Trump supporter arrested after yelling slurs at Muslim family on a beach

A Muslim family was enjoying a family reunion and beach vacation in South Padre Island, Texas, on May 2, when a man also staying in the South Padre Pearl Hotel harassed them on the beach outside the property. Alexander Downing of Waterford, Connecticut, was filmed by 19-year-old Noria Alward shouting slurs at her family.

“The insane man came close to the kids and that’s when my uncle stood up to him and defended us and the kids, including my 4 year old cousin, 4 and 2 year old nephews,” Alward wrote in her Facebook description of the clip. “The video here shows a glimpse of what we all had to experience.”

http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/329564/trump-supporter-arrested-slurs-muslim-family-beach/?utm_source=share-tw&utm_medium=button

Twenty state attorneys general call for independent special counsel

to probe possible Russia interference in presidential election - New York State attorney general

Comey invited to a CLOSED hearing before Senate Intel Tuesday, sources

Comey invited to a CLOSED hearing before Senate Intel Tuesday, meaning it will be classified and out of public view, source says - Manu Raju‏Verified account

https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/862370258958647303

This week's lesson is Sally Yates was right about everything

Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates is mostly known for two things: Refusing to defend President Donald Trump's first executive order on Muslim immigration, an order which several courts enjoined from enforcement and the White House eventually withdrew; and warning White House counsel Don McGahn about various activities of then-national security adviser Mike Flynn, whom Trump fired weeks later.

This is what made Sen. Ted Cruz's attempted grilling of Yates at Monday's hearing seem so strange. All Cruz's aggressive line of questioning did was serve to show how right Yates had been about everything.

There is a procedural argument to be had about when an attorney general should decline to make an argument in court that the president wants made. (Not one that rises to the level of worrying about whether the AG has usurped the president's executive authority, I think, since the president has a remedy if the AG won't do what he wants — he can fire her, as he did here.)

But if Yates' break with Trump on the travel ban was merely a disagreement over a "policy decision" rather than over whether the policy was lawful, as Cruz posits, why did federal courts keep blocking the order, and why did Trump withdraw the order instead of seeking to defend it in the courts?

http://www.businessinsider.com/sally-yates-michael-flynn-trump-immigration-order-2017-5

Russiagate: Trump Is Trying to Put Out a Fire With More Smoke

If Republicans have a shred of intellectual integrity, they’ll ignore the president’s flailing, and follow the evidence wherever it leads.

There’s a lot we know — and even more we don’t know — regarding the Kremlin interference in the U.S. election last year. The most important thing we know is that there was interference. This is the consensus, “high confidence” assessment of the U.S. intelligence community, which further concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin was trying to hurt Hillary Clinton and help Donald Trump. That in and of itself is scandalous enough. What we don’t know — and need to find out — is whether the Trump campaign actively colluded with this Russian operation and, more broadly, what links if any exist between the U.S. president and the dictator in the Kremlin.

Much remains unexplained. Why, for instance, did Trump associates repeatedly communicate and meet with Russians close to Putin during the campaign? American and European intelligence agencies reportedly have found copious evidence of such conversations, but so far there is no indication of what transpired. If there was an innocent explanation, why did former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and Attorney General Jeff Sessions lie about their conversations with the Russian ambassador?

More questions concern Trump confidante Roger Stone. Was he truthful in saying that he talked last year with Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks (described by Trump’s own CIA director as a “hostile intelligence service”), and with the hacker persona Guccifer 2.0, which U.S. intelligence has determined was simply a front for Russian intelligence? What did they discuss? And how is it that Stone seemed to know in advance of Russian-orchestrated leaks of documents such as the emails of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta?

http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/05/08/russiagate-trump-is-trying-to-put-out-a-fire-with-more-smoke/

Sally Yates responding to Ted Cruz

Jesuits to return 525 acres of South Dakota land to Rosebud Sioux

ST. FRANCIS, S.D. (CNS) — The Jesuits are returning more than 500 acres in South Dakota to the Rosebud Sioux. The formal return of the property is expected to be complete sometime in May.

The property had been given by the U.S. government to the Jesuits in the 1880s for use for churches and cemeteries, according to remarks in a YouTube video by Jesuit Father John Hatcher, president of St. Francis Mission.

“At the beginning of the mission, we had 23 mission stations,” Father Hatcher said. “But over the years as the people moved off the prairie and into cluster housing, those churches were closed because they were considered unnecessary.” Other properties never had churches built.

“It’s now time to give back to the tribe all of those pieces of land that were given to the church for church purposes,” Father Hatcher added. “We will never again put churches on those little parcels of land. But it’s an opportunity to return land that rightly belongs to the Lakota people,” of which the Rosebud Sioux are a part.

http://catholicphilly.com/2017/05/news/national-news/jesuits-to-return-525-acres-of-south-dakota-land-to-rosebud-sioux/

A tribute to nurses

Carolyn Jones spent five years interviewing, photographing and filming nurses across America, traveling to places dealing with some of the nation's biggest public health issues. She shares personal stories of unwavering dedication in this celebration of the everyday heroes who work at the front lines of health care.



https://www.ted.com/talks/carolyn_jones_a_tribute_to_nurses?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=tedspread

Ivanka Sings My Heart Belongs To Daddy

A message for Earth-visiting UFO aliens (if they're real)

Listen up all you UFO-piloting aliens from outer space, this Earth resident has a few reasonable demands.

1. Please hold still.
2. Land and say "Hi."
3. Watch some Star Trek.
4. Step up your Mars-sculpture game.
5. Please don't eat us.

https://www.cnet.com/news/ufo-aliens-spacecraft-earth-message-mars-commentary/#ftag=COS-05-10aaa0j