US Senator Menendez hit with bribery charges over Egypt ties

NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey, and his wife have been charged with bribery offenses in connection with their relationship with three New Jersey businessmen, federal prosecutors said on Friday.

The U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan accused the defendants of accepting thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for using Menendez's power and influence as a senator to seek to protect and enrich the businessmen, and benefit the government of Egypt.

Prosecutors said the bribes included cash, gold, payments toward a home mortgage, compensation for a job with minimal requirements, a luxury vehicle and other things of value.

Menendez, the chair of the influential U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and his wife Nadine Menendez, who has been married to the senator since 2020, face three criminal counts each.

The senator's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Menendez is up for re-election next year, and an investigation could complicate Democrats' effort to expand their slim 51-49 seat majority in the 100-member Senate.

Menendez and his wife face three criminal counts each: conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, and conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right.

Prosecutors are seeking to have Menendez forfeit assets including his New Jersey home, a 2019 Mercedes-Benz, and about $566,000 in cash, gold bars, and funds from a bank account.

The businessmen - Wael Hana, Jose Uribe, and Fred Daibes - were also charged in the scheme.

Prosecutors said Hana, who is originally from Egypt, arranged dinners and meetings between Menendez and Egyptian officials in 2018 at which the officials pressed Menendez on the status of U.S. military aid. In exchange, Hana put Nadine Menendez on his company's payroll, prosecutors said.

Egypt at the time was one of the largest recipients of U.S. military aid, but the State Department had withheld $195 million in 2017 and canceled an additional $65.7 million until the country could demonstrate improvements on human rights and democracy.

Menendez at a meeting in 2018 told Hana non-public information about the status of the aid, prosecutors said. Hana then texted an Egyptian official, "The ban on small arms and ammunition to Egypt has been lifted," according to an indictment made public on Friday.

Prosecutors said Egypt’s government in 2019 granted one of Hana’s companies an exclusive license to export halal food from the United States to Egypt, despite lacking experience in halal certification. Hana used the proceeds from those exports to fund the bribe payments, according to the indictment.

The Egyptian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Damian Williams, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, was set to address the charges at an 11 a.m. EDT (1356 GMT) press conference.

Menendez had previously been charged in New Jersey with accepting private flights, campaign contributions and other bribes from a wealthy patron in exchange for official favors, but a 2017 trial ended in a jury deadlock.

Prosecutors dropped their bribery case in 2018 and Menendez had maintained his innocence.

He was re-elected later that year to his third term in the Senate, which he first joined in 2006.

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/sen-bob-menendez-indicted-over-132641541.html

Visitors must squeeze through two nude models to view Marina Abramović exhibit

Sept. 21 (UPI) – Visitors to the Royal Academy of Arts in London are expected to squeeze between two nude models to view a highly anticipated exhibit dedicated to the career of artist Marina Abramović.

Abramović, 76, has had a successful five-decade career as a conceptual and performance artist and has taught at some of the world's leading art schools including the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris and the Berlin University of the Arts. In 2007, she founded her own institute to support performance art.

"An art world icon and a performance art pioneer – Marina Abramović has captivated audiences by pushing the limits of her body and mind, for the past 50 years," the Royal Academy said in a statement.

"Marina Abramović Hon RA has earned worldwide acclaim as a performance artist. She has consistently tested the limits of her own physical and mental endurance in her work, subjecting herself to exhaustion, pain and even the possibility of death."

The retrospective of her work, which includes some new interpretations of her historic performances, opens Saturday and runs through Jan. 1 at the Royal Academy.

Some of her historical works in the exhibit are shown through archival footage or photo documentation while others, like Imponderabilia, are recreated or reimagined.

The work Imponderabilia was first performed by the Serbian artist in 1977 during her long relationship with the late German artist Ulay.

The performance features a nude man and a nude woman stoically standing in the frame of a doorway with just inches between them, forcing patrons to squeeze between their bodies.

Two models will faithfully recreate the one-hour performance between four to six times each day of the exhibit, according to the Royal Academy. It is one of several live performances in the exhibit and guests who do not wish to use the naked doorway can enter through an alternative entrance.

Those performing Imponderabilia and other works were cast and trained by the Marina Abramović Institute, according to the Royal Academy.

"Live performance art can be both startling and intimate. For Abramović it also has the power to be transformative," the Royal Academy said in its statement.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/visitors-must-squeeze-two-nude-030554193.html

>>19593685

The (new)2030 Agenda isn't for [THEM]

>>19593685

The (new)2030 Agenda isn't for [THEM]

Mission Complete? MKUltra Won. Future so dim, there is no need for shades.

Gen Z lack workplace skills like debating and seeing different points of view because they spend too much time on social media, TV boss says

Gen Z workers are constantly getting flak for their quirks in the workplace, and now the boss of a major British TV channel says their oft-cited lack of communication skills is because of their social media use, according to various reports including from The Telegraph, the Daily Mail, and the Independent.

Alex Mahon, the CEO of British network Channel 4, blamed social media for Gen Z's shortcomings in the workplace at a conference with the Royal Television Society in Cambridge.

"‌What we are seeing with young people who come into the workplace, Gen Z, particularly post-pandemic and with this concentration of short-form content, is that they haven't got the skills to debate things," Mahon said referring to social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube that often feeds users content they already agree with propelling them into echo chambers.

Mahon added: "They haven't got the skills to discuss, they haven't got the skills to disagree and commit because they haven't been raised, particularly with being out of colleges to have those kind of debates, to get to the point where you've got people with a difference of opinion to you and you're happy to work alongside that, and that is a really dangerous step change in my view that we are seeing."

Research commissioned by Channel 4 found that people across the UK watch over five hours of video content a day on average, with short form video content being preferred over live television.

Short form content made up 25% of total video for older people and rose to 45% for younger demographics between the ages of 16 and 34.

The research found that people associated viewing short form video content with the feeling of being out of control.

"‌When the algorithm is in charge, people say they feel emotionally out of control — the immediate dopamine hit fades rapidly and they are left feeling empty," Mahon said at the conference.

There are rising concerns about Gen Z's ability to adapt to the workplace and some companies are going the extra mile to make sure they do. Big Four firms like KPMG, PWC, and Deloitte have been offering communication classes to pandemic graduates to teach them about office etiquette, working in a team, giving presentations, and even what to wear at work.

These concerns were largely aggravated by the pandemic because young people were forced to study and work remotely using virtual communication tools, which hindered their ability to develop authentic in-person communication skills.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/gen-z-lack-workplace-skills-133441518.html

>>19593723

> Sorry, but that's just a fact.

That IS the plan

Let [THEM] destroy EVERYFUCKING THING,

then the only way to go, is up. Insta-HERO con.

>>19593753

Kek

Using a Satanist, to show a meme, exposing the Satanists, then get mad, if someone calls out said Satanist as Satanist, cause bias meme's HAVE to be accepted on their face, witout question, or you're moojew.

>>19593775

No, you did.

Politics explained in two words. Blackmail and Bribery.

There is no rule of law, no Morals, Character, or Justice involved. Just you scratch muh back, I'll scratch yours.

SHUT IT DOWN and DEFUND IT COMPLETELY. USELESS ANYWAY!

Top House Democrat floats voting to save McCarthy's job — if he ends the Biden impeachment inquiry

A top House Democrat suggested that members of her caucus could vote against a motion to boot House Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his job. But the price for that vote is probably too steep for him to accept.

In a podcast interview with POLITICO, Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts was asked what it would take for Democrats to bail out the top Republican as he faces the ongoing threat of a "motion to vacate" vote from Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida.

"Listen, we've been here waiting to have Kevin McCarthy ask for our help in governing responsibly," said Clark. "I haven't gotten that call."

But when pressed further, Clark began to list some of the things that Democrats would be interested in seeing from McCarthy.

"We want to get disaster aid out, we want to continue our support for Ukraine, and we want them to end this sham of an impeachment inquiry," said Clark. "If Kevin McCarthy chooses to… get back to work for the American people, to do the right thing, we're going to be there to, you know, meet and compromise with him."

Needless to say, McCarthy is unlikely to do anything of the sort.

He would face fury from members of his own caucus, former President Donald Trump, and the Republican base if he ended the impeachment inquiry simply to keep his job. But Clark's comments illustrate where Democrats' heads are on the question.

Meanwhile, several progressive Democrats told Insider recently that if the vote comes up, they'd gladly vote to tank McCarthy.

"I mean, if that vote comes up, I'll vote to vacate," Rep. Maxwell Frost of Florida said last week. "I think Kevin McCarthy is a horrible speaker."

But one, Rep. Greg Casar of Texas, floated the vague notion of trying to cut a deal with the House Speaker.

"We should have a conversation with him about whether we're going to stop deliberately hurting the American people with their votes every week," Casar said at the time.

"A small number of Freedom Caucus members have been able to do a ton of damage," the Texas Democrat added. "I think that a significant number of progressive members hopefully can stop a bunch of that damage."

https://www.yahoo.com/news/top-house-democrat-floats-voting-142233496.html