Michigan abolishes its ‘right-to-work’ law. “Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed legislation passed by the Democratic-controlled Legislature, overturning a 2012 GOP law that allowed workers to choose not to join unions or pay union dues as a condition of employment, even if the union represents them in negotiations…. [sapping] membership and financial power from labor unions…” https://www.politico.com/news/2023/03/24/michigan-strikes-right-to-work-law-00088762 Why join the union and pay dues if you get the same pay and benefits as union members, for free?
Amid a shortage of serious threats, ‘fusion centers’ have become a ‘CIA for local police’. Fusion centers were intended to serve as hubs capable of sharing information to help detect and prevent future terrorist attacks. But the centers quickly morphed into vast systems of data collection to address any perceived crimes or hazards. In their earliest conception, fusion centers focused almost entirely on Muslim and Arab communities, targeting their places of worship and community activity. Over time, the centers broadened their focus to include other minority groups, particularly Black Americans…. There is no evidence that this style of surveillance has deterred terrorist attacks. Instead, evidence points to sharp increases in arrests for frivolous offenses such as riding a bicycle without a bell or for petty drug possession. In Camden, for example, [Rutger’s Center for Security, Race and Rights] report found that [charges] have risen rapidly — by nearly 100,000 in one year — since New Jersey’s fusion center was established, overwhelming the municipal court docket. Fusion centers also pose significant risks for First Amendment-protected activities. New Jersey, for example, has created intelligence dossiers on ‘known troublemakers’ — a term that is often conflated with engaging in legitimate protest and dissent.” https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/3900077-homeland-securitys-fusion-centers-show-the-dangers-of-mission-creep/
CIA argues that anyone who met with Julian Assange inside the Ecuadoran Embassy in London had ‘no legitimate expectation of privacy’. “There is no plausible argument that it would be unreasonable or indiscriminate for the government to surveil Assange, who oversaw WikiLeaks’ publication of large amounts of U.S. national security information,” the CIA and [former CIA Director Mike] Pompeo… contend. “Thus, any alleged surveillance of Assange that incidentally captured his conversations with U.S. citizens such as plaintiffs would not violate the Fourth Amendment [right to privacy] as a matter of law.” https://thedissenter.org/cia-says-assange-visitors-had-no-privacy-rights/ Even his attorneys? Yes, even his attorneys.
Donald Trump to kick off his 2024 presidential campaign in Waco, Texas. “When Trump travels to Waco on Saturday, he’ll be visiting a Texas county he won over Biden by more than 20 percentage points. It is also the site of a notorious 51-day standoff between the apocalyptic, anti-government Branch Davidians and the FBI and ATF that started with a lethal shootout [and] the death of 4 ATF agents and 6 people [from] the compound…. The deadly episode has since been a rallying cry for anti-government and militia movements in the U.S…. Posting on the messaging app Telegram, far-right activist and conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer called the rally in Waco ‘very symbolic!’ A few MAGA influencers on social media noted the choice of location, with one calling it ‘a meaningful shot across the brow of the Deep State’.” https://time.com/6264959/trump-anti-government-waco-indictment/
Obama White House official was fatally injured on private jet by malfunction, not turbulence. “The National Transportation Safety Board said the aircraft experienced a force about four times the pull of gravity when the pilots disabled a setting that is used to stabilize the aircraft. The pilots were in the process of resolving warning messages from the aircraft. ‘As soon as the switch position was moved, the airplane abruptly pitched up,’ the preliminary report said…. The plane pitched up and down like a roller coaster several times: First 3.8Gs up, then 2.3Gs downward, followed by 4.2Gs upward. The NTSB [has] previously said the violent movements ‘resulted in fatal injuries to a passenger’, who the Connecticut State Police identified as Dana Hyde. Hyde is a former Obama administration White House official who also worked at the State Department. The report does not specify whether Hyde was seated or wearing a seatbelt at the time…. The pilots had… aborted their first takeoff attempt because of an issue with the aircraft. They discovered a protective cover used when the aircraft is parked was left on the plane, the report said. After restarting the plane, they received additional alerts from the aircraft but proceeded with the takeoff and flight because the alerts did not meet the threshold for grounding. At the time of the incident, the pilots were attempting to resolve the issues by using a checklist for a failure of the primary stabilizer trim, the report said.” https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/24/us/turbulence-jet-death-ntsb/index.html
