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welcome to reality trivia
reality is the state of things as they actually exist
april 25, 2019
real news today
april 25, 2019
*How the national GOP screwed Texas Republicans
(GOP Politics)
*Tropical forest the size of England destroyed in 2018: report
(Earth)
*‘Family of morons’: Lara Trump relentlessly mocked for saying one of the worst things Germany has done is accept refugees(Amerikkkans)
*Biden makes it official: He’s running for president in 2020
(Candidates)
*Former Hockey Exec Says White Folks ‘Can’t Do Anything’ Without being Called Racist After Baseball, Hockey Teams Won’t Play Kate Smith’s ‘God Bless America’(Real People)
*We found 85,000 cops who’ve been investigated for misconduct. Now you can read their records.
(Gestapo USA)
(for previous day's articles see "what's inside" below)
comment/tweet of the day
chauncey devega: ...Trump and his enablers' thrive on greed, racism, violence, bigotry, misogyny, anti-intellectualism and other reactionary behavior and values. These things are by no means limited to public policy. Unlike what some commentators and observers claim to believe, politics and public policy are never separate from personal values. This is especially true in a moment of national and global crisis, when America's democracy and the rule of law are under siege by a right-wing authoritarian movement whose headquarters is in the White House.
Trickle-down economics are a myth and a lie. Trickle-down immorality, from Donald Trump and other right-wing opinion leaders, on the other hand, is all too real. (TALKERS)
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Robert Reich Trump's moral squalor will remove him from power
"Legal debates about obstruction of justice are fine. But no voter in 2020 should be allowed to overlook this basic reality: Donald Trump is a morally despicable human being."
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Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank
“Trump, with his ‘enemy of the people’ shtick, might talk like Joseph Stalin, but — fortunately — he governs more like Homer Simpson.”
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EXPOSED: Chinese Communist Party promoter joins Trump campaign with help of illicit massage parlor founder
David Edwards - raw story
24 APR 2019 AT 11:29 ET
A report on Wednesday revealed that Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has a fundraising contract with a promoter for China’s Communist Party.
The Miami Herald reported that Xinyue “Daniel” Lou signed a contract with the Republican National Committee to become an official Republican Party fundraiser for Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign.
According to the report,Lou “is a United States-based promoter for the Chinese Communist Party and former writer for Chinese media.”
Lou was said to have gained access to Trump with the help of Li “Cindy” Yang, who founded South Florida Asian day spas. Trump was recently pictured in a selfie photo with Yang at Mar-a-Lago.
Days later, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft was arrested for soliciting a prostitute at the spa Yang founded.
According to the Herald:
Through their positions as high-level fundraisers, together Yang and Lou have brought dozens of guests to events where Trump, his family and top Republican advisers were present, according to a Herald analysis of social media accounts. Their efforts have been celebrated both by the RNC and event planners at Mar-a-Lago.
Lou told the paper that he has been advised by the Republican National Committee not to talk about his fundraising efforts.
Read the entire report from The Miami Herald.
The Miami Herald reported that Xinyue “Daniel” Lou signed a contract with the Republican National Committee to become an official Republican Party fundraiser for Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign.
According to the report,Lou “is a United States-based promoter for the Chinese Communist Party and former writer for Chinese media.”
Lou was said to have gained access to Trump with the help of Li “Cindy” Yang, who founded South Florida Asian day spas. Trump was recently pictured in a selfie photo with Yang at Mar-a-Lago.
Days later, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft was arrested for soliciting a prostitute at the spa Yang founded.
According to the Herald:
Through their positions as high-level fundraisers, together Yang and Lou have brought dozens of guests to events where Trump, his family and top Republican advisers were present, according to a Herald analysis of social media accounts. Their efforts have been celebrated both by the RNC and event planners at Mar-a-Lago.
Lou told the paper that he has been advised by the Republican National Committee not to talk about his fundraising efforts.
Read the entire report from The Miami Herald.
'It's not a little child': gynecologists join the fight against six-week abortion bans
Doctors argue that the bans, known as ‘fetal heartbeat’ bills, are medically inaccurate and use misleading language
Adrian Horton in New York
the guardian
Wed 24 Apr 2019 01.00 EDt
High-profile gynecologists are criticizing the framing of six-week abortion bans, known as “fetal heartbeat” bills, as medically inaccurate.
The bans, now moving through nearly a dozen state legislatures, propose the strictest limitations on the right to abortion as established by the US supreme court case Roe v Wade in 1973.
“These bills present the idea that there’s something that looks like what you or a person on the street would call a baby – a thing that’s almost ready to go for a walk,” said Dr Jen Gunter, a gynecologist in Canada and the US who runs an influential blog. “In reality, you’re talking about something that’s millimeters in size and doesn’t look anything like that.”
That early in a pregnancy, Gunter said, an embryo does not have a heart – at least, not what we understand a human heart to be, with pumping tubes and ventricles. At six weeks, a human embryo throbs, but those tissues have not yet formed an organ, so the pulsing should not be confused with a heartbeat.
“When throbbing of some tissue begins, it’s not a heart,” said Dr Sara Imershein, a gynecologist and obstetrician in Falls Church, Virginia. “Really, we call it an embryo until about nine weeks from last menstrual period,” or roughly three weeks after the new laws prohibit termination of pregnancy.
It would be more accurate to call these bills “fetal pole cardiac activity” measures, said Gunter. Though it doesn’t roll off the tongue, the term would capture the state of an embryo at six weeks, which appears more fish-like than human baby.
“It’s a process – the heart doesn’t just pop up one day,” said Imershein. “It’s not a little child that just appears and just grows larger”, in contrast to imagery often invoked by anti-abortion campaigns of embryos as tiny, miniaturized infants.
Misleading names like “heartbeat”move the debate away from medical considerations for a woman’s decision to get an abortion, said Gunter.
Similarly, the phrase “late-term” is misleading. A normal human gestation is 40 weeks. Medically speaking, “late-term” means 41-42 weeks.
But anti-abortion activists twisted the phrase into a political construct understood to be any abortion after the 21st week, late in the second trimester. “Nobody is doing late-term abortions – it doesn’t happen,” said Gunter of the medical definition. “But it’s become a part of our lexicon now.”
She recalled an instance when she worked in Kansas, where abortions were banned at publicly funded medical centers. She had a first trimester patient with a serious and deteriorating medical condition. Her doctor recommended termination. In order to get clearance, Gunter was patched through to the state senator who sponsored the law. “I had to explain [it] to him. I had to ask him permission to do the abortion.”
“What was really shocking to me was that when I called him – I had researched everything so that I could give him all the statistics – and I barely said two lines and he said, ‘Oh doctor, do whatever you think is necessary’,” she said. “If doing what I thought is necessary is what you believe in, why have the law?”
Gunter said six weeks is not enough time to make informed medical choices. It’s before most women know they’re pregnant, and before fetal malformations can be diagnosed. The risks of medical conditions, such as lupus, won’t be apparent that early. There are some heart conditions “where we say, you should not be pregnant”, said Gunter. “The risk of death is 50%. We know that the second the pregnancy test is positive. But what if that person doesn’t seek medical care until they’re eight weeks?”
“The whole point [of these bills] is to introduce terminology that makes people think differently about pregnancy,” said Gunter.
In practice, she said, six-week measures are effectively abortion bans – a fact that misleading names such as “heartbeat bill” could obscure. “We can’t use the incorrect language in the bills,” said Gunter. “Because once you start using incorrect language, you’ve basically conceded.”
The bans, now moving through nearly a dozen state legislatures, propose the strictest limitations on the right to abortion as established by the US supreme court case Roe v Wade in 1973.
“These bills present the idea that there’s something that looks like what you or a person on the street would call a baby – a thing that’s almost ready to go for a walk,” said Dr Jen Gunter, a gynecologist in Canada and the US who runs an influential blog. “In reality, you’re talking about something that’s millimeters in size and doesn’t look anything like that.”
That early in a pregnancy, Gunter said, an embryo does not have a heart – at least, not what we understand a human heart to be, with pumping tubes and ventricles. At six weeks, a human embryo throbs, but those tissues have not yet formed an organ, so the pulsing should not be confused with a heartbeat.
“When throbbing of some tissue begins, it’s not a heart,” said Dr Sara Imershein, a gynecologist and obstetrician in Falls Church, Virginia. “Really, we call it an embryo until about nine weeks from last menstrual period,” or roughly three weeks after the new laws prohibit termination of pregnancy.
It would be more accurate to call these bills “fetal pole cardiac activity” measures, said Gunter. Though it doesn’t roll off the tongue, the term would capture the state of an embryo at six weeks, which appears more fish-like than human baby.
