More on this story from yesterday, answering Dr. Steve's question about who paid the lad's expenses, and other questions.
[DailyBeast] The parents of a young British man who allegedly tried to shoot Donald Trump say they had contacted the U.S. authorities asking for help to bring their vulnerable boy home before he was tossed in the calaboose Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! at a campaign rally in Las Vegas.
Michael Steven Sandford, 20, who grew up in the suburbs of Surrey, close to London, reportedly said he had been in the U.S. for 18 months after overstaying his visa.
Isn't that a typical story...
His parents were begging him to come home, and grew increasingly concerned over the last three months. His father told local Portsmouth paper The News that he had recently become "upset" but they didn't know why because his Asperger's syndrome made it very hard to express his emotions.
"He's been refusing to come back and we were worried about him, we were in contact with the American Embassy telling them we were worried about him. The American authorities said, 'He's over 18 we can't do anything,’" said Michael Davey, who split from Sandford’s mother when the boy was four.
Technically true, but couldn't our authorities pinch him? After all, he had overstayed his visa...
That's called "establishing a precedent."
Sandford had fallen in love with an American girl when he was 18 but she moved back home to New Jersey with her parents, according to Davey. He became so depressed that his parents gave him the money to travel to the U.S. to live closer to his girlfriend. Davey said he didn’t know if the couple were still together as his son rarely shared details of his private life.
So that's the money used to come here. Did they give him money to support his living expenses? Was he sponging off the girlfriend?
"Since he moved out there it became slowly harder and harder to get in touch with him. He does Skype, but it’s always with a white background behind him so you don’t know where he is," Davey told The News.
"He’s never been very good at communicating, he’s never been interested in politics and never really been interested in much... Because of his condition, he never talks about his private life and it’s always had quite an impact on how he behaves. He left school when he was 15 because he couldn’t cope with it all so he’s got no qualifications or job experience."
Davey said his son was never a loner, he did have friends at school, although he was often shy when meeting new people.
"I don’t want to use the term radicalized but we don’t know who he has been speaking with--this just isn’t him," he said. "It’s an absolute shock, he’s never been violent in the slightest, he’s always been a polite and peaceful boy."
"He was a quiet man..."
Sandford’s stunned parents received a call from the authorities on Sunday afternoon. Davey is planning to fly out to see him as soon as possible.
"Whether he’s been blackmailed or put up to it, that’s the only thing me and his mum can think of. It’s so against his nature and obviously with his Asperger’s, we think somebody has got hold of him and done something," he said. "He has no interest in politics, the world, geography or anything. He’s not a typical teenager because he doesn’t drink or smoke or do drugs, he’s never had any interest in that."
#6
Story seems to be going down the "tug at heartstring" checklist. Not buying it. Working towards people being sympathetic and overlooking it while getting him off I think
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
06/22/2016 11:37 Comments ||
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#8
OK, what do Sandford and Mateen have in common? Nuts. Dangerous. Open to suggestion. FBI and other US authorities were warned but ignored the warnings. How many other cases have had these same similarities? It all stinks to high heaven.
#9
If he was having so many problems (Autism Spectrum, Asperger's syndrome, AD-HD, etc...) why weren't his parents keeping a little closer track of him? Why did they let him go, no encourage him to, live in ANOTHER COUNTRY across an entire ocean to begin with?
Mr Davey, 50, his father, said: "He met an American girl. Later on she moved back to the US with her parents and he got quite down and depressed about it all so we all paid for him to move out to America for a year.
"This was to get his life sorted out and so he could be with this girl. So he got a flat in New Jersey and for all we know he's been with her.
"Since he's been out there it's difficult to get any information out of him. About three months ago the money ran out so we sent him some more and asked him to come back.
"He's been refusing to come back and we were worried about him, we were in contact with the American Embassy telling them we were worried about him. The American authorities said 'he's over 18 we can't do anything.'
My guess is either the girl and her family spoke often of how dangerous Mr. Trump is, in the usual way, and young Mr. Sandford decided to be helpful, or he ended up in the wrong internet/Twitter crowd, and took all the bluster seriously.
No doubt some reporter will find the girlfriend shortly, even if the FBI, et al have not. Mr. Sandford's parents clearly know who she and her family are, and where they live.
