APRIL 29, 2018


NEWS AND VIEWS


THE HOUSE INVESTIGATION REPORT IS IN. GOWDY DEFENDS IT, BUT NOT WITH TOTAL CONFIDENCE. HE SAYS SPECIFICALLY THAT IT DOESN’T FULLY VINDICATE TRUMP ON RUSSIA COLLUSION. HE ALSO SAYS THAT MUELLER’S INVESTIGATION WILL BE BETTER EQUIPPED TO PROBE FOR THE INFORMATION THAN THE HOUSE IS; THAT WON’T SIT WELL WITH TRUMP. WHAT WILL HIS TWEETS BE ON THIS?

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trey-gowdy-says-house-intel-report-doesnt-fully-vindicate-trump-on-russian-collusion/
CBS NEWS April 29, 2018, 12:48 PM
Trey Gowdy says House Intel report doesn't fully vindicate Trump on Russian collusion

VIDEO – TREY GOWDY

While defending a report from Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee that found "no evidence" of collusion between Russia and members of President Trump's campaign, Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy cautioned that the executive branch is better suited to investigate the matter.

On Sunday, fired FBI Director James Comey called the report a "wreck," which prompted Gowdy to say that the criticism is unfair.

"I have more confidence in executive branch investigations than I do congressional," Gowdy told CBS News' Margaret Brennan on "Face the Nation" on Sunday. "I wouldn't say it's a wreck. The witnesses we talked to -- no one said that they had any evidence of collusion. And I participated in almost every one of those interviews and I'm the one who asked the questions. So from the standpoint of where these matters are best investigated, I don't think it's in Congress right now for myriad reasons."

Transcript: Rep. Trey Gowdy on "Face the Nation," April 29, 2018

Gowdy also faulted Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the committee, for how he handled the investigation.

"[W]hen you start with a conclusion, which Adam Schiff did in March of 2017, you have evidence of collusion and then you never ever share it with anyone," Gowdy said. "That investigation is not likely to turn out well."

According to Gowdy, Schiff does not have any specific evidence of collusion. "He doesn't have it, so he can't give me what he doesn't have. Adam, before we ever started, said he had evidence of collusion," Gowdy said. "And this is exactly what he said -- more than circumstantial but not direct. Let's lay aside the fact that there is no such thing as more than circumstantial but not direct. There's only two kinds of evidence."

Gowdy, who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, said that special counsel Robert Mueller's team is better equipped to investigate any potential collusion, which he noted is not technically a crime. The real crime, Gowdy said, is conspiracy, and while the House Intelligence committee had not found any evidence of that, it's possible that there is evidence that they had not seen.

"[T]he best we can do is say what we've learned," Gowdy said. "I can't say what's in the universe of witnesses we have not talked to. And I have always maintained I am awaiting the Mueller investigation. They get to use a grand jury. They have investigative tools that we don't have. Executive branch investigations are just better than congressional ones. So we found no evidence of collusion whether or not it exists or not, I can't speak to because I haven't interviewed the full panoply of witnesses."

Gowdy also pushed back on the idea that Congress should investigate Comey for allegedly leaking classified documents, but that it would be appropriate for the Judiciary Committee to ask questions of the FBI.

"Congress is not well-equipped to investigate crime," Gowdy said. "I have complete confidence in Michael Horowitz, who's the inspector general -- that's who investigated Andy McCabe, and then he made a referral to the Department of Justice. I trust Mr. Horowitz to investigate. I've never accused Jim Comey of committing a crime. I've accused him of doing somethings that I don't agree with. But in terms of accusing someone of a crime, a member of Congress should not do that."

As for Scott Pruitt, the embattled EPA administrator, Gowdy said that he would gather evidence before coming to a conclusion.

"We got documents Friday," Gowdy said. "We are scheduling witness interviews. The natural chronology of investigations to me is gather the documents, schedule the witness interviews and then draw your conclusions at the end. What usually happens with Congress is we draw our conclusions on the front end and then we go in search of whatever evidence we want to validate that previously held wrong conclusion.

"We're going to do it the way I'm used to doing it. Gather the documents. Interview the witnesses and then share it at the appropriate time."

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


WHY TRUMP CANCELED HIS TRIP TO LONDON: WHAT TRUMP SAYS, WHAT THE BBC SAYS AND WHAT THE GUARDIAN SAYS. SEE THE FIVE ARTICLES BELOW FOR DIFFERENCES. IT IS ODD TO ME THAT HE WAS SO SENSITIVE ABOUT THE SUBJECT OF THE VISIT TO ENGLAND THAT HE APPEARS TO HAVE MADE UP AN ELABORATE STORY TO “COVER HIMSELF” IN A SITUATION THAT DOESN’T SEEM ALL THAT DAMAGING TO ME; AND, UNABLE TO RESIST A CONVENIENT SIDESWIPE AT OBAMA, HE CLAIMED THAT THE BARGAIN OVER THE NEW US EMBASSY WAS SHAMEFUL. I PERSONALLY THINK HE FEARED THE PRESS COVERAGE OF THE PREDICTED LARGE CROWDS OF “PEACEFUL ANTI-TRUMP PROTESTORS” IN LONDON WOULD BE MORE UNPLEASANT THAN HE COULD HANDLE. THAT WORRIES ME.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/donald-trump-uk-visit-us-president-will-make-trip-to-britain-in-july-a3823431.html
Donald Trump UK visit: US President 'will make trip to Britain in July'
PATRICK GRAFTON-GREEN
4 days ago -- APRIL 29, 3018

PHOTOGRAPH – MAY AND TRUMP AT WHITE HOUSE

US President Donald Trump will visit the UK in July, according to reports.

Sky News quoted sources as saying that he would carry out the trip in mid-July of this year.

The visit is expected to be officially announced in the coming days.

Mr Trump has not visited the UK since he was elected to the White House in November 2016, with a potential visit to London to open the US Embassy in January not taking place.

Donald Trump waxwork outside the new US Embassy, London

He cancelled the visit to open the new embassy, criticising its move from Grosvenor Square in the prestigious Mayfair district of central London to an "off location" at Nine Elms, south of the Thames.

Standard - Daily Highlights

The president blamed the cost of the new embassy and its location south of the River Thames, saying it was a "bad deal".

VIDEO CLIP -- Trump awkwardly tries to hold Melania’s hand

His cancellation prompted media speculation that reasons for the snub included that Mr Trump had been offended by perceived slights against him by UK public figures.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson accused London Mayor Sadiq Khan of endangering the so-called "special relationship" after he said the president had "got the message" from Londoners and would have been met by "mass peaceful protests" if he was to visit.

Sadiq Khan: Trump should expect protests if London visit happens

Mr Khan reaffirmed his view at the weekend that Mr Trump should expect loud protests if he visits the capital.

He said: "We have got a great history in our city of protests... we have got a great history in our city of bringing about change by protest, the key thing is for it to be lawful, for it to be peaceful.

"I have no doubt that if he does come, there will be some people who want to express their views loudly and peacefully to the president."

Donald Trump hints at new nuclear deal with Iran as he hosts Macron

The president has also endured a turbulent relationship with Theresa May since taking office, with the Prime Minister publicly criticising statements he has made on Muslims, terrorism and climate change.

However Mr Trump said he was grateful for the support from the UK and France when a coalition of the three countries conducted targeted air strikes in Syria last weekend.

This week French president Emmanuel Macron made the first US state visit of Mr Trump’s administration.

The pair met in the Oval Office on Tuesday to discuss trade, Syria and the Iran nuclear deal.

The visit culminated in a lavish dinner as more than 130 guests dined on rack of lamb and nectarine tart and enjoyed an after-dinner performance by the Washington National Opera.



http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42663977
Trump UK visit: who really sold the US embassy?
The claim: The Obama administration sold the US embassy in London for "peanuts".
By Reality Check team
BBC News
12 January 2018

The verdict: President Trump is right that the sale did take place during the Obama administration. The final amount was not disclosed but estimates of its value varied between £300m and £500m. However, the decision to move was taken when George W Bush was in the White House.

President Trump took to Twitter to announce he had cancelled a trip to the UK where he was expected to open the new US embassy building in London. He said it was because his predecessor Barack Obama sold the old building for "peanuts".

The US mission is moving to its new diplomatic headquarters in south London after decades in the site at Grosvenor Square.

The US government sold the lease for the old embassy to Qatari real estate group Qatari Diar, which plans to turn the building into a hotel.

So, was President Trump right about which president sanctioned the sale?

Image copyrightAFP/GETTY
Image caption
The old US embassy in Grosvenor Square, London

The building itself was never owned outright by the United States. It owned a 999-year leasehold, but the freehold is owned by Grosvenor Estates.

The decision to move away from the Grade II listed building to Nine Elms was taken by the George W Bush administration in October 2008, shortly before he left office.

The state department said it would begin construction on a new site in Nine Elms and the existing embassy was put up for sale immediately. It said it considered renovating the existing building but said the goal of moving to a secure, modern and environmentally sustainable site could best be met by moving.

Reports that the sale of the old building had been completed appeared in November 2009, under the Obama administration. So President Trump is correct in that sense.

It was reported in the Financial Times on 21 January 2009 that another Qatari firm had emerged as favourites to buy the building - a day after President Obama's inauguration - which means any final deal was agreed when he was in power.

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Donald J. Trump
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@realDonaldTrump
Reason I canceled my trip to London is that I am not a big fan of the Obama Administration having sold perhaps the best located and finest embassy in London for “peanuts,” only to build a new one in an off location for 1.2 billion dollars. Bad deal. Wanted me to cut ribbon-NO!

12:57 AM - Jan 12, 2018
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Was it sold for "peanuts"?

It depends what you call peanuts. The final fee was not disclosed, but before negotiations began, the building was thought to be worth between £300m and £500m.

The building was designed by modernist architect Eero Saarinen and completed in 1957. It was given Grade II listed status because of its special facade, which means the building's design cannot be altered.

There was a suggestion that had reduced the value, which, according to the Guardian, might have reached £500m.

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http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-42657954
Donald Trump cancels February visit to UK
12 January 2018

PHOTOGRAPH -- Image copyrightPA, -- Image caption
Recent disagreements over US and UK policies are understood not to have played a part

Donald Trump has cancelled a planned visit to the UK in February, where he had been expected to open a new $1bn (£738m) US embassy in London.

The US president tweeted he was not a "big fan" of the new embassy - which is moving from Mayfair to south London.

He blamed Barack Obama's administration for a "bad deal" despite the fact the move was agreed under George W Bush.

The trip was not the controversial full state visit offered by Theresa May, for which no date has yet been set.

Reality Check: Who sold the US embassy in London?
Trump 'in crude outburst about migrants'
President's tweet mocked on social media

What is a state visit?
Downing Street said no date has been confirmed for any visit by Mr Trump and that the opening of the US embassy "is a matter for the US".

The "strong and deep" partnership between Britain and the US "will endure" despite Mr Trump's cancellation, a spokesman added.

However, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan - who has clashed with the president in the past - said the US president had "got the message" that many Londoners were staunchly opposed to his policies and actions.

BBC North America editor Jon Sopel said he suspected the possibility of protests in London would have also weighed in the calculation.

Skip Twitter post by @realDonaldTrump

Donald J. Trump
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@realDonaldTrump
Reason I canceled my trip to London is that I am not a big fan of the Obama Administration having sold perhaps the best located and finest embassy in London for “peanuts,” only to build a new one in an off location for 1.2 billion dollars. Bad deal. Wanted me to cut ribbon-NO!

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The US embassy move was confirmed in October 2008, when President George W Bush was still in the White House.

It was moved from its Mayfair site because it was too small to put in the modern security it needed, the BBC's diplomatic correspondent James Landale said.

However, Mr Trump blamed former president Mr Obama's administration for selling "perhaps the best located and finest embassy in London for peanuts".

May and Trump's festive phone call
What will Donald Trump's medical reveal?

Mr Trump also criticised the location of the new building in Vauxhall, south London, as an "off location", adding: "Wanted me to cut ribbon-NO!"

The BBC's North America editor said February's planned visit could have included meetings with Mrs May at Chequers or Downing Street and lunch with the Queen.

However, no firm date for the visit had ever been agreed, nor had the White House "nailed down the details of the trip", James Lansdale added.

Is the UK a priority for Trump?
By BBC diplomatic correspondent James Landale

Image copyrightAFP/GETTY IMAGES

Donald Trump says that he is not coming to open the new US embassy in London because he is not a fan of the building.

Some diplomats suggest the president was unimpressed by the low key nature of the proposed trip, shorn of the pomp and bling he expected.

Others say the White House was worried about the scale of the public protests that were threatened.

But amid all this is the nagging fear that the real reason is that Mr Trump just does not see the UK as a priority.

In his first year of office, he has visited most other G7 countries and several European nations, including Belgium, so the absence of Britain from his itinerary stands out.

Of course, trips - like tweets - can be easily remedied, and a visit by Mr Trump later this year could in theory dispel the fears.

But with the UK at odds with the US on an increasing numbers of issues, from Iran to Jerusalem, the lack of a visit carries greater symbolic weight.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony may instead be hosted by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

Mr Trump accepted the Queen's invitation for an official state visit when the prime minister met him last year.

A petition calling for the invitation to be withdrawn was signed by more than 1.8m people, while the issue was also debated in parliament.

Reports in June suggested Mr Trump wanted to delay a potential visit amid concerns about large-scale protests.

However, the BBC understands Downing Street is considering options for the visit later in the year.

Media caption Inside the new US embassy

A former British ambassador to the United States, Christopher Meyer, told BBC Radio 4's World at One he would be "surprised" if the US president visited the UK in his first term.

Mr Meyer said: "It would be so difficult to manage from a security point of view [and] from a public point of view if he remained as unpopular among the British people at large as he is now."

Speaking last month, US ambassador to the UK Woody Johnson told the BBC he "absolutely" expected Mr Trump to visit Britain in 2018.

During the Queen's Speech at the State Opening of Parliament last summer, there was no mention of a visit - although a Downing Street spokesman said an invitation had been "extended and accepted".

Mrs May was the first foreign leader to meet Mr Trump after his inauguration when she visited the Oval Office in January 2017.

Typically during state visits, the government, the visiting government and the royal household agree on a detailed schedule where the Queen acts as the official host.

Media caption -- Nigel Farage and Chuka Umunna [ ] fall out on the Today programme over cancelled Trump UK visit

The cancellation comes after recent disagreements between the US and UK.

Mr Trump clashed with Mayor of London Sadiq Khan in the aftermath of the London Bridge attack last year, when he questioned Mr Khan's statement that there was "no reason to be alarmed".

Mr Khan, who also questioned Mr Trump's proposed US travel ban, said the US president's visit would "without doubt have been met by mass peaceful protests".

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Sadiq Khan
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@SadiqKhan
Many Londoners have made it clear that Donald Trump is not welcome here while he is pursuing such a divisive agenda. It seems he’s finally got that message.

4:56 AM - Jan 12, 2018
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However, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson accused Mr Khan and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn of putting the UK's "crucial relationship" with the US at risk by opposing the visit.

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Boris Johnson
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@BorisJohnson
The US is the biggest single investor in the UK - yet Khan & Corbyn seem determined to put this crucial relationship at risk. We will not allow US-UK relations to be endangered by some puffed up pompous popinjay in City Hall.

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A No 10 spokesman said the tweet was "political" rather than representing the views of government.

Relations between London and Washington were also put under the spotlight last year after Mr Trump moved to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Mrs May said she disagreed with that US decision, which she deemed "unhelpful in terms of prospects for peace in the region".

And in November, Mr Trump clashed with Mrs May after she said it was "wrong" for the US president to share videos posted by the far-right group Britain First.

Mrs May more recently discussed Brexit and events in the Middle East in a pre-Christmas phone call with Mr Trump.



THERESA MAY ANSWERS TRUMP’S RETWEETING OF FAR-RIGHT BRITAIN FIRST VIDEO. WHAT SHOULD WE DO WHEN BRITAIN IS A MORE OPEN NATION THAN THE USA? IT APPEARS TO ME TO BE A CLEAR AND EMBARRASSING STATE OF AFFAIRS. EVEN MORE EMBARRASSING, HOWEVER, IS THE FACT THAT PRESIDENT TRUMP TWEETED AN AVERAGE CITIZEN INSTEAD OF THE PRIME MINISTER IN RESPONSE TO THE RIBBON CUTTING ISSUE. READ THE UNFAMOUS THERESA MAY’S VERY WISE ADVICE TO HIM.

http://time.com/5044092/donald-trump-theresa-may-twitter/
Trump Tweeted at the Wrong Theresa May. Now She Has Some Advice for Him
By ALANA ABRAMSON November 30, 2017

VIDEO – May rebukes trump’s retweet

Theresa May Scrivener has some advice for the President of the United States: Rein in your tweets — or at least proofread them.

The 41-year-old mother of three who lives in an English seaside town unexpectedly found herself in the international spotlight after President Trump accidentally tagged her Twitter handle, mistaking it for the British Prime Minister who shares her name.

“I think that he should think before he tweets. Maybe look at the name he’s tweeting and just check,” she told TIME in her first interview with an American outlet since the tweet. “It is amazing to think that the most powerful man in the world can make such a simple mistake and you know he could end up pushing the wrong button.”

Scrivener was relatively good-natured about the mistake in her interview with TIME. But she said the day after the tweet had been draining — she’d been trapped in her house because reporters were camped outside.

She’s not holding her breath for any apology from the White House though.

“I know Donald Trump will not apologize, I don’t even know he’s done anything wrong. I don’t know if he realizes the impact of his mistake,” she said.

Trump left the tweet up targeting Scrivener for less than twenty minutes before he deleted it and replaced it with the Prime Minister’s correct handle. But in that short time, Scrivener said she received a deluge of Twitter requests, Facebook posts, and messages from reporters trying to contact her. (When Trump initially tweeted at her, she had six followers and had tweeted nine times. As of Thursday night, she had 1,261 followers, but hadn’t tweeted).

Scrivener didn’t discover she had become somewhat of a sensation until this morning, when she woke up to these notifications. She doesn’t use Twitter frequently, she said, and had actually turned off her notifications because, like Trump, people would often mistakenly tag her as the Prime Minister. “I got fed up of hearing the ping ping ping ping sound all the time because if she’s mentioned, I get mentioned,” she explained.

Trump had attempted to tweet at May — the Prime Minister — after she criticized him for retweeting videos from the ultranationalist group Britain First which showed Muslims engaging in violent acts and destroying a statue of the Virgin Mary. Trump had tweeted back, “don’t focus on me, focus on the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom. We are doing just fine!”

When asked about the controversy that caused Trump’s tweet in the first place and her thoughts about Britain First, Scrivener demurred, insisting on three separate occasions that she doesn’t have political opinions. But, she says, “I think he [Trump] should concentrate on running his country and not ours. I think he should maybe get off Twitter and start focusing on whats going on around him a little bit more.”

“He’s made a lot of mistakes,” she said of Trump. “One of them was tweeting me.”



MAYOR SADIQUE KHAN IMPLIES THAT TRUMP’S REFUSAL TO COME TO THE RIBBON CUTTING WAS NOT A MOVE MADE IN DEFIANCE, BUT IN FEAR.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jan/12/donald-trump-visit-to-london-called-off-amid-fears-of-mass-protests
Donald Trump
Donald Trump cancels London visit amid protest fears
President will not open new US embassy next month, with secretary of state Rex Tillerson likely to take his place
Heather Stewart Political editor, and David Smith in Washington
Fri 12 Jan 2018 04.49 EST

PHOTOGRAPH -- Donald Trump and Theresa May pictured in Brussels ahead of a Nato summit meeting in May last year. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Donald Trump has cancelled a visit to Britain next month to open the new US embassy in London, amid fears of mass protests.

The president claimed on Twitter that the reason for calling off the trip was his displeasure at Barack Obama having sold the current embassy for “peanuts” and built a replacement for $1bn (£750m). “Bad deal,” he wrote.

But the embassy’s plan to move from Mayfair to Nine Elms in London was first reported in October 2008, when George W Bush was still president.

The London mayor, Sadiq Khan, said Trump had “got the message” that many Londoners staunchly opposed his policies and actions.

RELATED -- The fabulous new US embassy is best not tainted by a Trump visit
Oliver Wainwright

“It appears that President Trump got the message from the many Londoners who love and admire America and Americans but find his policies and actions the polar opposite of our city’s values of inclusion, diversity and tolerance,” Khan said on Friday.

“His visit next month would without doubt have been met by mass peaceful protests. This just reinforces what a mistake it was for Theresa May to rush and extend an invitation of a state visit in the first place.”

The prime minister invited Trump for a state visit when she became the first world leader to visit the president in the White House a year ago. Activists immediately pledged to stage protests and MPs have said they would not give the president the opportunity to address parliament.

Asked about Trump’s cancellation, a Downing Street spokesman repeated the government’s longstanding position that “an invitation has been extended and accepted, but no date has been set”.

The White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said: “The invitation was made and has been accepted we are still working to finalise a date.”

Instead of a state visit, it had been expected that Trump would make a brief, less formal “working visit” in February to cut the ribbon on the embassy in south-west London, and hold meetings with May. Officials had also been examining plans for the president to meet the Queen without the pomp of a full-blown state banquet.

Government sources suggested Washington had signalled that the secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, would instead open the embassy.

US secretary of state Rex Tillerson.
Rex Tillerson.

Trump confirmed on Twitter late on Thursday night that the trip was off. “Reason I canceled my trip to London is that I am not a big fan of the Obama Administration having sold perhaps the best located and finest embassy in London for “peanuts,” only to build a new one in an off location for 1.2 billion dollars,” he wrote just before midnight local time. “Bad deal. Wanted me to cut ribbon-NO!”

Citing security and environmental reasons, the US state department agreed to sell the current embassy building in Grosvenor Square to the Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Co, which plans to turn it into a luxury hotel. Estimates put the site’s value at £500m before it was made a listed building, which would have diminished the value because of restrictions on development.

British relations with the president hit a low late last year when May criticised his decision to retweet videos posted by the far-right extremist group Britain First.

Trump responded by tweeting directly to the prime minister that she should focus on tackling domestic terrorism.

The government was so concerned about his decision to share the videos that Britain’s ambassador to Washington, Sir Kim Darroch, took the rare step of raising the issue directly with the White House.

London’s new US embassy: a very diplomatic America on Thames

Trump’s ambassador to London, Woody Johnson, subsequently insisted: “The president and the prime minister have a very, very good relationship. I know the president admires and respects the prime minister greatly.”

May’s government has been keen to strike up a close relationship with the Trump administration despite his erratic behaviour, because of Britain’s desire to strike a swift trade deal with the world’s largest economy when it leaves the European Union.

Trump has sparked alarm among diplomats by repeatedly entering into Twitter spats with key public figures, including the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, to whom he recently boasted about the size of the US nuclear arsenal.

The White House has been rocked in recent days by the revelations in an explosive book, Fire and Fury, by the US journalist Michael Wolff, who suggested senior figures in the administration questioned the president’s fitness for office.

Asked about the revelations last weekend, May said she believed they were not serious, and Trump was a man making decisions “in the interests of the United States”.

Trump faced fresh criticism on Thursday night after the Washington Post reported that he had questioned planned changes to immigration rules, asking colleagues why the US had to welcome arrivals from “shithole countries”.



ABOUT THOSE CARAVANS THAT TRUMP IS SO CONCERNED ABOUT, THEY AREN’T NEW AT ALL, AND THEY AREN’T AN INVASION FORCE. CROSSING MILES OF DESERT ON FOOT IS DANGEROUS, AND THE LARGE NUMBERS ENSURE THAT PEOPLE DON’T GET DISORIENTED AND SEPARATED FROM THE GROUP, OR EVEN ATTACKED. THEY ARE SIMPLY A WAY OF SAVING LIVES. OH, YES. IT’S ALSO HARDER FOR AUTHORITIES TO CAPTURE AND DETAIN SO MANY. READ THE MARCHERS COMMENTS BELOW FOR THEIR PERSONAL STORIES.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/29/americas/migrant-caravan-us-border-crossing/index.html
Migrant caravan prepares to reach the US-Mexico border this afternoon
Eric Levenson CNN Digital Rebranding 2014
Khushbu Shah
By Eric Levenson and Khushbu Shah, CNN
Updated 3:27 PM ET, Sun April 29, 2018

(CNN)A caravan of hundreds of migrants is expected to reach the US-Mexico border on Sunday afternoon after a monthlong trip from Central America that has sparked the ire of President Donald Trump.

On Sunday morning, migrants in the caravan gathered at Friendship Park in Tijuana and prepared to march to the border and then ask for asylum in the United States. Buses carrying members of the caravan reached Tijuana on Tuesday.

In anticipation of the final march, demonstrators lined both sides of the border on Sunday.


Khushbu Shah
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Caravan participants at Friendship Park this morning as they ready to present themselves at US-Mexico border later today. @CNN

1:00 PM - Apr 29, 2018
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Khushbu Shah
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@KhushbuOShea
On both sides of the border. Mexico on the left, US on the right. Caravan on this side. The song says “Why do they kill us, why do the punish us for seeking a better life?” @CNN

1:20 PM - Apr 29, 2018
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The migrants say they want a better life for themselves and their children, safe from violence and poverty in their home countries. The caravan is both a humanitarian and an activist mission, as organizers created the event to draw greater attention to the migrants' plight.

One such migrant is Gabriela Hernandez, a pregnant mother of two who fled Honduras and crossed Guatemala into Mexico to join the group heading north. She and her two sons left behind their friends and family and battled hunger and exhaustion along the monthlong journey.

"There are people who think I just woke up and said, 'Oh, I want to just go to the United States.' It's not that easy," she said.

Isabel Rodriguez, 52, traveled with her two grandchildren, Anderson, 7, and Cristofer, 11, from El Salvador with the caravan over several weeks. She said she was grateful to be in Tijuana but was worried about what's ahead.

"I hear they are separating people who are not parents of children," she said, "but I am ready to get to the border."

Why this caravan is unlike others

Similar migrant caravans have ventured toward the US border for the last several years. But this trip has become better known because of critical tweets from Trump and the heightened controversy surrounding immigration policy.

Trump has encouraged Mexico to break up the caravans and tweeted that he would not accept the migrants into the country.

Donald J. Trump
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@realDonaldTrump
Despite the Democrat inspired laws on Sanctuary Cities and the Border being so bad and one sided, I have instructed the Secretary of Homeland Security not to let these large Caravans of people into our Country. It is a disgrace. We are the only Country in the World so naive! WALL
9:44 AM - Apr 23, 2018
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"I have instructed the Secretary of Homeland Security not to let these large Caravans of people into our Country. It is a disgrace. We are the only Country in the World so naive! WALL," Trump wrote.

"If members of the 'caravan' enter the country illegally, they will be referred for prosecution for illegal entry in accordance with existing law," Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said in a statement.

Gabriela's quest for safety: Pregnant mom gets her boys through sickness, a trash train and 3,000 miles

Chief Patrol Agent Rodney S. Scott of the US Customs and Border Protection said several groups of people associated with the caravan illegally entered the United States by climbing over a metal fence.

"We are a very welcoming country but just like your own house, we expect everyone to enter through our front door, and answer questions honestly," he said in a statement.

It is not illegal to enter the country at a port of entry and ask for asylum, as international law requires that the United States consider asylum claims. The migrants say they're not planning to sneak across the border, but to turn themselves in peacefully and ask for asylum.

"People who have a legitimate fear of persecution under US law have a right to present their case," Rep. Zoe Lofgren, the top Democrat on the House subcommittee on immigration, said on Monday. "That's not a violation of immigration law. That's a part of immigration law."

In general, having asylum granted is difficult. More than three-quarters of immigrants seeking asylum from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala between 2011 and 2016 lost their cases, according to immigration court statistics published by Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.

CNN's Catherine E. Shoichet and Leyla Santiago contributed to this report.


ARE YOU LIKE SO MANY OF US, YOU MISS PRESIDENT OBAMA? IF SO, GO TO THE FOLLOWING PHOTOS OF HIS PERSONAL LIFE.

https://www.usnews.com/photos/obama-behind-the-scenes
By U.S. News Staff
Sept. 10, 2014, at 10:00 a.m.
Photos: Obama Behind the Scenes
A collection of moments subtle and grand of the 44th president of the United States.

163 PHOTOGRAPHS -- President Barack Obama boards Air Force One at Yangon International Airport on Friday in Yangon, Myanmar, for the G-20 summit in Brisbane, Australia.PABLO MARTINEZ MONSIVAIS/AP

TRUMP CARTOONS -- DREW SHENEMAN/TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY


JUST FOR THE INTEREST VALUE, SEE THIS STORY ABOUT ANOTHER GERMAN SUBMARINE THAT HAS BEEN FOUND.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/german-nazi-submarine-u-boat-u-3523-mystery-denmark-museum-argentina/
CBS NEWS April 19, 2018, 11:09 AM
Museum says missing Nazi submarine mystery solved

A museum in Denmark says it has solved the seven-decade mystery of a missing Nazi submarine. The Sea War Museum Jutland, in northern Denmark, says researchers found the German U-boat U-3523 on the seafloor just north of the country earlier this month.

The submarine was sunk on May 6, 1945, the day after Nazi forces surrendered in Denmark, parts of Germany and the Netherlands in World War II, according to the museum. For years there has been speculation that the sub, which was one of Nazi Germany's most advanced U-boats at the time, made it to South America carrying fleeing Nazi officers -- possibly even Adolf Hitler himself, according to some conspiracy theorists.

"After the war, there were many rumors about top Nazis who fled in U-boats and brought Nazi gold to safety, and the U-3523 fed the rumors," the museum said in a statement published on its website. "The Type XXI was the first genuine submarine that could sail submerged for a prolonged time, and the U-3523 had a range that would have allowed it to sail non-stop all the way to South America."

Trove of suspected Nazi artifacts found in Argentina

The museum has not raised the wreckage from the seafloor, and it's final resting position -- only nine miles from where the British navy reported sinking the sub as it tried to make a suspected escape. The fact that the wreck wasn't found 70 years ago left room for the speculation about a successful clandestine voyage to Argentina.

nazi-submarine-denmark2.jpg
A graphic representation from the Sea War Museum Jutland in Denmark shows the wreckage of a Nazi German U-boat, which the museum says it found embedded in the seafloor north of Denmark. SEA WAR MUSEUM JUTLAND

Images from the museum's scanning equipment, which located the wreck, show the German sub partially embedded in the seafloor, nose-first at about a 45 degree angle.

It is about 130 yards under the surface, which will make recovery work difficult, and the museum said its research team still has no idea what might be aboard.

Denmark's Sea War Museum Jutland has registered the discovery of more than 400 vessels, many from the World War II era.

nazi-submarine-denmark1.jpg
An image of a seafloor scan by the Sea War Museum Jutland in northern Denmark shows the apparent wreckage of the Nazi German U-boat U-3523 on the seafloor north of the country's coast. SEA WAR MUSEUM JUTLAND
© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

APRIL 28, 2018


NEWS AND VIEWS


THIS IS VERY INTERESTING STUFF ON SUMO SEMI-RELIGIOUS TRADITION AND THE THOUSANDS OF YEARS OF ANTI-FEMINISM. THIS IS THE KIND OF THING THAT THOSE OF US WHO ARE INTERESTED IN ANTHROPOLOGY LOVE TO FIND. SEVERAL MODERN JAPANESE WOMEN ARE WORKING TO GET ACCESS TO THE NATIONAL COMPETITION ON SUMO. WOMEN DO COMPETE IN THE LOCAL AND LOWER LEVELS OF COMPETITION, HOWEVER. LOOK AT THE ARTICLE FOR A PHOTO OF TWO WOMEN WRESTLING. THEY DON’T WEIGH AS MUCH AS THE MEN, BUT THEY ARE VERY STURDY AND MUSCULAR WOMEN, WHO SEEM TO BE FORCEFULLY GRAPPLING. I WON’T PICK A FIGHT WITH EITHER OF THEM!

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-43934925
Sumo wrestling: The growing sexism problem in Japan's traditional sport
APRIL 28, 2018 1 hour ago

Sumo wrestling dates back thousands of years in Japan AFP/GETTY

Japan's sumo wrestling authority has postponed a decision on the sport's "men-only" policy.

The Japan Sumo Association (JSA) met after a recent string of scandals, including when women were made to leave the ring after stepping in to help a man.

Women are traditionally believed to be "unclean" and cannot enter the space.

JSA director Toshio Takano said they needed more time, calling it "an extremely difficult issue".

Inside the scandal-hit world of sumo
Why is sumo under fire?

In April, Maizuru city mayor Ryozo Tatami collapsed in a sumo ring, known as "dohyo"*, when he was giving a speech.

Women rushed to help the mayor, but they were ordered to leave by the referee.

Local media reports spectators then watched salt being thrown into the ring - a practice performed before a match to purify the space.

Image copyrightAFP/GETTY
Image caption
Salt is thrown into the ring to "purify" the space

The Japan Sumo Association faced universal condemnation for the referee's actions, and association chief Nobuyoshi Hakkaku apologised for the "inappropriate act".

But within days, the association came under fresh fire after denying the female mayor of a city entry to the ring.

Tomoko Nakagawa, mayor of Takarazuka, asked the association if she could deliver a speech before an exhibition match in the city, but was reportedly told to "give due respect to tradition".

"Female mayors are also humans," she reportedly said in a speech delivered beside the ring. "I am frustrated that I cannot give this speech on the dohyo just because I am a woman."

Image copyrightAFP/GETTY
Image caption
Mayor Tomoko Nakagawa is fighting against the men-only policy in the sport

The association also ruled girls could not take part in a spring sumo tour in which young people could join the wrestlers in the ring, citing safety concerns - despite girls having taken part in previous years.

Why are women denied entry to the ring?

Sumo dates back thousands of years, and to this day maintains many ancient traditions.

Mark Buckton, a former commentator and columnist with the Japan Times, says the practice has links to Japan's Shinto religion.

"It's never been considered a sport in Japan," Mr Buckton told the BBC. "It's far deeper in the Japanese psyche."

You may also be interested in:
Mongolian girl grappling with sumo world
Japan gets first sumo champion in 19 years
Sumo hit by match-fixing claims‎
Japan sumo star retires after 'assault'

Traditionally before a match, a hole is made in the centre of the dohyo and filled with nuts, squid, seaweed and sake by Shinto priests.

The hole is closed, enshrining inside a spirit. Sumo wrestlers then perform a ritual stamp and clap to scare away bad spirits.

"The ring is considered a holy Shinto space," explained Mr Buckton.

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image caption
Sumo wrestlers perform the ritual to clear evil spirits from the dohyo

Traditionally in the religion, women were considered impure because of their menstrual blood, and denied entry to the space because of this.

Mr Buckton explains any blood is believed to sully the space - if male wrestlers bleed on the dohyo, it is purified with salt.

While women can and do compete in amateur sumo wrestling around the world, they cannot enter the ring at Tokyo's 11,000 Ryogoku Kokugikan arena, or compete in professional tournaments.

BBC - Religion: Shinto
Is the policy likely to change?

Sumo chief Oguruma, who only goes by one name, told local media after Saturday's JSA meeting that the policy has been in place "for hundreds of years".

"We can't change it in an hour," he said.

Certainly, the JSA has not bowed to pressure before now.

In 2000, the then governor of Osaka, Fusae Ota, asked the sumo association to allow her to enter the ring so she could present a trophy to the champion wrestler, but her request was rejected.

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image caption
Women compete in sumo tournaments around the world

Mr Buckton thinks the association will never change the policy, due to the long-standing traditions in the sport and what he considers a limited awareness of feminism in the country.

"The sumo association are just waiting for a few more scandals to pop up, and for this to fade away," he said.

"It's not a major controversy in Japan at all."

But as the #MeToo movement takes hold in Japan and recent controversies sparked by Japanese female politicians discussing the difficulties of being a woman in work, this latest debate about women in sumo may not fade as quickly and easily as previously.

Japanese women at a crossroads
#MeToo hits Japan as top official resigns
The drive for gender equality in corporate Japan


https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/dohyo
Definition of dohyo in English:
dohyo, NOUN
The ring within which sumo wrestling takes place.
Japanese, abbreviation of dohyōba ‘wrestling arena’.



THIS COMEDIENNE IS DISAPPOINTED THAT DONALD TRUMP WILL NOT SUBMIT HIMSELF TO BEING IN THE AUDIENCE THAT WELL-KNOWN NIGHT OF FUNNY INSULTS, SO THAT SHE CAN’T ZING HIM IN PUBLIC. OBAMA DID IT, AND HAD SOME FUNNY LINES OF HIS OWN, ALSO. OH, WELL. I HAVE TO CONFESS THAT THIS STANDUP COMIC HAS A TYPE OF SPEAKING VOICE THAT DOES IRRITATE ME BIG TIME – HIGH PITCHED WITH VERY LITTLE MUSICAL SOUND. SHE IS AWARE OF IT, AND MADE FUN OF IT. SHE IS FUNNY, HOWEVER, AND I’M GOING TO TRY TO SEE IT.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/michelle-wolf-white-house-correspondents-dinner-host-comedian/
CBS NEWS April 28, 2018, 9:32 AM
Comedian Michelle Wolf says it's "cowardly" for Trump to skip Correspondents' dinner

Comedian Michelle Wolf has grabbed the spotlight through her success in stand-up and her regular role on "The Daily Show." On Saturday night, she takes the stage at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner.

For the second year while in office, President Trump will not be in attendance.

"Does that make it better for you as a comedian or harder for you that the president is not there? Would you rather the president be in the room?" CBS News' Jamie Wax asked Wolf.

"I like making fun of people to their face more than anything, like, more than behind their back," she said. "It's nicer to make fun of someone when they're there."

"I think it's cowardly not to go," she said. "I think it's-- the only other person that didn't go was Reagan when he was shot. And he called in."

At the end of the day, she said she wants people at the dinner to say, "Those were funny jokes."

"I'm not tryin' to ... make some sort of bigger point or anything. I just want people to be like, 'It was really funny," she said.

She added: "I'll be really happy when it's over. It's a homework assignment."

Wolf has created a fast-rising career for herself by being a standout stand-up. Whether it's talk show appearance slots at high-profile charity events, or her currently streaming HBO special "Nice Lady," Wolf has been consistently singled out for the quality of her comedic craftsmanship.

"I think it's important to have, like-- to feel like people are seeing, like, even if it's just five minutes, like, a little show. You know? Where you're just like, 'No, I did this for you.' It wasn't just a small collection of jokes. It was like, 'No, I made you a little thing. I made you a meal,'" Wolf said.

The current "meal" she's taking on is one of the toughest and most prestigious gigs in comedy: hosting Saturday's White House Correspondents' Dinner, joining a long list of respected comedians.

"The biggest thing everyone says, which you know as a stand-up going into it, is: it's a bad room. It's a big ballroom. There's circular tables, which is bad for comedy because some people aren't looking at you. It's during dinner, which is bad for comedy 'cause they're focused on eating or not eating or drinking," Wolf said.

As much as she seems like a natural comedian, humor wasn't always an obvious gift. On full display though was her determined and competitive nature.

"In college, I didn't wanna just get an A. I wanted to get the best grade in the class. 'Cause you know how, like, your grades are listed by, like, your Social Security number or whatever. I always wanted to be the top, like I always wanted the best grade. I mean, it's insanely competitive for no reason," Wolf said.

At first, that drive for the top landed her a job in the world of finance, not comedy.

"And then I very quickly was like, 'I hate this. This is not my thing at all,'" Wolf said. "And Bear Stearns collapsed, and then like a week later, I started my first improv class. And I just immediately loved it."

It didn't take long for Wolf's combination of talent and work ethic to catch the eye of two of today's most influential late-night shows, "Late Night with Seth Meyers" and "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah."

"What did you learn from that kind of experience, out of the clubs, writing for someone else with a team?" Wax asked.

"Writing for someone else's voice is very hard. And it's a good skill to learn, and it helps you think from different perspectives," Wolf said. "Trevor taught me a lot about, like, performing, and like – 'cause he's – he's such a charismatic performer that I learned a lot of that from him. And I learned a lot from Seth about, like, just like joke writing and economy of words and, you know, just having like strong punch lines."

Wolf is poised herself to become one of only a handful of women breaking into late night when Netflix launches "The Break with Michelle Wolf" in late May.

"I'm not tryin' to, like, reinvent the wheel with this show. I'm just tryin' to get back to, like, having just a really funny show. I'm not going to talk about policy or, you know," Wolf said.

But for the moment, she remains focused on Saturday's event, with or without the presence of the traditional guest of honor.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


YELLOWSTONE USED TO THRILL ME, BUT ONCE I LEARNED THAT IT IS A “SUPERVOLCANO,” CAPABLE OF EJECTING 240 CUBIC MILES OF LAVA, AND HAS BEEN MORE ACTIVE IN THE LAST SEVERAL DECADES, I DO HOPE THAT IT ISN’T BUILDING UP TO A REALLY BIG BLAST. PERHAPS IT WILL WAIT ANOTHER SEVERAL HUNDRED THOUSAND YEARS.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/steamboat-geyser-eruption-yellowstone-national-park-today-2018-04-27/
AP April 27, 2018, 9:53 PM
Steamboat Geyser at Yellowstone National Park erupts for third time in six weeks

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. -- Yellowstone National Park geologists have reported the third eruption from the world's largest active geyser in the past six weeks. The National Park Service says a park visitor reported seeing a rare eruption of Steamboat Geyser on Friday.

Steamboat Geyser

Steamboat Geyser, in Yellowstone National Park's Norris Geyser Basin in Wyoming, erupts on Wednesday, July 31, 2013. ROBB LONG / AP

Park geologists compared the report with seismic activity and the discharge of water and concluded the eruption probably started at 6:30 a.m.

The geyser also erupted on March 15 and April 19.

All three eruptions were smaller than the last major eruption that occurred on Sept. 3, 2014.

© 2018 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


I REALLY DO WANT TO SEE BIG PHARMA GET WHAT’S COMING TO THEM! THE OPIOID MATTER IS JUST ONE OF SEVERAL THINGS THAT THEY HAVE DONE FOR WHICH THEY SHOULD BE PUNISHED. I HOPE THAT HAPPENS. AS DISGUSTING AS SHKRELI IS, I FEEL SURE HE IS BUT ONE OF MANY. THE SUPPLY OF MONEY IS SO GREAT THAT IT DRAWS SCOUNDRELS LIKE SUGAR DRAWS ANTS.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/04/17/taking-aim-corporate-impunity-sanders-bill-would-send-big-pharma-execs-behind-opioid
Published on
Tuesday, April 17, 2018
byCommon Dreams
byJulia Conley, staff writer

Taking Aim at Corporate Impunity, Sanders' Bill Would Send Big Pharma Execs Behind Opioid Crisis to Jail
"We know that pharmaceutical companies lied about the addictive impacts of opioids they manufactured...Not one of them has been held fully accountable for its role in an epidemic that is killing tens of thousands of Americans every year."

