Russians used ‘Bernie Bros’ as ‘unwitting agents’ in disinformation campaign: Senate Intel witness

Dr. Thomas Rid of Kings College London’s Department of War Studies explained that polarization makes societies vulnerable to manipulation by disinformation campaigns.

Russia, Rid explained, according to CBS News, likes to use “unwitting agents” to carry out its work. WikiLeaks, Twitter and “overeager journalists” all contributed to Russia’s efforts to destabilize the U.S. by disrupting its 2016 election.

“They were trying to ..drive a wedge within the Democratic Party between the Clinton group and the Sanders group… …And then in our nation between Republicans and Democrats.” 

Supporters of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) reported earlier this month that during the 2016 election, their social media feeds and pro-Sanders Facebook groups were inundated with what they now believe were Russian bots spewing anti-Hillary memes including fake news stories about Clinton.

Russians used ‘Bernie Bros’ as ‘unwitting agents’ in disinformation campaign: Senate Intel witness

Not shocking exactly.

 

Miami lawmaker resigns over racial slur scandal

Florida state Sen. Frank Artiles resigned from the Florida Legislature on Friday, consumed by a scandal that erupted three days earlier over a diatribe of insults the Miami Republican unleashed against two lawmakers at a Tallahassee bar.

Miami lawmaker resigns over racial slur scandal

Justice served.

Shaheen: Money to Fight Opioid Epidemic Coming to N.H. 

Money that Congress approved last year to help states combat the opioid epidemic is headed to New Hampshire. 

Shaheen has been urging President Donald Trump’s administration to revise the formula used to allocate the funding so it prioritizes states like New Hampshire that are hardest hit by the crisis. She says she’s pleased officials have indicated that they will review the formula ahead of distribution next year.

Shaheen: Money to Fight Opioid Epidemic Coming to N.H. | New Hampshire Public Radio

hmmm

Trump lawyer: ‘No right’ to protest at rallies 

President Donald Trump’s lawyers argued in a Thursday court filing that protesters “have no right” to “express dissenting views” at his campaign rallies because such protests infringed on his First Amendment rights.

Trump lawyer: ‘No right’ to protest at rallies – POLITICO

That’s not really how the 1st amendment works there, Donner….

White House commits hilariously teling typo on its Snapchat account 

An unfortunate and ironic typo from the White House Snapchat account had social media buzzing Monday afternoon.President Trump  and First Lady Melania welcomed families to the White House for the annual Easter Egg Roll.During the event, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos met with participants.  The Snapchat account titled her “Secretary of Educatuon.”

White House Snapchat account makes unfortunate typo | WGN-TV

lololololol

The destruction of Hillary Clinton: sexism, Sanders, and the millennial feminists 

Appearances to the contrary, Sanders was not a union organizer, but rather a longtime member of the Senate. And if Clinton had more support from the Democratic party, that was due in large part to the relationships she had cultivated over the years, working with others – something Sanders was not particularly good at. Nonetheless, for weeks during the early months of the primary, I listened to 19-year-olds and media pundits alike lavish praise on Bernie Sanders for his bold, revolutionary message, and scorn Hillary for being a part of the establishment.

He was seen as authentic in his progressivism while she was pushed to the left by political expediency – as though a lifetime of fighting for equality and children’s rights meant nothing. He was the champion of the working class (conveniently ignoring that black and white women were members, and that their issues were also working class issues), but her longstanding commitments to universal health care, child care, paid sick leave, racial justice, the repeal of the Hyde amendment, and narrowing the wage gap between working men and women apparently evaporated because she’d accepted well-paid invitations to speak at Goldman Sachs.

Later, the news media even let Sanders get away with describing Planned Parenthood and NARAL as “establishment” when he didn’t get their endorsement. They made little of it when he described abortion as a social issue (as though loss of control over one’s reproductive life has no impact on one’s economic survival). They accepted, without question, his descriptions of himself as an activist for feminist causes, when all he had done was vote the right way in the Senate. They posted pictures of him being arrested at a protest against the University of Chicago’s real estate investments, while making no mention of the work Hillary had done, when she was the same age, investigating racist housing practices with Marian Wright Edelman. Clinton’s emails and her “trust problems” were the only stories about her they were interested in reporting.

The destruction of Hillary Clinton: sexism, Sanders, and the millennial feminists | Susan Bordo | Opinion | The Guardian

hmmmm

President Trump welcomes Patriots to White House, leaves Tom Brady out of remarks

“The fourth-down conversion conversion by Danny Amendola, where is Danny?” Trump said, looking back to the players behind him for Amendola before apparently being told Amendola wasn’t there. “Way to go, Danny.”

Trump seemed to go out of his way to avoid mentioning players who weren’t on the White House trip, which made the Amendola moment stand out. He praised Trey Flowers for a Super Bowl sack, but didn’t mention Dont’a Hightower, whose strip-sack was probably the biggest play of the game. Hightower wasn’t at the White House. Trump mentioned lesser-known players like Matthew Slater, Nate Ebner, Marcus Cannon and the offensive line, but didn’t mention James White, who scored the game-winning touchdown in overtime of the Super Bowl. White reportedly wasn’t at the White House visit.

And, notably, Trump never mentioned quarterback Tom Brady, undeniably the team’s biggest star. Brady didn’t go to the White House, citing a family situation. Brady and Trump are friends, but Brady has avoided talking about Trump for months.

President Trump welcomes Patriots to White House, leaves Tom Brady out of remarks

What a pathetic, butt-hurt little toddler.

Awww, did the poor whittle orange Cheeto get blown off by half the team?

Did he get a lame, unsigned helmet instead of the cool one they brought to Obama?

Did they have to zoom in on the phot with the team to make it less obvious that the players who attended hardly filled the steps they take the picture on?

Wah, wah, weh… All the way home.

A 23-year-old ‘Dreamer’ sues the Trump administration over his deportation to Mexico 

He is thought to be the first immigrant protected by the DACA program to be deported under the Trump administration.

A 23-year-old ‘Dreamer’ sues the Trump administration over his deportation to Mexico – LA Times

Figures. Trump doesn’t deliver on his agreements, why should the federal government honor any of their own deals while he is in office?

Officers rue the return of US ‘war on drugs’ 

Then as violent crime rates fell under George W Bush and prisons became clogged, prosecutions eased. The war on drugs fell out of fashion. Barack Obama called it “unproductive” and sent memos guiding prosecutors away from pursuing low-level offenders.

Now a new administration looks set to turn back the clock. Attorney General Jeff Sessions likes to reminisce about the aggressive law enforcement of the 80s and 90s and recently labelled cannabis “only slightly less awful” than heroin.

…Between 1980 and 2015, the number of people in prison for drug offences increased more than 10-fold, from 40,900 to 469,545, and the average sentence more than tripled, according to data compiled by the Sentencing Project. The majority of them were low-level offenders with no criminal record.

…A 2013 study published in the British Medical Journal found that since 1990 US drug prices nationwide had fallen while purity increased. And a 2012 study by the University of Florida found that the threat of severe punishment was “generally weak and insignificant” at deterring drug crime or lowering addiction rates.

Officers rue the return of US ‘war on drugs’ – BBC News

It is beyond hard to belive that Sessions or any of his cronies could possibly be that stupid. They the War on Drugs didn’t do the country any favors but they simply seems not to care. Just another way for the old, rich, white guys to beat down and separate everyone else.

Incompetent, asinine, racist hacks.

This man’s deportation is testing Trump’s murky stance on DACA 

A dispute over whether the US government deported an undocumented immigrant with protected status heated up Wednesday, as the Department of Homeland Security released further details about the case.

This man’s deportation is testing Trump’s murky stance on DACA – CNNPolitics.com

sigh….

So now DHS is lying or at least in a pissing he said, she said match with a young person? GRrrrreat. Way to lower the bar to kindergarten tantrum tactics assholes.

Indonesian woman lashed in brutal Sharia law punishment | Daily Mail Online

A video has emerged of a woman being lashed in public with a cane in footage showing Indonesia’s brutal Sharia law punishment, which is filmed by dozens of civilians gathered to watch.

Indonesian woman lashed in brutal Sharia law punishment | Daily Mail Online

Sharia or a live S&M porn act done against the woman’s will?

With how much the man with the cane seems to be enjoying himself, it’s a little tough to tell. Methinks a bunch of the holier-than-thou monsters in the audience came in their pants watching this. What pathetic, weak excuses for men!

Secretary Zinke Announces $34.9 Billion Added to U.S. Economy in 2016 due to National Park Visitation |

Today, during National Park Week, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke announced that 2016’s record visitation of 331 million visitors at America’s 417 National Park Service sites contributed $34.9 billion to the U.S. economy in 2016 – a $2.9 billion increase from 2015. Zinke made his announcement while visiting the historic Presidio of San Francisco at Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Zinke marked Park Week by also visiting Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, and Channel Islands national parks.

According to the annual peer-reviewed economics report, 2016 National Park Visitor Spending Effects, the strong economic output is attributed to record visitation and $18.4 billion that visitors spent in “gateway” communities near national park entrances. The report also found that visitor spending supported 318,000 jobs in 2016, with the vast majority of them defined as local jobs, including those in the hospitality, retail, transportation and recreation industries.

Secretary Zinke Announces $34.9 Billion Added to U.S. Economy in 2016 due to National Park Visitation | U.S. Department of the Interior

hmmm