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Exotica
Exotica's Journal
Exotica's Journal
March 21, 2018
IT’S A COLD JANUARY NIGHT in D.C., and I’m at the Hart Senate Office Building, trailing U.S. Senator Kamala Harris into a conference room. Inside, a group of young Latino congressional staffers has gathered to meet the Democratic star from California. When she enters, flanked by aides, and dressed in a navy suit, matching ruffled blouse, black pearls, and stilettos that give her petite five-feet-four frame a few extra inches of height, the staffers immediately rise from their chairs.
Harris has an air of celebrity that, under normal circumstances, a freshman senator wouldn’t have had time to acquire. But this year has been anything but normal. She greets the 20-somethings as though they’re relatives at a family reunion: “Hi, everybody! Hi, guys!” Then she notices that one of the staffers is still seated, and her voice drops a full octave: “Stand up, man!”
Harris is a courtroom litigator. This means that, although she is warm and funny, she is also comfortable with confrontation—at home with it, even—and a casual conversation can become a rapid-fire deposition without warning. But exchanges like this one are also tutorials. In Figueroa’s case: Here is how you greet an elected official. He’s going to need to know this, you see, if he runs for office, or applies to law school, or makes any of the life choices Harris expects of him.
She settles into a chair and tells the group—they are all policy fellows with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute—that, in her sophomore year of college at Howard University, she worked as an intern for the senior senator from California at the time, Alan Cranston. “So you’re looking at your future,” Harris says. “He was succeeded by Barbara Boxer, and I succeeded Barbara Boxer. So you neva know!”
snip
Kamala Harris Is Dreaming Big
https://www.vogue.com/article/kamala-harris-interview-vogue-april-2018IT’S A COLD JANUARY NIGHT in D.C., and I’m at the Hart Senate Office Building, trailing U.S. Senator Kamala Harris into a conference room. Inside, a group of young Latino congressional staffers has gathered to meet the Democratic star from California. When she enters, flanked by aides, and dressed in a navy suit, matching ruffled blouse, black pearls, and stilettos that give her petite five-feet-four frame a few extra inches of height, the staffers immediately rise from their chairs.
Harris has an air of celebrity that, under normal circumstances, a freshman senator wouldn’t have had time to acquire. But this year has been anything but normal. She greets the 20-somethings as though they’re relatives at a family reunion: “Hi, everybody! Hi, guys!” Then she notices that one of the staffers is still seated, and her voice drops a full octave: “Stand up, man!”
“What’s your last name?” demands Harris.
“Figueroa.”
“Thank you!” She shakes his hand. “Kamala Harris.” (That’s pronounced “comma-la,” by the way, and you’d better get it right.)
Harris is a courtroom litigator. This means that, although she is warm and funny, she is also comfortable with confrontation—at home with it, even—and a casual conversation can become a rapid-fire deposition without warning. But exchanges like this one are also tutorials. In Figueroa’s case: Here is how you greet an elected official. He’s going to need to know this, you see, if he runs for office, or applies to law school, or makes any of the life choices Harris expects of him.
She settles into a chair and tells the group—they are all policy fellows with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute—that, in her sophomore year of college at Howard University, she worked as an intern for the senior senator from California at the time, Alan Cranston. “So you’re looking at your future,” Harris says. “He was succeeded by Barbara Boxer, and I succeeded Barbara Boxer. So you neva know!”
snip
March 20, 2018
California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) referred to the acting director of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement as an “A-plus prick” in an email acquired by the apparent media arm of a Republican opposition research firm.
The Washington Examiner reported Tuesday that Newsom insulted acting ICE director Thomas Homan in an email sent to his sister that was acquired by NTK Network, a conservative news website created by the co-founder of GOP opposition research firm America Rising. NTK, an abbreviation for “Need To Know,” obtained the email sent from Newsom’s government email through a California Pulic Records Act request.
In the February 28 email, which Newsom sent to his sister Hilary, the lieutenant governor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate cited ICE’s attacks on Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, who came under the agency’s fire after warning residents of upcoming immigration raids.