“It’s a process – the heart doesn’t just pop up one day,” said Imershein. “It’s not a little child that just appears and just grows larger”, in contrast to imagery often invoked by anti-abortion campaigns of embryos as tiny, miniaturized infants.
Misleading names like “heartbeat”move the debate away from medical considerations for a woman’s decision to get an abortion, said Gunter.
Similarly, the phrase “late-term” is misleading. A normal human gestation is 40 weeks. Medically speaking, “late-term” means 41-42 weeks.
But anti-abortion activists twisted the phrase into a political construct understood to be any abortion after the 21st week, late in the second trimester. “Nobody is doing late-term abortions – it doesn’t happen,” said Gunter of the medical definition. “But it’s become a part of our lexicon now.”
She recalled an instance when she worked in Kansas, where abortions were banned at publicly funded medical centers. She had a first trimester patient with a serious and deteriorating medical condition. Her doctor recommended termination. In order to get clearance, Gunter was patched through to the state senator who sponsored the law. “I had to explain [it] to him. I had to ask him permission to do the abortion.”
“What was really shocking to me was that when I called him – I had researched everything so that I could give him all the statistics – and I barely said two lines and he said, ‘Oh doctor, do whatever you think is necessary’,” she said. “If doing what I thought is necessary is what you believe in, why have the law?”
Gunter said six weeks is not enough time to make informed medical choices. It’s before most women know they’re pregnant, and before fetal malformations can be diagnosed. The risks of medical conditions, such as lupus, won’t be apparent that early. There are some heart conditions “where we say, you should not be pregnant”, said Gunter. “The risk of death is 50%. We know that the second the pregnancy test is positive. But what if that person doesn’t seek medical care until they’re eight weeks?”
“The whole point [of these bills] is to introduce terminology that makes people think differently about pregnancy,” said Gunter.
In practice, she said, six-week measures are effectively abortion bans – a fact that misleading names such as “heartbeat bill” could obscure. “We can’t use the incorrect language in the bills,” said Gunter. “Because once you start using incorrect language, you’ve basically conceded.”
the greatest threat to america besides trump!!!
McConnell vows to block Democratic proposals after 2020 elections: "Think of me as the Grim Reaper"
It's an ironic turn for a Republican who just weeks earlier complained of “historic obstruction” by Democrats
IGOR DERYSH - salon
APRIL 24, 2019 10:00AM (UTC)
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has vowed to block Democratic proposals like the “Green New Deal” and “Medicare for All” after the 2020 elections.
McConnell told constituents in Owensboro, Kentucky, that none of the proposals would come to pass if he is still in power in 2021.
"We are having a legitimate debate about the virtues of socialism, and I don't want you to think it's just a 28-year-old congresswoman from New York. This is much broader than that. I've got five colleagues in the Senate – five colleagues running for president – who have signed on to the Green New Deal and Medicare For All," McConnell said. "I don't want you to think this is just a couple of nutcases running around on the fringe. This is pervasive policy view on the other side.”
"Are we going to turn this into a socialist country? Don't assume it cannot happen," he added. "If I'm still the majority leader of the Senate, think of me as the 'Grim Reaper.' None of that stuff is going to pass – none of it."
McConnell’s vow to block hypothetical Democratic legislation two years from now is an ironic turn for a Republican who just weeks earlier complained of unfair obstruction by Democrats.
McConnell, who is up for reelection in 2020, accused Democrats of “historic obstruction” in a Politicoop-ed for not speeding through President Donald Trump’s nominees.
"This new, across-the-board obstruction is unfair to the president, and more importantly, to the American people," McConnell wrote. "It's mindless, undiscriminating obstruction for the sake of obstruction.”
McConnell, who is among 22 Republicans vying for reelection next year, told reporters earlier this month that he wants to make the 2020 elections a “referendum on socialism,” because he believes it will help the party win over voters, according to The Hill. But public opinion polls suggest Republicans may be overplaying their hand.
Polling on the Green New Deal, which seeks to phase out fossil fuels, provide guaranteed clean energy jobs and a $15 minimum wage with health care benefits and collective bargaining rights, among other things, shows that the idea does not provoke the anti-socialist backlash McConnell and Republicans think.
According to a survey from Data for Progress and Civis Analytics, 46 percent of voters back the Green New Deal, while 34 percent oppose the proposal. Among voters who voted for both Trump and former President Barack Obama, 45 percent support the idea while 39 percent oppose.
The poll found even greater net support on specific policies within the proposal, such as improving drinking water infrastructure, reforestation and job training. Other policies, like requiring all cars to be electric by 2030 and closing every fossil fuel power plant by 2035, had negative net support.
The Medicare for All proposal is even more popular, which is why many of the senators vying for the 2020 Democratic nomination have signed on to Bernie Sanders’ signature proposal.
The nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation found that 56 percent of Americans support the proposal, while 42 percent oppose it. Support for the program increased substantially when people were told the proposal would guarantee health insurance as a right and would eliminate premiums and reduce out-of-pocket costs. Support fell when people were told the program could lead to delays in care and higher taxes.
The numbers show that years of Republican fear mongering about Medicare for All and now the Green New Deal may not be the slam dunk strategy they assume it to be. Fox News learned as much when it hosted Sanders’ town hall earlier this month. Host Bret Baier polled the audience to see who would be willing to switch to Medicare for All from private insurance. The vast majority of hands shot up and the crowd cheered.
McConnell told constituents in Owensboro, Kentucky, that none of the proposals would come to pass if he is still in power in 2021.
"We are having a legitimate debate about the virtues of socialism, and I don't want you to think it's just a 28-year-old congresswoman from New York. This is much broader than that. I've got five colleagues in the Senate – five colleagues running for president – who have signed on to the Green New Deal and Medicare For All," McConnell said. "I don't want you to think this is just a couple of nutcases running around on the fringe. This is pervasive policy view on the other side.”
"Are we going to turn this into a socialist country? Don't assume it cannot happen," he added. "If I'm still the majority leader of the Senate, think of me as the 'Grim Reaper.' None of that stuff is going to pass – none of it."
McConnell’s vow to block hypothetical Democratic legislation two years from now is an ironic turn for a Republican who just weeks earlier complained of unfair obstruction by Democrats.
McConnell, who is up for reelection in 2020, accused Democrats of “historic obstruction” in a Politicoop-ed for not speeding through President Donald Trump’s nominees.
"This new, across-the-board obstruction is unfair to the president, and more importantly, to the American people," McConnell wrote. "It's mindless, undiscriminating obstruction for the sake of obstruction.”
McConnell, who is among 22 Republicans vying for reelection next year, told reporters earlier this month that he wants to make the 2020 elections a “referendum on socialism,” because he believes it will help the party win over voters, according to The Hill. But public opinion polls suggest Republicans may be overplaying their hand.
Polling on the Green New Deal, which seeks to phase out fossil fuels, provide guaranteed clean energy jobs and a $15 minimum wage with health care benefits and collective bargaining rights, among other things, shows that the idea does not provoke the anti-socialist backlash McConnell and Republicans think.
According to a survey from Data for Progress and Civis Analytics, 46 percent of voters back the Green New Deal, while 34 percent oppose the proposal. Among voters who voted for both Trump and former President Barack Obama, 45 percent support the idea while 39 percent oppose.
The poll found even greater net support on specific policies within the proposal, such as improving drinking water infrastructure, reforestation and job training. Other policies, like requiring all cars to be electric by 2030 and closing every fossil fuel power plant by 2035, had negative net support.
The Medicare for All proposal is even more popular, which is why many of the senators vying for the 2020 Democratic nomination have signed on to Bernie Sanders’ signature proposal.
The nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation found that 56 percent of Americans support the proposal, while 42 percent oppose it. Support for the program increased substantially when people were told the proposal would guarantee health insurance as a right and would eliminate premiums and reduce out-of-pocket costs. Support fell when people were told the program could lead to delays in care and higher taxes.
The numbers show that years of Republican fear mongering about Medicare for All and now the Green New Deal may not be the slam dunk strategy they assume it to be. Fox News learned as much when it hosted Sanders’ town hall earlier this month. Host Bret Baier polled the audience to see who would be willing to switch to Medicare for All from private insurance. The vast majority of hands shot up and the crowd cheered.
having hair while black!!!
School administrator colors on student’s head with permanent marker claiming haircut violated dress code
Sarah K. Burris - raw story
25 APR 2019 AT 11:05 ET
A Texas school administrator is coming under fire for taking a marker to a student’s head.
