Zorro
Zorro's JournalD.N.C. HEADQUARTERS MOBBED BY REPUBLICAN REFUGEES SEEKING ASYLUM
WASHINGTON, D.C. (The Borowitz Report)—A humanitarian crisis has been unfolding over the past week as Republican refugees seeking asylum have overrun the Democratic National Committee headquarters, in Washington, D.C.
D.N.C. staffers have confirmed that they were woefully unprepared for the masses of desperate Republicans who have shown up at the D.N.C.’s door, looking for safe harbor.
“These people have been brutalized for months and have decided to risk everything to save themselves and their families,” D.N.C. staffer Tracy Klugian said. “When they tell you their stories, they are absolutely heartbreaking.”
Meg Whitman, who is sixty, said she left her entire life as a Republican behind after witnessing unspeakable horrors under the new G.O.P. regime.
http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/d-n-c-headquarters-mobbed-by-republican-refugees-seeking-asylum
Riverside County GOP tweets picture of executioner 'Ready for Hillary'
The Riverside County Republican Party tweeted out a picture of a shrouded hangman holding a noose, with a caption below saying, “I’m Ready for Hillary.”
According to the Riverside Press-Enterprise, the tweet was sent out by the county party’s official Twitter account at 2 p.m. Wednesday. The tweet has since been removed.
Riverside County GOP Chairman Scott Mann said he was "horrified" by the tweet, and promised to take action against the person responsible.
"I was made aware of derogatory tweet this afternoon toward Secretary Clinton when the Press-Enterprise called me for comment. I was horrified and had the tweet taken down immediately," Mann said in an email to the Times on Wednesday afternoon. "While some may think it was political satire, it clearly has no place in American political dialogue. As chairman of the Republican Party of Riverside County, I apologize to everyone and anyone who was offended by it."
http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-sac-essential-politics-updates-riverside-county-gop-tweets-out-picture-1470267423-htmlstory.html
Venezuela promotes general indicted in US on drug charges
Source: AP
A day after Venezuela's former drug czar was indicted in the United States on narcotics trafficking charges, President Nicolas Maduro defiantly named him interior minister.
Maduro said Tuesday that he was promoting Nestor Reverol to the position that oversees law enforcement as a gesture of support for a man who had done good work cracking down on the drug trade in Venezuela and is being tarnished by the "U.S. empire."
U.S. prosecutors on Monday announced the indictment of Reverol, who previously led Venezuela's National Guard, where senior officers are alleged to have been involved in cocaine smuggling.
"He is a brave man who is not afraid of anything or anyone," Maduro said. "As interior minister he broke the record for arrests of drug kingpins. The DEA and all the United States drug-trafficking mafias want to make him pay, because the drug-trafficking mafia runs the Untied States."
Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/venezuela-promotes-general-indicted-us-drug-charges-135908819.html
Great way to get rid of your smuggling competition.
Venezuela denies zoo animals starving, says one happy family
Venezuela's government denied on Monday that zoo animals were dying of starvation amid a national food shortage, saying they were being lovingly treated "like family."
Minister for Ecosocialism and Water Ernesto Paiva toured Caricuao zoo in Caracas, where a union leader last week said 50 animals including Vietnamese pigs, tapirs, rabbits and birds had starved to death in the last six months.
"The animals are very dear, treated as if they were family, in fact they all have names," said Paiva, adding that they were being seen by nutritionists to ensure they had an adequate diet.
The official said widespread media reports of deplorable conditions for zoo animals in the recession-hit OPEC nation were part of a campaign of "lies" against the socialist government of President Nicolas Maduro.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/venezuela-denies-zoo-animals-starving-says-one-happy-015854060--business.html
Physician Marshall ousts US Rep. Huelskamp in Kansas primary
A doctor backed by agriculture and business groups ousted U.S. Rep. Tim Huelskamp Tuesday in a Kansas Republican primary race that focused on the tea party-backed incumbent's battles with GOP leaders and criticism that he was too cantankerous to be effective.
Great Bend obstetrician Roger Marshall won the tough contest against Huelskamp in the 1st District, which spans western and much of central Kansas.
Marshall's supporters argued Huelskamp's combativeness harmed the district. Huelskamp lost his seat on the House Agriculture Committee in 2012; farm groups turned against him, and many Republican voters saw it as a crucial issue in a farm state.
