Report: Trump privately questioning Ivanka and Jared Kushner’s WH roles

GEOBEATS            September  30th 2017 
President Trump has reportedly been asking close friends and advisers for their thoughts about having daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner in the White House--namely, “whether having his family members in the government is creating too much noise.” 

Politico, which reported the account, citing multiple inside officials, adds that one source pointed out that “the president's concern about their current roles was not driven by any sense that they were unable to serve appropriately, but out of a desire to protect his daughter and son-in-law.” 

They have been lightning rods of controversy since joining the administration; for example, Ivanka was widely criticized for temporarily taking her father’s seat during the G20 summit in July. 

The president ended up defending her on twitter which prompted more controversy. 

Ivanka has also been called over specific incidents like her limited response to the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, and general grievances like not speaking out against some of her father’s more extreme views. 

“There’s a level of viciousness that I was not expecting," Ivanka told 'Fox & Friends' in a June interview. "I think some of the distractions and some of the ferocity, I was a little blindsided by on a personal level.”   

Meanwhile, Kushner, a White House senior adviser, has also been embroiled in some potentially serious legal issues since taking the public sector job. These include multiple omissions on security clearance forms, recent reports that he had used a private email address to communicate about government business, and allegations that he may have had improper contacts with Russia. 

“Jared is doing a great job for the country," the president defended Kushner back in May. "I have total confidence in him.”

Let's hear it from Witchy :

tRUMP  didn't exactly  "hit the ground running"  with his new job.
Too bad there is no one that can advise him ... he's got to go.
There is a law that prohibits family members from being employed by the WH.  It was put in place after the Kennedy administration.  At the time there was a joke that JFK stood for 'Jobs for Kinfolk. ' Jared and Ivanka do not belong on staff at the WH.  They don't have the qualifications, they were not elected, and their presence is generally irritating to a lot of people Libs and Conservs.
And laws were enacted by a Republican Congress that  tRUMP  is playing fast and loose with , and repaying political favors !
tRUMP  is a mentally disturbed man. people need to stop rationalizing his behavior.
Kushner's lawyer is going to tell him to get out because he can be forced to reveal what  tRUMP  has said.  So tRUMP  finds this out and all of a sudden it's HIS idea.  he's so stupid that he thinks everyone lives in his alternate world.  No donnie,  just about 1 in 3.
tRUMP your kids  have no business being in the White House.  Not elected, not qualified.  It has done nothing for them but cause problems for them and  tRUMP, who totally is not qualified.
Now a word to Ivanka : 
Dear Ivanka, The "viciousness" you complain about stems from your husband's shadiness, and his repeated attempts to get away with lying about all his "honest mistakes" with transparency. He's either really dumb, or just as big a liar as your daddy.
Nuff sez : HeHe 

In private dinner, George W. Bush criticizes Trump's decision to add North Korea to travel ban

Business Insider         ALLAN SMITH         September  29th 2017
In a private dinner Thursday night, former President George W. Bush was critical of President Donald Trump's decision to place added travel restrictions on North Korea as part of his administration's revised travel ban, a source present at the dinner told Business Insider.

The source told Business Insider that Bush suggested it would discourage dissidents and defectors from seeking their freedom from the reclusive country.

Bush said the US needs to encourage such pursuits and contrasted North Korea's addition to the travel ban with the North Korean Human Rights Act that Bush signed in 2004, the source said. The law offered support for North Korean human rights groups and dissidents.

The comments came during a question-and-answer session led by Victor Cha, who served as Bush's top adviser on North Korea and is widely expected to be Trump's pick for US ambassador to South Korea.

Bush was speaking before The Korea Society's annual dinner in New York City, which featured more than 400 guests, the source said. Bush was being honored with The Korea Society's Van Fleet Award at the event.

Freddy Ford, a spokesperson for Bush, told Business Insider on Friday that the former president did not address Trump or the travel ban in his remarks at the private New York City dinner. But he said that Bush discussed, "in broader strokes, welcoming and supporting dissidents, as he has for years, and referred to the Bush Institute’s longstanding and ongoing work in that area."

