Category: Domestic Affairs,

Painting depicting police officer as pig firing gun removed from Capitol display 

On By peanutgallerynhIn American Injustice System,, Media and Culture,, Modern Parenting,, Race,Leave a comment

“Art imitates life, but no critic has asked the fundamental question the painting begs: Why would a young student with hope, promise and purpose perceive our community and the police in such a manner?” the pair wrote.

The column concluded with: “David’s only comment is, ‘The art speaks for itself.’ It has spoken loudly. Now, who will protect American civilization, including our Constitution and democracy?”

Painting depicting police officer as pig firing gun removed from Capitol display – CBS News

hmmm

The Curious World of Donald Trump’s Private Russian Connections 

On By peanutgallerynhIn Central Northern Asia and The Caucasus,, Domestic Affairs,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

Did the American people really know they were putting such a “well-connected” guy in the White House?

….Putin and his billionaire friends have plundered the wealth of their own people. They have also run numerous schemes to defraud governments and investors in the United States and Europe. From public records, using his renowned analytical skills, Henry shows what the mainstream news media in the United States have failed to report in any meaningful way: For three decades Donald Trump has profited from his connections to the Russian oligarchs, whose own fortunes depend on their continued fealty to Putin.

The Curious World of Donald Trump’s Private Russian Connections – The American Interest

hmmmm

U.S. intelligence report says Putin targeted presidential election to ‘harm’ Hillary Clinton’s chances 

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

Russian President Vladimir Putin personally ordered an intelligence operation against the U.S. presidential campaign and ultimately sought to help Donald Trump win the White House, according to a new U.S. intelligence report released Friday, shortly after the president-elect appeared to dismiss its key findings.

Putin both “aspired to help” Trump in November and to “harm” Trump’s rival, Democratic nominee and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, with leaks of pilfered emails and other covert activities, the report concludes in a dramatic expansion of official U.S. accusations against the Kremlin.

…Russian intelligence “obtained and maintained access to elements of multiple US state or local electoral boards,” adding that Russian spies began collecting information on equipment used in U.S. elections in early 2014.

…The report, which Obama had requested, is a joint product of the CIA, the FBI and the National Security Agency.

…In addition to stealing and dumping embarrassing emails from the Democratic National Committee and Clinton’s campaign, Russian intelligence officials also used state-funded broadcasts and third-party intermediaries, and paid social media “trolls” to spread false information and disparage Clinton, the report says.

…When it appeared that Clinton was likely to win, according to the report, Moscow “focused more on undercutting [her] legitimacy”

…[Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman, Sen. Richard] Burr said Russia had conducted a “direct and aggressive covert influence campaign” during the election.

“This is a troubling chapter in an ongoing story,” he added.

U.S. intelligence report says Putin targeted presidential election to ‘harm’ Hillary Clinton’s chances – LA Times

hmmmm

As it turns out … Bentley’s driver’s license closures were racial, after all 

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

US DOT concludes investigation, ALEA folds

When the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency announced the closure of 31 driver’s license offices in 2015, I printed out a blank map of the state’s 67 counties and began coloring in the ones that no longer had a place to get the most common form of photo ID.

Rural Alabama had been hit hard by the closures, but especially the Black Belt — the region of Alabama that takes its name first from the color of its rich soil but also from the concentration of African-Americans who live there. A few economic development projects aside, the Black Belt has always suffered the worst from Alabama’s sins, leaving its citizens with the least means the farthest distance from basic necessities, be it a job, simple trip to a grocery store, utilities like broadband internet.

…And for what? We now know the driver’s license closures saved little money — somewhere between $200,000 and $300,000, tops, according to Bentley’s former ALEA secretary Spencer Collier. The routine shortfalls in the General Fund budget typically range from $100 million to $200 million. The closures didn’t even scratch that. They were a naked act of political vengeance.

…”Based on its investigation, DOT has concluded that African Americans residing in the Black Belt region of Alabama disproportionately underserved by ALEA’s driver licensing services, causing a disparate and adverse impact on the basis of race,” the department said.

As it turns out … Bentley’s driver’s license closures were racial, after all | AL.com

sigh….

Former Fox News anchor Greta Van Susteren signs on at MSNBC

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

Former Fox News star Greta Van Susteren has joined MSNBC.

Former Fox News anchor Greta Van Susteren signs on at MSNBC – NY Daily News

She always has been a feckless, spineless, empty talking head who bent whichever way the prevailing wind blew, I don’t see the change here.

I mean, if you ever confused Greta Van Susteren with anything resembling journalistic integrity, well, you have bigger problems than which Cable news outlet you are watching.

The Story of the 16-Year-Old Who Died in Custody After Being Arrested for Arguing With Her Mother

On By peanutgallerynhIn American Injustice System,, Chick Stuff,, Modern Parenting,Leave a comment

“There is a reflexive incarceration of girls for behavior that would better be described as everyday adolescent rebellion than juvenile delinquency,” Lindsay Rosenthal, senior program associate and gender justice fellow with the Vera Institute’s Center on Youth Justice, told Jezebel.

Criminologists also suggest that the changes in policing practices with respect to domestic disputes are to blame. In one study, data from police records of 320 domestic violence calls in five Massachusetts jurisdictions operating under a pro-arrest statute found that less than half (47 percent) involved intimate partner violence. The arrest patterns revealed surprising age and gender biases: Female offenders were nearly 2.5 times more likely than males to be arrested, while adolescents were 4.5 times more likely than adults to face arrest.

