May 11, 2018

Scott Pruitt dined with Cardinal accused of sexual abuse

http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/387216-pruitt-met-with-cardinal-accused-of-sexual-abuse

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) head Scott Pruitt reportedly dined in Rome last year with a Catholic leader who was under investigation at the time for child sexual abuse, according to newly published records.

The New York Times on Thursday released a series of internal communications obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request that show Pruitt dined at a five-star restaurant with Cardinal George Pell in June 2017. Pell, like Pruitt, has expressed skepticism about man-made climate change.

Documents obtained by the Times show that EPA officials began planning for the dinner in May 2017. Pell had also offered to give Pruitt a tour of the Vatican Apostolic Palace, which apparently did not take place.


The Times reported that none of the EPA schedules from that day noted that Pell was at the dinner with Pruitt.

Prior to the trip, EPA officials learned that Pell was under investigation, according to The New York Times' Eric Lipton.

May 11, 2018

"Pence sprinted toward Trump and laid a massive bear hug on him. And he's never let go."

The second it was clear Trump was actually going to be president, Pence grasped the fact that he was now wedded to Trump forever. And, rather than run from that characterization or try to create some healthy distance between himself and the wildly unpredictable President, Pence sprinted toward Trump and laid a massive bear hug on him. And he's never let go.

At every bill signing ceremony, Pence is there -- perched just off Trump's shoulder, smiling and nodding reassuringly. When Trump causes controversy with some impolitic comment, Pence is there to calm the jangled nerves of Republican congressional leaders and give media interviews about what Trump really meant. When Trump holds a Cabinet meeting, Pence is there to lavish praise on the boss man. ("I'm deeply humbled as your vice president to be able to be here," Pence told Trump at an end-of-the-year cabinet meeting in 2017. "Because of your leadership and because of the strong support of the leadership of the Congress, you're delivering on that middle class miracle."

And, when Trump wants an attack dog, Pence is ready and willing -- sticking the knife in, albeit in the nicest possible way. ("I think it's time to wrap it up," Pence told NBC's Andrea Mitchell Thursday of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. "And I would very respectfully encourage the special counsel and his team to bring their work to completion."

Pence is all-out committed to ensuring there is never any space -- perceived or real -- between he and Trump. Trump is his meal-ticket to what he really wants -- which is the job Trump currently has. Whether Trump wins or loses re-election in 2020, Pence's only path to the Republican nomination is being seen by the Trump base as the natural heir to the President's political legacy.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/10/politics/george-will-mike-pence/index.html

May 11, 2018

Woman reports she was raped by officer. Detective drives her to home of accused cop...

Hillview Police Chief William Mahoney III said in a statement that the indictment stems from a September 2017 incident in which Nissen was indirectly involved. Department officials “became concerned” about the allegations and turned the investigation over to the Kentucky State Police, whose investigators in turn gave their findings to Shelly Alvey, the commonwealth attorney for Bullitt County.

The findings led Alvey to seek and obtain Nissen’s indictment.

Alvey told WLKY that the victim went to Hillview police officers to report she’d been raped by an officer in another Bullitt County department. Detectives interviewed the woman about the allegations.

“(Nissen) agreed to take her home, and the allegation is that when he left the police department, he actually drove her to the home of the alleged perpetrator,” Alvey told the news station.

From there, Nissen and the other officer, whose name has not been made public, took the woman to Wal-Mart, where they pooled their money to buy her a phone, Alvey told The Pioneer News, Bullitt County’s community newspaper.

Nissen is accused of then taking the woman to a hotel and paying for a room, at which point he demanded oral sex from her, the newspaper reported. He also told the woman it was time for her to move to another jurisdiction, Alvey said.

https://www.ajc.com/news/national/prosecutor-detective-driving-rape-victim-home-takes-her-hotel-rapes-her-again/zwKDkyuEg4r5oRQYGmhR2H/

May 10, 2018

new graffiti at Duke University

Someone painted this graffiti regarding Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs, on a tunnel on Campus Drive at Duke University.

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article210884589.html

Duke president apologizes for coffee shop incident, says university has work to do on race
BY JANE STANCILL

Duke University President Vincent Price apologized Thursday for a campus climate marred by recent racial incidents, and he said he was sorry a senior administrator's complaint about rap music at a coffee shop got two baristas fired.

In an email to students, faculty and staff Thursday, Price said: "Something has to change," adding, "I will simply say that I am deeply sorry that we are not where we want to be as a university."

