A Russian newspaper editor explains how Putin made Trump his puppet

Source: Vox

“They consider him a stupid, unstrategic politician.”

Mikhail Fishman is the editor-in-chief of the Moscow Times, an English-language weekly newspaper published in Moscow. The paper is well-known for its criticisms of Russian President Vladimir Putin; indeed, it was targeted twice in 2015 by Russian hackers and has been attacked repeatedly by pro-Kremlin pundits.

A Russian citizen and an outspoken critic of Putin, Fishman has covered Russian politics for more than 15 years. For the last couple of years, he has monitored the increasingly bizarre relationship between Putin and Trump, with a particular focus on Putin’s strategic aims.

In this interview, originally conducted in February, I ask Fishman how Trump is perceived in Russia, why Putin is actively undermining global democracy, and what Russia hopes to gain from the political disorder in America.

Read more: https://www.vox.com/conversations/2017/2/22/14697718/trump-putin-helsinki-meeting-hillary-clinton

Employee at shelter housing migrant children faced sexual misconduct allegations

Source: The Kansas City Star

A man with a history of sexual misconduct allegations is employed at the Topeka nonprofit that is housing nearly four dozen migrant children, including some separated from their parents at the border.

Jeff Montague, human resources manager for The Villages Inc., was arrested in Topeka in 2007 for solicitation of sodomy in Gage Park, records show. And in 1989, the Boy Scouts of America severed ties with Montague after being told that he’d been suspended from his teaching position at Seaman High School in Topeka because of allegations of sexual advances toward a male foreign exchange student.

Sylvia Crawford, executive director of The Villages, said in an email that a former employee raised concerns about Montague's past about a year ago.

At that time, Crawford said, "both DCF and the Inspector General’s office completed an investigation with no corrective action required on our part."



Read more: https://www.kansascity.com/news/state/kansas/article214458119.html

Wow! Absolutely Stunning!

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What is the point of pardoning Scooter Libby now?

Zuckerburg in 2006 saying user information will never be used or sold unless users ask for it

Missouri lawmakers send message to Eric Greitens: We dont need you

Missouri is in the midst of a grand experiment: How effectively can it operate without a governor?

Snip: As Greitens struggles to deal with multiple investigations on multiple fronts, the Missouri House and Senate have taken big steps on K-12 funding, higher education, early childhood education and highway funding.

In doing so, lawmakers have dismissed Greitens’ budget priorities out of hand time after time. It all adds up to an astonishing display of independence. The man’s who’s supposed to be the most powerful official in the state is routinely being ignored.

The General Assembly has been aided by its veteran leadership: Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard ranks as the only man in state history to lead both the House and Senate. House Speaker Todd Richardson continues to command the respect of both Republicans and Democrats in a chamber long known more for its chaos than its order. That’s a considerable feat.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/opinion/editorials/article207523209.html#storylink=cpy

BEN CARSON, RETIRED BRAIN SURGEON, HAS LOBOTOMIZED HUD

Neurosurgery, one would assume, is a difficult task requiring intelligence, skill, and intense focus. But as former presidential candidate and current Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson recently declared, it is a positive cakewalk compared to working in Donald Trump’s White House.

“There are more complexities here than in brain surgery,” Carson told The New York Times in an interview, perhaps a lame excuse for what the Times revealed to be a morass of problems at HUD: steep cuts to both staffers and budget; a brewing ethics scandal over Carson’s furniture budget; and a president indifferent to both the mission of HUD and to the man he appointed to lead it, whom he reportedly considers a beta “winner,” not an aggressive “killer.”

The result, as the Times reports, is that Carson has been either unable or unwilling to secure the funds that HUD desperately needs to take care of the millions of low-income Americans who rely on public housing and other forms of assistance:


https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/03/how-ben-carson-hobbled-hud

Shouldn't the president of the US have to pass an FBI security clearance?

Apparently not.


https://www.quora.com/Does-the-U-S-President-have-the-highest-level-security-clearance-in-the-U-S-When-are-U-S-Presidents-vetted-Have-all-U-S-Presidents-met-the-requirements