August 13, 2019

Live Hong Kong protests - NBC News:

August 13, 2019

THE EPSTEIN REALITY:

A new New York law will enable Jeffrey Epstein's alleged victims to sue for damages

The Child Victim Act was initially intended to help abuse victims sue the Roman Catholic Church.

By Corky Siemaszko




Jeffrey Epstein's estate is likely to be hit with a barrage of lawsuits when a new law in New York state aimed to help child sex abuse victims goes into effect Wednesday.

The Child Victims Act gives people a one-year window to sue for sex abuse damages, regardless of when the alleged acts happened. In addition to that, the law also extends the statute of limitations for criminal charges against child sex abusers.

“While Epstein is dead, the cases against him will live on,” New York state Sen. Brady Hoylman told NBC News on Monday, two days after the wealthy financier and accused sex trafficker was found dead in his jail cell... “Hopefully, they will reveal why his crimes were hidden for so long and who enabled him to hide from the law.”

New York lawyer Roberta Kaplan confirmed an earlier Reuters report that she intends to sue on behalf of a woman who was recruited in 2002 at age 14 to engage in sex acts with Epstein and was paid hundreds of dollars each time.

And those are just two of the lawyers who will be suing Epstein, a moneyman who was friends with President Donald Trump... https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/new-new-york-law-will-enable-jeffrey-epstein-s-alleged-n1041446

By the way, during multiple civil lawsuits, nothing will be hidden from the media.

"STAY TUNED"

August 13, 2019

"Here's to fun times" in Moscow...

Fun times indeed. Special Counsel Robert Mueller's 448-page report highlights three separate proposals to develop a Trump property in Moscow around the time of the election. Yet key details have remained vague. Forbes got in touch with the people at the center of all three—and uncovered concrete answers to fundamental questions about Trump's plans in Russia.

Such as who was actually going to pay for the project. Trump, now more of a licensor than builder, certainly wasn't planning on putting in much of his own money. And according to Sater, who brokered the proposal that extended furthest into the campaign, nor was Trump's official partner, Andrey Rozov. Instead, Sater says, he was cooking up a plan to raise huge sums from additional investors, including two of Vladimir Putin's closest cronies, Boris and Arkady Rotenberg. "We would have gone to them and asked them for four or five hundred million dollars cash," Sater says.

Another big, previously unsettled question: How much money could Trump have made in all of this? Both Mueller and former Trump attorney Michael Cohen have suggested, vaguely, "hundreds of millions." After mining business agreements and surveying real estate experts in Moscow, however, Forbes believes that's almost impossible. It seems more likely that Trump would have walked away with roughly $35 million up front and $2.6 million or so in annual fees, if everything went according to plan. In the rosiest of scenarios, Sater says, Trump could have gotten about $50 million.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2019/05/23/the-truth-behind-trump-moscow-how-the-president-risked-everything-for-a-relatively-tiny-deal/#5439d9a2bc32

The headline of this Forbes article is "The Truth Behind Trump Tower Moscow: How Trump Risked Everything For A (Relatively) Tiny Deal." And, by attempting to con an ex-KGB agent and rob two of his friends, Trump has essentially "risked everything." Does anyone else plan to con or rob an ex-KGB agent? They are similar to CIA and MI6 agents: They never truly retire from their respective agencies.

August 12, 2019

Prisoners like Epstein have "virtually no chance of killing themselves!"

The Mysterious, Outrageous Death of Jeffrey Epstein
It’s next to impossible to kill oneself in jail—I know, because I’ve been there.
Judith Miller
August 11, 2019 Politics and law

Here are a few things I know firsthand about being in jail. First and foremost, you have virtually no control over your life and surroundings. You can’t get so much as an aspirin without authorization. In most jails, you can’t wear a belt, or shoelaces, or keep a razor in your cell. You have no privacy, no sense of dignity, and no rights. And in a well-run jail, high-profile prisoners have virtually no chance of killing themselves.

Epstein was placed on suicide watch on July 23 after being found semi-conscious in his cell with marks on his neck, in what prison officials described at the time as a failed suicide attempt. He was removed from suicide watch six days later, on July 29, and returned to a segregated area of the prison with extra security known as the special housing unit. Why Epstein was removed from suicide watch is a focus of the DOJ investigation. https://www.city-journal.org/jeffrey-epstein

"a focus of a DOJ investigation" LOL!

August 12, 2019

Do political polls mean anything?