----
Anger has bubbled up at Duke after the firing on Monday of two baristas at the Duke-based Joe Van Gogh coffee shop after Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta visited the shop and complained about a rap song that included multiple profanities and use of the n-word. The situation led to a protest on campus Thursday, with students marching to Moneta's office. Someone also painted graffiti that said "Dump Moneta!" on the walls of a tunnel on Duke's campus.

May 10, 2018

White House official, Kelly Sadler, makes fun of 'dying' John McCain at meeting

A White House official made light of Sen. John McCain's battle with brain cancer during an internal meeting Thursday.

"It doesn't matter, he's dying anyway," special assistant to the President Kelly Sadler said, according to a source, The Hill reported.

adler took the jab at McCain's health after the Arizona Republican announced his opposition to Gina Haspel, President Trump's nominee to head the Central Intelligence Agency.

The derisive comment was reportedly made during a discussion of Haspel's nomination.

A second source familiar with the discussion said there was "discomfort" in the room following the insult, The Hill reported.

"We respect Senator McCain's service to our nation and he and his family are in our prayers during this difficult time," the White House said in a statement to The Hill.


http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/white-house-official-fun-dying-john-mccain-meeting-article-1.3983248

A White House official derisively dismissed John McCain’s opposition to President Trump’s CIA nominee in a closed-door staff meeting Thursday by saying that the Arizona senator battling brain cancer is “dying anyway,” according to another White House official with knowledge of the comment.

Kelly Sadler, a special assistant in the communications office who helps manage talking points for Trump allies, made the comment about McCain during a discussion among the White House communications staffers about Gina Haspel’s nomination for CIA director, which the Arizona Republican announced Wednesday that he opposed.

“It doesn’t matter, he’s dying anyway,” Sadler said, according to the official with knowledge of the comment, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because remarks made during internal meetings are intended to remain confidential.

Sadler’s comment was first reported by The Hill and confirmed by The Washington Post.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/white-house-official-derides-mccain-over-haspel-opposition-hes-dying-anyway/2018/05/10/b8aa4422-54a2-11e8-a551-5b648abe29ef_story.html?utm_term=.14ce80ec2aa8

May 10, 2018

Braasch called cops on other black Yale student. he was making her "uncomfortable" , "didn't belong"

Siyonbola told the Yale Daily News that the May 8 incident wasn’t her first run-in with Braasch. In February she invited a group of graduate students to her dorm for a meeting in the common room. Jean-Louis Reneson, a black grad student, told the Daily News that he got lost in the building when he arrived and was “physically blocked” from entering the common room by Braasch after he asked her for directions. Reneson and Siyonbola filed a complaint about that incident with Yale’s Associate Dean for Graduate Student Development and Diversity Michelle Nearon. The Daily News obtained a copy of that complaint.

Reneson said Braasch did not appear to think he was a Yale student and accused him of being an intruder. “Feeling ignored, I went down to the base of the twelfth floor and eleventh floor and turned my back, but she continued to verbally assault me from the twelfth floor claiming that I ‘didn’t belong here’ and I was making her ‘uncomfortable,’” Reneson told the newspaper. He said Braasch left and Reneson went to the meeting, but four officers soon showed up to investigate a “suspicious character.” They quickly established Reneson was a student invited to the building by Siyonbola and left, the newspaper reports.

https://heavy.com/news/2018/05/sarah-braasch/

May 10, 2018

Jim Carrey- new painting has hidden code

Hint. Unscramble the letters

https://twitter.com/JimCarrey/status/994266398573514752/photo/1

May 10, 2018

update on Hawaii. experts warn of rocks projectiles, volcanic smog and acid rain

https://twitter.com/USGSVolcanoes/status/994282094904856576/photo/1?tfw_site=NPR&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.npr.org%2Fsections%2Fthetwo-way%2F2018%2F05%2F10%2F609948589%2Fscientists-warn-that-hawaiis-kilauea-volcano-could-erupt-ballistic-rocks

