Chris Hedges's Blog, page 487

State Attorneys General Urge HUD to Keep Rule Against Housing Discrimination

Attorneys general in 16 states and the District of Columbia submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, urging that the agency make no changes to an administrative rule that protects individuals from housing discrimination.

“The rule strikes the proper balance between promoting an integrated society and protecting housing providers from unmeritorious discrimination claims,” the statement said.

The attorneys general, all democrats, cited lawsuits alleging discrimination by Wells Fargo and Countrywide Financial Corporation. Both companies settled and agreed to compensate the victims, but Wells Fargo denied any wrongdoing. Bank of America purchased Countrywide in 2008 and said that it discontinued Countrywide’s allegedly discriminatory practices.

In those cases, prosecutors used a standard known as “disparate impact” to prove discrimination, arguing that even though there was no “direct proof of overt bias,” there were “statistically significant disparities” that could not be explained away by race-neutral business decisions. The standard allows lenders, landlords and other housing providers to be held liable if their actions produce a discriminatory effect, regardless of their intent.

Under the Obama administration, the Department of Housing and Urban Development began using the disparate impact standard to enforce the Fair Housing Act. A 2015 Supreme Court decision agreed that intent was not required to prove discrimination.

In May, under the Trump administration, the housing agency asked for a second opinion. Secretary Ben Carson announced it would seek public comment to assess if the disparate impact standard was being correctly applied in accordance to the Supreme Court ruling.

In response, the American Bankers Association argued that the rule should be amended to include clear and specific definitions of disparate impact.

“ABA and the SBAs (state bankers associations) have significant concerns that the rule adopts standards that are inconsistent with Supreme Court precedent, fails to provide necessary guidance, and is therefore outdated and ineffective,” the American Bankers Association wrote.

The association would like the rule to protect lenders from claims based only on statistics. Under the Supreme Court decision, anyone bringing a disparate impact lawsuit needs to also identify policies that led to a statistical disparity.

The attorneys general cited Reveal’s work on modern-day redlining. The investigation found that people of color were more likely to be denied conventional mortgages in 61 metro areas across the country, even when they made the same amount of money, took on the same amount of debt, and were looking to live in a similar neighborhood as their white counterparts.

Reveal centered its investigation in Philadelphia because it was one of the largest metros with a high likelihood of denial for black applicants. The investigation prompted Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro to look into issues of redlining. He is one of the 17 attorneys generals who voiced their opposition to making changes in the disparate impact rule.

“If HUD changes its rule on disparate impact, that could open the door for lenders to further discriminate against borrowers,” Shapiro said in a statement. “Redlining and other forms of housing discrimination are wrong, and they harm individuals seeking mortgages or housing. These practices hold our cities and neighborhoods back – that’s why I am working to end them and protect consumers.”

Of the attorneys general who submitted comments to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Reveal found lending disparities in eight of their states, such as North Carolina, and the District of Columbia.

In the nation’s capital, black, Latino, Asian and Native American applicants were all more likely to be denied. Black applicants in Greenville, North Carolina, were more than five times as likely to be denied a mortgage, one of the highest disparities in the country, according to Reveal’s analysis.

Florida Progressive Scores Historic Triumph in Democratic Primary

Despite being massively outspent by his centrist millionaire opponents and lacking support from the Democratic establishment, progressive Andrew Gillum rode grassroots enthusiasm for his unabashedly left-wing agenda of Medicare for All and bold criminal justice reform to a shocking and historic upset victory Tuesday night in Florida’s gubernatorial primary.

“Tonight, we proved what’s possible when people come together and show up to build Florida into a better state for all,” Gillum wrote on Twitter following his victory, which was celebrated as further evidence that the progressive movement is gaining momentum nationwide. “I’m truly honored to represent people across the state as the Democratic nominee—and I promise to stand up for everyday Floridians and the issues that matter most.”