According to WWSB, Berry Miller Junior High School leaders told seventh-grade student Juelz Trice that his haircut violated the school’s dress code. So, the administrator held the shy, quiet boy down and colored in his hair with a black permanent marker.
“To hold my son against his will and color his hair, and he said they’re laughing while they’re doing it. That makes me even more mad. So, my kid is a joke?” said Juelz’s father, Dante.
The haircut had an abstract design similar to an EKG heartbeat, but that was somehow unacceptable to the school, though it’s unclear how. In a statement, the district said “extreme hair styles” are banned. Their examples were mohawks, spikes, and carvings, which are often used by Black men.
According to Juelz, he was threatened with in-school suspension unless he allowed the school staffer to use the permanent marker on his head. Holding a student down and coloring on their head “does not align with appropriate measures for dress code violations.”
“You should have been like, ‘OK, we need to call your mother first, to let her know what’s going on,’ and no one did that at all,” said Juelz’s mother, Angela.
Trice said that his son was humiliated and the chemicals in the marker could have put him at risk since the carving was new.
“It was wide open because he had just got his hair cut the day before, so it was wide open,” he said. “I’m totally disappointed.”
The school administrator admitted their mistake and called to apologize to the family.
“They were very apologetic, but it still happened,” his mother said. “You know, for an adult, nobody should think that’s the correct way to handle a situation.”
She noted that had the school called her she would have taken care of it.
Dress codes targeting hair often disproportionately target students of color. In years past, braided extensions have been labeled as “distractions” by white principals demanding teen girls do something more “natural.”
“Other black girls have been pulled out of class,” NPR reported about one Boston school. The girls were then “lined up, asked if they had hair extensions and given detention if they did.”
One mother at that school noted that another student with a natural texture to her hair was taken out of class and said she would need to “relax” or chemically straighten her hair before she came to school the following day.
One Houston cheerleader was threatened with being thrown off of her squad by the cheer coach who’s rules dictated hair must be “pulled back in a secure ponytail and “must not distract from the cheer environment.” In that case, the student got braided extensions so that she could more easily pull it back and secure it, as the policy dictated. The coach told the teen she wouldn’t be allowed to perform.
According to WWSB, Berry Miller Junior High School leaders told seventh-grade student Juelz Trice that his haircut violated the school’s dress code. So, the administrator held the shy, quiet boy down and colored in his hair with a black permanent marker.
“To hold my son against his will and color his hair, and he said they’re laughing while they’re doing it. That makes me even more mad. So, my kid is a joke?” said Juelz’s father, Dante.
The haircut had an abstract design similar to an EKG heartbeat, but that was somehow unacceptable to the school, though it’s unclear how. In a statement, the district said “extreme hair styles” are banned. Their examples were mohawks, spikes, and carvings, which are often used by Black men.
According to Juelz, he was threatened with in-school suspension unless he allowed the school staffer to use the permanent marker on his head. Holding a student down and coloring on their head “does not align with appropriate measures for dress code violations.”
“You should have been like, ‘OK, we need to call your mother first, to let her know what’s going on,’ and no one did that at all,” said Juelz’s mother, Angela.
Trice said that his son was humiliated and the chemicals in the marker could have put him at risk since the carving was new.
“It was wide open because he had just got his hair cut the day before, so it was wide open,” he said. “I’m totally disappointed.”
The school administrator admitted their mistake and called to apologize to the family.
“They were very apologetic, but it still happened,” his mother said. “You know, for an adult, nobody should think that’s the correct way to handle a situation.”
She noted that had the school called her she would have taken care of it.
Dress codes targeting hair often disproportionately target students of color. In years past, braided extensions have been labeled as “distractions” by white principals demanding teen girls do something more “natural.”
“Other black girls have been pulled out of class,” NPR reported about one Boston school. The girls were then “lined up, asked if they had hair extensions and given detention if they did.”
One mother at that school noted that another student with a natural texture to her hair was taken out of class and said she would need to “relax” or chemically straighten her hair before she came to school the following day.
One Houston cheerleader was threatened with being thrown off of her squad by the cheer coach who’s rules dictated hair must be “pulled back in a secure ponytail and “must not distract from the cheer environment.” In that case, the student got braided extensions so that she could more easily pull it back and secure it, as the policy dictated. The coach told the teen she wouldn’t be allowed to perform.
Bill Barr directs top DOJ official to defy subpoena from House Oversight Committee
Brad Reed - raw story
24 APR 2019 AT 12:20 ET
Attorney General Bill Barr has directed the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division chief to not appear this week for a scheduled deposition at the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.
The Daily Beast reports that Stephen Boyd, the department’s top Hill liaison, sent a letter to the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday outlining his objections to House Democrats’ insistence that DOJ official John Gore not have an attorney present during his deposition.
“We are disappointed that the Committee remains unwilling to permit Department counsel to represent the interests of the Executive Branch in the deposition of a senior Department official,” Boyd wrote. “Accordingly, Attorney General Barr’s determination that Mr. Gore will not appear at the Committee’s deposition unless a Department attorney may accompany him remains in effect.”
The Oversight Committee had been set to question Gore about his role in adding a question about citizenship status to the 2020 census, which Democrats have argued is designed to lower the population counts of more heavily populated urban areas, thus giving a boost to rural districts represented by Republicans.
In refusing to comply with the subpoena, Gore runs the risk of being held in contempt of Congress.
The Daily Beast reports that Stephen Boyd, the department’s top Hill liaison, sent a letter to the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday outlining his objections to House Democrats’ insistence that DOJ official John Gore not have an attorney present during his deposition.
“We are disappointed that the Committee remains unwilling to permit Department counsel to represent the interests of the Executive Branch in the deposition of a senior Department official,” Boyd wrote. “Accordingly, Attorney General Barr’s determination that Mr. Gore will not appear at the Committee’s deposition unless a Department attorney may accompany him remains in effect.”
The Oversight Committee had been set to question Gore about his role in adding a question about citizenship status to the 2020 census, which Democrats have argued is designed to lower the population counts of more heavily populated urban areas, thus giving a boost to rural districts represented by Republicans.
In refusing to comply with the subpoena, Gore runs the risk of being held in contempt of Congress.
Evangelicals have gone from being moral crusaders to enablers of the ‘porn star president’: political scientists
Brad Reed - raw story
25 APR 2019 AT 08:56 ET
Trump-loving evangelicals have completely changed their views of the importance of a president’s personal morality in the time between Bill Clinton was in the White House and now, two political scientists argue.
Writing in the Washington Post, Notre Dame professors David Campbell and Geoffrey Layman say that evangelicals’ shifting views of personal morality have been shockingly abrupt and they coincide with Trump’s political rise from a reality TV star to the presidency.
“In 2011, a poll conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and the Religion News Service found that 60 percent of white evangelicals believed that a public official who ‘commits an immoral act in their personal life’ cannot still ‘behave ethically and fulfill their duties in their public and professional life,'” they write. “But in an October 2016 poll by PRRI and the Brookings Institution… only 20 percent of evangelicals, answering the same question, said that private immorality meant someone could not behave ethically in public.”
While there have been shifts among other religious groups over that period, they write, none of them has been as sharp as the shift among white evangelicals — which explains why they aren’t phased when Democratic candidates such as Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg call Trump the “porn star president.”
“In short, party loyalty is the driving force here,” they write. “White evangelicals as a group are less concerned about private immorality when Trump is involved than when Clinton is involved because they are overwhelmingly Republican.”
Read the whole editorial here.
Writing in the Washington Post, Notre Dame professors David Campbell and Geoffrey Layman say that evangelicals’ shifting views of personal morality have been shockingly abrupt and they coincide with Trump’s political rise from a reality TV star to the presidency.
“In 2011, a poll conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and the Religion News Service found that 60 percent of white evangelicals believed that a public official who ‘commits an immoral act in their personal life’ cannot still ‘behave ethically and fulfill their duties in their public and professional life,'” they write. “But in an October 2016 poll by PRRI and the Brookings Institution… only 20 percent of evangelicals, answering the same question, said that private immorality meant someone could not behave ethically in public.”
While there have been shifts among other religious groups over that period, they write, none of them has been as sharp as the shift among white evangelicals — which explains why they aren’t phased when Democratic candidates such as Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg call Trump the “porn star president.”
“In short, party loyalty is the driving force here,” they write. “White evangelicals as a group are less concerned about private immorality when Trump is involved than when Clinton is involved because they are overwhelmingly Republican.”
Read the whole editorial here.
Trump says if Democrats try to impeach him he’ll go to the Supreme Court
making you proud to be an american!!!
