December 16, 2017


News and Views


MOORE IS TERRIBLY UNWILLING TO ADMIT DEFEAT, BUT HE EVENTUALLY WILL HAVE TO, AND HE WILL HAVE SPENT MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN THE EFFORT TO OVERTURN THE ELECTION. IF IT’S TAX MONEY THAT HE USES, THERE WILL PROBABLY BE ONE MORE CHARGE AGAINST HIS NAME.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/roy-moore-tells-supporters-battle-is-not-over-in-alabamas-senate-race/
CBS/AP December 16, 2017, 7:27 AM
Roy Moore tells supporters "battle is not over" in Alabama's Senate race

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Alabama Republican Roy Moore on Friday told supporters that the "battle is not over" in Alabama's Senate race even though President Donald Trump and others have called on him to concede.

Moore sent a fundraising email to supporters asking for contributions to his "election integrity fund' so he could investigate reports of voter fraud.

"I also wanted to let you know that this battle is NOT OVER!" he wrote.

Democrat Doug Jones on Tuesday defeated Moore by about 20,000 votes, or 1.5 percent, according to unofficial returns. Jones was able to energize a traditionally weak Democratic network, CBS News' Manuel Bojorquez reported. He was buoyed largely by millions in outside money and outspent Moore 10 to 1. His campaign says supporters knocked on 300,000 doors and made more than one million calls.

But Moore, who has been accused of sexual misconduct with teenage girls when he was in his 30s, has not yet conceded the heated Alabama race to fill the seat that previously belonged to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Moore told supporters that the race was "close" and some military and provisional ballots had yet to be counted. Those are expected to be counted next week.

Moore said his campaign is collecting "numerous reported cases of voter fraud" to send to the secretary of state's office.

Secretary of State John Merrill has said it is unlikely that the last-minute ballots will change the outcome of the election or even trigger a recount.

Merrill said his office has investigated reports of voting irregularities, but "we have not discovered any that have been proven factual in nature."

Mr. Trump, who had endorsed Moore, called Jones to congratulate him on his win. On Friday, as he briefly spoke with reporters, Mr. Trump said he believed Moore should concede the race.

The results of Alabama's Senate race will be certified between Dec. 26 and Jan. 3 after counties report their official totals.

© 2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.



THIS LETTER AND ARTICLE GIVE ME MORE OF AN IDEA OF WHAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING. THE THING THAT GRABBED MY ATTENTION A FEW MONTHS AGO WAS THAT TWO OF THEM, INDEPENDENTLY, DID PHYSICALLY THREATEN PASSENGERS AND ONE LOONY TUNES DRIVER WAS GOING DOWN THE ROAD SHOOTING PEOPLE. IT WAS A MYSTERY AT FIRST WHERE THE SHOTS WERE COMING FROM, AND A FEW DAYS LATER HE WAS CAUGHT. WHY WOULD ANYONE WANT TO GET INTO ONE OF THEIR TAXIS? I LIKE MY GOOD OLD CHECKER/YELLOW COMPANY (THEY SEEM TO HAVE MERGED HERE IN JACKSONVILLE BECAUSE THEY SHARE THE SAME TELEPHONE CALL-IN NUMBER.) IT SEEMS OBVIOUS TO ME THAT IN HALF A DOZEN DIFFERENT WAYS, UBER IS NOT A BARGAIN. I DO HOPE THERE WILL BE SOME CRIMINAL CHARGES FOR THIS OUTFIT. I FEEL SORRY FOR THE NEW CEO DARA KHOSROWSHAHI, WHOSE JOB IT NOW IS TO CLEAN UP UBER’S IMAGE. GOOD LUCK.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/uber-alleged-misconduct-letter/
AP December 16, 2017, 8:47 AM
Inflammatory letter sheds light on Uber's alleged misconduct

SAN FRANCISCO -- A former Uber security specialist accused the company of dispatching a team of spies to steal its rivals' trade secrets and using shady tactics to thwart its competition in the ride-hailing market, according to an inflammatory letter unsealed Friday by a federal judge.

Those tactics allegedly included impersonating other people, illegally recording conversations and hacking into computers.

Former Uber manager Richard Jacobs, who was fired earlier this year, made the explosive claims in a 37-page letter that sought a big payoff for being forced out of the company. The letter, written by a lawyer on Jacobs' behalf, has already reshaped a high-profile trial pitting Uber against Waymo, a Google spin-off that accuses its rival of stealing its self-driving car technology.

The letter also has become evidence in a criminal investigation being conducted by the U.S. Justice Department. U.S. District Judge William Alsup, who is overseeing the Waymo-Uber case, took the unusual step of recommending that federal prosecutors consider a criminal probe, based on the evidence and testimony that he had reviewed long before he knew about Jacobs' letter.

Although most of Jacobs' most damaging allegations were aired in court hearings held two weeks ago, the letter's release sheds more light on the no-holds-barred culture that former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick encouraged. The scandals spawned by that freewheeling culture have now become a major source of embarrassment for Uber as it tries to recast itself as more compassionate and better-behaved company under a new management team led by Dara Khosrowshahi.

Over the past year, Uber has been rocked by revelations of rampant sexual harassment inside the company, technological trickery designed to thwart regulators and a yearlong cover-up of a hacking attack that stole the personal information of 57 million passengers and drivers.

"While we haven't substantiated all the claims in (Jacobs') letter - importantly, any related to Waymo - our new leadership has made clear that going forward we will compete honestly and fairly, on the strength of our ideas and technology," Uber said in a Friday statement.

Many of the names and some of the information in Jacobs' letter have been redacted. Jacobs' legal team persuaded Alsup to allow those deletions to protect the identities of former CIA agents that worked with Uber's espionage team, a since disbanded unit called Marketplace Analytics.

The letter alleges that two Uber security executives, Joe Sullivan and Craig Clark, played central roles in putting together the company's clandestine operations. Marketplace Analytics allegedly targeted overseas rivals and Waymo in the U.S. while creating a network of secret communications channels and alternate devices designed to cover their digital tracks and avoid legal trouble. Uber fired both Sullivan and Clark for paying $100,000 to two hackers who stole the personal information of drivers and passengers - and then covering up the theft.

Uber itself tried to hack into its rivals' computer networks in an effort to scoop up valuable information, Jacobs' letter alleges. In some instances, its agents impersonated drivers and riders on its competitors' services to gain insights.

The letter also alleges Uber regularly broke California law by making unauthorized recordings of phone conversations, including at least one involving a sexual harassment complaint made ay a former employee.

Sullivan defended himself and the rest of his security team in a statement. "From where I sat, my team acted ethically, with integrity, and in the best interests of our drivers and riders," he said.

Clark "acted appropriately at all times," said his attorney, Mark Howitson.

Matthew Umhofer, an attorney representing several other Uber security team members fingered in the letter, derided the document as "nothing more than a character assassination for cash."

Uber wound up reaching a $7.5 million settlement with Jacobs and his lawyer, Clayton Halunen, even though one of the company's top attorneys considered Jacobs' letter to be little more than blackmail.

Waymo is focused on a section of the letter alleging that Uber's espionage unit sought to steal its trade secrets. But Jacobs testified last month that the lawyer who wrote the letter was mistaken about that allegation. Jacobs said he missed the error because he only spent about 20 minutes reviewing the letter before it was sent to Uber in early May.

Waymo also asserts that Uber improperly concealed Jacobs' letter during the evidence-gathering phase of a trial that was supposed to start Dec. 4. (It has been rescheduled for Feb. 5.) A special master appointed by Alsup concluded that Uber should have turned Jacobs' letter over to Waymo to help prepare for the trial, according to a report he filed Friday.

Although Uber has tried to publicly depict Jacobs as a disgruntled former employee who didn't do his job, internal emails from Uber executives conceded some of his claims had merit.

For instance, Jacobs alleged that Uber's espionage team spied on the executives of its overseas rivals. Tony West, who became Uber's chief legal officer last month, recently sent an email to Uber's security team condemning a surveillance program that he said had been stopped.

"There is no place for such practices or that kind of behavior at Uber," West wrote in the Nov. 29 email obtained by The Associated Press. "We don't need to be following folks around in order to gain some competitive advantage. We're better than that. We will compete and we will win because our technology is better, our ideas are better, and our people are better."

© 2017 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.



TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS ARE NOT FELONIES, AND NEITHER SHOULD SIMPLE “RESISTING ARREST” OR “FAILURE TO COMPLY” BE. I LOOKED ON THE NET AND SOME ARE FELONIES WHILE OTHERS ARE MISDEMEANORS. AT ANY RATE, “RESISTING ARREST” BY PASSIVE MEANS SHOULD DEFINITELY NOT BE GROUNDS FOR SHOOTING THE SUSPECT, OR IN THIS CASE, BREAKING HIS LEG. IT’S VERY LIKELY THAT HE WILL SUE THE OFFICER AND THE CITY OF PASADENA. THE VIDEO WITH THIS ARTICLE STATES THAT THE DRIVER WAS NOT CHARGED WITH ANY CRIME.

