Friday, February 2, 2018
February 1, 2, AND JANUARY 31, 2018.
News and Views
ACCORDING TO THIS ARTICLE WRAY HAS LOCKED HORNS WITH TRUMP BEFORE. OH, WELL. THERE WILL BE SOME FIGHTING, I THINK, FROM THE NEWS OF THE LAST WEEK. I FEEL WRAY IS ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THINGS, SO I HOPE HE WINS. BUSINESS INSIDER SAYS THAT IT WILL BE PUBLIC. I DO HOPE IT IS TELEVISED.
http://www.businessinsider.com/fbi-director-will-publicly-dispute-the-nunes-memo-2018-2
The director of the FBI seems prepared to publicly dispute the Nunes memo once it is released
Michal Kranz
Feb. 1, 2018, 3:25 PM 14,497
Photograph -- FBI director Christopher Wray Carolyn Kaster/AP
FBI Director Christopher Wray is prepared to refute the unverified memo written by Rep. Devin Nunes that alleges misconduct on the part of the FBI and the Department of Justice.
President Donald Trump has stated that he is prepared to release the memo, despite claims from both sides of the aisle in Congress that it omits crucial details and distorts key facts.
Wray has previously butted heads with Trump on issues relating to the FBI.
FBI Director Christopher Wray says he is ready to issue a rebuttal to the controversial memo authored by Rep. Devin Nunes once it is cleared for release by President Donald Trump, according to a former homeland security adviser.
"I think we have to remember the Nunes memo is an advocacy piece. It's not a fact piece. This is Chairman Nunes' summary of what he believes the abuses are. For that reason, it's one-sided," Fran Townsend, a homeland security adviser to former President George W. Bush, told CBS News.
The Nunes memo, which alleges misconduct on the part of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI with regard to surveilling former members of President Donald Trump's campaign staff, was approved for release through a party line vote in the House Intelligence Committee earlier this week, and Trump is likely to clear it for public disclosure in the coming days.
The FBI issued a rare public statement on the memo through their website on Wednesday.
"With regard to the House Intelligence Committee’s memorandum, the FBI was provided a limited opportunity to review this memo the day before the committee voted to release it," the statement read. "As expressed during our initial review, we have grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo’s accuracy."
THIS PHOTO OF THE FBI GUY CHRISTOPHER WRAY LOOKS LIKE HE’S READY TO FIGHT AND LOOKING FORWARD TO IT. I HOPE TRUMP WILL JUST TAKE A STEP BACKWARD AS HE SO OFTEN DOES. AT ANY RATE THIS WILL PROBABLY BE INTERESTING.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fbi-director-prepared-to-issue-rebuttal-if-nunes-memo-released-fran-townsend/
CBS NEWS February 1, 2018, 12:00 PM
FBI director prepared to issue rebuttal if Nunes memo released, Fran Townsend says
FBI director Christopher Wray is prepared to issue a rebuttal if the White House releases Rep. Devin Nunes's classified memo alleging inappropriate surveillance of the Trump campaign by the FBI and Justice Department, according to CBS News senior national security analyst Fran Townsend. The FBI issued a statement Wednesday that they have "grave concerns" about the memo and the "material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo's accuracy."
White House weighs release of classified Nunes memo on alleged DOJ, FBI abuses
Townsend, who served as homeland security adviser to President George W. Bush, told "CBS This Morning" she believes the FBI is worried about both the accuracy of the memo's contents and what it may reveal about their sources and methods.
"I think we have to remember the Nunes memo is an advocacy piece. It's not a fact piece. This is Chairman Nunes' summary of what he believes the abuses are. For that reason, it's one-sided," Townsend said.
Townsend, who spent 13 years at the Justice Department, said it's simply "not possible" for one partisan actor to push through a FISA warrant or to obtain one based on a single piece of evidence.
"There's multiple internal reviews in the FBI, there's a legal review at the Justice Department, it goes to the attorney general, or in this case, the deputy who reviews it and then it goes to an independent federal judge who looks at it. No FISA warrant relies on a single piece of evidence. So if the allegation from Chairman Nunes is that they relied solely on the Steele dossier, that's not possible. It never happens," she said.
Earlier this week, FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe stepped down amid mounting pressure from the FBI director.
Townsend also addressed a Washington Post report about an internal Justice Department probe focusing on McCabe's slow handling of a batch of Hillary Clinton's emails uncovered in the late stages of the 2016 campaign.
"My understanding here from sources inside the FBI was initially they believe there might have been as many as 6,000 e-mails some of which may have been classified and there would have had to been an entire process to review that," Townsend said. "I think we shouldn't attribute malice where it might have just been bureaucratic caution."
© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
January 31 and February 1, 2018
News and Views
LIVE NEWS FEED OF ADAM SCHIFF ON “THE MEMO”
SCHIFF REALLY IS ELOQUENT AND PERSUASIVE. HE’S AS GOOD A SPEAKER AS BERNIE SANDERS, BUT A LITTLE LESS CHARISMATIC AND A LOT LESS FEISTY. I WOULD VOTE FOR HIM AS PRESIDENT, VERY PROBABLY, ACCORDING TO WHO ELSE HAPPENED TO BE RUNNING AS WELL. HE’S A VERY GOOD MAN. HE DEFINITELY WOULDN’T SELL THIS COUNTRY DOWN THE RIVER THE WAY TRUMP AND 99% OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY HAVE DONE WITH SUCH A VULGAR AND APPALLING GLEE. SO, TRY TO WATCH THE VIDEO ON YOUTUBE OR THE CBS SITE.
ON THAT DESPICABLE FAKE OF A MEMO, WASHINGTON AND ALL RIGHT-THINKING AMERICANS, ARE IN A MAJOR TURMOIL. POLITICS IS ALWAYS EXCITING, BUT THIS IS OVER THE KIND OF ISSUE WHICH IS DEEPLY SERIOUS, AND DISTURBING INSTEAD OF ENTERTAINING. ALSO, MORE IMPORTANTLY, IT IS ONGOING. THIS IS A TRUE ATTEMPT, WITH TRUMP AT THE HEAD OF THEIR ARMY, TO TAKE OVER AND REVISE THE GOVERNMENTAL SYSTEM THAT HAS PROVEN TO BE A RESILIENT AND WELL-CONSIDERED STRUCTURE.
THE FBI EXPRESSES “GRAVE CONCERNS” BECAUSE OF INCOMPLETE FACTUAL INFORMATION IN THIS NUNES-GENERATED MIXTURE FROM THE HOUSE INVESTIGATION. WHAT WOULD BE THE AIM OF THROWING THAT OUT INTO THE PUBLIC SQUARE? TO STIR UP PARANOID RIGHTIST ANTI-GOVERNMENT SENTIMENT AND ALLOW BOTH THE FBI AND THE MUELLER INVESTIGATION TO BE DISCREDITED IN THE PUBLIC EYE. INDEED, IT UNDERMINES LOGICAL THOUGHT IN THIS COUNTRY. WHO WOULD BENEFIT? DONALD TRUMP, AND THE AMERICAN AND RUSSIAN OLIGARCHS. WHO WILL SUFFER SERIOUS HARM FROM THIS? EVERYBODY ELSE.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/01/31/fbi-grave-concerns-expected-release-nunes-memo/1083218001/?csp=chromepush
FBI has 'grave concerns' about expected release of classified Nunes memo
Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY Published 1:00 p.m. ET Jan. 31, 2018 | Updated 1:22 p.m. ET Jan. 31, 2018
Video -- House Speaker Paul Ryan is defending a vote by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee to release a classified memo on the Russia investigation. (Jan. 30) AP
Photo: Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images)
WASHINGTON —The FBI expressed "grave concerns" Wednesday about the expected release of a classified memo from the House Intelligence Committee that criticizes the Justice Department and FBI abusing their surveillance authority.
"The FBI was provided a limited opportunity to review this memo the day before the committee voted to release it," the bureau said in a statement as the White House considered releasing the document. "As expressed during our initial review, we have grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo’s accuracy."
The House Intelligence Committee's Republican leadership, which drafted the four-page memo, voted to release it Monday, pending a White House review.
The memo was written by Republican staff at the direction of committee chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., and is apparently a summary of some of the intelligence collected by the committee as part of its ongoing probe of the Trump campaign's contacts with Russian officials. Democrats on the committee have complained that the memo cherry-picks information designed to discredit the FBI and Justice Department probes of Trump.
Following his State of the Union address Tuesday, President Trump assured a Republican lawmaker that he was "100 percent" in favor of making public the memo's contents, over the objections of the FBI and DOJ.
On the House floor following the address, Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., asked Trump to "release the memo." In a brief conversation caught on camera, Trump could be overheard replying: "Oh yeah, don't worry, 100 percent." Trump continued speaking after that, but his words were not audible.
FBI Director Christopher Wray and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein voiced their objections Monday to White House Chief of Staff John Kelly.
REPUBLICANS LATELY HAVE BEEN TALKING A LOT ABOUT OUR “DEEP STATE” IN THIS COUNTRY, WHICH THEY FEEL CONSISTS OF A HORRIBLY LIBERAL CHOKEHOLD ON GOOD, CLEAN CONSERVATIVE AMERICAN POLICY, BUSINESS AND LEADERSHIP. IT IS CLEAR TO ME, MOST OF MY FRIENDS, AND TO THIS WRITER, BRADLEY BURSTON OF HAARETZ.COM, THAT THE SHOE IS ON THE OTHER FOOT.
READ THIS INTERESTING AND VERY EFFECTIVE OPINION PIECE ON THE TRUE NATURE OF THE GAME. YOU MIGHT THINK THE AGGREGATE ENEMY – THE NEO-NAZIS, MILITIAS, THE HALF-RIDICULOUS AND HALF DANGEROUS LAWLESS GROUPS LIKE “SOVEREIGN CITIZENS” --IS A PIT VIPER, BUT IT’S ACTUALLY A 30 FOOT ANACONDA, INSTEAD. THE KKK STYLE ATTACK ON THE BEAUTIFUL, GENTEEL, CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA WHICH OCCURRED SO RECENTLY IS A DECLARATION OF WAR; AND WE HAD BETTER GET READY, IF WE LIKE OUR COUNTRY.
I JUST FOUND ANOTHER REALLY IMPRESSIVE IDEA FOR CHANGING THE DIRECTION AND FORCE OF THE HATE-FILLED TREND THAT WE’RE EXPERIENCING RIGHT NOW (AS BEFORE IN THE 1920S AND OTHER TIMES) -- HTTPS://MIC.COM/INTERACTIVES/BLACK-MONUMENTS?UTM_MEDIUM=WEB&UTM_SOURCE=MICPUSH#.BCWV3ISXL. BLACK MONUMENTS. WE NEED MORE BLACK MONUMENTS, TO THE GREAT BLACK CITIZENS WHO DID PALPABLE GOOD IN THE WORLD. SOME OF THEM HAVE ALREADY BEEN MEMORIALIZED, BUT WE NEED MORE. BIOGRAPHICAL BOOKS AND DOCUMENTARIES WOULD BE GOOD, ALSO. SOME WHITE PEOPLE WILL SAY, WHY DO WE NEED MORE? THE WHITE CITIZENS ARE A LARGER PART OF THE POPULATION, AND THEREFORE MORE IMPORTANT.
FIRST, I DON’T THINK THAT SIMPLY BEING WHITE WILL MAKE ME MORE “IMPORTANT,” BUT IT IS AN UNDENIABLE FACT THAT IT WILL BE EASIER FOR ALL OF US WHITE PEOPLE TO GAIN ACCLAIM IF WE DO TRY HARD ENOUGH, INVENT SOMETHING, OR WRITE SOMETHING. LOOK AT THIS VERY INTERESTING VIEW OF “DICTOCRACY” FROM HAARETZ.COM.
https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-state-of-the-union-how-trump-putin-and-netanyahu-run-your-life-1.5781097
Opinion The Deep State of the Union: Dictocracy. How Trump, Putin and Netanyahu Run Your Life
They live as royals. They rule as royals. They are above the law. They alone know best. They exalt and exploit religion, but do not practice it. Democracy - the same. They are beholden to oligarchs. Some Russian. Some named Koch. Some named Adelson
Bradley Burston Jan 30, 2018 9:06 PM
Photograph -- U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, May 23, 2017Sebastian Scheiner (AP)
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No one really wants to live in the 21st Century.
Millennials are inheriting a world in which ice melt threatens to flood great cities, no one anywhere is truly safe from terrorism and random mass murder, the maldistribution of wealth favors a slice of the pie so thin as to be invisible, affordable housing is, in fact, invisible, youth is becoming synonymous with anxiety, life expectancy may actually be going down, male fertility is definitely heading there, and while that's happening, AI 'bots threaten to decide elections, end careers, and, perhaps, at some point, find a way to pull the plug on humanity.
Would any person want a world like this?
Offhand, I can think of three. Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and Benjamin Netanyahu.
Whether you are reading this in the United States, Russia, Israel, or a host of other countries, they are divvying up your life. And the closer you live to them, the more acutely you can feel each of them instituting a very 21st Century system as a substitute for long-established principles of freedom, human rights, and equality.
Their system has all the trappings of democracy. And it is losing all of democracy's substance to a svelte, very 21st Century form of dictatorship.
Let's call it, for the sake of brevity, Dictocracy.
For the United States, Russia, and Israel, Dictocracy has become the real State of the Union. In a sense, considering how offstage and all-encompassing the apparatus involved, perhaps it's more accurate to call it the Deep State of the Union.
Each in his own way, Trump, Putin and Netanyahu are the very model of the modern major autocrat. And wherever you are reading this, you can understand that what's bad for the world may actually work to their advantage.
Why? Because the source of their power is all but bulletproof, and actually thrives on a world gone mad, on an atmosphere of continual threat, on the opioid of modern fundamentalist religion, on a so-far inexhaustible reservoir of resentment, of rage, and of a return to a society which may never have really existed, except in the images and slogans in the speeches of the Indispensible Leader.
Welcome, that is, to the Dictocracy of the Base.
We've learned that to stay in high office, the concept of Majority Rules is outmoded and irrelevant. In 2016, out of an estimated 245 million U.S. citizens of voting age, just 137 million, or less than 56 percent, actually voted. Of those, Hillary Clinton received 65.85 million votes or 48.2 percent, nearly three million more than Trump, at 62.98 million and 46.1 percent.
In 2015, longtime incumbent Netanyahu needed a much smaller minority percentage in order to stay in office – just 23.4 percent of the votes cast. He got it by taking to social media and whipping up racist sentiment against Arab citizens who, he said, were being bused "in droves" for what sounded for the entire world like the subversive purpose of voting.
Meanwhile, perennial winner Putin, who cut his political teeth as the onetime director of Russia's security service, has found other ways to win. One of them is to take your most feared opponent, ban him from running, and jail him.
Since announcing his candidacy in late 2016 for Russia's March, 2018 presidential election, Russian opposition figure and anti-corruption leader Alexei Navalny has twice been physically assaulted, causing him partial blindness. His campaign workers have been literally sealed into their apartments and had their cars vandalized. Election officials have barred Navalny from running over what the Financial Times called "a trumped-up fraud conviction," and he has been arrested repeatedly, most recently on Sunday, while he urged a boycott of the election.
"Low turnout, which could tarnish Mr. Putin's victory and the stage-managed election process, is what the leadership most worries about," the Financial Times remarked in a Monday opinion piece.
What, then, are the Pillars of Dictocracy?
As embodied by Trump, Putin, and Netanyahu – and for that matter, in many other countries these days – you can tell Dictocracies by how their leaders live:
- They live as royals.
- They rule as royals.
- They are above the law.
- They alone know best.
- They exalt and exploit religion, but do not practice it.
- Democracy, the same.
- They are beholden to oligarchs. Some Russian. Some named Koch. Some named Adelson.
This is the true Deep State. This is what runs your life. This is what ruins your life, Forces which may be killing the country, figuratively or literally, such as the settlement movement or the National Rifle Association. Forces which may be molding and manipulating public opinion, such as Fox News Channel, owned by Trump's close associate Rupert Murdoch, and Israel Hayom newspaper, owned by Sheldon Adelson, powerful supporter of both Trump and Netanyahu. In Russia, along with the impact of state-owned television and news agencies, there is widespread self-censorship engendered by the Law on Mass Media.*
[TO READ RUSSIA’S LAW OF MASS MEDIA, GO TO THE WEBSITE GIVEN BELOW. IT ISN’T VERY LONG OR DIFFICULT READING – NOR IS IT BORING!]
The true Deep State is a one-party state, headed by the Irreplaceable Leader. Separation of powers is increasingly cosmetic in nature.
The true Deep State may whip up and take advantage of distrust of and distaste for government officials and the bureaucracy – even of honest and untainted law enforcement officials - even as it circumvents them by placing real power offstage in the hands of family members, financial backers, and other close personal associates of the Dictocrat.
And there's something else. The leaders of Dictocracies have learned to rely on one another. Netanyahu this week proved his mettle as the only reliable liaison between the Russian and American presidents, whose communications have been compromised by allegations of collusion and of improper favors and promises.
To be successful, however, the Dictocracy must never sleep. It must tweet, youtube, post and print its message relentlessly, every hour of every day. The Dictocracy's essential tools, hatred and fear, must be driven home with what appears to be freshness and brand-new heat.
And the enemy du jour must be signaled. Fortunately, the cheerleaders pumping the base will have a wide variety to choose from. In Israel, for example, the Dictocracy effectively exploits anti-Semitism by rebranding it as hatred of the treacherous Semites called Palestinians, and of the treacherous Semites called leftist Jews, here and abroad.
Sadly, for Russia and Israel, where Putin and Netanyahu have been working their Dictocratic magic since the '90s, it may already be too late. For them, Dictocracy may already be all but permanent.
