As the United Nations Security Council holds an emergency session over the growing prospect of a war between Russia and the U.S., after President Trump threatened U.S. strikes in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack in Douma, we get response from Syrian-Canadian writer Yazan al-Saadi. “Let’s remind everyone that the U.S. is striking Syria already. You have more than 2,000 soldiers on the ground. There are bases.” He adds, “For me, as a Syrian, I see it as an occupation, just like how I see the Russians are an occupation on the country.” Regarding the alleged chemical attack in Syria, he says, “This ignores the fact that most deaths are happening through conventional means,” such as airstrikes. https://www.democracynow.org/2018/4/13/syrian_researcher_focus_on_alleged_chemical[with embedded video, and transcript]
As Trump Reconsiders TPP Stance, Fair Trade Advocates Say Real Fight Is over NAFTA Renegotiation
Published on Apr 13, 2018 by Democracy Now!
President Trump campaigned against the Trans-Pacific Partnership, calling it a “disaster,” a “horrible deal” and a “rape of our country.” He withdrew from the controversial deal during his first week in office. But on Thursday, he told a group of state lawmakers he wants the U.S. to rejoin the pact. Meanwhile, 11 nations that represent about a seventh of the world’s economy signed the TPP earlier this year. We get response from Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch. “I do think where the real fight is right now is on NAFTA renegotiation,” Wallach says. “And this kind of pandering on the TPP makes that NAFTA fight even more important.” https://www.democracynow.org/2018/4/13/as_trump_reconsiders_tpp_stance_fair[with embedded video, and transcript]
Nearly 4 People Are Evicted Every Minute: New Project Tracks U.S. Eviction Epidemic & Effects
Published on Apr 13, 2018 by Democracy Now!
A new project called the Eviction Lab [ https://evictionlab.org/ ] examined more than 80 million eviction records going back to 2000 and found that in 2016 alone there were nearly four evictions filed every minute. More than 6,300 Americans are evicted every day. Studies show that eviction can lead to a host of other problems, including poor health, depression, job loss and shattered childhoods. Having an eviction on one’s record also makes it far more difficult to find decent housing in the future. Now the Eviction Lab’s database is being shared with the public in an interactive website that allows people to better track and understand evictions in their own communities. We speak with Matthew Desmond, who runs the project at Princeton University, where he is a professor of sociology. It grew out of his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, “Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City [ https://www.amazon.com/Evicted-Poverty-Profit-American-City/dp/0553447432 ].” https://www.democracynow.org/2018/4/13/nearly_4_people_are_evicted_every[with embedded video, and transcript]
Candidate Trump correctly stated that what Hillary wanted to do in Syria would cause World War 3, yet it is what the US, UK, & France are proposing to do right now. Today, Macron has taken the role for a Syrian war that Tony Blair assumed for the Iraq War — liar & cheerleader. Will Trump listen to this manipulative globalist? Then, after the dog and pony show with Facebook on Capitol Hill, Congress pretended to be outraged by Facebook’s actions. But they are a private implementation of a DARPA program, LifeLog. And, IRS whistleblower Joe Banister joins to warn of tax traps & give tax tips.
[from Alex Jones and his merry band of batshit bullshitters]
Text of a Letter from the President to the Speaker of the House of Representatives
Issued on: April 13, 2018
Dear Mr. Speaker:
I ask the Congress to consider the enclosed fiscal year (FY) 2019 Budget amendments for the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, the Interior, Justice, Labor, State, Transportation, the Treasury, and Veterans Affairs, and the Environmental Protection Agency, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Science Foundation, Social Security Administration, U.S. Agency for International Development, and Other International Programs.
These amendments are necessary to correctly reflect policies assumed in my FY 2019 Budget. These amendments include correction amendments, which would not affect the overall FY 2019 budget authority totals. In addition, these amendments include the appropriations language needed to formally reflect the February 12, 2018, “Addendum to the President’s FY 2019 Budget to Account for the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018” (Addendum). Consistent with the aforementioned February 12, 2018, Addendum, these amendments would increase the total net discretionary budget authority counted under the discretionary spending caps in my FY 2019 Budget by $95 billion, with $20 billion more counted under the defense cap and $75 billion more counted under the non-defense cap. This would bring base discretionary funding in my FY 2019 Budget to the defense cap specified in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 of $647 billion while holding non-defense funding to $540 billion, or $57 billion below the non-defense cap.
The details of this proposal are set forth in the enclosed letter from the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
FFRF Co-President Dan Barker discusses Director of Strategic Response Andrew Seidel's work to prevent the encroachment of religion into our secular government.
In 1981, armed Klansmen cruised Galveston Bay and practiced guerrilla tactics at secret paramilitary camps. They tried to destroy Vietnamese-Americans' fishing businesses by burning their boats and threatening their lives. Center attorneys filed a lawsuit that stopped the Klan's terror campaign and shut down its paramilitary training bases.
Friday, April 13th 2018: Emergency 34-Hour Broadcast - Stop the next world war! Participating in this explosive 34-hour broadcast are experts from the Pentagon, Russia, Germany, and the UK. Most war-game scenarios show that an escalation in the Middle East will turn into a thermonuclear war within hours. Today we fight to stop that from happening. Joining today's segment is Dr. Steve Pieczenik providing his powerful insight into the Deep State and Trump's foreign policy.
Natalie had to confront a religious family and culture with the declaration that she is both atheist and a trans woman. https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/ helped provide the community and support that others did not.