So what explains this counterintuitive situation? There a few possible factors, criminologists say. When the police arrive at a home riven by family chaos, young people tend to be less composed than their parents, making them more susceptible to arrest. Youths also have fewer civil rights, and arresting them is less complicated than carting off the primary caregiver or sole breadwinner.

In these cases, judicial and parental paternalism may also be fueling girls’ arrests, researchers say. Police and judges may be more inclined to take young women into custody for their own protection. Meanwhile, adults tend to impose more rules on daughters than sons, leading to greater conflict. “Girls are the ones who have curfews, who are yelled at for going out,” said Chesney-Lind. “There’s a double standard.”

…At around 6:30 a.m. on Monday, a worker carrying a tray of breakfast food knocked on the door, the suit states. When she didn’t answer, he noted that Gynnya “declined breakfast—refused to acknowledge staff.” Later, at 8:53, he opened her cell door and noted on the bed check form that she “declined snack.” At both points, though, Gynnya was already dead.

The Story of the 16-Year-Old Who Died in Custody After Being Arrested for Arguing With Her Mother

A clusterf*ck of madness and errors.

Dylann Roof says it’s ‘not fair’ he has to hear so much from the loved ones of his victims 

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

The shooter in the 2015 massacre that killed nine asked in a written filing that prosecutors shorten their presentation.

Dylann Roof says it’s ‘not fair’ he has to hear so much from the loved ones of his victims – The Washington Post

Yeah, it must be really inconvenient for him that he is guilty as f*ck. Weh, weh, weh… All the way to the electric chair.

Trump’s Debts Are Widely Held on Wall Street, Creating New Potential Conflicts 

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

The debts of Donald Trump and his businesses are scattered across Wall Street banks, mutual funds and other financial institutions, broadening the tangle of interests that pose potential conflicts for the incoming president’s administration.

Trump’s Debts Are Widely Held on Wall Street, Creating New Potential Conflicts – WSJ

Aghhhh!

High school police officer filmed slamming young girl into North Carolina classroom floor 

On By peanutgallerynhIn American Injustice System,, Schools,Leave a comment

A school official was filmed slamming a young female student to the ground at a North Carolina school and has since been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation. A school resource officer at Rolesville High School, identified by police as Ruben de Los Santos, a five-year veteran of the Rolesville Police Department, can be seen throwing 15-year-old Jasmine Darwin to the ground, with the circumstances that led to the incident as yet unclear.

High school police officer filmed slamming young girl into North Carolina classroom floor | The Independent

Enough with the administrative leave for violent, rouge cops. They need to be arrested, held without bail until their timely and speedy conviction, and then jailed for a very long time.

And if it was a citizen under the age of 18 they got violent with? Or the citizen was killed by the officer? Then they should never, ever be let out.

Abuse the public trust and abuse the public should equal going directly to jail and staying there.

If officers of the law cannot be trusted to follow the law then they need to be treated as what they are, the absolute lowest and worst form of criminal.

Trump team asked State Department for info on women’s issues programs, sparking fears of another witch hunt 

On By peanutgallerynhIn Chick Stuff,, Domestic Affairs,Leave a comment

It’s likely a sign that Trump staffers plan to reduce funding and attention to these programs.

…“In our view, gathering names in this manner bears striking resemblance to dark chapters in our history marked by enemies lists and political witch hunts,” the committee Democrats said. The minority committee staff is setting up a web portal for bureaucrats to report such attempts to Congress.

Trump team asked State Department for info on women’s issues programs, sparking fears of another witch hunt – The Washington Post

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Trump Asks State Dept. To Name Those Working On Gender Equality

On By peanutgallerynhIn Chick Stuff,, Domestic Affairs,, Science and Stuff,Leave a comment

President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has asked the State Department to list its workers who focus on gender equality and ending violence against women, in what’s being seen as an echo of an earlier request for the Energy Department to list employees who work on climate change.

…The team also asked the department offices to “note positions whose primary functions are to promote such issues” and to highlight any funds for the current financial year that are “already allocated to such programs and activities.”

Trump Team Asks State Dept. To Name Those Working On Gender Equality : The Two-Way : NPR

Grrrrrr

Minnesota Football Boycott: Un-Righteous Activism

On By peanutgallerynhIn American Injustice System,, Media and Culture,, Schools,Leave a comment

The university did not make the findings of its Title IX–mandated EOAA investigation public, citing student privacy concerns, but local news station KSTP obtained and published the document on Friday.

The report lays out a nightmarish scene in which a drunk, initially reluctant female student consents to sex with two men at an off-campus apartment, only to have the encounter recorded on camera and shared that night. From there, the report says, the night devolved into a series of assaults. …Men whose identities were confirmed by interviews and cellphone messages obtained during the university’s investigation allegedly held her shoulders down and forcefully had sex with her. 

…The university’s EOAA investigation found that four players had violated the school’s policy regarding sexual assault, eight had violated the sexual harassment policy, and 10 had violated the student conduct code by lying to investigators or obscuring evidence.

…If the alleged violations did occur, as the university’s investigation concluded, getting kicked off the football team is meager justice. But to the players, the suspensions were cause for righteous anger, and a boycott was the logical next step.

…At bottom, the Minnesota boycott was an old story smuggled in under the banner of social justice—not one of athletes mobilizing for justice, but of institutions closing ranks when one of their own is accused of wrongdoing. Note that the Minnesota coaching staff backed the players: a good tell that the boycott was something other than the cry of the marginalized.

The Minnesota football boycott wasn’t athlete activism.

Sigh…