For Alison Schultz, 2019 was the year to get healthy. She not only lost more than 50 pounds in 12 months, she quit drinking, too.

Alison Schultz's weight-loss story will inspire anyone who has turned to food or alcohol to cope with stress.

Credit: Alison Schultz/LIVESTRONG.com Creative

The 39-year-old mom of two daughters, ages 9 and 13, says she feels better than ever. Read on as this healthcare manager shares her story in her own words.

When I was in my 20s and early 30s, I didn't think much about my weight. I was never skinny but I'm tall (5'10"), so I was used to being bigger than most women. I'm muscular, too, and always have been.

But in my mid-30s, my joints began to hurt from carrying extra weight on my frame, and a healthier lifestyle became important to me with our daughters beginning to grow and learn about health, too.

The other part was that I wanted to feel better, and that meant giving up alcohol and food as a way to cope with stress. I have a very high-stress career and I was addicted to alcohol, late-night eating and other unhealthy eating habits that paired with booze. I started to shy away from events where alcohol wasn't being served and started hanging out with friends who enjoyed drinking as much as I did. I kept blaming my unhealthy life on my stress. That was easier at the time than actually meeting my social drinking addiction head on.

It was shortly after my uncle passed away unexpectedly in January 2019 that I really drank to forget my pain. The grief that I felt hurt less when I was drinking. My husband told me he was worried, and I'll never forget the look on his face as he shared his fears. I realized then that my drinking had affected my whole family, and I was blown away.

I felt empowered at that moment to make a huge change in my life. I quit drinking and began adopting healthier eating habits and daily exercise, which helped to curb the desire to drink.

Did you know that keeping a food diary is one of the most effective ways to manage your weight? Download the MyPlate app to easily track calories, stay focused and achieve your goals!

When I started changing my habits to get healthy, I weighed 273 pounds. I began walking and then running 45 minutes a day three to four times a week. At first, I hated it. I kept thinking to myself 'Why do people talk about enjoying this?'

I ran inside and out, depending on the weather. It took me one and a half months to get from walking to running, and I continue to train. I'll run farther distances or set my treadmill with incline changes to mix things up a bit.

The whole time, what kept me going was a workout playlist a mix of songs from all genres. As long as the beat is there, I'd listen to it. I love it now! I just set my tunes, crank up the volume and focus on me. It's awesome.

"While I used to think about routine through a negative lens, I can say with complete certainty that routine has kept me on track with my fitness goals and healthier eating habits."

As for my diet, I'm not such a huge sugar-craver, so it was actually harder for me to stay away from the chips. It's still difficult sometimes, so I'll treat myself to a cheat day because, hey, everything in moderation, including moderation! I also added low-starch veggies and fruit and ate lean meat such as chicken and turkey more often.

In fact, my Monday through Friday diet is a bit like a record on repeat. And, while I used to think about routine through a negative lens, I can say with complete certainty that routine has kept me on track with my fitness goals and healthier eating habits.

Breakfast: A protein shake with sugar-free coconut-almond milk or chia pudding (2 tablespoons chia seeds, a half-cup of almond milk, splash of vanilla and a tablespoon of frozen raspberries)

Morning snack: An apple and 2 tablespoons of peanut butter or two rye crackers with cream cheese

Lunch: Spinach, romaine or kale salad with chicken or turkey, a container of fresh-cut veggies and a small serving of hummus (2 tablespoons) or a quarter to a half cup of cottage cheese with pepper

Afternoon snack: Celery with low-fat cheese, a small handful of almonds or a hard-boiled egg

Dinner: A protein, like chicken, with a big green salad

Nighttime snack: An apple with peanut butter or no-added-sugar vanilla yogurt and a tablespoon of fruit

Today, I weigh 219 pounds and my goal is to ultimately get down to 200.

"I want to teach my daughters that healthy isn't always skinny and that health is holistic, and it's important to love yourself first."

Credit: Alison Schultz/LIVESTRONG.com Creative

I curbed the late-night eating by changing my routine and staying busy. I realized that when I would sit on the couch watching TV, I'd want to shove food in my face, so I started working out in the evening. I get right into my running gear as soon as I get home from work so that I'm motivated to get it done!

After dinner, I'll do some crocheting to keep my brain preoccupied if I'm watching TV. I find that these little crafts really help curb my desire to eat. I also use that time to organize my calendar for the week or look at healthy recipes or new healthy snack recipes to try. I know it sounds silly, but this helps me to avoid snacking constantly all evening. I also drink flavored tea in the evening straight up no honey or milk or sugar.

With a busy job, two growing kids and a farm, meal planning has been my saving grace. Sundays are meal planning day, and this sets the tone for the whole week. I don't stress because I know what's for supper every night, and I've got it in my calendar so I get digital reminders the night before in case I need to thaw meat for supper after work.

"Remember that the weight didn't add up overnight and it doesn't come off overnight either. A little bit of grit and grace will help you get through the tough days."

I work in another city three days a week, so I'm gone overnight two nights. I make casseroles ahead of time so that supper is easy and healthy for my family, too, even when I'm not there.

For lunches, I pre-cut a whole container of vegetables and hard-boil 18 eggs per week. They're super easy and healthy as a lunchtime snack, and my kids love them, too.

Find a strategy that works for you and don't feel pressured by what works for other people.

I also think it helps to have a strong support network, whether that's a friend, a spouse or co-workers to work out with.

And set attainable goals for yourself. My vision board keeps me on track. A year ago, I had envisioned living a healthier lifestyle, one that I wasn't ashamed of. I empowered my vision by researching how to achieve my goals through clean eating and exercise. My vision board today has the same foundational choices.

