JUNE 15, 2018
NEWS AND VIEWS
I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO KNOW WHO THE SCIENTIST IN THIS CASE IS, HOLMES OR HER LOVER RAMESH BALWANI, BECAUSE SURELY PRETENDING TO DO SOMETHING AS INTRUSIVE ON LIFE AS A FAULTY OR FAKE MEDICAL PROCEDURE OR TEST – A BLOOD TEST THAT DOES NOT DETECT A CLUE TO THE PRESENCE OF A SERIOUS ILLNESS, FOR INSTANCE, IS HARMFUL TO A MUCH GREATER DEGREE THAN JUST THE COST OF THE TESTING, AND CREATING AND PROPAGATING A CLIENTELE BASED ON AN INCOMPETENT BLOOD TESTING PROCEDURE SHOULD BE MORE LIKE PURPOSELY HARMING THE PATIENTS’ HEALTH. THIS MAY BE ONE OF THOSE CASES IN WHICH TO GET ANY REDRESS AT ALL, THE PATIENT MUST SUE THERANOS, HOLMES, BALWANI AND THE PHYSICIAN. IF A WIFE’S BEING IMPRISONED OVER TEN YEARS FOR SHOOTING A GUN ONCE INTO THE CEILING TO FRIGHTEN OFF HER JEALOUS HUSBAND IS “JUST,” WHY CAN MEDICAL PERSONNEL GET AWAY WITH KILLING PEOPLE BY SUCH A MEANS AS THIS?
FEDERAL WIRE FRAUD, WITH WHICH THE TWO RAKED IN A HUGE AMOUNT OF MONEY, THOUGH, IS THE CRIME WHICH IS EASIER TO PROSECUTE, SO THEY DIDN’T TOUCH THE ISSUE OF MEDICAL MALPRACTICE. I SUPPOSE MEDICAL TREATMENTS AREN’T A DIRECT ENOUGH WAY OF KILLING FOR IT TO BE MENTIONED AS HER CRIME. ENDANGERMENT OF LIFE SHOULD BE A CRIME, I THINK. SEE THE “FINDLAW” SECTION WHICH I HAVE CLIPPED BELOW ON “FEDERAL WIRE FRAUD,” THE FINANCIAL CRIME THAT IS USED HERE. IN ONE OF THESE SEVERAL ARTICLES, IT DOES SAY THAT HOLMES AND BALWANI, EVEN AFTER THEY WERE FACED WITH INDICATIONS THAT IT WASN’T WORKING AS THEY CLAIMED, THEY CONTINUED TO GO IN THAT SAME DIRECTION FOR THE INCOME, OR TO KEEP THEIR REPUTATIONS. EITHER WAY, IT’S WRONG.
AS YOU CAN TELL, THIS IS A VERY FRUSTRATING SITUATION TO ME. IT’S LIKE GIVING A MAN FIVE YEARS IN PRISON FOR SEXUALLY MOLESTING CHILDREN, WHICH SCARS A CHILD’S MIND PERMANENTLY, TO ONE DEGREE OR ANOTHER. WE SHOULD CARE AS A SOCIETY THAT GREAT HARM CAN BE DONE WITHOUT A BRUISE. OR IS THAT SOMETHING THAT WOMEN UNDERSTAND BETTER THAN MEN?
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/theranos-founder-elizabeth-holmes-steps-down-ceo-205207698.html?soc_trk=gcm&soc_src=338950e1-cae3-359e-bfa3-af403b69d694&.tsrc=notification-brknews
Theranos founder Holmes, former president indicted for fraud
By Nate Raymond
Reuters June 15, 2018
FILE PHOTO: Elizabeth Holmes, CEO of Theranos, attends a panel discussion during the Clinton Global Initiative's annual meeting in New York, September 29, 2015. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
(Reuters) - Theranos Inc founder Elizabeth Holmes and the embattled blood-testing company's former president were indicted on charges that they engaged in schemes to defraud investors, doctors and patients, the U.S. Justice Department announced on Friday.
The charges against Holmes, 34, and Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, 53, were announced shortly after the privately-held company said that she was stepping down as its chief executive officer.
Prosecutors said that Holmes and Balwani used advertising and solicitations to encourage doctors and patients to use its blood testing laboratory services despite knowing the company could not produce accurate and reliable results consistently.
The indictment also alleged that Holmes and Balwani made numerous misrepresentations about Theranos' financial condition and futures prospects.
Each defendant faces two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and nine counts of wire fraud. Prosecutors said both made initial court appearances on Friday before a federal magistrate judge in San Jose.
The criminal charges came after Holmes in March settled civil fraud charges brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under which she was barred from serving as an officer or director of a public company for 10 years.
In a statement, Theranos said Holmes would remain chair of the company's board and David Taylor, the firm's general counsel, has been appointed its CEO.
Lawyers for Holmes and Balwani could not be immediately reached for comment.
Once called the Steve Jobs of biotech, Holmes started Theranos at the age of 19 and the company was soon considered a Silicon Valley darling with a $9 billion valuation based on its promise to disrupt the laboratory testing business.
Theranos claimed its innovative blood testing device would give quicker and more reliable results than standard blood tests using just a single drop of blood from a finger stick.
In 2015, the Wall Street Journal reported that Theranos' devices were flawed and inaccurate, setting off a downward spiral for the company that had bagged investors including venture capital firm DFJ, Walgreens
(Reporting by Tamara Mathias in Bengaluru and Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Maju Samuel and Bill Berkrot)
http://money.cnn.com/2018/06/15/technology/elizabeth-holmes-indicted-theranos/index.html
Elizabeth Holmes indicted on wire fraud charges, steps down from Theranos
by Sara Ashley O'Brien @saraashleyo
June 15, 2018: 7:20 PM ET
Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes has been indicted on federal wire fraud* charges, the office of the United States Attorney for the Northern District of California announced Friday.
Holmes and former Theranos COO and president Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani allegedly engaged in a multi-million dollar scheme to defraud investors, as well as a scheme to defraud doctors and patients, according to a release from the US Attorney's office.
Holmes and Balwani are charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and nine counts of wire fraud. The indictments happened Thursday and were unsealed on Friday. If convicted, they each face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, plus restitution for each count of wire fraud and each conspiracy count, according to the US Attorney's office.
Holmes and Balwani were accused of knowingly misrepresenting the capabilities of Theranos' proprietary blood testing technology. The two allegedly knew there were "accuracy and reliability problems," and that it "could not compete with existing, more conventional machines," the US Attorney's office said.
Minutes before the charges were made public, Theranos announced that Holmes has stepped down as CEO. The company's general counsel, David Taylor, will take over as CEO. Holmes will stay on as chair of the company's board.
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An attorney for Holmes did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Balwani's attorney, Jeffrey B. Coopersmith, said in a statement his client is innocent. "Mr. Balwani committed no crimes. He did not defraud Theranos investors, who were among the most sophisticated in the world. He did not defraud consumers, but instead worked tirelessly to empower them with access to their own health information. Mr. Balwani is innocent, and looks forward to clearing his name at trial," the statement said.
A lawyer for Theranos said the company had no comment.
Theranos was once valued at as much as $9 billion.
Holmes dropped out of Stanford University to launch Theranos in 2003 with a plan to offer cheaper, more efficient alternative to traditional medical tests. It promised patients the ability to test for conditions like cancer and diabetes with just a few drops of blood.
Related: 'Bad Blood' explores the culture inside disgraced startup Theranos
Holmes was once lauded as the youngest self-made female billionaire. But her net worth was revised down to nothing after Wall Street Journal investigative reporter John Carreyrou started digging into the technology behind her blood testing startup. Carreyrou's first expose on the company ran in October 2015 and Theranos voided two years of its blood tests just seven months later.