[Breitbart] On Tuesday, hacked Democratic National Committee (DNC) files released by the Guccifer 2.0 hacker reveal circulated talking points intended to combat the Clinton Cash revelation that the former head of the Russian uranium company UraniumOne, Ian Telfer, made four undisclosed Clinton Foundation donations totaling $2.35 million--a clear violation of Hillary Clinton’s ethics agreement with the Obama administration to disclose all donations.
In an April 29, 2015 memo titled "Friends and Allies Talking Points--Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership (CGEP)," Clinton surrogates were instructed to respond to questions about undisclosed foreign donations by Ian Telfer, a Canadian, accordingly:
This is hardly an effort on the Foundation’s part to avoid transparency. In fact, the main donor noted in the Post article as contributing to CGEP (Canada) -- Canadian businessman Ian Telfer -- was also disclosed as a Foundation donor. So the fact of his status as a Foundation contributor was not at all a secret.
However, as Clinton Cash reported, and the New York Times reported in a 4,000-word, front-page investigative report, the former Russian uranium executive’s donations were not disclosed. "Those contributions were not publicly disclosed by the Clintons, despite an agreement Mrs. Clinton had struck with the Obama White House to publicly identify all donors," reported the Times.
Mr Davey, 50, his father, said: "He met an American girl. Later on she moved back to the US with her parents and he got quite down and depressed about it all so we all paid for him to move out to America for a year.
"This was to get his life sorted out and so he could be with this girl. So he got a flat in New Jersey and for all we know he's been with her.
"Since he's been out there it's difficult to get any information out of him. About three months ago the money ran out so we sent him some more and asked him to come back.
"He's been refusing to come back and we were worried about him, we were in contact with the American Embassy telling them we were worried about him. The American authorities said 'he's over 18 we can't do anything.'
My guess is either the girl and her family spoke often of how dangerous Mr. Trump is, in the usual way, and young Mr. Sandford decided to be helpful, or he ended up in the wrong internet/Twitter crowd, and took all the bluster seriously.
No doubt some reporter will find the girlfriend shortly, even if the FBI, et al have not. Mr. Sandford's parents clearly know who she and her family are, and where they live.
[FREEBEACON] Rep. Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.), a Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Jeremiah S. Black ... superdelegate, was convicted on Tuesday on corruption charges stemming from a racketeering conspiracy in which the congressman and four associates misappropriated thousands of dollars from federal, campaign, and charitable sources.
Chaka Fattah? Oh man, and I bought all his records...
Fattah and four associates were indicted in July 2015 on 29 corruption charges including racketeering, bribery, money laundering, mail and wire fraud, bank fraud, and falsification of records, among other charges.
The Department of Justice said Fattah took an illegal $1 million loan from his failed Philadelphia mayoral bid in 2007 and disguised it as a loan to his consulting company.
At the end of the campaign, Fattah used a scheme to repay the loan through grants and charitable funds from his nonprofit, the Educational Advancement Alliance, and passed through two other companies. In order to pull off the scheme, sham contracts were created to conceal the contributions and repayment operation. False entries were made into accounting records, campaign finance disclosure statements, and tax returns.
Lobbyist Herbert Vederman, consultant Robert Brand, Fattah’s Congressional District Director Bonnie Bowser, and Educational Advancement Alliance CEO Karen Nicholas were charged along with Fattah.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/22/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
Fattah and four associates were indicted in July 2015 on 29 corruption charges including racketeering, bribery, money laundering, mail and wire fraud, bank fraud, and falsification of records, among other charges. Thought this was de rigueur for the Donks. If authorities followed the money back, it is hard to tell what slimy creatures might crawl from under the rocks. But then again, these are different times and that probably won't happen.
[AlAhram] President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... lost a German court battle against a top media boss Tuesday when his appeal in a bitter row over free speech was thrown out.
Erdogan had sought a court order to stop the Axel Springer media group's chief Mathias Doepfner from repeating support for a TV satirist who crudely insulted the Turkish leader.
After failing to get an injunction from a lower court last month, Erdogan also lost an appeal before the higher regional court in the western German city of Cologne ...a lovely city in Germany. They invented perfume there... The judges said they considered Doepfner's letter of support "a permissible expression of opinion as protected under Article 5" of Germany's constitution, the court said in a statement.
Erdogan could still seek recourse before Germany's top tribunal, the Federal Constitutional Court.
The legal action came after Doepfner published in April an open letter in one of the Springer group's newspapers, in which he backed Jan Boehmermann -- the satirist who in a poem accused Erdogan of bestiality and watching child pornography.
Boehmermann's recital of his so-called "Defamatory Poem" on national television in late March sparked a diplomatic firestorm and a row over freedom of expression.
During the broadcast Boehmermann gleefully admitted his poem flouted Germany's legal limits to free speech and was intended as a provocation.
In his letter, Doepfner took the comedian's side, declaring: "For me, your poem worked. I laughed out loud."
In a controversial move, Chancellor Angela Merkel ...current chancellor of Germany. She was educated in East Germany when is was still run by commies, but in 1989 got involved with the growing democracy movement when the Berlin Wall fell. Merkel is sometimes referred to by Germans as Mom... authorised criminal proceedings against the comedian after The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... requested he be prosecuted for defamation.
The higher regional court stressed Tuesday that its ruling in favour of Doepfner had no bearing on the other case still pending.
Erdogan has come in for fierce Western criticism of late over his increasingly authoritarian rule, just as the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... has turned to Turkey to help stem the influx of asylum seekers from Middle East war zones.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
06/22/2016 00:00:00 ||
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[WASHINGTONTIMES] The specter of Donald Trump’s presidential nomination being ripped from under him in a nastily contested Republican National Convention next month is alive -- again.
Anti-Trump forces appeared to have been defeated after he ousted his remaining opponents from the race in early May and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan and Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus all signaled that Mr. Trump had sewn things up.
But weeks of bad press stemming from Mr. Trump’s criticism of a federal judge and uneven handling in the aftermath of the Orlando, Florida, terrorist shooting have kick-started efforts to deny Mr. Trump the nomination on the convention floor.
The dump-Trump forces may have received another opening last week when Mr. Priebus tapped Utah RNC member Enid Greene Mickelsen and Massachusetts RNC member Ron Kaufman as Republican National Convention Rules Committee chairwoman and co-chairman, respectively.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/22/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
Obama wannabees. Failure all over this. Difference is they don't have the lefts psychotic mindset or perhaps not enough bodies placed in key positions of bait and switch. Openly visible con game.
#4
Romney and the GOP blew their chances in 2012. Romney did not take part in the 2016 primaries. He has no skin in the game this time around. I voted for him in 2012 but I'm thinking a lot less of him and the other turncoat RINOs lately. They have a loser mentality.
#5
The nomination of McCain and Romney resulted in this self-destructive revolt. The Republican Party was dead the minute Trump starting winning primaries with a plurality. IMHO Perry was our best chance and at the end, Cruz was the only small government constitutionalist left. Now we see the slow motion train wreck this set in motion. The elites are scrambling to stab Trump in the back before he goes down in flames and takes the remaining power structure and piggy trough with him, and Trump doing what he does best, promoting Trump no matter how liberal and elitist he himself is.
Before you ask, yes I worked against Trump and I still believe he is a huge mistake. So you know where I stand. What I cannot understand is how anyone can support him other than in fear of President Hillary.
#7
I remember the days when many of the burg posters would write any of the R candidates would be better than Clinton. Now that their guy has lost and ONE of the candidates has won writers can't deal with it. Suck it up and vote for the best candidate. Do you think Dole, McCain, Romney were any different than Trump? They all have flaws. Get over it.
#11
You want globalism? You want corruption? ObamaCare? You want our industrial and strategic interests sold to Russians, Chinese and Soddies? You want mass immigration from the Middle East and Mexico? Then go ahead and vote for Hillary. But Romney had his chance and he blew it, badly. Now he needs to shut the fuck up and go home.
#12
Daily media attacks. Everyone knows better what to do. Trump will survive and be the true leader this country needs. My support has never wavered. Trump will go the distance. Massive support among all demographics. The media and politicians will wring their hands and say what has happened. Lovin every minute of it.
#13
The status quo ain't getting it. Unless we take a chance, the entire current corrupt mess may become impossible to dislodge.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
06/22/2016 12:40 Comments ||
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#14
What we are watching is not just the self destruction of the GOP, we are bearing witness to the collapse of democracy in America. This is bigger than Trump. This is corruption trying to defend itself inside the GOP. This is total corruption controlling the Dems. All popular opposition to the incumbent leaders on both sides are coming from the middle of America. The middle democrats are so desperate to fix their party they are willing to support Sanders, a true threat to democracy. This election has the potential to send our democracy into another revolution.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
06/22/2016 13:20 Comments ||
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#15
Maybe in a perverse way this is the GOP attempt to sure up Trump's base. I would prefer they either support Trump or just keep their mouth shut and hold their nose and vote Trump just like most of the conservatives did in 2012 for Romney. Any establishment candidate will get their clocks cleaned in the election just like in the Primary.
