Thursday, October 11, 2018
OCTOBER 9, 10 AND 11, 2018
NEWS AND VIEWS
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/10/10/i-know-shocking-says-sanders-trump-lying-about-medicare-all
Published on
Wednesday, October 10, 2018
byCommon Dreams
'I Know This Is Shocking,' Says Sanders, But Trump 'Lying About Medicare for All'
"Not only is Trump lying again, but this guy who proposed and fought for cutting 32 millions Americans from the healthcare they currently have," and pushed for slashing hundreds of billions from Medicaid and Medicare budgets "is acting like he cares about health care for seniors or anyone else."
byJon Queally, staff writer
PHOTOGRAPH CAPTION -- "I know, I know this shocking," Sanders stated, referring to Trump's untruths and misrepresentations about the Medicare for All bill the senator introduced last year.
In reaction to President Donald Trump's op-ed on Wednesday—titled, "Democrats 'Medicare for All' plan will demolish promises to seniors"—Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) responded in a sensible and honest way by calling the president a liar.
"No, Mr. President. Our proposal would not cut benefits for seniors on Medicare. In fact, we expand benefits."
—Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)And though Sanders did not actually verbatim say "Trump is a liar," he did declare in a video response posted to social media that Trump "has lied today" as he pointed out the "19 blatant lies" contained in the president's piece.
"I know, I know this shocking," Sanders states sarcastically in the video, referring to Trump's untruths and misrepresentations about the Medicare for All bill the senator introduced last year.
"I find it doubly ironic," Sanders adds, "that not only is Trump lying again, but this guy who proposed and fought for cutting 32 millions Americans from the healthcare they currently have, by eliminating the affordable care act; this president, who in his last budget proposed a trillion dollar cut in Medicaid and a $500 billion cut in Medicare, this president is now acting like he cares at all about healthcare for seniors or anybody else."
Watch:
Bernie Sanders
✔
@SenSanders
Not only is Trump lying about Medicare for All. This president, who fought to throw 32 million Americans off of health insurance, is acting like he cares about health care for seniors or anyone else.
3:27 PM - Oct 10, 2018
5,555
2,846 people are talking about this
While Trump's op-ed is a blatant effort to frighten seniors into thinking an expansion of Medicare would somehow hurt them or their coverage, Sanders countered by saying this assertion is an outright falsehood.
"No, Mr. President," Sanders declared in a statement. "Our proposal would not cut benefits for seniors on Medicare. In fact, we expand benefits. Millions of seniors today cannot afford the dental care, vision care or hearing aids they desperately need because Medicare does not cover these vitally important needs. Our proposal covers them. In addition, Medicare for All would eliminate deductibles and copays for seniors, and significantly lower the cost of prescription drugs."
As Dr. Carol Paris, president of Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP), tweeted:
Dr. Carol Paris
@CarolParis7
Follow Follow @CarolParis7
More Dr. Carol Paris Retweeted DSA for Medicare for All
I’m one of those Seniors @realDonaldTrump is so worried about protecting. Protect me from profiteering Medicare Advantage plans that defraud* our beloved Medicare! This Senior supports #Medicare4All!Dr. Carol Paris added,
DSA for Medicare for All
@dsam4a
The ruling class stays in power by keeping people divided. But this time, pitting seniors against the rest won’t work.
Medicare for All will guarantee comprehensive, high-quality…
11:59 AM - 10 Oct 2018
Backing up Sanders' charge of blatant falsehoods in a fact-check response on Common Dreams, Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, said the president is "dead wrong" and stated that while "lies and deceptions from Trump are nothing new," the president's falsehoods about Sanders' proposal "are new, so it's worth correcting his USA Today column."
Among the "major lies and deceits" by Trump, Weismann documented the following:
Medicare-for-All would not "end Medicare as we know it and take away benefits that seniors have paid for all their lives." The reason it’s called Medicare-for-All is because it would take the existing program and expand it to everyone. Seniors’ benefits would not be taken away – in fact, they would be improved, but everyone else would gain the benefits of Medicare, too.
Medicare-for-All is not going to cost an "astonishing $32.6 trillion" over 10 years, because it will introduce major savings not adequately accounted for in the study Trump cites. Significant savings would come from eliminating vast amounts of paperwork and bureaucracy imposed by the current dysfunctional system, and steeply dropping costs for brand-name pharmaceuticals. But even if Medicare-for-All cost as much as Trump alleges, that amount would be LESS than projections for our current system, which also leaves tens of millions of Americans without coverage.
Trump's claim to have kept his pledge to maintain coverage for people with pre-existing conditions and create new health insurance options is completely deceptive. First, the protections for pre-existing conditions remain in place only because Trump failed to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA.) Meanwhile, a Republican-led lawsuit is challenging the ACA, including guarantee for pre-existing conditions, and there’s a real worry that, especially with Brett Kavanaugh now on the Supreme Court, it might succeed. As for new junk health insurance options Trump has authorized, they offer only the illusion of care, because they permit insurers to skirt the requirement to cover pre-existing conditions.
Medicare-for-All would not "lead to the massive rationing of health care." It is the current system that rations care, based on the ability to pay. One-third of Americans say they had a problem accessing medical care because of cost in the last year. With Medicare-for-All, everyone will be able to see a doctor or access treatment, irrespective of how much money they have.
While denouncing Trump's fearmongering for being exactly that, Sanders said that his Medicare for All proposal "would allow seniors and all Americans to see the doctors they want, not the doctors their insurance companies have a contract with."*
Overall, Sanders concluded, a system in which everyone is covered and nobody left out would be a vast improvement over the current "dysfunctional" healthcare system that leaves approximately 30 million people without insurance – a system in which huge profits for insurance companies and drug companies are given priority over providing quality care for every man, woman and child in the country.
"The time is now for the United States to join every other major country on Earth and guarantee health care to every American as a right not a privilege," Sanders concluded, "and Donald Trump, the insurance companies and the drug companies will not stop us."
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License
This is the world we live in. This is the world we cover.
Because of people like you, another world is possible. There are many battles to be won, but we will battle them together—all of us. Common Dreams is not your normal news site. We don't survive on clicks. We don't want advertising dollars. We want the world to be a better place. But we can't do it alone. It doesn't work that way. We need you. If you can help today—because every gift of every size matters—please do. Without Your Support We Simply Don't Exist.
GO TO THE COMMON DREAMS ARTICLE ABOVE FOR DR. PARIS. Dr. Carol Paris OF Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP)Retweeted DSA for Medicare for All: ... PROFITEERING MEDICARE ADVANTAGE PLANS THAT DEFRAUD* ....” . IN THIS CASE, IT THINK “DSA” PROBABLY REFERS TO “DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS OF AMERICA.”
I FOUND NO MENTION OF MEDICARE ADVANTAGE PLANS “DEFRAUDING” MEDICARE. THEY ARE, HOWEVER, PAID THROUGH MEDICARE, AND THEY CLAIM TO SERVE A WIDER RANGE OF CONDITIONS AND NEEDS THAN MEDICARE. THE ONLY OTHER THING THAT COMES TO MY MIND ON THAT “DEFRAUDING” STATEMENT IS THAT SOME SUCH INSURANCE PLANS HAVE LISTINGS IN THE ANNUAL CATALOG FOR PROVIDERS SOME CATEGORIES THAT I, PERSONALLY, HAVE NEVER CONSIDERED LEGITIMATE PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL CARE – ACUPUNCTURE, FOR INSTANCE. THAT IS WHY I THINK THEY ARE MUCH SUPERIOR THAN MEDIGAP PLANS, WHICH SIMPLY PAY MORE ON THE ACCEPTED MEDICARE ILLNESSES. SOMETIMES THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL, BUT NOT FOR ME. IT’S GOOD FOR THOSE LONG-TERM OR OTHERWISE EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE DISEASES – CANCER, DIABETES, KIDNEY DISEASE, COMA, ETC., IN WHICH CASE THE ANNUAL OUT OF POCKET EXPENSES COULD BE CATASTROPHIC FOR THE PATIENT. SEE BELOW.
PHYSICIANS MAY LIKE THE ADVANTAGE PLANS LESS, OF COURSE, BECAUSE THEY PROBABLY PAY THEM LESS. I KNOW I HAD TO SWITCH FROM HUMANA TO AETNA BECAUSE THEY PAID MY PSYCHOLOGICAL NURSE PRACTITIONER TOO LITTLE AND SHE THREATENED TO DROP ME AS A PATIENT UNLESS I CHANGED TO AETNA. THAT WAS NO PROBLEM FOR ME. NPS PROBABLY DON’T GET PAID WELL IN GENERAL AS IT IS, AND SHE NEEDS TO PAY HER BILLS. SO, IN SHORT, I DEPEND ON ADVANTAGE PLANS, PERSONALLY, BECAUSE THEY OFTEN COVER ISSUES THAT MEDICARE DOES NOT; IN MY CASE, DENTAL; AND I HAVE NO HUGE EXPENSE TO PAY ON A REGULAR BASIS SUCH AS NURSING HOME CARE.
A MEDICARE SUPPLEMENTAL OR “MEDIGAP” PLAN, WHICH COSTS THE PATIENT MORE TO BUY, WILL PAY NOTHING ON A COST WHICH IS NOT SPECIFICALLY ALLOWED UNDER MEDICARE, AND WHICH CAN BE SUBSTANTIAL; BUT IT DOES PAY EXTRA ON THOSE COSTS WHICH ARE MEDICARE COVERED. SOME NON-ESSENTIAL, BUT EXPENSIVE, SERVICES LIKE DENTAL CARE ARE COVERED BY MEDICAID, BUT DENTISTS WHO WANT TO CHARGE TOP FEES FOR THEIR SERVICE DO NOT ACCEPT MEDICAID BECAUSE THEY WILL NOT BE PAID AT THE SAME LEVEL AS BY PRIVATE INSURANCE. SO I’M USING MY MEDICAL PLAN FOR THAT.
AS FOR DENTAL FEES, I LOOKED AROUND IN JACKSONVILLE RECENTLY AND FOUND NONE THAT WILL DO COSMETIC STYLE WORK SUCH AS FILLINGS AND CROWNS ON MEDICAID, AND ONLY THREE THAT WILL DO EXTRACTIONS. CLASSIC MEDICARE DOES NOT AS OF 2016, COVER DENTAL FEES AT ALL, AS FAR AS I WAS ABLE TO DISCOVER, EXCEPT PERHAPS FOR THE SURGERY RELATED TO EXTRACTIONS OR EXAMS. ONE DENTAL OFFICE TOLD ME OUTRIGHTLY THAT THE GAP IN PAYMENT RATES BETWEEN PRIVATE INSURANCE AND MEDICAID IS THE REASON THEY DON’T TAKE IT. THAT HIDES THE REAL ISSUE, THOUGH, WHICH IS THAT DENTISTS ARE NOT LEGALLY REQUIRED TO ACCEPT MEDICAID NOR ANY PATIENT WHO PRESENTS TO THEIR OFFICE. I WOULDN’T BE SURPRISED AT CLASS/RACE/ETHNICITY BARRIERS BEING PRESENT AS WELL. (DENTISTS HAVE A GOOD LOBBY, I GUESS.)
AS A RESULT OF THAT, VERY FEW DENTISTS WILL WORK AT CUT RATE PRICES UNLESS FORCED TO DO SO. ALSO THEY DO NOT TAKE MONEY DIRECTLY FROM THE MEDICAL INSURANCE, BUT FROM THE PATIENT ONLY, WHO HAS TO THEN GET A RECEIPT FOR WHAT THEY DID PAY AND PRESENT THAT TO THEIR HEALTH/DENTAL INSURANCE COMPANY FOR REIMBURSEMENT. AT LEAST THAT’S THE WAY MY AETNA MEDICARE ADVANTAGE PLAN WORKS. THEY DON’T DO THE REIMBURSEMENT ON DENTAL WORK THEMSELVES, EITHER, BUT RATHER THEY PARTNER WITH DELTA DENTAL INSURANCE FOR THAT, AND DELTA WILL PAY NO MORE THAN $700 A YEAR. IT’S A RAT RACE.
AS AN EXCEPTION, IN JACKSONVILLE I CALLED IN THE RANGE OF A DOZEN DENTISTS, AND THE ONLY DENTISTS THAT TAKE MEDICAID ARE AN OFFICE SPECIALIZING IN EXTRACTIONS AND DENTURES ONLY, A VETERANS ONLY OFFICE, AND A CHARITY GIVING A WIDE RANGE OF AID TO THE HOMELESS CALLED THE SULZBACHER CENTER. TEN YEARS OR SO AGO, OUR LOCAL CHARITY HOSPITAL, SHANDS, ALSO GAVE CUT RATE DENTAL WORK. I WENT THERE UNTIL IT CLOSED. AS I REMEMBER, I DIDN’T HAVE TO PROVE AN INABILITY TO PAY FULL RATES, BUT I MAY NOT BE REMEMBERING CORRECTLY. I ASSUME THAT FILLINGS, IMPLANTS AND CROWNS ARE MORE EXPENSIVE FOR THE DENTISTS, AND THEREFORE OUR LOCAL “ECONOMY DENTURES” JUST DOESN’T DO ANY. I CAN TELL BY THE PHOTOGRAPHS OF PATIENTS THAT THEY DISPLAY IN THE OFFICE THAT THEY ARE MAINLY MINORITY INDIVIDUALS.
BUT I FEEL SURE THAT THE REAL ISSUE CAUSING THIS DENTISTRY DESERT HERE IN JACKSONVILLE IS THE FACT THAT OUR FEDERAL HEALTH CARE SYSTEM DOES NOT LEGALLY REQUIRE DENTISTS TO TAKE MEDICAID, SO THEY AS A GROUP DO NOT. THAT IS MADE WORSE BY THE SHAMEFUL FACT THAT CLASSIC MEDICARE DOES NOT PAY FOR DENTAL WORK, EXCEPT PERHAPS FOR EXAMS AND SURGERY. BERNIE’S MEDICARE-FOR-ALL WOULD, HOWEVER. HE NOT ONLY CARES ABOUT THE WORKING CLASS OR POORER PEOPLE, HE WAS BROUGHT UP UNDER THOSE CONDITIONS, SO HE KNOWS FIRST HAND WHAT THE ISSUES INVOLVED ARE. THERE’S REALLY NOTHING LIKE DIRECT EXPERIENCE FOR GROWING A CONSCIENCE.
WE HAVE JUST ONE OF EACH OF THOSE CUT RATE DENTAL CARE SERVICES THAT I WAS ABLE TO LOCATE HERE IN JACKSONVILLE, AND I HAVE A FEELING OTHER CITIES WILL BE VERY SIMILAR, BECAUSE THERE IS AN OPTION TO DECLINE MEDICAID PATIENTS – A DEAL THAT’S TOO GOOD TO PASS UP. THAT CAUSES THIS WHOLE SET OF PROBLEMS. DENTAL, AUDITORY AND EYE CARE, ETC. ARE NOT LIFE-THREATENING ISSUES, AND THE FEDERAL LAW DOES NOT REQUIRE PRACTITIONERS TO SERVE THOSE NEEDS.
THAT’S WHY YOU WILL SEE SOME PEOPLE WITH MEDICAID AND MEDICARE ONLY WHO WILL HAVE BIG GAPS IN THEIR TEETH WHEN THEY SMILE. MAYBE THAT’S WHY THEY DON’T SMILE AS OFTEN; OR IS IT DEPRESSION? ANOTHER EXCEPTION IS THE FACT THAT A COMBINATION MEDICARE/MEDICAID WILL SOMETIMES COVER A RANGE OF DENTAL WORK. THOSE IN MY BUILDING WHO HAVE THAT PLAN ARE GETTING DISABILITY, OR ARE LIVING ON AN EVEN LOWER INCOME LEVEL THAN I AM. SO, I AM TOO WEALTHY FOR SOMETHING AT LEAST.
https://medicare.com/medicare-advantage/how-is-medicare-advantage-plan-funded/
How is Medicare Advantage plan funded?
Victoria Burke by Victoria Burke | Licensed since 2011
This article was updated on: 09/15/2018
Medicare Advantage (Medicare Part C) is an alternative way to get your benefits under Original Medicare (Part A and Part B). By law, Medicare Advantage plans must cover everything that is covered under Original Medicare, except for hospice care, which is still covered by Original Medicare Part A. Some Medicare Advantage plans offer additional benefits such as routine dental and routine vision care. According to 2016 data from the Kaiser Family Foundation, about one in three Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan, or about 17.6 million individuals. This article explains how Medicare funding works with Medicare Advantage plans.
How is Medicare funded?
The Medicare program was established in 1965 and it set up two separate Medicare trust funds to cover program expenses:
The Medicare Hospital Insurance, or HI Trust Fund gets money primarily from payroll taxes. It gets much smaller amounts from income tax on Social Security benefits and Medicare Part A premiums paid by those who don’t qualify for premium-free Part A. The money in this trust fund pays for Part A expenses such as inpatient hospital care, skilled nursing facility care, and hospice.
The Medicare Supplemental Medical Insurance, or SMI Trust Fund gets its Medicare funding primarily from money Congress allocates for the program and from Part B premiums and Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plan premiums. This fund pays for outpatient health care, durable medical equipment, certain preventative services and prescription drugs.
The Medicare funding sources are the same whether you are enrolled in Original Medicare or a Medicare Advantage plan.
How are benefits paid under Medicare Advantage?
Medicare Advantage plans are offered by private insurance companies contracted with Medicare to provide program benefits. Under Medicare Advantage, the insurance company receives a set amount of money each year per enrollee to cover health care expenses for the year. The amount is usually exactly the same for each enrollee and it doesn’t increase or decrease depending on the individual’s actual medical costs.
In addition to the Part B premium, which you must continue to pay when you enroll in Medicare Advantage, some Medicare Advantage plans also charge a separate monthly premium.
The insurance company uses this pool of money from the Medicare Trust Funds plus any additional premiums paid by plan members to pay the covered health care expenses for everyone enrolled in a particular plan. Claims for people enrolled in Medicare Advantage are paid by the insurance company and not by the Medicare program as they are for those enrolled in Original Medicare.
Because the insurance companies have a set amount of Medicare funding each year to cover all of their members’ health care expenses, they often have special rules and requirements to help keep costs down. Many plans require you to get care from network providers or get prior authorization for any expensive tests and procedures.
In return, however, Medicare Advantage plans tend to have lower out-of-pocket costs than Original Medicare, and unlike Original Medicare, Medicare Advantage plans also have annual limits on what you have to pay out-of-pocket before the plan covers all your costs. Many Medicare Advantage plans also include Part D coverage for prescription drugs so you can get all your Medicare benefits in one convenient plan.
Do all private insurance companies have the same Medicare Advantage plans?
Although the Medicare funding is the same for all insurance companies offering Medicare Advantage plans, each company chooses what types of plans and benefits it will offer. No matter what company and plan type you select, however, you are still entitled to all the same rights and protections you have under Original Medicare.
It’s important to note that plan premiums may also vary depending on the plan you select and where you live. You may be able to enroll in a zero-premium Medicare Advantage plan (although, remember, you still have to pay your regular Part B premium) and you may have other costs, such as copayments and coinsurance.
Need more information on Medicare Advantage plans?
I am happy to answer your questions about Medicare Advantage. If you prefer, you can schedule a phone call or request an email by clicking on the buttons below. You can also find out about plan options in your area by clicking the Compare Plans button.
###
WELL, FLORIDA JUST BROKE ANOTHER RECORD, BUT NOT A HAPPY ONE. I AM SO GLAD THAT I DON’T LIVE ON THE WEST SIDE OF FLORIDA, NOR TO THE SOUTH. MOST OF THE HURRICANES DO MISS JACKSONVILLE. “AN ENTIRE FREIGHT TRAIN [WAS] PUSHED OFF THE RAILS.” OUCH! THE SOUND ON THIS NEWS VIDEO IS ENOUGH TO MAKE YOU LEAVE THE AREA IF A HURRICANE IS EXPECTED TO MAKE A DIRECT HIT.
I WOULD NEVER STAY IN MY HOME JUST TO “KEEP IT FROM BEING LOOTED.” THE OLD MAXIM, “FIRST THINGS FIRST” APPLIES HERE. MOST EVERYBODY ELSE WILL BE GONE, AFTER ALL, SO THEY WON’T BE THERE TO DO ANY LOOTING – OR TO SAVE YOUR LIFE. THIS VIDEO WAS RECORDED AT THE CENTER OF THE STORM RATHER THAN THE OUTLYING WINDS, WHICH WE GOT HERE. EVEN THOSE WINDS CAN GIVE BIRTH TO BABY HURRICANES, THOUGH, THE TORNADO. THEY’RE BOTH EXTREMELY DANGEROUS.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hurricane-michael-is-the-most-powerful-storm-to-hit-florida-panhandle-on-record/
CBS NEWS October 10, 2018, 6:31 PM
Hurricane Michael is the most powerful storm to hit Florida Panhandle on record
WEATHER VIDEO – TRACKING HURRICANE MICHAEL
NEWS VIDEO – HISTORIC HURRICANE
PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. — Hurricane Michael came ashore in the Florida Panhandle Wednesday afternoon with winds of 155 mph. That makes it the fourth strongest hurricane ever to make landfall in the U.S.
In Panama City Beach, the sound of the storm was unmistakable, more like a jetliner at takeoff. "CBS Evening News" anchor Jeff Glor was there as the storm blasted the region for nearly an hour.
When Michael made landfall, winds were just 2 mph short of a Category 5 storm. Gusts may have clocked in higher, but the wind gauges broke. It was enough to rip the roof off of buildings.
A trash can and debris are blown down a street by Hurricane Michael on Oct. 10, 2018, in Panama City, Florida. The hurricane made landfall on the Florida Panhandle as a Category 4 storm. GETTY IMAGES
Just a few miles to the east of Panama City Beach lies the tourist town of Mexico Beach, which took a direct hit. Michael flattened everything in its path, with storm surges of up to eight feet. The rainfall topped five inches of rain, completely submerging some houses, while other buildings lay in piles.
Michael is the lowest pressure hurricane to strike the U.S. mainland since 1969. It is the fourth strongest on record, and nothing this ferocious has ever hit the Panhandle.
© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
*******************************************************
MADDOW SHOW
HURRICANE MICHAEL VIDEO INTERVIEW:
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/episodes
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 10/10/18
Hurricane Michael's historic strength a case for climate study
Bill Karins, NBC News meteorologist, talks with Rachel Maddow about what questions will be asked as the role of climate change is examined in the rapid formation and unusual strength of Hurricane Michael. Duration: 3:27
MORE MADDOW:
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/episodes
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 10/10/18
Less-known Mueller witness sent to prison. What of the big names?
Rachel Maddow reports on the sentencing of Richard Pinedo for his role in the Russian intrusion in the 2016 election in support of Donald Trump. Duration: 11:35
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/episodes
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 10/10/18
Kavanaugh ethics complaints referred to 10th Circuit court
Rachel Maddow reports that ethics complaints against Brett Kavanaugh for his conduct as a Supreme Court nominee, that were thought dead-on-arrival when they were referred to the Supreme Court, have now been referred to a separate district court for processing. Duration: 1:19
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/episodes
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 10/10/18
Kemp holding up 53K voter registrations as he runs for governor
Rachel Maddow reports on Brian Kemp, secretary of state for Georgia, who has not stepped down from that job even though he is running for governor, putting over 53,000 new, disproportionately black voter registrations on hold just a month ahead of the election. Duration: 3:52
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 10/9/18
New look at Trump Org server mystery suggests avenues of inquiry
Dexter Filkins, contributor to The New Yorker, talks with Rachel Maddow about what is known about unusual communication between a Trump Organization computer server and a server at Russia's Alfa Bank, and what more some well-placed subpoenas could find out. dexter filkin at new yorker interview / nyt also doing same story, was warned off by fbi over open investigation of russia-trump campaign before the election / alpha bank & eric lichtblau – why didnt’ times run article on trump/russia investigation? – democrats if they win in november may continue the investigation between alpha & trump servers / “sendin and listrak” programs
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 10/9/18
Media too quick to dismiss Trump/Alfa Bank server contact story
Rachel Maddow takes another look at the strange story of the Trump Organization computer server behaving in an unusual way with a Russian Alfa Bank server, as re-examined by Dexter Filkins in The New Yorker. Duration: 9:21
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/episodes
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 10/9/18
New look at Trump Org server mystery suggests avenues of inquiry
Dexter Filkins, contributor to The New Yorker, talks with Rachel Maddow about what is known about unusual communication between a Trump Organization computer server and a server at Russia's Alfa Bank, and what more some well-placed subpoenas could find out. Duration: 7:27
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/episodes
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 10/9/18
Cyber tricks sought by Trump camp resemble what Russia delivered
Rachel Maddow points out that the fake identities and online influence operations the Donald Trump campaign solicited from an Israeli intelligence firm are suspiciously similar to the tactics that were ultimately used by Russia to promote Trump. Duration: 7:42
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 10/10/18
Flynn met with GOP operative who sought hacked Clinton email: WSJ
Shelby Holliday, reporter for The Wall Street Journal, talks with Rachel Maddow about new reporting that Peter Smith, a GOP operative who sought hackers to get Hillary Clinton's e-mails, met with Mike Flynn before Flynn travelled to Moscow for a dinner with Vladimir Putin. Duration: 8:43
new kavanaugh complaints**
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/episodes
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 10/8/18
Trump's deep unpopularity a burden to campaigning Republicans
Scott Clement, polling director for The Washington Post, talks with Joy Reid about new polling data showing American voters in 69 battleground House districts refer Democratic candidates. Duration: 12:12
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/episodes
ga atty gen cancellation of voter registrations – 53,000 being held now under “exact match” PROGRAM –affecting applicants more than 70% OF WHOM ARE black --
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 10/10/18
Kemp holding up 53K voter registrations as he runs for governor
Rachel Maddow reports on Brian Kemp, secretary of state for Georgia, who has not stepped down from that job even though he is running for governor, putting over 53,000 new, disproportionately black voter registrations on hold just a month ahead of the election. Duration: 3:52
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 10/8/18 – includes psy group and another – geroge birnbaum met wth rick gates about psy group / sent bots to members of republican party to influence them toward trump and away from ted cruz / on mueller
Trump camp sought online manipulation plan from Israeli firm: NYT
Ronen Bergman, staff writer for The New York Times, talks with Joy Reid about new reporting that Trump campaign official Rick Gates requested plans from an Israeli intelligence firm that included fake online identities, social media manipulation and oppo research against Trump's primary opponents and Hillary Clinton. Duration: 8:42
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 10/8/18
House Intel GOP withholding Rohrabacher transcript from release
Rep. Eric Swalwell d-ca talks with Joy Reid about how House Intelligence Committee Republicans, particularly Chairman Devin Nunes, undermined the committee's investigation into the Donald Trump campaign's ties to Russia in order to protect Trump. Duration: 6:38
https://thehill.com/policy/technology/410855-bernie-sanders-targets-facebook-and-google-on-kavanaugh
Bernie Sanders targets Facebook and Google on Kavanaugh
BY ALI BRELAND - 10/10/18 06:38 PM EDT
PHOTOGRAPH -- Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is taking a shot at Facebook and Google as well as the GOP in a new video about Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
In the video posted on Sanders’ Twitter account, his senior advisor, Ari Rabin-Havt, criticized Republicans as being hypocritical in their arguments that Google and Facebook are biased against conservatives.
Rabin-Havt pointed to Facebook vice president of public policy Joel Kaplan’s support of Kavanaugh’s nomination and Google’s donations to the Federalist Society, a conservative legal organization that has been instrumental in picking conservative Supreme Court Justices, in making the argument that Google and Facebook are not biased toward the left.
Kavanaugh and fellow-Trump Supreme Court appointee Neil Gorsuch were both on the list of the Federalist Society's potential nominees that President Trump picked from.
Google is among the society’s top class of donors who have contributed $100,000 or more to the organization.
Google gives money to liberal organizations as well, and like other tech companies tries to distribute its political donations equally along party lines.
Rabin-Havt noted in the video that Kaplan, who is personal friends with Kavanaugh from their time in the Bush White House together, sat behind the nominee during the congressional hearing on Christine Blasey Ford’s sexual assault allegation.
The Sanders advisor also pointed out that after Kavanaugh’s confirmation Saturday, Kaplan held a small gathering at his home in to celebrate the event.
Facebook has stressed that it does not have rules for what its staff does in their private life outside of work.
Rabin-Havt argued that these instances show that Facebook and Google tacitly support Kavanaugh and the GOP at large. He contended that this undermines Republican claims that technology companies are biased against conservatives.
Prominent Republicans including House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and President Trump have attacked Facebook, Twitter and Google for being alleged biased against conservatives. Trump has said that he would like the companies to be fairer and McCarthy has argued for more transparency in their judgments of how they handle different types of political content.
Democrats and the companies themselves have argued that arguments of bias are unfounded.
Sanders has a history of going after major corporations, usually on the grounds of how they treat their employees.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/10/10/amazon-tells-bernie-sanders-all-workers-will-earn-more-despite-bonuses-stock-grants-going-away/
Amazon tells Bernie Sanders: All workers will earn more despite bonuses and stock grants going away
As backlash grew over Amazon’s decision to do a $15 minimum wage but cut bonuses and stock grants, the company vowed that all workers will be better off.
By Heather Long October 10 at 2:02 PM
PHOTOGRAPH -- Workers in 2017 at an Amazon fulfillment center in Romeoville, Ill. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Amazon.com sent a letter to Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday vowing that all of its hourly U.S. workers will be better off financially after its new pay policy goes into effect on Nov. 1.
“All hourly operations and customer service employees will see an increase in their total compensation as a result of this announcement,” wrote Jay Carney, Amazon’s senior vice president for global corporate affairs, in a letter to Sanders (I-Vt.) obtained by The Washington Post.
Amazon, the United States’ second-largest employer, announced last week that it would boost its minimum wage to $15 for all of its hourly workers at fulfillment centers, return centers and other sites. But workers at some Amazon warehouses didn’t clap or cheer when they heard the news, because the company simultaneously took away bonuses and stock grants. (Amazon chief executive Jeffrey P. Bezos also owns The Post).
Many workers told The Post, the New York Times, HuffPost and other outlets that they believed they would make less money under the new rules than they do now, prompting Sanders to ask Amazon to confirm that all employees would see an increase in total compensation after the changes take effect.
“Again, all hourly operations and customer service employees will see an increase in their base pay, as well as in their total compensation,” wrote Carney, a White House press secretary under President Barack Obama. “We are also proud to continue to provide our industry-leading benefits, including comprehensive healthcare, up to 20 weeks of paid parental leave and our Career Choice program, which pre-pays 95 percent of associates' tuition for courses in high-demand fields.”
Carney said that the increase in the hourly wage “more than compensates” for the phaseout of incentive pay and stock grants and reiterated that the company is eliminating those because workers want more “immediate and predictable” compensation.
Workers who have been with the company for several years are still trying to understand how Amazon is going to ensure they get more take-home pay. “Total compensation” often refers to pay plus benefits and not necessarily the take-home pay that most workers are focused on to get by. Employees who earn $14.01 or more were told they would receive a dollar pay rise, but as one worker at a Tennessee fulfillment center explained to The Post, he earns about 8 percent extra a month in bonuses.
His base pay is around $14 an hour, and the extra bonus money for good performance would yield him roughly an additional $180 a month, and more during the peak holiday season from October to December. After the changes, he would earn only $160 extra a month from the dollar pay raise. Amazon is also stopping its practice of giving workers a quarter raise every six months, effectively creating a lower ceiling on how much veteran employees can earn.
He will also no longer receive stock grants, which vested after three years with the company and were a substantial benefit to long-term employees since the company’s stock is worth almost four times what it was in September 2015.
The worker, who asked not to be named, out of fear of retribution, said he was “disappointed” and called this a “downturn of events.” He added that morale was “shot” among veteran employees.
Amazon told Sanders it is planning to do more outreach to help employees understand how the changes will affect them personally and how they will be better off.
Sanders, who has berated Bezos repeatedly, claiming he for [sic] underpays his employees, praised Amazon after the minimum-wage increase and said it “could well be a shot heard around the world” that prompts other large companies to follow suit.
Amazon’s $15 pay is significantly above the typical retail pay in the United States, but it remains below median warehouse worker pay of $15.53 an hour, according to Labor Department data.
Related:
‘It seems like a publicity stunt’: Why Amazon’s new $15 wage is facing backlash
European regulators are looking into antitrust concerns at Amazon
Thousands of Amazon workers receive food stamps. Now Bernie Sanders wants the company to pay up.
Heather Long
Heather Long is an economics correspondent. Before joining The Washington Post, she was a senior economics reporter at CNN and a columnist and deputy editor at the Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa. She also worked at an investment firm in London. Follow
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2018/10/10/senator-approval-ratings-morning-consult/1590329002/
OUTLOOKONPOLITICS
Morning Consult poll: Bernie Sanders is most popular senator, Mitch McConnell is least popular
Erin Kelly, USA TODAY Published 2:55 p.m. ET Oct. 10, 2018
PHOTOGRAPH -- Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., attends a press conference on July 24, 2018 in Washington.
(Photo: Tasos Katopodis, Getty Images)
WASHINGTON – Independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont is the most popular member of the U.S. Senate, while Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is the least popular, according to the latest Morning Consult poll.
The poll, released Wednesday, surveyed more than 350,000 registered voters in senators' and governors' home states to compile approval ratings for the third quarter of this year.
Vermont voters were especially happy with their senators, with 63 percent approving of Sanders and 61 percent approving of Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy.
The other three senators with the highest approval ratings in their states were: Democrat Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Independent Angus King of Maine and Republican John Thune of South Dakota. All three had approval ratings of 58 percent.
McConnell had an approval rating of 33 percent, with 52 percent of Kentucky voters disapproving of the Senate leader. Still, in a bit of good news for McConnell, his net approval rating rose 8 percentage points from the second quarter to the third quarter.
Majority leaders, by virtue of their roles as party leaders, often suffer from the perception that they are unduly partisan.
The other most unpopular senators were: Republican Jeff Flake of Arizona, with a 49 percent disapproval rate; Democrat Claire McCaskill of Missouri, with a 48 percent disapproval rate, and Democrat Robert Menendez of New Jersey, with a 46 percent disapproval rate.
Flake, who has angered conservative Republicans by sharply criticizing President Donald Trump on immigration and other key issues, is retiring in January.
McCaskill and Menendez are both facing tough races for re-election in November. McCaskill is running in a state that Trump won in 2016 and Menendez's popularity has dropped after high-profile ethics scandals.
The late Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, a maverick who often angered conservatives in his party, split voters nearly in half, with 44 percent approving of him and 45 percent disapproving of him. He ranked as the fifth most unpopular senator. He died on Aug. 25 of brain cancer.
Vulnerable Democratic senators got some bad news in the poll. Four of them – Menendez, McCaskill, Bill Nelson of Florida, and Joe Donnelly of Indiana – all saw their net approval ratings drop from the previous quarter.
In contrast, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., got a boost, with her net approval rating rising by 6 percentage points.
The poll also shows that the five most popular governors are all Republicans. They are: Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, Larry Hogan of Maryland, Kay Ivey of Alabama, Chris Sununu of New Hampshire, and Dennis Daugaard of South Dakota.
The five least popular governors are: Republican Mary Fallin of Oklahoma, Democrat Dan Malloy of Connecticut, Republican Bruce Rauner of Illinois, Republican Matt Bevin of Kentucky, and independent Bill Walker of Alaska.
Morning Consult surveyed 359,057 registered votes from July 1 through Sept. 25 to determine the senators' approval ratings for the third quarter. The poll also surveyed 361,607 registered voters during the same time period to compile the governors' rankings. The company did not provide a margin of error for the poll.
More: McConnell tags Clinton as part of 'far-left mob' after she says you can't be civil to GOP
More: Mitch McConnell warns targeting Donald Trump could hurt Dems
30 PHOTOS – A Look At Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell
More: McConnell tags Clinton as part of 'far-left mob' after she says you can't be civil to GOP
More: Mitch McConnell warns targeting Donald Trump could hurt Dems
McConnell and President Trump talk to reporters in the Rose Garden following a lunch meeting at the White House on Oct. 16, 2017. Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images
https://www.wsj.com/articles/is-trump-making-democrats-regret-their-bernie-sanders-crush-1539198445
OPINION BEST OF THE WEB
Is Trump Making Democrats Regret Their Bernie Sanders Crush?
Few voters want to destroy Medicare and private health insurance.
PHOTOGRAPH -- Vermont socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders in Washington on Tuesday. PHOTO: JOSHUA ROBERTS/REUTERS
For political professionals, one of the most bizarre aspects of this bizarre era is the speed at which Vermont socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders has gone from near irrelevance as the Senate’s resident kook to the most influential policy maker in one of America’s two major political parties. Now comes the moment when Democrats who have largely adopted Sanders positions may have to explain them to voters.
USA TODAY
✔
@USATODAY
.@usatodayopinion: Democrats want to outlaw private health care plans, taking away freedom to choose plans while letting anyone cross our border. We must win this. https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/10/10/donald-trump-democrats-open-borders-medicare-all-single-payer-column/1560533002/ …
7:49 AM - Oct 10, 2018
Donald Trump: Democrats 'Medicare for All' plan will demolish promises to seniors
The Democrats want to outlaw private health care plans, taking away freedom to choose plans while letting anyone cross our border. We must win this.
usatoday.com
15.3K
12.7K people are talking about this
Twitter Ads info and privacy
President Donald Trump is now doing all he can to encourage this conversation. And the leftist squawking in response suggests that Mr. Trump has identified a critical vulnerability of his political opponents.
The President writes in a USA Today op-ed:
Throughout the year, we have seen Democrats across the country uniting around a new legislative proposal that would end Medicare as we know it and take away benefits that seniors have paid for their entire lives.
Dishonestly called “Medicare for All,” the Democratic proposal would establish a government-run, single-payer health care system that eliminates all private and employer-based health care plans and would cost an astonishing $32.6 trillion during its first 10 years.
The Sanders program really would cost taxpayers that much, according to former Social Security and Medicare trustee Charles Blahous’ August op-ed in the Journal. Mr. Sanders didn’t dispute the figure and a writer at Vox, a Sanders-friendly website for young adults, calls it “kind of a bargain.”
But on Twitter, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer implies the Trump op-ed is “false and misleading” and appeals to the authority of an Associated Press “Fact Check” carrying the headline: “Trump distorts Democrats’ health care ideas.”
View image on TwitterView image on Twitter
Chuck Schumer
✔
@SenSchumer
I took a look at your op-ed, @realDonaldTrump. It needs some work.
All of the false and misleading words in the world can’t cover up how your administration and Republicans in Congress are forcing millions of Americans to pay more for health care.
12:02 PM - Oct 10, 2018
26.4K
16K people are talking about this
Twitter Ads info and privacy
It’s the AP headline that may need a rewrite. In the body of its story, the news service acknowledges:
There definitely are serious questions about “Medicare for All,” including the massive tax increases that would be needed to pay for it and longstanding differences in society about the proper function of government. But Trump omits any mention of improved benefits for seniors that Sanders and other Democrats promise.
Refusing to believe the promises of his political opponents means that the President “distorts” their ideas?
AP continues:
[The President] implies that Democrats are all lined up behind the idea, when they are not. A few recent examples:
TRUMP: “You know what they’re doing with Medicare? They’ll destroy it. The majority of House Democrats have co-sponsored a socialist takeover of health care that would obliterate Medicare. Their plan is called Medicare for All, except they have no money. But it’s really Medicare for none. Their plan would rob American seniors of the benefits they have paid — and they’ve paid these benefits and they’ve paid so much money for their entire lives and you take it away.” — Minnesota rally Thursday.
TRUMP: “Robbing our seniors of the benefits they paid into for their entire lives, giving it to people that don’t deserve it. Giving it, by the way, to illegal aliens who come in to our country. OK?” — West Virginia rally on Sept. 29.
THE FACTS: “Medicare for All” means different things to different Democrats. For Sanders, the Vermont independent, it’s a “single-payer” system in which the government substitutes for private insurers and employers, paying for almost all medical care with tax money instead of premiums.
But for others, “Medicare for All” means allowing people to buy into a new government plan modeled on Medicare. That would move toward the Democratic goal of coverage for all, while leaving private insurance in place... Trump is also wrong to say that Democrats would “obliterate” Medicare.
As the A.P. acknowledges, Mr. Trump said: “The majority of House Democrats have co-sponsored a socialist takeover of health care that would obliterate Medicare.” This is true. “Medicare for All” may mean different things to different people. But to the 123 Members of the House of Representatives who are co-sponsors of H.R. 676, it means a government-run system which replaces existing health plans, including Medicare.
Just like the Senate plan offered by Mr. Sanders, the House measure, which is indeed co-sponsored by most House Democrats, does not allow capitalism in the health care industry. “No institution may be a participating provider unless it is a public or not-for-profit institution,” says the plain language of H.R. 676.
And how can we be sure that it replaces Medicare rather than leaving it alone? The official summary of the bill makes clear that Medicare money will be redirected to finance the new program:
The program is funded: (1) from existing sources of government revenues for health care, (2) by increasing personal income taxes on the top 5% of income earners, (3) by instituting a progressive excise tax on payroll and self-employment income, (4) by instituting a tax on unearned income, and (5) by instituting a tax on stock and bond transactions. Amounts that would have been appropriated for federal public health care programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), are transferred and appropriated to carry out this bill.
Similar language appears in the text of the legislation, as it does in the Senate version from Bernie Sanders. And given all the new taxes, the $32.6 trillion estimate may turn out to be way too low.
As for the Trump claim that the program will cover illegal immigrants, people can debate the merits. But good luck to the A.P. trying to find even a small minority of House Democrats who oppose extending such benefits.
Expect Mr. Schumer’s tweets to be part of a larger media attack on the President’s truth-telling about SandersCare. That’s because Democrats know that they must own the health care issue to keep alive their dream of a blue election wave.
This week’s CNN poll is instructive. Democrats are celebrating this survey because, unlike other recent polls, it shows a huge edge for Democrats when voters are asked which party’s candidates they favor in congressional elections. But even in this survey, Republicans enjoy significant advantages on the economy and national security.
Health care is the must-win issue for Democrats. Now Mr. Trump is correctly explaining why SandersCare would be a loser for patients and taxpayers.
***
THIS IS ANOTHER VERY DISCOURAGING STORY IN WHICH A FOREIGN NATIONAL LIVING IN THE USA HAS BEEN EITHER MURDERED OR CAPTURED FOR SOME REASON. HE HAS CRITICIZED THE NEW PRINCE IN SAUDI ARABIA, WHO IS A BIT SENSITIVE, ALREADY HAVING ARRESTED OR WORSE HALF A DOZEN OR MORE PEOPLE WHO SPOKE OUT ABOUT HIM. HE REALLY DOESN’T LIKE THAT. SAUDI ARABIA DENIES IT, OF COURSE. THEY SAY THE POOR JOURNALIST JUST MYSTERIOUSLY “DISAPPEARED,” WITHOUT ANY TRACE. IT’S TOO LATE FOR ME TO LOOK AT THIS VERY CLOSELY, BUT I SAW FIVE OR SIX OTHER ARTICLES ABOUT OTHER SAUDIS WHO HAVE DISAPPEARED. I’LL TRY TO DO THAT TOMORROW. THIS REALLY RESEMBLES THE RUSSIA POISONING CASES.
NEXT IS THE MOST RECENT ARTICLE, APPEARING TODAY, FROM BBC ALSO: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45809470.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-45804749
Jamal Khashoggi: Britain challenges Saudi Arabia
OCTOBER 9, 2018
PHOTOGRAPH -- This image appears to show Jamal Khashoggi entering the consulate last week
The UK's foreign secretary has told Saudi Arabia that Britain expects urgent answers over the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
In a phone call to Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Adel al-Jubeir, Jeremy Hunt warned that "friendships depend on shared values".
Mr Khashoggi was last seen visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last week, and Turkey says he may have been murdered there.
Saudi Arabia denies the suggestion.
Image Copyright @Jeremy_Hunt@JEREMY_HUNT
Report
Taking a tougher line than the Trump administration, a spokesperson for the UK's Foreign Office said, if media reports surrounding the case were correct, the UK would treat the incident "very seriously."
Earlier today, US President Donald Trump said he had not yet spoken to Saudi officials about the journalist's disappearance.
"I have not. But I will be at some point," he told reporters. "I know nothing right now. I know what everybody else knows - nothing."
RELATED:
The journalist who vanished into a consulate
Missing Saudi writer gets blank column
Turkey says it will conduct a search of Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul.
Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry said the country was "open to co-operation" and a search of the building could go ahead as part of the investigation.
It says the journalist left the consulate shortly after arriving, while Turkey says he was not seen leaving the building.
The country has demanded Saudi Arabia prove he left, while not providing evidence to support the claim he was killed inside.
Who is Jamal Khashoogi?
A critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Mr Khashoggi was living in self-imposed exile in the US and writing opinion pieces for the Washington Post before his disappearance.
A former editor of the al-Watan newspaper and a short-lived Saudi TV news channel, he was for years seen as close to the Saudi royal family. He served as an adviser to senior Saudi officials.
Media captionJamal Khashoggi: Saudi Arabia needs reform, but one-man rule is "bad" for the kingdom
But after several of his friends were arrested, his column was cancelled by the al-Hayat newspaper and he was allegedly warned to stop tweeting, Mr Khashoggi left Saudi Arabia for the US.
What's been the reaction to the disappearance?
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on Saudi Arabia to "support a thorough investigation" of his disappearance and "to be transparent about the results".
UN experts have demanded a "prompt independent and international investigation" into his disappearance.
Last week, Crown Prince Mohammed told Bloomberg News that his government was "very keen to know what happened to him", and that Mr Khashoggi had left "after a few minutes or one hour".
An unacceptable line?
Analysis by BBC diplomatic correspondent James Robbins
The UK has apparently told the Saudis they need to show Mr Khashoggi is alive, and the best way to do that would be for him to appear on television.
If that doesn't happen soon, it's clear that Britain and its allies are likely to conclude that Saudi Arabia has crossed an unacceptable line.
In the wake of the Salisbury attack, and the international punishment meted out to Russia, it would then be increasingly difficult for Western governments to avoid action against the Saudi kingdom, however close their military and economic ties.
Crown Prince Mohammed's brother and the Saudi ambassador to the US, Prince Khaled bin Salman al-Saud, has insisted all the reports about his disappearance or death "are completely false and baseless".
"Jamal has many friends in Saudi Arabia, and I am one of them," he said in a statement, saying the two had kept in touch while he was living abroad "despite differences".
When was he last seen?
Mr Khashoggi went to the consulate last Tuesday to obtain a document certifying he had divorced his ex-wife, so that he could remarry his Turkish fiancรฉe, Hatice Cengiz.
Image copyrightAFP/GETTY IMAGES
Image caption
The journalist's fiancรฉe Hatice Cengiz said she had waited outside for 11 hours, but he did not come out
She said Mr Khashoggi had been required to surrender his mobile phone, which is standard practice in some diplomatic missions.
He told her to call an adviser to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan if he did not return. She eventually called the police.
What have both countries said?
Turkish officials say Mr Khashoggi was killed on the premises and his body was then removed.
"We believe that the murder was premeditated and the body was subsequently moved out of the consulate," an unnamed source told Reuters.
A source quoted by The Washington Post said the journalist was killed by a 15-member Saudi team sent "specifically for the murder".
The head of the Turkish-Arab Media Association, Turan Kislakci, told the New York Times that Turkish police officers providing security for the consulate had checked their security cameras, which did not show the journalist leaving on foot.
Turkey reportedly says it is scouring road cameras for a black van believed to have carried Mr Khashoggi's body from the consulate, while the Washington Post released CCTV footage of the journalist entering the building on Monday.
Saudi Arabia says the allegations are baseless. It has allowed journalists into the consulate to show Mr Khashoggi is not there, reportedly even opening cupboards.
Image copyrightAFP
Image caption
The Saudi consulate said Khashoggi left after completing paperwork
BBC Newshour interviewed the journalist just three days before his visit to the consulate, and in an off-air conversation asked if he would ever return to his home country.
Saudi woman activist 'faces death penalty'
Saudi Arabia to punish online satire
"I don't think I'll be able to go home," he told the BBC, saying that in Saudi Arabia "the people who are arrested are not even dissidents" and saying he wished he had a platform at home to write and speak freely at this time of "great transformation" in his country.
RELATED More
Three days before he disappeared, we interviewed Jamal Khashoggi. Off air, we asked him about the possibility of returning to Saudi Arabia. We wouldn't normally release this conversation but we've decided to make an exception in light of the circumstances. https://bbc.in/2PkYpDj
Report
The programme has released audio of the conversation, saying that although it would not normally do so, it had decided to make an exception "in light of the circumstances".
Image Copyright @BBCNewshour@BBCNEWSHOUR
BBC Newshour
Verified account
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45809470
Jamal Khashoggi: Turkish media says video shows disappearance plot
OCTOBER 10, 2018 58 minutes ago
Turkish media outlets have published CCTV footage which they say shows evidence of a plot linked to missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
It shows purported Saudi intelligence officers entering and leaving Turkey via Istanbul airport.
Mr Khashoggi, a critic of the Saudi monarchy, entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October and has not been seen since.
Turkish authorities say Mr Khashoggi was killed. Saudi Arabia denies this.
What else does the video show?
Broadcast by Turkey's TRT World channel and apparently garnered from security cameras, the footage shows vehicles driving up to the consulate, including black vans thought to be central to inquiries.
Groups of Saudi men are seen entering Turkey via Istanbul airport, checking in at hotels and later leaving the country.
Turkish investigators are looking into two Saudi Gulfstream jets that landed at the airport on 2 October. The video shows aircraft waiting on the tarmac.
What we know about missing Saudi journalist
The journalist who vanished into a consulate
Turkish press trace Khashoggi's last steps
Saudi Arabia's missing princes
Mr Khashoggi was visiting the consulate to finalise his divorce so he could marry his Turkish fiancรฉe, Hatice Cengiz.
He is seen on the video entering the consulate. His fiancรฉe waits outside.
Image caption
Diplomatic vehicles were seen entering the consulate and driving to the Saudi consul's residence shortly after Mr Khashoggi's arrival
Turkey's Sabah newspaper reports that it has identified 15 members of an intelligence team it says was involved in the Saudi's disappearance. Among them was a forensics expert, it says.
The BBC's Mark Lowen says one of the men was once posted to London.
Skip Twitter post by @marklowen
Mark Lowen
✔
@marklowen
These are the 15 Saudis that Turkish pro-govt paper @Sabah says flew to Istanbul, allegedly as #Khashoggi hit squad: https://www.sabah.com.tr/gundem/2018/10/10/iste-15-kisilik-suikast-timi …
I’ve been told fourth from last picture, Maher Mutreb, in black jacket, was a colonel in #Saudi intelligence based at its embassy in London
10:30 AM - Oct 10, 2018
ฤฐลte 15 kiลilik suikast timi
Haberin devamฤฑ...
sabah.com.tr
53
46 people are talking about this
Twitter Ads info and privacy
Report
End of Twitter post by @marklowen
Police are reported to be examining 150 security cameras as part of their investigation.
Some local media have also been reporting that Mr Khashoggi may have been abducted rather than killed.
Turkey says it will conduct a search of the Istanbul consulate, while Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry said the country was "open to co-operation" and a search of the building could go ahead.
Media captionCCTV footage shows missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Ankara is demanding that Saudi Arabia prove he left, while not providing definitive evidence to support the claim he was killed inside.
Who is Jamal Khashoggi?
A critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Mr Khashoggi was living in self-imposed exile in the US and writing opinion pieces for the Washington Post before his disappearance.
A former editor of the al-Watan newspaper and a short-lived Saudi TV news channel, he was for years seen as close to the Saudi royal family. He served as an adviser to senior Saudi officials.
Media captionJamal Khashoggi: Saudi Arabia needs reform, but one-man rule is "bad" for the kingdom
But after several of his friends were arrested, his column was cancelled by the al-Hayat newspaper and he was allegedly warned to stop tweeting, Mr Khashoggi left Saudi Arabia for the US.
What has the international reaction been?
The UK's foreign secretary told Saudi Arabia that Britain expects urgent answers over the disappearance of Mr Khashoggi, it emerged on Tuesday.
In a phone call to Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, Jeremy Hunt warned that "friendships depend on shared values".
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on Saudi Arabia to "support a thorough investigation" of his disappearance and "to be transparent about the results".
UN experts have demanded a "prompt independent and international investigation" into his disappearance.
Last week, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed told Bloomberg News that his government was "very keen to know what happened to him", and that Mr Khashoggi had left "after a few minutes or one hour".
Crown Prince Mohammed's brother and the Saudi ambassador to the US, Prince Khaled bin Salman al-Saud, has insisted all the reports about his disappearance or death "are completely false and baseless".
Campaign group Reporters without Borders has called for an independent international investigation into Mr Khashoggi's disappearance.
The group says more then 15 journalists and bloggers have been arrested in Saudi Arabia since September 2017.
How has Khashoggi's fiancee reacted?
Hatice Cengiz has appealed to the US for help in an emotional article in the Washington Post.
"I implore President Trump and first lady Melania Trump to help shed light on Jamal's disappearance," she wrote.
"We were in the middle of making wedding plans, life plans," when he vanished, she said.
Image copyrightAFP
Image caption
Hatice Cengiz waited outside the consulate for her fiancรฉ
"Jamal is a valuable person, an exemplary thinker and a courageous man who has been fighting for his principles. I don't know how I can keep living if he was abducted or killed in Turkey."
READ THIS ARTICLE ON SAUDI ARABIAN JUSTICE, UNDER WHICH A FEMALE POLITICAL ACTIVIST FROM THE RIVAL MINORITY SHIA RELIGIOUS SECT OF ISLAM IS CHARGED WITH THE DEATH PENALTY FOR WHAT TO ME ARE SOCIAL JUSTICE ISSUES. SHE IS DEFENDING JUSTICE, AND THE GOVERNMENT IS CALLING IT TERRORISM. OFFENSES LEADING TO THE DEATH PENALTY, ACCORDING TO THIS ARTICLE, INCLUDE: "PARTICIPATING IN PROTESTS ... FEMALE RIGHTS DEFENDER ... WENT ON TRIAL AT A TERRORISM TRIBUNAL ... MINORITY SHIA MUSLIM COMMUNITY ... ACTIVITIES DEEMED A RISK TO NATIONAL SECURITY ... AND DOCUMENTING THE MASS PROTESTS ... OPPOSING THE SUNNI-LED GOVERNMENT ... DOING HUMAN RIGHTS-RELATED WORK ... ACTIVITIES DEEMED A RISK TO NATIONAL SECURITY ... RELIGIOUS MINORITY STATUS ... PARTICIPATING IN AND DOCUMENTING THE MASS PROTESTS ... ACTIVITIES “DEEMED A RISK” ... LEGAL PRINCIPLE OF JUSTICE CALLED "TAZIR," IN WHICH THE JUDGE HAS APPARENTLY ENDLESS DISCRETION ... NOT EVEN ACCUSED OF VIOLENT BEHAVIOUR ... POLITICALLY-MOTIVATED CHARGES ... TERRORISM-RELATED OFFENCES, INCLUDING TAKING UP ARMS AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT AND ATTACKING SECURITY FORCES.”
WELL, I COULD AGREE WITH A GOVERNMENT ON CERTAIN KINDS OF THINGS, ESPECIALLY VIOLENT BEHAVIOR, AND I INCLUDE IN THAT VANDALISM. WE’VE HAD VIOLENT STREET PROTESTS A FEW TIMES WITHIN MY LIFETIME HERE, MOST RECENTLY THE MODERN-DAY “BLACK BLOC” GROUPS, ESPECIALLY ANTIFA. I AM IN AGREEMENT WITH THE GOALS OF ANTIFA, BECAUSE I ALSO FEAR AND DESPISE FASCISTS, BUT NOT WITH THEIR METHODS.
I WAS GENUINELY DISTURBED AS I WATCHED ANTIFA ON THE NEWS. THE BLACK BLOC GROUP MEMBERS WEREN’T LIGHTLY TAPPING PEOPLE WITH THEIR STICKS, BUT REALLY TAKING A WHACK AT THEM – BROKEN BONES, ETC. CAN RESULT FROM THAT. OF COURSE, THE FASCISTS WERE DOING THE SAME THING. I HATE ALL THAT, NOT JUST BECAUSE IT IS “DISORDERLY,” BUT BECAUSE IT WILL NOT ADVANCE THEIR CAUSE IN THE EYES OF A GROUP OF RATIONAL PEOPLE; AND MOST AMERICANS ARE FAIRLY RATIONAL. IN ADDITION, WE DO HAVE A COURT SYSTEM TO TAKE CARE OF THOSE THINGS, AND OUR LAWS ARE MOSTLY HUMANE. UNFORTUNATELY, SOMETIMES CONDITIONS IN PRISONS ARE NOT.
THAT’S WHY I FEAR THE SITUATION OF THE UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS, WHO ARE IN DETENTION IN USUALLY MAKESHIFT SETTINGS, IN A TENT IN THE DESERT, FOR INSTANCE, OR TOO FEW BATHS OR INSUFFICIENT OR DANGEROUS FOOD. THE FACT THAT MANY OF THEM HAVE TO WAIT IN JAIL FOR A CONSIDERABLE PERIOD OF TIME – WEEKS OR MONTHS – BEFORE EVEN SEEING A LAWYER OR GETTING A TRIAL. THAT IS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT OUR COUNTRY SPELLED OUT IN THE CONSTITUTION AS BEING UNACCEPTABLE. IN THE 1700S BRITISH COURTS AND SENTENCES WERE LIKE THAT – CRUEL, UNUSUAL AND UNLAWFUL. I HATE THE WAY OUR “CONSERVATIVES” IN THIS COUNTRY HAVE TRIED IN MORE THAN A FEW INSTANCES TO ROLL BACK THE JUSTICE SYSTEM BY SEVERAL HUNDRED YEARS. WHY WOULD ANYBODY CONSIDER THAT ACCEPTABLE, EVEN IF THE PRISONERS ARE BLACK OR “ILLEGALS?” THAT, OF COURSE, IS THE RIGHTIST CODE WORD FOR HISPANIC PEOPLE. “ILLEGALS” MEANS THAT IF THEY ARE BEATEN UP OR WORSE, THE LAW WON’T COUNT THAT AS A CRIME.
I AM, IN PRINCIPLE, IN FAVOR OF NONVIOLENT STREET PROTESTS WITH SIGNS AND CHANTS, BUT NOT THE USE OF STOUT STICKS, EVEN AGAINST THE FASCIST GROUP OF ROWDIES. OF COURSE, THEIR SIDE HAD WEAPONS ALSO. THE POLICE WERE CONSPICUOUSLY ABSENT, WHICH I THOUGHT WAS SHAMEFUL. THEY WERE THERE, BUT THEY STAYED ON THE SIDELINES – MOST LIKELY BECAUSE THEY DIDN’T WANT TO GET HURT, BUT JUST POSSIBLY BECAUSE THEY WANTED THE FASCISTS TO HAVE A FREE HAND AS LONG AS THEY WERE WINNING. WHEN IT BECAME OBVIOUS THAT ANTIFA MEMBERS WERE FORMIDABLE IN THEIR OWN RIGHT, THE POLICE BEGAN ARRESTING PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY MEMBERS OF ANTIFA. FUNNY, HOW THAT WORKS.
CRIMES LIKE “TAKING UP ARMS AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT AND ATTACKING SECURITY FORCES,” SHOULD CERTAINLY BE GROUNDS FOR ARREST AND A [LIMITED] JAIL TERM. TWO EVENTS THAT WERE VERY DISTURBING TO ME, AND GROUNDS FOR A PRISON SENTENCE IN MY VIEW, WERE THE TAKING OF A FEDERAL BUILDING BY THE THUGS FROM THE BUNDY FAMILY JUST A FEW YEARS AGO, AND IN THE 1980S THE SAME SITUATION AT THE HANDS OF A BIZARRE RELIGIOUS GROUP CALLED THE BRANCH DAVIDIANS. THE LEADER CLAIMED TO BE THE REINCARNATION OF JESUS, OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. NOT COINCIDENTALLY, HIS NAME WAS DAVID. FOR SOME PEOPLE, THE MORE TOTALLY IRRATIONAL A RELIGION IS, THE MORE THEY LIKE IT.
I LISTED THE SPECIFIC CHARGES AGAINST SAUDI PROTESTERS, ESPECIALLY SEVERAL WOMEN NAMED IN THIS ARTICLE. I DID IT, NOT TO BE BORING, BUT TO HAVE THE READER NOTICE THE FACT THAT MOST OF THEM ARE PROHIBITED IN OUR CONSTITUTION. THAT IS BECAUSE UNTIL THE 1700S IN BRITAIN AND PROBABLY OTHER EUROPEAN NATIONS, THE LIST OF GOVERNMENT ABUSES WAS SHOCKING. PUNISHMENTS INCLUDED THINGS LIKE “THE RACK,” WHICH WAS A FLAT FRAMEWORK WITH A ROLLER AT THE TOP AND ANOTHER ON THE BOTTOM, ON WHICH THE POOR SUSPECTED FELON WOULD BE TIED WITH FEET AT THE BOTTOM AND HANDS AT THE TOP, AND THEN MECHANICALLY “STRETCHED.” NEEDLESS TO SAY, JOINTS WERE PULLED APART, TENDONS WERE BROKEN AND MORE. ANOTHER GOOD ONE WAS DISEMBOWELING WITH A KNIFE. IF YOU ARE REALLY CURIOUS ABOUT THAT AND YOU HAVE A STRONG STOMACH, GO TO : RACK (TORTURE) FROM WIKIPEDIA, THE FREE ENCYCLOPEDIA; HTTPS://EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/WIKI/RACK_(TORTURE)
THE POINT IN ALL THAT WAS TO GET THE PRISONER TO “CONFESS,” WHETHER OR NOT HE WAS GUILTY. IF HE CONFESSES, THEY’VE GOT HIM “DEAD TO RIGHTS,” AND IF HE DOESN’T THEY WILL KILL HIM ON THE RACK. BESIDE THAT PARTICULAR METHOD OF NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION, WATERBOARDING WAS A BREEZE – NOT THAT I AM EXCUSING WATERBOARDING.
MY LEAST FAVORITE OF THOSE STATED PUNISHABLE “CRIMES” LISTED ABOVE IS "FILMING PROTESTS AND PUBLISHING THE FOOTAGE ON SOCIAL MEDIA.” ESTABLISHING PROOF OF A CRIME AT THE HANDS OF THE GOVERNMENT OR THE POLICE IS A CRIME. I SUPPOSE I AM JUST TOTALLY DISLOYAL, BUT THAT IS DISGUSTING IN MY VIEW. LET NO TRUTH BE RECORDED, AND ESPECIALLY TO BE POSTED PUBLICLY ON THE INTERNET. THAT’S WHY SO MANY HEADS OF GOVERNMENT AROUND THE WORLD HATE THE FREE PRESS, AS WELL. AS YOU HAVE PROBABLY NOTICED, THAT IS ONE OF THE UNFAIR THINGS THAT WE SHARE WITH SAUDI ARABIA, OR DONALD TRUMP DOES AT ANY RATE.
THAT BUSINESS OF ARRESTING THOSE WHO DARED TO RECORD POLICE VIOLENCE WAS REPORTED IN THE NEWS REPORTS FROM FERGUSON, MISSOURI SEVERAL YEARS AGO, SO THE SAUDIS AREN’T THE ONLY GUILTY PARTIES. I SAW THAT ON THE NEWS FOOTAGE ALONG WITH BRINGING THE POLICE TO THE SITE IN WHAT LOOKED LIKE A TANK; I WAS SHOCKED, ANGRY AND FRIGHTENED, SO A FEW DAYS LATER, I STARTED THIS NEWS BLOG. I LOVE AMERICA, BUT I WANT US TO DO THE ETHICAL AND LEGAL THING. THAT, AFTER ALL, IS WHAT MAKES US “GREAT.” I ALSO WANT US TO ESCHEW THE COMPANY OF INTERNATIONAL THUGS, SUCH AS THE STRONGMEN OF SAUDI ARABIA, NORTH KOREA, INDONESIA, VENEZUELA, NIGERIA, ETC. OUR CONSTITUTION WAS WRITTEN FOR A REASON. WE NEED TO FOLLOW IT, AND PROPAGATE ITS’ IDEAS ACROSS THE WORLD, NOT COZY UP TO CRIMINALS DESPITE THEIR BEHAVIOR IN ORDER TO GET SPECIAL TRADE DEALS. “THE ART OF THE DEAL” SHOULDN’T INCLUDE THAT METHOD.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-45270224
Saudi Arabia 'seeks death penalty for woman activist'
22 August 2018
PHOTOGRAPH -- Israa al-Ghomgham's supporters have released a photograph showing her as a young girl
Saudi Arabia's public prosecutor has reportedly sought the death penalty for five activists, including the female rights defender Israa al-Ghomgham.
Human Rights Watch said they recently went on trial at a terrorism tribunal on charges including "participating in protests" in the restive Qatif region.
It has been the scene of demonstrations by the minority Shia Muslim community.
Ms Ghomgham is believed to be the first Saudi woman to possibly face the death penalty for rights-related work.
HRW warned that it set "a dangerous precedent for other women activists currently behind bars" in the Gulf kingdom.
At least 13 human rights defenders and women's rights activists have been arrested since mid-May, accused of activities deemed a risk to national security. Some have been released, but others remain detained without charge.
Image copyrightREUTERS
Image caption
Human Rights Watch said the prosecutor's demand "set a dangerous precedent"
HRW said Ms Ghomgham was an activist well known for participating in and documenting the mass protests that have taken place in Qatif since 2011.
Members of the Shia community have taken to the streets to complain about the discrimination they say they face from the Sunni-led government.
Ms Ghomgham and her husband were reportedly arrested in December 2015, and they have been held at Dammam's al-Mabahith prison ever since.
Saudi Arabia freezes Canada trade ties for urging activists' release
Have executions doubled in Saudi Arabia?
The public prosecutor accused Ms Ghomgham and the other four activists of charges including "participating in protests in the Qatif region", "incitement to protest," "chanting slogans hostile to the regime", "attempting to inflame public opinion", "filming protests and publishing on social media", and "providing moral support to rioters", according to HRW.
The prosecutor reportedly called for them to be given the death penalty at the start of their trial based on the Islamic legal principle of "tazir", under which the judge has discretion over what constitutes a crime and over the sentence.
Image Copyright @ALQST_ORG@ALQST_ORG
Report
"Any execution is appalling, but seeking the death penalty for activists like Israa al-Ghomgham, who are not even accused of violent behaviour, is monstrous," Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW's Middle East director, said in a statement.
"Every day, the Saudi monarchy's unrestrained despotism makes it harder for its public relations teams to spin the fairy tale of 'reform' to allies and international business."
The European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights and ALQST, a London-based Saudi human rights group, have called on the authorities to drop the charges against Ms Ghomgham.
The Saudi government has so far not commented on Ms Ghomgham's trial.
However, courts have sentenced to death several Shia activists after convicting them of what human rights groups have called politically-motivated charges.
Officials have said those executed were guilty of terrorism-related offences, including taking up arms against the government and attacking security forces.
TWO COMPUTERS HAVE BEEN FREQUENTLY CONTACTING EACH OTHER WITHOUT THE USERS BEING KNOWN. COULD THIS BE THE RUSSIA LINK? NOT A LIVING PERSON AT ALL?
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/media-too-quick-to-dismiss-trump-alfa-bank-server-contact-story-1340580419929?v=raila&
Media too quick to dismiss Trump/Alfa Bank server contact story
Rachel Maddow takes another look at the strange story of the Trump Organization computer server behaving in an unusual way with a Russian Alfa Bank server, as re-examined by Dexter Filkins in The New Yorker.
Oct.10.2018
DEXTER FILKINS NEW YORKER
FRANKLIN FOEHR SLATE
INTERNET LOGS
Alfa Bank server
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/lbj-overruled-general-s-plan-for-nuclear-weapons-during-vietnam-1340583491561?v=raila&
Rachel Maddow highlights some of the stories outlined in a new book from Michael Beschloss called "Presidents of War," including President Johnson thinking better of a U.S. general's idea to introduce nuclear weapons in the war in Vietnam.
Oct.09.2018
LBJ overruled general's plan for nuclear weapons during Vietnam
WHY DO SO MANY RACISTS AND CONSPIRACY THEORISTS WORK FOR THE PRESIDENT? SHOULD WE HAVE A NEW CABINET POSITION – QUALITY CONTROL?
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/epa-andrew-wheeler-social-media-conspiracy-theorists_us_5bbcee58e4b01470d055fe56
POLITICS 10/09/2018 03:19 pm ET Updated 7 hours ago
EPA Chief Andrew Wheeler Engaged With Racist, Conspiratorial Posts On Social Media
Exclusive: The agency head brushed off his interactions with a Pizzagater and said he doesn’t remember liking a racist picture of the Obamas.
By Alexander C. Kaufman
PHOTOGRAPH -- WIN MCNAMEE VIA GETTY IMAGES
Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler testifying at a Senate hearing in August.
Andrew Wheeler, the acting administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, repeatedly engaged with inflammatory content on his personal Facebook and Twitter accounts over the past five years, including some in the past month.
The previously-unreported interactions include liking a racist image of former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama on Facebook and retweeting an infamous “Pizzagate” conspiracy theorist.
The findings paint an embarrassing, if unsurprisingly partisan, picture of the 53-year-old former coal lobbyist and Republican aide. Wheeler has kept a significantly lower profile than his predecessor, Scott Pruitt, the disgraced agency chief whose resignation in July amid mounting scandals cleared the way for Wheeler’s promotion. The most incendiary interactions occurred before Wheeler, whose past social media activity has drummed up controversy before, became acting administrator.
In an email to HuffPost on Tuesday, Wheeler said he didn’t recall liking the image of the Obamas and clicked on tweets from conspiracy theorists without reviewing the source.
“Over the years, I have been a prolific social media user and liked and inadvertently liked countless social media posts,” Wheeler said. “Specifically, I do not remember the post depicting President Obama and the First Lady. As for some of the other posts, I agreed with the content and was unaware of the sources.”
American Bridge 21st Century, a Democratic political action committee, first uncovered the social media posts, which HuffPost reviewed.
In January 2013, Wheeler liked a photograph of the Obamas sitting at a sports game, depicted looking at a white person’s hand holding a banana. The image was posted by a page called Mia mamma รจ vergine, Italian for “My mom is a virgin,” which posts memes and videos.
In July 2014, Wheeler joked that Hillary Clinton was in the Bible’s apocalyptic predictions, a common right-wing trope painting the former secretary of state as demonic. In a comment under a post from the page Atheist Republic bemoaning Clinton’s reverence for the Christian holy book, he wrote, “I think she’s mentioned in the Book of Revelations….right after the Four Horsemen.”
In February, the personal Twitter account Wheeler has maintained since April 2009 retweeted Jack Posobiec, the right-wing provocateur who propagated the debunked “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory that Democratic elites operated a child sex ring at the Washington restaurant Comet Ping Pong. The theory became so popular by the end of 2016 that a 28-year-old man armed with an assault rifle stormed the pizzeria that December, threatening employees and customers. The tweet Wheeler recirculated linked to a CNBC video interview of comedian Bill Murray talking about the difficulty for comics navigating a tense political environment.
Last month, Wheeler liked right-wing documentary filmmaker and former convict Dinesh D’Souza’s tweet casting doubt over Christine Blasey Ford’s sexual assault accusations against newly-confirmed Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Five days later, Wheeler liked a tweet from Paul Joseph Watson, an editor at the conspiracy site InfoWars, blaming Hollywood star James Woods’ temporary suspension from Twitter on the website’s discrimination against conservative views.
“This is despicable,” said Heidi Beirich, the director of Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights organization that tracks hate groups. “The people he’s interacting with and retweeting are just not folks a legitimate person should have anything to do with.”
She called the image of the Obamas “blatantly racist.”
Wheeler’s past social media flubs have done little to damage his standing with the president or smudge his reputation as one of the administration’s least controversial leaders.
In February 2016, Wheeler criticized then-candidate Donald Trump, calling him a “bully” who “doesn’t understand how the government works.” “No one really knows what his political beliefs are,” Wheeler wrote in a Facebook post, The Washington Post reported last October.
“The people he’s interacting with and retweeting are just not folks a legitimate person should have anything to do with.”
BY:
Heidi Beirich, Southern Poverty Law Center
In August 2016, Wheeler publicly defended Milo Yiannopoulos after the alt-right troll was banned from Twitter for encouraging his fans to harass “Saturday Night Live” star Leslie Jones, according to an April report from The Daily Beast.
