June 19, 2017


News and Views


MANKIND IS A REALLY LIMITED SPECIES

https://www.yahoo.com/news/driver-plows-crowd-outside-london-102245091.html?soc_trk=gcm&soc_src=1edaf5ad-f8e3-33a4-ab91-3935dbff04a7&.tsrc=notification-brknews
UK moves to ease tensions after van attack on London Muslims
Associated Press
DANICA KIRKA and PAISLEY DODDS
Associated Press June 19, 2017

Photograph -- A forensic tent, center, stands next to a van, in white, at Finsbury Park in north London after the vehicle struck pedestrians Monday, June 19, 2017. Police said a man who was driving the car has been arrested and taken to a hospital as a precaution. (Victoria Jones/PA via AP)

LONDON (AP) — British authorities and Islamic leaders moved swiftly to ease concerns in the Muslim community after a man plowed a large van into a crowd of worshippers outside a north London mosque early Monday, injuring at least nine people.

British media named the suspect as Darren Osborne, 47-year-old father of four who was living in Cardiff, Wales. British Security Minister Ben Wallace said authorities were aware of rising far-right activity but the suspect was not known to them prior to the attack.

Police are treating the incident as a terror attack. One man died at the scene, although he had been receiving first aid at the time and it wasn't clear if he died as a result of the attack or from something else.

The chaos outside the Muslim Welfare House in Finsbury Park follows three Islamist-inspired attacks over the past three months that have triggered a surge in hate crimes around Britain.

The Metropolitan Police Service, already stretched by its investigations of the earlier attacks and a high-rise apartment fire that is believed to have killed 79 people, immediately announced it was putting extra patrols on the streets to protect the public.

Police will assess the security of mosques and provide any additional resources needed ahead of celebrations marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan, Prime Minister Theresa May announced.

"This was an attack on Muslims near their place of worship," she said in a televised address. "And like all terrorism, in whatever form, it shares the same fundamental goal. It seeks to drive us apart — and to break the precious bonds of solidarity and citizenship that we share in this country. We will not let this happen."

The attack occurred about 12:20 a.m. when a speeding van swerved into worshippers who were giving first aid to a man outside the mosque. That man later died.

Police said the attacker who drove the van has been arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of terrorism, including murder and attempted murder. A mob surrounded him and witnesses said the crowd began attacking him. A local imam, Mohammed Mahmoud, said he organized a group of people and shielded the man until police could take him away.

"By God's grace, we were able to protect him from harm," he said.

Toufik Kacimi, chief executive of the Muslim Welfare House, told Sky News the attack clearly targeted Muslims leaving evening prayers during Ramadan.

"We have a witness saying that the guy who did what he did, the driver of the van, said 'I did my bit,' which means he's not mentally ill," Kacimi said. "This person was conscious. He did what he did deliberately to hit and kill as many Muslims as possible, so he is a terrorist."

But Kacimi said there was no need for the community to panic, because police and government officials have been "very, very supportive."

"At this stage, we are calling for calm," he said.

Mayor Sadiq Khan, London's first Muslim mayor, urged residents to focus on their shared values and to stand together during an unprecedented period in the capital's history. The attack Monday hits a community already feeling targeted in the fallout from the London Bridge killings and other attacks blamed on Islamic extremists.

British security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with official policy, said hate crimes directed at Muslims have increased nearly five-fold in the wake of several attacks in Britain.

"While this appears to be an attack on a particular community, like the terrible attacks in Manchester, Westminster and London Bridge, it is also an assault on all our shared values of tolerance, freedom and respect," Khan said.

Vowing "zero tolerance" for hate crimes, Khan declared "we will not allow these terrorists to succeed ... we will stay a strong city."

The attack laid bare the frustrations of Muslims who feel they've been unfairly equated with the extremists who carry out atrocities in the name of Islam. Ali Habib, a 23-year-old student, said residents are angry that the mosque attack hasn't been portrayed in the same light as other attacks across Britain.

"There has been an outpouring of sympathy for all for the recent terror attacks but hardly a whisper on this attack," he said. "People are both scared and angry. Parents are scared to send their children to evening prayers. I don't think people understand how much these attacks affect all of us."

