[y66]

Fun conversation with Martina Navratilova and Tyler Cowen

[Winstonm]

Sung to the tune of Yellow Brick Road:

Paul Ryan's Road

When are you going to step down?
When will you leave the chair?
You should pass over the gavel
Be a clown at the county fair

Maybe Scalise will replace you
for just a little while
Remember, November is coming
And soon the right will all start to how-ow-ow
ow-ow-ow-ow-ow
ow-ow-ow
owlllllll.

[diana_eva]

I found this interesting:

https://www.theguard...dging-us-at-all

Quote

Facebook is a US company without an office in Iceland. In a certain way, its use of the [voter] button constitutes interference by a foreign actor. Facebook has meddled in the democratic elections of a foreign country, and no one outside of the company seems to know anything about it. Replies to inquiries with Iceland’s justice ministry, election commission and intelligence services indicate that they were ignorant on the subject. Even Páll Þórhallsson, the chief legal counsel to the prime minister and an internationally experienced media lawyer, had not been informed. But the deployment of the button was probably not illegal under Icelandic law. Legislators could hardly have predicted these kinds of methods, so why formulate any legal text to cover them?

[y66]

From The Times Just Won 3 Pulitzers. Read the Winning Work.:

Quote

Editorial Cartooning: ‘Welcome to the New World’
Jake Halpern and Michael Sloan were recognized with the editorial cartooning award for their series chronicling a Syrian refugee family as they adjusted to their new life in the United States.

The series, which ran every other week in the print Sunday Review from January to September 2017, was based on the experience of a real Syrian family, combining original reporting with a novel presentation and a strong point of view. Look back at the collection of cartoons here.



The family arrived on Election Day in 2016, and quickly had to reckon with how Mr. Trump’s election would affect their family. For a year, the journalists followed the family, joining them at mosques, schools, parties, holiday celebrations and job-training programs. They were there for intimate family moments and death threats that made the family flee their town.

In a letter nominating their work for the prize, Mr. Halpern and Mr. Sloan said there was “no template for us to use.”

“The Times is full of deadline journalism but no one at the paper had ever reported out an ongoing story in comic-strip or graphic novel form,” they wrote. “As far as we know, no one ever has.”
The cartoon will be expanded into a full-length book. It was the first win for The Times in the category, which has been awarded since 1922.

[RedSpawn]

http://www.chicagotr...0423-story.html

Quote

Father of Waffle House shooting suspect had taken son's guns away 3 times and returned them, reports show
Shooting at Nashville Waffle House

Tony Briscoe and Elvia Malagon
Chicago Tribune

Four hundred miles away from Nashville, Tenn., the news of the Waffle House shooting and ensuing manhunt rattled many residents in this small, bedroom community about 10 miles southeast of Peoria.

The town of 16,000, which touts itself as the Pumpkin Capital of the World, is made up of undulating, two-lane roads lined with farmland and punctuated with grand houses. Agricultural and industrial giants such as Caterpillar Inc. are the major employers of the area.

Morton, many say, is protective of its image as a family-friendly hamlet with great quality of life. The village website boasts its recognition as “One of the Top 10 Places to Raise a Family” by Family Circle Magazine in 2013.

That image was marred after Nashville authorities announced a 29-year-old Morton native was the suspect in Sunday’s restaurant rampage, which left four dead and four injured. The man fled after a customer wrestled his gun away.

Travis Reinking was taken into custody without incident nearly 34 hours after the deadly shooting, Nashville police said. He was found near his Nashville apartment with a backpack that police said contained a semi-automatic firearm as well as ammunition.

What could have motivated the shooting remained unknown, authorities said. Reinking requested a lawyer after his arrest and refused to answer questions or make a statement, Don Aaron, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, said at a news briefing. Reinking was taken to a hospital before he was to be booked on four counts of criminal homicide, Aaron said.

“It’s not the way you want your town to be advertised,” said a woman who’s lived in Morton since 1991. She said she was stunned when she saw her hometown flash across the television.

“I saw Morton right across there, and I said, ‘Oh, no,’ ” said the woman, who was walking her dog in town Monday. She said she did not want to be identified because she didn’t want to be associated with the incident. “I just think he needed help and didn’t get it, just another one of those sad stories.”

