News: Calm before the storm or will Cowboys get it together? - Cowboys Wire
News: Calm before the storm or will Cowboys get it together? - Cowboys Wire |
- News: Calm before the storm or will Cowboys get it together? - Cowboys Wire
- Trump invited to participate in first House committee impeachment hearing 'or he can stop complaining' - The Independent
- Myth vs. fact: Unplugging devices when you leave the house - USA TODAY
- Australia police find 400kg of drugs in hot sauce bottles - BBC News
| News: Calm before the storm or will Cowboys get it together? - Cowboys Wire Posted: 27 Nov 2019 07:03 AM PST The Dallas Cowboys are in deep in preparation for the Buffalo Bills in the late afternoon Thanksgiving contest. Here's a round up of the latest news and notes. Amari Cooper has the road yips and worse, it's not something new :: Cowboys WireWide receiver Amari Cooper has been worth every penny for the Dallas Cowboys since trading for him at the deadline in 2018, until Dallas hits the road. KD Drummond dives deep into a trend that's a little more than alarming when it comes to the Cowboys top wideout. Garrett on analytical decisions: 'We don't use those stats within the game' :: Cowboys WireDallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett seems to be a smart guy. After all he did go to Princeton. Once seen as a dynamic offensive mind, a young coach in an old man's league, Garrett was the hot name in coaching circles. He may be on the hot seat, as it seems he may be an old dog that can't be taught new tricks. The analytically inclined may want to turn away now, because it's a tough look. Week 13 EPA Power Rankings: Cowboys remain division favorites :: Cowboys WireThe Cowboys numbers in terms of EPA indicate that there's a great team hiding inside, just waiting to be discovered. On the outside, they're dressed up and presenting themselves as a 6-5 team. As Bill Parcells used to say, "You are what your record says you are." Still, there's hope in the homestretch for a team that struggles to get out of its own way. The 2010s: Romo leads the way on Dallas Cowboys all-decade team :: The AthleticThe all-decade team is a fun exercise, but it gets pretty not fun when looking at the players selected at two oft-ignored positions: safety and defensive tackle. At defensive tackle Jason Hatcher and Tyrone Crawford were chosen. At their peak they were fine players, but not the game wreckers that other teams have. Covering the back end of the defense at the safety spots are Barry Church and Gerald Sensabaugh. Barnwell's 2019 All-Underrated team: Picking 24 NFL players, from Tannehill to Judon :: ESPNDefensive end Robert Quinn gets national media love here. Trading a sixth round pick to the tanking Miami Dolphins was a stroke of genius by the front office and they have been repaid in full. Unfortunately, he is set to be a free agent in the off-season and one has to wonder if the market rate will be for Quinn. According to Bill Barnwell, Quinn flashes on tape, and ESPN's machine learning analysis loves the 29-year-old. In 2018, Quinn posted a pass rush win rate (PRWR) of 33%, which was comfortably the best mark in football. (Nobody else even topped 29%.) That might seem like an aberration, but in 2019, he has posted a PRWR of … 32.9%, which again leads the league. I wouldn't take that analysis to find that Quinn is the best pass-rusher in football, but given that he has now excelled for two different teams over the past two years, he deserves to be thought of as an upper-echelon pass-rusher when he's on the field. Decoding Kellen Moore: Cowboys offense misfires at key moments in Foxborough :: The AthleticThe Cowboys offense has been one of the best in the league in 2019. The hiccups came too often against the New England Patriots, ultimately costing them not only the game, but a stranglehold over the NFC East. As great as quarterback Dak Prescott has been throughout the season, on Sunday he earned plenty of blame for the offensive woes. That and more in Bob Sturm's weekly breakdown.  |
| Posted: 26 Nov 2019 05:19 PM PST  Donald Trump has been formally invited to an impeachment hearing at the House Judiciary Committee, scheduled for 4 December, when legal experts will determine whether the president's alleged abuses of power in his handling of Ukraine and its military aid constitute "high crimes and misdemeanours" as established in the US constitution. In his letter to the White House inviting the president and his attorneys to the hearing, committee chair Jerry Nadler promises a "fair and informative process". "At base, the president has a choice to make: He can take this opportunity to be represented in the impeachment hearings, or he can stop complaining about the process", Mr Nadler said. "I hope that he chooses to participate in the inquiry, directly or through counsel, as other presidents have done before him." Mr Nadler gave Mr Trump a deadline of 6pm 1 December to respond as to whether he will appear. He also asked for the name of his counsel. 1/26 Donald TrumpAccused of abusing his office by pressing the Ukrainian president in a July phone call to help dig up dirt on Joe Biden, who may be his Democratic rival in the 2020 election. He also believes that Hillary Clinton's deleted emails - a key factor in the 2016 election - may be in Ukraine, although it is not clear why. EPA 2/26 The WhistleblowerBelieved to be a CIA agent who spent time at the White House, his complaint was largely based on second and third-hand accounts from worried White House staff. Although this is not unusual for such complaints, Trump and his supporters have seized on it to imply that his information is not reliable. Expected to give evidence to Congress voluntarily and in secret. Getty 3/26 The Second WhistleblowerThe lawyer for the first intelligence whistleblower is also representing a second whistleblower regarding the President's actions. Attorney Mark Zaid said that he and other lawyers on his team are now representing the second person, who is said to work in the intelligence community and has first-hand knowledge that supports claims made by the first whistleblower and has spoken to the intelligence community's inspector general. The second whistleblower has not yet filed their own complaint, but does not need to to be considered an official whistleblower. Getty 4/26 Rudy GiulianiFormer mayor of New York, whose management of the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in 2001 won him worldwide praise. As Trump's personal attorney he has been trying to find compromising material about the president's enemies in Ukraine in what some have termed a "shadow" foreign policy. In a series of eccentric TV appearances he has claimed that the US state department asked him to get involved. Giuliani insists that he is fighting corruption on Trump's behalf and has called himself a "hero". AP 5/26 Volodymyr ZelenskyThe newly elected Ukrainian president - a former comic actor best known for playing a man who becomes president by accident - is seen frantically agreeing with Trump in the partial transcript of their July phone call released by the White House. With a Russian-backed insurgency in the east of his country, and the Crimea region seized by Vladimir Putin in 2014, Zelensky will have been eager to please his American counterpart, who had suspended vital military aid before their phone conversation. He says there was no pressure on him from Trump to do him the "favour" he was asked for. Zelensky appeared at an awkward press conference with Trump in New York during the United Nations general assembly, looking particularly uncomfortable when the American suggested he take part in talks with Putin. AFP/Getty 6/26 Mike PenceThe vice-president was not on the controversial July call to the Ukrainian president but did get a read-out later. However, Trump announced that Pence had had "one or two" phone conversations of a similar nature, dragging him into the crisis. Pence himself denies any knowledge of any wrongdoing and has insisted that there is no issue with Trump's actions. It has been speculated that Trump involved Pence as an insurance policy - if both are removed from power the presidency would go to Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, something no Republican would allow. AP 7/26 Rick PerryTrump reportedly told a meeting of Republicans that he made the controversial call to the Ukrainian president at the urging of his own energy secretary, Rick Perry, and that he didn't even want to. The president apparently said that Perry wanted him to talk about liquefied natural gas - although there is no mention of it in the partial transcript of the phone call released by the White House. It is thought that Perry will step down from his role at the end of the year. Getty 8/26 Joe BidenThe former vice-president is one of the frontrunners to win the Democratic nomination, which would make him Trump's opponent in the 2020 election. Trump says that Biden pressured Ukraine to sack a prosecutor who was investigating an energy company that Biden's son Hunter was on the board of, refusing to release US aid until this was done. However, pressure to fire the prosecutor came on a wide front from western countries. It is also believed that the investigation into the company, Burisma, had long been dormant. Reuters 9/26 Hunter BidenJoe Biden's son has been accused of corruption by the president because of his business dealings in Ukraine and China. However, Trump has yet to produce any evidence of corruption and Biden's lawyer insists he has done nothing wrong. AP 10/26 William BarrThe attorney-general, who proved his loyalty to Trump with his handling of the Mueller report, was mentioned in the Ukraine call as someone president Volodymyr Zelensky should talk to about following up Trump's preoccupations with the Biden's and the Clinton emails. Nancy Pelosi has accused Barr of being part of a "cover-up of a cover-up". AP 11/26 Mike PompeoThe secretary of state initially implied he knew little about the Ukraine phone call - but it later emerged that he was listening in at the time. He has since suggested that asking foreign leaders for favours is simply how international politics works. Gordon Sondland testified that Pompeo was "in the loop" and knew what was happening in Ukraine. Pompeo has been criticised for not standing up for diplomats under his command when they were publicly criticised by the president. AFP via Getty 12/26 Nancy PelosiThe Democratic Speaker of the House had long resisted calls from within her own party to back a formal impeachment process against the president, apparently fearing a backlash from voters. On September 24, amid reports of the Ukraine call and the day before the White House released a partial transcript of it, she relented and announced an inquiry, saying: "The president must be held accountable. No one is above the law." Getty 13/26 Adam SchiffDemocratic chairman of the House intelligence committee, one of the three committees leading the inquiry. He was criticized by Republicans for giving what he called a "parody" of the Ukraine phone call during a hearing, with Trump and others saying he had been pretending that his damning characterisation was a verbatim reading of the phone call. He has also been criticised for claiming that his committee had had no contact with the whistleblower, only for it to emerge that the intelligence agent had contacted a staff member on the committee for guidance before filing the complaint. The Washington Post awarded Schiff a "four Pinocchios" rating, its worst rating for a dishonest statement. Reuters 14/26 Lev Parnas and Igor FrumanFlorida-based businessmen and Republican donors Lev Parnas (pictured with Rudy Giuliani) and Igor Fruman were arrested on suspicion of campaign finance violations at Dulles International Airport near Washington DC on 9 October. Separately the Associated Press has reported that they were both involved in efforts to replace the management of Ukraine's gas company, Naftogaz, with new bosses who would steer lucrative contracts towards companies controlled by Trump allies. There is no suggestion of any criminal activity in these efforts. Reuters 15/26 William TaylorThe most senior US diplomat in Ukraine and the former ambassador there. As one of the first two witnesses in the public impeachment hearings, Taylor dropped an early bombshell by revealing that one of his staff – later identified as diplomat David Holmes – overheard a phone conversation in which Donald Trump could be heard asking about "investigations" the very day after asking the Ukrainian president to investigate his political enemies. Taylor expressed his concern at reported plans to withhold US aid in return for political smears against Trump's opponents, saying: "It's one thing to try to leverage a meeting in the White House. It's another thing, I thought, to leverage security assistance -- security assistance to a country at war, dependent on both the security assistance and the demonstration of support." Getty Images 16/26 George KentA state department official who appeared alongside William Taylor wearing a bow tie that was later mocked by the president. He accused Rudy Giuliani, Mr Trump's personal lawyer, of leading a "campaign of lies" against Marie Yovanovitch, who was forced out of her job as US ambassador to Ukraine for apparently standing in the way of efforts to smear Democrats. Getty Images 17/26 Marie YovanovitchOne of the most striking witnesses to give evidence at the public hearings, the former US ambassador to Ukraine received a rare round of applause as she left the committee room after testifying. Canadian-born Yovanovitch was attacked on Twitter by Donald Trump while she was actually testifying, giving Democrats the chance to ask her to respond. She said she found the attack "very intimidating". Trump had already threatened her in his 25 July phone call to the Ukrainian president saying: "She's going to go through some things." Yovanovitch said she was "shocked, appalled and devastated" by the threat and by the way she was forced out of her job without explanation. REUTERS 18/26 Alexander VindmanA decorated Iraq War veteran and an immigrant from the former Soviet Union, Lt Col Vindman began his evidence with an eye-catching statement about the freedoms America afforded him and his family to speak truth to power without fear of punishment. One of the few witnesses to have actually listened to Trump's 25 July call with the Ukrainian president, he said he found the conversation so inappropriate that he was compelled to report it to the White House counsel. Trump later mocked him for wearing his military uniform and insisting on being addressed by his rank. Getty Images 19/26 Jennifer WilliamsA state department official acting as a Russia expert for vice-president Mike Pence, Ms Williams also listened in on the 25 July phone call. She testified that she found it "unusual" because it focused on domestic politics in terms of Trump asking a foreign leader to investigate his political opponents. Getty Images 20/26 Kurt VolkerThe former special envoy to Ukraine was one of the few people giving evidence who was on the Republican witness list although what he had to say may not have been too helpful to their cause. He dismissed the idea that Joe Biden had done anything corrupt, a theory spun without evidence by the president and his allies. He said that he thought the US should be supporting Ukraine's reforms and that the scheme to find dirt on Democrats did not serve the national interest. Getty Images 21/26 Tim MorrisonAn expert on the National Security Council and another witness on the Republican list. He testified that he did not think the president had done anything illegal but admitted that he feared it would create a political storm if it became public. He said he believed the moving the record of the controversial 25 July phone call to a top security server had been an innocent mistake. Getty Images 22/26 Gordon SondlandIn explosive testimony, one of the men at the centre of the scandal got right to the point in his opening testimony: "Was there a quid pro quo? Yes," said the US ambassador to the EU who was a prime mover in efforts in Ukraine to link the release of military aid with investigations into the president's political opponents. He said that everyone knew what was going on, implicating vice-president Mike Pence and secretary of state Mike Pompeo. The effect of his evidence is perhaps best illustrated by the reaction of Mr Trump who went from calling Sondland a "great American" a few weeks earlier to claiming that he barely knew him. AP 23/26 Laura CooperA Pentagon official, Cooper said Ukrainian officials knew that US aid was being withheld before it became public knowledge in August – undermining a Republican argument that there can't have been a quid pro quo between aid and investigations if the Ukrainians didn't know that aid was being withheld. Getty Images 24/26 David HaleThe third most senior official at the state department. Hale testified about the treatment of Marie Yovanovitch and the smear campaign that culminated in her being recalled from her posting as US ambassador to Ukraine. He said: "I believe that she should have been able to stay at post and continue to do the outstanding work." EPA 25/26 Fiona HillArguably the most confident and self-possessed of the witnesses in the public hearings phase, the Durham-born former NSC Russia expert began by warning Republicans not to keep repeating Kremlin-backed conspiracy theories. In a distinctive northeastern English accent, Dr Hill went on to describe how she had argued with Gordon Sondland about his interference in Ukraine matters until she realised that while she and her colleagues were focused on national security, Sondland was "being involved in a domestic political errand". She said: "I did say to him, 'Ambassador Sondland, Gordon, this is going to blow up'. And here we are." AP 26/26 David HolmesThe Ukraine-based diplomat described being in a restaurant in Kiev with Gordon Sondland while the latter phoned Donald Trump. Holmes said he could hear the president on the other end of the line – because his voice was so "loud and distinctive" and because Sondland had to hold the phone away from his ear – asking about the "investigations" and whether the Ukrainian president would cooperate. REUTERS 1/26 Donald TrumpAccused of abusing his office by pressing the Ukrainian president in a July phone call to help dig up dirt on Joe Biden, who may be his Democratic rival in the 2020 election. He also believes that Hillary Clinton's deleted emails - a key factor in the 2016 election - may be in Ukraine, although it is not clear why. EPA 2/26 The WhistleblowerBelieved to be a CIA agent who spent time at the White House, his complaint was largely based on second and third-hand accounts from worried White House staff. Although this is not unusual for such complaints, Trump and his supporters have seized on it to imply that his information is not reliable. Expected to give evidence to Congress voluntarily and in secret. Getty 3/26 The Second WhistleblowerThe lawyer for the first intelligence whistleblower is also representing a second whistleblower regarding the President's actions. Attorney Mark Zaid said that he and other lawyers on his team are now representing the second person, who is said to work in the intelligence community and has first-hand knowledge that supports claims made by the first whistleblower and has spoken to the intelligence community's inspector general. The second whistleblower has not yet filed their own complaint, but does not need to to be considered an official whistleblower. Getty 4/26 Rudy GiulianiFormer mayor of New York, whose management of the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in 2001 won him worldwide praise. As Trump's personal attorney he has been trying to find compromising material about the president's enemies in Ukraine in what some have termed a "shadow" foreign policy. In a series of eccentric TV appearances he has claimed that the US state department asked him to get involved. Giuliani insists that he is fighting corruption on Trump's behalf and has called himself a "hero". AP 5/26 Volodymyr ZelenskyThe newly elected Ukrainian president - a former comic actor best known for playing a man who becomes president by accident - is seen frantically agreeing with Trump in the partial transcript of their July phone call released by the White House. With a Russian-backed insurgency in the east of his country, and the Crimea region seized by Vladimir Putin in 2014, Zelensky will have been eager to please his American counterpart, who had suspended vital military aid before their phone conversation. He says there was no pressure on him from Trump to do him the "favour" he was asked for. Zelensky appeared at an awkward press conference with Trump in New York during the United Nations general assembly, looking particularly uncomfortable when the American suggested he take part in talks with Putin. AFP/Getty 6/26 Mike PenceThe vice-president was not on the controversial July call to the Ukrainian president but did get a read-out later. However, Trump announced that Pence had had "one or two" phone conversations of a similar nature, dragging him into the crisis. Pence himself denies any knowledge of any wrongdoing and has insisted that there is no issue with Trump's actions. It has been speculated that Trump involved Pence as an insurance policy - if both are removed from power the presidency would go to Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, something no Republican would allow. AP 7/26 Rick PerryTrump reportedly told a meeting of Republicans that he made the controversial call to the Ukrainian president at the urging of his own energy secretary, Rick Perry, and that he didn't even want to. The president apparently said that Perry wanted him to talk about liquefied natural gas - although there is no mention of it in the partial transcript of the phone call released by the White House. It is thought that Perry will step down from his role at the end of the year. Getty 8/26 Joe BidenThe former vice-president is one of the frontrunners to win the Democratic nomination, which would make him Trump's opponent in the 2020 election. Trump says that Biden pressured Ukraine to sack a prosecutor who was investigating an energy company that Biden's son Hunter was on the board of, refusing to release US aid until this was done. However, pressure to fire the prosecutor came on a wide front from western countries. It is also believed that the investigation into the company, Burisma, had long been dormant. Reuters 9/26 Hunter BidenJoe Biden's son has been accused of corruption by the president because of his business dealings in Ukraine and China. However, Trump has yet to produce any evidence of corruption and Biden's lawyer insists he has done nothing wrong. AP 10/26 William BarrThe attorney-general, who proved his loyalty to Trump with his handling of the Mueller report, was mentioned in the Ukraine call as someone president Volodymyr Zelensky should talk to about following up Trump's preoccupations with the Biden's and the Clinton emails. Nancy Pelosi has accused Barr of being part of a "cover-up of a cover-up". AP 11/26 Mike PompeoThe secretary of state initially implied he knew little about the Ukraine phone call - but it later emerged that he was listening in at the time. He has since suggested that asking foreign leaders for favours is simply how international politics works. Gordon Sondland testified that Pompeo was "in the loop" and knew what was happening in Ukraine. Pompeo has been criticised for not standing up for diplomats under his command when they were publicly criticised by the president. AFP via Getty 12/26 Nancy PelosiThe Democratic Speaker of the House had long resisted calls from within her own party to back a formal impeachment process against the president, apparently fearing a backlash from voters. On September 24, amid reports of the Ukraine call and the day before the White House released a partial transcript of it, she relented and announced an inquiry, saying: "The president must be held accountable. No one is above the law." Getty 13/26 Adam SchiffDemocratic chairman of the House intelligence committee, one of the three committees leading the inquiry. He was criticized by Republicans for giving what he called a "parody" of the Ukraine phone call during a hearing, with Trump and others saying he had been pretending that his damning characterisation was a verbatim reading of the phone call. He has also been criticised for claiming that his committee had had no contact with the whistleblower, only for it to emerge that the intelligence agent had contacted a staff member on the committee for guidance before filing the complaint. The Washington Post awarded Schiff a "four Pinocchios" rating, its worst rating for a dishonest statement. Reuters 14/26 Lev Parnas and Igor FrumanFlorida-based businessmen and Republican donors Lev Parnas (pictured with Rudy Giuliani) and Igor Fruman were arrested on suspicion of campaign finance violations at Dulles International Airport near Washington DC on 9 October. Separately the Associated Press has reported that they were both involved in efforts to replace the management of Ukraine's gas company, Naftogaz, with new bosses who would steer lucrative contracts towards companies controlled by Trump allies. There is no suggestion of any criminal activity in these efforts. Reuters 15/26 William TaylorThe most senior US diplomat in Ukraine and the former ambassador there. As one of the first two witnesses in the public impeachment hearings, Taylor dropped an early bombshell by revealing that one of his staff – later identified as diplomat David Holmes – overheard a phone conversation in which Donald Trump could be heard asking about "investigations" the very day after asking the Ukrainian president to investigate his political enemies. Taylor expressed his concern at reported plans to withhold US aid in return for political smears against Trump's opponents, saying: "It's one thing to try to leverage a meeting in the White House. It's another thing, I thought, to leverage security assistance -- security assistance to a country at war, dependent on both the security assistance and the demonstration of support." Getty Images 16/26 George KentA state department official who appeared alongside William Taylor wearing a bow tie that was later mocked by the president. He accused Rudy Giuliani, Mr Trump's personal lawyer, of leading a "campaign of lies" against Marie Yovanovitch, who was forced out of her job as US ambassador to Ukraine for apparently standing in the way of efforts to smear Democrats. Getty Images 17/26 Marie YovanovitchOne of the most striking witnesses to give evidence at the public hearings, the former US ambassador to Ukraine received a rare round of applause as she left the committee room after testifying. Canadian-born Yovanovitch was attacked on Twitter by Donald Trump while she was actually testifying, giving Democrats the chance to ask her to respond. She said she found the attack "very intimidating". Trump had already threatened her in his 25 July phone call to the Ukrainian president saying: "She's going to go through some things." Yovanovitch said she was "shocked, appalled and devastated" by the threat and by the way she was forced out of her job without explanation. REUTERS 18/26 Alexander VindmanA decorated Iraq War veteran and an immigrant from the former Soviet Union, Lt Col Vindman began his evidence with an eye-catching statement about the freedoms America afforded him and his family to speak truth to power without fear of punishment. One of the few witnesses to have actually listened to Trump's 25 July call with the Ukrainian president, he said he found the conversation so inappropriate that he was compelled to report it to the White House counsel. Trump later mocked him for wearing his military uniform and insisting on being addressed by his rank. Getty Images 19/26 Jennifer WilliamsA state department official acting as a Russia expert for vice-president Mike Pence, Ms Williams also listened in on the 25 July phone call. She testified that she found it "unusual" because it focused on domestic politics in terms of Trump asking a foreign leader to investigate his political opponents. Getty Images 20/26 Kurt VolkerThe former special envoy to Ukraine was one of the few people giving evidence who was on the Republican witness list although what he had to say may not have been too helpful to their cause. He dismissed the idea that Joe Biden had done anything corrupt, a theory spun without evidence by the president and his allies. He said that he thought the US should be supporting Ukraine's reforms and that the scheme to find dirt on Democrats did not serve the national interest. Getty Images 21/26 Tim MorrisonAn expert on the National Security Council and another witness on the Republican list. He testified that he did not think the president had done anything illegal but admitted that he feared it would create a political storm if it became public. He said he believed the moving the record of the controversial 25 July phone call to a top security server had been an innocent mistake. Getty Images 22/26 Gordon SondlandIn explosive testimony, one of the men at the centre of the scandal got right to the point in his opening testimony: "Was there a quid pro quo? Yes," said the US ambassador to the EU who was a prime mover in efforts in Ukraine to link the release of military aid with investigations into the president's political opponents. He said that everyone knew what was going on, implicating vice-president Mike Pence and secretary of state Mike Pompeo. The effect of his evidence is perhaps best illustrated by the reaction of Mr Trump who went from calling Sondland a "great American" a few weeks earlier to claiming that he barely knew him. AP 23/26 Laura CooperA Pentagon official, Cooper said Ukrainian officials knew that US aid was being withheld before it became public knowledge in August – undermining a Republican argument that there can't have been a quid pro quo between aid and investigations if the Ukrainians