Garrison Keillor | Hors d'Oeuvres! Hors d'Oeuvres in the House!

17 September 19

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RSN is a project with a purpose. We are doing this to effect change. Every single person at this organization is dedicated to putting an end to the corruption that has become our country. We did not get here on a magic carpet, we took the bus. What we see lacking in America's fourth estate today is moral honesty. You know when you come to RSN that you will get the straight story, and the backstory.

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16 September 19

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URGENT APPEAL FOR IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE: Donations are far behind for September. We are reaching out for immediate assistance on donations to finish this drive and cover expenses. RSN never wavers in its determination to keep you informed and provide you the tools you need to make a difference. Please stand with Reader Supported News now. In Peace and Solidarity. / Marc Ash, Founder Reader Supported News

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Garrison Keillor | Hors d'Oeuvres! Hors d'Oeuvres in the House!

Garrison Keillor, Garrison Keillor's Website
Keillor writes: "The beauty of Brexit for an American is that it gives us a glance at the debate in the House of Commons, an actual spirited debate, something unknown in our Congress."
READ MORE

Sen. Elizabeth Warren. (photo: AP)

ALSO SEE: Senator Told FBI Last Fall of New Information
About Kavanaugh

Elizabeth Warren Joins Harris, Castro in Calling for Kavanaugh's Impeachment
Daniel Politi, Slate
Politi writes: "Sen. Elizabeth Warren became the most prominent Democratic presidential hopeful to join the calls for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh to be impeached following new allegations of sexual misconduct against him."
READ MORE

FBI agents. (photo: Joshua Lott/Getty Images)

Russia Carried Out 'Stunning' Hack of Encrypted FBI Communications
Zach Dorfman, Jenna McLaughlin and Sean D. Naylor, Yahoo! News
Excerpt: "American officials discovered that the Russians had dramatically improved their ability to decrypt certain types of secure communications and had successfully tracked devices used by elite FBI surveillance teams."
READ MORE

CBP. (photo: John Moore/Getty Images)

There Are Exactly Two Things Border Patrol Agents Should Be Doing Right Now
Paul Blest, Splinter
Blest writes: "Apparently, throwing people into cages for the crime of being in the United States isn't so great for morale."
READ MORE

United Auto Workers vice president Terry Dittes in Detroit announces a nationwide strike against General Motors. (photo: Rebecca Cook/Reuters)

Nearly 50,000 General Motors Employees Go on Strike After Union Talks Break Down
Deanna Paul, Alex Horton and Rachel Siegel, The Washington Post
Excerpt: "About 49,000 General Motors employees walked off the job at midnight Monday after negotiations between their union and the Detroit car giant unraveled over wages, health care, job security and other issues."
READ MORE

Thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets on the last day of the #NoMoreTrump campaign to reject the unilateral measures against the country. (photo: Venezuelan Ministry of Communication)

Venezuela: #NoMoreTrump Campaign Ends With 13 Million Signatures Expected
teleSUR
Excerpt: "The Venezuelan government wrapped up the international #NoMoreTrump campaign Sunday as thousands gathered in the Bolivar plazas, communities and neighborhoods of the country to sign the petition calling on the United States to lift the unilateral blockade."
READ MORE

Marina Korneeva, a pharmacist, on her daily commute from her job in Marinka to Kurakhovo, where she lives in a facility for internally displaced people. The army has been using her home as an improvised morgue. (photo: Anastasia Taylor-Lind)

Where There Are Fish in the Tap Water and Women's Uteruses Fall Out
Alisa Sopova, The New York Times
Sopova writes: "The last time Marina Korneeva heard about her home in Marinka, a small town in eastern Ukraine, it had been requisitioned by the army and was being used as an improvised morgue."
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How the FBI Increased Its Power After 9/11 and Helped Put Trump in Office

16 September 19

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A Special Funding Appeal From Mark Twain

“The liberty of the Press is called the Palladium of Freedom, which means, in these days, the liberty of being deceived, swindled, and humbugged by the Press and paying hugely for the deception.” - Mark Twain, 1870

You have your own news source, beholden to you. What does it take to preserve it? Precious little.

Marc Ash
Founder, Reader Supported News

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Reader Supported News
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15 September 19 It's Live on the HomePage Now: Reader Supported News “THE RICH PEOPLE SHOULD PAY FOR RSN” - An actual comment from a reader. Guess what folks the “rich people” pay for CNN, the NRA, most of the politicians in Washington and a whole lot of other things that destroy the fabric of the country. RSN has always had support from large and small donors alike. That’s big part of what makes us unique. Do what you can do. But please do something. / Marc Ash, Founder Reader Supported News Sure, I'll make a donation! How the FBI Increased Its Power After 9/11 and Helped Put Trump in Office Ryan Devereaux, The Intercept Devereaux writes: "While the FBI has devoted enormous time, energy, and resources to filling unconstitutional watchlists with Muslim names and directing its agents to focus on bogus national security threats such as 'black identity extremists,' important crimes that the bureau is supposed to enforce have fallen by the wayside." EXCERPT: As a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice, German has been a go-to source for journalists (The Intercept included) on the civil liberties beat, consistently providing nuanced analysis on matters of law enforcement and justice, often as they pertain to his old employer. In his new book, “Disrupt, Discredit, and Divide: How the New FBI Damages Democracy,” German brings his insights to a wider audience, telling the story of how FBI leadership capitalized on the September 11 attacks, escaping a much-needed internal reckoning to become the most powerful and secretive domestic intelligence agency the country has ever known. READ MORE Mitch McConnell, Brett Kavanaugh and Mike Pence. (photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Kamala Harris and Julían Castro Among Democrats Calling for Kavanaugh's Impeachment Martin Pengelly, Guardian UK Pengelly writes: "Donald Trump came storming to the defense of Brett Kavanaugh on Sunday, after the publication of new allegations about the supreme court justice's behaviour while he was a student at Yale led to renewed calls for his impeachment." READ MORE The White House. (photo: Carolyn Kaster/AP) Dahlia Lithwick | What Happens if Trump Won't Step Down? Dahlia Lithwick, Slate Lithwick writes: "In February, Georgetown Law professor Josh Geltzer began to ponder aloud what would happen if President Donald Trump refused to leave office were he to be defeated in 2020. It sounded far-fetched, but Geltzer isn't a conspiracy theorist." READ MORE Smoke is seen following a fire at an Aramco factory in Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia, September 14, 2019. (photo: Hamad I Mohammed/Reuters) Iran Denies Carrying Out Crippling Attacks on Saudi Oil Facilities Kareem Fahim, Erin Cunningham and Steven Mufson, The Washington Post Excerpt: "Iran on Sunday rejected U.S. accusations it was responsible for devastating attacks on two oil installations in Saudi Arabia that struck at the heart of the kingdom's oil industry and forced Aramco, the state oil company, to suspend its production output by half." READ MORE This May 16, 2014, file photo shows the General Motors logo at the company's world headquarters in Detroit. The United Auto Workers union is letting its contract with General Motors expire just before midnight Saturday, Sept. 14, 2019, increasing the likelihood of a strike as early as Sunday night. (photo: Paul Sancya/AP) UAW Says Its 49,000 Members at GM Plants Will Go on Strike Tonight Tom Krisher, Associated Press Krisher writes: "The United Auto Workers union announced Sunday that its roughly 49,000 workers at General Motors plants in the U.S. would go on strike just before midnight because contentious talks on a new contract had broken down." READ MORE Michael Kozak. (photo: Department of State) Coup Master: Michael Kozak, New US Envoy for Latin America teleSUR Excerpt: "In par with its belligerent policy towards Latin America, United States President Donald Trump appointed Thursday Michael Kozak as Acting Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, a U.S. diplomat known for his expertise in regime change." READ MORE 'But if no one speaks in terms that Christians, especially conservative Christians, care about, then climate activists are only going to be talking to themselves.' (image: Getty Images/Daily Beast) Climate Activists Don't Know How to Talk to Christians Jay Michaelson, The Daily Beast Michaelson writes: "Religious Christians are the key to America taking action on global warming. And yet, the way climate activists frame the issue often alienates the very people they most need to persuade." EXCERPT: Which is exactly what’s happened. Levels of understanding and concern about climate change have more or less plateaued in the last few years. On the political level, nothing is happening. Thirty-four percent of Americans still do not “believe” that global warming is being caused by humans, and only 44 percent of Americans say they “worry a great deal” about it. Another recent Yale study found that voters rank it just 17th among issues of concern. Given the extreme likelihood of an unprecedented refugee crisis brought on by rising seas and changing crop patterns, mass extinctions, and global food shortages, all of those numbers are shocking. According to the World Health Organization, 250,000 people will die each year from 2030-2050 because of increased rates of malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea, and heat stress. Climate denial, meanwhile, is now a billion-dollar industry, with energy-funded think tanks, pseudoscience, lobbying, and media campaigns. The energy industry is using the most persuasive, most effective methods to persuade people about global warming. Why isn’t the environmental movement? READ MORE Contribute to RSN Update My Monthly Donation