Trump's American Dictocracy, however, is still young and in part unformed. Much will depend on the midterm election on November 6. So much so, that on Monday Republican mega-donors the Koch Brothers let it be known that they will spend some $400 million to back Republicans.
"Let's be frank right up front. These elections are going to be brutally tough,” Emily Seidel, CEO of Americans for Prosperity, the Koch's funding channel, told reporters on Monday.
“We’ve never faced a challenge like this one. Making the environment even more challenging this year are the high unfavorable ratings plaguing both President Trump and the Republican-led Congress."
For the sake of the state of the union, let's hope so.
Bradley Burston
Haaretz Correspondent
[GO TO “http://www.policy.hu/myagmar/Russian_Mass_Media_Law_I.PDF.”
“RUSSIAN MASS MEDIA LAW”
THIS IS A DOCUMENT WRITTEN IN EXCELLENT ENGLISH EDUCATIONALLY ACCESSIBLE TO MOST AMERICANS WHO ATTENDED AS MUCH AS A YEAR OR TWO OF COLLEGE COURSEWORK, OR EVEN HIGH SCHOOL IF THE INDIVIDUAL BOTHERED TO STUDY AND READ AS THEY SHOULD HAVE. WE SHOULD REMEMBER THAT THERE IS NO EDUCATION WHICH CAN OVERCOME A TOTAL LACK OF IMAGINATION AND CURIOSITY. ONLY A GOOD PARENT OR TEACHER CAN DO THAT.
IT IS VERY INTERESTING, AND TOTALLY FAIR AND OPEN IN MY VIEW, EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT IT PROHIBITS PORNOGRAPHIC MATERIAL OR ADVERTISING THE SALE OF DRUGS, VIOLENCE, ETC. IT’S ALMOST LIKE OUR NORMS. OUR LAWS (OR THE PARTS OF THE CONSTITUTION WHICH I HAVE SEEN) TEND TO BE WRITTEN, THOUGH, IN A TOTALLY WIDE OPEN WAY THAT ALLOWS THE INSERTION OF S/M SEX GROUPS, FASCIST AND RACIST OR OTHERWISE EVIL POLITICAL MATERIAL, VIDEOS OF “MAN/BOY LOVE,” ANIMAL CRUELTY, AND OTHER PURELY INEXCUSABLE EVIL MATERIALS.
PERSONALLY, I ACTUALLY THINK THAT A GENUINE AND CLEAR-CUT PROHIBITION OF DANGEROUS OR ABUSIVE INTELLECTUAL MATERIAL IS SOMETHING WE NEED IN THE USA, ALSO. IF OUR LEGAL FORCES WILL PROHIBIT ALSO THOSE ADS FOR AL QAEDA, NAZISM, ANTI-SEMITISM, BIZARRE AND CRUEL IMAGES SUCH AS THE HORRIFIC “SLENDER MAN” MYTHOLOGY WHICH IS A DANGEROUS TEENAGED FAD THAT IS SO RIDICULOUS THAT I CAN’T BELIEVE ANYBODY REALLY BELIEVES IT, AND OTHER SUCH HARMFUL IDEAS OR GROUPS, I WILL THINK THAT WE HAVE AN INTELLIGENT AND FAIR LIMITATION ON THE EVILS CURRENTLY SO COMMONPLACE ON THE INTERNET.
AS FOR THE “SELF-CENSORSHIP” PANNED IN THIS ARTICLE, WE ALL NEED TO DO THAT TO SOME DEGREE. CALLING PEOPLE ANY NUMBER OF DISGUSTING AND RUDE NAMES IS NOT THE SIGN OF A “REAL MAN” BUT OF AN ORDINARY BULLY. BEING “NICE” SHOULDN’T GO TO THE POINT OF EMULATING CASPER MILQUETOAST, HOWEVER. INDEED, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR A MILQUETOAST TO BE A “GOOD CITIZEN.” A GOOD CITIZEN STANDS UP FOR THE DOWNTRODDEN, FOR FAIRNESS, FOR THE NEEDY.
TRUE AND ACCURATE OR NOT, THIS ARTICLE FROM THE HILL HAS BEEN SHARED 8,890 TIMES IN THE LAST 45 MINUTES, SO SOME PEOPLE BESIDES ME REALLY LIKE IT. ALTHOUGH I WANTED BERNIE SANDERS TO BE CLINTON’S VICE-PRESIDENTIAL CHOICE, ADAM SCHIFF IS A GOOD THINKER AND A STATESMAN, LIKE BERNIE.
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/371756-schiff-accuses-nunes-of-sending-trump-edited-memo
Schiff: Nunes gave Trump 'secretly altered' version of memo
BY JOHN BOWDEN - 01/31/18 10:16 PM EST
VIDEO -- FBI warns it has 'grave concerns' about omissions in Nunes memo
TheHill.com
California Rep. Adam Schiff (D) claimed late Wednesday that House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) shared with President Trump a "secretly altered" version of the Republican-crafted memo alleging corrosive abuse of United States surveillance powers by the Justice Department.
Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, made the claims in a letter to Nunes, accusing the committee chair of making "substantive" changes to the confidential memo before sharing it with White House counsel for release.
Those changes, Schiff said, were not approved by the full committee as protocol dictates.
"Discovered late tonight that Chairman Nunes made material changes to the memo he sent to White House – changes not approved by the Committee. White House therefore reviewing a document the Committee has not approved for release." Schiff said in a tweet.
Trump was expected to announce early Friday his decision on releasing the controversial, classified memo. Schiff's letter could delay such a decision.
"This evening the Committee Minority discovered that the classified memorandum shared by the Committee Majority with the White House is not, in fact, the same document that Members of the House of Representatives have been reviewing since January 18, 2018 and that the Committee Majority voted on Monday to release to the public, over objections from the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation," the letter from Schiff reads.
Schiff goes on to say that after Democrats found the document "had been secretly altered," committee Republicans offered them the opportunity to compare the memo sent to the White House with the memo that was made public to all House Members.
According to Schiff, after comparing the two versions "it is clear" that Republicans "made material changes to the version it sent to the White House, which Committee Members were never apprised of, never had the opportunity to review and never approved."
Schiff's letter comes after the FBI denounced the document in a statement earlier Wednesday, saying it has "grave concerns" about the charges made in the memo.
"As expressed during our initial review, we have grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo’s accuracy," the bureau said.
Committee Republicans led by Nunes voted on Monday to release the document to the public, following a review by White House counsel. The memo purportedly details abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) by the U.S. government.
The memo was then turned over to Trump, who is expected to review the document and ultimately decide on whether it is made public.
Committee Democrats have warned that the document is inaccurate, and led by Schiff have drafted their own memo with the intent to counter Republicans' claims. That memo, however, was voted down when Democrats on the committee attempted to make it public.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schummer (D-N.Y.) called on House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to "put an end to this charade" after Schiff sent his letter to Nunes.
"It’s clear that Chairman Nunes will seemingly stop at nothing to undermine the rule of law and interfere with the Russia probe," Schumer said. "He’s been willing to carry the White House’s water, attack our law enforcement and intelligence officials, and now to mislead his House colleagues. If Speaker Ryan cares about the integrity of the House or the rule of law, he will put an end to this charade once and for all.”
- Updated at 10:58 p.m.
SANDERS’ RESPONSE
http://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-state-union-response-live-stream-795711
https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/sanders-responds-to-trump-s-first-state-of-the-union-1.5783541
Home U.S. News
WATCH Bernie Sanders' Blistering Response to Donald Trump's First State of the Union
In a 21-minute long speech streamed on social media, the Vermont senator went through multiple promises made and not fulfilled by Trump
Haaretz and Reuters Jan 31, 2018 2:47 PM
Photograph -- Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) watches during the State of the Union address in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives January 30, 2018 in Washington, DCAlex Wong/Getty Images/AFP
RELATED:
Donald Trump's first State of the Union, full transcript and video
Trump called for unity but his speech highlighted the utterly polarized State of the Union
The Deep State of the Union: Dictocracy. How Trump, Putin and Netanyahu run your life
U.S. Independent Senator Bernie Sanders responded late Tuesday night to President Donald Trump's first State of the Union address to Congress and the American people, calling him "compulsively dishonest" and a "bully".
In a 21-minute long speech streamed on social media, the Vermont senator went through multiple promises made and not fulfilled by Trump since his 2016 election campaign and also pointed out issues he should have talked about but did not during the address. Sanders asked "how can he not talk about the reality that Russia, through cyberwarfare, interfered in our election in 2016?," and questioned his relationship with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
Donald Trump's First State of the Union, Full Transcript and Video
America doesn't want a 'bully' president: Bernie Sanders responds to Trump's speech Reuters
The major party in opposition traditionally broadcasts a rebuttal speech following the U.S. president's annual state of the union address, which is delivered to a joint session of Congress and sums up achievements and goals. Sanders has gone ahead and delivered his own for the second year in a row.
Trump used the hour-and-20-minute speech, given annually by presidents to Congress, to try to overcome doubts about his presidency at a time when he is battling a probe into his campaign's alleged ties with Russia and suffering low job approval ratings. Trump made no mention of the federal probe into whether his campaign colluded with Russia in the 2016 presidential election, a controversy that is dogging his presidency. Trump has denied collusion and has called the probe a "witch hunt."
ANOTHER DEPRESSING NEWS STORY ABOUT POINTLESS VIOLENCE, AND THIS TIME THE MAN IS CHINESE. THEY'RE USUALLY WHITE MEN -- NO, NOT BLACK -- AND INSANE. TWO OR THREE DAYS AGO A 12 YEAR OLD GIRL DID A SCHOOL SHOOTING. THAT'S NOT THE WAY FEMINISM SHOULD GO.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/yunsong-zhao-virginia-tech-student-assault-rifle-tried-to-purchase-5000-rounds-ammo-police/
CBS NEWS January 30, 2018, 7:22 PM
Virginia Tech student had assault rifle, tried to purchase 5,000 rounds of ammo: police
Yunsong Zhao MONTGOMERY COUNTY JAIL
Last Updated Jan 31, 2018 12:08 AM EST
BLACKSBURG, Va. -- A 19-year-old Virginia Tech student has been arrested on an illegal firearms charge after attempting to purchase 5,000 rounds of ammunition, authorities said Tuesday. Yunsong Zhao was taken into custody without incident Monday following an investigation that lasted several weeks, a university spokesperson told CBS News.
Zhao has been charged with one count of possessing an assault firearm without having U.S. citizenship, officials said. A university spokesperson said Zhao is no longer a student at the college following the incident.
Zhao has family in China and had been living in Blacksburg, Virginia, for six months at the time of his arrest, CBS affiliate WDBJ reports, citing court documents. He is being held at Montgomery County Jail and will appear in court on March 1.
Police said Zhao also purchased a former police vehicle outfitted with special bumpers and had been researching bulletproof vests, WDBJ reports.
The university said police did not believe there was a threat to the community during the investigation.
"I want to personally thank each and every one of you in assisting us here in our efforts to keep all Hokies safe," Chief Kevin Foust said in a statement posted to Facebook on Monday.
Alvaro Barros, a freshman from Brazil, said he knew Zhao from the university's summer program.
"He seemed like a normal guy, you know what I mean? Just someone trying to make friends and trying to blend in like everyone else," Barros told WDBJ.
"I was just shocked because he doesn't seem like the guy that would do it, not at all," Barros added. "So coming from a different country, you really see how people can be different inside than they are outside."
Max Weinberg, a freshman from Pennsylvania, told the station he was surprised and "kind of scared" that "somebody would try and do something like that."
Last April marked 10 years since a 23-year-old student shot and killed shot 32 people at Virginia Tech. Survivors returned to campus for a series of events that celebrated the lives lost on April 16, 2007.
© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
THE BRUTALIZATION OF “DUMB” ANIMALS (NON-VERBAL) IS SHOCKING. WE DO NOT NEED TO EAT WHALE MEAT ANYMORE, NOR USE WHALE OIL FOR LIGHT IN SMALL LAMPS. IF NATIVE AMERICANS IN ALASKA OR GREEDY CAPITALISTS IN JAPAN STILL KILL WHALES BY THE HUNDREDS, IT IS NOT A NECESSITY. BOTH OF THOSE TWO POPULATIONS STILL DO IT BECAUSE IT IS TRADITIONAL – AN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THEIR GROUP IDENTITY – AND AGAIN, IT IS VOLUNTARY. I WOULD EVEN GO SO FAR AS TO SAY THAT IT IS A GENUINE FORM OF “COMMUNION SERVICE.” IT IS STILL UNACCEPTABLE TO ME. I DON’T BELIEVE IN RITUAL HUMAN SACRIFICE, EITHER. WE CAN STOP THIS, BUT IT DOES TAKE THOUGHT AND THE APPLICATION OF OUR EDUCATION TO ISSUES AS WELL AS TALLYING OUR BANK ACCOUNT.
STORIES OF THE HIGH INTELLIGENCE OF WHALES HAVE BEEN MENTIONED MANY TIMES IN THE LAST 20 PLUS YEARS. WHY HAVEN’T THEY DONE ANY GOOD ABOUT SOLVING THIS PROBLEM OF HUMAN BRUTALITY? BECAUSE WE STILL DON’T BELIEVE THAT “INFERIOR” LIFE FORMS (OR MINORITY PEOPLE) DESERVE EVEN THE MOST BASIC CARE. GET RID OF THEM. THEY TAKE UP MY “ELBOW ROOM.” THEIR WELFARE IS NOT “A PROBLEM.” MONEY RULES. THE HUMAN ABILITY TO CARE ABOUT ANOTHER EXCEPT FAMILY, IS UNFORTUNATELY LIMITED, EVEN AMONG OUR MOST WELL-INTENTIONED PEOPLE. IT DISTURBS ME DEEPLY. “HE WHO HAS EARS TO HEAR, LET HIM HEAR! ...” (MATTHEW 11:15).
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2160011-speaking-orca-is-further-proof-they-shouldnt-be-kept-captive/?cmpid=ILC|NSNS|2017_webpush&utm_medium=ILC&utm_source=NSNS&utm_campaign=webpush-orca
INSIGHT 31 January 2018
‘Speaking’ orca is further proof they shouldn’t be kept captive
An orca called Wikie who learned to mimic human speech could teach us a lot about killer whale culture – but that’s no reason to keep orcas in captivity
By Michael Marshall
An orca has apparently learned to mimic a few words of human speech, like “hello” and “bye bye” – although whether or not it is actually making those sounds relies on a bit of very creative listening.
Photograph -- Wikie has been recorded mimicking human words
Eric Gaillard/Reuters
But even if the female orca called Wikie is really capable of mimicking us, it is more than just a cute finding. It sheds light on the mysterious cultures and dialects that orcas have created. And it is further evidence that these remarkable animals shouldn’t be held in captivity.
Orcas are also known as killer whales, although they are actually dolphins. Josep Call at the University of St Andrews, UK, and his colleagues trained Wikie, which lives in an aquarium in France, to copy a range of sounds on command. Wikie quickly learned to do this, and was even able to approximate more
ABOUT THE SCIENTISTS
https://risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk/portal/en/persons/josep-call(e16c323e-1faa-4dc8-8b9c-f6e9432766a2).html
JOSEP CALL
School of Psychology and Neuroscience - Professor in Evolutionary Origins of Mind
Postal address:
School of Psychology & Neuroscience
Westburn Lane
St Andrews
Fife
United Kingdom
Centre for Social Learning & Cognitive Evolution
E-mail: jc276@st-andrews.ac.uk
Direct phone: +44 (0)1334 463608
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-42877067
Science & Environment
The killer whale that can say 'hello' and 'bye bye'
By Helen Briggs
BBC News
January 31, 2018 3 hours ago
A killer whale that can mimic words such as "hello" and "bye bye" is thought to be the first of its kind to copy human speech.
The female learned to "speak" a handful of human words by copying a trainer at a marine park in France.
The animal's repertoire includes the name "Amy" and "one, two, three".
Whales and dolphins are among the few animals other than humans that can learn to produce a novel sound just by hearing it.
"In mammals it is very rare," said Dr Josep Call of the University of St Andrews, a co-researcher on the study.
"Humans obviously are good at it... Interestingly, the mammals that can do best are marine mammals."
The researchers set out to find out whether killer whales could learn new vocalisations by imitating others. They studied a female named Wikie at Marineland Aquarium in Antibes, France.
She was taught to speak human words through her blowhole and can be heard in recordings mimicking words such as hello and Amy, and counting one, two, three, using squawks, shrill whistles or raspberries.
Killer whale 'dialects'
Media captionKiller whale says "hello"
Killer whales are known to live in groups with unique vocal "dialects". They may copy other members of their kind in the wild, although this needs to be tested.
"The killer whale that we studied in captivity was capable of learning vocalisations of other killer whales and also human vocalisations by imitating them," said Dr Call.
"Therefore this result suggests this is also a plausible explanation for how killer whales in the wild learn the vocalisations of other killer whales and how they develop their dialects."
Killer whales in the wildImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image caption
Killer whales in the wild live in pods with distinct dialects
Vocal imitation is a hallmark of human spoken language, yet in other animals it is strikingly rare.
Dolphins and beluga whales are among the few mammals that can copy sounds from other species or each other. Some birds can mimic human speech, notably parrots, but also some members of the crow family.
Dr Jose Abramson, from Complutense University of Madrid in Spain, a co-researcher on the study, said basic "conversations" with Wikie may one day be possible.
"Yes, it's conceivable ... if you have labels, descriptions of what things are," he said. "It has been done before with a famous grey parrot and dolphins using American sign language; sentences like 'bring me this object' or 'put this object above or below the other'."
However, he said we have to be careful about imposing human concepts on animals, as there is more to gain by trying to understand the natural way each species communicates in its own environment.
Wikie made sounds while partially immersed in water with her blowhole exposed to the air. Sounds made under the water may be quite different. And since this was just the one whale, the researchers are unsure whether there are more copy-cat killer whales in the wild.
