Vicente Fox, fmr. Mexican president, urges Trump to tell the truth
Morning Joe 4/6/18
Former Mexican President Vicente Fox says President Trump tells lies about Mexico, he urges Trump to tell the truth about so-called caravans, and he says the American people will pay if Trump renegotiates NAFTA.
A judge on Thursday ordered former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to turn himself in to police within 24 hours and begin serving a 12-year sentence for a controversial corruption conviction, effectively removing him from Brazil’s presidential election later this year, where he was the front-runner. Lula is a former union leader who served as president of Brazil from 2003 to 2010. During that time, he helped lift tens of millions of Brazilians out of poverty. His supporters say the ruling against him is a continuation of the coup that ousted Lula’s ally Dilma Rousseff from power last year. We play excerpts from our recent interview with Lula and get an update from Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research and president of Just Foreign Policy, who argues “the investigation is political, and that everything [Judge Moro is] trying to do is political, including the latest order that Lula surrender today.” https://www.democracynow.org/2018/4/6/brazils_popular_ex_president_lula_ordered[with embedded video, and transcript]
Trump Inks Arms Deal with Saudis as Humanitarian Crisis Rages in Yemen & Saudi Prince Tours U.S.
Published on Apr 6, 2018 by Democracy Now!
On Thursday, the Trump administration told Congress it has approved a $1.3 billion artillery sale to Saudi Arabia. This is the second weapons deal between the U.S. and Riyadh in as many months and has sparked concern from human rights groups, who warn the deals may make the United States complicit in war crimes committed in the Saudi-led bombing campaign in Yemen. Lawmakers have 30 days to act before the sale is final. The announcement comes as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman wraps up his whirlwind tour of the United States. One topic that has received relatively little media attention during his trip is his role in escalating Saudi Arabia’s military involvement in Yemen. Last month marked three years since the U.S.-backed, Saudi-led coalition began its military offensive in Yemen, leading to one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. The U.S.-backed, Saudi-led airstrikes and naval blockade have destroyed Yemen’s health, water and sanitation systems, sparking a massive cholera outbreak and pushing millions of Yemenis to the brink of starvation. More than 15,000 people have died since the Saudi invasion in 2015. We speak with Iona Craig, a journalist who was based in Sana’a between 2010 and 2015 as the Yemen correspondent for The Times of London. https://www.democracynow.org/2018/4/6/trump_inks_arms_deal_with_saudis[with embedded video, and transcript]
How Iona Craig Exposed the White House Lie About 2017 SEAL Raid That Killed Yemeni Women & Children
Published on Apr 6, 2018 by Democracy Now!
Reporter Iona Craig exposed the Trump administration’s lie about its first military engagement and is in New York to receive the George Polk Award for documenting the destruction and civilian casualties from a covert U.S. Navy SEAL raid on a remote village in Yemen that left 25 civilians and one U.S. soldier dead. https://www.democracynow.org/2018/4/6/how_iona_craig_exposed_the_white[with embedded video, and transcript]
Judge Suspends Release of Herman Bell, Elderly Black Panther Jailed 45 Years, Amid Police Pressure
Published on Apr 6, 2018 by Democracy Now!
A judge in New York has suspended the release of Herman Bell, a 70-year-old prisoner who has been granted parole after 45 years in prison. Bell was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the killing of two New York City police officers in 1971. At the time, he was a member of the Black Liberation Army and a former Black Panther. Since then, he has mentored thousands of young men while behind bars and kept a clean disciplinary record. State-mandated tests show he would pose the lowest possible risk if he is allowed to re-enter society. In March, the New York Parole Board granted parole for Bell, noting he had expressed remorse and was likely to lead a “law-abiding life.” State law requires commissioners to consider such factors, but they’ve only recently started to comply. On Wednesday, a state judge agreed to hear a challenge from the widow of one of the officers, who says the board violated procedure. A hearing on the petition is set for April 13, just days before Bell’s earliest originally scheduled release date. We speak with Robert Boyle, lawyer for Herman Bell, who says the board followed the rules. We are also joined by Jose Saldaña, who was incarcerated in New York until he was released by the parole board earlier this year in January, after 38 years inside. He knew Herman Bell and is now an organizer with the group RAPP, Release Aging People from Prison, who has helped push for parole reform. https://www.democracynow.org/2018/4/6/judge_suspends_release_of_herman_bell[with embedded video, and transcript]
Judge Halts Release of Herman Bell Despite NY’s Attempts to Parole More Low-Risk, Elderly Prisoners
Published on Apr 6, 2018 by Democracy Now!
We continue to look at how a judge in New York has suspended the release of Herman Bell, a 70-year-old prisoner who has been granted parole after 45 years in prison. Bell was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the killing of two New York City police officers in 1971. At the time, he was a member of the Black Liberation Army and a former Black Panther. Since then, he has mentored thousands of young men while behind bars and kept a clean disciplinary record. State-mandated tests show he would pose the lowest possible risk if he is allowed to re-enter society. In March, the New York Parole Board granted parole for Bell, noting he had expressed remorse and was likely to lead a “law-abiding life.” State law requires commissioners to consider such factors, but they’ve only recently started to comply. On Wednesday, a state judge agreed to hear a challenge from the widow of one of the officers, who says the board violated procedure. A hearing on the petition is set for April 13, just days before Bell’s earliest originally scheduled release date. We speak with Robert Boyle, lawyer for Herman Bell, who says the board followed the rules. We are also joined by Jose Saldaña, who was incarcerated in New York until he was released by the parole board earlier this year in January, after 38 years inside. He knew Herman Bell and is now an organizer with the group RAPP, Release Aging People from Prison, who has helped push for parole reform. https://www.democracynow.org/2018/4/6/judge_halts_release_of_herman_bell[with embedded video, and transcript]
President Donald J. Trump Proclaims April 8 through 14, 2018, as National Crime Victims’ Rights Week
Issued on: April 6, 2018
Year after year, millions of violent and property crimes occur in the United States. Each of these crimes has a victim. These victims can be left with serious physical and emotional wounds, and often with long-lasting, significant financial challenges. Even when victims receive assistance in the aftermath of these crimes, they may live in perpetual fear for their safety or continue to suffer ongoing financial setbacks. During National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, we renew our determination to hold criminals accountable for their actions and to reassure all crime victims that they are not alone.
Across our Nation, thousands of dedicated advocates, healthcare professionals, private citizens, and criminal justice personnel strive to help victims as they move toward recovery and return to their lives. The Department of Justice (DOJ), through its Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), supports thousands of these local victim assistance programs. These programs provide many services, including mental health counseling and real-time crisis assistance, such as temporary housing, transportation, and civil legal assistance. OVC also supports State crime victim compensation programs, which help reimburse victims for medical, mental health, funeral, burial, and other expenses resulting from their experiences as victims of crime. Yet, according to the National Crime Victimization Survey, only 42 percent of the victims of violent crime report the offense to police, and only 12 percent of victims of serious violence received services to assist them in the aftermath. Appropriate victim services from trained and qualified providers can transform lives. All those who diligently endeavor to console, heal, and support victims of crime deserve our gratitude and continued support.
My Administration will continue to take a strong stance against crime in the United States. For example, DOJ’s Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative has helped coordinate our efforts with State and local jurisdictions to restore public safety to our communities. In addition, earlier this year, I signed the SAFER Act of 2017, which strengthens and reauthorizes efforts to eliminate the nationwide rape kit backlog. If we can prosecute violent crimes more quickly and efficiently, we can help the victims of crime overcome their experiences and prevent others from suffering in the future.
This week, we reaffirm our commitment to alleviate the burdens of crime victims, support those who serve these victims, and reduce the number of future victims by assisting law enforcement to keep our communities safe. Together, we can ensure a safe and prosperous future for all Americans.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 8 through 14, 2018, as National Crime Victims’ Rights Week. I urge all Americans, families, law enforcement, community and faith-based organizations, and private organizations to work together to support victims of crime and protect their rights.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this sixth day of April, in the year of our Lord two thousand eighteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-second.
Cecile Richards brags that she turned down an offer of more funding from Jared/Ivanka, if Planned Parenthood would stop performing abortions. Then, strange arguments Democrats use against Trump protecting the border, Congressman proposes returning US dollar to gold standard, Joseph Farah on Mideast unrest and London violence soars.
[from Alex Jones and his merry band of batshit bullshitters]
Presidential Memorandum for the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Secretary of Homeland Security
Issued on: April 6, 2018
SUBJECT: Ending “Catch and Release” at the Border of the United States and Directing Other Enhancements to Immigration Enforcement
Section 1. Purpose. (a) Human smuggling operations, smuggling of drugs and other contraband, and entry of gang members and other criminals at the border of the United States threaten our national security and public safety. The backlog of immigration-related cases in our administrative system is alarmingly large and has hindered the expeditious adjudication of outstanding cases. Border-security and immigration enforcement personnel shortages have become critical.
(b) In Executive Order 13767 of January 25, 2017 (Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements), I directed the Secretary of Homeland Security to issue new policy guidance regarding the appropriate and consistent use of detention authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), including the termination of the practice known as “catch and release,” whereby aliens are released in the United States shortly after their apprehension for violations of our immigration laws. On February 20, 2017, the Secretary issued a memorandum taking steps to end “catch and release” practices. These steps have produced positive results. Still, more must be done to enforce our laws and to protect our country from the dangers of releasing detained aliens into our communities while their immigration claims are pending.
Therefore, by the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby direct as follows:
Sec. 2. Ending “Catch and Release”. (a) Within 45 days of the date of this memorandum, the Secretary of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall submit a report to the President detailing all measures that their respective departments have pursued or are pursuing to expeditiously end “catch and release” practices. At a minimum, such report shall address the following:
(i) All measures taken pursuant to section 5(a) of Executive Order 13767 to allocate all legally available resources to construct, operate, control, or modify — or establish contracts to construct, operate, control, or modify — facilities to detain aliens for violations of immigration law at or near the borders of the United States;
(ii) All measures taken pursuant to section 5(b) of Executive Order 13767 to assign asylum officers to immigration detention facilities for the purpose of accepting asylum referrals and conducting credible fear determinations and reasonable fear determinations;
(iii) All measures taken pursuant to section 6 of Executive Order 13767 to ensure the detention of aliens apprehended for violations of immigration law;
(iv) All measures taken pursuant to section 11(a) of Executive Order 13767 to ensure that the parole and asylum provisions of Federal immigration law are not illegally exploited to prevent the removal of otherwise removable aliens;
(v) All measures taken pursuant to section 11(b) of Executive Order 13767 to ensure that asylum referrals and credible fear determinations pursuant to section 235(b)(1) of the INA (8 U.S.C. 1125(b)(1)) and 8 CFR 208.30, and reasonable fear determinations pursuant to 8 CFR 208.31, are conducted in a manner consistent with those provisions;
(vi) All measures taken pursuant to section 6 of Executive Order 13768 of January 25, 2017 (Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States), to ensure the assessment and collection of all authorized fines and penalties from aliens unlawfully present in the United States and from those who facilitate their unlawful presence in the United States;
(vii) A detailed list of all existing facilities, including military facilities, that could be used, modified, or repurposed to detain aliens for violations of immigration law at or near the borders of the United States; and
(viii) The number of credible fear and reasonable fear claims received, granted, and denied — broken down by the purported protected ground upon which a credible fear or reasonable fear claim was made — in each year since the beginning of fiscal year 2009.
(b) Within 75 days of the date of this memorandum, the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall submit a report to the President identifying any additional resources or authorities that may be needed to expeditiously end “catch and release” practices.
Sec. 3. Return of Removable Aliens to Their Home Countries or Countries of Origin. Within 60 days of the date of this memorandum, the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit a report to the President detailing all measures, including diplomatic measures, that are being pursued against countries that refuse to expeditiously accept the repatriation of their nationals. The report shall include all measures taken pursuant to section 12 of Executive Order 13768 to implement the sanctions authorized by section 243(d) of the INA (8 U.S.C. 1253(d)), or a detailed explanation as to why such sanctions have not yet been imposed.
Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This memorandum shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
(d) The Secretary of State is hereby authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.
Statement from the Press Secretary Regarding “Catch and Release”
Issued on: April 6, 2018
Today, President Donald J. Trump signed a Presidential Memorandum to take important steps to end “catch and release,” the dangerous practice whereby aliens who have violated our Nation’s immigration laws are released into the United States shortly after their apprehension. The safety and security of the American people is the President’s highest priority, and he will keep his promise to protect our country and to ensure that our laws are respected.
At the same time, the President continues to call on congressional Democrats to cease their staunch opposition to border security and to stop blocking measures that are vital to the safety and security of the United States.
President Donald J. Trump Proclaims April 9, 2018, as National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day
Issued on: April 6, 2018
Since the days of the American Revolution, brave men and women have selflessly answered the call to protect and defend our great Nation. During the conflicts of the past two centuries, more than 500,000 United States service members have been captured and held as prisoners of war (POWs). National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day honors these American patriots, who each paid an extraordinary price to help preserve our liberty.
This year commemorates several significant military anniversaries, including the centennial observance of the Armistice that ended World War I, the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Kasserine Pass in World War II, the 65th anniversary of the Korean Armistice Agreement, the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War’s Tet Offensive, and the 25th anniversary of the Battle of Mogadishu. Enemy forces captured and imprisoned American service members during each of these conflicts. During these battles, as with those throughout our Nation’s history, military personnel carried out their missions undaunted by risk of capture or loss of life, because of their love for each other and their devotion to the principles of duty, honor, and justice.
On this day, we pay homage to the courageous warriors who endured time in enemy hands and returned with honor to their families. During their capture, they faced loneliness, torture, hardship, separation from loved ones, and uncertainty about the future. In spite of unimaginable tribulations, these patriots persevered and survived. They are American heroes.
Former POWs remain actively engaged in communities throughout our country. Their efforts help fellow veterans and their families cope with life after military service. In addition, their stories are a source of inspiration for current and future generations. Former POWs and loved ones of military personnel who have not returned from past conflicts share a unique connection. Few people can comprehend the emotional toll, the loss, and the pain of uncertainty the families of the fallen or captured endure better than former POWs. Their encouragement, understanding, and outreach helps ensure that their fallen and unaccounted-for comrades are not forgotten.
As President, I remain committed to honoring and caring for former POWs. They have persevered through the harshest of conditions and, thankfully, have returned home to their loving families and a grateful Nation. They deserve our utmost reverence and respect.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 9, 2018, as National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day. I call upon Americans to observe this day by honoring the service and sacrifice of all our former prisoners of war and to express our Nation’s eternal gratitude for their sacrifice. I also call upon Federal, State, and local government officials and organizations to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this sixth day of April, in the year of our Lord two thousand eighteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-second.
Text of a Letter from the President to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate
Issued on: April 6, 2018
Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:)
On January 11, 2018, the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) transmitted to me a report on his investigation into the effects of imports of steel mill articles on the national security of the United States under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended (19 U.S.C. 1862). On January 19, 2018, the Secretary transmitted to me a report on his investigation into the effects of imports of aluminum articles on the national security of the United States under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended.
On March 8, 2018, I took action under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended, to adjust imports of aluminum and steel by imposing a 10 percent ad valorem tariff on aluminum articles and a 25 percent ad valorem tariff on steel articles imported from all countries except Canada and Mexico, effective March 23, 2018 (Proclamations 9704 and 9705). I concurred with the Secretary’s respective findings that aluminum and steel articles are being imported into the United States in such quantities and under such circumstances as to threaten to impair the national security of the United States. In my judgment, these tariffs are necessary and appropriate in light of the many factors I have considered, including the Secretary’s reports, the failure of countries to agree on measures to reduce global excess capacity, the continued high level of imports since the beginning of the year, and special circumstances that exist with respect to Canada and Mexico.
On March 22, 2018, I modified the section 232 tariffs on aluminum and steel imports to temporarily suspend the tariffs for certain countries before they took effect (Proclamations 9710 and 9711). Tariffs on aluminum and steel imports from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, the member countries of the European Union, and South Korea are suspended until May 1, 2018, pending discussions regarding satisfactory, long-term alternative means to address the threatened impairment to the national security of the United States. Any country with a security relationship with the United States not currently exempted remains welcome to discuss with us a possible exemption based on alternative means to address the threatened impairment to the national security of the United States caused by imports of aluminum and steel articles from that country.
On March 8, 2018, I also authorized a process for directly affected parties to apply for an exclusion for specific aluminum or steel products that they need. The Secretary, in consultation with other Administration officials, will evaluate exclusion requests for products, taking into account national security considerations. In that evaluation, the Secretary will consider whether a product is produced in the United States of a satisfactory quality or in a sufficient and reasonably available amount. The Department of Commerce has published an interim final rule establishing this process. 83 Fed. Reg. 53, 12106 (March 19, 2018).
Over the past year, I was honored to serve as President Donald J. Trump’s National Security Advisor. I am immensely proud of the vital role that the National Security Council (NSC) played in restoring America’s strategic confidence. We helped the President set forth a strategic direction for the United States to protect the American people, promote American prosperity, preserve peace through strength, and advance American influence.
Examples include a new approach to North Korea, through maximum pressure on Pyongyang and close coordination with our allies and partners, including China. Our realistic approach toward China recognizes that we must compete to counter China’s economic aggression as we promote a free and open Indo-Pacific region. The United States and our allies are imposing costs on Russia for its destabilizing actions, while leaving the door open for future cooperation. We are taking a firm stand against Iran’s nearly 40-year proxy war against America, as well as its support for terrorist groups and its perpetuation of violence across the Middle East. The United States led the defeat of ISIS’s so-called “caliphate,” while reinvigorating our Middle Eastern alliances. In South Asia, we are fighting terrorists in Afghanistan, while holding Pakistan accountable. In Europe, our NATO allies are doing more for our common security—showing that they’ve heeded the President’s challenge.
These are just a few of the many foreign and security policy accomplishments of President Trump’s first, eventful year in office.
I will always be especially proud of the dedicated men and women of the NSC staff who have helped make all this possible. Thanks to their hard work, President Trump’s NSC has consistently done what it was designed to do: identify challenges and opportunities, develop integrated strategies, and present clear options and complete information to the President.
I look forward to many more years of accomplishment from this Administration. I wish the very best to my successor, Ambassador John Bolton. And I thank President Trump for the opportunity to serve our Nation as National Security Advisor.
Friday, April 6th 2018[, with Doug Hagmann hosting the fourth hour]: Trump: “Bring it On” - As President Trump publicly humors $100 billion more in tariffs against China, he makes it clear that any “pain” from China only makes America stronger. Locally, Trump literally tossed his scripted speech in the air during West Virginia’s economic roundtable in order to speak from the heart to the American worker. He’s looking into enacting policy changes to tackle Amazon’s unfair business practices against the middle class.
The long-anticipated Genesis Paradise Lost movie from Eric Hovind's Creation Today is finally available on home video and around the world. The movie proudly declares a message of young earth creationism, using stunning visual effects and interviews with the likes of Bodie Hodge, Chad Hovind, Charles Jackson, Danny Faulkner, David Menton, Georgia Purdom, Jeremy Lyon, John Baumgardner, Ken Ham, Ray Comfort, Terry Mortenson, Tommy Mitchell, and Voddie Baucham.
As the movie is packed with scientific claims, but not enough screen time to go in-depth, this series will endeavor to go slowly through each claim and take a careful look at each and how it contributes to our view of God.
Part two looks at approximately 13 minute to 30 minute mark of the movie, from day one of creation to day three.
Thanks to Shannon Q, Lois Edwards, Sentinel Apologetics, RJ Downard, Jackson Wheat, Scientist Mel and narrator Tony Reed.
Dr. Kent Hovind 3-6-18 Answers to Comments-What is a "Kind?"
Published on Mar 6, 2018 by Kent Hovind OFFICIAL [ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxiEtqPja47nnqsJNrdOIQQ , https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxiEtqPja47nnqsJNrdOIQQ/videos ] Join us for our Answers to comments at DAL. Come visit our Dinosaur Adventure Land in Lenox, AL. Open April 21, 2018. You can come help us build or donate to CSE: https://drdino.com/donate/ If you want to see if a question on Bible/Creation/Evolution etc has already been answered in a previous video, just go to the search box and type in "Kent Hovind" and the particular subject/topic. Thanks! Please get involved and tell others about this channel to strengthen their faith in Jesus Christ as we study science and the Bible with Dr. Kent Hovind. Please visit our website at: https://drdino.com/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXazNtcxBkQ [with comments]
Readout of President Donald J. Trump’s Call with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed of the United Arab Emirates
Issued on: April 6, 2018
President Donald J. Trump spoke today with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed of the United Arab Emirates to discuss regional developments and opportunities for increasing cooperation on a range of security and economic issues. The President thanked the Crown Prince for his close, strategic partnership and for his strong leadership in highlighting ways all Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states can better counter Iranian destabilizing activities and defeat terrorists and extremists. The leaders agreed that all GCC states can and should do more to increase coordination with each other and with the United States to ensure the peace and prosperity of the people in the region. The President and the Crown Prince agreed on the importance of a united GCC. The President and the Crown Prince look forward to meeting at the White House to continue the discussion on how to further enhance the American-Emirati strategic partnership.
Statement by the Press Secretary on the Actions Taken by Panama Against the Maduro Regime
Issued on: April 6, 2018
The United States applauds the Government of Panama and President Juan Carlos Varela’s courageous actions exposing and blocking Venezuelan money laundering in Panama, as the Maduro dictatorship brazenly attempted to circumvent international sanctions. The United States reiterates that Venezuela must restore democracy and end the repression and suffering of the Venezuelan people. The United States calls upon the international community to follow Panama’s example and stand together against the Maduro regime’s corruption and illegitimate rule.
As Alex Jones challenges Cenk Uygur to a charity boxing match, comedian is speaking out after being shut off Twitter and YouTube. We also cover the mind-boggling hypocrisy of today’s schizophrenic left, and speculate on Trump’s chances of winning the trade war with China.
[from Alex Jones and his merry band of batshit bullshitters]
The mall was America’s third place — for better or for worse.
Our lives are lived in 1 of 3 places, the home, the workplace and the “third place,” which is anywhere outside of those two.
Toward the end of the 20th century, the regional shopping mall had become that third place, the hang-out spot in suburban America. This was largely by design — an immigrant architect created the first mall in the vision that it would be a community gathering place.
The plan didn’t work out as he intended. While malls did take off, they more often than not couldn’t quite catch on as ideal “third places.” But with an estimated 25% of shopping malls expected to close in the next five years, there’s an opportunity to re-examine where Americans spend their time and what could be the next iteration of the third place.
Further reading for those interested in this subject, I recommend the following books and articles:
Watch prosecutor explain why Mueller has new Manafort search warrants
The Beat with Ari Melber 4/6/18
A judge has approved a new search warrant in the Russia probe, for five phone numbers belonging to former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Former Federal Prosecutor Barbara Mcquade observes the timing of the search warrant coincides with Mueller checking phones of “incoming Russian diplomats”. New reporting also reveals Special Counsel Bob Mueller is pressing witnesses about embattled Trump lawyer Michael Cohen.
Obama adviser says Trump’s undoing could be 'monetizing the presidency'
The Beat with Ari Melber 4/6/18
House Democrats demand Trump fire EPA Chief Scott Pruitt after a series of ethics concerns. Former political strategist Chai Komanduri tells Ari Melber Trump has created a White House “culture” that allows public officials to use their office for personal gain.
Comedian Joe Mande blasts Trump EPA chief and 'garish' RNC hats
The Beat with Ari Melber 4/6/18
Joe Mande and Andy Kindler join Ari Melber for Fallback Friday. Andy Kindler nominates Senator Tim Scott and Rep. Trey Gowdy’s new book and Joe Mande adds $35 RNC “Freedom hats” to his fallback list.
In an exclusive interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper, former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone shares his advice for President Donald Trump and denies communication with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Read Tim Cook’s interview with Chris Hayes and Kara Swisher Read the full transcript from the MSNBC broadcast of “Revolution: Apple Changing the World,” an exclusive town hall interview with Apple CEO Tim Cook, Chris Hayes, and Recode’s Kara Swisher. 04/06/18 http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/read-tim-cooks-interview-chris-hayes-and-kara-swisher
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We Spent 54 Hours On A Train Full Of Video Game Programmers (HBO)
Do you like videogames? Do you like trains? How about both?
If you answered ‘yes’ to the above (and you know how to program), then Train Jam just might be for you.
The idea is simple: get on a train in Chicago, and in the 54 hours it takes you to get to San Francisco, program a video game from start to finish.
There’s not a lot of privacy on the train, nor is there a lot of showering. But for an up-and-coming game developer, there’s a ton of opportunity to work with seasoned veterans on anything from a balloon deathmatch simulator to a Pac-Man clone made with actual door springs.
Five years ago, there were only a few dozen takers. But this year, they’ve taken over the whole train, and even had to add a few extra cars to accommodate everyone.
VICE News hopped on an Amtrak to find out why people from 30 countries decided to cram together for America’s nerdiest train ride.
Far Cry 5’s Creator Is Worried The World Might Actually Be Ending (HBO)
Published on Apr 6, 2018 by VICE News
The early trailers for Far Cry 5 had some people nervously wondering if the game was going to be about shooting white Republicans.
Now that the game is out, though, it seems those fears were unfounded.
Far Cry is a series known for dropping you into an exotic land full of hostile natives that you are required to shoot in order to survive. But when it was revealed that the bad guys in Far Cry 5 would be mostly white guys from middle America, some people seemed uncomfortable.
But as it turns out, the game is less politics and more of a mish-mash of cult imagery - the game’s Eden’s Gate cult sounds like the actual Heaven’s Gate, and the echoes of Waco, Texas ring a lot louder than the perhaps coincidental similarities to the Oregon standoff of 2016.
But Far Cry 5 Creative Director Dan Hay isn’t denying that America’s current political climate has had some influence on his game.
“I get asked, is it about America, is it about a certain administration?” he says. “The answer is that it takes from all of that stuff. It definitely feels like we’re very close to the edge right now.”
VICE News went to Ubisoft’s headquarters to find out what it means to make a game about the end of the world, when that vision is starting to look a bit more realistic.
Perks for Pruitt staffers swell list of scandals at Trump's EPA
The Rachel Maddow Show 4/6/18
Rachel Maddow rounds up the latest reports on Donald Trump's scandal-plagued EPA chief Scott Pruitt, including pay raises for his friends on staff, a no-show job for senior counsel Samantha Dravis, and Congressional interest in corruption warnings that went ignored.
New sanctions on Russian oligarchs designed as message to Putin
The Rachel Maddow Show 4/6/18
Rachel Maddow takes a closer look at some of the Russian oligarchs newly added to the list of U.S. sanctions and how their selection is designed to communicate a message to Vladimir Putin.
Key figure in Russia's NRA outreach ploy added to sanctions list
The Rachel Maddow Show 4/6/18
Tim Dickinson, contributing editor for Rolling Stone, talks with Rachel Maddow about the inclusion of Alexander Torshin on the new list of sanctioned Russians and Russian efforts to use the NRA as a conduit to influencing U.S. politics.
Trump admin indifference to ethics reflected in EPA scandals
The Rachel Maddow Show 4/6/18
Chris Lu, who managed President Obama's first term cabinet, talks with Rachel Maddow about how typical American administrations deal with ethics scandals and how Donald Trump's disregard for governmental processes has infected his cabinet, including the EPA under Scott Pruitt.
Heller calls for fewer Democratic voters, more GOP for 2018 race
The Rachel Maddow Show 4/6/18
Rachel Maddow shares audio of Nevada Senator Dean Heller explaining to a Republican gathering that unless the number of Democratic voters is reduced or the number of Republican voters greatly increased, he will lose his seat in the Senate.
Political forecasters adjust toward blue amid Democratic wins
The Rachel Maddow Show 4/6/18
Rachel Maddow reports on the latest Democratic upset wins in elections in Wisconsin as the Cook Political Report adjusts its 2018 forecast by moving 13 races more in the Democrats' favor.
New reports indicate Mueller has more evidence against Trump associates Paul Manafort & Erik Prince. Plus, a new report Trump may be starting informal preparation to sit down for an interview with Mueller. Jill Wine-Banks, Joyce Vance, & David Corn join Ali Velshi.
A remarkable new study shows how the Trump presidency has activated protesters, and former First Lady Michelle Obama speaks frankly about the current political moment. Neera Tanden and Wisconsin state senator Lena Taylor join Ali Velshi.
Trump EPA boss Pruitt reportedly pleaded for his job
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams 4/7/18
EPA boss Scott Pruitt is still on the job as pressure grows for Trump to fire him in the face of multiple ethics scandals. This comes as the White House deals with tanking stock markets on the fear of a possible trade war with China - plus the Mueller probe and the Stormy Daniels scandal. Our panel reacts.
Trump's allies are warning him not to sit down with Mueller
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams 4/7/18
Even as Pres. Trump's allies repeatedly warn him not to sit down for an interview with Russia Special Counsel Robert Mueller, there's news his legal team is discussing it. Our panel reacts to all the latest Russia probe news.
Trump administration imposes tough Russia sanctions
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams 4/7/18
Hitting oligarchs, businesses, and more, the Trump Treasury Department handed down a tough package of sanctions against Russia. Our panel breaks it all down.
I Don't Know It For a Fact... | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)
Published on Apr 6, 2018 by Real Time with Bill Maher
"Long before Donald Trump was "hearing things," Bill Maher was making baseless assertions in a segment called "I Don't Know It For a Fact...I Just Know It's True."
Published on Apr 6, 2018 by Real Time with Bill Maher
Emmy-winning actor and comedian Louie Anderson speaks with Bill about playing a female character on 'Baskets' and America's approach to mental illness.
Tyler Perry discusses his movie "Acrimony" and describes how the success of his "Madea" franchise allowed him to forge a path to owning his own film studio.
While students left their classrooms to protest school shootings and gun violence on National School Walkout Day, true patriot Laura Ingraham suggested a pious alternative.
Retreating into his own mind, the president is visited by a specter of Special Counsel Robert Mueller (played by Griffin Dunne), who demands he confess his past sins.
Will We Stop Trump Before It’s Too Late? Fascism poses a more serious threat now than at any time since the end of World War II. By MADELEINE ALBRIGHT On April 28, 1945 — 73 years ago — Italians hung the corpse of their former dictator Benito Mussolini upside down next to a gas station in Milan. Two days later, Adolf Hitler committed suicide in his bunker beneath the streets of war-ravaged Berlin. Fascism, it appeared, was dead. To guard against a recurrence, the survivors of war and the Holocaust joined forces to create the United Nations, forge global financial institutions and — through the Universal Declaration of Human Rights — strengthen the rule of law. In 1989, the Berlin Wall came down and the honor roll of elected governments swelled not only in Central Europe, but also Latin America, Africa and Asia. Almost everywhere, it seemed, dictators were out and democrats were in. Freedom was ascendant. Today, we are in a new era, testing whether the democratic banner can remain aloft amid terrorism, sectarian conflicts, vulnerable borders, rogue social media and the cynical schemes of ambitious men. The answer is not self-evident. We may be encouraged that most people in most countries still want to live freely and in peace, but there is no ignoring the storm clouds that have gathered. In fact, fascism — and the tendencies that lead toward fascism — pose a more serious threat now than at any time since the end of World War II. Warning signs include the relentless grab for more authority by governing parties in Hungary, the Philippines, Poland and Turkey — all United States allies. The raw anger that feeds fascism is evident across the Atlantic in the growth of nativist movements opposed to the idea of a united Europe, including in Germany, where the right-wing Alternative für Deutschland has emerged as the principal opposition party. The danger of despotism is on display in the Russia of Vladimir Putin — invader of Ukraine, meddler in foreign democracies, accused political assassin, brazen liar and proud son of the K.G.B. Putin has just been re-elected to a new six-year term, while in Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, a ruthless ideologue, is poised to triumph in sham balloting next month. In China, Xi Jinping has persuaded a docile National People’s Congress to lift the constitutional limit on his tenure in power. Around the Mediterranean, the once bright promise of the Arab Spring has been betrayed by autocratic leaders, such as Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt (also just re-elected), who use security to justify the jailing of reporters and political opponents. Thanks to allies in Moscow and Tehran, the tyrant Bashar al-Assad retains his stranglehold over much of Syria. In Africa, the presidents who serve longest are often the most corrupt, multiplying the harm they inflict with each passing year. Meanwhile, the possibility that fascism will be accorded a fresh chance to strut around the world stage is enhanced by the volatile presidency of Donald Trump. If freedom is to prevail over the many challenges to it, American leadership is urgently required. This was among the indelible lessons of the 20th century. But by what he has said, done and failed to do, Mr. Trump has steadily diminished America’s positive clout in global councils. Instead of mobilizing international coalitions to take on world problems, he touts the doctrine of “every nation for itself” and has led America into isolated positions on trade, climate change and Middle East peace. Instead of engaging in creative diplomacy, he has insulted United States neighbors and allies, walked away from key international agreements, mocked multilateral organizations and stripped the State Department of its resources and role. Instead of standing up for the values of a free society, Mr. Trump, with his oft-vented scorn for democracy’s building blocks, has strengthened the hands of dictators. No longer need they fear United States criticism regarding human rights or civil liberties. On the contrary, they can and do point to Mr. Trump’s own words to justify their repressive actions. At one time or another, Mr. Trump has attacked the judiciary, ridiculed the media, defended torture, condoned police brutality, urged supporters to rough up hecklers and — jokingly or not — equated mere policy disagreements with treason. He tried to undermine faith in America’s electoral process through a bogus advisory commission on voter integrity. He routinely vilifies federal law enforcement institutions. He libels immigrants and the countries from which they come. His words are so often at odds with the truth that they can appear ignorant, yet are in fact calculated to exacerbate religious, social and racial divisions. Overseas, rather than stand up to bullies, Mr. Trump appears to like bullies, and they are delighted to have him represent the American brand. If one were to draft a script chronicling fascism’s resurrection, the abdication of America’s moral leadership would make a credible first scene. Equally alarming is the chance that Mr. Trump will set in motion events that neither he nor anyone else can control. His policy toward North Korea changes by the day and might quickly return to saber-rattling should Pyongyang prove stubborn before or during talks. His threat to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement could unravel a pact that has made the world safer and could undermine America’s reputation for trustworthiness at a critical moment. His support of protectionist tariffs invites retaliation from major trading partners — creating unnecessary conflicts and putting at risk millions of export-dependent jobs. The recent purge of his national security team raises new questions about the quality of advice he will receive. John Bolton starts work in the White House on Monday. What is to be done? First, defend the truth. A free press, for example, is not the enemy of the American people; it is the protector of the American people. Second, we must reinforce the principle that no one, not even the president, is above the law. Third, we should each do our part to energize the democratic process by registering new voters, listening respectfully to those with whom we disagree, knocking on doors for favored candidates, and ignoring the cynical counsel: “There’s nothing to be done.” I’m 80 years old, but I can still be inspired when I see young people coming together to demand the right to study without having to wear a flak jacket. We should also reflect on the definition of greatness. Can a nation merit that label by aligning itself with dictators and autocrats, ignoring human rights, declaring open season on the environment, and disdaining the use of diplomacy at a time when virtually every serious problem requires international cooperation? To me, greatness goes a little deeper than how much marble we put in our hotel lobbies and whether we have a Soviet-style military parade. America at its best is a place where people from a multitude of backgrounds work together to safeguard the rights and enrich the lives of all. That’s the example we have always aspired to set and the model people around the world hunger to see. And no politician, not even one in the Oval Office, should be allowed to tarnish that dream. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/06/opinion/sunday/trump-fascism-madeleine-albright.html
The disinformation plague is far bigger than the Russians At long last, people have stopped asking “Is it really happening?” or “Does it really work?” or “Does it even matter?” Facebook has acknowledged the existence of Russian disinformation on its platform and has finally banned sites created by the Internet Research Agency, the Russian institution dedicated to covert online propaganda. Twitter has removed automated Russian botnets. Hearings and major conferences in France, Britain and Brussels have convened in recent weeks to discuss possible government responses to Russian disinformation campaigns within European democracies, too. I’ve been to some of the conferences, testified at some of the hearings, and have written about the subject ever since Russia dialed up its propaganda war against the West in 2014, following its invasion of Ukraine. I can hardly object to the increased attention. And yet the belated enthusiasm for exposing Russian manipulation worries me because it underrates the scale of the problem, which isn’t just confined to the Russians. Thanks in part to the investigation of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, we’ve all learned exactly how the Russians’ online tactics work. They use fake websites, fake Facebook pages and fake social media followers to give extra credence to extremist views, whether of the far right or the far left. They invent or manipulate stories — lifting them out of context, changing details, creating fake video — with the aim of provoking fear and deepening social divisions. In Germany, Russian trolls, bots and real-life Russian politicians famously pushed the invented story of “Lisa,” a Russian-German girl supposedly raped by Arab migrants. During the French election, Russian state media, supported by pro-Russian social media, promoted the story that Emmanuel Macron was backed by a “gay lobby” in the United States. But all of these tactics, first used on a large scale by the Russians, are also available to others — and not just other authoritarians. Openly, and legally, they are also used in Western democracies. As a part of its current fearmongering, xenophobic election campaign, the Hungarian ruling party — a member in good standing of the center-right caucus of the European parliament — used a range of platforms to disseminate a whole series of videos that were fake, taken out of context or technologically enhanced, for example with the audio of someone shouting “Allahu akbar” edited in to make a supposed scuffle between Muslims and Christians seem more authentic. Although the Hungarian state (and state-backed) media do also republish and recycle more straightforward Russian material, most of the “Russian-style” material used in Hungary is not foreign; it’s coming from the government itself, and it is then promoted by Hungarian bots and Hungarian trolls. Fox News and the Trump-friendly media operate in exactly the same way. As I’ve written in the past, Donald Trump openly used Russian slogans and narratives during his 2016 election campaign. At the moment, though, he doesn’t need to borrow from them anymore. A recent New York Times analysis of how the president came to be obsessed with the “caravan of illegal aliens” listed the ways the original story came to be enhanced and misreported, deliberately, by what we would in another country call pro-regime media. As retold on “Fox & Friends,” or hyped by Frontpage Mag, “Beltway pundit,” and thousands of bots and trolls (both voluntary and professional), the story lost some critical details: that many of the group were refugees from Honduras’s drug wars, or that many planned to stay in Mexico, or that others hope to cross the U.S. border legally to apply for asylum. By the time the tale of the caravan reached the president’s Twitter feed — which has featured faked or mislabeled video in the past, as well — it was an “invasion” requiring the presence of the National Guard. I repeat: These are Russian tactics. But they are being used by a U.S. president, a Hungarian government and others who are not in power, or not yet. That’s why solutions to disinformation campaigns that focus on Russia alone are insufficient. Here’s the real challenge faced by all the major platforms: how to re-engineer them to make them more resistant to organizations that, like the Internet Research Agency, engage in what one tech executive calls “coordinated inauthentic activity,” ranging from the use of false names and the creation of false audiences to the publication of false stories and the creation of divisive narratives. Perhaps they will have to limit the use of anonymity, change the algorithms that ensure that the most sensational material spreads the fastest, or institute transparency around video editing tools, especially as these become more sophisticated. Changing human nature will not, alas, be possible. There is no cure for cynicism, the ultimate source of disinformation — or at least none that anyone has yet found. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-disinformation-tactic-perfected-in-russia-has-spread-across-the-world/2018/04/06/e2be9dc2-39d5-11e8-8fd2-49fe3c675a89_story.html
Cyclist Juli Briskman sues after losing job for Trump insult A US cyclist who was sacked over a viral photo of her making an obscene gesture to President Donald Trump's motorcade is suing her former employer. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43659653
AP sources: EPA chief spent millions on security and travel WASHINGTON (AP) - Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt’s concern with his safety came at a steep cost to taxpayers as his swollen security detail blew through overtime budgets and at times diverted officers away from investigating environmental crimes. Altogether, the agency spent millions of dollars for a 20-member full-time detail that is three times the size of his predecessor’s part-time security contingent. New details in Pruitt’s expansive spending for security and travel emerged from agency sources and documents reviewed by The Associated Press. They come as the embattled EPA leader fends off allegations of profligate spending and ethical missteps that have imperiled his job. [...] https://apnews.com/e2fdc3fe88be432792817795a34fda46
Exclusive: Trump adviser played key role in pursuit of possible Clinton emails from dark web before election Trump campaign adviser offered emails he thought were Hillary Clinton's to FBI, intel committee (CNN) — A Donald Trump foreign policy adviser pushed government agencies to review materials from the dark web in the summer of 2016 that he thought were Hillary Clinton's deleted emails, multiple sources with direct knowledge tell CNN. Joseph Schmitz approached the FBI and other government agencies about material a client of his had discovered that Schmitz believed might have been Clinton's missing 30,000 emails from her private e-mail server, sources say. The material was never verified, and sources say they ultimately believed it was fake. His push is the latest example of Trump advisers who were mixed up in efforts to find dirt on Clinton during the presidential campaign. Schmitz was one of the first people Trump named to his campaign's national security and foreign policy team. The team, showcased in a March 2016 photo, was thrown together early in Trump's successful run as he faced mounting pressure to prove his ability to pull in high-level advisers who could help prepare him for the White House. Another adviser pictured in the photo, Trump's foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, was told by a Kremlin-connected professor that the Russian government had damaging material on Clinton. Six weeks later, Donald Trump Jr. got a message from a business associate offering similar information, leading to the Trump Tower meeting that Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort attended. Fired chief strategist Steve Bannon told the House Intelligence Committee in February that members of the Trump campaign "kept getting approached" by outsiders suggesting ways to get Clinton's emails, according to a source familiar with his testimony. Schmitz's connection to the multi-faceted effort to expose damaging information about Clinton has not been previously reported. His status as a former Pentagon inspector general afforded him access to the agencies and a sophisticated understanding of the government bureaucracy. He was relentless, sources say, and truly believed his client had found important, sensitive material. He did not hesitate in his pursuit even though the material on the dark web -- a part of the Internet not easily accessible or traceable -- was questionable and many experts already believed the Russians had stolen Clinton's emails. Schmitz met with officials at the FBI, the State Department and the Intelligence Community Inspector General -- the watchdog tasked with investigating Clinton's alleged mishandling of classified information. He claimed a source he called "PATRIOT," an unidentified contractor he was representing, had discovered what he believed was likely material stolen from Clinton that could contain classified information. Both the client and Schmitz were afraid that going through the material without permission could jeopardize their security clearances, though there is no indication their actions were illegal. While officials at the State Department and Inspector General briefly interviewed Schmitz, they declined to review or accept the information, according to sources familiar with the process. The FBI interviewed him as a part of its ongoing criminal investigation into Clinton's emails, sources said. It is not clear whether special counsel Robert Mueller is pursuing information about Schmitz's efforts. Schmitz then took a memo outlining his claims and concerns to the House Intelligence Committee. One cybersecurity expert outside the government who also saw the material on the dark web said the emails appeared to be fake, based on his review and the forum where they were posted. "I'm pretty sure they were posted on the (dark web) equivalent of Reddit," the source said. CNN made multiple attempts to seek a response from Schmitz, including approaching him in person Friday. He declined to comment for the story. A former campaign official told CNN in a text, "The campaign doesn't comment on matters of interest to the Special Counsel or the Congressional committees." A source connected to the campaign's foreign policy team said he had no knowledge of Schmitz's efforts. The FBI declined to comment on questions about interviews with Schmitz, as did special counsel Robert Mueller's spokesperson Peter Carr about whether Mueller had interviewed Schmitz or might in the future. The Intelligence Community Inspector General, State Department and House Intelligence Committee also declined to comment. Meanwhile, Schmitz and his associates may still be a part of Trump's orbit. One of Schmitz's colleagues at his small law firm, Dennis Dean Kirk, was tapped by Trump in March to lead the federal workers' appeal committee, the Merit Systems Protection Board. A Trump team original Schmitz became one of Trump's first five campaign foreign policy advisers in the spring of 2016. Trump announced his role during an interview with The Washington Post that March, alongside the four other originals: counterterrorism speaker Walid Phares, former Lt. Gen Keith Kellogg, academic Carter Page and oil and energy consultant George Papadopoulos. Schmitz, a former Pentagon inspector general in George W. Bush's administration as well as a co-worker and confidant of Blackwater USA founder Erik Prince, told the Chicago Tribune he had been working for the Trump campaign for about a month prior to the announcement, communicating closely with top Trump adviser Sam Clovis. A photo posted to Trump's Twitter and Instagram in March 2016 shows all of the original advisers at a conference table with Trump, including now-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, in the Trump International Hotel in Washington. Schmitz also attended the Republican National Convention with Page and other advisers, according to USA Today. Schmitz counseled Trump "through the November election," according to a biography on his law firm's website. After Trump's election victory, he considered Schmitz as a possible Secretary of the Navy, first reported by the Daily Caller and confirmed by CNN's sources. Schmitz is no stranger to controversy. His background came under scrutiny when he was first named as a Trump adviser, including comments former colleagues alleged he had made downplaying the Holocaust -- accusations Schmitz has said are false and defamatory. In the private sector, Schmitz has represented anti-Clinton activist Wayne Shelby Simmons. Schmitz is connected to the Center for Security Policy, a far-right organization that has promoted ant The email hunt While Schmitz tried to get the emails reviewed, other Trump campaign associates also pursued dirt about Clinton, including information that was potentially stolen. Papadopoulos, who served on the foreign policy team with Schmitz, was told in April 2016 by a Kremlin-connected professor that the Russian government had "thousands of emails" that were damaging to Clinton. It's unclear whether the emails Papadopoulos was told about were linked to Schmitz's efforts. Papadopoulos pleaded guilty in October to lying to investigators and has been cooperating with Mueller. Six weeks after Papadopoulos was told about the emails, Donald Trump Jr. got a similar message from a business associate who said the Russian government wanted to provide "information that would incriminate Hillary." A group of Russians visited Trump Tower to speak directly to Trump Jr., Kushner and Manafort. Both sides deny collusion and say the meeting produced nothing. Then there was Peter Smith, a well-connected GOP figure and Chicago investment banker who committed suicide after experiencing declining health in May 2017. He was openly obsessed with getting his hands on the deleted Clinton emails throughout 2016. There is no indication that Smith is connected to Schmitz's efforts or the Trump campaign. In the fall of 2016, according to the Wall Street Journal, US intelligence officials picked up chatter likely between Russian hackers hoping to steal Clinton's emails and possibly get them to foreign policy adviser Michael Flynn and Trump's team through an intermediary. Sources told CNN there was no indication that Schmitz was communicating with or influenced by agents of a foreign power when he brought the supposedly hacked material to US government agencies. Peter Clement, a top analyst at the CIA on Europe and Eurasia before retiring in the winter of 2017, told CNN he was not aware of Schmitz but says it is "extremely plausible" that his penchant for conspiracy theories could have made him a target for various foreign influencers, including Russia. "There's a lot we don't know, but Russians during the campaign were clearly targeting specific groups and parts of the country," Clement said. Additionally, Clement said Schmitz's business ties "would have made him stand out." His small law firm represents a major Russian airline previously sanctioned by the US State Department for arms deals with Iran. https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/06/politics/joseph-schmitz-trump-adviser-clinton-emails/index.html
BBC: 'Orbán thinks he can manipulate Putin' According to the polls, Fidesz and its president, Viktor Orbán are most likely to win the elections due on Sunday. What will it mean for Europe if he wins again? BBC presents a lengthy portrait of a politician who, it says, critics attack "as a racist and an authoritarian". https://bbj.hu/politics/bbc-orban-thinks-he-can-manipulate-putin_147697 citing: The man who thinks Europe has been invaded Viktor Orban presents himself as the defender of Hungary and Europe against Muslim migrants. He hopes to win a third consecutive term as a prime minister who puts national sovereignty before everything else. But critics attack him as a racist and an authoritarian. What will it mean for Europe if he wins again? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/Viktor_Orban
Soros-Linked NGOs Fell Victim To A Big, Sophisticated Undercover Operation. Hungary’s Prime Minister Has Benefited The Most. Fake companies using fake websites, covert recordings made in European hotels, and anti-Soros stories leaked to pro-government media: Welcome to Hungary’s election campaign. https://www.buzzfeed.com/albertonardelli/george-soros-hungary-election
The US Hit Dozens Of Russian Individuals And Entities, Many Close To Putin, With New Sanctions “Russian oligarchs and elites who profit from this corrupt system will no longer be insulated from the consequences of their government's destabilizing activities,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said. https://www.buzzfeed.com/coralewis/new-sanctions-38-russian-government-oligarchs
Why Mueller Named a Russian Oligarch in Court The Russian oligarchs sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury on Friday may not be the only ones who interest Mueller as he looks for ties between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. https://www.thedailybeast.com/is-muellers-eye-on-some-russian-oligarchs
Trump admits his trade war with China will cause 'pain' and investors will lose 'a little bit' but claims it will make America 'a much stronger country' Trump announced $50 billion in tariffs on Chinese imports on Tuesday He added another $100 billion Thursday, noting China had targeted U.S. agriculture in retaliation Markets have been on a roller coaster with each tit-for-tat move, but have stabilized back to where they began the week Trump has insisted the U.S. is not starting a 'trade war' but said America would win one 'I'm not saying there wont be a little pain,' he said, 'but the market's gone up 40 per cent, 42 per cent. So we might lose a little bit of it' 'But we're going to have a much stronger country when we're finished. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5585115/China-vows-fight-COST-trade-war-Trump-threatens-100BN-tariffs.html
China President Xi's broad political power gives him an upper hand over Trump in a trade war President Donald Trump and China President Xi Jinping are escalating threats to impose billions of dollars in tariffs. But Xi is not bound by the political constraints of American democracy that Trump must navigate. While Trump's own political party is speaking out against the tariff threats, experts say public opinion in China supports Xi's retaliation because it sees Trump as the aggressor in the dispute. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/06/xi-jinpings-political-power-gives-him-an-upper-hand-as-tariff-threats-heat-up.html
U.S. Job Growth Eased in March; Unemployment Steady at 4.1% 103,000 jobs were added last month. Wall Street economists had expected an increase of about 185,000, according to Bloomberg. The unemployment rate was 4.1 percent for the sixth straight month. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/06/business/economy/jobs-report.html
Facebook will require more authentication for people buying political ads Facebook will require additional authorization on who can buy "issue ads," including purchaser identity and location. Political ads will be clearly labeled. Managers of pages with large followings will also need to be authenticated, though it is unclear what that process will look like. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/06/facebook-will-require-more-authentication-for-people-buying-political-ads.html
Mark Zuckerberg With important elections coming up in the US, Mexico, Brazil, India, Pakistan and more countries in the next year, one of my top priorities for 2018 is making sure we support positive discourse and prevent interference in these elections. After we identified Russian interference in the 2016 US elections, we successfully deployed new AI tools leading up to the 2017 French, German, and Alabama Senate special elections that removed tens of thousands of fake accounts. Earlier this week, we took down a large network of Russian fake accounts that included a Russian news organization. Today we're taking two more big steps: First, from now on, every advertiser who wants to run political or issue ads will need to be verified. To get verified, advertisers will need to confirm their identity and location. Any advertiser who doesn't pass will be prohibited from running political or issue ads. We will also label them and advertisers will have to show you who paid for them. We're starting this in the US and expanding to the rest of the world in the coming months. For even greater political ads transparency, we have also built a tool that lets anyone see all of the ads a page is running. We're testing this in Canada now and we'll launch it globally this summer. We're also creating a searchable archive of past political ads. Second, we will also require people who manage large pages to be verified as well. This will make it much harder for people to run pages using fake accounts, or to grow virally and spread misinformation or divisive content that way. In order to require verification for all of these pages and advertisers, we will hire thousands of more people. We're committed to getting this done in time for the critical months before the 2018 elections. These steps by themselves won't stop all people trying to game the system. But they will make it a lot harder for anyone to do what the Russians did during the 2016 election and use fake accounts and pages to run ads. Election interference is a problem that's bigger than any one platform, and that's why we support the Honest Ads Act. This will help raise the bar for all political advertising online. https://www.facebook.com/zuck/posts/10104784125525891
If you meet with Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg, make sure you have 'only good news' The private conference room belonging to Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's chief operating officer, has a sign on the door that says, "only good news," according to NPR. In the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Sandberg and her company haven't had a lot of good news to talk about. http://www.businessinsider.com/facebooks-sandberg-sign-on-door-saying-only-good-news-2018-4
Sheryl Sandberg: Facebook knew about Cambridge Analytica 2 1/2 years ago but didn't follow up Facebook knew Cambridge Analytica was mishandling user data 2 1/2 years ago, the company's chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, told NBC. But when the company discovered the problem, she said, executives relied on the consulting firm's assurances that it had deleted the data. The company could have done an audit but did not, she said. "To this day, we still don't know what data Cambridge Analytica have," she told the Financial Times. "We made mistakes and I own them and they are on me." http://www.businessinsider.com/sheryl-sandberg-facebook-knew-about-cambridge-analytica-2018-4
Sheryl Sandberg Says More Facebook Data Breaches Are ‘Possible’ | TODAY
'Yes, that's possible': Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg reveals there could be MORE data breaches like the Cambridge Analytica scandal and admits bosses should have acted 'years ago' to protect user privacy Facebook's chief operating officer appeared on NBC's Today to discuss failings Said firm knew Cambridge Analytica was hoarding data more than two years ago Admitted bosses should have acted straight away and ensured data was deleted Also conceded that Facebook was guilty of a '10 out of 10' breach of users' trust Sandberg said yesterday users could dodge adverts but only if they paid a fee http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5585897/Yes-thats-possible-Facebook-COO-Sheryl-Sandberg-reveals-data-breaches.html
Facebook backs off its creepy plans to secretly access private medical records and match the data to user profiles Project aimed to build profiles that combined user's medical and Facebook data This would help hospitals work out which patients might need special care The project was being led by a Stanford cardiologist called Freddy Abnousi The proposal has been paused following the Cambridge Analytical scandal Although the data would obscure identifiable information, they could have been identified by combining data sets http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5585139/Facebook-sent-doctor-secret-missions-obtain-patients-medical-data.html
Mexican President hits out at Trump saying negotiations between the countries don't 'justify threatening or disrespectful attitudes' - includes Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto full statement to President Trump Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto addressed Trump on Twitter Thursday He said Trump's frustrations are to the US 'laws or to your Congress, it is to them that you should turn to, not to Mexicans' He also said they are 'not going to permit negative rhetoric to define our actions' Peña Nieto's statements come on the heels of a week of Trump railing against Mexico, the caravan of Honduran asylum seekers and sending troops to border Thursday Trump said women are being raped in record numbers in the caravans He also said there is no way to tell if the asylum seekers are 'thugs' or 'killers' and 'murderers' http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5584837/Mexican-President-hits-Trump-saying-negotiation-dont-justify-disrespectful-attitudes.html
Trump Advisor Michael Cohen Apologizes for Rape Comment WASHINGTON D.C. — A top adviser to Donald Trump apologized Tuesday for comments he made in an explosive interview while defending the Republican presidential candidate from a decades-old rape accusation. Michael Cohen, special counsel to Trump and an executive vice president at The Trump Organization, asserted in an interview published Monday in the Daily Beast that legally “you cannot rape your spouse.” The rape accusation stems from an accusation Trump’s then-wife Ivana Trump leveled at her husband during divorce proceedings in the early 1990s, an accusation she walked back in a statement Tuesday. Marital rape today is illegal in all 50 states and non-consensual sex between spouses does in fact constitute rape. [...] http://cw33.com/2015/07/28/trump-advisor-michael-cohen-apologizes-for-rape-comment/
'If you kill someone, we might kill you back': Georgia sheriff known for his controversial signs unveils his latest offering Harris County sheriff Mike Jolley has displayed a new controversial sign outside the sheriff's department The sign, posted Tuesday, reads: 'Our citizens have concealed weapons. If you kill someone, we might kill you back. We have ONE jail and 356 cemeteries. Enjoy your stay!' Jolley said response has been mostly positive but a few Facebook users thought the warning went a little too far In 2015, Jolley posted a 'politically incorrect' sign that read in part: 'We say: Merry Christmas, God Bless ... If this offends you … LEAVE!' http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5587223/If-kill-kill-Georgia-sheriff-unveils-controversial-sign.html
Judge: Assault weapons ban doesn’t violate 2nd Amendment BOSTON (AP) - Assault weapons and large-capacity magazines are not protected by the Second Amendment, a federal judge said in a ruling Friday upholding Massachusetts’ ban on the weapons. U.S. District Judge William Young dismissed a lawsuit challenging the 20-year-old ban, saying assault weapons are military firearms that fall beyond the reach of the constitutional right to “bear arms.” Regulation of the weapons is a matter of policy, not for the courts, he said. “Other states are equally free to leave them unregulated and available to their law-abiding citizens,” Young said. “These policy matters are simply not of constitutional moment. Americans are not afraid of bumptious, raucous and robust debate about these matters. We call it democracy.” State Attorney General Maura Healey said the ruling “vindicates the right of the people of Massachusetts to protect themselves from these weapons of war.” “Strong gun laws save lives, and we will not be intimidated by the gun lobby in our efforts to end the sale of assault weapons and protect our communities and schools,” Healey, a Democrat, said in a statement. “Families across the country should take heart in this victory.” AR-15 assault-style rifles are under increased scrutiny because of their use in several recent mass shootings, including the February massacre at a Florida high school that left 17 people dead. The Gun Owners Gun Owners’ Action League of Massachusetts and other groups that filed the lawsuit argued that the AR-15 cannot be considered a “military weapon” because it cannot fire in fully automatic mode. But Young dismissed that argument, noting that the semi-automatic AR-15's design is based on guns “that were first manufactured for military purposes” and that the AR-15 is “common and well-known in the military.” “The AR-15 and its analogs, along with large capacity magazines, are simply not weapons within the original meaning of the individual constitutional right to ‘bear arms,’” Young wrote. Young also upheld Healey’s 2016 enforcement notice to gun sellers and manufacturers clarifying what constitutes a “copy” or “duplicate” weapon under the state’s 1998 assault weapon ban, including copies of the Colt AR-15 and the Kalashnikov AK-47. Healey’s stepped-up enforcement followed the shooting rampage at a nightclub in Orlando, Florida, that killed 49 patrons. She said at the time that gun manufacturers were circumventing Massachusetts’ ban by selling copycat versions of the weapons they claimed complied with the law. The Massachusetts assault weapons ban mirrors the federal ban that expired in 2004. It prohibits the sale of specific and name-brand weapons and explicitly bans copies or duplicates of those weapons. Jim Wallace, executive director of the Massachusetts gun owners group, said Young’s upholding of Healey’s crackdown on copycat assault weapons gives the attorney general “unbridled authority” to interpret laws as she pleases. “Everyone in the state should be really concerned about that,” Wallace said. “What if the next attorney general isn’t a friend on one of your issues?” Wallace said he couldn’t yet say whether the group will appeal the ruling. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution allows Americans to have guns in their homes for self-defense, blocking local governments from banning handguns. But the court last year turned away an appeal from Maryland gun owners who challenged the state’s ban on assault weapons. https://www.apnews.com/6fc3007dee0c4949ae26e2917ae7fec4/Judge:-Assault-weapons-ban-doesn't-violate-2nd-Amendment
If the Republican Party Can Be Saved From Its Trumpocalypse, This Senator Could Be the Key
"Trump Escalates Already-Deadly U.S. Border Policies, Ordering National Guard Troops to Mexico"
Long before his colleagues saw the light, Ben Sasse repudiated Trump and demanded a new kind of politics. But is the GOP ready for his reformation?
Tim Murphy September/October 2016 issue
IMAGE - Anita Kunz
One evening in early May, Sen. Ben Sasse sat at his home on the banks of the Platte River just outside Fremont, Nebraska, and began writing a message “to majority America.” Donald Trump had just become the de facto Republican presidential nominee. As Sasse explained in a Facebook post that would soon go viral, two things had happened that day that he couldn’t shake. His phone had been flooded with voicemails from party leaders asking the first-term Republican to get on board with the GOP’s candidate. And he had gone shopping at Walmart.
Sasse had been critical of Trump throughout the primaries—mocking his insecurity about the size of his hands, crashing a private meeting between Glenn Beck and Fox News’ Sean Hannity to assail the latter’s Trump coverage as “bull,” and even traveling to Iowa to warn voters that Trump talked like a man who was running to be king. Trump, for his part, retorted that the 44-year-old Sasse looked like a “gym rat.” But as Sasse navigated the aisles of Walmart, his shopping trip became a rolling public forum. Shopper after shopper approached him, he wrote, with the same refrain. They were fed up with both parties; they were sick of Trump as well as Hillary Clinton; and mostly, they were tired of Washington punting on its responsibilities.
And so Sasse, putting off his kids’ bedtime bath to keep writing, proposed an alternative. What if there were someone else—a candidate running on a minimalist platform that promised to focus on three or four things, like entitlement reform and fighting terrorism: “I think there is room—an appetite—for such a candidate.”
To the chagrin of the party’s Never Trump rump, Sasse made clear that he himself would not be that candidate. Nevertheless, as his colleagues one by one climbed aboard the Trump train, Sasse steadfastly withheld his support from the GOP nominee.
[...]
His image reinforces his message—an aggressively relatable politician confronting a Washington power structure that’s way out of touch. In a nod to old Senate tradition, he waited nearly a year after his election to make his maiden speech. But when he took the floor, he was unsparing .. https://medium.com/@SenatorSasse/full-text-maiden-speech-on-the-senate-floor-d70892d29de0#.m3uqeaeno , warning that unnamed “grandstanders who use this institution as a platform for outside pursuits” were dooming the chamber to irrelevance, ceding governance to the executive branch, and weakening constitutional checks and balances. Sasse often reaches for the high note, arguing that the economic disruption that’s happening now—”disruption” being an essential Sasse buzzword .. http://www.watchmenpastors.org/archive-2016 —is magnified because our politicians are so ill-equipped for the challenge. Democrats are selling “central planning in the age of Uber,” he warns; Republicans are “trying to make America 1950 again.”
Sasse grew up in Fremont, a small city of farms and meatpacking plants 45 minutes northwest of Omaha that’s named for John C. Fremont, the first Republican candidate for president following the collapse of the Whig Party. Sasse has described his country childhood there as almost “artificially quaint.” On summer mornings he would wake up at 5 a.m. to catch a school bus to the farms outside of town, where he’d weed rows of soybeans and detassel corn—a Plains rite of adolescence that aids pollination.
[...]
Sasse has staked his future on stopping Trump. But Trumpism helps explain how he got to Washington.
[...]
Sasse’s wife, Melissa, taught at a boarding school outside New Haven, and he didn’t have much time for campus life. On fall weekends he would fly home for Cornhuskers football games. But he still managed to leave an impression: “Even among Yale Ph.D. students, Ben was still a cut above,” says his friend Will Inboden. “He stood out—he’s probably one of the two or three most brilliant people I’ve ever met.” When drinking at New Haven dives, Sasse might sketch out thoughts on a cocktail napkin. “It almost got to be a joke among us,” Inboden said. “Oh, there’s Sasse riffing on the Industrial Revolution again.”
After Yale, Sasse headed off to Washington for a quick succession of jobs in the Bush administration. He took a post helping to run the Justice Department’s in-house think tank, served seven months as “start-up” chief of staff to a newly elected Nebraska congressman, and was later tapped as an assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services, where he worked in the agency’s internal ideas shop. Then, in 2009, while teaching public policy at the University of Texas, Sasse got a call from home. Midland Lutheran College was in trouble.
[...]
Sasse has called Trump a “megalomaniac strongman” with a “creepy” tyrannical streak.
To some at Midland, Sasse is a savior. “Not only does he see around corners, but he sees around corners before other people see the building—all the time,” says Tom Adamson, a business professor. But as in the corporate world, where the jobs of longtime employees are often the first thing to go in a restructuring effort, Sasse got rid of tenure, forcing many of the professors who had been there longest into early retirement. He downsized the board by eliminating the seats belonging to the Lutheran Church, and reconstituted it with a smaller group of allies that included his college roommate. (The move happened so quietly that the head of the church’s Nebraska branch found out only after he showed up at a board meeting and was told he was no longer a member.) “You can usurp power, and then you can do certain things because you usurp power, but there might have been a kinder, gentler way to do that than to say, ‘These are the new rules; this is what we’re gonna do,'” Scott says.
[...]
No one issue or moment triggered the schism. Sasse has knocked the Muslim ban and labeled Trump’s remarks about the Mexican American judge handling his fraud case as “racism.” He vigorously supports the free-trade deals that Trump opposes. But he hasn’t made his fight about any one of those things. Rather it’s a critique of character—Trump’s crassness, ego, and misogyny—that Sasse squeezes into his general What Ails Washington framework. Worst of all, to Sasse, Trump is a big old liar who poisons the well of political discourse—just like those grandstanders in the Senate. “Our public square is plagued by habitual, brazen lying,” he wrote in July. “I do not believe this country can long survive if the public concedes in advance that people in government do not need to be consistently aiming to tell the truth.”
Ben Sasse has told Republicans that he “chose this party, for as long as it is useful.” Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
But for all of Sasse’s pleas for seriousness and big ideas, he’s shown that he’s comfortable with elements of Trumpism. In his Senate campaign, he told voters that America was “becoming a socialist mess, like Europe,” and that Obamacare “is arguably the worst law in our history“—he even brought a poster hawking “death panels” to a Fox News interview. He laments Washington’s inability to set aside partisan sniping to get serious on entitlement reform, but he has also called Medicare a “Ponzi scheme” and warned that we’re headed toward “cradle-to-grave dependency.” Sarah Palin, perhaps the second-most-visible icon of the know-nothing conservatism that Sasse now loves to deride, campaigned with him back in 2014, even starring in a TV ad. So did Ted Cruz, the embodiment of the kind of senatorial grandstanding Sasse has subsequently called out. Sasse is making noise about the abrasive, talk radio conservatism that helped America’s most prominent birther become the Republican presidential nominee, but that same wave helped him land his Senate seat. That isn’t particularly surprising. For all its Rotary Clubs and church groups, Fremont isn’t an escape from Trumpian insanity: It’s a birthplace of it.
For decades, one of Dodge County’s biggest employers has been the meatpacking industry. But beginning around the 1980s, when the unions weakened, Fremont experienced a demographic shift, as Latinos came to work in the plants. Some of Fremont’s white residents began to grow uneasy. In 2008, a city councilman introduced an ordinance drafted with the assistance of Kris Kobach, a lawyer who helped popularize self-deportation laws, that would require anyone renting an apartment or home in Fremont to apply for a license at the police station. (Kobach now serves as Kansas’ secretary of state and has advised Trump on immigration policy.) The license would cost $5, but as part of the process you’d have to indicate whether or not you’re a US citizen.
When the mayor cast a tie-breaking vote to defeat the measure in the city council, proponents put it on the ballot, drawing national attention and kicking off one of the most intense political fights in town history. Sasse, in his first spring in charge at Midland, made sure he and the college steered clear as Fremont voters approved the law. A federal court challenge was launched, and undocumented workers were told to avoid Sasse’s favorite Walmart, lest they be picked up by federal agents. Latino residents had their windows shot out. Flyers were posted warning that “providing housing to invaders is treason.”
[...]
A few days before the Republican National Convention, Sasse published an open letter—on Medium, of course .. https://medium.com/@BenSasse/two-kinds-of-voting-two-kinds-of-disruption-and-two-kinds-of-unrighteousness-fd26895aa01f#.u8w35k9vm —which he said he had begun composing while on a congressional delegation to Afghanistan over the Fourth of July, at a table “backed up against razor wire.” After reiterating that “DC should be disrupted” and using several hundred words to define theological righteousness, Sasse cast his decision not to vote for a presidential candidate in strong moral terms: “If we shrug at public dishonesty—if we normalize candidates who think that grabbing power makes it okay to say whatever they need to in the short-term—then we will be changed by it.”
Around the time he was drafting that letter, Sasse made clear he would not be attending the convention. The senator, his spokesman said, planned to instead take his children on a tour of Nebraska’s dumpster fires.
This post is specifically to this one, close to half-down in yours
Sasse on Trump trade war: 'the dumbest possible way to do this'
The Rachel Maddow Show 4/5/18
Rachel Maddow reports on Donald Trump raising the stakes in the trade war he is starting with China, and the reaction of Republican Senator Ben Sasse who says Trump is "threatening to light American agriculture on fire."
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