Gillibrand...

Kirsten Gillibrand is ending her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination after failing to qualify for the third debate.

“Today, I am ending my campaign for president,” she tweeted. “I think it’s important to know how you can best serve,” adding that her supporters should “go beat Donald Trump.”

Gillibrand launched her campaign with a focus on women’s issues. She rode the momentum of the #MeToo Movement that brought women to the polls in the 2018 midterms. But in a presidential field containing the most female candidates ever, her pitch didn’t catch on, and by the time she began embracing broader issues like campaign finance reform she had trouble finding her lane.

Hope many who have no chance to get out so the public would be served better by the few.

Gesture...

A Lancaster County man who made a “gun-like hand gesture” at his neighbor committed a crime.

“Kirchner argued on appeal that the gesture did not cause a hazardous or physically offensive condition, that he did not intend to cause public alarm, and that there essentially was no harm done to the victim or society,” a statement from the DA’s Office said. 

However, the high court found the gesture of imitating the firing and recoiling of a gun “risked an altercation” and supported the charge. The neighbor also reported feeling insecure, which is why the call to 911 was placed.

The DA’s Office said there was an ongoing history of confrontations between Kirchner, the neighbor. The DA’s Office said because of that contentious history, the neighbor had installed six video cameras and the gesture was recorded.

Kirchner was ordered to pay a $100 fine and court costs.

Wanabe...

A suspected serial rapist wanted for years has been nabbed in the Atlanta, Georgia, area, after police investigators in Clayton County discovered he was a police recruit at their own department.

Eight cases have been linked by DNA to suspect 24-year-old Kenneth Thomas Bowen III.
Most of his alleged assaults were within two miles of his house, said Clayton County Police Lt. Tom Reimers.

The chief explained that Bowen "was scheduled to attend academy training early on the morning in September, he failed to arrive on time as scheduled. When questioned …  he gave multiple statements that differed as to where he was and who he was with." His picture, and 911 various calls narrowed it to Police officer wanabe.

Had he not attempted to join the ranks of the Clayton County Police Department, it's questionable as to when we would have apprehended him.

Defamatory...

MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell said Wednesday he made an "error in judgment" in reporting about supposed Russian ties to President Donald Trump's finances without verifying the story.

O'Donnell's admission came in a tweet Wednesday after a lawyer for Trump said the story was false and defamatory, and called on NBC News to apologize and retract it.

O'Donnell said in his tweet that the story, which led Tuesday night's broadcast, "didn't go through our vigorous verification and standards process. I shouldn't have reported it and I was wrong to discuss it on the air."

He said on the show that he'd been told that Deutsche Bank had documents showing that Russian oligarchs had co-signed loans for Trump. He said the report came from a single source, who he didn't identify. The documents also supposedly reveal that Trump paid little in taxes, he said.

Sleaze, just a thought.

Believe...

No Picnic...

The Justice Department inspector general is preparing to release a report on the conduct of fired FBI Director James Comey in the Trump-Russia investigation.

Comey's memos were, at the least, confidential FBI documents, and at most, in some cases, classified.

 Comey told Congress that he sent some of the memos to a friend for the purpose of being leaked to the New York Times. Comey hoped media reports would set off a firestorm that would result in a special counsel to investigate the Trump-Russia matter.

Comey was also part of the process, through which the FBI sought and received a secret court warrant to wiretap short-term Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. 

The FBI cited allegations from the now-discredited Steele dossier as part of its application for the warrant. 

Being on the receiver end is no Picnic.

Pain...

Attempts to understand the nature of illicit drug abuse and addiction can be traced back for centuries, however, the search has always been limited by the scientific theories and social attitudes available or dominant at any one time. 

Illicit drug use has been documented across the world however the quality of estimated prevalence of use is best in the developed countries of Europe, North America, and Australasia.

 We now can collect.  Just a thought.

Gossip...

Real journalism is different from the gossip, punditry, and clickbait that dominates today’s news. Real journalism, in the words of Joseph Pulitzer, is the painstaking reporting that will “fight for progress and reform, never tolerate injustice or corruption, [and] always fight demagogues.

Real journalism requires significant resources. One reason we do not have enough real journalism in America right now is because many outlets are being gutted by the same forces of greed that are pillaging our economy. 

For example, Facebook and Google—control 60 percent of the entire digital advertising market. They have used monopolistic control to siphon off advertising revenues from news organizations.  

Corporate conglomerates and hedge fund vultures have bought and consolidated beleaguered local newspapers and slashed their newsrooms. Just a thought.

Heartbreaking...

My visit to Syria has made it abundantly clear: Our counterproductive regime change war does not serve America’s interest, and it certainly isn’t in the interest of the Syrian people.

“As I visited with people from across the country, and heard heartbreaking stories of how this war has devastated their lives, I was asked, ‘Why is the United States and its allies helping al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups try to take over Syria? Syria did not attack the United States. Al-Qaeda did.’ I had no answer.

“I return to Washington, DC with even greater resolve to end our illegal war to overthrow the Syrian government. I call upon Congress and the new Administration to answer the pleas of the Syrian people immediately and support the Stop Arming Terrorists Act.

 
“From Iraq to Libya and now in Syria, the U.S. has waged wars of regime change, each resulting in unimaginable suffering, devastating loss of life, and the strengthening of groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS.  Just a Free Speech thought.

Fabricate...

A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy who reported being shot by a sniper, launching a manhunt for the shooter, “completely fabricated” the story, the sheriff’s department announced at a news conference Saturday night.

Sheriff's Deputy Angel Reinosa, a 21-year-old rookie with the department, had cut holes in his shirt to make it look like he had been shot and was treated for a “bruise” on his shoulder at a hospital following the allegedly made-up incident, Homicide Bureau Capt. Kent Wegener said.

Assistant Sheriff Robin Limon told reporters the department was “incredibly disappointed" by the case and that Reinosa had been relieved of his duties. The department is launching a criminal investigation into Reinosa's false report, Limon added.

Heavily armed deputies wearing tactical gear set up a perimeter and launched a massive search for a suspect in triple-digit temperatures but weren't able to find a suspect.