Finally: Remember that the weight didn't add up overnight and it doesn't come off overnight either. A little bit of grit and grace will help you get through the tough days.

Excerpt from:
How One Woman Lost More Than 50 Pounds in a Year by Quitting Booze and Late-Night Eating - LIVESTRONG.COM

Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds and disinfect with 65% alcohol-based hand sanitisers to rid your skins surface of germs.

Kaodim conducted a social survey involving 599 respondents to find out how people are protecting themselves from the recent deadly Covid-19 outbreak across the world.

While you should be cautious, being too paranoid about contracting this virus will only bring more harm than good.

There are plenty of internet trolls spreading misinformation, so heres Kaodims take on how to take simple precautions.

1. The best antivirus = Immune system + hygiene

Fighting off the virus is not just about sanitising and wearing masks. The most crucial part is actually your immune system and daily hygiene.

It is obvious enough that you should include plenty of fruits and vegetables in your diet, exercise regularly, and take vitamins and supplements to keep your immune system strong.

But also remember that sharing things like cutlery and towels even among family members are a big no-no as it makes the transmission of bacteria that much easier.

Towels in particular can contain dangerous bacteria such as E. Coli if you dont wash them often. So the transference of virus and bacteria is made all the worse if you share your towels with someone else.

2. Disinfect your home, not just your hands

Youve been told many times to wash your hands for at least 20 seconds and disinfect with 65% alcohol-based hand sanitisers, but did you know that the cleanliness of your home is just as important in preventing diseases?

70% of Kaodims respondents believe that the upholsteries in their home are more unsanitary than their toilets, and they are absolutely right.

Research shows that your bed, sofa, and carpets contain 400 times more bacteria than the average toilet seat. This is because you come into contact with it way more often than you do your toilet seat.

3. Dont forget your car

As a mode of transportation that you use every day, the interior of your car typically gets cleaned way less than your home toilet. Especially for Malaysians who drive their cars everywhere, its a shame that cleaning the interior of your car is seldom a priority.

Conduct a thorough house cleaning and disinfect your whole house and car regularly. Pay extra attention to your mattress, sofa, and other upholsteries, as this is often unknowingly a breeding ground for dirt and bacteria.

Just because you dont see them, doesnt mean they dont exist. It is recommended that you hire a professional house cleaning and car seat cleaning service to make sure that the job is done right.

4. Action is essential

It is important to get up to date with the Covid-19 pandemic while remaining conscious of whether a piece of news is reliable or not.

It is important to take precautions, but it is absolutely essential to stay calm in this time of crisis, and take actions that are relevant to you and your lifestyle.

Remember, always be cautious but not paranoid. A little goes a long way in protecting you and your family.

This article first appeared in kaodim.com

One of Southeast Asias fastest growing local services platform, Kaodim connects users to dependable and professional local service providers fast and hassle-free. With the Kaodim app, users can access professional services for home renovation, office cleaning, and much more.

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4 ways to protect yourself against the dreaded Covid-19 - Free Malaysia Today

Commentary about the coronavirus is endless. Those with anti-China and anti-trade mindsets bash China, those with anti-Trump agendas bash the presidents response, and those with a big-government bias are using the crisis to argue for spending more money.

The etiology of the disease is uncertain, with cases showing up in Americans who didnt travel abroad and didnt have contact with an infected person. There is not even an accurate diagnostic test for the virus. Expert opinions may not be reliable.

Some people have begun stockpiling food. This is all well and good, but there is a more critical preparation step that few are taking.

In all the commentary, little is said about taking personal responsibility for boosting ones immune system to fight off the disease. Like the flu, the virus may wane in warmer weather. If so, like the flu, it is a good bet it will return next fall. Acting now to boost your immune system is prudent. Here is how.

Drink Less Alcohol We all know that alcohol can damage the liver. Fewer people are aware of the effects of alcohol on the immune system:

First, its important to know that the microbes living in your intestines, your guts microbiome, plays an important role in fighting diseases. When you drink a lot of alcohol, it has many negative effects on your digestive system. It damages the epithelial cells in your intestines, making it harder to absorb many nutrients. It also severely disturbs your guts microbiome, significantly altering the balance of healthy and unhealthy bacteria.

Excessive drinking may impair the function of immune cells in the lungs and upper respiratory system, leading to increased risk for pneumonia, tuberculosis, and acute respiratory distress syndrome, or ARDS. Because the immunity of the mucus is impaired in both the lungs and digestive tract, any disease can become more severe.

Excessive drinking reduces the number and function of three important kinds of cells in your immune systemmacrophages, T and C cells. Macrophages are the first line of defense against disease.

Perhaps you are just an occasional binge social drinker. Knocking down your immune system in a crowded public place is a terrible idea.

Eat Less Sugar and Processed Food WebMD puts it this way: Eating or drinking too much sugar curbs immune system cells that attack bacteria. This effect lasts for at least a few hours after downing a couple of sugary drinks.

A sugary cup of coffee and a pastry in the morning compromises your immune system. At lunch, when you have a bottle of soda with your sandwich, your bodys ability to resist illnesses going around the office is compromised. Eat enough sugar, and you can reduce the ability of white blood cells to kill germs by 40 percent.

In the morning, consider eating an orange instead of drinking sugary orange juice. Throughout the day, look for opportunities to incorporate more immune-boosting vegetables in your diet. The Brassica family broccoli, kale, bok choy, Brussel sprouts, etc. are especially noteworthy immune boosters.

