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

 News Updates from CLG
10 January 2018

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Previous edition: U.S. Military Prepares for Winter War With North Korea, Russia by Buying Thousands of Skis

 

Judge: Sailors' Fukushima Radiation Case Doesn't Belong in US | 05 Jan 2018 | A federal judge on Friday dismissed without prejudice the latest class action filed by hundreds of U.S. sailors exposed to radiation in the Fukushima, Japan, nuclear disaster, finding a San Diego courtroom isn't the right place for the case. U.S. District Judge Janis Sammartino issued a 15-page order dismissing the class action against Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TepCo) and General Electric, finding the service members who were stationed aboard the USS Ronald Reagan in San Diego have failed to establish how the Japanese utility's acts were directed at California. The judge's order dismisses the most recent class action filed in San Diego Federal Court last August. It follows another class action filed by an initial group of sailors in 2012, a year after they were sent to render aid after the March 11, 2011, tsunami and earthquake which caused the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to meltdown and release radiation. That case has survived dismissal and an appeal to the Ninth Circuit.

 

North and South Korea agree to hold talks on easing military tensions | 09 Jan 2018 | North Korea has agreed to send a delegation to next month's Winter Olympics in South Korea and to hold talks with Seoul to ease military tensions, in the most significant thaw in relations between the neighboring states in years. Officials from the two nations met face to face on Tuesday for the first time in more than two years in the border town of Panmunjom, known as "truce village," in the Korean peninsula's heavily fortified demilitarized zone. North Korea will send a high-level delegation comprising athletes, a cheering squad, an art troupe, a visitors' group, a Taekwondo demonstration team and a press corps, a closing joint statement said.

 

North Korea agrees to send athletes to South Korea Olympics | 09 Jan 2018 | North Korea will send a delegation of officials and athletes to next month's Winter Olympic Games in South Korea, it was announced Tuesday after the first high-level talks between the countries in more than two years. The two nations also agreed to hold military talks aimed at reducing animosity along their tense border and to "actively cooperate" in the Games, which open on Feb. 9 in PyeongChang some 50 miles from the boundary. The sensitive discussions, held in Panmunjom, in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), were closed to outside observers.

 

CDC schedules briefing on nuclear war preparation | 06 Jan 2018 | The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is holding a Jan. 16 briefing to explain how the public can prepare for nuclear war. "While a nuclear detonation is unlikely, it would have devastating results and there would be limited time to take critical protection steps," a notice on the CDC's website states. Despite the fear surrounding such an event, planning and preparation can lessen deaths and illness. For instance, most people don't realize that sheltering in place for at least 24 hours is crucial to saving lives and reducing exposure to radiation. While federal, state, and local agencies will lead the immediate response efforts, public health will play a key role in responding." The session will include information on what public health programs are doing at the federal, state, and local level to prepare for a nuclear detonation, according to the announcement.

 

Iranian prosecutor points finger at CIA, Israel and Saudi Arabia for unrest | 05 Jan 2018 | Iran's public prosecutor has blamed the CIA, Israel and Saudi Arabia for stirring unrest in the Islamic Republic which resulted in the deaths of more than 20 people over the last week. Mohammad Jafar Montazeri said Thursday that the "main protector" of the agitation plan was an American national called Michael Andrea, a man he claims is a former CIA agent who formed a group tasked with fermenting discord in the country. The state prosecutor also pointed to Israel and Saudi Arabia. Montazeri is quoted in Iran's Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) as saying that Andrea, and an unnamed officer affiliated with Israel's spy agency Mossad, masterminded the plot dubbed the 'Consequential Convergence Doctrine' and that Saudi Arabia picked up the bill.

 

Question less: The Guardian whitewashes all criticism of foreign-funded Syrian 'White Helmets' | 18 Dec 2017 | The Guardian has cast aside self-awareness, seized the moral high ground (its self-proclaimed permanent base), and jumped to the defense of Syria's 'White Helmets' [a NATO-backed terrorist group], painting the group as victims of an "online propaganda machine." Journalist [sic] Olivia Solon, in an article headlined 'White Helmets became victims of an online propaganda machine,' is keen to make sure that any questions about the motives of the group are dismissed as a 'counter-narrative.' That's what others might call the 'other side of the story.' In full effect is the journalistic trope of our times…RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE! ...The White Helmets were essentially trained and founded by a man called James Le Mesurier, who can best be described as a British mercenary with extensive links to NATO.

 

'We are in your home': 'ISIS terrorist' poses for chilling selfie in front of New York's Met museum after the group called for more lone wolf-style knife and bomb attacks| 02 Jan 2018 | A man wearing an ISIS face scarf has uploaded a chilling selfie outside New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art with the caption: 'We are in your home.' The image, uploaded to a pro-ISIS channel on messaging app Telegram on December 30, shows the man standing on a snowy 5th Avenue as people walk past. It comes after ISIS issued a video featuring shots of New York while calling for more bomb and knife attacks across the festive period. The poster that accompanies the chilling call to arms shows an ISIS soldier holding a knife with the words 'It's cheaper than a chainsaw'.

 

Plot to Kill Trump Foiled: Utah Man Charged With Threatening Mass Shooting Against President, Police and Moviegoers | 04 Jan 2018 | A Utah man was charged Wednesday for threatening the lives of President Donald Trump, local police officers and civilians in a mass shooting plot during the commander in chief's visit to the state last month. Travis Luke Dominguez faces an 11-count indictment that included two charges of threatening Trump and others. Each of the counts carries a possible prison term of 10 years in federal prison, according to the indictment obtained by Politico.

 

Trump lawyers anticipate Mueller interview request | 08 Jan 2018 | Lawyers for President Donald Trump are anticipating a request for the President to talk to special counsel Robert Mueller and are discussing how to define the parameters of any interview, according to sources with knowledge of the matter. The President's legal team has been preparing for the expected request for months. Trump's lawyers have said they are hoping for the investigation to wrap up quickly. However, the sources insisted there have been no substantive talks or active negotiations yet about a potential interview with the President.

 

Trump's attorney Michael Cohen is suing BuzzFeed for publishing the infamous Russian dossier; Fusion GPS also sued | 09 Jan 2018 | President Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen is suing BuzzFeed for publishing the infamous Russia dossier last year. The dossier, which alleged collusion between Trump staff including Cohen and Russian agents, was compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele. The ex-MI6 agent produced the file for Fusion GPS, a strategic intelligence firm which has links to the Clinton presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee...According to Bloomberg, Cohen is also suing Fusion GPS and their founder and former Wall Street Journal reporter [sic] Glenn Simpson.

 

Feinstein releases transcript of interview with Fusion GPS co-founder | 09 Jan 2018 | Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson, whose firm commissioned a controversial dossier alleging secret ties between President Donald Trump and the Kremlin, told congressional investigators in August that the FBI found the dossier credible because an unnamed "human source" associated with Trump had offered the bureau corroborating information. In a 312-page transcript of Simpson's August 2017 interview with the Senate Judiciary Committee, Simpson's attorney also said it was dangerous to discuss the dossier's sources because its public release last year had already led to murder. "Somebody's already been killed as a result of the publication of this dossier and no harm should come to anybody related to this honest work," said the lawyer, Joshua Levy.

 

GOP senators refer Trump dossier author for federal investigation | 06 Jan 2018 | Two top Republican senators have formally recommended that the Justice Department and FBI investigate the author of the controversial anti-Trump "dossier," in the first known criminal referral from Congress as part of lawmakers' Russia probes. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., made the referral in a Jan. 4-dated letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray...The dossier was authored by former British intelligence agent [Deep State dirt-bag] Christopher Steele, who was hired by opposition research firm Fusion GPS. In their brief letter, the GOP lawmakers cited potential violations for false statements "the Committee has reason to believe Mr. Steele made regarding his distribution of information contained in the dossier."

 

DOJ deal gives Nunes access to 'all' documents, witnesses sought in Russia probe, letter says | 05 Jan 2018 | House investigators will get access this week to "all remaining investigative documents" -- in unredacted form -- that they had sought as part of their Russia inquiry, under a deal between Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., according to a letter obtained by Fox News. The letter, from Nunes to Rosenstein, summarizes an "agreement" reached on a phone call Wednesday evening and also says key FBI and Justice Department witnesses in the probe will be provided for interviews later this month. The agreement comes after the DOJ and FBI faced a Wednesday deadline to comply, under the threat of new subpoenas and even contempt citations.

