Tag: New York

Japanese Lawmakers Make Rare Taiwan Visit to Discuss Potential Conflict + Taiwan not included on Pelosi’s travel list. Crimea drone attack. Update 2

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Japanese Lawmakers Make Rare Taiwan Visit to Discuss Potential Conflict

Japan is essential to the US’s plans to boost alliances in the region to encircle China, and Washington is encouraging Tokyo to expand its military. Analysts told The South China Morning Post that a conflict sparked by US intervention in Taiwan could leave Japan and other US allies in the region badly exposed, and in the middle of a situation they have not properly planned for.

Related:

Pelosi lists destinations amid Taiwan row

Pelosi to Lead Congressional Delegation to Indo-Pacific Region

‘There Needs to Be a Reckoning’: Republicans Introduce a Bill to Make Feds At-Will Employees

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

‘There Needs to Be a Reckoning’: Republicans Introduce a Bill to Make Feds At-Will Employees

Roy said in a statement that his bill preserves protections against discrimination and whistleblower retaliation. But in the case of discrimination, EEOC would be required to toss all of its policies regarding complaints that originate from federal agencies and apply the same standards it uses in private sector cases.*

…

However, the bill’s purported whistleblower protections suggest just the opposite, Kettl said. OSC only has a 14-day window in which to make nonbinding recommendations on whether an adverse personnel action constitutes retaliation. Another provision requires the deduction of 25% of a federal employee’s retirement annuity if a court finds their appeal to be “in bad faith or frivolous.”

What’s wrong with that?! Why should bureaucrats have special protections that everyday working people don’t?! If they don’t like it, then change it for all workers!

Related:

Following Trump’s Lead, GOP Pushes Bill to Make Federal Workers Fireable ‘At Will’

The value of the federal minimum wage is at its lowest point in 66 years

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)1 Comment

The value of the federal minimum wage has reached its lowest point in 66 years, according to an EPI analysis of recently released Consumer Price Index (CPI) data. Accounting for price increases in June, the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour is now worth less than at any point since February 1956. At that time, the federal minimum wage was 75 cents per hour, or $7.19 in June 2022 dollars.

The value of the federal minimum wage is at its lowest point in 66 years

America’s Failed Fascist Coup…Steve Bannon’s High Treason With Chinese Patron and Why the U.S. Authorities Ignore

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

America’s Failed Fascist Coup… Steve Bannon’s High Treason With Chinese Patron and Why the U.S. Authorities Ignore

As for Bannon’s financial patron, Guo Wengui, he is now officially declared bankrupt but still living in the United States. Given his role in sponsoring a failed coup in the U.S., one would think that the authorities might be considering extraditing him to China where he is wanted on serious corruption charges. That doesn’t appear to be a likely outcome. Why not? It seems that Guo’s anti-China views and broadcasts to the Chinese-American diaspora are too useful for the U.S. establishment in pursuing its hostile policy towards Beijing.

Washington’s hostile agenda against China (dressed up as a purported security threat) is evidently a much bigger priority than defending its own democratic institutions.

Wrong GTV, I believe.

Related:

A Fugitive Chinese Mogul Spent Big to Overturn the 2020 Election

The new information shows that Guo played a previously unreported role in financing the promotion of false election fraud claims in the immediate aftermath of Trump’s defeat. Guo’s spending on these efforts was not against the law. But Guo—a divisive figure with extensive legal problems—had ample reason to seek Trump’s favor. Guo is pursuing political asylum in the United States. If denied, he could face deportation and probable imprisonment in China. He was then, and remains, under investigation by US federal prosecutors for possible fraud and other malfeasance. Since 2020, the US Security and Exchange Commission has also been investigating his role in what it has said was an illegal public offering by a Guo media company. The SEC forced three companies linked to Guo to pay a $539 million settlement last year. According to two sources with knowledge of the probe, the commission is continuing to investigate Guo personally.

Guo has also been accused in lawsuits filed by former business partners and Chinese dissidents of working as a Chinese agent while posing as a CCP critic. No court has ruled on the legitimacy of those allegations, and Guo denies them. He denies all allegations of fraud and other wrongdoing, as well.

Who is Guo Wengui?

‘Billionaire’ crypto founder bankrupt 4 months after cigar-laced promo vid + U.S. SEC fines Guo Wengui-linked media firms for illegal securities offerings

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

‘Billionaire’ crypto founder bankrupt 4 months after cigar-laced promo vid

Related [04-2022]:

If you purchased GTV common stock and/or the digital asset security referred to as G-Coins or G-Dollars between April 2020 and June 2020, you may be eligible for a distribution payment from the GTV Media Group Fair Fund

Companies tied to Chinese exile Guo Wengui to pay $539 million to settle SEC action

U.S. SEC fines Guo Wengui-linked media firms for illegal securities offerings

Four voters with disabilities have filed a federal lawsuit to ensure they can vote following Supreme Court ruling + More

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Four voters with disabilities have filed a federal lawsuit to ensure they can vote following Supreme Court ruling

Related:

Disabled Voters File Lawsuit Claiming Wisconsin High Court’s Ruling Barring Help Returning Ballots Violates U.S. Constitution

Before the ballot box, Americans with disabilities have problems getting voting information

Biden administration weighs declaring monkeypox a health emergency + Break Out the Condoms to Fight Monkeypox

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Biden administration weighs declaring monkeypox a health emergency

Related:

Doctors treating monkeypox complain of ‘daunting’ paperwork, obstacles

D.C. shifts monkeypox vaccine policy to focus on first dose

Break Out the Condoms to Fight Monkeypox (archived if you can read behind the advertisements)*

But we should also remember that we have never vaccinated our way out of any pandemic. In the West, measles, scarlet fever, and other childhood diseases stopped killing kids decades before vaccines—our preferred tool of mass salvation—arrived in the late 1950s. Smallpox was similarly largely controlled by the turn of the 20th century through public health measures.

We need to stop subordinating people to the virus. A single approach of surveillance, isolation, contact tracing, and vaccination worked very well for smallpox, which relied exclusively on a human host, could be diagnosed at 10 paces, and was prevented with a single vaccination. But even that approach relied not only on tests and vaccines but also, most of all, on trust—to be tested and vaccinated. Candor is a prerequisite for trust.

*Just a little deception behind the headline. Still touting vaccines (Jynneos), as a solution, though! Just use condoms, for prevention, and prescribe antivirals (TPOXX), for treatment, if needed!

“Immense Frustration”: Monkeypox Spreads Amid Slow U.S. Response, Few Vaccines; WHO Declares Emergency

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)2 Comments

“Immense Frustration”: Monkeypox Spreads Amid Slow U.S. Response, Few Vaccines; WHO Declares Emergency

But we also know — look, COVID is — you know, a lot of us, by now, have done COVID isolation, 10 days, even five days. It is incredibly difficult. It is costly. Sometimes you miss out on work. Sometimes you have to get a hotel to isolate in. It is really difficult to do. Here we have an isolation with monkeypox that is two to six weeks. That is incredibly disruptive for people’s lives. We’ve been having to crowdfund to get people the money that they need to take time off work. We need emergency funds and hotel rooms so people can properly isolate to prevent the spread. And none of that, none of those funds and resources have been coming from any level of government.

Two to six weeks! 😳

Bannon Found Guilty of Obstructing Jan. 6 Probe

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Bannon Found Guilty of Obstructing Jan. 6 Probe (archived)

Related:

D.C. Jury Swiftly Convicts Steve Bannon for His Defiance of Jan. 6 Committee Subpoena

Former federal prosecutor Mitchell Epner, now a partner at Rottenberg Lipman Rich PC, predicted Bannon would have little room to mount an appeal before having to serve his sentence fully.

“Bannon never put up a legal defense, only an attack on the legitimacy of the process,” Epner noted. “He is now facing a mandatory minimum of 30 days in jail. It will take 3 months to get to sentencing. The question is whether Judge Nichols will grant bail pending appeal. Absent bail, Bannon will have served his time long before an appeal could be briefed, let alone decided.”

Sentencing has been slated for Oct. 21, 2022.

‘I think the law is with us’: Bannon plans appeal of conviction

Black gun owners have mixed feelings about the Supreme Court’s concealed-carry ruling

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Supreme Court’s recent decision to guarantee the constitutional right of people to carry firearms in public spaces for the purpose of self-defense has become a complicated issue for Black Americans.

Black gun owners have mixed feelings about the Supreme Court’s concealed-carry ruling

Related:

Leftist Case For Gun Rights – Racism & Gun Control