Exercise Regularly An essay by Harvard Health Publishing puts it this way:

Regular exercise is one of the pillars of healthy living. It improves cardiovascular health, lowers blood pressure, helps control body weight, and protects against a variety of diseases. But does it help to boost your immune system naturally and keep it healthy? Just like a healthy diet, exercise can contribute to general good health and therefore to a healthy immune system. It may contribute even more directly by promoting good circulation, which allows the cells and substances of the immune system to move through the body freely and do their job efficiently.

Even if you dont have a regular exercise regime, you can spend less time on social media, get up from watching CNN or Fox News, and get outdoors for a walk. Moderate activity is all you need to boost your immune system.

Have a Sense of Purpose The science behind how ones state of mind and illness are linked is controversial, but allowing our thinking to control us is never a good idea.

Researchers have questioned individuals about how often in the past week they had felt happy or satisfied, and how often they felt that their life had a sense of meaning. They were looking to distinguish those who felt happy due to hedonic well-being (characterized by material or bodily pleasures such as eating well or having sex) and those who experienced eudaimonic well-being (deeper satisfaction from activities with a greater meaning or purpose, such as intellectual pursuits, social relationships or charity work).

Their results are eye-opening. They found people with a meaning-based or purpose-based outlook had favorable gene-expression profiles, whereas hedonic well-being, when it occurred on its own, was associated with profiles similar to those seen in individuals facing adversity.

Research findings support the idea that eudaimonic well-being benefits immune function directly. In contrast, stress increases when we believe we must change our circumstances to achieve happiness. Stress is known to reduce the capacity of your immune system to fight viruses.

There are no guarantees. Despite our best efforts, disease may yet visit us. However this is no excuse to not work at tipping the odds in our favor.

[Image Credit: pxfuel CC0 1.0]

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Boost Your Immune System to Fight the Coronavirus Barry Brownstein (03/06/2020) - WallStreetWindow.com

Who Is Grant Cardone?

At the age of 60 in the year 2019, Grant Cardone is famous as an internationally renowned sales trainer and as the bestselling author of The 10X Rule and If Youre Not First, Youre Last. His primary venture, Cardone Training Technologies, providesFortune 500companies,small businesses, andentrepreneurswith an interactive sales training platform.

Additionally, he has gained popularity for single-handedly building a massivereal estateempire that has a present-day portfolio valuation of around $900 million. Hisinvestment vehicle,Cardone Capital, has been involved in more than $800 million in real estate transactions covering around 4,700 units of multi-familypropertiesthroughout many American states. Here is an overview of how Cardone built his multimillion-dollar real estate empire without raising externalcapitalfrom anyone beyond his close family members.

Cardones interest in real estate as an investment option is owing to several key reasons and features the property market offers. They include better stability in property valuations compared to the high volatility observed in the equity market, regular cash flows in the form of monthly rent from tenants, benefits of amortization as rent from tenants pay down the debt and help create long-term wealth, tax benefits available in the form of depreciation, potential for long term appreciation in property value, and availability of leveragewhich allows one to purchase property worth four times the money they actually have.

Based onthe tagline Making big deals available to everyday investors, Cardone's real estate venture raises money from the public by launching public equity funds in which common investors can purchase units/shares. The collected money is used to purchase existing income-generating properties, and the earnings are shared with the investors as regular monthly distributions. Created through real value and tangible assets, Cardone claims to simplify the real estate investment for the average Joe investor.

For instance, the Cardone Equity Fund IV will use the collected capital to invest in purchasing multi-family properties in the states of Florida, Texas and Alabama. The fund manager may also occasionally invest in single-family and commercial properties, and in other real estate-backed investments in other markets within the Continental U.S.

Cardone manages all the properties and takes care of all operational overheads linked to the real estate dealings as well as property maintenance. It allows the common investors the complete freedom from handling such operational issues. They benefit from a steady flow of monthly income, an appreciation in the property value over the long term, and can focus on their regular jobs and businesses. Essentially, Cardone claims to let investors create a passive income stream that guarantees regular cash flows, the scope of value appreciation, and the opportunity to create long-term wealth as a side business/investment.

Unlike the majority of property emperors, who successfully built their sizableportfoliosas a full-time career, Cardones real estate holdings were slowly expanded as a side business. Cardones real estate venture was not intended to be his primary businessor his mainincome source. Instead, it was created in order for him to have a stable holding place to preserve and grow theearningsfrom his sales consulting company.

During a February 2015 interview with theBiggerPockets Podcast, Cardone said, Every time I get money, I go broke again because I shove it into this real estate thing. He went on to elaborate that I take these three companies that will probably be destroyed in my lifetime, that Ive madea ton of moneyoff of, and I take all that money and I park it over here so I am always broke running these three, or I am having to hustle every day to get new money and then I shove it in over here.

Though at the core he considers himself anentrepreneurand not a real estate investor, Cardone believed that real estate provided a wealth-preservation vehicle that his other business ventures could not offer.

Since the age of 15, Cardone had been actively involved in the real estate market and was studying the intricacies of the deals. During his childhood, he and his father regularly visited different pieces of property as a family outing activity, and over time his interest in buying buildings developed. To this day, shopping for real estate is still something he enjoys doing with his wife and children.

In 1981, Cardone graduated from college with an accounting degree. Despite wanting to immediately acquireproperties, he delayed it for a few years. This allowed him to grow the money that he would later use to makeinvestments.Additionally, it allowed him sufficient time to imbibe as much as he could on the subject of real estate.

In an October 2014 episode of hisreal estate show, Cardone revealed that a lot of his education "understanding different terms such asnet operating income (NOI), what apro formais, and what a good market looks like" came not from academic study but from actually "looking at different deals, and meeting agents." In fact, Cardone has never read anything on real estate investing: He replaced the knowledge that can be found in books with the knowledge that can be attained by actually looking at listings in different markets.

