Majorityrights News > Category: Law & Order

Independent, “Climate change denier Scott Pruitt’s appointment to run EPA would be ‘unprecedented assault’ on its work,” 7 Feb 2017.

One issue that state discretion would Not handle better is the overseeing and coordination of environmental matters, which are, by definition, of interrelated systems that do not heed political bounds, especially not smaller ones.

Trump’s crass assault on our earthly home was launched with his appointment of business plant and climate change denier, Scott Pruitt, as head of the EPA: fox in charge of the hen house. The assault is now going into overdrive.

Daily Caller, “House Republicans Lay Out Their Plan To Rein In The EPA”, 18, 2017:

House Republicans released their proposal to balance the federal budget in 10 years, which included their plans to rein in the regulatory power of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Republicans plan three broad reforms for the EPA: reduce its funding, cut global warming and programs and eliminate the agency’s policy office.

“The Environmental Protection Agency has long overreached in its duties,” the House budget resolution reads, released Tuesday.

“While everyone supports protecting the environment and promoting clean air and clean water, the states are better positioned to address their individual environmental concerns and balance those responsibilities with the concerns of workers, small-businesses, and manufacturers,” the resolution adds.

However, the House’s plan for the EPA would cut the agency’s budget 80 percent less than what the White house recommended in its May budget proposal.

A House appropriations bill introduced days ago gives the EPA a $7.5 billion budget in 2017, or $528 million less than the agency’s 2017 budget. The bill also ignored many Trump administration requests to cut dozens of EPA programs. That bill is still making its way through committee.

The House appropriations bill would give $31.4 billion to federal environmental programs at the EPA, Department of the Interior and other agencies. That’s $824 million below 2017 levels, but $4.3 billion less than the White House’s request.

The White House recommended cutting the EPA’s budget $2.6 billion, or more than 30 percent, along with eliminating dozens of programs, particularly those enforcing Obama-era regulations and climate programs.

The budget proposal also included plans to eliminate duplicative energy programs and wasteful spending to help get “federal government out of the way and allow the private sector to do its job and flourish.”

That effort largely focuses on reducing Energy Department spending energy subsidies and stopping the agency from issuing any more loan guarantees — the same program that funded Solyndra.

“Eliminating these Obama-era pet programs will help us reduce federal spending in the energy sector and promote private-sector energy production and innovation,” the House budget document reads.

Republicans claim that their plan would balance the federal budget within 10 years.

Democrats and environmentalists are already pushing back on the Republican resolution.

House lawmakers will mark up the budget resolution Wednesday, and it’s expected to pass the chamber. Senate Democrats could pose problems for the budget resolution’s path to President Donald Trump’s desk.

Prof. Ewa Łętowska of Polish Academy of Sciences, explains in simple words, how PiS crushed the judiciary system in Poland.

OKO Press, “The end of independent judiciary in Poland. PiS government violates the Constitution and assumes control over all courts”, 15 July 2017:

The Law and Justice party (PiS), has been ruling in Poland for nearly two years, since the election in November, 2015 gave them a steady majority in the parliament. Yet it took them just one day to overturn the democratic order in the country once and for all. Since July 12th 2017 all courts in Poland are now under threat of being controlled by the ruling party

With two bills passed already by the lower house of the Polish parliament, and a third one awaiting the final vote, the rule of separation of powers has lost its validity in Poland.

From now on legislative, executive and judicial powers will be concentrated in the hands of one institution, which is Law and Justice government of Poland. More precisely in the hands of the Minister of Justice, Zbig Ziobro.

New pieces of legislation give him the right to appoint and dismiss practically all judges, including those at the Supreme Court. The new law goes as far, as to allowing him to hand-pick judges for particular court cases.

It is more than obvious, that these changes go in complete contradiction to The Constitution of Poland. Just like in the case of the late Constitutional Tribunal.

The civil society is not laying down its arms

New legislation caused an outrage in the entire country and was strongly objected by the opposition inside and outside of the parliament, non-governmental organizations, as well as the legal community.
The official statement of Helsinki Federation for Human Rights:

The draft law amending the Supreme Court Act, brought to the Parliament by the governing majority, is an attempt to introduce an unconstitutional change to the system of government of the Republic of Poland and contravene the principle of the separation of powers (Article 10 of the Constitution).

