Jilly_in_VA
Jilly_in_VA's JournalHillary Clinton flipped the script on Republicans' Epstein theater
Republicans clearly hoped this week that by hauling both Clintons in front of the House Oversight Committee for questioning about Jeffrey Epstein, they could, at minimum, embarrass Democrats. But this gang only ended up embarrassing themselves. The former secretary of state handily turned what Republicans presumed would be a humiliating moment into her own political win — and showcased Republicans’ woefully unserious handling of the Epstein scandal in the process.
Any reasonable person might have wondered what the heck the House Oversight Committee, the panel that is supposed to be Congress’ watchdog over the executive branch, was doing wasting its time with Hillary Clinton. At least Bill Clinton knew Epstein in the early 2000s and flew on his plane numerous times. But as the former first lady said when she spoke to the press after her deposition, “I don’t know how many times I had to say I did not know Jeffrey Epstein, I never went to his island, I never went to his homes, I never went to his offices.”
And that wasn’t all. “It then got at the end quite unusual,” she said, “because I started being asked about UFOs, and a series of questions about Pizzagate.” For some reason, they didn’t press her on whether NASA faked the moon landing.
This is the nature of the Republican response to the unending Epstein scandal: from Congress, the kind of buffoonery represented by the Clinton deposition; and from the administration, an insistence that Trump is unconnected to or “exonerated” from a scandal whose central figure long counted the president as a friend.
https://www.ms.now/opinion/hillary-clinton-epstein-deposition-house-republicans-scandal
talk about a witch hunt!
World Trump floats 'friendly takeover' of Cuba. What's his endgame?
U.S. President Donald Trump is musing about a "friendly takeover of Cuba" as his administration tightens its economic squeeze on the island's communist government.
Trump has moved to choke off much of Cuba's supply of crude oil, decimating the island's tourist industry and putting mounting pressure on the Cuban government to make some sort of deal with the White House.
"They're in a big deal of trouble," Trump said Friday in Washington. "They have no money. They have no anything right now, but they're talking with us, and maybe we'll have a friendly takeover of Cuba."
While Trump did not explain what he meant by a friendly takeover, experts on U.S. policy toward Cuba believe the president's tactics are likely more about creating business opportunities for American companies than about toppling the communist regime of President Miguel Díaz-Canel.
Trump said last week he wants to "make a deal" with the Cuban authorities and said Secretary of State Marco Rubio — the son of Cuban immigrants — is leading the talks.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trump-us-cuba-strategy-9.7095719
It's all about making Cuba safe for Kushner
ICE agents said to have posed as police, a tactic some fear could erode trust in real cops
The 911 call came in at 6:32 a.m. on Thursday: Two “suspicious” men wearing dark clothing were lingering inside a Columbia University residential building.
But when New York Police Department officers were dispatched to the scene, they came across U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents in the midst of an unusually elaborate operation.
According to a statement later released by Columbia, the agents had gained access to the building by posing as police in search of a 5-year-old — going so far as to present a flyer of the “missing child” to a campus safety officer.
The ruse allowed them to make their way to the apartment of Ellie Aghayeva, an international student from Azerbaijan who immigration officials claim overstayed her visa. The NYPD officers arrived after the men had entered her apartment, a department spokesperson said. They confirmed the men were federal agents, then quickly left the building.
https://apnews.com/article/nypd-columbia-university-immigration-c9b0cd212ab3bad901aadb3d87a55149
This is not going to help either the police or ICE.
Transgender youths are targeted in Scouting America changes pushed by the Pentagon
Scouting America will alter several policies at the urging of the Pentagon, including one targeting transgender youths, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday as he pushes a campaign against military support for diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
Some of the changes mirror what the organization suggested to the Pentagon in January, including discontinuing its Citizenship in Society merit badge, introducing a Military Service merit badge and waiving registration fees for the children of military personnel.
Under Hegseth, the Pentagon has taken aim at the military’s partnership with Scouting America, decrying its historic rebrand in 2024 from the Boy Scouts of America and other changes in recent years that he sees as part of “woke culture” efforts that he wants to root out.
Hegseth said in a video posted on X that Scouting America will require its members to use their “biological sex at birth and not gender identity.” He said applications will list only options for male and female and the one checked must match the applicant’s birth certificate. The group would clarify that youths of opposite genders assigned at birth cannot share bathrooms, tents or other similar spaces, he said.
Hegseth said the Pentagon will “vigorously review” the changes Scouting America has made in six months and cease its support of the organization if it fails to comply.
https://apnews.com/article/scouting-america-pentagon-military-boy-scouts-14a5fc1521fcd1e51103638f6f504214
When did the Scouts become an arm of the Pentagon and become Shitler Youth? Did I miss something? I thought they were an arm of the Mormon Church.....
A children's hospital is renamed for Dolly Parton and hopes to transform pediatric care in Tennessee
Dolly Parton’s name might inspire full-throated sing-a-longs to her working woman’s anthem “9 to 5,” or evoke memories of thrilling days spent at her Dollywood theme park.
Now, the Grammy-winning country music superstar is lending her name to a new cause: advancing pediatric health care in her home state. The East Tennessee Children’s Hospital announced Thursday that it will now be known as Dolly Parton Children’s Hospital.
“Ever since I’ve been in a position to do my part, to help others, I have tried to do just that. Especially when children and families need it most,” Parton said in a video announcement. “I’ve always believed that every child deserves a fair chance to grow up healthy, hopeful and surrounded with love.”
