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Cuomo, De Blasio exceeded authority by restricting religious services but condoning protests - Federal ruling

Mairead McArdle
National Review
Fri, 26 Jun 2020 17:48 UTC
de blasio cuomo new york
© Andrew Kelly/Reuters
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio deliver remarks at a news conference regarding the state's first confirmed case of coronavirus in New York City, March 2, 2020.
A federal judge on Friday ruled that New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo violated the Constitution by restricting religious services to stem the spread of the coronavirus while simultaneously condoning mass protests that took place across the state.

U.S. District Judge Gary Sharpe granted a preliminary injunction blocking New York from enforcing its stringent coronavirus restrictions on religious services. The state's current restrictions require houses of worship to operate at 25 percent capacity and later at 33 percent capacity when New York enters Phase Four of its re-opening plan.

De Blasio issued "simultaneous pro-protest/anti-religious gathering messages" and "actively encouraged participation in protests and openly discouraged religious gatherings and threatened religious worshipers," the judge said in his order.
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Health

Trump administration asks Supreme Court to invalidate Obamacare law, violates the Constitution

John Solomon
Just the News
Fri, 26 Jun 2020 10:26 UTC
trumpSupremeCt.
© nasdaq.com/The Hill/KJN
US President Donald Trump and Supreme Court
In a dramatic election-year request, the Trump administration Thursday night asked the Supreme Court to strike down the entirety of the Obamacare law, saying it wrongly limits consumer choices, raises Americans costs and violates the Constitution.

In a closely-watched filing, the Justice Department told the justices that the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate violated the Constitution, and if that provision is struck down, the rest of the law must be terminated. "The entire ACA thus must fall with the individual mandate, though the scope of relief entered in this case should be limited to provisions shown to injure the plaintiffs," the administration's brief argued.

In identifying harm to American consumers, the DOJ cited two of the law's least popular impacts among critics: rising costs and fewer insurance choices. The government argued:
"The individual plaintiffs have shown that they are injured by at least some ACA provisions — namely, various provisions regulating health-insurance plans that limit the 14 range and terms of plans the individual plaintiffs may obtain and that increase their costs of obtaining coverage."

Comment: You can read the entire brief here. File SCOTUS-ACABrief.pdf





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USA

Make Washington DC a state: Politics and history of DC statehood vote

John Hudak
Brookings
Thu, 25 Jun 2020 00:00 UTC
DC license plate
© Unknown
On Friday, the U.S. House will take [took] the rare step of holding a vote on statehood for Washington, DC. The "Washington, D.C. Admission Act" (H.R. 51) would maintain an existing capital district that encompasses the spread of federal buildings in the city's core. The remainder of the current district would gain admission as the nation's 51st state, offering voting representation in the House and Senate to its more than 700,000 residents.

Understanding the history and impact of this move is important.

HAS CONGRESS TRIED THIS BEFORE?

Members of Congress have filed D.C. statehood bills for decades — a move most frequently from D.C.'s non-voting delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton. In 1993, Congress voted legislation out of committee and it went to the House floor for a vote. Also, numbered H.R. 51, The 1993 legislation was titled the "New Columbia Admission Act." It failed badly before the whole House by a vote of 153-277. The House has not voted on D.C. statehood since, and the Senate never has.

Comment: Update: 26/6/2020: The Vote
The bill passed the House on Friday in a vote split almost exactly along party lines, with a single Democrat venturing a 'no' on the measure for a total of 232 for to 180 against. However, it's unlikely to see a vote in the Republican-dominated Senate, not least because giving DC statehood would outfit it with two - likely Democratic - senators.

Of the District's 700,000 residents, over 46 percent of whom are black, are effectively disenfranchised under the existing system, in which they are represented by a single member of Congress who doesn't even have a vote.


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Arrow Up

Trump signs government hiring EO; prioritizes job skills over college degree

Michael Collins
USA Today
Fri, 26 Jun 2020 12:14 UTC
Trump signs
© Unknown
US President Donald Trump
A college degree will no longer give Americans a leg up when seeking some jobs with the federal government.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday that will overhaul the government's hiring practices so that a job applicant's skills will be given priority over a college degree. Administration officials say the shift will allow the government to hire a more inclusive workforce based on skill instead of a person's education level.

"This will ensure that we're able to hire based on talent and expand our universe to qualified candidates and ensure a more equitable hiring process," Ivanka Trump, the president's daughter and senior advisor, told reporters on Friday.

Ivanka Trump is co-chair of the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board, which was created in 2018 and tasked with recommending ways to improve job training. The president signed the order during the board's meeting on Friday.

"The federal government will no longer be narrowly focused on where you went to school, but the skills and talents that you bring to the job," Trump said. The federal government is the nation's largest employer with 2.1 million civilian workers.

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Attention

'That is scary!': Republican Jim Jordan castigates Jerry Nadler for gaslighting Antifa as 'an imaginary thing'

Sister Toldjah
RedState
Fri, 26 Jun 2020 11:30 UTC
Nadler
© AP/Andrew Harnik
Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y.
The mainstream media and Democrats simply can't seem to make up their minds when it comes to the radical left-wing anarchistic group Antifa. They're either 1) modern-day versions of the WWII Normandy beach heroes and saving America from alt-right racists, 2) a fringe group joining up with white supremacist agitators to disrupt peaceful protests in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd, or 3) they ... simply don't exist.

That they are a mythical creation was posited by Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) during a Thursday debate on the Democratic-led House's police reform bill.

Nadler, the House Judiciary Committee Chairman, stated on the House floor that Republicans were "dealing with imaginary things like Antifa":

Comment: Nadler has never been the brightest bulb in the Democratic party but given its current members, he fits right in.

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Padlock

Foreign Sec. Raab's hypocrisy? Compare his UN 'values' with his treatment of Assange


RT
Fri, 26 Jun 2020 17:14 UTC
Rab/UNFlag
© Reuters/Yana Paskova/Toby Melville/KJN
UN Flag • UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has provoked anger after lauding the UK's role in the United Nations and its commitment to the "values" of the organization, with many disagreeing and pointing to the treatment of Julian Assange.

Raab posted on social media on Friday to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the birth of the UN, when 50 nations, including the UK, came together to sign the Charter.

The foreign minister said: "Since then, we have played a crucial role in the @UN and remain committed to upholding its values."

The minister's virtuous tone riled many on Twitter, with critics accusing Raab of double standards - and even of being "deluded."
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Handcuffs

Iraqi forces raid Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah HQ near Baghdad


RFE/RL
Sat, 27 Jun 2020 17:32 UTC
kataib hezbollah
© epa
Iraqi security forces have raided the headquarters of an Iran-backed militia near Baghdad, seizing rockets and detaining more than a dozen pro-Iran fighters.

The militia group targeted was Kataib Hezbollah, also identified as Brigade 45 of the Hashed al-Shaabi military force, Iraqi government officials said on June 26. The country's elite Counterterrorism Service (CTS) carried out raid, they said.

"Based on intelligence information, a Counterterrorism Service unit raided a base used by Brigade 45, seizing three rocket launchers and arresting 13 fighters," one of the officials said, according to AFP.

Iraq's new prime minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, has indicated that he will be tough on militia groups that target U.S. installations. The raid, which the reports said took place early on June 25, was the first carried out by Iraqi military forces against a group accused of targeting U.S. facilities.

Comment: RT adds the following: "Their fate remains unclear, however, as government officials insist they are in the custody of security services, while paramilitary sources claim all those detained have since been handed over to the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF)." So this may be an attempt by Kadhimi to balance relations with the U.S. and Iran, basically putting on a PR show for the Americans while maintaining relations with both nations.

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Bulb

Trump signs executive order to punish vandalism against federal monuments

Dartunorro Clark
NBC
Sat, 27 Jun 2020 16:59 UTC
Andrew Jackson's statue
© Drew Angerer / Getty Images
Protesters attempt to pull down Andrew Jackson's statue in Lafayette Square on June 22.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday to protect federal monuments after a rash of recent incidents involving the vandalism of statues memorializing the Confederacy and some of the nation's Founding Fathers.

"I just had the privilege of signing a very strong Executive Order protecting American Monuments, Memorials, and Statues - and combatting recent Criminal Violence. Long prison terms for these lawless acts against our Great Country!" Trump said in a tweet.

The order would "reinforce" existing federal law, which criminalizes the destruction of federal monuments. For instance, the Veterans' Memorials Preservation and Recognition Act of 2003 imposes a fine and up to 10 years in prison on anyone who vandalizes a monument.

"Individuals and organizations have the right to peacefully advocate for either the removal or the construction of any monument," the order states. "But no individual or group has the right to damage, deface, or remove any monument by use of force."

Comment: Trump tweets FBI wanted poster for DC statue vandals:



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Bad Guys

How Obama and Biden helped Israel's 2014 Gaza massacre

Alison Weir
Israel-Palestine News
Fri, 26 Jun 2020 17:20 UTC
obama blinken
© White House Photo/Pete Souza
US Deputy National Security Adviser Tony Blinken (L) with President Obama in 2013.
President Barack Obama's Deputy National Security Advisor - and current Biden campaign senior advisor - recently described how Obama and Biden had helped Israel during its 2014 onslaught against Gaza.

Israel had said 'jump,' and Obama and Biden had jumped - to the tune of a quarter of a billion dollars. (This is on top of the $10 million per day that Israel was already getting from American taxpayers.)

Here's the story:

Tony Blinken served as Deputy National Security Advisor under President Barack Obama and currently is a senior advisor to presidential candidate Joe Biden. He recently participated in the American Jewish Committee's virtual Global Forum. During the Forum he debated with Republican former Deputy National Security Advisor K.T. McFarland about which party is more pro-Israel.


Comment: Embarrassing display of servile grovelling.


In the course of the debate, Blinken boasted of an incident in which Obama and Biden had instantly done Israel's bidding. The incident took place during Israel's 2014 onslaught against Gaza.

Keep in mind that Israeli forces had waged a massive air and land assault on Gaza in July 2014, killing about 2200 Palestinians - of which 1500 were civilians, including 500 children, 16 health care workers, and 9 journalists. In response, Palestinian resistance fighters had killed 66 Israeli soldiers and 6 Israeli civilians and injured 550 Israelis - 85% of them invading soldiers.
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Bullseye

Too little, too late: Kosovo President Thaçi's indictment for war crimes 20 years on isn't justice for Serbia - it's a travesty

John Laughland
RT
Fri, 26 Jun 2020 16:25 UTC
Kosovo President Thaçi
© REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
Kosovo President Thaçi
Of the many criticisms I've made over the years of international tribunals, the most painful is surely the human cost of the terrible slowness with which they operate.

I've often quoted the case of the commander-in-chief of the Rwandan gendarmerie during the genocide of 1994, Augustin Ndindiliyimana, who was arrested in 2000 but acquitted of all charges in 2014. That meant an innocent man spent 14 years of his life in prison - time that he'll never get back.

Unfortunately, there are many examples of trials at international tribunals that drag on for so long that they violate the right to the 'prompt' appearance before a judge and to a trial 'within a reasonable time' outlined as basic rights in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966.

A sad illustration of this general truth came on June 24, when it was announced that an obscure international court had indicted the serving president of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, for murder and war crimes committed in 1998-1999, when he was commander-in-chief of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).
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