Friday, August 10, 2018

Federal Judge Threatens to Hold Sessions in Contempt of Court


A federal judge on Thursday erupted at the Trump administration when he learned that two asylum seekers fighting deportation were at that moment being deported and on a plane to El Salvador. DC District Judge Emmet Sullivan then blocked the administration from deporting the two plaintiffs while they are fighting for their right to stay in the US -- excoriating the administration and threatening to hold Attorney General Jeff Sessions in contempt.

There’s 'No Question' a Progressive Woman Will Replace Keith Ellison in Congress. But Who Will It Be?



The group Women Winning has become a fixture in Minnesota politics after working to support pro-choice women running for office for the last 32 years. Among the success stories listed on its website is the story of Margaret Anderson Kelliher — “the second woman to serve as Speaker of the Minnesota House and the first woman to receive a major party’s endorsement for Governor in Minnesota.”

Kelliher lost her shot at the state’s highest office in 2010, despite securing the endorsement of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, as the Democratic Party is known in Minnesota, and she has been out of politics ever since. But after a shake-up in Minnesota Democratic politics created a rare opening in the state’s 5th Congressional District in June, Kelliher decided to enter the fray once more.

Primary voters in the district tend to be mostly female, and an endorsement by Women Winning, a political action committee that is essentially the local equivalent of EMILY’s List, carries a lot of weight. Given that Women Winning already touts Kelliher on its website, one might presume that the group’s endorsement was a given. But in a sign of the changing times — at a moment when insurgent candidates are working to defeat the old guard of the Democratic Party — the group overlooked the candidate it champions as core to its success. It instead opted to endorse Ilhan Omar, a freshman state representative, in the 5th District race. Omar participated in the organization’s training program for candidates and earned its backing during her 2016 entree into politics.

The crowded primary field includes Somali-American activist and engineer Jamal Abdulahi and former Republican Frank Drake, but is largely viewed as a three-way contest between Kelliher, Omar, and Patricia Torres Ray, who has been a state senator for 12 years. The 5th District seat is highly coveted: Its current occupant, Keith Ellison, is just one of three people to hold that job in the last 55 years. 

Click here for the full article. 

Source: The Intercept_ 

US Army Suspends Discharges of Foreign-Born Recruits in Citizenship Programme After Soldiers' Lawsuits


Lawyer and retired lieutenant colonel Margaret Stock says the memo is 'an admission by the army that they are violating the soldiers' rights' 


The US army is suspending discharges of foreign-born recruits who enlisted as part of a special military programme that put them on the path to US citizenship, following lawsuits by soldiers who say they have been expelled unfairly and without explanation.

In a 20 July memo, a top army personnel official ordered the service to “suspend processing of all involuntary separation actions” for individuals in the programme and ordered a review of the discharge procedures for affected soldiers by 15 August.

Marshall Williams, acting assistant secretary of the army for manpower and reserve affairs, also asked the army deputy chief of staff in charge of personnel to recommend whether additional guidance should be issued regarding the discharge procedures for individuals who enlisted through the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest programme (Mavni).

Click here for the full article.

Source: The Independent

SPLC's 'Intelligence Report' Highlights Hate Crimes Targeting the Nation's Most Vulnerable Communities


The latest issue of the Southern Poverty Law Center's (SPLC) Intelligence Report shines a light on victims of hate who are often overlooked and calls attention to under-reported, under-investigated and under-prosecuted hate crimes. It dives deep into the radical right at a time when confronting white supremacy and bigotry is more important than it's been in decades.

Click here to access the report. 

Source: SPLC

Deadnamed (Questions Surround Police Investigations of Murdered Transgender Women)

Update, Aug. 10, 2018: This story was updated to reflect that an arrest was made in the non-fatal shooting of a 23-year-old transgender woman.

Aea Celestice, a black transgender woman living in Jacksonville, Florida, has the most basic of plans for the next chapter of her life: She hopes to get out of town before someone kills her.

Celestice, 32, has good reason to worry. Over the past six months, four black trans women in the city have been shot, three of them fatally.