Congressional delegation tours D.C. jail holding Capitol riot defendants. “Republican House members claimed the Jan. 6 defendants are being deprived of due process, some medical care and services afforded to other jail inmates. But Democratic House members who joined the tour argued the Jan. 6 defendants are receiving uniquely favorable conditions — with access to entertainment equipment, freedom of movement and 24-hour medical care access. The two-hour Friday afternoon tour for the bipartisan group of House members included a lengthy visit with some of the Jan. 6 defendants who are being held in pretrial detention in the D.C. jail. The House Republicans who joined the tour, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia, said the defendants have been held for unacceptably long durations awaiting trial. ‘They’re entitled to a quick and speedy trial,’ Greene said. ‘That’s not happening here.'” https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/lawmakers-conflicting-accounts-treatment-jan-012300921.html “‘They told us stories of being denied medical treatment, they told us stories of assault, they told us stories of being threatened with rape and guards laughing about it,’ [Greene] said. The congresswoman did, however, say that there had been ‘some changes’ since her previous visit to the facility, noting that the jail was cleaner. But she claimed that the inmates had to ‘clean up, scrub the floors, scrub the bathrooms, scrub their cells and paint the entire area, and that happened in this past week’ before lawmakers were allowed to tour the facility…. [Democratic Rep. Jasmine] Crockett — who previously worked as a public defender — said she witnessed ‘privileged people’ during her visit to the jail in an interview with MSNBC’s The ReidOut. ‘The privilege that I saw was actually quite astounding, even though we were supposed to talk about or review how bad the conditions were,’ she added. ‘If anything, I have never seen a jail that afforded so many privileges to anyone and as I said, I’ve been licensed in Texas, Arkansas and in federal courts for almost two decades.'” https://news.yahoo.com/greene-democrats-offer-tale-two-005919434.html
1990 episode of The Simpsons predicted ‘Merican outrage over Michelangelo’s David. “… a 1990 episode of the animated Fox comedy depicted an angry mob of people protesting the planned exhibition of Michelangelo’s David in Springfield. ‘It’s [filth],’ a woman tells Marge. ‘It graphically portrays parts of the human body, which practical as they may be, are evil.’ Flash forward to this week, when a Florida charter school principal says she was forced to resign after some parents complained about their sixth grade students seeing a picture of David in class. It all unfolded at Tallahassee Classical, which bases its curriculum on the conservative and Christian Hillsdale College in Michigan…. Maybe the school should follow The Simpsons’ lead and cover David’s bottom half in jeans?” https://deadline.com/2023/03/florida-parents-michelangelo-david-statue-the-simpsons-1235309907/
Former Proud Boys informant allegedly pestered defense lawyers for information. “Even before the trial began, defense lawyers had suggested that the bureau had as many as eight informants in the far-right organization in the months surrounding Jan. 6, 2021. At least one of them — from the group’s chapter in Kansas City — was in the throng of Proud Boys that marched on the Capitol that day. On Wednesday, new court papers revealed that there was yet another informant in the Proud Boys’ orbit, one who became uncommonly close to people involved in the sedition trial. The newly disclosed informant, a Texas-based activist named ‘Jen Loh’, took part in prayer meetings with some of the defendants’ relatives and had multiple contacts with the defendants themselves while they have been in jail. She was also in touch with some of the defense lawyers in the case, making what one of them, Nicholas Smith, has called a ‘constant drumbeat’ of ‘detailed inquiries’, which Mr. Smith said he had ignored. Carmen Hernandez, another defense lawyer working on the case, described what Ms. Loh has been doing as a ‘surreptitious invasion’ of the Proud Boys’ defense team…. Prosecutors have insisted that they never asked Ms. Loh — whose real name is Jennylyn Salinas — to cozy up to the defendants, their relatives or their lawyers…. ‘It’s hard to see people calling me a rat and a fed and things like that,’ [Salinas] said. ‘I think it’s sad that we’ve gotten so polarized in this country.'” https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/24/us/proud-boys-fbi-informants.html
Florida governor Ron DeSantis signs measure that limits lawsuits against businesses and insurance companies. “The new law, which took effect immediately, includes steps to try to limit litigation against businesses and insurance companies. It reduces from four years to two years a statute of limitations for filing negligence lawsuits and largely eliminates ‘one-way attorney’ fees that insurers can have to pay to cover the costs of plaintiffs’ lawyers…. Opponents said the law would do nothing to lower insurance premiums and would hurt people seeking compensation from businesses that have harmed them.” https://www.orlandosentinel.com/politics/os-ne-desantis-signs-lawsuit-limitation-bill-20230324-635ypqf5cfhlffn3ffplcccalu-story.html
Minnesota nuclear power plant shuts down after failure to stop leak of radioactive water. “Xcel Energy started shutting down its Monticello nuclear power plant Friday after the company’s repair of a leaking pipe did not fully do the job — causing more radioactive water to seep into the ground. Xcel officials said they plan to do a full analysis of why the pipe sprang a leak once the utility completes the shutdown, which will take a couple of days…. Tritium is a moderately radioactive form of hydrogen created in nuclear power production.” https://www.startribune.com/fix-to-stop-tritium-leak-at-xcels-monticello-nuclear-plant-did-not-work-prompting-shutdown/600261698/
19 reportedly killed in retaliatory strikes by U.S. forces in Syria. “The U.S. carried out strikes in eastern Syria in response to a drone attack on Thursday that left one American contractor dead, and another one wounded along with five U.S. troops. Washington said the attack was of Iranian origin. The retaliatory strikes by the U.S. on what it said were facilities in Syria used by groups affiliated to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps left a total of 19 dead, according to the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The war monitor said air raids killed three Syrian troops, 11 Syrian fighters in pro-government militias and five non-Syrian fighters who were aligned with the government.” https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/death-toll-us-strikes-pro-iran-installations-syria-rises-19-fighters-says-syrian-2023-03-25/
Ukrainian and Russian men fleeing conscription. “Ukraine is struggling to recruit soldiers as it prepares for a new offensive against Russia, with some young men spending the equivalent of thousands of dollars to flee the country, The Wall Street Journal reported…. Authorities in Ukraine said that more than 9,000 men left Ukraine in 2022 using documents for volunteers and aid workers…. young Ukrainian men have left by trying to cross borders on foot, enrolling in a university outside Ukraine, or [finding] work as a volunteer emergency aid driver…. One 25-year-old told the Journal that he had spent months avoiding any public spaces, including cafes and restaurants, so he could avoid being called up…. with no end in sight to the war, it’s not clear how much Ukraine will struggle to replenish its ranks going forward.” https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-struggling-recruit-troops-some-young-men-pay-flee-wsj-2023-3
Ukraine and Russia both guilty of executing and mistreating POWs. “The most recent report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is based on interviews with more than 400 POWs and focuses on how they were treated in the one-year period since Russia attacked Ukraine. Those interviewed include Ukrainian POWs who have been released as well as Russians held captive in Ukraine…. Instances under Russia’s control include the ‘summary executions of 15 POWs, the use of POWs as human shields, the deaths of two wounded men POWs due to a lack of medical care, and torture or other ill-treatment to extract information’, per the report…. Meanwhile, the monitors documented the summary executions of at least 25 Russian POWs at the hands of Ukrainian forces. ‘OHCHR also documented cases of torture or other forms of ill-treatment against 113 POWs, many of them involving beatings, kicking or, to a lesser extent, stabbing,’ the report says.” https://www.axios.com/2023/03/24/un-report-russia-ukraine-pows I apparently lost my blue ‘verified’ checkmark on Twitter for posting a story about abuses committed by both sides several months ago.
Estimated 1,619 banks could fail if depositors pull out their uninsured money. “Economists at Stanford, University of Southern California, Columbia and Northwestern found that because of rising interest rates hurting the value of certain assets such as bonds, U.S. banks hold $2 trillion less in assets than they appear to have on paper. As a result, the study found, some banks would not survive a scenario in which many customers withdrew some or all of their uninsured deposits. These banks would find themselves in the position of Silicon Valley Bank, unable to cover mass withdrawals and subject to government takeover, researchers warn. The study, which is based on data covering more than 4,800 U.S. banks, found that 1,619 banks would be at risk of failing if all their uninsured deposits were withdrawn. In a scenario where half of uninsured investors withdraw their funds, 186 banks would be at risk, the study concluded.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2023/03/24/svb-bank-study/
Was CIA trying to recruit 9/11 hijackers? “The court filing details a five-year inquiry by an investigator for the Guantanamo Military Commission into whether the meeting at the Mediterranean Gourmet restaurant [between Omar al-Bayoumi, a Saudi intelligence asset, and 9/11 hijackers Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar] was an operation that involved not only Saudi agents but CIA officers as well. The theory that the CIA had launched a failed effort to recruit the hijackers through the Saudis has been around for years, and was always circumstantial at best, but the document obtained by SpyTalk reveals there is more evidence to support it. One former FBI agent claimed to the investigator that the CIA possesses top secret ‘operational’ files and a ‘paper trail’ about the Saudi spy who met the hijackers that are still being suppressed. A CIA spokesperson denied that the agency was hiding information. The FBI declined to comment…. Before 9/11, according to CS-23, the CIA was determined to get a human source inside Osama bin Laden’s terror network, and the arrival of two members of Al Qaeda in Southern California in January 2000 offered an unprecedented opportunity.” https://www.spytalk.co/p/exclusive-fbi-agents-accuse-cia-of
Senate amendment to repeal 2001 AUMF defeated. “The Senate on Wednesday voted down an amendment introduced by Sen. Rand Paul to repeal the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) that was passed in the wake of the September 11 attacks to invade Afghanistan and is still used to justify wars today. The bill didn’t come close to passing and failed in a vote of 9-86, with only four Republicans, four Democrats, and one Independent supporting the legislation. The vote came ahead of the Senate voting on a repeal of the 1991 and 2002 Iraq AUMFs, which is a symbolic move as the authorizations are not used to wage war today.” https://news.antiwar.com/2023/03/23/senate-votes-down-sen-rand-pauls-resolution-to-repeal-2001-aumf/
Police reportedly fired pepperballs into tent of slain ‘Cop City’ forest protector before alleged gun battle. “A police officer fired rounds from a pepperball gun into Manuel Paez Terán’s closed tent before an exchange of gunfire that resulted in the death of the environmental activist and injury of an officer, according to police incident reports obtained by the Guardian. Armed police in tactical gear killed the 26-year-old Paez Terán on the morning of 18 January as they swept through an Atlanta forest to clear activists who were camping there to prevent construction on a $90m police and fire department training facility known as ‘Cop City’…. Officers said Paez Terán was trespassing, then Paez Terán unzipped a small section of the tent door, looked out, and zipped the tent up again. The officer wrote that Paez Terán looked ‘angry’. When Paez Terán zipped up the tent, the officer said he gave the order to fire the pepperball gun…. The officer reports agree that after the pepperball gun was fired, the gunfire started.” https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/25/cop-city-raid-georgia-officers-manuel-paez-teran
House Foreign Affairs Committee approves bill that would require Pentagon and State Department to provide detailed records of Ukraine aid decisions, arms shipments and spending. “The House Foreign Affairs Committee advanced the bill with a 26-20 vote Friday morning…. ‘It is unfortunate that some misunderstand strong oversight as somehow at odds with strong U.S. support for Ukraine’s self-defense against Putin’s brutal illegal invasion,’ the committee chair [Rep. Michael McCaul] said. ‘This oversight is vital for continued U.S. support and for ensuring such support is effective in protecting American security interests abroad.'” https://www.courthousenews.com/critics-of-funding-for-ukraine-push-bill-through-house/
L.A. police union sues activist over tweet with link to searchable database of the city’s police officers. “The Los Angeles Police Protective League filed a lawsuit Friday against an activist who tweeted out a link to a new website that divulged the identity of numerous undercover LAPD officers…. The strange controversy began with a public records act request, filed by a reporter with the left-wing news site KnockLA, to obtain a roster of LAPD personnel listing names, ethnicity, gender, area, rank, year of hire, height and weight, along with ‘headshots’… of every officer. [After a lawsuit was resolved in the group’s favor, the] Stop LAPD Spying Coalition then used the records to produce a website called ‘Watch the Watchers’ — a searchable database of every LAPD officer that includes their name, rank, serial number, photograph and work email…. ‘You can use it to identify officers who are causing harm in your community…. flipping the direction of surveillance against the state’s agents.’ …. ‘It became readily apparent that the Department had released, and not redacted, the names and photographs of officers engaged in sensitive investigative [i.e., undercover] assignments, placing their lives and the lives of their families in extreme jeopardy and peril,’ the police union wrote in a letter to the police commission on Monday.” https://www.courthousenews.com/police-union-sues-activist-over-website-that-divulged-identities-of-numerous-undercover-lapd-officers/
African country of Chad nationalizes Exxon Mobil’s local assets. “Chad is nationalizing all assets from multinational oil giant… including its hydrocarbon and exploration permits, said the government…. The nationalization of a private company means that all assets are now owned by the government…. Chad began producing oil in 2003 and Exxon has been operating in the country for several decades. It was running the Doba oil project in Chad…. The government’s decision came after a long dispute between Exxon and Chad, which rejected the sale of the company’s operations last year.” https://www.courthousenews.com/chad-nationalizes-assets-by-oil-giant-exxon-says-government/
Progressive News Service 