The impact of Parton’s philanthropy is already felt across Tennessee and beyond. Her Imagination Library initiative reports to send 3 million free books every month to children whose parents request them. She donated $1 million to Vanderbilt University’s Medical Center for research that helped produce Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine. And her charitable foundation provides numerous college scholarships and offers disaster relief.
Dolly Parton Children’s Hospital did not share how much Parton donated as part of the naming announcement. But Matt Schaefer, its president and CEO, said her support would ensure “every child who walks through our doors receives the treatment they deserve.
https://apnews.com/article/dolly-parton-childrens-hospital-philanthropy-4bceb89b8e6fd4f22bdf96f1861d504d
She is a true saint. One of my kids and one of my grandkids has been hospitalized there, and I worked there briefly before realizing that peds nursing was not my jam.
New York City police investigating after officers were hit with snowballs during a snowball fight
New York City police are investigating after officers were pelted with snowballs while responding to a massive snowball fight at Washington Square Park in Manhattan.
A video of the fracas shows two uniformed officers pacing a walkway in the park Monday as snowballs fly at them from all directions, hitting the officers and covering them in snow.
The officers, growing visibly frustrated, shoved at least two people to the ground as snowballs continued to whizz by. At one point, a person runs up behind an officer and mushes some snow onto his head. One of the officers can be seen rubbing his eye toward the end of the video.
In a statement Tuesday, the New York Police Department said multiple uniformed officers were struck in the face with snowballs and were “removed by EMS in stable condition” to a nearby hospital, but did not disclose additional information on their injuries.
Jessica Tisch, the city’s police commissioner, called the behavior “disgraceful” and “criminal” and said the department is investigating. Police have released images of two people the department is searching for in connection with the incident, asking for the public’s help to identify them.
https://apnews.com/article/snowball-fight-nyc-police-f10453245ed0b9eeda41f66b5ce2e928
Why do they care so much about a SNOWBALL FIGHT, FFS? And why make such a BFD about it? Why get the cops involved in the first place? I don't see any reports of anyone else ending up in the hospital!
Chicago's newest snowplow name 'Abolish ICE,' Mayor Brandon Johnson says
Chicago’s newest name for a snowplow will be “Abolish ICE,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said Monday.
Johnson announced the name as the winner of a citywide contest. He had earlier given it a “full and complete” endorsement.
Other winning names include Stephen Coldbert, Pope Frío XIV, The Blizzard of Oz, Svencoolie and Caleb Chilliams.
But the dig at President Donald Trump’s ramped-up deportation efforts became the runaway favorite as the contest progressed. The name was submitted 9,200 times, making up around 70% of all submitted names, according to Block Club Chicago.
Johnson credited Chicagoans for “their unmatched creativity, sense of humor and civic pride,” in the statement. The contest saw record-breaking participation with over 39,000 voters, he said.
Posts on Johnson’s social media announcing the naming contest in December show dozens of internet users responding to recommend the name. The mayor touted the idea days later while speaking with the Rev. Al Sharpton Jr. on MS NOW.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/23/chicago-snow-plow-abolish-ice-mayor-brandon-johnson/
I love it! Thanks for today's smile, Chicago!
Russian soldiers tell BBC they saw fellow troops executed on commanders' orders
Four Russian soldiers have exposed the horror and brutality of conditions on their side of the front lines in Ukraine, with two men telling the BBC they saw soldiers being executed on the spot for refusing orders.
One man told a documentary team he saw a soldier executed on the order of his commander, who was made a "Hero of Russia" in 2024.
"I see it - just two metres, three metres... click, clack, bang," he said.
Another soldier, from a different unit, says he saw his commander shoot four men himself.
"I knew them," he says of the soldiers executed. "I remember one of them screaming 'Don't shoot, I'll do anything!'"
One of them also says he saw 20 bodies of fellow soldiers lying in a pit after being "zeroed" by comrades. The term "zero" is Russian military slang for executing your own.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz7gw3l395ro
Nothing says Russian like executing your own troops in the middle of a war!
Who is Sasha Riley?
I have heard the name in connection with the Epstein Files but I can't really find out anything. I know he is/was a young man who made some kind of explosive allegations that I seem to have missed. Who is he and what are the allegations?
Worst of the worst? Most US immigrants targeted for deportation in 2025 had no criminal charges, documents reveal
Within days of Donald Trump’s inauguration, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) trotted out a phrase that his surrogates would come to use over and over again: “the worst of the worst.”
The term has become a shorthand justification for the administration’s unprecedented overhaul of immigration enforcement – a relentless campaign the administration claims is focused on arresting and deporting violent criminals.
However, a review of records obtained by the Guardian and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed against DHS, raises questions about those claims.
The findings come from little-known documents known as I-213 forms. DHS uses these forms in court to prove that a person is in the country illegally. The documents are filed when a person first encounters ICE, and DHS begins the deportation process, which is often when they are arrested. The documents contain biographical details about the person, including their criminal history, as well as any information that DHS feels is relevant to the immigration court case.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/22/us-immigration-trump-administration
And this should surprise anyone exactly HOW?
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Gender: Do not displayHome country: USA currently
Current location: Virginia
Member since: Wed Jun 1, 2011, 06:34 PM
Number of posts: 14,257