Two additional people present at the event declined to comment on Bush's remarks, citing Bush's request for the dinner to be off the record.

The Trump administration on Sunday added North Korea, along with Venezuela and Chad, to its list of countries whose citizens would be barred from entering the US.

"North Korea does not cooperate with the United States government in any respect and fails to satisfy all information-sharing requirements," the revised travel restrictions said. "The entry into the United States of nationals of North Korea as immigrants and nonimmigrants is hereby suspended."

But experts were quick to say that relatively few North Koreans are even capable of traveling to the US in the first place, a point an administration official acknowledged in a background briefing on the revised restrictions.

"They should have checked if there is North Korean immigration before they banned it," John Delury, an associate professor at Seoul’s Yonsei University, told The Washington Post. "Why are you banning something that doesn’t exist?"

"There’s no logic in the North Korea context, so we can conclude this is not really about North Korea," Delury said. "This is not part of real North Korea policy at all."

The source said Bush was also asked at the dinner if he thought the Korean Peninsula would ever reunify.

"I'm 71," Bush said, according to the source. "So, not in my lifetime."

Ford told Business Insider that Bush's reunification comment "was only a joke about his advancing age."

North Korea-US relations have been at the forefront of the global discussion in recent months. North Korea recently threatened to shoot down a US bomber after Trump threatened to "totally destroy" North Korea during a recent speech before the United Nations General Assembly.

Trump has also insisted in recent weeks on calling North Korean leader Kim Jong Un "Rocket Man," a reference to his frequent missile tests, which have sent tremors through governments across the world as leaders seek to resolve the escalating nuclear episode.
Witchy sez : 
We have four living presidents  Jimmy Carter / Bill Clinton / George Bush ? Barrack Obama  , they don't care for tRUMP , may I ask what does that tell you ?
If you  stop listening / feeding   the  dummy  , maybe he will get the idea  that he is only an over stuffed  bully .

The Future: Dr. Michio Kaku's Predictions



Trump invents hospitalized senator to explain latest health care failure

Yesterday morning, Donald Trump was so eager to explain away the demise of his party’s health care gambit, he unveiled a new excuse: one of the Senate Republicans prepared to vote for the repeal measure was in the hospital.
A few hours later on the White House South Lawn, the president elaborated on this point:

TRUMP: I just wanted to say though on health care, we have the votes for health care. We have one senator that’s in the hospital. He can’t vote because he’s in the hospital.
REPORTER: Are you talking about [Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi]?

TRUMP: [Nods] He can’t vote because he’s in the hospital.
A few hours after that, the president was at it once again, delivering a speech in Indiana on taxes in which he declared, in reference to the latest GOP repeal legislation, “We have the votes on Graham-Cassidy.” [Update: On Fox News this morning, Trump once again repeated the bizarre claim.]
Even for Trump, this was a little weird. First, Thad Cochran is not in the hospital. The Mississippi Republican had a health issue earlier this week that kept him away from the Capitol, but as Cochran said yesterday, “Thanks for the well-wishes. I’m not hospitalized.”
Second, no matter how many times the president says, “We have the votes,” reality is stubborn.

To be sure, if Cochran were unavailable for a floor fight on health care, Senate Republicans would have had an even more difficult time passing an ACA repeal bill, but Trump is choosing to overlook arithmetic: there are 52 Republican senators, meaning the party could only afford two “no” from within their own ranks. There were, however, three – and by some counts, four.
Not to put too fine a point on this, but four “no” votes plus one “yes” is still … four “no” votes.
So, why is the president making stuff up? I obviously can’t read his mind, but I suspect this is how Trump is choosing to rationalize failure. He said he’d help shepherd a Republican health care bill through the Senate; the bill failed to get the support it needed; he couldn’t strike a deal; and so it’s easier to blame Thad Cochran’s urological ailment than accept the latest in a series of defeats.
In fact, it’s likely these manufactured circumstances will soon become an accepted reality in the White House – Republicans had the votes (even though they didn’t), and Cochran was in the hospital (even though he wasn’t) – and reporters will be expected to present this in a “he said, she said” way, as if Trump’s made-up story has merit.
However, Mr Trump would never allow anyone to refer to it as fake news.

