[TheHill] Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was back at the court on Friday for the justices’ private conference.
The Supreme Court’s Public Information Office told The Hill that Ginsburg was attending the regular closed-door meeting in which the justices consider requests to review cases. Ginsburg has been absent from the court since undergoing surgery in late December to remove two cancerous nodules from her lower left lung.
The justices have been on winter recess for the last month but are due back on the bench for oral arguments on Tuesday. The court’s press office did not say whether Ginsburg will be on the bench for arguments Tuesday.
Among the petitions the justices considered Friday is a request from the Trump administration to bypass a regional appeals court and review a lower court’s decision to block administration officials from adding questions about citizenship to the 2020 census.
[Carnegie Russia] When Russian diplomats talk about Ukraine, they are actually speaking to just one man—Vladimir Putin. Moscow does not see any value in reaching out to the broad policy community in the West. The scary thing is that this behavior is not a consequence of the Ukrainian crisis, but one of its major sources.
Russia’s performance at the recent Munich Security Conference (MSC), which culminated in Sergey Lavrov’s speech and the Western reaction to it, was accurately described by my Carnegie colleague Judy Dempsey as a “depressing and dangerous dialogue of the deaf.” Lavrov and later Konstantin Kosachev, head of the Russian Federation Council’s committee on foreign affairs, didn’t make any real attempt to reach out to the audience using language and arguments that could have made the Munich crowd understand Moscow’s stance on Ukraine and lay the foundations for dialogue. It’s not that Lavrov and Kosachev are incapable of this. They are among the most capable members of the current Russian foreign policy team—they speak good English, have vast experience with the West and could have found an appropriate way to present their narrative in a digestible format. Their actual performance shows not incompetence, but the delicate balancing act in which many members of Russia’s current foreign policy establishment find themselves.
When Russian diplomats talk about Ukraine, they don’t speak to the people in front of them. Not even to the domestic audience. They are actually speaking to just one man—President Vladimir Putin. This explains, for example, the machine-gun speed in which Lavrov delivered his remarks in Munich. MFA people complain that this has become the minister’s style when delivering public addresses on Ukraine to international audiences. His office sometimes doesn’t even give the draft speech to the interpreters beforehand, which makes translation incomplete and inaccurate. Digestion of the information by the listeners thus becomes mission impossible. “It’s all about the transcript that will go to Kremlin, not about attempts to engage the audience,” people familiar with the matter say.
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DIA report reveals China is expected to deploy a satellite-killing laser gun by 2020. Lasers are ideal ASAT arms because they can attack with little visible damage or debris http://t.co/50YmdDiEQd
NEW YORK (AP) ‐ Payless ShoeSource is shuttering all of its 2,100 remaining stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, joining a list of iconic names like Toys R Us and Bon-Ton that have closed down in the last year.
The Topeka, Kansas-based chain said Friday it will hold liquidation sales starting Sunday and wind down its e-commerce operations. All of the stores will remain open until at least the end of March and the majority will remain open until May.
The debt-burdened chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April 2017, closing hundreds of stores as part of its reorganization.
At the time, it had over 4,400 stores in more than 30 countries. It remerged from restructuring four months later with about 3,500 stores and eliminated more than $435 million in debt.
The company said in an email that the liquidation doesn’t affect its franchise operations or its Latin American stores, which remain open for business as usual. It lists 18,000 employees worldwide.
Shoppers are increasingly shifting their buying online or heading to discount stores like T.J. Maxx to grab deals on name-brand shoes. That shift has hurt traditional retailers, even low-price outlets like Payless. Heavy debt loads have also handcuffed retailers, leaving them less flexible to invest in their businesses.
#4
What a pity... Always liked the local store when I wanted a pair of "sneakers" for a low cost comfortable shoe. The upper scale store wanted three times as much for a Brand name™ athletic trainer and all of the Walmart varieties didn't fit right...
#5
Bon Ton, Payless and Toys R Us have one thing in common - leveraged buyouts. Insane levels of debt were piled on at the bottom of the interest rate cycle.
Sears and JC Penney are also in a fairly similar predicament. Both bought back billions in stock by issuing similar amounts in debt. The deferred store and computer system improvements means they hollowed their businesses out for no good reason. Stock buybacks and LBO's have been a disaster for the retail sector.
[Breitbart] U.S. President Donald Trump has hailed the signing of a mutual recognition agreement (MRA) on trade with the United Kingdom, saying the move would see trade between the two nations "substantially increased" after Brexit. Watsonian Squire sidecar.
The words of praise came in a key speech on the White House lawn in which the President also declared a state of emergency on the southern border. After discussing trade with, and the lack of respect shown by China, Trump moved onto the altogether more positive relationship his nation has with the United Kingdom.
Referencing the news of the MRA which broke earlier in the day, President Trump said: "The UK and the U.S., as you have probably seen, we are going ahead to preserve our trade agreement. You know all of the situation with respect top Brexit, the complexity and problems, but we have a very good trading relationship with the UK and that’s just been strengthened further.