May attempted to counter that feeling in her speech, declaring that police arrived at the scene within one minute, and that it was classified as a possible terror attack in eight minutes. The prime minister, who has been criticized for failing to show compassion to victims, traveled to the attack site within hours, and met with community and faith leaders.

Standing outside her Downing Street office, May sought to convey that Britain and London would not fold in the face of the unprecedented series of horrific events.

"Diverse, welcoming, vibrant, compassionate, confident and determined never to give in to hate. These are the values that define this city, "she said. "These are the values that define this country. These are the values that this government will uphold. These are the values that will prevail.'

The attack occurred outside the Muslim Welfare House, a small mosque with about 200 congregants. Nearby, evening prayer services had just concluded at the larger Finsbury Park Mosque, which had been associated with extremist ideology for several years after the 9/11 attacks in the United States. After those attacks, the mosque was shut down and reorganized and has not been associated with radical views for more than a decade.

The mosque's current leaders say they support inter-faith dialogue and want to serve the nearby community in north London, which is located near Emirates Stadium, home of the Arsenal soccer club.

Britain's terror alert level is at "severe," meaning security officials believe an attack is highly likely, and a series of extremist attacks have struck across the country in the last few months.

On June 3, Islamic extremists used a vehicle and then knives to kill eight people and wound dozens of others on London Bridge and in the popular Borough Market area. Police shot and killed the three Islamic extremists who carried out the attack.

In March, a man plowed a rented SUV into pedestrians on London's Westminster Bridge, killing four people before stabbing a police officer to death outside Parliament. He was also killed by police.

To the north, Manchester was hit by a deadly attack May 22 when a suicide bomber killed 22 people at an Ariana Grande concert.



http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/cia-director-pompeo-ducks-query-from-senate-judiciary-committee-969743939586
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/16/17
CIA Director Pompeo ducks query from Senate Judiciary Committee

Rachel Maddow reports on congressional committees building their witness lists in the Trump Russia investigation, but CIA Director Mike Pompeo missed the deadline to reply to a query from the Senate Judiciary Committee. Duration: 9:36



I WILL AGREE WITH POMPEO. WIKILEAKS IS NOT TRULY IN LEAGUE WITH ANYONE THAT I CAN SEE – ATTACKING FIRST ONE GROUP AND THEN ANOTHER. I ALSO DON’T LIKE THEIR INTERFERENCE TECHNIQUE. NOW I AM MORE IN SYMPATHY WITH ANONYMOUS, AND I LOVE THE SPOOKY GUY FAWKES MASK. ANONYMOUS SEEMS TO FAVOR THOSE WHOM I ALSO CONSIDER TO BE THE GOOD GUYS, AND OPPOSE THE BAD.

https://thinkprogress.org/pompeo-wikileaks-cia-9756f59b09af
Aaron Rupar
Journalist, ThinkProgress. Twitter: @atrupar. Email: arupar@americanprogress.org
Apr 13
CIA Director Pompeo denounces Wikileaks, forgets he used them to attack Hillary Clinton
How convenient.

Photograph -- CIA Director Mike Pompeo answers questions at the Center for Strategic and International Studies on April 13. Pompeo denounced WikiLeaks, calling the anti-secrecy group a “hostile intelligence agency.” CREDIT: AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

During a speech at The Center for Strategic and International Studies on Thursday, CIA Director Mike Pompeo denounced Wikileaks, saying the organization “walks like a hostile intelligence service and talks like a hostile intelligence service.”
“It’s time to call out Wikileaks for what it is — a non-state hostile intelligence service often abetted by state actors like Russia,” he said.

Pompeo went on to discuss the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion “that Russian military intelligence — the GRU — had used Wikileaks to release data of U.S. victims that the GRU had obtained through cyber operations against the Democratic National Committee.”

Video – Pompeo gives a national security speech at NCIS

But during the presidential campaign, Pompeo — then a Republican U.S. representative from Kansas — tweeted out an article about hacked Democratic National Committee emails to attack Democrats.

“Need further proof that the fix was in from Pres. Obama on down? BUSTED: 19,252 Emails from DNC Leaked by Wikileaks,” Pompeo’s since-deleted July 24 tweet read.

