
  
  
• Also criticized the product: 'The bullets come out fast but you don't know where the hell they're going' 
  
  
• The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has concluded bump stocks are an accessory that can't be regulated 
  
  

By GEOFF EARLE, DEPUTY U.S. POLITICAL EDITOR FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 13:22 EST, 26 February 2018 | UPDATED: 16:38 EST, 26 February 2018

 

 

 

 

• [email=?subject=Read%20this:%20%27I%20don%27t%20care%20if%20Congress%20does%20it%20or%20not%27:%20Trump%20says%20he%27s%20%27getting%20rid%20of%20bump%20stocks%27%20on%20his%20own%20-%20only%20for%20White%20House%20to%20admit%20that%20they%20don%27t%20know%20if%20he%20can&body=%27I%20don%27t%20care%20if%20Congress%20does%20it%20or%20not%27%3A%20Trump%20says%20he%27s%20%27getting%20rid%20of%20bump%20stocks%27%20on%20his%20own%20-%20only%20for%20White%20House%20to%20admit%20that%20they%20don%27t%20know%20if%20he%20can%0A%0APresident%20Donald%20Trump%20said%20his%20administration%20would%20take%20unilateral%20action%20to%20ban%20bump%20stocks%20%E2%80%93%20an%20action%20that%20the%20NRA%20does%20not%20support%20and%20that%20is%20the%20subject%20of%20legislative%20efforts%20in%20Congress.%0A%0Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailymail.co.uk%2Fnews%2Farticle-5437169%2FTrump-says-hes-getting-rid-bump-stocks-own.html%3Fito%3Demail_share_article-top%0A%0A%0AMost%20Read%20Articles%3A%0A%0AEXCLUSIVE%3A%20%27Wasted%27%20Heather%20Locklear%2C%2056%2C%20arrested%20after%20almost%20biting%20her%20boyfriend%E2%80%99s%20nose%2C%20calling%20cops%20%E2%80%98f**king%20a**holes%E2%80%99%20and%20kicking%20one%20in%20his%20privates%20%E2%80%93%20all%20in%20front%20of%20her%2020-year-old%20daughter%20Ava%0Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailymail.co.uk%2Fnews%2Farticle-5436273%2FHeather-Locklear-arrested-domestic-violence.html%3Fito%3Demail_share_article-top_most-read-articles%0A%0A%27I%20am%20dealing%20with%20a%20bunch%20of%20things%20right%20now%27%3A%20Florida%20school%20shooter%20called%20cops%20HIMSELF%20after%20his%20mother%20died%0Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailymail.co.uk%2Fnews%2Farticle-5433695%2FFlorida-school-shooter-called-cops-mom-died.html%3Fito%3Demail_share_article-top_most-read-articles%0A%0ATurkey%27s%20president%20sparks%20outrage%20after%20telling%20crying%20girl%20she%20will%20be%20honoured%20if%20she%20is%20%27martyred%27%20after%20spotting%20her%20in%20a%20military%20uniform%0Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailymail.co.uk%2Fnews%2Farticle-5435645%2FTurkish-President-condemned-child-martyrdom-comments.html%3Fito%3Demail_share_article-top_most-read-articles%0A%0A]e-mail[/email]
   
  
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President Donald Trump said his administration would take unilateral action to ban bump stocks – an action that the NRA does not support and that is the subject of legislative efforts in Congress.
Speaking to governors at the White House Monday, Trump cast the drive to ban the gun accessory as something he would do personally – although he has tasked Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who oversees the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, to deal with it.   
'Bump stocks, we're writing that out. I’m writing that out myself. I don’t care if Congress does it or not, I’m writing it out myself,' Trump told the governors. 
The president's press secretary admitted later that the president may not have the power to unilaterally ban the firearm accessory by categorizing it as a machine gun like he said he would.


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'I’m writing that out myself': Trump said he would get rid of bump stocks, which allow for a semi-automatic gun to fire like an automatic
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Trump had appeared to tip the hand of a regulatory strategy at a bipartisan event with governors earlier in the day.
'You put it into the machine gun category, which is what it is It becomes essentially a machine gun and nobody's gonna be able - it's going to be very hard to get 'em,' he said.
He seemed to be saying that regulators would consider bump stocks to be a machine gun, which is banned under existing gun laws.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms already concluded in 2013 that bump stocks are an accessory that can't be regulated under current authority. 
And such a move could be considered an end-run around Congress, where a bump stock ban is among numerous legislative gun control fixes being proposed. 
Trump signed a memo last week directing his attorney general to find a way to ban bump stocks anyway -- stepping on an ongoing ATF review of the devices. 
A comment period on a proposal to reclassify the firearms as machine guns based on the existing guidelines ended in January. ATF has 90 days to react.
In 2010, ATF determined that bump stocks are an unregulated accessory and not a machine gun because device does not allow rifles to fire automatically with a single pull of the trigger. The rifle will always recock and reset the trigger function before it fires again.


+5


A bump stock is installed on an AK-47 and its movement is demonstrated at Good Guys Gun and Range on February 21, 2018 in Orem, Utah. The bump stock is a device when installed allows a semi-automatic to fire at a rapid rate much like a fully automatic gun


+5


A bump stock device that fits on a semi-automatic rifle to increase the firing speed, making it similar to a fully automatic rifle, is shown here at a gun store on October 5, 2017 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Congress is talking about banning this device after it was reported to of been used in the Las Vegas shootings on October 1, 2017


+5


Trump spoke about bump stocks and praised the NRA at a meeting with governors


+5


President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with the members of the National Governors Association in the State Dining Room of the White House, Monday, Feb. 26, 2018, in Washington
Congress has so far failed to pass legislation responding to the Las Vegas massacre –only to see the Parkland, Florida school shooting once again put mass shootings in the national spotlight. 
Bump stocks essentially grip the stock of a semi-automatic rifle, allowing a shooter to hold the trigger and rely on the gun's recoil to establish essentially automatic firing. 
'I’m waiting for the next process but it’s gone. Just don’t worry about it. It’s gone,' Trump said. ''We’re going to make it so tough that you’re not going to get em.'
Then he trashed the device itself.   
'Bump stocks you shoot rapidly but not accurately,' Trump said. 
'The bullets come out fast but you don't know where the hell they're going,' he said.
 ump stocks gained attention after the Las Vegas massacre, where the shooter was found to have a bump stock device, and locked himself into an upper floor casino hotel room and rained down fire on concertgoers.   

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The National Rifle Association doesn't support a bump stock ban. Trump has continued to defend the group, saying he met with the groups leaders over the weekend, while also saying that sometimes politicians have to fight the NRA.
'The NRA doesn’t back any ban, the NRA has asked the ATF to do its job and make sure that these classifications are consistent," spokeswoman Dana Loesch told ABC's 'This Week' on Sunday.
Trump also tweaked the governors and politicians generally for being 'afraid' of the NRA.
'You guys - half a you are so afraid of the NRA there's nothing to be afraid of. And you know what, if they're not with you we have to fight them every once in a while, that's okay,' Trump said.
'These guys are great patriots, they're great people, and they want to do something - they're going to do something,' Trump said of the NRA.
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5437123/Melania-BACKS-student-activists-Parkland-massacre.html

[size=34]Melania slaps down Trump as she BACKS the anti-gun Stoneman Douglas students he trolled on Twitter saying she was 'heartened' that they want to 'create change'[/size]

• First lady Melania Trump delivered remarks to governors' spouses at the White House Monday
  
  
• At the top of her remarks, the first lady addressed the Parkland, Florida shooting, saying she was 'heartened' to see the student activists 'using their voices' 
  
  
• 'They're our future and they deserve a voice,' the FLOTUS said, addressing the small group in the Blue Room 
  
  
• Her comments come after President Trump has called for some gun measures, but has also complimented the National Rifle Association 
  
  
• Over the weekend, he also retweeted a Sandy Hook conspiracy theorist, who had labeled the Marjory Stoneman Douglas actors as well 
  
  

By NIKKI SCHWAB, U.S. POLITICAL REPORTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 13:59 EST, 26 February 2018 | UPDATED: 16:31 EST, 26 February 2018

    

First lady Melania Trump showed support for the student activists from the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, who are advocating for stricter gun control laws. 
'I have been heartened to see children across this country using their voices to speak out and try to create change,' Melania Trump said at White House luncheon Monday. 'They're our future and they deserve a voice.'
The first lady addressed the Valentine's Day shooting at the top of her four-minute-long remarks, given to the political spouses of those attending the National Governors Association in Washington, D.C., these last few days. 


