Author: Alton Northup

I'm Alton Northup and I currently attend Collegiate Academy where I am in the 9th grade. Throughout 2016 and 2017 I worked on Jay Breneman's campaign for Mayor of Erie. I was featured in an "Erie Reader" article titled "Alton Northup: The Youth of Today" because of my time on Breneman's campaign. I have an extreme love and passion for government and politics and hope to be elected to public office one day as a Democrat.

The Calm Before the Storm: Most Shocking Details from Stormy Daniel’s 60 Minutes Interview

Image: Wall Street Journal

Stephanie Clifford, better known by her stage name, ‘Stormy Daniels,’ is a 39-year-old adult film star who has recently become one of the most well-known names in politics, all because she is the center of an affair scandal with the most powerful man in the world. Just days before the 2016 election, Daniels signed a non-disclosure agreement which stated that she could not discuss any sexual relationship between her and Donald Trump, and she received $130,000 from then-candidate Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen. Many watchdog groups and lawyers believe that, since this ‘donation’ from Cohen went unreported to the Federal Election Commission, President Trump may have committed a significant campaign violation that could land him in federal court.

However, Daniels believes that the agreement is invalid because Donald Trump failed to sign the document.

Now, she wants to talk openly about the affair. Despite facing threats from Trump’s legal team that includes over one-million dollars in fines, Daniels spoke publicly on one of America’s most viewed cable television shows, 60 Minutes, on Sunday with Anderson Cooper, in what has notoriously become known as “Stormy Daniels Day.” In her interview, Daniels did not discuss campaign violations or election law. Instead, she discussed, in shockingly great detail, her sexual encounters with Trump and her [non-sexual] encounters with his legal team. Below are the most shocking details from Daniels’s interview, and as a fair warning, they are not for the faint of heart.

1: She Had It Coming

Although Daniels insists that the sexual encounter with Trump was entirely consensual, she did state that she felt obligated to engage because she “had it coming for making a bad decision.” Daniels went on to say, “Well, you put yourself in a bad situation and bad things happen, so you deserve this.” Despite the sense of obligation, Daniels refuses to be seen as a victim and has asked people to stop praising her as a #MeToo movement hero because it damages the credibility of actual victims. 

2: Magazine Mayhem

One of the most detailed parts of Daniels encounter with Trump had long been rumored on the internet, and it is not a pretty thing to imagine. Daniels claims that during their first encounter Trump had taken out a magazine in which his face was the cover and began to brag about himself. Daniels then asked Trump if talking about himself normally works, and then she went on to tell him that “Someone should take that magazine and spank you with it,” by which he was taken back. Daniels then went into great detail about the interaction, stating, “He turned around and pulled his pants down a little—you know had underwear on and stuff and I just gave him a couple swats.”

3: Marriage Troubles

During the time of the alleged sexual encounter between Daniels and Trump, Trump’s third wife, Melania Trump, had just given birth to their son Barron. When Daniels asked Trump about their encounter interfering with his marriage, Daniels alleges that Trump stated, “Oh yeah, yeah, you know, don’t worry about that. We don’t even—we have separate rooms and stuff.” During the airing of Daniels segment on “60 Minutes,” Trump and Melania were in separate states, which only fueled the speculation of long-rumored marriage problems. 

4: Mirror Image

During their encounter Daniels alleges that Trump compared her to his daughter, presumably Ivanka, stating, “Yeah. He was like, ‘Wow, you—you are special. You remind me of my daughter.’ You know—he was like, ‘You’re smart and beautiful, and a woman to be reckoned with, and I like you. I like you.'” Many people have long accused Trump of having sexual feelings towards his daughter, especially after an interview was released which he stated that he would be dating his daughter if they weren’t related. Daniels and Ivanka were around the same age during the alleged encounter and images from that time show a resemblance between the two. 

5: Harassment and Harm 

In May 2011, Daniels agreed to tell her story to a sister publication of In Touch magazine for $15,000 dollars. Daniels says she was never paid after Trump threatened to sue the magazine, and says a few weeks later, she was threatened by a man who approached her in Las Vegas. In the interview, Daniels described the threat in detail, stating, “I was in a parking lot, going to a fitness class with my infant daughter. T—taking, you know, the seats facing backwards in the backseat, diaper bag, you know, gettin’ all the stuff out. And a guy walked up on me and said to me, ‘Leave Trump alone. Forget the story.’ And then he leaned around and looked at my daughter and said, ‘That’s a beautiful little girl. It’d be a shame if something happened to her mom.’ And then he was gone.” Although Daniels has no idea who the person was, she claims that if she saw him again she would “100%” be able to identify him. In a press conference the morning after the interview aired, White House Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah said that President Trump does not believe the claims made by Daniels, including that she was physically threatened. 

6: Threats and Denial

In January of 2018, Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, publicly released statements signed by Daniels in which she stated that there was never any hush money paid to her and that the encounter never happened. Daniels stated in the interview that she was pressured into signing it, not because of any physical harm, but because her legal team told her that “They can make your life hell in many different ways”. Daniels believes that “they” was referring to Cohen and Trump’s legal team.

Daniels’s 60 Minutes interview will most likely remain in the spotlight for the next 24 hours, but this is not the end of her story. Daniels’s lawyer has hinted at several key pieces of evidence in his possession and has stated that this is just the beginning. Even if Daniels had fabricated her story Trump’s lawyer did, in fact, pay her illegal campaign “funds,” and Trump failed to report them to the FEC, which could mean serious legal trouble. 

“This Is Not a Drill”: False Alarm Terrorizes​ Hawaii

Image: The Australian

Imagine enjoying the glowing beaches of paradise one moment and fearing total, nuclear annihilation the next. Well, that’s exactly what happened to residents of Hawaii and vacationers Saturday morning.

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Notification sent to all phones in Hawaii at 8:07am HST

BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

That’s the message that was sent out to all of Hawaii via emergency alert notification. Many people began to panic, and wonder if North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un had finally reached his boiling point. As all activities came to a sudden halt, residents and tourists called loved ones, took shelter, and were preparing to die. Little did they know, in spite of what the message said, this was a drill, but it was also a colossal failure.

Moments after the alert was sent out the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency tweeted out that there was no missile threat to Hawaii, but it wasn’t until almost 40 minutes after the initial alert that a second one making the correction was sent. How could such a mistake be possible? A human error, according to officials.

“It was a mistake made during a standard procedure at the change over of a shift, and an employee pushed the wrong button,” stated Hawaiian Governor David Ige, while speaking to CNN on the alert broadcasted through television, radio, and emergency text message to all of Hawaii. Later, in a tweet, Ige has also promised to never let it happen again, but to many Hawaiians, his promise seemed empty and blame began to fall upon Ige, and his Twitter began to fill with angry responses like this one,

Responses like this are justified, considering that over a million people believed that today would be their last day on earth, all thanks to a careless mistake that could have been prevented.

To see the type of impact this alert had on Hawaii, this is a video from the Univeristy of Hawaii at Manoa showing people in a full sprint for safety after seeing the notification:

 

Official Army Twitter Account Likes Anti-Trump Post

On Saturday, the U.S. Army’s official Twitter account liked a tweet from actress Mindy Kaling, apparently mocking President Donald Trump’s claim that he’s “like, really smart.”

This tweet comes after Trump defended his mental fitness by claiming to be “Like, really smart” and “a stable genius.”

The Army later unliked the tweet and stated,

An operator of the Army’s official Twitter account inadvertently ‘liked’ a tweet whose content would not be endorsed by the Department of the Army. As soon as it was brought to our attention, it was immediately corrected.

This isn’t the first time a government social media page expressed anger over Trump. In early 2017, the National Park Service retweeted two photos of small crowds from Trump’s inauguration. Those retweets were later investigated.

Kaling later responded to the Army in a tweet using their signature slogan “Army strong.”

