December 30, 2017

Two men arrested in the horrific murder of a lesbian family

Source: LGBTQ Nation


James White (left) and Justin Mann Troy Police Department



By Alex Bollinger · Saturday, December 30, 2017

Police announced early this morning that two men were arrested for a quadruple homicide that claimed the lives of a lesbian couple and their two kids.

Justin C. Mann, 24, and James White, 38, both face four charges of first- and second-degree murder. They have both entered pleas of not guilty.

Shanta Myers, 36, her two children Shanise, 5, and Jeremiah, 11, and her partner Brandi Mells, 22, were found dead in their home in Troy, New York, the day after Christmas. Investigators believe they were killed the previous Thursday, December 21.


From left: Shanise Myers, Jeremiah Myers, Brandi Mells, and Shanta Myers

Their family got worried when they didn’t answer the phone, so they asked the property manager to check on them. Police arrived to find the four bound with their throats slit.







Read more: https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2017/12/two-men-arrested-horrific-murder-lesbian-family/

December 30, 2017

The three things saving us from Trump

By Ruth Marcus Deputy editorial page editor December 29 at 7:05 PM

As this appalling year limps to a close, with President Trump consistently underperforming even the lowest of expectations, a note of holiday cheer: Our country’s institutions and values have, so far, proven remarkably resilient.

This outcome was not a given; complacency that it will continue would be dangerous. And yet, after nearly a year of Trump, the warnings about incipient fascism and the insidious ways strongmen acquire power feel overblown. I suspected so from the start, but I wasn’t sure — nor should we be cocky about the future. Still, for now, there are reasons for optimism in the performance of the media, the courts and, yes, even the Republican-dominated Congress — undergirded and reinforced by the American people.

On the media: How scary it is to have a president who derides us as “the enemy of the American people.” To have a cable news network that inflames his worst instincts and recklessly flings suggestions of a “coup” by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. To have nearly half the public, egged on by Trump’s bellowing about “fake news,” believing that reporters simply invent negative stories about the president.

But while Trump & Co. went to war against the press, we went to work, to paraphrase Post Executive Editor Martin Baron. Without that work, the public would probably not know about: former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s contacts with the Russians; Donald Trump Jr.’s “I love it” meeting with a Russian lawyer peddling dirt on Hillary Clinton, and the president’s efforts to mislead people about the event; Trump’s description of fired FBI director James B. Comey as a “nut job” in a meeting with Russian officials in which he also divulged highly classified information. The list goes on.

more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-three-things-saving-us-from-trump/2017/12/29/0ffc0f8a-ec11-11e7-9f92-10a2203f6c8d_story.html

December 30, 2017

How a Local Bureaucrat Made Millions Amid the Rush to Build a Border Fence

The feds faced a deadline to finish the first version of a border wall. Godfrey Garza Jr. of Hildalgo County, Texas, made it happen, and made himself a small fortune along the way. Other than Garza, no one seems too happy about that.

by Kiah Collier and Julián Aguilar, Texas Tribune, and T. Christian Miller, ProPublica. Illustrations by Susie Cagle, special to ProPublica

December 29, 2017

This story was co-published with the Texas Tribune.

EDINBURG, TEXAS — A decade ago, Congress gave officials at the Department of Homeland Security a year to build 60 miles of fence in the Rio Grande Valley to protect the Texas-Mexico border.

They faced determined resistance. Political leaders denounced the border fence as wasteful and ineffective. Landowners refused to sell their property for its construction. Environmentalists argued it would slice up habitat for endangered species in one of the most biodiverse regions in the country.

The officials found a savior in a politically savvy bureaucrat named Godfrey Garza Jr.

A shrewd county insider, Garza ran an obscure agency that had plans to repair 22 miles of crumbling dirt levees running along the Rio Grande, the riverine border between Texas and Mexico. Garza helped negotiate a deal: If Homeland Security would pay to fix the levees, the feds could build their fence on top of them.

more
https://features.propublica.org/eminent-domain-and-the-wall/eminent-domain-border-wall-godfrey-garza-hidalgo-texas

December 30, 2017

America and the Great Abdication

December 30, 2017 at 11:03 am EST By Taegan Goddard

Richard Haass: “When great powers fade, as they inevitably must, it’s normally for one of two reasons. Some powers exhaust themselves through overreach abroad, underinvestment at home, or a mixture of the two. This was the case for the Soviet Union. Other powers lose their privileged position with the emergence of new, stronger powers. This describes what happened with France and Great Britain in the case of Germany’s emergence after World War I and, more benignly, with the European powers and the rise of the United States during and after World War II.”

“To some extent America is facing a version of this—amid what Fareed Zakaria has dubbed “the rise of the rest”—with China’s ascendance the most significant development. But the United States has now introduced a third means by which a major power forfeits international advantage. It is abdication, the voluntary relinquishing of power and responsibility. It is brought about more by choice than by circumstances either at home or abroad.”