Killer whalesImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image caption
Killer whales in captivity: they have been known to mimic other animals such as sea lions
Dr Alex Thornton, senior lecturer in cognitive evolution at the University of Exeter, said we still don't fully understand why some animals learn to mimic.
Some animals copy sounds to show off to potential mates, while in others this might help to identify an individual as a member of a group.
"Some whales, for example, learn their calls from one another and so have local vocal dialects that mark them out as members of their social group," said Dr Thornton, who is not connected with the research.
Killer whales, or orcas, are the largest of the dolphins and one of the world's most powerful predators.
They eat marine mammals such as seals, sea lions, and even whales, and are known to grab seals right off the ice.
The experiments are reported in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B.
Follow Helen on Twitter.
THE UNVARNISHED TRUTH ABOUT CYBERBULLYING FROM A COURAGEOUS AND ELOQUENT WOMAN WHO IS NO WORSE THAN THE NEXT OF US. “YE WHO IS WITHOUT SIN, CAST THE FIRST STONE.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_8y0WLm78U
The price of shame | Monica Lewinsky
7,477,798 views
TED
Published on Mar 20, 2015
In 1998, says Monica Lewinsky, “I was Patient Zero of losing a personal reputation on a global scale almost instantaneously.” Today, the kind of online public shaming she went through has become a constant. In a brave talk, she takes a look at our “culture of humiliation,” in which online shame equals dollar signs — and demands a different way.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more.
Find closed captions and translated subtitles in many languages at http://www.ted.com/translate
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People & Blogs
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Standard YouTube License
I LOVE SEEING YOUNG PEOPLE DO REALLY GREAT THINGS!
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/teen-activist-marley-dias-1000blackgirlbooks-new-book/
CBS NEWS January 30, 2018, 1:49 PM
How 13-year-old Marley Dias is inspiring activism in others
She's an author, public speaker and one of Forbes' "30 under 30" this year – and she's not even in high school yet. After becoming frustrated that she wasn't reading any books in school featuring black main characters, then 10-year-old Marley Dias set out to collect books with characters who looked like her with the #1000BlackGirlBooks campaign. She ended up with more than 10 times that many. Now 13 years old, she has become an author herself with "Marley Dias Gets It Done: And So Can You!" a tale she hopes will inspire others to become activists.
Dias joined "CBS This Morning" to discuss her new book, why she launched a campaign about racial harmony and where she gets her confidence.
marley-dias-cover.jpg
"In the book I talk about it where I'm kind of a perfect mix of everything, and so is everybody else. If you like reading, you are allowed to like to dance and to like to sing and to like to act. Even though I wear glasses, I'm not just a mousy person who stays in my room – even though I do sometimes stay in my room and read," Dias said.
She says she was bothered by the social structures that pushed away from the "intersectionality of being a black person and a woman and a girl."
"They're not including all of us, but they are thinking that because you're black and because you're a woman we are trying to create a system that supports you, but they're not thinking about that point of intersection between the two where I'm a mix of both and that we need to include me in both of those realities and not just one or the other," Dias said.
For the 13-year-old, who says she has a diverse group of friends, it's about making an effort to check one another.
"We try to just be open with each other about whether or not we feel like someone made a joke that was not appropriate or we feel like we were saying something that was not an educated response to a question," Dias said.
She acknowledged that while it makes her sound "really, like, PC or whatever," it's never cut into their ability to have fun.
"So at the same time we try to keep it, you know, loose because not every conversation is going to have perfect knowledge with things that we say, but we want to always stay educated on the things that are happening in our community and the communities that surround us."
In terms of advice for aspiring activists, Dias hopes to remind others that helping even one person with your full energy is just as impactful as what she's achieved.
"I think the biggest thing is that success is not measured by whether or not you're on 'CBS This Morning' or whether or not you make the local news station—" Dias said when "CBS This Morning" co-host Gayle King interrupted and joked, "Wait a second, Marley. Take that back, Marley!"
"I mean that it's not measured by the things, the places that you go.... But by the actual people that you touch and the places you're servicing," she said.
With a long list of accomplishments and a natural grace unmatched by many adults, King asked her where she got such confidence.
"I think the biggest thing, where my passionate-ness comes from, is that I love reading and it is something that I really care about. It's not like I'm talking about football or basketball or dancing – things that I enjoy but are not necessarily my favorite things. I try to say with kids you always, even if you're in the middle about things that you like, pick the stuff that you know you can go on and go on and keep going and keep going. Because it's so much more important to continue with that because you'll feel so much more joy in the things that you do."
© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
WOLVES, DOGS – WHY YOUR DOG SHOULD BE RESTRAINED, AT LEAST AT NIGHT – PREFERABLY IN THE HOUSE WITH YOU. IT’S CRUEL TO KEEP A DOG CHAINED OR PENNED OUTSIDE ON A COLD NIGHT, BUT IT’S NAIVE TO THINK THAT THEY WON’T RUN IN A PACK IF THEY ARE ALLOWED TOTAL FREEDOM. DNA IS MEANINGFUL. HUMAN INTELLIGENCE IS MEANT TO BE USED, IN PRACTICAL WAYS AT LEAST, AND THIS IS INTENSELY PRACTICAL. JUST AS I WOULDN’T OWN A PIT BULL, I ALSO WOULDN’T OWN A SIBERIAN HUSKY. WHY DO SO MANY AMERICANS WANT A LARGE AND AGGRESSIVE ANIMAL – AND THEN DON’T EVEN BOTHER TO PAY THE FEE TO GET HIM PROFESSIONALLY TRAINED? IF YOUR DOG WEIGHS 50 to 75 POUNDS OR MORE, HE IS CAPABLE OF KILLING.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/san-jose-childrens-zoo-california-miniature-horses-donkey-killed-dog-attacks/
CBS NEWS January 31, 2018, 10:09 AM
Dogs kill miniature horses, donkey in attacks at San Jose children’s zoo
Video – Happy Hollow Zoo animals are being moved one by one. Interviews.
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Workers at a children's zoo in San Jose are mourning the loss of several miniature horses and a donkey killed in two mauling attacks in recent weeks. A pack of determined dogs was found to be responsible, CBS SF Bay Area reports.
The Happy Hollow Park and Zoo has been a part of what is now known as Kelley Park in San Jose since the early 1960s. The dog attacks that left the animals dead have hit the zoo staff members and regular visitors hard.
"It's been a tremendous loss to the whole staff -- particularly for the zoo staff who work most closely with those animals. And it's hit our community as well," said Happy Hollow Zoo Director Valerie Regal.
The zoo's four miniature horses had lived happily at Happy Hollow for decades until the first mauling on January 15. A horse named "Sweet William" was killed in that attack.
The zoo was able to identify the attackers, but could not catch the dogs.
"We looked at our security camera footage and figured out that there were three domestic dogs inside the zoo that night," said Regal.
Zoo staff moved the three remaining horses and a donkey to a different enclosure, confident they would be protected by a six-foot chain link fence. But on January 20, to their horror, staff members discovered the dogs had found a way back in, digging under the fence line.
This time, the zoo was able catch the two biggest dogs, but only after they'd suffered a heavy loss with the deaths of three more miniature horses and a Sicilian donkey.
"Those animals touched a lot of lives. They're really going to be missed. So our sympathies go out to everybody," said Regal.
The first dog was found in the same pen where the miniature horses were kept. Animal Control authorities said there was no question the dog was one of the animals involved in the mauling.
The second dog was captured three days after the attack in the general vicinity. Authorities believe it to be one of the dogs seen in the surveillance video.
One smaller dog, likely a Chihuahua, is still loose, but is not considered a threat to other zoo animals. An Animal Control official in San Jose said the two dogs would probably have to be put down.
So far, no owner has stepped forward to claim the two dogs that were caught.
© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
WHY DOGS ARE STILL SOMETIMES DANGEROUS
https://www.snopes.com/dogs-99-percent-wolf/
Never Cry Doge
Domestic dogs split from their wild counterpart, the grey wolf, quite recently by evolutionary timescales. As such, the two animals are remarkably similar from a genetic standpoint.
CLAIM
Dogs and wolves are genetically 99.9% identical.
RATING
TRUE
ORIGIN
The idea that the domestic dog descended from the grey wolf was originally established in 1993 using comparisons of wolf and dog mitochondrial DNA. This investigation showed that no other living animal was more closely related to the domestic dog than the grey wolf:
The domestic dog is an extremely close relative of the grey wolf, differing from it by at most 0.2% of [mitochondrial DNA].
Mitochondrial DNA is passed down by the mother (without any genetic contribution from the father) and changes only through random mutations that occur from generation to generation. Scientists use this much smaller and separate DNA sequence to estimate when populations of animals first diverged and to estimate the evolutionary relationships between organisms.
By the mid-2000s, new technology allowed scientists to map the much longer DNA sequence found on the chromosomes of wolves and dogs — the genes that actually code for physical traits and behaviors. These studies demonstrated a 99.9% similarity (technically 99.96%) between dog and grey wolf, as covered in a 2007 review paper on the topic:
In general, the domestic dog is an extremely close relative of the grey wolf, from which it differs by only ~0.04% in nuclear coding-DNA sequence, and no dog [mitochondrial DNA] sequences have been found that show closer kinship to other canid species.
This similarity is so profound that hybridization often occurs between dogs and wolves. By the biological definition of species, this would mean that the domestic dog is a subspecies of the grey wolf (canis lupus familiaris). There remains some debate, however, as to what the appropriate classification for the domestic dog would be, with some arguing that the domestic dog should be its own distinct species (canis familiaris).
These advances in genetic analysis have allowed scientists as well to pin down the probable timing of the split between these two canid lineages. A study published in 2015, which compared the whole genome sequence of dogs to a 35,000 year old Siberian wolf specimen, suggested the split likely occurred between 27,000 and 40,000 years ago, and that domestic dogs are likely themselves the descendants of a now extinct descendant of grey wolves.
Published:28 October 2016
MOMMY DINO AND BABY DINOS – HOW SWEET!
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dinosaur-tracks-fossils-discovery-goddard-space-flight-center/
By CHIP REID CBS NEWS January 31, 2018, 6:56 PM
Scientist stumbles over dozens of dinosaur tracks in discovery of a lifetime
GREENBELT, Md. -- It's funny the way things happen sometimes. At a place where scientists look far into the future, someone tripped over a piece of the ancient past.
In 2012, Ray Stanford, a dinosaur fossil hunter, made a major discovery -- not in some remote wilderness, but on the grounds of the Goddard Space Flight Center northeast of Washington, D.C.
"Oh, I'm looking down on the most beautiful track of a nodosaur that I've ever seen," he explains.
Right alongside those tracks were the tracks of a baby nodosaur. Martin Lockley, an expert on dinosaur tracks from the University of Colorado, has spent hundreds of hours analyzing one rock.
reid-hd-mat-022.jpg
Ray Stanford, right CBS NEWS
"There are at least 70 clearly identified tracks," he said.
He believes all these animal tracks may have been made in a matter of hours on a typical day, 110 million years ago.
RELATED: Scientists unearth new dinosaur that looks like odd mix of duck, croc, ostrich, swan
Trump's national monument decision could impact dinosaur fossil sites
"There are all these small tracks going around, one, two, three, four, five, walking around. And that's s a chicken- or crow-size carnivorous dinosaur," Lockley explained.
In fact, there are four of them, walking slowly in the same direction, apparently hunting for small mammals whose tracks are also clearly visible. It's one of the densest concentrations of dinosaurs and mammals ever found, and on Wednesday, the extraordinary findings were published in scientific reports.
reid-hd-mat-02.jpg
Looking for dinosaur tracks CBS NEWS
After our interviews, Stanford and Lockley decided to check out another rock in the same area, and it turns out they saw another ancient footprint. They didn't seem surprised, since the say they're everywhere. You just have to know where to look.
© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
WHY I WON’T LET MY TV OR COMPUTER SEE ME NUDE, NOR THE REFRIGERATOR HEAR MY PERSONAL CONVERSATIONS. AN ARTICLE ON THIS SUBJECT LAST YEAR SAID THAT A REFRIGERATOR, A NEW ONE, MAY HAVE RECORDING DEVICES IN IT, FROM WHICH IT SENDS YOUR PERSONAL LIFE OFF TO “THIRD PARTIES.” AN UNIDENTIFIED “THIRD PARTY” IS ALMOST AS BAD AS DARTH VADER – YOU CAN LOOK AT HIM, BUT YOU CAN’T SEE HIS FACE.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/01/31/smartphones-computers-terrorists-intelligence-agency-united-states/1079982001/?csp=chromepush
How the U.S. is using terrorists' smartphones and laptops to defeat them
Jim Michaels, USA TODAY Published 3:23 p.m. ET Jan. 31, 2018
Video -- Residents in the Iraqi city of Mosul are returning home to devastation following the defeat of the Islamic State group in Iraq. Facing billions in construction costs and decades of rebuilding, the source of financial aid remains uncertain. (Dec. 28) AP
BETHESDA, Md. — Smartphones helped terror organizations grow and communicate. Now the devices are contributing to their downfall.
In a nondescript, highly secured building in this Washington suburb, a group of U.S. government technicians and linguists are downloading massive amounts of data from phones, hard drives, CDs and other devices, providing a huge boost to the U.S. intelligence community as it hunts terrorists.
Many of the devices have been captured from battlefields in Iraq and Syria, where the Islamic State has lost virtually all the territory it captured in 2014.
More: State of the Union fact check: U.S.-led coalition has liberated most territory held by ISIS
More: ISIS militants fleeing Syria leave behind a valuable trove of intelligence
More: Now that ISIS is mostly defeated, will U.S. stay in Iraq?
"This is the future," Kolleen Yacoub, director of the National Media Exploitation Center, told USA TODAY in a rare interview at the center’s headquarters.
It was the first time the center, which also supports law enforcement and other agencies, has allowed a journalist into the facility, providing insight into a critical but little known part of the intelligence community.
The center grew from a handful of employees when it was established in 2003 to about 700 today, including offices overseas. It has about 100 linguists.
“The ability to exploit captured electronic hardware is a great capability that we have adopted and expanded and improved tremendously over the past 15 years,” said Jim Howcroft, a retired Marine intelligence officer and director of the terrorism program at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies.
The center in Maryland, managed by the Defense Intelligence Agency, reviews paper documents as well as electronic items.
But it is the proliferation of laptops and cellphones that has fueled the growth in this type of intelligence gathering.
Smartphones hold massive amounts of information critical to intelligence analysts, including photos, telephone numbers, GPS data and Internet searches.
Users generally assume the device won’t be compromised and don’t take precautions to protect the data, Yacoub said.
“What they’re saving on their devices is ground truth,” Yacoub said. “We tend to treat our digital devices, our mobile devices ... as personal items and we don’t lie to them.”
“The adversaries don’t lie to them either,” she said.
The data include videos and photos that help identify militants and their leaders.
Even when a device is damaged or information is deleted, the center's technicians recover 60% to 80% of the data. "Deleted does not mean lost" is one of the center's mottoes.
The amount of data coming into the center has skyrocketed in the past two years, Yacoub said, mainly because of the campaign against the Islamic State, or ISIS.
The data analysis has been particularly helpful in giving intelligence analysts an unprecedented look at how the radical group operated in Iraq and Syria because of the ubiquity of smartphones and the meticulous way ISIS kept records in areas it controlled.
The data include tens of thousands of personnel records on foreign fighters and their families with dates of birth, aliases, phone numbers, jobs and other valuable intelligence.
“They have their own central government in a sense,” Yacoub said.
ISIS had departments that developed drone technology, chemical weapons, finance and propaganda operations. It also kept detailed records on the bureaucracy it created to provide services in areas it controlled.
Some of the terror leaders have been captured fleeing the battlefield with reams of information in the hopes that they can use it to keep the group active or to regroup after the loss of territory.
“If you’re committed to sustaining this organization and you’re going to take your show on the road ... then you’re taking everything you can with you,” Marine Brig. Gen. James Glynn, deputy commanding general of the Special Operations Joint Task Force, said in an interview from Baghdad.
The intelligence is helping analysts map out how the Islamic State may try to evolve.
“If you don’t have a clear understanding of how ISIS is operating today, I don’t think you can really understand where they are going to next,” said Seth Jones, director of the Transnational Threat Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “They are not going to disappear.”
RUBIO TALKS LIKE A MAN WITH GOOD SENSE TO ME AND GENTLEMANLY BEHAVIOR, SO WHEN TRUMP STARTED DUMPING ON HIM, APPARENTLY FOR NO REASON, I HAVE LIKED HIM EVEN MORE SINCE THEN.
IN TRUMP’S STATE OF THE UNION SPEECH LAST NIGHT TRUMP IS QUOTED AS “CLAIMING THAT "A SINGLE IMMIGRANT CAN BRING IN VIRTUALLY UNLIMITED NUMBERS OF DISTANT RELATIVES." A CBS NEWS FACT CHECK REVEALED, HOWEVER, THAT THE CLAIM WAS NOT TRUE.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sen-marco-rubio-on-trump-immigration-plan-firing-chief-of-staff/
By EMILY TILLETT CBS NEWS January 31, 2018, 9:11 AM
Sen. Marco Rubio on president's immigration plan, and why he fired his chief of staff
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, says that Congress needs a "plan B" should Republicans not gain the necessary support to pass President Trump's proposed immigration reform plan. In an interview with "CBS This Morning" Wednesday, Rubio said he believes changes on issues like so-called "chain migration" and the visa lottery should able to pass the Senate with Democratic support.
He added, however, that "if somehow we just can't get those things done, we should have a 'plan B' that basically focuses on border security and focuses on making sure that the people here under DACA now do not lose their status, give them something permanent."
