Rudy Giuliani accuses Twitter of bias for hyperlinking text

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

Of course, it wasn’t “Twitter allowing someone to invade” Giuliani’s tweet because that is patently ridiculous. It was, as The New York Times reports, a quick-thinking prank from Jason Velazquez, the owner of a web design firm in Atlanta, who noticed that Giuliani’s typo accidentally created a valid hyperlink. Velazquez quickly bought the URL and published the message “Donald J. Trump is a traitor to our country.”

…(While a basic knowledge of how hyperlinks work on Giuliani’s part would have solved this issue, it’s also worth pointing out that editable tweets would have allowed Giuliani to simply fix his typo.)

While this could all be interpreted as an amusing gaffe by someone who doesn’t understand how the internet works, it’s a bit more concerning when you consider that Giuliani — who runs a cybersecurity consulting firm called Giuliani Partners — also serves as Trump’s adviser for cybersecurity issues. The fact that instead of simply owning up to his error, Giuliani immediately turned toward accusing Twitter of anti-Trump bias is extremely problematic.

Rudy Giuliani accuses Twitter of bias for hyperlinking text – The Verge

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Humans and dogs – Best friends for over 26,000 years

On By peanutgallerynhIn Science and Stuff,Leave a comment

Around 26,000 years ago a child around 10 years old walked through the cave and what is more important that child wasn’t alone –  next to the small tracks left by that child there are unmistakable paw prints of a large, ancient dog.

Humans and dogs – Best friends for over 26,000 years

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CNN’s Jeffrey Toobin Warns Trump Of 1 Very Ominous Line In The New Mueller Memo | HuffPost

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,Leave a comment

“The fact that he is saying ‘senior government leaders should be held to the highest standards,’ I would be a little nervous if I were the people involved in the obstruction of justice investigation, starting, of course, with the president of the United States.”

CNN’s Jeffrey Toobin Warns Trump Of 1 Very Ominous Line In The New Mueller Memo | HuffPost

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Concord pushes for river access in I-93 widening project

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Granite State,Leave a comment

The plans DOT are presenting now include creating sidewalks and bicycle lanes along Loudon Road where it runs beneath the interstate, a tweak to the plan the city suggested and DOT incorporated.

But the city wants more to be included in the state’s project, such as clearing the brush that runs along the interstate for a clearer view of the Merrimack River and building pedestrian bridges for access between the river and the downtown area.

Aspell said he realizes the city’s request may be outside of DOT’s normal scope, “but we are certain that this project through the heart of Concord is unique to the state’s I-93 inventory,” he said.

Concord pushes for river access in I-93 widening project

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Obama says Fox News viewers, New York Times readers live in ‘entirely different’ realities

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

“Whether it was (Walter) Cronkite or (David) Brinkley or what have you, there was a common set of facts, a baseline around which both parties had to adapt and respond to,” Obama said at Rice University.

Obama says Fox News viewers, New York Times readers live in ‘entirely different’ realities – CNNPolitics

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Security cooperation with Europe is ‘imperative’, MI6 chief to warn as no-deal Brexit threat grows

On By peanutgallerynhIn Europe,, Media and Culture,Leave a comment

In a rare public address, Alex Younger will outline how cooperation with European allies has prevented multiple attacks in the UK and the continent by Isis and other terrorist groups.

…Speaking at St Andrews University in Scotland, he will reiterate that: “Russia or any other state intent on subverting our way of life not to underestimate our determination and our capabilities, or those of our allies.”

Security cooperation with Europe is ‘imperative’, MI6 chief to warn as no-deal Brexit threat grows | The Independent

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This Student Is Suing Because She Was Never Offered Civics Lessons

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Education,, Money, Class, and Poverty,1 Comment

Aleita Cook, 17, has never taken a class in government, civics or economics. In the two social studies classes she took in her four years at a technical high school in Providence, R.I. — one in American history, the other in world history — she learned mostly about wars, she said.

...“I don’t know what I’m supposed to know,” she said. We’re hoping we win this lawsuit and change it to where my younger brothers can have a really good education, and go into adulthood knowing how to vote, how to do taxes, and learning basic things that you should know going into the real world.”

Left unanswered were many practical questions she had about modern citizenship, from how to vote to “what the point of taxes are.” As for politics, she said, “What is a Democrat, a Republican, an independent? Those things I had to figure out myself.”

…Horace Mann, an early advocate of compulsory public schooling, wrote in 1847 that education’s purpose was to foster “conscientious jurors, true witnesses, incorruptible voters.”

…Beyond civics classes, the suit also argues that the state’s neediest children, particularly Latino immigrants and students with special needs, are failing to acquire the basic academic skills they need to effectively exercise their rights to free speech and voter participation. Among eighth grade English-language learners in 39 states, those in Rhode Island ranked last in math and second to last in reading on the 2017 National Assessment of Educational Progress.

…Fewer than half the states hold schools accountable for teaching civics, according to a review in 2016 by the Education Commission of the States. Only 23 percent of American eighth graders were proficient in civics on the 2014 National Assessment of Educational Progress, a test that included questions on the Constitution and the roles of the various branches of government.

Are Civics Lessons a Constitutional Right? This Student Is Suing for Them – The New York Times

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Robert Mueller files sentencing memo on Trump ex-national security adviser Michael Flynn

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,Leave a comment

According to the filing, Flynn has been cooperating in “several ongoing investigations.” 

His cooperation in one criminal investigation has been fully redacted. Other descriptions of his cooperation with Mueller’s team are also redacted, but they acknowledge he assisted government investigators on a “range of issues, including interactions between individuals in the Presidential Transition Team and Russia.”

Robert Mueller files sentencing memo on Trump ex-national security adviser Michael Flynn – CBS News

Robert Mueller did not come to play.

Senate Democrats demand details from DOJ on any conflicts of interest for Whitaker – POLITICO

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

..More than $1.2 million in compensation Whitaker …received as executive director of an organization that has sued Democratic lawmakers several times in the past, and on Benczkowski’s history working on behalf of a Russian bank.

…The senators said previous DOJ responses to requests for information on the officials were heavily redacted.

“Some of these are renewed requests because DOJ has either failed to respond or has provided incomplete responses to prior requests from Congress,” the senators wrote. “To maintain the public’s trust in an impartial DOJ, we urge you to provide prompt, complete, and public responses to the issues we raise.”

Senate Democrats demand details from DOJ on any conflicts of interest for Whitaker – POLITICO

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House Democrats unveil first bill: a sweeping anti-corruption proposal

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

There are three main planks the bill covers: campaign finance reform, strengthening the government’s ethics laws, and expanding voting rights.

  • Passing the DISCLOSE Act, pushed by Rep. David Cicilline (RI) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (RI), both Democrats from Rhode Island. This would require Super PACs and “dark money” political organizations to make their donors public.
  • Passing the Honest Ads Act, championed by Sens. Amy Klobuchar (MN) and Mark Warner (VA), which would require Facebook and Twitter to disclose the source of money of political ads on their platforms, and share how much money was spent.
  • Requiring the president to disclose his or her tax returns.
  • Stopping members of Congress from using taxpayer money to settle sexual harassment cases or buy first-class plane tickets.
  • Giving the Office of Government Ethics the power to do more oversight and enforcement and put in stricter lobbying registration requirements.
  • Create a new ethical code for the US Supreme Court, ensuring all branches of government are impacted by the new law.
  • Creating new national automatic voter registration that asks voters to opt out, rather than opt in, ensuring more people will be signed up to vote. Early voting and online voter registration would also be promoted.
  • Restoring the Voting Rights Act, part of which was dismantled by a US Supreme Court decision in 2013. Ending partisan gerrymandering in federal elections and prohibiting voter roll purging.
  • Beefing up elections security, including requiring the Director of National Intelligence to do regular checks on foreign threats.

House Democrats unveil first bill: a sweeping anti-corruption proposal – Vox

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Alabama police kill black bystander with gun in Thanksgiving mall shooting.

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

Shortly before 10 p.m. last Thursday, gunshots were heard on the second floor of the Riverchase Galleria shopping mall. Officers from the Hoover Police Department rushed to the scene. It is not clear whether officers saw Bradford with a gun or whether they were just told that Bradford had a gun. Either way, thinking Bradford was the gunman, an officer shot and killed Bradford. Witnesses at the mall reported that the officer shot Bradford within seconds and did not give any verbal commands—no “Stop,” no “Drop your weapon,” no “Get on the ground”—to Bradford before shooting him.

…It turns out Bradford was not the shooter police were looking for. The police department issued a statement Friday night, acknowledging their mistake: “New evidence now suggests that while Mr. Bradford may have been involved in some aspect of the altercation, he likely did not fire the rounds that injured the 18-year-old victim.”

The investigation is ongoing, but at least at this point it appears that Bradford’s only involvement in the altercation was that of a concerned citizen, trying to help the police apprehend the actual shooter or trying to help shoppers seeking safety from the gunman.

Alabama police kill black bystander with gun in Thanksgiving mall shooting.

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US citizen: Sheriff detained me after ICE request – CNN

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

The federal complaint says authorities in Monroe County, Florida ignored Peter Brown’s repeated statements that he was a US citizen and continued to hold him in response to a detention request from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement even after a judge had ordered his release.

…”The Sheriff’s Office ignored all the indications that it was illegally detaining Mr. Brown. It did nothing to investigate his citizenship. It did not contact ICE to pass along this urgent information, or ask for a review of Mr. Brown’s files. It did not seek any further information from Mr. Brown or anyone else. It simply held Mr. Brown, in violation of his constitutional rights and after he was entitled to release under state law, so that he could be picked up by ICE and deported from the country.”

…”After confirming that Mr. Brown was a U.S. citizen, ICE hastily arranged for his release from Krome. Before he left, they confiscated all the documents they had given him regarding his impending deportation,” the lawsuit says.

US citizen: Sheriff detained me after ICE request – CNN

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Embattled Florida elections supervisor Brenda Snipes rescinds resignation, vows to fight governor

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Gulf Coast Region,Leave a comment

Scott replaced Snipes with his former general counsel general counsel, Peter Antonacci, to lead the department even though he has no elections experience. Snipes responded by rescinding her previous resignation — and will now be “fighting this to the very end,” her attorney said during a Saturday news conference.

“We believe these actions are malicious,” said Burnadette Norris-Weeks, who said that Broward County voters should be concerned about what Scott is trying to do in the Democratic stronghold by putting in an ally who could oversee the office into the 2020 elections.

Embattled Florida elections supervisor Brenda Snipes rescinds resignation, vows to fight governor – CBS News

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Pelosi creates new House leadership position after moderate Democrats tried sabotaging Barbara Lee – ThinkProgress

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,Leave a comment

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) is rated as one of the most progressive members of Congress.

…[Pelosi] acted quickly to quell displeasure from Lee’s disappointed supporters, who correctly noted that the lack of a woman of color in Democrats’ leadership ranks would not be a good look.

Politico reports Pelosi has created a leadership position for Lee on the panel “that determines committee assignments for Democrats,” expanding “leadership of the panel from two co-chairs to three.”

Pelosi creates new House leadership position after moderate Democrats tried sabotaging Barbara Lee – ThinkProgress

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