Romance, Halloween Style

GOP Congressman Gets Called Out by CNN Anchor for Trump Bullshit

Sean Duffy, the Republican-congressman-turned-CNN-contributor, has made no secret of his hard-core support for Donald Trump.  So it should come as no surprise that he would ruffle feathers at the network-- and on Tuesday, tensions reached a fever pitch when an anchor fed up with his bullshit called him out on air.

Brianna Keilar’s scathing condemnation of her colleague came shortly after Duffy launched an attack on Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the National Security Council’s top Ukraine expert who is testifying in the House impeachment probe. Vindman supplied firsthand information on Trump’s infamous phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during which Trump pressed Zelensky to investigate Hunter Biden in exchange for the release of previously-authorized aid funding.

Duffy wasted no time in casting doubt over Vindman’s loyalty to the U.S., by saying the official “has an affinity, I think, for the Ukraine.  He speaks Ukrainian. He came from the country. And he wants to make sure they’re safe and free."

Vindman's family immigrated to the U.S. from Ukraine when he was three years old.

Taking aim at Duffy’s remarks hours later, Keilar accused him of engaging in “anti-immigrant bigotry,” reminding viewers of his reality show past, a stark contrast to Vindman’s history as a decorated war veteran.

“It’s an odd questioning of patriotism coming from Sean Duffy, the guy who spent part of his 20s on MTV’s ‘The Real World’ and ’Real World: Road Rules Challenge’ while Alexander Vindman spent his on foreign deployments, including one to Iraq where he earned a purple heart after he was inured by a roadside bomb,” Keilar said.

Keilar continued her takedown of the GOP congressman, telling viewers that Duffy’s comments were “a sign of how desperate the president’s backers are as they try to defend him against what Vindman ― perhaps the most credible and knowledgeable witness so far ― has to tell Congress.”

Similar attempts to question the loyalty of Vindman were also made by Fox News opinion host Laura Ingraham and her Monday night guest, former Justice Department official John Yoo, who suggested that Vindman had committed espionage.  In case you don't remember, Yoo was the Bush administration lawyer who wrote the much-criticized memos that gave Bush the cover it needed to commit war crimes in Iraq

Echoing Fox News' talking points, Trump later described Vindman as a “Never Trumper,” though he gave no evidence to support his claim.

Oh So True

Trump Booed at World Series

Donald Trump once claimed he was courted by several major league baseball clubs in his youth but turned them down because they couldn’t offer him enough money. Of course that was a lie.

Nevertheless, the President attended Game 5 of the World Series between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros at Nationals Park, a short journey from the White House.  When Trump was shown on the video screens in the stadium he was loudly booed by fans. 

Following the boos, cries of “Lock him up!” rang out, a reference to the chants about Hillary Clinton used at Trump’s rallies in the run-up to the 2016 presidential elections.  Footage of the incident swept through Twitter, showing the moment that fans inside the stadium changed from cheering to booing.

Veterans for Impeachment also staked out a high visibility site for their message during the game-- right behind home plate.


A blue sign, reading “Veterans for Impeachment,” managed to grab national audience views when the cameras trained on batters at Nationals Park.  The sign also appeared on the Jumbotron in the stadium where Donald Trump watched the game.  At later innings of the game, impeach signs also managed to appear in several parts of the outfield.  Trump left the game early.

Florida Man Compelled to "Let It Go"

A man has been arrested for having sex with a stuffed 'Olaf' snowman toy in front of horrified shoppers at a Target store in Florida.   Cody Meader was detained after repulsed eyewitnesses saw him 'dry-humping' the large snowman toy from Disney's 'Frozen' at the store in St Petersburg.

Meader then entered the toy department and proceeded to do the same with a large stuffed unicorn toy, according to reports.

Eyewitnesses say he ejaculated on the Olaf toy before replacing it on the shelf and seeking out a large unicorn stuffed animal which he also ejaculated on.   The defiled toys were later removed from the store and destroyed.

Meader has admitted to doing 'stupid stuff' and said that he 'nutted' on the toy. He was later charged with criminal mischief.

The 20-year-old was previously been arrested in 2015 for a similar offense when he was caught picking up a stuffed animal from the shelves of a Walmart store in Brooksville and masturbating with it.  He was charged with indecent exposure and criminal mischief.

Justice For Sexual Harassment Victim in Bangladesh

Killed for reporting sexual harassment

A Bangladesh court has sentenced 16 people to death for the murder of a student set on fire after accusing her teacher of sexual harassment.  The teacher who was accused of harassment and two female classmates were among those convicted.

When the judge announced the verdict, some of the defendants burst into tears, while others shouted out across the courtroom that they had been denied justice.  But in Bangladesh, it is more usually women like Nusrat who are denied justice.  Sexual harassment in Bangladesh's educational institutions-- like the one Nusrat attended-- is widespread

19-year-old Nusrat Jahan Rafi died last April in Feni, a small town 100 miles outside the capital Dhaka.  Nusrat was lured to her school's rooftop 11 days after she reported the school's headmaster to police for repeatedly touching her inappropriately.  Nusrat was then surrounded by four or five people wearing burqas, pressuring her to withdraw her complaint.  When she refused, they set her on fire.

The group had hoped to make it look like a suicide. Instead, she managed to escape and get help.  But knowing she was badly hurt, she gave a statement which her brother filmed on his phone.  "The teacher touched me, I will fight this crime till my last breath," she said, naming some of her attackers.  Nusrat, who had sustained burns to 80% of her body, died four days later.

Nusrat's murder shocked the country and led to a series of protests demanding justice.  The trial was one of the quickest in a country where such cases usually take years to conclude.  Prosecutor Hafez Ahmed told reporters it proved "that nobody will get away with murder in Bangladesh".  Lawyers for the defendants say they will appeal.

The investigation into Nusrat's death revealed a conspiracy to silence her, which included her own classmates and a number of powerful men from within the community.  Three teachers, including the headmaster, Siraj Ud Doula (who police say ordered the killing from prison after he was arrested under suspicion of harassment) were found guilty by the court.  Another two of the defendants convicted, Ruhul Amin and Maksud Alam, are local leaders of the ruling Awami League party.

A number of local police were found to have collaborated with those convicted in spreading false information that Nusrat had committed suicide.  The officers were not among those tried for Nusrat's murder.

Nusrat's family, who supported her decision to report her sexual harassment to police, have since been given police protection, according to reports.  They welcomed the verdict, asking for the sentence to be carried out quickly. In Bangladesh, the death penalty is carried out by hanging.

Sexual harassment is thought to be relatively commonplace in Bangladesh.  Speaking out like Nusrat is still uncommon as reporting sexual harassment carries risks.  Victims often face judgement from their communities, harassment, in person and online, and in some cases violent attacks.

Nusrat's case sparked mass protests in Bangladesh and shone a spotlight on the vulnerability of victims of sexual assault and harassment in the country.  The police initially dismissed the sexual harassment allegations but eventually brought charges against the 16 accused after weeks of protests.  Activists say the killing exposed a culture of impunity around sex crimes. Whether more victims of sexual abuse will feel emboldened to come forward following Nusrat's case remains to be seen.

YoungBoy Never Broke Again-Lonely Child

ICE Withdraws Excessive Fines Meant to Pressure Sanctuary Immigrants into Giving Up

Federal immigration officials have rescinded the massive fines they tried to extort from a number of undocumented immigrants currently in sanctuary across the U.S., including a mom who has lived at an Ohio church for two years now. Immigration and Custom Enforcement had been demanding nearly half a million dollars from Edith Espinal.  Edith has lived at Columbus Mennonite Church since October 2017, when the agency decided that a mom with no criminal record and two decades in the state needed to be deported.


The Trump administration dusted off these “rarely imposed” fines last July as part of a bottom-of-the-barrel effort to arrest families who are being protected from deportation by churches. Under ICE policy, houses of worship, schools, and hospitals are generally off-limits to mass deportation agents. So, ICE went with trying to smoke immigrants out of church by fining them amounts "so egregiously over the top,” one attorney said, “that it's laughable.”


ICE has been using our taxpayer dollars to harass and sweep up people just trying to provide for their families, including factory workers in Mississippi, construction workers who have spoken out about dangerous work conditions, and working women-- including Edith and Rosa Ortez Cruz.
 
Rosa Ortez Cruz, another mom in sanctuary in North Carolina, was being fined over $314,000. Advocates said the ridiculous amounts were intentional, too: The Washington Post reported that “In the rare instances” when fines were previously imposed, “they have been lower, about $1,000, said Laura Lynch, senior policy counsel for the American Immigration Lawyers Association.” 
ICE has also done this knowing these are working families that have been depending on the generosity of congregations for shelter, and that have been trying to find ways to sustain their families while in sanctuary. Juana Luz Tobar Ortega, a North Carolina mom who has also been in sanctuary for two years, has used her sewing machine “to make aprons and pillows she can sell to the community,” and has “also started a catering business from the church’s kitchen,” where she makes tamales to sell.

Normalizing Hate

Organizers of Fortune magazine’s Most Powerful Women Summit, taking place in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, refused to drop former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen from their event, but activists were still determined to hold them accountable for giving a platform to a disgraced former official who helped implement a crime against humanity at the U.S. southern border.

In a tweet from the organization CREDO Mobile, a billboard truck emblazoned with Nielsen’s image is seen circling around the event’s location at the Mandarin Oriental hotel, along with an undeniable message: “Powerful women don't put kids in cages. Fortune: Stop normalizing hate.” Protestors also stood outside the venue holding signs that read, “Hate is not normal” and “Rehabilitation in progress.”

According to a press release from CREDO Mobile, activists also attempted to greet attendees with information about why Nielsen should have had no part in this event, and encouraged them to stand in solidarity with immigrant communities attacked under the Trump administration’s inhumane policies. However, “greeters were removed from hotel property by security,” the release continued.

Fortune refused to drop Nielsen from the event’s agenda despite pressure from activists and groups including CREDO, Define American, Bend the Arc, and Families Belong Together; high-profile cancellations from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, filmmaker and activist dream hampton, and performer Brandi Carlile; and more than 53,000 petition signatures.

“Kirstjen Nielsen caused an immeasurable amount of trauma to thousands of immigrant families and children separated at the border by her order,” said CREDO Action campaign manager Jelani Drew-Davi. “Fortune did serious harm to its own reputation by inviting her to speak unfettered on their stage and Powerful Women Summit attendees should be outraged that Fortune has made them complicit in Nielsen’s rehabilitation tour.”

“No Trump accomplice should be given a platform to rehabilitate their image and sanitize their cruel history,” Drew-Davi continued. “They should be treated as the toxic waste they are, not elevated as keynote speakers, given star interviews or book deals, or taught to samba.”

CNN Allows Another GOP Crackpot to Peddle Lies

Former Republican Rep. Sean Duffy, recently hired by CNN to be a paid political commentator, can't stop fabricating facts when he goes on the air. Since making his CNN debut on Sunday, Duffy has lied about the shooting of Rep. Gabby Giffords. He's lied about Joe Biden trying to fire a Ukraine prosecutor in order to protect his son. And Duffy's helped spread the preposterous lie about the Democratic National Committee's email servers from 2016 somehow ending up in a foreign country. 

Sean Duffy, who staked his congressional reputation in recent years on being an undying Trump loyalist, is not a serious person. And Sean Duffy appears to be a habitual liar. (He once claimed George Soros was rigging voting machines, and that Hillary Clinton's longtime aide had ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.) You would think those unfortunate traits would represent two large check marks against someone who wanted to be in the business of commenting on the news.

And yet, CNN executives, having surveyed the political landscape in search of new voices to add to its discussions, decided to hire Duffy, which says a lot more about CNN than it does Duffy.

Alternate Reality in Trumpworld

Chick-fil-A Struggles to Expand Overseas due to its Owner's Bigotry

The first U.K. branch of Chick-fil-A is set to close following a backlash over its owner's stance on LGBT rights.  Chick-fil-A opened its first British franchise in Reading just over a week ago, but it has already revealed that the store is set to close in just six months, after protests over the company's opposition to gay marriage.

Reading Pride released a statement saying,  "The chain's ethos and moral stance goes completely against our values, and that of the UK as we are a progressive country that has legalised same-sex marriage for some years and continues to strive towards equality."

Both chief executive Dan Cathy and his late father Samuel, who founded the chain in 1946, have publicly made donations towards anti-LGBT+ groups.  Cathy has stated, "We're inviting God's judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at him and say we know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage."

After Chick-fil-A's opposition to same-sex marriage came to light a decade ago, the LGBT community began a series of boycotts, kiss-ins and same-sex marriages outside the franchise's restaurants across the U.S.   The company is still struggling to expand further through America.

Rider University in New Jersey refused to allow a Chick-fil-A store on campus despite popular demand from students.  San Antonio International Airport also removed the existing store from its expansion plans over controversy regarding the bigotry of the company's founders.

Samuel Cathy used Chick-fil-A profits to fund anti-gay charities including Exodus International, a group which promoted gay and transgender conversion therapy.  His son Dan has also been accused of recently providing $1.9 million to the charity Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which opposes same-sex relationships.

The company tried to keep its bigotry out of the headlines by moving all charitable contributions to an external foundation.  But the move failed to stifle the controversy, as Chick-fil-A's associated foundation continued to donate hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to causes characterized as anti-gay.

The controversy has not just prompted protests in the U.K. and the U.S.  The company had hoped to open three stores in Toronto to mark the chain's first international outlets.   But last month a crowd of protesters swarmed one of the new Canadian stores on opening day, carrying placards that read 'Not In Our City, United Against Hate' as well as 'Hate Shouldn't Taste Great' and 'Cluck Off'. 

Snapshot of One of the Most Oppressive Countries in the World

Eritrea has often been described as one of the most repressive states in Africa, where people lack basic political and religious freedoms.  This is not surprising as it has been a one-party state ruled by President Isaias Afwerki since it officially gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993.

The government has banned opposition parties and local private media, jailed critics (some of whom have not been heard of for years), and has imposed military conscription on young people.  The BBC recently reported on the extraordinary control the government has on peoples' lives.

SIM cards are extremely precious.  State-owned EriTel is the sole provider of telecom services. The service it provides is bad, and tightly controlled by the government.  Citizens need to apply to the local government administration to a SIM card for a mobile phone.

And even if you get a SIM card, you can't use it to access the internet because there is no mobile data.  People can only access the internet through WiFi, but it is very slow. To get onto social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, people use a virtual private network (VPN) to circumvent government censorship.  Because of the huge difficulty in getting SIM cards, people still rely on public pay phones to make calls.

The government has also imposed restrictions on the amount of money depositors can withdraw from their bank accounts.  Even if they have millions of nakfa (the Eritrean currency) they can only withdraw 5,000 ($330) a month.  And such withdrawals must be made at a bank counter, as there are no ATM's anywhere in the country.

To make large purchases such as cars or appliances, residents have to make a series of withdrawals over many months to accumulate the cash needed for purchase.  The government would have preferred the entire sum to be transferred by wire, but some businessmen prefer cash in their hands because it is scarce.  There is an exemption for weddings, which are usually big ceremonies costing more than 5,000 nakfa.

Opinions differ on why the government has imposed restrictions on cash withdrawals. Some said it was to develop people's habit of saving and to curb inflation, while others said it was because the government doesn't like trade activities. So they limit money circulation.

If all that wasn't enough State-owned Eri-Tv is the only television station based in Eritrea. It is the government's mouthpiece, but if you have a satellite dish you can watch the BBC and other international channels run by political exiles.  Media freedom is virtually nonexistent in Eritrea, with the country considered the world's most censored country, behind even North Korea.

Satellite broadcasts of radio stations in exile are restricted through occasional signal jams, as well as by the poor quality of the government-controlled internet.  Despite that, Eritrea Information Minister Yemane Meskel denies that Eritrea is a "closed" society. He points out that more than 91% of homes in towns and cities have satellite dishes and receive more than 650 international TV channels.

And to top it all off, there is only one brewery in the entire country-- Asmara Brewery, which was set up in 1939 by Italian engineer Luigi Melottia.  Asmara beer is commonly referred to as melotti, after Melottia. He came to build roads and other infrastructure in the former Italian colony, saw a gap in the market for a brewery, and seized the opportunity to open one. And he seems to be most remembered for that.   Until recently, citizens were only allowed to drink two beers in a bar. So they used to take non-drinkers with them - and drink their quota as well.

The oppressive conditions of living in Eritrea have resulted in hundreds of thousands of Eritreans fleeing the country, some of whom perish during the treacherous journey across the Sahara desert and the Mediterranean Sea as they try to reach Europe.

But even that is difficult, as getting a passport is almost impossible.  Youngsters are not given passports until they complete their national service - which includes military training - and get a letter in support of their application from the offices of their local government administration.  From a practical perspective, most folks are then too old - 40 or 45 with a spouse and children.

And once someone gets a passport they cannot just leave the country - they need an exit visa. There is no guarantee that they will get one because the government apparently fears that they will not return.  Which explains why many young Eritreans become economic refugees--crossing the porous borders to settle in Ethiopia and Sudan.  Others risk the treacherous journey through the Sahara and the Mediterranean to reach Europe, only to die of hunger and thirst in the desert or drown at sea.

With the exodus of youngsters, old people are the most visible, sipping macchiato in cafes to pass their time.  The size of Eritrea's population is unclear because the government has never carried out a census since independence.

Nevertheless, people say the capital is beautiful- largely a relic of its history under the Kingdom of Italy.  Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini wanted Asmara to be the "Piccola Roma" (Little Rome) in Africa, as he planned a new Roman Empire in the 1930s.  The city's leafy boulevards and modernist buildings are a constant reminder of its Italian colonial past.   UNESCO has listed Asmara as a World Heritage Site, describing it as an "exceptional example of early modernist urbanism at the beginning of the 20th Century and its application in an African context".