[UNFORTUNATELY YOU’LL HAVE TO GO TO THIS WEBSITE FOR THAT TWEET: https://twitter.com/jessicaschulb/status/852608403566448641/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthinkprogress.org%2Fmedia%2F4afd792b5d79518fc2927899eb01a7f6%3FpostId%3D9756f59b09af]

Pompeo was grilled about that tweet during his confirmation hearing to become CIA director. Though he touted the hacked emails published by Wikileaks in July, Pompeo told Sen. Angus King (I-ME) he “never believed that Wikileaks was a credible source of information.”

But Pompeo should’ve known better than to publish that tweet on July 24. The Washington Post first linked Russian hackers to the DNC hack on June 14, with hacked DNC emails first appearing online the next day. Wikileaks itself published 20,000 hacked DNC emails on July 22, just ahead of the Democratic National Convention — but none of that apparently caused Pompeo to second guess amplifying their work two days later.

Pompeo’s comments on Thursday are also uncomfortable in light of Trump’s effusive praise for Wikileaks on the campaign trail.
During a rally in October in Pennsylvania, Trump said “I love Wikileaks!” while the crowd chanted, “Lock her up!”
“It’s amazing how nothing is secret today when you talk about the internet,” Trump added, before reading aloud the contents of emails hacked from the Clinton campaign and leaked to Wikileaks.

Trump mentioned Wikileaks 164 times during the last month of the election.

Nonetheless, in January Trump said the information published by Wikileaks had “absolutely no effect on the outcome of the election.”
Since his inauguration, Trump has repeatedly downplayed the scandal surrounding his administration’s ties with Russia and asserted that people should instead focus on leakers who make his administration look bad.

While the extent of the Trump campaign’s possible collusion with Russian hackers remains unclear, in March news broke that Roger Stone, a longtime Trump confidant and adviser, exchanged direct messages on Twitter with Guccifer 2.0 — an account the U.S. intelligence community believes was used as a front for hackers directed by the Russian government.
In an August 17 message, Guccifer 2.0 offered to help Stone.

“i’m pleased to say that u r great man,” Guccifer 2.0 wrote to Stone. “please tell me if i can help u anyhow. it would be a great pleasure to me.”

Wikileaks served Pompeo’s purposes while he was trying to bring down Hillary Clinton, but the situation has changed now that he’s running the CIA.

In March, WikiLeaks published “thousands of pages describing sophisticated software tools and techniques used by the [CIA] to break into smartphones, computers and even Internet-connected televisions,” the New York Times reported.

UPDATE: Wikileaks trolled Pompeo for amplifying their leaks during the campaign before turning against them as CIA director.



HOUSE AND SENATE ARE BOTH CUTTING MEDICAID TO THE BONE. DEMS PLAN A SERIES OF DISRUPTIONS TO THE REPUBLICAN BUSINESS AS USUAL. SOUNDS LIKE FUN TO ME. UNFORTUNATELY THEY OUTNUMBER THE DEMS GREATLY. IN MY OPINION THAT IS BECAUSE EVER SINCE THE BILL CLINTON PRESIDENCY THE DEMS HAVE BEEN IGNORING THE NEEDS OF THE “WORKING POOR,” OR LOWER MIDDLE CLASS AND LOWER, WITH THE EFFECT THAT THE PARTY HAS LOST THEIR SUPPORT. NOW DEMS AND INDEPENDENTS CAN’T PUT UP A VERY GOOD FIGHT AT ALL.

https://thinkprogress.org/senate-democrats-try-to-slow-down-trumpcare-c75e36ccbaee
Amanda Michelle GomezFollow
Health Care Reporter at ThinkProgress. Contact me: agomez@thinkprogress.org
Jun 19
Democrats are on the Senate floor now in a last-ditch effort to stop Obamacare repeal
Senate Republicans have 10 business days to repeal and replace Obamacare, leaving Democrats with minimal time to block

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, joined by Democrat leadership, criticizes new Republican health care plan designed to replace Obamacare in March. CREDIT: AP Images/J. Scott Applewhite

When the Senate convened for the first time this week at 4 p.m. Monday, the first agenda item for Democrats was slowing down the Republican health care bill.

Beginning Monday night, Democrats will begin interrupting Senate business in an effort to resist the Obamacare replacement law that’s being negotiated by Republicans behind closed doors, according to Politico and later confirmed independently by ThinkProgress.

