May 14, 2019

Ireland bars Christian fundamentalist pastor from entering country

An anti-gay US Christian fundamentalist pastor who has been accused of Holocaust denial has become the first person to be barred from entering Ireland under a 20-year-old immigration law. Steven Anderson was due to travel to Dublin on 26 May to preach in the city, but the Irish justice minister, Charlie Flanagan, took the unusual step to ban him from coming into the country.

More than 14,000 people signed an online petition set up by the Christian gay rights campaign group Changing Attitude Ireland calling on the Irish government to block Anderson’s trip to the country. The organisation claimed that in the past he had “advocated exterminating LGBT+ people”. Confirming the barring order under the 1999 Immigration Act, Flanagan said: “I have signed the exclusion order under my executive powers in the interest of public policy.” It is the first time the Irish government has used the legislation to bar anyone from the country.

The US preacher has said he prays at night for Barack Obama to die. He also posted praise online for the gunman who murdered 49 people at an LGBT nightclub in Florida in 2016. In the same year Anderson was deported from Botswana after saying in an interview with a local radio station that gay people should be killed.

SNIP

The gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell welcomed the Irish government’s decision. “His glorification of mass murder crosses a red line. It is more than mere hate. Ireland is right to ban him.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/13/ireland-bars-christian-fundamentalist-pastor-steven-anderson-entering-country

May 6, 2019

Ireland : Health Minister Simon Harris seeks AG's advice on making child vaccination mandatory

Harris seeks AG’s advice on making child vaccination mandatory

Minister for Health Simon Harris has sought the advice of Attorney General Seamus Woulfe on whether it is possible to make it mandatory for children to be vaccinated if they attend schools or crèches. The request comes as a United Nations report warned that the number of measles cases in Ireland had increased more than three-fold and that millions of children worldwide are missing out on the measles vaccine. The report says the number of Irish measles cases has risen by 244 per cent, from 25 in 2017 to 86 last year. So far this year in Ireland there have been 48 cases of measles, a highly contagious disease that can kill or cause blindness, deafness or brain damage.

SNIP

“We obviously have a written constitution and we obviously need to take legal advice in relation to what we can and can’t do legislatively in this country,” Mr Harris said. “I haven’t made any firm decisions yet or consulted Government colleagues on the matter but I do feel very strongly about it.

“I feel there is something irresponsible and that is against the public good sending an unvaccinated child into a school, into a crèche or into a public place where they could actually make other children sick, particularly young babies who might be too young to actually get vaccinated, who could then end up with a very significant disease and also vulnerable groups in our community.”

SNIP

In 2017, the Irish vaccination rate was estimated to be 92 per cent, up from 86 per cent in 2009. However, vaccination rates have fallen slightly in recent years. Peter Power, the Unicef Ireland chief executive, warned that measles would “always find unvaccinated children” and that the foundations for the ongoing global measles outbreak were laid years ago. “If we are serious about averting the spread of this dangerous but preventable disease, we need to vaccinate every child, in rich and poor countries alike.” Dr Lucy Jessop, head of the HSE national immunisation office, warned that one case of measles could infect up to 18 people and that the only protection was the MMR vaccine.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/harris-seeks-ag-s-advice-on-making-child-vaccination-mandatory-1.3872815

May 2, 2019

Neal Katyal suggests again today: De-fund AG Barr's salary and the AG Office.

In light of the Barr display yesterday, it is clear he will ignore the subpoena, brush off a contempt of Congress, and attempt to force Dems to go down the impeachment process. There is another option, and one I thought was a waste of time a month ago. It's not sounding so far out there now.....

2:48 mark

De-funding the Attorney General of the United States is a legitimate and respectable tool Congress could use to at least curtail lawlessness on the part of the Attorney General and his office? Yes.

” [Taxpayers]...shouldn’t pay for...this lawlessness.” Indeed.

Despite inevitable caterwauling and wailings of “Partisanship! Cheaters!” by the GOP, Congress should absolutely set these gears in motion while they still can and educate the American people as to why.

1. Bill Barr lied, and continues to lie, about the Mueller Report. That much is clear now that it has been parsed through and reported on. Does he think Americans are stupid? Yes.

2. Bill Barr refuses to release the full, unreacted Mueller Report to the other equal branch of government—Congress—because he knows most Americans don’t realize that it is Constitutionally required.

3. Bill Barr is threatening to stonewall Congress yet again, by refusing to testify in front of the House Judiciary Committee because he disagrees with their “format,” i.e., he does not want to be questioned by Democratic lawyers.

4. Trump, Barr, and former Acting AG Rod Rosenstein, are thumbing their noses at the People—Congress—in their quest to to seize power. If the House doesn’t act the AG Office/DOJ may start “investigating” members of Congress to delegitimize Congress even further

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/4/29/1845857/-Neal-Katyal-s-suggestion-in-March-applies-today-De-fund-AG-Barr-s-salary-and-the-AG-Office

April 18, 2019

Alfa Bank in Mueller Report

Page 146

High Level Encouragement of Contacts through Alternative Channels

As Russian officials in the United States reached out to the President-Elect and his team, a number of Russian individuals working in the private sector began their own efforts to make contact. Petr Aven, a Russian national who heads Alfa-Bank, Russia's largest commercial bank, described to the Office interactions with Putin during this time period that might account for the flurry of Russian activity.

Aven told the Office that he is one of approximately 50 wealthy Russian businessmen who regularly meet with Putin in the Kremlin; these 50 men are often referred to as oligarchs. Aven told the Office that he met on a quarterly basis with Putin, including in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2016, shortly after the U.S. presidential election. Aven said that he took these meetings seriously and understood that any suggestions or critiques that Putin made during these meetings were implicit directives, and that there would be consequences for A ven if he did not follow through.
As was typical, the 2016 Q4 meeting with Putin was preceded by a preparatory meeting with Putin's chief of staff, Anton Vaino.

According to Aven, at his Q4 2016 one-on-one meeting with Putin, Putin raised the prospect that the United States would impose additional sanctions on Russian interests, including sanctions against Aven and/or Alfa-Bank.
Putin suggested that Aven needed to take steps to protect himself and Alfa-Bank.
Aven also testified that Putin spoke of the difficulty faced by the Russian government in getting in touch with the incoming Trump Administration.
According to Aven, Putin indicated that he did not know with whom formally to speak and generally did not know the people around the President-Elect.

Page 147

Aven told Putin he would take steps to protect himself and the Alfa-Bank shareholders from potential sanctions, and one of those steps would be to try to reach out to the incoming Administration to establish a line of communication.
A ven described Putin responding with skepticism about Aven's prospect for success.
According to Aven, although Putin did not expressly direct him to reach out to the Trump Transition Team, Aven understood that Putin expected him to try to respond to the concerns he had raised.

Aven' s efforts are described in Volume I, Section IV.B.5,infra.

2. Kirill Dmitriev's Transition-Era Outreach to the Incoming Administration Aven's description of his interactions with Putin is consistent with the behavior of Kirill Dmitriev, a Russian national who heads Russia's sovereign wealth fund and is closely connected to Putin. Dmitriev undertook efforts to meet members of the incoming Trump Administration in the months after the election. Dmitriev asked a close business associate who worked for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) royal court, George Nader, to introduce him to Trump transition officials, and Nader eventually arranged a meeting in the Seychelles between Dmitriev and Erik Prince, a Trump Campaign supporter and an associate of Steve Bannon.
In addition, the UAE national security advisor introduced Dmitriev to a hedge fund manager and friend of Jared Kushner, Rick Gerson, in late November 2016. In December 2016 and January 2017, Dmitriev and Gerson worked on a proposal for reconciliation between the United States and Russia, which Dmitriev implied he cleared through Putin. Gerson provided that proposal to Kushner before the inauguration, and Kushner later gave copies to Bannon and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

a Background
Dmitriev is a Russian national who was appointed CEO of Russia's sovereign wealth fund, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), when it was founded in 2011.
Dmitriev reported directly to Putin and frequently referred to Putin as his boss.
RDIF has co-invested in various projects with UAE sovereign wealth funds.
Dmitriev regularly interacted with Nader, a senior advisor to UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed (Crown Prince Mohammed), in connection with RDIF s dealings with the UAE.
Putin wanted Dmitriev to be in charge of both the financial and the political relationship between Russia and the Gulf states, in part because Dmitriev had been educated in the West and spoke English fluently.
Nader considered Dmitriev to be Putin s interlocutor in the Gulf region, and would relay Dmitriev s views directly to Crown Prince Mohammed.
Nader developed contacts with both U.S. presidential campaigns during the 2016 election, and kept Dmitriev abreast of his efforts to do so.
According to Nader, Dmitriev said that his and the government of Russia s preference was for candidate Trum to win and asked Nader to assist him in meetin members of the Trum Campaign.
Nader did not introduce Dmitriev to anyone associated with the Trump Campaign before the election.

Page 163

5. Petr Aven's Outreach Efforts to the Transition Team In December 2016, weeks after the one-on-one meeting with Putin described in Volume I, Section IV.B.1.b, supra

Petr Aven attended what he described as a separate "all-hands" oligarch meeting between Putin and Russia's most prominent businessmen.
As in Aven's one-on-one meeting, a main topic of discussion at the oligarch meeting in December 2016 was the prospect of forthcoming U.S. economic sanctions.

After the December 2016 all-hands meeting, A ven tried to establish a connection to the Trump team. A ven instructed Richard Burt to make contact with the incoming Trump Administration. Burt was on the board of directors for LetterOne
(L 1 , another company headed by Aven, and had done work for Alfa-Bank.

Burt had previously served as U.S. ambassador to Germany and Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs, and one of his primary roles with Alfa-Bank and Ll was to facilitate introductions to business contacts in the United States and other Western countries.
While at a Ll board meeting held in Luxembourg in late December 2016, Aven pulled Burt aside and told him that he had spoken to someone high in the Russian government who expressed

AKIN_GUMP_BERKOWITZ_00000ll (12/19/16 Text Message, Ivanchenko to Berkowitz (9:56 a.m.)).
AKIN_GUMP_BERKOWITZ_00000ll-15 (12/19/16 -2/16/17 Text Messages, Ivanchenko&Berkowitz).
AKIN_GUMP_BERKOWITZ_00000lS (2/8/17 Text Message, Ivanchenko to Berkowitz (10:41 a.m.)).
Berkowitz 3/22/18 302, at 4-5.
Aven 8/2/18 302, at 6; Burt 2/9/18 302, at 2. 163

April 18, 2019

Let's remember, THIS is what Barr allowed to seen publicly. Surely there is hotter stuff that is

redacted, that shouldn't be, which would make things a lot clearer in the questions we have ?

April 4, 2019

Julian Assange to be expelled from Ecuadorian Embassy within hours after UK deal.

The WikiLeaks founder has been in the London building since 2012 after seeking asylum there as Swedish police wanted to question him over allegations of sexual assault and rape. WikiLeaks tweeted on Thursday night: “A high-level source within the Ecuadorian state has told WikiLeaks that Julian Assange will be expelled within 'hours to days' using the INA papers offshore scandal as a pretext and that it already has an agreement with the UK for his arrest.” Mr Assange is wanted by American authorities for his role in publishing secret US documents.

According to The Guardian, Ecuador’s president, Lenin Moreno, said Mr Assange had “repeatedly violated” some of the conditions of his asylum.

Mr Moreno said that “Assange cannot lie or, much less, hack into private accounts or private phones”. Mr Assange was also ordered by Ecuador to not “intervene in the politics of countries, or worse friendly countries”. The president claims that photos of his bedroom, wife and family were circulated online, although he didn’t accuse Mr Assange of doing this.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1110035/Julian-Assange-news-WikiLeaks-Ecuador-embassy-london-expelled-INA-paper-edward-snowden

April 4, 2019

What happens to all that money raised, if a candidate pulls out ?

I mean you can't give it back, or if you can, do you give it back proportionately ?

April 2, 2019

Brexit: Theresa May to ask EU for further extension, seeks Labour's help.

Theresa May will ask the EU for an extension to the Brexit deadline to "break the logjam" in Parliament.

The PM says she wants to meet Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to agree a plan on the future relationship with the EU.

But she insisted her withdrawal agreement - which was voted down last week - would remain part of the deal.

Mrs May said she wanted the extension to be "as short as possible" - before 22 May so the UK does not have to take part in European elections.

The UK has until 12 April to propose a plan - which must be accepted by the EU - or it will leave without a deal.

The UK was supposed to leave the EU on 29 March, but Mrs May agreed a short extension after realising Parliament would not agree a deal by the deadline.

SNIP

If she and Mr Corbyn do not agree a single way forward, she proposed putting a number of options to MPs "to determine which course to pursue".

So now she's trying to tie Labour in, but Corbyn has not been in favour of helping her out of the stew. In the probable likelihood of no labour help, then her options will be even more limited with the April 12 deadline looming.

There was a rumour circulating on Irish radio this morning that she might offer Corbyn a deal, a Confirmation Referendum which contained her Withdrawal Agreement including Customs Area versus Remain. One to watch.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-47794235

March 31, 2019

Brexit : Rats jumping overboard !

Following on from the RWNJ Tea Partyish ERG wing of the Conservative Party deciding to vote for PM May's Withdrawal Agreement, the Ulster RWNJ DUP landed a bombshell signalling they are running for the hills. I genuinely guffawed until I could guffaw no more. The consequence of all this is that Brexit is slowly sinking. Remember

- No Deal Brfexit is ruled out.
- May's Deal is ruled out
- 7 other posibilities in the Indicative Vote were all beaten.

You shouldn't need to join the dots as to where this is headed

Brexit: Nigel Dodds 'would rather stay in the EU than risk union'

The DUP deputy leader has said he would "rather stay in the EU and remain rather than risk Northern Ireland's position" in the union.

Nigel Dodds told BBC Newsnight his position showed how strongly he felt about the union.

It comes after Theresa May saw her Brexit deal defeated in the House of Commons by 344 votes to 286.

However Mr Dodds also said the government must not accept the EU's position as "unalterable".
The prime minister said the UK would have to find "an alternative way forward", which was "almost certain" to involve holding European elections.

Mr Dodds said he did not rule out supporting a "soft Brexit" and that the withdrawal agreement in its current form risked leaving "Northern Ireland behind, causing economic and political ruptures between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom".

However, he did maintain the DUP's support for Brexit: "We believe the referendum result should be respected and delivered on."

He reiterated his party's position that it wants Brexit delivered without the Northern Ireland backstop.

March 29, 2019

Brexit : LIVE - Debate before May's 3rd attempted vote on her Withdrawal Agreement.

Link here

I hope the standard of subtitling improves....