Slap...*

In Russia, giving one's spouse a slap is nothing extraordinary for many people. This week, the Russian parliament is expected to take a step closer toward decriminalizing it altogether.

Battery is a criminal offense in Russia, but nearly 20 percent of Russians openly say they think it is sometimes OK to hit a spouse or a child. In a bid to accommodate conservative voters, deputies in the lower house of parliament have given initial approval to a bill eliminating criminal liability for domestic violence that stops short of serious bodily harm or rape.

Interior Ministry statistics show that 40 percent of all violent crimes in Russia are committed in family surroundings. The bill stems from a Supreme Court ruling to decriminalize battery that doesn't inflict bodily harm, but to retain criminal charges for those accused of battery against family members.

Mortgage...*

What does this have to do with any thing??

Who...

 


Turkish troops and Syrian opposition forces attacked a Kurdish enclave in northern Syria on Sunday in their bid to oust from the area a U.S.-allied Kurdish militia.

Turkish officials said the troops entered Afrin a day after dozens of Turkish jets and artillery units at the border pounded Syrian Kurdish targets. A spokesman for the Kurdish fighters said the attack was repelled.

The YPG are widely regarded as one of the most effective forces in the fight against IS and attacks on them have prompted calls from the UN, US and EU for Turkey to show restraint.
Ankara says it is retaliating against what it calls provocations by the YPG but it has long warned against the group making territorial advances in northern Syria near its border.

Blue...

“They’re now robbing the blue states to pay for the red states … it is an economic civil war, and make no mistake, they are aiming to hurt us,” Cuomo said. “We believe it is illegal and we will challenge it in court as unconstitutional … the first federal double-taxation in history, violative of states’ rights and the principle of equal protection.”

Driving a car into the busiest parts of Manhattan could cost $11.52 under a major proposal prepared for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo that would make New York the first city in the United States with a pay-to-drive plan.

Cuomo can't get his mind off additional taxes on the people regardless.

Furlough...

The Senate failed to pass a short-term spending bill that the House passed on Thursday night. The House bill would have extended the shutdown deadline into February, but it failed to get enough votes in the Senate to overcome a filibuster  with both Democrats and Republicans voting in opposition.

But because the bill lacks language on DACA, many Democrats have said they cannot support it.  As a result of the shut down, many of the federal government employees [5 times of DACA] will face a furlough.

A furlough is the placing of an employee in a temporary nonduty, nonpay status because of lack of work or funds.  

Waistline...

A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that trying to aim for 30 grams of fiber daily can not only help your waistline shrink, it can also lower blood pressure and improve your body’s insulin response.

Researchers divided 240 participants into two groups where one group followed the American Heart Association’s diet, which is comprised mostly of high-fiber foods such as fruits and vegetables as well as lean proteins, while the other group was solely instructed to consume 30 grams of fiber each day.

While each group averaged a 19-gram daily fiber intake, the group following the AHA diet lost 1.3 pounds more than the high-fiber group.

Both groups were able to maintain their weight loss for a year following the experiment, which proves that adding a significant amount of fiber to your daily diet can result in maintainable weight loss.

“In addition to weight control, higher-fiber diets can also help to prevent type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease,” fiber sources should come mostly from food rather than supplements.

Naaa...

The Wall Street Journal reported that a lawyer for Donald Trump paid an adult-film actress $130,000 one month before the 2016 election in exchange for her silence about an alleged sexual encounter with the then-candidate 10 years earlier.

The Journal reported that the lawyer, Michael Cohen, used pseudonyms and a private company to mask the exchange. Stephanie Clifford, stage name Stormy Daniels, says the liaison was consensual.

It’s not the sex, it’s the secrecy. Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa... It is the sex.

Bardot...

French former actor Brigitte Bardot has joined Catherine Deneuve in expressing distaste for women in the film industry who complain of sexual harassment, saying “in the vast majority of cases” it is “hypocritical, ridiculous and uninteresting”.
In an interview with Paris Match, Bardot said: “Many actresses flirt with producers to get a role. Then when they tell the story afterwards, they say they have been harassed … in actual fact, rather than benefit them, it only harms them.”

Saying that she had never been a victim of sexual harassment, Bardot added: “I thought it was nice to be told that I was beautiful or that I had a pretty little ass. This kind of compliment is nice.”

Bardot becomes the second high-profile French film industry figure to come out in recent days against the campaign against harassment in the industry.

What cause the vast difference here?

Napping...*

“The Democratic Party are not going to win elections until they do right by the American people.

The measure presented by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Sanders would have allowed pharmaceutical distributors and pharmacists to import low-cost medicine from Canada and other countries.  That is lacking in the Open Market Condition that we talk about it all the time.

Democratic Sens. Michael Bennet - Co, Bob Menendez and Cory Booker -NJ, Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray -WA, Tom Carper and Chris Coons- DE, Bob Casey PA, Joe Donnelly- IN, Martin Heinrich -NM, Heidi Heitkamp -ND, Jon Tester -MO and Mark Warner - VA all voted against it.

Tainted...*