Tonight, we proved what’s possible when people come together & show up to build FL into a better state for all. I’m truly honored to represent people across the state as the Democratic nominee — and I promise to stand up for everyday Floridians and the issues that matter most. pic.twitter.com/zC19uMBIer

— Andrew Gillum (@AndrewGillum) August 29, 2018

While Gillum—who is currently the mayor of Tallahassee—lacked the institutional backing and immense personal wealth of his Democratic opponents, he overcame this cash deficit with a massive surge in voter turnout, which was attributed to his unwavering embrace of popular policies like Medicare for All and raising the minimum wage.

“My opponents have spent, together, over $90 million in this race. We have spent four [million],” Gillum told supporters at an event on Saturday. “Money doesn’t vote. People do.”

Gillum also won the support of nationally prominent progressives like New York congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

In a statement Tuesday night, Sanders applauded Gillum’s “powerful” grassroots campaign, noting that “he’s not just working hard to win an election, he has laid out a vision for a new course for the state of Florida and our country. No one person can take on the economic and political elites on their own.”

“Tonight, Floridians joined Andrew in standing up and demanding change in their community,” the Vermont senator added. “That’s what the political revolution is all about and Andrew Gillum is helping to lead it.”

In a tweet congratulating Gillum for his come-from-behind win, Ocasio-Cortez declared that the “progressive movement is transforming the country.”

Congratulations, @AndrewGillum!

The progressive movement is transforming the country – and he proved that again tonight.

Gillum ran on Medicare for All, Legalizing Marijuana, #AbolishICE & more.

Thank you, Florida voters!

On to November

How to Create a U.S.-Backed Government Coup for Fun and Profit!

Nicaragua just defeated a U.S.-backed violent coup attempt, and no one cares.

Well, let me revise that: Very few care. English teachers may care because they may find it fascinating the phrase “violent coup” is one of the only English phrases often introduced with the prefix “U.S.-backed.”

But I can tell you for certain the mainstream media don’t want you to care. They don’t even want you to know it happened. And they certainly don’t want you to know that it followed a simple formula for U.S.-backed coups in leftist and anti-imperialist nations throughout Latin America, a formula our military intelligence apparatus has implemented in numerous countries tirelessly, like an overused football play.

On the corporate airwaves you won’t hear about U.S.-backed anything. If the U.S. military backed up a truck, CNN wouldn’t mention it, NPR would tell you the truck was dealing with an “organic internal protest movement” and Fox News would blame a black person.

For example, there’s the U.S.-backed genocide going on in Yemen right now. As a recent Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting study made clear, over the 12 months prior to July 7, MSNBC aired a grand total of zero stories about Yemen while it spewed forth 455 stories about the porn star our president pooned. (Which is roughly 445 too many, even if you’re really into presidential erotic fan fiction.)

Back to Latin America. The U.S. has had a long policy of undermining, infiltrating and bringing down any Latin American government that doesn’t line up with our unfettered capitalistic neoliberal policies. If a leader says, “Hey, let’s live a different way in which everyone is taken care of and we help out our brothers and sisters,” then the U.S. will make sure he or she ends up wearing cement shoes at the bottom of a lake somewhere. (And those cement shoes won’t even be crafted by union cement workers because all the unions have been destroyed. So you’ve got freelance underpaid children making the shoes—probably part of the “gig economy” with some sort of cement shoe app that tricks cement layers into working for pennies because they don’t understand the algorithm is screwing them hard!)

Anyway, Nicaragua is the latest U.S.-backed attempted coup. So, this seems like a good time to present: How to Create a U.S.-Backed Government Coup!

You can play along at home—especially if your home is in Nicaragua or Venezuela.

STEP ONE: Create a strong U.S.-backed “fifth column.”

Don’t tell me you don’t know what a “fifth column” is. How could you be so naive! (This is the part where I mock you for lacking knowledge that I myself learned only last week.)

As smart person Peter Koenig explains, “A Fifth Column is a group of people who undermine the government of a country in support of the enemy. They can be both covert and open.”

There are various ways to create fifth columns. We here in the U.S. like to create ours with a good, wholesome front: nonprofit organizations. Our two favorites are USAID and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). What is the NED? Well, as Editor of Consortium News Robert Parry put it,

In 1983, NED essentially took over the CIA’s role of influencing electoral outcomes and destabilizing governments that got in the way of U.S. interests, except that NED carried out those functions in a quasi-overt fashion while the CIA did them covertly. NED also serves as a sort of slush fund for neocons. …

(When I picture a neocon slush fund, I picture Dick Cheney, Mitch McConnell and Bill Kristol naked in a small bathtub filled with the vomit of all their victims. Yes, it’s gross. But it’s less gross than what a neocon slush fund really is.)