+4


First lady Melania Trump made brief remarks at a luncheon for governors' spouses at the White House Monday 


+4


First lady Melania Trump said she was 'heartened' to see the vocal students speak up in the aftermath of the Parkland, Florida shooting 


+4


'They're our future and they deserve a voice,' the first lady told the small crowd, gathered at four different tables for a spouses luncheon, and using Lady Bird Johnson's china 


+4


After her remarks, the first lady sat down at the nearest table for a luncheon that is part of the National Governors Association winter meeting 


Walking into the Blue Room in a sleeveless blush dress, the first lady talked to the four tables of attendees, who were about to eat lunch on Lady Bird Johnson's ornate china.   
'Before I begin, I want to be sure we take a moment to reflect on the horrific shooting in Florida,' the first lady said. 'Our continued thoughts and prayers go out to all who were affected by such a senseless act.'
'As a parent, I cannot imagine the kind of grief and tragedy like that brings,' she continued. 'And I hope and know we all find ourselves wondering what we can do to help.' 
'In my year as first lady, I have also learned that it's oftentimes after a tragedy that you see the strength and resilience of the human spirit,' she added.  
 She then gave a tip-of-the-hat to the student activists.  
The first lady touched on the topic of internet use – she had announced in a November 3, 2016 speech she would tackle cyberbullying as first lady – and opioid addiction too, before asking for the governors' spouses help on children's issues. 
'In my role as First Lady I want to nurture and protect the most valuable part of our society and our future, children,' she said. 'I hope you will join me today in my efforts and ask for your support.'
'My office will be reaching out to many of you in the future as we travel the country and work to promote and fight for the well-being of our children,' the first lady added. 
Since the Parkland, Florida massacre President Trump has floated various ideas on how to deal with school shootings.  



Most recently he's been interested in arming teachers at schools. 
He also said Monday that he was still intent on banning bump stocks, the devices that turn semi-automatic weapons into machine gun, and were used in October's deadly Las Vegas shooting.  
On Saturday, the president also retweeted a Sandy Hook conspiracy theorist, who suggested the mourning parents from the 2012 shooting were 'crisis actors.' 
Trump's tweet showcased radio host Wayne Dupree taking about being a black conservative four years ago, with the president chiming in about the  more recent black unemployment rate. 
 In the aftermath of the Feb. 14 shooting in Parkland, Dupree had been criticizing the activists from the  Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, posting on social media that he thought they were play-acting, while questioning their sexuality.
'Unfortunately, you can already tell these kids are going to be card-carrying leftists,' Dupree wrote beneath an image of Emma González and David Hogg on CNN, two of the most vocal students. 
'I hate to be blunt despite what tragedy they went through, but both those kids look like they are going to be future members of the LGBTQXYZ movement,' Dupree said.

Donald Trump''would have run into the school without a gun' - says the man who avoided military service four times

https://twitter.com/BettyBowers/status/967240171191193601

He surely would have done it! We all believe that! Can't you imagine him in a Superman costume saving the world?
The worst thing about this is that he really seems to believe the crap he's expressing - and millions of others believe it as well...

No, he would have sent his body guards.

[size=34]Florida Senate rejects ban on assault weapons but agrees to raise the legal purchase age to 21 and APPROVES bill allowing teachers to carry guns in school[/size]

• The Florida Senate show down a bill banning semi-automatic 'assault' weapons
  
  
• Senators voted mainly along party lines, rejecting the ban in a seven-to-six vote
  
  
• But it agreed to raise the legal age for purchasing a firearm to 21 as well as approve legislation that would give teachers the right to carry guns in school
  
  
• A similar packaged set of reform will be taken up by the Florida House Tuesday
  
  
• Both the House and Senate versions have to be identical to go to Florida Governor Rick Scott to be signed into law
  
  

By MARY KEKATOS FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 01:57 EST, 27 February 2018 | UPDATED: 02:36 EST, 27 February 2018

    



Florida lawmakers sot down a bill that would have banned semi-automatic 'assault' weapons such as the AR-15 used in the Parkland school massacre.
However, they did agree to raise the legal age for purchasing a firearm to 21 as well as approve legislation that would give teachers the right to carry guns in school.
The amendments were introduced as part of a packaged set of bills following Nikolas Cruz's shooting spree that left 17 students and faculty at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School dead on Valentine's Day.