At 29, Cardone finally put his years of real estate studying into practice. He bought a single-family property in Houston that initially did well. However, after a few months, the tenants left, and Cardonescash flowdried up. He hated the fact that he had to lessen the focus on his main business in order to find new tenants. Afraid that this situation would recur, Cardone quickly sold the property for abreak-evenprice and swore that he would never purchase single-familyresidential real estateas an investment ever again.

Cardones second acquisition did not take place until five years later, in 1987.During that time, he continued to accumulatecashas well as increase his property investing knowledge. His first multi-family property deal was a 38-unit complex in San Diego. Cardone acquired the property for $1.9 million, making adown paymentof $350,000. Just over a month later, he acquired another complex.

Cardone continued to purchase more complexes at first, one at a time, though the pace later picked up. In 2012, Cardone Capital made what was dubbed as Florida's largest private party acquisition of multifamily real estate. It consisted of a portfolio of 1,016 apartments spread over five apartment communities for a total of $58 million.

His present-day real estate holdings are based in Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas, and continue to expand across many other regions with new funds being launched regularly.

Though Grant Cardone is famous as a professional sales trainer, he has successfully built a real estateempire from scratch which is now valued in excess of $740 million and comprises of a diversified portfolio of multi-family properties spanning multiple U.S. states. More people are renting now than at any point in the past 50 years and the number of homeowners has remained relatively unchanged. The market is big, and by offering easy investment options to common investors Cardone is capitalizing on the big potential that is available by purchasing multi-family properties. However, investors should note that such investments come with their own set of sector-specific real estate market risks, and property appreciation needs longer holding periods.

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The Multi-Million Real Estate Empire of Grant Cardone

Woke" politics is killing the Democratic Party. Michael BloombergMichael BloombergBiden surge calms Democratic jitters The Hill's Campaign Report: Biden riding wave of momentum after stunning Super Tuesday Delegate battle ahead likely favors Biden MORE, the former mayor of New York City, clearly has the best chance of beating Donald TrumpDonald John TrumpAs Biden surges, GOP Ukraine probe moves to the forefront Republicans, rooting for Sanders, see Biden wins as setback Trump says Biden Ukraine dealings will be a 'major' campaign issue MORE, but hell never be in a position to do so because of his habit of stating empirical truths. Thats totally disqualifying to the party's Social Justice Warriors.

Theres plenty to dislike about Bloomberg principally, his refusal to accept the science on guns and his longing to dump low-wage workers on the country to manicure his golf greens at half the price. (Also, he banned the Big Gulp!)

But those arent suicidal positions in the Democratic Party. No, its Bloombergs grasp of the obvious that appalls the party's base as was obvious from the gasps of debate audiences and the media.

The Feminist Division of the Woke Brigade:

Sen. Elizabeth WarrenElizabeth Ann Warren Sanders condemns his supporters' 'ugly, personal attacks' against Warren The Hill's Campaign Report: Biden riding wave of momentum after stunning Super Tuesday Delegate battle ahead likely favors Biden MORE (D-Mass.) has been universally praised for hounding Bloomberg during the last two debates,demanding that he release former female employees from any nondisclosure agreements made as part of workplace lawsuits.

Assuming Bloomberg even has the authority to release parties to a contract, which in many cases he likely doesnt, this would be a disaster for plaintiffs.

The precise reason defendants are quick to offer handsome settlements in exchange for nondisclosure agreements is to protect their reputations. If such post hoc, one-sided revisions of the agreements were to become commonplace, the offers will come a lot less frequently and theyll have a lot fewer zeros.

Victims of sexual harassment will be forced either to accept a much smaller settlement, or to waste years of their lives on expensive legal proceedings, which they might lose. Juries are unpredictable.

And as Bloomberg has said, its not only the accused who want privacy in these cases. Just askHarvey Weinsteins accusers if they enjoyed having their dirty laundry aired at his criminal trial.

But in the name of "Girl Power" feminism, liberals are happy to screw over all future victims of sexual harassment.

The Racial Division of the Woke Brigade:

After slashing the murder rate in New York City to unimaginable lows, the former mayor bluntly explained how it was done:"Put a lot of cops on the streets, put those cops where the crime is, which means minority neighborhoods.

Logic is patriarchy!

If95 percent of murders murderers and murder victims fit one M.O. male, minorities 16 to 25, he said, then police should be questioningabout 95 percent young male minorities.

Math is patriarchy!

True, Bloomberg was off by a few percentage points: Typically, only about 90 percent of murder suspects in New York City are minorities(as are their victims.)On the other hand, the mayor was under-counting black and Hispanicshootings.About 97 percent of shootings in New York are committed by minorities.Thats precisely whatstop and frisk stops.

Overwhelmingly, their weapon of choice is a gun.Liberals wail about guns, but how do they imagine police get guns off the street? Answer: They go to high-crime neighborhoods and stop and frisk young men.As Bloomberg explained, "they say, Oh, I dont want to get caught. So they don't bring the gun. They stillhavea gun, but they leave it at home.

The aggressive policing of former mayors Rudy GiulianiRudy GiulianiRevolution forecast: When a tsunami becomes a thunderstorm Bolton book release delayed due to government review Trump's three-track clemency process just might work MORE and Bloomberg saved thousands, if not tens of thousands, of black and Hispanic lives.But to "The Woke," saving such livesis an unforgivable sin if that means a few minutes of humiliation for young men in high-crime neighborhoods.