During Tuesday night's State of the Union address, Mr. Trump called for new limits on family or chain migration, claiming that "a single immigrant can bring in virtually unlimited numbers of distant relatives."
A CBS News fact check revealed, however, that the claim was not true. According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, a U.S. citizen can petition for a spouse; unmarried children under 21; sons and daughters who are married and/or over 21; parents, for those 21 and over; and siblings of those 21 and over. A green card holder can petition for spouses, unmarried children under 21, and an unmarried son or daughter of any age.
Rubio said the president's aim to further restrict the number of relatives an immigrant can apply to bring into the United States is a change that "almost every other country in the world now has," adding that it would be a change from "family reunification to the nuclear family."
Rubio also addressed the recent firing of his chief of staff after receiving reports of the aide's "improper conduct" with subordinate staffers.
"Every case is different and people deserve the right of the accused to present their side, in this particular case I was presented with compelling and overwhelming evidence, indisputable, and I needed to act on immediately. You have to act on it immediately once you know something. You can not continue to expose people on your staff to that," Rubio told "CBS This Morning."
The Florida Republican said in a statement that he was made aware of the allegations late last week and flew from Florida to Washington D.C. over the weekend to terminate the aide's employment "effective immediately."
Rubio's office said it "will not be disclosing any further details about the incidents which occurred" at the wishes of those victimized. And Rubio's office plans to notify appropriate congressional and Senate administrative offices of this situation.
"The problem with discussing details, this is why the victims and the people that came forward do not want to be publicly identified," Rubio said.
He added, "If I say enough details about this, people will be able to figure out who it is, it's one of those kinds of cases and so if they ever decide to come forward publicly I will support them 100 percent, but that's not where they are, I'm going to honor it because if i don't, I'm going to tell you what happens, then people will be afraid to come forward because they don't want that to be part of their search engine results for the rest of their lives."
While the release did not mention his fired chief of staff by name, Clint Reed had assumed the position in late 2016.
© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
THE FUN STORY FOR THE DAY
http://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-wales-politics-42891885/bird-flying-around-house-of-commons-interrupts-plaid-mp
Bird flying around House of Commons interrupts Plaid MP
Plaid Cymru's Liz Saville Roberts struggled to compete for MPs' attention as a robin was seen flying around the House of Commons.
The bird was seen flying overhead during Welsh questions before landing on a camera.
Some members were heard "cooing" to try and coax it down before Prime Minister's Questions.
Speaker John Bercow said he thought the robin was "keenly attending" to the Plaid MP's words.
Wales Office Minister Stuart Andrew suggested it was a Bristol City football club mascot trying to interfere with Welsh questions.
January 31. 2018 7h ago
From the section Wales politics
MORE ON: House of Commons
Parliament Buildings, the seat of the Northern Ireland Assembly
NI budget 'must be in place by 8 February'
24 Jan 2018
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show
MADDOW REPORTS
“ARE YOU ON MY TEAM, ROSENSTEIN?”
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 1/31/18
FBI warns against Nunes memo release amid Trump loyalty demands
Rachel Maddow details the lengths to which FBI and DoJ officials have gone to warn Republicans against releasing a memo of classified information assembled by Devin Nunes, and a new report of Donald Trump pressuring officials with questions about loyalty. Duration: 5:50
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 1/31/18
Russia spy chiefs met in U.S. with Trump officials last week
Rachel Maddow reports on yet another instance of Americans learning about a meeting between Russians and Trump officials from reporting in Russian media. In this case Russia intelligence officials violating sanctions law to come to the U.S.
Duration: 10:42
February 1, 2018
AND JANUARY 31.
THE PHOTO OF THE FBI GUY CHRISTOPHER WRAY LOOKS LIKE HE’S READY TO FIGHT AND LOOKING FORWARD TO IT. I HOPE TRUMP WILL JUST TAKE A STEP BACKWARD AS HE SO OFTEN DOES. AT ANY RATE THIS WILL PROBABLY BE INTERESTING.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fbi-director-prepared-to-issue-rebuttal-if-nunes-memo-released-fran-townsend/
CBS NEWS February 1, 2018, 12:00 PM
FBI director prepared to issue rebuttal if Nunes memo released, Fran Townsend says
FBI director Christopher Wray is prepared to issue a rebuttal if the White House releases Rep. Devin Nunes's classified memo alleging inappropriate surveillance of the Trump campaign by the FBI and Justice Department, according to CBS News senior national security analyst Fran Townsend. The FBI issued a statement Wednesday that they have "grave concerns" about the memo and the "material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo's accuracy."
White House weighs release of classified Nunes memo on alleged DOJ, FBI abuses
Townsend, who served as homeland security adviser to President George W. Bush, told "CBS This Morning" she believes the FBI is worried about both the accuracy of the memo's contents and what it may reveal about their sources and methods.
"I think we have to remember the Nunes memo is an advocacy piece. It's not a fact piece. This is Chairman Nunes' summary of what he believes the abuses are. For that reason, it's one-sided," Townsend said.
Townsend, who spent 13 years at the Justice Department, said it's simply "not possible" for one partisan actor to push through a FISA warrant or to obtain one based on a single piece of evidence.
"There's multiple internal reviews in the FBI, there's a legal review at the Justice Department, it goes to the attorney general, or in this case, the deputy who reviews it and then it goes to an independent federal judge who looks at it. No FISA warrant relies on a single piece of evidence. So if the allegation from Chairman Nunes is that they relied solely on the Steele dossier, that's not possible. It never happens," she said.
Earlier this week, FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe stepped down amid mounting pressure from the FBI director.
Townsend also addressed a Washington Post report about an internal Justice Department probe focusing on McCabe's slow handling of a batch of Hillary Clinton's emails uncovered in the late stages of the 2016 campaign.
"My understanding here from sources inside the FBI was initially they believe there might have been as many as 6,000 e-mails some of which may have been classified and there would have had to been an entire process to review that," Townsend said. "I think we shouldn't attribute malice where it might have just been bureaucratic caution."
© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
January 31 and February 1, 2018
News and Views
LIVE NEWS FEED OF ADAM SCHIFF ON “THE MEMO”
SCHIFF REALLY IS ELOQUENT AND PERSUASIVE. HE’S AS GOOD A SPEAKER AS BERNIE SANDERS, BUT A LITTLE LESS CHARISMATIC AND A LOT LESS FEISTY. I WOULD VOTE FOR HIM AS PRESIDENT, VERY PROBABLY, ACCORDING TO WHO ELSE WERE RUNNING. HE’S A VERY GOOD MAN. HE DEFINITELY WOULDN’T SELL THIS COUNTRY DOWN THE RIVER THE WAY TRUMP AND 99% OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY HAVE DONE WITH SUCH A VULGAR AND APPALLING GLEE. SO, TRY TO WATCH THE VIDEO ON YOUTUBE OR THE CBS SITE.
ON THAT DESPICABLE FAKE OF A MEMO, WASHINGTON AND ALL RIGHT-THINKING AMERICANS, ARE IN A MAJOR TURMOIL. POLITICS IS ALWAYS EXCITING, BUT THIS IS OVER THE KIND OF ISSUE WHICH IS DEEPLY SERIOUS, AND DISTURBING INSTEAD OF ENTERTAINING. ALSO, MORE IMPORTANTLY, IT IS ONGOING. THIS IS A TRUE ATTEMPT, WITH TRUMP AT THE HEAD OF THEIR ARMY, TO TAKE OVER AND REVISE THE GOVERNMENTAL SYSTEM THAT HAS PROVEN TO BE A RESILIENT AND WELL-CONSIDERED STRUCTURE.
THE FBI EXPRESSES “GRAVE CONCERNS” BECAUSE OF INCOMPLETE FACTUAL INFORMATION IN THIS NUNES-GENERATED MIXTURE FROM THE HOUSE INVESTIGATION. WHAT WOULD BE THE AIM OF THROWING THAT OUT INTO THE PUBLIC SQUARE? TO STIR UP PARANOID RIGHTIST ANTI-GOVERNMENT SENTIMENT AND ALLOW BOTH THE FBI AND THE MUELLER INVESTIGATION TO BE DISCREDITED IN THE PUBLIC EYE. INDEED, IT UNDERMINES LOGICAL THOUGHT IN THIS COUNTRY. WHO WOULD BENEFIT? DONALD TRUMP, AND THE AMERICAN AND RUSSIAN OLIGARCHS. WHO WILL SUFFER SERIOUS HARM FROM THIS? EVERYBODY ELSE.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/01/31/fbi-grave-concerns-expected-release-nunes-memo/1083218001/?csp=chromepush
FBI has 'grave concerns' about expected release of classified Nunes memo
Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY Published 1:00 p.m. ET Jan. 31, 2018 | Updated 1:22 p.m. ET Jan. 31, 2018
Video -- House Speaker Paul Ryan is defending a vote by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee to release a classified memo on the Russia investigation. (Jan. 30) AP
Photo: Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images)
WASHINGTON —The FBI expressed "grave concerns" Wednesday about the expected release of a classified memo from the House Intelligence Committee that criticizes the Justice Department and FBI abusing their surveillance authority.
"The FBI was provided a limited opportunity to review this memo the day before the committee voted to release it," the bureau said in a statement as the White House considered releasing the document. "As expressed during our initial review, we have grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo’s accuracy."
The House Intelligence Committee's Republican leadership, which drafted the four-page memo, voted to release it Monday, pending a White House review.
The memo was written by Republican staff at the direction of committee chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., and is apparently a summary of some of the intelligence collected by the committee as part of its ongoing probe of the Trump campaign's contacts with Russian officials. Democrats on the committee have complained that the memo cherry-picks information designed to discredit the FBI and Justice Department probes of Trump.
Following his State of the Union address Tuesday, President Trump assured a Republican lawmaker that he was "100 percent" in favor of making public the memo's contents, over the objections of the FBI and DOJ.
On the House floor following the address, Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., asked Trump to "release the memo." In a brief conversation caught on camera, Trump could be overheard replying: "Oh yeah, don't worry, 100 percent." Trump continued speaking after that, but his words were not audible.
FBI Director Christopher Wray and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein voiced their objections Monday to White House Chief of Staff John Kelly.
REPUBLICANS LATELY HAVE BEEN TALKING A LOT ABOUT OUR “DEEP STATE” IN THIS COUNTRY, WHICH THEY FEEL CONSISTS OF A HORRIBLY LIBERAL CHOKEHOLD ON CONSERVATIVE AMERICAN POLICY, BUSINESS AND LEADERSHIP. IT IS CLEAR TO ME, MOST OF MY FRIENDS, AND TO THIS WRITER, BRADLEY BURSTON OF HAARETZ.COM, THAT THE SHOE IS ON THE OTHER FOOT.
READ THIS INTERESTING AND VERY EFFECTIVE OPINION PIECE ON THE TRUE NATURE OF THE GAME. YOU MIGHT THINK THE AGGREGATE ENEMY – THE NEO-NAZIS, MILITIAS, THE HALF-RIDICULOUS AND HALF DANGEROUS LAWLESS GROUPS LIKE “SOVEREIGN CITIZENS --IS A PIT VIPER, BUT IT’S A 30 FOOT ANACONDA, INSTEAD. THE KKK STYLE ATTACK ON THE BEAUTIFUL, GENTEEL, CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA WHICH OCCURRED SO RECENTLY IS A DECLARATION OF WAR; AND WE HAD BETTER GET READY, IF WE LIKE OUR COUNTRY.
I JUST FOUND ANOTHER REALLY IMPRESSIVE IDEA FOR CHANGING THE DIRECTION AND FORCE OF THE HATE-FILLED TREND THAT WE’RE EXPERIENCING RIGHT NOW (AS BEFORE IN THE 1920S AND OTHER TIMES) -- HTTPS://MIC.COM/INTERACTIVES/BLACK-MONUMENTS?UTM_MEDIUM=WEB&UTM_SOURCE=MICPUSH#.BCWV3ISXL.
https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-state-of-the-union-how-trump-putin-and-netanyahu-run-your-life-1.5781097
Opinion The Deep State of the Union: Dictocracy. How Trump, Putin and Netanyahu Run Your Life
They live as royals. They rule as royals. They are above the law. They alone know best. They exalt and exploit religion, but do not practice it. Democracy - the same. They are beholden to oligarchs. Some Russian. Some named Koch. Some named Adelson
Bradley Burston Jan 30, 2018 9:06 PM
Photograph -- U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, May 23, 2017Sebastian Scheiner (AP)
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The inside story of how vicious anti-Semitism quietly aids Moscow’s covert influence campaign in the U.S
No one really wants to live in the 21st Century.
Millennials are inheriting a world in which ice melt threatens to flood great cities, no one anywhere is truly safe from terrorism and random mass murder, the maldistribution of wealth favors a slice of the pie so thin as to be invisible, affordable housing is, in fact, invisible, youth is becoming synonymous with anxiety, life expectancy may actually be going down, male fertility is definitely heading there, and while that's happening, AI 'bots threaten to decide elections, end careers, and, perhaps, at some point, find a way to pull the plug on humanity.
Would any person want a world like this?
Offhand, I can think of three. Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and Benjamin Netanyahu.
Whether you are reading this in the United States, Russia, Israel, or a host of other countries, they are divvying up your life. And the closer you live to them, the more acutely you can feel each of them instituting a very 21st Century system as a substitute for long-established principles of freedom, human rights, and equality.
Their system has all the trappings of democracy. And it is losing all of democracy's substance to a svelte, very 21st Century form of dictatorship.
Let's call it, for the sake of brevity, Dictocracy.
For the United States, Russia, and Israel, Dictocracy has become the real State of the Union. In a sense, considering how offstage and all-encompassing the apparatus involved, perhaps it's more accurate to call it the Deep State of the Union.
Each in his own way, Trump, Putin and Netanyahu are the very model of the modern major autocrat. And wherever you are reading this, you can understand that what's bad for the world may actually work to their advantage.
Why? Because the source of their power is all but bulletproof, and actually thrives on a world gone mad, on an atmosphere of continual threat, on the opioid of modern fundamentalist religion, on a so-far inexhaustible reservoir of resentment, of rage, and of a return to a society which may never have really existed, except in the images and slogans in the speeches of the Indispensible Leader.
Welcome, that is, to the Dictocracy of the Base.
We've learned that to stay in high office, the concept of Majority Rules is outmoded and irrelevant. In 2016, out of an estimated 245 million U.S. citizens of voting age, just 137 million, or less than 56 percent, actually voted. Of those, Hillary Clinton received 65.85 million votes or 48.2 percent, nearly three million more than Trump, at 62.98 million and 46.1 percent.
In 2015, longtime incumbent Netanyahu needed a much smaller minority percentage in order to stay in office – just 23.4 percent of the votes cast. He got it by taking to social media and whipping up racist sentiment against Arab citizens who, he said, were being bused "in droves" for what sounded for the entire world like the subversive purpose of voting.
Meanwhile, perennial winner Putin, who cut his political teeth as the onetime director of Russia's security service, has found other ways to win. One of them is to take your most feared opponent, ban him from running, and jail him.
Since announcing his candidacy in late 2016 for Russia's March, 2018 presidential election, Russian opposition figure and anti-corruption leader Alexei Navalny has twice been physically assaulted, causing him partial blindness. His campaign workers have been literally sealed into their apartments and had their cars vandalized. Election officials have barred Navalny from running over what the Financial Times called "a trumped-up fraud conviction," and he has been arrested repeatedly, most recently on Sunday, while he urged a boycott of the election.
"Low turnout, which could tarnish Mr. Putin's victory and the stage-managed election process, is what the leadership most worries about," the Financial Times remarked in a Monday opinion piece.
What, then, are the Pillars of Dictocracy?
As embodied by Trump, Putin, and Netanyahu – and for that matter, in many other countries these days – you can tell Dictocracies by how their leaders live:
- They live as royals.
- They rule as royals.
- They are above the law.
- They alone know best.
- They exalt and exploit religion, but do not practice it.
- Democracy, the same.
- They are beholden to oligarchs. Some Russian. Some named Koch. Some named Adelson.
This is the true Deep State. This is what runs your life. This is what ruins your life, Forces which may be killing the country, figuratively or literally, such as the settlement movement or the National Rifle Association. Forces which may be molding and manipulating public opinion, such as Fox News Channel, owned by Trump's close associate Rupert Murdoch, and Israel Hayom newspaper, owned by Sheldon Adelson, powerful supporter of both Trump and Netanyahu. In Russia, along with the impact of state-owned television and news agencies, there is widespread self-censorship engendered by the Law on Mass Media.*
[TO READ RUSSIA’S LAW OF MASS MEDIA, GO TO THE WEBSITE GIVEN BELOW. IT ISN’T VERY LONG OR DIFFICULT READING – NOR IS IT BORING!]
The true Deep State is a one-party state, headed by the Irreplaceable Leader. Separation of powers is increasingly cosmetic in nature.
The true Deep State may whip up and take advantage of distrust of and distaste for government officials and the bureaucracy – even of honest and untainted law enforcement officials - even as it circumvents them by placing real power offstage in the hands of family members, financial backers, and other close personal associates of the Dictocrat.
And there's something else. The leaders of Dictocracies have learned to rely on one another. Netanyahu this week proved his mettle as the only reliable liaison between the Russian and American presidents, whose communications have been compromised by allegations of collusion and of improper favors and promises.
To be successful, however, the Dictocracy must never sleep. It must tweet, youtube, post and print its message relentlessly, every hour of every day. The Dictocracy's essential tools, hatred and fear, must be driven home with what appears to be freshness and brand-new heat.
And the enemy du jour must be signaled. Fortunately, the cheerleaders pumping the base will have a wide variety to choose from. In Israel, for example, the Dictocracy effectively exploits anti-Semitism by rebranding it as hatred of the treacherous Semites called Palestinians, and of the treacherous Semites called leftist Jews, here and abroad.
