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reality is the state of things as they actually exist
february 16, 2019
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BREAKING - NATIONAL EMERGENCY UPDATE: Per pool, Trump has arrived at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, FL.
This is Trump's 169th day at a Trump golf club and 224th day at a Trump property as president.
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real news today
february 16, 2019
*The NFL's settlement with Kaepernick should just be the start of making amends
by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar(Commentary)
*PRO-ISRAEL DONORS SPENT OVER $22M ON LOBBYING AND CONTRIBUTIONS IN 2018
(Reality)
*AMAZON TO PAY $0 IN FEDERAL TAXES IN 2019: REPORT
(Capitalism)
*Antarctic ice shelves: Searching for clues on climate change
(Currents)
*Trump’s Immigration ‘Emergency’ Raises a False Flag, and Demeans the Constitution
(Talkers)
(for previous day's articles see "what's inside" below)
comment/tweet of the day
H. L. Mencken: Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.
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Mrs. Betty Bowers
@BettyBowers
911: “What’s the emergency?”
TRUMP: “I’ll tell you next Friday.”
911: “What’s your location?”
TRUMP: “I’m leaving now to play golf in Florida.”
911: “WHAT? Was this call necessary?”
TRUMP: “I didn’t need to do it.”
911: “Sir, you're abusing procedures for real emergencies."
4:12 PM - Feb 15, 2019
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Mississippi suit to cover all who lost voting rights, judge says
Mississippi strips the ballot from people convicted of any of 22 crimes, ranging from murder to timber larceny.
Feb. 16, 2019, 11:46 AM PST
By Associated Press - nbc news
JACKSON, Miss. — A federal judge says a handful of former Mississippi convicts who are suing to have their voting rights restored can represent everyone who falls into that category.
The ruling this week by U.S. District Judge Daniel Jordan certifying the lawsuit as a class action raises the stakes considerably. A victory by the plaintiffs could restore voting rights to tens of thousands of Mississippians, not just the handful who sued.
Jordan ruled that the plaintiffs had met the legal tests for a class action, despite arguments by lawyers for the state that a class-action was unnecessary. Jordan said he might decide later whether the class should only include people who have completed all the terms of their sentence, including payment of fines and restitution, or whether to set different limits.
There's still a long way to go in the case. Both sides have asked Jordan to rule without a trial, but the judge could choose to hear witnesses.
The Mississippi Constitution strips the ballot from people convicted of any of 10 felonies, including murder, forgery and bigamy. The attorney general later expanded that list to 22, adding crimes that include timber larceny and carjacking. The plaintiffs argue disenfranchisement violates the U.S. Constitution because it was adopted with the discriminatory intent of keeping African Americans from voting.
Between 1994 and 2017, about 47,000 people in Mississippi were convicted of disenfranchising crimes, Jonathan K. Youngwood, a New York-based attorney in the lawsuit, has said. About 60 percent of them, or nearly 30,000, have completed their sentences but have not regained their voting rights. Some are still serving time.
African-Americans make up about 38 percent of Mississippi's population and 36.5 percent of the state's registered voters. Youngwood said 59 percent to 60 percent of people convicted of disenfranchising crimes in the state are black.
Some states automatically restore voting rights once someone gets out of prison, while others automatically restore rights once someone completes parole or probation. But Mississippi requires people to go through the arduous process of getting individual bills passed just for them with two-thirds approval by the Legislature, or getting a pardon from the governor. A 2016 Sentencing Project study found that 335 people achieved one those between 2000 in 2015.
Republican Gov. Phil Bryant, in his final year in office, hasn't granted any pardons and has let suffrage restoration bills become law without his signature. Last year, he let four become law without signing them and vetoed a fifth. In a brief veto message April 13, he said restoring the ballot depends on the support of law enforcement "and the person's ability to show responsibility and honesty after conviction."
The issue of restoring rights has been gaining traction in historically restrictive states. Florida voters in November overwhelmingly adopted a constitutional amendment that will automatically allow most felons who complete their sentences, about 1.4 million people, to register as voters. This week in Mississippi, the House passed House Bill 637 , which will set up a study committee to examine the issue. If the Senate agrees and Bryant signs it, the committee would issue a report by year's end.
The ruling this week by U.S. District Judge Daniel Jordan certifying the lawsuit as a class action raises the stakes considerably. A victory by the plaintiffs could restore voting rights to tens of thousands of Mississippians, not just the handful who sued.
Jordan ruled that the plaintiffs had met the legal tests for a class action, despite arguments by lawyers for the state that a class-action was unnecessary. Jordan said he might decide later whether the class should only include people who have completed all the terms of their sentence, including payment of fines and restitution, or whether to set different limits.
There's still a long way to go in the case. Both sides have asked Jordan to rule without a trial, but the judge could choose to hear witnesses.
The Mississippi Constitution strips the ballot from people convicted of any of 10 felonies, including murder, forgery and bigamy. The attorney general later expanded that list to 22, adding crimes that include timber larceny and carjacking. The plaintiffs argue disenfranchisement violates the U.S. Constitution because it was adopted with the discriminatory intent of keeping African Americans from voting.
Between 1994 and 2017, about 47,000 people in Mississippi were convicted of disenfranchising crimes, Jonathan K. Youngwood, a New York-based attorney in the lawsuit, has said. About 60 percent of them, or nearly 30,000, have completed their sentences but have not regained their voting rights. Some are still serving time.
African-Americans make up about 38 percent of Mississippi's population and 36.5 percent of the state's registered voters. Youngwood said 59 percent to 60 percent of people convicted of disenfranchising crimes in the state are black.
Some states automatically restore voting rights once someone gets out of prison, while others automatically restore rights once someone completes parole or probation. But Mississippi requires people to go through the arduous process of getting individual bills passed just for them with two-thirds approval by the Legislature, or getting a pardon from the governor. A 2016 Sentencing Project study found that 335 people achieved one those between 2000 in 2015.
Republican Gov. Phil Bryant, in his final year in office, hasn't granted any pardons and has let suffrage restoration bills become law without his signature. Last year, he let four become law without signing them and vetoed a fifth. In a brief veto message April 13, he said restoring the ballot depends on the support of law enforcement "and the person's ability to show responsibility and honesty after conviction."
The issue of restoring rights has been gaining traction in historically restrictive states. Florida voters in November overwhelmingly adopted a constitutional amendment that will automatically allow most felons who complete their sentences, about 1.4 million people, to register as voters. This week in Mississippi, the House passed House Bill 637 , which will set up a study committee to examine the issue. If the Senate agrees and Bryant signs it, the committee would issue a report by year's end.
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Top Democrat says Trump lawyers provided false information to ethics officials
New documents have raised new questions.
PATRICK SMITH - thinkprogress
FEB 16, 2019, 1:00 PM
Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) made the stunning allegation Friday that President Donald Trump’s lawyers gave “false statements” to government ethics officials regarding hush-money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
Cummings, chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, lodged the charge in separate letters to White House Counsel Pat Cipollone and to the Trump Organization.
“It now appears that President Trump’s other attorneys—at the White House and in private practice—may have provided false information about these payments to federal officials,” Cummings wrote.
The letter includes documents that he says show Trump lawyers “repeatedly provided false information to ethics officials” about the nature of payments to Cohen.
“This raises significant questions about why some of the President’s closest advisers made these false claims and the extent to which they too were acting at the direction of, or in coordination with, the president,” the lawmaker wrote.
Cummings renewed a demand that the White House hand over documents about Trump’s payments to his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen — payments which were ultimately intended “to silence women alleging extramarital affairs” during the 2016 campaign. He notes that Trump has thus far failed to comply.
Trump fixer Michael Cohen has been sentenced to serve three years in prison after admitting his part in the hush-money payments.
He is also due to testify before Congress prior to March 6, when is scheduled to report to prison. The new allegations from Cummings will likely be a critical part of his hearing.
Cummings, chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, lodged the charge in separate letters to White House Counsel Pat Cipollone and to the Trump Organization.
“It now appears that President Trump’s other attorneys—at the White House and in private practice—may have provided false information about these payments to federal officials,” Cummings wrote.
The letter includes documents that he says show Trump lawyers “repeatedly provided false information to ethics officials” about the nature of payments to Cohen.
“This raises significant questions about why some of the President’s closest advisers made these false claims and the extent to which they too were acting at the direction of, or in coordination with, the president,” the lawmaker wrote.
Cummings renewed a demand that the White House hand over documents about Trump’s payments to his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen — payments which were ultimately intended “to silence women alleging extramarital affairs” during the 2016 campaign. He notes that Trump has thus far failed to comply.
Trump fixer Michael Cohen has been sentenced to serve three years in prison after admitting his part in the hush-money payments.
He is also due to testify before Congress prior to March 6, when is scheduled to report to prison. The new allegations from Cummings will likely be a critical part of his hearing.
Texas secretary of state apologizes for debunked claim of 95,000 ‘illegal voters’
David Whitley's confirmation vote has been postponed.
FRANK DALE - thinkprogress
FEB 16, 2019, 10:33 AM
A new conspiracy theory emerged in the conservative echo chamber last month.
Republicans have made many baseless claims about voter fraud in recent years, even though instances of a person impersonating another voter to cast a fraudulent ballot are less common than shark attacks.
But this latest attempt wasn’t from some random corner of the internet.
The claim that as many as 58,000 ballots had been cast by 95,000 “illegal voters” in Texas since 1996 was made by the office of Texas secretary of state David Whitley (R).
Texas attorney general Ken Paxton (R) tweeted out the supposed “VOTER FRAUD ALERT.”
Whitley’s claim was amplified by Texas Gov. Ken Paxton (R) and featured heavily on Fox News, which inevitably led to it appearing on President Donald Trump’s Twitter timeline.
However, Whitley’s office backtracked in recent weeks, after outlets like the Texas Tribune noted that tens of thousands of the supposed “illegal voters” were actually U.S. citizens.
Whitley’s list contains at least 20,000 naturalized citizens who are eligible to vote. One county found that 18,000 of its citizens were improperly listed.
Now the Texas secretary of state’s confirmation vote — which was scheduled to occur in the state senate on Thursday — has been postponed, as Whitley acknowledged his errors in a letter to lawmakers.
“I have discovered that additional refining of the data my office provides to county voter registrars, both in substance and in timing, is necessary to ensure a more accurate and efficient list maintenance process,” Whitley wrote on Wednesday.
“I recognize this caused some confusion about our intentions, which were at all times aimed at maintaining the accuracy and integrity of the voter rolls,” he continued. “To the extent my actions missed that mark, I apologize.”
Whitley blamed the confusion on how his office’s press release was worded during his contentious confirmation hearing earlier this month.
Despite acknowledging the errors, Whitley reportedly sent the inaccurate list to Texas’ attorney general for investigation and possible prosecution.
Republicans have made many baseless claims about voter fraud in recent years, even though instances of a person impersonating another voter to cast a fraudulent ballot are less common than shark attacks.
But this latest attempt wasn’t from some random corner of the internet.
The claim that as many as 58,000 ballots had been cast by 95,000 “illegal voters” in Texas since 1996 was made by the office of Texas secretary of state David Whitley (R).
Texas attorney general Ken Paxton (R) tweeted out the supposed “VOTER FRAUD ALERT.”
Whitley’s claim was amplified by Texas Gov. Ken Paxton (R) and featured heavily on Fox News, which inevitably led to it appearing on President Donald Trump’s Twitter timeline.
However, Whitley’s office backtracked in recent weeks, after outlets like the Texas Tribune noted that tens of thousands of the supposed “illegal voters” were actually U.S. citizens.
Whitley’s list contains at least 20,000 naturalized citizens who are eligible to vote. One county found that 18,000 of its citizens were improperly listed.
Now the Texas secretary of state’s confirmation vote — which was scheduled to occur in the state senate on Thursday — has been postponed, as Whitley acknowledged his errors in a letter to lawmakers.
