Category: Today’s News?

Today marks the 108th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire.

United Steelworkers shared a video. 

March 25, 2019

Today marks the 108th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire. 104 years ago, 146 people died in the fire because of unsafe working conditions. Today we stay steadfast in our fight against the race to the bottom in the United States and around the world.

104 years ago, 146 people died in the #TriangleShirtwaist fire because of unsafe working conditions. Today we stay steadfast in our fight against the race to the bottom in the United States and around the world. #USWWorks

Posted by United Steelworkers on Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Gun Massacres and Their Lasting Effects on Survivors!

Occupy Democrats

March 25, 2019

America, we have a problem a wall WON’T fix.

Follow Occupy Democrats

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Everything lawmakers needed to know about Trump and Russia was in the public record!

Robert Mueller
YURI GRIPAS / REUTERS

No matter what Attorney General William Barr reveals—or doesn’t—about Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report, everything Congress needed to know about Donald Trump and Russia was already clear.

October 7, 2016, was the near-death experience of the Trump campaign. That Friday afternoon, David Fahrenthold of The Washington Post reported on an Access Hollywood tape in which Trump boasts of grabbing women. The shock battered the campaign. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan declared publicly that he was “sickened” by Trump, canceled a joint appearance with him, and declined to answer whether he still supported the Trump candidacy.

Less than one hour later, WikiLeaks dumped its largest and most damaging trove of hacked emails to and from Democratic operatives. It included two emails sent years before to the future Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta. The messages criticized the teachings of the Catholic Church on women and sexuality. The Trump campaign instantly seized on them as proof of the Clinton campaign’s supposed anti-Catholic animus—a useful weapon to help erase memories of Trump’s Twitter attacks on the pope earlier in 2016.

The huge dump took a while to be analyzed and absorbed. It did not immediately displace the salacious Access Hollywood story from the top of the news.

But by the second week of October, WikiLeaks was profoundly engaging the U.S. voting public. Using the Google Trends tool, the website Five Thirty Eight tracked how public interest in the hacked emails surged. Not coincidentally, it seems, Clinton’s poll lead over Trump peaked on October 17, and steadily shrank thereafter. FBI Director James Comey’s October 28 letter reopening the Clinton email case delivered the final blow to the reeling Clinton campaign.

This timeline is one thing to keep in mind as details emerge from the Mueller report.

It’s not a theory but a matter of historical record that Vladimir Putin’s Russia hacked American emails and used them to help elect Trump to the presidency.

It’s not a theory but a matter of historical record that agents purporting to represent Putin’s Russia approached the Trump campaign to ask whether help would be welcome, to which Donald Trump Jr. replied, “If it’s what you say I love it especially later in the summer.”

It’s not a theory but a matter of historical record that Donald Trump publicly welcomed this help: “I love WikiLeaks!”

It’s solid political science that this help from Russia via WikiLeaks was crucial, possibly decisive, to Trump’s success in the Electoral College in November 2016.

Mueller was asked to investigate how much the Trump campaign knew in advance about this Russian help. Along the way, the special counsel also apparently became interested in the question of why Putin was so eager for a Trump presidency. Did Putin have some kind of prior hold over Trump, financial or otherwise?

For two years, Americans and the world have speculated and argued about the inquiry. But along the way, we have often lost sight of the core truth of the Trump presidency: For all its many dark secrets, there have never been any real mysteries about the Trump-Russia story.

The president of the United States was helped into his job by clandestine Russian attacks on the American political process. That core truth is surrounded by other disturbing probabilities, such as the likelihood that Putin even now is exerting leverage over Trump in some way.

Along the way, we have also lost sight of something that I warned about here in The Atlantic in May 2017: It’s very possible that Trump himself broke no criminal law in accepting campaign help from Putin. This ultra-legalistic nation expects wrongdoing to take the form of prosecutable crimes—and justice to occur in a courtroom.

But many wrongs are not crimes. And many things that are crimes are not prosecutable for one reason or another—for instance, when a statute of limitations expires.

Mueller served his country by advancing the inquiry into Trump-Russia at a time when Trump’s enablers in Congress sought to cover up for the president. Since the midterm elections, Congress has regained its independence and can recover its integrity. Mueller’s full report will surely inform and enlighten Americans about many details of what exactly happened in 2016. But the lack of further indictments by Mueller underscores that the job of protecting the country against the Russia-compromised Trump presidency belongs to Congress. It always did.

We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.

David Frum is a staff writer at The Atlantic and the author of Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic. In 2001 and 2002, he was a speechwriter for President George W. Bush.

The Case For Obstruction of Justice Against Trump!

Robert Reich
March 24, 2019

Despite what Trump and his enablers claim, there’s strong evidence that he obstructed justice in the Russia investigation. Here are the facts.

The Case For Obstruction of Justice Against Trump

Despite what Trump and his enablers claim, there's strong evidence that he obstructed justice in the Russia investigation. Here are the facts.

Posted by Robert Reich on Sunday, March 24, 2019

Barr’s summary not only glosses over the findings and leaves holes in Mueller’s report!

Robert Reich

March 24, 2019

Attorney General William Barr has released a 4-page summary of Robert Mueller’s report. Barr’s summary not only glosses over the findings and leaves holes in Mueller’s report, but it also buries a critical detail. Barr has decided not bring obstruction of justice charges against Trump for trying to impede in the investigation. This despite the fact that Trump himself admitted he fired FBI director James Comey to stop the Russia investigation.

Here’s the bottom-line: 1) The full report must be made public. 2) Mueller’s records must be preserved. 3) Congress must have unfettered access to all the findings. 4) Congress must investigate when Barr decided not to charge Trump with obstruction of justice. The American people deserve more than a summary released on a Sunday afternoon.

What Happened, According to Mueller

The Wall Street Journal

                       RUSSIA INVESTIGATION

What Happened, According to Mueller

By Aruna Viswanatha and WSJ Graphics     March 22, 2019

 

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team has told its story of an aggressive Russian campaign to upend the 2016 U.S. presidential election in a series of indictments and court documents.

Even before the release of any final report on his investigation, those documents detailed allegations of a highly coordinated Russian effort and outlined Moscow’s intersection with several figures in then-candidate Donald Trump’s orbit. Moscow has denied interference, and Mr. Trump has denied any collusion with Russia. The special counsel didn’t establish that anyone associated with the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its efforts, Attorney General William Barr told Congress.

Here is a timeline of alleged events, according to documents from the Mueller probe:

RUSSIA-RELATED

TRUMP-RELATED

May 2014

With funding from Yevgeniy Viktorovich Prigozhin, a Russian businessman and restaurateur popular with the Kremlin, Russian intelligence operatives begin “Project Lakhta,” an effort to promote divisive political messages online targeting the U.S. electorate. (Mr. Prigozhin, who has been indicted, hasn’t entered a plea. He has previously denied ties to the effort.)

2015

Russians with Project Lakhta begin spending thousands of dollars a month to buy ads on social-media sites promoting group pages they have set up on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. The pages address issues such as immigration, race and religion. Many grew to have hundreds of thousands of followers.

June 16, 2015

Donald Trump declares his candidacy for president.

2016

Russians with Project Lakhta use stolen Social-Security numbers to open PayPal accounts, obtain false identification and post on social-media accounts using the victims’ identities.

Jan. 14, 2016

Michael Cohen, Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer, emails Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top press official asking for help with efforts to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. (Mr. Cohen has pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about efforts during the campaign to pursue the Moscow project.)

Jan. 16, 2016

Mr. Cohen again emails the press secretary’s office.

Jan. 20, 2016

Mr. Cohen speaks by phone to the press secretary’s assistant, outlining the proposed project and asking for help to move forward.

Jan. 21, 2016

Felix Sater, a Trump associate who worked on the Russian real-estate project, asks Mr. Cohen to call him and says, “It’s about [Putin,] they called today.” (Mr. Sater hasn’t been accused of wrongdoing. He didn’t respond to requests for comment.)

Feb. 10, 2016

Russians with Project Lakhta circulate a list of themes for content to post on social-media accounts they have set up. Instructions include “use any opportunity to criticize [Democratic candidate] Hillary [Clinton] and the rest (except [Democratic candidate Bernie] Sanders and Trump–we support them).”

March 6, 2016

George Papadopoulos, joining the Trump campaign as a foreign-policy adviser, talks to a “campaign supervisor” and recognizes “that a principal foreign policy focus of the Campaign was an improved U.S. relationship with Russia.”

March 14, 2016

Mr. Papadopoulos meets in Italy with an “overseas professor” (identified by Mr. Papadopoulos as Joseph Mifsud) whom Mr. Papadopoulos “understood to have substantial connections to Russian government officials.” (Mr. Papadopoulos has pleaded guilty to lying to investigators about his contacts with Mr. Mifsud. Mr. Mifsud hasn’t been charged and has denied any wrongdoing.)

March 19, 2016

Russian hackers send spear-phishing email to John Podesta, the chairman of Mrs. Clinton’s presidential campaign, with fake security instructions. Hackers succeed in stealing more than 50,000 of his emails.

March 24, 2016

Mr. Papadopoulos meets with Mr. Mifsud and a Russian woman introduced as a relative of Mr. Putin, although Mr. Papadopoulos later learns she isn’t. Mr. Papadopoulos then emails the campaign supervisor (identified by The Wall Street Journal as Sam Clovis) that he has just met with his “good friend” the professor, who introduced him to “Putin’s niece,” and that they discussed arranging “a meeting between us and the Russian leadership to discuss U.S.-Russia ties under President Trump.” Mr. Clovis responds that he would “work it through the campaign” but that no commitments should be made. (Mr. Clovis hasn’t been accused of wrongdoing. His lawyer has said his responses to Mr. Papadopoulos were expressions of courtesy.)

March 31, 2016

At a meeting with Mr. Trump and campaign foreign-policy advisers, Mr. Papadopoulos says he has the connections to arrange a Trump-Putin meeting.

March-April 2016

Guccifer 2.0 and DCLeaks, false online personas set up by Russians, use overlapping computer infrastructure and financing to tap the same pool of bitcoin funds to purchase a VPN account and lease a server in Malaysia. The same server is used to register malicious domains used to hack Democratic organizations.

April 6, 2016

Russians with Project Lakhta start posting online ads advocating for the election of Mr. Trump or opposing Mrs. Clinton. For example, an ad posted April 6 says, “You know, a great number of black people support us saying that #HillaryClintonIsNotMyPresident.” Similar ads are posted through November.

April 10, 2016

Mr. Papadopoulos emails “Putin’s niece” about arranging a meeting between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.

April 11, 2016

“Putin’s niece” writes back saying she “would be very pleased to support your initiatives between our two countries.” Mr. Papadopoulos responds to ask about setting up “a potential foreign-policy trip to Russia.” “Putin’s niece” says, “I have already alerted my personal links to our conversation and your request. … As mentioned we are all very excited by the possibility of a good relationship with Mr. Trump. The Russian Federation would love to welcome him once his candidature would be officially announced.”

April 15, 2016

After gaining access to a computer at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, hackers search for terms such as “hillary,” “cruz” and “trump,” and copy folders including “Benghazi Investigations.”

April 18, 2016

Mr. Mifsud introduces Mr. Papadopoulos to “an individual in Moscow” who tells Mr. Papadopoulos he has connections to Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Late April 2016

Mr. Papadopoulos and the Russian MFA connection have “multiple conversations over Skype and email about setting ‘the groundwork’ for a ‘potential’ meeting.”

April 22, 2016

The Russian MFA connection emails Mr. Papadopoulos thanking him “for an extensive talk” and proposing “to meet in London or in Moscow.”

April 25, 2016

Mr. Papadopoulos emails the senior Trump policy adviser: “The Russian government has an open invitation by Putin for Mr. Trump to meet him when he is ready.”

April 26, 2016

Mr. Mifsud tells Mr. Papadopoulos at a London hotel breakfast that the Russians have “dirt” on Mrs. Clinton in the form of “thousands of emails.” Mr. Papadopoulos understands that the professor has just met with Russian officials in Moscow.

April 27, 2016

Mr. Papadopoulos emails the senior Trump policy adviser: “Have some interesting messages coming in from Moscow about a trip when the time is right.” He also emails a high-ranking campaign official “to discuss Russia’s interest in hosting Mr. Trump.”

May 4, 2016

The Russian MFA connection emails Mr. Papadopoulos and the professor, saying “I have just talked to my colleagues from the MFA. The[y] are open for cooperation. One of the options is to make a meeting for you at the North America Desk, if you are in Moscow.” Mr. Papadopoulos forwards the email to “a high-ranking campaign official,” asking, “Is this something we want to move forward with?”

May 4, 2016

Mr. Sater writes to Mr. Cohen about a possible trip by Mr. Trump to Moscow to discuss the Trump Tower project: “I had a chat with Moscow. ASSUMING the trip does happen the question is before or after the convention.”

May 5, 2016

Mr. Sater writes to Mr. Cohen that a Russian official wants to invite Mr. Cohen to Russia in June, and possibly introduce him to Mr. Putin. Over an unspecified period of time, Mr. Cohen discusses the status of the project with Mr. Trump on more than three occasions, and briefs Trump family members.

May 13, 2016

Mr. Mifsud emails Mr. Papadopoulos with an update, saying, “We will continue to liaise through you with the Russia counterparts in terms of what is needed for a high level meeting of Mr. Trump with the Russian Federation.”

May 14, 2016

Mr. Papadopoulos emails the high-ranking campaign official to say the “Russian government…relayed to me that they are interested in hosting Mr. Trump.”

June 2016

Russians working with Project Lakhta, posing as Americans, begin communicating with an American activist in Texas who advises they focus their activities on “purple states like Colorado, Virginia & Florida.” The Russians thereafter commonly refer to targeting purple states.

June 2016

Russians begin staging and releasing tens of thousands of stolen emails and documents using fictitious online personas, including DCLeaks and Guccifer 2.0

June-July 2016

Around this time, Roger Stone, an informal political adviser to Mr. Trump, tells “senior Trump Campaign officials” that WikiLeaks has documents damaging to Mrs. Clinton. (Mr. Stone has been charged with lying to Congress about his efforts to obtain information on WikiLeaks’ plans. He has denied wrongdoing and says he never had advance knowledge of the organization’s plans.)

June 14, 2016

Mr. Cohen tells Mr. Sater he won’t be travelling to Russia at that time.

June 14, 2016

The Democratic National Committee announces its computer systems have been breached by hackers linked to the Russian government.

June 19, 2016

Mr. Papadopoulos emails the high-ranking campaign official about a “New message from Russia,” saying if Mr. Trump is unable to make it to Russia, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs asks if a campaign rep–“me or someone else”–can go instead.

June 22, 2016

WikiLeaks sends a private message to Guccifer 2.0, asking Guccifer 2.0 to send “any new material [stolen from the DNC] here for us to review and it will have a much higher impact than what you are doing.” (WikiLeaks has denied Russian involvement in its release of Democratic materials during the election.)

June 25, 2016

Russians with Project Lakhta, through social-media accounts including “Being Patriotic” and @March_for_Trump, host a rally in New York called “March for Trump.” Through the summer they organize other rallies, such as “Support Hillary. Save American Muslims,” “Down with Hillary,” and “Florida Goes Trump.”

July 14, 2016

Guccifer 2.0 sends WikiLeaks an encrypted file that it says contains instructions on how to access an online archive of stolen DNC documents. WikiLeaks confirms receipt four days later and says it will start releasing documents “this week.”

July 18-21, 2016

Republican convention formally nominates Donald Trump as the party’s candidate for president.

July 22, 2016

WikiLeaks releases documents stolen from the Democratic National Committee.

July 22, 2016

After WikiLeaks releases the DNC documents, a “senior Trump Campaign official” is directed to contact Mr. Stone about additional releases. Mr. Stone then tells the Trump campaign about potential future damaging releases.

July 25, 2016

Mr. Stone emails Jerome Corsi, an author and conspiracy theorist: “Get to [WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange]” and “get the pending [Wikileaks] emails…they deal with Foundation, allegedly.” (Mr. Corsi hasn’t been charged. He says he rejected a plea deal and never intentionally lied to prosecutors. WikiLeaks and Mr. Assange have said they never communicated with Mr. Stone.)

July 27, 2016

Mr. Trump, speaking to reporters, refers to emails from Mrs. Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state. “Russia–if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” he says.

July 27, 2016

Later that day, Russian military intelligence officers try for the first time to spear-phish email accounts used by Mrs. Clinton’s personal office.

July 31, 2016

Mr. Stone tells Mr. Corsi that his associate in the U.K. should go see Mr. Assange, who is living in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

Aug. 2, 2016

Mr. Corsi emails Mr. Stone and says: “Word is friend in embassy plans 2 more dumps. … Impact planned to be very damaging.”

Aug. 2, 2016

Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his deputy Richard Gates meet at New York’s Havana Club with Konstantin Kilimnik, a longtime business associate of theirs in Kiev whom the FBI believes has a relationship with Russian intelligence. (Mr. Manafort was convicted and pleaded guilty on charges related to work he did for the Ukrainian government. Mr. Gates pleaded guilty on similar charges. Mr. Kilimnik was charged with obstruction of justice; he hasn’t responded to the charges but has denied ties to Russian intelligence.)

Aug. 4, 2016

Russians with Project Lakhta purchase ads promoting a Facebook post that alleges, “Hillary Clinton has already committed voter fraud during the Democrat Iowa Caucus.” The group in ensuing months posts other allegations of voter fraud by Democrats on its social-media accounts and buys ads to promote the posts.

Aug. 8, 2016

Mr. Stone says at a public event that he has communicated with WikiLeaks’ Mr. Assange. He repeats similar statements throughout August.

Mid-August 2016

WikiLeaks issues a statement denying direct communication with Mr. Stone. Mr. Stone then says his communication with WikiLeaks is through an intermediary.

Aug. 15, 2016

Posing as Guccifer 2.0, Russian operatives receive a request for stolen documents from an unnamed candidate for Congress. Operatives send the candidate “stolen documents related to the candidate’s opponent.”

Aug. 15, 2016

Mr. Clovis tells Mr. Papadopoulos, “I would encourage you” to “make the trip…if it is feasible,” regarding an off-the-record meeting with Russian officials.

Aug. 15, 2016

Guccifer 2.0 writes to a person “in regular contact with senior members” of the Trump campaign (identified by The Wall Street Journal as Mr. Stone), saying, “thank u for writing back … do u find anyt[h]ing interesting in the docs i posted?” Guccifer 2.0 later writes, “please tell me if i can help u anyhow … it would be a great pleasure to me.”

Aug. 18-19, 2016

Russians with Project Lakhta are contacted by Trump campaign supporters at accounts the Russians have set up under false identities and are given the email addresses for three Trump campaign officials. The Russians, under false identities, email the officials about the Russians’ efforts to stage pro-Trump rallies across Florida on Aug. 20.

Aug. 25, 2016

Mr. Assange is a guest on a radio show hosted by Randy Credico. Two days later, Mr. Credico tells Mr. Stone: “[Assange] has kryptonite on Hillary.” (Mr. Credico hasn’t been accused of wrongdoing. He has said he is willing to testify on his communications with Mr. Stone.)

Sept. 9, 2016

Guccifer 2.0 refers to the stolen DCCC documents posted online, asking Mr. Stone, “what do u think of the info on the turnout model for the democrats entire presidential campaign.” Mr. Stone responds, “[p]retty standard.”

Sept. 18, 2016

Mr. Stone emails Mr. Credico an article on allegations about Mrs. Clinton, saying, “Please ask [Assange] for any State or HRC e-mail from August 10 to August 30–particularly on August 20, 2011 that mention [the Libyan civil war] or confirm this narrative.”

Sept. 19, 2016

Mr. Stone texts Mr. Credico: “Pass my message…to [Assange].” Mr. Credico responds: “I did.”

September-October 2016

Mr. Gates is in touch with Mr. Kilimnik.

Oct. 1, 2016

Mr. Credico texts Mr. Stone: “big news Wednesday…now pretend u don’t know me…Hillary’s campaign will die this week.” The press had previously reported Mr. Assange planned an announcement on Oct. 4.

Oct. 2, 2016

Mr. Stone emails Mr. Credico: “WTF?” with a link to an article reporting WikiLeaks cancelled its announcement. Mr. Credico responds: “head fake.”

Oct. 3, 2016

Mr. Stone tells a “supporter involved with the Trump campaign:” “Spoke to my friend in London last night. The payload is still coming.”

Oct. 4, 2016

Mr. Assange holds a press conference but doesn’t announce any new Clinton materials. “A high-ranking Trump campaign official” (identified by The Wall Street Journal as Trump campaign chief executive Stephen Bannon) sends Mr. Stone a message asking about the status of future releases. Mr. Stone says Mr. Assange had a “security concern,” but that WikiLeaks would release “a load every week going forward.” The supporter involved with the Trump campaign also asks Mr. Stone about the status. Mr. Stone tells the supporter more material is coming. (Mr. Bannon hasn’t been accused of wrongdoing. His lawyer has declined to comment.)

Oct. 7, 2016

WikiLeaks begins releasing emails from Clinton campaign chairman Podesta, minutes after the Washington Post releases a tape in which Mr. Trump is recorded making lewd comments about women, and after U.S. intelligence agencies allege publicly that the Russian government is trying to interfere in the U.S. election. The WikiLeaks releases continue through Nov. 7, 2016, and total more than 50,000 stolen documents in 33 tranches.

Oct. 7, 2016

Shortly after the first release, a Bannon associate texts Mr. Stone: “well done.”

Oct. 16, 2016

Russians with Project Lakhta post messages on an Instagram account they control called “Woke Blacks” decrying those planning to vote for Mrs. Clinton because they don’t like Mr. Trump. “We cannot resort to the lesser of two devils. Then we’d surely be better off without voting AT ALL,” the post says. Other posts around that time also seek to encourage minority groups not to vote or to vote for a third-party presidential candidate.

Nov. 8, 2016

Donald Trump is elected president.

Dec. 22, 2016

A day after Egypt submits a resolution to the U.N. Security Council on Israeli settlements, a “very senior member” of the transition team (identified by The Wall Street Journal as Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner) directs Michael Flynn, a former general who was slated to be Mr. Trump’s national security adviser, to contact officials of foreign governments, including Russia. Mr. Flynn is told to influence those governments to delay or defeat the vote on the U.N. resolution. Mr. Flynn contacts Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. (Mr. Flynn has pleaded guilty to lying to investigators about calls with the Russian ambassador. Mr. Kushner hasn’t been accused of any wrongdoing; his lawyer declined to comment.)

Dec. 23, 2016

Mr. Kislyak tells Mr. Flynn that if the resolution comes to a vote, Russia won’t vote against it.

Dec. 28, 2016

President Barack Obama imposes sanctions on Russia for electoral interference. Mr. Kislyak contacts Mr. Flynn.

Dec. 29, 2016

Mr. Flynn calls “a senior official” on the transition team, who was with other senior members at Mr. Trump’s resort in Mar-a-Lago, Fla. The two discuss that transition team members at Mar-a-Lago “did not want Russia to escalate the situation.” Mr. Flynn then calls Mr. Kislyak to request “that Russia not escalate the situation and only respond to the U.S. Sanctions in a reciprocal manner.” Mr. Flynn calls the official to report the substance of his call, including the discussion of sanctions.

Dec. 30, 2016

Russian President Putin says Russia won’t retaliate for the sanctions at that time.

Dec. 31, 2016

Mr. Kislyak tells Mr. Flynn that Russia has chosen not to retaliate in response to Mr. Flynn’s request, and Mr. Flynn reports the conversation to “senior members” of the transition team.

Jan. 20, 2017

Donald Trump is inaugurated as president.

Photos: ZUMA Wire (Assange, Flynn, Trump announcement, election day, inauguration); Getty Images (Kislyak, Sater, GOP Convention), Associated Press (Prigozhin, Cohen, Trump), Alexandria (Va.) Sheriff’s Office (Papadopoulos); Organization of American States (Mifsud); Shutterstock (Stone)

Source:Court documents filed by the office of Special counsel Robert Mueller

Development: Brian McGill, Kara Dapena, and Jessica Kuronen

The sugar industry has contributed to the demise of the Everglades for decades!

Everglades Trust is  asking for donations.

March 22, 2019

The sugar industry has contributed to the demise of the Everglades for decades, using the ecosystem as a giant septic tank and blocking the natural flow of water from Lake O. To save them, and all who call them home, we must reestablish the southern flow and get clean freshwater sent to the right place at the right time.

Meet the residents of America’s Everglades

The sugar industry has contributed to the demise of the Everglades for decades, using the ecosystem as a giant septic tank and blocking the natural flow of water from Lake O. To save them, and all who call them home, we must reestablish the southern flow and get clean freshwater sent to the right place at the right time.

Posted by Everglades-Trust on Friday, March 22, 2019

Trump EPA Rule Would Free Corporations to Pollute Nation’s Water!

Common Dreams

‘Complete Wiping Away of Clean Water Act’: Trump EPA Rule Would Free Corporations to Pollute Nation’s Water as Much as They Please

“As a result of the change, an estimated 60-90 percent of U.S. waterways could lose federal protections that currently shield them from pollution and development.”

by Jake Johnson, Staff writer       December 7, 2018

“As a result of the change, an estimated 60-90 percent of U.S. waterways could lose federal protections that currently shield them from pollution and development,” The Intercept’s Sharon Lerner reported on Friday. (Photo: wonderisland/Shutterstock)

In a move environmentalists are warning will seriously endanger drinking water and wildlife nationwide, President Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is reportedly gearing up to hand yet another gift to big polluters by drastically curtailing the number of waterways and wetlands protected under the Clean Water Act.

“The rollback will take us backward. And most people don’t remember just how bad that was.”
—Daniel Estrin, Waterkeeper Alliance

“As a result of the change, an estimated 60-90 percent of U.S. waterways could lose federal protections that currently shield them from pollution and development,” The Intercept‘s Sharon Lerner reported on Friday, citing an analysis by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. “The new Trump administration rule imposes the most substantial restrictions on the Clean Water Act since its passage in 1972.”

Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said if the new rule—which is expected to be unveiled on Tuesday—takes effect, corporations will be free to “dump as much crap into” rivers and streams as they want.

“For some parts of the country, it’s a complete wiping away of the Clean Water Act,” Hartl concluded.

The Obama-era Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule, which the Trump administration has long been aiming to roll back, was designed to limit pollution in most of the nation’s large bodies of water in an effort to protect drinking water from contamination.

The Trump EPA is attempting to reinterpret the WOTUS rule in a way that allows oil giants, real estate developers, and golf course owners to freely pollute rivers and streams. Critics have pointed out that Trump’s businesses may stand to profit from any weakening of the WOTUS rule.

According to E&E News, which obtained a copy of EPA talking points, the Trump administration’s rule “will erase federal protections from streams that flow only following rainfall, as well as wetlands not physically connected to larger waterways.”

“The exact number of wetlands and waterways losing federal protections won’t be known until the full, detailed proposal is released,” E&E News reported on Thursday.

Daniel Estrin, general counsel and advocacy director at Waterkeeper Alliance, argued that the success of the Clean Water Act—while far from complete—has led many to forget how contaminated and visibly polluted the nation’s water supply was before the law.

“The rollback will take us backward,” Estrin warned of the EPA’s proposed rule. “And most people don’t remember just how bad that was.”

Finland, the happiest country in the world!

Veterans Against the GOP

March 24, 2019

Amazing what a country can do with long term vision and goals of caring for its citizens first, before subsidizing its industries. From what I’ve seen most of the industrial funding goes into university R&D, with industry’s having to buy into the research to get benefits from it. Works really well, with many jointly funded university chairs and labs.

Finland is the happiest country in the world

So what's their secret? 📕 Read more: https://wef.ch/2ulOGUB

Posted by World Economic Forum on Thursday, March 21, 2019

Trump’s Defense Dept. spent millions on lobsters, booze, and golf carts!

NowThis Politics

March 24, 2019

Trump’s Defense Dept. spent millions on lobsters, booze, and golf carts to avoid future budget cuts

Trump Defense Department Blew Millions To Avoid End of Year Budget Cuts

Trump's Defense Dept. spent millions on lobsters, booze, and golf carts to avoid future budget cuts

Posted by NowThis Politics on Sunday, March 24, 2019