DonViejo
DonViejo's JournalWhite House opioid commission calls for wide-ranging changes to anti-drug policies
Source: The Washington Post
By Lenny Bernstein November 1 at 2:15 PM
President Trump's commission on the opioid crisis called Wednesday for a nationwide system of drug courts and easier access to alternatives to opioids for people in pain, part of a wide-ranging menu of upgrades it said are needed to curb the opioid epidemic.
The commission, headed by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), called for expanding drug courts — an alternative system that tries to channel substance abusers accused of crimes into treatment — into all 93 federal court jurisdictions.
The report came six days after Trump declared the opioid crisis a “public health emergency,” which the commission had urged in its interim report released in July. That designation allows Trump to direct all federal agencies to speed aid to cities and states in the grip of what he called “the worst drug crisis in American history.”
One important step he signaled was a decision to have the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services waive a 1970s-era policy that blocked Medicaid payments to inpatient treatment facilities with more than 16 substance-abuse beds. That should make treatment more widely available. Trump also said the Postal Service and the Department of Homeland Security are strengthening package inspections in an attempt to reduce the flow of the street drug fentanyl, much of which is synthesized in China, sent to the United States and mixed with powdered heroin by dealers.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2017/11/01/white-house-opioid-commission-calls-for-wide-ranging-changes-to-anti-drug-policies
Trump Seeks to End Visa Program He Blamed for Allowing New York Attacker in the U.S.
Source: New York Times
By PETER BAKERNOV. 1, 2017
WASHINGTON — President Trump said on Wednesday that he would consider sending the suspect arrested after the terrorist attack in New York to the American prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and called on Congress to cancel a longstanding immigration program that he blamed for allowing the man into the country.
The president’s comments came at the beginning of a cabinet meeting a day after an immigrant from Uzbekistan plowed a pickup truck along a crowded bicycle path in Manhattan, killing eight people. Asked by reporters if he would send the suspect to Guantanamo, Mr. Trump said, “I would certainly consider that.”
“Send him to Gitmo, I would certainly consider that, yes,” Mr. Trump said.
No one arrested on American soil has ever been sent to Guantánamo Bay, and no one captured on foreign soil has been sent there since 2008. Transferring the suspect from New York would raise a host of constitutional and legal issues, and it was not clear that Mr. Trump actually would follow through on the idea since his comment was in reaction to a question rather than part of his prepared remarks.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/01/us/politics/trump-new-york-attack-schumer-visa.html
NPR's Head Of News Resigns Following Harassment Allegations
Source: NPR
November 1, 201712:13 PM ET
MERRIT KENNEDY
NPR's senior vice president for news, Michael Oreskes, has resigned following allegations of sexual harassment from several women.
"This morning I asked Mike Oreskes for his resignation because of inappropriate behavior," NPR CEO Jarl Mohn wrote in an email to NPR staff on Wednesday. "I have received his resignation, effective immediately."
In a statement, Oreskes said, "I am deeply sorry to the people I hurt. My behavior was wrong and inexcusable, and I accept full responsibility."
Oreskes was placed on leave Tuesday night following a report in The Washington Post about allegations by two women that they had been harassed in the late 1990s. As NPR's David Folkenflik reported: "They included similar accounts of unwanted and unexpected kisses during business meetings."
Read more: http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/11/01/561363158/nprs-head-of-news-resigns-following-harassment-allegations
The real John Kelly slowly revealing himself at White House
By ZEKE MILLER
Today
WASHINGTON (AP) — In his three months on the job, John Kelly has been credited with bringing order to a chaotic West Wing, but don’t call him a moderate. President Donald Trump’s chief of staff was the enforcer of Trump’s controversial immigration policies, has frequently criticized the president’s enemies, and this week echoed his boss’ defense of Confederate monuments.
It all suggests that “The Chief,” as he is known among aides, may have instilled order, but he is more ideologically aligned with Trump than many believed.
Much has been made of the imagery of Kelly silently lurking on the sidelines of presidential addresses, seeming to cringe when Trump gets out of line. But it may be wishful thinking by Trump’s critics to believe that he’s tugging the president in another direction.
White House officials and Kelly allies say he is not so much partisan as he is ideological, holding hawkish views on issues like immigration and national security.
One ally, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations, said Kelly was undoubtedly conservative in mindset. The ally said Kelly’s striking Oct. 19 press conference lamenting the nation’s diminishing respect for women, religion and Gold Star families bared his true feelings.
more
https://apnews.com/574b5238a7dd47c5bc5a5fd7e06f6db9
Russian Bots Targeted Clinton, Mueller Before Charges
RUSSIAN BOTS TARGETED CLINTON AND MUELLER LEADING UP TO COLLUSION INDICTMENTSBY JESSICA KWONG ON 11/1/17 AT 10:28 AM
Russian bots spread stories relating to a controversial uranium deal linked to Hillary Clinton in the days before Robert Mueller indicted three former Trump campaign members over collusion in Russia's attempt to influence the 2016 election.
Hamilton 68, a nonpartisan security research project tracing Russia-tied information warfare on Twitter, examined 58 unique URLs promoted by accounts linked to the Kremlin between October 14 and 20 and found that the most prominent theme—making up 24 percent of links shared—was a deal that Clinton and the Obama administration passed giving Moscow control of U.S. uranium while the FBI had proof of Russian bribery.
The original story by The Hill was a top story for a number of days and “all other URLs shared promoted some variation on a theme of corruption, collusion, cover-up by the Clinton-led State Department and/or the Mueller-led FBI (#ClintonRussianCollusion was also a top hashtag last week),” according to Hamilton 68.
Clinton sat on the committee that approved the deal while Russian officials routed millions of dollars to the U.S. benefiting the charitable foundation of her husband, former President Bill Clinton, according to documents the FBI obtained and an eyewitness account from an undercover informant.
Outside of the uranium topic, 17 percent of URLs shared criticized Mueller, former FBI Director James Comey and Clinton.
Hamilton 68 also recorded a spike in attacks directed at Mueller since Friday, when reports indicated his team would proceed with indictments. On Monday, the guilty pleas of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, his former business associate Richard Gates and former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos were unsealed.
Russian bots swarmed social media leading up to the November presidential election, and continue to strike before significant political events.
Bots played a role in targeting Twitter users in swing states with more fake news than real news in the 10 days before the presidential election and the false information helped Donald Trump win, an Oxford University study published last month found.
Information on social media platforms including Twitter and Facebook can become inaccessible easily due to the way the companies operate. Officials from both tech giants are testifying before congressional investigators on how Russian propaganda infiltrated the networks before the election.
"You launch a disinformation campaign in the digital age and then all evidence of that campaign can just disappear," Samantha Bradshaw, a lead researcher for the Oxford study, told Mother Jones.
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http://www.newsweek.com/russian-bots-targeted-clinton-and-mueller-leading-collusion-indictments-698160
Full article posted with the permission of Newsweek Magazine -- Don
George Papadopoulos Lied On His Resume for Policy Job
GEORGE PAPADOPOULOS LIED ON HIS RESUME TO GET TRUMP CAMPAIGN FOREIGN POLICY JOB, FORMER EMPLOYER SAYSBY LINLEY SANDERS ON 11/1/17 AT 10:48 AM
The Trump campaign adviser who lied to the FBI about his meetings with a Kremlin-linked Russian professor also played fast and loose with the truth on his resume to get his job as a foreign policy aide, a former employer said.
George Papadopoulos, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his attempts to get dirt on Hillary Clinton from the Russians, claimed on his resume to have worked as a research assistant at the Hudson Institute for almost five years. His LinkedIn profile said he worked with three senior fellows from March 2011 through September 2015 and led energy security projects for Eastern Mediterranean countries until accepting a role on Ben Carson’s presidential campaign.
But the conservative think tank said in a statement that Papadopoulos was just an unpaid intern in 2011 and only worked as a freelance contractor for one Hudson senior fellow in 2013 and 2014. A former manager for Papadopoulos did not respond to comment on the timeline inconsistencies, but the Hudson Institute said he exaggerated his time there.
“Mr. Papadopoulos was never a salaried employee of Hudson Institute,” the statement said. “We have had no relationship with him since 2014, and it would be inappropriate for us to comment on legal proceedings of which we have no knowledge and to which we are not a party.”
Richard Weitz, a senior fellow who managed Papadopoulos, called him “productive, outgoing” and “a great asset to any team,” at the end of his 2011 internship.
more
http://www.newsweek.com/george-papadopoulos-lied-his-resume-698409
Russia manipulated US Christians with bizarre Facebook meme showing...Clinton fist-fighting Jesus
Russia manipulated US Christians with bizarre Facebook meme showing Hillary Clinton fist-fighting JesusBRAD REED
01 NOV 2017 AT 11:42 ET
Earlier this week, it was revealed that a Russian-backed website launched a campaign to convince conservatives that African-Americans had turned against the celebration of Christmas.
Now a new Russian Facebook meme revealed by Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) during a Senate Intelligence hearing on Wednesday shows that the Russian government took over-the-top measures to depict former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton as anti-Christian by showing her getting into a boxing match with Jesus Christ.
The meme, which was made by a Russia-created Facebook Christian group called “Army of Jesus,” shows Jesus and Clinton — who is dressed in a red devil costume complete with horns — facing off against one another with their fists raised. The caption under the meme reads, “‘Like’ if you want Jesus to win!”
https://twitter.com/marcusgilmer/status/925733357425655813
As Mashable notes, the Senate hearings also revealed that Russian Facebook groups tried to organize both pro-Muslim and anti-Muslim demonstrations that would occur at the exact same times and places, in an effort to spark conflict between groups that shared mutual hatreds.
Watch video of the hearing below:
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https://www.rawstory.com/2017/11/russia-manipulated-u-s-christians-with-bizarre-facebook-meme-showing-hillary-clinton-fist-fighting-jesus/
Bill O'Reilly tried to talk Sinclair Broadcasting into giving him a job -- and got rejected: report
BRAD REED
01 NOV 2017 AT 10:56 ET
Disgraced former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly for months has been rumored as a possible hire by Sinclair Broadcasting, the right-wing media company that has forced local TV news stations to run pro-Trump content during their broadcasts. However, it seems that O’Reilly won’t be bringing his talents to Sinclair anytime soon.
Leon Lazaroff, a reporter on the media industry for The Street, writes that O’Reilly reached out to Sinclair about potentially getting a job earlier this year. However, Sinclair CEO Jeff Ripley said that the company wanted nothing to do with him.
https://twitter.com/LeonLazaroff/status/925723008119033856
Earlier this month, O’Reilly was dropped by his own talent agency after it was revealed that he paid out a massive $32 million to settle just one of his many sexual harassment claims.
O’Reilly was fired by Fox this past April after a bombshell report revealed O’Reilly and Fox had in total paid out $13 million to five women who had accused him of harassment.
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https://www.rawstory.com/2017/11/bill-oreilly-tried-to-talk-sinclair-broadcasting-into-giving-him-a-job-and-got-rejected-report/
Poll: Most say this is lowest point they can remember for US
BY REBECCA SAVRANSKY - 11/01/17 07:59 AM EDT
A majority of people surveyed in a new poll say this is the lowest point in U.S. history.
A recent poll published by the American Psychological Association finds 59 percent of Americans surveyed think this is the lowest point in the nation's history that they can remember.
A slightly larger percentage, 63 percent, say they are stressed about the nation's future, according to the poll.
Nearly three-quarters of Democrats, 73 percent, say they are stressed about the future of the nation, compared to 56 percent of Republicans and 59 percent of independents.
more
http://thehill.com/homenews/news/358160-poll-most-say-this-is-the-lowest-point-in-us-history
Trump suggests repealing ObamaCare mandate in tax bill
Source: The Hill
President Trump on Wednesday suggested that Republicans could use their tax reform bill to repeal ObamaCare’s individual mandate.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/925739132579729420
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) has been pushing the idea of repealing the mandate in tax reform. A Cotton spokeswoman told The Hill that Cotton and Trump spoke by phone about the idea over the weekend and "the President indicated his strong support."
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said this week that he wouldn’t rule out including the repeal of the mandate in the tax legislation. But other top Republicans have rejected the idea, including House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) and Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.). They fear adding mandate repeal into the mix could jeopardize tax reform.
The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that repealing the mandate would save the government $416 billion over a decade.
Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/358201-trump-suggests-repealing-obamacare-mandate-in-tax-bill
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Name: DonGender: Male
Hometown: Massachusetts
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Member since: Sat Sep 1, 2012, 03:28 PM
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