Appeals Court Permits House To Sue Over Trump's Border Wall Spending

By Charlie Savage | The New York Times

The House may pursue a constitutional lawsuit challenging President Trump’s use of emergency powers to spend more public funds on a southwestern border wall than Congress was willing to appropriate, a federal appeals court ruled on Friday.

In a unanimous decision, a three-judge panel on the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the House had claimed a sufficient injury to give lawmakers legal standing to pursue a lawsuit against the Trump administration.

The 24-page ruling partly reversed a decision by a district court judge in June 2019. That ruling had thrown out the lawsuit on the grounds that the House had no legal standing to sue the executive branch over a claimed threat to its constitutionally authorized control over federal spending.

That earlier ruling, by Judge Trevor N. McFadden of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, whom Mr. Trump appointed to the bench, was wrong, the appeals court said. It would undermine the “ironclad constitutional rule” that the president has no power to spend money without the approval of both the House and the Senate, the panel said.

https://roselawgroupreporter.com/2020/09/appeals-court-permits-house-to-sue-over-trumps-border-wall-spending/

French reporter who joined police exposes racism and violence

Undercover journalist Valentin Gendrot describes culture where officers act with impunity

A French journalist who infiltrated the country’s police force has described a culture of racism and violence in which officers act with impunity.

Valentin Gendrot claims the violence was so frequent it became almost banal and describes one incident where he was forced to help falsify evidence against an adolescent who had been beaten by an officer.

“It really shocked me to hear police officers, who are representatives of the state, calling people who were black, Arab or migrants ‘bastards’, but everyone did it,” he says.

“It was only a minority of officers who were violent … but they were always violent.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/03/french-reporter-who-joined-police-exposes-racism-and-violence-valentin-gendrot

I Was a U.S. Diplomat. Customs and Border Protection Only Cared That I Was Black.

(Snip)

If you’re working at the State Department, like I was, and traffic isn’t bad, your trip across the border usually just takes a few minutes. The border between Juarez and El Paso has two lanes set aside for “trusted travelers,” people who travel frequently into and out of the country and who’ve been vetted in advance by the U.S. government. This group, which includes business travelers and diplomats, carry a pass known as a SENTRI card, issued by CBP, which is supposed to allow “expedited clearance for pre-approved, low-risk travelers upon arrival in the United States.” You’re directed to special lanes and hold your card up to a camera a few feet in front of a booth manned by CBP officers. Most of the time the officers wave through travelers using SENTRI cards, so the whole process takes just a few seconds. But if the officers have questions about the identity of the travelers, or any other suspicion, they can flag them off to the side for additional questioning and searches, including putting the car through an X-ray machine.

This is called “secondary inspection,” and sometimes being picked out for secondary inspection is just arbitrary, like a random check by the Transportation Security Agency at an airport. It's rare for U.S. consular officers to be regularly pulled over; in addition to having a SENTRI card, we carry diplomatic passports. Some of my fellow diplomats have told me they had not once been pulled into secondary inspection after living in Juarez for years. One told me he was always greeted with, “Welcome home to America, sir.”

But in the time I'd lived in Juarez — less than one month — I'd already been flagged for secondary inspection four times. This would be the fifth.

On one level, there was no obvious reason they were stopping me. I had passed extensive background and security checks to get my job and to qualify for a SENTRI card. CBP’s own website says that to get a SENTRI card, “all applicants undergo a rigorous background check and in-person interview.”

https://www.politico.com/amp/news/magazine/2020/08/30/black-us-diplomat-customs-border-protection-cbp-detained-harassed-325676

Ilhan Omar won her primary!

FBI raids offices at downtown One Cleveland Center building tied to Ukrainian oligarch

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The FBI on Tuesday raided the Cleveland offices of a company with ties to a Ukrainian oligarch that owns several downtown buildings.

FBI spokeswoman Vicki Anderson said agents searched the offices of Optima Management Group in One Cleveland Center at East 9th Street and St. Clair Avenue. A spokesman for the IRS also said his agency’s investigator’s were present.

Optima is a conglomerate of companies across the United States that has interests in real estate in Cleveland, including One Cleveland Center, the 55 Public Square building and the Westin Cleveland Downtown. Its offices are visible from an entrance and windows on the side of One Cleveland Center, and on Tuesday multiple agents were seen carrying and moving computers, boxes and other items both inside the office and later as they loaded materials into a van.

(Snip)

Federal authorities in Cleveland have been conducting a wide-ranging probe involving Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoisky that has been ongoing for quite some time. Kolomoisky is a principal of the Privat Group, a large Ukrainian business company, and principals of the company are also part of Optima.

https://www.cleveland.com/court-justice/2020/08/fbi-raids-offices-at-downtown-one-cleveland-center-building-tied-to-ukrainian-oligarch.html?outputType=amp

69 Percent of Americans Want Medicare for All, Including 46 Percent of Republicans

A newly released poll shows that 69 percent of registered voters support Medicare for All, a plan which would create a national health insurance plan available for all Americans.

The poll also showed 46 percent of Republican voters supporting Medicare for All alongside 88 percent of Democrats and 68 percent of Independents.

While several publications have wondered whether the coronavirus epidemic has bolstered support for a national health insurance plan, the poll found that Democratic support remained steady from a similar poll conducted in 2018, rising only two percentage points since then.

https://www.newsweek.com/69-percent-americans-want-medicare-all-including-46-percent-republicans-new-poll-says-1500187#click=https://t.co/vw18Oj2e7c

Pac-12 player group threatens to opt out, makes list of demands on injustice, safety

A group of Pac-12 football players from multiple schools is threatening to opt out of both preseason camps and games until its negotiations with the league regarding concerns about racial injustice, their safety during the coronavirus pandemic and other demands are completed.

A text message obtained by ESPN says the group's goal is to "obtain a written contract with the Pac- 12 that legally ensures we are offered the following protections and benefits."

The group's list of demands, according to the text message, includes safe play amid the pandemic, fighting racial injustice, securing economic rights and fair compensation, protecting all sports and obtaining long-term health insurance.

People familiar with the group's mission told ESPN that the central issue it wants to address with the league and its schools is racial injustice.

ESPN
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/29578950/pac-12-player-group-threatens-opt-makes-list-demands-injustice-safety%3fplatform=amp

Yazidi activist Nadia Murad to appear on 'The Daily Show'

Nobel Peace Prize Winner and survivor of Islamic State (IS) captivity Nadia Murad will appear on "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah" Thursday, providing the activist with an opportunity to bring her message on sexual violence and the Yazidi genocide to a new and larger audience.

Murad is an activist and prominent member of Iraq’s Yazidi community. In 2014, she and thousands of other women from the ethnoreligious group were captured by IS when its militants swept through northern Iraq. Murad spent several weeks in IS captivity, where she was subject to severe physical and sexual abuse before escaping. IS targeted Yazidis in particular in part due to their non-Islamic religious beliefs. The killing and enslaving of Yazidis by IS in Sinjar, Iraq, has been described as a “genocide.”

Since fleeing IS, Murad has sought to highlight the plight of genocide and trafficking victims. Thousands of Yazidi, Turkmen, Christian and other women are still missing after being taken by IS. In 2018, Murad received a Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts.

Murad announced she would be on the show on her Twitter account today. She will discuss "my work to fight for human rights, end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war, and honor survivors on the 6th anniversary of the Yazidi Genocide,” she said in the tweet.

https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/07/daily-show-trevor-noah-nadia-murad.amp.html?skipWem=1&__twitter_impression=true

Baghdad, Iraq hits 125 degrees, shattering all- record

On Wednesday, Baghdad followed up with a temperature of 124 degrees, its second highest temperature on record. On Monday, it had reached 123 degrees.

The crippling heat forced many residents indoors, and street sellers had to seek whatever shade they could find. With the state electricity grid failing, many households were relying on generators to power fridges, fans or air conditioning units, the machines adding a guttural hum to the city’s already-noisy streets.

Two protesters were shot dead by security forces Monday during demonstrations over a lack of electricity and basic services amid the heatwave.

In nearby Lebanon, where a nationwide electricity crisis has left much of the country with less than three hours of state-provided power per day, the cost of a generator had doubled, leaving many households to go without.

https://upnewsinfo.com/2020/07/30/baghdad-iraq-hits-125-degrees-shattering-all-record/

Kaepernick, Fauci to receive Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award

Former NFL star Colin Kaepernick and Anthony Fauci, the country's leading infectious disease expert, are slated to be among this year's recipients of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope Award.

Other leaders expected to receive the award this year include Dolores Huerta, founder and president of the Dolores Huerta Foundation and co-founder of United Farm Workers of America; Dan Schulman, president and chief executive officer of PayPal; and Dan Springer, chief executive officer of DocuSign.

"At a time when the courageous pursuit of equality and justice has become political and riddled with adversity, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights stands with these modern-day human rights defenders in their inspirational fight for progress," the organization said in an announcement on Monday.

In a statement thanking the organization for the honor, Kaepernick recalled his experience watching musician and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte receive the same award in 2017.

https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/509237-kaepernick-fauci-to-receive-robert-f-kennedy-human-rights-award?amp&__twitter_impression=true