An employee with the Federal Emergency Management Agency instructed a disaster relief team to avoid houses displaying signs supporting President-elect Donald Trump's campaign, the agency's administrator said Saturday. The employee, who was not named, was fired from her position, Administrator Deanne Criswell said in a post to social media on Saturday, calling it a violation of FEMA principles, which say workers should help people no matter their political affiliation. "More than 22,000 FEMA employees every day adhere to FEMA's core values and are dedicated to helping people before, during and after disasters, often sacrificing time with their own families to help disaster survivors," Criswell said.
Five people were stabbed in an apparently random attack in Seattle on Friday, and police are investigating whether the suspect may have stabbed five other people since Thursday morning. Four people were in critical condition after the attack near 12th Avenue South and South Jackson Street, police and a spokesperson for Harborview Medical Center said Friday. A fifth victim was stabbed but was treated and released at the scene, Seattle police Deputy Chief Eric Barden said. There have also been five other people stabbed in separate incidents in that same area since Thursday morning. The attacks are similar in randomness and the description of the assailant, Barden said. "It's certainly plausible that the suspect involved in today's stabbing is the same suspect involved with the previous five incidents, but the investigation is ongoing," Barden said.
Amsterdam has banned demonstrations for three days after Israeli soccer fans were beaten and injured in violent clashes in the city overnight, which Dutch authorities condemned Friday as antisemitic. Dutch police said they had launched a major investigation into multiple incidents following the Europa League soccer game Thursday night between Israel's Maccabi Tel Aviv and Dutch side Ajax. Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema said criminals on scooters searched the city in search of Maccabi supporters in "hit-and-run" attacks. "This is a terrible moment for our city ... I am very ashamed of the behavior that was shown last night," she said in a Friday news conference. Amsterdam authorities said Friday morning that five injured Israeli soccer fans have since been released from the hospital, and 20 to 30 other people were lightly injured. In total, 63 individuals were arrested and 10 remain in custody, police said.
President-elect Donald Trump has named Susie Wiles, the manager of his victorious campaign, as his White House chief of staff, the first woman to ever hold the influential role. read more
The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 0.25 percentage points Thursday, the second consecutive cut after a two-year rate-hike run to curb postpandemic inflation. read more
"A place to discuss the stories that aren't making news, talk about news judgments made on the front page and gasbag about other topics."
Funny thing is you had to go to the front page and see the ads before you could get to the Nooner. Reading posts by TT and a few others on the comments page made most posts on the Nooner look PG13, until Hans was given the nod to spam it.