In March, the SEC announced "massive fraud" charges of $700 million against Theranos, Holmes and Balwani. The SEC said Theranos, Holmes and Balwani misled partners and investors about the company's technology, misrepresented revenue projections and falsely claimed it didn't need regulatory approval for its testing technology.
Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes charged with massive fraud
Holmes and Theranos reached a settlement with the SEC, while the SEC said it would take its case against Balwani to court.
Coopersmith called the SEC action against his client "unwarranted."
"Sunny Balwani accurately represented Theranos to investors to the best of his ability," Coopersmith said in a statement.
Investors in Theranos included Oracle founder Larry Ellison, venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson, now Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
CNNMoney (New York)
First published June 15, 2018: 5:23 PM ET
“FEDERAL WIRE FRAUD”* VERSUS “FRAUD”
FROM LOOKING THROUGH ALL THESE COMMENTARIES AND EXPLANATIONS, IT SEEMS TO ME THAT A KEY ELEMENT IN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THOSE TWO IS THE CROSSING OF STATE LINES, AS IN THE WELL-KNOWN MANN ACT. UNDER “MANN ACT,” I FIND A 1910 LAW “TO CRIMINALIZE” TRANSPORTING A PROSTITUTE ACROSS A STATE LINE. IT WAS ALSO CALLED THE “WHITE SLAVERY LAW.” IN SOME CASES, THERE WERE ISSUES OF MISCEGENATION AS WELL. ONE CASE INVOLVED A BLACK CHAMPIONSHIP BOXER WHO HAD A WHITE GIRLFRIEND. RACIAL MIXING WAS HIGHLY ILLEGAL THEN. THAT WAS ONLY RECENTLY CHANGED (1970 OR SO, I THINK.)
IN THIS THERANOS CASE, THE UNDERLYING FRAUD, NO MATTER HOW FOUL, WAS NOT A FEDERAL CRIME BUT A STATE/LOCAL CRIME, SO IN ORDER TO CAUSE MS. HOLMES TO PAY A REALLY SERIOUS PENALTY, THEY CALLED IT FEDERAL WIRE FRAUD, BECAUSE MODERN TECHNOLOGY ALLOWS SCAMS TO BE PERPETRATED FROM GREAT DISTANCES AND WITH LESS CHANCE OF IDENTIFYING THE CRIMINAL, INCLUDING INTERNATIONALLY. THIS COUPLE DID RAKE IN HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS FROM ALL OVER THE USA AND BEYOND. ANOTHER ELEMENT IS THE FACT THAT PARTICULARLY IN 1910, IF A MAN TOOK A WOMAN, WHETHER SHE WAS WILLING OR NOT, ACROSS STATE LINES THEY BECAME MUCH HARDER TO TRACE AND APPREHEND.
TO ME, ALL FRAUD IS DISGUSTING, AND SHOULD ALWAYS BE PUNISHED. DELIVERING FALSE OR INACCURATE MEDICAL RESULTS, THOUGH, IS A CRIME ON A MUCH HIGHER SCALE. IT COULD BE A DEATH SENTENCE TO A PATIENT WITH CANCER OR HIV. IN THIS CASE AS IN OTHERS I’VE SEEN, PURE EVIL MAY NOT BE A CRIME AT ALL, BUT ANYTHING HAVING TO DO WITH MONEY, PROPERTY, ETC. WILL BE CRIMINALIZED WITH A STIFF PRISON TERM. FOR A DISCUSSION OF THAT VERY INTERESTING SET OF LAWS, THE MANN ACT, WHICH WAS STILL BEING TALKED ABOUT WHEN I WAS 20 OR SO, GO TO THE WEBSITE “Https://Study.Com/Academy/Lesson/What-Is-The-Mann-Act-Of-1910.Html.” SEE FINDLAW HERE FOR THE BEST EXPLANATION.
https://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-charges/wire-fraud.html
“WIRE FRAUD”
nounUS
financial fraud involving the use of telecommunications or information technology.
The crime of fraud can take many forms. Scams that take place over interstate wires, such as telemarketing fraud, phishing, or spam related schemes, are all called wire fraud.
ELEMENTS OF WIRE FRAUD
Wire fraud is very similar to regular fraud, except that it takes place over phone lines or involves electronic communications. The legal definition of wire fraud has four elements:
The defendant created or participated in a scheme to defraud another out of money;
The defendant did so with intent to defraud;
It was reasonably foreseeable that the defendant would use wire communications; and
The defendant did in fact use interstate wire communications.
For the purposes of wire fraud, "INTERSTATE wire communications" could mean telephone calls, electronic communication such as fax machines or the internet, or even television.
Typical Wire Fraud Schemes
People who commit wire fraud are typically looking for your personal financial information in order to use your credit cards or transfer money from your bank account. One common example of wire fraud over the phone is telemarketing fraud.
Take a look at FindLaw’s sections on Financial crimes and Crimes Against Property to learn about related offenses.
Charged with Wire Fraud? Get Legal Help
WIRE FRAUD* IS USUALLY LINKED TO OTHER CRIMES, and THE WIRE FRAUD ELEMENT is what allows inter-state agencies to prosecute the underlying crimes. Only an expert criminal defense attorney can be relied on to explain your situation and predict your best course of action. If you've been charged with wire fraud, or any other crime, it's a good idea to contact a criminal defense attorney near you to discuss your case.
DOES THIS PERSONALITY SOUND LIKE SOMEONE ELSE WE KNOW? "ELIZABETH DEMANDED ABSOLUTE LOYALTY FROM HER EMPLOYEES AND IF SHE SENSED THAT SHE NO LONGER HAD IT FROM SOMEONE, SHE COULD TURN ON THEM IN A FLASH," SAID CARREYROU.”
http://money.cnn.com/2018/05/21/technology/theranos-bad-blood/index.html?iid=EL
'Bad Blood' explores the culture inside disgraced startup Theranos
by Sara Ashley O'Brien @saraashleyo
May 21, 2018: 10:34 AM ET
Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes was once lauded as the youngest self-made female billionaire. But her net worth was revised down to nothing after a journalist started digging into the technology behind her blood testing startup.
In a new book out Monday, that journalist -- Wall Street Journal investigative reporter John Carreyrou -- sheds light on what went on behind the scenes of the disgraced company.
The book, "Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup," focuses on understanding the culture at Theranos and the tyrannic leadership that steered the startup to its one-time valuation of $9 billion.
Theranos aimed to create cheaper, more efficient alternatives to traditional blood tests using its proprietary technology. But after Carreyrou, a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter, called into question its technology and testing methods in 2015, the company voided two years of blood tests. In May 2018, the SEC charged Theranos with "massive fraud" involving more than $700 million.
The company remains the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation by the Department of Justice.
Following interviews with more than 150 people, including 60 former Theranos employees, Carreyrou paints the picture of what it was like working for Holmes. She was said to have unrealistic expectations, according to Carreyrou, when it came to the startup's blood testing technology and its workers, requiring engineers to work around the clock to speed up development.
"This was an incredibly ambitious woman. She wanted to be the second coming of Steve Jobs. It was an 'ends justify the means' situation. Perhaps she thought [Bill] Gates and Jobs faked it until they made it so why not her too?" Carreyrou told CNNMoney.
Related: Elizabeth Holmes surrounded Theranos with powerful people
elizabeth holmes bad blood
After dropping out of Stanford University in 2003, Holmes started Theranos at age 19. She was known for wearing black turtlenecks, a nod to Jobs, and for her ability to attract a who's who of powerful investors and board members. Her squad included two billionaire executives, a top Silicon Valley venture capitalist, and a member of President Donald Trump's cabinet.
