Alright, once again, time for the good news.
James Shaw Jr. cried at least four times Sunday after a tragic morning where he wrestled a gun away from a shooter at an Antioch Waffle House.
The shooting left four dead and injured numerous others.
The first time Shaw Jr. cried was in an ambulance at 4 a.m. while he was transported to the hospital for a gunshot wound. One of the paramedics asked Shaw Jr. questions while checking his blood pressure.
Admittedly starting on a dire note this morning, another senseless shooting, this time at a Tennessee Waffle house. But many more might have died if not for the bravery of this young man. God bless you Mr. Shaw, you are a real American Hero.
Mitt Romney did not win the Utah Republican Party's nomination on Saturday, meaning he must compete in a June primary election as he seeks to replace retiring US Sen. Orrin Hatch.
After a wild and raucous day of voting at the Utah GOP convention, the former Massachusetts governor and 2012 Republican presidential nominee was unable to win the 60% that he needed to head to the November ballot unopposed. When none of the 12 candidates were able to cross that threshold, the party continued with successive rounds of caucus voting until one candidate reached 40%.
On the second round of voting, Utah state representative Mike Kennedy emerged in the lead with 50.88%. Romney came in a close second with 49.12%.
Romney and Kennedy will now compete in a primary set for June 26.
Looks like another long standing Republican is on the chopping block, a further sign of the GOP’s present disarray. If we won in Alabama, we can win in Utah. Lets use this.
Now, the bond between the president and his self-proclaimed fixer is under much more punishing pressure: a wide-ranging criminal investigation into Cohen’s business dealings and actions he took to quash negative stories about Trump during the 2016 campaign.
The outcome – and Cohen’s response to the investigation – could determine the fate of both men, who have relied heavily on each other for years.
Both men have sent public signals in recent days that their relationship remains steady, with Trump describing a federal raid on Cohen’s offices and home as a “disgrace” and calling his attorney to check on him.
But associates of Trump and Cohen say that Cohen, with his deep knowledge of Trump’s personal and financial life, could seek to cut a deal with prosecutors at a moment when Trump’s business dealings are facing scrutiny related to the separate inquiry by special counsel Robert Mueller III into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Trump’s former attorney Jay Goldberg, who has talked about the matter with the president, said that if Cohen faces jail time, he would be under extraordinary pressure from his family “to say what he believes the government wants to hear.”
In tweets Saturday, Trump rejected speculation that Cohen would turn against him. Citing a New York Times report on the issue, the president wrote that he “always liked & respected” Cohen, adding: “Most people will flip if the Government lets them out of trouble, even if it means lying or making up stories. Sorry, I don’t see Michael doing that despite the horrible Witch Hunt and the dishonest media!”
Cohen declined to comment for this story, as did the White House.
Yeah, keep telling yourself that Donny. Cohen is gonna sing like a canary and help Mueller take you down.
AT&T and Verizon don't want to let you out of their grasps.
So much so, in fact, that they may have colluded to make it harder for you to switch cellphone carriers.
So reports The New York Times, which notes that the Justice Department is investigating the two companies for possibly working together to stifle a technology known as eSIM. If deployed, eSIM would make it easier for people to jump from provider to provider — no new physical SIM card required — potentially leaving AT&T or Verizon behind in the process.
The Justice Department is also looking into G.S.M.A., a mobile communications industry group, for potentially playing a role in the as-of-yet unconfirmed scheme.
A Verizon spokesperson told the paper that this is all just "a difference of opinion with a couple of phone equipment manufacturers regarding the development of eSIM standards.”
An AT&T spokesperson told The New York Times that it was “aware of the investigation.”
Well, this has the potential to be big.
And of course, I have to lead off with a Net Neutrality story. I want to keep peoples hopes up because today is the day the Net Neutrality rules officially get ruled back, so if you aren’t living in one of the stats pursuing their own Net Neutrality laws, your internet might get hairy in the coming months. Keep strong and keep resisting.
If you do live in one of those states that are pursuing Net Neutrality laws, congratulations, and a special congratulations to my readers in Vermont (If any). Why?
Vermont’s attorney general would be instructed to determine whether internet service providers in the state follow net neutrality standards, under an amended bill passed by the House.
That version of legislation passed by the Senate, S.289, also would require the Attorney General’s Office to make that information available to consumers by posting it on a website.
The measure also calls for a joint study by that office and the Department of Public Service to determine whether Vermont should put net neutrality rules for internet providers in place in the future.
S.289’s passage in the House marks the latest effort by lawmakers and state officials to address net neutrality in Vermont after the FCC decided last December to roll back Obama-era regulations restricting internet companies from prioritizing certain web traffic.
This month, an executive order addressing the subject that was issued by Gov. Phil Scott in February went into effect. It requires internet companies that do business with the state to abide by net neutrality principles.
The order prevents providers who obtain state contracts from blocking content, engaging in paid prioritization of internet services or acting to “throttle, impair or degrade lawful Internet traffic on the basis of Internet content, application, or service.”
While the House’s version of S.289 could give consumers the ability to make informed decisions when choosing internet providers and encourage the state to consider future regulations, the legislation transforms the Senate’s original proposal.
Like Scott’s executive order, the version of S.289 the Senate passed in February would require internet service providers to certify compliance with net-neutrality provisions as a precondition for winning state contracts.
But the Senate’s bill was stricter than the executive order and did not include a provision allowing state agencies to request a waiver if they believe bypassing the rules is in the state’s interest.
So congrats to Vermont. I saw a lot of painicky Net Neutrality posts saying “We need one more vote in senate to save Net Neutrality.’ But I knew those were a fools errand. The war for Net Neutrality will be fought and won on the state level, maybe after November, provided the Blue Wave succeeds and we retake the house and senate, then Net Neutrality can be protected on the federal level, till then, the states will have to pick up the slack.
Anyways, that’s all for today. Have a good morning all.