A number of Trump administration officials have resigned over past bigoted remarks.
Rev. Jamie Johnson, the head of faith-based and neighborhood partnerships at the Department of Homeland Security, resigned last November after comments surfaced of him calling black people lazy and painting Islam as a violent, illegitimate religion.
Carl Higbie, the face of the federal government’s volunteer service AmeriCorps, stepped down in January after racist, sexist and other prejudiced remarks he made on the radio appeared on CNN.
Ian Smith, another former Homeland Security policy analyst, quit in August after The Atlantic published leaked emails showing his ties to white-nationalist activists.
“I don’t know what to say,” Beirich said. “I’m no longer shocked by Trump administration officials doing terrible things.”
RELATED...
Trump Pick For EPA’s No. 2 Accused Of Abusing Power To ‘Bully’ And ‘Intimidate’ Opponents
New EPA Chief Is Already Facing 2 Ethical Problems In His First Week, Echoing Scott Pruitt
Scott Pruitt’s Replacement Is Even Worse
Do you have information you want to share with HuffPost? Here’s how.
UK CRACKING DOWN ON MONEY LAUNDERING? NEW BILL TO IDENTIFY OUTRAGEOUSLY HIGH SPENDING BY AN INDIVIDUAL AND CONFISCATE THE ITEM BOUGHT IF THEY CAN’T EXPLAIN IT. IS ANYBODY WE KNOW IN DANGER UNDER THIS NEW LAW? IT LOOKS AS THOUGH INDIVIDUAL PURCHASES HAVE TO BE IDENTIFIED BEFORE THEY CAN BE CHARGED, NOT THE MERE PRESENCE OF LARGE MONEY EXCHANGES GOING IN AND OUT OF A BANK. I’D LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THIS. https://www.accountingtools.com/articles/money-laundering-schemes.html /
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-45812210
Woman who spent £16m in Harrods revealed
Dominic Casciani
Home affairs correspondent
@BBCDomC on Twitter
AUGUST 10, 2018 1 hour ago
PHOTOGRAPH -- Zamira Hajiyeva, pictured in 2017, once spent £150,000 in a day at Harrods EAST2WEST NEWS
A woman fighting to keep her £11.5m London home, after becoming the first target for the UK's new anti-corruption law, has been named as Zamira Hajiyeva.
Mrs Hajiyeva - who is originally from Azerbaijan - lost a legal battle to stay anonymous after the media argued the public should know the full facts.
The wife of a former state banker spent £16m in Harrods over a decade.
She also bought a house close to the store - and a golf course in Berkshire.
The High Court has ordered her to explain the source of her wealth - and she risks losing her property if she cannot do so.
Under the terms of the UK's first ever Unexplained Wealth Order, Mrs Hajiyeva, 55, must now provide the National Crime Agency with a clear account of how she and her husband, Jahangir Hajiyev, could afford to buy their large home in the exclusive London neighbourhood of Knightsbridge.
Mrs Hajiyeva's lawyers said the UWO "does not and should not be taken to imply any wrong-doing", by her or her husband. They have applied for permission to appeal against the order.
What is an Unexplained Wealth Order?
A UWO is a new power which has been designed to target suspected corrupt foreign officials who have potentially laundered stolen money through the UK.
Investigators from the National Crime Agency believe there are billions of pounds of dirty money invested in British property - but it is almost impossible to charge the owners with a crime or seize the assets because of a lack of evidence.
The new Unexplained Wealth Orders are an attempt to force the owners to disclose their wealth.
If a suspected corrupt foreign official, or their family, cannot show a legitimate source for their riches, then the National Crime Agency can apply to the High Court to seize the property.
Who are the couple at the centre of this first action?
Jahangir Hajiyev is the former chairman of the International Bank of Azerbaijan.
He was jailed in 2016 for 15 years after being convicted of being part of a major fraud and embezzlement that saw tens of millions of pounds disappear from the bank. Judges also ordered him to repay $39m.
Seven years earlier, a company based in the British Virgin Islands paid £11.5m for a large home, just minutes' walk from Harrods in west London.
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image caption
Jahangir Hajiyev - husband of Zamira Hajiyeva
The High Court heard that the ultimate owners were Mrs Hajiyeva and her husband.
In 2013, another company controlled by Mrs Hajiyeva spent more than £10m buying Mill Ride Golf Club in Berkshire, a plush course and estate near Ascot.
The Home Office gave Mrs Hajiyeva permission to live in the UK under a visa scheme for wealthy investors.
How much money did the couple bring to the UK?
During a High Court hearing in July, in which the couple were known only as Mr and Mrs A, it was revealed that Mrs Hajiyeva had an enormous amount of disposable income.
Over ten years she spent more than £16m in Harrods - the equivalent of more than £4,000 a day.
Examples of her big spending, revealed to the court, included £150,000 spent on a single day on Boucheron - a luxury jewellery, perfume and watches brand.
The next day, the court heard, she topped up the wine cellar by spending £1,800.
On another occasion she spent £100,000 on Cartier jewellery and £20,000 on luxury men's goods.
Mrs Hajiyeva used three store loyalty cards and 35 credit cards issued by her husband's bank.
Image caption
The couple's home in west London, a short walk from Harrods
In a ruling upholding the Unexplained Wealth Order, Mr Justice Supperstone said: "I agree with the NCA that this evidence is significant in the light of the reports of Mr A's trial that allegations made against him included abuse of his position at the Bank by issuing credit cards in the names of family members, through which large debts were run up against the Bank."
Official records reveal the couple also own two dedicated bays within the private Harrods car park and Mrs Hajiyeva also bought a $42m Gulfstream G550 jet.
Duncan Hames, director of policy at Transparency International UK, said the pressure group was "delighted" at the use of the Unexplained Wealth Order.
"UWOs should now be used more widely to pursue more of the £4.4 billion worth of suspicious wealth we have identified across the UK," he said.
Does Mrs Hajiyeva admit doing anything wrong?
No - she says she is innocent of the accusations and tried to challenge the Unexplained Wealth Order after it was imposed in February.
Lawyers for Mrs Hajieyva told the High Court that she and her husband are suffering a massive injustice.
"The decision of the High Court upholding the grant of an Unexplained Wealth Order against Zamira Hajiyeva does not and should not be taken to imply any wrongdoing, whether on her part or that of her husband," they said in a statement.
"The NCA's case is that the UWO is part of an investigative process, not a criminal procedure, and it does not involve the finding of any criminal offence."
Image copyrightEAST2WEST NEWS
Image caption
Zamira Hajiyeva in 2015
Jahangir Hajiyev denies defrauding his bank - but has unsuccessfully appealed against his conviction. His lawyers say that he fell out with Azerbaijan's corrupt ruling family and paid the price.
He is asking the European Court of Human Rights to intervene in his case.
During her unsuccessful challenge to the Unexplained Wealth Order, Mrs Hajiyeva said her husband was a legitimate businessman who had become independently wealthy thanks to a string of successful businesses, before becoming a chairman at the bank.
But the National Crime Agency told the court that Mr Hajiyev had been a state employee between 1993 and 2015 - and as an official he would not have had the means to amass the wealth investigators have traced.
WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN? THIS SHOULDN'T BE SOMETHING THAT ISRAEL IS INVOLVED IN. THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO BE GOOD GUYS. LYING AND CHEATING SHOULDN'T BE PAR FOR THE COURSE, BUT IT APPARENTLY IS.
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/trump-camp-sought-online-manipulation-plan-from-israeli-firm-nyt-1339769923834?v=raila&
Ronen Bergman, staff writer for The New York Times, talks with Joy Reid about new reporting that Trump campaign official Rick Gates requested plans from an Israeli intelligence firm that included fake online identities, social media manipulation and oppo research against Trump's primary opponents and Hillary Clinton. “PSI GROUP” AND BLACK CUBE
Oct.08.2018
THIS IS NOT THE BEST WAY TO AFFIRM OUR ALLEGIANCE TO JESUS. JESUS WOULDN’T DO THAT.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-45814439
'Adolf baby' mum said Jews must die, court told
OCTOBER 10, 2018 1 hour ago
PHOTOGRAPH -- Adam Thomas and Claudia Patatas gave their child the middle name Adolf, a court has heard
A woman who named her baby after Hitler sent messages declaring all Jews must be "put to death", a court has heard.
Claudia Patatas, 38, is on trial alongside partner Adam Thomas, 22, and Daniel Bogunovic, 27, accused of being in banned Neo-Nazi group National Action.
Prosecutors said Ms Patatas, of Banbury, made the anti-Semitic remark in a WhatsApp chat with a convicted racist.
All three deny being in the group.
Jurors at Birmingham Crown Court previously heard Ms Patatas and Mr Thomas' child - who was given the middle name Adolf - appeared in a picture alongside "vehement racist" Darren Fletcher.
'Secret relaunch'
On the second day of the trial, jurors heard the WhatsApp exchange between Ms Patatas and Fletcher, in which she said Jews must die, took place last February.
Outlining further mobile phone evidence, Barnaby Jameson, prosecuting, said Ms Patatas had a photograph of National Action co-founder Benjamin Raymond stored on hers.
Mr Thomas, meanwhile, had an image depicting the "burning cross symbol of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK)", Mr Jameson said.
The prosecutor also alleged Mr Bogunovic's phone contained an image of a March 2017 press report detailing how National Action was secretly reforming.
Mr Jameson said the group had tried to "shed one skin for another" in order to evade the law, and questioned whether Mr Bogunovic's interest in the relaunch stemmed from his heavy involvement in it.
Image copyrightPA
Image caption
It is alleged Ms Patatas sent offensive messages on WhatsApp
Jurors were also told the defendants formed a new group named the TripleK Mafia - a reference to the KKK - after National Action was banned in 2016.
However, it was repeatedly misspelt "TrippleK" on posters by fellow member Joel Wilmore, Mr Jameson said.
The prosecutor then showed jurors an example of the typographical error.
Wilmore, 24, of Bramhall Moor Lane, Stockport, has since admitted terrorist group membership.
Opening the case on Tuesday, Mr Jameson said it detailed a "cult of violent white racial supremacy" which regarded groups including black, Jewish, Asian and gay people as "sub-human".
"It is a terror that can be summarised in two words: white Jihad - in other words, a white holy war," he said.
Ms Patatas and Mr Thomas, both of Waltham Gardens, Banbury, and Bogunovic, of Crowns Hills Rise, Leicester deny being members of a banned group.
Mr Thomas further denies a separate charge of having a copy of terrorist document, The Anarchist Cookbook, which contained bomb-making instructions.
The trial continues.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment