HATE CRIES
Poetic Jusstice
by Jim Goad
February 18, 2019
Thursday, Feb 21st, 2018
Jussie Smollett arrested and charged after allegedly filing false police report Actor Jussie Smollett is in custody after being charged with disorderly conduct for allegedly filing a false police report about an assault he said took place in Chicago in January, Chicago Police announced Thursday. Police say Smollett turned himself in. Smollett had been under investigation for filing a false police report, which is a felony, and detectives presented evidence before a Cook County grand jury on Wednesday, leading to the charges. The Empire star said that on Jan. 29, he was attacked by two men who put a rope around his neck, yelled racist and homophobic slurs, and dumped bleach on him. Two Nigerian brothers reportedly told police Smollett paid them to attack him. Smollett will appear in court Thursday afternoon. Source: The Washington Post, Chicago Police
A fossil from a new species of tyrannosaur named Moros intrepidus is discovered in Utah. Scientists are using the find to better understand how Tyrannosaurus rex evolved during the Cretaceous period. (National Geographic)
One surviving female specimen of the Fernandina Galápagos tortoise species, which was thought to be extinct for more than 100 years, is found. (USA Today)
Russian president Vladimir Putin issues a threat to the United States saying his country is “ready for a Cuban Missile-style crisis” if the United States is “foolish enough” to want one. This is in relation to missile deployment in Europe. (Reuters)
Mueller will finish Russia investigation ‘as early as next week’ Attorney General William Barr will announce “as early as next week” that Special Counsel Robert Mueller has completed his probe into any possible involvement between President Trump’s campaign and Russia’s election interference in 2016, sources tell CNN. At some point after that, he’ll reportedly give Congress a summary of the confidential report, rather than releasing details publicly. After two years of investigations, CNN says this is the “clearest indication” of Mueller wrapping up. “The precise timing of the announcement is subject to change,” CNN says. It’s unclear what Barr will include in the summary to Congress, or how long it will take for him to prepare that summary after announcing the probe has wrapped. Source: CNN
United States allies France and the United Kingdom say they won’t fill the void with their own troops when the United States pulls out of Syria. (Washington Post)
Democrats ready resolution to terminate Trump’s emergency declaration On Wednesday night, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told congressional Democrats and Republicans that the House will “move swiftly” to pass a resolution to terminate President Trump’s emergency declaration, and she urged all members of Congress to cosponsor it. “The president’s decision to go outside the bounds of the law to try to get what he failed to achieve in the constitutional legislative process violates the Constitution and must be terminated,” Pelosi wrote. Democrats are expected to file the resolution on Friday, setting up a vote in mid-March and a Senate vote 18 days later. The resolution will pass the House and may pass in the Senate, but there are probably too few Republican votes to override Trump’s expected veto. Source: The Associated Press, Politico
Wednesday, Feb 20th, 2019
The Venezuelan Navy closes its maritime borders with the Dutch Caribbean islands of Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire ahead of the planned entry of international humanitarian aid into Venezuela on February 23, which Nicolás Maduro considers a precursor to invasion. (CNN)
The U.S. Supreme Court, in a unanimous 9–0 decision, rules the 8th Amendment’s prohibition on excessive fines applies to state and local governments, as well as the federal government. (The Washington Post)
The United Nations Security Council Sanctions Committee permits those North Koreans on its global travel ban list to travel to Hanoi, Vietnam, for the second summit meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. (Reuters)
Three Conservative Party MPs, Anna Soubry, Sarah Wollaston and Heidi Allen defect to The Independent Group, citing Brexit and the party adopting UKIPpolicies. This brings the total number of The Independent Group MPs to eleven following recent defections from Labour. (The Guardian)
US President Donald Trump plans to nominate Jeffrey A. Rosen to replace Rod Rosenstein as Deputy Attorney General. (CBS News)
Kentucky student sues The Washington Post for $250 million The family of Nicholas Sandmann on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against The Washington Post, saying the newspaper “wrongfully targeted and bullied” the Covington, Kentucky, high school student, and depicted him as racist in several articles about a January confrontation between Sandmann and his classmates with a Native American activist at the Lincoln Memorial. The suit accuses the newspaper of painting Sandmann, who was wearing a Make America Great Again hat, as the instigator to support its alleged bias against President Trump. The lawsuit seeks $250 million in damages. That’s how much Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos paid for the Post in 2013. Trump celebrated the lawsuit on Wednesday, tweeting, “Go get them Nick.”Source: Reuters
Trump nominates Jeffrey Rosen as deputy attorney general President Trump is nominating Jeffrey Rosen to replace Rod Rosenstein as deputy attorney general, the White House announced Tuesday night. Rosen is the deputy transportation secretary, and served in the George W. Bush administration. Last week, William Barr was confirmed by the Senate and sworn in as attorney general, and people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News Barr picked Rosen; both worked at the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Rosenstein is reportedly expected to leave the Department of Justice in mid-March. After Trump fired former FBI Director James Comey and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election, Rosenstein appointed Special Counsel Robert Mueller in May 2017. Source: Bloomberg News
Thousands of patients were improperly prescribed fentanyl Thousands of patients were improperly prescribed a highly potent and restricted class of fentanyl, an opioid 100 times more powerful than morphine, between 2012 and 2017, research published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association found. Anywhere from 34.6 to 55.4 percent of patients, or about 12,900 people who received prescriptions for the drug were “opioid-nontolerant” or were not suffering the “breakthrough pain” that the drug is mean to treat. The FDA created a program to monitor prescription of the drug in 2011, but drug companies, doctors, pharmacists, and other professionals failed to minimize the use of the drug, the study found. Fentanyl was involved in about 28 percent of drug overdose deaths in 2016, more than any other drug. Source: CNN
Tuesday, Feb 19th, 2019
In a speech, U.S. President Donald Trump urges the Venezuelan military to abandon Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro or “lose everything”. (Reuters)
Ford Motor Company will stop selling commercial trucks in South America. (CNBC)
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will meet with Vietnamese General Secretary and President Nguyễn Phú Trọng in Hanoi ahead of talks with U.S. PresidentDonald Trump. (Fox News)
American retailer Payless ShoeSource files Chapter 11 bankruptcy with plans to close all of their U.S. stores. (USA Today)
Honda confirms that it will be closing its car plant in Swindon, South West England, because of decreased demand for diesel cars and tougher emissions regulations. The closure in 2021 will result in the loss of about 3,500 jobs. (BBC)
Teva Pharmaceutical settles outstanding cases with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission involving payments from brand-name drugmakers to delay releasing a cheaper version of its product, so-called “pay-for-delay” agreements. (Reuters)
Vermont Senator and 2016 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, announces on Vermont Public Radio that he is running for President of the United States as a Democrat in 2020. (NPR)
Seven Labour Party MPs (Chuka Umunna, Luciana Berger, Angela Smith, Chris Leslie, Gavin Shuker, Ann Coffey and Mike Gapes) resign from the party, forming a new independent group, in protest at Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, and “institutional anti-Semitism” within the party. (BBC)
The End