'Tweety Boy' Reveals his Main Concerns

New England Patriots




Jaguars



Buffalo Bills

Miami Dolphins

Dallas Cowboys

For example: Over the last weekend he tweeted twice about North Korea, twice about the Health Care bill, zero times about Puerto Rico's apocalyptic devastation by Hurricane Maria and "20" times about the NFL's disrespect for the national anthem."

.....TWENTY TIMES!!

President Donald Trump, on Monday morning, continued to bash NFL players who kneel or otherwise protest during the US national anthem before games. In a series of tweets, he pointed out that "many people booed" the protesting players, and he again denied the issue was race-related.

On Friday while speaking at a rally in Alabama, Trump had derided NFL players who chose to kneel during the national anthem to protest police violence against black people, saying: "Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, 'Get that son of a b---- off the field right now, out — he's fired!'"

Teams, players, and commissioner Roger Goodell responded with statements defending players' right to kneel. Goodell said the president's comments showed an "unfortunate lack of respect for the NFL.

In 14 NFL games on Sunday, dozens of NFL players responded to Trump's criticism from earlier in the weekend by kneeling or otherwise protesting during the anthem. Before the game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Tennessee Titans, both teams stayed in their locker room to avoid the spectacle entirely. Elsewhere, while some players knelt, others stood with arms linked in a display of unity.

Over an hour after kickoff, the president tweeted about the protests again, saying, "Standing with locked arms is good — kneeling is not acceptable."
Beyond NFL players, some artists performing the national anthem knelt in protest.
While Trump demanded on Monday that the NFL "must respect" the US's flag and anthem, and on Friday said NFL owners should fire players who protest, he has not suggested any legislation or legal action, which would most likely restrict the players' First Amendment right to acts of free speech.
But what about the protest? Police violence against black Americans is a very real issue. We have seen example after example in the past few years when witnesses have recorded the violence on their cell phones. It is right to protest any kind of inhumanity.
What better forum to bring attention to the problem than a stadium full of people and with millions watching at home ? Mr Trump hasn't tweeted about the reason for the protest. And I guess he won't, since he gives a kindly nod to white supremacists and glosses over the Nazis' Third Reich. As usual, he aggravates and escalates a situation rather than solving it.

These 8 U.S. Cities Are in Range of North Korean Missiles

Jason Rossi          September 23, 2017
The United States is home to a handful of world-class cities. It is no stretch to say San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago are all among the most famous cities in the world. But those who have never visited before might want to schedule a trip soon.

According to a recent report by CNBC, several of the country’s renowned cities have the potential to be wiped out or at least severely damaged by Kim Jong Un’s itchy trigger finger. North Korea’s nuclear missile program is believed to have the capability of hitting several U.S. metropolises. Chinese and Russian leaders are asking for cooler heads to prevail, so an imminent strike seems like a far-fetched idea. But, if worse comes to worst, here are some of the more notable cities within missile range — and what could be lost if a North Korean strike were to take place.
1. Boston

What could be lost: Faneuil Hall, Bunker Hill Monument, Paul Revere House
Some of the United States’ most historic moments could be within range of North Korea’s missiles if a launch takes place. Faneuil Hall, the site of some speeches that helped ignite the American Revolution, has already been gutted by fire in its history but could be completely wiped out. Paul Revere’s house and historic Fenway Park would likely be decimated, too. A strike could make it very hard to test out your Boston accent on the locals at a Dunkin Donuts.
2. Chicago

What could be lost: The Art Institute of Chicago, John Hancock Center, Navy Pier, Willis (Sears) Tower

