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Post by mhbruin on Jun 14, 2023 8:09:03 GMT -8
Did you hear about the kidnapping at school? It's okay. He woke up.
Does Jumping Jack Smith Have a Backup Plan?
It's not clear why special counsel Jack Smith didn't charge Trump with the dissemination of classified documents, two NYU law professors wrote, and it's not clear whether those charges could remain on the table.
"Trump’s Bedminster conduct, as described in the indictment, appears to fit the description of two federal offenses designed to keep America’s national-security secrets safe," wrote Goodman and Weissmann. "One makes it a crime to intentionally communicate national-defense information to people not authorized to receive it, and the other makes it a crime to intentionally disclose classified information to the same.
"These are more serious crimes than willful retention of such documents, which is done to prevent possible leakage. Deliberate dissemination is the leakage itself."
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Smith could have charged Trump in Florida for crimes he allegedly committed in New Jersey, although the U.S. Supreme Court could have ultimately decided that wasn't the proper venue. So it's possible the special counsel is holding back on the dissemination charge in the event that the Mar-a-Lago case falls apart, the pair wrote.
"The legal uncertainties that surround bringing charges in Florida for dissemination of national-security secrets in Bedminster leaves open the possibility that charges might yet be brought in New Jersey — a backup plan of sorts for Smith," wrote Goodman and Weissmann.
"If Aileen Cannon, the Florida judge assigned to the case, were to seek to pocket-veto the charges before her by, say, scheduling the trial for after the 2024 presidential election, the special counsel would be able to sidestep her tactic by proceeding with charges in New Jersey."
The Miami indictment notably excludes evidence surrounding Trump's potential crimes in Bedminster, which leads Goodman and Weissman to suspect those allegations could wind up in a separate case.
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Post by mhbruin on Jun 14, 2023 8:12:25 GMT -8
Let's See How Far We've Come
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Post by mhbruin on Jun 14, 2023 8:14:03 GMT -8
What Spy Agency Would Miss an Opportunity Like This?
Now Forbes reports that foreign agents may have had an easy way into the resort, as it has found that Mar-a-Lago sought to employ 380 foreign workers from the years 2017 until 2022.
"Mar-a-Lago relies on foreign nationals to work as servers, cooks and housekeepers," the publication writes. "In 2016, the club sought 65 foreign workers. The figure has increased every year since, with the exception of 2020, when the club shut down in the early days of the pandemic and furloughed more than 150 employees. Last winter, Mar-a-Lago sought out 91 foreign workers, according to records filed with the Department of Labor."
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Post by mhbruin on Jun 14, 2023 8:16:33 GMT -8
These People Have a Drug Problem. Their Drugs Cost Too Much. Biden is Helping.
Major pharmaceutical companies are profiting immensely from the second-leading cause of death in the United States by saddling cancer patients with tens of thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs, often forcing them to choose between treatment and other basic necessities.
But many people living with cancer in the U.S. will soon see long-overdue relief thanks to provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a law that the pharmaceutical industry lobbied aggressively against and is still fighting tooth and nail.
According to a report published Wednesday by Patients for Affordable Drugs, cancer patients will benefit substantially from the IRA's $2,000 cap on annual out-of-pocket medicine spending for Medicare Part D enrollees—a limit that's set to take effect in 2025.
Of the nearly 62,000 people on traditional Medicare who receive a brand-name cancer drug through Medicare Part D, 99% will see savings from the out-of-pocket spending cap, said Patients for Affordable Drugs, which partnered with the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago on the new analysis.
On average, that population will see savings of more than $7,500 once the spending cap is in place in 2025. Some will see savings of over $19,000 in 2025.
