French Election Hacked, Cop Charged
Saturday, May 6, 2017
Vol. 6, No.117
Le Hack: The campaign of French moderate Emmanuel Macron has been hit by what they call a “massive and coordinated” hacking operation after which internal campaign documents were published on social media.
The campaign staff says internal emails, accounting documents, and contracts have been posted along with fake documents “to sow doubt and disinformation.” The campaign staff of Macron’s opponent Marine Le Pen says her computers also have been attacked.
Macron is far ahead in the polls, but the far right Le Pen says she can pull off a surprise victory.
Nation: The Dallas suburban police officer who shot and killed a 15-year-old passenger in a car last weekend has been charged with murder. Roy D. Oliver II, 37, had already been fired by the Balch Springs Police Department. Oliver and other officers had responded to a complaint about a noisy party and possible gunshots. As a car carrying five black teenagers moved away Oliver, who is white, fired an assault rifle through the front passenger window, killing Jordan Edwards, a high school freshman. Officers originally said the car was backing up aggressively toward them, until video showed that wasn’t true.
Econ 101: Unemployment fell to 4.4 percent in April, its lowest since 2007. The economy added 211,000 jobs, beating the predictions of 190,000. By the standards of economists, it’s close to a full employment economy.
In the bigger picture of the labor market, the number of people working part time or have dropped out of the labor market, was down to 8.6 percent, from 8.9 percent. While that’s a good drop, it means that underemployment and complete discouragement are still very high.
Permawar: A Navy SEAL has been killed in what the Pentagon describes as an “advise and assist mission” with the Somali army against al Shabaab militants. Two other Americans were reported wounded in a firefight.
The Pentagon says the American forces were hanging back from the action when they came under fire.
Two Men Out: President Trump’s second nominee for Secretary of the Army has withdrawn. The Christian fundamentalist Mark Green has been critical of federal efforts to bar discrimination against gay, bisexual and transgender people in work and businesses.
Green said in a statement, “Tragically, my life of public service and my Christian beliefs have been mischaracterized and attacked by a few on the other side of the aisle for political gain.”
Trump’s first nominee for the position pulled out saying he couldn’t untangle himself from his business operations.
Frat Boys: Eighteen Penn State University fraternity members have been charged in the February death of a sophomore during pledge night. Eight of the students, including the Beta Theta Pi fraternity itself, were charged with involuntary manslaughter.
During a night in which pledges were put through a series of drinking stations, 19-year-old James Piazza became falling-down drunk and eventually passed out. They tried to revive him, and keep him from choking on his own vomit, but didn’t call an ambulance until 10:48 the following morning.
Penny Pincher: President Trump is spending the weekend at his Bedminster, NJ, golf club, where he says he’s saving taxpayers money and hassle by not going home to New York. He tweeted, “Rather than causing a big disruption in N.Y.C., I will be working out of my home in Bedminster, N.J. this weekend. Also saves country money!”
Fantastic! The Best!
Late Night: The FCC is considering fining Late Show host Stephen Colbert after he made a scatological joke about the president this week. Colbert said of the president, “The only thing your mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putin’s cock holster”
A lot of viewers were outraged. Colbert said later in the week, “I was a little upset with Donald Trump for insulting a friend of mine. So, at the end of that monologue, I had a few choice insults for the president in return. I don’t regret that. I believe he can take care of himself. I have jokes; he has the launch codes. So, it’s a fair fight.”
Chemistry of Color: Crayola has announced that the replacement for its Dandelion yellow crayon is a blue inspired by the YInMn blue pigment. Of course, you’ve never heard of that. It stands for yttrium, indium and manganese oxides which, during experiments at Oregon State University accidentally produced a vivid color of blue. The new crayon doesn’t have a name yet, but it’s unlikely to be YInMn.
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