Category Archives: Jason

House Democrats Demand Investigation of Trump’s National Security Adviser

by stellamaclaurin Posted on February 14, 2017

Mother Jones

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On Monday night, all 17 Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform sent a letter to Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), the committee chairman, requesting that he either initiate a full investigation of Michael Flynn—President Donald Trump’s national security adviser who was caught misrepresenting conversations he had with the Russian ambassador—or “step aside and allow the Committee to vote on conducting basic oversight going forward.”

Flynn has been under fire since the Washington Post reported last week that he had discussed “US sanctions against Russia with that country’s ambassador to the United States during the month before President Trump took office,” despite claims to the contrary from Trump administration officials, including White House press secretary Sean Spicer and Vice President Mike Pence. Flynn, too, had previously denied discussing with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislya the sanctions levied by President Barack Obama in response to Moscow’s meddling in the 2016 election during a series of conversations in late December. But a spokesman for Flynn told the Post on Thursday that “he couldn’t be certain that sanctions never came up.”

On Monday, Kellyanne Conway, a senior White House adviser, said Flynn “does enjoy the full confidence of the president.” Less than an hour later, Spicer issued a statement saying that Trump was “evaluating the situation.” Monday night, the Post reported that then-Acting Attorney General Sally Yates told the White House in late January that she believed “Flynn had misled senior administration officials about the nature of his communications with the Russian ambassador.” The paper noted that she had “warned that Flynn was potentially vulnerable to Russian blackmail.”

The House Democrats’ letter to Chaffetz notes that Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), the ranking Democrat on the committee, has repeatedly asked Chaffetz to investigate Flynn’s contacts with the Russian government and put forward the case for an investigation:

Grave questions have been raised about the fitness of General Flynn to serve as National Security Adviser and to continue having access to classified information. It has now been reported that General Flynn took payments of an undisclosed amount to travel to Moscow to dine with Vladimir Putin and celebrate RT, which US intelligence officials warn is the “Kremlin’s principal international propaganda outlet”; that he potentially failed to obtain the consent of Congress to receive those funds in violation of the Constitution; that he communicated repeatedly with Russian officials while that nation was engaged in an attack on our democracy and our presidential election; that he secretly discussed with the Russian ambassador, in possible violation of the Logan Act, sanctions imposed by President Obama in response to these Russian attacks; and that he may have lied about these discussions not only to the American people, but to his own White House colleagues, including the Vice President.

…

If you are not willing to initiate this investigation…then we ask that you not prevent us from calling up this matter at the next business meeting so we may request a vote on this and other proposals going forward on this matter.

Chaffetz, who was eager to investigate Hillary Clinton’s email controversy, has come under pressure from Democrats on the committee and his own constituents for going soft on Trump and not launching inquiries regarding Trump’s financial conflicts of interest. Cummings and other Democrats have previously asked Chaffetz for a committee investigation of contacts between Trump associates and Russia—and he has ignored these requests.

Read the full letter below:

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House Oversight Democrats Letter to Chaffetz Feb. 13 (PDF)

House Oversight Democrats Letter to Chaffetz Feb. 13 (Text)

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House Democrats Demand Investigation of Trump’s National Security Adviser

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Paris Jackson gave the #NoDAPL movement a shout-out at the Grammys.

by ClintRedden Posted on February 13, 2017

The industry is growing so fast it could become the largest source of renewable energy on both sides of the Atlantic.

In America, wind power won the top spot for installed generating capacity (putting it ahead of hydroelectric power), according to a new industry report. And in the E.U., wind capacity grew by 8 percent last year, surpassing coal. That puts wind second only to natural gas across the pond.

In the next three years, wind could account for 10 percent of American electricity, Tom Kiernan, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association, said in a press release. The industry already employs over 100,000 Americans.

In Europe, wind has hit the 10.4 percent mark, and employs more than 300,000 people, according to an association for wind energy in Europe. Germany, France, the Netherlands, Finland, Ireland, and Lithuania lead the way for European wind growth. In the U.S., Texas is the windy frontier.

“Low-cost, homegrown wind energy,” Kiernan added in the release, “is something we can all agree on.”

Originally posted here – 

Paris Jackson gave the #NoDAPL movement a shout-out at the Grammys.

Posted in alo, Anchor, FF, G & F, GE, Jason, LG, ONA, Ringer, The Atlantic, Uncategorized, wind energy, wind power | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Paris Jackson gave the #NoDAPL movement a shout-out at the Grammys.

You can expect to see more Oroville-style dam disasters in our future.

by MargartHaddock5 Posted on February 13, 2017

The industry is growing so fast it could become the largest source of renewable energy on both sides of the Atlantic.

In America, wind power won the top spot for installed generating capacity (putting it ahead of hydroelectric power), according to a new industry report. And in the E.U., wind capacity grew by 8 percent last year, surpassing coal. That puts wind second only to natural gas across the pond.

In the next three years, wind could account for 10 percent of American electricity, Tom Kiernan, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association, said in a press release. The industry already employs over 100,000 Americans.

In Europe, wind has hit the 10.4 percent mark, and employs more than 300,000 people, according to an association for wind energy in Europe. Germany, France, the Netherlands, Finland, Ireland, and Lithuania lead the way for European wind growth. In the U.S., Texas is the windy frontier.

“Low-cost, homegrown wind energy,” Kiernan added in the release, “is something we can all agree on.”

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You can expect to see more Oroville-style dam disasters in our future.

Posted in alo, Anchor, FF, G & F, GE, Jason, LG, ONA, Ringer, The Atlantic, Uncategorized, wind energy, wind power | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on You can expect to see more Oroville-style dam disasters in our future.

This young girl just wants to know if Congressman Jason Chaffetz believes in science.

by MargartHanran0 Posted on February 10, 2017

The industry is growing so fast it could become the largest source of renewable energy on both sides of the Atlantic.

In America, wind power won the top spot for installed generating capacity (putting it ahead of hydroelectric power), according to a new industry report. And in the E.U., wind capacity grew by 8 percent last year, surpassing coal. That puts wind second only to natural gas across the pond.

In the next three years, wind could account for 10 percent of American electricity, Tom Kiernan, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association, said in a press release. The industry already employs over 100,000 Americans.

In Europe, wind has hit the 10.4 percent mark, and employs more than 300,000 people, according to an association for wind energy in Europe. Germany, France, the Netherlands, Finland, Ireland, and Lithuania lead the way for European wind growth. In the U.S., Texas is the windy frontier.

“Low-cost, homegrown wind energy,” Kiernan added in the release, “is something we can all agree on.”

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This young girl just wants to know if Congressman Jason Chaffetz believes in science.

Posted in alo, Anchor, FF, G & F, GE, Green Light, Jason, ONA, Ringer, The Atlantic, Uncategorized, wind energy, wind power | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on This young girl just wants to know if Congressman Jason Chaffetz believes in science.

Sick of American politics? The would-be leader of France just invited you over.

by RosellaQdp Posted on February 10, 2017

The industry is growing so fast it could become the largest source of renewable energy on both sides of the Atlantic.

In America, wind power won the top spot for installed generating capacity (putting it ahead of hydroelectric power), according to a new industry report. And in the E.U., wind capacity grew by 8 percent last year, surpassing coal. That puts wind second only to natural gas across the pond.

In the next three years, wind could account for 10 percent of American electricity, Tom Kiernan, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association, said in a press release. The industry already employs over 100,000 Americans.

In Europe, wind has hit the 10.4 percent mark, and employs more than 300,000 people, according to an association for wind energy in Europe. Germany, France, the Netherlands, Finland, Ireland, and Lithuania lead the way for European wind growth. In the U.S., Texas is the windy frontier.

“Low-cost, homegrown wind energy,” Kiernan added in the release, “is something we can all agree on.”

Original post:

Sick of American politics? The would-be leader of France just invited you over.

Posted in alo, Anchor, FF, G & F, GE, Green Light, Jason, ONA, Ringer, The Atlantic, Uncategorized, wind energy, wind power | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Sick of American politics? The would-be leader of France just invited you over.

The Resistance to Trump is real, and it’s been busy

by GeoffreCotton Posted on February 3, 2017

Last week, Greenpeace activists strung a “Resist” banner from a construction crane towering over the White House. The message was clear: Anyone who cares about climate change, clean water, or human rights needs to do something to show that to the current administration. In the two weeks since the inauguration, countless people have been doing exactly that and jumping on board with what’s being called “The Resistance.”

As a companion piece to our rage-inducing Trump Tracker, here’s a look at how that movement has been fighting back.

Forget everything you know about scientists being meek, passive types. This week, the organizers of the March for Science — a demonstration to show Trump and his pals exactly how foolish their efforts to muzzle scientific research are — put a date on the event: April 22 (yep, Earth Day) in Washington, D.C.

And in protest of Trump’s immigration ban, thousands of scientists have announced a boycott of academic journals and conferences across the country, noting the hypocrisy of “the intellectual integrity of these spaces and the dialogues they are designed to encourage while Muslim colleagues are explicitly excluded from them.”

On the topic of that immigration ban, you likely saw thousands of Americans turn out at airports around the country to protest the detention of travelers, immigrants, and refugees from seven Islamic countries. And it wasn’t just in cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Even in the Appalachian heartland, protesters showed up to denounce Trump’s order:

And on Thursday, over 1,000 Yemeni bodega owners across New York City shut down their businesses to protest the ban.

On Wednesday, the Natural Resources Defense Council filed its first lawsuit against the Trump administration. The grounds? That the White House demanded the EPA withdraw a rule protecting waterways from mercury contamination — a rule, by the way, that pretty much no one opposes.

It turns out that you actually can influence corporations by denying them your cash. Last weekend, a #DeleteUber campaign took off: While New York cab drivers were striking at JFK airport to protest Trump’s travel ban, Uber decided to ditch surge pricing. Suspicious timing? Yep — customers quickly saw this seemingly benevolent gesture as an attempt to capitalize on the taxi drivers’ strike.

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick’s role as a Trump advisor only compounded the customer rage, leading to a mass deletion that had, as VICE reported, “a ‘significant impact’ on the company’s U.S. business.” On Thursday, Kalanick announced his resignation from Trump’s business advisory council.

On Wednesday, the Seattle City Council unanimously voted to pull $3 billion of the city’s cash from Wells Fargo, on the basis of the bank’s role as a significant funder of the Dakota Access Pipeline. It’s the first major city do so. Meanwhile, in North Dakota, the Standing Rock Sioux announced a Native Nations March on Washington for March 10. (More on the tensions surrounding the march and protest camps here.)

Hassling your government representatives also works. Really! Last month, Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz introduced a bill that would put would put 3.3 million acres of public lands up for sale. His constituents — particularly of the conservationist and hunter variety — got so loudly pissed off that he actually withdrew the bill on Thursday. You can’t say that angry people with guns aren’t convincing.

Want to resist? See our starter kit to being a better activist and look for more empowerment advice to come.

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The Resistance to Trump is real, and it’s been busy

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Did Mike Flynn Accept Illegal Payments From the Russian Government?

by SherryCranford Posted on February 1, 2017

Mother Jones

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House Democrats have asked Secretary of Defense James Mattis to investigate potentially illegal payments from Russia’s government to retired General Mike Flynn, currently serving as President Trump’s National Security Advisor:

Defense Department rules make it clear that this restriction also applies to payments from entities owned by foreign governments, including state-owned press operations like RT. Nonetheless, Jason Chaffetz and other House Republicans have no interest in pursuing this. IOKIYAR.

Russ Choma has more here.

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Did Mike Flynn Accept Illegal Payments From the Russian Government?

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Swamp Watch – 3 January 2017

by KathaleRanclaud Posted on January 4, 2017

Mother Jones

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It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these. After a flurry of activity Trump slowed down when he got to the tail end of his cabinet, but today he finally decided on a nominee for US Trade Representative. It might seem as if this position is more important than usual, since Trump campaigned heavily on trade, but it’s probably not. Trump has already said that his commerce secretary will be more involved than usual in trade deals; Peter Navarro will head up a new National Trade Council; and Jason Greenblatt, Trump’s longtime business lawyer, will be his “special representative for international negotiations.”

That’s a lot of cooks stirring the broth, and it’s unclear just how much influence Lighthizer will have on this team. That said, Lighthizer knows the ins and outs of trade law, so he’ll be pretty useful in a technical capacity. Aside from that, he’s been a DC lawyer and lobbyist for the past two decades, but hasn’t served in a government position since the Reagan administration. Does that make him part of the swamp? I’m not sure.