GRABBING FOR THE BATON OR THE OFFICER’S OTHER WEAPONS IS MORE AGGRESSIVE AND IMPLIES A POSSIBLE, BUT NOT CERTAIN, INTENT TO USE IT ON ITS’ OWNER. JUST THE OFFICER’S WORD SHOULD NOT BE ENOUGH, THOUGH, ESPECIALLY NOW THAT WE HAVE BODY CAM AND DASHCAM EVIDENCE. I KNOW FOR MYSELF, IF SOMEONE STARTED HITTING ME WITH A STICK I WOULD PROBABLY GRAB IT, TOO.

HITTING SOMEONE HARD ENOUGH WITH THE BATON TO BREAK BONES SHOULD BE GROUNDS FOR CHARGES, OR AT THE LEAST A CIVIL LAWSUIT; ESPECIALLY IN A CASE WHERE THE SUSPECT WAS COMMITTING NO CRIME EXCEPT FOR TWO MINOR TRAFFIC OFFENSES, THE NATURE OF WHICH WERE NOT PARTICULARLY HARMFUL, NOR WERE ANY DAMAGES MENTIONED. IT WASN’T EVEN A MOVING VIOLATION. IN FLORIDA WE NEVER HAVE FRONT LICENSE PLATES, SO I GUESS I WOULD GET ARRESTED IN PASADENA.

IT IS MY OPINION THAT ALLOWING OFFICERS TO DO GRIEVOUS BODILY HARM TO A SUSPECT WHO WAS NOT SPECIFICALLY HURTING ANYONE BEFORE THE OFFICER CONFRONTED HIM, EXCEPT FOR HAVING A MISSING FRONT LICENSE TAG AND “ILLEGALLY” TINTED WINDOWS, SHOULD BE A CRIME IN ITSELF. THOSE TWO THINGS ARE IN THE SAME LOGICAL CATEGORY AS “CONCEALING ONES’ IDENTITY;” WHICH IS NOT IN MY EYES TOTALLY HONEST AND ABOVE BOARD, BUT IT’S NOT A CLEAR SIGN OF GUILT, EITHER. MAYBE THE FILM FOOTAGE SHOWED MORE THAN THAT, BUT NOT IN THE PORTION THAT IS SHOWN WITH THE ARTICLE.

IN GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA, C. 1963, A FELLOW STUDENT AT COLLEGE WITH ME WAS ARRESTED FOR WEARING A SKI MASK WHILE DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD. THAT IS AN ODD THING TO DO, AT BEST, OF COURSE. HE CLAIMED THAT IT WAS HARMLESS, AND NOT AN ATTEMPT TO HIDE HIS IDENTITY.

IT’S ALSO ABOUT THE SAME AS ISLAMIC WOMEN WEARING A FACE COVERING OR BURKA, WHICH IN SOME PARTS OF THE US IS CONSIDERED “CONCEALING IDENTITY.” IT ISN’T, REALLY, BUT A MEANS OF CONCEALING A WOMAN’S VOLUPTUOUS BEAUTY FROM THE RAVISHING EYES OF MEN OTHER THAN HER HUSBAND OR OTHER MALE FAMILY MEMBERS IS THE REASON FOR THE GARMENT, AND IT IS MANDATED BY THEIR PARTICULAR VERSION OF ISLAMIC LAW.

WEARING A BURKA IN PUBLIC IS ALSO A CRIME IN FRANCE, BUT IN FRANCE IT HAS THE CONNOTATION OF BEING AN AGGRESSIVE DISPLAY OF THEIR ISLAMIC HERITAGE – BEING ANTI-FRENCH. THERE HAVE IN THE LAST 15 OR 20 YEARS BEEN VIOLENT RIOTS THERE, ALONG WITH STORIES OF THE GOVERNMENT’S MAINTAINING ABUSIVE POLICIES TOWARD MUSLIMS, SO IT MAY NOT BE JUSTIFIED, BUT IT IS PREDICTABLE.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-video-of-controversial-arrest-released-pasadena-california/
CBS NEWS December 16, 2017, 8:30 AM
New video of controversial arrest released

Image -- Body cam and patrol car videos released Friday by the City of Pasadena show two unnamed police officers attempting to subdue Christopher Ballew at an Altadena gas station in November. PASADENA POLICE DEPT. VIA CBS LOS ANGELES

PASADENA, Calif. -- Body cam and bystander footage of a chaotic arrest in Pasadena has riled civil rights groups like the NAACP, who called the officers' actions "reprehensible" and "inhumane," CBS Los Angeles reports.

