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New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan determined Tuesday that Donald Trump violated the terms of a gag order intended to prevent him from lobbing public attacks on people involved in his criminal hush money trial, warning the former president he could face jail time if he continues to ignore the order.

Trump “is hereby warned that the Court will not tolerate continued willful violations of its lawful orders and that if necessary and appropriate under the circumstances, it will impose an incarceratory punishment,” Merchan wrote in his ruling.

Merchan said the former president would be fined a total of $9,000, as the prosecution met the burden of proof for nine of the 10 incidents that the they alleged had violated the directive. Trump would need to make that payment by Friday, the ruling states.

Merchan said while the fine in this case is not sufficient to achieve its purpose given the wealth of the defendant, he does not have the discretion to increase the financial penalty, requiring him to “consider whether in some instances, jail may be a necessary punishment.”

“While $1,000 may suffice in most instances to protect the dignity of the judicial system, to compel respect for its mandates and to punish the offender for disobeying a court order, it unfortunately will not achieve the desired result in those instances where the contemnor can easily afford such a fine,” Merchan wrote.

Prosecutors argued at a hearing with the judge that Trump violated the order 10 times through derisive social media posts and posts to his official campaign website, putting witnesses in the case at risk of feeling intimidated.

“What happened here is precisely what the order was designed to prevent and the defendant doesn’t care,” prosecuting attorney Christopher Conroy said during the hearing last Tuesday.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-judge-gag-order-ruling_n_6627b21de4b096c7bac6280a

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Fed chair Jerome Powell: No sign of stagflation in US economy
Even as inflation remains stubbornly high and some signs of slowing growth emerge, today's economy can't be compared to the problems of the 1970s, Powell said.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna150275

May 1, 2024, 4:31 PM EDT
By Rob Wile
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday there was no sign of stagflation in the economy, even as inflation remains stubbornly high and some signs of slowing growth have started to emerge.

In remarks following the release of the Fed's decision Wednesday to leave interest rates unchanged, Powell said he didn't "really understand where talk of a stagflation scenario is coming from" given the preponderance of solid economic data.

Historically, stagflation occurs when high unemployment, slow economic growth, and high inflation all happen at the same time.

Powell compared today's economy, with both inflation rates and the unemployment rate below 4%, to the 1970s, the decade when most economists consider stagflation to have taken root.


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Link: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/surprise-arrest-corruption-scandal-putin-inner-circle-rcna149732

>A corruption scandal centered on allegations against Russia’s deputy defense minister has drawn surprise and speculation from close observers of the country’s elite.

>But it’s not the allegations against Timur Ivanov — a close ally of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, well known for his lavish lifestyle — that are causing a stir. Instead, many are trying to figure out what his sudden arrest means in the power games at the heart of the Kremlin.

>The arrest was announced last week by Russia’s Investigative Committee, which said Ivanov had been detained on suspicion of taking a bribe. He will remain in custody until at least June.

>During court proceedings held Wednesday, the once powerful figure appeared in a glass cage, still wearing his army uniform.

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https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/biden-administration-wants-to-reclassify-marijuana-as-less-dangerous-drug-d6735b23
https://apnews.com/article/marijuana-biden-dea-criminal-justice-pot-f833a8dae6ceb31a8658a5d65832a3b8
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/04/30/dea-reclassifies-marijuana-reports/72865632007/

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will move to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, The Associated Press has learned, a historic shift to generations of American drug policy that could have wide ripple effects across the country.

The DEA’s proposal, which still must be reviewed by the White House Office of Management and Budget, would recognize the medical uses of cannabis and acknowledge it has less potential for abuse than some of the nation’s most dangerous drugs. However, it would not legalize marijuana outright for recreational use.

The agency’s move, confirmed to the AP on Tuesday by five people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive regulatory review, clears the last significant regulatory hurdle before the agency’s biggest policy change in more than 50 years can take effect.

Once OMB signs off, the DEA will take public comment on the plan to move marijuana from its current classification as a Schedule I drug, alongside heroin and LSD. It moves pot to Schedule III, alongside ketamine and some anabolic steroids, following a recommendation from the federal Health and Human Services Department. After the public comment period and a review by an administrative judge, the agency would eventually publish the final rule.

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Whites getting their own Town
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13362499/louisiana-st-george-supreme-court-ruling.html

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Lawyers for Hunter Biden plan to sue Fox News “imminently,” according to a letter sent to the network and obtained by NBC News.

The letter, dated April 23, puts the Fox News Channel and Fox News Digital on notice for litigation claims arising from the network’s alleged “conspiracy and subsequent actions to defame Mr. Biden and paint him in a false light, the unlicensed commercial exploitation of his image, name, and likeness, and the unlawful publication of hacked intimate images of him.”

Biden has hired attorney Mark Geragos and his firm to represent him in the Fox litigation efforts. The letter is the second outreach to Fox this month.

Fox News agreed to pay $800 million to Dominion Voting Systems to settle defamation claims related to Fox’s airing of election fraud claims in the 2020 election. Fox News also agreed to a $12 million settlement with a former employee who alleged she was pressured to provide misleading information as part of the Dominion case.

Fox is currently facing a $2.7 billion lawsuit brought by Smartmatic, another voting system company that was the focus of Fox News coverage, as well as suits brought by shareholders against directors of the company for allowing the channel to air the allegations during its 2020 election coverage.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/rcna149707

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/2983316/hunter-biden-preparing-to-sue-fox-news/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-vNHRExA7E

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Democrat Tim Kennedy wins New York special election for House seat
Once he is sworn in to represent the state’s 26th Congressional District, the Republican majority in the chamber will temporarily fall to just one vote.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/30/new-york-special-election-house-kennedy/

State Sen. Tim Kennedy (D) is projected to win the special election for New York’s 26th Congressional District, according to the Associated Press.

Kennedy defeated Republican Gary Dickson, a town supervisor, in the Upstate New York district that includes the cities of Buffalo and Niagara Falls and will serve out former Democratic congressman Brian Higgins’s term, which ends in January. Higgins, who was first elected to the House in 2004, resigned his seat in February to take a job leading a performing arts center in the Democratic-leaning district.

When Kennedy is sworn in as a member of the House Democratic conference, it will temporarily shave the chamber’s Republican majority to one seat, leaving a small margin for error for party-line agenda items. House Republicans hold 217 seats and Democrats, with Kennedy, will have 213 seats, leaving vacant five seats.

A liberal Democrat who ran with the support of the Working Families Party, Kennedy served as a state legislator since 2011 and dominated the congressional race against Dickson financially. He spent more than $1 million on the race — compared with Dickson, who spent around $21,000, according to the latest campaign disclosure reports. Kennedy also is running for the seat’s full term in 2024.

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MEDIA
Fox News pulls down series as Hunter Biden threatens lawsuit
APRIL 30, 20245:54 PM ET
David Folkenflik 2018 square
David Folkenflik

https://www.npr.org/2024/04/30/1248275971/fox-news-hunter-biden-series-lawsuit-threat


Fox News has pulled down a six-part series in which it staged a mock trial of hypothetical criminal charges against Hunter Biden after the president's son threatened to sue the network.

The series, which was first posted on the cable network's right-wing streaming service back in October 2022, was removed only a day after Biden's legal team publicly made its threat. Biden says the network defamed him, among other accusations.

"We are reviewing the concerns that have just been raised and — out of an abundance of caution in the interim — have taken it down," Fox News Media said in acknowledging the decision Tuesday afternoon.


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College protesters want ‘amnesty.’ At stake: Tuition, legal charges, grades and graduation

https://apnews.com/article/student-protest-gaza-war-arrest-amnesty-ae235703d6a9b99114078fca13a530a0

I'm making posts again, no need to be outraged though.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-68914551

Iraq's parliament has passed a bill criminalising same-sex relationships with jail terms of between 10 and 15 years.

Transgender people could also be sent to prison for between one and three years under the new law.

Supporters of the changes say they will help to uphold religious values in the country.

Rights groups say they are a further black mark on Iraq's record of violations against LGBT people.

Those who promote homosexuality or prostitution, doctors who perform gender reassignment surgery, men who "intentionally" act like women and those who engage in "wife swapping" will also face prison terms under the new legislation.

A previous draft of the bill - an amendment to an anti-prostitution law that was passed in the late 1980s - had proposed capital punishment for same-sex relationships.

However, this was amended after facing opposition from the US and other Western countries.

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Donald Trump continues his campaign of terror against the forces of good, Donald Trump threatens to remove newscasters if he's re-eleted
https://www.rawstory.com/msnbc-nicolle-wallace-trump?utm_source=x.com&utm_campaign=social
Nicolle Wallace spurs uproar over dire warning: Trump could force me off air if reelected
MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace made a startling prediction on Monday: should former President Donald Trump be voted back into the Oval Office, she and other journalists could find themselves forced out of their jobs.

Wallace's name quickly became a trend on the social media platform X as Americans on both sides of the aisle digested this disturbing take.
The MSNBC host made this remark while discussing the recent White House Correspondents' Dinner and a comment from President Joe Biden.

"[Trump] said he wants to be a dictator on day one," Biden told the nation. "He tells supporters he is their revenge and retribution. When in God's name have you ever heard another president say something like that? And he promised a 'bloodbath' when he loses again. We have to take this seriously."

Biden urged his viewers not to discount Trump's comments as mere campaign trail rhetoric.

"Eight years ago we could have written it off as just Trump talk," Biden said. "But no longer. Not after January 6th."

Biden then toasted the free press, and days later, Wallace shared her views.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/28/world/middleeast/icc-arrest-warrants-israel-hamas.html
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-04-28/ty-article/.premium/israel-scrambles-as-netanyahu-defense-chiefs-face-possible-icc-arrest-warrants/0000018f-2537-d0a5-abcf-37ff394f0000

The news shouldn't have surprised the attorney general's office: Karim Khan, the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, might issue arrest warrants against senior Israeli officials on suspicion of war crimes in Gaza.

The Justice Ministry and army lawyers are working hard to prevent that from happening.

Also, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, the United States and other Western countries are striving to convince Khan to delay or prevent the issuing of warrants. But it's not clear that they're succeeding.

Israeli officials say they believe that the warrants will be served sometime this week against Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and the chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, Herzl Halevi. Officials below them would be spared.

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https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/arizona-gop-taps-fake-elector-rnc-post-rcna149719
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/04/26/christina-bobb-arizona-charges-rnc-election-integrity/

The Arizona GOP has selected state Sen. Jake Hoffman, a “fake elector” indicted last week and accused of working to overturn President Joe Biden’s 2020 win in Arizona, as a national committeeman for the Republican National Committee.

Hoffman — who was indicted Wednesday along with 17 other people, including former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani — was elected to the RNC post along with former state Rep. Liz Harris, who was expelled for reasons related to questioning Biden's 2020 victory in Arizona.

"I'm humbled and honored to have been elected as the next RNC National Committeeman for Arizona," Hoffman wrote Saturday evening on X.

"The road to saving America runs through our great state, and the RNC has a crucial role to play in supporting and empowering the Republican grassroots who fight every day against the Democratic Fascists," Hoffman added.

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Needs to be disbarred and tried for treason
https://www.rebelnews.com/new_york_judge_says_2nd_amendment_doesn_t_exist_in_this_courtroom_in_ghost_gun_case
New York judge says 2nd Amendment 'doesn't exist in this courtroom' in ghost gun case
Lawyer says the judge instructed them not to invoke a constitutional right in trial of hobbyist gunsmith.

By Ian Miles Cheong | April 26, 2024 | News
New York judge says 2nd Amendment 'doesn't exist in this courtroom' in ghost gun casePublic Domain
A defense attorney claims that the New York judge overseeing the prosecution of a man charged with manufacturing homemade firearms, known as "ghost guns," barred any arguments invoking the Second Amendment right to bear arms.

Vinoo Varghese, the lawyer representing Dexter Taylor, said Judge Abena Darkeh explicitly told the defense, "Do not bring the Second Amendment into this courtroom. It doesn't exist here. So you can't argue Second Amendment. This is New York," the National Pulse reports.

Judge Darkeh, who has been criticized as a Bill de Blasio "DEI hire" who also serves as vice president of the Association of Ghanaian Lawyers of America, has been criticized by online commentators who have described her as a "diversity, equity and inclusion hire." She is accused of acting as "the most aggressive prosecutor in the room" and limiting the scope of Taylor's defense.

https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.7187787

Pro-Palestinian protestors have built encampments on University grounds.