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Swamp Watch – 3 January 2017

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Harry Reid Exposes the Left’s Dirty Little Secret

by GabrielPorterfie Posted on December 28, 2016

Mother Jones

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Jason Zengerle profiles Sen. Harry Reid:

“As my staff will tell you,” Reid said to me when we spoke the next day, “I’ve done a number of things because no one else will do it. I’ve done stuff no one else will do.” I expected him to give an ­example of a successful parliamentary maneuver or perhaps a brave political endorsement, but instead he mentioned one of the most disreputable episodes of his long career, when, during the 2012 presidential campaign, he falsely accused Mitt Romney of not having paid his taxes. (Even though the facts were wrong, the accusation spurred Romney to release his tax returns, which showed he had only paid 14.1 percent.) “I tried to get everybody to do that. I didn’t want to do that,” Reid said. “I didn’t have anything against him personally. He’s a fellow Mormon, nice guy. I went to everybody. But no one would do it. So I did it.”

Brendan Nyhan comments:

Nyhan is right, but my initial reaction to this anecdote was quite different: Reid tried and tried to get someone else to do this, but no one would.

Can you imagine a similar situation on the right? Sean Hannity would have practically paid for the privilege. Rush Limbaugh would have happily spent an entire show on it. The Wall Street Journal edit page would have been all over it. Newt Gingrich would have pitched in. At least 20 or 30 members of the House would have been happy to do it. I bet Jim Inhofe would have given a speech in the well of the Senate in a heartbeat. Half a dozen Super PACs would have rushed to buy air time.

But among liberals, zilch. No one would do something like this. That’s pretty amazing.

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Harry Reid Exposes the Left’s Dirty Little Secret

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Judicial Watch Wants to Salt the Earth Over Hillary Clinton’s Corpse

by EulaFBBDfchcqb Posted on December 28, 2016

Mother Jones

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Oh FFS. We’re still not done with the lawsuits over Hillary Clinton’s emails:

A three-judge panel of the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously Tuesday that a lower court judge erred when he threw out the cases as moot after the State Department received tens of thousands of emails from Clinton and more from the FBI following the criminal investigation it conducted.

Watchdog groups Judicial Watch and Cause of Action filed separate suits in 2015, asking that Secretary of State John Kerry and the head of the National Archives, Archivist David Ferriero, be required to refer the Clinton email issue to the Justice Department to consider filing a civil suit to get missing federal records back.

Judicial Watch was founded for the purpose of destroying Bill Clinton, and then switched effortlessly to a new mission of destroying Hillary Clinton. It took more than 20 years, but they finally won. Victory is theirs. Bill Clinton has been out of office for years and Hillary Clinton will never be president of the United States.

But they just can’t stop. Maybe there are more emails! Somewhere there’s a smoking gun! There just has to be. I swear, 20 years from now, on the day after the funeral of whichever Clinton lives the longest, Judicial Watch will be filing lawsuits against their estate demanding more emails.

POSTSCRIPT: I have never gotten an answer to this question, so I’ll try again. In November 2014 Vice News reporter Jason Leopold filed a FOIA request for every email Hillary Clinton sent and received during her tenure as Secretary of State. Unsurprisingly, the State Department pushed back against this very broad request. In January 2015 Leopold filed a lawsuit, and in March, both State and Hillary Clinton agreed to release everything. However, Leopold wasn’t happy with the terms of the release, and continued his lawsuit.

So far, so good. State obviously has the authority to release all of Clinton’s emails if it wants to, and Leopold has the right to continue his suit. But in May, US District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras ordered State to release the emails, and to release them on a remarkably specific—almost punitive—rolling schedule. However, his order provided no reasoning for his decision. So here’s my question: what was the legal justification for ordering the release of all of Clinton’s emails? This has never happened to any other cabinet officer. Can anyone now file a FOIA request for all the emails of any cabinet officer?

I know I’m missing something here, but I’ve been missing it for a long time.

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Judicial Watch Wants to Salt the Earth Over Hillary Clinton’s Corpse

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