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welcome to reality trivia
reality is the state of things as they actually exist
august 21, 2018
Who do you RESPECT?
real news today
august 21, 2018
*FATAL FENTANYL OVERDOSES IN TENNESSEE AT RECORD LEVELS AS DONALD TRUMP CALLS FOR SENATE ACTION(America)
*How natural disasters widen the wealth gap between minority and white communities
(Reality)
*Republicans who voted for the tax bill now want to cut Medicare and Social Security to pay for it(GOP Politics)
*ELIZABETH WARREN UNVEILS RADICAL ANTI-CORRUPTION PLATFORM
(Progressives)
*ACROSS AMERICA: Three African-Americans Claim Rare Engineering Accomplishment
(REAL PEOPLE)
*ZINKE CAUGHT RED-HANDED TRYING TO SELL OFF PUBLIC LANDS
(Corruption)
*Study cites longer dry spells as fueling US wildfires
(Environment)
*Nigerian Teens Win Top Prize at Silicon Valley Tech Summit for Designing Fake Drug Detector(Real People)
*OPINION: WHY DO AMERICAN CEOS GET PAID SO MUCH?
(Talkers)
(for previous day's articles see "what's inside" below)
tweet of the day
Close The Catholic Church
PaulX2
Sell the assets to cover the settlements to its thousands of victims.
They institutionally helped the predators not the kids.
Dissolve them.
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Trump Denies New Report About Obama
'New Yorker' alleges he considered revoking his predecessor's security clearance
By Newser Editors, Newser Staff
Posted Aug 21, 2018 7:33 AM CDT
(NEWSER) – A New Yorker article about former CIA chief John Brennan's animosity toward President Trump makes a jarring allegation that has caught the attention of Trump himself. Reporter Adam Entous writes that Trump last year considered taking the unprecedented step of revoking former President Obama's security clearance as friction between the current and past administrations escalated. Trump, however, says he never even considered such a move. In the story, Entous writes that "some of the new President’s advisers"—nobody is named—suggested that Obama be denied the access to intel briefings that all former presidents have. Others in Trump's circle disagreed—especially then-national security adviser HR McMaster—and Trump sided with McMaster's camp, according to the article.
Not so, says the president. "Fake News, of which there is soooo much (this time the very tired New Yorker) falsely reported that I was going to take the extraordinary step of denying Intelligence Briefings to President Obama," he tweeted Tuesday morning. "Never discussed or thought of!" Trump also took note of former national intelligence director James Clapper's statement over the weekend that Brennan's anti-Trump "rhetoric" has "become an issue in and of itself." In another Tuesday tweet, Trump wrote: "Even James Clapper has admonished John Brennan for having gone totally off the rails. Maybe Clapper is being nice to me so he doesn’t lose his Security Clearance for lying to Congress!" (Trump says he hopes Brennan sues him.)
Not so, says the president. "Fake News, of which there is soooo much (this time the very tired New Yorker) falsely reported that I was going to take the extraordinary step of denying Intelligence Briefings to President Obama," he tweeted Tuesday morning. "Never discussed or thought of!" Trump also took note of former national intelligence director James Clapper's statement over the weekend that Brennan's anti-Trump "rhetoric" has "become an issue in and of itself." In another Tuesday tweet, Trump wrote: "Even James Clapper has admonished John Brennan for having gone totally off the rails. Maybe Clapper is being nice to me so he doesn’t lose his Security Clearance for lying to Congress!" (Trump says he hopes Brennan sues him.)
Protesters pull down Confederate statue at University of North Carolina
Controversial ‘Silent Sam’, criticized as symbol of racism, falls after hundreds gathered at UNC Chapel Hill
Guardian staff and agencies
Tue 21 Aug 2018 02.48 EDT
Police stand guard after the Confederate statue known as ‘Silent Sam’ was toppled by protesters. Photograph: Gerry Broome/AP
The controversial “Silent Sam” statue on the campus of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill has been toppled by protesters.
WRAL-TV reports that more than 300 people gathered at the Peace and Justice Plaza at about 7.30 on Monday evening before marching to the Confederate statue’s base and calling for its removal. At 9pm, protesters had marched down Franklin Street before returning back to the statue’s base. By 9.30, “Silent Sam” was down.
There were some tense moments between police and protesters. One person was arrested and charged with concealing one’s face during a public rally and resisting arrest.
Students, faculty and alumni have called the statue a racist image and asked officials to remove it.
The university issued a statement on Twitter in response to the incident: “Tonight’s actions were dangerous, and we are very fortunate that no one was injured. We are investigating the vandalism and assessing the full extent of the damage.”
The statue was given to the university by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1909. It was erected in 1913.
WRAL-TV reports that more than 300 people gathered at the Peace and Justice Plaza at about 7.30 on Monday evening before marching to the Confederate statue’s base and calling for its removal. At 9pm, protesters had marched down Franklin Street before returning back to the statue’s base. By 9.30, “Silent Sam” was down.
There were some tense moments between police and protesters. One person was arrested and charged with concealing one’s face during a public rally and resisting arrest.
Students, faculty and alumni have called the statue a racist image and asked officials to remove it.
The university issued a statement on Twitter in response to the incident: “Tonight’s actions were dangerous, and we are very fortunate that no one was injured. We are investigating the vandalism and assessing the full extent of the damage.”
The statue was given to the university by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1909. It was erected in 1913.
Trump set to roll back Obama-era regulation on coal emissions
Plan would allow individual states should decide how, or even if, they should stem carbon dioxide emissions from coal plants
Oliver Milman in New York
the guardian
Tue 21 Aug 2018 01.00 EDT
The Trump administration is set to unveil a proposed replacement for Obama-era climate change rules that will impose looser, state-based regulations on coal-fired power plants rather than pushing them towards closure.
The new plan is likely to escalate greenhouse gas emissions, compared with its predecessor, at a time when scientists have warned drastic cuts are required to avoid dangerous runaway climate change that would ravage the lives of Americans and people around the world.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is set to propose that individual states should decide how, or even if, they should stem carbon dioxide emissions from coal plants.
Donald Trump, who has pledged to end what he calls the “war on coal”, is expected to unveil the plan at an event in West Virginia, a major coal-producing state, on Tuesday.
A 300-page document outlining the plan does not set any national target for greenhouse gas reductions. The amount of CO2 emitted from US power plants over the next decade will be at least 12 times higher than they would be under the Obama plan, the EPA documents show. The replacement plan also would also relax pollution rules for power plants that require upgrades.
“This is all about coal at all costs,” said Gina McCarthy, who was EPA chief under Obama. “There is no other country in the world looking to coal for its future. They are looking to clean energy.”
McCarthy said the new climate plan would provide industry a “free pass to increase not just carbon pollution but also conventional smog and soot pollutants that will directly harm our health today, not to mention our children’s future”.
The US is the second-largest emitter of CO2 in the world and any increase or even flatline in its emissions would make it extremely difficult for humanity to stave off punishing heatwaves, sea level rise and other consequences of climate change.
The Obama-era clean power plan imposed the first-ever national carbon pollution limits on coal plants and aimed to cut power sector CO2 emissions by 32% by 2030, compared with 2005 levels. However, after legal challenges by a coalition of states, it was paused by the supreme court in 2016 and has never come into force.
The Trump administration has argued the EPA exceeded its authority by imposing the rules and claimed that it would prove ruinous to coal-producing areas.
Under Trump, the US has announced its intention to exit the Paris climate accords, pare back vehicle emission standards and open up more lands and waters to oil and gas drilling.
The new plan is likely to escalate greenhouse gas emissions, compared with its predecessor, at a time when scientists have warned drastic cuts are required to avoid dangerous runaway climate change that would ravage the lives of Americans and people around the world.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is set to propose that individual states should decide how, or even if, they should stem carbon dioxide emissions from coal plants.
Donald Trump, who has pledged to end what he calls the “war on coal”, is expected to unveil the plan at an event in West Virginia, a major coal-producing state, on Tuesday.