Six body cam and patrol car videos released Friday by the City of Pasadena show two unnamed police officers attempting to subdue Christopher Ballew at an Altadena gas station in November. According to police, they stopped Ballew after they witnessed the 21-year-old commit "multiple traffic violations," Pasadena Now reported.

The incident took a violent turn, police say, when Ballew allegedly refused to comply and attempted to grab a baton from one of the officers.

Additional video recorded by a bystander shows one officer hitting Ballew in the right leg repeatedly while he was face-down on the ground. The other officer can be seen punching Ballew several times before slamming his head into the pavement.

Ballew was ultimately taken to the hospital and arrested on $50,000 bail for "assault on a peace officer as well as several unspecified misdemeanors," the paper reported.

Ballew told Pasadena Now he suffered a broken leg as a result of the incident.

Pasadena officials say the officers' actions were within department policy, though the incident is still under review.

City of Pasadena Spokesman William Boyer told CBS Los Angeles Ballew was initially stopped because the car he was driving was missing a front license plate and its windows were illegally tinted.

"Currently, the whole incident is under review, so there is no timeline for how long that will take. There is no conclusion right now," Boyer said.

Pasadena City Manager Steve Mermell said "while the City is not obligated or required to release such the recordings, […] I believe doing so is in the best interest of the City and that of the public," the paper reported.

The L.A. district attorney's office said last week it would not prosecute Ballew on any charges stemming from the altercation.

Ballew's family said he was not speaking to reporters when CBS Los Angeles reached out for comment Friday.

© 2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


HOW WILL THIS GO? HOPEFULLY THE REAL PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTRY WILL GET BEHIND IT AND EMAIL THEIR CONGRESS AND SENATE REPRESENTATIVES. 2016 WAS A DISASTER, AND FOR IT TO BECOME COMMONPLACE WOULD BE INTOLERABLE.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/senators-to-introduce-bipartisan-bill-to-prevent-foreign-cyber-interference-in-elections/
By KATHRYN WATSON CBS NEWS December 16, 2017, 3:33 PM
Senators to introduce bipartisan bill to prevent foreign cyber interference in elections

A bipartisan group of senators are introducing a bill early next week to improve and streamline information about cyber threats between state and federal entities, in the wake of Russia's believed interference during the 2016 election, according to a top aide to one of the senators involved.

The bill, spearheaded by Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma, and also sponsored by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, and Sen. Kamala Harris, D-California, is intended to better the communication between the Department of Homeland Security, the intelligence community and state election offices, in efforts to thwart future interference in U.S. elections by foreign actors. The bill, which will include resources for states, is also intended to help states identify and prepare against cyber attacks.

Members of both Republican and Democratic leadership have so far responded positively to the legislative proposal, according to the aide, who said the senators involved are eager to pass the legislation ahead of the midterm primaries next year.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has continued to deny interference in the 2016 election, and President Trump has said he believes Putin thinks the Kremlin did not interfere. Despite Mr. Trump's demurring on the issue, multiple intelligence agencies concluded in a January report that Russia interfered in the 2016 election, Trump-appointed CIA Director Mike Pompeo has said Russia "clearly" interfered in the election.

The legislation comes after the public learned Russia's believed intervention in the 2016 U.S. election was more widespread than initially believed. DHS and other agencies in 2016 found out Russian government-connected hackers tried to get into some states' voter registration systems, but DHS didn't disclose which states were affected for a year. Federal investigators didn't find any evidence that the hackers had tampered with voting machines, but the information alarmed elected officials. Sen. Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat and the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the communication delay was "unacceptable."

"It's unacceptable that it took almost a year after the election to notify states that their elections systems were targeted, but I'm relieved that DHS has acted upon our numerous requests and is finally informing the top elections officials in all 21 affected states that Russian hackers tried to breach their systems in the run up to the 2016 election," Warner said in a statement at the time.

Social media companies have also become a focus in Congress as the House and Senate Intelligence Committees investigate Russian election interference. Facebook disclosed to Congress earlier this year ads purchased by Russians to influence the 2016 election, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained the social media giant shut down thousands of fake accounts intended to influence elections around the world.

"I wish I could tell you that we are going to be able to stop all interference. But that just wouldn't be realistic," Zuckerberg said in a public address on his Facebook page in September. "There will always be bad actors in the world and we can't prevent all government from interference."

How Russia-linked groups used Facebook to meddle in 2016 election
Lankford, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee and one of the senators behind the bill, will appear on CBS News' "Face the Nation" on Sunday morning to discuss the investigation into Russian election meddling.

