Saturday, August 12, 2017

Fox News’ Eric Bolling has been suspended pending investigation for sexual harassment: report

Fox News’ Eric Bolling has been suspended pending investigation for sexual harassment: report:

"The conservative anchor allegedly sent unsolicited “d**k pics” to three female colleagues — two at Fox Business and one at Fox News. The network has had a reoccurring problem with sexual harassment scandals and lawsuits."

Donald Trump Looks To Friends To Fill Important US Prosecutor Positions

Sen. Tammy Duckworth introduces legislation to protect immigrant vets from deportation

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/4/1686899/-Sen-Tammy-Duckworth-introduces-legislation-to-protect-immigrant-vets-from-deportation
"Nearly 11,000 non-citizens currently serve in the U.S. military, according to the most recent data from the Immigration Policy Center. At least 119 immigrants posthumously earned their citizenship after dying in combat, including Lance Cpl. Jose Gutierrez, who was a formerly undocumented immigrant and among the first Americans to die in action in Iraq."

22 ways Sean Hannity has tried to undermine the Russia probes

https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2017/08/04/22-ways-Sean-Hannity-has-tried-to-undermine-the-Russia-probes/217516
"Here are 22 examples of Hannity ignoring facts, promoting falsehoods and conspiracies, and attempting to cast blame on others in order to defend, deflect, and downplay accusations that Trump's campaign colluded with Russia to interfere in the U.S election."

How The FBI Raid On Paul Manafort's Home Went Down

Secret Service leaves Trump Tower after feud with the president’s business over a lease: report

Secret Service leaves Trump Tower after feud with the president’s business over a lease: report:

Secret Service has left the building — literally, because Trump was trying to make money off of them

House Republican says Trump was just joking when he repeatedly vowed Mexico would pay for the wall

https://thinkprogress.org/house-republican-says-trump-was-just-joking-when-he-repeatedly-vowed-mexico-would-pay-for-the-wall-8e598652760c/
"Writing off serious (and seriously offensive) comments as jokes or metaphors has been a favorite tactic used by Trump and his surrogates."

Lawrence: Paul Manafort Raid Means 'Probable Cause' Crime Committed

Leaked transcripts offer a peek behind the Oval Office curtain

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/leaked-transcripts-offer-peek-behind-the-oval-office-curtain
"Of course, in this case, Trump’s deal-making abilities involved pleading with a foreign president not to acknowledge reality, facing resistance, and not knowing what to do next. Trump seemed to realize that he’d painted himself into a corner by making promises he couldn’t keep, and he apparently expected the Mexican president to rescue him. In the same conversation, Trump told Pena Nieto, in reference to the addiction crisis, “Up in New Hampshire – I won New Hampshire because New Hampshire is a drug-infested den – is coming from the southern border.” It’s worth noting that Trump lost New Hampshire. Let’s also not forget that it’s not altogether normal for an American president to blast an American state to a foreign leader."

Donald Trump is on a lying binge and his press team is lying some more to cover up for him

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/3/1686574/-Donald-Trump-is-on-a-lying-binge-and-his-press-team-is-lying-some-more-to-cover-up-for-him
"Donald Trump’s lying, and his White House’s insistence on pretending he’s not lying, should scare us. Trump keeps talking about phone calls in which important people tell him he’s wonderful, only to have those people deny that any such phone call ever happened. And he’s got press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on the job, denying that Trump lied."

We Cannot Have A President Under Investigation | The Resistance with Keith Olbermann | GQ

Kushner subpoenaed for issuing green cards while the administration takes them away

https://thinkprogress.org/as-white-house-pushes-new-restrictions-kushner-under-scrutiny-for-issuing-green-cards-to-investors-27c8ad600b5e/
"Federal prosecutors in New York subpoenaed the company of President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner late Wednesday over their use of the EB-5 federal visa program. The program issues green cards to immigrants who invest $500,000 in U.S.-based developments, 85 percent of which are Chinese. The irony of the subpoena is difficult to ignore. The Kushner family company is in trouble for essentially selling green cards at the same time the Trump administration is pushing a plan to curtail the number of green cards issued each year."