Sadly, for Russia and Israel, where Putin and Netanyahu have been working their Dictocratic magic since the '90s, it may already be too late. For them, Dictocracy may already be all but permanent.
Trump's American Dictocracy, however, is still young and in part unformed. Much will depend on the midterm election on November 6. So much so, that on Monday Republican mega-donors the Koch Brothers let it be known that they will spend some $400 million to back Republicans.
"Let's be frank right up front. These elections are going to be brutally tough,” Emily Seidel, CEO of Americans for Prosperity, the Koch's funding channel, told reporters on Monday.
“We’ve never faced a challenge like this one. Making the environment even more challenging this year are the high unfavorable ratings plaguing both President Trump and the Republican-led Congress."
For the sake of the state of the union, let's hope so.
Bradley Burston
Haaretz Correspondent
[GO TO “http://www.policy.hu/myagmar/Russian_Mass_Media_Law_I.PDF.”
“RUSSIAN MASS MEDIA LAW”
THIS IS A DOCUMENT WRITTEN IN EXCELLENT ENGLISH EDUCATIONALLY ACCESSIBLE TO MOST AMERICANS WHO ATTENDED AS MUCH AS A YEAR OR TWO OF COLLEGE COURSEWORK, OR EVEN HIGH SCHOOL IF THE INDIVIDUAL BOTHERED TO STUDY AND READ AS THEY SHOULD HAVE. WE SHOULD REMEMBER THAT THERE IS NO EDUCATION WHICH CAN OVERCOME A TOTAL LACK OF IMAGINATION AND CURIOSITY. ONLY A GOOD PARENT OR TEACHER CAN DO THAT.
IT IS VERY INTERESTING, AND TOTALLY FAIR AND OPEN IN MY VIEW, EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT IT PROHIBITS THINGS -- PORNOGRAPHIC MATERIAL OR ADVERTISING THE SALE OF DRUGS, VIOLENCE, ETC. ACTUALLY, IT’S ALMOST LIKE OUR AMERICAN NORMS. OUR LAWS (OR THE PARTS OF THE CONSTITUTION WHICH I HAVE SEEN) TEND TO BE WRITTEN, THOUGH, IN A TOTALLY WIDE OPEN WAY THAT ALLOWS THE INSERTION OF WIGGLE ROOM FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO CIRCUMVENT THE LAW -- S/M SEX GROUPS, FASCIST AND RACIST OR OTHERWISE EVIL POLITICAL MATERIAL, VIDEOS OF “MAN/BOY LOVE,” ANIMAL CRUELTY, AND OTHER PURELY INEXCUSABLE EVIL MATERIALS.
PERSONALLY, I ACTUALLY THINK THAT A GENUINE AND CLEAR-CUT PROHIBITION OF DANGEROUS OR ABUSIVE INTELLECTUAL MATERIAL IS SOMETHING WE NEED IN THE USA, ALSO. IF OUR LEGAL FORCES WILL PROHIBIT ALSO THOSE ADS FOR AL QAEDA, NAZISM, ANTI-SEMITISM, BIZARRE AND CRUEL IMAGES SUCH AS THE HORRIFIC “SLENDER MAN” MYTHOLOGY WHICH IS A DANGEROUS TEENAGED FAD THAT IS SO RIDICULOUS THAT I CAN’T BELIEVE ANYBODY REALLY BELIEVES IT, AND OTHER SUCH HARMFUL IDEAS OR GROUPS, I WILL THINK THAT WE HAVE AN INTELLIGENT AND FAIR LIMITATION ON THE EVILS CURRENTLY SO COMMONPLACE ON THE INTERNET.
AS FOR THE “SELF-CENSORSHIP” PANNED IN THIS ARTICLE, WE ALL NEED TO DO THAT TO SOME DEGREE IN ORDER TO MAKE SOCIETY TO WORK. CALLING PEOPLE ANY NUMBER OF DISGUSTING AND RUDE NAMES IS NOT THE SIGN OF A “REAL MAN” BUT OF AN ORDINARY BULLY. LIKEWISE, BEING “NICE” SHOULDN’T GO TO THE POINT OF EMULATING CASPER MILQUETOAST. INDEED, IT IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE FOR A MILQUETOAST TO BE A “GOOD CITIZEN.” A GOOD CITIZEN STANDS UP FOR THE DOWNTRODDEN, FOR FAIRNESS, FOR THE NEEDY.
TRUE AND ACCURATE OR NOT, THIS ARTICLE FROM THE HILL ON "THE MEMO," HAS BEEN SHARED 8,890 TIMES IN THE LAST 45 MINUTES, SO SOME PEOPLE BESIDES ME REALLY DO LIKE IT. ALTHOUGH I WANTED BERNIE SANDERS TO BE CLINTON’S VICE-PRESIDENTIAL CHOICE, ADAM SCHIFF IS A GOOD THINKER AND, FROM WHAT I'VE SEEN, A STATESMAN, LIKE BERNIE.
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/371756-schiff-accuses-nunes-of-sending-trump-edited-memo
Schiff: Nunes gave Trump 'secretly altered' version of memo
BY JOHN BOWDEN - 01/31/18 10:16 PM EST
VIDEO -- FBI warns it has 'grave concerns' about omissions in Nunes memo
TheHill.com
California Rep. Adam Schiff (D) claimed late Wednesday that House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) shared with President Trump a "secretly altered" version of the Republican-crafted memo alleging corrosive abuse of United States surveillance powers by the Justice Department.
Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, made the claims in a letter to Nunes, accusing the committee chair of making "substantive" changes to the confidential memo before sharing it with White House counsel for release.
Those changes, Schiff said, were not approved by the full committee as protocol dictates.
"Discovered late tonight that Chairman Nunes made material changes to the memo he sent to White House – changes not approved by the Committee. White House therefore reviewing a document the Committee has not approved for release." Schiff said in a tweet.
Trump was expected to announce early Friday his decision on releasing the controversial, classified memo. Schiff's letter could delay such a decision.
"This evening the Committee Minority discovered that the classified memorandum shared by the Committee Majority with the White House is not, in fact, the same document that Members of the House of Representatives have been reviewing since January 18, 2018 and that the Committee Majority voted on Monday to release to the public, over objections from the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation," the letter from Schiff reads.
Schiff goes on to say that after Democrats found the document "had been secretly altered," committee Republicans offered them the opportunity to compare the memo sent to the White House with the memo that was made public to all House Members.
According to Schiff, after comparing the two versions "it is clear" that Republicans "made material changes to the version it sent to the White House, which Committee Members were never apprised of, never had the opportunity to review and never approved."
Schiff's letter comes after the FBI denounced the document in a statement earlier Wednesday, saying it has "grave concerns" about the charges made in the memo.
"As expressed during our initial review, we have grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo’s accuracy," the bureau said.
Committee Republicans led by Nunes voted on Monday to release the document to the public, following a review by White House counsel. The memo purportedly details abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) by the U.S. government.
The memo was then turned over to Trump, who is expected to review the document and ultimately decide on whether it is made public.
Committee Democrats have warned that the document is inaccurate, and led by Schiff have drafted their own memo with the intent to counter Republicans' claims. That memo, however, was voted down when Democrats on the committee attempted to make it public.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schummer (D-N.Y.) called on House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to "put an end to this charade" after Schiff sent his letter to Nunes.
"It’s clear that Chairman Nunes will seemingly stop at nothing to undermine the rule of law and interfere with the Russia probe," Schumer said. "He’s been willing to carry the White House’s water, attack our law enforcement and intelligence officials, and now to mislead his House colleagues. If Speaker Ryan cares about the integrity of the House or the rule of law, he will put an end to this charade once and for all.”
- Updated at 10:58 p.m.
SANDERS’ RESPONSE
http://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-state-union-response-live-stream-795711
https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/sanders-responds-to-trump-s-first-state-of-the-union-1.5783541
Home U.S. News
WATCH Bernie Sanders' Blistering Response to Donald Trump's First State of the Union
In a 21-minute long speech streamed on social media, the Vermont senator went through multiple promises made and not fulfilled by Trump
Haaretz and Reuters Jan 31, 2018 2:47 PM
Photograph -- Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) watches during the State of the Union address in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives January 30, 2018 in Washington, DCAlex Wong/Getty Images/AFP
RELATED:
Donald Trump's first State of the Union, full transcript and video
Trump called for unity but his speech highlighted the utterly polarized State of the Union
The Deep State of the Union: Dictocracy. How Trump, Putin and Netanyahu run your life
U.S. Independent Senator Bernie Sanders responded late Tuesday night to President Donald Trump's first State of the Union address to Congress and the American people, calling him "compulsively dishonest" and a "bully".
In a 21-minute long speech streamed on social media, the Vermont senator went through multiple promises made and not fulfilled by Trump since his 2016 election campaign and also pointed out issues he should have talked about but did not during the address. Sanders asked "how can he not talk about the reality that Russia, through cyberwarfare, interfered in our election in 2016?," and questioned his relationship with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
Donald Trump's First State of the Union, Full Transcript and Video
America doesn't want a 'bully' president: Bernie Sanders responds to Trump's speech Reuters
The major party in opposition traditionally broadcasts a rebuttal speech following the U.S. president's annual state of the union address, which is delivered to a joint session of Congress and sums up achievements and goals. Sanders has gone ahead and delivered his own for the second year in a row.
Trump used the hour-and-20-minute speech, given annually by presidents to Congress, to try to overcome doubts about his presidency at a time when he is battling a probe into his campaign's alleged ties with Russia and suffering low job approval ratings. Trump made no mention of the federal probe into whether his campaign colluded with Russia in the 2016 presidential election, a controversy that is dogging his presidency. Trump has denied collusion and has called the probe a "witch hunt."
ANOTHER DEPRESSING NEWS STORY ABOUT POINTLESS VIOLENCE, AND THIS TIME THE MAN IS CHINESE.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/yunsong-zhao-virginia-tech-student-assault-rifle-tried-to-purchase-5000-rounds-ammo-police/
CBS NEWS January 30, 2018, 7:22 PM
Virginia Tech student had assault rifle, tried to purchase 5,000 rounds of ammo: police
Yunsong Zhao MONTGOMERY COUNTY JAIL
Last Updated Jan 31, 2018 12:08 AM EST
BLACKSBURG, Va. -- A 19-year-old Virginia Tech student has been arrested on an illegal firearms charge after attempting to purchase 5,000 rounds of ammunition, authorities said Tuesday. Yunsong Zhao was taken into custody without incident Monday following an investigation that lasted several weeks, a university spokesperson told CBS News.
Zhao has been charged with one count of possessing an assault firearm without having U.S. citizenship, officials said. A university spokesperson said Zhao is no longer a student at the college following the incident.
Zhao has family in China and had been living in Blacksburg, Virginia, for six months at the time of his arrest, CBS affiliate WDBJ reports, citing court documents. He is being held at Montgomery County Jail and will appear in court on March 1.
Police said Zhao also purchased a former police vehicle outfitted with special bumpers and had been researching bulletproof vests, WDBJ reports.
The university said police did not believe there was a threat to the community during the investigation.
"I want to personally thank each and every one of you in assisting us here in our efforts to keep all Hokies safe," Chief Kevin Foust said in a statement posted to Facebook on Monday.
Alvaro Barros, a freshman from Brazil, said he knew Zhao from the university's summer program.
"He seemed like a normal guy, you know what I mean? Just someone trying to make friends and trying to blend in like everyone else," Barros told WDBJ.
"I was just shocked because he doesn't seem like the guy that would do it, not at all," Barros added. "So coming from a different country, you really see how people can be different inside than they are outside."
Max Weinberg, a freshman from Pennsylvania, told the station he was surprised and "kind of scared" that "somebody would try and do something like that."
Last April marked 10 years since a 23-year-old student shot and killed shot 32 people at Virginia Tech. Survivors returned to campus for a series of events that celebrated the lives lost on April 16, 2007.
© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
THE BRUTALIZATION OF “DUMB” ANIMALS (NON-VERBAL) IS SHOCKING. WE DO NOT NEED TO EAT WHALE MEAT ANYMORE, NOR USE WHALE OIL FOR LIGHT IN SMALL LAMPS. IF NATIVE AMERICANS IN ALASKA OR GREEDY CAPITALISTS IN JAPAN STILL KILL WHALES BY THE HUNDREDS, IT IS NOT A NECESSITY. BOTH OF THOSE TWO POPULATIONS STILL DO IT BECAUSE IT IS TRADITIONAL – AN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THEIR GROUP IDENTITY – AND AGAIN, IT IS VOLUNTARY. I WOULD EVEN GO SO FAR AS TO SAY THAT IT IS A GENUINE FORM OF “COMMUNION SERVICE.” IT IS STILL UNACCEPTABLE TO ME. I DON’T BELIEVE IN RITUAL HUMAN SACRIFICE, EITHER. WE CAN STOP THIS, BUT IT DOES TAKE THOUGHT AND THE APPLICATION OF OUR EDUCATION TO ISSUES AS WELL AS TALLYING OUR BANK ACCOUNT.
STORIES OF THE HIGH INTELLIGENCE OF WHALES HAVE BEEN MENTIONED MANY TIMES IN THE LAST 20 PLUS YEARS. WHY HAVEN’T THEY DONE ANY GOOD ABOUT SOLVING THIS PROBLEM OF HUMAN BRUTALITY? BECAUSE WE STILL DON’T BELIEVE THAT “INFERIOR” LIFE FORMS (OR MINORITY PEOPLE) DESERVE EVEN THE MOST BASIC CARE. GET RID OF THEM. THEY TAKE UP MY “ELBOW ROOM.” THEIR WELFARE IS NOT “A PROBLEM.” MONEY RULES. THE HUMAN ABILITY TO CARE ABOUT ANOTHER – ANY OTHER – IS VERY LIMITED, EVEN AMONG OUR MOST WELL-INTENTIONED. IT DISTURBS ME DEEPLY. “HE WHO HAS EARS TO HEAR, LET HIM HEAR! ...” (MATTHEW 11:15).
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2160011-speaking-orca-is-further-proof-they-shouldnt-be-kept-captive/?cmpid=ILC|NSNS|2017_webpush&utm_medium=ILC&utm_source=NSNS&utm_campaign=webpush-orca
INSIGHT 31 January 2018
‘Speaking’ orca is further proof they shouldn’t be kept captive
An orca called Wikie who learned to mimic human speech could teach us a lot about killer whale culture – but that’s no reason to keep orcas in captivity
By Michael Marshall
An orca has apparently learned to mimic a few words of human speech, like “hello” and “bye bye” – although whether or not it is actually making those sounds relies on a bit of very creative listening.
Photograph -- Wikie has been recorded mimicking human words
Eric Gaillard/Reuters
But even if the female orca called Wikie is really capable of mimicking us, it is more than just a cute finding. It sheds light on the mysterious cultures and dialects that orcas have created. And it is further evidence that these remarkable animals shouldn’t be held in captivity.
Orcas are also known as killer whales, although they are actually dolphins. Josep Call at the University of St Andrews, UK, and his colleagues trained Wikie, which lives in an aquarium in France, to copy a range of sounds on command. Wikie quickly learned to do this, and was even able to approximate more
ABOUT THE SCIENTISTS
https://risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk/portal/en/persons/josep-call(e16c323e-1faa-4dc8-8b9c-f6e9432766a2).html
JOSEP CALL
School of Psychology and Neuroscience - Professor in Evolutionary Origins of Mind
Postal address:
School of Psychology & Neuroscience
Westburn Lane
St Andrews
Fife
United Kingdom
Centre for Social Learning & Cognitive Evolution
E-mail: jc276@st-andrews.ac.uk
Direct phone: +44 (0)1334 463608
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-42877067
Science & Environment
The killer whale that can say 'hello' and 'bye bye'
By Helen Briggs
BBC News
January 31, 2018 3 hours ago
A killer whale that can mimic words such as "hello" and "bye bye" is thought to be the first of its kind to copy human speech.
The female learned to "speak" a handful of human words by copying a trainer at a marine park in France.
The animal's repertoire includes the name "Amy" and "one, two, three".
Whales and dolphins are among the few animals other than humans that can learn to produce a novel sound just by hearing it.
"In mammals it is very rare," said Dr Josep Call of the University of St Andrews, a co-researcher on the study.
"Humans obviously are good at it... Interestingly, the mammals that can do best are marine mammals."
The researchers set out to find out whether killer whales could learn new vocalisations by imitating others. They studied a female named Wikie at Marineland Aquarium in Antibes, France.
She was taught to speak human words through her blowhole and can be heard in recordings mimicking words such as hello and Amy, and counting one, two, three, using squawks, shrill whistles or raspberries.
Killer whale 'dialects'
Media captionKiller whale says "hello"
Killer whales are known to live in groups with unique vocal "dialects". They may copy other members of their kind in the wild, although this needs to be tested.
"The killer whale that we studied in captivity was capable of learning vocalisations of other killer whales and also human vocalisations by imitating them," said Dr Call.
"Therefore this result suggests this is also a plausible explanation for how killer whales in the wild learn the vocalisations of other killer whales and how they develop their dialects."
Killer whales in the wildImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image caption
Killer whales in the wild live in pods with distinct dialects
Vocal imitation is a hallmark of human spoken language, yet in other animals it is strikingly rare.
Dolphins and beluga whales are among the few mammals that can copy sounds from other species or each other. Some birds can mimic human speech, notably parrots, but also some members of the crow family.
Dr Jose Abramson, from Complutense University of Madrid in Spain, a co-researcher on the study, said basic "conversations" with Wikie may one day be possible.
"Yes, it's conceivable ... if you have labels, descriptions of what things are," he said. "It has been done before with a famous grey parrot and dolphins using American sign language; sentences like 'bring me this object' or 'put this object above or below the other'."
However, he said we have to be careful about imposing human concepts on animals, as there is more to gain by trying to understand the natural way each species communicates in its own environment.
