riversedge
riversedge's JournalOfficial testifies Republican Kristi Noem used her position to help her daughter score real estate
Source: raw story
Sarah K. Burris December 14, 2021
Republican Gov. Kristi Noem was named by a fired state official who testified that the South Dakota governor used her position to score a real estate license for her daughter. The employee, Sherry Bren, was then pushed out of her position as the executive director of the South Dakota Appraiser Certification Program, CNN.com reported.
It was previously reported that Noem stepped in to ensure her daughter, Kassidy Peters, got an extra chance to correct her work on the exam and application before it was submitted for approval. She was facing a denial of her certification and that's when the July 27, 2020, meeting occurred.
"Peters had experienced difficulty meeting the state's criteria to complete the process because of deficiencies in her work," CNN reported, citing documents they obtained. The documents also show that there was a stipulation that Peters participate in a mentoring plan so that she could complete her certification, which was given just 11 days later.
Bren testified that she was then forced to retire months later "at the behest of the Administration."
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Read more: https://www.rawstory.com/kristi-noem-official-testifies-daughter/
https://twitter.com/RawStory/status/1470856961688317957?s=20
Trump official broke the law with attempt to silence government scientists during pandemic
Trump official broke the law with attempt to silence government scientists during pandemic
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/12/13/2069013/-Watchdog-says-Trump-officials-broke-the-law-in-effort-to-silence-scientists-during-COVID-19-pandemic
Monday December 13, 2021 · 2:04 PM CST
A Trump administration political appointee broke the law with a gag order banning Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) staff from talking to the media, the Office of Special Counsel concluded. That gag order came from Michael Caputo, HHS assistant secretary of public affairs for a brief time, but an important one: mid-April through mid-September, 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic really gained hold, abated, and surged again.
During those months, scientists were beginning to understand how the virus worked, how it was transmitted, what ways of controlling its spread might be most effective. But Caputo didn’t want HHS scientists or experts talking to the media without his sign-off. “There are no exceptions,” he wrote. His language omitted a legal requirement that any gag order on federal workers must include a notice that “These provisions are consistent with and do not supersede, conflict with, or otherwise alter the employee obligations, rights, or liabilities created by existing statute or Executive order relating to (1) classified information, (2) communications to Congress, (3) the reporting to an Inspector General of a violation of any law, rule, or regulation, or mismanagement, a gross waste of funds, an abuse of authority, or a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety, or (4) any other whistleblower.”
“Documents reviewed by OSC prove that officials at Health and Human Services clamped down on damaging information about the severity of COVID-19 and limited the free speech of its scientists,” Freddy Martinez, a policy analyst at Open the Government, told Buzzfeed News. “When creating its press policies, HHS officials disregarded its employees’ important whistleblower rights in favor of secrecy.”
While Caputo was only in that role for part of 2020, the Office of Special Counsel previously said that HHS violated federal law on gag rules on three other occasions in 2017 and 2018. And Caputo’s science adviser, Paul Alexander, made a separate effort to censor the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, an important weekly epidemiological digest from the CDC. According to Alexander, “CDC to me appears to be writing hit pieces on the administration and meant at this time to impact school re-openings, and they then send it to the media knowing it is deceiving. I ask it to be stopped now!”
Keeping scientists and public health experts from speaking about what was going on was a part of the Trump administration’s COVID-19 response.
https://twitter.com/moonbreeze2/status/1470864234426867719?s=20
WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 14: Former Trump campaign aide Michael Caputo arrives to testify before the House Intelligence Committee during a closed-door session at the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center July 14, 2017 in Washington, DC. Caputo resigned from being a Trump campaign communications advisor after appearing to celebrate the firing of former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. Denying any contact with Russian officials during the 2016 campaign, Caputo did live in Moscow during the 1990s, served as an adviser to former Russian President Boris Yeltsin and did pro-Putin public relations work for the Russian conglomerate Gazprom Media. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
@SenSherrodBrown A billionaire who has been found guilty of illegal union-busting by @NLRB should p
No probably about it--Of course he should NOT have been named person of the year. !
@SenSherrodBrown
A billionaire who has been found guilty of illegal union-busting by @NLRB
should probably not be @TIME's Person of the Year.
https://twitter.com/SenSherrodBrown/status/1470475212760174599?s=20
https://twitter.com/SenSherrodBrown/status/1470475215037677572?s=20
Tesla factory workers reveal pain, injury and stress: 'Everything feels like the future but us'
The Tesla CEO has been celebrated for his ambition, but workers say there is a human cost to his bold agenda for growth.