"Getting kicked off the Agriculture Committee is a crime that can't be forgiven," Brian Scheideman, a 52-year-old driver's education instructor, said after voting in his hometown of Wamego for Marshall. "I don't mind the independent voice, but you've got to figure out how to work with people."
https://www.yahoo.com/news/physician-marshall-ousts-us-rep-huelskamp-kansas-primary-032508556--politics.html
Former Venezuelan officials indicted on US drug charges
U.S. prosecutors on Monday formally charged the former head of Venezuela's National Guard and a former anti-drug official there with colluding with cocaine traffickers.
An indictment unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn accuses Nestor Reverol and Edilberto Molina of taking bribes in exchange for helping the traffickers by tipping them off about future raids. It also alleges that from January 2008 to December 2010, they deliberately allowed cocaine shipments to leave Venezuela and returned seized drug money to them.
Reverol, 51, once ran the National Guard, which is charged with securing the country's borders, and had been a spokesman for Venezuela's anti-drug efforts. He also is the former head of Venezuela's anti-drug agency and ally of late socialist leader Hugo Chavez.
Reverol has denied the U.S. accusations, which were first reported late last year. Molina, 53, who once worked for the anti-drug agency, hasn't spoken out. Neither is in custody.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/former-venezuelan-officials-indicted-us-drug-charges-232210384.html
Nicaragua's Ortega puts wife as VP on re-election ballot
Source: AFP
President Daniel Ortega put his wife, Rosario Murillo, down as his future vice president on a joint ticket for his re-election in a November 6 vote.
The unusual step cemented Murillo's political ascent. Currently, the First Lady is a government minister and the main spokesperson for Ortega's administration.
For many in Nicaragua, with her higher public profile, Murillo is seen as wielding the real power in the country over the past decade.
Ortega and Murillo officially submitted their candidacy to the country's electoral tribunal on Tuesday, accompanied by their Sandinista party's legal adviser.
Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/nicaraguas-ortega-puts-wife-vp-election-ballot-032718335.html
Keeping it all in the family like a good revolutionary.
Judge rules against release of Trump U videos
A federal judge in San Diego has decided he will not allow the release of videotaped depositions of Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump, testimony that was taken for a class action lawsuit against the defunct Trump University real estate program.
U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel also rejected a bid by Trump’s lawyers to get the lawsuit dismissed — a ruling that clears the way for a trial that could be costly for the candidate.
Media organizations including The San Diego Union-Tribune had sought release of two videotaped depositions of Trump, taken in December and January. Transcripts of the sessions have been released, but Trump’s lawyers fought the effort to make the videos themselves public.
Curiel said there is legitimate public interest in having the videos released. But he sided with Trump’s lawyers, who had said releasing the videos would generate so much publicity it would bias potential jurors.
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/aug/02/curiel-ruling-trump-videos/
Children’s Drawings Show What Hunger Looks Like in Venezuela
Arepas are a staple food item among Venezuelan families. The flat cornmeal cakes, often stuffed with grilled meat, beans, or eggs, are found at nearly every meal. But for many children in Venezuela subsisting solely on arepas, what was once just part of their cultural identity is now a symbol of growing food shortages in the struggling country.
Primary school students in the capital city of Caracas are coming to school hungry, Reuters reports. After several students fainted from hunger, teachers at the Padre Jose Maria Velaz school in western Caracas asked them to draw what they’d eaten in recent meals and what they expected to eat soon. The simple drawings show days of eating arepas for every meal, dinners consisting of a mango, and breakfasts of bread and water. Several children left blank spaces, indicating that they had skipped meals.
Meat and vegetables are largely lacking from the kids’ meals. Diets made up entirely of fats and starches have left children malnourished. Health officials note that diets missing out on protein and dairy could negatively affect brain development. School director Maria Hidalgo told Reuters that a quarter of the 478 students are not getting enough to eat or are eating unbalanced meals.
Children aren’t the only ones struggling. Nearly 90 percent of Venezuelans said they do not have enough money to buy food because of the country’s economic conditions, a recent survey conducted by Simón Bolívar University found.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/children-drawings-show-hunger-looks-venezuela-144746198.html
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