babylonsister
babylonsister's JournalDoes New Speaker of the House Mike Johnson Have a Bank Account?
https://www.thedailybeast.com/does-new-speaker-of-the-house-mike-johnson-have-a-bank-account?ref=home
Does New Speaker of the House Mike Johnson Have a Bank Account?
Speaker Mike Johnson has never listed a bank account on his financial disclosure. In fact, on his newest disclosure he doesnt list a single asset at all.
Roger Sollenberger
Senior Political Reporter
Published Nov. 01, 2023 4:50AM EDT
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Over the course of seven years, Johnson has never reported a checking or savings account in his name, nor in the name of his wife or any of his children, disclosures show. In fact, he doesnt appear to have money stashed in any investments, with his latest filingcovering 2022showing no assets whatsoever.
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House Ethics Committee filing guidelines state that members must disclose bank accounts they have at every financial institution, as long as the account holds at least $1,000 and the combined value of all accountsincluding those belonging to their spouse and dependent childrenexceeds $5,000.
The rules cover all interest-bearing, cash-deposit accounts at banks, credit unions, and savings and loan associations, including checking, savings, and money market accounts, along with certificates of deposit and individual retirement funds, or IRAs. (Johnson reported receiving a $10,485.53 distribution from a New York Life IRA in 2017, his first year in office, possibly from a retirement account he had listed the previous year.)
Its certainly not uncommon for Americans to have less than $5,000 in their bank account. Most Americans57 percentcouldnt handle an unexpected $1,000 expense, according to a report earlier this year. And the median amount that Americans keep in their bank account is $5,300. But Johnsons household income puts him in the top 12 percent of earners in the United States. And its extraordinarily rare for members of Congress to not list a qualifying bank accountlet alone zero assets whatsoever.
The Daily Beast reached out to Johnsons office for comment but did not receive a reply.
Court arguments on blocking Trump from the presidential ballot under the 'insurrection' clause begin
Court arguments on blocking Trump from the presidential ballot under the insurrection clause begin
by NICHOLAS RICCARDI, Associated Press - 10/30/23 7:23 AM ET
DENVER (AP) The campaign to use the U.S. Constitutions insurrection clause to bar former President Donald Trump from running for the White House again enters a new phase this week as hearings begin in two states on lawsuits that might end up reaching the U.S. Supreme Court.
A weeklong hearing on one lawsuit to bar Trump from the ballot in Colorado begins Monday, while on Thursday oral arguments are scheduled before the Minnesota Supreme Court on an effort to kick the Republican former president off the ballot in that state.
Whether the judges keep Trump on the ballot or boot him, their rulings are likely to be swiftly appealed, eventually to the U.S. Supreme Court. The nations highest court has never ruled on the Civil War-era provision in the 14th Amendment that prohibits those who swore an oath to uphold the constitution and then engaged in insurrection against it from holding higher office.
Weve had hearings with presidential candidates debating their eligibility before Barack Obama, Ted Cruz, John McCain, said Derek T. Muller, a Notre Dame law professor, listing candidates challenged on whether they met the constitutional requirement of being a natural born citizen. But these cases, Muller added, are different, using an obscure clause of the Constitution with the incendiary bar against insurrection.
Even if theyre long shots, Muller said, they have a plausible legal path to success and raise important issues.
more...
https://thehill.com/homenews/ap/ap-politics/ap-court-arguments-begin-in-effort-to-bar-trump-from-presidential-ballot-under-insurrection-clause/
Mike Johnson Backs Changing 'Motion to Vacate' Rule
https://politicalwire.com/2023/10/29/mike-johnson-backs-changing-motion-to-vacate-rule/Mike Johnson Backs Changing Motion to Vacate Rule
October 29, 2023 at 3:05 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard
Said Johnson :Everyones here in good faith and everyone has told me that that rule has to change.
He added: Im not afraid of it because Im going to openly work transparently and work with every member and everyone will be will fully understand what were doing and why.
Donald Trump Attacks Judge Who Ruled Ivanka Must Testify In New York Trial
Well, someone seems unhinged...
https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-attacks-judge-who-ruled-ivanka-trump-must-testify-in-new-york-trial?ref=home
Donald Trump Attacks Judge Who Ruled Ivanka Must Testify In New York Trial
DADDYS NOT HAPPY
Decca Muldowney
Reporter-Researcher
Updated Oct. 28, 2023 5:39PM EDT /
Published Oct. 28, 2023 5:32PM EDT
digby: Mike Johnson isn't just a religious extremist
https://digbysblog.net/2023/10/27/mike-johnson-isnt-just-a-religious-extremist/Mike Johnson isnt just a religious extremist
Published by digby on October 27, 2023
Hes an anti-immigrant zealot too
Greg Sargent writes about the new Speakers extreme views on immigration:
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On immigration, as well as on abortion and gay rights, Johnsons elevation is a triumph for the far right. It has been widely noted that Johnson doesnt come across as a MAGA bomb-thrower, despite his extreme views. Thats true on immigration, too: He voices high-minded platitudes about how providing asylum to the persecuted is a noble ideal, but hes a big booster of the wildly radical House GOP border bill that would functionally gut asylum entirely.
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That someone with these views now controls the Houses agenda bodes badly. Johnson has already declared that a top priority is fixing our broken border. Julián Castro, a former member of President Barack Obamas Cabinet, anticipates Republican efforts to shut down the government to force Democrats to remake the asylum system in the MAGA cults image.
Congressional Republicans have long been split between establishment figures who favor compromise reforms (legalization of many undocumented immigrants in exchange for border security) and those who see migration as a wholly destructive force, an invasion to be rebuffed via mass deportations, an effective end to asylum and maximal border militarization. As Johnsons new and very powerful leadership position reveals, the latter forces have decisively won.
You dont have to be a loud mouth to be a demagogue. You can do it even more successfully in a quit soothing voice while mouthing Christian platitudes.
White House announces push to convert empty commercial buildings to housing
White House announces push to convert empty commercial buildings to housing
by Brett Samuels - 10/27/23 6:00 AM ET
The Biden administration on Friday announced federal financing and other incentives designed to convert high-vacancy commercial buildings in downtown spaces around the country into residential use in an attempt to increase housing supply.
Administration officials said office space vacancies have hit a 30-year high, while housing costs remain high for millions of Americans and there is a shortage of affordable housing units.
Lael Brainard, director of the National Economic Council, said on a call with reporters that converting empty commercial buildings into residential use represents a win-win opportunity to simultaneously revitalize downtown areas with unused office space while increasing affordable housing units.
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The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is releasing new guidance on how the Community Development Block Ground fund can be used to boost housing supply, while the Department of Transportation is releasing guidance to make it easier for transit agencies to transfer properties that are no longer needed, such as underutilized storage facilities that could be converted to affordable housing.
more...
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/4278387-white-house-converting-commercial-buildings-housing/
Powell declares her plea deal was extorted.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/24/2201422/-Powell-declares-her-plea-deal-was-extortedPowell declares her plea deal was extorted.
Tuesday, October 24, 2023 at 7:34:23p EDT
shmuelman
It didnt even take a week...
When asked if anyone has forced, threatened or promised her anything in exchange for her guilty plea, Powell responded, "other than what is recited in the documents, no."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sidney-powell-pleads-guilty-georgia-2020-election-case-fulton-county/
She should have her plea withdrawn and she should stand trial. No judge should accept a plea that the defendant said was coerced or extorted. If she believes she is innocent of wrongdoing, a plea is not acceptable.
I have stated over and over that central figures of the criminal prosecution of the 2020 sedition cannot walk away without punishment. She has already avoided disbarment in Texas. She raised at least $14mm in donations. For her to plead guilty to misdemeanors and basically walk away with no sanction of prison time because, you know, she may (or may not) bring some evidence against Trump or someone else who will get a sweet plea deal, is not acceptable. She could have also gotten a year in prison as part of the plea to avoid the RICO prosecution. To me it is starting to appear that the lawyers are being extended professional courtesy, as Giulianis claim that everything he did was just part of his job as a lawyer soliciting for his client. And obviously, she sees the civil cases against her as bullshit, she can drag it out for years, and then drag out paying money for years more, all the while raising more money.
Judge Calls Out Trump Lawyers Who Asked for COVID Delay--But Won't Wear Masks
https://www.thedailybeast.com/judge-arthur-engoron-blasts-trump-lawyers-asking-for-covid-delaywithout-wearing-masks?ref=homeJudge Calls Out Trump Lawyers Who Asked for COVID DelayBut Wont Wear Masks
FORGETTING SOMETHING?
Chaya Tong
Breaking News Intern
Updated Oct. 24, 2023 7:24PM EDT /
VR Is Shockingly Good at Relieving Cancer Patients' Pain
VR Is Shockingly Good at Relieving Cancer Patients Pain
SOOTHING
In many study after study, the technology alleviated discomfort, anxiety, and depression due to various diseases and conditions.
Tony Ho Tran
Deputy Editor, Innovation & Tech
Published Oct. 16, 2023 6:30PM EDT
Despite Mark Zuckerbergs best efforts, virtual reality has yet to really take off. But that doesnt mean that VR isnt useful. The technology has the potential to transform the way we treat mental health, fall in love, and even cope with death. As VR becomes more sophisticated and commonplace, well begin to see more ways that its capable of improving our everyday livesespecially those of the most vulnerable among us.
Thats what researchers in the U.K. discovered in a comprehensive review published Monday in the journal BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care that found that immersive VR was able to help ease pain and anxiety in cancer patients. The technology also seems to have alleviating effects on patients with other debilitating, long-term issues such as dementia, multiple sclerosis, and kidney diseaseswhile offering a way of reducing the need for pharmaceuticals like opiates.
The review looked at 31 studies published over a 30-year period on how VR could be used to treat pain in patients with cancer, dementia, cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, and multiple sclerosis. The patients were treated with a variety of VR intervention techniques, including video games as well as immersive and relaxing experiences. These experiences ranged from ocean exploration to the world of art, with even one set on the Titanic (though its unclear how relaxing that particular experience was).
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Overall, the authors found that the VR intervention helped alleviate patients pain and even increased their happiness. One study determined that relaxing virtual environments significantly reduces pain and fatigue, while improving subjective anxiety and depression among inpatients with cancer, while another found that they alleviated anxiety, depression, stress, and pain amongst patients with heart conditions.
more...
https://www.thedailybeast.com/vr-is-shockingly-good-at-re-cancer-patients-pain?ref=home
Biden to Launch Account on Truth Social
https://politicalwire.com/2023/10/16/biden-to-launch-account-on-truth-social/Biden to Launch Account on Truth Social
October 16, 2023 at 2:46 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard
Said a Biden campaign aide: Theres very little truth happening on TruthSocial, but at least now itll be a little fun.
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