There are many things Flint, Michigan can be thankful for this season.

October 3, 2018
By Brad Emons

Flint Mayor Karen Weaver (middle) is all smiles with Michigan Bucks President Costa Papista (left) and Chairman Dan Duggan.

The City of Flint (click here) has found a new tenant for its newly renovated Atwood Stadium.

Welcomed with open arms, the two-time North American Premier Development League champion Michigan Bucks (2007 and 2016), is leaving the northern suburbs of Detroit to relocate its storied Under-23 United Soccer League 2 franchise following a press conference held Wednesday afternoon at Kettering University's Campus Center.

The Bucks, who played the past decade at Pontiac's Ultimate Soccer Arenas, an indoor venue, will be going back outdoors after the announcement was made by Livonia native Dan Duggan, the Bucks' Chairman and CEO.

Kettering University, which took over and renovated the historic Atwood Stadium through community donations, has now formed a partnership with the Bucks, which has a PDL record 249 wins (1996-2018) to go along with five PDL regular season, seven Central Conference and 14 Great Lakes Division titles....

Just some blastedly good luck.

October 31, 2018
By Madeline Ciak

Flint--Someone in Flint is waking up $2 million richer this morning! (click here)

The winning ticket was sold at US Energy Distributions LLC, which is located at G4005 Clio Road in Flint.

See the winning lottery numbers for Tuesday, Oct. 30.

Reflection on laws that kill.

October 31, 2018
By Caitlin Devitt

Outgoing Michigan Governor Rick Snyder's legacy (click here) will forever be shadowed by the lead poisoning crisis in Flint. The disaster will carry ramifications for decades, not only for Flint citizens, but for cash-strapped cities and counties across the state. Because the Flint disaster unfolded during a full state takeover and amid an effort to cut costs, the state's future intervention into local governments will come at a heavy political cost.

Since Flint, the state has dropped its oversight law like a hot potato and for the first time in decades does not manage any local governments. Have the cities, counties and school districts that suffer from falling revenue and rising retirement obligations suddenly become healthy? Not likely, based on a review of the state’s newly required local pension and retiree health care obligation reports....

Rebuilding democracy in Flint.

November 1, 2018
By Roberto Acosta

Flint -- The Flint Board of Education (click here) is seeking applications for a vacant seat following a recent resignation on the governing body. 

Applications are being taken until 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 5 after school board member Kenyatta Dotson announced at the Oct. 17 meeting that she was stepping down.

Her move comes due to plans on moving out of the boundaries for the school district, according to a district statement. She served on the board for approximately four years. 

Dotson was recently recognized by the Michigan Community Service Commission, which named her Volunteer of the Year at the 2018 Governor's Service Awards....

A way forward for children with incarcerated parents.

November 1, 2018
By Jasmyn Durham

Flint — A Flint woman (click here) has made it her mission to support Genesee County children whose parents are behind bars.

Shirley Cochran runs a nonprofit called Motherly Intercession.

The goal is giving the children a strong support system but also helping those mothers and fathers to be better parents from a distance.

"I pass the jail everyday going to work," says Cochran.

She says the development of this organization stemmed from a stop to the jail when she wanted to help a family at Christmas time.

"I just turned in one day thinking I could find one mother there and I found 23 mothers and 58 children who wouldn't be together at Christmas," says Cochran.

She says that's when she found her calling, naming it Motherly Intercession.

"We found a need and we tried to respond to it, never really anticipating it being a nonprofit"....

A helping hand for Foster Care children.

November 2, 2018
By Amanda Chodnicki

Flint — In 2015, 678 children in Michigan (click here) exited foster care, according to the non-profit Samaritas.

But before the kids are able to transition and be on their own, many of them first go through programs that help them to learn how to make it in the real world.

FOX66/ NBC25's Amanda Chodnicki went inside a home that recently opened in Flint for young women working on that transition.

She talked with one young woman, who is currently in the program....

A revitalized search of a missing woman.

November 2, 2018
By Cole Waterman

Flint -- Two decades (click here) since a Flint woman disappeared, a reward is being offered in hopes of bringing closure to the case.

CrimeStoppers of Flint & Genesee County is offering a cash reward of up to $2,500 for information leading to answers in the disappearance of Christina Levonne Schutz.

Schutz was last seen on Nov. 2, 1998, in the 2000 block of North Vernon Avenue in Flint. She was 24 at the time, weighed 110 to 120 pounds, stood 5 feet 2 inches tall, and had several tattoos.

According The Charley Project, a database that publicizes missing persons cases, Schutz had argued with her boyfriend, the father of her children. Before disappearing, she said goodbye to her grandmother, who was caring for her 3-year-old son and infant daughter.

She has not been seen or heard from since....

And people that care while being movers and shakers.

November 3, 2018
By Carol Cain

...On Thursday, Mathis, (click here) working with the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Kroger, United Food & Commercial Workers Local 876, Teamsters 299, Teamsters Joint Council 43 and others, he sponsored gathered, and delivered hundreds of thousands of bottles of water to Flint. He appeared last Monday on ABC’s “The View” and other national shows as well as “Michigan Matters” (11:30 a.m. this Sunday on CBS 62) to make it clear he will not rest until this tragedy is fully remedied.

Mathis first reached out to help Flint in 2016 and got some heat from the media over it. But it was after hearing the state had stopped distributing bottled water to residents still in need that sent him over the edge. He mentioned it to Franklin during their last monthly phone call before her death, and the Queen of Soul issued one final directive:

“She told me, ‘Greg you have to go back. You have to help. You’re from Detroit. You’ve got to sock it to ‘em,’” he told me....

I am sure there are decisions since this one, but, I found it interesting after the USA Civil War this decision came into focus.

United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649 (1898) (click here)

What I found most interesting is the year-long deliberation before the decision was handed down. The case was argued on March 5, 8, 1897 (This was a Friday and Monday dates. March 6 and 7 was a Saturday and Sunday) and decided on March 28, 1898. That length of deliberation would never occur today.

There was an election in 1898. It was a mid-term election while President William McKinley was in the White House. In that election House seats were gained by the Democrats, but, they did not hold the majority. Oddly, enough there was a populist movement in the Democratic Party led by William Jennings Bryan (click here). Bryan would run for president under the populist idea of making silver the basis of the value of the USA currency. He believed the gold standard was bad for the USA's currency. He lost the race.

One way to MEASURE the decisions of a radical right Supreme Court in the year 2018, is to compare their decisions against past decisions. If it is grossly out of step with the past (The USA Constitution was only changed by it's Amendments. That in scientific calculations would be called A CONSTANT.), there must be something wrong and quite possibly a threat to democracy. I would hope if such decisions were discovered, the US House would legislate them into oblivion. I realize the only majority for such an effort is the US Democratic House, but, it is a launching point for the elections of 2020. The electorate should know the appointees by Trump are extremely out of step with the past.

A child born in the United States, of parents of Chinese descent, who at the time of his birth, are subjects of the Emperor of China, but have a permanent domicil and residence in the United States, and are there carrying on business, and are not employed in any diplomatic or official capacity under the Emperor of China, becomes at the time of his birth a citizen of the United States, by virtue of the first clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution,

"All person born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."

This was a writ of habeas corpus issued October 2, 1895, by the District Court of the United States for the Northern District of California to the collector of customs at the port of San Francisco, in behalf of Wong Kim Ark, who alleged that he was a citizen of the United States, of more than twenty-one years of age, and was born at San Francisco in 1873 of parents of Chinese descent and subjects of the Emperor of China, but domiciled residents at San Francisco, and that, on his return to the United States on the steamship Coptic in August, 1895, from a temporary visit to China, he applied to said collector of customs for permission to land, and was by the collector refused such permission, and was restrained of his liberty by the collector, and by the general manager of the steamship company acting under his direction, in violation of the Constitution and laws of the United States, not by virtue of any judicial order or proceeding, but solely upon the pretence that he was not a citizen of the United States....

I don't watch FOX News because they add to the danger of the planet's climate issues. They don't cover it.

It is a rare occasion when FOX News anywhere is cited on this blog. On occasion, but, it is because I could not find another source of facts I know existed. But, I never make citations on this blog solely reported by FOX News. It is not a reliable source for information and why trust it?

I wish it was a USA media source that kept Hillary Clinton in the loop, but, I like the "Guardian" and I thank them for returning her voice to us.

23 November 2018
By Patrick Wintour

...Citing research on fascism (click here) by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Clinton compared Trump to authoritarian leaders abroad, describing him as someone who “craves dominance” and attacks those news outlets that challenge his assertions.

“Now [Trump] doesn’t attack Fox News, because they’re like a wholly owned subsidiary of Trump and the Republican Party now. So he attacks the press and the broadcast media that raise questions about him, that don’t give him fidelity and loyalty,” she said.

Clinton called on the press at large to “get smarter” about its approach to Trump and the Republican Party, because “that’s basically how most voters get their information.” She cited Lesley Stahl’s “60 Minutes” interview with Trump in mid-October, saying Stahl should have asked about a bombshell New York Times piece on the Trump family’s tax dodging.

She suggested the press rethink its quest for “balance” when it comes at the expense of fact.

“This is a person who believes in very little,” Clinton said. “He does have visceral responses to what goes on in the world around him. He does have a strong streak of racism that goes back to his early years.”...

The ACLU had Trump pegged even before he was the Republican nomination.

But, even since "belief" overtook fact from esteemed and real experts of the American landscape, their warnings were not heeded.

The one question I have since this point in time, is, how much of the Trump agenda that is blatantly unconstitutional belongs to the agenda of the Federalist Society?

July 13, 2016
By Anthony D. Romero

Last June, Donald Trump (click here) rode down the escalator of his Trump Tower to the tune of Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World” to deliver a message: He, Donald J. Trump, was announcing his candidacy to become the Republican Party’s 2016 nominee for president of the United States of America. During his speech, Trump basked in the crowd — which included paid actors cheering his name and wearing t-shirts with his campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again” — before uttering some of the statements that would make him such a polarizing force in American politics....

...In the event of a Trump presidency, we have undertaken a constitutional analysis of his most controversial policy proposals. These include his pledges to deport over 11 million undocumented immigrants, to ban Muslims from entering the United States, to surveil American Muslims and their houses of worship, to torture again, and to revise libel laws. We have found them all wanting, to say the least. According to our analysis, Trump’s proposals taken together would violate the First, Fourth, Fifth, and Eighth Amendments to the Constitution....

USA job growth is very weak.

With a glut of cash in the treasuries of Wall Street, why enter into hiring for jobs? To create a greater glut? Why risk the liability of growth? Growth by the very nature of it creates risk. That risk is tamped down by market research and the like, but, growth is a risk.

No CEO is going to enter into risk if the stockholders are receiving reasonable dividends. Why risk paying positive dividends?

No matter how it is assessed, by job growth or investment, there is no reason for risk if stockholders are receiving profitable dividends. Any CEO has to answer for any loss of income, why go there?

Most Republicans if not all state that debt and deficit spending is good for the USA's treasury. It is because government debt is enriching the private sector in government spending. Why, if debt and deficit spending is good for the government, isn't it good for Wall Street?

There ways of increasing production without job growth, namely mechanization. Below is the definition of economic growth per Canada. They don't lie.

Economists (click here) use many different methods to measure how fast the economy is growing. The most common way to measure the economy is real gross domestic product, or real GDP. GDP is the total value of everything - goods and services - produced in our economy. The word "real" means that the total has been adjusted to remove the effects of inflation.

There are at least three different ways to measure growth of real GDP. It is important to know which is being used, and to understand the differences among them. The three most common ways to measure real GDP are:

- Quarterly growth at an annual rate
- The four-quarter or "year-over-year" growth rate
- The annual average growth rate

Quarterly growth at an annual rate shows the change in real GDP from one quarter to the next, compounded into an annual rate. (This process is often called "annualizing.") For example, in the second quarter of 2001, the economy grew 0.1 per cent from the first quarter. If the economy had grown at that pace for an entire year, the annual growth would be 0.4 per cent. So the quarterly growth at an annual rate was reported at 0.4 per cent....

Cindy McCain (click here for the McCain Institute - thank you)

For a widow of a marriage lasting more than 40 years, Cindy McCain looks good and appears to be engaging life again. Their children are incredible and I am sure they are a great solace to her. She must know how much her husband is missed. I feel his absence strongly shows in the US Senate.

Female Genital Mutilation is child abuse. I defy anyone to say differently.

It is a crime to use the USA Constitution to justify child abuse. After the Michigan ruling, there will be children of Jehovah Witnesses dying for lack of medical treatment. The reason the Michigan child abuse statutes would apply to this case is because 722.634 shows the will of society to protect children from harmful religious practices. This statute of the Michigan Child Protection laws has proven to save lives and provided much needed medical treatment, it also ends any guessing by medical personnel in the ER when seconds in treatment makes a difference. The judge could have ruled to protect the girls in proving the will of society in the protection of children from harmful religious practice.

The Free Exercise Clause does not provide for the practice of child abuse. It also blurs the line with pedophilia.

Female Genital Manipulation occurs with female children from birth to the age of fifteen years old. All these procedures are performed without the benefit of anesthisia. If that isn't cruel I don't know what is. The procedure which is practiced in some obscure religions can remove the clitoris, the inner labia and stitching the outer labia closed to only leave a tiny opening for the passage of urine. This is not only a painful surgery but, scars the women for life and creates medical problems as adults.

722.634 Religious beliefs. (click here)

Sec. 14.

A parent or guardian legitimately practicing his religious beliefs who thereby does not provide specified medical treatment for a child, for that reason alone shall not be considered a negligent parent or guardian. This section shall not preclude a court from ordering the provision of medical services or nonmedical remedial services recognized by state law to a child where the child's health requires it nor does it abrogate the responsibility of a person required to report child abuse or neglect.

History: 1975, Act 238, Eff. Oct. 1, 1975

Michigan's child abuse provisions for the practice of religion narrowly applies to Jehovah Witness that do not believe in medical intervention, including blood transfusions. This does not address the child abuse of severely mutilating a girls genitals.

The decision by this federal judge in Michigan openly allows female genital mutilation. What does anyone think pedophilia is about? 

The impacts of this decision were not weighted by the realization this procedure puts an undue burden on society and blurs the line with pedophilia which we know for a fact seeks religion as a place to hide.

This practice is child abuse and causes PERMANENT damage to the child while imposing psychological abuse as well. There is no reason why a child has to be submitted to this practice when it can be deferred to adulthood and the age of majority. This is the most outrageous decision I have ever witnessed favoring child abuse for some obscure religious practice. This falls directly in line with the impact of Jehovah Witness in that it causes permanent damage and hence a liability to the society in which it is practiced. This judge's head is full of boxes that put people as victims of faith according to the USA Constitution, instead of putting child welfare first. 

November 21, 2018
By Camila Domonoske

A federal judge in Michigan (click here) has dropped most of the charges against a Detroit doctor accused of female genital mutilation, concluding that Congress "overstepped its bounds" when it passed a law banning the practice.

That 1996 law violates the Constitution and is unenforceable, the judge concluded, because in general, criminal law is left to the states — and female genital mutilation should be no exception.

As a result, he dropped six federal charges against Jumana Nagarwala, who was accused of mutilating the genitals of multiple girls when they were about 7. Other defendants charged with assisting in the procedures have also had charges dropped.

Two charges against Nagarwala, for "conspiracy to travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct" and obstruction, remain pending....

...The relationship between (click here) the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses varies with the expansiveness of interpretation of the two clauses. In a general sense both clauses proscribe governmental involvement with and interference in religious matters, but there is possible tension between a requirement of governmental neutrality derived from the Establishment Clause and a Free-Exercise-derived requirement that government accommodate some religious practices. So far, the Court has harmonized interpretation by denying that free- exercise-mandated accommodations create establishment violations, and also by upholding some legislative accommodations not mandated by free exercise requirements. ''This Court has long recognized that government may (and sometimes must) accommodate religious practices and that it may do so without violating the Establishment Clause.'' In holding that a state could not deny unemployment benefits to Sabbatarians who refused Saturday work, for example, the Court denied that it was ''fostering an 'establishment' of the Seventh-Day Adventist religion, for the extension of unemployment benefits to Sabbatarians in common with Sunday worshippers reflects nothing more than the governmental obligation of neutrality in the face of religious differences, and does not represent that involvement of religious with secular institutions which it is the object of the Establishment Clause to forestall.'' Legislation granting religious exemptions not held to have been required by the Free Exercise Clause has also been upheld against Establishment Clause challenge, although it is also possible for legislation to go too far in promoting free exercise....

...One point of contention (click here) regarding the Establishment Clause is how to frame government actions that implicate religion. Framing questions often arise in the context of permanent religious monuments on public land. Although it is reasonably clear that cities cannot install new religious monuments, there is fierce debate over whether existing monuments should be removed. When the Supreme Court recently considered this issue in Van Orden v. Perry, 545 U.S. 677 (2005), and McCreary County v. ACLU, 545 U.S. 844 (2005), it did not articulate a clear general standard for deciding these types of cases. The Court revisited this issue in Salazar v. Buono (08-472), a case which considered the constitutionality of a large white Christian cross erected by members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars on federal land in the Mojave Desert.  While five justices concluded that a federal judge erred in barring a congressionally ordered land transfer which would place the memorial on private land, there was no majority reasoning as to why.  Three Justices held that the goal of avoiding governmental endorsement of religion does not require the destruction of religious symbols in the private realm, while Justice Scalia and Justice Thomas concluded that the plaintiff lacked standing to bring this complaint.  

continued...

Women need options in supporting their families and girls need the information about sex, sexuality and ultimately the end of teenage pregnancy.

There is not a woman in this world that doesn't see pregnancy with reflection and options. When a girl becomes pregnant there is a crime either by men or the government for not protecting her from her own innocence.

November 17, 2018
By Katherine Hignett

Stormy Daniels blasted the state of America’s sex education (click here) Thursday in a speech to the Oxford Union debating society.

The adult film actress—real name Stephanie Clifford—blamed a lack of shame-free advice for young people as being the cause of problems including unwanted pregnancy and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

People that oppose “open and well-rounded sex education,” she added, “are fueling the very social problems they say they are trying to prevent.”

Daniels was speaking to an audience made up mostly of Oxford University students during an event entitled “Sex, Guns and Other Fluff: How Porn Can Set You Free.”

“Don't want abortions? Then help prevent unwanted pregnancies by teaching young people about their bodies in an honest, open and shame-free way,” she told the crowd.

“As a matter of fact, open, factual discussion about sex is the best way to prevent a whole bunch of social problems: STDs, assault, sexual dysfunction,” she said. “Maybe [even] having Donald Trump as president.”...

...Who Supports Sex Education? (click here)

Sex Education is widely supported by the vast majority of people in the United States. In Planned Parenthood’s most recent poll on sex education, 93 percent of parents supported having sex education taught in middle school, and 96 percent of parents supported having sex education taught in high school. The vast majority of parents support sex education in middle school and high school that covers a wide range of topics, including STDs, puberty, healthy relationships, contraception, and sexual orientation. Other national, state and local polls on sex education have shown similarly high levels of support.

Sex education is supported by numerous prestigious health and medical organizations including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Over 150 organizations are members of the National Coalition to Support Comprehensive Sexuality Education....

November 14, 2018
By Rekha Basu

...During a gubernatorial debate, (click here) Reynolds was asked what issue she would not compromise on. She answered, "Life.” Earlier this year Reynolds signed a law that makes most abortions illegal. The fetal heartbeat law, on hold pending a court ruling, bars abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy. Now Maggie DeWitte,  the spokeswoman for the Coalition of Pro-Life Leaders, says of their legislative priorities, “Our goal is to eliminate abortion, period.”

Let's look to the Dominican Republic, where abortion is illegal, period: Women and girls can be sent to prison for up to two years for inducing their own abortions. Medical professionals who perform them can get up to 20 years. Though prison is rare, according to an upcoming report by Human Rights Watch, the threats are effective in a country where nearly half of pregnancies are unplanned or unwanted. Women and girls interviewed by the nonprofit organization described being depressed, terrified, desperate, or trapped when they learned they were pregnant. 

The worst affected are those from rural areas and of low income. The risks to life and health from illegal abortions are higher when the providers are underground. Abortion recipients told HRW of abuse, neglect and mistreatment by some providers. Some pregnant people use dangerous techniques to end their pregnancies such as denying themselves food or water. "One woman said she beat her belly with a concrete block," the report said. The country's public health ministry attributes 8 percent of maternal deaths to complications from illegal abortions or miscarriages. Twenty-five thousand women and girls seek medical attention for complications related to abortion or miscarriage each year....

The truth is the truth. There has been a reduction in teen pregnancy on a regular basis during the Obama years. There is no clear consensus as to the reason for the reductions, but, teens had access to information and contraception, including abstinence. Teens can make clear decisions to opt out of pregnancy when they have good and consistent information and not myths. This is the best path for women. Information and access to contraception. No one wants a woman or girl to face abortion, but, it has to be a part of the decisions women make. That is the facts.

