Melania’s Dad, a New American Citizen with a Record in Yugoslavia’s Secret Police Files
What a bunch of twisted nonsense.
Really smuggling into the Soviet Union is something we’re against now?
For god’s sake!
Category: Media and Culture,
Cost of New E.P.A. Coal Rules: Up to 1,400 More Deaths a Year – The New York Times
The Trump administration on Tuesday made public the details of its new pollution rules governing coal-burning power plants, and the fine print includes an acknowledgment that the plan would increase carbon emissions and lead to up to 1,400 premature deaths annually.
…The new proposal …would also let states relax pollution rules for power plants that need upgrades, keeping them active longer.
…Compared to the Obama-era plan, the analysis says, “implementing the proposed rule is expected to increase emissions of carbon dioxide and the level of emissions of certain pollutants in the atmosphere that adversely affect human health.”
…The [Obama era] Clean Power Plan aimed to curb planet-warming greenhouse gases by steering the energy sector away from coal and toward cleaner energy sources like wind and solar. According to its calculations, the decreased coal burning also would reduce other pollutants like sulfur dioxide, which poses respiratory risk, and nitrogen oxides that create ozone, which, in the form of smog, can damage lung tissue.
Mr. Obama’s E.P.A. also estimated that, by 2030, the Clean Power Plan would result in 180,000 fewer missed school days per year by children because of ozone-related illnesses. Asthma instances would also drop significantly, according to the analysis.
By contrast, the Trump administration analysis finds that own its plan would see 48,000 new cases of exacerbated asthma and at least 21,000 new missed days of school annually by 2030 because those pollutants would increase in the atmosphere rather than decrease.
Cost of New E.P.A. Coal Rules: Up to 1,400 More Deaths a Year – The New York Times
hmmm
Michael Cohen plea deal
Michael Cohen said in a plea deal that “in coordination and at the direction of a candidate for federal office” he kept information that would have been harmful to the candidate and the campaign from becoming public.
…As part of the plea deal with federal prosecutors in the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, Cohen is expected to plead guilty to multiple counts of campaign finance violations, tax fraud and bank fraud, according to three sources. The deal would include jail time and a substantial monetary fine.
…Prosecutors said in court their investigation is into Cohen’s personal financial dealings. The search warrant authorizing the FBI raid referenced Cohen’s taxi medallion business, the identity of banks that loaned him money and payments made to suppress negative information during the presidential campaign.
Michael Cohen plea deal – CNNPolitics
hmmmm
Paul Manafort found guilty on eight counts
Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort has been found guilty on eight counts of financial crimes, a major victory for special counsel Robert Mueller.
But jurors were unable to reach a verdict on 10 charges, and Judge T.S. Ellis declared a mistrial on those counts.
Manafort was found guilty of five tax fraud charges, one charge of hiding foreign bank accounts and two counts of bank fraud.
…He still faces a second set of criminal charges in a Washington, DC, federal court, of failure to register his foreign lobbying and of money laundering conspiracy related to the same Ukrainian political work that was central to the Virginia case.
Paul Manafort found guilty on eight counts – CNNPolitics
hmmm
John Legend wants Louisiana to remove ‘white supremacy’ from its constitution
Voters in Louisiana will be asked in November if they want to amend the state’s constitution to remove the clause that allows non-unanimous jury decisions.
“During Louisiana’s all-white constitutional convention in 1898, delegates passed a series of measures specifically designed to ‘perpetuate the supremacy of the Anglo-Saxon race in Louisiana,'” the piece states. “Non-unanimous juries were one of those measures, and the intent was clear: If the federal Constitution required that African Americans be allowed to serve on juries, the state constitution would make sure that minority votes could be discounted.”
John Legend wants Louisiana to remove ‘white supremacy’ from its constitution
hmmm
A Boston Globe editorial: Journalists are not the enemy
Trump can’t outlaw the press from doing its job here, of course. But the model of inciting his supporters in this regard is how 21st-century authoritarians like Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan operate; you don’t need formal censorship to strangle a supply of information.
Trump’s apologists feebly insist that he is referring only to biased coverage, rather than the entire fourth estate. But the president’s own words and long track record show again and again just how deeply cynical and dishonest this argument is.
The nation’s Founding Fathers took for granted that the press would be biased and yet they still explicitly enshrined the freedom of journalists and publishers in the Constitution. “Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost,” wrote Thomas Jefferson.
A Boston Globe editorial: Journalists are not the enemy – The Boston Globe
hmmmm
Op-Ed: The Slippery Slope of Complicity in the Age of Trump
The real news of the past few weeks isn’t that Trump is a wannabe Mussolini who can’t even make the trains run on time. It’s the absence of any meaningful pushback from Congressional Republicans. Indeed, not only are they acquiescing in Trump’s corruption, his incitements to violence, and his abuse of power, up to and including using the power of office to punish critics, they’re increasingly vocal in cheering him on.
Make no mistake: if Republicans hold both houses of Congress this November, Trump will go full authoritarian, abusing institutions like the I.R.S., trying to jail opponents and journalists on, er, trumped-up charges, and more — and he’ll do it with full support from his party.
…The party has long been in the habit of rejecting awkward facts and attributing them to conspiracies: it’s not a big jump from claiming that climate change is a giant hoax perpetrated by the entire scientific community to asserting that Trump is the blameless target of a vast deep state conspiracy.
…Republicans who defended Trump over the Muslim ban, his early attacks on the press, the initial evidence of collusion with Russia, have in effect burned their bridges. It would be deeply embarrassing to admit that the elitist liberals they mocked were right when they were wrong; also, nobody who doesn’t support Trump will ever trust their judgment or patriotism again.
Opinion | The Slippery Slope of Complicity – The New York Times
Liberty Utilities still looking to sell Concord gasholder building
The future of the Concord gasholder building is still up in the air despite its listing this week on the National Register of Historic Places.
The new listing makes the building eligible for certain grants and tax breaks, but does not offer legal protection: Privately owned buildings on the register can still be torn down and replaced.
…Gasholder buildings existing in most American cities before natural gas become popular and while many still exist, Concord’s may be the only one in the country that still holds the huge machinery that was used to contain the gas. This is why it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Liberty has said that it could cost $500,000 to stabilize the building, which has suffered some damage over the years, and perhaps a million dollars to make it usable.
Liberty Utilities still looking to sell Concord gasholder building
hmmm
Trump asks SEC to consider ending required quarterly reports
Quarterly financial reports are a staple of U.S. corporate practice. The SEC requires public companies to report profit, revenue and other figures publicly every three months. The requirement dates to the establishment of the agency in the 1930s Great Depression, as a way to give investors confidence in company information.
Experts have long asserted that the practice of companies publicly forecasting every quarter how they expect earnings to shake out puts too much stress on short-term performance and stock price gains. That can pressure executives to engage in reckless practices to hit quarterly targets or even to manipulate earnings reports. But quarterly reports on results are distinct from the so-called earnings guidance that company executives provide as a forecast.
The SEC in 2016 considered the idea of cutting the quarterly requirement, and signaled that it might do so.
SEC Chairman Jay Clayton said in a statement Friday that the agency “continues to study” the reporting requirement as well as other rules for public companies.
Trump asks SEC to consider ending required quarterly reports – ABC News
hmmm
Border Fence Firm Snared for Hiring Illegal Workers
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
Trump considering Erik Prince’s plan to privatize Afghanistan war
…[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
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.
Brock Turner Has Lost His Appeal And Remains Guilty Of Sexual Assault
Brock Turner Has Lost His Appeal And Remains Guilty Of Sexual Assault
And a little good news to add to the mix…
New Study Indicates That Watching The Kardashians Makes You Less of a Good Person
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
Is the Trump Administration Allowing Asbestos Back Into the Manufacturing Industry?
Is the Trump Administration Allowing Asbestos Back Into the Manufacturing Industry?
in answer to that question, yes, yes he is.
Better question, what does his greedy old fat ass get out of it???!
Maryland elections company bought by Russian oligarch close to Putin
Maryland elections company bought by Russian oligarch close to Putin | US news | The Guardian
Agggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh!
No foreign influence over elections, ever! that is supposed to be how it works.
Why , in the everliving fuck, is this type of transacion not 100% illegal???!
23andMe Is Getting Lots of Money From Big Pharma and Sharing Your Genetic Data
“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…
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