Kilauea volcano could fire boulders weighing several tons up to a mile through the air experts warn, as Hawaiians are told to brace for volcanic smog and acid rain
Officials are now warning the dangerous levels of sulfur dioxide gas following the Kilauea eruption last week
Gases could combine with moisture and dust in the air to cause volcanic smog, or 'vog'
Vog carries tiny drops of sulfuric acid which cause respiratory problems, even triggering asthma attacks in sufferers, and cause damage to the lungs, eyes and headaches
Gases could also cause acid rain, which can damage crops and cars, and could potentially cause lead poisoning if it gets into the local water supply
The Kilauea volcano could also erupt explosively and send boulders, rocks and ash into the air around its summit in the coming weeks, according to the U.S. Geological Survey
Volcano could sent rocks, two yards in diameter and weighing several tons, flying up to a mile away
Risk will rise if the lava drops below the groundwater level, meaning an influx of water inside which could cause steam-driven explosions
Kilauea has destroyed 35 homes & buildings and forced 1,700 people to evacuate in Leilani Estates area
Emergency crews have warned residents to 'go now' before more homes are destroyed by lava flows
By Hannah Parry For Dailymail.com











Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5711869/Hawaii-residents-told-brace-volcanic-smog-acid-rain.html#ixzz5F5hOECjB



https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hawaii-kilaeua-volcano-explosive-eruptions-ballistic-rocks-ashfall-lava-usgs-warning-today-2018-05-09/

May 9, 2018

Durham Sheriff Mike Andrews TROUNCED in election after posting "Amen" to a Racist Facebook Comment

Durham Sheriff Mike Andrews Denies Saying “Amen” to a Racist Facebook Comment

In that post, which circulated widely among politically active members of Durham’s Facebook community this morning, someone from Sheriff Mike Andrews’s re-election Facebook page appears to say “Amen, Bobby!” to a comment from a man warning people not to “apathetically sit home on your tails … as city block voters immigrants and minorities will FLOCK to the polls.” (In context, “block voters” could mean “black voters.”) He continues: “THEN the city special interests will vote out the old… and man … you won’t like the ethic takeover new.” (Again, in context, “ethic takeover” could mean “ethnic takeover.”)

Andrews—who has faced questions throughout this campaign about deaths in the county jail, his handling of the Confederate statue toppling, and his department’s cozy relationship with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement—faces Clarence Birkhead in today’s election. Birkhead has been endorsed by the INDY and the People’s Alliance.

Reached by phone via the number on his Facebook page, Bobby Cheatham told the INDY he doesn’t use Facebook much, then hung up. When the INDY called back, he said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” and said to stop calling him.

The post appears to have been deleted. Andrews did not respond to the INDY’s phone calls and an email seeking comment. Several people have posted similar screenshots of the comment thread on Andrews’s Facebook page and asked for an explanation, but so far none has been forthcoming.

https://www.indyweek.com/news/archives/2018/05/08/durham-sheriff-mike-andrews-denies-saying-amen-to-a-racist-facebook-comment

Birkhead trounces incumbent in race for Durham County sheriff
BY VIRGINIA BRIDGES


DURHAM
Challenger Clarence Birkhead took an early lead and kept it Tuesday night, putting himself on track to become Durham County's first black sheriff.

Some 31,344 people cast ballots, with Birkhead winning 69 percent of the votes to incumbent Sheriff Mike Andrews' 31 percent.

There are no Republicans running, so barring a successful write-in candidate in November, Tuesday's Democratic primary winner will become sheriff.

May 9, 2018

The big question about Trump that's sitting in plain sight, unanswered

Earlier today on “Morning Joe,” Mika Brzezinski raised the question of whether President Trump’s decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal was really an effort to “deflect” from other story lines — that is, from the many scandals now consuming the administration.

“Our allies are upset, for sure, at a time when I think the president’s sanity is being questioned globally,” Brzezinski said, adding that “the totality of this president’s behavior and decisions” raises the question of whether “he has the moral compass to make a decision based on our own national security even, at this point.”

This hints at a broader question, one that is sitting there right at the end of our noses: Is Trump capable of formulating — or operating in accordance with — any meaningful conception or vision of what is good for the country?

This question goes beyond the particulars of the Iran nuclear deal. On that front, you can read this Post editorial calmly demolishing the decision as a deeply reckless one that makes war more likely. Or you can read The Post fact-checking team’s comprehensive debunking of the lies and distortions that Trump himself offered in explaining the decision.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2018/05/09/the-big-question-about-trump-thats-sitting-in-plain-sight-unanswered/?utm_term=.1c53b7ce6e24

Again and again and again, Trump has made decisions that are obviously not rooted in any meaningful effort to evaluate their substantive and moral complexities or potential consequences.