A 300-page document outlining the plan does not set any national target for greenhouse gas reductions. The amount of CO2 emitted from US power plants over the next decade will be at least 12 times higher than they would be under the Obama plan, the EPA documents show. The replacement plan also would also relax pollution rules for power plants that require upgrades.
“This is all about coal at all costs,” said Gina McCarthy, who was EPA chief under Obama. “There is no other country in the world looking to coal for its future. They are looking to clean energy.”
McCarthy said the new climate plan would provide industry a “free pass to increase not just carbon pollution but also conventional smog and soot pollutants that will directly harm our health today, not to mention our children’s future”.
The US is the second-largest emitter of CO2 in the world and any increase or even flatline in its emissions would make it extremely difficult for humanity to stave off punishing heatwaves, sea level rise and other consequences of climate change.
The Obama-era clean power plan imposed the first-ever national carbon pollution limits on coal plants and aimed to cut power sector CO2 emissions by 32% by 2030, compared with 2005 levels. However, after legal challenges by a coalition of states, it was paused by the supreme court in 2016 and has never come into force.
The Trump administration has argued the EPA exceeded its authority by imposing the rules and claimed that it would prove ruinous to coal-producing areas.
Under Trump, the US has announced its intention to exit the Paris climate accords, pare back vehicle emission standards and open up more lands and waters to oil and gas drilling.
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Twenty-two states ask US appeals court to reinstate ‘net neutrality’ rules
Reuters - raw story
21 AUG 2018 AT 06:16 ET
A group of 22 state attorneys general and the District of Columbia late Monday asked a U.S. appeals court to reinstate the Obama administration’s 2015 landmark net neutrality rules and reject the Trump administration’s efforts to preempt states from imposing their own rules guaranteeing an open internet.
The states, led by New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood, filed a lawsuit in January after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted in December along party lines to reverse rules that barred internet service providers from blocking or throttling traffic or offering paid fast lanes, also known as paid prioritization.
Several internet companies filed a separate legal challenge on Monday to overturn the FCC ruling, including Mozilla Corp, Vimeo Inc, Etsy Inc, and numerous media and technology advocacy groups.
The FCC handed sweeping new powers to internet providers to recast how Americans use the internet — as long as they disclose any changes. The new rules took effect in early June but major providers have made no changes in internet access.
The states argue the FCC reversal will harm consumers.
The states also suggested the FCC failed to identify any “valid authority” for preempting state and local laws that would protect net neutrality.
Governors in six states have signed executive orders on net neutrality, while three states have enacted net neutrality legislation.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has repeatedly said he believes the rules will be upheld and will encourage additional investment by providers. A spokesman for Pai did not immediately comment late Monday.
The revised rules were a win for internet service providers, like Comcast Corp, AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications Inc, whose practices faced significant government oversight and FCC investigations under the 2015 order, but the rules were opposed by internet firms like Facebook Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc.
The FCC failed to offer a “meaningful defense of its decision to uncritically accept industry promises that are untethered to any enforcement mechanism,” the states said.
The U.S. Senate voted in May to keep the Obama-era internet rules, but the measure is unlikely to be approved by the House of Representatives or the White House.
The state attorney generals suing represent states with 165 million people — more than half the United States population — and include California, Illinois, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
The states argue the FCC action could harm public safety, citing electrical grids as an example. They argue “the absence of open internet rules jeopardizes the ability to reduce load in times of extreme energy grid stress. Consequently, the order threatens the reliability of the electric grid.”
The states, led by New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood, filed a lawsuit in January after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted in December along party lines to reverse rules that barred internet service providers from blocking or throttling traffic or offering paid fast lanes, also known as paid prioritization.
Several internet companies filed a separate legal challenge on Monday to overturn the FCC ruling, including Mozilla Corp, Vimeo Inc, Etsy Inc, and numerous media and technology advocacy groups.
The FCC handed sweeping new powers to internet providers to recast how Americans use the internet — as long as they disclose any changes. The new rules took effect in early June but major providers have made no changes in internet access.
The states argue the FCC reversal will harm consumers.
The states also suggested the FCC failed to identify any “valid authority” for preempting state and local laws that would protect net neutrality.
Governors in six states have signed executive orders on net neutrality, while three states have enacted net neutrality legislation.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has repeatedly said he believes the rules will be upheld and will encourage additional investment by providers. A spokesman for Pai did not immediately comment late Monday.
The revised rules were a win for internet service providers, like Comcast Corp, AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications Inc, whose practices faced significant government oversight and FCC investigations under the 2015 order, but the rules were opposed by internet firms like Facebook Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc.
The FCC failed to offer a “meaningful defense of its decision to uncritically accept industry promises that are untethered to any enforcement mechanism,” the states said.
The U.S. Senate voted in May to keep the Obama-era internet rules, but the measure is unlikely to be approved by the House of Representatives or the White House.
The state attorney generals suing represent states with 165 million people — more than half the United States population — and include California, Illinois, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
The states argue the FCC action could harm public safety, citing electrical grids as an example. They argue “the absence of open internet rules jeopardizes the ability to reduce load in times of extreme energy grid stress. Consequently, the order threatens the reliability of the electric grid.”
Zinke Blamed “Environmental Terrorists” for Wildfires. Here’s the Crazy Backstory That Led to That.
It all goes back to a Libertarian activist in the 80’s.
KATE YODER - mother jones
AUG. 21, 2018 6:00 AM
From California to British Columbia, the West is burning up. While fire experts are clear that climate change is a major factor in making wildfires more frequent and more intense, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke can’t seem to make up his mind about its role. Instead, he has blamed an unusual boogeyman for the fires: environmental terrorists.
“We have been held hostage by these environmental terrorist groups that have not allowed public access—that refuse to allow [the] harvest of timber,” he told Breitbart earlier this month. The underlying cause of catastrophic blazes, he said, is the “fuel load” of dead and dying timber in our forests. Whoa there, Zinke!
Fire experts do say that there’s more fuel in Western forests than there used to be, thanks to decades of aggressive fire suppression—and, well, because the warmer weather has been drying everything up.
Understanding Zinke’s bizarre claim about environmental terrorists requires a short history lesson. The concept came from one of the environmental movement’s biggest foes: libertarian activist Ron Arnold, who once told theNew York Times that he wanted to “destroy environmentalists.”
Arnold coined the term “ecoterrorism” in 1983 article and later published the book Eco-terror: The Violent Agenda to Save Nature, which attempted to link the environmental movement with the Unabomber. Arnold used “ecoterrorism” to refer to groups like Earth Liberation Front, Animal Liberation Front, and Earth First! that sometimes engaged in property crimes, like vandalism and tree spiking, to combat environmental degradation and animal rights abuses.
Experts who have studied the phenomenon say “ecoterrorism” is not an appropriate term.
“In my research, I found that 90 to 95 percent of all direct actions, or crimes if you will, perpetrated by these groups do not fall anywhere close to the term ‘terrorism,'” says Donald Liddick, author of Eco-Terrorism: Radical Environmental and Animal Liberation Movements.
A 2013 study that surveyed the acceptance of “ecoterrorism” found that “there is no documented evidence of harm coming to humans as a result of actions by radical environmentalists.” The authors suggest that terms like “obstruction,” “vandalism,” and “sabotage” more accurately described actions labeled as “ecoterrorism.”
Tree spiking, the widely feared practice of boobytrapping trees with metal rods, resulted in only one serious injury. Tree-spiking groups gave ample warning of their actions—they didn’t want the trees to be cut down, after all.
Liddick points out that Arnold had political motivations when he coined the phrase. Arnold is a policy advisor to the climate-denying think tank The Heartland Institute and the executive vice president of the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise, which has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding from ExxonMobil and the ultra-conservative Mercer Family Foundation.
The term “ecoterrorism” picked up steam through the ’80s and ’90s, and began to appear in the prosecution of environmental and animal activists. Things took a turn for the weird in 2004: The FBI’s top official in charge of domestic terrorism, John Lewis, named ecoterrorism and the animal rights movement “the No. 1 domestic terrorism threat,” over far-right extremism, the KKK, and anti-abortion groups. (Arnold, it turns out, had asked the FBI to take a closer look at “ecoterrorists” in 2002.) At the time of the FBI’s declaration, no one had been killed in any attacks by these groups, according to CNN.
“To call something terrorism when it doesn’t actually entail a loss of human life is problematic, to say the least,” says Nicole Seymour, assistant professor of English at California State University, Fullerton.
While accusations of “ecoterrorism” have fallen in recent years, the label has been used against activists at Standing Rock, the valve turners, and other pipeline opponents. Zinke’s use of the term didn’t surprise Seymour.
“It’s kind of those boogeymen that the Trump administration and similar folks have been trying to implant in our imagination—these concepts made up to create public panic,” Seymour says.
Seymour sees Zinke’s use of “environmental terrorism” as a sound bite that casts blame off of climate change and onto environmentalists.
Liddick has a different perspective. “Knowing politics as I know politics, I think it’s about lumbering the Sierra,” he says. “Some of the corporate interests want to get the Sierra Nevada softwood and hardwood.”
On Thursday, the day after I spoke with Liddick, the Trump administration announced plans to fight wildfires with more logging and controlled burns on federal land. The timber industry has long used fire prevention as an excuse to clear forests.
So Zinke’s comments didn’t come out of nowhere. But how is all this connected to ecoterrorists? It all goes back to our old libertarian pal Ron Arnold. In addition to coining “ecoterrorism,” he was also the leading force behind the “Wise Use” movement—an anti-environmentalist approach to managing federal lands that emphasizes extraction. Its agenda, spelled out by Arnold in 1988, includes drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, opening all public lands to mining and oil exploration, and clear-cutting old growth in national forests — partly for wildfire prevention, of course. In other words, this tenuous link between ecoterrorism and logging is 20 years old.
“We have been held hostage by these environmental terrorist groups that have not allowed public access—that refuse to allow [the] harvest of timber,” he told Breitbart earlier this month. The underlying cause of catastrophic blazes, he said, is the “fuel load” of dead and dying timber in our forests. Whoa there, Zinke!
Fire experts do say that there’s more fuel in Western forests than there used to be, thanks to decades of aggressive fire suppression—and, well, because the warmer weather has been drying everything up.
Understanding Zinke’s bizarre claim about environmental terrorists requires a short history lesson. The concept came from one of the environmental movement’s biggest foes: libertarian activist Ron Arnold, who once told theNew York Times that he wanted to “destroy environmentalists.”
Arnold coined the term “ecoterrorism” in 1983 article and later published the book Eco-terror: The Violent Agenda to Save Nature, which attempted to link the environmental movement with the Unabomber. Arnold used “ecoterrorism” to refer to groups like Earth Liberation Front, Animal Liberation Front, and Earth First! that sometimes engaged in property crimes, like vandalism and tree spiking, to combat environmental degradation and animal rights abuses.
Experts who have studied the phenomenon say “ecoterrorism” is not an appropriate term.
“In my research, I found that 90 to 95 percent of all direct actions, or crimes if you will, perpetrated by these groups do not fall anywhere close to the term ‘terrorism,'” says Donald Liddick, author of Eco-Terrorism: Radical Environmental and Animal Liberation Movements.
A 2013 study that surveyed the acceptance of “ecoterrorism” found that “there is no documented evidence of harm coming to humans as a result of actions by radical environmentalists.” The authors suggest that terms like “obstruction,” “vandalism,” and “sabotage” more accurately described actions labeled as “ecoterrorism.”
Tree spiking, the widely feared practice of boobytrapping trees with metal rods, resulted in only one serious injury. Tree-spiking groups gave ample warning of their actions—they didn’t want the trees to be cut down, after all.
Liddick points out that Arnold had political motivations when he coined the phrase. Arnold is a policy advisor to the climate-denying think tank The Heartland Institute and the executive vice president of the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise, which has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding from ExxonMobil and the ultra-conservative Mercer Family Foundation.
The term “ecoterrorism” picked up steam through the ’80s and ’90s, and began to appear in the prosecution of environmental and animal activists. Things took a turn for the weird in 2004: The FBI’s top official in charge of domestic terrorism, John Lewis, named ecoterrorism and the animal rights movement “the No. 1 domestic terrorism threat,” over far-right extremism, the KKK, and anti-abortion groups. (Arnold, it turns out, had asked the FBI to take a closer look at “ecoterrorists” in 2002.) At the time of the FBI’s declaration, no one had been killed in any attacks by these groups, according to CNN.
“To call something terrorism when it doesn’t actually entail a loss of human life is problematic, to say the least,” says Nicole Seymour, assistant professor of English at California State University, Fullerton.
While accusations of “ecoterrorism” have fallen in recent years, the label has been used against activists at Standing Rock, the valve turners, and other pipeline opponents. Zinke’s use of the term didn’t surprise Seymour.
“It’s kind of those boogeymen that the Trump administration and similar folks have been trying to implant in our imagination—these concepts made up to create public panic,” Seymour says.
Seymour sees Zinke’s use of “environmental terrorism” as a sound bite that casts blame off of climate change and onto environmentalists.
Liddick has a different perspective. “Knowing politics as I know politics, I think it’s about lumbering the Sierra,” he says. “Some of the corporate interests want to get the Sierra Nevada softwood and hardwood.”
On Thursday, the day after I spoke with Liddick, the Trump administration announced plans to fight wildfires with more logging and controlled burns on federal land. The timber industry has long used fire prevention as an excuse to clear forests.
So Zinke’s comments didn’t come out of nowhere. But how is all this connected to ecoterrorists? It all goes back to our old libertarian pal Ron Arnold. In addition to coining “ecoterrorism,” he was also the leading force behind the “Wise Use” movement—an anti-environmentalist approach to managing federal lands that emphasizes extraction. Its agenda, spelled out by Arnold in 1988, includes drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, opening all public lands to mining and oil exploration, and clear-cutting old growth in national forests — partly for wildfire prevention, of course. In other words, this tenuous link between ecoterrorism and logging is 20 years old.
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Trump’s immigrant family separation strategy 2.0 targets children as they return to school
Trump policy takes aim at families with American children who reside with at least one parent who is undocumented
BOB HENNELLY - salon
AUGUST 21, 2018 11:30AM (UTC)
There was great public outcry over the Trump administration’s separation of thousands of minor children from their immigrant parents, many of whom were legally pursuing asylum here in the United States when they were apprehended. The move has been widely condemned as inhumane and likely a violation of international law.
But less widely reported is the Trump administration’s targeting of the households in which close to five million U.S born children, who as American citizens reside with at least one parent who is undocumented. In New Jersey alone it is estimated that 185,580, or one-in-11 of the children that call New Jersey home, lives with at least one immediate family member who is undocumented making them vulnerable to deportation.
Since the start of President Trump’s multi-faceted immigration crackdown, local public health and law enforcement officials have raised concerns that immigrant communities fear of involvement with their agencies would have both public safety and public health ramifications well beyond the immigrant families.
Earlier this year “with no fanfare and little public notice, the Department of State has amended the Foreign Affairs manual to increase the burden of satisfying the public charge ground of inadmissibility for both immigrant and nonimmigrants,” according to a legal memo from the Catholic Legal Immigration Network.
The term “public charge” refers to the ability of an immigrant, or their sponsor to demonstrate to Federal immigration officials that they are not now, nor have they been in the past, nor anytime in the future likely to become dependent on welfare or a public health care subsidy. Failure to make that proof would be sufficient grounds for deeming the applicant “inadmissible” to the United States and ineligible for permanent resident status.
The unilateral changes made by the Department of State targeted immigrant families already in the immigration legal system, according to Joshua Bardavid, a New York City immigration attorney. Under the new “field guidance” undocumented parents could be at risk of deportation just because they decided to enroll their American-born children in the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program or to seek other tax benefits to which they are entitled.
