USA News and Discussions

User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: USA News and Discussions

Post by caltrek »

In Secret Recording, Florida Republican Threatens to Send Russian-Ukrainian ‘hit squad’ After Rival
by Marc Caputo
June 17, 2021

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/1 ... AP%20Photo

Introduction:
(Politico) MIAMI — A little-known GOP candidate in one of Florida’s most competitive congressional seats was secretly recorded threatening to send “a Russian and Ukrainian hit squad” to a fellow Republican opponent to make her “disappear.”

During a 30-minute call with a conservative activist that was recorded before he became a candidate, William Braddock repeatedly warned the activist to not support GOP candidate Anna Paulina Luna in the Republican primary for a Tampa Bay-area congressional seat because he had access to assassins. The seat is being vacated by Rep. Charlie Crist (D-Fla.), who is running for governor.

“I really don't want to have to end anybody's life for the good of the people of the United States of America,” Braddock said at one point in the conversation last week, according to the recording exclusively obtained by POLITICO. “That will break my heart. But if it needs to be done, it needs to be done. Luna is a f---ing speed bump in the road. She's a dead squirrel you run over every day when you leave the neighborhood.”
Last edited by caltrek on Thu Jun 17, 2021 2:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
User avatar
wjfox
Site Admin
Posts: 8730
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:09 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: USA News and Discussions

Post by wjfox »

^ I've just been reading about this on Twitter. Absolutely vile.
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: USA News and Discussions

Post by caltrek »

^^^Yes, it is vile. The thing is it is vile from almost any angle that you look at it from. If you take the argument that the recording was faked, then it is vile that somebody would produce such a fake. If he was bluffing about using hit men from Ukraine and/or Russia, then it is vile that he would make such a bluff, etc.
Last edited by caltrek on Sat Jun 19, 2021 7:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
weatheriscool
Posts: 12951
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: USA News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

House votes to repeal 2002 authorization for military force with strong bipartisan support
Source: Washington Post
The House voted Thursday to repeal a 19-year-old military authorization Congress passed to give legal backing to the Iraq War with the support of Democrats, Republicans and the White House — an unprecedented coalition to end post- 9/11 authorities to engage in hostilities that critics argue are outdated. The 268 to 161 vote reflects growing bipartisan support for the repeal effort, and tees up the legislation for the Senate, where Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) this week declared his support for the measure and his intention to bring it to the floor for a vote sometime this year.

“Today’s historic vote is a turning point,” House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Rep. Greg Meeks (D-N.Y.) said on the floor just prior to the vote. “I look forward to Congress no longer taking a backseat on some of the most consequential decisions our nation can make.” Congress, however, is still largely divided along party lines about whether the move to repeal such authorizations will actually allow lawmakers to reclaim their power to permit the use of military force — a decision that some believe has been usurped by successive presidents.

Lawmakers have been trying for almost a decade to repeal both the 2002 Authorization for the Use of Military Force as well as the 2001 AUMF that Congress passed to greenlight hostilities against the perpetrators of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Both the Obama and Trump administrations had opposed the repeal measures. People in both parties argued that the authorizations had been stretched beyond recognition to target terrorist groups that didn’t even exist when the approvals were granted, while different presidents insisted they needed the latitude to adapt to a changing threat landscape.

When President Biden came into office, he indicated that he was willing to work with lawmakers to wind down authorizations. For the past several months, his administration has been negotiating with leading proponents of repeal to determine the way forward. The 2002 authorization is generally viewed as the simplest of AUMFs to phase out. The Iraq war was formally ended years ago, and the military has not cited the permissions granted in 2002 as its sole justification for any operations in over a decade. Still, many lawmakers — most of them Republicans — have rejected the idea of winding down the existing AUMFs without having replacements prepared to address “the modern-day threat.”
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national ... story.html
weatheriscool
Posts: 12951
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: USA News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

Bipartisan infrastructure group swells to 21 senators


By LISA MASCARO
WASHINGTON (AP) — A bipartisan senators’ group working on a $1 trillion infrastructure compromise more than doubled in size to 21 members Wednesday, a key threshold that gives momentum to their effort as President Joe Biden returns from overseas at a pivotal time for his big legislative priority.

Biden told reporters he had yet to see the emerging proposal from the group but remained hopeful a bipartisan agreement could be reached, despite weeks of on-again, off-again talks over his more robust $1.7 billion American Jobs Plan.

“I’m still hoping we can put together the two bookends here,” Biden said as he prepared to depart Geneva after attending a summit of European leaders.

The administration dispatched top White House advisers for back-to-back meetings on Capitol Hill while the president was away. Biden and his Democratic allies in Congress are proceeding on a two-track strategy — seeking a bipartisan bill while preparing to go it alone if Republicans try to block the investments with a filibuster in the Senate.


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-li ... 27646f8340
User avatar
Yuli Ban
Posts: 4631
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 4:44 pm

Re: USA News and Discussions

Post by Yuli Ban »

And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: USA News and Discussions

Post by caltrek »

I don't know if it is just me, but your link doesn't work.
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
weatheriscool
Posts: 12951
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: USA News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

9 More States Are Ending Pandemic Unemployment Aid On Saturday, Cutting Off 440,000 Workers
Source: CBS News
Nine states will be ending their enhanced unemployment benefits on Saturday, cutting off aid to more than 440,000 out-of-work adults, according to an estimate from the left-leaning Century Foundation. The Republican governors of the states argue that the benefits aren't necessary as the economy recovers, but workers and advocates say the loss of benefits will harm them. The states that are ending extra jobless benefits on June 19 include Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Indiana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming. They follow three states that eliminated their enhanced benefits a week earlier: Iowa, Mississippi and Missouri.

Over the course of the next month, an additional 14 states will join these others in ending extra jobless benefits early. In total, 26 states will cut off pandemic aid before federal funding expires in September. Just one, Louisiana, is run by a Democratic governor. The enhanced benefits were initially created in early 2020 in response to the pandemic, which led to economic shutdowns across the nation and threw millions of people out of work. The pandemic aid also included unemployment benefits for gig workers and freelancers, marking the first time these nontraditional workers had been able to qualify for jobless aid.

But as the economy reopens, some employers are complaining they can't find enough workers — prompting some governors to decide that the enhanced jobless aid is to blame. The truth, experts say, is somewhere in the middle. "We are still in a public health emergency, and vaccines aren't available to everybody," said Luke Pardue, economist at payroll provider Gusto. But, he added, "Unemployment supplements likely play some role" in keeping some workers on the sidelines. Child care remains an issue for many families, with some struggling to find affordable care or spaces in childcare centers for their kids.

Grade-school children are also now out of school for the summer, adding to childcare issues for parents of children older than 5 - issues that may continue to hamper workers until September, when schools resume. About 14.8 million workers continue to rely on some form of unemployment benefits as their main source of income, according to unemployment expert Andy Stettner at the Century Foundation...
Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/unemployme ... rday-440k/
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: USA News and Discussions

Post by caltrek »

I have spent a lot of time and energy in this forum and in the old forum to discuss systemic racism and the cost to the entire society of that problem. What I have left understated is that sexism also has had similar costs. The article below addresses that idea.

Mothers of Invention

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/372/6548/1260

Introduction:
(Science) In 1988, ophthalmologist Patricia Bath was granted US patent 4,744,360 for a laser-based “Apparatus for ablating and removing cataract lenses.” Cataracts have disproportionately burdened women, and Bath had long been concerned about differences she saw among patient populations. She is not alone among innovators in focusing on solving problems that they see around them. But as one of the few female inventors of her generation, she had a rare vantage point. On page 1345 of this issue, Koning et al. (1) document a similar pattern on a large scale. They show that female inventors are more likely to produce patents to solve problems that specifically or disproportionately affect women (such as menopause and fibromyalgia). Beyond recognizing the loss of human talent that arises when women are underrepresented in innovation, this finding highlights the types of problems (and solutions) that are overlooked in the current system with its support of a homogeneous group of inventors.
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
weatheriscool
Posts: 12951
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: USA News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

Downtown Chicago emerges from pandemic -- hobbled by crime wave
https://news.yahoo.com/downtown-chicago ... 18733.html
Sat, June 19, 2021, 6:16 PM·4 min read
Businesses in downtown Chicago that survived the pandemic-related economic slump and two spasms of looting last summer should be ecstatic with Monday's reopening of America's third-largest city.

Yet, many are batting a new hardship -- a surge in crime that is keeping customers, and their money, away.

"I've never felt more unsafe than I do now," said Steve Burrows, a 48-year-old attorney who has called Chicago home his entire life. "I work downtown so I'm here every day during the day but I won't come down here at night or on the weekend."
Post Reply