SINCERETALK

In 2024 millions of South Africans will have the opportunity to elect a new government, which could result in South Africa being a very different country, writes Adriaan Basson. from News24 news24/topstories/rss https://ift.tt/fmEnMbv via sinceretalk

In this special report, journalist Marvin Charles and multimedia reporter Bertram Malgas document the busiest time for emergency service personnel as they buckle under pressure during the festive season. from News24 News24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/Uceg3Ls via sinceretalk

On Friday, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) issued a veiled threat to states considering the disqualification of former President Donald Trump from the Republican primary ballot. "Maine, Colorado, and other states that might try to bureaucratically deny ballot access to any Republican nominee should remember the US House of Representatives is the ultimate arbiter of whether to certify electors from those states," Massie wrote on X (formerly Twitter). Massie's threat seems to suggest that any state that excludes Trump from its respective ballot could face severe consequences, including having their state's chosen Electoral College representatives potentially excluded from the final electoral vote count. Hypothetically, this could mean that if the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) upholds the Colorado supreme court's disqualification of the former president, the Centennial State's 10 Electoral College members may not be certified by the full House

Three women who worked in then-President Donald Trump's administration are now sounding the alarm on the implications of their former boss potentially winning another term as commander-in-chief. ABC News' Jon Karl recently interviewed Alyssa Farah Griffin, Cassidy Hutchinson and Sarah Matthews, who all worked in the Trump White House and later cooperated with the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack's investigation in 2022. Griffin, who was the White House's director of strategic communications between April and December of 2020, was present at the end of Trump's term, and resigned from her post a month before the deadly US Capitol riot. "Fundamentally, a second Trump term could mean the end of American democracy as we know it, and I don't say that lightly," Griffin told ABC. "We all witnessed him trying to steal a democratic election before and go to historic and unconstitutional lengths to do so." POLL: Should Trump be allo

US Capitol Police officers who were harmed battling supporters of former President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021 can move forward with their lawsuits, following a Friday ruling from the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. The Messenger reported that the DC Circuit affirmed a previous decision from the US District Court for the District of Columbia — whose docket has been packed with January 6-related cases in the years following the deadly riot – that the former president was not immune from accountability in civil matters concerning the Blassingame v. Trump case. "President Trump had contended that he should be afforded immunity because his alleged actions constituted speech on matters of public concern. Such speech was, in his view, 'invariably an official function.' We rejected that argument," the ruling read . POLL: Should Trump be allowed to hold office again? "The salient question in Blassingame, we explained, was instead whether President Trump’s alleg

In a Thursday night interview on MSNBC, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold (D) applauded the decision by her counterpart in Maine to disqualify former President Donald Trump from the 2024 Republican primary ballot. Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows disqualified Trump from appearing on the Pine Tree State's ballot based on his role in the deadly January 6, 2021 riot at the US Capitol. In her multi-page ruling, Bellows wrote that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution clearly states that anyone who has engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or given aid and comfort to the enemies thereof, is not qualified to be an officer of the United States government, whether "civil or military." "It's very clear that Donald Trump engaged in insurrection. It is also very clear the language in the constitution, which says that if someone swears to uphold the constitution and then engages in insurrection, they cannot be pl

A former federal prosecutor says Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith's latest filing shows his unique understanding of former President Donald Trump — not just in a criminal sense, but in a political sense. In a Thursday essay for Slate , Dennis Aftergut, who is a former Assistant US Attorney for the Northern District of California, analyzed elements of the filing Smith submitted to US District Court this week seeking to ban Trump from making certain statements in the courtroom. Aftergut, who co-authored the essay with Amherst College political science professor Austin Sarat, wrote that "Smith has told us three important things about his larger project and strategy." "First, he’s a man in a hurry to ensure the fair administration of justice ... Second, the motion told us that even while the trial is on hold , Smith intends to take the initiative and remain the lead in the courtroom... Third, and most important, Smith is saying loud and clear that he

Recently, I was telling you about a pet theory of mine – that most people, most of the time, are not currently prepared to believe that Donald Trump is going to be the GOP’s presidential nominee. The thought of a second term is too dreadful to think about. So a lot of people have decided not to! Anyway, there are still alternatives around. Maybe GOP voters will instead go with Nikki Haley or Ron DeSantis. The holidays aren’t over yet! It feels like there’s still time to hope. A consequence of so many people deciding not to think about Trump is that Joe Biden is being seen in a vacuum. It’s as if, a year from now, Biden will be assessed solely on his job performance. Not so. In reality, voters will choose between two candidates. To a lot of people, Biden seems like a less-than-ideal option. Maybe he is! But standing next to Trump, he’s going to seem like a reasonable, sane and good choice. Another consequence of Joe Biden being seen in a vacuum is this: Donald Trump seems much stro

