Walmart on deck for chop?
Poland getting ready to rumble…
Poland is on the verge of removing nearly 40 percent of its Supreme Court judges, as a new law, which requires judges to retire at the age of 65 and also expands the Supreme Court significantly, is set to comes into force.
The law, introduced earlier this year by the governing Law and Justice Party (PiS), would not only force the instant dismissal of 27 of the 74 judges, but would also expand the court to 120 judges. In effect, this would give PiS power to reshape two-thirds of the country’s Supreme Court.
The Polish government has insisted that its changes seek to reform a corrupt and inefficient system, with judges that date back to the Communist era. Supreme Court judges, however, say that it signals Poland’s slow descent into authoritarianism.
“I don’t want to say that I am terrified,” Supreme Court Judge Malgorzata Gersdorf told The New York Times. “But without a doubt this is not a direction I would like to go in…I think it destroys what has been built over the last 25 years.”
The European Union has accused the Polish government of enacting laws that “interfere significantly” in the judiciary, and has given it one month to answer its concerns. If the EU finds that Poland is in breach of EU law, then it could impose daily fines on the country.
“These measures undermine the principle of judicial independence, including the irremovability of judges,” the European Commission said in a press release on Monday. “Thereby Poland fails to fulfill its obligations under Article 19(1) of the Treaty on European Union read in connection with Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.”
In December, the EU also imposed unprecedented disciplinary measures on Poland for other judicial reforms carried out by the PiS, including the power of the president to prolong the mandate of Supreme Court Justices. The Polish government also plans to introduce a “disciplinary chamber,” which will allow the government to re-open any case in the past 20 years and have it reviewed by new, government-friendly judges.
The judicial reforms are just the latest examples of Poland’s worrying slide towards far-right authoritarianism. Under party head Jarosław Kaczyński and Prime Minister Beata Szydło, PiS has moved not only to consolidate control over the judiciary but the media as well. The party also tried to institute a near-total ban on abortion, but that failed after thousands took the streets in opposition — although PiS did curtail access to emergency contraception.
The far-right stance of PiS has also made it extremely popular with white supremacists. In November, more than 60,000 people gathered, including racists from Slovakia, Hungary, and Spain, for a far-right march with messages like “Europe Will Be White” and “Clean Blood.”
Devin Nunes, he should run after POTUS, 2024!
“If we had listened to the Democrats, we would have never found out Hillary Clinton, and the Democrats paid Christopher Steele to generate this dirt on President Trump,” he added. “So, I tend to ignore everything that they say. We continue to do our work every day, day in and day out, to get to the truth. And gradually we’re getting to the truth. And I believe as these hearings take place and testimony is given to the Congress, I think it will be a much-needed sunlight in this investigation. I think the American people are being deceived — who is telling the truth, and who is not telling the truth.”
Actually, it was was ThinkProgress, a liberal rag, no clicks for them, have a nice day.
CST
Two people are in critical condition after a shooting at a Kansas elementary school, according to local media reports.
An Overland Park Police spokesperson told local ABC affiliate KMBC News that two workers were shot at the school and that no students were injured.
He said that officers are at the school and are also responding to two other scenes.
CBS affiliate KCTV reported that the shooting took place at about 9 a.m. local time.
This I should from DailyKos:
A continuation of an earlier attack by them, they are trying to get Jim Jordan. He is too strong for (((them))).
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), part of the Freedom Caucus leadership who has risen to a position of influence with leadership, is being accused of turning a blind eye to sexual abuse of college wrestlers by the team doctor when he was a coach at Ohio State two decades ago.
This spring, the university began an investigation into accusations against Dr. Richard Strauss, who died in 2005. The wrestlers and other team staff say that Strauss abused team members over two decades, overlapping Jordan's tenure there as assistant wrestling coach from the mid-80s until 1994. Jordan "has repeatedly said he knew nothing of the abuse until former students began speaking out this spring." People who were there at the time call bullshit on that, including wrestlers who say they told Jordan directly, at the time, about the abuse which included showering with them and inappropriately touching them in examinations.
Former head coach Russ Hellickson, Jordan's mentor, said in a recent video—made by Mike DiSabato, a former wrestler—that Hellickson had told Strauss that he was being too "hands on" with students.
DiSabato, whose allegations against Strauss prompted Ohio State to open its investigation, called Jordan a "liar."
"I considered Jim Jordan a friend," DiSabato said. "But at the end of the day, he is absolutely lying if he says he doesn't know what was going on."
DiSabato said he reached out to Jordan this year, before going to the university, to tell Jordan that he planned to go public with his allegations. Jordan told him to "please leave me out of it," DiSabato said. "He asked me not to get him involved."
Jordan's protestations of ignorance would be completely believable if they were about politics or policy—he's a Freedom Caucus guy, after all. But in this case, it sure looks like he's flat out lying.