“I have discovered that additional refining of the data my office provides to county voter registrars, both in substance and in timing, is necessary to ensure a more accurate and efficient list maintenance process,” Whitley wrote on Wednesday.
“I recognize this caused some confusion about our intentions, which were at all times aimed at maintaining the accuracy and integrity of the voter rolls,” he continued. “To the extent my actions missed that mark, I apologize.”
Whitley blamed the confusion on how his office’s press release was worded during his contentious confirmation hearing earlier this month.
Despite acknowledging the errors, Whitley reportedly sent the inaccurate list to Texas’ attorney general for investigation and possible prosecution.
Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone directly colluded with Russian operatives behind DNC email hack
Court filings show Mueller's team has correspondence between the Trump confidant and Russian intelligence.
ADAM PECK - thinkprogress
FEB 16, 2019, 10:04 AM
Late Friday afternoon, a flurry of activity by Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office pulled back the curtain on their case against Donald Trump confidant Roger Stone, who last month was arrested in his Florida home and charged with lying to federal prosecutors, witness tampering, and obstruction of justice.
In documents submitted to the U.S. district court, the special counsel’s office detailed some of the evidence against Roger Stone, acknowledging for the first time they possess direct communications between Stone and Russian operatives known collectively as Guccifer 2.0, as well as WikiLeaks.
The communications were gathered in connection to an indictment that Robert Mueller brought against 12 Russian intelligence operatives last year. Those individuals, who were all members of Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate, or GRU, operated under aliases including DCLeaks and Guccifer 2.0.
Stone’s communication with WikiLeaks, also disclosed in Friday’s court filing, was less of a surprise. He previously acknowledged being in contact with the propaganda outfit, though once the special counsel’s office began zeroing in on him, Stone tried to downplay any knowledge of WikiLeaks’ role in disseminating hacked emails from the DNC and Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. Last year, The Atlantic revealed that Stone and the official WikiLeaks Twitter account exchanged direct messages with one another shortly before the election.
The latest disclosure by prosecutors further tightens the noose around Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign.
In its initial indictment against Stone last month, the special counsel’s office revealed that a senior Trump campaign official “was directed” to reach out to Stone regarding WikiLeaks’ publication of John Podesta’s emails. Now that Stone himself was shown to have been in direct communication with Russian intelligence operatives, there is a direct line running between the Trump campaign and Russian military intelligence officials.
Also on Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson handed down a partial gag order against Stone, forbidding the notoriously loose-lipped provocateur from speaking in or around the courthouse.
Jackson placed a full gag order on Stone’s legal team as well, barring his attorneys from publicly commenting about the proceeding in a way that could “pose a substantial likelihood of material prejudice to this case.”
In documents submitted to the U.S. district court, the special counsel’s office detailed some of the evidence against Roger Stone, acknowledging for the first time they possess direct communications between Stone and Russian operatives known collectively as Guccifer 2.0, as well as WikiLeaks.
The communications were gathered in connection to an indictment that Robert Mueller brought against 12 Russian intelligence operatives last year. Those individuals, who were all members of Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate, or GRU, operated under aliases including DCLeaks and Guccifer 2.0.
Stone’s communication with WikiLeaks, also disclosed in Friday’s court filing, was less of a surprise. He previously acknowledged being in contact with the propaganda outfit, though once the special counsel’s office began zeroing in on him, Stone tried to downplay any knowledge of WikiLeaks’ role in disseminating hacked emails from the DNC and Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. Last year, The Atlantic revealed that Stone and the official WikiLeaks Twitter account exchanged direct messages with one another shortly before the election.
The latest disclosure by prosecutors further tightens the noose around Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign.
In its initial indictment against Stone last month, the special counsel’s office revealed that a senior Trump campaign official “was directed” to reach out to Stone regarding WikiLeaks’ publication of John Podesta’s emails. Now that Stone himself was shown to have been in direct communication with Russian intelligence operatives, there is a direct line running between the Trump campaign and Russian military intelligence officials.
Also on Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson handed down a partial gag order against Stone, forbidding the notoriously loose-lipped provocateur from speaking in or around the courthouse.
Jackson placed a full gag order on Stone’s legal team as well, barring his attorneys from publicly commenting about the proceeding in a way that could “pose a substantial likelihood of material prejudice to this case.”
*bites from real news - 2/16/2019*
*Noam Chomsky: Those who failed to recognize Trump as the greater evil made ‘a bad mistake’
*Fired Illinois factory gunman killed victims with gun he owned illegally: police
*GOP consultant bizarrely defends Trump’s wall money grab: ‘He’s a man of his word in many ways — so he going to lie’
*Federal judge blocks military from discharging service members with HIV
*JAIR BOLSONARO PRAISED THE GENOCIDE OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLE. NOW HE’S EMBOLDENING ATTACKERS OF BRAZIL’S AMAZONIAN COMMUNITIES.
Invasions of Indigenous territories by land grabbers have spiked since Bolsonaro took office and immediately rolled back federal protections.
*LOCKED INSIDE A FREEZING FEDERAL JAIL, THEY UNITED TO PROTEST THEIR CONDITIONS — ONLY TO FACE REPRISALS
by Emma Whitford, Nick Pinto
*Catholicism: Pope defrocks ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick over abuse claims
*ICE Is Sending Hundreds of Asylum-Seekers to a Private Prison in Mississippi
A man who fled Nicaragua after being shot by pro-regime forces has spent nearly two months in the prison.
Foxconn Bilked Wisconsin and the GOP Helped
by Jim Hightower | the smirking chimp
February 15, 2019 - 6:24am
A newspaper photograph last summer portrayed three guys in suits and ties shoveling dirt. They were Donald Trump, then-Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, and the chairman of Foxconn, the Taiwanese electronics conglomerate.
They were doing a PR groundbreaking for a new Foxconn plant that supposedly would hire thousands of blue-collar workers in Wisconsin to make flat-screen televisions. All three hailed the event as the start of a Made-in-the-USA manufacturing renaissance.
But it was actually a corporate scam.
Walker, who was up for re-election, was giving away a whopping $4 billion from his state’s taxpayers to lure Foxconn. Still, Trump hailed the deal as “the eighth wonder of the world.”
Less than a year later, though — oops — it turns out the three had been shoveling BS.
In January, Foxconn quietly backed away from its promise of all those factory jobs, declaring that “the global market environment” had changed. “In terms of TV,” they said, “we have no place in the U.S.” Having already pocketed much of Walker’s bribe money, Foxconn was downsizing its project from a mass-production blue-collar factory to a much, much smaller R&D operation.
It turns out that the Taiwanese giant has a history of reneging on its grandiose schemes, including failing to deliver on a Pennsylvania factory it promised in 2013.
Still, Foxconn is right that the environment had changed — Walker was defeated in November. Wisconsinites are in an uproar over both his extravagant giveaway and the corporation’s backaway. New Democratic Governor Tony Evers is asking pointed questions. And Trump’s slaphappy zig-zags on tariffs have roiled the whole high-tech market.
So, beware: When you see a picture of politicians shoveling people’s tax dollars into corporate coffers, the only sure thing is that the people are being played for suckers.
They were doing a PR groundbreaking for a new Foxconn plant that supposedly would hire thousands of blue-collar workers in Wisconsin to make flat-screen televisions. All three hailed the event as the start of a Made-in-the-USA manufacturing renaissance.
But it was actually a corporate scam.
Walker, who was up for re-election, was giving away a whopping $4 billion from his state’s taxpayers to lure Foxconn. Still, Trump hailed the deal as “the eighth wonder of the world.”
Less than a year later, though — oops — it turns out the three had been shoveling BS.
In January, Foxconn quietly backed away from its promise of all those factory jobs, declaring that “the global market environment” had changed. “In terms of TV,” they said, “we have no place in the U.S.” Having already pocketed much of Walker’s bribe money, Foxconn was downsizing its project from a mass-production blue-collar factory to a much, much smaller R&D operation.
It turns out that the Taiwanese giant has a history of reneging on its grandiose schemes, including failing to deliver on a Pennsylvania factory it promised in 2013.
Still, Foxconn is right that the environment had changed — Walker was defeated in November. Wisconsinites are in an uproar over both his extravagant giveaway and the corporation’s backaway. New Democratic Governor Tony Evers is asking pointed questions. And Trump’s slaphappy zig-zags on tariffs have roiled the whole high-tech market.
So, beware: When you see a picture of politicians shoveling people’s tax dollars into corporate coffers, the only sure thing is that the people are being played for suckers.
Trump Base Celebrates President For Standing Up To Constitution
the onion
2/15/19
WASHINGTON—Enthusiastically praising the commander-in-chief for holding firm in the face of opposition, Donald Trump’s political base cheered on the president Friday for standing up to the U.S. Constitution. “He stayed strong and really showed the Constitution who’s boss,” said 48-year-old Trump supporter Ross Heddens, applauding the president’s bravery and determination in taking on the document that represents the social contract through which all authority vested in the U.S. government is ultimately derived. “No fundamental system of laws is going to get in his way. Trump has shown that he won’t allow mere constitutional articles—not even the ones that explicitly delineate which powers are granted to which branches of government—to stop him from doing what he has pledged to do. That’s how tough he is.” Members of Trump’s base went on to urge the president to continue standing his ground by ignoring any future rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court that may seek to prevent him from fulfilling his campaign promises.
ACLU Plans To Sue Trump Administration Over Border Emergency Declaration
By Caitlin MacNeal - tpm
February 15, 2019 3:04 pm
Just a few hours after President Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced Friday that it will file a lawsuit next week challenging the declaration.
“By the president’s very own admission in the Rose Garden, there is no national emergency. He just grew impatient and frustrated with Congress, and decided to move along his promise for a border wall ‘faster.’ This is a patently illegal power grab that hurts American communities and flouts the checks and balances that are hallmarks of our democracy,” Anthony Romero, the ACLU’s executive director, said in a statement Friday afternoon.
The ACLU said that it will argue in the lawsuit that the emergency powers Trump used to make the declaration cannot be used to build a border wall. Those powers were meant for “military construction projects, like overseas military airfields in wartime, that ‘are necessary to support’ the emergency use of armed forces,” the ACLU said in the statement.
It was widely expected that Trump’s decision to declare a national emergency in order to fund construction of a border wall would prompt legal challenges. Trump himself acknowledged in his Friday morning speech announcing the move that he will face lawsuits.
“By the president’s very own admission in the Rose Garden, there is no national emergency. He just grew impatient and frustrated with Congress, and decided to move along his promise for a border wall ‘faster.’ This is a patently illegal power grab that hurts American communities and flouts the checks and balances that are hallmarks of our democracy,” Anthony Romero, the ACLU’s executive director, said in a statement Friday afternoon.
The ACLU said that it will argue in the lawsuit that the emergency powers Trump used to make the declaration cannot be used to build a border wall. Those powers were meant for “military construction projects, like overseas military airfields in wartime, that ‘are necessary to support’ the emergency use of armed forces,” the ACLU said in the statement.
It was widely expected that Trump’s decision to declare a national emergency in order to fund construction of a border wall would prompt legal challenges. Trump himself acknowledged in his Friday morning speech announcing the move that he will face lawsuits.
Dallas Police Officer Sues Facebook and Twitter Over 2016 Ambush
daily beast
A Dallas police officer shot during a July 2016 ambush filed a lawsuit against Facebook, Google and Twitter this week, claiming the tech companies helped radicalize the gunman, according to an area CBS affiliate and court documents. Five officers died during the attack and nine people were injured, including the officer who is suing, Jesus Retana. The federal lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of Texas, alleges that these tech titans didn’t do enough to stop the spread of the Hamas propaganda from reaching gunman Micah Johnson, who was eventually killed by cops. Keith Altman, the lawyer who’s representing Retana, reportedly said “Mentally, he’s just not the same person. He has nightmares, sweats. It has a tremendous impact on his life and his husband’s. They suffer every single day from what happened.” Altman argued that “Hamas’ ability to reach into the United States has been greatly enhanced, it’s been greatly enhanced by using social media.” While Altman made similar arguments in a lawsuit he had brought for another injured officer, a judge dismissed the case. The judge had determined that there wasn’t enough proof that Hamas was tied to the incident, per CBS Dallas.
Facebook Suspends Three Russia-Backed Video Channels
daily beast
Facebook suspended three video channels on Friday, sometime after the social media giant learned that these pages did not disclose their financial ties to Russia, according to CNN. A company named Maffick Media runs these pages, but the main stakeholder is a subsidiary of RT, a news company funded by the Kremlin. Maffick Media does have Los Angeles-based freelancers and contractors, but it’s registered in Germany, not the United States, per CNN. Facebook said it would contact the people who run these pages and ask them to disclose both the pages’ affiliation with Russia, as well as where they pages are based, before the suspension is lifted. Maffick Media’s pages do not feature information about its links to RT. While Facebook doesn’t require that users such as Mafick Media disclose information on their pages’ parent companies, the move comes as the tech company is trying to increase transparency about who is behind popular pages. Facebook has drawn fire for a lack of transparency over who runs popular pages due to Russia’s social media-fueled attempts to influence the 2016 election.
Colin Kaepernick, Eric Reid Settle Collusion Cases Against NFL
daily beast
Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and safety Eric Reid have reached a settlement with the NFL concerning their collusion grievances against the league, it was announced Friday.
“For the past several months, counsel for Mr. Kaepernick and Mr. Reid have engaged in an ongoing dialogue with representatives of the NFL,” attorney Mark Geragos and the NFL said in a joint statement issued Friday. “As a result of those discussions, the parties have decided to resolve the pending grievances. The resolution of this matter is subject to a confidentiality agreement so there will be no further comment by any party.” Kaepernick filed a grievance last fall under the collective-bargaining agreement, alleging that teams colluded to block him from signing him to an NFL contract. Kaepernick alleged that the league and its owners conspired to deprive him of employment in retaliation for his “leadership and advocacy for equality and social justice and his bringing awareness to peculiar institutions still undermining racial equality in the United States,” the filing read.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, along with several owners and at least two other NFL executives, were asked to turn over all cellphone records and emails in relation to Kaepernick’s case against the NFL. Kaepernick drew national attention in 2016 when he knelt during the national anthem before games as a protest against police brutality and other social injustice. His kneeling was discouraged by the NFL and publicly vilified by President Trump.
“For the past several months, counsel for Mr. Kaepernick and Mr. Reid have engaged in an ongoing dialogue with representatives of the NFL,” attorney Mark Geragos and the NFL said in a joint statement issued Friday. “As a result of those discussions, the parties have decided to resolve the pending grievances. The resolution of this matter is subject to a confidentiality agreement so there will be no further comment by any party.” Kaepernick filed a grievance last fall under the collective-bargaining agreement, alleging that teams colluded to block him from signing him to an NFL contract. Kaepernick alleged that the league and its owners conspired to deprive him of employment in retaliation for his “leadership and advocacy for equality and social justice and his bringing awareness to peculiar institutions still undermining racial equality in the United States,” the filing read.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, along with several owners and at least two other NFL executives, were asked to turn over all cellphone records and emails in relation to Kaepernick’s case against the NFL. Kaepernick drew national attention in 2016 when he knelt during the national anthem before games as a protest against police brutality and other social injustice. His kneeling was discouraged by the NFL and publicly vilified by President Trump.
'We recognize this is horribly unfair.' 9/11 victim fund will cut payouts by up to 70% as claims sur
mahatmakanejeeves - demo underground
2/15/19
Source: Washington Post
National Security
‘We recognize this is horribly unfair.’ 9/11 victim fund will cut payouts by up to 70% as claims surge
By Devlin Barrett
February 15 at 2:01 PM
The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund plans to cut future payouts in half — and in some cases by as much as 70 percent — as it struggles with a surge of new claims from those who have gotten sick and the families of those who have died, officials announced Friday.
The fund was opened by the federal government in 2011 to compensate for deaths and illnesses linked to toxic exposure at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pa., after terrorists crashed four hijacked airliners in 2001. To date, the $7.3 billion fund has paid about $5 billion to roughly 21,000 claimants. About 700 were for deaths that occurred long after the attacks.
Now, faced with more than 19,000 additional unpaid claims, the math has become painful.
“We recognize that this is horribly unfair, particularly because we have spent the balance of this program paying claims at full value, and claimants who are coming in now are going to receive less,” said Rupa Bhattacharyya, who administers the fund. “Unfortunately, the law really leaves us no choice. This is the fairest way we could come up with to do it.”
....
Devlin Barrett writes about national security and law enforcement for The Washington Post. He has previously worked at the Wall Street Journal, the Associated Press and the New York Post, where he started as a copy boy. Follow https://twitter.com/DevlinBarrett
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/we-recognize-this-is-horribly-unfair-911-victim-fund-will-cut-payouts-by-up-to-70-percent-as-claims-surge/2019/02/15/6dea9648-30a8-11e9-86ab-5d02109aeb01_story.html
National Security
‘We recognize this is horribly unfair.’ 9/11 victim fund will cut payouts by up to 70% as claims surge
By Devlin Barrett
February 15 at 2:01 PM
The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund plans to cut future payouts in half — and in some cases by as much as 70 percent — as it struggles with a surge of new claims from those who have gotten sick and the families of those who have died, officials announced Friday.
The fund was opened by the federal government in 2011 to compensate for deaths and illnesses linked to toxic exposure at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pa., after terrorists crashed four hijacked airliners in 2001. To date, the $7.3 billion fund has paid about $5 billion to roughly 21,000 claimants. About 700 were for deaths that occurred long after the attacks.
Now, faced with more than 19,000 additional unpaid claims, the math has become painful.
“We recognize that this is horribly unfair, particularly because we have spent the balance of this program paying claims at full value, and claimants who are coming in now are going to receive less,” said Rupa Bhattacharyya, who administers the fund. “Unfortunately, the law really leaves us no choice. This is the fairest way we could come up with to do it.”
....
Devlin Barrett writes about national security and law enforcement for The Washington Post. He has previously worked at the Wall Street Journal, the Associated Press and the New York Post, where he started as a copy boy. Follow https://twitter.com/DevlinBarrett
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/we-recognize-this-is-horribly-unfair-911-victim-fund-will-cut-payouts-by-up-to-70-percent-as-claims-surge/2019/02/15/6dea9648-30a8-11e9-86ab-5d02109aeb01_story.html
*What's Inside*
february 13 - february 15
✔STUDY: WHITE TEACHERS FAR MORE NEGATIVE WHEN DEALING WITH BLACK STUDENTS, MEANWHILE, BLACK TEACHERS ARE EQUALLY POSITIVE
(EDUCATION)
*POLICE: HOUSTON MAN UPSET OVER MOTHER’S DATING CHOICE GOES OUT AND ATTACKS A RANDOM 92-YEAR-OLD BLACK MAN
(AMERIKKKANS)
*TEXTS BETWEEN PORTLAND POLICE, FAR-RIGHT GROUP DRAW SCRUTINY
(GESTAPO USA)
*THE REAL EMERGENCY HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE BORDER BY THE RUDE PUNDIT
(COMMENTARY)
*FIRED FOR NO REASON? US FAST-FOOD WORKERS IN FRESH ASSAULT ON UNFAIR DISMISSALS
(SLAVERY 21ST CENTURY)
*BLACK MOLD, RODENTS, LEAD PAINT IN PRIVATIZED HOUSING: NO RENT UNTIL IT’S FIXED, MILITARY SPOUSES SAY
(AMERICA)
✔EXPOSURE TO WEED KILLING PRODUCTS INCREASES RISK OF CANCER BY 41% – STUDY
(CURRENTS)
*BETSY DEVOS IS MAKING CAMPUSES SAFER FOR RAPISTS AND THEIR ENABLERS
(EDUCATION)
*FOX NEWS BANS AD FOR DOCUMENTARY ABOUT AMERICAN NAZI RALLY IN 1939
(WORTHLESS MEDIA)
*LARGE NATURAL GAS PRODUCER TO PAY WEST VIRGINIA PLAINTIFFS $53.5 MILLION TO SETTLE ROYALTY DISPUTE
(OIL)
*NIGERIAN WIDOWS SUE SHELL FOR COMPLICITY IN HANGING DEATHS OF ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISTS
(CORPORATE CRIMINALS)
*DEMOCRATS GO AFTER POLITICAL ‘DARK MONEY’ WITH ANTI-CORRUPTION MEASURE
(DEMO POLITICS)
✔EARTH'S MAGNETIC FIELD WILL REVERSE ONE DAY—HERE'S WHY, AND WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN IT FLIPS
(CURRENTS)
*RALPH NORTHAM’S YEARBOOK PHOTO IS A SYMPTOM OF RACISM IN MEDICINE
(RACE MATTERS)
*INCARCERATED IMMIGRANTS ARE BEING TORTURED
(AMERICA)
*PIONEERING BLACK SCIENTIST TO WIN ‘NOBEL PRIZE’ OF CLIMATE CHANGE
(REAL PEOPLE)
*TWO OF TRUMP’S BIGGEST HOTEL GUESTS LOOK TO GET MAJOR BUSINESS DEALS APPROVED BY GOVERNMENT
(CORRUPTION)
*GEORGIA REPUBLICAN BUSTED FOR DISPLAYING WHITE SUPREMACIST BOOK IN CONGRESSIONAL OFFICE: ‘IT ENRAGED ME’
(AMERIKKKANS)
*HERE ARE 10 INCREDIBLY FAKE FACTS TRUMP SUPPORTERS BELIEVE ARE TRUE
(SUCKERS)
*MIDWEST FARMERS GOING BROKE AT RECORD RATES THANKS TO TRUMP'S TRADE WAR
(PAYBACK)
*ILHAN OMAR IS RIGHT ABOUT THE INFLUENCE OF THE ISRAEL LOBBY
(TALKERS)
*RARE AFRICAN BLACK LEOPARD CAPTURED BY CAMERA TRAP'S EXTRAORDINARY PHOTOS
(WEIRD THINGS)
*SIX CALIFORNIA POLICE OFFICERS FIRE SHOTS AT RAPPER ASLEEP IN CAR, KILLING HIM
(GESTAPO USA)
*late news of interest*
Trump’s DHS Guts Task Forces Protecting Elections From Foreign Meddling
‘It’s very curious why the leadership has not committed resources to prepare for the 2020 election,’ one Homeland Security official tells The Daily Beast.
Erin Banco, Betsy Woodruff - daily beast
02.13.19 9:31 PM ET
Two teams of federal officials assembled to fight foreign election interference are being dramatically downsized, according to three current and former Department of Homeland Security officials. And now, those sources say they fear the department won’t prepare adequately for election threats in 2020.
“The clear assessment from the intelligence community is that 2020 is going to be the perfect storm,” said a DHS official familiar with the teams. “We know Russia is going to be engaged. Other state actors have seen the success of Russia and realize the value of disinformation operations. So it’s very curious why the task forces were demoted in the bureaucracy and the leadership has not committed resources to prepare for the 2020 election.”
The task forces, part of the Cyber Security and Infrastructure Agency (CISA), were assembled in response to Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. One focuses in part on securing election infrastructure and the other focuses on foreign influence efforts, including social media disinformation campaigns.
One of the task forces is now half the size it was a few months ago, according to two DHS officials familiar with the task forces, and there’s no indication that DHS senior political leadership will staff it up or sustain it. Instead, there are concerns it will completely wither away. The other task force also shrank significantly shortly after the midterms, according to that official, and before its members produced a thorough assessment of what happened during the 2018 elections.
“Our key allies are wondering why the U.S. is not more coordinated and not more proactive in dealing with this,” said the DHS official. “They don’t understand why the U.S. is not getting its act together.”
A DHS spokesperson confirmed that some people have been taken off the task forces and moved to other roles in the department. The spokesperson added that the department is bringing on new people to do election security work.
“As recently as this morning, Director Krebs confirmed election security remains a priority for CISA in his testimony before the House Committee on Homeland Security, laying out the Agency’s plan to work with State and local election officials on broader engagement, better defining risk to election systems, and understanding the resources to manage that risk,” said Sara Sendek, the DHS spokesperson.
“In the run up to the 2018 elections, DHS staffed the newly created elections task force and countering foreign influence task force by temporarily assigning personnel from across the Department. The work of these task forces continues to this day and is being institutionalized as a permanent effort. While some of the personnel who were brought on to serve on these task forces in temporary assignments have returned to their regular roles, we are also currently hiring new employees into permanent election positions to build out our team and support our efforts for 2020 and beyond,” Sendek added.
One lawmaker with knowledge of the formation of CISA said the task forces were never intended to be permanent.
“In some sense it’s not surprising that these changes are happening,” he said. “There was nothing set in stone that said these teams were going to stay in formation. At least that was my understanding.”
Others said they found the change concerning.
“The Trump administration intelligence chiefs in their worldwide threat assessment clearly stated that the use of influence operations from countries like Russia, China and Iran poses a significant threat to the country,” said John Cohen, the former deputy undersecretary for intelligence and analysis at DHS. “If these reports are true, it’s highly disturbing that the department and the administration are not more focused on dealing with that threat.”
The election task force has worked to shield election infrastructure from foreign efforts to change vote counts. And the foreign influence task force is working to publicly reveal efforts by foreign actors to shape American political discourse on social media—in the hopes of significantly expanding Americans’ understanding of the threat. It was also designed to improve DHS’s coordination with foreign allies who face the same threat, and to help DHS better alert the private sector about threats.
The changes to the task forces may make it harder for them to realize those goals, current and former officials say.
“It won’t be 2016 all over again—the threat is changing,” said a former DHS official. “A thinly staffed task force working on that is not going to be equipped to keep up with the adversary.”
A few weeks before President Donald Trump’s inauguration, then-DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson determined that DHS was responsible for helping protect election infrastructure—meaning polling places, voting machines, voter databases, and all the other components that make elections happen. The new, complex undertaking involved scores of state and local governments. A few years in, the department is still getting its footing. So the changes detailed here have people close to the department deeply concerned.
“Because it’s a very difficult task and because DHS has never done it before, there’s a lot of catching up to do,” said the former DHS official. “Even with a fully resourced effort, that would be an extremely tall task. But having it be deprioritized and lacking access to senior leadership, it’s virtually impossible.”
That said, these changes appear to reflect the White House’s lack of interest in beefing up election security, according to Paul Rosenzweig, formerly deputy assistant secretary for policy at DHS.
“If the president isn’t interested and there is no strategy, it’s no surprise that DHS is not wasting its time,” said Rosenzweig, now a senior fellow at the R Street Institute. “The failure of the White House to take this seriously is perhaps its single most significant dereliction of duty.”
The White House press briefing on Aug. 2, 2018 focused on election security, and the Trump administration has sanctioned Russian individuals and entities in retaliation for the 2016 election meddling.
“Since the beginning of his administration, President Trump has implemented a whole-of-government approach to safeguard our nation’s elections,” press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at the time. “The President has made it clear that his administration will not tolerate foreign interference in our elections from any nation-state or other dangerous actor.”
Before the midterms, both task forces reported directly to Chris Krebs, the Senate-confirmed director of CISA. But after the midterms, that changed. Now, they report to an official who is much lower in the chain of command. The shift could seriously inhibit their effectiveness, according to one of the DHS officials, and suggests their work is not a top priority for DHS political leadership.
Krebs testified on Wednesday before the House Homeland Security Committee. The hearing focused on election security infrastructure and partnerships between DHS and state election officials.
Congressional staff reached out to CISA about the task forces before Krebs’ hearing as part of their preparation, according to a person with knowledge of the committee's work.
But Krebs did not directly address the reorganization or the shrinking of the CISA task forces. Instead, he said his team needed to do more to secure the upcoming 2020 elections.
“While 2018 is behind us, the 2020 election season is already underway. We are clear-eyed that the threat to our democratic institutions remains and we must continue to press for increased security,” he said. “Just like any other IT system, the election infrastructure bears additional securing and resilience measures.”
Later in the hearing, Krebs said American voters need to be more sophisticated about disinformation campaigns.
“We have to do more awareness building in this country as we’re just deluged with information,” he said. “We got to have people thinking, ‘Where is this information coming from? And why is it coming to me?’”
Inside DHS, staffers are frustrated that emphasis on election security has dwindled as the focus on border security has exploded. One staffer told The Daily Beast that officials working on election security have discussed ways to get the message to the White House, but found no one willing to bring it up directly with Trump.
“It’s very clear which direction we’re headed in DHS,” one staffer told The Daily Beast. “Everything, it seems, is dictated by someone higher up the chain who is making it abundantly clear to the rest of us that immigration and border security are the real focuses.”
A member of the DHS Advisory Council, a group of individuals in the public and private sectors that provide the secretary with guidance on DHS policy, echoed those concerns. The member told The Daily Beast that the calls with Sec. Kirstjen Nielsen over the past six months have focused on the migrant caravan and the need for increased border security.
“Increasingly, the administration’s own information seems to undercut their argument that conditions at the southern border represent a national security crisis,” Cohen said. “So, it’s unclear why they would focus more resources on the border than dealing with what the intelligence committee has identified as a sig national security threat.”
“The clear assessment from the intelligence community is that 2020 is going to be the perfect storm,” said a DHS official familiar with the teams. “We know Russia is going to be engaged. Other state actors have seen the success of Russia and realize the value of disinformation operations. So it’s very curious why the task forces were demoted in the bureaucracy and the leadership has not committed resources to prepare for the 2020 election.”
The task forces, part of the Cyber Security and Infrastructure Agency (CISA), were assembled in response to Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. One focuses in part on securing election infrastructure and the other focuses on foreign influence efforts, including social media disinformation campaigns.
One of the task forces is now half the size it was a few months ago, according to two DHS officials familiar with the task forces, and there’s no indication that DHS senior political leadership will staff it up or sustain it. Instead, there are concerns it will completely wither away. The other task force also shrank significantly shortly after the midterms, according to that official, and before its members produced a thorough assessment of what happened during the 2018 elections.
“Our key allies are wondering why the U.S. is not more coordinated and not more proactive in dealing with this,” said the DHS official. “They don’t understand why the U.S. is not getting its act together.”
A DHS spokesperson confirmed that some people have been taken off the task forces and moved to other roles in the department. The spokesperson added that the department is bringing on new people to do election security work.
“As recently as this morning, Director Krebs confirmed election security remains a priority for CISA in his testimony before the House Committee on Homeland Security, laying out the Agency’s plan to work with State and local election officials on broader engagement, better defining risk to election systems, and understanding the resources to manage that risk,” said Sara Sendek, the DHS spokesperson.
“In the run up to the 2018 elections, DHS staffed the newly created elections task force and countering foreign influence task force by temporarily assigning personnel from across the Department. The work of these task forces continues to this day and is being institutionalized as a permanent effort. While some of the personnel who were brought on to serve on these task forces in temporary assignments have returned to their regular roles, we are also currently hiring new employees into permanent election positions to build out our team and support our efforts for 2020 and beyond,” Sendek added.
One lawmaker with knowledge of the formation of CISA said the task forces were never intended to be permanent.
“In some sense it’s not surprising that these changes are happening,” he said. “There was nothing set in stone that said these teams were going to stay in formation. At least that was my understanding.”
Others said they found the change concerning.
“The Trump administration intelligence chiefs in their worldwide threat assessment clearly stated that the use of influence operations from countries like Russia, China and Iran poses a significant threat to the country,” said John Cohen, the former deputy undersecretary for intelligence and analysis at DHS. “If these reports are true, it’s highly disturbing that the department and the administration are not more focused on dealing with that threat.”
The election task force has worked to shield election infrastructure from foreign efforts to change vote counts. And the foreign influence task force is working to publicly reveal efforts by foreign actors to shape American political discourse on social media—in the hopes of significantly expanding Americans’ understanding of the threat. It was also designed to improve DHS’s coordination with foreign allies who face the same threat, and to help DHS better alert the private sector about threats.
The changes to the task forces may make it harder for them to realize those goals, current and former officials say.
“It won’t be 2016 all over again—the threat is changing,” said a former DHS official. “A thinly staffed task force working on that is not going to be equipped to keep up with the adversary.”
A few weeks before President Donald Trump’s inauguration, then-DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson determined that DHS was responsible for helping protect election infrastructure—meaning polling places, voting machines, voter databases, and all the other components that make elections happen. The new, complex undertaking involved scores of state and local governments. A few years in, the department is still getting its footing. So the changes detailed here have people close to the department deeply concerned.
“Because it’s a very difficult task and because DHS has never done it before, there’s a lot of catching up to do,” said the former DHS official. “Even with a fully resourced effort, that would be an extremely tall task. But having it be deprioritized and lacking access to senior leadership, it’s virtually impossible.”
That said, these changes appear to reflect the White House’s lack of interest in beefing up election security, according to Paul Rosenzweig, formerly deputy assistant secretary for policy at DHS.
“If the president isn’t interested and there is no strategy, it’s no surprise that DHS is not wasting its time,” said Rosenzweig, now a senior fellow at the R Street Institute. “The failure of the White House to take this seriously is perhaps its single most significant dereliction of duty.”
The White House press briefing on Aug. 2, 2018 focused on election security, and the Trump administration has sanctioned Russian individuals and entities in retaliation for the 2016 election meddling.
“Since the beginning of his administration, President Trump has implemented a whole-of-government approach to safeguard our nation’s elections,” press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at the time. “The President has made it clear that his administration will not tolerate foreign interference in our elections from any nation-state or other dangerous actor.”
Before the midterms, both task forces reported directly to Chris Krebs, the Senate-confirmed director of CISA. But after the midterms, that changed. Now, they report to an official who is much lower in the chain of command. The shift could seriously inhibit their effectiveness, according to one of the DHS officials, and suggests their work is not a top priority for DHS political leadership.
Krebs testified on Wednesday before the House Homeland Security Committee. The hearing focused on election security infrastructure and partnerships between DHS and state election officials.
Congressional staff reached out to CISA about the task forces before Krebs’ hearing as part of their preparation, according to a person with knowledge of the committee's work.
But Krebs did not directly address the reorganization or the shrinking of the CISA task forces. Instead, he said his team needed to do more to secure the upcoming 2020 elections.
“While 2018 is behind us, the 2020 election season is already underway. We are clear-eyed that the threat to our democratic institutions remains and we must continue to press for increased security,” he said. “Just like any other IT system, the election infrastructure bears additional securing and resilience measures.”
Later in the hearing, Krebs said American voters need to be more sophisticated about disinformation campaigns.
“We have to do more awareness building in this country as we’re just deluged with information,” he said. “We got to have people thinking, ‘Where is this information coming from? And why is it coming to me?’”
Inside DHS, staffers are frustrated that emphasis on election security has dwindled as the focus on border security has exploded. One staffer told The Daily Beast that officials working on election security have discussed ways to get the message to the White House, but found no one willing to bring it up directly with Trump.
“It’s very clear which direction we’re headed in DHS,” one staffer told The Daily Beast. “Everything, it seems, is dictated by someone higher up the chain who is making it abundantly clear to the rest of us that immigration and border security are the real focuses.”
A member of the DHS Advisory Council, a group of individuals in the public and private sectors that provide the secretary with guidance on DHS policy, echoed those concerns. The member told The Daily Beast that the calls with Sec. Kirstjen Nielsen over the past six months have focused on the migrant caravan and the need for increased border security.
“Increasingly, the administration’s own information seems to undercut their argument that conditions at the southern border represent a national security crisis,” Cohen said. “So, it’s unclear why they would focus more resources on the border than dealing with what the intelligence committee has identified as a sig national security threat.”