Pro-Trump outlet Sinclair is turning local news into Trump TV. Here's what it looks like.

https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2017/08/03/pro-trump-outlet-sinclair-turning-local-news-trump-tv-heres-what-it-looks/217482
"The latest Sinclair profiles often focus on the “Bottom Line with Boris” segments starring former Trump aide Boris Epshteyn, who is now employed as Sinclair’s chief political analyst. Epshteyn has been producing 60- to 90-second commentary segments several times a week since Sinclair hired him in April. Last month, Sinclair announced it would be upping Epshteyn’s segments from airing three times per week to nine. Employees at Sinclair stations across the country, from Seattle, WA, to Washington, D.C., are expressing concerns about the clearly conservative must-run segments pushed by Sinclair executives."

Donald Trump Bellicosity Is Frightening New Variable In North Korea Standoff

“Deadbeat-in-chief”: Samantha Bee takes on Donald Trump and the GOP’s plan to sabotage Obamacare

http://www.salon.com/2017/08/03/deadbeat-in-chief-samantha-bee-takes-on-donald-trump-and-the-gops-plan-to-sabotage-obamacare/
"For years, Obamacare opponents have taken drastic steps to sabotage the current health care system. From filing countless lawsuits to attaching riders to random, non-health care related bills, Republicans have been steadfast in their efforts to sabotage Obamacare."

There’s One Thing That Infuriates Me More Than Anything Else About Trump and Most Republicans

https://forwardprogressives.com/theres-one-thing-that-infuriates-me-more-than-anything-else-about-trump-and-most-republicans/
"We’re witnessing firsthand possibly the most irresponsible, corrupt, and incompetent administration to ever preside over a major nation — yet Trump and the majority of Republicans are acting like this is all normal."

Lawrence Wilkerson: Donald Trump Acting Like He's Negotiating A Casino Deal

Sarah Huckabee Sanders Says It’s Not ‘Appropriate To Lie,’ But ...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/sarah-huckabee-sanders-lies_us_59822da5e4b00f0084add859?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
"Sanders’ job is to defend President Donald Trump’s actions, and defend she does. But despite her saying that her job is to “communicate the president’s agenda” and “answer questions as honestly” as she can, Sanders has a history of not doing that with complete truth."

Stephen Miller attacks Statue of Liberty poem, echoing popular white nationalist talking point

https://thinkprogress.org/stephen-miller-attacks-statue-of-liberty-poem-echoing-popular-white-nationalist-talking-point-f90c2ae0be48/
"Stormfront, a popular website among white supremacists that boasts the tagline, “Every month is White history month,” has a numerous discussion threads on the topic"

Monster Trump Doubles Down On Genocidal Nuclear Threats

Amid Trump's Chilling War on Media, Press Freedom Groups Expose Threats to US Journalists

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/02/amid-trumps-chilling-war-media-press-freedom-groups-expose-threats-us-journalists
"The Committee to Protect Journalists and the Freedom of the Press Foundation are among more than 20 groups partnering to introduce a new website which tracks threats to press freedom in the United States. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker launched Wednesday to gather data on arrests of journalists, physical attacks on reporters, equipment searches and seizures, prosecutions of the legal spreading of information (recently denounced as "leaks" by the Trump administration), and other threats to the free press. So far in 2017, the site has tracked 19 arrests of journalists; 12 equipment searches and seizures; 11 physical attacks; and four cases of journalists who were detained, questioned, or denied entry at borders. "With the Trump administration ramping up its war on journalism, this initiative could not come at a more important time," Trevor Timm, executive director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, said. "We hope it will be vital to highlighting the threats to press freedom in the U.S. and the important work journalists do to hold the government accountable." In an interview with ABC News, the new website's managing editor, Peter Sterne, noted that American concerns over press freedom have historically been focused on other countries. "The U.S. is often seen as a beacon of press freedom in the world," he said. "When freedom of the press in the U.S. is weakened, that has an effect around the world where other countries feel more emboldened to crack down on their own journalists"."

