The Post It Note 7/25/18

News from the note…

A round up of the day’s news that might be of interest to you.

Consider this an OPEN THREAD,  folks. Chat about any of the stories listed, share links to stories that caught your eye today, and generally have a good time discussing whatever you want.

 

Federal judge allows emoluments case against Trump to proceed

From Washington Post

A federal judge on Wednesday rejected President Trump’s latest effort to stop a lawsuit that alleges Trump is violating the Constitution by continuing to do business with foreign governments.

The ruling, from U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte in Greenbelt, Md., will allow the plaintiffs in the case — the attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia — to proceed with their case, which says Trump has violated the Constitution’s little-used emoluments clause.

The plaintiffs now want to interview Trump Organization employees and search company records to determine which foreign countries have spent money at Trump’s hotel in downtown Washington.

 


YouTube hits Infowars with strike for hate speech, child endangerment

From The Hill 

Infowars’ YouTube channel has received another “strike” from the company for content that violates platform’s community guidelines, YouTube confirmed on Wednesday.

If a channel gets three strikes in a three-month window, YouTube bans it from its video streaming platform.

The strike came after Infowars posted two videos containing hate speech against Muslims and another with hate speech against transgender people, the Verge reported.

Another showed Infowars founder Alex Jones ridiculing a child who was pushed to the ground by an adult. The video was titled “How to prevent liberalism.”

“We have long-standing policies against child endangerment and hate speech,” a YouTube spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

 


White House fails to address omission in Trump-Putin transcript

From CNN

More than a week later, the White House has still not corrected a key omission in its official transcript of President Donald Trump’s news conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The White House’s official transcript of the news conference omits the first part of a reporter’s question to Putin: “President Putin, did you want President Trump to win the election?” Instead, the official transcript only includes the second part of the question: “And did you direct any of your officials to help him do that?”

The omission appears to be due to an issue with an overlap between simultaneous translation of Putin’s remarks and the first part of the reporter’s question to Putin in the audio feed the stenographers rely on. Private transcription services also made the same error.

White House transcripts, which are considered the official record of the President’s comments, are compiled by White House stenographers who are career officials, not political appointees.

 


Hispanic lawmakers challenge Nielsen over family separations

From Politico

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told lawmakers that the Trump administration is on track to meet a court deadline to reunify families that were separated at the southern border due to a zero-tolerance enforcement policy, according to members.

“She said — and we questioned her numerous times — she said that she believes that they’re on pace to be unified tomorrow,” Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) told reporters following a Congressional Hispanic Caucus meeting with Nielsen. “That’s impossible. We all said this to her.”

Nielsen met with CHC members Wednesday morning. Her trip to Capitol Hill came a day ahead of a deadline to reunify families. The Trump administration on Monday told the court it had either reunited or “appropriately discharged” nearly 1,200 of the roughly 2,550 children ages 5 and older who were forcibly separated from their parents.

“It’s impossible. She said that they would all be reunified by the court-mandated time, which is tomorrow,” Rep. Juan Vargas (D-Calif.) said. “That’s absolutely impossible. They still have hundreds of parents — they don’t even know where they are. They’ve deported them. How in the hell are they gonna reunify them by tomorrow? They don’t even know there they are.”

 


Trump admin was warned a policy change could strengthen MS-13. They did it anyway.

From CNN

The Trump administration was warned that ending US protections for more than 300,000 Central Americans would strengthen and grow MS-13 and gangs that President Donald Trump has called “animals,” according to an internal report obtained by CNN.

But the administration went on to end the protections for citizens of El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras and Nicaragua regardless.

The warnings came from experts at the State Department in October 2017, and were attached to a letter from then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to then-acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke.

The State Department also warned that ending the “temporary protected status” program could also hurt US national security and economic interests, including by driving up illegal immigration.

 


Soccer ball Putin gave Trump contains transmitter chip — but for Adidas: report

From The Hill

The Adidas soccer ball Russian President Vladimir Putin gave to President Trump at their summit in Finland appears to contain a chip that can transmit information to nearby cell phones, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.

The publication noted that photos of the ball show a logo for a near-field communication (NFC) tag, a chip that is included in the Adidas 2018 FIFA World Cup ball. Russia hosted this year’s World Cup.

Adidas AG soccer balls, similar to the one Putin presented to Trump during a joint press conference last week, contain a small chip that can send content to mobile devices. Users can hold their phones close to the ball to access videos and competitions, according to Bloomberg.

Adidas declined to comment to Bloomberg on whether the device could be used in a Russian cyberattack. The brand’s website states that the chip can’t be modified.

 


President Trump’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star was smashed to pieces

From CNN

President Donald Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was destroyed by a man with a pickax early Wednesday, according to Los Angeles police Officer Ray Brown.

Hollywood division officers responded to a call at 3:33 a.m. (6:33 a.m. ET) to the tourist area.

Patricia Cox, a witness, told CNN affiliate KCAL/KCBS that she saw a man “going to town” on the ground “like it was his business just to be tearing up the ground,” she said. “I thought it was work going on over here.”

Police later arrested Austin Clay, 24, on suspicion of felony vandalism. Brown said Clay did not reveal a motive for the alleged vandalism, and the investigation continues. He’s being held on $20,000 bail.

 


House panel moves to bar deportation of military ‘Dreamers’

From The Hill

The House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday approved an amendment protecting from deportation recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that are active-duty military or veterans.

The amendment, approved by a voice vote with no opposition, would block funds from being used to deport DACA recipients who went on to serve in the military.

Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) sponsored the amendment, which will be included in the Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill, due for a vote late Wednesday evening.

DACA was an Obama-era program that extended protections to immigrants brought into the country illegally as children — a larger group typically referred to as “Dreamers.” President Trump moved to end the program, though its fate remains in flux as it works its way through the court system, which has thus far ruled that the program’s protections should continue in the interim period.

 


Majority think Russia will interfere in November midterm elections

From CNN

More than half of American adults say they believe it’s likely there will be Russian interference in November’s midterm elections, according to a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll released on Wednesday.

The 57% of Americans who believe there will be interference represents a new high since the poll began tracking the question in February, when only 41% of Americans said the same.

The most likely to believe Russia will meddle in the midterms are strong Democrats (77% likely), those who live in suburban areas (68%), and whites who graduated college (67%). The groups most likely to say Russia won’t do anything are strong Republicans (63%), Donald Trump supporters (58%), and white evangelical Christians (54%).

 

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*Principle above party * Politically Homeless * Ex GOP * Tribalism is stupid* NeverTrump ≠ Pro Hillary. Anti-GOP ≠ Pro Dem. Disagreeing with you ≠ Liberal. https://universeodon.com/@NoMorePlatosCave https://post.news/nomoreplatoscav Counter Social: @NoMorePlatosCave