If a missile were to hit downtown Chicago, the renowned collection of works at the Art Institute would be lost. And the iconic John Hancock Center, the adjacent Magnificent Mile, and tourist hot spot Navy Pier would be subjected to radioactive fallout. The Chicago Board of Trade would also be hit. That would make it hard to re-enact your favorite scenes from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
3. Denver

What could be lost: Denver Botanical Gardens, Denver Art Museum, Molly Brown House Museum

One missile hitting downtown Denver would wipe out some of the city’s well-known and most beloved attractions. The Molly Brown House Museum, which highlights the life of perhaps the United States’ most progressive woman of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, could be destroyed. So too would be the nearby Denver Botanical Gardens and the Denver Art Museum, the latter of which is home to a well-known collection of Native American art. But the Coors brewery in Golden, Colorado, to the west might be spared. So you would be able to drown your sorrows.
4. Honolulu

What could be lost: USS Arizona Memorial, Diamond Head, Waikiki Beach

The island paradise and nearby naval base could be an enticing target for North Korea. Prevailing winds would blow much of the fallout southwest out into the sea, but a strike would wipe out the historic sites at Pearl Harbor and put a damper on the tourist attractions near downtown Honolulu.
5. Los Angeles

What could be lost: The Getty Center, Griffith Observatory, MacArthur Park

Some of the most iconic landmarks known to movie buffs would be in danger were a missile from North Korea to strike Los Angeles. The Getty Center museum, with its iconic architecture and views of downtown, could be erased. MacArthur Park, a slice of nature dropped into urban surroundings, would be gone. And your chance to dance like Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone at the Griffith Observatory would be severely hampered.
6. New York

What could be lost: Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, Central Park

The United States’ best-known city would be rendered nearly uninhabitable by a 15-kiloton nuclear weapon courtesy of North Korea. That size is comparable to the “Little Boy” bomb, the smaller of the two dropped on Japan near the end of World War II.

According to NukeMap, a large portion of lower Manhattan would be leveled and radioactive fallout could spread up the island and into Connecticut as nearly 400,000 people would be immediately impacted. Needless to say, the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, and some of the city’s other well-known attractions wouldn’t be very fun to visit then, but Times Square might be a little less crowded.
7. San Diego

What could be lost: Mission Bay Park, San Diego Zoo, USS Midway Museum

San Diego and the large naval base just south of downtown would be within range and an enticing target for North Korea. San Diego’s temperate climate makes visiting the renowned San Diego Zoo and the USS Midway Museum, a decommissioned aircraft carrier that has planes spanning from World War II to Operation Desert Storm, a pleasant experience. But the temperature might be a little too warm if a missile were to strike.
8. San Francisco

What could be lost: Alcatraz Island, Golden Gate Bridge, Pier 39

Another West Coast metropolis within range of the North Korea KN-08 missile, Alcatraz Island and the nearby Golden Gate Bridge wouldn’t stand a chance. Pier 39, a popular tourist site thanks to the seals that perch near the water, probably wouldn’t hold the same appeal if a missile were to hit.

North Korean leader to consider 'highest level of hard-line measure' against U.S.

Kim Jong un  "Rocket Man" according to  President tRUMP .
Thomson Reuters      CHRISTINE KIM AND SOYOUNG KIM       September 21st 2017 
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un said in a rare statement on Friday the North will consider the "highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history" against the United States in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to "totally destroy" the North.

Calling Trump "mentally deranged" and his comments "the most ferocious declaration of a war in history," Kim said his U.N. speech on Tuesday confirmed Pyongyang's nuclear program has been "the correct path".

"His remarks ... have convinced me, rather than frightening or stopping me, that the path I chose is correct and that it is the one I have to follow to the last," Kim said in the statement carried by the North's official KCNA news agency.


"As a man representing the DPRK and on behalf of the dignity and honor of my state and people and on my own, I will make the man holding the prerogative of the supreme command in the U.S. pay dearly for his speech," Kim said, referring to the North by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Liliane Bettencourt, L’Oreal heiress and world’s richest woman, dies at 94

 The Wrap          REID NAKAMURA          September  21st 2017 
Liliane Bettencourt, the billionaire heiress of the cosmetics company L’Oreal, has died at the age of 94.

Bettencourt, whose family founded L’Oreal and now owns a 33 percent stake in the company, died “peacefully” in her home on Wednesday night, according to a statement from her daughter Françoise Bettencourt Meyers sent to The Guardian on Thursday.

“In this painful moment for us, I would like to reiterate, on behalf of our family, our entire commitment and loyalty to L’Oreal and to renew my confidence in its President Jean-Paul Agon and his teams worldwide,” Meyers said.

Bettencourt was named the world’s richest woman back in March in Forbes‘ annual list of billionaires. At the time, she was estimated to be worth $39.5 billion. The next richest woman on the list was Wal-Mart’s Alice Walton, with an estimated worth of $33.8 billion .

Condolence to the family and friends   
RIP        Shadow  & Witchy

The Plot to Assassinate Kim Jong un ( where is James Bond when you really need him?)

There’s a secret plot afoot to assassinate North Korea leader Kim Jong-un and his key officials if the dictator starts a war, it has emerged. 

South Korean special forces have briefed president Moon Jae-in on the possibility of sending trained killers into North Korea to target the regime’s leadership.

It comes after Kim fired a test ballistic missile over Japan earlier this week, sparking outrage across the world.

Moon has reportedly told his military officials to be ready to ‘quickly switch to an offensive posture in case North Korea stages a provocation that crosses the line’.

South Korean army soldiers have been reportedly briefed on what to do if war breaks out

This would mean the country would be ready to carry out air and sea landings in the event of a ‘conventional’ attack from the north.
According to reports, Taurus cruise missiles fired from F-15 fighters would be used if President Moon Jae-in gives the go ahead if a war is started. And the measure would be initiated by the President’s Special Forces, Seoul newspaper Munwha IIbo reported.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump renewed his warnings to North Korea on Twitter, writing: ‘The US has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer!’

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un watching the launch of an intermediate-range strategic ballistic rocket Hwasong-12 near Pyongyang.

Since then, the US has flown supersonic bombers and fighter jets over South Korea in a show of force following North Korea’s latest ballistic missile launch, according to the military in Seoul.
An official from Seoul’s Defense Ministry said two B-1B bombers and two F-35 fighters participated in training with South Korean F-15 fighter jets.
Such flyovers are common when animosity rises on the Korean peninsula, which is technically in a state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

The B-1Bs were flown in from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam while the F-35s came from a US base in Iwakuni, Japan, the official said.
Pyongyang had earlier threatened to fire a salvo of Hwasong-12s toward Guam, which is home to key US military bases and strategic long-range bombers the North finds threatening.
The UN has since condemned the North for its actions, and have urged it to halt its weapons program immediately.
The country has previously gone against UN sanctions and conducted dozens of ballistic missile tests under Kim but this is one of the first time a projectile has been flown over mainland Japan.

Time for the rest of the world to pull together and come up with a final solution to the North Korean threat to world peace.

In the past, the North's leaders have taken seriously the risk of being targeted.
In March 1993, for example, at a time of heightened US-North Korea tensions, Kim Jong-il, the then leader of the country and the father of Kim Jong-un, spent most of the month in a secure bunker, committed to a "semi-war" status while announcing the country's withdrawal from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT).
Fear of US escalation pushed Mr Kim into hiding but did not prevent the North from continuing to respond belligerently by violating international norms and abrogating past agreements.
Given the fears and precautions of the North's leaders, a South Korean directed "hit" on Mr Kim would be highly risky.  A botched assassination attempt could easily provoke retaliation from the North in the form of limited military action that might in turn rapidly escalate unintentionally to a full-blown nuclear exchange.
But in an environment where there remain no good policy choices for dealing with the North Korean challenge, assassination may be the only remaining option.