11 Batty Quotes from Trump's Latest Interview That Will Make You Disgusted He's President All Over Again @alternet

11 Batty Quotes from Trump's Latest Interview That Will Make You Disgusted He's President All Over Again @alternet:

"On Tuesday, Politico published what the Wall Street Journal wouldn't: a full transcript of the newspaper's interview with Donald Trump. The Rupert Murdoch-run outlet knew what it was doing. Missing from the Journal's piece were indications of a certain familiarity between the Trump family and Editor-in-Chief Gerald Baker. In the past, Baker and the Journal have taken hits for going too soft on the Trumps. (In January, Baker announced the paper would never refer to Trump falsehoods as “lies” because it would imply “a deliberate intent to mislead.”) The transcript isn't likely to mitigate those accusations. As with every setting in which Trump is allowed to ramble freely, the exchange is filled with the absurd self-aggrandizement, specious reasoning, and lies galore we've come to expect from the president."

Trump's PC Police Purging The Term 'Climate Change'

Trump didn't lie about the Boy Scouts calling him when he lied about the Boy Scouts calling him

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/2/1686375/-Trump-didn-t-lie-about-the-Boy-Scouts-calling-him-when-he-lied-about-the-Boy-Scouts-calling-him
"Here’s White House propaganda minister Sarah Huckabee Sanders saying a lie isn’t a lie if you lie that it’s not a lie. By the way, she’s lying."

These 21 facts explain exactly who Stephen Miller is — and why the Trump mouthpiece does what he does

These 21 facts explain exactly who Stephen Miller is — and why the Trump mouthpiece does what he does:

"He’s been writing racist, anti-immigrant rants for half his life and he’s only 31. He’s worked for some of the most deplorable U.S. politicians out there, only to become the voice for the worst of all. By all accounts, he is as terrible—and dangerous—as he seems, which is why he’s no laughing matter. And in that way, he is exactly like his boss."

Trump Is Using The Government To Get Even Wealthier – And We Don’t Know The Extent Of It

30-Year EPA Veteran Writes Farewell Letter, Warns of Environmental Catastrophe Under Pruitt @alternet

30-Year EPA Veteran Writes Farewell Letter, Warns of Environmental Catastrophe Under Pruitt @alternet:

"A 30-year U.S. Environmental Protection Agency senior official is leaving federal service today convinced that her agency is being steered in a disastrously wrong direction, according to her farewell message posted today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). She is an eyewitness to the wreckage wreaked by Administrator Scott Pruitt and his cadre of political appointees."

The Cronies Behind the Energy Industry's Deliberate Misinformation Campaigns @alternet

The Cronies Behind the Energy Industry's Deliberate Misinformation Campaigns @alternet:

"Tillerson, his predecessor Lee Raymond, and their cronies knew the truth about the fate of the planet. And yet they lied, and they paid others to lie. They lied as global temperatures began rising at record rates. They lied as droughts and wildfires swept across the American West, and as California started running out of water. They lied as tornadoes and hurricanes and snowfall levels intensified in unprecedented ways. They lied as thousands died in European heat waves, and thousands more perished in Asian floods. They lied as Greenland’s ice turned liquid, and sea levels began to rise two-and-a-half times faster than anyone thought possible, and the oceans became increasingly acidic and filled with disease-causing bacteria. They lied and sacrificed future generations for their short-term profits."

Former DOJ Civil Rights Head: Jeff Sessions Is Implementing an Anti-Civil Rights Agenda

The Trump Administration Has Begun Censoring Use of the Term 'Climate Change' @alternet

The Trump Administration Has Begun Censoring Use of the Term 'Climate Change' @alternet:

"New emails indicate the USDA has been directed not to acknowledge the dangers of global warming."

We Would Need 1.7 Earths to Sustain Humanity's Current Rate of Resource Consumption @alternet

We Would Need 1.7 Earths to Sustain Humanity's Current Rate of Resource Consumption @alternet:

"We're overfishing, overharvesting forests and emitting more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than natural sinks like forests can sequester."

Government Scientists Leak Climate Change Report Before Trump Can Get His Hands On It

$100 million a month in weed sales is the new normal in Colorado

http://www.newsweek.com/colorado-marijuana-sales-legalization-2017-637126
"Marijuana sales in Colorado are soaring. The state, which legalized adult pot use in 2014, achieved a milestone in May, when pot sales topped $100 million for the 12th consecutive month, according to a Thursday report by marijuana news site The Cannabist.  Colorado sold over $127.7 million worth of cannabis flower, edible products and concentrates in May, according to The Cannabist’s analysis of the state’s marijuana tax data. More than $35.7 million of sales stemmed from medical marijuana purchases, and recreational-use items generated $90.1 million in sales.  Bethany Gomez, director of research for marijuana market research firm Brightfield Group, told the site that hitting the $100 million mark has become “the new norm” in Colorado, with some $1.4 billion in sales between May 2016 and May 2017. During that time, Colorado racked up over $233 million in taxes and license fees."

The Cutting Edge of Marijuana Medical Research Will Leave You Wondering What It Can't Help Cure @alternet

The Cutting Edge of Marijuana Medical Research Will Leave You Wondering What It Can't Help Cure @alternet:

"New findings highlight CBD’s therapeutic potential for cancer, epilepsy, Alzheimer’s, high blood pressure, and other disorders."

Crime Task Force Report Leaves Sessions Without Ammo in His War on Weed @alternet

Crime Task Force Report Leaves Sessions Without Ammo in His War on Weed @alternet:

"His own hand-picked task force found no change needed for marijuana enforcement."

The War On Weed Is Stupid And Ancient

Blowing Up the Big Marijuana IQ Myth—The Science Points to Zero Effect on Your Smarts @alternet

Blowing Up the Big Marijuana IQ Myth—The Science Points to Zero Effect on Your Smarts @alternet:

"Debunking one of the oldest theories about cannabis."


Did Boy Scouts Call Trump To Say 'Speech Was Greatest Ever'? No | Crooks and Liars

Did Boy Scouts Call Trump To Say 'Speech Was Greatest Ever'? No | Crooks and Liars

"The Boy Scouts responded to Trump's lie, "We are unaware of any such call." Neither of the organization's two top leaders — President Randall Stephenson and Chief Scout Executive Mike Surbaugh — had placed such a call, the Scouts said." Trump wasn't done lying about fictitious phone calls though. He says he received a call from the Mexican president, congratulating him on his border wall, which Enrique Pena Nieto has refuted."

Meet the Senior Federal Official Blowing the Whistle on Trump's Suppression of Climate Science

Fox & Friends Lies: Inflates Stock Market Gains Under Trump | Crooks and Liars

Fox & Friends Lies: Inflates Stock Market Gains Under Trump | Crooks and Liars

"Reality check: On January, 20th 2017, the DOW closed at 19,827.25. Which rounded up would be 20,000. That's a far cry from the 16,000 Morris claimed it was at the time of Trump's inauguration. Why the lies? It's very simple. They are all trying to cover for Trump's nightmare first six months as president by taking credit for Obama's job creation and market growth. I've talked with a high-level Wall Street analysis/money manager who told me the belief on The Street was that even Trump couldn't slow the stock market run when he took office so they were all calm and poised to continue as if they Obama was still in office. When President Obama won the presidency, during the global financial collapse, the DOW bottomed out: "The Dow climbed to 9,034.69 on January 2, 2009, before screeching down to 6,594.44 on March 5, 2009. As the market climbed its way back, the stock market TV propaganda arm (CNBC/FBN) of the GOP constantly attacked the growth as phony and predicted a catastrophe based on high inflation, the FED -- you name it. When jobs began to come back they then cited newly created stats to cancel out the gains and attacked the unemployment numbers that we've used for decades as fraudulent. During the campaign, Trump called Obama's under 5% unemployment rate a sham and even said unemployment was as high as 42 %. "Don’t believe those phony numbers when you hear 4.9 and 5 percent unemployment. The number is probably 28-29 as high as 35. In fact, I even heard recently the number may be as high as 42%. Do you think we’d have a gathering like? If we had 5% unemployment, do you think we’d have gatherings like this?,” Trump said. Now, of course, they are reveling in the numbers they attacked Obama for. Liars and hypocrites, all of them."

