Monday, March 06, 2017

Congressman apologizes for crude joke about Kellyanne Conway

A Louisiana congressman has apologized for making a crude joke about White House adviser Kellyanne Conway.

Democrat Cedric Richmond made the joke during a comedy routine at last week's annual Washington Press Club Foundation congressional dinner. Citing the picture of Conway kneeling on a couch in the Oval Office, Richmond said Conway looked "kind of familiar there in that position."

The joke fell flat as the room full of journalists, congressional staffers and politicians audibly groaned.

Richmond initially defended the joke, saying his use of the word "familiar" simply meant that Conway looked too comfortable.

But Sunday night he issued a statement apologizing for the joke.

"After a discussion with people I know and trust I understand the way my remarks have been received by many," said Richmond. "I have consistently been a champion for women and women's issues, and because of that the last thing I would want to ever do is utter words that would hurt or demean them. I apologize to Kellyanne Conway and everyone who has found my comments to be offensive."

[SOURCE: YAHOONEWS]

Sunday, March 05, 2017

Comey Asks DOJ to Reject Trump’s Wiretap Accusations against Obama

F.B.I. Director James Comey is no friend or hero to liberals/Democrats, but even he is calling nonsense on Trump's claims that President Obama had Trump Towers phone lines tapped. He's not doing it so much to help Obama but to cover the F.B.I.'s rear ends. Read more on this from Mediaite below:

F.B.I. Director James B. Comey has called on the Department of Justice to reject President Donald Trump‘s claims that Barack Obama, while in office, called for an illegal wiretap of Trump Towers during the 2016 Presidential election.

Comey has stated that the highly charged claim is false and must be corrected. In addition, Trump’s accusation implies that the F.B.I. would have broken the law should the allegations be true. Comey has also been working with the DOJ to knock down Trump’s claim as there is virtually no evidence.

A statement by the F.B.I. invalidating the president’s claims would be a huge blow to the office of the presidency, essentially putting the nation’s top law enforcement officials in a position where they could question the truthfulness of the nation’s highest government official.

Read more: Comey Asks DOJ to Reject Trump’s Wiretap Accusations

Flint mayor: City needs 2 years before it can treat its own water

Flint has been mired in a devastating water crisis for nearly three years, and it may be another two before it's resolved.

Mayor Karen Weaver wrote to EPA officials earlier this week to inform them that the Michigan city will not be able to treat its own water for lead and other contaminants until 2019, citing a lengthy construction and testing process for a new water treatment plant.

"To expedite completion of the project and minimize cost, a design/build project delivery method is proposed," Weaver wrote. "Based on this approach, an August, 2019, completion date is anticipated for the treatment plant improvements."

In 2014, officials implemented a cost-cutting plan to switch the city's water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River, which is 19 times more corrosive, according to researchers from Virginia Tech. That caused lead to leach from pipes and into the city's drinking water.

Read more: Flint mayor: City needs 2 years before it can treat its own water

Saturday, March 04, 2017

Two African-American women pilots make history

Two Delta A320/319 pilots made history over the weekend, flying Delta's first mainline flight with two African-American female pilots in the flight deck.

Atlanta-based First Officer Dawn Cook learned that Detroit-based Captain Stephanie Johnson, Delta's first African-American female captain, would be flying out of ​Detroit last Sunday and reached out to Johnson to help facilitate the historic flight. Afterward, Cook posted the above photo to Facebook to commemorate the flight.​

HBCU Presidents not impressed with Trump meeting




The Trump administration made a big deal of the meeting between Trump and several HBCU Presidents. Trump claimed that the meeting was successful and that it would help HBCUs. Well some HBCU Presidents such as Morehouse College's Dr. John Wilson Jr., and Dillard University's Walter M. Kimbrough didn't see it that way.
Statement from Dr. John Wilson Jr, Morehouse College: 
In a report from Fox 5 Atlanta, Morehouse College President Dr. John Wilson Jr., said that the White House had created high expectations after calling Trump’s executive order historic and revolutionary.
However, what the executive order really did was transfer the initiative on HBCUs from the Department of Education into the Executive Office of the White House. Also, no money is tied to the order. 
“I don’t mind saying, that we were — a number of us — were disappointed, not because of what we thought on our own leading up to this meeting, but what we were led to think,” Wilson said. “And so I think it was a little underwhelming to see that the most tangible differentiator that happened here was an office relocation.” [SOURCE]
Statement From Walter M. Kimbrough, Dillard University:
On Friday I learned that I was selected to give remarks today for the meeting at the White House with members of the Trump administration, most notably Secretary Betsy DeVos. We learned this weekend that there would be closing remarks by Vice President Pence, but the goal was for officials from a number of Federal agencies (about 5 were there including OMB) and Secretary DeVos to hear about HBCUs.
That all blew up when the decision was made to take the presidents to the Oval Office to see the President. I’m still processing that entire experience. But needless to say that threw the day off and there was very little listening to HBCU presidents today- we were only given about 2 minutes each, and that was cut to one minute, so only about 7 of maybe 15 or so speakers were given an opportunity today. [SOURCE]

PRESIDENT OBAMA DID HELP HBCUS