Minnesota Public Radio Owes Its Public an Accounting

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30 November 17

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Final Day - We Surely Need a Good One

Barring a very big donation, we will not make our goal for November. But we have made up a lot of ground in the past few days and we do have a chance to keep it close.

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In peace and solidarity.

Marc Ash
Founder, Reader Supported News

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Garrison Keillor, June 19, 2014. (photo: Jean Pieri/Pioneer Press)


ALSO SEE: After Show Canceled, Keillor
Says Firing 'Kind of Bewildering to Me'

Minnesota Public Radio Owes Its Public 

an Accounting

By Marc Ash, Reader Supported News

30 November 17

s it stands now, the career and legacy of one of America’s most beloved authors and storytellers have been destroyed by innuendo.

The statement on MPR’s website says, in part:

“Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) is terminating its contracts with Garrison Keillor and his private media companies after recently learning of allegations of his inappropriate behavior with an individual who worked with him.”

“Allegations” being the key word. Substantiation being conspicuously absent. That amounts to innuendo. Or effectively, “Trust us, we really checked this out.” They then go on to make the case that their investigation was objective and thorough. Let’s hope so, the man’s life lies in tatters.

Since MPR chooses not to present the facts on which they relied in making their decision, we are left with Garrison Keillor’s version of events from his email to the Minnesota Star Tribune:

“I'm doing fine. Getting fired is a real distinction in broadcasting and I've waited fifty years for the honor. All of my heroes got fired. I only wish it could've been for something more heroic. I put my hand on a woman's bare back. I meant to pat her back after she told me about her unhappiness and her shirt was open and my hand went up it about six inches. She recoiled. I apologized. I sent her an email of apology later and she replied that she had forgiven me and not to think about it. We were friends. We continued to be friendly right up until her lawyer called. Anyone who ever was around my show can tell you that I was the least physically affection person in the building. Actors hug, musicians hug, people were embracing every Saturday night left and right, and I stood off in the corner like a stone statue. If I had a dollar for every woman who asked to take a selfie with me and who slipped an arm around me and let it drift down below the beltline, I'd have at least a hundred dollars. So this is poetic irony of a high order. But I'm just fine. I had a good long run and am grateful for it and for everything else."

Later in a Facebook post, he seemed to reveal a deeper sense of disillusion:

If Keillor’s account is true the alleged conduct amounts to a fairly minor infraction. Such contact, if not accompanied by further complicating factors such as a pattern of behavior, multiple complaints, career manipulation, physical or psychological intimidation, would seem not to rise to the level of workplace misconduct.

Indeed MPR appears to want more to go on, saying, “We encourage anyone with additional information to call our confidential hotline 1-877-767-7781.”

Garrison Keillor is one of the most beloved and respected storytellers of our time. A statesman for reason in a time of unreason. His work has touched the lives of millions in a decent and meaningful way. None of that excuses sexual harassment in the workplace or anywhere else.

MPR, however, does owe it to their public, to their supporters, and to the nation to be more forthcoming and make clear their reasons for publicly shaming and dismissing this man whose career and work have meant so much to literally millions.

Masha Gessen at The New Yorker sounded a quiet alarm recently, asking the question, When Does a Watershed Become a Sex Panic? It’s a difficult question to answer definitively, but a warning sign could be when brilliant lives are destroyed in dark places.

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Marc Ash is the founder and former Executive Director of Truthout, and is now founder and Editor of Reader Supported News.

Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.

http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/47128-focus-minnesota-public-radio-owes-its-public-an-accounting

30 November 17

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Thank you all sincerely,

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Robert Reich | Trump Is Filling US Attorney Positions With His Cronies to Protect Him From Investigation

30 November 17 AM

It's Live on the HomePage Now: 

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WE WANT TO THANK THOSE WHO ARE HELPING - This is a tough fundraiser, we are really struggling. But we do have many people helping. Most of these messages speak to the people who do not donate. Here’s to the people who do. Thank you! / Marc Ash, Founder Reader Supported News

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Robert Reich | Trump Is Filling US Attorney Positions With His Cronies to Protect Him From Investigation 

