[MSN.com] CHICAGO ‐ After being contacted by a former senior Obama administration official, the Chicago-area's top prosecutor last month requested that the city police turn over their investigation of an alleged attack on "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett to the FBI, according to texts and emails released by the Cook County State's Attorney's Office.
Tina Tchen, who worked as former first lady Michelle Obama’s chief of staff during her time in the White House, first contacted Kim Foxx by text on Feb. 1 and said the actor's family had "concerns" about the investigation, according to the communications. Tchen, a Chicago-based attorney, is also the co-founder of the Times Up Legal Defense Fund.
At the time of the correspondence, Smollett was still considered by police to be the victim of an assault. The actor was later charged with disorderly conduct for filing a false report for allegedly staging an attack to make him look like the victim of a brutal hate crime.
"Spoke to the Superintendent Johnson," Foxx emailed Tchen on Feb. 1, referring to the city’s top cop, Eddie Johnson. "I convinced him to Reach out to FBI to ask that they take over the investigation."
Foxx also texted with one of Smollett’s relatives, whose name was redacted in copies of the communication released by her office.
"Spoke to the superintendent earlier, he made the ask," Foxx wrote. "Trying to figure out logistics. I’ll keep you posted."
The relative responded, "Omg this would be a huge victory."
Jussie Smollett’s sisters, actresses and activists, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, and Jazz Smollett-Warwell, worked as leading campaign surrogates for former President Barack Obama, and less than a year ago, videos of Jussie dancing with Michelle Obama went viral.
Jussie Smollett’s “hate crime” story that he was attacked by two men who shouted racial and homophobic slurs at him along with the phrase “This is MAGA country”, on Jan. 29, seems to be falling apart.
According to his account, a strange chemical was thrown upon him and a rope was put around his neck.
[NYPOST] Four college students plus parents of three of them have filed a class-action suit against the colleges wrapped up in a nationwide admissions scandal ‐ plus the scheme’s criminal mastermind ‐ claiming that the plot denied them a fair shot at entry to elite institutions.
The students claim that their applications were undercut by William "Rick" Singer’s plot to fraudulently get undeserving kids into top schools in exchange for bribes from their well-heeled parents.
The suit was originally filed Wednesday in the US District Court for Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,’s Northern District by two students at Stanford ‐ which is among the eight schools named as a defendant, along with Singer, his college-counseling business, the bogus charity he used to launder money and seven other schools to which he directed kids.
But the suit was amended and re-filed Thursday, with one of the Stanford students dropping out, but replaced by three other students from schools across the country.
Despite the students’ top-notch grades and extracurriculars, their applications to such prestigious institutions as Yale and Georgetown were rejected ‐ a fate the suit claims they might have avoided on a level playing field without Singer putting his thumb on the scale.
All told, 50 people ‐ including parents, college sports coaches and proctors ‐ were charged Tuesday in the sweeping federal probe.
Among the well-off parents caught up in the bombshell case are TV actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin.
Singer pleaded guilty to charges including racketeering conspiracy Tuesday in Massachusetts federal court.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/15/2019 00:00 ||
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#1
My daughter had a 4.0 GPA, excellent SAT scores, and passed 10 AP tests, including a 5 in Biology, Calculus, and Computer Science. But, she was denied admission to Georgia Tech, and ending up going to Kennesaw State to study Computer Science. In High School, my GF had a 4.0 GPA, excellent SAT scores, and was a winner of the National Science Fair. Princeton passed on her and accepted Brooke Shields.
#3
This is not a Dox. I have no idea where she is now and haven't talked to her since, um, maybe 2006. She was still a little pissed off about it all all but Thank God UVA let her in and she could go forth and prosper without Princeton. What has Brooke Shields done for you lately with her Princeton degree? Just posted as an example of what the Ivy's are denying in the name of ... what?
https://law.illinois.edu/faculty-research/faculty-profiles/robin-fretwell-wilson/
#7
No sympathy here.
I worked two outside jobs for food and rent, worked in the University data center between classes for student aid and lived for 4 years in 1 stall of a two stall garage.
[TMZ] As Lori Loughlin traveled from Vancouver to L.A. Tuesday night to surrender to federal authorities in the college bribery scandal -- which got her daughter, Olivia Jade, into USC -- Olivia spent the night on the yacht of the Chairman of USC's Board of Trustees ... but she's off the boat now, TMZ has learned.
We've learned 19-year-old Olivia was on Rick Caruso's yacht in the Bahamas. Caruso's daughter, Gianna, Olivia and several other friends were spending spring break in the area.
