SoylentNews

Vaping essays: E-cigarette sellers offering scholarships

A longtime business associate of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was indicted Friday on charges he conspired to obstruct justice as investigators probed a past secret lobbying scheme on behalf of Ukraine.

Konstantin Kilimnik was charged in a superseding indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Washington. The new charges revolve around allegations that he and Manafort tried to influence two potential witnesses in a case involving the failure to register as foreign lobbyists.

Those accusations are part of a recent effort by the office of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III to revoke or revise Manafort’s bail conditions while he awaits trial next month in northern Virginia. A hearing on the bail issue is scheduled for next week. The indictment also charges Manafort with obstruction and conspiring to obstruct justice.

Special counsel Mueller indicts Paul Manafort, Russian associate on obstruction charges

That brings the investigation by Mueller — derided regularly by President Trump as an unwarranted and unfair “witch hunt” — to a total of 20 individuals and three businesses that have either been indicted or admitted guilt and a total of 75 charges filed by the year-old probe.

Mueller’s ‘witch hunt’ snags another witch

Off-duty FBI agent doing backflip in a bar shoots man in the leg

FBI agent allegedly drops gun at Denver night club, shooting one person in the leg

You can find me in the club.

Ginger emoji will launch next week, along with bagels, superheroes, and toilet paper

California Republicans hit rock bottom

The state that spawned the "Reagan Revolution’’ and Richard M. Nixon just experienced a watershed moment — the California Republican Party was officially relegated to third-party status.

In the culmination of the withered state GOP’s long slide toward near-political irrelevance here, new voter registration data released this week show the once-robust party trails behind both Democrats and “no party preference” in the nation's most populous state. The California Republican Party is now outnumbered by independent voters by 73,000, according to Political Data Inc., which tabulates voter file data from county registrars.

Kobo’s new entry-level Clara HD e-reader has a crisp, color-adjustable display

Kobo's new e-reader offers an HD e-ink screen for $130

Kobo announces new 6-inch e-reader with sharper screen

Take a swig of cockroach milk, the next great food trend

Roach crystal juice seems like something the Gates Foundation would promote.

If you want to live in space, you're going to learn to love roaches.

If you want to live on Earth as a non-(m|b|tr)illionaire, you're going to learn to love roaches.

If it's too difficult to extract the milk, you can simply eat the roach whole.

At Portland's 'reparations happy hour,' people of color get $10 and a place to meet

‘Reparations Happy Hour:’ Each minority attendee gets $10 from white Portland donors

People Aren't At All Impressed By This 'Reparations Happy Hour' Where White Donors Gave $10 To Attendees Of Color

‘Reparations Happy Hour’ Invites White People to Pay for Drinks

Event poster.

Alcohol is basically poison. So white people are paying to poison black, brown, and indigenous folks!

Harvey Weinstein will be charged with rape, source says

Harvey Weinstein is expected to turn himself in to the NYPD on Friday morning on charges that he raped one woman and forced another to perform oral sex on him, a source familiar with the investigation told CNN.

The first-degree and third-degree rape charges are from one case and the first-degree sex act charge is from a second case, according to the source.

Harvey Weinstein to surrender, face criminal charges in N.Y. sexual assault case, sources say

Prosecutors in New York and L.A. have been developing cases against Weinstein, but sources have said for weeks that New York authorities were closest to bringing charges. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they were not clear on the scope of the case New York prosecutors plan to file.

The charges would mark a major milestone in the #MeToo movement, which has sparked numerous accusations of misconduct by powerful men in the entertainment and other industries — and numerous criminal investigations, but few actual criminal charges.

[...] According to law enforcement sources, detectives believe that case is promising for prosecution because the woman told her story to three people, including a priest, relatively soon after the alleged attack. LAPD detectives also have obtained bills showing that the woman was a guest at the Beverly Hills hotel where she claims Weinstein attacked her, the sources said. The case does have flaws, they added. Detectives found little physical evidence of an attack and have been unable to secure proof that Weinstein was at the hotel when the woman says the rape occurred.

Cue the inevitable rage when he "gets off".

Updates:

Harvey Weinstein charged with rape following New York arrest

Rose McGowan and Other Harvey Weinstein Accusers React: ‘We Got You’

Harvey Weinstein's arrest is cathartic. But real victory won't be in court

While serving as secretary of State, Hillary Clinton disregarded an instruction from the Foreign Affairs Manual directing her to use State Department equipment for day-to-day operations. Clinton almost certainly did this for convenience — since she could not connect her smartphone to the State Department server, the directive made it harder for her to check her email on a mobile device — but the issue somehow became a first-tier national scandal. The bizarre prominence this story took on is worth revisiting given Monday night’s revelation that Donald Trump is doing essentially the same thing.

Trump continues to use personal phone because a secure phone is too inconvenient - LOCK HIM UP!

Trump’s clear double standard between Hillary Clinton’s emails and his own cell phones
Trump's Unsecured iPhones Make Clinton's Basement Server Look Like Fort Knox