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https://politicalwire.com/2017/12/30/america-great-abdication/

December 30, 2017

Newspaper Calls on Brownback to Resign

December 30, 2017 at 9:42 am EST By Taegan Goddard

The Kansas City Star called on Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R), who is still awaiting Senate confirmation to be the U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, to resign:

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https://politicalwire.com/2017/12/30/newspaper-calls-brownback-resign/

December 30, 2017

One Nation, Divided Under Trump

December 29, 2017 at 2:28 pm EST By Taegan Goddard

David Ignatius: “The shrinking space for governance worries me at year-end. The problem begins at the top: President Trump is the most unpopular president in modern times. He’s less admired than his predecessor, Barack Obama. He misreads the nation: The more divisive Trump has become — the more he picks at the nation’s scabs — the less the public likes him, according to polls. Yet Trump persists, playing to his base, with harmful consequences for the country.”

“Trump is a defiant nationalist, and perhaps he hopes to be a unifier. But as this year ends, the numbers tell us that he has brought a level of division and disarray that should worry even his most passionate supporters.”

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https://politicalwire.com/2017/12/29/one-nation-divided-trump/

December 30, 2017

Why Republicans May Face a Turnout Problem In 2018

December 29, 2017 at 1:30 pm EST By Taegan Goddard


David Wasserman: “Trump’s upset was powered by white voters without college degrees. The problem for Republicans? Voters without college degrees have a dismal track record of voting in off-year elections. This is similar to the problem Obama had: His base of young and non-white voters also had a terrible history of showing up in off years. That didn’t change after he took office, and it cost Democrats dearly in 2010 and 2014.”

“Simply put, 2018 is on track to be the “Year of the Angry White College Graduate.” I’d estimate the college-educated share of the electorate will be around 43 or 44 percent next year, up from 39 percent in 2016. That’s dreadful news for Republicans: These voters have indicated the highest intensity of opposition to Trump in polls, and we’ve already seen them power Democrats to victory in Virginia and Alabama.”

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https://politicalwire.com/2017/12/29/republicans-may-face-turnout-problem-2018/

December 30, 2017

Lessons From the Saturday Night Massacre

December 29, 2017 at 12:33 pm EST By Taegan Goddard

Walter Shapiro reminds us that President Nixon held on to power for nine months after he fired special prosecutor Archibald Cox, who was investigating the Watergate break in.

“The actual history of the 1973 Saturday Night Massacre and the weeks that followed serves as a reminder of the many twists in the road to Nixon’s political demise. While the rule of law ultimately prevailed, it was a closer call than many now remember.”

“The larger historical lessons begin with a stark warning to Trump not to interfere with a Justice Department investigation. But they also include the self-defeating naiveté of liberals who believe that Trump is fast on the way to impeachment and conviction.”

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https://politicalwire.com/2017/12/29/lessons-saturday-night-massacre/

December 30, 2017

Civil rights activist Erica Garner dies from heart attack

Source: The Hill




BY JOHN BOWDEN - 12/30/17 10:34 AM EST

Erica Garner, the 27-year-old daughter of Eric Garner who died when a police officer put him in a chokehold over illegally selling cigarettes, died Saturday due to complications from a heart attack.

Garner's Twitter confirmed news reports Saturday morning while issuing a challenge for New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) to address her death without avoiding remarks about police conduct in the city.

https://twitter.com/es_snipes/status/947114329064787968
https://twitter.com/es_snipes/status/947115409550999558
https://twitter.com/es_snipes/status/947115557681270784

Garner was placed into a medically induced coma on Dec. 23 after suffering a heart attack brought on by asthma. News of her hospitalization and Saturday passing prompted an outpouring of support from high profile progressive activists and politicians, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (I).

"My thoughts are with Erica Garner, her family and friends in hoping that she has a full recovery and rejoins the struggle for justice as soon as possible. I have had the privilege of joining with her at a number of events and was deeply impressed with her courage and insights," Sanders tweeted Friday.

Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/366869-civil-rights-activist-erica-garner-dies-from-heart-attack

December 30, 2017

U.S. Could Collapse Like Soviet Union, Ron Paul Says

U.S. FALLING APART LIKE SOVIET UNION COLLAPSE, RON PAUL SAYS

BY JESSICA KWONG ON 12/29/17 AT 4:24 PM

Libertarian Republican leader Ron Paul said that the American system under President Donald Trump is “coming apart” and that the booming economy this year is “a bit of an illusion.”

“We’re on the verge of something like what happened in '89 when the Soviet system just collapsed,” the former Texas congressional representative told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday. “I’m just hoping our system comes apart as gracefully as the Soviet system.”

Paul said that a potential breakdown of the U.S. system due to underlying debt, inflation and inequality could result in a new monetary policy.

“The country’s feeling a lot better, but it’s all on borrowed money,” he said. “It’s a bubble economy in many, many different ways and it’s going to come unglued.”

Paul added that he expects that the U.S.’s footprint abroad will change.

more
http://www.newsweek.com/us-falling-apart-soviet-union-collapse-ron-paul-says-765687