Senate Republicans are counting on a parliamentary procedure known as reconciliation (reconciling new fiscal policy with existing law) to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) with a simple majority. But even without the risk of a filibuster, Republicans can only afford to lose two of their party members’ votes if no Democrats cross the floor to help pass the American Health Care Act (AHCA, colloquially known as Trumpcare).

Without the votes to block legislation, Democrats are turning to Senate procedural rules to disrupt business and underline the fact that Republicans are passing a health bill without their input.

Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) are starting the work week by leading a Senate floor talk-a-thon Monday evening, during which Democratic Senators plan to thrash the Republican health care bill until at least midnight.

“Senate Republicans have every reason to be ashamed of their version of Trumpcare given the devastating impact it would have on families’ health and their bank accounts — but that doesn’t mean they should be able to hide it from the very patients and families who it would impact,” said Murray’s office in a press statement to ThinkProgress. “Democrats are not going to let Republicans pull the wool over the public’s eyes without a fight.”

Efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare are causing uncertainty in state insurance markets, driving private insurers to hike up their premiums. In Sen. Murray’s home state, health-insurance rates in the 2018 individual market place would increase an average of 23.5 percent based on filings under review posted Monday.

Premera Blue Cross, the only insurer that offered coverage under the ACA exchanges in six Washington counties, said it was pulling out from two rural counties — thus affecting an estimated 3,350 people. A Premera spokeswoman said Capitol Hill health care negotiations did not prompt the insurer’s decision. However, the Washington State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler maintains Premera’s decision is indicative of the GOP effort to undercut Obamacare.(Prepare for more he-said-she-said on Obamacare deserts this week as insurance companies need to decide by Wednesday whether they want to participate in 39 states’ exchanges.)

Tonight’s series of health care speeches marathon is part of a number of Senate procedural tactics Democrats allegedly plan to deploy, like objecting to all “unanimous consent” requests, said Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). The Senate requires consent to do practically anything on the floor, including ending debate and expediting proceedings.

Tonight’s protest is a big win for advocates from MoveOn and Indivisible, who have been encouraging their followers to contact Senate Democrats for weeks. Holding the floor on Monday evening will likely not change the health care vote or force the bill to committee, but it will make for Democrat highlights Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile as Democrats strategize how to best stop the House-passed health bill from moving forward, Senate Republicans are continuing closed-door negotiations. In the latest round of leaks to the media regarding the secret Senate bill, a legislative aide told the Hill that a leading option for Medicaid spending will involve deeper cuts than the bill passed by the House — which would already boot 14 million people off the program.



I DON’T BELIEVE THAT ALL MEMBERS OF ANY GROUP ARE EVIL, BUT THE WAY A CHILD GROWS UP CAN WELL ROB HIM OF WHAT I CONSIDER TO BE EVEN A MODICUM OF HUMAN EMPATHY AND, IN THIS CASE, A STRONG FEAR OF MAKING ANY RESISTANCE TO THE CULTURAL DEMANDS AND NORMS. IN A NONFICTION VIDEO ON CHINA, A WOMAN SAID, “THE NAIL THAT STICKS UP WILL BE HAMMERED DOWN.” IN ONE WAY, THAT MAY BE TRUE, BUT IN ANOTHER WAY OF SEEING IT, IT’S TIME FOR A REVOLUTION. PEOPLE WHO BELIEVE THAT CONFORMITY AND OBEDIENCE ARE THE PRIMARY VIRTUES ARE BREEDING GROUNDS FOR THE WORST OF HUMAN CHARACTERISTICS, ONE OF WHICH IS COWARDICE AND ANOTHER IS CRUELTY. NORTH KOREA DOES STRIKE ME AS ONE OF THOSE SOUL-KILLING SOCIETIES. I AGREE WITH THE CAPTURED AMERICAN’S FATHER. SOMEBODY PURPOSELY INJURED HIM TO THE POINT OF INDUCING A COMA. A SEVERE BEATING SOUNDS LIKE THE MOST LIKELY CAUSE.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/otto-warmbier-dead/
CBS NEWS June 19, 2017, 4:42 PM
Otto Warmbier, American student freed by North Korea, dies at 22

Otto Warmbier, the University of Virginia student who was freed from North Korean custody last week, has died, his family confirms. He was 22.

The Warmbier family said in a statement that he died surrounded by loved ones at 2:20 p.m. on Monday.

"It would be easy at a moment like this to focus on all that we lost -- future time that won't be spent with a warm, engaging, brilliant young man whose curiosity and enthusiasm for life knew no bounds. But we choose to focus on the time we were given to be with this remarkable person," the family said in a statement.

ap-648293259030.jpg
American student Otto Warmbier is presented to reporters on Feb. 29, 2016, in Pyongyang, North Korea, following his arrest. AP

Warmbier was detained in January 2016 while visiting North Korea at the end of a five-day tour. He was later sentenced to 15 years hard labor for allegedly stealing a propaganda sign at his hotel.

He was in a coma when he was sent home to the U.S. last week. A spokesperson with the University of Cincinnati Medical Center said he had suffered a "severe neurological injury."

"When Otto returned to Cincinnati late on June 13th he was unable to speak, unable to see and unable to react to verbal commands. He looked very uncomfortable -- almost anguished. Although we would never hear his voice again, within a day the countenance of his face changed -- he was at peace. He was home and we believe he could sense that," the family said.

Doctors said that brain scans sent by North Koreans in April 2016 indicated that he suffered a catastrophic brain injury shortly after his conviction in March of last year.

His father, Fred Warmbier, said he does not believe North Korea's explanation that the coma resulted from botulism and a sleeping pill. He said there was no reason for North Korea to keep his son's condition a secret and deny him top medical care.

In its first official comment since Warmbier had returned home, North Korea said it released him for humanitarian reasons.

U.S. lawmakers responded shortly after the family confirmed the 22-year-old's death.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said on Twitter that he's praying for the Warmbier family.

"The strength and love of their family continues to inspire us all," Brown tweeted.

View image on Twitter
View image on Twitter
Follow
Sherrod Brown ✔ @SenSherrodBrown
My full statement on the passing of Otto Warmbier:
5:17 PM - 19 Jun 2017
57 57 Retweets 160 160 likes

"He had all the talent you could ever ask for and a bright future ahead of him," Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said in a statement.

Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota issued a statement on Twitter.

"My heart goes out to the loved ones of Otto Warmbier. Thinking of Otto's family & friends, & wishing them strength during this tragic time," he said.

Follow
Sen. Al Franken ✔ @SenFranken
My heart goes out to the loved ones of Otto Warmbier. Thinking of Otto's family & friends, & wishing them strength during this tragic time.
5:13 PM - 19 Jun 2017
551 551 Retweets 2,334 2,334 likes

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.



POLICE SHOOTING 2015

http://www.fox19.com/story/35693116/closing-arguments-monday-in-tensing-retrial
Tensing jury returns to deliberations Tuesday
Monday, June 19th 2017, 4:45 am EDT
Monday, June 19th 2017, 4:24 pm EDT
By Jennifer Baker, Digital Content ProducerCONNECT

SEE THESE TRIAL VIDEOS. JURY TO DELIBERATE TOMORROW.


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ray-tensing-trial-jury-deliberates-fate-of-ex-ohio-officer-in-fatal-traffic-stop-shooting/
By CRIMESIDER STAFF AP June 19, 2017, 2:55 PM
Ray Tensing trial: Jury deliberates fate of ex-Ohio officer in fatal traffic stop shooting

Photograph -- Ray Tensing, the former University of Cincinnati police officer, testifies on the seventh day of his retrial in Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Leslie Ghiz's courtroom Friday, June 16, 2017, at the Hamilton County Courthouse in Cincinnati. Tensing, the former University of Cincinnati police officer, is charged with murdering Sam DuBose during a routine traffic stop on July 19, 2015. Tensing's lawyer, Stew Mathews, has said Tensing fired a single shot. (Cara Owsley/The Cincinnati Enquirer, via AP, Pool) CARA OWSLEY / AP

CINCINNATI -- An Ohio jury is beginning deliberations in the murder retrial of a white former University of Cincinnati police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black motorist after pulling him over for a missing front license plate.

Attorney Stewart Mathews said in closing arguments Monday that Ray Tensing feared for his life when Sam DuBose tried to drive away from the 2015 traffic stop and that it is "20/20 hindsight" to question his actions.

Prosecutor Stacey DeGraffenreid says Tensing had no reason to use deadly force.

Tensing's first jury deadlocked in November on charges of murder and voluntary manslaughter.

Tensing again took the stand in his own defense, tearing up Friday as he insisted he wanted to "stop the threat" of potentially being run over by Dubose's vehicle.

Jury deadlocks in Ohio murder case
Play VIDEO
Jury deadlocks in Ohio murder case

"I didn't shoot to kill him. I didn't shoot to wound him. I shot to stop his actions," Tensing said.

WATCH THE TENSING VIDEO -- https://www.google.com/search?q=ray+tensing+video&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS725US725&oq=Ray+Tensing&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l5.3536j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8



TECHNOLOGY ON THE MARCH – SMALLER AND BETTER BOMBS

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/more-terrorists-gaining-knowledge-to-build-laptop-bomb/
By JEFF PEGUES CBS NEWS June 19, 2017, 6:23 PM
More terrorists gaining the knowledge to build laptop bomb

CBS News has learned that U.S. officials are increasingly concerned about the possibility of terrorists targeting commercial airliners.

An official with knowledge of the threat says it is evolving rapidly, and more terrorists are gaining the knowledge necessary to build a laptop bomb.

Terror groups developing laptop bombs that can evade security, feds say
Play VIDEO
Terror groups developing laptop bombs that can evade security, feds say

In March, CBS News confirmed that terrorist groups have been perfecting and testing a bomb that can be hidden in a laptop computer and can evade security scanners. Since March, those concerns have not diminished. In fact, it's just the opposite. With the pace of terrorist attacks picking up pace in Europe, U.S. law enforcement officials grow increasingly worried about the capabilities of terrorist organizations to carry out attacks on what al Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) see as one of their top targets -- commercial aviation.

CBS News has learned that DHS efforts to reach out to airlines and airports globally about a possible laptop ban may be leading to enhanced security.

RELATED: DHS officials meet with Europeans over laptop ban

A source with knowledge of the negotiations with stakeholders says the possibility of a laptop ban is already prompting new airport security measures in some places, while others are now considering changes.

Publicly, U.S. officials insist the possibility of a laptop ban is very real. DHS Secretary John Kelly is still said to be leaning in that direction, while pressing for other upgrades to security.

RELATED: Facebook using artificial intelligence to fight terrorism

A lot hinges on the evolving threat. The Trump administration is watching developments in Europe closely, knowing that as ISIS is "squeezed" in Syria and in other and in other places, it is at the same time sending trained individuals to countries where travel to the U.S. is easier.



THIS IS A VERY INTERESTING ARTICLE TO ME, AND SO WELL WRITTEN THAT I ACTUALLY UNDERSTOOD IT! IN THE SUPREME COURT, WHEN I HEAR WHAT THEIR REASONING ON MAKING DECISIONS WAS, IT MAKES ME THINK THAT THEY ARE NOT -- AS IT SEEMS TO ME WITH TOO MANY LEGISLATORS -- BOUGHT BY THE HIGHEST BIDDER. MANY PEOPLE TALK AGAINST LAWYERS, MAINLY BECAUSE THEY THINK THAT THOSE WHO ARE “CLEARLY GUILTY,” SHOULD NOT EVEN HAVE A DEFENSE LAWYER WHO IS GOOD ENOUGH TO GET THE (CLEARLY GUILTY) DEFENDANT OFF, PRESUMABLY BY UNETHICALLY MANIPULATING THE JUDGE AND JURY. THE AVERAGE MAN WAS HAPPIEST IN THE OLD WEST WHERE THE HORSE THIEF WAS IMMEDIATELY “STRUNG UP” ON THE NEAREST TREE. QUICK AND EFFECTIVE!

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/06/19/533519165/supreme-court-agrees-to-hear-wisconsin-gerrymandering-case
Supreme Court Agrees To Hear Wisconsin Gerrymandering Case
June 19, 201712:07 PM ET
MERRIT KENNEDY

Photograph -- The Supreme Court has not ruled on "purely partisan gerrymanders," which means drawing voting districts with the aim of strengthening one political party, since 2004. J. Scott Applewhite/AP
RELATED: LAW -- Supreme Court Rejects 2 N.C. Congressional Districts As Unconstitutional
RELATED: POLITICS -- Block The Vote: A Journalist Discusses Voting Rights And Restrictions

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take up an appeal over electoral districts in Wisconsin after a lower court ruled that the state's Republican-drawn map constitutes an "unconstitutional partisan gerrymander."

It's the first time in more than a decade that the nation's highest court will take up the issue of partisan gerrymandering, or drawing voting districts with the aim of strengthening one political party

And it gives the court an opportunity to formally determine a metric on what constitutes unlawful gerrymandering, which could have major implications for the way voting districts are drawn in other states.

The Supreme Court has weighed in on the issue of race and congressional district-drawing, most recently last month when it rejected two North Carolina districts, as The Two-Way reported.

But the court has not ruled on "purely partisan gerrymanders" since 2004, as NPR's Nina Totenberg reported:

"In 2004, a four-member Supreme Court plurality all but ruled out challenges to even extreme partisan gerrymanders, while four members of the court would have allowed some limited challenges. Justice Anthony Kennedy cast the fifth and deciding vote, declaring that he might someday embrace a challenge to a partisan gerrymander if someone could come up with workable standards."

The defendants in this case, Gill v. Whitford, claim to have come up with such a standard. Here's how Shawn Johnson of Wisconsin Public Radio explained it:

"The metric that they came up with they called the efficiency gap, and it measures what they call wasted votes. Let's say you have a strongly Democratic district. And if a Democrat got a lot of votes there, but they only get one seat, they're saying that they wasted a lot of votes to get those seats. If Democrats come up just short in a lot of other districts, they're saying they wasted those votes as well.

"So they compare that district-by-district to the statewide total, and that gives them this efficiency gap measure. And by that metric, plaintiffs looked back at redistricting plans throughout the U.S., going back to 1972, and Wisconsin's redistricting plan was one of the most strongly political gerrymandered in history."

Last November, a panel of federal judges ruled against the state's electoral district map, which was drawn by Republican lawmakers after the 2010 census. As Johnson said, then-President Barack Obama did well in the state when he was re-elected in 2012, and "yet Democrats gained no seats in the Legislature, remained deeply in the minority."

Wendy Weiser from New York University's Brennan Center for Justice said in a statement Monday that "gerrymandering has become so aggressive, extreme, and effective that there is an urgent need for the Supreme Court to finally step in and set boundaries."

Supporters of Wisconsin's map say that "the election results it produced are similar to those under earlier court-drawn maps," as The Associated Press reports.

The lower court's ruling "ordered new maps drawn in time for the 2018 elections," the wire service adds. And "that work is proceeding."


VIEW PHOTOGRAPH GALLERY:

http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/eerie-photos-empty-shopping-malls-abandoned-stores/
photographs 1 to 29

Sears Holdings has announced plans to close dozens more Sears and Kmart stores after recently shuttering 150 other locations. Slowly but surely, retail as we know it is dying and leaving empty malls and stores behind as online shopping gains ground. The following are some of the eeriest images of abandoned malls and stores.

The Sears store pictured here was the last open store at Salem Mall in Ohio. It closed in 2013.

CREDIT: @taestell via Flickr


THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_fries
Freedom fries
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Freedom fries was a political euphemism for French fries in the United States. The term came to prominence in 2003 when the then Republican Chairman of the Committee on House Administration, Bob Ney, renamed the menu item in three Congressional cafeterias in response to France's opposition to the proposed invasion of Iraq. Although originally supported with several restaurants changing their menus as well, the term fell out of use due to declining support for the Iraq War. Following Ney's resignation as Chairman in 2006, it was quietly reverted.

Initial renaming[edit]

Renaming was initiated in February 2003 by Beaufort, North Carolina "Cubbie's" restaurant owner Neal Rowland, who said he was motivated by similar actions against Germany in World War I, when "sauerkraut was called liberty cabbage, and frankfurters were renamed hot dogs".[3][4] In an interview about the name change, Rowland commented "since the French are backing down [from the war], French fries and French everything needs to be banned".[5] In March 2007, Rowland obtained a trademark registration for the term "freedom fries".[6]