White House Told Kushner’s Security Clearance Will Be Delayed
By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT, MAGGIE HABERMAN and MICHAEL D. SHEARFEB. 23, 2018
Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and a senior White House adviser, has resisted losing access to highly classified information. Credit Tom Brenner/The New York Times
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department informed the White House this month that there were substantial issues related to Jared Kushner that still needed to be investigated and would significantly delay a recommendation on whether he should receive a permanent security clearance, according to two people briefed on the matter.
The White House was not told what the issues were involving Mr. Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser. But the notification led White House lawyers and aides to believe that they were more problematic than the complexity of his finances and his initial failure to disclose contacts with foreign leaders — the reasons Mr. Kushner’s lawyers have said are holding up the process, the two people said.
An interim clearance has given him access to closely guarded information, including the presidential daily brief, the intelligence summary Mr. Trump receives every day. The issue took on added urgency after the chief of staff, John F. Kelly, issued a sweeping review of interim clearances in response to the disclosure that the White House staff secretary, Rob Porter, had his permanent security clearance delayed for a year because of spousal abuse allegations .. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/07/us/politics/rob-porter-resigns-abuse-white-house-staff-secretary.html .
In a memo to the White House staff, Mr. Kelly said that he would cut off high-level access to many of the aides who had been unable to get a permanent clearance.
A White House spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and a lawyer for Mr. Kushner, Abbe D. Lowell, declined to comment.
The new details about Mr. Kushner’s security clearance, first reported by The Washington Post, emerged hours after Mr. Trump said on Friday that he would leave it up to Mr. Kelly to decide whether Mr. Kushner could continue to hold his interim clearance.
Mr. Trump’s statement set up a potential confrontation between his son-in-law and his chief of staff, who have clashed privately in recent months. In addition to the new policy he announced, which appeared meant to restrict Mr. Kushner’s ability to receive high-level national security information. Mr. Kelly has also tried to restrict Mr. Kushner’s access to the president.
“I will let General Kelly make that decision, and he’s going to do what’s right for the country,” Mr. Trump said at a news conference with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia. “I have no doubt he will make the right decision.”
Pointing to Mr. Kelly, a retired Marine, Mr. Trump said: “General Kelly respects Jared a lot. I will let the general, who’s right here, make that call.” The president praised Mr. Kushner, calling him “truly outstanding” and “an extraordinary dealmaker.”
He noted that Mr. Kushner had been working to broker peace in the Middle East. “The hardest deal to make of any kind is between the Israelis and the Palestinians,” he said. “We’re actually making great headway.”
Mr. Kelly, who has tried to inject discipline and order into Mr. Trump’s freewheeling West Wing, has bristled from the start at Mr. Kushner’s amorphous and omnipresent role, and Mr. Kushner has been angered in turn at what he regards as challenges to his authority and access.
The strains have deepened in recent days, as Mr. Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, have privately disparaged the chief of staff to Mr. Trump, faulting his handling of the scandal surrounding Mr. Porter, the staff secretary who resigned under pressure after spousal abuse allegations became public.
Mr. Kelly’s memo further inflamed the situation, essentially suggesting that Mr. Kushner might lose the high-level clearance — including to view the presidential daily brief, a summary of intelligence and other sensitive information — that he has enjoyed for more than a year.
At his news conference, Mr. Trump blamed the federal government for the delay on the security clearance, saying there was a “broken system,” and that it took too long for White House employees to have their backgrounds screened by investigators. He complained that it had taken “months and months and months” for some of his staff members to be given their security clearances, despite the fact that some of them do not have complicated financial backgrounds — a factor that sometimes delays background investigations.
While the federal security clearance system has long been criticized as broken and has a backlog of hundreds of thousands of pending applications, senior White House officials almost always have their applications expedited so they can be cleared within weeks and perform their duties.
It is highly unusual for multiple senior officials to spend months serving with only interim clearances, a problem that Mr. Kelly privately began talking about fixing in September.
Mr. Kushner met with Robert S. Mueller III’s investigators briefly last year to discuss his dealings with the former national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn. The interview led Mr. Kushner’s lawyers to believe that he was considered a witness, not a target, in the special counsel investigation.
Michael S. Schmidt and Michael D. Shear reported from Washington, and Maggie Haberman from New York. Julie Hirschfeld Davis contributed reporting from Washington.
