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turbinetree's JournalFAA probes Boeing 737 MAX production, ex-manager warns of 'a factory in chaos'
Source: Reuters
Business News
December 11, 2019 / 6:10 AM / Updated 18 minutes ago
David Shepardson, Eric M. Johnson 4 Min Read
WASHINGTON/SEATTLE (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said on Wednesday it was investigating production issues at Boeing Co’s 737 MAX factory after an ex-manager warned that schedule pressure and worker fatigue were raising safety risks.
The manager, Ed Pierson, drew a link between faulty Angle of Attack sensors in two recent 737 MAX crashes that killed 346 people and what he called a “chaotic and alarming state” inside Boeing’s factory that undermined quality and safety.
“It is alarming that these sensors failed on multiple flights mere months after the airplanes were manufactured in a factory experiencing frequent wiring problems and functional test issues,” Pierson said at a hearing before U.S. lawmakers.
“I witnessed a factory in chaos,” he said.
At the hearing, U.S. FAA chief Steve Dickson confirmed the agency will not approve Boeing’s grounded 737 MAX for flight before the end of 2019, citing a series of steps that still must be completed.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-boeing-airplane/faa-probes-boeing-737-max-production-ex-manager-warns-of-a-factory-in-chaos-idUSKBN1YF18G?il=0
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As someone who has worked on the aircraft production floor, and flight line as an A&P Technician.............even if you are building a plane on a military site or at the commercial site, the FAA is suppose to have someone at those sites to overseer what is going on....................so that there is no chaos................
In two minutes of questioning, Amy Klobuchar demolishes Republican spin on FBI Russia probe report
Joan McCarter
Daily Kos Staff
Wednesday December 11, 2019 · 3:14 PM EST
Sen. Amy Klobuchar showed her former-prosecutor chops in Wednesday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, in which Justice Department inspector general Michael Horowitz testified about his examination of the probe conducted by the FBI into Russian efforts at interference in the Trump campaign and the 2016 election. In a rapid-fire question-and-answer portion of her questioning, Klobuchar and Horowitz deflated the Republican "witch hunt" talking points.
First off, Russian interference: "Does anything in your report call into question the finding in the special counsel's report that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in a sweeping and systematic fashion?" she asked. "No, it doesn't," Horowitz answered, adding that his report cites the Mueller report and others that have all outlined that interference. The follow-up from Klobuchar: "Does anything in your report call into question Chairman Burr's statement that, quote, Russia is waging an information warfare campaign against the U.S. that didn’t start and didn’t end with the 2016 election?" His answer, "No, it doesn't."
What about the Mueller report finding that "quote, the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome?" Horowitz said, "We don't take issue with any part of the special counsel's report, no."
Then, in rapid-fire back-and-forth, she asked if he had "any evidence that political bias or other improper consideration affected the FBI's decision to open the investigation into" a series of players:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/12/11/1904989/-In-two-minutes-of-question-Amy-Klobuchar-demolishes-Republican-spin-on-FBI-Russia-probe-report
Pro-Trump Sinclair Broadcasting nixes its top pro-Trump 'political analyst'
By Oliver Willis -
December 11, 2019 2:59 PM
Sinclair forced over 190 stations to regularly feature 'chief political analyst' Boris Epshteyn's pro-Trump segments.
Boris Epshteyn, a former senior official for the Trump campaign and "chief political analyst" for the right-wing Sinclair group of television stations, has been fired from his position.
We will be ending the commentary segments this Friday, Dec. 13, featuring Ameshia Cross, and Boris Epshteyn," Sinclair said in a company-wide memo released on Wednesday.
The network said it was moving away from political commentary in favor of investigative journalism.
Sinclair operates 193 stations across the country and has for years injected conservative ideology and viewpoints into its news broadcasts.
https://americanindependent.com/sinclair-boris-epshteyn-donald-trump-campaign-propaganda/
Hey Sinclair, lets ask this simple question do you think the Fairness Doctrine should be reinstated and that a ombudsman the ability to counterpoint the news organization that is basically full of shit, after all Boris is linked to Russian oligarchs, he didn't have to pass to much of a background check to get a job did he.......................
GOP complains Lindsey Graham didn't get enough air time to attack FBI
By Emily Singer -
December 11, 2019 1:26 PM
The Trump campaign said it was 'censorship' to not air a congressional hearing it hoped would make the news.
The Trump campaign on Wednesday issued a statement panning the media for not airing Sen. Lindsey Graham's (R-SC) opening statement at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing with the Department of Justice inspector general, calling it "censorship."
Graham was leading a hearing with the inspector general, who issued a report saying that the Russia investigation into Trump was legitimate, and that Trump and his campaign weren't spied on as Trump has claimed.
Trump, however, has falsely claimed the report vindicates his belief that he was the target of a politically biased "deep state."
And Graham attempted to back up Trump's false claims at Wednesday's hearing — which is likely why Trump and his GOP allies wanted Graham's statement aired on every cable network.
https://americanindependent.com/lindsey-graham-justice-department-ig-fbi-donald-trump-campaign-senate-judiciary-committee/
Hey Traitor, you want to know what censorship is about, why did you, asshole have security guards take a woman that had a t-shirt on that basically said to you, to go fuck yourself basically, and that your a sexual predator.........................that's censorship asshole..............................and has for twinkle toes, graham....................it is disgusting that some firms spew propaganda just to justify your treason to sell out the voter so that you can retain power..............................
GOP senator breaks vow to get back $30 million Trump took from military families
By Dan Desai Martin -
December 11, 2019 2:29 PM
Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ) broke her promise to restore $30 million in funding she helped Trump swipe from an Arizona Army base.
Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ) failed to deliver on a key promise to restore $30 million in funding for an Arizona military base, after she helped Trump siphon those funds to build his long-promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
McSally served on a joint House-Senate conference committee for the annual defense spending bill, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The final version of that bill, released on Monday, did not backfill the $3.6 billion Trump took from U.S. military families in order to build his border wall.
Some $30 million of that funding came from Fort Huachuca in Arizona.
McSally's likely Democratic opponent in the 2020 Senate race, former astronaut Mark Kelly, blasted McSally for her legislative failure.
https://americanindependent.com/martha-mcsally-arizona-senate-border-wall-military-families-donald-trump-gop/
Judge says South Carolina GOP can rig primary for Trump
By Associated Press -
December 11, 2019 1:58 PM
A judge said the South Carolina Republican Party was within its right to not hold a primary and instead allow Trump to be the state's pick for GOP presidential nominee.
A judge on Wednesday upheld the South Carolina Republican Party's decision not to hold a 2020 presidential primary, a move taken by several states in erecting hurdles for the long-shot candidates challenging Donald Trump.
In her order, Circuit Judge Jocelyn Newman wrote the law "does not give Plaintiffs a legal right to a presidential preference primary, and the Court will not substitute its own judgment for that of the General Assembly or the SCGOP."
Earlier this year, former South Carolina congressman Bob Inglis sued state Republicans, saying the party's decision to skip a primary deprives him and others "of the ability to vote for the candidate of their choice in South Carolina's famous (and particularly influential) 'First in the South' primary."
South Carolina is among several states that have canceled Republican primaries and caucuses next year, an effort that helps Trump consolidate his support as Democrats work to winnow their large candidate field. The move, taken September in South Carolina by the state party's executive committee, is not unusual for the party of the White House incumbent seeking reelection.
https://americanindependent.com/south-carolina-gop-primary-2020-election-donald-trump-judge-jocelyn-newman/
Rep. Steve Cohen Smacks MSNBC For Airing GOP Russia Propaganda
Politics 12/10/19 5:41pm
Read time: 3 minutes
Sometimes MSNBC is no better than stenographers for the GOP. Geoff Bennett should know better.
By Aliza Worthington
Geoff Bennett got a little more than he asked for when he interviewed Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) on MSNBC earlier Tuesday. No, it wasn't lame prop comedy involving a bucket of chicken, thank the good Colonel Sanders in the sky. It was a swift and harsh rebuke for playing the GOP House Minority Leader's press conference in its entirety.
Rep. Cohen joined Bennett after Reps. McCarthy and Scalise spoke to reporters in response to the official release of Articles of Impeachment against Donald Trump. As usual, reporters in the room just swallowed the lies the GOP reps spewed about the IG report without pushing back in the slightest, and MSNBC ran the thing completely unchallenged. When it was over, Bennett asked Rep. Cohen about the language of the articles, but Rep. Cohen had something else to say.
BENNETT: When I was talking to my sources last night about what articles Democrats would ultimately settle upon, I was told that one of the reasons why Democrats chose to focus on the narrow issue of Ukraine, and not have a return of the Mueller report is they decided to lead with the best case and the simplest evidence. The decision was that Ukraine was that. Congressman, Chairman Nadler seemed to allude to the Russia investigation findings when he outlined the abuse of power article, saying Trump's Ukraine dealings, Nadler said, were consistent with his behavior in the 2016 election. Should we expect in this abuse of power article of impeachment, should we expect there to be more links in there, to your committee's own work, your committee's own investigation of the Russia question?
