And more winning ...
.
On Wednesday at an event at the RSA Activity Center, Gov. Kay Ivey (R-AL) made it official when she announced Toyota-Mazda would be building a $1.6 billion factory in northern Alabama’s Limestone County outside of Huntsville. ... The plant will add 4,000 new jobs with average salaries of $50,000 annually and the plant will have the capacity to produce 300,000 cars annually.
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government ... ium=social
Re: Politics
812And some losing ... the house just voted 256-164 in favor of continuing the unconstitutional surveillance of Americans. Rand Paul has promised to filibuster it in Senate. I hope he does.
Here is an article by Sharyl Atkisson on abuses. She doesn't even mention her case of being spied on while she was a member of CBS News, or James Rosen of Fox News. Not to mention a candidate for President of the United States and his team was just surveiled by department ran by opposing party. Which should scare the living hell out of every American, despite their party.
.
FBI chief's claim on surveillance abuse doesn't fit the evidence
By Sharyl Attkisson, opinion contributor to The Hill
The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the view of The Hill
I caught my breath when I heard FBI Director Christopher Wray testify to Congress that there’s been no abuse of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the law under which our intelligence communities electronically spy on possible terrorists and sometimes capture private communications of innocent U.S. citizens. Section 702 and related components expire Dec. 31, and Congress must decide whether to renew them.
To see if I’d heard Wray correctly, I searched for a transcript of his testimony. I found that he’d delivered the same line during an Oct. 13 Heritage Foundation speech. Wray claimed, “There’s been no evidence of any kind of abuse of power under Section 702 despite the oversight … with the three branches of government and quite a few years of experience now.”
As a backdrop, recall that spying on U.S. citizens by our Intel agencies is considered so contrary to our basic constitutional protections, that it’s generally prohibited, and is only permitted under strict limits set forth under the law.
With that in mind, here’s a short list of documented violations that seem contrary to the implications of Wray’s testimony:
In 2011, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) found some collection of internet data by the National Security Agency (NSA) to be illegal and unconstitutional, capturing tens of thousands of U.S. communications without a warrant. That would seem to be an abuse.
To better protect the rights of U.S. citizens, the government adopted restrictions that “categorically prohibited NSA analysts” from using personal identifiers of Americans, such as our phone numbers, to search through internet information the NSA collects under Section 702. However, the government admitted violating those restrictions to a secret hearing in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) on Oct. 26, 2016. According to the judge, NSA analysts had been conducting such searches in violation of the prohibition “with much greater frequency than had previously been disclosed to the court.” The judge accused the NSA of an institutional “lack of candor” and stated: “This is a very serious Fourth Amendment issue.” That sounds like an abuse.
Meantime, the NSA secretly expanded its authority to collect emails and other communications of U.S. citizens who had done nothing more than refer to a target in a single instance. For example, if you wrote an email that mentioned a target phrase — it could be “Osama bin Laden” — the NSA could use that as an excuse to spy on you. In 2015, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court criticized the practice saying the results likely netted information on U.S. citizens with “no foreign intelligence value.” That seems like an abuse.
In January 2016, the NSA inspector general issued a top secret report criticizing the NSA for: not having proper processes in place to monitor how well it met key provisions designed to protect Americans; instances of non-compliance; and lack of documentation proving NSA analysts were meeting requirements prohibiting targeting of U.S. persons who were in the United States. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court stated that it appeared “the problem was widespread during all periods under review.” That sounds like an abuse.
All of this doesn’t even consider the now publicly known incidents in which the NSA surveilled the likes of former members of Congress Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) and Jane Harman (D-Calif.), or the communications between congressional staffs and Israeli officials in 2015, or Trump adviser Carter Page during the 2016 campaign.
Remember, FBI Director Wray testified there had been “no evidence of any kind of abuse.” Weirdly, nobody from the House Judiciary Committee challenged the accuracy of the statement or asked him to explain it. Are the members of Congress tasked with oversight — the ones who will vote to reauthorize, amend or abolish the surveillance authorities — unaware of the well-documented violations?
Our intelligence community insists the FISA Amendments Act, which includes Section 702, is absolutely critical to our fight against terrorism. Some civil rights activists argue it can be terribly intrusive to the constitutional rights of innocent Americans.
I’m not advocating either way. But to claim there’s no evidence of abuse is to ignore the record. It seems like important decisions should be made based on the full facts.
Sharyl Attkisson (@SharylAttkisson) is an Emmy-award winning investigative journalist, author of The New York Times bestsellers “The Smear” and “Stonewalled,” and host of Sinclair’s Sunday TV program “Full Measure.”
Here is an article by Sharyl Atkisson on abuses. She doesn't even mention her case of being spied on while she was a member of CBS News, or James Rosen of Fox News. Not to mention a candidate for President of the United States and his team was just surveiled by department ran by opposing party. Which should scare the living hell out of every American, despite their party.
.
FBI chief's claim on surveillance abuse doesn't fit the evidence
By Sharyl Attkisson, opinion contributor to The Hill
The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the view of The Hill
I caught my breath when I heard FBI Director Christopher Wray testify to Congress that there’s been no abuse of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the law under which our intelligence communities electronically spy on possible terrorists and sometimes capture private communications of innocent U.S. citizens. Section 702 and related components expire Dec. 31, and Congress must decide whether to renew them.
To see if I’d heard Wray correctly, I searched for a transcript of his testimony. I found that he’d delivered the same line during an Oct. 13 Heritage Foundation speech. Wray claimed, “There’s been no evidence of any kind of abuse of power under Section 702 despite the oversight … with the three branches of government and quite a few years of experience now.”
As a backdrop, recall that spying on U.S. citizens by our Intel agencies is considered so contrary to our basic constitutional protections, that it’s generally prohibited, and is only permitted under strict limits set forth under the law.
With that in mind, here’s a short list of documented violations that seem contrary to the implications of Wray’s testimony:
In 2011, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) found some collection of internet data by the National Security Agency (NSA) to be illegal and unconstitutional, capturing tens of thousands of U.S. communications without a warrant. That would seem to be an abuse.
To better protect the rights of U.S. citizens, the government adopted restrictions that “categorically prohibited NSA analysts” from using personal identifiers of Americans, such as our phone numbers, to search through internet information the NSA collects under Section 702. However, the government admitted violating those restrictions to a secret hearing in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) on Oct. 26, 2016. According to the judge, NSA analysts had been conducting such searches in violation of the prohibition “with much greater frequency than had previously been disclosed to the court.” The judge accused the NSA of an institutional “lack of candor” and stated: “This is a very serious Fourth Amendment issue.” That sounds like an abuse.
Meantime, the NSA secretly expanded its authority to collect emails and other communications of U.S. citizens who had done nothing more than refer to a target in a single instance. For example, if you wrote an email that mentioned a target phrase — it could be “Osama bin Laden” — the NSA could use that as an excuse to spy on you. In 2015, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court criticized the practice saying the results likely netted information on U.S. citizens with “no foreign intelligence value.” That seems like an abuse.
In January 2016, the NSA inspector general issued a top secret report criticizing the NSA for: not having proper processes in place to monitor how well it met key provisions designed to protect Americans; instances of non-compliance; and lack of documentation proving NSA analysts were meeting requirements prohibiting targeting of U.S. persons who were in the United States. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court stated that it appeared “the problem was widespread during all periods under review.” That sounds like an abuse.
All of this doesn’t even consider the now publicly known incidents in which the NSA surveilled the likes of former members of Congress Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) and Jane Harman (D-Calif.), or the communications between congressional staffs and Israeli officials in 2015, or Trump adviser Carter Page during the 2016 campaign.
Remember, FBI Director Wray testified there had been “no evidence of any kind of abuse.” Weirdly, nobody from the House Judiciary Committee challenged the accuracy of the statement or asked him to explain it. Are the members of Congress tasked with oversight — the ones who will vote to reauthorize, amend or abolish the surveillance authorities — unaware of the well-documented violations?
Our intelligence community insists the FISA Amendments Act, which includes Section 702, is absolutely critical to our fight against terrorism. Some civil rights activists argue it can be terribly intrusive to the constitutional rights of innocent Americans.
I’m not advocating either way. But to claim there’s no evidence of abuse is to ignore the record. It seems like important decisions should be made based on the full facts.
Sharyl Attkisson (@SharylAttkisson) is an Emmy-award winning investigative journalist, author of The New York Times bestsellers “The Smear” and “Stonewalled,” and host of Sinclair’s Sunday TV program “Full Measure.”
Re: Politics
813Sharyl Attkisson @SharylAttkisson 5 minutes ago
First, intel agencies werent supposed to surveil US citizens. But they did. Then they werent supposed to "store" it. But they did. Then they werent supposed to search it. But they did. Then they werent supposed to "unmask" it. But they did. Then they werent supposed to leak it...
First, intel agencies werent supposed to surveil US citizens. But they did. Then they werent supposed to "store" it. But they did. Then they werent supposed to search it. But they did. Then they werent supposed to "unmask" it. But they did. Then they werent supposed to leak it...
Re: Politics
815Sam's Club stores in the suburbs and across the country are closing today. 25% here in Illinois including the store we use.
Last edited by joez on Thu Jan 11, 2018 8:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller
-- Bob Feller
Re: Politics
816Sears closing 100 more stores 2018
64 Kmart stores to close 2018
Best Buy Quietly closing stores around the country 2017-2018
Best Buy closed 13 big box stores and 17 Mobile stores in the U.S., according to the company's store
39 J Crew Stores Closing by end of Jan 2018;
Gap to close roughly 200 stores over the next three years;
Major retailers have already announced plans to close 1,000 stores in 2018.
Target currently has 127 stores and four distribution facilities closed across Florida, Georgia, Alabama
Macy's, J.C. Penney, Sears and Kmart are among the retailers that announced sweeping closures 2017
To name a few!
64 Kmart stores to close 2018
Best Buy Quietly closing stores around the country 2017-2018
Best Buy closed 13 big box stores and 17 Mobile stores in the U.S., according to the company's store
39 J Crew Stores Closing by end of Jan 2018;
Gap to close roughly 200 stores over the next three years;
Major retailers have already announced plans to close 1,000 stores in 2018.
Target currently has 127 stores and four distribution facilities closed across Florida, Georgia, Alabama
Macy's, J.C. Penney, Sears and Kmart are among the retailers that announced sweeping closures 2017
To name a few!
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller
-- Bob Feller
Re: Politics
818
Carrier plans on laying off 215 workers in January, continuing a workforce bleed that started before Trump
Remember when Trump said he saved 1,100 jobs at a Carrier plant
Jan 10, 2018: The Indianapolis Carrier plant will be making its final major layoffs for fan coil jobs that will be sent to Monterrey, Mexico.
Less than one year after President Donald Trump bragged about convincing Carrier Corp. to refrain from laying off its workers, the manufacturer is now planning on terminating more than 200 jobs in January.
Carrier has announced that it expects to lay off 215 workers in January, according to Indy Star. They are delaying the layoffs by 20 days — pushing the date back to Jan. 11 from Dec. 22 — and reducing its estimate by 60 workers, since they had originally anticipated laying off 275 people.
Nevertheless, if Carrier goes through with its current plan, their total number of layoffs will reach 553 for 2017. The company has made this decision because it is moving its fan coil production to Monterrey, Mexico.
https://www.salon.com/2017/11/10/carrie ... mps-brags/
<
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller
-- Bob Feller
Re: Politics
819Seagull!
I'm just trying to point out that while the economy was jump started by Obama and continues to grow under trump still has stores around the country that are closing and laying off thousands. Carrier layed off hundreds and are moving to Mexico despite trump's begging them to stay. #BAD FOR TRUMP
I'm just trying to point out that while the economy was jump started by Obama and continues to grow under trump still has stores around the country that are closing and laying off thousands. Carrier layed off hundreds and are moving to Mexico despite trump's begging them to stay. #BAD FOR TRUMP
Last edited by joez on Thu Jan 11, 2018 11:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller
-- Bob Feller
Re: Politics
820
WASHINGTON (AP) — In bluntly vulgar language, President Donald Trump questioned Thursday why the U.S. would accept more immigrants from Haiti and “shithole countries” in Africa rather than places like Norway, as he rejected a bipartisan immigration deal, according to people briefed on the extraordinary Oval Office conversation.
[ GOD ! I AM SOOOOOO EMBARRASSED TO BE AN AMERICAN - GLAD ME AND MY FAMILY IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ELECTING THIS MORON ]
https://www.apnews.com/fdda2ff0b877416c ... countries'
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller
-- Bob Feller
Re: Politics
821NEW YORK (AP) —
Walmart confirmed Thursday that it is closing 10 percent of its Sam’s Club warehouse stores — a move that a union-backed group estimated could cost thousands of jobs — on the same day the company announced that it was boosting its starting salary for U.S. workers and handing out bonuses.
The world’s largest private employer said it was closing 63 of its 660 Sam’s Clubs over the next few weeks, with some shut already. Up to 12 are being converted into distribution centers to handle online orders, the company said late Thursday.
https://www.apnews.com/4041356202ef4535 ... am's-Clubs
<
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller
-- Bob Feller
Re: Politics
822
When AT&T Inc. announced it would hand out holiday bonuses to 200,000 workers thanks to Congress' recent tax overhaul, the company's statement failed to mention a separate, yet notable, personnel matter: Many employees will be getting laid off in the coming weeks.
AT&T is eliminating thousands of jobs across the U.S., including 30 in Central Indiana, according to Communications Workers of America, the union that represents AT&T employees. The company is cutting nearly 12 percent of its technicians who install U-verse and DirectTV in the Indianapolis area, according to union figures.
https://www.indystar.com/story/money/20 ... 992690001/
<
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller
-- Bob Feller
Re: Politics
823
Nice "trickle-down economics" you've got there.
Comcast and AT&T were among the businesses that claimed Republican lawmakers’ effort to restructure the tax code in favor of wealthy corporations would allow them to be more generous to their workers, and publicly announced $1,000 year-end bonuses for their employees. The CEOs of both companies specifically cited the tax bill in separate press releases touting these “special” bonuses.
But Larry Robbins, the vice president of CWA Local 4900, told the IndyStar that AT&T started privately notifying its workforce of impending layoffs at the same time
Comcast laid off more than 500 sales employees right before Christmas, according to documents reviewed by media outlets including the Philadelphia Enquirer, Philly.com, and the Daily News. The documents were confirmed by at least one former Comcast employee who was not identified in the press.
https://thinkprogress.org/companies-gop ... 07fdf90d2/
<
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller
-- Bob Feller
Re: Politics
824
Trump’s former chief strategist has largely avoided the spotlight of the Russia probe—until now.
Steve Bannon is lawyering up as he gets ready to face investigators looking into the Trump-Russia nexus. The Daily Beast has learned that the former top White House strategist has retained Bill Burck, of the firm Quinn Emanuel. Two sources tell us Burck is helping Bannon prepare for an interview with the House intelligence committee, which is currently scheduled for next week. Sources also said Bannon plans to “fully cooperate” with investigators.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/steve-ban ... e?ref=home
President will not now open new US embassy next month, with secretary of state Rex Tillerson likely to take his place
Donald Trump visit to London called off amid fears of mass protests. President will not now open new US embassy next month, with secretary of state Rex Tillerson likely to take his place
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/201 ... s-protests
California prides itself on being first with progressive laws on climate change, labor rights and marijuana. In 2018, the Golden State’s “firsts” are defensive – bold proposals and legal maneuvers to protect citizens from Donald Trump. State leaders have pushed legislation and lawsuits to circumvent and undo Trump’s agenda on immigration, the environment, internet freedom and other liberal causes. One of the most consequential victories came Tuesday when a judge in San Francisco blocked the Trump administration’s plan to end a program that allows 800,000 undocumented people to study and work in the US.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/201 ... nvironment
Over the years, the capital of the fight against climate change has been Kyoto, or Paris – that’s where the symbolic political agreements to try and curb the earth’s greenhouse gas emissions have been negotiated and signed. But now, New York City vaulted to leadership in the battle. On Wednesday, its leaders, at a press conference in a neighborhood damaged over five years ago by Hurricane Sandy, announced that the city was divesting its massive pension fund from fossil fuels, and added for good measure that they were suing the five biggest oil companies for damages. Our planet’s most important city was now at war with its richest industry. And overnight, the battle to save the planet shifted from largely political to largely financial.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... divestment
Lacking the votes and fearing political blowback
Republicans are unlikely to deploy powerful budget procedures to enact their agenda.
Republican leaders are considering skipping passage of a GOP budget this year — a blow to the party’s weakened fiscal hawks that would squash all 2018 efforts to revamp entitlements or repeal Obamacare. White House and Hill GOP leaders discussed the possibility of forgoing the painful budget process during last weekend’s Camp David legislative summit, according to four sources familiar with the talks. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has argued that he cannot pass controversial deficit-reduction legislation using powerful budget procedures with his new 51-vote majority — and wasn’t even sure he could find the votes for a fiscal blueprint in the first place. Abandoning the budget, however, would be an embarrassment for Republicans, who for years railed against Democrats when they avoided one of the most basic responsibilities of Congress.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/ ... ons-334946
Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe (D) said Thursday night that if President Trump got in his space during a presidential debate, "you would have to pick him up off the floor." Speaking on MSNBC's "Hardball" with Chris Matthews, McAuliffe suggested he would "deck" the president if he got in his space during a presidential debate, referencing the way he used space during debates against Hillary Clinton in 2016.
http://thehill.com/homenews/media/36863 ... ick-him-up
Jan. 11 (UPI) -- U.S. President Donald Trump is viewed much less favorably worldwide than his predecessor, Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to poll by Gallup International Association and CVoter International. Just 31 percent of respondents worldwide have a favorable view of Trump compared with 58 percent with an unfavorable view. He is the only world leader among 12 names where a majority view him unfavorably. Trump also had the widest difference between favorable and unfavorable views at 27 percent.
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News ... m_medium=1
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller
-- Bob Feller
Re: Politics
825And some more losing.. I see the great statesman Trump steps all over all the good he's doing by saying something stupid again. If he'd just do his thing and shut up we'd be in awesome shape.
Seagull, I saw that comment a few times today and honestly I don't see the argument. If ESPN is losing money and lays people off does that mean Disney is losing money? Or ABC? Or 20th Century Fox Or Lucas Films or Marvel Studios or any of the other thousand holdings of Disney?
Wal-Mart is doing great and sharing the love. Sam's Club, apparently not so much. Don't see where the two have to be tied together.
Seagull, I saw that comment a few times today and honestly I don't see the argument. If ESPN is losing money and lays people off does that mean Disney is losing money? Or ABC? Or 20th Century Fox Or Lucas Films or Marvel Studios or any of the other thousand holdings of Disney?
Wal-Mart is doing great and sharing the love. Sam's Club, apparently not so much. Don't see where the two have to be tied together.