Sunday, July 19, 2015
Hillary Clinton slams Trump’s ‘shameful’ comments on McCain’s war record
Hillary Clinton sharply rebuked Donald Trump on Saturday for his “shameful” comments that Sen. John McCain was not a war hero because he was captured in Vietnam.
Clinton also moved quickly to erase any daylight between Trump and the rest of the GOP field, where the real-estate mogul and reality television personality has moved from sideshow to the current leader in the polls.
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“Donald Trump, finally a candidate whose hair gets more attention than mine,” Clinton quipped at a Democratic dinner here. “But there’s nothing funny about the hate he is spewing at immigrants and families — and now the insults he has directed at a genuine war hero, Sen. John McCain.
“It’s shameful, and so is the fact that it took so long for his fellow Republican candidates to start standing up to him,” she said. “The sad truth is if you look at many of their policies, it can be hard to tell the difference.”
Clinton made her comments at the annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner in Little Rock, in front of a crowd of about 1,500 Democrats. It was a brief, half-day homecoming for Clinton, her first visit to her de facto home state since she announced her candidacy in April.
In her keynote address, she gave an impassioned version of her stump speech, talking about paid leave, childcare, equal pay for equal work, universal preschool, and refinancing student debt. She reiterated her promise to hold individuals on Wall Street accountable for actions that lead to economic crises.
And she criticized the Republican field as a generic whole. “They may have some fresh faces, but they are the party of the past,” she said. “Trickle-down economics has to be one of the worst ideas of the 1980s. It is right up there with New Coke, shoulder pads and big hair. I lived through that. There are photographs. And believe me we’re not going back.”
After arriving in town late Saturday afternoon, Clinton visited the house she and Bill Clinton lived in when they first moved to Little Rock from Fayetteville, after Bill Clinton was elected state attorney general in 1977. She also made a brief stop at the Clinton Presidential Center, and drove by their old 1992 campaign headquarters, before arriving at the Verizon Center to keynote the dinner. She was scheduled to fly out Saturday night after her speech, an aide said.
Arkansas has changed dramatically since the Clintons were the stars of the state’s Democratic Party more than three decades ago. Democrats have been trounced here in recent elections, where the GOP now holds a majority at all levels of government in a state that used to be a Democratic stronghold. In his 2012 reelection campaign, President Barack Obama lost Arkansas by 24 points. Former Democratic governor and close Clinton ally Mike Beebe, the one stalwart Democratic survivor, left office in January after he was term-limited out.
The changing politics of Arkansas were on display Friday night, where Trump was warmly received by a crowd of over 1,000 Republicans at a GOP dinner in Hot Springs, Bill Clinton’s boyhood home.
But inside the overly air-conditioned Verizon Center, state Democrats were trying to keep both the pounding heat and the bleak political map out.
“I’m here to tell you the Democratic party is alive and well in Arkansas!” said state Democratic Party chairman Vince Insalaco.
For her part, Clinton acknowledged that last year was “a hard one for Democrats” in Arkansas. But she put a positive spin on it. “Don’t forget, voters did come out and pass an increase in the minimum wage,” she said. “Arkansas voters know paychecks need to grow. We just have to offer a plan for more growth and more fairness they can believe in and vote for.”
The arena was filled with longtime Clinton allies like Beebe; Mack McLarty, who served as White House chief of staff; former Sen. Blanche Lincoln; former Sen. David Pryor; Gen. Wesley Clark; and Lynda Dixon, Bill Clinton’s former personal secretary during his years as Arkansas governor, among others. The crowd was thrilled to welcome Clinton home — a large portrait of the former Secretary of State was sold at a pre-dinner auction for $19,000.
Speaking to reporters before Clinton took the stage, Beebe said Democrats are suffering because Arkansans are “mad at the White House. They’re mad at the president, in Arkansas.”
But he said Clinton can distance herself from Obama without being disloyal to a president she served under. “She can row her own boat,” he said. “She will be loyal, as she should be. She has her own plans, her own policies.”
He also acknowledged that Trump’s entry into the race is good for Clinton. “Good, I hope he wins,” he said when asked about Trump’s large and supportive crowd here Friday night.
As for whether Clinton could win here, he acknowledged in today’s environment, “it will be difficult, but yes. If anyone on that side of the aisle right now [has a chance,] she does. but it will be an uphill battle because the state has gone significantly red.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/hillary-clinton-slams-trumps-shameful-comments-on-mccains-war-record-120321.html#ixzz3gMFqs0lm
What happens when President Obama takes a stroll in Central Park
By ROBERTA RAMPTON
Helicopters whirling overhead, a phalanx of New York police officers on scooters to shoo away tourists, and about 50 anxious Secret Service agents fanning out in front, to the sides, and to the rear.
That is how you take a Saturday stroll in Central Park when you are the president of the United States.
President Barack Obama - who has often chafed at the confines of his office - was in Manhattan this weekend, trying to spend some time with his daughters and show them a good time in the big city.
With 18 months left in office, Obama is both working hard on a long to-do list of things he wanted to accomplish as president, but also looking forward to the next chapter of his life, when he can move around with more freedom.
Saturday was not the first time Obama has tried to break though the bubble of security and officialdom that surrounds him to try to do something ordinary - a mission that is almost impossible despite the power of his office.
But it was the first time in years he has managed to take a stroll though Central Park, in the city where he studied at Columbia University in the 1980s.