+2


The Florida Senate shot down a bill that would have banned semi-automatic 'assault' weapons such as the AR-15 (pictured) used in the Parkland school massacre used to kill 17
According to NBC-2, Florida's Senate Rules Committee spent more than two hours debating the gun-control issues before eventually casting their votes.

In addition to raising the legal purchase age and giving teachers the right to carry, senators also agreed to confiscate guns from people with mental health issues.
The assault weapons amendment, was rejected by a seven-to-six vote with senators voting along party lines.  

RELATED ARTICLES

However, it did agree to raise the legal age for purchasing a firearm to 21 as well as approve legislation that would give teachers the right to carry guns in school (Pictured, an AR-15)
A similar packaged set of reforms is scheduled to be taken up by the House Rules Committee on Tuesday. 
The Senate's proposed legislation is slated to go through its second and final committee on Tuesday before being voted on later in the week.
Both the House and Senate versions have to be identical to go to Florida Governor Rick Scott to be signed into law, reported the Sun Sentinel.

Read more:

• Gun legislation ¿ without assault weapons ban ¿ moves forward in Florida Senate - Sun Sentinel
  
  
• Senate committee rejects assault weapons ban, agrees to raise mi - NBC-2.com WBBH News for Fort Myers, Cape Coral & Naples, Florida
  
  

again...

Well, I've heard it all now.

Trump wants to answer questions from Mueller VIA A TELEPROMPTER........!?

Article in the Washington Post but don't subscribe so can't copy

PA-N, the article is satire. Pretty funny, except that it's not far from potentially being true. I don't put anything past Orange Foolius.

I feel for the kids, they have tried so hard and nothing. The politicians don't care about all citizens only the one's that line their pockets matter.

Anyone else minimally encouraged by slight progress made by redneck bastion Florida? If you know the state, you know that raising the age limit for gun ownership and taking guns away from the mentally ill is a huge  step. Now all they have to do is get it past the state senate and the governor.

Allowing teachers to be armed is stupid. I'm sure there are some teachers who would do it for the money or because they think they're Rambo, but I think /hope most would refuse. There are millions of things that could go wrong and, if nothing else, the legal liabilities from those incidents should be a deterrent - not to mention that the cost of insuring the schools would go through the roof. Can you imagine the ramifications if a teacher shoots a child? Or if a child gets hold of the gun and shoots someone? Stupid, stupid idea!

party animal - not! wrote:Well, I've heard it all now.

Trump wants to answer questions from Mueller VIA A TELEPROMPTER........!?

Article in the Washington Post but don't subscribe so can't copy

PAN, his lawyers WISH he could speak from a TelePrompter.  As it is they want to provide ‘written’ answers to Mueller’s questions.  Why?  Even Trumpster’s lawyers don’t trust him to tell the truth or make inappropriate statements. Trump’s lawyers want to desperately avoid a face to face meeting with Mueller or his people.  If Trump refuses a face to face Trump will be subpoenaed.  If that doesn’t work I would think Mueller will indict him.

http://people.com/human-interest/west-virginia-teachers-strike/

[url=https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpeople.com%2Fhuman-interest%2Fwest-virginia-teachers-strike%2F&media=https%3A%2F%2Fpeopledotcom.files.wordpress.com%2F2018%2F02%2Fwest-virginia-teacher-protests.jpg&description=Teacher Pay%2C Charleston%2C USA - 22 Feb 2018][/url]