A new book by ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl, Tired of Winning: Donald Trump and the End of the Grand Old Party, "explores how Donald Trump remade the Republican Party in his own image—and the wreckage he's left in his wake," according to its summary. Speaking with the veteran journalist Tuesday, MSNBC's The ReidOut host Joy Reid notes the book includes a quote from a former Trump official, saying, "He lacks any shred of human decency, humility or caring He is morally bankrupt, breathtakingly dishonest, lethally incompetent, and stunningly ignorant of virtually anything related to governing, history, geography, human events or world affairs. He is a traitor and a malignancy in our nation and represents a clear and present danger to our democracy and the rule of law." Reid goes on to mention the 25th Amendment —which Brookings notes was originally meant "to provide for the orderly transfer of power when the president dies, re

Former US Representative Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming) continued her efforts to fight against another Donald Trump presidency Tuesday during a conversation with MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace. In discussing her book, Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning , Wallace asked the ex-GOP lawmaker about her thoughts on where former chief of staff and Trump co-defendant Mark Meadows — who she talks about in the book — stands right now in the former president's January 6 criminal case. "What do you think Mark Meadows' status is right now?" the MSNBC host asked. "Do you think he is a cooperator? Do you think he will be charged?" POLL: Should Trump be allowed to hold office again? Cheney replied, "I think that, you know, we were surprised that the Department of Justice chose not to indict him after the House had held him in contempt. And at the time, seemed that, perhaps, he was cooperating. There was a whole question about to what extent does a former chief of staff

Since the Colorado Supreme Court ruled last week that Donald Trump is ineligible to appear on the 2024 Republican primary ballot under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment — which says an "officer" cannot participate in an insurrection — three GOP lawmakers have worked to keep President Joe Biden off the 2024 ballot as well, Truthout reports. Per the report , " In a statement to the far right website Breitbart , Rep. Aaron Bernstine (R-Pennsylvania), Rep. Charlice Byrd (R-Georgia) and Rep. Cory McGarr (R-Arizona) explicitly cited the court ruling from last week as their motivation. The GOP representatives described the court's decision as 'lawfare,' despite strong evidence demonstrating Trump did indeed engage in insurrectionist behavior." Furthermore, the news outlet reports the Republican lawmakers' rationale "has nothing to do with insurrection," but with "disagreements over policies on immigration and border security, as well as&quo

The Proteas commence the unenviable process of convincing their support base to still watch their Test cricket against India on Tuesday despite a schedule that suggests it's not a priority anymore. from News24 news24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/l4zx0RQ via sinceretalk

Unisa has arguably been a public embarrassment in recent times after a series of governance failures. Prega Govender examines what needs to be done to ensure the country's largest tertiary institution doesn't fail. from News24 news24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/Xf3t5YF via sinceretalk

As Cape Town enters its infamous fire season, more than 300 volunteer firefighters stand ready to respond to callouts at all hours of the day while juggling day jobs at the same time. from News24 news24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/XZdUB5v via sinceretalk

In a satarical column addressed to President Cyril Ramaphosa, Bhekisisa Mncube writes that Jacob Zuma has been showing his posterior to South Africa for the longest time. from News24 News24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/rIS9LHO via sinceretalk

Many toys contain hidden hazards, which unnecessarily place children at risk of harm, according to the World Against Toys Causing Harm. from News24 News24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/K3A9L8H via sinceretalk

A tax expert recently said Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) associate justice Clarence Thomas could face significant legal consequences by not paying taxes on gifts from billionaire benefactors. Earlier this week, the New York Times reported that Thomas, who in 2000 was carrying six figures worth of personal debt, frequently complained about his salary as a member of SCOTUS. At the time, Thomas was paid over $173,000 annually (salaries for SCOTUS justices are now in excess of $285,000 per year). Thomas had openly threatened to resign from the Court and take more lucrative work in the private sector, suggesting that if he didn't receive a boost in pay, that " one or more justices will leave soon. " Conservative lawyer George Conway told ProPublica this fall that the Federalist Society's Leonard Leo — whose organization has multiple alumni sitting on SCOTUS — came up with a plan to keep Thomas "happy" by arranging lavish gifts for the far-righ

As Donald Trump's legal troubles continue to aggressively mount, The Detroit News issued a bombshell report by Craig Mauger revealing audio recordings Thursday of the former president pressuring two Michigan county GOP canvasser's not to certify the 2020 election results. Per Mauger's reporting , Trump and Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told Wayne County canvassers Monica Palmer and William Hartmann on the November 17, 2020 call that "they'd look 'terrible' if they signed the documents after they first voted in opposition and then later in the same meeting voted to approve certification of the county's election results, according to the recordings." Special counsel Jack Smith's former colleague Karen Friedman Agnifilo and former special counsel at the Department of Defense, Ryan Goodman, during an interview with CNN's Erin Burnett, insisted the recordings are "damaging" to Trump, and "powerful fo

