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welcome to reality trivia
reality is the state of things as they actually exist
may 22, 2018
real news today
may 22, 2018
*Trump gets the go-ahead to strip money from Children's Health Insurance Program
(Payback)
*Michigan extends nondiscrimination protections to LGBTQ community
(Rights)
*Chicago government silences objections to $95 million police academy plan
(America)
*More than 100 million Americans’ drinking water could be contaminated by harmful chemicals(ENVIRONMENT)
*Widely used PVC plastic chemical spurs obesity, prediabetes: Study
(Environment)
*Trump Reportedly Rejects Phone Security Measures As ‘Too Inconvenient’
(Trump)
*HOW BUYING BABY POWDER HELPS FUND THE TALIBAN AND ISLAMIC STATE IN AFGHANISTAN
(World)
*the view from trump's brain
(Worthless Media)
*Democrats' Anti-Corruption Proposals Applauded as Actual Plan to Drain the Swamp
(Demo Politics)
*Cheating workers out of wages is easier than ever
(Slavery 21st Century)
*Betsy DeVos to Investigate Yale University for Discrimination — Against Men
(Education)
*Here's How 'Conman' Trump Dupes His White Working Class Supporters
(Talkers)
*Mass School Shootings Mostly Happening In Small-town and Suburban America
(Reality)
*Harley-Davidson took its tax cut, closed a factory, and rewarded shareholders
(Capitalism)
*Terry Crews: Marvel, toxic masculinity and life after #metoo
(Real People)
*Of course US birth rates are falling – this is a harsh place to have a family
(America)
*INTERIOR DEPARTMENT MOVES TO REVERSE OBAMA-ERA RULES ON HUNTING BEARS, WOLVES IN ALASKA(Environment)
*Rudy Giuliani won deal for OxyContin maker to continue sales of drug behind opioid deaths(Corporate Criminals)
*Pizza deliveryman's killing: Man ordered free decades later
(Gestapo USA)
(for previous day's articles see "what's inside" below)
the bullshit is hitting the fan!!!
Goldman Sachs: US fiscal outlook is ‘not good’
BY JOSH DELK - the hill
05/22/18 09:08 AM EDT
Leading investment banking group Goldman Sachs says the fiscal outlook for the U.S. "is not good," as new economic forecasts predict massive increases to the federal deficit.
"An expanding deficit and debt level is likely to put upward pressure on interest rates, expanding the deficit further," wrote the firm's chief economist Jan Hatzius on Sunday, according to CNBC.
The economist notes that the ballooning deficit could spike interest rates expanding the deficit, and he predicted lawmakers, as a result, "might hesitate" in approving a high-dollar stimulus package to help with a future economic recession.
"While we do not believe that the U.S. faces a risk to its ability to borrow or repay, the rising debt level could nevertheless have three consequences long before debt sustainability becomes a major obstacle," Hatzius wrote.
The predictions come after the Republican-majority Congress passed a massive tax overhaul in December, which cut individual and business tax rates but increased the federal budget deficit to over a trillion dollars.
The Congressional Budget Office predicted after the bill's passage that while it would stimulate job growth, the U.S. could reach a deficit that matches its gross domestic product by 2028.
President Trump is now pushing for more than $15 billion in reductions to the federal budget, after reluctantly signing the spending bill in March.
RELATED: Support for Tax Law Is Falling
A new Greenberg Quinlan Rosner (D) poll finds the popularity of the new tax law has dropped into net negatives, currently opposed by a 50% to 41% margin. ### ... (PoliticalWire)
"An expanding deficit and debt level is likely to put upward pressure on interest rates, expanding the deficit further," wrote the firm's chief economist Jan Hatzius on Sunday, according to CNBC.
The economist notes that the ballooning deficit could spike interest rates expanding the deficit, and he predicted lawmakers, as a result, "might hesitate" in approving a high-dollar stimulus package to help with a future economic recession.
"While we do not believe that the U.S. faces a risk to its ability to borrow or repay, the rising debt level could nevertheless have three consequences long before debt sustainability becomes a major obstacle," Hatzius wrote.
The predictions come after the Republican-majority Congress passed a massive tax overhaul in December, which cut individual and business tax rates but increased the federal budget deficit to over a trillion dollars.
The Congressional Budget Office predicted after the bill's passage that while it would stimulate job growth, the U.S. could reach a deficit that matches its gross domestic product by 2028.
President Trump is now pushing for more than $15 billion in reductions to the federal budget, after reluctantly signing the spending bill in March.
RELATED: Support for Tax Law Is Falling
A new Greenberg Quinlan Rosner (D) poll finds the popularity of the new tax law has dropped into net negatives, currently opposed by a 50% to 41% margin. ### ... (PoliticalWire)
Let's play a game: "Ask a Republican"
DetlefK - demo underground
5/22/18
In July 2016, the FBI warned the Trump-campaign that Russia would try to infiltrate their campaign. The FBI urged them to report any suspicious activity.
Why didn't the Trump-campaign report incidents like Carter Page's visit to Moscow?
Or Michael Flynn's contacts to Russia?
Or Jeff Sessions' repeated visits to russian ambassador Kislyak?
Or Jared Kushner's contacts to Kislyak?
Or Donald Trump Jr. and Kushner holding a meeting with Kremlin-connected lawyer (and according to swiss intelligence suspected russian spy) Veselnitskaya?
Or Roger Stone meeting with Julian Assange? (As the servers of Wikileaks are in Russia.)
Isn't that weird? The FBI told them that something fishy was going on with respect to Russia... and the Trump-campaign just dived in head-first.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/fbi-warned-trump-2016-russians-would-try-infiltrate-his-campaign-n830596
Why didn't the Trump-campaign report incidents like Carter Page's visit to Moscow?
Or Michael Flynn's contacts to Russia?
Or Jeff Sessions' repeated visits to russian ambassador Kislyak?
Or Jared Kushner's contacts to Kislyak?
Or Donald Trump Jr. and Kushner holding a meeting with Kremlin-connected lawyer (and according to swiss intelligence suspected russian spy) Veselnitskaya?
Or Roger Stone meeting with Julian Assange? (As the servers of Wikileaks are in Russia.)
Isn't that weird? The FBI told them that something fishy was going on with respect to Russia... and the Trump-campaign just dived in head-first.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/fbi-warned-trump-2016-russians-would-try-infiltrate-his-campaign-n830596
another great representative for america!!!
Trump backer who owned 'inhumane' housing picked to be Belgium envoy
Ron Gidwitz, who helped fund president’s campaign, likened to slum landlord over Illinois project condemned by Obama and others
Daniel Boffey in Brussels and Jon Swaine in New York
the gurdian
Tue 22 May 2018 03.01 EDT
A major financial backer of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, who once owned a housing estate in which low-income tenants were said to endure “inhumane” living standards, has been nominated as the US ambassador to Belgium.
Ron Gidwitz, a 73-year-old businessman from Chicago gave Trump and other Republicans $700,000 in 2016, and acted as the presidential candidate’s campaign finance chair in Illinois. He will now undergo a month in a US state department “ambassadorial school” before making the move to Brussels.
There is a certain amount of relief in Belgium that the nomination has been made at all – more than a year after the last US ambassador left the country’s embassy in Brussels.
But Gidwitz could yet prove to be a controversial pick in the mould of Pete Hoekstra, Trump’s ambassador to the Netherlands, who was forced to apologise over his suggestion that immigration from majority Islamic countries had created “no-go zones” in the country.
For years, a company controlled by Gidwitz and his brother Ralph owned the Evergreen Terrace housing project in Illinois, where 90% of tenants were young African-American single mothers.
In 2013, Gidwitz told a court that he would not invest in the complex as it would be equivalent to a charitable donation, and if the owners had wanted to make charitable donations, there were better options.
The housing project was eventually taken over by the city of Joliet. But in a continuing related court case, Gidwitz was forced to acknowledge that politicians including the then senator Barack Obama had complained about “inhumane conditions” on the project, where there was said to be an overwhelming stench of urine.
Gidwitz admitted to a court in 2017 that a girl had fallen from a window and died during a hot summer when the building’s air conditioning was malfunctioning and broken window screens had not been replaced, the Chicago Tribune reported.
He also admitted that a tenant was stabbed to death in a laundry room when security was not upgraded and that a shot man may have lain dying in the building’s courtyard for an hour before police were called, the Tribune reported. Security staff were said to be too scared to approach people entering the estate.
The mayor of Joliet has described the 356-unit complex of high-rise apartments as “unsafe and dangerous, a public nuisance and a blighted area”. A judge subsequently agreed that the standards were “deplorable”.
Gidwitz, in turn, told the court that Joliet was to blame for repeatedly blocking attempts to secure federal financing for improvements. “If you can’t get planning permission for a [security] guard house, you can’t build a guard house,” he said, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Guy Chipparoni, a spokesman for Gidwitz, defended the Gidwitz family’s management of the apartment complex and said other visitors “left with a much different impression of the property and of the people who live there” from that expressed by the Joliet mayor and other critics.
“Millions of dollars have been invested in unit improvements, infrastructure and security, as well as in the residents, through a wide variety of social services and continuing education programs,” said Chipparoni.
Gidwitz, co-founder and partner at the private equity firm GCG Partners, was a loyal fundraiser to Trump and is reported to have brokered a meeting between Trump and wealthy Republican donors at the Chicago Trump Tower before the 2016 election.
Responding to his nomination for the role in Brussels, Gidwitz said: “I have never done anything politically that I wanted anything for, other than to help people who needed to be helped. I really never asked for a job.
“I didn’t even ask for this one ... What’s really exciting about it is it’s so different. It’s going to be something that I’ve never done before. I’ve traveled extensively overseas but never lived overseas. I’ve had volunteer jobs but I’ve never had one quite as serious. There aren’t very many quite as serious as this.”
Gidwitz, a chairman emeritus of Boys & Girls Clubs of America, which provides after-school clubs, added that Belgium was at “the centre of Europe in terms of what’s going on. Nato’s there. The EU is there. Belgium has been a great ally of ours for 150 years. And from my standpoint, my French isn’t great, but at least I can speak some French.”
Ron Gidwitz, a 73-year-old businessman from Chicago gave Trump and other Republicans $700,000 in 2016, and acted as the presidential candidate’s campaign finance chair in Illinois. He will now undergo a month in a US state department “ambassadorial school” before making the move to Brussels.
There is a certain amount of relief in Belgium that the nomination has been made at all – more than a year after the last US ambassador left the country’s embassy in Brussels.
But Gidwitz could yet prove to be a controversial pick in the mould of Pete Hoekstra, Trump’s ambassador to the Netherlands, who was forced to apologise over his suggestion that immigration from majority Islamic countries had created “no-go zones” in the country.
For years, a company controlled by Gidwitz and his brother Ralph owned the Evergreen Terrace housing project in Illinois, where 90% of tenants were young African-American single mothers.
In 2013, Gidwitz told a court that he would not invest in the complex as it would be equivalent to a charitable donation, and if the owners had wanted to make charitable donations, there were better options.
The housing project was eventually taken over by the city of Joliet. But in a continuing related court case, Gidwitz was forced to acknowledge that politicians including the then senator Barack Obama had complained about “inhumane conditions” on the project, where there was said to be an overwhelming stench of urine.
Gidwitz admitted to a court in 2017 that a girl had fallen from a window and died during a hot summer when the building’s air conditioning was malfunctioning and broken window screens had not been replaced, the Chicago Tribune reported.
He also admitted that a tenant was stabbed to death in a laundry room when security was not upgraded and that a shot man may have lain dying in the building’s courtyard for an hour before police were called, the Tribune reported. Security staff were said to be too scared to approach people entering the estate.
The mayor of Joliet has described the 356-unit complex of high-rise apartments as “unsafe and dangerous, a public nuisance and a blighted area”. A judge subsequently agreed that the standards were “deplorable”.
Gidwitz, in turn, told the court that Joliet was to blame for repeatedly blocking attempts to secure federal financing for improvements. “If you can’t get planning permission for a [security] guard house, you can’t build a guard house,” he said, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Guy Chipparoni, a spokesman for Gidwitz, defended the Gidwitz family’s management of the apartment complex and said other visitors “left with a much different impression of the property and of the people who live there” from that expressed by the Joliet mayor and other critics.
“Millions of dollars have been invested in unit improvements, infrastructure and security, as well as in the residents, through a wide variety of social services and continuing education programs,” said Chipparoni.
Gidwitz, co-founder and partner at the private equity firm GCG Partners, was a loyal fundraiser to Trump and is reported to have brokered a meeting between Trump and wealthy Republican donors at the Chicago Trump Tower before the 2016 election.
Responding to his nomination for the role in Brussels, Gidwitz said: “I have never done anything politically that I wanted anything for, other than to help people who needed to be helped. I really never asked for a job.
“I didn’t even ask for this one ... What’s really exciting about it is it’s so different. It’s going to be something that I’ve never done before. I’ve traveled extensively overseas but never lived overseas. I’ve had volunteer jobs but I’ve never had one quite as serious. There aren’t very many quite as serious as this.”
Gidwitz, a chairman emeritus of Boys & Girls Clubs of America, which provides after-school clubs, added that Belgium was at “the centre of Europe in terms of what’s going on. Nato’s there. The EU is there. Belgium has been a great ally of ours for 150 years. And from my standpoint, my French isn’t great, but at least I can speak some French.”
Amazon Teams Up With Law Enforcement to Deploy Dangerous New Face Recognition
Technology
By: Matt Cagle follow and Nicole A. Ozer - aclu of northern california
May 22, 2018
Amazon, which got its start selling books and still bills itself as “Earth’s most customer-centric company,” has officially entered the surveillance business.
The company has developed a powerful and dangerous new facial recognition system and is actively helping governments deploy it. Amazon calls the service “Rekognition.”
Marketing materials and documents obtained by ACLU affiliates in three states reveal a product that can be readily used to violate civil liberties and civil rights. Powered by artificial intelligence, Rekognition can identify, track, and analyze people in real time and recognize up to 100 people in a single image. It can quickly scan information it collects against databases featuring tens of millions of faces, according to Amazon.
Amazon is marketing Rekognition for government surveillance. According to its marketing materials, it views deployment by law enforcement agencies as a “common use case” for this technology. Among other features, the company’s materials describe “person tracking” as an “easy and accurate” way to investigate and monitor people. Amazon says Rekognition can be used to identify “people of interest” raising the possibility that those labeled suspicious by governments — such as undocumented immigrants or Black activists — will be seen as fair game for Rekognition surveillance. It also says Rekognition can monitor “all faces in group photos, crowded events, and public places such as airports” — at a time when Americans are joining public protests at unprecedented levels.
Amazon’s Rekognition raises profound civil liberties and civil rights concerns. Today, the ACLU and a coalition of civil rights organizations demanded that Amazon stop allowing governments to use Rekognition.
Amazon not only markets Rekognition as a law enforcement service, it is helping governments deploy it. Amazon lists the city of Orlando, Florida, and the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in Oregon among its customers. Upon learning this, the ACLU Foundations of California coordinated with the ACLU of Oregon and the ACLU of Florida on public records requests to learn more.
The documents we obtained indicate that the Washington County Sheriff and the City of Orlando became Rekognition customers in 2017. Washington County has since built a database of at least 300,000 mugshot photos to use in coordination with Rekognition. It also built a mobile app for its deputies to quickly scan for a match against the county’s database by submitting images obtained from surveillance or other sources.
Amazon is providing company resources to help government agencies deploy Rekognition. In emails between Amazon and Washington County employees, the company offers the expertise of the Rekognition product team, troubleshoots problems encountered by the county, and provides “best practices” advice on how to deploy the service. In what Orlando’s police chief praises as a “first-of-its-kind public-private partnership,” Amazon promised free consulting services to build a Rekognition “proof of concept” for the city. Rekognition face surveillance is now operating across Orlando in real-time, according to Amazon, allowing the company to search for “people of interest” as footage rolls in from “cameras all over the city.”
In the records, Amazon also solicits feedback and ideas for “potential enhancements” to Rekognition’s capabilities for governments. Washington County even signed a non-disclosure agreement created by Amazon to get “insight into the Rekognition roadmap” and provide additional feedback about the product. The county later cited this NDA to justify withholding documents in response to the ACLU’s public records request.
The documents also revealed that Amazon offered to connect Washington County with other Amazon customers interested in Rekognition — as well as a body camera manufacturer. Indeed, Amazon’s promotional materials previously recommended that law enforcement use Rekognition to identify people in police body camera footage. The company removed mention of police body cameras from its site after the ACLU raised concerns in discussions Amazon. That appears to be the extent of its response to our concerns; this and other profoundly troubling surveillance practices are still permissible under the company’s policies.
With Rekognition, a government can now build a system to automate the identification and tracking of anyone. If police body cameras, for example, were outfitted with facial recognition, devices intended for officer transparency and accountability would further transform into surveillance machines aimed at the public. With this technology, police would be able to determine who attends protests. ICE could seek to continuously monitor immigrants as they embark on new lives. Cities might routinely track their own residents, whether they have reason to suspect criminal activity or not. As with other surveillance technologies, these systems are certain to be disproportionately aimed at minority communities.
Because of Rekognition’s capacity for abuse, we asked Washington County and Orlando for any records showing that their communities had been provided an opportunity to discuss the service before its acquisition. We also asked them about rules governing how the powerful surveillance system could be used and ensuring rights would be protected. Neither locality identified such records. In fact, Washington County began using Rekognition even as employees raised questions internally. In one email, a Washington County employee expressed the concern that the “ACLU might consider this the government getting in bed with big data.” That employee’s prediction was correct.
People should be free to walk down the street without being watched by the government. By automating mass surveillance, facial recognition systems like Rekognition threaten this freedom, posing a particular threat to communities already unjustly targeted in the current political climate. Once powerful surveillance systems like these are built and deployed, the harm will be extremely difficult to undo.
If Rekognition is not reined in, its use is certain to spread. The records we obtained show that law enforcement agencies in California and Arizona have contacted Washington County asking about Rekognition. So have multiple “fusion centers,” which collect information about people for dissemination across agencies at the local and federal level.
Amazon has publicly opposed secretive government surveillance. Its CEO, Jeff Bezos, has himself criticized Trump Administration’s discriminatory Muslim ban. But actions speak louder than words, and Amazon’s efforts to deploy this technology run counter to its proclaimed values and risk harm to the company’s customers and their communities.
The company has developed a powerful and dangerous new facial recognition system and is actively helping governments deploy it. Amazon calls the service “Rekognition.”
Marketing materials and documents obtained by ACLU affiliates in three states reveal a product that can be readily used to violate civil liberties and civil rights. Powered by artificial intelligence, Rekognition can identify, track, and analyze people in real time and recognize up to 100 people in a single image. It can quickly scan information it collects against databases featuring tens of millions of faces, according to Amazon.
Amazon is marketing Rekognition for government surveillance. According to its marketing materials, it views deployment by law enforcement agencies as a “common use case” for this technology. Among other features, the company’s materials describe “person tracking” as an “easy and accurate” way to investigate and monitor people. Amazon says Rekognition can be used to identify “people of interest” raising the possibility that those labeled suspicious by governments — such as undocumented immigrants or Black activists — will be seen as fair game for Rekognition surveillance. It also says Rekognition can monitor “all faces in group photos, crowded events, and public places such as airports” — at a time when Americans are joining public protests at unprecedented levels.
Amazon’s Rekognition raises profound civil liberties and civil rights concerns. Today, the ACLU and a coalition of civil rights organizations demanded that Amazon stop allowing governments to use Rekognition.
Amazon not only markets Rekognition as a law enforcement service, it is helping governments deploy it. Amazon lists the city of Orlando, Florida, and the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in Oregon among its customers. Upon learning this, the ACLU Foundations of California coordinated with the ACLU of Oregon and the ACLU of Florida on public records requests to learn more.
The documents we obtained indicate that the Washington County Sheriff and the City of Orlando became Rekognition customers in 2017. Washington County has since built a database of at least 300,000 mugshot photos to use in coordination with Rekognition. It also built a mobile app for its deputies to quickly scan for a match against the county’s database by submitting images obtained from surveillance or other sources.
Amazon is providing company resources to help government agencies deploy Rekognition. In emails between Amazon and Washington County employees, the company offers the expertise of the Rekognition product team, troubleshoots problems encountered by the county, and provides “best practices” advice on how to deploy the service. In what Orlando’s police chief praises as a “first-of-its-kind public-private partnership,” Amazon promised free consulting services to build a Rekognition “proof of concept” for the city. Rekognition face surveillance is now operating across Orlando in real-time, according to Amazon, allowing the company to search for “people of interest” as footage rolls in from “cameras all over the city.”
In the records, Amazon also solicits feedback and ideas for “potential enhancements” to Rekognition’s capabilities for governments. Washington County even signed a non-disclosure agreement created by Amazon to get “insight into the Rekognition roadmap” and provide additional feedback about the product. The county later cited this NDA to justify withholding documents in response to the ACLU’s public records request.
The documents also revealed that Amazon offered to connect Washington County with other Amazon customers interested in Rekognition — as well as a body camera manufacturer. Indeed, Amazon’s promotional materials previously recommended that law enforcement use Rekognition to identify people in police body camera footage. The company removed mention of police body cameras from its site after the ACLU raised concerns in discussions Amazon. That appears to be the extent of its response to our concerns; this and other profoundly troubling surveillance practices are still permissible under the company’s policies.
With Rekognition, a government can now build a system to automate the identification and tracking of anyone. If police body cameras, for example, were outfitted with facial recognition, devices intended for officer transparency and accountability would further transform into surveillance machines aimed at the public. With this technology, police would be able to determine who attends protests. ICE could seek to continuously monitor immigrants as they embark on new lives. Cities might routinely track their own residents, whether they have reason to suspect criminal activity or not. As with other surveillance technologies, these systems are certain to be disproportionately aimed at minority communities.
Because of Rekognition’s capacity for abuse, we asked Washington County and Orlando for any records showing that their communities had been provided an opportunity to discuss the service before its acquisition. We also asked them about rules governing how the powerful surveillance system could be used and ensuring rights would be protected. Neither locality identified such records. In fact, Washington County began using Rekognition even as employees raised questions internally. In one email, a Washington County employee expressed the concern that the “ACLU might consider this the government getting in bed with big data.” That employee’s prediction was correct.
People should be free to walk down the street without being watched by the government. By automating mass surveillance, facial recognition systems like Rekognition threaten this freedom, posing a particular threat to communities already unjustly targeted in the current political climate. Once powerful surveillance systems like these are built and deployed, the harm will be extremely difficult to undo.
If Rekognition is not reined in, its use is certain to spread. The records we obtained show that law enforcement agencies in California and Arizona have contacted Washington County asking about Rekognition. So have multiple “fusion centers,” which collect information about people for dissemination across agencies at the local and federal level.
Amazon has publicly opposed secretive government surveillance. Its CEO, Jeff Bezos, has himself criticized Trump Administration’s discriminatory Muslim ban. But actions speak louder than words, and Amazon’s efforts to deploy this technology run counter to its proclaimed values and risk harm to the company’s customers and their communities.
Current USOC leaders knew about the prevalence of sex abuse in Olympic sports and did nothing
We have receipts, Susanne Lyons.
LINDSAY GIBBS - think prpgress
MAY 22, 2018, 3:05 PM
On Wednesday, the House Oversight and Investigations subcommittee will hold a hearing to examine the Olympic community’s ability to protect athletes from sexual abuse.
The heads of USA Swimming, USA Taekwondo, USA Gymnastics, USA Volleyball, and the U.S. Center for SafeSport, will all be on hand to testify about the prevalence of sexual abuse and the institutional mismanagement within their sports as well as — in the case of the Center for SafeSport — the Olympic movement at large. All of these organizations have seen sexual abuse and cover-ups run rampant in their organizations, and now it falls to Congress to provide the necessary oversight and accountability.
But the person on whom Congress should be prepared focus is Susanne Lyons, who became the acting CEO of the U.S. Olympic Committee after her predecessor, former CEO Scott Blackmun, resigned at the end of February. At the time, the USOC suggested that Blackmun was stepping down due to health problems, though the more likely basis for the decision stemmed from the increased scrutiny the USOC had earned for itself in the wake of the Larry Nassar sex abuse scandal.
According to documents first reported by the Washington Post back in 2017, Lyons had knowledge of the sexual abuse in the USA Taekwondo program (USAT) — abuse that included allegations of sex trafficking — and failed to take any concrete action to protect the athletes involved. Unless, of course, you consider the forwarding of an e-mail to be a heroic act.
On March 10, 2014, a former USAT board member e-mailed Lyons with detailed information about a complaint against USAT coach Mark Gitelman by USA Taekwondo athlete Yasmin Brown. The e-mail included a detailed timeline of Brown’s complaint and the police report Brown filed against Gitelman, along with supporting documents from other women that Gitelman has abused.
Lyons forwarded the information to Gary Johansen, the Associate General Counsel for the USOC.
“Here we go again, this sounds like the same old BS,” Lyons said. “Allowing a potential sexual predator to continue to coach without having an appropriate investigation and conclusion is unacceptable.”
While it might be tempting to give Lyons credit for alerting others in the USOC about this information, this is a pretty low bar to clear. This e-mail shows that Lyons is well aware of the fact that USAT had mishandled multiple allegations of sexual assault against coaches in the past — therefore putting taekwondo athletes in danger. It stands to reason that she would have knowledge of the matter, considering she worked directly with USAT for 18 months.
From February 27, 2012 through October 10, 2013, USAT was on probation because the USOC found that it was non-compliant with USOC membership obligations set forth by the Sports Act. During this time period, the USOC had jurisdiction over USAT, and Lyons was the chair of the Hearing Panel that monitored the organization’s path to compliance.
This means Lyons was overseeing USAT when Brown filed an official USAT Ethics Complaint against Gitelman in September of 2013, as well as when she and two other women reported Gitelman to police on October 2, 2013.
But on October 10, 2013, Lyons officially lifted USAT’s probationary status, and announced that USAT had “addressed outstanding grievances and ethics complaints,” and “revamped its grievance and ethics procedures to ensure that such grievances and ethics complaints are dealt with timely and fairly.” (read more)
The heads of USA Swimming, USA Taekwondo, USA Gymnastics, USA Volleyball, and the U.S. Center for SafeSport, will all be on hand to testify about the prevalence of sexual abuse and the institutional mismanagement within their sports as well as — in the case of the Center for SafeSport — the Olympic movement at large. All of these organizations have seen sexual abuse and cover-ups run rampant in their organizations, and now it falls to Congress to provide the necessary oversight and accountability.
But the person on whom Congress should be prepared focus is Susanne Lyons, who became the acting CEO of the U.S. Olympic Committee after her predecessor, former CEO Scott Blackmun, resigned at the end of February. At the time, the USOC suggested that Blackmun was stepping down due to health problems, though the more likely basis for the decision stemmed from the increased scrutiny the USOC had earned for itself in the wake of the Larry Nassar sex abuse scandal.
According to documents first reported by the Washington Post back in 2017, Lyons had knowledge of the sexual abuse in the USA Taekwondo program (USAT) — abuse that included allegations of sex trafficking — and failed to take any concrete action to protect the athletes involved. Unless, of course, you consider the forwarding of an e-mail to be a heroic act.
On March 10, 2014, a former USAT board member e-mailed Lyons with detailed information about a complaint against USAT coach Mark Gitelman by USA Taekwondo athlete Yasmin Brown. The e-mail included a detailed timeline of Brown’s complaint and the police report Brown filed against Gitelman, along with supporting documents from other women that Gitelman has abused.
Lyons forwarded the information to Gary Johansen, the Associate General Counsel for the USOC.
“Here we go again, this sounds like the same old BS,” Lyons said. “Allowing a potential sexual predator to continue to coach without having an appropriate investigation and conclusion is unacceptable.”
While it might be tempting to give Lyons credit for alerting others in the USOC about this information, this is a pretty low bar to clear. This e-mail shows that Lyons is well aware of the fact that USAT had mishandled multiple allegations of sexual assault against coaches in the past — therefore putting taekwondo athletes in danger. It stands to reason that she would have knowledge of the matter, considering she worked directly with USAT for 18 months.
From February 27, 2012 through October 10, 2013, USAT was on probation because the USOC found that it was non-compliant with USOC membership obligations set forth by the Sports Act. During this time period, the USOC had jurisdiction over USAT, and Lyons was the chair of the Hearing Panel that monitored the organization’s path to compliance.
This means Lyons was overseeing USAT when Brown filed an official USAT Ethics Complaint against Gitelman in September of 2013, as well as when she and two other women reported Gitelman to police on October 2, 2013.
But on October 10, 2013, Lyons officially lifted USAT’s probationary status, and announced that USAT had “addressed outstanding grievances and ethics complaints,” and “revamped its grievance and ethics procedures to ensure that such grievances and ethics complaints are dealt with timely and fairly.” (read more)
government POISONING!!!
EPA Pulls Back From Total Ban On Dangerous Paint Stripping Chemical
Obama Wanted Methylene Chloride Banned, So Pruitt Wants It In Your Home
By Sarah Okeson - dc report
5/22/18
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt plans to lightly regulate the sweet-smelling solvent methylene chloride, commonly used in paint strippers, after meeting with the mothers of two men killed by the chemical.
Wendy Hartley, the mother of Kevin Hartley who died at age 21 in April 2017, and Cindy Wynne, mother of Drew Wynne, 31, who died in October, met with Pruitt. They brought photos of their sons and their sons’ death certificates.
“We do not need any more lives lost due to this,” Hartley said.
Under former President Barack Obama, the EPA proposed banning retail sales of the solvent which, like milk, is sold by the gallon at stores such as Ace Hardware, Home Depot and Lowe’s.
But Pruitt’s EPA could propose only minimally tougher regulation. The only current federal regulations on the chemical, approved in 1997, say workers shouldn’t be exposed to more than 25 parts per million of methylene chloride.
Nancy Beck, a top deputy in the EPA’s toxic chemical unit who also met with the two mothers, has worked to weaken regulation of dangerous chemicals. Beck, a former executive at the American Chemistry Council, has said that perhaps people weren’t following the directions on the labels on methylene chloride.
Since 1980, more than 50 accidental deaths have been linked to methylene chloride in the United States. Deaths from the chemical have been documented since 1947 when four men were overcome, and one died.
The solvent can be inhaled or absorbed through the skin. It can cause heart attacks and turns to carbon monoxide in the body. The solvent can only be used safely with a respirator and special gloves and is especially dangerous in confined spaces such as bathrooms or basements.
Kevin Hartley died while refinishing a bathtub with White Lightning Low Odor Stripper. Wynne was using a product named Goof Off, made by W.M. Barr, on the floor of a walk-in refrigerator.
The Halogenated Solvents Industry Alliance, which has opposed tougher regulations, spent $30,000 on federal lobbying in 2017.
The Environmental Defense Fund says the EPA should ban using methylene chloride to remove paint and not put exemptions in the regulations based on training, labeling or using protective equipment.
A rule on methylene chloride would be the first time the EPA has used the amended Toxic Substances Control Act to ban chemicals that are an “unreasonable risk” to health or the environment.
The European Union banned most consumer and professional uses of the chemical in 2011.
“How is it possible that you can go to a home improvement store and buy a paint remover that can kill you?” asked Wendy Cleland-Hamnett, who was the top official at the EPA overseeing pesticides and toxic chemicals. “How can we let this happen?
Wendy Hartley has her son’s last heartbeats tattooed on her chest. She asked doctors to print out a tracing of them after they turned off his life support. The heart-shaped locket around her neck holds his ashes.
Wendy Hartley, the mother of Kevin Hartley who died at age 21 in April 2017, and Cindy Wynne, mother of Drew Wynne, 31, who died in October, met with Pruitt. They brought photos of their sons and their sons’ death certificates.
“We do not need any more lives lost due to this,” Hartley said.
Under former President Barack Obama, the EPA proposed banning retail sales of the solvent which, like milk, is sold by the gallon at stores such as Ace Hardware, Home Depot and Lowe’s.
But Pruitt’s EPA could propose only minimally tougher regulation. The only current federal regulations on the chemical, approved in 1997, say workers shouldn’t be exposed to more than 25 parts per million of methylene chloride.
Nancy Beck, a top deputy in the EPA’s toxic chemical unit who also met with the two mothers, has worked to weaken regulation of dangerous chemicals. Beck, a former executive at the American Chemistry Council, has said that perhaps people weren’t following the directions on the labels on methylene chloride.
Since 1980, more than 50 accidental deaths have been linked to methylene chloride in the United States. Deaths from the chemical have been documented since 1947 when four men were overcome, and one died.
The solvent can be inhaled or absorbed through the skin. It can cause heart attacks and turns to carbon monoxide in the body. The solvent can only be used safely with a respirator and special gloves and is especially dangerous in confined spaces such as bathrooms or basements.