REP. COHEN: There's language that is "continuing conduct" from the previous elections. "Russia, if you're listening." There was collusion. He welcomed what the Russians gave him, and they used it. Time will show that there's probably more there than Mueller could finally get to. Bill Barr ended the Mueller investigation. If it had time to go on, who knows what it would have found.
https://crooksandliars.com/2019/12/rep-steve-cohen-smacked-msnbc-playing-gop
GM doubles down on big SUVs to pay for tomorrow's electric cars
Source: Reuters
Business News
December 10, 2019 / 6:43 PM / Updated 13 minutes ago
DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Co (GM.N) on Tuesday unveiled the first of a new generation of large sport utility vehicles designed to haul in the cash to pay for electric vehicles the automaker promises for the future.
The 2021 Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban officially revealed at the home of the Detroit Red Wings hockey team in downtown Detroit are among the largest passenger vehicles on the market. Powered by eight-cylinder gasoline engines or six-cylinder diesel motors, the trucks will be assembled in Texas, where many of them will be sold.
GM Chief Executive Mary Barra told analysts in October that GM will invest more in electric vehicles than gasoline-fueled models over the next five years.
That’s because over the past five years, GM has invested heavily in expanding production capacity and upgrading the features, infotainment technology and ride quality of its largest pickup trucks and SUVs.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-gm-suvs/gm-doubles-down-on-big-suvs-to-pay-for-tomorrows-electric-cars-idUSKBN1YE2U7?il=0
UK's Johnson now less certain of election victory: YouGov
World News
December 10, 2019 / 5:08 PM / Updated 10 minutes ago
Andy Bruce, David Milliken
3 Min Read
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s election race has tightened markedly over the past two weeks and Prime Minister Boris Johnson is now likely to win only a modest majority in Thursday’s vote, according to a closely watched forecast released on Tuesday.
The 28-seat Conservative margin of victory predicted by pollsters YouGov, down from 68 two weeks ago, is narrow enough that the firm said Johnson could fail to win an outright majority, given the uncertainties inherent to forecasting - an outcome that would prolong Brexit uncertainty.
“Based on the model, we cannot rule out a hung parliament,” Anthony Wells, YouGov’s director of political research, told The Times newspaper, which published the results.
Johnson called the election to break what he viewed as a deadlock in parliament, where his minority administration had been unable to pass legislation governing Britain’s departure from the European Union, which has been delayed until Jan. 31.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-election-yougov/uks-johnson-now-less-certain-of-election-victory-yougov-idUSKBN1YE2OP?il=0
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YouGov’s forecasts are based on more than 100,000 interviews with voters over the past week.
The so-called multi-level regression and post-stratification (MRP) modeling approach - which factors in voters’ age, gender, education and other variables to predict results in every British voting district - enjoyed success in 2017.
In late May 2017, just over a week before the June 8 election, YouGov’s model correctly projected the then Prime Minister Theresa May would lose the Conservative Party’s majority, even though she had been ahead in most polls.
Thousands of UK political ads missing from Facebook archive searches
Technology News
December 10, 2019 / 3:12 PM / Updated 13 minutes ago
Elizabeth Culliford 4 Min Read
(Reuters) - Thousands of UK political ads went missing from Facebook’s searchable advertising database on Tuesday, hampering researchers’ ability to track political ads two days before Britain’s general election.
Facebook’s ad library, which it launched in the UK in 2018, is a public tool for users to track political advertising on the platform.
The problem, first reported by Sky News, affected ads from the ruling Conservative Party, the Brexit Party and the Liberal Democrats. It was not immediately clear if any Labor Party ads were affected.
Facebook declined to answer what caused the issue or when it would be resolved.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-facebook-advertising/thousands-of-uk-political-ads-missing-from-facebook-archive-searches-idUSKBN1YE2IH?il=0
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Social media companies have been sharing more information about political advertising after U.S. intelligence agencies found that Russia targeted American voters with social media content, including ads, to try and influence the 2016 election. Russia has denied the allegations.
In October, London-based privacy advocacy group Privacy International issued a report that said Facebook, Twitter and Alphabet’s Google still fail to provide adequate transparency for global users on the issue.
Facebook has also come under fire in recent months over its decision not to fact-check political ads. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has defended this stance by arguing Facebook does not want to stifle free speech, but he has also said that the company will look how the policy could be refined.
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