Wikie made sounds while partially immersed in water with her blowhole exposed to the air. Sounds made under the water may be quite different. And since this was just the one whale, the researchers are unsure whether there are more copy-cat killer whales in the wild.
Killer whalesImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image caption
Killer whales in captivity: they have been known to mimic other animals such as sea lions
Dr Alex Thornton, senior lecturer in cognitive evolution at the University of Exeter, said we still don't fully understand why some animals learn to mimic.
Some animals copy sounds to show off to potential mates, while in others this might help to identify an individual as a member of a group.
"Some whales, for example, learn their calls from one another and so have local vocal dialects that mark them out as members of their social group," said Dr Thornton, who is not connected with the research.
Killer whales, or orcas, are the largest of the dolphins and one of the world's most powerful predators.
They eat marine mammals such as seals, sea lions, and even whales, and are known to grab seals right off the ice.
The experiments are reported in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B.
Follow Helen on Twitter.
THE UNVARNISHED TRUTH ABOUT CYBERBULLYING FROM A COURAGEOUS AND ELOQUENT WOMAN WHO IS NO WORSE THAN THE NEXT OF US. “YE WHO IS WITHOUT SIN, CAST THE FIRST STONE.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_8y0WLm78U
The price of shame | Monica Lewinsky
7,477,798 views
TED
Published on Mar 20, 2015
In 1998, says Monica Lewinsky, “I was Patient Zero of losing a personal reputation on a global scale almost instantaneously.” Today, the kind of online public shaming she went through has become a constant. In a brave talk, she takes a look at our “culture of humiliation,” in which online shame equals dollar signs — and demands a different way.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more.
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I LOVE SEEING YOUNG PEOPLE DO REALLY GREAT THINGS!
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/teen-activist-marley-dias-1000blackgirlbooks-new-book/
CBS NEWS January 30, 2018, 1:49 PM
How 13-year-old Marley Dias is inspiring activism in others
She's an author, public speaker and one of Forbes' "30 under 30" this year – and she's not even in high school yet. After becoming frustrated that she wasn't reading any books in school featuring black main characters, then 10-year-old Marley Dias set out to collect books with characters who looked like her with the #1000BlackGirlBooks campaign. She ended up with more than 10 times that many. Now 13 years old, she has become an author herself with "Marley Dias Gets It Done: And So Can You!" a tale she hopes will inspire others to become activists.
Dias joined "CBS This Morning" to discuss her new book, why she launched a campaign about racial harmony and where she gets her confidence.
marley-dias-cover.jpg
"In the book I talk about it where I'm kind of a perfect mix of everything, and so is everybody else. If you like reading, you are allowed to like to dance and to like to sing and to like to act. Even though I wear glasses, I'm not just a mousy person who stays in my room – even though I do sometimes stay in my room and read," Dias said.
She says she was bothered by the social structures that pushed away from the "intersectionality of being a black person and a woman and a girl."
"They're not including all of us, but they are thinking that because you're black and because you're a woman we are trying to create a system that supports you, but they're not thinking about that point of intersection between the two where I'm a mix of both and that we need to include me in both of those realities and not just one or the other," Dias said.
For the 13-year-old, who says she has a diverse group of friends, it's about making an effort to check one another.
"We try to just be open with each other about whether or not we feel like someone made a joke that was not appropriate or we feel like we were saying something that was not an educated response to a question," Dias said.
She acknowledged that while it makes her sound "really, like, PC or whatever," it's never cut into their ability to have fun.
"So at the same time we try to keep it, you know, loose because not every conversation is going to have perfect knowledge with things that we say, but we want to always stay educated on the things that are happening in our community and the communities that surround us."
In terms of advice for aspiring activists, Dias hopes to remind others that helping even one person with your full energy is just as impactful as what she's achieved.
"I think the biggest thing is that success is not measured by whether or not you're on 'CBS This Morning' or whether or not you make the local news station—" Dias said when "CBS This Morning" co-host Gayle King interrupted and joked, "Wait a second, Marley. Take that back, Marley!"
"I mean that it's not measured by the things, the places that you go.... But by the actual people that you touch and the places you're servicing," she said.
With a long list of accomplishments and a natural grace unmatched by many adults, King asked her where she got such confidence.
"I think the biggest thing, where my passionate-ness comes from, is that I love reading and it is something that I really care about. It's not like I'm talking about football or basketball or dancing – things that I enjoy but are not necessarily my favorite things. I try to say with kids you always, even if you're in the middle about things that you like, pick the stuff that you know you can go on and go on and keep going and keep going. Because it's so much more important to continue with that because you'll feel so much more joy in the things that you do."
© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
WOLVES, DOGS – WHY YOUR DOG SHOULD BE RESTRAINED, AT LEAST AT NIGHT – PREFERABLY IN THE HOUSE WITH YOU. IT’S CRUEL TO KEEP A DOG CHAINED OR PENNED OUTSIDE ON A COLD NIGHT, BUT IT’S NAIVE TO THINK THAT THEY WON’T RUN IN A PACK IF THEY ARE ALLOWED TOTAL FREEDOM. DNA IS MEANINGFUL. HUMAN INTELLIGENCE IS MEANT TO BE USED IN PRACTICAL WAYS AT LEAST, AND THIS IS INTENSELY PRACTICAL. JUST AS I WOULDN’T OWN A PIT BULL, I ALSO WOULDN’T OWN A SIBERIAN HUSKY. WHY DO SO MANY AMERICANS WANT A LARGE AND AGGRESSIVE ANIMAL – AND THEN DON’T EVEN BOTHER TO PAY THE FEE TO GET HIM PROFESSIONALLY TRAINED? IF YOUR DOG WEIGHS 50 to 75 POUNDS OR MORE, HE IS CAPABLE OF KILLING.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/san-jose-childrens-zoo-california-miniature-horses-donkey-killed-dog-attacks/
CBS NEWS January 31, 2018, 10:09 AM
Dogs kill miniature horses, donkey in attacks at San Jose children’s zoo
Video – Happy Hollow Zoo animals are being moved one by one. Interviews.
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Workers at a children's zoo in San Jose are mourning the loss of several miniature horses and a donkey killed in two mauling attacks in recent weeks. A pack of determined dogs was found to be responsible, CBS SF Bay Area reports.
The Happy Hollow Park and Zoo has been a part of what is now known as Kelley Park in San Jose since the early 1960s. The dog attacks that left the animals dead have hit the zoo staff members and regular visitors hard.
"It's been a tremendous loss to the whole staff -- particularly for the zoo staff who work most closely with those animals. And it's hit our community as well," said Happy Hollow Zoo Director Valerie Regal.
The zoo's four miniature horses had lived happily at Happy Hollow for decades until the first mauling on January 15. A horse named "Sweet William" was killed in that attack.
The zoo was able to identify the attackers, but could not catch the dogs.
"We looked at our security camera footage and figured out that there were three domestic dogs inside the zoo that night," said Regal.
Zoo staff moved the three remaining horses and a donkey to a different enclosure, confident they would be protected by a six-foot chain link fence. But on January 20, to their horror, staff members discovered the dogs had found a way back in, digging under the fence line.
This time, the zoo was able catch the two biggest dogs, but only after they'd suffered a heavy loss with the deaths of three more miniature horses and a Sicilian donkey.
"Those animals touched a lot of lives. They're really going to be missed. So our sympathies go out to everybody," said Regal.
The first dog was found in the same pen where the miniature horses were kept. Animal Control authorities said there was no question the dog was one of the animals involved in the mauling.
The second dog was captured three days after the attack in the general vicinity. Authorities believe it to be one of the dogs seen in the surveillance video.
One smaller dog, likely a Chihuahua, is still loose, but is not considered a threat to other zoo animals. An Animal Control official in San Jose said the two dogs would probably have to be put down.
So far, no owner has stepped forward to claim the two dogs that were caught.
© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
WHY DOGS ARE STILL SOMETIMES DANGEROUS
https://www.snopes.com/dogs-99-percent-wolf/
Never Cry Doge
Domestic dogs split from their wild counterpart, the grey wolf, quite recently by evolutionary timescales. As such, the two animals are remarkably similar from a genetic standpoint.
CLAIM
Dogs and wolves are genetically 99.9% identical.
RATING
TRUE
ORIGIN
The idea that the domestic dog descended from the grey wolf was originally established in 1993 using comparisons of wolf and dog mitochondrial DNA. This investigation showed that no other living animal was more closely related to the domestic dog than the grey wolf:
The domestic dog is an extremely close relative of the grey wolf, differing from it by at most 0.2% of [mitochondrial DNA].
Mitochondrial DNA is passed down by the mother (without any genetic contribution from the father) and changes only through random mutations that occur from generation to generation. Scientists use this much smaller and separate DNA sequence to estimate when populations of animals first diverged and to estimate the evolutionary relationships between organisms.
By the mid-2000s, new technology allowed scientists to map the much longer DNA sequence found on the chromosomes of wolves and dogs — the genes that actually code for physical traits and behaviors. These studies demonstrated a 99.9% similarity (technically 99.96%) between dog and grey wolf, as covered in a 2007 review paper on the topic:
In general, the domestic dog is an extremely close relative of the grey wolf, from which it differs by only ~0.04% in nuclear coding-DNA sequence, and no dog [mitochondrial DNA] sequences have been found that show closer kinship to other canid species.
This similarity is so profound that hybridization often occurs between dogs and wolves. By the biological definition of species, this would mean that the domestic dog is a subspecies of the grey wolf (canis lupus familiaris). There remains some debate, however, as to what the appropriate classification for the domestic dog would be, with some arguing that the domestic dog should be its own distinct species (canis familiaris).
These advances in genetic analysis have allowed scientists as well to pin down the probable timing of the split between these two canid lineages. A study published in 2015, which compared the whole genome sequence of dogs to a 35,000 year old Siberian wolf specimen, suggested the split likely occurred between 27,000 and 40,000 years ago, and that domestic dogs are likely themselves the descendants of a now extinct descendant of grey wolves.
Published:28 October 2016
TRANSPORTATION SPECIALISTS SAY THAT CAR TRAVEL IS MORE LIKELY TO KILL THE INDIVIDUAL TRAVELER (STATISTICALLY THAT IS) THAN EITHER TRAINS OR AIR CRASHES. WHEN SOMETHING LIKE THIS OCCURS, THOUGH, IT FEELS CONSIDERABLY LESS COMFORTABLE THAN THAT PARTICULAR LIKELIHOOD.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/01/31/train-carrying-gop-lawmakers-collides-truck-injuries-appear-limited/1082815001/?csp=chromepush
Train carrying GOP lawmakers collides with truck; injuries appear limited
Jessica Estepa, USA TODAY Published 11:46 a.m. ET Jan. 31, 2018 | Updated 11:46 a.m. ET Jan. 31, 2018
(Photo: LAURA PETERS/THE NEWS LEADER)
A train carrying dozens of GOP lawmakers to a retreat in West Virginia struck a garbage truck on Wednesday. No lawmakers were reported to be injured, but the White House said one person was killed and another was seriously injured. (Jan. 31) AP
Republican members of Congress jumped into action after their train collided with a garbage truck in rural Virginia on Wednesday, in a crash that left one person dead and others wounded. Two lawmakers administered CPR and others carried an injured person across the train tracks.
The train carrying lawmakers to a Republican retreat in West Virginia collided with a vehicle on the tracks in Crozet, Va., a town about 126 miles away from Washington, D.C.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders confirmed there is one confirmed fatality and one serious injury from the crash, and noted that no members of Congress or their staff were seriously hurt or killed.
President Trump, who is also scheduled to travel to West Virginia on Air Force One for the Republican retreat Thursday, has been fully briefed and is receiving regular updates, Sanders said. "It was a pretty rough hit. That's what they all tell me," Trump said, describing the collision as a “tremendous jolt.”
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The National Transportation Safety Board said later Wednesday it was launching an investigation into the crash.
The garbage truck struck by the train was destroyed, and debris littered the field nearby. The crossing for the track has a guard bar and signal lights. More than an hour after the wreck, some passengers were being removed from the train and loaded into ambulances.
The members of Congress who have medical training helped treat the injured, according to Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana.
Cassidy, who was dozing on the train when he heard a loud sound and felt a bump before the train slid to a stop, worked his way through the cars and finally found an open door.
Outside, he found several of his colleagues who are also physicians, including Texas Rep. Mike Burgess and Ohio Rep. Brad Wenstrup, treating the injured.
Wenstrup said the man he assisted was bleeding from his nose and around his mouth. Cassidy elevated the man's legs, and Burgess pitched in.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., (second to the right) helps others transport an injured person after a train crash in Virginia.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., (second to the right) helps others transport an injured person after a train crash in Virginia. (Photo: Justin Ide, public information officer for the Crozet Volunteer Fire Department)
Soon after, the lawmakers and others carried the man across the train tracks to an ambulance.
"Hopefully, he will make it," Wenstrup said.
Wenstrup — who also helped Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana after a gunman opened fired on Republicans last year — said he never expected to use his medical skills as a lawmaker.
"By the grace of god, they won’t be needed in this capacity again," he said.
Also at the train scene, Reps. Roger Marshall of Kansas and Phil Roe of Tennessee, both doctors, administered CPR on the garbage truck driver, according to Marshall's office.
Dr. Roger Marshall
✔
@RogerMarshallMD
The train hit a garbage truck, they're asking for doctors on the trains to help. Right now Dr. Marshall is helping people who are injured.
11:40 AM - Jan 31, 2018
34 34 Replies 258 258 Retweets 307 307 likes
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Roe's office confirmed that one victim the Tennessee Republican tried to help died afterward.
The University of Virginia Health System said people were transported to the UVA Medical Center in Charlottesville. One person was in critical condition, while the others were being evaluated.
Some members of Congress sustained more minor injuries.
Rep. Chuck Fleischmann was on his way to the restroom when the train hit. The Tennessee congressman was thrown around and suffered neck, back and foot injuries.
“I’m in a bit of shock right now,” Flesichmann said in a phone call from the scene, where he was being treated for his injuries. “I’m in a whole lot of pain and discomfort.”
“When this thing hit, I got thrown,” he said. “It’s kind of chaotic right now."
The retreat will still take place this weekend, according to the Congressional Institute. The program will include a prayer for those affected by the crash, as well as a security briefing. Lawmakers were taken to Charlottesville, Va., where they boarded buses to the retreat.
The U.S. Capitol Police, state and local authorities were investigating the scene, while the Amtrak crew was checking the train for damage.
The Trump administration was in contact with Amtrak and state and local authorities, Sanders said, and the president said he spoke with House Speaker Paul Ryan about the tragedy.
Ryan, R-Wis., called the collision a "terrible tragedy."
"We are grateful for the first responders who rushed to the scene and we pray for the victims and their families," said Ryan, who was onboard the train. "May they all be in our thoughts now."
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he and his colleagues were saddened by the event, and he thanked the first responders who came to the scene.
“It is impossible to overstate how much we Americans owe to our brave first responders – today and every day," he said in a statement.
In the aftermath of the collision, some members of Congress tweeted from the train that they weren't injured.
Rep. Don Bacon
✔
@RepDonBacon
I am on the train, but I am okay. https://twitter.com/jakesherman/status/958739504269021184 …
11:35 AM - Jan 31, 2018
101 101 Replies 198 198 Retweets 528 528 likes
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Rep. Bradley Byrne
✔
@RepByrne
The train carrying GOP members to our retreat had a collision, but Rebecca and I are both okay. Security and doctors on board are helping secure the scene and treat injuries.
11:37 AM - Jan 31, 2018
70 70 Replies 182 182 Retweets 272 272 likes
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Fred Upton
✔
@RepFredUpton
The train carrying GOP members to our retreat had a collision. Amey and I are both OK. Docs and security on board are helping secure the scene.
11:53 AM - Jan 31, 2018
8 8 Replies 57 57 Retweets 65 65 likes
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Pete Sessions
✔
@PeteSessions
Karen, my staff members, and I are all on the train to the GOP conference and we are all safe.
11:39 AM - Jan 31, 2018
56 56 Replies 227 227 Retweets 594 594 likes
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Steve Daines
✔
@SteveDaines
On the train and okay. Prayers for the drivers of the truck.
11:46 AM - Jan 31, 2018
31 31 Replies 57 57 Retweets 185 185 likes
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Sarah Evancho, who lives nearby, heard a boom when the crash happened. It's trash day, and the truck had just picked up garbage at her house.
"I'm just heartbroken for this man and his family," Evancho, who is a local pastor, said of the victim. "This doesn't happen here."
Contributing: Gregory Korte, USA TODAY; Laura Peters, the (Staunton, Va.,) News Leader
MOMMY DINO AND BABY DINOS – HOW SWEET!
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dinosaur-tracks-fossils-discovery-goddard-space-flight-center/
By CHIP REID CBS NEWS January 31, 2018, 6:56 PM
Scientist stumbles over dozens of dinosaur tracks in discovery of a lifetime
GREENBELT, Md. -- It's funny the way things happen sometimes. At a place where scientists look far into the future, someone tripped over a piece of the ancient past.
In 2012, Ray Stanford, a dinosaur fossil hunter, made a major discovery -- not in some remote wilderness, but on the grounds of the Goddard Space Flight Center northeast of Washington, D.C.
"Oh, I'm looking down on the most beautiful track of a nodosaur that I've ever seen," he explains.
Right alongside those tracks were the tracks of a baby nodosaur. Martin Lockley, an expert on dinosaur tracks from the University of Colorado, has spent hundreds of hours analyzing one rock.
reid-hd-mat-022.jpg
Ray Stanford, right CBS NEWS
"There are at least 70 clearly identified tracks," he said.
He believes all these animal tracks may have been made in a matter of hours on a typical day, 110 million years ago.