The state of California and the Trump administration have been locked in battle for weeks over the state’s so-called “sanctuary” laws that signal local law enforcement will not cooperate with the increasingly aggressive immigration enforcement. After the Justice Department sued the state for enacting sanctuary policies, California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) said the Trump DOJ had declared “war” against the state.
snip
Gavin Newsom, Californias lieutenant governor called the head of ICE an A-plus prick
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/californias-lieutenant-governor-called-head-ice-plus-prick/California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) referred to the acting director of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement as an “A-plus prick” in an email acquired by the apparent media arm of a Republican opposition research firm.
The Washington Examiner reported Tuesday that Newsom insulted acting ICE director Thomas Homan in an email sent to his sister that was acquired by NTK Network, a conservative news website created by the co-founder of GOP opposition research firm America Rising. NTK, an abbreviation for “Need To Know,” obtained the email sent from Newsom’s government email through a California Pulic Records Act request.
In the February 28 email, which Newsom sent to his sister Hilary, the lieutenant governor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate cited ICE’s attacks on Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, who came under the agency’s fire after warning residents of upcoming immigration raids.
“No doubt in my mind they will target us,” Newsom wrote. “The ice director is an a plus prick [and] this is a personal / political strategy, get ready.”
The state of California and the Trump administration have been locked in battle for weeks over the state’s so-called “sanctuary” laws that signal local law enforcement will not cooperate with the increasingly aggressive immigration enforcement. After the Justice Department sued the state for enacting sanctuary policies, California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) said the Trump DOJ had declared “war” against the state.
snip
March 14, 2018
Finland has overtaken Norway to become the happiest nation on earth, according to a UN report. The 2018 World Happiness Report also charts the steady decline of the US as the world’s largest economy grapples with a crisis of obesity, substance abuse and depression.
The study reveals the US has slipped to 18th place, five places down on 2016. The top four places are taken by Nordic nations, with Finland followed by Norway, Denmark and Iceland.
Burundi in east Africa, scarred by bouts of ethnic cleansing, civil wars and coup attempts, is the unhappiest place in the world. Strikingly, there are five other nations – Rwanda, Yemen, Tanzania, South Sudan and the Central African Republic – which report happiness levels below that of even Syria.
For the first time the UN also examined the happiness levels of immigrants in each country, and found Finland also scored highest.
“Finland has vaulted from fifth place to the top of the rankings this year,” said the report’s authors, although they noted that the other three Nordic countries (plus Switzerland) have almost interchangeable scores.
snip
the report
https://s3.amazonaws.com/happiness-report/2018/WHR_web.pdf
top 10
1. Finland (7.632)
2. Norway (7.594)
3. Denmark (7.555)
4. Iceland (7.495)
5. Switzerland (7.487)
6. Netherlands (7.441)
7. Canada (7.328)
8. New Zealand (7.324)
9. Sweden (7.314)
10. Australia (7.272)
Finland is the happiest country in the world, says UN report
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/14/finland-happiest-country-world-un-reportFinland has overtaken Norway to become the happiest nation on earth, according to a UN report. The 2018 World Happiness Report also charts the steady decline of the US as the world’s largest economy grapples with a crisis of obesity, substance abuse and depression.
The study reveals the US has slipped to 18th place, five places down on 2016. The top four places are taken by Nordic nations, with Finland followed by Norway, Denmark and Iceland.
Burundi in east Africa, scarred by bouts of ethnic cleansing, civil wars and coup attempts, is the unhappiest place in the world. Strikingly, there are five other nations – Rwanda, Yemen, Tanzania, South Sudan and the Central African Republic – which report happiness levels below that of even Syria.
For the first time the UN also examined the happiness levels of immigrants in each country, and found Finland also scored highest.
“Finland has vaulted from fifth place to the top of the rankings this year,” said the report’s authors, although they noted that the other three Nordic countries (plus Switzerland) have almost interchangeable scores.
snip
the report
https://s3.amazonaws.com/happiness-report/2018/WHR_web.pdf
top 10
1. Finland (7.632)
2. Norway (7.594)
3. Denmark (7.555)
4. Iceland (7.495)
5. Switzerland (7.487)
6. Netherlands (7.441)
7. Canada (7.328)
8. New Zealand (7.324)
9. Sweden (7.314)
10. Australia (7.272)
March 13, 2018
A Republican congressional candidate and RNC committee member has personally apologized for a tweet his campaign sent out promoting an article that called his opponent a “turban topper” who “could be a muslim, a hindu, a buddhist etc who knows.”