Holmes ignored warning signs from employees who raised red flags about the technology's effectiveness prior to introducing it to patients. Holmes expected complicity in elaborate lies, such as staging a fake laboratory to impress Vice President Joe Biden. Those who pushed back or tried to level with her were typically asked to leave the company.
"There's no question in mind that she knew there was a risk that she was putting patients in harm's way," Careyrou said. "The problem was Elizabeth channeled the Silicon Valley culture and way of operating for what was not a traditional tech business -- it was a medical technology business."
According to Carreyrou, employees constantly felt like they were under surveillance. Holmes' administrative assistants connected with Theranos employees on Facebook to report back what others were posting.
"Elizabeth demanded absolute loyalty from her employees and if she sensed that she no longer had it from someone, she could turn on them in a flash," said Carreyrou.
Related: Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes charged with massive fraud
In the book, he writes that firing someone often meant building a dossier on the person to "use for leverage."
"Bad Blood" also examines the role and power exuded by Theranos' former COO Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani. Balwani is an elusive character. A Google search on the executive turns up few results.
Twenty years her senior, Balwani was Holmes' closest confident; the two also had a romantic relationship that was concealed from her board. Balwani is said to have "spawned a culture of fear with his intimidating behavior," Carreyrou writes. When he let employees go, employees would say, "Sunny disappeared him."
Carreyrou wrote Balwani treated employees as his "minions." Dozens of them were Indian citizens on H-1B visas, a popular work visa used in the tech industry to employ highly-skilled foreign workers. Because H-1B visas are tied to an employer, this kept workers on these visas particularly afraid of speaking up. "It was akin to indentured servitude," Carreyrou wrote.
Efforts to maintain secrecy at the company ran deep, he said. Employees -- and anyone who entered Theranos' office -- were required to sign non-disclosure agreements. "We can change people in and out. The company is all that matters," one engineer featured in the book recalls Holmes saying.
Carreyrou said Holmes has "steadfastly refused" to do an interview with him for years. They have never met.
His first expose on Theranos ran in the Wall Street Journal in October 2015, and his coverage is responsible for cracking open and exposing the startup.
"I have very good reason to believe that criminal indictments of Holmes and Balwani are not far away," Carreyrou said.
CNNMoney (New York)
First published May 21, 2018: 10:34 AM ET
THIS ARTICLE DEALS WITH PAM BONDI, FLORIDA’S AG, HER THREAT TO JOIN THE NY AG SUIT AGAINST TRUMP, AND THE $25,000 THAT HER CAMPAIGN FUND RECEIVED JUST FOUR DAYS LATER. AFTER SIX MONTHS SHE ENDORSED HIM FOR PRESIDENT. BEST FRIENDS. AND TRUMP CALLS DEMOCRATS “SLEAZY!”
“TRUMP ALSO USED HIS FOUNDATION TO PAY A FLORIDA CHARITY $100,000 TO RESOLVE A DISPUTE WITH THE CITY OF PALM BEACH AND MAR-A-LAGO.” I WONDER IF THIS IS THE CHARITY THAT TRUMP WAS REFERRING TO IN HIS TWEET OF TODAY, IN WHICH HE CLAIMS THAT OUT OF HIS $18,800,000 IN DONATIONS, HE PAID OUT MORE THAN HE RECEIVED IN DONATIONS, SPECIFICALLY, $19,200,000 TO CHARITY; BUT THIS POLITICAL GIFT TO BONDI IS SURELY A CLEAR BRIBE INSTEAD?
http://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2018/06/14/trump-foundation-under-fire-in-new-york-reviving-bondi-connection/
Trump Foundation under fire in New York, reviving Bondi connection
Trump used his foundation to give $25,000 to Pam Bondi's re-election effort. He later paid an IRS fine.
By Alex Leary
36 minutes ago JUNE 14, 2018
PHOTOGRAPH -- Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump walks in the rain with Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, as they arrive at a campaign rally in Tampa, Fla., Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016. (Loren | Tampa Bay Times )
A lawsuit the New York state attorney general's office filed today against the Donald J. Trump Foundation brings up a connection to Florida's Attorney General Pam Bondi.
In 2013, Trump gave Bondi's political committee $25,000 in support of her re-election effort — money that came from the foundation and violated tax laws.
Trump in 2016 paid the IRS a $2,500 fine.
The donation raised questions because it came four days after Bondi publicly said she was considering joining a New York state investigation into Trump University in 2013, which had significant Florida ties.
Bondi did not pursue the case, saying there were not many complaints about Trump University in Florida, and she strongly denied any connection to the political donation.
Bondi was a top supporter of Trump's during the campaign and has served on his opioid commission.
Trump also used his foundation to pay a Florida charity $100,000 to resolve a dispute with the city of Palm Beach and Mar-a-Lago. And Trump used foundation money to buy a $10,000 painting of himself that he displayed at his Doral golf club.
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
The sleazy New York Democrats, and their now disgraced (and run out of town) A.G. Eric Schneiderman, are doing everything they can to sue me on a foundation that took in $18,800,000 and gave out to charity more money than it took in, $19,200,000. I won’t settle this case!...
11:09 AM - Jun 14, 2018
30.2K
16.3K people are talking about this
READ MORE:
.... Tracing the controversy of Trump's $25,000 donation to Pam Bondi
.... In Trump Institute,* Donald Trump had Florida partners with a record of fraud
THIS IS A NEWLY MENTIONED FUND OF TRUMP’S, THE TRUMP INSTITUTE. I WONDER WHAT THEY STUDY? GETTING RICH, OF COURSE. SEE BELOW. BETTER STILL, GO ON GOOGLE AND SEARCH “MIKE AND IRENE MILIN NET WORTH.” THEIR LISTED NET WORTH IS NOT SO SPECTACULAR, BUT THEIR PREFERENCE FOR RUNNING SCAMS IS. THEY WERE IN BUSINESS WITH HIM AT “TRUMP INSTITUTE” AND “TRUMP UNIVERSITY.” FOR CONSIDERABLY MORE ON THE MILINS PERSONALLY, GO TO: http://www.robertabalos.com/2016/07/mike-and-irene-milin-statement_86.html; AND
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5F7JCrNKBU
THE DONALD TRUMP WAY TO WEALTH INFOMERCIAL -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=775yy9Rusc4
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_Institute
Trump Institute
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Trump Institute was a traveling lecture series founded in 2005. The seminar series was owned and operated by Irene and Mike Milin of Boca Raton, Florida.[1] It used Donald Trump's name via a licensing agreement with Trump University. According to the general counsel for The Trump Organization, the licensing agreement expired in 2009 and was not renewed.[2]
During 2006, its first full year of operation, the company put on 120 seminars in 30 cities across the country, with The Trump Organization receiving a cut for every seat filled. Although the Institute and Trump University were separately owned, their operations overlapped, and they often used promotional materials bearing both names.[1] Many students complained that the Institute made false promises of prosperity and provided little actual teaching, and that requests for refunds were refused or stonewalled. Hundreds of letters of complaint were filed with the state attorneys general of New York, Florida, and Texas and with local Better Business Bureaus.[3]
Although Trump was not personally involved in the operation of the seminar, he endorsed the series in a broadcast infomercial titled The Donald Trump Way to Wealth.[4] In the infomercial, Trump claimed that "I put all of my concepts that have worked so well for me, new and old, into our seminar... I’m teaching what I’ve learned.”[4]
Michael Sexton, Trump's partner in Trump University, said he chose to work with the Milins because they were "the best in the business". But the Milins had a record of previous get-rich-quick schemes and fraud investigations in multiple states dating back to the 1980s.[2][5]
In 2016 it was revealed that the booklet for Trump Institute, titled Billionaire’s Road Map to Success, included at least 20 pages that were plagiarized verbatim from Success magazine. The plagiarism was discovered by American Bridge 21st Century, a super PAC.[4]
“TRUMP INSTITUTE LUCKNOW” HAS FIVE OF THESE ADS TO DATE ON THE INTERNET, AND STILL BEARING TRUMP’S NAME. HE MAY OR MAY NOT BE RECEIVING MONEY FROM THEM STILL. THEY OFFER NOT SEMINARS, BUT “HOME TUTORS” IN ONE CASE AND “TUTORIALS” IN ANOTHER.
BE SURE TO LOOK AT THE PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE “INSTITUTE” HERE IN JANKIPURAM INDIA. IT DOESN’T LOOK AT ALL LIKE TRUMP TOWER.
Trump Institute, Jankipuram - Home Tutors in Lucknow - Justdial
https://www.justdial.com › ... › Home Tutors in Jankipuram › Trump Institute
Rating: 3 - 2 votes
https://www.justdial.com/photos/trump-institute-lucknow-l474s-pc-81190991-sco-39lm8taf
AND WHO IS “JUSTDIAL?”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justdial.com
Justdial.com
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Justdial is an Indian-based company founded by Mr. Venkatachalam Sthanu Subramani Mani (V.S.S. Mani).[6] It provides search services and is made available on Website and Mobile. The company's headquarters is in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.[7] It has offices in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata and Pune.[8] Just Dial was in news on November 10, 2017 for expected acquisition by Google and based on this news the share prices at NSE rose about 20%.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucknow
Lucknow
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lucknow (/ˈlʌknaʊ/ (About this sound listen) Lakhna'ū) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh[5][6][7][8] and is also the administrative headquarters of the eponymous District and Division. It is the eleventh most populous city and the twelfth most populous urban agglomeration of India. Lucknow has always been known as a multicultural city that flourished as a North Indian cultural and artistic hub, and the seat of power of Nawabs in the 18th and 19th centuries.[9]
IT’S CLEAR THAT WHEN TRUMP DOES THINGS LIKE THIS, HE’S HAVING FUN, BUT THE RESULTS OF HIS JOKES ARE VERY DISTURBING. WORRYING, EVEN. WHAT’S GOING TO BE THE OUTCOME IN OUR INTERNATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS? TRUMP SEEMS TO THINK THAT WE CAN IGNORE THOSE NATIONS WHO HAVE THE CLOSEST TIES WITH US. IF WE CONTINUE TO BE A NONCONFORMIST PLAYER IN WORLD AFFAIRS, LIKE KIM IS, THE RESULT WILL BE THAT WE WON’T BE TRUSTED OR RESPECTED, AND THEN WHEN RUSSIA COMES FOR THE KEYS TO THE WHITE HOUSE, WHAT WILL HAPPEN?
https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/15/politics/donald-trump-fox-news-interview/index.html
The 49 wildest quotes from Donald Trump's bananas interview with Fox News
Chris Cillizza
Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large
Updated 12:35 PM ET, Fri June 15, 2018
(CNN)Just before 8 a.m. ET Friday morning, President Donald Trump tweeted this: "Wow, the highest rated (by far) morning show, @foxandfriends, is on the Front Lawn of the White House. Maybe I'll have to take an unannounced trip down to see them?"
And take a trip down to see them he did! Trump strolled out of the White House and over to the North Lawn to chat with "Fox & Friends" co-host Steve Doocy for the better part of 30 minutes.
The interview did not disappoint. Trump, egged on by the cooperative Doocy, sounded off on the inspector general's report on the 2016 election, how attentive North Koreans are to Kim Jong Un and, well, lots and lots of other stuff.
Here are the 49 lines you need to see.
1. "I was mugged by the media."
And away we go! (Trump is talking about reporters who tried to ask him questions as he walked to the Fox set on the North Lawn.)
2. "I would bet if you took a poll in the FBI I would win that poll by more than anybody's won a poll."
Speechless. And we're only on Trump's second quote!
3. "You look at what happened. They were plotting against my election."
"They" were not. That's according to the IG report released on Thursday afternoon that makes very clear that mistakes made by then-FBI Director Jim Comey and other within the bureau were not motivated by political bias. Even the texts by FBI agent Peter Strzok suggesting he would do something to ensure Trump lost appear to have been just words with no tangible actions behind them, according to the IG report.
4. "They were actually plotting against my election."
Again, no.
5. "I'm actually proud because I beat [the] Clinton dynasty. I beat [the] Bush dynasty. Now I guess, hopefully I'm in the process of beating very dishonest intelligence because, what they did was incredible."
A few things: 1) This is Trump's intelligence community, right? He is the President. 2) Not everything is a battle for victory between two combatants 3) Equating campaign victories with battles against your own intelligence community is, um, odd.
6. "The end result was wrong. There was total bias."
What's remarkable about this quote -- in which Trump dismisses the IG report's finding that there was no political bias influencing the FBI's investigation of Hillary Clinton -- is that he later insists that the same IG report totally exonerates him in the special counsel probe. But, how can it be totally wrong and totally right....[head explodes]
7. "It was interesting, it was a pretty good report."
WAIT. You JUST said it was "wrong." Also, relatedly: Chances Trump read the full 568-page report? Is 0% an option?
8. "You read so much about China, you read so much about other countries, we have the great brain power right in this country, I'm proud to say. You're certainly a member of that group."
Steve Doocy = "great brain power"
9. "There is no trade war. There is no trade war."
When you say it twice, it makes it twice as true.
10. "We left. We hugged, we kissed."
Donald Trump on his departure from the G7 conference. Totally normal description of a summit of world leaders. Nothing odd at all. Nope.
11. "We have 21 televisions or some ridiculous number."
Trump is referring here to the massive number of televisions he has on Air Force One. Also, relatedly: "I don't get to watch much television. Primarily because of documents. I'm reading documents. A lot." -- Donald Trump
12. "We're hugging. We're saying goodbye. Everybody is happy."
This sounds exactly like my college graduation!
13. "I have great friendships."
Same.
14. "If you notice when I came over they were all saying about separating families. That is a Democrat bill. That is Democrats wanting to do that."
It is not. The issue is that, back in the spring, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the administration would adopt a zero-tolerance policy for people trying to enter the country illegally. They would refer each and every one for prosecution. While it has always been against the law to enter the country illegally, the decision to prosecute was usually left up to the prosecutor. No longer.
15. "I certainly wouldn't sign the more moderate [bill]. I need a bill that gives this country tremendous border security. I have to have that. We have to have the wall."
And with one single remark, Trump brings the entire carefully-constructed Republican compromise on immigration to a crashing halt. The so-called "moderate" bill was Speaker Paul Ryan's attempt to end a discharge petition by moderates within the conference to force a wide-open debate -- and a series of votes -- on immigration policy. Trump, apparently, is uninterested in that compromise bill. Good times.
16. "13 angry Democrats, there are 13, I call them 13 angry Democrats and others worked for Obama for eight years. You have no Republicans."
Trump regularly uses this short-hand to describe special counsel Robert Mueller's team. What he gets wrong is that Mueller himself is a Republican who was appointed FBI director by Republican President George W. Bush. And that Rod Rosenstein, the man who named Mueller as special counsel, is a Republican who was chosen for his current job by the Trump administration.
17." It is very unfair situation but the IG report totally exonerates."
To be clear: The IG report is about how the FBI conducted itself during the 2016 campaign -- especially in regard to the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails. In no way, shape or form does the IG report "exonerate" Trump in the Mueller probe, which is focused on Russian meddling and the possibility of collusion and obstruction.
18. "The head investigator is saying we have to stop Trump from becoming president. Well, Trump became president. We have the best economy today we've ever had."
As always, these are actual sentences in the exact order Trump said them. So, from Peter Strzok saying he would stop Trump from being president to how great the economy is doping -- in just three sentences!
19. "I would like to talk but it seems to be very biased."