Gianna and Olivia have been friends for quite some time, occasionally posting photos of them together on social media.
Caruso, a billionaire who has major real estate holdings including The Grove in L.A., tells TMZ, "My daughter and a group of students left for spring break prior to the government's announcement yesterday. Once we became aware of the investigation, the young woman decided it would be in her best interests to return home." Olivia is off the yacht.
Caruso was elected Chairman of USC's Board of Trustees last year. We're told the Board will NOT decide the fate of Olivia and other students involved in the case. That decision is left squarely in the hands of the University's President.
By the way, Caruso came out strong Tuesday in the wake of the indictments, saying, "The charges filed today against employees of USC are disturbing and the alleged activity is absolutely wrong. I am saddened that these people would abuse their positions of trust and, as the government has alleged, victimize USC in the process. There is no option other than zero tolerance for this type of behavior. As a result, USC has fired the alleged wrongdoers."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/15/2019 00:00 ||
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#1
...The official word is that none of the kids are under investigation - yet - but I suspect it's not going to be long, and I suspect that Miss Olivia Jade is going to be one of the ones standing tall in front of a Federal judge. She (and her younger sister) have now both withdrawn from USC as of this morning, and I'm wondering just how hard the family legal team had to lean on her to do it - she doesn't seem like the kind to take a hint.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
03/15/2019 6:22 Comments ||
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#2
A top USC official owns a yacht. And people wonder why college is so expensive.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
03/15/2019 7:58 Comments ||
Top||
#3
As the Chairman of the board, Caruso doesn't really qualify as an official of USC. His income and wealth have little if anything to do with USC.
USC's wealth and income are more likely to come via him. He's just getting some virtue points.
#3
I am kind of curious. How do people do this? Are there tours of North Korea? I thought their borders were sealed? Obviously useful idiot/communist convert Westerners make for great photos for the North Korean regime, but just wondering how this even works.
#4
Search “tour north korea”, Vernal Hatrack2366. It looks like touring the Soviet Union in the old days — get hooked up with a tour group and pay upfront in hard currency.
[AlAhram] Egypt's cabinet has legalised the status of 165 churches and church service buildings in Egypt, the official state gazette reported on Thursday.
A committee assigned in 2017 with reviewing the status of unlicensed churches has so far legalised 783 churches and church service buildings.
The committee is headed by the prime minister and includes the ministers of defence, housing, local development, legal and parliamentary affairs, justice and antiquities.
The committee also includes three representatives from the General Intelligence Service, the Administrative Control Authority, and interior ministry's national security department, and a representative of each Christian sect in Egypt.
Egypt passed a law in 2016 easing regulations on church building.
HAVANA (AP) ‐ In the midst of a regional crisis over Venezuela and tough economic straits, the Cuban government is about to launch a sweeping makeover of its centrally planned, single-party system with dozens of new laws that could reshape everything from criminal justice to the market economy.
Nearly a year of debate and discussion ended last month with the approval of Cuba’s first constitutional reform since 1976. Some observers see the new constitution as a merely cosmetic update aimed at assuring one of the world’s last communist systems won’t get another revamp until long after the passing of its founding fathers, now in their late 80s and early 90s. Others see the potential for a slow-moving but deep set of changes that will speed the modernization of Cuba’s economically stagnant authoritarian bureaucracy.
Cuban legal experts told The Associated Press that they expect the government to send the National Assembly between 60 and 80 new laws over the next two years to replace ones rendered obsolete by the new constitution. The assembly is virtually certain to unanimously approve all government proposals, as it has for decades.
"I expect to see big changes in Cuba with the new constitution," said Julio Antonio Fernandez, a constitutional law professor at the University of Havana. "A new state structure, a transformed political system, led by the Communist Party, of course, but different and confronting big challenges."
[AnNahar] The United States has revoked the visas of 340 additional people close to Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro Venezuela's attempt at producing a Muammar Qadaffy... and is considering adding more to the list, the State Department said Thursday.
The latest revocations -- which include visas for 107 former diplomats and their families -- brings the total to more than 600 since late 2018, front man Robert Palladino said.
[FOXNEWS] Power has returned to Venezuela after a week after the country was plunged into darkness, but access to uncontaminated water remains critical.
Venezuelan Information Minister Jorge Rodrigues said at a presser on Wednesday that power was 100 percent restored, adding: "President Nicolas Maduro Venezuela's attempt at producing a Muammar Qadaffy... has decided to resume work activities throughout the country" on Thursday.
