Saturday, April 16, 2016
Friday, April 15, 2016
Hearing on U.S. Weapons Investments in Afghanistan
Defense Department officials, including Special Inspector General for
Afghanistan Reconstruction John Sopko, testify at a House Armed Services
subcommittee hearing on Defense Department weapons contracts in
Afghanistan.
Click here for video.
Source: C-SPAN
The Broadband Internet Bill
CQ Roll Call Technology Reporter Alisha Green discusses a House
bill dealing with Federal Communications Commission regulation of
broadband Internet rates.
Click here for video.
Source: C-SPAN
First Read: Familiar Shots Fired Between Sanders and Clinton
First Read is a morning briefing from Meet
the Press and the NBC Political Unit on the day's most important
political stories and why they matter.
It was a status-quo debate, which benefits Clinton
In last night's ninth -- and possibly final -- Democratic presidential debate, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders fired off the rhetorical weaponry that they had been accumulating over the last two months. And most of the shots sounded very familiar (In fact, as a colleague remarked, it sounded a lot like a college-dorm-room argument between the campus socialist and the president of the student body.)
Clinton knocked Sanders over that New York Daily News interview, his gun record, not raising money for Democrats, and for his inability (so far) to release his tax returns. Sanders countered by firing back at Clinton on judgment, Wall Street, for not being a consistent voice in raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, and for her inability to release her Goldman Sachs speech transcript. It was a status quo debate - which benefits the frontrunner (Hillary Clinton) who leads in the polling in New York and in the overall delegate race, especially with Sanders traveling to Rome and Clinton raising money in California over the next two days. By the way, the New York Times is reporting that the Pope will NOT meet with Sanders while he's in Rome.
Click here for the full article.
Source: NBC News
It was a status-quo debate, which benefits Clinton
In last night's ninth -- and possibly final -- Democratic presidential debate, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders fired off the rhetorical weaponry that they had been accumulating over the last two months. And most of the shots sounded very familiar (In fact, as a colleague remarked, it sounded a lot like a college-dorm-room argument between the campus socialist and the president of the student body.)
Clinton knocked Sanders over that New York Daily News interview, his gun record, not raising money for Democrats, and for his inability (so far) to release his tax returns. Sanders countered by firing back at Clinton on judgment, Wall Street, for not being a consistent voice in raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, and for her inability to release her Goldman Sachs speech transcript. It was a status quo debate - which benefits the frontrunner (Hillary Clinton) who leads in the polling in New York and in the overall delegate race, especially with Sanders traveling to Rome and Clinton raising money in California over the next two days. By the way, the New York Times is reporting that the Pope will NOT meet with Sanders while he's in Rome.
Click here for the full article.
Source: NBC News
First Read's Morning Clips: Trump Rips GOP Nominating Rules
OFF TO THE RACES: Trump rips GOP nominating process
In a strongly-worded Wall Street Journal op-ed,
Donald Trump is doubling down on the idea that the Colorado delegate
selection system and other contests are undemocratic and flawed. "My
campaign strategy is to win with the voters. Ted Cruz's campaign
strategy is to win despite them. What we are seeing now is not a proper
use of the rules, but a flagrant abuse of the rules. Delegates are
supposed to reflect the decisions of voters, but the system is being
rigged by party operatives with "double-agent" delegates who reject the
decision of voters. The American people can have no faith in such a
system. It must be reformed... My campaign will, of course, battle for
every last delegate. We will work within the system that exists now,
while fighting to have it reformed in the future. But we will do it the
right way. My campaign will seek maximum transparency, maximum
representation and maximum voter participation."
Click here for the full article.
Source: NBC News
U.S. Government 'Worse Than All Major Industries' on Cybersecurity
U.S. federal, state and local government
agencies rank in last place in cybersecurity when compared against 17
major private industries, including transportation, retail and
healthcare, according to a new report released Thursday.
The analysis, from venture-backed security risk benchmarking startup
SecurityScorecard, measured the relative security health of government
and industries across 10 categories, including vulnerability to malware
infections, exposure rates of passwords and susceptibility to social
engineering, such as an employee using corporate account information on a
public social network.
Click here for the full article.
Source: NBC News
'Let Them Sell Their Summer Homes and Jets': NYC Pension Dumps Hedge Funds
New York City's largest public pension is exiting all hedge fund
investments in the latest sign that the $4 trillion public pension
sector is losing patience with these often secretive portfolios at a
time of poor performance and high fees.