Ken Ham is the keynote speaker at the Alberta Home Education Association Convention this weekend, but I'm not there to hear what he has to say. I paid my full admission price, but when Answers in Genesis heard that I would be there, my registration was revoked just hours before the event.
I stood up for Ken's right to free speech, but I'm the one ending up being censored... from merely listening.
Statement from the Press Secretary Regarding the Pardon of I. “Scooter” Lewis Libby
Issued on: April 13, 2018
Today, President Donald J. Trump issued an Executive Grant of Clemency (Full Pardon) to I. “Scooter” Lewis Libby, former Chief of Staff to Vice President Richard Cheney, for convictions stemming from a 2007 trial. President George W. Bush commuted Mr. Libby’s sentence shortly after his conviction. Mr. Libby, nevertheless, paid a $250,000 fine, performed 400 hours of community service, and served two years of probation.
In 2015, one of the key witnesses against Mr. Libby recanted her testimony, stating publicly that she believes the prosecutor withheld relevant information from her during interviews that would have altered significantly what she said. The next year, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals unanimously reinstated Mr. Libby to the bar, reauthorizing him to practice law. The Court agreed with the District of Columbia Disciplinary Counsel, who stated that Mr. Libby had presented “credible evidence” in support of his innocence, including evidence that a key prosecution witness had “changed her recollection of the events in question.”
Before his conviction, Mr. Libby had rendered more than a decade of honorable service to the Nation as a public servant at the Department of State, the Department of Defense, and the White House. His record since his conviction is similarly unblemished, and he continues to be held in high regard by his colleagues and peers.
In light of these facts, the President believes Mr. Libby is fully worthy of this pardon. “I don’t know Mr. Libby,” said President Trump, “but for years I have heard that he has been treated unfairly. Hopefully, this full pardon will help rectify a very sad portion of his life.”
The deep state is attacking President Trump and the Republic on many different angles. From the fake news and it's agents in the media baiting Trump to fire Mueller so they can scream obstruction of justice, to James Comey launching his book tour and going on ABC, to a false flag in Syria, the deep state is in total panic mode that President Trump has been successful is saving America and exposing the deep state.
[from Alex Jones and his merry band of batshit bullshitters]
The environmental impact of border walls, explained.
When we talk about the consequences of the proposed wall at the border of the US and Mexico, we usually think in terms of people. But along the political divide are rich pockets of biodiversity, with dwindling populations of species that rely on the ability to move back and forth across the border.
Under the 2005 REAL ID act, the Department of Homeland Security doesn't have to comply with various environmental laws that might otherwise slow or halt construction in a sensitive area. Laws like the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act, the National Environmental Policy Act or the Migratory Bird Treaty Act — none of those apply to border wall construction.
Several parcels of land, including the National Butterfly Center, a state park, and other areas in the federal wildlife refuge system — are still threatened by wall construction. It could still be years before construction starts in some of these areas — but there’s still a lot we don’t know about the full impact of barriers on biodiversity.
Bombshell: Why James Comey’s “pee tape” claim matters to Bob Mueller
The Beat with Ari Melber 4/13/18
James Comey says it’s “possible” a tape of Russian "Prostitutes Peeing on Each Other" is real. Christina Greer, a fellow at NYU`s McSilver Institute, Nicholas Kristof, a Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for The New York Times and former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul join "The Beat with Ari Melber."
Why Trump is Terrified: New FBI plan to expose Trump’s secret talks with his lawyer
The Beat with Ari Melber 4/13/18
Stormy Daniels’ lawyer, Michael Avenatti, joins Ari Melber right after attending Michael Cohen’s court hearing where the FBI accused Cohen of misconduct in a scathing new court filing. Avenatti says there is a “high likelihood” that not all communications between Cohen and President Trump are attorney-client privileged.
Rapper Dave East tells NYPD to fall back over shootings
The Beat with Ari Melber 4/13/18
Rapper Dave East speaks out on the recent killing of unarmed black man by NY police, and how having a daughter impacts his life and growth, while actor Isiah Whitlock calls out Sean Hannity and Nick Kristof says Trump and Mitch McConnell can do more to fight human rights abuse abroad. A special edition of Fallback Friday on "The Beat with Ari Melber."
Facebook executives often talk about their mission as “bringing the world closer together.”
With more than 2 billion users, it’s true that the platform does connect people. But one thing that Mark Zuckerberg’s two days of congressional testimony highlighted is that simply connecting people is not how Facebook reached a market cap of nearly $500 billion.
At its core, Facebook is an advertising company. In 2017, 98 percent of its $40 billion in revenue came from advertising. It’s not your data that Facebook is selling, it’s your attention.
Facebook’s ad platform translates your clicks and posts into “user attributes,” and places you in certain categories for advertisers. For example, your activity could suggest an that you recently had a child, that you’re a Bernie Sanders fan, or that you have an “affinity” for certain racial groups.
One of the most powerful features is called “Custom Audiences,” which allows an advertiser to target individuals based on offline information such as email address or phone numbers. An advertiser can upload that data to Facebook, which will match them with its user base to find who they belong to. Then there are so-called “dark posts,” a feature Facebook is in the process of changing, which only show up in the news feeds of specific audiences and are completely hidden to everyone else.
These tools can be used by anyone who wants to advertise on Facebook, and critics say that’s an open invitation for malicious actors. Watch this video to learn more about how Facebook’s ad targeting works, and why it’s so effective.
Mueller has evidence confirming part of the dossier: Report
All In with Chris Hayes 4/13/18
Special Counsel Robert Mueller has evidence that President Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen was in Prague in 2016 - which Cohen denied - confirming part of the infamous dossier.
