<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">B. Rentsendorj/ReutersA child looks out through a bus window, which is covered by frost, in Ulan Bator, December 27, 2013. Temperatures in Ulan Bator on Friday reached as low as minus 31 degrees Celsius (minus 23.8 degrees Fahrenheit).</div></div></div>All is not well with Mongolia's finances."We are in a deep state of economic crisis," Choijilsuren Battogtokh, the finance minister in Mongolia, said in a nationally televised address on Tuesday, <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-10/mongolia-s-finance-minister-calls-for-economic-crisis-plan">according to Bloomberg</a>."We came into a situation where we may not be able to afford to finance salaries and operational costs of government departments, such as the Mongolian military who protect our borders and national security, the social and health employees who are in charge public health, as well as individuals in culture and sport."He noted that the projected budget deficit is $2.6 billion - or 21% of GDP - and that the country's ratio of government debt-to-GDP will reach 78% this year, above the target of 55%. Additionally, Mongolia's central bank's foreign reserves are net -$429 million. The government's "critical goal" is to avoid default, added Battogtokh.In the aftermath of the finance minister's televised announcement, Mongolian bonds, which are rated five steps below investment grade, fell the most on record, according to <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2016-08-11/mongolia-calls-for-crisis-plan">Bloomberg's Nick Edwards</a>. Moreover, the Mongolian tugrik has now weakened against the US dollar for 19 days in a row, which Edwards <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2016-08-11/mongolia-calls-for-crisis-plan">reported</a> is the longest streak since 1993. The currency is <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/USDMNT:CUR">down</a> by 0.4% at 2,147.50 per dollar as of 1:27 p.m. ET.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Google Finance</div></div></div>All of this comes at a time when the country has been dealing with weaker commodity prices and slower growth amid the slump in China, which is one of Mongolia's <a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mg.html">major export partners</a>. The economic slowdown is particularly noticeable given that country saw double-digit growth rates in the <a href="http://www.tradingeconomics.com/mongolia/gdp-growth">early 2010's</a>.As <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/asian-pacific-business/mongolia-hopes-to-reverse-economic-fortunes-with-revived-mining-projects/article29934780/">the Globe and Mail's Nathan VanderKlippe described it back in May</a>: "...in a few short years, Mongolia has gone from Asia's golden child to its binge-drinking adolescent, with government borrowing to make payroll, cash-short consumers reduced to bartering for goods, and observers openly talking about the possibility of either a sovereign default - national bankruptcy - or a massive bailout."<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">David Stanway/ReutersAn employee looks at the Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia's South Gobi region June 23, 2012.</div></div></div>Notably, the finance minister's televised announcement follows <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mongolia-election-idUSKCN0ZF0PE">June elections</a>, in which the main opposition party, the Mongolian People's Party, won an 85% majority by taking 65 seats in the 76-member parliament."The economy appears to be a significant factor in the MPP's landslide victory," <a href="http://thediplomat.com/2016/07/mongolian-peoples-party-routs-democratic-party-in-parliamentary-elections/">wrote The Diplomat's Peter Bittner at the time</a>. "The majority Democratic Party has been widely blamed for mishandling the economy after a boom from 2010 to 2012 quickly turned to bust on their watch.""In our view, Mongolia's economic situation is clearly challenging, and the government has limited flexibility on both the fiscal and debt fronts," argued Barclays' Avanti Save. "However, we also believe the government is engaging in some 'kitchen-sinking,' announcing all possible bad news at once, and blaming the previous government for the country's challenging fiscal and debt dynamics."And so, this appears to setting up the stage for addressing some of these financial problems. Already, Bloomberg's Edwards <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2016-08-11/mongolia-calls-for-crisis-plan">reported</a> that the government is likely looking at austerity measures and will be axing several stimulus programs. But the government may also be toying with the idea of looking for an IMF bailout."We do not believe the government wants to default or restructure. However, it recognizes that the total amount of external debt is very large," added Save. "Therefore, in our view, it is using a public forum to suggest that it needs a multilateral funding program, possibly from the International Monetary Fund." <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-a-dea-agent-did-when-asked-to-try-drugs-2016-8">EX-UNDERCOVER DEA AGENT: What I did when drug dealers asked me to try the product</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="w1MGxlMjE6hH45aq4Ag4Q590qZgMWztE" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