The board of the New York City Employees
Retirement System voted to leave blue chip firms such as Brevan Howard
and D.E. Shaw after their consultants said they can reach their targeted
investment returns with less risky funds.
The move by the fund, which had $51.2 billion in
assets as of Jan. 31, follows a similar action by the California Public
Employees' Retirement System (Calpers), the nation's largest public
pension fund, and public pensions in Illinois.
"Hedges have underperformed, costing us
millions," New York City's Public Advocate Letitia James told board
members in prepared remarks. "Let them sell their summer homes and jets,
and return those fees to their investors."
Click here for the full article.
Anti-Gay Harlem Pastor Could Lose Church to LGBT Homeless Shelter
In the near-decade that Stacy Parker LeMelle has lived across the
street from the Atlah Worldwide Missionary Church on Lenox Avenue, she
has had to swallow a daily dose of outrage. There — on one of the most
important streets in the history of black culture and in the middle of
the city where the modern gay rights movement began — it stands: an
official letter board sign used to regularly promote racist and
homophobic hate.
"Jesus would stone homos," trumpeted one of the
more jarring messages mounted outside the church in recent years,
stopping many a passerby cold. "Obama has released the homo demons on
the black man. Look out black woman. A white homo may take your man,"
read another.
At first LeMelle tried to ignore it,
occasionally laughing at the proclamations when they became too much to
walk past without yielding to some sort of emotional reaction.
Eventually, though, she and her neighbors decided they had seen enough.
Click here for the full article.
Peter Liang Manslaughter Verdict Stands: Judge Denies Motion for New Trial
A Brooklyn judge Thursday denied former New York Police Department (NYPD) Officer Peter Liang's request for a new trial, clearing the way for his sentencing next Tuesday, April 19.
State Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun ruled that
Liang's attorneys did not prove that 62-year-old Michael Vargas, known
as Juror 9, committed juror misconduct during jury selection when he
said no one in his close family had been accused of a crime. Vargas'
father, Norberto Vargas, was convicted of manslaughter and served more
than seven years in prison for "accidentally shooting a friend,"
according to a motion filed by Liang's attorneys — Paul Shechtman and
Gabriel J. Chin — that quoted Vargas in an interview with the New York Daily News.
Click here for the full article.
Source: NBC News
G20 Finance Leaders Under Pressure to Boost Growth
Reuters, 15/04 16:01 CET
By David Lawder
WASHINGTON (Reuters) –
Financial leaders from the Group of 20 major economies scrambled on
Friday for a way to keep global growth from stalling amid concerns about
a drop-off in international trade and the waning effectiveness of loose
monetary policy.
The G20 gathering, the highlight of the International
Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings in Washington, came amid
growing pressure on richer nations to boost infrastructure spending,
deregulate industries and spur employment.
Earlier this week the IMF cut its 2016 growth forecast for the world economy, the fourth such move in less than a year.
In a statement to the G20 on Thursday night, Indian
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said governments could not continue
relying on central banks to take the lead in spurring growth and should
consider boosting spending.
Click here for the full article.
Source: Euronews
Iran’s Soleimani in Russia for Talks on Syria, Missiles – Sources
Reuters, 15/04 15:55 CET
By Lidia Kelly and Parisa Hafezi
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Iranian
Major General Qassem Soleimani has flown to Moscow for talks with
Russia’s military and political leadership to discuss the conflict in
Syria and deliveries of Russian missiles, sources with knowledge of his
trip said on Friday.
The main purpose of his visit was to discuss new delivery
routes for future shipments of Russian S-300 surface-to-air missile
systems, sources said, with one saying Soleimani wanted to talk about
how Russia and Iran could help the Syrian government take back full
control of Aleppo.
“General Soleimani travelled to Moscow last night to
discuss issues including the delivery of S-300s and further military
cooperation,” a senior Iranian security official told Reuters.
Soleimani met both Russian President Vladimir Putin and
Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on Friday, one source said. A Kremlin
spokesman said a meeting with Soleimani was not on Putin’s schedule.
Click here for the full article.
Source: Euronews
France Vows Crackdown After Rolling Protest Clashes
Reuters, 15/04 15:20 CET
PARIS (Reuters) – France’s interior
minister on Friday ordered a crackdown on violent fringe demonstrators
after they smashed shopfronts and cars on the edge of a bigger youth
protest rally held overnight against labor law reforms.
Police used teargas and pepper gas late on Thursday to
disperse mobile groups of mostly hooded youths who targeted cars, an
auto showroom and a state job-search agency in central Paris. Violence
was also reported in other French cities.
“There will be no let-up in the pursuit of these
visionless people inspired solely by violence, no let-up in arresting
them and bringing them to justice,” Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve
said.
Click here for the full article.
Source: Euronews
Erdogan Satire Video: Merkel Clears Path for Prosecution
Comedian Jan Boehmermann
The German government will not block a prosecution of a satirist who mocked Turkish president Recep Erdoğan.
Angela Merkel said that despite divisions in the cabinet, the ruling
coalition would pass the case to the law courts. Reports said that she
herself had cast the deciding vote.
Comedian Jan Boehmermann sparked fury in Ankara by reading out a
lewd poem about the Turkish president on German state TV channel ZDF.
Under German law, prosecution for the offence of insulting a head of
state requires a green light from politicians. If the insult is deemed
to be slanderous, the sentence must be between 3 months and five years
in jail.
However Merkel added that she wants to change the law to prevent such charges being brought in future.
Source: Euronews
Whistleblowers Under Threat? MEPs Agree New Rules on ‘Trade Secrets’
EU lawmakers voted on Thursday to change the rules on protecting
trade secrets in a move that critics believe could have a chilling
effect on media freedom.
The vote follows three years of negotiations with the European
Commission and EU governments. The EU executive first proposed the
common rules in 2013.
It will introduce an EU-wide definition of what amounts to a trade
secret; the aim is to protect European companies from spying by global
rivals.
Click here for the full article.
Source: Euronews
Thursday, April 14, 2016
ISIS Targets American Imams for Believing Muslims Can Thrive in U.S.
Photo illustration by The Daily Beast
By Katie Zavadski
ISIS just put three
American imams on their kill list. One stunned preacher says it’s like a
twisted episode of ‘The Walking Dead.’
Three American imams got put on ISIS’s hit list for promoting the idea that Islam and the West can coexist.
The terrorist group’s latest issue of propaganda Dabiq attempts to theologically justify an attack on the religious leaders in an article titled “Kill the Imams of Kufr in the West.” The men are worse than hypocrites, ISIS says, because they say Muslims can thrive in America.
“The person who calls himself a ‘Muslim’ but unapologetically commits blatant kufr [disbelief] is not a munafiq [hypocrite], as some mistakenly claim. Rather, he is a murtadd [apostate],” Dabiq claims.
The Daily Beast will identify two of the Americans with pseudonyms because of the direct threats on their lives. A third, who gave The Daily Beast permission to use his name, responded with dark humor.
“Nothing like a death threat with a danish and a latte in the morning,” Suhaib Webb told The Daily Beast.
This is the first time ISIS has put out a direct hit on U.S. imams.
Click here for the full article.
Source: The Daily Beast
Politics in Action: Senate Substitute Amendment to H.R. 636
Senate Substitute Amendment to H.R. 636 – Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2016
(Sen. Thune, R-SD, and Sen. Nelson, D-FL)
The
Administration appreciates the Senate's bipartisan effort to advance an
aviation reauthorization bill. In the past, the Congress has managed
the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) through a series of short-term
patches, creating significant uncertainty for the FAA and undermining
the agency's ability to make long-term capital investments and plan for
the future. Though the Administration believes that eighteen months do
not provide the long-term certainty that the FAA needs to advance on its
critical priorities, the Administration appreciates that the bill is
intended to enable a longer-term dialogue about the future of our
aviation system.
The
Administration's priorities for a long-term aviation reauthorization
bill include the need to ensure safety, serve the public interest,
modernize the air traffic control system, and better align aviation
resources with the needs of the National Airspace (NAS). The bill
contains some provisions that advance these priorities. However, it
also includes provisions that would undermine the FAA's ability to
address critical challenges, like mandating controller hiring
preferences and limiting FAA's ability to make business-like decisions
about its services.
There
are also a number of provisions within the bill that need to be
improved, particularly as it relates to safety, security, and the
environment. For example, with regards to safety, while the
Administration shares Congress' goal of fast and efficient integration
of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) into the NAS, the FAA must be able to
maintain regulatory flexibility. The bill would direct the Department
of Transportation to develop certification standards for small UAS so
that companies could engage in the widespread transportation of property
two years from passage. This kind of overly prescriptive means of
integrating UAS using legislation would disrupt the ongoing rulemaking
process. From a security perspective, the bill would require the
Transportation Security Administration to establish screening and other
measures at certain small airports, meaning the agency would be required
to reallocate staff and equipment from higher-risk, higher-need
facilities. The bill also includes provisions related to air tours over
national parks, which could negatively impact the visitor experience and
protection of park natural resources.
The
bill also should do more with regards to infrastructure investment.
For the past seven years, the Administration has called on the Congress
to provide flexibility to airports to invest in a stronger aviation
system. This bill misses an opportunity to improve airport
infrastructure by not allowing for adjustments to Passenger Facility
Charges in tandem with reforms to the Airport Improvement Program.
The
Administration looks forward to working with the Congress to pass an
FAA reauthorization bill that strengthens our aviation system, improves
safety, and maintains the leadership of the U.S. in global aviation.
Source: The Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget
President Obama Welcomes the Wounded Warrior Ride to the White House
The President and the Vice President will welcome the Wounded Warrior
Ride to the White House, a cycling event to help Wounded Warriors
restore their physical and emotional well-being and raise awareness of
our nation’s heroes who battle the physical and psychological damages of
war. Building on the President’s efforts to honor and thank our
veterans for their service, the kick-off event brings together former
service members from numerous veterans organizations empowering and
supporting veterans and their families across the nation.
Hearing on Electric Grid Security
Federal officials and energy industry representatives testified at a
hearing on the threat of a cyberattack on the U.S. electric grid. Craig
Fugate, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administrator,
told committee members the federal government needs to address long-term
response and planning should the nation’s electrical grid be taken out
by a cyber or physical attack for lengthy amounts of time.
Click here for video.
Source: C-SPAN
Hearing on U.S. Biodefense
Government Accountability Office and Homeland Security, Agriculture, and Health and Human Services Department officials testify at a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on biological threats facing the United States.
Click here for video.
Source: C-SPAN
House Speaker Weekly Briefing
House Majority Leader Paul Ryan (R-WI) briefs reporters on his recent
visit to the Middle East region and responds to questions on a range of
issues, including Puerto Rico’s debt restructuring, the budget, and
presidential campaign.
Click here for video.
Source: C-SPAN
House Minority Leader Weekly Briefing
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) briefs reporters and responds
to their questions on a range of issues, including the budget, the
presidential campaign, and immigration.
Click here for video.
Source: C-SPAN
'The Trump Party': A Special Commentary by Mumia Abu Jamal
The commentary was recorded on March 19, 2016, and was provided by Prison Radio.
Information on Mumia Abu Jamal's case is available here.
Life Facing Bars: A Gang Prevention Documentary
Published on YouTube on March 19, 2014.
Life
Facing Bars: A Gang Prevention Documentary is a 40-minute feature about
gangs in California's Central Coast. It features ex-gang members
sharing their experiences and dispelling the lies about the gang
lifestyle. Our main audiences are local junior high and high school
students and educating them about choices and consequences.
Video courtesy of Matt Yoon.
First Read: Clinton, Sanders to Clash After Contentious Week
First Read is a morning briefing from Meet the Press and the NBC
Political Unit on the day's most important political stories and why
they matter.
Clinton, Sanders to clash in debate after contentious week
Remember last fall when Hillary Clinton and
Bernie Sanders shook hands after Sanders exclaimed that "the American
people are sick and tired of hearing about your damned emails"? Well,
those days are long gone, particularly after a combative week that sets
up the final Democratic debate (?) of the 2016 campaign before the April
19 New York primary. Consider the back-and-forth over the past week:
Sanders called Clinton "unqualified" after
the former secretary of state dodged repeated questions on MSNBC's
"Morning Joe" about whether Sanders was qualified.
After backing away from that line of attack, Sanders went after Clinton's "judgment" on NBC's "Meet the Press" last Sunday: "In terms of her judgment, something is clearly lacking," he said.
The
Clinton campaign seized Sanders' interview with the New York Daily News
editorial board to hit the Vermont senator on his guns record and his
plans to break up the banks.
Click here for the full article.
Obama Administration Weighs Nixing 'Confidential' Classification
The nation's top intelligence official is
considering letting spy agencies drop the lowest level of
classification, "confidential," in an effort to shrink the gusher of
secret documents flowing out of their offices.
The proposal by James Clapper, the director of
national intelligence, comes amid a simmering controversy over
classified information that found its way on to the home email system
used by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton when she was
secretary of state.
But Clapper's proposal would have little bearing on the Clinton matter,
because it would only apply to the intelligence community, not the State
Department, said Steven Aftergood, an intelligence expert at the
Federation of American Scientists who first called attention to it.
Click here for the full article.
Source: NBC News
Puerto Rico Faces Default as Congress Stalls on Help
Puerto Rico is facing a deadline for a
multimillion-dollar bond payment next month as House Republicans
struggle to find a way to help the island deal with its $70 billion
debt.
A House committee canceled a Thursday vote on
the issue as Republicans were divided on how Congress should weigh in.
Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla has warned that a debt restructuring
measure needs to be approved soon as the deadline for a $422 million
bond payment looms in May.
Puerto Rico has said it will likely default on the payment, which would
mark the first time the island would default on general obligation bonds
protected by the island's constitution.
Click here for the full article.
Source: NBC News
Ex-Cop Peter Liang Sentencing Postponed, Juror Questioned for Alleged Misconduct
One of former New York Police Department (NYPD)
Officer Peter Liang's attorneys questioned a juror in court Wednesday
afternoon over his alleged Facebook shares that were critical of police
and about accusations he was untruthful during jury selection when he said no one in his close family had ever been accused of a crime.
Juror 9, 62-year-old Michael Vargas, took the
witness stand before Justice Danny Chun in State Supreme Court in
Brooklyn a week after Liang's attorneys, Paul Shechtman and Gabriel J.
Chin, filed a motion asking for a new trial based on the allegations.
Liang's attorneys wrapped up their questioning of Vargas late Wednesday
afternoon, and prosecutors are expected to cross examine him tomorrow.
Liang's sentencing, originally scheduled for
Thursday, April 14, was postponed until and is expected to take place on
Tuesday, April 19.
Click here for the full article.
Source: NBC News
Napster Co-Founder Sean Parker Pledges $250M to Fight Cancer
The Silicon Valley billionaire and Napster
co-founder is putting his money behind a new cancer institute focusing
on the emerging field of cancer immunotherapy.
China Lambasts U.S. Rights Policies After U.S. State Department Report
Reuters, 14/04 11:34 CET
BEIJING (Reuters) – U.S. rights policies
have gone from bad to worse, China said on Thursday, in its annual
rebuttal of a State Department report on human rights around the world
that criticised China’s “severe” crackdown on lawyers.
The U.S. “wantonly infringed upon” civil rights and faced
“rampant gun-related crime”, said the lengthy report, issued by China’s
State Council, or cabinet, according to the official Xinhua news
agency.
Human rights have long been a source of tension between
the world’s two largest economies, especially since 1989, when the
United States imposed sanctions on China after a bloody crackdown on
pro-democracy demonstrators around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.
China’s report follows Wednesday’s release of the U.S.
report, which criticised Beijing’s “severe” crackdown on Chinese lawyers
and law firms handling cases China considers politically sensitive.
The U.S. report described human rights policies in 199 countries, and also focussed on rights abuses in the Middle East.
Click here for the full article.
Source: Euronews
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Operation Educate the Educators: Recognizing and Supporting our Military-Connected Students
Remarks by Dr. Jill Biden and Education Secretary John King at a White
House Convening on Operation Educate the Educators: Committed to
Recognizing and Supporting our Military-Connected Students.
Blurred Lines: Politics and Entertainment
Mark Warren talked about a piece in the April 2016 edition of Esquire Magazine
titled “The Inevitable Takeover of Pop Politics,” which argues that the
line dividing politics and entertainment has become blurred.This program was part of a “Washington Journal” series highlighting recent magazine articles.
Click here for video.
Source: C-SPAN
First Read's Morning Clips: Trump vs. the RNC
OFF TO THE RACES: Trump vs. the RNC
Donald Trump is aggressively attacking the "rigged" delegate system, saying "It's a phony deal."
And he said at a CNN town hall last night: "I know the rules very well, but I know it's stacked against me by the establishment."
Reince Priebus responded to Donald Trump's complaints about the GOP delegate selection process, saying "give us all a break."
The Washington Post calculates that Cruz is poised to block Trump from winning on a second ballot in Cleveland.
On Paul Ryan's announcement yesterday: Perry Bacon Jr. writes that Ryan's running a campaign -- it's just not for president.
Our newest NBC 4/ Marist poll of Maryland shows big leads for Trump and Clinton.
Click here for the full article.
Source: NBC News