TheTa-NehisiCoates Division of the Woke Brigade:

During the 2008 financial crisis, Bloomberg explained how it happened:

It all started back when there was a lot ofpressureonbanksto make loans to everyone. Redlining, if you remember, was the term wherebankstook wholeneighborhoodsand said, Peoplein these neighborhoods are poor, they're not going topay offtheirmortgages, tell yoursalesmendon't gointo thoseareas.And then Congress got involved, local elected officials as well, and said, Oh, that's not fair, thesepeopleshould be able to getcredit. And once you started pushing in that direction,banksstarted making more and more loans, where thecreditof the person buying thehousewasn't asgoodas you would like.

Forget everything else he said.The moment Bloomberg mentioned redlining, liberal brains froze.

Theres nothing the matter with talking about redlining per se; author and journalist Ta-NehisiCoates does it all the time. But thesole purposemust beto blame this FDR-era policy, which was outlawed in 1968, for black poverty today.

Contrary to most news accounts, Bloomberg didnt blame theendof redlining for the financial crisis. If that were true, it would have been calledthe financial crisis of 1968.

He blamed politiciansgargantuanoverreactionto redlining, decades later, for the financial crisis.Thats whats known as "an indisputable fact."

As was reported extensively at the time, every governmental and quasi-government agency having anything to do with housing during the Clinton administration forced banks to jettison standard measures of creditworthiness in order to issue more mortgages to low-income and minority homebuyers specifically to make up for the legacy of redlining.

Because of redlining policies that had ended 30 years earlier, banks were required to ignore credit scores, W-2s,debt-to-income ratiosand, say, the fact that the borrowers husband was in prison. (True.) The Federal Reserve of Boston directed mortgage lenders to acceptunemployment benefitsas a source of income.(Also true.) Other housing authorities followed suit.

Fannie Mae then bundled the bad mortgages with the good and sold them to banks, which spread the bundles to investment portfolios throughout the country. When real estate prices tanked,the bad mortgages went belly-up, and the entire financial system collapsed.

Bloomberg knows what caused the 2008 financial crisis. But that is intolerable to the new woke Democratic Party.

Ann Coulteris a lawyer, a syndicated columnist and conservative commentator, and the author of 13 New York Times bestsellers. The most recent, Resistance Is Futile! How the Trump-Hating Left Lost Its Collective Mind, was published in 2018. Follow her on Twitter@AnnCoulter.

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Coulter: Democrats are killing their best chance to beat Trump with 'woke' politics | TheHill - The Hill

You might not have heard because Trump is still president, so MSNBC and CNN were required to give hair-on-fire coverage of some mundane action hes taken this week but on Monday, Harvey Weinstein was convicted of rape and a criminal sexual act.

I have some random thoughts on the case and the whole #MeToo movement. Apologies in advance that this has nothing to do with Donald Trump, Dictator.

1) Every time I hear about Weinsteins predations, I wonder how many waitresses, real estate agents and housewives in Los Angeles might be celebrated actresses today, except that when Weinstein barged out of the bathroom stark naked and lunged at them, they fled the room and didnt look back.

Our media are so infantile. Cant we agree that Weinstein is a psychopathic scumbag without calling the witnesses against him heroes?

The true heroes are the girls whose names we dont know not the ones who were grossed out by the pig, but had sex with him anyway, then sent him emoji-filled, suck-up emails because they wanted to be stars.

True, we know there are some, like Gwyneth Paltrow, who turned him down flat, so kudos to her and to Brad Pitt, who accosted Weinstein afterward and told him, If you ever make her feel uncomfortable again, Ill kill you.

Not to take away from that magnificent episode, but Paltrow is Hollywood royalty (the daughter of director-producer Bruce Paltrow and actress Blythe Danner), and her boyfriend at the time was an A-list actor. Still: heroes.

But how many actresses whom were supposed to envy and read about their skin care regimes and Hollywood Hills homes and how they were ugly ducklings as children (they all say that) are really no different from the average L.A. waitress, except they were willing to have sex with Harvey Weinstein or some similarly hideous beast?

Definitely keep getting your political opinions from them, America.

2) After the verdict, I looked at the list of movies Weinstein produced. There are nearly 200, maybe more. I have zero interest in seeing any of them, and the ones Ive so much as started were terrible except the three or four by Quentin Tarantino and one called Benefit of the Doubt, which sounds good.

Weinsteins talent wasnt in producing movies; it was in staging aggressive campaigns with the Oscars judges.

But lets be generous and say 10 of Weinsteins movies were great.

Thats worse than the music industrys practice pre-iTunes of selling $20 albums or CDs that had one, maybe two good songs. One good to 12 bad, versus 10 good to 200 bad.

My main takeaway from the Weinstein trial is that Im so glad theres Amazon Prime and Netflix now, so pushy freaks cant get rich producing schlock that the public hates.

3) There was fleeting coverage of the Weinstein case on Monday immediately after the verdict came in, with a bank of microphones set up outside the courthouse in anticipation of the defense lawyers making a statement.

Theyre the interesting ones here. Will they appeal? What do they expect from the upcoming trial against Weinstein in Los Angeles? Also, considering who the defendant was, they did pretty well.

News cameras were focused on the empty microphones, as TV anchors chit-chatted with guests, one eye on the courthouse door. On MSNBC, Andrea Mitchell interrupted her guest when she thought she caught a glimpse of defense attorney Donna Rotunno. False alarm! back to the guest.

Finally, Rotunno emerged, headed toward the microphones and guess who leapt in front of her and got there first? GUESS!

No, not Michael Avenatti.

Gloria Allred, who proceeded to recite a lot of boilerplate about the accusers being heroes and speaking their truth. (She did not say: We know Weinstein was horrible because he hired my daughter to attack his accusers.)

Hilariously, Rotunno just kept walking, while TV viewers everywhere wishes a lightning bolt would strike Allred.

4) In light of the plague of white men, its notable that the majority demographic on the Weinstein jury was this hated group. The jury was composed of two white women, two black women, one black/Hispanic woman; one black man; and seven white men.

Despite Weinsteins repulsiveness, the case was far from a slam-dunk. Luckily, white men have not yet adopted the modern propensity to view the world as an identity group cage match. I would wager that it never occurred to a single white man on the jury to think: We cant send a white man to prison!

5) Also relevant to the white male pestilence infecting America: If wed cut off immigration around 1880, certainly by 1850, there would be hardly any #MeToo cases at all. (I cant think of a single #MeToo perpetrator of founding American stock i.e., the group that gets blamed for everything.) We need way better assimilation programs.

6) There was one notable exception to the medias refusal to budge off their 24-7 Trump Is an Authoritarian Monster coverage on the day of the Weinstein verdict: the Kobe Bryant memorial! All news was interrupted for hours and hours of live coverage of the Kobe event. No mention of Kobes rape case.

Ann Coulter is the writer of 12 best-selling books,

including In Trump We Trust.

Continue reading here:

ANN COULTER: Harpooning the toxic whale | Opinion - MDJOnline.com

New York Times best-selling author and populist conservative columnist Ann Coulter says Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) hurt his campaign this election cycle when he dropped the anti-open borders position that he held for decades.

During an exclusive interview with SiriusXM Patriots Breitbart News Tonight, Coulter said Sanders once defended working-class Americans against the negative impacts of open borders and mass immigration but has since hurt his campaign by endorsing decriminalizing the U.S.-Mexico border, taxpayer-funded healthcare for illegal aliens, and an end to deportations of all illegal aliens.

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[Bernie Sanders] really would have helped himself if he had not flipped on immigration, Coulter said. And Im not just saying because I think he shouldnt have switched on immigration. But if not flipping your support for Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro doesnt hurt you, if instead that can be seen as admirable consistency. For one thing, hed get huge consistency points.

This crazy idea that only members of the Republican National Committee believe and apparently a lot of our media is that what Hispanics living here legally really really want is for their deadbeat brothers-in-law is to come up and sleep on the extra couch and undercut their wages, Coulter continued. No, its the entire working class, African-American working class, the Hispanic working class, the white working-class who are hurt the most by mass low wage immigration.

Sanders agenda has swung so far to the left on immigration that the United We Dream Action organization, a leading open borders lobbying front, endorsed him ahead of the California Democrat presidential primary.

Coulter said that while the GOP donor class and Republican establishment have failed to realize the unpopularity of mass illegal and legal immigration, even former President Obama understood amnesty was not what would win Hispanic Americans over.

Consider that in 2012 when Romney was running against Obama, all the Republicans, Rupert Murdoch were haranguing Romney to drop that self-deportation thing. No, no, youve got to be for amnesty. We need the Hispanic vote,' Coulter said. Democrats just sit back with their feet up on the desk thinking Oh yeah, you do that Republicans.'

In Obamas ads in 2012, in Spanish, running on Spanish language radio stations, never mentioned amnesty, Coulter said. He talked about how he was giving them all free healthcare.

Meanwhile, Coulter said black American voters and issues that most impact them are being left behind.

The one saving grace from this because Im just about to the point of writing my final book Screw It, Were Doomed at which point all there really is left for us to is take revenge on the people who have wrecked our country, Coulter said. And were getting the initial taste of it right now.

Hispanics are voting for Bernie, not because of immigration, hes had the toughest position on immigration, just like they voted in Venezuela, they want socialism, Coulter said. When the countrys over, Im volunteering to go work for Sanders and AOC to make sure we have a really strict wealth tax. I want to clean out the Chamber of Commerce-types, I want to bankrupt the Koch brothers

The 2020 presidential election will be the first time in history that black Americans are outnumbered in the U.S. electorate by Hispanic American voters a direct result of the nations legal immigration system that continues to import about 1.2 million foreign nationals every year, primarily from Central and South America.

Estimates project that the number of eligible Hispanic voters in 2020 will tick up to a record 13.3 percent of the entire U.S. electorate, while eligible black American voters will make up about 12.5 percent of the electorate. This translates to about 32 million Hispanics who will be eligible to vote in the 2020 election and about 30 million eligible black American voters.

John Binder is a reporterfor Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at@JxhnBinder.

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ExclusiveAnn Coulter: Bernie Sanders Would Have Helped Himself If He Had Not Flipped on Immigration - Breitbart

Say what you will about Chris Matthewsat least hes consistent. In more than two decades as the host of MSNBCs Hardball, he was a force of nature, plowing through each days news with a mix of enthusiasm, petulance and wonkish bluster. His exit on Monday was equally chaotic. Let me start with my headline: Im retiring, Matthews greeted viewers. After a short monologue in which he apologized for the way hed treated some women during his tenure and said he was ceding his platform to younger generations, the 74-year-old commentator did just that, leaving his apparently shocked 40-year-old colleague, Steve Kornacki, to cover the rest of the hour.

For those frustrated by the extent to which Matthews generation has shirked its responsibilities to future citizens of Earth, there was a hint of symbolism in that moment. Here was a quintessential baby boomeran individualist who gravitates toward personalities more than policies, a journalist whod written speeches for Jimmy Carter and books on the Kennedys, a man with no fear of publicly expressing his wildest opinionsleaving a workforce where hed spent decades at the advantageous end of massive systemic power imbalances. Despite the scandals that preceded it, Matthews was allowed to frame his speedy departure as retirement. And as soon as hed done so, on the eve of Super Tuesday no less, he offered a vague mea culpa and vanished into the night. Sorry, kids! I screwed it up! Hope you do better!

