Graham, Paul rift deepens over Trump’s war powers

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

 Paul and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) emerged from Wednesday’s classified briefing deeply critical of what they characterized as a warning from senior administration officials against debating Trump’s war authority

…Lee called the presentation “the worst briefing I’ve seen, at least on a military issue.”

Paul added that he found the briefing “less than satisfying” and that it was “absurd” and “insane” to use the 2002 Iraq war authorization as the basis for an air strike against an Iranian general.

“I see no way in the world you could logically argue that an authorization to have war with Saddam Hussein has anything to with having war with people currently in Iraq,” Paul told reporters.

Graham, Paul rift deepens over Trump’s war powers | TheHill

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Fifth Pentagon official announces resignation in seven days

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

Ambassador Tina Kaidanow, a longtime State Department official who began working in her Pentagon role in September 2018, resigned on Dec. 16, the Pentagon confirmed. Defense News first reported her departure.

…“The department will not provide anything further on this personnel matter,” the spokesman added.

…Kaidanow’s resignation follows four other announced departures within a week.

…Top Asia policy official Randall Schriver would leave after two years on the job, 
…[The] top official in charge of personnel and readiness Jimmy Stewart had resigned after taking the role in October 2018
…Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency leader Steven Walker
…Principal Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Kari Bingen

…[Kaidanow] worked with top weapons buyer Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord and the Defense Security Cooperation Agency to boost weapon sales with partner and ally countries. 

Fifth Pentagon official announces resignation in seven days | TheHill

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How Philadelphia Flipped: Second Chances for Youth

On By peanutgallerynhIn American Injustice System,, Media and Culture,, Schools,Leave a comment

Bethel’s aha moment came after he went to a conference and heard terms like “trauma” and the “school-to-prison pipeline.” He said he had no idea what they were talking about. 

When he returned home, he pulled up the data on in-school arrests. And he was taken aback by what he saw.

“I thought, let’s take that back 20 years. Look at the thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of kids we had locked up for minor offenses. And where they are now?… And why were we doing that?” Bethel said. “I mean, thousands and thousands of kids for fighting in school. Stuff that I did as a kid in school.”

…Early studies by the Juvenile Justice Research and Reform Lab at Drexel University show that even though school arrests are down, school safety hasn’t been compromised.

…She showed me on a white board a list of minor offenses that used to get students arrested.

“Scissors. Knives. Marijuana. Pills. Vandalism. Trespassing,” she said. “You know if the kid is fighting in school…they would actually charge him with disorderly conduct.”

…“I was in solitary confinement. So, I was in my cell like 22 hours a day,” Le said. She is 20, and one of the youngest staff members at YASP. Even if all the current reforms had been in place when she was arrested, they wouldn’t have applied to her. Because she had a gun charge, she was held in an adult facility.

There are rules saying that the youth jail population should never interact with the adult jail population, which is why Le was held in solitary by default.

How Philadelphia Flipped: Second Chances for Youth – YR Media

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Texas Won’t Accept New Refugees, Gov. Greg Abbott Says

On By peanutgallerynhIn Granite State,, Local Interest,, Media and Culture,, Race,, Religion,Leave a comment

Texas Won’t Accept New Refugees, Gov. Greg Abbott Says : NPR

No governor is empowered to refuse the Federal government in this way. It is outside their purview. It is also bigoted and unAmerican as F*ck. There is no excuse for spitting on the soul of this country and pretending Lady Liberty does not exist, None. Period.

tuexaudiducis

‘Politics of love’: the end of Marianne Williamson’s bizarre and mesmerizing campaign

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

On the one hand, Williamson, 67, was the only candidate to strongly advocate for reparations for African Americans. She advocated for stronger environmental protections, in discussing the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. In part due to Donald Trump’s rollback of environmental protections, “we have communities, particularly communities of color and disadvantaged communities all over this country, who are suffering from environmental injustice”, she said during the first Democratic primary debate in July.

Her contributions were unexpectedly lucid at times.

…Williamson’s own views were scrutinized as not just wonky, but sometimes dangerous. Critics worried that her vacillating over vaccines …could mislead families.

‘Politics of love’: the end of Marianne Williamson’s bizarre and mesmerizing campaign | US news | The Guardian

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U.S. Probes If Russia Is Targeting Biden in 2020 Election Meddling

On By peanutgallerynhIn Central Northern Asia and The Caucasus,, Domestic Affairs,, Media and Culture,Leave a comment

The probe comes as senior U.S. officials are warning that Russia’s election interference in 2020 could be more brazen than in the 2016 presidential race or the 2018 midterm election.

…A signature trait of Russian President Vladimir Putin “is his ability to convince people of outright falsehoods,” said William Evanina, director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center.

…Russia’s campaign interference in 2016 resulted in a multiagency investigation that led to a highly classified intelligence assessment, part of which was made public in January 2017. Trump has questioned the finding of Russian meddling and has asserted that government agents biased against him conducted a “witch hunt” into whether his campaign conspired with Russia.

The potential for Russia to spread falsehoods — and to develop increasingly sophisticated techniques to do so — is one of the bigger concerns that U.S. officials have as the 2020 election approaches, Demers said.”It’s possible that you will see the creation of false documents,” Demers said. “They could be mixed in with real information, which would make it very difficult to discern the difference. I worry about that as the next evolution of some of their means.”

…Russia has been openly promoting the controversy over Biden and Ukraine, feeding information back into the U.S. where there is an audience that’s receptive to it, Watts said.

Russia has been using its state-run media RT and Sputnik News to selectively promote favorable and unfavorable information about presidential candidates, according to an analysis by the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s Foreign Influence Election 2020.

…Russia has a history of staging cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns in Ukraine, where it annexed Crimea in 2014 and backs armed separatists in the eastern part of the country.

The Justice Department exposed Russia’s interference in the 2016 election through public indictments of operatives who hacked Democratic organizations, leaked information damaging Clinton and used social media to sow divisions.

U.S. Probes If Russia Is Targeting Biden in 2020 Election Meddling

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Police detective convicted of inventing a crime to imprison innocent man is allowed to walk free by judge

On By peanutgallerynhIn American Injustice System,2 Comments

While Mr Hechinger describes the judge’s decision to undercut the prosecution’s recommended sentencing as a “rare step”, he revealed it is not the first time Mr Chun has spared convicted police officers jail time in favour of probation.

One such case involved two NYPD officers convicted for having sex with a teenager in custody in exchange for her freedom, with the New York Post reporting Mr Chun questioned the victim’s “credibility” and said that “both sides” had been guilty of crimes relating to the “bribe”.

In another instance, he allowed a former NYPD officer who twice shot a man in the face and then tampered with the evidence to walk free.

Police detective convicted of inventing a crime to imprison innocent man is allowed to walk free by judge

Chun should be yanked from the bench and charged with aiding and abetting.

Coming or going, Meghan gets the blame — and it’s because of her race

On By peanutgallerynhIn House of Windsor,, Media and Culture,, Race,Leave a comment

“Having the audacity — because that’s what it is — to exhibit self-sovereignty has always been a privilege reserved for men, especially white men,” she told CNN. “Yet here is Meghan exhibiting this ‘audacity’ and it’s being … pushed forward by a white man who happens to be her husband.”

Eubanks argues that Prince Harry presenting a united front with his spouse “triggers people” because it places “a white Prince of royal blood and a black American woman commoner” on equal footing.

“That sight doesn’t sit well with everyone due to how they’ve been conditioned to view women and people of color, whether they realize it or not.”

…Some observers believe Prince Harry is extra protective of Meghan because of how his mother, the late Princess Diana, was treated by the media towards the end of her life.

“He seemingly never recovered from the anguish he saw her go through at the hands of the British press and the critics,” said Eubanks. “He seems to have pledged to never let that happen to his wife and children. “
Coming or going, Meghan gets the blame — and it’s because of her race – CNN

Sigh…

Should Judges Have to Weigh the Price Tag of Sending Someone to Prison?

On By peanutgallerynhIn American Injustice System,, Media and Culture,, Money, Class, and Poverty,1 Comment

irginia jurors in 2017 requested 132 years of prison for a man who stole car tires. The jurors may have been unaware that taxpayers could pay more than $25,000 a year to keep someone incarcerated—so by proposing their sentence, they were also suggesting that society fork over $3 million. For tires.

…Americans pay tens of billions of dollars a year for state prisons, despite declining crime rates. But historically, prosecutors and judges haven’t had to think about these hefty costs.

…Tallying the price of sentences seemed sensible to him, especially because he knew prison wasn’t just expensive, but also likely to increase a person’s chances of committing more crimes later.

Should Judges Have to Weigh the Price Tag of Sending Someone to Prison? – Mother Jones

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This One Little Forgotten Statistic Might Hold Clues To Why Trump Won The 2016 Presidential Election

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

In the past 20 years, deaths from suicides, alcohol poisoning, and drugs have skyrocketed, achieving numbers not seen since the 1930’s. What is interesting is that there is one demographic that has seen a rapid rise in these types of deaths: single white men.

The shares of all income earned and wealth owned by the white working class fell even faster than their population share.”

…While all the other groups are getting richer, the white working class (and particularly males) are getting poorer.

This type of downward trend can have great negative effects on the mindset of people. If you are feeling that your life is not improving, but actually getting worse, and that you will never be able to achieve the lifestyle that your parents (or even you) had in the past, your psyche can go into feelings of depression and despair. This then makes you much more prone to seeking radical solutions to your perceived problems.

…The deaths are mostly among less educated white males, which is the same demographic that overwhelmingly supported Trump in the 2016 election.

If you further look at the statistics, there is a strong correlation between counties with high rates of deaths of despair among less educated white males, and votes for Trump. You can see that many of these men tried to solve their problems by doing extreme things: either drowning themselves in drugs and alcohol, committing suicide, or voting for Donald Trump.

…As many ancient philosophers have noted, people are social animals and need contact with other human beings to prosper. Unfortunately, in the modern world, these basic connections between people are being lost, as the social space becomes more and more impersonal, with growing loneliness being the result.

…People have a need to belong. They are tribal in nature, which is very easy to exploit in pitting people against each other and creating “us” versus “them” types of dichotomies.

…You don’t really have too many prospects of getting out of this situation, and things seem to be getting worse.

Then suddenly, you are confronted with people saying that you are privileged based on your race or sex. You look around, notice your squalid surroundings, reflect on your meager job prospects, and your non-existing love life, and say to yourself: “privilege my ass!”

However, you continue facing attacks on your identity. You start taking these attacks more and more personally, as they lower your self-esteem even more. You start feeling as if you are under attack.

…Today’s toxic climate creates the right conditions for normal people to fall through the alt-right rabbit hole.

…Woke culture and calling people out not only creates divisions, but doesn’t help the people it is supposed to help. Most people coming from minority background don’t care about political correctness. In fact, they want the same things that people from the deprived white male working-class want.

… Shame based political discourse as practiced by woke social justice warriors, not only doesn’t improve social justice for minorities, it just degenerates the political discourse and is incredibly counter-productive.

This One Little Forgotten Statistic Might Hold Clues To Why Trump Won The 2016 Presidential Election

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