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Post by mhbruin on Aug 13, 2023 8:39:33 GMT -8
A termite walks into a bar and says, "Where is the bar tender?" Fani is Looking Into the BreachAtlanta-area prosecutors investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia are in possession of text messages and emails directly connecting members of Donald Trump’s legal team to the early January 2021 voting system breach in Coffee County, sources tell CNN. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is expected to seek charges against more than a dozen individuals when her team presents its case before a grand jury next week. Several individuals involved in the voting systems breach in Coffee County are among those who may face charges in the sprawling criminal probe. Investigators in the Georgia criminal probe have long suspected the breach was not an organic effort sprung from sympathetic Trump supporters in rural and heavily Republican Coffee County – a county Trump won by nearly 70% of the vote. They have gathered evidence indicating it was a top-down push by Trump’s team to access sensitive voting software, according to people familiar with the situation. Trump allies attempted to access voting systems after the 2020 election as part of the broader push to produce evidence that could back up the former president’s baseless claims of widespread fraud. Georgia prosecutors have messages showing Trump’s team is behind voting system breach |
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Post by mhbruin on Aug 13, 2023 8:50:33 GMT -8
Was a Kansas Paper Raided for Reporting the News?Local police in Marion, Kansas, conducted a raid on the offices of a local newspaper on Friday as well as the homes of the publication’s publishers and reporters. Eric Meyer, the owner and publisher of the Marion County Record, told the Kansas Reflector that the city’s entire five-officer police force and two sheriff’s deputies conducted the raid, which included the seizure of computers, cellphones and reporting materials. Meyer said the raid and seizure stemmed from a confidential source leaking sensitive documents to the newspaper. He criticized the seizure, comparing it to seizures conducted by repressive government regimes. Last week, a local restaurant proprietor, Kari Newell, had police remove Marion County Record reporters from an open forum held by the US congressman Jake LaTurner. The congressman’s staff apologized as they had invited the press. According to Meyer, a confidential source leaked evidence that Newell had been convicted of drink-driving and continued using her vehicle without a license. But the paper never published anything related to it as they suspected the source was relaying information from Newell’s husband during their divorce proceedings. The Kansas Reflector reported: “Police notified Newell, who then complained at a city council meeting that the newspaper had illegally obtained and disseminated sensitive documents, which isn’t true. Her public comments prompted the newspaper to set the record straight in a story published Thursday.” The paper added that Newell admitted to the drink-driving arrest and driving with a suspended license. Then came Friday’s raid and seizures, authorized by a search warrant that alleged identity theft and unlawful use of a computer. The seized materials included publishing and reporting materials that the newspaper relied on to publish their next edition, and they were not given a timeframe for when seized computers and phones would be returned. The Kansas Reflector reported: “The search warrant, signed by Marion county district court magistrate judge Laura Viar, appears to violate federal law that provides protections against searching and seizing materials from journalists. The law requires law enforcement to subpoena materials instead. Viar didn’t respond to a request to comment for this story or explain why she would authorize a potentially illegal raid.” Press advocates have condemned the raid as an infringement on the freedom of the press. Police raid local Kansas newspaper office and homes of reporters
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Post by mhbruin on Aug 13, 2023 8:54:38 GMT -8
Is This a Mooooving Violation?Central Wisconsin’s Clark County is home to more dairy farms than any other county in the state, which bills itself as America’s Dairyland. Its identity is so tied to the dairy industry that a 16-foot-tall, black-and-white talking Holstein stands outside downtown Neillsville, the county seat. To corral the cows, milk them and clear their manure at these dairy farms — the dirty, dangerous work that makes this multibillion-dollar industry go — farm owners here and across Wisconsin rely on a labor force that they know is largely undocumented. But the state makes it almost impossible for workers to have lives outside the farm without breaking the law. In Wisconsin, undocumented immigrants can own and register their cars and trucks, but they aren’t allowed to drive them. Those who drive anyway are pulled over again and again and again, and issued tickets that eat away at their wages. The law banning undocumented immigrants from obtaining driver’s licenses has cascading effects across the state. Law enforcement officials say the roads are less safe because undocumented immigrants aren’t trained and tested on basic driving rules but they drive anyway — and often without insurance. Court officials say tickets for driving without a license overwhelm their dockets and drain their limited resources. Farmers say they have to build or find employee housing to help their workers avoid getting ticketed. The workers, many from remote, impoverished communities in Latin America, are grateful for the jobs. And yet they feel trapped. www.propublica.org/article/wisconsin-dairy-undocumented-immigrants-drivers-licenses
