Nancy Pelosi fights ‘Trump Shutdown’ with #Resistance luxury vacation in Hawai

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi is so outraged about the shutdown that she is now defiantly relaxing at a sun-soaked Hawaiian resort. As for Trump, he decided to nix his holidays to protest the Democrats' stonewalling.

With Washington paralyzed due to a partial government shutdown sparked by budget squabbles, the House Democratic leader is leading the #Resistance against Donald Trump and his border wall… by vacationing at a fancy resort in Hawaii. According to reports, Pelosi has been spotted at Hawaii’s Fairmont Orchid resort, where rooms prices start from $899 to $4,899 for the presidential suite.

While Pelosi sips on festive cocktails served in coconut-cups, her staff are issuing press statements about how the Democrats will swiftly end the Trump Shutdown.

"With the House Majority, Democrats will act swiftly to end the Trump Shutdown, and will fight for a strategic, robust national security policy, including strong and smart border security, and strong support for our servicemembers and veterans," Drew Hammill, Pelosi's deputy chief of staff, said Friday.

Pelosi’s hard-working staff are apparently forbidden from speaking about her Hawaii getaway, however.

https://www.rt.com/usa/447676-pelosi-hawaii-vacation-shutdown-trump/

‘Burdensome’ transparency? US agency wants to ignore FOIA requests, in Americans’ best interests

The US Department of the Interior seeks to reserve the right to ignore any FOIA requests from the public that it deems too “burdensome” to fulfil. The move amounts to censorship and is a crackdown on transparency, critics argue.

Claiming that it is overwhelmed by the volume of requests from journalist and the general public, the Department of the Interior proposed revising the regulations on processing records under the Freedom of Information Act.

The bureau will not honor a request that requires an unreasonably burdensome search or requires the bureau to locate, review, redact, or arrange for inspection of a vast quantity of material.

While the public has until January 28 to comment on the proposed amendment, the revision immediately raised red flags from government transparency activists and environmentalist groups in particular. Critics accused the department, which deals with the conservation and management of US national parks and natural resources, of trying to hide its cozy relationship with the energy industry.

“It reflects basically the fact that they are trying to run a secret government,” award-winning US journalist Dave Lindorff told RT. “What it is going to do is force people to have to go to court to get action on freedom of information requests which is totally antithetical to open government and what the FOIA was designed to do.”

The agency has seen a 30 percent increase in requests between 2016 and 2018, handling some 8,350 petitions last year, and partially blamed the FOIA’s “varying sets of operating procedures and insufficient levels of accountability” for its inefficiency in processing public requests.

“To best serve customers you hire staff,” Lindorff he added. “These are not classified things that people are looking for. They are open government things that should be freely available and quickly available.”

https://www.rt.com/usa/447718-burdensome-foia-interior-guidelines-change/

Ariana Grande Cancels Vegas Concert Due To Illness

Ariana Grande has reportedly canceled her Las Vegas concert for Saturday night because she’s been battling an illness.

Multiple sources close to the 25-year-old singer told People magazine Friday, that the “Thank U, Next” hitmaker was scheduled to appear at The Chelsea in The Cosmopolitan Hotel but has had to cancel due to suffering from bronchitis. (RELATED: Ariana Grande Explains Why She Only Dates Famous Men)

Insiders told TMZ that she will reschedule the show for a later date.

The concert would have been the “Side to Side” singer’s first show since she made headlines in October after she called off her brief engagement to Pete Davidson.

The two started dating in May and announced they were engaged only a few weeks later. Following the end of the couple’s pending nuptials, the 25-year-old “Saturday Night Live” star has posted messages on social media about the whole world “trashing” him and another how he didn’t want to be on this “earth anymore.” (Pete Davidson Blocks Ariana Grande On Social Media: ‘You’re Not Good For My Health’)

“I really don’t want to be on this earth anymore. I’m doing my best to stay here for you but I actually don’t know how much longer I can last,” Davidson’s since-deleted post read. “All I’ve ever tried to do was help people. Just remember I told you so.”

Grande reportedly was one of the people who reached out to her ex-fiance over the cryptic post, but Davidson reportedly didn’t want to see her.

“I’m downstairs and I’m not going anywhere if you need anyone or anything,” Grande tweeted at the time. “I know u [sic] have everyone u need and that’s not me, but I’m here too.”

https://dailycaller.com/2018/12/28/ariana-grande-cancels-concert-illness/