Trump considers pardoning Joe Arpaio, and gives a racists a reassuring wink

Just hours after denouncing racists, Trump says he might reward one.

Well that didn’t take long. Just hours after President Trump finally brought himself to denounce neo-Nazis and white supremacists, this happened . . .

“Is there anyone in local law enforcement who has done more to crack down on illegal immigration than Sheriff Joe?” Trump said, according to Fox News. “He has protected people from crimes and saved lives. He doesn’t deserve to be treated this way.”

No? Let’s review Arpaio’s history.

• In 2011, the Justice Department concluded that Arpaio’s deputies had engaged in the worst pattern of racial profiling that the DOJ had ever investigated.
•  That report found that Arpaio’s deputies routinely put Spanish-speaking prisoners in solitary confinement as punishment for their inability to speak English.
• It found that 1 in 5 traffic stops during Arpaio’s immigration sweep’s involved Fourth Amendment violations.
• It found that Latinos were four to nine times more likely to be pulled over than non-Latinos.
• It found that Arpaio’s deputies harassed citizens and non-citizens alike based solely on the color of their skin or for speaking Spanish.
• A 2012 Justice Department report found that “MCSO jail employees frequently refer to Latinos as ‘wetbacks,’ ‘Mexican bitches,’ and ‘stupid Mexicans.’ MCSO supervisors involved in immigration enforcement have expressed anti-Latino bias, in one instance widely distributing an email that included a photograph of a Chihuahua dog dressed in swimming gear with the caption ‘A Rare Photo of a Mexican Navy Seal.’ MCSO and Arpaio’s words and actions set the tone and create a culture of bias that contributes to unlawful actions.
• Accusations that Arpaio’s deputies continued to harass Latinos were affirmed by another federal judge in 2013. Arpaio then launched an investigation of that judge.
• That report also found that Arpaio was spending so much time harassing Latinos that his department was neglecting violent crime.
• Among the crimes Arpaio’s office is alleged to have let languish: sex crimes, particularly those in which the victims were Latino or undocumented immigrants.
• Consistent with Trump’s longtime racist obsession, back in 2012, Arpaio launched an “investigation” into Barack Obama’s birth certificate. Arpaio claimed he had proof that the document was “definitely fraudulent.”
• On multiple occasions, federal judges have found that Arpaio’s jails are unconstitutionally inhumane, most notably when it comes to diet, health care and mental health. The vast, vast majority of the people in Arpaio’s jails are being held on suspected immigration violations.
• Arpaio also re-instituted chain gangs, including for women and juveniles.
• Arpaio in fact once boasted that his jails were akin to a “concentration camp.”

This isn’t even getting to the countless incidents in which Arpaio has harassed critics, media figures, political opponents and other judges who ruled against him. In 2013 alone, Maricopa County paid out more than $7 million in settlements just to politicians and journalists in Arpaio’s crosshairs.

Source: Trump considers pardoning Joe Arpaio, and gives a racists a reassuring wink – The Washington Post

Woolworths ‘outraged’ by double billing

Woolworths chief executive Brad Banducci says he is outraged that some customers were billed twice because of an error made by a payments processor.

Disgruntled shoppers raised the issue on Woolworths’ Facebook site with some claiming the double dipping also incurred them “overdraw fees”.

Woolworths on Tuesday confirmed that customers who paid with a VISA card between March 11 and 13 were charged a second time on August 6.

Mr Banducci said it was because of an error by CUSCAL, a company that processes payments for more than 80 financial institutions.

“We are outraged on behalf of our customers that this has happened and it raises a series of important questions about the effectiveness of certain processes in the financial system,” he said in a statement.

He said the charges appeared in customers’ bank statements on Monday as if they had been charged twice by Woolworths.

“Woolworths was not involved in this error, and was completely unaware of it until we were contacted by our customers,” he said.

“We don’t know which of our customers have been affected because the relevant encrypted data is held only by the financial services companies.”

He said the group is responding to customers who contact Woolworths’ customer service centres and through social media.

On Woolworths’ Facebook site, Charlie Hooper said: “I’ve got my refund but … it took me into overdrawn territory and I’m now down the associated fees”.

Another customer, JJ Hinfelaar, said: “Are Woolworths also going to refund any fees associated with this mistake? Your stuff up will cost many customers more than just the amount deducted”.

Woolworths responded to JJ saying CUSCAL is working on addressing any additional fees.

The retailer said CUSCAL had confirmed that affected customers would be refunded by 1400 AEST on Tuesday.

Source: Woolworths ‘outraged’ by double billing | Perth Now

Artist Claudia Sahuquillo Hopes To Normalise Nudity, One Brush Stroke At A Time

#SkinIsTheNewCanvas

Artist Claudia Sahuquillo uses naked bodies as canvases to paint beautiful works of art and, in doing so, hopes to normalise nudity.

Sahuquillo paints patterns including eyes, feathers and flowers on people’s bodies in bright bursts of colour.

Much of her work focuses on painting across women’s bare breasts, which enables her to share her work on social media without it being removed.

The body painter, from Barcelona, shares most of her work on Instagram using the hashtag #skinisthenewcanvas. The unique subject has gained her more than 50,000 followers.

Sahuquillo’s work aims to normalise nudity by celebrating the beauty of the human body and its form – showing it is “normal, free and not vulgar”.

According to blogger Sara Daniele, who attended one of Sahuquillo’s live body painting shows in Naples, the focus of the artist’s work “is not on the bodies of models, but in the search for ‘normal’ people with different aesthetics to each other and without fear of any defects”.

Source: Artist Claudia Sahuquillo Hopes To Normalise Nudity, One Brush Stroke At A Time

Four cars set on fire in Perth’s north | Perth Now

ARSON Squad detectives are investigating two suspicious blazes in Perth overnight which saw a total of four cars parked outside homes set alight.

Police are investigating whether the similar fires in Marangaroo and Ellenbrook could be linked.

Firefighters and police were called to the scene of the first car fire on Santorini Turn in Ellenbrook about 2.35am.

The occupant of the house had woken up to find two cars on fire out the front of her home.

Source: Four cars set on fire in Perth’s north | Perth Now

Good Time: Robert Pattinson receives best Cannes reception so far with 6mins standing ovation

Robert Pattinson has thrown his name into the Oscars ring following the premiere of new film Good Time at Cannes.

The heist thriller, which debuted last night (25 May), had screened to journalists earlier in the day who unanimously praised the Twilight actor’s performance as not only “a career best” but the festival’s pinnacle.

READ MORE + VIDEO: Good Time: Robert Pattinson receives ‘best Cannes reception so far’ with six-minute standing ovation | The Independent

Wrong oil put in 2 $1.5 billion warships? Investigation launched re ‘botched maintenance’

An investigation is underway to uncover whether the wrong oil was put in the engines of two new Australian $1.5 billion warships (pictured).

The warships have been forced to remain docked at Garden Island for more than a month.

Defence force officials have confessed they are in the dark about how long two of Australia’s biggest warships will be out of action as engineers work to fix the formerly pristine engines.

The Spanish-designed 27,000 tonne ships may have oil-related issues

Navy sources informed The Daily Telegraph of ‘alarming concerns’ that were disclosed about the upkeep of the HMAS Canberra and HMAS Adelaide.

Expert help has been bought in from Spain to attempt to find out what happened to the ships.

Despite being built to aid the country’s natural disasters as major responders when Cyclone Debbie hit both were not able to leave the Sydney Harbour.

It is understood Navantia are not happy the engines were put in by engineers from Siemens before the maintenance was left in the hands of engineers from BAE.

Source: Wrong oil put in two new $1.5 billion warships stranded | Daily Mail Online

Perth traffic: truck stuck under Bayswater subway bridge AGAIN

AVOID the Bayswater subway bridge folks. Yes, you guessed it… another truck has gotten stuck.

It’s an all too familiar traffic hold up for Perth drivers.

In honour of this all too regular occasion, let’s take a trip down memory lane…

Source: Perth traffic: truck stuck under Bayswater subway bridge | Perth Now

Man killed falling wall panel: Yarloop south of Perth

A man has died at a worksite south of Perth after being hit by a falling wall panel.

Police confirmed to Daily Mail Australia the incident took place in Yarloop about 4.30pm on Monday afternoon and said man was believed to be 19-years-old.

The man is believed to have been rebuilding a house on Lawley Road when a wall panel fell and crushed him, reported the ABC.

It’s believed the man was working on a crane crew constructing a prefabricated home for building company Gran Designs WA.

Home builder GranDesigns said the death of the worker was ‘a tragedy’ and their thoughts were with his family.

Source: Man killed falling wall panel Yarloop south of Perth | Daily Mail Online