The termination of tenures of all the Court’s judges and granting the Minister of Justice a competence to single-handedly decide which judges will remain in office in this most important Polish court is tantamount to the revocation of the Supreme Court’s independence. Such a solution is applied only by the governments of authoritarian states.

An independent Supreme Court plays a key role in a democratic state ruled by law. Not only it exercises the supervision over common courts regarding rulings, but it also adjudicates upon the validity of the parliamentary and presidential elections.

The draft law on the Supreme Court deepens the Polish constitutional crisis, ongoing since November 2015. A day after the Act on the National Council of the Judiciary was amended, the governing majority strengthened the political influence on the administration of justice in Poland. This in consequence will lead to a situation when the basic human right to a fair trial by an impartial court becomes illusory.
The Official Statement of the Warsaw Bar Association of 13 July 2017 r.

Yesterday, at late-night hour a legislative proposal amending the Supreme Court Act (draft bill No. 1727) has been filed to the Sejm (the “Draft Bill”). On the same day the Draft Bill was referred for its first reading.

Article 87 sec. 1 of the Draft Bill states: „As of the day following the date of entry into force of this Act, all judges of the Supreme Court appointed in accordance with currently binding provisions of law, excluding judges selected by the Minister of Justice, shall be granted a retirement (stan spoczynku). As of the date of entry into force of this bill, the Minister of Justice, in his notification in the Official Journal of the Minister of Justice (obwieszczenie w dzienniku urzędowym Ministra Sprawiedliwości), shall designate judges of the Supreme Court who shall remain in active service, taking into account a necessity of introducing organizational changes resulting from the system change and maintaining continuity of works of the Supreme Court”.

According to Article 88 of the Draft Bill „If a Judge of the Supreme Court was granted a retirement under Article 87 sec. 1, tasks and competences of the First President of the Supreme Court shall be performed by the judge of the Supreme Court who is selected by the Minister of Justice”. According to Article 108 of the Draft Bill, its provisions shall enter into force within 14 days from the day of their official publication.

The above legislative proposal is a matter of an utmost concern. The draft provisions vest in the Minister of Justice – a representative of the executive power, an active politician and General Prosecutor who is superior to all prosecutors of the State – an unlimited power to appoint both, judges of the Supreme Court and the First President of the Supreme Court. The planned amendment to the law must be assessed as a clear violation of the principle of judicial independence, the principle of separation of powers and the democratic rule of law.

Warsaw Bar Association calls the Sejm for an immediate end to any further works on the Draft Bill, and authors of the Draft Bill for its withdrawal from any further legislative works.

The Draft Bill aims at depriving all citizens of right to independent and impartial judiciary guaranteed under Article 45 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland and Article 6 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

An impartial and independent judiciary is always a guarantee of an effective protection of each individual’s all rights and freedoms.

Report by Symon Grela

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Visigrad Post, “Poles would rather leave the EU than take in Muslim immigrants”, 12 July 2017:

By Olivier Bault.

Poland – The question does not really arise, since the European treaties reserve the right for each country to accept immigrants of its choice on its soil, except for immigrants from other EU countries benefiting the freedom of movement. Nevertheless, in a country where, as in the whole of former Eastern Europe, membership in the European project is particularly high (although this does not prevent a critical view of the abuses of this project), it is Interesting to know what the Poles would choose if they had to choose between taking the immigrants under the compulsory relocation plan (from Italy and Greece) or leaving the EU. Or even, since there has been talk of abolishing European funds to recalcitrant countries, and in particular to Poland, the Czechia and Hungary, what would the Poles answer if they were given an ultimatum of that kind: if you do not take in immigrants, European subsidies will be abolished (which would be totally illegal under the treaties but has been suggested by high-ranking officials in Berlin, Paris and Brussels).