Bardavid said the latest Trump administrative move was similar to its strategy of physically separating incoming undocumented immigrants from their children; only that in this case, the administration was using the benefits to which the American-born children are entitled as citizens as leverage against the undocumented parents the Trump administration has targeted for deportation.
“Previously, that [guidance] had said that if the immigrant parent had previously received some form of welfare that could be a disqualifying factor,” he said. “Now, they are saying, if the immigrant’s U.S.- citizen children are entitled to certain public benefits . . . that the children themselves receiving those benefits can be grounds for their immigrant parent to be denied” their application for permanent resident status which clears the way for their deportation.
He continued, “So, immigrants will no longer access these benefits for their children. All of these policies as a whole have created massive fear in the immigrant community for interacting with any government official and that has all types of implications. I have had clients tell me they are hesitant to enroll their children in public school.”
So, while this latest stream of gut-wrenching photos of migrant children being torn away from their asylum- seeking parents sparked outrage, this use of the immigration bureaucracy to break up existing American households is harder to graphically depict. Yet, it is arguably even more diabolical because it aims to totally undermine the stability of the families and households that millions of native-born American children, including tens of thousands of New Jersey kids, rely on.
And there are implications for the broader community if immigrants begin to avoid law enforcement, school authorities and public health officials.
Already a survey of New Jersey nonprofits that provide legal support for the state’s immigrant community reports that a majority of their clients decline from filing orders of protection against an abusive spouse for fear of running into Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE). Fifty-six percent won’t attend municipal court over worries of being detained by ICE.
A closer examinations of just what is going on in the Immigration Court system validates those anxieties. Immigration is classified as a civil legal matter and there is no Constitutional right to counsel. Also, the immigration court system does not have the independence of the federal judiciary, because it is overseen by the Department of Justice which also acts as the prosecutor in immigration cases.[...]
But less widely reported is the Trump administration’s targeting of the households in which close to five million U.S born children, who as American citizens reside with at least one parent who is undocumented. In New Jersey alone it is estimated that 185,580, or one-in-11 of the children that call New Jersey home, lives with at least one immediate family member who is undocumented making them vulnerable to deportation.
Since the start of President Trump’s multi-faceted immigration crackdown, local public health and law enforcement officials have raised concerns that immigrant communities fear of involvement with their agencies would have both public safety and public health ramifications well beyond the immigrant families.
Earlier this year “with no fanfare and little public notice, the Department of State has amended the Foreign Affairs manual to increase the burden of satisfying the public charge ground of inadmissibility for both immigrant and nonimmigrants,” according to a legal memo from the Catholic Legal Immigration Network.
The term “public charge” refers to the ability of an immigrant, or their sponsor to demonstrate to Federal immigration officials that they are not now, nor have they been in the past, nor anytime in the future likely to become dependent on welfare or a public health care subsidy. Failure to make that proof would be sufficient grounds for deeming the applicant “inadmissible” to the United States and ineligible for permanent resident status.
The unilateral changes made by the Department of State targeted immigrant families already in the immigration legal system, according to Joshua Bardavid, a New York City immigration attorney. Under the new “field guidance” undocumented parents could be at risk of deportation just because they decided to enroll their American-born children in the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program or to seek other tax benefits to which they are entitled.
Bardavid said the latest Trump administrative move was similar to its strategy of physically separating incoming undocumented immigrants from their children; only that in this case, the administration was using the benefits to which the American-born children are entitled as citizens as leverage against the undocumented parents the Trump administration has targeted for deportation.
“Previously, that [guidance] had said that if the immigrant parent had previously received some form of welfare that could be a disqualifying factor,” he said. “Now, they are saying, if the immigrant’s U.S.- citizen children are entitled to certain public benefits . . . that the children themselves receiving those benefits can be grounds for their immigrant parent to be denied” their application for permanent resident status which clears the way for their deportation.
He continued, “So, immigrants will no longer access these benefits for their children. All of these policies as a whole have created massive fear in the immigrant community for interacting with any government official and that has all types of implications. I have had clients tell me they are hesitant to enroll their children in public school.”
So, while this latest stream of gut-wrenching photos of migrant children being torn away from their asylum- seeking parents sparked outrage, this use of the immigration bureaucracy to break up existing American households is harder to graphically depict. Yet, it is arguably even more diabolical because it aims to totally undermine the stability of the families and households that millions of native-born American children, including tens of thousands of New Jersey kids, rely on.
And there are implications for the broader community if immigrants begin to avoid law enforcement, school authorities and public health officials.
Already a survey of New Jersey nonprofits that provide legal support for the state’s immigrant community reports that a majority of their clients decline from filing orders of protection against an abusive spouse for fear of running into Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE). Fifty-six percent won’t attend municipal court over worries of being detained by ICE.
A closer examinations of just what is going on in the Immigration Court system validates those anxieties. Immigration is classified as a civil legal matter and there is no Constitutional right to counsel. Also, the immigration court system does not have the independence of the federal judiciary, because it is overseen by the Department of Justice which also acts as the prosecutor in immigration cases.[...]
Here’s how Scientologists tried to sell shady meat to poor people — to pay for their outrageous membership fees
Tana Ganeva - raw story
21 AUG 2018 AT 10:09 ET
The Church of Scientology is normally associated with Hollywood, thanks to big movie star promoters like Tom Cruise and John Travolta.
But a new report in the Daily Beast claims that many rank-and-file members partook in less glamorous industries. The Daily Beast discovered that because Scientology courses were so expensive, many members participated in Scientology-linked enterprises ranging from selling weight-loss supplements to hawking meat to the poor.
The article profiles a former member, Conrad Romo, who said he was assigned the job of driving around poor neighborhoods in Los Angeles and trying to sell wholesale pork chops, burger patties and beef byproducts.
The meat was highly perishable and marked up from store prices. They allegedly targeted poor people, especially people they assumed used food stamps. “You weren’t going to sell meat in Beverly Hills,” Romo explained to the Daily Beast.
“If you did the math, no, it wasn’t a great deal,” he said. “But we needed to eat too.”
A few years later, it was revealed that the over-priced meat was diluted with cheaper products, like chicken gizzards, according to the Daily Beast.
Romo, who quit the church years ago, draws a parallel between Scientology’s sales pitch and his meat-hawking. ““Oh yeah,” he said. “It’s directing attention to where you want it to be. It’s not taking no for an answer. It’s sheer manipulation.”
But a new report in the Daily Beast claims that many rank-and-file members partook in less glamorous industries. The Daily Beast discovered that because Scientology courses were so expensive, many members participated in Scientology-linked enterprises ranging from selling weight-loss supplements to hawking meat to the poor.
The article profiles a former member, Conrad Romo, who said he was assigned the job of driving around poor neighborhoods in Los Angeles and trying to sell wholesale pork chops, burger patties and beef byproducts.
The meat was highly perishable and marked up from store prices. They allegedly targeted poor people, especially people they assumed used food stamps. “You weren’t going to sell meat in Beverly Hills,” Romo explained to the Daily Beast.
“If you did the math, no, it wasn’t a great deal,” he said. “But we needed to eat too.”
A few years later, it was revealed that the over-priced meat was diluted with cheaper products, like chicken gizzards, according to the Daily Beast.
Romo, who quit the church years ago, draws a parallel between Scientology’s sales pitch and his meat-hawking. ““Oh yeah,” he said. “It’s directing attention to where you want it to be. It’s not taking no for an answer. It’s sheer manipulation.”
*bites from real news - 8/21/2018*
*Iran Reveals Newest Fighter Jet Despite Sanctions
The Kowsar, which has highly integrated architecture and a fire-control system that uses fourth-generation digital data networks, is Iran’s first domestically produced jet fighter.
*she really is stupid: Sen. Susan Collins said Kavanaugh sees Roe v. Wade as 'settled law'
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh told Sen. Susan Collins on Tuesday that Roe v. Wade was "settled law," the Maine Republican told reporters after their meeting. Collins, who supports abortion rights, said she raised the issue with K ... (Washington Post)
*Bad Lawmen: Meet 6 of America's Most Drug-Corrupted County Sheriffs
Most county sheriffs are dedicated law enforcement professionals. Some aren’t, and sometimes outrageously so.
*Watch: Tearful Black Girl Kicked Out of Class at Christian School Over ‘Unnatural’ Hair
*The Republican who wants to be Pennsylvania’s next governor is open to banning same-sex marriage
*CREATING A PUBLIC BANK IN THE FINANCIAL CAPITAL OF THE WORLD
(truthout)
*Judge tosses defamation suit against dossier author Christopher Steele filed by Russian oligarchs
A federal judge dismissed a defamation suit filed by three Russian oligarchs against former British spy Christopher Steele over his infamous dossier linking the Trump campaign to the Kremlin.
*Barely literate? How Christian fundamentalist homeschooling hurts kids
The Religious Right touts homeschooling as the "responsible" educational choice. But what about the kids whose parents opt-out of the system -- and out of educating them, as well?
*Here are 33 jaw-droppingly stupid multiple-choice test questions used by Christian homeschoolers
This is what happens when you leave education to people for whom religious conversion is everything and learning is a distant afterthought.
*Judge Orders Michigan Official to Stand Trial for Involuntary Manslaughter In Legionnaires Case
Nick Lyon is accused of failing to issue a timely alert to the public about the outbreak. Judge David Goggins said deaths likely could have been prevented if the outbreak had been publicly known.
*People who believe in Creationism are also more likely to be duped by Alex Jones — according to science
A recent psychological study revealed scientists were able to pinpoint the mindset that enables people to believe in bizarre and farfetched ideas.
*Pizzagate conspiracy theorist wants his fans to pay him $1000 a month so he can ‘retire from public life’
Onetime alt-right provocateur and “Pizzagate” conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich wants to retire from public life — and wants you to pay him $1,000 a month so he can do so.
*Trump's budget chief is trying to protect his home state from tariffs
Pr*sident Donald Trump’s budget director, Mick Mulvaney, is trying to use his influence to help a South Carolina business that could be badly wounded by the White House’s trade policies. Mulvaney, a former South Carolina Republican congressman, has ... (McClatchy)
*A Catholic cardinal would rather blame the gays than address the church’s sex abuse problem
Trump’s ‘Easy’ Trade War: A Report From The Front
Our Trade Deficit Has Grown Worse While China Finds New Suppliers and Markets
By David Cay Johnston, DCReport Editor-in-Chief
8/21/18
Reports are coming in from the first skirmishes in Donald Trump’s gratuitous trade war. They show our country is losing these early rounds of what China calls “the biggest trade war in economic history.”
“Trade wars are good and easy to win,” Trump declared in a March 2, 2018, tweet. So far that’s not how it’s gone.
Among the reports from the frontlines of this economic battleground is this gem — America’s trade deficit in goods has worsened significantly since the first of this year, Census Department data show: Overall 7% worse. China 9% worse. Europe 16% worse.
China is not suffering either.
“China’s exports in July were up 12.2% over the prior year, ahead of market expectations,” noted David Dollar, an American trade emissary to China from 2009-13. “The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) updated forecast for China’s GDP growth this year is 6.6%, above the target for the year.”
Contrast those robust Chinese economic indicators with the pain felt by American soybean farmers, hurt so much that Trump wants to send them $12 billion of welfare. At the same time, Brazilian soybean farmers are enjoying soaring prices as China relies on this new source for imported soybeans.
Then there’s Canada, America’s largest buyer of exported goods, mostly finished products that create lots of high-paying American jobs. Trump attacked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, calling him in a June tweet “very dishonest and weak.”
Trump’s trade war began with two products from China, washing machines and solar panels. It now applies to 10,000 products.
Wars of all kinds have a nasty history of expanding, shifting and having unpredictable outcomes.
Whether Trump will pay any political price for the job losses, factory closings, falling soybean prices and other economic damage from launching a trade war on many fronts with no advance planning on how to win remains to be seen.
In the Missouri town of Poplar Bluff, near the Arkansas border, Trump’s steel tariffs may cause one of the largest local employers to go out of business. Already 60 of the 500 jobs at Mid Continent Nail Corp. have gone poof. But when journalist Melinda Henneberger spoke with some of the 17,000 residents about how Mid Continent was at risk of closing because of Trump’s trade war they said their support for Trump would not be swayed no matter what, not even by losing their livelihoods.
Nurse Carol McGee said, “It would be a detriment to our community. But when you look at the bigger picture, blaming him solely is not necessarily accurate.” Others agreed.
“Trade wars are good and easy to win,” Trump declared in a March 2, 2018, tweet. So far that’s not how it’s gone.
Among the reports from the frontlines of this economic battleground is this gem — America’s trade deficit in goods has worsened significantly since the first of this year, Census Department data show: Overall 7% worse. China 9% worse. Europe 16% worse.
China is not suffering either.
“China’s exports in July were up 12.2% over the prior year, ahead of market expectations,” noted David Dollar, an American trade emissary to China from 2009-13. “The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) updated forecast for China’s GDP growth this year is 6.6%, above the target for the year.”
Contrast those robust Chinese economic indicators with the pain felt by American soybean farmers, hurt so much that Trump wants to send them $12 billion of welfare. At the same time, Brazilian soybean farmers are enjoying soaring prices as China relies on this new source for imported soybeans.
Then there’s Canada, America’s largest buyer of exported goods, mostly finished products that create lots of high-paying American jobs. Trump attacked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, calling him in a June tweet “very dishonest and weak.”
Trump’s trade war began with two products from China, washing machines and solar panels. It now applies to 10,000 products.
Wars of all kinds have a nasty history of expanding, shifting and having unpredictable outcomes.
Whether Trump will pay any political price for the job losses, factory closings, falling soybean prices and other economic damage from launching a trade war on many fronts with no advance planning on how to win remains to be seen.
In the Missouri town of Poplar Bluff, near the Arkansas border, Trump’s steel tariffs may cause one of the largest local employers to go out of business. Already 60 of the 500 jobs at Mid Continent Nail Corp. have gone poof. But when journalist Melinda Henneberger spoke with some of the 17,000 residents about how Mid Continent was at risk of closing because of Trump’s trade war they said their support for Trump would not be swayed no matter what, not even by losing their livelihoods.
Nurse Carol McGee said, “It would be a detriment to our community. But when you look at the bigger picture, blaming him solely is not necessarily accurate.” Others agreed.
This Family is Fleeing Oklahoma After Their 12-Year-Old Transgender Daughter Was
Threatened for Using the Bathroom at School
Her mother said that she's "scared" for Maddie's safety.
By Chris Sosa / AlterNet
August 21, 2018, 5:47 AM GMT
The family of a 12-year-old transgender student in Oklahoma is preparing to leave the state entirely after their daughter's use of the restroom was met with violent threats.
Brandy Rose, the student's mother, made the statement on her personal Facebook profile. A GoFundMe page set up by a supporter has already raised $25,000 to help the family with expenses related to their relocation.
The family hopes to move to Houston.
The family of a 12-year-old transgender student in Oklahoma is preparing to leave the state entirely after their daughter's use of the restroom was met with violent threats.
Brandy Rose, the student's mother, made the statement on her personal Facebook profile. A GoFundMe page set up by a supporter has already raised $25,000 to help the family with expenses related to their relocation.
The family hopes to move to Houston.
Rose wrote that “while I know the school district here is doing everything they can to help keep Maddie safe at school, it's not just at school that I'm scared for her, and where we would like to move to is much more open to people like my daughter, she'd have more medical resources, and we'd be with loving, supportive family.”
Maddie had previously used the faculty bathroom at school but used the girls' bathroom when she couldn't locate the faculty bathroom on her first day at a new campus.
The school canceled two days of classes last week after protest plans by transgender advocates were announced.
In a strange turn of events, one of the individuals accused of threatening Maddie was an airline pilot. Frontier Airlines announced that Kevin Bickerstaff was suspended amid an investigation.
“We have long-established standards of conduct, to which all employees must agree to adhere, that among other things require people to act in a professional manner and to treat each other with genuine respect and kindness,” the company said in a written statement.
Brandy Rose, the student's mother, made the statement on her personal Facebook profile. A GoFundMe page set up by a supporter has already raised $25,000 to help the family with expenses related to their relocation.
The family hopes to move to Houston.
The family of a 12-year-old transgender student in Oklahoma is preparing to leave the state entirely after their daughter's use of the restroom was met with violent threats.
Brandy Rose, the student's mother, made the statement on her personal Facebook profile. A GoFundMe page set up by a supporter has already raised $25,000 to help the family with expenses related to their relocation.
The family hopes to move to Houston.
Rose wrote that “while I know the school district here is doing everything they can to help keep Maddie safe at school, it's not just at school that I'm scared for her, and where we would like to move to is much more open to people like my daughter, she'd have more medical resources, and we'd be with loving, supportive family.”
Maddie had previously used the faculty bathroom at school but used the girls' bathroom when she couldn't locate the faculty bathroom on her first day at a new campus.
The school canceled two days of classes last week after protest plans by transgender advocates were announced.
In a strange turn of events, one of the individuals accused of threatening Maddie was an airline pilot. Frontier Airlines announced that Kevin Bickerstaff was suspended amid an investigation.
“We have long-established standards of conduct, to which all employees must agree to adhere, that among other things require people to act in a professional manner and to treat each other with genuine respect and kindness,” the company said in a written statement.
GOP Senate Candidate Says He Supports Coverage For Preexisting Conditions — Even As He Sues to End It
Josh Hawley is trying to destroy one of the Affordable Care Act's most popular provisions, even while claiming he supports it.
By Matthew Chapman / AlterNet
August 21, 2018, 3:56 AM GMT
On Monday, Missouri Attorney General and GOP Senate candidate Josh Hawley told reporters during a campaign stop at a glass plant in Kansas City that, while he opposes the Affordable Care Act, he wants to keep one of its most popular provisions: the provision that insurance companies must issue coverage to anyone regardless of their health.
"I think we ought to require insurance companies to cover folks with pre-existing conditions," Hawley said. "I think we ought to — you mandate it. You say, you have to cover them with pre-existing conditions."
There's just one problem: he is currently part of a lawsuit to eliminate that very provision.
Hawley is a party to Texas v. United States, a suit brought by 20 GOP-controlled states which alleges that essentially the entire individual-market provisions of President Barack Obama's signature health care law — including guaranteed issue to those with pre-existing conditions — are invalid, because the individual mandate has been cut to zero by the Republican tax scam bill.
Most legal experts, on the left and the right, believe the lawsuit makes no sense. But given the case is set to be heard by a judge who has ruled against the ACA before, and could potentially be appealed to judges appointed by President Donald Trump, who has taken the extraordinary step of siding with the suit against his own government, there is no guarantee it will lose — and a victory for Hawley and his fellow Republican attorneys general would put 52 million Americans' coverage at risk.
Hawley made no effort to reconcile his claim to support pre-existing condition coverage with his involvement in a lawsuit to obliterate it. Nor did he explain what sort of "mandate" he is advocating for.
Hawley's opponent, incumbent Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill, was one of the original votes for the ACA, and for the protection of pre-existing conditions. She has furiously condemned the lawsuit, and Hawley's involvement in it, co-sponsoring a Senate resolution to oppose it.
A seismic shift in public opinion on the ACA has taken place over the last two years. Voters who once feared and distrusted the most significant health care reform in decades now broadly support the law, and Republicans who spent their careers running on killing it suddenly find their old mantra toxic on the campaign trail.
"I think we ought to require insurance companies to cover folks with pre-existing conditions," Hawley said. "I think we ought to — you mandate it. You say, you have to cover them with pre-existing conditions."
There's just one problem: he is currently part of a lawsuit to eliminate that very provision.
Hawley is a party to Texas v. United States, a suit brought by 20 GOP-controlled states which alleges that essentially the entire individual-market provisions of President Barack Obama's signature health care law — including guaranteed issue to those with pre-existing conditions — are invalid, because the individual mandate has been cut to zero by the Republican tax scam bill.
Most legal experts, on the left and the right, believe the lawsuit makes no sense. But given the case is set to be heard by a judge who has ruled against the ACA before, and could potentially be appealed to judges appointed by President Donald Trump, who has taken the extraordinary step of siding with the suit against his own government, there is no guarantee it will lose — and a victory for Hawley and his fellow Republican attorneys general would put 52 million Americans' coverage at risk.
Hawley made no effort to reconcile his claim to support pre-existing condition coverage with his involvement in a lawsuit to obliterate it. Nor did he explain what sort of "mandate" he is advocating for.
Hawley's opponent, incumbent Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill, was one of the original votes for the ACA, and for the protection of pre-existing conditions. She has furiously condemned the lawsuit, and Hawley's involvement in it, co-sponsoring a Senate resolution to oppose it.
A seismic shift in public opinion on the ACA has taken place over the last two years. Voters who once feared and distrusted the most significant health care reform in decades now broadly support the law, and Republicans who spent their careers running on killing it suddenly find their old mantra toxic on the campaign trail.
TRUMP'S EPA ADMITS ITS OWN PLAN TO GUT OBAMA POWER PLANT RULES COULD KILL THOUSANDS BY 2030
BY CHANTAL DA SILVA - newsweek
ON 8/21/18 AT 11:41 AM
As the Trump administration unveiled its new plan to replace former President Barack Obama's Clean Power Plan (CPP) on Tuesday, rolling back restrictions on coal-fired power plants, it also revealed just how many lives could be at risk if the proposal is approved.
The Environmental Working Group warned on Tuesday that the Trump administration's new Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) Plan would "mean more children suffering from asthma, more Americans dying early deaths and only miniscule reduction of global warming pollution."
And, as the ECG has pointed out, the Environmental Protection Agency's own analysis of the proposal supports that claim, making clear the ACE Plan could increase carbon emissions and potentially cause as many as 1,400 premature deaths each year by 2030.
The EPA said in a news release announcing its plan that ACE seeks to "reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from existing coal-fired electric utility generating units and power plants across the country" by establishing emission guidelines for states to use when "developing plans to limit GHGs at their power plants."
Calling the CPP "burdensome" and "overly prescriptive" the agency said the ACE proposal "empowers states, promotes energy independence and facilitates economic growth and job creation."
“The ACE Rule would restore the rule of law and empower states to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide modern, reliable, and affordable energy for all Americans,” said EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler.
The Environmental Working Group warned on Tuesday that the Trump administration's new Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) Plan would "mean more children suffering from asthma, more Americans dying early deaths and only miniscule reduction of global warming pollution."
And, as the ECG has pointed out, the Environmental Protection Agency's own analysis of the proposal supports that claim, making clear the ACE Plan could increase carbon emissions and potentially cause as many as 1,400 premature deaths each year by 2030.
The EPA said in a news release announcing its plan that ACE seeks to "reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from existing coal-fired electric utility generating units and power plants across the country" by establishing emission guidelines for states to use when "developing plans to limit GHGs at their power plants."
Calling the CPP "burdensome" and "overly prescriptive" the agency said the ACE proposal "empowers states, promotes energy independence and facilitates economic growth and job creation."
“The ACE Rule would restore the rule of law and empower states to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide modern, reliable, and affordable energy for all Americans,” said EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler.
Betsy DeVos has ‘thrown out’ civil rights complaints filed by transgender students: report
David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement - raw story
20 AUG 2018 AT 17:36 ET
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has “thrown out” formal civil rights complaints filed by students and former students who are transgender, a report at Politico shows. It also appears some if not all of the complaints thrown out were not officially resolved and the victims were not notified. Other cases brought by trans students have been languishing for years.
Politico states that “an examination of federal records by POLITICO shows” that “at least five” complaints “involving transgender students denied bathroom access [were] thrown out by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who has halted such investigations.”
Politico states that “an examination of federal records by POLITICO shows” that “at least five” complaints “involving transgender students denied bathroom access [were] thrown out by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who has halted such investigations.”
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just what a racist fool would say!!!
‘Speaks perfect English’: Trump praises border agent at event honoring immigration ‘heroes’
"You're not nervous right? Speaks perfect English!"
REBEKAH ENTRALGO - thinkprogress
AUG 20, 2018, 5:07 PM
At a White House event Monday honoring the “heroes” of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), President Trump invited Latinx U.S. Border Patrol agent Adrian Anzaldua to the podium to describe how he arrested a human smuggler for transporting 78 undocumented immigrants in a trailer.
“You’re not nervous right?” Trump said as Anzaldua approached the lectern. “Speaks perfect English!”
Aside from the fact that the comment carried racist undertones — Anzaldua, after all, is a federal employee of the U.S. government — it was a strange, off-color remark to make, especially considering the president’s own gaffes throughout the White House event.
Multiple times throughout the speech, as those monitoring the event were quick to point out, Trump referred to CBP as “CBC,” despite appearing to read the agency’s name directly from a teleprompter.
Trump also appeared to suggest that ICE was freeing American citizens across the country from MS-13 gangs. “They’re actually liberating towns,” he said.
As ProPublica has reported, MS-13 is not organizing to foil immigration law, nor is there a crisis involving members posing as “fake families at the border” to get into the United States on asylum, as Trump has claimed in the past.
Trump also repeated his false claim that Democrats “don’t mind” crime, pointing to their strong opposition to his plan for a multi-billion dollar wall along the southern border between the U.S. and Mexico. As many have noted, there are several reasons critics have taken issue with the border wall, not the least of which is its continually ballooning price tag.
The White House event honoring CBP and ICE “heroes” comes at a time when many progressive politicians are calling for the latter agency’s abolition, over a multitude of allegations against its members and leadership.
As recently reported, ICE has been working in tandem with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to trap undocumented immigrants seeking legal status by arresting them during meetings with immigration officials and subsequently deporting some of them.
In emails obtained by the ACLU, USCIS employees said it was their “job to locate and arrest [undocumented immigrants].”
ICE’s tactic of tricking and trapping immigrants seeking legal status in the United States falls in line with a recent report by NBC News that found federal arrests of non-criminal undocumented immigrants have tripled under the Trump administration. At least 58,010 undocumented immigrants without criminal convictions were arrested in the first 14 months of the Trump administration alone, many of them without warrants.
“You’re not nervous right?” Trump said as Anzaldua approached the lectern. “Speaks perfect English!”
Aside from the fact that the comment carried racist undertones — Anzaldua, after all, is a federal employee of the U.S. government — it was a strange, off-color remark to make, especially considering the president’s own gaffes throughout the White House event.
Multiple times throughout the speech, as those monitoring the event were quick to point out, Trump referred to CBP as “CBC,” despite appearing to read the agency’s name directly from a teleprompter.
Trump also appeared to suggest that ICE was freeing American citizens across the country from MS-13 gangs. “They’re actually liberating towns,” he said.
As ProPublica has reported, MS-13 is not organizing to foil immigration law, nor is there a crisis involving members posing as “fake families at the border” to get into the United States on asylum, as Trump has claimed in the past.
Trump also repeated his false claim that Democrats “don’t mind” crime, pointing to their strong opposition to his plan for a multi-billion dollar wall along the southern border between the U.S. and Mexico. As many have noted, there are several reasons critics have taken issue with the border wall, not the least of which is its continually ballooning price tag.
The White House event honoring CBP and ICE “heroes” comes at a time when many progressive politicians are calling for the latter agency’s abolition, over a multitude of allegations against its members and leadership.
As recently reported, ICE has been working in tandem with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to trap undocumented immigrants seeking legal status by arresting them during meetings with immigration officials and subsequently deporting some of them.
In emails obtained by the ACLU, USCIS employees said it was their “job to locate and arrest [undocumented immigrants].”
ICE’s tactic of tricking and trapping immigrants seeking legal status in the United States falls in line with a recent report by NBC News that found federal arrests of non-criminal undocumented immigrants have tripled under the Trump administration. At least 58,010 undocumented immigrants without criminal convictions were arrested in the first 14 months of the Trump administration alone, many of them without warrants.
*What's Inside*
august 18 - august 20
~DANGEROUS STEREOTYPES STALK BLACK COLLEGE ATHLETES
(RACE MATTERS)
*HERE'S HOW WORKERS GET SCAMMED IN THE NEW ECONOMY — AS CORPORATIONS GET RICHER AND MORE POWERFUL(CAPITALISM)
*‘A SMOKESTORM IS IMMINENT’: SPOKANE’S HAZARDOUS AIR NOW WORSE THAN BEIJING AND DELHI COMBINED(ENVIRONMENT)
*POLLSTERS: TRUMP AND GOP ARE LOSING YOUNG, FEMALE VOTERS PERMANENTLY
(TRUMP)
*ICE FOUND ON MOON SURFACE
(SPACE NEWS)
*TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SAYS DEPORTABLE IMMIGRANTS CAN’T GO TO THE COURTS — EVEN IF THEIR FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS ARE VIOLATED(RIGHTS)
*BIG BANKS WERE MEANT TO GAIN FROM BIPARTISAN DEREGULATION BILL ALL ALONG, SENATE LETTER REVEALS(REALITY)
*FLORIDA JUDGE THROWS CHARTER SCHOOL AMENDMENT OFF BALLOT
(EDUCATION)
*HALF OF SICK AMERICANS ARE UNINSURED OR HAVE AFFORDABILITY PROBLEMS DESPITE HEALTH COVERAGE(AMERICA)
*DEMANDING WIDE-REACHING REFORMS AND AN END TO SLAVERY, INCARCERATED PEOPLE IN 17 STATES PLAN PRISON STRIKE(SLAVERY 21ST CENTURY)
*PHARMACY-MADE PAIN CREAMS FLAGGED ON FEARS OF MEDICARE FRAUD AND RISK
(CORPORATE CRIMINALS)
*MIAMI HERALD THROWS SUPPORT BEHIND REPUBLICAN WHO SAYS SHE WAS ABDUCTED BY ALIENS
(WORTHLESS MEDIA)
*SUMMER WEATHER IS GETTING 'STUCK' DUE TO ARCTIC WARMING
(EARTH)
*ARIZONA REPUBLICAN CLAIMS SHE DOESN’T KNOW WHAT THE ALT-RIGHT IS AS INFAMOUS WHITE NATIONALIST JOINS HER CAMPAIGN(GOP POLITICS)
*DEMS TO CHALLENGE KAVANAUGH FOR WHITE HOUSE RECORDS
(DEMO POLITICS)
*THIS MODERN WORLD BY TOM TOMORROW
(FUNNIES)
~TOYS R US MAY BE GONE, BUT ITS WORKERS’ FIGHT CONTINUES
(CAPITALISM)
*SIGHTINGS AND SATELLITES HELP TRACK MYSTERIOUS OCEAN GIANT
(WEIRD THINGS)
*NEW JERSEY SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATE CALLED BLACK PEOPLE ‘ANIMALS’ AND ‘USELESS WASTES OF LIFE’(AMERIKKKANS)
*MORE PEOPLE DIED FROM OPIOID OVERDOSES THAN BY GUNS OR CAR CRASHES IN 2017, PRELIMINARY DATA SHOWS(REALITY)
*US SAYS CONSERVING OIL IS NO LONGER AN ECONOMIC IMPERATIVE
(OIL)
*LEGACY OF SLAVERY, SEGREGATION IMPACTS DEBATE ON TALBOT BOYS STATUE IN MARYLAND
(BLACK HISTORY)
*HOW GUATEMALA IS SLIDING INTO CHAOS IN THE FIGHT FOR LAND AND WATER
(WORLD)
~THESE THREE STATES THAT WENT FOR TRUMP IN 2016 WILL BE HARDEST HIT BY HIS AUTO TARIFFS: REPORT(PAYBACK)
*CHILD ABUSE, THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE JUSTICE OF REAL CONSEQUENCES
(COMMENTARY)
*INTERNAL ICE EMAILS SHOW HOW THE GOVERNMENT SET A TRAP FOR UNDOCUMENTED SPOUSES OF US CITIZENS(GESTAPO USA)
*THE AMOUNT OF TOXIC WASTEWATER PRODUCED BY FRACKING IS UNBELIEVABLE
(ENVIRONMENT)
*DELICIOUS PURPLE BEANS CONNECTED ONE CHEF TO HER FAMILY’S CULINARY PAST
(REAL PEOPLE)
*ALLIANCE DEFENDING FREEDOM’S LITANY OF ANTI-LGBTQ CASES MAKES CLEAR WHY IT’S A HATE GROUP(RIGHTS)
Jim Carrey's latest artwork.
*late news of interest*
‘Not what 9-1-1 was designed for’: Devin Nunes slammed for ‘calling the police’ on protesting constituents
Bob Brigham - raw story
14 AUG 2018 AT 16:25 ET
Congressman Devin Nunes (R-CA) was publicly called out for misusing 9-1-1 by beckoning police to shield him from constituents in his central valley congressional district.
“Clovis police were called and the building housing Congressman Devin Nunes’ office was locked during a rally for Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security on Tuesday,” the Fresno Bee reported.
Constituents were also protesting Rep. Nunes using his position as chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) to protect President Donald Trump from congressional scrutiny.
“Nunes is a puppet for Trump,” argued Gene Roza of the California Alliance for Retired Americans. “We pay for [his office], we should have access to it.”
Police suggested it was actually a grey area, even though taxpayer funds rent the official office space from a private company.
“This isn’t a public building, even though he’s a public servant,” said Clovis Police Cpl. Max Garces.
He also told the Fresno Bee that office staff have called 9-1-1 on protesters before.
Andrew Janz, the Democratic Primary nominee challenging Nunes in the 22nd congressional district, applauded the Clovis Police Department for, “keeping the peace and allowing demonstrators to exercise their 1st Amendment rights.”
“Nunes’ people keep calling the police wasting law enforcement resources. This is not what 911 was designed for,” Janz explained. “Nunes’ office is public property paid for by us.”
“Clovis police were called and the building housing Congressman Devin Nunes’ office was locked during a rally for Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security on Tuesday,” the Fresno Bee reported.
Constituents were also protesting Rep. Nunes using his position as chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) to protect President Donald Trump from congressional scrutiny.
“Nunes is a puppet for Trump,” argued Gene Roza of the California Alliance for Retired Americans. “We pay for [his office], we should have access to it.”
Police suggested it was actually a grey area, even though taxpayer funds rent the official office space from a private company.
“This isn’t a public building, even though he’s a public servant,” said Clovis Police Cpl. Max Garces.
He also told the Fresno Bee that office staff have called 9-1-1 on protesters before.
Andrew Janz, the Democratic Primary nominee challenging Nunes in the 22nd congressional district, applauded the Clovis Police Department for, “keeping the peace and allowing demonstrators to exercise their 1st Amendment rights.”
“Nunes’ people keep calling the police wasting law enforcement resources. This is not what 911 was designed for,” Janz explained. “Nunes’ office is public property paid for by us.”
Man went to bizarre lengths to harass neighbor he suspected of having a black friend
Martin Cizmar - raw story
14 AUG 2018 AT 14:33 ET
A South Carolina man will spend 30 months in federal prison for stalking and harassing a former neighbor who he suspected of having a black friend, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Nathaniel Earl Dunlap, 30, had gone to bizarre lengths to torment former neighbor Linda Walter, who he lived by in the Pittsburgh suburb of Shaler.
Dunlap, who had a history of racist, sexist, homophobic and anti-Semitic comments, had targeted the woman “apparently because he believed she had a black friend.”
Among Dunlap’s antics were ordering food and taxis to her home, and twice calling police and reporting a hostage situation there. He also called her house 700 times, tying up her phone line and causing problems for her son’s landscaping business.
At one point, Dunlap pretended that he was a missing college student named Dakota James, sending police to her home to look for him. The parents of James, who drowned in the Ohio River, thought their missing son was alive, only to have their hopes dashed.
Dunlap also harassed a Jewish doctor.
When police finally caught up to him and searched his home, they “found all manner of racist literature, jokes and other materials, as well as swastika pins and confederate pins, a loaded pistol, and a notebook which detailed his harassment plans against Ms. Walter and Dr. Berg and his wife.”
They also found evidence that he had desecrated a mausoleum.
Dunlap’s lawyer asked the judge to go easy on him because he is autistic and suffers from other mental health issues.
Dunlap had faced up to 17 years in prison on the charges.
Nathaniel Earl Dunlap, 30, had gone to bizarre lengths to torment former neighbor Linda Walter, who he lived by in the Pittsburgh suburb of Shaler.
Dunlap, who had a history of racist, sexist, homophobic and anti-Semitic comments, had targeted the woman “apparently because he believed she had a black friend.”
Among Dunlap’s antics were ordering food and taxis to her home, and twice calling police and reporting a hostage situation there. He also called her house 700 times, tying up her phone line and causing problems for her son’s landscaping business.
At one point, Dunlap pretended that he was a missing college student named Dakota James, sending police to her home to look for him. The parents of James, who drowned in the Ohio River, thought their missing son was alive, only to have their hopes dashed.
Dunlap also harassed a Jewish doctor.
When police finally caught up to him and searched his home, they “found all manner of racist literature, jokes and other materials, as well as swastika pins and confederate pins, a loaded pistol, and a notebook which detailed his harassment plans against Ms. Walter and Dr. Berg and his wife.”
They also found evidence that he had desecrated a mausoleum.
Dunlap’s lawyer asked the judge to go easy on him because he is autistic and suffers from other mental health issues.
Dunlap had faced up to 17 years in prison on the charges.
denial conservative style!!
From Crooks & Liars: I've never gone wrong betting on the racism and arrogant ignorance of the Right: I've only erred occasionally on the point spread. And predicting Conservative behavior is dead-easy because traditionally they only have four basic settings:
Pleading Ignorance.
Of course Conservatives are ignorant -- deeply and malignantly ignorant. This comes from letting lying demagogues like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity take a dump in their skulls for the last 20 years. But since the GOP OnStar only emits turns in one direction, traditionally the only way Conservatives have been permitted to be "wrong" about anything was that they were "not Conservative enough!". From Crain's, October, 2015:
- Arrogant triumphalism: The aforementioned "We won! You lost! Bush is a genius! Suck it Libtards!"
- All-out denialism: The aforementioned "Everything I see on non-Fox teevee is fake! Terrible lies by the terrible Murrica-hating Libtard media conspiracy!"
- Bargaining: It doesn't matter whether or not I'm a brain-washed moron...because Both Sides!"
- Running Away: As I pointed out back during the first Great Skedaddle back in 2009, because Conservatives are by nature abject moral cowards, their last "out" is doing like German soldiers did after the fall of Berlin: stop running away from the catastrophe they created only long enough to burn their uniforms. See, "I'm an independent."
Pleading Ignorance.
Of course Conservatives are ignorant -- deeply and malignantly ignorant. This comes from letting lying demagogues like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity take a dump in their skulls for the last 20 years. But since the GOP OnStar only emits turns in one direction, traditionally the only way Conservatives have been permitted to be "wrong" about anything was that they were "not Conservative enough!". From Crain's, October, 2015: