Boston teachers would get 2 percent pay raises under contract deal
How odd.
My righthand-corner lead was this:
"Trump Tweets, and Then Retracts, Statement That Russia Helped Him Get Elected" by Peter Baker and Eileen Sullivan New York Times, May 30, 2019
COLORADO SPRINGS — President Donald Trump lashed out angrily at Robert Mueller on Thursday, accusing him of pursuing a personal vendetta as Trump sought to counter increasing calls among Democrats for his impeachment.
A day after Mueller, the special counsel, spoke out for the first time and refused to exonerate the president, Trump dismissed the Mueller investigation as hopelessly tarnished and expressed aggravation that he could not shake allegations of wrongdoing that have dogged him since the early days of his administration.
Well, Mueller did fill the staff with Clinton lawyers and Deep State subversives.
Trump’s assertions of conflict of interest have been refuted not only by Mueller but even by some of the president’s own former aides, but Trump appeared determined to undermine the credibility that Mueller has developed over a long career as a lawyer, prosecutor, and the second-longest-serving FBI director in American history who worked under presidents of both parties.
Related: Robert Mueller was true to form Wednesday, former colleague says
The split-screen day illustrated the dynamic that has come to define Trump’s presidency — railing against his adversaries one moment, then performing presidential duties the next.
See: Trump says he didn’t know about efforts to hide USS McCain
While Democratic leaders continued to resist impeachment, viewing it as a political risk, more rank-and-file members along with many of the party’s presidential candidates were ramping up the pressure Thursday to open a formal inquiry.
Beto O’Rourke, the former congressman from Texas running for president, disputed Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s fears of a backlash against Democrats if they pursued impeachment.
“I believe those members of Congress who listen to the courage of their convictions at this moment of truth will be rewarded by the judgment of history,” he said.
The pre$$ used to be giddy about him (what is he, drinking again?), but that was before he called Netanyahu a racist.
He's been dropping in the polls ever since!
Almost without exception, however, congressional Republicans have stood by Trump, solidarity that, if it held, would guarantee acquittal in any Senate trial that might follow impeachment by the House.
“Frankly, this isn’t what the American people elected them to do,” Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the second-ranking Republican in the House, said Wednesday night on Fox News. “I think there is going to be a heavy price for Democrats who go down this path.”
Mueller’s statement Wednesday, while carefully tracking his written report, shook up the debate in Washington and clearly got under the president’s skin. Mueller reported that he could not establish any illegal conspiracy between Trump’s campaign and Russia, but he said he could not clear the president of obstruction of justice and essentially suggested that Congress take up that question.
The president’s case for his own defense, however, was marred by his own contradictory statements Thursday as he swung back and forth in his assessment of Russia’s actions during the 2016 presidential election.
Case for his own defense?
I thought it was innocent until proven guilty in AmeriKa.
Shows you how far we have fallen. Now you have to prove your innocence.
Trump told reporters on the South Lawn as he prepared to depart for Colorado Springs. “You know who got me elected? I got me elected.”
Actually, it was Steve Bannon, but he crossed Kushner and now he is gone.
President Vladimir Putin of Russia has said publicly that he favored Trump over Hillary Clinton in 2016, although he has denied an orchestrating an influence campaign on behalf of the Trump.....
--more--"
Underneath it and under the fold was this:
"In one swing House district, a Democrat’s focus is on anything but impeachment" by Jess Bidgood Globe Staff, May 30, 2019
BURNSVILLE, Minn. — Representative Angie Craig is among the vast majority of House Democrats who still are publicly backing Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s methodical approach to investigating Trump without yet beginning an impeachment inquiry.
About 40 House Democrats who are furious with Trump, but even advocates of impeachment concede that the battle to open an inquiry is likely to hinge on red-to-blue districts like this one, a swath of suburbs and farmland south of the Twin Cities that Trump narrowly won in 2016 but swung to Democrats last year as they seized the House.
In most of those districts, which are the key for Democrats to keeping the House majority and possibly winning the presidency next year, the political dam has yet to break.
“The folks pushing for impeachment are stronger — it does remain to be seen whether that’s going to change Nancy Pelosi’s position,” said Ezra Levin, a cofounder of the national progressive group the Indivisible Project. “Whether or not that position shifts, I do think it’s going to be dependent on those districts.”
Political strategists say impeachment proceedings could alienate moderate to conservative voters whose support Democratic incumbents need to win reelection, although liberals have warned that not pursuing impeachment could demoralize the Democratic base.
So far, only a couple of the 43 Democrats who flipped Republican seats in the fall’s midterm election have called for the House to open an impeachment inquiry.
The Globe says that is a growing call for impeachment.
Privately, there’s a sense among some top Democrats that Mueller’s comments this week will shift momentum in favor of impeachment by strengthening the moral case to move forward, but for now, six weeks after the release of the Mueller report, Democrats remain deeply divided on a question that will shape their agenda in the House and the 2020 election.
The Twin Cities area illustrates this division. Ilhan Omar, who represents the safe Democratic seat in the Fifth District encompassing Minneapolis, has been a vocal advocate of impeachment, but a visit to the more politically moderate second district, just to the south, revealed fewer signs of impeachment fever, at least for now, and next door, in Minnesota’s Third District — another formerly Republican seat that Democrats picked up in last year’s midterm elections — Representative Dean Phillips also said he is not ready to endorse an impeachment inquiry, but acknowledged his patience is wearing thin.
Yeah, she has had a lot to say and the Globe will tell you what you need to know.
She had better be careful about popping off and firing back, especially when it comes to a specific event (some are even implicating her in it).
That’s not to say there’s no pressure on moderate Democrats to join the calls. This week, groups like Need to Impeach organized dozens of visits to representatives’ offices, and Stand Up America said its members made nearly 18,000 calls to Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday alone.
Some freshman Democrats who represent swing districts acknowledge they are facing more pressure from their constituents to back an impeachment inquiry.
“It’s certainly a factor, because it used to be the other way around. We used to have more people saying, ‘Don’t impeach,’ ” said Katie Hill, a California Democrat, according to The Hill newspaper, but for representatives like Craig, a call for impeachment would run counter to the strategy she is hoping will win her reelection — stressing bipartisanship and nuts-and-bolts issues like health care and constituent services.
“These aren’t places where [impeachment] will be helpful to the Democrats, because the more Democrats pursue it, the more the party is taking their eye off of regular people’s problems in the eyes of these voters,” said David Wasserman, who analyzes House races for the Cook Political Report.
But they are “hungry for the truth to come out.”
A 47-year-old former medical device executive, Craig first ran for the seat in 2016 and lost to Republican talk show host Jason Lewis before defeating him by five points in 2018. Now, she touts her status as the only lesbian mom in Congress — Craig and her wife have four boys — and as a card-carrying member of a local gun club.
At a town hall held in a chapel in Northfield, Minn., this week, she talked up Democratic efforts to pass an anticorruption measure, and her own work on a bipartisan bill called the Local Water Protection Act.
Her most pointed allusion to the Trump administration came when she spoke of the effect Trump’s tariffs have had on farmers.
“We need adults in the room who know what the hell they’re doing on trade,” Craig said.
Although one voter, Jane Moline, 61, lightheartedly urged her to impeach Trump after the event, none of the 14 questions Craig heard from voters touched the issue — and she seemed to prefer it that way.
Related:
"Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on his investigation into Russian interference during the 2016 election dominated political headlines Saturday, but the topic nearly went unmentioned in the middle school gym where US Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota met with Democratic presidential primary voters. After taking questions for about an hour, Klobuchar told reporters she was surprised no one in the crowd brought it up....."
She is as out of touch as the pre$$, and that campaign is going nowhere.
“I’m one of the 31 Democrats who currently hold seats that Donald Trump won across the country,” Craig said in an interview. “Since I started running, I’ve had to differentiate myself from my Republican opponent, and also some ideas that perhaps come from my own party.”
Several of the Democratic voters who came to the town hall said they, too, were leery about moving too quickly on impeachment.
Lorraine Rovig, a retiree who said she is a precinct chair in the local Democratic Farmer Labor party, said impeachment does not seem practical without more support from Republicans.
“I think we’ve got a lying bum in office, and I’d love to have him go away,” Rovig said. “I just don’t see a pathway to it right now, so let’s work on the other stuff.”
So you will cheer an assassination?
Isn't that incitement?
--more--"
Looks like Trump is in a real jam, huh?
Gillette’s new ad, featuring a transgender man, seen as groundbreaking
I won't be buying any of their razors anymore.
Dozens of doctors, scientists warn Mass. marijuana is ripe for ‘regulatory failure’
The addiction $pecialist$ have a $evere ca$e of Reefer Madness!
{@@##$$%%^^&&}
Census citizenship question was crafted to aid white Republicans, files suggest
That was my National lead, and the Democrats are counting on all those illegal votes in 2020. They can't win otherwise.
Louisiana’s Democratic governor signs abortion ban into law
He bucked the party, huh?
National spelling bee finals begin with 50 seeking title
What about the real bees?
US measles count nears 1,000, surpassing 25-year-old record
They want to get that needle in you!
Authorities say Army vet targeted Muslims among crowd he drove into
Doing the Jews dirty work for them.
Judge makes a jab at Trump as he gives lenient sentence to El Chapo witness
He uncorked a bottle of champagne after the jury convicted him after deliberating six days, and the seized assets will be paying for the wall.
{@@##$$%%^^&&}
Speaking of walls:"Israel back in election mode and in uncharted territory" by Isabel Kershner New York Times, May 30, 2019
JERUSALEM — A politically fatigued Israel cranked back into election mode on Thursday, barely 50 days after its last national ballot and after the staggering failure of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form a government by midnight Wednesday.
Awwwwww, poor, poor, Israel!
With the next vote set for Sept. 17, Israel is in uncharted political terrain. Netanyahu is Israel’s first prime minister-elect to be unable to form a coalition after an election, and the first to force another one by dissolving a Parliament sworn in just a month previously. His aura of invincibility, formed over a decade in office, has been seriously dented.
Analysts described the chaos as unprecedented, even by the rough standards of Israeli politics, and the morning-after recriminations over who is to blame for the political crisis gave an early taste of the contentious season of campaigning to come.....
Like I give a shit about which blood-pouring-from-the-fangs Zionist rules that stain upon the Earth!
--more--"
That was my World lead, and it was paired at the top of the page with this:
"Kushner arrives in Israel to political chaos and a new roadblock for his peace plan" by Loveday Morris The Washington Post, May 30, 2019
JERUSALEM — Political chaos met presidential son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner as he visited Israel for meetings Thursday to bolster support for his peace plan, as the prospect of a second round of Israeli elections muddied the plan’s long-delayed rollout.
In a move that stunned Israelis, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a government by a Wednesday night deadline, and instead of giving a rival the chance to do so, his party forwarded a bill to dissolve the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.
The move means Israel will hold new elections on Sept. 17, less than six months after its April 9 vote. Netanyahu’s party led by one seat after the April parliamentary elections, but had the only clear path to forming a coalition. That path was not as clear as Netanyahu had hoped; however, the White House is running short of time to release its plan for how to solve the decades-long conflict between Israel and Palestinians before the 2020 US election campaign kicks into full swing. Analysts say Netanyahu is unlikely to want to address thorny political issues or the prospect of any concessions with the Palestinians during a campaign period.
‘‘I think the Trump peace plan is on ice indefinitely now,’’ said Dan Shapiro, a former US ambassador to Israel under the Obama administration. ‘‘They already understood that they couldn’t roll out a peace plan during an Israeli election or government formation, so now the same logic is going to apply. Anything in the plan that has the slightest hint of a concession or a hard ask to Israel will be political dynamite during a campaign.’’
Yeah, and you wouldn't want to interfere in the Israeli election campaign.
Of course, the plan -- otherwise known as a $ettler's wish list --was already dead on arrival.
That could push back the release of the political component of the plan until at least November, Shapiro said, when the makeup of the Israeli government should be clear; however, then Trump will be getting into his own reelection calendar. The White House is taking its first step of the rollout by holding an economic workshop in Bahrain in late June.
‘‘We are not anticipating any changes,’’ State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said of the economic summit.
Nor am I. Israel will keep on stealing land and killing Palestinians, and the Zionist-controlled American media will continue to ignore it.
Netanyahu addressed the political turmoil as he met with Kushner in Jerusalem. ‘‘And, you know, we had a little event last night,’’ he said. ‘‘That’s not going to stop us. We are going to continue working together.’’
Kushner would even give up his bed for him!
--more--"
President Trump’s advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner (center) greeted Israeli Prime Minister Banjamin Netanyahu Thursday as US special representative for international negotiatios, Jason Greenblatt, looked on. Kushner was in Israel to unveil the long-awaited US plan for Israel-Palestinian peace. (MATTY STERN)
A picture truly is worth a thousand words.
Suspect in Lyon explosion claims ties to Islamic State group
Rescuers scour waters for survivors after Danube boat disaster leaves seven dead, 21 missing
Hindu veterinarian is latest to face blasphemy charges in Pakistan
Polish advocate for church victims resigns in scandal
On Everest, rising temperatures reveal remains of climbers
India’s Modi just won reelection in a landslide. Here’s what he could do next.
Arson devastates harvests in Iraq and Syria
Related: Off-duty soldier set fire to Palestinian fields
Somehow that one didn't make the Globe!
Farmers face delayed planting amid extreme rain and flooding
I'm sure coverage of that will dry up by tomorrow.
{@@##$$%%^^&&}
An ‘F’ in political courage on Beacon Hill
The Globe is for charter $chools.
The Mass. Pike is in for some massive disruption. Are we ready?
Then stay off it.
Want to fix our broken democracy? Have a block party
PFFFFT!
If this is the new ‘pro-life’ movement, count me out
Looking for accurate sex education? You won’t find it in Mass.
The Globe reads like a smut rag these days!
{@@##$$%%^^&&}
New Hampshire becomes 21st state to abolish the death penalty
Their last execution was 80 years ago.
He may not become president, but Seth Moulton has done his country some service
Why does he still have a column?
At Harvard, a not-so-veiled rebuke of Trump by Angela Merkel
Who cares what she has to say?
Relatives name 5-year-old boy who drowned in Malden pool
Looks like child neglect, no?
Lawyers for indicted judge file motion to have her salary reinstated
She thought she was the law!
‘Watch your peanuts’ — Boston’s squirrels don’t back down
The place is infested with them.
DEP must answer more questions about contested gas facility in Weymouth
Alleged ATM scam suspect tied to ring that looted nearly $1m in five states, authorities say
Man’s death in Boston police station cell under investigation
Hmmmmmmm.
Why was that buried in the B-section?
{@@##$$%%^^&&}
SJC chief justice always leaves a paper trail
Epizyme seeks early OK for drug to treat ultra-rare tumors
I'm sure they will Thrive like Theranos and Holmes, and speaking of cancer:
Don’t blink, but 5G is about to change a lot more than just watching movies
Yeah, “it is so frickin’ awesome,” and the cancer can be blamed on the Russians!
Neat trick, huh?
And they wonder why they are dying!
"GateHouse-Gannett merger talks underscore shaky state of the industry" by Jon Chesto Globe Staff, May 30, 2019
Stop the presses, folks. After surviving an ugly proxy fight, the newspaper giant Gannett’s next steps could be into Massachusetts.
Gannett’s latest would-be merger partner is none other than GateHouse Media, the biggest news chain in this state, led by longtime Massachusetts executive Kirk Davis.
That big reveal came courtesy of The Wall Street Journal, although the story implied Gannett might not be ready to tie the knot with GateHouse just yet. Gannett has been talking to other chains, too, such as Tribune Publishing and McClatchy, about a potential deal.
Newspaper analyst Ken Doctor refers to this industry dance as the “2019 Consolidation Games.” Size and scale, the thinking goes, could provide some measure of safety from the storm that’s savaging the industry.
Are you sure it wasn't all the agenda-pushing lies, elitist insult, and Jewi$h supremacism?
No one wants to read this shit anymore, and I have the blog hits to prove it!
Shares in New Media Investment Group, the GateHouse parent, rose 4.7 percent Thursday. Gannett’s stock jumped after the Journal’s story appeared online, but later settled back at a modest 1.6 percent increase after few details emerged. Tribune stock rose 6.6 percent, while the hopeful shareholders in McClatchy shot its stock up 15.4 percent.
Why wouldn’t investors be intrigued? It has been a rough go lately. The seemingly never-ending plunge in print advertising revenue has caused newspaper shares to drop like stones in the past year; advertisers are increasingly choosing Facebook and Google over their local papers. Even after the gains Thursday, Gannett stock was down nearly 30 percent over the last 12 months, while New Media shed more than 45 percent in value.
Yeah, the Globe's concern is the share price!
And they wonder why they are failing!
Doctor has some good news for the dwindling number of journalists who remain. He envisions some $125 million to $175 million in savings through cuts outside of the newsrooms that could occur over two years through a GateHouse-Gannett combination. That could prevent — or at least delay — more layoffs of editors, photographers, and reporters.
It would probably be a temporary reprieve. Doctor also recognizes this frightening fact: The fundamental pressures facing the industry will, in all likelihood, remain once the dust settles.....
The “Consolidation Games” mean job losses so “pray for them.”
More like GOOD RIDDANCE!
--more--"
The war is over, Globe, and you lost!
Maybe these guys can help you out:
"Hillary Clinton and her daughter Chelsea are forming a production company to pursue film and television projects, making a foray into Hollywood after decades in the public eye. The two have spoken to studios about financing a pipeline of programs, said people familiar with the matter. They would give a studio first crack at releasing the projects, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are at an early stage. The family hopes to use film and television to influence culture and society now that Hillary Clinton is out of politics. They plans to focus on stories by and about women."
Can I have you swear to that last one because I keep seeing a brokered Democratic convention with her parachuting from the ceiling to claim the nomination.
So what are they going to do, use Clinton Foundation shakedown loot to finance the stuff?
Yeah, some people ARE ABOVE THE LAW!
They must know too many secrets and have their elbows in it too deep to be punished.
And, as usual, Obama beat her to it!
Time to cancel Netflix if you haven't already!
Also see:
Newest floor cleaning robots can talk to each other
As they are spying on you!
Uber continues to run through money
It is continuing to bleed money even as it posts dramatic revenue growth and its IPO is off to a slow start before shifting into reverse!
Looks like they got a long road ahead!
Need a Lyft?
Better buckle your seat belt:
Safety regulators probing GM seat belt recall
Is there any car company out there that doesn't make a pos?
Oregon is flooded with pot, looking to ease production
Another new indu$try going up in smoke!
FedEx to deliver packages seven days a week, year-round
Why does the package stink?
Disney may join Netflix in boycotting Georgia for filming in wake of abortion law
And lose all that tax loot?
T-Mobile and Sprint may divest of some airwaves to boost merger chances
Microsoft to sell subscription service for personal computer games
Deficit widens for a second month even before new tariffs
President Trump threatens Mexico with new tariff on all goods
Why not?
His economy is turning south:
"Why the US economy may have already peaked for the year" by Martin Crutsinger Associated Press, May 30, 2019
WASHINGTON — The US economy grew at a solid 3.1 percent annual rate in the January-March quarter — a pace that will likely prove to be the high-water mark for the year before growth weakens in the coming months.
That’s the assessment widely shared by economists in light of the rising threats facing the US economy, from a raging trade war to more cautious spending by consumers and businesses to a global slowdown. Their collective forecast is that last year’s 2.9 percent growth — the fastest year of expansion since 2015 — will be followed by a more tepid 2.3 percent gain this year.
That pace would roughly match the average annual growth since the current expansion began in 2009.
The Trump administration, defying the assessments of mainstream economists, insists that its program of tax cuts, regulatory reform, and tougher enforcement of trade deals will produce dramatically higher annual growth above 3 percent for the next six years.
Here are three key reasons why economists think growth has peaked for the year:
--more--"
Of course, those are the same guys who never see a recession coming.
JPMorgan agrees to $5m settlement, the biggest ever, in an anti-dad bias case
Stocks muster slight gains after a listless day
{@@##$$%%^^&&}
"R. Kelly charged with 11 new sex-related crimes in Chicago" by Associated Press May 30, 2019
CHICAGO — Prosecutors charged R&B singer R. Kelly on Thursday with 11 new sex-related counts, including some that carry a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, making them the most serious against him.
Cook County prosecutors charged the Grammy award-winning singer with four counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault, two counts of criminal sexual assault by force, two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and three counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse against a victim who was at least age 13 and under 17 at the time, The Chicago Sun-Times reported, citing court documents it posted on its website.
Then he is a PEDOPHILE!
The four aggravated criminal sexual assault counts carry maximum terms of 30 years in prison.
Kelly was already facing 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse involving four women years ago, three of whom were minors when the alleged abuse occurred.
The new charges apparently pertain to a single victim, identified in the court filing by the initials ‘‘J.P.’’ It isn’t clear if she is the same person as one of the initial four accusers who also was identified by the same initials in court documents.
According to the filing, the first eight counts are from encounters that allegedly occurred between Jan. 1 and Jan. 31, 2010. Three others pertain to alleged encounters between May 1, 2009, and Jan. 31, 2010.
Among other things, prosecutors allege that Kelly used force or threatened to do so to pressure the accuser into sex or to perform oral sex on him. She was underage at the time, extending the statute of limitations for bringing charges to 20 years from her 18th birthday, they wrote.
Kelly pleaded not guilty to the original charges and denied any wrongdoing after his February arrest. The AP couldn’t immediately reach him for comment about the new charges.
Kelly’s defense attorney, Steve Greenberg, didn’t immediately respond to an email from the AP seeking comment. He told the Sun-Times that he had received word of new charges from prosecutors but hadn’t seen any filings in the case. He did say he understood that the allegations are ‘‘from years ago.’’
We don't care about the when, only the what, Steve.
--more--"
If I were him I would holler racism as loud as I could.
Related: Nantucket judge orders alleged victim’s cellphone records be given to Kevin Spacey’s lawyers
Oh, yeah, remember him?
Did you see any other names in there?
