Saturday, March 31, 2018
MASSterList: Hefner fallout | Just lead, Charlie | ‘Rascal ghost,’ Part II
MASSterList: Hefner fallout | Just lead, Charlie | ‘Rascal ghost,’ Part II
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| A familiar name is named in State Police OT scandal | |||
Speaking of State Police scandals, Scott Croteau of MassLive reports that the identities of several of the State Police troopers in the thick of the overtime scandal have been confirmed. Among them is none other than Trooper Matthew Sheehan, who was already on suspension for posting racially insensitive remarks online when the overtime audit was released. Sheehan, who the Globe earlier reported called himself “Big Irish” in online postings, used overtime shifts to push his annual pay above $230,000 in each of the last two years.
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The 5-Minute Fix: About this Fox News boycott
The 5-Minute Fix: About this Fox News boycott
1. A Connecticut congresswoman learned that her chief of staff threatened to kill a former aide he had been dating. And he stayed in the job for three more months, reports The Post's Elise Viebeck. And then, Rep. Elizabeth Etsy (D-Conn.) blamed congressional rules for delaying his exit, rules that do indeed seem to protect the powerful. Oh, and one more thing to be outraged about: Congress's efforts to reform those rules and be a leader in the global #MeToo movement seem to have indefinitely stalled.
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2. Remember that Smirnoff icing game we played in college? (Or some of you inevitably will play in college?) Turns out Trump administration officials are playing it, too, at the office. The Post's Robert O'Harrow Jr. and Shawn Boburg found that a little-known White House office responsible for vetting thousands of political appointees is shorthanded, inexperienced and, apparently, a little fratty. They report: “In January, they played a drinking game in the office called “Icing” to celebrate the deputy director’s 30th birthday. Icing involves hiding a bottle of Smirnoff Ice, a flavored malt liquor, and demanding that the person who discovers it, in this case the deputy director, guzzle it.”
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Fundamental misunderstanding
Fundamental misunderstanding
McClatchy | Stars & Stripes
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“I have no real illusion we’re going to effect any drastic changes to the F-35,” said Dan Grazier, a military fellow at the Project On Government Oversight and one of the program’s leading critics in Washington. “It’s next to impossible to generate enough political opposition to the program.”
[...] “Components (of the F-35) are built in 46 states, and about 350 congressional districts,” said Grazier. “That’s an awful lot of organic congressional support for the program on Capitol Hill.” [...] “(Trump’s) tune changed rather quickly,” said Grazier. “He’s talking to the generals; he’s talking to the CEO of Lockheed Martin.” Grazier, who has worked on F-35 issues for three years, says critics of the program have largely given up on matching that effort. Instead, they’re focused on the Department of Defense’s independent review of the plane’s design, which could begin this fall. That operational test is required before full scale production begins. Friedman said the F-35 is “nearing completion of its developmental flight testing phase, which represents the most sophisticated, rigorous and comprehensive flight test program in history.” Grazier said the testing could take years to complete, and will reveal all of the program’s “warts and wrinkles.” “One of the best things we can do now, the few of us in my position, and just raise awareness of this,” said Grazier. “In 10-15 years when we’re talking about the F-45, hopefully we’re not making the same mistakes.” |
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Bernie Sanders | Congress, Not Trump, Has the Authority Over War
Bernie Sanders | Congress, Not Trump, Has the Authority Over War
THIS IS ROBERT MERCER'S COMPANY!
Hands typing on a computer keyboard. (photo: hamburg_berlin/Shutterstock)
Cambridge Analytica's Work for Trump Campaign and Bolton Super PAC Prompts Complaint to DOJ
Michelle Ye Hee Lee, The Washington Post
Lee writes: "Government watchdog groups on Thursday called for an investigation into whether President Trump's campaign and a super PAC controlled by his new national security adviser conspired with an embattled political data firm to violate elections laws."
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Michelle Ye Hee Lee, The Washington Post
Lee writes: "Government watchdog groups on Thursday called for an investigation into whether President Trump's campaign and a super PAC controlled by his new national security adviser conspired with an embattled political data firm to violate elections laws."
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A sinkhole in Texas. (photo: Mark Gormus/AP)
Oil and Gas Drilling Blamed for Sinkholes Threatening to Swallow Parts of Texas
Josh Gabbatiss, The Independent
Gabbatiss writes: "Oil and gas extraction in west Texas is causing the formation of massive sinkholes, according to a new study."
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Josh Gabbatiss, The Independent
Gabbatiss writes: "Oil and gas extraction in west Texas is causing the formation of massive sinkholes, according to a new study."
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Elizabeth Warren | Trump's Appointment to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Is Undermining Its Public Service
Elizabeth Warren | Trump's Appointment to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Is Undermining Its Public Service
THE REST OF THE WORLD HEARS THE TRUTH ABOUT ISRAEL'S ATROCITIES....NOT AMERICANS!
WHY THE COVER-UP?
FACEBOOK HAS DELETED ACCOUNTS OF PALESTINIANS POSTING VIDEOS OF ISRAEL'S ACTIONS. WHY ARE WE CONCEALING ISRAEL'S WAR CRIMES AND BARBARISM?
https://middlebororeviewetal.blogspot.com/2018/03/elizabeth-warren-trumps-appointment-to.htmlNew York Times article on Israel firing on peaceful protesters. (photo: The New York Times)
'NYTimes' Covers Up Israel's Killing of Nonviolent Protesters Along the Gaza Border
James North, Mondoweiss
North writes: "The NYTimes today continues its biased coverage of Israel/Palestine, with a shocking, one-sided report that tries to cover up how Israel has opened fire on the mass nonviolent Palestinian protest inside the Gaza border."
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James North, Mondoweiss
North writes: "The NYTimes today continues its biased coverage of Israel/Palestine, with a shocking, one-sided report that tries to cover up how Israel has opened fire on the mass nonviolent Palestinian protest inside the Gaza border."
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Fact Checker: A citizenship question on the census sparked a calamity of claims
Fact Checker: A citizenship question on the census sparked a calamity of claims
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The Post Most: Noor Salman, the Orlando nightclub shooter’s wife, acquitted of charges she aided 2016 massacre
The Post Most: Noor Salman, the Orlando nightclub shooter’s wife, acquitted of charges she aided 2016 massacre
MUST READ!
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Friday, March 30, 2018
The Daily 202: Visuals and ego motivate Trump to take a harder line on Putin
The Daily 202: Visuals and ego motivate Trump to take a harder line on Putin
PRUITT SLEEPING WITH A LOBBYIST!
-- EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt spent much of his first year in Washington living in a townhouse co-owned by the wife of a top energy lobbyist. ABC News’s John Santucci, Matthew Mosk and Stephanie Ebbs report: “The price tag on Pruitt’s rental arrangement is one key question when determining if it constitutes an improper gift, ethics experts [said]. … [The lobbyist, J. Steven Hart,] confirmed … that Pruitt had lived in the flat, which is owned by a limited liability company that links to an address listed to Hart and his wife Vicki Hart, a lobbyist with expertise in the healthcare arena.”
-- Pruitt’s lease allowed him to pay $50 a night for a single bedroom – but only on nights he slept there. Bloomberg’s Jennifer A Dlouhy and Jennifer Jacobs report: “White House officials are growing dismayed about the questions surrounding Pruitt’s living arrangement, including his initial inability to produce any documentation about his lease or his actual payments, according to three officials. The landlord provided EPA officials with a copy of the lease and proof of the payments Pruitt made. … In all, Pruitt paid $6,100 to use the room for roughly six months, according to copies of the checks reviewed by Bloomberg. Those checks show varying amounts paid on sporadic dates -- not a traditional monthly ‘rent payment’ of the same amount each month.”
-- The EPA’s senior counsel for ethics said in a statement the living arrangement was “a routine business transaction and permissible even if from a personal friend.”
Garrison Keillor | Spring Will Be Here Before You Know It. Prepare to Be Enlightened.
Garrison Keillor | Spring Will Be Here Before You Know It. Prepare to Be Enlightened.
THIS IS WHAT THE WORLD SEES AND US MAINSTREAM MEDIA IGNORES!
ISRAEL IS KILLING, INJURING, PENALIZING, OPPRESSING PALESTINIANS....
AND TAKING THEIR LAND.....AND THIS IS AN ALLIE?
ISRAEL IS AS THUGGISH AS THE US!
Israeli soldiers shot tear gas across the Gaza border Friday as Palestinians gathered for demonstrations that are expected to last six weeks. (photo: Mahmud Hams/Getty)
Israel Uses Live Fire on Non-Violent Protesters in Gaza, Killing 6 and Wounding Hundreds
Nidal al-Mughrabi, Reuters
Al-Mughrabi writes: "Israeli troops shot dead four Palestinians and wounded 150 others with live fire on Friday, medical officials said, as protests over U.S. President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital entered a second week."
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Nidal al-Mughrabi, Reuters
Al-Mughrabi writes: "Israeli troops shot dead four Palestinians and wounded 150 others with live fire on Friday, medical officials said, as protests over U.S. President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital entered a second week."
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POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: HEFNER indicted — ‘WYNN’ on thin ice — The TRANS RIGHTS ballot battle
POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: HEFNER indicted — ‘WYNN’ on thin ice — The TRANS RIGHTS ballot battle
CHARLIE BAKER IS INCAPABLE OF LEADERSHIP!
- "Healey calls on Baker to address transparency concerns over State Police records," by Matt Rocheleau, Boston Globe:"Attorney General Maura Healey is calling on Governor Charlie Baker to take more leadership in addressing transparency concerns raised in the wake of revelations that payroll records for an entire State Police division were not disclosed for years. 'It's time that the Baker administration take a leadership role on this issue,' Healey told reporters Thursday."
FUNDS OF A PUBLICLY TRADED COMPANY WERE USED TO PAY FOR STEVE WYNN'S FOLLY!
HOW MANY LAWS WERE BROKEN? IS THE SEC INVESTIGATING?
WILL WYNN STILL HAVE HIS NEVADA LICENSES? AND ELSEWHERE?
- "Gaming commission says Wynn Resorts builds casino on 'at-risk basis'," by Mark Arsenault, Boston Globe: "In other words, don't assume how the investigation may turn out by how the commission handles its regular business. The commission's staff hopes to complete the investigation into the company's handling of the accusations against Steve Wynn by summer."
- "'Wynn' may be dropped from name of Everett casino resort," by Jordan Graham, Boston Herald: "Executives at the massive Wynn Resorts casino in Everett are 'absolutely' considering renaming the property, casino president Robert DeSalvio said today ... The Gaming Commission has been flooded with calls from residents and politicians - including Attorney General Maura Healey and Gov. Charlie Baker - to remove Wynn from the name in the wake of allegations of rampant sexual harassment and misconduct against Steve Wynn, who stepped down as CEO of the company earlier this year."
William Boardman | Vermont Congressional Delegation Opposes Vermont Voters
William Boardman | Vermont Congressional Delegation Opposes Vermont Voters
Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman and Jared Kushner. (photo: Getty)
House Democrats Call for FBI to Probe Into Jared Kushner's Ties to Saudi Crown Prince
Dan Merica, CNN
Merica writes: "Six House Democrats are calling on FBI Director Christopher Wray to investigate whether President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior White House aide Jared Kushner leaked classified information to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, according to a letter obtained by CNN."
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Dan Merica, CNN
Merica writes: "Six House Democrats are calling on FBI Director Christopher Wray to investigate whether President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior White House aide Jared Kushner leaked classified information to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, according to a letter obtained by CNN."
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All the President's Thugs
All the President's Thugs
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump (L) meets with Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) (C) and Vice-President elect Mike Pence. (photo: Joshua Roberts/Reuters)
Republicans Now Want to Balance the Federal Budget After Passing $1 Trillion Tax Cut
Rebekah Entralgo, ThinkProgress
Entralgo writes: "Congressional Republicans are planning to push a balanced budget amendment when they return from recess in April. The vote comes directly after many of those same Republicans voted to pass two massively expensive measures, a $1.3 trillion dollar spending bill and a $1 trillion dollar tax cut that primarily benefits the wealthiest Americans."
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Rebekah Entralgo, ThinkProgress
Entralgo writes: "Congressional Republicans are planning to push a balanced budget amendment when they return from recess in April. The vote comes directly after many of those same Republicans voted to pass two massively expensive measures, a $1.3 trillion dollar spending bill and a $1 trillion dollar tax cut that primarily benefits the wealthiest Americans."
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Thursday, March 29, 2018
MASSterList: No pass | Mayor Sarno's soul | ‘Rascal ghost’
MASSterList: No pass | Mayor Sarno's soul | ‘Rascal ghost’
THE SUPERCILIOUS CUMQUAT OPINES!
| Sen. Brady checks into alcohol rehab; details of prior 'lot of beers' car crash emerge |
Brockton state Sen. Michael Brady, arrested over the weekend for drunk driving, has admitted himself to an alcohol treatment program, but he vows he’ll be back at work in a week, reports SHNS’s Colin Young (pay wall) and Shira Schoenberg at MassLive.
Setting aside the issue over whether a week in rehab is enough, Marc Larocque at the Brockton Enterprise got hold of a 1998 police report of a prior incident involving Brady. It isn’t pretty. While driving a vehicle, he reportedly “slammed through a utility pole at a ‘high rate of speed,’ and admitted to drinking ‘a lot of beers’ at a Quincy bar before the crash.” The Herald’s Howie Carr is showing no mercy toward Brady.
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ANYONE REMEMBER THIS?
Globe: Howie Carr okay after Wellesley accidenthttps://www.radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?567929-Globe-Howie-Carr-okay-after-Wellesley-accident |
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POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: BAKER/POLITO’s 10,000 signatures – ROSENBERG’s primary challenger – SPICER stumping for DIEHL
POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: BAKER/POLITO’s 10,000 signatures – ROSENBERG’s primary challenger – SPICER stumping for DIEHL
HAS THE DYNAMIC DUO DONE ANYTHING OTHER THAN FUND RAISE?
After the Baker/Polito team announced plans to officially run for reelection in November, and facing no significant primary challenge from the right, the campaign has built up quietly and stayed largely under the radar. Baker and Polito have continued to fundraise, too. The duo have a combined more than $10 million in their campaign accounts ($7.5 million for Baker and $3.3 million for Polito, as of March 15).
CONDOLENCES KATE MCDONAGHUE:
State Sen. Jamie Eldridge has requested that the state Senate adjourn in memory of Brian Donaghue Simpson on Thursday, March 29. Brian, son of Democratic super volunteer Kate Donaghue, died of a heroin overdose this month. His mother, joined by friends and family, will spend the day lobbying at the State House to bring attention to the issue in Brian's honor
MASSACHUSETTS' BOND RATING HAS BEEN DOWNGRADED AS A CONSEQUENCE OF CHARLIE BALER'S LACK OF LEADERSHIP.
MASSACHUSETTS CAN'T AFFORD CHARLIE BAKER - PLEASE LEARN ABOUT THE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES.
- "Democratic gubernatorial candidates discuss middle class struggles at Northampton forum," by Lucas Ropek, MassLive.com: "Democratic gubernatorial candidates Jay Gonzalez, Bob Massie, and Setti Warren participated in a forum at Northampton High School Wednesday night. 'The jobs in this state suck,' said Massie at one point, going on to decry the state of opportunity for young people across Massachusetts. Much of the evening's discussions were in that spirit, and centered around struggling middle class families, income inequality, the opioid crisis, the poor state of public transportation and current Gov. Charlie Baker's failure to properly mitigate any of these problems for everyday people."
- "Nuclear disaster: With controversial reactor down since storms, tensions run extremely high in Plymouth," by Miriam Wasser, DigBoston.com: "As the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth remained offline for the 22nd consecutive day, supporters and opponents of the plant gathered about six miles away in the dimly lit ballroom of Hotel 1620 this week for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's annual assessment meeting. The Pilgrim plant has been plagued by mechanical and operational problems since it began producing power in 1972, and many in the public remain bitterly divided about whether the plant, which is slated to permanently shut down in 2019, poses a significant threat to public safety."
Orlando nightclub shooter's father 'was FBI informant for 11 years'
Orlando nightclub shooter's father 'was FBI informant for 11 years'
John Paul Stevens: Repeal the Second Amendment | 27 March 2018 | (New York Times editorial) Rarely in my lifetime have I seen the type of civic engagement schoolchildren and their supporters demonstrated in Washington and other major cities throughout the country this past Saturday...That support is a clear sign to lawmakers to enact legislation prohibiting civilian ownership of semiautomatic weapons, increasing the minimum age to buy a gun from 18 to 21 years old, and establishing more comprehensive background checks on all purchasers of firearms. But the demonstrators should seek more effective and more lasting reform. They should demand a repeal of the Second Amendment. [John Paul Stevens is a retired associate justice of the United States Supreme Court.]
60 MINUTES:
Q&A: Strange moments in Schrier hostage story
The most surprising things 60 Minutes producer Graham Messick learned reporting on Matt Schrier, an American who was kidnapped by terrorists in SyriaWHILE MATT SCHRIER STORY HAS BEEN REPORTED ELSEWHERE, BELOW ORIGINATED ON FOX NEWS = FAKE NEWS SO IT'S DIFFICULT TO DETERMINE THE VERACITY [THIS VERSION IS ALSO PROMOTED ON BREITBART, THE WACK-A-DING ALT-RIGHT SITE]:
American who escaped Al Qaeda captivity says FBI, under Mueller and Comey, betrayed him | 26 March 2018 | After he escaped from Al Qaeda in Syria, American photojournalist Matt Schrier investigated his own kidnapping and uncovered what he describes as a pattern of "betrayal" by FBI agents handling his case. Schrier is now asking hard questions of former FBI Director Robert Mueller, who now leads the special counsel Russia probe, and former FBI Director James Comey who was fired by President Trump in May 2017. In an exclusive cable interview that first aired Monday on "The Story." Schrier went in depth, sharing emails, fin-ncial records and formal letters of complaint, which backed up allegations that after he was taken hostage in 2012, the FBI monitored his accounts as Al Qaeda terrorists used his mon-y to get at least a dozen computers and tablets.
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