Top State Department Nuclear Expert Announces Resignation After Trump Iran Deal Exit

One of the State Department’s top experts on nuclear proliferation resigned this week after President Donald Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, in what officials and analysts say is part of a worrying brain drain from public service generally over the past 18 months.

Richard Johnson, a career civil servant who served as acting assistant coordinator in State’s Office of Iran Nuclear Implementation, had been involved in talks with countries that sought to salvage the deal in recent weeks, including Britain, France, and Germany — an effort that ultimately failed.

He did not give a specific reason for his departure. But in a farewell email to colleagues and staff, Johnson stressed that the 2015 agreement Trump was ditching had successfully curbed Iran’s nuclear program.

“I am proud to have played a small part in this work, particularly the extraordinary achievement of implementing the [deal] with Iran, which has clearly been successful in preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon,” he wrote.

Foreign Policy obtained a copy of the email.

Johnson’s departure leaves a growing void in the State Department’s stable of experts on Iran’s nuclear program and highlights a broader problem of high-level departures from government.

Officials say the trend is particularly evident at the State Department, where Trump sidelined career diplomats and morale plummeted under former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. The office Johnson led has gone from seven full-time staffers to none since Trump’s inauguration.

Tillerson last year shuttered the department’s sanctions coordination office and moved some sanctions experts into administrative roles.

One U.S. official who works on sanctions described Johnson’s resignation as a “big loss” for the department and reflective of a growing sense that the Trump administration is casting aside career experts and ignoring their input as it pushes through a bevy of controversial foreign-policy priorities.

Until the Trump administration moved to dismantle the nuclear pact, Johnson, 38, had planned to remain in government service, according to a former State Department official.

“He’s exactly the kind of person we want to keep in government,” says Brian O’Toole, a former Treasury official who is now a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/05/11/top-state-department-nuclear-expert-announces-resignation-in-wake-of-trump-iran-deal-exit/

SpaceX launches new rocket primed for future crewed missions

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - An updated version of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, tailored for eventual crewed missions for NASA, made its debut launch on Friday from Florida’s Cape Canaveral carrying a communications satellite for Bangladesh into orbit.

The newly minted Block-5 edition of the Falcon 9 - equipped with about 100 upgrades for greater power, safety and reusability than its Block-4 predecessor - lifted off at 4:14 p.m. EDT (2014 GMT) from the Kennedy Space Center.

Minutes later, the rocket’s main-stage booster flew itself back to Earth to achieve a safe return landing on an unmanned platform vessel floating in the Pacific Ocean.

The recoverable Block-5 booster is designed to be reused at least 10 times with minimal refurbishment between flights, allowing more frequent launches at lower cost - a key to the SpaceX business model.

Enhanced rocket reusability also is a core tenet of SpaceX owner and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s broader objectives of making space travel commonplace and ultimately sending humans to Mars.

SpaceX has safely return-landed 24 of its boosters and reflown 11 of them.

Friday’s flight marked the ninth SpaceX launch so far this year, compared to five orbital-class missions the company had logged at the same point in 2017, according to Musk.

It came a day after the original launch countdown was halted one minute before blastoff time due to a technical problem detected by the rocket’s onboard computers. Friday’s second attempt by SpaceX, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies, appeared to have gone off without a hitch.

The rocket’s payload, the Bangladeshi government’s first communications satellite, Bangabandhu-1, was placed into Earth orbit at 4:47 p.m. EDT, just 33 minutes after launch, according to SpaceX.

The achievement was hailed by Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a livestream appearance from her country’s capital, Dhaka.

“Today is a very delightful and glorious day for our motherland, Bangladesh, and Bangalee nation,” she said. “With launching of Bangabandhu Satellite-1, we are hoisting our national flag in the space.”

The Block-5 also marks another milestone for Musk’s California-based company. It is expected to be the first SpaceX vehicle to satisfy NASA’s standards for its Commercial Crew Program to carry agency astronauts to the International Space Station. NASA requires seven successful flights before the new rocket receives final certification for a manned mission.

Besides missions to the space station, the new rocket will be used to launch U.S. Air Force global positioning satellites and other high-value, military and national security payloads.