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Post by mhbruin on Aug 13, 2023 9:00:04 GMT -8
This is a Grosslly Exagerrated Headline. Two Professors Do Not Represent the Whole Federalist Society. Still Interesting.Two Federalist Society law professors have published their findings stating that Trump is disqualified from serving as President based on the originalist interpretation of the 14th amendment ban on anyone who has engaged in insurrection against the United States from running for office. Federalist Society professors William Baude of the University of Chicago and Michael Stokes Paulsen of the University of St. Thomas published a sweeping 126 page paper, which stated: “Donald Trump cannot be president — cannot run for president, cannot become president, cannot hold office — unless two-thirds of Congress decides to grant him amnesty for his conduct on Jan. 6." In a particularly damning section of their piece, Baude and Paulsen state that Trump engaged in rebellion, and gave aid and comfort to others engaging in rebellion against the United States. Read that section of the article here.  Federalist Society Turns on Trump: Hard-Right Legal Scholars Say Trump is Disqualified From OfficeThis news, if it become widely known, will sway many conservatives. Their research WILL lead to many lawsuits against Trump, to disqualify him from running. The disqualification of Trump is not subject to a 2/3 vote of Congress, but rather simply the ruling of a Federal Judge, that the criteria of the 14th Amendment were met.
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Post by mhbruin on Aug 13, 2023 9:04:31 GMT -8
Thw Search for Someone to Blame Begins
KIHEI, Hawaii — Four days before fast-moving brush fires engulfed parts of Maui, weather forecasters warned authorities that powerful wind gusts would trigger dangerous fire conditions across much of the island and Hawaii.
The state’s electric utility responded with some preemptive steps but did not use what is widely regarded as the most aggressive but effective safety measure: shutting down the power.
Hawaiian Electric, the utility that oversees Maui Electric and provides service to 95 percent of the state’s residents, did not deploy what’s known as a “public power shutoff plan,” which involves intentionally cutting off electricity to areas where big wind events could spark fires. A number of states, including California, have increasingly adopted this safety strategy after what were then the nation’s most destructive and deadliest modern fires, in 2017 and 2018.
Hawaiian Electric was aware that a power shut-off was an effective strategy, documents show, but had not adopted it as part of its fire mitigation plans, according to the company and two former power and energy officials interviewed by The Washington Post. Nor, in the face of predicted dangerous winds, did it act on its own, utility officials said, fearing uncertain consequences.
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Post by mhbruin on Aug 13, 2023 9:06:21 GMT -8
Who Won the Week?
The Ohio state Medical Board, for suspending the medical license of anti-vax weirdo Sherri Tenpenny, who claimed that Covid vaccines magnetize people and “interface” with cell towers
Voter rights, as a federal court rules that Mississippi's racist provision banning individuals convicted of certain felonies from voting for life violates the 8th Amendment
ProPublica, for its Pulitzer-worthy reporting on Clarence Thomas's lavish, corrupt lifestyle paid for by his corporate billionaire patrons
President Biden: announces new Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni National Monument at Grand Canyon; orders federal aid to Maui; decent inflation report; promotes manufacturing in New Mexico
America's blood supply, as the Red Cross begins implementing a new federal rule that allows gay and bisexual men to donate blood
Ohio voters, for rejecting the Republican attempt to make it harder for this November's abortion amendment to be approved and added to the state constitution
Parkland activist David Hogg, for launching a new group devoted to getting Gen Zers involved in politics, especially in state legislatures
The Illinois Supreme Court, for ruling that the state's new ban on assault weapons is indeed constitutional
Hip-hop, as today marks the 50th anniversary of DJ Kool Herc’s 1973 “Back To School Jam” in the South Bronx that gave birth to the genre
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Post by mhbruin on Aug 13, 2023 9:09:03 GMT -8