State Department won't take money to fight Russian propaganda ... because Russia might get mad

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/2/1686285/-State-Department-won-t-take-money-to-fight-Russian-propaganda-because-Russia-might-get-mad
"By this logic, the U.S. better not try to stop Russia from straight-up hacking our 2018 elections—it might make them mad."

Bush Ethics Chief: Taxpayer Waste On Trump Will ‘Destroy’ GOP

Trump makes up 2 phone calls in one week

https://thinkprogress.org/trump-makes-up-2-phone-calls-in-one-week-b0f8ebef646c/
"The man who popularized the term “many people are saying” has developed a new way to concoct support for his dubious claims. But this one is even easier to debunk. In the past week, President Trump has apparently made up two phone calls during which he claims officials called the White House to offer him praise."

Trump is about to make America much crueler to unionized workers

https://thinkprogress.org/trump-unionized-workers-9bd4ee89346d/
"Since Election Day, unions have lived on borrowed time. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which has exclusive authority over many key questions of labor law, is still controlled by Democrats — thus shielding workers and their unions from attacks that became far likelier the moment Donald Trump was declared the winner of the 2016 election."

Donald Trump Pays A Staffer To Give Him Folder Of Happy Pro-Trump Stories Each Day

After Russians Buy A President, Trump And Tillerson Refuse To Counter Putin Propaganda

http://www.politicususa.com/2017/08/02/russians-buy-president-trump-tillerson-refuse-counter-putin-propaganda.html
"Given the close relationship that Tillerson and Putin share, it is most likely that he is helping his friend Vlad out by not challenging Russian propaganda. The evidence of this administration’s submission to Russia is everywhere. Trump refuses to admit that the Russians interfered in the election. Trump has not done anything to punish Russia for election interference. The White House tried to kill the Russia sanctions bill that Congress overwhelmingly passed. Trump has shown no interest in standing up to Russia around the world, and now, and administration that owes its victory to Putin refuses to counter Russian propaganda. It all adds up to a president who ran on making America great, but is owned by Russia."

Tillerson rejects $80 million to fight Russian and ISIS propaganda — and his reasons are alarming

Tillerson rejects $80 million to fight Russian and ISIS propaganda — and his reasons are alarming:

"President Barack Obama expanded the unit’s mission at the end of his term after intelligence agencies concluded Russia had flooded social media with fake news and phony Twitter accounts to influence the 2016 elections, and lawmakers from both parties want a stronger U.S. response. President Donald Trump wants to cut State Department funding, so Tillerson is trying to spend less of it — not more. “They use the reorganization as an excuse to not act on anything,” one former State official told Politico. “That’s why people doubt the motivations of the reorganization. They think it’s all about starving the beast.” But a former senior State Department official told Politico that Tillerson aide R.C. Hammond suggested the secretary of state doesn’t want to fully fund the unit for fear of angering Putin. Tillerson, the former CEO of ExxonMobil, was awarded the Russian Order of Friendship from Putin after signing deals with the state-owned Russian oil company Rosneft."

Trump Needs A News Fluffer

Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Interactive Timeline: Everything We Know About Russia and President Trump

http://billmoyers.com/story/trump-russia-timeline/
"the timeline has grown from 24 entries to more than 400 — and the saga is far from over."

Why on Earth Is Trump Attacking Nation's Nursing Home Population?

