Anti-Trump Republican eyes party switch in deep-blue Hawaii

Anti-Trump Republican eyes party switch in deep-blue Hawaii

HONOLULU (AP) — A Republican lawmaker in deep-blue Hawaii is considering switching parties to become a Democrat after she was pressured to give up her leadership role for criticizing President Donald Trump.

Rep. Beth Fukumoto said Republican Party members asked her to resign as Minority Floor Leader after she spoke at the Women's March in Hawaii.

In her speech she called Trump a bully and said his remarks were racist and sexist and had no place in the Republican Party.

"I raised concerns that that teaches our kids that it's OK to be a bully, and I think that should have been a nonpartisan message, but the reaction I got from the party and from my caucus was overwhelmingly negative," Fukumoto told reporters Wednesday. "The pressure on me is getting greater and greater to just comply with the wishes of the national party, and that's not my job."

In Hawaii, there are only six Republican representatives in the House — including Fukumoto — and the state Senate is all Democratic after the lone Republican was voted out of office this year.

The House approved a resolution removing Fukumoto from leadership and naming Rep. Andria Tupola as the new minority leader on a voice vote Wednesday.

"We're all good, and then she gives the speech at the women's rally, which was basically an anti-Trump rally," said Republican Rep. Bob McDermott. "She said our president is a sexist, is a racist, and that we have a bully in the White House. ... That is very problematic for the top elected Republican in the state."

McDermott and others asked Fukumoto to stop criticizing Trump if she wanted to retain her post, he said.

Fukumoto didn't consider that option.

"I'm being removed because I refuse to make that commitment," she said in remarks on the House Floor.

"The minority leader is being punished for taking part in the women's march. I think that is absolutely disgraceful and appalling," said Rep. Cynthia Thielen, a Republican. Thielen, who says she's been a Republican since before most of her fellow lawmakers were born, choked up as she defended Fukumoto before the vote.

"My party is the party of Teddy Roosevelt, who established the national parks," she said. "My party was the party of Goldwater, a social liberal who felt way back then that gays should be allowed to serve in the military."

Rep. Gene Ward, minority floor leader, said Fukumoto's disagreements with the Hawaii Republican Party stretched years before her speech at the women's rally.

"She picked a fight with her party, she picked a fight with her president, she picked a fight with her caucus and she lost," he said.

Fukumoto sent a letter to constituents asking for their blessing to switch parties and said she will wait for their replies before taking further steps, but she wasn't considering becoming an Independent, she said.

"In the state of Hawaii, running as an Independent, it's a pretty big hurdle," Fukumoto said. "There's plenty of room in the Democratic Party for people with moderate viewpoints, and that's where I stan

Why Your Foundation is THE Most Important Part of Your House

It may seem like a simple part of the overall construction process, but getting the foundation right is incredibly important. The biggest reason for this is that any mistakes you make in the foundation will only get worse as you go up. It’s known as compounding defects and it means that mistakes grow. Here’s an example: You notice that your slab foundation is 3/4” out of square when you start framing. It’s also 1/2” out of level across the total building. You figure, “well, I can handle that. I’ll just adjust it in the framing.” As you complete the framing, you get up to the roof and notice that the building is now 1” out of square and 3/4” out of level. Bummer, but you figure you can capture it in the roof framing. By the time you metal roof shows up, the square panels don’t fit on your out of square roof and you have “to make it work.” In the end, everyone and your grandmother can see that the roof is out of square and the simple mistake in your foundation has ruined the look of the house. I’ve actually seen this happen to someone. It was a “simple” mistake and it just got worse and worse as he went up in the construction process.

Here’s another reason that your foundation deserves the highest focus and attention to detail: your entire house sits on top of it! If you skimp here and something fails, it’s not an easy fix. Is it worth the extra few dollars to add a bit more rebar to the slab? Yes. Ensuring that the foundation is built to the very best standards possible is very much worth it. Here are some simple things to look out for when building your foundation and/or slab.

