Supreme Court Signals Support for Trump’s Census Citizenship Question…
April 23, 2019
In an 80-minute argument Tuesday that was both technical and combative, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh directed almost all their questions to the lawyers challenging the decision to ask about citizenship. Kavanaugh said Congress gave the Commerce secretary "huge discretion" to decide what to ask on the census.
[...]
With the Census Bureau saying it needs to start printing questionnaires this summer, the high court is hearing the case on an expedited basis, directly reviewing the trial court decision and bypassing the appeals court level. A ruling is likely by late June.Washington Compost obsessed with putting the far-right in their headlines…
April 23, 2019
White supremacist massacres Muslims in New Zealand: let's talk about the far-right
Notre Dame burns: let's talk about the far right
Jihadists massacre Christians in Sri Lanka: let's talk about the far right pic.twitter.com/Z0Tk3uqnfA
— Peter J. Hasson (@peterjhasson) April 22, 2019
Nancy Pelosi Declares a ‘New Era’ of Internet Regulation; E.U. Threatens Same…
April 23, 2019
she zeroes in especially on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act as the thing that needs to be torched... Section 230 “fundamentally changed American life.” Indeed, the internet as we know it is based on both “content created not only by large companies, but by users,” writes Kosseff, who observes that of the top 10 most-trafficked websites in the United States in 2018, only Netflix “mostly provides its own content.” All the rest—Facebook, Wikipedia, YouTube, Twitter, et al.—either rely heavily on user-generated content (including potentially actionable reviews and comments about everything under the sun) or exist to guide users to such content (Google, Yahoo).
Pelosi is done with all that, telling Swisher that the freedom of expression empowered by Section 230 is “a gift” and a “privilege” that can be rescinded if major tech companies don’t move in the direction she and other politicians want...US military rules under review after soldiers surrendered pistol to Mexican troops on American soil…
April 23, 2019
No official protocol exists for how to navigate a run-in with a foreign military, but the senior official said the soldiers were trained to "de-escalate" the situation. By surrendering at least one gun, they followed existing protocol, though it left them unarmed...
California Is No. 1, Massachusetts No. 2 in US Innovation Rank…
April 23, 2019
That’s according to Bloomberg’s newest U.S. State Innovation Index based on six equally-weighted metrics: research and development intensity, productivity, clusters of companies in technology, “STEM” jobs, populous with degrees in science and engineering disciplines, and patent activity.
[...]
Among the reasons some southern states lag behind is the inability to funnel the research strengths of academic institutions into nearby businesses, according to Muro... After universities learn to commercialize, start-ups will emerge in the area and then venture capital funding and the hiring of STEM workers naturally follows...Prime Minister of Greece to Take part in Chinese Belt and Road Forum…
April 23, 2019
The head of government is also expected to meet with senior officials of the Asian nation and explore prospects for economic cooperation in the context of close relations between the two countries, according to the Greek newspaper Ekathimerini.
The Forum will be held from Thursday until Sunday and China considers it the most important international event of 2019.
Almost five thousand representatives from 150 countries and 90 global organizations, plus four thousand national and foreign journalists will be in Beijing for the event, according to organizers of the event.
Turbulent Blobs in Earth’s Core May Explain Sudden Jerks in the Magnetic Field…
April 23, 2019
According to a new computer model of the core's physical behavior, geomagnetic jerks may be generated by buoyant blobs of molten matter released from deep inside the core.
Kamala Harris: If I’m President, Congress Will Have 100 Days To Enact Gun Control Laws Or…
April 23, 2019
"But they have failed to have the courage to act, so Ben, here's my response to you: upon being elected, I will give the United States Congress 100 days to get their act together and have the courage to pass gun safety laws. And if they fail to do it, then I will take executive action. And specifically what I'll do is put in place a requirement that for anyone who sells more than five guns a year, they are required to do background checks when they sell those guns," Harris said...
That's not the only stupid thing she said. But there's nothing to worry about here, because she’ll never be President.
DID YOU SEE THIS? Steve Bannon’s populist academy in the Trisulti monastery…
April 23, 2019
Watch this. It's really good and you need to know this.
New IRA admits responsibility for killing Northern Ireland journalist…
April 23, 2019
Dissident republican group the New IRA on Tuesday admitted responsibility for killing Northern Irish journalist Lyra McKeen during rioting in Londonderry last week, in a statement to The Irish News.
The New IRA "offer our full and sincere apologies to the partner, family and friends of Lyra McKee for her death", it said in a statement reported by the Irish newspaper, which said the paramilitary group used a recognised codeword. McKee, 29, was shot in the head late Thursday as dissident republicans clashed with police in the Creggan housing estate in Northern Ireland's second city, also known as Derry.
