News Dump

World Health Organisation’s CRIMINAL recognition of traditional Chinese medicine ‘could push species into extinction’ - Failure to condemn use of animal parts in traditional remedies ‘egregiously negligent and irresponsible’, wildlife groups say
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/china-medicine-wildlife-poaching-conservation-world-health-organisation-a8933061.html

Kirsten Gillibrand @SenGillibrand
It's time for Congress to begin impeachment hearings and follow the facts. Robert Mueller clearly expects Congress to exercise its constitutional authority and take steps that he could not. We can't let the president defy basic accountability measures built into our Constitution.
11:51 AM - 29 May 2019
https://twitter.com/SenGillibrand/status/1133808081119436801

Kirsten Gillibrand @SenGillibrand
From the beginning, I've called for a proper process in order to secure key testimony and information related to the Mueller investigation, so that Congress can fulfill its responsibility to deliver the truth to the American people.
https://twitter.com/SenGillibrand/status/1133808372845895681

Kirsten Gillibrand @SenGillibrand
The White House has repeatedly stonewalled Congress' ability to take basic fact-finding steps and make an informed decision. That fact, combined with Mueller's clear message today, tells me that Republicans and Democrats should begin impeachment hearings.
https://twitter.com/SenGillibrand/status/1133808664010268672

Facebook says it won’t remove misleading content during Canada’s federal election
https://globalnews.ca/news/5327439/facebook-misleading-content-canada-federal-election/

Otter Instagram craze in Japan and Indonesia drives surge in deadly poaching, threatening species' survival - Cafes with the animals and vogue for buying them as pets drives growth of Facebook trading groups and illegal trafficking gangs
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/otters-instagram-facebook-cafe-pets-japan-indonesia-thailand-poaching-extinction-a8934021.html

On a Pacific island, a nuclear dome left behind by the US begins to crack and is leaking its poison into the surrounding environment
https://www.timesofisrael.com/on-a-pacific-island-a-nuclear-dome-left-behind-by-the-us-begins-to-crack/

China considers banning 'rare earth' minerals being exported to the U.S. in trade war move which would hit cost of everything from LED lightbulbs to hospital scanners
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7078595/China-restrict-rare-earth-exports-U-S-Global-Times-editor-says.html

Kellyanne Conway dismisses Hatch Act violation: 'Let me know when the jail sentence starts'.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/445914-kellyanne-conway-dismisses-hatch-act-violation-let-me-know-when-the

The Trump administration is thinking about changing medical leave to ‘reduce burden on employers’
https://www.newsweek.com/labor-trump-family-medical-leave-changes-1437636

Trump/Republican tax cut is a failure, wrecking economy, hurting most Americans, gutting federal revenue, rewarding ultra-millionaires and billionaires
https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/R45736.html

Trump Science Adviser Actually Compared Climate Scientists to Nazis
https://www.gq.com/story/trump-climate-scientists-nazis

Being A Man Helped My Career At Every Step. That's Why I'm Endorsing Elizabeth Warren — She's the best candidate. And when she beats Trump, it will be a victory for the simple but deeply powerful idea that women are fully and truly equal.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/bradlander/why-im-endorsing-elizabeth-warren

Trump attacked Obama for using Air Force One for election campaigning. Now he does the same.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/05/29/donald-trumps-use-air-force-one-mixes-business-and-campaigning/3405405002/

https://5calls.org/
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/2020senate50statestrategy
https://www.flippable.org/get-smart/special-elections/
https://secure.actblue.com/directory/all/all/state-gov
https://secure.actblue.com/directory/all/all/fed-senate

Boris Johnson must go on trial for 'lying and misleading' in Brexit campaign, judge orders
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/boris-johnson-trial-brexit-court-lying-prosecution-nhs-vote-leave-a8934451.html

The privately built border fence was a publicity stunt. They didn't have a permit.
https://www.ktsm.com/border-report/privately-built-border-fence-did-not-have-permit-sunland-park-officials-say/2033987793

Finally money we can safely eat! New EU bills are Vegan Friendly. It is an important step as more and more agencies and governments are aware, taking us seriously and doing the right thing in considering the protection of animals and the use of products that harm them.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/28/world/europe/100-200-euro-notes.html

Ex-GOP candidate for Georgia governor pleads guilty to fraud charges
https://www.ajc.com/blog/politics/gop-candidate-for-georgia-governor-pleads-guilty-fraud-charges/XlpeqFq7dGMWWawSYCtXwN/

Chevron executive is secretly pushing anti-electric car effort in Arizona
https://www.azcentral.com/story/money/business/energy/2019/05/28/chevron-exec-enlists-arizona-retirees-effort-against-electric-cars/3700955002/

Booker calls for Congress to begin impeachment proceedings
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/445944-booker-calls-for-congress-to-begin-impeachment-proceedings

The Department of Energy referred to natural gas as 'freedom gas' in a press release
https://www.businessinsider.com/department-of-energy-calls-natural-gas-freedom-gas-2019-5

The Department of Energy Is Now Calling Fossil Fuels “Molecules of Freedom” and “Freedom Gas”
https://slate.com/business/2019/05/freedom-gas-molecules-of-freedom-department-of-energy.html

Remember the GA gov candidate who had a "deportation bus"? Last year, he claimed someone stole $300k worth of computers he used to mine cryptocurrency. Turns out he just plead guilty to falsely reporting that theft.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/gop-deportation-bus-candidate-georgia-pleads-guilty-n1011591
https://www.ajc.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/gop-candidate-for-governor-reports-theft-computer-servers/

Twitter is conducting in-house research to better understand how white nationalists and supremacists use the platform. The company is trying to decide, in part, whether white supremacists should be banned from the site or should be allowed to stay on the platform so their views can be debated by others, a Twitter executive told Motherboard.
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/ywy5nx/twitter-researching-white-supremacism-nationalism-ban-deplatform

Former Roger Stone associate Andrew Miller is set to testify before the grand jury on Friday — he had challenged the subpoena and Mueller's authority, and lost: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetillman/robert-mueller-appointment-valid-dc-circuit-ruling

Tobacco stocks tumble as cigarette sales decline. Cigarettes volumes fell 11.2% in the four-week period ended May 18. Tobacco companies’ core cigarette businesses are shrinking faster than expected
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/28/altria-british-american-tobacco-stocks-slide-on-nielsen-cigarette-data.html

Brussels is moving to break up the team that negotiated Theresa May‘s Brexit deal, in the most concrete sign yet that the EU has absolutely no intention of re-opening talks on the treaty.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-latest-theresa-may-eu-deal-barnier-juncker-negotiations-a8934601.html

Scotland publishes second independence referendum bill
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/may/29/scotland-publishes-second-independence-referendum-bill

Sixteen people have been charged in Bangladesh over the shocking murder of a teenager who was burned to death after reporting sexual harassment
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-48441604

Border Wall on Private Land in New Mexico Fuels Backlash
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/28/us/border-wall-private-new-mexico.html

Plastic waste dumped in Malaysia will be returned to UK, US and others
https://edition-m.cnn.com/2019/05/28/asia/malaysia-plastic-waste-return-intl/index.html

Trump’s carrier obsession sets up collision with Navy and Congress | For the past two years, the Navy’s plan to field electromagnetic catapults has been a pet peeve for Trump.
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/05/28/trump-aircraft-carriers-steam-1473984

Rep. Stephanie Murphy
‏Verified account @RepStephMurphy
The Special Counsel clearly stated a foreign adversary interfered in our elections. That’s why I’ve long said we must secure our democracy. Mueller also made clear why Congress must conduct its own independent investigation into the report’s findings on possible obstruction (1/4)
4:32 PM - 29 May 2019 from Winter Park, FL
https://twitter.com/RepStephMurphy/status/1133878781775622144

Rep. Stephanie Murphy
‏Verified account @RepStephMurphy
1h1 hour ago
Congress has a constitutional responsibility to be a check on the executive through its oversight role. When we subpoena, the White House must comply. If it does not, I support Congress filing lawsuits to ask the Courts to enforce. So far, the courts have sided w/Congress. (2/4)
https://twitter.com/RepStephMurphy/status/1133878784439062532

Rep. Stephanie Murphy
‏Verified account @RepStephMurphy
1h1 hour ago
Should the President ignore a final federal court order to turn over documents or information, I would consider it a threat to our careful system of checks and balances and would therefore support an impeachment inquiry. (3/4)
https://twitter.com/RepStephMurphy/status/1133878785881907201

Rep. Stephanie Murphy
‏Verified account @RepStephMurphy
1h1 hour ago
This inquiry would better empower congressional investigators to attain documents and testimony & get the facts. My hope is that the President complies and Congress is not forced to be taken down the path of impeachment. But no one is above the law, not even the President.  (4/4)
https://twitter.com/RepStephMurphy/status/1133878787391799297

The White House wanted the U.S. Navy to move “out of sight” a warship named for the late Sen. John McCain, a war hero who became a frequent target of President Trump’s ire, ahead of the president’s visit to Japan last week, according to an email reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. In a May 15 email to U.S. Navy and Air Force officials, a U.S. Indo-Pacific Command official outlined plans for the president’s arrival that he said had resulted from conversations between the White House Military Office and the Seventh Fleet of the U.S. Navy. In addition to instructions for the proper landing areas for helicopters and preparation for the USS Wasp—where the president was scheduled to speak—the official issued a third directive: “USS John McCain needs to be out of sight.” “Please confirm #3 will be satisfied,” the official wrote.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/white-house-wanted-uss-john-mccain-out-of-sight-during-trump-japan-visit-11559173470