Maddow: Trump's personal turmoil taints U.S. military options
The Rachel Maddow Show 4/13/18
Rachel Maddow points out that the fact of Donald Trump's chaotic personal circumstances will unavoidably influence how U.S. actions and intentions are perceived around the world.
Trump announces operation targeting Syria chemical infrastructure
The Rachel Maddow Show 4/13/18
Courtney Kube, NBC News military and national security reporter, talks with Rachel Maddow about the military operation announced by Donald Trump against Syria in response to suspected chemical attacks.
Trump juggles personal chaos with international issues
The Rachel Maddow Show 4/13/18
Hallie Jackson, NBC News White House correspondent reports that Donald Trump's peronal attorney Michael Cohen is denying a McClatchy report that Robert Mueller has evidence of Cohen visiting Prague in 2016, just one of several significant issues Trump is dealing with as military operations take place in Syria.
Russian presence in Syria a concern as US, UK, France attack
The Rachel Maddow Show 4/13/18
Keir Simmons, NBC News foreign correspondent, reports live from Moscow on the Russian concerns in Syria and considerations made of the Russian presence by the joint strike by U.S., Britain, and France.
Trump leaves open question of further US action in Syria
The Rachel Maddow Show 4/13/18
Richard Engel, NBC News chief foreign correspondent, talks with Rachel Maddow about the questions raised by Donald Trump's characterization of military strikes in Syria as being part of an open-ended operation.
Syria announces defenses activated in response to joint strike
The Rachel Maddow Show 4/13/18
Col. Jack Jacobs, NBC News military analyst, talks with Rachel Maddow about the likely strategies being employed by the U.S. and its allies in new attacks on Syria and Syria's defensive operations.
Reports identify 'significant strikes' to three Syrian areas
The Rachel Maddow Show 4/13/18
Bill Neely, NBC News chief global correspondent, talks with Rachel Maddow about early reports of the targets being hit in what is being described as the largest ever series of airstrikes on Damascus.
Scope of Syria strikes hotly debated in White House
The Rachel Maddow Show 4/13/18
Andrea Mitchell, NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent, talks with Rachel Maddow about the debate within the White House about the concerns about escalating a war in Syria and the potential for a cyber-based retaliation.
Alex Jones has a meltdown over Syria on live stream!
[included Alex Jones and crew from April 13, 2018]
[for the moment at least at] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDkBB9kDKJ4 [a bit more from before the beginning of the YouTube just above, continuing with excerpts from the YouTube just above, with smartazz annotations and interjections; no comments yet]
Alex Jones flipped out about Trumps involvement in Syria last night. Here's a bit more insight into what has been happening with Alex, along with why Trump could have taken the action that he did in Syria.
[included Alex Jones and crew (first two portions) from April 13, 2018]
[for the moment at least at] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV-tf5KFtEM [first part overlaps the latter portion of the YouTube second above, with a bit more included at the end; second portion excerpted from the YouTube second below; third and final portion, excerpted from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCmoRZNMVKo , not directly related; with comments]
[from April 13, 2018 (the three YouTubes just above together include at least nearly complete coverage of that Alex Jones special, which then led into his official special broadcast for the evening, next YouTube below)]
Former U.S. Attorney Chuck Rosenberg reacts to President Trump's tweets about the Department of Justice and comments made by former FBI Director James Comey in his new book.
America's Next Top Model host and "Perfect Is Boring" author Tyra Banks shares some of the colorful life and career lessons that she learned from her mother.
Published on Apr 14, 2018 by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Mini bats to fend off assailants: an idea so crazy that it just might definitely not work. While it's important to shine a new approaches to preventing guns in schools, it can be equally educational to shed a light on techniques that definitely won't work.
Russia says Syrian 'chemical attack' was staged Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said a reported chemical attack in Syria was staged by foreign agents. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-43747922
DOJ inspector general releases scathing report on fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe The Department of Justice's inspector general released the findings of an internal investigation into Andrew McCabe, the former FBI deputy director. The Office of the Inspector General found at least four instances in which McCabe "lacked candor" when discussing his decision to authorize disclosures to the media about the FBI's investigation into the Clinton Foundation. The report concluded that "McCabe's decision to confirm the existence of the [Clinton Foundation] Investigation through an anonymously sourced quote ... was clearly not within the public interest exception." http://www.businessinsider.com/andrew-mccabe-doj-inspector-general-report-2018-4
Two men rip off a 18-year-old Danish tourist's MAGA hat and threaten him with a knife in horrifying attack at a Manhattan subway station A Danish tourist, 18, was attacked Thursday at the Union Square subway station Two men snatched the teen's Make America Great Again cap off his head When the teen tried to retrieve the hat, one of the men pulled out a knife The pair ran off and police have released a sketch of one suspect The hat is a prominent piece of merchandise in Trump's political campaign http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5612615/Knife-wielding-pair-attack-Danish-tourist-18-NYC-ripping-MAGA-hat.html