We are in a deep state of economic crisis

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table lead-image-large"><div><div class="image on-image">Mark Lennihan/APEric Trump, left, and Donald Trump Jr. at the opening of the Trump Golf Links clubhouse on June 11, 2018.</div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>President Donald Trump's two eldest sons, Don Jr. and Eric, have become the president's most effective and requested surrogates, particularly in red states where Republicans are hoping to unseat vulnerable Democrats.</li><li>The two men are helped by Eric's wife, Lara Trump, and Don Jr.'s girlfriend, former Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle, who are campaigning as much - if not more - ahead of the midterms. </li><li>But the arrangement appears to blur what the Trump family promised would be a firewall between Trump's business, which his sons run, and <keyword id="6358883" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="politics">politics</keyword>.</li></ul>For the last two years, President Donald Trump's two eldest sons have taken over a multi-billion dollar business empire. But over the last several months, the brothers - particularly the elder, Donald Trump Jr. - have spent a significant portion of their time criss-crossing the country to fire up crowds and raise funds for Republicans eager to wrap themselves in Trump's flag ahead of next month's midterm elections. While Eric and Don Jr. have insisted that they respect a strict ethical boundary between their family's business interests and their father's government work, the two have become the most sought-after presidential surrogates on the red-state campaign trail.Andy Surabian, a Republican strategist and political adviser to Don Jr., said Trump's eldest son will likely log more than 60 campaign events between May and Election Day on Nov. 6 - and that number doesn't include all of the other fundraising events, including for the Trump-aligned super PAC America First Action, he has headlined over the last year."With the exception of the president and vice president, I can't think of another Republican surrogate that's been more active on the trail and more requested by Republican candidates this cycle than Don," Surabian told Business Insider. <h2>'An extension of their father' </h2>For many Republicans seeking office or attempting to maintain their hold on power this year, the surest way to victory is by fully embracing the president and the party base. The best way to do this is to have a Trump family member bless their campaign - if they're lucky, repeatedly.Surabian argued that Don Jr. is particularly effective on the stump because, like his father, he's authentically devoted to his right-wing ideology. He added that the real estate mogul wields his Twitter account like a "political weapon" and, much like his father, can turn a particularly controversial or vicious tweet into a news cycle. "Don is like the id of the Trump base," Surabian said. "[He] has a natural connection with movement conservatives because Don himself is a movement conservative with a big libertarian streak running down his back. He speaks their language because he actually agrees with them - and that's the type of thing you can't fake." Also like their father, Don Jr. and Eric are comfortable both ginning up grassroots support at a rally and soliciting hundreds of thousands of dollars at big-city donor events. "The Trump sons are seen as an extension of their father," a Republican strategist, who asked not to be identified in order to speak candidly about the Senate races he's working on, told Business Insider. "Voters view them as sort of the messenger for their father's policies and they've done a very good job embracing that."<h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">Bob Levey/Getty ImagesKimberly Guilfoyle and Donald Trump Jr. at a Ted Cruz rally on October 3, 2018 in Conroe, Texas.</div></div></div></h2><h2>Hammering Democrats in red states </h2>Republican operatives say the Trump family's ability to galvanize the conservative base is particularly valuable this year in red states where Democratic incumbents are attempting to hold on to their seats - places like Montana where Sen. Jon Tester is fending off a challenge from Republican Matt Rosendale and West Virginia, where Sen. Joe Manchin is in the lead against Republican state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey. Don Jr. has been particularly active in Montana, where the native New Yorker developed a fondness for hunting and fishing years before his father won the state by 20 points. The 40-year-old has used his personal connection to the state as a platform to push his politics. "As many of you probably know, I'm a big shooter, a big hunter, a big fisherman, so I feel ridiculous in this suit," Don Jr. <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2018/07/05/watch_live_trump_rallies_with_jon_tester_challenger_in_montana.html">told the cheering crowd</a> at a Bozeman rally for Montana Republicans in July. Just a few months after Don Jr.'s ex-wife, Vanessa Haydon Trump, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-jr-wife-filed-for-divorce-2018-3">filed for divorce</a> in March, the father of five made his relationship with longtime Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle public in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-jr-dating-kimberly-guilfoyle-2018-6">a series of Instagram photos</a> of the couple fly-fishing in Montana. In August, Guilfoyle officially <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fox-news-kimberly-guilfoyle-leaving-to-campaign-with-donald-trump-jr-2018-7">left the cable news network</a> where she'd become a well-known opinion host over her 15-year career to join Don Jr. on the campaign trail. Since then, the two have attended virtually every campaign event together. The couple is set to make their third campaign trip to Montana this year for an eight-stop bus tour on Friday and Saturday while stumping for Rosendale and Rep. Greg Gianforte. Tester's campaign has pushed back on the Trump family influence in Montana by characterizing Don Jr. (without naming him) and Rosendale as out-of-staters - a damning charge in the rural Western state."Insurance Commissioner Matt Rosendale continues to bring in fellow out-of-staters to bolster his campaign because Montanans know Rosendale's record reflects his East Coast values, not our Montana values," Chris Meagher, the communications director for Tester's reelection campaign, told Business Insider in an email. <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Loren Elliott/Getty ImagesEric and Lara Trump kick off a rally in support of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on October 22 in Houston, Texas.</div></div></div>And Don Jr. has made multiple trips to West Virginia and headlined two major fundraising events for the state's GOP candidates, bringing helpful media attention to Morrisey's campaign."Patrick was in a parade on Saturday and along the trail there were a dozen folks or so who were like, 'Hey, I'm so excited to see Don Jr. on Monday, it's gonna be a great rally,'' Nathan Brand, Morrisey's communications director, told Business Insider.Meanwhile, Eric has traveled the country to support Trumpian Republicans in places like Tennessee, North Carolina, and Michigan, where an energized Trump base could protect vulnerable Republican seats. His wife, Lara Trump, who has spent the last 18 months advising the Trump campaign, often appears by his side or at events on her own. "ISIS is gone," Eric announced <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIj32p9JmbE">at a rally in Houston on Monday</a> just after Lara told the Texas crowd that "we have never in the history of our country been closer to a denuclearized Korean peninsula than right now" - two demonstrably untrue presidential talking points. <h2>Ethical questions </h2>While the president's sons' public political work doesn't violate any laws or government rules, ethics experts say the activity risks breaching the firewall the Trump family promised to maintain between the Trump Organization and their father's administration. At a political fundraiser last year, Don Jr. told an audience of Texas donors that he essentially no longer communicated with his father. "I basically have zero contact with him at this point," <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/donald-trump-jr-fundraiser-president-s-son-says-zero-contact-n732356">he said</a>. Don Jr. and Eric have repeatedly claimed that the president doesn't discuss government matters with them and they don't talk with their father about the family business, despite the fact that they provide him with quarterly financial reports. "We do not have any role in the current administration and take the separation of the Trump Org and the office of the president very seriously," they <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/trump-sons-business-presidency-tweets-236200">said in a statement to Politico</a> in March 2017. <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">AP Photo/Jae C. HongRepublican presidential candidate Donald Trump, is flanked by his two sons, Donald Trump Jr., left, and Eric, while speaking at a caucus night rally Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016, in Las Vegas.</div></div></div>But the close political relationship between the president, who has not divested from his sprawling business interests, and his two eldest sons calls these supposed boundaries between the president's political and business interests into question.Surabian said that while Don Jr. is on the road, sometimes visiting three states in a single day, he conducts his work for the Trump Organization remotely. "It's hard to tell where the Trump Organization stops and the campaign or the administration begins," Jordan Libowitz, the communications director at the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, told Business Insider.It's the existence of these questions - and the seemingly permeable boundary between the president and the chief executives of his business - that concern ethics experts. "The public shouldn't have to wonder if the president's businesses are using their connection to him to influence the political process or decision-making in any way," Delaney Marsco, legal counsel at the non-profit Campaign Legal Center, told Business Insider. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/detonating-most-powerful-nuclear-bomb-space-starfish-prime-tsar-bomba-2018-9">What if the most powerful nuclear bomb exploded in space</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

Don Jr. and Eric Trump have become their dad's most effective surrogates in red states where the GOP is hammering Democrats

Thomson ReutersUS soldiers near the site of US bombing in the Achin district of eastern Afghanistan's Nangarhar province, April 15, 2017.In keeping with his elevation of military leaders to roles in policymaking, President Donald Trump has delegated the authority to set US troop levels in Afghanistan to Defense Secretary James Mattis, though that power reportedly comes with <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-apparently-didnt-give-mattis-control-afghan-troop-levels-2017-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">limits</a>.But the administration has yet to settle on an overarching strategy for the US' <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mattis-us-not-winning-longest-war-in-afghanistan-photos-2017-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">nearly 16-year-long</a> campaign in the war-torn country.And, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/10/world/asia/trump-afghanistan-policy-erik-prince-stephen-feinberg.html?_r=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">according</a> to The New York Times, Trump's advisers have turned to a controversial set of consultants to help develop their new Afghanistan policy.Steve Bannon, Trump's chief strategist, and Jared Kushner, the president's senior adviser and son-in-law, called in Erik Prince, who founded the Blackwater private-security firm, and Stephen Feinberg, a billionaire who owns military contractor DynCorp, to create proposals to use contractors in Afghanistan rather than US troops.According to the Times, Bannon was able to track down Mattis at the Pentagon on July 8 and brought in Prince and Feinberg to describe their proposal to the defense secretary.Mattis, whom the Times said "listened politely," ultimately declined to include their ideas in his review of the war in Afghanistan, which he and National Security Adviser Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster are set to deliver to Trump this month.Thomson ReutersPresident Donald Trump and Defense Secretary James Mattis at a cabinet meeting at the White House. March 13, 2017.Prince's proposal reportedly adhered to what he outlined in <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-macarthur-model-for-afghanistan-1496269058" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a Wall Street Journal op-ed</a> earlier this year. In that editorial, he said the war in Afghanistan was "an expensive disaster" and called for "an American viceroy" in whom authority for the war would be consolidated. He also said the effort should take an "East India Company approach" using private military units working with local partners.Prince and Feinberg's inclusion in the administration's Afghanistan policy-proposal process is of a piece with Trump's advisers' efforts to bring a wider array of options to the president's attention. While their proposal looks unlikely to be included in the final plan, their inclusion by Trump aides raised alarm among observers - and not only because of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/kushner-bannon-reportedly-pushed-erik-princes-terrifying-afghanistan-war-plan-2017-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Blackwater's sordid record in Iraq</a>.Deborah Avant, a professor at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/07/12/private-military-contractors-arent-going-to-do-a-better-job-in-afghanistan-heres-why/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pointed out a number of shortcomings</a> in the plan Prince outlined in The Journal.Hadi Mizban/APUS private security contractors investigate the site where a military armored bus was damaged by a roadside bomb Baghdad International Airport, November 27, 2004.Contractors would still be required to work with the Afghan government, just like US and NATO forces, she writes, who may not be receptive to their expanded presence.Contractors also don't integrate well with local political goals and forces, which is essential in counterinsurgency operations.Avant also noted that empowering local partners in environments like Afghanistan had been shown to facilitate the rise of warlords - as generally happened under the East India Company when it worked in there in the 19th century.Privatizing the war effort in Afghanistan would likely reduce some of the costs, however - a point that White House assistant Sebastian Gorka emphasized when he defended consultations with Prince in a CNN interview <a href="http://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2017/07/13/lead-gorka-tapper-interview-live.cnn" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">with Jake Tapper</a>."If you look at Erik Prince's track record, it's not about bilking the government. It's about the opposite," Gorka said. "It's about saving the US taxpayer money. It's about creating indigenous capacity ... This is a cost-cutting venture."Despite that fact that Prince and Blackwater secured extensive and lucrative contracts under both former President <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/03/opinion/03wed2.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">George W. Bush</a> and former President Barack <a href="http://www.post-gazette.com/nation/2010/06/28/Obama-spares-Blackwater-on-Sudan-violations/stories/201006280213" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Obama</a>, Gorka described consultations with the Blackwater founder as a break with the tired, uninformed thinking inculcated by Beltway insularity."We open the door here at the White House to outside ideas. Why?" Gorka said, adding, "Because the last eight years, in fact the last 16 years, Jake, to be honest, disastrous. The policies that were born in the beltway by people who've never worn a uniform, the people that were in the White House like Ben Rhodes, Colin Kahl, they helped create the firestorm that is the Middle East, that is ISIS today. So we are open to new ideas, because the last 16 years have failed American national interest and the American taxpayer."When Tapper defended the qualifications of the people advising Obama, Gorka objected, calling Rhodes' <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/08/magazine/the-aspiring-novelist-who-became-obamas-foreign-policy-guru.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">master's degree in creative writing</a> - "fictional writing," he said - "disastrous.""I think Gorka spends more time following Twitter and prepping his media appearances than he does thinking seriously about critical national-security issues," Kahl, who was deputy assistant to the president and national security adviser to the vice president from October 2014 to January 2017, told Business Insider.Alex Wong/Getty ImagesSebastian Gorka, deputy assistant to President Donald Trump, at the Conservative Political Action Conference, February 24, 2017."No US administration has had all the answers to the Middle East," continued Kahl, who is <a href="http://explore.georgetown.edu/people/chk34/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">now a professor</a> in the Security Studies program at Georgetown University."But the two biggest sources of the 'firestorm' Gorka refers to were the invasion of Iraq, which gave birth to the forerunner of ISIS and created a vacuum filled by Iran, and the 2011 Arab Spring that upended the state system across the Middle East and set in motion a series of bloody proxy wars," he added. "Neither of these key events were a consequence of Obama's policies."Kahl also cited specific accomplishments of the Obama administration, among them eroding Al Qaeda leadership, securing the Iran nuclear deal, and setting the stage for the destruction of ISIS.Blaming Obama for the rise of ISIS has become prominent Republican talking point since the US withdrew from Iraq at the end 2011.(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)Vice President Joe Biden and his national-security adviser, Colin Kahl, at a meeting in Washington, February 24, 2016.Trump himself <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/291487-trump-blames-obama-clinton-for-rise-of-isis" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">has attributed</a> the group's emergence to both Obama and Hillary Clinton, who was Obama's secretary of state and Trump's opponent in the presidential election.The withdrawal date had been set by the Bush administration, but conservatives have <a href="https://www.vox.com/cards/things-about-isis-you-need-to-know/obama-fault-iraq" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">criticized Obama</a> for not making a deal with Baghdad to keep US troops on the ground there, which they say could've kept ISIS from gaining traction with Iraq's Sunni minority.Defenders <a href="https://www.vox.com/cards/things-about-isis-you-need-to-know/obama-fault-iraq" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">have pointed to</a> the US' inability to quell insurgency in the country prior to its withdrawal, as well as Iraqi officials' refusal to let US troops stay, as evidence that a protracted deployment was impossible and would have changed little. (Others attribute ISIS' appearance to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/defense-secretary-mattis-tells-high-school-reporter-about-war-planning-2017-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bush's dissolution of the Iraqi military</a>.)Since taking office, Trump appears to have embraced a more aggressive policy in the Middle East, underscored by <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/us-shoots-down-pro-syrian-regime-drone-in-southeast-syria-2017-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">several military engagements</a> with pro-Syrian government forces in that country and by his hearty <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mattis-and-tillerson-try-to-sooth-gulf-crisis-as-trump-fights-qatar-2017-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">embrace of Saudi Arabia</a> to the apparent detriment of unity among Gulf countries. Kahl invoked these developments as reason for concern going forward."It is difficult to see how Trump's approach, which combines a shoot-first mentality and an instinct to give regional autocrats a blank check to drag us into their sectarian conflicts, will make the region more secure or America safer," he told Business Insider in an email."And the fact that Gorka and others in the White House are seriously contemplating turning America's longest war in Afghanistan over to private military contractors who prioritize profit over the national interest is very troubling." <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-putin-wanted-hillary-clinton-to-win-election-700-club-2017-7">TRUMP: Putin wanted Hillary Clinton to win</a></h3> Please enable Javascript to watch this video

