SINCERETALK

For at least two years the Mogale City Local Municipality in the west of Gauteng has been pumping tens of thousands of litres of raw sewage into the area's rivers every day. from News24 News24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/D28owma via sinceretalk

A former MSNBC host unloaded on Donald Trump's running mate, J.D. Vance on Friday over a late-night post Vance made defending his choice to "change my tune" on the MAGA leader. Vance made a lengthy post on X, writing: "If you were to ask what caused me to change my tune about President Trump from 2016 to 2020, I could give you a few reasons. But what we're seeing in Springfield really drives it home." Vance cited "skyrocketing" housing prices, as well as rising cases of communicable diseases, crashes, crimes and even insurance premiums. He also decried the government's response to those alleged societal ills. "Confronted with many of their citizens begging for relief, our broken elites offer only scorn," he said. Vance then alluded to a racist and baseless conspiracy theory in the city, which he and Trump perpetuated this week . ALSO READ: 'Utterly stupid': Top far-right figures throw cold water on conspiracy abo

Allegations of corruption have raised concerns of unethical relationships with bidding companies. from News24 news24/topstories/rss https://ift.tt/YLJXNnS via sinceretalk

During his presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, September 10, former President Donald Trump promoted the racist conspiracy theory that in Springfield, Ohio, Haitian migrants were kidnapping pets — including cats and dogs — and eating them. Harris and debate moderator David Muir clearly saw that claim as absurd, and Muir said there was no evidence to support it. Yet since the debate, Haitian immigrants in Springfield have feared for their safety — especially in light of bomb threats. The conspiracy theory has been debunked by Springfield Mayor Rob Rue and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who discussed it during an interview with CBS News . READ MORE: 'I'm going to have to move': Haitian migrants 'anxious and scared' amid wave of MAGA attacks DeWine, a conservative Republican, said, "This is something that came up on the internet, and the internet can be quite crazy sometimes. Look, Mayor Rue of Springfield says no,

I usually write what I hope are thoughtful pieces about American politics that feature something like a beginning, middle and end. But today, I’m going to comment on short videos I have seen throughout the week. Some refer to the news. Others refer to universal themes of our democratic condition. Either way, I think they say something interesting and important about our country, our politics and the moment we’re in. I’ll start with Kamala Harris. The vice president held two rallies in North Carolina on Thursday. In this clip, she talks about health care, a serious issue deserving serious thought. Before she gets that far, however, she respects the gravity of the subject by identifying what’s not serious. Meaning Donald Trump. During the debate, he was asked a simple question: What’s your plan for health care? He gave a long rambling joke of an answer but what everyone remembers is the punchline. “Concepts of a plan!” Harris said, quoting Trump. “I mean, we’re 54 days from this el

Stellenbosch FC put one foot into the group stages of the CAF Confederation Cup with a commanding performance, defeating DR Congo giants AS Vita 2-0 in the second preliminary round at Cape Town Stadium on Friday. from News24 News24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/5b07oNV via sinceretalk

Peter Wehner, who has said that he left the Republican Party "because of Donald Trump," explained in a Wednesday column published by The Atlantic, how Kamala Harris completed her mission of humiliating the ex-president during the candidates' first debate Tuesday night. Emphasizing that he's "never seen a candidate execute a debate strategy as well as Harris did," in his 48 years of watching presidential debates, the former GOPer submitted that by forcing "Trump to go on the defensive," the vice president successfully "broke her opponent." "What Harris appeared to understand, better than anyone else who has debated Trump, is that the key to defeating him is to trigger him psychologically," Wehner wrote. READ MORE: Winning these 2 states would make Harris or Trump 'overwhelming favorites' to win election "She did it by repeatedly calling him 'weak,' mocking him, acting bemused by him, and literally la

In an interview on a far-right podcast, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) invoked the Civil War, and suggested to the hosts that he's on the side of the Confederacy. Conservative media outlet the Bulwark recently highlighted Vance's appearance in a 2021 episode of the Viva Frei podcast, in which he told hosts David Freiheit and Robert Barnes that in his view, the Civil War never really ended. Rather, the Hillbilly Elegy author posited that the North and the South are still battling for control of the cultural and political narrative. And he made it clear he was on the side battling the "Northern woke people." "American history is a constant war between Northern Yankees and Southern Bourbons, where whichever side the hillbillies are on, wins," Vance said." And that’s kind of how I think about American politics today, is like, the Northern Yankees are now the hyper-woke, coastal elites. The Southern Bourbons are sort of the same old-school Southern folks tha

