Trump is pushing the wrong approaches for reducing crime say police chiefs, who oppose “dragnet enforcement of lower-level offenses”. “…the new administration is out of step with evidence that public safety depends on building trust, increasing mental health and drug addiction treatment, and using alternatives to prosecution and incarceration.” https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/12/us/police-chiefs-trump-law-enforcement-priorities.html
“Dreamer” who entered the U.S. illegally as a child is swept up in ICE raid targeting his father. “Mr. Ramirez unequivocally denies being in a gang…. The statement issued tonight by Ms. Richeson of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement is inaccurate.” http://edition.cnn.com/2017/02/14/politics/daniel-ramirez-medina-daca-detention/
U.S. accuses Russia of weapons treaty violation. “Russia (has) secretly deployed the ground-launched SSC-8 cruise missile that Moscow has been developing and testing for several years, despite U.S. complaints that it violated sections of the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty…” http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-russia-missiles-idUSKBN15T2CS
Politico obtains copy of “High Class Battered Women” episode of Oprah show featuring Andy Pudzer’s then-wife. “She sat on a panel with two other women who also alleged abuse by their husbands.” http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/puzder-oprah-winfrey-labor-235030
Two Democrats and New York Times reportedly fooled by fake Flynn tweets. “The @GenMikeFlynn is a clearly marked parody account.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/02/14/nancy-pelosi-cited-a-fake-michael-flynn-tweet-today/
Trump team allegedly in contact with Russian intelligence service during campaign. “Intercepted phone calls show members of President Donald Trump’s campaign had multiple communications with senior Russian intelligence officials before the US election…” http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-campaign-contacts-russian-intelligence-election-2017-2
Humana to drop out of Obamacare health insurance program in 2018. “The company attributed its action to mounting losses caused by sicker-than-expected consumers.” http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-obamacare-humana-20170214-story.html
Judge reportedly rules that Dakota Access pipeline construction can continue. “…Boasberg told the two native tribes who had filed the motion that because there was no crude actively flowing through it, the pipeline didn’t actually pose an immediate environmental risk.” http://fusion.net/story/386573/judge-dapl-nodapl-boasberg/
Republican committee members reportedly block release of Trump’s tax returns. “The effort failed with a 23-15 vote, despite attempts by Democrats on the committee to frame the issue as a matter of national security amid lingering questions over what role the Trump’s investments are playing in his presidential decision-making.” http://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/02/14/ignoring-public-outcry-republicans-block-effort-obtain-trumps-taxes
New Arizona execution protocol allegedly says that prisoners’ lawyers are allowed to provide the execution drugs to be used on their clients, which the state is currently unable to obtain. “It’s not legal for me as a lawyer to go out and procure drugs for a client. So legally it’s impossible and ethically as well, my job is to make sure that my client’s rights are protected and not to work with the state to ensure that it carries out the execution …” https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/15/arizona-death-penalty-bring-your-own-lethal-injection-drugs
Trump opponents are reportedly talking tax resistance.”Not long after Trump was elected, Robinson sat down with her accountant and discussed legal ways to pay negligible federal income tax, instead making extra payments into her tax-deferred pension plan and still paying her local and state taxes and Medicaid and Medicare contributions.” https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/15/tax-refusing-pay-protest-trump
More “alternative facts” from the the Trump administration. “A case cited by the White House as evidence that non-citizens cast illegal votes in American elections did not actually involve any non-citizens voting, the latest in a series of misleading statements on the subject by the administration.” https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/14/voter-fraud-illegal-voting-white-house-sarah-huckabee-sanders
Sikh temple takes in Oroville refugees. “This is our religion. If anybody has a big problem, we invite everybody. We’re open. Come here.” https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/14/trump-supporter-evacuated-oroville-dam-sikh-temple-shelter
Leaking is apparently not a problem when it serves the intelligence community’s agenda. “The only reason the public learned about Flynn’s lie is because someone inside the U.S. government violated the criminal law by leaking the contents of Flynn’s intercepted communications.” https://theintercept.com/2017/02/14/the-leakers-who-exposed-gen-flynns-lie-committed-serious-and-wholly-justified-felonies/
ICE says 680 arrested during nationwide roundup, claims 75% were criminals. “…immigration attorneys were quick to stress that the category of “criminal alien” is extremely broad and can include people whose only offenses are immigration violations.” https://theintercept.com/2017/02/14/ice-arrested-nearly-700-people-last-week-advocates-are-bracing-for-more-to-come/
NAACP speaker’s mic turned off while testifying against workplace discrimination bill. “I would note that the only man of color to testify on this bill basically had the mic cut off of him,” she told Lant, “and I would ask that you would allow him to speak.” He didn’t. http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/republicans-look-to-narrow-discrimination-protections-cut-off-naacp-president/article_e1c9b9d4-ff1e-5a96-b1ec-a11a7fbd42d3.html
Brazilian court rules that Uber drivers are employees. “The consequences for Uber, if the ruling is upheld, could be far greater if more drivers follow suit and if state and federal regulators and tax agencies start treating it, as the judge suggested, as a transportation company rather than a tech firm.” http://www.rawstory.com/2017/02/brazil-judge-rules-uber-drivers-are-employees-deserve-benefits/
U.S. commander claims 60,000 IS fighters killed in last two years. “What makes the number of militants killed difficult to put into context is the wide variance between estimates of how many Islamic State fighters there (were) to begin with.” http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/02/14/specops-commander-60000-isis-fighters-killed-by-us-troops.html
Canadian border town suspends school trips to the U.S. “We don’t want to have some student turned back at the border, or even held up for a period of time.” https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/13/world/canada/windsor-canada-detroit-border-apprehension.html?_r=0
630 more people reportedly detained in Turkey. “Counter-terror police on Tuesday detained 86 people suspected of ties to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group in dawn raids across Turkey, in addition to 544 held a day earlier, state-run Anadolu agency reported.” http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-security-kurds-idUSKBN15T0HF
Illegal aliens reportedly fleeing into Canada to avoid arrest. “Several refugees have suffered frostbite after trekking for hours in sub-zero weather, and aid organizations are overwhelmed.” https://www.democracynow.org/2017/2/14/crossing_the_northern_border_immigrants_in
Black liberation activist released after 35 years in Indiana prisons. “I’ve seen a lot of people get executed.” https://www.democracynow.org/2017/2/14/headlines/fmr_black_liberation_activist_zolo_azania_freed_after_35_years
New governor of Indiana pardons man that Mike Pence refused to clear. “…one month after he left office as Indiana’s governor, his successor Eric Holcomb moved to clear Keith Cooper’s name.” http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/02/15/innocent-man-finally-pardoned-after-mike-pence-refused-to-clear-his-name.html
Trump reportedly calls “fake news media” reports of campaign ties to Russian intelligence “non-sense”. “This Russian connection non-sense is merely an attempt to cover-up the many mistakes made in Hillary Clinton’s losing campaign.” http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2017/02/15/trump-lambasts-nonsense-russia-report.html
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