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Post by mhbruin on Mar 4, 2024 9:35:35 GMT -8
A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory. He Will Claim He Was Exonerated Anyway
Legal analysts had anticipated that the U.S. Supreme Court would reverse Colorado's effort to kick Donald Trump off its ballot — but they said Monday it hadn't worked out the way the former president might have hoped. Speaking to MSNBC, former senior Department of Justice prosecutor Andrew Weissmann and former acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal both pointed out that the state didn't address if Trump is guilty of insurrection — which the Colorado decision had ruled. The court only ruled that the states can't decide if the Constitution's 14th Amendment, which says that anybody engaging in insurrection against the U.S. is barred from public office, applies to the presidency. That decision, the court ruled Monday, needs to be made by Congress. "The issue of the facts, is he an insurrectionist or not, was not before the court, and they do not in any way that I've seen so far, and after quick skimming, take that on to say that we are saying that that was an incorrect, factual finding," said Weissmann. "They're simply deciding this as a legal basis." He also said that the case "will put more questions to why Jack Smith didn't charge essentially insurrection, didn't charge a criminal statute which was passed, of course, by Congress whereupon conviction disqualifies you from holding office because that would seemingly potentially qualify for what the Supreme Court says is necessary, that sort of federal action that they're looking for as opposed to individual, unilateral state action." Katyal agreed, noting Trump was likely "disappointed" that the U.S. Supreme Court didn't absolve him of the Colorado court's insurrection finding. "The court did not do what Donald Trump asked, which was to clear him of insurrection," he said. "I suspect they didn't do that because there are criminal proceedings that are ongoing against Donald Trump right now, where that very question is the ball game," he continued. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), who brought the lawsuit in Colorado, said in a statement: "The Supreme Court just overturned our win in Colorado barring Donald Trump from the ballot under the 14th Amendment. But crucially, the Court did *not* exonerate Trump of insurrection. They had the chance to do so and chose not to."
Most of the Media Doesn't Even Bother to Report His Lies Anymore
Former President Trump on the campaign trail over the weekend, again took credit for signing a veterans bill that passed under his predecessor, President Obama. Trump takes credit for legislation signed by Obama |
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Post by mhbruin on Mar 4, 2024 9:38:15 GMT -8
The Drivers are in a Bit of a Sticky Wicket
The drivers of a train that missed a signal and ploughed into another train, killing 14 people, were distracted because they were watching cricket on a phone, India's railways minister said Monday.
The fatal collision in Andhra Pradesh state in October took place as hosts India played England during the one-day World Cup.
"The recent case in Andhra Pradesh happened because both the loco-pilot and co-pilot were distracted by the cricket match," Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw said, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.
"Now we are installing systems which can detect any such distraction and make sure that the pilots (train drivers) and the assistant pilots are fully focused on running the train."
Hundreds of millions of fans in cricket-crazy India tuned in to watch the live broadcast of the World Cup match, which the hosts won.
Separately, officials sacked the station master and three other employees after a runaway freight train travelled 70 kilometres (40 miles) without a driver last month, the Hindustan Times reported.
The men were removed from their posts for negligence after some 50 carriages barrelled on solo for close to two hours.
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Post by mhbruin on Mar 4, 2024 9:39:50 GMT -8
Another Previous Guy Associate Pays the Price
Allen Weisselberg, former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Trump Organization, has pleaded guilty to perjury charges.
The two charges stem from his testimony in a civil fraud trial against former President Donald Trump.
Weisselberg, 76, made the plea in a deal with Manhattan prosecutors on Monday.
He is expected to return to New York's notorious Rikers Island prison to serve a five-month sentence.
Weisselberg admitted to lying on the witness stand during his testimony in October, when he claimed he was not involved in an incorrect valuation of Mr Trump's Manhattan penthouse.
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Post by mhbruin on Mar 4, 2024 9:41:45 GMT -8
Fake It Till You Make ItDonald Trump supporters have been creating and sharing AI-generated fake images of black voters to encourage African Americans to vote Republican. BBC Panorama discovered dozens of deepfakes portraying black people as supporting the former president. Mr Trump has openly courted black voters, who were key to Joe Biden's election win in 2020. But there's no evidence directly linking these images to Mr Trump's campaign. The co-founder of Black Voters Matter, a group which encourages black people to vote, said the manipulated images were pushing a "strategic narrative" designed to show Mr Trump as popular in the black community. A creator of one of the images told the BBC: "I'm not claiming it's accurate." The fake images of black Trump supporters, generated by artificial intelligence (AI), are one of the emerging disinformation trends ahead of the US presidential election in November. Try Not to Vomit
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Post by mhbruin on Mar 4, 2024 9:45:54 GMT -8
Maybe It's Too Early to Panic
Another NYT/Siena poll shows Trump leading, panic ensues
Here are some positive points for you:
President Biden’s path to winning this race is pretty simple (on paper) — win back people who have voted for him in the past, vote for Democrats in other elections, and share ideological alignment with Democrats on issues such as abortion and climate change. We don’t have to convince a single Trump 2020 voter to win.
There are fissures to exploit in Trump’s coalition. Even though Trump has locked up the Republican nomination, Nikki Haley is still getting 20% of the Republican primary vote. Each and every one of these Haley voters is a persuasion target for Democrats.
Biden is dramatically overperforming with senior citizens. He leads Trump by 6 points in this poll which, as pollster John Della Volpe points out, is an 11 point improvement over 2020.
53% of voters think Trump committed serious Federal crimes and one in five of those voters still plan to vote for Trump — that’s another group of people we might be able to move back into our column.
19% of voters disapprove of both Biden and Trump. These are the so-called “double-haters” Biden is currently winning those voters 45-33. In 2020, he won them overwhelmingly, so there is obvious room to grow.
None of this easy. There are no silver bullets, and nothing will change the race overnight. As indicated by this and numerous other polls, it’s evident that the President is encountering substantial challenges. However, as I previously emphasized, I firmly believe that Joe Biden has the potential to secure victory in this election.
Hit Us Biden One More Time
Joe Biden’s Last Campaign
Trailing Trump in polls and facing doubts about his age, the President voices defiant confidence in his prospects for reelection.
Back in the Oval Office, where winter sun shone through glass doors, I asked Biden if it was possible for him to reach voters who had those beliefs. He treated the question as a provocation:
“Well, first of all, remember, in 2020, you guys told me how I wasn’t going to win? And then you told me in 2022 how it was going to be this red wave?” He flashed a tense smile. “And I told you there wasn’t going to be any red wave. And in 2023 you told me we’re going to get our ass kicked again? And we won every contested race out there.” He let that sink in for an instant and said, “In 2024, I think you’re going to see the same thing.”
How Big is "Small, But Substantial"?
A small but substantial chunk of Republican primary and caucus voters say they would be so dissatisfied if Donald Trump became the party's presidential nominee that they would not vote for him in November's general election, according to AP VoteCast.
An analysis of the data shows that many of those voters were unlikely to vote for Trump, some even before this year, but it still points to potential problems for the former president as he looks to consolidate the nomination and pivot toward an expected rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden.
According to AP VoteCast surveys of the first three head-to-head Republican contests, 2 in 10 Iowa voters, one-third of New Hampshire voters, and one-quarter of South Carolina voters would be so disappointed by Trump’s renomination that they would refuse to vote for him in the fall.
This unwillingness to contemplate a presidential vote for Trump isn’t confined to voters in the earliest states.
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Post by mhbruin on Mar 4, 2024 9:50:47 GMT -8
Once Again, Europe Take the Lead While America Does Nothing
The European Union leveled its first antitrust penalty against Apple on Monday, fining the U.S. tech giant nearly $2 billion for breaking the bloc’s competition laws by unfairly favoring its own music streaming service over rivals.
Apple muzzled app developers from telling users where they could go to pay for cheaper music subscriptions instead of paying through iOS apps, said the European Commission, the 27-nation bloc’s executive arm and top antitrust enforcer.
“This is illegal. And it has impacted millions of European consumers who were not able to make a free choice as to where, how and at what price to buy music streaming subscriptions,” Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s competition commissioner, said at a news conference in Brussels.
Apple — which said it contests the decision — behaved this way for a decade, resulting in “millions of people who have paid two, three euros more per month for their music streaming service than they would otherwise have had to pay,” she said.
The 1.8 billion-euro fine follows an investigation triggered by a complaint from Swedish streaming service Spotify five years ago. Since then, the EU has drawn up new regulations taking effect this week to prevent tech giants from cornering digital markets.
The EU has led global efforts to crack down on Big Tech companies, including three fines for Google totaling more than 8 billion euros and charging Meta with distorting the online classified ad market.
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Post by mhbruin on Mar 4, 2024 9:53:31 GMT -8
This is Not Just a Bunch of Hot Air
Apotential helium reservoir was discovered in Minnesota last week, when drillers bored deep beneath the forest floor of the state’s Iron Range as supplies of the noble gas dwindle in the U.S.
Pulsar Helium Inc., a Canadian-based company, announced in a news release on Thursday that its team encountered gases with concentrations of up to 12.4% helium when its drilling rig reached a total depth of 2,200 at the Topaz Project drill site. Helium concentrations above 0.3% are considered economically viable.
Thomas Abraham-James, Pulsar’s president and CEO, said he is "delighted" about the "outstanding result."
"It is a big day for helium exploration, confirming the original discovery in the new jurisdiction of Minnesota. I look forward to keeping the market updated with further results as they are received," Abraham-James said.
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Post by mhbruin on Mar 4, 2024 9:54:38 GMT -8
Horton Can No Longer Hear a Houthi
Three Red Sea underwater cables providing internet and telecommunications around the world have been cut as the waterway remains a target of Yemen’s Houthi rebels, officials said Monday.
A statement by Hong Kong-based HGC Global Communications acknowledged the cuts but did not say what caused the lines to be severed. There has been concern about the cables being targeted in the Houthi campaign, which the rebels describe as an effort to pressure Israel to end its war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The Houthis have denied attacking the lines, however.
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Post by mhbruin on Mar 4, 2024 9:57:10 GMT -8
There Are Americans Who Chose to go to Haiti?
The United States called for its citizens to leave Haiti "as soon as possible" after an escalation of violence over the weekend, which saw 15,000 more people flee their homes and armed men break thousands of inmates from Haiti's largest prison.
The United States, which is home to over a million Haitians, said its embassy would be offering limited operations on Monday while Canada said it would temporarily close its embassy.
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