Isolated and Unnerved, Trump Sees Inquiry Into His Lawyer as Greater Threat Than Mueller President Trump’s advisers have concluded that a wide-ranging corruption investigation in New York poses a greater and more imminent threat to the president than even the special counsel’s investigation, according to several people close to Mr. Trump. As his lawyers went to court on Friday to try to block prosecutors from reading files that were seized from his longtime personal lawyer and fixer this week, Mr. Trump found himself increasingly isolated in mounting a response. He continued to struggle to hire a new criminal lawyer, and some of his own aides were reluctant to advise him about a response for fear of being dragged into a criminal investigation themselves. The raids on Mr. Trump’s lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, came as part of a monthslong federal investigation based in New York, court records show, and were sweeping in their breadth. In addition to searching his home, office and hotel room, F.B.I. agents seized material from Mr. Cohen’s cellphones, tablet, laptop and safe deposit box, according to people briefed on the warrants. Prosecutors revealed in court documents that they had already secretly obtained many of Mr. Cohen’s emails. Mr. Trump called Mr. Cohen on Friday to “check in,” according to two people briefed on the call. Depending on what else was discussed, the call could be problematic, as lawyers typically advise their clients against discussing investigations. Mr. Cohen has publicly declared that he would defend the president to the end, but court documents show that prosecutors are building a significant case that could put pressure on him to cooperate and tell investigators what he knows. The documents seized by prosecutors could shed light on the president’s relationship with a lawyer who has helped navigate some of Mr. Trump’s thorniest personal and business dilemmas. Mr. Cohen served for more than a decade as a trusted fixer and, during the campaign, helped tamp down brewing scandals about women who claimed to have carried on affairs with Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump, Mr. Cohen and their teams were still scrambling on Friday to assess the damage from the raid early Monday morning. They remained unsure what had been taken, an uncertainty that has heightened the unease around Mr. Trump. Although his lawyers had projected confidence in their dealings with the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, they were caught flat-footed by the New York raids. The lawyers fear that Mr. Cohen will not be forthcoming with them about what was in his files, leaving them girding for the unknown. Mr. Cohen and Mr. Trump, through their lawyers, argued in federal court on Friday that many of the seized records were protected by attorney-client privilege. They asked for an order temporarily prohibiting prosecutors from reading the documents until the matter could be litigated. Mr. Cohen argued that he or an independent lawyer should be allowed to review the documents first. “Those searches have been executed, and the evidence is locked down,” Joanna C. Hendon, a lawyer for Mr. Trump, said in court. “I’m not trying to delay. I’m just trying to ensure that it’s done scrupulously.” Prosecutors argued that the previously seized emails revealed that Mr. Cohen was “performing little to no legal work, and that zero emails were exchanged with President Trump.” They said their investigation was focused on Mr. Cohen’s business dealings, not his work as a lawyer. But it is difficult to extract Mr. Cohen from his work for Mr. Trump. For more than a decade, Mr. Trump has unleashed Mr. Cohen on his foes — investigative journalists, business rivals and potential litigants. And the New York search warrant makes clear that the authorities are interested in his unofficial role in the campaign. Prosecutors demanded all communication with the campaign — and in particular two advisers, Corey Lewandowski and Hope Hicks, according to two people briefed on the warrants. Prosecutors also seized recordings of conversations that Mr. Cohen had secretly made, but he told people in recent days that he did not tape his conversations with Mr. Trump. Mr. Cohen frequently taped conservations with adversaries and opposing lawyers, according to the two people briefed. The raids on Mr. Cohen surprised and angered the president, who has been frustrated with the special counsel investigation into Russia’s 2016 election interference, the Kremlin’s possible coordination with Trump associates and whether the president has tried to obstruct those inquiries. In response to the raids, Mr. Trump has considered firing Mr. Mueller, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein. Mr. Cohen’s lawyers have called the raids of his offices and hotel room an overreach of the law. Prosecutors said on Friday that they had used a search warrant, rather than a subpoena, because they had evidence that Mr. Cohen’s files might be permanently deleted — by whom, the documents did not say. Many details in the documents were redacted, but prosecutors said they had found evidence of fraud and a “lack of truthfulness” on his part. Mr. Cohen wants his lawyers to be able to review the files and withhold privileged material before prosecutors can see them. As an alternative, he asked that an independent lawyer be allowed to review the files first. A judge scheduled a follow-up hearing for Monday and ordered Mr. Cohen to attend. The judge, Kimba M. Wood, was upset that he was not in court Friday. Federal agents seized documents that dated back years, some of which are related to payments to two women who have said they had affairs with Mr. Trump. Other documents seized included information about the role of The National Enquirer in silencing one of the women, people briefed on the investigation have said. Communications between lawyers and their clients are normally off limits to prosecutors, but there are exceptions, including when the materials are considered part of a continuing crime. Mr. Trump has viewed any investigation of his business and private life to be off limits to prosecutors, but the search warrants make clear that investigators consider those topics part of their case. Agents sought information about Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who claims she had a nearly yearlong affair with Mr. Trump shortly after the birth of his youngest son in 2006. American Media Inc., which owns The Enquirer, paid Ms. McDougal $150,000. The company’s chief executive is a friend of Mr. Trump’s. Agents also demanded information related to Stephanie Clifford, better known as Stormy Daniels, a pornographic film actress. Ms. Clifford has said she had sex with Mr. Trump while he was married. Mr. Cohen has acknowledged paying Ms. Clifford $130,000 as part of a nondisclosure agreement to secure her silence days before Election Day. Mr. Trump recently told reporters he knew nothing about the agreement. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/13/us/politics/lawyers-for-trumps-personal-attorney-set-for-friday-court-appearance.html
Sources: Mueller has evidence Cohen was in Prague in 2016, confirming part of dossier [photo caption] Special Counsel Robert Mueller has evidence that Donald Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen made a late-summer trip to Prague during the 2016 presidential campaign, around the time a British spy says Cohen met with a Kremlin official there to discuss Russian interference in the U.S. election, sources have told McClatchy. Cohen, pictured on April 11, 2018, has vehemently denied ever visiting Prague. WASHINGTON - The Justice Department special counsel has evidence that Donald Trump’s personal lawyer and confidant, Michael Cohen, secretly made a late-summer trip to Prague during the 2016 presidential campaign, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Confirmation of the trip would lend credence to a retired British spy’s report that Cohen strategized there with a powerful Kremlin figure about Russian meddling in the U.S. election. It would also be one of the most significant developments thus far in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of whether the Trump campaign and the Kremlin worked together to help Trump win the White House. Undercutting Trump’s repeated pronouncements that “there is no evidence of collusion,” it also could ratchet up the stakes if the president tries, as he has intimated he might for months, to order Mueller’s firing. Trump’s threats to fire Mueller or the deputy attorney general overseeing the investigation, Rod Rosenstein, grew louder this week when the FBI raided Cohen’s home, hotel room and office on Monday. The raid was unrelated to the Trump-Russia collusion probe, but instead focused on payments made to women who have said they had sexual relationships with Trump. Cohen has vehemently denied for months that he ever has been in Prague or colluded with Russia during the campaign. Neither he nor his lawyer responded to requests for comment for this story. It’s unclear whether Mueller’s investigators also have evidence that Cohen actually met with a prominent Russian – purportedly Konstantin Kosachev, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin — in the Czech capital. Kosachev, who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee of a body of the Russian legislature, the Federation Council, also has denied visiting Prague during 2016. Earlier this month, Kosachev was among 24 high-profile Russians hit with stiff U.S. sanctions in retaliation for Russia’s meddling. But investigators have traced evidence that Cohen entered the Czech Republic through Germany, apparently during August or early September of 2016 as the ex-spy reported, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is confidential. He wouldn’t have needed a passport for such a trip, because both countries are in the so-called Schengen Area in which 26 nations operate with open borders. The disclosure still left a puzzle: The sources did not say whether Cohen took a commercial flight or private jet to Europe, and gave no explanation as to why no record of such a trip has surfaced. Peter Carr, a spokesman for Mueller’s office, declined comment. Unconfirmed reports of a clandestine Prague meeting came to public attention in January 2017, with the publication of a dossier purporting to detail the Trump campaign’s interactions with Russia – a series of reports that former British MI6 officer Christopher Steele gathered from Kremlin sources for Trump’s political opponents, including Democrat Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee. Cohen’s alleged communications with the Russians were mentioned multiple times in Steele’s reports, which he ultimately shared with the FBI. When the news site Buzzfeed published the entire dossier on Jan. 11, Trump denounced the news organization as “a failing pile of garbage” and said the document was “false and fake.” Cohen tweeted, “I have never been to Prague in my life. #fakenews.” In the ensuing months, he allowed Buzzfeed to inspect his passport and tweeted: “The #Russian dossier is WRONG!” Last August, an attorney for Cohen, Stephen Ryan, delivered to Congress a point-by-point rebuttal of the dossier’s allegations, stating: “Mr. Cohen is not aware of any ‘secret TRUMP campaign/Kremlin relationship.’” However, Democratic investigators for the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, which are conducting parallel inquiries into Russia’s election interference, also are skeptical about whether Cohen was truthful about his 2016 travels to Europe when he was interviewed by the panels last October, two people familiar with those probes told McClatchy this week. Cohen has publicly acknowledged making three trips to Europe that year – to Italy in July, England in early October and a third after Trump’s November election. The investigators intend to press Cohen for more information, said the sources, who lacked authorization to speak for the record. One of the sources said congressional investigators have “a high level of interest” in Cohen’s European travel, with their doubts fueled by what they deem to be weak documentation Cohen has provided about his whereabouts around the time the Prague meeting was supposed to have occurred. Cohen has said he was only in New York and briefly in Los Angeles during August, when the meeting may have occurred, though the sources said it also could have been held in early September. Evidence that Cohen was in Prague “certainly helps undermine his credibility,” said Jill Wine-Banks, a former Watergate prosecutor who lives in Chicago. “It doesn’t matter who he met with. His denial was that I was never in Prague. Having proof that he was is, for most people, going to be more than enough to say I don’t believe anything else he says.” “I think that, given the relationship between Michael Cohen and the president,” Wine-Banks said, “it’s not believable that Michael Cohen did not tell him about his trip to Prague.” The dossier alleges that Cohen, two Russians and several Eastern European hackers met at the Prague office of a Russian government-backed social and cultural organization, Rossotrudnichestvo. The location was selected to provide an alternative explanation in case the rendezvous was exposed, according to Steele’s Kremlin sources, cultivated during 20 years of spying on Russia. It said that Oleg Solodukhin, the deputy chief of Rossotrudnichestvo’s operation in the Czech Republic, attended the meeting, too. Further, it alleges that Cohen, Kosachev and other attendees discussed “how deniable cash payments were to be made to hackers in Europe who had worked under Kremlin direction against the Clinton campaign.” U.S. intelligence agencies and cyber experts say Kremlin-backed hackers pirated copies of thousands of emails from the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign chief John Podesta during 2015 and 2016, some politically damaging, including messages showing that the DNC was biased toward Clinton in the party’s nomination battle pitting her against Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Mueller’s investigators have sought to learn who passed the emails to WikiLeaks, a London-based transparency group, which published them in July and October, causing embarrassment to Clinton and her backers. Citing information from an unnamed “Kremlin insider,” Steele’s dossier says the Prague meeting agenda also included discussion “in cryptic language for security reasons,” of ways to “sweep it all under the carpet and make sure no connection could be fully established or proven.” Romanians were among the hackers present, it says, and the discussion touched on using Bulgaria as a location where they could “lie low.” It is a felony for anyone to hack email accounts. Other laws forbid foreigners from contributing cash or in-kind services to U.S. political campaigns. If Cohen met with Russians and hackers in Prague as described in the dossier, it would provide perhaps the most compelling evidence to date that the Russians and Trump campaign aides were collaborating. Mueller’s office also has focused on two meetings in the spring of 2016 when Russians offered to provide Trump campaign aides with “dirt” on Clinton – thousands of emails in one of the offers. Cohen is already in the spotlight because of the FBI raids on his offices and home in New York. Various news outlets have reported that investigators principally sought evidence on non-Russia matters, including a covert, $130,000 payment Cohen made days before the 2016 election to porn star Stormy Daniels to silence her about an alleged affair with Trump. The FBI raids also scooped up some of Cohen's computers and cell phones among other evidence, according to these reports. CNN, which reported Friday that Cohen’s business dealings have been a subject of a separate months-long investigation by prosecutors in the Southern District of New York, also quoted sources as saying that Cohen often taped phone conversations and those tapes also could be in the FBI’s possession. If the raids turned up evidence that would be useful to Mueller’s investigation, rather than the one being done in New York, it would be shared with Mueller’s team, unless a court imposes conditions regarding the transfer of evidence, said former seniorJustice Department official Michael Zeldin. “Given the sensitivities in this case, I expect evidentiary sharing decisions will be mediated by main DOJ and FBI headquarters,” Zeldin said. Prior to Trump’s election, Cohen spent almost a decade in high-profile positions in Trump’s real estate company and grew a reputation as Trump’s “fixer.” During 2016, he was an informal adviser to the Trump campaign, proving to be one of Trump’s fiercest defenders in television interviews. When Trump took office, Cohen became Trump’s personal attorney. He also formed a law firm, Michael D. Cohen & Associates, which in April forged a strategic alliance with the powerful Washington lobbying firm Squire Patton Boggs. With headlines blaring about Cohen’s role in providing hush money to Daniels, the two firms disclosed this week they had parted company. Soon after Trump took office, Cohen became embroiled in controversy when The New York Times reported he was involved in promoting a secret “peace plan” for Ukraine and Russia that was the brainchild of a little-known Ukrainian legislator, Andrii Artemenko. The plan would have ended U.S. sanctions against Moscow and allowed Russia, if it pulled back militants invading Ukraine, to keep control of Crimea under a 50- to 100-year lease, if voters approved. In February 2017, he told the newspaper, he left it on the desk of Trump’s national security adviser, Michael Flynn, who resigned days later and later pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about contacts with the Russian ambassador. But in subsequent interviews, Cohen denied ever delivering the plan to the White House. Knowledge that Cohen may indeed have traveled to Prague during the campaign could heighten Trump’s risk of being prosecuted for obstruction of justice if news reports are accurate that he is considering firing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees the Mueller investigation, or Mueller. “This kind of knowledge impacts his state of mind in taking any action in firing anyone from the Justice Department or Mueller’s office,” Wine-Banks said, because it would be easier for prosecutors to build a criminal case showing he did so to impede Mueller’s investigation. If the Prague meeting actually occurred, Kosachev’s possible involvement would be especially significant given his close ties to Putin and other roles he has played in covert Moscow efforts to destabilize other countries, Russia experts said. “While not a member of Putin's innermost circle, (Kosachev) is one of the most influential Russian voices on foreign affairs,” said Michael Carpenter, a former senior Pentagon official. “When Kosachev speaks, everyone knows he's speaking for the Kremlin.” Kosachev appears to have been a booster of Trump over Clinton in early June of 2016, according to a post on his Facebook page at the time. “Trump looks slightly more promising,” Kosachev wrote. “At least, he is capable of giving a shake to Washington. He is certainly a pragmatist and not a missionary like his main opponent [Hillary] Clinton.” The Prague meeting would have occurred during a period when Trump advisers had become jittery about publicity swirling around the campaign’s Russian connections and seemingly friendly posture toward Moscow, according to the dossier and a source familiar with the federal investigation. Campaign chairman Paul Manafort resigned abruptly on Aug. 19, shortly after the revelation that he had received $12.7 million in secret consulting fees over five years from the pro-Russia Party of Regions in Ukraine. Manafort was instrumental in the 2010 election of pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych, who was ousted in early 2014 and fled to Moscow. Another flap stemmed from a secretive maneuver at the Republican National Convention in July. Party officials weakened language in the 2016 Republican platform calling for a boost in U.S. military aid to support Ukraine’s fight with Russian-backed separatists who invaded Eastern Ukraine and Crimea. The dossier cited multiple sources as reporting that Kremlin officials also had grown edgy about the possible exposure of their secret “active measures” effort to defeat Clinton and help Trump. According to the dossier, Russian diplomat Mikhail Kalugin was brought home from Russia’s embassy in Washington last August because he had played a key role in coordinating the cyber offensive. McClatchy quoted several Russia experts on Feb. 15 as saying they suspected Kalugin was an intelligence operative. Kalugin has denied any espionage activities. Cohen’s attendance at a Prague meeting like the one described in the dossier would have been a logical assignment for him; Trump had long used him to solve business and legal headaches, three Republican operatives who were close to the campaign said. One source with close ties to the campaign said Cohen “wanted a bigger and more formal role [in the campaign], but there were a lot of long knives out for him within the campaign and the larger GOP infrastructure in part because he was a Democrat and treated people horribly.” Cohen was best known during the 2016 campaign for his testy interviews defending Trump. In one case, when an interviewer cited poor polling numbers for Trump. Cohen kept aggressively asking, “Says who?” Beginning last year, he took a hand in fundraising for the Republican National Committee and Trump’s re-election campaign. Cohen was one of four co-chairs of a big fundraiser at the Trump International hotel in mid-2017 that raised about $10 million for the two committees. In April 2017, Cohen was named a national deputy finance chairman at the RNC, not long after his March announcement that he had officially registered as a Republican. A millionaire with his own New York real estate holdings, Cohen has long had family and business ties to Ukraine. His wife is Ukrainian, and he has had ties to Ukrainian ethanol company. He also once ran a thriving taxi business. http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article208870264.html
Comey Memoir: Hiding Clinton Email News Would’ve Made Her Presidency ‘Illegitimate’ The former FBI director writes that he assumed Trump would lose and that his wife and daughters voted for Clinton and participated in the Women’s March. WASHINGTON - Former FBI Director James Comey ? whom Hillary Clinton blames for her 2016 Electoral College loss ? writes in his upcoming book that he thought the former secretary of state would defeat Donald Trump and concedes that assumption might have affected the way he handled the Clinton email probe. HuffPost obtained a chapter of the book, A Higher Loyalty, which is set to be released Tuesday, that focuses on Comey’s handling of the Clinton email probe. In the book, Comey writes that he’s replayed the way he handled the Clinton email investigation in his mind “hundreds of times” and that he understands Democrats were “baffled” and “outraged” at the actions he took. [...] https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/james-comey-memoir-hillary-clinton-emails-donald-trump_us_5ad0ba6ee4b077c89ce7f4a6
Facebook Doesn't Need To Listen Through Your Microphone To Serve You Creepy Ads Users' fear and even paranoia about hyper-targeted adds is warranted—just not for the exact reasons they might think. In ten total hours of testimony in front of the Senate and the House this week, Mark Zuckerberg was able to produce only one seemingly straightforward, privacy-protective answer. When Sen. Gary Peters asked Zuckerberg if Facebook listens to users through their cell phone microphones in order to collect information with which to serve them ads, Zuckerberg confidently said, “No.” What he left out, however, is that Facebook doesn’t listen to users through their phone microphones because it doesn’t have to. Facebook actually uses even more invasive, invisible surveillance and analysis methods, which give it enough information about you to produce uncanny advertisements all the same. [...] https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/04/facebook-doesnt-need-listen-through-your-microphone-serve-you-creepy-ads
Trump Seeks Large Strike in Syria; Mattis Urges Caution President and defense secretary differ on response to suspected Syrian chemical attack WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump is prodding his military advisers to agree to a more sweeping retaliatory strike in Syria than they consider prudent and is unhappy with the options they have presented to him, White House and other administration officials said. In meetings with Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, Mr. Trump has been pushing for an attack that not only would punish the Syrian regime but also exact a price from two of its international patrons, Russia and Iran, a White House official said. “He wants Mattis to push the limits a little bit more,” the official said. Mr. Mattis and other military advisers have resisted, worried that the administration lacks a broader strategy in Syria and that military strikes could trigger a dangerous clash with Russia and Iran, U.S. officials said. Over the past two days, the Pentagon has had two opportunities to launch attacks against Syria in reprisal for a suspected chemical weapons attack, but Mr. Mattis halted them, according to U.S. and defense officials. As a contingency, the military had identified potential windows for strikes, including one Thursday night, the U.S. and defense officials said. Mr. Mattis canceled them out of concerns that anything other than a “show strike” risked broader escalation with the Russians in particular, these defense officials said. As a complex battleground filled with competing militias and foreign forces, Syria poses the toughest test yet of Mr. Trump as commander-in-chief. One year ago, he ordered a missile strike against an airfield in Syria in response to a chemical attack—a one-off event carried out by the U.S. alone. This time, Mr. Trump is assembling an international coalition that presumably would take part in a military operation, a scenario that officials and experts have said requires careful choreography. He also faces a Pentagon leadership skeptical of the more muscular response he has advocated, according to White House and other administration officials. Aides said Mr. Trump is tightly focused on the Syria problem and has been quizzing staff about the best response—even members of the legal team defending him in the Russia investigation. Mr. Trump has asked for briefing materials and was moved by images of children with foam bubbling from their mouths, symptoms of chemical weapons poisoning, aides said. Still, the president has found time to tweet about a drama dominating the headlines: Former FBI Director James Comey’s new book. He labeled Mr. Comey an “untruthful slime ball” in a morning tweet. At the president’s side as he weighs military action is John Bolton, a new national security adviser in his first week on the job. Mr. Bolton favors a “ruinous” attack that would cripple some part of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government and national infrastructure, according to a person familiar with his thinking. Mr. Bolton doesn’t want a reprise of the 2017 attack hitting an airfield that would be up and running in short order, this person said. Mr. Trump’s national-security team was expected to meet again Friday afternoon to discuss the various approaches. The debate over what to do in Syria marks the first time Mr. Mattis is making his case without support from former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who had aligned himself with the Pentagon chief on virtually every major security issue that came before the president. This time, Mr. Mattis appears to be a lone voice of dissent in security meetings, U.S. officials said. Mr. Bolton, Acting Secretary of State John Sullivan, and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley all have expressed support for military strikes, U.S. officials said. Mr. Trump’s eagerness to move quickly was evident at a cabinet meeting Monday when he said he expected the U.S. to make a decision that day on whether to hit Syria. Last year, the U.S. struck three days after a suspected Syrian chemical weapons attack; Friday marked the sixth day since the most recent incident, in Douma, Syria. But the push for a quick strike was complicated by the challenges in confirming that Syria had used deadly gas in the attack and rallying support from key allies. “They want to make sure that Assad did it,” said former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Trump ally who talks frequently to the White House. After last year’s strike, victims of the attack were transported to Turkey, where doctors were able to examine patients and conduct tests that showed the presence of a deadly nerve gas, sarin. This time, the neighborhood hit by the gas attack is surrounded by Syrian regime forces, making it difficult for victims to get out or for independent inspectors to get in. Russia said it conducted a quick investigation and determined that no gas was used. That raised suspicions that Russia and Syria had covered up any evidence, making it harder for independent investigators expected to arrive in Damascus to determine what really happened. One U.S. official said the U.S. believed the Assad regime used barrel bombs to deliver the chemical attack on Douma, basing the assessment on U.S.