This City Just Got Buried Under Five Feet of Snow

Image: NBC 

After two days of non-stop snow, the city of Erie, Pennsylvania is buried under more than five feet of snow, a new record for the city, which sits along the shores of Lake Erie, just south of the Canadian border. Residents in Erie are used to large amounts of snow, with an annual snowfall of 100 inches in the city thanks to lake effect snow, but an amount like this is unprecedented in such a short time, with the city receiving 34 inches on Christmas day, beating the previous record for the city of 20 inches on Thanksgiving Day in 1956.

The city declared a disaster emergency in order to receive the necessary supplies for the storm, and the Governor of Pennsylvania also deployed 21 members of the Pennsylvania National Guard to the city. Erie County Executive Kathy Dahlkemper stated:

We’re used to a lot of snow here in Erie, but this is unprecedented, the amount we got.

Many of the residents, although snow veterans, were shocked by the amount of snow the city received and began to share pictures and videos of the storm all over social media.

Believe it or not, the person standing in the above photo is 5′ 10″!

While the “snow machine” did stop, more than a foot of snow is predicted to hit the city in the coming days.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BdLlKdlgywh/

Even dogs got in on the winter fun!

As an Erie resident, I can confirm that this is what it’s like when you open your windows.

While the city may have been snowed in, many Erieites knew how to have a good time in the winter wonderland they were gifted.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BdLo-YajNSe/

Erieites know how to get a good tan, whether it’s on Presque Isle during the summer or in a giant snow pile during the winter.

The storm caused a collapse at a local sports complex and forced the local airport to shut down. However, no injuries have been reported. While the city may currently look like an arctic tundra, life carries on as usual in the city, just with a little more snow than usual.

A Dictator Damned

Image: CNN

Since 1987, Robert Gabriel Mugabe has been the President of Zimbabwe, a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. At the old age of 93, Mugabe was the oldest active head of state and government in the world, but that all changed after a military takeover resulted in his resignation on 21 November 2017.

On 14 November 2017, armored personnel carriers were seen on the outskirts of the African nation’s capital, Harare. That night the military took over the nation’s state-run broadcaster, ZBC. The next day, while Mugabe was under house arrest, the military announced via a spokesperson on ZBC that Mugabe is safe and that they are only arresting criminals around him. Their statement did not settle any rumors of the coup and just added fuel to the fire. Over the next few days, anti-Mugabe demonstrators gathered in Harare to protest the dictator, a move that would have cost them their life just days before the coup.

Mugabe’s government has been known to silence any critic of the President and was even accused of abducting a protester back in 2015, but ever since the coup took place, millions of Zimbabweans have taken to the streets to show solidarity with the nation’s military. This coup, however, has nothing to do with free speech, something guaranteed in the nation’s constitution. Instead, it’s politically driven—a grudge against the elites of the country. Just days before the coup, Mugabe fired his Vice President, Emmerson Mnangagwa, the favorite to replace Mugabe. His reason for removing Mnangagwa was disloyalty, but the nation’s ruling party ZANU-PF believed it was to make room for Mugabe’s wife to succeed him.

Grace Mugabe, also known as “Gucci Grace” by the people of Zimbabwe for taking lavish shopping trips to South Africa, married Mugabe on 17 August 1996. This came after Mugabe had a secret affair with Grace, who worked as his secretary at the time. The couple married after Mugabe’s first wife, Sally Hayfron, passed away from kidney failure. Ever since then, Grace Mugabe has moved up in the ranks of the ZANU-PF party despite criticism from other party leaders. Many leaders of ZANU-PF despise her for being a foreigner, her inexperience, and that she’s only there because of her relation to Mugabe, but these critiqued failed to silence the woman they call “Gucci Grace.”

Grace Mugabe has very little support in the ZANU-PF party, where many of the party leaders call her “Mad Women” and mock her openly. However, she does have support from the party’s youth league and the G40 Faction, but this support isn’t enough for the First Lady of Zimbabwe, just days before the coup began she attended a ZANU-PF rally on 4 November 2017 where her own party booed her. Instead of leaving the stage or remaining silent, Grace Mugabe began to shout back at the protesters.

The only person ruling this country is the President!

Grace Mugabe wasn’t in Zimbabwe the night of the coup, however. She reportedly fled to Namibia and hadn’t returned since or made any public comment on the situation. President Mugabe, unlike Grace, did speak to the public. While under house arrest he made a public appearance at a graduation ceremony and made a statement on ZBC. He managed to cause chaos with his ZBC appearance. Thousands of people around the country waited in anticipation for Mugabe’s arrival, where he would reportedly resign as President, but that moment never came. Instead, the President asserted his power and stated that he would stay in office. This triggered the nation’s elites to give Mugabe 48 hours to resign, or they would move to impeach him.

Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe for over 37 years and stopped anyone who came in his way. Over his tenure, he fired two vice-presidents who he considered disloyal and muzzled the independent press. To many Zimbabweans his resignation seemed unlikely, that is until 21 November 2017. On this day something unexpected came, Robert Mugabe announced his resignation.

My decision to resign is voluntary on my part and arises from my concern for the welfare of the people of Zimbabwe and my desire for a smooth, non-violent transfer of power.

All over Zimbabwe, millions began to celebrate, the day they’ve been waiting for finally came. Over his reign, Mugabe crushed the countries economy, silenced the press, and jailed opponents of his. But the incoming President, Mnangagwa aka “The Crocodile,” is just as bad as Mugabe. While many Zimbabweans believe that they have found new freedom in their country, they might have just pushed themselves into a corner.

Filipino President Meets Trump for the First Time

Image: Newsweek

On June 30, 2016, Rodrigo Duterte was inaugurated as the Philippines 16th President. His campaign was one that had promised to end corruption, drug abuse, and deterioration of law and order. The following day, not too long after his inauguration, four people were shot dead for being suspected drug dealers. This was when Duterte’s mass-slaughtering of suspected drug dealers and users began, and when his popularity began to rise.

Rodrigo Duterte was born on March 28, 1945, in Maasin, Southern Leyte, Philippines. His father was a local mayor and governor, and his mother was a teacher and activist. As a child, Duterte misbehaved and was expelled twice. After learning to control his behavior he attended Lyceum of the Philippines University. It was at the Philippines University that he became influenced by Communist Party of the Philippines founder José María Sison. He studied law at San Beda College where it was reported that he shot a classmate of his. In 1988, he was elected mayor of Davao City where he used a vigilante group known as the “Davao Death Squad” to crack down on crime and drug abuse. It was estimated that his team killed more than 1,000 suspected drug dealers during a 20-year span. In 2015, Duterte announced that we would be running for President of the Philippines.

Duterte was an unlikely candidate for President, he was a seven-term mayor who was tough on crime and ran a weekly television show. During his presidential campaign, he had often promised to massacre criminals and even joked about raping an Australian missionary. Because of his unpredictability, thousands of Filipino’s showed support for his campaign and embraced the change he offered.  After a year in office, it was reported that 80 percent of Filipinos have “much trust” in their President despite numerous reports of human rights abuse. His unfiltered speeches often drew comparisons to United States President Donald Trump, who didn’t seem to be bothered by the comparison. In fact, President Trump offered an open invitation to Duterte to visit the White House back in April of 2017. This surprised many voters and drew outrage from human rights groups. Duterte, however, turned down the invitation, but the two had a chance to meet at the East Asia Summit and ASEAN Summit.While in the Philippines for the ASEAN Summit President Trump had a chance to meet Duterte for the first time. While there was very little detail on the meeting, the topic of human rights was expected to be brought up. It’s still unclear if it ever was discussed. Before the meeting between the two Presidents, there was an open session for reporters. One conversation between the two leaders stood out the most to reporters. Duterte said:

We will be discussing matters that are of interest to both the Philippines and … with you around, guys, you are the spies.

To that, Trump laughed, and Duterte responded with “You are.” It’s unclear if Trump was trying to be respectful to his host who has a long history of hatred towards journalists. In 2016 after the deaths of two Filipino journalists Duterte stated:
“Just because you’re a journalist, you are not exempted from assassination if you’re a son of a bitch. Freedom of expression cannot help you if you have done something wrong.”
This wasn’t the end of Trumps odd night with Duterte, later that night while attending a dinner Duterte performed a famous Filipino love song “on the orders of Donald Trump”. So far no statement has been released on whether or not Trump had actually requested the song. What we do know is that it was unorthodox, strange, weird, unheard-of, and just absurd.

Suspected Military Coup in Zimbabwe

Image: Toronto Star

On Wednesday, soldiers in Zimbabwe took over the headquarters of ZBC, the nations state-run broadcaster. They then blocked access to government officers. As of today, there is no statement acknowledging it as a “coup” and the military insists that President Robert Mugabe is safe with his family. The first sign of a takeover was a fleet of tanks proceeding towards the nation’s capital, a video was posted on Twitter of the procession.

It appears that the commander Constantine Chiwenga has called for an end of the 93 year-old president’s, Robert Mugabe’s, reign of the nation.

As of today, new information has been released that President Mugabe and his wife are under house arrest but insist that they are safe. Several sources believe that the President’s latest move to fire Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who had large support to take over for the ailing Mugabe, was what provoked the suspected coup.

More info will be posted as it comes in.

Riding the Blue Wave: The Big Win for Democrats in the 2017 Election

Image: Ap News

Democrats all over America, on both local and state level, have a reason to celebrate for the first time since the 2016 General Election. This is because Democrats won gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey as well as countless victories on the local level. While many Republicans are downplaying the Democrats win as “Blue winning Blue,” party leaders such as Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) says that he can “smell a wave coming.” That wave, of course, is referring to the 2018 Midterm Election where Democrats are projected to flip both the House and Senate. As the chair of the Democratic National Committee Tom Perez said about the election:

We’re taking our country back from Donald Trump one election at a time. This is not just one night. It is a trend.

This recent off-year election was expected to set the tone for the midterms in 2018, and this clearly sent a message to Republicans.

Ralph Northam, the Obama-backed, Democrat in the race to be Virginia’s next governor, beat the Republican, Ed Gillespie, who was backed by President Trump. This sent a shock to many Republicans who expected to win the swing state—the only southern state Trump didn’t take in 2016. Later, Trump tweeted, “Ed Gillespie worked hard but did not embrace me or what I stand for.” Although Gillespie used many of Trump’s campaign policies and sent out a robo-call recorded by the President, he had refused to make any public appearances with him. It seemed like Gillespie was trying to distance himself from Trump, but his efforts came to no avail; a recent poll by The Washington Post showed that about 30% of Northam supporters voted for Northam to send a message against Trump. This win wasn’t the only big win for Democrats that evening; they picked up many local offices and elected several historic candidates.

In New Jersey, former U.S. Ambassador to Germany, Phil Murphy (D-NJ), beat Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno (R-NJ), this election and has successfully ended the “Chris Christie Era” and took out another trump backed candidate. Virginia elected one of the nation’s first openly transgender State Representatives Danica Roem who ousted the ultra-conservative incumbent, Del. Robert G. Marshall. Another historic victory took place in Erie, Pennsylvania where the citizens elected Tyler Titus to serve on the Erie School Board, making him Pennsylvania’s first ever openly transgender candidate to be elected to office. Democrats also picked up multiple seats in the Virginia House of Delegates and won many local elections. While there are many reasons for Democrats to celebrate, they must not lose sight of the big picture.

The Democrats won many unexpected elections in states all over America, however some races couldn’t have been closer. In Erie, Pennsylvania, the race for County Executive was decided by approximately .3% with incumbent Kathy Dahlkemper at 50.15% of the vote and Republican challenger Art Oligeri at 49.64% of the vote. This difference shows that although the Democrats won they weren’t able to sit in comfort and won’t be able to until margins like this don’t exist.

The Democrats’ big win garnered some great publicity for the party and showed the Republicans that the Democrats are healing and ready to win, however, they shouldn’t stop working hard or take this for granted. With many close results in blue territories, Democrats need to revisit their strategy and focus more on grassroots campaigning. If all goes well, a much bigger “Blue Wave” could flood the midterms with a sea of blue and might just flip both the House and Senate.