Russian Scientists Kept Five People Awake For 30 Days… But They Never Expected THIS To Happen.

 Sleep is a necessity of life. We need it to survive and not getting enough can have serious consequences.
Russian scientists decided to do an experiment to see if they could bypass the whole sleeping thing, and instead keep humans awake, for not just days, but weeks.

The results were shocking:
It took place in the late 1940’s where five men were enlisted for the study. They were enemies of the state so their involvement was likely not one of choice. The sleep deprivation study would aim to employ small doses of experimental gas which would hopefully eliminate any need for sleep.

They were placed in a sealed environment. This way the researchers would not be exposed to the experimental gas. The prisoners had microphones to communicate, and were given running water, food, a toilet, and books to read. All of this was just enough for a month. They were also given a cot, but the bedding was removed, likely in anticipation that the study members would not need it.

Three days went by. And things actually went well. The deal with the prisoners, which apparently was phony, was that if they didn’t crash out for 30 days, they would be free. Their dialogue and action was monitored. The prisoners began opening up about past trauma they had been through. These became darker after the fourth day.

It was day 5 when paranoia started to set in. Complaints regarding past decisions and circumstance of how they got here started surfacing. They were not conversing with one another, but rather whispering into their mics. There seemed to be something at play where they believed winning the trust of the scientists and betraying their fellow prison mates was key.

Day 10. Screaming begins. Three hours straight a prisoner is seen running back and forth continuously across the room, screaming to the point of not being able to produce a sound, only squeaks as scientists figured his vocal cords had torn.

There was no response from the other prisoners regarding the screaming.

Suddenly there seemed to be silence from the chamber. The scientists were not hearing anything, so they used the intercom, something they did not plan to do, in order to elicit a response from the prisoners. They even said that if they participated in responding, they would be freed. This is the response they got from a single calm voice:

“We no longer want to be freed.”

Day 15. The gas stimulant was removed from the chamber. It was replaced with fresh air. But the prisoners began begging for the gas to be put back on. Soldiers then came in to get the prisoners. Four of the five were still breathing. No food had been eaten in 5 days. The man who was dead, was also missing pieces of flesh. Mainly from his thighs and chest. It was clogging the drain, which in turn flooded the room as four inches of water filled the floor.

The ones who were alive were also missing skin and flesh and had wounds present, which seemed to be self-inflicted. Meanwhile the corpse was something that even the top level soldiers did not want to go near let alone bring outside.

A prisoner was killed in the process of trying to free the subjects. Violence ensued. One of prisoners explained why he was acting violent upon attempting to be freed. He simply said:

“I must remain awake.”

Australian tech expert issues dire warning about the dangers of killer sex robots

DIGITAL TRENDS: (Tech)
The newest threat to humans may not be nuclear weapons or climate change, but rather robots intended for intimate purposes that could suddenly turn deadly. Even worse, they can even be armed with guns or knives.
Cyber security expert Dr. Nick Patterson recently voiced his concerns about the killer sex robots, cautioning that hackers could take control of the devices and turn them into wanton killing machines. “Hackers can hack into a robot or a robotic device and have full control of the connections, arms, legs and other attached tools like in some cases knives or welding devices,” he declared. “Often these robots can be upwards of 200 pounds, and very strong.”
Elon Musk has previously warned about killer robot armies, describing artificial intelligence research as “summoning a demon.” Dr. Patterson, however, believes that the danger lies in hackers taking control of the sex robots and using them as deadly weapons. “The last thing you want is for a hacker to have control over one of these robots! Once hacked they could absolutely be used to perform physical actions for an advantageous scenario or to cause damage.”
Sex robots are a booming field in artificial intelligence, and the race is on to build the first mass-market robotic erotic companion. Harmony, a $15,000 robot created by Matt McMullen at Abyss Creations, is programmed to be “docile, submissive, and built like a porn star.” Over five years, she has evolved through six iterations and is generating a lot of interest among robot doll aficionados. “My goal, in a very simple way, is to make people happy,” McMullen said. “There are a lot of people out there, for one reason or another, who have difficulty forming traditional relationships with other people. It’s really all about giving those people some level of companionship – or the illusion of companionship.”

Some sex robots have been programmed with actual personalities, and there are others that need to be seduced before you, uh, get down to business. Some robots can be stimulated to orgasm, and there are even plans for robot brothels in Europe. These virtual girlfriends aren’t cheap, however – plan to shell out at least ten grand for even the base models.
On top of that, there’s always the danger they’ll go on a homicidal rampage. Perhaps we should take our cue from the writings of Isaac Asimov and require that all sex robots be programmed with the Three Laws of Robotics.

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
   
2. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
   
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

• Elon Musk is convinced killer robots are coming, and he has a plan
• New report explores the good, the bad, and the ugly about sex robots
• Non-graphic LGBTQ content will be accessible in YouTube’s Restricted Mode

Thanx Yahoo

Hurricane Irma batters Caribbean

 In Hurricane Irma's destructive path across the Caribbean eight people have been killed and 23 injured in French island territories and the death toll is expected to rise as rescue teams continue their search across the islands.

A total of 100,000 food rations have been sent to the islands – enough for four days of supplies.

More than 1,000,000 people in Puerto Rico – around 70 per cent of the population – have been left without power from the category five storm which is heading towards Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Communications in the area are difficult with between 90 and 95 per cent of buildings on Barbuda destroyed.

 Eight dead and 23 injured in French Islands

St Maartin

Antigua

About 60 percent of the island’s 1,400 residents were left homeless, Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne said.

‘It is just really a horrendous situation,’ Browne said after returning to Antigua from a plane trip to the neighboring island.

On St Thomas in the nearby U.S. Virgin Islands, Laura Strickling spent 12 hours hunkered down with her husband and 1-year-old daughter in a boarded-up basement apartment with no power as the storm raged outside. They emerged to find the lush island in tatters.

Many of their neighbours’ homes were damaged and once-dense vegetation was largely gone.

‘There are no leaves. It is crazy. One of the things we loved about St Thomas is that it was so green. And it’s gone,’ Strickling said. ‘It will take years for this community to get back on its feet.’

Shocking footage and pictures taken from a helicopter over St Martin hints that the number could rise significantly.

It is hard to find a single building that hasn’t suffered some kind of damage as a result of the 185mph winds that are crashing their way across the Caribbean at the moment.

Many homes and businesses have been flattened, trees have been felled, and a huge sea surge has shifted tons of sand onto land.

The Dutch government is holding a crisis meeting to discuss its response to the damage inflicted on the Caribbean island of St Martin, a former Dutch colony, by Hurricane Irma.

A Dutch military helicopter filmed severe damage in St Maarten

Interior Minister Ronald Plasterk said early Thursday that ministers would huddle in The Hague to coordinate the aid operation after initial aerial images taken from a navy helicopter showed the extent of damage to the island.

Plasterk told Dutch NOS radio that there is ‘an extreme amount of damage, particularly on St. Maarten.’ He said the government had no confirmed reports yet of casualties, but stressed that communications were proving difficult.

Florida is on high alert for the expected arrival of Hurricane Irma, which continues to tear a deadly path trough the Caribbean, leaving devastation in its wake.

The storm destroyed nearly all buildings on the island of Barbuda on Wednesday, killing a two-year-old child as a family tried to escape, before wreaking havoc on the French territories of St Martin and St Barts, leaving at least seven dead.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said the UK is ‘taking swift action to respond’ to the disaster after speaking to the chief minister of Anguilla, a British overseas territory that was among the first islands to be hit.

Britons in the region have been urged to follow evacuation orders, while states of emergency have been declared in Puerto Rico, Cuba and Florida – amid fears Miami could be struck directly by the hurricane.

On Thursday morning Irma’s eye was just north of the coast of Puerto Rico, lashing the island with heavy rain and high winds and leaving more than 900,000 people without power.

It came less close to the capital San Juan than expected, with its last location about 140 miles north-west of the city.

Irma is moving at around 16mph on a course forecast to take it toward the Bahamas and the British overseas territory of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

An alert sent by the Department of Disaster Management and Emergencies on Grand Turk urged residents near the coasts to take shelter on higher ground, warning the storm surge could raise water levels by 15 to 20 feet above the normal tide.

Some US government personnel have been ordered to leave the Bahamas before the hurricane’s arrival, expected on Friday.

On the US mainland authorities fear the hurricane may slam into the Florida peninsula over the weekend, just days after storm Harvey devastated Texas.

With 1,350 miles of coastline, the most in the continental United States, Florida has roughly 2.5 million homes in hazard zones, more than three times that of any other state, according to Federal Emergency Management Agency data.

Imagine

Trump visits Harvey's victims , serves food

  Thomson Reuters         STEVE HOLLAND        Sept.  2nd 2017 
HOUSTON, Sept 2 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump tried on the role of "comforter-in-chief" on Saturday, playing with children in an evacuation center and passing out food and supplies to those in need after Hurricane Harvey's assault on Houston.

Trump, dealing with the first natural disaster of his 8-month-old presidency, comforted victims and thanked volunteers and first responders after being criticized earlier in the week for not showing sufficient empathy on his first trip to the storm-battered Texas coast.

Trump, 71, was joined by his wife, Melania, as he passed out food and hugged, kissed and played with children at the "kid zone" in Houston's NRG Center, a 700,000-square-foot (65,000 square meter) facility that was turned in to the city's largest emergency shelter.

Trump appeared relaxed as he posed for photographs with volunteers and chatted with those relocated to the shelter alongside Texas Governor Greg Abbott.

"It has been a wonderful thing," Trump said of his meetings with the children as he helped serve food to evacuees amid shouts of "Thank you, sir."

Trump, who declared Sunday a national day of prayer, then went to a church in nearby Pearland, where he and his wife helped load half a dozen cars with boxes of supplies for victims. He said the volunteer work was "good exercise."

Trump also visited a neighborhood that had sustained flooding but had dried out to greet residents and praise them for doing "a fantastic job holding it together."

The visit came after a week of historic flooding in the area that killed at least 40 people, displaced more than 1 million and dumped as much as 50 inches (127 cm) of rain.

Trump asked Congress late on Friday for an initial $7.85 billion for hurricane recovery efforts. The request comes as Washington faces tough budget negotiations.

The trip may have political implications for Trump. According to the Reuters/Ipsos tracking poll, almost 59 percent of the public disapproves of Trump’s performance as president.

His initial trip was contrasted unfavorably with the reaction of former President Barack Obama, who became known as "comforter-in-chief" after mass shootings and the Sandy superstorm that hit New Jersey in 2012.

With floodwaters still present, Trump had stayed clear of the Houston area on his trip to Texas on Tuesday, saying he did not want to hamper rescue efforts. Instead, he met with Cabinet members, state and local leaders and first responders in the state capital Austin and Corpus Christi, where Harvey first hit, focusing on the logistics of the government response.

Trump tweeted that he had seen "first hand the horror & devastation" from Harvey but reporters traveling with him said they saw no damage.

"That was reasonable criticism," said Matt Mackowiak, chairman of the Republican Party in Travis County, Texas, who has praised the Trump administration’s handling of the disaster.

On Saturday, some area residents - even one who had voted Democrat - said they believed Trump's visit was a positive.

"It raises the morale," Kevin Jason Hipolito, who identified himself as a Democrat, told reporters at the convention center. "When he went to Corpus I was like, 'Man he just forgot about us.' This shows a lot of support. It perks up morale."

But it remains a difficult task for Trump, a Republican businessman new to politics, to match expectations set by his predecessors of both parties who were widely considered politically deft at displaying solidarity and commitment to those suffering from disasters both natural and man-made.