August 10, 2016

US court rules for Chevron in Ecuador rainforest-damage case

Ecuadorean plaintiffs cannot collect a $9 billion judgment in the U.S. against Chevron for rainforest damage, a federal appeals court ruled Monday, upholding a judge's finding that the judgment was obtained through bribery, coercion and fraud.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York said U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan had the authority after a trial to rule in March 2014 as he did. It noted, however, that Kaplan's decision doesn't invalidate the Ecuadorian judgment and doesn't stop the enforcement of the judgment outside the U.S.

In a decision written by Circuit Judge Amalya Kearse, a three-judge panel rejected the argument by the Ecuadorean plaintiffs that they were not aware of wrongdoing by lawyers in the case and should not be held responsible.

"There is no authority suggesting that a party ignorant of its attorney's fraudulent actions may enforce a fraudulently procured judgment," the panel said. "Even innocent clients may not benefit from the fraud of their attorney."

https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-court-rules-chevron-ecuador-161658312.html

August 9, 2016

I’m a Republican and I don't like Hillary Clinton — but I’m voting for her

If Donald Trump had flamed out of the primaries as almost everyone expected, I would have proudly voted for Marco Rubio, John Kasich or Jeb Bush, and would have supported Scott Walker or Chris Christie. But compared with these candidates, Donald Trump lives on another planet. Simply put, he is not a Republican nor a conservative as we have understood those terms for decades.

Instead, I will vote for Hillary Clinton in November. I will do this knowing full well that she has more baggage than United Airlines and that she would nominate Supreme Court justices that would do violence to the 1st, 2nd and 5th Amendments to the Constitution. She flat-out lied about her home-brew server and the classified information on it, thereby imperiling national security. I recognize that she is owned in fee-simple by one of the most reactionary groups in the United States, the public employee unions. Further, I assume that the SVR, the foreign intelligence service of the Russian Federation, will cause to be released documents showing a very unsavory connection between Clinton’s actions as secretary of State and the Clinton Foundation.

Despite these serious flaws, Clinton believes in America and its values. Trump — who would establish religious tests for immigration and ethnic tests for judges — does not. She is open to the world; Trump is not.

Trump believes in only himself. As Khizr Kahn, the Muslim father of a slain U.S. Army captain noted at the Democratic Convention: Trump has “sacrificed nothing.”

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-shulman-republican-clinton-voter-20160808-snap-story.html

Even a few RWNJs are coming around to the Clinton camp.

August 9, 2016

Mike Pence Should Get Donald Trump to Withdraw

For the past year, every effort by Republican leaders to topple Donald J. Trump has met with embarrassing failure. Yet, according to published reports, jittery insiders have been considering still other ways of detaching the Trump brand from the party of Lincoln. The best option is one that can avoid an ugly, and likely futile, confrontation and help both Mr. Trump and his party save face. All eyes must now turn to his running mate, Mike Pence, to do what must be done.

I say this not as a member of the so-called Never Trump faction of my party. Though Mr. Trump was not my first choice for the nomination, I found his attack on the established order appealing at times, even entertaining, and respected the wishes of a clear plurality of Republican primary voters. Americans long have been entranced with the idea of the political outsider who puts self-interest aside to battle Washington’s wrongdoers and set things right. But in recent weeks — indeed, months — the pitfalls of political outsiderdom have become plain.

Seasoned politicians learn what fights to pick, what half-victories to savor, how to make coherent points and how to increase their electoral base. By contrast Mr. Trump, an accomplished businessman unaccustomed to answering to anyone, appears constitutionally incapable of letting any slight go unchallenged. He has proved unwilling or unable to discipline himself to a consistent message or to restrain his worst impulses. He lacks an ability to form, or more important expand, a general election coalition. Whenever his poll numbers climb, as they may very well again in this unpredictable election, he is oddly more determined to test their durability.

Even if he were to win the presidency — a job that requires negotiation, diplomacy, discipline, finesse and some semblance of intellectual curiosity — it is not clear Mr. Trump will be able to master or enjoy the position. His self-destructive behavior demonstrates that on some level he knows this. Indeed, he’s marveled many times that he’s made it as far as he has. Now he needs someone to guide him to a graceful exit. Mike Pence is that person.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/09/opinion/campaign-stops/mike-pence-should-get-trump-to-withdraw.html

The stench of Republican desperation is getting stronger every day.

August 8, 2016

Paul Ryan: ‘The Comments Donald Trump Will Make Over The Next Few Months Are Regrettable’

WASHINGTON—Saying he will be shocked and saddened by the statements of his party’s presidential nominee, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan told reporters Thursday the comments Donald Trump will make over the next several months are “highly regrettable.”

“I want to make clear that the remarks Donald Trump will say in the weeks ahead are unfortunate and do not reflect the views of the Republican Party,” said Ryan, who noted that while he did not agree with the “harmful and divisive” language Trump would choose to use between now and the election, he believed he could work with the candidate to enact a strong conservative platform.

“Mr. Trump will take some distressing and morally indefensible positions during the remainder of his candidacy and, if the election goes as we hope, his presidency. I trust that we can move on from these regrettable lapses in judgment that will continue on a regular basis and get back to the issues that matter.”

Addressing recent inflammatory comments made by the GOP nominee, Ryan added that he just had a productive conversation identical to the dozens more he will have over the next three months with Trump.

http://www.theonion.com/article/paul-ryan-comments-donald-trump-will-make-over-nex-53457

August 4, 2016

D.N.C. HEADQUARTERS MOBBED BY REPUBLICAN REFUGEES SEEKING ASYLUM

WASHINGTON, D.C. (The Borowitz Report)—A humanitarian crisis has been unfolding over the past week as Republican refugees seeking asylum have overrun the Democratic National Committee headquarters, in Washington, D.C.

