So bizarre
Ocasio-Cortez, other Democrats squeeze big banks on guns, immigration, climate
Ocasio-Cortez, who has nearly 3.8 million Twitter followers, received more than 30,000 retweets this week for three posts targeting JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo.
“There’s more than one way to skin a cat, and not everything has to be done through legislation explicitly,” Ocasio-Cortez told POLITICO. “We can also use the tools that we have here to pressure change in other ways as well.”
…“Banks are acutely sensitive about their reputations because they are in a business acutely susceptible to severe and sudden customer attrition if consumers vote with their wallets,” Federal Financial Analytics managing partner Karen Shaw Petrou said, citing Wells Fargo, the San Francisco-based lender that’s reeling from a series of embarrassing scandals. “As a highly regulated business, banks are also acutely aware of how changing reputations alter their political-risk profile and what Congress can do to them when and if desired.”
Ocasio-Cortez, other Democrats squeeze big banks on guns, immigration, climate – POLITICO
hmmmmm
ICE Spokesman Quits, Citing Trump Administration’s Use Of ‘Misleading Facts’ To Discuss California Arrests
James Schwab has resigned from his job as a Department of Homeland Security spokesman, saying he didn’t agree with Trump administration officials’ use of “misleading facts” to attack Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf after the mayor issued a warning about an immigration sweep in late February.
“I quit because I didn’t want to perpetuate misleading facts,” Schwab told the San Francisco Chronicle. “I asked them to change the information. I told them that the information was wrong, they asked me to deflect, and I didn’t agree with that. Then I took some time and I quit.”
hmmm
Romanian immigrant who drove Trump family has been in ICE custody for eight months
Zoltan Tamas, a Romanian immigrant who came to the United States legally in 2011 and worked for Trump’s golf club in Jupiter, Florida, was arrested in June 2018 by ICE after the agency called him to their office “to discuss his ‘inadmissibility'” to the United States following a 2013 trip he took to Romania, according to the Times.
According to the paper, Tamas, a green-card holder, was arrested by the agency after a background check connected to his 2016 application for citizenship “revealed that he had been convicted in absentia of committing insurance fraud in Romania.”
…”Usually, these types of convictions aren’t given full faith in the United States. So that was essentially the argument I wanted — that should’ve been brought up and tackled there. You hardly see these kinds of cases, they’re very rare,” he said.
“I think this is probably something that ICE took a little too far. Tamas was here for many years. He was here legally, paying taxes — he has no criminal record in the United States,” Urizar added.
hmmm
Tyler Bariss, who made ‘swatting’ call that led to death, to spend 20 years in prison – CNN
“Today’s sentencing is only the first step in obtaining justice for the Finch family,” said family attorney Andrew Stroth. “The leadership of Wichita and the (police department) are also responsible for the tragic, unjustified and unconstitutional death of Andy Finch. The family will continue to pursue justice and accountability with the federal lawsuit pending against the city of Wichita and (the officers).”
….Authorities said one of them enlisted Barriss to “swat” the other co-defendant because of an argument that began while they were online playing a video game. Barriss was given an address — where the second co-defendant once lived but was then Finch’s residence.
He made 911 calls from Los Angeles by acquiring a local Wichita number through a cell phone app, authorities say.
Tyler Bariss, who made ‘swatting’ call that led to death, to spend 20 years in prison – CNN
hmmm
Arizona cops release bodycam footage of lead-up to storming home over child with high fever
Sarah Beck brought her 2-year-old son to Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine on Feb. 25 and was told he had a temperature of more than 105.
…Police were contacted after a doctor reported to the Department of Child Services that the child never made it to the hospital, as she had recommended.
When police arrived, Beck and her husband, Brooks Bryce, wouldn’t let them into the house because they said the fever had broken and the child was no longer in danger.
…”He’s doing fine. His fever broke, he’s under 100 degrees, and he’s doing just fine,” Bryce said.
When the officer told Bryce that officers need to see the boy for themselves, Bryce responds, “no you don’t.”
…Bryce once again refused over the phone to let officers into the home and said, “you’re not going to make me go to the hospital and spend three grand on an emergency room visit right now.”
…Almost three hours after the first knock on the door, officers forced their way in with guns out and ready to fire.
Arizona cops release bodycam footage of lead-up to storming home over child with high fever
Jeezus…
What a shit-show.
Federal judge ends North Carolina ban on abortions after 20 weeks
A U.S. federal court struck down North Carolina’s decades-old ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, saying any “week- or event-specific” abortion ban is unconstitutional.
…U.S. District Judge William Osteen in Greensboro overturned the ban on Monday, allowing an abortion to take place at any point before the fetus is viable, or able to potentially live outside the womb, as determined by a doctor.
Citing U.S. Supreme Court precedent, Osteen wrote “a state is never allowed to prohibit any swath of pre-viability abortions outright, no matter how strenuously it may believe that such a ban is in the best interests of its citizens or how minimal it may find the burden to women seeking an abortion.”
Federal judge ends North Carolina ban on abortions after 20 weeks | Reuters
hmmmm
Last-minute NASA decision to cancel all-female spacewalk spotlights spacesuit problem
NASA’s last-minute decision to cancel what would have been an historic all-female spacewalk triggered a swift and sardonic reaction on social media — and cast a harsh spotlight on a problem that has long bedeviled the space agency: It doesn’t have enough spacesuits.
…Former NASA astronaut Greg Chamitoff, who is now a professor of aerospace engineering at Texas A&M University, said in an email that NASA had “painted itself into a corner by all the public announcements about the two-female EVA,” or extravehicular activity. He said the agency “probably should have delayed the spacewalk” to prepare the other suit.
“Obviously, the work took priority over the accomplishment of a two-female EVA and now NASA has to endure the public backlash instead of the enthusiasm they hoped for,” he said. “A shame.”
Last-minute NASA decision to cancel all-female spacewalk spotlights spacesuit problem
hmmmm
ACLU Files Challenge To “Riot Boosting” Act
SB 189 creates a mechanism to collect triple damages from any person convicted of riot boosting. SB 190 establishes a fund to reimburse state and local governments for their costs on pipeline projects, with each project paying a $1 million bond for every 10 miles, up to $20 million. “
The lawsuit asserts that the laws violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution by limiting protected speech and failing to adequately describe what speech or conduct could subject protesters and organizations to criminal and civil penalties.
“No one should have to fear the government coming after them for exercising their First Amendment rights,” Courtney Bowie, legal director of the ACLU of South Dakota, said in a news release. “That is exactly what the Constitution protects against, and why we’re taking these laws to court. Whatever one’s views on the pipeline, the laws threaten the First Amendment rights of South Dakotans on every side of the issue.”
ACLU Files Challenge To “Riot Boosting” Act
hmmmm
Rolled joints for aching joints: More seniors use marijuana
Relatively little scientific study has verified the benefits of marijuana for specific problems. There’s evidence pot can relieve chronic pain in adults, according to a 2017 report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, but the study also concluded that the lack of scientific information poses a risk to public health.
At Bud and Bloom, winners of the bingo games take home new vape pens, but Atkin isn’t really there for that. He’s been coming regularly for two years to buy cannabis-infused chocolate bars and sublingual drops to treat his painful spinal stenosis since the prescription opiates he had been taking quit working.
Rolled joints for aching joints: More seniors use marijuana – silive.com
‘You couldn’t spend a dime?’: Jay Inslee ticks off the wrong state – POLITICO
The DGA did not spend a cent on television advertising for Kelly — a stark contrast to the $645,000 the RGA spent on ads for Sununu, according to Advertising Analytics. And in the final few weeks of the race, multiple internal polls on both sides showed the contest had tightened. Kelly personally pleaded with Inslee and the DGA to pour more money into the race saying that it was still winnable, according to Democrats with knowledge of those conversations.
…“We were extremely surprised that the DGA did not invest more resources in the race, especially in the closing days,” the official said. “Instead, the DGA invested resources in places like Alaska, a race that was already lost for them. And they invested significant resources in states like Rhode Island, which ended up being a blowout for Gov. Raimondo.”
…“I happen to think that Molly was a great candidate and I think she could have won,” Dean said. “A lot of my New Hampshire friends agree with me. I can’t get into the merits of this argument but the thing that interests me is because it’s New Hampshire they have a special role in making people’s lives miserable after the fact.”
‘You couldn’t spend a dime?’: Jay Inslee ticks off the wrong state – POLITICO
[snicker] Good luck in New Hampshire, Jay!
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