AUGUST 31, 2018


NEWS AND VIEWS


WE NEED TO TAKE THE CONTROL OF VOTING AND ELECTIONS AWAY FROM STATES, AND CREATE A NATIONAL SET OF LAWS THAT DO NOT DISENFRANCHISE PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY AFTER THEY SERVE THEIR TERMS. FLORIDA HAS A LAW LIKE THIS, TOO. THERE ARE TOO MANY HOOPS TO JUMP THROUGH TO GET THE RIGHT TO VOTE BACK. TOO MANY OF THE STATE GOVERNMENTS ARE RACIST AND GENERALLY UNSCRUPULOUS. THAT "CONSERVATIVE" TURN OF MIND FINDS FAIRNESS TO THE POOR OR BLACK PEOPLE TO BE UNFAIR TO THE WHITES – AND REPUBLICANS. IT'S TIME TO DROP THE GRIEVANCES OF THE CIVIL WAR AND MOVE FORWARD. THIS IS ONE OF THE REASONS THAT MAKE ME THINK THAT WE DO INDEED NEED ANOTHER CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION. THIS IS JUST ONE OF THE PROBLEMATIC ISSUES.

[SEE ALSO FOR FULL NAME AND LAWS: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/crystal-mason-texas-woman-sentenced-to-5-years-for-voter-fraud-speaks-out-on-felon-voting-rights/]

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/03/31/598458914/texas-woman-sentenced-to-5-years-for-illegal-voting
Texas Woman Sentenced To 5 Years For Illegal Voting
March 31, 20181:33 PM ET
VANESSA ROMO
SASHA INGBER

PHOTOGRAPH -- A Texas judge sentenced a woman to five years in prison for voting illegally in the 2016 presidential election. Tonio Vega/Flickr

"You have to go vote!" [Crystal] Mason's mother said, according to her attorney, J. Warren St. John, who spoke to NPR.

Mason grabbed her keys and set out for her local precinct. When she got there, she found out that her name was not on the voter roll so she was given a provisional ballot. An election worker stuck around to walk her through the form. She used her current license and her current address, St. John says.

After she cast her vote, she went home.

"She had a good faith belief that she could vote," St. John says. "She would have never voted if she didn't know she could vote."

The next time she thought about that night she was being arrested.

She was detained by sheriffs in February 2017 at the Dallas County Courthouse while meeting with her probation officer.

Mason, 43, is a convicted felon. She was previously convicted for committing tax fraud for clients through her tax preparation business.

And by casting a ballot – even a provisional one — in the general election, she had broken a state law that prohibited residents from voting until their sentences have been fully served. That includes parole, probation or supervision.

Mason had been on a supervised release after spending three years in prison. For a time, she was even working for the state of Texas, St. John says.

POLITICS
Should It Be Easier To Vote? Americans Are Deeply Divided By Party

On Wednesday, she was sentenced to five years for voting illegally. She contends that she was never informed of the state's voting restrictions on felons.

"She didn't understand!" St. John said. "She was never told she couldn't vote. Not by a district judge. Not by anyone at the half-way house where she lived after she got out. Not by the probation officer."

But Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney Sharen Wilson said in a statement that despite "multiple safeguards in place," Mason "still made that choice."

According to a CNN report, "She signed and affirmed a document which clearly stated that (1) she was prohibited from voting due to her status as a convicted felon still serving her term of supervision, and (2) she would be committing a second degree felony if she lied about her status," Wilson said. "The judge found her guilty of illegal voting beyond a reasonable doubt."

POLITICS
Despite Little Evidence Of Fraud, White House Launches Voting Commission

President Trump has insisted that millions of people voted illegally in the presidential election despite little evidence, and other states have taken action against voter fraud.

In Nebraska, two men accused of voting multiple times in the presidential election could face two years in prison and a fine $10,000. A former mayor in Florida found guilty of voting fraud received four years of probation and 400 hours of community service hours.

In recent years, Texas has passed laws that have stepped up penalties for voter fraud, extending prison terms and increasing fines, according to John Powers, who specializes in voting rights at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

The disenfranchisement of felons varies state to state. NPR reported that a federal judge said Florida's process of restoring voting rights of felons who completed their sentences was "nonsensical" and in violation of the First and 14th Amendments to the Constitution.

Mason is currently out of jail on an appellate bond that is pending outcome of an appeal, says St. John.

There is a danger that people like Mason face on election day, Powers says. "When you have an election and poll workers are trying to get through long lines of voters, frequently they don't have the requisite training and experience to deal with complicated legal scenarios. The loser in all of this can be the voter."



MOST OF US PROBABLY REMEMBER THE POOR, GRUDGING AND SLOW RESPONSE BY THE US GOVERNMENT. TRUMP CAME CLOSE TO STATING THAT THE PEOPLE THERE WEREN’T REAL AMERICANS, DESPITE THE FACT THAT THEY ARE CITIZENS; THAT THE COUNTRY WAS A DRAIN ON REAL AMERICA’S RESOURCES, ALWAYS IN DEBT, ETC. THE LAST I HEARD, THE US GOVERNMENT IS IN DEBT TO CHINA AND PROBABLY RUSSIA AND OTHER PLACES, TOO. TRUMP IS IN DEBT TO RUSSIAN OLIGARCHS AND HAS RUSSIAN MOB TIES. I’M IN DEBT TO THE DENTIST, BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN THAT I SHOULD NOT RECEIVE HELP WHEN I NEED IT, AND THE SAME GOES FOR THOSE OTHER ENTITIES. TRUMP’S “SHITHOLE COUNTRIES” COMMENT TELLS IT ALL. THERE IS A DEEP DIFFERENCE BETWEEN “CONSERVATIVES” AND DEMOCRATS, ESPECIALLY PROGRESSIVES, DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS, AND JUST GOOD HONEST PEOPLE WHO BELIEVE IN FAIRNESS TO ALL. AMERICA NEEDS TO CHANGE IT’S ATTITUDE. I WONDER IF TRUMP WILL NOW ADMIT THAT THIS WAS A REAL CATASTROPHE.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hurricane-maria-death-toll-puerto-rico-2975-killed-by-storm-study-finds/
By SARAH LYNCH BALDWIN, DAVID BEGNAUD CBS NEWS August 28, 2018, 11:16 AM
Hurricane Maria caused an estimated 2,975 deaths in Puerto Rico, new study finds

VIDEO – 2975 DEAD 3:32

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Hurricane Maria killed far more people in Puerto Rico than initially thought, accounting for an estimated 2,975 deaths on the island from September 2017 through February 2018, according to a new analysis. The study found that those in low-income areas, and elderly men, were at greatest risk of dying.

The independent analysis was commissioned by the governor of Puerto Rico and conducted by researchers at George Washington University's Milken Institute School of Public Health. CBS News obtained a report on the findings from Carlos Mercader, executive director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration.

"The reality is that we take this very seriously," Mercader said on CBSN.

"We mourn those people that died because of this storm and we have a responsibility of making sure that we prepare Puerto Rico for a future event like this," he said.

To arrive at the 2,975 figure, the study looked at historical death patterns from 2010 to 2017 to estimate how many people would have died had Hurricane Maria not hit the island. That figure was then compared to the actual number of deaths from September 2017 through February 2018 — obtained in records provided by the Puerto Rico Vital Statistics Records division of the Puerto Rico Department of Health — to determine what the report describes as the "estimate of excess mortality due to the hurricane."

The study found that while all age groups and social strata were affected by the hurricane, the risk of death was "45% higher and persistent until the end of the study period for populations living in low socioeconomic development municipalities."

It also found that men age 65 and older were at heightened risk of death through February, the end of the study period.

"Overall, we estimate that 40% of municipalities experienced significantly higher mortality in the study period than in the comparable period of the previous two years," the report says.

Complete coverage: Puerto Rico's road to recovery

In the aftermath of the devastating storm, which barreled into Puerto Rico last September, Puerto Rico's government initially reported 64 deaths blamed on the hurricane. Since then, several studies have indicated the actual death toll was much higher, though researchers have arrived at a range of different figures.

cbsn-hurricane-maria-deaths-gfx.jpg
CBS NEWS

In May, a Harvard University study said Maria was likely responsible for more than 4,600 deaths from the day of the storm, September 20, until December 31, 2017 — a figure that was based on results of a door-to-door survey of 3,299 randomly selected homes across the island. Earlier this month, Puerto Rico said in a report to Congress there were 1,427 more deaths "than normal" in the four months after Hurricane Maria and Hurricane Irma, which churned on a path just north of the island two weeks before Maria hit. That report said, however, those 1,427 deaths "may or may not be attributable to the hurricanes."

The latest study says that from the period ranging from September to December 2017 alone, there were an excess of 2,098 deaths, and 2,975 from September 2017 through February 2018.

"2,975 — it's 2,975 people who suffered," Mercader said.

By comparison, at least 1,833 people died as a result of Hurricane Katrina, which hit in the U.S. Gulf Coast and caused devastating flooding in New Orleans in 2005.

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló has accepted the findings of the report and is raising the official death from the storm from 64 to 2,975.

San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz called the report "painful and shameful."

The report offered insight as to why the initial count of 64 was so much lower than this new figure.

"The official government estimate of 64 deaths from the hurricane is low primarily because the conventions used for causal attribution only allowed for classification of deaths attributable directly to the storm, e.g., those caused by structural collapse, flying debris, floods and drownings," the report says. "During our broader study, we found that many physicians were not oriented in the appropriate certification protocol. This translated into an inadequate indicator for monitoring mortality in the hurricane's aftermath."

The report goes on to say that "physician unawareness of appropriate death certification practices after a natural disaster and the Government of Puerto Rico's lack of communication about death certificate reporting prior to the 2017 hurricane season substantially limited the count of deaths related to Maria."

The report, which analyzed processes related to death certification, says that physicians and forensic physicians are among those in Puerto Rico who are authorized to complete death certificates, but that most physicians have no formal training in how to do so. They are therefore unaware of "appropriate death certification practices, especially in a disaster setting," the report found.

"Those interviewed said they did not receive information about how to certify deaths during, or in conditions created by, a disaster," the report says.

It also says there was a communication problem between the Puerto Rico Vital Statistics Registry and other government agencies and those involved in the death certification and registration process.

"Many stated that the Puerto Rico Department of Health (DoH) and the Puerto Rico Department of Public Safety (DPS) did not notify them about the CDC special guidelines for correct documentation of cases, on the importance of correctly documenting deaths related to the hurricane or on an emergency protocol for handling these cases," it says.

The report makes various recommendations on issues including mortality surveillance and communication during natural disasters.

Rosselló is expected to sign an executive order in the next 24 hours that will create a commission to implement recommendations made in the report.

Mercader said that in the days after Hurricane Maria hit, "there were a lot of things that failed in their response and we take responsibility for that."


WHEN THE PUBLIC GOES AGAINST TRUMP, THEY WILL ELECT DEMOCRATS, WHO IN TURN WILL LIKELY VOTE TO IMPEACH HIM. I THINK, HOPE AND PRAY THAT THAT HAPPENS. LOOK AT THESE POLL RESULTS.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-disapproval-at-60-in-new-poll/
By KATHRYN WATSON CBS NEWS August 31, 2018, 11:16 AM
Trump disapproval hits 60 percent in new poll

Disapproval of President Trump reached 60 percent in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll, the highest those outlets have recorded throughout his tenure.

The results, released Friday, come at a challenging time for the Trump presidency, after his former longtime lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty in federal court, and his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was found guilty on eight counts and faces yet another trial next month. Meanwhile, White House counsel Don McGahn is on his way out this fall, as Democrats aim to take control of the House come November. Mr. Trump's approval rating is still high among conservatives, but it has dropped from a high of 74 percent to 67 percent. And his approvals among white men without college education has also dropped 15 points -- from a high of 70 percent to 55 percent.

Mr. Trump, who often calls polls fake, has more to worry about, if this poll is accurate. A majority of those polled, 53 percent, believe he has tried to interfere with special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation in a way that amounts to obstruction of justice, compared to 35 percent who believe has has [sic] not. Speaking of Mueller, Americans are broadly supportive of him and his investigation, according to the ABC-Washington Post poll. The survey found 63 percent support Mueller's investigation into Trump associates, while 29 percent oppose it.

While the president has complained that Manafort's prosecution was unfair, the poll finds a majority of Americans think it was justified, 67 to 17 percent, and nearly half of Republicans agree with this. Sixty-six percent of Americans oppose a Trump pardon for Manafort, and 45 percent of Republicans also oppose a pardon.

Those polled did express concern over Mr. Trump's associates, and the president's interactions with them. A majority of those polled, 61 percent, agreed that if Mr. Trump directed Cohen to pay off women, he committed a crime. And only 18 percent of those polled believed the president should pardon Manafort, while 66 percent say he should not.

Americans are split on whether impeachment proceedings should begin against Mr. Trump, something that would likely only happen if Democrats take control of Congress. Of those polled, 49 percent said impeachment proceedings should begin, while 46 percent said they should not.

There's also a split among Americans on Mr. Trump's handing [sic] of the economy, with 45 percent who approve and 47 percent who disapprove.

The poll was conducted by landline and cell phone from Aug. 26 through Aug. 29, in both English and Spanish, among 1,003 adults.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


INTERVIEW WITH HEIDI WEBBER, VIDEO ONLY. FOLLOWED BY CBS LOCAL PRINT ARTICLE BELOW.

SHE WAS FOLLOWED AROUND AT NIGHT, HER WINDSHIELD WAS SHATTERED, AND SHE WAS FIRED FOR SPEAKING UP ABOUT CORRUPT COLLEGE PRACTICES. SHE WON HER LAWSUIT AGAINST THEM, TO THE TUNE OF A MILLION DOLLARS. WHISTLEBLOWERS CAN LOSE BIG, BUT SOMETIMES WIN BIG ALSO. SHE’S AN INTERESTING WOMAN. WATCH THE VIDEO.

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/whistleblower-former-dean-alleges-globe-university-ripped-off-students/
HEIDI WEBBER DEAN GLOBE UNIVERSITY 3:19

https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2018/08/31/whistleblower-heidi-weber-globe-university/
Whistleblower Hopes Win Over Globe University Inspires Others To Speak Up
By Liz Collin August 31, 2018 at 5:48 pm Filed Under:Fraud, Globe University, Heidi Weber, Liz Collin, Local TV, Whistleblower

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A Twin Cities woman stood up to a multi-million dollar college system and won.

Now, she hopes a TV series will inspire others to speak up if they see wrongdoing at the workplace. WCCO recounts the shocking revelations made in court, now for a national audience to see on Whistleblower.

Heidi Weber spent a year as dean of the Medical Assistant Program at Globe University. In charge of one program in a sprawling college system that enrolled 11,000 students at 20 campuses in five states.

“In the beginning I was just doing my job,” Weber said.

Soon, she couldn’t ignore how she says Globe staff falsified job placement numbers, inflated starting salaries and went after students eligible for federal money like military members.

“Predatory, manipulating messages to potential students,” she said.

Globe fired Weber when she complained. She first told her story to WCCO five years ago, before it landed in a Washington County courtroom, where a jury awarded her nearly $1 million.

Clayton Halunen of Halunen Law won Weber’s case.

“It takes courageous people to make change,” he said.

He calls it a turning point after more staff and students came forward, chronicling their own unethical practices by for-profit colleges.

“There’s fraud and illegality that goes on in every industry and unless people stand up and say no, this is never going to change,” Halunen said.

“I got exactly what I asked for, my life back. That’s what I wanted,” Weber said.

Weber has gone on to raise her three girls. The state revoked Globe’s license to practice.

Weber now offers this message to anyone else brave enough to blow the whistle.

“Believe in yourself and do the right thing. It’s as simple as that,” Weber said.

You can catch Heidi’s story on the season finale of Whistleblower this Friday night, Aug. 31 at 8 p.m. right here on WCCO-TV Channel 4.

WRITER, Liz Collin
At 15 years old, Liz Collin made her broadcast debut covering a tornado that touched down in southwest Minnesota. It was her first night on the job at...


THE SLOGAN ON THE BANNER THESE PEOPLE ARE CARRYING, ‘ICH BEREUE NICHTS” TRANSLATES TO MEAN “I REGRET NOTHING.” HOW EASILY EVIL BECOMES A VIRTUE. (I’M SURE OF THAT TRANSLATION BECAUSE AFTER I GUESSED AT IT, BASED ON THE WORD “RUE,” I PUT IT ON ONE OF THE TRANSLATOR SITES.) AFTER THE FILMING OF AN ATTACK ON A JEWISH MAN BY AN ISLAMIC YOUNG MAN, MANY NON-JEWS IN BERLIN PUT ON YAMULKAS ALSO. THE PHOTO SHOWS ONE OF THEM AND IT PRINTED WITH THE WORDS, “ONE PEOPLE ONE COMMUNITY.” WE NEED A LOT MORE OF THAT KIND OF SUPPORTIVENESS TO WHOMEVER IS ON THE HOT SEAT OF SCAPEGOATING AT THE MOMENT.

VIDEO ONLY
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/recent-attacks-in-germany-highlight-return-of-anti-semitism/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rise-of-extreme-nationalist-groups-in-germany-return-of-anti-semitic-acts/
By ROXANA SABERI CBS NEWS August 31, 2018, 6:36 PM
Rise of extreme nationalist groups in Germany brings a return of anti-Semitic acts

PHOTOGRAPH -- A participant of the "Berlin wears kippa" rally wears a kippa in Berlin on April 25, 2018. - Germans stage shows of solidarity with Jews after a spate of shocking anti-Semitic assaults, raising pointed questions about Berlin's ability to protect its burgeoning Jewish community seven decades after the Holocaust. TOBIAS SCHWARZ / AFP/GETTY IMAGES

BERLIN — The world watched with alarm this week as far-right protesters in Germany went chasing after immigrants amid word that refugees from Iraq and Syria were suspected in a knife attack that killed a local man. The rise of extreme nationalist groups in Germany has also brought a return of anti-Semitic acts.

