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Francisco 2.0

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Posts posted by Francisco 2.0

  1. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2018/04/10/european-commission-raids-murdochs-fox-hq-london/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

     

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    The British offices of the Murdoch entertainment empire 21st Century Fox have been raided by investigators from the European Commission, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.

    It is understood that competition watchdogs gained access to the company’s offices in Hammersmith, west London, early today to seize documents and computer records. 

    The precise nature of the confidential investigation, which is believed to be in its early stages, is unclear. The building is home to Fox Networks, the company’s channels business.

     

     

  2. 7 minutes ago, Chooky said:

    Why did everyone stop talking about this scandal?

     

    DXKx03KW0AAIoVo.jpg:large

    Look at that tan suit.  Just look at it.  That's the color those muslim sons a bitches wear every day.  

  3. 4 minutes ago, Ghost of LL said:

    I have to tell you--I'm powerfully uncomfortable with raiding lawyers' offices.  I recognize that in a lot of circumstances, the lawyer isn't acting as a lawyer, and so the materials aren't privileged.  But an investigator needs to be real circumspect about that kind of thing.

    Good point.

    I'd have to think whatever Mueller & Co. dredged up was serious enough that they referred this on.  I can't see those folks being cavalier.  

     

  4. 1 minute ago, Vince_McCoy_Williams said:

    He has more money now than in the past, but whatever fits your narrative

    And you know this how?

    He's never released tax returns, so your knowledge of his personal finances are what he has told the public, and given his track record there, it's open for skepticism.  

    I couldn't care less how much money he has (or doesn't have).  I'd rather him be truthful...remember the "gonna release the tax returns" before, during and after the election? Yeah.  

    http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/times-donald-trump-release-tax-returns-article-1.3061868

     

     

     

    • Like 1
  5. 42 minutes ago, longhornmatt said:

    His far north, off the strip Las Vegas hotel that doesn’t have a casino is the most underrated of his “art of the deal” business fails.  

     

    18 minutes ago, Grade of D as in David said:

    Good thing they opted out of the casino part. Then he would have bankrupted 3 casinos instead of 2.

    He couldn't get a gaming license for his place in Vegas.

    Speaking of his Vegas timeshare/condo dwelling that passes as a "luxury hotel"; it has higher standards on hiring practices than the White House:

    https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-hotel-to-employees-dont-hire-relatives?ref=home

     

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    Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, has presented all kinds of headaches for his White House. Forget the multiple federal investigations into the Kushner family businesses; his manifold financial interests have presented scores of potential conflicts of interest, impairing both men’s reputations and damaging the public view of Kushner’s family brand.

    This all would have been avoided if Trump had followed the rules governing his Las Vegas hotel, which largely bar giving top jobs to family members.

    We know about those rules because Property of the People, an advocacy group specializing in Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation, obtained the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas employee handbook as part of a FOIA request of the National Labor Relations Board. The NLRB heard a case related to allegations of union-busting at the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas, and Property of the People FOIA’d the hearing transcripts as well as all the exhibits that were entered.

    One of those exhibits—entered on Nov. 18, 2015—was the hotel’s Associate Handbook, which includes all the rules employees at the hotel had to follow. The handbook as it was entered in court is published in full below.

    The handbook has strong words about hiring family members.

    “While TIHLV [Trump International Hotel Las Vegas] does not wish to deprive itself of the services of potentially valuable Associates by establishing a policy excluding the employment of relatives, it must be acknowledged, that such employment can result in the appearance of a conflict of interest, collusion, favoritism, and other undesirable work environment conditions,” the handbook says. “Therefore, management reserves the right to limit the employment of relatives in situations within the company if a conflict of interest is deemed to exist.”

    The handbook bars relatives from working “under the direct or indirect supervision of a relative.” It also bars relatives from working “in situations that create the possibility of conflicts of interest,” without the written approval of senior management officials.

     

     

  6. Seems awfully similar with Whitewater.

    https://www.salon.com/2018/04/05/exclusive-scott-pruitt-trumps-epa-chief-involved-in-shady-2011-real-estate-deal/?preview=true&preview_id=14882425&preview_nonce=97d9028e3e#.Wsqwo2OQ_t0.twitter

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    In 2011, Pruitt and his wife, Margaret, bought a property in Tulsa, Oklahoma, just days before a court ruled that it had been fraudulently transferred by a Las Vegas developer who was on the hook for a $3.6 million loan default. Pruitt, who was then Oklahoma attorney general, apparently flipped the property for a $70,000 profit four months later, selling it to a dummy corporation set up by a major campaign contributor, Kevin Hern.

    Hern, a successful Tulsa businessman and the finance chair of the Oklahoma Republican Party, has been a major donor to Pruitt and other Republican candidates in the state over the years. According to records on file with the Oklahoma Ethics Commission, Hern contributed $3,500 to Pruitt between 2010 and 2014, and has given a total of $33,625 to Oklahoma candidates since 2006.

    Hern attended Pruitt’s Senate confirmation hearing in January 2017 and posted about it on his Facebook page. He is now a Republican candidate for Congress in Oklahoma’s 1st congressional district.

    The circumstances surrounding Pruitt’s apparent sweetheart deal remain murky.

    In 2010, an affiliate of Rialto Capital Management (RCM), a company based in Miami, sued a developer named Keith Lyon in Arizona federal court for defaulting on a $3.6 million loan that Lyon had guaranteed in 2007 with a number of Las Vegas and Tulsa properties. RCM won a $2 million judgment against Lyon and other defendants on Aug. 25, 2011. 

    Lyon then apparently vanished, after transferring 27 of those properties in 2009 to entities controlled by a woman named Pamela Rex (formerly Pamela Rooks), a fitness model who had lived with Lyon from 1998 to 2008. 

    RCM then sued Rex for fraud under the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act, seeking $4.7 million in damages, claiming that Lyon had fraudulently transferred the properties and other assets worth $7.5 million to Rex for no monetary payment.

    One of those properties was at 1801 Forrest Drive in Tulsa, which was transferred to the Rooks Trust, an entity solely controlled by Pamela Rex. Pruitt bought the vacant lot from the Rooks Trust on Aug. 16, 2011 — just 10 days before the federal court judgment against Lyons — for $415,000.

     

    Quote

    Four months later, on Dec. 22, 2011, Pruitt sold the property for $485,000 — a $70,000 profit — to a previously unknown company called KNJ Construction, LLC. That entity was set up by Kevin Hern two days before the sale and has been inactive ever since.

    Evidence suggests that Pruitt planned the quick turnaround on the property in advance. On Sept. 1, 2011, about two weeks after the purchase, Pruitt and his wife took out a short-term, 15-month mortgage from Security Bank in Tulsa. Hern built a luxury house on the property after purchasing it from Pruitt, and sold it 18 months later for $1.7 million. 

     

  7. 2 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

    I understand one of the problems in OK is the voters passed a resolution in the 80s or 90s that required at least 75% of the legislation to raise taxes.  This ensures that you will never have new taxes even when a decent majority are calling for it.  

    What a stupid idea.  No surprise that OK voters put that in place and I bet they smiled as they walked out of the voting booth: we got them liberals now.

    State Question 640, which was voted into existence in March 1992.  It was a knee-jerk reaction to House Bill 1017, which was passed in 1990 and signed into law by Governor Henry Bellmon (R).  HB 1017 was an educational reform bill; aside from teacher raises, it imposed class size limits, addressed school consolidation, alternative certification for teachers, early childhood programs and academic curriculum.

    Quote

    State Question 640 was a citizen-initiated ballot measure that was approved by Oklahoma voters in a special election in March 1992 with 56.2 percent of the vote. The measure amended Article 5, Section 33 of the Oklahoma Constitution to add restrictions on how revenue bills can become law. Under SQ 640, a revenue bill can only become law if: (1) it is approved by a 3/4th vote of both legislative chambers and is signed by the Governor; or (2) it is referred by the legislature to a vote of the people at the next general election and receives majority approval.

     

  8. 4 hours ago, RPM said:

    No Sprinklers in Upper Floors of Trump Tower

     

    Trump tweeted that the fire was “Very confined (well built building).”

    Asked if that assessment was accurate, Nigro said, “It’s a well built building. The upper floors, the residence floors, are not sprinklered.”

    Fire sprinklers were not required in New York City highrises when Trump Tower was completed in 1983.

    Subsequent updates to the building code required commercial skyscrapers to install the sprinklers retroactively, but owners of older residential highrises are not required to install sprinklers unless the building undergoes major renovations.

    The 664-foot Trump Tower has 58 stories, though the top floor is numbered 68.

     

    Trump lobbied against changing the code for fire sprinklers; claimed he couldn't afford to install them in all his buildings:

    https://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/08/nyregion/giuliani-calls-for-high-rise-sprinklers.html

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    Although New York has taller towers and more high-rise residents than any other city in the nation, no sprinklers are required in apartment buildings here. Landlords and developers like Donald J. Trump have lobbied against sprinklers as unnecessary and expensive, costing up to $4 per square foot, or thousands of dollars for each apartment. New York instead has required that new construction be fire resistant.

    https://nypost.com/1999/01/04/survivor-of-culkin-fire-a-crusader/

    Quote

    Trump has called a dozen council members to lobby against sprinklers, including Speaker Peter Vallone. He has also donated $5,000 to retire Vallone’s campaign debt, and personally telephoned committee chairman Archie Spigner, and Walter McCaffery, the sponsor of the bill.

    Trump says he can’t afford to install sprinklers in all his buildings.

    Trump is now putting up a 90-story high rise at 875 U.N. Plaza that has no sprinklers in the building plans the city has approved.

    “I would inform Trump there must be sprinklers in every apartment and hallway,” Rose responded.

     

     

  9. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/04/06/pruitt-was-the-kato-kaelin-of-capitol-hill-505658

     

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    Scott Pruitt was only supposed to be living in the Capitol Hill condominium that has become a focal point of his latest ethics controversy for six weeks last year while he got settled in Washington – but the new Environmental Protection Agency administrator didn’t leave when his lease ended.

    Instead, he asked the lobbyist couple who became his disgruntled landlords to revise his lease several times, according to two people with knowledge of the situation. 

    The couple, Vicki and Steve Hart, became so frustrated by their lingering tenant that they eventually pushed him out and changed their locks. After trying to nudge Pruitt out of their home over the course of several months, the Harts finally told Pruitt in July that they had plans to rent his room to another tenant. 

    “The original arrangement was that he would be there living out of a suitcase … and it just kept going and going,” said one of the people with knowledge of the arrangement.

    The condo, in which Pruitt rented a bedroom for $50 a night, has attracted the attention of the EPA’s inspector general, which said Thursday it was considering opening an investigation. The agency is already reviewing Pruitt’s taxpayer-funded first-class travel, his use of a special hiring authority to grant raises to aides and his spending on a soundproof phone booth for his office.

     

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    That favor turned into a headache for the couple when Pruitt repeatedly asked to extend his lease. “There were gentle questions regarding, OK, when are you going to leave and what have you ... and they even started sending him ads of places close by that he could rent,” said the first person. 

    “Scott Pruitt is the Kato Kaelin of Capitol Hill. He is the long-term house guest who takes advantage of his hosts and refuses to take a hint about when it’s time to leave,” the second person said. 

    A spokesman for Pruitt did not immediately reply to a request for comment. 

    The Harts eventually told Pruitt, who had to be reminded repeatedly to pay his rent, that they had plans to rent the room to somebody else — and that he needed to find another place to live, according to the people familiar with events. They also informed him in early August that they were changing the locks on their door.

     

  10. 3 minutes ago, pyrohornIII said:

    I don't understand why the the evangelicals push for Trump's impeachment so Pence can move in.  It seems Pence is much more in line with their agenda.  I would think congress would see Pence as more malleable and easy to predict/control.

    Or do they know Pence is as deep in this as Trump is?  

     

    Pence is as personable as a salt shaker.  They know he couldn't lead them to the promised land, no matter what.  

     

    EDIT:  Team R in the House and Senate would be ok with it, but Pence as the headliner in 2020?  Laughable.  

  11. 3 minutes ago, SmokeyBear1861 said:

    Ok assume you are right, they are busting the Russian/Trump mafia here and haven't leaked a bit of their evidence yet.

    When does the investigation end? 

    When? Give me a ball park. Because right now, it has been 14 months, and it looks a lot like this is just a circus to keep the swamp around for cover-ups. It has already been exposed that the FBI was in contact with the Obama white house, using a phoney FISA warrant to spy on the opposition running for president. 

    Just tell me when, because as much as you want to save my comments and throw them back at me when Trump is impeached, I would like to save your predictions and giggle as 2018 turns into 2019, then into 2020. You can't sit there and say they are going to investigate this for more than 4 years, wouldn't that be interfering with an election? You going to have a "special council" investigating the president during both terms of his presidency? 

    Ken Starr was put on the job in August of 1994.  His gig lasted nearly 5 years.  I'm assuming at that time you had zero issues with how long that process lasted.

    • Like 3
  12. http://okcfox.com/news/fox-25-investigates/state-confiscates-beer-meant-for-teachers

     

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    OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — Agents with the state's alcoholic beverages agency say a Facebook ad promising free beer for teachers led to a raid.

    The ABLE Commission raided Patriarch Craft Beer House and Lawn after they announced they had two kegs of beer ready for teachers. In a Facebook post Sunday, the beer house said “We believe in and support our local public school teachers!! Starting at 3:00 Tuesday, we’ve split the bill with Roughtail Brewing to offer free pours of “Respect Party,” a Belgian table beer from RT! Come help us kill 2 kegs EPS teachers!! (Side note, other school districts are welcome as well. Just wanted to show love to our home town teachers!)”

    An officer with the ABLE Commission saw the ad and the agency told FOX 25 he did not recognize the name on the beer label. That led the officer to go to Patriarch on Tuesday where they found two kegs of high-point beer that were not properly registered.

    According to the ABLE Commission the brewery had not paid a “brand registration fee” for the beer that was to be given away to teachers. So, the ABLE officers took the donated teacher beer and issued a citation to Patriarch.

    Patriarch said it had no comment on the ABLE Commission's action, but posted Wednesday that a brewery came forward with cans of “light” beer for teachers.

    The ABLE Commission added that it is against the state’s “Happy Hour” laws for bars to give away high-point beer or liquor to anyone, even teachers.

    Patriarch will have a chance to contest the citation once the ABLE Commission files its formal case.

     

  13. http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/381922-evangelical-leaders-planning-sit-down-with-trump-over-stormy-daniels

     

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    Several evangelical Christian leaders are planning a sit-down with President Trump in June over allegations that his lawyer paid adult-film star Stormy Daniels $130,000 in 2016 for her silence about an alleged affair with Trump more than a decade ago.

    Several sources familiar with the negotiations between top faith leaders and the Trump White House told NPR that the president is expected to meet to take questions from supporters and evangelicals on June 19 at his Washington, D.C., hotel.

     

    "We're very concerned" about the allegations, the leader of one ministry told NPR. 

    "There's things that are like fingernails on the chalkboard to people of faith. That's not who we are; that's not a 'fruit of the Spirit'; that's not leading with humility," said another person familiar with the talks.

    Trump has denied the alleged affair with Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, and on Thursday also denied having any prior knowledge of his personal lawyer Michael Cohen's $130,000 payment to Daniels. The payment, Daniels says, was to keep her from discussing the alleged affair ahead of the 2016 presidential election. 

    One source working to set up the meeting with the White House told NPR that it sprung from concerns about Republicans' performance heading into this year's midterm elections.

    "It is a concern of ours that 2018 could be very detrimental to some of the other issues that we hold dear," they said.

    The faith leaders hope to find a way to galvanize right-leaning support heading into the fall, when Trump will not be on the ballot but his agenda will face a test as voters decide whether to protect GOP majorities in both chambers of Congress.

    "Let's reconvene," one NPR source said, "and let's see what we can do to encourage enthusiasm — beyond Trump, so to speak."

    Recent polls suggest Democrats could hold as much as a 10-point lead over generic Republican opponents heading into the fall, while a plurality of voters said they also want to see Democrats retake the Senate.

     

  14. https://www.axios.com/trump-us-is-badly-represented-in-wto-6e3bae8d-db2a-4361-b5dd-2dc0e0b7f7f4.html?utm_source=sidebar

     

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    President Trump said Friday that the World Trade Organization "is unfair" to the U.S., unlike China, who he claims gets "tremendous perks and advantages" for their status as a developing nation. Note: China has responded to the U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods by filing a complaint through the WTO.

     

     

    Narrator:    There are no definitions of "developed" or "developing" countries within the WTO. Countries in the WTO are designated on the basis of self-selection, per the WTO website. The WTO cannot determine what China designates itself as.

  15. 4 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

    As an infrequent FN viewer I’ve been very confused who diamond and silk were.  I’ve read they were YouTube personalities/celebrities.  I follow a few YouTube channels so I know it’s a real thing and many of them have millions of video views within day(s) of releasing a new video.  They can communicate to large numbers of people.

    diamond and silk?  They get a few thousand per video.   I don’t pretend to say that I could release a video that would get 2000 views in a few week so they have me beat but they are not much more than the equivalent of a relatively heavy Facebook user with many friends.  And Fox News puts them in regularly?   I wonder why they get invited back so often?

    If you can't figure this out, well, I'm not sure exactly what to tell you.

     

     

  16. https://apnews.com/5471523603c24b278a0b71fd0196de5d/Inside-a-White-House-in-tumult,-John-Kelly's-clout-dwindles

     

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    When President Donald Trump made a congratulatory phone call to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, White House chief of staff John Kelly wasn’t on the line.

    When Trump tapped John Bolton to be his next national security adviser, Kelly wasn’t in the room.

    And when Trump spent a Mar-a-Lago weekend stewing over immigration and trade, Kelly wasn’t in sight.

    Kelly, once empowered to bring order to a turbulent West Wing, has receded from view, his clout diminished, his word less trusted by staff and his guidance less tolerated by an increasingly go-it-alone-president.

    Emboldened in his job, Trump has rebelled against Kelly’s restrictions and mused about doing away with the chief of staff post entirely. It’s all leading White House staffers and Trump allies to believe that Kelly is working on borrowed time.

    In recent weeks, Trump has governed at breakneck pace, ousting aides and issuing surprise policy announcements on Twitter, recreating the helter-skelter feel of his first months in office. Kelly’s allies maintain that his retreat is strategic. They suggest that the belief that Kelly was Trump’s savior was an overstated idea all along and that the chief of staff is now content to loosen the reins and allow an increasingly comfortable president to govern from his gut.

    But those close to the president say Trump has increasingly expressed fatigue at Kelly’s attempts to shackle him and say that while Trump is not ready to fire Kelly, he has begun gradually freezing out his top aide.

    Trump recently told one confidant that he was “tired of being told no” by Kelly and has instead chosen to simply not tell Kelly things at all, according to a person who was not authorized to publicly discuss private conversations and spoke on condition of anonymity.

     

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