Category: Domestic Affairs,

IEM Spotlight: Carlos J. Ruiz Acevedo, PE Operations Manager, IEM Puerto Rico

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

What’s do you do for IEM Puerto Rico?
I was hired as the Operations Manager for IEM Puerto Rico supporting the R3 (Repair, Reconstruction, and Relocation) Program of the Puerto Rico Department of Housing using CDBG-DR funds. As Operations Manager, I am responsible for daily field operations and ensuring that they are performed in an efficient manner. I oversee logistics management, performance standards, safety policies, and procedures to ensure alignment with the program’s goals and objectives. I also direct human resources and management activities on the operational side of the program, to include staffing needed to accomplish operational tasks.

What led you to IEM and what do you like best about working with the IEM Team?
After working with FEMA for 13 months, I learned about HUD CBDG-DR funded programs, and as an engineer was interested in being part of this phase of the island’s reconstruction. I started searching for companies that were going to be part of CDBG-DR programs for open positions that fit my skillset and I found IEM.

I enjoy the IEM Team and the energy and effort that team member dedicate to each task assigned to them. Also, I like that the IEM team is pushing forward to make things happen so hurricane survivors, or applicants as they are called in the program, are able to move into their safer, more resilient homes as soon as possible.

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[Founder and] current President and CEO Ms. Madhu Beriwal …recognized a distinct need to integrate science and objectivity into decisions about public protection, moving preparedness from a subjective foundation to one based on quantitative data. That vision from more than 30 years ago built the company that today is helping government agencies and the private sector save lives. Since inception, IEM has expanded past disaster preparedness, response, and recovery to offer a range of services and solutions that also strengthen homeland defense, counterterrorism, and public agency performance.

IEM Spotlight: Carlos J. Ruiz Acevedo, PE Operations Manager, IEM Puerto Rico – IEM

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Impeachment Watch: The Senate is now in charge, but we might be missing the larger story

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

New text messages released by Lev Parnas — an associate of Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani — suggest Trump’s former Ukraine ambassador, Marie Yovanovitch, …was under some type of surveillance in Ukraine as Giuliani was acting directly on Trump’s behalf to get investigations into his political rival.

…The revelation directly contradicts previous White House claims that overtures made by Trump and his allies to Ukraine were about rooting out corruption and not furthering his 2020 prospects.

…When asked how he had the authority to make offers of support from the administration, which included Vice President Mike Pence attending Volodymyr Zelensky’s inauguration, Parnas said that’s what he “was told to do” by “Rudy Giuliani.”

…Be it impeachment or Iran, the public and Congress are increasingly cut off from being able to ask questions of their government. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo skipped a congressional hearing on Iran earlier this week and then the administration abruptly cancelled three more scheduled hearings, including one on embassy security.

On impeachment, the administration has tried to squash as much information as possible. Specifically on Yovanovitch and whether she was under surveillance and what they’re going to do about it, there has been no comment from the State Department.

Impeachment Watch: The Senate is now in charge, but we might be missing the larger story – CNNPolitics

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Bernie ‘will play dirty’: Ex-Vermont governor slams Sanders – POLITICO

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

Sanders’ campaign briefly distributed talking points for supporters to use door-to-door, saying that Warren supporters “are highly-educated, more affluent people who are going to show up and vote Democratic no matter what” and that “she’s bringing no new bases into the Democratic Party.”

And the day after Warren clashed with Sanders following a Democratic debate in Des Moines, #Warrenisasnake was among the hashtags trending on Twitter.

Shumlin accused Sanders of trying to “Hillarize” Warren, saying the senator had cast Hillary Clinton, too, as an elitist, contributing to divisions in the Democratic electorate.

…”His team feel they’re holier than the rest. In the end, they will play dirty because they think that they pass a purity test that Republicans and most Democrats don’t pass,” said Shumlin. [and Sander is not seen to be reigning them in.]

…[Shumlin is] accusing the senator [or at least his team] of trying to “Hillarize” Elizabeth Warren.

…[Shumlin also] warned that Sanders, an independent and a self-described democratic socialist, ultimately did not feel loyalty to Democrats.

..In 2016, Sanders drew criticism for initially not campaigning for the Democratic nominee in the general election race in Vermont. He did later cut an ad …[and] stumped for Democratic candidates across nine battleground states.

Bernie ‘will play dirty’: Ex-Vermont governor slams Sanders – POLITICO

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What The Sanders vs. Warren Battle Is Really About

On By peanutgallerynhIn Chick Stuff,, Domestic Affairs,, Media and Culture,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

Should progressive populism be wonky and detail-oriented and appeal to college-educated former Clinton voters? Or a more contentious outsider assault on the powers-that-be from the overlooked millions of the middle and lower-middle class?

…This salvo from Warren’s camp was seen as a response to reports that talking points for Sanders volunteers characterized Warren as the choice of “highly educated, more affluent people,” a demographic both key to Democratic electoral success and associated with Hillary Clinton’s supposed out-of-touch elitism.

…The other part of the controversial Sanders campaign talking points on Warren was that her supporters — the wealthy, well-educated ones — would already “show up and vote Democratic no matter what … she’s bringing no new bases into the Democratic Party.”

…Variations on this theme — Sanders as credible progressive curmudgeon and Warren as vaguely deceptive opportunist — popped up as I followed Sanders across the state. 

What The Sanders vs. Warren Battle Is Really About | FiveThirtyEight

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Warren demands probe of whether Trump resort guests traded on Iran tip

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

Presidential contender Elizabeth Warren is demanding a federal investigation into whether President Donald Trump provided advance notice of the deadly strike on Iran’s Gen. Qasem Soleimani to stock traders who may have profited illegally from the tip.

…”It raises a number of troubling national security questions regarding President Trump’s handling of classified and other sensitive national security information.”

…Federal law bars trading stocks based on material, nonpublic information.

Warren demands probe of whether Trump resort guests traded on Iran tip

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Sanders camp admits anti-Warren script was deployed in multiple early states

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

Talking points attacking Elizabeth Warren that Bernie Sanders’ campaign deployed were given to teams in at least two early voting states.

…[The] campaign pulled back the script — which described Warren’s appeal as limited to the highly educated and financially well off — later on Saturday after the story published.

…[The script included] talking points for voters who said they were leaning toward other candidates. In Warren’s case, they stated that the “people who support her are highly-educated, more affluent people who are going to show up and vote Democratic no matter what” and that “she’s bringing no new bases into the Democratic Party.”

…Warren told reporters Sunday that she “was disappointed to hear that Bernie is sending his volunteers out to trash me.”

She added that the attack was reminiscent of the “factionalism” that broke out during his campaign against Hillary Clinton in 2016.

…[In a move reminiscent of the 2016 cycle,] Sanders [took no responsibility for the actions of the campaign that bears his name and instead] appeared to blame the controversy on rogue employees.

“We have hundreds of employees. Elizabeth Warren has hundreds of employees. And people sometimes say things that they shouldn’t,” Sanders said.

…Warren responded later Monday night supporting the version of events reported by CNN. “Among the topics that came up was what would happen if Democrats nominated a female candidate. I thought a woman could win; he disagreed,” she said in a statement. [Which bears mentioning because, at the very least, his undeniably benefited from sexism that was being stoked by his supporters in 2016.]

Sanders camp admits anti-Warren script was deployed in multiple early states – POLITICO

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EPA is now allowing asbestos back into manufacturing

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

 Asbestos is now legally allowed back into U.S. manufacturing under a series of loopholes by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

…The EPA’s recently released report detailing its new framework for evaluating the risk of its top prioritized substances states that the agency will “no longer consider the effect or presence of substances in the air, ground, or water in its risk assessments.” 

…The SNUR greenlights companies to use toxic chemicals like asbestos without consideration about how they will endanger people who are indirectly in contact with them. 

EPA is now allowing asbestos back into manufacturing – Archpaper.com

Jeezus Krrreyest….

Despite Election Security Fears, Iowa Caucuses Will Use New Smartphone App

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

The state party worked with the national party’s cybersecurity team, and with Harvard University’s Defending Digital Democracy project, but Price declined to answer directly whether any third party has investigated the app for vulnerabilities, as many cybersecurity experts recommend.

…Unlike many states in which local and state officials oversee the presidential primary election, in Iowa the state party is responsible for administering, staffing and funding the caucuses, relying primarily on trained but unpaid volunteers.

Cybersecurity experts interviewed by NPR said that the party’s decision to withhold the technical details of its app doesn’t do much to protect the system — and instead makes it hard to have complete confidence in it.

…A number of other potential vulnerabilities could also be introduced by using the technology, experts say.

If the app doesn’t work, either because a denial of service attack clogs the system or for any other reason, then there could be confusion at precincts across the state, and a potential delay on a winner being announced.

…Price did confirm that the app again would be downloaded onto the personal smartphones of the caucus precinct and party leaders, and not onto party-provided hardware.

That could make the system a more appealing attack target, according to Betsy Cooper, director of the Aspen Tech Policy Hub at the Aspen Institute, because peoples’ phones also may contain sensitive messages, emails and passwords.

…Jones, the University of Iowa cybersecurity specialist, says transmitting results from precincts to the state party through a smartphone app isn’t as insecure as the virtual caucus plan — but that it’s still insecure for the same reasons.

“The entire ecosystem of smartphones is extraordinarily poorly secured,” Jones said. “And resting security functions on that ecosystem is something I don’t trust at all.”

Despite Election Security Fears, Iowa Caucuses Will Use New Smartphone App : NPR

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House Dems release new impeachment evidence related to indicted Giuliani associate

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,Leave a comment

“Despite unprecedented obstruction by the president, the committee continues to receive and review potentially relevant evidence and will make supplemental transmittals.”

…The material released on Tuesday contains several handwritten notes, emails, encrypted messages, and other documents that underscore the close relationship between Parnas and Giuliani, who was actively pursuing an effort last year to push the Ukrainian government to announce investigations targeting Trump’s political rivals.

… Giuliani asked for a half-hour meeting with Zelensky as the former New York City mayor was pursuing investigations targeting former Vice President Joe Biden — and Giuliani made clear that he was acting with Trump’s “knowledge and consent” and in his capacity as a “personal” attorney for the president.

…One of the documents included in the disclosure is a handwritten note by Parnas that states: “Get Zelensky to announce that the Biden case will be investigated.” Another refers to Lanny Davis, the attorney representing Trump’s former attorney and fixer Michael Cohen: “Get rid of Lanny Davis (nicely!)”

…Trump authorized another attorney — John Dowd, who previously represented Trump — to serve as counsel to Parnas and Igor Fruman, another Giuliani associate who was arrested and indicted last year on similar charges.

…“These communications, often in Russian, demonstrate that Mr. Parnas served as a direct channel between President Trump’s agent, Mr. Giuliani, and individuals close to President Volodymyr Zelensky.”

House Dems release new impeachment evidence related to indicted Giuliani associate – POLITICO

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St. Louis Prosecutor: Racist Interests Try to Force Her Out

On By peanutgallerynhIn American Injustice System,, Local Interest,, Race,Leave a comment

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner on Monday filed what she called an unprecedented federal civil rights lawsuit, accusing the city, the local police union and others of a coordinated and racist conspiracy aimed at forcing her out of office.

Gardner, the city’s elected prosecutor, also accused “entrenched interests” of intentionally impeding her efforts to reform racist practices that have led to a loss of trust in the criminal justice system.

The lawsuit alleges civil rights violations as well as violations of the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871.

…The lawsuit cites a watchdog group’s report last year that identified several St. Louis officers accused of posting racist, violent or prejudiced messages on Facebook. Some of the posts highlighted by The Plain View Project included one in 2014 showing a black officer standing with two black demonstrators, calling the officer “Captain ‘Hug a Thug’” and “a disgrace to the uniform.” Another post in 2018 read: “If the Confederate flag is racist, then so is Black History Month.”

St. Louis Prosecutor: Racist Interests Try to Force Her Out | Time

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