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Post by mhbruin on Jun 14, 2023 8:20:01 GMT -8
We'll Remember Always, Indictment Day Protesters assembled outside the federal courthouse here on Tuesday to express their support for former President Donald Trump—to fly the Trump colors and show prosecutors that they’re up against a MAGA army. But if protesters sought to show unity and organization, what they accomplished was a disorganized display of MAGA spectacles, flaunting a pig’s head on a pike and getting the street shut down over an abandoned television. Trump was arraigned on Tuesday afternoon for 37 counts related to his alleged mishandling of classified documents. On social media, Trump called on fans to come to Miami for his court appearance. “SEE YOU IN MIAMI ON TUESDAY!!!” he wrote. But turnout was modest on Tuesday morning, despite efforts by pro-Trump figures like rapper Forgiato Blow to gin up attendance for a 10 a.m. rally. “What I like about this, we been supporting Trump since day one and never switch up on Donald Trump, man what’s up. DeSant-heads need to get out here and get with Trump,” Blow (real name Kurt Jantz) said in a video outside the courthouse on Tuesday, referencing Trump’s GOP rival and Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis. Blow’s attendance was not purely political. The prolific novelty rapper, who frequently releases songs timed to conservative news items, is promoting a new song called “Trump Indictment” and on Monday tweeted a picture of himself wearing a signboard with a QR code for a download of the tune. “See Everyone Tomorrow Help Us Get #TrumpIndictment To #1 On iTunes,” Blow tweeted, promoting both the track and the protest against Trump’s second felony arraignment this year. Vivek Ramaswamy, a longshot Republican presidential candidate, gave a Tuesday morning speech in which he pledged (if elected president) to pardon Trump. Meanwhile, Tim Gionet, a far-right personality who goes by “Baked Alaska,” live streamed himself outside the courthouse on Tuesday. Gionet was recently released from prison, where he was serving 60 days for his participation in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. (He was also found guilty last year of defacing a Hanukkah display. “No more Happy Hanukkah, only Merry Christmas. This is a disgrace," Gionet said in a live stream of the vandalism.) Trump Wanted Courthouse Protests but Instead Got MAGA Misfits
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Post by mhbruin on Jun 14, 2023 8:22:42 GMT -8
Screw 'Em If They Can't Take a Joke
A US comedian who offended Malaysian authorities with a joke about missing flight MH370 says the reaction from officials has been "overblown".
Jocelyn Chia told the BBC she was "not making fun of tragedy" and victims, but was trying to find humour in tragedy.
Malaysian police said they would ask Interpol to locate Ms Chia, as they investigate her for incitement and offensive online content.
Ms Chia - who grew up in Singapore - called involving Interpol "ridiculous".
Interpol has not responded to questions from the BBC on whether it would act on the request for assistance from Malaysian police.
Ms Chia had joked in a viral video that Malaysian jets "cannot fly", referring to the Malaysia Airlines flight that disappeared in 2014 - a sensitive topic in the country.
She said her joke had been "taken out of context when consumed on social media".
"I have [performed this routine] hundreds of times and even did a shorter version of it in Singapore. It always cracks the audience up. I wouldn't have used it again if it didn't work," she said.
Ms Chia said "roasting" or poking fun at the audience is part of comedy club culture in New York, where she is now based. She said American comics have in the past used the September 11 terror attacks as fodder for their jokes.
"Americans can appreciate humour that is harsher, edgier and more in-your-face, as compared to in Asia where the stand-up comedy scene is still in its early days. You won't find a lot of edgy comedy in Asia," she said.
Flight MH370, a Boeing 777, mysteriously fell off the radar in March 2014 as it was on its way to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur. A four-year search over the Indian Ocean yielded some debris, but not the main fuselage. All 239 on board are presumed dead.
Ms Chia mentioned MH370 in the context of the long-running rivalry between Singapore and Malaysia. The two former British colonies were part of one country until a bitter break-up in 1965.
"Malaysian Airlines going missing not funny huh? Some jokes don't land. This joke kills in Singapore," she said in a 90-second viral clip that was taken from her performance at Manhattan's Comedy Cellar on 7 April.
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Post by mhbruin on Jun 14, 2023 8:29:00 GMT -8
Rule 29
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Post by mhbruin on Jun 14, 2023 8:31:22 GMT -8
We Don't Need No Education
“I don’t want my staff educated,” Greene snapped.
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Post by mhbruin on Jun 14, 2023 8:32:46 GMT -8
He Does Have the Right to Remain Silent, But He Won't Use It.
Former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann said Donald Trump’s speech on Tuesday night defending himself after he was arraigned on 37 federal charges could come back to haunt him during the trial.