So we use NED and USAID to destabilize countries. Keep in mind, though it may not sound like much, there are consequences to destabilizing countries. By doing it, we indirectly kill a lot of people, or at least ruin their lives, leaving them poor or destitute. But to create a successful coup, it’s important you don’t care about any of that stuff. Leave that for the nerds with their pencils and their statistics. If babies die because they can’t get the medical treatment they need, not your problem. You’ve got other stuff to do—like wipe bird shit off your $1,200 loafers.

STEP TWO: Undermine the country’s economy.

This can be done via sanctions, as we are currently doing in Venezuela and Iran. Simultaneously, use the fifth column and the obedient American media hacks (CNN, Fox News, MSNBC) to convince the people of said country that their economic troubles are the fault of only their president.

“It’s the Venezuelan president’s fault you don’t have toilet paper! He’s hoarding all the toilet paper. He’s sitting up there on a throne made of Angel Soft triple ply! His anus is singing ‘Joy to the World’ right now!”

But, what our corporate media really don’t want you to know is the truth. Peter Koenig, who was also an international observer for the Presidential Economic Advisory Commission (showoff), stated,

… It is absolutely clear who is behind the food and medicine boycotts (empty supermarket shelves), and the induced internal violence [in Venezuela]. It is a carbon copy of what the CIA under Kissinger’s command did in Chile in 1973 which led to the murder of the legitimate and democratically elected President Allende and to the Pinochet military coup. …

So you create economic troubles, which make people hungry and angry, and that leads to …

STEP THREE: Wait for internal protests and/or create them.

Basically, there were legitimate protests in Nicaragua because what country doesn’t have protests now and again? But then the U.S. and our front groups threw kerosene on the situation. The NED-funded publication Global Americans actually bragged about the kerosene it threw. In an article titled “Laying the groundwork for insurrection: A closer look at the U.S. role in Nicaragua’s social unrest,” it said, “… the NED has funded 54 projects in Nicaragua between 2014 and 2017.”

So various U.S.-backed groups redirected the protests against the Daniel Ortega government. Some protesting students were even flown to the United States for further instruction from Freedom House, which has deep ties to the CIA. Once here, the students posed for photos with none other than U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.

If there’s one thing I trust, it’s people who are proud to meet Marco Rubio. I mean, even Marco Rubio’s kids tell people that Joe Biden is their father.

So as with Syria, after genuine protests began in Nicaragua, the U.S. used the fifth column to exacerbate the tension and channel the protests toward a violent showdown.

STEP FOUR: Get violent while accusing the government of getting violent.

We’ve seen this tactic in Nicaragua and Venezuela. There was violence on both sides of the protests, but far more on the U.S.-backed sides, sometimes with help from the CIA or alumni from our military training facilities like The School of the Americas. But because of media propaganda, many believe there is primarily violence on the government side, when in fact it’s the opposite.

STEP FIVE: If steps 1 through 4 don’t work, kidnap or assassinate.

The time may come when you’ve exhausted other options and simply must whack a dude. Don’t feel bad. It happens to the best of us.

Or, if you’re feeling generous, you can put said target on a U.S. military plane and fly him to Africa against his will—as happened in 2004 to the president of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. He was kidnapped by our military and taken on one of the most awkward 14-hour flights one can imagine.

There is an endless number of examples. Want some more? How about the 1973 CIA-backed overthrow and killing of socialist President Salvador Allende in Chile? But have no fear, he was replaced by murderous dictator Augusto Pinochet, whom the U.S. liked A LOT better. (We shared the same taste in death squads.)

Ecuadorean President Jaime Roldos Aguilera died in an airplane “accident” in 1981 after going forward with a plan to reorganize Ecuador’s fossil fuel industry, which U.S. interests were very much against. His airplane fell out of the sky after coming down with a bad case of the CIA.

Even NBC has recounted the bizarre CIA plots to assassinate Fidel Castro in Cuba, some of them involving exploding cigars. To be honest, I can’t look down on that because it is the funniest way to kill someone. So as long as it gets a laugh, I approve.

And a few weeks ago, we saw an attempt to kill President Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela with a small explosive drone. While there’s no indication the U.S. military was directly involved, that’s not really how it rolls. The military prefers to fund front groups so it looks like the U.S. had nothing to do with it. And keep in mind there WAS a U.S.-backed coup against Hugo Chavez, Maduro’s predecessor, in 2002. So taking out the Chavez-Maduro government has been a long-term goal of the U.S. deep state.

There you have it—thanks for playing How to Create a U.S.-Backed Government Coup!

Join us next week for How to Create a U.S.-Backed Cholera Outbreak! … starring Saudi Arabia! … And definitely NOT starring MSNBC. It has no idea what you’re talking about.

—

If you think this column is important, please share it. Also, check out Lee Camp’s weekly TV show “ Redacted Tonight ” and weekly podcast “ Common Censored .”

 

 

Bloomberg Reassigns Reporter After Call From Wells Fargo CEO

Last March, on the heels of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting that left 17 dead and 17 more injured, Bloomberg News published an investigative report exposing Wells Fargo as the “preferred financier for the U.S. gun industry.” Less than six months later, the publication has reassigned the story’s lead writer, reportedly at the financial service company’s request.

According to CNN, Wells Fargo CEO Timothy J. Sloan called Bloomberg’s editor in chief, John Micklethwait, to complain about the “conduct” of reporter Shahien Nasiripour, whose relationship with company representatives had grown increasingly fraught. (After a heated argument over a Sloan memo outlining the company’s ties to the National Rifle Association, Nasiripour actually issued an apology to Wells Fargo’s public relations team). Micklethwait responded by moving Nasiripour onto the Trump Organization beat—and off of Wells Fargo—citing his call with Sloan, per sources briefed on the meeting.

“Bloomberg publishes 5,000 stories a day and, like every news organization, we get pushback from the companies we cover,” a spokesperson for the publication said. “We make decisions about how we cover those companies based purely on what is best for our readers.”

As CNN’s Oliver Darcy reveals, Bloomberg derives the vast majority of its revenue from Bloomberg Terminal subscriptions, which run upwards of $20,000 per year per individual user. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Wells Fargo is one of the news agency’s biggest customers. “If the bank were to pull subscriptions from the terminal,” Darcy notes, “Bloomberg could lose millions.”

The move has seemingly not sat well with Bloomberg’s editorial team. While they have declined to comment publicly on their departures, three reporters—Hugh Son, Dakin Campbell and Laura Keller—have left the publication since Nasiripour’s reassignment.

For Wells Fargo, CNN’s reporting is merely the latest in a string of scandals and public embarrassments. In 2016, the company paid $185 million in penalties and was forced to terminate 5,300 employees after charging customers fees for bank accounts and credit cards that were opened without their approval; the revelations led Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., to call for Sloan’s firing. Earlier this year, the bank was fined an additional $1 billion for a range of insurance and mortgage abuses.

Read more at CNN.

Cohen’s Lawyer Walks Back Claim Trump Knew of Russia Meeting

NEW YORK—Another day, another twist in what Michael Cohen may — or may not — know about Donald Trump, Russian dirt and the 2016 election.

Cohen’s lawyer, Lanny Davis, is walking back his assertions that his client, the president’s former “fixer,” could tell a special prosecutor that Trump had prior knowledge of a meeting with a Russian lawyer to get damaging information on Hillary Clinton.

“I should have been much clearer that I could not confirm the story,” Davis said Monday, attempting to clean up his comments in interviews last week after Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations, tax evasion and bank fraud.

Davis told The Washington Post over the weekend that he “could not independently confirm” the claims he made on television last week that Cohen witnessed Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., telling his father about the Trump Tower meeting beforehand.

“I take responsibility for not communicating more clearly my uncertainty,” Davis said. “I regret the error.”