Kevin Hartley died while refinishing a bathtub with White Lightning Low Odor Stripper. Wynne was using a product named Goof Off, made by W.M. Barr, on the floor of a walk-in refrigerator.
The Halogenated Solvents Industry Alliance, which has opposed tougher regulations, spent $30,000 on federal lobbying in 2017.
The Environmental Defense Fund says the EPA should ban using methylene chloride to remove paint and not put exemptions in the regulations based on training, labeling or using protective equipment.
A rule on methylene chloride would be the first time the EPA has used the amended Toxic Substances Control Act to ban chemicals that are an “unreasonable risk” to health or the environment.
The European Union banned most consumer and professional uses of the chemical in 2011.
“How is it possible that you can go to a home improvement store and buy a paint remover that can kill you?” asked Wendy Cleland-Hamnett, who was the top official at the EPA overseeing pesticides and toxic chemicals. “How can we let this happen?
Wendy Hartley has her son’s last heartbeats tattooed on her chest. She asked doctors to print out a tracing of them after they turned off his life support. The heart-shaped locket around her neck holds his ashes.
|
|
$500 million bribe goes a long ways!!!
US, China nearing deal to remove US sales ban against ZTE: sources
Reuters - raw story
22 MAY 2018 AT 06:30 ET
Washington and Beijing are nearing a deal that would remove an existing U.S. order banning American companies from supplying Chinese telecommunications equipment maker ZTE Corp, two people briefed on the talks told Reuters.
The people, who declined to be identified because negotiations are confidential, said the deal could include China removing tariffs on imported U.S. agricultural products, as well as buying more American farm goods.
ZTE, hit by a seven-year ban in April which effectively crippled its operations, would gain a reprieve after the world’s two largest economies stepped back from the brink of a full-blown trade war following talks last week.
The company did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
White House advisors have said previously the ban against ZTE is being reexamined, and that the firm would still face “harsh” punishment, including enforced changes of management and at board level.
One person told Reuters there was a “handshake deal” on ZTE between U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He during talks in Washington last week that would remove the ban in exchange for the purchase of more U.S. agricultural products.
The second person said China may also eliminate tariffs on U.S. agriculture products it assessed in response to U.S. steel duties, and that ZTE could still be forced to replace its leadership, among other penalties.
Both sources said the deal, while not yet cemented, was likely to be finalised before or during a planned trip by U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to Beijing next week to help reach a broader trade pact to avert a trade war.
The company, publicly traded but whose largest shareholder is a Chinese state-owned enterprise, had been hit with penalties for breaking a 2017 agreement after it was caught illegally shipping U.S. goods to Iran and North Korea, in an investigation dating to the Obama administration.
Shares in Chinese telecommunications gear firms jumped on the news of the reprieve.
“HOSTAGE ZTE”
The sources said that while U.S. companies that sold products to ZTE would be relieved if a deal was reached, some in the U.S. government as well as the business community have said they opposed what they saw as a clear-cut legal case being used as a bargaining chip in the broader trade conflict.
American companies provide an estimated 25 percent to 30 percent of components in ZTE’s equipment, which includes smartphones and gear to build telecommunications networks.
Earlier in May, Trump signaled a stunning reversal on ZTE when he said on Twitter that he would help the company get “back into business, fast”, saying the ban would cost too many jobs in China.
Chinese officials had made the issue a key focus of their demands during negotiations in Beijing earlier in May, threatening to halt talks on broader bilateral trade disputes unless Washington agreed to ease the sanctions, according to sources at the time.
Chinese officials had viewed the U.S. punishment, which prompted the country’s second-largest maker of telecommunications equipment to suspend its main operations, as an attack that exposed China’s dependence on imports of key technologies.
China’s Ministry of Commerce did not respond to a faxed request for comment.
Many experts have said the case will push Beijing to double down on state support for strategic industries, an issue that remains at the heart of U.S.-China trade friction.
“The release of hostage ZTE will be the start of China and the U.S. to implement their trade agreements,” Hu Xijin, editor in chief of Chinese state-backed Global Times tabloid, said on his Twitter account after news of the deal was reported.
Washington and Beijing both claimed victory in trade talks on Monday as the world’s two largest economies stepped back from a global trade war and agreed to hold further talks to boost U.S. exports to China.
Over the weekend, the two sides pledged to keep talking about how China could import more energy and agricultural commodities from the United States so as to narrow the $335 billion annual U.S. goods and services trade deficit with China, although details and a firm timeline were thin.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a regular news briefing that following the consensus reached by the two sides over the weekend, the United States would send a high-level delegation to China for detailed discussions – apparently referring to Ross’ visit – and urged people to wait and see the outcome.
The people, who declined to be identified because negotiations are confidential, said the deal could include China removing tariffs on imported U.S. agricultural products, as well as buying more American farm goods.
ZTE, hit by a seven-year ban in April which effectively crippled its operations, would gain a reprieve after the world’s two largest economies stepped back from the brink of a full-blown trade war following talks last week.
The company did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
White House advisors have said previously the ban against ZTE is being reexamined, and that the firm would still face “harsh” punishment, including enforced changes of management and at board level.
One person told Reuters there was a “handshake deal” on ZTE between U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He during talks in Washington last week that would remove the ban in exchange for the purchase of more U.S. agricultural products.
The second person said China may also eliminate tariffs on U.S. agriculture products it assessed in response to U.S. steel duties, and that ZTE could still be forced to replace its leadership, among other penalties.
Both sources said the deal, while not yet cemented, was likely to be finalised before or during a planned trip by U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to Beijing next week to help reach a broader trade pact to avert a trade war.
The company, publicly traded but whose largest shareholder is a Chinese state-owned enterprise, had been hit with penalties for breaking a 2017 agreement after it was caught illegally shipping U.S. goods to Iran and North Korea, in an investigation dating to the Obama administration.
Shares in Chinese telecommunications gear firms jumped on the news of the reprieve.
“HOSTAGE ZTE”
The sources said that while U.S. companies that sold products to ZTE would be relieved if a deal was reached, some in the U.S. government as well as the business community have said they opposed what they saw as a clear-cut legal case being used as a bargaining chip in the broader trade conflict.
American companies provide an estimated 25 percent to 30 percent of components in ZTE’s equipment, which includes smartphones and gear to build telecommunications networks.
Earlier in May, Trump signaled a stunning reversal on ZTE when he said on Twitter that he would help the company get “back into business, fast”, saying the ban would cost too many jobs in China.
Chinese officials had made the issue a key focus of their demands during negotiations in Beijing earlier in May, threatening to halt talks on broader bilateral trade disputes unless Washington agreed to ease the sanctions, according to sources at the time.
Chinese officials had viewed the U.S. punishment, which prompted the country’s second-largest maker of telecommunications equipment to suspend its main operations, as an attack that exposed China’s dependence on imports of key technologies.
China’s Ministry of Commerce did not respond to a faxed request for comment.
Many experts have said the case will push Beijing to double down on state support for strategic industries, an issue that remains at the heart of U.S.-China trade friction.
“The release of hostage ZTE will be the start of China and the U.S. to implement their trade agreements,” Hu Xijin, editor in chief of Chinese state-backed Global Times tabloid, said on his Twitter account after news of the deal was reported.
Washington and Beijing both claimed victory in trade talks on Monday as the world’s two largest economies stepped back from a global trade war and agreed to hold further talks to boost U.S. exports to China.
Over the weekend, the two sides pledged to keep talking about how China could import more energy and agricultural commodities from the United States so as to narrow the $335 billion annual U.S. goods and services trade deficit with China, although details and a firm timeline were thin.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a regular news briefing that following the consensus reached by the two sides over the weekend, the United States would send a high-level delegation to China for detailed discussions – apparently referring to Ross’ visit – and urged people to wait and see the outcome.
*bites from real news - 5/22/2018*
*Mnuchin says Cohen's financial records are missing
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said financial records of President Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen appear to be missing from his agency and the inspector general is investigating. "Our inspector general is reviewing the issue of leaks. ... (NY Post)
*Texas school shooting suspect's father thinks he was bullied
SANTA FE, Texas (AP) — A 17-year-old student accused of fatally shooting 10 people at a Texas high school should be seen as a “victim” because he may have recently been bullied, causing him to lash out, his father said. In a phone interview over ... (Associated Press)
*Judge: Teen must repay $37M for starting Oregon wildfire
HOOD RIVER, Ore. (AP) — A teenager who started a major wildfire in the scenic Columbia River Gorge in Oregon has been ordered to pay restitution for at least the next decade, though it’s unlikely the boy will ever cover his nearly $37 million bill. ... (AP)
*How to Protect a Renter Nation
By Deonna Anderson, YES! Magazine | Report
Across the US there has been a resurgence to establish rent control policies as part of a movement for tenants' rights. The fight for housing rights is steeped in history that has affected people differently based on their class and race. It's important to understand that tenants' rights is not a small, niche issue.
*china owns trump: In Trade War With U.S., China Gets the Upper Hand
So far, Beijing hasn’t had to give up much to avoid the most punitive U.S. measures Among all the trade fights that Pr*sident Donald Trump has picked, his hand against China is the strongest. That fight has ec ... (WSJ)
*State Department considered naming Russia a state sponsor of terror -- but Trump administration dropped it
*Compared to Rest of World Americans Are Prudish, Delusional and Selfish Religious Nuts: Study
In America, say all the hateful stuff you want and invoke the First Amendment while you're at it. If you can’t be legally implicated for inciting violence, you're in the clear.(alternet)
*Hawaii Power plant shut down as lava nears geothermal wells
*From African American Voters to African Nations, Cambridge Analytica Wages ‘Cultural Warfare’
From its beginnings, the firm used African politics as a testing ground for influencing the behavior of the voting public.
*Police Union Is Lobbying To Expand Powers To Tase People Who Don’t Pose a Threat
*a real threat: NYPD may have arrested a homeless woman for having a ‘stolen shopping cart’
Officers for the NYPD’s 88 precinct appear to have arrested a homeless woman and confiscated her belongings—because the shopping cart she kept her stuff in didn’t belong to her.
*Man who started 'lock her up chant' about Clinton now heads an EPA office
- He is a veteran of the agriculture lobbying and oil industries, once working for a company that spilled thousands of gallons of oil in California The man who began the political rally chant “loc ... (Independent)
Witch Hunt
Khalil Bendib OIther Words
GOP donor made abortion hush payment through Michael Cohen — and scored meeting with Trump one day later
Brad Reed - raw story
22 MAY 2018 AT 09:17 ET
A new investigation by the Associated Press on Monday revealed that top Republican donor Elliott Broidy scored an important meeting with President Donald Trump to lobby on behalf of the United Arab Emirates.
What the AP’s investigation didn’t note, however, was that this meeting took place just one day after Broidy made his first payment in a hush money agreement with former Playboy model Shera Bechard, whom he had allegedly impregnated during an affair and who eventually terminated her pregnancy.
According to the original Wall Street Journal report on the payment, Broidy negotiated a hush money agreement with Bechard through longtime Trump attorney and “fixer” Michael Cohen.
The Journal’s sources say that “the first payment was due December 1st” — and, according to the AP, Trump and Broidy had a lengthy meeting on December 2nd, just one day later.
And that’s not all — the Daily Beast now reports that Broidy’s company, a Virginia-based security firm called Circinus LLC, has scored a massive $800 million in foreign defense contracts since the start of Trump’s presidency — a figure that dwarfs all the previous payments it has received for defense contracts before Trump assumed office.
How are all these events connected? Earlier this month, University of Colorado Boulder law professor Paul Campos laid out evidence in New York Magazine that this abortion hush money payment was much more likely intended to protect Pr*sident Donald Trump rather than Broidy.
Among other things, Campos noted that Cohen used the same pseudonyms in his hush money contract for Broidy and Bechard — “David Dennison and “Peggy Peterson” — that he used in his nondisclosure agreement between Trump and adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Additionally, Campos argued that Trump seems much more likely to have had an adulterous relationship with a former Playboy model, as he was a frequent guest at the Playboy Mansion.
Added to all this, he pointed out that Broidy seems like the kind of person who would take both a financial and public relations hit for paying off a mistress who terminated a pregnancy in exchange for boosting his own financial interests.
“Broidy has a history of bribing public officials to enhance the economic prospects of his business ventures,” he wrote.. “In 2009, he pleaded guilty to bribing New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi. As part of a plea deal which led to the convictions of seven of his co-conspirators, Broidy admitted he made more than one million dollars in illegal payouts and gifts to New York pension authorities.”
What the AP’s investigation didn’t note, however, was that this meeting took place just one day after Broidy made his first payment in a hush money agreement with former Playboy model Shera Bechard, whom he had allegedly impregnated during an affair and who eventually terminated her pregnancy.
According to the original Wall Street Journal report on the payment, Broidy negotiated a hush money agreement with Bechard through longtime Trump attorney and “fixer” Michael Cohen.
The Journal’s sources say that “the first payment was due December 1st” — and, according to the AP, Trump and Broidy had a lengthy meeting on December 2nd, just one day later.
And that’s not all — the Daily Beast now reports that Broidy’s company, a Virginia-based security firm called Circinus LLC, has scored a massive $800 million in foreign defense contracts since the start of Trump’s presidency — a figure that dwarfs all the previous payments it has received for defense contracts before Trump assumed office.
How are all these events connected? Earlier this month, University of Colorado Boulder law professor Paul Campos laid out evidence in New York Magazine that this abortion hush money payment was much more likely intended to protect Pr*sident Donald Trump rather than Broidy.
Among other things, Campos noted that Cohen used the same pseudonyms in his hush money contract for Broidy and Bechard — “David Dennison and “Peggy Peterson” — that he used in his nondisclosure agreement between Trump and adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Additionally, Campos argued that Trump seems much more likely to have had an adulterous relationship with a former Playboy model, as he was a frequent guest at the Playboy Mansion.
Added to all this, he pointed out that Broidy seems like the kind of person who would take both a financial and public relations hit for paying off a mistress who terminated a pregnancy in exchange for boosting his own financial interests.
“Broidy has a history of bribing public officials to enhance the economic prospects of his business ventures,” he wrote.. “In 2009, he pleaded guilty to bribing New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi. As part of a plea deal which led to the convictions of seven of his co-conspirators, Broidy admitted he made more than one million dollars in illegal payouts and gifts to New York pension authorities.”
*What's Inside*
may 19 - may 21
~A COMPANY THAT RAISED OVER $3 MILLION THROUGH CROWDFUNDING HAS SHUT DOWN, AND NEARLY EVERYONE WHO PAID FOR ITS $200 HEADPHONES LOST THEIR MONEY
(CORPORATE CRIMINALS)
*BREAKTHROUGH SOLAR PANEL CAN HARVEST POWER FROM RAINDROPS — DAY OR NIGHT
(CURRENTS)
*HUMANS ARE GIVING MANY OTHER SPECIES CANCER
(CURRENTS)
*PHARMACEUTICAL MAKERS SENDING DRUG-SPIKED WATER TO TREATMENT PLANTS
(ENVIRONMENT)
*SUPREME COURT: WORKERS CAN’T ORGANIZE TO SUE THEIR BOSSES
(SLAVERY 21ST CENTURY)
*THERE IS ONLY ONE TRUMP SCANDAL
(TRUMP)
*BY LEAPS AND BOUNDS, U.S. LEADS THE WORLD IN NUMBER OF SCHOOL SHOOTINGS
(AMERICA)
*REPUBLICAN-APPOINTED JUDGES SENTENCE BLACK OFFENDERS TO 3 MONTHS LONGER ON AVERAGE THAN WHITES: STUDY(RACE MATTERS)
*TEXAS TROOPER ALLEGEDLY RAPED HANDCUFFED BLACK WOMAN AND THREATENED MURDER IF SHE TOLD HER FIANCÉ(GESTAPO USA)
*THE REPUBLICAN PRIMARY IN GEORGIA IS TAKING RACISM TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL
(ELECTIONS)
*EMPLOYER POWER IN LABOR MARKETS FURTHER SIDELINES WOMEN AND PEOPLE OF COLOR IN TODAY'S ECONOMY(SLAVERY 21ST CENTURY)
*ABORIGINAL SETTLEMENT IN AUSTRALIA ‘NO ACCIDENT’: STUDY
(ANCIENT TIMES)
*THIS IS HOW TRUMP IS TRYING TO BUY THE LOYALTY OF KEY AIDES IN THE RUSSIA INVESTIGATION
(TRUMP)
*WHY WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS ARE SO COMMON—AND WHY PROSECUTORS AND POLICE RARELY APOLOGIZE(GESTAPO USA)
*FLAT EARTHERS VS CLIMATE CHANGE SKEPTICS: WHY CONSPIRACY THEORISTS KEEP CONTRADICTING EACH OTHER(AMERIKKKANS)
*‘FAHRENHEIT 451’ STAR MICHAEL B. JORDAN BLASTS TRUMP AS A REFLECTION OF THE NOVEL’S DYSTOPIAN HORRORS(REAL PEOPLE)
*'JESUS NEVER CHARGED A LEPER A CO-PAY': RISE OF THE RELIGIOUS LEFT
(CHRISTIANITY)
*ASTEROID FROM ANOTHER STAR SYSTEM FOUND ORBITING WRONG WAY NEAR JUPITER
(SPACE NEWS)
*KEY WHITE SUPREMACIST FOUND LIVING IN MONTREAL EXPOSES REACH OF HATE GROUPS
(WHITE SUPREMACY)
*DEMOCRATS’ NEWEST MIDTERM PITCH: A CRACKDOWN ON CORRUPTION
(DEMO POLITICS)
*THE VIEW FROM TRUMP'S BRAIN(FUNNIES)
~EX-EVANGELIST RIPS ‘MORON’ CHRISTIANS FOR THINKING TRUMP’S JERUSALEM EMBASSY WILL HASTEN THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS(CHRISTIANITY)
*GREEN-BLOODED LIZARDS MAY HOLD KEY TO NEW VIRUS FIGHTERS
(WEIRD THINGS)
*WHERE WE AT IN MAGA, PART 2
(OPINION)
*KANSAS GOVERNOR SIGNS ANTI-LGBT ADOPTION BILL INTO LAW
(RIGHTS)
*FOX SETTLES BIAS SUITS FOR $10 MILLION
(WORTHLESS MEDIA)
*ANOTHER DEATH BLOW TO PUERTO RICO: FCC PLANS TO CUT LIFELINE PHONES AS HURRICANE SEASON DRAWS NEAR(COLONIES)
*DEM SENATORS DEMAND RARE RUSSIA SANCTIONS PROBE BY 3 AGENCIES
(DEMO POLITICS)
*FLORIDA ELECTION OFFICIAL ILLEGALLY DESTROYED BALLOTS IN DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ’S HEATED 2016 PRIMARY RACE(ELECTIONS)
~SEN. CHRIS MURPHY TELLS GUN NUTS TO STOP SUPPORTING ‘IMAGINARY’ VERSION OF SECOND AMENDMENT(DEMO POLITICS)
*TEXAS 'THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS' REPUBLICANS CASH MORE NRA CHECKS THAN ANYONE ELSE
(GOP POLITICS)
*AFTER TEXAS SCHOOL SHOOTING, PROGRESSIVES SAY REFUSAL TO TAKE ON NRA LEADING TO "SLAUGHTER AFTER SLAUGHTER"(PROGRESSIVES)
*FEDERAL REGULATORS VOTE TO LIMIT PRACTICE OF MEASURING CLIMATE IMPACT OF PIPELINES
(ENVIRONMENT)
*NRA SPOKESWOMAN ACCUSES MEDIA OF 'CREATING' MASS SHOOTERS WITH EXTENSIVE COVERAGE(AMERIKKKANS)
*CASH INCENTIVES FOR CHARTER SCHOOL RECRUITMENT: UNETHICAL BRIBE OR SHREWD MARKETING TECHNIQUE?(EDUCATION)
*GINA HASPEL'S TORTURE 2.0
(FUNNIES)
*DONALD TRUMP REALLY SHOULDN'T HAVE RUN FOR PRESIDENT
(TRUMP)
*PLAINCLOTHES POLICE OFFICERS ARE TERRORIZING, ROBBING AND KILLING BLACK PEOPLE
(GESTAPO USA)
*WHAT MORE DO YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT TRUMP?
(TALKERS)
*TIME TO DO THE SCHOOL-SHOOTING ROUNDELAY AGAIN BY THE RUDE PUNDIT
(COMMENTARY)
*late news of interest*
Michael Cohen's Business Partner Agrees to Cooperate as Part of Plea Deal
BumRushDaShow - demo inderground
5/22/18
Source: New York Times
A significant business partner of Michael D. Cohen, President Trump’s personal lawyer, has quietly agreed to cooperate with the government as a potential witness, a development that could be used as leverage to pressure Mr. Cohen to work with the special counsel examining Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Under the agreement, the partner, Evgeny A. Freidman, a Russian immigrant who is known as the Taxi King, will avoid jail time, and will assist government prosecutors in state or federal investigations, according to a person briefed on the matter.
Mr. Cohen’s conduct was initially examined by Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel investigating the 2016 election that led to Mr. Trump’s victory, and then referred to the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan. Last month, federal agents carried out search warrants at Mr. Cohen’s home, his office and a hotel room where he was staying, seeking documents related to his business associates and accountants.
Mr. Trump’s lawyers have been resigned to the strong possibility that the investigation of Mr. Cohen’s businesses could lead him to cooperate with federal prosecutors.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/22/nyregion/michael-cohen-trump-taxi-cooperation.htm
A significant business partner of Michael D. Cohen, President Trump’s personal lawyer, has quietly agreed to cooperate with the government as a potential witness, a development that could be used as leverage to pressure Mr. Cohen to work with the special counsel examining Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Under the agreement, the partner, Evgeny A. Freidman, a Russian immigrant who is known as the Taxi King, will avoid jail time, and will assist government prosecutors in state or federal investigations, according to a person briefed on the matter.
Mr. Cohen’s conduct was initially examined by Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel investigating the 2016 election that led to Mr. Trump’s victory, and then referred to the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan. Last month, federal agents carried out search warrants at Mr. Cohen’s home, his office and a hotel room where he was staying, seeking documents related to his business associates and accountants.
Mr. Trump’s lawyers have been resigned to the strong possibility that the investigation of Mr. Cohen’s businesses could lead him to cooperate with federal prosecutors.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/22/nyregion/michael-cohen-trump-taxi-cooperation.htm
racists never stop being racists!!!
Alabama sues over inclusion of migrants in US Census
Kim Chandler, Associated Press - chron
Tuesday, May 22, 2018
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama's attorney general has filed a lawsuit against the federal government, challenging the longstanding practice of including immigrants living in the country illegally in U.S. Census counts that are used to determine congressional districts.
In the lawsuit filed Monday, Attorney General Steve Marshall argues that the predicted 2020 census numbers will cause Alabama to lose a congressional seat, and thus an electoral vote, to a state with a "larger illegal alien population." Along with the state, U.S. Rep Mo Brooks of Alabama is a plaintiff in the lawsuit, filed against the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Census Bureau.
It has been a longstanding practice to include all U.S. residents, both citizens and noncitizens, in the census, which also determines the number of congressional seats for each state. In 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against two Texas residents who argued their votes were diluted by the practice of using the "whole population" to draw legislative district lines.
"As the Framers of the Constitution and the Fourteenth Amendment comprehended, representatives serve all residents, not just those eligible or registered to vote," the court ruled.
Nonetheless, Alabama is seeking to have the practice declared unconstitutional. The state argues it violates existing statutes that "require a census enumeration of the total of legally present resident population."
"Congressional seats should be apportioned based on the population of American citizens, not illegal aliens," Brooks said in a statement. "After all, this is America, not the United Nations."
On the other end of the political spectrum, mostly Democratic states have expressed concern that immigrants will be undercounted in the 2020 census as a result of a decision by President Donald Trump's administration to include the question about citizenship status.
Seventeen states are seeking to have the question declared unconstitutional, based on fears that it will deter immigrants, including those in mixed-status households, from participating in the census and dilute representation in those states.
In the lawsuit filed Monday, Attorney General Steve Marshall argues that the predicted 2020 census numbers will cause Alabama to lose a congressional seat, and thus an electoral vote, to a state with a "larger illegal alien population." Along with the state, U.S. Rep Mo Brooks of Alabama is a plaintiff in the lawsuit, filed against the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Census Bureau.
It has been a longstanding practice to include all U.S. residents, both citizens and noncitizens, in the census, which also determines the number of congressional seats for each state. In 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against two Texas residents who argued their votes were diluted by the practice of using the "whole population" to draw legislative district lines.
"As the Framers of the Constitution and the Fourteenth Amendment comprehended, representatives serve all residents, not just those eligible or registered to vote," the court ruled.
Nonetheless, Alabama is seeking to have the practice declared unconstitutional. The state argues it violates existing statutes that "require a census enumeration of the total of legally present resident population."
"Congressional seats should be apportioned based on the population of American citizens, not illegal aliens," Brooks said in a statement. "After all, this is America, not the United Nations."
On the other end of the political spectrum, mostly Democratic states have expressed concern that immigrants will be undercounted in the 2020 census as a result of a decision by President Donald Trump's administration to include the question about citizenship status.
Seventeen states are seeking to have the question declared unconstitutional, based on fears that it will deter immigrants, including those in mixed-status households, from participating in the census and dilute representation in those states.
Houston police chief pens viral statement on ‘so-called people of faith’ who defend gun rights
Walter Einenkel
Daily Kos Staff
Monday May 21, 2018 · 7:00 PM PDT
Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo has been in the news lately because of his humanitarian calls for decency surrounding President Trump’s and Jeff Sessions’ terrorist campaign against undocumented families. But on Friday evening, Chief Acevedo took to his Facebook page to express his feelings surrounding the terrible school shooting tragedy that unfolded last week at Santa Fe High School, a few miles outside of Houston.
To all my Facebook friends. Today I spent the day dealing with another mass shooting of children and a responding police officer who is clinging to life. I’m not ashamed to admit I’ve shed tears of sadness, pain and anger.
I know some have strong feelings about gun rights but I want you to know I’ve hit rock bottom and I am not interested in your views as it pertains to this issue. Please do not post anything about guns aren’t the problem and there’s little we can do. My feelings won’t be hurt if you de-friend me and I hope yours won’t be if you decide to post about your views and I de-friend you.
I have never accepted the status-quo in anything I do and I’ve never accepted defeat. And I won’t do it now. I will continue to speak up and will stand up for what my heart and my God commands me to do, and I assure you he hasn’t instructed me to believe that gun-rights are bestowed by him.
The hatred being spewed in our country and the new norms we, so-called people of faith are accepting, is as much to blame for so much of the violence in our once pragmatic Nation.
This isn’t a time for prayers, and study and Inaction, it’s a time for prayers, action and the asking of God’s forgiveness for our inaction (especially the elected officials that ran to the cameras today, acted in a solemn manner, called for prayers, and will once again do absolutely nothing).
I close by saying, I wish those that move on from this page the best. May God Bless you and keep you.
To all my Facebook friends. Today I spent the day dealing with another mass shooting of children and a responding police officer who is clinging to life. I’m not ashamed to admit I’ve shed tears of sadness, pain and anger.
I know some have strong feelings about gun rights but I want you to know I’ve hit rock bottom and I am not interested in your views as it pertains to this issue. Please do not post anything about guns aren’t the problem and there’s little we can do. My feelings won’t be hurt if you de-friend me and I hope yours won’t be if you decide to post about your views and I de-friend you.
I have never accepted the status-quo in anything I do and I’ve never accepted defeat. And I won’t do it now. I will continue to speak up and will stand up for what my heart and my God commands me to do, and I assure you he hasn’t instructed me to believe that gun-rights are bestowed by him.
The hatred being spewed in our country and the new norms we, so-called people of faith are accepting, is as much to blame for so much of the violence in our once pragmatic Nation.
This isn’t a time for prayers, and study and Inaction, it’s a time for prayers, action and the asking of God’s forgiveness for our inaction (especially the elected officials that ran to the cameras today, acted in a solemn manner, called for prayers, and will once again do absolutely nothing).
I close by saying, I wish those that move on from this page the best. May God Bless you and keep you.
NFL teams considered Colin Kaepernick as starting quarterback material: report
Bob Brigham - raw story
21 MAY 2018 AT 15:19 ET
Colin Kaepernick -- via Facebook
Civil rights leader and former professional football player Colin Kaepernick was blackballed by National Football League owners after kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality, NBC News reported Monday.
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reports that Kaepernick’s collusion lawsuit against the league has already uncovered evidence.
“Per a source with knowledge of the situation, internal franchise documents generated as part of the free-agency evaluation process and testimony from witnesses harvested via depositions in the collusion litigation has established that teams viewed Kaepernick as being good enough not simply to be employed by an NFL team, but to be a starting quarterback for an NFL team,” Florio reported.
In April, secret recordings revealed NFL owners feared President Donald Trump would attack them for employing Kaepernick.
The commander-in-chief branded Kaepernick a “son of a b*tch” in a statement that drew a sharp rebuke from the athlete’s mother.
Pro Football Talk’s Florio explained what the collusion case “will conclusively prove.”
“Multiple teams believed that Colin Kaepernick was still good enough to play after becoming a free agent more than a year ago. Which means that, at least as to Kaepernick, the notion that teams make decisions based only on trying to win football games doesn’t hold water,” Florio concluded.
As evidence mounts that the NFL blackballed the quarterback, Kaepernick has remained focused on his civil rights leadership, for which he has drawn widespread praise.
In December, Beyoncé awarded Kaepernick with Sports Illustrated‘s Muhammad Ali Legacy Award for embodying the ideals of sportsmanship, leadership and philanthropy and has used sports as a platform for changing the world.
Last month, Kaepernick was awarded Amnesty International’s top honor, the Ambassador of Conscience Award.
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reports that Kaepernick’s collusion lawsuit against the league has already uncovered evidence.
“Per a source with knowledge of the situation, internal franchise documents generated as part of the free-agency evaluation process and testimony from witnesses harvested via depositions in the collusion litigation has established that teams viewed Kaepernick as being good enough not simply to be employed by an NFL team, but to be a starting quarterback for an NFL team,” Florio reported.
In April, secret recordings revealed NFL owners feared President Donald Trump would attack them for employing Kaepernick.
The commander-in-chief branded Kaepernick a “son of a b*tch” in a statement that drew a sharp rebuke from the athlete’s mother.
Pro Football Talk’s Florio explained what the collusion case “will conclusively prove.”
“Multiple teams believed that Colin Kaepernick was still good enough to play after becoming a free agent more than a year ago. Which means that, at least as to Kaepernick, the notion that teams make decisions based only on trying to win football games doesn’t hold water,” Florio concluded.
As evidence mounts that the NFL blackballed the quarterback, Kaepernick has remained focused on his civil rights leadership, for which he has drawn widespread praise.
In December, Beyoncé awarded Kaepernick with Sports Illustrated‘s Muhammad Ali Legacy Award for embodying the ideals of sportsmanship, leadership and philanthropy and has used sports as a platform for changing the world.
Last month, Kaepernick was awarded Amnesty International’s top honor, the Ambassador of Conscience Award.
denial conservative style!!
From Crooks & Liars: I've never gone wrong betting on the racism and arrogant ignorance of the Right: I've only erred occasionally on the point spread. And predicting Conservative behavior is dead-easy because traditionally they only have four basic settings:
Pleading Ignorance.
Of course Conservatives are ignorant -- deeply and malignantly ignorant. This comes from letting lying demagogues like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity take a dump in their skulls for the last 20 years. But since the GOP OnStar only emits turns in one direction, traditionally the only way Conservatives have been permitted to be "wrong" about anything was that they were "not Conservative enough!". From Crain's, October, 2015:
- Arrogant triumphalism: The aforementioned "We won! You lost! Bush is a genius! Suck it Libtards!"
- All-out denialism: The aforementioned "Everything I see on non-Fox teevee is fake! Terrible lies by the terrible Murrica-hating Libtard media conspiracy!"
- Bargaining: It doesn't matter whether or not I'm a brain-washed moron...because Both Sides!"
- Running Away: As I pointed out back during the first Great Skedaddle back in 2009, because Conservatives are by nature abject moral cowards, their last "out" is doing like German soldiers did after the fall of Berlin: stop running away from the catastrophe they created only long enough to burn their uniforms. See, "I'm an independent."
Pleading Ignorance.
Of course Conservatives are ignorant -- deeply and malignantly ignorant. This comes from letting lying demagogues like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity take a dump in their skulls for the last 20 years. But since the GOP OnStar only emits turns in one direction, traditionally the only way Conservatives have been permitted to be "wrong" about anything was that they were "not Conservative enough!". From Crain's, October, 2015:
