President Trump’s personal assistant fired after journalist leaks her ‘off-the-record’ comments about Trump’s daughters. “She had a couple drinks and in an uncharacteristically unguarded moment, she opened up to the reporters.” https://www.politico.com/story/2019/08/30/trumps-personal-assistant-fired-ivanka-tiffany-1479226
Man accused of assassinating 1968 presidential candidate Robert Kennedy hospitalized after prison stabbing. “Over the years, (Sirhan) Sirhan has claimed to have no recollection of the shooting or his initial confession.” https://ktla.com/2019/08/30/rfk-assassin-sirhan-sirhan-stable-after-being-stabbed-at-san-diego-area-prison/ “The CIA experimented extensively with brainwashing during the 1950s and 1960s, honing techniques that could force someone to kill, then have no recollection afterward. Code-named MKUltra, the program involved some 149 separate experiments — many on unwitting Americans…” https://nypost.com/2016/07/23/the-dark-cia-experiments-that-inspired-jason-bourne-movies/ “Dick Russell, author of a book on the Kennedy assassination titled The Man Who Knew Too Much, uncovered evidence to support the theory that Lee Harvey Oswald was a product of MK-ULTRA. One of the CIA’s overseas locations for LSD and mind-control experiments was Atsugi Naval Air base in Japan where Oswald served as a marine radar technician. Russell says that after his book was published, a former CIA counter-intelligence expert called him and said Oswald had been ‘viewed by the CIA as fitting the psychological profile of someone they were looking for in their MK-ULTRA program’, and that he had been mind-conditioned to defect to the USSR.” https://whowhatwhy.org/2016/04/29/government-mind-control-agent-talks/
Doctor who treated Lee Harvey Oswald’s assassin, Jack Ruby, reportedly participated in CIA’s MK-ULTRA program. “An analysis of available documents from the CIA’s declassified archives and the recovered MKULTRA files shows that not only did (Louis Jolyon) West want to continue his work with the Agency during the period he was treating Ruby, the University he researched at thought that’s exactly what he was doing.” https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2017/dec/19/mkruby/
Man sentenced to life in prison under Alabama’s ‘four strikes’ law was charged with three of those crimes for one burglary. “… (Alvin) Kennard pleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree burglary in connection with a break-in at an unoccupied service station…. For those three charges, all of which were tied to that one incident, he was sentenced to three years’ probation. The next time he was convicted, for the bakery robbery — which was committed with a pocket knife and involved no injuries — he was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.” https://abcnews.go.com/US/man-spent-36-years-prison-stealing-50-bakery/story?id=65264675
Black Mississippi man may be tried a seventh time for the same crime. “All six prosecutions (of Curtis Flowers) have either ended in mistrial or convictions that were reversed on appeal…. The case will now be sent back to a lower court, and prosecutors will have to decide if they want to try Mr. Flowers for a seventh time…. (His lawyer) added that he would seek to get Mr. Flowers, who has been held in state prison for 22 years, released on bail.” https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/29/us/curtis-flowers-doug-evans.html Multiple prosecutions for the same crime would seem to violate the Constitution’s guarantee that people not be tried repeatedly for the same crime. https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/fifth_amendment
Democratic Party claims it scrapped plans for more inclusive state caucuses in Iowa and Nevada due to cybersecurity concerns. “…a June Des Moines Register/CNN poll found that in Iowa, ‘prospective virtual caucus voters currently have lower education levels than the prospective in-person voters’ and ‘potential virtual caucus-goers are also younger than in-person attendees’.” https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/8/25/20832300/dnc-climate-change-debate-virtual-caucus-iowa-nevada-hack-democratic-national-committee
White campground employee who confronted black picnickers with a drawn revolver is fined $250, plus $182.50 in court costs. “Jessica and Franklin Richardson, the couple, said they didn’t realize they needed a reservation and would have left if asked.” https://www.nbcnews.com/news/veterans/250-fine-white-woman-who-brandished-gun-black-couple-n1048356
Hong Kong legislators arrested. “Three pro-democracy lawmakers, Cheng Chung-tai, Au Nok-hin and Jeremy Tam were arrested Friday, according to the police, a legislative assistant and Facebook posts from their offices.” https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/29/world/asia/joshua-wong-hong-kong.html
Guantanamo detainees accused of participating in 9/11 attacks to receive trials after more than 15 years in custody. “After (Khalid) Mohammed’s capture in Pakistan in 2003, he and the other four defendants — identified as Walid bin Attash, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Ammar al-Baluchi and Mustafa al-Hawsawi — were brutally interrogated in a network of overseas secret CIA prisons, known as ‘black sites’, before being turned over to the U.S. military.” https://www.npr.org/2019/08/30/755983643/trial-date-set-for-khalid-sheikh-mohammed-4-others-charged-in-9-11-attacks
Journalists visiting Guantanamo Bay prison camp must agree to being accompanied by minders and to having their audio recordings reviewed, news organizations appeal. “As part of their constitutionally protected news coverage of the Military Commissions, journalists will at times carry out interviews with defense lawyers, 9/11 victims, and others. Now, by essentially authorizing government surveillance of those interactions, the new regulations impose an unacceptable restraint on press freedom.” https://theintercept.com/2019/08/30/guantanamo-bay-press-restrictions/
Cops in Rio de Janeiro accused of executing suspects. “Summary executions are being carried out in (slums) and other peripheral areas,” says Renata Souza, a local politician. “It is a barbaric state policy that amounts to genocide.” https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/the-killing-fields-of-bolsonaros-brazil/article29119731.ece
550,000 Ford trucks and SUVs recalled over weak seat backs. “Ford recalls F-150, Explorer, Expedition for seats that may detach in crash.” https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2019/08/30/ford-seat-steering-recall-f-150-explorer-fusion-fiesta/2167402001/
VW settles gas mileage lawsuit. “The EPA said it discovered during its investigation into Volkswagen’s diesel emissions scandal that the automaker had installed software that enabled gasoline vehicles to perform better during federal tests than in real life.” https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2019/08/30/volkswagen-fuel-economy-settlement-audi-porsche-bentley-vw/2166983001/
Pennsylvania appeals court rules that man who mimicked shooting a gun at his neighbor with his fingers ‘created a hazardous condition’, upholds his criminal disorderly conduct conviction. “This is not the first time a court has found people guilty for pointing a finger gun.” (article then cites five additional cases) https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/459423-pennsylvania-appeals-court-rules-finger-gun-pointing-a-crime
Federal appeals court rules that travelers can sue TSA screeners who abuse them. “In a 9-4 decision, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia said Transportation Security Administration screeners were ‘investigative or law enforcement officers’ for purposes of searching passengers, waiving the government’s usual immunity from lawsuits.” https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-tsa-lawsuit/fliers-can-sue-over-airport-screener-abuses-u-s-appeals-court-idUKKCN1VK209
Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls for boycott of TV channel. “In a Facebook post, he wrote Israelis should stop watching the (Channel 12) network for ‘its choice to tarnish us in the world with lies against the State of Israel’.” https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-urges-boycott-of-fake-channel-12-calls-its-tv-show-anti-semitic/
Plain clothes DEA agents reportedly approaching Amtrak passengers, pressuring them to consent to searches. “It’s legal for (Special Agent) Perry to search people without probable cause, a warrant, or a dog because travelers supposedly realize that they have the right to decline to submit to his searches.” https://theintercept.com/2019/08/31/dea-amtrak-passenger-search-albuquerque/ I’ve personally observed this happening and I thought they were thieves shaking down passengers for money. They looked like meth traffickers.
Unease over brain-reading neuro-technology. “‘The researchers say they’ve already built an algorithm that can decode words from brain activity in real time.’ So how long until this is co-opted for national security purposes?” https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/08/30/scariest-thing-youll-read-all-day-report-sounds-alarm-over-brain-reading-technology Mind scans at the airport? ‘Loyalty scans’ to find out what employees really think about their boss or company?
Bernie Sanders compares climate crisis to 2008 banking crisis. “If the environment were a bank it would have been saved already.” https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/08/30/if-environment-were-bank-says-bernie-sanders-it-would-have-been-saved-already
Alaskan villages threatened by climate change. “Among those in danger of going underwater is Newtok, near Alaska’s western coast, where all of the roughly 350 residents should complete the daunting task of relocating this summer to a new village about 9 miles away.” https://www.courthousenews.com/alaskan-natives-feel-the-heat-of-climate-change/
DNA evidence clears man after 32 years in prison. “In 2009, the Northern California Innocence Project represented (Jack) Sagin and identified several items found by Monterey Police which could be tested for DNA, including vaginal swabs taken from (Paula) Durocher, hairs found on her back and scrapings taken from under her fingernails. None of the DNA matched Sagin, according to Friday’s ruling by the Sixth Appellate District.” https://www.courthousenews.com/dna-evidence-leads-to-vacated-sentence-for-man-after-3-decades-in-prison/
British Museum returns looted artifacts to Iraq. “The British Museum said Friday it had returned to Iraq a collection of 156 cuneiform tablets believed to have been looted following the U.S.-led invasion of the country.” https://www.courthousenews.com/british-museum-hands-looted-ancient-tablets-to-iraq/
California citizens’ group sues power companies over storage of nuclear waste at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. “According to court records, the defendants are creating a major threat by burying nuclear waste next to the ocean, in a tsunami inundation zone, near a fault line and in heavily populated area. The restraining order request claims that once a defective canister is buried, there’s no existing method to inspect it, unearth it or transfer it.” https://www.10news.com/news/team-10/new-legal-action-over-nuclear-waste-at-san-onofre-nuclear-generating-station
Creator of Pokemon Go agrees to pay $4 million to settle class action lawsuit brought by people whose property was overrun by the game’s players, everyone gets the ability to ban Pokemon from their property. “The 12 people who actually brought the case and have pushed it through the Northern California Federal Court for three years will get a measly $1,000 apiece, after the judge decided that the requested $2,500 was ‘way too high’. Everyone else affected will get zilch.” https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/08/23/pokemon_go_lawsuit/
Decision not to prosecute former FBI director James Comey for leaks reveals ‘two-tiered’ system for dealing with leakers. “High-ranking officials, like Comey, David Petraeus, Hillary Clinton, and Leon Panetta, each mishandled classified information. They served no jail time. Meanwhile, low-level government employees like Reality Winner, Terry Albury, Jeffrey Sterling, John Kiriakou, and Stephen Kim have endured prison sentences for their actions.” https://shadowproof.com/2019/08/29/james-comey-saved-by-two-tiered-justice-system-prosecuting-leaks/ It is also noted that these low-level employees thought they were revealing government wrong-doing.
Progressive News Service 