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FakeNoose

FakeNoose's Journal
FakeNoose's Journal
October 21, 2017

Emoluments Hearing Hints At What May Be At Stake: Trump's Tax Returns



By Peter Overby
NPR "Politics" 10/18/17

Link:http://www.npr.org/2017/10/18/558623341/emoluments-hearing-hints-at-what-may-be-at-stake-trumps-tax-returns?utm_source=npr_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20171021&utm_campaign=politics&utm_term=nprnews

If there's one thing President Trump's critics want from him, and he refuses to give up, it's his tax returns.

The returns didn't come up during Wednesday's hearing in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan. But the hearing was the first step in a process that could loosen Trump's grip on them.

If the next step goes the plaintiffs' way, the case could make the president's tax returns surface. Trump is being sued by four plaintiffs who allege he is violating anti-corruption provisions in the Constitution, namely, its Foreign and Domestic Emoluments clauses.

- snip -

If Judge George Daniels says the plaintiffs have legal standing to proceed with the suit, they then can seek internal financial documents, including those tax returns.

"We will be looking for detailed financial records, foreign and domestic transactions, in the president's businesses," plaintiffs' lawyer Joseph Sellers told reporters after the hearing. "If the tax returns turn out to be relevant we may seek them."

Trump is the only president since 1977 to withhold his tax returns from voluntary disclosure. Unlike recent presidents, he has also refused to comply voluntarily with the federal conflict-of-interest law. Doing so would have forced him to separate himself from the Trump business empire.


So maybe we're finally going to see those tax returns, eh Cheeto? Have have you been hiding?


October 21, 2017

Effort to address Allegheny County voting machine vulnerabilities faces hurdles

By Chris Potter
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 10/20/17
cpotter@post-gazette.com

Link: http://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-local/2017/10/20/allegheny-county-voting-machines-replace-common-pleas-petition-lawsuit/stories/201710200193

A grassroots effort to examine — and likely replace — Allegheny County’s voting machines has itself been struggling for lack of a vote. Its latest challenge came Friday morning in the courtroom of Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Joseph James.

At issue is a 16-page proposal to establish a “voting process review commission,” which would study the county’s electronic voting machines and recommend replacements. Under the measure, supported by the League of Women Voters and VoteAllegheny, voters would have to approve a referendum to pay for any new equipment.

Activists fear that electronic touch-screen machines like those used in Allegheny County are susceptible to hacking — and that because those machines do not produce a hard copy of votes cast, there may be no way to get a reliable tally of votes.


- snip -

Attorney Ron Hicks offered a different reading on state law and observed that, as with any legislation, council could either amend the proposal or simply vote it down. “At this point,” he said, “all we’re asking is that this be considered by council.”

It’s not clear when Judge James will rule. The judge, who joked about the length of legal briefs already filed in the case, urged both sides, “Please, no more.”

But activist David Tessitor, who helped lead the fight for the petition, said long delays could be dangerous.



October 21, 2017

October 21, 2017 - Today in history

1892
Schoolchildren across the U.S. observed Columbus Day (according to the Gregorian date) by reciting, for the first time, the original version of “The Pledge of Allegiance,” written by Francis Bellamy for The Youth’s Companion.

1937
After a 10-year rebuilding job directed by Edward Specter, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, backed by a successful public campaign for $300,000, presented its first concert as a major orchestra with Otto Klemperer as guest conductor.

1967
Tens of thousands of Vietnam War protesters began two days of demonstrations in Washington, D.C.

1981
Pennsylvania Gov. Dick Thornburgh’s proposed private enterprise liquor store system failed in its first test vote.

Today’s birthdays:
Actress Joyce Randolph, 93. Rock singer Manfred Mann, 77. Singer Elvin Bishop, 75. Actor Everett McGill, 72. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 68. Actress LaTanya Richardson Jackson, 68. Actor Ken Watanabe, 58. Actress Melora Walters, 57. Actor Will Estes, 39. Reality TV star Kim Kardashian West, 37.

Thought for today:
“A man is what he thinks about all day long.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist, poet and philosopher (1803-1882)
October 20, 2017

October 20, 2017 - Today in history

1803
The U.S. Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase.

1967
A jury in Meridian, Miss., convicted seven men of violating
the civil rights of slain civil rights workers James Chaney,
Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner. The seven received
prison terms ranging from three to 10 years.

1982
Carnegie Mellon University concluded an agreement
with IBM to become an experimental computer center with
more than 20,000 PCs.

2011
Moammar Gadhafi, 69, Libya’s dictator for 42 years,
was killed as revolutionary fighters overwhelmed his hometown
of Sirte and captured the last major bastion of resistance
two months after his regime fell.

Today’s birthdays:
Japan’s Empress Michiko, 83. Actor William “Rusty” Russ, 67. Actress Melanie Mayron, 65. Retired MLB All-Star Keith Hernandez, 64. Actor Viggo Mortensen, 59. Actor Kenneth Choi, 46. Rapper Snoop Dogg, 46. Singer Dannii Minogue, 46. Actor John Krasinski, 38. Actress Katie Featherston, 35. Actress Jennifer Nicole Freeman, 32.

Thought for today:
“Everybody’s private motto: It’s better to be popular than right.”
— Mark Twain (1835-1910)
October 19, 2017

October 19, 2017 - Today in History

1781
British troops under Gen. Lord Cornwallis surrendered at
Yorktown, Va., as the American Revolution neared its end.

1932
Speaking as a presidential candidate before 30,000 at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh PA,
Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt expressed opposition to payment of the soldiers’
bonus “until the government has balanced the budget and has a
surplus of cash in the treasury.” It was his first declaration on the
bonus issue since his nomination.

1987
The stock market crashed as the Dow Jones Industrial
Average plunged 508 points, or 22.6 percent in value (its biggest
daily percentage loss), to close at 1,738.74 in what came to be
known as “Black Monday.”


Today’s birthdays:
Author John le Carre, 86. Actor Michael Gambon, 77. Actor John Lithgow, 72. Singer Jennifer Holliday, 57. Boxer Evander Holyfield, 55. Actor Jon Favreau, 51. Former first daughter Amy Carter, 50. “South Park” co-creator Trey Parker, 48.

Thought for today:
“It takes a clever man to turn cynic and a wise man to be clever enough not to.”
— Fannie Hurst, American author (born on this date in 1885, died 1968)
October 17, 2017

Ever wonder why you can't walk your kitty on a leash?

Here's what happens:



October 11, 2017

New Keith Olbermann book to be released next week



Trump is F*cking Crazy: (This is Not a Joke)
By Keith Olbermann

Witty, acerbic, hard-hitting, and timely, Keith Olbermann's Donald Trump commentaries come adapted from his hit GQ series The Resistance.

Since Donald Trump's presidential nomination, Keith Olbermann has emerged as one of the web's most popular anti-Trump screedists—each installment of his GQ web series The Resistance receives nearly four million views, and his fiercely progressive monologues have garnered a new generation of fans and followers. In TRUMP IS F*CKING CRAZY, Olbermann takes our Commander in Chief and his politics apart with journalistic acuity and his classic in-your-face humor. With more than 50 individual essays adapted from his GQ commentaries, including new up-to-the-minute material, TRUMP IS F*CKING CRAZY is essential reading for concerned citizens who—like Olbermann—refuse to normalize or accept our new political reality.

To be released on 10/17/17 however Amazon is already taking pre-orders now.
October 2, 2017

Every member of Congress who took $ from the NRA and tweeted "thoughts & prayers" to Las Vegas

Link: http://splinternews.com/every-member-of-congress-who-took-money-from-the-nra-an-1819059582

From SplinterNews
Author Rafi Schwartz 10/2/17

Americans woke up on Monday morning to learn of yet another horrific act of gun violence in the United States—this time a mass shooting in Las Vegas that left at least 58 people dead and more than 500 injured. But it seems unlikely that the politicians in a position to actually change our gun laws will actually do something about it, because they never do.

So, in lieu of any substantive gun control, what do America’s senators and congresspeople have to offer? That tried and true chestnut of noncommittal national mourning: “Thoughts and prayers.” And just as in the past, those thoughts and prayers seem to have been paid for in part by the National Rifle Association, whose campaign donations and scare-mongering have effectively blocked any life-saving legislation which might prevent a person from getting their hands on a fully automatic machine gun they can then use to pump bullets into dozens of innocent people.

So who is sending their NRA-sponsored well wishes to the victims of the Las Vegas massacre today? Let’s take a look, with a little help from the campaign contribution database at opensecrets.org.


(See the full list on the original artical)

I count at least 81 names on the list, and it's still growing. As far as I can see they all look to be Republicans but there may be one or 2 Dems on the list. It's time to outlaw the NRA and get their evil PAC money out of politics.

Profile Information

Name: Kathy Hinsman
Gender: Female
Hometown: Pittsburgh PA
Home country: USA
Current location: Pittsburgh
Member since: Sat Feb 18, 2017, 02:16 PM
Number of posts: 32,628

About FakeNoose

Hey DU friends! Baby boomer here. I became a voter in 1972 when I turned 21, and I've been voting regularly ever since. For a long time I remained independent - always voting for Dem candidates. However that changed in 2008 when I wanted to vote for Hillary Clinton for President. But I live in Pennsylvania where we have closed elections, and my only chance to vote for Hillary was in the Dem primary. So I joined the Democratic Party in 2008, voted for Hillary, and I've never looked back. Barack Obama won the primary in Pennsylvania, as ell as most other states, and I supported him in the general election. It was a different story in 2016 .... You'll never convince me that Chump didn't CHEAT his way into the White House. The worst 4 years in the history of our country ensued, 2017 to 2020, and the first few days of 2021. We all lived through it and i don't need to explain it now. My goal is to make sure that Chump NEVER gets elected to ANYTHING again. Not even Dogcatcher of West Palm Beach FL. Whether he goes to prison is not up to me - but he must be CONVICTED of his crimes and PREVENTED from running for office again. Better yet - he should be in prison or six-feet-under. You get me? I love the cooperation, optimism and can-do spirit of Democratic Underground. We're a community of liberal-minded Americans and we know how to share our stories constructively and pro-actively. Let's all pitch in and get this job done. There has never been a more important election that right now, this year. Democrats everywhere MUST WIN. Joe Biden must win FOUR MORE YEARS!
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