D.N.C. staffers have confirmed that they were woefully unprepared for the masses of desperate Republicans who have shown up at the D.N.C.’s door, looking for safe harbor.

“These people have been brutalized for months and have decided to risk everything to save themselves and their families,” D.N.C. staffer Tracy Klugian said. “When they tell you their stories, they are absolutely heartbreaking.”

Meg Whitman, who is sixty, said she left her entire life as a Republican behind after witnessing unspeakable horrors under the new G.O.P. regime.

http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/d-n-c-headquarters-mobbed-by-republican-refugees-seeking-asylum

August 4, 2016

Riverside County GOP tweets picture of executioner 'Ready for Hillary'

The Riverside County Republican Party tweeted out a picture of a shrouded hangman holding a noose, with a caption below saying, “I’m Ready for Hillary.”

According to the Riverside Press-Enterprise, the tweet was sent out by the county party’s official Twitter account at 2 p.m. Wednesday. The tweet has since been removed.

Riverside County GOP Chairman Scott Mann said he was "horrified" by the tweet, and promised to take action against the person responsible.

"I was made aware of derogatory tweet this afternoon toward Secretary Clinton when the Press-Enterprise called me for comment. I was horrified and had the tweet taken down immediately," Mann said in an email to the Times on Wednesday afternoon. "While some may think it was political satire, it clearly has no place in American political dialogue. As chairman of the Republican Party of Riverside County, I apologize to everyone and anyone who was offended by it."

http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-sac-essential-politics-updates-riverside-county-gop-tweets-out-picture-1470267423-htmlstory.html

August 4, 2016

Venezuela promotes general indicted in US on drug charges

Source: AP

A day after Venezuela's former drug czar was indicted in the United States on narcotics trafficking charges, President Nicolas Maduro defiantly named him interior minister.

Maduro said Tuesday that he was promoting Nestor Reverol to the position that oversees law enforcement as a gesture of support for a man who had done good work cracking down on the drug trade in Venezuela and is being tarnished by the "U.S. empire."

U.S. prosecutors on Monday announced the indictment of Reverol, who previously led Venezuela's National Guard, where senior officers are alleged to have been involved in cocaine smuggling.

"He is a brave man who is not afraid of anything or anyone," Maduro said. "As interior minister he broke the record for arrests of drug kingpins. The DEA and all the United States drug-trafficking mafias want to make him pay, because the drug-trafficking mafia runs the Untied States."

Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/venezuela-promotes-general-indicted-us-drug-charges-135908819.html

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Great way to get rid of your smuggling competition.

August 3, 2016

Venezuela denies zoo animals starving, says one happy family

Venezuela's government denied on Monday that zoo animals were dying of starvation amid a national food shortage, saying they were being lovingly treated "like family."

Minister for Ecosocialism and Water Ernesto Paiva toured Caricuao zoo in Caracas, where a union leader last week said 50 animals including Vietnamese pigs, tapirs, rabbits and birds had starved to death in the last six months.

"The animals are very dear, treated as if they were family, in fact they all have names," said Paiva, adding that they were being seen by nutritionists to ensure they had an adequate diet.

The official said widespread media reports of deplorable conditions for zoo animals in the recession-hit OPEC nation were part of a campaign of "lies" against the socialist government of President Nicolas Maduro.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/venezuela-denies-zoo-animals-starving-says-one-happy-015854060--business.html

August 3, 2016

Physician Marshall ousts US Rep. Huelskamp in Kansas primary

A doctor backed by agriculture and business groups ousted U.S. Rep. Tim Huelskamp Tuesday in a Kansas Republican primary race that focused on the tea party-backed incumbent's battles with GOP leaders and criticism that he was too cantankerous to be effective.

Great Bend obstetrician Roger Marshall won the tough contest against Huelskamp in the 1st District, which spans western and much of central Kansas.

Marshall's supporters argued Huelskamp's combativeness harmed the district. Huelskamp lost his seat on the House Agriculture Committee in 2012; farm groups turned against him, and many Republican voters saw it as a crucial issue in a farm state.

"Getting kicked off the Agriculture Committee is a crime that can't be forgiven," Brian Scheideman, a 52-year-old driver's education instructor, said after voting in his hometown of Wamego for Marshall. "I don't mind the independent voice, but you've got to figure out how to work with people."

https://www.yahoo.com/news/physician-marshall-ousts-us-rep-huelskamp-kansas-primary-032508556--politics.html

August 3, 2016

Former Venezuelan officials indicted on US drug charges

U.S. prosecutors on Monday formally charged the former head of Venezuela's National Guard and a former anti-drug official there with colluding with cocaine traffickers.

An indictment unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn accuses Nestor Reverol and Edilberto Molina of taking bribes in exchange for helping the traffickers by tipping them off about future raids. It also alleges that from January 2008 to December 2010, they deliberately allowed cocaine shipments to leave Venezuela and returned seized drug money to them.

Reverol, 51, once ran the National Guard, which is charged with securing the country's borders, and had been a spokesman for Venezuela's anti-drug efforts. He also is the former head of Venezuela's anti-drug agency and ally of late socialist leader Hugo Chavez.

Reverol has denied the U.S. accusations, which were first reported late last year. Molina, 53, who once worked for the anti-drug agency, hasn't spoken out. Neither is in custody.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/former-venezuelan-officials-indicted-us-drug-charges-232210384.html