"School activities remain suspended for another 24 hours."
Water, however, remains a problem.
The blackout worsened the quality of drinkable water in the country, with many residents reporting what appeared to be oil-contaminated black water coming out of their taps.
The power outage hampered the ability of utilities to pump water to homes.
Venezuelan news hound Heberlizeth González tweeted Wednesday: "The water shortage situation...is terrible. There are areas that have been without water for more than two months. This morning water started coming out like this ‐ not at all suitable for consumption."
She posted a video of black water running from a tap.
Jose Perez told Sky News that people are so desperate for water, they are taking their chances, regardless of whether it might be contaminated.
"You don't know where this water is coming from, if it's treated or not treated, you take water home without knowing the consequences of it in the future," he said.
"The sad thing about everything we are living through in Venezuela is the sadness of everything happening in our nation, the sadness of what is happening with all of the youth at this time - it's not a life."
Venezuela's public employees were called to return to work Thursday after the government ended a nearly week-long hiatus caused by an unprecedented nationwide blackout that deepened widespread anger against President Nicolas Maduro.
Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez said in an address on state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
Wednesday that Maduro decided the public sector would resume work on Thursday, although state schools would remain closed for an extra day.
The span of decreed public holidays started last Friday, a day after power went out in 22 of Venezuela's 23 states, disrupting transport, causing stockpiled food to rot in fridges and forcing some Caracas residents to source water from sewage outflows as taps ran dry.
By Wednesday, electricity was back in Caracas and other regions. But swaths of western Venezuela remained without power, including the city of Maracaibo where more than 500 shops reported having been looted, according to a retailers' association.
The blackout -- the worst in the history of the once-rich oil-producing nation -- deepened an already grave economic crisis.
According to Ecoanalitica, an economic analysis firm, the vast power cut cost Venezuela $875 million.
"There is major paralysis in many critical areas in the oil sector," it said, estimating that up to 70 percent of the one million barrels of oil a day Venezuela still managed to produce could end up being affected.
"No water, no power, no medicine, no cash, no transport. This has been dreadful," one Caracas resident, Victoria Milano, 40, told AFP.
The worsening situation has bolstered Juan Guaido, an opposition leader whose claim to be Venezuela's interim president is backed by the US and 50 other countries.
"This desperation and darkness is caused by the dictatorship," he told supporters on Tuesday, alleging that 20 people had died in hospitals because of a lack of power.
He added that he expected to take over the presidential palace "very soon."
Venezuela's pro-Maduro prosecutor's office has hit back with a criminal investigation against Guaido for "sabotage," alleging he had a hand in the blackout. But the opposition leader remains free after the US warned of "consequences" if he were placed in durance vile Book 'im, Mahmoud! .
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[NYTimes] White-collar workers face job cuts and shrinking paychecks even in go-go industries like technology, suggesting the economic pain is broader than official figures show.
The job fair in the Chinese boomtown of Shenzhen offered a white-collar future for a country that rose to economic greatness on the strength of its assembly lines, bulldozers and cranes. Technology, financial and real estate companies pitched jobs in sales, engineering, accounting and logistics. A $150,000-a-year salary, said one poster, "isn’t just a dream."
But for many job seekers, it still seemed like one. At one end of the event hall, two dozen candidates sat dejectedly under a banner that read, "Hope you find a good job soon."
"Job hunting," said Hou Hao, a 28-year-old accountant who could not find a position that matched her previous $2,700-per-month salary, "now feels like being constantly slapped in the face."
China’s slowdown, which has idled factories and construction sites, is rippling through its offices. Educated, white-collar workers are being hit with job cuts and shrinking paychecks. Even big technology companies like JD.com, the online retailer, and Didi Chuxing, China’s answer to Uber and one of the world’s most valuable start-ups, have not been spared.
The white-collar job distress suggests the slowdown in China’s economy, the world’s second largest, is broader than official numbers indicate. China increasingly relies on middle-class spenders who are helping to broaden the economy beyond its industrial base. But these consumers are not spending the way they used to, and that lethargy is ricocheting through every part of the economy, from the real estate market to China’s once-thriving tech sector.
The slowdown also suggests the government will have a harder time pulling the economy out of its slump.
China's policy tools to kick-start growth ‐ unleashing waves of loans from the state-controlled banking system or building new highways and airports ‐ will not be much help for workers who process insurance claims or enter data into computer systems. Supporting those businesses and workers would require longer-term reforms, like getting state banks to lend more to private businesses or cutting red tape for entrepreneurs.
In the past, "by virtue of building a bridge, you could get the economy growing," said Fraser Howie, co-writer of three books on the Chinese financial system.
Now, he added, "there is no obvious catch up, and therefore it makes it all the more important that China makes important, difficult decisions to move forward."
Chinese leaders have acknowledged that creating jobs could be a challenge. During his annual news conference on Friday, Li Keqiang, China's premier, said that Beijing would make employment for college graduates and laid-off workers a priority this year.
China does not disclose reliable jobs or layoff data, so the full impact of the slowdown is not clear. Some surveys show there is still high demand for jobs in certain sectors. But multiple signs point to trouble for other office workers.
One measure, based on a survey of services businesses, suggests shrinking employment in a variety of industries. Search results from Baidu, China's biggest search engine, analyzed by Nomura, the Japanese bank, show the term "job seeking" rose to a high in December. Human resources executives and senior staff at tech firms, property developers and other large private companies described layoffs in recent months of up to 30 percent at some firms involving hundreds of workers, according to a recent survey by the research firm Global Source Partners.
On one major job recruitment website, Zhilian, the number of openings across all sectors posted in the fourth quarter fell 10 percent from the same period in 2017. New positions at technology firms and internet start-ups fell 51 percent in the third quarter of 2018 from a year earlier.
China's office workers have suffered during past slowdowns, but cuts now have a broader impact as the country's economy matures and they become a bigger part of the work force.
For workers like Sherry Xu, the weakened job market undermines the basic premise that a college education leads to a more secure future than a factory job. Ms. Xu, a 34-year-old finance professional, attended a prestigious university, and then rose through the ranks of the finance industry.
Recently, Ms. Xu was called into a meeting with human resources, right after she finished pitching to a group of potential investors. Her employer, a financial firm, was having a difficult time, she was told. Layoffs would start soon. She would be among them.
"The job market isn't looking good," said Ms. Xu, who after the meeting accepted a freelance contract with the same firm at half her earlier pay. "I feel this time, it will be harder than ever for me to find a job." Keep the pressure on, Mr. Trump. The Soviet Union fell as it went bankrupt trying to keep up military spending with the West. Now we control a large part of our enemy's economy and we can crush them even faster.
#7
The good news for those of us with a job, is that the government is cutting income taxes and lowering the price of government mandated health insurance. So, people will have a little more pocket money soon and that might help things.
[Aljazeera] Sydney, Australia - The High Court has handed down the biggest "native title" ruling affecting Aboriginal ownership of the land in decades, amid claims that billions of dollars in compensation will need to be paid by governments to indigenous groups.
"Native title" refers to the rights of Australia's indigenous people to their traditional land and water recognised by Australian common law.
Lawyers, including those representing mining companies, said the ruling in favour of the Ngaliwurru and Nungali Aboriginal groups - from a remote part of the Northern Territory - paved the way for billions of dollars in compensation nationally.
"The High Court's decision will likely to trigger compensation applications from many of the hundreds of native title holder groups around Australia," said Tony Denholder, in the wake of a case that a federal court ruled on in 2016 - before the High Court became involved.
The Native Title Act came about after the landmark "Mabo" decision in 1993 overturned the British claim that Australia was "terra nullius" - nobody's land. It found that Aboriginal rights to some, but by no means all land, survived colonisation and were not "extinguished".
Since then, Aboriginal groups have been able to file native title claims over large parts of the country.
[Rudaw] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund.... ’s stalling economy threatens to haunt President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey... ’s ruling AKP in local elections this month as voters stung by living costs turn against a party that built its ballot box success on the country’s prosperity.
Continued on Page 49
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[DAWN] The Supreme Court has acquitted a man accused of involvement in a rape case by giving him "the benefit of the doubt", stating that the case was of a "peculiar" nature.
The suspect, Hussain, was nominated in an incident on May 12, 2014, in which a woman was raped by two people in a moving car in Mansehra ...a city and an eponymous district in eastern Khyber-Pakthunwa, nestled snug up against Pak Kashmir, with Kohistan and Diamir to the north and Abbottabad to the south... . The rapists were convicted, and their conviction was upheld by the Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. High Court (PHC) last year.
Hussein, meanwhile, was convicted by a trial court, but partially cleared of the charges by the PHC, which ruled that he had abetted the crime. He then appealed the high court order before the SC.