PHOTOGRAPH -- "At a time when local, state and federal governments are spending many billions of dollars a year dealing with the impact of the opioid epidemic, we must hold the pharmaceutical companies and executives that created the crisis accountable," said Sanders in a statement. (Photo: AP)

While President Donald Trump attempts to place blame for the enduring opioid addiction crisis on immigrants, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) announced Tuesday that he would introduce legislation to take aim at those who drug policy experts agree are truly behind the epidemic that kills tens of thousands of Americans per year—pharmaceutical companies and executives.

"At a time when local, state and federal governments are spending many billions of dollars a year dealing with the impact of the opioid epidemic, we must hold the pharmaceutical companies and executives that created the crisis accountable," said Sanders in a statement.

The bill (pdf) would threaten Big Pharma executives with at least 10 years in prison should their companies be found guilty of contributing to the opioid crisis through manipulative marketing practices. Executives would also face fines equal to their total compensation packages, while companies would be fined $7.8 billion—one-tenth of the annual cost of the public health epidemic, according to government estimates.

Under the legislation, companies would be required to clearly state that opioids are addictive in any marketing materials for the drugs, which include popular brands including OxyContin, Vicodin, and Percocet.

The roots of the opioid crisis are traced back to the 1990s, when Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, began marketing the drug as safe for long-term use for chronic pain, denying that prescription opioids—which are chemically similar to heroin—had highly addictive properties.

After opioid painkiller prescriptions skyrocketed as a result, the rate of overdose began to rise as well, with opioid overdoses killing at least 63,000 Americans in 2016.

In Ohio next year, Purdue is one of several drug companies that will face a jury trial over a lawsuit accusing them of "deceptively marketing opioids" and alleging distributors "ignored red flags indicating the painkillers were being diverted for improper uses."

But Sanders noted that no company has truly been held liable for the epidemic, which Purdue alone has make tens of billions of dollars off of in recent years:

In 2007, Purdue Pharma...pled guilty and agreed to pay more than $600 million in fines for misleading the public about the risks of the drug. But the company still made $22 billion off of the drug in the past decade.

"We know that pharmaceutical companies lied about the addictive impacts of opioids they manufactured," said Sanders. "They knew how dangerous these products were but refused to tell doctors and patients. Yet, while some of these companies have made billions each year in profits, not one of them has been held fully accountable for its role in an epidemic that is killing tens of thousands of Americans every year."

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License


THE WHOLE MATTER OF BREXIT IS SO COMPLICATED THAT I HAD HOPED TO HAVE TO LOOK AT IT VERY OCCASIONALLY AND SHALLOWLY. WITH THAT IN MIND, I FOUND TWO INTERESTING TONY BLAIR COMMENTS ON IT. THE FIRST IS POLITICO AND THE SECOND A VIDEO FROM YOUTUBE. MANY IN BRITAIN WERE SHOCKED THE MORNING AFTER AS THEY DISCOVERED THAT THE BREXIT PROPOSITION HAD ACTUALLY WON, JUST AS MANY AMERICANS HAD SEVERE MORNING AFTER SYMPTOMS WHEN TRUMP WAS FOUND TO HAVE WON THE PRESIDENCY.

I PERSONALLY NEVER VOTE FOR SOMEONE ON A SYMBOLIC BASIS, INCLUDING EVEN THE FACT THAT THEY ARE A WOMAN. A LARGE NUMBER OF FEMINISTS VOTED FOR HILLARY FOR THAT REASON. SHE DIDN’T WIN ANYWAY, THOUGH. I DID NOT VOTE FOR TRUMP, BUT FOR HILLARY AT BERNIE SANDERS’ REQUEST FOR THE PURPOSE OF TRYING TO KEEP TRUMP OUT. IT DIDN’T WORK. VOTERS IN A DEMOCRACIES NEED TO BE CAREFUL WHAT THEY DO. THE ACTION MAY BE SYMBOLIC, BUT THE RESULTS ARE VERY REAL.

https://www.politico.eu/article/tony-blair-weeks-to-stop-brexit-eu-immigration-uk-citizens/
Tony Blair: Just weeks left to stop Brexit
The former prime minister will say in a speech Thursday that the EU should reform to provide an alternative to Brexit.
By RYAN HEATH 3/1/18, 12:01 AM CET Updated 3/2/18, 11:04 AM CET

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair | Carl Court/Getty Images

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair will say in a speech Thursday that there are just weeks left to stop Brexit and EU reforms centered on immigration control are key to persuading Britons to change their mind in a second EU referendum.

Blair will tell those at a European Policy Center event that the Leavers in effect lied to British voters during the EU referendum campaign in 2016 and left them expecting an impossible-to-deliver vision of Brexit, according to a copy of his speech seen by POLITICO.

Instead of the U.K. government delivering a complicated Brexit and EU supporters offering “passive acquiescence,” Blair will suggest that a “comprehensive plan on immigration control” across Europe could sit at the core of an alternative to Brexit.

According to Blair, the Brexit vote was an unambiguous warning to Brussels that it needs to reform, and EU leaders are responsible for helping Europe escape a Brexit “cul-de-sac.”

If they fail, the competitive pressure a desperate Britain places on the EU will diminish both the bloc and U.K., and potentially lead to race-to-the-bottom policies, Blair will warn.

Brexit “weakens Europe’s standing and power the world over,” the former prime minister will say. “It reduces the effectiveness of the single market by removing from it Europe’s second largest economy. And Britain out of Europe will ultimately be a focal point of disunity, when the supreme requirement for unity is so manifest. No matter how we try, it will create a competitive pole to that of Europe, economically and politically to the detriment of both of us.”

Running with the Brexit cake metaphor favored by European Council President Donald Tusk, Blair will also predict it will be hard for the U.K. government to win a parliamentary vote on the final Brexit deal. “Outside commentary underestimates the fact that at some point this year the government have got to put a vote to parliament and win it. They will of course try to fudge, but as we are seeing this cake is quite resistant to fudge,” he will say.

How Jeremy Corbyn changed Britain’s Brexit landscape
CHARLIE COOPER AND TOM MCTAGUE
Blair will call on MPs to take a stand: “For once, parliament in this equation can be more decisive than either government or opposition.”

Authors:
Ryan Heath


VIDEOS -- TONY BLAIR'S THOUGHTS ABOUT WORLD EVENTS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7hTlK1Ro8U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu-J16VQho8
ABOUT GQ POLITICS
Alastair Campbell is GQ’s arch interrogator, a writer, communicator and strategist, and the former Downing Street Director of Communications in Tony Blair’s government from 1997 to 2003. In this series, Campbell talks candidly with a host of political influencers about heavyweight subjects such as Brexit, the future of the left, the general election and much more.


KILLINGS IN CHINA TODAY -- MASS KILLINGS ARE HAPPENING EVEN IN THE CONSERVATIVE CHINA, SO THIS PROBLEM ISN’T SIMPLY ABOUT AMERICA’S BEING “TOO OPEN.” I THINK A WORLDWIDE DISCONTENT WITHIN THE CITIZENRY IS THE PROBLEM. MOST OF THESE ATTACKERS, IN THE USA AT ANY RATE, ARE POOR AND IGNORANT, YOUNG, AND NOT AS SELF-CONTAINED AS THEY WILL BE LATER –ASSUMING THEY DON’T DIE EARLY AT THE HANDS OF POLICE – WHICH I THINK HAS BEEN PROPERLY CATEGORIZED AS “SUICIDE BY COP.”

I BELIEVE IN THIS COUNTRY WE HAVE NEVER PAID ENOUGH ATTENTION TO MENTAL ILLNESS IN THE POPULATION, (NOT IN MY FAMILY!) AND PERHAPS WORLDWIDE. WE MISTAKE IT FOR PHILOSOPHY, INSTEAD, OR “SIN,” AND WE HAVEN’T TAUGHT OUR KIDS TO “WORK THROUGH” FEELINGS CAUSING THEM TO BE PERSONALLY OVERWHELMED AS LIFE STRESSES ACCUMULATE. WE’RE HAVING A NATIONAL AND WORLDWIDE “NERVOUS BREAKDOWN,” AND IT THREATENS OUR COUNTRY AS A GOVERNMENT.

WHAT DONALD TRUMP HAS DONE FROM THE FIRST DAYS OF THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN AND EARLIER, IS TO FOCUS ON THAT PSYCHOLOGICAL CONFUSION AND EMOTIONALITY IN THE POPULATION. WHEN I FIRST SAW HIM IN ACTION WHIPPING THE CROWD UP INTO A HOWLING MOB IN 2016 AND ‘17, I WAS AFRAID, BECAUSE I HADN’T SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THAT SINCE THE MID 1960S WHEN LESTER MADDOX, THE DEMOCRATIC GOVERNOR OF GEORGIA BETWEEN 1967 AND 1971, RANTED WILDLY AGAINST BLACKS AND “COMMUNISTS,” AND GAVE OUT “AX HANDLES” FOR PEOPLE TO USE IN SELF DEFENSE AGAINST BLACK PEOPLE.

FOR A VIEW OF LESTER MADDOX AND THE POPULIST RIGHT WING IN MY YOUNG DAYS, AND THEN CHINA TODAY, GO TO THE FOLLOWING WIKIPEDIA SITES.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_Maddox
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_attacks_in_China_(2010%E2%80%9312), School attacks in China (2010–12)


A CHINESE MASS KILLING

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/china-stabbing-7-students-killed-at-middle-school-shaanxi/
CBS/AP April 27, 2018, 12:28 PM
7 students killed in stabbing rampage at middle school in China

BEIJING -- Seven students were killed Friday in a stabbing rampage at a middle school in China's northwest, authorities said. State broadcaster CCTV said the attack happened in Shaanxi province's Mizhi county as students were leaving the No. 3 Middle School. It said 12 other students were injured.

A suspect identified by the surname Zhao has been arrested, CCTV said. Police said the suspect is 28 years old and a former student of the school, the BBC reports.

China tightly restricts private gun ownership, making knives and homemade explosives the most common weapons employed in violent crimes.

No information was given as to a motive. Police said five girls and two boys were killed in the attack.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.



EH, WHAT? THIS IS ANOTHER PIECE OF EVIDENCE THAT AUTOMATIC CARS ARE NOT READY FOR THE ROADS YET. THE PHOTO’S GREAT! (DAILY LIFE IN BRITAIN TODAY.)

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-devon-43934577
Parking machine gets pizza car topping in Dawlish
APRIL 28, 2018 31 minutes ago

Photograph -- Nobody was hurt in the incident but the ticket machine has been decommissioned OZ'S PIZZA AND KEBAB HOUSE

A fast food delivery vehicle ended up on top of a parking meter, after the driver "lost control while reversing".

Oz's Pizza and Kebab House in Dawlish, Devon, said on Facebook its spare delivery vehicle had been involved in an accident on Friday evening.

"We are pleased to confirm (with the exception of the driver who sustained extensive bruising to his ego) nobody was hurt in this incident," it said.

