January 15, 2017

Trump's Shouty and Insane Press Conference Reminded Russians of....Putin

Their message to Americans: Brace yourselves.

During Donald Trump's first press conference as president-elect, he called BuzzFeed a "failing pile of garbage," shouted down questions from a CNN reporter, and evaded tough questions about the dossier released the day before alleging that Russia had been cultivating Trump for years and had assembled compromising material on him. In the United States, many found Trump's harsh approach shocking. "It is our observation," said Fox News anchor Shepard Smith, referring to Trump's treatment of CNN, "that neither they nor any other journalists should be subjected to belittling and delegitimizing by the president-elect."

But for some Russians, Trump's bombastic style at the press conference, his animosity toward journalists, and his rambling nonanswers seemed all too familiar.

Ну что ж, теперь и в США президент, который не отвечает ни на один прямой вопрос и хамит журналистам.
— Tikhon Dzyadko (@tikhondzyadko) January 11, 2017

"Well, now the U.S. also has a president who never answers a direct question and is rude to journalists," tweeted opposition activist Tikhon Dzyadko.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/01/russians-cant-stop-comparing-trumps-treatment-journalists-putins

January 15, 2017

Do You Make Less Than $47,500 a Year? Help Us Investigate Overtime Pay.

by Justin Elliott and Terry Parris Jr.
ProPublica, Jan. 13, 2017, 1:32 pm

A new government rule could give you the right to overtime pay if you make between roughly $450 a week and $920 a week. But it's temporarily blocked in court and it's unclear whether the Trump administration will push for the rule after he takes office on Jan. 20.

(Here's a more detailed look at this rule.)

Some employers have already given their workers raises in order to comply with the new rule. There are reports of other employers who promised raises and then cancelled them.

If you make between roughly $450 to $920 a week ($23,500 to $47,500 annually), we want to hear from you. You can help us better understand the impact of this rule on your pay and hours.

Please fill out our short questionnaire.

https://www.propublica.org/getinvolved/item/do-you-make-less-than-47500-a-year-help-us-investigate-overtime-pay

January 13, 2017

Hacker tool psychologically profiles Trump by his tweets

BY John Aravosis

A high-profile American hacker by the name of Jester has created a “Minority Report” style tool that lets him psychologically profile anyone based on their Tweets.

His first subject: Donald Trump.

SNIP

iAWACS also found that most of Trump’s tweets originate in NYC, from Trump Tower, but it also put Trump in various states recently (likely his victory tour

It was particularly weird/disturbing to find Trump’s exact location within Trump Tower, to within one meter of his exact location (I’m told). You’d think this might not be the wisest thing for Trump to be divulging, his exactly location within a meter.

SNIP

Jester’s tool, called Internet AWACS, or iAWACS, lets you chart when and how frequently tweets, the tone and mood of their tweets, and the geolocation. The tool also does much more, such as tracking live-shooter situations, keeping tabs on jihadis, and more.

Jester came to my attention a few months ago when he hacked the front page of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, leaving them a cheeky note signed “Wolverines!” (A man after my heart.) A lot’s been written about Jester, including TIME naming him one of the 30 most influential people on the Internet in 2015.

Back to iAWACS. The tool has determined that Trump’s morning twitter storms tend to happen between the 5 o’clock and the 7 o’clock hour. One can also glean that Trump goes to bed by 11ish, and wakes up around 5am or 6am.

Jester says he’s watched Trump visit his favorite restaurants around town, simply by noting the geolocation of Trump’s various tweets. (Jester notes that Trump does not always have geolocate turned on.)

Jester’s pysche analysis is broken down into four main categories: emotional tendencies; mindset tendencies; social tendencies; and criminal tendencies. Jester notes that the psychological analysis is not his own: “All the Traits are calculated using an IBM WATSON algorithm.” Jester adds that the algorithm then works out your “big five” personality traits.

Where Trump came down, according to iAWACS:

Emotional tendencies: Trump has great emotional range and is somewhat upbeat.

Mindset tendencies: Trump is analytical, but not conscientious.

Social tendencies: Trump is overwhelmingly arrogant, disagreeable and closed to others.

Criminal tendencies: Trump has a greater than average propensity for violence and willingness to commit crimes, and is untrustworthy. [Again, I’m just summarizing the results on the page.]

The tool wasn’t created to track Trump — you can enter your own Twitter handle and read up on yourself as well. (And find out more about Jester here.)

January 13, 2017

How is Meatloaf's 'Id Do Anything for Love' like the 2nd Amendment?

(But I won't do that)

So what is “that”? “It’s the line before every chorus,” explained Loaf. “There’s nine of them, I think.

The problem lies because Jimmy likes to write, so you forget what the line was before you get to ‘I won’t do that.'”

(Some of the things the song says he won’t do: forget the way you feel right now; forgive himself if you don’t go all the way tonight; do it better than he does it with you, so long; and stop dreaming of you every night of his life.)

On the other hand.....................

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

What happened to the first part?!

The 2nd amendment is one of, if not the most, debated Amendments in the United States Constitution. Most noteworthy, until the late 1960s, restrictions on the 2nd Amendment were not questioned. The NRA itself, in the early 20th Century, not only favored restrictions they publicly announced them. The completely changed their tune in the late 1960s.

The Amendment has actually been changed in the past 20 years. Those that fully support the Amendment have erased the first part from the collective memory.

Think about it, when you hear someone (that fully supports this right) quote the Amendment, they only include “… the right of the people to keep and bear Arms…” Every so often they will throw in the last part about infringed when they are trying to make a point. They rarely, if ever, mention the very first part that includes the very important phrase “A well regulated Militia.” They do this for a very good reason. It completely destroys their argument that every man and woman in the United States has a right to own a gun.

The simple reason for this is because the 2nd Amendment does not actually give citizens a right to bear arms. The 2nd Amendment guarantees a citizen the right to bear arms if they serve in a militia. It is right there in the Amendment.

Take a look at the Bill of Rights for a moment. One theme that should pop out to you is that the language in the Bill of Rights and the rest of the Amendments is not vague. To put it another way the wording is not confusing. Every part of the Amendments is laid out in such a way that is easy to understand. Except, somehow, the 2nd Amendment.

This is the main reason why I do not believe that the Amendment is left vague or confusing. It is really simple and straightforward.

Let me re-arrange the wording to help out:

The right of the people to keep and bear arms for a well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, shall not be infringed.

Does it make more sense now? Despite the NRA’s attempts, the two sections of the Amendment are not meant to be separated, 'cause linguistics. If the Founder’s had wanted the two sections to work independently of each other they would have included a very important word. And. Take a look.

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, AND, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

January 13, 2017

Florida should not loosen gun laws

http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/columns/column-florida-should-not-loosen-gun-laws/2309109

As Florida experiences another mass shooting — this time at Fort Lauderdale's airport — state legislators have introduced bills that would allow concealed weapon license-holders to carry handguns, both openly and concealed, into colleges and universities, public schools, local government meetings, airport terminals and legislative chambers. Supporters of these bills explain that these expansions of gun rights will be limited to individuals trained and licensed to carry firearms, and that the measures will enhance public safety.

We should not be reassured.

The evidence is growing that expanding the right to carry will compromise rather than enhance public safety. Stanford University researchers have found that right-to-carry laws "are associated with substantially higher rates of aggravated assault, rape, robbery and murder." An FBI study of active shooter incidents found that just 1 of 160 incidents was stopped by an armed civilian. In addition to research, recent experience tells us that right-to-carry laws can be perilous. Last summer, when five law enforcement officers were shot and killed in Dallas, police Chief David Brown said that policing where open carry is legal is "difficult at best." When multiple people are walking the streets exhibiting their guns during an active shooting, confusion as to who the perpetrator is may impede the response of officers and may endanger them and the armed civilians who happen to be in the area.

Still, the gun lobby continues to promote its agenda of permitting guns on campuses and at government meetings, disregarding the risks of verbal conflicts escalating into lethal ones. The risks don't end there: Guns on campus may increase the number of suicides, injuries due to accidental discharges and the theft of firearms.

The gun lobby argues that the training received by Florida licensees justifies the expansion of concealed and open carry into places like airports. In reality, the training required of authorized permit holders in Florida is seriously inadequate.

January 13, 2017

Lewandowski Lands at OAN

thuggish Trump confidant joined One America News Network, cable news’s leading Fox News wannabe.

Corey Lewandowski—Donald Trump’s former campaign manager who bruised a female political reporter, lied about it, got fired, then landed a cushy CNN commentator gig that he quickly ditched after Trump became president-elect—has a new job in right-wing cable news.

Nope, it’s not at Fox News, a network as relentlessly pro-Trump as he is. Lewandowski landed a new gig, which The Daily Beast has been told started earlier this month, as a political commentator at One America News Network (OANN), a relatively new conservative news channel based out of San Diego, California.

“He’s working for us like he worked for CNN,” Robert Herring, the CEO at One America News Network (who once offered the husband of Terri Schiavo a cool $1 million to give up the guardian rights of his brain-damaged wife over to her parents), told The Daily Beast in a brief phone interview on Thursday. “It started last week, but not exactly sure of the date.”

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/01/12/corey-lewandowski-lands-at-the-tv-network-that-gave-us-tomi-lahren.html

January 12, 2017

Sessions Goes Blank

Funny on GD this sank like a rock

When Asked if Secular Americans Can Understand the Concept of Truth

Of the many highlights from Sen. Jeff Session‘s confirmation hearings to become our next Attorney General, perhaps the most relevant to readers of this site was the question Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) asked him, in a roundabout way, about church/state separation.

A little background helps. During the Republican National Convention this past summer, Sessions criticized Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor for her alleged irreligiosity:

The senator recalled one quote from Sotomayor that, he said, “still makes the hair stand on my neck.” He explained: “She said there is no objectivity, just a series of perspectives.” He suggested that the problem may be that Sotomayer and other judges aren’t sufficiently religious: “If you have secularization in the world and don’t believe in a higher being, maybe you don’t believe there is any truth.”

It was bad enough that Sessions misrepresented Sotomayor’s religious views. (She’s a Roman Catholic who believes in God.) But this idea that disbelief in God meant you couldn’t tell right from wrong? That there was no such thing as truth? It was the sort of ignorant attack against Secular Americans that the Christian Right loves to make.

January 12, 2017

Sessions Goes Blank

When Asked if Secular Americans Can Understand the Concept of Truth

Of the many highlights from Sen. Jeff Session‘s confirmation hearings to become our next Attorney General, perhaps the most relevant to readers of this site was the question Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) asked him, in a roundabout way, about church/state separation.

A little background helps. During the Republican National Convention this past summer, Sessions criticized Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor for her alleged irreligiosity:

The senator recalled one quote from Sotomayor that, he said, “still makes the hair stand on my neck.” He explained: “She said there is no objectivity, just a series of perspectives.” He suggested that the problem may be that Sotomayer [sic] and other judges aren’t sufficiently religious: “If you have secularization in the world and don’t believe in a higher being, maybe you don’t believe there is any truth.”

January 12, 2017

States Working On Bills Demanding Presidential Candidates Release Tax Information

Lawmakers in Hawaii and other states are working on legislations that would prevent presidential candidates from appearing on their states’ ballots unless the candidates release their tax returns. The move is a response to President-elect Donald Trump — who refrained from releasing his tax information during the 2016 election race — breaking away from a tradition spanning decades.

The Hawaii bill would make it mandatory for a candidate to release five years of federal and state tax returns in order to appear on the state’s ballot, Rep. Chris Lee said Wednesday.

“It’s a reasonable step since every modern president has released their tax returns and put their assets into a blind trust to make sure the only interest they have is the interest of our country and its people,” Lee reportedly said. “I think we’re in a very dangerous climate in which that could change.”

If the bill passes, it will be scrutinized by the state attorney general undergoing a thorough review before it becomes law, Lee said, adding that he had consulted lawyers who assured him that the bill was legal. Lee is looking to include a provision in the bill — still under construction — which would allow for the tax returns to be made public.

SNIP

Massachusetts is also considering a legislation similar to Hawaii’s.

In California, two state senators are working on a similar bill.

http://www.ibtimes.com/when-will-donald-trump-release-his-tax-returns-states-working-bills-demanding-2474350

January 12, 2017

Former MI-6 spy who compiled Trump dossier flees home after his identity is revealed

Steele has reportedly fled from his home after being terrified for his safety. The U.K.'s Telegraph newspaper reported Thursday that he left fearing a potentially dangerous backlash from Moscow after his name was released. A source close to Steele said he was "horrified" when his nationality was revealed and is now "terrified for his and his family's safety," according to the newspaper.

SNIP

After he left the spy service, Steele supplied the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) with information on corruption at FIFA, international soccer's governing body.

It was his work on corruption in international soccer that lent credence to his reporting on Trump's entanglements in Russia, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.

SNIP

Steele was initially hired by FusionGPS, a Washington, DC-based political research firm, to investigate Trump on behalf of unidentified Republicans who wanted to stop Trump's bid for the GOP nomination. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported that Steele was initially hired by Jeb Bush, one of Trump's 16 opponents in the 2016 Republican primary. It was not immediately possible to verify the BBC's report.

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/12/former-mi-6-spy-known-to-us-agencies-is-author-of-reports-on-trump-in-russia.html