Trump's new Afghanistan strategy may draw on old, controversial methods

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/laughingsquid/9539644052/in/photolist-fkSdJj-EUrS6-5PgE7K-5PkPaL-kAyMng-axC4jE-DdgXB-bzpHXy-cG3cZE-fwZ6e9-fwZbXW-fwJSTr-fwZaPA-fwJQGc-fwZ5LC-fwZ9DS-fwZa9m-fwZ4UW-fwZ6Sd-fwZ8z1">Flickr via Scott Beale</a>Rick Webb, at his wedding in August 2013.</div></div></div>Rick Webb came into wealth a few years ago, when his company Barbarian Group was acquired. Or, as Webb describes it, he became "wealthy. ish." 
"Like rich people wouldn't consider me rich, but I did some research and I'm in like the top .5% or something now, well into seven figures, won't have to work ever again," he wrote in <a href="http://www.quora.com/What-does-it-feel-like-to-be-financially-rich/answer/Rick-Webb?srid=3Cp&amp;share=1">response to a question on Quora.</a>
Webb didn't always have money. He worked tons of odd jobs before he became a successful entrepreneur and investor. Webb has since backed startups such as Foursquare and Tumblr.
This week, Webb turned 42 and he listed all the jobs he's ever made a salary from. The list begins with "berry and rhubarb farmer" and ends with "house cleaner." In the middle you'll find things like "pooper scooper" and "guitarist/singer in space rock band," to more recent roles, "board member" and "COO."
Even now that Webb has money, he doesn't spend it in a crazy fashion. He wrote a really thoughtful post about what it was like to come into wealth, <a href="http://rickwebb.tumblr.com/post/63011055721/on-wealth">here.</a> 
Below is his <a href="http://rickwebb.tumblr.com/post/85054650419/on-my-42nd-birthday-i-give-you-a-list-of-jobs-that-i">full list of jobs</a>. 
<ul>
<li>Rhubarb &amp; Berry Farmer</li>
<li>Bartender on a roving karaoke palace</li>
<li>Christmas tree decorator in a christmas shop (the trick is to individually wrap every branch with lights from the trunk outward and back, one branch at a time. Use about 10 strings. Looks amazing)</li>
<li>Railroad car cleaner on the Alaska Railroad</li>
<li>Guy who waves those paddles for airplanes</li>
<li>Baggage handler at the airport (notable for being allowed to play on baggage claim belts)</li>
<li>Founding music director of a commercial radio station</li>
<li>Dishwasher</li>
<li>Busboy</li>
<li>Line cook</li>
<li>Copy shop lackey</li>
<li>Offset press man</li>
<li>Bus washer</li>
<li>Bar owner</li>
<li>Club promoter &amp; host of illegal raves</li>
<li>Designer of annual reports for genomics companies and microchip manufacturers</li>
<li>Video editor for startups and ad agencies (dot com boom 1)</li>
<li>Record label owner</li>
<li>Rhythm guitarist and keyboardist in a country band</li>
<li>Guitarist and singer in a space rock band</li>
<li>Power electronics operator in a noise band</li>
<li>Purveyor of corn dogs at the Alaska state fair</li>
<li>Seller of admissions tickets to the Alaska state fair, 3 years running</li>
<li>Paperboy (boy that one did not last)</li>
<li>Lawn mower</li>
<li>Driveway snow shoveler</li>
<li>Hotel Housecleaner at Sophie's Station hotel in Fairbanks, AK</li>
<li>Photographer of bands, fetish nights, etc. </li>
<li>Macromedia Flash animator and actionscript programmer</li>
<li>Pre-press operator for financial reports at a major printing press (FRAMEMAKER)</li>
<li>Tour manager for goth bands</li>
<li>Merch boy</li>
<li>DJ</li>
<li>PA</li>
<li>PowerPoint expert for audit and financial firms, including Putnam, KPMG, Deloitte, Fidelity. </li>
<li>Web designer</li>
<li>Web developer</li>
<li>Macromedia Director Lingo programmer (Coincidentally I met one of the authors ofLingo last night!)</li>
<li>Photoshop production artist</li>
<li>Color corrector of photos of automobiles</li>
<li>Copywriter</li>
<li>Art director</li>
<li>Bookkeeper (oh man do NOT hire me as a bookkeeper I am terrible)</li>
<li>Columnist</li>
<li>Book Author</li>
<li>COO</li>
<li>Web producer</li>
<li>"Mechanical Supervisor" (whatever that means. I am still not sure)</li>
<li>Information Architect</li>
<li>Quark and Pagemaker Page layout designer</li>
<li>Film producer</li>
<li>Agfa Accuset Imagesetter Operator</li>
<li>Full time designer of record covers</li>
<li>Bed and Breakfast breakfast preparer and housekeeper</li>
<li>Professional decorator of techno/electronica nightclubs</li>
<li>Venture Capitalist &amp; angel investor</li>
<li>Co-working space owner</li>
<li>Advisor</li>
<li>Board Member</li>
<li>Revenue consultant</li>
<li>Advertising product designer</li>
<li>Salesperson</li>
<li>Account manager</li>
<li>Vague, undefined "strategist"</li>
<li>Design studio owner</li>
<li>Advertising agency owner</li>
<li>Proposal lackey</li>
<li>Professional buyer of tickets to concerts for resale via a legal scalper</li>
<li>Attendant at a pop up store for the Nintendo Game Cube (actually this might have been the best job I ever had)</li>
<li>Alaska state legislature campaign manager (man it's crazy there is NOTHING about this on the web)</li>
<li>Parade pooper scooper</li>
<li>Subway busker (for one day, bauhaus covers only, harvard square stop)</li>
<li>Professional speaker</li>
<li>MacTemp</li>
<li>Game designer</li>
<li>Recruiter</li>
<li>Ebay seller</li>
<li>Gas station attendant</li>
<li>Guy standing on a street corner handing out flyers</li>
<li>Envelope stuffer</li>
<li>House Painter</li>
<li>House cleaner</li>
</ul>

From Pooper Scooper To Millionaire: Here Are 82 Odd Jobs A Tumblr Investor Had Before He Struck It Rich

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Anna Armatis/NetflixWinona Ryder on "Stranger Things."</div></div></div>It's the second day of summer, and Netflix is celebrating by giving its subscribers all the more reason to stay inside with its release of the upcoming titles that will be available in July.Netflix originals "BoJack Horseman," "Marco Polo," "Between," and more are returning to the the streaming service this month while Anna Friel's "Marcella," and Winona Ryder's "Stranger Things" will make their debut.Fans of "Back to the Future" and "Lethal Weapon" can rejoice because all of the films in each series are coming to the streaming service on July 1st.Old classics such as "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" and "The Sting" can be added to your queue in addition to a more modern classic like "Mean Girls."Here's the full list of all of the titles coming to Netflix in July. We've highlighted some of our favorites below.Available 7/1/16"41 on 41" (2014)"A Long Way From Home" (2013)"Back to the Future" (1985)"Back to the Future Part II" (1989)"Back to the Future Part III" (1990)"Bad Boys II" (2003)"Batman: The Movie" (1966)"Beavis and Butt-head Do America" (1996)"Between:" Season 2, Netflix original"Beverly Hills Cop" (1984)"Beverly Hills Cop II" (1987)<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Universal PicturesChristopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox in "Back to the Future."</div></div></div>"Big Trouble in Little China" (1986)"Blade 2" (2002)"By the People: The Election of Barack Obama" (2009)"Catwoman" (2004)"Cheaper by the Dozen" (1950)"Cinderella Man" (2005)"Conflict" (2015)"Death Race 2" (2010)"Death Race 3: Inferno" (2013)"Deep:" Season 1, Netflix original"'The Deep' follows the adventures of the Nekton family - a brilliant team of underwater explorers. With state-of-the-art technology and an unquenchable thirst for discovery, the Nektons explore the mysterious depths of the ocean, where most of our world lies unexplored and unexplained.""Dreamcatcher" (2003)"Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" (2011)"Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" (1953)"Gladiator" (2000)"Hello, Dolly!" (1969)"Hey Arnold! The Movie" (2002)"Honey" (2003)"Insomnia" (2002)"The Italian Job" (2003)"Jackass: Number Two" (2006)<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Gentlemen Prefer BlondesMarilyn Monroe performs iconic number "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes."</div></div></div>"Jim Jefferies: Freedumb," Netflix original"Jim Jefferies' second Netflix special, 'Jim Jefferies: Freedumb' unleashes his signature, unapologetic take on a variety of topics that range from personal stories including how he is coping with fatherhood to political and social commentary about religion, freedom and even Bill Cosby.""Lalaloopsy Ponies: The Big Show" (2014)"Lethal Weapon" (1987)"Lethal Weapon 2" (1989)"Lethal Weapon 3" (1992)"Lethal Weapon 4" (1998)"The Longest Yard" (2005)"The Lovely Bones" (2009)"Making the American Man" (2016), Netflix exclusive"Marcella:" Season 1, Netflix original"The show delves into the psychology of the troubled detective Marcella (Anna Friel) as she investigates a serial murder case upon returning to duty after a 10-year hiatus.""Marco Polo:" Season 2, Netflix original"Mean Girls" (2004)"Nevada Smith" (1966)"Nick of Time" (1995)"The Painted Veil" (2006)"Pandemic" (2015)"Phenomenon" (1996)"Raiders Of The Lost Art:" Season 2"Rumor Has It" (2005)<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="http://www.leavemethewhite.com/caps/displayimage.php?album=221&amp;pid=103423#top_display_media">Paramount Pictures</a>Lacey Chabert, Rachel McAdams, Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Seyfried in "Mean Girls."</div></div></div>"Scooby-Doo" (2002)"The Shannara Chronicles:" Season 1"The Sting" (1973)"Stomp the Yard: Homecoming" (2010)"Talhotblond" (2009)"Terminus" (2016)"Turner and Hooch" (1989)"Twisted" (2004)"Watershed: Exploring A New Water Ethic For The New West" (2012)"Well Wishes" (2015)"Working Girl" (1988)"Yours, Mine and Ours" (2005)Available 7/4/16"Kuromukuro:" Season 1, Netflix originalThis is Netflix's first simulcast anime series.Available 7/6/16"The Big Short" (2015)Available 7/7/16"A War" (2015)"The Armor of Light" (2015)"Brahman Naman" (2016), Netflix original"The 1980s-set film revolves around a champion college quiz team who try to win the all-India finals as well as lose their virginity.""NSU German History X:" Season 1, Netflix original<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Netflix"Brahman Naman."</div></div></div>Available 7/8/16"The Invitation" (2015), Netflix exclusive"Word Party:" Season 1Available 7/9/16"Mustang" (2015)"Mystery Files:" Season 1Available 7/10/16"The Last Kingdom:" Season 1Available 7/12/16"Rolling Papers" (2015)Available 7/14/16"Gridlocked" (2015), Netflix exclusive"Magi: The Adventures of Sinbad:" Season 1, Netflix original"The Magi who became High King of the Seven Seas started as a boy determined to make the world a better place. He begins with a dangerous dungeon.""Todd Margaret:" Season 3Available 7/15/16"The Adventures of Puss in Boots:" Season 3, Netflix original"Ghostheads" (2016)"Holidays" (2016), Netflix exclusive"Rebirth" (2016), Netflix original"The film's plot revolves around a white-collar suburban father Kyle (Fran Kranz) who is surprised by his long-lost college friend Zack (Adam Goldberg) who is brimming with excitement over his recently finished self-actualization program called Rebirth. Reluctantly, Kyle goes and stumbles on a bus full of Rebirth participants about to depart. He gets on the bus and thus begins his journey down a rabbit hole of psychodrama, seduction, and violence.""Stranger Things:" Season 1, Netflix original"In the series, a young boy vanishes into thin air. As friends, family, and local police search for answers, they are drawn into an extraordinary mystery involving top secret experiments, terrifying supernatural forces, and one very strange little girl. The series, set in Indiana, is a love letter to the '80s classics that captivated a generation.""Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru" (2016), Netflix originalThe feature documentary film about internationally renowned life and business strategist Tony Robbins, "goes behind the scene of his mammoth seminar Date with Destiny, attended by over 2,500 people in Boca Raton, Florida each year, to give an insider look at how one man can affect millions. This film captures both the immense effort of producing this live seminar as well as the life changing transformations of the participants in real time." <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Netflix"Tony Robbins: I AM NOT YOUR GURU"</div></div></div>Available 7/16/16"Fighting" (2009)Available 7/19/16"Liv and Maddie:" Season 3Available 7/21/16"Internet Famous" (2016), Netflix exclusiveAvailable 7/22/16"BoJack Horseman:" Season 3, Netflix original"Degrassi: Next Class:" Season 2, Netflix originalAvailable 7/24/16"Popples:" Season 3, Netflix original"The series portrays the optimistic enthusiasm of the comedic pals Bubbles, Sunny, Lulu, Izzy, and Yikes."Available 7/27/16"The Wave" (2015)Available 7/29/16"Home: Adventures With Tip &amp; Oh:" Season 1, Netflix original"Picking up where the film 'Home' left off, the show is a coming-of-age comedy that sees human girl Tip and the alien being Oh navigate their crazily combined cultures and having plenty of adventures along the way. The series also will feature original musical numbers.""Last Chance U" (2016), Netflix original"Elite athletes in tough life circumstances struggle to keep up the pace on a champion community college football team in this six-part documentary series."<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Pivot/ YouTubeMindy Kaling guests in a "Hit Record on TV with Joseph Gordon Levitt" sketch.</div></div></div>"LEGO Bionicle: The Journey to One:" Season 2, Netflix original"Tallulah" (2016), Netflix original"The film follows Ellen Page as a young drifter who takes a baby from a negligent mother, and Allison Janney as a woman who mistakenly believes she's the child's grandmother."Available 7/30/16"My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:" Season 6: Part 1Available 7/31/16"Hit Record on TV with Joseph Gordon-Levitt:" Season 2 <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bran-vision-meaning-game-of-thrones-mad-king-2016-6">Everyone probably missed this revealing vision in the last 'Game of Thrones' episode</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="ZleTZ2MzE6gtbhQ6dX_6o2lT3y5H2NlD" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

Here's everything that is coming to Netflix in July

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">Screenshot/YouTubeTrump holds up his notes about an email from Sidney Blumenthal found in Clinton campaign chair John Podesta's inbox released by WikiLeaks.</div></div></div>An unverified dossier provided to US intelligence officials alleges that President-elect Donald Trump "agreed to sideline" the issue of Russian intervention in Ukraine during his campaign after Russia promised to feed the emails it stole from prominent Democrats' inboxes to WikiLeaks.The dossier was part of an opposition-research project conducted by <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-dossier-looking-increasingly-credible-2017-1">a former British spy</a>, Christopher Steele, at the behest of anti-Trump Republicans and, later, Democrats. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/moscow-ambassador-sir-andrew-wood-trump-dossier-2017-1">Steele was </a><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/moscow-ambassador-sir-andrew-wood-trump-dossier-2017-1">the former head</a> of the Russia desk in Moscow for Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6. The memos he wrote made their way to US intelligence officials sometime last year. A summary of his findings, collected from the network of Russian intelligence sources he had cultivated, was presented to Trump, President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ex-cia-officers-trump-dossier-russia-2017-1">and the country's top lawmakers</a> on intelligence matters earlier this month as part of a classified briefing about Russia's intervention in the US presidential election.The dossier's claim about a Ukraine-WikiLeaks tit-for-tat alleges that Trump would refrain from speaking forcefully, if at all, about Russia's incursion into eastern Ukraine in 2014. In return, Russia would provide WikiLeaks the documents it stole from the Democratic National Committee (DNC).Throughout the campaign, Trump broke from traditional GOP orthodoxy and established himself as the most sympathetic Republican candidate toward Russia, stressing the need to work with the country on various geopolitical issues.Trump has not commented on the dossier's specific claims, but he did tweet Saturday, citing a conservative-leaning <keyword id="6355005" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="News">news</keyword> outlet, that it was a "complete fraud."<h2>From 'lethal weapons' to 'appropriate assistance'</h2>The <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/trump-campaign-guts-gops-anti-russia-stance-on-ukraine/2016/07/18/98adb3b0-4cf3-11e6-a7d8-13d06b37f256_story.html">Washington Post's Josh Rogin reported</a> last year that "the Trump campaign orchestrated a set of events" just before the start of the Republican National Convention on July 18 to change the language of an amendment to the GOP's draft policy on Ukraine that denounced Russia's "ongoing military aggression" in Ukraine.The amendment, proposed by GOP delegate Diana Denman at a meeting of the party's national-security subcommittee in Cleveland, called for maintaining and increasing sanctions on Russia in light of its annexation of Crimea and incursion into eastern Ukraine in 2014. It also proposed "providing lethal defensive weapons" to the Ukrainian military to fend off separatist fighters backed by the Kremlin.After Denman read her amendment aloud at the meeting, two Trump campaign representatives approached the chairman of the committee and asked that the proposal be tabled, Denman <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/08/03/trump-campaign-changed-ukraine-platform-lied-about-it.html">told The Daily Beast</a> at the time."When I read my amendment, they got up and walked over and talked to the co-chairmen and they read it," she said. "That's when I was told that it was going to be tabled.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">Screenshot/YouTube</div></div></div>Because campaign representatives are not permitted to publicly debate the merits of an amendment at a subcommittee platform meeting, Denman said the Trump staffers approached her privately and asked her to change the language that called for sending arms to Ukraine.One of the staffers, J.D. Gordon - then the Trump campaign's national-security policy representative for the RNC - said "Ms. Denman's memory of events is inaccurate.""I never left my assigned side table, nor spoke publicly at the meeting of delegates during the platform meeting," Gordon, a former Pentagon spokesman, told Business Insider last week.But the national security subcommittee's co-chair, Steve Yates, told The Daily Beast that he was "reasonably sure that the [Trump] campaign staff were in the room and that they gave an opinion" on Ukraine."I just can't say for sure what that opinion was," he said.<h2>'This change came from Trump staffers'</h2>After some debate, the <a href="https://prod-cdn-static.gop.com/static/home/data/platform.pdf">platform passed </a> with a provision to "provide appropriate assistance" to the Ukrainian army rather than provide it with "lethal defense weapons."It retained much of its tough language on Russia, including its calls to maintain or, if warranted, increase sanctions "until Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity are fully restored."Gordon, the Trump representative, said that even after the language was altered the platform was "still was much tougher on Russia than the Democrat Party Platform." <a href="https://www.demconvention.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Democratic-Party-Platform-7.21.16-no-lines.pdf">The Democratic platform</a> refers to Russia's violation of Ukrainian sovereignty but does not call for sanctions on the Kremlin or assistance to Ukraine's army.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">REUTERS/Gleb GaranichUkrainian OTR-21 Tochka-U mobile missile launch systems drive during Ukraine's Independence Day military parade in central Kiev, Ukraine, August 24, 2016.</div></div></div>Including the call to send arms to Ukraine would not have been extreme or out of step with GOP orthodoxy on the issue, however."The language of the original amendment didn't seem strong," said a member of the committee, who requested anonymity to discuss the deliberations."It was controversial if you hold Donald Trump's express views on Russia, but not controversial with regard to GOP orthodoxy on the issue," the official said. "So this change on Ukraine definitely came from Trump staffers - not from RNC staffers."It was particularly surprising, the member added, given the Trump campaign representatives' "relatively hands-off approach" to other parts of the GOP's national-security platform.That approach seems to have extended to the six other subcommittees tasked with crafting different parts of the GOP platform before the convention. Boyd Matheson, a Utah delegate on the Constitution Subcommittee, told <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/08/03/trump-campaign-changed-ukraine-platform-lied-about-it.html">the Daily Beast</a> that the Trump campaign was "nowhere to be seen" during their deliberations.Gordon, Trump's representative for the national security committee, said that the every sub-committee "featured Trump campaign representatives at side tables to monitor the process and facilitate any questions from delegates."For his part, former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort told MSNBC at the time that the change in the GOP's Ukraine policy "absolutely did not come from the Trump campaign."<h2>Paul Manafort, Yanukovych, and WikiLeaks</h2>Prior to the GOP's national security committee meeting last July, Trump had said multiple times that he thought the West should respond more forcefully to Russian aggression.He gave a speech in Ukraine in September 2015, at the Yalta European Strategy Annual Meeting, where he said that "our president is not strong and he is not doing what he should be doing for the Ukraine." He mentioned that he thought Europe should be "leading some of the charge" against Russia's aggression, too.But his tone on Ukraine and Crimea appeared to shift after he hired Manafort to manage his campaign in April 2016, as <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/trump-manafort-ukraine-crimea-russia-226573">Politico's Michael Crowley has reported</a>.At the end of July, for instance, Trump <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/trump-crimeas-people-prefer-russia-elected-putin-ukraine/story?id=41029437">told ABC</a> that "the people of Crimea, from what I've heard, would rather be with Russia than where they were. And you have to look at that, also." Days earlier, he had told reporters that he "would be looking at" the possibility of lifting sanctions against Russia for its annexation of Crimea.Manafort served <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/michael-cohen-trump-2017-1">as a top adviser</a> to a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine between 2004 and 2012, and helped the Russia-friendly strongman Viktor Yanukovych win the Ukrainian presidency in 2010.Yanukovych was ousted on corruption charges in 2014 and fled to Russia under the protection of the Kremlin.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-aide-manifort-designated-payments-from-ukraine-2016-8"></a>REUTERS/Sergei KarpukhinUkrainian President Viktor Yanukovich (L) gives a wink to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during a signing ceremony after a meeting of the Russian-Ukrainian Interstate Commission at the Kremlin in Moscow, December 17, 2013.</div></div></div>Secret ledgers <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-aide-manifort-designated-payments-from-ukraine-2016-8"></a> uncovered by an anticorruption center in Kiev and obtained by The New York Times revealed that Yanukovych's political party, the pro-Russia Party of Regions, earmarked $12.7 million in undisclosed cash payments to Manafort for his work between 2007 and 2012.Manafort has denied ever having collected the earmarked payments. But the unverified dossier on which top US leaders have been briefed alleges that Yanukovych "confided directly to Putin that he authorized kickback payments to Manafort," who "had been commercially active in Ukraine right up to the time (in March 2016) when he joined campaign team."The <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3259984-Trump-Intelligence-Allegations.html">dossier also alleges</a> that Manafort, who resigned as Trump's campaign manager on August 19, served as a liaison between Trump's campaign team and Russian government officials:"Speaking in confidence to a compatriot in late July 2016, Source E, an ethnic Russian and close associate of Republican US presidential candidate Donald TRUMP, admitted that there was a well-developed conspiracy of co-operation between them and the Russian leadership. This was managed on the TRUMP side by the Republican candidate's campaign manager, Paul MANAFORT, who was using foreign policy advisor, Carter PAGE, and others as intermediaries. The two sides had a mutual interest in defeating Democratic presidential candidate Hillary CLINTON, whom President PUTIN apparently both hated and feared."That claim has not been independently verified. The FBI <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/01/politics/donald-trump-russia-fbi-investigations/" target="_blank">looked into both Page and Manafort</a> last year for their respective ties to Russian officials and business interests.The same source, "source E," told the author of the dossier that Russia had hacked the DNC and leaked the stolen documents to WikiLeaks "with the full knowledge and support of Trump and senior members of his campaign team."<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">ReutersPaul Manafort, former campaign manager to Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump, escapes a mob of reporters asking about the Republican National Convention Committee on Rules in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. July 14, 2016.</div></div></div>Trump invoked WikiLeaks dozens of times on the campaign trail, often reading portions of the stolen and leaked emails from the Democratic National Committee and from Hillary Clinton campaign chair John Podesta on the campaign trail."I love WikiLeaks,"<a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/300327-trump-i-love-wikileaks">he told listeners during a campaign rally</a> in Pennsylvania in October. "It's amazing how nothing is secret today when you talk about the Internet."The dossier states that in return for Russia's feeding the documents to WikiLeaks, "the Trump team had agreed to sideline Russian intervention in Ukraine as a campaign issue and to raise defense commitments in the Baltics and Eastern Europe to deflect attention away from Ukraine, a priority for Putin who needed to cauterise the subject."Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has denied that the Russian government was the source of the hacked documents. As Business Insider's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/julian-assange-dnc-email-wikileaks-2017-1">Paul Szoldra has written</a>, however, WikiLeaks'own website seems to disprove his assertion."The site's anonymous drop box keeps no record of who submits documents, does not offer or require any identifying information, and there is no single WikiLeaks employee with the power to unmask an anonymous source," Szoldra wrote. "At least, that's what WikiLeaks claims." <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-questions-news-conference-israel-obama-sprint-mar-a-lago-don-king-i2016-12">Trump answers reporters' questions in his longest news conference since winning the election</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="Z2ZHVtODE6yZMKCoEfnI-vjOck6ufnsB" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