GM Workers Hung 'Whites Only' Bathroom Signs and Nooses at Toledo Plant: Lawsuit

We The People

A new lawsuit filed in federal court alleges General Motors failed to address a rampant culture of racism at its Toledo transmission plant. There, black workers were subjected to “whites only” bathroom signs, routinely called racist slurs, and nooses were left hanging in plain sight on numerous occasions, the suit says.

The lawsuit, first reported by The Detroit Free Press and which you can read below, says GM’s failure to “take prompt corrective action” resulted in an “atmosphere whereby the hate-driven employees felt free to hang nooses, display racist graffiti, and verbally attack and racially insult African-Americans.”

That includes Mark Edwards, a 59-year-old worker who told the Freep that he discovered a noose hanging by his work station in March 2017.

Per the Freep:

“I was startled, really startled by it,” said Edwards, who took a picture of it. “I couldn’t believe someone did that. I couldn’t understand who in my work area disliked me that much or had that much hatred to hang a noose by my job.”

Edwards, who has worked for GM in various plants since 1977, said he has endured racial slurs and harassment for years from coworkers. He reported each incident to his union reps and managers. He said nothing was done to end it.

The noose was too much, though. Edwards said that in 1968, his then-19-year-old brother was tied up by rope and beaten in a racially motivated attack. It left his brother brain-damaged, he said.

The lawsuit, the Freep notes, goes on to say that whit{e} employees regularly called black workers “boy,” swastikas were painted on restroom stalls, and claims one white supervisor at a meeting said: “What’s the big deal about nooses? There was never a black person who was lynched that didn’t deserve it.”

https://jalopnik.com/gm-workers-hung-whites-only-bathroom-s…

A new lawsuit filed in federal court alleges General Motors failed to address a rampant culture of racism at its Toledo transmission plant. There, black workers were subjected to “whites only” bathroom signs, routinely called racist slurs, and nooses were left hanging in plain sight on numerous occasions, the suit says.

Nooses, Nazis and racist slurs tolerated at GM plant, lawsuit says

General Motors is sued by several black workers alleging widespread racism in Toledo plant.

Read on freep.​com

The lawsuit, first reported by The Detroit Free Press and which you can read below, says GM’s failure to “take prompt corrective action” resulted in an “atmosphere whereby the hate-driven employees felt free to hang nooses, display racist graffiti, and verbally attack and racially insult African-Americans.”

That includes Mark Edwards, a 59-year-old worker who told the Freep that he discovered a noose hanging by his work station in March 2017.

Per the Freep:

“I was startled, really startled by it,” said Edwards, who took a picture of it. “I couldn’t believe someone did that. I couldn’t understand who in my work area disliked me that much or had that much hatred to hang a noose by my job.”

Edwards, who has worked for GM in various plants since 1977, said he has endured racial slurs and harassment for years from coworkers. He reported each incident to his union reps and managers. He said nothing was done to end it.

The noose was too much, though. Edwards said that in 1968, his then-19-year-old brother was tied up by rope and beaten in a racially motivated attack. It left his brother brain-damaged, he said.

The lawsuit, the Freep notes, goes on to say that whit employees regularly called black workers “boy,” swastikas were painted on restroom stalls, and claims one white supervisor at a meeting said: “What’s the big deal about nooses? There was never a black person who was lynched that didn’t deserve it.”

GM responded by telling the newspaper it treats “any reported incident with sensitivity and urgency, and (is) committed to providing an environment that is safe, open and inclusive.”

But GM did confirm nooses were left hanging in some work spaces, the Freep said:

GM said it worked with union leaders on a memo it handed out to plant workers on April 12, 2017. The memo referenced an “incident” that was “offensive to all employees.” A GM spokesman confirmed that “incident” was the noose Edwards found on March 22.

The automaker claimed it conducted and reinforced a zero-tolerance policy, but nevertheless, workers say not enough has been done to correct the atmosphere.

Kenny Taylor, a 58-year-old worker who has been with GM since the 1970s, summed up how things are for him today, in an interview with the Freep:

Taylor and Edwards have bills to pay and are too young to retire, they said. So Edwards drives from Detroit and Taylor drives the 40-some miles from his home in Brownstown, to the plant to work. Both admit it is tough in light of the lawsuit, and Taylor has put in for a transfer to a different plant.

“I hate to get off the exit when I’m on my way there, I think, ‘What is it going to be like today?’ “ said Taylor. “You just feel the tension when you pull up in the parking lot. There are Confederate flags on the license plates.”

The full story’s available to read here.

https://jalopnik.com/gm-workers-hung-whites-only-bathroom-signs-and-nooses-a-1830755166?fbclid=IwAR1bMxYTPPSh3cCqMf6td4gFf0hWpTIcb7-P1f6AChF56qpd4MO-SNFFflU

Takata adds 3.3 million faulty airbags to largest automotive recall in U.S. history

By Jessica Vomiero
National Online Journalist  Global News

The Japanese airbag maker Takata continues to expand its massive parts recall by recalling an additional 3.3 million airbags.

According to reports from CBS, the latest addition to the recall includes airbags from some 2009, 2010 and 2013 vehicles made by Honda, Toyota, Audi, BMW, Daimler, Fiat Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Jaguar-Land Rover, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru and Tesla.

WATCH: Class action lawsuits against Takata

Takata is an automotive parts supplier that filed for bankruptcy in June after sparking the largest automotive recall in U.S. history with a recall of three million vehicles in 2014. Since then, the recall has been intermittently expanded.

Forbes reports that defective Takata airbags could potentially explode in a crash and spray vehicle occupants with small metal shards.

WATCH: Recall impact on Japanese car maker Takata

The bags have been linked to over 180 injuries and 18 deaths, including the most recent one identified in Louisiana last month.

Just a few days into 2018, the judge overseeing the bankruptcy of Takata Corp’s U.S. unit cleared the way for the company’s creditors to vote on its chapter 11 plan — which critics say limits the legal rights of those who’ve been injured by the faulty airbags.

READ MORE: Airbag manufacturer Takata files for bankruptcy in United States, Japan

Criticisms include claims that the plan favours automakers over vehicle owners. The trust would pay compensation based on the injury, ranging from $10,000 to $5 million USD for death or loss of eyesight, according to hearing documents.

However, car owners would be barred from suing Honda, and other auto makers who opted to join the trust arrangement.

READ MORE: Ford’s Takata airbag recall will affect 161,000 Canadian cars

Currently there are plans for a supplier owned by China’s Ningbo Joyson Electronic Corp., plans to acquire the Takata Corp.

These recalls have included Takata airbags in Canada, two of which took place in December 2017.

The first recalled faulty airbags on 2004, 2005 and 2006 Ford Rangers and the second involved faulty airbags on 2016 and 2017 Mitsubishi I-Mievs.

WATCH: Takata airbag recall becomes largest auto recall in U.S. history

Approximately 30,000 Ford Rangers were affected, while just over 200 Mitsubishi I-Mievs were affected.

Forbes goes on to report that almost two-thirds, or 31.5 million U.S. vehicles affected have not been repaired as of mid-September, according to an independent report released in November.

-With files from Reuters. 

https://globalnews.ca/news/3950585/takata-recalls-millions-more-faulty-airbags/

F.B.I. Arrests Volkswagen Executive on Conspiracy Charges in Emissions Scandal

ADAM GOLDMAN and HIROKO TABUCHI

JAN. 9, 2017

The executive, Oliver Schmidt, led the automaker’s regulatory compliance office in the United States from 2014 to March 2015.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has arrested a Volkswagen executive who faces charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States, two people with knowledge of the arrest said on Sunday, marking an escalation of the criminal investigation into the automaker’s diesel emissions cheating scandal.

Oliver Schmidt, who led Volkswagen’s regulatory compliance office in the United States from 2014 to March 2015, was arrested on Saturday by investigators in Florida and is expected to be arraigned on Monday in Detroit, said the two people, a law enforcement official and someone familiar with the case.

After a study by West Virginia University first raised questions over Volkswagen’s diesel motors in early 2014, Mr. Schmidt played a central role in trying to convince regulators that excess emissions were caused by technical problems rather than by deliberate cheating. Much of the data presented to regulators was fabricated, officials of the California Air Resources Board have said.

Mr. Schmidt continued to represent Volkswagen after the company admitted in September that cars were programmed to dupe regulators. He appeared before a committee of the British Parliament in January, telling legislators that Volkswagen’s behavior was not illegal in Europe.

Lawyers representing Mr. Schmidt did not respond to requests for comment late Sunday. Officials at the Justice Department also declined to comment, as did an F.B.I. spokesman in Detroit.

In a statement, Jeannine Ginivan, a spokeswoman for Volkswagen, said that the automaker “continues to cooperate with the Department of Justice” but that “it would not be appropriate to comment on any ongoing investigations or to discuss personnel matters.”

Lawsuits filed against Volkswagen by the New York and Massachusetts state attorneys general accused Mr. Schmidt of playing an important role in the carmaker’s efforts to conceal its emissions cheating from United States regulators.

Starting in late 2014, Mr. Schmidt and other Volkswagen officials repeatedly cited false technical explanations for the high emissions levels, the state attorneys general said. In 2015, Mr. Schmidt acknowledged the existence of a so-called defeat device that allowed Volkswagen cars to cheat emissions tests.

Volkswagen eventually said that it had fitted 11 million diesel cars worldwide with illegal software that made the vehicles capable of defeating pollution tests.

The software enabled the cars to sense when they were being tested for emissions and turn on pollution-control systems to curb emissions at the cost of engine performance. But those controls were not fully deployed on the road, where cars spewed nitrogen oxide at up to 40 times the levels allowed under the Clean Air Act.

James Liang, a former Volkswagen engineer who worked for the company in California, pleaded guilty in September to charges that included conspiracy to defraud the federal government and violating the Clean Air Act. But Mr. Schmidt’s arrest brings the investigation into the executive ranks.

The arrest came as Volkswagen and the Justice Department neared a deal to pay more than $2 billion to resolve the criminal investigation into the emissions cheating. The company or one of its corporate entities is expected to plead guilty as part of the deal.

The settlement could come as early as next week, barring any last-minute hiccups, according to people with knowledge of the negotiations.

The German automaker has been eager to put the Justice Department investigation behind it before President-elect Donald J. Trump is sworn in on Jan. 20.

American prosecutors had traveled to Germany in recent months to interview Volkswagen executives, according to German prosecutors.

The criminal case against Volkswagen, and the potential guilty plea, set it apart from other recent auto industry investigations. In settlements with General Motors and Toyota over their handling of safety defects, for example, the companies agreed to pay large fines, but did not plead guilty.

Prosecutors are also mulling criminal charges against Takata, the Japanese manufacturer under criminal investigation for its defective airbags.

Volkswagen has already agreed to pay up to nearly $16 billion to resolve civil claims in what has become one of the largest consumer class-action settlements ever in the United States, involving half a million cars.

Under the settlement, most car owners have the option of either selling their vehicles back to Volkswagen, or getting them fixed, provided the automaker could propose a fix that satisfied regulators.

The scandal has affected many Volkswagen and Audi models, including the Audi A3 and Volkswagen Beetle, Golf, Jetta and Passat diesel cars.

Ben Protess and Jack Ewing contributed reporting.

A version of this article appears in print on January 9, 2017, on Page A13 of the New York edition with the headline: F.B.I. Arrests Volkswagen Executive on Conspiracy Charges in Emissions Cheating Scandal. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/09/business/volkswagen-diesel-emissions-investigation-settlement.html?_r=1