Its trueMatthews did screw things up. The circumstances surrounding his sudden retirement, whether voluntary or not, are no mystery. Following a painful post-debate interview on Feb. 25, in which he grilled Elizabeth Warren for bringing up crass, sexist, intimidating comments Michael Bloomberg had allegedly made to female employees, GQ columnist Laura Bassett published an account of the crass, sexist, intimidating comments she says Matthews made when she was a guest on his show. After Bernie Sanders won the Nevada caucuses, just three days earlier, Matthews had to apologize for likening the Democratic Socialists rise to the fall of France during World War II. (Casual Nazi comparisons are rarely prudent, but it seems obvious that theyre an especially bad idea when the object of your criticism is a Jew with relatives who died in the Holocaust.)

Bassett notes, in her essay, that several other women have confided in her about Matthews behavior. His whole modus operandi, she concludes, seems to be inviting smart women onto his show, flirting with them or otherwise making them uncomfortable before or while the camera rolls, asking them a question on air and then immediately interrupting them to tell them why theyre wrong. The observation reminded me of Matthews former rival Bill OReilly, who was notorious during his time at Fox News for shouting down guests with whom he disagreed and who was fired in 2017 when it came to light that the network had settled multiple sexual harassment suits against him. If #MeToo has taught us anything, its that this kind of misconduct isnt confined to boors. But its hard to believe talk-show hosts who let their anger and sexism run wild on live TV are keeping them under control, or even recognizing them for what they are, after the cameras stop rolling.

For much of its existence, cable news has been defined by vitriol on both sides of the aisle, from Donald Trumps Fox News hype man Sean Hannity to Matthews short-fused former MSNBC colleague Keith Olbermann. (CNNs calmer anchors tend to fan the flames of existing political controversies rather than ignite new ones along partisan lines. Its the lowest-rated of the three networks.) With Matthews gone and a new election cycle revving up, it seems like the right time to ask whether the young people he talked up on his way out stand a chance at saving cable newsor if the best Gens X-Z can do is hope this monster our parents and grandparents generations created dies out now that cable is itself becoming obsolete.

If Super Tuesday was any indicationand if a bigger-than-expected night for Joe Biden didnt inhibit any potential for colorful invective among in-house pundits who, like Matthews, seemed nervous about Sanders early surgeMSNBC is going to be a tamer place from now on. Anchoring a rotating panel of commentators were Brian Williams, who has carved out a role as the networks blandly authoritative answer to Wolf Blitzer, and Rachel Maddow, whose wry delivery and fondness for background research made her its biggest Gen X success story. The only real source of amusement was Kornackis nervous energy as he parsed stats in real time.

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But as entertaining as it could be to watch Matthews and his ilk put their feet in their mouths, its hard to make a case that 24/7 cable news was ever healthy for the national discourse. One of the first shows on a pre-left-of-center MSNBC, The Contributors, helped launch the careers of far-right provocateurs Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham. Jon Stewarts unexpectedly sober observations on CNNs Crossfire during the 2004 election cycle, when he famously chastised partisan hack co-hosts Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala for treating political debates like professional wrestling, still apply.

In the 20th century, cable news channels at least served a comprehensible purpose, as forums for real-time news and on-the-fly analysis. But since the turn of the millennium, digital platforms have owned breaking newsand millions of Americans now turn to social media for political conversations in which they can actually participate. Its hard to tell, these days, whether Twitter has adopted the tone of cable news or vice versa. Together with a President who couldnt stop making headlines if his life depended on it, theyve created an anxious new normal where it feels like no one is ever not obsessing over politics.

All cable news does is filter the endless feed of information through a series of TV personalities who are most entertaining when theyre mad, wrong or offensive. Which suggests that remaking the medium to suit younger viewers isnt just a risky business proposition; its a dangerous one. At the risk of sounding like the oldest fossil of all, heres an idea: Maybe news shouldnt be entertainment. Maybe it should just be news.

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Chris Matthews Ceded Cable News to a New Generation. But Theyd Be Better Off Without It - TIME

EXCLUSIVE: Top Republican senators, led by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., plan to meetThursday at the White House with President Trump to discuss possible immigration measuresin case the Supreme Court strikes down an Obama-era ruling shielding illegal immigrants from deportation, Fox News has learned -- a push likely to revive concerns among Trumps base of an election-yearamnesty push.

Thelawmakers are set to meet, at the invitation of the White House,with Trump around noon to discuss what would happen should the top court strike down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) executive order, asource familiar with the negotiations said. A decision on DACA is expected in June. The Republicans are said to include Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas; Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.; Tom Cotton, R-Ark.;Martha McSally, R-Ariz.;Mike Lee, R-Utah;Ron Johnson, R-Wis.;Thom Tillis, R-N.C. and David Perdue, R-Ga.

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Graham, on Thursday morning, told Fox News that the meeting was going ahead and it was related to the coming DACA ruling.

"Just to see, you know, where we are in terms of the DACA Supreme Court case, [there's a] pretty good chance that the president will win, being able to set aside the Obama-era DACA regulations and what's the play after that," he said.

The source told Fox News that a comprehensive immigration reform deal was to be discussed, but a Graham spokesman pushed back, saying thatthe meeting is to discuss DACA, andcomprehensive immigration reform was just one of a broad range of topicsthatcould potentially be discussed.

A spokesman for Lee confirmed toFox News that the senatorhad been invited to the White House to talk immigration, but that he hadn't heard anything about a deal for Dreamers. The offices of Sens. Johnson and Cramer also confirmed their attendance at the meeting.