Mandatory Credit: Photo by John Raby/AP/REX/Shutterstock (9435169b) Jennifer Hanner, a first-year teacher from Harts, W.Va., center, holds a sign, outside the state Senate chambers at the Capitol in Charleston, W.Va. Teachers statewide went on strike Thursday over pay and benefits Teacher Pay, Charleston, USA - 22 Feb 2018
MAYA RHODAN 
February 27, 2018 11:51 AM
THIS STORY ORIGINALLY APPEARED ON Time
Teachers in West Virginia continued their strike for a third day on Monday, shuttering schools and affecting nearly 277,000 kids.
The teachers began their strike Thursday, Feb. 22, in protest of pay raises the state’s governor signed into law that teachers say do not go far enough. The raises included a 2% pay increase starting over the summer, followed by 1% increases in 2020 and 2021.
Republican Gov. Jim Justice called the pay raise, which also affects state employees, “responsible” in a statement last week. “We need to keep our kids and teachers in the classroom,” the governor said. “We certainly recognize our teachers are underpaid and this is a step in the right direction to addressing their pay issue.”
Teachers in West Virginia, however, are among the lowest paid in the nation. The state ranked 48th in terms of teacher pay in 2016, according to the National Education Association. On average, teachers made $45,622 in 2016 — well below the national average of $58,353. Teachers also say the state’s raise will help cover the rising cost of health insurance. So on Thursday, Friday, and Monday school was canceled across the states’ 55 counties as thousands of teachers lobbied lawmakers at the state capitol.
Teachers in West Virginia have galvanized around the issue, staging the first ever state-wide walk-out, according to CBS News. In interviews with various outlets, teachers have said they have to rely on federal assistance just to make ends meet. “We collected on the [Women, Infants, and Children food and nutrition service], so that’s how low teacher pay is,” an art teacher named Jacob Fertig told CNN. “There were a lot of times where we got to choose between groceries and health coverage for my family. This isn’t just an issue of a bunch of people squabbling over a little bit of insurance benefits or a little bit of pay — we are really in a bad place here as far as that stuff goes.”
Dale Lee, the president of the West Virginia Education Association, and Christine Campbell, the president of the American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia told MetroNews in West Virginia that they’d been in conversation with leaders in the state over the past few days and some progress has been made. “We still have some real sticky issues to finalize, but we are making progress,” said Lee. He said they would decide how to move forward and if teachers will return to classes following additional conversations that he is expecting will happen later on Monday.
The state’s attorney general has also said the strike is “unlawful” and said he is prepared to take action if necessary. “This illegal work stoppage affects hundreds of thousands of students and families across our state. Our office is prepared to support any relevant state agency or board with legal remedies they may choose to pursue to uphold the law,” Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said in a statement.
Before the walkout, teachers and members of communities across West Virginia took steps to ensure students that rely on schools for meals would not go hungry as a result of the strike. According to WJLA in Washington, handed out food to students ahead of the strike. MetroNews reports that volunteers at the Huntington, W.V. Facing Hunger Foodbank filled some 700 backpacks of food were packed last week for students. According to AFT-WV, makeshift childcare centers were also being set up at area churches and community centers.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5441093/Trump-moves-away-dead-end-21-age-limit-gun-proposal.html

[size=34]Trump takes a step back from 21-age limit on some guns as proposal nears a dead end in Congress[/size]

• The president appeared to be softening his support for legislation that would bar teens from purchasing semi-automatic weapons this week 
  
  
• A top GOP congressional aide said Tuesday that the legislative prospects are 'pretty dim,' and that could be why the president is backing away from it
  
  
• 'That proposal won't get a lot of traction in Congress,' the source said
  
  
• Congress returned Monday from a week-long hiatus - but will dimiss again on Wednesday as Bill Graham lays in honor at the U.S. Capitol 
  
  

By FRANCESCA CHAMBERS, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 10:51 EST, 27 February 2018 | UPDATED: 12:44 EST, 27 February 2018



President Donald Trump's proposal to raise the minimum age for some gun purchases to 21 is a non-starter on Capitol Hill.
The president appeared to be softening his support for legislation that would bar teens from purchasing semi-automatic weapons this week. 
A top GOP congressional aide told DailyMail.com on Tuesday that the prospects are 'pretty dim,' and that could be why the president is backing away from it.
'That proposal won't get a lot of traction in Congress,' the source said. 


+1


President Donald Trump's proposal to raise the minimum age for some gun purchases to 21 is a non-starter on Capitol Hill
Trump did not put forward the proposal during at Friday speech before conservative activists, and he did not bring it up Monday at a bipartisan meeting with governors at the White House, where gun violence was the top talker during a televised session.

Sources familiar with the White House's discussions with leadership on Capitol Hill told CNN later that Trump was seemingly moving away from his position.
A senior congressional aide told DailyMail.com that discussions about the president's proposals, like allowing teachers to pack heat, were still in their early stages, with Congress having been out of session last week and only just returning on Monday to Washington.
Furthermore, the House will be out from Wednesday on as the late evangelical pastor Billy Graham lies in honor in the U.S. Capitol. 
The source said that the basic posture of the House is to see what can pass in the GOP-controlled Senate, which is focused this week on nominations.
House Republicans have already passed legislation to strengthen the existing background check system that it paired with a concealed carry provision. The Senate version of the background check bill has lingered in the Senate.
Trump's administration has cautiously endorsed the Senate legislation that's sponsored by Democrat Chris Murphy of Connecticut, who says he'll be joining the president this week at the White House, and GOP whip John Cornyn of Texas.
On Monday the bill hit a roadblock in the upper chamber, though, as Democratic senators pushed for more aggressive gun control legislation. 
They want to Congress pass legislation requiring background checks on all firearms sales, eliminating the so-called gun show loophole. 
Trump has said he favors comprehensive legislation, but the White House has refused to take a position on universal background checks.
'We'd have to see what it looks like and review that before we make that determination,' press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday.
The Trump spokeswoman insisted in the same news conference that Trump had not 'downgraded' his proposal to make sales of the AR-15 and other automatic rifles 21+ and 'the president is still supportive of the concept,' as a weekend meeting with the National Rifle Association that was kept off the president's public schedule came to light.
The NRA does not support new age restrictions on firearms sales and its spokeswoman suggested Sunday that Trump was not firmly committed to his position.
'These are just things that he’s discussing right now,' spokesman Dana Loesch said during an appearance on ABC News.
Sanders told reporters on Monday that it 'would be ridiculous' to intimate that Trump had been influenced by the powerful gun group that opposes the restrictions 'considering the number of individuals he's met with that come from both the far left to the far right, and a lot of those in between.'
She said Trump plans to continue his talks with a lawmakers this week in meetings at the White House and would ultimately base his decision on what is outlined in legislative text.
'In concept, the President still supports it, but in terms of legislation, we'd need to see what that looks like before we weigh in further,' Sanders said.me0:06

Just found out that a local restaurant that has been a stalwart of our community for decades is hosting an NRA fundraiser. That disappoints me, but I can live with it because everyone needs to make a living. What I can't live with is that at this fundraising dinner they will be raffling off guns. Disgusting! I will never set foot in there again.

What I'd also like to know, in this city where guns are so tightly regulated, is how can this even be legal?

(Annemarie, if you're wondering - it's Gargulio's in Coney Island.)

Lizzy,
just to understand it right:
They are raffling out guns? So there's no control of the ones who win the guns? If they're old enough or allowed to have a gun at all? That's heavy!
And I can really understand that you're going to boycott this restaurant, I'd do the same if I lived nearby.

Ah, o.k thanks Lizzy,  I found this.

https://patch.com/new-york/brooklyn/coney-island-nra-event-faces-blowback-after-parkland-shooting



[size=40]NRA Gun Raffle In Brooklyn Gets Blowback After Parkland Shooting[/size]

Organizers of the April 12 fundraiser plan to give away guns as raffle and auction prizes.