“Part of what he said is just a straight-out confession,” Weissmann told MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell. “It’s not a defense. It’s a confession.”
Speaking at his country club in Bedminster, New Jersey, hours after pleading not guilty, Trump told supporters he had “every right under the Presidential Records Act” to keep the sensitive documents found at his Mar-a-Lago home during an FBI search last summer.
O’Donnell later asked what, specifically, was a confession in Trump’s speech.
“When you are charged with the illegal retention ― the possession, the illegal possession of the documents ― it is not a good idea to say, ‘Hey, you want to know why I took these? Because I could,’” he said. “That is not a defense to that charge. That is an admission to the charge.”
Weissmann, who was part of Robert Mueller’s investigation team, also noted that even if Trump himself doesn’t take the stand during the trial, these and other public statements will be admissible in court.
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Post by mhbruin on Jun 14, 2023 8:36:19 GMT -8
It's Been a Bad Day to Be on the Water #1
The death toll from a capsized boat that was carrying wedding guests in Nigeria has risen to more than 100, authorities said Wednesday.
The wooden boat overturned early Monday as it was ferrying about 300 people, including children, across a river to Kwara state from neighboring Niger state after a wedding in the remote village of Egboti, according to Ajayi Okasanmi, spokesperson for the Nigeria Police Force's Kwara State Command. Authorities weren't alerted for hours since the incident occurred before dawn in complete darkness, Okasanmi said.
It's Been a Bad Day to Be on the Water #2
Rescue efforts were underway Wednesday after a fishing vessel carrying migrants capsized and sank in the Mediterranean Sea, about 54 miles off the coast of Pylos, Greece.
At least 104 people have been rescued and 78 have died, the Greek Coast Guard said. Unconfirmed early estimates put hundreds of migrants -- perhaps as many as 650 -- on board when the boat began to sink at about 2:30 a.m. local time.
It's Been a Bad Day to Be on the Water #3
A man who was kayaking with his fiancée is presumed to have died after his vessel began sinking and he was submerged and he disappeared into near-freezing water.
The kayaker -- 37-year-old Travis Valenti from Massapequa, New York -- was kayaking on Lake Crescent in Olympic National Park in Washington state last Friday at approximately 2:10 p.m. when his vessel suddenly began taking on water and his fiancée attempted to rescue him, according to a statement from the National Park Service detailing the incident.
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Post by mhbruin on Jun 14, 2023 8:37:55 GMT -8
This is Cool!
With a strike authorization vote already underway, union leaders at UPS announced a tentative deal to add air conditioning to the package carrier’s iconic brown delivery vehicles for the first time ever.
“The Teamsters and UPS agreed to tentative language to equip the delivery and logistics company’s fleet of vehicles with air conditioning systems, new heat shields, and additional fans,” the union said in a statement late Tuesday.
UPS confirmed it reached an agreement on heat safety with the Teamsters, saying in a statement that the tentative language “includes new measures that build on important actions rolled out to UPS employees in the spring, including new cooling gear and enhanced training.”
The announcement follows years of complaints by labor leaders — at UPS and other major retail and logistics companies — that working during hot weather can become unbearable and even dangerous.
More than 100 UPS workers have been hospitalized for heat illnesses in recent years, with some falling so ill that they neared kidney failure, NBC News has reported. But the nation’s largest package carrier has long resisted calls to air condition its fleet as summertime temperatures have climbed to record heights across the country.
The tentative agreement would require in-cab air conditioning in most UPS delivery vehicles purchased after Jan. 1, 2024, the Teamsters said in the announcement. Two fans would also be installed in package cars, which the union said make up most of the company’s 93,000-vehicle fleet.
Newer vehicles would also be equipped with exhaust heat shields, and existing and newly purchased package cars would be fitted with air induction vents “to alleviate extreme temperatures in the back of the vehicles” where cargo is held, the union said.
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Post by mhbruin on Jun 14, 2023 8:39:27 GMT -8
Et Tu Sununu?
Angel Pasuy stood on his tribe’s land in the Colombian cloud forest, listening to a symphony of birdsong. An Indigenous land-use planner from the Kamentsá Biya de Sibundoy reservation, Pasuy and his people have called the steep slopes of the Mocoa area home for centuries.
His reservation borders a nationally protected forest reserve that connects the Amazon basin to the Andes mountains, home to hundreds of plant and animal species and the origin of dozens of waterways.
But Pasuy now worries about the forest’s future. In the past year, exploratory drilling for a prospective copper mine has picked up just outside the reserve’s eastern border, 2 miles from his reservation’s boundary. A Canadian mining company, Libero Copper & Gold, holds the rights to conduct exploratory mining in a 30-square-mile area that overlaps partially with the reserve, his reservation and another.
“The area where Libero’s [rights] are located is an area of special environmental and cultural value for us,” said Pasuy, an architect by training who works for several local reservations. “It is very clear to us that mining will affect the territory.”
The proposed mine would be the first legal metals mine in the country’s Amazon, part of Colombia’s push to become a major copper producer. Its development is being fueled by the global drive for metals for green energy, and in part by the family of New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu.
Sununu’s politically connected, climate change-denying father, John H. Sununu, and brother, Michael Sununu, are more than just investors in Libero Copper & Gold. Michael is a board member of Libero, and he and his father sit on the board of the company’s largest shareholder, Anglo Asian Mining PLC, which operates in Azerbaijan. John Sununu is the second-largest shareholder of that company, with a nearly 10% stake. He and Michael Sununu both declined to comment and referred all questions to Anglo Asian Mining.
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Post by mhbruin on Jun 14, 2023 8:41:07 GMT -8
Today's Worst Person in the WorldTwo Canadian moms say their 9-year-old daughter was competing in a shot-put final at a track and field event when the grandfather of one of the other participants started yelling at her, Castanet reported. Two Canadian moms say their 9-year-old daughter was competing in a shot-put final at a track and field event when the grandfather of one of the other participants started yelling at her, Castanet reported. "She went to step up to compete for the grade four shot-put final, and right before she went to throw, a grandfather of a student said, 'Hey, this is supposed to be a girls' event, and why are you letting boys compete.' My daughter is cisgender, born female, uses she/her pronouns. She has a pixie haircut," said mom Heidi Star. "He stopped the entire event. He also pointed at another girl who also had short hair. He then piped in and said, 'Well, if she is not a boy, then she is obviously trans,'" Star said, adding that the man's wife then started calling her "a genital mutilator, a groomer, and a pedophile." Central Okanagan School District superintendent Kevin Kaardal said he's working to have the man banned from all school-related events. The girl's other mother said the incident affected their daughter's confidence. "This has destroyed our beautiful daughter's confidence, and she was inconsolably crying during this whole event and continued once it was over and we were leaving. Not to mention, she was unable to concentrate on her track and field finals and the shot-put throw for which she had qualified," Kari Star said. Girl, 9, accused of being trans at Kelowna track meet
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Post by mhbruin on Jun 14, 2023 8:45:45 GMT -8
He Probably Would Have Not Returned the Van Gough, Claiming "I Have Every Right to Keep It."JANUARY 26, 2018 New York's Guggenheim Museum offered to lend an 18-karat gold toilet to President Donald Trump after the White House asked to borrow a painting by Vincent Van Gogh, the Washington Post reported on Thursday. The museum's chief curator offered to loan the toilet, which had been used by tens of thousands of visitors, in a Sept. 15 email to a Trump administration official, the newspaper reported. The piece, by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan's, is an 18-karat gold, fully functioning toilet. It is called "America." The offer came in response to a White House request to borrow the painting "Landscape with Snow" by 19th century Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh, for installation at the President and First Lady's private living quarters, the Washington Post reported. The request for the painting was declined. Guggenheim chief curator Nancy Spector had previously written about the toilet in a 2017 blog post, in which she took swipes at the president. She wrote that the "Trump reference" inherent in the gold toilet resonated with people "during the sculpture's time at the Guggenheim." Trump is known to have a taste for gold and gilded objects. On Christmas Eve, he took calls from children while seated on a gold chair in a tapestried room at his Florida vacation home. 
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Post by sagobob on Jun 14, 2023 11:02:51 GMT -8
We Don't Need No Education“I don’t want my staff educated,” Greene snapped. Marge & Bo-butt. Congress' version of Dumb & Dumber. |
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