Celine Walker, 36, was shot to death in her room at an Extended Stay America hotel near the University of North Florida on the night of the Super Bowl, Feb. 4. On June 1, Antonia “Antash’a” English, 38, was killed outside an abandoned home north of downtown. And on June 24, Cathalina James, 24, was gunned down in a room at a Quality Inn on the city’s south side.

The cases have left Celestice and others in Jacksonville’s transgender community rattled but it’s been the handling of the investigations by authorities that’s stirred outrage. In public statements and official documents, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office has repeatedly identified the victims as men, refusing to call them by the names they chose to use in their lives.

While an arrest has been made in the shooting of a 23-year-old trans woman, all three murders remain unsolved, and the insistence on referring to transgender women as men has left Celestice wondering just how much effort is being made to find the killer or killers. She wonders whether anyone outside of her community cares.

“There doesn’t seem to be a concern for anybody,” Celestice said. “I guess other people have other things going on in their lives than being concerned about a trans woman getting murdered.”

Click here for the full article. 

Source: ProPublica

Omarosa Claims Trump Repeatedly Used ‘N-Word’ During ‘The Apprentice’



Former “Apprentice” contestant and White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman claims President Donald Trump repeatedly used “the N-word,” according to The Guardian, which obtained an advance copy of her forthcoming book Unhinged.

Newman, who left the White House last year, says that Trump used the racial slur while taping “The Apprentice” and that he was caught on camera. Trump starred on the reality TV show for years.

Rumors have for years swirled that such outtakes exist. In her book, to be released on Tuesday, Newman does not specify whether she heard Trump use the slur or whether she saw footage of him using it. She says she heard him use other racial epithets in reference to White House counselor Kellyanne Conway’s husband George, who is half-Filipino. 

Click here for the full article.

Source: The Huffington Post

$1 An Hour to Fight Largest Fire in CA History: Are Prison Firefighting Programs Slave Labor?


This report was published on YouTube on August 9. 

Source: Democracy Now!

Pentagon Requests $8 Billion for Space Force


More Homes in Danger as California Wildfire Grows


New Law Helps Dreamers Go to College in New Jersey


Nigeria Farm Violence: Military Operation to Combat Gunmen Begins


Turkey Currency Crisis: 'It Is a Deep-Seated Structural Problem'


Source: FRANCE 24 English

Palestinian Officials Say Truce Reached to End Latest Violence


Source: FRANCE 24 English

Ryanair Strike: 400 Flights Cancelled as European Pilots Strike


Source: FRANCE 24 English

Iraq Parliamentary Election: Cleric Moqtada al-Sadr Retains Victory After Vote Recount


Source: FRANCE 24 English

At Least Four Dead in Canada Shooting


Source: euronews.

Artificial Intelligence Health Pods for Quick Diagnosis Set to Launch



Source: euronews.

Trump to NFL Players: Stand or Be Suspended


Thursday, August 9, 2018

Court Overrules EPA on Brain-Damaging Pesticide



A federal court on Thursday ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to ban a widely used pesticide that’s been linked to learning disabilities in children and that former agency chief Scott Pruitt refused to take off the market.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled in a 2-to-1 decision that the EPA offered “no defense” of its decision to delay a ban on chlorpyrifos ― a move the court said violated the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. The law governs pesticides and requires the EPA to ban chemicals from being used on food if they are proven to cause harm.

The agency has 60 days to finalize a ban. 

Click here for the full article. 

Source: The Huffington Post

Arson Arrest Made in Connection with California Wildfire


Trump's Legal Team Rejects Special Counsel's Interview Request


Puerto Rico Says More Than 1,400 People Likely Died from Hurricane Maria


Source: CBS News

Virginia Declares State of Emergency Ahead of Charlottesville Anniversary


DRC: New Ebola Outbreak


Saudi-Canada Row: Trudeau Stands by Human Rights Call

Headed for All-Out War? Israel-Gaza Conflict Flares Up Again


Source: FRANCE 24 English

Argentina Abortion Bill: Senate Rejects Proposal to Legalise Abortions


Source: FRANCE 24 English

Skin Bleaching in Africa: A Dangerous Trend


Source: FRANCE 24 English

Governor Cuomo to Propose Legislation to Decouple Tax Code


Source: NYGovCuomo

Mayor de Blasio, Speaker Corey Johnson Celebrate Passage of For-Hire Vehicle Legislation


Source: NYC Mayor's Office

The 2018 New York State Environmental Scorecard


Albany — EPL/Environmental Advocates, the accountability arm of Environmental Advocates of New York (EANY), today released the 2018 Environmental Scorecard, and Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan (R-Northport) earned the dubious Oil Slick Award for a long history of environmental neglect and lack of leadership on the environment.

Peter Iwanowicz, executive director of EPL/Environmental Advocates said, “It’s clear that the current State Senate leadership is failing New Yorkers. We face a rapidly changing climate, pollution threatening our air and water, as well as the most anti-environmental federal government in history. However, time after time, Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan chooses to stand with the Trump administration, big oil, polluters, and against the health and well-being of New Yorkers. He has been enabled by a Senate Majority who have also failed to push for bold policies to protect New York. We need the Senate Majority Leader to also be a leader on the environment. Today, sadly, that is not the case.”

Along with the Oil Slick Award, every State Senator and Assemblymember was graded on their environmental votes. Highlights include:
This is the third consecutive year that the Assembly did not advance a bill that was rated as a negative for our environment. 
 
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Environmental Conservation Committee Chair, Steve Englebright both received perfect scores (100). 
 
The entire Senate majority caucus got a failing grade (under 70).
“The contrast between the Assembly and Senate majorities couldn’t be more pronounced,” Iwanowicz said. “The Assembly has consistently made passing impactful environmental policy a top priority— while the Senate has consistently turned their back. Their inaction also provides an excuse for Governor Cuomo to shun the hard work needed to protect our environment. Something isn’t working in Albany, and it’s now up to the people of New York to fix it.”
 
Click here for a full list of state legislators and their scores.

The EPL/Environmental Advocates 2018 Environmental Scorecard exists as a means to draw attention to State Legislators’ records on the environment and hold them responsible for their actions or inaction. It is the first and only record of New York State lawmakers’ votes on legislation that will impact the environment. For the complete Scorecard, visit www.eplscorecard.org.
EPL/Environmental Advocates was founded in 1969 as one of the first organizations in the nation to advocate for the future of a state’s environment and the health of its citizens. It is the sister organization of Environmental Advocates of New York. 
Source: EANY

Why New York Consumers, State Regulators Aim Their Ire at Charter Spectrum



When the cable guy walked to his Spectrum van as he was exiting an Upstate Dunkin' Donuts last month, a motorist, not noticing the pedestrian, pulled out in front, coming close to hitting him.

Pointing to the Spectrum tag on his shirt, the pedestrian remarked: "It's 'cause I'm from Spectrum. Everyone hates Spectrum now."

That about sums it up. Consumer frustration with the cable television provider has rarely been higher.

Charter Communications Spectrum cable service is despised among hoards of customers. As hard as it is to believe, the provider may have drawn more customer ire than its predecessor, Time Warner Cable.

Like the cable installer getting his Dunkin' Donuts, Spectrum and owner Charter Communications is under siege across New York.

Click here for the full article.

Source: Ithaca Journal (via Empire Report New York) 

Wednesday, August 8, 2018

Omarosa Secretly Recorded Trump and Played the Audio for People, Sources Say

A Daily Beast Exclusive

By Lachlan Markay, Asawin Suebsaeng and Maxwell Tani

Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former personal attorney and fixer, isn’t the only one with secretly recorded audio of the president.

Multiple sources with direct knowledge of the situation tell The Daily Beast that Omarosa Manigault-Newman, the infamous former Apprentice star who followed Trump to the White House, secretly recorded conversations with the president—conversations she has since leveraged while shopping her forthcoming “tell-all” book, bluntly titled UNHINGED.

For months, it has been rumored that Manigault had clandestinely recorded on her smartphone “tapes” of unspecified private discussions she had in the West Wing. Audio actually does exist, and even stars Manigault’s former boss.

One person confirmed to The Daily Beast they had heard at least one of her recordings featuring President Trump. Multiple sources familiar with the so-called “Omarosa tapes” described the recorded conversations between Trump and Manigault as anodyne, everyday chatter, but said they did appear to feature Trump’s voice, either over the phone or in-person.

The mere existence of such recordings represent a dramatic betrayal of trust by a one-time Trump confidant who has since abandoned years of professed loyalty to the president and has apparently decided to profit off her years of closeness to Trump. 

Click here for the full article.

Cory Booker Claims He Didn’t Know He Held a Pro-Palestine Sign. New Details Cast Doubt on His Denial



At the Netroots Nation conference in New Orleans this past weekend, which brands itself as “a political convention for American progressive political activists,” the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights attended panels, handed out literature, and advocated for the end of the occupation of Palestine to secure a just future for both Israelis and Palestinians.

As part of that effort, members snapped a photo with Sen. Cory Booker D-N.J., during which he held a sign that clearly read, “From Palestine to Mexico, All the Walls Have Got to Go.”
The initial response from the left was hopeful, if skeptical. Booker, a presumed 2020 hopeful, has been making concessions to the left since 2016, including a pledge to reject corporate PAC donations, putting a “pause” on fundraising from pharmaceutical companies, and embracing Sanders-style policies like a $15 minimum wage and “Medicare for All.”

Although he has a long history of strident pro-Israel advocacy, this year, Booker declined from speaking publicly at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, America’s prominent pro-Israeli government lobbying group — although an AIPAC official told The Intercept that conference attendees met with him at his Capitol Hill offices following the event.

Click here for the full article. 

Source: The Intercept_

FBI Pressed Detained Anti-ICE Activist for Information on Protests, Offering Immigration Help



On Friday, after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested a longtime U.S. resident protesting against ICE in San Antonio, Texas, the FBI stepped in for an interrogation, telling the resident, 18-year-old Sergio Salazar, that his immigration status had been revoked because he was a “bad person.” The FBI agents asked him to inform on fellow protesters and said if he did so it could help his immigration case.

“It seems evident that he was targeted here because of his involvement in the anti-ICE protests,” said Jonathan Ryan, Salazar’s lawyer from RAICES Texas, an immigrant advocacy group. “We’re very concerned about how directed and targeted and aggressive and quick this was.” ICE has been criticized for recent detentions and deportations of other activists, but little else has emerged that indicates an FBI interest in anti-ICE protests.

Salazar, an aspiring filmmaker who came to the U.S. when he was two, was quoted extensively in the San Antonio Express-News in late July under his nickname “Mapache,” saying that his group planned to remain in its encampment in front of an ICE processing facility until “ICE no longer operates in San Antonio.” He was arrested as he stepped away from the encampment a few days later.

Click here for the full article. 

Source: The Intercept_

Four Years After the Ferguson Shooting, How Have Things Changed?


By Clark Mindock

Four years ago the death of teenager Michael Brown sparked violent protests on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, and led to a national discussion about police violence against people of colour.

A handful of efforts have since been made to change the system, despite police shootings across the country continuing at an alarming rate.

In the immediate aftermath of the 2014 shooting — in which a white police officer shot Mr Brown, a black man, as he walked down the street — the backlash was severe, and the public attention placed on Ferguson revealed deep racial tensions in the city. 

The shooting also pushed for a reckoning across the country, and continues to serve as an example each time a black individual is shot by police in situations that critics say shows unwarranted use of force and deadly weapons.

But has anything changed?

Click here for the full article. 

Source: The Independent

First Muslim Woman, the Daughter of Palestinian Immigrants, Bound for Congress


by Associated Press

DETROIT — An attorney and former Michigan lawmaker is looking ahead to becoming the first Muslim woman elected to Congress.

Former state Rep. Rashida Tlaib won the Democratic nomination late Tuesday to run unopposed for the Detroit-area congressional seat long held by former U.S. Rep. John Conyers. No Republicans or third-party candidates were in the race, meaning the daughter of Palestinian immigrants is set to win the seat in November and begin serving a full two-year term in January.

"I will uplift you in so many ways," she told supporters during a victory speech early Wednesday morning. "Not only through service but fighting back, against every single oppressive, racist structure that needs to be dismantled, because you deserve better than what we have today in our country."

Click here for the full article. 

Source: NBC News 

New Poll: 43% of Republicans Want to Give Trump the Power to Shut Down Media


A Daily Beast Exclusive

The ‘enemy of the people’ talk is working. A plurality of self-identified Republicans say they want Trump to have the power to take ‘bad’ media outlets out.

By Sam Stein 

Freedom of the press may be guaranteed in the Constitution. But a plurality of Republicans want to give President Trump the authority to close down certain news outlets, according to a new public opinion survey conducted by Ipsos and provided exclusively to The Daily Beast.

The findings present a sobering picture for the fourth estate, with respondents showing diminished trust in the media and increased support for punitive measures against its members. They also illustrate the extent to which Trump’s anti-press drumbeat has shaped public opinion about the role the media plays in covering his administration.

All told, 43 percent of self-identified Republicans said that they believed “the president should have the authority to close news outlets engaged in bad behavior.” Only 36 percent disagreed with that statement. When asked if Trump should close down specific outlets, including CNN, The Washington Post, and The New York Times, nearly a quarter of Republicans (23 percent) agreed and 49 percent disagreed. 

Click here for the full article. 

Kids Were Killed at Texas Youth Facility. Then Feds Sent Migrant Children There.


A Daily Beast Exclusive

Just as Texas stopped sending foster children to centers operated by one man, the U.S. government tossed him a new source of money: immigrant kids.

By Will Evans, Lance Williams and Matthew Smith 

This story was produced by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting, a nonprofit news organization. Learn more at revealnews.org and subscribe to the Reveal podcast, produced with PRX.

By the time the federal government started sending immigrant children to Shiloh Treatment Center in 2009, the warning flags were waving blood red.

Three children had died after being physically restrained at Shiloh and affiliated facilities in rural Texas run by the same man, Clay Dean Hill. A teenager from California died after running away and getting hit by a truck. Texas officials repeatedly had cited Hill’s residential centers for troubled youths after caretakers were found to have slapped, punched, and kicked children.

Yet nine years ago, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services sent its first delivery of federal tax dollars to Hill, a one-time longshoreman-turned-millionaire entrepreneur specializing in the care of vulnerable children. The federal government wanted Hill to take immigrant children with mental health problems who were caught crossing the border without parents or papers.

The funding started a couple of months before a male caretaker in his 40s was caught preying on a 15-year-old girl from California, sexually abusing her at one of Hill’s all-girl dormitories, where he was assigned overnight. He’s now a convicted sex offender.

“It shows you how disgraceful the place was,” said the former resident, now 25, who told her story publicly for the first time to Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting.

Click here for the full article. 

Georgia Protesters Demand Russia End Its 'Occupation'


India's Economy Could Feel Effect of US Sanctions on Iran


Australia's Most Populous State '100 percent' in Drought


Mexico Holds Town Hall Talks to Discuss Drug Violence Solutions


Ivory Coast Former First Lady Simone Gbagbo Leaves Detention After Amnesty


Source: FRANCE 24 English

Water: An Issue of National Security and Foreign Policy


Source: FRANCE 24 English

Homophobia in France: The Struggle Continues


Source: FRANCE 24 English

HIV Rates on the Rise Among Chinese Youth


Source: FRANCE 24 English

Boris Johnson Sparks Furore with 'Inflammatory' Burka Comments


Source: euronews.

Venezuelan President Says Colombia is Training 'Terrorist' Opposition Leaders


Source: euronews.

Greek Government Debt Crisis: A Crash Course



Source: euronews.

Tesla May Go Private

Cuomo Announces Central Islip as $10M Long Island Winner of Third-Round DRI


Source: NYGovCuomo

NYPD Update: Coverage of the 48th Precinct's National Night Out Against Crime


This video was published on YouTube on August 7. 

Source: NYC Mayor's Office

New York GOP Rep. Chris Collins Arrested on Insider Trading Charges



Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y. was arrested Wednesday morning on federal insider trading charges, law enforcement officials said.

An indictment obtained from a federal grand jury relates to Australian biotech company Innate Immunotherapeutics, on which Collins served as a board member.

It alleges Collins, 68 scrambled to call his son from the White House lawn and tell him non-public information about a failed drug trial in which they both owned shares.\

Click here for the full article. 

Source: CNBC (via Empire Report New York) 

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

U.S. Judge Rules Against Trump Policy Restricting Transgender Troops


by Reuters 

A U.S. court on Monday ruled the Trump administration could not enforce an updated policy barring certain transgender people from serving in the U.S. military, becoming the second court in the country to rule against the government since it unveiled the policy in March.

President Donald Trump announced on March 23 that he would endorse a plan by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to restrict the military service of transgender people who experience a condition called gender dysphoria. 

Click here for the full article. 

Source: NBC News 

Lyme Disease Now Found in All 50 States

 Click on the image to increase its size.


By Linda Searing, The Washington Post

If you thought you were safe from Lyme disease because you don't live in New England, where the tick-borne illness first appeared, think again. Now, all 50 states plus the District of Columbia have residents who have tested positive for Lyme, a bacterial infection that can cause a wide variety of symptoms, including joint aches, fatigue, facial palsy and neck stiffness.

This news comes from a report from the clinical laboratory Quest Diagnostics, which analyzed the results of 6 million blood tests doctors had ordered to diagnose Lyme disease in their patients. The report found that Pennsylvania had the most positive cases last year: 10,001.

Click here for the full article. 

Click here for additional information on the disease, including symptoms and treatment. 

Source: SFGATE.com

How Prepared is the U.S. to Fend Off Cyber Warfare? Better At Offense Than Defense, Author Says


This report was published on YouTube on August 6. 

Source: PBS NewsHour

John Bolton: North Korea Has Not ‘Taken Effective Steps’ to Denuclearize


This report was published on YouTube on August 6. 

National Security Adviser John Bolton on Monday criticized North Korea’s denuclearization efforts, saying leader Kim Jong Un was not living up to the commitment he made to President Donald Trump at their June meeting in Singapore. Bolton talks with Nick Schifrin about North Korea, as well as U.S. plans to reinstate sanctions on Iran.

Source: PBS NewsHour

Trump Imposes 'Most Biting Sanctions Ever' on Iran


Source: CBS News

Older Americans Filing for Bankruptcy at Increased Rate


This report was published on YouTube on August 6.

Source: CBS News

U.S. Sending 13 Mortuary Officers to Puerto Rico


This report was published on YouTube on August 6.

Source: CBS News

New York Times Publishes 18-Month Study About Climate Change


This report was published on YouTube on August 6. 

The New York Times Magazine released a report titled "Losing Earth: The Decade We Almost Stopped Climate Change." It outlines the history of climate change -- as well as the causes and dangers. Nathaniel Rich, the reporter behind the article, joins CBSN to discuss his findings.

Source: CBS News 

Bangladesh Criticised for Student and Media Crackdown

Mexico's New Approach to Tackling Record Violence Levels


Iran Sanctions: 'Trump Wants It to Be About Him'


Source: FRANCE 24 English

Rosie O'Donnell, Broadway Singers Organise Anti-Trump Protest Outside White House


Source: FRANCE 24 English

Colombia's New President Ivan Duque Takes Power


Source: FRANCE 24 English

Iranians, Companies Suffer as Country Faces Worst Economic Crisis Ever



Source: FRANCE 24 English

Eye on Africa: Unrest, Looting and Violence in Eastern Ethiopia


This report was published on YouTube on August 6. 

Source: FRANCE 24 English

Pay Disparity Worsens for Black Women in New York City, Report Finds


By Kate King

The wage gap between black women and white men in New York City widened in recent years, while white women inched a bit closer to pay equity, according to a report by the comptroller’s office.

Black women in New York City made 57 cents for every dollar paid to white men in 2016, a difference of roughly $32,000 in annual earnings. The gap grew slightly, to 43 cents in 2016 from 42 cents in 2010, according to the report, which compared the median earnings of full-time working men and women.

White women, by contrast, made 82 cents for every dollar, or $13,600 less in annual earnings, compared with white men in 2016, the most recent year for which data was available. This marked a slight improvement from 2010, when the median earnings for white women was 81 cents on the dollar.

Click here for the full article.

Source: The Wall Street Journal (via Empire Report New York) 

New York First State to Test New App Busting Underage Drinkers Using Fake IDs