Robert Reich, Robert Reich's Facebook Page
Reich writes: "Trump has reportedly taken personal interest in candidates for US attorney positions with investigatory authority over his businesses."
READ MORE

AARP: 5.2 Million Seniors Will See Taxes Increased by GOP Bill
John Bowden, The Hill
Bowden writes: "Millions of senior citizens could see tax increases under the Senate version of the GOP's tax-reform plan, according to an analysis from the AARP."
READ MORE

Blackwater Founder Pitches Plan to Quell Libya Migrant Crisis With Private Police
Bethan McKernan, The Independent
McKernan writes: "The founder of private military company Blackwater, infamous for causing the deaths of civilians in Iraq, has suggested that his company could step in to help solve the current migrant crisis in Libya."
READ MORE

FCC Got 444,938 Net-Neutrality Comments From Russian Email Addresses
Todd Shields, Bloomberg
Shields writes: "Someone was trying to game the U.S. Federal Communications Commission’s electronic public comment system on net-neutrality rules. But who? Was it supporters or foes of the open internet rules - or was it the Russians?"
READ MORE

Textbook Co-Authored by Roy Moore in 2011 Says Women Shouldn't Run for Office
Addy Baird, Zack Ford, Jack Jenkins, Judd Legum, ThinkProgress
Excerpt: "Alabama Republican Senate Candidate Roy Moore co-authored a study course that instructs students that women should not be permitted to run for elected office."
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Strong Evidence That US Special Operations Forces Massacred Civilians in Somalia
Christina Goldbaum, The Daily Beast
Goldbaum writes: "The U.S.-Led operation on Aug. 25 would result in the death of 10 civilians, including at least one child, and become the largest stain on U.S. ground operations in the country since the infamous Black Hawk Down incident in 1993."
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Trump to Shrink Bears Ears in Utah Monday as Protectors Gather to Defend the Sacred
Rhea Suh, EcoWatch
Suh writes: "It wasn't enough to hijack a ceremony to honor Navajo code talkers so he could deride a U.S. senator as 'Pocahontas.' President Trump now plans to go to Utah on Monday to decimate the Bears Ears National Monument, public land that's sacred to five tribes of Native Americans."
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[Urgent] Senate could vote on tax bill today. Get on the record.

As early as today, the U.S. Senate is going to vote on a massive tax cut for the rich, that's paid for, in part, by pummeling veterans and their families.

And the truth is, it is likely going to pass. But damnit if isn't important that we all put ourselves on the record with our Senators offices before they vote.

So here it is:

Pick up your phone and dial 202-224-3121. Get connected with one your Senator's offices and tell her or him to reject this bill. Then call again and get with your other Senator.

Keep your call short, be polite, and if you're a veteran or a military family member make certain that you include that as well.

Thanks for calling,

Will Fischer 
Iraq War Veteran and Director of Government Affairs 
VoteVets

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P.S. Our work mobilizing veterans on this issue and many others is funded by lots of people giving small donations. Please chip in $10 to VoteVets today: http://action.votevets.org/support_votevets

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Japan is poised to flood the Pacific Ocean with one million tons of radioactive water contaminated by the Fukushima nuclear power plant

News Updates from CLG
29 November 2017

http://www.legitgov.org/
All links are here:http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news

 

Previous edition: Pentagon likely to announce US has 2,000 troops in Syria, not 500 - officials

 

Japan is poised to flood the Pacific Ocean with one million tons of radioactive water contaminated by the Fukushima nuclear power plant --The amount of radioactive water at Fukushima is still growing, by 150 tons a day. | 26 Nov 2017 | The Japanese government is being urged by experts to gradually release radioactive water in to the Pacific Ocean more than six years after a tsunami overwhelmed the Fukushima nuclear power plant. The water is stored on site in around 900 large and densely packed tanks and could spill should another major disaster strike. The government has been urged to release the water into the ocean as all the radioactive elements of the water except tritium have [*allegedly*] been removed through treatment. But if the tank breaks, the contents may not be able to be controlled.

 

Japan approves restart of two nuclear reactors at Ohi power plant near Kyoto --Public support for nuclear power dropped in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster | 28 Nov 2017 | A local Japanese governor [insanely] approved the restart of two nuclear reactors near Kyoto, officials said on Monday, clearing the final regulatory hurdle for the revival of the power plants early next year. Fukui Province governor Issei Nishikawa gave the green light to operator Kansai Electric, which plans to restart reactors three and four of the Ohi nuclear plant. The decision comes in spite of long-running opposition to atomic activity in the country. 

 

Moscow scrambles fighter jet after detecting US spy plane approaching Russian border | 28 Nov 2017 | Russia has scrambled a Su-30 fighter jet after detecting an American P8A Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft over the Black Sea, according to a Defense Ministry statement. The US spy plane was approaching at high speed to the Russian border, it said. The Russian fighter jet buzzed the US Navy reconnaissance plane at around 1pm local time (10:00 GMT) as it was flying over the neutral waters of the Black Sea, the ministry said. "After moving closer, the Russian [Su-30] fighter jet flew over the object and visually identified it as an American reconnaissance aircraft P8A Poseidon," the statement reads. After the spy plane was intercepted by the Russian Air Force, the US aircraft changed course and flew away.

 

Russian official warns of potential 'apocalyptic' outcome from North Korea | 28 Nov 2017 | One senior Russian official warns of an "apocalyptic" scenario that is taking form on the Korean Peninsula. On Monday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov said, in the hope of a peaceful resolution, "I hope that a common sense, pragmatism and an instinct of self-preservation would prevail among our partners to exclude such negative scenario," according to Russian state-run [as opposed to globalist-run aka 99% of US 'news' agencies] news agency Tass.

 

North Korea fires intercontinental ballistic missile | 29 Nov 2017 | North Korea has fired an intercontinental ballistic missile, US military sources have confirmed. The ICBM appears to have been launched from Pyongsong, according to South Korea's joint chiefs of staff, over the sea between South Korea and Japan. President Donald Trump said "we will take care of it" when questioned about the missile launch. A US government source confirmed the launch, which was detected at 6.30pm GMT. The Pentagon says there is no threat to the USA or its allies.

 

North Korea fires ballistic missile - report | 28 Nov 2017 | North Korea has fired a ballistic missile, according to South Korean news agency and a US government source. "North Korea launched an unidentified ballistic missile eastward from the vicinity of Pyongsong, South Pyongan Province, at dawn today," the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, as cited by Yonhap news agency. South Korea and the US were analysing the missile's trajectory, it added. A US government source has confirmed the North Korean missile launch to Reuters without providing any further details.

 

Senate Intel chief sees warrantless surveillance powers in must-pass legislation | 28 Nov 2017 | A bill renewing a powerful surveillance authority will "likely" be rolled into must-pass legislation at the end of the year, rather than voted on as a stand-alone measure, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr said Tuesday. The North Carolina Republican, whose committee advanced the bill 12-3 in October, did not specify what the vehicle could be, though Congress must approve legislation by Dec. 8 to keep the government open...Known as Section 702 of a package of foreign intelligence amendments passed in 2008, it allows the National Security Agency (NSA) to collect the texts and emails of foreigners abroad without an individualized warrant -- even when the subjects communicate with Americans in the U.S.Federal investigators can then search those communications -- again without a warrant -- in what critics say is a violation of Americans' Fourth Amendment protections.

 

Egypt mosque attackers wore military uniforms and arrived in SUVs [Sounds like a run-of-the-mill CIA-US contractor destabilization exercise.] | 26 Nov 2017 | Dozens of men wearing military combat uniforms and armed with automatic machine guns carried out the deadly assault on a Sufi mosque in northern Sinai, Egyptian authorities said. Twenty-five to 30 attackers arrived in five SUVs at the al Rawdah Sufi mosque in Bir al-Abed on Friday. Some wore masks and at least one was carrying an ISIS [I-CIA-SIS] flag, the state prosecutor told state-run Nile TV in a statement. They positioned themselves at the building's entrances and the front of the mosque shortly before the massive gunfire and loud explosions rang out.

 

Las Vegas massacre survivor killed in hit-and-run marks fourth death of key eyewitness to shooting | 26 Nov 2017 | Roy McClellan, 52, survived the Route 91 Music Festival massacre only to be tragically struckby a Chevrolet Camaro while walking along the highway just several weeks later. McClellan and his wife attended the Oct. 1 Jason Aldean concert where 58 people were killed by gunfire...Authorities have located the vehicle used in the hit-and-run and charges are pending against the owner. McClellan's death marks the fourth massacre survivor and key eyewitness to have turned up dead following the Las Vegas shooting.

 

Cancer Researcher Found Dead Following 'Breakthrough' Discovery | 28 Nov 2017 | A medical researcher has been found dead after reporting a "breakthrough" discovery in the cure for cancer. 40-year-old Dr. Miguel Crespo's body was found in the bathroom of the Weill Cornell Medical Center on the Upper East Side in New York where he worked after going missing for several hours. Police investigators say they are still trying to piece together how the young doctor had died but say that he most likely committed suicide [Yeah, right!] by taking a drug overdose after they found vomit next to his body in the 8th-floor bathroom and said he had been "foaming at the mouth."

 

Drones will soon release swarms of sterile male mosquitoes to 'fight' Zika and malaria | 27 Nov 2017 | Drones will soon be used in the 'battle against' malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases like Zika. In an experiment to try and crowd out mosquito populations by using sterile male insects that cannot reproduce, researchers are hoping to bring down their reproduction in Latin America. Large swarms of mosquitoes can be dropped from drones, strategically crowding out the other males. When female mosquitoes mate with them, they will not reproduce, eventually bringing down their population, in the process [allegedly] reducing diseases that they spread, the BBC reports. The drones will be developed by WeRobotics and the experiment will be conducted in 2018. [Yes, why not experiment on *yourselves* instead of the public?]

 

5.2 million seniors could see taxes increased by GOP bill - AARP | 29 Nov 2017 | Millions of senior citizens could see tax increases under the Senate version of the GOP's tax-reform plan, according to an analysis from the AARP. In an article published Wednesday on the group's website, the AARP's vice president and policy director argue that 1 in 5 seniors, about 6.3 million taxpayers, will see either no change or a tax increase in 2019 under the plan passed by the Senate Budget Committee. Of those individuals, 1.2 million people would get a tax hike. The authors argue that number will jump "more than four times" by 2027 to 5.2 million seniors "as a result of sunsetting the middle-class tax cuts."

 

Republicans Clear Major Hurdle as Tax Bill Advances | 28 Nov 2017 | Senate Republicans took a significant step toward passing a sweeping tax overhaul on Tuesday, with a key panel giving its approvaland several wavering senators indicating they would support the tax package, helping clear the way for full Senate consideration later this week. Passage of the tax overhaul, which seemed uncertain on Monday, strengthened considerably on Tuesday after the Senate Budget Committee voted along party lines to advance the plan...Many Republican senators left after protesters disrupted the meeting, chanting, "Kill the bill."

 

Senate GOP tax bill hurts the poor more than originally thought, CBO finds | 26 Nov 2017 |The Senate Republican tax plan gives substantial tax cuts and benefits to Americans earning more than 100,000 a year, while the nation's poorest would be worse off, according to report released Sunday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Republicans are aiming to have the full Senate vote on the tax plan as early as this week, but the new CBO analysis showing large, harmful effects on the poor may complicate those plans...By 2019, Americans earning less than 30,000 a year would be worse off under the Senate bill, CBO found.

 

House votes to mandate sexual harassment training for members and staff | 29 Nov 2017 | The House on Wednesday voted to require annual sexual harassment awareness training for all members and staff amid a push to reform the culture on Capitol Hill. A resolution authored by Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.) passed easily by voice vote, though its passage will not be the hard part for lawmakers seeking to reform the policies to protect Capitol Hill employees from sexual harassment. Comstock's measure requires members and staff to undergo anti-harassment and anti-discrimination training during each session of Congress. Interns and fellows would also have to take the training.

 

John Conyers steps aside from House Judiciary Committee amid probe into sexual allegations | 26 Nov 2017 | Michigan Rep. John Conyers on Sunday stepped aside as the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, but again denied recent allegations of sexual and inappropriate conduct. The 88-year-old Conyers, starting last week, was hit with several allegations of misconduct while in Congress that are now being investigated by the House Ethics Committee.

 

French president Emmanuel Macron: Gender-based insults to be punishable by law --Police to have power to fine perpetrators of verbal gendered violence | 27 Nov 2017 | France is to ban gender-based insults and wolf whistling in the street in a crackdown against sexism, the country's president has said. In a speech Emmanuel Macron said it was unacceptable for France to be "one of those countries where women live in fear" of "verbal violence against women". "Gender-based insults will be punishable by law. Offenders will face a deterrent fine," Mr Macron said.

  

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Andy Borowitz | "Pocahontas" Not a Racial Slur, Says Prominent White Expert

29 November 17 PM

It's Live on the HomePage Now: 
Reader Supported News

IF RSN HAS EARNED YOUR SUPPORT, WE NEED IT NOW: We don't make the case for public support with a fundraising appeal or during a donation drive, we make the case for public support in what we do day in and day out. If you believe in what we do, we need your support at this time. This project is growing, keep that growth alive. Thank you all sincerely. / Marc Ash, Founder Reader Supported News

Sure, I'll make a donation!

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Andy Borowitz | "Pocahontas" Not a Racial Slur, Says Prominent White Expert 
 
Andy Borowitz, The New Yorker 
Borowitz writes: "Donald J. Trump's use of the name 'Pocahontas' at a White House event honoring Navajo veterans was not a racial slur, a prominent white expert said on Monday." 
READ MORE

Tax Bill Close to Having Votes 
Jim Newell, Slate 
Newell writes: "The votes are falling into place. In fact, all 52 Republican senators could be within reach." 
READ MORE

Trump Retweets Series of Horrific Anti-Muslim Videos Posted by Far-Right British Group 
Molly Olmstead, Slate 
Olmstead writes: "On Wednesday morning, President Trump retweeted three anti-Muslim videos originally tweeted by the deputy leader of the far-right British group Britain First, sparking condemnation among some in the U.K.'s parliament." 
READ MORE

Garrison Keillor Fired by MPR: 'I Put My Hand on a Woman's Bare Back,' He Says 
Neal Justin, StarTribune 
Justin writes: "In an email to the Star Tribune Wednesday, Keillor said, 'I apologized. I sent her an email of apology later and she replied that she had forgiven me and not to think about it. We were friends. We continued to be friendly right up until her lawyer called.'" 
READ MORE

Ann Curry Is Every Woman Cast Aside for a 'Shitty Media Man' 
Kevin Fallon, The Daily Beast 
Fallon writes: "She isn't the host of a top-rated morning news program that she had devoted the bulk of her career contributing to and turning into a respected source of news. She isn't a leading television personality, with a career commensurate with her talent. She is, however, someone whose livelihood was essentially ruined in a power play by one of the many men who have since been revealed to be despicable." 
READ MORE

Media Erase NATO Role in Bringing Slave Markets to Libya 
Ben Norton, FAIR 
Norton writes: "The American and British media have awakened to the grim reality in Libya, where African refugees are for sale in open-air slave markets. Yet a crucial detail in this scandal has been downplayed or even ignored in many corporate media reports: the role of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in bringing slavery to the North African nation." 
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Oil Exploration in Arctic Ocean Approved by Trump Administration as ANWR Drilling Bill Moves Forward 
Lorraine Chow, EcoWatch 
Chow writes: "The fight against new Arctic drilling took a major setback on Tuesday. On the same day that the Senate Budget Committee passed a bill allowing oil and natural gas drilling in Alaska's pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the Trump administration granted oil company Eni's request to explore for oil in nearby Alaska waters." 
READ MORE

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