In Parkland, Florida, students and family members gathered for a candlelight vigil on Thursday night to mourn the 17 people killed at Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County, Florida, in one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history. Early Thursday morning, President Trump tweeted, “So many signs that the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled from school for bad and erratic behavior. Neighbors and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities, again and again!” Mental health advocates are warning President Trump’s comments perpetuate stigma against people with mental illness, who are more likely to be the victims than the perpetrators of violence. We speak with Lindsay Nichols, the federal policy director for Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, and Vanderbilt University psychiatry professor Jonathan Metzl, lead author of a Vanderbilt study entitled “Mental Illness, Mass Shootings, and the Politics of American Firearms [ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4318286/ ],” which found that fewer than 5 percent of fatal shootings in the United States are committed by people diagnosed with mental illness. Metzl also wrote a recent Politico piece titled “I’m a Psychiatrist. Making Gun Violence About Mental Health Is a Crazy Idea [ https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/11/09/texas-shooting-mental-health-donald-trump-215807 ].” https://www.democracynow.org/2018/2/16/trump_blames_mental_illness_for_parkland[with embedded video, and transcript]
White Supremacy, Patriarchy and Guns: FL Shooter Had Record of Death Threats, Violence Against Women
Published on Feb 16, 2018 by Democracy Now!
Seventeen people were killed and at least 15 other people were wounded Wednesday at the Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County, Florida, in one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history. More evidence has emerged showing that the gunman, a 19-year-old former student named Nikolas Cruz, shared a common trait with many other men who have carried out mass shootings: He had a record of abusing and threatening women. On Thursday, a white nationalist hate group called the Republic of Florida Militia also claimed the gunman was a member who had trained with the militia, but the group’s leader later walked back the claim. Former classmates of Cruz did describe him as politically extreme and espousing racist beliefs. For more, we speak with George Ciccariello-Maher, a visiting scholar at the Hemispheric Institute at New York University and the author of “Decolonizing Dialectics [ https://www.dukeupress.edu/decolonizing-dialectics , https://www.amazon.com/Decolonizing-Dialectics-Radical-Am%C3%A9ricas-Ciccariello-Maher/dp/0822362236 ],” and Trevor Aaronson, executive director and co-founder of the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting and a contributing writer to The Intercept. https://www.democracynow.org/2018/2/16/white_supremacy_patriarchy_and_guns_fl[with embedded video, and transcript]
Readout of President Donald J. Trump’s Call with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada
Issued on: February 16, 2018
President Donald J. Trump spoke yesterday with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada who expressed condolences following the tragic shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida yesterday. President Trump commended the work of the law enforcement officers who apprehended the alleged shooter and the emergency medical professionals who attended to the victims. President Trump thanked Prime Minister Trudeau for his words of solidarity, and reiterated the close ties between our two countries.
Presidential Message in Celebration of the Lunar New Year
Issued on: February 16, 2018
I send my warm greetings to those in the United States and around the world celebrating the Lunar New Year.
Our Nation has the unique privilege of a diverse and spirited Asian-American population that has left its mark on the country in more ways than one. Asian Americans have made countless contributions to our national unity and makeup. It is not difficult to notice how deeply they cherish a rich heritage and emphasize the importance of sacred traditions and familial ties.
The American people join with those in Asia and around the world in welcoming the Year of the Dog. According to tradition, the dog represents qualities such as honesty, reliability, and sincerity. These are virtues that all Americans celebrate and hold dear. Indeed, they underlie the strength and prosperity of our Nation and guide our relations with our neighbors, friends, and partners. Today, and every day, we redouble our commitment to maintaining these values in all that we do.
In that spirit, Melania and I send our best wishes for a Happy Lunar New Year as people come together to celebrate this special occasion with family gatherings, fireworks, festivals, and parades.
The Doolittle raid is a remarkable event of WW2. Its widely seen as a victory for the US, even though every plane that took place in the raid was lost. The cost of the raid was obscene. 2 aircraft carriers, 4 cruisers, 8 destroyers, sailed across the Pacific for 2 weeks, all to deliver 16 bombers (all lost) and drop 16 tons of bombs on Japan. It's like shooting people with gold bullets!
However, fundamentally, it was the Doolittle raid that set into motion the cogs that would change the entire course of WW2!
Friday, Feb. 16th, 2018[, with an appearance by Roger Stone]: Facebook Group: Murder Republicans!- Far-left group calls for GOP blood as "revenge" for Florida shooting. The terrorist group demands a GOP-like baseball shooting every week! Special guests for today's show include Judicial Watch founder Larry Klayman and Tony Tarantino, the father of Quentin Tarantino, who talks with Alex Jones about his stepsons [sic - son's] comments regarding Roman Polanski. Joel Gilbert hosts the final hour.
Statement from the Press Secretary Regarding the Russia Indictments
Issued on: February 16, 2018
Earlier today, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced indictments against 13 Russian nationals and 3 Russian entities for meddling in the 2016 Presidential election, which began in 2014 before the President declared his candidacy. President Donald J. Trump has been fully briefed on this matter and is glad to see the Special Counsel’s investigation further indicates—that there was NO COLLUSION between the Trump campaign and Russia and that the outcome of the election was not changed or affected.
