Jilly_in_VA
Jilly_in_VA's JournalFBI's opposition to releasing Leonard Peltier driven by vendetta, says ex-agent
The FBI’s repeated opposition to the release of Leonard Peltier is driven by vindictiveness and misplaced loyalties, according to a former senior agent close to the case who is the first agency insider to call for clemency for the Indigenous rights activist who has been held in US maximum security prisons for almost five decades.
Coleen Rowley, a retired FBI special agent whose career included 14 years as legal counsel in the Minneapolis division where she worked with prosecutors and agents directly involved in the Peltier case, has written to Joe Biden making a case for Peltier’s release.
“Retribution seems to have emerged as the primary if not sole reason for continuing what looks from the outside to have become an emotion-driven ‘FBI Family’ vendetta,” said Rowley in the letter sent to the US president in December and shared exclusively with the Guardian.
Rowley added: “The focus of my two cents leading to my joining the call for clemency is based on Peltier’s inordinately long prison sentence and an ever more compelling need for simple mercy due to his advanced age and deteriorating health.
“Enough is enough. Leonard Peltier should now be allowed to go home.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/18/leonard-peltier-clemency-fbi-agent-coleen-rowley
I've thought for years that this was the case. Free Leonard!
New details emerge about plot to shoot at New Mexico Democrats' homes
The arrest of a defeated candidate for the New Mexico legislature on charges that he orchestrated a plot to shoot up the homes of four Democratic officials in Albuquerque prompted widespread condemnation Tuesday as well as accusations that the stolen-election rhetoric among supporters of former president Donald Trump continues to incite violence.
Following the Monday arrest, new details emerged Tuesday about the alleged conspiracy, including how close a spray of bullets came to the sleeping 10-year-old daughter of a state senator. Albuquerque police said in charging documents released Tuesday that Solomon Peña, 39, who lost a state House seat in November by a nearly 2-1 margin but complained that his defeat was rigged, hatched the plot. Police accused him of conspiring with four accomplices to drive past the officials’ homes and fire at them.
Peña “provided firearms and cash payments and personally participated in at least one shooting,” the documents said. They alleged he intended to cause “serious injury or death” to the people inside their homes, the documents said. The group allegedly stole at least two cars used in the incidents, police said.
One of the targets of the attack said the shootings were part of a lineage of violence that stems from Trump’s false claims of a stolen election and that includes the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“You think it wouldn’t happen here, that someone would do this to local officials,” said former Bernalillo commissioner Debbie O’Malley, whose home was shot at Dec. 11. “There’s been this narrative for a long time: If you don’t get your way, it’s okay to be violent. The message came from the top. It came from Trump.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/01/17/solomon-pea-shooting-new-mexico/
Proving again that RepubliKKKans are nothing but criminals! #soreloser
Former Wagner Group commander who fled to Norway feared for his life
A former commander with the Russian mercenary Wagner Group who sought asylum in Norway spoke of how he feared for his life in an interview conducted last month in Russia with the Guardian.
Andrey Medvedev, 26, said that in Ukraine he had witnessed the summary killing of Wagner fighters accused by their own commanders of disobeying orders, sometimes in pairs.
After fleeing his unit, he crossed the border into Norway near the Pasvikdalen valley shortly before 2am local time last Friday, where he was arrested and detained by border guards.
“He has applied for asylum in Norway,” said Tarjei Sirma-Tellefsen, the chief of staff for the police in Finnmark, northern Norway.
Medvedev is the first known soldier from the Wagner Group who fought in Ukraine to flee abroad.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/17/former-wagner-group-commando-fled-norway-feared-life-russia
Fake Brain Doc at 'Filthy' Special-Needs School Uses Kids as 'Guinea Pigs,' Lawsuit Claims
A New York City private school for special-needs children with brain disorders is allegedly so filthy that students’ wheelchairs are teeming with cockroaches, and is run by a scandal-ridden chiropractor masquerading as a “neurologist” who preys on female staffers.
The disturbing accusations are detailed in a lawsuit obtained by The Daily Beast, which was filed Monday by a one-time employee who in December quit her job at the International Institute for the Brain (iBRAIN) on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.
