11 July - Netvibes - oldephartteintraining

'We're not leaving': Tempers flare between First Nation, RCMP amid wildfire evacuation order - Chief Joe Alphonse of the Tl'etinqox First Nation says some members of the community near Alexis Creek won't be obeying an evacuation order.

Trudeau to hold formal bilateral meeting with U.S. VP Mike Pence - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will hold a bilateral meeting with U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence later this week while they're both visiting a conference of U.S. state governors.

Justin Trudeau will attend Calgary Stampede after initially bucking event - The Stampede tends to attract as many politicians as cowboys, with politicos of all stripes taking advantage of the opportunity to shake a lot of hands and dole out significant amounts of pancakes.

City, combative sports commission to hire outside investigator into death of Edmonton MMA fighter - The Edmonton Combative Sports Commission and city administrators plan to work together to hire a third-party to investigate the death of an MMA fighter during a boxing match at the Shaw Conference Centre.

'Any shift in the weather is going to have consequences': B.C. wildfires could get worse, officials warn - A rash of out-of-control wildfires — which started on Friday — have already forced 14,000 people from their homes in B.C.

'Lightning bolt in my hand': N.B. man survives lightning strike while giving daughter's wedding speech - A New Brunswick man said he wasn’t trying to steal anyone’s thunder when he gave a speech at his daughter’s wedding and was struck by lightning.

Canada stumps up cash for family planning in Third World, but won't criticize Trump for stepping back - Canada appears unwilling to criticize the U.S. for pulling back from funding family planning in developing countries even as the Trudeau government steps in to fill some of the void left behind by the Trump administration.

'Competing Canadian values': Awarding Khadr's settlement to U.S. widow a challenge for Ont. court - The family of a slain U.S. soldier who won a $134 million lawsuit against Omar Khadr in a Utah court could face some significant legal hurdles in collecting any money recently awarded to the former Guantanamo Bay inmate.

Canadian tech companies say they value diversity — but what are they doing about it? - We asked 31 Canadian technology companies how they measure the diversity of their workforce but got few details in response - even though the sector says it is making strides to be more inclusive of women and minorities.

'It looks like bullet holes': Hail damage, flooding in wake of Saskatoon storm - A storm pelted Saskatoon with hail Monday evening, leaving streets submerged and one home covered in holes.

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Photo: China, by vapi photographie - China © josh rudolph for China Digital Times (CDT), get_post_time('Y'). | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: vapi photographieDownload Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

Beijing: Hong Kong Handover Treaty Still Binding - A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official has clarified a remark made at a press conference on June 30th by spokesperson Lu Kang regarding China’s stance on the Sino-British Joint Declaration on the handover of Hong Kong. Lu’s statement suggested that China no longer considers the Sino-British Joint Declaration to be legally binding. The document, signed in 1984, set out the blueprint for how Hong Kong would be governed after its return to China and contains guarantees for the city’s rights and freedoms under the “one country two systems” arrangement. China has now reiterated its commitment to the “two systems” formula and confirmed that the Sino-British treaty remained in force and is binding, but stressed that it will not allow the United Kingdom to interfere in the city’s internal affairs. Joyce Ng at South China Morning Post reports: Xu Hong, director general of the Chinese foreign ministry’s treaty and law department, sought to clarify a colleague’s recent remarks suggesting the irrelevance of the treaty. He also assured Hong Kong that Beijing was committed to upholding the “one country, two systems” policy – not under the treaty, but because of a commitment in the city’s mini-constitution. […] “He said ‘it no longer has realistic meaning’. This is understandable when we look at the issue against the background that some country was trying to use the joint declaration for pointing fingers,” Xu said. “But we have never denied the fact that the joint declaration is a treaty.” While acknowledging the document registered with the United Nations was “not without [legally] binding effect”, he pointed out that its main text only mentioned Britain would “restore” Hong Kong to China, but included no provision for its rights and responsibilities after the handover. China’s basic Hong Kong policies, elaborated in annex I of the joint declaration, were a “unilateral” declaration over which Britain had no say, he added. [Source] During his briefing with reporters, Lu referred to the treaty as a “historical document” that “no longer has any practical significance” for the Chinese government’s management of Hong Kong. Lu’s statement was made on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the former British colony’s handover to Chinese rule, during which President Xi Jinping was present in the city to mark the occasion and call attention to Beijing’s authority over its handling of Hong Kong affairs. Ben Blanchard and Michael Holden described his statement at Reuters: “Now Hong Kong has returned to the motherland’s embrace for 20 years, the Sino-British Joint Declaration, as a historical document, no longer has any practical significance, and it is not at all binding for the central government’s management over Hong Kong. The UK has no sovereignty, no power to rule and no power to supervise Hong Kong after the handover,” Lu said. Britain said it had a legal responsibility to ensure China abided by its obligations under the declaration. “The Sino-British Joint Declaration remains as valid today as it did when it was signed over 30 years ago,” a British Foreign Office spokeswoman said. “It is a legally binding treaty, registered with the U.N. and continues to be in force. As a co-signatory, the UK government is committed to monitoring its implementation closely.” [Source] At Lawfare, Julian Ku from Hofstra University School of Law argued that Lu’s statement did not translate into a complete voiding of the Joint Declaration in its entirety. Rather, only specific portions of the Declaration concerning the transition were considered no longer binding, with the confusion caused by subtle differences in translation between Reuters’ rendition of Lu’s statement and the official translation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. […In] reviewing the English translation of the spokesman’s remarks, we all might be overreacting a little. As always, the best understanding of what he really meant may require taking into account tricky problems of translation. Here is the MFA’s official translation of the same remarks translated by Reuters above: It’s been 20 years now since Hong Kong’s return to the motherland, and the arrangements during the transitional period prescribed in the Sino-British Joint Declaration are now history and of no practical significance, nor are they binding on the Chinese central government’s administration of the Hong Kong SAR. The key difference lies not so much in language as in grammar. In the Reuters translation, the phrase “not at all binding” refers to the “1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration.” But in the MFA translation, the phrase “nor are they binding” refers to the “arrangements during the transitional period prescribed in the Sino-British Joint Declaration” (emphasis added).  The difference is small but significant. In the Reuters version, China is saying the entire Joint Declaration is not binding, but in the MFA version, China is saying that the “arrangements during the transitional period” in the Joint Declaration are not binding. The English translation’s use of the plural “nor are they binding” makes this difference clear. Under the MFA translation, China could be saying those “arrangements during the transitional period” are not binding, but that the rest of the Joint Declaration (whatever that is) remains in force. [Source] However, Donald Clarke at The China Collection responded that the original Chinese transcript itself suggested that the official translation was mistaken and that Lu was in fact referring to the Joint Declaration in its entirety. 1984年的《中英联合声明》就中方恢复对香港行使主权和过渡期有关安排作了清晰划分。现在香港已经回归祖国怀抱20年，《中英联合声明》作为一个历史文件，不具有任何现实意义，对中国中央政府对香港特区的管理也不具备任何约束力。 The Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984 made a clear distinction between [a] China’s resumption of the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong and [b] relevant arrangements for the transitional period. It has already been 20 years now since Hong Kong returned to the embrace of the motherland; the Sino-British Joint Declaration, as a historical document, possesses no practical significance of any kind, and has no binding force of any kind with respect to the central government’s administration of the Hong Kong SAR. We can see right away that the MFA translation is simply wrong. It is clear that the subject of the verbs in the phrases “possesses no practical significance” and “has no binding force” is the Joint Declaration in its entirety, not merely a subpart of it concerned with “arrangements for the transitional period”. Moreover, the context reinforces this point. In a statement about what is binding under the Joint Declaration and what is not, what could be the purpose of the first sentence stating that the Joint Declaration made a clear distinction between pre-handover transitional arrangements on the one hand and the post-handover exercise of sovereignty by China on the other? The answer seems unescapable: the MFA is saying that to the extent it was binding at all, the Joint Declaration was binding only with respect to pre-handover transitional arrangements. And (so the argument goes) as that transition period ended 20 years ago, there are of course no binding obligations left. [Source] During talks with Theresa May at the recent G20 meeting, Xi Jinping said that the two countries should seek common ground and shelve their differences, Tom Phillips at The Guardian reported: The Chinese president and the British prime minister held a 30-minute bilateral meeting at the G20 in Hamburg, Germany, on Friday, one week after a war of words broke out between London and Beijing over Hong Kong. According to China’s official news agency, Xinhua, Xi told May that Britain and China should “respect each other’s core interests and major concerns” – of which Beijing considers the former British colony to be one. “China and Britain need to seek common ground while shelving differences, and preserve the overall development of bilateral ties through concrete efforts to achieve more stable, rapid and sound development of bilateral relations,” Xi added. A senior No 10 official said that during a “warm meeting” with Xi, May offered her congratulations for the recent 20th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to China in July 1997. According to the official, May highlighted the economic success Hong Kong was enjoying but also “stressed the continued commitment to the ‘one country, two systems’ regime,” under which its 7.3 million citizens enjoy greater freedoms than those of China’s authoritarian mainland. [Source] © cindyliuwenxin for China Digital Times (CDT), get_post_time('Y'). | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Hong Kong handover, hong kong politics, United Kingdom, Xi JinpingDownload Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

Meng Lang: Untitled Poem for Liu Xiaobo - Jailed since 2009, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo was moved from prison last month to undergo hospital treatment for advanced liver cancer. Liu and those closest to him are hoping that he will be granted permission to leave China for treatment abroad, but conflicting reports from authorities and visiting physicians indicate little chance that such allowance will be granted. As his supporters continue to issue calls for his release, poet Meng Lang today posted an untitled poem honoring the terminally ill activist, translated below: Untitled by Meng Lang Broadcast the death of a nation Broadcast the death of a country Hallelujah, only he is coming back to life.   Who stopped his resurrection This nation has no murderer This country has no bloodstain.   They did some sleight of hand A doctor’s sleight of hand, benevolent and full of this nation, this country.   Can you lose some weight? A little more? Like him, his bones the scaffolding of the museum of humanity.   Broadcast the death of a nation Broadcast the death of a country Hallelujah, only he is coming back to life.   July 11, 2017, 12:58 a.m. [Chinese] Poem translated by Anne Henochowicz. © josh rudolph for China Digital Times (CDT), get_post_time('Y'). | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Liu Xiaobo, Meng Lang, poetryDownload Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

China Orders Carriers to Block VPN Access - At Bloomberg News, Christina Larson and Steven Yang report that Beijing has ordered state-run telecommunications carriers to block customers’ access to virtual private networks (VPNs) by February 1 of next year. The order comes amid a continuing crackdown on the technology used to access websites blocked in China by savvy netizens, multinational companies, and occasionally by Great Firewall architect Fang Binxing himself. Beijing has ordered state-run telecommunications firms, which include China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom, to bar people from using VPNs, services that skirt censorship restrictions by routing web traffic abroad, the people said, asking not to be identified talking about private government directives. The clampdown will shutter one of the main ways in which people both local and foreign still manage to access the global, unfiltered web on a daily basis. China has one of the world’s most restrictive internet regimes, tightly policed by a coterie of government regulators intent on suppressing dissent to preserve social stability. In keeping with President Xi Jinping’s “cyber sovereignty” campaign, the government now appears to be cracking down on loopholes around the Great Firewall, a system that blocks information sources from Twitter and Facebook to news websites such as the New York Times and others. While VPNs are widely used by businesses and individuals to view banned websites, the technology operates in a legal gray area. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology pledged in January to step up enforcement against unauthorized VPNs, and warned corporations to confine such services to internal use. At least one popular network operator said it had run afoul of the authorities: GreenVPN notified users it would halt service from July 1 after “receiving a notice from regulatory departments.” It didn’t elaborate on the notice. […] [Source] Read more via CDT about the GreenVPN shutdown and other recent developments in internet control amid Xi’s “cybersovereignty” campaign, including a censored call to ease constraints at top political meetings in Beijing in March. VPNs have in recent years become less reliable in China. The rollout of the ongoing VPN crackdown in January seemed to some analysts to be yet another stability maintenance method amid the acute political sensitivity that regularly accompanies the twice-a-decade leadership transition set to take place later in 2017. The 2018 deadline, however, suggests that the VPN crackdown may outlive the 19th Party Congress meeting this autumn. At The Washington Post, Brian Fung relays opinions on the developing VPN crackdown from Council on Foreign Relations’ cybersecurity expert Adam Segal, and from GreatFire.org’s Charlie Smith: “Bad,” [Segal] said of the implications of the ban. “Getting around [it] will require using VPNs based outside of the mainland or setting up and using [one’s] own VPN servers, additional barriers for the individual user.” […] “It is clear that the crackdown has intensified,” said Charlie Smith, the pseudonymous co-founder of GreatFire.org, a website that monitors China’s Internet filtering and maintains an app to help Internet users get past the restrictions. “The authorities could take other steps to block our app, which would be extreme, more extreme than this. I didn’t think they would consider doing that before but I would say it is a possibility now.” [Source] An editorial from the South China Morning Post voices opposition to the VPN order and the perennial crackdown on internet freedom in China, arguing that communications restrictions have detrimental effects on innovation: China’s censorship of the internet seemingly knows no bounds. A crackdown on virtual private networks, connections that bypass the country’s notorious “Great Firewall”, has intensified, leaving users scrambling to find other ways of viewing overseas content. But while such action is aimed at preventing the circulation of information and opinions that are perceived as damaging to authorities, it also curbs creativity and innovation. That, over time, will be to the nation’s detriment. […] Beijing justifies the “Great Firewall” through its concept of “cyber sovereignty”, the right of every country to control its domestic internet space. But censorship stops the flow of ideas and that stifles creativity and innovation. Entrepreneurs know that, as do Chinese who realise what they are being blocked from when they travel overseas. Internet restrictions have to be loosened and removed, not tightened. [Source] Last week at The Diplomat, Freedom House’s Sarah Cook included this year’s intensifying crackdown on circumvention tools in a list of “new censorship methods” being used by the CCP as they continue to reinforce their control over information and limit dissent. Cook concluded her post warning that the increasingly invasive methods could serve to exacerbate the opposition authorities are seeking to eradicate: The result of the escalating controls is that there are even fewer avenues for persecuted groups and individuals to defend themselves, offer alternatives to the party line, or expose violence committed by officials. Meanwhile, other Chinese interested in knowing more about these and other censored topics find it increasingly difficult — and risky — to obtain information. There is also a cost to the CPC. Such aggressive “stability maintenance” methods ultimately increase tensions with key populations, intensify resentment of the party’s heavy-handed rule, and inspire anti-government activism and even violence, including among otherwise apolitical citizens. From that perspective, while the CPC’s efforts may successfully silence some critics this year, party leaders may face an even more daunting challenge next July. [Source] © josh rudolph for China Digital Times (CDT), get_post_time('Y'). | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Internet censorship, Internet control, Internet management, media control, regulations, VPNsDownload Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

Photo: Gates, by Tianjia Liu - Gates © Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), get_post_time('Y'). | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Tianjia LiuDownload Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

Conflicting Medical Reports Complicate Liu Xiaobo’s Efforts to Seek Treatment Abroad - Ailing Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo remains in the First Hospital of China Medical University in Shenyang, though his exact condition has been the subject of conflicting reports from the hospital and foreign doctors invited to treat him. While Liu’s family and friends, and Liu himself, have expressed hope that he will be allowed to travel abroad to receive medical treatment for his terminal liver cancer, authorities have said that he is too frail to be transported abroad. Two visiting doctors, Joseph M. Herman of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Markus Büchler of the University of Heidelberg, subsequently issued a statement saying that Liu could and should be transported abroad for further treatment, and offering care at either of their facilities. Javier C. Hernandez and Chris Buckley report for The New York Times: “While a degree of risk always exists in the movement of any patient, both physicians believe Mr. Liu can be safely transported with appropriate medical evacuation care and support,” the doctors said in a joint statement. They added that they were willing to provide Mr. Liu such care. Shang Baojun, a lawyer who represented Mr. Liu at his trial in 2009 on charges of state subversion, said by phone, “He said his first preference would be Germany, but if that wasn’t workable, then the United States would be fine, too.” […] Mr. Liu’s condition appears to be rapidly deteriorating. Dr. Herman and Dr. Büchler concurred with Chinese experts who said in May that Mr. Liu has primary liver cancer. They said that additional treatment options might exist, such as radiotherapy. They also said they recognized the “quality of care” that he had been receiving in China. [Source] A video leaked from the hospital showing the doctors at Liu’s bedside and speaking with their Chinese counterparts has been used by Chinese state media to make the case that Liu is getting sufficient care in Shenyang and does not need to be transported abroad: As predicted. Global Times: "German doctor: Chinese doctors have done ‘very well’ in treating Liu" https://t.co/PJ0doKuVm1 https://t.co/o6ClDem4SF — Nicholas Bequelin 林伟 (@bequelin) July 10, 2017 However, the German Embassy in Beijing issued a statement decrying the leaked video: German embassy in Beijing has just released this about 'selective leaking' of #LiuXiaobo images by security organs to state media outlets pic.twitter.com/jIRXuq12Qo — Tom Phillips (@tomphillipsin) July 10, 2017 After the release of the doctors’ statement and the video, the hospital treating Liu said he was in “critical condition” and could not be moved abroad. From Steven Jiang at CNN: A statement released by the hospital where Liu is being treated for liver cancer described his worsening symptoms and condition, quoting his medical team — composed of prominent Chinese oncologists — as saying he is not suited for invasive procedures or radiation therapy. “The doctors suggested close monitoring of the patient’s blood pressure, correction of low blood pressure level, active anti-infection therapy and blood purification,” the statement said, adding that Liu’s family has been informed of the team’s opinion. […] Before the hospital issued its latest statement, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman on Monday repeatedly declined to say if Beijing would allow Liu to leave the country. “We hope relevant countries will respect China’s judicial sovereignty and not use a so-called individual case to interfere in China’s internal affairs,” said Geng Shuang at a regular press briefing. [Source] Meanwhile, amid the confusion over Liu’s medical condition, his friends and supporters are continuing to call on the government to release him and allow him to leave China, as Tom Phillips reports for the Guardian: Patrick Poon, another Amnesty International activist, said Chinese authorities could no longer justify preventing Liu from leaving China. “China will forever be criticised for its cruelty to the Nobel laureate if it still denies his wish to leave the country.” Ye Du, a poet and friend, said Liu’s wishes needed to be urgently respected. “However, what is most likely to happen is that Liu Xiaobo will die in the hospital because of the Communist party’s constant authoritarian stance.” […] In an open letter drafted by his friend, the activist Ai Xiaoming, supporters said it was “abundantly clear” that the Chinese hospital where Liu was being held had exhausted its treatment options. As a result he should be allowed to seek treatment abroad, the group argued. “Even though Liu Xiaobo is still a prisoner of this country, even though he’s nearing his death, his heart is still beating and his soul longs for freedom. He has made the final choice for his life: leave this prison and experience freedom,” the group wrote. [Source] Thank you Yaxue for your great translation of this call for LIU Xiaobo! pic.twitter.com/cRnv0ewBuF — 艾晓明 (@ai_xiaoming) July 9, 2017 Germany-based writer and friend of Liu, Liao Yiwu, wrote an open letter supporting Liu’s wish to go to Germany to live out his final days: pic.twitter.com/yUn6G9Jp8p — 廖亦武 Liao Yiwu (@liaoyiwu1) July 8, 2017 Dear AAA: […] [Liu Xiaobo will] soon be dead, but his final wish is still to come to Germany! I know his wish is to use the last moments of his life to see his wife and her younger brother safely delivered to free Germany. Nearby my home is Germany’s best cemetery with a lake populated by waterfowl in the middle of it. He can be buried here and Liu Xia and me and my family can visit him often, and later, can even be buried here ourselves. Please pass on our thanks for her efforts to Chancellor Merkel from my little girl, her mother and me. Yet I’d still like to know whether Liu Xiaobo’s final wish will be realized? Moreover, the US government has already declared the hope that the Chinese government will satisfy this desire of Liu Xiaobo and his family as quickly as possible for humanitarian reasons. The US government is willing to do all within its power, including dispatching a special plane to rescue Liu Xiaobo, Liu Xia and Liu Hui. Germany? Now at this final juncture, we would like to know the results of the mediation between Madam Merkel and Xi Jinping. Our whole family would like to see you all!!! Love to you all, Yiwu Artist Ai Weiwei, who also now lives in Germany, called on the Chinese government to release Liu in an interview with the Guardian’s Tom Phillips: “I think the government should release him. This is a historic mistake,” Ai told the Guardian from Berlin, where he now lives. “The government should just release him and have a better record – because this is going to be remembered by the whole world … what they are doing. “They [must] admit that this was a horrible mistake … to sacrifice the best people in this nation – the best minds in this nation – and to put them in such a horrible situation. That is what they continue to do now and it is unacceptable.” [Source] Human rights activists have expressed concern that the authorities’ treatment of Liu is indicative of a strategy in dealing with imprisoned dissidents: withholding medical treatment in prison and thereby imposing a de facto death sentence. From Javier C. Hernandez at The New York Times: Accusations that Liu Xiaobo, the imprisoned Nobel Peace laureate who has late-stage liver cancer, has not received proper treatment have brought new scrutiny to what human rights advocates say is a pattern in Chinese prisons: the denial of health care to dissidents to intimidate and punish them. At some prisons, requests for health checkups and medicine are refused, human rights experts and former prisoners say. At others, ill prisoners suffer physical abuse and malnutrition. In some cases, chronic ailments and serious diseases are left untreated, or medical care is repeatedly delayed. “There is a real fear amongst prisoners of conscience and their families that authorities aren’t afraid to let them die from lack of adequate medical care,” said Frances Eve, a researcher at Chinese Human Rights Defenders, a coalition of advocates. [Source] China legal scholar Jerome Cohen commented on this fear as a motivating factor for Liao and other friends of Liu’s in encouraging his emigration at this stage in his life: Liao Yiwu himself is a splendid writer and also a poet. He is alive and active today because, after enduring harsh punishment in China, he made the decision to go into exile in Germany and, like the Chinese who assembled in Washington, DC and other places outside the Mainland July 9th to mark the second anniversary of the start of Xi Jinping’s continuing 709 purge of human rights advocates, he is free to express his views. The dissimilar fates of Liao and Liu Xiaobo illustrate the painful choice (if they have that choice) that has always confronted civil libertarians from dictatorial regimes – exile or extermination. Ninoy Aquino, Kim Dae-jung, Annette Lu, Ai Weiwei, Chen Guangcheng and so many others have earned our sympathy and support, whatever their ultimate decision. [Source] German Chancellor ­Angela Merkel has also called on President Xi for leniency in Liu’s case. See also an open letter to Liu by New York Times journalist Nicholas Kristof, who got to know him during the 1989 student protest movement and calls him “the Mandela of our age.” Read 13 years of coverage of Liu Xiaobo, via CDT. (Translation of Liao Yiwu’s statement was provided by Liao.) © Sophie Beach for China Digital Times (CDT), get_post_time('Y'). | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: activists, Ai Weiwei, Ai Xiaoming, dissidents, exile, Liao Yiwu, Liu Xiaobo, medical treatment, withheld medical treatmentDownload Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

Photo: Nianqiang Park, Shenyang, by Zhu - Nianqiang Park, Shenyang © Sophie Beach for China Digital Times (CDT), get_post_time('Y'). | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: ZhuDownload Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

“Black Friday” Anniversary Marked with Inaugural China Human Rights Lawyers’ Day - China Change, together with a number of other organizers, will hold an inaugural “China Human Rights Lawyers’ Day” on July 9th in Washington D.C. (with concurrent events planned in Taipei and Hong Kong) to mark the second anniversary of a nationwide crackdown on rights lawyers and activists known as the “709″ or “Black Friday” roundup. The persecution of rights lawyers in China reached its peak on July 9, 2015, when hundreds were detained and interrogated; the crackdown is now known as the “709 Incident.” The barbarism, cruelty, and absurdity with which the Chinese Communist Party began persecuting 709 lawyers and activists, and the torture and humiliation they suffered, has shocked the world. The 709 lawyers’ own defense attorneys and supporters have put up courageous resistance. The unyielding support and advocacy by the wives of human rights lawyers, through smiles and tears, have become iconic images. The 709 Incident isn’t over, yet it has already left a profound mark on the development of Chinese civilization. It’s far reaching political and historical significance will become clearer in time. The date of July 9 must become one that we remember and mark from now on. For this reason, we call for the establishment of July 9 as “China Human Rights Lawyers’ Day.” To inaugurate the occasion we will hold an event in Washington, D.C. to celebrate the bravery, wisdom, and will to resist exhibited by human rights lawyers in China. We’ll recall their suffering and sacrifices, demand accountability for the crimes committed against them, whether by the regime or individuals, and call for the international community to continue monitoring their plight and advocating on their behalf. [Source] Of the large number of lawyers detained as a part of the crackdown, a number them were formally charged and several others were paraded on state television making alleged confessions. Some of the accused have been given jail terms for the crime of subversion while others have now been freed. Most recently, lawyer Li Heping was released from prison in May with a suspended sentence for subverting state power. Another lawyer released around the same time was Xie Yang, who was tried in Changsha in May before being subsequently freed on bail prior to the announcement of a verdict. Little information is available on those who remain in detention, many of whom have been prohibited from contacting their loved ones. Nothing has been heard from lawyer Wang Quanzhang since he was detained by authorities in August 2015. Families of the detained rights lawyers have continued to speak out. The wives of the detained lawyers have fought on and resisted attempts by authorities to silence them. Human Rights Watch recounts the plight of some of these lawyers two years on: On May 19, 2015, police detained activist Wu Gan when he was protesting outside of a court in Jiangxi province over a rape and murder case in which the defense was denied access to court documents. Two months later, the prosecutors’ office in Fujian province, where Wu is from, charged him with “subversion of state power” and “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” In August 2015, Wu was forced to participate in a TV interview with the state broadcaster CCTV in which he was ordered to confess his guilt, but Wu refused to follow the script, according to a complaint filed by his lawyer. Wu also said the police did not allow him to sleep for several days and nights. Wu’s father, Xu Xiaoshun, had been held by the Fujian authorities for 19 months from 2015 to 2017 on charges of embezzlement in a case believed to be retaliation for his son’s activism. Beijing-based human rights lawyer Jiang Tianyong went missing in November 2016 en route home from Changsha, Hunan province. He was later charged with subversion. In March 2017, Jiang appeared on state TV to “confess” that he fabricated the accounts of torture of another lawyer, Xie Yang, to “smear the Chinese government.” In June the Beijing police claimed that Jiang had dismissed the lawyers his family appointed for him, an action his family believed was forced by the authorities. In August 2016, a court in Tianjin sentenced human rights lawyer Zhou Shifeng and democracy activist Hu Shigen to seven years and seven-and-a-half years in prison respectively after convicting them of subversion. Both men appeared on TV confessing to their “crimes.” In March 2017, Chief Justice of China’s Supreme Court Zhou Qiang, citing the case of Zhou Shifeng, stated that the convictions of human rights lawyers were one of the country’s biggest legal achievements in the past year. [Source] Those who have been released continue to be closely monitored. Rights lawyer Wang Yu, along with her husband and teenage son, has remained under constant surveillance since Wang’s release on bail last August, after being held for more than a year on subversion charges. Wang’s son Bao Zhuoxuan was detained in Myanmar in 2015 while attempting to travel to the United States. He has now been given a travel ban and prohibited from attending school in Beijing. Ding Wenqi at RFA reports: Two years after police launched a nationwide operation targeting lawyers, Wang Yu and her husband and colleague Bao Longjun are now living in the northern region of Inner Mongolia along with their son Bao Zhuoxuan, and are seldom seen or contacted by friends or former colleagues. […] “They are still not free,” fellow rights lawyer Wen Donghai, who has met with Wang since her “release,” told RFA. “There is even surveillance in their bedroom, and there is a team of people watching them around the clock.” […] “According to the rules, their bail period should be up on July 22, after which the authorities should unconditionally drop the charges against them,” he said. “They should regain their freedom in the next couple of weeks, but it doesn’t look as if that’s what the authorities are getting ready to do.” […] Meanwhile, others who were granted “bail,” including legal assistant Zhao Wei, have also remained under surveillance, and haven’t been in touch with their usual social circle since leaving the detention center. [Source] Both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have called on the Chinese government to end its crackdown on rights lawyers and activists. On the Sinica podcast, Jerome A. Cohen, professor of law at New York University and a leading scholar of China’s legal system, joins Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn to discuss the development of the rule of law in China and the influence that Confucianist and legalist traditions have played in the ongoing crackdown on rights lawyers. It goes back to the debate between the Confucianists and the legalists. The Han Dynasty that came in for the first time in the 3rd century BC found some way to reconcile Confucianist values and legalist values. The Confucianists believed in what became known as feudal hierarchical values–a father has to behave like a father, a son behaves like a son, a wife like a wife, and their relations are regulated in humane and predictable ways. The legalists were different. The legalists believed you have to run the society through a harsh rule by law. You had to use law as an instrument of what we today would call authoritarian power to get people to do the right thing. You didn’t try to improve their thinking. You try to stimulate their desire to avoid punishment. Legalism really was an instrument of control that was unattractive to many people. But in the Han Dynasty and thereafter it blended with Confucianism because the rulers of China saw, from their point of view, that you had to use a harsh legal system with no real protections for individuals. But you can do it to enforce Confucian values so that your legal system would reflect Confucian philosophy, and you would punish a son who attacked his father or revealed his father’s crimes differently from the way you punish a father who handled a similar problem with his son. This has endured. Of course today’s government in China is the heir to this authoritarian tradition. As I think about the current campaign to exterminate human rights lawyers, sometimes physically to destroy them, I think back to how this is consistent with the Chinese tradition. Xi Jinping sometimes in an attempt to find a new value system for the Chinese people to replace the communist values that nobody pays that much attention to and to replace the Western values, the universal values of constitutionalism and judicial independence etc., […has] occasionally resurrected Confucius. Allegations of torture and other ill treatment suffered by the lawyers have raised questions about Xi Jinping’s promise to build rule of law in the country. According to David Gitter at The Diplomat, the Chinese government at once recognizes the importance of a strong legal system but also deeply fears the political challenge posed by lawyers and a system that is truly governed by a rule of law. On June 8, the “Hundred Jurists and Hundred Lectures” (百名法学家百场报告会) event on rule of law propagation, known as the “Double Hundred” meeting, took place at the Great Hall of the People in China’s capital. It was there that the Supreme People’s Court Deputy Secretary Jiang Bixin delivered an address on “Implementing the Rule of Law for Guaranteeing the Five Development Concepts.” Jiang explained that economic and social development cannot take place in the absence of the rule of law, and further stated that the current problems arising in China’s development are directly linked to the rule of law’s incomplete development. […] However, it has been difficult for China’s leadership to fully contain the rule of law—and those that advocate for it—to areas that don’t challenge the CCP’s monopoly on politics. For that reason, on June 14, the General Office of the CCP and its counterpart in the State Council published their “opinions” on deepening the reform of China’s lawyer system (关于深化律师制度改革的意见). The need to reform the system stems from its current perceived faults, which in the government’s eyes have allowed the nation’s human rights lawyers to dare to challenge the state in the defense of their clients both in the court of law and public opinion arenas. In order to strengthen the “correct” political orientation of the country’s attorneys, the opinions called for Party committees at all levels of government to pursue reforms that include: altering professional standards to regulate lawyers’ behavior, enforcing disciplinary measures that include penalties for firms that violate behavior standards, and targeting lawyers with propaganda to create a “positive atmosphere” for industry reform. [Source] At China Change, Wen Donghai, who was among the hundreds of individuals caught up in the 2015 crackdown and who later served as Wang Yu’s defense lawyer, reflects on what it means to be a human rights lawyer in China. Although there’s often a great deal of disagreement in the Chinese legal field about how to categorize a human rights lawyer, there is simply no doubt that 709 lawyers are the true heirs to this title. Their efforts give real meaning to to the vocation of a human rights lawyer, and their comportment in the face of power shows the strength of character of those in their field. Because of the 709 lawyers, China’s human rights lawyers now have clear values to pursue. With this understanding in mind, I begin to imagine that, in the years to come, there won’t be such a thing in China as a “human rights lawyer,” because as soon as the values pursued by human rights lawyers are internalized by China’s legal community as the universal standard of professional conduct, every lawyer will have become a human rights lawyer. The only distinction will be whether or not a lawyer has the fortune of coming across a case in which rights must be safeguarded, and whether they discharge their responsibility to see it to the end. Human rights lawyers are guardians of fairness and justice. Their success in this role comes for their proactive involvement in public affairs and the positive leadership role they play. Some people have said that lawyers are manufacturers of public incidents — but I disagree. Public incidents don’t need lawyers to manufacture them; they arise naturally in society. The key is that lawyers can get involved in public affairs, and through their professional activities, knowledge, and experience, to a certain extent guide public discussions. Or to put it another way, lawyers are creators of public discourse — but they don’t manufacture public incidents. It’s precisely through participating in matters of public interest that they’re able to guide the discourse, and thus truly safeguard fairness and justice. [Source] The values and freedoms that China’s rights lawyers have long upheld are the source of the government’s fear of the country’s legal professionals, writes Terry Halliday, co-director of the American Bar Foundation’s Center on Law and Globalization, at The Wall Street Journal: What Beijing fears most are the ideals championed by these activist lawyers and the voice they can give to disempowered citizens. Activist lawyers fight for basic legal freedoms. They demand procedural protections for their clients, such as the freedom to choose or meet with a lawyer, the protection of clients from coerced confessions, and standards of fairness in court, including the examination and cross-examination of evidence. They want fair trials and neutral judges. As one lawyer said, “I hate unfairness.” These lawyers seek an open political society where there is freedom of speech and association, including the ability of lawyers to form bar associations independent of state control. Many leading activists are Christians; they press for freedom of religion and protections for all believers, including the brutally repressed adherents of Falun Gong. They want open exchanges of views and beliefs, where citizens are freed from stifling censorship. Perhaps most dangerously for a one-party state, activist lawyers want political power to be divided. They insist that the executive be restrained by the other branches of government, especially the judiciary. They want political influence taken out of the courts, with many calling for the abolition of the Party’s Political-Legal Committee, the ultimate decider in sensitive cases. In short, China fears freedom. Its leaders know that in many former dictatorships, including South Korea and Taiwan, lawyers led the march toward basic legal and political freedoms. China fears potential lawyer-leaders and the substantial proportion of its citizens who want those lawyers to be their spokespersons. [Source] In the Made In China quarterly, Fu Hualing, Professor of Law at the University of Hong Kong, discusses the future prospect of legal activism in China and the role that human rights lawyers can play in shaping public opinion and influencing political change through case-focused and law-centred mobilization. Activist lawyers have offered two answers to the challenges. A ‘weak’ answer relies on remedial justice. That is, while well aware of the structural constraints placed on sociolegal activism, lawyers can still choose to do whatever they are allowed to do in order to make a contribution. As long as there is space—no matter how limited this space is— and as long as there are cases—no matter how petty they are—lawyers will continue. A ‘strong’ answer points to the fact that public interest law survives a brutal political repression thanks to the resilience and strength of a rebellious sector in the legal profession and in civil society. Public interest litigation is not mainly about winning a case, but is about persuading power holders and educating the general public. Education and persuasion are necessarily slow paced and incremental in their processes. In addition, cases and the battles surrounding them serve as boosters for all stakeholders in the rights complex as, one by one, they strengthen the resolve of the forces of civil society and enhance their capacity in their on-going negotiations with the Party-state. More specifically and pointedly, individual cases do trigger systemic or structural changes. There are many examples of casedriven changes that have happened in the past. While one can argue that legal advocacy in authoritarian states cannot lead to transformative political change—and that, as some human rights lawyers insist, legal battles in court rooms do not have a democratisation potential—one can argue with equal force that, as long as the regime embraces a degree of legality and promulgates laws to protect a range of legal rights, those rights-friendly laws can be enforced more or less effectively, and rights can be protected more or less rigorously. Legal and political opportunities are there, and it depends on civic leaders, professionals, and civil society at large to seize the opportunities to empower their human agency and to maximise their rights and freedoms through socio-legal action. [Source] © cindyliuwenxin for China Digital Times (CDT), get_post_time('Y'). | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: arbitrary detention, Black Friday 2015, Black Friday trials, lawyers, Li Heping, rights lawyers, rule of law, Wang YuDownload Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

Photo: Pingjiang Road in Suzhou, by Sergio Tittarini - Pingjiang Road in Suzhou © Sophie Beach for China Digital Times (CDT), get_post_time('Y'). | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Sergio TittariniDownload Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

Lighting a Candle for Liu Xiaobo - As imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo remains in hospital critically ill with terminal liver cancer, American and German doctors are expected to treat him soon. Not allowed to visit him themselves, friends and supporters of Liu’s have expressed their admiration and support for the ailing writer online through essays, poems, and cartoons. Cartoonist Xiao Guai (小乖) payed homage to the evident bond between Liu and his wife, writer Liu Xia. In a drawing inspired by a widely circulated photo of a frail Liu Xiaobo leaning into Liu Xia in the hospital, Xiao Guai depicts them as candles–one standing strong and burning bright, while the other is close to being extinguished. CDT cartoonist Badiucao has also posted a series of images honoring Liu, including this one, titled, “Searching for Liu Xiaobo.” The one blue chair signifies the empty chair left for Liu at the Nobel awards ceremony in 2010, which he could not attend due to his imprisonment. The following poem was written anonymously and then later deleted from WeChat: There is someone who will die soon There is someone who will die soon as I write these words he dies a bit more. He’s as thin as the last scrap of paper left in our time. He has no crime, he has no enemies, he has no spite. But still through death he puts to shame the authors of this era. His wife, just as thin, puts to shame all other loves. My brothers say: leave politics behind don’t wail, don’t look. But I think it’s the least that a writer can do. My friends write happy things I love them, holding back my complaint. My elders say: think of the flowers, your dog you wouldn’t want to lose them. But I think it’s the least that a conscience can do. I’ve known it all my life the pained hand reaching up through the snow. My parents and my wife say: think of your children such is everyone’s fear But I think it’s the least that a person can do.Twenty-seven years ago, one word was flattened by a tank. He still can’t stand the laughter ringing in the palace the palace dwellers think they know all living things are ants. But it’s true.I know what happened in 1630: the criminal sliced up slowly in Caishikou the people snatching up his meat. The emperor snickering at the eunuch’s report. All living things are ants, I know it’s true the city people, bandits, emperors, the trees on the hill none knows if the empire will last four more years. As I write these words he has died even more. How many days left? Three? Two? He’s pure as a saint, an omen for his killers. His death will drain the color from our time like a blinding light. But it might unleash a signal of good or ill, no one can say. [Chinese] Poem translation by Anne Henochowicz. Read more by and about Liu Xiaobo via CDT. © Sophie Beach for China Digital Times (CDT), get_post_time('Y'). | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: badiucao, dissidents, liu xia, Liu Xiaobo, Nobel Peace Prize, poetry, political cartoons, Xiao GuaiDownload Tools to Circumvent the Great Firewall

The Eyeopener from CBC Radio Calgary (Highlights)

Eyeopener Podcast for July 11, 2017 - Today's podcast: Update on B.C. fires; what an interest rate change will mean for your finances; Angela talks to kids about eyebrows; Calgary's biggest Duran Duran fan.

Eyeopener Podcast for July 10, 2017 - Today's podcast: A new way to recognize Calgarians who are doing outstanding things in their golden years; we check in with a researcher on board the Icebreaker CCGS Amundsen; hunting pigeons with falcons at a Calgary hospital.

Eyeopener Podcast for July 5, 2017 - Today's podcast: Omar Khadr set to receive settlement; Coun. Andre Chabot on behaviour at City Hall; hidden camping spots in Alberta; Mike Morrison's fruitless quest to make the Amazing Race.

Eyeopener Podcast for July 4, 2017 - Today's podcast: What a new government in B.C. means for Alberta; Dr. Raj Bhardwaj on the "July effect"; why many Chestermere residents are upset with their municipal tax bills.

Eyeopener Podcast for June 30, 2017 - Today's podcast: Ian Tyson's Canada Day celebration; why Calgary is unaffordable if you're poor; beer picks for Canada Day; Paul Karchut's Outdoor Report for June 30, 2017.

Eyeopener Podcast for June 29, 2017 - Today's podcast: Why police forces from across North America are coming to the RCMP dog training centre in Innisfail; Paul McLoughlin on the emergence of PACs in Alberta politics; we preview Canada Day celebrations; Stamps coach Dave Dickenson.

Eyeopener Podcast for June 28, 2017 - Today's podcast: Hay fever season hits Calgary; Looking back at Canada's centennial year; Unconventionals on Canada 150 celebrations; Tsuut'ina Chief views the Treaty 7 documents for the first time.

Eyeopener Podcast for June 27, 2017 - Today's podcast: Name changes at Camp Chief Hector; Pride flags torn down in Taber; Julie Van Rosendaal makes Canadian cuisine for Canada Day.

Eyeopener Podcast for June 26, 2017 - Today's podcast: Katherine O'Neill on uniting the middle in Alberta politics; slate of candidates bands together in Calgary Board of Education election; Harry Potter turns 20.

Eyeopener Podcast for June 23, 2017 - Today's podcast: The CBC's Tracy Johnson on the third anniversary of the beginning of the oil crash; Wildrose MLA Derek Fildebrandt; magician Darcy Oake; Peter Oldring from CBC Radio's "This is That".

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Don Jr. Won’t Be Charged With ‘Collusion,’ But the Trump Team Could Be in Big Legal Trouble - His interest in obtaining damaging Clinton information may violate several laws against campaigns working with foreign powers.

House GOP Proposes $1.6 Billion for Border Wall - The money, included in a Homeland Security spending bill, is likely to set up a shutdown fight with Democrats.

Feds Ramp Up Investigation Into Jane Sanders - Serious problem for Bernie’s 2020 ambitions, or a Trumped-up case?

White House: The Real Story Of Don Jr.’s Emails Is That Democrats Are Bad - The administration is already brainstorming how they can spin this into a “conversation” about Clinton’s mishandling of “sensitive intelligence.”

McConnell Scrubs Half the Senate’s August Recess As GOP Scrambles to Save Its Agenda - Will the extra time enable Republicans to come up with a health-care bill 50 senators support? Or deals on taxes and the budget?

The Least the GOP Can Do Now Is Demand the Firing of Jared Kushner - Kushner attended a meeting that was explicitly framed as an opportunity to benefit from Russian meddling. And he still has a security clearance.

The ‘Did Trump’s Campaign Collude’ Debate Is Over. The Only Question Now Is How Much. - We’ve gone from evidence of collusion to proof.

Daily Kos

Open thread for night owls: E-mail revelations definitely not trouble only for Junior Trump - Bob Bauer at Just Security writes—Not Just a Personal Problem for Trump Jr.–Now Trouble for the Trump Campaign and Trump Sr.: There is an impression developing in the current reporting that somehow Donald Trump Jr.’s emails and activities may be primarily a personal problem. But he was, of course, an agent of the campaign, acting on its behalf, when he arranged the meeting with the Russian lawyer. He successfully invited to that meeting senior campaign brass, including the campaign manager. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort are included on the entire email chain reflecting in clear terms the Russian government’s support for the Trump campaign and the scheduling of the meeting so that a Russian government lawyer could tender negative information on Secretary Clinton.  This is not an individual venture of Trump Jr.  that the Trump campaign can somehow disavow. So while the individuals in question may not escape liability, the serious issue raised by the meeting exposes the campaign as an organization to criminal legal jeopardy.  Any illegal “solicitation” of support from Russia is also the campaign’s illegal solicitation.  It is for the campaign’s benefit that its leadership expressed interest in what the lawyer had. Under campaign finance regulations, the meeting could without question be considered a solicitation (at least under the facts so far known).  The law defines a solicitation to include any request for a contribution, or “anything of value,” even if the request is implicit in the circumstances rather than expressly communicated.  The regulations provide specifically that the solicitation “may be made directly or indirectly,” based on all relevant factors, including the “conduct of the persons involved in the communication.” [...] Also worth reading is Bauer’s piece written before Junior Trump spun heads around with his tweeted “confession.” It’s titled Open Door to Moscow? New Facts in the Potential Criminal Case of Trump Campaign Coordination with Russia and here are three excerpted grafs to whet your appetite for more. And don’t tell me tl;dr. We’re talking about the making of history here. Compared with breaking into an office to steal files or getting extramarital blowjob don’t even come close: To coordinate spending is to receive a contribution. It is also illegal to solicit a contribution or expenditure–any “thing of value”–from a foreign national. 52 U.S.C. 30121(a)(2); 11 C.F.R. § 110.20 (g).  A solicitation also need not be express: it can be implied. It is useful to consider the regulatory definition of “solicitation” adopted by the Federal Election Commission. I have put in italics key portions: To solicit means to ask, request, or recommend, explicitly or implicitly, that another person make a contribution, donation, transfer of funds, or otherwise provide anything of value. A solicitation is an oral or written communication that, construed as reasonably understood in the context in which it is made, contains a clear message asking, requesting, or recommending that another person make a contribution, donation, transfer of funds, or otherwise provide anything of value. A solicitation may be made directly or indirectly. The context includes the conduct of persons involved in the communication. 11 C.F.R. §300.2(m). In sum a solicitation may be implied as well as express, and it is determined by examining all the relevant circumstances, including the context in which the communication in question is made. The President made an express appeal in public comments for Russian help, and the potential for finding an illegal contribution is reinforced by his repeated refusals to acknowledge or denounce the Russians for what the intelligence community formally found to be their program of interfering in the election.  The freshly reported communications with Russian nationals add weight to the question of whether he and his campaign were really “soliciting” or just “joking.” • An Activists’ Calendar of Resistance Events • Indivisible’s list of Resistance Events & Groups TOP COMMENTS • HIGH IMPACT STORIES QUOTATION “A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear. The traitor is the plague.”                     ~Marcus Tullius Cicero, 63 BC in The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero TWEET OF THE DAY x We've read tens of thousands of Hillary's emails; FBI spent a year investigating too. Not a single speck as troubling as Don Jr's one email.— Garrett M. Graff (@vermontgmg) July 11, 2017 BLAST FROM THE PAST At Daily Kos on this date in 2008—John McCain forgot that he had an affair: An article in today’s Los Angeles Times about John McCain’s adultery and subsequent divorce chose to focus on how his actions affected his relationship with Ron and Nancy Reagan. But as sad as it is to learn that Nancy treated McCain with "cool correctness" after he left his disabled wife and three children for a 24 year old heiress, why don’t we just stay with this aspect of the story; the part where John McCain either forgot that he had carried on an affair for nine months or he lied about it in interviews and in his memoir, Worth Fighting For. […] McCain has blamed his actions on his "immaturity" (he was 42), but he still hasn’t explained if he’s been lying about having had an affair with his current wife, or if it’s just one more thing that he’s confused about. On today’s Kagro in the Morning show: OK, so, there was some treason, or whatever. But what about the Qatar story everyone who wasn’t talking about treason was talking about? Or that Medicaid repeal bill that will cost millions their insurance? If “moderates” say it’s fixed, can you believe them? x Embedded Content YouTube | iTunes | LibSyn | Keep us on the air! Donate via Patreon or Square Cash

Both parties prepare for an expensive 2018 battle in the Illinois state legislature - Daily Kos Elections' project to calculate the 2016 presidential results for every state legislative seat in the nation hits Illinois, where a two-year long budget standoff between the Democratic legislature and GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner came to an end on Thursday when the legislature voted to override Rauner’s veto and pass a spending plan. You can find our master list of states here, which we'll be updating as we add new data sets; you can also find all of our calculations from 2016 and past cycles here. Illinois was one of the very few states where Democrats were able to draw the legislative and congressional maps after the 2010 census. However, while Team Blue holds strong majorities in both chambers of the legislature, they’ve been locked in a long and bloody struggle with Rauner, who unseated Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn in 2014. Democrats ended the 2014 cycle with a 71-47 majority in the state House, which was exactly the three-fifths majority they needed to override Rauner’s vetoes. Democrats also held a 39-20 Senate edge, three more than they needed to override vetoes. Team Blue couldn’t afford any defections in the House if they wanted to pass a budget without GOP help, but they got one.  In 2016, state Rep. Ken Dunkin provided the key vote that prevented his fellow Democrats from reversing Rauner’s cuts to key social services. Speaker Mike Madigan declared war on Dunkin, who represented a safely blue Chicago seat, and Barack Obama himself even recorded an ad for Juliana Stratton, Dunkin’s primary foe. Rauner and his allies spent heavily to boost Dunkin in the Democratic primary, but Stratton won 68-32. However, Team Blue lost seats even as Hillary Clinton was beating Donald Trump 56-39 in the state. While Democrats still held a 37-22 Senate supermajority, their smaller 67-51 House edge meant that they needed at least four Republicans to help override a Rauner veto.

Athletics federation wants to do humiliating sex testing to prove female athletes are 'real' women - Policing women’s bodies is an age-old phenomenon in our society. From talking about what women wear to how much we weigh and how pretty (or not) we look, there is a dangerous, unnatural, and unhealthy obsession with making sure that women are scrutinized from top to bottom in every single way. Female athletes are no exception to this rule. In fact, when a woman is an athlete, not only is she subjected to commentary about her body ad nauseam but if she also happens to be quite muscular, there are almost always vigorous debates about how her figure appears “mannish” and unattractive. These debates about female athletes’ physiques are painful, but they can also be incredibly damaging to their careers.  In the case of Dutee Chand, an Indian sprinter, questions about her body and gender have resulted in invasive and inappropriate testing by the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) to confirm that she is indeed a woman. Once they confirmed that she is, they left her alone, temporarily. Now the IAAF wants to subject her to more testing—this time to prove that she has not been given an advantage over her peers due to high testosterone levels.  Chand, who had to undergo incredibly invasive sex testing without her consent when she was only 18 years old due to questions about her gender that arose after she became national champion in the 100 meters, was upset this issue had returned to haunt her before such an important competition. “Dutee does not understand why the IAAF believes she should be subjected to medical review, testing or alteration,” a representative for Chand said in a statement provided to ThinkProgress. “She simply wishes to run just as she was born.” As reasoning for this hideous invasion of Chand’s privacy, the IAAF is citing a study from the British Journal of Sports Medicine saying that “it found that females with higher testosterone levels than their peers had a 1.8 to 4.5 percent performance advantage in athletics.” Besides fulfilling their absurd need to know if she’s really a woman (she is), all this will do is allow the organization to reinstate it’s ban on hyperandrogenism, which is a condition that occurs when there is an overproduction of testosterone in female bodies. But researchers say that the study’s findings will not help the IAAF’s cause, nor does testosterone determine athletic achievement.

Cartoon: Henrietta Lacks - www.patreon.com/keefknight

Defunding Planned Parenthood will only ensure that local clinics can't meet patient demand - How many times do we need to say this? Defunding Planned Parenthood is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea. Period. Of course, that won’t stop the Republicans from trying to put it in their Senate health care bill. Under their monstrosity of a plan, Planned Parenthood would not be eligible to receive Medicaid funds for an entire year. This would leave millions of patients who seek services from the organization (2.4 million to be exact) without care. This fact is completely unimportant to the Republicans. After all, to them, what’s another few million people without care—especially when Trumpcare will increase the ranks of the uninsured by 22 million? House Speaker Paul Ryan seems to think that community health centers will pick up the slack for patients who lose care when Planned Parenthood is defunded. Of course, he’s delusional, because that’s not at all how any of this works.  But data from the Guttmacher Institute, which advocates abortion rights, shows the gap that would be left by defunding Planned Parenthood, which serves one-third of all contraception clients among family-planning clinics nationwide, would be very difficult to fill. In some states, Planned Parenthood serves six times as many contraception patients as FQHCs [federally qualified health centers, which receive funds to provide health services to low-income persons]. Under the defunding, people on Medicaid, who make up more than half of Planned Parenthood’s clients, would probably have to go to other clinics. If FQHCs in those states were to absorb those patients, as Republicans say they could, they would have to multiply their caseloads overnight. And if the budget cuts forced Planned Parenthood clinics to limit their hours or close their doors, there would be even more patients for FQHCs to take in. We’ve yet to hear any proposal from the Republicans about trying to increase funding to those FQHCs so that they can properly treat all the new patients they will be receiving now that Planned Parenthood won’t be getting any Medicaid funds under their plan. And guess what? We won’t (huge shocker). Republicans love defunding anything and everything that actually helps people (especially the poor) with the services they need—but when it comes to actually funding something that isn’t related to security or war, they are as tight-fisted with money as Ebenezer Scrooge. So that means no extra money for these clinics that will be buried in new patients, and more unwanted pregnancies and health risks as women lose access to contraception.

Republican congressman defends Team Trump meeting with Russian lawyer, says he would've done it too - Proving the Republican Party’s only allegiance is to tax cuts for the wealthy, tea partying Florida Rep. Ted Yoho told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Monday that he too would’ve met with an attorney from a foreign enemy state in an effort to get dirt on a fellow American.  Here’s the brief answer, but jump below to read the longer transcript and watch Wolf Blitzer give Rep. Yoho four consecutive softballs to get him to answer the question with the only ethical, moral, patriotic, and right answer—hell no, I would not collude with a foreign government to defeat a fellow American in an election. Watch Rep. Yoho put the dumb in the Freedumb Caucus: x Was it appropriate for Trump Jr to take Russia meeting? Rep. Yoho: “I probably would have done the same thing… it’s opposition research” pic.twitter.com/UfddUVu2nO— The Situation Room (@CNNSitRoom) July 10, 2017 Read the exchange below:

White House tried to use free press organization to stifle free press - The Trump regime seems to have gotten the function of the White House Correspondents’ Association backward. The WHCA exists to push for more access to and stronger coverage of presidents and presidential administrations, but—go figure—the enemies of free press currently in the White House see the WHCA as yet another way to bully and lean on individual reporters. White House Correspondents’ Association President Jeff Mason on Monday night alleged that the White House had drafted him to criticize the work of other reporters. “There have definitely been times over the last several months where the White House has come to us — often to me specifically — asking that we or I intervene and criticize a member news organization or reporter,” said Mason at an event held at the White House Historical Association. The topic brought to mind a specific instance: “In one case, and I won’t say the name, but in one case, I was asked to on behalf of the WHCA to release a statement criticizing a reporter’s story,” said Mason, to a wave of disbelief in the conference room. “And I said ‘No,’ because that’s not what we do and that’s not something we would ever do.” Up next, the White House demands that the ACLU speak out against civil liberties and that the League of Women Voters try to do something about all these darn women voting. The Washington Post’s Erik Wemple thinks two things might be going on here: That White House officials ever supposed that the WHCA would indeed slam a specific news report speaks to one of two possibilities: 1) The White House has no idea how this whole thing works; or 2) It cares not a whit about attempting to turn a neutral organization of long standing into a political tool. Or possibility 3) Both of the above. I am not a betting person but with Donald Trump and the people around him you can never go wrong with “doesn’t know how it works but would like to use it as a political tool anyway.” 

Billionaire defense contractor, Blackwater founder propose mercenaries to run U.S. Afghan operations - Trump strategist Steve Bannon and son-in-law adviser Jared Kushner are seeking a way to keep from sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan by adopting plans proposed by a billionaire and America’s most notorious mercenary to supply “private military units” to take on the role of American soldiers and Marines there. Private contractors for security and support roles have for years been part of the mix in Iraq and Afghanistan, but the approaches being suggested by the two men would take this beyond its previous parameters. Four weeks ago, Pr*sident Trump gave U.S. generals the green light to send more U.S. troops to Afghanistan to shore up the security situation there. After nearly 16 years of war, that situation has steadily deteriorated as the Taliban has gradually grabbed more territory, now accounting for about 40 percent of the nation’s land area, according to U.S. military sources. The war extends well beyond territory the Taliban actually holds, however, sometimes reaching into the capital city of Kabul itself. U.S. Army chiefs in Afghanistan have been seeking the additional troops. Within the Trump staff, a strong difference of opinion about what to do in Afghanistan arose in great part because past strategies under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama had only limited and temporary success. But Trump himself decided to go along with the generals, leaving up to them exactly how many troops to add to American forces now deployed in Afghanistan. The official cap, set by President Obama last year, is 8,400. But there are another 2,000 or so U.S. troops there, counted as only temporary and not part of the cap, even though many have been in the country for months. Trump decided to let the generals decide how many additional troops—Army and Marines—will be sent, but the Pentagon seems to have settled on about 4,000. There is a call for a few thousand more NATO troops as well. Because no new strategy has been announced, there is zero reason to believe that a total of, say, 20-25,000 U.S. and allied troops will accomplish any more than the 140,000 who were there when Obama began withdrawing them in 2011. The people who Bannon and Kushner sent to talk about their ideas with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis are Erik Prince, who founded the private security firm Blackwater Worldwide (and is the brother of Education Secretary Betty DeVos), and Stephen A. Feinberg, the billionaire who owns the military contractor DynCorp International, apparently didn’t persuade him. Mattis reportedly listened politely and that was it. But, depending on whether Trump remains in office long enough, an increasingly less certain prospect, Mattis’s decision may not hold permanently.

News roundup: Trump campaign attempted collusion with Russian government - Yesterday evening, it was revealed that not only did Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort not only took a meeting with a Kremlin-linked Russian attorney who claimed to have secret information damaging to Hillary Clinton, but that the three of them had been explicitly told, in advance, that the meeting was "part of Russia and it's government's support for Mr. Trump." The Trump campaign then went on to arrange that very meeting—de facto evidence that the campaign at the least attempted to collude with the Russian government's efforts. They also hid the evidence of Russia's attempt to collaborate throughout the rest of the campaign, throughout Russian hacking efforts against their Democratic opponents, throughout the FBI and CIA investigations and warnings of Russian actions, throughout the House, Senate, and Justice Department investigations into those actions, revealing them only after being exposed by the press. A rundown of today's avalanche of events, for those just joining: • Despite the clear evidence the Trump campaign actively sought supposedly damaging information about Clinton from the Russian government, Donald Jr.'s new criminal attorney immediately left into his new case by declaring there to be "nothing here." • Then-campaign-manager Paul Manafort, a lobbyist for Russian interests in Ukraine, provided an unusual defense of his participation: He now claims he didn't read the emails introducing the meeting as an initiative by the Russian government. • Special counsel Robert Mueller will be adding the meeting to his probe. Notably, U.S. officials say details released by Trump Jr. were not previously known by investigators—which confirms that the Trump campaign indeed hid that information despite multiple ongoing intelligence investigations into Russian acts.

Republican wants media to focus on how Congress is creating jobs and providing health care. Okay. - Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee is unhappy with the media’s coverage of the unfolding Russia scandal, saying the press is distracted by the “shiny object of the day” and should instead focus on “what Congress and the administration is doing to create jobs and provide health care.” Okay, we’ll bite. Here’s our coverage of what D.C. Republicans have done to create jobs and provide health care: Back to the shiny object.

Democracy Now!

Is Venezuela Facing a U.S.-Backed Destabilization Effort or Uprising Against Leader-Turned-Dictator? - In Venezuela, nearly 90 people have died and more than 1,500 have been injured since April, when opposition groups began organizing a new round of street demonstrations. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has accused his opponents of waging an "armed insurrection" and economic sabotage backed by the United States. Opposition groups have accused Maduro of turning into a dictator. For more, we speak with Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research and president of Just Foreign Policy. And we speak with Daniel Lansberg-Rodríguez. He is a columnist for the Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional and an adjunct lecturer of finance at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management.

Former FCC Commissioner on How Greater Media Consolidation is a Threat to Democracy and Free Speech - As the Trump administration weighs the proposed AT&T-Time Warner merger, we talk about the risks of greater media consultation with former FCC Commissioner Michael Copps. He’s currently special adviser on media and democracy reform at Common Cause.

Battle For the Net: Mass Day of Action Aims to Stop Trump's FCC from Destroying Free & Open Internet - On Wednesday, nearly 70,000 websites and organizations are planning to take part in massive online protest to save net neutrality. Participating websites will reportedly display messages on their homepages and encourage users to take action to save the internet as we know it. Supporters of the day of action include internet giants such as Twitter, Amazon, Facebook, Google and Reddit. Earlier this year, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai outlined his plans to dismantle net neutrality rules despite polling that shows most Americans support a free and open internet. For more, we speak with former FCC Commissioner Michael Copps and Evan Greer, campaign director of Fight for the Future. She is helping organize Wednesday’s Day of Action to Save Net Neutrality.

Headlines for July 11, 2017 - Scientist Warn Earth's Sixth Mass Extinction Has Already Begun Report: 100 Companies Responsible for 70% of Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions 80 People Arrested on Capitol Hill Protesting GOP Healthcare Plan NYT: Trump Jr. Knew Meeting with Lawyer was Part of Russian Gov't Effort to Help Trump Win Election White House Contradicts Trump on Whether He Discussed Sanctions with Putin London's High Court Rejects Effort to End Weapons Sales to Saudi Arabia NYT: Kushner & Bannon Asked Erik Prince & DynCorp Owner for Proposal on Private Contractors in Afghanistan To Boost Consumer Power, CFPB Challenges Wall Street's Mandatory Arbitration Marine Corps Plane Crashes in Mississippi, Killing 16 on Board Brazil: Rapporteur for Lower House Committee Recommends Trial for Temer Turkey: More Than 40 Academics Arrested at 2 Istanbul Universities Monday Bahrain: Human Rights Activist Nabeel Rajab Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison Palestinian Baby Dies After Inhaling Tear Gas Shot by Israeli Forces into His Home Groundbreaking Media Critic Jack Shaheen Dies at 81

Award-Winning Journalist Amy Wilentz on Just How Little Jared Kushner Knows About Foreign Politics - President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner is, along with Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr., at the center of a shocking New York Times story published Sunday. According to the article, Kushner, Trump Jr. and then-campaign chair Paul Manafort met with a Kremlin-linked lawyer during the 2016 campaign after being promised damaging information about Hillary Clinton at Trump Tower two weeks after Trump won the Republican nomination. Kushner is one of Trump’s senior advisers who has assumed a major diplomatic role in the administration, despite having no previous diplomatic experience. We speak to Amy Wilentz, a contributor at The Nation.

Even as All G20 Countries Except U.S. Affirm Paris Deal, Nations Pour $72B a Year into Fossil Fuels - On Saturday, world leaders broke with the United States on climate change and reaffirmed their commitment to the Paris climate agreement, which they called "irreversible." The final joint statement from the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, took the unusual step of acknowledging the U.S. rejection of the Paris deal while reiterating the rest of the world’s support for the landmark climate agreement. Meanwhile, a group of environmental organizations have released a new report claiming G20 governments provide an average of $72 billion per year in public finance for fossil fuels—nearly four times as much as they provide for clean energy. The report is titled "Talk is Cheap: How G20 Governments Are Financing Climate Disaster." We speak to the report’s lead author, Alex Doukas, senior campaigner at Oil Change International.

Devastation in Mosul: Iraq Seizes City from ISIS, But Battle Left Thousands Dead & 700,000 Displaced - Iraq’s nine-month-long battle to retake Mosul from the self-proclaimed Islamic State is coming to an end, but the humanitarian crisis is not. According to the United Nations, almost 700,000 residents are still displaced—nearly half living in emergency camps. Airwars is estimating between 900 and 1,200 civilians were likely killed by coalition air and artillery strikes during the assault on Mosul, but the overall death toll is significantly higher. The International Red Cross reports seeing a tremendous increase in civilian casualties in recent weeks. We are joined by Azmat Khan, an award-winning investigative journalist and a Future of War fellow at New America. She has spent the last year and a half investigating how the U.S.-led war against ISIS is playing out on the ground in Iraq.

Headlines for July 10, 2017 - 122 Nations Approve a Global Treaty to Ban Use of Nuclear Weapons Iraqi Prime Minister Declares Victory Over ISIS in Mosul NYT: Donald Trump Jr. Met with Kremlin-Linked Lawyer Promising Dirt on Clinton In G20 Meeting, Trump and Putin Talk Syria Ceasefire & Election Hacking Ceasefire in SW Syria Reportedly Holding, as Fighting & Airstrikes Continue in Raqqa At G20 Summit, All Countries But U.S. Agree Paris Climate Deal is "Irreversible" Sen. McCain Says Republican Healthcare Bill is Dead Turkey: Hundreds of Thousands Protest Erdogan Gov't at Istanbul Rally NYT: Mexican Gov't Surveilled International Investigators Probing Ayotzinapa Case Palestinian Activist Issa Amro's Trial Begins in Israeli Military Court 1,000 Protest Against KKK Rally in Charlottesville, VA Family Mourns Death of African-American Graduate Beaten to Death in Greece Thousands in California and British Columbia Flee Uncontrolled Wildfires

Berta Cáceres's Daughter Speaks Out After Surviving Assassination Attempt in Honduras - Last week, there was an attempted assassination on the life of Bertita Zúniga Cáceres, the daughter of murdered Honduran indigenous and environmental leader Berta Cáceres. Bertita Zúniga Cáceres was driving back with two colleagues from a community visit in central Honduras when a black pickup truck blocked their path. Three assailants jumped out of the truck and attempted an attack, but Zúñiga and her colleagues narrowly escaped. The incident comes just weeks after Zúniga was named the new leader of the indigenous rights group Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH). She recently demonstrated in support of pending U.S. legislation to suspend U.S. military aid to Honduras. Her protest was a part of a week of action coordinated by the U.S.-based human rights group Witness for Peace. We speak with Bertita Zúniga Cáceres at her home in La Esperanza, Honduras. Also joining the conversation is Chicago-based Matt Ginsberg-Jaeckle, who spent 10 years in Honduras working with COPINH.

Katrina vanden Heuvel: Now is Time for Trump & Putin to Negotiate, Not Escalate Tensions - President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. Their first official meeting comes as thousands of people have filled the streets around the G20 summit to demonstrate against globalization and Trump’s policies. Issues likely to be raised during their meeting include the war in Syria, North Korea, U.S. economic sanctions against Russia and nuclear weapons. Democrats are pushing Trump to confront Putin directly about the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election. But during a press conference on Thursday from Poland, Trump cast doubt on whether he believes Russia interfered in the 2016 election. We speak with Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor at The Nation, America’s oldest weekly magazine. She reported from Moscow for more than three decades. She is also a columnist for The Washington Post.

John Perkins

From Astana to the Vatican: Molding Reality 2 - A few spots left for my writer’s webinar: click here to book Join me for my workshop “Prosperity Through Creativity” at Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY: click here to reserve your spot (For Molding Reality 1: johnperkins.org/global-politics/trump-vs-putin-molding-reality) By John Perkins I just left the Astana (Kazakhstan) Economic Forum. I had the opportunity to continue the discussions begun in St Petersburg at the conference there that included Russian President Vladimir Putin and UN Secretary General António Guterres on the need to end old, exploitative, unsustainable systems and replace them with ones that are just beginning to evolve. In Astana, I shared the stage with some of the world’s most forward looking government, business and thought leaders. I sat on panels and in roundtable discussions with President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstn, Prime Minister Bakhytzhan Sagintayev of Kazakhstan, Prime Minister Francois Fillon of France (2007-2012), Prime Minister Marek Belka of Poland (2004-2005), Prime Minister Djoomart Otorbaev of Kyrgyzstan (2014-2015) Nobel Prize laureates Sviatoslav Timashev and Raekwon Chung, and President Putin’s Economic Adviser Sergey Glazyev. And I received a few scathing emails and Facebook comments questioning why I would refer to some of these people as “thought leaders.” I was told that they are infamous for terrible human rights abuses. Yet, to most of the world what my country does in places like Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Yemen are terrible human rights abuses – although they are not listed as such since they are not perpetrated within our borders. One of the Chinese speakers pointed out that while his country is criticized for all the pollution it causes, many of the goods that produce that pollution are bought in the US and America. “Yes,” he said, “we need to focus on nonpolluting technologies, and you who buy from us need to take some responsibility – be willing to pay more to help us make the transition.” Although many in the US have a very poor impression of the leaders in China and the former-USSR countries, I found them to be extremely concerned about the course our fragile space station — Earth — is taking. Their countries are moving rapidly into the digital, renewable resource age. One after another, they described the failures of current systems and called for reforms that will result in radical and positive changes. Many condemned yardsticks like GDP and advocated for alternatives, such as GGDP (Green GDP). During receptions and at less formal discussions, we spent many hours exchanging ideas on ways to transform business and government. This trip has pointed out to me the importance – indeed the necessity – of coming together in the recognition that we are one species living on a fragile planet. It is time to stop blaming “them” – the Russians, Chinese, terrorists, the Republicans, Democrats, the Conservatives, Liberals or whatever. We simply must end that divisive way of looking at the world. It is time to realize that blaming “the other” is part of a bygone era. Perhaps such combative and competitive attitudes served humanity in the past. Perhaps they helped us achieve miracles in medicine, engineering, computer technology, communications, transportation, the arts, and so on. Perhaps military research led to better radios, planes, computers, and more. But enough. The painfully obvious fact is that we are in the process of causing irreversible damage to our home, our space station, our Earth. To ourselves and all other life-forms. People around the world are waking up to the knowledge that this Death Economy has resulted in severe and unacceptable increases in environmental degradation, social inequality, political instability, and the threat that humans will destroy the world as we know it, that we will drive ourselves and many other species into a period of extinction like no other this planet has experienced since the end of the dinosaur age. Throughout these two forums, I was struck by the role that perception plays in molding political, environmental, social, and economic realities. Much of my writing and speaking these days focusses on this very subject, including my upcoming webinar, How to Write a Bestseller (In Times of Crises) – Using the Power of Story to Accelerate Change and my Omega workshop, Prosperity through Creativity: Shapeshifting into a Mindful Future. When we perceive “them” as the problem, our solution is to change them. Now is the time to awaken to the fact that “we” are the problem and we are the solution. We must work together. I flew from Astana to Rome. Here I am reminded that all great empires come to an end. The essential question is: What do we learn from that process? My hope is that we learn that there must be no more empires, that we need to come together as one species. We can speak many languages, honor many cultures, and yet at the same time dedicate ourselves to guiding this space station into a sustainable, peaceful future. Early one evening I snapped a photo of the Vatican. I did not realize until the next morning that there was a lone figure sitting there. That person appears to be either meditating or begging.  It strikes me as symbolic. While the sun is setting over a Vatican occupied by a new Pope, perhaps that lone figure symbolizes all of us and our need to meditate on and beg for a new way of perceiving, and thus changing, reality. Upcoming Events July 11 – September 29: Writers’ Webinar Learn how to write a bestseller in times of crises and use the power of story to accelerate change | 4 Sessions, Tuesdays, July 11 – September 29 September 8-10: Omega Institute Workshop – Prosperity Through Creativity  Tap into your deepest creativity, honor your passions, realize your true potential, and shapeshift your ideas into projects, books, works of art, successful businesses, fruitful relationships, and ultimately the life you want. October 12-13: The 2nd Love Summit Business Conference TED-style talks and workshops with some of the most progressive business, government and thought leaders of our time. Register today to get $200 off tickets: lovesummit2017.eventbrite.com. November 19-26: Mastery Course with Margot Anand & John Perkins A unique opportunity to study with two world renowned teachers, weaving together the magic of Tantra and Shamanism on the magnificent coast of Spain.

Trump vs Putin: Molding Reality - We know from quantum physics, chaos theory, and modern psychology that perception governs human behavior. What we refer to as ‘mindfulness’ shares with shamanism the ability to be fully present in ways that allow us to use perceptions of reality to transform objective reality and bring us inner peace and true prosperity.  — From draft of John Perkins’ new book I’m in Russia, just finished speaking about the need to transform a Death Economy into a Life Economy at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, and listening to three days of amazing talks and discussions. I found the spirit of cooperation among people from many countries to be deeply inspiring. I was especially impressed by President Putin’s speech and his emphasis on the need to build bridges between countries in order to deal with the crises around climate change, nuclear weapons, terrorism, and internet crimes. On the other hand, Megyn Kelly, who moderated a roundtable discussion that included Putin and later broadcasted an interview with him over NBC, went on the attack. She sounded like an old-fashioned Cold Warrior as she tried unsuccessfully to get Putin to admit to rigging the US elections. Although I respect Kelly’s rights as a journalist to dig for the truth, she undermined that shortly after her session with him by her statements on an NBC broadcast that Putin had been “aggressive” and “defiant”. Yes, he was defensive when she attacked him, but he was not aggressive. Rather, he – like so many other business and government leaders at this forum – conveyed a perception of hope and cooperation, a perception that can facilitate a new reality in this world where divisiveness and rancor have pervaded for far too long. Does Russia spy on the United States? Absolutely. Am I defending Putin as a guy who wears a halo? Absolutely not. Does the United States spy on Russia? Of course; we even spy on our allies as we admitted when we were caught bugging Germany’s Chancellor Merkel and others – long before Trump even announced his candidacy. Do both countries hack other countries’ internets? What a silly question. All those actions are remnants of an old system, what I refer to as the Death Economy, a system that goes beyond economics, into politics and social structures. President Putin himself referred to the need to move from the old system to something much better when he discussed President Trump’s recent call for increased investment in NATO. Putin pointed out that NATO had been created as a counterbalance to the threats posed by the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact. “There is no more Soviet Union, no more Warsaw Pact,” he said. “Why the need to increase NATO?” It is time to dump a system that results in constant strife, wars, terrorism, climate change, and outrageous inequality and injustice on every continent. What is needed today is a new system; in order to create such a new system, it is essential that we develop new perceptions of what it means to be human on this very fragile space station we call our home. Corporate executives and other economists and writers I talked to at this forum admitted that they find it challenging to be Americans at a time when the US president seems determined to increase the perception of a world divided, of an “us versus them” philosophy. And when major US media outlets like NBC hark back to attitudes that characterized the Cold War. At the same time, many were encouraged to hear President Putin, UN Secretary General Guterres, and many other business and government leaders try to reverse this perception by expressing hope that President Trump will come around in the next couple of crucial years, that he will change his mind about climate change and other issues – as he has done so many times before. Throughout this forum, I was struck by the role that perception plays in molding political, environmental, social, and economic realities. Much of my writing and speaking these days focuses on this very subject, including my upcoming webinar, How to Write a Bestseller (In Times of Crises) – Using the Power of Story to Accelerate Change and my Omega workshop, Prosperity through Creativity: Shapeshifting into a Mindful Future. I look forward to my next stop, another major economic summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, where I will speak and advocate the need to transform a Death into a Life Economy during a roundtable discussion with President Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan.What role will perceptions play? Stay tuned. . . UPCOMING EVENTS July 11 – September 29: Writers’ WebinarLearn how to write a bestseller in times of crises and use the power of story to accelerate change | 4 Sessions, Tuesdays, July 11 – September 29 September 8-10: Omega Institute Workshop – Prosperity Through Creativity  Tap into your deepest creativity, honor your passions, realize your true potential, and shapeshift your ideas into projects, books, works of art, successful businesses, fruitful relationships, and ultimately the life you want.October 12-13: The 2nd Love Summit Business Conference Hear TED-style talks and participate in workshops with some of the most progressive business and thought leaders of our time. Speaker lineup: dreamchange.org/speakers. $200 off until July 1st: lovesummit2017.eventbrite.com.

Creating Reality – Yours and the World’s - Join John at his “How to Write a Bestseller” webinar – a few spaces still available – and “Prosperity Through Creativity” September workshop at Omega. I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free. – Michelangelo Michelangelo understood that creativity springs from perception. He perceived an image in the marble and – at other times – on the canvas; then he transformed that perception into artistic reality. My September 2016 blog was entitled “The Perception Bridge: Building a Better Reality.”  Since then, I’ve explored this concept – and the hope it offers for your future, our future – in great detail. I’ve discussed it with many writers, artists, philosophers, therapists, and scientists. It is the theme of the book I’m currently writing and it plays a large role in the Writer’s Webinar I’m facilitating that begins later this month, and the workshop entitled “Prosperity Through Creativity” I’ll be teaching at Omega Institute in September. The fact is that religion, culture, legal and economic systems, countries, and corporations are created and maintained by perceived reality. When enough people accept a perception or when it is codified into law, that perception changes objective reality. Before Copernican, it was an accepted “fact” that the earth was the center of the universe. The belief that we were the stewards, the lords, of a planet at the center of the universe had a profound impact on religion, science, philosophy, medicine – reality. When Copernicus proved that the earth revolved around the sun, people had to cross a new Perception Bridge. Overnight, our whole way of thinking about ourselves changed. Today our reality is molded by our perceptions of concepts expressed by words like success, sustainability, justice, democracy, capitalism, and prosperity. Individuals struggle with what it means to prosper in a world where that very word is generally understood in materialistic terms. Business executives define capitalism within very narrow and highly predatory limits and success as being solely about maximizing shareholder profits. People across the planet are challenged to envision what democracy and sustainability truly look like. Michelangelo’s genius lay in his ability to cross a Perception Bridge. His Objective Reality 1 was a hunk of marble. His Perceived Reality, the vision of an angel within the marble, transported him to Objective Reality 2 – the beautiful statue of an angel. My job as an EHM illustrates another Perception Bridge. Objective Reality 1 was that countries had resources US corporations wanted. We EHMs promoted the Perceived Reality that using those resources as collateral on loans to finance the building of infrastructure projects would create economic growth and prosperity for everyone in those countries. Government leaders used our econometric models and glowing forecasts of unfettered prosperity to sell this perception to their people. The Perception Bridge was crossed, into Objective Reality 2, a situation where economic growth did occur – at least at the statistical level, as measured by GDP. However, since GDP statistics are skewed in favor of big business and the wealthy, the fact was that only our companies and the wealthy families benefited. The rest of the population suffered. Money was diverted from education, health care and other social services to pay interest on the loans. National resources were exploited by foreign companies. In many cases this has led to political unrest, resentment, and the rise of various forms of radicalism and terrorism. I recently spent time with Dr. Deepak Chopra, a cardiologist by training who has gained world-wide fame as a philosopher and advocate of new ways to look at medicine and the world, and Dr. Menas Kafatos, a physicist who specializes in cosmology, quantum mechanics, and climate change. The three of us were teaching at the same venue in the Bahamas the week the book they co-authored, You Are the Universe, was published. We spent lots of time discussing the impact perception has on reality. A sentence in their book echoes Michelangelo: “Words aren’t stored in a physical state in brain cells; instead, they exist invisibly but ready at hand – in a virtual state. . .” When you come right down to it, just about everything we humans do originates in that virtual state – which is another way of saying that our words, art, ideas, and actions are driven by perception. Sculptures, books, music, medicines, computers, rockets that fly to other galaxies – they all are germinated by perceptions. Human perceptions have created the wars, pollution, species extinctions, social injustices and other crises that currently threaten our planet. Your perceptions have created the life you are currently living. Since writing that September blog, I’ve traveled to many countries and spoken at a variety of venues – ranging from a dinner for billionaire real estate executives at an outrageously plush California resort to a rock concert in the jungles of Costa Rica (and just about everything in between!). I’ve seen how perceptions are changing. We humans collectively are waking up to the realization that in order to survive we must rise to a higher consciousness. And we humans individually are waking up to the realization that we can in fact realize prosperity – however we define it – through our own creativity. All we have to do is look at where we want to go, at the angel hiding in our version of Michelangelo’s marble, our current objectivity, and then create and cross a Perception Bridge that takes us to the new reality we desire. You can do it for yourself. You and I can do it for the world. Upcoming Events Writer’s Webinar “How to Write a Bestseller”4 sessions, every Tues. from July 11 – Sept 29, 2017 // 7 PM – 8:30 PM EST Do you want to write a bestseller that accelerates change? In my upcoming writer’s webinar, I will share my experiences of many years of writing bestsellers to help you improve your skills, get published, and reach large audiences. This writer’s salon is limited to 24 participants and there are just a few spots left. Reserve yours today. Omega Workshop “Prosperity Through Creativity”September 8 – September 10, 2017 // Omega Institute, Rhinebeck, NY Tap into your deepest creativity, honor your passions, realize your true potential, and shapeshift your ideas into projects, books, works of art, successful businesses, fruitful relationships, and ultimately the life you want. To register, click here.

Join Me This Fall at the #LoveSummit2017 - The Love Summit has the potential to be one of the most provocative, most transformational get togethers you have ever participated in. — Dan Wieden, Creator of Nike’s slogan “Just Do It”, Co-Founder & Chairman, Wieden+Kennedy This October 12-13, join me and my nonprofit organization, Dream Change, for our 2nd Love Summit business conference at LPK headquarters in The Queen City Cincinnati! We’ll be covering the latest trends in heart-centered enterprise—exhibiting how #BottomLineLove business practices can help solve the most pressing social, environmental and economic issues of our time. Join us for: Game-changing TED-style talks by some of the most pioneering business and thought leaders of our time; Interactive breakout sessions for hands-on, experiential learning; And fun networking events to build and broaden your network. The summit will sell out, so reserve a spot for you and your colleagues soon. I had the privilege of hosting the 1st Love Summit with my dear friend, Dan Wieden — creator of Nike’s slogan Just Do It, and co-founder and chairman of Wieden+Kennedy. As Dan says, “The Love Summit has the potential to be one of the most provocative, most transformational get togethers you have ever participated in.” I couldn’t agree more. Please join us for another amazing event! Save $200 by registering before July 1. Watch the short video below to hear Dream Change’s executive director, Samantha Thomas, and me explain more about the Love Summit conference and cause. See you in Cincinnati!

Media Monarchy

#PumpUpThaVolume: July 11, 2017 - Media Monarchy plays Pattern Language, Golden Spiral, Japanese House and more on #PumpUpThaVolume for July 11, 2017. ♬

#MorningMonarchy: July 11, 2017 - Automated insights, shuttle sneaks and Zuckervilles + this day in history w/Skylab destroyed and our song of the day by Everything Everything on your Morning Monarchy for July 11, 2017.

#GoodNewsNextWeek: Nature Bay, Probiotic Beer, Library Cat (Audio) - This week on #GoodNewsNextWeek: Our independent friend David takes on two corporate Goliaths; Researchers have created a new probiotic beer that boosts immunity; Marijuana/freedom fans cheer recreational pot in Nevada.

#GoodNewsNextWeek: Cheers! There’s New Probiotic Beer (Video) - This week on #GoodNewsNextWeek: Our independent friend David takes on two corporate Goliaths; Researchers have created a new probiotic beer that boosts immunity; Marijuana/freedom fans cheer recreational pot in Nevada.

#PumpUpThaVolume: July 10, 2017 - Media Monarchy plays Baron Four, Orange Kyte, Sven-Erik Olsen and more on #PumpUpThaVolume for July 10, 2017. ♬

#MorningMonarchy: July 10, 2017 - Positive chemistry, house arrest and moving back to America + this day in history w/the launch of Telstar and our song of the day by Ringo Starr on your Morning Monarchy for July 10, 2017.

#PumpUpThaVolume: July 7, 2017 - Media Monarchy plays Teen Vice, Japanese Breakfast, Rogue Emperor and more on #PumpUpThaVolume for July 7, 2017. ♬

#MorningMonarchy: July 7, 2017 - Propaganda 101, retraction action and Saudi suitors + this day in history w/7/7 and our song of the day by Public Service Broadcasting on your Morning Monarchy for July 7, 2017.

#NewWorldNextWeek: Mandatory Prisons, Bayer Pesticides, Space Corps (Audio) - This week on the New World Next Week: MSM proposes everyone go to jail; Bayer-funded study shows Bayer pesticides are killing the bees; and the US military is planning to create a new Space Corps.

#NewWorldNextWeek: Bayer Study Finds Bayer Pesticides Are Killing Bees (Video) - This week on the New World Next Week: MSM proposes everyone go to jail; Bayer-funded study shows Bayer pesticides are killing the bees; and the US military is planning to create a new Space Corps.

NATO Latest News

Visit to NATO by the Chairman of the Steering Committee in France for the Strategic Review of security and national defense - On Wednesday 12 July, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will welcome to NATO Headquarters, Mr. Arnaud Danjean, Member of the European Parliament and Chairman of the French drafting board working on a strategic review of national defence and security.

Deputy Chairman of the NATO Military Committee attends UN Chiefs of Defence Conference - On 6-7 July 2017, Lieutenant General Steven M. Shepro, Deputy Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, represented NATO at the second edition of the United Nations Chiefs of Defence Conference in New York.

Visit to NATO by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan - The NATO Secretary General, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg will meet the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, H.E. Mr. Ayman Safadi, at NATO Headquarters on Tuesday, 11 July 2017.

NATO Secretary General stresses Alliance’s strong support for Ukraine - NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg ended a two-day visit to Ukraine on Monday evening (10 July 2017), during which he reaffirmed the Alliance’s strong political and practical support for Ukraine. Mr. Stoltenberg was in Kyiv together with the Ambassadors of NATO’s North Atlantic Council to mark the twentieth anniversary since the signing of the Distinctive Partnership between NATO and the Ukraine.

Secretary General: NATO values its partnership with Ukraine - NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg underlined the Alliance’s continuing support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in Kyiv on Monday (10 July 2017). Mr. Stoltenberg and the North Atlantic Council are marking twenty years of NATO’s Distinctive Partnership with Ukraine. At a joint press conference with President Petro Poroshenko, Mr. Stoltenberg highlighted NATO’s practical and political support for Ukraine.

NATO Air Policing in Bulgaria - With its accession in 2004, the airspace of Bulgaria became part of the Alliance airspace and the Bulgarian Air Force MiG-29 fighter jets were included in NATO’s Integrated Air and Missile Defence System (NATINAMDS).

North Atlantic Council visit to Ukraine / Meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission

Secretary General welcomes Japanese Prime Minister to NATO Headquarters - NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday (6 July 2017) for talks on the Alliance’s cooperation with Japan and the security situation in the Asia-Pacific region.

NATO Ambassadors and EU Commissioner discuss cooperation toward stronger European defence - Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed European Commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska to NATO today (05 July 2017). The high-level representative of the European Union briefed the North Atlantic Council on the latest developments regarding the European Defence Action Plan and the European Defence Fund.

NATO boosts cooperation with Ukraine on scientific and security-related activities - Allied and Ukrainian experts gathered in Kyiv on 4 July 2017 to discuss present and future cooperation in the area of emerging security challenges and security-related advanced technologies.

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‘I’m a girl’: Black teen says she was punched after police mistook her for male suspect - BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — A black woman contends she was confronted by police at gunpoint, punched in the mouth and bitten by a police dog after she was mistaken for a much larger bald man suspected of threatening people with a machete. Tatyana Hargrove’s account is contained in a video posted on Facebook Monday by the Bakersfield chapter of the NAACP, which contends that race played a role in the June 18 incident. As of Tuesday, the video had received nearly 3 million views. The Police Department determined the use of force was appropriate, Sgt. Ryan Kroeker told the Bakersfield Californian. Hargrove, 19, is shown with crutches in the video, and there are close-ups of scratches, bites, bruises and scrapes on her face and body. Hargrove said she had ridden her bicycle to a local store to buy a Father’s Day gift. But it was closed and she decided to return home, she said. Temperatures in the Central Valley city had hit around 102 degrees, and Hargrove, who had three bottles of water in a backpack, stopped to take a drink. “And then I turned around and there were three cop cars and one of the officers already had a gun drawn at me,” she said. The confrontation escalated after an officer demanded to search her backpack and she asked if he had a warrant. Hargrove contends that police grabbed her by the wrist and neck, punched her and threw her to the ground, where she was bitten in the leg by a police dog. One officer put his knee in her back and another knee on her head, she said. “I told him ‘I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe’ and then I started yelling out “somebody help, somebody help me, they’re gonna kill me,’ ‘ she said. Eventually, she was arrested on suspicion of resisting or delaying an officer and aggravated assault on an officer. Police said they mistook her for a man who reportedly had threatened people with a machete at a nearby store. Injuries to Tatyana Hargrove after her June 18, 2017, encounter with police in Bakersfield, Calif. The suspect was described as a 25- to 30-year-old bald man standing about 5-foot-10 and weighing about 170 pounds. Hargrove is 5-foot-2 and weighs 115 pounds, the Bakersfield California reported Hargrove, who was wearing a hat, “appeared to be a male and matched the description of the suspect that had brandished the machete and was also within the same complex the suspect had fled to,” the arresting officer, Christopher Moore, wrote in a report obtained by the Californian. He thought she had a weapon in her bag. According to the report, the confrontation escalated after Hargrove said she was going to leave. She was punched in the mouth and bitten after she knocked down an officer and got on top of him, according to the report. She was subdued after fighting the dog and the officers, the report indicated. Moore said he didn’t realize Hargrove was female until she told him her first name. “I’m a girl. I just don’t dress like one,” she said. The suspected machete-wielder, Douglas Washington, 24, was arrested the next day and remained jailed. It’s unclear if he has an attorney.

House panel reveals $1.6B plan for building Trump’s U.S.-Mexico wall - WASHINGTON — A House panel Tuesday unveiled legislation to begin building President Donald Trump’s long-promised wall along the U.S-Mexico border. Mexico, however, will not be footing the bill. The move by the House Appropriations Committee again puts the Trump administration and its allies on Capitol Hill on a collision course with Democrats who oppose the wall and succeeded in blocking a request by Trump to deliver the money when passing an omnibus spending measure earlier this spring. Democrats objected to the funding and significant opposition surfaced among Republicans as well, many of whom have problems with the wall. The administration and congressional Republicans took a pass on forcing the issue in May but vowed to fight for the wall this summer and fall. During last year’s campaign, Trump bragged that Mexico would pay for the wall but he’s never come up with a serious plan to deliver on his boast. Instead, the $1.6 billion down payment for the wall will be added to the government’s almost $20 trillion debt. The wall money is embedded in a $44 billion homeland security funding bill released on Tuesday by the House Appropriations Committee. A House Appropriations subcommittee is slated to give the measure a preliminary OK on Wednesday. GOP leaders hope to pass the measure before adjourning for the August break. The fight over funding the wall is a major obstacle to funding government agency operations for the budget year beginning Oct. 1 and some conservatives are threatening to shut the government down if the wall is not included. Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., has raised the threat as part of his GOP primary campaign against appointed Sen. Luther Strange, threatening to filibuster any funding bill that fails to include money for the wall project. And Trump himself reacted to news reports suggesting Democrats had bested him on the earlier catchall spending bill by taking to Twitter to complain about Senate filibuster rules and declaring that: “Our country needs a good ‘shutdown’ in September to fix mess!” Democrats quickly signalled they’re eager for the fight. “Once again, Republicans are trying to put American taxpayers on the hook for the multi-billion dollar boondoggle President Trump swore Mexico would pay for,” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. “Trump’s immoral, ineffective and expensive wall is strongly opposed by Democrats and by many Republicans as well. A wall of bipartisan opposition is the only thing House Republicans are trying to build here.” Trump's bright idea: a solar wall at the US-Mexico border Trump's border wall with Mexico would cost $21.6 billion and take 3.5 years to build, internal report says Trump considering twenty per cent tax on Mexican imports to pay for border wall, spokesman says

Larry Potter and the 139,364 Timbits: A year in MP entertainment expenses - OTTAWA — Members of parliament spent almost $1.3 million of public money on events, wining-and-dining, and coffee during the last fiscal year. Hidden in MP expense reports are face-painting, a band called the Junkyard Symphony, a company called Larry Potter Magician, ice cream trucks and a variety of other items that added flavour to parliamentarians’ most expensive parties. Two of the most popular purchasing choices, Tim Hortons and the parliamentary restaurant (located on Parliament Hill), were responsible for 2.4 and 4.1 per cent of total spending, respectively. MPs spent $31,461, as a collective, on Tim Hortons. That’s equivalent to 139,364 Timbits (tax included). There was little love for other coffee shops. Starbucks raked in just under $3,000, while Ottawa chain Bridgehead pulled about $1,000 of business from House of Commons expense accounts. Second Cup and Timothy’s pocketed a few hundred bucks apiece. MPs reached for (and expensed) at least $7,000 in booze purchases. Dining at the parliamentary restaurant was, not surprisingly, a typical expense. MPs spent $53,191 there between April 2016 and March 2017, with some bills hitting many hundreds of dollars. This year’s prize for the biggest liquor bill goes to the prime minister himself. Justin Trudeau expensed $523 at SAQ (Quebec liquor store) for a constituency event in February. The biggest bill from Ontario, at LCBO, was $338 from Conservative MP Garnett Genuis, for a staff event in September. All told, MPs spent at least $7,000 on such libations. Aside from regular schmoozing costs, many MPs hosted one-off events, like summer barbeques, Canada Day celebrations or other big occasions, often playing host to hundreds of guests. Of countless events held by MPs, usually in their ridings or in Ottawa, 126 cost more than $1,000 and half of these were held during the parliamentary summer break. Only five events came up to more than $5,000. The most expensive was an end-of-year barbeque held by Liberal MP Sonia Sidhu. According to her office, it was an occasion to check in with about 1,400 or 1,500 constituents at the end of her first year on the Hill — a standard outdoor BBQ, though it cost $7,367. Much of that amount went towards food, according to her expense report, but at least $1,500 went towards party supplies, including balloons (notably, one company called Blow It was a benefactor), and another almost $2,300 went to the City of Brampton for the venue. The second-most-expensive event was hosted by William Amos, the Liberal MP for Pontiac in October. According to his office, this was a “socio-economic forum” with about 180 attendees from all over the riding. The almost-$6,000 in costs were paid out to Auberge du Draveur, which a staffer said is pretty much the only venue in Maniwaki that can host a group of that size. Bouncy castles and ice cream trucks featured prominently in MP expenses. Rounding out the top three was a party Liberal MP Gary Anandasangaree hosted in January to celebrate Tamil Heritage Month. His executive assistant, Gowthaman Kurusamy, said this was a “historical celebration” because it’s the first time the month has been recognized federally, after all parties supported a motion from Anandasangaree in the Commons. The event was held at a government building and featured representatives from all political parties and some indigenous groups. Costs of $5,850 went to Rajah Ram Caterers, who boxed up traditional Tamil pastries and delicacies in packages that said “Happy Tamil Heritage Month” in French, English and Tamil, according to Kurusamy. Bouncy castles and ice cream trucks featured prominently in the expenses, if only for companies’ delightful names. For example, one ice cream truck company was called Santa of Summer. Liberal MP Mark Holland’s office confirmed an expense of $452 to “Larry Potter Magician” was for a bouncy castle and not for a magician named Larry Potter. The National Post notes that many bouncy castles from Larry Potter cost $250 for a day rental, and for $350, Holland could have booked a bouncy castle, a 30-minute magic show, a 10-minute puppet show and 20 minutes of balloon twisting. What it's costing us to have 338 MPs go about their business: $60-million for just the first half of fiscal 2017 MP Expenses: One spent $8 to rent a riding office; another spent $50,000 Maple syrup, fridge magnets and wine: MPs spend $675,000 on gifts and hospitality in first half of the year Several MPs also paid out modest amounts for musical guests, including a traditional music group called Simpson’s Folly, a band called the Junkyard Symphony and a pre-teen opera singer named Luca Figliomeni. Another eye-catching expense went to a group dubbed “We Love Oil Sands” — actually called “I Love Oil Sands.” Conservative MP David Yurdiga spent $1,250 on a table of 12 at an event hosted by the group. A staffer in his office called the event a themed evening for mucky mucks from the community. Hospitality expenses were only responsible for a tiny fraction of MPs overall $139 million budgets. • Email: mdsmith@postmedia.com | Twitter: mariedanielles

Drowning of Lev Tahor leader leaves future of ultra-Orthodox sect in doubt - MONTREAL — To the roughly 200 Lev Tahor adherents who followed their charismatic rabbi from country to country, Shlomo Helbrans knew the path to eternal truth. To his numerous detractors, he was a dangerous charlatan who deserved to be locked up. Now, after Helbrans drowned last week in Mexico at age 55, the future of the cult-like group has been cast into doubt, and a path that has jumped from Israel to the United States, Canada, Guatemala and Mexico looks less clear than ever. “There is now a power vacuum,” said Marci Hamilton, a professor of religion at the University of Pennsylvania who has been watching the ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect for about a decade. She said it would be hard for anyone to replace Helbrans, particularly when his death was so sudden. “The attachment to a charismatic leader in a very isolated group that engages in illegal practices is so strong,” she said. Helbrans and his followers had arrived in Mexico’s southern Chiapas province recently after spending three years in Guatemala. They had travelled to Guatemala from Canada, where child-protection authorities were moving to seize children allegedly suffering from neglect. Helbrans founded Lev Tahor – Hebrew for Pure Heart – in Israel in the mid-1980s. The group moved to New York in 1991, fleeing the Armageddon Helbrans believed would come with the first Gulf War. A criminal conviction for kidnapping a boy brought to him for religious instruction led to his deportation to Israel after he served a prison sentence, but in 2000 he arrived in Canada. He was eventually granted asylum from what he claimed was Israeli government persecution for his anti-Zionist views. The strict rules Helbrans imposed led Israelis to nickname the cult-like group the Jewish Taliban, because female members wear burka-like robes beginning at age three and are confined to household tasks. The group had been established on the outskirts of Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, north of Montreal, for more than a decade before Quebec authorities began paying close attention. As they prepared to move in to protect children in the sect in late 2013, community members left en masse overnight for Chatham, Ont. Before the next summer, they had moved on to Guatemala. Court documents used by Quebec police to obtain warrants alleged that Lev Tahor girls as young as 13 and 14 in the community were routinely married off to much older men. The allegations in the documents, which became public after the sect had fled and were never proven in court, included sexual and physical abuse of children. Ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect that fled Canada raided by Guatemalan police over child abuse concerns Lev Tahor forced its members to take drugs, disobedient teen girls were tied up in basements, police allege in unsealed documents La Presse revealed that based on a report of a former Lev Tahor member, provincial police had feared a mass suicide if authorities attempted to break up the community. Speaking from Israel Tuesday, Hannah Katsman, a child-protection advocate who has researched Lev Tahor, said there are fears of what could come next for a group with a strong persecution complex. “We know that some cults ends with suicide,” she said. “There has been so much turmoil and chaos in the last few years, ever since they left Quebec.” Oded Twik, who rescued his sister and her children from Lev Tahor in 2015, said family members in Israel are very worried about what will happen to sect members. “There are a lot of people who are really damaged,” Twik said through an interpreter. “He was like a pope. He was their spiritual father.” Helbrans was reportedly taking part in a purification ritual last Friday when he was swept away by an unusually strong river current. A report in El Orbe said his body was carried a kilometre downstream before it was recovered. Six children believed to be members of the Lev Tahor sect take cover from the rain in San Juan La Laguna, Guatemala on May 19, 2014. Lev Tahor members were in Mexico on a six-month visa. In June, group spokesman Uriel Goldman told El Sol de Mexico that the 40 families had moved to Mexico after facing religious intolerance in Guatemala. Hamilton noted that sect members include citizens of Canada, the United States and Israel, and she said Helbrans’ death could provide an opportunity for action. “To the extent that there are children who are either American or Canadian citizens, at this point the authorities could swoop in and take them. Everything they are doing to those children, at least from the reports we’ve had, violate international standards,” she said. “The concern was while (Helbrans) was in power that if the government got too close, he would turn them all against themselves and perhaps have a suicide pact or something horrendous.” • Email: ghamilton@nationalpost.com | Twitter: grayhamilton

Cost concerns stall Joint Task Force’s planned move to CFB Trenton - As Canada’s special forces prepares to increase in size, a planned move of its counterterrorism unit from Ottawa to a larger base has been stalled. The cost to move Joint Task Force 2 to a new installation at CFB Trenton has tripled to more than $1 billion. The Department of National Defence says it is now going back to the Liberal government for a decision on how it wants to proceed. JTF2 had planned to leave its Dwyer Hill facility in Ottawa after 2019 for a new installation at CFB Trenton. The previous Conservative government had authorized $346 million for construction of the new JTF2 site and the move of the unit. But the special forces command has significantly added capabilities to the proposed site, expanding it beyond its original scope. That has driven costs up to about $1.2 billion. The Liberal government recently announced it was boosting the size of Canada’s special forces by 605 personnel, although it’s unclear how many of those would be for JTF2. Still, the military has been warning for years that the counterterrorism unit has outgrown its Dwyer Hill installation. Liberal defence policy calls for hundreds more commandos and $1.5 billion in special forces equipment Cost of proposed Joint Task Force base at CFB Trenton triples to top $1B Canadian special forces spy planes could monitor cell phone conversations over battlefields — and Canadian cities Last year, the Department of National Defence told the Ottawa Citizen it would have a decision on the move by this summer. But it now acknowledges there are no clear timelines for the project, if it happens at all. “Due to the complexity of the project, the scope continues to be developed to meet minimum operational requirements,” the DND stated in an email. “The Department will seek further direction from the government on the implementation plan as the project progresses.” Jordan Owens, a spokeswoman for Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, said the request for direction has not yet arrived from the military. Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Jon Vance has been warned the project is facing major risk in “cost and scope,” according to documents obtained by the Ottawa Citizen through the Access to Information law. The military has been talking about the need for a new base for JTF2 since 2005. Among the options considered was an expansion of the existing Ottawa site or moving the unit to Garrison Petawawa. In 2008, the Conservative government announced JTF2 would be relocated to CFB Trenton, but in 2014, DND officials said the unit would remain at its Ottawa location at least until 2019. In a controversial move, the Conservative government in 2012 expropriated a 90-hectare farm, near the Trenton base. The farm’s owner, Frank Meyers, made an unsuccessful bid to have the expropriation stopped. The farm had been in his family for more than 200 years. The military took over the property, tore down barns, and built a berm and some access roads. Little else has been done with the land. Meyers’ supporters have asked the Liberal government to return the property, but it has declined to do so. There are currently around 1,900 personnel in Canadian special forces. That will be increased to 2,500, but the Liberal government has not detailed the time frame in which this will take place. The Liberals have also pledged to spend $1.5 billion on new equipment for the special forces. That gear will include new vehicles, surveillance aircraft and boats. Canadian Special Operations Forces Command or CANSOFCOM oversees Joint Task Force 2, in Ottawa; the 427 Special Operations Aviation Squadron and the Canadian Special Operations Regiment, both in Petawawa; and the Canadian Joint Incident Response Unit, a Trenton, Ont.-based organization that deals with weapons of mass destruction. The Liberal government defence plan also calls for new infrastructure for the Canadian Joint Incident Response Unit, which will see additional personnel added to its ranks. Some existing buildings will be remodelled while other new facilities will be constructed at Trenton. If JTF2 vacates its Dwyer Hill installation, the site will be offered up within DND and then to other federal departments. After that it could be offered to provincial and municipal governments. “If there is no interest at these levels, the property will be sold on the open market through an open and fair process,” a DND spokeswoman has said. • Email: dpugliese@postmedia.com | Twitter: davidpugliese

It’s official: Trump campaign wanted campaign help from Russia - WASHINGTON — It’s not an anti-Trump conspiracy and it’s not fake news. It’s a basic fact no longer in dispute: Donald Trump’s campaign tried getting help from Vladimir Putin’s government to win an American election, as revealed in emails released Tuesday in a watershed moment following a year-long controversy over suspected Russian election-meddling. Emails released by the president’s own son, Donald Trump Jr., show that he was invited last year to meet a woman described as a Russian government lawyer, and was told this woman had dirt collected by the Russian government, in an attempt by them to smear Hillary Clinton and influence the U.S. election. The president’s eldest son responded to the invitation by setting up a meeting at Trump Tower, inviting his brother-in-law and current White House staffer Jared Kushner and bringing along Kremlin-linked campaign manager Paul Manafort. “We have some time (to meet),” Trump replied to his friend. “If it’s what you say I love it.” In this July 21, 2016 file photo, then-Trump Campaign manager Paul Manafort stands between Donald Trump and his daughter Ivanka Trump The Trump team has spent a year denying ties with Russia, and denying collusion. But the president’s son released four pages of emails Tuesday, after the New York Times had reported on them. Trump Jr. has agreed to testify before a congressional committee, pending an invitation. The sudden twist in the Russia affair came after the newspaper reported on a meeting set up at Trump Tower on June 9, 2016, by a globe-trotting music impresario who knows the Trump family through one of his clients. A five-star nomad whose Facebook page features a string of pictures from exotic locales, Rob Goldstone informed the candidate’s son that a mutual friend had met with a Russian federal prosecutor who had dirt to dish. “(This) would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father,” Goldstone wrote. “This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.” He offered to set up a meeting with Trump Jr. and someone he described this way: “A Russian government attorney.” The attorney in question, Natalia Veselnitskaya, has denied connections to the Russian government. But she told NBC News in an interview that the Trump team was very interested in what she had to say. The Trump inner circle says the meeting was a bust; Veselnitskaya didn’t deliver anything of value, they say and the encounter ended after about a half-hour. In a brief statement from the White House, President Trump said: “My son is a high-quality person. And I applaud his transparency.” The White House has referred all other questions to lawyers. Randall D. Eliason: Trump Jr.'s meeting with a Russian lawyer lays a solid foundation for criminal charges Lawyer who met with Donald Trump Jr. says he only asked one question Trump Jr. releases emails showing Russian aid for campaign Three members of the Trump family have retained attorneys in the Russia affair as legal experts weigh in on whether the known facts already fit the definition of obstruction of justice, election-law violations, conspiracy, criminal failure to disclose foreign contacts on government security forms and even more serious charges like espionage and treason. Republicans have circled the wagons, mostly ridiculing the story. “Washington’s obsessed right now. It is the Democratic talking point du jour. But when I go back to Texas, nobody asks about Russia,” Sen. Ted Cruz said earlier Tuesday, before the emails were released. “You know, I’ve held town halls all over the state of Texas. You know how many questions I got on Russia? Zero. Outside of Washington, people are focused on Obamacare… tax reform… regulatory reform… It’s just worth keeping in mind the absolute disconnect between the obsession of the Washington media and where the American people are.” Yet there are now multiple congressional investigations, as well as a special counsel. In recent weeks, Trump father and son had been taking shots at the special counsel, using their social media accounts to suggest Robert Mueller is biased and that his investigation is a waste of time.

Friends mourn N.B. fisherman who died freeing trapped whale - By Alison Auld and Kevin Bissett A lobster fisherman with a passion for freeing whales from deadly fishing line was killed soon after he cut the last piece of rope from a massive whale in the waters off eastern New Brunswick, friends and colleagues confirmed Tuesday. They say Joe Howlett had helped rescue about two dozen whales over the last 15 years. Mackie Green of the Campobello Whale Rescue Team said Howlett had boarded a federal Fisheries Department vessel off Shippagan on Monday to help cut lines from a North Atlantic right whale that had become entangled in a heavy snarl of rope. Green was not on the boat, but said he was told the 59-year-old veteran fisherman was hit by the whale just after it was cut free and started swimming away. “They got the whale totally disentangled and then some kind of freak thing happened and the whale made a big flip,” said Green, who started the rescue team with Howlett in 2002 and had worked closely with him ever since. “Joe definitely would not want us to stop because of this. This is something he loved and there’s no better feeling than getting a whale untangled, and I know how good he was feeling after cutting that whale clear.” Federal Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc issued a statement Tuesday offering his sympathies to Howlett’s family and friends. “We have lost an irreplaceable member of the whale rescue community,” LeBlanc said, adding that such rescues can be dangerous. Joe Howlett was a resident of Campobello Island. “Taking part in whale rescue operations requires immense bravery and a passion for the welfare of marine mammals … There are serious risks involved with any disentanglement attempt. Each situation is unique, and entangled whales can be unpredictable.” The minister confirmed Howlett was working with federal conservation officers and the Canadian Coast Guard. As well, he said Howlett was aboard a smaller “fast response” vessel when the rescue was taking place. Jerry Conway of the Canadian Whale Institute in Campobello, N.B., said Howlett had freed another North Atlantic right whale in roughly the same area less than a week earlier. Conway said the death is a great loss to the community of fishermen and scientists who work to help whales trapped in fishing gear or struck by ships — the greatest threats to the endangered right whales. “He is a very knowledgeable fishermen, and who better to do disentanglements than a fisherman who knows the knots and the ropes and the gear?” he said. “He’s going to be sorely missed by the community and he was an integral part of a very unique group of fishermen here on the island who were involved in doing the disentanglements.” Conway, who had known Howlett since 2002, said he didn’t know the details of what happened but added that disentanglements never involve rescuers getting in the water to help free the whale. He said crews are usually on boats that are low in the water, and they use special gear to cut the ropes from the animal. Howlett was the skipper of the research vessel Sheila, which was used to study right whales in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, he said. In the past month, seven right whale carcasses have been found floating in the Gulf. Tests showed one died after getting entangled in fishing gear. Injuries on the other two were consistent with ship strikes, researchers said. Howlett left the Sheila and took his rescue gear onto the Fisheries vessel after this latest whale was spotted in the Gulf. 'Whales ho!' Sailors, conservationists help keep whales safe Scientists hoping for the best after losing contact with rescued beluga Whale movements giving officials hope for survival of wayward beluga “He was very committed to this and he was very concerned about the state of the oceans,” Conway said. Green said Howlett was originally from Chester, N.S., but moved years ago to Campobello Island, where he started a family and got involved in the scallop and lobster fisheries. Friends say the death will be keenly felt on the small island of about 850 people, where Howlett was known for his humour, big laugh and generosity. “The whole island’s in mourning here,” said Green. “Joe was the life of the party. He was always upbeat, laughing, telling jokes so the whole island’s at a desperate loss … He was a great fella and he really cared about the whales.”

Matthew Fisher: The biggest attraction in Hong Kong this summer is a Chinese aircraft carrier - HONG KONG — Patriotic residents of this former British territory have been agog these past few days over the arrival of China’s first aircraft carrier. The Liaoning anchored last Friday near the Disneyland Resort on the western approach to one of the world’s most dynamic ports. Security experts regard the vessel, which has been painted a pale blue, as a symbol of Beijing’s military ambition. It underscores China’s intention to dominate the South China Sea and East China Sea and establish a persistent blue-water naval presence in the western Pacific and, eventually, the Indian Ocean. About 2,000 Hong King residents, and nearly that many dignitaries, appeared in local television reports to be spellbound after touring the ship over the weekend during a port visit timed to coincide with the 20th anniversary of Britain’s handover of the territory to Beijing. The Liaoning, China’s first aircraft carrier, sails into Hong Kong for a port call, Friday, July 7, 201. Although visitors were allowed to snap pictures with their cellphones, cameras were not permitted. The eight Chinese-made J-15 fighter jets on display had their radars and engines hidden from public view. Nevertheless, the “charm offensive” by the People’s Liberation Army Navy, which ended Tuesday morning, was considered a triumph by the South China Morning Post and has dominated the Chinese and English media here for days. Many young people in Hong Kong famously want nothing to do with China and its communist government. Still, there has been such genuine enthusiasm over the Liaoning’s presence that thousands of people who were unable to snag tickets to tour the ship crowded the few vantage points from which it was possible to get a good look at it from land, or purchased ferry tickets to Discovery Bay for the thrill of passing a few hundred metres from it. Not that the media in Mainland China or in Hong Kong have mentioned it, but the Liaoning is actually a 29-year-old former Soviet navy ship with a colourful history since its 1998 purchase from Ukraine for $20 million. The idea at the time, or so China claimed, was to turn it into a floating hotel and casino in Macau. Getting the Liaoning to China involved an epic 28,000 kilometre journey that saw it towed from the Black Sea through the Strait of Gibraltar, across the South Atlantic, around the Cape of Good Hope and across the Indian Ocean to China, where it took a shipyard six years to make it seaworthy again. It was only in 2011 that China admitted that the Liaoning was actually going to be part of the People’s Liberation Army Navy. Beijing continues to insist that the vessel is only intended for training and research purposes. Nevertheless, after four years of sea trials the ship was declared “combat-ready” last December and made its first operational cruise in the East China Sea accompanied by seven other warships. In a demonstration of the kind of gunboat diplomacy and power-projection that American flattops have carried out in the Pacific and the Middle East for decades, the Liaoning conducted its first live-fire exercise last week near Taiwan on its way to Hong Kong. It may not often feel like it often these days in Asia but the U.S. continues to hold a huge military advantage over China. America has put 69 aircraft carriers to sea and deploys 10 straight-deck carriers today. Each of these 107,000-tonne nuclear-powered behemoths can carry up to 90 warplanes, compared to the roughly 40 supported by the much smaller, ski-jump decked, steam turbine-powered Chinese carrier. The Liaoning, China’s first aircraft carrier, may be a repurposed Soviet ship, but it’s also a symbol of the country’s military ambitions when the seas are so dominated by the U.S. Navy. So it is easy for an outsider to be amused by Hong Kong’s infatuation with the Liaoning. But the iconic nature of a Chinese aircraft carrier in Hong Kong is inescapable. American carriers have visited Hong Kong many times without causing this kind of stir. China is not the only country using euphemisms to describe its navy. The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force has just commissioned its second aircraft carrier, but it doesn’t call them aircraft carriers. They are referred to instead as “helicopter destroyers,” though they are much larger than previous ships described that way. If required they can carry several dozen American vertical-takeoff aircraft capable of carrying bombs and missiles. The Chinese and Japanese naval buildups are part of an arms race in Asia. Vietnam and India are building new warships and submarines, too. China celebrates as aircraft carrier arrives in Hong Kong for first port call How is America responding? With an eye on North Korea’s ballistic missile programme as well as the Chinese navy, the U.S. had two aircraft carriers — the Reagan and the Vinson — in the western Pacific last month. A few days ago the Pentagon sent a destroyer to sail near the Paracel Islands, which are claimed by China and Vietnam. As the Liaoning visited Hong Kong, two U.S. Air Force supersonic strategic bombers streaked across the South China Sea. Still, it is an open question how much longer the U.S. will be easily able to conduct such freedom-of-navigation cruises and overflights of one of the world’s busiest, and therefore most strategic, shipping lanes. Beijing is putting fighter jets and missiles on artificial islands it has built on sand bars and reefs far out into the South China Sea, the hotly disputed subject of overlapping claims by China and five other Asian countries. China’s second aircraft carrier, the Shandong, which is based on the Liaoning’s Soviet design, went to sea for first time in April. A third carrier, entirely of Chinese design, is under construction. The presence of the Liaoning in Hong Kong is warning not only to the U.S. Navy but to China’s neighbours, all of whom are wondering how long it may take for Beijing to turn the South China Sea into a Chinese lake. Twitter: @mfisheroverseas

Ex-Gitmo detainee says ‘Canada has set the bar’ with Omar Khadr payout - TORONTO — A British man compensated by the U.K. government for his torture and years of detention at Guantanamo Bay expressed dismay on Tuesday at the public and political furor in Canada over Ottawa’s settlement with Omar Khadr. Speaking from his home in Birmingham in the U.K., Moazzam Begg said Canadians instead should be proud of the federal government for the payment and apology to Khadr for breaching his rights. “The nation shouldn’t be upset about issuing an apology for something that’s right,” Begg told The Canadian Press. “If people are getting upset about that, I think they need to revisit what their morals and values are about.” Begg is one of 16 former Guantanamo detainees who settled lawsuits against the British government in 2010. The deal, while decried by some, aroused little of the anger seen in Canada over the Khadr settlement, announced last week, which sources said was worth $10.5 million. For one thing, Begg said, Khadr’s payment was far in excess of anything the Britons received — reportedly a total of about $30 million. For another, the allegations that he killed an American soldier in Afghanistan, were more serious. Nevertheless, he said, Canada has led the way globally in how it has settled with Khadr and previously with others such as Maher Arar, who was sent by the Americans to torture in Syria. Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale and Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould discuss the $10.5 million payment to Omar Khadr in Ottawa on July 7, 2017. “Canada has set the bar,” Begg said. “It isn’t about the amounts, though the amounts…are far, far greater. It’s about the apology.” Now 49, Begg was kidnapped in Pakistan where he was living in early 2002, and turned over to American forces. They imprisoned him at Bagram in Afghanistan, where a horribly wounded 15-year-old Khadr was taken after U.S. soldiers captured him in July of that year. Given the extent of Khadr’s injuries, Begg said he could scarcely believe the Canadian teenager survived the battle in which Sgt. Chris Speer was killed and fellow Delta Force soldier Layne Morris was blinded in one eye. In the ensuing months, Begg said he witnessed the mistreatment the Americans meted out to the “young child,” despite his juvenile status. “I was shocked at his treatment by a lot of soldiers,” Begg said. “They would scream at him and drag him around. He was quiet and very patient. He never complained. I never saw nor heard a word of complaint from him — ever.” Like Khadr, Begg, then 33, was also taken to Guantanamo Bay. He spent about three years there before being returned to the U.K., where he and the others embarked on their legal quest to expose British complicity in their abuse and seek compensation for the unimaginable ordeal they were put through. “We were all beaten, stripped naked, tortured in various ways,” Begg said. “I had the sounds of a woman screaming next door in a cell that I was led to believe was my wife being tortured.” Documents would later come to light showing U.K. intelligence agents were present during interrogations and when the men were abused, although the British government admitted nothing. Ultimately, the government opted to settle with the former Gitmo detainees. The deal was sold as a pragmatic solution that would avoid exposure of intelligence secrets and stop further financial bleeding given the $45-million the government had already spent fighting them. While the amount paid is confidential, Begg said the money he received allowed him to repay loans he used to help rebuild his life and to pay people such as his father, who had spent thousands of dollars supporting him. It wasn’t just compensation for the trauma, he said, it was for the “incalculable” financial harm he suffered. The settlement ran into some opposition in the British parliament but public reaction was comparatively muted. Cosh: The political fallout from Omar Khadr's payout could surprise us Terry Glavin: Khadr's payout looks to Canadians like it's burying a Liberal scandal What rankles Begg, though, is the lack of an official apology from the British government. “If there was a common denominator among the litigants, it was that we all wanted an apology,” he said. “Especially with an apology coming from (Canada’s) prime minister — I can’t stress that enough — that to all of us would have meant the most important thing: to get an apology from those who were in charge.” Khadr, now 30, pleaded guilty to five war crimes before a widely condemned military commission at Guantanamo Bay in 2010. He said he did so to get out of American hands and return to Canada in 2012, 10 years after he was taken to the U.S. prison. He was released on bail in 2015 pending his appeal of the war-crimes conviction.

Family-friendly Leaside welcomes luxury condo development - Located in south Leaside, Leaside Manor is a luxury boutique condominium that complements this upper middle class neighbourhood, known for its tidy homes on tree-lined streets and wholesome community life. Recently released to the market, Leaside Manor is the newest offering of luxury home builder, Shane Baghai Group of Companies, and features an exclusive collection of only 39 suites, with prices starting from the low $1 millions. Large two-bedroom plus den and three-bedroom plus den designs give purchasers the opportunity to live in Leaside, in family size homes in a convenient condo setting.      Shane Baghai was familiar with the 3 Southvale Drive address, which was formerly the site of an antique store that he and his wife often visited. “This site was chosen by my wife who clocked the time to Bay and Bloor at 10 minutes, and she travelled the same 10 minutes to the Bayview and Lawrence area,” Baghai says. “She saw this as a place that would be ideal for people who wanted to sell their family homes, yet still live in Leaside. I had to agree that we had a great opportunity to do something wondrous with this piece of land, when it became available.”      Leaside Manor, in fact, improves the curb appeal and entranceway of the neighbouring Leaside Memorial Community Gardens, which is now visible when travelling down Millwood Road, and in front of the arena, there is public space for a completely transformed street corner. A focal point of the community, for more than 60 years, Leaside Memorial Community Gardens offers a double-pad ice rink, an indoor pool, curling club, a board room and banquet facilities.      Further north, the Trace Manes Park has a baseball diamond, tennis courts, a playground, a wading pool and a Toronto Public Library. Although he was under no obligation to do so, Shane Baghai donated $250,000 to the Trace Manes Playground Rejuvenation project. In addition, he has donated an additional $50,000 to the Leaside BIA.      “Sometimes developers don’t listen to the concerns of the community, but Shane Baghai really did listen and made a few changes to meet the wishes of Leaside residents,” says Toronto Councillor, Jon Burnside, for Ward 26, Don Valley West. “This is the first time I’ve seen a new development project that has been endorsed so enthusiastically by the community.”      Leaside Manor’s ideal location gives residents easy access to plenty of greenspace and hiking trails, such as Leaside Park, ET Seton Park and the vast Don Valley Trail network. TTC buses go right by the building and residents have quick access to the Bloor/Danforth line and Yonge St. line for a total commute time to downtown of only 15 minutes. The proposed Eglinton LRT will also open up a speedy east/west transportation route. Motorists are close to the DVP, and major arteries, including Bayview Avenue, Eglinton Avenue and Yonge St.      With a SmartCentre located on the east side of Laird Dr., shopping is within walking distance. The retail plaza offers banks, a dental office, a LCBO, restaurants and big box shopping, including Home Depot and Urban Barn. There is a Sobeys, Longos and Bulk Barn and a new Walmart and Organic Garage are coming to the neighbourhood. Favourite haunts include Olde Yorke Fish & Chips and a second Leaside location of Amsterdam BrewHouse is coming to Laird Drive. Residents are also close to the boutique stores on Bayview Ave., and the East York Town Centre is just a four-minute drive away.      “Laird Drive is in a state of transition, moving from what was once an industrial area to a street with new retail development,” Councillor Burnside says. “In the next 10 years, the street will become very pedestrian friendly, with more revitalization on the west side. As development comes in, we can expect to see the widening of sidewalks and new stores, restaurants and outdoor patio spaces.”      For Councillor Burnside, who grew up in Leaside, nostalgia and tradition are part of the appeal of the neighbourhood. “In many ways, Leaside is very traditional,” he says. “There’s a boys baseball league that’s been running for 50 years. The area is changing to be more of an up-scale neighbourhood, but it still has a community feel. There is still a huge amount of parental involvement in schools and the community, and small businesses are very active in sponsoring local sports teams. The community vibe is largely intact, with Leaside still very much a close-knit village within the GTA.” Leaside Manor Sidebar At Leaside Manor, purchasers can choose from 12 different models of two-bedroom, two plus den, three-bedroom, and three plus den designs, with floor plans ranging from over 1,000 sq. ft. to 2,000 sq. ft. All homes come with private outdoor space, with large balconies or terraces that have hook-ups for gas barbeques. The purchase price includes a storage locker, one parking space for two-bedroom suites, and two parking spaces for three bedroom homes.      Opulent interior finishes include nine ft. ceilings and 10 ft. ceilings for the seventh floor. Every suite comes with solid core doors, and engineered hardwood flooring or high-end porcelain tile from Spain that looks like hardwood flooring or marble.      Kitchens have cabinetry that is imported from Italy, custom designed quartz countertops and 2019 model Miele appliances from Germany. Bathrooms also have quartz vanity tops, and every master bedroom has a water closet with a combined bidet. Living rooms have motorized shades, while all other rooms have hand operated shades. A focal point of each living room is a built-in linear horizontal electric fireplace, and an 80-inch TV screen positioned above the fireplace.      Several green features have also been incorporated, including a green roof, a solar energy system, water saving plumbing features and LED lighting. There is an energy efficient heat pump system, Low-E glass windows, and exterior wall insulation with a high R-value, to minimize heat loss. The building offers on-site amenities and an e-concierge system, which helps to keep maintenance fees very low. This story was created by Content Works, Postmedia’s commercial content division, on behalf of a Baghai Developement.

Greg Palast

The New Voter Suppression Has BegunPalast on Thom Hartmann’s The Big Picture - "The Election Integrity Commission is a sham... It’s a blatant attempt at a national voter suppression campaign." — Thom Hartmann What Kris Kobach wants is the entire voter files for all 50 states. Of the 44 "resistor" states, I've counted 21 that have already given their lists to Kobach — via his Wichita, KS office instead of the one in DC. The danger is, we know what Kobach and the GOP have done with these lists before. He’s created something called Interstate Crosscheck where he hunts for “double voters”. He’s already created a list of 7.2 million names of people who are suspected of voting twice. This is why Donald Trump has said there are 3 million double voters, because there are 3 million pairs of names. Jame Thomas Brown is supposed to be the same voter as James Edward Brown, in other words double voting on a mass basis is a fraud. There aren’t millions of fraudulent voters, there are fraudulent Secretaries of State and con artists like Kris Kobach. He’s got 28 states, mostly Republican, and he wants the others — especially California and Texas. Because then he’ll have a whole bunch of names to match — like Jose Rodriguez and David Wong — and he can knock off more voters of color. I kid you not, 587 James Brown’s in Georgia have been tagged by Crosscheck as double voters, even though almost none of the middle names match — that don’t feel good! *** Greg Palast (Rolling Stone, Guardian, BBC) is the author of The New York Times bestsellers, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy and Billionaires & Ballot Bandits, now out as major motion non-fiction movie. Stay informed, rent or buy the film on Amazon or get the signed DVD, a signed copy of the book companion — or better still, get the Book & DVD Combo. Visit the Palast Investigative Fund store or simply make a tax-deductible contribution to keep our work alive! Alternatively, become a monthly contributor and automatically receive Palast's new films and books when they're released! Or support the The Palast Investigative Fund (a project of The Sustainable Markets Foundation) by shopping with Amazon Smile. AmazonSmile will donate 0.5% of your purchases to the Palast Fund and you get a tax-deduction! More info. Subscribe to Palast's Newsletter. Follow Palast on Facebook and Twitter. GregPalast.com The post The New Voter Suppression Has BegunPalast on Thom Hartmann’s The Big Picture appeared first on Greg Palast.

GOP States Send Voter Files to Kobach, While Claiming They Will “Resist” His Demand - By Greg Palast for The Progressive A national outcry followed last week’s request from Kris Kobach, Vice Chair of President Donald Trump’s Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, that state election officials provide him with a long list of personal information on every voter, including party affiliation, date of birth, last four digits of social security number, and more. Many Republican states (red) indicated to CNN that they will “resist” Kris Kobach’s demand for full voter files—but have already given him those files. Four Democratic states (blue) have made the same inaccurate claim. North Carolina’s Democratic Governor last week ordered his Board of Elections not to hand over voter files to Kobach—but the Republican-controlled board had already turned over 6,745,639 voter files. Election officials in forty-four states say they will refuse to comply with the June 28 written request from Kobach, whose advisory commission was created in May by Trump via executive order. Trump has made repeated and so-far unsubstantiated claims that millions voted illegally in the 2016 election. “They can go jump in the Gulf of Mexico, and Mississippi is a great state to launch from,” responded Mississippi's Republican Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann. “The President’s Commission has quickly politicized its work by asking states for an incredible amount of voter data that I have, time and time again, refused to release,” said Louisiana’s Secretary of State Tom Schedler. To the contrary, Schedler and voting officials from fifteen other Republican states, the majority of those allegedly “resisting” Kobach’s demand, have already shared detailed voter files with Kobach in his capacity as Secretary of State of Kansas. Records obtained by The Progressive from the Kansas Secretary of State office showed that Schedler turned over nearly three million voter files to Kobach earlier this year, including voter birthdates and Social Security information. In Mississippi, Hosemann turned over the state’s entire voter rolls to Kobach, some 2,092,886 files. Each file includes voter names, last four digits of their social security numbers, voting address, and voting history. Kobach, who has recently announced his candidacy for Governor of Kansas, has indicated the lists will be used to remove illegal voters. But voting rights advocates say the goal is actually to allow fewer people to vote. Twenty-one states listed by CNN as refusing Kobach his demands for voter files have already turned over voter files to Kobach’s office. “The lists will almost certainly be used to...suppress the vote of citizens of color,” says Dee Hunter of the newly formed Civil Rights Center. Hunter’s group is part of a coalition including the ACLU, Common Cause, the NAACP of Georgia, Rev. Jesse Jackson of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, and other organizations calling for a halt to the expansion of Kobach’s Crosscheck system. Voter lists from Mississippi, and twenty-seven other states, were turned over to Kobach beginning years ago as part of a voter-list purge program called "Interstate Crosscheck," Hunter explains. The list aims to identify Americans registered in more than one state and intending to vote twice in one election, which is a crime. Any names identified as potential double-voters receives a postcard which, if unanswered, could lead to removal from the rolls. According to a Rolling Stone analysis of data obtained from states participating in Interstate Crosscheck, as many as 1.1 million names were purged from voter rolls before the 2016 election. According to database expert Mark Swedlund, an astonishing one in six Hispanics and one in nine African-Americans are on Kobach’s “potential double registered” list of seven million suspects in the twenty-eight states. But Crosscheck functions by merely matching the first name and last name of voters in the 28 Crosscheck states. This screenshot of the Georgia-Virginia suspect list created by Kobach shows that Barbara ANN Jackson of Georgia is identified as potentially the same voter as Barbara FAYE Jackson of Virginia. Similarly, Billy RAY Jackson may be the same voter as Billy MANUEL Jackson JR. Detail from Crosscheck results identifying potential "duplicate" voters in Virginia and Georgia. The matches may seem ludicrous, but all these voters could lose their vote. Swedlund calls Kobach’s approach a “simplistic, childish” matching algorithm. He says, “If your name is Jose Hernandez, you’re likely suspected of voting in 28 states!” Indeed, in Virginia, at least 12 percent of voters on Kobach’s list lost their votes before the last election. Virginia has purged tens of thousands of voters from the state’s rolls using the Crosscheck suspect list. Before the election I spoke with Kobach at a Republican ice-cream social and asked him about Crosscheck potentially misidentifying voters as duplicate registrants. “Our system would not yield this match,” Kobach insisted. But when I showed him that Crosscheck contained literally millions of mis-matches, he jumped up, clutching his vanilla ice-cream—and ran for it. He did call later to answer my questions, and stated he saw no problem in Crosscheck’s approach “to get the widest list possible” in the hunt for illegal voters. *** Greg Palast (Rolling Stone, Guardian, BBC) is the author of The New York Times bestsellers, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy and Billionaires & Ballot Bandits, now out as major motion non-fiction movie. Stay informed, rent or buy the film on Amazon or get the signed DVD, a signed copy of the book companion — or better still, get the Book & DVD combo. Visit the Palast Investigative Fund store or simply make a tax-deductible contribution to keep our work alive! Alternatively, become a monthly contributor and automatically receive Palast's new films and books when they're released! Or support the The Palast Investigative Fund (a project of The Sustainable Markets Foundation) by shopping with Amazon Smile. AmazonSmile will donate 0.5% of your purchases to the Palast Fund and you get a tax-deduction! More info. Subscribe to Palast's Newsletter. Follow Palast on Facebook and Twitter. GregPalast.com The post GOP States Send Voter Files to Kobach, While Claiming They Will “Resist” His Demand appeared first on Greg Palast.

Palast: On the 4th of July Revolution -  Greg Palast (Rolling Stone, Guardian, BBC) is the author of The New York Times bestsellers, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy and Billionaires & Ballot Bandits, now out as major motion non-fiction movie. For more on the racially-biased-by-design Crosscheck vote-purging op, which is in play in Georgia to help Karen Handel, watch The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, you can rent or buy the film from Amazon or Vimeo or get the signed DVD, a signed copy of the book companion or better still - get the Book & DVD combo. Support The Palast Investigative Fund and keep our work alive. Become a monthly Contributor.Or support us by shopping with Amazon Smile. AmazonSmile will donate 0.5% of your purchases to the Sustainable Markets Foundation for the benefit of The Palast Investigative Fund and you get a tax-deduction! More info. Or simply make a tax-deductible contribution to keep our work alive! Subscribe to Palast's Newsletter. Follow Palast on Facebook and Twitter. GregPalast.com   The post Palast: On the 4th of July Revolution appeared first on Greg Palast.

Purger-in-Chief Kris Kobach DemandsDetailed Data On Every American Voter - The Al Capone of vote rigging, Crosscheck creator Kris Kobach, in his capacity as Vice Chair of Trump's so-called Presidential Election "Integrity" Commission, has demanded the personal information, voting history, and party affiliation of every US voter. The above is a letter Kobach sent to Connecticut Secretary of State Denise W. Merrill, which demanded: "Publicly-available voter roll data for Connecticut, including, if publicly available under the laws of your sate, the full first and last names of all registrants, middle names or initials if available, addresses, dates of birth, political party (if recorded in your state), last four digits of social number if available, voter history (elections voted in) from 2006 onward, active/inactive status, cancelled status, information regarding any felony convictions, information regarding voter registration in another state, information regarding military status, and overseas citizen information." According to Vanita Gupta, President and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, who first shared the letter on Twitter, every US Secretary of State was sent a similar missive. If all 50 states turn over their voter lists to Kobach, expect an additional 2 million voters, mostly citizens of color, to be purged. Even states not in his Crosscheck program will find their lists used for the lynching by laptop. Our elections would be safer giving this info to the Russians! For more on Kobach and his racially biased-by-design vote purging op watch the Amazon bestseller The Best Democracy Money Can Buy — available to view worldwide from just $2.99. Or get a signed DVD, signed companion book, or a combo pack and support our work with a tax-deductible donation to the Palast Investigative Fund. UPDATE: June 30, 5:08PM Well over 20 Secretary of States are refusing to fully comply with Kobach's request including, bizarrely, Kobach himself, in his capacity as Secretary of State for Kansas. The most forthright response so far has come from a Republican Secretary of State, Delbert Hosemann of Mississippi, who told Kobach & Co that: "They can go jump in the Gulf of Mexico and Mississippi is a great State to launch from." *** Greg Palast (Rolling Stone, Guardian, BBC) is the author of The New York Times bestsellers, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy and Billionaires & Ballot Bandits, now out as major motion non-fiction movie. Stay informed, rent or buy the film on Amazon or get the signed DVD, a signed copy of the book companion — or better still, get the Book & DVD combo. Visit the Palast Investigative Fund store or simply make a tax-deductible contribution to keep our work alive! Alternatively, become a monthly contributor and automatically receive Palast's new films and books when they're released! Or support the The Palast Investigative Fund (a project of The Sustainable Markets Foundation) by shopping with Amazon Smile. AmazonSmile will donate 0.5% of your purchases to the Palast Fund and you get a tax-deduction! More info. Subscribe to Palast's Newsletter. Follow Palast on Facebook and Twitter. The post Purger-in-Chief Kris Kobach DemandsDetailed Data On Every American Voter appeared first on Greg Palast.

Voter Irregularities In The Last ElectionGreg Palast Speaks To San Diego - Come join your progressive San Diego community to hear Greg Palast, the man The Guardian calls "the best investigative reporter of our time." There will also be a screening of an edited and updated cut of The Best Democracy Money Can Buy. Greg is the author of The New York Times bestselling books The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, Billionaires & Ballot Bandits, and Armed Madhouse. In September he released his movie about how Donald Drumpf and his cronies would steal the 2016 election. The film, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy: A Tale of BIllionaires & Ballots Bandits, became an Amazon.com Top 10 Bestseller after Palast predictions were, unfortunately, proven to be right! All proceeds for this event support the 89.1 KNSJ radio station and Activist San Diego. Co-Sponsored by KNSJ, Activist San Diego, First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego, and Social Justice Ministry Team. Friday, June 30, 2017 at First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego 4190 Front St., San Diego, CA 92603 (GPS: 298 West Arbor Drive in Hillcrest) Accross from the UCSD Medical Center. FREE PARKING | HANDICAP FRIENDLY! Reception to meet the author with refreshments — plus meet other SD activists. 6-7 PM / Tickets $45 Main Event: Greg Palast speaking — plus clips from his updated film. 7-9 PM / Presale Online Tickets: bit.ly/2surcNm For more information call: Martin Elder: 619 871 9354 Trish White: 760 638 6005 Buki Domingos: 626 425 7353 Planning on going? Can't make it, but wish you could? Help get the word out by sharing our Facebook event page! *** Greg Palast (Rolling Stone, Guardian, BBC) is the author of The New York Times bestsellers, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy and Billionaires & Ballot Bandits, now out as major motion non-fiction movie. Stay informed, rent or buy the film on Amazon or get the signed DVD, a signed copy of the book companion — or better still, get the Book & DVD combo. Visit the Palast Investigative Fund store or simply make a tax-deductible contribution to keep our work alive! Alternatively, become a monthly contributor and automatically receive Palast's new films and books when they're released! Or support the The Palast Investigative Fund (a project of The Sustainable Markets Foundation) by shopping with Amazon Smile. AmazonSmile will donate 0.5% of your purchases to the Palast Fund and you get a tax-deduction! More info. Subscribe to Palast's Newsletter. Follow Palast on Facebook and Twitter. The post Voter Irregularities In The Last ElectionGreg Palast Speaks To San Diego appeared first on Greg Palast.

Will new Jim Crow scam tip Georgia’s Ossoff-Handel Congressional Race? - GOP goons grab reporter when he asks how 40,000 minority voter registrations vanished by Greg Palast Catch Palast’s reports for Joy Reid, Thom Hartmann and Amy Goodman Karen Handel took a break from beating up Democrat John Ossoff to attack a reporter: me.  In the televised debate between the two candidates vying for Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, Republican Handel claimed, “a reporter supposedly representing some very liberal Democratic organization almost literally accosted me.” In fact, is was a trio of galoots working for Handel who accosted me. Handel's handlers trying to prevent Greg Palast from asking a tough question But who accosted whom is less important than Handel promoting the dangerous new trend of attacking the press, sometimes physically, when questions are uncomfortable or challenging. Handel is afraid I’ll report what I began uncovering in my investigations in Georgia’s 6th.  I first came here in 2014 for Al Jazeera, when I interviewed an enthusiastic group of Korean-Americans based in the 6th, the Asian-American Legal Advocacy Center. When I returned to cover the current race, I found the Asian-American voting rights office shuttered and empty. Helen Ho from the Asian-American Legal Advocacy Center (photo by Zach D Roberts) Apparently, the group which had launched a “10,000 Korean Votes” registration drive discovered that many of their registrants simply never appeared on voter rolls. Their lawyers’ query about missing voters to the Secretary of State resulted in a raid by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and a threat of criminal charges. Voting rights attorney Nse Ufot told me what happened: “They were doing a campaign to register 10,000 Korean-Americans to vote, and had quite a bit of success. At some point during the campaign, they noticed that many of the folks that they were registering were not showing up on the voter rolls. So, they reached out to the Secretary of State to say, "Hey, where are our folks? Why aren't they showing up on the rolls?"  They never got an official response.  What they did get was the GBI kicking in the door and requesting all of their files.” While no charges were brought, the terrifying raid, was enough to put the Korean voter group out of business. And Ufot’s own group, New Georgia Project has seen the registrations of new voters of color suspiciously…vanish. Ufot told me, ‘We submitted 86,419 voter registration forms.  There are 46,000 of the folks that we've registered who have made it, and 40,000 of them are missing.’ So New Georgia Project contacted the Republican Secretary of State’s office. “You know what they told us? ‘We don't know what you're talking about. What forms?’  They did not disappear. We intentionally registered voters on paper forms so that we could make copies. We knew who they were. They were not on the voter rolls. When African-American activists raised a ruckus over the disappearance, they got the same treatment as the Korean-Americans: a Gestapo-style raid on their offices, threats of criminal charges and jail term. But the African-American organizers had long faced down Jim Crow intimidation tactics. I wanted Handel’s story—and not just as a candidate.  She herself was Secretary of State, and up to her chin in these vote suppression games. I started out by asking if the Democrats were stealing the election, and she was pleased to say, “They’re pulling out all stops!” But when I got to the subject of her office purging voters, one of her henchmen jumped in front of me, slammed me backwards and while two others grabbed and muscled me away.  She refused to answer to a question about the raids on voter registration groups, but the crowd answered for her, chanting “U! S! A! U! S! A!” – as if a journalist asking a question is the new enemy of America. And that’s frightening. Not the clowns who assaulted me. They were more buffoonish than threatening. I don’t want compensation, I don’t want to press charges. I want an answer to the question: Who will decide the race in the Sixth—the voters or Jim Crow? Please support our continuing investigation, as we move from Georgia’s 6th to follow Jim Crow’s trail into Virginia, Michigan, Ohio, Florida and North Carolina.  Greg Palast (Rolling Stone, Guardian, BBC) is the author of The New York Times bestsellers, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy and Billionaires & Ballot Bandits, now out as major motion non-fiction movie. For more on the racially-biased-by-design Crosscheck vote-purging op, which is in play in Georgia to help Karen Handel, watch The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, you can rent or buy the film from Amazon or Vimeo or get the signed DVD, a signed copy of the book companion or better still - get the Book & DVD combo. Support The Palast Investigative Fund and keep our work alive. Become a monthly Contributor.Or support us by shopping with Amazon Smile. AmazonSmile will donate 0.5% of your purchases to the Sustainable Markets Foundation for the benefit of The Palast Investigative Fund and you get a tax-deduction! More info. Or simply make a tax-deductible contribution to keep our work alive! Subscribe to Palast's Newsletter. Follow Palast on Facebook and Twitter. GregPalast.com   The post Will new Jim Crow scam tip Georgia’s Ossoff-Handel Congressional Race? appeared first on Greg Palast.

Palast on MSNBC – with Joy ReidVoter suppression accusations against GOP persist - Journalist Greg Palast tells Joy Reid that in his reporting he’s found many instances – usually driven by Republicans' initiatives – in which voters have been purged from rolls among other methods, allegedly to influence elections. *** For more on Kobach's racially-biased-by-design Crosscheck vote-purging op, which is in play in Georgia to help Karen Handel, watch The Best Democracy Money Can Buy. Rent or buy the film on Amazon or get the signed DVD, a signed copy of the companion book — or, better still, get the DVD and book combo by making a tax-deductible donation to the Palast Investigative Fund. Support the The Palast Investigative Fund (a project of The Sustainable Markets Foundation) by shopping with Amazon Smile. AmazonSmile will donate 0.5% of your purchases to the Palast Fund and you get a tax-deduction! More info. Or simply make a tax-deductible contribution to keep our work alive!  The post Palast on MSNBC – with Joy ReidVoter suppression accusations against GOP persist appeared first on Greg Palast.

Democracy Now reporter assaulted for exposing Jim Crow tactics in Ossoff-Handel race - Greg Palast reporting for the Thom Hartmann Show and Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now! Watch the 8-minute broadcast—and get a full blast of weird. I was in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District to investigate strange doings in the race between Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican Karen Handel (who received an endorsement—and kiss on the lips—from President Trump). Handel was happy as a Smurf doll when I asked her if the Democrats were stealing the election. ("They’re pulling out all the stops!!") But when I asked about Republican Jim Crow tactics I’d uncovered, it got real ugly. First, a deep-fry-bloated goon jumped between me and the candidate then pushed me backwards. A second grabbed my arm while a third started muscling me around. Wow! And only because I asked—quite politely—if in her prior post as Georgia’s Secretary of State, she’d cleansed the voter rolls of voters of color. It was, honestly, more comical than threatening. Is this the new Republican method of answering uncomfortable questions? The bigger story in the report is my hunt to answer the question: How did tens of thousands of voter registrations simply VANISH? And why did Georgia Republican officials use Gestapo-style tactics to raid the offices of the Asian-American voter registration drive? You’ll hear Georgia Project leader Nse Ufot explain that 40,000 voters they’d registered never got on the rolls. The Republican Secretary of State denied they’d received the forms — but the Project had the photocopies! Now, Ufot faces criminal charges similar to the threats used to destroy the Asian-American vote drive. And behind it all is Trump’s new "Elections Integrity Commission" chieftain Kris Kobach, who created a 606,708-name voter purge list for GOP officials. You read that number right. As Dee Hunter of the Washington DC Civil Rights Center tells us, Ossoff already won. He fell just 3,700 votes short of an outright win in the first round of voting, but was denied victory by this onslaught of New Jim Crow tactics. If these tactics steal the Sixth, they’ll roll them out nationwide. *** Watch the clip, pass it on, then help me get back on the hunt for the missing voters. The report cost our foundation $27,000 to produce. A donor promised to cover the cost — then vanished like a Georgia voter. So my investigations team is deep in the hole. When the funding disappeared, we continued: the trail was too hot, the facts so chilling and important, we chose to continue and put the truth on credit cards. This ain’t no foolin’ around. Can you help by making a tax-deductible contribution to our continuing investigation? It continues in Georgia, but now we move to Virginia, Michigan, and Ohio. We are preparing an "Activist" update of our film, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy—a shortened version specifically designed to open action meetings. Our first outing was right there in Georgia’s Sixth, at the Eagles Nest Church, Lee Jenkins, Pastor. You saw him in the Democracy Now! report. He screened The Best Democracy Money Can Buy then hosted a confab with the NAACP, Common Cause, ACLU, Georgia Project and many luminaries of the new voting rights movement, organized by Hunter of The Civil Rights Center. This butt-kicking team is going on the road—to Virginia next month, then Michigan, Ohio and wherever votes and voters are at risk. We will be there with them, with the facts. So, please, right now, make your tax-deductible contribution for any amount no matter how large or small. Or become a monthly contributor today. For a tax-deductible donation of $1000 we’ll list you in the credits of the Activist version of our film as a Producer. For $500 become a Co-Producer. Or, get the combo of the full-length film on DVD, with the book, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, signed…and I’ll add in a link for you to stream it (in case you don’t have a DVD player). Already have the DVD and book? Well, get more, hand them out — and stir up trouble. The trouble I call "democracy." Excuse me while I answer the door. It’s the wolf, and I want to tell him to hold off because you are coming to our rescue. Palast Investigations Team can’t thank you enough. * * * * * Greg Palast (Rolling Stone, Guardian, BBC) is the author of The New York Times bestsellers, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy and Billionaires & Ballot Bandits, now out as major motion non-fiction movie. Stay informed, rent or buy the film on Amazon or get the signed DVD, a signed copy of the book companion or better still - get the Book & DVD combo. Palast is also the author of the New York Times bestseller Armed Madhouse and BBC Newsnight book of the Year Vultures' Picnic. Visit the Palast Investigative Fund store or simply make a tax-deductible contribution to keep our work alive!  Become a monthly contributor today. Or support the The Palast Investigative Fund (a project of The Sustainable Markets Foundation) by shopping with Amazon Smile. AmazonSmile will donate 0.5% of your purchases to the Palast Fund and you get a tax-deduction! More info. GregPalast.com   The post Democracy Now reporter assaulted for exposing Jim Crow tactics in Ossoff-Handel race appeared first on Greg Palast.

Palast On Democracy Now!GOP Jim Crow Tactics Help Steal Handel-Ossoff Race - The most expensive Congressional race in history will be decided June 20. While most polls show Democrat Jon Ossoff ahead of Republican Karen Handel, civil rights leaders fear that racial vote suppression tactics could steal this special election. Here's my report, broadcast today on Democracy Now!, from Georgia’s 6th Congressional District. *** For more on Kobach's racially-biased-by-design Crosscheck vote-purging op, which is in play in Georgia to help Karen Handel, watch The Best Democracy Money Can Buy. Rent or buy the film on Amazon or get the signed DVD, a signed copy of the companion book — or, better still, get the DVD and book combo by making a tax-deductible donation to the Palast Investigative Fund. Support the The Palast Investigative Fund (a project of The Sustainable Markets Foundation) by shopping with Amazon Smile. AmazonSmile will donate 0.5% of your purchases to the Palast Fund and you get a tax-deduction! More info. Or simply make a tax-deductible contribution to keep our work alive!  The post Palast On Democracy Now!GOP Jim Crow Tactics Help Steal Handel-Ossoff Race appeared first on Greg Palast.

Catch Palast on Democracy Now! From Georgia’s 6th CD - Thursday, June 15, 8am ET – Greg Palast will be reporting on Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman from the hot Georgia 6th Congressional District race. And on Friday 7pm ET an in-depth report with Thom Hartmann on RTTV. When Palast confronts GOP candidate Karen Handel with evidence that her party is using Jim Crow vote-suppression tactics, her thugs muscle reporter Palast. In the report Palast will expose the latest tricks to wipe out the voter registrations of African-American and Asian-American voters. Watch this space for the full report… * * * * * Greg Palast (Rolling Stone, Guardian, BBC) is the author of The New York Times bestsellers, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy and Billionaires & Ballot Bandits, now out as major motion non-fiction movie. Stay informed, rent or buy the film on Amazon or get the signed DVD, a signed copy of the book companion or better still - get the Book & DVD combo. Palast is also the author of the New York Times bestseller Armed Madhouse and BBC Newsnight book of the Year Vultures' Picnic. Visit the Palast Investigative Fund store or simply make a tax-deductible contribution to keep our work alive!  Or support the The Palast Investigative Fund (a project of The Sustainable Markets Foundation) by shopping with Amazon Smile. AmazonSmile will donate 0.5% of your purchases to the Palast Fund and you get a tax-deduction! More info. GregPalast.com   The post Catch Palast on Democracy Now! From Georgia’s 6th CD appeared first on Greg Palast.

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(U//FOUO) Orange County Fusion Center Bulletin: Criminal Use of E-mail Filters to Monitor and Divert Communications - (U) Overview (U//FOUO) The Orange County Intelligence Assessment Center (OCIAC) has received reporting indicating cybercriminals are manipulating e-mail filters as a means to monitor and divert e-mail communications. Cybercriminals may use malicious e-mail filters to: •(U//FOUO) Monitor victims’ e-mail after malware removal and password changes •(U//FOUO) Monitor victims’ e-mail without continuously logging in to victim accounts •(U) Divert e-mails that might alert the victim of a system compromise (U) Application of E-mail Filters (U//FOUO) Cybercriminals must first gain access to victim’s e-mail accounts in order to implement malicious e-mail filtering. Access might be gained by: •(U) Password guessing •(U) Password cracking/brute force attacks •(U) Eliciting credentials through the use of fake websites and forms •(U) Eliciting credentials via phone calls •(U) Sending the victim credential-stealing malware •(U) Exploiting documents where passwords are written down (U//FOUO) Cybercriminals might employ this tactic in a variety of crimes and surveillance efforts, which might include: •(U//FOUO) Stalking and cyberstalking •(U//FOUO) Corporate, industrial, military, and economic espionage •(U//FOUO) Tax fraud •(U//FOUO) Mortgage fraud •(U//FOUO) Wire transfer fraud •(U//FOUO) Identity theft (U) Incidents (U//FOUO) Examples of incidents by which criminals used e-mail filters to facilitate crimes include: (U//FOUO) Use of Really Simple Syndication (RSS): In late 2016, an Orange County-based critical infrastructure organization was targeted in a Business E-mail Compromise (BEC) scam why which a cybercriminal compromised a Chief Financial Officer’s e-mail account. While impersonating the CFO in e-mail correspondence, the cybercriminal requested wire transfers to unauthorized bank accounts. The cybercriminal created an e-mail filter that forwarded all of the CFOs e-mails to a public RSS feed being monitored by the cybercriminal. (U//FOUO) Use of “trash” mail folder: In October 2016, an Orange County-based medical practice fell victim to a wire transfer scam. A cybercriminal compromised an accountant’s e-mail account and created an e-mail filter so that all communications from other finance personnel were sent to the accountant’s “trash” mail folder. Masquerading as the accountant, the cybercriminal requested wire transfers from finance department personnel. All responses to the cyber criminal’s requests were filtered to the “trash” folder,out of sight of the accountant, where the cybercriminal would actively wait to respond to wire transfer correspondence. (U) Use of filters to evade security alerting: According to a 2014 FireEye report, hacking group FIN4 targeted publically traded companies and advisory firms to gain insider knowledge for trading advantage. FIN4 sent phishing e-mails to various targeted individuals. The phishing e-mails contained either Visual Basic Applications (VBA) macros or links to fake Microsoft Outlook Web Access (OWA) to steal usernames and passwords. Once FIN4 had access to the victims’ e-mail accounts, e-mail filters were set up to automatically send any e-mails referencing“virus”, “malware” or other terms that might alert the victim to a cyber intrusion directly to the victims’ “trash” mail folder. (U) Mitigation (U//FOUO) The Orange County Intelligence Assessment Center (OCIAC) recommends auditing e-mail filters as part of the cyber incident response process. E-mail filters that may have malicious intent include: •(U) Sending security-related e-mails to the trash or other unattended folders •(U) Sending e-mails to suspicious e-mail addresses •(U//FOUO) Sending e-mails to RSS feeds •(U//FOUO) Moving e-mail correspondence containing keywords relating to sensitive topics tosuspicious folders, feeds, trash, etc. (i.e. sending e-mails with keyword “SSN” or “social security” to a suspicious e-mail address) (U//FOUO) At an organizational level, information security professionals may consider: •(U//FOUO) Instituting a Data Loss Prevention (DLP) policy if one does not already exist •(U//FOUO) Logging the creation of new e-mail filters across the enterprise •(U//FOUO) Blocking the forwarding of e-mails to e-mail addresses outside the network, if in accordance with organizational policy •(U//FOUO) Auditing e-mail rules on a regular basis to identify malicious e-mail filters and potential insider threats

Office of the Director of National Intelligence Countering Foreign Intelligence Threats Implementation and Best Practices Guide - Effective programs to counter foreign intelligence entity (FIE) threats are focused on three overarching outcomes: 1. Identification of foreign intelligence threats and sharing of threat information 2. Safeguarding of sensitive information, assets, and activities 3. Prevention and detection of insider threats The best practices detailed in this Guide, from identifying and assessing risks to promoting training and awareness, are complementary program components that, when employed together, can effectively shield your organization from FIE threats. The National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) is charged with leading and supporting the counterintelligence (CI) and security activities of the U.S. government, the U.S. Intelligence Community, and U.S. private sector entities that are at risk of intelligence collection, penetration, or attack by foreign adversaries and malicious insiders. The capabilities and activities described in this Guide are exemplars of program components delineated as requirements in numerous strategies, policies, and guidelines. This Guide is a living document and will be updated to reflect improved and innovative ways to achieve the above outcomes. In addition, organization-specific capabilities and activities may be defined and implemented to ensure unique needs are met. Finally, nothing in this document shall be construed as authorization for any organization to conduct activities not otherwise authorized under statute, executive order, or other applicable law, policy, or regulation, nor does this document obviate an organization’s responsibility to conduct activities that are otherwise mandated, directed, or recommended for execution under the same.

(U//LES) DEA Fentanyl Briefing Guide for First Responders - In the last several years, U.S. Law Enforcement has seen a dramatic increase in the availability of dangerous synthetic opioids. A large majority of these synthetic opioids are structural derivatives of the synthetic drug “fentanyl.” Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid currently listed as a Schedule II prescription drug that mimics the effects of morphine in the human body, but has potency 50–100 times that of morphine. Due to the high potency and availability of fentanyl, both transnational and domestic criminal organizations are increasingly utilizing these dangerous synthetic opioids as an adulterant in heroin and other controlled substances. The presence of these synthetic opioids in the illicit U.S. drug market is extremely concerning as the potency of these drugs has led to a significant increase in overdose incidents and overdose-related deaths throughout the nation. … Fentanyl was first synthesized in 1959 by a Belgian chemist and later marketed as an intravenous analgesic drug, Sublimaze. Other formulations of pharmaceutical (legal) fentanyl were developed to provide opioid pain management including a transdermal patch, flavored lollipop, sublingual/effervescent tab, and nasal spray. In the 1990’s, the DEA discovered what is believed to be one of the first instances of domestically produced illicit fentanyl in the United States. In 1991 a brand of street heroin known as “Tango and Cash” was found to contain approximately 12 percent fentanyl and was believed to be responsible for an estimated 126 overdose deaths. Investigators were ultimately able to trace this clandestinely produced fentanyl to Wichita, Kansas where they seized two laboratories and approximately 40 pounds of additional fentanyl. Between 2000 and 2005, U.S. law enforcement agencies identified and dismantled several clandestine fentanyl laboratories located throughout the United States. However, beginning in 2005, law enforcement agencies in the Midwest and Northeast, from Chicago to New Jersey, began noticing an alarming number of overdose deaths in their respective areas. Between 2005 and 2007, approximately 1,013 fentanyl‐related deaths in this corridor were attributed to the lethal heroin/fentanyl mixture. This time, the adulterated heroin was traced to a clandestine laboratory located in Toluca, Mexico which was ultimately seized and dismantled. … General Safety Recommendations Due to the hazardous nature of the synthetic opioids described in this overview, law enforcement personnel, or any first responders, who encounter fentanyl or fentanyl‐related substances should NOT take samples or otherwise disturb any powdered substances without employing proper PPE, as this could lead to accidental exposure. Further, it is possible that illicit fentanyl or fentanyl‐related substances could be mixed with other drugs or concealed in innocuous devices (such as nasal spray or eye dropper bottles) in varying amounts and purities, thus causing unintentional exposure. Law enforcement personnel, as well as first responders, should exercise appropriate safety precautions at all times when fentanyl or fentanyl‐related substances are suspected. If the presence of fentanyl or any synthetic opioid is suspected, personnel should immediately contact the appropriate officials within their agency who have been trained to handle hazardous materials, or contact the nearest DEA field office for assistance. Having specially trained law enforcement (or hazardous materials “HAZMAT” incident response team) professionals equipped with the necessary equipment, to include Level “A” PPE, on‐site to assess the situation prior to exposure or contamination is recommended. This includes situations involving unknown powdered substances and/or pill milling or encapsulating operations. … Proactive Police Activity When conducting proactive policing, such as drug or gang investigations, law enforcement personnel should always be mindful of the potential fentanyl threat. Prior to using undercover officers to conduct drug purchases, personnel should attempt to conduct thorough debriefings of any informants or intelligence sources relative to the investigative activity underway as to the potential presence of fentanyl or fentanyl‐related substances. While conducting undercover drug purchases (involving heroin, synthetic opioids, or any powdered controlled substance, pills or capsules) undercover personnel should consider carrying cans, bags, plastic baggies, etc., to hold any potential drug evidence. If feasible, and it would not otherwise jeopardize their safety, undercover personnel should not directly handle any of these substances.

FBI Cyber Bulletin: Individuals Threatening Distributed Denial of Service of Private-Sector Companies for Bitcoin - An individual or group claiming to be “Anonymous” or “Lizard Squad” sent extortion emails to private-sector companies threatening to conduct distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks on their network unless they received an identified amount of Bitcoin. No victims to date have reported DDoS activity as a penalty for non-payment. Threat In April and May 2017, at least six companies received emails claiming to be from “Anonymous” and “Lizard Squad” threatening their companies with DDoS attacks within 24 hours unless the company sent an identified amount of Bitcoin to the email sender. The email stated the demanded amount of Bitcoin would increase each day the amount went unpaid. No victims to date have reported DDoS activity as a penalty for non-payment. Reporting on schemes of this nature go back at least three years. In 2016, a group identifying itself as “Lizard Squad” sent extortion demands to at least twenty businesses in the United Kingdom, threatening DDoS attacks if they were not paid five Bitcoins (as of 14 June, each Bitcoin was valued at 2,698 USD). No victims reported actual DDoS activity as a penalty for non-payment. Between 2014 and 2015, a cyber extortion group known as “DDoS ‘4’ Bitcoin” (DD4BC) victimized hundreds of individuals and businesses globally. DD4BC would conduct an initial, demonstrative low-level DDoS attack on the victim company, followed by an email message introducing themselves, demanding a ransom paid in Bitcoins, and threatening a higher level attack if the ransom was not paid within the stated time limit. While no significant disruption or DDoS activity was noted, it is probable companies paid the ransom to avoid the threat of DDoS activity. Background Lizard Squad is a hacking group known for their DDoS attacks primarily targeting gaming-related services. On 25 December 2014, Lizard Squad was responsible for taking down the Xbox Live and PlayStation networks. Lizard Squad also successfully conducted DDoS attacks on the UK’s National Crime Agency’s (NCA) website in 2015. Anonymous is a hacking collective known for several significant DDoS attacks on government, religious, and corporate websites conducted for ideological reasons. Recommendations The FBI suggests precautionary measures to mitigate DDoS threats to include, but not limited to: Have a DDoS mitigation strategy ready ahead of time. Implement an incident response plan that includes DDoS mitigation and practice this plan before an actual incident occurs. This plan may involve external organizations such as your Internet Service Provider, technology companies that offer DDoS mitigation services, and law enforcement. Ensure your plan includes the appropriate contacts within these external organizations. Test activating your incident response team and third party contacts. Implement a data back-up and recovery plan to maintain copies of sensitive or proprietary data in a separate and secure location. Backup copies of sensitive data should not be readily accessible from local networks. Ensure upstream firewalls are in place to block incoming User Data Protocol (UDP) packets. Ensure software or firmware updates are applied as soon as the device manufacturer releases them. If you have received one of these demands: Do not make the demand payment. Retain the original emails with headers. If applicable, maintain a timeline of the attack, recording all times and content of the attack. The FBI encourages recipients of this document to report information concerning suspicious or criminal activity to their local FBI field office or the FBI’s 24/7 Cyber Watch (CyWatch). Field office contacts can be identified at www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field. CyWatch can be contacted by phone at (855) 292-3937 or by e-mail at CyWatch@ic.fbi.gov. When available, each report submitted should include the date, time, location, type of activity, number of people, and type of equipment used for the activity, the name of the submitting company or organization, and a designated point of contact. Press inquiries should be directed to the FBI’s national Press Office at npo@ic.fbi.gov or (202) 324-3691.

Defense Intelligence Agency Russia Military Power Report 2017 - For more than 50 years, DIA officers have met the full range of security challenges facing our great nation. Our intelligence professionals operate across the globe, and our work supports customers from the forward-deployed warfighter to the national policymaker. DIA is united in a common vision—to be the indispensable source of defense intelligence expertise—and for the past five decades we have done just that. As part of this vision, DIA has a long history of producing comprehensive and authoritative defense intelligence overviews. In September 1981, Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger asked the Defense Intelligence Agency to produce an unclassified overview of the Soviet Union’s military strength. The purpose was to provide America’s leaders, the national security community, and the public a complete and accurate view of the threat. The result: the first edition of Soviet Military Power. DIA produced over 250,000 copies, and it soon became an annual publication that was translated into eight languages and distributed around the world. In many cases, this report conveyed the scope and breadth of Soviet military strength to U.S. policymakers and the public for the first time. Today, we are faced with a complexity of intelligence challenges from multiple threats that we cannot afford to misunderstand. In the spirit of Soviet Military Power, DIA is proud to produce an unclassified defense intelligence overview of the military capabilities associated with the challenges we face—beginning with Russia. This product is intended to foster a dialogue between U.S. leaders, the national security community, partner nations, and the public about the challenges we face in the 21st century. … Vladimir Putin’s address to the Russian Federal Assembly following the referendum on annexation of Crimea, 18 March, 2014: “The USA prefers to follow the rule of the strongest and not by the international law. They are convinced that they have been chosen and they are exceptional, that they are allowed to shape the destiny of the world, that it is only them that can be right. They act as they please. Here and there they use force against sovereign states, set up coalitions in accordance with the principle: who is not with us is against us.” The international order established after the Second World War and developed throughout the Cold War largely ensured widespread peace and stability even as it saw new conflicts—large and small—take place in different regions of the world. This post-war era, underwritten primarily by the strength of the United States, also gave rise to the greatest period of prosperity in history, witnessing countries rebuild from war and emerge from colonialism to become vibrant and valuable members of the international community. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States emerged as a world leader militarily, economically and diplomatically. Today, however, the United States faces an increasingly complex array of challenges to our national security. The resurgence of Russia on the world stage—seizing the Crimean Peninsula, destabilizing eastern Ukraine, intervening on behalf of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and shaping the information environment to suit its interests—poses a major challenge to the United States. Moscow will continue to aggressively pursue its foreign policy and security objectives by employing the full spectrum of the state’s capabilities. Its powerful military, coupled with the actual or perceived threat of intervention, allows its whole-of-government efforts to resonate widely. Russia continues to modernize its extensive nuclear forces and is developing long range precision-guided conventional weapons systems. It is manipulating the global information environment, employing tools of indirect action against countries on its periphery and using its military for power projection and expeditionary force deployments far outside its borders. Its ultimate deterrent is a robust nuclear force capable of conducting a massed nuclear strike on targets in the United States within minutes. Within the next decade, an even more confident and capable Russia could emerge. The United States needs to anticipate, rather than react, to Russian actions and pursue a greater awareness of Russian goals and capabilities to prevent potential conflicts. Our policymakers and commanders must have a complete understanding of Russia’s military capabilities, especially as U.S. and Russian forces may increasingly encounter each other around the globe. DIA will continue to provide our leaders decision-space, ensuring they have the time and information necessary to protect our nation. The wrong decisions—or the right ones made too late—could have dire consequences. This report examines a resurgent Russia’s military power to foster a deeper understanding of its core capabilities, goals, and aspirations in the 21st Century. …

(U//FOUO) DHS Bulletin: Food Product Adulteration Within Reach of Violent Extremists and Insiders - (U//FOUO) Terrorist and violent extremist groups have long expressed interest in poisoning and adulterating food and beverage supplies in the West but rarely use this as a tactic. Nonetheless, recent incidents in Europe and Africa underscore the continued interest by some groups in targeting food products at point-of-sale, distribution, and storage. The mere threat of product adulteration in the Homeland almost certainly would cause psychological and economic harm. While we have not seen any specific, credible terrorist threats against Homeland food production and distribution infrastructure, we cannot rule out the possibility of inspired violent extremists or disgruntled insiders attempting to adulterate or poison food and beverages with commonly available toxic industrial chemicals or crude biological toxins due to the relative ease of product manipulation, especially at the last point of sale, which criminal actors have demonstrated consistently in the past. » (U//FOUO) Combative Anarchy/Informal Anarchist Federation (FAI/IRF), an offshoot of Greek environmental terrorist groups, threatened to poison food and beverages made by Nestle, Unilever, Delta Foods, and a named US business in late 2016, leading to mass recalls. The group probably never intended to poison or adulterate the products, but it was likely aware of the economic, safety, and political implications of making such threats. » (U) A South African farm worker in early 2017 added 20 liters of gramoxone—a dipyridinium-based herbicide—to a milk storage tank. While the contamination was detected prior to distribution, the level of gramoxone was likely sufficient to have killed or sickened at least hundreds of people. Separately, a Nigerian man allegedly introduced an unknown poison into the food at a restaurant in Ogoja, Nigeria in late March 2017, killing 2 and sickening 40 others. (U) Indicators of Possible Beverage or Food Tampering (U//FOUO) Some of these activities may be constitutionally protected, and any determination of possible illicit intent should be supported by additional facts justifying reasonable suspicion. These activities are general in nature and any one may be insignificant on its own, but when observed in combination with other suspicious behaviors—particularly advocacy of violence—they may constitute a basis for reporting. » (U//FOUO) Consumption and sharing of media glorifying violent extremist acts in attempting to mobilize others to violence; » (U//FOUO) Attempts to purchase restricted chemicals without proper credentials; » (U//FOUO) Purchase(s) of large quantities of hazardous, commercially available chemicals without reasonable explanation; » (U//FOUO) Parked, standing, or unattended vehicles in the same area over multiple days with no reasonable explanation, particularly in concealed locations with optimal visibility of potential targets or in conjunction with multiple visits; » (U//FOUO) Photography or videography focused on food storage facilities, security cameras, gates, barriers, or entry points, » (U//FOUO) Unusual or prolonged interest in or attempts to gain sensitive information about security measures of personnel, peak days and hours of operation, and access controls, such as alarms or locks; » (U//FOUO) Loitering or strange behaviors near buffets, salad bars, refrigerated cases, food production lines, or raw material/bulk food containers with no reasonable explanation; and » (U//FOUO) Damaged product seals, wrappers, or packaging of products on shelves or in transport that would indicate tampering.

(U//FOUO) DHS Report: Ransomware Goals of Malicious Actors and Current System Vulnerabilities - (U) KEY FINDINGS (U) The most susceptible systems to ransomware attacks are personal computers and Internet-facing servers, in particular, those utilizing common, but outdated operating systems or security. (U) OCIA assesses that the Healthcare and Public Health Sector is one of the most prevalent targets of ransomware because of its reliance on immediate access to patient records. (U//FOUO) OCIA assesses that if specific industrial control systems (ICS) were successfully infected with ransomware, it could affect the ability of certain sectors to provide real-time management and control of large networks of geographically scattered equipment. Although security researchers have demonstrated the possibility of ransomware targeting control systems, OCIA assesses that such an attack is highly unlikely given the higher success rate against consumer and business systems, the likelihood that business and process control networks are segmented, and the ability for operators to take a control system out of service and employ manual overrides. … (U) Malicious Cyber Actors use Ransomware to Target Users and Organizations Most Likely to Pay (U) Malicious actors who employ ransomware are often focused on a very narrow goal, making money. Unlike other malicious actors whose goal is to steal or disrupt data integrity, those who employ ransomware are often focused on preventing user access to their data or systems. OCIA assesses that because data theft is not the ultimate goal, malicious actors using ransomware overwhelmingly seek out users or organizations that might pay the ransom. Malicious actors only need a few users out of numerous targets to pay in order for a ransomware campaign to be worthwhile. A recent report highlighted that the average ransom demand in 2016 had risen to $1,077, up from an average of $294 dollars in 2015. (U) Ransomware often targets a range of organizations that require immediate access to their systems and their data to operate. The 2016 Verizon Data Breach Report found that the top three industries targeted by ransomware were Public Administration, Healthcare, and Financial Services. (U) The number of ransomware attacks has increased year after year. Symantec found detections of ransomware against customers it protects increased from 340,000 in 2015 to 463,000 in 2016. Kasperky Lab found that between 2014-15 and 2015-16 the number of ransomware attacks targeting its customers had increased five times (131,111 to 718,536). Malicious actors are not limited to randomly targeting organizations with ransomware. Openly available Personally Identifiable Information (PII) allows actors to identify targets and potentially design a more believable email message (with a ransomware executable) that the user is more likely to open. In November 2016, a ransomware email phishing campaign targeted thousands of government workers who had information exposed during the 2015 Office of Personal Management’s breach of PII. ,,, (U) Disruptive ICS Attacks with Ransomware are Possible, but Unlikely (U//FOUO) OCIA assesses that if ICS were successfully infected with ransomware, it could affect the ability of operators to provide real-time management and control of large networks of geographically scattered equipment, and destabilize assets resulting in a loss of operator control and potential damage or destruction of critical operational equipment. Researchers from Georgia Tech created a proof-of-concept ransomware strain named LogicLocker that can alter programmable logic controller (PLC) parameters. Although security researchers have demonstrated the possibility of ransomware targeting control systems, OCIA assesses that such an attack is highly unlikely given the higher success rate against consumer and business systems, the likelihood that business and process control networks are segmented, and the ability for operators to take a control system out of service and employ manual overrides.

(U//FOUO) Northern Virginia Fusion Center: Social Media Recommendations for Public Safety Personnel - (U) Overview • (U) Public Safety personnel are urged to use caution when sharing information via social media. With recent officer-involved shootings around the country, those who support attacks against public safety affiliates can gain access to information shared online and may use it to condone violence. • (U//FOUO) This Front Line provides recommendations for minimizing indicators of your public safety affiliations on social media to better protect you and your family’s identity. … (U) Remove all material from your social media accounts that reference your involvement or affiliation with the public safety sector. (U) Have all material that references your involvement with the public safety sector removed from family and friends’ social media accounts. (U) Do not list employment information on any social media websites. (U) Do not use your work email address to sign up for any social media accounts. (U) If signing into a social media account on a public computer, be sure the password is not saved after signing out. …

Bilderberg Association Annual Report 2016 - 272706 – THE BILDERBERG ASSOCIATION Governing document CONSTITUTION ADOPTED 20TH DECEMBER 1976 Organisation type STANDARD REGISTRATION Where it operates THROUGHOUT ENGLAND AND WALES Registration history 24 January 1977 Registered Charitable objects TO PROMOTE THE STUDY OF, AND PUBLIC EDUCATION IN INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, ECONOMICS AND THE SOCIAL SCIENCES WITH REFERENCE IN PARTICULAR TO THE POLITICAL, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS AFFECTING THE DEMOCRATIC COUNTRIES OF NORTH AMERICA AND WESTERN EUROPE AND THE EFFECTS OF INDUSTRIALISATION UPON THE SOCIAL STRUCTURES AND ENVIRONMENTS OF SUCH COUNTRIES.

Bilderberg Association Annual Report 2015 - 272706 – THE BILDERBERG ASSOCIATION Governing document CONSTITUTION ADOPTED 20TH DECEMBER 1976 Organisation type STANDARD REGISTRATION Where it operates THROUGHOUT ENGLAND AND WALES Registration history 24 January 1977 Registered Charitable objects TO PROMOTE THE STUDY OF, AND PUBLIC EDUCATION IN INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, ECONOMICS AND THE SOCIAL SCIENCES WITH REFERENCE IN PARTICULAR TO THE POLITICAL, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS AFFECTING THE DEMOCRATIC COUNTRIES OF NORTH AMERICA AND WESTERN EUROPE AND THE EFFECTS OF INDUSTRIALISATION UPON THE SOCIAL STRUCTURES AND ENVIRONMENTS OF SUCH COUNTRIES.

Sunlight Foundation Blog

Today in OpenGov: Something in the Wray he moves - In today's look at open government news from around Washington, the United States, and the globe we focus on the lack of transparency in healthcare negotiations on the hill, the President's "voter fraud" commission, Pennsylvania's police body camera program, and much more.  washington watch   2017 healthcare reform process more secretive than secretive 2009 healthcare reform process. Audrey Carlsen and Haeyoun Park looked at a number of metrics, all of which show that the 2017 healthcare bill has been shrouded in significantly more secrecy than the last major healthcare reform process in 2009 — which wasn't particularly open itself. (New York Times)  HHS Secretary Price accused of campaign finance violations. Charlie Clark reports on a complaint filed on July 7th by the Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21. "Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price is the target of a complaint to the Federal Election Commission by two campaign finance reform groups that claim he violated the law by using congressional campaign funds to ease his confirmation by the Senate." (Government Executive)     Federal agencies just can't quit paper. "A recent survey of federal employees shows government agencies still have a long way to go in improving their data management systems, and they face a number of obstacles including a dependency on paper." According to the survey close to 20% of agencies still rely primarily on paper records. (Nextgov) What's next for data.gov? These contracting documents shed some light on the question. "The federal government data repository Data.gov is due for a revamp, according to contracting documents released as part of a sole-source extension granted to contractor REI." Adam Mazmanian reports that the contracting documents shed light on what might be coming next for the site, including security updates, modernized code, automation, and more. (Federal Computer Week)  trumplandia   Mike Pence courts donors at private dinners. Vice President Mike Pence has been courting major political donors, corporate executives, and conservative political leaders through small private dinners at the vice president’s official residence and face-to-face meetings. Some speculate Pence is laying the groundwork for his own political future, but he may just be doing his part to help boost President Trump. (New York Times) Wray ethics documents released ahead of confirmation hearing. "Christopher Wray, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the FBI, has provided legal services to several major corporations including Wells Fargo, Johnson & Johnson and Chevron, in addition to his extensive legal work at an influential international law firm, according to Office of Government Ethics documents released Monday." (POLITICO) ACLU sues President's "voter fraud" commission over lack of transparency. "The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on Monday against President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, alleging the commission lacks transparency and violates the Federal Advisory Committee Act," reports Diamond Naga Siu. (POLITICO) Meanwhile, the commission has temporarily suspended its request for voter information. David Kravits reports that "the commission told a federal judge Monday that the states can hold off on supplying the requested data until the District of Columbia federal court decides whether the commission may require the states to hand over the data." (Ars Technica) around the world Image Credit: Matthew Richards Recent incidents highlight increased risks tied to working in the public interest. "The risks of working in the public interest — whether you do it as a journalist, an activist, or an advocate for government transparency and accountability — seem to be on the rise worldwide." (Global Voices) High moral bar makes it difficult for new South Korean president to fill cabinet slots. "Having announced grounds for exclusion — anyone who has dodged military service, evaded taxes, made speculative property-market trades, falsely reported an address or plagiarized a thesis, among others — Moon then went ahead and nominated some candidates who fell short." (Bloomberg) Pakastani leader may face trial, heightening tensions ahead of elections. "Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif may face trial after a high-level inquiry found he was unable to account for the disparity between his wealth and his known sources of income, plunging the country deeper into political crisis just months before elections." (Bloomberg) states and cities   Pennsylvania Governor signs controversial bill to shield police video from public view. "A new Pennsylvania law exempts police audio and video recordings from the state's Right-to-Know Law, leaving the release of those records largely to the discretion of police. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf on Friday signed a bill that also clears legal hurdles that kept police departments from using body cameras, likely expanding their use greatly." (York Dispatch) New Mexico ACLU sues Albuquerque over stingray records. "The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico has sued the city of Albuquerque, seeking records by the city’s police department about its use of stingrays, also known as cell-site simulators." (Ars Technica) Mixed reviews for Colorado website focused on school budget transparency. "The Colorado K-12 Financial Transparency website provides revenue and expenditure statistics for each of the state's 178 public school districts, most schools and Boards of Cooperative Educational Services, or BOCES. While some applaud the long-awaited financial picture, others say it's misleading." (Government Technology) save the dates   July 10th through 24th: e-Forum Discussion on the Agriculture Open Data Package, virtual. "The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in partnership with the Global Open Data on Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN) are inviting interested individuals to participate in this forum discussion on 'Agriculture Open Data Package' to be held on the e-Agriculture Platform. The initial target audience for this forum are policy-makers, researchers, open data experts, and/or agricultural experts – however, any one interested is invited to attend." Learn more about the forum and how to participate here.  July 19th, 5:30 PM EST. Book Discussion: When Your Job Wants You To Lie in Washington, DC. "Join us for a discussion that will help us deal with the kinds of situations we all encounter. Presented by the American Society for Public Administration, National Capital Area Chapter (ASPA NCAC). Refreshments start 5:30, and the discussion starts 6:00. Space is limited, so you must RSVP in advance." Learn more and RSVP here. July 27th, 10 am: Chief FOIA Officers Council Meeting in Washington, DC. "OGIS and the Department of Information Policy (OIP) at the Department of Justice are happy to announce that the next meeting of the Chief FOIA Officers Council will be held on Thursday, July 27th from 10 am to noon. You can register to join the audience in the William G. McGowan Theater beginning on July 26. You can also plan on watching the livestream via the National Archives’ YouTube Channel." August 1st: DKAN Summit in Washington, DC. Part of Drupal GovCon 2017, the DKAN Open Data Summit will feature open data leaders discussing how DKAN can be used to facilitate government open data efforts. Learn more and register here.  September 11th and 12th: TicTec@Taipei in Taipei. "TICTeC@Taipei is the first ever conference about the influence of civic tech to be held in Asia. We’ve invited members of academia, business, politics, NGOs, education to participate, and discuss their research. We hope through this event, we can build a global network of civic tech enthusiasts." The event is being held during #CivicTechFest 2017. Learn more, submit a session proposal, and register to attend here. September 13th: Civic and Gov Tech Showcase in San Jose, California. "Innovate Your State, in partnership with Microsoft and the City of San Jose, is bringing the 3nd Annual Civic & Gov Tech Showcase to the Capitol of Silicon Valley. The Civic & Gov Tech Showcase is an opportunity to connect with civic minded entrepreneurs, potential investors, and government leaders to showcase the great work that is being done to improve government and governance. The goal of the event is to encourage collaboration and the support of new technologies to improve government and public participation." Learn more and get your tickets here. September 14th – 16th: Digital Humanities and Data Journalism Symposium, in Miami, Florida. "Digital humanists and data journalists face common challenges, opportunities, and goals, such as how to communicate effectively with the public. They use similar software tools, programming languages, and techniques, and they can learn from each other. Join us for lectures and tutorials about shared data types, visualization methods, and data communication — including text visualization, network diagrams, maps, databases and data wrangling. In addition to the scheduled content, there will be opportunities for casual conversation and networking." Learn more and register here. September 28th: Powering Sustainable Development with Access to Information, Paris, France. "The 'IPDCtalks' will be held to highlight and elaborate on the importance of Access to Information for all sustainable development efforts around the world. It will consist of a series of attractive and dynamic talks from global public leaders, top journalists, young intellectuals and community leaders. While some of the speakers will elaborate on the key role of Access to Information for the achievement of a particular Sustainable Development Goal, others will reflect on the essential role of Access to Information for our society and future." You can learnmore and request an invitation on the event website. If you're interested, but can't attend the event will be broadcast live on the web.   Tired of your boss/friend/intern/uncle forwarding you this email every morning? You can sign up here and have it delivered direct to your inbox! Please send questions, comments, tips, and concerns to todayinopengov@sunlightfoundation.com. We would love your feedback!  

Today in OpenGov: Kid pro quo - Good morning from Washington, where we're seeing the familiar news cycle of morning tweets from President Donald J. Trump about today's headlines.  In a statement on Twitter, presumably responding to a story in The Hill reporting that former FBI Director's memoranda describing his meetings with Trump contained classified information, the president said "James Comey leaked CLASSIFIED INFORMATION to the media. That is so illegal!"  We expect to learn more about what was "so illegal" – or not – in the first months of the Trump administration in the months ahead. Read on for news from over the weekend, including our take on that story, more reporting conflicts, the Congressional war on expertise, an NYPD attempt to block a surveillance transparency law, and much more. the conflicts continue Back in November, Sunlight began maintaining a list of reported conflicts of interest where Trump business had mixed with public business, calling on the president to divest and disclose.  He didn't. On May 9th, we relaunched our list (621 items and counting) as a spreadsheet, expanded from dozens of confirmed conflicts into hundreds. Last week, we pushed a big update to our list and the surrounding page, incorporating President Trump’s financial disclosure on June 14th and media reports from around the world. We’ll continue to update our list of Trump’s conflicts of interest as more relevant news stories, court filings and legislation enter the public record, including noting when or if a given conflict has been resolved. Read on for open government news from over the weekend including, a couple of new Trump conflicts, the Congressional war on expertise, an NYPD attempt to block a surveillance transparency law, and much more. trumplandia   During campaign, Donald Trump Jr. met with Russian lawyer who promised damaging information on Clinton. "President Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., was promised damaging information about Hillary Clinton before agreeing to meet with a Kremlin-connected Russian lawyer during the 2016 campaign, according to three advisers to the White House briefed on the meeting and two others with knowledge of it." The meeting was also attended by Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort, who was Donald Trump's campaign chairman at the time. (New York Times) A hat tip to the New York Daily News for today's headline. Another reminder that this author is merely an amateur in the game of puns.  In unique arrangement, Trump collects golf club fees for himself. "Reporting by McClatchy, including nearly 20 interviews and hundreds of pages of documents — some from litigation involving Trump and his businesses — shows that the president put in place unusual policies that allowed him to keep the high one-time fees charged to new members and put language in his club rules that allowed him to spend the money on anything he wanted." John Wonderlich weighed in on the unique arrangement and Trump's overall business interests as president, saying "I don’t think we have anything to compare this to in presidential history…he is refusing to acknowledge that the office is bigger than his business." (McClatchy) #CitizenSleuth is a new effort to crowdsource Trump administration mysteries. "Since Donald Trump became president in January, he and more than 400 of his appointees have together filed thousands of pages worth of information concerning their assets, income, business ties — and potential conflicts of interest…Scour [this]…searchable, sortable and public database of Trump administration financial disclosures to probe the mysterious companies contained within." (The Center for Public Integrity and The Center for Investigative Reporting) Many of Comey's private memos about Trump contain classified material. "More than half of the memos former FBI chief James Comey wrote as personal recollections of his conversations with President Trump about the Russia investigation have been determined to contain classified information, according to interviews with officials familiar with the documents." (The Hill) Our take? The U.S. government has an overclassification problem. While there are reasons to be circumspect about the details of the FBI's investigation to the Trump campaign in 2016 or the Trump administration in 2017, the public should be better informed about what is in Comey's memoranda.   washington watch Image Credit: National Parks Service   Department of Veterans Affairs is posting new data on disciplinary actions — but that's far short of embracing transparency across the agency. "The Veterans Affairs Department has begun publicly posting all major disciplinary actions taken against its employees, saying the action will send a message about the new culture the Trump administration is imposing at the agency," reports Eric Katz. (Government Executive) This is useful information, but, as we explained last year, we'd like to see the VA aim higher by publishing open data on the performance of veteran-facing services and programs.  Threats to Congressional Budget Office fit into larger pattern of diminished Congressional capacity. "You most certainly can have a government without a Congressional Budget Office. The legislative branch of that government, however, would be even less equipped to deal with data and complex analyses than it currently is. Which is saying a lot, given that lawmakers have been chipping away at their own institution’s capacity for decades." (The Atlantic)  Despite progress in Congressional transparency, more remains to be done. "Over the past decade, there's been a significant push to make congressional data more discoverable and accessible to the American public, moving the centuries-old paper-based process online to Congress.gov," reports Chase Gunter. Despite "breathtaking" progress recent years, however, "we have not arrived at the holy grail of public understanding for a given bill, where text can be compared against the changes it makes to the U.S. code, the law that it shifts with a plain-language analysis or summary for what it will mean," suggested Alex Howard. (Federal Computer Week) Calls for strengthened ethics agency grow following departure of OGE chief. "Public-interest groups have argued for years that the Office of Government Ethics, which establishes standards of conduct for executive branch officials but lacks enforcement powers, should be strengthened. While those calls have increased over the course of the Trump administration, they reached a crescendo Thursday, when Walter Shaub said he would step down on July 19." (Bloomberg)  states and cities Federal appeals court upholds citizens right to record police. "Americans have a constitutional right to film on-duty police officers in public, a federal appeals court in Philadelphia ruled Friday. The three-judge panel’s decision is not the first of its kind, but it marks a significant milestone: Half of U.S. states are now covered by rulings protecting the videotaping of law enforcement." (The Atlantic) Bill to bring transparency to police use of surveillance equipment faces NYPD opposition. The bill "would require public disclosure and dialogue on the New York Police Department’s purchase and use of surveillance equipment. The bill is in the weaker vein of similar legislation passed or under consideration by lawmakers in 19 cities across the U.S., where elected officials hope to write use policies and approve or deny the purchase of surveillance gear." (The Intercept) Upcoming Events   July 10th through 24th: e-Forum Discussion on the Agriculture Open Data Package, virtual. "The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in partnership with the Global Open Data on Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN) are inviting interested individuals to participate in this forum discussion on 'Agriculture Open Data Package' to be held on the e-Agriculture Platform. The initial target audience for this forum are policy-makers, researchers, open data experts, and/or agricultural experts – however, any one interested is invited to attend." Learn more about the forum and how to participate here.  July 19th, 5:30 PM EST. Book Discussion: When Your Job Wants You To Lie in Washington, DC. "Join us for a discussion that will help us deal with the kinds of situations we all encounter. Presented by the American Society for Public Administration, National Capital Area Chapter (ASPA NCAC). Refreshments start 5:30, and the discussion starts 6:00. Space is limited, so you must RSVP in advance." Learn more and RSVP here. July 27th, 10 am: Chief FOIA Officers Council Meeting in Washington, DC. "OGIS and the Department of Information Policy (OIP) at the Department of Justice are happy to announce that the next meeting of the Chief FOIA Officers Council will be held on Thursday, July 27th from 10 am to noon. You can register to join the audience in the William G. McGowan Theater beginning on July 26. You can also plan on watching the livestream via the National Archives’ YouTube Channel." September 11th and 12th: TicTec@Taipei in Taipei. "TICTeC@Taipei is the first ever conference about the influence of civic tech to be held in Asia. We’ve invited members of academia, business, politics, NGOs, education to participate, and discuss their research. We hope through this event, we can build a global network of civic tech enthusiasts." The event is being held during #CivicTechFest 2017. Learn more, submit a session proposal, and register to attend here. September 13th: Civic and Gov Tech Showcase in San Jose, California. "Innovate Your State, in partnership with Microsoft and the City of San Jose, is bringing the 3nd Annual Civic & Gov Tech Showcase to the Capitol of Silicon Valley. The Civic & Gov Tech Showcase is an opportunity to connect with civic minded entrepreneurs, potential investors, and government leaders to showcase the great work that is being done to improve government and governance. The goal of the event is to encourage collaboration and the support of new technologies to improve government and public participation." Learn more and get your tickets here. September 14th – 16th: Digital Humanities and Data Journalism Symposium, in Miami, Florida. "Digital humanists and data journalists face common challenges, opportunities, and goals, such as how to communicate effectively with the public. They use similar software tools, programming languages, and techniques, and they can learn from each other. Join us for lectures and tutorials about shared data types, visualization methods, and data communication — including text visualization, network diagrams, maps, databases and data wrangling. In addition to the scheduled content, there will be opportunities for casual conversation and networking." Learn more and register here. September 28th: Powering Sustainable Development with Access to Information, Paris, France. "The 'IPDCtalks' will be held to highlight and elaborate on the importance of Access to Information for all sustainable development efforts around the world. It will consist of a series of attractive and dynamic talks from global public leaders, top journalists, young intellectuals and community leaders. While some of the speakers will elaborate on the key role of Access to Information for the achievement of a particular Sustainable Development Goal, others will reflect on the essential role of Access to Information for our society and future." You can learnmore and request an invitation on the event website. If you're interested, but can't attend the event will be broadcast live on the web.   Tired of your boss/friend/intern/uncle forwarding you this email every morning? You can sign up here and have it delivered direct to your inbox! Please send questions, comments, tips, and concerns to todayinopengov@sunlightfoundation.com. We would love your feedback!  

Today in OpenGov: Public service, public trust - In today’s edition, we dig into what Walter Shaub’s resignation means for the Office of Government Ethics, explain why official communications need to be preserved, and think about how data can really be leveraged to make a difference. Read on for all that and much more. public service is a public trust [Caption: Shaub’s letter of resignation.] Walter Shaub, director of the Office of Government Ethics and a consistent critic of President Trump’s ethical failings, has resigned from his post. Shaub’s appointment was scheduled to end in January 2018, but but he chose to leave early for a position at the non-partisan, non-profit Campaign Legal Center. “Shaub’s resignation should be taken as a Bat Signal to Members of Congress who, despite evidence of hundreds of unresolved conflicts of interest around the world, have been far too reticent to oversee ethics in government or threats to transparency under the Trump administration,” wrote Sunlight’s Alex Howard. Until President Trump holds himself subject to federal ethics laws, disclosing his tax returns and divesting from his foreign and domestic business interests, both real and rumored corruption will continue to put this presidency in shadow. (Read our full take the Sunlight Blog) When asked whether President Trump’s businesses were benefiting as a result of his term in public service, Shaub responded that he “can’t be sure.” “I can’t know what their intention is,” he said. “I know that the effect is that there is an appearance that the businesses are profiting from his occupying the presidency, and appearance matters as much as reality.” (CBS News) Other watchdog groups share our concerns about what this will mean for OGE and our skepticism that President Trump will appoint a strong leader for the agency. (The Hill) Elijah Cummings, the top Democratic member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, reacted to the news of Shaub’s resignation by calling on committee chairman Trey Gowdy to schedule a hearing with Shaub on “the need for stronger ethics regulations.” (POLITICO) blink and it’s gone Image Credit: Daniel Novta Increased adoption of encrypted apps poses problems for transparency and accountability. “Secure messaging apps like WhatsApp, Signal and Confide are making inroads among lawmakers, corporate executives and other prominent communicators,” reports Kevin Roose.  (New York Times) We’re glad this issue is getting more attention. Preserving public records is an essential democratic norm. As we’ve highlighted over the past year, the surge of adoption of encrypted and ephemeral apps can create novel archiving problems by design, which may be a recipe for corruption. “It’s a serious issue that part of the legal record is being destroyed,” Sunlight’s John Wonderlich told the Times. “Lots of record-keeping requirements don’t work very well at all for the modern world.” If officials intentionally use messaging systems for public business that can’t be archived, they’re eroding accountability. If White House officials do so, they’re breaking the law.  If public officials can’t archive messages about public business, we recommend not using a given app. washington watch The Postal Service used data analytics to bust up a multi-million dollar prescription drug scam. “As the office’s data gurus used analytics tools and algorithms to dig into the data, they realized the increased spending was a coordinated effort between several parties attempting to fleece the government for millions of dollars.” The investigative effort led to long-term healthcare savings of over $1 billion for the agency. (Nextgov) CREW files complaint over Kushner’s online real estate investment company. “The complaint from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) alleges that President Trump’s son-in-law did not disclose his interest in the online real estate investment company Cadre, which he cofounded, and has failed to divest from the company, creating conflicts of interest.” (The Hill) Who’s heading Trump’s deregulation teams? We don’t know. “Two months after the deadline set via President Trump’s Executive Order 13777 directing the departments of the federal government to create Regulatory Reform Task Forces (RRTF), many agencies have still not made public the members comprising the new groups.” (MuckRock) Experts detail flaws in “voter fraud” commission’s plan to ID fraudulent registrations. “Vice President Mike Pence’s office has confirmed the White House commission on voter fraud intends to run the state voter rolls it has requested against federal databases to check for potential fraudulent registration. Experts say the plan is certain to produce thousands of false positives that could distort the understanding of the potential for fraud, especially given the limited data states have agreed to turn over.” (ProPublica) around the world Problem-focused politically-engaged learning cycles. Via Global Integrity A call for collective action on making a difference with data. “Proponents of open data and the “data revolution” have played a hugely important role in highlighting the importance of data in addressing social challenges and supporting progress towards meeting the Sustainable Development Goals. In recent years however, the conversation has moved on (see for instance, the selection of posts from the 2015 International Open Data Conference), with an increased recognition that making data available and open is only one piece of the puzzle and that if data is to make a difference, we need to think differently about how it might do so, and then act differently as a result.” (Global Integrity) Turkish police detain human rights activists. “Ten people, including the local director of Amnesty International, are being detained across various police stations in Istanbul after Turkish police forcibly removed them from a human rights workshop on Wednesday morning.” Eight of those arrested are well known human rights activists, while the others were conducting the training. (The Atlantic) The World Bank’s revamped Health, Nutrition, and Population data. “Today we’re releasing a revamped Health, Nutrition & Population (HNP) Data portal which offers a quick look at over 250 indicators covering topics such as health financing and the health workforce; immunization and the incidence of HIV and AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, non-communicable diseases and the causes of death; nutrition, clean water and sanitation, and reproductive health; as well as population estimates and population projections.” (The World Bank Data Blog) save the dates July 10th through 24th: e-Forum Discussion on the Agriculture Open Data Package, virtual. “The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in partnership with the Global Open Data on Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN) are inviting interested individuals to participate in this forum discussion on ‘Agriculture Open Data Package‘ to be held on the e-Agriculture Platform. The initial target audience for this forum are policy-makers, researchers, open data experts, and/or agricultural experts – however, any one interested is invited to attend.” Learn more about the forum and how to participate here. July 19th, 5:30 PM EST. Book Discussion: When Your Job Wants You To Lie in Washington, DC. “Join us for a discussion that will help us deal with the kinds of situations we all encounter. Presented by the American Society for Public Administration, National Capital Area Chapter (ASPA NCAC). Refreshments start 5:30, and the discussion starts 6:00. Space is limited, so you must RSVP in advance.” Learn more and RSVP here. July 27th, 10 am: Chief FOIA Officers Council Meeting in Washington, DC. “OGIS and the Department of Information Policy (OIP) at the Department of Justice are happy to announce that the next meeting of the Chief FOIA Officers Council will be held on Thursday, July 27th from 10 am to noon. You can register to join the audience in the William G. McGowan Theater beginning on July 26. You can also plan on watching the livestream via the National Archives’ YouTube Channel.” September 11th and 12th: TicTec@Taipei in Taipei. “TICTeC@Taipei is the first ever conference about the influence of civic tech to be held in Asia. We’ve invited members of academia, business, politics, NGOs, education to participate, and discuss their research. We hope through this event, we can build a global network of civic tech enthusiasts.” The event is being held during #CivicTechFest 2017. Learn more, submit a session proposal, and register to attend here. September 13th: Civic and Gov Tech Showcase in San Jose, California. “Innovate Your State, in partnership with Microsoft and the City of San Jose, is bringing the 3nd Annual Civic & Gov Tech Showcase to the Capitol of Silicon Valley. The Civic & Gov Tech Showcase is an opportunity to connect with civic minded entrepreneurs, potential investors, and government leaders to showcase the great work that is being done to improve government and governance. The goal of the event is to encourage collaboration and the support of new technologies to improve government and public participation.” Learn more and get your tickets here. September 14th – 16th: Digital Humanities and Data Journalism Symposium, in Miami, Florida. “Digital humanists and data journalists face common challenges, opportunities, and goals, such as how to communicate effectively with the public. They use similar software tools, programming languages, and techniques, and they can learn from each other. Join us for lectures and tutorials about shared data types, visualization methods, and data communication — including text visualization, network diagrams, maps, databases and data wrangling. In addition to the scheduled content, there will be opportunities for casual conversation and networking.” Learn more and register here. September 28th: Powering Sustainable Development with Access to Information, Paris, France. “The ‘IPDCtalks’ will be held to highlight and elaborate on the importance of Access to Information for all sustainable development efforts around the world. It will consist of a series of attractive and dynamic talks from global public leaders, top journalists, young intellectuals and community leaders. While some of the speakers will elaborate on the key role of Access to Information for the achievement of a particular Sustainable Development Goal, others will reflect on the essential role of Access to Information for our society and future.” You can learnmore and request an invitation on the event website. If you’re interested, but can’t attend the event will be broadcast live on the web.   Tired of your boss/friend/intern/uncle forwarding you this email every morning? You can sign up here and have it delivered direct to your inbox! Please send questions, comments, tips, and concerns to todayinopengov@sunlightfoundation.com. We would love your feedback!

Resignation of top US ethics official calls attention to Trump’s unresolved conflicts - Walter Shaub, director of the United States Office of Government Ethics, has resigned, saying the rules need to be tougher. His term would have gone through January 2018. Shaub will join the Campaign Legal Center to work on ethics in government issues. “There isn’t much more I could accomplish at the Office of Government Ethics, given the current situation,” Shaub told the New York Times. “O.G.E.’s recent experiences have made it clear that the ethics program needs to be strengthened.” In his resignation letter to the President, Shaub notes that “public service is a public trust. ” We couldn’t agree more. As we said in January, President Trump’s “transparency theater” of disclosure failed to address the unprecedented conflicts of interest he brought to the White House. Shaub’s resignation should be taken as a Bat Signal to Members of Congress who, despite evidence of hundreds of unresolved conflicts of interest around the world, have been far too reticent to oversee ethics in government or threats to transparency under the Trump administration. Instead of doing oversight, Members of Congress threatened Shaub for doing his job. This resignation, unfortunately, may weaken the work of a crucial federal agency that has been overwhelmed by ethics requests from the public and addressing the complex finances and associated conflicts from Trump’s wealthy nominees. The Office of Government Ethics protects the nation from corruption and helps every administration to avoid scandal. The White House should be embracing OGE’s guidance and collaborating with its staff to shore up public trust in government, not fighting with its dedicated civil servants and issuing secret ethics waivers. Public officials should put the public’s interests above their private interests. This president has repeatedly repudiated democratic norms for transparency, accountability and ethics for the most powerful position in the federal government. Until President Trump holds himself subject to federal ethics laws, disclosing his tax returns and divesting from his foreign and domestic business interests, both real and rumored corruption will continue to put this presidency in shadow.  

Today in OpenGov: One lobbyist’s Mega Millions jackpot - We are always working to improve this newsletter to better serve you the most useful and interesting open government information. If you have suggestions on how we can do better, please consider dropping us a note at todayinopengov@sunlightfoundation.com. Are you reading this on our blog? Is someone constantly forwarding you this email? Consider signing up to have it sent straight to your inbox every morning.  Read on for today's roundup of open government news including the latest on President Trump's war with the media, top tips to win your FOIA appeal, evidence based approaches to fighting the opioid epidemic, and much more.  trumpland   Florida lobbyist follows Trump to Washington, has no problem finding millions worth of work. "In just five months, Ballard Partners’ federal lobbying operation has generated nearly $4 million in current and contracted business from foreign and domestic lobbying clients, according to a Center for Public Integrity review of lobbying records filed with the U.S. Congress and Department of Justice. That’s as much lobbying money as some established firms make in a year." (Center for Public Integrity) Mueller team draws scrutiny for political giving, former client lists. "At least seven of the 15 lawyers Mueller has brought on to the special counsel team have donated to Democratic political candidates, five of them to Hillary Clinton — a fact that President Trump and his allies have eagerly highlighted. These critics also point to some of the lawyers’ history working with clients connected to the Clintons and Mueller’s long history with former FBI director  James B. Comey as they question whether those assigned to the investigation can be impartial." (Washington Post) Member of "voter fraud" commission cautioned warned against private data requests. "If the panel wanted election officials across the country to provide it with voter information, it had to be delicate about how it worded the request or else it would be seen as demanding highly sensitive voter details." Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap made the argument. It appears that the letter sent to states by Kris Kobach, the commission's vice chair, heeded the advice by specifically requesting publicly available data. (HuffPost) What's wrong with the media's response to attacks by President Trump? "For reporters, it feels demoralizing to be attacked repeatedly by the president of the United States; some feel physically threatened. But the best way to respond to this is to make a stronger case to the American people as to why Trump’s attacks are unacceptable, rather than expecting it to be self-evident, or hoping that pity and sympathy will elicit public support. Rather than explaining why the president attacking the media is bad for the media, the media need to appeal to the public’s self-interest and explain why it’s bad for them." (The Atlantic) washington watch Image: Journal Sentinel Files The ongoing fight for freedom of information. This Independence Day editorial from the Des Moines Register is no less relevant later in the week, or any day of the year.  House and Senate show concern about Census leadership, budget. "Congressional watchdogs from both sides of the aisle are concerned about finances at the Census Bureau and want to see an updated cost estimate to reflect potential cost overruns." They are also pushing for quick appointment of permanent leadership. (Federal Computer Week) Top tips to win your FOIA appeal, direct from agency documents? "In the Independence Day spirit of civic engagement and disobedience, we took a look through some of the appeals to the SEC and pulled examples of successful pushback. Need a guide to crafting your own response to some common denials from the SEC or other agencies holding back your documents? Here’s your quick how-to in the words of those winning requesters themselves." (MuckRock) SBA launches new map to help modernize contracting and encourage small business participation. The agency "has unveiled a new map of historically under-utilized business zones as part of an effort to modernize the agency’s federal contracting programs. SBA said June 28 the map is designed to help small businesses determine if they are eligible to participate in the HUBZone program." (Executive Gov) states and cities The SBA's HUBZone Map Limits on DC government email searches weakened. "The D.C. Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO) had been warning they would only process search requests naming every possible recipient." But, the DC Office of Open Government disagreed in an advisory opinion explaining that merely naming the sender or recipient as well as a date range should be enough to spark a search. (D.C. Open Government Coalition)   Finding evidence based approaches to fighting the opioid epidemic. "Seizing the opportunity the Cures Act provides will require governors, legislators, public-health leaders, service providers, federal officials and foundation executives who understand and champion the value of learning strategies. Using tiered-evidence grants to allocate funding to local providers would take more work on the front end but would pay big dividends over time." (Governing) save the dates   July 10th through 24th: e-Forum Discussion on the Agriculture Open Data Package, virtual. "The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in partnership with the Global Open Data on Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN) are inviting interested individuals to participate in this forum discussion on 'Agriculture Open Data Package' to be held on the e-Agriculture Platform. The initial target audience for this forum are policy-makers, researchers, open data experts, and/or agricultural experts – however, any one interested is invited to attend." Learn more about the forum and how to participate here.  July 19th, 5:30 PM EST. Book Discussion: When Your Job Wants You To Lie in Washington, DC. "Join us for a discussion that will help us deal with the kinds of situations we all encounter. Presented by the American Society for Public Administration, National Capital Area Chapter (ASPA NCAC). Refreshments start 5:30, and the discussion starts 6:00. Space is limited, so you must RSVP in advance." Learn more and RSVP here. July 27th, 10 am: Chief FOIA Officers Council Meeting in Washington, DC. "OGIS and the Department of Information Policy (OIP) at the Department of Justice are happy to announce that the next meeting of the Chief FOIA Officers Council will be held on Thursday, July 27th from 10 am to noon. You can register to join the audience in the William G. McGowan Theater beginning on July 26. You can also plan on watching the livestream via the National Archives’ YouTube Channel." September 11th and 12th: TicTec@Taipei in Taipei. "TICTeC@Taipei is the first ever conference about the influence of civic tech to be held in Asia. We’ve invited members of academia, business, politics, NGOs, education to participate, and discuss their research. We hope through this event, we can build a global network of civic tech enthusiasts." The event is being held during #CivicTechFest 2017. Learn more, submit a session proposal, and register to attend here. September 13th: Civic and Gov Tech Showcase in San Jose, California. "Innovate Your State, in partnership with Microsoft and the City of San Jose, is bringing the 3nd Annual Civic & Gov Tech Showcase to the Capitol of Silicon Valley. The Civic & Gov Tech Showcase is an opportunity to connect with civic minded entrepreneurs, potential investors, and government leaders to showcase the great work that is being done to improve government and governance. The goal of the event is to encourage collaboration and the support of new technologies to improve government and public participation." Learn more and get your tickets here. September 14th – 16th: Digital Humanities and Data Journalism Symposium, in Miami, Florida. "Digital humanists and data journalists face common challenges, opportunities, and goals, such as how to communicate effectively with the public. They use similar software tools, programming languages, and techniques, and they can learn from each other. Join us for lectures and tutorials about shared data types, visualization methods, and data communication — including text visualization, network diagrams, maps, databases and data wrangling. In addition to the scheduled content, there will be opportunities for casual conversation and networking." Learn more and register here. September 28th: Powering Sustainable Development with Access to Information, Paris, France. "The 'IPDCtalks' will be held to highlight and elaborate on the importance of Access to Information for all sustainable development efforts around the world. It will consist of a series of attractive and dynamic talks from global public leaders, top journalists, young intellectuals and community leaders. While some of the speakers will elaborate on the key role of Access to Information for the achievement of a particular Sustainable Development Goal, others will reflect on the essential role of Access to Information for our society and future." You can learn more and request an invitation on the event website. If you're interested, but can't attend the event will be broadcast live on the web.      Tired of your boss/friend/intern/uncle forwarding you this email every morning? You can sign up here and have it delivered direct to your inbox! Please send questions, comments, tips, and concerns to todayinopengov@sunlightfoundation.com. We would love your feedback!  

Today in OpenGov: An illustrated guide to transparency - In today's roundup of open government news we highlight the sketch artists that have long helped shed light on otherwise closed government proceedings, celebrate the return of the Congress App for Android, keep up with the latest backlash against the President's "voter fraud" commission, cheer on open data advances in several cities, check out open data portals in Latin America, and more.  a sketch of transparency A sketch of the White House press briefing led by Press Secretary Sean Spicer. (Source: CNN) On Monday, Sunlight fellow Faraz Ahmed traced the long history of illustration as a tool to shed light on official proceedings when few other options are available. Traditionally utilized in courts where "sensitive legal proceedings…create the need to protect privacy of both defendants and prosecutors, or secrecy around national security and criminal investigations," illustrations are increasingly relevant in other contexts where video and audio recording are being restricted. For example, "on June 24, 2017, the communications team of the White House banned the use of cameras in the press briefing. CNN reacted to this by sending courtroom artist Bill Hennessy to attend the press briefing" where he produced a sketch, laying out a scene that would have otherwise been completely obscure to the public.  "If bans on journalists recording in White House briefing rooms, Members of Congress livestreaming, or cameras in the court endure, the public can rely on the centuries-old practice of illustrations to provide some transparency in government."   washington watch Screenshots from the Congress App for Android Wish the Freedom of Information Act a happy birthday! Yesterday, the landmark transparency law, signed on July 4th 1966, turned 51.  Oil companies lobby hard against new Russia sanctions. "Oil giants ExxonMobil and Chevron are lobbying against a new bipartisan bill that would toughen sanctions on Russia and prevent the White House from weakening them." (The Hill) The Congress App for Android is back! Former Sunlighter Eric Mill is working to maintain the tool, first developed at Sunlight. The Congress API which this app uses for its data, will shut down soon. But, Mill and others will migrate the app to ProPublica's Congress API. You can follow ProPublica's blog for updates. We're incredibly proud of the work Eric did while he was at Sunlight Labs, his public service since, and his interest and dedication in taking on development of this open source code, which remains one of the most popular apps we ever shipped. Free-press groups look to home as anti-press rhetoric rises in the U.S. "For more than a year many of these organizations — including the Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press — have issued statements raising the alarm over Trump’s rhetoric and his administration’s attempts to restrict media access. Now, after Trump on Sunday tweeted out a fake-wrestling video that showed him pummeling a person clothed in the CNN logo, these organizations are starting to do what they never thought they’d need to: document violent threats and actions against the media in the United States." (POLITICO) election integrity Kansas Secretary of State and Vice Chair of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Election Integrity Kris Kobach. Image Credit: Andrew Rosenthal 44 states withholding at least some information from Trump's "voter fraud" commission. "Forty-four states have refused to provide certain types of voter information to the Trump administration's election integrity commission, according to a CNN inquiry to all 50 states." (CNN) Maryland deputy Secretary of State resigns from commission. "Borunda reportedly told Gov. Larry Hogan (R) that he has resigned from the Trump administration's Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, the governor's spokesman Doug Mayer told the paper." The reasons for Borunda's resignation remain unclear. (The Hill) EPIC sues to stop commission from collecting voter information. "A privacy advocacy group sued to block President Donald Trump’s Advisory Commission on Election Integrity from collecting voter information across the U.S…The Electronic Privacy Information Center, in a complaint filed Monday at a U.S. court in Washington, said the commission failed to first conduct a mandatory privacy impact assessment, without which its actions are unlawful and unconstitutional." (Bloomberg) states and cities Sunlight’s Alyssa Doom and Naperville’s Russell Rogers. Naperville, Illinois launches new open data portal. We offer our congratulations to the city, which has embraced an inclusive approach to engagement and participatory development of their open data policy. We hope more cities learn about this approach and try it out for themselves.  Private transportation services need to share their data with local governments to ensure smart planning decisions. "But as private services like Lyft Shuttle develop and scale, city officials are forced to base policy decisions on data derived from public sources, and that information is becoming less representative of residents’ total trips." (CityLab) Charlottesville, Virginia is preparing to launch an open data portal. "Tech-oriented and data-savvy folks soon will have the chance to dive deep into a new Charlottesville portal that will disclose public information about policing, property, traffic, parks, demographics and the environment." (The Daily Progress) around the world   The EU's missing anti-corruption report. "Campaigners want to know why Brussels bureaucrats are refusing to release a report on fighting corruption. EU chiefs had promised to report every two years on how well countries in the bloc were battling graft. But, after its first report in 2014, there has been nothing." (EuroNews) Social media sites blocked in Venezuela. "On the evening of June 28, Internet users from various cities in Venezuela reported that multiple websites and social media platforms — including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Periscope — were inaccessible." (Global Voices) Watchdog finds that London hospitals illegally shared data with Google's artificial intelligence arm. "According to the ICO, the hospital group violated the U.K.’s Data Protection Act when it turned over the health information of 1.6 million patients to DeepMind, which is owned by Google's parent company, Alphabet." (The Hill) Digging into Latin American open data portals. "Many Latin American countries publish open data—government data made freely available online in machine-readable formats and without license restrictions. However, there is a tremendous amount of variation in the quantity and type of datasets governments publish on national open data portals—central online repositories for open data that make it easier for users to find data. Despite the wide variation among the countries, the most popular datasets tend to be those that either provide transparency into government operations or offer information that citizens can use directly." (Center for Data Innovation) save the dates   July 19th, 5:30 PM EST. Book Discussion: When Your Job Wants You To Lie in Washington, DC. "Join us for a discussion that will help us deal with the kinds of situations we all encounter. Presented by the American Society for Public Administration, National Capital Area Chapter (ASPA NCAC). Refreshments start 5:30, and the discussion starts 6:00. Space is limited, so you must RSVP in advance." Learn more and RSVP here. July 27th, 10 am: Chief FOIA Officers Council Meeting in Washington, DC. "OGIS and the Department of Information Policy (OIP) at the Department of Justice are happy to announce that the next meeting of the Chief FOIA Officers Council will be held on Thursday, July 27th from 10 am to noon. You can register to join the audience in the William G. McGowan Theater beginning on July 26. You can also plan on watching the livestream via the National Archives’ YouTube Channel." September 11th and 12th: TicTec@Taipei in Taipei. "TICTeC@Taipei is the first ever conference about the influence of civic tech to be held in Asia. We’ve invited members of academia, business, politics, NGOs, education to participate, and discuss their research. We hope through this event, we can build a global network of civic tech enthusiasts." The event is being held during #CivicTechFest 2017. Learn more, submit a session proposal, and register to attend here. September 13th: Civic and Gov Tech Showcase in San Jose, California. "Innovate Your State, in partnership with Microsoft and the City of San Jose, is bringing the 3nd Annual Civic & Gov Tech Showcase to the Capitol of Silicon Valley. The Civic & Gov Tech Showcase is an opportunity to connect with civic minded entrepreneurs, potential investors, and government leaders to showcase the great work that is being done to improve government and governance. The goal of the event is to encourage collaboration and the support of new technologies to improve government and public participation." Learn more and get your tickets here. September 14th – 16th: Digital Humanities and Data Journalism Symposium, in Miami, Florida. "Digital humanists and data journalists face common challenges, opportunities, and goals, such as how to communicate effectively with the public. They use similar software tools, programming languages, and techniques, and they can learn from each other. Join us for lectures and tutorials about shared data types, visualization methods, and data communication — including text visualization, network diagrams, maps, databases and data wrangling. In addition to the scheduled content, there will be opportunities for casual conversation and networking." Learn more and register here.   Tired of your boss/friend/intern/uncle forwarding you this email every morning? You can sign up here and have it delivered direct to your inbox! Please send questions, comments, tips, and concerns to todayinopengov@sunlightfoundation.com. We would love your feedback!  

When recording bans leave the public in the dark, illustrat