By Noah Manskar, Patch Staff | Feb 26, 2018 6:23 pm ET | Updated Feb 27, 2018 11:34 am ET







CONEY ISLAND, BROOKLYN — A Brooklyn gun-rights group and a Coney Island restaurant are facing backlash for promoting a National Rifle Association fundraiser after a deadly mass shooting at a Florida high school. Gargiulo's Restaurant, an Italian eatery and catering hall, is set to host an April 12 fundraising dinner for Brooklyn's Friends of NRA where guns will be offered as auction and raffle prizes.
Proceeds from the second annual event will benefit the NRA Foundation, the charity arm of the famous pro-gun group that aims to "benefit shooting sports programs in our communities," according to a flyer posted online.
Tickets start at $75, but Brooklyn's Friends of NRA is offering sponsorships starting at $750 that come with at least one gun. The $5,000 "Patriot" sponsorship gets the buyer two pistols and a rifle along with the evening's meal.
The group is also advertising at least half a dozen guns as auction and raffle prizes, including a "John Wayne Lil' Duke BB Rifle" and a .38-caliber Colt Cobra "double-action" pistol.
Some gun-control advocates in South Brooklyn say it's irresponsible to raffle off dangerous weapons as prizes, especially in the context of the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida that left 17 people dead.


"The idea that people could pay $1,000 a plate and walk out with a firearm is unbelievably concerning," said Mallory McMahon of Bay Ridge, the co-founder of the progressive activist group Fight Back Bay Ridge.
McMahon and others are calling on Gargiulo's to cancel the event and tell Brooklyn's Friends of NRA to find another venue. She said her group is ready to protest outside the event wherever it's held.
Nine people have given the eatery negative Yelp reviews since Friday citing its accommodation of the NRA. The group has drawn ire from gun-control advocates for opposing gun reform despite advocacy from teens who survived the Florida shooting.
Kristen Pettit of Bay Ridge, a founding member of the gun violence prevention group Moms Demand Action, has attended about a dozen "family-friendly and happy" events at Gargiulo's in her lifetime. She said it's an "incredible disappointment" to see the 111-year-old mainstay welcome "a group with such a heinous philosophy."
"I know Brooklyn's value system as a native of the borough and the NRA's values don't fit into it," Pettit said.
Nino Russo, one of Gargiulo's owners, said he's "contractually obligated" to Brooklyn's Friends of NRA, which planned the event long before the Florida shooting. But he understands the concerns and is working with the group to find "some kind of resolution" with the NRA group, though he didn't say what that might be.
"I'm very much sympathetic to these people," Russo said, referring to gun-control advocates. "In my own way I support what's going on in Florida and my sympathies and prayers go to the victims."
Gargiulo's hosted the inaugural event last spring without any outcry, Russo said, but the restaurant has gotten a recent influx of critical social media posts, phone calls and other messages. He said he's trying to respect all parties' positions and stay "neutral" in the debate that's followed the shooting.
"I hold no bias to anybody who walks in my door," Russo said.
Vincent Sallustro, who's listed as the point of contact on Brooklyn's Friends of NRA's online event listing, declined to discuss the event and referred questions to the NRA's media relations office, saying he's "only a volunteer."
An NRA spokesman did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
The fundraiser is scheduled to take place about three weeks after the March for Our Lives, a March 24 rally for gun control measures. Marches are set to take place in Manhattan, Washington, D.C. and several other cities across the country.
(Lead image: Gargiulo's Restaurant in Coney Island is facing criticism for hosting a fundraiser to benefit the NRA Foundation. Image from Google Maps)

carolhathaway wrote:Lizzy,
just to understand it right:
They are raffling out guns? So there's no control of the ones who win the guns? If they're old enough or allowed to have a gun at all? That's heavy!
And I can really understand that you're going to boycott this restaurant, I'd do the same if I lived nearby.

A police spokesman said that only people who are licensed to own a gun can be given a gun at the dinner. However, if an unlicensed person wins a gun in the raffle they will be given a voucher to get the gun at a later date. I assume they'll have to get licensed first.

Lizzy and Annemarie: Is there a local council or police authority you could check this out with? I'm guessing the restaurant has to agree to local laws..and that this wouldn't be allowed.........

PAN - Apparently they are acting within the law since the guns aren't going to anyone unlicensed. I'm assuming the NRA dinner organizers have applied for all permits necessary to hold the raffle. Not illegal, I guess, just disgusting.

Only in America is this not only legal but similar  
fundraisers like this probably happen in many communities.  We just don’t hear about them.  I hope people who regularly patronize this restaurant will stop going.  If they lose enough of their customer base maybe the restaurant will cancel the fundraiser.