Republican Mike Pompeo, who is running for a congressional seat in Kansas’s Fourth District, called State Rep. Raj Goyle on Thursday to offer his regrets for the offending post, Goyle told the Huffington Post. The apology was accepted. But Goyle, who seeks the seat being vacated by Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS), was not necessarily done re-litigating the matter.
also
Kansas GOP Candidate Links to Racist Blog
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kansas-gop-candidate-links-to-racist-blog/
Republican congressional candidate Mike Pompeo apologized Thursday after his campaign posted on its Twitter feed and Facebook page a link to a blog that uses a racial slur to refer to his Democratic opponent and calls President Obama an "evil muslim communist USURPER."
FUCK POMPEO!
Our SoS to-be is a POS who called his Indian-American opponent a turban-topper
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/12/mike-pompeo-gop-candidate_n_680612.htmlA Republican congressional candidate and RNC committee member has personally apologized for a tweet his campaign sent out promoting an article that called his opponent a “turban topper” who “could be a muslim, a hindu, a buddhist etc who knows.”
Republican Mike Pompeo, who is running for a congressional seat in Kansas’s Fourth District, called State Rep. Raj Goyle on Thursday to offer his regrets for the offending post, Goyle told the Huffington Post. The apology was accepted. But Goyle, who seeks the seat being vacated by Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS), was not necessarily done re-litigating the matter.
also
Kansas GOP Candidate Links to Racist Blog
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kansas-gop-candidate-links-to-racist-blog/
Republican congressional candidate Mike Pompeo apologized Thursday after his campaign posted on its Twitter feed and Facebook page a link to a blog that uses a racial slur to refer to his Democratic opponent and calls President Obama an "evil muslim communist USURPER."
FUCK POMPEO!
March 13, 2018
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/gina-haspel-cia-torture-program_us_5aa7cc83e4b087e5aaedde71
President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he had chosen Deputy CIA Director Gina Haspel to run the agency while her boss, Mike Pompeo, replaces Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Haspel’s legacy is marked by her time in charge of one of the CIA’s most controversial programs to boot ― the torture of terror suspects in the early fight against al Qaeda.
Working as a clandestine officer in Thailand in 2002, Haspel reportedly was involved in the interrogations of two suspects, Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, several news outlets reported last year. The methods used against the men included waterboarding Zubaydah 83 times in one month, to the point where doctors once had to revive him, and ramming his head into walls. He lost sight in one eye.
The torture sessions were videotaped, and Haspel also allegedly played a part in the tapes’ destruction in 2005. The CIA has disputed this, saying the decision fell to Haspel’s boss at the time, Jose Rodriguez.
CIA agents were legally able to torture terror suspects in black sites across the globe until former President Barack Obama ended the practice via executive order in 2009.
“Ms. Haspel’s background makes her unsuitable to serve as CIA director,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said in a statement Tuesday. “Her nomination must include total transparency about this background, which I called for more than a year ago when she was appointed deputy director. If Ms. Haspel seeks to serve at the highest levels of U.S. intelligence, the government can no longer cover up disturbing facts from her past.”
snip
European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights
Germany: CIA deputy Gina Haspel must face arrest on travelling to Europe
https://www.ecchr.eu/en/our_work/international-crimes-and-accountability/u-s-accountability/germany.html
ECCHR’s legal intervention filed with the German Federal Public Prosecutor (Generalbundesanwalt – GBA) is aimed at securing an arrest warrant for CIA Deputy Director Gina Haspel. Haspel was appointed to the post by President Donald Trump in February 2017. The information submitted to the GBA by ECCHR on 6 June 2017 documents Haspel’s role in the torture of detainees in 2002 at a secret CIA prison in Thailand. In the dossier, ECCHR argues that Haspel oversaw the daily torture of detainees at the black site in 2002 and failed to do anything to stop it.
“Those who commit, order or allow torture should be brought before a court – this is especially true for senior officials from powerful nations,” said ECCHR’s General Secretary Wolfgang Kaleck. “The prosecutor must, under the principle of universal jurisdiction, open investigations, secure evidence and seek an arrest warrant. If the deputy director travels to Germany or Europe, she must be arrested.”
CIA Torture: Submission on Gina Haspel to German Federal Prosecutor (June 2017)
https://www.ecchr.eu/en/our_work/international-crimes-and-accountability/u-s-accountability/germany.html?file=tl_files/Dokumente/Universelle%20Justiz/Germany_Submission_Gina%20Haspel_CIA_Torture_2017066.pdf
Trumps New CIA Director Helped Oversee Controversial Torture Program, Wanted for Arrest in the EU
Gina Haspel was involved in the waterboarding of one terror suspect 83 times in a month, to the point where doctors had to revive him.https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/gina-haspel-cia-torture-program_us_5aa7cc83e4b087e5aaedde71
President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he had chosen Deputy CIA Director Gina Haspel to run the agency while her boss, Mike Pompeo, replaces Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Haspel’s legacy is marked by her time in charge of one of the CIA’s most controversial programs to boot ― the torture of terror suspects in the early fight against al Qaeda.
Working as a clandestine officer in Thailand in 2002, Haspel reportedly was involved in the interrogations of two suspects, Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, several news outlets reported last year. The methods used against the men included waterboarding Zubaydah 83 times in one month, to the point where doctors once had to revive him, and ramming his head into walls. He lost sight in one eye.
The torture sessions were videotaped, and Haspel also allegedly played a part in the tapes’ destruction in 2005. The CIA has disputed this, saying the decision fell to Haspel’s boss at the time, Jose Rodriguez.
CIA agents were legally able to torture terror suspects in black sites across the globe until former President Barack Obama ended the practice via executive order in 2009.
“Ms. Haspel’s background makes her unsuitable to serve as CIA director,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said in a statement Tuesday. “Her nomination must include total transparency about this background, which I called for more than a year ago when she was appointed deputy director. If Ms. Haspel seeks to serve at the highest levels of U.S. intelligence, the government can no longer cover up disturbing facts from her past.”
snip
European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights
Germany: CIA deputy Gina Haspel must face arrest on travelling to Europe
https://www.ecchr.eu/en/our_work/international-crimes-and-accountability/u-s-accountability/germany.html
ECCHR’s legal intervention filed with the German Federal Public Prosecutor (Generalbundesanwalt – GBA) is aimed at securing an arrest warrant for CIA Deputy Director Gina Haspel. Haspel was appointed to the post by President Donald Trump in February 2017. The information submitted to the GBA by ECCHR on 6 June 2017 documents Haspel’s role in the torture of detainees in 2002 at a secret CIA prison in Thailand. In the dossier, ECCHR argues that Haspel oversaw the daily torture of detainees at the black site in 2002 and failed to do anything to stop it.
“Those who commit, order or allow torture should be brought before a court – this is especially true for senior officials from powerful nations,” said ECCHR’s General Secretary Wolfgang Kaleck. “The prosecutor must, under the principle of universal jurisdiction, open investigations, secure evidence and seek an arrest warrant. If the deputy director travels to Germany or Europe, she must be arrested.”
CIA Torture: Submission on Gina Haspel to German Federal Prosecutor (June 2017)
https://www.ecchr.eu/en/our_work/international-crimes-and-accountability/u-s-accountability/germany.html?file=tl_files/Dokumente/Universelle%20Justiz/Germany_Submission_Gina%20Haspel_CIA_Torture_2017066.pdf
March 9, 2018
https://twitter.com/JoyAnnReid/status/971567511526309889
Joy Reid, right again
https://twitter.com/JoyAnnReid/status/971564892833632257https://twitter.com/JoyAnnReid/status/971567511526309889
March 8, 2018
A pair of Trump supporters were caught on camera this past weekend issuing unhinged threats to a left-wing bookstore in Berkeley, California. The video, which was posted on YouTube by Berkeley’s Revolution Books, shows the Trump supporters coming into the store and confronting people working there.
The video begins with a woman Trump supporter asking a store staff member if she really thinks “I’m racist because I support our president?”
“Yes, basically, yes,” the staff member replies.
A male Trump supporter, wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat, called the staffer “commie scum” and told her that “we’re going to burn down your bookstore.”
The staffer informed them that she had video of them threatening to burn down the store and told them to “please leave” the premises.
“This is America, f*ck you!” the man shouted at her.
snip
Were going to burn down your store!: Trump supporters caught on camera threatening CA bookstore
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/going-burn-store-trump-supporters-caught-camera-threatening-california-book-shop/A pair of Trump supporters were caught on camera this past weekend issuing unhinged threats to a left-wing bookstore in Berkeley, California. The video, which was posted on YouTube by Berkeley’s Revolution Books, shows the Trump supporters coming into the store and confronting people working there.
The video begins with a woman Trump supporter asking a store staff member if she really thinks “I’m racist because I support our president?”
“Yes, basically, yes,” the staff member replies.
A male Trump supporter, wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat, called the staffer “commie scum” and told her that “we’re going to burn down your bookstore.”
The staffer informed them that she had video of them threatening to burn down the store and told them to “please leave” the premises.
“This is America, f*ck you!” the man shouted at her.
snip
March 5, 2018
Last month’s massacre in Parkland, Fla., which killed 17 high school students and staff, kicked off a national conversation about the need for increased gun control.
But gun rights supporters are playing offense as well as defense. Despite Parkland, Republican lawmakers in a number of states are quietly advancing a slew of NRA-backed bills. In some cases, they’re even citing the shooting as a reason why we need more guns, not fewer.
Even as gun control legislation remains stalled in Congress, the NRA has campaigned for 15 measures in 11 states that would further loosen gun restrictions. Among other things, the bills would strengthen existing stand-your-ground laws (Wyoming and Idaho), allow people to carry handguns without a permit (Oklahoma), and expand the list of places where people can carry guns (numerous states).
Here are five pro-gun bills that have moved forward in state legislatures since the February 14 shooting:
SNIP
Despite Parkland, States Plow Ahead With New Pro-Gun Bills
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/despite-parkland-states-plow-ahead-with-new-pro-gun-billsLast month’s massacre in Parkland, Fla., which killed 17 high school students and staff, kicked off a national conversation about the need for increased gun control.
But gun rights supporters are playing offense as well as defense. Despite Parkland, Republican lawmakers in a number of states are quietly advancing a slew of NRA-backed bills. In some cases, they’re even citing the shooting as a reason why we need more guns, not fewer.
Even as gun control legislation remains stalled in Congress, the NRA has campaigned for 15 measures in 11 states that would further loosen gun restrictions. Among other things, the bills would strengthen existing stand-your-ground laws (Wyoming and Idaho), allow people to carry handguns without a permit (Oklahoma), and expand the list of places where people can carry guns (numerous states).
Here are five pro-gun bills that have moved forward in state legislatures since the February 14 shooting:
SNIP
March 3, 2018
Levi Sanders made national headlines as he announced his bid for the U.S. House in New Hampshire’s First Congressional District.
When you have a famous father – Levi’s the son of U.S. senator and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders – it’s only natural.
But here in the Granite State – Sanders’s announcement also grabbed attention – and some derision – because he lives in Claremont, near the Vermont border and far from the First District, which covers the eastern part of the state.
While it’s uncommon for a candidate to live outside the district in which they’re running, it is legal. The U.S. Constitution only mandates that House members reside in the state they serve.
Sanders also made news by becoming the eighth Democratic candidate – including two strong supporters of his father’s 2016 White House bid – to try and succeed retiring four-term Democratic Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter.
snip
Democrats question Levi Sanders running for Congress in a district he doesnt live in
http://www.concordmonitor.com/How-can-Levi-Sanders-who-lives-in-the-west-of-NH-run-in-CD1-to-the-east-15929819Levi Sanders made national headlines as he announced his bid for the U.S. House in New Hampshire’s First Congressional District.
When you have a famous father – Levi’s the son of U.S. senator and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders – it’s only natural.
But here in the Granite State – Sanders’s announcement also grabbed attention – and some derision – because he lives in Claremont, near the Vermont border and far from the First District, which covers the eastern part of the state.
While it’s uncommon for a candidate to live outside the district in which they’re running, it is legal. The U.S. Constitution only mandates that House members reside in the state they serve.
Sanders also made news by becoming the eighth Democratic candidate – including two strong supporters of his father’s 2016 White House bid – to try and succeed retiring four-term Democratic Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter.
snip
March 3, 2018
Alexei Navalny call girl/oligarch/Trump collusion video (Putin demanded be taken down) is back up
use subtitles, it is so damning!
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