James L. Paris's Blog, page 117

In the End, Electoral College Sees More Voters Abandon Hillary than Trump

After all of the hand-wringing and teeth-gnashing, Donald Trump was ratified as the 45th President of the United States by the Electoral College.

According to NPR, despite the much-touted notion that perhaps enough electors would turn ���faithless��� such that Trump would fall short of the 270 votes needed, it turns out that more electors walked away from Hillary in the end.

Trump did, in fact, lose two of the total 306 electoral votes he earned when he won the general election back on Nov. 8, but that number is inconsequential, and particularly in light of the manic effort made by so many to pry electors away from the president-elect in a fashion where they would either cast their ballots for someone else, or simply refrain from voting altogether, which could have had the effect of seeing Trump end up with fewer than the minimum 270 votes needed to confirm his election as president.

It is not, however, the electoral votes Trump lost, but those lost by his opponent, that���s noteworthy.

Ultimately, a total of five voters pledged to Clinton cast their ballots for someone else. In the state of Washington, three voted for Colin Powell, the former Secretary of State and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, while another voted for Faith Spotted Eagle, a Native American activist notable for her stands against the Keystone XL pipeline and, more recently, the Dakota Access Pipeline. In Hawaii, one elector cast a ballot for Bernie Sanders instead of Clinton.

In addition to the five Clinton electors who succeeded in voting for persons other than the Democratic nominee, three electors from Colorado, Maine, and Minnesota tried to vote for someone besides Clinton, but were unsuccessful in doing so because the laws in those states mandate that the electoral ballots must be cast for the winner of the popular vote in each.

Even with the votes of the Electoral College having been cast, the process of electing the next President of the United States is not quite complete, although the steps remaining really are formalities in the way the Electoral College voting is thought to be. As for what���s left to do, each of the states turns over a ���certificate of vote��� to the Federal Register, the official journal of the U.S. government, on Dec. 28, and, finally, on Jan. 6, Congress will formally recognize the vote of the Electoral College.

Then it will be over.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

Survey: Democrats Much More Likely to ���Unfriend��� over Politics

If you are a Republican, a conservative, or both, you may already know this.

According to the results of a survey conducted by the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), Democrats are much more inclined to let political differences impede personal relationships than are Republicans.

���The survey���found evidence of significant fallout from the election among personal relationships,��� says Robert P. Jones, CEO of PRRI. ���Beleaguered Democrats were significantly more likely than Republicans to report that they unfriended someone on social media or planned to avoid certain relatives during the holidays because of politics.���

Indeed, the differences are rather stark.

The survey revealed that 13 percent of Americans, overall, ���blocked, unfriended, or stopped following��� another on a social media platform due to a difference of political opinion. When the numbers were examined on the basis of party affiliation, it turns out that Democrats are dumping their perceived political adversaries at a much higher rate than Republicans. The survey found that Democrats are over two times likelier than GOPers to ���unfriend��� or similarly disengage from someone on social media for political reasons. Additionally, Democratic women have the highest rate of political ���unfriending��� of all: According to the survey, 30 percent of that demographic reported leaving someone behind on social media due based on differences in political outlook.

To anyone of the Republican persuasion who spent much time on social media over the past year or so, none of this likely comes as a great shock. In my own circle, while I have managed to keep all of my Democratically-centered friends on Facebook, I am personally familiar with many Republicans who were unceremoniously dumped by some of their Democrat pals during the height of the political season, when practically everyone was making a small handful of political posts and thus revealing at least a little of their ideology to those around them.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

Henry Kissinger: Trump Could Be a ���Very Considerable President���

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, a notable figure in American and world diplomacy during some of the most dynamic, tension-filled years of the post-World War II era, made an appearance Sunday on CBS���s Face the Nation during which he suggested that Donald Trump may well be looked at by history as having been a ���very considerable president.���

���Donald Trump is a phenomenon that foreign countries haven���t seen,��� said Kissinger.

���So it is a shocking experience to them that he came in to office. At the same time, extraordinary opportunity.���

Further elaborating on just why he thinks Trump could go down in history as such a formidable occupant of the White House, Kissinger put his answer in terms of what the nations of the world must now consider:

���One, their perception that the previous president, or the outgoing president, basically withdrew America from international politics, so that they had to make their own assessments of their necessities.