Block-5 marks the final version of the Falcon 9 lineup before SpaceX introduces its super heavy-lift launch vehicle, dubbed the Big Falcon Rocket, or BFR, which will be designed to send manned missions to Mars.

SpaceX is one of two private companies hired by NASA to ferry astronaut crews to the space station. The other is Boeing Co.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-space-spacex/spacex-launches-new-rocket-primed-for-future-crewed-missions-idUSKBN1IC2J0?il=0

Apple is almost a $1 trillion company, but watch out for Amazon

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple is on the verge of becoming the first $1 trillion publicly listed U.S. company, but even if it gets there, it could soon be overtaken as Amazon.com surges from behind.

Started in the garage of co-founder Steve Jobs in 1976, the iPhone maker’s annual revenue has ballooned to $229 billion, greater than the gross domestic product of countries including Portugal and New Zealand.

Apple’s market capitalization on Thursday topped a record $934 billion, following its unveiling last week of a $100 billion buyback budget and news that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway dramatically increased its stake in the company.

Thanks to a 12 percent rally since its quarterly report last Tuesday, the Cupertino, California company is just 8 percent short of hitting the $1 trillion valuation mark.

Pointing to Apple’s recent 31 percent jump in service revenue, including music streaming and online storage, CFRA analyst Angelo Zino on Wednesday upped his target price for the stock from $195 to $210, which would put Apple’s market capitalization at $1.03 trillion. Zino joins at least 12 other analysts with price targets putting Apple’s stock market value at 13 digits.

But Apple is in danger of being beaten to the $1 trillion mark - or passed soon after - by Amazon.com, the second largest listed U.S. company by market value, at $780 billion.

Saudi Arabian authorities, meanwhile, have said they expect a planned international initial public offering of Saudi Aramco that would value the national oil producer at about $2 trillion.

While $148 billion smaller than Apple on Friday, Amazon of late has expanded its stock price, and its sales, much more quickly than Apple. Amazon’s stock is red hot, trading recently at over 100 times expected earnings, compared to more-profitable - but slower growing - Apple’s valuation of 15 times earnings.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-stock-trillion-race/apple-is-almost-a-1-trillion-company-but-watch-out-for-amazon-idUSKBN1IC257

Trump’s First Major Bipartisan Deal in Congress: $50 million Prison Reform Clears First Vote

President Donald Trump scored his first major bipartisan win in Congress when a House prison reform bill passed through the Judiciary Committee with a 25-5 vote on Wednesday, May 9.

The vote marks a major success for Trump’s senior White House adviser, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who negotiated it.

“The president and his administration are pleased the House Judiciary Committee has voted to pass prison reform legislation,” said White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley, Washington Examiner reported.

“This is a bipartisan issue with bipartisan support because studies show this bill will reduce crime and save taxpayer dollars. We are encouraged by the committee’s passage of the bill and look forward to a vote in the full House.”

While both Democrats and Republicans are interested in reforming federal prisons, Republicans usually want tough-on-crime measures, while Democrats tend to agree on reducing or removing mandatory minimum sentences. Kushner expended considerable effort to find common ground, striking a deal that doesn’t quite fit either template. Instead, it focuses on reducing recidivism while adding some measures to increase prison workers’ safety.

Passing the committee with a lopsided vote bodes well for the bill, called Formerly Incarcerated Reenter Society Transformed Safely Transitioning Every Person Act or “FIRST STEP Act.”

“The bipartisan support that is sending the FIRST STEP Act to the House floor reflects the resolve that I’ve seen among my colleagues to make positive strides toward restorative justice today and to use that progress to build a bridge toward additional reforms in the days ahead,” said Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), a sponsor of the bill, in a statement.

The other sponsor, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), called the bill “a significant step in the right direction.”

“The mass incarceration epidemic is 50 years in the making. Fixing our broken criminal justice system will take an all-hands-on-deck effort from my colleagues on both sides of the aisle,” he said.

The United States has over 2.1 million people in prisons and jails, down from 2.3 million a decade ago, but still making for the highest incarceration rate in the world.

The bill only deals with federal prisons, where some 184,000 prisoners are incarcerated.