Explosive memos suggest that a Trump-Russia tit-for-tat was at the heart of the GOP's dramatic shift on Ukraine

<div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image on-image">Mykwain Gainey/ <keyword id="160347" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Chris-Christie">Chris Christie</keyword> For GovernorChris Christie hugs a supporter outside a campaign stop at the Somers Point, N.J., VFW on Saturday.</div></div>
BRIDGEWATER, N.J. - Chris Christie knows he's going to be re-elected as <keyword id="9753" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="New-Jersey">New Jersey</keyword>'s governor on Tuesday. 
At this point, on a crisp Saturday morning in northern New Jersey that serves as the starting point for Day 4 of a seven-day bus tour, he's trying to run up the score against Democrat Barbara Buono. He wants to win big. He wants a Republican legislature - or at least says he does. And he wants to send a message to America. 
"The entire country is watching Tuesday night," Christie tells a crowd of about 75 to 100 supporters here who showed up at 9 a.m. to hear him speak. "And if we do our job, what they're going to see is not what's been a typical election in America the past few years, where everybody runs to their separate quarters. ...
"They're going to see folks from the cities, they're going to see folks from the suburbs, and folks from farms coming together to vote for the same person. They're going to see young people and senior citizens coming together to vote for the same person. They're going to see African-Americans and Hispanics voting for the same person as Caucasians in the suburbs. They're going to see us bring our state together like it's never been brought together before. 
"And New Jersey is going to set the example for the direction the rest of the United States needs to take if we're going to make this country great again."
Stop 1
Bridgewater is the first stop of seven on the day for Christie. It's also the first of at least three during which he tells the story of Gladys, an 82-year-old African-American woman from Newark. 
New Jersey is perhaps the only place in the country where a candidate running for its highest office can use the word "shit" in a stump speech. But Gladys embodies everything in a New Jerseyan that Chris Christie wants to promote.
She's 82, an African-American, and has lived in Newark her entire life - not exactly the type of voter who normally votes Republican. She didn't vote for him last time, but will this time. Why? Because of the way he has handled crisis - particularly the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. 
But what really gets the crowd going is the punchline Christie tells of the time he met Gladys four weeks ago at a senior wellness event in West Orange, N.J. Christie relays that Gladys told him that she has prayed for him every night since Sandy left New Jersey devastated. 
And then Gladys saw him on television again, in September, in front of another disaster. A fire sparked by wiring damaged in Sandy engulfed the town of Seaside Park, destroying businesses and parts of the newly rebuilt boardwalk. 
Gladys said a special prayer for Christie that night. 
"Lord, please give our governor strength," Gladys said, according to Christie. "Because I don't know how much more shit this boy can take."
Christie marvels at a well-dressed, proper older woman using the words "lord" and "shit" in the same sentence. When Govs. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Scott Walker (R-Wis.) called him recently, he told them that story. 
"These are my people!" he says.
Christie takes a lot of flack on the right for how he handled Sandy, embracing President Barack Obama in the last week of a heated election. They argue that it gave Obama a bipartisan "moment" at a time when Mitt Romney was gaining momentum. But for Christie, Sandy has been the basis of his re-election campaign. 
"It's the same way he's gone about his business as governor - he's governor, and he's not trying to hide from the issues," Jeff Chiesa, who Christie appointed to be a U.S. senator after the death of Frank Lautenberg earlier this year, told Business Insider on Saturday.
"He makes decisions that makes New Jersey better. It's why he has so much support right now. And Sandy, when he had the opportunity to have the President's ear when New Jersey needed the resources, the President listened, the President respected him, and he got us the money. And without it, we'd be in an enormous hole. What we have, we have because of him."
Stop 3
<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image">Brett LoGiurato/Business InsiderChris Porter</div></div>After rallying with tailgaters before the Rutgers University football game on Saturday morning, Christie's next stop, just after noon, is at a diner in the suburban town of Old Bridge, N.J.
This would be Christie's longest trip of the day. A crowd of about 30 to 40 people lines up outside the diner for his bus' arrival. He greets them, and then he makes his way inside to greet patrons. 
Here is another example of the unique Christie coalition on display. Shaking hands with supporters along the line, he comes up to Chris Porter, an independent recording artist and music producer in his mid-20s. Christie tells Porter that he wishes he could pull off his hairdo - the word "PLEDGE" is shaved into his head, a reference to a recently begun Kickstarter campaign. 
"I'd go anywhere for Gov. Christie," Porter says. 
The reasons are the same as the theme that will build up throughout the day. Christie is strong, he leads, and he "doesn't B.S."
He also has a certain sense of accessibility. At one point outside, Ward Biondi, who is blind, approaches Christie. He is a lector at the nearby St. Ambrose Catholic church. But he has been crossing a six-lane intersection by only listening to the flow of traffic - he needs an audible traffic signal. 
Christie tells him that he'll have Transportation Secretary James Simpson call him on Monday. 
"You just need someone to take charge," Biondi says. "All of these local officials go back and forth saying it's not their job. He made it his job."
Stop 4 
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left"><div><div class="image on-image">Brett LoGiurato/Business Insider</div></div></div>At Bachstadt's Tavern, a hole-in-the-wall in Keansburg, N.J., there is a sign that foreshadows what everybody here thinks is inevitable:
"CHRIS CHRISTIE FOR PRESIDENT IN 2016."
Keansburg - and Monmouth County, in general - are special for Christie. It's where he says he first realized that he was probably going to be elected as governor, when he beat Democrat Jon Corzine by a 2-to-1 margin in the county. 