The driver said he was "immensely grateful the car had not hit anyone".

The statement explained: "The driver (who had almost completed work-based trial and training) lost control of the automatic vehicle whilst reversing and was subsequently forced to leave the car parked on top of a parking ticket machine."

Image copyrightOZ'S PIZZA AND KEBAB HOUSE
Image caption
Police officers attended and the car has been moved

The owner of the shop, Oz Dogantekin, said Devon and Cornwall police officers attended and dealt swiftly with the incident.

The car has been moved but "regrettably, the ticket machine involved sustained extensive damage and has been decommissioned", he added.


MSNBC MADDOW 4/27/18

Russian lawyer had deep ties to Kremlin, emails show
Leaked emails indicate that Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer who met with top members of the Trump campaign in June 2016, appeared to direct the Russian government response to a DOJ information request in a 2014 case. Duration: 13:47


HELP 4/27/18
Russian mercenaries play critical role in Syria
To downplay its involvement in the Syrian conflict, the Kremlin relies on contract soldiers there — just one example of how Putin outsources dangerous or unsavory work to others. Duration: 9:59


THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 4/26/18
Trump stomps on own legal strategy with blurting rant on Fox News
Rachel Maddow outlines how Donald Trump's lawyers have been crafting a legal defense based on attorney-client privilege with Michael Cohen, only to have Donald Trump minimize his relationship with Cohen during an untethered phone-in with Fox News. Duration: 21:25


THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 4/26/18
McQuade: Trump a living law school cautionary example
Barbara McQuade, former U.S. attorney, talks with Rachel Maddow about Donald Trump's propensity to speak without thinking through how what he is saying hurts his own case, serving as a textbook example of why lawyers ask clients not to discuss a case. Duration: 5:54


THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 4/26/18
Trump extends abysmal track record of nominee failures
Rachel Maddow reports on Ronny Jackson's withdrawal from nomination to be Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and notes that Jackson is Donald Trump's 24th failed Senate-confirmable nominee. Duration: 2:09


THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 4/26/18
'Our veterans deserve better': Former VA Secretary McDonald
Robert McDonald, former secretary of Veterans Affairs, talks with Rachel Maddow about the political pressures of privatization on the challenges of leading an organization as large as the V.A. Duration: 7:13


HELP THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 4/25/18
Giuliani looks to restart Trump Mueller talks, Cohen takes 5th
Rachel Maddow reports on the myriad legal developments happening in Donald Trump's orbit, from his new lawyer Rudy Giuliani trying again on a Trump interview with Mueller, to his old lawyer asserting his Fifth Amendment rights in the Stormy Daniels case. Duration: 17:48

APRIL 27, 2018


NEWS AND VIEWS


A NEW DEAL FOR THE NEW PROBLEMS. SOUNDS A LOT LIKE THE OLD NEW DEAL, AND AS SUCH, LIKE A WINNER!!

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/04/24/fox-friends-has-total-meltdown-over-sanders-plan-guarantee-every-american-decent
Decrying the plan as a "vote-buying operation," the Fox panel was particularly appalled by the idea that the rich might be required to pay a bit more in taxes to fund the jobs program
byJake Johnson, staff writer

Outside of Fox News, a federal jobs guarantee polls "stunningly well" nationwide, including in red states, according to recent surveys. (Photo: Fox & Friends/Screengrab)

Expressing disbelief that a politician would deign to embrace a widely popular idea that could bring massive numbers of voters to the polls and drastically reduce inequality, President Donald Trump's favorite show "Fox & Friends" ran a segment on Tuesday sliming Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) plan to guarantee every American a decent-paying job as a mere "vote-buying operation."

"That's what it is," grumbled Fox News host Stuart Varney. "Fifteen dollars an hour, a government job with benefits guaranteed by the government."

In addition to scoffing at Sanders' desire to give unemployed Americans jobs and pay them decent wages, the "Fox & Friends" panel was particularly appalled by the idea that the rich might be required to pay a bit more in taxes to fund the program.

"Who's going to pay for it?" asked host Steve Doocy.

"I'm sure it will be, 'tax the rich because the rich because the rich will be paying their fair share,'" Varney said. "It's a nonstarter."

Watch: “A VOTE BUYING OPERATION.”

The "Fox & Friends" segment comes less than 24 hours after the Washington Post's Jeff Stein reported that Sanders is planning to introduce a federal jobs guarantee that would "fund hundreds of projects throughout the United States aimed at addressing priorities such as infrastructure, caregiving, the environment, education, and other goals."

"The plan's authors envision millions of Americans getting hired under the proposal," Stein noted.

Fox News panelists are hardly alone in opposing Sanders' ambitious proposal, which polls "stunningly well" nationwide.

In an interview with the Post, Ernie Tedeschi, an economist who served in Obama's Treasury Department, worried that the plan "would be extremely expensive."

Progressives, however, argue that the idea is hardly radical or unprecedented, pointing to the New Deal's public employment programs as evidence that federal job initiatives can be both extremely effective and a good investment.

"This is an opportunity for something transformative, beyond the tinkering we've been doing for the last 40 years, where all the productivity gains have gone to the elite of society," Darrick Hamilton, an economist at the New School in New York, concluded in an interview with the Post.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License



IF IT’S AN IMPROVEMENT, FOX HATES IT. WHAT CAN I SAY!!

https://www.commondreams.org/tag/bernie-sanders?gclid=CjwKCAjwlIvXBRBjEiwATWAQIuKAWP80F7vA1vLv4RXWxBXTNQ9eHGOiW3G8DNahV5seB1m93HCs4RoC8_gQAvD_BwE
Bernie Sanders
'Fox & Friends' Has Total Meltdown Over Sanders Plan to Guarantee Every American a Decent-Paying Job
Jake Johnson, staff writer
Published on
Friday, April 20, 2018
byCommon Dreams

Embracing 'the Sort of Bold Thinking We Need,' Sanders to Introduce Plan to Guarantee Every American a Job

PHOTOGRAPH -- "Proponents trace the idea back to the New Deal Era, when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt pitched a 'Second Bill of Rights' to Congress in 1944. First on the list: the 'right to a useful and remunerative job.'"
PHOTOGRAPH -- While noting the possibility of a wave big enough to take back the House,...
PHOTOGRAPH -- "Every night on CNN they're talking about Stormy. The most pornographic thing that's happened in this country is the illicit relationship between the Supreme Court and big business that created Citizen's United," said Rev. William Barber. (Photo: Mary Helen Wood/The Duke Chronicle)
PHOTOGRAPH -- Citing Working Class Pain 'That Doesn't Make CNN,' Sanders and Rev. Barber Call for Building Truly Moral Economy
Jake Johnson, staff writer

Coinciding with the launch of a new Poor People's Campaign that plans to bring mass action and a radical anti-poverty agenda to over 40 states in the coming weeks, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) joined Rev. William Barber at Duke University Thursday night to discuss the deep inequality and working class pain "that doesn't make CNN" and how to confront these crises on the way to building a truly moral economic system.

"Every progressive policy today that we hold dear was seen as impossible 100 years ago. And then a few people said, we're gonna believe, and we're gonna fight for what we believe."
—Rev. William Barber

"When we talk about a moral economy, we talk about justice and we talk about the gross immorality of three people in this country owning more wealth than the bottom half of the American people," Sanders told the audience gathered inside Duke's Chapel. "A moral economy is one that says, in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, all of our people should be able to live with dignity and security."

Titled "The Enduring Challenge of a Moral Economy: 50 Years After Dr. King Challenged Racism, Poverty, and Militarism," the discussion featured a wide range of topics, from the struggle for a living wage to voting rights to big money's influence on the Supreme Court—issues that Barber and Sanders argued are almost entirely ignored by the corporate media.

"Every night on CNN they're talking about Stormy," Barber, a leader of the new Poor People's campaign, said Thursday night. "The most pornographic thing that's happened in this country is the illicit relationship between the Supreme Court and big business that created Citizen's United."

Watch:

Highlighting Martin Luther King Jr.'s insistence that militarism is deeply connected to the crises of racism and poverty, Sanders and Barber also pointed to endless U.S. led wars overseas that have cost trillions of dollars as the poor in America lack healthcare and other basic necessities.

While much of the discussion Thursday night was centered on the systemic racial and economic inequities that continue to oppress vast swaths of the world's wealthiest nation, Sanders concluded his remarks at the event on an optimistic note, arguing that "when we stand together, we can do beautiful things for our country and for the world."

"Every progressive policy today that we hold dear was seen as impossible 100 years ago," Barber added. "And then a few people said, we're gonna believe, and we're gonna fight for what we believe."

Watch the full event:

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POLICE LINEUPS ARE GREAT ON TV, BUT SUBJECT TO SERIOUS ERROR ON THE PART OF REAL LIFE WITNESSES. THERE IS AN ATTITUDE IN THE USA, WORSE IN SOME PLACES AND TIMES THAN IN OTHERS, OF ASSUMING GUILT BEFORE ALL THE EVIDENCE IS IN, MUCH LESS THE MANDATORY “TRIAL BY A JURY OF THEIR PEERS.” LOOK AT THIS BBC NEWS VIDEO. FOR AN INTERESTING ARTICLE ON JUSTICE, READ THIS. TRUE, IT'S BRITISH, BUT IT'S VERY SIMILAR I THINK TO THE US SYSTEMS.


http://www.bbc.com/news/video_and_audio/headlines/43900546/how-us-police-line-ups-jail-the-innocent
How US police line-ups jail the innocent
More people identified by witnesses from a row of suspects are having their convictions overturned.
27 April 2018



I DON’T REALLY BELIEVE THAT THIS PEACE WILL BE CREATED AND MAINTAINED, BUT THEY DO SEEM TO BE MAKING HEADWAY. THE FOLLOWING FROM THE ARTICLE MAKES ME HAPPIEST: “AFTER PLANTING A PINE TREE, A SYMBOL OF PEACE, THEY SAT ALONE FOR A FULL 30 MINUTES IN WHAT APPEARED TO BE AN IN-DEPTH CONVERSATION.”

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/north-south-korea-denuclearization-agreement/
CBS NEWS April 27, 2018, 8:24 AM
What North and South Korea agreed to, and what's next

In a historic overnight meeting, North and South Korea agreed to work toward denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, and declaring a formal end to the Korean War by the end of this year. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in raised their arms in a show of unity. They promised to pursue peace, but left many of the details for later talks.

Expectations were relatively low for the summit, but CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy says it appears the meeting was one of both style and substance. Kim said what the two leaders agreed to on Friday was just the tip of the iceberg, and he said he intends to live up to this agreement.

It's a moment no one could have predicted just a few months ago: After signing their agreement, Kim and Moon were clearly pleased with what they had accomplished. The South Korean president declared a new era of peace on the Korean peninsula.

The two Koreas agreed to officially end the Korean War by the end of the year, resume reunions of families separated during the conflict, and to turn the Demilitarized Zone into what they call a "genuine peace zone." Moon will visit North Korea for a second summit this fall.