1. Make sure that the rebar is the right size and is laid out in the right spacing for your soil/geological conditions. A typical residential house in the United States uses #4 rebar in the foundation walls and #3 in the slab on an 18”x18” grid pattern. The layout for the foundation rebar depends on the size of foundation wall and the local codes.
2. Do not allow any rebar to “daylight” or even come close. No rebar should end or be placed within 4” of the edge of the concrete. Rebar closer than that can draw moisture from the outside and rust. That rust will creep down the rebar and, over time, render the entire rebar system useless.
3. Pay extra attention to the layout of your foundation and slab. Make sure that the corners are square and level. The closer to perfect you are, the better, but in no case should you be more than 1/4” out of square or level for a roughly 2000 SF house. Use a laser level if you have one or the best standby of all time: a water level. It’s the cheapest level you’ll ever buy. It’s basically some clear plastic tubing, water, and a little red food coloring to help you see the level lines better. You can even use this set by yourself.
4. Wait until the water has evaporated off of the top of the slab before you start finish troweling. If you press that water back into the surface of the concrete, it will weaken it. Allow it to cast off the water it doesn’t “want” and then get on it for the finish work.
5. If you plan to acid stain your concrete, don’t over finish the surface. If you polish the surface too much, you will seal it beyond what the acid stain can react with. You can definitely get the surface smooth, don’t get me wrong, the key is not to power trowel the heck out of the slab.
6. Use a stepped foundation when applicable to minimize concrete use. If you have a sloped site, step the foundation up or down the hillside to work with the topography. Be sure to measure the steps and keep them in line with the bale courses so you can step the bales too down the road if that works with your design. This won’t apply in all cases, but if it does, it’s great to get it right when stepping the foundation to keep your bale work easy.
7. Spend some extra time around your foundation bolts when finishing the slab. Many people don’t put a lot of attention here because they figure “it will be buried in the wall so who cares if it looks good.” This is one way that mistakes compound. When you add your 4×4 toe ups to a series of foundation bolts sticking out of poorly finished concrete, you will quickly find that the 4×4’s won’t sit flat. The thick 4×4’s won’t bend like a 2×4 to fit flat either, so you will be left with a toe up that’s up in the air in some spots and flat in others. This not only allows for air gaps through which bugs can also travel, but also messes up the framing before you even start it. Finish those areas well and you will be happy you did.
8. Use Wedge Bolts or other “after cure” anchors for the interior toe ups. By adding the interior anchor bolts after the concrete has been finished you can get a better finish on the concrete (not only for the bolts as described in #7, but also for your floor which will come very close to the anchor bolt locations). Using the drill in bolts also makes the layout and installation of the interior toe up a lot easier and more accurate.
9. Be sure to vibrate your form boards to eliminate “honeycombing” of the concrete. This not only improves the strength of the wall, but increases the beauty. This can be as simple as pounding a hammer against the form boards while the concrete is still wet. Do this BEFORE you finish the surface as the vibration can make the surface of the concrete drop a bit.
10. Use adequate bracing for your pours. There is nothing worse than having a form board blow out during a pour. It means more concrete will be used and your nice straight line will be shot. Use lots of diagonal braces to support the forms during the pour.

Why Your Foundation is THE Most Important Part of Your House

It may seem like a simple part of the overall construction process, but getting the foundation right is incredibly important. The biggest reason for this is that any mistakes you make in the foundation will only get worse as you go up. It’s known as compounding defects and it means that mistakes grow. Here’s an example: You notice that your slab foundation is 3/4” out of square when you start framing. It’s also 1/2” out of level across the total building. You figure, “well, I can handle that. I’ll just adjust it in the framing.” As you complete the framing, you get up to the roof and notice that the building is now 1” out of square and 3/4” out of level. Bummer, but you figure you can capture it in the roof framing. By the time you metal roof shows up, the square panels don’t fit on your out of square roof and you have “to make it work.” In the end, everyone and your grandmother can see that the roof is out of square and the simple mistake in your foundation has ruined the look of the house. I’ve actually seen this happen to someone. It was a “simple” mistake and it just got worse and worse as he went up in the construction process.

Here’s another reason that your foundation deserves the highest focus and attention to detail: your entire house sits on top of it! If you skimp here and something fails, it’s not an easy fix. Is it worth the extra few dollars to add a bit more rebar to the slab? Yes. Ensuring that the foundation is built to the very best standards possible is very much worth it. Here are some simple things to look out for when building your foundation and/or slab.

