CLG Founder and NYU Professor Michael Rectenwald Sues NYU, University Colleagues for Defamation

 News Updates from CLG
14 January 2018

http://www.legitgov.org/
All links are here:http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news

 

Previous edition: Judge: Sailors' Fukushima Radiation Case Doesn't Belong in US

 

Breaking: CLG Founder and NYU Professor Michael Rectenwald Sues NYU and NYU Colleagues for Irreparable Damage from Defamation --'Deplorable' NYU professor sues colleagues for defamation | 13 Jan 2018 | The "politically incorrect" NYU professor accused of "incivility" by liberal colleagues and put on leave is now suing the college and four fellow profs for [insanely] calling him everything from a dr-g addict to Satan. The "malicious" statements appeared in an e-mail thread that blasted out over five days in May from school accounts to more than 100 university staffers, claims a defamation lawsuit filed Friday by professor Michael Rectenwald. He blames NYU for doing nothing to stop the "nasty screed," according to papers filed in Manhattan Supreme Court. [In a statement given exclusively to CLG News, Rectenwald said, "My 'colleagues' have utterly contaminated the entire faculty and curtailed my career by at least ten years. I had no choice but to sue them for their outrageous lies and imputations, and NYU for essentially condoning their outrageously defamatory remarks."]

 

FCC says launching full inquiry into false Hawaii missile alert | 13 Jan 2018 | The U.S. Federal Communications Commission said on Saturday it was launching a full investigation into a false emergency alert that said a ballistic missile was headed for Hawaii, the chairman of the commission said. The alerts to Hawaii cellphone users were issued at about 8:07 a.m. local time (1807 GMT), saying "ballistic missile threat inbound" and urging residents to seek shelter immediately. The message also appeared on Hawaii television stations, according to news reports. The alert was officially canceled about 38 minutes later.

 

Hawaii Says No Missile Threat After Emergency Alert Mistakenly Sent --The emergency alert was sent at 8:07 a.m., and a follow-up alert to state that it was a false alarm wasn't sent until 8:46 a.m. | 13 Jan 2018 | After an emergency alert of a ballistic missile threat left people "crying and screaming" in Hawaii on Saturday, emergency officials confirmed that the message was sent in error and that no missile was headed for the island state. However, the mistake drew outrage from local leaders and has prompted a federal investigation. The alert, which was sent to people's cell phones at 8:07 a.m., said in all caps, "Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill." An alert also appeared on TVs. About 13 minutes after the alert was sent, Hawaii Emergency Management Agency tweeted: "NO missile threat to Hawaii."

 

'Wrong button' sends out false missile alert | 13 Jan 2018 | State emergency management officials mistakenly issued a missile threat alert at about 8:07 a.m. today, sending Hawaii into an intense, short-lived panic before they started correcting their error about 20 minutes later. The cell phone notification read: "BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT DRILL." Although the state emailed that the alert was a mistake at about 8:25 a.m., they did not issue a cell phone alert correction -- the way many residents first learned of the bogus alert -- until about 38 minutes after the initial mistake.

 

Pentagon to send '1,000 new troops and drones' to Afghanistan | 12 Jan 2018 | The Pentagon intends to deploy an estimated 1,000 new combat advisers to Afghanistan as part of the Trump administration's planned troop surge, according to reports. As early as February, members of an Army security-force assistance brigade from Fort Benning, Georgia, will be sent to work as combat advisers to Afghan National Security Forces. Their deployment will bring the number of American personnel in the country to about 14,000. US military officials told the Wall Street Journal the Pentagon hopes to dramatically increase the American military presence in Afghanistan in time for spring, when the "fighting season" begins.

 

'Very brave Syrian reporter' in Washington Post tweet unmasked as ISIS cheerleader | 12 Jan 2018 | The Washington Post bureau chief in Beirut commended the courage of a battlefield reporter in Syria, despite being informed the man is in fact a radical Islamist. She has refused to take back her words. On January 11, Liz Sly retweeted a video featuring a man with a microphone cowering in front a camera in the middle of an airstrike, purportedly shot near the northern Syrian city of Idlib, a current focal point of fighting between the opposition and government forces...Omar does not conceal his allegiance, with many of the posts on his Twitter account praising the "sacrifices" of the "mujahideen" -- the noble jihadists -- and gloating over the enemy losses inflicted by Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL [but still I-CIA-SIS]) and other radical groups.

 

Korea talks: 'When US is sidelined, local players find peaceful solutions' | 11 Jan 2018 | Korean talks might be yet another example of a situation where once the US and its foreign policy are put to one side, peaceful solutions can be found by local players. That's according to security analyst Charles Shoebridge. North Korea and South Korea on Tuesday held their first official talks in more than two years. The negotiations took place in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between the two countries. The two sides agreed on the participation of North Korean athletes in the South Korean Olympics. They also discussed the potential reunification of families separated by the Korean War. In a significant breakthrough, the two Koreas agreed on talks between army officials - in order to avoid dangerous military incidents.

 

Russia claims the US is messing with its elections | 13 Jan 2018 | Turnabout is fair play when it comes to accusations of election meddling. A Russian official on Saturday denounced US plans to punish Russia for alleged interference in the 2016 election -- by saying the sanctions are an attempt to interfere with Russia's presidential vote in March. "We see this as yet another attempt to influence our internal situation, especially ahead of the presidential election," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.

 

7 times Trump critics called Russia a 's***hole' and worse, and no one cared | 13 Jan 2017 | Donald Trump's [alleged] remarks on "s***hole countries" roused a righteous high-mindedness in his detractors. But a perusal of their own past quotes suggest they are quite capable of similar words -- when one particular state is involved...On Russia, last December, after hockey player Alex Ovechkin endorsed Vladimir Putin for this year's election: "Maybe Ovechkin should be thrown out of this league and forced to go back and skate with Putin in that hellhole #ToHellWithRussia."

 

'Sharia Police' gang face retrial after German supreme court overrules original verdict | 11 Jan 2018 | A group of Islamists who formed a vigilante gang called the “Sharia Police“ will be subject to a retrial after a German court overturned their 2016 acquittal. The seven men had been charged with wearing uniforms expressing a shared political opinion after patrolling the streets of Wuppertal in Western Germany at night in September 2014 in orange vests emblazoned with the words "Sharia Police". The group, which included Islamist preacher Sven Lau -- who was sentenced to a prison term for supporting a foreign terrorist organisation in July -- sought to discourage young men from visiting bars and brothels and drinking alcohol. They reportedly carried signs in English declaring a "Sharia Controlled Zone."

 

House votes to renew FISA surveillance program, following mixed messages from Trump | 11 Jan 2018 | The House voted Thursday to renew a controversial surveillance program, following mixed messages from President Trump shortly before the vote about his support. The renewal of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which lets agencies collect information on foreign targets abroad, was approved on a 256-164 vote. The bill now heads to the Senate. Trump briefly took aim Thursday morning at the surveillance program despite his administration's official support for renewing it, suggesting the program was used to "badly surveil and abuse" his campaign based on the "phony" Trump dossier.

 

House headed for cliffhanger vote on NSA surveillance | 10 Jan 2018 | The House is set to vote on Thursday on a controversial renewal of the National Security Agency's (NSA) warrantless surveillance program -- a vote that could give privacy advocates an unexpected victory. If the legislation passes in its current form, the Senate is expected to quickly take it up before the law authorizing the program expires on Jan. 19. But the House is also expected to vote on a bipartisan amendment imposing a series of restrictions on the program designed to protect Americans who are swept up in government spying on foreigners overseas.

 

Man arrested for threatening to shoot up Steelers game - report | 14 Jan 2018 | A Texas man has been arrested by the feds after allegedly threatening to shoot up Sunday's Pittsburgh Steelers-Jacksonville Jaguars game. "The Steelers game will be packed and that's when I plan on killing Steelers football players and fans before taking my own pitiful life," Yuttana Choochongkol, 30, allegedly told a Pittsburgh TV station, according to an affidavit obtained by KSAT-TV in San Antonio.

 

San Jose police say man killed by officers at power plant was armed with sword, axe, throwing knives | 10 Jan 2018 | An investigation is underway after a deadly police shooting occurred at a power plant in the South Bay. During a press conference, San Jose Police Chief Eddy Garcia said a suspect killed in an officer-involved shooting at the Metcalf Energy Center was armed with a large sword, six throwing knives, a 6-foot pole, an axe and yelled "shoot me, kill me." Garcia said the suspect ignored the officers commands to drop his weapons at least 23 times. "The suspect turned around and advanced at the officers, still armed with the pole and the axe," he said.

 

San Jose Police Fatally Shoot Intruder Armed With Ax at PG&E Substation | 09 Jan 2018 | A person allegedly armed with an ax was fatally shot by San Jose police outside the Metcalf Energy Center on Tuesday evening, according to authorities...Shortly before 6 p.m., a San Jose Police Department spokesperson confirmed that units were at the South San Jose power plant at 1 Blanchard Road and that a person had been shot by a San Jose police officer. Calpine describes this person as an ax-wielding man and an intruder. In audio from the dispatch call, a police officer can be heard saying, "There is a large sword on the front seat. I can see that." Moments later, a police officer says to the dispatcher, "There's an ax in his hand and he's refusing to drop it."

 

Newtown Asks Judge to Dismiss Sandy Hook Negligence Suit | 10 Jan 2018 | A superior court judge in Connecticut is deciding whether to toss out a lawsuit filed by parents of two children killed in the 2012 Newtown school shooting. The suit says Newtown and its school district were negligent in its response to the [alleged] shooting. The plaintiffs are the parents of Jesse Lewis and Noah Pozner, two first-graders killed in the shooting. Their lawsuit alleges the school failed to order a lockdown, which might have saved lives.

 

Newark Airport issues infectious disease alert | 13 Jan 2018 | Just as the weekend kicked off, the New Jersey Department of Health Health officials warned passengers who have been through Newark Airport that they may have been exposed to a highly-contagious disease. "On January 2, 2018, an international traveler with a confirmed case of measles--a highly contagious disease [typically spread via those who've been vaccinated 'against' measles] --arrived in Terminal C at Newark Liberty International Airport and departed for Indianapolis from a domestic terminal," a statement Issued by the Department of Health of New Jersey reads. The woman was identified as an Indiana University (IU) student. A report from ABC News' New York affiliate warned that the infected woman may have gone to other areas of the airport.

 

Watch Ex-Twitter Employees Brag About 'Shadow Banning' Political Opinions They Don't Like --'One strategy is to shadow ban so you have ultimate control,' a former employee says in the Project Veritas video. | 11 Jan 2018 | Newly released undercover video footage from Project Veritas shows current and former Twitter employees bragging about their ability to censor people on the platform whose political opinions they don't like [i.e., @legitgov]. "One strategy is to shadow ban so you have ultimate control," a former Twitter software engineer, Abhinov Vadrevu, says in the video. "The idea of a shadow ban is that you ban someone but they don’t know they’ve been banned, because they keep posting and no one sees their content. So they just think that no one is engaging with their content, when in reality, no one is seeing it."

 

Chicago considering equipping police with anti-texting tools | 11 Jan 2018 | Chicago may become the first city in the U.S. to arm its police officers with devices that will tell them immediately if motorists were texting when they got into a traffic accident. After hearing from a father whose son was killed in a traffic accident in which the driver was texting, as well as from a company that developed a prototype of the so-called "Textalyzer," the City Council's public safety committee voted Thursday to request that the police department study the hand-held devices. The vote sends the issue to the full council, which is all but certain to approve the resolution next week..."One thing that is troubling is that it's not clear what limitations there are on the information gathered," said Ed Yohnka, spokesman for the ACLU of Illinois told The Associated Press this week. Another question is whether the device is even necessary because there are ways for authorities to determine if a motorist was texting at the time of an accident.

 

Paul Manafort Sues Special Counsel Robert Mueller, DOJ Over Russia Probe--Trump's former campaign chairman alleges the investigation has 'diverged from its focus.' | 03 Jan 2018 | Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort filed suit against special counsel Robert Mueller, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and the Department of Justice on Wednesday -- a suit that experts quickly said has little chance of success. In his complaint, Manafort alleges that Mueller's investigation "diverged from its focus on alleged collusion between the Russian government and President Trump's campaign." "The investigation of Mr. Manafort is completely unmoored from the Special Counsel's original jurisdiction to investigate 'any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump,'" the complaint reads. "It has instead focused on unrelated, decade-old business dealings -- specifically, Ukraine political campaign consulting activities of Mr. Manafort." 

 

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