#us department of state

[nando161mando]

US Department of Labor recovers $912K in back wages, withheld tips, liquidated damages for 44 employees of New Hampshire taproom

[usadvlottery]

Applicants must carefully review the eligibility requirements and ensure they meet all necessary criteria before submitting their application. The Diversity Visa Lottery Program serves as a gateway for individuals from diverse backgrounds to embark on a new chapter in the United States. By understanding country eligibility and meeting the program's requirements, aspiring immigrants can take the first step towards realizing their aspirations of living and working in America.

[reasonsforhope]

Article | Paywall Free

"A bid to break up Alphabet Inc.’s Google is one of the options being considered by the Justice Department after a landmark court ruling found that the company monopolized the online search market, according to people with knowledge of the deliberations.

The move would be Washington’s first push to dismantle a company for illegal monopolization since unsuccessful efforts to break up Microsoft Corp. two decades ago. Less severe options include forcing Google to share more data with competitors and measures to prevent it from gaining an unfair advantage in AI products, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private conversations.

Regardless, the government will likely seek a ban on the type of exclusive contracts that were at the center of its case against Google. If the Justice Department pushes ahead with a breakup plan, the most likely units for divestment are the Android operating system and Google’s web browser Chrome, said the people. Officials are also looking at trying to force a possible sale of AdWords, the platform the company uses to sell text advertising, one of the people said.

The Justice Department discussions have intensified in the wake of Judge Amit Mehta’s Aug. 5 ruling that Google illegally monopolized the markets of online search and search text ads. Google has said it will appeal that decision, but Mehta has ordered both sides to begin plans for the second phase of the case, which will involve the government’s proposals for restoring competition, including a possible breakup request.

The US plan will need to be accepted by Mehta, who would direct the company to comply. A forced breakup of Google would be the biggest of a US company since AT&T was dismantled in the 1980s."

-via Bloomberg, August 13, 2024

[graphicpolicy]

Cecil Castellucci Receives a Prestigious Fulbright Award

Cecil Castellucci Receives a Prestigious Fulbright Award #comics #comicbooks

The U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board have announced that Cecil Castellucci of California has received a Fulbright Specialist Program award. This will lead her to complete a project at The Animation Workshop/VIA University College in Denmark with the aim to exchange knowledge and establish partnerships benefiting participants, institutions, and communities both…

[govpubsfinds]

Van Hook, J. C., & Howard, A. M. (Eds.). (2017). Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952-1954, Iran, 1951–1954.United States Government Publishing Office. Full text via US State Department Office of the Historian

This is one of many volumes in the Foreign Relations of the United States series, the official documentary historical record of major foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity of the United States Government. These histories incorporate an incredible number of US Department of State, CIA, and Department of Defense documents, arranged in chronological and thematic order, which improves their longevity and accessibility. This particular volume addresses US Foreign Relations with Iran from 1951-1954, during the presidential administrations of both Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower. These documents illustrate attitudes of US diplomats, politicians, and government employees towards Iran in the Cold War environment and, ultimately, their reasoning for instigating and backing a coup of Iranian Prime Minister, Mohammad Mosaddegh (also spelled as Mosadeq) in 1953. 

The following, deeply ironic, quote comes from a memorandum from the Officer in Charge of Iranian Affairs, Office of Greek, Turkish, and Iranian Affairs (Stutesman) to the Director of the Office of Greek, Turkish, and Iranian Affairs, Bureau of Near Eastern, South Asian, and African Affairs (Richards) addressing what measures the US Government might take in support of a successor government to Mosadeq:

“It would be literally fatal to any non-communist successor to Mosadeq if the Iranian public gained an impression that the new premier was a “foreign tool”. The U.S. Government should confine any comment upon a change in government in Iran to a repetition of our traditional unwillingness to interfere in the internal affairs of a free country and our willingness to work with the government in power.”

[conandaily2022]

Dean Edward Cheves biography: 10 things about former US Department of State employee

Dean Edward Cheves biography: 10 things about former US Department of State employee

Dean Edward Cheves is a former diplomat from Virginia, United States. Here are 10 more things about him:

[destielmemenews]

DOJ is considering Breaking up Google for violating antitrust law, especially for its monopoly on online search

Other options would include forcing Google to share data with its rivals or paying large fines.

source 1

source 2

source 3

[dougielombax]

Fucking hell.

Not again.

It fucking better! Azerbaijan ought to be sanctioned into hell and back again for this shit starting yesterday!

Seriously!

Heck I think we should boycott the shit out of Azerbaijan on top of that!

[lonestarflight]

Concept art of Martin X-24A being launched into orbit by a Titan III launch vehicle.

Art by Fred Wolff for Popular Mechanics July 1968 issue.

Posted on Flickr by Ed Dempsey: link

[nando161mando]

US Department of Labor recovers $555K for more than 2,500 Intuit employees after software provider’s recordkeeping errors denied overtime wages

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Forget hush money payments to porn stars hidden as business expenses. Forget showing off classified documents about Iran attack plans to visitors, and then ordering the pool guy to erase the security tapes revealing that he was still holding on to documents that he had promised to return. Forget even corrupt attempts to interfere with election results in Georgia in 2020.

The federal indictment just handed down by special counsel Jack Smith is not only the most important indictment by far of former President Donald Trump. It is perhaps the most important indictment ever handed down to safeguard American democracy and the rule of law in any U.S. court against anyone.

For those who have been closely following Trump’s attempt to subvert the results of the 2020 election, there was little new information contained in the indictment. In straightforward language with mountains of evidence, the 45-page document explains how Trump, acting with six (so far unnamed, but easily recognizable) co-conspirators, engaged in a scheme to repeatedly make false claims that the 2020 election was stolen or rigged, and to use those false claims as a predicate to try to steal the election. The means of election theft were national, not just confined to one state, as in the expected Georgia prosecution. And they were technical—submitting alternative slates of presidential electors to Congress, and arguing that state legislatures had powers under the Constitution and an old federal law, the Electoral Count Act, to ignore the will of the state’s voters.

But Trump’s corrupt intent was clear: He was repeatedly told that the election was not stolen, and he knew that no evidence supported his outrageous claims of ballot tampering. He nonetheless allegedly tried to pressure state legislators, state election officials, Department of Justice officials, and his own vice president to manipulate these arcane, complex election rules to turn himself from an election loser into an election winner. That’s the definition of election subversion.

He’s now charged with a conspiracy to defraud the United States, a conspiracy to willfully deprive citizens the right to vote, a conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, and obstructing that official proceeding. If you’re doing the math, that is four new counts on top of the dozens he faces in the classified documents case in Florida and the hush money case in New York.

So far Trump has not been accountable for these actions to try to steal an American election. Although the House impeached Trump for his efforts soon after they occurred, the Senate did not convict. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, in voting against conviction in the Senate despite undeniable evidence of attempted election subversion by his fellow Republican, pointed to the criminal justice system as the appropriate place to serve up justice. But the wheels of justice have turned very slowly. Reports say that Attorney General Merrick Garland was at first too cautious about pursuing charges against Trump despite Trump’s unprecedented attack on our democracy. Once Garland appointed Jack Smith as a special counsel to handle Trump claims following the release of seemingly irrefutable evidence that Trump broke laws related to the handling of classified documents, the die was cast.

It is hard to overstate the stakes riding on this indictment and prosecution. New polling from the New York Times shows that Trump not only has a commanding lead among those Republicans seeking the party’s presidential nomination in 2024; he remains very competitive in a race against Joe Biden. After nearly a decade of Trump convincing many in the public that all charges against him are politically motivated, he’s virtually inoculated himself against political repercussions for deadly serious criminal counts. He’s miraculously seen a boost in support and fundraising after each indictment (though recent signs are that the indictments are beginning to take a small toll). One should not underestimate the chances that Donald Trump could be elected president in 2024 against Joe Biden—especially if Biden suffers any kind of health setback in the period up to the election—even if Trump is put on trial and convicted of crimes.

A trial is the best chance to educate the American public, as the Jan. 6 House committee hearings did to some extent, about the actions Trump allegedly took to undermine American democracy and the rule of law. Constant publicity from the trial would give the American people in the middle of the election season a close look at the actions Trump took for his own personal benefit while putting lives and the country at risk. It, of course, also serves the goals of justice and of deterring Trump, or any future like-minded would-be authoritarian, from attempting any similar attack on American democracy ever again.

Trump now has two legal strategies he can pursue in fighting these charges, aside from continuing to attack the prosecutions as politically motivated. The first strategy, which he will no doubt pursue, is to run out the clock. It’s going to be tough for this case to go to trial before the next election given that it is much more factually complex than the classified documents or hush money cases. There are potentially hundreds of witnesses and theories of conspiracies that will take much to untangle. Had the indictment come any later, I believe a trial before November 2024 would have been impossible. With D.C. District Judge Tanya Chutkan—a President Barack Obama appointee who has treated previous Jan. 6 cases before her court with expedition and seriousness—apparently in charge of this case, there is still a chance to avoid a case of justice delayed being justice denied.

If Trump can run out the clock before conviction and be reelected, though, he can get rid of Jack Smith and appoint an attorney general who will do his bidding. He could even try to pardon himself from charges if elected in 2024 (a gambit that may or may not be legal). He could then sic his attorney general on political adversaries with prosecutions not grounded in any evidence, something he has repeatedly promised on the campaign trail.

Trump’s other legal strategy is to argue that prosecutors cannot prove the charges. For example, the government will have to prove that Trump not only intended to interfere with Congress’ fair counting of the electoral college votes in 2020 but also that Trump did so “corruptly.” Trump will put his state of mind at issue, arguing that despite all the evidence, he had an honest belief the election was being stolen from him.

He also will likely assert First Amendment defenses. As the indictment itself notes near the beginning, “the Defendant has a right, like every American, to speak publicly about the election and even to claim, falsely, that there had been outcome-determinative fraud during the election and that he had won.” But Trump did not just state the false claims; he allegedly used the false claims to engage in a conspiracy to steal the election. There is no First Amendment right to use speech to subvert an election, any more than there is a First Amendment right to use speech to bribe, threaten, or intimidate.

Putting Trump before a jury, if the case can get that far before the 2024 elections, is not certain to yield a conviction. It carries risks. But as I wrote last year in the New York Times, the risks to our system of government of not prosecuting Donald Trump are greater than the risks of prosecuting him.

It’s not hyperbole to say that the conduct of this prosecution will greatly influence whether the U.S. remains a thriving democracy after 2024.

[reasonsforhope]

Note: They're saying "alleged" because that's what journalists are supposed to do until there's a conviction. ABC isn't trying to cast doubt, they're trying to follow professional standards and also not get sued for libel.

"Former President Donald Trump, bent on staying in power, undertook a sweeping "criminal scheme" to overturn the results of the 2020 election, including repeatedly pushing lies about the results despite knowing that they were correct, and doubling down on those falsehoods as the Jan. 6 riot raged, a sweeping federal indictment alleges.

This is the third indictment faced by the former president, who -- as the Republican frontrunner in the 2024 presidential race -- continues to insist that the vote was rigged.

Prosecutors say the alleged scheme, which they say involved six unnamed co-conspirators, included enlisting a slate of so-called "fake electors" targeting several states; using the Justice Department to conduct "sham election crime investigations"; enlisting the vice president to "alter the election results"; and doubling down on false claims as the Jan. 6 riot ensued -- all in an effort to subvert democracy and stay in power.

The six alleged co-conspirators include several attorneys and a Justice Department official.

The sweeping indictment, based on the investigation by special counsel Jack Smith, charges Trump with four felony counts: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights...

In the history of the country, no president or former president had ever been indicted prior to Trump's first indictment in April."

-via ABC News, August 1, 2023

WE FUCKING DID IT

[duranduratulsa]

Phil Collins - I Missed Again (2016 Remaster)

This one goes out to the people behind the ongoing plot to kill President Donald J. Trump...AND WE ALL KNOW WHO ALL OF YOU ARE!!!! #Trump2024 #Trump #2ndtrumpassassinationattempt #MAGA #usa #america #GodBlessAmerica #philcollins #imissedagain #GeorgeSoros #deepstate #DemocraticParty #joebiden #FuckJoeBiden #KamalaHarris #HillaryClinton #BarackObama #georgewbush #JillBiden #ChuckSchumer #NancyPelosi #USJusticedepartment #FBI #USAttorneyGeneral #IRS #CIA

[here-comes-the-moose]

Bad Batch As Ways I’ve Responded To My Parents Telling Me Not To Do Something (As An Adult Because I Was The World’s Biggest Goody Two Shoes As A Kid And Teen And I Was Very Mad About It)

Hunter- Obeys but is then very broody for the foreseeable future

Wrecker- Didn’t ask in the first place just went “Ask for forgiveness not permission”

Tech- Pulls out all kinds of stats, makes a color-coded Excel Spreadsheet, and gives a PowerPoint presentation on how yes, I should be allowed to travel to another country by myself for two weeks because I will be learning something and also if you look at the homicide rate here compared to this location of interest combined with what the State Department Advisory is… (this is actually usually very successful because my dad goes CRAZY for color-coded spreadsheets)

Crosshair- Gets mad and does the thing out of spite and will talk about how amazing it was (even if I literally hated it)

Echo- Takes advantage of any and all loopholes I can find to still do the task

Omega- What Tech did but without the powerpoint. Also pointing out all the stuff I’ve done on my own so far and how I’ve been fine.

[odinsblog]

An internal State Department memo ― obtained by Reuters and published Saturday ― was jointly submitted to Blinken, and included four bureaus who said they do not find “credible or reliable” the Israeli government’s pledge that its military is using weapons supplied by the U.S. in accordance with international humanitarian law.

The senior officials reportedly cited eight examples of Israeli military action in the memo that could be considered such violations ― including the repeated bombing of protected sites and civilian infrastructure, a massive level of civilian harm, the lack of accountability for those who cause significant civilian harm, and the killing of journalists and humanitarian workers. The bureaus also cited nearly a dozen instances that the Israeli military would “arbitrarily restrict humanitarian aid,” according to Reuters.

“The State Department’s leaked confirmation that Israel has restricted the transport and delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance leaves no doubt: U.S. law requires the suspension of military aid to Israel,” DAWN Executive Director, Sarah Leah Whitson, said in a statement on Saturday.

“For too long, the Biden administration has breached or ignored U.S. laws that require the suspension of aid to an abusive regime like Israel, fueling Israeli belligerence and rewarding its atrocities,” she continued. “It’s time for real consequences.”

(continue reading)