[Breitbart] More than 1.4 million households dropped off food stamps since President Donald Trump’s first full month in office in February 2017, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data on food stamp enrollment released Friday.
The latest USDA data revealed that the number of households on food stamps in October 2018 dropped to 19,410,711, down by 1,428,558 from February 2017 when 20,839,269 households were enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the federal government program which administers food stamps.
The most recent data on the number of food stamp households had also reached historic lows not seen since June 2010 when enrollment in the nation’s food stamp program was at 19,143,572.
[The Localfr]The Vatican's envoy to France is being investigated for sexual assault after he was accused of molesting an official at the Paris mayor's office during a ceremony last month, a judicial source told AFP.
The envoy, 74-year-old Luigi Ventura, has been based in Paris since 2009 and serves as a diplomat for Pope Francis.
He was accused of molesting a man at the Paris townhall on January 17 where mayor Anne Hidalgo gave a New Year's address to diplomats, religious leaders and civil society figures.
A complaint was filed by the mayor's office on January 24 which led to an investigation being opened the day after, the judicial source said.
Le Monde newspaper first reported the investigation and the allegations against Ventura on Friday.
[Big League Politics] A proposed life-saving bill passed a state Senate vote in Mississippi on Wednesday bringing the state one step closer to significantly reducing the number abortions performed.
The bill would make abortion illegal after a heartbeat is detected around six weeks into a pregnancy. The bill would allow abortions for medical emergencies, but reportedly not for cases of rape or incest.
Fortunately, both the House and the Senate proposed similar bills ‐ each passing their respective body. HB-528 sponsored by Rep. Robert Foster is almost identical to the Senate bill co-sponsored by Sen. Angela Hill and Sen. Chris Caughman, reports Life News.
The Republican Governor, Phil Bryant has stated that he would "sign a bill banning abortion as early as six weeks," according to Clarion Ledger. Tweeting out in January his support for the pro-life movement, Gov. Bryant said "It’s time to pass a Heart Beat Bill in Mississippi and stop this madness about when life begins."
#2
The bill would allow abortions for medical emergencies, but reportedly not for cases of rape or incest.
Cross the state line, and other laws hold. Honestly, I expect it will not be long until Planned Parenthood has weekly busses running from all over the country to facilities just inside the state border of New York, with California hurrying to provide services on the far side of the country.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Transportation Department Deputy Secretary Jeffrey Rosen is the leading candidate to replace Rod Rosenstein as deputy attorney general to serve alongside new Attorney General William Barr, two administration officials told Reuters on Friday.
Barr, who previously worked with Rosen at the law firm Kirkland & Ellis, has advocated for Rosen to get the No. 2 top slot at the Justice Department, the sources said, speaking anonymously because the announcement has not been made public.
Rosen, who has been a key figure in efforts to rewrite fuel efficiency regulations and set drone policy, did not return messages seeking comment.
A spokeswoman for the Justice Department declined to comment, while the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Reuters could not immediately learn when Rosenstein would depart his post.
However, Reuters previously reported that Rosenstein planned to exit sometime after Barr was sworn in, but would initially remain on the job for an unspecified time to help with the transition before departing.
#3
Rosenstein planned to exit sometime after Barr was sworn in, but would initially remain on the job for an unspecified time to help with the transition before departing.
Rosenstein is not doing Barr any favors by staying.
[PJ] Jussie Smollett, the "Empire" actor who claims he was assaulted by white supremacists screaming "MAGA COUNTRY" in the middle of a polar vortex in Chicago, just hired the best defense lawyer in town, Michael Monico, after the two persons of interest in the case were released by the Chicago Police Department.
The two persons of interest that Smollett claimed were his attackers in an interview on ABC with Robin Roberts turned out to be Nigerian actors who have connections to the "Empire" show.
Shortly before this announcement was made, Michael Monico appeared on Roe Conn's radio program on WGN to announce that Smollett had hired the high-powered defense attorney to represent him. Monico is the same attorney who is representing President Trump's former personal attorney, Michael Cohen.
#1
Again we will hear about school teachers having to buy classroom supplies out of their own pockets while there's a 7 figure GoFundMe for this moak's legal fees...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/16/2019 6:20 Comments ||
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#2
I want to hear the police interview tapes where the suspects say “this is MAGA country” in their Nigerian accents.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Breitbart] U.S. President Donald Trump has hailed the signing of a mutual recognition agreement (MRA) on trade with the United Kingdom, saying the move would see trade between the two nations "substantially increased" after Brexit.
[PJ] Jussie Smollett, the "Empire" actor who claims he was assaulted by white supremacists screaming "MAGA COUNTRY" in the middle of a polar vortex in Chicago, just hired the best defense lawyer in town, Michael Monico, after the two persons of interest in the case were released by the Chicago Police Department.
