{"id":36664,"date":"2019-03-06T06:35:21","date_gmt":"2019-03-06T14:35:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=36664"},"modified":"2019-03-28T20:32:45","modified_gmt":"2019-03-29T03:32:45","slug":"just-saying-u-s-rising-trade-deficits-rocking-trump-world-brit-the-leech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=36664","title":{"rendered":"JUST SAYING: Nation’s Broke Jury System; Monitoring Bigots; The Republican Pack Mentality; Me, a Racist? Nyet said Mitch; An Economic Cloud; U.S. Deficit Dive; Rocking Trump World & Brit the Leech"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY RAUL HERNANDEZ<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Notebookventura@gmail.com<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Racism in Jury Selection<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

The New York Times Editorial<\/strong> p<\/a>ublished this opinion piece titled: “Racism in Jury Selection Is Real. Can the Supreme Court Put an End to It?\u00a0<\/span>The ordeal of death-row inmate Curtis Flowers will yet again test the court\u2019s commitment to equal justice under law.”<\/span><\/p>\n

(My comments below were posted today’s NYT Editorial)<\/span><\/p>\n

I spent nearly 18 years covering the courts as a reporter for four newspapers, two states.<\/span>
\nWhen I started covering the Ventura County Superior Courts around 2008, I wrote about the jury system. Some lawyers complained that prospective jurors being summoned for jury duty were mostly elderly, white people in a county that has a very large minority population. <\/span><\/p>\n

There were more than a dozen judges on the bench, predominately white men. Two or three minorities. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The same stale argument is still being made: There weren’t enough qualified minority lawyers to serve as judges.
\nWhen I left the newspaper in 2013, there were some improvements on the bench.
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Here are 2016 facts in California, which prides itself in progressive politics.
\nBlacks: (6.6 percent in 2015 compared to 4.4 percent in 2006);
\nHispanic: (9.9 percent in 2015 compared to 6.3 percent in 2006 according to the Judicial Branch of the California Courts report in 2016.
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Hispanics comprise the majority of the population in “progressive” California.
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This criminal justice mindset is reflective of the governor’s office who makes judicial appointments and the court administrators who implement policies such as jury duty.
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Minorities, however, comprise the majority of defendants.
\nIn 2013, one judge said “unfortunately,” Hispanics and blacks commit the most crimes.
\nI invited him to stick his head into the traffic courts. The vast majority of people there on a daily basis are minorities \u2014 so we are bad drivers too?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Monitoring Bigotry<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Editorial in the Washington Post: “The U.S. needs to treat white supremacism as the worldwide killer it is.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The editorial calls for keeping track and better records of racists in the nation and throughout the world:\u00a0 “The first step to fighting white-supremacist extremism is to understand it, but that\u2019s not possible now, because the Justice Department\u00a0does not reliably collect<\/a>\u00a0the relevant information. Even hate-crime reporting is voluntary \u2014 and\u00a0undercounted<\/a>.”<\/span><\/p>\n

But it ignores some key factors in addressing and understanding the problem of white supremacy in the nation.<\/span><\/p>\n

As long as society’s losers and failures in life are looking for charismatic political messiahs or religious fanatics to massage their fears and paranoia along with scapegoats to blame, white supremacists will thrive.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

America’s changing demographics are driving much of what is happening in the United States.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Also, the media is the message and unfortunately, theater, drama, exaggeration, and entertainment on TV, including the news, is what drives a lot of the anger, fear, and hostility toward minorities. But drama and entertainment sell ads and drive up profits at the expense of creating oversimplified opinions of minorities along with limiting complex issues to a few sound bites, half-truths, and a few facts.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Republican Herd<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

There is a reason the House recently voted 402-vote to make the Mueller report public.\u00a0<\/span>
\nThere is strength in numbers, and Trump knows he can single out for intimidation and lies those he feels are betraying him.<\/span>
\nSomeone who dares to leave the Republican pack and criticize Trump.<\/span>
\nMost Republicans in Congress desperately want Trump to be buried by a wall of paperwork spawned by subpoenas from two house committee investigations, and the New York State attorney general.
\nThey are hoping this wall smothers Trump’s lies; sinks his ratings and his supporters head for the nearest exits. Enough records and documents to wallpaper the White House. Enough to clear their throats, grow a pair and put America’s national security and constitution ahead of Dear Leader.
\nThey will applaud and praise Trump publically, but privately, they know he is a lying, mentally unstable con man with “giddy” charm and a perfect three-dollar smile who can convince a cannibal to become a vegan.
\nThe NYT article lays out how Trump weaseled his way into the pockets of Deutsche Bank to the tune of well over $2 billion when all other banks wouldn’t go near him.
\nTrump’s financial dirty dealings will also map out a slew of crimes including cheating honest people; lying about the worth of his properties to get bank loans or to dodge paying city, state and federal taxes, and his shady partnerships with Russian gangsters.
\nAnd of course, the world gets front-row seats to see Trump’s tax returns \u2014 finally.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Me, a Racist?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Fox “News” strongly condemned Jeanine Pirro for her attacks on Rep. Illhan Omar.\u00a0 And, the\u00a0Council on American-Islamic Relations is demanding Pirro be fired after she called Omar\u2019s hijab may be \u201cantithetical to the Constitution.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

