Category Archives: government

Culture, government, Politics, Social Justice, White House

Did you know that three Russian billionaires have resigned from the board of directors of LetterOne, a $22 billion investment corporation, after the company barred two Russian oligarchs from participating due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine?

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Three Russian billionaires have resigned from the board of directors of a $22-billion investment company during their country’s escalating invasion of Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin. 
MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images

This follows LetterOne’s decision last week to freeze out Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven, who are subject to Western-imposed sanctions, by barring access to their premises and prohibiting them from communicating with workers. German Khan, Alexei Kuzmichev, and Andrei Kosogov — none of whom are sanctioned – all resigned from their jobs at the business on Monday. “While none of these three people have been sanctioned, they think that taking this action is in the long-term best interests of LetterOne, its workers, and the many jobs supported by its portfolio firms,” the company stated in a statement to Insider. Khan, 60, a cofounder of LetterOne and a partner in Alpha Group, said in a statement that he backed the board’s decisions and urged an end to the fight. “The bulk of LetterOne’s founders have strong roots in Ukraine, and the devastation of the places where I spent my youth and which are now home to our forefathers’ graves is sad,” added Khan, who has a net worth of almost $6.9 billion, according to Bloomberg. Kuzmichev, 59, is a cofounder of Alfa-Bank, Russia’s largest private bank, and has an estimated net worth of around $5.2 billion, according to Bloomberg. Kosogov, 60, is a member of the Alpha Group’s board of directors and is worth $1.2 billion, according to Forbes.

Additionally, LetterOne said in Monday’s statement that Fridman and Aven, who stepped down from the company’s board of directors last Wednesday, had their shares “frozen permanently” and are no longer eligible to receive dividends or other financial funds from LetterOne. Mervyn Davies, the former chairman now CEO of LetterOne, told the Financial Times that they were shut out of offices, denied access to records, and prohibited from communicating with staff. LetterOne gives $150 million to aid those devastated by Ukraine’s conflict, and shareholders have decided that all dividends would go toward relief efforts, according to a corporate statement.

Reference
3 Russian billionaires resigned from the board of the $22 billion investment firm LetterOne after it locked out 2 Russian oligarchs over the invasion of Ukraine. https://www.businessinsider.com/russian-billionaires-oligarchs-letterone-resign-step-down-board-lock-out-2022-3?fbclid=IwAR2-aejj2I_yRuFdLYqmeybT9L8_pPHLzeUKdXbUrvwJBc720dCMUc70Edw

equal rights, Ethics, government, Social Justice, terrorism, White House

Are you familiar with NATO’s Article 5 and its application to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?

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US authorities have made it plain that American soldiers would avoid confrontation with Russian forces, and NATO countries have resisted requests to establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine, saying that it might result in a “full-fledged war in Europe.”

Photo by Katie Godowski on Pexels.com

If Moscow’s aggression against Ukraine crossed into a NATO member state, the situation could quickly deteriorate, triggering a response following NATO’s Article 5 policy. What is Article 5, and how does it pertain to Ukraine’s continuing conflict? What you need to know is as follows: What is the purpose of Article 5? Article 5 states that an assault on one NATO member constitutes an attack on all NATO members. The idea serves as a deterrent to prospective enemies targeting NATO countries.


Given that the US is NATO’s most prominent and most powerful member, every state inside the alliance is essentially protected by the US. Article 5: How does Russia’s aggression on Ukraine apply? Because Ukraine is not a NATO member, the US is not obligated to defend it in the same manner that it would if a NATO member nation were attacked. However, many of Ukraine’s neighbors are NATO members, and if a Russian invasion extends into one of them, Article 5 may spark direct US and NATO member intervention. What is the definition of an attack against a NATO member state? Article 5 wording stipulates that collective action is triggered by an “armed assault” against a member country. NATO members choose what constitutes an “armed assault,” and Russia’s hostile stance has already raised concerns about the country’s propensity to provoke a NATO reaction. Senator Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, recently warned The Washington Post that a Russian assault on Ukraine might have ramifications that extend beyond the intended “geographical limits” and threaten NATO nations. While local officials have said that “no change in radiation levels” has occurred in the region, what if there had been a radioactive leak that spread to a NATO member nation? “That is a decision for the alliance to make,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby previously told CNN.

Reference

Here’s what NATO’s Article 5 is and how it applies to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/07/politics/what-is-nato-article-5/index.html?fbclid=IwAR2CUknKMmHVQETQBp7MYQq4R9J35wrqITe7ucIGEziOCL3HJARqZx_VI88
CNN – Breaking News, Latest News and Videos. https://lite.cnn.com/en/article/h_a8182a2f063abf4ce60b6d5f03b8a897

Culture, equal rights, Ethics, government, Politics, Religion, Social Justice, White House

United States Supreme Court will hear arguments

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Amy and David Carson desired that their daughter Olivia attend Bangor Christian Schools, a private religious elementary through secondary school. Maine has said that it would not subsidize religious education. The United States Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether the state violated the Carsons’ constitutional rights. Carson v. Makin is the most recent in a series of lawsuits petitioning the Supreme Court for a ruling on religious liberty. If the court decides widely, it might have a profound effect on the ability of religious organizations to receive public financing.