RELATED: Scientists unearth new dinosaur that looks like odd mix of duck, croc, ostrich, swan
Trump's national monument decision could impact dinosaur fossil sites
"There are all these small tracks going around, one, two, three, four, five, walking around. And that's s a chicken- or crow-size carnivorous dinosaur," Lockley explained.
In fact, there are four of them, walking slowly in the same direction, apparently hunting for small mammals whose tracks are also clearly visible. It's one of the densest concentrations of dinosaurs and mammals ever found, and on Wednesday, the extraordinary findings were published in scientific reports.
reid-hd-mat-02.jpg
Looking for dinosaur tracks CBS NEWS
After our interviews, Stanford and Lockley decided to check out another rock in the same area, and it turns out they saw another ancient footprint. They didn't seem surprised, since the say they're everywhere. You just have to know where to look.
© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
WHY I WON’T LET MY TV OR COMPUTER SEE ME NUDE, NOR THE REFRIGERATOR HEAR MY PERSONAL CONVERSATIONS. AN ARTICLE ON THIS SUBJECT LAST YEAR SAID THAT A REFRIGERATOR, A NEW ONE, MAY HAVE RECORDING DEVICES IN THEM, FROM WHICH IT SENDS YOUR PERSONAL LIFE OFF TO “THIRD PARTIES.” AN UNIDENTIFIED “THIRD PARTY” IS ALMOST AS BAD AS DARTH VADER – YOU CAN LOOK AT HIM, BUT YOU CAN’T SEE HIS FACE.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/01/31/smartphones-computers-terrorists-intelligence-agency-united-states/1079982001/?csp=chromepush
How the U.S. is using terrorists' smartphones and laptops to defeat them
Jim Michaels, USA TODAY Published 3:23 p.m. ET Jan. 31, 2018
Video -- Residents in the Iraqi city of Mosul are returning home to devastation following the defeat of the Islamic State group in Iraq. Facing billions in construction costs and decades of rebuilding, the source of financial aid remains uncertain. (Dec. 28) AP
BETHESDA, Md. — Smartphones helped terror organizations grow and communicate. Now the devices are contributing to their downfall.
In a nondescript, highly secured building in this Washington suburb, a group of U.S. government technicians and linguists are downloading massive amounts of data from phones, hard drives, CDs and other devices, providing a huge boost to the U.S. intelligence community as it hunts terrorists.
Many of the devices have been captured from battlefields in Iraq and Syria, where the Islamic State has lost virtually all the territory it captured in 2014.
More: State of the Union fact check: U.S.-led coalition has liberated most territory held by ISIS
More: ISIS militants fleeing Syria leave behind a valuable trove of intelligence
More: Now that ISIS is mostly defeated, will U.S. stay in Iraq?
"This is the future," Kolleen Yacoub, director of the National Media Exploitation Center, told USA TODAY in a rare interview at the center’s headquarters.
It was the first time the center, which also supports law enforcement and other agencies, has allowed a journalist into the facility, providing insight into a critical but little known part of the intelligence community.
The center grew from a handful of employees when it was established in 2003 to about 700 today, including offices overseas. It has about 100 linguists.
“The ability to exploit captured electronic hardware is a great capability that we have adopted and expanded and improved tremendously over the past 15 years,” said Jim Howcroft, a retired Marine intelligence officer and director of the terrorism program at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies.
The center in Maryland, managed by the Defense Intelligence Agency, reviews paper documents as well as electronic items.
But it is the proliferation of laptops and cellphones that has fueled the growth in this type of intelligence gathering.
Smartphones hold massive amounts of information critical to intelligence analysts, including photos, telephone numbers, GPS data and Internet searches.
Users generally assume the device won’t be compromised and don’t take precautions to protect the data, Yacoub said.
“What they’re saving on their devices is ground truth,” Yacoub said. “We tend to treat our digital devices, our mobile devices ... as personal items and we don’t lie to them.”
“The adversaries don’t lie to them either,” she said.
The data include videos and photos that help identify militants and their leaders.
Even when a device is damaged or information is deleted, the center's technicians recover 60% to 80% of the data. "Deleted does not mean lost" is one of the center's mottoes.
The amount of data coming into the center has skyrocketed in the past two years, Yacoub said, mainly because of the campaign against the Islamic State, or ISIS.
The data analysis has been particularly helpful in giving intelligence analysts an unprecedented look at how the radical group operated in Iraq and Syria because of the ubiquity of smartphones and the meticulous way ISIS kept records in areas it controlled.
The data include tens of thousands of personnel records on foreign fighters and their families with dates of birth, aliases, phone numbers, jobs and other valuable intelligence.
“They have their own central government in a sense,” Yacoub said.
ISIS had departments that developed drone technology, chemical weapons, finance and propaganda operations. It also kept detailed records on the bureaucracy it created to provide services in areas it controlled.
Some of the terror leaders have been captured fleeing the battlefield with reams of information in the hopes that they can use it to keep the group active or to regroup after the loss of territory.
“If you’re committed to sustaining this organization and you’re going to take your show on the road ... then you’re taking everything you can with you,” Marine Brig. Gen. James Glynn, deputy commanding general of the Special Operations Joint Task Force, said in an interview from Baghdad.
The intelligence is helping analysts map out how the Islamic State may try to evolve.
“If you don’t have a clear understanding of how ISIS is operating today, I don’t think you can really understand where they are going to next,” said Seth Jones, director of the Transnational Threat Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “They are not going to disappear.”
RUBIO TALKS LIKE A MAN WITH SOME GOOD SENSE TO ME AND GENTLEMANLY BEHAVIOR, SO WHEN TRUMP STARTED DUMPING ON HIM, APPARENTLY FOR NO REASON, I HAVE LIKED HIM EVEN MORE SINCE THEN.
IN TRUMP’S STATE OF THE UNION SPEECH LAST NIGHT TRUMP IS QUOTED AS “CLAIMING THAT "A SINGLE IMMIGRANT CAN BRING IN VIRTUALLY UNLIMITED NUMBERS OF DISTANT RELATIVES." A CBS NEWS FACT CHECK REVEALED, HOWEVER, THAT THE CLAIM WAS NOT TRUE.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sen-marco-rubio-on-trump-immigration-plan-firing-chief-of-staff/
By EMILY TILLETT CBS NEWS January 31, 2018, 9:11 AM
Sen. Marco Rubio on president's immigration plan, and why he fired his chief of staff
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, says that Congress needs a "plan B" should Republicans not gain the necessary support to pass President Trump's proposed immigration reform plan. In an interview with "CBS This Morning" Wednesday, Rubio said he believes changes on issues like so-called "chain migration" and the visa lottery should able to pass the Senate with Democratic support.
He added, however, that "if somehow we just can't get those things done, we should have a 'plan B' that basically focuses on border security and focuses on making sure that the people here under DACA now do not lose their status, give them something permanent."
During Tuesday night's State of the Union address, Mr. Trump called for new limits on family or chain migration, claiming that "a single immigrant can bring in virtually unlimited numbers of distant relatives."
A CBS News fact check revealed, however, that the claim was not true. According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, a U.S. citizen can petition for a spouse; unmarried children under 21; sons and daughters who are married and/or over 21; parents, for those 21 and over; and siblings of those 21 and over. A green card holder can petition for spouses, unmarried children under 21, and an unmarried son or daughter of any age.
Rubio said the president's aim to further restrict the number of relatives an immigrant can apply to bring into the United States is a change that "almost every other country in the world now has," adding that it would be a change from "family reunification to the nuclear family."
Rubio also addressed the recent firing of his chief of staff after receiving reports of the aide's "improper conduct" with subordinate staffers.
"Every case is different and people deserve the right of the accused to present their side, in this particular case I was presented with compelling and overwhelming evidence, indisputable, and I needed to act on immediately. You have to act on it immediately once you know something. You can not continue to expose people on your staff to that," Rubio told "CBS This Morning."
The Florida Republican said in a statement that he was made aware of the allegations late last week and flew from Florida to Washington D.C. over the weekend to terminate the aide's employment "effective immediately."
Rubio's office said it "will not be disclosing any further details about the incidents which occurred" at the wishes of those victimized. And Rubio's office plans to notify appropriate congressional and Senate administrative offices of this situation.
"The problem with discussing details, this is why the victims and the people that came forward do not want to be publicly identified," Rubio said.
He added, "If I say enough details about this, people will be able to figure out who it is, it's one of those kinds of cases and so if they ever decide to come forward publicly I will support them 100 percent, but that's not where they are, I'm going to honor it because if i don't, I'm going to tell you what happens, then people will be afraid to come forward because they don't want that to be part of their search engine results for the rest of their lives."
While the release did not mention his fired chief of staff by name, Clint Reed had assumed the position in late 2016.
© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
THE FUN STORY FOR THE DAY
http://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-wales-politics-42891885/bird-flying-around-house-of-commons-interrupts-plaid-mp
Bird flying around House of Commons interrupts Plaid MP
Plaid Cymru's Liz Saville Roberts struggled to compete for MPs' attention as a robin was seen flying around the House of Commons.
The bird was seen flying overhead during Welsh questions before landing on a camera.
Some members were heard "cooing" to try and coax it down before Prime Minister's Questions.
Speaker John Bercow said he thought the robin was "keenly attending" to the Plaid MP's words.
Wales Office Minister Stuart Andrew suggested it was a Bristol City football club mascot trying to interfere with Welsh questions.
January 31. 2018 7h ago
From the section Wales politics
MORE ON: House of Commons
Parliament Buildings, the seat of the Northern Ireland Assembly
NI budget 'must be in place by 8 February'
24 Jan 2018
MADDOW REPORTS
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show
“ARE YOU ON MY TEAM, ROSENSTEIN?”
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 1/31/18
FBI warns against Nunes memo release amid Trump loyalty demands
Rachel Maddow details the lengths to which FBI and DoJ officials have gone to warn Republicans against releasing a memo of classified information assembled by Devin Nunes, and a new report of Donald Trump pressuring officials with questions about loyalty. Duration: 5:50
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 1/31/18
FOR SOME REASON, THIS WAS KEPT SECRET, AND ONLY ANNOUNCED BY RUSSIA. WHAT THE HECK IS HAPPENING TO THE USA, REALLY!
Russia spy chiefs met in U.S. with Trump officials last week
Rachel Maddow reports on yet another instance of Americans learning about a meeting between Russians and Trump officials from reporting in Russian media. In this case Russia intelligence officials violating sanctions law to come to the U.S.
Duration: 10:42
“‘ALL SHOULD APPRECIATE THE FBI SPEAKING UP. I WISH MORE OF OUR LEADERS WOULD. BUT TAKE HEART: AMERICAN HISTORY SHOWS THAT, IN THE LONG RUN, WEASELS AND LIARS NEVER HOLD THE FIELD, SO LONG AS GOOD PEOPLE STAND UP. NOT A LOT OF SCHOOLS OR STREETS NAMED FOR JOE MCCARTHY.”
— JAMES COMEY (@COMEY) FEBRUARY 1, 2018
THAT IS A REFLECTION OF HOW TENSE THIS CONTROVERSY HAS BECOME.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/impending-release-of-classified-nunes-memo-hits-nerves-in-washington/
By JEFF PEGUES CBS NEWS February 1, 2018, 6:36 PM
Impending release of classified Nunes memo frays nerves in Washington
WASHINGTON -- President Trump is expected to make public Friday a classified memo about the Russia investigation, which was written by the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Mr. Trump would be doing it over the objections of Democrats and the FBI.
The impending release of the memo has touched raw nerves in Washington. Throughout the day on Thursday, the White House batted down rumors FBI Director Christopher Wray was going to resign in protest.
House Intel releases transcript from meeting on secret memo
FBI director prepared to issue rebuttal if Nunes memo released, Fran Townsend says
GOP House Intel memo: Trump is "okay" with publishing the secret memo
Releasing the information, which is based on classified intelligence, would be unusual.
The memo covers events during the 2016 campaign, when the FBI and the Department of Justice went to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) to get a warrant to monitor then-Trump campaign advisor Carter Page, who was suspected of having illegal contacts with Russian operatives.
The four-page memo, authorized by Republican Rep. Devin Nunes, the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, outlines alleged surveillance abuses. It has deepened a severe partisan divide.
Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the committee, says the document presents a distorted and unfair picture of how the FBI behaved, and jeopardizes the special counsel's Russia investigation.
"They ought to be sending the message instead to the White House that were the president to fire Bob Mueller or Rod Rosenstein, that would be considered obstruction of justice and it would bring down the administration," Schiff said, referring to the special counsel and the deputy attorney general, who is overseeing the Russia probe.
House Speaker Paul Ryan denied the memo is politically motivated.
"The memo is not an indictment of the FBI, the Department of Justice," Ryan said at a GOP retreat Thursday. "What it is, is Congress' legitimate function of oversight to make sure the FISA process is being used correctly."
Whether the FBI director will go to the mat to prevent the memo's release remains an open question.
"I'm not sure that this is that die-in-the-ditch moment for Chris Wray," said Chris Swecker, former assistant director of the bureau. "I think he would resign if this were something that he really, really felt strongly about."
Thursday evening, former FBI Director James Comey -- who was fired by the president -- weighed in:
All should appreciate the FBI speaking up. I wish more of our leaders would. But take heart: American history shows that, in the long run, weasels and liars never hold the field, so long as good people stand up. Not a lot of schools or streets named for Joe McCarthy.
— James Comey (@Comey) February 1, 2018
That is a reflection of how tense this controversy has become.
© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
nunes memo text
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/james-comey-responds-to-nunes-memo-thats-it/
CBS NEWS
February 2, 2018, 4:31 PM
James Comey responds to Nunes memo: "That's it?"
schiff memo text
https://www.yahoo.com/news/yahoo-news-michael-isikoff-describes-crucial-meeting-cited-nunes-memo-231005733.html?soc_trk=gcm&soc_src=5e53fef9-5fa4-39a8-abc4-01c97ce294c4&.tsrc=notification-brknews
CBS NEWS February 2, 2018, 4:31 PM
James Comey responds to Nunes memo: "That's it?"
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/in-memo-wars-house-intel-democrats-face-uphill-battle/
By OLIVIA VICTORIA GAZIS CBS NEWS February 1, 2018, 11:01 PM
In memo wars, House Intel Democrats face uphill battle
Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee are now closer to releasing a classified surveillance memo over the objections of Democrats on the committee, who face limited options to contain the expected fallout from the memo's release. In an interview with CBS News, the committee's top Democrat, Adam Schiff, D-California, outlined the minority's strategy -- mainly, pressing Republicans to simultaneously release the Democrats' 10-page rebuttal memo, which Schiff says "sets out the proper context."
The majority's memo, which was written by Chairman Devin Nunes' staff, is said to allege that the FBI relied on an unverified dossier compiled by former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele to wrongly secure surveillance warrants under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). But Democrats on the committee say the GOP-backed memo amounts to Republican spin and selectively uses classified information to undermine the work of special counsel Robert Mueller.
Impending release of classified Nunes memo frays nerves in Washington
Democrats are not alone in trying to stop the release of the memo. The FBI and Justice Department also oppose its release. In a rare public statement on Wednesday, the FBI blasted the majority for"omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo's accuracy."
The committee voted on Monday to release the Democrats' memo to House members but voted down a measure to make it publicly available simultaneously, alongside the Republican document.
Schiff admitted the minority faces a tough climb in trying to stop the majority from publishing the memo, given the backing of the White House and many of the 200-plus GOP House members who have come to the committee's secure spaces to view it.
"There's not much we can do," Schiff told CBS. "This is really something where you usually count on a responsible president to step in or a speaker of the House who is willing to confront a chairman who is violating the policies and standards of the committee. But that is unfortunately not the case."
Earlier in the day both House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, wrote to House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, urging the removal of Nunes as Intelligence Committee chairman. They claimed Nunes has tainted the work and reputation of the committee with a partisan agenda geared toward protecting President Trump.
Schumer accused Nunes of fomenting "dangerous partisanship" that he said "seems to have taken precedent over the oath we all take to protect our nation." Pelosi wrote that "the integrity of the House is at stake."
Ryan called the Democrats' concerns "playing politics." A spokesman for Chairman Nunes did not respond to requests for comment.
Asked if he supported the Democratic leadership's calls for Nunes to be removed, Schiff said, "I think he needs to step aside for real now - and that may be the only way to restore credibility to the GOP leadership of this investigation."
Late Wednesday, Schiff wrote a letter to Nunes claiming there were "material changes" made to the version of the GOP memo shared with the White House, and demanding another vote be held on the "modified document." A committee source later said the changes had not been revealed until Democrats confronted Republicans on Wednesday evening.
A spokesman for the majority, Jack Langer said Democrats were "complaining about minor edits, including grammatical fixes and two edits requested by the FBI and by the minority themselves." But Schiff disputed that characterization, telling CBS that the changes were "not cosmetic." He declined to describe them because the memo remains classified.
"While there are some that could be considered grammatical, there are others that change the very meaning of important provisions," Schiff said, adding, "The version that's being released is not apparently the version that we voted on, and that's a real problem."
A senior administration official said Thursday the White House plans to return the memo to the committee Friday. At that point, the committee will release the memo under its timetable and procedure.
Democrats are insisting on a second vote on the GOP memo, because of what they say are "material" differences from the version they originally voted on. A second vote would trigger the same review process -- submission to the president for another 5-day period.
But there's no real mechanism for the minority to stop the memo's release or to force a second vote, unless some Republicans break rank. Schiff has implored committee members to think beyond the Trump administration "to the long-term damage that is being inflicted on these institutions," he said, referring to the FBI and other U.S. intelligence agencies.
"Because we'll be judged harshly if we allow ourselves to be complicit in what the White House is doing," he said.
© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
YES, FBI! BOOO, FAKE MEMO!
