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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Representatives Jason Crow (D-CO-06), Chris Deluzio (D-PA-17), Maggie Goodlander (D-NH-02), and Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA-06) released the following joint statement:  “We are veterans and national security professionals who love this country and swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. That oath lasts a lifetime, and we intend to keep it. No threat, intimidation, or call for violence will deter us from that sacred obligation.  “What’s most telling is that the President considers it punishable by death for us to restate the law. Our servicemembers should know that we have their backs as they fulfill their oath to the Constitution and obligation to follow only lawful orders. It is not only the right thing to do, but also our duty.  “But this isn’t about any one of us. This isn’t about politics. This is about who we are as Americans. Every American must unite and condemn the President’s calls for our murder and political violence. This is a time for moral clarity.  “In these moments, fear is contagious, but so is courage. We will continue to lead and will not be intimidated.   “Don’t Give Up the Ship!” 

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politics

The FCC has divided its wireless E911 program into two parts - Phase I and Phase II. Under Phase I, the FCC requires carriers, within six months of a valid request by a local Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP), to provide the PSAP with the telephone number of the originator of a wireless 911 call and the location of the cell site or base station transmitting the call.

Under Phase II, the FCC requires wireless carriers, within six months of a valid request by a PSAP, to begin providing information that is more precise to PSAPs, specifically, the latitude and longitude of the caller.

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public-safetyfcc911

How did the last security guarantees from the US (to give up nuclear weapons) work out for Ukraine?

The new Trump plan to end the war in Ukraine would grant Russia parts of eastern Ukraine it does not currently control, in exchange for a U.S. security guarantee for Ukraine and Europe against future Russian aggression, a U.S. official with direct knowledge told Axios.

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russiaukrainetrump

President Trump pardoned his former personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, and a slate of other key figures charged in connection with their efforts to overturn the 2020 election, according to a U.S. pardon attorney.

The list includes several high-profile individuals connected to the effort to overturn the 2020 election: Mark Meadows, Sidney Powell, Kenneth Chesebro, Jeffrey Clark, John Eastman, Jenna Ellis, Boris Epshteyn and others.

The “fake electors” scheme sought to push former Vice President Mike Pence to certify Trump-supporting electors in those critical states instead of the true Electoral College votes cast for former President Biden. It took place in New Mexico and Pennsylvania, as well, though charges were never brought there. On Jan. 6, 2021, Pence declined to do so, and a mob of Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol. Trump previously pardoned hundreds of supporters federally charged in connection to the riot, including those who attacked law enforcement that day. The efforts to challenge the 2020 election results have already had consequences, aside from convictions, for Trump’s allies. Giuliani was disbarred from practicing law in New York and the District of Columbia for making numerous false claims related to the 2020 presidential election and was forced to turn over most of his assets to two election workers he defamed. Eastman, Chesebro and Clark have also faced disciplinary action or proceedings. And several who were pardoned, including Chesebro, Powell and Ellis, had entered guilty pleas to state criminal charges stemming from their post-2020 election work. The Trump attorneys promoted baseless conspiracy theories about election fraud in the aftermath of 2020, and Eastman helped concoct the fake electors’ scheme, which aimed to keep the president in office. Trump faced a federal indictment on charges related to his effort to stay in power after losing the 2020 election, but special counsel Jack Smith moved to toss the case after the president was elected to his second term.

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trumpcorruption

For a $400,000 mortgage at a 6.5 percent interest rate, the monthly payment on a 50-year mortgage is $2,254.87 compared to $2,528.27 for a 30-year mortgage. And yet, this modest decrease in monthly payments will be offset by a dramatic increase in interest payments: from $510,177.95 on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage to a staggering $952,920.53 on a 50-year mortgage.

The reality is that even 30 year mortgages don’t make sense and never did. A 30 year fixed rate mortgage would never be offered by private markets without government incentives. They nearly masked the fact that Americans couldn’t save and couldn’t afford housing. They went onto exacerbate the problem by making Americans primary if not so retirement investment in their home. This incentivize homeowners to value scarcity in housing as lower supply will create scarcity and drive up the price of their “investment”, but in this case, the investment is housing for others.

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real-estatehousing

The cities’ move to exempt the records from disclosure was a dangerous attempt to deny transparency and reflects another problem with the massive amount of data that police departments collect through Flock cameras and store on Flock servers: the wiggle room cities seek when public data is hosted on a private company’s server.

If a government agency is conducting mass surveillance, EFF supports individuals’ access to data collected specifically on them, at the very least. And to address legitimate privacy concerns, governments can and should redact personal information in these records while still disclosing information about how the systems work and the data that they capture.

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privacygovernment