 

FBI launches new Clinton Foundation investigation | 04 Jan 2018 | The Justice Department has launched a new inquiry into whether the Clinton Foundation engaged in any pay-to-play politics or other illegal activities while Hillary Clinton served as Secretary of State, law enforcement officials and a witness tells The Hill. FBI agents from Little Rock, Ark., where the Foundation was started, have taken the lead in the investigation and have interviewed at least one witness in the last month, and law enforcement officials said additional activities are expected in coming weeks...The probe may also examine whether any tax-exempt assets were converted for personal or political use and whether the Foundation complied with applicable tax laws, the officials said.

 

FBI thought Clinton broke the law, drafted acquittal despite ongoing investigation - report | 04 Jan 2018 | The FBI believed Hillary Clinton and her aides broke the law by using an insecure server to email classified data, yet drafted an exonerating statement even before the probe was over, according to several Republican senators. The unnamed Republicans on key congressional committees looking into the Clinton probe have uncovered passages in FBI documents stating that large amount of classified data that passed through Clinton's private emails was proof of criminality, The Hill reported. By doing so, the lawmakers have confirmed and expanded on earlier reports in the US media.

 

Justice Department 'Looking Into' Hillary Clinton's Emails | 04 Jan 2018 | Justice Department officials are taking a fresh look at Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while she served as secretary of State, The Daily Beast has learned. An ally of Attorney General Jeff Sessions who is familiar with the thinking at the Justice Department's Washington headquarters described it as an effort to gather new details on how Clinton and her aides handled classified material. Officials' questions include how much classified information was sent over Clinton's server; who put that information into an unclassified environment, and how; and which investigators knew about these matters and when. The Sessions ally also said officials have questions about immunity agreements that Clinton aides may have made.

 

Congressional investigators find irregularities in FBI's handling of Clinton email case | 02 Jan 2018 | Republicans on key congressional committees say they have uncovered new irregularities and contradictions inside the FBI's probe of Hillary Clinton's email server. For the first time, investigators say they have secured written evidence that the FBI believed there was evidence that some laws were broken when the former secretary of State and her top aides transmitted classified information through her insecure private email server, lawmakers and investigators told The Hill. That evidence includes passages in FBI documents stating the "sheer volume" of classified information that flowed through Clinton's insecure emails was proof of criminality as well as an admission of false statements by one key witness in the case, the investigators said.

 

NYT: Clinton supporters donated $700K to help Trump accusers | 01 Jan 2018 | Prominent Democratic donors gave at least 700,000 to women's rights lawyer Lisa Bloom in the final stretch of the 2016 race as she sought to publicize sexual misconduct allegations against Donald Trump, according to The New York Times. American Bridge, a group associated with Democratic operative and Hillary Clinton ally David Brock, gave 200,00 to the effort, sources told the Times...

 

Tony Blair denies tipping off Trump to claim that GCHQ may have spied on him at the behest of Obama | 04 Jan 2018 | Tony Blair today furiously denied claims he warned Donald Trump's aides that British agents may have spied on them during the election at the behest of Obama administration. An explosive new book alleges that the former prime minister passed on the gossip during a visit to the White House last February as he was angling for a job as the US President's Middle East envoy. During the meeting with Mr Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and a senior aide, Mr Blair is reported to have shared a rumour that GCHQ spies were monitoring the communications of Trump campaign staff and perhaps the future president himself. But Mr Blair angrily denied the claims, made in a book by US journalist Michael Wolff, dismissing them as 'absurd' and a 'complete fabrication'.

 

Bannon steps down from Breitbart News | 09 Jan 2018 | Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon has stepped down as executive chairman of Breitbart News, the company announced Tuesday. The move comes after President Donald Trump gave a public rebuke of his former White House strategist in response to critical comments Bannon reportedly made about members of the Trump family and campaign.

 

Steve Bannon expresses 'regret' over Trump book claim | 07 Jan 2018 | Donald Trump's former chief strategist and confidant, Steve Bannon, has expressed "regret" over damaging claims made in controversial book Fire and Fury. Mr Bannon, who was sacked by the President in August, was quoted as saying a meeting between Mr Trump's son, Don Jr, and a group of Russians was "unpatriotic" and "treasonous" and that investigators would "crack Don Jr like an egg on national TV". But in a statement on Sunday, Mr Bannon called the claim "inaccurate". "I regret that my delay in responding to the inaccurate reporting regarding Don Jr has diverted attention from the president's historical accomplishments in the first year of his presidency," he told US-based Axios news website.

 

Trump lawyer sends cease-and-desist letter to Bannon - report | 03 Jan 2018 | President Trump's lawyers sent a cease-and-desist letter to former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon Wednesday ordering him to refrain from making "disparaging statement" about Trump and his family, according to a new report. ABC News reports the letter, from Trump attorney Charles Harder, accuses Bannon of breaching a non-disclosure agreement signed as part of working on Trump's campaign. Harder later said in a statement to ABC that the law firm "represents President Donald J. Trump and Donald J. Trump for President Inc." and issued legal notice to Bannon over his statements in Michael Wolff’s new book, "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House."

 

Judge rules against Trump administration on rescinding DACA | 09 Jan 2018 | A federal judge in San Francisco on Tuesday barred the Trump administration from turning back the Obama-era DACA program, which shielded more than 700,000 people from deportation, Reuters reported, citing the judge's ruling. Trump last year ended the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. He gave Congress until March to find a fix.

 

Trump Appears to Endorse Path to Citizenship for Millions of Immigrants | 09 Jan 2018 | President Trump on Tuesday appeared to endorse a sweeping immigration deal that would eventually grant millions of undocumented immigrants a pathway to citizenship, saying he would be willing to "take the heat" politically for an approach that many of his hard-line supporters have long viewed as unacceptable. The president made the remarks during an extended meeting with congressional Republicans and Democrats who are weighing a shorter-term agreement that would extend legal status for undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children. Mr. Trump has said such a deal must be accompanied by new mon-y for a border wall and measures to limit immigrants from bringing family members into the country in the future, conditions he repeated during the meeting on Tuesday.

 

Trump asks for $33B for border, including $18B for wall | 06 Jan 2018 | The Trump administration has revealed its master plan for securing the border -- and it's going to cost 33 billion. Of that total, 18 billion will be required for President Donald Trump's long-promised border wall, according to Customs and Border Protection documents obtained by CNN that were sent to lawmakers on Capitol Hill. The remaining 15 billion would cover technology, personnel and readiness, the document says.

 

Charges against rancher Cliven Bundy, three others are dismissed | 08 Jan 2018 | A federal judge dismissed all charges against rancher Cliven Bundy, his two sons and another man on Monday. U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro cited "flagrant prosecutorial misconduct" in her decision to dismiss all charges against the Nevada rancher and three others. Navarro on Dec. 20 declared a mistrial in the high-profile Bundy case. It was only the latest, stunning development in the saga of the Nevada rancher, and served as a repudiation of the federal government. Navarro accused prosecutors of willfully withholding evidence from Bundy’s lawyers, in violation of the federal Brady rule.

 

Gag me with a chainsaw: Utah's Hatch to retire, opening door to possible Romney run | 04 Jan 2018 | Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah said Tuesday that he will not seek re-election after serving more than 40 years in the Senate, opening the door for former GOP presidential nominee [Deep State dirt-bag] Mitt Romney to run for his seat. Hatch, 83, is the longest-serving Republican in the Senate.

 

The Dow Jones industrial average tops 25,000 for first time, continuing its history-making rise | 04 Jan 2018 | The closely watched Dow Jones industrial average topped 25,000 points for the first time Thursday, continuing a run that lifted stocks by more than 20 percent in 2017. The bellwether gauge crossed the historic milestone shortly after the start of the day's trading...The Dow passed the 20,000 threshold days after Trump took office then kept climbing, posting 71 record highs last year. It passed 24,000 on Nov. 30, making the latest 1,000-point run one of the fastest in its history.

 

James Damore sues Google, claims tech giant discriminates against white conservative men | 09 Jan 2018 | James Damore, the onetime Google employee who was fired after he wrote a memo criticizing the firm for pushing diversity, has filed a class action lawsuit against the tech giant. The suit was filed Monday in Santa Clara Superior Court. Damore is joined in the lawsuit by another former Google engineer, David Gudeman. "Damore, Gudeman, and other class members were ostracized, belittled, and punished for their heterodox political views, and for the added sin of their birth circumstances of being Caucasians and/or males," the lawsuit alleged.

 

NYU Hires 'White Genocide' Professor Who Said Massacre of Whites Was 'A Good Thing Indeed' | 03 Jan 2018 | Former Drexel University professor George Ciccariello-Maher resigned from his position just days ago only to be hired by New York University as a visiting scholar at their Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics. Ciccariello-Maher wrote Monday on Facebook: "I'm glad to announce that, starting today, I will be a Visiting Scholar at NYU's Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics. Happy New Year!" George Ciccariello-Maher made headlines last year after tweeting, "All I Want For Christmas is White Genocide."

 

Fire breaks out at Trump Tower in New York City, FDNY says | 08 Jan 2018 | Three people -- including one firefighter -- were injured when a fire broke out at Trump Tower in New York City on Monday, officials said. A small electrical fire started in the cooling tower on the roof of the Fifth Avenue high-rise, which was built by President Trump when he was a businessman, just before 7 a.m., the FDNY said. The flames were put out about an hour later. More than 126 firefighters responded to the scene.

 

Magnitude 7.6 quake strikes off Central America - USGS | 09 Jan 2018 | An earthquake of magnitude 7.6 struck near remote Caribbean Islands belonging to Honduras on Tuesday, sparking a tsunami warning for the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The quake rattled windows in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa roughly 323 miles (519 km) to the east, but no damage was immediately reported...The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said a tsunami advisory was in effect for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands after the earthquake and warned of possible waves up to 1 meter (3 feet) above tide level.

 

Southern California mudslides, flooding leave at least 13 dead in Montecito, highways closed | 09 Jan 2018 | At least 13 people were killed Tuesday after a powerful winter storm drenching Southern California sent mud, rocks and debris plummeting down wildfire-scarred hillsides and into several neighborhoods...Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown confirmed the deaths at a news conference Tuesday, in which he said the affected areas of the state "looked like a World War I battlefield." More people are believed to be dead, and at least 25 people were injured and others unaccounted for.

 

Snow in the Sahara Creates White-Capped Dunes of Eerie Beauty | 09 Jan 2018 | The orange dunes frosted with snow look at first as though they could be images from a frozen moon circling some distant planet. In fact, the rolling hills with the alien-looking white peaks were formed by a more earthly -- if unusual -- phenomenon: snow in the Sahara. According to news reports in Algeria, about 15 inches of snow fell on Sunday in the region of Ain Sefra, in the northwest of the country.

 

America on ice! Incredible aerial photos show freezing conditions across the northeast as cities dig out from 'bomb cyclone' while braving frigid temperatures | 06 Jan 2018 | The 'bomb cyclone', otherwise known as winter storm Grayson which dumped up to 18 inches of snow in parts of the Northeast on Thursday, has passed. But the remnants of the nor'easter has provided for stunning aerial photos as Americans from as far north as Maine to as far south as Georgia began to dig out from the storm on Friday. The Northeast was gripped Friday by freezing temperatures and wind chills that dropped to the single digits -- in some cases below zero...The snow and the freezing cold have been blamed for 21 deaths as well.

 

Florida sees snow for first time in 29 years | 04 Jan 2018 | Florida has seen its first snowfall in three decades as a rare winter storm hit the southeast of the US on Wednesday. The weather office in the sunshine state's capital Tallahassee measured 0.25cm (0.1ins) of snow on its roof, marking the first time it had experienced the white stuff since 1989. Five to eight centimetres (2-3ins) of snow were expected in northeast Florida, where there have been warnings of icy roads, power cuts and freezing temperatures. 

 

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