#16
At the end of the day, no one can come up with a better reason to support Trump than they could for Romney and McCain. Sorry, but 'better than the alternative' just isn't good enough anymore. It is, in fact, what got us here.
#17
All within the Party, nothing outside the Party, nothing against the Party -- Benito Romney
Posted by: regular joe ||
06/22/2016 13:58 Comments ||
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#18
What got us here was a bunch of Republicans sitting home in 2012 because their guy didn't win nomination. By all means, continue that strategy - it was so successful the first time.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
06/22/2016 13:58 Comments ||
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#19
Or...and here's a crazy thought...nominate someone the base is happy to support.
#20
What I cannot understand is how anyone can support him other than in fear of President Hillary.
"If you are part of a society that votes, then do so. There may be no candidates and no measures you want to vote for ... but there are certain to be ones you want to vote against. In case of doubt, vote against. By this rule you will rarely go wrong.”"
#21
I voted for Romney in 2012. I liked Perry better. I liked Newt better. But when Romney was the nominee I voted for him. What was I supposed to do? Vote for Obama? Now it's 2016 and Trump is the nominee. You can't get everything you want but if you vote for Hillary you will most certainly get everything that you do not want. Now, if Jeb was the nominee, I could understand people not voting for him because there is not a dime's worth of difference between him and Clinton. Is that what Romney wants?
#29
jvalentour speaks truth. Suck it up or die under HRC. Even OS knows the facts. I was not a Trump booster, but anyone but Hilarity.
Someone famous said "I don't always agree with Republicans. I never agree with Democrats." He/she has the right of it.
Ebbang Uluque6305, poster number 23 said " I voted for Romney in 2012. I liked Perry better. I liked Newt better. But when Romney was the nominee I voted for him. What was I supposed to do? Vote for Obama? Now it's 2016 and Trump is the nominee. You can't get everything you want but if you vote for Hillary you will most certainly get everything that you do not want." Well said sir/madam.
I hated Romney when he was gov. of my state (Mass. god help me. I remain here only because of my family.) He is/was never right, just not as left as some. Mostly. A traitorous dog desirous of power only.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
06/22/2016 17:55 Comments ||
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#30
Dang, even Ship gets it right.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
06/22/2016 17:56 Comments ||
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#31
comment #32; I am going to regret that.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
06/22/2016 17:58 Comments ||
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#32
No not the end of the two party system. All the Dems had to do is field a candidate of the people. They self destructed. Walked away from the heart of America. Catered to every fringe group they could find or invent. The silent majority is silent no longer. Trump could be any party and win. This guy is solid as a rock. He has a lifetime of challenges he has faced. The groupies always follow the power so they can be seen with him. No, the difference with Trump is America comes first. In office he will shake and bake. Be on the same page or move along. The media will continue their useless twaddle losing readership as they are coupled lost relevancy.
#33
As someone mentioned I think the two party system has been on life-support for awhile now. Mcconnell and Reid are almost carbon copies of each other except Reid is a little slimier. After what the Republican leadershi{p|t} did for that TPA (or TTP) trade legislation where they went out and surrendered the Senate's role in ratifying treaties - it's been quite evident.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
06/22/2016 19:00 Comments ||
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#35
I detest Trump. I detest Clinton more. I expect to vote 'for' Trump as a result. (I would probably vote for Sanders out of the three of them, even though I totally disagree with him politically - he's almost honest, as politicians go.)
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Breitbart] On Tuesday, hacked Democratic National Committee (DNC) files released by the Guccifer 2.0 hacker reveal circulated talking points intended to combat the Clinton Cash revelation that the former head of the Russian uranium company UraniumOne, Ian Telfer, made four undisclosed Clinton Foundation donations totaling $2.35 million--a clear violation of Hillary Clinton’s ethics agreement with the Obama administration to disclose all donations.
Hillary Clinton
[AlAhram] President 