And it's a place that has faced some of the brunt of the natural disasters of Christie's first term.
"We've had a lot of challenges. We've had a lot of things that have knocked us down, and we've gotten back up," Christie tells a crowd in the bar. "And we have a lot of families that still need to be lifted up.
"Here's what I want you to know today: No matter what obstacle they put in front of me - no matter what political challenge they put in front of us - there is nothing that will get between me and the mission to completely restore the Jersey Shore from Sandy."
That promise is not good enough for Kathleen Steakin, who walks up to Christie as he is shaking hands after the event. Her home was destroyed by Sandy. She is living in a trailer on Lincoln Ave., a few blocks up, and she "just wants to go home." Her trailer is on the opposite side of the street. 
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">Brett LoGiurato/Business InsiderKathleen Steakin</div></div></div>The aftermath of Sandy has divided her family - two of her children have been forced to move away because there is no room on Lincoln Avenue. It has also forced complications in her medical condition. She has Bell's Palsy, a form of facial paralysis, and she has struggled over the past year to get the necessary treatment. 
When she tells Christie her story, she bursts into tears. He hugs her while she sobs, her face buried in him. He gives her Chief of Staff Kevin O'Toole's business card, along with a personal number.
For Steakin, this also isn't good enough. But it's hope.
"I wasn't expecting him to do that," Steakin said. "I hope he's for real. He seems real."
Stop 5
It's now about 4 p.m., and Chris Christie has gotten combative. At a VFW in Somers Point, N.J., he says that Democratic opponent Barbara Buono's campaign has been "fueled by anger." With a Republican state senator challenger by his side, he said in incumbent Sen. Jim Whalen (D-Atlantic) is an "animal."
But Christie saves the most heated confrontation for last, right when he is about to get back on the bus for the last two stops of the day. 
The challenge comes in the form of a Melissa Tomlinson, a special education teacher at Buena Regional Middle School, who asks him a question: "Why are you portraying our <a href="http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/10/christie_promotes_education_policies_at_orthodox_union_breakfast_in_teaneck.html" target="_blank">schools as failure factories?"</a>
"What do you want?" Christie asked.
In a subsequent phone interview, Tomlinson said she told Christie she wanted to start a conversation about education-funding levels. In Christie's first year in office, <a href="http://www.politifact.com/new-jersey/statements/2013/sep/08/new-jersey-education-association/njea-ad-claims-politicians-cut-1-billion-education/" target="_blank">$1.3 billion was cut from education</a>, something Christie has maintained as necessary to balance the budget. 
More money will "never be enough," Christie told her. Before boarding the bus, he told her to "do her job," something that resonated with the crowd that subsequently cheered him on. 
It's a long way to 2016. And Tomlinson, like some others, think that when the dust of Sandy settles, other divisive issues that marked his first term will start to pop up again - like education reform, like property taxes, like gun control. 
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">Brett LoGiurato/Business InsiderChris Christie at his sixth stop of the day, in Atlantic City</div></div></div>Then again, others appreciate Christie for what they see as working past party lines to enact reform. 
Even with Christie's cuts, New Jersey ranks third in the nation in spending per pupil, according to 2012-13 figures released <a href="http://www.nea.org/assets/img/content/NEA_Rankings_And_Estimates-2013_(2).pdf" target="_blank">by the National Education Association</a>. The average of $19,291 it spends on each pupil is 74% more than the national average.
Rita Gisondi, a substitute at Buena Regional, said Christie is "doing things that needed to be done years ago."
"I don't see a serious solution proposed by the other side," said Gisondi, who is unaffiliated with either party. 
---
One-hundred miles away in East Orange, N.J., the contrast between the campaigns of Christie and Buono is best seen. 
Christie has just made his final two stops of the day - Nos. 6 and 7 - at a bakery in Atlantic City and at a school in Toms River. 
Buono's final stop comes at what's described as an "East Orange Democrats campaign event." But it's actually a graduation ceremony for nursing assistant students, which seems to surprise Buono and catch her campaign off guard.
It also seems to surprise the students, who appear to have little idea who she is. When she is introduced to the room, she has to stand up before the crowd recognizes her and applauds unenthusiastically. 
Meanwhile, a couple hours earlier, Christie won over another registered Democrat in Atlantic City - Rosa Hernandez, who works in accounting at the Resorts Casino. On Tuesday, she'll be one of the 20% to 30% of Democrats who supports him in New Jersey, according to recent polls. She could be one that follows him all the way to the White House.
"He has done so many good things," Hernandez says. "I would support him if he runs for president."

You Searched For "The longest parade of bus record" and got 12 results

We are in a deep state of economic crisis

Elena Holodny

Don Jr. and Eric Trump have become their dad's most effective surrogates in red states where the GOP is hammering Democrats

Eliza Relman

Trump's new Afghanistan strategy may draw on old, controversial methods

Christopher Woody

From Pooper Scooper To Millionaire: Here Are 82 Odd Jobs A Tumblr Investor Had Before He Struck It Rich

Alyson Shontell

Here's everything that is coming to Netflix in July

Meryl Gottlieb

Explosive memos suggest that a Trump-Russia tit-for-tat was at the heart of the GOP's dramatic shift on Ukraine

Natasha Bertrand

A Day In The Life Of The Chris Christie Campaign As He Cruises To A Landslide Victory

Brett LoGiurato

Apple's smart photo app will be way behind Google's - here's why

Kif Leswing

How one author unlocked the secrets of one of Africa's most oppressive dictatorships

Armin Rosen

The Fascinating And Creepy Stories Behind The FBI's '10 Most Wanted Fugitives'

Christina Sterbenz

A forgotten war technology could safely power Earth for millions of years. Here's why we aren't using it

Dave Mosher

MLK Writes Incredible Letter From Alabama Jail - 50 Years Ago Today

Rebecca Baird-Remba