Wednesday, December 13, 2017

No Moore

It's the top story, of course, and the narrative is being set for a change in Congre$$ next year (looks like I was wrong about Deval, too). I mean nothing is a sure thing, but....

Lost on campus, as colleges look abroad

It all depends on what sorority you join (just don't be late, okay?).

(FLIP)

Many companies don’t go far enough to address sexual harassment, but the tide is turning

Article was posted over the weekend, and nothing but complete silence from the Globe since (I wonder if the trailblazing hero was harassed).

Related:

"The head of a large union that represents health care workers across Massachusetts has been suspended after allegations of inappropriate behavior....."

"Five Latina kitchen workers filed a sexual harassment lawsuit Tuesday against the national seafood chain McCormick & Schmick’s, alleging that they were subjected to lewd comments and groping by male employees, including several supervisors, at the Faneuil Hall location in Boston. The charges are explicit and wide-ranging....." 

The next sentence disgusted me so I stopped reading it, but if you still have an appetite for it then by all means. Hard to eat when you are crying.

A celebration 50 years (or more) after ‘I Do’ 

I didn't.

Lawmakers are looking at treatment of mentally ill in courts, prison

The turn-in headline says they are trying to untangle the intersection of crime and mental illness, and my suggestion is they start under the golden dome first.

The national lead:

"Trump attacks Gillibrand and blames Democrats for women’s allegations" by Michael Tackett and Eileen Sullivan New York Times   December 13, 2017

WASHINGTON — President Trump’s attacks came in early morning Twitter posts. While Trump weathered the accusations during his presidential campaign, the flood of recent allegations against powerful men has revived the issue of sexual harassment with a newfound fury. By inserting himself directly into the discussion, the president ensured that calls for renewed scrutiny of the women’s allegations would gain new energy and prominence.

SeeWomen renew their accusations against Trump

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, later denied that Trump’s tweet contained a sexual reference, saying that he was referring to general corruption in the US political system.

Asked whether the president would apologize to people who read the tweet as sexual innuendo, Sanders said he would not. “Only if your mind is in the gutter would you have read it that way,” she said.

“He’s not alleging anything. He’s talking about the way that our system functions as it is,” Sanders said at a White House news conference. “That comment, frankly, isn’t something new.”

She added that “he’s used that same terminology many times in reference to men. There’s no way that this is sexist at all.”

Senate Democrats, including Gillibrand, forced the resignation last week of Senator Al Franken, Democrat of Minnesota, clearing away any ambiguity over their push to hold the president accountable after the claims of his accusers. About 60 Democratic women in Congress demanded an inquiry into the women’s allegations against the president, an unlikely prospect given Republican majorities in the House and Senate.

I'm told “Trump is a misogynist, compulsive liar, and admitted sexual predator [and that] he must resign.” 

Oh, how times HAVE changed! The same people defended Bill Clinton!

On Tuesday afternoon, Trump ignored a shouted question from a reporter about what he meant in his Twitter post.

The president also blamed Democrats for the resurgence of accusations against him from women in the past, saying the “fabricated stories” were a result of Democrats being unable to prove his campaign colluded with the Russians.

The reason the pre$$ has dropped Russia is because it leads to Israeli interference, and that just makes them sick. That's also why the tax stuff goes nowhere.

The special counsel’s investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election and alleged coordination with people in Trump’s circle has dominated his first year in office.....

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Twitter is his hot line to.... sigh. 

Inflicting the defeat in Syria really made them mad.

If only men would just go away, huh?

"Trump accuser asks: ‘Where is our investigation?’" by Mark Berman Washington Post  December 12, 2017

WASHINGTON — Melinda McGillivray’s comments in an interview on NBC’s ‘‘Megyn Kelly Today,’’ came as the accusations against Trump — by more than a dozen women in the final weeks of the presidential campaign last year — have gained newfound attention amid the #MeToo movement sweeping across the country.

It's ‘‘round two,’’ ding-ding-ding!

Related:

"For a lot of people, the takeaway from The New York Times’s lengthy profile of President Donald Trump was the revelation that the leader of the free world watches as much as eight hours of television a day. But there was something else that caught our eye. Trump, the Times reports, “expresses disappointment” that Patriots QB Tom Brady, an occasional golfing buddy whom the president considered a friend, has distanced himself. Huh. It does seem that Trump and the five-time Super Bowl champ aren’t nearly as chummy as they once were. It’s not clear why Brady’s taking a pass on his relationship with the president, but it’s possible that his wife prefers it that way. “I talked to my wife, she says I can’t talk about politics anymore,” the QB told WEEI. Patriots fans aren’t likely to care about any of this as long as Brady plays well, or at least better than he did Monday in Miami, when he threw two interceptions and looked suddenly, and shockingly, old and immobile....."

Brady whipped in more ways than one (Trump didn't see the game), and the Globe has declared the end of his career after one bad game without Gronk.

Isn't Brady's wife a model?

"Yikes. That was our reaction to comments made by onetime supermodel Paulina Porizkova about the spate of sexual harassment allegations in the entertainment business. At 52, Porizkova says she’s old enough to remember when such behavior wasn’t viewed as a bad thing. Indeed, the Czech-born beauty, who was just 18 when she graced the cover of Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Issue in 1984, said models would wonder if something was wrong with them if men did not harass them....."

All of a sudden the marriage to Melania makes sense, and aren't models and that whole industry playing into the problem as well as the sexual overtones in advertisement and other such corporate endeavors (cheerleaders at football games)?

Oh, and “here is the funny thing about sexual harassment with models: It was seen as a compliment.”

The White House’s position is that Trump’s accusers are all lying. In a statement Monday, the White House called the accusations ‘‘false claims, totally disputed in most cases by eyewitness accounts,’’ and said they were addressed when Trump won the presidential election.

‘‘The American people knew this and voted for the president and we feel like we’re ready to move forward,’’ Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, said Monday of the accusations.

In a statement on Tuesday, the White House dismissed McGillivray’s comments as well as Brave New Films, a nonprofit group that promotes activism around liberal causes through short documentaries and organized the news conference a day earlier with some of Trump’s other accusers.

‘‘This is a false and absurd claim by another disappointed Hillary Clinton supporter who has absolutely no credibility and has continued to peddle meritless allegations,’’ the White House said. ‘‘This is nothing more than a publicity stunt by a film studio backed by liberal interest groups intent on lobbing politically motivated attacks against American voters.’’

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I'm told ‘‘he has to face the music and he can’t get away with this,’’ and it will soon reach a crescendo (oddly enough, nothing from Hollywood today except for the usual fawning over Damon the Democrat and it is now Matt who?).

Even his judicial picks are in trouble (??) now -- but the biggest winner of the tax bill is the industry where President Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, made their millions.

Of course, Treasury backs the bill, even with its faults, for making it rain. That would devastate Puerto Rico, where millions of Puerto Ricans have gone months without power. Many of the island’s roads and water systems remain destroyed. While the official death toll from Hurricane Maria remains at 64, recent reports have suggested that the actual number of casualties may be far greater. Now the island is facing more potential hardship. During a visit to Boston on Tuesday, Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló decried the Republican tax plan making its way through Congress, saying it includes provisions that would devastate the island’s already-battered economy, so be wary.

Related: 

"Boston philanthropist Amos Hostetter’s foundation paid for two state environmental officials to join a group traveling to Europe to study climate change at the same time their agency was reviewing a waterfront hotel project he was fighting to stop. Hostetter, who accompanied the group, said he had no role in selecting who went on the six-day trip to the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden in June 2016. No authorities have suggested Hostetter, the 80-year-old billionaire, did anything wrong, but he is a prime example of how the appearance of conflicts of interest can arise for both private citizens and government officials when an individual involved in civic causes and local development is also a big political donor....."

Strange how the environment intersects with real estate, and what is the carbon footprint regarding all the travel studying the issue?

All of a sudden the Globe is worried about the president's health.

"Mayor Ed Lee’s sudden death shocked officials, who praised the low-key mayor known more as a former civil rights lawyer and longtime city bureaucrat than as a flashy politician. Lee was a staunch supporter of many of the liberal policies most associated with San Francisco, including higher minimum wages, marriage equality, and sanctuary status for those living in the country illegally....."

After reading to the end all I could say was HMMMMMMMMMM, especially after the article was totally rewritten to eliminate any mention of Steinle.

White nationalists want to march again. Charlottesville says no.

Jason Kessler, the white nationalist who organized this year’s “Unite the Right” march, was also an Obama supporter and organizer of Occupy. What does that tell you? Do you really know who is behind the latest campaign that is being thrown at you on social media? Tired of being fooled yet?

Just who is teaching your kids and where?

France’s Macron takes lead in climate change battle, with the US absent

That's my World lead, they have NOAA flogging it, and the EPA is also on the case

Related: 

"French President Emmanuel Macron awarded climate scientists from the United States and elsewhere millions of dollars Monday to relocate to France for the rest of President Trump’s presidential term. The ‘‘Make Our Planet Great Again’’ grants — a nod to Trump’s ‘‘Make America Great Again’’ campaign slogan — are part of Macron’s efforts to counter Trump on the climate change front. Macron announced a contest for the projects in June. Macron’s appeal ‘‘gave me such a psychological boost, to have that kind of support, to have the head of state saying I value what you do,’’ said winner Camille Parmesan of the University of Texas Austin. She will be working at an experimental ecology station in the Pyrenees on how human-made climate change is affecting wildlife....."

He isn't worried about the baby formula, though.

"Banks and other financial stocks led the gainers as the Federal Reserve met to discuss interest rates. The central bank is expected to raise rates for the third time this year on Wednesday, which allows banks to charge more to lend money. Edison International fell 6 percent after the utility said it believes authorities are looking into the possibility that wildfires in California started at one of its facilities....."

The New Hampshire fires got more coverage than those today, and it is the cutting down of the trees that is causing it. At least HSBC is happy as the market is in a holding pattern.

NATO prolongs chief Stoltenberg’s term for 2 more years

War machines are exempt from emissions calculations you know, and they are now trying to peal Thailand away from China (describing it as a military junta while eschewing that description to the one in Ukraine exposes the pre$$) after having lost Cambodia.

Le Pen’s party charged with alleged EU funds misuse

No charges of sexism there.

Somalis were given a heads up a few days ago so....

This was at the very bottom of the page.

"Over 90 percent of Palestinians oppose Trump move, poll shows" by the Associated Press December 12, 2017

RAMALLAH, West Bank — According to a poll released Tuesday, forty-five percent believe the Palestinians should cut all contacts with the United States, submit a complaint to the International Criminal Court, and launch an armed uprising against Israel.

President Trump said his decision merely recognizes the fact that Jerusalem already serves as Israel’s capital and is not meant to prejudge the final borders of the city.

So who is stirring things up then?

Trump’s Mideast team, led by his adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, have been shuttling throughout the region for nearly a year, meeting with Israeli, Palestinian, and Arab leaders as it prepares a peace plan. The United States is expected to present its proposal next year, with a look to taking a regional approach that involves major Sunni Arab countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

In Tuesday’s survey, 72 percent of respondents said they believe the Trump administration will not submit a peace plan, while just 24 percent think it will. Eighty percent of respondents said they do not trust the Saudi role and 70 percent do not trust Egypt. Egypt has close security ties with Israel, and the Saudis are believed to have covert ties with Israel in an alliance against Iran.

Asked about the most effective means of establishing a Palestinian state, 44 percent called for armed resistance, while just 23 percent believe nonviolent resistance is most effective. Three months ago, only 35 percent supported armed resistance.

The poll also found widespread dissatisfaction with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, with 70 percent of the public wanting him to resign.....

It's an epidemic!

--more--"

I don't know how you get two states out of this, but....

RelatedEU leaders rebuff Netanyahu on Jerusalem recognition

Where are the calls for his resignation, and when are the next round of false flags to beset European capitals?

Suspect in New York subway bombing charged with terrorism

Starting to smell like a fiction as it has already been back paged.

"Lisa Brown said she had expected a guilty verdict, yet, “I take solace from the fact that because of Joshua’s death, many things have already changed in the mental health care system. I do believe that things are going to keep changing,” said Brown, Messier’s mother. “I have to believe that.” Still, Brown said she never expected the guards to be found not guilty. The verdict came after a five-day nonjury trial and capped a long-running legal saga spurred by a Globe expose and a special prosecutor’s investigation....."

Maybe things haven't changed much at all, and shouldn't she be expecting justice?

"Second Fenway health center leader steps down" by Sacha Pfeiffer and Beth Healy Globe Staff  December 11, 2017

Fenway, known for its trailblazing care and advocacy for gay patients, was also under pressure from the larger LGBT community to oust Robert H. Hale, chairman of Fenway’s board of directors. On Sunday, the Boston-based LGBT publication Bay Windows demanded Fenway’s long-time chief executive, Dr. Stephen L. Boswell, and Hale’s resignations — Boswell for having “recklessly put Fenway Health’s reputation at risk” by “systematically protecting a bully and serial sexual harasser.” Hale should also resign, the publication wrote, because the board he led had recently renewed Boswell’s contract so it cannot “be trusted to do the right thing.”

Over the weekend, numerous Fenway staffers, donors, and board members began publicly expressing their dismay over the situation. That collective pressure appears to have contributed to Fenway’s decision to terminate both men’s positions.

Boswell’s termination was a dramatic about-face for Fenway, coming two days after Fenway’s board said it “reaffirmed our continued strong support for Dr. Boswell’s leadership” in the wake of the Globe’s reporting.....

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He blamed alcohol and football?

Then there are the children.

Boston’s six women councilors discuss their historic election in special conversation

Time to go to work.

UPDATE: 

Missing from the next City Council for the first time in decades: men of color