CDC

Teen birth rates declined from 2014 to 2015 (click here) for all races and for Hispanics. Among 15- to 19-year-olds, teen birth rates decreased:

• 10% for Asian/Pacific Islanders
• 9% for non-Hispanic blacks
• 8% for Hispanics
• 8% for non-Hispanic whites
• 6% for American Indian/Alaska Natives (AI/AN)

In 2015, the birth rate of Hispanic teens were still more than two times higher than the rate for non-Hispanic white teens. The birth rate of non-Hispanic black teens was almost twice as high as the rate among non-Hispanic white teens, and American Indian/Alaska Native teen birth rates remained more than one and a half times higher than the non-Hispanic white teen birth rate.  Geographic differences in teen birth rates persist, both within and across states.  Among some states with low overall teen birth rates, some counties have high teen birth rates.

Less favorable socioeconomic conditions, such as low education and low income levels of a teen’s family, may contribute to high teen birth rates. Teens in child welfare systems are at higher risk of teen pregnancy and birth than other groups. For example, young women living in foster care are more than twice as likely to become pregnant than those not in foster care....

Senator Chuck Grassley is leaving as chairman of the US Senate Judiciary Committee.

Senator Chuck Grassley is typical of the US Senate Republican majority that will be maintained after January 2019. Just because there is a change in leadership to Graham doesn't mean women will be considered an equal. The right wing does not recognize women as leaders. They don't believe women have a right to their own bodies. They don't believe there is a place for contraception, especially if it means postponing parenthood because a woman is successful in pursuing a career. That means discrimination due to gender should never be an issue.

Let me be clear when a woman's body is an issue in regard to contraception and abortion that IS GENDER DISCRIMINATION. Women have a right to define their futures and the future of their children to be comfortable achievers supported by wealthy women.

Women have made incredible strides in the most recent election. We have to continue to find success and demonstrate far better leadership than the leadership that continues to victimize women and victimized women in the past.

By Kevin Freking

Washington - Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa (click here) is giving up the chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee after shepherding 84 of President Donald Trump's judicial nominees through the confirmation process over the past two years, including Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.

Grassley said he plans to become chairman of the Senate Finance Committee next year. To do that, he'll have to give up the gavel of the Judiciary Committee, which he has held since 2015. Democrats have accused Grassley of unfairly disregarding Senate protocols and courtesies to get Trump's nominees confirmed.

The move paves the way for Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. to become the next Judiciary chairman. Graham has become a close Trump ally and was a vocal supporter of Kavanaugh's confirmation, pushing back against sexual misconduct allegations, which Kavanaugh denied....

October 6, 2018
By John Bowden

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) (click here) explained his comments about the lack of female senators serving on the Judiciary panel in a Fox News interview Saturday.

The Republican chairman was criticized on Friday after he told reporters that the committee's heavy workload was one reason why more female senators may choose not to serve on the committee.

“It’s a lot of work — maybe they don’t want to do it,” Grassley said Friday. “My chief of staff of 33 years tells me we’ve tried to recruit women and we couldn’t get the job done.”

“We have a hard time getting men on the committee. It’s just a lot of work whether you’re a man or a woman, it doesn’t matter,” he added later, clarifying his remarks....

September 22, 2018
By Grace Segers

Garrett Ventry, (click here) a communications adviser and spokesman for Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, has resigned. NBC News, which first reported the resignation, said the decision came after the outlet "raised questions about Ventry's employment history" and a sexual harassment allegation against him.

Ventry was helping with the GOP's response to an allegation that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted Christine Blasey Ford 36 years ago at a party.

NBC reported Saturday that Ventry had worked as a social media adviser in 2017 in North Carolina House Majority Leader John Bell's office. It reported that "sources familiar with the situation" said Ventry was let go "after parts of his resume were found to have been embellished, and because he faced an accusation of sexual harassment from a female employee of the North Carolina General Assembly's Republican staff."

In a statement to CBS News Saturday, Ventry said, "I deny allegations of misconduct at the NC House." He said he submitted his resignation to the Senate Judiciary Committee "to not be a distraction to their work."

"Garrett was one of several temporary staff brought on to assist in the committee's consideration of the Supreme Court nomination, a team that has done outstanding work," a committee spokesman told CBS News. "While he strongly denies allegations of wrongdoing, he decided to resign to avoid causing any distraction from the work of the committee."...

September 27, 2018
By Progress Iowa

Daily Kos

Tax March

MoveOn

CREDO

One Wisconsin Now

Americans for Democratic Action Iowa

Iowa Citizen Action Network

Courage Campaign

Why Courts Matter Pennsylvania

Citizen Advocacy Center

Battle Born Progress

Joyce Moore Financial Services

TaxMarch MN

NCJW Southern Maine

Sisterhood of Iowa

Indivisible Chester County

Indivisible Berks

Progress Michigan

Progressive Turnout Project

Indivisible York

Why Courts Matter Iowa

ProgressNow Colorado

Indivisible Iowa

Pennsylvania Together

Youth Progressive Action Catalyst

Keystone Progress

Forward Montana Foundation

Progress Virginia

Cumberland Valley Rising

Indivisible Iowa SD 33/34/35

March for our Lives

End Citizens United

Susquehanna Valley Progress

Granite State Progress

Columbia County Indivisible

Tuesdays With Toomey Philadelphia

Philly Neighborhood Networks

Women's Medical Fund

Indivisible Clinton County PA

Indivisible KY

One Iowa Action

ProgressNow Arizona

Susquehanna Valley Progress

Torah Trumps Hate

Indivisible Iowa

Buchanan County Indivisible

Manchester Area Progressive Alliance (Indivisible)

Regina Russell, Elected Dem Cmte Women, Sunbury, Pa

Justice For All

412 Resistance

Central PA Action Agenda

Dear Senator Grassley:

We, the undersigned, (click here) are writing today to request your resignation as Chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary.