Trump administration proposed housing migrant children at Guantánamo Bay: report
The Defense Department awarded $23M to build a "contingency mass migration complex" at the infamous prison
SHIRA TARLO - salon
APRIL 24, 2019 5:09PM (UTC)
The Defense Department awarded a California-based construction company a $23 million contract in February to build a "contingency mass migration complex" at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, the New York Times reported on Monday. During the height of his showdown over the U.S.-Mexico border, President Donald Trump's administration considered housing migrant children at Guantánamo Bay to help manage an unprecedented surge in the number of migrants and asylum seekers. The idea was first proposed earlier this year as the Department of Homeland Security looked for military facilities where migrants and asylum seekers could be held as they wait for their cases to play out in the courts.
The Department of Defense has confirmed that military bases are being looked at as potential sites for housing migrants but the proposal to send migrant children kept to the notorious American prison and naval base in Cuba has not gained much traction "perhaps because of the optics of housing young people adjacent to terrorism suspects," an official who had seen the proposal told the Times. There are no "immediate" plans to house migrant children at the infamous prison, which had only been brought up as a potential housing situation because it has a dormitory facility that has been used in the past to hold asylum, the Times reported.
Still, the newspaper noted, the Defense Department awarded a California-based construction company a $23 million contract in February to build a "contingency mass migration complex" at Guantánamo. The plan, which was outlined in a February 22 contract announced by the DOD, will include "site shaping for tents, concrete pads for camp headquarters, galleys and dumpsters, perimeter and service roads, and a mass notification system. Supporting facilities include utility systems (electrical, water, and sanitary sewer), exterior lighting, information systems to include fiber optic cable service, utility infrastructure expansion, vehicle parking area, storm drainage, and removal of two family housing trailer units." The project appears intended primarily to accommodate an influx of migrants that might follow a deepening crisis in the Caribbean, though it may also be used to shelter Central Americans. It is expected to be completed by December 2019.
The DoD confirmed to the Times that military bases are being scouted as potential sites for housing migrants.
The major spike in the number of migrants attempting to enter the country has grown significantly under Trump and has overwhelmed short-term holding facilities in cities near the U.S.-Mexico border, leaving officials scrambling to find longer-term locations for detaining the migrants coming into the United States.
Government shelters holding migrants are at capacity, and issues at those facilities have been exacerbated both because of a spike in illegal border crossings and the Trump administration's aggressive efforts to arrest and detain undocumented immigrants throughout the country — including its decision to resist a policy the president derides as "catch and release," the practice by which undocumented immigrants are released from detention into the general population while waiting for their cases to proceed in the courts. More than 50,000 migrants are currently held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement — the highest number in its history.
The lack of facility space for processing migrants at the southern border is spreading to detention facilities across the country. The detention crunch was put at risk last week to become worse after Attorney General William Barr announced the administration would soon begin jailing asylum seekers indefinitely, a directive that, if implemented, could put thousands more migrants in custody each month.
Trump has repeatedly expressed frustration with the asylum system, claiming that existing laws protecting migrants from persecution endanger Americans.
"Whether it's asylum, whether it's anything you want — it's illegal immigration — can't take you anymore. We can't take you. Our country is full. Our area's full. The sector is full — can't take you anymore. I'm sorry — can't happen, so turn around," the president said during a trip to the southern border earlier this month.
The Department of Defense has confirmed that military bases are being looked at as potential sites for housing migrants but the proposal to send migrant children kept to the notorious American prison and naval base in Cuba has not gained much traction "perhaps because of the optics of housing young people adjacent to terrorism suspects," an official who had seen the proposal told the Times. There are no "immediate" plans to house migrant children at the infamous prison, which had only been brought up as a potential housing situation because it has a dormitory facility that has been used in the past to hold asylum, the Times reported.
Still, the newspaper noted, the Defense Department awarded a California-based construction company a $23 million contract in February to build a "contingency mass migration complex" at Guantánamo. The plan, which was outlined in a February 22 contract announced by the DOD, will include "site shaping for tents, concrete pads for camp headquarters, galleys and dumpsters, perimeter and service roads, and a mass notification system. Supporting facilities include utility systems (electrical, water, and sanitary sewer), exterior lighting, information systems to include fiber optic cable service, utility infrastructure expansion, vehicle parking area, storm drainage, and removal of two family housing trailer units." The project appears intended primarily to accommodate an influx of migrants that might follow a deepening crisis in the Caribbean, though it may also be used to shelter Central Americans. It is expected to be completed by December 2019.
The DoD confirmed to the Times that military bases are being scouted as potential sites for housing migrants.
The major spike in the number of migrants attempting to enter the country has grown significantly under Trump and has overwhelmed short-term holding facilities in cities near the U.S.-Mexico border, leaving officials scrambling to find longer-term locations for detaining the migrants coming into the United States.
Government shelters holding migrants are at capacity, and issues at those facilities have been exacerbated both because of a spike in illegal border crossings and the Trump administration's aggressive efforts to arrest and detain undocumented immigrants throughout the country — including its decision to resist a policy the president derides as "catch and release," the practice by which undocumented immigrants are released from detention into the general population while waiting for their cases to proceed in the courts. More than 50,000 migrants are currently held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement — the highest number in its history.
The lack of facility space for processing migrants at the southern border is spreading to detention facilities across the country. The detention crunch was put at risk last week to become worse after Attorney General William Barr announced the administration would soon begin jailing asylum seekers indefinitely, a directive that, if implemented, could put thousands more migrants in custody each month.
Trump has repeatedly expressed frustration with the asylum system, claiming that existing laws protecting migrants from persecution endanger Americans.
"Whether it's asylum, whether it's anything you want — it's illegal immigration — can't take you anymore. We can't take you. Our country is full. Our area's full. The sector is full — can't take you anymore. I'm sorry — can't happen, so turn around," the president said during a trip to the southern border earlier this month.
*bites from real news - 4/25/2019*
*ANTARCTIC PENGUINS SUFFER 'CATASTROPHIC' BREEDING FAILURE
The second largest Emperor penguin colony on Earth has suffered a “catastrophic” breeding failure after nearly all chicks born over three years died as their icy Antarctic habitat shrinks, researchers said Thursday.
*What Happens When Judges Police Themselves In Secret? Not Much
Ethics complaints against South Carolina’s circuit judges are buried in an opaque system that shields the accused.
*THE LARGEST GANG RAID IN NYC HISTORY SWEPT UP DOZENS OF YOUNG PEOPLE WHO WEREN’T IN GANGS
*Baltimore: FBI raids mayor's home over book scandal
* BIDEN JOINS 2020 RACE AND VOWS TO FIGHT 'EVERYTHING TRUMP EMBRACES' –
BIDEN SAYS AMERICANS ARE’ IN A BATTLE FOR THE SOUL OF OUR NATION’ AS HE ANNOUNCES RUN FOR WHITE HOUSE IN 2020
*A quiet drinking water crisis is going unaddressed in Iowa
The EPA says water issues take priority over climate change, but private wells across the country are struggling with contamination.
*Explosion of Interest in Worker Cooperatives Drives Economic Changes
*Bankers Won’t Lend to Developers Who Would Lower Rents
*Gold worth billions of dollars being smuggled out of Africa
High prices are luring Africans into prospecting for gold. But huge volumes are smuggled out through the Middle East, a Reuters analysis has found.
*California Tried to Fix Its Prisons. Now County Jails Are More Deadly.
In a 48-hour stretch during January 2018, three men were booked into the Fresno County Jail. One was beaten into a coma. Two died soon afterward. Their cases kicked off a nightmarish year in a local jail.
*21,000 YEARS LOST AND COUNTING: PROSECUTORS ARE WORKING TO CLEAR WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS, BUT THEIR RECORD IS MIXED
BEFORE THE CHARGES against him were finally dismissed, Richard Phillips spent more than 45 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, earning him the dubious distinction of having been locked up longer than any other exoneree to date. He is one of 2,425 wrongfully convicted individuals exonerated since 1989, who have collectively spent more than 21,000 years behind bars.
* Capitalism is failing. People want a job with a decent wage – why is that so hard?
*WHO: Infants under 1 year old shouldn't be exposed to any electronic screens
Infants younger than 1 shouldn’t be exposed to any electronic screens, according to guidelines issued Wednesday by the World Health Organization. The agency, issuing its first such guidelines, also said that children 2 to 4 should have no more than ... (Washington Post)
*The Company That Sells Love to America Had a Dark Secret For thousands of women, working at the nation’s largest jewelry retailer meant unequal pay, harassment or worse.
