There’s not a lot of time to write today as I was called for jury duty yesterday and have to go back again today. It’s a controversial criminal case that aroused a lot of strong feelings, so out of almost 100 jurors, what was left after the judge disqualified those who declared they could not be fair was 24; that was before the attorneys got to make their strikes, and obviously that wasn’t enough for a jury. On a personal note, the crime was horrific, but so was (to me) how quickly the potential jurors had already decided the defendant was guilty before hearing a single piece of evidence.
That being said, on to today’s good news, before I have to get going.
Rail workers across France have gone on strike for the first day of a three-month rolling walkout, the latest and potentially biggest battle over labor laws in the country since President Emmanuel Macron took office last May promising to transform the jobs market.,
[...]
The French government has been trying to push through changes to labor laws for decades, with
one of the strongest drives coming in 1995. Then-Prime Minister Alain Juppe had proposed restructuring SNCF and raising the retirement age for train drivers.
He was forced to concede after the country's unions sent thousands to the streets in demonstrations and, in the minds of many, turned the protest movement into a battle for the soul of the country, winning widespread public support.
Hundreds of Oklahoma teachers filled the state Capitol for a second day Tuesday, demanding an additional $150 million in school funding and increased raises for themselves and support staff.
Their walkout comes days after the state approved some raises and school funding -- but only a fraction of what the teachers' union demanded.
So despite school cancellations and even the risk of discipline from some districts, teachers say they won't budge.
"We will hold the line until hell freezes over, and then we will be here on ice skates," Muskogee High School teacher Diane Walker said. "We love our kids."
After years, DHS admits there are stingrays:
For the first time, the U.S. government has publicly acknowledged the existence in Washington of what appear to be rogue devices that foreign spies and criminals could be using to track individual cellphones and intercept calls and messages.
The use of what are known as cellphone-site simulators by foreign powers has long been a concern, but American intelligence and law enforcement agencies — which use such eavesdropping equipment themselves — have been silent on the issue until now.
In a March 26 letter to Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, the Department of Homeland Security acknowledged that last year it identified suspected unauthorized cell-site simulators in the nation’s capital. The agency said it had not determined the type of devices in use or who might have been operating them. Nor did it say how many it detected or where.
We knew there were going to be lawsuits:
Eighteen state attorneys general and six cities sued the Census Bureau and the Commerce Department Tuesday over the Trump administration’s plan to add a citizenship question to the 2020 count of the nation’s population.
The census has not asked whether members of American households are U.S. citizens since 1950 but planned to in 2020 at the request of the Justice Department, which said it’s needed to properly enforce the Voting Rights Act.
IRA accounts deleted:
Facebook has removed more than 200 accounts and pages linked to the Internet Research Agency (IRA), a Russian company known for activating inauthentic accounts during the 2016 U.S. presidential race, in the social media giant’s latest effort to stem the spread of “fake news” on its platform.
The company deleted 135 Facebook and Instagram accounts and 138 Facebook Pages linked to the IRA that had reached a total of 1.5 million users, according to a blog post from Facebook’s Chief Security Officer Alex Stamos. The company also removed $167,000 worth of ads that had been purchased on both social networks, according to graphics released by Facebook.
“The IRA has repeatedly used complex networks of inauthentic accounts to deceive and manipulate people who use Facebook, including before, during and after the 2016 US presidential elections,” Stamos wrote in the blog post, adding that Facebook would “remove every account” linked to the organization.
Delete 3rd-party apps in bulk:
Amid increased pressure in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Facebook has released a new tool designed to help you more easily manage the third party apps that have access to your data.
Previously if you wanted to delete third-party apps from your Facebook page you had to delete them one by one. But now it's possible to delete them in bulk. Facebook confirmed the addition to Techcrunch Tuesday.
Things continue to look Stormy for Trump:
An attorney for an adult-film actress alleging an affair with President Donald Trump is asking the Treasury Department to release information it may have about a payment she received from the president's personal lawyer.
Stormy Daniels' attorney, Michael Avenatti, sent the letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Monday. He cites a Wall Street Journal report that said the bank used by Trump's lawyer raised concerns with the Treasury about the $130,000 payment.
Avenatti asked the department to make the information public. The payment came as part of a nondisclosure deal days before the 2016 presidential election.
No clear sailing for Manafort, either:
Special Counsel Robert Mueller filed court papers late Monday that showed he was authorized to investigate an allegation against Paul Manafort that is found in the infamous anti-Trump dossier.
Mr. Mueller’s filing disclosed for the first time a written authorization to investigate Mr. Manafort from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
Mr. Rosenstein cites unsourced “allegations” against Mr. Manafort, Mr. Trump’s former campaign manger, that he “committed a crime or crimes by colluding with Russian government officials with respect to the Russian government’s efforts to interfere with the 2016 election….”
Spending under review:
Top House Democrats are calling for hearings on whether the Trump administration has “adequate controls” to protect taxpayer money in light of recent “extravagant air travel” by cabinet members.
In a letter Tuesday to Republican Representative Trey Gowdy, who is chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Democratic congressmen Elijah Cummings and Raja Krishnamoorthi pointed out two Trump cabinet members as the latest examples of “questionable and expensive travel at the taxpayer expense.”
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spent nearly $1 million on eight trips on military aircraft between spring and fall 2017, while Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt’s flight to a summit in Italy cost more than $120,000, the letter cited.
ACA enrollment healthy:
A total of 11.8 million Americans signed up for Affordable Care Act health insurance for 2018, a drop of just 400,000 from the previous year despite widespread predictions that enrollment would plummet amid political and insurance industry turbulence surrounding the law.
The final figures, released Tuesday by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, show that the proportion of first-time customers for this year dipped slightly, from 31 percent to 27 percent, while the high proportion qualifying for government subsidies that help consumers afford their insurance premiums stayed level at 83 percent.
The enrollment total in the new federal report is identical to that from a compilation issued in February by an outside group, the National Academy for State Health Policy.
Another electoral win:
Liberal judge Rebecca Dallet’s runaway victory in a Wisconsin Supreme Court race cheered Democrats eager for more evidence their party is ready for a winning fall in midterm elections.
And Dallet’s hammering of conservative judge Michael Screnock on Tuesday prodded Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who had endorsed Screnock, to warn his fellow Republicans that more losses could be coming.
“Tonight’s results show we are at risk of a #BlueWave in WI,” Walker, who is up for re-election in November, tweeted. “Big government special interests flooded Wisconsin with distorted facts & misinformation. Next, they’ll target me and work to undo our bold reforms.”
Offshore wind for CA?:
A consortium of power and engineering firms are advancing on what could be the first wind farm off the coast of California, the project director said.
The Redwood Coast Energy Authority, a local government powers agency in northern California, said a selected a group of companies would help drive the development of a possible 100 to 150 megawatt floating wind farm off the coast of Humboldt County. Around 100 average households could be powered by 1 MW.
RCEA said the wind resources off the northern coast of California are the best in the state. If sanctioned, the project, which counts Norwegian offshore services company Aker Solutions and the North American subsidiary of Spanish energy company EDP Renewables as its partners, would be the first of its kind for the region.
Shelter the homeless or else:
A federal judge Tuesday pushed officials from Orange County cities to collaborate to find locations for temporary housing for the county's homeless population or risk an order from him barring them from enforcing anti-camping ordinances.
A hearing before U.S. District Judge David Carter came as pressure mounts for local governments to find ways to house hundreds of homeless people moved from encampments along the Santa Ana River trail and, most recently, the Santa Ana Civic Center.
"This doesn't have to be a nice thing," Carter said of temporary shelters. "It just has to be humane and dignified. That will probably get us through this crisis."
Bing (the search engine) adds a Fact-Check page. Check it out!
Sorry for the shortened list but I have work to do before I head back to jury duty, and I won’t be around much today if at all. Everyone have a great day and see you next week!