Thursday, July 26, 2018

REPUBLICANS PARTNER WITH DEMOCRATS TO ASSAULT THE AMERICAN WORKER -- HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF FOREIGNERS ON THEIR WAY TO KEEP WAGES DEPRESSED



GOP and Democrats Triple H-2B Visa-Workers to Almost 200,000




H-2B
Kyle Rivas/Getty Images
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The GOP-run House appropriations committee voted to help business owners on Wednesday by tripling the resident population of wage-cutting H-2B workers to almost 200,000.

The H-2B visa-worker program imports roughly 66,000 seasonal workers each year, allowing seasonal companies to lower wages for American seasonal workers and for year-round staff and supervisors.
The new amendment will allow CEOs to hire H-2B workers from the two prior years without counting them under the 66,000 annual cap. That legal trick will give CEOs a population of up to 198,000 H-2B workers to help lower wages for a larger number of Americans — even though wages are climbing very slowly in the current good economy, and many younger Americans are far worse off than their parents.
The proposed H-2B population is huge — it is roughly equal to the number of new jobs added in a good month.
“The cheap-labor lobby never sleeps,” said Mark Krikorian, director of the Center for Immigration Studies.  “The only solution is the elimination of the [H-2B] category.” 
The measure was touted as a boost for company executives by Kansas Rep. Kevin Yoder, who chairs the homeland defense panel of the appropriations committee. “As our economy grows, we’re going to need workers to continue to provide a role … I support the amendment,” said Yoder, who also used the amendment process to promote easier asylum rules for Central Americans and easier migration for Indian and Chinese foreign technology workers. 
The existing cap of 66,000 is too low for business owners, Yoder said, adding, “what we have now creates a lot of uncertainty, it cripples industries …  You may be totally left out and be unable to find the workers you need to continue your business.”
Cooperating Democrats echoed Yoder’s description of the program as an aid for CEOs, not employees. “It is a business issue … It is now up to us to give our businesses what they need,” said Maine Democrat Rep. Chellie Pingree.
The H-2B program lowers salaries for Americans because it exempts CEOs from the normal need to compete for workers in the free labor market. Instead of bidding for workers with higher wages and benefits, or else buying American-built labor-saving machinery, the program allows CEOs to import seasonal workers from Jamaica, Mexico, and many other countries at lower wages than needed to hire Americans. 
The program is widely used by urban landscapers, ski resorts, and coastal resorts but is also used by the government’s forestry contractors to avoid hiring the Americans who live in rural districts. 
The amendment was drafted by Maryland GOP Rep. Andrew Harris, whose district includes a picturesque crab-picking industry that has changed very little in 140 years. The industry still relies on lower-wage women workers to carefully pick crab-meat from crabs, but it is vital to his district because it anchors a tourist industry of hotels, restaurants, home-maintenance workers and crab boats.
BLOG: "TEMPORARY WORKERS" and their extended families who NEVER go home again!
“This is not about immigration – it is about temporary workers,” said Harris. 
Despite the crab pickers’ importance to Maryland, the local CEOs and the state government do not cooperate to offer any funds to help hire Americans in place of the foreign H-2B workers. 
Harris’ measure would also change the allocation system so that the incoming H-2B workers would be shared among a wider variety of companies, instead of being awarded to lucky companies via a lottery.
However, the reform does nothing to allocate H-2B visas to companies which offer the higher salaries, or to the companies which can show the greatest shortage of U.S. workers, such as the high-risk shrimp-fishing industry in the Gulf of Mexico.

TRUMP SLAPS SANCTIONS OF MUSLIM TURKEY FOR DETAINING AMERICAN PASTOR!


TRUMP SLAPS SANCTIONS ON TURKEY FOR DETAINING AMERICAN PASTOR


Saagar Enjeti | White House Correspondent



President Donald Trump will impose sanctions on Turkey for detaining an American pastor for nearly two years, he announced Thursday on twitter.
The United States will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment of Pastor Andrew Brunson, a great Christian, family man and wonderful human being. He is suffering greatly. This innocent man of faith should be released immediately!
Trump’s tweet comes after the official Thursday announcement by Vice President Mike Penceat a conference on religious freedom warning Turkey that the president would impose sanctions should they continue to detain American Pastor Andrew Brunson.
“To President Erdogan and the Turkish government,” Pence started, “I have a message on behalf of the president of the United States of America: Release Pastor Andrew Brunson now, or be prepared to face the consequences”
“If Turkey does not take immediate action to free this innocent man of faith and sending home to America, the United States will impose significant sanctions on Turkey until pastor Andrew Brunson is free,” he declared.

Brunson was detained in alleged connection with an attempted coup against Erdogan in 2016. The U.S. government maintains that Brunson is being unfairly treated and used as leverage and should be immediately released.


Trump: US Will Impose Sanctions on Turkey Over Detention of American Pastor


July 26, 2018 12:13 pm Last Updated: July 26, 2018 10:21 pm
President Donald Trump said that the United States will impose sanctions on Turkey over its protracted detainment of an American pastor.
“The United States will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment of Pastor Andrew Brunson, a great Christian, family man and wonderful human being. He is suffering greatly. This innocent man of faith should be released immediately!” Trump wrote on Twitter on July 26.
The United States will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment of Pastor Andrew Brunson, a great Christian, family man and wonderful human being. He is suffering greatly. This innocent man of faith should be released immediately!
Shortly before Trump’s announcement, Vice President Mike Pence threatened to impose sanctions on Turkey if the country continues to detain Brunson, an American pastor from North Carolina who is at the epicenter of tensions between Washington and Ankara.
Speaking at a three-day ministerial on religious freedom, Pence said the United States “will impose significant sanctions on Turkey” if Brunson is not freed.
Turkey’s minister of foreign affairs, Mevlut Cavusoglu, indicated on Twitterthat Ankara will not give in to Washington’s threat.
“Noone dictates Turkey,” Cavusoglu wrote. “We will never tolerate threats from anybody. Rule of law is for everyone; no exception.”
The spokesman for Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a statement that Brunson’s detention “falls within the jurisdiction of (Turkey’s) independent judiciary.” The spokesman called on the United States to “reconsider its approach and adopt a constructive position before inflicting further damage to its own interests and its alliance with Turkey.”
The United States and Turkey are both members of NATO.
Brunson was moved from jail to house arrest on July 26 due to health problems, according to Turkey’s official news agency. The 50-year-old spent a year and a half in jail awaiting the conclusion of his trial.
Trump had previously called Brunson’s detention “a total disgrace” and issued repeated calls for the pastor’s release.
“Brunson is an innocent man, there is no credible evidence against him,” Pence said.
American officials had been under the impression that a deal was in place to free Brunson, a source in the United States familiar with the developments said. When Brunson was not released, Pence spoke with Trump and the two agreed harsh new policy measures were needed to force the issue.
In April, a bipartisan group of 66 senators sent a letter (pdf) to Erdogan calling for Brunson’s release.
In June, the U.S. Senate passed a bill prohibiting Turkey from buying F-35 fighter jets because of Brunson’s imprisonment and Turkey’s purchase of Russia’s S-400 air defense system.
And in July, a group of senators introduced legislation to restrict loans from financial institutions to Turkey until it stops detaining American citizens.
“The continued detention of Pastor Andrew Brunson, other American citizens, and embassy staff is both inhumane and unwarranted and is causing tremendous pain to their families and loved ones. Turkish officials can end this now by releasing the detained Americans,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), one of the bill’s sponsors, said in a statement.
“The United States and Turkey are NATO allies, and we should be working together like allies. But the unjustified imprisonment of American citizens cannot stand, so it is imperative that Congress take action to demand their freedom, which is precisely what this bill will do.”
Turkey accuses Brunson of aiding a failed coup attempt, “committing crimes on behalf of terror groups without being a member,” and espionage. He faces 35 years in prison if convicted. Brunson denies the charges.
Erdogan previously asked the United States to extradite his political rival, Fethullah Gulen, in exchange for Brunson’s release. Turkey accuses Gulen of orchestrating a 2016 military coup. Gulen denies the charges.
Gulen is a Muslim cleric living in Pennsylvania. The United States has not granted Turkey’s extradition requests.
Brunson’s trial is one of several legal cases that have raised tensions between Washington and Ankara. A U.S. judge sentenced a Turkish bank executive in May to 32 months in prison for helping Iran evade U.S. sanctions, while two locally employed U.S. consulate staff in Turkey have been detained.
The NATO allies are also at odds over U.S. policy in Syria, where Washington’s ally in the fight against Islamic State is a Kurdish militia Turkey says is an extension of the PKK, which has waged a three-decade insurgency in southeast Turkey.
A Turkish court declined an offer from Brunson’s lawyer at a recent hearing to release the pastor pending the conclusion of the trial.
Brunson was pastor of the Izmir Resurrection Church, serving a small Protestant congregation in Turkey’s third-largest city, south of the Aegean town of Aliaga, where he is now on trial.
His lawyer, Ismail Cem Halavurt, said on July 18 the prosecution has added the testimonies of two new anonymous witnesses to the case and that the court will hold its next hearing on Oct. 12 to hear them and view new evidence.
Brunson lived in Turkey for more than two decades before his detention.
“My service that I have spent my life on, has now turned upside down. I was never ashamed to be a server of Jesus but these claims are shameful and disgusting,” Brunson told the court in the town of Aliaga.
Reuters contributed to this report.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/trump-u-s-will-impose-sanctions-on-turkey-over-detention-of-american-pastor_2605245.html?utm_source=Epoch+Times+Newsletters&utm_campaign=fa892ee130-Epoch

Turkey Advises US to ‘Review its Manners’ After Sanctions Threat Over Pastor’s Trial


By Patrick Goodenough | July 27, 2018 | 4:18 AM EDT

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visits the Turkish Embassy in Pretoria on Thursday, July 27, 2018, during a visit to South Africa to attend the BRICS summit. (Photo: Presidency of Turkey)
(CNSNews.com) – Turkey on Thursday sharply criticized President Trump’s threats to impose sanctions unless it releases an American pastor on trial for espionage and terrorism, saying it would “never tolerate threats from anybody” and urging the U.S. to “review its manners.”
“No one dictates Turkey,” Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tweeted in response to Trump’s earlier tweet. “We will never tolerate threats from anybody. Rule of law is for everyone; no exception.”
There was no immediate response from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is attending a BRICS summit in South Africa, but the Anadolu state news agency quoted his spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin, as saying the Trump administration should “review its manners immediately” before ties between the NATO allies deteriorate further.
“No one can give orders to Turkey and threaten our country,” foreign ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said. “The rhetoric of threat against Turkey is unacceptable.”
Anadolu later reported, citing diplomatic sources, that Cavusoglu had spoken to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo by phone.
In response to queries, a State Department official confirmed only that Pompeo had spoken with his Turkish counterpart.
Trump and Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday both warned Turkey that it could face sanctions unless Pastor Andrew Brunson – whom Turkish prosecutors want sentenced to a 35-year jail term – is released.
“The United States will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment of Pastor Andrew Brunson,” Trump tweeted. “He is suffering greatly. This innocent man of faith should be released immediately!”
During remarks at the State Department’s Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom, the vice president called on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by name to free Brunson “or be prepared to face the consequences,” in the form of “significant sanctions.”
Turkey’s treatment of the evangelical pastor has been a simmering irritant in relations between the two NATO allies, but took a new turn when a court in Izmir last week once again refused to release him on bail, prompting a Trump tweet describing Brunson as a “hostage” and urging Erdogan to act.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his Turkish counterpart, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. (Photo: Anadolu)
On Wednesday, the court ordered his transfer from prison to house arrest, citing “health problems.” He has been incarcerated since October 2016, charged with offenses including supporting Turkey’s most-wanted man, the U.S.-based Turkish Muslim cleric, Fethullah Gulen.
Pence in his speech called the transfer from prison “a welcome first step” but said it was “not good enough.”
Turkey’s Islamist government has argued that it does not and cannot interfere with the independent courts. Anadolu described Trump’s tweet as “an attempt to interfere with NATO-member Turkey's judiciary.”
But Brunson is widely seen as a victim of Erdogan’s wider campaign targeting Gulen, who was once a close ally of Erdogan but is now regarded as a bitter foe.
Erdogan accuses Gulen of masterminding a failed coup in July 2016 and has been demanding that the U.S. extradite him. Gulen denies responsibility and the U.S. says Turkey has not provided sufficient evidence to support the extradition bid.
Following the coup attempt Erdogan launched a massive crackdown which saw some 50,000 arrests and a purge of 150,000 judges, teachers, soldiers and others. Brunson, who after working and living in Turkey for more than two decades was caught up in the post-coup sweep, denies supporting Gulen.
He has also denied other charges, including supporting the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), and charges of “dividing and separating” Turkey by spreading the Christian gospel.
“Pastor Andrew Brunson is an innocent man,” Pence said. “There is no credible evidence against him.”
Trump’s recent use of the word “hostage” to describe the pastor alludes to Erdogan’s suggestion last fall that his government could consider swapping Brunson for Gulen.
Erdogan’s spokesman Kalin complained Thursday that the U.S. “has never taken a step against” Gulen’s movement.
The administration, he said, “should know that it cannot get any result by threatening Turkey using a matter, which is being handled by the independent Turkish judiciary, as an excuse.”
U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, Sam Brownback, told reporters after the ministerial at the State Department that he believed the prospects for Brunson returning home were “excellent.”
He noted interventions and pressure over months from Trump, Pence, Pompeo, himself, and members of Congress: “This has continued to build and build and build.”
Among congressional measures underway is an effort to prevent Turkey from taking possession of U.S.-built F-35 fighter jets – an initiative driven both by the Brunson affair and concerns about Erdogan’s planned purchase of the Russian-made S-400 missile defense system.
The National Defense Authorization Act contains a provision suspending delivery of the fighters pending a report on U.S.-Turkey relations.
The NDAA was passed by the House on Thursday after weeks of negotiations between House and Senate members.

MURDERING LOS ANGELES COPS... They know they will get away with it!

White Kentucky State Trooper keeps his regular shifts after he is seen on video KICKING a black man in his chest while booking him for a probation violation

  • Video of the June 24 incident shows Trooper Joshua Turner booking 42-year-old Nazarine L. Ingram Jr. for an alleged probation violation 

  • The Louisville resident is kicked by Turner in the clip and then points out that they are on camera before calling the Trooper a 'Trump supporter' 

  • According to Trooper Corey King, a public information officer, Turner claimed that he pushed Ingram with his foot

  • He has been still handling his regular shifts, only sending a substitute trooper to Ingram's probation hearing 

  • The probation charges against Ingram were dropped  
A Kentucky State Police trooper shown in security footage kicking a handcuffed man will continue to work his regular shifts, according to the department. 
Video of the June 24 incident shows Trooper Joshua Turner booking 42-year-old Nazarine L. Ingram Jr. for an alleged probation violation.
The Louisville resident can be seen kicking open the door as Turner comes in and proceeds to go to the booking computer and behind the counter. 
Video of the June 24 incident shows Trooper Joshua Turner booking 42-year-old Nazarine L. Ingram Jr. for an alleged probation violation
Video of the June 24 incident shows Trooper Joshua Turner booking 42-year-old Nazarine L. Ingram Jr. for an alleged probation violation
Video of the June 24 incident shows Trooper Joshua Turner booking 42-year-old Nazarine L. Ingram Jr. for an alleged probation violation
The Louisville resident is kicked by Turner in the clip and then points out that they are on camera before calling the Trooper a 'Trump supporter'
The Louisville resident is kicked by Turner in the clip and then points out that they are on camera before calling the Trooper a 'Trump supporter'
In the next moment, he comes around and kicks Ingram in the chest, forcing him to take a seat. Ingram points out that the incident happened in front of a camera before calling Turner a 'Trump supporter.' 
According to Trooper Corey King, a public information officer, Turner claimed that he pushed Ingram with his foot. 
According to Trooper Corey King, a public information officer, Turner claimed that he pushed Ingram with his foot. Turner was allowed to keep his job
According to Trooper Corey King, a public information officer, Turner claimed that he pushed Ingram with his foot. Turner was allowed to keep his job
King added that KSP 
officials 'handled' the situation but was unable to elaborate, the Messenger-Inquirer reports. 
Daviess County Jailer Art Maglinger shared that he knew of the incident on June 25 and reported it to KSP, providing them with a copy of the video. 
Ingram's publlic defender, Saeid Shafizadeh, was also given a copy of the video. 
'One thing he told me that isn't in the video, (Ingram) has sort of a large wrist,' the lawyer described. 
'He was asking the officer to loosen (the handcuffs), and that's what started it.' 
Shafizadeh isn't representing Ingram in the matter, however, adding that it may need to go to a civil court and may be a civil rights issue. 
He added: 'That is a pretty strong blow in a sensitive area. It's near his heart.'
The probation violation charges were dismissed and at the court hearing, a substitute officer went to the courtroom to read the report. 
Ingram's publlic defender, Saeid Shafizadeh, was given a copy of the video. But the lawyer won't be able to represent Ingram in the case as he is just a public defender
Ingram's publlic defender, Saeid Shafizadeh, was given a copy of the video. But the lawyer won't be able to represent Ingram in the case as he is just a public defender
An email to Chief Deputy Jailer Jack Jones from Deputy Jailer Preston Schilke said: 'at about (1 a.m), control notified me about an incident that happened in law enforcement (room) between KSP Turner and a new intake (Ingram). 
'Once I was notified, I reviewed the footage ... The footage showed Trooper Turner kicking (Ingram) in the chest while he was handcuffed behind his back.'  
Ingram has had run ins with the law, having pleaded guilty to first-degree burglary charge in connection to a 2011 incident. 
There he was charged with entering a home and raping a 15-year-old girl and threatening her with a tire iron. The plea agreement caused the rape charge to be dismissed. 



Trader Joe’s manager killed by Los Angeles police in shootout

By John Burton
26 July 2018
Melyda Corado, the 27-year-old manager of a popular Trader Joe’s market located in Silver Lake, an upscale Los Angeles neighborhood, was killed Saturday afternoon by a police officer shooting at a suspect fleeing into the store.
The incident began earlier that afternoon in South Central Los Angeles, when Gene Atkins, a disturbed 28-year-old man, shot his grandmother several times. Remarkably, the woman survived.
Atkins fled with his girlfriend in his grandmother’s Toyota Camry. LAPD officers located the car driving in Hollywood through its anti-theft device and initiated a reckless high-speed chase. Harrowing police videos from the police car and two body cameras captured what happened next.
As Atkins sped through traffic on crowded, busy streets he shot at the officers, shattering the back window of his own car. Shortly thereafter he crashed into a pole next to the Trader Joe’s front door. Atkins jumped out of the car and fired more shots toward the police as he ran into the store.
The driver of the police car is heard saying to his partner, “Do not, do not shoot. Get distance. We are getting distance.”
Rather than remain in a position of cover behind the vehicle engine block and ballistic door, as training mandates, however, the passenger officer, who has not yet been named, jumped out of the car and fired multiple shots at Atkins despite the presence of people all around him at the entrance to the crowded store.
Apparently, Melyda Corado was near the front door, responding to the sound of the crash, when she was hit by an LAPD bullet that perforated her arm before entering her body. She walked back into the store and collapsed in front of her co-employees and numerous customers, mortally wounded.
Dozens of military-clad LAPD SWAT officers were called and congregated for an hour outside the store, basically doing nothing, while breathless news reporters with video cameras descended to broadcast the “hostage situation.” Eventually Atkins surrendered, sustaining gunshot wounds to one arm. He did not harm any of the people inside the store.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney filed 31 felony charges against Atkins, including for the murder of Corado, even though he did not fire the bullet which killed her. Atkins is being held in lieu of $18.75 million bail.
The new LAPD Chief of Police, Michael Moore, wasted no time defending the shooting of Corado. “I believe it’s what they needed to do in order to defend the people of Los Angeles, defend the people in that store, and to defend themselves.”
To the contrary, the death of Corado was avoidable and occurred solely due to the reckless overreaction of both officers, especially the still unidentified shooter.
To start with, the high-speed chase was unnecessary and recklessly jeopardized numerous lives. With a tracking device on the car and multiple officers and a helicopter were responding from various directions Atkins was not going to get away.
After Atkins crashed, the driver of the police car parked at a safe distance according to police protocol and told the other officer to hold her fire.
Even though Atkins was firing at the officers, the only correct tactic was to take positions of cover and wait for back up because the “background” was full of people who could be injured by police bullets. Had the shooting officer done so, the store manager would have survived unscathed, as did everyone else inside the store.
Reports in the media make clear that there was never a hostage situation in the store. Quoted in the Los Angeles Times, one of the customers, Mike D’Angelo, described Atkins as having “two bullet holes in his arm and he was bleeding badly. He kept saying he didn’t want to hurt anybody.”
“I got him whatever he needed,” D’Angelo continued. “Some water, orange juice, Jack Daniels.”
Sadly, Atkins tried to telephone his grandmother, who was not reachable as she was in the emergency room for trauma surgery. A customer let Atkins use her cell phone to speak with LAPD hostage negotiators, who eventually coaxed him out of the store.