The two leaders seemed to have an instant rapport the minute Kim made history by becoming the first North Korean leader to step foot in the South. In a brief diplomatic dance, he invited Moon to cross the military demarcation line back into the North.

South Korea literally rolled out the red carpet for its long-time nemesis, and the two men were often seen smiling and even laughing together. After planting a pine tree, a symbol of peace, they sat alone for a full 30 minutes in what appeared to be an in-depth conversation.

But North Korea agreeing to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula was the ultimate goal of this summit. So far there are no specifics as to how or when that might actually happen, or what Kim wants in return.

"The devil is in the details," said In-Bum Chun, a retired lieutenant general of the South Korean Army. He's been surprised by Kim's pivot towards peace.

"Are you buying what he's selling?" Tracy asked him.


Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
6h
Is everybody believing what is going on. James Comey can’t define what a leak is. He illegally leaked CLASSIFIED INFORMATION but doesn’t understand what he did or how serious it is. He lied all over the place to cover it up. He’s either very sick or very dumb. Remember sailor!


Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
KOREAN WAR TO END! The United States, and all of its GREAT people, should be very proud of what is now taking place in Korea!

6:55 AM - Apr 27, 2018
80.7K
34.7K people are talking about this
Twitter Ads info and privacy

"I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt -- with a certain dose of caution -- so I'm gonna wait and see, and I don't think I'm going to have to wait too long," Chun said.

It is important to bear in mind, says Tracy, that North Korea has agreed to denuclearize before, and then not followed through, so you can expect that U.S. negotiators will be looking to fill in the details of these promises when President Trump sits down for his planned summit with Kim in late May or early June.

CBS News senior national security contributor Michael Morell, a former CIA deputy director and acting director, suggested caution, calling the summit, "all aspirations."

"South Korea can't end the Korean War," Morell said. "South Korea can't get North Korea to denuclearize. Only the United States and the United Nations can do that. So the real work has yet to come."

Mr. Trump, however, appeared optimistic, tweeting Friday morning, "KOREAN WAR TO END!"

He said the people of the United States should be "very proud" of the emerging peace process.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.



"https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394922/ IS A WONDERFUL TV MOVIE ON THIS SUBJECT, CALLED "MURDER AND THE ANDROID." I’M PUTTING THIS IN HERE BECAUSE IT IS A TRUE STEP FORWARD SCIENTIFICALLY, BUT I DO NOT LIKE IT, SAM I AM! WE HAVE PLENTY OF HUMANS WITHOUT ANY ARTIFICIAL ONES.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/robots-replacing-humans-cbsn-originals-preview/
CBS NEWS April 27, 2018, 7:57 AM
"A new kind of human": Robots step into everyday life in Japan

Watch the new CBSN Originals documentary, "Replacing Humans: Robots Among Us," on CBSNews.com starting Sunday, April 29. The full hour streams on CBSN Monday, April 30, at 8 p.m., 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. ET.

Dr. Hiroshi Ishiguro is known as the godfather of humanoids for his years of work developing uncannily lifelike robots. He's succeeded in creating robots that look and move like people, and not only that, he's giving them a full range of capabilities that help them behave and learn like we do.

But it's not the machines themselves that fascinate Ishiguro — it's us.

"People think my motivation is to build a robot. But it's not true. My motivation is to understand what a human is, by developing humanoid robots," he says in the new CBSN Originals documentary, "Replacing Humans: Robots Among Us."

He draws an analogy to athletes in the Paralympic Games with high-tech prosthetic limbs.

"They don't have arms and legs, but they are using prosthetic arms and legs. Are they 100 percent human, or 80 percent human or 70 percent human?"

He answers his own question. Of course they're fully human.

And then he takes a leap. "That means that a flesh body is not a requirement to be human. …They can be a new kind of human, right?"

It's a compelling idea, especially in Japan, where a rapidly aging population and declining birth rate is creating a workforce crisis. Without enough people to fill jobs and care for the elderly, could robots step up to fill the gap? Could they even become, as the robotics engineer Dylan Glaas put it, "better than people"?

CBS News' Adam Yamaguchi traveled to Japan to explore why that country is on the leading edge of robot development and the many different ways these increasingly intelligent creations are being incorporated into everyday life.

Creepily human-like robots
35 Photos
Creepily human-like robots
© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


I'M SO GLAD THAT THE EU HAS DECIDED TO TACKLE THE ISSUE THAT HAS BEEN IN THE NEWS FOR THE LAST 6 OR 8 YEARS (OR MORE?) THIS IS THE KIND OF THING THAT REPUBLICANS JUST DON'T WANT TO DO, NO MATTER HOW IMPORTANT IT IS. OF COURSE, THE RICH ARE SO CUT OFF FROM THE REAL WORLD THAT THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF A MERE LINK IN THE EARTH'S CHAIN OF LIFE. "CHAIN OF WHAT??"

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2167537-the-european-union-has-decided-to-ban-bee-killing-pesticides/?cmpid=ILC|NSNS|2018_webpush&utm_medium=ILC&utm_source=NSNS&utm_campaign=webpush-Roost-EUbees
DAILY NEWS 27 April 2018
The European Union has decided to ban bee-killing pesticides

PHOTOGRAPH -- Pollinating insects like bees are harmed by neonicotinoids
Pollinating insects like bees are harmed by neonicotinoids
Owen Humphreys / PA Wire

By New Scientist staff and Press Association

Campaigners have hailed a decision by European countries to bring in a near-total ban on pesticides linked to declines in bees as a “major victory”.

European Union member states have decided on a ban on the outdoor use of “neonicotinoid” pesticides, after an assessment by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) confirmed in February the dangers they posed to bees.

Use of the three pesticides is already restricted in the European Union on crops such as oil seed rape, because of the concerns they have “sub-lethal” effects such as harming the bees’ ability to forage and form colonies.

Member states have now endorsed proposals by the European Commission to completely ban the outdoor uses of the three active substances, meaning they can only be used in greenhouses.

However, how farmers replace the pesticides will be crucial, says Dave Goulson of the University of Sussex, UK. “If these neonicotinoids are simply replaced by other similar compounds such as sulfoxaflor, cyantraniliprole and flupyradifurone (all new systemic insecticides), then we will simply be going round in circles,” he says. “What is needed is a move towards truly sustainable farming methods that minimise pesticide use, encourage natural enemies of crop pests, and support biodiversity and healthy soils.”

Anti-bee chemicals
The EFSA assessment, which looked at the impact on wild solitary bees and bumblebees as well as honeybees, confirmed that most uses of the chemicals pose a risk to the insects.

Last year, UK Environment Secretary Michael Gove had said the UK would back a ban on the neonicotinoids, saying new evidence indicated the risk to bees and other insects from the chemicals was “greater than previously understood”.

Emi Murphy, bee campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: “This is a major victory for science, common sense and our under-threat bees. The evidence that neonicotinoid pesticides pose a threat to our bees is overwhelming.

“It’s great news that Michael Gove listened to the experts and backed the ban – he must now give farmers the support they need to grow food without bee-harming pesticides.”

Indoor use only
Antonia Staats, senior campaigner at Avaaz, which had led a petition backed by five million signatures to ban the chemicals, said: “Banning these toxic pesticides is a beacon of hope for bees.

“Finally, our governments are listening to their citizens, the scientific evidence and farmers who know that bees can’t live with these chemicals and we can’t live without bees.”

European Commission spokeswoman Anca Paduraru told reporters in Brussels that it was hoped the ban will enter into force by the end of the year.

She added that there would be exemptions for the indoor use of neonicotinoids.

“We are banning all outdoor uses, so under strict conditions they might still be used in greenhouses,” she said.


NOW THIS IS WHAT COURTS SHOULD BE DOING IN THESE CASES. OF COURSE, VERMONT IS BERNIE SANDERS’ STATE.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/vermont-teen-accused-of-planning-school-shooting-released/
By CRIMESIDER STAFF AP April 27, 2018, 12:19 PM
Vermont teen accused of planning school shooting released

MONTPELIER, Vt. - A Vermont teen accused of plotting a shooting with mass casualties at his former high school in a case that led to the first significant limits on gun ownership in Vermont was released Friday into the custody of his father.

Jack Sawyer, 18, was released on conditions after posting $10,000 bail. The state's defender general said he was being placed in a treatment facility on Friday, but would not say where.

Sawyer was arrested the day after the Feb. 14 Parkland, Florida, shootings that killed 17 people after a friend reported him to authorities. He was charged with attempted murder, accusing him of planning a shooting at Fair Haven Union High School that prosecutors say was outlined in his diary "Journal of an Active Shooter."

Prosecutors on Monday dropped the most serious charges against him after the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that preparation didn't constitute attempted murder. He has pleaded not guilty to lesser charges of criminal threatening and carrying a dangerous weapon.

His defense team has argued that he didn't take concrete steps to commit the crime.

jack-sawyer-in-court.jpg
Jack Sawyer WCAX

Gov. Phil Scott on Friday outlined what the state is doing to enhance the safety of the Fair Haven school and community.

Prosecutor Rose Kennedy used one of the new gun restrictions, obtaining an extreme risk protection order that said Sawyer poses an extreme risk of physical harm to himself and others and is barred from having any firearms.

The Vermont State Police is assisting the local police department by providing personnel, state police cruisers to be periodically posted at schools, as well as a plain clothes trooper periodically posted in and around the school, Scott said. Seven other law enforcement agencies in Vermont and New York are prepared to provide resources if needed, he said.

"As I've said, I am extremely concerned and frustrated that our current laws have allowed for the release of an individual who - as the court record shows - intended, and may still intend, to carry out a horrific crime," Scott said.

He said his administration would continue to work with the legislature to change Vermont's law to criminalize substantial steps to commit mass violence against schools and other public locations.

The state Senate this week approved a new domestic terrorism law that includes that change.

"I want the Fair Haven community to know we stand with them, and I personally share their frustration with the system," Scott said. "I promise, we are doing everything we can to keep the school and community safe."

© 2018 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


GREAT IDEA! WALMART DOES HAVE A GOOD SELECTION, BUT THEIR HELP, TRAINING AND POLICIES LEAVE A VERY GREAT DEAL TO BE DESIRED.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kentucky-mans-video-goes-viral-after-he-uses-walmart-intercom-to-ask-for-help/
By CAITLIN O'KANE CBS NEWS April 26, 2018, 2:53 PM
Kentucky man's video goes viral after he uses Walmart intercom to ask for help

VIDEO – Forrest Hunter asked for help over Walmart's intercom and video of his antics went viral. FORREST HUNTER/FACEBOOK

Forrest Hunter was shopping at a Walmart in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, and need assistance. After getting tired of waiting for an employee, Hunter decided to take matters into his own hands. He picked up a phone on the counter in the sporting goods section, which was connected to the store's intercom, and simply asked for help.

"Customer needs assistance in sporting goods please," Hunter said. "I'm the customer," he added at the end, for good measure.