During the same week former Donald Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani was ordered to pay nearly $150 million to Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss for defaming them, he declared bankruptcy Thursday. MSNBC host Katie Phang spoke with political analyst and Democratic strategist Fernand Amandi on the latest episode of The Beast with Ari Melber , asking him whether or not there's "a limit" to the ex-New York mayor's "fall from grace." He replied, "Katie, I don't think so, and think what you are seeing there — first off, I would say that the Rudy Giuliani OnlyFans isn't too far off in the future the way he is going. I don't think it will be much better than those supplements. But it just shows you what the cult of Trump looks like, and really any other cult throughout history. I know it's become a cliche over these years since Trump descended down those staircases in 2015, but this is no different than the Jim Jones Guyana cult

A far-right Republican House lawmaker is alleging some members of Congress are compromised by “women, drugs, booze,” and suggested they are being blackmailed by Russia. “This is how it works,” U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) told far-right podcast host Benny Johnson (video below). “You’re visiting, you’re out of the country, or out of town, or you’re in a motel or a bar in D.C., and some, whatever you’re, you’re into – women or men or whatever – comes up, and they’re very attractive, and they’re laughing at your jokes and, and they, and you’re buying them a drink, next thing you know you’re in the motel room with them naked.” “And next thing you know, you know, you’re about to make a key vote and what happens?” Burchett continued. “Some well-dressed person comes up and whispers in your ear, ‘Hey, man, there’s tapes out on you,’ or, ‘Were you in a motel room, on, whatever with whoever?’ And then you’re like, ‘uh-oh,’ and [they] said, ‘You really ought not be voting for this thing.

Donald Trump's former "fixer," Michael Cohen did not mince words speaking to MSNBC's Katie Phang Wednesday during a discussion about his ex-boss' legal team. There are "tons of lawyers in Trump world," Phang notes. "Four separate criminal cases had four jurisdictions; at least one or two civil fraud case; the E. Jean carroll damages trial in January. I mean, do the lawyers that are a part of Trump legal, do they have the competency bandwidth to be able to coordinate multiple battle fronts on behalf of Donald Trump?" The former Trump staffer replied, "I don't think this entire clown show of lawyers that he currently has, I like to call them the 'D team'. Just look at the nonsense that, you know, gets spewed every day out of the mouth of someone like Alina Habba. If that is your spokesperson — if that's the person that you have front and center on your legal issues, he's got some real problems ahead of him. You know,

A new YouGov poll finds the majority of Americans, 54%, support the Colorado Supreme Court’s Tuesday decision that Donald Trump is ineligible to appear on that state’s 2024 primary ballot, because he engaged in insurrection. In a further hit to the twice-impeached former president, the poll found barely more than one-third, just 35%, disagreed with that ruling. Participants were asked, “Do you approve or disapprove of the Colorado Supreme Court ruling that Donald Trump can’t appear on the state’s 2024 Republican presidential primary ballot because his actions leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021 takeover of the Capitol amount to insurrection or rebellion against the United States?” A whopping 84% of Democrats, 48% of independents, and even almost one in four Republicans, 24%, agreed with the decision to remove Trump. READ MORE: Kellyanne Conway Says Dems All Drive EVs, Get Abortions, and Think About January 6 Every Day In a further blow to the ex-president, 38% strongly agreed with t

Just weeks after the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals unsealed documents revealing U.S. Congressman Scott Perry's (R-PA) conversations in his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, a federal judge on Tuesday gave the Department of Justice permission to access almost "1,700 records recovered" from the Pennsylvania lawmaker's cell phone, The Washington Post reports. Politico reported a few of Perry's interactions, including : A Dec. 12, 2020, text exchange with Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel discussing efforts to challenge Joe Biden’s victory in the election. A series of exchanges between Perry and a former DOJ colleague, Robert Gasaway, between Dec. 30, 2020, and Jan. 5, 2021, in which Perry embraced a plan to have then-Vice President Mike Pence 'admit testimony' prior to the counting of electoral votes on Jan. 6, 2021. Perry agreed to 'sell[] the idea' with a call to Trump, Pence and Trump adviser John Eastman,

The Colorado Supreme Court's Tuesday, December 19 ruling that Donald Trump is disqualified from the state's primary ballot over his incitement of an insurrection, will now go to the United States Supreme Court. Trump, according got the ruling, is disqualified under section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution, which states , "No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability." During the