Presidential Hopeful Kamala Harris Seeks Campaign Jolt in Pivotal Iowa
By Reuters
Aug. 12, 2019

DES MOINES, Iowa — It was on the third day of a five-day bus tour across Iowa last week that 2020 White House contender Kamala Harris finally seemed to hit her stride.

Armed with fresh endorsements from two of the state's most sought after political influencers early on Saturday, the U.S. Senator from California got an enthusiastic welcome from over 500 people at a Des Moines area high school.

The country needs a leader who can "prosecute the case against Donald Trump" and "it will take a prosecutor to do it," Harris, California's former top prosecutor and a former district attorney of San Francisco, told the audience. "And we've got quite the rap sheet."

A Reuters/Ipsos poll taken Aug. 1-5 showed that Biden remained in first place with 22% support, relatively unchanged from the month before. Harris was in fourth, dropping 4 points to 5.7% support over the same time period.
https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2019/08/12/us/12reuters-usa-election-iowa-harris.html

BOSTON—Former Vice President Joe Biden (21 percent) leads Vt. Sen. Bernie Sanders (17 percent) and Mass. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (14 percent) Sen. Kamala Harris was favored by 8 percent of those polled; South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg by 6 percent; and U. S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii by 3 percent of respondents, with 10 percent divided among 19 other Democratic candidates and nearly 21 percent undecided, according to a Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll. https://www.eagletimes.com/poll-shows-biden-sanders-and-warren-as-nh-big-three/article_77e81a0a-f1d3-5e56-b4dd-2db38a7728cb.html

In my opinion the Democratic Party needs less candidates and a Dr. Howard Dean type strategist/fund-raiser. If early polls really reflect the outcome of presidential elections, I agree with Senator Harris:

The country needs a leader who can "prosecute the case against Donald Trump" and "it will take a prosecutor to do it," Harris, California's former top prosecutor and a former district attorney of San Francisco, told the audience. "And we've got quite the rap sheet."

Win, lose or draw: What would happen if Kamala Harris took on a role similar to Howard Dean - immediately? Then, after another Democrat is elected; what would happen if Senator Harris became the new U.S. Attorney General?

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August 9, 2019

WERE EMPLOYERS ARRESTED IN RECENT ICE RAIDS? DHS won't comment

680 undocumented workers arrested in record-setting immigration sweep on the first day of school
By Dianne Gallagher, Catherine E. Shoichet and Madeline Holcombe, CNN
Updated 7:12 AM ET, Fri August 9, 2019

Authorities hailed Wednesday's sweep at food processing plants in six cities as a record-setting operation. At least 680 undocumented immigrants were detained. More than 300 of them had been released by Thursday, Bryan D. Cox, an ICE spokesman, said in a statement.

Eighteen juveniles were found working at the plants, according to Jere Miles, special agent in charge for the Department of Homeland Security. Nine were released and not taken for processing, Miles said. One was 14 years old, he said.

"I don't see illegals. I don't see bad people. It's only families, fathers, mothers who want something better for the kids, so they come here and just work," he said. "They are not criminals."

Authorities haven't publicly spoken about what sites were targeted, citing a pending criminal investigation. They've also declined to answer questions about whether any employers had been arrested or would face charges.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/08/us/mississippi-immigration-raids-children/index.html?utm_source=CNN+Five+Things&utm_campaign=bb6d555251-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_08_09_12_11&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6da287d761-bb6d555251-104928233

August 2, 2019

"CLIMATE CRISIS"

CNN Morning Briefing on Climate crisis

If you felt a little warmer than normal last month, it wasn't your imagination. July might have been the hottest month ever recorded on Earth. The global average temperatures last month could end up exceeding temps from July 2016, when the planet experienced extreme warming, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Programme, which analyzes temperature data from around the planet. Scientists say the possible new record (final data will be released Monday) would be the result of the intense heat waves that have punished Europe this summer. We've also seen wildfires in the Arctic, mass melting of Greenland's ice sheet and the hottest month ever recorded in Anchorage, Alaska. Scientists say climate change will fuel even more heat waves and extreme weather.

more here:




As the only bear, officially listed as a "marine mammal," polar bears should not be drowning, in record numbers, because polar ice is rapidly melting!

July 31, 2019

"Putin's Puppet"??? Check the spooky factual history...

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called on the leaders of the United States and North Korea to have a third summit, and show flexibility in resolving the Korean peninsula nuclear issues, following his unprecedented state visit to Pyongyang last week.

In talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Osaka, Japan, ahead of the Group of 20 summit, Xi said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s determination to denuclearise remained solid, and Beijing was still committed to political engagement over the future of the peninsula.

