demmiblue
demmiblue's JournalThey thought they were going to rehab. They ended up in chicken plants
Source: Reveal News
McGahey had heard of Christian Alcoholics & Addicts in Recovery. People called it “the Chicken Farm,” a rural retreat where defendants stayed for a year, got addiction treatment and learned to live more productive lives. Most were sent there by courts from across Oklahoma and neighboring states, part of the nationwide push to keep nonviolent offenders out of prison.
Aside from daily cans of Dr Pepper, McGahey wasn’t addicted to anything. The judge knew that. But the Chicken Farm sounded better than prison.
A few weeks later, McGahey stood in front of a speeding conveyor belt inside a frigid poultry plant, pulling guts and stray feathers from slaughtered chickens destined for major fast food restaurants and grocery stores.
There wasn’t much substance abuse treatment at CAAIR. It was mostly factory work for one of America’s top poultry companies. If McGahey got hurt or worked too slowly, his bosses threatened him with prison.
And he worked for free. CAAIR pocketed the pay.
“It was a slave camp,” McGahey said. “I can’t believe the court sent me there.”
Soon, it would get worse.
Read more: https://www.revealnews.org/article/they-thought-they-were-going-to-rehab-they-ended-up-in-chicken-plants/?utm_source=Reveal&utm_medium=social_media&utm_campaign=twitter
Investigators Looking for Mystery Woman Seen With Vegas Shooter
They don't know if she has any connection to the attack, but they would like to speak with her as they build a timeline of Paddock's last days, the officials said.
https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/las-vegas-shooting/investigators-looking-mystery-woman-seen-vegas-shooter-n807801
I wonder if this has something to do with the mystery woman:
https://twitter.com/joshdcaplan/status/914769514222571520
Secret Service: No system for vetting Trump visitors at Mar-a-Lago
Source: Politico
There are no visitor logs or other system of tracking those who visited President Donald Trump at his winter retreat known as Mar-a-Lago, a Secret Service official confirmed Wednesday.
Responding to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, Special Agent Kim Campbell said that her agency had a smattering of records regarding some foreign dignitaries and law enforcement officers who met Trump earlier this year during his stays at the Palm Beach resort he owns.
However, Campbell acknowledged the lack of a comprehensive or even a routine process for tracking such visitors, such as the one used for the White House.
"The...search and review of records confirmed that there is no system for keeping track of Presidential visitors at Mar-a-Lago, as there is at the White House Complex," wrote Campbell, head of the Secret Service's Liaison Divison. "Specifically, it was determined that there is no grouping, listing or set of records that would reflect Presidential visitors to Mar-a-Lago."
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/05/mar-a-lago-visitor-logs-secret-service-trump-243478
Cummings questions White House about Conway's private jet travels
Source: Politico
The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee wants the White House to provide details of private jet flights that counselor Kellyanne Conway took with former HHS Secretary Tom Price, who resigned last week in the wake of a scandal over his use of charter planes for official business.
Conway took several trips with Price on charter jets that were related to the administration's efforts to fight the opioid epidemic, a POLITICO investigation found. In a letter to the White House, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) asked that Conway provide documents related to all non-commercial flights she's taken since joining the administration.
Cummings is also seeking proof that Price paid back his portion of travel costs, which he vowed to do just one day before he resigned under pressure from President Donald Trump.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/04/white-house-kellyanne-conways-private-jet-travels-243447
Brooke Shields: Trump once used Americas richest man pick-up line on me
Source: The Hill
The star of “The Blue Lagoon” and “Suddenly Susan” disclosed the dating attempt by the future president during a Tuesday night interview with Andy Cohen on Bravo’s “Watch What Happens Live.”
“He called me. I was on location doing a movie and he called me right after he had gotten a divorce,” Shields, 52, said.
“And he said, ‘I really think we should date because you’re America’s sweetheart and I’m America’s richest man, and the people would love it,” Shields said between laughs.
http://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/353812-brooke-shields-trump-once-used-americas-richest-man-pick-up
Trump knocks fake news coverage of his trip to Puerto Rico
Source: The Hill
President Trump early Wednesday criticized some of the news coverage of his trip to Puerto Rico, calling it “fake.”
“A great day in Puerto Rico yesterday,” he tweeted. “While some of the news coverage is Fake, most showed great warmth and friendship.”
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/915523382686478337
Trump promoted his administration’s response during his visit to the hurricane-ravaged island on Tuesday.
Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/353778-trump-knocks-fake-news-coverage-of-his-trip-to-puerto-rico
Tillersons Fury at Trump Required an Intervention From Pence
Source: NBC News
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was on the verge of resigning this past summer amid mounting policy disputes and clashes with the White House, according to multiple senior administration officials who were aware of the situation at the time.
The tensions came to a head around the time President Donald Trump delivered a politicized speech in late July to the Boy Scouts of America, an organization Tillerson once led, the officials said.
Just days earlier, Tillerson had openly disparaged the president, referring to him as a “moron,” after a July 20 meeting at the Pentagon with members of Trump’s national security team and Cabinet officials, according to three officials familiar with the incident.
While it's unclear if he was aware of the incident, Vice President Mike Pence counseled Tillerson, who is fourth in line to the presidency, on ways to ease tensions with Trump, and other top administration officials urged him to remain in the job at least until the end of the year, officials said.
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/tillerson-s-fury-trump-required-intervention-pence-n806451
Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr. Were Close to Being Charged With Felony Fraud
New York prosecutors were preparing a case. Then the D.A. overruled his staff after a visit from a top donor: Trump attorney Marc Kasowitz.Source: Pro Publica
In one email, according to four people who have seen it, the Trumps discussed how to coordinate false information they had given to prospective buyers. In another, according to a person who read the emails, they worried that a reporter might be onto them. In yet another, Donald Jr. spoke reassuringly to a broker who was concerned about the false statements, saying that nobody would ever find out, because only people on the email chain or in the Trump Organization knew about the deception, according to a person who saw the email.
There was “no doubt” that the Trump children “approved, knew of, agreed to, and intentionally inflated the numbers to make more sales,” one person who saw the emails told us. “They knew it was wrong.”
In 2010, when the Major Economic Crimes Bureau of the D.A.’s office opened an investigation of the siblings, the Trump Organization had hired several top New York criminal defense lawyers to represent Donald Jr. and Ivanka. These attorneys had met with prosecutors in the bureau several times. They conceded that their clients had made exaggerated claims, but argued that the overstatements didn’t amount to criminal misconduct. Still, the case dragged on. In a meeting with the defense team, Donald Trump, Sr., expressed frustration that the investigation had not been closed. Soon after, his longtime personal lawyer, Marc Kasowitz entered the case.
Read more: https://www.propublica.org/article/ivanka-donald-trump-jr-close-to-being-charged-felony-fraud
Exclusive: Trump EPA to propose repealing Obama's climate regulation - document
Source: Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will propose repealing the Clean Power Plan - the Obama administration’s centerpiece regulation to fight climate change - and plans to solicit input on a rule to replace it, according to an EPA document seen by Reuters.
The decision marks the agency’s first formal step to sweep away the rule intended to cut carbon emissions from power plants, after President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March launching the EPA’s review.
The Republican president has expressed doubts about the science of climate change and has blamed former Democratic President Barack Obama’s efforts to cut carbon emissions for hurting the coal mining and oil drilling industries.
The Clean Power Plan, or CPP, was challenged in court by 27 states after Obama’s administration launched it in 2015. It is currently suspended by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, which set a deadline of Friday for a status report from the EPA on how it plans to proceed.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-epa-carbon-exclusive/exclusive-trump-epa-to-propose-repealing-obamas-climate-regulation-document-idUSKCN1C90BY
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