I had already updated the rot so the print caught me off-guard:
"Rival parties in France unite against Le Pen" by Aurelien Breeden New York Times April 24, 2017
PARIS — Only one major candidate has resisted calls to speak out against far-right leader Marine Le Pen: Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the firebrand hard-left candidate who came in fourth and who has pointedly refused to support independent centrist Emmanuel Macron, saying instead that he would seek the opinion of his supporters through his website.
The circle meets, and notice the subtle insinuations in the description of each.
Similarly, traditionalist Roman Catholic organizations that backed Fillon refused to endorse Macron on Monday.
Some of Le Pen’s advisers said, in interviews in French media on Monday, that they were hoping to lure some of the supporters of the defeated Mélenchon, whose populist program bore similarities to that of Le Pen: hostility to the European Union, NATO, and the forces of globalization; and a forgiving attitude toward Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin.
Many of Mélenchon’s supporters may have little fondness for Le Pen, but in interviews they expressed equal disdain for the pro-free market Macron. “For me, Le Pen, Macron, it’s the same,” said Olivia Scemama, a musician from the 18th Arrondissement of Paris who said she voted for Mélenchon on Sunday. “With Macron, it’s the extremism of banks, of finance.”
Across Europe on Monday, there was palpable relief at the success of Macro, and a wide assumption that he will defeat Le Pen in two weeks.
The fix is in!
Stock markets opened higher in Europe, a sign that investors were relieved by Macron’s strong showing. Le Pen wants France to leave the euro currency zone, a prospect that created unease on international markets in the prelude to the first round of voting.
Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, broke protocol to congratulate Macron and wish him continued success, as did the German foreign minister, Sigmar Gabriel, who said: “He will be a great president.”
That can only help Le Pen.
What about the woman's angle, too? France ever have a woman president?
The election results published Monday suggested a big hurdle for Le Pen to overcome: a sharp urban-rural divide in the vote, with voters in France’s major cities heavily favoring her rivals. The geography and sociology of her support was similar to Donald Trump’s support in the 2016 presidential race.
She won more départements — between a county and a state in French political geography — than Macron, and she won the working-class vote. But she did poorly in what French sociologists call “Winner’s France” — urban, employed, well-educated, and pro-European.
She received less than 5 percent of the vote in Paris, less than 8 percent in Bordeaux and less than 9 percent in Lyon.
Few analysts say they expect Le Pen to win in the second round. Polls released Monday showed that about 60 percent of voters supported Macron, compared with less than 40 percent for Le Pen. A live televised debate between Le Pen and Macron is set for May 3.
In Hénin-Beaumont, the northern French city where Le Pen won 46 percent of the vote and whose National Front mayor is one of her top advisers, even supporters were pessimistic about her chances in the runoff.
“It’s a bummer,” said Jean-Louis Devienne, 72. “If people could come here and see how good the National Front has been for our town, they would understand how good it can be for our country.”
On Monday, Le Pen continued to emphasize the anti-immigrant and antiglobalization views that propelled her into the second round, and she denounced the efforts of the mainstream parties to keep her out of the presidency.
Le Pen called Macron “weak” on terrorism, an issue that drew renewed attention days before the first round of voting, when a gunman on the Champs-Élysées, in central Paris, killed a police officer....
--more--"
"Russia sending weapons to Taliban, US officials say" by Thomas Gibbons-Neff Washington Post April 24, 2017
KABUL — The general in charge of US forces in Afghanistan appeared to confirm Monday that Russia is sending weapons to the Taliban, an intervention that will likely further complicate the 15-year-old war here and the Kremlin’s relations with the United States.
I'm going to need more than some general's word.
When asked by reporters, Geneneral John Nicholson did not dispute claims that the Taliban are receiving weapons and other supplies from the Russians.
‘‘We continue to get reports of this assistance,’’ Nicholson said speaking to reporters alongside Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan.
It's like the Carl Vinson thing; they didn't actually lie, they are just going to leave the impression out there even if they have nothing. Man, seen this movie before!
‘‘We support anyone who wants to help us advance the reconciliation process, but anyone who arms belligerents who perpetuate attacks like the one we saw two days ago in Mazar-e Sharif is not the best way forward to a peaceful reconciliation,’’ Nicholson said.
A senior US military official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence on the issue, said the Russians have increased their supply of equipment and small arms to the Taliban over the past 18 months.
They equipping them and arming them like EUSrael and its allies do ISIS and Al-CIA-Duh?
The official said the Russians have been sending weapons, including medium and heavy machine guns, to the Taliban under the guise that the material would be used to fight the Islamic State in eastern Afghanistan.
Instead, the official said, the weapons were showing up in some of Afghanistan’s southern provinces including Helmand and Kandahar — both areas with little Islamic State presence.
‘‘Any weapons being funneled here from a foreign country would be a violation of international law unless they were coming to the government of Afghanistan,’’ Mattis said, speaking during his first visit to Afghanistan as defense secretary. He added that it would have to be dealt with as such.
They might be undermining the government, too!
For the mass-murdering U.S. war machine spokespuke to cite international law is a side-splitter!
In the past, Nicholson has criticized Russia’s contact with the Taliban, saying that it has given ‘‘legitimacy’’ to a group that has undermined the elected government in Kabul.
Nicholson and the chief of US Central Command, Army, General Joseph Votel, agree that roughly 3,000 additional troops are needed to help prop up the Afghan security forces and break what top US officials have called a ‘‘stalemate’’ in the country. At the height of the war there were more than 100,000 troops in the country.
Oooooh, I KNEW there was an AGENDA at play somewhere here!
Mattis told reporters Monday that he is still deciding whether he’ll ask President Trump to send more troops.
He will, and he will get them.
In the 1980s, Russia fought its own war in Afghanistan, losing thousands of troops to insurgents supplied with advanced US weaponry, such as shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles.
HUH?
Looks like the creation, funding, equipping, and directing of Al-CIA-Duh was against international law -- and when the Soviets went away they took the names of their agents and turned them into the next bogeyman.
In March, when the commander of U.S. forces in Europe, Army General Curtis Scaparrotti, told lawmakers that Russia was providing support to the Taliban, the Russian foreign ministry dismissed the allegations as ‘‘a lie’’ and said the charge was being promulgated to disguise Washington’s own policy failures in Afghanistan.
It's a sad state of affairs when it is the "enemy" that tells the truth in my pre$$.
Mattis and Nicholson’s remarks come just days after the Taliban pulled off the single-most deadly attack against Afghan security forces since the beginning of the war.
On Monday, the Afghan defense minister and the army chief of staff both resigned as the government faced mounting pressure over the Taliban sneak attack.
Starting to disbelieve the incident now!
The resignations were followed by broad reshuffling of the army’s regional leadership.
On Friday, roughly a dozen militants infiltrated a sprawling Afghan base near the city of Mazar-e Sharif. Using suicide vests and small arms, the militants — disguised as Afghan soldiers — wreaked havoc at the installation and, according to some reports, killed at least 140 Afghans and wounded 60.
So we have been told, almost as a prelude for this charge against the Russians.
Of course, the US military and its mouthpiece media would never mislead or lie to us.
--more--"
Also see: Arms Sent by U.S. May Be Falling Into Taliban Hands
OOOPS!
Korea did make my print:
"China’s Leader Urges Restraint on North Korea in Call With Trump" by CHRIS BUCKLEY, APRIL 24, 2017
BEIJING — China’s president, Xi Jinping, has urged President Trump to show restraint toward North Korea despite signs that the North may be preparing a nuclear test.
I think we all are, and he can be a real man by doing nothing no matter what North Korea does (if they do anything). That would be the tougher and more courageous thing to do. Any man can give into the war howls and press the button. That's easy, and you are cheered for it.
Mr. Xi made the appeal in a phone call with Mr. Trump on Monday that reflected growing alarm over North Korea’s plans, which could tip the region into crisis.
The phone conversation came after Mr. Trump had already used a meeting with Mr. Xi in Florida, a follow-up phone call, interviews and Twitter messages to press Mr. Xi to do more to deter North Korea from holding additional nuclear and missile tests.
The United States and its allies have been on alert for another atomic test by the North.
Have you heard of Operation Gotham Shield?
Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the United Nations, said Monday that the United States could strike North Korea if it attacks a US military base or tests an intercontinental ballistic missile.
In several television interviews, Haley praised China’s involvement in trying to pressure North Korea to cease missile testing and criticized Pyongyang’s leader, Kim Jong Un, as unstable and paranoid.
Asked about the threshold for US action, Haley said on NBC’s ‘‘Today Show’’ that ‘‘if you see him attack a military base, if you see some sort of intercontinental ballistic missile, then obviously we’re going to do that.’’
Haley said the United States isn’t looking for a fight and wouldn’t attack North Korea ‘‘unless he gives us reason to do something.’’
I didn't think you could find an ambassador more rabid than Power, but Trump did.
In the latest call, the third between the two leaders, Mr. Xi indicated to Mr. Trump that China opposed any such test by North Korea, but he also nudged Mr. Trump to avoid a tit-for-tat response to the North’s fiery threats, according to a report on Chinese television.
In Washington on Monday, Mr. Trump said “the status quo in North Korea is also unacceptable,” and he called on the Security Council to impose new sanctions....
If that's all he's going to do, I'm fine with that. New sanctions it is!
--more--"
Related:
“This is a real threat to the world, whether we want to talk about it or not,” Mr. Trump said at a White House meeting of Security Council envoys. “North Korea is a big world problem, and it’s a problem we have to finally solve. People have put blindfolds on for decades, and now it’s time to solve the problem.”
That's not encouraging.
Mr. Xi’s calls for restraint in issuing new sanctions reflected growing Chinese fears that the tensions between North Korea and the United States and its Asian allies could spiral into outright military conflict. That widening rift is presenting China with confounding choices between its longstanding ties to North Korea and its hopes for steady relations with the United States.
The White House said in its brief account of Mr. Trump’s call with Mr. Xi that “the two leaders reaffirmed the urgency of the threat posed by North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs, and committed to strengthen coordination in achieving the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
North Korea did not proceed with a nuclear test on April 15, which some experts had expected, but work apparently resumed at its atomic test site in Punggye-ri, according to analysts who have assessed satellite images of the site.
The flaring tensions over North Korea have reopened cracks in its ties with China, which for decades has provided fuel, trade opportunities and a degree of political cover to North Korea, while other countries have shunned it.
The Chinese government has recently increased pressure on North Korea. In February, China officially suspended coal shipments from North Korea, and a prominent Chinese newspaper has also raised the threat of choking off oil shipments to the North.
North Korea’s official news agency responded over the weekend by warning China of “catastrophic consequences” for their relationship if economic sanctions continued, reported Yonhap, the South Korean news service.
But on Monday, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry stuck to pleas for calm from all sides when asked repeatedly about North Korea, its threats to China and the possibility of another nuclear test.
They are coming from this blog as well!
“The situation on the peninsula is complicated and sensitive,” the spokesman, Geng Shuang, said when asked about a possible North Korean nuclear test.
On Sunday, Japanese defense forces began a joint drill with a visiting United States Navy strike group featuring an aircraft carrier, the Carl Vinson, which had finally arrived in northeast Asia in a display of American resolve.
In the last two days, the North Korean state news media, including the main Workers’ Party newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, has warned that the North is ready to turn the Carl Vinson into a “great heap of scrap metal” and “bury it in the sea.”
The South Korean Defense Ministry said on Monday that it was also considering holding joint drills with the Carl Vinson and accompanying ships, Reuters reported.
I hope the Vinson is thousands of miles away like before.
In addition to his discussion with Mr. Xi, Mr. Trump also spoke with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan on Monday morning in Tokyo, Mr. Abe told reporters.
Mr. Abe told the president that he strongly endorsed Mr. Trump’s position that all options were “on the table.”
“North Korea’s nuclear and missile program is an extremely serious threat to security not only in the international community, but also for our country,” Mr. Abe said. “We will continue to closely cooperate and maintain the high level of warning and surveillance. We will respond resolutely.”
But Washington and allied governments believe that North Korea’s weapons development is getting closer to mastering the means to hit the continental United States with a ballistic missile. And they have become increasingly impatient with China to do more to rein in North Korea.
On the other hand, Beijing argues that Washington must also do more to end the volatile impasse with Pyongyang. Chinese diplomats have urged the United States to suspend major military exercises with South Korea in return for North Korea’s suspending nuclear and missile tests.
Mr. Xi’s government has also fiercely opposed an antimissile system — called the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, or Thaad — that the Trump administration has begun installing in South Korea. China argues that the system could also be rejiggered to spy on its missiles.
But White House officials have said North Korea must prove it is serious about dismantling its nuclear and missiles programs before new negotiations are possible.
Top Trump administration officials plan to brief the entire Senate Wednesday on the evolving situation with North Korea. The briefing will include Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, and Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary.
Not a good sign at all. A "preemptive"strike this weekend?
Adding to the friction, North Korea detained a United States citizen over the weekend, adding to the two Americans already known to be in custody there. The latest man believed to be held, Tony Kim, had been teaching accounting at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology.
Oh, yeah, him. That was yesterday's slop prop.
--more--"
Also see:
12-year-old drives 800 miles across Australia
Then he turned around and drove back?
Mass murder charges sought against Philippine president
Duterte is interfering in the drug trade.
Boat carrying migrants from Turkey to Greece sinks; killing 16
Now the Turks are Nazis.
Also see:
Venezuelans shut down roads and highways in protest
I continue to believe it is a U.S-fomented coup, and in either event it is U.S. economic warfare that has led to the conditions there.
"Haiti leader pleads guilty to money laundering in drug case" by Associated Press April 25, 2017
MIAMI — A former Haitian coup leader and recently elected senator in that country pleaded guilty Monday to a US drug money-laundering charge under a deal that should allow him to avoid a potential sentence of life in prison for cocaine trafficking.
Under the plea deal, the recommended prison sentence for Guy Philippe is nine years and the drug trafficking charge would be dropped. He also faces a $1.5 million fine at a sentencing hearing July 5.
‘‘You understand I am under no obligation to impose that sentence?’’ asked US District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga, noting that the maximum potential sentence is 20 years.
‘‘Yes, your honor,’’ said Philippe.
Philippe, 49, led a 2004 Haitian uprising that ousted then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and was indicted along with several others on US drug charges in 2005.
In other words, he was working for the U.S. at the time!
He managed to elude capture for more than a decade, including at least 10 attempts to arrest him in Haiti that involved a military operation and a foot chase through the countryside.
I'm sure he had help!
Philippe was elected to the Haitian Senate in November but was arrested while giving a radio interview in the capital of Port-au-Prince in January and whisked immediately to the United States. Altonaga rejected his claim of immunity as an elected Haitian official. The judge noted even if immunity applied, Philippe had not yet been officially sworn in.
He admitted Monday in court that, as a high-ranking Haitian police commander in the city of Cap-Haitien, he accepted between $1.5 million and $3.5 million from drug smugglers from 1999 to 2003.
Prosecutors say Philippe and other police officers took the money in exchange for ensuring safe passage for cocaine shipments from Colombia and other countries that went through Haiti on their way to Miami and other US destinations.
‘‘Philippe cast aside his duty to protect and serve the people of Haiti,’’ said Acting US Attorney Benjamin Greenberg. ‘‘Instead, he abused his position of authority as a high-ranking Haitian National Police officer to safeguard drug shipments and launder illicit trafficking proceeds.’’
When are you guys heading over to Langley?
--more--"
If you scroll through my Haiti file you will see I'm pretty much up to date, and I'm just so glad the Globe has taken notice (please $end money).
Maybe Trump will fulfill some Haitian dreams, 'eh?
"US sanctions Syrian government workers after sarin attack" by Julie Hirschfeld Davis New York Times April 24, 2017
WASHINGTON — “The United States is sending a strong message with this action that we will hold the entire Assad regime accountable for these blatant human rights violations in order to deter the spread of these types of barbaric chemical weapons,” Steven T. Mnuchin, the secretary of the Treasury, said in a statement.
“We take Syria’s disregard for innocent human life very seriously, and will relentlessly pursue and shut down the financial networks of all individuals involved with the production of chemical weapons used to commit these atrocities,” Mnuchin said.
Is the world still listening to hypocritical U.S. officials? I know I'm not.
Syria agreed in a 2013 deal brokered by Russia to destroy its chemical weapons arsenal and get rid of material that could be used to resume the manufacture of such weapons, but US officials have said that this month’s attack, in Khan Sheikhoun, indicated that the Assad government still had the capacity to make and use chemical weapons.
This is insane. The OPCW certified the whole damn thing, and if this were true there would be satellite evidence and other such things we are not -- and never are -- being shown. Tired of my lying war government and its claims, sorry. Tired, tired, tired. Remember Iraq?
In a report issued by the National Security Council this month that included a declassified account of the Khan Sheikhoun attack, the White House said that US intelligence information had indicated that “personnel historically associated with Syria’s chemical weapons program” were at Shayrat airfield in March and on the day of the attack preparing for the sarin assault.
C'mon! This is the same conjecture to peddle the Russians hacked our election crap.
Also see: ISIS Used Chemical Arms at Least 52 Times in Syria and Iraq
Where is the outrage?
An official declined to say whether any of those figures were part of the group sanctioned on Monday, citing the need to protect intelligence sources and methods, but asserted that those being blacklisted were believed to be responsible for attacks.
In Syria on Monday, an air strike killed eight family members, five of them children, as they fled fighting between US-allied Syrian forces and Islamic State militants, according to local activists, who said the strike appeared to have been launched by the US-led coalition.
Let's not linger on the dead babies too long, 'eh?
Better take another look at the rules.
Al Qaeda’s leader meanwhile urged his followers and other militants in Syria to unite and prepare for protracted jihad, or holy war, against what he called an ‘‘international satanic alliance,’’ apparently referring to the Syrian government, its ally Russia, and the United States, all of which are targeting the group.
HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!
The family was fleeing fighting in the northern Syrian town of Tabqa when their vehicle was struck, the Associated Press reported, citing the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The observatory said the five children were between 6 months and 15 years old.
The activist-run Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently also reported the air strike, saying a family was killed.
The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces are trying to expel ISIS from Tabqa before moving on to Raqqa, the de facto capital of the jihadi group. Tabqa is 25 miles southwest of Raqqa.
Taking a lot longer than previously implied.
--more--"
Meanwhile, the horn-tooting never stops and by the time you leave the camp (didn't the Pope have something to say about that?) you'll be deaf.
Ayup — there’s a Bar Harbor on Mars, too
It's my front page feature, and the handbook is being promoted on page A2:
"The authors are Cheryl Costa, 65, a former military technician and aerospace analyst, and her wife, Linda Miller Costa, 62, a librarian at Le Moyne College and a former librarian at the National Academy of Sciences, NASA and the Environmental Protection Agency. Cheryl Costa was writing New York Skies, a UFO blog for The Syracuse New Times, when the Costas decided to expand their tallies of UFO sightings nationwide. “We wanted to do our bit for disclosure,” she said. “It’s something the government should have been doing.”
The ubiquitousness of the alien and UFO shows lead me to believe it's bull, sorry.
Now, your papers, please:
"What once seemed like a quaint oddity becomes a serious inconvenience in a world of identity theft and terrorism. Today, governments demand birth certificates...."
Unless you are an illegal immigrant.
National refuge fire could burn for 6 months
Arkansas completes execution of two inmates
The Globe has had a morbid fascination with that for weeks now. Not so much for the war dead.
"The Supreme Court rejected an appeal from a Houston man shot in the back by police during a traffic stop, prompting Justice Sonia Sotomayor to complain of a ‘‘disturbing trend’’ in how the high court deals with cases alleging police misconduct. In a dissent, Sotomayor said the justices ‘‘have not hesitated’’ to reverse lower courts that rule against police officers in cases that involve claims of excessive force. But she said the court ‘‘rarely’’ intervenes when lower courts ‘‘wrongly’’ find that police are immune from charges of misconduct. Her dissent, joined by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, drew a response from Justice Samuel Alito. Also Monday, the justices said they would not hear a challenge to Alabama’s ban on the transfer of campaign contributions between political action committees. They left in place a lower court ruling that said the 2010 law does not unconstitutionally restrict political speech. In another matter Monday.... "
There they go again.
De Blasio proposes expanding prekindergarten to 3-year-olds
Globe also put out the fire (with a little help). It was a freak accident.
"Trump set to expand drilling, reconsider US monuments" by Matthew Daly Associated Press April 24, 2017
WASHINGTON — ■ Trump’s resort: The State Department’s recent promotion of Trump’s Florida resort is drawing criticism from Democrats and ethics advocates.
In an April 4 blog post that has been republished by US embassies abroad, Mar-a-Lago is described as ‘‘Trump’s Florida estate,’’ where he has hosted foreign leaders. ‘‘By visiting this ‘winter White House,’ Trump is belatedly fulfilling the dream of Mar-a-Lago’s original owner and designer,’’ the post says.
Left unsaid: Mar-a-Lago is part of Trump’s business empire. After his election, the resort doubled its membership fee to $200,000. As president, Trump has visited the property seven times, and its restaurant fills up when he’s in town.
The post originated on ‘‘Share America,’’ a State Department project. Its website describes its mission as ‘‘sharing compelling stories and images that spark discussion and debate on important topics like democracy, freedom of expression, innovation, entrepreneurship, education, and the role of civil society.’’
Norman Eisen, who was Obama’s ethics attorney, called the promotion ‘‘exploitation.’’ He compared it to White House counselor Kellyanne Conway’s promotion of Ivanka Trump’s clothing business.
Oh, yeah, that flap. Just keep it in the family.
■ UN changes: Trump called for ‘‘big reforms’’ at the United Nations and criticized its handling of events in Syria and North Korea. Meeting with ambassadors from countries on the UN Security Council, he deemed the organization an underperformer but said it has tremendous potential. ‘‘You just don’t see the United Nations, like, solving conflicts,’’ he said. “I think that’s going to start happening now.’’
That's when I hit a wall:
"The White House is planning a packed week of activities leading up to Saturday. Trump will sign executive orders on energy and rural policies, dine with Supreme Court justices, meet with the president of Argentina, and travel to Atlanta for a National Rifle Association event. Top aides will also fan out around the country to promote the administration...."
In other developments:
--more--"
Orange is the new Black? You know what I'm thinking.
For some reason this monument was removed:
New Orleans begins removing Confederate monuments, under police guard
Yes, the cleansing of distasteful history must proceed. Not only that, the politically-correct version that is served today has it that the country was always great when it comes to equality, democracy, and all the other flowery spew that comes from political mouth.
Sometimes, though, it's not so flowery:
"Mass. Democrats move to kill Israel resolution" by Joshua Miller Globe Staff April 24, 2017
After fierce backlash from state party leaders, Massachusetts Democrats are moving to formally kill a provocative proposal for the state committee to declare opposition to Israeli settlements in the West Bank without specifically mentioning Palestinian violence.
Only here in AmeriKa and this state, not the wider world out there.
After the news of the subcommittee’s vote was released Monday, the blowback is now coming from advocates who have tried to move the resolution forward for months and feel unfairly thwarted.
Cole Harrison, executive director of Massachusetts Peace Action and a Democratic activist, asked acidly in an interview, “Why bother with the Democratic Party if it’s not going to take up hard issues?”
Just figuring that out?
Others echoed his view.
Former state and national party chairman Steve Grossman, for his part, said he is pleased with the subcommittee’s move.
“I believe the subcommittee acted wisely because they saw the resolution as deeply divisive,” Grossman said Monday. “The Democratic Party and its activists need to be unified to fight the Trump agenda that threatens our progressive tradition.”
AAAAAAH!
And there it is! Trump is a tool of distraction and is playing his role well!
Also happy with the subcommittee’s move was James Segel, a former state representative and aide to Barney Frank, who had offered alternative language to the resolution he felt was more balanced.
“This is an issue that has eluded world leaders for 50 years, so for the Democratic State Committee to get involved in it takes a lot of hubris in the first place,” Segel said Monday. “But if they do, people should study it and have been there.”
OMG! That's chutzpah!
He said for the state committee “to stay out of it is smart.”
You've been warned.
--more--"
Back in Bo$ton:
Police investigate fatal Roxbury shooting of 18-year-old male
Right outside the police station, too.
Man killed, three people hurt in Sunday Dorchester shootings
Well, they know who didn't do it.
Looks like you will be waiting for a ride, turkey.
"The two 13-year-old girls who went missing on Saturday have been located, Methuen police said. Kelianis Hernandez and Ysabel Suazo were found in Lawrence Monday at about 2:30 p.m., said Detective Sergeant Tom McMenamon. The two girls are in good health with no sign of injury. Detectives are speaking with them to determine what happened, McMenamon said. This is the second time this month that Suazo has gone missing; she disappeared on April 16, before being found later that day...."
Call for attention, parental neglect, who knows what?
Erin Moran, 56; played Joanie on ‘Happy Days’
‘Furious’ still dominates; Clinton surprises at Tribeca
Megyn Kelly’s NBC show to debut in June?
It's a talk show?
"Business for Hasbro is in the toilet, which turns out to be a pretty good place. The toymaker’s revenue surpassed that of its rival Mattel for the first time in 17 years thanks in part to hot sales of a new board game called Toilet Trouble. Profit in the quarter jumped 41 percent on rising demand for both mobile games and classics like Monopoly, which saw classic player pieces like the wheelbarrow, thimble and boot replaced by a dinosaur, a penguin and a rubber ducky. The game Toilet Trouble follows another Hasbro game that became a viral sensation. In the earlier release, called Pie Face, players can get hit with a face full of whipped cream. In Toilet Trouble, players in the board game take turns flushing a plastic toilet that spits water at their faces."
Your sh***ing me, right?
Unpopular eateries first to close when minimum wage is hiked
So says a Harvard Bu$ine$$ $chool $tudy, and after that first item I've kind of lost my appetite anyway.
As for what is going on inside the Bangladesh factory, I'm not surprised. So often I find myself writing stories and then five, ten years down the line find that nothing has been done, the pre$$ was all sound and fury and $tatu$ quo.
Samsung releasing software updates for new Galaxy S8 phone
They going to spy on you like the TVs?
Albertson’s reportedly considering takeover of Whole Foods
It's going to be bought by Cerberus Capital Management, and they just spoiled my breakfast.
I've got an allergy to Mylan, and I'm sure it's Devos's fault.
Trump vows tariff on Canadian lumber
More blather.
Council leans toward easing of shadow law, despite critics
Related: Shadow Deal
Have you seen the brokers?
United Airlines sued by passenger over alleged seat shift
It was a bumpy Flight; should have flown American.
Globe cancelled my operation. Good thing it wasn't a spinal.
What I didn't finish Monday:
"North Dakota, an ideal laboratory to glimpse at the future of Alzheimer’s in America, and to identify strategies that could help the rest of the country cope. The devastating disease has strained families and the state budget. So North Dakota — a place that prides itself on personal independence and financial parsimony — has found new ways to support its residents and a new consensus to spend money on prevention. The state’s primary strategy is to assist family caregivers — the estimated 30,000 North Dakota spouses, siblings, sons, and daughters looking after loved ones with dementia. A half-dozen consultants roam the state to evaluate families’ needs...."
Forgot to read the turn-in. Think I should be concerned?
"A sprawling industrial site near downtown Boston may soon be marked for a new cosmopolitan neighborhood after its owners of nearly 50 years took a major step toward freeing up the property for redevelopment. Home to a collection of food wholesalers, the Widett Circle area, between the South End and South Boston, had been primed as a potential site for the Olympics before Boston’s bid failed. Now, with the area around them undergoing rapid redevelopment, the wholesalers are moving toward putting their 19-acre property in play and bidding for a new home in South Boston. A tide of urban renewal is washing across this side of Boston...."
Feel like I'm swimming in circles, readers.
"Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin acknowledged in an interview with the Financial Times last week, the day before Trump’s vow for fast action on taxes, that completing tax legislation would be delayed until the fall, at the earliest. A previous August deadline, after the health care debacle, was “not realistic at this point,” he said. House Speaker Paul Ryan’s overall proposal would be a game-changer in the tax world. But it animates wonks and corporate chieftains more than anyone, and is difficult for average voters to comprehend. “Over the past generation, the US has done very little to help our manufacturers or workers. Our tax policy favors imports, not exports,” GE chief executive Jeff Immelt wrote in his annual letter to shareholders. “We are hopeful that the new administration will ‘level the playing field’ for US companies.”
Not only is the we won't understand part condescending:
"Although the top corporate rate is 35 percent, hardly any company actually pays that. The report, by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a left-leaning research group in Washington, found that 100 of them — nearly 40 percent — paid no taxes in at least one year between 2008 and 2015. General Electric incurred a total federal income tax bill of less than zero over the entire eight-year period — meaning they received rebates [of] $15.4 billion."
The field $ure looks tilted to me, and they are going to be getting hundreds of millions in state and city dollars, too!!
Related: Trump Seeking 15 Percent Tax Rate for Businesses
GE's would be going up then.
Maybe I should watch my tongue:
‘‘Once the damage is done to a company, it’s hard to get your reputation back,’’ responded Bill Himpler, executive vice president of the American Financial Services Association, a trade group. ‘‘Something needs to be done.’’ Now, members of Congress want to prohibit publishing the complaints entirely. Some groups are alarmed at the potential changes. Pamela Banks, senior policy counsel for Consumers Union, said, ‘‘consumers should not be kept in the blind.’’
We wouldn't understand it anyway, and is that her real name?
Btw, it was their own thieving and looting behavior that did it to the banks, but if you watch the commercials that bring you all the football and TV shows the banks are great!
"President Trump awarded a Purple Heart to an Army sergeant recently wounded in Afghanistan, the first of many Trump probably will award during his service as commander in chief of the military. It was Trump’s first visit as president to the military hospital. Sergeant 1st Class Alvaro Barrientos, who was wounded in action on March 17 in Afghanistan during what is now America’s longest war [and] whose right leg below the knee had been amputated, was brought into a hospital atrium in a wheelchair, accompanied by his wife, Tammy. Trump’s decision to allow news media coverage of the medal ceremony was in sharp contrast to former president Barack Obama, who awarded Purple Heart medals during his own regular visits to Walter Reed but always did so behind closed doors. Trump was driven to Maryland instead of flying in the Marine One helicopter, the way presidents typically travel to Walter Reed because of annual public tours of the White House south grounds and gardens that were taking place Saturday. As the motorcade exited the complex, nearby sidewalks were lined with people who had come to Washington on Saturday, which was also Earth Day, to promote science and defend it from attack, including Trump’s proposed budget cuts. Some held signs that said ‘‘Support Science’’ and ‘‘Science Saves Lives.’’ Later that evening, Trump and the first lady went to dinner at Trump’s hotel near the White House. It’s a favorite dining spot for Trump when he ventures outside the executive mansion."
And what does the astronaut get?
Community reluctantly bids farewell to 600-year-old tree
Wisconsin tribes clash in casino expansion fight
The wingnuts abandon Trump
The cartoon character has fallen and he can't get up!
Doesn't he blame Saudi for it?
"Seventeen-year-old Sherwood, Ore., resident Brennan Agranoff spends his days going to school, doing chores, and running his custom-design sock business. Television station KATU reported that it’s no simple hobby: Agranoff is founder and chief executive of HoopSwagg and has sold $1 million worth of socks. He gets about 100 orders every day for the more than 500 designs he comes up with himself — including socks with a galaxy theme and socks with pictures of the family goats. His dad, Brian Agranoff, who invested in the business, says parents should never underestimate the power kids have to do something cool. His son plans to graduate from high school early and work for his company full time for a bit before college."
His socks $tink.
"Alibaba Group’s chairman, Jack Ma, says society should prepare for decades of pain as the Internet further disrupts the economy. The world must change education systems and establish how to work with robots to help soften the blow, Ma said in a speech in Zhengzhou, China. “In the next 30 years, the world will see much more pain than happiness,” Ma said of job disruptions. “Social conflicts . . . will have an impact on all sorts of industries and walks of life.” Alibaba, China’s largest e-commerce operator, is spending billions to move into new businesses, including film production and cloud computing. It’s looking to expand abroad since buying Lazada Group SA to establish a foothold in Southeast Asia, potentially setting up a clash with Amazon.com. Ma, 52, also chastised the banking industry, saying that lending must be available to more members of society. He also urged traditional industries to stop complaining about the Internet’s effects on the economy, saying that Alibaba’s Taobao shopping site has created millions of jobs. He also warned that longer lifespans and better artificial intelligence are likely to lead to aging labor forces and fewer jobs. “Machines should only do what humans cannot,” he said. “Only in this way can we have the opportunities to keep machines as working partners with humans, rather than as replacements.”
For the "regular people," anyway(??).
Bill O’Reilly to return with new podcast episode tonight
I didn't watch him before, why would I now?
Lifespan notifies patients of potential data breach
Call Langley.
Robert K. Massie enters race for governor Massie left his job leading a climate preparedness, research, and development lab at the University of Massachusetts Boston late last month,
That might undermine his campaign.
Cyclists push for safe lanes around the Public Garden
Appeals Court brings the Probation Department corruption case to an end — finally
Verdict: corruption is okay in Ma$$achu$etts.
Mayoral candidate Tito Jackson to replace campaign manager
Jesse Jackson talks Trump, religion, and justice in Dorchester
Framingham to hold recount Monday of vote to become a city
See: The Key to the.... ?
At least 17 displaced by Dorchester blaze
Maybe you want to take a brief look at the blotter?
Former N.H. legislator alleges abuse at Phillips Academy Andover
Hasn't made print yet.
City launches 4 trauma teams to help people in crisis
Heading on up to Phillips-Andover?
Better find your own ride.
