Trump accused of another quid pro quo, this time with New York – POLITICO
hmmm
The Bail Reform Backlash That Has Democrats at War
Earlier this week, Democratic leaders in the State Senate circulated several proposed changes to the law, offering to give judges more discretion in deciding whether to keep accused criminals in jail.
Those proposals surprised and incensed members of the Democrat-dominated Assembly, exposing a schism in the party ranks, which just a year ago was reveling in big wins in the 2018 elections and a succession of long-sought progressive policies.
…For reformers, the changes to the bail law were long overdue and deeply important: The new law would mean that thousands of people in jail awaiting trial would be released, allowing them to return home, safeguard jobs and families and maintain stability in communities decimated by decades of incarceration.
With bail eliminated for most misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies, an estimated 90 percent of new defendants each year in New York would remain free as their cases move through the courts.
But opponents — including many police chiefs and county district attorneys — argued that the law was overly permissive and potentially dangerous, allowing the quick release of defendants on a variety of serious charges, including types of stalking, assault, burglary, drug offenses, arson and robbery.
…Democratic leaders have pushed back, but fear of potential political damage to moderate lawmakers on Long Island seemed to undergird the new Senate proposal, which was reported in Newsday.
Under it, the state would completely eradicate cash bail and set a roster of serious crimes and circumstances under which judges could still jail defendants; those accused of almost all misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies would continue to be exempt. But judges would be given the discretion to jail persistent offenders and those deemed likely to harm someone.
…Other supporters have suggested that the opponents of the new law are racially motivated, noting that a Facebook page devoted to repealing the law has been peppered with anti-immigrant sentiment and offensive comments about lawmakers from minority groups.
Some also accuse prosecutors of missing the leverage they held in the old bail system.
…”All of the sudden, district attorneys can’t just force somebody to sit in a cell because they can’t afford their bail and then push them to plead out on some garbage.”
The Bail Reform Backlash That Has Democrats at War – The New York Times
hmmmm
David Ortiz: Mike Fiers looks like a ‘snitch’ for exposing Astros scandal
“I’m mad at this guy, the pitcher who came out talking about it,” Ortiz said at JetBlue Park on Thursday. “And let me tell you why. Oh, after you make your money, after you get your ring, you decide to talk about it. Why don’t you talk about it during the season when it was going on? Why didn’t you say, ‘I don’t want to be no part of it? So you look like you’re a snitch. Why you gotta talk about it after? That’s my problem. Why nobody said anything while it was going on?”
David Ortiz – Mike Fiers looks like a ‘snitch’ for exposing Astros scandal
Damn straight, David.
Black college swimmer on team trip had gun pointed at his head by police
Even after officers realized that he was not the person they were looking for, they refused to let him go and put him in the back of a squad car, the suit says.
Black college swimmer on team trip had gun pointed at his head by police
Officers who continue harassment of a citizen after they discover the citizen is not the individual they are looking for deserve to be thrown in jail.
6-year-old girl was committed to mental health facility without parent consent
A 6-year-old Florida girl was committed for two days to a mental health facility without her mother’s consent after allegedly throwing a temper tantrum at school, an attorney for the family said.
The child was allegedly given anti-psychotic medications at the center, also without the permission of her mother.
6-year-old girl was committed to mental health facility without parent consent
State sanctioned child abuse.
…And quite frankly, if you can’t handle a six year old’s temper tanturm you have no business working around children. Period.
Doctors discover food can be good medicine
Doctors discover food can be good medicine – The Washington Post
Isn’t adorable when “experts” decide that something everyone already knows is news? Doctors decide that nutrition affects health. Amazing! What new “discovery” will they tout next? The mind reels….
After saying Keegan-Michael Key supports Buttigieg, the former mayor’s campaign says the actor hasn’t endorsed any candidate
The pattern of asserting African-American support for the mayor and then walking it back because they don’t actually have the support they claim to have is jaw-dropping.
Facebook removes Russian and Iranian accounts linked to propaganda – Business Insider
“The Page admins and account owners typically posted content in Russian, English and Ukrainian about local and political news including public figures in Ukraine, Russian military engagement in Syria, alleged SBU leaks related to ethnic tensions in Crimea and the downing of the Malaysian airliner in Ukraine in 2014,” he said.
Moreover, Gleicher said Facebook traced back the activity to Russian military intelligence services.
…Beyond the pages linked to Russia, 11 Facebook and Instagram accounts originating in Iran were shuttered. Unlike the Russian accounts, the ones tied to Iran were intended to sway American Facebook users.
Facebook removes Russian and Iranian accounts linked to propaganda – Business Insider
doesn’t sounds like too many accounts
Stacey Abrams’ message to black voters: Be heard and counted in 2020
In 2018, Abrams became the first black woman to receive a major party nomination for governor in any state. Her loss by about 55,000 votes to Republican Brian Kemp led to a lawsuit against the state alleging an unfair election, as Kemp oversaw the election in his former role as Georgia’s secretary of state.
…I think there are two pieces to focus on. One is ensuring that voter suppression does not have its intended effect, which is by making it more difficult to vote, people decide not to bother trying. Our goal through Fair Fight and Fair Fight 2020 is to ensure that people know about the obstacles that are being placed in their way, but (are encouraged to) vote in even larger numbers to overwhelm the intention of the system. The best way to defeat voter suppression is by having such a high turnout that the barriers to voting have limited effect.
…What tends to happen is that in election years featuring a presidential candidate, we only pay attention to the top of the ticket. But we know that if you care about criminal justice reform, you need to pay attention to district attorney races and to judicial races, because the people who decide how our community is treated in the court system get elected in that year. And we need to ensure that if someone is running for the school board, if they’re making a decision over hundreds of millions of dollars that will be allocated to the benefit or to the detriment of our children, that we know who they are and we hold them accountable.
Stacey Abrams’ message to black voters: Be heard and counted in 2020
hmmm
Senate report faults Obama administration’s paralysis on Russian election interference
Widespread paralysis in the Obama administration prevented the U.S. from developing an effective response to combat Russian hacking in the 2016 election, according to a new, bipartisan report from the Senate Intelligence Committee.
…The response to the digital assault was also “tempered … over concerns about appearing to act politically on behalf of one candidate, undermining public confidence in the election, and provoking additional Russian actions,” the panel found.
…“After discovering the existence, if not the full scope, of Russia’s election interference efforts in late-2016, the Obama Administration struggled to determine the appropriate response,” Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) said in a statement. “Frozen by ‘paralysis of analysis,’ hamstrung by constraints both real and perceived, Obama officials debated courses of action without truly taking one.”
…Other elements that marred the White House response included a muddled interagency process which grappled with issues such as how to deal with WikiLeaks — the anti-secrecy group that published materials from the Democratic National Committee hack in 2016 and has since been dubbed by U.S. intelligence officials as a tool for Russian operatives.
…The committee also emphasized that in case of future attacks, the public should be notified “as soon as possible with a clear and succinct statement of the threat.”
Senate report faults Obama administration’s paralysis on Russian election interference – POLITICO
hmmmm
The ‘Ghost’ of an Unknown Human Species Has Been Found in West Africans Living Today
It is well-known that people from Europe and Asia have traces of Neanderthals and Denisovans in their DNA. These are markers from where early modern humans interbred with other hominin species, producing children that inherited genes from both.
…Neanderthals and Denisovans bred with modern humans that had already left Africa, the birthplace of modern man. As a result, people in Africa have less genetic input from Denisovans and Neanderthals.
“Results strongly support that an African archaic (ghost) lineage that diverged from modern humans slightly before Neanderthals and Denisovans, perhaps 600,000 years ago, met and interbred with the ancestors of West African populations,” he told Newsweek. “Interestingly, this might have happened even before the split between African and non-African populations, whereby global human groups might carry ancestry from this ghost lineage.
“This work sheds light on the complex patterns of human evolution, where a simple narrative does not conform to the data. The picture will only get more complex, especially when more work is done in Africa, the birthplace of humanity.”
The ‘Ghost’ of an Unknown Human Species Has Been Found in West Africans Living Today
hmm
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