Sterling and its parent company, Signet, own the jewelry stores that dominate the malls and strip malls, with brands like Kay, Jared the Galleria of Jewelry, Osterman, J.B. Robinson, Zales and a dozen others.
(ny magazine)
*Why Bible belt states are the biggest consumers of online adult content
*Above the law? The firms that own America's voting system
In the second of a two-part series: How a few private companies that have little oversight and keep information secret run US elections
*How To Bury the Fossil Fuel Industry We need to halt subsidies, enforce stricter regulations and bring fossil fuel corporations under public control.(in these times)
*How To Build the Zero-Carbon Economy The Green New Deal sets an ambitious goal. Here’s how to get there.
*Our Ever-Deadlier Police State
None of the reforms, increased training, diversity programs, community outreach and gimmicks such as body cameras have blunted America’s deadly police assault, especially against poor people of color. Police forces in the United States—which, according to The Washington Post, have fatally shot 782 people this year [2017]—are unaccountable, militarized monstrosities that spread fear and terror in poor communities.
by Chris Hedges
*America’s Only Publicly Traded Addiction Treatment Chain Makes Millions Off Patients. What Could Go Wrong? Mother Jones spent five months investigating deaths at American Addiction Centers.Antarctic penguins suffer 'catastrophic' breeding failure
robbing the third world!!!
New Report Shows How World Bank Enables Corporate Land Grabs
BY Alnoor Ladha, Truthout
PUBLISHED April 24, 2019
At the World Bank’s annual meeting this month, the Bank’s new president and former Trump adviser, David Malpass, ignored research that concludes the Bank’s policies are driving large-scale corporate land grabs across the Global South, with devastating consequences for the poor.
A new report by the land rights think tank the Oakland Institute demonstrates how the World Bank’s Enabling the Business of Agriculture project — funded by the U.S. and U.K. governments, as well as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation — pushes countries to remove “barriers” to big agribusiness, including laws that protect commons like land and seeds.
As part of the project, the World Bank has developed a contentious new land indicator. Initiated as a pilot program in 38 countries in 2017, the indicator is expected to be expanded to 80 countries this year. The purpose of the indicator is to get countries to transform customary land tenure arrangements into formal titles, so as to render land a “transferrable asset” and therefore make it easier for corporations to acquire it from small-scale farmers.
Countries are under enormous pressure to align with this objective, as doing so grants them preferential access to aid and foreign investment.
Frédéric Mousseau, the policy director at the Oakland Institute and co-author of the report, said, “The Bank claims that this indicator will protect land rights and bring more freedom and equity in terms of access to land, but it is actually an unprecedented push to privatize public land and facilitate private interests’ access to the commons, to the detriment of millions around the world.”
This project has met with fierce resistance. Ibrahima Coulibaly, president of ROPPA [the West Africa network of farmers’ and producers’ organizations] and president of the National Coordination of Peasant Organizations in Mali, says that the new indicator “risks opening the way to more land concentration and land grabbing, degradation of natural resources, and deforestation.”
Coulibaly is part of a growing movement of civil society organizations that have united under the rubric of Our Land Our Business. With over 280 organizations coming together in this coalition, they argue that small-holder farmers hold the key to their country’s prosperity, food sovereignty and their ability to mitigate climate change.
Although there has been widespread and peer-reviewed research showing that small-holder farmers are still providing about 70 percent of the world’s food using only 25 percent of the world’s agricultural resources, the World Bank and other pro-corporate institutions are ignoring the potential of small-holder farmers to create strong, local, resilient economies. This is in the face of the Bank’s own research that has shown the devastating effects of large corporate agriculture on the health of the land and topsoil, as well as the quality of life for farmers.
Moreover, recent research from the UN trade body UNCTAD, the U.S. agricultural think tank the Rodale Institute, and the Center for Food Safety, shows that regenerative agriculture — using practices such as, no-till farming and agroforestry – can not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions by sequestering carbon, but has the potential to help reverse climate change. This would require a shift in policy from supporting big corporate agribusinesses to supporting small-holder farmers to transition to fully regenerative practices.
The Oakland Institute report concludes with a clear solution: “Governments have to be urged and helped to design food and agricultural policies that put family farmers, pastoralists, and Indigenous Peoples at the center to address the major challenges of hunger, environmental degradation, and climate change. Instead, with its new land indicator, the World Bank is launching an unprecedented attack on their land rights and their future.”
Given Malpass’s political affiliations, it’s unlikely the Bank’s new president will acknowledge (much less move away from) its destructive, pro-corporate development model. With this new context and amidst the growing controversies about the World Bank’s policies, including the mass displacement and relocation of over 3 million people to make room for Bank recommended projects such as oil pipelines, it is time we question the very mandate of the World Bank.
Now, more than ever, we need public institutions that are focused on regenerative development and are contextually relevant for the most pressing issues of our time, such as ecological collapse and rapidly increasing inequality. We must challenge the mantra of highest bidder takes all with the rallying cry, “Our world is not for sale.”
A new report by the land rights think tank the Oakland Institute demonstrates how the World Bank’s Enabling the Business of Agriculture project — funded by the U.S. and U.K. governments, as well as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation — pushes countries to remove “barriers” to big agribusiness, including laws that protect commons like land and seeds.
As part of the project, the World Bank has developed a contentious new land indicator. Initiated as a pilot program in 38 countries in 2017, the indicator is expected to be expanded to 80 countries this year. The purpose of the indicator is to get countries to transform customary land tenure arrangements into formal titles, so as to render land a “transferrable asset” and therefore make it easier for corporations to acquire it from small-scale farmers.
Countries are under enormous pressure to align with this objective, as doing so grants them preferential access to aid and foreign investment.
Frédéric Mousseau, the policy director at the Oakland Institute and co-author of the report, said, “The Bank claims that this indicator will protect land rights and bring more freedom and equity in terms of access to land, but it is actually an unprecedented push to privatize public land and facilitate private interests’ access to the commons, to the detriment of millions around the world.”
This project has met with fierce resistance. Ibrahima Coulibaly, president of ROPPA [the West Africa network of farmers’ and producers’ organizations] and president of the National Coordination of Peasant Organizations in Mali, says that the new indicator “risks opening the way to more land concentration and land grabbing, degradation of natural resources, and deforestation.”
Coulibaly is part of a growing movement of civil society organizations that have united under the rubric of Our Land Our Business. With over 280 organizations coming together in this coalition, they argue that small-holder farmers hold the key to their country’s prosperity, food sovereignty and their ability to mitigate climate change.
Although there has been widespread and peer-reviewed research showing that small-holder farmers are still providing about 70 percent of the world’s food using only 25 percent of the world’s agricultural resources, the World Bank and other pro-corporate institutions are ignoring the potential of small-holder farmers to create strong, local, resilient economies. This is in the face of the Bank’s own research that has shown the devastating effects of large corporate agriculture on the health of the land and topsoil, as well as the quality of life for farmers.
Moreover, recent research from the UN trade body UNCTAD, the U.S. agricultural think tank the Rodale Institute, and the Center for Food Safety, shows that regenerative agriculture — using practices such as, no-till farming and agroforestry – can not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions by sequestering carbon, but has the potential to help reverse climate change. This would require a shift in policy from supporting big corporate agribusinesses to supporting small-holder farmers to transition to fully regenerative practices.
The Oakland Institute report concludes with a clear solution: “Governments have to be urged and helped to design food and agricultural policies that put family farmers, pastoralists, and Indigenous Peoples at the center to address the major challenges of hunger, environmental degradation, and climate change. Instead, with its new land indicator, the World Bank is launching an unprecedented attack on their land rights and their future.”
Given Malpass’s political affiliations, it’s unlikely the Bank’s new president will acknowledge (much less move away from) its destructive, pro-corporate development model. With this new context and amidst the growing controversies about the World Bank’s policies, including the mass displacement and relocation of over 3 million people to make room for Bank recommended projects such as oil pipelines, it is time we question the very mandate of the World Bank.
Now, more than ever, we need public institutions that are focused on regenerative development and are contextually relevant for the most pressing issues of our time, such as ecological collapse and rapidly increasing inequality. We must challenge the mantra of highest bidder takes all with the rallying cry, “Our world is not for sale.”
UK intel agency slams Trump for ‘utterly ridiculous’ claim that it spied on him for Obama
Brad Reed - raw story
24 APR 2019 AT 13:25 ET
British intelligence agency GCHQ on Wednesday hit back at President Donald Trump after he accused them of “spying” on his campaign at the behest of former President Barack Obama.
In an early-morning tweet on Wednesday, Trump cited conspiracy theorist Larry Johnson to claim that the U.K. had conspired with the Obama administration to improperly spy on him in 2016.
“‘Former CIA analyst Larry Johnson accuses United Kingdom Intelligence of helping Obama Administration Spy on the 2016 Trump Presidential Campaign,'” the president tweeted, citing a report by the right-wing One America Now Network. “WOW! It is now just a question of time before the truth comes out, and when it does, it will be a beauty!”
In a statement given to Newsweek, however, the spy agency urged people to ignore Trump’s latest Twitter rant as an unhinged conspiracy theory.
“As we have previously stated, the allegations that GCHQ was asked to conduct ‘wire tapping’ against the then-president elect are nonsense,” a spokesperson told the publication. “They are utterly ridiculous and should be ignored.”
Johnson, the former CIA employee cited by Trump, drew notoriety in 2008 for hyping up a supposed video of former first lady Michelle Obama ranting about “whitey” that turned out to not exist.
In an early-morning tweet on Wednesday, Trump cited conspiracy theorist Larry Johnson to claim that the U.K. had conspired with the Obama administration to improperly spy on him in 2016.
“‘Former CIA analyst Larry Johnson accuses United Kingdom Intelligence of helping Obama Administration Spy on the 2016 Trump Presidential Campaign,'” the president tweeted, citing a report by the right-wing One America Now Network. “WOW! It is now just a question of time before the truth comes out, and when it does, it will be a beauty!”
In a statement given to Newsweek, however, the spy agency urged people to ignore Trump’s latest Twitter rant as an unhinged conspiracy theory.
“As we have previously stated, the allegations that GCHQ was asked to conduct ‘wire tapping’ against the then-president elect are nonsense,” a spokesperson told the publication. “They are utterly ridiculous and should be ignored.”
Johnson, the former CIA employee cited by Trump, drew notoriety in 2008 for hyping up a supposed video of former first lady Michelle Obama ranting about “whitey” that turned out to not exist.
The Queen Will Not Be Having Donald Trump As A House Guest At Buckingham Palace
CatWoman - demo uderground
4/24/19
Donald and Melania Trump’s summer travel plans are taking shape and they will include a long-delayed state visit to London in June. The Washington Post reports that the customary stay at Buckingham Palace during the 3-day visit will not be extended to the couple, even though the Obamas and George W. Bush were hosted there. THE QUEEN has bigger balls than I do when it comes to house guests. The last time my mother-in-law came to visit, I considered several elaborate ruses to avoid having her stay with us, but lost my nerve as I was contemplating buying a jar of bedbugs off of eBay. But The Queen don’t give a fwuck. Suddenly, Buckingham Palace is “undergoing renovations” so they can’t stay there. I see you Lizzy. Well played, Your Highness.
It’s too bad because it sounds like Donny was looking forward to it. He probably had plans on taking a tinkle on whatever bed Barack Obama slept in. According to the Washington Post:
During discussions about the upcoming trip, British officials informed administration officials that Trump would not be able to stay at Buckingham Palace — as is often the custom for state visits — because it is still undergoing renovations and only a few rooms were available. The administration replied that this was no problem; they could make just a few rooms work. But the British ultimately explained that they did not feel that they could give the president the proper treatment with the palace being renovated.
Luckily for the Trumps, there’s a moderately well-reviewed La Quinta Inn not far from the palace. If that doesn’t suit their needs, the Washington Post says they will probably stay at the Winfield House, the home of the United States Ambassador. It’s where he and Melania stayed/hid out last time they were in London. And if things go pear shaped back at home (fingers crossed), Donald can always hole out there for the next decade and ride it out like Julian Assange (via WAPO):
Trump’s 2018 visit was downgraded from a state visit to a working visit by May. Working visits are generally more low-key — although the visit still caused widespread protests. During his first trip to the Britain as president, Trump was strategically kept away from London, the capital, where thousands of protesters marched and sang in the streets.
http://dlisted.com/2019/04/24/the-queen-will-not-be-having-donald-trump-as-a-house-guest-at-buckingham-palace/?fbclid=IwAR3-5Y46LFpkNHVgkLX1AZnafJV88044enQMz8MQh5Ske4bVxBi1-0fi4yQ
It’s too bad because it sounds like Donny was looking forward to it. He probably had plans on taking a tinkle on whatever bed Barack Obama slept in. According to the Washington Post:
During discussions about the upcoming trip, British officials informed administration officials that Trump would not be able to stay at Buckingham Palace — as is often the custom for state visits — because it is still undergoing renovations and only a few rooms were available. The administration replied that this was no problem; they could make just a few rooms work. But the British ultimately explained that they did not feel that they could give the president the proper treatment with the palace being renovated.
Luckily for the Trumps, there’s a moderately well-reviewed La Quinta Inn not far from the palace. If that doesn’t suit their needs, the Washington Post says they will probably stay at the Winfield House, the home of the United States Ambassador. It’s where he and Melania stayed/hid out last time they were in London. And if things go pear shaped back at home (fingers crossed), Donald can always hole out there for the next decade and ride it out like Julian Assange (via WAPO):
Trump’s 2018 visit was downgraded from a state visit to a working visit by May. Working visits are generally more low-key — although the visit still caused widespread protests. During his first trip to the Britain as president, Trump was strategically kept away from London, the capital, where thousands of protesters marched and sang in the streets.
http://dlisted.com/2019/04/24/the-queen-will-not-be-having-donald-trump-as-a-house-guest-at-buckingham-palace/?fbclid=IwAR3-5Y46LFpkNHVgkLX1AZnafJV88044enQMz8MQh5Ske4bVxBi1-0fi4yQ
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Obama Praises Joe Biden but Doesn’t Endorse Him as 2020 Candidate
daily beast - cheat sheet
As Joe Biden entered the 2020 race on Thursday, Barack Obama had kind words but no formal endorsement of his candidacy. “President Obama has long said that selecting Joe Biden as his running mate in 2008 was one of the best decisions he ever made,” spokeswoman Katie Hill said in a statement to The Daily Beast. “He relied on the vice President’s knowledge, insight, and judgment throughout both campaigns and the entire presidency. The two forged a special bond over the last 10 years and remain close today.” A source familiar with Obama’s thinking said that he is happy to let the primary process play out without endorsing any one candidate at this stage. “President Obama is excited by the extraordinary and diverse talent exhibited in the growing lineup of Democratic primary candidates,” this source said. “He believes that a robust primary in 2007 and 2008 not only made him a better general election candidate, but a better president, too. And because of that, it’s unlikely that he will throw his support behind a specific candidate this early in the primary process—preferring instead to let the candidates make their cases directly to the voters.”
Over 12,000 Boy Scouts Were Victims of Sexual Abuse, Says Expert
daily beast - cheat sheet
Over 12,000 Boy Scout members were allegedly sexually abused by troop leaders and volunteers, according to an expert who has been investigating the alleged abuse over the past five years. Dr. Janet Warren, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia’s medical school, testified as part of a January trial about child sex abuse at a Minnesota children's theater company. Her extensive investigation into the handling of sexual abuse within the Boy Scouts from 1944 through 2016 found that as many as 7,819 troop leaders and volunteers allegedly abused as many as 12,254 victims. Warren testified that she and her team gained access to the group's ineligible volunteer files which detailed the alleged abuses. Attorney Jeff Anderson publicly released the numbers at a press conference Tuesday, saying 130 of those alleged perpetrators are in New York and could now face legal action.
George Conway Slams ‘Deranged Donald’ Over U.K. Spying Claim
DAILY BEAST - CHEAT SHEET
George Conway, husband of presidential adviser Kellyanne Conway and one of Trump’s most frequent sparring partners, tore into the president on Twitter Thursday with the new nickname “Deranged Donald.” “Deranged Donald is at back at it again,” Conway wrote, alongside a Washington Post article about Trump’s baseless claim that Britain spied on his campaign ahead of the 2016 elections. “Deranged Donald can do things like this and it’s not even the top of the news, because it gets lost beneath all of the other deranged things Deranged Donald does. #DerangedDonald.”
“Deranged Donald has this neat job where he’s supposed to receive and read books with more accurate, highly valuable, top secret information, but he doesn’t like those books unless they have lots of pictures and tell him how great he is. #DerangedDonald,” Conway added in a subsequent tweet. “Plus Deranged Donald doesn’t really need all those books because Fox News. #DerangedDonald.” It’s currently the second-most popular hashtag on Twitter.