A top legal expert predicts the U.S. Supreme Court will uphold Tuesday evening’s Colorado Supreme Court’s groundbreaking decision that Donald Trump violated the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by engaging in insurrection and is disqualified from holding public office, including the presidency. As a result, the court ruled, he is disqualified from the Colorado ballot . Neal Katyal, the well-known former Acting Solicitor General of the United States who is now a Professor of National Security Law at Georgetown University Law Center, said on MSNBC the conservative justices on the U.S. Supreme Court have little choice but to apply their “textualism” method of reading the Constitution to the Colorado case. Textualism requires the text of the Constitution to be not interpreted but applied via a plain reading of the words on the document. If they do, Katyal said, “Trump will be disqualified from the ballot.” Section Three of the 14th Amendment reads: “No person shall be a Senator

After voters filed a suit in September seeking to block former President Donald from running for office again under the 14th Amendment, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the MAGA hopeful is, indeed, disqualified from running for president due to his participation in inciting an insurrection. According to CNBC , "The suit claimed that Trump's incitement of the Jan.. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol by a mob of his supporters was an act of insurrection." The high court's ruling reads , "A majority of the court holds that President Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Because he is disqualified, it would be a wrongful act under the Election Code for the Colorado Secretary of State to list him as a candidate on the presidential primary ballot. The court stays its ruling until January 4, 2024, subject to any further appellate proceedings." P

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron on Monday dismissed, “ for at least the fifth time ,” former President Donald Trump’s motion “for a directed verdict” in his New York civil fraud trial case, The Messenger reports. “A lie is still a lie,” Engoron noted In his 3-page ruling , writing: Defendants also trot out two of their standard canards, that valuations are subjective and that the law only penalizes “material” deviations. These both fall into the category of “Let no one be fooled." Valuations, as elucidated ad nauseam in this trial, can be based on different criteria analyzed in different ways. But a lie is still a lie. Engoron continued: Valuing occupied residences as if vacant, valuing restricted land as if unrestricted, valuing an apartment as if it were triple its actual size, valuing property many times the amount of concealed appraisals, valuing planned buildings as if completed and ready to rent, valuing golf courses with brand premium while claiming no

U.S. Representative Elise Stefanik (R-NY) has helped lead the charge in calling for the resignation of three Ivy League university presidents since this month's DC hearing on antisemitism on college campuses. CNN reports , "It was Stefanik's line of questioning" during the hearing "before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce that attracted the most attention from the roughly five hours of testimony." In a Monday, December 18 report, Politico's Daniella Diaz points out , "All three university presidents equivocated when the New York Republican asked if calls for genocide against Jews would violate their campus codes of conduct, sparking a rush of notably bipartisan fury among elite academic institutions over their handling of public tension during the Israel-Hamas war. The moment looked poised to reshape Stefanik's public image as a one-time moderate turned Trump defender. POLL: Should Trump be allowed to hold office again?

A Florida Republican lawmaker’s bill declares showing support for LGBTQ people is a “political viewpoint,” despite the existence of LGBTQ Democrats, Republicans, independents, and entirely unaffiliated and non-political LGBTQ people. The goal of GOP State Rep. David Borrero’s legislation is to ban all versions of the LGBTQ pride flag from any and all local government buildings, including schools and universities. “A governmental entity may not erect or display a flag that represent [sic] a political viewpoint, including, but not limited to, a politically partisan, racial, sexual orientation and gender, or political ideology viewpoint. The governmental entity must remain neutral when representing political viewpoints in displaying or erecting a flag,” HB 901 reads. The bill makes no mention of religious flags. READ MORE: ‘GoFundMe’: Experts Say Clarence Thomas Being ‘Sponsored by Billionaires’ Is ‘Bribery’ This is the second time Rep. Borrero has tried to get LGBTQ pride flags

Days after the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to expedite its decision on Donald Trump’s claim of immunity from prosecution, the court has placed "all deadlines" in special counsel Jack Smith's 2020 election interference case against the MAGA hopeful on hold, according to Politico's Kyle Cheney. Cheney reports via X (formerly Twitter), "JUST IN: All deadlines in Trump's DC prosecution are on hold pending Trump's immunity appeal. But Jack Smith is filing things based on the suspended deadlines to speed things along should the case resume." This comes minutes after the Politico reporter wrote , "JUST IN: US appeals court in DC set arguments on Trump's presidential immunity appeal for Jan. 9. One of the judges wanted to wait for SCOTUS to decide whether to take the case before scheduling this, but she was outvoted." POLL: Should Trump be allowed to hold office again? In response to Cheney's reporting, MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin