News Dump

Sea "boiling" with methane discovered in Siberia: "No one has ever recorded anything like this before"
https://www.newsweek.com/methane-boiling-sea-discovered-siberia-1463766

In 2018, Americans voted overwhelmingly in favor of congressional oversight. Republicans want to undo the election.

The administration is holding a top-secret level briefing on Syria this afternoon for House and Senate staff, per two congressional sources. Katie Wheelbarger, acting assistant secdef for international security affairs, is leading briefing.

Reminder: Today, members of the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs, and Oversight committees are scheduled to depose Gordon Sondland, Trump's Ambassador to the European Union.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-administration-orders-ambassador-center-ukraine-scandal-not-appear-congress-n1063636

White House Blocks US Ambassador Gordon Sondland From Testifying Before Congress
https://www.npr.org/2019/10/08/768200323/trump-administration-blocks-ambassadors-testimony-a-key-witness-in-ukraine-scand
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/gordon-sondland-key-us-official-in-political-storm-over-ukraine-to-be-deposed-in-impeachment-inquiry/2019/10/07/c3c1703e-e942-11e9-9306-47cb0324fd44_story.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/08/trump-admin-blocks-us-diplomat-from-testifying-in-impeachment-probe-lawyer-says.html

Democrats to issue subpoena to Sondland
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/464827-democrats-to-issue-subpoena-to-sondland
https://www.axios.com/gordon-sondland-subpoena-ukraine-investigation-51727df4-5544-48c3-a3d6-18ee3f093875.html

Trump On Turkey: ‘I Have A Little Conflict Of Interest ... It’s Called Trump Towers’: The president, in his own words in 2015, zeroes in on a problem linked to his order to abandon Kurdish allies to a Turkish assault in Syria.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/conflict-of-interest-donald-trump-syria-kurds-turkey_n_5d9bb7bfe4b0fc935edf5be0

Schiff calls blocking ambassador deposition 'strong evidence of obstruction'
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/10/08/politics/gordon-sondland-house-impeachment/index.html

YEP: Republicans Stand by Trump Because They Like What He Does
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/08/opinion/republicans-trump-kurds.html

The Farm Bailout Has Now Cost More Than Double The 2008 Auto Industry Bailout
https://bangordailynews.com/2019/09/30/opinion/contributors/trumps-farm-bailout-has-cost-taxpayers-more-than-double-the-auto-bailout/
Betsy DeVos Could Face Jail After Judge Rules She Violated 2018 Order on Student Loans
https://www.newsweek.com/betsy-devos-could-face-jail-after-judge-rules-violated-2018-order-1463764

Trump campaign threatens to sue Target Center in Minneapolis because they have asked to be paid in advance of his Thursday rally event.
https://kttc.com/news/top-stories/2019/10/08/trump-campaign-threatens-to-sue-target-center/

Trump threatens lawsuit and blames Democrat mayor as major Minneapolis arena blocks rally
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-minneapolis-rally-lawsuit-jacob-frey-democrat-target-centre-a9147051.html

Donald Trump's Minneapolis Rally to Be Met With Mass Protests: ''America First' Is a Racist Lie'
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-minneapolis-rally-protest-minnesota-1463755

Anyone and everyone should ask Trump and associates for advance payment. He screws anybody he can out of payment. This is already well-fucking known. Cancel the event, handle the suit - that route, I'd guess, is likely the less painful but also the more patriotic of the choices.

Federal deficit estimated at $984B, highest in seven years
https://thehill.com/policy/finance/464764-federal-deficit-estimated-at-984b-highest-in-seven-years

Donald Trump Promised To Eliminate The Deficit In 8 Years. So Far, He Has Increased It By 68%
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-deficit-debt-cbo-data-obama-1463802

Trump firm 'refusing to pay' legal bill for windfarm case. Scottish government says US president’s company has not accepted bill of tens of thousands of pounds
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/oct/08/trump-organization-rejects-legal-bill-after-losing-windfarm-court-battle

Donald Trump’s family firm is refusing to accept a legal bill worth tens of thousands of pounds after he lost a lengthy court battle against a windfarm near his Aberdeenshire golf course, according to the Scottish government.
https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/oct/08/trump-organization-rejects-legal-bill-after-losing-windfarm-court-battle

Adam Silver has released statement on league’s relationship status with China, reading in part: “The NBA will not put itself in a position of regulating what players, employees and team owners say or will not say on these issues. We simply could not operate that way.”
http://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1181497808563658752