“Deranged Donald has this neat job where he’s supposed to receive and read books with more accurate, highly valuable, top secret information, but he doesn’t like those books unless they have lots of pictures and tell him how great he is. #DerangedDonald,” Conway added in a subsequent tweet. “Plus Deranged Donald doesn’t really need all those books because Fox News. #DerangedDonald.” It’s currently the second-most popular hashtag on Twitter.
Border Patrol Finds Abandoned 3-Year-Old With Name and Phone Number Written on Shoes
DAILY BEAST - CHEAT SHEET
Border Patrol agents found an abandoned 3-year-old boy “alone and crying” in a Texas cornfield early Wednesday morning. The kid had his name and a phone number scrawled onto his shoes, according to a tweet from CBP, and have appealed for help to find his family. The distressed boy was found in the Rio Grande Valley near Brownsville, Texas. Rudy Karish, the chief Border Patrol agent in the area, told NBC News he believes the boy was left by smugglers who ran away and left the boy alone when they were approached by agents. The boy is reportedly in “good spirits” after having watched movies at the border station. “Early this morning, USBP Agents found a 3-year-old boy alone and crying in a corn field in TX,” CBP wrote on Twitter. “He had his name & phone numbers written on his shoes. CBP is attempting to reach his family. We believe the boy was with a larger group that ran when they encountered Agents.”
New Jersey mayor: ‘Just call police’ if you see Jews in the park
Sarah K. Burris - raw story
24 APR 2019 AT 16:55 ET
A New Jersey mayor is facing a huge backlash after a tweet encouraging people to call the police if they see any Orthodox Jews at the town’s beaches and parks.
It all began with a constituent complaining about the Hasidic and Orthodox Jews seen in the area, NJ.com reported.
“@MayorDucey can we please do something about our parks and beaches. They are being invaded by the hasidic and orthodox jews and being ruined. Our tax paying residents are being forced out while politicians sit and do nothing,” said @simms10471. Understandably, the account has now been deleted, but not before screen captures were taken.
Brick Township Mayor John Ducey responded Tuesday in a way he didn’t realize it would be interpreted.
“Our parks security has started already. Just call police with any problems and they will send them out,” Ducey tweeted.
Ducey didn’t think anything of it, just telling people to contact police when they have problems. But now it’s being taken as an act of anti-Semitism.
Ducey told NJ.com Wednesday that he should have worded his tweet better.
“I apologize to anyone who read the statement in the wrong way. It wasn’t meant to be read that way,” he said. “The original tweet from the commenter was a disgusting, bigoted statement. My suggestions was what we would do with anyone if — if — there were any problems. People are misinterpreting it as me telling him to call park security. There was nothing to call about.”
He experienced huge a huge backlash from people of color online saying that when police are called on them, it doesn’t end well.
It all began with a constituent complaining about the Hasidic and Orthodox Jews seen in the area, NJ.com reported.
“@MayorDucey can we please do something about our parks and beaches. They are being invaded by the hasidic and orthodox jews and being ruined. Our tax paying residents are being forced out while politicians sit and do nothing,” said @simms10471. Understandably, the account has now been deleted, but not before screen captures were taken.
Brick Township Mayor John Ducey responded Tuesday in a way he didn’t realize it would be interpreted.
“Our parks security has started already. Just call police with any problems and they will send them out,” Ducey tweeted.
Ducey didn’t think anything of it, just telling people to contact police when they have problems. But now it’s being taken as an act of anti-Semitism.
Ducey told NJ.com Wednesday that he should have worded his tweet better.
“I apologize to anyone who read the statement in the wrong way. It wasn’t meant to be read that way,” he said. “The original tweet from the commenter was a disgusting, bigoted statement. My suggestions was what we would do with anyone if — if — there were any problems. People are misinterpreting it as me telling him to call park security. There was nothing to call about.”
He experienced huge a huge backlash from people of color online saying that when police are called on them, it doesn’t end well.
Trump Presidentaial Library
Students For Trump co-founder arrested for fraudulently posing as a lawyer: report
Matthew Chapman - raw story
24 APR 2019 AT 18:57 ET
Tennessee man John Lambert was arrested for fraudulently posing as a Manhattan attorney and bilking people of thousands of dollars for his fake services.
It turns out that Lambert, who solicited legal work through the fake name “Eric Pope,” is the co-founder of Students For Trump.
Students For Trump, a campus conservative group, worked to get out the vote for President Donald Trump in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election. Its current chairman, Ryan Fournier, has pledged to do the same in 2020.
While Lambert headed up the group, he made multiple appearances on NBC News and Fox News, and appeared at an event with alt-right personality Milo Yiannopoulos.
It turns out that Lambert, who solicited legal work through the fake name “Eric Pope,” is the co-founder of Students For Trump.
Students For Trump, a campus conservative group, worked to get out the vote for President Donald Trump in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election. Its current chairman, Ryan Fournier, has pledged to do the same in 2020.
While Lambert headed up the group, he made multiple appearances on NBC News and Fox News, and appeared at an event with alt-right personality Milo Yiannopoulos.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders Admitted to the Mueller Team That She's Full of Shit
Katherine Krueger - splinter news
4/18/19
There are any number of gratifying, if unsurprising, tidbits coming out of Robert Mueller’s massive report already. One I’d rank close to the top of the pile so far: Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders admitting to Mueller’s investigators what we’ve always known—that she just gets up there and lies and lies and lies.
Here’s what the report says about the administration’s claim, which was parroted by Sanders, that morale at the FBI had dropped precipitously because of James Comey’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email scandal..
“Sanders acknowledged to investigators that her comments were not founded on anything.” Incredible.
She really loved lying about this in the “heat of the moment”!
Again, this is no shock to the system to anyone who’s watched Sanders brazenly lie again and again and kept the act up even when she was directly called out for lying. She lied so much—and hated being called on it enough—that she all but killed the administration’s illusion of playing ball with the press in regular briefings. That she was only willing to tell the truth when her neck was on the line speaks volumes.
Here’s what the report says about the administration’s claim, which was parroted by Sanders, that morale at the FBI had dropped precipitously because of James Comey’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email scandal..
“Sanders acknowledged to investigators that her comments were not founded on anything.” Incredible.
She really loved lying about this in the “heat of the moment”!
Again, this is no shock to the system to anyone who’s watched Sanders brazenly lie again and again and kept the act up even when she was directly called out for lying. She lied so much—and hated being called on it enough—that she all but killed the administration’s illusion of playing ball with the press in regular briefings. That she was only willing to tell the truth when her neck was on the line speaks volumes.
*What's Inside*
april 22 - april 24
✔NRA BUSTED GIVING TRUMP 9,259 TIMES THE LEGAL LIMIT: BOMBSHELL CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAWSUIT
(CORRUPTION)
*TRUMP SAYS HE’LL CLOSE THE BORDER 1 DAY AFTER MEXICO AFFIRMS COMMITMENT TO IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT
(TRUMP)
*AMERICA’S BIGGEST LIE
(REALITY)
*SORRY, KOMBUCHA FANS: DENTISTS SAY IT'S RUINING OUR TEETH
(CURRENTS)
*WORKERS ARE CREATING MASSIVE WEALTH. WHY ARE CORPORATIONS HOARDING IT ALL?
BY CORY BOOKER(CANDIDATES)
*GLOBAL GROUNDING OF BOEING 737 MAX WILL COST COMPANY MORE THAN $1BN
(CORPORATE CRIMINALS)
*MILLIONS MORE AMERICANS BREATHING DIRTY AIR AS PLANET WARMS, STUDY FINDS
(EARTH)
*HERE'S YOUR PROBLEM, TURTLE-MAN BY NANCEGREGGS
(GOP POLITICS)
✔ANOTHER PLAN FOR DEFENSE CONTRACTORS TO MILK THE PENTAGON
(CAPITALISM)
*WOMEN HOLD NEARLY TWO-THIRDS OF STUDENT DEBT. WARREN’S DEBT CANCELLATION PLAN WOULD HELP THEM.
(REALITY)
*STATES ARE TRYING TO STOP CITIES FROM RAISING MINIMUM WAGE
(SLAVERY 21ST CENTURY)
*ELIZABETH WARREN WAS ASKED ABOUT KEEPING POLICE SAFE. HER ANSWER WAS A PRIMER ON RACIAL JUSTICE.