Davis is also hedging suggestions he made on television last week that Cohen could tell special prosecutor Robert Mueller about whether Trump was aware of and encouraged Russian hacking during the 2016 campaign before it became publicly known.

After suggesting to CNN last Wednesday that “Cohen was an observer and was a witness to Mr. Trump’s awareness of those emails before they were dropped,” Cohen told the Post, “there’s a possibility that is the case. But I am not sure.”

The prospect of Cohen telling Mueller that Trump knew in advance about the June 2016 meeting has hung over the Russia probe since CNN, citing anonymous sources, reported last month that Cohen was willing to share the information.

Davis told The Associated Press at the time that the basic substance of the CNN report was correct and told CNN last Wednesday that Cohen “was present during a discussion with junior and dad” pertaining to the Trump Tower meeting.

Davis, citing a lack of independent verification, apologized to the AP on Monday. “I express my regrets that I could not confirm what I told you,” he said.

Trump, who has denied knowing about the meeting with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, seized on Davis’ about-face.

“Michaels Cohen’s attorney clarified the record, saying his client does not know if President Trump knew about the Trump Tower meeting (out of which came nothing!),” Trump tweeted on Saturday. “The answer is that I did NOT know about the meeting. Just another phony story by the Fake News Media!”

CNN said it stands by the story, which included reporting from Pulitzer Prize-winning Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein. Trump Jr. tweeted that CNN was defending “literal fake news” and derided Bernstein as a “leftist hack.”

Student Loan Borrowers Lose an Advocate at Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Millions of Americans grappling with student loan debt lost an advocate at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Monday. As NPR reported, Seth Frotman resigned from his position at the CFPB as the student loan ombudsman—part of an office that is a watchdog for the $1.5 trillion industry—in a letter addressed to Mick Mulvaney, the organization’s acting director.

Frotman, who, as part of the Office for Students and Young Consumers, worked to protect borrowers from predatory lenders, said in his resignation letter that the CFPB “has turned its back on young people and their financial futures.”

He also accused the Trump administration of siding with lenders instead of the consumers the agency was founded to protect. “Unfortunately, under your [Mulvaney’s] leadership, the Bureau has abandoned the very consumers it is tasked by Congress with protecting,” Frotman wrote, adding, “Instead, you have used the Bureau to serve the wishes of the most powerful financial companies in America.”

According to NPR, “The letter raises serious questions about the federal government’s willingness to oversee the $1.5 trillion student loan industry and to protect student borrowers.”

The CFPB was founded in 2010, as part of multiple financial services reforms, including the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, enacted after the 2008 financial crisis.

For three years, Frotman reviewed complaints from borrowers concerned about the practices of various private lenders and other players in the student loan industry. NPR reports that Frotman’s office helped borrowers regain more than $750 million from predatory lenders before the office, and the bureau as a whole, lost oversight power when Mulvaney took over as acting director of the CFPB.

In May, Mulvaney decided to shift the Office for Students and Young Consumers from a stand-alone office to one folded into the agency’s financial education division. According to NPR, the move signaled “a symbolic shift in mission from investigation to information-sharing.”

Christopher Peterson, director of financial services at the nonprofit Consumer Federation of America, was alarmed, telling NPR that Mulvaney’s decision was “an appalling step in a longer march toward the elimination of meaningful American consumer protection law.”

Frotman’s division wasn’t the only one that found its mission crippled by the Trump administration.

In June, Mulvaney announced he was firing the agency’s entire Consumer Advisory Board, known as the CAB; he said he plans to replace them with new members in the fall. He did the firings only days after 11 of the 25 members criticized how he was running the agency in a news conference. As The Washington Post reported at the time, those members accused Mulvaney of “ignoring them and making unwise decisions about the agency’s future.”

Following that announcement, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said in a statement that “Mick Mulvaney has no intention of putting consumers above financial firms that cheat them. This is what happens when you put someone in charge of an agency they think shouldn’t exist.”

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, echoed Warren’s concerns, telling the Post “Mulvaney has proved once again he would rather cozy up with payday lenders and industry insiders than listen to consumer advocates who want to make sure hard-working Americans are not cheated by financial scams.”

As for Frotman’s departure, the CFPB declined to comment on specifics to NPR, saying only, “We hope that all of our departing employees find fulfillment in other pursuits and we thank them for their service.”

Read the entire resignation letter at NPR.

 

Father of Slain Iowa Student Stands Up for Hispanic Community

BROOKLYN, Iowa—The killing of University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts has prompted criticism of the U.S. immigration system because the man charged in her death is a Mexican farmworker. But the victim’s father told mourners he’s been embraced by the local Hispanic community.

Speaking Sunday afternoon to more than 1,000 people at a ceremony at his daughter’s former high school, Rob Tibbetts didn’t directly respond to comments by President Donald Trump and others who quickly seized upon the suspect’s citizenship to argue for changes in immigration laws.

However, The Des Moines Register reports that Tibbetts said he encountered Hispanics at Mexican restaurants and elsewhere who were sensitive and kind during the weeks he spent in the central Iowa community of Brooklyn to help search for his daughter.

“The Hispanic community are Iowans. They have the same values as Iowans,” he said. “As far as I’m concerned, they’re Iowans with better food.”

The body of 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts was found Aug. 21 in a cornfield outside Brooklyn, where she had been staying during her summer break from the University of Iowa. Authorities have said she was abducted while out running July 18, and an autopsy showed that she died from stab wounds.

Cristhian Bahena Rivera, 24, has been charged with first-degree murder in her death and is being held in lieu of a $5 million cash-only bond. He is suspected of being in the United States illegally.

If convicted of murder, he faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Within hours of Rivera’s arrest, Trump, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and the state’s two U.S. senators said her death demonstrated the need to change immigration laws. Trump called for the election of more Republicans who would support such changes.

In his address at Brooklyn-Guernsey-Malcom High School, Rob Tibbetts asked mourners to remember his daughter by “celebrating something wonderful,” rather than focusing on how she died.

Tibbetts urged the audience to remember his daughter’s passion for life and her desire to help others. To highlight his call to celebrate “wonderful” things, the father recognized a couple who had just married the day before during his eulogy.

“Today, we need to turn the page. We’re at the end of a long ordeal,” he said. “But we need to turn toward life — Mollie’s life — because Mollie is nobody’s victim. Mollie is my hero.”

Davenport Bishop Thomas Zinkula led the funeral Mass in the city of 1,500 where Mollie Tibbetts grew up.

Rose McGowan to Asia Argento: ‘Do the Right Thing’

It’s hard to believe it has been less than a year since the most recent phase of the #MeToo movement began, building on the work founder Tarana Burke started a decade before, with a series of news breaks about sexual harassment in Hollywood. “Breakthroughs” might be a better term to describe the headlines that shaped that moment last October, when movie producer Harvey Weinstein was accused of multiple instances of sexual assault. Since then, the effects of the ensuing cultural reckoning have ranged far beyond the film business and have proved more complex and resistant to easy categorization than they may initially have seemed.

One of Weinstein’s first and most vocal accusers, actor and activist Rose McGowan, is uniquely aware of the stakes and complications involved at this stage. Those following her story know that she had formed an alliance with fellow Weinstein accuser, industry colleague and #MeToo supporter Asia Argento. McGowan came to Argento’s defense in June after Argento’s partner, chef-turned-raconteur and TV star Anthony Bourdain, committed suicide.

But McGowan had yet to comment at length about more recent, troubling allegations about Argento’s personal history, claims Argento has denied. That was until Monday, when McGowan released the statement posted in full below.

I would first of all like to start off this statement saying thank you for your patience. A lot of people have been demanding answers and a response to the recent events surrounding Asia Argento’s sexual assault case. Many people believe that because we have been close in each other’s lives over the past year that perhaps I am affiliated with this incident or being complicit. I am not. 
I first met Asia on a red carpet, but it’s only been the past year through our shared experience of the HW [Harvey Weinstein] case that we have bonded. Asia was a person who understood my trauma in a way that many others didn’t. We were able to talk through them together and champion each other’s voices. We even got matching dot tattoos! Something I had posted on my IG [Instagram] just about a month ago. It’s no secret to anyone that I’m a blunt, candid, brazen individual vocally—and I think that’s what I really related to Asia the most with. They were edgy, confrontational, and strong willed with very little care about how much other’s liked or disliked them. Rare things to find in women in this industry or the world. 
 
But then everything changed. In an instant. I received a phone call and series of messages from the being I’ve been dating—Rain Dove. They said that they had been texting with Asia and that Asia had revealed that she had indeed slept with Jimmy [Bennett]. Rain also shared that Asia had stated that she’d been receiving unsolicited nudes of Jimmy since he had been 12. Asia mentioned in these texts that she didn’t take any action on those images. No reporting to authorities, to the parents, or blocking of Jimmy’s social media. Not even a simple message “Don’t send me these images. They are inappropriate.” There were a few other details revealed as well that I am not at liberty to mention in this statement as investigators do their job. 
 
Rain Dove said that they were going to go to the police with these texts once we were done speaking no matter what. But that they wanted me to be aware of them so that I may be able to take further actions. I responded with “You have to. You must.” I wasted no time. It wasn’t hard to say or support. What was hard was the shell shock of the realisation that everything the MeToo movement stood for was about to be in jeopardy. An hour after our conversation was finished Rain Dove confirmed that they had turned over the texts and were in conversation with officers. Almost 48 hours later the texts were in the press. 
 
I had introduced Rain Dove to Asia Argento last month, three days after the passing of Anthony Bourdain. I was with Asia to comfort and support her. Rain Dove came to support us both. It was an emotionally chaotic time and Rain Dove suggested we go to Berlin for a couple days to take the mourning out of Asia’s home and into a neutral space. So we did. While in Berlin Asia had mentioned that she was being extorted for a large sum of money every month by someone who was blackmailing them with a provocative image. No one in the room knew who the extortionist was. Now we know it to be a reference to this case. 
 
Rain Dove continued on communicating with Asia occasionally after meeting her—and their conversations have been their own. I know Rain is a person to whom many high profile entities consult when they are experiencing social pressures because Rain is good at guiding them through the research, confrontation, rehabilitation, and solution process. While they are a person who is good at keeping a secret for those dedicated to making things right—they are also justice driven. So it was not a surprise to me that I received that call and the messages from them. I’ve referred to Asia in the past as “My Ride or Die” and said very clearly that their friendship comes first. I know that coming to me with those messages must have been hard for Rain because of that so I commend them for their bravery. 
 
To the people who have checked in with me to see if I’m alright—the answer is thank you and Yes. I’ll be fine. Its sad to lose a friend connection, but whats even more sad is what happened to Jimmy [Bennett]. Whether or not the extortion case is true—it wasn’t fair and it wasn’t right. It is the type of thing I fight against alongside so many. The reason I haven’t released a statement is because I’ve frankly been extremely humbled by this event. I had to take a step back and realise that in my own activism while I fight hard with passion—I need to evolve. In the past I have been occasionally angry. As a victim I was justified in fiery feelings. But I know that those accused are the friends, parents, and family members of other people. There absolutely should be no leeway or tolerance for sexual assault. Hard stop. NONE. Victims also shouldn’t be told how they should react or what they should say about their abusers. However as allies to the victim and voyeurs of an event we should find a better way to balance support of the victim with due process for the accused. I’ve never claimed to be perfect. This week especially has made me come to terms with the fact that we all have a lot of growing to do, including myself. 
 
At this current moment it may be easy to focus on the drama of the situation. The conspiracy. But the real focus should be on supporting justice. Supporting honesty. And supporting each other. We can not let this moment break the momentum of a movement that has freed so many people. We must use it to allow us to become stronger. More compassionate. More aware. And More organised. 
 
Asia you were my friend. I loved you. You’ve spent and risked a lot to stand with the MeToo movement. I really hope you find your way through this process to rehabilitation and betterment. Anyone can be better—I hope you can be, too. Do the right thing. Be honest. Be fair. Let justice stay its course. Be the person you wish Harvey could have been.

U.S. and Mexico Have Tentative Deal to Replace NAFTA

The Trump administration and Mexico have reached a preliminary accord to end the North American Free Trade Agreement and replace it with a deal that the administration wants to be more favorable to the United States.

President Donald Trump, in announcing the tentative agreement Monday at the White House, said a new deal would be called “the United States-Mexico Trade Agreement. Trump has frequently condemned the 24-year-old NAFTA trade pact as a job-killing “disaster” for the United States.

Still, any new agreement is far from final. The administration still needs to negotiate with the third partner in NAFTA, Canada, to become part of any new trade accord. Without Canada, America’s No. 2 trading partner, it’s unclear whether any new U.S. trade agreement with Mexico would be possible.

The president said that he will be calling Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

“If they’d like to negotiate fairly, we’ll do that,” Trump said.

Trump put pressure on Canada by threatening to tax Canadian auto imports and to leave Canada out of a new regional trade bloc.

NAFTA reduced most trade barriers between the three countries. But Trump and other critics say it encouraged U.S. manufacturers to move south of the border to exploit low-wage Mexican labor.

Talks to overhaul the agreement began a year ago and have proved contentious.

U.S. and Mexican negotiators worked over the weekend to narrow their differences. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said Monday that Mexico had agreed to ensure that 75 percent of automotive content be produced within the trade bloc (up from a current 62.5 percent) to receive duty-free benefits and that 40 percent to 45 percent be made by workers earning at least $16 an hour.

It remain unclear where Monday’s announcement leaves Canada.

Adam Austen, a spokesman for Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, said: “Canada is encouraged by the continued optimism shown by our negotiating partners. Progress between Mexico and the United States is a necessary requirement for any renewed NAFTA agreement.”

Austen said the Canadians had been regular contact with the NAFTA negotiators.

“We will only sign a new NAFTA that is good for Canada and good for the middle class,” he said, adding that “Canada’s signature is required.”

The No. 2 Senate Republican, John Cornyn of Texas, hailed the “positive step” but said Canada needs to be party to a final deal. “A trilateral agreement is the best path forward,” he said, adding that millions of jobs are at stake.

This Is What the New Socialism Looks Like

Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are reaching voters disappointed with Democrats’ rightward shift on economics; it’s possible Israel is behind efforts to discredit U.K. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn; meanwhile, science reveals that the lazy prevail. These discoveries and more below.

The New Socialists

Why the pitch from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders resonates in 2018.

Is Israel’s Hidden Hand Behind the Attacks on Jeremy Corbyn?

Has Israel been covertly fueling claims of an “anti-Semitism crisis” purportedly plaguing Britain’s Labour Party since it elected a new leader, Jeremy Corbyn, three years ago?

Why 95.8 percent of Female Newscasters Have the Same Hair

Image consultants, hair clauses in contracts, and a vocal public work to keep our TV talking heads homogenous-looking. Here’s how a few personalities are breaking the mold.

‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Is Not a Radical Win for Representation

The film promotes the ongoing systematic erasure and oppression of Singapore minorities on a global screen.

The Endgame for Trump Comes Into View

With all the debate about whether Trump could or should be impeached this very minute—a wholly theoretical debate as long as the GOP controls Congress—we tend to forget that Nixon was never tried for impeachment.

Why No One at GM Is Allowed to Walk Around on Their Smartphones

Everyone in all General Motors offices (including CEO Mary Barra) is banned from walking and talking or texting.

The Conspiracy Memo About Obama Aides That Circulated in the Trump White House

The 2017 document, titled “The Echo Chamber,” accused former Obama officials of undermining the incoming Administration.

New Research Suggests Evolution Might Favor ‘Survival of the Laziest’

If you’ve got an unemployed, 30-year-old adult child still living in the basement, fear not.

Scientists Reveal the Number of Times You’re Actually Conscious Each Minute

Spoiler: It’s not very often (and that’s a good thing).

How Tourists Are Destroying the Places They Love

Travel is no longer a luxury good. Airlines like Ryanair and EasyJet have contributed to a form of mass tourism that has made local residents feel like foreigners in cities like Barcelona and Rome. The infrastructure is buckling under the pressure.

The U.S. Is Building a Drone Base in Niger That Will Cost More Than $280 Million by 2024

When the 10-year agreement for use of a base in Agadez, Niger, ends, its construction and operating costs will top a quarter-billion dollars.