The bill proposes $50 million to provide all prisoners with “recidivism reduction programs” and/or “productive activities” aimed at teaching them life skills and otherwise preparing them for a crime-free life.

It also sets up a system of ranking prisoners based on their risk of recidivism. Moderate- and high-risk prisoners get priority for the recidivism reduction programs, while low- and minimum-risk ones get the productive activities, which include helping their higher-risk fellow inmates.

The programs may include life skills courses, mentoring, classes on morals or ethics, academic classes, drug addiction treatment, community services, religious classes, or services, and prison jobs.

The warden of each federal prison would form partnerships with nonprofits, religious organizations, colleges, and companies that would get hired or invited as volunteers to help deliver the programs.

Prisoners could earn various privileges for participating in the programs, notably, for every 30 days in such programs, prisoners would earn 10 credits. Extra credit would go to those maintaining low-risk status. A prisoner who maintains low-risk status for a certain time could turn the credits into days spent in prerelease detention—such as home confinement, halfway houses, and community supervision—at the end of the prison term.

Certain prisoners would be excluded from the credit scheme, like those sentenced for murders and other serious felonies such as terrorism offenses, sex offenses, and other crimes resulting in death.

The bill would also provide corrections officers secure areas to store firearms outside of the secure perimeter of a prison, allow officers to store firearms in a lockbox inside their cars, and allow officers to carry concealed firearms outside of the secure area of a prison.

The bill also proposes more restrictions on when it’s permitted to put restraints on pregnant prisoners.

MORE

https://www.theepochtimes.com/trumps-first-major-bipartisan-deal-in-congress-50-million-prison-reform-clears-first-vote_2521373.html

US Postal Service Lost $656 Million

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US Postal Service Lost $656 Million - Presented by: The Aol. On Network

Reuters The US Postal Service posted a controllable loss of $656 million in the second quarter, compared to income of $12 million for the same period a year ago. The loss is surprising when you consider package volume increased 5%. The USPS largely attributed its profitability shift to increased compensation costs, suggesting that the company is scrambling to keep up with competition at the peril of its own bottom line.

Iran Prepares to Restart Nuclear Program, Blasts Israel and U.S. Over Attacks in Syria

The Iranian government said Friday that the country was planning to restart its nuclear program if a multilateral nuclear agreement collapsed in the wake of a controversial U.S. exit.

Iran has condemned President Donald Trump's efforts to dismantle a 2015 nuclear accord reached under the administration of former President Barack Obama. Under the terms of the agreement, Iran extensively curbed its nuclear activities in exchange for billions of dollars in sanctions relief. Trump felt the deal did not go far enough and did not address other foreign policy quarrels between Washington and Tehran. On Tuesday, he officially reinstated sanctions, upsetting European allies and angering Iran.

As fellow signatories China, France, Germany, Russia and the U.K. scrambled to save the landmark deal, the Iranian government said in a statement Thursday that "the President of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran has been tasked with taking all necessary steps in preparation for Iran to pursue industrial-scale enrichment without any restrictions, using the results of the latest research and development of Iran’s brave nuclear scientists."

"The people of Iran will with calm and confidence continue their path towards progress and development and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has foreseen all necessary measures to facilitate this under any circumstance," the statement added.

http://www.newsweek.com/iran-prepares-restart-nuclear-program-blasts-israel-and-us-over-attacks-syria-922897

Parents arrested after 10-month-old was 'repeatedly abused,' had dozens of rib fractures, Griffith police say

Two Griffith parents were arrested after a 10-month-old boy was “repeatedly abused” and had nearly three dozen rib fractures and hemorrhaging, police said.

Rebekah Davis, 31, and Cashmere Mack Jones, 24, were each charged Friday in Lake Superior Court with neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury, court records show.

Griffith police and Indiana Department of Child Services were called Monday to Community Hospital in Munster after a baby was brought in with “multiple injuries in which child abuse was suspected,” a probable cause affidavit states.

Due to the extent of the juries, the baby was taken to the trauma unit at Comer Children’s Hospital in Chicago, court records state.

The boy had 35 rib fractures “of varying ages,” significant brain injuries, upper leg fractures, extensive bruising, blunt abdominal trauma and extensive retinal hemorrhages, the affidavit states.

The injuries were indicative of Shaken Baby Syndrome and with being grabbed, Commander Keith Martin, Griffith police spokesman, said. The fractured ribs “are healing and could be weeks old,” according to the affidavit.

“There is no question of his diagnosis, he is a victim of repetitive abuse involving numerous mechanisms,” the affidavit states, and “this poor child was horrifically abused over a period of time.”

“Sadly, his prognosis is very grim,” the affidavit states.

The child remains in the hospital in “critical condition with serious internal and external injuries,” Martin said.

Jones and Davis were arrested Thursday at their Griffith home, Martin said.

“Neither parent admitted to any abuse of the child or to noticing any significant bruising or marking of the child,” Martin said.

The parents claimed “an obvious bruise on the child’s jaw was due to striking himself with a rattle,” police said. They also said “the child may have suffered an injury months ago when falling off of a bed, or by sleeping on his bottle,” according to Martin.

“When speaking of the episode which cause them to bring the baby to the hospital, Jones never attempted to call 911 but was administering CPR for appriximately 45 minutes,” Martin said.

Jones called Davis “who told him to take the baby to the baby’s grandfather who was present in the home and the decision was ultimately made to take the baby to the hospital,” police said.

“Doctors specializing in child abuse indicated that the statements made by the parents are inconsistent with the injuries of which they have observed on the child,” Martin said.

There was “no known medical care sought to treat the injuries which could have been life threatening,” he said.

Jones would take care of the child while Davis worked, court records state. Family members said Jones would tell the child to “shut the (expletive) up” and “would get angry when the child would wake him,” the affidavit states.

Four other children who have a different father were living at the home at the time and have since been removed by Child Protective Services, Martin said.

“There is no indication of abuse or neglect in the other children,” he said.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-griffith-child-neglect-charges-st-0512-story.html

EXTORTION PLOT: Women Sexually Assaulted by Schneiderman Turned to Trump & Cohen in 2013; Then Schneiderman Targeted Trump

Disgraced former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman may have wanted to unseat President Trump from the White House to help keep his alleged sexual assault of women a secret, according to new shocking court documents.

The lawyer for two unidentified women — who claim they were sexually assaulted by Schneiderman — said in recent court documents he reached out to Trump and his attorney Michael Cohen for help in 2013, long before Trump announced his presidential aspirations.

Whether or not Schneiderman knew these women turned to Trump and Cohen for help, via attorney Peter Gleason, the New York attorney general did start waging his own personal war with Trump and his companies during the identical time frame.

Nothing in high-level politics is a coincidence.

And Trump fought back.

https://truepundit.com/extortion-women-sexually-assaulted-by-schneiderman-turned-to-trump-then-schneiderman-targeted-trump/

>>1377366

Eric Schneiderman’s shakedown racket

November 22, 2013 | 2:30am

NewYork State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman

‘There are more big paydays to come.”

These words come from New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman this week as he celebrates the shakedown of a successful American financial institution.

By shakedown, we mean the $13 billion JP Morgan Chase agreed to pay in a deal with the Justice Department to settle claims stemming from the sale of mortgage-backed securities. Under the terms of this agreement, JP Morgan will pay $613 million into the coffers of New York state, the bulk of which will be spent as Schneiderman directs on programs to help homeowners.

On top of this, JP Morgan will also shell out $387 million to low-income homeowners hit by Superstorm Sandy. The state’s legal reasoning is apparently that our banks must also be held liable for the weather.

We note that just a day after Schneiderman hailed the looting of JP Morgan, he announced a $20,000 settlement with an owner of four gas stations in Westchester accused of gouging customers after Sandy. Apparently the attorney general is not a man who sees the irony: If it’s dishonest for a gas station to take advantage of people hit by a natural disaster, is it any less dishonest to get money from a bank by putting the gun of litigation to its head and shouting “settle”?

What worries us is that JP Morgan seems to be the beginning of a new era of plunder-by-attorney general. The operative phrases here are Schneiderman’s references to “more big paydays to come” and “more banks to follow.” Sadly this promise is one we expect Schneiderman to keep.

https://nypost.com/2013/11/22/eric-schneidermans-shakedown-racket/