(CANDIDATES)
*FOX NEWS MEDIA CRITIC LAMENTS SUPPOSED PLIGHT OF WHITE MALE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES — AND GETS TORN TO SHREDS
(WORTHLESS MEDIA)
*DEMOCRATS MUST SAVE THE REPUBLIC, NOT THE REPUBLICAN PARTY
(TALKERS)
*CRAZED TRUMP SUPPORTER STANDS OUTSIDE HILLARY’S HOUSE AND DEMANDS HER IMMEDIATE ARREST
(SUCKERS)
*PURDUE PHARMA TRIES TO 'CRY POVERTY' IN LAWSUIT OVER OPIOID EPIDEMIC, CONNECTICUT ATTORNEY GENERAL SAYS
(CORPORATE CRIMINALS)
*MELTING PERMAFROST IN ARCTIC WILL HAVE $70TN CLIMATE IMPACT – STUDY
(EARTH)
✔HAS KRYSTEN SINEMA BECOME THE JOE MANCHIN OF THE WEST?
(SELLOUTS)
*WHAT MUELLER REALLY KNOWS ABOUT TRUMP BY DAVID CAY JOHNSON
(COMMENTARY)
*THE NOT-QUITE MUELLER REPORT: TRUMP IS A WHINY LITTLE BITCH WHO WANTS TO PROSECUTE HILLARY CLINTON
BY THE RUDE PUNDIT(COMMENTARY)
*PETE BUTTIGIEG TRIVIALIZES THE IMPACT OF TRADE ON US JOB LOSSES
(CANDIDATES)
*WHITE WOMAN SERIOUSLY INJURED AFTER ANGRY RACIST RUNS HER DOWN WITH HIS TRUCK FOR DATING A BLACK MAN
(AMERIKKKANS)
*NANCY PELOSI’S DRUG-PRICING TALKS WITH THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ARE ABOUT MEDIATING FIGHTS BETWEEN CORPORATE INTERESTS(SELLOUTS)
*NYPD COP ARRESTED A RANDOM BLACK BUSINESSMAN ON FALSE CHARGES JUST SO HE COULD EARN OVERTIME: LAWYER
(GESTAPO USA)
*WARREN UNVEILS AUDACIOUS STUDENT DEBT PLAN
(CANDIDATES)
*TEXAS REMOVES THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN FROM MEDICAID EACH MONTH DUE TO RED TAPE, RECORDS SHOW
(AMERICA)
*US BILLIONAIRES KNOW CAPITALISM IS BROKEN — AND NOW THEY’RE WORRIED ABOUT A REVOLUTION
(CAPITALISM)
*MOULTON ENTERS 2020 WHITE HOUSE RACE
(CANDIDATES)
Such a catchy slogan for Nazi's. Soph0571 - Demo Underground
*late news of interest*
Lawsuit Claims Ohio Prison Guards Laughed, Failed to React as White Supremacist Stabbed Cuffed Black Inmates:
‘Just Let Them Die’
By Tanasia Kenney - atlanta black star
April 22, 2019
In this screenshot, taken from a Southern Ohio Correction Facility security camera video four inmates, handcuffed to a table, are attacked by a fellow prisoner who slipped his handcuffs and brandished a knife. (Southern Ohio Correction Facility via AP)
Staffers at an Ohio prison did nothing to prevent a violent attack by a white supremacist against four Black inmates handcuffed to a table, a new federal lawsuit alleges.
The complaint, filed in the Southern District of Ohio earlier this month, accuses two corrections officers identified only by their last names, Faye and Dalton, of laughing while the four men were viciously stabbed during the June 2017 attack, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
The bloody incident was captured on security video at Southern Ohio Correctional Institution in Lucasville and seen by millions across the country, sparking outrage.
Lawyers filed the suit on behalf of two of the victims, Shamieke Pugh and Maurice Lee, and are seeking $75,000 in damages for a slew of civil rights violations, as well as for “cruel and unusual punishment” suffered by the men due to the guards’ inaction.
In the lawsuit, lawyers claim Pugh, Lee and two other Black inmates were strip-searched prior to being let out of their cells for recreational time. They were then handcuffed to a table.
The guards failed to strip-search Greg Reinke, whom the suit identifies as a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, a white nationalist group, before handcuffing him to an adjacent table, however. The lawsuit goes on to allege that the guards “gave Reinke a key” or “knew or should have known that Reinke” had a device to remove his handcuffs.
Reinke, who was already serving a life sentence for a 2004 murder, used an 8-inch blade in the attack and had a 12-inch blade stashed in his sock. As the bloody incident unfolded, the guards Faye and Dalton, stood behind a locked door and “laughed as Mr. Pugh, Mr. Lee and the other inmates were stabbed,” the complaint states.
Two of the inmates sustained only minor injuries while Lee, 27, suffered at least two stab wounds in the attack. Pugh said he was stabbed at least 10 times, and suffered heavy bleeding. One of the victims managed to escape his handcuffs and tackled Reinke to the ground. Corrections officers responded by pepper-spraying the victim — not Reinke.
The suit claims the guards and an unnamed sergeant didn’t immediately render aid to the four victims, and 10 minutes had passed before a nurse arrived.
“We should just let them die,” one of the guards reportedly said. It’s unclear which of the officers made the remark.
The complaint also alleges that unidentified guards later assaulted Pugh, 29, when he sought medical attention for high blood pressure and chest pains after the stabbing.
“I did a crime, and I did my time, but the guards got away scot-free after almost killing me,” Pugh said. “That ain’t right.”
Reinke, who has a history of carrying knives and had stabbed or tried to stab fellow inmates on two prior occasions, pleaded guilty to the 2017 attack and was sentenced to 54 years, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported. He denied that the officers had arranged the attack but said they condoned it.
Reinke was then hit with an additional 32 years behind bars after he and another inmate stabbed a corrections officer about eight months later. According to the Associated Press, he’s now on a hunger strike because of alleged mistreatment by prison staff.
In addition to Faye and Dalton, the lawsuit also names prison warden Ronald Erdos, unidentified nurses, a health care provider and several other corrections officer as defendants, arguing that the staff was well aware of Reinke’s violent tendencies, but did nothing to prevent it.
The complaint, filed in the Southern District of Ohio earlier this month, accuses two corrections officers identified only by their last names, Faye and Dalton, of laughing while the four men were viciously stabbed during the June 2017 attack, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
The bloody incident was captured on security video at Southern Ohio Correctional Institution in Lucasville and seen by millions across the country, sparking outrage.
Lawyers filed the suit on behalf of two of the victims, Shamieke Pugh and Maurice Lee, and are seeking $75,000 in damages for a slew of civil rights violations, as well as for “cruel and unusual punishment” suffered by the men due to the guards’ inaction.
In the lawsuit, lawyers claim Pugh, Lee and two other Black inmates were strip-searched prior to being let out of their cells for recreational time. They were then handcuffed to a table.
The guards failed to strip-search Greg Reinke, whom the suit identifies as a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, a white nationalist group, before handcuffing him to an adjacent table, however. The lawsuit goes on to allege that the guards “gave Reinke a key” or “knew or should have known that Reinke” had a device to remove his handcuffs.
Reinke, who was already serving a life sentence for a 2004 murder, used an 8-inch blade in the attack and had a 12-inch blade stashed in his sock. As the bloody incident unfolded, the guards Faye and Dalton, stood behind a locked door and “laughed as Mr. Pugh, Mr. Lee and the other inmates were stabbed,” the complaint states.
Two of the inmates sustained only minor injuries while Lee, 27, suffered at least two stab wounds in the attack. Pugh said he was stabbed at least 10 times, and suffered heavy bleeding. One of the victims managed to escape his handcuffs and tackled Reinke to the ground. Corrections officers responded by pepper-spraying the victim — not Reinke.
The suit claims the guards and an unnamed sergeant didn’t immediately render aid to the four victims, and 10 minutes had passed before a nurse arrived.
“We should just let them die,” one of the guards reportedly said. It’s unclear which of the officers made the remark.
The complaint also alleges that unidentified guards later assaulted Pugh, 29, when he sought medical attention for high blood pressure and chest pains after the stabbing.
“I did a crime, and I did my time, but the guards got away scot-free after almost killing me,” Pugh said. “That ain’t right.”
Reinke, who has a history of carrying knives and had stabbed or tried to stab fellow inmates on two prior occasions, pleaded guilty to the 2017 attack and was sentenced to 54 years, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported. He denied that the officers had arranged the attack but said they condoned it.
Reinke was then hit with an additional 32 years behind bars after he and another inmate stabbed a corrections officer about eight months later. According to the Associated Press, he’s now on a hunger strike because of alleged mistreatment by prison staff.
In addition to Faye and Dalton, the lawsuit also names prison warden Ronald Erdos, unidentified nurses, a health care provider and several other corrections officer as defendants, arguing that the staff was well aware of Reinke’s violent tendencies, but did nothing to prevent it.
