Saturday, February 18, 2017

FEDERAL

1.  After being called on by the President, a reporter from an obscure Jewish publication asked a long two-part question and Trump took offense.  For reporters, this is not unusual and the reporter was not offensive or critical. After Trump answered the first part of his question, the reporter asked a follow up.  This was not unusual and the question was not critical or offensive. Trump then delivered a lecture and told the reporter to "sit down"   I've been watching new conferences for decades and have never seen a President be so rude to a reporter.  This wasn't even a reporter for the New York Times or Washington Post. This is classic Trump.  Whenever he's asked a question that challenges or irks him, rather than address the issue, he sidetracks to irrelevancies like criticizing the press and falsely accusing  them of lying.  One of his advisors told the press to "shut up.
 Where did they find this President-- an anger management class?

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/17/us/politics/trump-press-conference-jake-turx.html?_r=0

2.  Trump's cabinet appointments and first preliminary budget reveals a well know principle of politics.  Reward your friends, punish your enemies.  Environmentalists, teachers unions, consumer protection, public housing, civil rights groups and others found their cabinet posts filled by people with clear records opposing those who were 'enemies' during the campaign.  For instance, the Education secretary had never been to public shoot and didn't send her children to one.  She was a strong supporter of charter schools which are opposed by public education unions and lobby groups.  Civil rights groups opposed the attorney general nominee.  I can't think of a single cabined appointee who knew much about their agencies or cared about its traditional mission.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2017/01/19/donald-trump-has-assembled-the-worst-cabinet-in-american-history/?utm_term=.dc98ad528e71

The budget was not totally about rewarding and punishing, but the trend was clear.

3.  The Trump administration is considering use of the National Guard to help with mass roundups and deportations.  Makes sense given the millions of people  Trump wants to roundup and deport. When he sees even this is inadequate will he call out the troops?  Use if the military for civilian law enforcement is probably illegal, and we have had a long tradition of keeping the military out of civil affairs except in cases of dire emergency.  The administration denied it--it's usual response to leaks, no matter how apparently reliable. (Remember, for instance, the Flint-lying case?)
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-trump-national-guard-immigration-20170217-story.html

4.  The Russian contacts/National Security Advisor Flynn scandal

For a detailed and accurate account see
http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2017/02/15/trumps-russia-problem-now-americas-problem-going-away

CRIME

1.  Almost Dylan Roof deja vu'.  "
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A white supremacist with felony convictions in South Carolina bought a gun from an undercover FBI agent, telling the agent he planned an attack in "the spirit of Dylann Roof," authorities said Thursday.
Benjamin McDowell, 29, was arrested in Myrtle Beach shortly after buying the .40-caliber Glock and ammunition for $109 from the agent who picked him up at his mother's house, then took him to his grandfather's house to get the money, FBI agent Grant Lowe wrote in an affidavit.
McDowell didn't have a specific target in mind, once telling the undercover agent he might just shoot at a party of black people, Lowe wrote." . .

See some of the suspect's Facebook posts at the article., which also mentions Jews. These folks may also be Christian supremacists.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/3fee430a663d4bdb8596ac8c66107e3d/fbi-white-felon-bought-gun-dylan-roof-style-attack

 The suspect mentions Yahweh which is a term used by some Jews and some Christians.
And some people say the Southern Poverty Law Center makes up all this stuff about violent white supremacists.

COURTS (Two Very Hot Issues)

1.  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld on of California's most restrictive  gun control provisions. California, D.C., New York and Chicago have perhaps the nation's most draconian gun laws. ) The law gave Calif. officials almost unlimited discretion to deny permits to otherwise qualified applicant who wanted a concealed carry permit.  Such carrying is allowed only with such permits.

"Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block California's limits on concealed carry permit holders in a brief filed with eight other governors.
"The question presented is whether the State of California can single out one group of disfavored citizens--namely, gun owners--and impose unique burdens on their fundamental rights," the brief reads. "Indeed, no other group of private citizens has to prove--to the satisfaction of a government official vested with unreviewable and boundless discretion--that they really need to exercise their fundamental constitutional freedoms."
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/texas-politics/2017/02/17/gov-greg-abbott-wants-supreme-court-block-california-gun-limits

all parts except section IV, by Judge Bea, and by Judge

N.R. Smith as to all parts except section II.B, stated that in

the context of present-day California law, the defendant

counties’ limited licensing of the right to carry concealed

firearms is tantamount to a total ban on the right of an

ordinary citizen to carry a firearm in public for self-defense.

Thus, plaintiffs’ Second Amendment rights have been

violated." 

See opinions at
https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2016/06/09/10-56971.pdf


I agree with Abbott.  This in unconstitutional under a number of precedents.
The Supreme Court really needs to take this case and some others on the Second Amendment to provide guidance for lower courts and public officials.

2.  - "The Washington Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday that a florist who refused to provide services for a same-sex wedding broke the state's antidiscrimination law, even though she claimed doing so would violate her religious beliefs."  Although some things about the decision trouble me, I agree with it.  Freedom of religion is not an absolute bar on government action, and should not be used to stymie civil rights and other legislantion."  The ruling is consistent with a majority of the court rulings on this and similar issues.

From a Fox News station,
http://www.fox34.com/story/34523147/washington-court-rules-against-florist-in-gay-wedding-case

See opinion here.
http://www.adfmedia.org/files/ArlenesFlowersWSCopinion.pdf

"The case is one of several involving Christian wedding vendors that have emerged in recent years amid a dramatic expansion of gay rights. Social conservatives have argued that the legalization of same-sex marriage, and the proliferation of state and local laws barring discrimination against people on the basis of sexual orientation, have led to a trampling of religious liberties. They contend that the government should not be forcing these vendors to contribute their artistic talents to same-sex ceremonies, which they oppose on religious grounds, and that the vendors might end up having to abandon their profession to avoid violating their religious beliefs.
But as in Washington, courts have largely sided with the couples and government officials who have called their actions unlawful discrimination"

STATE, CITY AND LOCAL


1.  If you've followed politics in very large cities it doesn't take long to realize who City Hall REALLY listens to.  Big real estate, financing, and construction.  There are job and tax benefits, but too often serious needs go wanting (e.g. crime, pensions,water, animal control, homeless, etc.)  Here in Dallas, the primary effort regarding the homeless is to chase them out of their tent cities to new tent cities in some other parts of the city.  Many places, the road are awful.  The city only got serious about the dog problem after a woman was killed by roaming dogs.  The list of 'let's pretends' goes on.

Here's an example, in 2016, $26.5 million of tax exempt municipal bonds were sold for devlopemnent of two privately owned large buildings.  The feds are now investigating the deals.

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/downtown-dallas/2017/02/16/irs-eyes-whether-hotel-deal-aided-developer-public-experts-say

2.   "Systemic racism" going back decades is at the core of problems that caused a lead-contaminated water crisis in the majority black city of Flint, according to a Michigan Civil Rights Commission report issued Friday.
The report says the commission did not unearth any civil rights law violations and that nobody "intended to poison Flint." But the 130-page report based on the testimony of more than 100 residents, experts and government and community leaders at public hearings and other meetings last year concludes that decisions would have been different had they concerned the state's wealthier, predominantly white communities." . .
The lack of political clout left the residents with nowhere to turn, no way to have their voices heard."
The lack of political clout left the residents with nowhere to turn, no way to have their voices heard." 
http://www.thestate.com/news/nation-world/national/article133403234.html

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/news/nation-world/national/article133403234.html#storylink=cpy


This is a problem in many states.  If you are poor, you have little political clout,  Vested interests and the wealthy get most of the legislative attention and programs.  This appears to be much more prevalent in Republican- dominate areas.

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/news/nation-world/national/article133403234.html#storylink=cpy






Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/news/nation-world/national/article133403234.html#storylink=cpy

Saturday, February 11, 2017

4 BILLION Dollar bail set

Everything is bigger in Texas, including the amount needed to make bail.  $4Billion! This is a U.S. record.
http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/record-breaking-4-billion-bond-set-for-killeen-murder-suspect/406433155
Yes, that's billion with a B.  What is this guy a billionaire or a millionaire?  Not even close.  This is ridiculous and the  judge should be embarrassed. I'm not saying he should be released.  This amount is not  a violation of the Eight Amendment provision banning 'excessive bail."  Why? That provision only applies against the federal government.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excessive_Bail_Clause




GORUSCH REBUKES TRUMP, TRUMP RESPONDS

Neil Gorsuch, Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court called Trump's remarks about the federal courts that halted his immigration orders "disheartening" and "demoralizing".  Gorsuch made the comment to a Democratic Senator.
"President Donald Trump falsely claimed a Democratic senator “misrepresents” a conversation that the senator had with Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Neil Gorsuch. In fact, Gorsuch’s spokesman confirmed the senator’s account."
http://www.factcheck.org/2017/02/trumps-baffling-tweet-on-gorsuch/
Will Gorsuch's nomination be pulled?  Stay tuned.

Not many other Republicans are standing up to Trump for his many false and/or disrespectful tweets and comments.  John McLain and Mitch McConnel are an exception.  See this on equating Russian and the U.S. "killing." http://www.cbsnews.com/news/congress-republicans-trump-comments-putin-us-killers/

Saturday, February 04, 2017

VICTIM ROBBED OF $400,000 IN JEWELRY IN HOTEL ROOM

Guess who was the victim.  An unfortunate heiress, a jewelry executive?  Nope! An NFL Player who invited a woman back to his room and then drank a drink she made for him.  Read the story below.  As in politics, where do they find these people?  As P.T. Barnum said, "There's a .  .  ."
http://www.complex.com/sports/2013/03/an-nfl-player-was-robbed-of-400000-worth-of-jewelry-on-sunday-night-after-bringing-a-woman-back-to-his-hotel-room-in-miami

IMHO: BAYLOR SACRIFICED ITS FEMALE STUDENTS AT THE ALTAR OF THE FOOTBALL TEAM

Baylor claims to be a conservative Christian school. If so, why, IMHO, were so many female students sacrificed at the altar of the football team?   The human capacity of denial and hypocrisy (e.g. the defense of slavery)is nothing short of amazing for a species that claims to be capable of rationality.  Although Baylor is a private school, freedom of religion claims will not save it.  Fortunately, there will be a federal investigation for violations of federal law.  Think you've seen all the dirt by now?  Just wait.
See this article below written by sport writer.
http://sportsday.dallasnews.com/college-sports/baylorbears/2017/02/03/ncaa-death-penalty-hurt-mostly-innocent-baylor-deserves-punishment

Wednesday, February 01, 2017

TRUmp AND TRUth


Here's the best short analysis of what is, our first post-truth President.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/28/opinion/sunday/can-donald-trump-handle-the-truth.html

Some  quotes therefrom. [by blogger]:
"Consider his response to ABC’s David Muir, who challenged him to back up his repeated, and repeatedly debunked, claim that millions of people voted illegally — which he insists is the reason he lost the popular vote by nearly three million votes. Rather than admitting he had no evidence, Mr. Trump said: “You know what’s important? Millions of people agree with me when I say that.” In other words, facts aren’t important; blind trust in a leader is."

Mr. Trump’s allergy to empirical facts leads naturally to his attacks on the media, whose job it is to report accurately and to hold politicians to account for the things they say and do — goals that are anathema to a huckster. On Thursday, one of Mr. Trump’s top advisers, Stephen Bannon, told The New York Times that the “elite media” is “the opposition party” and should “keep its mouth shut.” Congressional Republicans are getting on board, too: Last week, Representative Lamar Smith of Texas, the chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, said it was “better to get your news directly from the president. In fact it might be the only way to get the unvarnished truth.”. . . [You can always rely on Texas Republicans to fall in line with whatever conservative propaganda is going around]

"This attitude is, of course, all too familiar to the citizens of authoritarian regimes around the world — from China to Russia to Turkey to Egypt — where leaders survive by intimidating or imprisoning journalists, writers and artists, or anyone who dares to challenge the “truth” and “information” generated by the regime. Mr. Trump can engage in intimidation through his Twitter and Facebook accounts alone, where he has a direct line to tens of millions of Americans.
A closed disinformation loop may not seem like a big deal when the dispute is over crowd size, but the stakes will soon be far higher. Mr. Trump’s foremost biographer, the investigative journalist Wayne Barrett, who died this month, said in December that “there’s no check on his power except reality.” The nation, and the world, are about to find out if that’s right."
 
Fortunately, no President can control the press in American as long as there is serious faithfulness to the First Amendment.  Trump cannot seduce all to enter his alternative facts world.  He can probably get by with seducing his "true believer" hero worshippers who put him in office.

GORSUCH A GREAT GRAB, THE REST ARE GREAT GAFFES

Neil Gorsuch is extremely well qualified to be on the Supreme Court.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Gorsuch

He is clearly much more qualified than one of Obama's appointments,
Elena Kagan, who had no prior judicial experience at all.

Unless some dirt is dug up, the opposition will only have ideological grounds to object.  This is how the game is played.  Republican Presidents nominate Republicans, and Democratic Presidents nominate Democrats for the Court.  It's clearly been that way for decades.

This is the only high level appointment by Trump I can feel comfortable about.  A former military general like James Mattis would seem to be a good fit for Secretary of Defense.  However, appointing former military officers may threaten civilian control of the military.  Both Houses of Congress had to waive the traditional ban on ex-military officers serving as Secy. of Defense.
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/james-mattis-defense-secretary-waiver-233611

The  rest of his appointees haven't got a clue about the office they will hold or agency they will be heading.  The Washington posts names this crew the "worst ever."  See why at
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2017/01/19/donald-trump-has-assembled-the-worst-cabinet-in-american-history/?utm_term=.f1538bcd8fcf

U.S. EXECUTIVE ORDERS

Pres. Trump has issued a number of controversial executive orders. What are they? Where does the President get authority to do so. See this article from Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_order

EFFECT OF TEXAS' ABORTION LAW


"The number of drug-induced abortions in Texas plummeted in the first full year after the state's strict 2013 abortion law took effect, according to statistics released Thursday by the Texas Department of State Health Services. The overall number of Texas abortions — which also includes surgical abortions performed in the state and on Texas women out of state — dropped significantly, the agency found.
The 2014 Texas data was released days after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the 2013 abortion restrictions as unconstitutional. In a 5-3 vote, the high court overturned provisions of House Bill 2 that required all Texas facilities performing abortions to meet hospital-like ambulatory surgical center standards and forced doctors to have admitting privileges at hospitals within 30 miles of the clinics."

https://www.texastribune.org/2016/06/30/sharp-drop-abortions-followed-texas-restrictions/

Did the bill cut back on abortions by Texans or did those Texans go to other states?  Certainly, women from relatively affluent families could do this.  Those from poor families might not be able to afford it.  Texas' law just prevents poor females from getting abortions.  More affluent Texans need only go out of state.  The effect of the law falls most heavily-- on the poor.  These are probably the individuals with the least resources to care for their children. How many  families of legislators can afford to send a female out of state for an abortion.  Probably over 90%.  The effect of the moralizing falls almost exclusively on the poor.

NEW DNA TECHNIQUE--FAMILY DNA

This new process may help solve cases that cannot be solved by current DNA testing.
http://gulfnews.com/news/americas/usa/us-elections-2016/family-dna-searches-seen-as-crime-solving-tool-and-intrusion-on-rights-1.1969260