News You Can Use

[Joel]

Motel 6 Locations in Phoenix Were Sharing Guest Lists With ICE

A report yesterday noted that two Phoenix, Arizona Motel 6 locations had a habit of providing the names of their guests to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

The controversial guest-reporting method apparently led to at least 20 immigration-related arrests at the motels in question over the course of the past seven months. Quoted in the article is an unnamed front-desk clerk, who said:

We send a report every morning to ICE — all the names of everybody that comes in. Every morning at about 5 o’clock, we do the audit and we push a button and it sends it to ICE.

No employees were willing to speak on the record, however, and Motel 6’s corporate office–as well as their media department–ignored phone calls about the issue for “several weeks” before the story broke.

A local ICE spokesperson similarly demurred. Yasmeen Pitts O’Keefe, the agency’s Phoenix-area Public Affairs Officer, said, “I wouldn’t be able to confirm how we are getting our information. Those are investigative techniques that we wouldn’t be able to talk about.” O’Keefe then seemed to tip her hand, saying:

If hypothetically we were somewhere — if we did administratively arrest some folks — that happens all the time. We conduct targeted enforcement operations every day.

And, apparently the hints and suspicions were more or less right on the money. A report issued today confirms the guest-reporting activities of at least one Motel 6 location.

After the Phoenix New Times published the initial report yesterday, it ignited a massive backlash and firestorm online. Editorial cartoons were fierce and unforgiving. The ACLU got involved. Motel 6’s social media accounts drew unprecedented amounts of unchecked scorn. Pro-Trump commentators and conservatives celebrated giddily at the news that people’s names were being turned in to the feds.

After all that, Motel 6’s corporate office was prompted to respond–by confirming the report and disavowing the practice of turning guest information over to federal authorities. Via Twitter they wrote:

[mes5464]

In Amish Country, the Future Is Calling - The New York Times

The Amish have not given up on horse-drawn buggies. Their rigid abstinence from many kinds of technology has left parts of their lifestyle frozen since the 19th century: no cars, TVs or connections to electric utilities, for example.

But computers and cellphones are making their way into some Amish communities, pushing them — sometimes willingly, often not — into the 21st century.

Continue reading the main story
New technology has created fresh opportunities for prosperity among the Amish, just as it has for people in the rest of the world. A contractor can call a customer from a job site. A store owner’s software can make quick work of payroll and inventory tasks. A bakery can take credit cards.

[mes5464]

House goes to court to protect secrecy of records - POLITICO

An effort to fight a FOIA lawsuit for proposals on health care reform wins bipartisan backing.

[mes5464]

Town Leaders Seek to Make 'Selectwoman' the Official Title - NECN

There's a growing trend in language to be more inclusive by moving toward gender neutrality. A group of leaders in Brookline, Massachusetts, is bucking that trend in favor of female empowerment. 
Some people in the town, now the largest in the state, is looking to make the term "selectwomen" the norm. 
"Ever since the November election I've realized that titles and symbols really do matter," said Selectwoman Heather Hamilton. 
Brookline is now looking to explore the option of changing the board's name. 

[Joel]

[mes5464]

[mes5464]

News from The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- More than 1 million Americans await a hearing to see whether they qualify for disability benefits from Social Security, with the average wait nearly two years - longer than some of them will live.

All have been denied benefits at least once, as most applications are initially rejected. But in a system where the outcome of a case often depends on who decides it, most people who complete the appeals process will eventually win benefits. The numbers come from data compiled by the Social Security Administration.

[mes5464]

New Segregation Signs Pop Up in Leftist Establishments | Trending

Screen-Shot-2017-09-16-at-10.40.58-PM.sized-770x415x0x58x519x280.png (157.23 KiB) Viewed 639 times

A long, long time ago, Democrats had a lot of fun with signs. They posted them everywhere — on drinking fountains, in restaurants, in clothing stores, you name it. There was a sign for every scenario for telling people with dark skin color what to do and where to go. These Democrats, like Bull Connor, just loved their signs. Those signs made sure that "colored" people knew their place — which was far away from the white Democrats who hated them. Those same Democrats turned fire hoses and dogs on the black Republicans (like Martin Luther King Jr.) who dared confront them on their bigotry and hatred. Those black Republicans marched with white Christian abolitionists (also Republicans) to end the evil scourge of racism in this nation. Yet, over time, the Democrats have successfully whitewashed their involvement with their deeply racist past. They managed to blame it on Republicans (as usual) and Republicans haven't been smart enough to fight the myth, even though the majority of the opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was overwhelmingly Democrat. But that's old news.

[mes5464]

After single payer failed, Vermont embarks on a big health care experiment - The Washington Post

ENOSBURG FALLS, Vt. — Doug Greenwood lifted his shirt to let his doctor probe his belly, scarred from past surgeries, for tender spots. Searing abdominal pain had landed Greenwood in the emergency room a few weeks earlier, and he’d come for a follow-up visit to Cold Hollow Family Practice, a big red barnlike building perched on the edge of town.

After the appointment was over and his blood was drawn, Greenwood stayed for an entirely different exam: of his life. Anne-Marie Lajoie, a nurse care coordinator, began to map out Greenwood’s financial resources, responsibilities, transportation options, food resources and social supports on a sheet of paper. A different picture began to emerge of the 58-year-old male patient recovering from diverticulitis: Greenwood had moved back home, without a car or steady work, to care for his mother, who suffered from dementia. He slept in a fishing shanty in the yard, with a baby monitor to keep tabs on his mother.

[Sunain]

Nearly 2 million acres of land are burning across the US in one of the worst fire seasons we've ever seen

Almost 2 million acres of land — an area nearly the size of Rhode Island and Delaware combined — are currently aflame, according to the September 14 daily report by the National Interagency Fire Center. There are more than 100 active wildfires and at least 41 uncontained large blazes, battled by more than 25,000 responders, the National Guard, and half a battalion of active-duty soldiers.

It's been a horrible year here for air quality in Vancouver. The smog and smoke mixed with the abnormally hot and dry temperatures to make it the worst year that I've lived out here. It's been made worse with the smoke coming up from Washington and Oregon as its combining with the fire here.

I think that picture above says everything about the attitudes of people in North America currently.

[mes5464]

Brown University will offer segregated student dinners for black, Muslim students - The College Fix

University will host dinners as part of ‘racial reconciliation’ program

To promote “racial reconciliation” after the deadly clashes between white nationalists and counterprotesters in Charlottesville last month, Brown University plans to offer segregated events to its black students and female Muslim students.

The university received a $30,000 grant from the Association of American Colleges and Universities, which represents liberal arts schools, to create a campus center whose mission is to “break down racial hierarchies and create a positive narrative about race in the community,” according to The Brown Daily Herald.

[mes5464]

Deutsche Bank: "Global Asset Prices Are The Most Elevated In History" | Zero Hedge

In an extensive report published this morning by Deutsche Bank's Jim Reid, the credit strategist looks at the "Next Financial Crisis", and specifically what may cause it, when it may happen, and how the world could respond assuming it still has means to counteract the next economic and financial crash. While we will have much more to say on this study in upcoming posts, we wanted to bring readers' attention to one observation made by Reid, namely that "we’re in a period of very elevated global asset prices – possibly the most elevated in aggregate through history."

[mes5464]

Dallas schools to consider new monikers for buildings named after Franklin, Jefferson, Madison - The College Fix

This past Thursday, the Dallas Independent School District School Board took up the matter of renaming some of its schools, identifying 21 with “some sort of Confederate tie.”

Superintendent Michael Hinojosa noted four schools were “priorities”: William L. Cabell, Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and Albert Sidney Johnston.

[mes5464]

AI that can tell you how to vote - 'Nigel' knows what's best for you - Computer Business Review

Scientists from Kimera Systems have developed a robot that will be able to help users make political decisions.

The robot named ‘Nigel’ uses artificial intelligence (AI) to become aware of its user’s life and utilise the information by offering advice to user’s including how to vote.

Unlike other AI robots Nigel programmes itself as it goes, rather than teach itself how to perform and effectively carry out tasks. It works solely on how the user is themselves, for example if they offer traits of a left wing supporter he will adapt to that life style.

However, Nigel will offer alternative advice if it thinks that certain aspects of the user ‘don’t add up’ based on different algorithms from its system, prompting them to make a different decision. The robot is described as the first human like artificial intelligence to date.

[mes5464]

Chicago Records 500th Homicide for 2017: Report - NBC Chicago

Chicago has reached a bloody milestone amid a particularly deadly weekend that saw at least 10 people killed and 31 others wounded in shootings across the city.
The weekend killings lifted the city to more than 500 homicides for the year so far, according to data from the Chicago Tribune. 
Chicago police said that as of Sunday evening 490 homicides had been reported for the year, but the department's statistics don't include killings on area expressways, police-involved shootings, self-defense killings or death investigations.
Last year, which became of Chicago's bloodiest in decades, the city recorded its 500th homicide in late-August. 

[mes5464]

UC Berkeley professors urge campus boycott during ‘Free Speech Week’ - SFGate

At UC Berkeley, 177 professors and graduate students have signed an open letter urging thousands of colleagues and classmates to boycott campus for four days this month to ensure their “physical and mental safety.”
The strongly worded letter, titled “Boycott the Alt-Right @UCBerkeley,” asks that students, instructors and employees cancel classes, close buildings and “not penalize students who are afraid to come to campus” from Sept. 24 to 27.

[mes5464]

Students offered extra credit to determine their level of ‘white privilege’ - The College Fix

Students in a sociology class at San Diego State University can earn extra credit if they take a quiz to determine their level of “white privilege.”

Professor Dae Elliott offered the option to her sociology class students, a “White Privilege Checklist” that includes 20 questions that aim to illustrate that “racial privilege is one form of privilege.”

[mes5464]

Japan's over-90 population soars over two million mark as birth rate continues to decline | The Independent

The number of Japanese aged over 90 has passed two million for the first time, according to the latest government data.

The figure has doubled from 1.02 million in 2004 to 2.06 million.

The total number of elderly Japanese - over 65s - comes to 35.14 million, accounting for 27.7% of the population.

[mes5464]

Finland’s Welfare State Has a Massive Baby Problem - Bloomberg

You know you've got a problem when even the best don't have the solution.

Finland, a first-rate place in which to be a mother, has registered the lowest number of newborns in nearly 150 years. The birth rate has been falling steadily since the start of the decade, and there's little to suggest a reversal in the trend. 

Demographics are a concern across the developed world, of course. But they are particularly problematic for countries with a generous welfare state, since they endanger its long-term survival.

[mes5464]

If you want to understand what the above two articles are talking about watch this documentary from BYU.

[mes5464]

Super-strong robots that 'make the Terminator look puny' are on the way after development of artificial muscle that can lift 1,000 times its own weight

Boffins use 3D printing to make fake muscle that's 15 times stronger than human tissue. Now they want to attach it to artificial intelligence to create a VERY scary machine

[mes5464]

Climate change not as threatening to planet as previously thought, new research suggests

Climate change poses less of an immediate threat to the planet than previously thought because scientists got their modelling wrong, a new study has found. New research by British scientists reveals the world is being polluted and warming up less quickly than 10-year-old forecasts predicted, giving countries more time to get a grip on their carbon output.

An unexpected “revolution” in affordable renewable energy has also contributed to the more positive outlook.

Experts now say there is a two-in-three chance of keeping global temperatures within 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels, the ultimate goal of the 2015 Paris Agreement.

[mes5464]

The Federal Reserve is setting America up for economic disaster | TheHill

As an entrepreneur who owns real assets — real estate, spectrum licenses, and a publishing library, among others — I was able to benefit, at least on paper, from the Fed’s asset inflation strategy. I have been able to refinance my debt at attractive rates, and seen asset prices (but not necessarily values) climb. But others, especially workers (who derive the bulk of their income from salary instead of capital appreciation) and savers (retirees living on a fixed income), have lost under this post-recession scheme.

Workers lost because their spending power diluted drastically over the past ten years. The costs of housing and energy have continued to rise in areas where the highest concentrations of jobs are located. For example, a young college graduate who wants to earn a high salary in the tech industry has to live in Silicon Valley, where even a base salary of $100,000 won’t enable them to afford to purchase a home there. Home prices are so out of line with average salaries that cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles are seeing an epidemic of homelessness never experienced since the Great Depression of 1929.

[mes5464]

Massive Arctic Ice Gain Over The Past Five Years | The Deplorable Climate Science Blog

Arctic sea ice extent is up 40% from this date five years ago.

[mes5464]

Antifa leader hopes for ‘dead cops,’ while teaching cops for a living | TheHill

We’ve all heard that fact sometimes is stranger than fiction, correct? Well, hold on to your hat, dear reader, because the following facts make strange look boring.

Meet Michael Isaacson. Isaacson has at least two claims to fame. First, he is one of the founders of Smash Racism DC, a self-styled anti-fascist (“antifa”) organization in Washington, D.C. Secondly, he is an adjunct professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, which is a New York public college.

There need not be any conflict between Isaacson’s two pursuits. But, here’s the twist: John Jay College is a certified New York City Police Academy, and it trains “all newly hired and active members of [the New York Police Department.]”
 

And Isaacson, a John Jay faculty member, tweeted in late August: “Some of y’all might think it sucks being an anti-fascist teaching at John Jay College but I think it’s a privilege to teach future dead cops.”