President Trump says, “it is more important than ever before to come together as Americans. We cannot allow those seeking to sow confusion, discord, and rancor to be successful. It’s time we stop the outlandish partisan attacks, wild and false allegations, and far-fetched theories, which only serve to further the agendas of bad actors, like Russia, and do nothing to protect the principles of our institutions. We must unite as Americans to protect the integrity of our democracy and our elections.”
Owen Shroyer is fired up today as Mueller has released 16 new indictments of Russians in the Russian investigation. The problem is, Democrats and Liberals are commenting on the document before even reading it, lying and misleading the American public. This is right in line with the same approach they are using to report on and talk about the Florida shooting. Shroyer says this liberal attack on God, the truth and America must come to an end.
[from Alex Jones and his merry band of batshit bullshitters]
Movies spotlighting people of color are kicking ass right now.
The buzz around the Black Panther movie release should come as no surprise to anyone keeping tabs on representation in media these days. People want movies that feature people of color and their stories. But there is a dearth in the supply of films produced that do that. Vox spoke with the UCLA sociology professor Darnell Hunt about how Hollywood has progressed to diversify its characters and stories to reflect the demographics of the US. Watch this video to understand how America’s changing makeup is key to Black Panther’s early dominance at the box office.
How Mueller's new Russia indictments change everything
The Beat with Ari Melber 2/16/18
Ari Melber reports on a historic day in American history. A Trump appointee announces indictments of 13 Russians who supported Trump. The stunning Mueller indictment reveals Russians working inside the U.S. with a plot to fund a Clinton “impersonator” to wear “prison” garb at a rally.
The risk to Trump in key part of new Mueller indictment
The Beat with Ari Melber 2/16/18
The Mueller indictment reveals "overt acts" from Russians began in June 2016, a key window on the political calendar. From Don Jr.’s offer for “dirt” on Clinton to George Papapolous emailing with Russians about possible meetings with Trump.
Top Clinton aide: New indictment undercuts legitimacy of Trump's election
The Beat with Ari Melber 2/16/18
Former Clinton campaign adviser, Neera Tanden speaks out about the Mueller Russia indictments, saying they set the predicate for Russian criminality and says Hillary Clinton is likely “happy” that the “truth is coming out”.
Dem. Senator calls out Bernie Sanders to "disavow" Russian support
The Beat with Ari Melber 2/16/18
Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal tells Ari Melber he would call on "any of the candidates” to “disavow” Russian meddling that may have helped their 2016 campaigns, including Bernie Sanders and Jill Stein, after 13 Russians and 3 Russian entities were indicted by Mueller’s Russia probe.
Existential threat to Trump presidency in new Mueller indictment?
The Beat with Ari Melber 2/16/18
Special Counsel Mueller’s historic indictment of 13 Russians for election interference shows a potential legal path that imperils the trump presidency, as this special report explains.
WASHINGTON — When George David Banks went to work in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in the White House complex Tuesday morning, he wasn’t thinking about his security clearance. He was thinking about the climate policy that he’d been shaping for the Trump administration since February of 2017.
By the end of the day, his email had been shut off and a member of the White House counsel’s office was explaining that his time in the administration had come to an end — because he had disclosed on a security form that he’d “smoked a little pot” between 2010 and 2013.
NBC reported well over 100 current White House staffers have been working under interim security clearances, and Banks was one of them. On Tuesday, he was told he couldn’t get permanent clearance because of past drug use, and so Banks, nearing 50, was fired. He said he was also encouraged to apply for another job in the Trump White House that doesn’t require security clearance.
His dismissal came as the White House attempts to vet the backgrounds of staffers in the wake of the scandal surrounding former Staff Secretary Rob Porter. Porter resigned last week after allegations surfaced that he’d physically abused two former wives. Banks decided to discuss his situation with VICE News because he doesn’t want anyone to associate the reason for his departure with Porters’.
Former Clinton adviser reacts to Mueller indictment
All In with Chris Hayes 2/16/18
Former adviser to Hillary Clinton Philippe Reines reacts to the news that Special Counsel Robert Mueller charged 13 Russians with illegally interfering in the American political process, including the 2016 election.
EPA head flies in first because coach passengers were mean
All In with Chris Hayes 2/16/18
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt says he needs to fly first class because of unpleasant interactions with passengers - which apparently he can avoid if he's surrounded by rich people.
Mueller surprises again, indicts Russians for election intrusion
The Rachel Maddow Show 2/16/18
Rachel Maddow reports on what is and is not in the indictment of 13 Russians by Robert Mueller in the Trump Russia investigation, and remarks on how gratifying it is to see a U.S. official fighting back against Russian aggression.
New Manafort fraud allegation could be product of flipped witness
The Rachel Maddow Show 2/16/18
Joyce Vance, former U.S. attorney, talks with Rachel Maddow about the possibility of new allegations of bank fraud against Paul Manafort could be a sign of cooperation by Rick Gates or Robert Mueller pushing for jail instead of house arrest ahead of Manafort's trial.
Mueller indictment of Russians suggests audience beyond court
The Rachel Maddow Show 2/16/18
Joyce Vance, former U.S. attorney, talks with Rachel Maddow about what is unusual about Robert Mueller's indictment of 13 Russians, and whether the indictment is purely legal or something more.
Russian indictment sends message on future interference attempts
The Rachel Maddow Show 2/16/18
Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, talks with Rachel Maddow about how Robert Mueller's indictment of 13 Russians is a credit to U.S. intelligence and establishes the illegality of such cyber campaigns.
Money trail key to tracking Russian troll operation
The Rachel Maddow Show 2/16/18
Clint Watts, former FBI special agent, talks with Rachel Maddow about his early description of the Russian campaign to interfere in the 2016 U.S. election that has now been borne out by Robert Mueller's indictment of 13 Russians.
Donald Trump weakness on Russia contrasts with past presidents
The Rachel Maddow Show 2/16/18
Michael Beschloss, NBC News presidential historian, talks with Rachel Maddow about the historic scale of the Russian cyber operation against the United States and Donald Trump's meager response.
Lawrence: What Trump now believes about Mueller 'witch hunt'
The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell 2/16/18
President Trump has been calling the Russia probe a "witch hunt" for months. But now that Mueller has indicted 13 Russians for election interference, Trump is claims Mueller has vindicated him and, in the process, giving credence to Mueller's investigation.
Ex-Watergate prosecutor: More indictments are coming
The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell 2/16/18
Jill Wine-Banks, ex-Watergate prosecutor, says Mueller's indictment of 13 Russians for election interference is the tip of the iceberg and represents just one aspect of the overall Russian interference effort. Ari Melber & Benjamin Wittes join Lawrence O'Donnell.
Lawrence O'Donnell asks what Vladimir Putin knows about Donald Trump that kept Trump from condemning Russia's attacks on the U.S. presidential election, outlined in the special counsel indictments Friday.
Mueller indictment: Russia hacks didn't stop after 2016
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams 2/17/18
Among the details in Robert Mueller's sprawling indictment charging 13 Russians with interfering in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump is the key detail that their efforts apparently didn't end after the election did. Our panel reacts.
Panetta to Trump: Condemn Russia or attacks will continue
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams 2/17/18
After Mueller's indictment accusing 13 Russians of directly meddling in the 2016 election to favor Donald Trump, former CIA Director Leon Panetta says Trump can no longer refuse to condemn Moscow.
Mueller indictment torpedoes Trump's claim Russia is a hoax
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams 2/17/18
Trump has called the Russia probe a 'hoax,' a 'ruse,' a 'witchhunt,' and more. But that was before Mueller's damning indictment against 13 Russians accused of interfering in the 2016 election to help Trump. Philip Rucker & Robert Costa discuss.
What's Mueller's next move after indicting 13 Russians?
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams 2/17/18
Special Counsel Robert Mueller had a busy week interviewing Trump associates and releasing a detailed indictment charging 13 Russians of interfering in the 2016 election to help Trump. So what will his next move be? Our panel discusses.
During a speech in response to the shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida that left 17 dead, President Donald Trump focused on the need for increased attention on the mental health system.
"We are committed to working with state and local leaders to help secure our schools, and tackle the difficult issue of mental health," Trump said.
Despite this statement, Trump's recent policy proposals would have a significant negative affect on funding and access to mental health treatment in the US, specifically care through Medicaid.
Desi Lydic talks to a Texas business owner who voted for Donald Trump, despite having a golf course that would be impacted by the now-president's proposed border wall.
Mexican Elections, Religious Right, DACA | Overtime with Bill Maher (HBO)
Published on Feb 16, 2018 by Real Time with Bill Maher
Bill and his guests - Anna Deavere Smith, Fran Lebowitz, Salman Rushdie, and former Mexican President Vicente Fox – answer viewer questions after the show.
Congressman Ted Lieu makes the case for revoking Jared Kushner's national security clearance and pushes a bill to rein in the president's nuclear first-strike capabilities.
Body Language of Melania Trump under MKUltra 5G Nano Cloud Mind Control Technology
Published on Feb 16, 2018 by Bravo Von Muller
After the Donald Trump, Karen McDougal and Stormy McDaniels Affair, it is clear to everyone that Melania Trump is trapped in a MKUltra mind control program. But on a High Level Target like herself, they use the State of the Art Cutting Edge 5G Nano Cloud Technology. The CIA Corporations even hold Patients on this Evil Stuff.
Friday Feb 16, 2018 News Section for Caravan to Midnight full long-form interview Episode 885 - Misha-Lame' Schoeman In this edition, John B. speaks with Misha-Lame' Schoeman from Capetown, SA about Day Zero, the day when the water runs completely out and chaos begins; the leftists that destroyed the country as it once was, and what they replaced the Republic with; bringing to light who facilitates the farm attacks and murders and so much more. Full interview - https://www.caravantomidnight.com/Episode/EpisodesDetails?Id=20882
Former Host of Coast To Coast AM John B Wells is now in control on Caravan To Midnight & Ark Midnight.
Mitt Romney, a frequent critic of President Donald Trump, to run for Senate in Utah Mitt Romney will run for the Utah Senate seat vacated by Sen. Orrin Hatch's retirement. Romney has been a frequent critic of President Donald Trump as a private citizen. He is the former governor of Massachusetts and 2012 GOP presidential nominee. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/16/mitt-romney-will-run-for-senate-in-utah.html
More And More Civilians Are Being Killed In Our Name. Where Is The Outrage? By Mehlaqa Samdani Earlier this month, two U.S.-led airstrikes, including one that targeted a makeshift hospital in Al-Bahra village in Syria, reportedly killed dozens of innocent civilians including women and children. These bombings were the latest in over 10,000 coalition airstrikes in Syria and Iraq over the past year, where civilian casualties have increased by 215 percent. In Somalia, there has been a similar, dramatic increase in aerial bombings in America’s counterterrorism campaign that have resulted in numerous civilian deaths. President Donald Trump’s racist remarks about people from “shithole countries” outraged Americans across the country. And yet, when innocent civilians are killed by U.S. drone strikes and aerial bombing campaigns in far-flung countries, nobody seems to notice. We as a nation, it seems, are more offended by racist rhetoric than we are by racist policies. If similar public and media outrage were directed against government policies that kill innocent civilians, we would not only see a far more humane foreign policy agenda but one that would actually make Americans safer. After the war in Iraq began, many Americans could correctly estimate the number of American soldiers who had died in the war, but were off by tens of thousands when it came to the number of Iraqis killed. What explains this lack of awareness, and what are its implications? Part of the reason is underreporting of civilian casualties by the U.S. military in the countries in which it operates. An investigative report by The New York Times found that civilian casualties by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes in Iraq and Syria between April 2016-June 2017 were 31 times more than what had been revealed or acknowledged by coalition authorities, and that one in every five coalition airstrikes resulted in civilian casualties. In November, the coalition released a report claiming 800 civilians had died over the three-year military campaign against ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Airwars, a human rights watchdog, put the number of civilians killed close to 6,000 during that same period. Another factor that contributes to the public’s ignorance of civilian deaths is the lack of corporate media coverage. When an Amnesty International report last summer revealed that American-backed forces in Mosul, Iraq, had caused the death of 3,700 civilians, none of the mainstream TV news channels (including CNN, MSNBC, ABC, and CBS) covered the report’s findings. According to FAIR, a media watchdog, even when civilian deaths are mentioned in news reports, the U.S. role in those deaths is often left out of the coverage. John Tirman of MIT identified the “frontier myth narrative” as another possible explanation for the American public’s lack of concern around the civilian toll of American-backed wars. He described that racism inherent within the frontier myth narrative justifies “righteous violence” to subjugate what we consider barbaric populations. He explained: The same was true for Iraq and Afghanistan, with the news media and politicians frequently portraying Islamic terrorists as frontier savages. By framing each of these wars as a battle to civilize a lawless culture, we essentially typecast the local populations as the Indians of our North American conquest. Perhaps this is why a 2015 Pew Research Center poll found that a majority (58 percent) of Americans supported the use of drone strikes targeting extremists, despite concerns that these would cause civilian deaths. Indifference or lack of awareness about civilian deaths among the American public does three things. First, it allows the U.S. government to further expand its “military footprint” around the world, resulting in increased civilian casualties without much fear of accountability. Second, it makes Americans increasingly vulnerable to terrorist attacks by those who hold U.S. citizens accountable for their government’s tactics in other countries. Finally, it erodes the moral character of our nation and makes a mockery of our claim to be the shining “city upon the hill.” Concerned citizens must bring more attention to human rights violations committed in their name and call for greater government transparency when it comes to counterterrorism operations abroad. It is important for constituents to demand greater congressional oversight with respect to civilian casualties. Civilian deaths are likely to increase under the Trump administration, which has substantially intensified bombing campaigns in Iraq, Syria, Somalia and Afghanistan. This comes in parallel to the administration having reduced “oversight, investigation and accountability on civilian casualties,” according to an op-ed by Micah Zenko in The New York Times. “Congress has shown little interest in identifying the root causes of civilian deaths, holding commanders or lower-level officers accountable, or ensuring that the lessons learned from mistaken strikes are integrated into future operations,” Zenko wrote. It is also important to urge members of Congress to initiate legislation that creates greater transparency in national security matters. One example of this is H.R. 700, which calls for an amendment to the Freedom of Information Act to include decision-making at the National Security Council, which is currently exempt from FOIA requests. With the U.S. military currently involved in counterterror activities in 76 different countries around the world, according to Brown University’s Costs of War project, it is critical for the American public to increase its knowledge about the government’s military actions abroad and the resulting civilian toll. A good place to start is to subscribe to monitoring organizations and human rights watchdogs that report on civilian casualties in foreign countries. These include CIVIC (Civilians in Conflict), Airwars, The Intercept, Action on Armed Violence, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch. Engaged citizens can raise awareness on their social media platforms by sharing news and updates from these monitoring agencies. For far too long, we have remained oblivious to the suffering of innocent civilians caused by our government. It is time we held our leaders and ourselves accountable for the mayhem committed in our name. Mehlaqa Samdani is the executive director of Critical Connections, a nonprofit organization that offers analysis and opportunities for dialogue around issues related to Muslim communities in the U.S. and beyond. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/opinion-samdani-civilian-deaths_us_5a81ec3ee4b0580d3d6d5659
Memo: NY Times Editor Explains Why Everyone Hates His ‘Rich And Searching’ Op-Ed Section He would also like you to leave the question of whether it’s OK to hire friends of Nazis to history. n a long memo to his staff, New York Times editor James Bennet defended his embattled editorial page against its many, many critics, writing that “in our time, we owe our readers an honest struggle over the right paths ahead, not a pretense that we’re in possession of God’s own map.” The New York Times opinion section is not bad, he argued. In fact, it is good. Bennet has had a difficult week. First, one of his hires, Bari Weiss, sparked outrage when she referred to the California-born Olympic skater Mirai Nagasu as an immigrant. This occasioned a heated internal conversation in which staffers vented about the direction of Bennet’s section, as HuffPost reported. This was the same day that Bennet accidentally employed the proud friend of a neo-Nazi for a total of five hours before being forced to let her go. Now, it seems, Bennet has decided to provide The New York Times staff with a 1,500-word explanation on why these men and women are not actually upset about the opinion section’s attempts at heterodoxy. Instead, they are scared of being challenged. He also makes sure to remind the staff that he is “picking our contributors with care, looking for people who share Times standards for fairness and intellectual honesty and originality.” People such as John Lott, who Bennet published two days ago and who is one of the most widely discredited gun researchers working today. He closes by, essentially, begging his newsroom colleagues, the people whose jobs it is to hold major institutions accountable and urge transparency, to please keep any criticism (and subsequent leaks) to themselves. On a related note, if you work at The New York Times and would like to get in touch, you can reach me by email at ashley.feinberg@huffpost.com. Alternatively, my Twitter DMs are open. You can read Bennet’s memo in full below: [...] https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/james-bennet-new-york-times-opinion-memo_us_5a863271e4b004fc3190847d
Seven key takeaways from the Russian indictments Special Counsel Robert Mueller has dropped another Friday blockbuster with his sweeping indictment of three organisations and 13 Russian nationals for meddling in the 2016 US presidential election. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43093260
Is Donald Trump Proof There Is No God? Jesus, take the wheel! On the latest episode of Inside the Hive, renowned atheist Sam Harris explains why Trump pretends to be religious, how consciousness works, and what the dawn of ultra-powerful A.I. means for us mere mortals here on Earth. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/02/is-donald-trump-proof-there-is-no-god
James Damore’s labor complaint against Google was completely shut down Google didn’t violate labor laws by firing engineer James Damore for a memo criticizing the company’s diversity program, according to a recently disclosed letter from the US National Labor Relations Board. The lightly redacted statement is written by Jayme Sophir, associate general counsel of the NLRB’s division of advice; it dates to January, but was released yesterday, according to Law.com. Sophir concludes that while some parts of Damore’s memo were legally protected by workplace regulations, “the statements regarding biological differences between the sexes were so harmful, discriminatory, and disruptive as to be unprotected.” Damore filed an NLRB complaint in August of 2017, after being fired for internally circulating a memo opposing Google’s diversity efforts. Sophir recommends dismissing the case; Bloomberg reports that Damore withdrew it in January, and that his lawyer says he’s focusing on a separate lawsuit alleging discrimination against conservative white men at Google. NLRB records state that its case was closed on January 19th. In her analysis, Sophir writes that employers should be given “particular deference” in trying to enforce anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies, since these are tied to legal requirements. And employers have “a strong interest in promoting diversity” and cooperation across different groups of people. Because of this, “employers must be permitted to ‘nip in the bud’ the kinds of employee conduct that could lead to a ‘hostile workplace,’” she writes. “Where an employee’s conduct significantly disrupts work processes, creates a hostile work environment, or constitutes racial or sexual discrimination or harassment, the Board has found it unprotected even if it involves concerted activities regarding working conditions.” Damore’s memo, titled “Google’s Ideological Echo Chamber,” contended that Google’s diversity efforts were misplaced because they ignored women’s biologically driven disinterest in technology. It includes many claims, which have previously been dissected in detail online. But Sophir focuses specifically on Damore’s “statements about immutable traits linked to sex — such as women’s heightened neuroticism and men’s prevalence at the top of the IQ distribution.” These statements were “discriminatory and constituted sexual harassment, notwithstanding [Damore’s] effort to cloak [his] comments with ‘scientific’ references and analysis,” she writes. Moreover, she says Google “carefully tailored” its reasons for firing Damore, limiting them to unprotected portions of the memo. Some legal experts suggested that Damore might have a solid legal complaint, if he could argue that he was discussing working conditions. But that apparently wasn’t a strong enough case for the NLRB — and Damore will be making an arguably tougher one in claiming that Google is systematically biased against white men. https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/16/17021714/james-damore-google-nlrb-complaint-diversity-discrimination
Florida school shooting: A killer comes to 'paradise' Students re-live Wednesday's shooting in Florida - and demand tougher gun laws from their government. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43063736
US agents arrest more than 200 undocumented immigrants, target 122 businesses in California sweep A five-day immigration sweep has led to the arrest of 212 undocumented immigrants and the targeting of 122 firms in Southern California, federal officials said Friday. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in late January targeted at least 77 businesses in Northern California. The Trump administration's clampdown on illegal immigration in California follows the state passing a controversial sanctuary law. ICE has previously said it planned to significantly increase immigration enforcement in the nation's workplace. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/16/federal-immigration-raids-in-southern-california-target-122-businesses.html
'It's becoming a gladiator spectacle': Black Justice Clarence Thomas says he is 'exhausted' with people saying they have been 'victimized' because of their race The famously taciturn justice said that his grandfather's resilience inspired him to never take anything for granted Born in 1948, Thomas was raised in Georgia coastal lowlands and spent his childhood working on his grandfather's farm Growing up in the Jim Crow South, Thomas said his family did the best that they could with what little they had Thomas faced a grueling confirmation process to become a justice on the highest court in the land, being accused of sexual harassment in 1990 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5402181/Justice-Clarence-Thomas-laments-victimhood-culture-US.html
Commerce Department calls for Trump to impose steep tariffs or quotas on foreign steel and aluminum The Commerce Department is recommending heavy tariffs and quotas on steel and aluminum imports. The recommendations include a 24 percent global tariff on steel imports, or a charge of at least 53 percent on steel from a dozen countries. Commerce recommended a 7.7 percent tariff on aluminum imports, or a 23.5 percent tariff on aluminum products from China, Hong Kong, Russia, Venezuela and Vietnam. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/16/commerce-department-suggests-trump-impose-steep-tariffs-or-quotas-on-foreign-steel-and-aluminum--sources.html
Mueller Zeros In on Story Put Together About Trump Tower Meeting [...] The latest witness to be called for an interview about the episode was Mark Corallo, who served as a spokesman for Mr. Trump’s legal team before resigning in July. Mr. Corallo received an interview request last week from the special counsel and has agreed to the interview, according to three people with knowledge of the request. Mr. Corallo is planning to tell Mr. Mueller about a previously undisclosed conference call with Mr. Trump and Hope Hicks, the White House communications director, according to the three people. Mr. Corallo planned to tell investigators that Ms. Hicks said during the call that emails written by Donald Trump Jr. before the Trump Tower meeting — in which the younger Mr. Trump said he was eager to receive political dirt about Mrs. Clinton from the Russians — “will never get out.” That left Mr. Corallo with concerns that Ms. Hicks could be contemplating obstructing justice, the people said. In a statement on Wednesday, a lawyer for Ms. Hicks strongly denied Mr. Corallo’s allegations. “As most reporters know, it’s not my practice to comment in response to questions from the media. But this warrants a response,” said the lawyer, Robert P. Trout. “She never said that. And the idea that Hope Hicks ever suggested that emails or other documents would be concealed or destroyed is completely false.” [...] JAN. 31, 2018 https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/31/us/politics/trump-russia-hope-hicks-mueller.html
CRISPR-based diagnostic tool advanced, miniature paper test developed 100-fold greater sensitivity, ability to detect multiple targets at once, and other improvements provide more power for detecting genetic signatures https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/02/180215141753.htm
Physicists create new form of light Scientists at MIT, Harvard University, and elsewhere have now demonstrated that photons can be made to interact — an accomplishment that could open a path toward using photons in quantum computing, if not in light sabers. Newly observed optical state could enable quantum computing with photons. http://news.mit.edu/2018/physicists-create-new-form-light-0215
‘Goodnight, Kepler’: NASA’s Planet-Hunting Telescope Has Finally Run Out Of Fuel
"When Will This Stop? 17 Shot Dead in Florida School Massacre, the 18th School Shooting of Year"
Rest in space, Kepler.
By Dominique Mosbergen
VIDEO
NASA is saying “goodnight” to its pioneering Kepler telescope, which a few months shy of its 10th birthday but years past its expected lifespan, has finally run out of fuel.
----- "When Will This Stop? 17 Shot Dead in Florida School Massacre, the 18th School Shooting of Year" .. with the video ..
"Published on Feb 15, 2018 by Democracy Now! [ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzuqE7-t13O4NIDYJfakrhw / https://www.youtube.com/user/democracynow , https://www.youtube.com/user/democracynow/videos ] In Parkland, Florida, 17 people died Wednesday in one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history. The massacre at the Stoneman Douglas High School was the 18th school shooting this year, according to Everytown for Gun Safety. This means there has been a school shooting on average every 60 hours so far this year. Police have identified the gunman as a 19-year-old former pupil named Nikolas Cruz. He was carrying an AR-15 with multiple magazines of ammunition. In addition to the 17 dead, 15 people were injured. We speak to Geraldine Thompson, a former Florida Democratic state senator. She represented the Orlando district where the 2016 Pulse nightclub massacre took place. https://www.democracynow.org/2018/2/15/when_will_this_stop_17_shot [with embedded video, and transcript] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAw_B0QgZu4 [with comments]" .. the first item in one of F6's big ones .. -----
By Brian Ries, Meg Wagner, Jessie Yeung and Dakin Andone, CNN Updated 1 hr 10 min ago11:21 PM ET, Fri February 15, 2019
Victims: Five victims were confirmed dead and five police officers were wounded.
The suspect: Aurora police said the alleged shooter was killed. He's been identified as 45-year-old Gary Martin.
4 hr 45 min ago
Our live coverage of the shooting at an Aurora, Illinois, business has concluded, but stick with CNN as the story continues to develop throughout the night.
4 hr 52 min ago
New Illinois governor: "There is no way to prepare"
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who was sworn into office just over a month ago, thanked law enforcement and told reporters there was "no way to prepare for the pain of losing innocent people in the state that you were elected to lead, the state that you were elected to protect."
"There is no way to prepare. There are no words for the kind of evil that robs our neighbors of their hopes, their dreams and their futures. There are no words to express our gratitude to the families of the officers who were injured in the line of duty as they responded within moments to the gravest kind of danger that they can face. Tomorrow, the families of the victims will be less than whole."
5 hr 18 min ago
Mayor: It's a "shame" mass shootings have become "commonplace"
In Friday evening's news conference, Aurora, Illinois, Mayor Richard Irvin lamented the fact his city is just the latest to fall victim to a mass shooter.
"It's a shame that mass shootings such as this have become commonplace in our country," he said. "It's a shame that a cold and heartless offender would be so selfish as to think he has the right to take an innocent life. But we as a society cannot allow these horrific acts to become commonplace."
Unfortunately he doesn't care about the many Americans who are murdered in mass shootings in schools, concerts, movie theatres, etc etc etc P - He wants a wall to keep out illegal aliens but the people who get murdered in mass shootings just get freakin' "thoughts and useless prayers" https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=146038140
Emotions run high at mass gun demonstration Speakers and volunteers pushed a voter registration drive and vowed to oust lawmakers who oppose gun control. By CAITLIN EMMA and IAN KULLGREN 03/24/2018 10:22 AM EDT Updated 03/24/2018 02:59 PM EDT https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=139535414
The Parkland Shooting May Have Just Cemented America’s Newest Voting Bloc Furious teens and parents are emerging as a political force for gun control. POLITICS 02/27/2018 05:46 am ET Updated 4 hours ago By Melissa Jeltsen and Jennifer Bendery https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=138886482
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