Trump has been publicly vacillating as to whether he will sit down for an interview with Mueller for months now. His evidence that the Mueller probe is "very biased' appears to be that Strzok was once a part of it. But, Strzok was removed last summer by Mueller once his text messages with FBI lawyer Lisa Page came to light. So, if Mueller wasn't biased then, why is he biased now?
20. "I have the greatest supporters in the world. By the way they're the smartest, they're the hardest working, they pay taxes."
"Welcome to Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average." -- Garrison Keillor
21. "I have the bikers, I have the construction workers, I have them all."
[Looks down at checklist] "Bikers? Check. Construction workers? Check. OK, that's all of them."
22. "You go into the FBI and take a poll of the real FBI -- not the scum on top, not Comey and that group of people that are total thieves."
So:
a) You already said the poll thing
b) "Scum," seriously?
c) "Total thieves," double seriously?
23. "I have a fantastic relationship now with North Korea."
REMINDER: Trump spent five-ish hours total with Kim and the rest of the North Koreans who were in Singapore earlier this week for the summit. And yet: "Fantastic relationship.":
24. "I said on the Department of Justice, I would stay uninvolved. Now I may get involved at some point if it gets worse."
This isn't threatening or ominous. Not at all!
25. "I did nothing wrong. There was no collusion. There was no obstruction."
"There is no O." -- Donald Trump
26. "I tried staying uninvolved. I may not stay uninvolved."
Yes, you said that. But always worth repeating a threat, right?
27. "That's just the tip of the iceberg. What will happen if we go further. There was total bias, I mean total bias."
Trump is openly flicking at conspiracy theories involving the "deep state" aligned against him. By suggesting an exhaustive, 500-plus-page report is only the "tip of the iceberg" he is signaling to his supporters that other more damaging things are still being hidden. Of course, he offers no specifics of what's being hidden -- or why.
28. "Certainly they just seemed like very criminal acts to me."
Trump's response to Doocy's totally fair and balanced question about Comey that went like this: "From what you've seen so far, should James Comey be locked up?"
29. "I think Comey was the ringleader of this whole den of thieves. It's a den of thieves."
This is the FBI -- or at least the top brass of the FBI -- Trump is talking about. The President of the United States is saying the top FBI personnel are a "den of thieves." This is not normal.
30. "We had good chemistry."
Trump on Kim. Relatedly, remember that Trump said he would know whether he and Kim would get along and make a deal within the first minute of meeting the North Korean dictator. How? "Just my touch, my feel," explained Trump. "That's what I do."
31. "We got along very well, good chemistry."
The best chemistry. Like Chem 2. Or even AP Chem.
32. "I signed an agreement where we get everything, everything, but they say Trump lost because he agreed to meet."
The agreement signed by Kim and Trump is a broad statement of intent to denuclearize the Korean peninsula. It is nothing close to a specific plan and timeline on how to accomplish that.
33. "I have a great relationship. He gave us back our hostages. I didn't pay $1.8 billion. I paid nothing. But it was very smart that he did it."
Ernest Hemingway could have written these sentences.
34. "He wants to do something great with this country. He wants to make his country great."
Trump apparently gleaned that Kim wants to make North Korea great again in the 45-ish minutes they spent one-on-one in Singapore on Tuesday.
35. "[Kim] speaks and his people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same."
Trump later said he was joking about this -- and mocked the media for not understanding. To which I say: That explanation is totally and completely plausible, Mr. President.
36. "I met a general he saluted me. I saluted him back."
Yes, but....
37. "I gave [Kim] credibility. It is great to get credibility."
Who doesn't love a little credibility?
38. "You're having a lot of fun, right? Suppose Hillary got elected instead of Trump, you think it would be so exciting?"
This comment, from Trump to Doocy, is a reminder of how he views the presidency as the world's greatest reality TV show. You didn't see that North Korea swerve coming, didja Steve?
39. "I study ratings."
"I don't get to watch much television. Primarily because of documents. I'm reading documents. A lot." -- Donald Trump
40. "They are all saying it has nothing to do with the flag. The way we've been treated. Meantime they're making $15 million a year."
Trump is suggesting here that because black athletes are often well-compensated, they cannot protest the unjust treatment of African-Americans by the police. Um, OK.
41. "She was really nice and I have to say, and very capable."
President Donald Trump on prison reform advocate Kim Kardashian West. 2018, everybody!
42. "I don't know if it's a real issue. I don't think it's a real issue."
Donald Trump, the President of the United States, is suggesting that African-American football players kneeling during the national anthem is not a "real issue."
43. "At some point, I'm sure [Sarah Sanders] will leave like everybody leaves. We'll get somebody else."
Sarah, you are an integral part of this White House. But, the second you leave, we will just replace you with somebody else.
44. "I thought she should have walked out instead of sitting there."
Raise your hand if you are surprised that this would have been Trump's reaction to Michelle Wolf's roast of the White House (and Sanders) at the white House Correspondents Dinner. [no one raises hand][
45. "I want that air to be so perfect."
Perfect Air is a good name for a twee-pop band.
46. "Matt Drudge is a great gentleman, who really -- he's got an ability to capture stories that people want to see"
Offered without comment.
47. "I got a lot of good kisses."
Donald Trump on what he got for his 72nd birthday on Thursday.
48. "She, somebody said did she have a face-lift? No. Did she have this, have that?"
The President re-raises the idea that his wife had plastic surgery, which was raised by a total of 0 credible media outlets.
49. "I'm gonna work."
Looks like Donald Trump and I will spend Father's Day the same way!
CNN's Marc Rod contributed to this report.
THOSE RIGHTIES ARE MESSING WITH THE PUBLIC MIND AGAIN. IF YOU WANT TO CRIPPLE THE MOST DANGEROUS ADVERSARY FOR 2020, SMEAR HIM EARLY AND OFTEN. IT HAS STARTED NOW.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/bernie-sanders-sierra-blanca-nuclear-waste/
CLAIM
Sen. Bernie Sanders once supported a proposal to "dump nuclear waste" in the "poor Latino community" of Sierra Blanca, Texas.
RATING
MOSTLY TRUE
WHAT'S TRUE
Sanders did support a proposal in which Maine and Vermont could dispose of low-level nuclear waste a proposed site in Sierra Blanca, Texas, which is a predominantly Latino and relatively poor community.
WHAT'S UNDETERMINED
It's not clear whether Sanders told activists he would "absolutely not" visit the proposed disposal site.
ORIGIN
In April 2018, the right-leaning Turning Point USA posted a Facebook meme which attacked Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders for once supporting a proposal to “dump nuclear waste” in a “poor Latino community in Texas”:
In the 90’s, Trump supported a bill to dump nuclear waste in Sierra Blanca, a poor Latino community in Texas where the average yearly income was $8,000. When asked if he would visit the site, he said “Absolutely not.”
Oh wait! Never mind, that was Bernie Sanders! And he actually co-sponsored the bill!
The meme was re-posted by the “Capitalism” Facebook page:
In 1997 and 1998, Sanders did indeed support a measure that gave Congressional approval to an arrangement that would have allowed the states of Maine and Vermont to transport and dispose of nuclear waste at a proposed site in the sparsely populated town of Sierra Blanca in Hudspeth County, close to the Mexican border in West Texas.
As the meme suggests, Sierra Blanca was (and is) a predominantly Latino community. U.S. Census Bureau records show that in 2000, two years after the proposal, 73 percent of the town’s 533 residents identified as Hispanic or Latino, and almost all of those as Mexican. In 2016, some 69 percent of Sierra Blanca’s 557 residents identified as Hispanic or Latino.
In 1999, the annual per capita income of Sierra Blanca residents was $10,768, which was 45 percent lower than that of Texans at large ($19,617). In 2016, the median household income in Sierra Blanca was estimated to be $41,875 as compared to $54,727 in the state of Texas.
As an Independent member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Vermont, Sanders was one of 23 co-sponsors of House Resolution 629, which called for Congress to give its consent to the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact — an agreement between the states of Texas, Maine, and Vermont.
Speaking on the floor of the house in October 1997, Sanders said he was in “strong support” of the resolution for environmental reasons, and stressed that he personally was opposed to the use of nuclear power, but that the waste it produces had to be disposed of as safely as possible.
It is worth reading a relatively extensive excerpt from his remarks in order to get a good sense of Sanders’ stated reasoning:
Let me touch, for a moment, upon the environmental aspects of this issue. And let me address it from the perspective of someone who is an opponent of nuclear power, opposes the construction of nuclear power plants and if he had his way, would shut down the existing nuclear power plants as quickly and as safely as we could.
One of the reasons that many of us oppose nuclear power plants is that when this technology was developed, there was not a lot of thought given as to how we dispose of the nuclear waste. But…the reality, as others have already pointed out, is that the waste is here. We can’t wish it away. It exists in power plants in Maine and Vermont, it exists in hospitals, it is here…So the real environmental issue here is not to wish it away, but to make the judgement, the important environmental judgement as to what is the safest way of disposing of the nuclear waste that has been created.
…Leaving the radioactive waste at the site where it was produced — despite the fact that that site might be extremely unsafe in terms of long-term isolation of the waste, and was never intended to be a long-term depository of low-level waste — is horrendous environmental policy…No reputable scientist of environmentalist believes that the geology of Vermont or Maine would be a good place for this waste. In the humid climate of Vermont and Maine, it is more likely that ground water will come in contact with that waste and carry off radioactive elements to the accessible environment.
There is widespread scientific evidence to suggest, on the other hand, that locations in Texas — some of which receive less than 12 inches of rainfall a year, a region where the groundwater table is more than 700 feet below the surface — is a far better location for this waste. This is not a political assertion, it is a geological and environmental reality.
A video clip of his comments can be viewed here.
Congress passed the resolution comfortably by 305 votes to 117, as did the Senate, by 78 votes to 15.
The proposal had much stronger support among Republicans than among Democrats. GOP members of the House voted 197-26 in favor, while Democrats were more evenly split, voting 107-91 in favor. In the Senate, not a single Republican opposed H.R. 629, while 51 of them voted for it. Fifteen Democratic Senators opposed the bill, while 27 of them voted in support.
At that time, five out six Senators from Texas, Vermont, and Maine were Republicans. All five of them voted in favor of the proposal. Both of Maine’s Representatives voted for the disposal site, as did 10 out of the 13 Republican Congress members from Texas. In the House, the proposal had 23 co-sponsors. Eleven were Republicans, eleven were Democrats, and one was Sanders himself, an Independent. The author of the resolution was Joe Barton, a Republican from Texas.
Despite Congressional approval for the agreement, authorities in Texas ultimately rejected the proposal to establish a disposal site at Sierra Blanca. In October 1998, the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission voted 3-0 against issuing a permit for the construction of a nuclear waste dump there. According to the Associated Press, commission chairman Barry McBee said the disposal site could have provided a much-needed economic boost to the area, but commission members were sufficiently concerned about safety issues to deny the permit.
According to a September 1998 article in the Texas Observer, a group of activists opposed to the Sierra Blanca waste site approached Sanders at an anti-nuclear weapons rally in Vermont that year:
Sanders left the stage, which surprised no one in the small Texas delegation. Earlier, he had told them, “My position is unchanged, and you’re not gonna like it.” When they asked if they would visit the site in Sierra Blanca, he said, “Absolutely not. I’m gonna be running for re-election in the state of Vermont.”
We asked a spokesperson for Sanders whether he agrees that this exchange took place, but we did not receive a response to that specific question. Instead, the spokesperson offered a broader explanation and defense of the Senator’s support of H.R. 629:
The only reason Senator Sanders was ever involved is because the constitution requires Congress to approve interstate compacts. Texas Representative Joe Barton introduced such legislation in 1998, and twenty-three members of the Vermont, Texas and Maine congressional delegations cosponsored it.
The bill did not endorse a specific site — in fact, it did not mention Sierra Blanca at all. Nor did the bill override the local and state approval process. In the end, the Texas agency in charge of permitting ruled against the Sierra Blanca site, choosing another site in Texas instead. So, the process worked.
The compact, much less the site selection were never Sen. Sanders’ idea. He disagrees with the very premise of the 1980 law that led to the Texas-Vermont-Maine compact, since it put the burden of disposing of low-level waste on the states, rather the nuclear energy companies that produced much of the waste.
In fact, he has long been an opponent of nuclear power precisely it produces waste for which we still have no solution (the Texas site is just for low-level contamination — there is still no plan for all of the high-level nuclear waste all across the country).
Sanders’ spokesperson is right to point out that the text of H.R. 629 did not mention Sierra Blanca, but the town was widely known and discussed as the proposed location of the disposal site throughout the time that Sanders and others supported the bill. For example, in April 1998 (three months before Sanders and others in the House voted in favor of H.R. 629) the late Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone condemned the proposed Sierra Blanca site from the floor of the Senate:
What has troubled me from the very beginning is that this legislation would result in the dumping of low-level radioactive waste in a small, poor, majority-Latino community in rural West Texas — a town called Sierra Blanca. The Texas legislation in 1991 identified the area where the dump will be located. The Texas Waste Authority designated the site near Sierra Blanca in 1992. A draft license was issued in 1996. Whether we like it or not, this knowledge makes us responsible for what happens to Sierra Blanca.
The Turning Point USA meme is accurate in claiming that Sanders supported and co-sponsored a proposal that would have seen nuclear waste from Maine, Vermont and (principally) Texas disposed of at a site in Sierra Blanca, and that Sierra Blanca was (and still is) a predominately Latino and relatively poor community. The meme leaves out important and relevant context by failing to mention the key role that Republicans played in crafting and passing that proposal; instead, it singles out Sanders and does not offer the reader any inkling of his environmentalist rationale.
Sanders stood to gain politically from supporting a plan that would remove nuclear waste from his constituency, but this does not necessarily mean he wasn’t motivated by a sincere desire to dispose of the waste in a manner and location that he genuinely believed to be safer. However, whether or not you believe his stated rationale was sincere, no proper analysis of a particular politician’s policy position or Congressional vote should leave out the reasons put forward by that politician.
Finally, we were not able to corroborate the “Absolutely not” quotation attributed to Sanders, and his spokesperson did not address our question about it.
Snopes.com has long been engaged in the battle against misinformation, an effort we could not sustain without the support of our readers.
If you'd like to learn more about how you can support us, click here.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4735663/bernie-sanders-sierra-blanca-nuclear-waste-dump
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00:00:49
Bernie Sanders
Bernie Sanders
Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me the time.
Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of H.R. 629. Mr. Chairman, the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act and its 1985 amendments make commercial low-level radioactive waste disposal a State and not a Federal responsibility.
As we have heard, all that Texas and Maine and Vermont are asking for today is to be treated as 9 other compacts were treated affecting 41 States. This is not new business. We have done it 9 times, 41 States, and Texas, Maine, and Vermont ask us to do it today.
Mr. Chairman, let me touch for a moment upon the environmental aspects of this issue. Let me address it from the perspective of someone who is an opponent of nuclear power, who opposes the construction of power plants and, if he had his way, would shut down the existing nuclear power plants as quickly and as safely as we could.
One of the reasons that many of us oppose nuclear power plants is that when this technology was developed, there was not a lot of thought given as to how we dispose of the nuclear waste. Neither the industry nor the Government, in my view, did the right thing by allowing the construction of the plants and not figuring out how we get rid of the waste.