Move Over, Clarence. Judge Loose Cannon Wants Her Share.Today, new reporting from The Guardian revealed that U.S. district court Judge Aileen Cannon, currently presiding over former President Trump’s criminal case for mishandling classified documents, is part of conservative kingpin Leonard Leo’s right-wing network. Cannon was gifted a luxury trip by the Leonard Leo-backed Scalia Law School — raising new questions about Leo’s decades-long efforts to curry favor with members of the American judiciary. Leonard Leo has written the playbook on judicial influence-peddling. It’s no surprise that Judge Cannon has benefited from Leo’s well-funded network. Over decades, Leo has used shady tactics to curry favor with judges at all levels in service of his ultimate goal: to force an extreme, radical agenda on Americans. Ultimately, it calls into question the judge’s impartiality and who she’s serving. Is she serving the American people or is she serving Leonard Leo and the Federalist Society?” The Guardian revealed that Cannon accepted a 2021 trip to a Montana luxury resort from the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University, for which Leo brokered at least $30 million in donations to rename the school after Justice Antonin Scalia —and where Leo has been “directly involved” in hiring decisions. Nine speakers at the lavish event were Federalist Society contributors, including three federal circuit judges. Leonard Leo is a longtime Federalist Society leader, previously serving as its executive vice president and now, its co-chair. In 2021 alone, the George Mason University Foundation, which manages the school’s private gifts and endowment, took over $5 million from Donors Trust, the “dark money ATM of the right.” Donors Trust is an integral part of Leo’s network, having raked in a portion of a massive $59 million donation from Leo’s Marble Freedom Trust in 2020. Over $368,000 was earmarked for the Scalia Law School’s Law and Economics Center, which ran Judge Cannon’s luxury trip. The kingmaking Trump ally behind a cadre of rightwing judges
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Post by mhbruin on Aug 13, 2023 9:10:48 GMT -8
The QOP Hates the Fact that Merrick Garland Did What They Asked Him to Do.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) does not think much of the appointment of U.S. Attorney David Weiss as special counsel for the Justice Department’s investigation into Hunter Biden, the president’s son.
Attorney General Merrick Garland “knows Weiss will protect Hunter,” Blackburn scoffed in a social media post on Saturday.
But Weiss’ appointment is exactly what she and other congressional Republicans requested. Special counsel is the same designation Garland gave Jack Smith, currently prosecuting former President Donald Trump.
Last September, a group of 31 Senate Republicans, including Blackburn, asked specifically for Weiss to be appointed to oversee the probe to “provide additional assurances to the American people that the Hunter Biden investigation is free from political influence.” Weiss had already led the investigation into his business dealings, which began under President Donald Trump.
Republicans on the House side sent a similar letter in April 2022, although they did not name Weiss specifically. Blackburn and two other Republican senators reiterated their request for a special counsel two months ago.
Now that they’ve gotten their wish, some are complaining.
This week, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) slammed the appointment despite signing the letter last fall.
“This is a political decision by the Biden administration to fix their political problem. I think they poured gasoline on a political fire,” Graham told NewsNation.
He added: “Mr. Weiss’ team needs to be replaced with a new set of eyes.”
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hasben
Resident Member
Posts: 1,047
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Post by hasben on Aug 13, 2023 12:16:01 GMT -8
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Post by sagobob on Aug 13, 2023 15:40:34 GMT -8
I wonder if there was a chain of command or any type of coordinated response. Given the drought, wind conditions and highly combustible vegetation, one would think public safety agencies should have been on high alert. |
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Post by mhbruin on Aug 14, 2023 9:04:15 GMT -8
I wonder if there was a chain of command or any type of coordinated response. Given the drought, wind conditions and highly combustible vegetation, one would think public safety agencies should have been on high alert. I just finished a book calle The Premonition by Michael Lewis, who wrote The Big Short. It's about the COVID pandemic, and he is very critical of the CDC. Apparently the typical bureaucratic response to a pending energency is usually to do as little as possible. You are less likely to get blamed for doing too little and more likely to get blamed for doing too much. No body got fired at the CDC over inaction, but half a million people in the US died due to a poor response to COVID. (Of course, Trump and the MAGA crowd deserve a lot of blame, too.) The Hawaii Fire situation is a damned if you do, damned if you don't. If they had shut power off and nothing materialized, there would have been plenty of criticism, too. However, upset customers seems like a better outcome than 93 dead and hundreds losing their homes. Would there have been fires, even if they shut off the power? I don't think we will ever be sure. But I imagine there will be an official policy to shut off power when winds reach a certain speed. Hopefully other power companies will learn the same lesson. |
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