In 2012, after four years in office, Obama spoke wistfully about the loss of anonymity and spontaneity that comes with the job.
At a campaign event before his re-election, he recounted a scheme he hatched to use a fake mustache to take a walk and get a hot dog on a beautiful day in Manhattan - an idea the Secret Service quickly nixed.
"I said, 'You know, I just desperately want to take a walk through Central Park again, and just remember what that feels like,'" he recalled.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/r-a-man-his-kids-and-a-phalanx-of-security-obama-in-central-park-2015-7#ixzz3gMCfqfuD
Pakistan - Blasphemy Accusations: Two Christian Women Beaten, Humiliated And Paraded Around On Donkeys
Two Christian women brutally tortured after being allegedly accused of committing blasphemy.
According to details, two Christian women namely Rukhsana and Rehanna were allegedly accused of committing blasphemy. Both of these women are residents of a village of Shiekhupura District of Punjab.
As reports say, these Christian women purportedly got into an argument with a Muslim woman who wished to buy their home flex which was used as a carpet. The buyer offered a relatively low price to which these Christian women refused igniting an argument between the buyer and seller.
The argument augmented to such an extent that the Muslim woman accused that the Christian women had committed blasphemy. She accused that the Christian women pointed out towards the images on the carpet saying these are the images of Holy Books and Quranic verses. This accusation prompted n agitated mob of Muslims who beat the Christian women after which they dragged them out their house.
Moreover, the mob shaved off the head of Awais husband of one of these women Rukhsana. After beating the two women the mob painted the faces of three Christians with black paint, put garlands of shoes around their necks and paraded them around on donkeys. However, this was not all, the mob continued to beat them and hurled insults as them while ridding them on donkeys. This shameful act was eventually stopped when the local police intervened.
As per reports, Human rights group The Voice Society approached the police and forced them to intervene and help the allegedly accused Christians. The terrified families of Rukhsana and Rehana plan to leave the village after the accusations and the attack, determined not to return ever.
Pakistan - Death Or Life: A Last Chance For Asia Bibi
Last chance for Asia Bibi as the next court hearing will decide the blasphemy convict’s fate.
According to details, a court hearing has been set for Asia Bibi on July 22, in Lahore. Asia Bibi’s defence counsel Saif ul Malook confirmed that the case is due to be heard, which is basically an appeal against her death sentence. “I am very much sure and optimistic that the honourable Supreme Court will acquit Bibi. The evidence available as the record is not sufficient evidence for the Islamic standards of evidence to sustain the conviction,” he said.
Asia Bibi has been on death row since she was accused of committed blasphemy in June 2009 by her fellow-workers. Session’s Court in District Nankana, ruled capital punishment for Asia Bibi in 2010. Her defence lawyers filed an appeal against the decision while she remained in police custody since then. During this period hearing of her appeal case was either rescheduled or delayed countless times. Nonetheless, on October 16, 2014 the Lahore High Court sustained her death penalty after issuing a short order.
The appeal case put forth in Supreme Court, scheduled to be heared on Wednesday, July 22; is practically the last chance for crestfallen Asia Bibi. The Supreme Court shall decide whether she is granted or rejected. If the Supreme Court rejects her appeal her death penalty will be upheld. In this case, only Presidential Pardon could save Asia Bibi’s life. If Supreme Court grants her appeal, dates will be set for future hearings during which the court would decide whether to annul or withhold her death penalty.
Ashiq Masih, husband of Asia Bibi says, “It is a great pleasure that Asia’s appeal hearing has been fixed by the Supreme Court. Our whole family is praying for her release so she may come out of the prison and may live with her children. May God protect her and all our children so that we may live safely and peacefully together.”
Prayers sought as Asia Bibi faces Pakistan court on July 22 to appeal for her freedom
Pakistani Christian Asia Bibi, who was sentenced to death for blasphemy after proclaiming her faith in God, has been given the chance to appeal for her freedom after spending six years in prison.
The 50-year-old Bibi, a mother of five children, will face the Pakistan Supreme Court on Wednesday, July 22, to challenge for one last time her penalty of death by hanging, and to plead that she be freed.
The British Pakistani Christian Association (BCPA) has asked Christians around the world to pray that Pakistan's high court heed Bibi's plea for freedom.
BCPA officer Mehwish Bhatti also said the early date set by the court for Bibi's appeal should be viewed as a positive development.
"I am pleased at this early date; the legal process in Pakistan can be so delayed. Perhaps the international pressure felt by our Government has resulted in the expedition of her case," Bhatti said.
"I hope that this time the courts make the right decision and free sister Asia," she added.
Bhatti said Bibi has already suffered enough in prison, having been beaten and gang-raped while in jail in Pakistan over trumped-up blasphemy charges.
"Six years in a dingy, dark cell in complete isolation will no doubt have caused great trauma, especially when coupled with a nation's unfair hatred," Bhatti said.
Bibi was accused of blasphemy after she proclaimed, "My Christ died for me, what did Muhammed do for you?"
Six years after she uttered those words of faith, the Pakistani Christian is still the object of hatred in the predominantly Muslim country.
In fact, Muslim clerics have placed a bounty of nearly $5,000 on her head should the Pakistani Supreme Court decides on her freedom.
BCPA president Wilson Chowdhry, meanwhile, called for the repeal of the blasphemy law in Pakistan.
"The draconian blasphemy law of Pakistan has been condemned globally and is a tool for discrimination, vendettas and hatred," he said.
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