CCTV announced that they will suspend all NBA broadcast, in respond to Adam Silver's support for Daryl Morey.
https://twitter.com/YuFuTroy/status/1181465482769178624

Chinese Basketball Association confirms it cancelled all 4 NBA games set for Suzhou in China Oct 19-20. Houston Rockets no longer searchable to buy products on Alibaba Taobao shopping site.
https://twitter.com/onlyyoontv/status/1181370046129422336?s=19

Citing "strong dissatisfaction and opposition" to the fact that Adam Silver said Daryl Morey has freedom of speech, the Chinese state owned broadcaster has cancelled all broadcasts of NBA preseason games.
https://www.businessinsider.com/china-suspend-nba-broadcasts-adam-silver-defend-daryl-morey-2019-10

"We're strongly dissatisfied and oppose Adam Silver's claim to support Morey's right to freedom of expression," CCTV said. "We believe that any remarks that challenge national sovereignty and social stability are not within the scope of freedom of speech."
https://apnews.com/cacbc722f6834e64814f82b14752682c

The fearless Wendy Chioji, the former WESH-Channel 2 anchor who inspired Central Florida with her frank account of battling cancer, died Monday night. She was 57. “My beautiful, strong, defiant, bad-ass sister, Wendy Chioji, lost her fight with cancer tonight,” Alan Chiogioji wrote late Monday on Facebook. “From climbing mountains, to participating in triathlons, to traveling the world, she lived everyday to the fullest. She never let her disease stop her from doing the things that she wanted to do. She is my hero, and I miss her already.” In 2001, on a newscast of the NBC affiliate, Chioji announced she had breast cancer — a moment that reverberates in Orlando TV history and would define her gutsy approach the rest of her life.
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/tv-guy/os-et-wendy-chioji-dies-20191008-xl7cigregzavlgbf4tqdnbyw2a-story.html

Beto: "18 year-olds are enlisting today who weren’t alive when the first soldiers deployed. For all who fought for us then, and for all who are fighting for us today, we must end our forever wars."
https://twitter.com/BetoORourke/status/1181366935080099840

These assault weapons owners are proving why they should not have them. If you believe you ownership gives you a right to intimidatation and threat, you are wrong. You are not to be trusted with your "hunting" weapon. Thank you @BetoORourke for calling it out.
https://twitter.com/fred_guttenberg/status/1181177655955247105

Schwarzenegger doubts he'll vote for Trump in 2020, says he "could" vote for Warren
https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/464818-schwarzenegger-on-voting-trump-2020-i-doubt-it

China rejects Trump request to investigate Joe Biden
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/08/china-rejects-trump-request-to-investigate-joe-biden.html

Anne Sacoolas's husband 'not registered as diplomat' -- Lawyer says American may not be eligible for full immunity over alleged role in fatal crash

Trump will be regarded by history as the most corrupt president ever and he is worried about having impeachment on his resume

Justice Department asks judge to block House from getting Mueller grand jury materials, says Watergate decision was wrong LOLLLLLLLL | "Wow, O.K.," responded U.S. Chief District Judge Howell, sounding unpersuaded. "As I said, the department is taking an extraordinary position in this case."
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/08/justice-department-objects-to-house-getting-mueller-grand-jury-info.html

Sondland has relevant texts and emails - illegally stored on personal device - that the State Department is withholding from Congress.
https://twitter.com/JoshNBCNews/status/1181562998827241474

Legally it makes no sense. Yesterday the DOJ and Trump's legal team hearkened back to the OLC (Office of Legal Counsel) memo from the 1970's and said it gives Trump full immunity from any investigation whatsoever. Now they're doing the opposite in saying the 1970's decision to transmit investigative materials to Congress was a mistake.

The House may be considering articles of impeachment against Trump that go further than the Ukraine issue, including obstruction of justice and interference with federal elections accusations, the top House lawyer said in federal court:
https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/08/politics/house-impeachment-hearing/index.html

If you dont think the women running for President have it harder, consider the last 24 hrs. People are questioning if Warren was fired for being pregnant because it wasnt admitted on official records and Harris is being asked about misconduct at a law firm where she never worked.
https://twitter.com/brianefallon/status/1181594639368892416

Remember when Hillary refused to sit down for Benghazi bullshit theatre hearings? Hillary testified twice, the second time for 8 hours. Remember when Bill Clinton sat for a taped deposition and Comey AND Sessions testified for hours on end publically and in a classified setting. Trump and his pro-Trump people are COWARDS. EVEN SESSIONS TESTIFIED.

CEO says Dick’s Sporting Goods destroyed $5 million of guns
https://www.tampabay.com/news/nation-world/2019/10/08/dicks-sporting-goods-destroys-5-million-of-guns-ceo-says/

Militia Commander Says It Will Attack Turkish Forces if They Enter Syria | The commander of the American-backed militia in Syria said Tuesday that it would attack Turkish forces if they enter northeastern Syria, while Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, indicated that such an operation was imminent.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/08/world/middleeast/syria-turkey-kurds-us.html

#BREAKING - @DallasPD announce 1 arrest, 2 suspects at large in shooting death of #AmberGuyger witness Joshua Brown. Claim trio were in Dallas from Louisiana to buy drugs from him. Thaddeous Charles Green, 22; Michael Diaz Mitchell, 32 at large #BothamJean @CourthouseNews
https://twitter.com/CNSDallas/status/1181645289746247682

As shoppers drop out of the mall in favor of online merchants, it's no wonder retailers are closing down. And it's sometimes telling which ones are getting the ax. One recent casualty is Forever 21, once a staple of malls across the globe. The clothing chain will end operations in 40 countries and close 178 stores in the United States.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/the-end-of-forever

A secretive U.S. court ruled last year that the FBI violated the constitutional privacy rights of U.S. citizens through its use of a surveillance tool meant to target foreigners
https://www.wsj.com/articles/fbis-use-of-foreign-surveillance-tool-violated-americans-privacy-rights-court-found-11570559882

“Russia has built its ecosystem to ensure resilience, with cost no object. It has formed a fire-walled structure designed to attack in waves... and now makes concerted Russian attacks on the U.S. “almost impossible” to defend against.”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2019/09/24/new-cyberwarfare-report-unveils-russias-secret-weapon-against-us-2020-election/#48158bb68f5e

Canada is warming 2X faster than the rest of the world. These emaciated bears, the salmon they eat, are all warning signs of a planet in peril:
https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/03/americas/emaciated-grizzly-bears-knights-inlet-canada-trnd-scn/index.html

"The U.S. national security has entered a state of increased danger for decades to come because the president has no spine and that's the bottom line." - National Security Council official
https://twitter.com/votevets/status/1181287490327580677
https://www.newsweek.com/exclusive-official-who-heard-call-says-trump-got-rolled-turkey-has-no-spine-1463623

Our oceans cover 71% of the 🌎, and contain 99% of the living space on our planet as well. This #WorldHabitatDay lets pledge to Defend, Conserve and Protect our oceans from harm. Please join #SeaShepherd at http://seashepherd.org/get-involved , or donate today at http://my.seashepherd.org/donate . 🌊❤️
https://twitter.com/SeaShepherdSSCS/status/1181281684404072450

When one of the kindest, most passionate humans (@JDScholten) is running against the epitome of hate and bigotry (@SteveKingIA), there’s an opportunity to UNITE and STEP UP for one another.
https://twitter.com/RaniaBatrice/status/1178708172686708737

The Trump administration has proposed a radical plan to open nearly all U.S. coasts to oil and gas drilling. This plan threatens marine life, coastal communities, and our climate. Here’s what you can do to fight back.
https://www.nrdc.org/where-do-your-elected-officials-stand-on-offshore-drilling

Reminder: Bipartison Republican-Greenlighted Senate Intel Report Finds Kremlin Directed Russian Social Media Meddling In 2016
https://www.lawfareblog.com/senate-intelligence-committee-report-russian-active-measures-part-two

Man With Trump Bumper Sticker Flashed Gun At Woman With Warren Bumper Sticker
https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2019/10/07/police-man-with-trump-bumper-sticker-flashed-gun-at-woman-with-warren-bumper-sticker/

LOL YEP: The White House counsel's view is that the Constitution is an invalid source on the powers vested in the House by the Constitution.
https://twitter.com/jonallendc/status/1181682120454017027

LOL Treasury Department officials are considering rolling back a tax rule aimed at preventing American companies from moving money offshore to avoid U.S. taxes, according to several people familiar with discussions. Treasury could narrow regulations aimed at preventing U.S. firms from lowering their U.S. tax bills by borrowing from an offshore branch of the company. The department is also contemplating repealing them entirely to replace them with something more business-friendly.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-08/trump-weighs-weakening-obama-rules-to-curb-corporate-inversions

The Trump Organization’s two Scottish golf courses lost $14.3 million in 2018, extending a multiyear string of losses that have intensified since Donald Trump took office, according to annual financial reports released this month.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/losses-deepen-at-trumps-scotland-properties-new-financial-reports-show/2019/10/08/08ddf890-e9d4-11e9-bafb-da248f8d5734_story.html

Warren attacks Facebook for ‘quietly’ changing its political ad policy after Zuckerberg’s meeting with Trump
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/08/warren-attacks-facebook-ceo-zuckerberg-after-his-trump-meeting.html

Bee population recovering due to regenerative farming, producers say. The progress has attracted the attention of General Mills, the maker of Cheerios and Lucky Charms. “This is all-important to rebuild the soil health from areas where we source the ingredients.”
https://globalnews.ca/news/5767381/bee-population-recovering-regenerative-farming/

Top Secret Russian Unit Seeks to Destabilize Europe, Security Officials Say | First came a destabilization campaign in Moldova, followed by the poisoning of an arms dealer in Bulgaria and then a thwarted coup in Montenegro. Last year, there was an attempt to assassinate a former Russian spy in Britain using a nerve agent. Though the operations bore the fingerprints of Russia’s intelligence services, the authorities initially saw them as isolated, unconnected attacks. Western security officials have now concluded that these operations, and potentially many others, are part of a coordinated and ongoing campaign to destabilize Europe, executed by an elite unit inside the Russian intelligence system skilled in subversion, sabotage and assassination. The group, known as Unit 29155, has operated for at least a decade, yet Western officials only recently discovered it. Intelligence officials in four Western countries say it is unclear how often the unit is mobilized and warn that it is impossible to know when and where its operatives will strike. The purpose of Unit 29155, which has not been previously reported, underscores the degree to which the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, is actively fighting the West with his brand of so-called hybrid warfare — a blend of propaganda, hacking attacks and disinformation — as well as open military confrontation. | By contrast, officers from Unit 29155 travel to and from European countries. Some are decorated veterans of Russia’s bloodiest wars, including in Afghanistan, Chechnya and Ukraine. Its operations are so secret, according to assessments by Western intelligence services, that the unit’s existence is most likely unknown even to other G.R.U. operatives.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/08/world/europe/unit-29155-russia-gru.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/09/world/europe/sergei-skripal-russian-spy-poisoning.html
https://www.nytimes.com/series/russias-dark-arts

Why the SCOTUS case on LGBT worker protections will be pivotal | The case, considered one of the most consequential of the current term, will determine the length to which Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 goes to protect against workplace discrimination. The act prohibits discrimination “because of sex,” which the court has interpreted to mean no discriminating based on sexual stereotypes. But there are questions about whether that protects LGBTQ people.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/10/08/why-scotus-case-lgbt-worker-protections-will-be-pivotal/

This letter, in and of itself, is an impeachable offense: .@SpeakerPelosi's office confirms she's received letter from WH outlining why the administration won't be cooperating with impeachment inquiry. Below is the link to the 8-pg letter from WH Counsel Pat Cipollone.
https://twitter.com/ramsberry1/status/1181678789723660289
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6459905-White-House-Letter-to-Pelosi-Impeachment.html

The WH argues the president should have a right to examine evidence, call witnesses and cross examine his accusers. He would -- in a Senate trial. The impeachment process is an investigation. No such requirements apply.

We're numb to it at this point, but in the middle of everything else, the president has continued handing out Medals of Freedom to conservative luminaries with pasts like this:
https://twitter.com/ericgeller/status/1181682777051340802
https://www.npr.org/2019/10/08/768136964/trump-to-honor-former-reagan-attorney-general-who-left-government-under-ethics-c

Sanders Says He Will ‘Change the Nature’ of His Campaign After Heart Attack (me: his son's wife also died, very unfortunate)
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/08/us/politics/bernie-sanders-heart.html

Ivanka Trump’s Business Wins Approval for More China Trademarks
https://www.citizensforethics.org/ivanka-trumps-business-wins-approval-for-more-china-trademarks/

Sondland Subpoenaed for Both Testimony and Documents
https://oversight.house.gov/news/press-releases/sondland-subpoenaed-for-both-testimony-and-documents