Trump vowed during his 2016 campaign toendDACA but has also said he is open to a broader bill that would allow those affected -- young migrants dubbed Dreamers who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children -- to stay as part of broader immigration plan that sees funding for border security in exchange for a "pathway to citizenship" as well as expansion of visas and green cards. Even as Republicans fight DACA in court, there is some bipartisan appetite for finding a legislative way to protect Dreamers, considering that in many casesthe decision to illegally enter the U.S. was not their own.

An eventual, if elusive, immigration pact, particularly one that succeeds by pickingup Democratic support, could essentially boost the presidents image among moderatesas a deal-maker who can get things done where others have failed. Yet,it is risky and likelyto fuel furtherconcern among immigration hawks in Trumps base.

"It is risky, it makes sense that Graham is the one taking the lead givenhis prominent role in past efforts...but itwould make a lot more sense if someone hawkish took the lead on this," Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for lower levels of immigration, told Fox News.

Krikorian said that Trump risks being seen as "selling out" on his signature campaign promises on immigration, but the White House could deal with thatrisk by coming up with a deal the president can defend, andincluding provisions that no-one beyond the actual DACA recipients, such as their relatives, gets legal status as well.

"A tough enough deal that he could justify it, because there is political support for legalizing people who lived here for years and came here as 8-year-olds," he said.

While the delegation includes a range of immigration hardliners whose involvement could potentially dilute anything too far-reaching, Grahamhas been eyed with suspicion by conservative activistsfor years for his pushes on immigration reform.

Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh once dubbed the South Carolina senator Lindsey Grahamnesty for his repeated efforts, alongsidethen-Arizona Sen. John McCain, to try andget immigration reform through Congress -- a move that was killed during the Bush administration aftera push by conservative activists.In 2018, conservative commentator Ann Coulter called Graham the "single worst person to negotiate" such a deal.

Pushes for immigration reform have also been blamed for helping doom the presidential aspirations of a number of top Republicans, including Jeb Bush, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and even Graham himself.

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A call for a comprehensive immigration reform plan was included in a post-2012 election "autopsy" report by the Republican National Committee. The nomination of Trump in 2016 was seen as a rebuke to that call, particularlyby the party base.

"What Lindsey Graham is trying to do isn't only bad policy, it's bad politics. His amnesty agenda is in line with the 2012 GOP autopsy report that should have been dead and buried after President Trump was elected," the source familiar with negotiations told Fox News.

Graham himself has at times taken a tough stance on illegal immigration. Last year, he introduced a bill that would end asylum claims at the border and return unaccompanied minors to their home countries, as part of an effort to end the then-escalating crisis at the border.

Trump has racked up a series of wins at the border, securing funding for the wall, and dramatically reducing border crossings by implementing international agreements with neighboring countries. But there remains in some pro-Trump circles a sneaking suspicion that a betrayal on so-called amnesty for illegal immigrantsis just around the corner, considering the hefty appetite in Washington D.C. for a deal.

While its not immediately clear what the deal could include, there are a number of bills and proposals already circling that could be covered-- in measures both passed by the House or mentioned in prior stabs at immigration reform.

Krikorian said he believes there will likely be enforcement measures in any agreement, butsaid there should also be an offsetting reduction in legal immigration if DACA-recipients are going to end up with legal status.

"If we're giving away 700,000 green cards, that's almost an extra year of immigration, there needs to be some reduction," he said.

The Democrat-controlled House passed a farm bill in Decemberthat granted a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants working in the agriculture industry. While it hasnt yet been taken up by the Senate, it could be brought in to discussions. Other aspects, including green card reform, legal status for DACA recipients and visa reforms, could also be part of the deal, the source said.

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Trump too has tried to push a DACA deal before, in January 2019 offering Democrats legal status for DACA recipients in exchange for money for the border wall. He later backed away from the deal after pushback from immigration hawks.

Politico reported last month that a White House proposal was in the works to overhaul America's immigration system to replace it with a merit-based system.But that too has struggled with hawks, as it doesn't make the E-Verify work verification system mandatory, nor does it reduce overall immigration levels.

Fox News' Jason Donner contributed to this report.

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Lindsey Graham to lead group of senators to White House for immigration talks - Fox News

Published: 12:20 Thursday 05 March 2020

The Mental Health and Wellbeing event, taking place next Friday (March 13), Saturday (March 14) and Sunday (March 15), will coincide with Sikh New Year celebrations.

Sessions will include a new mums coffee morning on the Friday to launch the event, men's and women's yoga classes, thai chi, workshops on how children can stay safe online, talks on mental health, positive thinking, domestic violence, suicide, addiction and self-harm awareness and other subjects from experts, professionals and counselors and an exhibition about the work of charities in and around the town.

Cllr Mini Mangat (Labour, Leamington Willes): "This three-day health event at the Gurdwara Sahib is a first for us here in Leamington and Warwick.

"It is crucial to break through mental health stigmas that can exist within our community by focusing on raising awareness and access to support for taboo subjects within mental health like addiction, suicide, coping with bereavement and domestic abuse to name a few.

"This is a collaborative approach with many volunteers and agencies coming together, and speakers who have lived experiences from within the community, reaching out and taking important information and messages direct to the community in the Gurdwara Sahib.

"This event coincides with the Sikh New Year beginning on March 14 2020 with the month of Chet.

"Starting the new year communicating and sharing that it's OK not to be OK and that it's absolutely OK to ask for help is a great message for the new year ahead."

So for more information call 07788 293391 or 07875 464138.

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Three-day mental health and wellbeing event for all to be held at Sikh temple in Leamington - Warwick Courier