Jim Bakker sued by second state for selling fake coronavirus cure

Arkansas' attorney general on Tuesday sued Missouri-based TV pastor Jim Bakker over his promotion of a product falsely touted as a cure for the illness caused by the coronavirus.

Attorney General Leslie Rutledge filed the lawsuit in Arkansas against Bakker and Morningside Church Productions, less than three months after the state of Missouri filed a similar lawsuit.

Rutledge's lawsuit says 385 Arkansans made purchases from Bakker's company totaling approximately $60,524 for colloidal silver, a product often sold on the internet as a dietary supplement.

"Jim Bakker has exploited Arkansas consumers by leveraging COVID-19 fears to sell over $60,000 worth of their products that do nothing to fight the virus," Rutledge said in a statement released by her office.

At: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jim-bakker-sued-by-second-state-for-selling-fake-coronavirus-cure/

Jim Bakker's colloidal silver: Another one for his End Times bucket?

Updated tenants law passed in Argentina

Argentina's Senate passed legislation yesterday establishing new laws governing rental agreements nationwide, replacing existing legislation signed in 1984.

The bill, known simply as the Tenants Law, was widely supported by tenants rights groups in Argentina - where over half the nation's 15 million households pay rent.

"Today, housing is closer to being a right - and to cease being a business deal," the National Federation of Tenants stated in a press release.

President Alberto Fernández's center-left Front for All coalition introduced the bill - which passed overwhelmingly in the Lower House on November 20, and in the Senate with 41 yeas to 29 abstentions.

No nays were registered because the right-wing Together for Change coalition - which supported the bill in the House - walked out of the Senate chamber in protest once its passage was assured.

Amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, Fernández on March 29 suspended rent hikes or evictions for six months.

The keys

Argentina's new Tenants Law addresses numerous longstanding obstacles faced by many of its estimated 8-9 million tenants.

Tenants may now seek contracts of up to three years, rather than the current two year term. Landlords agreeing to renew contracts after three years, moreover, would be limited as to new rental rates by an inflation and wage index-linked formula.

Landlords often force tenants out by doubling rents for those requesting a renewal, in the expectation that a new tenant might agree to higher rates.

The power to rescind a contract with only three months' notice, without being subject to a fine, will likewise now shift from the landlord to the tenant - a change Ricardo Botana of the Argentine Tenants' Union supports because "between moving expenses and the fine, rescinding a contract had often been too costly for tenants."

Other benefits to tenants include a one month's security deposit limit, and added flexibility as to co-signatories - which are often required by Argentine landlords.

A National Social Rental Program to assist senior and low-income tenants will also be established, as well as federal tenants' rights ombudsmen in each province and metro area.

Landlords, in turn, won a longstanding demand: a codified and expedited eviction process, which would now take as little as ten days from notification.

Rental properties, however, must be registered at the Federal Revenue Agency (AFIP); fewer than half are now estimated to be registered.

A real estate survey by polling firm Market Analytics revealed that 80% of landlords, developers, agents and brokers were opposed to the Tenants Law - with a group of auctioneers and brokers warning in a recent ad that "with less supply, prices will rise."

"We are 9 million tenants who expect to rent fairly," Gervasio Muñoz of Tenants Group, responded. "It's been 36 years that Congress hadn't debated rental law. We are achieving a historic bill."

At: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&tab=wT&sl=auto&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eldestapeweb.com%2Fsociedad%2Fcongreso%2Fnueva-ley-de-alquileres-las-diez-claves-que-hay-que-saber-202061120320

Apartment buildings crowd the Buenos Aires cityscape, where the nation's highest property values and a severe shortage of mortgage credit force most residents to rent.

The Tenants Law passed yesterday by Argentina's Congress seeks to limit costs for tenants, while guaranteeing a minimum three-year contract for those who need it.

Sanders rejects dismantling police departments

Sen. Bernie Sanders, the runner-up in this year's Democratic presidential nomination, rejected dismantling police departments, as Minneapolis seems poised to do, in an interview with The New Yorker published on Tuesday.

"There’s no city in the world that does not have police departments. What you need are — I didn’t call for more money for police departments. I called for police departments that have well-educated, well-trained, well-paid professionals," Sanders told The New Yorker.

"Anyone who thinks that we should abolish all police departments in America, I don’t agree."

