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welcome to reality trivia
reality is the state of things as they actually exist
apr 21, 2018
real news today
apr 21, 2018
*Enoch Powell And the Concerning Popularity of His Racist Speech
(White Supremacy)
*From Starbucks to Hashtags: We Need to Talk About Why White Americans Call the Police on Black People(Talkers)
*The Only Black FBI Agent In Minnesota Faces Prison For Exposing Bureau’s White Male Culture, Hostility Towards Black, Muslim Communities(Gestapo USA)
*Trump manic tweets at NYT’s ‘Habbermann’ for using a ‘drunk/drugged up loser’ to destroy Michael Cohen(Trump)
*Texas student defends merit of Harvard acceptance after question from former state official(Real People)
(for previous day's articles see "what's inside" below)
putin's bitch did as told!!!
Russia: We told US where in Syria they could not bomb
Moscow claims it outlined its "red lines" to US officials before the strikes were launched last weekend.
Russia has revealed it warned the US about "red lines" it should not cross before it launched airstrikes on Syria.
Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov is reported to have said that officials in Washington were contacted before last weekend's strikes by the US, UK and France.
Mr Lavrov said: "There were military leadership contacts, between generals, between our representatives and the coalition leadership.
"They were informed about where our red lines are, including red lines on the ground, geographically. And the results show that they did not cross these red lines."
Some 105 missiles were launched in response to a suspected chemical attack in the Syrian city of Douma on 7 April that killed more than 40 people.
The Kremlin had threatened retaliatory action if strikes were launched- but it now appears there was at least some level of cooperation.
Russia, a key ally of Syria, has denied that any chemical attack took place.
International inspectors from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) arrived in Damascus almost a week ago but are still waiting to visit the site of the suspected attack.
Mr Lavrov says that, following the airstrikes, it is morally free to deliver S-300 missiles to the Syrian regime.
He said: "Now, we have no moral obligations. We had the moral obligations, we had promised not to do it some 10 years ago, I think, upon the request of our known partners.
"We took into consideration their claim that this could destabilise the situation. Even though it's purely defensive. Now we don't have this moral obligation any longer."
Military analysts say the S-300 surface-to-air missile system would boost Russia's ability to control airspace in Syria, where Moscow's forces support the government of President Bashar al Assad, and could be aimed at deterring tougher US action.
The state news agency RIA also reported Mr Lavrov saying he was convinced Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump would not allow an armed confrontation between their countries.
He said: "I am 100% sure that the military will not allow this to happen and neither President Putin nor President Trump will allow this to happen.
"They are the leaders who were elected by their peoples and they are responsible for peace and calm."
It comes as Mr Trump invited his Russian counterpart to the US during a phone call, and said he would be glad to see Mr Putin in the White House, according the Russian foreign ministry.
RELATED: Russia says Trump invited Putin to U.S. during phone call
MOSCOW, April 20 - U.S. President Donald Trump invited his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to the United States during a phone call, and said he would be glad to see Putin in the White House, RIA Novosti reported on Friday, citing the Russian Fore ... (MSN)
Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov is reported to have said that officials in Washington were contacted before last weekend's strikes by the US, UK and France.
Mr Lavrov said: "There were military leadership contacts, between generals, between our representatives and the coalition leadership.
"They were informed about where our red lines are, including red lines on the ground, geographically. And the results show that they did not cross these red lines."
Some 105 missiles were launched in response to a suspected chemical attack in the Syrian city of Douma on 7 April that killed more than 40 people.
The Kremlin had threatened retaliatory action if strikes were launched- but it now appears there was at least some level of cooperation.
Russia, a key ally of Syria, has denied that any chemical attack took place.
International inspectors from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) arrived in Damascus almost a week ago but are still waiting to visit the site of the suspected attack.
Mr Lavrov says that, following the airstrikes, it is morally free to deliver S-300 missiles to the Syrian regime.
He said: "Now, we have no moral obligations. We had the moral obligations, we had promised not to do it some 10 years ago, I think, upon the request of our known partners.
"We took into consideration their claim that this could destabilise the situation. Even though it's purely defensive. Now we don't have this moral obligation any longer."
Military analysts say the S-300 surface-to-air missile system would boost Russia's ability to control airspace in Syria, where Moscow's forces support the government of President Bashar al Assad, and could be aimed at deterring tougher US action.
The state news agency RIA also reported Mr Lavrov saying he was convinced Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump would not allow an armed confrontation between their countries.
He said: "I am 100% sure that the military will not allow this to happen and neither President Putin nor President Trump will allow this to happen.
"They are the leaders who were elected by their peoples and they are responsible for peace and calm."
It comes as Mr Trump invited his Russian counterpart to the US during a phone call, and said he would be glad to see Mr Putin in the White House, according the Russian foreign ministry.
RELATED: Russia says Trump invited Putin to U.S. during phone call
MOSCOW, April 20 - U.S. President Donald Trump invited his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to the United States during a phone call, and said he would be glad to see Putin in the White House, RIA Novosti reported on Friday, citing the Russian Fore ... (MSN)
DNC hits Trump campaign with multimillion-dollar lawsuit for conspiring with the Russian government
Brad Reed -- raw story
20 APR 2018 AT 11:06 ET
The Democratic National Committee on Friday filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit accusing the Trump campaign of colluding with WikiLeaks and the Russian government to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.
The Washington Post reports that the lawsuit, which was filed in a federal district court in Manhattan, claims that Trump’s campaign encouraged Russia to illegally hack the emails of Democrats, while also conspiring to help Russian agents spread and disseminate the leaked communications.
“During the 2016 presidential campaign, Russia launched an all-out assault on our democracy, and it found a willing and active partner in Donald Trump’s campaign,” DNC Chairman Tom Perez said in a statement announcing the lawsuit. “This constituted an act of unprecedented treachery: the campaign of a nominee for President of the United States in league with a hostile foreign power to bolster its own chance to win the presidency.”
The Post notes that the Democrats will likely have a hard time succeeding in this lawsuit since the Russian government is not subject to American laws. However, it says that the DNC filed a similar lawsuit against former President Richard Nixon during the Watergate investigation, which eventually resulted in a $750,000 settlement from the Nixon campaign.
The Washington Post reports that the lawsuit, which was filed in a federal district court in Manhattan, claims that Trump’s campaign encouraged Russia to illegally hack the emails of Democrats, while also conspiring to help Russian agents spread and disseminate the leaked communications.
“During the 2016 presidential campaign, Russia launched an all-out assault on our democracy, and it found a willing and active partner in Donald Trump’s campaign,” DNC Chairman Tom Perez said in a statement announcing the lawsuit. “This constituted an act of unprecedented treachery: the campaign of a nominee for President of the United States in league with a hostile foreign power to bolster its own chance to win the presidency.”
The Post notes that the Democrats will likely have a hard time succeeding in this lawsuit since the Russian government is not subject to American laws. However, it says that the DNC filed a similar lawsuit against former President Richard Nixon during the Watergate investigation, which eventually resulted in a $750,000 settlement from the Nixon campaign.
Should You Vote for a Third Party to Avoid the 'Lesser of Two Evils'? Robert Reich Says Not So Fast
There are other ways to change the broken system.
By Robert Reich / RobertReich.org
April 20, 2018, 11:23 AM GMT
Are you happy with the electoral choices provided you by the two major parties? If not, should you vote for a third party candidate?
Not so fast. Remember what happened in 2016, when Libertarian Gary Johnson got 3.2 percent of the popular vote and Green Party candidate Jill Stein got 1.06 percent. Enough votes that, had they gone to Hillary Clinton, she’d have won the Electoral College, and Donald Trump wouldn’t be in the White House.
Oh, and anyone remember what happened in 2000, when the votes that went to Ralph Nader all but sealed the fate of Al Gore, and gave us George W. Bush.
You see the problem? In a winner-take-all system like ours, votes for third party candidates siphon away votes from the major party candidate whose views are closest to that third-party candidate. So by not voting for the lesser of two evils, if that’s what you want to call them, you end up with the worse of two evils.
But here’s the good news. You’ve got at least 2 ways to avoid the lesser of two evils other than voting for a third party candidate.
First, you could build support for your favorite primary candidate inside one of the major parties – like some of you did for Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic primaries.
But, you might say, look what happened to Bernie! The Democratic Party establishment rigged the game against him.
I don’t want to open up this particular can of worms, but if a party establishment has a chokehold on the primaries – the answer isn’t to go with a third party and end up with the worse of two evils, but to organize and mobilize inside the party to break that choke hold, as some would say the Tea Party has done in the GOP.
Never underestimate the power of grassroots activism focused like a laser on taking over a major political party that has ossified.
Another way to avoid the lesser of two evils: Get your state to institute ranked-choice voting, also known as instant-runoff voting, which allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference.
The process is simple: In the first round, only voters’ first choices are counted. If a candidate gets a majority, that’s the end of it: That candidate wins. If no candidate gets a majority, the candidate who received the fewest votes is eliminated, and then the second choices of voters who preferred that candidate are counted.
