Yo JD: The feds say he’s an extremist leader who directed rioters. He also had top-secret clearance and worked for the FBI, attorney says.
Navy veteran Thomas Edward Caldwell led a band of the Oath Keepers extremist group to D.C. on Jan. 6 to storm the U.S. Capitol building, federal prosecutors ...
Washington Post
3 hours ago
wyer for man charged in Capitol riot says he worked for the FBI, had top-secret security clearance
Catherine Garcia
Tue, February 9, 2021, 1:07 AM
An attorney for Thomas Caldwell, a Virginia resident accused of participating in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, said on Monday that his client is a Navy veteran who has had a top-secret security clearance since 1979, worked as an FBI section chief from 2009 to 2010, and ran a consulting firm that did classified work for the U.S. government.
Caldwell's lawyer, Thomas Plofchan, wrote about his work history in a motion filed on Monday, which stated that because Caldwell has "been vetted and found numerous times as a person worthy of the trust and confidence of the United States government," he should be released from jail as he waits for his trial to start.
Authorities have said Caldwell, 66, is a leader of the right-wing Oath Keepers militia group, and helped plan the attack on the Capitol. On Jan. 19, Caldwell was arrested and charged with conspiracy. He denies being involved with the Oath Keepers, and Plofchan said Caldwell is a "100 percent disabled veteran," and because of his "physical limitation," could not have forced his way into a building.
The charging documents show that during the attack, Caldwell received messages about lawmakers being "in the tunnels" under the Capitol. After the riot, he also allegedly shared video of the incident on Facebook, saying it was time to "storm the capitol in Ohio."
Associated Press
Man charged in US Capitol riot worked for FBI, lawyer says
A man who authorities say is a leader of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group and helped to organize a ring of other extremists and led them in the attack last month at the U.S. Capitol has held a top-secret security clearance for decades and previously worked for the FBI, his attorney said Monday. Thomas Caldwell, who authorities believe holds a leadership role in the extremist group, worked as a section chief for the FBI from 2009 to 2010 after retiring from the Navy, his lawyer, Thomas Plofchan, wrote in a motion urging the judge to release him from jail while he awaits trial.
Robinhood: US family sue trading app over son's suicide
The parents of Alex Kearns, 20, say he thought he had lost $730,000 when he took his own life.
National Review
Biden and Krugman Are Misleading the Public about Minimum Wage
During his Super Bowl interview on CBS Evening News, President Joe Biden declared that “all the economics” of a $15 minimum-wage hike were good. What he meant to say was, all the politics of a $15 minimum wage are good. The economics are highly debatable. A minimum-wage hike quenches the populist appetite of many voters. After all, it seemingly costs them nothing to compel greedy big business CEOs to pay the proletariat fairer wages. The problem is that a minimum wage is a tax on goods and services, and it’s not the big businesses that suffer, but small ones who can’t afford it. Nor are minimum-wage workers a static group of poor Americans. In fact, 58 percent of them are young workers. Minimum-wage policy marginally improves the lives of Americans working their way up the ladder, and in the meantime destroys millions of entry-level jobs. Even the CBO says that while a $15 minimum wage would lift 900,000 out of poverty, it would eliminate 1.4 million jobs. Or, as Thomas Sowell likes to remind us, the real minimum wage is zero. It should also be remembered that minimum-wage policy is not a federal concern. Treating the wages of those who live in NYC as you would those in Alabama is simply bad policy. Though Democrats, of course, want a national minimum wage to create a hard floor so they can keep spiking it locally. There’s very little real debate on the topic in major media. Biden’s “all the economics” comment is reminiscent of Barack Obama’s absurd claim that “every economist” believed in his stimulus plan. Such declarations are meant to create the veneer of scientific consensus and certitude, a myth that the media is almost always happy to advance. When the Cato Institute found 200 economists to counter Obama’s claim, three of them Nobel laureates — James Buchanan, Edward Prescott, and Vernon Smith — they had to take out a full-page ad in the New York Times to be heard. It was not true then, and is not true now, that “all the economics” of the minimum wage, or much else, is settled. As New York Times columnist Paul Krugman once noted, any “Econ 101 student can tell you” that “higher wage reduces the quantity of labor demanded, and hence leads to unemployment.” Indeed, for a long time, there was a strong consensus on the matter. Today, Krugman, who has seen the light, uses unconvincing argument ad populum to bolster his case for raising the minimum wage, as it “is immensely popular; it’s supported by around 70 percent of voters, including a substantial majority of self-identified Republicans.” Even those extremists, strewn across the wastelands of middle America, get it, I guess. And though Krugman doesn’t mention his own expedient partisan conversion on the issue, he notes: It’s true that once upon a time there was a near-consensus among economists that minimum wages substantially reduced employment. But that was long ago. These days only a minority of economists think raising the minimum to $15 would have large employment costs, and a strong plurality believe that a significant rise — although maybe not all the way to $15 — would be a good idea. Anyone who bothers clicking on the hyperlinks offered by Krugman will quickly find out they are being misled. The Initiative on Global Markets (IGM) at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business link, for instance, does not show resounding majority support for a federal Biden-style minimum wage. Claims of a “strong plurality” also appear to be a stretch, while discounting the large cross-section of economists who are undecided. Krugman fails to mention that in the 2015 survey he hyperlinks, 26 percent of economists believe a flat $15 federal minimum wage would lower employment for low-wage workers, while 24 percent said otherwise, and 38 percent weren’t sure. As for whether doing so would “substantially increase aggregate output” in the economy, just 2 percent agreed. Krugman fails to mention that the 2013 survey he links to, for even a $9 federal minimum wage, shows 34 percent agreed that it would cost jobs, 24 percent were uncertain, and 32 percent disagreed. A plurality indicated that there could be net benefits to a $9 wage indexed to inflation, which, of course, isn’t the Biden plan. In the 2021 survey, conducted just this month, a panel of over 80 economic experts were queried on the subject of the $15 minimum wage, and the results do not suggest any consensus. When IGM posed this statement, “A federal minimum wage of $15 per hour would lower employment for low-wage workers in many states,” 45 percent agreed, and 33 percent were unsure. Only 14 percent disagreed. When presented with the statement, “A federal minimum wage that is pegged to state and/or local conditions such as the cost of living would be preferable to the current arrangements that give states a role in setting the policy,” 42 percent either strongly agreed or agreed, another 42 percent were uncertain, and only 9 percent disagreed. Biden’s plan is to federalize minimum-wage laws. Many economists like the idea in theory, but many are still unsure, and just as many see the downside for employment. But Krugman — and Biden — are merely trying to shut down debate. And they have plenty of help.
15h ago
Associated Press
Iran may pursue nuclear weapon, intel minister warns West
Iran’s intelligence minister warned the West that his country could push for a nuclear weapon if crippling international sanctions on Tehran remain in place, state television reported Tuesday. The remarks by Mahmoud Alavi mark a rare occasion that a government official says Iran could reverse its course on the nuclear program. Tehran has long insisted that the program is for peaceful purposes only, such as power generation and medical research.
Reports: Biden's DOJ to ask 56 Trump-era attorneys to resign
President Biden's Department of Justice plans to this week ask for the resignation of the vast majority of U.S. attorneys appointed during the Trump administration, CNN first reported on Monday night.Why it matters: The move is expected to affect 56 attorneys confirmed by the Senate. The process that's anticipated to begin as early as Tuesday is set to take weeks, according to CNN.Two attorneys who will not immediately be asked to resign are John Durham and David Weiss, multiple outlets reported.Durham will continue in his role overseeing an investigation into the origins of the probe into Trump's dealings with Russia, but he'll resign from his position as U.S. attorney in Connecticut, per Bloomberg.Weiss, who is leading an investigation into the taxes of Hunter Biden, the president's son, will also stay on, according to NBC News.Flashback: In 2017, the Trump administration asked the 46 remaining Obama-era U.S. federal prosecutors to resign.For the record: Biden has picked Judge Merrick Garland to be the U.S. attorney general.His confirmation hearing was due to begin this week, but Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), the leading Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, rejected that request, citing the date coinciding with Trump's impeachment trial.
9h ago
Associated Press
Catholic schools in US hit by unprecedented enrollment drop
Enrollment in Roman Catholic schools in the United States dropped 6.4% from the previous academic year amid the pandemic and economic stresses — the largest single-year decline in at least five decades, Catholic education officials reported Monday. Among the factors were the closure or consolidation of more than 200 schools and the difficulty for many parents of paying tuition fees that average more than $5,000 for grades K-8 and more than $10,000 for secondary schools, according to the National Catholic Educational Association. John Reyes, the NCEA’s executive director for operational vitality, said the pandemic has been an "accelerant” for longstanding challenges facing Catholic education.
1d ago
NextShark
Woman Gets 10 Years in Prison for Kil?l?ing Nail Salon Manager After Skipping on Bill in Las Vegas
A woman who killed a Vietnamese nail salon manager in Las Vegas in 2018 has been sentenced to a prison term of 10 to 25 years. The verdict: On Friday, Clark County District Court Judge Tierra Jones sentenced Krystal Whipple to prison for the death of 51-year-old Nhu "Annie" Ngoc Nguyen, the Associated Press reports. With the plea, she effectively avoided trials of felony murder, burglary, robbery and stolen vehicle charges, which she initially faced.
Heart Surgeon Boils Weight Loss Down To One Thing
Celebrated surgeon and author of the New York Times best seller "The Plant Paradox" reveals what many have suspected for a long time.
Associated Press Videos
Sanitation worker leads police to missing girl
A sanitation worker on his trash route through southern Louisiana helped lead police to a missing 10-year-old girl who was last seen getting into a car with a registered sex offender, authorities said. (Feb. 9)
3h ago
Raleigh News and Observer
Stimulus check eligibility could be capped at individual income of $60,000, Yellen says
“It has to go to people and households that do need the money.”
2d ago
Reuters
More than 97% of recent COVID deaths in Israel were people who weren't vaccinated, PM says
More than 97% of COVID-19 deaths in Israel over the past month were people who had not been vaccinated, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday, as his government tries to increase turnout for the Pfizer Inc shots. Around 38% of Israel's 9 million population have received at least one vaccine dose, the Health Ministry says. "We are in a national emergency," Netanyahu told reporters.
2h ago
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I Bet The Tattoo Artist Had Great Time With These
Take a look at the funniest tattoo fails
The Week
U.S. considering requiring proof of negative coronavirus test for domestic air travel
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said federal officials are discussing whether passengers will have to show proof of a negative coronavirus test before being allowed on board domestic flights, telling Axios on HBO that any decision will be "guided by data, by science, by medicine, and by the input of the people who are actually going to have to carry this out." In order to try to keep more contagious coronavirus variants found in Britain and South Africa out of the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in January announced that in order to board an international flight to the U.S., a passenger must show a negative test result. On Monday, reporters asked CDC Director Rochelle Walensky about expanding coronavirus testing at airports, and she said this could help keep people who do not know they are infected from spreading the virus. "There's more gathering that happens in airports, and so, to the extent that we have available tests to do testing, this would be yet another mitigation measure to try and decrease risk," Walensky said. Health officials are continuing to urge people to avoid all nonessential travel, and when they are in public, to ensure they are wearing masks and social distancing. More stories from theweek.comRep.
Reuters
Ex-Trump aide Manafort cannot be prosecuted in NY following pardon
New York state's highest court has rejected the Manhattan district attorney's effort to prosecute Paul Manafort, the onetime campaign chairman for former U.S. President Donald Trump. The decision by the Court of Appeals ends Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance's attempt to pursue Manafort on 16 felony charges, including mortgage fraud, that were similar to crimes for which Manafort had been convicted in federal court and pardoned by Trump.
16h ago
AI