We are organizations and leaders from across the country, and have watched with alarm as you have taken the bipartisan institution of the Judiciary Committee and injected partisan politics and misogynistic bullying into its leadership. There are many of us who have expressed public disagreement with your decisions in the past, but this goes beyond simply disagreeing with your stance on a nominee or a policy position. Your actions have threatened the independent nature of the judiciary, a bedrock institution that must provide a check on the executive and legislative branches in order for our democracy to thrive....

Mississippi is ranked 51st in median household income. Yes, 51st because the District of Columbia is 2nd behind Maryland. Doesn’t Mississippi want new leadership to deliver them out of misery that spans generations?

Ivanka Trump used personal email for White House business (click here for article - thank you)

Donald Trump creates distractions to maintain control over the politics. Now it is a demand for arrests by Whitaker of Hillary Clinton and James Comey. LOOK, immediately after Trump fired Comey over the media and not in person; he invited the Russians to provide classified information.

He is complaining James Comey has legal issues? Really? What is his legal issues that are going to lock him up, the fact he would not pledge loyalty to a president that provides extremely secret documents to the Russians?

Hillary Clinton used a personal server. (click here) for government business? Really? Ivanka doesn't even begin to cover that allegation as if a crime. Let's talk about the TRUMP COMPANY PRIVATE SERVER and it's repeated connections to Alpha Bank in Russia.

Was the information provided the Russians in PAYMENT for issues with Alpha Bank? Was putting a former Alpha Bank administrator in the US Justice Department part of the deal?

Trump's political rhetoric is based on old stereotypes like his statements about judges in the Ninth Circuit. The reason there are many divisions in the country whereby Circuits are set up is that the enormous size of the USA requires different judges to decide about state law and otherwise, including issues that are dictated by geography.

Now, I know that is too complicated for Trump to begin to sort it out, but, his rhetoric is based in old stereotypes that are full of hate that NO ONE besides him and is disillusioned base seems to care about. It is time Trump take an example from Alabama and it's movement currently to remove old corrupt paradigms that harm citizens.

Trump has NO ROOM TO TALK when it comes to criminal activity and the Republicans are the most shameful party that ever existed in this country. I don't know of another party as corrupt as this one. How could they allow a president to hand over highly classified material to the Russians?

HOW DID THAT HAPPEN !?!

May 16, 2017
By Matt Novak

President Trump in the Oval Office with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak and unnamed staff on Wednesday, May 10, 2017

On Monday, (click here) The Washington Post broke the story that President Trump told Russian officials highly classified information when he met with them in the Oval Office last week. The story has been verified by multiple news outlets, and even Trump himself seemed to verify the story in tweets from this morning. But what kind of information was it?

According to the Post, the information that Trump shared with the Russians is what’s called “Code Word” classified. That’s higher than the classification known as Top Secret.

The lowest level of classification is known as Confidential, followed by Secret and Top Secret. The next level is known as Code Word classified. It provides an extra level above Top Secret to compartmentalize information so that only the most high-level American officials who need to know it can see it. As Amy Zegart at The Atlantic put it, Code Word classification is so obscure that “even fake spies rarely refer to it in the movies.”...

 

Want more victims over Thanksgiving, Donald?

This amounts to the disparity in the mind of Trump that amuses him. He and the First Lady took the week off, except, for holiday activities at the White House and now they are in Maralago, Mara something.

The Mouth needs to be reined in. We know the consequence of the angry words by Trump, it needs to stop. Today, while he enjoys his power and status in creating a week-long holiday for himself, his boredom and obsessive-compulsive observance of any political tone are again ruining at least the holidays for some. I guarantee the judges under verbal attack by Trump are beefing up their security right now.

The Congress needs to get a restraining order against Trump. His political bias is a real problem when it rises to hatred and angry words. We don't want any more dead Americans, let alone judges. He does NOT know how to conduct himself within the restraints of the presidency and there has to be something the Congress can do with him.

April 25, 2005
By Matthew Segal

Recently, hatred against judges (click here) has even resulted in violence--from disgruntled defendants and convicts. On April 6, white supremacist Matthew Hale was sentenced to 40 years' imprisonment for soliciting the murder of federal judge Joan Lefkow--the same judge whose husband and mother were recently killed by someone else. And rape defendant Brian Nichols now stands accused of killing a Georgia Superior Court judge and three others in connection with his March escape from an Atlanta courthouse.

It may be a stretch to connect the criticism of controversial decisions with the violence that has occurred, or may occur in the future--but some Republicans have done so. For instance, Senator John Cornyn said recently that "raw political or ideological decisions" could help to explain this violence. He implied that Congressional intervention in judicial decisionmaking was necessary in order to forestall additional violence.

Meanwhile, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay ominously remarked, referring to the judges who declined to prohibit the removal of Terry Schiavo's feeding tube, "The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior." Senator Frank Lautenberg felt so strongly about this comment that he wrote DeLay a letter stating that DeLay's comments "may violate a Federal criminal statute" prohibiting threats against federal judges.

How can we protect our judges from violence? Answering this question is more difficult than it might seem--and simply hiring more U.S. Marshals, while a good idea, doesn't address why judges are threatened. Tragically, our system may preclude perfect--or near-perfect--protection of our judges....

Why are there 8235 federal employees on unemployment? Why is that total an increase of 533 from the week before? Why the purge of long time federal employees?

Who are they? What are their qualifications? What are their impressions about their dismissal? I am fairly certain there are exit interviews when they leave their government positions. 

My guess is many are inspectors and regulators. Yes? No? Someone needs to chase this down because it is highly unusual. It also appears to be leading up to a government shutdown to justify the purging. Staging. I have to wonder if there is unjustified staging to CYA. Additionally, where has the money from those salaries gone?

What is taking their place? Nothing? Trump is simply throwing people off their jobs?

Donald Trump’s rhetoric operates on old stereotypes. In other words government employees are just sitting around doing nothing but reducing the unemployment rate. That stereotype is frequently racist because many minorities find employment in government positions. I would also expect that reduction in federal employees to have an impact in the states’ government and the private sector. So, what gives? 

I might point out most if not all those jobs are Middle Class jobs. Most government jobs are stable jobs and that is what attracts people to them. In that reality is that federal employees become a part of the brick and mortar of the federal government. With a purging of federal jobs the performance of the government will change.

Are the child detention numbers increasing because their are few to no federal workers carrying out evaluations and reunification or internal placement of those children? Also, why are the children being told they are in jail? They did nothing wrong except love their parents and survive the violence of their country. So, why are the detained children treated as criminals?

The country is floundering.

Ever since Trump took the election, the country has been running aground. It isn't running like it did. That includes Wall Street. The glut of money and the lower tax rate is a waste, because if the customers aren't there to buy the merchandise what good does a low tax rate do any of them.

If the Middle Class isn't humming along, and it isn't, Washington can lower the tax rate all they want and it isn't going to make a darn bit of difference. Either the Middle Class has disposable income or it doesn't and it cannot support the country with their hard work while spending to purchase a higher quality of life.

The reality served up to the media today with the death of Jamal Khashoggi should have been expected. I mean we know this president fairly well by now. It should not have been a surprise. If it were me working for any American media service anywhere, I would expect a detailed report from the CIA in regard to the safety of countries where American media is dispatched by their main offices. Today, what is mandated is the cooperation of the intelligence agencies in securing the journalists stationed abroad.

Things aren't going well internationally. Trump continues to shine on Russia while the actual relationship is deteriorating at every turn. I don't know if the USA has many diplomats in Russia since the May 2018 expelling (click here). Other than the success of the South Korean President in moving toward with reunification, there isn't much optimism in the world. Even allies are disgusted with Trump, especially after the weekend WWI 100 year commemoration in France.

Since the death of Jamal Khashoggi and heinous handling of his body by Saudi Arabia, I am very worried about journalists globally, but, American journalists in particular. I hate the idea that some views of the world through the eyes of journalists that believe in freedom and love democracy, might close to the USA. I am afraid for the countries where leaders are mimicking the idea of "Fake News." Their interpretation of that is very dangerous and not just to the idea of democracy and freedom.

So, the leaders of the best news media of the USA need to decide about the importance of journalists abroad. 

The fact Trump is disinterested in putting Saudi Arabia on notice about this death is not a surprise to me. I think when the so called peace plan for Israel is revealed to the public and other countries involved in the so called peace plan the current status of Saudi Arabia will be clear. That is a dangerous precedent for freedom abroad and within the USA. How can a so called peace plan justify the death and heinous handling of Jamal Khashoggi, journalist at one of the most prestigious news media services in this country?

I strongly believe the President uses the Oval Office for his purposes and he will not accept the responsibility of the presidency based in reality. He speaks to people as an authority and it's laced with lies and false reality. Donald Trump decided today that the CIA was insignificant to his so called peace plan. Isn't the CIA supposed to be involved in securing a peace plan?

The USA is at a very precarious place. I think Trump is a self-serving traitor and lacks any sincere morality. Everyone in the USA has to measure their priorities, that is especially true in supporting freedom and democracy. There should be no doubt an intricate part of democracy is a strong press. Americans need to embrace the media that brings the truth to them and participate in the freedom that brings.

November 20, 2018
By Lauren Debter

The world’s richest man, Jeff Bezos, (click here) is giving nearly $100 million to address homelessness in America in what amounts to his biggest publicly-announced charitable donation yet.

On Tuesday, the Amazon founder ands CEO outlined his plans to give $97.5 million to two dozen nonprofits around the country that are providing services to the homeless. This is the first round of giving that Bezos will conduct as part of his Day One Fund, announced in September, in which he pledged $2 billion to help homeless families and create Montessori-inspired preschools. (Bezos himself attended a Montessori school.)

The nonprofits that will receive funding are located in places like San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Omaha, where they operate emergency and short-term shelters and also help families move into permanent housing. Each organization will receive $2.5 million or $5 million from the Day 1 Families Fund. The money will be used to help the organizations “expand the scope and impact of their efforts,” according to a statement.