The Fox News host said on Saturday that Omar wears a hijab because the Koran \u201ctells women to cover so they won\u2019t get molested.\u201d She also said the lawmaker\u2019s religious dress may be \u201cantithetical to the Constitution.<\/a>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

A statement of condemnation from Fox “News” followed by Pirro inviting Omar on her show. For what, props, profits, and ratings? Let’s face it, Trump didn’t elect himself to the office. And, the Racist-in-Chief’s approval ratings are still in the 40s and with Republicans in the 80s. <\/span><\/p>\n

Trump through his words and deeds has given the green light to bigots like Pirro and Carl Tucker to come out of the closet and spew hatred because it is now safe to do so. <\/span><\/p>\n

Businesses whose ad dollars help keep this kind of neatly-packaged hate and ignorance on Fox should be boycotted. Racism is still a big problem in America. Yet nobody admits to being a racist, not even David Duke. <\/span><\/p>\n

How is that?<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
No to H.R. 1\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

Why\u00a0<\/span>no vote on the House-passed ethics and election 700-page reform bill? \u201c<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBecause I get to decide what we vote on,” said <\/span><\/p>\n

Mitch McConnell, according to NYT.<\/span>
\nAnd, Donald Trump gets to “decide” who will head the U.S. Department of Transportation, a position that is currently occupied by Mitch’s wife, Elaine Chao.<\/span>
\nChao is the head of a department with a budget of $76.5 billion.
\nIf Mitch upsets Trump will Chao be quietly “asked” to hand over the keys to the Transportation Department?
\nHas the NYT ever asked Mitch if any of his decisions in the Senate have ever been influenced by his wife’s position?
\nIn the 700-page H.R. 1, one key reform would be an overhaul of ethics laws for lawmakers and lobbyists.
\nWith unashamed nepotism and cronyism; prolific lying; allegations of self-dealing and racism running rampant at the White House alone, never mind the Halls of Congress, this bill should be praised and embraced.
\nOr at the very least allowed to breath and see a little sunlight in the Senate.
\nBut H.R. will never leave the starting gate in the Senate. Why? Because Mitch declared it DOA (and a “turkey”).
\nWith Congress’ approval rating competing with whale droppings, it’s difficult to understand that there isn’t something within the 700 pages of H.R. 1 worthy of mere public scrutiny.
\nNyet, said Mitch.
\nStrange because the Republicans love to wrap themselves around the flag, embrace Jesus and tout “family values.”
\nSo, reform \u2014 “moral principles that govern a person’s behavior or the conducting of an activity” \u2014 should be on the congressional menu.
\nNot on life support.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n

Low Job Numbers, Weakest Since September 2017<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\n

\"\"<\/a>The New York Times reported that the Labor Department’s monthly\u00a0hiring and unemployment figures for February<\/a>\u00a0on Friday morning show the following data:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

\u25a0<\/span> 20,000 jobs were added last month. Analysts had expected a gain of about 175,000, according to MarketWatch. It was the 101st straight month of job gains, but the weakest report since September 2017.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u25a0 The unemployment rate was 3.8 percent. It was 4 percent in January.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u25a0 Average hourly earnings rose by 0.4\u00a0percent after growing by 0.1 percent in January. The year-over-year gain is now 3.4 percent.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Low job and trade-deficit numbers are a symptom of Trump’s Paint-By-the-Numbers Economic Plan.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

And the band played on.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The only way to wake up many of Trump’s comatose supporters is by hitting them in their pocketbooks or when they find themselves standing in long unemployment lines, which will eventually happen. Economic experts have warned that America is in for a rude awakening if it continues on this path of financial suicide.<\/span><\/strong>
\nBut for now, the Chief Financial Engineer, Trump, is performing brain surgery on the U.S. economy with a hacksaw and a hatchet. There is no comprehensive and even a logical economic plan, just a paint-by-the-numbers gimmick unfurled by a con man with a Crayola box and the brain of a Neanderthal. <\/span><\/strong>
\nBut Trump believes he is smarter than economic experts or his generals or anyone else.<\/span><\/strong>
\nWait.<\/span><\/strong>
\nLet’s turn on the television today and see what “Fox and Friends” or Sean Hannity want him to do. <\/span><\/strong>
\nBTW: The government shutdown pushed and applauded by Fox didn’t work but it cost U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars. Maybe, Fox and Friends or Sean or Rupert Murdoch have a plan B. <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

RISING DEFICITS<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Breaking story today on the Washington Post stating that this country’s trade deficit is in deep trouble:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

“The department\u2019s final 2018 trade report, which was delayed by the government shutdown, is expected to show that the United States bought nearly $900 billion more in foreign goods than it sold to customers in other countries. That would top the 2006 record of $838.3 billion, set as the housing bubble was peaking, and would mark the third consecutive year of rising trade deficits.” \u2014 Washington Post<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

It will not be the economy that brings this country down. It’ll be the pure ignorance and blind hatred of following a mentally unstable con man.”<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Rocking Trump World<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/a>It might be hard to rental U-Haul in D.C. because the Democrats will be hauling into the House Judiciary Committee’s initial (key-word here is initial) 81 document requests to do a financial autopsy of Trump World.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The requests for documents including an array of individuals, organizations and government agencies will keep the U-Hauls busy.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Trump Organized Crime Family will undergo<\/span>\u00a0proctology of its finances like one never seen before in the D.C. area or perhaps, in the nation.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Here is where the focus will be during the probe:\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n