CBS News' William Miller contributed to this report.

© 2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.



“THE X-FILES” IS BACK ON THE OLDIES CHANNEL, MYTV, FOX AGAIN. OF ALL THE ENTERTAININGLY BS PROGRAMS I’VE SEEN ON TV, THAT IS ONE OF THE BEST. IT’S INTERESTING, TOO, BECAUSE THE ONLY THING EITHER OF THE ACTORS DOES IS SPEAK MYSTERIOUSLY IN A MONOTONE AND MAINTAIN A TOTALLY STRAIGHT FACE WITH NO EXPRESSION. IT’S THE SAME THING LEONARD NIMOY DID IN CREATING SPOCK. IN HIS CASE, THE EARS HELPED TOO, OF COURSE. ON THIS SUBJECT, MORE OR LESS, SEE THE CBS AND NYT STORIES BELOW.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pentagon-program-investigated-reports-of-ufos-report-says/
CBS NEWS December 16, 2017, 3:25 PM
Report: Pentagon program investigated reports of UFOs

Photograph -- This file image shows the Pentagon building in Washington, D.C. AFP/GETTY

The Department of Defense's Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program had investigated reports of unidentified flying objects for years, The New York Times reports, citing Defense Department officials and interviews with participants in the program, as well as records the newspaper obtained.

The program reportedly began in 2007, operated at the cost of $22 million, and was backed by former U.S. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada. Most of the funding went Robert Bigelow's aerospace research company.

In May, Bigelow told "60 Minutes" that he's "absolutely convinced" that aliens exist and he doesn't care if it makes him sound crazy.

"There has been and is an existing presence, an ET presence. And I spent millions and millions and millions -- I probably spent more as an individual than anybody else in the United States has ever spent on this subject."

In response to questions from The New York Times, officials at the Pentagon officials acknowledged the program's existence.

The program reportedly produced documents that described sightings unidentified aircrafts and was run by Luis Elizondo, a military intelligence official. The Defense Department says the program shut down in 2012, although Elizondo told The Times the only thing that ended in 2012 was ended was government's funding of the program.

"I'm not embarrassed or ashamed or sorry I got this thing going," Reid told The Times. "I think it's one of the good things I did in my congressional service. I've done something that no one has done before."

The program's backers said that the program still exists without funding and continues to investigate "episodes" brought forth by service members while carrying out other tasks in the Defense Department, The Times reported.

© 2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.



I GUESS SOME THINGS NEVER GO AWAY, LIKE BACTERIA. GO TO THE WEBSITE AND LOOK AT THE SIGN ON THIS RESTAURANT. OF COURSE, THIS IS TEXAS.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cooks-garage-texas-restaurant-slammed-blackface-caricature-sign/
By CAROLINE LINTON CBS NEWS December 16, 2017, 6:45 PM
Texas restaurant slammed for sign with blackface caricature

Photograph -- A restaurant in Lubbock, Texas, is defending itself after charges of racism for a sign that uses a derogatory term for black people and depicts a blackface caricature. JESSICA RIOS/FACEBOOK

A restaurant in Lubbock, Texas, is defending itself after charges of racism for a sign that uses a derogatory term for black people and depicts a blackface caricature. The restaurant, which features vintage signs, claimed in a now-deleted Facebook post that the sign is a "part of history," CBS affiliate KLBK reports.

Cook's Garage, which opened in April, wrote in the Facebook post on Thursday that the sign came from the 1920s. The vintage neon sign depicts the words "Coon Chicken Inn" on the lips of a blackface caricature.

"Aunt Jemima, mammies, and lots of other black collectibles are highly sought after, as is Americana collectibles with white characters," said the message, according to the website The Root. "The Coon Chicken Inn was an actual restaurant started in the 20's. Again, we want to stress we do not intend to offend anyone, and are only preserving a part of history that should remind us all of the senselessness of racial prejudice."

Cook's Garage did respond to a request for comment from CBS News. The restaurant declined to comment to KLBK if the sign was still up.

Lubbock resident Jasmine Abdullah told KLBK that she saw the post on a friend of a friend's page, and has reached out to Cook's Garage to take it down. She said she hasn't gotten a response.

"I was reading the comments, I saw the sign, and I immediately got infuriated," Abdullah said. "Because I was thinking 'In this day and age, we are still having to deal with things like this? ... If we want to be remembered as a group of people, that is not how we want to be remembered. If you want to put a piece of American history or African-American history up, there are tons of people you can have hanging up in your restaurant. Not something derogatory."

An eBay listing for the sign puts its price tag at $4,500.

© 2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.