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/07/why-earth-trump-attacking-nations-nursing-home-population
"the effort to roll back protections from some of society's most vulnerable people is just part of "a disturbing trend of the Trump administration attempting to reverse critical protections against forced arbitration," which prevents individuals or groups of people from filing lawsuits or seeking damages for fraud, abuse, neglect, medical malpractice and other forms of wrongdoing. As Jason P. Steed, an appellate lawyer, kindly translated on Twitter: "Translation: Trump Admin making it easier for nursing homes to abuse elderly and not be held accountable for it." With Monday the last day for the public to weigh in on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposal to ditch an Obama-era rule prohibiting use of forced arbitration "ripoff clauses" in nursing home admission agreements, lawmakers and advocacy groups are trying to draw attention to the effort and also filing official objections to the rule with the agency."

Trump Just Helped Prove How Fake His Twitter Following Is @alternet

Trump Just Helped Prove How Fake His Twitter Following Is @alternet:

"Like pretty much everything else about his presidency, Donald Trump’s Twitter following is a lie. His social media fan base is mostly made of fake accounts; his legion of followers overwhelmingly comprised of automated bots. This weekend, Trump inadvertently reminded us how phony his social media popularity is when he shined a light on what he erroneously believed was an adoring supporter. That Trump booster turned out be a Twitter bot—just one of the millions of fake accounts that exist solely to bolster the popularity of the most unpopular president in American history. On the heels of the president basically catfishing himself, Twitter has since suspended the fake account and a slew of others just like it."

Donald Trump makes his money the old-fashioned way—he launders it

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/7/1684597/-Donald-Trump-makes-his-money-the-old-fashioned-way-he-launders-it
"As oligarchs secured their control over former Soviet states and learned to suppress opposition to their monopolized industries, the money they were raking in was growing by leaps and bounds. But turning that money into US assets was not keeping up. They needed a new route. Many oligarchs had already started turning to real estate as the primary means of shifting funds. Real estate laws in the United States offer unparalleled flexibility and freedom from reporting. The value of real estate is all but arbitrary, so developers could post any price they wanted on a luxury condo, mansion, or even entire building. If someone will pay $100 million for a home in Florida … then the home is worth $100 million. Even if it was listed for a third of that the day before. And shell companies hadn’t completely lost their worth. Real estate developers could collect massive over payments from offshore sources, then turn around and feed that money back into “partnerships” and other arrangements. In a very real sense, the real estate developers stepped in to take the place of banks once regulators were watching banks. They were bringing in funds for a fee. The real estate itself was almost an afterthought. The shift from shell-companies to real estate as the means of moving funds came barely in time for Donald Trump. Trump was already bleeding from a string of bad decisions that left him with with a cascade of bankruptcies and a $916 million loss on his 1995 taxes. Trump’s massive Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City opened in 1990, but proved to be a disaster from before opening day. Within a year of its founding, Trump required an extra infusion of over $3 million from his father to keep the doors open — a jolt of ready cash delivered in the form of an illegal loan for which Trump later had to pay a fine. Even that wasn’t enough to keep the Taj Mahal from having to reorganize under Chapter 11 by July 1991. With his bid to monopolize Atlantic City failing, Trump was forced to declare bankruptcy at his two other casinos in 1992."

Wall Street Fines Down 66% Under Trump's Goldman Sachs-Filled Administration

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/07/wall-street-fines-down-66-under-trumps-goldman-sachs-filled-administration
"Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump has chosen ex-Goldman Sachs bankers to fill several key positions within his administration. According to a Wall Street Journal analysis published Sunday, it appears that the nation's largest financial institutions are benefiting greatly from having their friends in government. "Wall Street regulators have imposed far lower penalties in the first six months of Donald Trump's presidency than they did during the first six months of 2016, a comparable period in the Obama administration," the Journal reported. Throughout his campaign for the presidency, Trump promised to loosen regulations on big banks by dismantling Dodd-Frank, which was established following the financial crisis of 2008. But the Journal's report indicates that the Trump team has found another way to ease up on Wall Street: namely, by not levying hefty fines for wrongdoing."

How Sinclair Broadcast Group Made Local News Pro-Trump

Here is why the obstruction case against Trump could be even stronger than we think

Here is why the obstruction case against Trump could be even stronger than we think:

"As many as ten of the nation’s top law enforcement officials could be questioned about the case. Notes taken by the officials are also likely to be used as evidence."