Reinking was regarded as somewhat of a loner, who was considered by some to be socially awkward, according to friends. He came from a Christian family and was home-schooled, but he also took some classes at nearby Tremont High School. Reinking took a strong interest in photography and was often seen with his camera.

Reinking’s encounters with law enforcement before the Waffle House shooting were unknown to many until a Sunday afternoon news conference by the Tazewell County sheriff’s office.

“You never think that you’d know somebody like that or be connected to someone who could do something so heinous like that. It’s a tragedy. I don’t like to talk about politics, but something needs to be done on mental health,” the Morton woman said.

Failed efforts
Reports released by the Tazewell County sheriff’s office show at least three occasions when Reinking’s father, Jeffrey Reinking, took possession of his son’s guns, only to return them to him.

In August 2017, Reinking was arrested by the U.S. Secret Service after authorities said he crossed a restricted area near the White House, saying he wanted to meet President Donald Trump. He was not armed during the incident, but the FBI requested that Illinois State Police revoke his firearm owner’s identification card.

Travis Reinking handed over his FOID card to officers and transferred four weapons, along with ammunition, to his father, according to an Illinois State Police Firearm Disposition Record. The weapons were a 9 mm handgun, an AR-15 rifle, a .22-caliber rifle and another rifle.

Aaron said Travis Reinking’s father acknowledged to officials that he gave the weapons back to his son.

At a news conference Monday, Special Agent Marcus Watson of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said Jeffrey Reinking could face charges for returning guns to his son, an act that was "potentially a violation of federal law."

The Tazewell County state’s attorney office said in an email that the office did not have enough information to determine whether Jeffrey Reinking would face criminal charges there.

After a June 2017 incident, Jeffrey Reinking also told police he would take his son’s guns away.

At that time, Travis Reinking was spotted taking off a dress, jumping into a Tremont swimming pool and yelling at people, according to a Tazewell sheriff’s report. He had been seen throwing a rifle into the trunk of his car that same day, according to the report. No charges were filed. An officer wrote in the report that he called the father and advised him, “he might want to lock the guns back up until Travis gets mental help which he stated he would.” The report stated that Jeffrey Reinking told police he had taken his son’s guns away on a previous occasion but returned them when Travis Reinking wanted to move out of state.

A year before, on May 27, 2016, the sheriff’s office responded to a CVS parking lot in Morton because Travis Reinking reported that he thought singer Taylor Swift was stalking him. His family told police that Travis Reinking had made suicidal comments and had access to multiple weapons, according to the report.

A ‘red flag’ law for Illinois
The shooting at the Waffle House already has Illinois lawmakers rethinking legislation. Earlier this year, the Illinois Senate passed the Lethal Violence Order of Protection Act, but state representatives are rewriting the bill and renaming it the Firearm Restraining Order.

It’s similar to “red flag” bills that have gained traction in the wake of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. The bills allow a relative, friend or law enforcement officer to report someone in distress whose guns need to be temporarily taken away.

Because of the Waffle House shooting, Rep. Kathleen Willis, D-Addison, said Monday that lawmakers were revisiting whether the person should be allowed to transfer the weapons to someone like a relative or whether the guns should be seized by a law enforcement agency in every case.

The proposed bill would suspend a person’s FOID card for six months, and the revision of the proposed bill provides more details about due process for the person whose weapons have been confiscated.

“We want the act to really get the person the help they need,” she said. “We don’t want it to be a punitive act. We want them to get the help they need while still protecting the Second Amendment.”

Kirk Miller, an associate professor at Northern Illinois University, said if law enforcement is given the proper resources to seize the weapons, the law would close the loophole that keeps guns in circulation.

“Police are able to seize property. Why they wouldn’t seize firearms in situations where there is more legal evidence that the person has, you know, has committed a crime or is a danger and should not be able to possess a firearm as an example of private property — it’s strange,” Miller said.

But it could be a staggering task considering the estimates that thousands of people already have their FOID cards revoked. There are also gaps in information police have about how many guns a person truly possesses, Miller said.

When a person’s FOID card is revoked, that person has to fill out a form that states the type of weapon, location and if the weapon is going to be transferred to another person, according to state law. It does not stipulate restrictions on who the guns can be transferred to.

Last year, Illinois State Police told the Tribune the agency doesn’t have the manpower to confiscate a person’s guns when the FOID card is rescinded. It relies on local police to follow up.

More than 2.1 million people had FOID cards in Illinois in 2017, according to state police. About 11,000 people had their cards revoked in 2016, but fewer than half of those people submitted the required reports indicating what happened with the weapons.

Keeping their distance
Many around Morton tried to distance themselves from Reinking, but the news was inescapable.

At the home of one of Reinking’s relatives in Morton, the Peoria Journal Star lay on the front porch, stuffed into a translucent, peach-colored casing. The front page featured a photo of an investigator ducking under the crime scene tape outside the Nashville Waffle House and the headline read in all-caps: “Police: Morton Man Killed Four in Tennessee.” A man at Travis Reinking’s parents’ residence declined to comment.

Daniel Reinking, Travis’ Reinking’s great-uncle, said he hadn’t been in touch with the family in several years but learned what was going on from the blitz of media coverage.

“It was shock, of course, and disbelief,” Daniel Reinking said over the phone.

Many in Morton didn’t want to discuss the shooting let alone acknowledge Reinking’s roots. The shooting and manhunt seemed to blindside the small town where people only appeared to speak of it in hushed circles or on social media.

“They are a really good family,” one woman said. “This is a really traumatic, shocking thing that happened to them and our town.”

Chicago Tribune’s Robert McCoppin, The Associated Press and The Washington Post contributed.

tbriscoe@chicagotribune.com

emalagon@chicagotribune.com

There isn't enough parental love to explain how it made sense to return an AR-15 to a mentally unstable child who bumrushed the White House and got the FBI and Secret Service all in a tizzy.

[y66]

From How a Genealogy Site Led to the Front Door of the Golden State Killer Suspect by Thomas Fuller:

Quote

SACRAMENTO — The Golden State Killer raped and murdered victims all across the state of California in an era before Google searches and social media, a time when the police relied on shoe leather, not cellphone records or big data.

But it was technology that got him. The suspect, Joseph James DeAngelo, 72, was arrested by the police on Tuesday. Investigators accuse him of committing more than 50 rapes and 12 murders.

Investigators used DNA from crime scenes that had been stored all these years and plugged the genetic profile of the suspected assailant into an online genealogy database. They found distant relatives of Mr. DeAngelo’s and, despite his years of eluding the authorities, traced their DNA to his front door.

“We found a person that was the right age and lived in this area — and that was Mr. DeAngelo,” said Steve Grippi, the assistant chief in the Sacramento district attorney’s office.

Investigators then obtained what Anne Marie Schubert, the Sacramento district attorney, called “abandoned” DNA samples from Mr. DeAngelo. “You leave your DNA in a place that is a public domain,” she said.

The test result confirmed the match to more than 10 murders in California. Ms. Schubert’s office then obtained a second sample and came back with the same positive result, matching the full DNA profile.

Well done Ms. Schubert, Ms. McNamara, Mr. Pool et al.

[Winstonm]

From WaPo:

Quote

Uihlein wields a unique influence in the age of big-money politics, by jumping in early in the primaries in an effort to clear the field in competitive Republican primaries. Unlike other prolific GOP donors who tend to sit out the primaries, Uihlein is making his mark early — and without much fanfare — to advance his preferred Republican candidate.

Uihlein’s checks come in amounts once unheard of for individual donations to a single race. In addition to giving direct contributions to candidates’ campaigns, he donates to super PACs working to boost their candidacies and edge out primary opponents by blanketing local TV markets with advertising.

The American oligarchy at work. Utilizing wealth to negate choice is a direct attack on democracy. How Putin-esque.

[Winstonm]

In the NBA, Paul Pierce had a nickname: The Truth. In Law enforcement, that nickname belongs to Robert Mueller.

[RedSpawn]

SOURCE: https://www.nytimes....rest-rates.html
SOURCE: http://www.businessi...-to-3325-2018-5

VERY GOOD LUCK ARGENTINA....ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY AHEAD!!!

[Al_U_Card]

RedSpawn, on 2018-May-06, 01:30, said:

SOURCE: https://www.nytimes....rest-rates.html
SOURCE: http://www.businessi...-to-3325-2018-5

VERY GOOD LUCK ARGENTINA....ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY AHEAD!!!

What is certain is the draining of the Argentine economy to the benefit of .... "the BCRA will continue operating with all its tools for intervention in the foreign exchange markets"
I wonder what they did to deserve this? Undoubtedly they refused a contract or decided against some IMF or WB plan.....

[Al_U_Card]

Back in 2015 there was local black market activity

it's a start

and then in 2016

Trump effect?

Oh Donald, are you to blame for everything?

[Winstonm]

What's the over/under that money-laundering was involved?

From the NYT:

Quote

Like many of Mr. Cohen’s business dealings, the transactions were unconventional. His companies would buy a building, often in cash. Soon after, they would flip the building in another all-cash deal for four or five times the previous purchase price. The buyer was generally another limited liability company.

In October 2011, for example, a limited liability company listing as its address Mr. Cohen’s apartment at Trump Park Avenue purchased a building on Rivington Street on Manhattan’s Lower East Side for $2.1 million. In 2014, Mr. Cohen sold the building for $10 million in cash – nearly five times what he paid three years earlier.

That same day, Mr. Cohen sold three other Manhattan buildings, also entirely for cash. In total, the four buildings sold for $32 million – nearly triple what Mr. Cohen had paid for them in the span of no more than three years.

[RedSpawn]

http://money.cnn.com...licy/index.html

The opioid epidemic is getting too real that even Wal-Mart is making policy statements, eh?

[Al_U_Card]

Winstonm, on 2018-May-07, 11:58, said:

What's the over/under that money-laundering was involved?

From the NYT:

No need to OVERstate the UNDERhanded nature of big money finance. It's all rigged (even big banks like HSBC and Deutsche have been found "guilty" (read stretching the law even more than usual). Millions is most likely just CIA fund-raising as the Russian Oligarchs prefer the billion prefix...

[Winstonm]

Who do you watch? Jennifer Rubin in WaPo describes one network:

Quote

Fox News’s business model is built on promoting crackpot ideas and airing hateful rhetoric that feed the anger and resentment of its base. That means tearing down genuine heroes who challenge the Great Leader Trump. They are utterly comfortable voicing obnoxious slurs, revealing a stunning lack of human decency. They are superstars in the right-wing ecosystem, not in spite of their crass, bigoted views, but because of them.

[PassedOut]

Winstonm, on 2018-May-11, 08:57, said:

Who do you watch? Jennifer Rubin in WaPo describes one network:

And Ms. Rubin is an anti-Obama, anti-Clinton conservative who pens the column Right Turn.

[kenberg]

PassedOut, on 2018-May-11, 09:45, said:

And Ms. Rubin is an anti-Obama, anti-Clinton conservative who pens the column Right Turn.

Jennifer Rubin, Michael Gerson and George Will are three long time conservative columnists for WaPo who seem to be trying to outdo each other in their criticism of Trump. Of course Gerson worked in the GWB White House but I think it goes well beyond that. I guess they qualify as part of the dreaded elites. I can remember when "elite" was a compliment.

Still, if not for your post referencing her article I would have missed this: "White House aide Kelly Sadler says aloud at a White House meeting that McCain’s opposition to CIA nominee Gina Haspel doesn’t matter because he is “dying anyway” ". Wherever this stands as a matter of strategic accuracy, it is really beyond belief. Except I believe it. His boss, as noted, prefers people who don't get captured. It all seems like it could have been lifted from Dr. Strangelove. As the headline in Ms. Rubin's piece asks: What is wrong with these people?

[johnu]

https://www.msn.com/...85cA?li=BBnbcA1

"A new Kansas law makes it a crime for police to have sex with people they pull over for traffic violations or detain in criminal investigations."

File this one under the "Just WOW" folder. Do we really need such a law in this country? Apparently yes.

[Winstonm]

johnu, on 2018-May-11, 12:46, said:

https://www.msn.com/...85cA?li=BBnbcA1

"A new Kansas law makes it a crime for police to have sex with people they pull over for traffic violations or detain in criminal investigations."

File this one under the "Just WOW" folder. Do we really need such a law in this country? Apparently yes.

However, the sheep in the back of the pickup truck are in for a rude awakening and a very bad day.

[Winstonm]

It appears Kim Chump-Trump has been outplayed by Kim Jong-un

Quote

DEVELOPING
North Korea expands threat to cancel Trump-Kim summit
The communist government called planned U.S.-South Korea joint air force drills a “provocation,” and a senior official later said his country would have no interest in a summit with the United States if it’s going to be a “one-sided” affair where it’s pressured to give up its nukes.