First major drug distribution company, former CEO, criminally charged in opioid crisis…
April 23, 2019
Rochester Drug Co-operative was charged Tuesday with narcotics conspiracy and conspiracy to defraud the United States. Laurence Doud III, the former CEO of the company, was charged with narcotics conspiracy and conspiracy to defraud the Drug Enforcement Administration.
He is accused of distributing tens of millions of oxycodone, fentanyl, and other opioids that Rochester's own compliance department allegedly found had no legitimate need for them.
Joe Biden Reportedly Delays Wednesday Campaign Announcement…
April 23, 2019
On Wednesday, former vice-president Joe Biden was expected to announce his candidacy for president with a video shot in part in his hometown of Scranton, followed by either a rally in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, or Charlottesville, Virginia. But according to Edward-Isaac Dovere, the Atlantic reporter who initially broke the details of Biden’s announcement, the campaign tip-off may be delayed.
Is it weird that Biden canceled his announcement right after the Ukrainian comedian/actor Volodymyr won in a landslide? Remember, this guy was running on a platform which promised to clean up all the corruption from his predecessor Poroshenko. Remember Joe Biden steered $1.8 billion in aid to that government and while he was doing so, his son got a sweetheart deal with this Ukrainian energy company while also getting funneled cash from both ways. Yep, PEPE's farms remembers.
The CIA is joining Instagram…
April 23, 2019
The Central Intelligence Agency will soon be launching an Instagram account, Director Gina Haspel said last week — and Instagram is helping them set it up... It’s unclear when the account will officially launch or what its purpose will be, but according to Mashable, there’s already a placeholder page filled with random code waiting to be released to the public...
NASA, U.S. Navy Team Up to Test Microdrones…
April 23, 2019
The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory's CICADA is a miniature guided drone that can be dropped from aloft to deploy small electronics payloads. It is unpowered, but it has a GPS receiver and it can use flaps to guide its glide path. According to NRL, CICADA can place communication nodes, sensors, or other payloads in a programmable pattern in hostile territory, without directly over-flying the target areas or exposing human personnel on the ground...
China and Turkey defy US, will continue to import Iran oil…
April 23, 2019
The goal of this tactic is to force Iran to negotiate a new deal to replace the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or the Iran nuclear deal, which Trump unilaterally abrogated in May 2018.
[...]
Chinese and Turkish companies now face the threat of being locked out of the U.S. financial system if they continue to import crude from Iran....China plastic waste ban throws global recycling into chaos…
April 23, 2019
For many years, China received the bulk of scrap plastic from around the world, processing much of it into a higher quality material that could be used by manufacturers.
But at the start of 2018, it closed its doors to almost all foreign plastic waste, as well as many other recyclables, in a push to protect the local environment and air quality, leaving developed nations struggling to find places to send their waste.
Facebook’s new chief lawyer helped write the Patriot Act…
April 23, 2019
Jennifer Newstead, a Trump appointee who served in the Justice Department under President Bush, will soon be taking over as general counsel of Facebook, the company announced in a press release Monday afternoon. Newstead will take over from Colin Stretch, who announced plans to retire last year.
‘Jennifer is a seasoned leader whose global perspective and experience will help us fulfill our mission,’ says Sheryl Sandberg...
Wisconsin Resident Waheba Dais Pleads Guilty to Attempting to Provide Material Support to ISIS…
April 23, 2019
According to admissions made in connection with her plea, Dais used hacked Facebook accounts in order to support ISIS... For example, Dais posted videos providing step-by-step instructions on how to make an explosive belt and TNT, and she provided a detailed recipe for the poison Ricin. Dais also maintained encrypted social-media channels, where she posted messages encouraging ISIS supporters who could not travel to ISIS-controlled lands to conduct terrorist attacks in their home countries. Through those encrypted channels, she also provided detailed information about explosives, guns, attack planning, and target selection.
Dais faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years, a maximum life term of supervised release, and a maximum fine of $250,000. Her sentencing is set for Sept. 12, 2019 before Judge Pamela Pepper.
Texas couple get 7 years in prison each for enslaving African girl, to be deported…
April 23, 2019
A suburban Fort Worth couple has been sentenced to seven years in federal prison each for enslaving a Guinean woman for 16 years.
A federal judge in Fort Worth, Texas, sentenced Mohamed Touré and Denise Cros-Touré each to two seven-year terms and one five-year term, all sentences to be served concurrently. The 58-year-old Southlake, Texas, couple must also serve three years of supervised release upon completion of their prison terms and pay their victim $288,000 in restitution. They also will be deported to Guinea.
CNN Hosts 2020 Democrats Town Halls For Klobuchar, Warren, Sanders, Harris & Buttigieg…
April 23, 2019
Five Democratic presidential hopefuls answered a host of questions at back-to-back town halls in Manchester, New Hampshire.