Palermo, colpo alla nuova Cupola di Cosa nostra. Arrestato l'erede di Riina, è il boss Settimo Mineo

La Cupola di Cosa nostra è tornata a riunirsi, il 29 maggio scorso. Non accadeva dal 1993. I capi delle famiglie di Palermo si sono ritrovati per eleggere il nuovo padrino, l'erede di Totò Riina morto un anno fa. E' l'ottantenne Settimo Mineo, ufficialmente gioielliere con negozio in corso Tukory, il più anziano fra i boss della mafia siciliana, il giudice Falcone l'aveva arrestato nel 1984 e lui spavaldo aveva detto all'interrogatorio: "Non so di che parla, cado dalle nuvole". Una vita per la mafia. Ma il mandato di Settimo Mineo è già scaduto: all'alba, la procura di Palermo diretta da Francesco Lo Voi ha fatto scattare un maxi blitz dei carabinieri nei confronti di 46 fra boss e gregari. E tra i fermati c'è anche il capo dei capi che avrebbe dovuto inaugurare la nuova era mafiosa.  

○ Italian Mafia 'godfather' Settimo Mineo held in Sicily raid | BBC News |
○ Falcone murder investigation: Italian judges reconstruct last moments of anti-Mafia crusader | The Independent - Nov. 1993 |

'Sapere aude'

Both BBC and ITV are pushing ahead with plans to host a Sunday evening televised Brexit debate between Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn, despite the physical impossibility of the prime minister and the Labour leader being in two different television studios at the same time.

The farcical situation has occurred because neither political party is willing to back down on its preferred debate format. As a result both broadcasters are now officially insisting they are continuing with preparations for their own rival debates in five days' time, with no idea which leaders - if any - will turn up to their event.

However, there is the possibility of a breakthrough on Tuesday as negotiations continue.

The ECJ's Advocate General Manuel Campos Sánchez-Bordona said in an opinion that "the Court of Justice should, in its future judgment, declare that Article 50 TEU allows the unilateral revocation of the notification of the intention to withdraw from the EU".
[...]
"A revocation by mutual consent of the departing member state which changes its position and the EU institutions with which it is negotiating its withdrawal is possible. However, this would not prejudice [?] unilateral revocation," he stated

"It would be illogical [?] to force [?] that member state to withdraw from the EU in order to then have to negotiate its accession."

Today, the European Ombudsman reiterated that his appointment as Secretary-General of the Commission was against EU law. It crystallises all those accusations levied at the EU over the years when it comes to being a 'gravy train' or a bastion of 'unelected bureaucrats'.
[...]
Juncker and his allies may have opened a Pandora's Box here because the EU purports to be a rules-based entity. That was the line during the Brexit talks and that's the line when talking to Hungary, Poland and Romania. Break the rules and you're outta here.

That Campos Sánchez-Bordona, what a card!

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

"The French who have donned these yellow vests want taxes to fall and work to pay. That's also what we want. If I didn't manage to explain this well, if the ruling majority didn't manage to convince the French, then something must change."

[Prime Minister Edouard] Philippe also announced that electricity and natural gas prices will be frozen until May 2019 [!] in a move aimed at improving spending power.

Prominent Socialist figure Segolene Royal, a former candidate for president, lauded Philippe's decision but said it came too late.

"This decision should have been taken from the start, as soon as the conflict emerged," she said. "We felt it was going to be very, very hard because we saw the rage, the exasperation, especially from retirees. They should have withdrawn (the tax hikes) right away. The more you let a conflict fester, the more you eventually have to concede."

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen lashed out at the decision as too little, tweeting that it was "obviously not up to the expectations of the French people struggling with precariousness."

Martin Henriksen of the anti-immigration Danish People's Party, which supports Denmark's center-right government, told The Associated Press that the government's move "is a signal to the world that Denmark is not attractive" for migrants.

The isolated island of Lindholm was until this summer a laboratory facility for the state veterinary institute researching contagious animal diseases.
[...]
The plan, adopted Friday by the government and the Danish People's Party that between them hold a majority in parliament, is to decontaminate the uninhabited island by late 2019 and open facilities for some 100 people in 2021.

archived
I'm confident we're on the same page here.
human "rights"
Global Detention Projcect
country profiles
They are not all going back to where they came from.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

We now have the verdicts on Brexit from three of the UK's four nations. The Scottish Parliament, speaking for the Scottish nation, voted overwhelmingly this afternoon to reject both Theresa May's draft agreement and leaving the EU without a deal.

Scream if you want to go faster, readers. But let the historical record clearly show that if and when Brexit does happen, just one of the four "equal partners" of the United Kingdom will be solely responsible, with the other three strongly opposed but being dragged along anyway by the only one whose opinion actually matters.

And whether you personally happen to be pro-Brexit or anti-Brexit, let those who voted against Scotland having the power to decide its own fate in 2014 be held unequivocally and eternally accountable for that helpless impotence.

archived May 2018
Estonia Will Roll Out Free Public Transit Nationwide

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

<p">Brit Neo Nazis call for Prince Harry to be SHOT for marrying mixed race Meghan Markle https://t.co/HoAt2gfIJC pic.twitter.com/ylHPNnI7N5

— TheStarsPost (@TheStarsPost1) December 6, 2018

.@JTerrenoire de @Diem25Lyon hier soir au lancement de campagne @EU_Spring @GenerationsMvt nous a  parlé de la nécessité de l'échelle européenne pour l'harmonisation sociale et fiscale... #printempseuropéen #HopeIsBack
/... pic.twitter.com/X8Ev9HBEWB

— DIEM 25 Lyon (@Diem25Lyon) December 7, 2018

...et pour réinventer la politique de d'immigration, un sujet qui devrait tous nous unir par solidarité transnationale plutôt que de nous diviser
Et il nous propose d'organiser des soirées comme celle-là dan toute l'Europe pour promouvoir notre beau #PrintempsEuropéen pic.twitter.com/OUokFd4wpq

— DIEM 25 Lyon (@Diem25Lyon) December 7, 2018

Yellow crutches. He forgot the vest.


_{It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II}

GINORMOUS NOTICE

Hi Benoit, this is Bellingdog. We have found a number of locations, with help from the OPCW and Heliot Biggins and our partners the Black Helmets, that the Macron regime may be targeting. #GiletsJaunes pic.twitter.com/7vMVMOAFU5

— Bellingdog (@bellingdog_en) 7. Dezember 2018

Locked in battle with Brussels over the government's budget plans, Salvini told the cheering crowds he would honor promises to boost state spending, warning that austerity would only fuel the sort of violence that has rocked neighboring France.

"Those who sow poverty reap protests," he said

According to the bill posted on Parliament's website, employers are guaranteed an extra 250 hours of overtime per worker per year. For the rest [+ 150 hrs], they would have to seek employees' agreement.

Manifesto by progressive Europeans calls for €800bn of levies to tackle inequality, disillusionment, climate change and migration

A group of progressive Europeans led by the economist and author Thomas Piketty has drawn up a bold new blueprint for a fairer Europe to address the division, disenchantment, inequality and populism sweeping the continent.

The plan, crafted by more than 50 economists, historians and former politicians from half a dozen countries, includes huge levies on multinationals, millionaires and carbon emissions to generate funds to tackle the most urgent issues of the day, including poverty, migration, climate change and the EU's so-called democratic deficit.

* The manifesto is published on Monday by the Guardian, Le Monde, Der Spiegel, La Vanguardia, Gazeta Wyborcza, La Repubblica and Politiken

Manifesto by progressive Europeans calls for €800bn of levies to tackle inequality, disillusionment, climate change and migration
 The manifesto drawn up by Thomas Piketty and others addresses the inequality and populism sweeping the continent. Photograph: Eric Piermont/AFP/Getty Images
A group of progressive Europeans led by the economist and author Thomas Piketty has drawn up a bold new blueprint for a fairer Europe to address the division, disenchantment, inequality and rightwing populism sweeping the continent.
The plan, crafted by more than 50 economists, historians and former politicians from half a dozen countries, includes huge levies on multinationals, millionaires and carbon emissions to generate funds to tackle the most urgent issues of the day, including poverty, migration, climate change and the EU's so-called democratic deficit.

All fine up to this point...

At the heart of the manifesto is a call for a European assembly that would have a budget of up to €800bn a year, financed by taxing corporate profits more effectively, as well as income and wealth.
...
The money would be overseen by a new European assembly consisting mostly of national politicians and some MEPs. While the assembly would be in touch with EU institutions, it would sit outside EU treaties and have the final word on spending.

Piketty is recycling his hobby horse of a Eurozone parliamentary assembly... which wasn't a ridiculous idea in itself... but this time round, he doesn't seem to reference the Eurozone at all. Colour me perplexed. What is this Frankenstein parliament for? Other than destroying the EU?

The public are invited to comment and improve the proposals, which the authors said were "not perfect, but ... do have the merit of existing".

Please don't read the list of signatories. Ok, read it, if you need a good laugh.

_{It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II}

DoJ Charges 4 People in Panamagate Over Decades-Long Fraud Scheme
"Panamanian citizen Ramses Owens, German nationals Dirk Brauer and Harald Joachim Von Der Goltz as well as US citizen Richard Gaffey have been charged in an 11-count indictment, according to the Justice Department. The Germans and American have been arrested while Owens remains at large."

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

Prosecutors also brought charges against the Malaysian businessman they believe stole some of the money: Jho Low, who spent millions of dollars on gifts to celebrities like the actor Leonardo DiCaprio and the model Miranda Kerr.

Federal prosecutors said Tim Leissner, a former Goldman investment banker who spent years courting Mr. Low, pleaded guilty in August to taking part in the bribery and money laundering scheme. He left the firm in 2016 after the scandal first emerged.

The court filings were sealed until Thursday when the two other men, Mr. Low and Roger Ng, Mr. Leissner's former deputy, were charged. Mr. Ng, who left Goldman in 2014, was arrested in Malaysia; Mr. Low remains at large.]

The subpoenas come on the heels of a Monday ruling by U.S. District Judge Peter Messite, who approved a schedule for discovery of evidence related to allegations that President Donald Trump violated the Constitution's emoluments clause by allowing [?] foreign and domestic government entities to spend money at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.

Thirty-seven entities have been [named] in the subpoenas. Thirteen Trump-owned private businesses were also named, including DJT Holdings LLC and others plus a slew of federal agencies that could have information about Trump's hotel, including the General Services Administration which holds the hotel's lease.

archived oversight after Cohen
Federal agents raid office of lawyer who previously did tax work for Trump

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

Former vice-president Joe Biden has said he is the "most qualified person" to be president and will soon make up his mind about whether to run in 2020.

"The Badasses," as the women have dubbed themselves, had no political experience. Yet several won districts Republicans dominated for decades.
[...]
While there is a question mark about whether a woman with ["]national security["] experience will end up on the presidential ticket, some see such a candidate as Democrats' best hope to take on Trump.

archived
FIFTH WAVE

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

"I want to thank Vice President Mike Pence," the President said, to great applause. "A tremendous supporter, a tremendous supporter of yours. And Karen. And they go there and they love your country. They love your country. And they love this country. That's a good combination, right?"

The President's remarks are deeply offensive. They take the classic anti-Semitic canard that Jews have dual loyalties to their home country and to Israel and go one step further, suggesting that Jews have only one loyalty -- to Israel.

Not only that, but the President contrasted the singular loyalty of American Jews to Israel with the love shown by Vice President Pence, who is able to love both America and Israel.

Amazingly, his audience of right wing Jews applauded. Their applause for the President's casual anti-Semitic remark is staggering, not least because some in the audience had called Linda Sarsour an anti-Semite for saying something similar just weeks ago.

ProPublica, #MeToo, #Time'sUp, #WhyIDidn'tReport excoriation of patriarchy developing ...

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

TRUMP: ...I can't get it passed in the House, if it's not going to pass in the Senate. I don't want to waste our time.
PELOSI: Well, the fact is you can get it started that way.
TRUMP: The House we can get passed very easy and we do, but the problem is the senate, and we need ten Democrats to vote and they won't vote.
PELOSI: That's not the point, Mr President. The point is that there are equities to be weighed and we're here to have a conversation in a careful way, so I don't think we should be having this debate in front of the press.
Trump, Pelosi and Schumer get into a heated Oval Office fight over border wall and shutdown

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

He was unrepentant during a talk at the second International Summit on Human Genome Editing in Hong Kong Wednesday, saying that his aim was to help HIV/AIDS patients have healthy babies. ...The Beijing News has reported that couples who agreed to participate were paid 280,000 yuan (US$40,000), on condition that they did not seek further compensation should the experiments go wrong.

Right-to-try legislation gives terminally ill patients the right to use experimental medications that have not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. ... Access to the drugs will likely only be feasible for wealthy Americans who can afford to pay for the treatment, as well as the consequences of any negative side effects out of pocket.

archived informed consent
Nobel Prize Medicine - It's Personal
ebola marketing UPDATE
CRISPR DNA editing may cause serious genetic damage, 2017
Crispr technique heralds genetic revolution, 2013


Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

O'Rourke's wealth and connections helped him crush Hernandez (except in poorer, heavily Mexican American districts in South Texas, which Hernandez won). The national Democratic party and even progressive media outlets ignored her. O'Rourke essentially treated her as a nuisance, refusing to debate her, and Hernandez reports that when she met with him after the primary, he refused to make commitments on important progressive issues. Hernandez's account of their meeting should be read by any member of the left who considers O'Rourke a reliable ally:

SH: He kept staring at me with his hand to his chin. I told him, "How do you expect people to vote for you, if you vote against us? If you vote for a seven hundred billion dollar military budget that is not earmarked for Vets? When that money could have been used for Medicare for all or college for all or a list of other things." I mentioned I didn't like how he followed the DCCC script on Medicare for all. He countered that he does not follow Party lines. He took offense and explained why he did not sign on to H.R. 676 because private health care would not get paid. I asked him to cosponsor H.R. 676 even if he doesn't think it will pass. It's a show of good faith and support for Medicare for all. He told me that he was not going to sign H.R. 676 just because it is what people want or because it is popular.... I asked him to explain why he was running, why he got into the race. I don't have healthcare. I do not have a good paying job. Our families and our communities are impacted more than he is.

Interviewer: What did he say?

SH: He said he is running because he believes every Texan and person in the USA deserves affordable healthcare, schooling, and ways to support their family. I expected a candid response and I got his campaign speech. I wanted to get to know him as a person and instead I got what you see on television, a politician.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) -- With his inauguration just weeks away, Brazilian President-elect Jair Bolsonaro is assembling a Cabinet of ministers with starkly different views on key issues like climate change, the economy and China that is raising questions about the direction the far-right leader will take Latin America's largest nation.

Spoiler alert: That isn't true at all.
"Renowned fighter against corruption" Moro is literally the judge that prevented Lula from running. "Free Markets" and military dictatorship? Who ever heard about such an unlikely combination in all of South America? A focus on enterprise vs. leaving the climate accord?

The U.S. Just Became a Net Oil Exporter for the First Time in 75 Years
market share gain by sanction against competitive exporters

Apple continues to force retailers to buy demo models while preventing their resale
market share gain by US antitrust violation

Huawei CFO Detained in Canada to Face Fraud Charges in US
market share gain by "suspicion of engaging in conspiracies to defraud multiple financial institutions and contravene US sanctions on Iran"


Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

The fastest growing group of foreign workers is Vietnamese, many of whom are employed in construction and nursing
[...]
Under the proposed legislation, two categories of workers would be accepted: less-skilled workers and former interns with basic Japanese competency are allowed to stay in the country for only up to five years as visitors and cannot bring in family members. That is meant to encourage them to leave when their visas expire, preventing them from settling in Japan.

Author: Andre Vltchek, "Magic Imperialism and the Great American Wall"

"I remain very skeptical of any notion that China has this under control," Arlan Suderman, the chief commodities economist at INTL FCStone Financial, said in an email to Asia Times. "It doesn't fit with the continued rise in cases over a broad area. There are too many ways in which this long-living virus can survive in the environment to declare it under control this soon."
[...]
"It all comes down to China," [executive director of Animal Protein at Rabobank, Christine McCracken] added. "Given the lack of biosecurity, the number of pigs in the country, and the fact that half are backyard pigs, there's almost no way they can get ASF under control.

McCracken then warned of the consequence of a potential pig virus epidemic. "How are they going to feed their people? Because if they don't feed their people, they've got a massive political issue. Food insecurity is not a good recipe for future political aspirations," she said.

Tumblr has defined adult content as "photos, videos, or GIFs that show real-life human genitals or female-presenting nipples, and any content--including photos, videos, GIFs and illustrations--that depicts sex acts."

archived evolutionary biology
Sex with animals

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

The result came at the end of a dramatic evening that saw Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen resign as leader of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)
[...]
Taiwan's top court legalized same-sex marriage in May 2017, the first place in Asia to do so, and ruled that it must be brought in within two years, but the government has made little progress in the face of opposition from conservative groups.
[...]
Ahead of the vote, Tsai and DPP officials repeatedly accused China of meddling in the lead-up to the elections by operating a "fake news" campaign. Beijing has denied the allegations.

Even though the overall number of people getting married has fallen according to government data, the wedding industry is still booming. ...Flaunting wealth in this way has been condemned by the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

"[We] should adhere to [a] simple marriage etiquette [which] should [conform] to a good social trend that advocates diligence and thrift, and opposes extravagance and waste," the ministry stated.

abusive or disrespectful behavior by someone in a position of power, aimed at someone they consider beneath them. Gapjil cases often involve bosses and their subordinates, professors and students, or staff of a major corporation bullying a smaller company.

Scientists researching the origins and evolution of graphic codes have turned to the popular web platform Reddit to explore how culture evolves. When a Reddit art initiative attracted over one million online participants, Thomas Müller and James Winters of the Minds and Traditions (Mint) group at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History saw an opportunity to test the dynamics of cultural change.

the view that cultural change has a similar logic as biological adaptation.

a digital "canvas" on which any user could place one pixel at a time over three days.

Winners are good at defending territorial resources but cooperation is the key to success. ... The tribalism of internet users was on full display with many artworks dominated by defiant nationalistic symbols.

Preposterous!