1. Make sure that the rebar is the right size and is laid out in the right spacing for your soil/geological conditions. A typical residential house in the United States uses #4 rebar in the foundation walls and #3 in the slab on an 18”x18” grid pattern. The layout for the foundation rebar depends on the size of foundation wall and the local codes.
2. Do not allow any rebar to “daylight” or even come close. No rebar should end or be placed within 4” of the edge of the concrete. Rebar closer than that can draw moisture from the outside and rust. That rust will creep down the rebar and, over time, render the entire rebar system useless.
3. Pay extra attention to the layout of your foundation and slab. Make sure that the corners are square and level. The closer to perfect you are, the better, but in no case should you be more than 1/4” out of square or level for a roughly 2000 SF house. Use a laser level if you have one or the best standby of all time: a water level. It’s the cheapest level you’ll ever buy. It’s basically some clear plastic tubing, water, and a little red food coloring to help you see the level lines better. You can even use this set by yourself.
4. Wait until the water has evaporated off of the top of the slab before you start finish troweling. If you press that water back into the surface of the concrete, it will weaken it. Allow it to cast off the water it doesn’t “want” and then get on it for the finish work.
5. If you plan to acid stain your concrete, don’t over finish the surface. If you polish the surface too much, you will seal it beyond what the acid stain can react with. You can definitely get the surface smooth, don’t get me wrong, the key is not to power trowel the heck out of the slab.
6. Use a stepped foundation when applicable to minimize concrete use. If you have a sloped site, step the foundation up or down the hillside to work with the topography. Be sure to measure the steps and keep them in line with the bale courses so you can step the bales too down the road if that works with your design. This won’t apply in all cases, but if it does, it’s great to get it right when stepping the foundation to keep your bale work easy.
7. Spend some extra time around your foundation bolts when finishing the slab. Many people don’t put a lot of attention here because they figure “it will be buried in the wall so who cares if it looks good.” This is one way that mistakes compound. When you add your 4×4 toe ups to a series of foundation bolts sticking out of poorly finished concrete, you will quickly find that the 4×4’s won’t sit flat. The thick 4×4’s won’t bend like a 2×4 to fit flat either, so you will be left with a toe up that’s up in the air in some spots and flat in others. This not only allows for air gaps through which bugs can also travel, but also messes up the framing before you even start it. Finish those areas well and you will be happy you did.
8. Use Wedge Bolts or other “after cure” anchors for the interior toe ups. By adding the interior anchor bolts after the concrete has been finished you can get a better finish on the concrete (not only for the bolts as described in #7, but also for your floor which will come very close to the anchor bolt locations). Using the drill in bolts also makes the layout and installation of the interior toe up a lot easier and more accurate.
9. Be sure to vibrate your form boards to eliminate “honeycombing” of the concrete. This not only improves the strength of the wall, but increases the beauty. This can be as simple as pounding a hammer against the form boards while the concrete is still wet. Do this BEFORE you finish the surface as the vibration can make the surface of the concrete drop a bit.
10. Use adequate bracing for your pours. There is nothing worse than having a form board blow out during a pour. It means more concrete will be used and your nice straight line will be shot. Use lots of diagonal braces to support the forms during the pour.

Donald Trump is about to be the reason we can't have nice things11

Donald Trump is about to be the reason we can't have nice things

Linette Lopez

Business Insider

 (This taco bowl from Trump Tower is not a nice thing.Twitter/@realdonaldtrump)
Since the end of World War II, the US has gone from being a nation of canned beans and thousands of creamed vegetable recipes to being a country of fresh fruits and vegetables all year long.

These are nice things, and because of President Donald Trump, we may very well be about to have them taken away.

According to Dolia Estevez, a journalist based in Washington, DC, Trump was incredibly nasty to Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto on a recent phone call.

"I don't need the Mexicans. I don't need Mexico," Trump reportedly told the Mexican president. "We are going to build the wall and you all are going to pay for it, like it or not."

That's really, really not true. It's also all very, very bad.

On the call, Trump reportedly threatened Peña Nieto with a 10% tax on Mexican exports and a 35% tax on exports that hurt Mexico the most. Problem is, that would just really hurt us.

The Wilson Center, a nonpartisan think tank, estimates that 4.9 million American jobs depend on our trade with Mexico, and if people don't have jobs, they can't have any nice things, American or Mexican. The Peterson Institute — another think tank — says a trade war with Mexico and China would push us into recession.

So that's one thing.

Another thing is that Mexico is the US's third-largest trading partner. In 2015, the US imported $295 billion worth of goods from the country. Here's how that breaks down, according to the Office of the US Trade Representative (emphasis added):

·         "The top import categories (2-digit HS) in 2015 were: vehicles ($74 billion), electrical machinery ($63 billion), machinery ($49 billion), mineral fuels ($14 billion), and optical and medical instruments ($12 billion)."

·         "US imports of agricultural products from Mexico totaled $21 billion in 2015, our 2nd-largest supplier of agricultural imports. Leading categories include: fresh vegetables ($4.8 billion), other fresh fruit ($4.3 billion), wine and beer ($2.7 billion), snack foods ($1.7 billion), and processed fruit & vegetables ($1.4 billion)."

·         "US imports of services from Mexico were an estimated $21.6 billion in 2015, 11.0% ($2.1 billion) more than 2014, and 50.0% greater than 2005 levels. It was up roughly 191% from 1993 (pre-NAFTA). Based on 2014, leading services imports from Mexico to the U.S. were in the travel, transportation, and technical and other services sectors."

Fresh fruits and vegetables are nice things. Guac on your $10 Chipotle is a nice thing. Both are now at risk.

Cheap cars are nice things. Much of the US auto industry's supply chain runs through Mexico, where labor is cheaper. The country shipped $50.5 billion in finished cars and $51 billion in car parts to the US in 2015, according to government data. Over the past six years, US car manufacturers have announced investments in Mexico's auto industry totaling $24 billion.

What Trump doesn't understand is that countries like Mexico can always retaliate against us if their pride is hurt. And they can do it with the support of their people — it would be a political win.

Last week, the president of Mexico's national conference of governors, Gov. Graco Ramirez of Morelos, told a Mexican newspaper that Trump had declared "war" on Mexico.

"With Trump, dialogue is exhausted," Ramirez told El Universal. "It doesn't make sense to sit down with him. He doesn't change his attitude or his position."

Pain, but no gain

Now, if you listen to what Trump and his administration say about our economy, they want to change all that anyway. They want to rip up supply chains and figure out how to force companies to bring businesses back here. They don't care who it hurts.

Peter Navarro, the head of Trump's National Trade Council, laid this callous view of economic policy out in an interview on CNBC last week. When host Melissa Lee pointed to a Citigroup estimate that taxing imports from other countries — a provision called "border adjustment," which acts like a tariff — would be a massive hit to retail companies' earnings and put thousands of American jobs at risk, Navarro called Citigroup "fake news."

"Yeah, well, the Dow just hit 20,000. How you like them apples?" he said. "There are winners and losers."

He's wildly wrong. In trade wars, there are generally only losers. By the time countries get back to the table to negotiate, jobs, savings, and entire ways of life are lost.

Retired Gen. David Petraeus just warned us about this, too — about the danger of protectionism:

"To create a foundation for prosperity, we put in place an open, free, and rules-based economic order intended to safeguard against the spiral of protectionism that produced the impoverishment and radicalization of the 1930s. And to protect freedom here at home, we adopted a foreign policy that sought to protect and, where possible, promote freedom abroad along with human rights and rule of law."

A heroic mother died in a house fire — right after she tossed her>>>

Morning Mix

A heroic mother died in a house fire — right after she tossed her newborn from a second-story window

By Peter Holley 

Nobody can be sure how much time passed between the moment Shelby Carter realized her Illinois home was engulfed in flames and the moment she decided to strap her 12-day-old infant into a car seat and toss the baby from a second-story window.

Probably seconds, or maybe a minute or two, investigators say.

But her decision — likely the 21-year-old mother’s last — was gut-wrenching and heroic. Her quick thinking saved her newborn before a wall of fire and smoke tore through the upstairs bedroom of the wood-frame house where Carter lived with her mother, investigators say.

“It’s just incredible that she was able to pull her thoughts together to save her baby,” said Ed Foglesonger, chief of the Wyoming-Speer Fire Protection District. “It’s just too bad she couldn’t save herself, but I’d say it’s nothing short of a miracle the way it ended up.”

When rescuers made their way inside the home Monday morning in Wyoming, Ill., they found Carter’s body in the bedroom.

An autopsy revealed that she was killed by carbon monoxide intoxication from smoke inhalation after smashing a window to save her baby, Foglesonger said. Rescuers found Carter’s infant, Keana Davis, in her car seat, which was resting on top of a pile of debris, the fire chief said.

Miraculously, he added, the baby had just a minor burn and escaped serious injury.

[Father saves three teenagers from riptide only to die moments later]

Keana was taken to a hospital in good condition and later released.

“The good news is, the baby got home and is doing great,” Stark County Sheriff Steve Sloan told the Peoria Journal Star a day after the fire.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, but investigators said it doesn’t appear to be suspicious.

Firefighters battle a blaze Monday in which a 21-year-old woman was killed. (Tammy Wilkinson/GateHouse Media Illinois)

Carter’s death has dealt a painful blow to the residents of Wyoming, a close-knit town of 1,400 people about three hours southwest of Chicago. Sloan told the Journal Star that Monday’s blaze was the first fatal fire in Stark County in perhaps 30 years.

A GoFundMe page set up to raise money for Carter’s daughter and mother raised more than $5,500 in two days. Foglesonger said the town has rallied around the family and found comfort knowing that her final act was saving a child’s life.

On Facebook and GoFundMe, family members and friends have hailed the young mother as a hero.

