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Watch: Joe Biden Says ‘It’s Close To Barbaric’ LGBT People Can Be Fired For Being LGBT

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Joe Biden on Saturday told a Human Rights Campaign audience that “it’s close to barbaric” LGBT people can be fired “for who you love.” He also renewed the administration’s call for Congress to pass ENDA, took a swipe at the religious right, “culture” and “cultural norms,” anti-gay laws in Uganda, Nigeria, and Russia, and corrective rape. The Vice President delivered his almost half-hour speech to a room full of more than 1000 LGBT civil rights supporters at the HRC fundraiser in Los Angeles. He was accompanied on stage by his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, and other members of his family.

“My grandkids, my children, and their kids are going to be shocked, it shocks the conscious that this very moment in American history, in some states, an employer can fire you just because of who you are, or who you love.  It’s close to barbaric,” the Vice President said, to applause. “Imagine, imagine, 20 years from now, as America look back and say how in the hell could that have ever been allowed? The country’s moved on. The American people have moved on, it’s time for the Congress to move on, and pass ENDA. Pass ENDA now. Not tomorrow, now!”

During his remarks, Biden repeatedly reminded the audience of his announcement during a Meet The Press appearance, in which he voiced support for same-sex marriage.

“And with regard to my being on Meet the Press, besides, I told the President, when he asked me to be Vice President, two things, I wasn’t going to wear any funny hats, and I wasn’t changing my brand,” the 71-year old Pennsylvania Democrat quipped. “There’s no way. I’m too old man. I’m too old, seriously, seriously. It’s just, I, how could you remain silent anymore. You know, I have had, and I continue to have faith in the American people.”

And Biden, whom many believe will run for president in 2016, took an indignant swipe at the religious right, using the Pope as a platform.

“Well ladies and gentleman, the world — God willing — is beginning to change,” Biden, a  Roman Catholic, announced. “To paraphrase Pope Francis of all things, but think about this, think about what he said.  One sentence he uttered.  To paraphrase him, ‘who are we to judge,’ — who are they to judge, you or me?”

That comment drew huge applause.

And the Vice President also slammed Uganda’s new Anti-Homosexuality law.

“Uganda a nation where you can go to prison for life for so call aggravated homosexuality, whatever the hell that is. Aggravated homosexuality? Whoa. There’s some sick people in the world.”

//www.youtube.com/embed/iFXz2DMrU-c?start=713&end=825

Complete video on YouTube

Transcript and video via HRC

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Melania Trump Hails Herself as a ‘Visionary’ at Women’s History Month Event

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First Lady Melania Trump, in remarks at a White House Women’s History Month celebration, hailed herself as a “visionary” as she gave advice to guests.

“As a visionary, I know success is not born overnight, but rather takes shape after long, and sometimes challenging process,” the First Lady said. She also described herself as “a mother, humanitarian, philanthropist, and entrepreneur.”

Mrs. Trump also mentioned her new film, “Melania,” saying that she “shaped its creative direction, served as a producer, managed post production and activated the marketing campaign.”

Noting that “curiosity is a core value” that keeps her “ahead of the curve,” she said that her “unrestricted mindset” has led her to “build across very different sectors,” including, “fashion, digital assets, publishing, accessories, skincare, commercial television, and of course, filmmaking.”

Sharing advice and personal experience, Mrs. Trump told the audience, “Often alone at the top, I follow my passion. Listen to my instincts, and always maintain a laser focus.”

She also declared that the “strength of America is closely tied to the role women play in shaping their children’s character, education, and morals. The values cultivated within our communities shape the voice and vision of our next generation.”

“A woman’s influence strengthens our democracy, capital markets, and time-tested business institutions,” she said. “Across the country today, women are finding unique ways to balance career, ambition, and family.”

Image via Reuters 

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‘Seems to Be No Plan’ Expert Says on Trump Securing Iran’s Nuclear Material to End War

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President Donald Trump says he is bombing Iran so it “does not obtain a nuclear weapon,” but a veteran nuclear policy expert is blasting his war strategy, warning there appears to be no plan to secure Iran’s nuclear stockpile — a failure that could leave the U.S. in the “worst of all worlds” while Iran is “holding all the nuclear cards.”

“This may be the worst planned war in history,” Joe Cirincione told Mother Jones. “I see no sign that they knew what they were doing. It seemed to be just literally bomb, bomb, bomb. There didn’t seem to be a plan for how you were going to get at that particular material. If there is one, it hasn’t emerged.”

He warns, “there seems to be no plan for how to end this war.”

“Almost all wars end by some sort of negotiation,” Cirincione says. “If you project forward several weeks, it’s going to have to end. Usually there’s some sort of arrangement that’s made to end a war.”

But, he says, President Trump “seems to be flying by the seat of his pants and making this up as it goes along,” so “we just don’t know.”

READ MORE: Trump Has ‘No Idea’ If Iran War Will Win Him Nobel Peace Prize

Cirincione warns that “it’s possible that Trump has put us into the worst of all possible worlds. He’s made it impossible for us to have a negotiated solution to this. And we can’t use any military means to solve the problem. So we’re left in this worst of all worlds, which is Iran is holding all the nuclear cards at the end of this war.”

Mother Jones reports that “with his war in Iran, Trump has created a big, possibly catastrophic problem: A half-ton of highly enriched uranium, which can be made bomb-ready, is somewhere…out there—available for use by Iran’s new regime or perhaps not fully secured and susceptible to theft or expropriation.”

So, what are the options?

“The United States either has to conduct some high-risk military maneuver where we would land people from the 82nd Airborne or an Israeli commando unit into the site at Isfahan and try to find the uranium, go down hundreds of meters underground, retrieve the uranium and pull it out or perhaps destroy it on site,” says Cirincione. He calls it “a high risk proposition.”

“What you’re left with is really the only other solution where we started: a negotiated deal.”

President Barack Obama signed one with Iran. Trump tore it up during his first term.

With a negotiated deal, “You have to get Iran’s agreement to secure that material, declare it, allow inspectors, and then either secure it under inspection or downblend it—the process in reverse, bring it down to a 3-percent or 4-percent level. That’s the only two solutions to this problem.”

READ MORE: ‘Trying to Look Cool’: Patel Roasted for Inviting UFC Stars to Train FBI Agents

 

Image via Reuters 

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Trump Has ‘No Idea’ If Iran War Will Win Him Nobel Peace Prize

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President Donald Trump says not only does he not know if his war against Iran will help win him the Nobel Peace Prize, he also doesn’t care, and doesn’t want to talk about it.

“Trump claimed to have ‘no idea’ if Operation Epic Fury will ‘get him over the finish line’ with committee members,'” the Washington Examiner reported on Thursday, after a telephone call with the president.

“I don’t know,” Trump told the Washington Examiner. “I’m not interested in it.”

“No, I don’t talk about the Nobel Prize,” Trump also said, when asked if the topic came up in his recent talks with foreign leaders.

The Examiner’s Christian Datoc, who spoke to the president, reported via video that Trump “appears to be having a massive about-face about winning the Nobel Peace Prize amid his war with Iran.”

“He told me over the phone that he’s not sure if he’s deserving of this award anymore,” Datoc added. “This is a massive change in the president’s rhetoric from really anything he’s said over the past thirteen months.”

READ MORE: ‘Trying to Look Cool’: Patel Roasted for Inviting UFC Stars to Train FBI Agents

 

Image via Reuters 

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