An IBRiS poll for the left wing liberal and pro-EU weekly Polityka was published on July 5, which answers these questions. Here are the results:

First question: “Should Poland refuse to accept refugees from Muslim countries even if this should lead to the loss of European funds? “

– YES: 56.5% (of which 48.6% were “yes” and 7.9% “rather yes”).
– NO: 40.4% (of which 31.4% were “no” and 9% “rather no”).
(Percentage of undecided: 3.1%)

Question 2: “Should Poland refuse to take in refugees from Muslim countries even if this should lead to the obligation to leave the European Union? “

– YES: 51.2% (of which 33.4% were “yes” and 17.8% “rather yes”).
– NO: 37.6% (27.6% of “no” and 10% of “rather no”).
(Percentage of undecided: 11.2%)

Precision: survey carried out in June on a sample of 1000 people.

It should be noted that the weekly Polityka, favorable to the reception of immigrants and to multiculturalism, tried to influence the answers by speaking of “refugees” rather than “asylum seekers”, since the immigrants concerned by the relocation program are people who have applied for asylum (which sooner or later all illegal immigrants do in order to avoid deportation) and not those who have obtained it. It can be assumed that without this manipulation there would have been an even greater proportion of “YES” for both questions.

This is the first time that a polling institute has been interested in the question of how far the Poles are prepared to go in their refusal of the immigration and multiculturalism model that Western Europe wants to impose on Central and Eastern Europe. A May survey by the OBOP institute (on a sample of 1004 people) and published by the public information channel TVP Info simply showed that 73% of Poles were against receiving Muslim refugees and immigrants (46 % absolutely opposed and 27% opposed) when asked: “Do you think Poland should welcome Muslim refugees and immigrants? ”

This opposition to the relocation of immigrants arriving illegally in Greece and Italy (even if it is with the help of European ships) is reflected in the popularity of PiS. After an empty run in early spring, the PiS reached 41% for the first time (against 26% for Donald Tusk’s Liberal party PO) in an IPSOS poll commissioned by the liberal-libertarian newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza at the end of June. This was when the European Commission had just announced the launch of a sanctions procedure against Poland, Czechia and Hungary for their refusal of the immigrant relocation program. Thus, if Brussels continues on this path, it could allow the conservative PiS party to win easily the next elections, possibly even with a constitutional majority. The PO suffers from its contradictory statements on the issue of the reception of illegal immigrants. This is most likely due to the commitment made in September 2015 by Prime Minister PO Ewa Kopacz (who replaced Donald Tusk after his departure to Brussels) to take 7,000 immigrants under the relocation program that the PiS, firmly opposed to this program, was able to obtain an absolute majority in the Polish parliament at the elections of October 25, 2015. It was the first time since the fall of communism in Poland that a party alone obtained an absolute majority in the parliament.

The government of Beata Szydło therefore has every interest in continuing to resist, especially as it has the support of most of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe on this subject and that it has received strong support from the United States with the speech pronounced by Donald Trump on July 6 in Warsaw. A speech where the American President called on the peoples of Europe to fight for their family, for their homeland, for their civilization and for God! This explains why the French mainstream media, in order to conceal this point, have preferred to relay the fake news of the Polish president’s wife refusing to shake President Trump’s hand.

The web connecting the Trump administration to Russia

From Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to former campaign director Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump’s allies have business and personal connections to Russia. As Congress and the FBI look into Russia’s involvement with the 2016 election, those connect (Natalie Fertig and Patrick Gleason McClatchy).

McClatchy DC, “Trump-Russia investigators probe Jared Kushner-run digital operation”, 12 July 2017:

WASHINGTON

Investigators at the House and Senate Intelligence committees and the Justice Department are examining whether the Trump campaign’s digital operation – overseen by Jared Kushner – helped guide Russia’s sophisticated voter targeting and fake news attacks on Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Congressional and Justice Department investigators are focusing on whether Trump’s campaign pointed Russian cyber operatives to certain voting jurisdictions in key states – areas where Trump’s digital team and Republican operatives were spotting unexpected weakness in voter support for Hillary Clinton, according to several people familiar with the parallel inquiries.

Also under scrutiny is the question of whether Trump associates or campaign aides had any role in assisting the Russians in publicly releasing thousands of emails, hacked from the accounts of top Democrats, at turning points in the presidential race, mainly through the London-based transparency web site WikiLeaks.

Rep. Adam Schiff of California, ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told McClatchy he wants to know whether Russia’s “fake or damaging news stories” were “coordinated in any way in terms of targeting or in terms of timing or in terms of any other measure … with the (Trump) campaign.”

By Election Day, an automated Kremlin cyberattack of unprecedented scale and sophistication had delivered critical and phony news about the Democratic presidential nominee to the Twitter and Facebook accounts of millions of voters. Some investigators suspect the Russians targeted voters in swing states, even in key precincts.

Russia’s operation used computer commands knowns as “bots” to collect and dramatically heighten the reach of negative or fabricated news about Clinton, including a story in the final days of the campaign accusing her of running a pedophile ring at a Washington pizzeria.

One source familiar with Justice’s criminal probe said investigators doubt Russian operatives controlling the so-called robotic cyber commands that fetched and distributed fake news stories could have independently “known where to specifically target … to which high-impact states and districts in those states.”

All of the sources spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation, led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, is confidential.

Top Democrats on the committees investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election have signaled the same.

Schiff said he wants the House panel to determine whether Trump aides helped Russia time its cyberattacks or target certain voters and whether there was “any exchange of information, any financial support funneled to organizations that were doing this kind of work.”

Trump son-in-law Kushner, now a senior adviser to the president and the only current White House aide known to be deemed a “person of interest” in the Justice Department investigation, appears to be under the microscope in several respects. His real estate finances and December meetings with Russia’s ambassador and the head of a sanctioned, state-controlled bank are also being examined.

Kushner’s “role as a possible cut-out or conduit for Moscow’s influence operations in the elections,” including his niche overseeing the digital operations, will be closely looked at, said the source knowledgeable about the Justice Department inquiry.

Kushner joined Donald Trump Jr. and Trump campaign Chairman Paul Manafort at a newly disclosed June 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower in New York.. The meeting, revealed by The New York Times, followed emails in which Trump Jr. was told the lawyer for the Russian government would provide him with incriminating information on Clinton and he replied “If it’s what you say I love it.”

That disclosure could only serve to heighten interest in whether there was digital collaboration.

Mike Carpenter, who in January left a senior Pentagon post where he worked on Russia matters, also has suspicions about collaboration between the campaign and Russia’s cyber operatives.

“There appears to have been significant cooperation between Russia’s online propaganda machine and individuals in the United States who were knowledgeable about where to target the disinformation,” he said, without naming any American suspects.

Trump has repeatedly repudiated or equivocated about the finding of four key intelligence agencies – the FBI, CIA, National Security Agency and the Directorate of National Intelligence – that Russian cyber operatives meddled with the U.S. election.

Last Friday, during their first face-to-face meeting, Trump questioned Putin about Russia’s role in the election meddling and Putin denied culpability, said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who was present. Trump then said the two countries should find ways to move forward in their relationship, Tillerson said.

A Russian official who was at the meeting said the two sides agreed to form a working group to address cybersecurity, including interference in other countries’ internal affairs. However, Trump backtracked Sunday night, saying in a tweet that he doesn’t believe such an effort can happen.

As more has been learned about the breadth of the Russian cyber onslaught, congressional Democrats have shown growing resolve to demand that the Republican-controlled intelligence committees fully investigate ways in which Trump associates may have conspired with the Russians.

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Tara McCarthy Interviews Colin Flaherty: Don’t Make The Black Kids Angry, Youtube.com, 10 July 2017.

Freddie’s Dead, das What I said.

SBDL, “$10.9 Million: The Combined Amount of Money Families of Freddie Gray, Michael Brown and Philando Castile Received in Settlements,” 26 June 2017:

Posthumously, it pays to be a black criminal:

Freddie Gray was a heroin dealer, who should have been in jail.

Michael Brown tried to kill Darren Wilson.

Philando Castile refused to cooperate with police.

All in all, in death they are worth a combined $10.9 million.

This is why we coined the term of America being irredeemable.

Freddie Gray: Baltimore to pay Freddie Gray’s family $6.4 million to settle civil claims, Baltimore Sun, 9-8-2015. 

Michael Brown: ‘Secret’ settlement in lawsuit over Brown’s death was $1.5 million, St. Louis Today, 6-24-17.

Philando Castile: Philando Castile Family Reaches $3 Million Settlement, New York Times, 6-26-17

Oh, and Tamir Rice’s family got $6 million from the city of Cleveland.

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Kera and her daughter (who is still alive)...

SBDL, “A Black Gang Responsible for the Death of Pregnant White Mother Kera Teel”...

Previously on SBPDL: Her Name is Kera [and Kyndal] Teel: Pregnant White Woman Gunned Down by Three Black Males, Daughter Passes Away After Being Born

A pregnant white mother, returning home from a visit to the doctor to see the progress and health of the daughter she carried.

Her mother was accompanying her on this trip.

Her child, Kera Teel, already had one young white daughter at home. This grandchild and daughter was excited to soon become an older sister.

But a member of a black gang ended Teel’s and the daughter she carried lives. It should be noted friends of this black gang member claim he “is innocent” because he has four children… [Who is the gang connected to Beaumont murder of mother, newborn?, 12NewsNow.com, June 16, 2017]:

Jared Bias (AKA BullDawg), member of Y.O.G. gang, is the suspect behind the murder of Kera Teel and the daughter she was carrying.

Capital murder suspect for the Kera Teel case is identified as Jared Bias (AKA BullDawg), apparent member of the “Y.O.G.” gang, short for “Young Original Gorillas”.

Just less than a mile away from Clark Elementary school, you’ll find graffiti on the wall that says “YOG” and “RIP BIG MARV,” off of Magnolia Ave.  Investigators say this group has roots here in North Beaumont, especially in local high schools.

“No use for gangs,” says Jason    
     
Banks, who has been living in Beaumont’s North end for over 10 years.

“We’re all trying to make it in this world, there is no use for violence or anything,” He says. For Banks, It’s a reminder of friendships to avoid. “I just stay to myself and pray up,” Bank says. “I don’t involve myself around certain people,” he says. Police say, Jared Bias, who was recently arrested for the capital murder of 19-year-old Kera Teel and her newborn daughter, is a member of the YOG gang.

“She was so young and pregnant, it makes me really bad,” Banks says. “It’s not safe to go out our own house,” he says.

“Keep out of trouble or it’ll get you hurt or in jail,” Banks says. The gangs’ activity plays a prominent role on the local rap scene.  It’s affiliations and marks, representing various local music groups on YouTube. Some refer to the gang as a family, but are now leaving behind footprints of criminal activity. “That’s not right, stay in school, go to church or something,” says Banks. “Gangs are not the answer,” he explains. 12News reached out to several members of the organization who tell us they do not have an interest in speaking.

What is there left to say about this story and the actors involved in Kera’s (and the daughter she carried) murder?

Just terrifying there’s virtually no coverage of this story outside of Beaumont, Texas…

We’re being exterminated.

12 News Now, “Second suspect in capital murder of Beaumont mother, newborn baby turns self in at jail” 15 June 2017:

BEAUMONT - A Beaumont man has been served with a capital murder warrant in the death of a Beaumont mother and her newborn baby girl.

Jared Javon Bias, 22, of Beaumont, was served with the warrant Wednesday night at the Jefferson County Correctional Center not long after he turned himself in on a previous charge of “hindering apprehension” according to a release from the Beaumont Police Department.

Bias’ bond on the hindering apprehension charge is set at $1 million.

Bias is the second suspect in custody related to the murder of Kera Teel, 19, of Beaumont, and her newborn daughter Kyndal.

Detectives have not yet spoken to Bias who turned himself in at the jail Wednesday night according to the release.

               
Atayanna Asia Nicole Douglas,17 (right), of Beaumont, was arrested on Tuesday and is being held on a $1.5 million bond for three aggravated robberies which police say are related to the Teel murder case.

Police expect more arrests as they continue to investigate the case.