didn't know that aid was being withheld. Getty Images 24/26 David HaleThe third most senior official at the state department. Hale testified about the treatment of Marie Yovanovitch and the smear campaign that culminated in her being recalled from her posting as US ambassador to Ukraine. He said: "I believe that she should have been able to stay at post and continue to do the outstanding work." EPA 25/26 Fiona HillArguably the most confident and self-possessed of the witnesses in the public hearings phase, the Durham-born former NSC Russia expert began by warning Republicans not to keep repeating Kremlin-backed conspiracy theories. In a distinctive northeastern English accent, Dr Hill went on to describe how she had argued with Gordon Sondland about his interference in Ukraine matters until she realised that while she and her colleagues were focused on national security, Sondland was "being involved in a domestic political errand". She said: "I did say to him, 'Ambassador Sondland, Gordon, this is going to blow up'. And here we are." AP 26/26 David HolmesThe Ukraine-based diplomat described being in a restaurant in Kiev with Gordon Sondland while the latter phoned Donald Trump. Holmes said he could hear the president on the other end of the line – because his voice was so "loud and distinctive" and because Sondland had to hold the phone away from his ear – asking about the "investigations" and whether the Ukrainian president would cooperate. REUTERS The House Judiciary Committee hearing – formally launching an exploratory process to determine impeachment – follows two weeks of evidence-gathering hearings with seemingly explosive testimonies from US officials explicitly linking the president to calls for Ukraine's investigation into Joe Biden and his son in exchange for military aid and a White House visit. Mr Nadler writes: "We expect to discuss the constitutional framework through which the House may analyse the evidence gathered in the present inquiry. We will also discuss whether your alleged actions warrant the Houses' exercising the authority to adopt articles of impeachment." The committee's request arrives as the House Budget Committee reports that the White House's Office of Management and Budget engaged in a "pattern of abuse" by withholding the aid. The committee's summary of documents from the White House budget office found that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) had announced a plan to withhold aid on 18 July, days before a 25 July phone call between Mr Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that's at the heart of the impeachment probe. The same day of the call, an official within OMB signed off on formally withholding $250m (£194m) in Pentagon funds for Ukraine. Those funds were not released until 12 September. The committee said the OMB's "unlawful" behaviour – including a new political appointee's retention of a "significant" amount of Ukraine aid until the end of the fiscal year – could spur legislation to prevent the OMB from limiting or delaying congressionally approved aid. Architects of the US constitution established the concept of removing the president from office, through the authority of congress, on grounds of "treason, bribery, and high crimes and misdemeanours", although definitions of those terms are not explicitly defined within the constitution, seemingly allowing room for interpretation. During the Constitutional Convention in 1787, the authors determined that the phrasing of "treason and bribery" alone was not enough to encompass impeachable offences and included "high crimes and misdemeanours" to include a range of offences beyond criminality. Alexander Hamilton's Federalist papers define impeachment as a "method of national inquest into the conduct of public men" alleged to have violated the "public trust". Congress can begin the process for an impeachment trial with a simple majority vote to support articles of impeachment. A trial then begins in the Senate. Two presidents have been impeached before – Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1999 – although both were acquitted in the Senate. Richard Nixon resigned the presidency in 1974 when it was clear he was going to be impeached.  |
| Myth vs. fact: Unplugging devices when you leave the house - USA TODAY Posted: 27 Nov 2019 12:01 AM PST CLOSE  Unplugging everything in your home may not be as energy efficient as you think. USA TODAY Know Your Stuff is a new column that unlocks the hidden secrets about the everyday products you own. Most everyone I know seems to have an "unplugger" in their family. The mom who unplugs the toaster after the toast is done. The grandpa who unplugs practically everything in the house when he leaves for vacation. They're concerned about saving money. Or was it preventing a fire? Or both? Possibly they forgot why but they'll fight you to a standstill about its necessity. Myth: Unplugging your devices saves power and improves safety. Fact: Safety, maybe. But it won't save much money these days. As it turns out, there is some validity to their argument, but there have also been recent technological breakthroughs that poke a hole in their defense. Safety firstThe U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends unplugging electrical devices when not in use, predicated on the obvious but nevertheless correct observation that something unplugged can't start fires or shock someone. But as so many devices have clocks on them that we'd rather not have to reset, not to mention the myriad other reasons we might not want to unplug everything before we leave the house, the CPSC's fallback suggestion is to not mangle the cord or plug it into a faulty outlet. Sensible advice? Definitely. But I'm still not unplugging my lamps when I leave for work, especially as constantly fiddling with the cords may lead to the very mangling that we're supposed to avoid. For low-load devices, a power strip with an off switch is a simple alternative, but never use a power strip for high-load appliances (that includes toasters!). Unplugging saves money? Not so much.The economic argument for unplugging devices has fallen by the wayside. In the pre-computer age, devices using standby power — electrical power drawn by a device even when it's "off"— were the exception. The bulk of your energy consumption came from a few large appliances like your water heater, fridge and dryer. Then in the 2000s, standby power started to become the norm. Anything with a clock on it (microwaves, VCRs, ovens, etc.) was only the most visible example of an "energy vampire," but they could be found all over your home, and significant energy was being expended by keeping them plugged it. Thus began a campaign of public awareness, government regulation and technological advances determined to decrease standby power consumption. By some miracle, it actually worked. "It's changed dramatically," says Dr. Alan Meier, a scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. "Every product, we've seen dramatic reductions in standby power consumption." The most important change: a redesign of the humble power supply. The electricity that comes out of a wall outlet is an alternating current and needs to be converted to direct current to operate your devices. The power supply — the little brick on your phone charger, for example — converts that energy, and tremendous advances have been made in the past two decades that make that process more efficient on increasingly miniaturized circuitry. And because so many devices have become computer-controlled, everything from your washer to your toaster oven to your water heater is benefiting from the those efficiency gains, sometimes reducing standby power by as much as 90 percent. So what's the latest advice for the unpluggers in your life? When it comes to vigilantly unplugging smaller devices, like phone chargers, Meier suggests that there are more productive ways to spend your time. What can you do to save energy now?Here are a number of suggestions for lowering your home's energy bills that don't require running around plugging and unplugging everything you own:
David Kender is the editor in chief of Reviewed, a product review website and part of the USA TODAY Network. If you have a question about how your stuff works, or just want to know what to buy, email him at request@reviewed.com. Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/columnist/2019/11/27/unplugging-devices-when-not-use/4192100002/  |
| Australia police find 400kg of drugs in hot sauce bottles - BBC News Posted: 31 Oct 2019 12:00 AM PDT  Image copyright New South Wales Police Force Four men have been arrested after Australian police found 400kg (882lb) of crystal methamphetamine hidden inside imported hot sauce bottles. Authorities searched a consignment of sriracha chilli sauce shipped to Sydney from the US to discover drugs worth roughly A$300 million (£161m; $207m). They subsequently arrested four men aged 30, 34, 36 and 45 - the oldest of whom was detained on Thursday. Police are in touch with US authorities in a bid to find the shipment's origin. Acting Assistant Commissioner Stuart Smith said the 768 bottles were en route to a "clandestine lab" in Sydney when they were found. He described the four men arrested as "key members" of a crime network, and vowed to track down others with links to the group. The Sydney Morning Herald quoted one officer who said the drugs had been suspended in the sriracha chilli sauce, saying it was a "sophisticated" process which would require chemistry knowledge by senders and receivers. Methamphetamine use seems to have dipped slightly in Australia in recent years, but government statistics suggest dependency and the harm caused by the drug has increased. It is not the first time Australian police have foiled novel attempts to ship the drug into the country. Officers found A$1.2bn worth of methamphetamine hidden inside stereo speakers and shipped to Melbourne in June. You may also be interested in: Media playback is unsupported on your device  |
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