NYS Attorney General probes Clare Bronfman’s Ethical Science Foundation – Artvoice
hmmm
Category: Local Interest,
GOP Cuban-American lawmaker defends Emma González from racist reactionary troll, Steve King
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) on Tuesday came to the defense of Parkland student Emma González after Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) shared a photo criticizing her.
…”Many #Miami homes also have Cuban flags, @SteveKingIA,” said Ros-Lehtinen, a fiery critic of Castro.
“That doesn’t equal support 4 Castro. Folks should learn about our community before criticizing a high school student.”
GOP Cuban-American lawmaker defends Emma González from Steve King | TheHill
hmmmm
New Indiana law requires doctors make women confess abortion history or go to jail
This truly is straight out of the Handmaid’s Tale. Indiana has a new law which requires doctors and hospitals to interrogate women about whether they’ve had an abortion when they are seeking “treatment for a physical or psychological condition that is in any way connected to a past abortion.” Any provider who fails to submit an “abortion complications” report to the State Department of Health “risks being charged with a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine, for each instance of noncompliance.”
New Indiana law requires doctors make women confess abortion history or go to jail
My god….
Washinton, NH: Small-town criminals, or so says the state
Washington, a charmingly scenic town about 40 miles west of Concord, boasts that it’s the first town in the brand new United States named after George Washington. Its picturesque common is, at 1,507 feet in elevation, the highest town center in the state, and its 1,100 or so hearty residents are scattered around nearly 50 square miles of rugged landscape crisscrossed with rural, often-unpaved roads.
Its Currier and Ives perfection, though, masks the fact that Washington is also home to a nest of criminal scofflaws headed by a ruthless gang leader, one Barbara Gaskell.
…After sentencing Gaskell to the 21st-century equivalent of a public stockade, state bureaucrats informed her and other town officials that a new election will be held at a date chosen by the state and that the secretary of state “will appoint an election monitor to directly observe all aspects of your conduct” in that election.
Yes, an “election monitor”! The sort of thing usually reserved for scofflaw nations considered unlikely to adhere to the law!
Katy Burns: Small-town criminals, or so says the state
hmmm
Alton Sterling case: No charges for La. officers in black man’s shooting death
Sterling, a 37-year-old black man, was shot to death July 5, 2016, as two white officers pinned him to the pavement outside a Louisiana convenience store where he had been selling CDs.The officers were responding to the report of a man with a gun. Officer Blane Salamoni shot and killed Sterling during the struggle. Officer Howie Lake II helped wrestle Sterling to the ground, but Lake didn’t fire his gun.
The killing was captured on cellphone video and circulated widely online, sparking demonstrations across Baton Rouge.
Alton Sterling case: No charges for La. officers in black man’s shooting death – CBS News
Apparently murdering black men is legal in Louisianan, as long as it is done by a police officer.
State Police pay higher than reported, data hidden for years
Revelations about an alleged overtime scam, a wave of suspensions, and hefty pay for Massachusetts State Police troopers have sparked scrutiny of the state’s largest law enforcement agency.
…Payroll records for an entire 140-trooper State Police division — including some of the department’s highest earners — have been hidden from public view and weren’t filed with the state comptroller for several years, the Globe has found.
…The records also show that 393 troopers normally assigned to other State Police divisions worked detail and fill-in shifts for Troop F, collecting another $6.4 million.
In the entire department, at least 299 troopers — about 14 percent — made more than $200,000 last year.
…On Tuesday, Colonel Kerry A. Gilpin revealed that 20 active troopers and one retiree face sanctions in an overtime abuse scandal in Troop E. The troopers allegedly logged hours they did not work, with some alleged violators putting in for as many as 100 no-show shifts.
On Friday, State Police said nine of those troopers were suspended without pay, nine more retired, and one was kept on active duty.
…There has also been infighting within the State Police, with unionized troopers arguing that higher-ranked nonunion workers should not be assigned to work overtime shifts.
…At least 79 percent of Troop F made more last year than Governor Charlie Baker, who earned $151,800. The percentage would be even higher if you included the pay that some workers received in 2017 for time spent in other State Police divisions.
Fourteen Troop F members earned more in overtime than in base pay.
State Police pay higher than reported, data hidden for years – The Boston Globe
Oi…..
Iranian firm hacked computers nationwide, including in Hawaii, FBI says
An Iranian consulting firm worked for years to steal secrets from universities and companies in the U.S. and around the globe, even hacking into the U.S. Department of Labor and the United Nations, according to an indictment unveiled today. The company is also accused of breaching the computers of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the states of Hawaii and Indiana.
The Mabna Institute, based in Tehran, worked for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and other clients in the Iranian government to steal academic research, proprietary secrets and government data, the indictment claims. The hacking went on since at least 2013, the Justice Department said.
…The nine defendants, including company founders Gholamreza Rafatnejad and Ehsan Mohammadi, were charged with conspiracy, wire fraud and identity theft. But since Iran does not have an extradition treaty with the United States, it’s unlikely they will face trial, unless they leave the country.
Iranian firm hacked computers nationwide, including in Hawaii, FBI says
hmmmm
Vermont Is Now The Only State That’s Never Sent A Woman To Congress
On Wednesday, Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant appointed the state’s Agriculture Commissioner Cindy Hyde-Smith to a U.S. Senate seat, replacing Sen. Thad Cochran. With that appointment, Vermont is now the only state to never send a woman to Congress.
Vermont Is Now The Only State That’s Never Sent A Woman To Congress | Vermont Public Radio
Well, now…
Hmmmmm.
Pennsylvania Chief Justice Criticizes Impeachment Moves
The impeachment resolutions, introduced by a Republican lawmaker, follow a tense battle over the commonwealth’s redrawn congressional map, which the Democratic-majority court imposed after declaring the previous map unconstitutionally gerrymandered to favor Republicans.
Chief Justice Thomas Saylor, himself a Republican, said he was “very concerned” about the filings.
“Threats of impeachment directed against Justices because of their decision in a particular case are an attack upon an independent judiciary, which is an essential component of our constitutional plan of government,” he wrote in a statement.
Pennsylvania Chief Justice Criticizes Impeachment Moves : NPR
hmmm
Kushner Cos. repeatedly filed false NYC housing paperwork
The Kushner Cos. routinely filed false paperwork with the city declaring it had zero rent-regulated tenants in dozens of buildings it owned across the city when, in fact, it had hundreds.
While none of the documents during a three-year period when Kushner was CEO bore his personal signature, they provide a window into the ethics of the business empire he ran before he went on to become one of the most trusted advisers to the president of the United States.
…“The fact that the company was falsifying all these applications with the government shows a sordid attempt to avert accountability and get a rapid return on its investment.”
…In all, Housing Rights Initiative found the Kushner Cos. filed at least 80 false applications for construction permits in 34 buildings across New York City from 2013 to 2016, all of them indicating there were no rent-regulated tenants. Instead, tax documents show there were more than 300 rent-regulated units. Nearly all the permit applications were signed by a Kushner employee, including sometimes the chief operating officer.
…In Kushner buildings across the city, records show frequent complaints about construction going on early in the morning or late at night against the rules, improper or illegal construction, and work without a permit.
…Submitting false documents to the city’s Department of Buildings for construction permits is a misdemeanor, which can carry fines of up to $25,000. But real estate experts say it is often flouted with little to no consequences. Landlords who do so get off with no more than a demand from the city, sometimes a year or more later, to file an “amended” form with the correct numbers.
Report: Kushner Cos. filed false NYC housing paperwork
Disgusting.
A Drag Queen Dressed As Elsa Saving A Boston Police Wagon During A Blizzard Is Too Perfect
I think we can all agree that life’s stressful moments would be vastly improved by the presence of a helpful drag queen in a Disney princess gown.
A Drag Queen Dressed As Elsa Saving A Boston Police Wagon During A Blizzard Is Too Perfect
!!!!
Alabama Sheriff Legally Took $750,000 Meant To Feed Inmates, Bought Beach House
Alabama has a Depression-era law that allows sheriffs to “keep and retain” unspent money from jail food-provision accounts. Sheriffs across the state take excess money as personal income — and, in the event of a shortfall, are personally liable for covering the gap.
…Sheriffs across the state do the same thing and have for decades. But the scale of the practice is not clear: “It is presently unknown how much money sheriffs across the state have taken because most do not report it as income on state financial disclosure forms,” the Southern Center for Human Rights wrote in January.
…”A couple people I knew came through the jail, and they say they got meat maybe once a month, and every other day, it was just beans and vegetables,” Qualls told Sheets. “I put two and two together and realized that that money could have gone toward some meat or something.”
…In 2009, then-Sheriff Greg Bartlett of Morgan County was briefly tossed in jail after acknowledging that he had personally profited, to the tune of $212,000, from a surplus in the jail-food account. Prisoners testified about receiving meager meals.
To cut corners, Bartlett used charitable donations and “special deals,” as CBS put it — including once splitting a $1,000 truck full of corn dogs with a sheriff of a nearby county and then feeding the inmates corn dogs twice a day for weeks.
…In 2015, a sheriff in Morgan County loaned $150,000 from the inmate food fund to a corrupt car lot. The loan was revealed when the business, facing theft and scam charges, went bankrupt.
Alabama Sheriff Legally Took $750,000 Meant To Feed Inmates, Bought Beach House : The Two-Way : NPR
hmmmm
Teens Exposed To Gun Violence Face Tough Road
Chicago has the country’s third-largest school system with more than 400,000 students including preschoolers. At least 15 of those students have died by gunfire this school year.
…Last year a total of 70 children of school age, including dropouts and non-public school students, were killed by guns. More than 600 were wounded.
…For individuals who witness violence, the consequences can be severe. University of Chicago researcher Dexter Voisin studies the response to community violence. He says it is far worse for survivors.
Voisin says common aftereffects are aggression, depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress.
Teens Exposed To Gun Violence Face Tough Road : NPR
hmmmm
Skeleton of sunken ship laid bare at York’s Short Sands Beach
When it was visible in 1958, locals speculated that it might be the remains of a “pink,” a term used to describe a small, square-rigged vessel with a flat bottom and a narrow stern.
But the wreck was again examined after a spring nor’easter uncovered it in 1980. Based on the type of construction, marine archaeologist Warren Riess hypothesized that the vessel is a sloop of about Revolutionary War age. The remains have been mapped and identified by the Maine Historic Preservation Commission as archaeological site ME 497-004.
…This past weekend’s storm also uncovered ancient tree stumps all over Gooch’s Beach. Similar roots and stumps hide under the sand at Wells Beach. Radiocarbon dating performed on those in 1959 by geologist Arthur M. Hussey indicates that about 3,000 years ago, the white pine trees were growing in a wooded upland. They were gradually drowned by the rising sea level.
During the Archaic period, Maine’s shoreline was much farther out to sea than it is today. From about 5,000 years ago to 3,600 years ago the rate of sea-level rise in this area was 5.5 inches per century. The rate of sea-level rise then slowed to 2 inches per century. The current rate of rise, as measured by the Portland tide gauge, is 7.5 inches per century — nearly four times faster than the rate over the last few thousand years.
…Soon the sand will reclaim these vestiges of the past and the usual views will be restored until the next perfect storm thrills onlookers with another peek.
Skeleton of sunken ship laid bare at York’s Short Sands Beach
cool
Seldom seen shipwreck re-emerges from York beach sands
The Maine Historic Preservation Commission maintains an inventory of historic sites that includes shipwrecks. The inventory includes measured drawings of the ships to document as much information as possible.
Shipwrecks are usually left where they lie because moving and preserving them is expensive and only limited information can be gleaned from the process, according to Leith Smith, a historic preservationist with the commission.
Seldom seen shipwreck re-emerges from York beach sands – Portland Press Herald
hmmmm
Nor’easter uncovers skeleton of sunken Revolutionary War-era ship on beach in York, ME
…Cummins reported that when the sunken ship skeleton was uncovered in 1958, locals believed it was the remains of a so-called pink, a small flat-bottomed square-rigger. But in 1980, when a spring storm revealed the mysterious ruins again, a marine archaeologist said it was likely a Revolutionary War-era sloop.
Elsewhere in York County, Cummins wrote that the weekend storm uncovered the outline of at least one other ship on the east end of Gooch’s Beach in Kennebunk as well. The identity of that vessel is uncertain, she wrote, but it may have been one of two ships known to have run aground in the area in the early 19th century.
wild
California Coffee Shop Policy: No Uniformed Police
This California coffee shop has a policy: No police
For me, the most interesting part about this story is not explicitly included. A uniformed officer is refused. He is offended or what-have-you and puts the word out in the law enforcement community, apparently expecting the pressure to gain him an apology and/or a reversal of the policy.
…And all that happened was the shop owners doubled down.
It would seem that -at the very least- the local police need to step up their diplomacy game, if not make changes in policy and procedure would lead to them being seen -by the actual community and its citizens- as actually working with and protecting the community.
Two Florida SWAT officers suspended for responding to Florida school shooting
Disgusting.
In circumstances like these, F’ the chain of command!
Clearly it wasn’t up to the task anyways.
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