The order issued on Wednesday by a three-member bench of the SC, headed by Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, said: "The alleged victim was a grown up girl and there is no evidence available on the record to establish that she had tried to escape from the motorcar or that the appellant had in any manner foiled her attempt in that regard."
"In these peculiar circumstances of the case there are serious doubts available vis-à-vis the allegation of abetment levelled against the appellant. It could well be that the appellant knew that some sexual activity was taking place on the back seat of the motorcar and that he had kept quiet."
The court observed that "we have not been able to answer that question in the positive."
Subsequently, the bench held: "In this view of the matter the appellant has to be extended the benefit of doubt.
"This appeal is, therefore, allowed, the conviction and sentence of the appellant are set aside and he is acquitted of the charge by extending the benefit of doubt to him."
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[Washington Times] Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan missed a Thursday deadline to turn over a list of military construction projects that could be delayed in order to build President Trump’s border wall.
Mr. Shanahan, in a hearing earlier in the day, had promised Sen. Jack Reed he would produce the list "by the end of today."
At about 11:30 p.m. Mr. Reed announced that Mr. Shanahan said he would no longer meet the deadline.
"Tonight, the Acting Secretary of Defense informed me he is unable to keep his commitment to share the list of what will be cut to pay for the vanity wall," Mr. Reed said. "This unacceptable series of evasions should trouble members of Congress, regardless of political party."
No explanation was given, but the mere possibility of such a list is politically charged.
[Military.com] The 9,000 transgender troops in uniform will continue to serve, officials say.
Beginning April 12, transgender individuals with gender dysphoria or who have initiated treatment or swapped genders will no longer be able to join the U.S. military, in most cases.
The Defense Department released a policy Tuesday that allows the roughly 1,000 existing transgender troops who have gender dysphoria or have transitioned to remain in the military and continue seeking career opportunities, such as promotions, advanced training, transfers and officer accessions. About 9,000 individuals identified themselves as transgender in a recent survey of active-duty troops, yet just 1,000 personnel have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria, Pentagon officials said Wednesday during a call with news hounds.
Anyone with a history of gender dysphoria who wants to join the military will have to show they have been comfortable with the gender they had at birth for at least the past three years, have not undertaken any medical treatments to transition and are willing to adhere to the standards associated with their biological sex.
Individuals who currently have a contract with the military services but have not yet entered enlisted training or taken a commission are grandfathered under the 2016 policy, which means they will be allowed to serve regardless of a diagnosis of gender dysphoria and can pursue medical care for gender transition while serving.
DoD officials insisted Wednesday that the new policy does not bar transgender people from serving, adding that it only restricts individuals diagnosed with gender dysphoria. The American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders defines gender dysphoria as experiencing "significant distress and/or problems functioning associated with being uncomfortable with the gender they were assigned" at birth.
The U.S. military does not discriminate against transgender persons, one official insisted.
"This is not a ban on transgender individuals serving in the military. In fact, the policy actually prohibits the denial of accessions or involuntary separation solely on the basis of gender identity," the official said. "We realize not all transgender individuals have gender dysphoria."
Activists for the LGBTQ community, however, say the new policy will restrict troops' human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... and is comparable to the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy introduced under President Bill Clinton ...former Democratic president of the U.S. Bill was the second U.S. president to be impeached, the first to deny that oral sex was sex, the first to have difficulty with the definition of is... that allowed gay and lesbian personnel to serve as long as they didn't openly reveal their sexual preferences.
Before "Don't Ask Don't Tell" was implemented, homosexual troops were completely barred from military service.
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.
[MSN.com] CHICAGO ‐ After being contacted by a former senior Obama administration official, the Chicago-area's top prosecutor last month requested that the city police turn over their investigation of an alleged attack on "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett to the FBI, according to texts and emails released by the Cook County State's Attorney's Office. 
Foto attachie for #4, please enjoy. 
HAVANA (AP) ‐ In the midst of a regional crisis over Venezuela and tough economic straits, the Cuban government is about to launch a sweeping makeover of its centrally planned, single-party system with dozens of new laws that could reshape everything from criminal justice to the market economy.
Venezuela's attempt at producing a Muammar Qadaffy...
[NYTimes] White-collar workers face job cuts and shrinking paychecks even in go-go industries like technology, suggesting the economic pain is broader than official figures show.
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey...
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
[Washington Times] Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan missed a Thursday deadline to turn over a list of military construction projects that could be delayed in order to build President Trump’s border wall.
...former Democratic president of the U.S. Bill was the second U.S. president to be impeached, the first to deny that oral sex was sex, the first to have difficulty with the definition of 