In it, former iBRAIN publicity associate Katelyn Newman also claims, among other things, that the school hired at least one convicted felon who fraudulently posed for years as a doctor and fake U.S. Navy officer, subjects children to scientific experiments without proper consent, and lacks basic classroom necessities like pencils and chairs even as the state forks over up to $350,000 per student for tuition.
“This is major crime,” Newman’s attorney, Kenneth McCallion, told The Daily Beast on Tuesday, noting his client was “severely damaged by the entire experience,” and had to start seeing a therapist to recover.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/fake-brain-doc-at-filthy-special-needs-school-ibrain-uses-kids-as-guinea-pigs-lawsuit-claims
Preying on the most vulnerable and their desperate parents...despicable and deplorable.
GOP Candidate Accused of 'Masterminding' Plot to Shoot Up Democrats' Homes
A former GOP candidate who embraced “stolen election” conspiracy theories after losing his race in a landslide is accused of “masterminding” a series of shootings at the homes of four Democratic lawmakers.
Solomon Peña, who lost his race for the New Mexico state legislature in 2022, was arrested after a SWAT team operation at his home in Albuquerque on Monday evening, Albuquerque Police chief Harold Medina said during a press conference on Monday night.
“Peña is accused of conspiring with, and paying four other men to shoot at the homes of 2 county commissioners and 2 state legislators,” Medina said.
Peña paid four other men to conduct the drive-by shootings at or near the homes of the four lawmakers in December and early January, and investigators believe he was present during at least one of the shootings, Medina said.
A VICE News review of Peña’s Twitter history has uncovered his habit of posting the “stolen election” lies pushed by former President Donald Trump, as well as QAnon-related conspiracy theories, anti-vax messages, and misogynistic, homophobic, and transphobic statements.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/5d3vkx/solomon-pena-arrest-new-mexico
Is this what we can expect from #sorelosers from now on?
Who Will Win Vladimir Putin's Game of Thrones?
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s reshuffle of the senior officials in charge of the Ukraine war is a ploy to set off infighting among his underlings that will make it easier to pin blame for the inevitable failure of the invasion, analysts and Western officials have told VICE World News.
On the 11th of January, Putin replaced General Sergei Surovikin – who had been on the job only 90 days – as the overall commander in Ukraine with Surovikin’s boss, General Valery Gerasimov, the army’s highest ranking officer, in an effort, according to a Kremlin statement, to better manage operations and simplify lines of command.
With only limited diplomatic and media access to Putin’s inner circle, understanding the internal machinations of the regime has grown increasingly difficult, according to officials. The stalled Ukraine invasion appears to have pitted multiple Russian power centres against one another to avoid blame for the military debacle, while also currying favour with Putin himself. Analysts say that as Putin allows his underlings to openly battle one another for influence, it becomes increasingly difficult to predict the regime’s behaviour as he waits to see how rivalries play out.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began almost 11 months ago, has been a tactical and strategic disaster, with massive losses of soldiers, equipment, and reputation. The course of the war has seen Putin implement unpopular mobilisation plans that have sent hundreds of thousands of Russians fleeing the country. The ability of Ukraine, which has a smaller population and military, to resist the initial Russian invasion before eventually pursuing a series of successful counter attacks this summer has roiled much of the Russian defence establishment as commanders and officials manoeuvre to avoid becoming the fall guys for the overall failure.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/v7vapj/vladimir-putin-ukraine-sergei-surovikin
Sure reminds me of the bad old days. Read up on Russian history.
A Sheriff in Louisiana Has Been Destroying Records of Deputies' Alleged Misconduct for Years
The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office in Louisiana has been unlawfully destroying its deputies’ disciplinary records for at least 10 years, according to records provided by state officials responsible for overseeing the retention of records by state, parish and local agencies.
The finding comes at a time when the sheriff’s office is facing multiple lawsuits involving allegations of excessive force, racial discrimination and wrongful death at the hands of Jefferson Parish deputies. Attorneys have accused Sheriff Joe Lopinto of failing to discipline deputies and a lack of transparency when it comes to releasing records that might shed light on their history of complaints and disciplinary action.
The illegal destruction of disciplinary records can make it harder to hold deputies accountable in a court of law or track problem officers moving from department to department, said Sam Walker, emeritus professor of criminal justice at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
The sheriff’s office was recently the subject of a year-long investigation by ProPublica and WWNO/WRKF, which found that JPSO rarely sustains complaints against its deputies. The sheriff’s office refused to provide the news organizations with copies of unsustained complaints, calling it overly burdensome and an invasion of privacy. The agency said it couldn’t even provide the number of complaints filed, stating such a number “does not exist.”
Like all public agencies, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office is required by law to secure approval from the Louisiana State Archives, a division of the Secretary of State’s Office, before destroying its public records. It also is required to secure approval for policies, or schedules, dictating how long public records are to be retained before they are eligible for disposal.
The sheriff’s office failed to do either, records show. The only JPSO records retention policy on file with the state concerns body-worn and vehicle-mounted cameras. That was approved in November. The sheriff has not sought approval for retention policies concerning any other public record, including disciplinary files, according to the state archives.
https://www.propublica.org/article/jefferson-parish-sheriff-misconduct-records-allegations-jpso
Lousyanna
New House Homeland Security Committee Chair Has History Of Anti-Muslim Comments
Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.) is set to lead the House Committee on Homeland Security, which Muslim civil rights groups say is alarming because he has a history of making Islamophobic remarks.
Green — a physician, Iraq War veteran and former GOP state senator — once said he didn’t want students in Tennessee to learn about Islam and that Iraqis smelled like “curry mixed with sweat.” He has also made anti-LGBTQ remarks, including claiming that being transgender was a disease.
“If you hold stereotypes about communities, how can you effectively move on issues that are really nuanced and require a greater understanding of the issues?” said Sabina Mohyuddin, the executive director of the American Muslim Advisory Council, a Tennessee-based civic engagement organization.
Rachel Del Guidice, the communications director for Green’s office, told HuffPost that “some media outlets cut and spliced” Green’s remarks.
“Rep. Green has not, and will not ever, force his religion on anyone. He believes that every American has a right to defend their country,” said Del Guidice.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mark-green-anti-muslim_n_63c05aa5e4b0ae9de1c6098d
Ain't he just a peach?
Hamline University under fire for art professor's dismissal
A Minnesota university’s decision to dismiss a professor for including depictions of the Prophet Muhammad in a world art course has put the small, private school at the center of a debate over how to include controversial material in college courses while respecting students’ personal relationship to the material.
Months after the images were shown in an online class, the chair of Hamline University’s Board of Trustees said Friday that the trustees were reviewing the university’s policies and its responses to both student complaints and faculty concerns about academic freedom. Also Friday, a national civil rights organization for Muslims rebuked accusations that the professor’s behavior was Islamophobic.
The conflict began in October when adjunct professor Erika López Prater included a 14th-century painting depicting the Prophet Muhammad in a lesson on Islamic art, prompting a Muslim student in the class to complain to the university, according to media reports and advocacy groups that have backed either the professor or student.
López Prater was aware that for many Muslims, visual depictions of the Prophet Muhammad violate their faith. A course syllabus she has shown in media interviews noted that students would view images of religious figures, including the Prophet Muhammad. The syllabus also included an offer to work with students uncomfortable with viewing those images.
https://apnews.com/article/education-colleges-and-universities-minnesota-middle-east-religion-e39841dd59ea2647a6019b4ba669bfe5
It's not like she didn't make all kinds of accommodations for those uncomfortable with the images, FFS,
There is no US labor shortage. That's a myth
Robert ReichWhen a public problem is wrongly described, the solutions posed often turn out to be irrelevant or inhumane.
A current example: America’s so-called “labor shortage”.
Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, says the United States has a “structural labor shortage” that’s unlikely to be resolved anytime soon.
The US Chamber of Commerce claims there are over 10 million job openings in the US for which employers can’t find workers.
Here’s the truth: there is no labor shortage.
There is, however, a shortage of jobs paying sufficient wages to attract workers to fill job openings.
For most Americans, real (inflation-adjusted) wages continue to drop. Wages have been increasing less than prices.
Those price increases include the costs of food, energy, rent, childcare, eldercare and transportation (cars, gas and public transit) – all big expenses for working people.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/15/there-is-no-us-labor-shortage-thats-a-myth
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