Stephan: When you have no ethics or morals yourself, only people who also lack morals and ethics will work with you. That is one of the major takeaways I have from the Trumpian years. Here is the latest proof of this axiom. It is criminality raised to the level of buffoonery.
Melissa Carone, who was working for Dominion Voting Services, speaks in front of the Michigan House Oversight Committee in Lansing, Michigan on December 2, 2020. – The president’s attorneys, led by Rudy Giuliani, have made numerous allegations of election fraud. Credit: Jeff Kowalsky/AFP/Getty
A star witness in President Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election just recently got off probation for committing a “computer crime,” the Daily Mail reports.
Mellissa Carone was sentenced to 12 months probation in September of 2019 for the crime which took place the year before. Carone struck a deal with prosecutors who dropped a first-degree obscenity charge against her.
Carone became a viral story after she appeared as a key witness in the Trump campaign’s Michigan voter fraud claims.
Everything that happened at that TCF Center was fraud,” she said, when appearing on December 2 in front of a Michigan House oversight committee. “Every single thing.”
“I have 19 things in my affidavit. I was at the TCF Center for 27 hours. I am a mother, I have two children, and I have two […]
Stephan: And here, in this situation, we have another proof. It is Trump's consistency, the people he picks, and the beingness of the people themselves that makes the case.
Corey Lewandowski Credit: New York Magazine
Top Trump allies Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie are among nine new members of a Pentagon advisory board installed after the administration fired the previous members.
The purge at the Defense Business Board, which provides Pentagon leaders with outside advice on business management issues, was first reported Friday by Politico.
It is the latest shake-up at the Department of Defense (DOD) following President Trump’s loss to President-elect Joe Biden in November’s election.
“I’m proud to welcome each of these new members to the Defense Business Board and I look forward to their contributions to help guide the Department’s business efforts in the coming years,” acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller, whose installation kicked off the Pentagon shake-up, said in a statement Friday. “These individuals have a proven record of achievement within their respective fields and have demonstrated leadership that will serve our Department, and our nation well.”
Lewandowski served as the president’s campaign manager for part of his 2016 White House bid and joined the 2020 campaign as a senior adviser.
Bossie was a deputy campaign manager in 2016 and in […]
Stephan: It is going to be very interesting to watch what happens with the Supreme Court. Trump has appointed three christofascists including an outright cultist in Associate Justice Barrett. So the court is becoming christofascist while the country is becoming less religious, and White Christians a dwindling minority. The House already is beginning to reflect this new demographic reality. These two institutions are moving in very different culture directions.
The New England Crusade for Religious Freedom rallies in Boston’s City Hall Plaza in 1984. Credit: Ted Gartland / AP
The Supreme Court’s decision last week overturning New York State’s limits on religious gatherings during the COVID-19 outbreak previewed what will likely become one of the coming decade’s defining collisions between law and demography.
The ruling continued the conservative majority’s sustained drive to provide religious organizations more leeway to claim exemptions from civil laws on the grounds of protecting “religious liberty.” These cases have become a top priority for conservative religious groups, usually led by white Christians and sometimes joined by other religiously traditional denominations. In this case, Orthodox Jewish synagogues allied with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn to oppose New York’s restrictions on religious services.
But this legal offensive to elevate “religious liberty” over other civic goals is coming even as the share of Americans who ascribe to no religious faith is steadily rising, and as white Christians have fallen to a minority share of the population.
That contrast increases the likelihood of a GOP-appointed Court majority sympathetic to the most […]
Greg Miller and Missy Ryan, Reporters - The Washington Post
Stephan: Here is the latest in Trump's attempt to both sabotage Biden, but also to carry out what is obviously some kind of secret plan to affect national security. Personally, I think it is all an attempt to destroy the records of the secret dealings Trump had with the Russians, Turkey and other authoritarian governments where Trump has personal financial interests.
The Pentagon is pictured on Oct. 9, 2020. It lies in Arlington, Va., across the Potomac River from Washington. Credit: Carlos Barria/Reuters
The Trump administration has refused to allow members of President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team to meet with officials at U.S. intelligence agencies that are controlled by the Pentagon, undermining prospects for a smooth transfer of power, current and former U.S. officials said.
The officials said the Biden team has not been able to engage with leaders at the National Security Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency and other military-run spy services with classified budgets and global espionage platforms.
The Defense Department rejected requests from the Biden team this week, the officials said, despite a General Services Administration decision Nov. 23 clearing the way for federal agencies to meet with representatives of the incoming administration.
The delays came even as Biden advisers spent much of this week meeting with officials at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the CIA, intelligence agencies that are independent of the Defense Department.
But Pentagon officials said their agency was taking steps required to […]
Stephan: Here is yet another proof that fostering wellbeing is more efficient, more productive, easier to implement, nicer to live under, and much much cheaper.
Happy worker Credit: Getty
For many companies, their bottom line is–well–the bottom line, and rightfully so, especially during this pandemic. But what research shows us is that there is tremendous value in ensuring employees are well supported throughout challenging times, and it’s not just about good benefits.
Gallup research has found that people thriving in the five elements of wellbeing–career, social, financial, physical, and community–are better employees. Career wellbeing is defined as liking what you do each day and being motivated to achieve your goals; physical wellbeing comprises having good health and enough energy to get things done daily; social wellbeing means having supportive relationships and love in your life; community wellbeing is liking where you live, feeling safe and having pride in your community; and financial wellbeing centers on managing your economic life to reduce stress and increase security.
Gallup’s research has established that wellbeing is about much more than just physical wellness or happiness. Here are four ways employees thriving in all five elements of wellbeing demonstrate better performance.
They Rebound Better Following Adversity
Employees whose wellbeing is properly maintained are 36 percent more likely to report a full recovery after an illness, injury, or hardship. According to the