“Congrats to the recipients—we know you’ll spend the money wisely and with heart,” wrote Bezos in a tweet....

"...ordered..."

When President Obama wanted to order anything, he and Vice President Biden walked to the local hamburger joint.

Corruption in The West's intelligence agency.

I understand that President Trump does not accept the CIA's conclusion regarding the death of a Washington Post journalist, Jamal Khashoggi. There are a lot of questions to ask about that, including, the fact Trump was instrumental in placing the Crowned Prince into his position of power. I want to know how much the Crowned Prince was mentored by the Trump family, including the President.

There is also another issue, Interpol. I don't see the USA cooperating with Interpol going forward. I don't see any funding heading the way of the agency Interpol going forward either.

This is outrageous. NATO will have to contain their information internally without sharing it with outside countries, including the obviously infiltrated Interpol. While on the subject, the USA has another lousy traitor from Alpha Bank in the justice department and I MIGHT ADD, he was placed there by Trump and his Republican puppet Senate.

Russia and China can have Interpol all to themselves. There needs to be a purging of the records ASAP.

November 18, 2018
By Adveith Nair

Maj. Gen. Alexander Prokopchuk

British officials expect Maj. Gen. Alexander Prokopchuk, (click here) a former major-general at the Russian Interior Ministry, to be elected as Interpol president as soon as Wednesday, The Times reported, without saying where it got the information.

The election would follow the resignation of former President Meng Hongwei, who is now being investigated by Chinese authorities under suspicion of accepting bribes and violating other state laws.

Meng’s election during a closed-door vote in 2016, seen as a coup for the Communist Party, was criticized by human rights groups who warned China might use the perch to facilitate the use of extrajudicial practice -- such as detention without charge....

Or, dissolving journalists in acid.

Recovery from PTSD has a path and it isn't accomplished alone.

Veterans with PTSD need their hotlines staffed with good listeners. BUT, they also need medication and therapy and not just group therapy to help them find their way out of the woods.

PTSD is at the very least debilitating and it is definitely deadly. PART of what is going on is a brain chemistry imbalance. Those deadly thoughts are all effected by brain chemistry. In order to diminish the deadly thoughts is to change the brain chemistry. The brain chemistry surrounding PTSD is NO ONE'S FAULT. It exists and it needs treatment and that treatment has no alternative.

Medication is frequently not enough. When brain chemistry shifts, the person may feel better, but, until their LIFE EXPERIENCE changes for the better their thoughts will be somewhat stuck. So, the person surviving PTSD needs to speak to a therapist one on one in order to move forward. Group therapy can be an added enhancement, however, identifying with the PTSD rather than the movement forward among group members is not where recovery lies. Recovery lies along the future and a better life.

Celebrations of birthdays, as well as religious holidays and traditional military holidays, are very important. Simple things that say "thank you" to veterans struggling with life can make a huge difference. Homelessness is not acceptable for any veteran. Homelessness is survival and locks them into their disorder. They need treatment and they need to be rescued from their past, especially if they are stuck in a thought pattern that doesn't SERVE THEM. That means removing drug addiction and alcoholism, which is a method of SELF-MEDICATING.

The recovery of veterans with PTSD is very complicated when one realizes what is going on with their mind. BUT, the American people are up to this and it is possible. Rescuing the men AND WOMEN suffering from PTSD is important and should not be shunned. Their lives are why the USA is and always has been the greatest country in the world. We have a debt to them and it doesn't stop at making sure they return to their families and lives at home. The debt to our military is a lifetime commitment and one the country needs to take seriously.

When a veteran is down on his luck there is usually a good reason and it simply is not acceptable.

Osama bin Laden and Pakistan

No one will ever convince me the Pakistan ISI never knew bin Laden was housed near the military academy. End of discussion.

This article is according to the Brookings Institute which relays the movements of Osama bin Laden after the USA entered Afghanistan.

...High value target number one, bin Laden, (click here) was surrounded by his family in the Abbottabad villa he was hiding in for six years. Three of his wives, eight of his children and five of his grandchildren were with him. According to the report, he fled Afghanistan’s Tora Bora in late 2001 and moved to the Pakistani city of Kohat, near Peshawar, where his family joined him. They had hidden in Karachi after 9/11, and then moved to the Swat Valley, where bin Laden met with Khalid Sheikh Muhammad (KSM), the tactical mastermind of the 9/11 plot, at least once. KSM was captured by CIA in Pakistan’s military capital Rawalpindi on March 1, 2003, inside a closed military zone, less than a mile from the Army General Headquarters. They had not told ISI they were looking for KSM when they staged the raid. The capture prompted bin Laden to move to Haripur for two years while a special hideout was built for him in Abbottabad. Other bin Laden family members joined him there over time....

No one in the ISI ever questioned the building of a brand new compound near a military institute?  Give me a break. The compound was destroyed by the Pakistani government after the bin Laden raid.

Now that I know Admiral McRaven organized the Seal mission, I apologize for the failure of an entire helicopter. The American people should provide foolproof equipment, especially when considering the lives on the line of some of the most valuable Americans in our military. As a country, our military hardware needs to do better and don't say "Oh, we manage just fine." There have been plenty of failures in the contracts with very wealthy CEOs of our military industrial complex.