2024 vice presidential nominee Senator JD Vance (R-OH) shared his thoughts on the endorsement Kamala Harris received from superstar Taylor Swift following the 2024 Democratic nominee's debate against Donald Trump Tuesday night. Speaking with Vance on Wednesday, Fox News’ Martha MacCallum mentioned the endorsement, asking how he and his potential boss plan to handle it. "It was interesting last night, that Taylor Swift gave her endorsement of Harris and andWalz right after [the debate]," MacCallum said. "She has 283 million followers on Instagram, and I’m sure thatsomeone brought your attention that she signed it ‘Childless Cat Lady.’ This is a phrase thatyou are going to hear in your in your dreams and your nightmares, probably for manyyears to come. How do you speak to women voters, who, obviously, care about what she thinks?" READ MORE: Why Taylor Swift is an antihero to the GOP Vance replied, "We admire Taylor Swift's music, but I don't th

Pop megastar Taylor Swift officially announced her endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday night in an Instagram post and encouraged her hundreds of millions of followers to register to vote. On Wednesday, NPR reported that Swift's endorsement appears to have had an astonishing impact in the immediate hours following the post. In a separate Instagram Story (featured posts available through clicking the profile picture that are available for 24 hours), Swift included a link to the website vote.gov , which is a one-stop resource for voters looking for information about how to register depending on their state. Swift posted the link to her Story section before midnight ET on Wednesday morning. And a spokesperson for the General Services Administration said that Swift's link had prompted more than 306,000 Instagram users to click as of 11 AM ET. However, it's unclear how many of those 306,000 people followed through with the voter registration process after

An investigation has been launched into the death of a 60-year-old man who was allegedly beaten by police officers in Piet Retief, Mpumalanga, on Sunday. from News24 News24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/LIMb8N3 via sinceretalk

Regardless of whether Democrats keep the White House or Republicans retake the presidency, their ability to actually pass their agenda through Congress will depend on which party controls the U.S. Senate. And right now, both parties are going all-in on a state former President Donald Trump easily won in both 2016 and 2020. According to Semafor , Sen. Jon Tester (D-Montana) is in the midst of the most heated Senate contest in the country, and millions of dollars are being spent both on his behalf and against him. While Tester is the sole remaining Democrat holding any statewide office in the Big Sky State, he's fended off well-funded Republican challengers in both 2012 and 2018, despite Montana voting for Republican presidential candidates in every election dating back to 1996 . Because outgoing Sen. Joe Manchin's (I-West Virginia) seat is almost certain to flip in November given that West Virginia is a deep-red Republican stronghold, Tester's reelection will likely be

A 27-year-old man from Atteridgeville, Pretoria, has been sentenced to life imprisonment for raping his 7-year-old female cousin. from News24 News24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/i8NtgI2 via sinceretalk

Donald Trump's running mate, Senator JD Vance (R-OH), on Monday said during a podcast interview that if he were the MAGA hopeful's vice president in 2020, he would not have certified the election on January 6, 2021. In the video clip shared by the X account "Republicans against Trump," the Ohio lawmaker was asked, "Would you have certified the 2020 election?" Vance replied, "I would have asked the states to submit alternative slates of electors and ask the country to have a debate." Former US Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), who officially endorsed 2024 Democratic nominee Kamala Harris on Sunday, replied : Let’s be clear: This is illegal and unconstitutional. The American people had voted. The courts had ruled. The Electoral College had met and voted. The Governor in every state had certified the results and sent a legal slate of electors to the Congress to be counted." READ MORE: JD Vance says he wouldn’t have certified 2020 election: 'Let

Fox News host Jessica Tarlov on onday quickly corrected her co-host, Greg Gutfeld, after the right-wing commentator claimed that women "have been told" by Democrats to "only care about" one issue: abortion. "Thankfully, the Supreme Court and Trump have decoupled abortion," Gutfeld said. "Women don't have to be a single issue voter anymore. You don't have to just vote based on what Planned Parenthood demands of you." "So a vote for or against Trump from a woman has no impact on the issue of abortion," he continued. "Has no impact. The Dems don’t want you to know that. If you're a woman it has to be about abortion. How insulting is that?" READ MORE: 'Next come the roundups': Yale Scholar details timeline in Trump’s second administration "Then why did Trump flip-flop on [abortion]?" Tarlov asked. "He never did," Gutfeld replied. "Yeah he did. Last week," Tarlov shot back.

New York Magazine reporter Olivia Nuzzi went to Mar-a-Lago for a sit-down chat Donald Trump's — and got a close-up look at his right ear. The attempted assassination of the ex-president in Butler, PA, in July left many asking questions after his son, Eric Trump , claimed at the Republican National Convention the shooter "took off half " of his father's ear. But several, including a Republican lawmaker, wondered if medical records on the injury were being hidden to keep the extent of the wound from the public. “Trump has posted that his ear was pierced by a bullet, but the sad fact is that he’s an unreliable source. News organizations need to wait for more credible confirmation of what happened,” wrote journalist Steven Beschloss at the time. Read Also: Trump’s ‘secretary of retribution’ has a ‘target list’ of 350 people he wants arrested Nuzzi's details from the visit three weeks after the incident might explain why Trump's team has been so quiet.

The daylight killing of Armand Swart, in a hit meant for a colleague, sent shockwaves through the Vaal town of Vereeniging in April. Now News24 can reveal the killing followed a whistleblower report of massive Transnet contract price inflation. from News24 News24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/Kp0eY4l via sinceretalk

A casual observer watching former President Donald Trump's campaign speeches in the 2024 campaign cycle may notice they've become increasingly more unhinged compared to his 2016 and 2020 stump speeches. Now, in the home stretch of his third presidential campaign, the 45th president of the United States may finally be aware of how he's coming off to voters. In a recent article for the Guardian , writer Chris McGreal reported that Trump's latest "incoherent ramblings" — often on topics not related to current political issues like sharks and fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter — appear to be a growing concern among the ex-president's campaign team. This was evidenced by comments he made at a Pennsylvania campaign rally attempting to reframe his meandering speeches as "do[ing] the weave." "You know what the weave is? I’ll talk about, like, nine different things that they all come back brilliantly together. And it’s like friends of mine t

Mental health issues and depression show a dramatic prevalance in a field that requires deep care and passion but is severely underfunded. from News24 news24/topstories/rss https://ift.tt/gJ80k7E via sinceretalk

George W. Bush's deputy chief of staff Karl Rove said Friday that Donald Trump’s chances of winning the presidency may have been hurt by the decision to push back sentencing for his criminal conviction. Judge Juan Merchan on Friday ruled that the Sept. 18 sentencing for falsifying business records would be pushed back until Nov. 26 — after the presidential election. Rove , appearing on Fox News , argued that was bad news for the GOP candidate. The video player is currently playing an ad. “I think that even the judge figured out that it would be enormously disruptive to the country and reflect badly on the judiciary if he attempted to insert himself into the middle of the final stages of a presidential campaign,” Rove said. But he added, “If he [Merchan] had gone forward with this, it would have, ironically enough, served the interest of Donald Trump Rove pointed out that Trump got more popular in polls as he went through his indictments and court appearances. “And if the

After endorsing Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential race, arch-conservative former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming) made another bombshell announcement on Friday, September 6: Her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, is also voting for Harris — not GOP nominee Donald Trump, who both the older and younger Cheney have been highly critical of during the Joe Biden era. In an official statement reported on X , formerly Twitter, by the Washington Post's James Hohmann, Dick Cheney said , "In our nation’s 248-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump. He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence. (Trump) can never be trusted with power again," Dick Cheney continues. "As citizens, we each have a duty to put country above partisanship to defend our Constitution. That is why I will be casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris." On MSNBC's "Deadline: W

The South African Navy has put in place safety measures to reduce the risks faced by sailors at sea following the findings of an inquiry into the SAS Manthatisi submarine tragedy. from News24 News24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/SPxprWe via sinceretalk

The general counsel for the Lincoln Project on Thursday dared former President Donald Trump to sue the group. "So many lawsuits and @realDonaldTrump is still too chicken to bring one against us @ProjectLincoln because he does not want us to get discovery. Sigh. #TrumpIsACoward," wrote Mario Nicolais on X. He attached a graphic showing Trump-related lawsuits over time, and a link summarizing all of the litigation the former president has brought. The Lincoln Project, originally founded by former Republican strategists opposed to Trump, has for years gone on the offensive against him, often trolling him with ad buys in areas he is known to be , addressing him directly and mocking him. The former president has noticed, and often lashed out at the group, at one point accusing them of trying to embarrass him using A.I.-generated videos . He has also repeatedly threatened the group with legal action, most recently with a cease and desist letter sent last month, over an a

The US Department of Justice said yesterday that Russia is once again attacking the sovereignty of the United States by mounting yet another campaign to influence the outcome of a presidential election. Attorney General Merrick Garland said a federal indictment alleges that a Tennessee company got millions in funding to spread Russian propaganda across social media. The effort has been at the direction of Russian leader Vladimir Putin since at least 2022. It involves a slew of fake news sites and a host of popular rightwing commentators. The Tennessee company is not named in the indictment but it’s been identified as Tenet Media. It describes itself as “a network of heterodox commentators that focus on Western political and cultural issues.” Its roster includes high-profile rightwingers Tim Pool, Benny Johnson, Dave Rubin, Lauren Southern, Taylor Hansen and Matt Christiansen. According to court filings, the objectives of the Russian dictator include reducing “international suppor

Seemingly without a hint of irony, Karoline Leavitt — who is former President Donald Trump's 2024 campaign spokesperson — recently said that defendants found guilty by a jury of their peers should be incarcerated. Leavitt's remark was in response to a New York Times story about a man who received clemency from Trump after spending nearly three decades in jail following a 1993 murder conviction. The defendant, Jaime A. Davidson, got his pardon during the former president's lame-duck period in early 2021 just before he left the White House. Despite being convicted for playing a role in orchestrating a robbery that led to the murder of an undercover police officer, Davidson insisted that he was not at the scene of the crime and maintained his innocence throughout his incarceration. However, journalist Judd Legum reported earlier this week that Davidson was later convicted on a domestic violence charge in July of 2024 and ordered to spend three months in prison. Leavitt t

Donald Trump kicked off his 75-minute address to the New York Economic Club on Thursday by name-checking some of his friends in the financial community, making several questionable claims that went unchecked, and talking about “African Americans’ and Hispanic American jobs.” He closed out the event with a panelist asking him how, if elected, he would help Americans afford child care, a question he ultimately did not answer. At one point in his early remarks Trump falsely claimed, “the typical American family lost over $28,000 due to rampant, record-setting inflation.” It is a claim he has made before, one debunked by last month by award-winning political commentator Heather Digby Parton: “Nobody knows where he got that amount and the campaign isn’t saying.” During his speech Trump also vowed to end Russia’s war against Ukraine, if he is elected, before he is inaugurated . The final question of the day was about the high cost of childcare and how difficult it is for parents to pay

Bafana Bafana captain and Mamelodi Sundowns star Ronwen Williams has made history as one of ten goalkeepers nominated for the prestigious Yashin Trophy at the Ballon d'Or awards. from News24 News24/TopStories/rss https://ift.tt/PlHwOiN via sinceretalk

I think Donald Trump’s critics are right. They say his flip-flopping illustrates the trouble he’s in. Over the weekend, he couldn’t decide where to stand on Florida’s upcoming abortion referendum. His critics say he couldn’t decide, because there’s nowhere safe for him to stand. Here’s Lisa Needham writing in Public Notice : Trump’s problem is the same as the one the GOP writ large faces: the party wildly miscalculated what would happen after they succeeded in their decades-long goal of reversing Roe v. Wade, destroying the constitutional right to abortion. Due to the echo chamber that is the hallmark of the modern right, they got high on their own supply and convinced themselves the nation wanted Roe gone as badly as they did. Like I said, I think this is right. But I also think it presumes too much. His critics, including myself, presume Trump is of sound mind. He isn’t. As I said yesterday, it’s time to talk about his dementia . So to say he’s flip-flopping actually gives

New audio shows former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney endorsing Kamala Harris for president, citing the "danger" posed by former President Donald Trump and saying the country doesn't have the "luxury" to write in a third candidate. Cheney , who is the daughter of former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney, made the endorsement at a Duke University public policy event, audio posted Wednesday evening on X. "Because we are in North Carolina I think it is crucially important for people to recognize not only is what I just said about the danger that Trump poses, something that should prevent people from voting for him, but I don't believe that we have the luxury of writing in candidates names, particularly in swing states," Cheney told an auditorium. "As a conservative and someone who believes and cares about the Constitution, I have thought deeply about this, and because of the danger that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald

Specifically, Trump proclaimed in an interview with right-wing talk radio host Mark Levin on Fox News that he had " every right " to interfere in the presidential election, which legal experts have noted is essentially a confession that he interfered and that he wasn't acting within the scope of official duties and, therefore, is not protected by the immunity rights the Supreme Court established for presidents earlier this year. Trump, wrote Kirschner, "is forever trying his cases in the court of public opinion, where there are no rules of evidence, no rules of procedure and no rules of law. What he apparently doesn’t realize is that every word out of his mouth is admissible in a criminal trial. This is where the rules of evidence come into play — and where they will work to Trump’s extreme disadvantage at trial." Those rules of evidence, wrote Kirschner, allow prosecutors to enter a “statement of a party opponent” into evidence — in other words, Trump