-collected intelligence. “We can say that the Syrian government was behind this attack,” said Heather Nauert, the State Department spokeswoman, referring to U.S. intelligence about the use of chemical weapons in Syria earlier this month. She said the U.S. government had “a very high level of confidence” in this assessment. The debate within the administration was complicated by efforts to forge an international coalition. French President Emmanuel Macron was eager to take quick action after warning for months that he would strike Syria if Mr. Assad used chemical weapons, while British Prime Minister Theresa May has taken a more cautious approach. Mr. Trump held several calls with Mr. Macron and Mrs. May, met with the emir of Qatar, and discussed Syria with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The push for a quick response was also slowed by the need to move ships armed with cruise missiles into position near the Syrian coast. It took some time for the U.S., France and the U.K. to get ships into the eastern Mediterranean, where the U.S. Navy launched the Tomahawk missiles used in last year’s attack. As the U.S. worked with its allies to craft a military response, Syria, Russia and Iran moved to protect their forces. Syria moved planes to Russian bases with better air defenses, U.S. officials said, making it harder to target them without hitting Russians. On Wednesday, Mr. Trump again made clear his eagerness to strike on Twitter, warning Russia and Syria about an impending attack. “Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and ‘smart!’” he wrote. “You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!” Mr. Trump derided his predecessor, former President Barack Obama, for issuing similar warnings to Syria in 2013. Mr. Trump’s public threat created unease among some U.S. officials as they watched Syria try to move its planes out of harm’s way. On Thursday, as Mr. Macron said France had proof that Mr. Assad used chemical weapons in the attack, Mr. Trump sought to walk back his warning. “Never said when an attack on Syria would take place,” he said in a tweet. “Could be very soon or not so soon at all!” Russian officials have scaled back their rhetoric over a potential U.S. missile strike on Syria since Mr. Trump warned of the possibility of such an attack, limiting their comments to criticizing Washington of aggression. None of the country’s top leadership, however, has contradicted Russian Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov’s threat last month to shoot down any missiles that could endanger Russian troops in Syria as well as to return fire. Officials close to the Russian Defense Ministry have declined to say whether Russia would allow a strike to happen as long as it didn’t endanger Russian soldiers. The United Nations Security Council held its fourth meeting this week on Syria, with Ambassador Nikki Haley telling diplomats: “Our president has not yet made a decision about possible action in Syria. But should the United States and our allies decide to act in Syria, it will be in defense of a principle on which we all agree.” https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-seeks-large-strike-in-syria-mattis-urges-caution-1523651589
Top plastic surgeon 'killed lover by sprinkling cocaine on his PENIS before she performed sex act on him' Andreas Niderbichler, 42, has been arrested after a 38-year-old woman reportedly collapsed and died after performing the sex act on him at his home in hospital grounds https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/top-plastic-surgeon-killed-lover-12355977
Chinese man caught by facial recognition at pop concert Chinese police have used facial recognition technology to locate and arrest a man who was among a crowd of 60,000 concert goers. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-43751276 Facial recognition: China's Orwellian future? - video China has announced plans for widespread facial recognition camera coverage in cities and homes by 2020. The technology will be used to monitor the behaviour of citizens around the clock. Dan Damon asks whether the system will be used to protect Chinese people, as the authorities claim, or if it will it lead to a loss of personal freedoms. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0646g4f
Cops Around the Country Can Now Unlock iPhones, Records Show A Motherboard investigation has found that law enforcement agencies across the country have purchased GrayKey, a relatively cheap tool for bypassing the encryption on iPhones, while the FBI pushes again for encryption backdoors. This is part of an ongoing Motherboard series on the proliferation of phone cracking technology, the people behind it, and who is buying it. Follow along here [ https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/topic/phone-crackers ]. https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/vbxxxd/unlock-iphone-ios11-graykey-grayshift-police
----- "Will Senate Dems Block Confirmation of Climate-Denying, Torture-Backing State Dept Pick Mike Pompeo?" [... and 8th down ...] Everything you need to know about Sinclair's takeover of local news
Published on Apr 12, 2018 by mediamatters4america
You've heard about Sinclair injecting right-wing propaganda into local news. Here's an in-depth look into exactly how they're doing it—and why it's going to make Trump's path to re-election a whole lot easier. (Is Sinclair sneaking conservative spin into your local news? Find out on our map at https://findsinclair.com/ .)
If Christianity (or Islam) were true, the religion should've appeared in other areas around the world in complete cultural isolation from biblical locales. Such evidence would point toward a universal truth, an omnipresent God, but as we well know, God suspiciously obeys man made borders and does not reveal Himself until men arrive with books first.
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