The meeting with Moon came about a week after Xi made his first official visit to Pyongyang, where he pledged to support North Korea in its security and development needs.

“The trend for resolving the Korean peninsula situation through dialogue has not changed,” Xi was quoted by state-run China Central Television as saying on Thursday.
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3016397/chinese-president-xi-jinping-calls-us-and-north-korean-leaders

China Says Kerry’s Call for Internet Freedom Naive

(Reuters) – China criticized U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday for his “naive” call for more Internet freedom...
https://washingtoninformer.com/china-says-kerrys-call-for-internet-freedom-naive/

Flawed by Design: Electronics with Pre-Installed Malware

Photo by: Reuters

Electronics sourced from China pose a risk to US national security. Firms in China have repeatedly pre-installed malicious software on products sold in the United States. This activity provides Chinese authorities with the means to conduct espionage and launch cyber-attacks against US targets. http://georgetownsecuritystudiesreview.org/2018/05/23/flawed-by-design-electronics-with-pre-installed-malware/

China Copies Russian Ship Technology For Use and Profit
Russian officials have been irritated for years by what they view as China’s illegal reverse engineering of combat systems. After selling a few systems to China, Russia had counted on follow-on orders for more systems, which is the ethical business practice of other nations. In addition to costing Russia the loss of future sales to China, Chinese copies compete with Russia in sales to other Third World navies. https://www.afcea.org/content/china-copies-russian-ship-technology-use-and-profit

July 31, 2019

TRUMP-LOVE? North Korea's second missile launch in less than a week

North Korea is at it again. The North launched a pair of short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast, South Korean and US officials said. That's the second such launch in less than a week. In response, South Korea held an emergency National Security Council meeting this morning. It's not clear if the missile launches will affect the working-level talks between the US and the North, which US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hoped would start soon. It was just a month ago when President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met at the Korean Demilitarized Zone, and Trump became the first sitting US President to set foot on North Korean soil.



Trump Learns That Love Letters From A Murderous Dictator Don’t Mean Much After All
After the Singapore meeting, Trump took to praising Kim ― who reportedly has had his uncle and his stepbrother murdered, while incarcerating countless political prisoners ― as a visionary leader. He has called Kim “very honorable,” a “very worthy, very smart negotiator,” and “very open and terrific.” He has gushed over the letters that Kim sent him and told audiences that he and the dictator “fell in love.” Just before the start of the Hanoi summit, Trump even called him “my friend” and said the United States and North Korea have a “special relationship,” a term once reserved for America’s ties to Great Britain.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-kim-jong-un-summit-collapse_n_5c7842fae4b0de0c3fbf2d35

July 13, 2019

U.S. Citizens are also detained at Trump "concentration camps."

ICE Is Dangerously Inaccurate
Even American citizens are not immune from immigration raids.
By Darlena Cunha
July 12, 2019

Ms. Nuetzi is a cheerful white woman who spent her childhood in Ocala, Fla., and has been an elementary school secretary in Gainesville for 20 years. In 2016, she voted for Donald Trump, and was ecstatic when he won. A year later, her driver’s license expired.

Ms. Nuetzi went to the motor vehicles agency to get a new one, and for the first time in her life, officials did not accept her birth certificate...

“I called to get a new passport, and they told me to go to immigration,” Ms. Nuetzi said. “But why would I go to immigration? I’m not an immigrant. Then I called Homeland Security and the woman on the other end of the line started laughing at me.”

It proved nearly impossible for Ms. Nuetzi to extract herself from the ICE machine.

Davino Watson is a U.S. citizen who was 23 years old when ICE held him for more than three years. A New Yorker, he was eventually dropped off in Alabama with no explanation and no money. After he was released, Mr. Watson filed a complaint and a court awarded him compensation in 2016. The next year, an appeals court decided the statute of limitations for that complaint had expired while he was still in ICE custody.

more true stories by the New York Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/12/opinion/ice-raids.html

According to CBS News:

Who will be targeted in the expected ICE roundups of immigrant families?
BY CAMILO MONTOYA-GALVEZ
JULY 13, 2019 / 9:07 AM / CBS NEWS

Will families be separated because of this operation? (ie ICE raids on Sunday 7/14/19)
Deportations can lead to family separations, as they have in the past. Roundups would not only affect undocumented immigrants with pending removal orders, but also so-called "mixed-status" families with members who are green card holders and U.S. citizens — mostly U.S.-born children.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ice-raids-who-will-be-targeted-expected-roundups-of-immigrant-families-2019-07-13/