The Avett Brothers - High Steppin'

Mulvaney Confesses to High Crimes on National TV

Dumb as mud, apparently

Since Rudy Giuliani is busy getting ready for likely charges from the U.S. attorney’s office, acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney has taken over one of the most vital roles in the Trump White House—confessing to crimes on national television.

In front of a host of reporters (and live on TV), Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney admitted that President Donald Trump withheld foreign aid in order to get Ukraine’s help in the U.S. election.

“We do that all the time with foreign policy,” Mulvaney responded when ABC News reporter Jon Karl pointed out that withholding funding from Ukraine “unless the investigation into the Democrats’ server happens” is a “quid pro quo.”

“Get over it,” Mulvaney added. “There’s going to be political influence in foreign policy. ... That is going to happen.

Incredibly, Mulvaney then announced that Trump would be bypassing federal procurement regulations and violating the Emoluments clause of the Constitution at the same time-- by awarding the G7 summit to the Trump Doral Resort.   The Doral resort is not just a existing commercial property that licenses the Trump name.  It is wholly owned by the Trump family-- so every penny spent there goes directly into the family coffers.  Normally, the contract for such an event would be made available to a variety of bidders, with the contract being given to the lowest offeror. 

The Doral resort by the way, is not doing very well-- it's average occupancy rate is less than 40%.  And the G7 summit will be held in June, which is the second-slowest month of the year for the resort.  So even if Trump charged all the international attendees of the G7 the wholesale cost of their stay, Trump would still be filling up the resort at a time when it would mostly be empty.

Trump's Reckless Move in Syria Has Put 50 Nukes at Risk

An estimated 50 nuclear bombs stored at a U.S. airbase in Turkey have become potential bargaining chips in the tense relationship between Washington and Ankara in the wake of the Turkish offensive into Syria.

Although Donald Trump gave a green light to the offensive in a phone call eight days ago with the Turkish president Erdoğan, Congress is planning to impose severe sanctions on Turkey.  Trump, facing a backlash from his party for acquiescing in the invasion, has backed punitive measures.  The EU declared an arms embargo on Turkey, and a planned bipartisan bill in Congress would sanction Turkish leaders and cut off U.S. weapons supplies.

Erdoğan has said he will respond aggressively to western attempts to isolate Turkey and has vowed not to halt the offensive. “We are determined to take our operation to the end. We will finish what we started,” the Turkish leader said during a visit to Baku, Azerbaijan. “A hoisted flag does not come down.”

The presence of B61 nuclear gravity bombs at İncirlik airbase, which is about 100 miles from the Syrian border and which the U.S. air force shares with its Turkish counterpart, is complicating Washington’s calculations.  In recent days administration officials have been quietly reviewing plans to move the bombs, the New York Times has reported. The report quoted a senior official as saying the bombs had become Erdoğan’s hostages and that flying them out of İncirlik would be the de-facto end of the Turkish-American alliance.

Plans to remove the bombs have frequently been considered but never put into action. Officials are not supposed to discuss the existence of forward-deployed bombs in Turkey and four other NATO member states but they are an open secret. They are a cold war relic with no operational function in a war plan. To deploy them the U.S. would have to fly in planes to carry them. Turkey has no planes certified to carry nuclear weapons.

Discussions within NATO over the past three decades about withdrawing them have foundered on opposition from member states including Turkey, who saw them as valuable symbols of U.S. commitment to their defence through extended deterrent.

A former official said there was considerable discussion in the Obama administration on what to do with the bombs, both because of Barack Obama’s disarmament agenda and particularly over security fears after the 2016 coup attempt in Turkey. The base was used by some of the plotters including a general who at one point sought protection with his US colleagues, which was denied.  Erdoğan’s government cut off power to the base before moving in to arrest suspects.

According to one former official, Turkish diplomats responded to suggestions that the bombs might be removed by saying Turkey would develop its own nuclear weapons.  “The potential problems have been discussed for over a decade. And now we’ve finally gotten to a point where this is a problem that we can’t ignore any more,” the former US official said.

Erdoğan underlined that threat last month, declaring at a party rally that it was “unacceptable” for Turkey not to have its own arsenal. He claimed falsely: “There is no developed nation in the world that doesn’t have them.”  As a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, Turkey has committed not to acquire nuclear weapons.

Alexandra Bell, a senior policy director at the Center for Arms Control and Non-proliferation, said the Trump administration did not have confirmed officials in key posts that would normally be tasked with dealing with such nuclear dilemmas.  “The president is sending out angry tweets and I don’t think giving the proper amount of attention and concern to what is a potentially volatile situation,” Bell said.

Jeffrey Lewis, a non-proliferation expert at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, said: “The U.S. doesn’t need Turkey’s agreement to remove the weapons. The U.S. can do it unilaterally, and I think the U.S. should do it unilaterally and do it immediately. If people are really concerned that this is going to somehow be the final nail in the coffin, it’s kind of silly as the coffin is firmly nailed shut. The relationship is in total freefall.”

However, Vipin Narang, a nuclear expert and political scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said removing the weapons would not be straightforward. “Extracting them under these circumstances may be incredibly risky since it would involve removing 50 nuclear weapons from the vaults, moving them on a Turkish base and flying them out of Turkish airspace,” Narang said. “They could be vulnerable to accidents, theft or attack.”

Bulgarian Racism Overshadows Euro 2020 Qualifier

England's Euro 2020 qualifier in Bulgaria was halted twice as fans were warned about racist behavior including Nazi salutes and monkey chanting.

The first pause came in the 28th minute with England leading 2-0.  A stadium announcement then condemned the abuse before stating the match would be abandoned if it continued.  The game was stopped again in the 43rd minute before restarting after discussions between the referee and England manager Gareth Southgate.  England went on to win 6-0 to strengthen their place at the top of their qualifying group.

The game at the city's Levski stadium was being played in front of a reduced crowd after UEFA ordered a partial closure due to racist behavior by their supporters in June's qualifiers against the Czechs and Kosovo.  Racism was also a major talking point ahead of the game, with England striker Tammy Abraham indicating last week that the players could act as a group and leave the pitch if subjected to abuse.

Bulgarian supporters made monkey chants at visiting black players when England last traveled to Sofia for a European qualifier in 2011, prompting UEFA to fine the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) over $40,000..

Sky Sports reporter Rob Dorsett said he had heard monkey chants on six occasions when England players Tyrone Mings, making his debut, and Marcus Rashford were in possession of the ball.  "I heard one fan clearly shout “Hey, monkey” as Mings passed the ball," he said.

Football Association chairman Greg Clarke was at the game and witnessed the abuse first hand, saying it had left a number of the England players and staff visibly upset.  "I heard examples of appalling racist chanting," he said.  "I was looking at a group of people, all in black - about 50 of them - who were making what looked like political fascist gestures. I couldn't be sure, it was 100 meters away but it looked appalling.

"I've spoken to one or two of the players and I've also spoken to one or two of the team staff, because we don't just have a multiracial team, we have a multiracial team staff.  "They were visibly emotionally upset, and I spoke to Gareth after the game too and I offered him our full support."

A group of Bulgaria supporters wearing black hooded tops - some wearing bandanas covering their faces - started to leave the stadium after the game was halted for a second time. BBC reported that some made right-wing and racist gestures while heading towards the exits.

After six minutes of time added at the end of the first half because of the delay, Bulgaria captain Ivelin Popov was seen in a heated debate with a section of home supporters near the tunnel while the rest of the players headed for the dressing rooms for half-time.

AFter the game, the BFU tried to downplay the incident, with Vice President Yordan Lechkov saying, "It's quite disappointing to focus on racism.  It's not serious to concentrate on that if there's a qualifier like this and we're playing against a team like England."

Bulgarian Sports minister Krasen Kralev said the government would suspend relations with the BFU, including financial ties.  Bulgarian Prime Minister called for the BFU's president to resign, saying "It is unacceptable for Bulgaria, which is one of the most tolerant countries in the world, and people of different ethnicities and religions living in peace, to be associated with racism and xenophobia."

China Means Business

You've Been Warned

Another Sad Setback for Trump's Nobel Prize

With all the news over Trump's upcoming impeachment, this story completely flew under the press radar.  Trump officials have continued to deny that its recent nuclear talks with North Korea ended in failure, insisting that "good discussions" were had.

Earlier, North Korea said the meeting had broken down, because the US brought "nothing to the negotiation table".

Officials from the two countries recently met in Sweden, in the hope of breaking their stalemate.  However, North Korea's top nuclear envoy Kim Myong Gil spoke to reporters outside the embassy, saying "the negotiations have not fulfilled our expectation and finally broke off".

"The U.S. raised expectations by offering suggestions like a flexible approach, new method and creative solutions, but they have disappointed us greatly," he added. "The U.S. would not give up their old viewpoint and attitude".

The recent failure in talks came (unsurprisingly) just days after North Korea tested a new missile, a significant escalation from the short-range tests it has conducted since May.  The missile - able to carry a nuclear weapon - was the North's 11th test this year. Fired from a platform at sea, it appears to be capable of being launched from a submarine, which means North Korea could potentially launch missiles far outside its territory.

Trump officials and North Korea have held two summits so far. The first one in Singapore in 2018 resulted in a vague denuclearization agreement which led to few concrete results.  The second summit in Vietnam in February 2019 ended early without any agreement.

Lewis Capaldi - Someone You Loved

Trump Administration Now Wants to Screw Over Restaurant Workers

The Trump administration is trying once again to tweak the rules that govern how tipped workers are paid. This time, their proposal would probably result in servers doing more non-tipped work and at a lower pay rate than previously required.

The Labor Department has rolled out a new proposed “tip rule” clarifying how employers can divvy up gratuities among their staffs. While most of the plan had been hashed out last year in a compromise with congressional Democrats, it includes a separate recommendation that has angered worker advocates: the elimination of the “80-20 rule.”

In most states, it is legal to pay servers and bartenders a sub-minimum wage, sometimes as low as $2.13 per hour, so long as tips get their hourly rate up to the regular minimum wage. Under the 80-20 rule, a tipped worker can be required to do nontipped work at the lower rate ― like folding napkins and filling up salt shakers ― so long as it doesn’t eat up more than 20% of the shift. If it does, then the worker would have to be paid the full minimum wage ― at least $7.25 per hour, depending on the state ― for that time.

The Labor Department, now headed by recent Trump appointee Secretary Eugene Scalia, wants to get rid of that explicit 20% time limit. Instead, the rule would simply require that the nontipped work be done “contemporaneously” or “within a reasonable time immediately before or after” the tipped work. So long as an employer met that vague criteria, there would be no precise cap on the nontipped work if the administration’s proposal becomes final.

“Unfortunately, today, DOL is proposing regulations that make it perfectly legal for employers to take advantage of tipped workers,” Judy Conti, with the left-leaning National Employment Law Project, said in a statement. “We are extremely disappointed, though not surprised, that DOL is again doing the bidding of corporate America rather than the workers it is supposed to protect.”

Servers and other tipped workers will lose out on the deal ― in fact, the Labor Department’s own analysis suggests that likelihood. In its proposal, the agency acknowledges workers will spend more time on lower-paying duties:

The removal of the twenty percent time limit may result in tipped workers such as wait staff and bartenders performing more of these non-tipped duties such as “cleaning and setting tables, toasting bread, making coffee, and occasionally washing dishes or glasses.” … Tipped workers might lose tipped income by spending more of their time performing duties where they are not earning tips, while still receiving cash wages of less than minimum wage.

What’s more, workers in the back of the house who are paid a full minimum wage could end up hurt by the rule as well, the agency notes. That’s because employers would have an incentive to shift nontipped work away from those employees to the tipped workers earning a lower pay rate:

Consequently, employment of workers currently performing these duties, such as dishwashers and cooks, may fall, possibly resulting in a transfer of employment-related producer surplus from those non-tipped workers to tipped workers who work longer hours.

Sen. Patty Murray, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, said that Scalia, who was confirmed late last month, “is already proving exactly what I feared: that he’ll really serve as a Secretary of Corporate Interests.”

Trump Administration Imposes Visa Restrictions Over China's Abuse of Uighurs

The Trump administration has said it will impose visa restrictions on Chinese officials accused of involvement in repression of Muslim populations.  It follows the decision to blacklist 28 Chinese organizations linked to allegations of abuse in the Xinjiang region.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the Chinese government had instituted "a highly repressive campaign".  China has dismissed the allegations as groundless.

In a statement, Pompeo accused the Chinese government of a string of abuses against Uighurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz Muslims and other minority Muslim groups.   These included "mass detentions in internment camps; pervasive, high-tech surveillance; draconian controls on expressions of cultural and religious identities; and coercion of individuals to return from abroad to an often perilous fate in China".

China has rebuffed the moves.  "There is no such thing as these so-called 'human rights issues' as claimed by the United States," foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said.  "These accusations are nothing more than an excuse for the United States to deliberately interfere in China's internal affairs."

Visa restrictions are to be imposed on Chinese government and Communist Party officials, as well as their family members.  "The United States calls on the People's Republic of China to immediately end its campaign of repression in Xinjiang, release all those arbitrarily detained, and cease efforts to coerce members of Chinese Muslim minority groups residing abroad to return to China to face an uncertain fate," the State Department said.

Hit Song in Trumpville

Trump In More Trouble Over Ukraine Scandal

Amid reports that there is now a second whistle-blower on Trump's attempts to curry foreign interference in U.S. elections, there are now reports that Trump officials were involved in further corruption over energy contracts in Ukraine.

Donald Trump allies and business associates of Rudy Giuliani tried to force Ukraine's state-run gas company to give lucrative contracts to the president’s supporters, according to these reports.  Just as Giuliani was pressuring the country to investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter, a group of individuals with ties to POTUS and his personal lawyer were also active in the former Soviet republic.

Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, two Soviet-born Florida real estate entrepreneurs, and an oil magnate from Boca Raton, Florida, named Harry Sargeant III are said to have touted connections to both men while trying to install new management at the top of Ukraine's massive state gas company.  Their plan was to then steer lucrative contracts to companies controlled by Trump allies, according to two people with knowledge of their plans.

But their scheme hit a snag when Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko lost his reelection bid to Volodymyr Zelenskiy, whose conversation with Trump about former Vice President Joe Biden is now at the center of the House impeachment inquiry of Trump.

The effort to install a friendlier management team at the helm of the gas company, Naftogaz, would soon be taken up with Ukraine's new president by U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry, whose slate of candidates included a fellow Texan who is one of Perry's past political donors.

Trump told a group of Republican lawmakers Friday that it had been Perry who had prompted the phone call in which Trump asked Zelenskiy for a 'favor' regarding Biden.   Axios cited a source saying the president claimed Perry had asked him to make the call to discuss 'something about an LNG (liquefied natural gas) plant'.

But the Trump and Giuliani allies driving the attempt to change the senior management at Naftogazt, however, appear to have had inside knowledge of the U.S. government's plans in Ukraine.   For example, they told people that Trump would replace the U.S. ambassador there months before she was actually recalled to Washington, according to three of the individuals interviewed by the Associated Press. One of the individuals said he was so concerned by the whole affair that he reported it to a U.S. Embassy official in Ukraine months ago.

The Naftogaz supervisory board is supposed to be selected by the Ukrainian president's Cabinet in consultation with international institutions, including the International Monetary Fund, the United States and the European Union.   It must be approved by the Ukrainian Cabinet. Ukrainian officials perceived Perry's push to swap out the board as circumventing that established process.

Kristin Chenoweth - You Don't Own Me

Trump Has a Meltdown, Twitter Responds

Trump Congratulates China on 70 years of Oppression and Denial of Human Rights

In a move that sickened people across the globe, Donald Trump congratulated Chinese President Xi Jinping on the 70th anniversary of Communist rule Tuesday-- mere hours after it was reported that a riot control officer shot an 18-year-old protester in the chest during pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong.

The day featured the most extensive clashes between protests and police since protests began four months ago.  At the same time in Beijing, China showed off its military might with a massive parade of 15,000 troops, new drones, and ICBMs capable of hitting the U.S.

Some fellow Republicans took a pointedly different tack in acknowledging the anniversary.  Ben Sasse, a Republican senator from Nebraska, said: 'Today Chinese tyrants celebrated 70 years of communist oppression with their typically brutal symbolism: by sending a police officer to shoot a pro-democracy protester at point-blank range.  The freedom-seekers in Hong Kong mourn this anniversary, and the American people stand with them against those who deny their God-given dignity."

Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas was also critical and said: 'To see the price of the PRC's anniversary celebration, look no further than what's happening in Hong Kong: a ceaseless war against those who wish to live in freedom.  From the Great Leap Forward to the Cultural Revolution to the camps in Xinjiang today, it has been a ghoulish 70 years of Chinese Communist Party control.'

Trump's Attorney General and CIA Director Are Pulled into Impeachment Scandal

On the heels of Trump's admission that he is violating the Whistleblower Act, comes reports that Mike Pompeo and William Barr are complicit in the growing scandal that could lead to impeachment.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been revealed to have listened in on that call between Trump and Zelensky, The Wall Street Journal reported, pulling him into the growing impeachment inquiry that started with the president's request of the Ukrainian president.   Previous to this report, Pompeo had denied involvement in the scandal.

In a separate report, the Australian government revealed that  Donald Trump also pressed Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to help Attorney General William Barr in an investigation that could benefit him politically.    Trump called his Australian counter part to make the pitch at the request of Barr
   
Barr has held many other private meetings overseas with foreign intelligence officials to ask for their help in the matter.  The Australia call is the second revelation that the president asked a fellow world leader to aid in a domestic political matter that could affect his re-election.  Barr has held private meetings overseas with other foreign intelligence officials to ask for their help in his probe, The Washington Post reported. 

Amid all these developments, Trump confirmed that he and his team are seeking to uncover the identity of a whistle-blower who accused him of an abuse of power – even as a lawyer representing the official has warned of threats on his life.  The anonymity of whistle-blowers is guaranteed and such retaliation is against federal law.