The Tesla CEO has been celebrated for his ambition, but workers say there is a human cost to his bold agenda for growth. Photograph: Sarah Lee/The Guardian
Exclusive: CEO Elon Musk defends workplace, saying ‘[we are not] just greedy capitalists who skimp on safety’ – and declares his $50bn company overvalued
Julia Carrie Wong
Julia Carrie Wong in Fremont, California
@juliacarriew
Thu 18 May 2017 03.00 EDT
Last modified on Wed 7 Feb 2018 04.23 EST
When Tesla bought a decommissioned car factory in Fremont, California, Elon Musk transformed the old-fashioned, unionized plant into a much-vaunted “factory of the future”, where giant robots named after X-Men shape and fold sheets of metal inside a gleaming white mecca of advanced manufacturing.
The appetite for Musk’s electric cars, and his promise to disrupt the carbon-reliant automobile industry, has helped Tesla’s value exceed that of both Ford and, briefly, General Motors (GM). But some of the human workers who share the factory with their robotic counterparts complain of grueling pressure – which they attribute to Musk’s aggressive production goals – and sometimes life-changing injuries.
Ambulances have been called more than 100 times since 2014 for workers experiencing fainting spells, dizziness, seizures, abnormal breathing and chest pains, according to incident reports obtained by the Guardian. Hundreds more were called for injuries and other medical issues.
In a phone interview about the conditions at the factory, which employs about 10,000 workers, the Tesla CEO conceded his workers had been “having a hard time, working long hours, and on hard jobs”, but said he cared deeply about their health and wellbeing. His company says its factory safety record has significantly improved over the last year.
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Prolific twitter troll Donald Trump, Jr. hasn't tweeted in two days. Maybe daddy took his phone away
Maybe Jr's lawyer told him to shut up!
@RonFilipkowski
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8m
Prolific twitter troll Donald Trump, Jr. hasn’t tweeted in two days. Maybe daddy took his phone away after he found out about the tweets to Meadows on J6.
https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1470777941764284428?s=20
https://twitter.com/Perlsgirl1/status/1470778893762240513?s=20
Key Wisconsin Republican wants end to GOP-led election probe
Source: AP
Yesterday 2:57 PM
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Republican who leads the Senate Elections Committee said Monday that the GOP-ordered review of the 2020 election is riling up people who don't understand elections and that it needs to end.
State Sen. Kathy Bernier, of Lake Hallie, said the investigation led by former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman contains “made-up things” meant to play to the Republican base and she will be on hand when he comes to Chippewa County.
“Mr. Gableman is coming to my county and I will attend that meeting along with my concealed carry permit, to be perfectly honest, because it keeps jazzing up the people who think they know what they’re talking about — and they don’t,” Bernier said.
Bernier spoke at a panel discussion at the state Capitol Monday that included Ben Ginsberg, who spent nearly four decades representing Republicans in election disputes, and Bob Bauer, the White House counsel during Barack Obama’s presidency. Bernier and Ginsberg said attacks on the election will hurt Republicans in the long run because their voters will be less likely to cast ballots if they think elections are rigged...........................
Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/key-wisconsin-republican-wants-end-to-gop-led-election-probe/ar-AARMhP1?cvid=ec64ddcb0fb8448d8157570ae95b3eb9&ocid=winp1taskbar
umm.. seems there is one sane Repug in Wisconsin.
But she will be packing a gun it seems. whow.
Factory workers threatened with firing if they left before tornado, employees say
Source: nbc news
At least eight people died in the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory. Its destruction has become a symbol of the tornado's ruinous power.
Dec. 13, 2021, 2:57 PM CST / Updated Dec. 13, 2021, 7:36 PM CST
MAYFIELD, Ky. — As a catastrophic tornado approached this city Friday, employees of a candle factory — which would later be destroyed — heard the warning sirens and wanted to leave the building. But at least five workers said supervisors warned employees that they would be fired if they left their shifts early.
For hours, as word of the coming storm spread, as many as 15 workers beseeched managers to let them take shelter at their own homes, only to have their requests rebuffed, the workers said.
Fearing for their safety, some left during their shifts regardless of the repercussions.
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McKayla Emery, 21, said in an interview from her hospital bed that workers first asked to leave shortly after tornado sirens sounded outside the factory around 5:30 p.m.
Employees congregated in bathrooms and inside hallways, but the real tornado wouldn’t arrive for several more hours. After employees decided that the immediate danger had passed, several began asking to go home, the workers said.
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Supervisors and team leaders told employees that leaving would probably jeopardize their jobs, the employees said.
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Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/kentucky-tornado-factory-workers-threatened-firing-left-tornado-employ-rcna8581
Officials are denying this happened.
https://twitter.com/moonbreeze2/status/1470622578817576960?s=20
Image: Satellite images show the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory and other nearby buildings before, on Jan. 28, 2017, and after, Dec. 11, 2021, the tornado struck.
Satellite images show the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory and nearby buildings before, on Jan. 28, 2017, and after, on Saturday.MAXAR Technologies via Reuters
Watch Live. Jan 6th committee meeting............
https://january6th.house.gov/news/watch-live
@mkraju: Just spoke with Manchin. Suggests Build Back Better bill needs a lot of work to earn his
A while back Manchin said delay it, Now says needs lots of work. I have a dreaded feeling, the bill will go nowhere for a LONG time, then watered down till tasteless. Then might pass. Might
MEANWHILE--OUR VOTING RIGHTS BILL SITS WAITING.
@mkraju
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32m
Just spoke with Manchin. Suggests Build Back Better bill needs a lot of work to earn his support still. Also says he’s speaking with Biden as soon as today.
https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/1470438497173577728?s=20
Meadows said National Guard would be ready to 'protect pro Trump people' before Capitol insurrection
Source: CNN
Meadows said National Guard would be ready to 'protect pro Trump people' before Capitol insurrection, House investigators say
Updated 11:42 AM ET, Mon December 13, 2021
Washington (CNN) Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows sent an email saying the National Guard would be present to 'protect pro Trump people' in the lead up to the US Capitol insurrection, according to a new report released by the January 6 committee Sunday night.
It was just one of several new details in the report about Meadows' actions before and during January 6, as well as his role in attempting to overturn the 2020 election. The report is a key component for the committee to send a referral for charges of criminal contempt of Congress to the Justice Department. The panel informed Meadows last week that it had "no choice" but to advance criminal contempt proceedings against him given that he had decided to no longer cooperate with their investigation.
The panel will meet Monday to formally advance the report to the full floor House vote as soon as later this week. The vote by the full House is the last step before sending the referral to the DOJ.
The report is a key component for the committee to send a referral for charges of criminal contempt of Congress to the Justice Department. The panel will meet Monday to formally advance the report to the full floor House vote as soon as later this we
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/12/politics/mark-meadows-january-committee-contempt-of-congress-resolution/index.html
c
Why did employees at Kentucky factory keep making candles on night of devastating tornado?
Why did employees at Kentucky factory keep making candles on night of devastating tornado?
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/why-did-employees-at-kentucky-factory-keep-making-candles-on-night-of-devastating-tornado/ar-AARLKma?cvid=43284e98e5464264a80f9bda526fbd1a&ocid=winp1taskbar
Associated Press - 34m ago
MAYFIELD, Ky. (AP) ..........................
But why its workers kept making candles Friday night as a tornado bore down on the region remains unclear as rescuers continue scouring the factory wreckage for signs of life.............................
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“It appears most were sheltering in the place they were told to shelter,” Gov. Andy Beshear said. “I hope that area was as safe as it could be, but this thing got hit directly by the strongest tornado we could have possibly imagined.”
A company spokesperson said Sunday that eight of the 110 workers on the overnight shift Friday are confirmed dead and another eight are missing. More than 90 have now been accounted for, making the death toll lower than some had feared hours earlier.
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“Many of the employees were gathered in the tornado shelter and after the storm was over they left the plant and went to their homes,” said Bob Ferguson, the company spokesperson. “With the power out and no landline they were hard to reach initially.”
Workers said they had been told to huddle in a central hallway area, the strongest part of the building, as the storm approached. Some had already left earlier in the night following a warning siren, they said.
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NWS says tornado was on ground for 250 miles, across 4 states
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Most American candle-makers used to complete their holiday orders by early November, but labor shortages and other economic trends tied to the COVID-19 pandemic have extended crunch time well into December, said Kathy LaVanier, CEO of Ohio-based Renegade Candle Company and a board member at the National Candle Association.
LaVanier said candle-makers around the U.S. are horrified by what happened in Kentucky and are trying to find ways to help. Unlike many manufactured products, most candles sold in the U.S. are American-made, in part thanks to hefty and longstanding tariffs on Chinese-made candles..........................................
https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AARLZ2i.img?w=534&h=361&m=6
Emergency workers search what is left of the Mayfield Consumer Products Candle Factory after it was destroyed by a tornado in Mayfield, Kentucky, on December 11, 2021. – Tornadoes ripped through five US states overnight, leaving more than 70 people dead Saturday in Kentucky and causing multiple fatalities at an Amazon warehouse in Illinois that suffered “catastrophic damage” with around 100 people trapped inside. The western Kentucky town of Mayfield was “ground zero” of the storm — a scene of “massive devastation,” one official said. (Photo by John Amis / AFP) (Photo by JOHN AMIS/AFP via Getty Images)
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