Sanders, an independent from Vermont, wants to "redefine" police departments because officers often deal with people struggling with issues like mental illness or addiction that "should be dealt with by mental-health professionals."

At: https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/bernie-sanders-defund-police-reform

Sen Bernie Sanders: "What you need are police departments that have well-educated, well-trained, well-paid professionals."

Columbia police chief says officer's knee "shifted" during controversial protest arrest

Source: Free Times

Columbia’s police chief says an officer’s knee “unintentionally shifted” into an “incorrect position” in the midst of a May 30 arrest during protests in the Capital City.

A photo and videos had shown the officer had his knee placed against the back of the man’s neck.

The officer in question remains on duty, and the chief says he did not violate the department’s policy.

Read more: https://www.postandcourier.com/free-times/news/local_and_state_news/columbia-police-chief-says-officers-knee-shifted-during-controversial-protest-arrest/article_4afe120a-a9eb-11ea-a2f8-cf23221fbf80.html

Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook, left, and Mayor Steve Benjamin: Accidentally shifted.

Bush, Romney won't support Trump reelection

Source: The Hill

Former President George W. Bush and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) will not support President Trump’s reelection, The New York Times reported Saturday.

Several Republican leaders are struggling with whether to endorse the sitting president in his reelection campaign, with some are considering endorsing or voting for presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

Recent events involving Trump’s response to the protests against police treatment of minority populations and the coronavirus pandemic have inspired an urgency among Republicans to decide whether to publicly discuss their voting plans for November, according to the Times.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/501567-bush-romney-wont-support-trump-reelection-new-york-times

Former President George W. Bush and Sen. Mitt Romney: Dump Trump.

Marines ban public displays of Confederate flag

Source: The Hill

The U.S. Marines announced Friday that they would be removing all public displays of the Confederate flag.

The move comes after days of protests in cities across America following the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died in Minneapolis police custody on May 25.

https://twitter.com/USMC/status/1269075089078784001

Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/defense/501504-marines-ban-public-displays-of-confederate-flag

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich says 'country is in trouble,' he's 'embarrassed as a white person'

San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said he's "embarrassed as a white person" while addressing the death of George Floyd in an emotional video released by the team Saturday.

"It’s got to be us that speak truth to power, that call it out no matter the consequences," said Popovich, 71, lending his support to protests of police brutality and racial injustice.

"We have to not let anything go. Our country is in trouble and the basic reason is race."

At: https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nba/2020/06/06/spurs-coach-gregg-popovich-discusses-george-floyd-death/3163837001/

San Antonio Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich: Our country is in trouble and the basic reason is race.

Broncos' John Elway 'not going to stay on the sidelines' in fight vs. inequality

Denver Broncos general manager John Elway said Friday he's "not going to stay on the sidelines" during the fight against racial injustice.

Elway, 59, who led the franchise to a pair of Super Bowl titles during his playing career, posted a statement on Twitter after conversations with members of the Broncos organization.

He noted his discussions over the past week changed his perspective.

"I always thought that since I grew up in a locker room, I knew everything there was to know about understanding teammates from different backgrounds and walks of life," he wrote. "What I've realized is that I could not have been more wrong."

https://twitter.com/johnelway/status/1269059545898397697

Pope Francis decries racism but says 'nothing is gained by violence'

Pope Francis spoke out on Wednesday about U.S. protests in reaction to the killing of George Floyd, calling for "national reconciliation and peace" to stop "the disturbing social unrest."

Francis, addressing the English-language faithful among his weekly general audience at the Vatican, called racism a "sin" and said that "we cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism."

But he also said that the violence in the wake of many recent demonstrations is "self-destructive."

"Nothing is gained by violence, and so much is lost," he added.

At: https://abcnews.go.com/International/pope-francis-decries-racism-gained-violence/story?id=71044924

Pope Francis, earlier today: "Nothing is gained by violence, and so much is lost."

His native Argentina saw a wave of political violence in the mid-1970s, that gave the country's hard-right elements the pretext they needed to stage a coup in 1976 - followed by widespread human rights abuses and at least 22,000 disappearances.

Justin Amash wants bill to allow victims to sue police officers

Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan plans to unveil legislation this week that would allow citizens to file civil lawsuits against police officers for illegal and unconstitutional acts.

Amash hopes the bill would mitigate police brutality after George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man, died on May 25 after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes.

https://twitter.com/justinamash/status/1267267244029083648