If that gives a majority to one candidate, that candidate wins. If there’s still no one with a majority, the process continues, until one candidate gets a majority.
Ranked-choice voting isn’t perfect, but it enables you to vote your conscience –even for a third-party candidate – without the worry that you’re giving ground to the candidate you like least.
The idea is gaining popularity. Last year, some form of ranked-choice voting was proposed in 19 states. In 2016, citizens in Maine initiated a referendum for ranked-choice voting and won. It’s already being used in statewide special elections in North Carolina, and in 10 major cities.
You don’t have to settle for the lesser of two evils. But in order to get the candidates you want elected you need to get involved, now. In the primaries. And in changing your state to ranked-choice voting.
It’s our democracy. Whether it works, is up to us.
Not so fast. Remember what happened in 2016, when Libertarian Gary Johnson got 3.2 percent of the popular vote and Green Party candidate Jill Stein got 1.06 percent. Enough votes that, had they gone to Hillary Clinton, she’d have won the Electoral College, and Donald Trump wouldn’t be in the White House.
Oh, and anyone remember what happened in 2000, when the votes that went to Ralph Nader all but sealed the fate of Al Gore, and gave us George W. Bush.
You see the problem? In a winner-take-all system like ours, votes for third party candidates siphon away votes from the major party candidate whose views are closest to that third-party candidate. So by not voting for the lesser of two evils, if that’s what you want to call them, you end up with the worse of two evils.
But here’s the good news. You’ve got at least 2 ways to avoid the lesser of two evils other than voting for a third party candidate.
First, you could build support for your favorite primary candidate inside one of the major parties – like some of you did for Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic primaries.
But, you might say, look what happened to Bernie! The Democratic Party establishment rigged the game against him.
I don’t want to open up this particular can of worms, but if a party establishment has a chokehold on the primaries – the answer isn’t to go with a third party and end up with the worse of two evils, but to organize and mobilize inside the party to break that choke hold, as some would say the Tea Party has done in the GOP.
Never underestimate the power of grassroots activism focused like a laser on taking over a major political party that has ossified.
Another way to avoid the lesser of two evils: Get your state to institute ranked-choice voting, also known as instant-runoff voting, which allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference.
The process is simple: In the first round, only voters’ first choices are counted. If a candidate gets a majority, that’s the end of it: That candidate wins. If no candidate gets a majority, the candidate who received the fewest votes is eliminated, and then the second choices of voters who preferred that candidate are counted.
If that gives a majority to one candidate, that candidate wins. If there’s still no one with a majority, the process continues, until one candidate gets a majority.
Ranked-choice voting isn’t perfect, but it enables you to vote your conscience –even for a third-party candidate – without the worry that you’re giving ground to the candidate you like least.
The idea is gaining popularity. Last year, some form of ranked-choice voting was proposed in 19 states. In 2016, citizens in Maine initiated a referendum for ranked-choice voting and won. It’s already being used in statewide special elections in North Carolina, and in 10 major cities.
You don’t have to settle for the lesser of two evils. But in order to get the candidates you want elected you need to get involved, now. In the primaries. And in changing your state to ranked-choice voting.
It’s our democracy. Whether it works, is up to us.
Vietnam War refugees deported under Trump struggle to settle
THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE > WORLD
By AFP Published: April 21, 2018
HO CHI MINH CITY: Nguyen was nine when he boarded a boat alone to escape the communist regime in Vietnam for the United States. Some 40 years later, he returned in shackles, deported from the only country he really knows to one he can scarcely remember.
With conspiracy and fraud convictions under his belt, he was expelled in line with a Trump administration push to remove immigrants with criminal records for convictions ranging from traffic offenses to drug-related crimes and murder.
Nguyen left his four grown kids and second wife Annie behind in Boston, and now spends his days aimlessly cruising the web because he cannot find work, or battling bureaucracy to obtain identity papers.
“I still don’t believe it,” Nguyen told AFP in Ho Chi Minh City this week, using only his last name for safety.
“I really want to go back there because I lived there for more of my life there than here,” said Nguyen, who’s not yet used to the city’s sweltering heat and complains of dry fried chicken at the local KFC.
The former construction worker was sent to immigration detention with orders of removal after his prison release last year, joining some 8,600 Vietnamese nationals tagged for deportation, most with criminal records.
In the 2017 fiscal year, 71 Vietnamese nationals were deported from the US — double the 2016 figure — and 76 have been sent so far since October 2017 according to data from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) which does not track refugees’ date of arrival to the country when compiling removal data.
The move comes as immigration officials ramp up raids and removals of aliens from Mexico, Cambodia, Myanmar and elsewhere who Trump has vowed to crack down on.
Advocates argue that the expulsion of Vietnamese nationals violates a 2008 deal that says Vietnam refugees who arrived in the US before the normalisation of ties between the former war foes in 1995 should not be deported.
Four refugees have filed a class action lawsuit over months-long pre-deportation detentions.
But ICE says their birth nations are obligated to take them back and that it does not target immigrants ‘indiscriminately’.
“ICE focuses its enforcement resources on individuals who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security,” spokesman Brendan Raedy told AFP.
Nguyen and nearly 30 others landed in Ho Chi Minh City in December after a 24-hour flight during which his hands and feet were shackled, and he has spent the last few months uneasily settling into a city he still calls by its former name Saigon.
He says his father was shot dead by communist authorities in 1979, soon after Nguyen left his mother behind for the US where he was taken in by American sponsors for a few years.
Since his return, his elderly mother has been visited by plainclothes police asking about her son and he fears further harassment because of his family’s past work with the US military.
“It’s very, very risky,” Nguyen said. Others agree.
Former US ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius said in an essay this month he resigned last year in opposition to the “repulsive” plan.
“I think fundamentally this is racist policy,” he told AFP from Ho Chi Minh City, where he is now vice president of Fulbright University.
Since many refugees sided with the US-backed South he fears they could “end up being human rights cases” in the country with a tarnished reputation for jailing critics — including those who still pledge allegiance to the former regime.
That’s what Vu Ha fears. Immigration officials in California issued his removal orders last year after he served time for burglary and he spent nearly a year in ICE custody until his recent release.
Vietnam still has not agreed to have him back, locking him in limbo between two governments that do not accept him.
“I’m just stuck right in the middle,” Vu, 37, told AFP after checking in with immigration officials in Los Angeles.
He’s not been back since he left at age nine and is terrified about a communist government he doesn’t side with.
“There’s nothing good to say about Vietnam. The government is attacking the civilians, they don’t have any kind of rights as far as freedom of speech or anything,” said Vu, who has a daughter about to graduate from high school.
Some who have already been deported like Bui Hung have an American parent.
Hung, who served six years in an American jail for beating his wife after catching her in bed with another man, said his American serviceman father was killed in the war and he fled with his family to the United States in 1993.
He says he now lives in fear of police in Vietnam.
“I am still American, my dad is American, my blood is American,” said Hung, who speaks with a Vietnamese accent using slang like ‘homeboy’.
There is little recourse for refugees like him and Nguyen to return to the US, though some are hopeful they may get back after Trump — a man he says “has no heart” — is out of office.
Until then, Nguyen will learn to ride a motorbike, the transportation of choice in his new city, and keep in touch with his wife who bid him a tearful goodbye in Ho Chi Minh City Friday after a brief visit.
“He left Vietnam as a little boy,” she told AFP. “Now he doesn’t know what to do.”
With conspiracy and fraud convictions under his belt, he was expelled in line with a Trump administration push to remove immigrants with criminal records for convictions ranging from traffic offenses to drug-related crimes and murder.
Nguyen left his four grown kids and second wife Annie behind in Boston, and now spends his days aimlessly cruising the web because he cannot find work, or battling bureaucracy to obtain identity papers.
“I still don’t believe it,” Nguyen told AFP in Ho Chi Minh City this week, using only his last name for safety.
“I really want to go back there because I lived there for more of my life there than here,” said Nguyen, who’s not yet used to the city’s sweltering heat and complains of dry fried chicken at the local KFC.
The former construction worker was sent to immigration detention with orders of removal after his prison release last year, joining some 8,600 Vietnamese nationals tagged for deportation, most with criminal records.
In the 2017 fiscal year, 71 Vietnamese nationals were deported from the US — double the 2016 figure — and 76 have been sent so far since October 2017 according to data from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) which does not track refugees’ date of arrival to the country when compiling removal data.
The move comes as immigration officials ramp up raids and removals of aliens from Mexico, Cambodia, Myanmar and elsewhere who Trump has vowed to crack down on.
Advocates argue that the expulsion of Vietnamese nationals violates a 2008 deal that says Vietnam refugees who arrived in the US before the normalisation of ties between the former war foes in 1995 should not be deported.
Four refugees have filed a class action lawsuit over months-long pre-deportation detentions.
But ICE says their birth nations are obligated to take them back and that it does not target immigrants ‘indiscriminately’.
“ICE focuses its enforcement resources on individuals who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security,” spokesman Brendan Raedy told AFP.
Nguyen and nearly 30 others landed in Ho Chi Minh City in December after a 24-hour flight during which his hands and feet were shackled, and he has spent the last few months uneasily settling into a city he still calls by its former name Saigon.
He says his father was shot dead by communist authorities in 1979, soon after Nguyen left his mother behind for the US where he was taken in by American sponsors for a few years.
Since his return, his elderly mother has been visited by plainclothes police asking about her son and he fears further harassment because of his family’s past work with the US military.
“It’s very, very risky,” Nguyen said. Others agree.
Former US ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius said in an essay this month he resigned last year in opposition to the “repulsive” plan.
“I think fundamentally this is racist policy,” he told AFP from Ho Chi Minh City, where he is now vice president of Fulbright University.
Since many refugees sided with the US-backed South he fears they could “end up being human rights cases” in the country with a tarnished reputation for jailing critics — including those who still pledge allegiance to the former regime.
That’s what Vu Ha fears. Immigration officials in California issued his removal orders last year after he served time for burglary and he spent nearly a year in ICE custody until his recent release.
Vietnam still has not agreed to have him back, locking him in limbo between two governments that do not accept him.
“I’m just stuck right in the middle,” Vu, 37, told AFP after checking in with immigration officials in Los Angeles.
He’s not been back since he left at age nine and is terrified about a communist government he doesn’t side with.
“There’s nothing good to say about Vietnam. The government is attacking the civilians, they don’t have any kind of rights as far as freedom of speech or anything,” said Vu, who has a daughter about to graduate from high school.
Some who have already been deported like Bui Hung have an American parent.
Hung, who served six years in an American jail for beating his wife after catching her in bed with another man, said his American serviceman father was killed in the war and he fled with his family to the United States in 1993.
He says he now lives in fear of police in Vietnam.
“I am still American, my dad is American, my blood is American,” said Hung, who speaks with a Vietnamese accent using slang like ‘homeboy’.
There is little recourse for refugees like him and Nguyen to return to the US, though some are hopeful they may get back after Trump — a man he says “has no heart” — is out of office.
Until then, Nguyen will learn to ride a motorbike, the transportation of choice in his new city, and keep in touch with his wife who bid him a tearful goodbye in Ho Chi Minh City Friday after a brief visit.
“He left Vietnam as a little boy,” she told AFP. “Now he doesn’t know what to do.”
Male GOP senators balk at new rules requiring them to pay their own sexual harassment settlements
The women of the chamber — and Democratic men — all support the legislation.
REBEKAH ENTRALGO- think progress
APR 19, 2018, 12:15 PM
Male Democratic senators are preparing to join female senators from both sides of the aisle in supporting legislation to overhaul workplace sexual harassment rules on Capitol Hill.
According to Politico, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) appealed to chamber leaders in a letter, encouraging floor debate on the issue.
The letter, written by male Democrats, is addressed to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and is co-signed by 31 male Democratic senators.
The letter is set to be released sometime Thursday, but a copy obtained by Politico says that if they don’t act soon, Congress will “lose all credibility in the eyes of the American public regarding our capacity to protect victims of sexual harassment or discrimination in any setting.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), the GOP co-author of the bill, supports the call for a rewrite of the sexual harassment rules but has not yet signed the letter.
Cruz is expected to sign on to the letter on Thursday.
“Sen. Cruz appreciates Sen. Merkley’s efforts to urge a vote on Gillibrand-Cruz, and he told Sen. Merkley last week he’d be more than happy to sign a letter,” a spokesperson for Cruz told Politico. “In fact, Sen. Cruz has personally urged GOP leadership to mark up Gillibrand-Cruz, and he is working to get additional senators to sign the letter in support of the legislation.”
Despite Cruz’s actions, no other Republican male has heeded his advice.
Sen. Schumer was the only male Democrat to not sign on, because he was on the relieving end of the letter, but he has expressed repeated support for taking up the harassment legislation passed in the House with bipartisan support a few months ago in February.
The House bill, which received support from across the aisle, came after a half-dozen lawmakers were forced to either resign or retire last fall in light of sexual harassment allegations, would require lawmakers to pay for harassment or discrimination claims out of their own pocket, instead of using taxpayer-funded settlements. The legislation would also mandate transparent reporting of previous harassment payouts and eliminates the requirement for Hill employees to seek counseling and mediation prior to pursuing a claim.
The Gillibrand-Cruz bill similarly follows the outline set by the House bill.
“The bill works like this: no taxpayer-funded settlements for politicians, the people who suffered harassment get the right to decide whether to go public or not, no more unnecessarily prolonged process or ‘cooling off’ requirement before employees can file their claim, and a survey for staff members every other year,” Gillibrand wrote in a Forbes op-ed. “These are simple steps that would show that Congress is protecting victims and not harassers. Congress needs to show leadership and make it clear that we won’t tolerate sexual harassment anymore.”
The latest from Mitch McConnell is that Senate negotiators in both parties were “continuing to work on harassment legislation” — not exactly an enthusiastic endorsement.
According to Politico, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) appealed to chamber leaders in a letter, encouraging floor debate on the issue.
The letter, written by male Democrats, is addressed to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and is co-signed by 31 male Democratic senators.
The letter is set to be released sometime Thursday, but a copy obtained by Politico says that if they don’t act soon, Congress will “lose all credibility in the eyes of the American public regarding our capacity to protect victims of sexual harassment or discrimination in any setting.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), the GOP co-author of the bill, supports the call for a rewrite of the sexual harassment rules but has not yet signed the letter.
Cruz is expected to sign on to the letter on Thursday.
“Sen. Cruz appreciates Sen. Merkley’s efforts to urge a vote on Gillibrand-Cruz, and he told Sen. Merkley last week he’d be more than happy to sign a letter,” a spokesperson for Cruz told Politico. “In fact, Sen. Cruz has personally urged GOP leadership to mark up Gillibrand-Cruz, and he is working to get additional senators to sign the letter in support of the legislation.”
Despite Cruz’s actions, no other Republican male has heeded his advice.
Sen. Schumer was the only male Democrat to not sign on, because he was on the relieving end of the letter, but he has expressed repeated support for taking up the harassment legislation passed in the House with bipartisan support a few months ago in February.
The House bill, which received support from across the aisle, came after a half-dozen lawmakers were forced to either resign or retire last fall in light of sexual harassment allegations, would require lawmakers to pay for harassment or discrimination claims out of their own pocket, instead of using taxpayer-funded settlements. The legislation would also mandate transparent reporting of previous harassment payouts and eliminates the requirement for Hill employees to seek counseling and mediation prior to pursuing a claim.
The Gillibrand-Cruz bill similarly follows the outline set by the House bill.
“The bill works like this: no taxpayer-funded settlements for politicians, the people who suffered harassment get the right to decide whether to go public or not, no more unnecessarily prolonged process or ‘cooling off’ requirement before employees can file their claim, and a survey for staff members every other year,” Gillibrand wrote in a Forbes op-ed. “These are simple steps that would show that Congress is protecting victims and not harassers. Congress needs to show leadership and make it clear that we won’t tolerate sexual harassment anymore.”
The latest from Mitch McConnell is that Senate negotiators in both parties were “continuing to work on harassment legislation” — not exactly an enthusiastic endorsement.
Angry Trump-loving pastors stormed out of meeting after some evangelical leaders bashed the president: report
Brad Reed - raw story
19 APR 2018 AT 12:27 ET
A group of Trump-loving preachers were so dismayed to hear criticism of the president from some of their fellow evangelical Christians that they reportedly walked out of a closed-door meeting at Wheaton College this week.
Christian broadcaster David Brody told Fox News on Thursday that many of the pro-Trump evangelicals felt ambushed at the meeting by attendees who said they were fed up being associated with Trump’s divisive brand of politics.
“It was one-sided venting here is what happened,” he said. “It was a two-day conference, the first side became, basically, this anti-Donald Trump free-for-all that and got so many folks ticked off… people walked out.”
“It was supposed to be a meeting about evangelism and faith,” Christian broadcaster Jenna Browder told Fox. “They really didn’t realize what they were getting into.”
Later in the segment, Brody suggested that these particular evangelical leaders might simply be jealous because they don’t get the kind of access to the White House that prominent Trump supporters get.
“This is a meeting with a bunch of evangelicals who really have no say within the Trump administration,” he said. “The fact that you had no Trump advisory group members there, I mean, I think that speaks volumes.”
Christian broadcaster David Brody told Fox News on Thursday that many of the pro-Trump evangelicals felt ambushed at the meeting by attendees who said they were fed up being associated with Trump’s divisive brand of politics.
“It was one-sided venting here is what happened,” he said. “It was a two-day conference, the first side became, basically, this anti-Donald Trump free-for-all that and got so many folks ticked off… people walked out.”
“It was supposed to be a meeting about evangelism and faith,” Christian broadcaster Jenna Browder told Fox. “They really didn’t realize what they were getting into.”
Later in the segment, Brody suggested that these particular evangelical leaders might simply be jealous because they don’t get the kind of access to the White House that prominent Trump supporters get.
“This is a meeting with a bunch of evangelicals who really have no say within the Trump administration,” he said. “The fact that you had no Trump advisory group members there, I mean, I think that speaks volumes.”
House committee passes farm bill that will make people go hungry, but protects cats and dogs
Joan McCarter
Daily Kos Staff
Thursday April 19, 2018 · 9:30 AM PDT
The House Agriculture Committee passed out a draft of the five-year farm bill reauthorization Wednesday afternoon after several hours of contentious debate as Democrats sought to roll back harsh new rules on work requirements that could kick millions, including families with children or elderly members, out of the program. It nonetheless passed on a party-line vote.
"This legislation would create giant, untested bureaucracies at the state level. It cuts more than $9 billion in benefits and rolls those savings into state slush funds where they can use the money to operate other aspects of SNAP," said Rep. Collin Peterson of Minnesota, top Democrat on the panel. "Let me be clear: this bill, as currently written, kicks people off the SNAP program."The bill also takes gratuitous aim at immigrant and refugee communities—even though there really isn’t a scourge of this practice happening, anywhere—banning the slaughter of dogs and cats for human food and making the practice a federal offense, punishable by up to one year in prison and a fine of $2,500. Even Republicans found this a little ridiculous.
Rep. Al Lawson (D-Fla.) asked if people are really eating cats and dogs.“Mr. [Steve] King is the only one who tells me people do that in his district,” Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.), who introduced the amendment, joked. […]
Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) pointed out that there are traditions in other countries where people eat cats and dogs. While he said he doesn’t personally condone that, he finds it “a little tough” to send offenders to prison.
King (R-Iowa) also voted against the amendment, saying he thought the federal sentence went too far.
Think about this: Steve King thought it went too far. It passed on a voice vote, anyway.
"This legislation would create giant, untested bureaucracies at the state level. It cuts more than $9 billion in benefits and rolls those savings into state slush funds where they can use the money to operate other aspects of SNAP," said Rep. Collin Peterson of Minnesota, top Democrat on the panel. "Let me be clear: this bill, as currently written, kicks people off the SNAP program."The bill also takes gratuitous aim at immigrant and refugee communities—even though there really isn’t a scourge of this practice happening, anywhere—banning the slaughter of dogs and cats for human food and making the practice a federal offense, punishable by up to one year in prison and a fine of $2,500. Even Republicans found this a little ridiculous.
Rep. Al Lawson (D-Fla.) asked if people are really eating cats and dogs.“Mr. [Steve] King is the only one who tells me people do that in his district,” Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.), who introduced the amendment, joked. […]
Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) pointed out that there are traditions in other countries where people eat cats and dogs. While he said he doesn’t personally condone that, he finds it “a little tough” to send offenders to prison.
King (R-Iowa) also voted against the amendment, saying he thought the federal sentence went too far.
Think about this: Steve King thought it went too far. It passed on a voice vote, anyway.
do anything for campaign donations!!!
Trump launches effort to boost U.S. weapons sales abroad
Mike Stone - reuters
APRIL 19, 2018 / 9:10 AM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration rolled out a long-awaited overhaul of U.S. arms export policy on Thursday aimed at expanding sales to allies, saying it will bolster the American defense industry and create jobs at home.
The White House aims to cut the time it takes to approve arms deals, lowering the hurdle to bigger sales and sales of more powerful weapons, and increasing the role of senior U.S. officials in shepherding deals across the finish line, as earlier reported by Reuters.
The initiative builds on President Donald Trump’s efforts to personally boost arms sales on calls with foreign heads of state.
Companies that stand to benefit from the new policy most include Boeing Co (BA.N) and the other top U.S. defense contractors, Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N), Raytheon Co (RTN.N), General Dynamics Corp (GD.N) and Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N).
The plans have been in the works for a year, with White House trade adviser Peter Navarro playing a major role in driving the project forward.
Navarro said in a statement the new policies “will create American manufacturing jobs, strengthen our allies and partners, support a robust defense industrial base at home, and promote American economic and security interests abroad.”
Human rights will now carry equal weight alongside other considerations in planned arms sales including the needs of allied nations and the economic loss if the U.S. contractor does not win the sale when decisions are made on whether to approve an arms deal.
“This is a balanced policy,” said Ambassador Tina Kaidanow, an official with the State Department who oversees arms export agreements. “We absolutely look at human rights as one of a set of considerations that we look at.”
The planned revision of U.S. weapons export policy also includes a new drone export policy that allows smaller lethal drones that can fire missiles and surveillance drones of all sizes will soon become more widely available to U.S. allies, Reuters reported in March.
Two potential beneficiaries of the rule changes, Textron Inc (TXT.N) and Kratos Defense and Security Solutions Inc (KTOS.O), currently market smaller armed drones internationally.
The full text of the drone policy will remain classified along a list of potential buyers being given fast-track treatment is expanding to include more countries, a State Department official told Reuters this week.
Previously, U.S. government sources had said that more NATO members, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf partners as well as treaty allies such as Japan and South Korea would be given the favorable treatment regarding drone sales.
Trump has pressed foreign governments to buy more U.S.-made weapons in nearly every call he has had with a head of state of major allies, a State Department official said earlier this week.
The new policy will go well beyond a relaxation of rules for foreign military sales under President Barack Obama in 2014 that enabled U.S. arms contractors to sell more overseas than ever before.
The White House aims to cut the time it takes to approve arms deals, lowering the hurdle to bigger sales and sales of more powerful weapons, and increasing the role of senior U.S. officials in shepherding deals across the finish line, as earlier reported by Reuters.
The initiative builds on President Donald Trump’s efforts to personally boost arms sales on calls with foreign heads of state.
Companies that stand to benefit from the new policy most include Boeing Co (BA.N) and the other top U.S. defense contractors, Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N), Raytheon Co (RTN.N), General Dynamics Corp (GD.N) and Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N).
The plans have been in the works for a year, with White House trade adviser Peter Navarro playing a major role in driving the project forward.
Navarro said in a statement the new policies “will create American manufacturing jobs, strengthen our allies and partners, support a robust defense industrial base at home, and promote American economic and security interests abroad.”
Human rights will now carry equal weight alongside other considerations in planned arms sales including the needs of allied nations and the economic loss if the U.S. contractor does not win the sale when decisions are made on whether to approve an arms deal.
“This is a balanced policy,” said Ambassador Tina Kaidanow, an official with the State Department who oversees arms export agreements. “We absolutely look at human rights as one of a set of considerations that we look at.”
The planned revision of U.S. weapons export policy also includes a new drone export policy that allows smaller lethal drones that can fire missiles and surveillance drones of all sizes will soon become more widely available to U.S. allies, Reuters reported in March.
Two potential beneficiaries of the rule changes, Textron Inc (TXT.N) and Kratos Defense and Security Solutions Inc (KTOS.O), currently market smaller armed drones internationally.
The full text of the drone policy will remain classified along a list of potential buyers being given fast-track treatment is expanding to include more countries, a State Department official told Reuters this week.
Previously, U.S. government sources had said that more NATO members, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf partners as well as treaty allies such as Japan and South Korea would be given the favorable treatment regarding drone sales.
Trump has pressed foreign governments to buy more U.S.-made weapons in nearly every call he has had with a head of state of major allies, a State Department official said earlier this week.
The new policy will go well beyond a relaxation of rules for foreign military sales under President Barack Obama in 2014 that enabled U.S. arms contractors to sell more overseas than ever before.
Laura Ingraham became hostile with pregnant staffer — then fired her one day after maternity leave: lawsuit
Brad Reed - raw story
20 APR 2018 AT 14:04 ET
A new lawsuit is claiming that Fox News host Laura Ingraham grew hostile toward an assistant once she learned of her pregnancy — and then fired her one day after she returned from maternity leave.
The Washington Post reports that Karolina Wilson, who worked for 16 months as Ingraham’s personal assistant, is suing Ingraham for what she alleges is pregnancy discrimination that is barred by Washington DC’s Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and its Family and Medical Leave Act.
According to the lawsuit, Wilson had a solid working relationship with Ingraham until she announced that she was pregnant last March. After this, she claims, the Fox host began treating her with hostility — and she says that Ingraham initially only offered her one week of maternity leave to take care of her baby.
Despite this alleged hostility, Wilson continued working for Ingraham right before she went into labor in early August last year, two weeks before she was due to give birth. On the day that she returned to work two months later, she was notified that she was being terminated from her position, and that the woman who had replaced her during her maternity leave would permanently take her job.
Ingraham allowed Wilson to stay on at her company for three weeks after her termination notification so she could collect unemployment insurance — but during that time, Wilson alleges that the company refused to set up a private space for her to pump breast milk, which means she had to resort to pumping milk in her car that was located in a parking garage.
Ingraham’s attorney, Betty S.W. Graumlich, has denied all allegations while saying that she and Ingraham “look forward to litigating this case vigorously.”
The Washington Post reports that Karolina Wilson, who worked for 16 months as Ingraham’s personal assistant, is suing Ingraham for what she alleges is pregnancy discrimination that is barred by Washington DC’s Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and its Family and Medical Leave Act.
According to the lawsuit, Wilson had a solid working relationship with Ingraham until she announced that she was pregnant last March. After this, she claims, the Fox host began treating her with hostility — and she says that Ingraham initially only offered her one week of maternity leave to take care of her baby.
Despite this alleged hostility, Wilson continued working for Ingraham right before she went into labor in early August last year, two weeks before she was due to give birth. On the day that she returned to work two months later, she was notified that she was being terminated from her position, and that the woman who had replaced her during her maternity leave would permanently take her job.
Ingraham allowed Wilson to stay on at her company for three weeks after her termination notification so she could collect unemployment insurance — but during that time, Wilson alleges that the company refused to set up a private space for her to pump breast milk, which means she had to resort to pumping milk in her car that was located in a parking garage.
Ingraham’s attorney, Betty S.W. Graumlich, has denied all allegations while saying that she and Ingraham “look forward to litigating this case vigorously.”
*bites from real news - 4/21/2018*
*Here Are the 10 Greatest Hoaxes of All Time
Larry Schwartz / AlterNet
*End of the American dream? The dark history of 'America first'
When he promised to put America first in his inaugural speech, Donald Trump drew on a slogan with a long and sinister history – a sign of what was to follow in his presidency(the guardian)
*America's dark underbelly: I watched the rise of white nationalism
Journalist Vegas Tenold spent six years among some of America’s most extreme white supremacists, and discovered a people who believe the white race is under threat and the enemy is everywhere(the guardian)
*Pennsylvania Republican slams Dems and calls them ‘lying homosexuals’ and ‘liberal losers’
In response to attacks last week, Pennsylvania State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe took to Facebook to voice his frustrations on Friday...
*TRUMP FUNDRAISER OFFERED RUSSIAN GAS COMPANY PLAN TO GET SANCTIONS LIFTED FOR $26 MILLION
SHORTLY AFTER PRESIDENT Donald Trump was inaugurated last year, top Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy offered Russian gas giant Novatek a $26 million lobbying plan aimed at removing the company from a U.S. sanctions list, according to documents obtained by The Intercept.
*How Mandela’s political heirs grow rich off corruption
(philly tribune)
*Economic Update: Why People Struggle With the System
By Richard D. Wolff, Truthout | Audio Segment
*Michigan GOP candidate calls Parkland survivor David Hogg a ‘crisis actor’ who is paid by CNN
An Allegan County Clerk Bob Genetski, who’s also the Republican candidate for Michigan’s 26th district state senate seat called Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg a “crisis actor,” the Holland Sentinel reports.
American shoppers told to avoid romaine lettuce amid E coli outbreak
US Centers for Disease Control warns public of contaminated romaine from Arizona that has sickened dozens of people in several states
Sam Levin and agencies
the guardian
Fri 20 Apr 2018 19.08 EDT
The US government has advised consumers to avoid romaine lettuce, warning that an E coli outbreak has sickened dozens in several states.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday expanded a health warning about contaminated lettuce, saying people should avoid whole heads and hearts of romaine lettuce that may have come from the Yuma region in Arizona. The prior warnings had only applied to chopped romaine by itself or as part of salads and salad mixes.
Officials said people at an Alaska correctional facility recently reported feeling ill after eating romaine lettuce that was traced back to lettuce heads harvested in Yuma, which is roughly 185 miles southwest of Phoenix.
The E coli outbreak has infected a total of 53 people in 16 states, officials said. At least 31 have been hospitalized, including five with kidney failure. No deaths have been reported.
The CDC advised restaurants and retailers not to serve or sell any romaine lettuce from Yuma and encouraged them to ask suppliers about the source of the leafy green.
Product labels often do not identify growing regions, and the CDC advised consumers to throw out any romaine lettuce if they are uncertain of the source.
A 66-year-old woman recently filed a lawsuit against the chain Panera Bread alleging that she was sickened by E coli after eating at one of the restaurants in New Jersey. The woman said she experienced abdominal pain within days of eating the lettuce and that she was eventually sent to the emergency room, diagnosed with hemolytic uremic syndrome, a life-threatening illness, the Washington Post reported.
The CDC reported 12 cases in Pennsylvania and 10 cases in Idaho.
Bill Marler, an attorney for the woman who filed a lawsuit, told the Post this week that he expected the number of reported illnesses to increase: “This stuff went everywhere. It’s conceivable that we may be seeing the beginnings of a fairly significant outbreak. They’ve linked it to Yuma, because that’s where romaine this time of year is grown.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday expanded a health warning about contaminated lettuce, saying people should avoid whole heads and hearts of romaine lettuce that may have come from the Yuma region in Arizona. The prior warnings had only applied to chopped romaine by itself or as part of salads and salad mixes.
Officials said people at an Alaska correctional facility recently reported feeling ill after eating romaine lettuce that was traced back to lettuce heads harvested in Yuma, which is roughly 185 miles southwest of Phoenix.
The E coli outbreak has infected a total of 53 people in 16 states, officials said. At least 31 have been hospitalized, including five with kidney failure. No deaths have been reported.
The CDC advised restaurants and retailers not to serve or sell any romaine lettuce from Yuma and encouraged them to ask suppliers about the source of the leafy green.
Product labels often do not identify growing regions, and the CDC advised consumers to throw out any romaine lettuce if they are uncertain of the source.
A 66-year-old woman recently filed a lawsuit against the chain Panera Bread alleging that she was sickened by E coli after eating at one of the restaurants in New Jersey. The woman said she experienced abdominal pain within days of eating the lettuce and that she was eventually sent to the emergency room, diagnosed with hemolytic uremic syndrome, a life-threatening illness, the Washington Post reported.
The CDC reported 12 cases in Pennsylvania and 10 cases in Idaho.
Bill Marler, an attorney for the woman who filed a lawsuit, told the Post this week that he expected the number of reported illnesses to increase: “This stuff went everywhere. It’s conceivable that we may be seeing the beginnings of a fairly significant outbreak. They’ve linked it to Yuma, because that’s where romaine this time of year is grown.”
New Jersey gym fires three staff members after two black men are asked to leave
Video taken at Secaucus LA Fitness shows an apparent incident of racial profiling in which the police were called
Jamiles Lartey
the guardian
Fri 20 Apr 2018 14.01 EDT
A New Jersey gym has fired a manager and two employees after two black men were kicked out Monday in an apparent incident of racial profiling.
Video posted online by Tshyrad Oates – one of the men involved – quickly went viral, coming on the heels of another profiling incident at a Philadelphia Starbucks which also involved two black men and garnered national attention. Oates’s unnamed companion said in the video that he scanned into the gym, was asked to scan in again, and despite the fact that he had an active membership of over eight years, was asked to leave by a manager, who also called the police.
“We’ve been having problems with this staff for months now, several people not just me,” the companion said on the video of the Secaucus LA fitness location. Oates had also scanned into the gym on a valid four-day guest pass.
An unidentified man in the video who appeared to be the club manager told the one man who was a member that he was cancelling his membership, which the gym has now said was incorrect. “Clearly, this is a long time member with a current, valid membership. We want to clarify that no membership was cancelled and no one, including the member’s guest, was banned from the club,” the company said in a statement.
The police seemed baffled about why they had been called. “You have the officers here for what reason?” the companion asked. “We’re just here, man …” an officer said, trailing off. When the manager tries to insist the men leave for taping the incident on a cellphone an officer responds: “You guys don’t like cellphones, I get it, but it’s not criminal activity.”
Jill Greuling, executive vice-president of operations, said in an email that “the front desk staff employee was confused and thought the member was a guest”.
Greuling continued that the employee “was not working when this member checked in the first time, so she was unaware. Regrettably, from there our staff unnecessarily escalated the situation and called the police rather than work through it.”
A spokeswoman for Fitness International, parent company of LA Fitness, confirmed that the three employees directly involved in the incident are no longer with the company, and that the company is considering ways to improve its training.
Video posted online by Tshyrad Oates – one of the men involved – quickly went viral, coming on the heels of another profiling incident at a Philadelphia Starbucks which also involved two black men and garnered national attention. Oates’s unnamed companion said in the video that he scanned into the gym, was asked to scan in again, and despite the fact that he had an active membership of over eight years, was asked to leave by a manager, who also called the police.
“We’ve been having problems with this staff for months now, several people not just me,” the companion said on the video of the Secaucus LA fitness location. Oates had also scanned into the gym on a valid four-day guest pass.
An unidentified man in the video who appeared to be the club manager told the one man who was a member that he was cancelling his membership, which the gym has now said was incorrect. “Clearly, this is a long time member with a current, valid membership. We want to clarify that no membership was cancelled and no one, including the member’s guest, was banned from the club,” the company said in a statement.
The police seemed baffled about why they had been called. “You have the officers here for what reason?” the companion asked. “We’re just here, man …” an officer said, trailing off. When the manager tries to insist the men leave for taping the incident on a cellphone an officer responds: “You guys don’t like cellphones, I get it, but it’s not criminal activity.”
Jill Greuling, executive vice-president of operations, said in an email that “the front desk staff employee was confused and thought the member was a guest”.
Greuling continued that the employee “was not working when this member checked in the first time, so she was unaware. Regrettably, from there our staff unnecessarily escalated the situation and called the police rather than work through it.”
A spokeswoman for Fitness International, parent company of LA Fitness, confirmed that the three employees directly involved in the incident are no longer with the company, and that the company is considering ways to improve its training.
Draining the Swampsky
Khalil Bendib
*What's Inside*
apr 18 - apr 20
~NATIVE LANGUAGE SCHOOLS ARE TAKING BACK EDUCATION
(FIRST AMERICANS)
*THIS ANCIENT MAYA CITY MAY HAVE HELPED THE SNAKE KING DYNASTY SPREAD
(ANCIENT TIMES)
*CONFEDERATE REVOLT AT MICHIGAN ‘SLAVE’ SCHOOL WAS SPARKED AFTER BLACK GIRL SNATCHED WHITE BOY’S FLAG(AMERIKKKANS)
*PARTY BEFORE PEOPLE: REPUBLICANS KEEP BLOCKING BILLS THAT COULD HELP SUFFERING AMERICANS(GOP POLITICS)
*EXCLUSIVE: US OFFICIAL APPEARED TO DELAY PROTECTIONS FOR ENDANGERED SPECIES AT BEHEST OF OIL GROUP(OIL)
*WORLD BANK RECOMMENDS FEWER REGULATIONS PROTECTING WORKERS
(WORLD)
*BIG BANKS SAVED $3.6B IN TAXES LAST QUARTER UNDER NEW LAW
(CAPITALISM)
*CALIFORNIA CLERK CALLS COPS ON BLACK MAN WHO ASKED FOR REFUND — AND HE’S BEATEN TO A PULP AT JAIL(GESTAPO USA)
~HOUSE JUDICIARY DEMS RELEASE REPORT DETAILING EVERY OVERSIGHT CHALLENGE TO TRUMP ADMINISTRATION(DEMO POLITICS)
*SHOCKINGLY RACIST ‘IQ MAP’ EMERGES ON CAL POLY CAMPUS AFTER STUDENTS PROTEST AGAINST FRAT’S BLACKFACE PHOTOS
(RACE MATTERS)
*THOUSANDS OF POOR DETROITERS ARE ABOUT TO GET THEIR WATER CUT OFF
(AMERICA)
*DÉJÀ POO ALL OVER AGAIN
(ENVIRONMENT)
*RUNNING ON THE CONFEDERATE LEGACY: ALABAMA’S GOP GOVERNOR RELEASES CAMPAIGN AD IN DEFENSE OF STATUES(GOP POLITICS)
*WHEN IS A DEMOCRAT WORSE THAN A REPUBLICAN? WHEN HER RECORD LOOKS JUST LIKE A REPUBLICAN'S(DEMO SELLOUTS)
*"TRUMP POISONS EVERYTHING"
(TRUMP)
*PITTSBURGH SCORES ALL F’S ON THE AMERICAN LUNG ASSOCIATION’S AIR QUALITY REPORT CARD
(ENVIRONMENT)
*SUPER GONORRHEA DETECTED IN AUSTRALIA
(CURRENTS)
*‘QUEERS WILL BURN:’ GAY KANSAS HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER QUITS AFTER MONTHS OF THREATS AND HARASSMENT(RIGHTS)
*RACIST VANDALS DRIVE BLACK FAMILY FROM HOME — BUT MAYOR ‘MORE CONCERNED’ WITH GETTING PAINT OFF THAT ‘PRETTY BUILDING’(AMERICA)
*MUSLIM WOMAN NEW IN TOWN GOT A FLAT TIRE – AND A NOTE, ‘GO HOME TERRORIST’
(AMERIKKKANS)
*EDUCATORS GATHER AT GOVERNMENT HOUSE ST. CROIX IN PROTEST OF LOW WAGES, WORKING CONDITIONS(COLONIES)
*WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE BLACK AT HARVARD? LET ME TELL YOU.
(RACE MATTERS)
*NRA FLAK COMPLAINS ABOUT PUBLIC PLANNED PARENTHOOD FUNDING, FORGETS NRA CONVENTIONS ARE SUBSIDIZED(AMERIKKKANS)
*BEYOND STARBUCKS: AMERICA IS STILL LIVING OUT THE DAYS WHEN ‘BLACK CODES’ WERE LEGAL
(BLACK HISTORY)
*WHEN YOU ARGUE WITH A FUNDAMENTALIST YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE ASKING FOR
(CHRISTIANITY)
~INDIANA CITY COUNCILMAN RESIGNS AFTER WHITESPLAINING THE HISTORY OF SLAVERY TO BLACK PEOPLE(AMERIKKKANS)
*BLACK STUDENTS TAUNTED AS ‘SLAVES’ AT MICHIGAN SCHOOL SURROUNDED BY CONFEDERATE FLAGS(AMERICA)
*GOP GOV. MATT BEVIN MAY DESTROY ENTIRE PUBLIC EDUCATION SYSTEM WITH CHARTER SCHOOLS SCHEME: REPORT(EDUCATION)
*ALABAMA EVANGELICAL ‘VISIONARY’ BUSTED ON SEVEN NEW FELONY CHILD SEX CHARGES
(CHRISTIANITY)
*YOUR DIETARY FUTURE: MORE BUGS -- AND A LOT LESS MEAT
(CURRENTS)
*WHEN IT COMES TO HILLARY CLINTON, OH, JUST FUCK RIGHT OFF, JAMES COMEY
BY THE RUDE PUNDIT(COMMENTARY)
*SELL OFF PUBLIC RESOURCES, LIVE LARGE ON THE PUBLIC DIME
(ENVIRONMENT)
*HOW REPUBLICAN ECONOMICS WERE EXPOSED AS A SCAM – BY ONE IF ITS BIGGEST PROPONENTS
(REALITY)
*PUERTO RICO EXPERIENCES ISLAND-WIDE BLACKOUT 7 MONTHS AFTER HURRICANE MARIA
(COLONIES)
*TRUMP REWRITES HISTORY ON RATIONALE FOR FIRING COMEY
(TRUMP)
*TRUMP TURNS STATE VISIT INTO INFOMERCIAL FOR HIS PRIVATE CLUB
(TRUMP)
*SOUTH CAROLINA PRISONS EQUIVALENT TO LIVING IN THE MOST DANGEROUS CITY IN AMERICA, EXPERT SAYS (AMERICA)
*FRIENDS SWAP SNEAKERS TO SHOW HOW DALLAS CLUB USES ‘AIR JORDAN BAN’ TO EXCLUDE BLACK PEOPLE(RACE MATTERS)
*THE GOP TAX PLAN WAS SOLD ON A BASELESS THEORY. NOW IT’S BEING EXPOSED AS A GIVEAWAY TO THE RICH.(REALITY)
*late news of interest*
Exclusive: EPA chief Pruitt’s aides, security agents made $45,000 trip to Australia
THU, APR 19TH, 2018 BY REUTERS
By Jeff Mason
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt, under fire from lawmakers for travel and security expenses, spent about $45,000 in government money to fly five people to Australia to prepare for a planned trip that was later canceled.
Two of his aides and three security agents flew to Australia last August on business-class tickets costing roughly $9,000 each to set up meetings for the EPA administrator.
The purchase of business-class tickets was not a violation of U.S. government policy, which allows federal employees to travel business class on trips lasting 14 hours or more.
But the spending on a five-person “advance” team for the Australia trip, revealed by U.S. officials who spoke to Reuters, comes as Pruitt faces scrutiny over his own frequent first-class travel and spending on such items as a 24-hour security detail.
The White House budget office has said it is investigating whether a $43,000 soundproof phone booth installed for Pruitt in his office at EPA headquarters violated the law.
The Republican-led House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is looking into Pruitt’s travel and security arrangements. Pruitt also has drawn criticism over his rental of a room in a Washington condominium owned by an energy lobbyist’s wife.
Democrats have pointed to Pruitt’s spending to excoriate President Donald Trump over his campaign pledge to “drain the swamp” in Washington. They contend Trump has done the opposite.
In addition to the three security agents, the team that went to Australia to prepare for Pruitt’s trip included his advance director, Millan Hupp, and Kevin Chmielewski, his deputy chief of staff at the time. Chmielewski has since left the agency.
Pruitt was scheduled to participate in environment-related meetings with Australian officials on a visit to Sydney and Canberra.
EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox said Pruitt’s trip was canceled because of Hurricane Harvey, which caused major flooding and damage in Texas. Pruitt ended up going to Corpus Christi, Texas to assess the agency’s relief efforts instead.
“This is not news,” Wilcox said, adding that the advance team was “adhering to the federal government’s travel policy.”
The trip has not been rescheduled. Wilcox said the original itinerary included a meeting with Australia’s parliament and “we have been unable to find a time to reschedule this meeting as it must be done when they are in session.”
The officials were away for only a few days, flying from Washington to Sydney on Aug. 26 and returning on Aug. 29. An economy class ticket for the trip would have cost about $1,400.
‘BY THE BOOK’
Asked about the EPA officials’ Australia trip, a White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, did not address whether the travel was appropriate but said Pruitt’s overall spending raised questions and “we expect the EPA to answer them.”
Larry Noble, former president of the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws representing government ethics administrators, questioned whether so many staffers were required for the advance team and said Pruitt’s credibility on the broader issue of spending taxpayer money was low.
“If he had a reputation for playing it by the book in every other instance, then you might not be concerned,” said Noble, senior director and general counsel at the Campaign Legal Center, which advocates government ethics reforms. “But when you see somebody who … seems to not be that concerned about the way he spends the money, then you question whether this was justified.”
Trump has praised Pruitt for doing a “great job” cutting back environmental regulations that the president views as burdensome to businesses.
On Wednesday, 38 Democratic U.S. senators and an independent who votes with them in the 100-seat Senate introduced a resolution urging Pruitt to resign. The Senate is controlled by Pruitt’s fellow Republicans, who could defeat the resolution.
More than 130 U.S. lawmakers signed a companion resolution in the House.
Two of his aides and three security agents flew to Australia last August on business-class tickets costing roughly $9,000 each to set up meetings for the EPA administrator.
The purchase of business-class tickets was not a violation of U.S. government policy, which allows federal employees to travel business class on trips lasting 14 hours or more.
But the spending on a five-person “advance” team for the Australia trip, revealed by U.S. officials who spoke to Reuters, comes as Pruitt faces scrutiny over his own frequent first-class travel and spending on such items as a 24-hour security detail.
The White House budget office has said it is investigating whether a $43,000 soundproof phone booth installed for Pruitt in his office at EPA headquarters violated the law.
The Republican-led House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is looking into Pruitt’s travel and security arrangements. Pruitt also has drawn criticism over his rental of a room in a Washington condominium owned by an energy lobbyist’s wife.
Democrats have pointed to Pruitt’s spending to excoriate President Donald Trump over his campaign pledge to “drain the swamp” in Washington. They contend Trump has done the opposite.
In addition to the three security agents, the team that went to Australia to prepare for Pruitt’s trip included his advance director, Millan Hupp, and Kevin Chmielewski, his deputy chief of staff at the time. Chmielewski has since left the agency.
Pruitt was scheduled to participate in environment-related meetings with Australian officials on a visit to Sydney and Canberra.
EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox said Pruitt’s trip was canceled because of Hurricane Harvey, which caused major flooding and damage in Texas. Pruitt ended up going to Corpus Christi, Texas to assess the agency’s relief efforts instead.
“This is not news,” Wilcox said, adding that the advance team was “adhering to the federal government’s travel policy.”
The trip has not been rescheduled. Wilcox said the original itinerary included a meeting with Australia’s parliament and “we have been unable to find a time to reschedule this meeting as it must be done when they are in session.”
The officials were away for only a few days, flying from Washington to Sydney on Aug. 26 and returning on Aug. 29. An economy class ticket for the trip would have cost about $1,400.
‘BY THE BOOK’
Asked about the EPA officials’ Australia trip, a White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, did not address whether the travel was appropriate but said Pruitt’s overall spending raised questions and “we expect the EPA to answer them.”
Larry Noble, former president of the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws representing government ethics administrators, questioned whether so many staffers were required for the advance team and said Pruitt’s credibility on the broader issue of spending taxpayer money was low.
“If he had a reputation for playing it by the book in every other instance, then you might not be concerned,” said Noble, senior director and general counsel at the Campaign Legal Center, which advocates government ethics reforms. “But when you see somebody who … seems to not be that concerned about the way he spends the money, then you question whether this was justified.”
Trump has praised Pruitt for doing a “great job” cutting back environmental regulations that the president views as burdensome to businesses.
On Wednesday, 38 Democratic U.S. senators and an independent who votes with them in the 100-seat Senate introduced a resolution urging Pruitt to resign. The Senate is controlled by Pruitt’s fellow Republicans, who could defeat the resolution.
More than 130 U.S. lawmakers signed a companion resolution in the House.
Lyin’ Jared: Kushner Cos. Hit With Grand Jury Subpoena For Repeatedly Falsifying Documents
THU, APR 19TH, 2018
BY SEAN COLAROSSI - politicus usa
Jared Kushner’s corruption continued to catch up with him on Thursday, with a new report indicating that the Trump son-in-law has been slapped with a federal grand jury subpoena.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Kushner’s family real estate business “received a federal grand-jury subpoena for information related to paperwork the company filed in New York City concerning its rent-regulated tenants, according to people familiar with the matter.”
The report notes that Kushner’s business left off key information from the documents in order to avoid certain regulations.
More from The Journal:
The subpoena, part of an investigation by prosecutors in the Brooklyn U.S. attorney’s office, came shortly after an Associated Press article about the company having filed documents that said it had zero rent-regulated tenants, when in fact it had hundreds, an omission that relieved them of certain rules governing developers.
--
The subpoena adds to the mounting number of federal and state inquiries concerning the firm’s business. It seeks information on the identities of the third parties hired by the company to file documents with the New York City Department of Buildings and the city Department of Finance, according to a person familiar with it.
---
The subpoena to the company, which is now run by Mr. Kushner’s father, Charles Kushner, comes as it is also facing scrutiny on the same subject from the New York attorney general’s office, which has launched an inquiry into the matter, according to Eric Soufer, a spokesman for Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
As Business Insider noted last month, Kushner “routinely filed false paperwork with the city declaring it had zero rent-regulated tenants in dozens of buildings it owned across the city when, in fact, it had hundreds.”
Lying on the documents allowed the company to avoid rules that “prevent developers from pushing them out, raising rents and turning a tidy profit.”
Kushner Cos. made millions off the practice.
Of course, this isn’t the only controversy Kushner finds himself in. As I wrote last month, the Trump son-in-law is also being scrutinized for $500 million in loans made to his cash-strapped business from companies he previously met with at the White House.
To the core, this family wreaks of corruption, and they’ve been able to get away with it for decades. But as federal investigators continue to sniff around, it looks like the gravy train may be coming to a halt.
The piles of skeletons that this family has in their closet is slowly being brought out, and the Trump family is likely going to regret ever joining the public sector.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Kushner’s family real estate business “received a federal grand-jury subpoena for information related to paperwork the company filed in New York City concerning its rent-regulated tenants, according to people familiar with the matter.”
The report notes that Kushner’s business left off key information from the documents in order to avoid certain regulations.
More from The Journal:
The subpoena, part of an investigation by prosecutors in the Brooklyn U.S. attorney’s office, came shortly after an Associated Press article about the company having filed documents that said it had zero rent-regulated tenants, when in fact it had hundreds, an omission that relieved them of certain rules governing developers.
--
The subpoena adds to the mounting number of federal and state inquiries concerning the firm’s business. It seeks information on the identities of the third parties hired by the company to file documents with the New York City Department of Buildings and the city Department of Finance, according to a person familiar with it.
---
The subpoena to the company, which is now run by Mr. Kushner’s father, Charles Kushner, comes as it is also facing scrutiny on the same subject from the New York attorney general’s office, which has launched an inquiry into the matter, according to Eric Soufer, a spokesman for Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
As Business Insider noted last month, Kushner “routinely filed false paperwork with the city declaring it had zero rent-regulated tenants in dozens of buildings it owned across the city when, in fact, it had hundreds.”
Lying on the documents allowed the company to avoid rules that “prevent developers from pushing them out, raising rents and turning a tidy profit.”
Kushner Cos. made millions off the practice.
Of course, this isn’t the only controversy Kushner finds himself in. As I wrote last month, the Trump son-in-law is also being scrutinized for $500 million in loans made to his cash-strapped business from companies he previously met with at the White House.
To the core, this family wreaks of corruption, and they’ve been able to get away with it for decades. But as federal investigators continue to sniff around, it looks like the gravy train may be coming to a halt.
The piles of skeletons that this family has in their closet is slowly being brought out, and the Trump family is likely going to regret ever joining the public sector.
Russia has taken a liking to one far-right American outlet in particular
The One America News Network seems to have fans in Moscow.
CASEY MICHEL - think progress
APR 18, 2018, 12:20 PM
The One America News Network (OANN), a vociferously far-right, pro-Trump media outlet, may not have anywhere near the same audience as outlets like Fox News or CNN. But it has at least one fan: Russia.
After OANN ran a report earlier this week defending the Syrian government against claims that it had used chemical weapons on its citizens — a stance shared by both Russian and Iranian authorities — the Twitter feed for the Russian embassy in South Africa, one of Moscow’s most prominent Twitter accounts, promoted OANN’s findings.
The Russian feed praised the work of OANN’s Pearson Sharp, claiming that OANN’s report shows that “there is still real journalism in the US.”
The Russian embassy made sure to specifically alert others to OANN’s coverage, including notorious conspiracy theorist and Trump supporter Alex Jones. (It’s not the first time the Russian embassy has tagged Jones, and the feed has a habit of tagging other employees of Jones’ InfoWars conspiracy site.)
Jones described the attack as a “false flag event” designed to smear Assad. Other white supremacists, like Richard Spencer and David Duke, have also come to Assad’s defense following his regime’s alleged chemical attack.
In his report, organized by a Syrian “government escort,” OANN’s Sharp claimed that no one in the city of Douma “said they had seen or heard anything about a chemical attack on that day.” Sharp also claimed that those who said they were victims of chemical attacks were “plants,” and that the chemical attack was actually perpetrated by those opposing Assad.
However, as Sharp himself admitted, he was unable to visit the actual site of the attack. As ThinkProgress’ Melanie Schmitz wrote:
Despite stating that his report is “not propaganda,” for instance, much of what Sharp relays is based on information passed to him during a visit arranged by Syrian government forces, which have traditionally relied on mass disinformation campaigns in the wake of deadly attacks to twist the narrative in their favor… At no point does OANN try to mask the pro-Assad language peppering the report. At one point, Sharp even goes so far as to say that “the [residents say they] were incredibly grateful that President Assad had liberated the town; they were completely in support of President Assad.”
OANN’s reporting generally revolves around pro-Trump conspiracies and conspiracy theorists, from pushing claims that the DNC hacks were an “inside job” to hiring noted Pizzagate conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec. But such credentials appeared to help it gain access to the greater Douma area — even while actual chemical weapons experts are prevented from accessing the site, coming under fire when they try.
After OANN ran a report earlier this week defending the Syrian government against claims that it had used chemical weapons on its citizens — a stance shared by both Russian and Iranian authorities — the Twitter feed for the Russian embassy in South Africa, one of Moscow’s most prominent Twitter accounts, promoted OANN’s findings.
The Russian feed praised the work of OANN’s Pearson Sharp, claiming that OANN’s report shows that “there is still real journalism in the US.”
The Russian embassy made sure to specifically alert others to OANN’s coverage, including notorious conspiracy theorist and Trump supporter Alex Jones. (It’s not the first time the Russian embassy has tagged Jones, and the feed has a habit of tagging other employees of Jones’ InfoWars conspiracy site.)
Jones described the attack as a “false flag event” designed to smear Assad. Other white supremacists, like Richard Spencer and David Duke, have also come to Assad’s defense following his regime’s alleged chemical attack.
In his report, organized by a Syrian “government escort,” OANN’s Sharp claimed that no one in the city of Douma “said they had seen or heard anything about a chemical attack on that day.” Sharp also claimed that those who said they were victims of chemical attacks were “plants,” and that the chemical attack was actually perpetrated by those opposing Assad.
However, as Sharp himself admitted, he was unable to visit the actual site of the attack. As ThinkProgress’ Melanie Schmitz wrote:
Despite stating that his report is “not propaganda,” for instance, much of what Sharp relays is based on information passed to him during a visit arranged by Syrian government forces, which have traditionally relied on mass disinformation campaigns in the wake of deadly attacks to twist the narrative in their favor… At no point does OANN try to mask the pro-Assad language peppering the report. At one point, Sharp even goes so far as to say that “the [residents say they] were incredibly grateful that President Assad had liberated the town; they were completely in support of President Assad.”
OANN’s reporting generally revolves around pro-Trump conspiracies and conspiracy theorists, from pushing claims that the DNC hacks were an “inside job” to hiring noted Pizzagate conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec. But such credentials appeared to help it gain access to the greater Douma area — even while actual chemical weapons experts are prevented from accessing the site, coming under fire when they try.
College professor calls Barbara Bush ‘amazing racist’
Newsweek - RAW story
18 APR 2018 AT 14:12 ET
A Tuesday Twitter rant from a Fresno State English professor sparked an immediate backlash after Randa Jarrar labeled Barbara Bush an “amazing racist” on the same day the former first lady died.
Fresno State President Joseph I. Castro released a statement on the school’s website Tuesday evening denouncing Jarrar’s comments while extending “deepest condolences to the Bush family” following the 92-year-old Bush matriarch’s death at her Houston home. Jarrar’s Tuesday Twitter posts took shots at both former presidents, George H.W. and George W. Bush, and lashed out at those offering the family support. “Barbara Bush was a generous and smart and amazing racist who, along with her husband, raised a war criminal. Fuck outta here with your nice words,” Jarrar wrote in the now-protected tweet.
Jarrar is a tenured professor who describes herself as Arab-American on her author page and says she “grew up in Kuwait and Egypt” before moving to the U.S. following the Gulf War. After thousands of Twitter replies blasted her first tweet and called for her removal from the school, Jarrar doubled down and tweeted from her verified account, “I will never be fired.” She continued responding, writing a separate tweet, “If you’d like to know what it’s like to be an Arab American Muslim American woman with some clout online expressing an opinion, look at the racists going crazy in my mentions right now.”
Jarrar continued trading barbs with other Twitter users for roughly three hours, even tagging the Department of Homeland Security's official handle, Fresno State’s official account and challenging a user handle called “@LogicalRighties” to contact school president Castro, KFSN-TV first reported. Both the school and Castro promptly issued statements via Twitter:
On behalf of Fresno State, I extend my deepest condolences to the Bush family on the loss of our former First Lady, Barbara Bush. We share the deep concerns expressed by others over the personal comments made today by Professor Randa Jarrar, a professor in the English Department at Fresno State. Her statements were made as a private citizen, not as a representative of Fresno State. Professor Jarrar's expressed personal views and commentary are obviously contrary to the core values of our University, which include respect and empathy for individuals with divergent points of view, and a sincere commitment to mutual understanding and progress."
After receiving more than 2,400 replies, her Twitter account was locked, her brief profile bio changed to, “Currently on leave from Fresno State. this [sic] is my private account and represents my opinions.” In addition, the Fresno State English Department's website lists her as on "LEAVE."
Jarrar is an author whose works include the 2009 "Arab-American coming of age novel," A Map of Home, as well as her latest book, Him, Me, Muhammad Ali, about displaced Muslim men and women "who have gone astray," according to the book's description.
This is not Fresno State's first tweet controversy from a professor. In August, American history instructor Lars Maischak took a voluntary leave of absence after tweeting, "To save American democracy, Trump must hang. The sooner and the higher, the better." School president Castro put out a statement at the time saying Maischak would not be returning to teach classes when they resume and his course was converted online to fulfill his contractual obligation.
Earlier this year, a Golden West College counselor in Huntington Beach, California, elicited an apology from her school after she was seen on video ridiculing an Asian-American couple for "European-American displacement" before screaming "I never voted for you!"
Fresno State President Joseph I. Castro released a statement on the school’s website Tuesday evening denouncing Jarrar’s comments while extending “deepest condolences to the Bush family” following the 92-year-old Bush matriarch’s death at her Houston home. Jarrar’s Tuesday Twitter posts took shots at both former presidents, George H.W. and George W. Bush, and lashed out at those offering the family support. “Barbara Bush was a generous and smart and amazing racist who, along with her husband, raised a war criminal. Fuck outta here with your nice words,” Jarrar wrote in the now-protected tweet.
Jarrar is a tenured professor who describes herself as Arab-American on her author page and says she “grew up in Kuwait and Egypt” before moving to the U.S. following the Gulf War. After thousands of Twitter replies blasted her first tweet and called for her removal from the school, Jarrar doubled down and tweeted from her verified account, “I will never be fired.” She continued responding, writing a separate tweet, “If you’d like to know what it’s like to be an Arab American Muslim American woman with some clout online expressing an opinion, look at the racists going crazy in my mentions right now.”
Jarrar continued trading barbs with other Twitter users for roughly three hours, even tagging the Department of Homeland Security's official handle, Fresno State’s official account and challenging a user handle called “@LogicalRighties” to contact school president Castro, KFSN-TV first reported. Both the school and Castro promptly issued statements via Twitter:
On behalf of Fresno State, I extend my deepest condolences to the Bush family on the loss of our former First Lady, Barbara Bush. We share the deep concerns expressed by others over the personal comments made today by Professor Randa Jarrar, a professor in the English Department at Fresno State. Her statements were made as a private citizen, not as a representative of Fresno State. Professor Jarrar's expressed personal views and commentary are obviously contrary to the core values of our University, which include respect and empathy for individuals with divergent points of view, and a sincere commitment to mutual understanding and progress."
After receiving more than 2,400 replies, her Twitter account was locked, her brief profile bio changed to, “Currently on leave from Fresno State. this [sic] is my private account and represents my opinions.” In addition, the Fresno State English Department's website lists her as on "LEAVE."
Jarrar is an author whose works include the 2009 "Arab-American coming of age novel," A Map of Home, as well as her latest book, Him, Me, Muhammad Ali, about displaced Muslim men and women "who have gone astray," according to the book's description.
This is not Fresno State's first tweet controversy from a professor. In August, American history instructor Lars Maischak took a voluntary leave of absence after tweeting, "To save American democracy, Trump must hang. The sooner and the higher, the better." School president Castro put out a statement at the time saying Maischak would not be returning to teach classes when they resume and his course was converted online to fulfill his contractual obligation.
Earlier this year, a Golden West College counselor in Huntington Beach, California, elicited an apology from her school after she was seen on video ridiculing an Asian-American couple for "European-American displacement" before screaming "I never voted for you!"
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:
