California suing Trump over border wall, escalating battle with White House

I got one thing to say. 

Kim Jung-un do us a favor.

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California Attorney General Xavier Becerra  (WOW...with a name like that think he would be for a border wall???)  announced Wednesday that the state will sue the Trump administration over one of President Trump’s paramount campaign promises—the border wall. 

Becerra’s lawsuit, which targets planned projects in San Diego and Imperial counties, marks the latest shot in California's legal and legislative war against Trump. 

The state essentially has emerged as the heart of the Trump "resistance," pumping out lawsuits against his immigration policies and even passing a resolution Friday in the Assembly censuring Trump for his comments on the violence stemming from white nationalist protests in Charlottesville, Va. 

Becerra's latest lawsuit charged that the Trump administration "violated the U.S. Constitution, failed to comply with federal and state environmental laws, and relied on a federal statute that does not authorize the proposed projects." 

"The Trump administration has once again ignored laws it doesn't like in order to resuscitate a campaign talking point to build a wall on our southern border," Becerra said in a statement Wednesday. "President Trump has yet to pivot from candidate Trump to leader of a nation built on the rule of law. That's dangerous." 

The lawsuit comes as Trump works with Congress to try and secure funding for a border wall -- though the specifics of the project itself remain unclear. 

The president issued an executive order in January calling for securing the “southern border of the United States through the immediate construction of a physical wall on the southern border, monitored and supported by adequate personnel so as to prevent illegal immigration, drug and human trafficking and acts of terrorism.” 

SESSIONS BLASTS CALIF. FOR SANCTUARY STATE BILL

In this Sept. 5, 2017 file photo, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, right, flanked by Secretary of State Alex Padilla, speaks to reporters at the Capitol in Sacramento. (AP)

Last month, the administration awarded contracts to four companies to begin construction. 

The president tweeted last week that “the WALL, which is already under construction in the form of new renovation of old and existing fences and walls, will continue to be built.”

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders underscored the president’s commitment to the border wall earlier this month. 

“I don’t think the president has been shy about the fact that he wants a wall,” Sanders said. “It’s certainly something he feels is an important part of a responsible immigration package.” 

This isn’t Becerra's first lawsuit against the Trump administration. Just last week, Becerra joined state attorneys general from Minnesota, Maryland, and Maine in filing suit against the administration over its decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, arguing that the White House violated the Constitution and federal laws by rescinding the Obama-era program. 

But Trump has put the onus on Congress to draft legislation that would protect ‘Dreamers,’ even meeting with Democratic congressional leadership last week to discuss a path forward. 

California has been firmly against most Trump administration immigration policies. The state’s legislature also passed a sanctuary state measure over the weekend and is awaiting approval by Democratic California Gov. Jerry Brown that would bolster protections for illegal immigrants in the state—a move Attorney General Jeff Sessions called “unconscionable” on Tuesday. 

“The bill risks the safety of good law enforcement officers and the safety of the neighborhoods that need their protection the most,” Sessions said during a speech in Portland, Ore., on Tuesday. “There are lives and livelihoods at stake.” 

Sessions urged Brown not to sign the law that would halt local police from cooperating with federal authorities to deport illegal immigrants. 

The Trump administration has faced significant roadblocks in efforts to crack down on jurisdictions that do not cooperate with federal immigration agents. Last week, a federal judge in Chicago ruled that Sessions could not withhold public grant money from sanctuary cities for refusing to follow federal immigration law—an option the attorney general has used to threaten states and localities who call themselves ‘sanctuaries.’

“We strive to help state and local law enforcement,” Sessions said. “But we cannot continue giving such federal grants to cities that actively undermine the safety of federal law officers and actively frustrate efforts to reduce crime.” 

California suing Trump over border wall, escalating battle with White House

South Korea to give North Korea $8 Million in Aid

Cannot believe this! Is South Korea run by liberals? They're so stupid they deserve to be bombed. In fact, I'll be rooting for North Korea when it happens.

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SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea and Japan, the United States’ two main East Asian allies, differed on Friday over providing humanitarian aid to North Korea’s malnourished children and pregnant women, hours after that country launched a ballistic missile over Japan.

President Moon Jae-in of South Korea and the Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, talked on the phone on Friday, sharing their condemnation of North Korea’s latest missile test and vowing to work together to bring about more sanctions against the country, Mr. Moon’s office said.

But Mr. Abe took issue with South Korea’s plan to donate $8 million to two United Nations humanitarian programs in North Korea. He asked Mr. Moon to reconsider the timing of the aid, Mr. Moon’s office said.

On Thursday, South Korea announced plans to donate $4.5 million to help the World Food Program provide nutrition-rich supplies to North Korean hospitals and daycare centers. It also plans to donate $3.5 million to United Nations Children’s Fund projects that supply vaccines, medicine and malnutrition treatment to children and pregnant women.

Yoshihide Suga, Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, said on Thursday that providing aid for North Korea could undermine international efforts to pressure Pyongyang. But hours after the North’s missile launch on Friday, South Korea reconfirmed its humanitarian aid plans.

“We began considering humanitarian aid upon requests from the World Food Program and Unicef,” Mr. Moon was quoted in a statement from his office as saying to Mr. Abe. “In principle, giving support for infants and small children and pregnant women should be handled separately from politics.”

Relations between South Korea and Japan are often tense and include historical disputes rooted in Japan’s colonization of Korea. But under Washington’s urging, the countries have worked together to address the growing military threats from North Korea, and recently signed an agreement to share military intelligence.

Still, the approach of the new liberal South Korean leader differs from that of the conservative Japanese prime minister. When Mr. Moon took office in May, promising to push for dialogue with the North, there were concerns about clashes with Mr. Abe, who is widely considered a hawk on North Korea.

As North Korea accelerated its nuclear and missile programs with a spate of tests in recent months, Mr. Moon joined President Trump and Mr. Abe in advocating tougher sanctions. But he also insists that the crisis must be resolved through negotiations.

Mr. Trump has often cast doubt on Mr. Moon’s approach. On Aug. 30, he said that “talking is not the answer” in dealing with North Korea. Hours after the North conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test, on Sept. 3, he criticized South Korea’s “talk of appeasement with North Korea.”

Japan has been particularly alarmed by the last two missile tests because the projectiles flew over northern Japan before landing in the Pacific Ocean. The Japanese were told to take cover indoors or underground in case the missiles malfunctioned and crashed.

On Saturday, North Korea confirmed that the missile was the Hwasong-12, the same intermediate-range ballistic missile it launched in its previous missile test, conducted on Aug. 29.

In response to the North’s latest nuclear test, the United Nations Security Council adopted a new sanctions resolution against North Korea on Tuesday, its ninth since the country’s first nuclear test in 2006. If enforced, it would deprive North Korea of 30 percent of its annual fuel imports. It also bans textile imports from North Korea, stripping the country of another source of hard currency. And United Nations member countries are required to stop hosting new workers from North Korea.

Trump administration officials suggested Friday that their patience had worn thin over the North’s repeated defiance of Security Council resolutions on missile and bomb testing.

“What we’re seeing is, they are continuing to be provocative, they are continuing to be reckless and at that point there’s not a whole lot the Security Council is going to be able to do from there, when you’ve cut 90 percent of the trade and 30 percent of the oil,” Nikki R. Haley, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters at a White House briefing.

Later Friday at the United Nations Security Council, the 15 members held consultations on the Thursday missile launch and issued a statement that denounced it as “highly provocative,” but they took no further action.

The latest sanctions would further isolate North Korea’s economy, making more vulnerable its malnourished classes, including children, nursing mothers, and older people, said Lee Eugene, a spokeswoman for South Korea’s Ministry of Unification. South Korea plans to complete the timing and details of its humanitarian aid package next week.

“They are for providing cereals and vaccines for these vulnerable classes,” Ms. Lee said, referring to the United Nations aid programs. “I don’t think this violates the spirit of the United Nations.”

Such an attitude differs sharply from that of South Korea’s previous conservative governments, which drastically curtailed humanitarian aid for North Korea, accusing its government of squandering on nuclear weapons programs the resources it should spend on its impoverished people. But supporters of humanitarian aid say that United Nations’ and other penalties were hurting poor North Koreans more than the country’s leaders.

North Korea’s economy has improved under its leader, Kim Jong-un, but United Nations relief agencies have appealed annually for donations, reporting widespread malnourishment among children and nursing mothers. Amid tensions over North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, international donors have become increasingly reluctant to chip in.

South Korea to give North Korea $8 Million in Aid

Barbra Streisand asked cameramen to shoot her only from her 'good side' during charity telethon for victims of Hurricane Irma and Harvey

Barbra Streisand is the face of the superstar diva... just make sure you capture her 'good side.' 

That apparently goes for cameramen at charity telethons, too. 

During the 'Hand in Hand' relief benefit in Los Angeles last week, the singer and actress allegedly asked photographers to shoot her only from the left side.

Streisand was joined by celebrities like Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Cher, Billy Crystal, Justin Timberlake and Kerry Washington for the event. 

'There were a ton of celebrities on the red carpet, but she wanted to walk the carpet in reverse order, so the cameras would only shoot her good side,' a source at the charity event told Page Six.

'It was as if she was a salmon swimming upstream,' they added.

Streisand, 75, is known for having cameras only shoot her from the left, according to Page Six, even having Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon rearrange his set to accommodate the demand. 

Streisand is well known for making eccentric demands, exercising her diva prowess wherever she goes. 

During a week-long stay at a 2,500-a-night spa hotel in March, she asked the staff to observe Los Angeles time... to help her avoid jet-lag.

Barbra Streisand asked cameramen to shoot her only from her 'good side' during charity telethon for victims of Hurricane Irma and Harvey

Hillary Clinton slams Trump's UN speech and tells Stephen Colbert the president should not have called Kim Jong-un 'Rocket Man'

This coming from the woman whose husband is the reason North Korea has nukes which helped create the 'Rocket Man'. 

 Video 372

Not such a good deal now...is it?

But through Barry's eyes, it was. In fact, it was so fucking good he cut the same 'deal' with Iran!

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Hillary Clinton blasted President Donald Trump's United Nation speech, saying the tone was dark and dangerous when it should have been diplomatic. 

She spoke about Trump's speech at the UN about North Korea on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, saying: 'I thought it was very dark, dangerous, not the kind of message that the leader of the greatest country in the world should be delivering.'

She said his approach should have been diplomatic: 'What I hoped the president would have said is something along the lines of "we view this as dangerous to our allies, to the region and even to our country. We call on all nations to work with us to try to end the threat caused to us by Kim Jong-un."

(I can hear Barry now at the UN blaming North Korea's actions on climate change)

'We view this as dangerous to our allies, to the region and even to our country' Hillary Clinton told Colbert what she would have said to the UN if she were president 'And not call him Rocket Man, the Elton John song, but to say clearly "we will not tolerate any attacks on our friends or ourselves."'

Tuesday, Trump said, "Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime" and threatened to destroy the North Korean regime if Kim Jong-un continues to threaten the US.

Hillary Clinton slams Trump's UN speech and tells Stephen Colbert the president should not have called Kim Jong-un 'Rocket Man'

Leanna telling it like it is

Leanna telling it like it is