“Her 21st birthday was yesterday and on Facebook she had posted, you know, ‘What a great birthday!'” Carter’s cousin, Shawna Burwell, told CBS affiliate WMBD. “This morning on Snapchat I seen ‘loving these mommy moments’ and she had the baby laying on her chest.”

[A tree was falling toward her children. She was paralyzed trying to save them.]

The Kewanee Star Courier reported that Carter’s mother, Kathy Hardy, posted a photo on Facebook of her infant granddaughter at the hospital with the words “Beautiful Miracle.”

“Shelby was a fantastic mom and proud of her baby girl,” the victim’s aunt, Deb Carter Burwell, added, according to the newspaper.

“Words cannot describe what has happened within our community today,” the Wyoming-Speer Fire Protection District posted on Facebook. “We have experienced a feeling that no department wants to go through. Words cannot express the way we truly feel. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family involved.”

Shelby graduated from Stark County High School in 2014, according to her obituary. While still in school, friends said, she was a focused student who played center on the school’s basketball team. Friends said Carter’s reserved demeanor disappeared when she stepped on the basketball court, where she was known as a “feisty” competitor.

“She was very, very smart,” said Carter’s lifelong friend and teammate, Anna Steelman. “I think people underestimated that about her because she was quiet and she wasn’t one to make herself the center of attention. She stayed back in the crowd and did her work and got stuff done on the court and in the classroom. She was very task-oriented.”

[‘A complete miracle’: Toddler survives being trapped under capsized boat for nearly an hour]

After graduation, Carter worked as a nail technician and “was currently going back to school at MidState to be a Pharmacy Technician,” her obituary said.

“Playing basketball and children were Shelby’s passion,” the obituary continued. “She loved every child she came in contact with and they loved her. Her greatest moment was becoming a mom.”

Taking care of children came naturally to Carter because she was an inherently protective person, Steelman said. She started babysitting at a young age and, when she got older, she became the person friends turned to when they were having relationship problems or needed advice, her friend said.

Asked whether she was surprised that Carter lost her life saving her child, Steelman said, “Absolutely not.”

“She was a strong girl and if she had a task she would get it done, even if it meant sacrificing herself,” she said. “She’s a hero and we’re all very proud of her.”

When Trump says that Islam hates us, I do not think that there is a convergence point with him

NICE PICS

2O TIPS FOR CHRONIC INFLAMMATION

16 Celebs Who Will Leave the U.S. Because Trump Won

16 Celebs Who Will Leave the U.S. Because Trump Won

Here is a list of 16 celebrities who said that they will leave the U.S. if Donald Trump wins the elections.

Now all we can do is, sit back and wait to see if they are going to stay true to their words

Barbra Streisand is packing bags

 I can’t believe it. I’m either coming to your country if you’ll let me in, or Canada.

That’s exactly what the singer told 60 minutes in an interview.

Do you believe she will really move from U.S. now that Trump won? 

Crazy Train

"Crazy Train" is the first single from British heavy metal vocalist Ozzy  Osbourne's debut solo album, Blizzard of Ozz, released in 1980. A live version of the song recorded in 1981 from the album Tribute was also released as a single in 1987 with an accompanying music video. The song was written by Osbourne, Randy Rhoads and Bob Daisley. The subject matter of the lyrics is the Cold War and the fear of annihilation that existed during this period.

The song's main guitar riff has been praised for its use of the full minor scale. It reached No. 49 on the United Kingdom singles chart and No. 9 on the Billboard Top Tracks chart in 1981. The master ringtone was certified double platinum and had by September 2010 sold 1,750,000 downloads.

The song is one of Osbourne's most well known and recognizable as a solo performer. It was rated 9th greatest guitar solo ever by readers of Guitar World magazine.

The song was also ranked 9th by VH1 on the list of the 40 Greatest Metal Songs[8] and in 2009 it was named the 23rd greatest hard rock song of all time also by VH1,[9] the highest placement by a solo artist on the list.

BRIDGE TYPES

BEAM LOADING

10 REASONS TO LOVE ENGINEERING

This Is What Actually A Nutella Jar Contains! The Amount Of Sugar Will Leave You Speachless!A new image claims to show exactly what goes into your jar of Nutella - and it may shock you.

Boy Shot And Killed His Grandmother Because He Didn�t Want To Go To School!

Boy Shot And Killed His Grandmother Because He Didn�t Want To Go To School!

15 Year Old Boy Stabbed To Death In Front Of His School Mates!

15 Year Old Boy Stabbed To Death In Front Of His School Mates!

FAILURE