Category Archives: Profiteering

Journalists blocked from event where Trump′s in-laws seek Chinese investors | News | DW.COM | 07.05.2017

Journalists were barred Sunday from a publicly advertised event in Shanghai aimed at luring Chinese investors into a US real estate project tied to the family of President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, in exchange for immigrant visas.The project – a two-tower luxury apartment complex known as One Journal Square in Jersey City, New Jersey,  just 3 miles (5 km) from Manhattan – is being pursued by the KABR Group and the Kushner Companies, which until recently was led by senior White House adviser Jared Kushner, the husband of Trump’s oldest daughter, Ivanka.The developers are trying to raise $150 million (135 million euros), or 15 percent of funding for the project. To sweeten the deal the developers are offering investors EB-5 immigrant visas in exchange, according to marketing material by the event’s organizer – the Qiaowai immigration agency.The controversial EB-5 visa program effectively allows wealthy foreigners to buy US immigration visas for themselves and their families by investing at least $500,000 in certain development projects.”Sorry, this is a private event,” said a man stopping journalists from entering a function room on Sunday afternoon at the Four Seasons Hotel in Shanghai.

Source: Journalists blocked from event where Trump′s in-laws seek Chinese investors | News | DW.COM | 07.05.2017

Donald Trump staffers copied classified documents and removed them from secured room | 3CHICSPOLITICO

The only way Trump’s transition team could have thought it was okay to act in such a manner was if they’d gotten the signal from Donald Trump himself that it was all perfectly fine. It’s not even clear from the AP story if these documents were being photocopied so they could be stolen and sold, or if the Trump staffers just thought it was okay to photocopy classified documents and take them home for further reading. This is what Trump’s administration is built on – and it can’t be scapegoated on any particular disgraced former team members.

Source: Donald Trump staffers copied classified documents and removed them from secured room | 3CHICSPOLITICO

In Rare Unity, Hospitals, Doctors and Insurers Criticize Health Bill – The New York Times “Pro-Death is now GOP’s trademark!”

The overriding concern — for insurers, many workers and officials throughout the health care systems in many states — is the broad reductions proposed for Medicaid. Even for insurers that have largely abandoned the individual market, like UnitedHealth Group and Aetna, a substantial portion of their business is providing coverage under Medicaid. The same is true for many local nonprofit plans, said Ceci Connolly, the chief executive of the Alliance of Community Health Plans.Employers and others said they were also concerned about the effects on freelancers, who do not have a traditional employer but are self-employed or contract workers in the so-called gig economy.Depending on their income, those workers have shuttled between Medicaid and the individual insurance market under the federal health care law, which offered a greater level of stability, said Nell Abernathy, vice president for research and policy at the Roosevelt Institute, a left-leaning economic research organization.“A huge swath of Americans are in insecure work arrangements,” she said. “This repeals that level of security, which was not perfect, but it was a step in the right direction.”Small businesses, which were sharply divided over the original law, remained mixed in their response to the Republican bill, and there seemed little doubt that some companies would drop coverage in the absence of any penalty. The National Federation of Independent Business, which opposed the Affordable Care Act, said the House legislation was “a crucial first step toward health care reform.”In other people’s view, employees of small businesses would lose out if Medicaid were rolled back or the exchanges became threadbare, because many smaller companies rely on employees’ ability to obtain coverage through the government program or individual market.

Sandy Hook father Lenny Pozner on death threats: ‘I never imagined I’d have to fight for my child’s legacy’ | US news | The Guardian

Earlier this year, the Newtown school board sent Trump a letter, asking him to denounce Alex Jones and the other Sandy Hook hoaxers, and to state definitively that Sandy Hook happened: “Jones repeatedly tells his listeners and viewers that he has your ears and your respect. He brags about how you called him after your victory in November. He continues to hurt the memories of those lost, the ability of those left behind to heal,” the school’s board wrote. Two months on, they have yet to receive a response.

Source: Sandy Hook father Lenny Pozner on death threats: ‘I never imagined I’d have to fight for my child’s legacy’ | US news | The Guardian

Workers at Chinese factory making clothing for Ivanka Trump’s brand earn just $1 an hour: Shanghaiist

Ivanka Trump is continuing to be criticized for failing to live up to her father’s creedo of “Buy American, Hire American” after an audit revealed the poor conditions present at a Chinese factory that manufactures clothes for her personal fashion line.The 80 workers at the Chinese factory work nearly 60 hours a week while making only $62 for their efforts, according to a Fair Labor Association report released on Monday that was based on an independent audit of the factory carried out last October, just before Ivanka’s dad won the US Presidential election.Workers at the factory are contracted to make clothes for the New York-based G-III Apparel Group which has an exclusive license to manufacture Ivanka Trump-branded dresses, blouses and other clothing items. Auditors discovered some two-dozen violations of international labor standards during a two-day tour of the factory.In order to meet manufacturing targets, workers at the factory worked anywhere from 42 to 82 hours of overtime per month, far exceeding the legal limit in China of 36 overtime hours per month. Meanwhile, workers made between 1,879 to 2,088 yuan a month, which would fall below minimum wage in some parts of China. The report does not state the name of the factory or its location.

Source: Workers at Chinese factory making clothing for Ivanka Trump’s brand earn just $1 an hour: Shanghaiist

For Indians, Trump’s America Is a Land of Lost Opportunity – The New York Times

Generations of Indians have admired the United States for almost everything. But many are infuriated and unnerved by what they see as a wave of racist violence under President Trump, souring America’s allure.The reaction is not just anger and anxiety. Now, young Indians who have aspired to study, live and work in the United States are looking elsewhere.“We don’t know what might happen to us while walking on the street there,” said Kanika Arora, a 20-year-old student in Mumbai who is reconsidering her plan to study in the United States. “They might just think that we’re terrorists.”

Satirical news show censored by Apple in Hong Kong and Taiwan – IFEX – Nothing personal, just profits before freedom of speech and thought

Since 2013, Apple has started taking down apps – including banned books and circumvention tools – from its China iTunes store in order to comply with local laws. In June 2016, China tightened its control over mobile applications with the introduction of Provisions on the Administration of Mobile Internet Application Information Service. These regulations outlaw applications that spread rumors and information deemed harmful to national security. In January 2017, The New York Times was taken down from the Apple iTunes Store because of such provisions. However, the newspaper’s app remains available in the Hong Kong and Taiwan versions of the store. In the letter to Cook, Chappell stressed that while he is aware of the restrictions in China, the management of Apple’s Hong Kong and Taiwan app stores should be different: No doubt, China Uncensored likely falls under some of mainland China’s dubious legal categories such as: Undermining national unity Spreading rumors Disrupting social order There is no point in disputing your app store decision with respect to mainland China… but Hong Kong and Taiwan are not ruled by the Chinese Communist Party. They are regions that operate under independent legal systems. China Uncensored launched a petition on April 4, urging its viewers and supporters to tell Apple to “uncensor” the China Uncensored app from its Hong Kong and Taiwan app stores. As at the time of this story’s publication, more than 5,800 people had signed.

Source: Satirical news show censored by Apple in Hong Kong and Taiwan – IFEX

Energy Fuels Completes Drilling Near Grand Canyon – Intercontinental Cry

Havasupai council member Carletta Tilousi previously stated, “The Canyon Mine not only threatens the Havasupai people and land but, potentially all Colorado River users downriver including Las Vegas and Los Angeles. The Havasupai Tribe, guardians of the Grand Canyon, are under attack and request your support and prayers to protect the Grand Canyon from mining for uranium for use in nuclear reactors for the benefit of the US and the profit of the dying nuclear industry.”Red Butte is a sacred site and designated as a traditional cultural property, Canyon Mine is located within the sacred site’s established boundaries.Red Butte, sacred Site under attackThe Havasupai Nation & environmental groups have pending lawsuits against the Forest Service and Energy Fuels regarding threats to the sacred site and violations of the NEPA process. A decision is expected any day.If Energy Fuels is permitted to proceed, up to 25 trucks hauling up to 30 tons of highly radioactive ore per day could be barrelling down small roads and highways through Arizona. The ore would travel through towns such as Valle, Williams, and Flagstaff; through Navajo reservation communities including Cameron, Tuba City, and Kayenta; near the Hopi reservation; and finally arrive at Energy Fuel’s White Mesa Mill only three miles from the Ute Mountain Ute tribal community of White Mesa, Utah.The Navajo Nation has a law that restricts transport of radioactive materials, including uranium ore, “over, under or across Navajo Indian Country”; however, Navajo does not have jurisdiction over the state roads of the haul route. The Navajo Nation has already been devastated by 523 abandoned uranium mines and 22 wells that have been closed by the EPA due to high levels of radioactive pollution

Source: Energy Fuels Completes Drilling Near Grand Canyon – Intercontinental Cry

Inoreader – Friday Open Thread | The Man Who Broke America – True This: McConnell is a first class traitor!

By rights, McConnell’s tombstone should say that he presided over the end of the Senate. And I’d add a second line: “He broke America.” No man has done more in recent years to undermine the functioning of U.S. government. His has been the epitome of unprincipled leadership, the triumph of tactics in service of short-term power.After McConnell justified his filibuster-ending “nuclear option” by saying it would be beneficial for the Senate, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said this: “Whoever says that is a stupid idiot.”McConnell is no idiot. He is a clever man who does what works for him in the moment, consequences be damned.McConnell is a vile man. He’s a traitor to this country.I don’t fault President Obama for much….but, I do fault him for believing in any way, that Mitch McConnell is a patriot, when, in fact, he made the decision, on January 20, 2009, in the midst of the greatest economic downtown since the Great Depression, to commit ECONOMIC TREASON against this country, by refusing to help President Obama bring this country out of that darkness. He didn’t help. He didn’t lift one finger to help this country recover.

Source: Inoreader – Friday Open Thread | The Man Who Broke America

Flagship carrier Air China ‘to suspend flights to Pyongyang from Monday’ | South China Morning Post – How stupid can stupid be? With #TraitorTrump, there is no limit, it seems.

Air China, the only Chinese carrier with regular services to North Korea, will suspend flights between Beijing and Pyongyang from Monday, China Central Television reported on Friday.No reason was given for the suspension but flights between the two countries have been put on hold in the past due to lack of passengers.The announcement came hours after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that a conflict over North Korea could break out “at any moment”.“Lately, tensions have risen … and one has the feeling that a conflict could break out at any moment,” Wang said. “If a war occurs, the result is a situation in which everybody loses and there can be no winner.”Wang’s pointed assessment followed US President Donald Trump’s statement that the North Korea problem “will be taken care of”, as speculation mounts that the reclusive state could be preparing another nuclear or missile test.

Source: Flagship carrier Air China ‘to suspend flights to Pyongyang from Monday’ | South China Morning Post