Video showing a teenager in Berlin whipping a man wearing a yarmulke and shouting "Jew" in Arabic shocked many Germans this spring. The response was quick, with people of different faiths donning yarmulkes in solidarity.

German police received more than 400 reports of anti-Semitic attacks in the first half of this year, which is 10 percent more than the same period last year.

"It happens everywhere in Germany," said Wenzel Michalski.

He and his wife Gemma said their son was bullied by kids at school because he's Jewish.

"Three-and-a-half months of really terrible, anti-Semitic abuse, both verbal and physical," Gemma Michalski said.

Their son agreed to an interview, only if CBS News hid his face and altered his voice. He said they pushed and kicked him, and shot at him.

"It was a fake gun, but it was very realistic, and he was really, really frightened," Gemma Michalski said.

Anti-Semitic incidents spike 57 percent in 2017, report says
To tackle the reported rise in attacks, Germany has appointed its first anti-Semitism commissioner, Felix Klein.

"In spite of all our efforts, anti-Semitism is still existing," he said.

Those efforts include building a Holocaust memorial in Berlin. But while statistics show the far-right carries out nearly 90 percent of assaults on Jews, Klein said Muslim refugees, like the teenager caught on camera, are increasingly behind anti-Semitic attacks. Since 2015, Germany has taken in hundreds of thousands of them.

"These people who were raised in countries where hatred toward Israel and towards Jews is very common," Klein said.

The Michalskis believe Germany should do more to teach all kids about the dangers of discrimination.

"There's a new generation growing up, and becoming adult, who are racist and anti-Semitic and you could stop it," Wenzel Michalski said.

To do that, they said Germany has to stop burying its past under monuments, and build a future of tolerance.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


THIS IS REALLY SAD. I HAVE ALWAYS CONSIDERED BUSES TO BE THE SAFEST WAY TO TRAVEL. STILL, THIS BUS AND SEMI ARE BOTH SO HEAVY THAT THEY CAN’T SLOW DOWN TO A STOP QUICKLY, AND STRIKE WITH EXTREME IMPACT.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-mexico-bus-crash-semi-truck-greyhound-survivor-describes-horror/
CBS NEWS August 31, 2018, 7:05 AM
"Ripped open sardine can": Survivor describes horror in deadly Greyhound-semi-truck crash

VIDEO – DEADLY BUS CRASH

At least seven people were killed and more than 40 injured after a semi-truck and Greyhound bus collided on a busy New Mexico highway Thursday. One survivor, Rachel Cunningham, who said she was asleep on the Greyhound when the crash happened, woke up to a gaping hole in the bus' passenger side.

"It was horrifying. Like, I've never actually seen in my life a bus look like a ripped open sardine can," Cunningham said.

Forty-nine people were on board when the crash happened near Thoreau, New Mexico.

"I was literally carrying these people with the paramedics into ambulances," Cunningham added. "My experience of what I've seen today, I mean, some stuff that I've only thought I'd end up seeing on TV."

Debris from the wreckage littered the stretch of Interstate 40, with the semi-trailer spilt open, the truck's cab upside down, and in the middle, the front end of the shredded shell of the Greyhound bus completely ripped off, reports CBS News correspondent Don Dahler.

"There was one person hanging out the window. Oh god," one witness said.

The bus, headed from St. Louis to Los Angeles, left Albuquerque Thursday and was on the road for about two hours when, police say, the semi-truck blew one of its tires and swerved across the median – right into oncoming traffic.

Survivors and bystanders turned into first responders, climbing ladders with emergency crews to reach passengers still trapped inside.

"It was nonstop," said Chris Jones, who stopped to help with the rescue. "There weren't enough ambulances there to get everybody out. … There's people that were stuck in the bus trying to get out, screams from inside there."

This is the second deadly crash involving a bus and a semi-truck in New Mexico this summer. In July, three people were killed when a passenger bus rolled into oncoming traffic. Thursday's incident shut down part of Interstate 40 for nearly eight hours, as crews worked into the night to clear the wreck.

"As you can imagine, the scene down there is chaos, so it's going to take investigators quite a while to go through and actually identify who was sitting where and who were the drivers and who were the passengers," said Officer Ray Wilson, a spokesperson for New Mexico State Police.

Officials said the truck driver from Thursday's collision is expected to recover.

A team of National Transportation Safety Board investigators was to arrive Friday.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.