But the issue we are debating here today is not that issue. The reality, as others have already pointed out, is that the waste is here. We cannot wish it away. It exists in power plants in Maine and Vermont, it exists in hospitals, it is here.
The gentleman from Texas [Mr. Reyes] a few moments ago said, `Who wants radioactive waste in their district?' I guess he is right. But do Members know what, by going forward with the nuclear power industry, that is what we have. So the real environmental issue here is not to wish it away, but to make the judgment, the important environmental judgment, as to what is the safest way of disposing of the nuclear waste that has been created. That is the environmental challenge that we face.
The strong environmental position should not be and cannot be to do nothing, and to put our heads in the sand and pretend that the problem does not exist. It would be nice if Texas had no low-level radioactive waste, or Vermont or Maine or any other State. That would be great. That is not the reality. The environmental challenge now is, given the reality that low-level radioactive waste exists, what is the safest way of disposing of that waste.
Leaving the radioactive waste at the site where it was produced, despite the fact that that site may be extremely unsafe in terms of long-term isolation of the waste and was never intended to be a long-term depository of low-level waste, is horrendous environmental policy. What sense is it to say that you have to keep the waste where it is now, even though that might be very environmentally damaging? That does not make any sense at all.
No reputable scientist or environmentalist believes that the geology of Vermont or Maine would be a good place for this waste. In the humid climate of Vermont and Maine, it is more likely that groundwater will come in contact with that waste and carry off radioactive elements to the accessible environment.
There is widespread scientific evidence to suggest, on the other hand, that locations in Texas, some of which receive less than 12 inches of rainfall a year, a region where the groundwater table is more than 700 feet below the surface, is a far better location for this waste.
This is not a political assertion, it is a geological and environmental reality. Furthermore, even if this compact is not approved, it is likely that Texas, which has a great deal of low-level radioactive waste, and we should make the point that 80 percent of the waste is coming from Texas, 10 percent from Vermont, 10 percent from Maine, the reality is that Texas will go forward with or without this compact in building a facility to dispose of their low-level radioactive waste.
If they do not have the compact, which gives them the legal right to deny low-level radioactive waste from coming from anyplace else in the country, it seems to me they will be in worse environmental shape than they are right now. Right now, with the compact, they can deal with the constitutional issue of limiting the kinds of waste they get.
From an environmental point of view, I urge strong support for this legislation.
00:00:52
Bernie Sanders
Bernie Sanders
Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman for yielding me the time.
Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of H.R. 629. Mr. Chairman, the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act and its 1985 amendments make commercial low-level radioactive waste disposal a State and not a Federal responsibility.
As we have heard, all that Texas and Maine and Vermont are asking for today is to be treated as 9 other compacts were treated affecting 41 States. This is not new business. We have done it 9 times, 41 States, and Texas, Maine, and Vermont ask us to do it today.
Mr. Chairman, let me touch for a moment upon the environmental aspects of this issue. Let me address it from the perspective of someone who is an opponent of nuclear power, who opposes the construction of power plants and, if he had his way, would shut down the existing nuclear power plants as quickly and as safely as we could.
One of the reasons that many of us oppose nuclear power plants is that when this technology was developed, there was not a lot of thought given as to how we dispose of the nuclear waste. Neither the industry nor the Government, in my view, did the right thing by allowing the construction of the plants and not figuring out how we get rid of the waste.
But the issue we are debating here today is not that issue. The reality, as others have already pointed out, is that the waste is here. We cannot wish it away. It exists in power plants in Maine and Vermont, it exists in hospitals, it is here.
The gentleman from Texas [Mr. Reyes] a few moments ago said, `Who wants radioactive waste in their district?' I guess he is right. But do Members know what, by going forward with the nuclear power industry, that is what we have. So the real environmental issue here is not to wish it away, but to make the judgment, the important environmental judgment, as to what is the safest way of disposing of the nuclear waste that has been created. That is the environmental challenge that we face.
The strong environmental position should not be and cannot be to do nothing, and to put our heads in the sand and pretend that the problem does not exist. It would be nice if Texas had no low-level radioactive waste, or Vermont or Maine or any other State. That would be great. That is not the reality. The environmental challenge now is, given the reality that low-level radioactive waste exists, what is the safest way of disposing of that waste.
Leaving the radioactive waste at the site where it was produced, despite the fact that that site may be extremely unsafe in terms of long-term isolation of the waste and was never intended to be a long-term depository of low-level waste, is horrendous environmental policy. What sense is it to say that you have to keep the waste where it is now, even though that might be very environmentally damaging? That does not make any sense at all.
No reputable scientist or environmentalist believes that the geology of Vermont or Maine would be a good place for this waste. In the humid climate of Vermont and Maine, it is more likely that groundwater will come in contact with that waste and carry off radioactive elements to the accessible environment.
There is widespread scientific evidence to suggest, on the other hand, that locations in Texas, some of which receive less than 12 inches of rainfall a year, a region where the groundwater table is more than 700 feet below the surface, is a far better location for this waste.
This is not a political assertion, it is a geological and environmental reality. Furthermore, even if this compact is not approved, it is likely that Texas, which has a great deal of low-level radioactive waste, and we should make the point that 80 percent of the waste is coming from Texas, 10 percent from Vermont, 10 percent from Maine, the reality is that Texas will go forward with or without this compact in building a facility to dispose of their low-level radioactive waste.
If they do not have the compact, which gives them the legal right to deny low-level radioactive waste from coming from anyplace else in the country, it seems to me they will be in worse environmental shape than they are right now. Right now, with the compact, they can deal with the constitutional issue of limiting the kinds of waste they get.
From an environmental point of view, I urge strong support for this legislation.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kilauea-volcano-eruption-seismic-activity-today-earthquakes-2018-06-15/
CBS/AP June 15, 2018, 8:38 PM
Kilauea volcano eruption: Seismic activity increases, earthquakes strike 5 days in a row
A 5.3 earthquake struck Hawaii's Kilauea summit Friday afternoon, the latest in a series of increased seismic activity overnight Thursday into Friday. Activity climbed to 40 events per hour with up to five earthquakes per hour that were greater than magnitude-3, CBS Honolulu affiliate KMGB reports.
Friday marked the fifth day in a row an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.0 hit the summit. Friday's 5.3 quake was not powerful enough to generate a tsunami, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.
"A lot of tears": Lava destroys as many as 700 homes in Hawaii
Officials said Friday morning that lower levels of sulfur dioxide gas and minor amounts of ash are being transported downwind, with small bursts of ash and gas accompanying intermittent explosive activity, KMGB reports. Experts expect heavier vog, or volcanic smog, to blanket the interior and southern parts of the Big Island, wrapping around to Kona through the weekend.
The Department of Health recommends residents with breathing issues should limit outside activities and stay indoors. Several residents have reported symptoms such as itchy throats and watery eyes and noses in response to the affected air quality, KMGB reports.
The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reports that the eruption continues in the lower East Rift Zone. Lava fountains were observed in Fissure No. 8 overnight Thursday, reaching heights of 200 feet within the growing the cone of cinder and spatter, which reached 165 feet at its highest point. Lava from the fissure continues to flow to ocean at Kapoho, with rare, small overflows of the channel levees.
Fissures No. 16 and 18 also continue to ooze lava, the USGS said.
According to KGMB, more than 112 million cubic meters of lava have erupted from 24 fissures that opened up along a 3.8-mile line that cuts through Leilani Estates, ground zero for the ongoing eruptions. Since eruptions began on May 3, lava has destroyed as many as 700 homes on the Big Island. There is "a lot of desperation out there. A lot of tears. A lot of, 'What now?'" Big Island Mayor Harry Kim said at a news conference earlier this week.
Gov. David Ige said Thursday that President Trump approved the request for individual assistance Thursday.
Ige says qualifying residents may receive help from the federal government for issues such as shelter, unemployment, trauma and legal matters.
95 PHOTOS -- Volcanic eruption in Hawaii
© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
DON’T BOTHER ME WITH THE TRUTH. CAN’T YOU SEE I’M HAVING FUN? THAT’S HOW THE PRESIDENT OFTEN SEEMS TO ME, AT ANY RATE, BUT RACHEL MADDOW HAS SEVERAL TIMES POINTED TO THE EXTRA SPECIAL SHOWS THAT HE PUTS ON COINCIDE WITH A MOVE ON HIS PART, AND THAT OF HIS FOLLOWERS, TO DECONSTRUCT ANOTHER PIECE OF THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT. GO TO THE MADDOW SHOW TONIGHT TO SEE WHAT HE MAY BE UP TO. AT ANY RATE, THAT’S WHERE I’M GOING NOW. IT’S LATE. SHE IS MY BEDTIME VIEWING.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-continues-to-falsely-claim-theres-a-law-on-family-separation/
By NANCY CORDES CBS NEWS June 15, 2018, 6:39 PM
Trump continues to falsely claim there's a law on family separation, blames Democrats
WASHINGTON -- Roughly 50 children a day are being taken from their parents after they cross the U.S.-Mexico border, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). But on Friday, President Trump insisted he's not the one separating families.
"The Democrats forced that law upon our nation. I hate it," he said.
The fact that there is no such law did not stop the president from repeating his assertion half a dozen times.
"The Democrats have to change their law, that's their law," he said. "That's the Democrats' law. We can change it tonight!"
<b>Democrats said what Mr. Trump should change is a "zero tolerance" policy announced on May 7 by his own attorney general, Jeff Sessions. It means that asylum seekers who would previously have been released pending a hearing are now held behind bars, and their children are sent to separate shelters like a former Walmart in Brownsville, Texas.
The policy prompted dozens of protests across the country on Friday, as Republican leaders tried to craft a bill that would at least allow parents and children be detained together. But on "Fox and Friends" Friday morning, Mr. Trump appeared to reject the plan.
White House defends "moral" border policy that leads to separation of families
Speaker Paul Ryan not comfortable with separating families at U.S. border
"I certainly wouldn't sign the more moderate one," he said. "I need a bill that gives this country tremendous border security."
Republicans, who have been working on the plan with the White House, were stunned.
"I don't think we're sure what bill he is actually commenting on, so we're waiting for him to clarify," said Rep. Jeff Denham.
So for now, the families remain in limbo, despite bipartisan opposition to the status quo.
"I don't see any prospect for legislation here," said House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. "It's an executive action by the attorney general. It can be changed just like that."
Late Friday, the White House said the president does support the package being put together by Republican leaders and would sign it if it passes. They have not walked back on his comments blaming the separations on a non-existent Democratic law.
© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Nancy Cordes is CBS News' congressional correspondent.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-says-he-wants-my-people-to-sit-at-attention-for-him-like-people-do-for-kim-jong-un/
By KATHRYN WATSON CBS NEWS June 15, 2018, 3:45 PM
Trump says he wants "my people" to sit at attention for him like people do for Kim Jong Un
President Trump declared in a spur-of-the-moment interview with "Fox and Friends" Friday morning that he wants people to sit at attention for him like they do for North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
It was just one of the surprising things the president said in the roughly 50 minutes he spent on the White House lawn speaking to the Fox News show and other reporters in a surprise appearance. The spur-of-the-moment White House lawn interview was, in the memory of those present, unprecedented.
Here are the highlights from Friday morning's surprise free-for-all press availability and TV interview:
Trump praises "strong" Kim Jong Un
Kim stands accused of leading a murderous regime that starves its own people. But Mr. Trump has heaped praise on Kim since meeting with him in Singapore, saying repeatedly that the two have "good chemistry."
"Hey, he is the head of a country and I mean he is the strong head," Mr. Trump told Fox News' Steve Doocy on the White House lawn Friday. "Don't let anyone think anything different. He speaks and his people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same."
Pressed by a reporter about those remarks moments later, Mr. Trump said he was "kidding."
"I'm kidding, you don't understand sarcasm," the president said.
Trump on why he can defend Kim's human rights record
Mr. Trump was later asked how he can mourn the death of American Otto Warmbier, who was held hostage in North Korea, while defending Kim's disastrous human rights record.
"I don't want to see a nuclear weapon destroy you and your family," Mr. Trump said. "I want to have a good relationship with North Korea. I want to have a good relationship with many countries."
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"I think the report yesterday, maybe more importantly than anything, totally exonerates me. There was no collusion. There was no obstruction," President Trump says of DOJ IG report https://cbsn.ws/2JIQNfq pic.twitter.com/nn8wR1cBSU
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"I don't want to see a nuclear weapon destroy you and your family. I want to have a good relationship with North Korea. I want to have a good relationship with many countries," President Trump says https://cbsn.ws/2JIQNfq pic.twitter.com/C3UaOWvAAZ
9:09 AM - Jun 15, 2018
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Mr. Trump was also pressed about his past claim that Kim loves his people. "How can Kim love his people if he's killing them?" a reporter asked.
"I can't speak to that," the president responded.
Those comments come after a different Fox News interview earlier this week, when the president also downplayed Kim's human rights record.
"You know you call people sometimes killers, he is a killer. He's clearly executing people," Fox News' Bret Baier told Mr. Trump.
"He's a tough guy," the president responded.
"Hey, when you take over a country, tough country, with tough people, and you take it over from your father, I don't care who you are, what you are, how much of an advantage you have," the president continued. "If you can do that at 27 years old, I mean that's one in 10,000 that could do that. So he's a very smart guy, he's a great negotiator. But I think we understand each other."
Baier paused, before pressing, "But he's still done some really bad things."
Mr. Trump downplayed Kim's actions, suggesting Kim isn't alone in that.
"Yeah, but so have a lot of other people done some really bad things," Mr. Trump said. "I mean, I could go through a lot of nations where a lot of bad things were done. Now look, with all of that being said, the answer is yes."
Michael Cohen isn't Trump's lawyer anymore
Mr. Trump on Friday also said Michael Cohen is no longer his lawyer, although he didn't elaborate on that much.
"No, he's not my lawyer, anymore," he said.
It's unclear when Cohen stopped being the president's lawyer.
Trump blasts FBI after "horror show" inspector general report
On Friday, Mr. Trump also called the Department of Justice Inspector General report examining the FBI's approach to the Hillary Clinton email investigation a "horror show."
The president also claimed the report completely exonerates him, even though the report was about the FBI's approach to the Hillary Clinton email investigation, not about special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation.
"I think the report yesterday, maybe more importantly than anything, totally exonerates me. There was no collusion. There was no obstruction," Mr. Trump claimed.
Trump claims he hates separation of families at the border
Mr. Trump claimed he hates the separation of children from their families at the southern border, again blaming Democrats for the situation. Mr. Trump continues to insist Democrats created a law requiring the family separation, although it is his administration separating families.
"I hate the children being taken away," the president said. "The Democrats have to change their law, that's their law."
How this unusual White House lawn appearance happened
"Wow, the highest rated (by far) morning show, @foxandfriends, is on the Front Lawn of the White House. Maybe I'll have to take an unannounced trip down to see them?" Mr. Trump tweeted early Friday morning.
Donald J. Trump
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Wow, the highest rated (by far) morning show, @foxandfriends, is on the Front Lawn of the White House. Maybe I’ll have to take an unannounced trip down to see them?
7:50 AM - Jun 15, 2018
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A little more than half an hour later, the president was on the White House lawn.
"Secret Service is thrilled," the president said.
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