���And secondly, that here is a new president who's asking a lot of unfamiliar questions. And because of the combination of the partial vacuum and the new questions, one could imagine that something remarkable and new emerges out of it.���

While admitting that Trump���s vision of foreign policy likely differs markedly from his own, the former statesman suggested that such may, in fact, be a positive:

���I think he operates by a kind of instinct that is a different form of analysis as my more academic one," said Kissinger.

���But he's raised a number of issues that I think are important, very important. And if they're addressed properly, could lead to good ��� great results.���

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

University of Virginia Students Seen on Video Signing Petition to Ban Christmas

Today���s college students never cease to amaze.

If you���re not familiar with Campus Reform, it���s a right-leaning news site that focus predominantly on higher education, and very often on the politically-correct culture and climate that permeates college and university campuses today.

In a stunning display captured on video by Campus Reform ���operatives,��� students at the University of Virginia (UVA), a highly selective school ranked 24th overall by U.S. News & World Report in their most recent evaluation of national universities, can be seen signing a petition that essentially demands the school rid itself of the presence of Christmas on campus.

It should be noted that the petition was fake, and engineered by Campus Reform. However, none of the students who signed the document knew that it wasn���t real.

The Campus Reform representatives who went undercover at UVA, Amber Athey and Cabot Phillips, told students that they were seeking the petition signatures on behalf of the student group ���Students for an Inclusive Holiday Season,��� which, of course, does not really exist.

According to Campus Reform, the pair had managed to gather up the signatures of almost 20 students in under two hours.

At one point, Phillips tells a petition-signer that at ���this time of year, it feels like people can shove their holiday happiness in your face, like ���Merry Christmas!��� and it just gets kind of old.��� The student can be seen readily agreeing with that sentiment.

In another scene, Athey is explaining to another student that she knows ���a lot of students who aren���t religious, so when they see the Christmas trees and all the lights it can be a bit triggering, so we���re just trying to make campus a safe space for them.��� The student signed the petition.

Wow.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

Positive Thinking And Success - Author David Essel Joins Jim Paris Live

Author, speaker, and radio host, David Essel joins Jim Paris Live to discuss his latest book, Positive Thinking Will Never Change Your Life But This Book Will: The Myth of Positive Thinking,David Essel combines his 30 years of work in the field of personal growth along with stories from some of the top authors and success experts of our day, to shatter ���the myth of the power of positive thinking.��� David reveals that the real "Secret to success��� requires much more than positive thinking, affirmations or vision boards, and that no one ever made a milion dollars, got the perfect body or found their soulmate through positive thinking alone.

Obama Added $70,000 To The National Debt For Each American Household

During his eight years in office, President Obama added $70,000 to the national debt for each American household. Jim discusses Obama's legacy and his plans to stay in Washington to protect his legacy after Trump takes office. Why Facebook may pay a big price if they try to censor so called 'fake news,' the death of Zsa Zsa Gabor, and the ongoing drama of the Electoral College.

NFL Great Ricky Williams Swindled Out of Millions by Fake Financial Advisor

Another unfortunate story of multimillionaire athletes and dishonest ���financial advisors��� has come to light.

According to a variety of outlets, including the sports-oriented news site Deadspin, a woman who was apparently pretending to be a financial advisor so that she could steal from a number of professional athletes, to include retired NFL star and former Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams, was arrested in New Orleans on Friday. Peggy Ann Fulford has been charged by authorities with wire fraud, mail fraud, interstate transportation of stolen property, and money laundering.

It is alleged that Fulford lied to Williams and other athletes about her credentials and experience to gain their trust, representing herself as a money manager with a Harvard education who had herself made a fortune on Wall Street. Apparently, none of that is true.

Through her self-misrepresentations, Fulford was able to reach the inner circles of her well-heeled clients, and came to have direct access to their bank accounts which she then allegedly pilfered for her own personal use.

What happened to Williams and the other victims presents an opportunity to learn from the misfortune of others, sad as that is to say. While professional athletes tend to travel in more rarified air than do the rest of us, there are still some good ways to protect yourself against scammers masquerading as financial advisors, regardless of in what sort of atmosphere you persist. Chief among them is to avail yourself of the online tools that allow you to quickly and easily check to see if the person on whom you���re thinking of relying for financial advice is legitimate. The two biggest and best of these ���helps��� are the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority���s BrokerCheck, and the Security and Exchange Commission���s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure website.

Mind you, these mechanisms won���t tell you if a broker, advisor, or financial services firm is particularly good at what they do - that���s a different matter. However, you will be able to find out if they are appropriately registered to do business (for example, if the name doesn���t come up anywhere, that���s a big red flag), as well as examine important background information, to include any regulatory trouble they may have had. Vetting prospective advisors in this way should at least help you to confirm their legitimacy as financial professionals.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

 

Sensitive Data from Massive Yahoo Account Breach Being Sold on ���Dark Web���

If you have had an account at Yahoo, it���s possible that your sensitive information is being trafficked on the so-called dark web, that ���shadow��� part of the web accessible only to those with special software, and heavily populated by pedophiles, drug rings, and nefarious characters of all shapes and sizes.

Yahoo revealed recently that a hack took place against user accounts in 2013 of such a size that it���s now considered the largest single data breach in history. It turns out that one billion - that���s ���billion,��� with a ���b��� ��� Yahoo accounts were compromised by hackers who managed to grab sensitive information like phone numbers, passwords, and security questions.

As you might imagine, with over a billion accounts hacked, information from all sorts of individuals was captured in the breach. According to cybersecurity firm InfoArmor, these include people who work at agencies like the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National Security Agency, and even the White House.

Andrew Komarov, the chief intelligence officer at InfoArmor, says that a semi-organized group of hackers was found by his company to have been selling the information on the dark web. So far, according to Komarov, three buyers, including one oriented in espionage, have each paid $300,000 for a complete copy of the database.

Yahoo has reportedly told CNNMoney that they cannot yet verify the claims about the sale of customer account information on the dark web, but that they are looking into them. Check out How To Legally Disappear, And The Patriot Privacy Kit - Click Here.

 By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

 

Tesla, Uber CEOs Among Business Giants Added to Trump Advisory Team

Donald Trump has said all along that he will be looking to high achievers from a variety of industries, and with a variety of credentials, to help him in his mission to ���make America great again.���

High on Trump���s list of priorities is a reinvigoration of the U.S. economy in a way that has not been evident for decades. To that end, he has decided on assembling a ���President���s Strategic and Policy Forum��� whose members will ���meet with the President frequently to share their specific experience and knowledge as the President implements his economic agenda.���

Particularly striking are the names on the growing list of those Trump has seen fit to name to the forum. The captains of industry most recently added to the roster include Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, and Pepsi CEO Indra Nooyi. According to The Hill, the three join 13 other members of an elite group that is expected to play a key role in advancing the new administration���s economic agenda.

In a statement touting the latest additions to his revolutionary advisory team, Trump said, ���America has the most innovative and vibrant companies in the world, and the pioneering CEOs joining this Forum today are at the top of their fields.

���My Administration is going to work together with the private sector to improve the business climate and make it attractive for firms to create new jobs across the United States from Silicon Valley to the heartland.���

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

AG Lynch: Mass Blanket Pardons for Undocumented Immigrants Not Forthcoming

On Thursday, Attorney General Loretta Lynch handed a bit of a reality check to some advocates for immigration reform when she told the assembled at a Politico Playbook breakfast event in Washington, D.C. that there would be no group pardon of undocumented immigrants before the president leaves office next month.

According to CNN, her statement came as a response to a question she was asked at the event about whether ���DREAMers��� ��� young people who came to the country as children but who remain undocumented - might be pardoned as a group by President Obama.

���The issue of pardoning someone is an individual decision that's made on a case-by-case basis, and so there's no legal framework or regulatory framework that allows for a pardon of a group en masse,��� said Lynch.

Another obstacle facing DREAMers, were they to actually receive such an unprecedented pardon, is that the act, in and of itself, would not magically grant them legal status as U.S. citizens - that is a separate matter. This is a point recently clarified by Cecilia Munoz, assistant to the president and director of the White House���s domestic policy council:

���I know people are hoping that pardon authority is a way to protect people. It's ultimately not, for a couple of reasons. One is that pardon authority is generally designed for criminal violations not civil, but also it doesn't confer legal status; only Congress can do that. So ultimately it wouldn't protect a single soul from deportation. So it's not an answer here for this population. I know people are hoping for an answer but by its very nature, the use of executive authority in this way is subject to the will of the executive.���

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large