Former president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama attend the unveiling of their official portraits at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.
Readout of President Donald J. Trump’s Call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia
Issued on: February 12, 2018
President Donald J. Trump spoke today with President Vladimir Putin of Russia to express his condolences regarding the crash of Saratov Airlines Flight 703 on February 11. President Trump said that the United States was standing by to assist Russian authorities in their investigation. President Putin noted that he would meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas later today, and President Trump said that now is the time to work toward an enduring peace agreement. The two presidents discussed other topics of mutual concern, and President Trump reiterated the importance of taking further steps to ensure the denuclearization of North Korea.
Full Broadcast 12Feb18 Real News with David Knight
The “dog that didn’t bark” in the FBI/DOJ coup investigation is now being openly talked about. Is he the “Deep Throat” that will bring down the criminal collusion to overthrow the election? Matt Bracken joins to discuss. And, the opioid crisis is taking center stage but the FDA is quietly working to prohibit homeopathic remedies, not the opioids pushed by Big Pharma & Big Medicine. Then, human gene editing, #MeToo White House eruptions, Robert DeNiro pushes World Government and China tries coal prohibition & creates a black market.
[from Alex Jones and his merry band of batshit bullshitters]
Editor-in-chief Judd Legum walks through the top stories ThinkProgress is watching. This week, we’re talking about immigration reform in Congress, Trump’s infrastructure plan, and allegations of domestic abuse against two White House staffers who resigned.
Author and New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg is the guest on this week’s "Freethought Matters." Michelle is interviewed by FFRF Director of Communications Amit Pal about the rise of Christian nationalism.
Michelle Goldberg's work has also appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times Book Review, Glamour, Rolling Stone, The Nation, New York, The Guardian (UK) and The New Republic. Goldberg has taught at NYU’s Graduate School of Journalism, lectured throughout the United States and in Europe, and has been interviewed on many radio and television shows. Her signature book is: Kingdom Coming: The Rise of the Christian Nationalism [ https://www.amazon.com/Kingdom-Coming-Rise-Christian-Nationalism/dp/0393329763 ].
Monday, Feb. 12th 2018[, with Jack Posobiec hosting the fourth hour]: AI Supercomputers Already Run Your Life And Are Highly Likely To Destroy Humans - Alex Jones breaks down how AI super computers will soon be running hospitals around the world, carefully picking and choosing which patients to terminate for the sake of efficiency. Kit Cope, Lincoln Osiris, and Quentin Carter join live in studio to respond to calls for violence against Trump supporters and Republicans by socialist-loving, libtard lefties across the US. MSM overplays their bias during the Winter Olympics by fawning over Kim Jong Un’s sister. Also, Trump impersonator and character actor John Di Domenico joins Roger Stone during the third hour of the broadcast.
Ken Ham and his team have a bi-weekly "news" show, reacting to the news stories of the day from a Christian young-earth creation perspective from the Answers in Genesis staff at his Creation Museum.
Jackson Wheat and I join Dr. Georgia Purdom, Avery Foley, and Bodie Hodge as they discuss Democratic Congressmen again introduce "Darwin Day" resolutions, oldest fossil of "missing link" dinosaur discovered in Germany, and more in this episode of Answers News hosted in front of a live audience at the Creation Museum.
As investigations are inching closer to Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama, more mysterious activity is happening around the globe. From a Russian flight being downed that carried potential witnesses to Hillary Clinton's Uranium One deal, to Don Jr. having a white powder sent to his house in an envelope. There is little doubt the deep state is in panic as the Democrat lies and misinformation are no longer working.
[from Alex Jones and his merry band of batshit bullshitters]
Fmr. White House lawyer: I’d take “any job at Walmart” rather than work for Trump
The Beat with Ari Melber 2/12/18
An NBC News exclusive report reveals that fear of potentially overseeing the Russia probe was a factor in Rachel Brand’s departure from the Department of Justice. Richard Painter, Katty Kay and John Harwood join Ari Melber to discuss.
A new Wired magazine cover story reveals why Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg could hold the keys to a crucial part of Bob Mueller's investigation. The journalist who went inside Facebook reveals a portrait of political turmoil inside a company that wanted to be above politics and what employees called “incredibly damaging…”
Plank: Trump “needs sexism like a plant needs water”
The Beat with Ari Melber 2/12/18
Trump demands “due process" for aides accused of abusing women, despite calling for death penalty of wrongfully accused teens in the “Central Park Five” case.
Jan. 1 was a big day for California: In addition to legalizing recreational marijuana, the state fully adopted one of the most sweeping criminal justice reforms in recent years.
The new law, Prop 64, not only OK'd possession for people 21 and older but also allows anyone to apply to have their past marijuana-related offenses reduced or expunged completely. And roughly one million Californians are eligible, according to the Drug Policy Alliance.
A clean record would allow people to vote, apply for many loans and licenses, and, perhaps most importantly, answer “no” when potential employers ask whether they have a felony in their past. The change particularly affects African-Americans in California, who were five times as likely to get arrested for a marijuana felony than white offenders, and thus disproportionately saddled with the lifelong constraints that come with a criminal record.
"It really kind of affected me," said Rayshon Williams, who's now eligible to get one of his felony convictions reduced. "The whole time, they're not gonna hire you because they see that 'F' on your record."
With the drastic shift in law enforcement, the new challenge for advocates, legal aid providers, and county public defender’s offices is making all those eligible aware of their new rights.
The author of a New York Times op-ed suggesting it's entirely possible that Devin Nunes has opened himself and his staff up to possible charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice joins Chris Hayes.
Trump camp ties to Russia a transition quandary for Obama team
The Rachel Maddow Show 2/12/18
Rachel Maddow shows how a newly released e-mail from Susan Rice illuminates the challenge for Obama officials trying to decide how to communicate with Trump officials they knew were under investigation.
Trump White House failing to secure proper security clearances
The Rachel Maddow Show 2/12/18
Chris Lu, who ran the 2008 Obama presidential transition, talks with Rachel Maddow about how a normal presidential transition handles necessary security clearances ahead of taking office.
Americans again made to learn from Russia about Trump Putin call
The Rachel Maddow Show 2/12/18
Rachel Maddow reviews what now makes at least eight times that Americans have learned about Donald Trump interacting with Russian officials from Russian media instead of the White House.
Americans kept in dark about Russian intel chiefs' visit to US
The Rachel Maddow Show 2/12/18
Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, talks with Rachel Maddow about the unusual visit of all three Russian intelligence chiefs to the United States and the fact that U.S. officials have said less about the visit than Russians.
Train safety official leaves as second job comes to light
The Rachel Maddow Show 2/12/18
Rachel Maddow shares a Politico report about Heath Hall, acting chief of the Federal Railroad Administration, who quit that position, which he was unqualified for anyway, after he was shown to still be working for his marketing firm in Mississippi.
Lawrence: Trump has never condemned domestic violence
The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell 2/12/18
Rob Porter's ex-wife wrote a new op-ed responding to Trump and Kellyanne Conway's comments on the scandal. Lawrence O'Donnell exposes the Trump White House's defense of its handling of the Rob Porter allegations.
Ex-wife of Rob Porter responds to Trump White House
The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell 2/12/18
As Rob Porter's first wife Colbie Holderness has an op-ed in the Washington Post, the White House tries to assert they take domestic violence seriously. Lawrence O'Donnell, Ruth Marcus & Kimberly Atkins discuss what Trump's asking about "due process" means.
Trump has repeatedly promised to fix America's failing infrastructure. He tried to fulfill that pledge Monday by sending Congress an infrastructure proposal... one that does not guarantee any repairs. Ezra Klein debunks the Trump proposal with Lawrence O'Donnell.
Trump White House struggles to explain Porter timeline
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams 2/12/18
The questions and fallout over how the Trump White House handled the domestic abuse allegations against ousted aide Rob Porter continue for a sixth straight day. Our panel reacts.
Rep. Quigley: Nunes acting like an agent of the White House
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams 2/13/18
Discussing whether House Intel Democrats will be able to release their rebuttal to the Nunes memo blocked by the Trump White House over security concerns, Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) addresses the disarray on the House Intel Committee.
Trump White House facing security clearance questions
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams 2/13/18
Do all Trump White House staffers who routinely see top secret intelligence have the proper security clearance? New questions are being raised amid the fallout around how the Trump White House handled abuse allegations against fmr. aide Rob Porter.
Joe Scarborough brutally roasted Kellyanne Conway on Monday, following her comments over the weekend about the Rob Porter domestic abuse scandal dogging the White House — reminding Morning Joe viewers of her pattern of dishonesty.
“A lot of back and forth going on here, it could be confusing,” Scarborough said of the conflicting statements coming from the White House over who knew about the Porter allegations and when. “We’ll tell you what, what we usually do on Morning Joe when we’re confused and just want to know the facts. We just wish somebody at the White House would give us the facts.”
Ex-Trump Campaign Manager Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison
Published on Feb 14, 2018 by Mike Malloy
Tea Party leader and former Trump campaign chair Tim Nolan has pleaded guilty and received 20 years in prison for human trafficking, reports Cincinnati.com.
According to the report, Nolan, 71, a former judge, used drugs and threats of arrest to force women and girls under the age of 18 into sex acts.
Pleading guilty to 21 of the counts filed against him — for crimes committed dating back to 2004 — Nolan accepted a plea deal where he will serve 20 years in prison and pay a $100,000 fine, becoming eligible for parole in four years, his attorney stated.
Some of the incidents occurred in the summer of 2016 while Judge Nolan was serving as the chair of the Donald Trump campaign in Campbell County, KY.
Nolan served as a district judge in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and had just been elected to the Campbell County School Board in 2016 prior to being indicted.
The official portraits for former President Barack and Michelle Obama were unveiled at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. Monday. With the unveiling came tuned ears listening desperately for hidden messages in the speeches made.
“I was listening very carefully to see if there was any subtle message that the former first lady would make there,” CNN host John Berman. “I did pick up on one sentence and really one sentence only. She said, ‘as we sit here today, we have a lot more work to do.’ She was saying, I wonder if in the context of what we’re seeing in Washington today she was trying to send a message there.”
“I don’t know, John. I think even if Hillary Clinton were president today, I think she might have the same observation,” political commentator Brian Fallon said. “Because I think the Obamas throughout the eight years of the historic presidency were always well aware that as huge and historic a step as Barack Obama’s election represented, the country still has a ways to go with tackling the problem of institutional racism.”
Fallon went on to explain that it’s refreshing to see the Obamas as a reminder of America’s better angels.
White House Proposes $4.4 Trillion Budget That Adds $7 Trillion to Deficits WASHINGTON — President Trump on Monday sent Congress a $4.4 trillion budget with steep cuts in domestic programs and entitlements, including Medicare, and large increases for the military, envisioning deficits totaling at least $7.1 trillion over the next decade. [...] https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/12/us/politics/white-house-budget-congress.html
The Latest: Trump plan might sell assets, including airports - AP WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump's infrastructure proposal (all times local): 12:01 p.m. President Donald Trump's infrastructure plan calls for possibly selling two of the three major airports serving the nation's capital. The president is calling for divesting federal assets when agencies can show the sale would "optimize taxpayer value." The proposal lists Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Dulles International Airport as examples of assets that could be sold. Other such examples of federal assets to be divested include transmission lines operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Bonneville Power Administration. Similar plans in the past have been met with stiff, bipartisan opposition. Trump is also citing two major roadways in the Washington D.C. region that could be sold: the George Washington Memorial and Baltimore-Washington parkways. [...] https://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/The-Latest-Trump-promotes-infrastructure-plan-to-12606973.php original https://www.apnews.com/d7d6dafdc66849a59e3c027c35c14c59/The-Latest:-Trump-plan-might-sell-assets,-including-airports
Alaska GOP senator: Trump's massive infrastructure plan may help underserved rural states like mine A portion of Trump's massive infrastructure proposal will help to develop America's rural states such as Alaska, Sen. Dan Sullivan says. The Alaska senator also believes there's an opportunity for a bipartisan-supported infrastructure plan that includes permitting reform. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/12/alaska-senator-trump-infrastructure-plan-may-help-rural-states.html
Devin Nunes Funneled Campaign Funds Into Alternative Media Outlet House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) operated a partisan media outlet to skirt negative coverage of his congressional tenure. “The California Republican” is marketed as a local, conservative news site. It describes itself on Facebook as “the best of US, California, and Central Valley news, sports, and analysis.” But the outlet was paid for by Nunes’ campaign committee, according to small print at the bottom of its website first noted by POLITICO. And $7,773 was reportedly paid to a communications company since July for “advertising; digital adverting management.” Though the website is no longer operational, its Facebook feed includes many pro-Trump stories and local pieces relevant to Nunes’ constituents. The most recent post—published late January—is favorable coverage of the congressman titled “Understanding the process behind #ReleaseTheMemo.” Another article from December chronicles Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s “missteps” in dealing with the investigation into collusion between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia, citing a National Review story without including an author byline. After leading a campaign to release a memo alleging that the FBI unlawfully spied on former Trump advisor Carter Page, Nunes cast himself as a victim of media smears. “Almost every story is fake news,” Nunes told conservative radio show host Rush Limbaugh last week. “Almost every story that runs about me is fake. I mean, it’s unbelievable the stuff that is out there.” “Until POLITICO retracts its multitude of fake stories on Congressman Nunes, we will not go on the record,” Nunes’ office emailed POLITICO when asked about the outlet. The California Republican’s website mysteriously vanished over the weekend. A note on Facebook explained its absence due to “heavy traffic and an attack on our servers.” “We apologize for the inconvenience.” http://observer.com/2018/02/devin-nunes-funneled-campaign-funds-alternative-media-outlet/
Senator Grassley Reflects on Pella Christian Grad’s Departure from U.S. Justice Department A Pella Christian graduate serving in the third highest position in the United States Justice Department has resigned from her post. Rachel Brand, who graduated from Pella Christian in 1993, will no longer be the Associate Attorney General after stepping down from the role after nine months. U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley said in a statement, “Rachel Brand is an incredibly talented lawyer and Iowa native who has served our country very well in her role as Associate Attorney General. As the Justice Department’s #3 official, Ms. Brand admirably led the litigating divisions on the civil side of the department. She oversaw the department’s efforts to combat human trafficking, to fight the opioid crisis, and to hold sanctuary cities accountable to the rule of law. I thank her for her service and wish Ms. Brand continued great success in her next career venture.” “The men and women of the Department of Justice impress me every day,” Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand said. “I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish over my time here. I want to thank Attorney General Sessions for his leadership over this Department. I’ve seen firsthand his commitment to the rule of law and to keeping the American people safe.” Brand is moving to work in the private sector, according to the U.S. Justice Department. http://kniakrls.com/2018/02/senator-grassley-reflects-on-pella-christian-grads-departure-from-u-s-justice-department/
Trump administration's consumer protection bureau drops lawsuit into lender alleged to charge 950% interest The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, led by Trump appointee Mick Mulvaney, dropped a lawsuit into a lender alleged to charge up to 950 percent interest. Mulvaney is moving to reduce aggressive enforcement at the bureau, angering career officials there, according to NPR. Democrats are likely to use the CFPB moves in attacks alleging the GOP looks out for companies at the expense of consumers. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/12/trumps-consumer-protection-bureau-reportedly-drops-lawsuit-alleging-predatory-lending.html
Turkey: Relations with US at make-or-break point Turkey claims US forces in Syria are intentionally stalling the fight against the "Islamic State" to justify cooperation with Kurdish fighters. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is due in Ankara later this week. http://www.dw.com/en/turkey-relations-with-us-at-make-or-break-point/a-42547270
The world's most progressive democracy is being born. Don't let it get strangled - Kurds (CNN) - We are only three weeks into the invasion of Afrin in Northern Syria by Turkey and their quislings in the Free Syrian Army, a dangerous turn for the Syrian civil war, and yet it no longer features on our front pages and television news. The mounting daily death toll of civilians, pictures of wounded women and children, hollowed out buildings with their twisted iron spines, plumes of black smoke -- fail to move people sufficiently. But compassion fatigue is not some inexplicable human condition; it is the result of being bombarded with images of devastation without proper context. Syria, in particular, with its seven-year long civil war, a battleground for almost all the major world and regional powers with a seemingly invincible dictator, Bashar al-Assad, at the helm induces in us a very particular sense of powerlessness. Since the self-described caliphate of ISIS has been reduced to a thumbnail, Syria has further lost its fascination for us. But the very people, the Kurds, who led the successful battle against ISIS are now under attack in Afrin. The United States, which provided air cover in that battle, has proved to be an unfaithful ally. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, by refusing to condemn Turkey's invasion, has given it carte blanche to bomb the United States' own allies because Turkey has "legitimate" concerns about its borders, as long as Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkey, shows restraint and avoids civilian casualties. A World Health Organization report emerging from that area indicates it is in fact civilians who have fallen victim to Turkey's random bombing. So much for Turkey heeding the advice of its powerful NATO ally! The same report goes on to say that the Syrian government troops have blocked all but one exit out of Afrin. The Turkish invasion from the north of Afrin is creating refugees while the Syrian government is kettling them from the south. Instead of Syria feeling threatened by Turkey's invasion, Assad appears to be letting Turkey do the dirty work on his behalf, cooperating implicitly with Turkey by creating a pincer movement to choke off their common enemy, the Kurds. This is a strategy that Assad has used with Syrian rebels across Syria, sealing them in to an area, then bombarding and starving them into submission. Why we should care So why should we care about this latest development in the Syrian war? Because Afrin, along with the cantons of Euphrates and Jazira, is experimenting with a form of bottom-up, direct democracy that is arguably more progressive than any other system in the West. When I visited Rojava -- or the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria, as these cantons are collectively known -- in March 2016, I witnessed a revolution unlike any other; women's equality, with the end of patriarchy their avowed goal, is driving this revolution. Is your hair standing on end yet? Every institution -- local councils, schools, hospitals -- is run on a co-presidency rule with a man and a woman sharing all posts, including the command of their defense forces. Photos of the women of the YPJ in military fatigues and colorful scarves in the front line against ISIS have been the outside world's only peek into this society. Parallel to an administration with equal quotas for men and women, there are women-only structures that have the power of veto on all policies relating to women. After the fall of Raqqa, there were amusing reports from the refugee camps being run by the multiethnic, Kurdish-led, Syrian Democratic Forces, the SDF, that Arab men, recently escaped from ISIS, were complaining about SDF insistence on gender equality. One said, "They give a lot of rights to women. If I raise my voice at a woman, they might put me in jail." The DFNS is totally wedded to the idea of racial inclusivity. Dr. Alan Semo, UK representative of the Democratic Union Party, the main political party in DFNS, described the quota system in operation. The Kurdish people have voluntarily surrendered their majority status in their Parliament and taken a 10% stake alongside Arabs and Syriacs (Christians), even though there is a long history of discrimination by the Arabs against the Kurds. A refreshing counter to sectarian strife In a country torn apart by sectarian struggle, this secular society provides a refreshing countercurrent, a sanctuary to 2 million refugees from the rest of Syria and Iraq. Yet instead of seeking to replicate this model not just across Syria but across the Middle East and, I would argue, across the whole world, the powers that be are seeking to extinguish this flame. Inspired by the ideas of Abdullah Öcalan, leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, imprisoned by Turkey since 1999, the Syrian Kurds are no longer demanding a nation-state of their own because they have developed a critique of the anti-democratic, militaristic and patriarchal nature of nation-states. They are content to remain within the borders of Syria as an autonomous self-governing confederation. But we are so used to the idea of ownership, borders and territorial aggrandizement that we can understand the Kurdish enterprise only as a land grab. This is exactly how they are viewed by Syria and Turkey, which has been conducting a little known war against its own Kurdish population, worried that they will demand independence. DFNS assertions are not helped by initiatives next door in Iraqi Kurdistan, where a referendum for independence was won in September 2017 and then crushed by the central government. The political ideology of the Syrian and Turkish Kurds is a million miles away from that of the Iraqi Kurds, a fact that is sometimes eclipsed by the Kurds themselves in an attempt to present a united front to the world as a people dispossessed. For Turkey, Öcalan is a terrorist for representing the interests of the Kurdish people against forced assimilation and cultural obliteration by the state. While it may be a truism that one person's terrorist is another's freedom fighter, it's barely believable that the West is prepared to support Erdogan's concept of "terrorist" when Erdogan has imposed a fierce crackdown and imprisoned dissenters, in a purge that some claim has affected hundreds of thousands. The Rojava (DFNS) revolution is midwife to the birth of another world. Erdogan has declared that, "Our mission is to strangle it before it is even born." It has been born. It could spawn a more humane, rational, ethical and equal world. We should do everything in our power to keep the revolution alive. We could start by stopping the sale of arms to Turkey and demanding that they be booted out of NATO. https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/12/opinions/worlds-most-progressive-democracy-born-dont-let-turkey-strange-it-opinion-gupta/index.html
Israel launches massive air campaign against Syria after one of its F-16s were shot down Syria shot down an Israeli F-16 as it returned from a bombing raid from Iran-backed positions in Syria early on Saturday. Israel responded with a furious barage of airstrikes on Iranian and Syrian-backed positions, including Syrian air defenses. Israel has been running a quiet air offensive against Iranian-backed forces in Syria for some time, and despite the F-16 loss, it remains committed to shutting down Tehran's influence along its borders. http://www.businessinsider.com/israel-launches-massive-attack-on-syria-after-f-16s-downed-2018-2
US signals major change on North Korea after South Korea's president agrees to meet Kim Jong Un US Vice President Mike Pence signaled a major shift in US policy on North Korea after leaving the Winter Olympics, saying the Trump administration was willing to talk to Kim Jong Un's government without preconditions. North Korea earlier extended an invitation to South Korean President Moon Jae-in to be the first head of state to meet Kim Jong Un. North Korea put on a charm offensive at the Olympics, but some analysts say it has a weak position and may only be trying to buy time or put off an eventual war. http://www.businessinsider.com/us-shift-on-north-korea-after-kim-jong-un-reaches-out-to-moon-jae-in-2018-2
“Key Vulnerability” in North Korea’s ICBM Force? What We Can and Can’t Learn from a North Korean Military Parade https://www.38north.org/2018/02/jbermudez020918/ re: North Korea parade hints at 'key vulnerability' in regime's ICBM force, says defense experts There appears to be a shortage of big vehicles used for carrying and helping to launch ICBMs by North Korea. The nuclear-armed regime claims it started producing its own so-called transporter erector launcher vehicles. But experts say Thursday's military parade in Pyongyang appears to show "they haven't quite mastered domestic production of these vehicles." The large vehicles make the ICBMs road-mobile capable and therefore tougher to detect and destroy before a launch. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/09/north-korea-parade-hints-at-key-vulnerability-in-regimes-icbm-force.html
EPA chief's travel habits pushed taxpayer-funded costs to at least $90,000 in just a few days EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's travel during a short stretch in June cost taxpayers at least $90,000, The Washington Post reports. New records revealed by a watchdog group show the Trump deputy has frequently taken first-class flights, due at least in part to security concerns. The costs include a $7,000 flight to and from Rome and a $1,641 flight to New York for a pair of television interviews, the report says. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/12/epa-chiefs-travel-habits-under-scrutiny-after-first-class-flights.html
Fired officer who refused to shoot suspect settles lawsuit - AP CHARLESTON, W.Va. - A West Virginia police officer who was fired after he refused to shoot a man who had a gun has settled a lawsuit for $175,000. The American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia announced the settlement with the city of Weirton on Monday. In the lawsuit, Stephen Mader said he did nothing wrong in May 2016 when he tried to persuade 23-year-old R.J. Williams of McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, to put down his weapon. Another officer later saw Williams with his gun raised and fatally shot him. Williams’ gun was unloaded. Mader said he determined Williams wanted to die by “suicide by cop.” Mader still maintains his firing was unjustified. In the statement, he said he was “happy to put this chapter of my life to bed. My hope is that no other person on either end of a police call has to go through this again.” Weirton City Manager Travis Blosser said Monday that the city stands by Mader’s firing. Officials in Weirton, an Ohio River community of 19,000 residents 36 miles west of Pittsburgh, had said Mader was fired eight weeks after the shooting for conduct unbecoming of an officer in three separate incidents. “We still feel we made the correct decision,” Blosser said in a telephone interview. “We don’t regret that decision. We feel we made the correct decision for the community.” Blosser said the decision to settle the lawsuit was made by the city’s insurance carrier. [...] https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/fired-officer-who-refused-to-shoot-suspect-settles-lawsuit/2018/02/12/f1a75612-100e-11e8-a68c-e9374188170e_story.html original https://www.apnews.com/f34289afa99e4cd8940d3b70d9e03d0a/Fired-officer-who-refused-to-shoot-suspect-settles-lawsuit
This [black] server was mad when a church didn’t tip her for a $735 order. Now she’s fired. Tamlynn Yoder spent most of her shift at an Outback Steakhouse readying a take-out order for 25 people. The 75-item order — placed by a Christ Fellowship church in Palm Beach Gardens on Wednesday — included 25 steaks, 25 chicken dinners and 25 sides of potatoes. The total bill: $735. The total tip: $0, she told reporters. It wasn’t long before Yoder took her frustration to social media. She vented on how she only received $18 in tips that day from other orders because she was so busy preparing the mega church’s order, WFLX reported. “We take the order over the phone, we put the order together, take payment and then take order to the car,” Yoder told the Palm Beach Post. “It’s a lot of work just as much as serving.” The next day, Yoder says her manager fired her, and that the church received a full refund, reported WPTV. According to The Palm Beach Post, an Outback Steakhouse spokeswoman explained that company policy says employees can’t post about customers on social media and are subject to termination if the policy is violated. [...] http://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article199502284.html
Rupert Murdoch threatened Mark Zuckerberg in 2016 with a war over Facebook The News Corp executive expressed discontent with Facebook's News Feed algorithm and its handling of news. He requested Facebook consult publishing partners and be more generous sharing digital ad revenue. The 2016 sit-down between Murdoch and Zuckerberg was apparently the culmination of years of tension. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/12/facebook-rupert-murdoch-threatened-mark-zuckerberg-in-2016-with-a-war.html
A Facebook employee asked a reporter to turn off his phone so Facebook couldn't track its location — and it reveals a bigger problem within the company Facebook protects itself against leaks by tracking down the leakers and firing them. One Facebook employee who anonymously spoke with Wired recently asked the reporter to turn off his phone so the company couldn't track their location. http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-employee-concerned-company-tracking-phone-for-leaks-report-2018-2
Apple is sharing your face with apps, and you should be worried Poop that mimics your facial expressions was just the beginning. It's going to hit the fan when the face-mapping tech that powers the iPhone X's cutesy "Animoji" starts being used for creepier purposes. And Apple just started sharing your face with lots of apps. Beyond a photo, the iPhone X's front sensors scan 30,000 points to make a 3D model of your face. That's how the iPhone X unlocks and makes animations that might have once required a Hollywood studio. Now that a phone can scan your mug, what else might apps want to do with it? They could track your expressions to judge if you're depressed. They could guess your gender, race and even sexuality. They might combine your face with other data to observe you in stores, or walking down the street. [...] https://www.theage.com.au/technology/apple-is-sharing-your-face-with-apps-and-you-should-be-worried-20171201-gzwlco.html
The Next Recession Is Really Gonna Suck The extra help unemployed people got during the Great Recession has emboldened states to mistreat them. WASHINGTON - When the next recession comes, many people who lose their jobs will have a harder time getting unemployment insurance, an important lifeline for most Americans. In several states, these people could have to pee in cups just to qualify. Those who don’t get benefits will have to settle for the sort of fake jobs our economy produces in abundance — a contract job in an Amazon fulfillment center, say, or a gig delivering groceries to people who still have careers. Talk of a recession is in the air again after the recent wobble in the stock market. It’s highly likely the next recession will occur in the coming three years, while President Donald Trump is still in office. Maybe it’ll happen as a result of his inflation-baiting tax bill. Maybe it’ll have something to do with excessive consumer debt. We don’t know what the cause will be, but we do have some idea of how Americans will experience the next sustained economic slump. Since the Great Recession, during which the GOP repeatedly if grudgingly went along with former President Barack Obama to extend unemployment insurance, Republicans on both the state and federal level have pushed to make benefits less generous and harder to get. Meanwhile, the holes they’ve created in the safety net will be filled by so-called “alternative work arrangements” — gigs — which offer fewer protections for workers than full-time jobs. By design, America is ill-prepared for its next recession, and it’s going to suck. [...] https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-next-recession-suck-unemployment-benefits-republican_us_5a7e0362e4b08dfc93040b5e
Kirsten Gillibrand Only Regrets Not Calling For Al Franken To Quit Sooner - sorry, Ms. Gillibrand, but you're an idiot - don't see you saying much of anything about Trump/his buddies “He just wasn’t entitled to my silence any longer,” the New York senator says of her response to the sexual misconduct allegations her fellow Democrat faced. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/kirsten-gillibrand-al-franken-sexual-misconduct_us_5a81b24de4b08dfc93065fc3
Here’s what Year Two of Trump’s scam will look like THE MORNING PLUM: President Trump’s first year in office confirmed what many of us long suspected: his “populist economic nationalism” was largely a scam. Trump mostly abandoned the “economic” side of Trumpism, hewing to plutocratic and regressive GOP orthodoxy on taxes and the safety net, while translating xenophobic ethno-nationalist appeals into policy and ramping up white-identity politics wherever humanly (or perhaps subhumanly?) possible. Starting this week — with the introduction of a new infrastructure plan and the kickoff of the Senate debate on immigration — we will begin to see what Year Two of this sort of politics will look like. Here are the big developments: [...] https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2018/02/12/heres-what-year-two-of-trumps-scam-will-look-like/
Kushner company moves lawsuit venue to keep partners secret - AP NEW YORK - The family real estate company once run by presidential adviser Jared Kushner is shifting a federal court case to a new venue so it won’t have to reveal the identities of foreign partners behind some of its real estate projects. With a deadline approaching within hours, the Kushner Cos. filed papers in federal court Friday to move the case involving Maryland apartment complexes it owns with foreign investors back to state court. A federal district court judge ruled last month that the Kushners had to identify its partners by Friday, rejecting arguments from the family company that such disclosures would violate privacy rights. The Kushner Cos. had also argued that media coverage of the case was “politically motivated” and marked by “unfair sensationalism” given that the company was once run by Jared Kushner, now a senior adviser to his father-in-law, President Donald Trump. But the judge sided with a motion from The Associated Press and other media organizations that argued the public right to know held sway. The case has attracted media attention because it promised a rare glimpse into how New York-based Kushner Cos. raises money for its real estate projects, revealing ties to lenders and investors who could possibly raise conflict-of-interest issues. The fight over disclosure in federal court stems from a lawsuit that started out in Maryland state court last year on an entirely different matter. That lawsuit was brought by tenants alleging a Kushner Cos. affiliate called Westminster Management charges excessive and illegal rent for apartments. It sought class-action status for tenants in 17 apartment complexes. Westminster has said it has broken no laws and denies the charges. Court papers did not specifically give a reason for the decision by Kushner Cos. to move the case to a state court. Kushner Cos. spokeswoman Christine Taylor said only that “our counsel on this matter has determined that the case should be remanded to state court.” The Kushner Cos. is privately held and so little is known about the identity of partners investing alongside it, and thus if they have any regulatory or other matters before the federal government. That the partners backing the Maryland apartments are from overseas raises questions about conflicts in foreign-policies issues, too. Kushner has been given a big role shaping U.S. policy with China and in the Mideast, where he is trying to forge a peace deal between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Personal financial disclosure forms filed with the federal government show that Kushner Cos. and Kushner personally have borrowed from Deutsche Bank and Israel Discount Bank. Many other ties are hidden behind the names of limited liability companies. The issue of who exactly are the partners of Kushner Cos. in Maryland came up because the federal court needed to establish that it had jurisdiction and that some of defendants came from outside the state. With the case going back to state court, that disclosure is no longer required. Nathan Siegel, a lawyer with Davis Wright Tremaine who represented the media in the motion, said fighting for disclosure was important despite that the issue is now moot. “I’m still pleased that the court recognized the principle that judicial proceedings are supposed to be open,” he said. In Kushner’s federal disclosure report, Kushner showed he still owned a stake in Westminster Management, the subsidiary in the Maryland case. The report showed he received $1.6 million in income from it. The AP joined ProPublica, The Washington Post, The Baltimore Sun and Baltimore TV station WMAR-TV in filing its motion arguing for disclosure. Kushner stepped down as Kushner Cos. CEO last year when he joined the Oval Office. He sold stakes in properties to comply with federal conflicts of interest rules, but held onto many of other assets. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/kushner-firm-seeks-court-change-to-keep-partners-secret/2018/02/09/a82c56dc-0de2-11e8-998c-96deb18cca19_story.html original https://www.apnews.com/752bbc86139a45b4813087e3110857fb/Kushner-company-moves-lawsuit-venue-to-keep-partners-secret
Trump doesn’t need a parade. He needs a Roman triumph. The Post’s scoop about President Trump’s plans for a grand military parade in Washington brings to mind Evelyn Waugh’s classic satire about England’s upper crust in the early days of World War II, “Put Out More Flags,” named after a Chinese proverb: “A man getting drunk at a farewell party should strike a musical tone, in order to strengthen his spirit . . . and a drunk military man should order gallons and put out more flags in order to increase his military splendor.” I love a parade as much as the next guy (though perhaps not as much as the president), but there are problems with this particular idea, as The Post’s Greg Jaffe and Philip Rucker note. Seventy-ton tanks “would chew up Pennsylvania Avenue blacktop,” big displays of missile launchers would make us look like North Korea, and the expensive parade would belie the Pentagon’s poverty pleas while perhaps also reminding people that the commander in chief sat out Vietnam with bone spurs. There is a better way. The obvious purpose of the parade is not to celebrate the troops, as the White House professes, but to celebrate Trump. Hence, his wish to have the parade before the November election (and the military’s wish to have it after). Given the real goal, the model that would best suit Trump has much older roots than a May Day or even a Bastille Day parade. What Trump needs is a Roman triumph. The triumph was a public ceremony, including a parade, to celebrate as a near-deity the emperor or a triumphant general — complete with laurels, thrown flowers, adoring troops, war spoils and vanquished enemies in chains. It is, in short, just the sort of parade Trump would enjoy if done in his honor. The ritual was originally meant for a returning general who had conquered territory and killed at least 5,000 of the enemy, but it was later changed to honor emperors and members of their families. Trump qualifies as a victorious commander, having vanquished enemies foreign (Islamic State) and domestic (Cryin’ Chuck Schumer), and as an emperor, having said that those who don’t applaud him commit treason against the state. First in the Roman triumph procession were the magistrates and members of the Senate; first in the Trump triumph would come Devin Nunes, Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, Tom Cotton and the other magistrates supportive of Trump. Next in the Roman triumph came the spoils of war: gold and silver, treasures, and paintings and carvings showing moments from the conflict. In Trump’s triumph, the spoils would include models of Trump hotel and golf properties, the nuclear football, a float with a very large button, and chunks of the border wall, carried by Mexicans. Next in the Roman triumph, to the crowd’s jeers, came the captured prisoners in chains: leaders, soldiers and sometimes family members, to be put on display after the parade or executed. Trump’s triumph would feature all his foes, in irons: the “dreamers,” NFL players who kneel for the national anthem, women who alleged sexual misconduct by Trump, the fake-news media, Robert Mueller, James Comey, FBI agents, Puerto Ricans, Trump’s primary opponents, Hillary Clinton, Steve Bannon. Next, in a cloud of incense, would come the Roman general, or emperor, in a chariot driven by four horses, holding a laurel branch and scepter and wearing a purple and gold tunic and a painted toga. A slave would hold a golden crown over his head. The emperor’s children and courtiers rode alongside his carriage on horseback, followed by the soldiers in togas and laurel crowns, shouting “Io triumphe” — Hail, triumphant — at their leader. Trump’s triumph would use identical trappings, though he might eschew the toga for a more tasteful flight suit. Donald Jr., Eric Trump, Jared Kushner, Stephen Miller and John Kelly would escort him on horseback. Instead of troops shouting “Hail triumphant” at Trump, handling that duty would be Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson and other Fox News personalities. Toward the end of the Roman triumph procession, two white oxen were sacrificed at the Temple of Jupiter and the prisoners killed. Trump’s triumph, by contrast, would pause outside the Trump International Hotel. Though executing his opponents could be problematic, Trump might stand in the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue and shoot somebody, just for symbolism. Mission accomplished! There’s only one problem with this plan, as I see it. In the Roman triumph, a slave would ride with the general in his chariot and repeatedly whisper into his ear, “Memento mori”: Remember, you are mortal. For our parading president, this could be a dealbreaker. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-doesnt-need-a-parade-he-needs-a-roman-triumph/2018/02/07/30c68dbc-0c4b-11e8-8b0d-891602206fb7_story.html
Schizophrenia patients calmed by video game People with schizophrenia can be trained by playing a video game to control the part of the brain linked to verbal hallucinations, researchers say. http://www.bbc.com/news/health-43003378
The computer game that can control schizophrenia: 'Astonishing' study shows this rocket-based game stops patients hearing voices in their head Hearing voices, known as ‘verbal hallucinations’, is highly distressing symptom The technology involves using scans which monitor a crucial part of the brain This part goes hyperactive when patients suffer from verbal hallucinations http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-5381717/The-computer-game-control-schizophrenia.html
Satellites show warming is accelerating sea level rise WASHINGTON (AP) - Melting ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica are speeding up the already fast pace of sea level rise, new satellite research shows. At the current rate, the world’s oceans on average will be at least 2 feet (61 centimeters) higher by the end of the century compared to today, according to researchers who published in Monday’s Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences. Sea level rise is caused by warming of the ocean and melting from glaciers and ice sheets. The research, based on 25 years of satellite data, shows that pace has quickened, mainly from the melting of massive ice sheets. It confirms scientists’ computer simulations and is in line with predictions from the United Nations, which releases regular climate change reports. “It’s a big deal” because the projected sea level rise is a conservative estimate and it is likely to be higher, said lead author Steve Nerem of the University of Colorado. Outside scientists said even small changes in sea levels can lead to flooding and erosion. “Any flooding concerns that coastal communities have for 2100 may occur over the next few decades,” Oregon State University coastal flooding expert Katy Serafin said in an email. Of the 3 inches (7.5 centimeters) of sea level rise in the past quarter century, about 55 percent is from warmer water expanding, and the rest is from melting ice. But the process is accelerating, and more than three-quarters of that acceleration since 1993 is due to melting ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, the study shows. Like weather and climate, there are two factors in sea level rise: year-to-year small rises and falls that are caused by natural events and larger long-term rising trends that are linked to man-made climate change. Nerem’s team removed the natural effects of the 1991 Mt. Pinatubo eruption that temporarily chilled Earth and the climate phenomena El Nino and La Nina, and found the accelerating trend. Sea level rise, more than temperature, is a better gauge of climate change in action, said Anny Cazenave, director of Earth science at the International Space Science Institute in France, who edited the study. Cazenave is one of the pioneers of space-based sea level research. Global sea levels were stable for about 3,000 years until the 20th century when they rose and then accelerated due to global warming caused by the burning of coal, oil and natural gas, said climate scientist Stefan Rahmstorf of the Potsdam Institute in Germany, who wasn’t part of the study. Two feet of sea level rise by the end of the century “would have big effects on places like Miami and New Orleans, but I don’t still view that as catastrophic” because those cities can survive — at great expense — that amount of rising seas under normal situations, Nerem said. But when a storm hits like 2012's Superstorm Sandy, sea level rise on top of storm surge can lead to record-setting damages, researchers said. Some scientists at the American Geophysical Union meeting last year said Antarctica may be melting faster than predicted by Monday’s study. Greenland has caused three times more sea level rise than Antarctica so far, but ice melt on the southern continent is responsible for more of the acceleration. “Antarctica seems less stable than we thought a few years ago,” Rutgers climate scientist Robert Kopp said. https://www.apnews.com/cf2f9386c024449aae126351d6c67cde/Satellites-show-warming-is-accelerating-sea-level-rise
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