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/james-comey-applauds-fbi-in-memo-flap-puts-down-weasels-and-liars-gop-memo/
CBS/AP February 2, 2018, 6:07 AM
James Comey applauds FBI in memo flap, puts down "weasels and liars"
WASHINGTON -- Fired FBI Director James Comey has defended the agency on Twitter, writing, "All should appreciate the FBI speaking up. I wish more of our leaders would." President Trump and congressional Republicans have been attacking the FBI for its investigation of potential ties between Russia and Mr. Trump's 2016 campaign.
The president is expected to clear the way as soon as Friday for the release of a classified memo Republicans say shows improper use of surveillance by the FBI in the initial stages of the investigation.
The Justice Department and Democrats have lobbied Mr. Trump to stop the release, saying it could harm national security and mislead the public.
On Twitter, Comey urged his former colleagues to "take heart: American history shows that, in the long run, weasels and liars never hold the field, so long as good people stand up."
He concluded, "Not a lot of schools or streets named for Joe McCarthy" - a reference to the senator who, in the 1950s, conducted hearings aimed at rooting out Communists in the U.S. government.
Since his firing last May, Comey has made his personal feelings about Mr. Trump known, testifying in detail about personal interactions he says troubled him.
He also authorized a close friend to share with reporters details from a memo he produced documenting one such encounter - a February conversation in the Oval Office in which he said Mr. Trump encouraged him to drop an FBI investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn. That revelation promoted the Justice Department's appointment of a special counsel to run the Russia investigation.
Comey has also used language about "weasels" before, most notably in a September 2016 congressional hearing when he defended the FBI's handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation.
"You can call us wrong, but don't call us weasels," Comey said. "We're not weasels."
© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/drug-companies-alleged-tactics-delay-cheaper-generic-drugs/
CBS NEWS February 2, 2018, 7:38 AM
How critics say drug companies play "games" to stave off generic competitors
Lawmakers are considering a bill to address what President Trump called a top priority in his State of the Union speech: lowering prescription drug prices. Critics say some drug companies who want to hold onto their exclusive sales of a brand-name drug – and their profits – are playing games to stave off generic competitors, leaving patients out in the cold. The FDA commissioner has called the tactics "shenanigans" and "unfair and exploitative practices".
For Pam Holt, keeping her multiple myeloma – blood cancer – at bay requires a drug called Revlimid. Her co-pay runs $640 per month. But Holt can't get a generic, not because other companies aren't trying to make one, but because critics say Revlimid is one of a number of drugs for which companies are using unfair tactics to stifle generic competition, reports CBS News' Anna Werner.
"This does not help consumers. They're paying more money than they should be paying," said Rutgers law professor Michael Carrier.
Carrier studies what he calls the "games" drug companies play to protect their profits.
ctm-020218-drugs.jpg
Pam Holt CBS NEWS
"Those games take many forms. In one form, a brand company will pay a generic to delay entering the market," Carrier said. "In another form it will switch from one version of a drug to another, just trivially different, just to keep generics off the market…. They call it life-cycle management. I call it anti-competitive conduct."
Often, he says the games involve patents, the government protection that gives companies the exclusive right to sell their drug for 20 years. But drug makers have found ways to extend those protections much longer.
For example, rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira last year generated $18 billion for manufacturer AbbVie. But its original patent was expiring in 2016. So to protect it, Carrier says AbbVie built what's called a "patent thicket" of more than 100 additional patents.
"It uses that patent thicket to keep any other biosimilar off the market," Carrier said. "When there are so many patents on any particular drug, it's easy to find some where you can claim infringement."
Another tactic, he says, is "product hopping" – where a company will make minor changes to their drug, like switching from a capsule to a tablet or changing the dosage.
"Every time there's a change like this, the generic has to go back to the drawing board. Has to redesign the product, get FDA approval, it can't be substituted at the pharmacy counter because it's a little bit different, and so that's what product hopping is all about," Carrier said.
And Pam Holt's drug Revlimid? It's in a special group of high-risk drugs. To make a generic version, a competitor has to be able to get samples from original manufacturer Celgene but generics manufacturer Mylan is suing Celgene, saying it won't provide the samples and so, "has directly blocked patient access to generic Revlimid and prevented savings for patients."
"And I'm just learning that now. So that is just devastating to me," Holt said. "Sick people should not have to increase the profits of these huge drug corporations. At some point, there needs to be understanding that people should be able to have the drugs that they need to survive."
Celgene did not comment about Mylan's lawsuit but in court filings called it "pointless." The company also sent us a brochure saying it's willing to make Revlimid and other drugs available to generic manufacturers – that it "consistently offers and has sold samples" for what's called bioequivalence testing.
ctm-020218-drugs-2.jpg
Michael Carrier CBS NEWS
So what do other drug companies have to say? Lori Reilly, with the industry's lobbying group PhRMA, says the system is working.
"Ninety percent of all medicines are generic. Over 1,000 new ones approved just last year, the highest of anywhere in the world. And over a $100 billion worth of new medicines going off patent in the next five years. I think our system, by and large, has worked tremendously well," Reilly said. "I'm basically saying that if to the extent there are issues, that there are multiple opportunities and venues to address those."
She says companies invest billions to bring new medicines to market and need patents to protect those investments and to innovate.
"Our companies enter into, with great intent, of trying to make their medicines more productive, more useful for patients and society," Reilly said.
Asked if that – without exception – is true, Reilly replied, "Well, I certainly don't look at every single patent a company gets, but I believe our companies act with very good intent, yes."
But Pam Holt says she's decided to act, too. She's joining the group Patients for Affordable Drugs and using the time she has left to fight drug companies.
"It's just so very irritating and so very heartbreaking that there's so little being done to help us," Holt said.
AbbVie did not comment on Humira. Celgene says a generic version of Revlimid comes out in 2022.
But Holt may not live that long. Her doctors say at best she may have 10 years left. The company does offer a reduced-payment program, but as a retired educator she makes too much to qualify – though not enough to avoid going more than $7,000 in debt.
© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
DON’T UNDERESTIMATE INFLUENZA
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/flu-epidemic-brain-virus-eli-snook/
CBS NEWS February 2, 2018, 7:15 AM
Georgia boy who had flu dies from apparent brain infection
Health officials in Georgia are looking into whether the flu killed a 5-year-old boy. Eli Snook's parents, Leota and Aaron, said he came down with a high fever nearly two weeks ago, reports CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann. They took Eli to urgent care near their home in Marietta where they said he was diagnosed with the flu and prescribed antibiotics and the antiviral medication, Tamiflu.
"After he got well from the flu, a few days later, he got sick again," Leota said.
ctm-0202-eli-snook.jpg
Eli Snook LEOTA SNOOK
Eli tested negative for the flu this time, but doctors noticed a rash across his body and sent him to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.
"I see his face and he's like he's biting his jaw and his arm goes in and he starts having seizures," Aaron said.
He was placed in a medically induced coma while doctors performed a CAT scan and a spinal tap. But a virus had spread to his brain.
"His brain swelled past the point of no return and they told us that he was brain dead," Aaron said.
Nurses surrounded Eli at his bedside while his parents prayed for a miracle.
"Unfortunately the Lord took him home, so -- and it was Saturday at 10 o'clock," Leota said, choking up.
Eli's parents said he did not have a flu shot. They said their son did not get one because he was recovering from a previous ailment and doctors advised against it until he was better.
"The best line of defense to prevent influenza is to get a vaccine," said transition Dr. Daniel Salinas, chief medical officer at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.
"If your kids are sick, don't take any chances," Aaron said. "You can't really know these things. It just happens."
Leota and Aaron buried their son on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the flu virus killed 15-year-old Georgia high school student, Kira Molina.
© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-claims-fbi-doj-favors-democrats-expected-approve-release-russia-n843981
POLITICS FEB 2 2018, 8:47 AM ET
Trump claims FBI, DOJ favor Democrats, expected to approve release of Russia memo
by ADAM EDELMAN
President Donald Trump — poised to approve the release of a classified memo about the Russia investigation — on Friday ripped the ongoing probe, accusing top law enforcement officials of favoring Democrats.
“The top Leadership and Investigators of the FBI and the Justice Department have politicized the sacred investigative process in favor of Democrats and against Republicans - something which would have been unthinkable just a short time ago,” Trump tweeted. “Rank & File are great people!” he added.
In a second tweet, Trump quoted from a recent speech given by Tom Fitton, the president of conservative watchdog operation Judicial Watch.
White House moves toward release of controversial Russia memo Play Facebook Twitter Embed
White House moves toward release of controversial Russia memo 3:20
“‘You had Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party try to hide the fact that they gave money to GPS Fusion to create a Dossier which was used by their allies in the Obama Administration to convince a Court misleadingly, by all accounts, to spy on the Trump Team,’ Tom Fitton, JW” Trump wrote in his tweet.
The president’s posts come amid news that he is expected to tell the House Intelligence Committee that he does not object to the release of a classified memo about the Russia investigation that examines how the FBI eavesdrops on suspects in national security investigations.
A decision not to block the memo's release would go against warnings from law enforcement officials — the FBI has said it has "grave concerns" about the memo's disclosure — as well as Democrats, who contend the memo is designed to distort the federal probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One Thursday, a senior White House official said the White House has had time over the last couple of days to look over the memo "to make sure it doesn’t give away too much in terms of classification."
The official predicted that the White House would "tell the Congress, probably tomorrow, that the president is okay with it," but noted that the ultimate public disclosure of the memo is in the hands of Congress.
It was not immediately clear whether the memo would be redacted when it is made public.
Republican lawmakers in support of the memo's release say it examines how the FBI eavesdrops on suspects in national security investigations. They have also contended it shows corruption in the FBI, proving that special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation is based on a fraud.
Specifically, they say the memo shows that the FBI relied on an opposition research dossier paid for by Democrats to obtain a warrant to conduct secret surveillance on a Trump campaign aide, Carter Page.
Speaker Ryan says GOP memo does not challenge Mueller investigation 1:15
House Republicans voted to release the classified memo Monday night under a House rule that lawmakers say has not been used in modern times. The president has five days to object.
Democrats have called the memo a grossly distorted attack on the Mueller probe, which is investigating Trump's campaign for possible collusion with Russia and obstruction of justice, while Justice Department officials told NBC News that the issues raised in the memo are so highly classified that they may not be in a position to point out errors or misleading statements.
The FBI has said the memo was inaccurate and misleading and has launched a fairly extensive effort to prevent its release that has included an unusual unsigned statement and a visit to the White House by FBI Director Christopher Wray and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein who asked Trump's chief of staff, John Kelly, not to make the memo public.
In addition, Justice Department officials told NBC News that the issues raised in the memo are so highly classified that they may not be in a position to point out errors or misleading statements.
Trump would have several options in how to move forward in making the memo public.
He could declassify the memo and then release it in whatever way the White House chooses, or he could declassify it and send it back to the House to handle the public disclosure.
If the president does declassify the memo, the House Intelligence Committee has more leeway to make the contents public as it chooses, and it is not required that the House be in session. Just how soon the House would release the material is not clear.
The president could also choose not to declassify the memo but notify the House he has no objection to its release. That option would require that the memo be submitted to the Congressional Record or have a member read it on the floor, which would have to take place when the House is in session. That would likely occur Monday at the earliest.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-ryan/house-speaker-backs-release-of-house-panel-democrats-memo-idUSKBN1FM1TC
FEBRUARY 2, 2018 / 9:17 AM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO
House speaker backs release of House panel Democrats' memo
Reuters Staff 1 MIN READ
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan supports the release of a rebuttal memo by Democrats on the House Intelligence committee to go along with a controversial Republican one likely to be released soon, his office said on Friday.
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan prepares for the start of U.S. President Donald Trump's State of the Union address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S. January 30, 2018. REUTERS/Leah Millis
“If it is scrubbed to ensure it does not reveal sources and methods of our intelligence gathering, the speaker supports the release of the Democrats’ memo,” Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong said.
Reporting by Justin Mitchell; Editing by Susan Heavey and Chizu Nomiyama
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42897622
State of the Union: Trump's 'highest' audience boast debunked
1 February 2018
GETTY IMAGES
Image caption
Mr Trump addressed Congress on Tuesday night
President Donald Trump's boast that TV viewership for his speech to Congress this week was the "highest number in history" is belied by ratings data.
Nielsen, which tracks US TV viewership, says Mr Trump's 45.6m viewers falls short of the numbers who tuned in to other State of the Union addresses.
Nielsen says Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and George W Bush all drew bigger ratings for their speeches.
Mr Trump's overall audience figure would be boosted by online viewers.
Skip Twitter post by @realDonaldTrump
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
Thank you for all of the nice compliments and reviews on the State of the Union speech. 45.6 million people watched, the highest number in history. @FoxNews beat every other Network, for the first time ever, with 11.7 million people tuning in. Delivered from the heart!
7:02 AM - Feb 1, 2018
72,940 72,940 Replies 33,528 33,528 Retweets 162,863 162,863 likes
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End of Twitter post by @realDonaldTrump
"Thank you for all of the nice compliments and reviews on the State of the Union speech," Mr Trump tweeted on Thursday morning.
"45.6 million people watched, the highest number in history."
But according to Nielsen data, Mr Obama's first official State of the Union speech in 2010 attracted 48 million viewers.
Mr Clinton's State of the Union pulled in a record 66.9 million television viewers in 1993.
Mr Bush pulled in 62.1 million in 2003, a few weeks before the Iraq War.
Skip Twitter post by @FoxNewsResearch
View image on Twitter
View image on Twitter
Fox News Research
✔
@FoxNewsResearch
#SOTU TV Viewers:
2018: 45.6M
2017: 47.7M*
2016: 31.3M
2015: 31.7M
2014: 33.3M
2013: 33.5M
2012: 37.8M
2011: 42.8M
2010: 48.0M
2009: 52.4M*
2008: 37.5M
2007: 45.5M
2006: 41.7M
2005: 38.4M
2004: 43.4M
2003: 62.1M
1993: 66.9M* (largest TV audience)
*Not an official SOTU
7:42 AM - Feb 1, 2018
1,011 1,011 Replies 2,501 2,501 Retweets 4,505 4,505 likes
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End of Twitter post by @FoxNewsResearch
About one quarter of total viewers watched the speech on Fox News, which Nielsen said received a total 11.5m viewers.
The Nielsen survey comprises data from 12 television networks and does not take into account those who watched online.
CNN said that roughly an hour into Mr Trump's speech, their video-streaming platform peaked at 321,000 simultaneous users.
Twitter said it was the highest-trending State of the Union ever with 4.5 million tweets.
Mr Trump's TV ratings on Tuesday night were higher than those for his inauguration, when about 31 million viewers tuned in.
It is not the first time Mr Trump's claims about audience figures have been questioned.
He estimated that 1.5 million people attended his inauguration speech at the National Mall in Washington DC last year.
Skip Twitter post by @RepDonBeyer
Rep. Don Beyer
✔
@RepDonBeyer
Just like Trump’s “largest Inauguration crowds ever.”
Viewership numbers for the first State of the Union by:
Obama: 48 million
George W. Bush: 51.8 million
Clinton: 45.8 million
A ridiculous thing to lie about. https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/959034299222843394 …
7:34 AM - Feb 1, 2018
61 61 Replies 454 454 Retweets 1,007 1,007 likes
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End of Twitter post by @RepDonBeyer
But his then-press secretary's estimate gave Mr Trump a crowd size of around half that figure.
In a 2015 profile for Rolling Stone magazine, Mr Trump asserted that his own 757 plane was bigger than the presidential jet, Air Force One.
Air Force One is 225ft (68 metres); Mr Trump's plane is 153ft.
Presentational grey line
More on Trump's State of the Union
Media captionStanding ovation v stony-faced silence
Trump heralds 'new American moment'
Four reactions to Trump speech
Harrowing tale of Trump's North Korean defector
BERNIE SEZ
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/sen-bernie-sanders-on-how-democrats-see-the-state-of-the-union-under-trump
Sen. Bernie Sanders on how Democrats see the state of the Union under Trump
Jan 31, 2018 6:35 pm EST
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., accused House Republicans on Wednesday of undermining special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible ties between Russia and President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign by pushing for the release of a controversial classified intelligence memo.
Sanders told the PBS NewsHour’s Judy Woodruff that House Republicans are “100 percent” politicizing Mueller’s Russia probe by calling for the release of the memo, which was written by aides to Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. The panel voted along party lines Monday to release the memo, something that angered Democrats, who say the document “omits crucial facts and should not be selectively released.”
The memo reportedly argues the FBI abused its authority in compiling information on the Trump campaign’s alleged ties to Russia. Trump has signaled he wants the memo released. But the FBI said it has “grave concerns” about doing so, and Democrats say it is an effort by Republicans to undermine the credibility of Mueller’s investigation.
Sanders told Woodruff that the controversy shows Republicans were “turning against” the FBI.
“What the FBI and many Americans are really wondering about is: How does it happen that you have a Republican party, which for so many years defended law enforcement, defended the intelligence agencies, are now turning against them?” Sanders said.
Other highlights from the interview:
Sanders said he hopes Democrats and Republicans answer Trump’s call Tuesday in his State of the Union speech to reach a common ground on immigration, noting that a majority of Congress supports legislation that would ensure young undocumented immigrants don’t lose their legal status.
The Democratic Party does not have a unity problem, Sanders said. Democrats drew criticism for having at least four additional responses, including one by Sanders, to Trump’s State of the Union speech that competed for attention with the party’s official response by Rep. Joe Kennedy III, D-Mass.
Wealth inequality in the United States could push the country toward an “oligarchic form of society,” Sanders said, echoing one of the chief themes of his 2016 presidential campaign. Democrats should mobilize a grassroots movement to “demand that we have a government that represents the middle-class working people and not just the 1 percent,” he said.
Watch
File photo of the FBI building in Washington, D.C., by Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
PBS NewsHour
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