Month: August 2018

‘I met my IS captor on a German street’

On By peanutgallerynhIn Europe,, Middle East,Leave a comment

A Yazidi teenager sold into slavery by Islamic State has told the BBC of her horror after she escaped to Germany, only to come face-to-face with her captor in the street.

Ashwaq was only 14 when Islamic State fighters stormed into northern Iraq, including the heartland of the Yazidi people.

They took thousands of women as sex slaves, including Ashwaq – sold for $100 to a man named Abu Humam.

Raped and beaten, she managed to escape three months later and then went to Germany with her mother and one brother.

A few months ago, on the street outside a supermarket, she heard someone call out her name.

…”I know you, he said. And where you live and who you live with. He knew everything about my life in Germany.”

‘I met my IS captor on a German street’ – BBC News

wow….

Border Fence Firm Snared for Hiring Illegal Workers

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Money, Class, and Poverty,, Race,Leave a comment

A fence-building company in Southern California agrees to pay nearly $5 million in fines for hiring illegal immigrants. Two executives from the company may also serve jail time. The Golden State Fence Company’s work includes some of the border fence between San Diego and Mexico.

Border Fence Firm Snared for Hiring Illegal Workers : NPR

jesus-facepalm1

Police use Taser on 87-year-old woman cutting dandelion green in a vacant lot across from her house

On By peanutgallerynhIn American Injustice System,Leave a comment

Police use Taser on 87-year-old woman cutting dandelions with a knife – CNN

Jeezus Christ…

The fact that the police responding to this call, even after the caller said it was an older woman cutting vegetation.

The caller should be facing charges of harassment and making a nuisance call and the officer who fired his taser should be relived of his badge immediately and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. If the officer didn’t posses the ability to employ better judgment than that they had not business in the uniform.

Mueller team wants George Papadopoulos jailed 6 months

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,Leave a comment

Federal authorities had cornered the man they suspected could be part of Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election — and they might have been more successful in their investigation in early 2017 if it had not been for George Papadopoulos, the special counsel alleged on Friday.

…Papadopoulos lied to the FBI in January 2017 about his contact in London with Joseph Mifsud,identified in the filing as “the Professor.” Mifsud had told Papadopoulos the Russians had “dirt” on Hillary Clinton. 

…Papadopoulos lied “to minimize both his own role as a witness and the extent of the campaign’s knowledge of his contacts,” the prosecutors said.

Among “at least a dozen” lies at the interview, Papadopoulos concealed the “significance” of when he had learned that Russians possessed thousands of emails about Clinton. Papadopoulos said wrongly several times he had communicated with Mifsud before he joined the Trump campaign.

…In another curious detail in the filing, the special counsel team said Papadopoulos had been given $10,000 in cash “from a foreign national whom he believed was likely an intelligence officer of a foreign country.” The filing noted that the country was “other than Russia.”

Mueller has also recommended a $9,500 fine.

Papadopoulos is scheduled to be sentenced in the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Sept. 7.

Another defendant, Alex van der Zwaan, also pleaded guilty to lying to investigators. He received 30 days in prison.

Mueller team wants George Papadopoulos jailed 6 months – CNNPolitics

hmmm

Trump considering Erik Prince’s plan to privatize Afghanistan war

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Middle East,, Military,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

…[Trump]has shown interest in a proposal by Blackwater founder Erik Prince to privatize the war.

…He envisions replacing troops with private military contractors who would work for a US envoy for the war who would report to the president. [Cutting the Pentagon, Defense Department and the entire Military out]

…Trump’s national security team was reportedly aghast at the idea.

…And a senior State Department official said there’s “not a chance” it will be adopted.

Trump considering Erik Prince’s plan to privatize Afghanistan war

hmmmm

Kanye West Defends Trump—Until Jimmy Kimmel Brings Up Migrant Children

On By peanutgallerynhIn Media and Culture,1 Comment

When asked if he was concerned about his wife being in the same room as Trump, West replied, “Well, he is a player”—a characterization that the women who have accused the president of sexual misconduct might disagree with.

…“The main thing that I was stressing is the idea of trying love,” West said, speaking again about his TMZ Live appearance. “We’re always pushing out so much hate, and love can cure so much. Just to think, ‘Am I moving in love? Is this out of love, not out of pride?’ . . . When I see people even just go at the president, it’s like, why not try love?”

Then came one of the few moments where Kimmel interrupted his guest. As nice as that message sounds, Kimmel told West, Trump and his administration were literally tearing families apart at the border. “You so famously and so powerfully said, ‘George Bush doesn’t care about black people,’” Kimmel said. “It makes me wonder what makes you think that Donald Trump does—or [that he cares] about any people at all.” For a few moments, West was speechless. Then Kimmel cut to commercial. 

Kanye West Defends Trump—Until Jimmy Kimmel Brings Up Migrant Children | Vanity Fair

Kayne is such a douchey moron.

New Study Indicates That Watching The Kardashians Makes You Less of a Good Person

On By peanutgallerynhIn Media and Culture,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

According to The Telegraph, the study used two control groups, totaling 487 individuals. The people in the study were shown specific media–one group seeing shows like Keeping Up with the Kardashians and other materialistic media programs, while the other group was shown shows more “news like,” consisting of neutral images an natural scenery.

After watching the programs, users were polled and asked questions about the shows.According to the research, those who watched Keeping Up with the Kardashians and other shows like it were exhibiting more “materialistic and anti-welfare attitudes.”

New Study Claims That Watching The Kardashians Makes You A Worse Person

hmmm

Mystery Sting Targets U.S. Senator for Dirt on Russia Sanctions

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Granite State,Leave a comment

A staffer for the senator responded to the email and proposed a date and time for a phone call between Shaheen and Rinkevičs. The supposed Latvian official, who called himself “Arturs Vaiders” and listed his job title as the “second secretary of the state protocol,” agreed.

But before the call could take place, Shaheen’s office contacted the Latvian embassy to confirm Vaiders’ bona fides. The embassy responded that the outreach attempt was fake.

Mystery Sting Targets U.S. Senator for Dirt on Russia Sanctions

hmmmm

Michael Cohen claims Trump knew in advance of 2016 Trump Tower meeting

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,Leave a comment

Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, claims that then-candidate Trump knew in advance about the June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower in which Russians were expected to offer his campaign dirt on Hillary Clinton, sources with knowledge tell CNN. Cohen is willing to make that assertion to special counsel Robert Mueller, the sources said.

…Cohen alleges that he was present, along with several others, when Trump was informed of the Russians’ offer by Trump Jr. By Cohen’s account, Trump approved going ahead with the meeting with the Russians, according to sources.

…The June 2016 meeting was arranged after a publicist who knew Trump Jr. told him in emails — in no uncertain terms — that a senior Russian official “offered to provide the Trump campaign” with damaging information about Clinton, and that the outreach was “part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.” At the time, the Russian operation to covertly boost Trump’s candidacy wasn’t publicly known. Trump. Jr. responded, “if it’s what you say, I love it,” and started to arrange the meeting.

At the meeting, Trump Jr. was joined by his brother-in-law Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort, who was Trump’s campaign chairman at the time. There were four Russians in the room, including a lawyer with Kremlin ties, a businessman who worked for an oligarch and a lobbyist with old KGB connections.

…Even Steve Bannon, the former White House chief strategist and top Trump campaign official, said the meeting was “treasonous” and speculated that “the chance that Don Jr. did not walk these (Russians) up to his father’s office on the twenty-sixth floor is zero.”

Michael Cohen claims Trump knew in advance of 2016 Trump Tower meeting – CNNPolitics

hmmmm

23andMe Is Getting Lots of Money From Big Pharma and Sharing Your Genetic Data

On By peanutgallerynhIn Media and Culture,, Money, Class, and Poverty,, Science and Stuff,Leave a comment

“It’s one thing for NIH to ask people to donate their genome sequences for the higher good,” Peter Pitts, president of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, told NBC News. “But when two for-profit companies enter into an agreement where the jewel in the crown is your gene sequence and you are actually paying for the privilege of participating, I think that’s upside-down.”

Typically, 23andMe uses and shares its customers’ genetic data after it has been pooled together and stripped of any information that would allow anyone to trace back its origins to a single person. But more recently, the company has also asked customers for added permission to share their individual genetic and self-reported data with outside sources for research. Though this data is said to be stripped of information that would prevent identification, such as your name or date of birth, even 23andMe has warned it cannot “provide a 100 percent guarantee that your data will be safe” in the event of a breach.

Experts have feared that data leaks from genetic testing companies such as 23andMe would allow insurance companies to screen out people with risky genes, regardless of genetic privacy laws.

23andMe Is Getting Lots of Money From Big Pharma and Sharing Your Genetic Data

Sigh…

23andMe Is Sharing Its 5 Million Clients’ Genetic Data with Drug Giant GlaxoSmithKline

On By peanutgallerynhIn Media and Culture,, Money, Class, and Poverty,, Science and Stuff,Leave a comment

23andMe is partnering with drug giant GlaxoSmithKline to use people’s DNA to develop medical treatments.

…If a person’s DNA is used in research, that person should be compensated, said Peter Pitts, president of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest.

“Are they going to offer rebates to people who opt in, so their customers aren’t paying for the privilege of 23andMe working with a for-profit company in a for-profit research project?” Pitts said to NBC.

In addition, even though 23andMe gets the consent of its customers to use their genetic data, it’s unlikley that most people are aware of this.

…The new collaboration isn’t the first time 23andMe’s vast pool of genetic data has been mined by scientists. The San Francisco startup has already published more than 100 scientific papers based on its customers’ data, according to yesterday’s blog post, by Anne Wojcicki, 23andMe’s co-founder and chief executive. In 2015, the company launched 23andMe Therapeutics, which focuses on developing “novel treatments and cures based on genetic insights from the consented 23andMe community,” Wojcicki wrote.

23andMe has more than 5 million customers worldwide who have had their DNA analyzed for ancestral data. People who would like to close their 23andMe accounts can go here, but the company notes that “any research involving your data that has already been performed or published prior to our receipt of your request will not be reversed, undone, or withdrawn.”

23andMe Is Sharing Its 5 Million Clients’ Genetic Data with Drug Giant GlaxoSmithKline

Did anyone with a brain not see this slimey corporate douchebaggery coming from miles away???!

Facebook suspends US conspiracy theorist Alex Jones

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Media and Culture,Leave a comment

The suspension will last for 30 days, and affects only Jones’s personal account on the social network, not the main InfoWars account. His profile will continue to be published, but he will not be not be able to post content until the suspension elapses.

…The suspension means Jones will not be able to post content to pages for which he is a “page admin”. As the suspension applies only to Jones personally, the channel bearing his name on Facebook will remain active, as will InfoWars itself, which has several page administrators. The intention is to prevent individuals from working around the ban by using multiple pages to violate policy.

…Facebook has previously been accused of “light-touch” moderation for high-profile accounts, even if they seem to be repeatedly violating policies. Earlier this month, Channel 4 revealed, through undercover filming, that some accounts, including those of far-right icons such as Tommy Robinson and Britain First, were marked as “shielded” and prevented from deletion even when normal users would have faced action.

Facebook suspends US conspiracy theorist Alex Jones | Technology | The Guardian

Facebook gives out nothing but a slap on the wrist. Might as well have done nothing at all. Lame-asses.

Immigrant debate wrongly includes indigenous people

On By peanutgallerynhIn Media and Culture,, Race,, The Americas,Leave a comment

We have been very focused these days on immigration and there has been much ink spilled on the matter. But there is a portion of this debate that presumes that all people living in North America are immigrants, even Native Peoples. 

…The way in which the United States has mistreated our ancestors is beyond tragic – it is by today’s standards, criminal. Terms like genocide, ethnic cleansing, dispossession, cultural genocide are how we should teach the true history of the United States. Let’s stop kidding ourselves by telling each other fairy tales, and truly embrace the reality of the past, not to create a sense of national guilt or embarrassment, but more so that we don’t repeat those same mistakes.

Immigrant debate wrongly includes indigenous people

hmmm

‘What is more uncivil than taking children away?’

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Clinton’s expression grows increasingly bleak as she [catalogs] the bureaucratic chaos. For a start, many of the children are nonverbal; others don’t speak Spanish, but obscure Mayan languages. And all are confused and [traumatized.] Having been “[funneled] through a whole panoply” of Homeland Security agencies notorious for “very poor record keeping and incompetence”, many of which are privately run, some babies have been transported all the way from the border to Detroit and New York. Others have gone to foster care families; some parents have already been deported without their children. “You just could not even imagine a worse child-welfare tragedy.”

But surely Clinton must be aware that every media report and profile invariably describes her as a “[polarizing] figure”. Has she ever considered the possibility that her most effective contribution to healing the country’s divisions would be to withdraw from public life?

“I’m sure they said that about Churchill between the wars, didn’t they?” she flashes back sharply, a fraction too quickly for the line to sound spontaneous. “I mean, I’m not comparing myself, but I’m just saying people said that, but he was right about Hitler, and a lot of people in England were wrong. And Churchill was a pain. He kept popping up all the time.”

Hillary Clinton: ‘What is more uncivil than taking children away?’ | US news | The Guardian

hmmmm

Korematsu decision finally rejected by Supreme Court

On By peanutgallerynhIn American Injustice System,, Domestic Affairs,, Race,, Religion,Leave a comment

In her dissent to the majority’s ruling on the travel ban, Sotomayor compared the decision to the Korematsu v. US case, saying there are “stark parallels” in the reasoning.

“As here, the exclusion order was rooted in dangerous stereotypes about a particular group’s supposed inability to assimilate and desire to harm the United States,” Sotomayor wrote.

The comparison triggered an angry response from Roberts, who chastised his colleague for using “rhetorical advantage” and said that Korematsu had “nothing to do with this case.”

Roberts was troubled enough with the comparison, however, that he did something that no party involved in the travel ban case had expressly asked for: He announced that the Supreme Court was overruling Korematsu.

…For her part, Sotomayor allowed that Roberts took an “important step of finally overruling” Korematsu. But it wasn’t enough, she said.

“By blindly accepting the Government’s misguided invitation to sanction a discriminatory policy motivated by animosity toward a disfavored group, all in the name of a superficial claim of national security, the Court redeploys the same dangerous logic underlying Korematsu and merely replaces one gravely wrong decision with another,” she said. She was joined by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Under normal circumstances a justice ends a dissent with “I respectfully dissent.” Sotomayor said simply, “I dissent.

Korematsu decision finally rejected by Supreme Court – CNNPolitics

hmmm

Jared Kushner Is Already Failing at Plan B of His Middle East Peace Efforts

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Middle East,Leave a comment

Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner has been unable to deliver a Middle East peace plan, already shifting gears to helping Gaza with its humanitarian crisis. But now he appears to be defaulting on his plan B as well.

…Trump entrusted Kushner, who had no prior diplomatic experience, with the hefty task of forging peace in the Middle East. Kushner has made more than a dozen trips to the region over the past 18 months but still has not introduced a peace plan.

“We have the plan ready—mostly ready—and when the time is right, we’ll bring it out,” Kushner said before the conflict in Gaza approached the brink of war.

Jared Kushner Is Already Failing at Plan B of His Middle East Peace Efforts

well, money can buy a lot of things, competence isn’t one of them though…

Norway’s Melting Ice Patches Offer a New Glimpse Into History

On By peanutgallerynhIn Europe,, Science and Stuff,Leave a comment

Ice patches are similar to glaciers in that they’re long-living hunks of ice replenished by snow each winter. But they differ in that they don’t move. That means that any artifacts left on them are simply entombed in the ice rather than ground to a fine dust, which is what happens to artifacts trapped in glaciers as they slide down the mountain.

Now that climate change is causing ice to melt, those artifacts are once again seeing the light of day after thousands of frozen years. In case of Oppland, Norway, some artifacts have been dated back to 6,000 years ago.

The wealth of artifacts recovered in Oppland (or any ice patch for that matter) are delicate and after centuries of life without air, they degrade and can be destroyed by the elements in a matter of days if nobody finds them. That makes the scientists’ work equal parts detective and EMT.

…The earliest artifacts date to 6,000 years ago, which Barrett said are unique in their own right. But the artifact record that allows the scientists to spin their historical yarn begins to pick up steam in the third century.

That’s a period when agriculture and economic activity started to take hold in the valleys populated by Nordic people.

…The number of artifacts peaked in the Viking Age, which lasted from around the late eighth century until the early 10th century. During this period, exploration was the name of the game. Ships were setting out across the sea, contributing to a larger trading economy that was in part driven by natural resources brought down from the mountains.

Norway’s Melting Ice Patches Offer a New Glimpse Into History

hmmm