POTUS_Schedule

‏ @45_Schedule

Daily Public Schedule for March 28, 2019:

11:45AM POTUS receives his intelligence briefing.

2:45PM POTUS meets with the Secretary of State.

4:00PM POTUS departs the White House en route to Joint Base Andrews.

4:10PM POTUS arrives at Joint Base Andrews.

4:20PM POTUS departs Washington, D.C., en route to Grand Rapids, MI.

5:55PM POTUS arrives at Gerald R. Ford International Airport.

6:05PM POTUS departs Gerald R. Ford International Airport en route to Van Andel Arena.

6:20PM POTUS arrives at Van Andel Arena.

7:00PM POTUS delivers remarks at a Make America Great Again rally.

8:05PM POTUS departs Van Andel Arena en route to Gerald R. Ford International Airport.

8:20PM POTUS arrives at Gerald R. Ford International Airport.

8:30PM POTUS departs Grand Rapids, MI, en route to Palm Beach, FL.

11:10PM POTUS arrives at Palm Beach International Airport.

11:20PM POTUS departs Palm Beach International Airport en route to Mar-a-Lago.

11:30PM POTUS arrives at Mar-a-Lago.

R. Kelly case may be affected by Michael Avenatti's indictment

https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/r-kelly-case-may-be-affected-by-michael-avenattis-indictment

R. Kelly’s lawyer believes Michael Avenatti’s arrest on federal extortion charges could torpedo the singer’s sex abuse case, according to a report Tuesday.

Steve Greenberg is calling into question the “chain of custody” of the alleged sex tape believed to be the smoking gun in the case against Kelly, TMZ reported.

DUBAI GOVERNMENT SLAMS REPORTS OF PLANNED R. KELLY PERFORMANCE

He said there’s a possibility that the tape — which allegedly shows the R&B star engaged in a sex act with a minor — could’ve been altered before it landed in prosecutors’ hands.

Avenatti, who represents several of Kelly’s alleged victims and their family members, got the damning evidence from a person who’s extorted Kelly before, sources told the gossip site.

The man recently confessed to Chicago prosecutors that the “I Believe I Can Fly” singer’s team forked over about $1 million to prevent the tape from going public in the past — raising the question of how the recording wound up in Avenatti’s possession.

R. KELLY'S LAWYERS CLAIM SINGER IS PURSUING 'HUNDREDS' OF OFFERS, ASK PROSECUTORS FOR ALLEGED SEX TAPE

Avenatti said he turned over two sex tapes to prosecutors but Greenberg told TMZ he’s only aware of one.

Kelly is facing 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of four victims, including three minors.

Avenatti, meanwhile, was arrested Monday on charges that he tried to extort more than $20 million from Nike by threatening “to release damaging information” about the sneaker giant, according to court papers.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/talkingtech/2019/03/28/parents-dont-want-smart-speakers-to-secretly-record-kids-survey/3288806002/

Hey, Google and Alexa: Parents worry voice assistants can listen in on kids, survey finds

Edward C. Baig, USA TODAY Published 12:01 a.m. ET March 28, 2019

You’re cool chatting up Amazon Alexa, the Google Assistant and Siri and having each come alive when you utter the “Alexa,” “Hey, Google” or “Hey, Siri” wake words.

That’s the chief takeaway from a new study, exclusive to USA TODAY and conducted in February, by Common Sense Media and SurveyMonkey Audience.

5G security: 5G is speedy, but does it also raise the stakes on privacy, security, potential abuse?

Robocall crackdown: FTC continues robocall crackdown, stops groups responsible for 'billions' of calls

More than 4 in 10 of the 1,127 parents of children ages 2 to 8 who participated in the survey say their family uses a smart speaker such as the Amazon Echo or Google Home. Nearly 6 in 10 say their young children interact with a voice-activated assistant such as Siri or Alexa.

And 58 percent of parents whose kids use the smart speakers think it is at least moderately likely that someone could hack those speakers and listen in to their conversations. As a result, 40 percent have turned off their smart speaker’s microphone to prevent it from listening.

The eavesdropping concerns are not entirely unfounded.

You need only rewind to last May when stories emerged about an Oregon family whose private conversations were recorded by their Amazon Echo smart speaker and emailed to a random phone contact.

Amazon confirmed the incident at the time, and no, it wasn’t a malicious hack. Alexa triggered the action after hearing an unforeseen combination of random words in a conversation the family didn't realize was being overheard.

It’s important to recognize that while Alexa may be listening for its wake word, it is not constantly recording. But when Amazon’s assistant does wake up, that’s when what it hears is sent to the company’s cloud servers, where your words are recorded and translated into commands. Alexa also keeps a record of all the commands you've given it so that it can better learn how to answer you.

A whopping 93 percent of parents in the SurveyMonkey poll who use such voice-activated devices say it is important to know when their family’s voices are being recorded. An equal number said it’s important to control whatever information is collected about them. Nearly as many want to control whether the family’s voice data is being used to deliver more targeted ads.

Run privacy checkups

"This report is a clarion call for tech companies and privacy regulators, that as these devices are brought into the home, there’s nearly unanimous concern about privacy," said James P. Steyer, founder and CEO of Common Sense Media. "Until privacy regulations are worked out, parents should turn off their home assistant's microphone when they're not using it and do regular privacy checks to maintain their comfort level with these devices.”

You can visit settings on Amazon’s website to review your Alexa voice history, and listen to and delete any stored recordings. Go to myactivity.google.com to similarly purge Google Home recordings.

Among the other SurveyMonkey findings: Parents report that most kids get that the voice-activated assistants are not human, with 39 percent identifying them as robots, and 26 percent as computer programs.

Even at that, 79 percent of parents say it’s at least moderately important for their kid to be polite to a voice assistant, which 68 percent report is the case. The youngsters, they claim, have never said anything mean, rude or inappropriate to the assistants.

But 55 percent of parents also say that their child’s interactions with a smart speaker haven’t had much of an effect on their kid’s communications skills. And 64 percent say it has had zero effect on their child’s screen-time usage.

Half of parents say their children interact with a smart speaker once a day or more, most often to play music (47 percent) but also to get information (12 percent), just to talk or fool around with (12 percent), or to get jokes (10 percent).

And about 3 in 10 parents say voice-activated assistants are extremely or very helpful in accomplishing parenting tasks, such as making grocery lists, answering children’s questions, or setting reminders.

More than 4 in 10 parents of 6- to 8-year olds say their children use the assistants for homework help.

But your kids are also engaging with the popular digital voices inside the smart speakers in your home and your big concern has mostly to do with privacy.

Little known about links between suicide and mass tragedies like Columbine, Sandy Hook and Parkland

Only 2 known suicide deaths of individuals with direct links to the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School

https://www.denverpost.com/2019/03/28/columbine-sandy-hook-parkland-suicides/

The suspected suicides of two Parkland shooting survivors over the last week, along with the father of a child killed at Sandy Hook, highlight the lingering trauma of mass tragedies — but they also reflect the growing number of Americans killing themselves.

There is little known about the link between suicide and mass tragedies such as Colorado’s Columbine High School shooting nearly 20 years ago, partly because there hasn’t been much research on the topic.

But health officials are warning that a single traumatic event, such as a mass shooting, is often not the sole factor behind suicide.

“Generally, we think of suicide as something that develops in the process through things that have happened in a person’s life over a considerable amount of time,” said Dr. Chris Sheldon, chief psychologist at Denver Health.

There are only two known suicide deaths of individuals with direct links to the April 20, 1999, tragedy at Littleton’s Columbine High, said Frank DeAngelis, who was the school’s principal at the time. The shooting left 12 students and a teacher dead, and 24 people wounded.

RELATED: Parents and youth dealing with mental health issues: The Denver Post wants to hear from you

Those suicide deaths include Greg Barnes, a student who lost a friend in the tragedy and witnessed the fatal shooting of Columbine teacher Dave Sanders, and Carla Hochhalter, the mother of a student injured in the shooting. Barnes died in 2000 and Hochhalter died in 1999.

DeAngelis called the recent deaths from Parkland and Sandy Hook “heartbreaking.”

“What we can’t forget is all the people who are deeply impacted by the tragedy,” he said, adding that such events have a “ripple effect.”

Get a dose of Colorado health news sent to your inbox.

Sign up for the Checkup Denver newsletter

Get more newsletters and alerts.

On March 25, the body of Jeremy Richman, whose daughter died in the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., was found by authorities. A week before his death, two survivors of the shooting last year at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., also died, according to The Washington Post.

Suicide prevention resources

Colorado Crisis Line: 1-844-493-8255, coloradocrisisservices.org. Chat online or text TALK to 38255.

Mental Health First Aid: mhfaco.org. Get trained to recognize the signs and how to respond.

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention: afsp.org. Join one of their upcoming walks for awareness in Colorado.

Crisis Text Line: crisistextline.org. Text 741741 from anywhere in the nation to reach a counselor.

Second Wind Fund: thesecondwindfund.org. Links students to mental health professionals and pays for up to 12 counseling sessions.

After news of the two teenagers’ deaths, a parent who lost a daughter in the Parkland shooting told CBS News in an interview broadcast Monday that he had concerns survivors would harm themselves, saying, “Almost as many people died after Columbine as died during the event, and that was suicide.” He provided no corroboration of that figure.

(In an editor’s note on the online version of Monday’s report, CBS News said it has removed “a reference to a statistic that we have not yet been able to independently verify.”)

The recent deaths, health experts say, also occurred amid a growing public health crisis.

Overall, suicides have increased across the nation. In 2017, there were 1,146 suicide deaths in Colorado, up from 919 deaths in 2009, according to data from the state health department.

“While these are terrible tragedies, and we know about these people’s dramatic events, this is happening to other people,” said Dr. April Foreman, a psychologist and board member of the American Association of Suicidology.

>>5939913

But that’s not to say the mass tragedies don’t leave a lasting effect on the communities where they took place.

It’s after the public’s interest fades that survivors need the most help, said Heather Martin, who was a senior when the shooting at Columbine High School occurred.

Related Articles

Parkland community worried after 2 survivors’ suicides

Father of Sandy Hook shooting victim found dead in apparent suicide, police say

Parkland shooting survivors visit Colorado communities wounded by gun violence

Two Colorado middle school students from Ute Mountain Ute Tribe die by suicide over weekend

Martin said she felt isolated and had survivors guilt after the tragedy.

“The feelings still linger,” Martin, 37, said, adding that it helps to connect with others who have gone through similar experiences “because then I’m not isolated and then I’m not alone.”

She is a founder of The Rebels Project, an organization that reaches out to individuals who have experienced similar trauma. Martin, who knew Richman before his death, said he was an “incredible man.”

“The world is a dark place without him,” she said.

Chicago prosecutor Kim Foxx chided by national attorneys group after Jussie Smollett charges dropped

https://www.foxnews.com/us/jussie-smollett-case-chicago-prosecutor-kim-foxx-chided-by-national-attorneys-group-after-charges-dropped

The decision by Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx's office to drop charges that “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett staged a racist, anti-gay attack has drawn scorn from not only the mayor of Chicago and members of law enforcement, but a national group that claims to represent thousands of prosecutor offices.

The National District Attorneys Association chided the prosecutor's handling of the case, including Foxx's decision to recuse herself before Smollett was charged last month because she had discussed the case with a Smollett family member. The case was then handed to First Assistant State’s Attorney Joseph Magats.

"First, when a chief prosecutor recuses him or herself, the recusal must apply to the entire office, not just the elected or appointed prosecutor," the group said in a news release. "This is consistent with best practices for prosecutors’ offices around the country."

The group, which claims to represent roughly 2,700 prosecutors’ offices around the country, also said that prosecutors "should not take advice from politically connected friends of the accused."

SMOLLETT DAMAGE CONTROL SEEN IN INTERNAL EMAIL FROM FOXX'S OFFICE AS SHE DEFENDS 'ALTERNATIVE PROSECUTION MODEL'

"Each case should be approached with the goal of justice for victims while protecting the rights of the defendant," the group said.

Trump tweets FBI, DOJ will review Jussie Smollett case

Trump tweets FBI, DOJ will review Jussie Smollett case

Email and text messages provided to the Chicago Sun-Times by Foxx’s office show former first lady Michelle Obama’s chief of staff Tina Tchen contacted Foxx a few days after the report of the attack to set up a telephone conversation with a Smollett relative.

Foxx told the Sun-Times the relative expressed concerns over leaked information that media outlets attributed to “police sources.” Foxx then called Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson to ask him to let the FBI investigate the alleged attack. The contacts were cited by Foxx in recusing herself from the case on Feb. 13, well before Smollett was charged.

DOJ, FBI TO REVIEW ‘OUTRAGEOUS’ JUSSIE SMOLLETT CASE, TRUMP SAYS

In an interview with WBBM-TV on Wednesday, Foxx said no one tried to intervene on Smollett’s behalf, despite emails showing that she was contacted by people linked to Smollett about the case.

"There was no attempt, whatsoever, to influence the outcome of this case," she told the television station. "None whatsoever."

Smollett forfeiting his $10,000 bond and doing community service in return for dropping the charges was also a point of criticism by the district attorney's group.

"Third, when a prosecutor seeks to resolve a case through diversion or some other alternative to prosecution, it should be done so with an acknowledgment of culpability on the part of the defendant," the group said. "A case with the consequential effects of Mr. Smollett’s should not be resolved without a finding of guilt or innocence."

JUSSIE SMOLLETT BOMBSHELL PITS OBAMA CHIEFS OF STAFF AGAINST ONE ANOTHER

Foxx defended her office's actions in a separate interview with FOX32 on Wednesday, saying that the dropping of charges "in no way exonerates" Smollett.

"He was charged with a Class 4 felony. I mean he doesn't have a background. When I look at similarly situated people who are charged with the same level of felony without a background I believe in this case, justice was appropriate," she said. "Again I didn't make that decision, he was availed to alternative prosecution model that anybody else without his riches, without his fame were also availed to."

Kim Foxx defends her team's decision to drop charges in Smollett case

Kim Foxx defends her team's decision to drop charges in Smollett case

She also said that 5,700 people have participated in "alternative prosecution cases" with similar outcomes.

"So while it's frustrating, the nature of his offense, we treated Mr. Smollett in the same way we would treat similarly situated folks," Foxx told FOX32.

CHICAGO COPS SHARED DATA ON SMOLLETT'S ICLOUD WITH FBI: REPORT

An internal email from the Foxx's office obtained by Fox News on Wednesday asked assistant state's attorneys to dig for any examples to bolster her claim that the dropped charges in the Smollett case weren’t as uncommon or shocking as they seemed.

The email read in part: “We are looking for examples of cases, felony preferable, where we, in (exercising) our discretion, have entered into verbal agreements with defense attorneys to dismiss charges against an offender if certain conditions were met…”

>>5939939

Patricia Brown Holmes said the case is closed.

“We should all allow Mr. Smollett to move on with his life as a free citizen,” she said in a statement.

Anti-Kim Jong Un North Korean Rebel Group Goes Underground

By Pritha Paul @ZiggyZina143

03/28/19 AT 7:03 AM

https://www.ibtimes.com/anti-kim-jong-un-north-korean-rebel-group-goes-underground-2780686

A mysterious organization committed to overthrowing Kim Jong Un’s regime, that claimed responsibility for the raid on a North Korean embassy in Madrid in February, announced on its website Thursday that it was temporarily shutting down its operations due to increased interest from international media.

Visitors to the website of the Cheollima Civil Defense (CCD), also known as Free Joseon, were greeted by a statement in Korean.

“We are an organization of refugees who escaped North Korea with the help of free shipbuilding and brought them together with their compatriots from all over the world,” a translated version of the statement read. “We will shake the Kim Jong Un regime with our revolutionary comrades in North Korea. While preparing for various actions aimed at the North Korean regime, the activities of the members of the action are suspended due to the attacks of all kinds of speculative articles of the press. We ask the media to restrain itself in its interest in our organization and its members. We have bigger tasks ahead.”

The group's announcement came 24 hours after admitting that it was behind the break-in at the North Korean embassy on Feb. 22, where a number of people entered the building with machetes, knives, metal bars and cable ties and proceeded to shackle and beat several of the staff members inside. The assailants left the facility with two computers, hard drives, USB drives and a mobile phone, which were later reportedly handed over to the FBI.

CCD took responsibility of the raid after Spanish authorities released the names of the 10 suspects in their ongoing investigation into the case. Arrest warrants were issued against two of the suspects in the raid. However, despite conflicting reports, the group insisted that during the raid, "no weapons were used" and staff were "treated with dignity and necessary caution".

Investigators believed that U.S.-based human rights activist Adrian Hong was the leader of CCD and was instrumental in organizing the embassy break-in. “It is Adrian [who is] behind this whole Cheollima Civil Defense,” three sources told NK News.

Adrian, who co-founded the refugee aid agency Liberty in North Korea, reportedly purchased items including five pistol holsters, four combat knives, six pellet guns and some protective goggles from a shop in Madrid prior to the raid.

In Thursday’s statement, CCD also revealed they had not made any contact with other North Korean defectors. “Due to strict security, we have not made any attempt to make connections with or even telephone any North Korean refugee residing in South Korea recently,” the group said.

The CCD was believed to have protected Kim Jong Un's nephew, Kim Han Sol, whose father, Kim Jong Nam, was assassinated in 2017 with a nerve agent at a Malaysian airport. Han Sol also made an appearance on the group’s YouTube channel after his father’s death. Before the trial of Jong Nam's alleged assassins was supposed to begin, CCD allegedly spray-painted graffiti over the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

The Latest: 10 dead in blast at restaurant in Somali capital

NAIROBI, Kenya — The Latest on explosion in Somalia’s capital (all times local): 2:55 p.m. Police say at least 10 people have been killed and seven others wounded in a car bomb blast outside a …

The Washington Post28m

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2019/03/28/Adultery-gay-sex-to-be-punishable-by-stoning-in-Brunei/5721553753693/

World News

March 28, 2019 / 2:22 AM

Adultery, gay sex to be punishable by stoning in Brunei

By

Darryl Coote

March 28 (UPI) – Adultery and gay sex will be punishable by stoning to death under new laws set to go into effect next week in Brunei, raising the ire of international human rights groups.

Starting April 3, Brunei residents will be ruled by these new laws under its sharia penal code, which also penalizes theft with amputation.

The new penal code was adopted in October 2013 and was rolled out gradually with the latest provisions quietly announced on the Brunei attorney general's website late last year.

Human rights group Amnesty International has condemned the new penal code since it was announced and renewed its demand Wednesday for Brunei to stop the implementation of the new punishments.

"Brunei must immediately halt its plans to implement these vicious punishments, and revise its Penal Code in compliance with its human rights obligations," Amnesty International Brunei Researcher Rachel Chhoa-Howard said in a statement. "The international community must urgently condemn Brunei's move to put these cruel penalties into practice."

The nation of fewer than half a million people has signed but not ratified the United Nations Convention against Torture, and has consistently ignored recommendations the U.N. made in its 2014 human rights review of the country.

"To legalize such cruel and inhuman penalties is appalling of itself. Some of the potential 'offences' should not even be deemed crimes at all, including consensual sex between adults of the same gender," Chhoa-Howard said. "These abusive provisions received widespread condemnation when plans were first discussed five years ago."

What is the house intel hearing about? Anyone know?

If anyone needs a link to house intel hearing…hasnt started yet

>>5940122

House Intelligence Committee hearing on "Putin's Playbook: The Kremlins Use of Oligarchs, Money and Intelligence in 2016 and Beyond." Set to testify will be former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul, former CIA Chief of Russian Operations Steven Hall, and CSIS senior vice president and author of the Kremlin Playbook Heather Conley.

Hello,

Your account has been suspended due to multiple or repeat violations of the Twitter Rules: https://twitter.com/rules.

Please do not respond to this email as replies and new appeals for this account will not be monitored.

Thanks,

Twitter Support

That's all I get. No specific reason or how long suspension is.