Getty Images (2); TIME


It has the potential to “eviscerate” rules prohibiting public sponsorship of religious education. Maine parents have filed a lawsuit against the state for failing to include their favorite schools in a tuition aid program. Plaintiffs and supporters contend that the state discriminates against religious individuals. The case follows a series of previous judgments on public support for religious organizations. The case sets the free exercise provision of the First Amendment against the establishment clause.
According to some legal experts, Carson v. Makin is likely to become an extension of Espinoza. Officials in Maine assert that religious schools do not give an education “equivalent to a public education.” Carson v. Maine calls into question the relationship between religious liberty and LGBTQ rights. Maine contends that Bangor Christian and Temple Academy in Maine discriminate against members of other faiths and instructors and students who identify as LGBTQ. Advocates fear that government money may flow to discriminatory schools if the plaintiffs win.
Maine is just a few states that give this kind of tuition assistance to pupils who live in areas without public school choice. However, experts are concerned that other states may experience similar pressure from religious groups to implement similar schemes. This possibility concerns Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.

Reference

This Supreme Court Case Could Take a ‘Wrecking Ball’ to Separation of Church and State.https://time.com/6125676/maine-religion-schools-supreme-court-carson-makin/?fbclid=IwAR2y4KzyfGY6NuggKM8mZIgYpKYuhD_YqmKoiKzgnDJ7WUKGTBkFzCmgyW8

Ancestry, Behavioral Science, Culture, equal rights, government, History, human rights, Politics, Social Justice, White House

Judicial aspect of race in the America

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Judicial Aspects of Race in the United States: A Nation Fighting for Minority Rights by [Kenneth Dantzler Corbin]
New book on Amazon

This book is about the Judicial aspect of race in the America. In the United States, legislation aimed at regulating interactions between racial or ethnic groups has grown through various historical periods, beginning with European colonization of the Americas, the triangular slave trade, and the American Indian Wars. Racial legislation has been linked to immigration laws, which have sometimes contained explicit clauses targeting certain nations or ethnic groups, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act and the 1923 US Supreme Court decision the United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind. In the antebellum period, all slave states and a few free states enacted similar legislation. Ozawa v. the United States and the United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind are the two most notable instances. Takao Ozawa, born in Japan and lived in the United States for 20 years, sought citizenship but was rejected because he was not deemed white. Americans of Italian and German ancestry and Italian and German citizens were also imprisoned, although on a far lesser scale, even though Italy and Germany sided with Japan in the war against the United States. In 1954, in Hernandez v. Texas, a federal court determined that Mexican Americans and all other ethnic or “racial groups” in the United States may have equal protection under the 14th Amendment.

Culture, environmental, Ethics, government, Health

Vanuatu ‘s representative to the European Union made a political proposal

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In December 2019, at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Vanuatu’s representative to the European Union made a political proposal: to make environmental degradation a crime.

Vanuatu is a tiny island country in the South Pacific, a nation endangered by increasing sea levels. Global warming is an immediate and catastrophic problem in the region, and activities that triggered rising temperatures – such as the combustion of fossil fuels – has almost totally taken place abroad to satisfy other nations, with the blessing of state governments.

Small island states like Vanuatu have long sought to convince big, strong nations to voluntarily curb their pollution, but progress has been sluggish – Ambassador John Licht indicated that it might be time to change the legislation itself.

An enhancement to the Treaty, also known as the Rome Statute, developed by the International Criminal Court could criminalize ecocide-related actions, he said, adding that “this radical concept deserves serious debate.”
Reference
Ecocide: Should killing nature be a crime? – BBC Future. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20201105-what-is-ecocide

equal rights, Ethics, government, human rights, Politics, Social Justice

Judicial system sentence more African Americans for non-offensive crimes

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The judicial system sentence more African Americans for non-offensive crimes while whites have committed the worst crimes. African Americans are more likely to spend more time in jail than whites. The judicial system in American is rigged to punish Africans more than whites. African Americans pay more fines than whites. African Americans pay higher fines than whites.

“A 63-year-old man who was serving a life sentence in prison for stealing a pair of hedge clippers has been granted parole, CBS affiliate KLFY reported. The Louisiana Board of Pardons and Committee on Parole voted this week to release Fair Wayne Bryant after he had served 23 years in prison.” This person should take the system to court for unjust sentencing. Do you think the crime is ridiculous and does not warrant 23 years in jail?

Man who spent 23 years in prison for stealing hedge …. https://www.ozarksfirst.com/local-news/national-news/man-who-spent-23-years-in-prison-for-stealing-hedge-clippers-granted-parole/

Culture, government, History, Politics, Social Justice, White House

Why are Trump stoking ‘birther’ conspiracy theory about Kamala Harris?

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President Donald Trump claims he has “overheard” Democratic candidate Kamala Harris “does not meet the requirements” to serve as US vice-president, enlarging a fringe legal theory pundits decry as racist.

She was born in the US to a Jamaican father and Indian mother in Oakland, California, on 20 October 1964.

As such, she is qualified to function as president or vice-president.

For a long time, Mr Trump presented a untrue “birther” theory that ex-President Barack Obama was not born in the United States.

Ms Harris, a California senator, was named on Tuesday as the first woman of color to work as running partner on a principal-party US presidential ticket.

Reference:

Trump stokes ‘birther’ conspiracy theory about Kamala Harris. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53774289

Culture, environmental, equal rights, Ethics, government, History, human rights, Politics

Ethnic Inequities Will Grow Unless We Consciously Work to get rid of it

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The economic after-effects from the coronavirus pandemic guarantees to affect families throughout the United States and future decades for years to come. The downturn will probably hit African Americans hardest, exacerbating huge, long-standing racial wealth spaces. Because these inequities possess historical roots, looking at how they contribute to intergenerational inequality will help citizens, policymakers, and stakeholders create policies that move the country toward racial collateral.
We cannot start 20, 50, or even a century ago; we need to start. Four hundred years ago, white people trafficked and enslaved African people to build their particular wealth.

Centuries of systemic and structural racism followed, and it was not really until 1865 that the 13th Amendment passed and officially released Black people from bondage. For almost 100 years, Jim Crow laws and regulations and discriminatory practices forced racial segregation and impaired efforts to reduce or eliminate the racial wealth gap.

Limited covenants and redlining avoided Black people from buying homes in many neighborhoods; the Black Codes prohibited many Black people from creating profitable businesses, and white mob violence destroyed the firms of many other Black business owners and being denied entry to better-paying jobs got more difficult for Black family members
to accrue savings to get down payments on homes or accumulate cash about business investments.

Reference:
Racial Inequities Will Grow Unless We Consciously Work to …. https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/racial-inequities-will-grow-unless-we-consciously-work-eliminate-them

government, History, Politics

Did you learn anything from the Impeachment hearings live updates?

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After eight-hour hearing Wednesday with four constitutional scholars, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) said President Trump’s conduct with Ukraine rose to an impeachable offense.

Three law professors who testified were summoned by the Democrats, while another was tapped by Republicans. The GOP-picked witness cautioned against moving too quickly with impeachment, although the other three argued that Trump’s behavior is impeachable.

The inquiry has moved into a brand new phase after the House Intelligence Committee voted along party lines Tuesday to approve a 300-page report that concluded Trump had compromised national security to advance his personal political interests.”

In the centre associated with the Democrats’ case is the allegation that Trump attempted to leverage a White House meeting and military aid, sought by Ukraine when confronted with Russian military aggression, to pressure President Volodymyr Zelensky to launch investigations of former vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter, in addition to an unfounded theory that Kyiv conspired with Democrats to interfere into the 2016 presidential election.

Author’s resource box: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/impeachment-hearings-live-updates/2019/12/04/b7cc7b4e-1682-11ea-a659-7d69641c6ff7_story.html

Culture, Ethics, government, Politics, White House

Live updates: House Democrats subpoena Giuliani associates; Trump to hold first campaign rally since the launch of the impeachment inquiry

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House investigators issued subpoenas Thursday up to 2 associates of President Trump’s lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani following their arrest on campaign finance charges, seeking “key documents” which have not been produced along with impeachment inquiry.

Image result for Trump impeachment

The 2 guys are supposed to charge with scheming to funnel foreign money to U.S. politicians within a bid to affect U.S.-Ukraine relations. Both types have helped Giuliani investigate former vice president Joe Biden and his awesome son, although the indictment does not mention Giuliani or suggest that he cannot be charged with illegal trespass portion of alleged crimes. The developments played out as Trump ready to move to Minneapolis as a result of his first campaign rally since House Democrats launched the impeachment inquiry. Ahead of the trip, Trump lashed out at Fox News following its release of a new poll showing 51 percent of voters want to see him impeached and taken out of office. That is an uptick considering that the House launched an inquiry focused on Trump’s call wherein he pressed the president of Ukraine to look into the Bidens at a time when U.S. military aid to Ukraine was withheld.

Reference:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-impeachment-inquiry-live-updates/2019/10/10/e46ddd94-eace-11e9-9c6d-436a0df4f31d_story.html