Hunter, who was in the sporting goods department trying to buy a hunting license, says the intercom trick worked and he shortly got help.


"A guy walked up and asked if I️ needed any help. I️ said, 'How'd you know?' Then I️ bought my hunting license," Hunter told CBS affiliate WKYT.

Hunter said the Walmart associate was a little embarrassed when he came over, but he did not get in trouble for using the store's intercom.

What seemed like a silly tactic to get help at a busy store ended up going viral. Becca Robinson, Hunter's partner, filmed him taking over the intercom for a few short seconds. Hunter posted the video to Facebook on April 20. A week later, the video had more than 3.3 million views and about 58,000 shares.

Hunter says he didn't realize the video struck a chord until Monday. By that time, it had been shared more than 32,000 times. A few days later, and the internet still cannot get enough of Hunter's Walmart antics.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


WHY ARE PEOPLE SO INFLEXIBLE, DOGMATIC AND UNCARING? ALL MY EARLY YEARS, UNTIL 1994, THERE WAS A HORRIBLE STREET TO STREET WAR IN NORTHERN IRELAND DAY AFTER DAY WITH CAR BOMBINGS AND OTHER TRULY HEARTLESS BEHAVIOR. THE IRISH PEOPLE ARE OFTEN BRILLIANT. WHY CAN’T THEY[WE] BE SANE AS WELL? SEE THE FOLLOWING HISTORY OF “THE TROUBLES.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Ireland_peace_process
FOR AN INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL AND MOVING MOVIE ON THE SUBJECT, GO TO AMAZON AND RENT OR BUY “IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER.”

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-43914051
Lady Sylvia Hermon warns of 'violence' over hard border
By Gareth Gordon
BBC News NI Political Correspondent
26 April 2018

PHOTOGRAPH -- Lady Sylvia Hermon made the claim in the House of Commons

Northern Ireland MP Lady Sylvia Hermon has said a hard Irish border after Brexit will see the return of violence.

The Independent Unionist made the claim during a House of Commons debate.

The debate motion urged the government to include "an effective customs union between the two territories" as an objective in Brexit talks with the EU.

The motion was passed, but the vote is unbinding which means the government's aim of leaving the customs union is not affected.

UK leaving customs union, says No 10
Government 'confident' of border deal

All you need to know about Brexit
Lady Hermon told the Commons it was a "very dangerous strategy" for politicians to support the idea that "no deal would be better than a bad deal" between the UK and the EU in the Brexit negotiations.

"If we have no deal, we will inevitably have a hard border in Northern Ireland and we will see the return of violence in Northern Ireland," she said.

Image caption
Ken Clarke told MPs a hard border would "outrage" Irish nationalists

The former Conservative chancellor Ken Clarke told the debate it was obvious no-one had considered the Good Friday Agreement during the referendum debate.

He accused Brexiteers of addressing the 1998 agreement "as if it's all over now" - something he said was "very, very dangerous".

Mr Clarke said the return of a hard border would "outrage" nationalists and republicans and he claimed it would be "grossly irresponsible".

But the Northern Ireland-born Labour MP Kate Hoey accused the EU of seizing on divisions over Brexit to make "unreasonable demands" over the Irish border.

She said claims about violence returning were "blackmail".

Image caption
Vauxhall Labour MP Kate Hoey is originally from County Antrim
None of the DUP's 10 MPs were present at the debate. The party's deputy leader, Nigel Dodds, said the vote was of no significance whatsoever.

He told reporters at Stormont that most pro-Brexit voters think the UK staying in EU customs union is the "worst of all worlds", as it will not allow the UK to benefit from its own trade deals.

However, Mr Dodds clarified that the DUP's fundamental red line is not membership of the customs union, but that Northern Ireland must stay in "lockstep with the rest of UK" after it leaves the EU.

The government is facing three more votes over the next month which will be binding and could force it to change course over leaving the customs union after Brexit.


HERE IS ANOTHER SAD PROOF THAT THE HUMAN BEING CAN’T EVEN BE IMPROVED VERY MUCH, MUCH LESS PURIFIED. THIS IS ALMOST EXACTLY LIKE A CASE ABOUT THREE OR FOUR YEARS AGO IN INDIA. OH, THOSE TEMPTING, TEMPTING WOMEN! IF MEN AND WOMEN WOULD SIMPLY HAVE A NORMAL AND HEALTHY DEGREE AND TYPE OF SEXUAL INTEREST, MANY OF OUR PROBLEMS WOULD BE SOLVED. THE WOMEN WOULDN’T BE DEPRIVED BY MALE IMPOTENCE, AND THE MEN WOULD HAVE LEARNED TO MAKE SEX A COOPERATIVE ACTIVITY DESIGNED TO SATISFY BOTH.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43924171
Viewpoint: Spain rape case highlights enduring machismo
27 April 2018
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43896880
Spain 'wolf pack' gang jailed for San Fermin sex attack
26 April 2018

PLAY VIDEO -- The verdict was met with anger by some as protests erupted outside court

A Spanish court has jailed five men for sexually abusing a young woman during the famous San Fermin bull-running festival but acquitted them of rape.

All five were sentenced to nine years in prison for their part in the attack, which they filmed, during the festival in Pamplona in July 2016.

The 18-year-old victim's ordeal caused a national outcry, and protests continued outside the court.

Both the woman and the defendants say they will appeal against the verdict.

"It's rape, not abuse," demonstrators said outside the court. Rallies have been called in Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Alicante and more than a dozen other cities across Spain against the verdict and in support of the victim.

The five, in their late 20s and originally from Seville, and the victim, from Madrid, were not present when the judgement was read out after a five-month trial, which was held behind closed doors to protect the woman's identity.

'Wolf pack' gang rape trial angers Spain

Under Spanish law, the charge of sexual abuse differs from rape in that it does not involve violence or intimidation.

But senior politicians and human rights groups questioned whether a prolonged sexual assault involving intercourse by five men could be anything but intimidation or rape.

The men, who have been in custody since 2016, have also been ordered to pay the woman €50,000 ($61,000; £43,500) in compensation.

Prosecutors had asked for sentences of more than 20 years.

However, one judge had argued that the men should have been acquitted of all charges except stealing the victim's phone.

What was the case against them?
Videos of the late-night encounter between the men and the young woman showed how the five men had wandered the streets among other drunken revellers before two of them led her into a basement by the hand.

According to a police report, the men - who belonged to a WhatsApp group called La manada (wolf pack) - surrounded the woman in a small alcove, removed her clothes and had unprotected sex.

Image copyrightREUTERS
Image caption
A picture of the accused is seen on screen in the courtroom

Some of them filmed the sexual act on their phones - there were seven videos, totalling 96 seconds. One of the men posted messages in a WhatsApp group celebrating what they had done and promising to share the recording.

According to the police report, the victim maintained a "passive or neutral" attitude throughout the scene, keeping her eyes closed at all times. Her phone was then stolen.

She was found in a reportedly distraught state by a couple in the street outside the scene of the attack. She told the trial she was still having psychological treatment to deal with trauma.

Some of the men were found to be in a video in which they apparently abused another woman, who seemed to be unconscious.

Spain's #MeToo moment
By James Badcock, Madrid

The "wolf pack" case has been Spain's #MeToo over the past two years, with thousands of supporters of the victim uniting under the slogan Yo te creo (I believe you).

>The shocking nature of the group abuse, the youth of the victim and the obnoxious celebratory messages about their "conquest" on their WhatsApp chat combined to make the case fertile fodder for black-and-white public opinion.

That the two majority verdict judges have chosen to see shades of grey by not interpreting the criminals' acts as violent or intimidatory will fuel indignant criticism from feminist groups.

Several leading left-wing politicians have already questioned the verdict. The apparent certainty of an appeal hearing means the debate over whether the law protects women will continue.

Who are the men?

José Ángel Prenda, 28: considered the leader of the five, wrote a message in the WhatsApp group about the video showing them having sex with the woman. He had been sentenced to two years in prison in 2011 for theft with force

Antonio Manuel Guerrero: a Civil Guard police officer, born in 1989, is thought to have recorded six videos. He also admitted to stealing the victim's phone

Ángel Boza, 26: his criminal records include theft with force and driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs
Alfonso Jesús Cabezuelo, 29: a military officer, is thought to have recorded one video

Jesús Escudero, 27: a hairdresser

What has the reaction been?
Supporters of the victim gathered outside the courthouse for the verdict, and were furious when it was read out.

Some donned red gloves in protest.

Women's rights groups and many politicians reacted angrily, with Spain's Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría calling on officials to analyse the verdict so that similar cases could be avoided.

UN Women programme director María Noel Vaeza said this was a "lost opportunity", El País newspaper reports (in Spanish), urging an end to the "social impunity [in cases of] rape".

Image copyrightREUTERS
Image caption
Dozens of people gathered outside the court ahead of the verdict, some wearing red gloves in protest

Altamira Gonzalo, vice-president of Themis, a Spanish organisation of women jurists, told Efe news agency: "It should have been a courageous sentence. The courts can't be so distant from society".

Socialist party leader Pedro Sanchez tweeted his outrage (in Spanish): "If what the 'wolfpack' did wasn't group violence against a defenceless woman, then what do we understand by rape?"

The victim's lawyer said he was "disappointed" while lawyers for the five men said they would appeal, calling the verdict "unfair".



I’M GLAD THEY PUT “ARTHUR” IN THE NAME. EVEN IF HE IS AT LEAST 50% MYTHOLOGICAL, HE IS STILL THE PROTOTYPE FOR A BRITISH KING.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/royal-baby-name-announced-as-prince-louis-arthur-charles-2018-4-27/
CBS NEWS April 27, 2018, 8:14 AM
Royal baby name announced: Prince Louis Arthur Charles

The brand new royal baby has a name. Prince William and Kate, or the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, as they are formally known, announced Friday that they had named their third child Louis Arthur Charles.

His full formal title is His Royal Highness Prince Louis of Cambridge.

The announcement was made in a tweet from Kensington Palace, the Cambridges' official residence -- not long after one of Britain's major betting firms stopped taking bets on what the name would be, and amid rampant speculation that the royal couple had chosen "Albert."

View image on Twitter
View image on Twitter

Kensington Palace
✔
@KensingtonRoyal
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are delighted to announce that they have named their son Louis Arthur Charles.

The baby will be known as His Royal Highness Prince Louis of Cambridge.

6:00 AM - Apr 27, 2018
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The duchess gave birth Monday morning, and emerged from St. Mary's Hospital in London about seven hours later alongside her husband, holding the baby wrapped in a white blanket. The trio posed for photographers before going back inside.

Prince Louis is fifth in line to the British throne, after grandfather Prince Charles, father William, Prince George and sister Princess Charlotte. He is Queen Elizabeth II's sixth great-grandchild.

The British royal family is set for a big year, with Prince William's brother Prince Harry set to marry American actress Meghan Markle on May 19 at Windsor Castle, outside London.